Warmest blessings this full moon weekend!
 
The full moon took place at 26 degrees of Leo at 6:53pm EST on Valentine’s Day. With the moon reaching her culmination in dramatic Leo, it’s a grand opportunity to celebrate the fact that life doesn't fit into one genre--it's comedy, tragedy, mystery, fantasy, and romance all rolled into one. Yet, a lot of the time, that mixed bag of contrast doesn’t feel like something to celebrate. Reminds me of the lyrics from the song, “Master Jack” (made popular by the group “Four Jacks and a Jill” in 1968): “It’s a strange, strange world we live in Master Jack. No hard feelings if I never come back.” Maybe you feel that way sometimes too!
 
Yet, Leo knows that joy is about just letting things happen as they will, while keeping focused on all the blessings around you. Leo is not fooled by the often dramatic and sometimes horrifying rigors of human existence. The Leo full moon says, “Play with life! Celebrate your life every day, whatever is happening, view it with a sense of awe at all the ways God is experiencing itself through you."
 
The full moon each month is that time when everything is illuminated. “You can see clearly now,” as Johnny Nash sings. Whatever you need to know or see clearly, it’s in the light. And if you don’t care for what you see, make your peace with it and turn your attention to something that brings a smile. And soon, you will be having lots more to smile about.
 
 I Digress...
It’s been nearly a year since I last published a newsletter. Part of the reason for that is that I invested the time I would normally give to writing the newsletter to publishing daily astrological forecast on Facebook and Twitter (as Guru Astrology). In October though, I took a fall from a step ladder and dislocated my radius by 45 degrees. Since I didn’t have health insurance, I opted out of having the surgery to repair the break. The short of it, the broken wrist has slowed me down quite a bit. (And I haven’t much liked having to type one-handed!) But the really significant part of all this was that as I was falling, a Grace was with me that gave me the awareness that there were blessings inherent to the event, whatever was to be the outcome. And that has made all the difference in my healing.
 
In these months since then, I’ve been betwixt and between, feeling neither here nor there and out on a limb most of the time. From the perspective of my humanity, I have found "reality" to be despairingly credible . I know well the frightened ego’s voice that argues vehemently for the reality of human suffering. At the same time, as Albert Einstein, reminds us, "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” Well, not only persistent, Albert, but very, very convincing too! 

Metamorphosis
Einstein shared another insight that has been a guiding light for me. “I must be willing to give up what I am in order to become what I will be.” That's been my mantra these past four months. I wonder, does the caterpillar go kicking and screaming through its transformation like my ego does or does it surrender joyfully to the process of metamorphosis? All of life is in a state of becoming, and just as surely as the caterpillar becomes a beautiful butterfly or a tiny acorn becomes a magnificent oak tree, its inherent in our human DNA to grow into our fullness of our authentic self as well.

Our solar system, our sun, every life form on this planet and every cell that composes the human body is in a state of becoming. The ego fights this truth—it’s terrified of the unknown. As long as everything remains the same, no matter how miserable those conditions might be, it feels safe. But take away the roles and routines that it’s accustomed to and the people and things it’s attached to, and the panic can be paralyzing. Who am I without that? Who am I without that relationship? Who am I without that money? Who am I without that job? Who am I without my plans, my hopes, my dreams? Who am I if not all the roles that structure my life? Who am I if everything held dear to me is taken away?

Those are questions that the ego can’t answer.  Its efforts to do so will make you feel crazy. Yet, a key energetic feature of these first 6 months of 2014 is bound to bring such questions to our awareness. It’s important to our wellbeing to have the lines of communication open between our ego and the eternal spirit that animates our human journey. The ego is not “bad”, it's just misinformed, operating on faulty programming, merely functioning from its conditioning to the material world. Its voice needs to be heard and then answered by your all-knowing inner voice. Your spirit is eager to demonstrate its creative power and to grow you beyond mere surviving. Your spirit is eager to see you thriving. And where there are circumstances in your life that are not aligned with the truth of your inner being, that’s where spirit can show you thriving.  All you have to do is ask and be in sweet anticipation of the answer.

It is not possible to resolve our problems or issues in life if we do not know who we are. Knowing ourselves is the foundation to understanding what we do, why we do it, and how to change. ~Andrew Schneider

To come to our wholeness, we must embrace the ego. The god within you loves it all—the good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. From the perspective of that wholeness, everything is an expression of the infinite being that you inherently are, experiencing itself through its humanity, here on planet earth. The good news is that we have support and assistance for opening the lines of communication between our human ego and our eternal spirit at this time. It comes from the three planets closest to earth, Mercury, Venus and Mars, as they are having retrograde cycles that overlap.
 
 Mercury, Venus, and Mars retrograde, oh my!
 
From my perspective, having an ego sometimes feels like being stalked by lions, tigers and bears!  This is especially true now, when things are in such enormous transition. With all three of the planets that govern the most personal facets of the human psyche retrograde, we are getting in touch with everything that is not contributing to a high quality life experience. The ego gets very restless and is prone to impulsive decisions and actions under retrograde influences because it is doing its best to maintain its illusion of control. But it’s very important to listen to your inner voice now as it concerns where you grow your life from here. That’s the sole purpose of the retrograde cycle—to ensure that your spirit is guiding your decisions and actions. And you’ll be able to identify when it is because you’ll just know, even above the voice of the ego’s fearful objections, you’ll know it’s what’s best for you.

These overlapping retrograde cycles will carry us into July, so let’s take a look at the energetic focus of each of these retrograde cycles.

Goddess of Love 
Venus, was retrograde December 21 through January 31 through 13-28 degrees of Capricorn. While she is now direct in motion again, she has not yet finished her retrograde cycle until she once again reaches 28 degrees of Capricorn, (because that is where she initiated her retrograde movement.) That occurs on March 3rd. With her retrograde cycle in Capricorn, Venus is guiding us to be in touch with what is of true and integral value to us on our human journey. What is it that is integral to your own being? What type of experiences are of value to you and constitute a high quality life experience for you? At the top of that list is the value you give to yourself. YOU, of course, are your most important commodity!

As Venus finishes retracing her steps these next few weeks, express your gratitude for those people and circumstances that enrich your life. Give thanks for every facet of your humanity you enjoy. Each time you express gratitude, you are transmitting a celebratory “YES!” to life and defining your preferences to the universe. For more general information on Venus retrograde, see my  April 2012 newsletter.

Ultimately, the purpose of life is to be the fullest expression of who you are--to share and give and demonstrate awareness of yourself as a creative being.
 
Mindful Creation
Mercury initiated its retrograde involving 18 degrees of Aquarius to 3 degrees of Pisces on February 6th. It will be direct in motion again on February 28th but does not emerge from its retrograde shadow until March 20th. Mercury’s retrogrades are an opportunity to have a pow wow with spirit. This Mercury retrograde, involving both Pisces and Aquarius energy, is supporting us in synching our mind with the "we’re all in this together" frequency. The Pisces energy is supporting the human mind to transcend its stories of separation. As both an air sign and a fixed sign, Aquarius represents the power of thought (air) as it manifests in form (fixed). With Aquarius, the act of focusing mental energy on a desired outcome is the portal through which it becomes real. Aquarius is one of the transpersonal signs and its focus is to use the mind for broadcasting visions of an inclusive world that welcomes, encourages and values the participation of all.

Mercury spends most of its retrograde cycle in Aquarius, supporting us in discarding the restraints of conformity and overcoming the enormous forces of mainstream socialization. Aquarian energy puts us in the mood to unhook from the suffocating status quo and pioneer new possibilities. we must be willing to trust ourselves and challenge the existing systems and state of affairs when we know in our heart that they do not serve the freedom they purport to be serving, be it in our personal world or our collective world.

For more general information on Mercury retrograde, see my online article.

When you refuse to limit your outlook on life to what could happen, You open yourself up to what can happen. Simply, with a change of mind, you can change your life! ~Deepak Chopra

Getting your Mojo on 
Mars is having its retrograde cycle through 9-27 degrees of Libra. It begins retrograde motion on March 1st and will be direct in motion again on May 20. It will not complete its retrograde cycle until it once again reaches 27 degrees of Libra on July 21. But Mars initiated its retrograde cycle when it transited 9 degrees of Libra on December 27.  So, you've likely been receiving signs and hints about its retrograde influence since the new year, clues about where the focus of Mars retrograde energy is focused for you. You may even feel a bit irritable and tight or even constrained by some circumstance in your life. This is Mars biting at the bit to make changes but sensing the time is not yet ripe.

This is the time period when things in progress tend to reach a critical point, where they will either reach an important milestone or they will be delayed or put on the back burner until after May 20 when Mars resumes direct motion.  Mars' retrograde period signifies a time for going within and reflecting on how potent and filled with passion you are about the things that consume most of your day to days.

Since this Mars retrograde take place in relationship-oriented Libra, the focus is on perfecting your skill at maintaining balance between loving self and other. Libra guides us to focus on establishing mutual reciprocity, a flowing giving and receiving, in all of our relationships. Connect and Collaborate. Seek to create mutual self-empowerment in all of your relationships.

For more general information on Mars retrograde, see my January 2012 newsletter.

What if you, truly being you, is the gift and the change this world requires? ~Dr. Dain Heer

Planets in retrograde spend a much longer period than usual in the house in your birth chart that contains the retrograde degrees. You might find it helpful to have a retrograde report that provides a thorough explanation of the retrograde planet’s influence by house and aspect to other planets in your birth chart during its retrograde period. The retrograde report provides daily guidance not only on the retrograde planet’s influence but also the transits of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Chiron.

Additionally, now is also an excellent time to have a forecast reading that will address not only the retrograde influences and transits of all the planets but also the progressions taking place.  As another option, If you have a specific issue that you’d like to have some astrological insight into, you might find that the ”One question answered by email” reading would be helpful to you.

The most important thing that you can do now is develop a relationship with your spirit, your Inner Authority, however you refer to it--God,  soul, spirit, or intuition--it's that eternal YOU that animates your body and knows exactly why you are here taking this human journey. To fulfill your unique role, you must be true to yourself. Make sure you give yourself this "Conversations with God" time each and every day. Talk and listen just like you would with a dear friend that loves you just because, without judgment, punishment, criticism, blame or rejection.