A powerful partial lunar eclipse in Capricorn is all consuming in July. It releases old ways of doing things, dissolves outward structures and embedded situations, and takes us by surprise regardless of what we know, and how we are anticipating it. With cold Saturn sitting in Capricorn – his own home – and his mate power-player Pluto visiting, and stationing there comfortably, it’s rumoured to be a tough time. So we are reminded of love, a personal love and a universal love, taking chances, forgiving and looking after the things that really matter. Those things we value most, the people around us, our relationships and our own health are intertwined and demand prioritising. Whatever the limitations or the hurt, we will be called to rise above the mud and trust our intuition, and be willing to forgive others and ourselves. We will find peace and compassion in others. Our strength will come from keeping the channels of communication open and being present.
We are at the throws of a new moon in Cancer, water element, and a full moon in Capricorn, earth element. So the power of the two elements merging and creating something more complex than the original is especially potent at the moment. In many ways they compete and destroy. An intensity that we feel in the air, we can taste and touch. It signals the fullness of life. Water and earth make everything grow. Luscious plants, solid trees, cosy mushrooms creating colonies. Let’s not forget the power of togetherness. Water and earth will nurture and build. Everything is expanding and multiplying.
Much anticipated July
is upon us. With fear and some weariness, we are told to expect
nothing less than life transformative events. Astrologers,
lightworkers, intuitives and everyone striving to uplift life’s
frequencies is aware of the two new moons and the two eclipses that
fall in July. A full solar eclipse at the new moon on the 2 July,
falls in Cancer, and it’s visible mostly in south America,
especially Chile. It heralds openings and opportunities. It’s a
bringer of news, events, people, situations and opening of newness
with enhanced energy. A partial lunar eclipse follows on the 16 July,
falls in Capricorn, and it’s visible in Europe, Africa, the Middle
East and Asia. This is when things fall apart, get released, crumble,
deteriorate, get expunged, go away for ever. It’s an emotional time
for everyone.
But there is more: Pluto, God of power and poison, ruler of Scorpio, is waiting for us in Capricorn where the lunar eclipse action takes place. Expect this eclipse to have very strong Scorpionic vibes of merging and releasing. Pluto is stationed nearby Saturn, God of time and boundaries, and together they bring a very heavy structural energy that is consuming and overpowering. Moreover, they are retrograde. Jupiter in Sagittarius is retrograde. And so is Neptune in Pisces. These are big slow planets. Their impact is inescapable and profound. But fast moving Mercury is retrograde too, meeting Mars back and forth in his travels and taking his message with him, broadcasting it loud and clear. With Venus staying at home in Cancer, the energy feels further reactive.
So what does it all mean? This is the cosmic picture. But I think the cards will bring a bit of clarity in the visual realm: as depicted with the Nine of Wands, we find ourselves at the end of a battle. Indeed we are more than half way through the year. Things have concluded. It’s not all over yet but nearly. We are upright. We haven’t fallen, but the trauma of events, conflicts and challenges we had to overcome is visible. It’s not an open wound. It’s a carefully bundled trauma. We are looking around us, taking stock, and also looking to the past. The deep past and the immediate past is still fresh in our minds. It looms big. The wounds haven’t healed yet. Some are quite sweet, the pain reminding us of achievement in battle. The exhaustion is palpable. We still are not sure, however, what will come after the battle.
No worries. Here comes the Ace of Swords to tell us: go for it. You can do it. Opportunities and options are there for the taking. A noble cause will inspire and fortify your resolve almost immediately. From now on expect the pace to pick up. Once the debris has cleared out and the poisons have left us, there’s no looking back. Things will happen fast and unexpectedly. Anger and action that comes from the heart will dominate. Feelings, our sense of initiative, ideas, thoughts, concepts, our ability to deal with challenges comes to the forefront. Cosmic forces are within and without.
And finally, we are not going to be let down. The King of Swords brings in some objectivity to the whole situation. Not only that, but the card tells us that we have achieved mastery in at least one area of life. Where the battle was, where we fought and gave it all, that’s the area where we became masters. It’s a card denoting an intellectual significance to a situation, justice and knowledge. We are now confident that we have gained those hard fought gifts and our lives are imminently much richer and healthier, away from negativity, poisons and restrictions. Despite those outward heavy structures, ultimately all victory will have to come from us. And not only we will survive, but we will find ourselves in a much better place than we were before. The King of Swords is not just full of confidence and authority but he has mastered decision-making as well. By the end of July we should have taken important decisions to act upon.
The Priestess of Cups from the Motherpeace Tarot is our guide this week. In this card, the Priestess is depicted as a mermaid sitting on the shore. There is a tower behind her, partly clouded and situated on a steep hill. She holds a lyre in her left hand, playing beautiful music, which is heard by the whale jumping out of the ocean. The mermaid priestess does not rely on verbal communication, instead she conveys her message via the sound of the seven-stringed lyre.
Receiving this card is a reminder that now is the time to focus our thoughts within and let our feelings and desires be central to our very being. By adopting the role of the archetypal muse, the mermaid priestess inspires us to find our inner creatress. Her unconscious thoughts yield to the ocean of collective memory where new ideas will be conceived. The mermaid priestess represents the soul and the inner part of us, and she mediates between the spirit world and our daily life and between the sky and earth. Being all water, the mermaid priestess channels feelings, desires, dreams and inner visions. She also promotes the nourishment of the womb, mother-love and divine inspiration. She swims through the unconscious like a fish and at the same time she breathes and thinks like a human.
The card is synchronised with the post-Solstice watery energy of the Cancer season. We can now rest and nourish by going inward and considering with a grateful heart all that we have achieved so far this year. Trust that all is as it should be and that your intuition is receiving the profound messages for you to act on when the time is right. Your deep feminine power is rising.
Meditation
with the Priestess of Cups
Do this
meditation with the Priestess of Cups and tune into what the card
wants to say to you.
Sit down
in a quiet space. Take a few deep breaths and relax.
Focus on the image of the mermaid priestess sitting on the shore. Notice how mystically serene she looks, playing the lyre, sending messages from her unconscious to be collected by those who are ready to listen. Hear her music as you gaze into the image. Smell the ocean’s waves as the whale jumps up and down, and observe as she communicates with the mermaid priestess. The healing water of the image is refreshing and nourishing your femininity, bringing you back to your core-self.
Stay in
meditation for 5 to 10 minutes.
After the
meditation, journal about the below questions.
How have your nourished your feminine receptivity lately?
How can you unite your inner dream world with your daily life?
Additional practice – connecting to your spiritual creativity with Celestite
Celestite is a beautiful translucent pale blue crystal which is calming, soft and positive. The internal structure of celestite is orthorhombic and its’ high-vibrational healing frequency radiates in all directions. The name celestite comes from the Latin caelestis, meaning “celestial” or “heavenly,” referring to the blue colour of the sky. It connects us to the angelic realm, ignites clairvoyance, dream recall, and calms anxiety and panic attacks. Celestite is a stone of creativity and promotes the skills of artists, musicians and writers. It expands our consciousness and ability to receive wisdom from the divine source and teaches us to patiently trust in the divine process. Celestite is associated with the Roman Goddess Juterna who watches over brooks, ponds, wells and springs, providing nourishment and health. It is also connected to the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, Haniel, and Seraphiel.
For the healing ceremony, lie down in a comfortable place. Place the celestite on your sacral chakra. Imagine how the beautiful pale blue colour of the celestite nourishes your sacral area. Sense how any blockages you have in receiving the very best for you is lifted away. Feel how the sky-blue colour is deepening your connection to your inner muse, the divine and angelic realm. Note any messages you receive at this point.
Take a
deep breath and say thank you to celestite and its’ healing gift.
Repeat
this practice as often as you wish. It will help to awaken your
creativity and your receptivity to divine messages.
It is June and summer has officially started. It’s also Gemini season when we naturally become more curious, adventurous and sociable. The new moon in Gemini is a calling to favour a breadth of activities rather than depth in what we do. And it will be busy. Venus enters Gemini on the 8th of June, strengthening the vibe of flirtation, living in the moment and finding beauty in experiences and mental stimulation. All this is taking place right in the middle of the year. It is a time for taking stock and recalibrating our intentions, examining our situation and progress. We look at our achievements in the year so far, what was a triumph, and what has let us down or veered in the wrong direction, now we can set it straight or add to previous glories.
Thinking
about it from that perspective, the cards that turned up look rather
ominous. Messages of bad news or difficult forebodings, even notions
of misfortune. But let’s take them in Gemini style. Not one at a
time, but all together simultaneously. Lets try and listen to their
meaning as they all talk to us at once. What do they tell us? Perhaps
they tell us: we are at the beginning of everything. In some sense or
another agency is with us.
We can make
a course correction as we assess where we stand in relation to people
and circumstances. Even at the lowest point emotionally or physically
– the number one – is that we can keep our dignity and self respect,
our pride and self acceptance with humility. We might be experiencing
a level of anxiety or just exhaustion from a long and demanding
winter. We could be feeling a heavy energy not because we are in a
bad place – indeed the opposite is just as likely – but because to
get where we are, took a lot out of us.
We are still
carrying a heavy load we can’t let go of, and we need support. How we
feel and see the world is important. The challenges we face tell us
there’s a lot that has to be resolved. In order to do this, we are
going to be kind to ourselves. If we need help, we should ask for it,
and it’s there for us. If others need our help, we should not
hesitate. A reminder that helping others is part of our own
well-being, strength and dignity. Charity starts at home and it is
personal as the Sun moves through the lower part of the chart,
regardless where it stands on the individual one. Love, forgiveness,
generosity and everything associated with Charity will guide us in
moving forward.
The Misero is moving slowly. His message is to take it easy, and keep going, bring determination and acceptance into the forefront. It’s not time yet to materialise the possibilities. But they are ahead of us. What seems rough on the outside is only the beginning, not the end. We are back at the beginning of everything every single day. And there is the other side to get to. We are not there yet. Let’s not rush the journey.
The Daughter of Cups from the Motherpeace Tarot comes forward to guide us this week. In the card we see a woman who sits in a pool of water, with one arm and leg raised to receive a flowing stream from above. Red rock walls surround her and there is a tree to the right. A turtle walks slowly past her, carrying a white jar with sacred water on its’ back.
The card signifies that it is time to invoke joy and playfulness into our lives. We need to pause and immerse ourselves in the beauty of our inner world. Playing in the sensual waters, the Daughter of Cups has a sense of humour, she tells us to feel good about ourselves and be receptive. The magical mineral waters flow into her crown chakra like cosmic light and then splashes all over her body, reminding us to celebrate our body but also to pay attention to heightened psychic awareness. The tree reaches out to the Daughter, representing life, while the rock walls enclose her in love. The turtle represents the ability to enter and exit our inner world. In Native American mythology the turtle carries the world on its’ back. The Hopi plant a water jar where they wish to settle, a ceremony conducted in a state of purity to ensure that water will always flow from the ground.
Receiving this card indicates that you are currently feeling a range of emotions strongly, this is a call from your inner child who wants to be noticed. It doesn’t matter whether she is sad or happy, it is the process of immersing and experiencing her emotions which is important. This will lead to self-revelation and a playful state of being, which in turn will bring transformation. The essence of the Daughter of Cups is magnetic and inclusive, she uses creative visualisations to make her desires and dreams come true. She tells us that there is an opening of the inner voice after a fearless dive into the soul.
The card resonates with the recent full moon in Scorpio. Now is the time to look deep inside yourself and admit to the big dreams. This will lead to an emerging joy of wisdom and the knowing that a deep transformation is occurring.
Meditation
with the Daughter of Cups
Try this
meditation with the Daughter of Cups and tune into what the card
wants to say to you.
Sit down
in a quiet space. Take a few deep breaths and relax.
Focus on the image of the woman sitting in a pool of water. Observe how playful she is and how much she loves just being and playing in the flowing stream. The slow moving turtle is passing by, balancing the sacred water jar on its’ back and creating the world through a peaceful and steady pace. The red colour of the rock walls ignite movement while the green colour is soothing.
Stay in
meditation for 5 to 10 minutes.
After the
meditation, journal about the below questions.
How can you let your inner child out to play?
What dreams did you have as a child which you have not fulfilled
yet?
Additional
practice – transforming negative patterns with Malachite
Malachite is a striking green opaque stone with a silken surface, its’ internal structure is monoclinic, providing an energetic vibration of balance and smoothness. The name malachite comes from the Greek molochitis lithos meaning “mallow-green stone” because it resembles the leaves from the mallow plant. Egyptians associated green with death and the power of resurrection, calling the afterlife “Field of Malachite”. From antiquity to the 1800s, malachite was used as a mineral pigment in paint. As a stone of healing, malachite ignites transformation and removes emotional blockages by dissolving old belief systems which no longer serve you. Toxic energy is neutralised by malachite and it also guards against negativity. The rich green colour of malachite infuses us with the possibilities of change and supports our soul-growth through living an abundant heart-centred life.
For the healing ceremony, sit or lie down. Hold the malachite between your palms, in front of your solar plexus chakra. Imagine any negative people and situations leaving your auric field through the solar plexus. Sense how the green colour of the malachite purifies your energy channels and then strengthens your whole being, on all levels of the body, mind and soul. Take a deep breath and say thank you to malachite and its’ transformational gift.
Repeat this practice as often as you wish. It will assist in detoxifying your relationships and any situations which have become a burden and provides a space for more light to enter.
