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.

The beginning of a journey is a time of daring mixed with naivety—all we need to do is risk beginning and events take over from there. The last stages of a journey feel more complicated. Realizing that the end is near, we want to make sense of it—learn from our mistakes, celebrate our successes, or grab a kernel of wisdom before life’s tides take us to the next place.

Where do you get stuck? Beginnings or endings? What is your innate gift: the courage to take a leap into new territory or the drive to understand what has happened? Both of these qualities are needed at this time of great change. It may be difficult right now to know which gifts are most helpful or how to maintain a single point of view. Perhaps we are not being asked to know the answer to these questions; perhaps the best thing we could do is to act as best we can in alignment with personal values and leave the rest to mystery.

This lunar cycle is ripe in contrasts—contrasts between dream and action, ending and beginning, forgetting and remembering. It seems entirely appropriate, given such extreme fluctuations, that we end up in the last week of this lunar cycle not really knowing where we are. Or at least, that’s what I am noticing for myself. Perhaps some of you are feeling this too.

The New Moon on March 11,* invited us into the Pisces realm to both forget the past and open to the dream. Paradoxically, a time of forgetting is part of the process to opening to the dream of a new cycle of growth. What rises up for you when you release the past and take the leap into the unknown? What have these last three weeks been like? What emotions, events, and realizations did you harvest? Where does this leave you as you begin to let go of the entire lunar cycle to prepare for the next New Moon in Aries?

We’ve been standing at a doorway. There is a threshold before us. Questions always arise at these moments. Will you choose to live into the life you are meant to live? Are you ready to move forward? 

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep.~ Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks

Forecast March 31, 2013 – April 6.

Moon in Sagittarius

Sunday March 31. Fiery natures may be provoked today if they can’t find a productive release of energy. This is not a day to take it easy; the rising energy of Spring asks us to be active. Women’s issues may be at the forefront (as they have been for a while) since Venus is square to Pluto and sextile to Jupiter today. The Pluto connection reveals toxic and unhealthy conditions. It is up to us to release and transform these patterns. The Jupiter connection makes these processes bigger, both the power to heal and the power to harm. Venus and the Sun are so close that later in the day, the Sun also squares Pluto. What is illuminated right now about toxic systems? An empowered Venus is an ally for beauty and love and the kind of wealth that sustains these things. What bold action will you take to support the life force? 

Moon in Sagittarius

Monday, April 1. If we were able to face some demons yesterday and do something about it, today dawns with more optimism. The Moon is void-of-course for the whole day, so we don’t feel as motivated to finish things. This may be a good day for planning the next project that will take you to your growing edge. The Sun and Jupiter conspire to inspire our hopes.

Moon enters Capricorn 12:35 am**

April 2—Last Quarter Moon: Evaluating. The Capricorn Moon supports a process of evaluating whether or not something serves our long-range goals. Perhaps like me, you’ve followed dreamy pathways to this moment and have a hard time evaluating their worth. Perhaps it is hard to even recall where those pathways have led you. Let go of the linear and ask yourself, “How do I know when something is right for me?” We have the ability to know ourselves deeply and to know when we know. What does it feel like in your body? Find an anchor to this knowing, it will come in handy all year. We may be called on to think fast and take powerful positions today in support of what is right for us. There is a sense that changes that have been building for a long time are now starting to manifest. We’ve been in training for a long time to step into our part of this story. 

Moon in Capricorn

Wednesday, April 3. Here’s another day when the Moon is void-of-course for most of day. Use this energy to get in touch your bottom line. This could be in the area of finances, relationships, or commitments. We all need foundations and boundaries around the arenas of life that are vital to our happiness. What are yours?

Moon enters Aquarius at 3:41 am

Thursday, April 4. An interesting relationship between Pluto and Chiron has been going on since September of last year. These planets (yes, we know neither are a planet in astronomical terms) are concerned with depth experiences and deep healing. Today is the second of five exact sextile aspects between the two, ending in 2014. One manifestation of this transit is the desire to do something about the pain and suffering we see around us and in our own lives. Feeling compassion is not enough; we need to take action too. With the Moon is revolutionary Aquarius, we are called even more to act, to organize, or search for solutions.

 Moon in Aquarius

Friday, April 5. Welcome new insights. Someone is introducing you to a new way to think. Enjoy the shift in your own point of view. Perhaps you also are doing that same for someone else. This is a good day to appreciate diversity and community connections.

Moon enters Pisces 8:00 am

April 6—Balsamic Moon: Surrendering. At the beginning of this lunar cycle we surrendered to an ocean of feelings. Today we dive back in for another time of surrender and release as the Moon wanes into its final phase of this cycle. For the next two days, welcome the water in you. Welcome the power of water to cleanse, dissolve, nourish, and connect us. We need these qualities. As the world speeds up, as we are asked to change, as we prepare to leap into another year, connect with the water within and around you. A spark of creativity and possibility awakens today within this watery awareness. Venus and Mars form an exact conjunction in Aries. The last time these planets were conjunct was in 2011. What makes this conjunction a little more special is that both Venus and Mars are hidden within the rays of the Sun. Shamanic astrologers overlay a mythic journey to the underworld upon planets who are temporarily hidden from sight.*** The classic lovers are united in the depths of transformation. If we choose it, we can allow this animating transformation to inform our relationship to action and our desires to pursue the most beautiful telling of our own stories.

*To follow along with the development of this lunar cycle read the New Moon forecast for March 11 at http://tinyurl.com/bddmvmn

** All times are CDT.

***Thanks to Caroline Casey’s Visionary Activist Show with Daniel Giamario for framing this event: http://coyotenetworknews.com/radioshow/vernal-equinoctial-magnetizing-memospheric-mojo/

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