by Teri Parsley Starnes

Teri’s interest with astrology lies with helping people see how following a practice of intention and self-awareness leads to a fuller relationship with Mystery. Astrology is a wonderful tool for this. Her weekly column orients readers to the seasonal energy of
each month’s Sun sign in order to set magical/mindful intention for the lunar month beginning at the New Moon.

Each week Teri will write about the unfolding energies that support and challenge our intentions. The ebb and flow of the lunar cycle resides deep in our souls. Through following the phases of the Moon, we remember the natural cycles that guide us.

Astrologers divide the lunar month into eight phases. These are:
New Moon: Dreaming
Crescent Moon: Beginning
First Quarter Moon: Manifesting
Gibbous Moon: Perfecting
Full Moon: Illuminating
Disseminating Moon: Sharing
Last Quarter Moon: Evaluating
Balsamic Moon: Surrendering

Come follow the Moon as we practice intentional awareness together.

Forecast February 10, 2013 – February 16.
Love or hate? What is your reaction when you see the word, community? Are you so immersed in it that you don’t even realize that another way of life exists or do you recoil from community, remembering past disappointments and dysfunctions that can be found there? Do you grudgingly feel that community is a necessary part of life, but wished it wasn’t? Or do you fully embrace all the gifts and foibles that come with communal experiences? Some of us willingly love community, some of us hate it, but all of us need community. Not only do communities help us survive but communities also help us to live lives that are more beautiful, meaningful, and responsible to the rest of creation. People are a better species when we are in community, or at least we have the potential to be. This potential draws us into the visionary realms of Aquarius where the hope for what could be often outweighs the reality of what has been.

Aquarius is a creative sign, and is especially concerned with the type of creativity that helps community realize its potential. So, we find both organizers, rebels, and scientists under the Aquarius purview. Some Aquarian types like to be right in the center of community concerns, while others walk the edges of community, offering the perspective of the outsider or the challenger to community assumptions. Just as every community needs many people to serve different roles, Aquarius shows us the many ways to approach community itself. Many Aquarians say that they can’t stand community, but still the pull of the ideal, which can only be accomplished through collective action and intricate webs of dependency and inspiration, draws us back into the fold. Many gifts wait for us in the communal experience. Will you dare to commit to the search for those gifts this lunar cycle?

Forecast February 10, 2013 – February 16. 

New Moon at 1:20 am in Aquarius. Moon enters Pisces 3:19 pm

February 10—New Moon: Dreaming. The New Moon in Aquarius gives us the opportunity to explore the realm of community more deeply. The constellation for Aquarius is known as the Water Bearer, an image shown in the Tarot card that represents Aquarius. The Star card shows the Aquarian desire to collect vision and pour it out for the collective good. Although the image is one of water, this Fixed Air sign is happily a conduit for ideas. Sometimes, it can be hard to cut off the flow, other times the fixity of the sign gets stuck in opinions so strongly, that it can forget that there are other valid points of view. Frustrations can arise quickly when the flow is stopped by the reality of human limitations. However, just as frustrating as humans can be, this humanistic sign believes that we are all co-creators and divine beings.

The New Moon dreamtime evokes Aquarius. Here are some questions to consider at this phase of the Moon. What visions fill your cup? What helps you to contain these visions until they are ready to be poured out? What role does community play in your life? What role do you play in community?

In the New Moon chart, Venus in Aquarius is square to Saturn in Scorpio. Venus is the goddess in the Star card. She invites us to express our Aquarian idealism in beautiful ways. She reminds us how fascinating and lovely community can be. Saturn in Scorpio presents a challenge to the Aquarian vision. Not everything we experience in community is pleasant. Sometimes secrets are kept; sometimes they are exposed. Sometimes people’s motivations are less than ideal. Power struggles happen. We experience limitations or a dislike of certain members in our communities. In these challenging times, vision doesn’t hold up to the grim realities. What do you do about those realities? What serve your communities and what causes more harm? The trick is to embrace the information we are receiving and see how it can strengthen our capacity to acknowledge that these things exist. Communities, just like individuals, have life cycles. Saturn in Scorpio encourages our communities to grow up. It is good to be aware of what is really going on and to find ways to address concerns.

An emphasis on Mutable energy (signs of Pisces and Gemini) in this chart points to a desire to integrate and understand. This is important to gathering the wisdom of the square between Venus and Saturn. Since so many planets are in the water sign, Pisces, primary understanding comes from the emotional realm. We will be challenged to uphold good boundaries in community and communication may be confused by projections. The square from the Pisces planets—Neptune, Mars, Mercury and Chiron—to Jupiter in Gemini says that it may be hard to acknowledge the feeling realm and the thinking realm equally. Practice taking a moment to let emotions cool before assuming you understand what others mean. Taking inspiration from the Star card, elevate your visions to serve the common good.

The Sun and Moon are square to the Nodes of the Moon (North Node is at 21 Scorpio/South Node is at 21 Taurus). This heightens a sense of needing to manage the experiences in this lunar cycle that pertain to community. Notice any attachments that that surface. Where are you stuck? The growing edge is to acknowledge what is brewing under the surface in our communities and in our relationship to community.

Moon in Pisces

Monday, February 11. Yes, it is true we can know how others feel without saying a word, but this may not be the best day to not use our words. The Moon joins the line up of planets in Pisces today. This is a perfect opportunity to notice where intuition helps and where it doesn’t. Seek clarity to support your feelings and your knowledge will be deeper and truer. Our boundaries are thinning. This can invite ecstasy and illusion. Welcome the adventure of learning the difference.

Moon enters Aries 7:51 pm.

Tuesday, February 12. Hearts are wide open as Mars joins Chiron. It is easy to feel others’ pain and we want to act to heal that pain. Notice communication styles that rely on emotional intelligence. If that isn’t your primary way of relating, there is a lot you can learn today. The Moon is void-of-course for most of the day, so the dreamy quality of the day seems to envelope us until the evening when we get a jolt from the Moon’s entry into Aries.

Moon in Aries.

February 13—Crescent Moon: Beginning. This phase of the Moon fills our hearts with the hope that action can bring change. Before we’ve experienced any challenges to our New Moon intention, we are filled with excitement for what comes next. After a few dreamy days while the Moon traveled through Pisces, we feel like getting something started! What will it be for you? Can you take that passion and apply it to the health of your communities? This is a good day to realize that collective action has power. Notice the tension between the desire to individuate and the desire to belong. Not all is smooth sailing as we work together to change the world. Notice how you deal with friction today.

Moon in Aries.

Thursday, February 14. Valentine’s Day. Although Aries is known as the sign of the maverick, it doesn’t mean that we can only be true to our individuality at the expense of our relationships. This Valentine’s Day will be about welcoming independence into our partnerships. If we let go of defensiveness and over-attachment, freedom can be quite an aphrodisiac.

Moon enters Taurus 4:08 am.

Friday, February 15. As the Moon enters Taurus, we seek to create stability for our New Moon intentions. Notice what your body is telling you. The needs and pleasures of the body are excellent teachers instructing us how to listen to the needs in our communities for stability and security. These are simple and profound desires. What systems create sustainability? How do we insure that needs addressed and values upheld? The favorable aspects today support receiving real answers to these questions.

Moon in Taurus.

Saturday, February 16. Another day to notice the benefits from feeling grounded in our bodies. Take it a little deeper and notice whether attachments to comfort, pleasure, and security also have within an element of fear. Can you master the ability to enjoy materiality without fearing its loss? Saturn in Scorpio hints that we need to be balanced between acquiring things and letting them all go. Being aware that material things are temporal makes them all the more precious. We need that balance in our communities too. There is no such thing as perfect security.

* All times are CST.

Contact Teri at teri@starsdanceastrology and visit her website at www.starsdanceastrology.com