RSS Feed from audio.krfp.org

MoonWatch on Vacation

Star Garden MoonWatch will not be available until further notice.

Full Moon, May 8, 2009

The moon is full in Scorpio, the eighth sign of the tropical zodiac. The emotional roots we put down at the Taurus new moon now grow in mysterious ways that challenge us to evolve and transform. Scorpio is the sign of death and rebirth, so it reminds us in this season of new life, that a new life always grows out of an old one, and that we can’t have one without the other. The emotional allure of a Scorpio moon may tempt us to project a cool exterior while on the inside our emotions are running deeply and intensely, either for or against something or someone, often with no middle ground. Thus while Aries is the external warrior, the sign of Scorpio is the point in the zodiac at which the warrior must battle with the emotional extremes within him or herself, and the ways in which he or she is drawn to align with whatever experience of power seems to provide a means to overcome death. Yet the real Scorpio power lies in the mystery of surrender....

New Moon, April 24, 2009

The moon is new in Taurus, the bull, the second sign of the tropical zodiac. When the moon joins the sun in Taurus, it is our signal that Spring is in, well, full swing! As far as Taurus is concerned that means settling in at the roots. Spreading your toes and holding your ground, doing whatever it takes to stick around and stay comfortable doing it. Taurus is the first earth sign, and when the moon reflects its energy to us at the beginning of a new lunar cycle, we feel deeply about what we can touch, hear, smell, see and taste with our senses. Venus is the companion to Taurus, and while in the last lunar cycle we experienced her retrograde effects, now she steams forward again in Aries, in a hurry to catch up to those established roots of Taurus sensuality! When we think of Venus in connection to Libra, as we did last month, our minds turn to her lovely hand in the arts. But Taurus, too, brings us an earthy, practical beauty. I was delighted to discover such practical Taurean poetry in the phrases on the back of my seed packets....

Full Moon, April 9, 2009

The moon is full in Libra, the sign of the scales. Libra is the seventh sign of the zodiac, and in astrological metaphor it marks our entry into the social contract. This contract is most traditionally expressed as marriage, but actually Libra represents the balance required for all our partnerships to be successful. So when the moon is full in Libra, we sift and weigh our emotions, often juxtaposing them against those of significant others in our lives in order to find harmony between the differences. Sometimes, due to Libra’s penchant for contrariness, we find ourselves knee-deep in conflict in our pursuit of such harmony. Venus is the companion planet to Libra, and at this full moon it is still traveling retrograde, and has arrived at what is known as the Aries point, the very first degree of the tropical zodiac....

New Moon, March 26, 2009

It’s a new season, just days after the Spring Equinox, which is when the sun reaches the Aries point, the exact beginning of the tropical zodiac. As if to emphasize that beginning, the moon is also new in Aries. Spring is Aries own season, and it’s instinctual bursting forth energy awakens us to possibilities of new growth and new life. This new moon we have a significant gathering in the early degrees of Aries, as both Mercury and Venus retrograde in Aries join the conjunction of the sun and moon that begins each lunar cycle. And there is another unusual feature to this gathering: Venus is in retrograde motion. From our viewing vantage point here on earth, it appears to be moving backwards in its orbit. In astrological metaphor, when any planet is in retrograde motion, it is a time for reversals or review of what that planet represents. Venus describes our love of beauty and our style of intimacy and closeness with others....

Full Moon, March 10, 2009

The moon is full in Virgo, the Virgin. As the sixth sign of the tropical zodiac, Virgo prepares us for the last half of the zodiac in which we interact in partnership and public life. In the astrological metaphor of Virgo, our habits and our health and necessity of digesting and integrating food and food for thought are major themes. Virgo strives to perfect procedures to make them run smoothly and cleanly, and so it presides over our everyday work environment and habit. One key question Virgo feels deeply is “how can I be of service?” Nearly everything done in Virgo is meant to better or improve health, work, or the needs of others. To this end Virgo can be a perfectionist, and even the very health Virgo prizes is potentially compromised by worry, compulsion or endless preparation to achieve perfection. Virgo is a mental sign, so the moon in Virgo seeks to categorize and dissect feelings in order to make them more manageable. Yet Virgo wisdom also gives the gift of discernment, allowing very fine emotional tuning to what needs to be done or what is helpful to someone in pain.

New Moon, February 24, 2009

The moon is new in the realm of watery Pisces, the last sign of the tropical zodiac. In astrological metaphor, Pisces wisdom, with the image of the two fish swimming in opposite directions, brings us the emotional mystery that when we lose our way, we find ourselves anew. At the invisible beginning of the lunar cycle we don’t yet see the moon in the sky, so we grope through the Piscean mist in the belief that the seed or light will grow even when it is so dark or buried we can’t yet experience it in physical form. Pisces dissolves the distinctions between all opposites, so this new lunar beginning is most likely to be couched in something that feels very much like an ending. Since as a water sign Pisces reality is very subjective and emotions are amplified, one person’s ending may be another’s new start. The blurring of such distinctions humbles our egos and can bring us close to understanding what it is like to walk in another person’s shoes. In fact, the feet are the part of the body most aligned with the sign of Pisces, so we might pay special attention to the path we walk with them, both literally and figuratively....

Full Moon, February 9, 2009

The second in the first pair of eclipses of 2009 is in Leo, the Lion. At this full moon, in the reverse pattern of eclipse metaphor, Leo points us back to the beginning of this lunar cycle, and the new moon solar eclipse in Aquarius, reminding us that opposites and differences can often be illusory. Now, at the full moon, whatever emotional experience we embody will also bring with it a surprising opportunity to transcend those personal roots and tune in to the common note sounding our essential humanity. This is usually the gift of Aquarius, but at a time when opposites blend, we see new, innovative possibilities through the polarization. This Leo lunar eclipse is opposed not only by an Aquarius sun, but also by Neptune and the asteroid Chiron, also in Aquarius, which, in astrological metaphor, represents the archetype of the wounded healer. Yet the setting from which we experience still is Leo, the genesis of play and wonder in childhood, and the inner child in all of us that still desires that wonder. When the emotional habit of the moon is eclipsed in a sign, we see what the lack of what its usual energies render....

New Moon, January 25, 2009

Just four minutes from midnight on January 25, the moon is new in the sign of Aquarius, the water bearer. This new moon is also a solar eclipse, which occurs when the new moon in orbit aligns with the earth-sun plane known as the ecliptic. This event will be visible in the southern hemisphere in Indonesia and partially in Southern Africa and Australia.
As with all eclipses in astrological metaphor, the relationship of the sign the eclipse occurs in to its opposite sign is more pronounced. The Aquarius-Leo polarity of this eclipse, coming a few days after the inauguration, brings us a new start with political themes of freedom and needs of one versus the needs of many. It may even challenge us to begin using new definitions of individualism, community, and democracy. An Aquarius moon often brings us the contradiction of experiencing our emotions in the abstract, and through that process being surprised to suddenly discover how we feel by aligning ourselves with a principle or ideal. Leo, it’s opposite, tends to dramatize our emotional reality through vivid and passionate personal expression. So at this new beginning that is also a solar eclipse, we may find such oppositional assumptions reversed or blended in new ways that affect how we feel about politics....

Full Moon, January 10, 2009

The moon is full in Cancer, the Crab. As its companion planet, the moon is at “home” in Cancer, and Cancer and the moon together bring us that longing for the coziness and security of home, and all it means to us emotionally. This is often a very subjective conglomeration of memory, mothering, instinct, roots, domesticity, tradition, and the proverbial nest egg. One other Cancerian quality that isn’t always highlighted, but is actually quite prominent in areas where the moon and Cancer energy preside is silliness, or, more aptly put, “lunacy”—that is, a wacky sense of humor that both charges and discharges our most sensitive feelings about all that feeling “at home” means to us.

New Moon, December 27, 2008

The moon is new in the sign of Capricorn, the sea goat. As the cardinal sign representing the element of Earth, Capricorn presides over the midheaven, the angle at the top of the chart that describes our relationship to authority figures and power structures. Most fundamentally, Capricorn and its companion planet Saturn, govern the essential structuring of the material world, up to and including the structure of our bodies, our skeletons, crystals and rocks, and even the passing of time. Such governance carries with it the capacity for mastery through discipline, and ultimately the paradox that through limitation we achieve wholeness. In astrological metaphor, the new moon is a time of concentration, when the lights of the sun and the moon seem to lose their autonomy and instead fuse the forces of creative will and emotional instinct together.

Full Moon, December 12, 2008

The moon is full in Gemini, the sign of the twins. As the third sign of the tropical zodiac, Gemini brings us conscious awareness of our immediate environment and interest in recognizing and interacting with all the variety within it. The Gemini moon, in the element of air, also gives us emotional motivation to communicate verbally with siblings or neighbors. In true Gemini fashion, the chart for this full moon shows it communicating with many of the other planets. Of course every full moon is always opposite the sun, but in this case the Gemini moon is also conversing with Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune!! These many connections combined with the fact that the Gemini moon reflects the light of a Sagittarius sun conjunct Mars means the conversations will be wide, deep, comprehensive and have far reaching implications beyond the neighborhoods or families they start in.

New Moon, November 27, 2008

This new moon, which also falls on American Thanksgiving Day, is in Sagittarius, the archer. Sagittarius, along with its companion planet Jupiter, brings us the gift of generosity and the wisdom that it is through such generosity and open mindedness that we grow. In astrological metaphor, the new moon is a time of unity, when the sun and the moon are so close together that the moon's reflected sunlight cannot yet be differentiated, or seen, as distinct from the sun. As the moon makes it's journey to a position in the night sky apparently opposite from that of the sun, it carries with it that quality to reflect the sun back to itself, and remind us that it is all one light.

Special Appeal

Join KRFP, Radio Free Moscow, and see your membership contribution doubled, thanks to a generous donor!

Full Moon, November 12, 2008

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.

New Moon, October 28, 2008

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.

Full Moon, October 14, 2008

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.

New Moon, September 29, 2008

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.

Full Moon, September 15, 2008

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.

New Moon, August 30, 2008

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.

Full Moon, August 16, 2008

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.

New Moon, August 1, 2008

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.

Full Moon, July 18, 2008

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.

New Moon, July 2, 2008

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.

Full Moon, June 18, 2008

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.