NEGATIVE BELIEFS – ‘A PERNICIOUS POISON’ - Libra Full Moon March 21
This Full Moon, on March 21stat 1.43 a.m. in London, is the last in the series of Full Moons at zero degrees of a sign. This time it is at zero degrees Libra and takes place just hours after the time of the vernal equinox – the start of the astrological new year, when the Sun reaches 0 degrees Aries – a significant world point in the zodiac with global implications. Events that occur now have the potential to set the stage in the UK (Brexit), as well as globally, for the next year. It’s another Super Moon, which means it is really close to Earth and, therefore, very big, very bright and very powerful. In folklore it’s the Full Worm Moon, representing the fact that the Earth is beginning to wake up after its long sleep – the earthworm casts are appearing and the ground is getting ready to be reborn.
This time of year coincides with the pagan festival of Ostara or Eostra in celebration of the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of the Dawn. This was later Christianized and morphed into Easter. The Spring Goddess is the overseer of the budding fertility of the earth, and celebrations incorporated symbols such as eggs, flowers and rabbits or hares within rituals and celebrations of the dawn of the new growth.
Easter itself, as a modern Christian festival, is the one remaining lunar festival in the religious calendar. It should occur on the first Sunday after the first Full Moon after the vernal equinox. This year the vernal equinox is on March 20th, but because the Church decided to fix the date of the Equinox at March 21st, then the next Full Moon will be the demarcation date and this is the reason why Easter will be so late this year, on April 21st.
Whilst Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, its opposite pairing, Libra, is the seventh sign and as such focuses on relationships and the concept that it is important to have a balanced understanding of the other. Libra’s Lord (or rather Lady) is Venus, the Goddess of Love and Harmony, although there are many times she could be actually be regarded as the Goddess of Disharmony – Venus in some instances is actually a warrior goddess. This reminds us that finding balance does not come easily; it takes work and energy, which is why perhaps Libra is a Cardinal or ‘doing’ sign.
The symbol for Libra is a bridge over a straight line which perhaps symbolizes the talent for diplomacy and mediation shared by some Librans as they attempt to build bridges. Librans have to take enough care that they are not so weighed down by their desire for harmony and balance that they become paralysed with indecision or become over-accommodating to all, or indeed egotistically relish their role as peace bringer just a tad too enthusiastically. As the polar opposite of Aries, it can be hard always being nice to everyone. And at some point Librans have to stop mediating and actually make a decision. Interestingly, our two British female Prime Ministers – Maggie Thatcher and Theresa May – each have a Libran Sun. However, Theresa May appears to have a more Head Girl approach in contrast to Thatcher’s ‘Iron Maiden’ and ‘this lady’s not for turning’ legacy.
Another Libran symbol is the scales of justice, and the desire for fairness and justice is a very typical Libran trait. In ancient Egyptian myth, Thoth, the Egyptian God of writing, magic, wisdom and the Moon, weighed the heart at death against a feather. If a heart tipped the scales then it was thought to be weighed down by sin and, therefore, that soul would be destroyed in order to prevent the universe from descending into chaos.
The chart for the vernal equinox is pretty similar to the one for this Full Moon (apart from the position of the Moon herself) and, as I said earlier, that makes its energy even more potent for the foreseeable future, so we really do need to pay attention to the message.
Venus, Lady of Libra, sits in the fixed sign of Aquarius in a very tight dynamic and conflicting aspect with Mars, Lord of the Sun, in the sign of Taurus. So we not only have Sun and Moon opposing, we also have their Lords in a conflicting aspect. This suggests a situation like a tug of war – both sides are evenly matched and have dug their heels in ready for the fight for victory. Both are stubborn and both think they are right.
The Sun sits with Chiron – the lion is licking his wounds as he is forced to look at his own Achilles Heel. Chiron has now moved from Pisces into Aries, so he now has a very different energy moving from a theme of self-sacrificing to one where he is forced to either do something about the seat of his own wounding or be led towards wounding others.
We can’t necessarily be too trustful of Mercury, the messenger of the Sun, at this Full Moon. He is with Neptune and in Pisces, and as such we can expect to see some distortion of the truth – indeed any message could be a white lie or intended to deceive. Plus he is in his sick bed – he is retrograde – but this is not always the bad news that most people try to portray about Mercury retrograde. The retrograde period gives the opportunity to go over things again so re-visiting, re-assessing and re-looking at the messages he has given. Are they real or are they fantasy and bullshit? Nothing will be crystal clear, therefore we have to mediate (Libra) with ourselves so that we are in touch with reality and avoid the idealization that is trying to lure us. But, in order to move forward purposefully, we need to trust in the positive side of this energy and access the highest points of Mercury and Neptune in Pisces – intuition, leaping the boundaries into higher consciousness and accessing the boundless realm of the universe where we might see our futures in our dreams and use this type of precognition to guide us on our way. If we can do this then we can use the energy to give us the strength and ability to take the action that will be required. (Mercury Neptune sextile Saturn Pluto) Interestingly, Mercury feels better and gets up out of his sick bed on March 29th– Brexit day for us in the UK. So will we actually have a truth versus lies shoot out once he pulls himself out of his sick bed?
As we head closer to the new cycles of the 2020’s any deceptions will be uncovered and come to the surface. Global debts are huge and it will take just one card in the deck to fall to produce a domino effect. The strong energy we have in Capricorn, the sign representing business and big banks, demands there is a strong, solid basis – that we perhaps go back to some more traditional ways. Uranus has entered Taurus – another indication we can expect some kind of disruptive influences within our money systems, banking, currencies and indeed within our planet Earth. Uranus is about extremes – extremes in climate perhaps, extremes how we use money. Uranus is also about pioneering and technological advancement and in Taurus could also symbolize a new ‘Earth’. As I write this and as we approach the New Moon of March 6th, SpaceX has launched an unmanned capsule to prove there can be safe travel for astronauts. This will pave the way for a taxi service to the ISS and for eventual colonization of other planets such as Mars.
But this Moon sits on her own, with all the other planets lined up in the opposite half of the chart and she makes no easy in sign aspects at all. She doesn’t want to but she must awaken to what Uranus Taurus has to say – she is forced to get off the fence and pick a side. This Moon must learn self reliance, self worth and self love. She must learn how to nourish her own soul. And she is the mediator sitting on top of that bridge whether she likes it or not.
This Moon is also very much tied up with destiny – the North Node is in the Moon’s sign of Cancer. This nodal axis falls across the Cancer/Capricorn axis – the axis of responsibility. Responsibility for ourselves in terms of our soul needs balanced against responsibility for others. We cannot put down the structure and rules society needs unless we recognise our own emotional and soul needs. Now this responsibility to the needs of our souls figures in two important aspects of this Full Moon chart. Two aspects, astrologically called ‘fingers of god’ or yods, feature all participating planets at 23 degrees of their sign. Both aspects involve the North Node and Jupiter and then Mars in one and Venus in the other (Venus, Lady of the Moon, and Mars, Lord of the Sun, another reason for their importance). So as the Sun and Moon and their Lords Venus and Mars are at loggerheads, let’s look to Jupiter, in his home sign of Sagittarius and ruler of Neptune and Mercury, as a common denominator and key to cracking the message of this Full Moon. Jupiter is essentially a positive energy and here in Sagittarius he is the truth seeker – he is asking us to question our beliefs in terms of how they actually support the needs of our Soul and our Spirit. As such this chart very much links with and is a continuation of the last New Moon. I am currently revisiting Tony Robbins’, a life and business strategist, book ‘Awaken the Giant Within’[1]. Robbins states that we will always set ourselves up for failure if we continue on a road of negative beliefs about ourselves and our abilities. In fact he cites negative beliefs as ‘a pernicious poison’ that we feed into our system[2]. Our beliefs influence all our actions, and the way we live our lives in today’s world of instant gratification often means we focus on the now and possibly tomorrow, rather than play the long game[3].
Robbins also states that we distort things with our own personal perspective – we accept things as real and never question them. But this theory can also work for us on a positive level. Our nervous system can’t actually distinguish between something that we have imagined and a real experience. A belief is only a feeling – a feeling that we are certain about something. So, this is why the concept of visualization works. If we take a negative belief about our abilities and instead imagine our future self succeeding, our nervous system sees this imagined experience as a real belief. So in the same way that thinking that nothing you do will ever come to a successful outcome becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, so can the visualized belief of success[4].
Beliefs can be either empowering or destructive; they have the power to create or the power to destroy. For Robbins it’s the pain versus pleasure principle. We become stuck in a certain way of behaving because we try to give ourselves pleasure by avoiding the pain of change[5]. But at some point we reach a time where being stuck gives only pain and no pleasure and this is a pivotal point.
Your outside world is a product of your inside world – how you think and what you believe. Becoming wiser and open minded is a part of our evolutionary journey and the evolving of our inner world has a knock on effect on our outer world, and vice versa.
If we layer the chart for the Full Moon on to the chart of the United Kingdom we find the Sun, Chiron, Mercury and Neptune sitting in the 6thhouse. Now the sixth house speaks of the ‘common people’, the workforce, the national defence, socialist parties and the trade unions. Saturn and Pluto and the South Node sit in the fourth house (the deep rooted base of society, housing, the living standards of a nation) and are opposite the UK Moon – the people of the UK. As we approach Brexit all these areas are triggered. Saturn opposite the Moon in terms of Brexit would suggest crashing out with no deal or a delay to Brexit – and as I write this it seems that this is just how it is panning out. The people are being tested and the ‘common man’ faces difficulties and responsibilities. We may see protests, particularly if the people feel they have been lied to at worst (Mercury and Neptune Pisces), or at best that the Government has not pulled together as one when we needed them to.
Jupiter, representative of beliefs and expanding our wisdom, as we discussed earlier, sits with the UK Mercury, while the North Node sits close to the UK Moon. There is something within current events which might just change our future views – and remember Jupiter’s energy is essentially positive.
The Moon of our Full Moon chart sits close to Uranus and the UK Libran ascendant. Perhaps there is a force for the British pioneering abilities which we have always demonstrated and some sensible mediation which can give a more positive ‘working together’ attitude.
So what’s in this Full Moon for us personally? What’s the message?
A Full Moon is always harvest time – a time to see in full light behavior patterns that no longer serve us.. So, with the new cycles and a new zeitgeist coming ever closer, the time is ripe to prepare ourselves for what this harvest has in store. Is it a fruitful harvest or is the cupboard going to be a little bit bare?
Saturn and Pluto are moving ever closer together in the sign of Capricorn – another echo of the breaking down and the revealing of any corruption and lies. Are you nurturing your Soul with your self-beliefs or are they working against you? Are any behavior patterns being repeated which are pulling down rather than moving towards a more compassionate potential? Are you getting sidetracked from your goals by those who wish to enter into power games and battles with you? Are you being pulled down by the negative energy of the moaners and those who are just negative and aggressive in general? Recognise where your energies need to be directed and recognize that their fight is not your fight. Are you in some kind of ‘tug of war’ situation? Do you allow others to determine your path rather than being more self-reliant? Yes, you might have to blame yourself for any mistakes but know that in the end becoming more self-reliant will be beneficial. Are you focusing on the long game or just the now?
The Moon in Libra is asking us to find our own point of balance and harmony and she makes no easy in sign aspects at all; we are being tested on so many levels and we must take responsibility for our actions – keep one foot in reality whilst trying to soar to the limits of our higher wisdom and higher consciousness.
Mercury is retrograde – so what ‘re’s’ do you need to do – re-think, re-assess,re-affirm,re-check,re-do. Is there something that you need to learn in order to move your path forward? Go for it. Expand your mind and your learning so that you can become more empowered and more self-confident. If the unexpected, the disruptive does happen instead see how it could actually be an opportunity perhaps rather than an inconvenience.
It is beliefs that propel us into action. Many of these beliefs just happen unconsciously because we have thought that way for so long. Some of our beliefs have been shaped by our childhood, our upbringing, people we mix with, things we have read in the paper. Do your beliefs actually support your future direction? Beliefs we hold about ourselves are perhaps not the same as how others see us. Is there a difference between your view of yourself and how others see you? Are you resisting a change you really want to make because of negative e beliefs about yourself.
Ultimately is your Soul nurtured by your beliefs or are you filling your mind with a ‘pernicious poison’? Remember that your mind can’t tell the difference between an experienced belief and a visualized belief – so allow your mind to cross your self-imposed limits. Let go of self-imposed negative beliefs about your abilities and imagine how you would feel in a land of positive and successful outcomes.
Trust * Access higher consciousness * Nurture your Soul * Be open to new beliefs
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joyce@joycelambert.com
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[1]Robbins, Anthony, Awaken the Giant Within, Take Immediate Control of your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny, Simon and Shuster UK, 2ndEd., 2001.
[2]Do. P.84
[3]Do. P.47
[4]Do. P.80
[5]Do. P.54