Leo Full Moon Jan 23 2016 -Illuminating deeper truths & visions for self fulfillment

This Leo full moon will be exact on Jan 23 2016 at 5:45 pm PST. 3 deg Leo. This breaks open the emotional tension that has been building since the last new moon in Capricorn asking for some kind of change in circumstances for the next month, especially when it comes to feelings, and the area of life you have the sign Leo ruling and the area of life you have Aquarius ruling (houses). The Leo moon is ruled by the sun which is in Aquarius and Aquarius points to Uranus which is in Square to Mercury Rx conjunct Pluto! This tells me that this full moon has a lot to do with the tension that has been building from the deep hidden feelings, thoughts and or communication that has been surfacing this last week or so and is a culmination to the energy and tension building around certain thoughts you've had around a subject or area of life this past couple months that has been somewhat uncertain and a little troubling, as we wait for more information to fully figure it out. This has a lot to do with self and long term plans and achievements.

If you haven't had any new deep hidden feelings/thoughts or information surfacing this last week or so then it's likely this full moon will trigger that release of energy and bring more awareness to these deeper hidden truths about yourself and others trying to surface out of the shadows of your consciousness this next several days. Leo is about the self, creativity and what makes your heart feel fulfilled. Six months ago we had a Leo New Moon where intentions were set for finding greater creativity and happiness in your life. Now as that Leo New Moon has become Full we experience full illumination to what it is we need in order to feel that happiness. You can expect new revelations around what your heart desires the most at this time in your life to feel happy with yourself and more creative. The kicker of this full awareness is that what you learn about yourself might be troubling or hard to accept as Mercury is with Pluto. We are being asked to change our long term perceptions about our self and how we see our unique place in the group/world in order to truly find more joy, happiness and creativity in our life. Aquarius is the world, friends,the group and future dreams and visions so gaining more awareness about your unique special place within the group context is possible with this full moon.

This is a release of creative energy that's been bubbling under the surface for awhile. It's ok to break some rules now and try something unique, expressing yourself in new creative ways as long as you keep the need for rebellion in proper perspective and not let it create too much drama in your life by what this full moon wants to reveal. If you can try and balance your Leo house with your Aquarius house (areas of life) giving both equal attention, letting go a little of one or the other for greater balance then you will feel a sense of release and relief the next few days as the dramatic emotional energy starts to wane.

Any relationship tension you might have felt recently will also start to release this next several days which is reflective of Venus changing signs into Capricorn at the time of this full moon. This is relationships, desires, values and money energy changing from Sagittarius which has had peoples desires uplifted for something beyond mundane, dreamy, adventurous and idealistic this last several weeks into Capricorn which is more grounded and logical, mature and responsible. The goddess of love is no longer in a dreamy state, she wants something real and solid, and so desires will start finding long term needs and achievements attractive on multiple levels including long term relationship commitments. In fact as Venus aligns with Pluto this next couple weeks, relationship, desires and values changes drastically. Love and money issues get intense and most people will discover what has control over them, even from under the surface. This could be in any context - other people, habits, desires, etc. You will gain awareness to what or whom has control over your Venus energy which will give you opportunity to continue with another year cycle of this power dynamic or let it go for good. Regardless, the universal desires will be for personal long term achievement to what it is we each want on a personal level, especially in regards to the area of life where you have Capricorn on the cusp, along with the area of life you have Saturn in. This also means, in general, that the feminine will be more attracted to the shy, reserved mature guy that takes care of business. You would do well to keep date nights somewhat traditional now, ie: opening doors, paying her way, conservative music, environment, situations, etc..basically, treat her old school as Venus transits old school Capricorn while understanding and respecting her position as a modern woman. Venus (women) will be attracted to people with authority now, a little more so than normal.  Mars being in Scorpio gives the masculine the upper hand, a very aggressive and dominating placement so the masculine side of the love union needs to act like a man, loving, but firm with the feminine showing her that he knows how to take care of business...on multiple levels, if you know what i mean...

Expect big power and control issues to surface as Venus gets closer to Pluto peaking Feb 5th and 6th and there will be significant relationship changes around that time, renewing or ending. This could be true for your personal desires, values, money and attractions as well. Mercury will start to move forward again but still with Pluto and covering these deep feelings and thoughts trying to surface so intense, unusual and unexpected communication could arrive any day from now through Feb 5 and 6 at which time all this energy we have been dealing with the last couple months will finally find resolution.

So, just continue to ride the intense waves of change...gracefully, if at all possible.

I wish you all a happy Leo full moon.
Rik
Astrohawk Services

Your Mercury Progressed Retrograde - I bet you had no idea

This blog is best viewed via web version 

I want to talk a little more about Mercury Retrograde since we are currently in this transiting Rx phase through Capricorn and i still see so many people misunderstanding what these Rx phases are really about. If you have been following my work you know that i preach how Mercury Rx is nothing to fear or hide from and in fact this phase is very important and in desperate need of receiving more respect, especially from professional astrologers. In this post though, i want to bring something to your attention that you might not have realized, in hopes to burst your retrograde perception bubble of the doom. Does everything really go haywire when transit Mercury is moving backwards? This phase happens for about three weeks, around three times a year, every single year. That's a lot of time for the mental energy flow to be moving in reverse motion. Could it be true that over 2 1/2 months out of every year we live in mental chaos needing to hide from the world so the universe doesn't fuck with us? C'mon, first of all, the universe doesn't play games; secondly, people thinking that Mercury Rx means the mind isn't functioning properly only acting as a "trickster" is just down right insulting to the many people born with Mercury Rx.

And yes, What about Mercury Rx in the birth chart?

 Does this mean these people are mentally screwed for life?  Again, Cmon, get real. Remember, you can't isolate any one aspect in the birth chart. To know how someone is functioning mentally, you have to perceive the entire chart as a whole. The signs, houses and aspects from Mercury in the birth chart, including the rulers of those signs and houses will say much more about a person's mind regardless if Mercury is moving direct or retrograde. I would say a person that has a hard aspect from Mercury to Neptune would have a much harder time staying in a healthy mental flow than someone that just has a Mercury Rx with no challenging aspects. It all depends on those aspects, not the motion.

People born with Mercury Rx had to have that placement in order to properly fulfill their unique purpose in life, whatever that may be. It's not a mistake or a negative mishap holding them back in life. They could not have the proper perspective on their life without this position. The same goes for people born with Mercury direct - they needed this position in order to fulfill their unique purpose in life. People born with Mercury Rx is actually a gift. They can see outside the box; they have depth perception and make some of the best writers - they have a very strong active mind. Once they learn how to do something on their own, they usually excel at it far past what a Mercury direct person could accomplish. Any real problems with being born Mercury Rx will most likely come in early life as the child is being flooded with mental conditioning from the outside world that is contradictory to their own thoughts and way of looking at life. So it just takes a little time to get in their own mental flow, after they learn to trust themselves, learning on their own rather than getting all screwed up by the perceptions of others. Unfortunately, based on those early experiences, the person starts to believe something is wrong with themselves. What a shame. Again, being born with Mercury Rx or Direct means nothing on its own: the entire chart has to be factored in and the aspects from Mercury are the most telling! But if we are only going to judge based on Mercury Rx or Direct, than I would go so far as to say that people born with Mercury Rx are the brilliant ones of the world and the Mercury direct folks are just, idk, "ordinary", or "average". ha. But if you really want to know the truth, look at signs, houses and aspects, regardless of motion!

Don't feel bad if you were born with an average mind. (Mercury direct) You too might get a chance at experiencing the long term effects of Mercury retrograde, by progression!

I say this because people born with Mercury Rx will have it progress direct at some point in their life, for the rest of their life. Any extra challenges that it caused will most likely be worked out in early life. When Mercury progresses direct, it indicates they no longer have to deal with some of those early complications the Rx condition might have brought, and they are at this point fully in the flow of their perceptions. Whereas, people born with Mercury direct will most likely have it progressed Retrograde at some point in life, usually later where the progressed Mercury Rx phase lasts for years, if not rest of entire life! That's right, you might be in a long term progressed phase of Mercury Retrograde! That's kind of funny if you think about it, especially for all those people that talk shit about Mercury Rx in transit. Truth is, we all have the influence of both direct and retro motion of Mercury in our life, at some point, and we would all be dumb fucks without it.

If you have Mercury progressed retro, than this stage of your life you are finally being able to open up your perceptions past the garbage mentality and conditioning of the mainstream world. Congratulations, you might becoming mentally brilliant in your old age. But than again, i guess we should check the aspects off your Mercury before we say that for sure ;-)

If you don't follow or know much about your progressed chart, you missing out, big time. Astrology is complex stuff, and i guarantee you your progressed chart is reflecting your current life experiences more so than your natal chart, at this point. You will always have these natal influences to some degree and is what you might fall back on when acting and feeling unconsciously but the progressed chart shows how your life experiences have changed you in certain ways, changing the flavor of your life. These progressions work on the long term and are also very sensitive to transits as well.

So there you go. Is your Progressed Mercury moving direct or retrograde?

Yep, you might be dealing with the energy of Mercury Rx every single day of your life for years, even if you were't born with it! Oh no!! lol. It's all going to be OK, once you start to understand what retrograde phases mean, you won't have to hide or dread the transit Mercury Rx phases anymore. As i said before, the only time that you need to pay special attention is when Mercury is in station and changing directions which only lasts a couple days. Any other little mishaps you experience during a Mercury Rx transit phase most likely would have happened regardless of Mercury's direction. And if something unusual did happen that gets your attention in Rx phase, perhaps it was the universe helping you see something that you were over -looking before. Perhaps it's a gift in the long run - If you only had the eyes to see...

Here is what a progressed chart looks like. 

For added perspective, you can even place progressed chart in a bi-wheel with your natal chart to see just how far each of your energies have progressed at this point in your life. (below)

Hope the info was helpful. Now check and see if your Mercury is progressed retro or direct!

Rik

Capricorn New Moon Jan 9 2016

The new moon is at 19 deg Capricorn exact on Jan 9 at 5:30 pm PST. This begins a new lunar cycle for the next 28 days. Capricorn rules the 10th house of business, personal achievement, reputation, etc. New beginnings are required for this area of life now. Find the house in your personal chart where Cap is and apply this information to that area of life for yourself.

The new moon is in positive alignment with Jupiter Rx and the North Node in Virgo which means this new cycle will have big impacts on your future. This is all earth energy asking for seeds of intentions to be planted in this cycle that will effect your entire year of 2016 and beyond.

This new moon is best used for long term planning for those personal achievement needs this year. Things you desire and want; how you see yourself out in the world; what you want to do for work and money; how you want the world to perceive you; how you plan on getting everything you desire and need; your personal health concerns, and anything else that you have been wanting to do in a very grounded practical way.
This is the time to make connections and get things rolling in that direction. However Capricorn works at a slow pace and so your patience and hard work will be required for future success.


The thing about this new moon is that Mercury is in retrograde through Capricorn and Jupiter has also just changed directions into retrograde through Virgo. This means there is some level of uncertainty and any plans laid down will require some adjustments this next few weeks until more information comes in after Mercury has finished its retrograde cycle. Jupiter moving backwards can suggest that all these plans being made are perhaps on an inner level to some degree and won't fully materialize until after Jupiter moves forward and reaches this point again at 23 Virgo this summer. So again, patience and hard work is always required with Capricorn and Saturn energy. So make practical plans for the long term but don't expect these seeds of intention to fully flower for several months. It's about doing the small things, taking one small step at a time this next few months in order to get where you want be.

Saturn rules Capricorn which has a Venus conjunction at time of this new moon. This suggest that all things Venus are also needing these long term plans - relationships, desires, values, resources, etc all are needing some practical long term planning and commitment in order to materialize. The things you want right now may have to wait awhile before truly coming into your reality. But if you slow down, do it right, look far into the future, make solid plans,build solid foundations and have lots of patience with hardwork this year these things you personally desire can be achieved, but they won't be showing up right away, you have to wait for them! Regardless, these next few weeks will have a very significant effect on getting you these things for the long term because of the North Node in the mix. This past week has triggered some intense changes deep within, and this new moon is the last stage of that, planting the seeds for real long term changes in your life but i really feel like these changes won't be fully visible in outer life until at least this summer when we have a Capricorn Full Moon in 6 months. It's all about practical long term planning and patience with this moon!

As Mercury moves retrograde it's best to go back and take care of anything from the past that is lingering, getting in the way of achieving your desires for the future. More information will come in and some adjustments will be required so staying open to changes of plans is necessary for success. We are really being asked to rethink everything for the future after dealing with the past. Set intentions but be ready to make some adjustments over the next 6 months. Be like the Mountain Goat and take one small step at a time.

I wish you all luck. Happy Capricorn new moon.
Rik

http://astrohawk11.blogspot.com/p/services.html