Slowly coming back

I finally completed my master’s degree.

(Nothing else to be done other than wait for my dissertation to be marked)

I am so happy to have managed it, but then, at the same time, it is also such a strange feeling. To finish something that you were dedicating your full attention and commitment for 4 years is bittersweet. On one hand the great feeling of accomplishment: you managed, you did it, after so many sleepless nights and stressing over deadlines and whatnots. But at the same time: what now? I feel a little empty…

Have you experienced anything like that before too?

It hasn’t even been a month since I submitted my thesis and I’m already feeling anxious with the need to be busy again. To have my sense of purpose validated by external activities.

And that leads me back to astrology.

Life is cyclic, seasonal. We breath in, breath out. Why do we so easily forget that and keep trying to ‘breath out’ all the time?

Back to astrology: new moon, transits to the IC, planets progressing into the twelfth house, progressed new moons, retrograde planets…

Life is also about resting, about quietly gestating or preparing the ground for a new phase.

Let there be balance. (a reminder to myself)

October is such an interesting month astrologically. Many planets still moving retrograde, with Mars in Gemini joining in the backwards motion soon, and the start of eclipse season. We are in a period for evaluation and creative envisioning. What would you like your life to look like? What direction do you want things to go?

I am here writing this to remind you (and myself) that these times of contraction and introspection are valuable and necessary for creation. The conception of an idea is as important as its execution.

I’ll be back soon with more, and I wish you all a great time of rest.

New Moon Eclipse musings

Happy new moon solar eclipse!

I have wanted to come here and write a blog post for a while now, but have been so busy that it was almost impossible.

I’m all packed and ready to go again. London still feels like home, but the world is calling me. Next destination: Athens.

Let the digital nomadic life begin!

I heard that some astrologers talk about eclipses not being a good time to begin anything, but I am a strong believer of connecting with your instincts and feelings as a way of knowing better. A way of knowing what is better for YOU.

When it comes to natal charts, no astrological rule can be absolute.

Eclipses are not always traumatic, as observed by Bernadette Brady, sometimes eclipses can reflect very happy changes. This is how I personally feel now. This is a very happy change for me and my partner, who btw has the new moon eclipse right on his Venus and DSC, talk about timings!

No, I didn’t plan or calculated to move countries on a new moon eclipse. Although a professional astrologer, I don’t always keep an eye on the ephemeris when it comes to making decisions. Maybe I should, but oftentimes I see beautiful synchronicities in life events happen naturally.

Like this one now, for example.

Anyhow, this new moon eclipse has a very beautiful energy with Venus and Jupiter conjoined in Pisces (at the very degree of Venus’ exaltation!). Abundance, forgiveness, healing, moving on to the next stage of our lives, cleaner from emotional debris. Inspiration, artistic and spiritual as well, are also potentially a great part of this configuration.

What would an inspiring life look like to YOU? How could you bring that to fruition?

Today is the day to ponder on that. To love yourself and to hold your deepest values close to your heart. To think of ways where you can align all different dimension of your life (your job, your relationships, your daily routines, etc) with those values. A perfect time also to inhabit you body – to nourish, look after and enjoy the pleasures of having one.

Give yourself a massive hug and whisper to yourself how much you appreciate all the effort.

The sabian symbols for this new moon configuration is also massively inspiring. For 10 degrees Taurus is ‘A woman sprinkling flowers’ and 27 degrees Pisces ‘A fertile garden under the full moon’.

What flowers would you like to see growing in the garden of your life? The ground is fertile now, be wise and present with the seeds you will be sprinkling.

Happy gardening everyone.

Last Full Moon in Leo, the IC, insights, and novelty.

Last week there was a full moon in Leo, square the nodes, and it only dawned on me now that it was opposing my progressed Moon in Aquarius.

I have been keeping super busy, trying new mediums and ways to channel creativity and fill my days with astrology work. It has been truly exciting but it’s so easy to lose track of balance and end up overdoing something – in particular, overworking and not paying enough attention to the need for conscious down time.

I had a mini health crisis on the day of the full moon, with food poisoning and a lot of purging and lacking energy to do anything else other than rest. The situation then got me thinking, what was I not paying attention to?

Looking into the symbolism of the IC for a talk I gave to the AFAN yesterday was so insightful (again). Growth is remembering, as we spirally move from stretching out of, to falling back into our patterns again and again.

One of my favourite things about astrology is its relationship to cycles. The beauty and reassurance of cycles. Everything has its right time, don’t you worry. This too shall pass, etc.

Gardening can be really useful in that way too, as we interact with land and weather, we see the ciclic motion in which life unfolds. No need for anxiety, no need to rush or resent. There is a right time for everything.

Astrology too, can help us with that, and as I worked on my presentation for yesterday’s talk, the importance of the IC was highlighted as, amongst other things, our place of rest. And by rest here, I don’t mean going to sleep every night. I am thinking of conscious rest, ritualistic down time as opposed to closing our eyes and drifting away.

(nothing wrong with that, we obviously need a good night of sleep in order to heal and recharge daily)

How many of you out there have given importance to down time as much as you do to productivity? Do you place those activities in your calendar as you do with the other ‘more serious’ ones?

After this insightful, even if painful, full moon in Leo (which rules creativity, inner child and self expression) I was reminded to hear and consider those needs more seriously.

Novelty also deserves to have an important place in our busy schedules.

Second full Moon in Aquarius

We are one day before the full Moon, how are you all feeling?

The last new Moon, on August 8, was forming a square to Uranus, a destabilising aspect reflecting much disruption and sudden changes for this lunation.

Tomorrow’s full Moon is the second one in Aquarius this month. The first took place at the early degrees, and this one now is at 29, the crisis degree, pointing out to closure and a turning point of some kind. In horary astrology, when the ASC-DSC axis is at 29 degrees of a sign, things are taking their course and there is nothing one can do about it, its somehow too late.

Emotions might be highlighted as usual during the full Moon, but I feel that in this case we somehow have a larger framework to place them.

In sabian symbols, according to the mindfire website, the last degree of Aquarius is connected with ‘A spiritual brotherhood, in which many individual minds are merged into the glowing light of a unanimous consciousness, is revealed to one that has emerged successfully from his metamorphosis’

I love this image and I think it is pretty fitting with this full Moon in the Leo-Aquarius axis. The individual journey and transformation is, I believe, of paramount importance for healing the collective. In the next couple of days we can tap into and have insights about the individual/collective journey and where we are at with it.

Carl Jung said: ‘Reason becomes unreason when separated from the heart, and a psychic life void of universal ideas sickens from malnourishment’. This is another great quote encapsulating a potential path for integrating the opposition between Leo and Aquarius – the need for being in touch with our hearts and, at the same time, to realise that we are all part of the collective psyche too.

Interestingly, there are also a couple of aspects which I have a very good feeling about during this full Moon.

First the Moon will be conjoined to Jupiter, perhaps reflecting the potential for warmth and expansion, and if you are having a hard time at least you will be able to learn something from it. Considering full moons as the culmination in the cycle, this could also be reflecting a lot of insights and a sense of revelation.

There will be a grand trine in air involving Venus in Libra, Saturn in Aquarius and the North Node of the Moon in Gemini (note Venus and Saturn powerfully in rulership!).

Bernadette Brady has said that trine transits, in her view, remove obstacles, and I think that this grand trine could help with reconciliations, communication and a sense of responsibly sharing with others. Because Saturn is retrograde, it could reflect going back on something, this time in a more harmonious way. Grand trines in general always make me think of beauty and harmony, even more so with Venus in Libra taking part in it this time, and cooperation is another word that comes to mind with this configuration.

Put it simply, with Jupiter conjoined the Moon and this grand trine in air, we could have breakthroughs of all kinds and, at the same time, are more inclined to reach a consensus with others. (which could be tremendous healing after the powerful disruptive Uranian energy of the last weeks).

Mind you, Mercury is coming to oppose Neptune, so if you do decide to communicate something important make sure to choose the clearest way possible.

Mars in Virgo will also be forming an exact trine to Uranus in Taurus – reinforcing the feeling I have that this could be a much more balanced and creative time regarding individual urges and caring for others. Positive and intuitive actions can be taken in this process.

Wishing you all an empowering and insightful full Moon!