We have a Full Moon in Aquarius on 15th August at 12.29 pm BST. This Full Moon is opposite the Sun in Leo and exactly squares Vesta, the Goddess of the hearth.
Vesta here is important since as her and her Greek counterpart Hestia imply a tending to the fire of sexuality and creativity. Otherwise known as the Vestigial Virgins, these women were instrumental in Roman culture as their function was the important role of keeping the city fires alight.
That was no small feat since they needed to keep them lit around the clock. But beyond this, their role was to be present at all important official state functions and hold space.
Holding space is an important element of the feminine role. When women hold groups and space together there is something binding and connecting. That’s not to say men cannot also do the same, but it’s a special quality of the feminine that goes back to the beginning of time.
Before consciousness, of dreaming and asleep-ness, you could say that pure, instinctual body wisdom ruled and the light of the Sun and Moon couldn’t even be seen through the deep amazonian forests. This was before we thought outside of ourselves, or perceived distance, depth, light or colour, we existed in a preconscious state.
The process of bringing things into consciousness began with women, as a process of separation and differentiation. This is in the same way as the process of separation is a process of creation, creating the heavens and earth. I always say that when we say no to something, we say yes to something else. Sometimes saying no is even more important than saying yes in this world.
Early female primates made a correspondence between their menstrual and Moon cycles, and this opened up a slither of light in human consciousness. Bound by the cycle of an outside body, when the Moon disappeared into darkness, so did the women. They would enter into the caves together and hold space for the sacred emerging of the Moon into light.
And through this, metaphoric connection became externalised, and we gained an external understanding. The Moon became a source of light in the darkness. Through the majesty and intelligence of the female body the key to creating consciousness was born.
It’s a mysterious beginning, the origins of holding space, you could say it almost began all things. When we hold space for people, it’s like that alone facilitates some kind of healing or witnessing which allows something greater to step in. It’s a bit like the power of ritual and ceremony, which is a part of this.
The Moon also gave birth to the spectrum of consciousness, to cause and effect and the dimension of cyclical time. From that emerged everything else, from the power of ritual, memory, the forbidden and taboo.
Without the first act of astrology, light would never have had a source; and it would have flickered out long ago – in fact, it probably did, many times.
So where are we tending our own internal fire and holding space? How are we in need of holding human, psychic and physical space for ourselves or others? The process of which, makes things happen. One thing to note is that on the surface, holding space doesn’t necessarily do something beneficial for us. It’s a service we devote ourselves to. Service is selfless.
That’s the virgin, pure, chaste quality, that it is there to benefit others in a service capacity.
Vesta is saying space must be held for something to happen. Who and what is it for? What needs to be allowed to happen? Where does energy need to flow, where do you need to take a facilitative role? Be conscious of what greater purpose is on the table now and offer yourself.
This week has been a good week for ease in relationships. With Venus and Sun aligned, which will continue for a few days, it’s bringing a lot of diplomacy to the table. We can work out difficult issues and get clearer on things. Perhaps this Venus-Sun connection is supporting a deeper service, purpose and understanding somewhere in our lives. Perhaps we need to see the bigger picture, be forgiving and patient.
Whatever it is, know that something is trying to happen, be known, be seen.
Jupiter is now direct, after 4 months. He always goes direct or retrograde for that matter, when he makes a flowing benevolent trine to the Sun. This is why we say that Jupiter is a fortunate planet. He trines the Leo Sun. This bring a lot of ease and flow.
Jupiter is still in a long square to Neptune though which doesn’t help with the confusion and the sensing or feeling of many possibilities open to us. It’s not hard to make clear decisions about big directions at the moment. Neptune obscures the bigger picture, and the arrow or vector of our path.
Following the process, it might be best to not resist Neptune. If there’s a massive fog around something in our lives, my suggestion is that you slow down and take baby steps. You don’t drive fast in fog, unless you want a car crash.
Take careful steps, slow down and measure outcomes. It’s a bit like going into a maze, you need to trace your steps back whenever you take the wrong direction and be ultra aware of your surroundings. It’s ok to get lost, but learn from it and get less lost next time.
Uranus, ruler of Aquarius and this Full Moon, turned retrograde a couple of days ago and this brings the whole ‘change’ process to another level, that which is internal. He’s now going to rearrange our internal space and world and take a break from outside transformation.
Everything that makes up our internal space is up for revolution and transformation. Although we are getting so used to massive destabilising change that really nothing is surprising or normal anymore. Perhaps we are getting more comfortable with a different type of reality, one which affords an internal stability. I’ll be interested to see how Uranus going retrograde now impacts this internal space.
Perhaps we will begin to see where the inner roots lie of our lives, if we look at life from the causal perspective. Or perhaps we will begin to see more of the beauty and symmetry, and move beyond there being a problem or cause in our lives.
It occurred to me today, perhaps for the first time in my life, that I totally loved those that have caused me pain. Expressing it might be a different matter, but lets begin with feeling it shall we. Of course I’ve known that I ‘should’ love those in my life that have hurt me at some level as I know that without their great teachings, I wouldn’t be who I am today.
I also know the other side, that needs to say no to unconscious teachers and I’ve had enough of that thank you. But the past is always there and something we need to make friends with and reconcile ourselves to.
But for the first time I felt my heart entirely open and loving towards them. It wasn’t during a moment of meditation, it was just when I opened my front door. It was fleeting, but felt so real and tender, it brought so much kindness and love into my body. That was a very new and connected feeling, it felt really so good to feel so much love for my past pain.
Perhaps this was Uranus, making those internal shifts, waking me up to those longings. Whatever you long for, you receive, ultimately, whether it’s good for you or not. So we are in for some deeper level of self – if it’s at all possible… it might feel just what we need, to feel free of all the internal barrier that keep us confined to suffering.
Open to what is trying to change, just keep opening to it, surrendering to it, inviting it. Love it, as much as you can, even when your mind and ego wreak havoc upon it, on ourselves and the rest of humanity, just keep loving what is right in front of you, from the depth of your being. There’s no need to do anything other than love it, that doesn’t mean you need to agree with it! Just love it.
AUGUST 2019
FULL MOON 12:29 GMT 22°24 Aquarius
Wednesday 21st Venus enters Virgo 09:06 GMT
Friday 23rd Sun enters Virgo 10:02 GMT
Thursday 29th Mercury enters Virgo 07:48 GMT
Friday 30th NEW MOON 10:37 GMT 06°47 Virgo
