Triumph of the Spirit

In this season of thanksgiving, tonight's Full Moon marks a key passage of the solar year. The phoenix rises. Death gives way to life.

We harvest the blessings of this creation as we attune to celestial rhythms.

Venus' six-week retrograde passage culminates with the lunar alignment tonight. The Sun-Moon opposition is exact at 12:27 PM Eastern on Sunday. In Scorpio-Taurus we celebrate transcendence, the triumph of the human spirit. The soul is laid bare, bathed in waves of milky light. For a moment, we see.

Next, we go deeper into the spiral.

Venus and Jupiter

Over the past six weeks, the planet of love and abundance has traveled in reverse, transiting parts of Scorpio and Libra in her quest for truth, healing and sacred union.

Earlier this month a shamanic journey led her into the underworld where she transformed away from our view. She has re-emerged as Morning Star in the the pre-dawn sky.

Now Venus reigns in the east, awakening our hearts, minds and bodies to the tasks at hand as we are reborn more fully into our purpose and power.

The new Venus cycle in Scorpio carries us through 2012 and the end of the Mayan calendar. This is no coincidence. The ancient Maya observed Venus and synchronized their sacred timekeeping system with her cycles.

Jupiter has returned to forward motion, too. In Pisces, he continues to expand our consciousness and ideals. Uranus, the Awakener, travels with Jupiter in late Pisces, although he moves more slowly and is still retrograde.

We have about 10 days to integrate the lessons of the Venus passage, lessons around relationship and love, money, passion, our creativity and values. We've faced our fears, plumbed the depths of the psyche. We're exploring new options and making choices.


Year-End 2010

Another round of intense transformation begins November 30 when the Sun enters the mysterious 13th sign of the zodiac, Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer. Known to ancient astrologers and depicted in the Temple of Hathor at Dendera in Egypt, this mysterious sign is re-emerging as a transformational gateway in these transitional times.

In mid-December, the Sun crosses the Galactic Equator near the Solstice. Within deepest night, light returns to Earth. This galactic alignment is punctuated by a potent eclipse series beginning with a Total Lunar Eclipse on December 21. Two weeks later, the Sun and Moon meet in Capricorn and we begin tending to the seeds we planted in 2010.

In my astrological preview published a year ago, I wrote: "In 2010, humanity arrives at a crossroads. Individually and in groups, we will initiate a sequence for the times to come, not only through our intent, but with our actions. This is a chance of a lifetime, many lifetimes, and the effects will radiate throughout the cosmos."

The pivotal year of 2010 now draws to a close. What are we harvesting?

As we gather with family and friends, I pray that we're mindful of the deeper rhythms pulsing through this holiday season, that we'll pause to commune with the galactic forces at play in our lives and our world. I pray that we open more deeply to love as we celebrate this holy season.

Namaste.



December Astro Forecast

We'll preview the astrology for the next two months during my StarTalk Astro Forecast Teleconference on December 7. Highlights include the Sun's transit of Ophiuchus, the Solstice Galactic Alignment and the December-January eclipse series. Details and registration: http://www.starpriestess.com/events.html#forecast


Ophiuchus: The Serpent Bearer

Enter the ancient healing temple as we gather for a special initiation during the Sun's transit of Ophiuchus. Details and registration: http://www.starpriestess.com/events.html#ophiuchus

Venus and the Underworld

http://starpriestess.blogspot.com/2010/10/into-spiral.html

http://starpriestess.blogspot.com/2010/10/spinning.html

http://starpriestess.blogspot.com/2010/10/turning-of-wheel.html

http://starpriestess.blogspot.com/2010/11/love-reigns.html

http://starpriestess.blogspot.com/2010/11/awakening.html


My Journey with Venus

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=235245&id=631748611&l=f91cf61fe7

Awakening

Silently, Venus stirs me from sleep.
Hanging as a jewel above the crimson-orange horizon she beckons, guiding her initiates to this day, a new beginning, deeper love.

Venus' shamanic journey has come to an end. She metamorphosed as she met with the Sun away from our view, returning to the sky in early November as Morning Star. Like Venus, we are reborn.

During her retrograde transit the past six weeks, evolutionary forces took aim at relationships, values, creativity and finances. How have these shifted for you during this time?

Traveling with her since early October I am wiser, more aware, conscious of my flaws and fears, and eternally grateful for the simple gifts of abundance that fill my life. Family. Friends. The natural world. Infinite love.

Venus returns to direct motion today. She begins a 584-day cycle in Scorpio, her playtime in Aries complete. Now we learn the ins and outs of personal power through the 2012 gateway.

Jupiter also stations direct today. In Pisces and conjunct Uranus, the Awakener, Jupiter invites us to reach new depths, and heights, of consciousness.

The celestial passage culminates in the Full Moon this weekend. In the last degree of Scorpio-Taurus, the Sun-Moon opposition illuminates the wisdom of the soul. Reach in. Dive deep. Seek the treasures of enlightenment.


Venus in the Underworld

http://starpriestess.blogspot.com/2010/10/into-spiral.html

http://starpriestess.blogspot.com/2010/10/spinning.html

http://starpriestess.blogspot.com/2010/10/turning-of-wheel.html

http://starpriestess.blogspot.com/2010/11/love-reigns.html


Fall Travels

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=235245&id=631748611&l=f91cf61fe7

Love Reigns

She's back.

Fresh from her underworld journey, Venus returns to the sky today as Morning Star. She reigns in the east, bathing us in love.

From the dark sky of the New Moon, she rises, transformed.

We emerge in a new beginning, too, with Venus, the Sun, Moon and Mercury as our guides. In Scorpio, they invite us to dive deep, face our fears and re-emerge as creator beings fully empowered to shape our lives and our world in exciting new ways.

As Goddess, Quetzalcoatl, the Queen and Empress in the Tarot, Venus embodies love, abundance, creation, courage, the warrior spirit.

Her journey is our journey. Her radiance, our own.

Reign in peace.


Venus' Journey

http://starpriestess.blogspot.com/2010/10/turning-of-wheel.html

http://starpriestess.blogspot.com/2010/10/spinning.html

http://starpriestess.blogspot.com/2010/10/into-spiral.html

Turning of the Wheel

The night kissed the fading day

With a whisper:

"I am death, your mother,

From me you will get new birth."

Rabindranth Tagore

In this season of death and rebirth, transformational energies reach a peak next week with the Samhain-New Moon gateway. Venus' heliacal rise on November 5 amplifies the mystical, healing qualities of this shamanic passage.

Enter the void, the depths of the soul. Prepare for rebirth.

We're dancing with the shadow during Venus' shamanic journey of the Underworld this Halloween season. The Samhain fire burns away pain, suffering and outdated beliefs as Venus continues her retrograde transit, away from our view. She'll reappear next week as the morning star in the east and initiate a new eight-year cycle in Scorpio.

Every year I count the days to Halloween, a celebration rooted in the cross-quarter sabbat called Samhain. What a powerful time it is, our connection with the netherworlds strengthened, our night vision more acute, extrasensory perceptions finely tuned.

With the Sun in Scorpio, Samhain (pronounced 'sow-in' or 'sow-een') skims the boundaries between the living and the dead. This is a special time when we honor the Ancestors and loved ones who have crossed into spirit. We're especially attuned to their guidance, love and wisdom through this portal.

Samhain Season

The seasons are turning, toward winter in the northern hemisphere, toward summer in the south. Fall is a time of harvest and gratitude. We prepare for winter and turn inward as the nights grow longer. The sabbats honor the turning of the wheel within the solar year, marking the mid-points between the equinoxes and solstices.

Samhain begins with Halloween on October 31 and continues through "true" Samhain on November 7 when the Sun reaches 15 degrees Scorpio. All Saint's Day is November 1 and Dia de las Muertas (All Soul's Day) is November 2. The alignments create a bubbling cauldron of possibilities fueled by Scorpio's promise of transcendence. Prepare for the cycle of death and rebirth embedded within this change of seasons.

The energies are especially potent on November 5-6 with a stellium of planets in Scorpio at the New Moon. From the darkness of this creation womb Venus will rise on November 5 as the phoenix, recreating herself as morning star. The old dies to make way for the new. Ignite a path of personal power with the New Moon and Venus.

Light a candle and invite the Ancestors and departed loved ones to your circle of prayer, healing and manifestation. Be clear with your intent and notice messages from beyond the veil. Mercury's transit in late Scorpio facilitates otherworldly communication.

Commune with the Earth herself, the animal and plant kingdoms. Open to receive their medicine and the visceral sensations of this creation.

Tune in, ritualize and create during this sacred, soulful passage.

Halloween Treat!

Astro-Tarot Readings during Samhain

I only offer these special readings once a year. Details:

http://www.StarPriestess.com/services.html#samhain

Venus' Journey of the Underworld

http://starpriestess.blogspot.com/2010/10/spinning.html

http://starpriestess.blogspot.com/2010/10/into-spiral.html

The Sabbats

http://www.starcraftswest.com/timing-of-sabbats

Spinning

The journey deepens. What are you creating within the vortex of the goddess womb?

Are you spinning the silk for the web you will weave, or your chrysalis of transfiguration and rebirth?

Venus continues her retrograde transit as the Moon waxes to full this week. Together they reveal our deepest fears and wounds, the self-limiting perceptions that block our path to power.

In this season of the Ancestors, Grandmother Spider sings the songs of creation. She calls your name, beckoning. Sink into your soul, your purpose, your passion. Dissolve the fears that hinder your death and rebirth.

Venus disappears as the evening star soon to embark on her underworld journey. She'll re-emerge as the morning star in the eastern, pre-dawn sky on November 5. As we attune to her, we are transformed.

The Sun and Saturn in Libra offer the promise of liberation, freedom from the fears and karmic patterns that hold us back. Mars, Venus and Mercury in Scorpio remind us of the opportunity to reclaim our power.

In the last degree of Aries, the October 22 Full Moon illuminates perceptions and boundaries as pre-conscious thoughts take shape, later to form a new reality beyond this gestation phase.


Potential and Possibility

Within the Full Moon matrix lies hope that latent potential will manifest in ways that are both mundane and miraculous. While possibilities are infinite in the quantum field, what ultimately unfolds will rely on our thoughtforms during this lunar phase.

Vigilance is required, a continuous assessment of our thoughts so we may manifest the highest of all possible potentials.

What does that look like in our lives and our world? Ask the miners and the families of the miners rescued last week from deep within the Earth, trapped for 69 days in a cave that could have been their tomb. Instead, they ascended from the depths in a capsule named Phoenix, a mythical bird representing transformation through death and rebirth. This is the shamanic process of Scorpio, and Venus is leading the way as she transforms in the heavens from evening to morning star and becomes a beacon for human potential.

What did the miners, their families, the country of Chile and countless others around the world create through attention, through prayer and vigil, through hope? In a stunning victory, they preserved life.


The Web

We can work with this same energy, manifesting and creating with the Full Moon during Venus' retrograde journey. We can spin out in chaos and feel victimized, powerless to direct cosmic forces. Or we can go inward, focus and spin with intent.

At this lunation, connect with Spider Woman, the creation goddess of indigenous tribes throughout the Americas who weaves the web of life. Follow the shaman's spiral into the darkness, the Void, womb of creation, into a new reality. Within the darkness, you'll meet your deepest fears as subconscious patterns and beliefs are revealed. Press on.

Witness your response in personal situations. Have you been sideswiped in power struggles? Are you asked to be discerning in your use of power? How have you given away your power, and how can you reclaim it? In my Venus journey this month, I've encountered wildly karmic scenarios, both my own and those of close friends. Some know nothing of Venus but are deeply affected nonetheless. How is this process playing out in your life?

The Full Moon represents a culmination, a time of manifestation and creation. The energy reaches maximum strength as the alignment becomes exact with the Moon opposing the Sun on Friday. The tension between the feminine lunar and masculine solar energies is released at the moment of the opposition, which is 9:37 PM Eastern on October 22. Ritual, prayer and meditation are most potent in the hours leading up to and after the exact alignment.

Astrology guru Dane Rudhyar portrays the dynamic of this week's Full Moon in his astrological mandala. At 30 Aries, energetic potential has to be focused then united with substance in order for effective power to be realized. At this critical stage, there is enormous potential for failure as well as fuel for breakthrough.

Vigilance is key. Decide what you want to focus on. Emotions, love, relationships, finances and values are optimal areas for change. Notice messages in dreams and meditation that reveal patterns of self-limitation. Consciously transform the patterns by changing your focus and attention in the areas you've chosen. Notice the spin of the vortex. Children spin. Spiders weave. Sufis whirl in an ecstatic dance of creation. Spin clockwise, then counterclockwise. Mix it up and allow the transformation.


Letting Go

As the energies build, prepare to discover your deepest fears and secrets. Seek the assistance of the Ancestors as you dive deep and resurface from the subconscious realms. Honor the mystery and your own healing process. Persevere. The rewards will be worth the effort.

The journey continues as Venus disappears from our view to travel into the underworld where she will metamorphose from evening to morning star over the next three weeks. She returns to the sky during the Samhain gateway (October 31-November 6) to begin a new 584-day cycle in Scorpio.

During this phase, themes are dissolution, transfiguration and emergence. We must release the past in order to ascend to a new life, a new beginning as empowered co-creators on Earth. I described the passage of Venus in my revious blog post, "Into the Spiral": http://starpriestess.blogspot.com/2010/10/into-spiral.html

In Native American tradition, there is a legend that Spider Woman will return at the end of this era. According to the ancient Hopi and Mayan calendars, the end is now.

In hushed silence, weaving and spinning, we create.



This Weekend:
Shamanic Guidance

To support your transformational process with the lunar energies described in this article, I'm offering very special rates on personal sessions this weekend only.

On Friday and Saturday, October 22-23, 60-minute phone consultations are just $125 (a savings of $40-$50). The session is geared to assist you in this current Venus transition period and includes a combination of intuitive guidance and personal astrology through the end of 2010.

A limited number of appointments are available. Details are posted here: http://www.starpriestess.com/services.html#octfullmoon

Into the Spiral

"The man embraces in the woman all that is not himself, and from that one resultant, from that embrace, comes every new action." - D.H. Lawrence

We're about to be swept into a deep, slow burn of alchemical magic.

Over the next six weeks, Venus' journey in the underworld mirrors our own shamanic process of death and rebirth. The Evening Star is transformed to Morning Star.

First, a kiss. The Goddess embraces her beloved warrior, Mars, before her 41-day retreat. They meet this week for a tantric interlude in Scorpio, sign of transformation, lust and power.

Everything Venus is about - our values, relationships, beauty, money, love, creativity, self-worth - will be put to the test as we integrate the changes of the past 18 months.

This fall, Venus rules the heavens. We'll journey with her as she travels back through the early degrees of Scorpio into late Libra, preparing for the next evolution of sacred marriage. Her metamorphosis will be complete in late November.

Shakti fire illuminates the path as we walk the shaman's spiral of death and rebirth.


Metamorphosis

This Thursday, the Sun and Moon meet in Venus' home sign of Libra. The next day Venus stations retrograde and begins her 41-day journey. She'll drop lower and lower in the western sky after sunset, her light receding each evening until, between October 19 and 22, she slips into the underworld and disappears from our view.

Enveloped in a cocoon of darkness, she makes her transition. The bright and guiding star re-emerges in the east in the pre-dawn sky November 4 or 5. This heliacal rise marks the initiation of a new 584-day Venus cycle. We are reborn in the shamanic sign of Scorpio.

This is also the solar gateway of Samhain, when the Sun crosses the middle degrees of Scorpio in late October through early November. During this phase, a conclave of planets will meet the Goddess in Scorpio to escort her to her throne. The Ancestors draw near to midwife the rebirthing.

Prepare to travel to new depths this Halloween season. Mid-October through early November is a period of high magic. In the watery realms of Scorpio, watch for power plays, manipulation and deception. Ghosts of your former self appear as you dive, like Venus, into the depths of the subconscious to face your deepest fears and desires.

Beyond the dissolution and reformulation of your life, you'll soar to new heights like the Phoenix who rises from the ashes of its former self. Absolute surrender is required to receive the full blessings of this divine empowerment.

Venus completes her retrograde phase November 18, just as Jupiter also stations direct. It's time for a party when these two great celestial forces return to forward motion.


The Venus Cycle

This sequence marks the completion of a cycle that began in late March/early April 2009 when the heliacal rise of our sister star occurred in Aries. This phase also brings to completion a longer, eight-year cycle that goes back to November 2002. We've been exploring masculine and feminine roles, individual identity and personal power since then. How have we evolved?

Venus is about love and abundance, attracting rather than pursuing. The archetype of the Goddess has many mythical names including Ishtar, Inanna, Isis, Athena, Aphrodite, Astarte, Spider Woman and Lakshmi. In all, she is Shakti, the divine feminine, creative force of the cosmos.

Her essence inspires Shiva, the sacred masculine, to creative action. Through the portals of the Galactic Cross and Cancer/Capricorn eclipses, we've been accessing these energies all year. Now it's time to plumb the depths of the psyche to find out what parts of our selves must be purged in order to fully manifest our new roles as empowered co-creators on Earth.

In this case, in Pluto and at the completion of an eight-year cycle, the theme is transfiguration, an alchemical process of death, transmutation and rebirth. The Snake sheds its skin so we may evolve into a higher expression of consciousness.

The new Scorpio cycle culminates June 12, 2012, with a rare Transit of Venus. In this special conjunction, the planet will visibly cross the face of the Sun in the final year of the Mayan calendar. This is no coincidence. The ancient Maya were Venus watchers. Her complex cycles are encoded within their sacred calendar. Our sister planet is helping us connect with our galactic nature at the dawn of the next world age.

Rebirth

In this season of high magic, there will be tricks as well as treats. That's the nature of Scorpio, the sign most associated with power and sex, money, desire, motive, manipulation, fear, secrets, the subconscious, psychism and the unseen realms.

During Venus' retrograde transit, relationships are due for an overhaul. Don't be surprised if you hear from, dream about or initiate contact with former lovers. If you began a relationship 18 months ago, it's likely to be ending now. If you meet someone new, be cautious while Venus is retrograde. The connection may not be what it appears. Notice what happens with your finances. Are you recreating or releasing old patterns? How have you been fooling yourself?

For the past 18 months, Venus' journey in Aries has been exciting, passionate and often challenging as we've tried on the role of Warrior Goddess. The courage of a great warrior is needed now to dive willfully into the unknown during this passage into the Scorpio cycle.

Stay alert and practice discernment. Notice messages in dreams and meditation. Allow time for deep inner healing. Processing on the subconscious levels can be emotionally, mentally and physically taxing. Practice nurturing self-care. Be patient if finances seem sluggish.

In a shamanic dance of death and rebirth, the natural world is our teacher and guide. Commune with the planets and stars, the deva spirits and elementals, the animal and plant kingdoms. Water and fire, earth and sky combine in a potent elixir of becoming. Call on the Ancestors as you walk the sacred spiral.

Spin your cocoon and prepare to be transformed within the darkness. As you emerge from the chrysalis a fortnight from now, spread your wings and glide gently on the currents of change.

Sustainable Change

"I want to feel the evolution of things. I don't believe in transcending, but in being embedded in a reality that is temporal."

- Ilya Prigogine

Now, between the Equinox and the Libra New Moon, our future gestates within the pre-dawn womb of consciousness.

Evolutionary forces beyond this dimension inspire us to sing the songs of creation in harmony with Mother Earth and all being, to heal, open and align, to attune to the rhythms of life and join the cosmic dance.

In a year of quantum change, we've reached the season of the harvest and celebrate the accumulated experiences of the journey so far. The joy and sorrow, ease and hardship, miracles, obstacles and the spirit that infuses all.

Days are growing shorter here in the northern hemisphere, lengthening below the equator. Leaves wither. Seeds sprout. Life slows down or speeds up, as the cycles turn.

The change of seasons in the outer world reflects our inner transformation. What's next?

In 2010, we're initiating a new sequence for the coming times. The window of opportunity is now. This is a year of tearing up the fields, turning the ground, then casting seeds for what will be through 2012 and beyond. What are we creating?

Life as we've known it is changing swiftly. It has to. The path we've been on will not sustain us much longer. We have to evolve. Natural cycles indicate we have two years to change direction and lay the foundation of a new world.

I've prayed all year that enough beings will seize this opportunity so we can turn things around on planet Earth. Now it's time to put that prayer into action.


Desert Awakening

Earlier this month, during Mercury's retrograde phase, I took a trip through the desert and awakened, again, to my deepest desire.

High in the San Jacinto Mountains of southern California, I pondered the state of our world, the economy and what all this change means day to day in people's lives. For generations, too many on all continents have lacked the basics of shelter, food, medical attention, education and our greatest human need, love. Today the numbers are growing fast as the economy shifts and the population swells unchecked.

As I drove from Los Angeles to Phoenix in 100-degree heat, I was shocked to see how much development has sprung up in the harsh desert terrain. Mile after mile of houses, condos, resorts, golf courses, shopping malls and strip centers line the desert streets. Where does the water come from to sustain life here? How many tons of coal does it take to keep the air conditioners running through most of the year? How much of the electricity is coming from wind and solar power?

I thought of my brother and his wife up north in Winnipeg. Where they are, millions live in near-tundra conditions, with countless homes and businesses dependent on a steady flow of natural resources and food.

What becomes of the people who live in these places if the power grid goes down during the searing heat of summer or the frozen depths of winter?

Development like this around the world is not sustainable. We can't keep draining the Earth's resources indefinitely. There are other ways of being that will ensure humanity's survival.


What's Sustainable?

The solutions rest in blending modern technology with ancient wisdom. Our ancestors thrived in extreme climates for generations without lights, air conditioning, heat and gasoline. Some tribal cultures still do. We can learn from them how to live in harmony with the Earth and natural cycles.

The devastating oil spill earlier this year in the Gulf of Mexico was a wake-up call. At least briefly, it focused the world's attention on the rampant global environmental crisis and the need to reduce our dependence on Big Oil. The damage created by this one accident will impact future generations for decades to come.

If we heed the message of the incident, the crisis could be a turning point that gets us headed in a positive direction that will heal our lives, our communities and our world.

The problem isn't going away just because the leak in the Gulf has been capped. We need to fix this. The Earth is out of balance, and she will do what she needs to do to rebalance her systems. We can participate in this process by harmonizing with Mother Earth and each other.

This is the next evolution.

On the Libra Equinox-Harvest Moon gateway last week, I shared how I will contribute to this turnaround on Earth, and I invite you to join me. After returning to the ocean from my desert journey, I received an e-mail with a link to a video that offered me enormous hope, and a vision for what we can do if we work together.


Four Years

"Four Years. Go." is a collaborative project bringing together organizations and individuals around the world in a unified effort to forge a new direction.




Check it out. Join if you feel called. And help spread the word.

My book Cosmic Time describes how our experience on Earth is embedded in a vast cosmic matrix of accelerating change, fueled by the creative force of love. It explores personal and planetary transformation within a cosmic context as we make our way through Earth's transition to the next world age.

As I wrote the book, I understood that the next evolution of my work will be to focus on sustainability, to continue exploring and sharing the wisdom that has been shared with me by those who are pioneering in renewable energy, natural building, alternative communities, local food production and other sustainable lifestyle practices infused with the spiritual light of the cosmos and rooted in the Earth and ancestral wisdom. This is Eco-Spirituality, and it is my passion.

In these times, sweeping change is forcing us to evaluate our priorities and pool our talents to address humanitarian needs, restore balance to the Earth and create a new world, a world we want our children and their children to inherit.

This is the essential message of the prophecies around 2012. We must change our ways to assure not only the survival of Mother Earth and her creatures, but the flourishing of a new, empowered, galactic culture on Earth.

The clock is ticking.



Earth in Balance

Where do we go from here?

We explored this question and previewed planetary energies in detail during the September 20 Autumn Equinox-Harvest Moon Teleconference.

Highlights include the Equinox and harvest season, Full and New Moons, Venus' upcoming shamanic journey in the Underworld, the Samhain/Beltane Gateway, planetary retrogrades and the eclipse series coming up in December/January. On this call I also shared more about my commitment to creating a sustainable future for the Earth and her children.

You can order the mp3 here:

http://www.starpriestess.com/events.html#forecast

Find out when the hotspots are in the next three months and how to navigate the energies. A special guided meditation will help you attune to the divine frequencies streaming to Earth through these planetary portals.