The moon is full in Taurus, the bull. Taurus is the opposite of Scorpio, where we began this lunar cycle. Just as Scorpio beginnings are shrouded in secret and mystery, the Taurus counterpart of fulfillment is grounded in the formation of the material. Taurus is the earthy foundation upon which we build our physical vitality, our values, our cash, and all our resources. Taurus gives us the energy to hold on, and hold on tight, to that which will ground us in the sensual. In astrological metaphor, the full moon is exalted in Taurus, meaning that the emotional and instinctual properties assigned to the moon are accentuated when in this sign. So if we began this lunar month with remembrance of the dead, and glimpses of illusive knowing we are connected to the deep wide mysteries of life and death, we now arrive at the release point of sensual grounded living that moves us irrevocably into the future, amidst the mysteries that cannot ever be fully solved.

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The moon is new in Scorpio at the heart of the Fall Season, just a few days before Halloween, or Samhein. In both pagan and Christian traditions, this time is associated with the thinning of the veils between the spirit and material realms, and remembrance of the dead. So at this new moon, we pay homage to our memories, and to those that have come and gone before us, in our familial and cultural lines, by recognizing our connection to them. Of all the astrological signs, Scorpio brings us most completely over the threshold where we experience the seamless connections between death and rebirth. Such connections involve the accentuation of the hidden and mysterious elements of any beginning.

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The moon is new in Aries, the ram. We continue to work with opposites as Aries, the first sign of the zodiac, and the starting point of the spring season, brings us the first full moon of Fall. As the release point of the lunar cycle, the full moon is the culmination of all we have been growing the last two weeks, and the harvest of the summer season. So we begin to release the summer with taking actions through feeling that will put us on the path of the new season. Fall is a time of ripening, and maturation, and saturated colors and deep angles of light. The reds and oranges of Fall are, at this time, equated with the warrior's path, with taking action, with instinct, competition, and the initiative of sex or aggression. Yet the season, initiated by Libra, Aries opposite, asks that we join together and find common ground, that opposites meet and marry rather than clash.

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Just one week past the Fall Equinox, the moon is new in Libra, the scales. As the seventh sign of the tropical zodiac, Libra leads the way into relationship with others, by balancing the experience of self with the experience of partnership. In astrological metaphor, Libra is the first sign above the horizon, which is the half of the wheel in which the self is shaped in response it its interactions with others and the world at large. The basis for any social exchange is the close one on one relationship Libra initiates, and traditionally Libra is considered both the sign of marriage and of open enemies.

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The moon is full in Pisces, the sign of the two fish. As the last sign of the tropical zodiac, Pisces embodies the essence of each particular archetype represented by the preceding signs as it dissolves back into universal wholeness. Watery Pisces merges us with that wholeness, without the constriction of form, space, or time, as it embraces all opposites. In astrological metaphor, it is the domain of all those experiences that can be apprehended directly without words?music, the dream state, consciousness altered by drugs or alcohol, and mystical union. Pisces love is unconditional and compassionate and non-exclusive, and likewise its fears can be equally boundless. Pisces often finds its true expression by giving oneself over to experiences that remove us from the workaday world of its opposite Virgo, such as illness, monasticism, therapy, meditation, and even imprisonment. Pisces and its companion planet Neptune bring us acceptance of or belief in the hidden treasures inherent in these experiences beyond the often painful struggle with isolation that also defines them. In the highest expression of Pisces energy, we see ourselves in the faces of our enemies, and know that fundamentally we are all one.

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The moon is new at the end of August in the sign of Virgo. As the sixth sign of the tropical zodiac, Virgo is the sign of preparation for the more public interactions with the world that its place on the wheel represents. In astrological metaphor, then, Virgo helps ready us for balancing ourselves in relationship to others and ultimately to the power structures of this world. To this end, Virgo brings us the powers of practice, routine, and most importantly discernment.

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The moon is full this August in Aquarius, the 11th sign of the tropical zodiac. Though it will not be visible in North America, this full moon is also a partial lunar eclipse. In astrological metaphor, Aquarius brings us the experience of contradiction. While it is an air sign, it's symbol is the water bearer, who is usually depicted pouring out the water rather than keeping it contained. In fact, Aquarius energy does not like to be contained or controlled, and so it the sign most comfortable with rebellion and revolution. In keeping with its contradictory nature, Aquarius is the sign of community and grass roots organizing, but is also the sign of individualism.

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The moon is new half-way between the summer solstice and the fall equinox this August 1 in Leo, the Lion. When the new moon lines up exactly on the ecliptic, the plane of the solar system on which the planets orbit the sun, a solar eclipse occurs. This particular eclipse is a so-called midnight sun eclipse, because it will be visible in northern regions experiencing midnight sun such as northernmost Canada, Siberia, Mongolia, and parts of China. In astrological metaphor, the sun is most at home in Leo, the sign of playfulness, fun, romance, performance and the child, and is considered its companion light. So when the light of the sun is temporarily darkened by an eclipse to its Leo energy, we look for the opposite of whatever is typically joyful to us in these Leo experiences. The reversal of the status quo that eclipses signify in the language of astrology means that the new moon beginning starts, paradoxically, with an ending.

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The moon is full in earthy Capricorn, the sign of the seagoat. Capricorn rules the angle to the tenth house of the zodiac that describes our public life, our relation to authority, and all the structures of the world and its physical form.

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The moon is new at the beginning of July in Cancer, the crab, the fourth sign of the tropical zodiac. In astrological metaphor, each planet and light has a home in one of the signs, and Cancer is the moon's "home" or starting point. So not only do we begin the first new lunation cycle of the summer season, we begin it with the moon returning to it's home base in the zodiac. Cancer is the sign that describes our connection to our deep self, our ancestral roots, our family, our emotions, and our home. In Cancer we seek the security that comes with trusting our familial and cultural connection to our past. In Cancer the house becomes the home that stabilizes not only our physical wants and needs, but our emotional ones. So this month whatever emotional adventures we embark on start "at home," where the seat of our emotion, and our memory of being nurtured or mothered arises.

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The moon is full in Sagittarius, the archer, and the ninth sign of the tropical zodiac. Just a couple of days before the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, this full moon reminds us of the long reach available to us when we pull back the bow with the strentgh of history and aim for the target of a kinder, wiser future. In astrological metaphor, Sagittarius is the sign of the open road, the higher mind, and all those expansive possibilities that come to us when we are curious enough to ask the big questions and seek the big answers.

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The beginning of June brings us the new moon paired with the sun in Gemini, the sign of the twins. When the moon begins its cycle in Gemini, an air sign, we seek to articulate our emotions through words and conversation. Gemini energy thrives on mental stimulation and versatility. Variety keeps Gemini from the worst of fates for this high energy sign, boredom. For Gemini, the more diversity the better, and at this new moon Venus and Mercury are also in Gemini to join in and add intelligence and perhaps closeness to the conversational feel. As the third sign of the zodiac, Gemini influences our relationship with our siblings, our immediate environment, and all those short trips and constantly shifting arrangements we make in it and around it.

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This month the moon is full in the eighth sign of the tropical zodiac again, Scorpio. May brings us a Scorpio moon full at the last degree of that sign, which carries special importance in astrological metaphor. The last, or 29th, degree of each sign is a degree of encapsulation of the entire spectrum of what that particular sign emphasizes in our lives. So when we have a full moon in the last degree of Scorpio, we are given the opportunity for the release that comes with an intense experiential overview of our engagement with transformation through our sexuality, through money and legacy, and all matters of life and death, as well as how we seek to merge with or surrender to anything we experience as powerful.

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The moon is new in Taurus, the second sign of the tropical zodiac. In Taurus, the bull, whose curved horns remind us of the slim bowl of the new moon itself, the blossoming of spring comes into its own. When the moon is new in Taurus we feel the need to ground ourselves in sensual comforts. We also may feel emotional about holding onto what brings us those comforts, because without them we don¹t feel solid. As the first earth sign, Taurus offers us the experience of grounding, and the pleasure of putting down roots that will manifest the literal and metaphorical fruit and flowers in our lives. We all know how the very thing we want to keep slips right out of the hands we grasp it with it if we are ungrounded and so hold on too tightly. Taurus brings us back to the earth itself, and shows us we can always ground in the sensual pleasures of that earth, which will bring us into the moment we are in. Such grounding always helps whatever comfort we are seeking come closer to us. In its sensual wisdom, the Taurus moon lays the foundation for fertility, love, and courtship associated with springtime, and which we celebrate here in Moscow with the merriment of our Renaissance Faire.

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The moon is full in Scorpio, the sign of transformation. As the eighth sign of the zodiac, Scorpio moves the warrior energy we began with at the Aries new moon inward, and the battle is waged within the self. Scorpio seeks to merge with or inherit power, by combining forces with whoever or whatever will bring that experience. Therefore, all Scorpio energy is deeply concerned with the mysteries of life and death, and all matters considered to be matters of life and death, like legacy, money or sex. Yet you will not find the Scorpio wearing this interest on his or her sleeve. Instead Scorpio energy cloaks itself in a cool or disinterested exterior which better serves its purpose of penetrating whatever mystery it wants to merge with.

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The moon is new in Aries, the ram, the first sign of the zodiac. As the first new moon of the spring season, this lunation brings us the robust energy of new beginnings. Though we often equate spring with the soft fuzziness of petals, bunnies, and feathers, Aries reminds us the softness of new life does not appear without a fierce determination to do so. When the moon is in Aries, we begin by taking action.

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The moon is full just a day after the Spring equinox in the sign of Libra, the scales. In Libra, the opposite of Aries, we learn to create balance through relating to others. Libra seeks the balance of beauty through art, wit, and pleasing conversation. Libra?s charm seeks a counterbalance to the singularity and combativeness of its opposite Aries, the sign of Spring and new beginnings. Libra is considered the sign of social contracts and marriage. Libra seeks to engage even his or her enemies in negotiation and deliberation, so as we begin a new season, the Libra full moon invites us to find balance with those we may be contentious with, and to use charm, art, idealism, and wit to broker our purpose.

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The moon is new in Pisces, the last sign in the tropical zodiac. When we come to the archetype of Pisces, whose symbol is the two fish swimming in opposite directions, we merge with the raindrop that falls into the river, and the river that returns to the ocean. We give our particularity to the vastness of something larger than we are, often with little more than trust in giving ourselves over to what we believe and a compassion larger than ego driven love. In astrological metaphor, as the last sign of the zodiac, Pisces carries the least worldly energy of all the sun signs, and leads us on a journey of return to our spirit.

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The moon is full in Virgo, the sixth sign of the tropical zodiac. In the old illustrations, Virgo is depicted as a virgin seated with the fruits of the harvest, sometimes holding a baby in her arms, along with the wheat or the corn. Thus, this sign is associated with the richness of the harvest and the meticulous and regular work and attention required to bring it to ripening.

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The moon is new in February in Aquarius, the eleventh sign of the tropical zodiac. Illustrations depict Aquarius as a man pouring out an urn of water, and in older illustrations this figure is often an angel, which emphasizes the super-conscious quality of Aquarian knowledge and experience, poured out indiscriminately from the realm of genius or spirit for the enlightenment of all humanity. Whether we are comfortably in place to receive it or not, Aquarius describes the energy that rearranges us suddenly, and in so doing, puts us in touch with flashes of insight and genius that move us toward greater authenticity in ourselves and in our human community.

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The moon is new and partially eclipses the sun in the sign of Virgo, the virgin. While we won?t physically see the eclipse in the northern hemisphere, the symbolism of it falling on the anniversary of 9/11 is hard to ignore. Sun in Virgo gives us purpose to dedicate ourselves to a task by isolating its steps and focusing on technique. When the purpose symbolized by the sun is eclipsed, we experience the opportunity to embrace the Piscean opposite of this ability, to merge with the emotional whole or enormity of what our work feels like, rather than keeping ourselves distant from it with the usual analytic focus of Virgo.

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The moon is full and totally eclipsed at the end of August in Pisces, the last sign of the zodiac. When the moon is eclipsed, the energy of the sign it is in often flips itself over and expresses itself more like the energy of its opposite sign, which in this case is Virgo. Pisces is drawn into realms unfettered by the boundaries of space and time, while Virgo thrives on a proscribed and workaday routine. Pisces immerses itself in the whole while Virgo focuses on the details. So at this full moon eclipse, we may experience an interesting combination or switch of these polarities as they lose their distinctiveness.

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The moon is new in Leo, the sign of the Lion. In Leo, the fifth sign of the zodiac, we find the essential vitality and heart of the life force itself. Symbolically, Leo aligns us with the energy of the sun, so a new moon in Leo joins forces with the sun from its archetypal home sign. Like the sun, Leos are born to shine, and so a Leo moon reflects the emotion of drama, play, romance and self-expression that is natural to the sun in that sign.

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The moon is full at the end of July in the sign of Aquarius, the water bearer. It?s counterintuitive, in a way, that Aquarius, an airy intellectual sign, would be called the water bearer. Since Aquarius is the peak of the lunar cycle which began in Cancer, perhaps this unlikely symbolic abstraction brings us a tip about what forms the endeavors we started at the new moon may take. Perhaps they will become abstractions of themselves, or, at the experiential level that Aquarius works on, we may experience a transfiguration of our original emotional starting point, which, also due to the nature of Aquarian energy and it?s relation to Cancer in the zodiac, cannot come about without some disruption or conscious adjustment.

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The moon is new in mid-July in Cancer, the sign of the crab. As the fourth sign, Cancer inhabits both the summer and the midnight angle of the zodiac?s wheel. This ?bottom? angle describes both our cultural and familial roots, and a paradox which contains both the bright flambuoyance of summer and the mysterious magical hour of midnight. Cancer is like that: it?s both very public and very private, and you never know which side of this sign will show itself when.

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