April full moon 22 April 2016

We are in the undertow of an intense Scorpio full moon on the 22nd April, which is taking into the hidden depths all that was flung out at the last fiery and reactive Aries new moon on 7th April and in the March eclipses. This is the Wesak Buddha wisdom moon whose theme is releasing the subtle grasp of attachment:

Your deadliest enemies, the ones who have kept you tied to samsara through countless lives from beginningless time up until the present, are the grasping and the grasped'.- Dudjom Rinpoche

Take time to pause, breathe, dive deep, let go. Issues that have been accelerating forwards may seem to be suddenly losing momentum and stalling in mid-air. By the end of this week there will be five planets going ‘retrograde’ (backwards) as seen from the earth. Mars and Saturn just turned around on 17th and 18th April, Jupiter has backtracked since 8th January, Pluto since 25th March, and on 28th April Mercury will join this reverse motion dance encouraging us to tune inwards, slow down.

Venus kicked off the full moon in the arms of Uranus and in stand-off with Pluto, the exact same hot spot where the last new moon appeared, symbolising yet more tug of war around already fraught relationships and resources. Hopefully as Venus moves into her own sign of Taurus on the 30th April the Spring time earth blossoming will empower her with a new rhythm and poise like Aphrodite Ourania (the heavenly queen) with her foot resting on a tortoise!

The full moon axis of Taurus and Scorpio focuses our attention on the relationship between the visible (material) and invisible (magical) worlds. It urges us to go deeper in both directions through connecting with the senses. We all carry the Taurean tendency to value to what is concrete, familiar and secure, and to doubt the subtle levels of our perceptions, our capacity to make magic. But when we can be open to sense the beauty of both visible and invisible worlds without judgement we can heal the split that separates our everyday world from the numinous:

'And the light shone in darkness and Against the Word the unstilled world still whirled About the centre of the silent Word' – TS Eliot

Accept whatever delays happen as part of this journey of purification, so energy doesn’t get wasted in resistance to what is. Remember the tortoise wins the race against the hare! Explore a new pace and rhythm to make space between moment and moment for seeing the feelings which underlie thoughts arising and returning to their root in stillness. Let the race against time of the so called ‘real’ world rest because time is also a state of mind that we can step out of. Patience creates timelessness, the dissolving of history, of ego, of ‘karma’:

'And right action is freedom From past and future also. For most of us, this is the aim Never here to be realised; Who are only undefeated Because we have gone on trying' – TS Eliot

As Mars connects with Neptune from 3rd to 26th April we can receive a download of realisation or confusion or both. Mars turned backwards as it was about to encounter fixed star Antares, a rival fiery red giant symbolising rashness, ambition and possible danger. Mars will now retrace its steps back into Scorpio for further cleansing and only returns to its encounter with Antares as it joins forces with Saturn on 23 – 24th August. This could bring out some kind of confrontation or test of power that may have been seeded in the dark at this current full moon and could be further stirred up by the solar eclipse on 1st September.

There should be a sense in coming weeks of steady grounded energy with Mercury, Jupiter, Node and Pluto aligned in earth signs signifying a focus on practicality, and some intense probing to get to the truth. On 9th May Mercury makes a rare ‘eclipse’ of the sun, it will be visible (with safety glasses) as a black speck moving across the sun’s face. A small communication may make a very large impact.

Coincidentally on the 9th May Jupiter in Virgo turns to move forward triggering a new phase in implementation of visions and practical solutions as it gradually lines up the following weeks with the Moon’s node (destiny point) and Saturn (decisive action).

Events seem likely to fast forward through May - June as Uranus moves into fresh territory. It lines up in opposition to Uranus in the 1974 Greek democracy chart suggesting perhaps yet another major shift of some kind. Those aspects of our lives that seem out of control are showing where the new growth is already happening. While we hold attachment to outcomes there is no real stillness-clarity, which is the energy that births the truly new. This is a testing time!

We are being asked to relinquish the grasping and the grasped, to trust, and not look back. Through the quality of attention we give to this long challenging transition time we are creating a new destiny for ourselves, and for the earth. Once we have accumulated the readiness and the time is right our next step will be a massive leap of faith!

Wealth or pleasure, Duty or discrimination, Duality or non-duality, What are they to me? Now I live in my heart - Ashtavakra