LUNAR CYCLE —  MAY 2018

written by Heather Ensworth

As we enter this new lunar cycle on April 15th, do you find yourself feeling unsettled, agitated, angry or feeling depressed or experiencing a range of intense emotions? Or perhaps you feel as if you are burning off patterns from the past, deepening in your awareness and feeling an increasing clarity in your life and sense of non-attachment. These are some of the ways that you may be feeling and attuning to the intense energies of this new lunar cycle.  

 
It is a powerful new Moon with the Sun and Moon next to the outer planet Uranus and in a square with Pluto and Mars.  This is the energy of transformation but also can manifest as turbulence, storminess or destructive acting out if not worked consciously.  
 
Many of us are feeling strong reactions to the external events around us and the turbulence in the world, and these energies in the sky are guiding us collectively through this time of transformation as we move into a new Age.  
 
Remember that the chaos is the dissolution of the old paradigms to prepare us for the new forms; however, those in positions of power are resisting these changes, leading to much of the destructive turbulence in the world.  It is important to see the larger unfolding that we are in and not get mired in fear or despair. 
 
This new Moon is guiding us to feel the full range of our human emotions and our experience of polarities. Emotionally, we may swing between rage and compassion, depression and joy.  We may vacillate between storminess and stillness. In one moment, we may want to lash out and blame others for our dis-ease, and in the next, we may be angry at ourselves or feel discouraged and distressed.  Beneath the storminess, we may also feel flashes of deeper knowing and a trust in what is unfolding in our own transformation and the transmutation of our world.
 
Remember the wisdom of the Sufi poet, Rumi:
 
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

…Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

(“The Guest House” — translated by Coleman Barks)
 
At this New Moon time, allow yourself to feel all that you feel without taking action or making immediate decisions.  Let yourself dive to the root of your feelings to see what message they may be bringing to you.  
 
We are all being guided in this profound time of transition and transformation to let go of old patterns that no longer serve us, to open to the mystery of this liminal time and to trust that we are being guided into new ways of being.  
 
Honor your anger and allow it to show you where you are out of balance or out of alignment with your true self.  Be compassionate with your sadness or depression and honor that some of the sense of being overwhelmed that you feel in this time is your experience and some may be what you absorb from the tumult, fear and uneasiness of those around you.  We are all swimming in the cosmic soup of collective consciousness and unconsciousness now.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

— Sky Watch for this Month —

Mercury – rises before the Sun and may be barely visible before sunrise; Mercury is now direct
Venus – is not visible as she circles behind the Sun.  She will return as an evening star at the beginning of March 2018.
Mars – is visible in the eastern morning sky before sunrise.
Jupiter – is visible in the eastern sky just before sunrise and is close to Mars during this lunar cycle. 
Saturn – is visible in the eastern sky low on the horizon before sunrise