April showers bring May flowers - New Moon in Taurus

Today is the last dramatic event of this very astrologically dramatic April. Or I guess it was projected to be dramatic. Mine was eventful and clarifying. Today is a solar eclipse which falls on a new moon in the sign of Taurus. Eclipses are more intense versions of a new or full moon. They can cause unexpected events. And with a solar eclipse, they can cause things to be obscured which then come to light. But I will speak in terms of earthly Taurus to explain how you can best interpret this astrological event.

Taurus is an earth sign and a lover of physical pleasures  - touch, taste, sight, sound and an appreciation of everything that comes out of this earth. (even money comes from the earth - it's made of trees right?) Taurus is rooted to the ground and has a strength in establishing security.

So if this past lunar eclipse at the beginning of April and the Cardinal Cross that happened last week created an earthquake in your life; then it's time to assess the so called 'damage.' While change you don't control sucks, you can look at this shake up in your life and recognize it as a mere shifting and changing to the ground you stand on. Instead of firm, hard soil, you now stand on ground that's been all tilled up and is able to be farmed. The useless weeds got pulled up, the weak buildings crumbled to the ground and the strong buildings have stayed standing. Everything you have to work with that is left in your life is now ready for planting a seed.

If my imagery above wasn't clear enough for ya. . . The message on this new moon is to sow what you'd like to reap in the future. Be present; water the seed; root yourself into the ground to create. I once had someone tell me that a tree has branches that can extend way up into the air. It can become intensely complex, unique and beautiful and can create new trees by producing more seeds that travel long distances. But none of that is possible without first rooting yourself into the ground and committing.

What has come to light this past month for you? What is clearer? Stand firm on knowing what you want in your life and in your gut and put a seed in the ground to start growing. Look around you at all that didn't make it through this so called earthquake. The universe asked you to say goodbye to the old structures and is creating something new and different for your life - so you have to trust and see what blooms!

There weren't a ton of technical things to explain about this new moon, but I posted this column based on what I have read and also how I personally am feeling. Let me know if this resonates with you!

Heads up - Tomorrow is a Full Moon Eclipse

There is a much buzz about a blood moon tomorrow. Seems like a mystical, dark and fore-boding term but blood moons aren't that uncommon. The astrological drama people are buzzing about really should have nothing to do with the fact that the moon may have a red hue. In fact, most Lunar Eclipses ALL take on a red hue. But that's
not really why this full moon is so notable. So before you start to imagine that this week will bring your own version of the Game of Thrones Red Wedding. Calm it down a notch and read some other reasons why you should pay attention this week.

1. It's an eclipse. All eclipses are just super intense full moons. Tomorrow's eclipse falls in the sign of Libra while the Sun opposes it in Aries. So like I've expained in prior eclipses, there will be a push pull between the traits of Libra which value partnerships, weighing details (which might be trivial to an Aries) and putting an emphasis on love and compassion. Aries, in a very different manner, wants you to move. As in NOW. GO! Forget those frivolous matters of comfort, saying long goodbyes and making pros and cons lists. Move! Move!
Ah, but there's always a compromise. To move into partnership (Libra) you DO have to act (Aries). So this may mean moving out of old outdated comfortable habits and into a new situation that suits our higher way of being.

2. There's a tetrad of Full Moons following tomorrow's. OK so this is the first I have heard of this, BUT apparently there is some biblical significance to the fact that there are no partial eclipses in between the next 4 full moons happening in the next 2 years. So you know, there are always 2 Lunar eclipses each year anyway. Always. So, I don't quite get it and I am not getting into this, because I don't know much about it and I don't know how it applies to astrology. But here's a link for more. . . I don't feel better informed per the article. Please comment below if you do know more!

http://earthsky.org/space/what-is-a-blood-moon-lunar-eclipses-2014-2015#prophecy

3. This eclipse is happening during the upcoming formation of Grand Cardinal Cross. Click this link below on my article about this intense astrological event. Life will be 'a changing. Yeeeeeee!

http://www.thefullmoonfactor.blogspot.com/2014/03/you-feeling-it.html

So in short, hold on to your hats. I hate to imbue any negativity onto this event. I feel we all just have a shake up in our lives coming and it could be good or bad or hard or fun. Who knows. I do think we influence our own futures, so think positive! Life may feel unsteady or uncomfortable but if changes are afoot for you just have faith that you are moving into your future . . . which I'm thinking is gonna be BRIGHT!

You feeling it?

Yes. I talk about energy and what it FEEEEEELs like out there. It's hippy dippy. It's new agey. I am SORRY!

Actually I'm not sorry. When y'all start to get stressed out, you're gonna like the validation, I promise!
But seriously - any of you guys feeling this changing, shifting, energy? I sure as hell am! Where is stable ground???

My favorite astrology sites have been talking up the craziness of April 2014 since last Fall. I've written about eclipses before. They happen twice a year and they create shifts and changes. And depending on which signs these eclipses fall within determines where the change might happen in your life and gives an overall theme to the eclipses. But the reason that these upcoming April eclipses are so buzzed about is because there is also an additional rare element called a Cardinal Grand Cross involved. Let me explain a little more. . .


Mars, Uranus, Jupiter, Pluto form a cross when the first two and last two planet sit across from each other. Opposition causes tension and conflict. And the astrological Cardinal signs involved in this whole deal are the signs that represent primal action, moving forward, pioneering ahead. They ALL initiate change. There are no fixed signs involved and no mutable signs. All the hard core instinctual action takers are on deck. Those signs are Aries, Cancer, Capricorn and Libra. To add to that, those signs also represent "Myself (I)" "Home" "Career" and "Relationships (We)" respectively. Ummm, that's kind of your whole life in a nutshell that is represented in this cross - this action / changing / 'moving forward' aspect in the sky.

All this sets us all up to have some pretty drastic - (possibly much needed but unexpected) - change in our lives. And this aforementioned cross is in its exact formation on April 23-24.

The Full Moon and New Moon eclipses involved happen on April 15 (Full Moon in Libra) and April 29 (New Moon in Taurus). I'll keep you posted on those. But you can see that all this is happening in one big chunk, right in the middle of April!

Interestingly enough in my life, my parent's birthdays are both the key dates of April 15 and 24. They are about to make one of the biggest changes in 30 years by moving from their long time home. It's a huge emotional and physical change for them. I just see lots of 'coincidences' floating around with dates and things lining up during this time.

So if you are "feeling it" right now, you might just be tuning into this building energy that will culminate in April. Perhaps solid things are sliding away or adjusting every so slightly to make room for the Universe to shift you? The firm and solid in your life is probably starting to 'heat up' to make you more malleable.




We are feeling the heat bubbling from this volcano about to blow in April. But not to worry. I believe worry is a total waste. Volcanoes create the most beautiful land formations after all is said and done AND we can't control it …even if we tried.

Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii

So stay tuned for more change in your life! I will try and keep posting to keep you updated. I would love to hear how it might be effecting you!

Everything is moving!

I promised you a post yesterday. I didn't do it. Get over it.

Oooooh, that's my Mars anger coming out. Mars is acting all crazy as are many other planets and it is all happening THIS week.

This is a week that astrologist have flagged for a while that will be pretty profound. And maybe this week will just seem hectic and you'll look back at this time and say…oh yeah, things kinda started shaking up that week.

Here is why….
Planets in the sky are moving and shaking. Some are starting to move backwards, some are moving forward after having been backwards.  This is equivalent to being on an amusement park ride, full force in forward motion which then stops and starts moving you backwards. It's a dang weird feeling and takes a minute to get used to the new direction. You go right back over the same tracks you had JUST gone over . . . Mars, Mercury and Saturn are the culprits this week for this disorientation. There are also two smaller 'planets' moving - Ceres and Vesta, but let's focus on the bad boys.

Mars and Saturn are not the nicest planets which could lend some negative energy to this week. They are tough and big and BOTH going retrograde this week. In addition Mercury has BEEN retrograde and will once again move forward.

Mars going retrograde on March 1 will ask us to review the actions we have set in motion. Mars is action, war, anger, men and sex. So these impulses will calm and slow. Being angry and direct may not seem as effective. Oh, and someone told me to tell you that we might experience passive aggressiveness. Men will start acting funny. They'll go back over things and reconsider. And finally, Mars will ask us to reassess and tweak our actions until the end of May when it goes forward again.



Saturn goes retrograde March 2. I REALLY don't know a lot about Saturn retrograde, so I am referring you to another site to read up. To recap the article below….sounds like Saturn is about limitations, structure, karma, life lessons, convention and boundaries. Best I can muster up here is that Saturn retrograde will have us go back over old ground with the eyes inspired by the aforementioned traits. Perhaps if you've not put enough hard work, structure, etc into something you can reassess and will have to put those elements into your life now. Read below for a more educated opinion.

http://www.lynnkoiner.com/astrology-articles/saturn-retrograde



And then comes this thing is a-happenin' . . . Jupiter Squares Uranus February 26.
Sending you over to a link here as well….in short - Jupiter reps expansion and Uranus reps enlightenment and individuality. So you will feel this urge to pursue a something in your current world to be more independent or create your unique vision.

http://darkstarastrology.com/jupiter-square-uranus/

And also…this is happening….New Moon in Pisces on March 1
No worries,  I got this one understood….I've explained New Moons before. These are a great time to start new projects, start over, etc. And with Pisces being a creative, feeling, understanding, psychic sign - all things in this vein will be inspired with a fresh start.

Ok. I am worn out. That is all I can tell you about this week . . . there is probably more I left out but that's all you get.

See! this week is draining me as well!

Good Luck and keep me posted on any craziness in your world.

Did last week shift for you? Astrological nodes . . . shaking things up.

I love it when you guys hit me up to find out why your weeks have been so stressful, crazy, jumbled, confusing and chaotic. You seek astrological answers??? From little ole meeeee? YES!
At some point, I have clearly begun luring you over to the 'dark side' muh ha ha ha ha!

Last week and this week, I have had a few friends ask me to blog about why it might be so CUH RA ZEE. So here we go. . .

A quick explanation on last week, the week of Feburary 17. Yes,  it has already passed, but the changes last week will apply for a while. This is one of those astrology mumbo jumbo explanations, so I am gonna skim here to make it easy and more fun.

Nodes: Nodes are astrological aspects that explain that as humans we all come into this life with things we are already great at (and COMFORTABLE with) and aspects where we can be developed and rise to a higher level of being. The comfy Node is our South Node and that high achieving Node is the North Node. These Nodes are opposite signs of one another - directly across from the astrological wheel. So if your South is Cancer, your North is Capricorn. South Gemini / North Sagittarius, and so on.  To strive to step up to your North Node sort of karmically balances us. Otherwise we aren't as well rounded as human beings in our existence here on earth. The North Node is always a huge challenge for us.  . . a damn hard workout that we are absolutely capable of but we don't really always want to do.

We all have specific Nodes in our charts based on when we were born which apply to our lives personally, but the Nodes also change signs and apply generally to everyone's astrological 'weather.'

Cafe Astrology offers a great explanation (better than mine) below.
http://www.cafeastrology.com/nodesofthemoon.html

Last week these things…these Nodes, shifted.

Since August 2012 the South and North Node have been in Taurus /Scorpio respectively. On February 18, they shifted into Aries (South Node) and Libra (North Node).
This means that the sky is presenting us all and the energy of the world a NEW challenge. Let's all step out of the comfort zone of Aries (or what Aries represents) and challenge ourselves to step up to the higher level of being that Libra represents. Aries is very me, me, me, my needs, impulsive, driving forward fast and Libra is very us, partnerships, weighing both sides of the coin, collaborating, partnering. So read up on those two signs and apply accordingly.

Energetically it's gonna feel like this: There is a REALLY valuable stock that you have the opportunity to buy into TODAY or else you may miss out on a big win in the future. Ahhh…. BUT, in order to do this, you gotta get the money from your business partner. And your business partner is the type of person that wants to make a pros and cons list first AND they want count out all the money to make sure it's the right amount . . . oh in pennies, no less . . . before you can tell you broker to BUY BUY BUY. You HAVE to partner to do this, you can't move forward on your own, but this partnership conflicts with your fast moving, impulsive, "I wanna go NOW" comfort zone of making your own decisions.

It's also one of those times where you later learn that your biz partner actually made you hundreds of thousands MORE by catching a mistake, or offering an enlightened perspective. Then you have to say AH HA, I was wrong. . . Again.  Dammit Nodes. Partnering IS better. Now I'm smarter. Thanks for that hard lesson.

THIS is our challenge for the next few years….FUN!

THIS people is what it means when the Nodes change signs in 2014.

And now this blog is clearly too long, so I will save my 2nd blog for later this afternoon. It's gonna get messier this week! WHEEEEEEEeeeeeeee.

Year of the Horse

If you thought this was gonna be a lesson on the year of the horse; scroll to the bottom and link to other pages. I ain't gonna try and fake it too much. While I am no expert on Astrology in general, I can keep up with a complex conversation on western astrology. Chinese Astrology, not so much. But I did want to share with you two things that I thought were interesting and perhaps relevant.

1. How Chinese New Year is (or can be) relevant to Western Astrology.

Chinese Astrology is similar to Western Astrology in that it has 12 symbols of the zodiac and we all relate to one of those signs depending on when we are born. The difference is that while Western Astrology dictates 'YOUR SIGN' by birthdate within about a month timespan (June 21-July 22 are Cancers for example). Chinese Astrology dictates your sign based on the YEAR you were born.

So how can these 2 co-exist? I am sharing some insight from an article I read that made sense to me and allows me to make sense of both. So let's go with it, shall we?

In our charts we all have many planets that represent who we are, above and beyond the Sun (which is our classic astrological sign). We have the moon in our charts which changes phases every few days. Then we have Mercury, Venus and Mars that take a few months or  more than a few months to change signs. And then there's Jupiter which takes about a year. Because Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars differ from your peers since they change signs more often, these are called your personal planets. They are very specific to you and are going to be quite different from your buddy born earlier or later the same year. Now Jupiter and any planet beyond Jupiter moves through the sings slower and you are going to share these planets with peers around your age. These are more the generational and sub-generational planets. Jupiter specifically changes about once a year and THIS is how we can relate it to Chinese Astrology.

Jupiter's sign at the time of your birth represents your sense of purpose, the way you make your luck and generally your fortune

Find out where Jupiter Falls in your chart here!

http://astro.cafeastrology.com/cgi-bin/astro/natal

These implied traits apply to you and peers within about a years time of your birth. You share a sense of purpose with those folks. So an astrologer likened the Chinese zodiac sign of the year as being similar to Jupiter. It's going to apply to all the folks born in the same year and be less specific to each person and more about the sense of purpose for that group. It represents the temperature of the world, the energy of the people, the vibe of the year and therefore this is infused into your being as you come into the world and experience life for the first time. While it doesn't line up timing wise EXACTLY….it's just a fun way to think about it.

Makes sense kinda…right?

Now my other shared thought of the day.

2: Today is the start of Chinese New Year and is another symbolic 'fresh start' that aligns with the New Moon on January 30 and Venus moving forward on January 31.

So, ummm... yeah….I know less here, BUT Happy Chinese New Year folks! The Horse is a symbol of movement, travel, strength, and luck. Apparently this will be a great year to see your projects off and running and to make changes, moves and be open to new experiences. The horse represents freedom; the horse is a bit wild and needs to be tamed! So off we gooooooo!

In lieu of me faking like  I know a lot about Chinese Astrology, I have posted some links to sites that offer more! Read away and look up your own horoscope for 2014!

http://www.astrology.com/chinese-astrology

http://www.chineseastrology.com/new2014horseyear.html

January offers TWO chances for a new start.

In writing this from Atlanta in the midst of 'Snowpocolypse', I'm thinking about the ice melting, the chaos subsiding, people taking a deep breath and everyone looking to move forward tomorrow with a new day. Perfect timing according to the stars.

Tomorrow is not just the 2nd New Moon in January (the first was January 1) signaling a great time to start new resolutions in your life, but this moon comes the day before Venus moving forward AND Chinese New Year (both falling on January 31). I will cover the New Moon and Venus moving forward today. And tomorrow or Friday, I will offer a promise to write about the Chinese New Year. (hopefully I keep the promise!).

Let's start with this New Moon in the sign of Aquarius. Last post, I talked about the Sun in Aquarius and what qualities Aquarius brings (so check that out for more about the sign of the Water Bearer).  We are still in Aquarius season until February 18 and tomorrow the moon will be in the sign as well. The Moon is representative of our emotional nature, and a New Moon is the beginning of a fresh phase…a new start! We will be ready to move forward with the new, shed the past and start to embrace our unique vision of the future. Remember, Aquarius represents the future, one of a kind ideas and marching to the beat of your own drum. Aquarius is also humanitarian, group focused and appreciative of a social circle as opposed to the self.  I'm not sure about the whole U.S., and umm world? but here in Atlanta this city came together as a collective whole to help out fellow humans in yesterday's craziness. Maybe this quality will remain in people's minds as they move forward with the New Moon. There will be an energy of group support and love as folks choose to think differently about a situation and how to move ahead in life.

You may also hear about how this New Moon is a Supermoon. What does THAT mean? It just means that the moon will be extra close to earth. There are 2 of these Supermoons in January! (The first was on January 1st) Two new starts in one month! Powerful stuff. The moon will be closer to us and astrologists believe when the moon is closer, the effect is stronger and more potent than usual.

Alright . . . on to the next topic: Venus moves forward on January 31….two posts back I talked about how Venus has been retrograde since the end of December. We've seen Venus's darker side perhaps/ Venus being the sign of love and money, we've gone back over financial plans, heard from past loves and taken over a month to reassess issues in our minds. But January 31, this lovely goddess moves forward! It's time to take what we've learned in the retrograde and GO! Start the new job, put your financial plan into action, ride the wave of your love life with this new awareness as it moves forward. What have you learned and what will you choose to apply? Don't turn a blind eye to your lessons in love, work partnerships and money, lest you repeat them!

I am gonna steal a quote from a website www.astrology.com.  I thought this was quite insightful and don't want to mash it up.

The danger here is the illusion that by changing partners we can somehow break the pattern when in reality the saying goes, “swap the partner, keep the problem.” In that case, it might be better to take enough time to break the pattern internally before embarking on a new tryst. 

Read their whole post here:
http://www.astrology.com/move-forward-integrity-love-venus-goes-direct-capricorn/2-d-d-557885


Sage wisdom indeed. Lots of changes, challenges, new opportunities and learnings!





Venus Retrograde
Venus moves forward January 31
Aquarius New Moon January 30
Supermoon January 30
Aquarius Moon
Chinese New Year Astrology
January 30, 2104 astrology
Week of January 27 astrology
January astrology 
February astrology