posted July 22, 2010 07:29 AM         

There are two freedoms - the false, where a man is free to do what he likes; and the true, where he is free to do what he ought. Charles Kingsley

A man must consider what rich realm he abdicates when he becomes a conformist. Ralph Waldo Emerson

I had examined myself pretty thoroughly and discovered that I was unfit for military service. Catch-22

I was court martialed in my absence, and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could shoot me in my absence. Brendan F. Behan

Just because your doctor has a name for your condition doesn't mean he knows what it is. Anon

The doctor is to be feared more than the disease. Latin Proverb

You already have the precious mixture that will make you well. Use it. Rumi

July's full Moon, falling on July 26, is an Aquarian full Moon which seems to be bringing an opportunity to make sense of where your life is heading, with whom and how and why. The Sabian Symbol is Aquarius 3: A Deserter From The Navy Stands Suddenly Aware Of A Dawning Truth: Freedom Is Never The Result Of Compromise.

This can speak of sudden realizations, rebellion, leaving although allegiance had once been pledged, opting out because of pressure, harassment or bullying, taking risks to get out of a dangerous/destructive/alienating or boring situation, being left behind by someone who's "jumped ship", going AWOL, standing by personal truths, refusing to compromise, knowing when to give up or leave.

It could be that in some situation in your life, the rigorous restraints and rules are no longer comfortable, desirable, bearable or tolerable. This can be about you, or it can be about someone (or something) in your life. Being "signed up" to some commitment can be restricting, limiting and sometimes confronting. There can be a feeling of being taken away from loved ones, home and family, for a reason you don't really understand and not wanting to accept the pressures of separation. However, it could be the exact opposite - home and family life can be too constricting and there may be a desire to leave to pursue another, more independent life. Following your heart's desires or adjusting to what's going on around you can be demanding and there are always consequences for opting out, running away or not playing the game. Are you prepared for them? Is there a 'sudden' realization, a 'dawning truth' that what you've been doing is not necessarily what you want to be doing?

The Cautions for this degree include: Not playing by the rules of socially structured games, being contrary for the sake of it, refusal to face social consequences, not turning up, withdrawing support in a physical, emotional or spiritual way, blowing security, rats deserting the sinking ship.

As you can see, this full Moon, especially as it's in Aquarius, could have some interesting, and, possibly, life changing consequences. This full Moon is at 2.59 Aquarius, meaning that it's right on the brink of the next degree - just one minute of degree off the next one. Hence, the following degree is especially strong. It's Aquarius 4: A Hindu Healer Glows With A Mystic Healing Power.

The 'Hindu Healer' could be you or someone close to you or someone you meet. The 'Hindu Healer' can pass on the benefits of knowledge to the unwell through healing and purification. The message is to look to your spiritual center for genuine, lasting and healing solutions. This may require focus, practice and determination. You can heal yourself and/or others in some way. Perhaps someone will offer this healing to you. There may be a need to leave the pressures of modern society for spaces that are much calmer, more spiritual or self-focused. Take some time and effort to tune in as the healing experience is occurring. Indeed, a 'Mystic Healing' experience could descend over you and change your life in some way forever.

Keywords for this degree are: Divine healing potency, natural healing methods, going on faith, humility in the face of greatness, yogis and fakirs, finding one's center, healers of all kinds, glowing health, issues of love, spirit and calm, tapping vast reservoirs of healing forces, auras that radiate, pranic energy, urine therapy, reiki healing.

As always, I look at the degree of the Sun on the full Moon. It's Leo 3: A Mature Woman, Keeping Up With The Times, Having Her Hair Bobbed. Although we cannot really become different by changing our appearance, feeling good about the image we display does radiate both inwardly and outwardly. When the Sabian Symbols were given birth in the 1920's, a woman showed her independence, sassiness and readiness to take on the world through getting her hair 'bobbed'. This degree speaks of keeping up with trends, asserting one's independence from social constraints, wanting to shrug off the years, adopting a younger attitude, changing appearances, hairstyles and hairdressers, hats and scarves, meeting the challenges of age, radiating sexuality, bad hair days, midlife crisis, being a trend setter, feminism, etc.

Just as with the Moon, the degree of the Sun at this full Moon is smack on the last minute of the degree. This means that the next degree is going to be very strong. It's Leo 4: A Man Formally Dressed Stands Near Trophies He Brought Back From A Hunting Expedition. This degree is especially interesting following on the one previous to it. Thinking about this, my mind went to the term "trophy wife" - gotta be slim, taut, terrific, pretty, well dressed and presented. Of course, that's not what this is necessarily about, although for sure this will resonate for some. Are you appreciated for your true values? Or, are you fulfilling a role that doesn't really show your talents, depths or abilities? Perhaps this degree is saying that it's definitely time to show your own 'trophies'; your skills, your abilities, what you've accomplished and what you hope to accomplish in the future. Perhaps there's someone in your life who's only ever interested in what they've accomplished, with you standing in the shade.

Keywords are: Trophies of conquest, the desire to show one's self, proving one's animal instincts for the benefit of social position, displays of manliness, the spoils of daring and courage, notches on the belt, victories over another, trophies for one's club, social standing or country, looking for pats on the back, diplomas, guns, rifles, ammunition, Academy Awards, animal liberationists.

There seems to be loads of insight, clairvoyant messages and intuition in the air as Venus is on Virgo 18: Two Girls Playing With A Ouija Board. This can bring through all kinds of energy, especially on the intuitive level or from the spirit world. Stay tuned for messages of all kinds, whether you overhear something said, or see an advertisement or catch a line in an open book. Messages are around for sure. Friends can provide answers that have been sought.

Mars is on Virgo 28: A Bald-Headed Man In Uniform Has Seized Power. This speaks of dominating other's space, taking positions of power, proving one's virility, strutting one's stuff, wearing the pants in the family. Mars may be playing the upper hand for now, although he may not be so cocky when he meets up with Saturn late July/early August. Saturn is a little stuck and Mars will be too when they're together, especially around July 31. The Symbol for Saturn is Libra 1: A Butterfly Preserved And Made Perfect With A Dart Through It. This speaks of holding onto things or events from the past, feeling pinned to the spot, stuck to something and unable to let go... it can be perfection and beauty made immortal and the sacrifice of one's self for an ideal or to be able to keep one's position, even if it means one can't fly free or do what is truly wanted. Here is a bit of a dilemma as Saturn's message is quite different from the full Moon's Deserter From The Navy.

It seems there's a pull between deserting ship and being pinned to the spot, at least in terms of the Symbols for the Moon and Saturn. This certainly seems to be a prime time to get a handle on getting one's life in order as Saturn is providing support by being in good aspect to the Sun and Moon. Further adding fuel to getting life sorted is the good aspects from Uranus and Jupiter. Uranus is on Aries 1: A Woman Has Risen Out Of The Ocean, A Seal Is Embracing Her (finding your voice and your feet) and Jupiter on Aries 4: Two Lovers Are Strolling Through A Secluded Walk (which can speak of walking love's path = together with someone or alone).

Being clear and keeping lines of communication open may prove to be a bit of a challenge, though, with Mercury smack opposite Neptune. Mercury is on Leo 28: Man Little Birds Chirping On The Limb Of A Large Tree. This can be about gathering with people of like mind, sharing ideas, databases, the Internet and chat groups, books, tapes and CDs, publishing houses, telephone switchboards and the battle to gain attention. All this is great, but there could be a lot of twittering (the 'Birds') going on without much actually being accomplished (all talk no action?) It could be that some are judging, talking about or downright gossiping about others and what they're doing in their lives. Gossip in society is good to a point; it's part of the cohesion of society - without catching up on the stories about others, our lives would have less color and depth. However, when there's a lot of chattering that just ends up being no information but a lot of noise, this can get irritating, time wasting or downright hurtful to others.

With Mercury directly opposing Neptune, communications can be lost, misplaced in some way or just plain scrambled. It can help to follow up on agreements or conversations if things are not as clear as they should be. Interestingly, Neptune is on another tree degree (it's amazing how Elsie Wheeler, the spiritualist medium who gave birth to the Sabian Symbols in 1925 came up with these Symbols). The Symbol for Neptune is Aquarius 28: A Tree Felled And Sawed To Ensure A Supply Of Wood For The Winter. This speaks of gathering resources, being prepared for any eventuality, stocking up and stockpiling, log cabins, open fires, provisions, money, logging, timber, wood for burning, oil, petrol, fuel of all kinds, wood chips, storage.

The question of this full Moon seems to involve issues of staying or leaving, being persevering or knowing when to cut your losses, choosing happiness over duty, etc. Listening to your 'conscience' could bring some very interesting realizations.

posted July 22, 2010 07:44 AM         

all of these latest newsletters talk about Change.

indeed that is what it is coming for us all.

posted July 24, 2010 08:47 PM         

The Moon/ Earth conjunction in Aquarius has only two aspects, a sextile to Jupiter in Aries, and a semi-sextile to Pluto in Capricorn (and of course, the opposition to the Sun that is the reason for the event in the first place!) A meeting of Moon and Earth in a sign that’s all about cerebral concepts is not a great fit; the emotions and intuition ‘ground’ themselves in the material environment–an excellent concept in itself, connecting the emotions and extrasensory input to the physical surroundings, creating an understanding that is greater than its parts–but the sign in which this occurs, Aquarius, is mental, rather than intuitive, and doesn’t get any more physical than electricity, itself essentially invisible. That means our Moon/ Earth meeting, a time when the combination of these most ephemeral attributes in interplay with our material world should be coming to intuitive and emotional culmination through both the spirit and material results, will likely not reach a fulfilling conclusion, not because this isn’t available, but because we will try to translate things through the mind (Aquarius) only; there will be influences from our own dark or practical nature and from external destructive forces (Pluto in Cap) and pressure from the social sphere to perceive things in a particular manner that emphasizes ego fulfillment and separateness (the ‘I am society, and society is me’ of Jupiter in Aries).

What if we widen our orb? Does this make anything about the situation any clearer (or, what we’re really looking for, does it give us a way out of an inevitable misperception?) If we widen our orb to 3 degrees, we bring in a sextile to Uranus at the Aries Point, and a trine to Saturn in Libra. Hmm, this may help us pinpoint ‘trouble sources’ that could be what tries to push us in the wrong direction for a successful intuitive/ spiritual/ material culmination. The sextile to Uranus suggests, perhaps, two things: one, that our own rebellious nature, intellectual bent, Higher Mind, or wish to be different might steer us wrong–or, two, that a group or social cataclysm (not necessarily a disaster, but rather a group demand) might come forward and in effect disconnect us from our own intuitive nature–and so disconnect us from our chance to gain a sense of fulfillment and closure from this Full Moon moment. The trine to Saturn in the sign of partnership is amusing in this context: we may dig in our heels in a relationship that is just over, and that normally would be brought to an end with the energy offered by a Full Moon.

The Sabian for the Full Moon is ‘A Deserter from the Navy’–are we surprised? This is the abandonment of a cause by the most martial of water bearers–the individual who runs from something (in this day and age) to which he or she has quite willingly committed him- or herself. This suggests, in light of the Uranus, Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto aspects, that the individual destructive and rebellious urges may win out, though with some caveats. Just because one runs away from the group doesn’t mean they are no longer a member–truly severing ties is quite different from the symbolic act, or the simply rebellious one. This may symbolize that ‘the ties that bind,’ which might normally end with this Full Moon, may drag on, with plenty of pointless rebellions, incidents of lashing out for freedom, and ‘pretend’ destructive or transformative episodes as a result.

The end of something may feel premature at this point; or, we just may not be done acting out, making our intellectual point to the other party or to the group. The energy is best handled with the understanding that the mentality is too active in the decision-making process to provide a truly accurate picture–and as long as we know that, we can accept that the rationalizing and reasoning that we may be inclined to will not get us to the heart of the matter. Understanding (Aquarius) that we are at a kind of midpoint, rather than a culmination, at least in energy terms, will help us embrace the positive portions of the Full Moon process (which strongly support mental accomplishment, original creative acts, and innovative activities) while minimizing the more dramatic, disaffected, or chaotic influences to our response.

http://juliedemboski.wordpress.com/

posted July 24, 2010 10:54 PM         

I am confused

what does she mean by Moon/Earth conjunction

Earth is used in the heliocentric Astrology system.
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Raymond Andrews,
President,Executive Director of Developmental Neurodiversity Association
Supporting the Neurodiversity Movement