Waning Moon in Libra

When the moon is waning, that is, when we are winding down after the building up of a project that pushed forward with steady momentum from new moon to full moon, we aren't completely done with that project. We are putting on the finishing touches as we move through the slower period of the waning moon. This month's moon cycle started with the new moon in the sign of Aquarius, the sign associated with humanity in the collective sense, as well as getting the message out to the collective.
It built to a full moon in Virgo last Monday with myriad details to work out, and now with the moon in Libra today and tomorrow, we share the final stages of the work with our partners and team mates.
This is when we gather together to get to the point of moving the message out to the greater world.

It is a time to savor, this sharing of a project coming to completion in some way, for it won't last very long before the next one presents itself to start thinking about. In fact, it may be in the sharing right now with co-workers that the next cycle's project gels in the minds of those concerned. Yes, there is another week to finish up with the old stuff of this cycle, but we are already clearing space in our minds for the next cycle that begins on March 8 with a solar eclipse.

Share dreams of what might be with others. It's time to dream and connect.

Timing

Astrology is all about timing, observation of cycles here on Earth and in the sky and applying that observation to practical use. Each year, I publish a calendar of best days for doing various gardening jobs according to the cycles of the moon, along with a simple explanation of them.

Since the waxing moon was in Cancer this past week, I got an early start on my own spring planting by seeding flats for growing indoors under lights. Lettuce, spinach and escarole are on their way!

Here's the calendar link:

https://hahgarden.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/2016-moon2.pdf

Midwinter Changes

If you have been up to your neck recently in changing your house around, cleaning and decluttering, and seeing your space differently, then you are right in sync with the earth's changing position. Yesterday we reached Imbolc, or midwinter, one of the eight major seasonal shifts each year. The ancients depended on their observation of the sky to know what next to expect and their measurements of the changes there helped them organize their activities. The Solstices and Equinoxes are the main four indicators of change but the midpoints are also important. Though most of us don't recognize these mid seasonal moments, we often still celebrate them in some way such as Groundhog Day (Imbolc), May Day (Beltane), early August was traditionally known as First Harvest (Lughnasadh) and Halloween (Samhain). As midpoints of the current season they indicate a shift toward the next one, hence at this time of year comes our motivation to start the spring cleaning and renovation of our indoor space, while we have time for it. Come late March we'll be in full swing implementing the outdoor work of the real springtime. At least that is how a gardener sees and knows things to be.

Add to that the fact that we are in the last days of the moon cycle and this past week has been busy finishing up those changes in the household, so that next week we can move them along into the next phase - after the clean-up/spruce-up comes the new order. Yesterday, while taking a break from reorganizing a freshly painted room, I stepped outside into uncommonly warm, damp air for what felt like a very real breath of spring. Immediately I noticed change as I noted there were two male red-winged blackbirds at the feeders. Rarely are they here so early in the year, though it has happened before. What really nailed me to the spot was the the sound of birds singing everywhere. After several months of mostly silence this is always a magical moment. The raptors, owls and hawks, are heard frequently here in winter, but the song birds keep to the business of finding food and keeping out of reach of the raptors. It is highly unusual for the songbirds to be belting it out at the beginning of February! A female cardinal sat in the big maple above me singing every note she's ever sung in her life, loudly and incessantly for five minutes, with a full blown passion usually reserved for mating season, still weeks away.

Which brings me to the big event of the weekend - Venus conjunct Pluto with the moon passing by as well, in Capricorn. Pluto (transformation) has been in Capricorn (institutions, governments, buildings, structures of all kinds...) for awhile now and is about halfway through its journey there - another noteworthy midpoint. With Venus (love, beauty, partnership, peace, cooperation) and the moon (feelings, family, the past) joining it, this could be an extraordinary time for team play, as in let's change our world and make it a more peaceful, loving place.

Yes, I know that there is a big game happening in the US this weekend, and that is part of the conjunction. But there is something else going on that people are passionate about now - change for the better, we've had enough of hearing the worst about ourselves and our governing, or wannabe governing, bodies. In the news today, the Pope and the Russian Orthodox Patriarch are going to meet and start to iron out a thousand year old argument - that is Venus meeting Pluto in Capricorn big time. If more events like this one, aiming toward peace and goodwill, are about to emerge then we'll all have something to sing about... meanwhile, enjoy your own transformations with love this weekend, it could be powerful! And you may learn something more about sharing.