Transitions— Full Moon in Virgo February 24th.

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves. We must die to one life before we can enter another—Anatole France.

We are two moon cycles away from the spring Equinox. On March 20^th, the sun enters fiery Aries at the start of the astrological new year and the beginning of spring.

As the days lengthen here in the north, and the seasons begin to shift, we may already be feeling the urge to spring clean our homes or to unburden ourselves of something that has been pressing heavily on our heart.

For so many, this has been a quixotic month. Abruptly, the lives of hundreds of people have been upended as news of the insolvency of The Body Shop in Europe and the UK has left hundreds of people shocked, shaken, suddenly jobless. For some this month has delivered news of a new arrival in the family; a birth or an engagement to be celebrated. For others the death of a beloved still reverberates. On February 16^th, as Mars separated from a razor-sharp conjunction with Pluto and Venus poised on her threshold crossing into Aquarius (ethics, social causes, political issues, social restlessness), we learnt of the death of Alexi Navalny, charismatic Russian activist and courageous opponent of Putin. Alexi Navalny died in a grim Arctic prison (Pluto at 0° Aquarius square his Chiron in Taurus.) He was 47.

February may be the shortest month of the year, but human-made global warming and an El Niño heating surge have accelerated sea-surface temperatures. Meteorologists now predict that this February will be the hottest in recorded history.  Extreme weather events in California in the first week of February will be amplified in other places as Jupiter advances on Uranus in Taurus. The exact Jupiter/Uranus conjunction occurs on April 21^st (21° 49′ Taurus) and will be within an 8-degree orb from 2nd March to 5th June.

On February 24^th, a modest Virgo Moon opposes the Sun in Pisces signifying some of the tension and ambiguity we may feel amidst the collective angst. Virgo and Pisces are mutable, transitional signs, and both embody qualities we may recognise in ourselves as we move through this crucible of change.

This full Moon (5° Virgo) illuminates that part of our birth chart where we spend most of our daily lives. She precides over the quiet rhythms and routines that root us in seemingly ordinary tasks.

Virgo carries the energy of pared down simplicity. The essence of Virgo is a focused dedication to our craft, the loving attention we devote to the health and wellbeing of our body and mind. The Moon trines Jupiter in Taurus which may amplify, accelerate, or bring to our attention the need for gentle self-acceptance or a soothing practice of self-care that brings a sense of peace and calm to our daily lives. At this time of high tides and heightened intuition, we may be re-imagining our lives, prioritising self-care and spiritual practice to bolster our resilience as the ripples of change ebb and flow through our lives. Executive coach, Vanessa Loder speaks about “following our energetic breadcrumbs,” a daily choice, a tiny moment, that we can all feel into when we begin to focus our attention to those seemingly ordinary encounters.

Earth is Virgo’s element, and Virgoan qualities are so often depicted in  fairy tale where the heroine of the story performs tasks with humility and attention to detail. Humility derives from the Latin, humilis—down low, on the ground or of the earth. And as the Moon travels across the heavens tonight, opposing the Sun, Mercury and Saturn in Pisces, she may shine her light on those small disciplines, the little things that tether us to this earth at decisive threshold crossings.

The Sun moved into watery Pisces on February 19^th (Pisces corresponds to our lymphatic system, our feet and toes, while Virgo’s domain is our digestive organs) so this full Moon brings our focus on the quality and origin of the foods we assimilate, the health of our colon, our immune system and the comfort of our feet.  Mercury (how we think, re-imagine our lives and our relationships, and how we communicate) and Saturn (responsibility, hard work, structure and boundaries) both in shape-shifting Pisces, oppose the full Moon, highlighting the need for discernment and responsibility as we make our own tender transition into a new phase of life.

In letters exchanged between Boris Pasternak and Olga Ivinskaya, this moment of recognition and deep listening is so beautifully described: “when a great moment knocks on the door of your life, its sound is often no louder than the beating of your heart and it is very easy to miss it.” 

As this ripe-bellied Moon stirs the tides and moves the liquids in our bodies, may we refine our listening in the stillness of the night and withdraw awhile from the rough edges of this world allowing silence to wash over us like a spring tide. “Women need solitude in order to find again the true essence of themselves” Anne Morrow Lindbergh reminds us in her beautiful book, Gift from the Sea.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, we are reminded of the right timing for all things here on earth: To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heavens.

Now, with attention to detail and humble hearts, let us prepare for a new threshold crossing.

For a private astrology consultation, please get in touch: ingrid@trueheartwork.com

These beautiful illustrations are by Swedish painter John Albert Baurer (1882 –1918.)

Approaching the Dark—Winter Solstice December 22nd

To this world you belong. To this moment, in this place where you already stand, something greater has ushered you—Toko-pa Turner.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. A demure fir tree bejewelled with baubles becomes a dazzling diva. The unassuming delivery man wears a gaudy novelty sweater with “I’m sexy and I snow it” emblazoned across the chest. In small gardens, dancing reindeer and corpulent Santas twinkle, and fairy lights garland trees and hedges. As the old year dies in the darkness of midwinter, rituals—quirky and quaint—secure threads of continuity, create meaning, beguile us with wonder.

For some, this may be a lonely wintering. For those unmoored by a cluster of losses as the darkness closes in, the gaudy glitter and surfeit of this Christmas season amplifies isolation. For some this may be a fallow time of scant resources, for some, the protracted dying of a relationship may rachet up the strength to shrug off a life that now feels too small, too tight.  And for some, this festive season may be a time of joyful celebration, as we welcome a new baby into the family, or reunite with a much-loved friend.

On December 22^nd the sun enters Capricorn. The old sun dies. A new sun is born. This is the mid-winter solstice, a sacred still point in the year, the longest night, and in the darkness, something is gestating. Capricorn, like all astrological signs is multi-layered, profoundly complex. As ambassador of the mid-winter darkness, Capricorn embodies stoic acceptance, the pared down necessity of wintering through difficult times. Capricorn is an earth sign, a sign that is associated with the quiet alchemy of winter, with lean times and quiet determination. The essence of Capricorn is structure, so this is a perfect time for putting things in order, methodically getting things done.

Capricorn brings a moral awakening toughened with pragmatism, often the self-denial that strips us of those things that are stagnant or decaying and must be relinquished. In a throw-away culture where even our longest relationships can be reactively “unfriended”, where family estrangement has reached epidemic proportions and exile is often self-chosen, we may be actively seeking a new place or relationship that meets who we are becoming.  Yet, so much of our conscious awareness lies hidden in the shadow. We might think we think independently, yet we are identified with institutional ageism, sexism and the insidious collective dogma that is so evident in politics, religion and corporations as warring factions separate spheres of belief and project their shadows on the Other. Jung is so often quoted as saying, “when an outer situation is not made conscious, it happens outside, as fate.”

Before we reactively severe ties this Christmas, we might remember that the archetype of the Mountain Goat is also about the endurance, the resilience, of the long-haul.

“At the heart of ‘belonging’”, writes poet Toko-pa Turner, “is the word, ‘long’. To be-long to something is to stay with it for the long haul. It is an active choice we make to a relationship, to a place, to our body, to a life because we value it. Even though that it may not be all that we hope it to be, we are keeping the long view of what is possible, and our life becomes an offering to making it so.”

The last full moon of 2023 journeys through the heavens on December 27^th. This full moon falls in Cancer, a sign that embosoms our belonging—to a place, a community, a tribe, or family. The vibratory signature of this lunation symbolises the heart fire of our emotional security, our sense of safety, life-giving friendships and soulful connections that nourish and sustain us through difficult times.

Cancer is a Cardinal water sign, so the days after the festivities may release a torrent of emotion, stir the sediment of memory, dislodge vestiges of nostalgia, and remind us, as we unwrap our gifts and hug our loved ones, of those separated from their families by conflict, or trafficking, those who have fallen through the cracks of the system and are now homeless, sleeping rough.

The astrology of midwinter aids reorientation to what we value, offers a sanctuary to reconnect with ourselves within the darkness. Mercury turned Retrograde in Capricorn on December 13^th and on December 27^th will be moving Retrograde through the fire sign of Sagittarius, conjunct Mars. This is a time to listen generously, to practice curiosity, to allow ourselves to be surprised. On a more mundane level, Mercury Retrograde times can accompany miscommunication, transport difficulties, train or air traffic control strikes, lost or stolen devices that are alarmingly now the sole point for function in a virtual world. As we enter the new calendar year, Mercury stations direct in optimistic Sagittarius on January 3^rd as Mars joins the Sun in pragmatic Capricorn. Jupiter changes direction just before new year’s eve. Jupiter has been moving Retrograde in Taurus (sensual pleasure, finances, property) since September 4^th and this cycle ends on December 30^th, which might offer impetus to act, to dare greatly, to reach for what you long for with good faith in the outcome.

As we come to the end of this year, the bare bones of winter and the dark contours of the landscape offer no distractions. This is a time to turn within, to gift ourselves with some contemplative time, away from screens and devices, so that in silence we can sense what is dying and what is stirring, waiting to be born.

“The biggest illusion about a path of refuge is that we are on our way somewhere else, on our way to becoming a different kind of person. But ultimately, our refuge is not outside ourselves, not somewhere in the future— it is always and already here—Tara Brach.

Heartfelt thanks to all of you who have supported my work this year past. I am taking a break from technology over the solstice and will be looking forward to meeting again for personal astrology consultations in early January. Please email me to make a booking: ingrid@trueheartwork.com

Wishing you all a restful and peaceful festive season.

With love,

Ingrid.

Change of Heart—Gemini Full Moon—27th November.

One new perception, one fresh thought, one act of surrender, one change of heart, one leap of faith can change your life forever. Robert Holden.

Now as we tend to the cherished customs and familiar rituals of this holiday season, it may be easy to be distracted by busyness, overwhelmed with fatigue, whiplashed by unexpected events that leave us disorientated, discombobulated, yearning for soul shelter amongst those simple things that bring us comfort and joy.

November’s full moon  invokes Gemini’s mercurial magic as we approach the Solstice on December 21^st. In the Greco/Roman world, Mercury/Hermes presided over thresholds, crossroads, and boundaries. As we prepare ourselves for the challenge of crossing a new threshold, we may meet the spirit of Gemini in the wind that rustles the branches of the tree outside our window, a reminder that nothing is constant. Against the rich warm browns of dying bracken and marmalade and honey-gold of the last autumn leaves, it is the oak that holds fast the green the longest. A reminder perhaps that change emerges discretely for some of us, or in a flash, with a sudden change of heart, for others.

Air is Gemini’s element. This is the energy of the trickster—versatile, elusive, clever, playful, and infuriatingly inconsistent. Gemini moves through its two personas, appearing in those either-or choices we feel compelled to make, sometimes showing up at crossroad moments in our lives. Through Gemini we encounter the power of two, the kindred spirit, those relationships we find most challenging, the conflicts that bring out our exiled dark twin. Spiritual teacher, Caroline Myss’ Gemini Moon conveys the archetype of the Storyteller, the Data Gatherer. She writes, “the challenge is for us to decide whether to make choices that enhance our spirit or drain our power.”

So often in myth and fairy tale, opposites are depicted as the hero and his enemy—Parsifal and the Red Knight; Biblical brothers, Cain, and Abel; and in Gnostic teaching, Jesus and Satanael, twin sons of God, symbols of light and dark. Our human minds are hard-wired to see opposites and differences, warring opposites instead of complementary pairs. As yet another divisive far-right politician brandishing inflammatory rhetoric gains power in Europe, the astrological signature this weekend is dominated by Saturn (structure, authority, tyranny) in boundless Pisces.

As Mars leaves the dark waters of Scorpio to join an optimistic sun in Sagittarius, a deal has been struck for a brief pause in hostilities in Gaza and the release of some prisoners and hostages. On November 24^th, Mercury (mediation) makes a trine to the Moon in Aries. On this day, the moon (in Aries) trines Mars (in Leo) in the birth chart of Israel and transiting Mars and Sun trine Israel’s Leo moon, which augers well for the families and those who have been kept in captivity. Mars rouses our survival instinct, stokes our will, and heats our desire. Saturn (boundaries and limitations) arrives in the form of realistic, measurable outcomes that demand accountablity and maturity. This weekend there may be situations and circumstances that test our resilience and fortify our spiritual mettle.

As Mars and the Sun confront this Gemini Moon on November 27^th, our battle for security and safety is not yet over. We may still be grappling with impossible choices, still embroiled in misunderstandings that erode our trust, still aching from a betrayal that armours the bruise in our heart. We may have slipped into the habit of expecting a catastrophe, we may find it safer not to hope or dream. We may be wintering, even though the sun is shining.

We can’t avoid winter’s darkness, yet the Sun’s passage through hope-filled Sagittarius is a reminder that we may have become too rigid in our opinions, too wrapped up in anticipatory anxiety or encased in cynicism to dare to trust and hope.

Raising our glasses to the year almost gone, may we listen deeply to what is said around the dinner table, sensing a heart ache or a longing that may be concealed in an emotionally charged silence; then choose to soften our stance, allow a change of heart.

May the winged sandals of Mercury carry us towards those extra-ordinary encounters that bring everything into focus. May the mythic Twins preside over those soulful tugs of choice, careful planning, that herald radical change in the way we live and the way we love.

Light and shadow are opposite sides of the same coin. We can illuminate our paths or darken our way. It is a matter of choice—Maya Angelou.

Please get in touch if you would like to book an astrology consultation for the year ahead: ingrid@trueheartwork.com