Deaf Pagan Crossroads

Once again my good friend Beverly Hof-Miller shares her musings on the August Full Moon, and how it relates it to the upcoming celebration of Lughnasadh/Lammas.

Here’s what she has to say…

Harvest Table of the Aquarian Full Moon

The full Moon in August is on Wednesday the 5th.

It will be in Aquarius, the 11th sign of the zodiac, a fixed, air sign ruled by Uranus, planet of equality and quick changes (and Saturn, constriction, time, authority from older traditions) and symbolized by the water bearer, normally a figure pouring a jar of water and associated with the XVII Star card in Tarot.

According to Caroline W. Casey, Aquarius is

a sign of both traditionalists and futurists, impulses often intertwined within the character of the same person. Aquarius is the culture in dialogue with itself.

- *MAKING THE GODS WORK FOR YOU: The Astrological Language of the Psyche;

Harmony Books, NY, 1998, PG 51

In this month’s chart the Moon resides in the 1st house of ‘Who am I’. She is conjunct with Jupiter, planet of expansion, storytelling, passion and spiritual ethics. Roommates, but not in aspect is the asteroid Chiron, the healer with the unhealable wound and Neptune, dreams, imagination, and dissolving boundaries. Look for an opportunity to expand who you think you are.

This places the lonely Sun in the 7th house of intimate partners and open enemies. Mercury, planet of how we think and communicate and the Goddess Asteroid Pallas Athena ruling issues of mismothering, and the female warrior also reside in the 7th as unaspected roommates. Identifying the unaspected planets within the same house gives us an opportunity to explore the pattern deeper if we’d like. I have seen this approach in some feminist traditions. What can be gleaned from roommates that are not related? As far as aspects I see the pattern of a table. With the Moon/Sun opposition as the table top, trines to both make the legs.

For the Moon there is a trine to Mars, planet of action, desire for relationship and how we react, in the 5th house of creativity and self expression. For the Sun there is a trine to Juno the Goddess Asteroid of female ritual time and female social roles (i.e. Marriage) in the 2nd house of what makes us feel secure. The trines crossing making our table even more sturdy.

photo courtesy of Beverly Hof-Miller

We must be preparing for quite a feast indeed. I see this image as a harvest table since we in the Northern Hemisphere are in the summer growing season. Lammas, August 1st, is the cross quarter holiday (which makes this a wishing moon**) celebrating the harvest of earth: corn, wheat, tomatoes, watermelon and the like.

So our chart’s harvest table is ready to hold the heavy burden of our reaping. Metaphorically what have we sown in the past? What feelings need to be harvested, prepared and consumed or stored away for a time of need? In Aquarius we can look beyond the personal and vision for our community. What nourishing harvest feeds our communities? What is needed for the feasting, what can be protected for the future when resources are scarce? With the Aquarian Moon supported by the physical strength and determination of Mars and expansive Jupiter the harvest should be awesome indeed.

Jupiter encourages us to expand our feelings about ourselves. We can look to our passions and see how they define who we are. We can tell the stories of how we feel about ourselves. Hopefully we can also see/learn how to connect to dreams of healing from the Moon’s roommates in the 1st house. Finding ways to establish connection to unaspected planets or new ways to deal with unrelated roommates may add shades of meaning during this time. Expansion of feelings in this sign may prove difficult. An air sign is not totally comfortable with emotional matters, preferring to intellectualize. Aquarius’s ability to rise above and see the larger picture does not always allow for the sticky sometimes icky aspect of emotions.

So be aware of a desire to disengage from emotion or steer away from the rough waters of feelings. Remember, Aquarius pours the waters of life onto everything reminding us that we are all connected and all receivers. Distancing one’s self from strong feelings can help us get a more secure footing, but only so we can enter the depths and met the challenges. Let us use this opportunity to gain a broader vision helping us to get through the emotional challenges, but not to avoid. Avoidance will only bring the bear back larger and mightier than before.

Draw from the Leo Sun for the supportive courage if needed during this time. What harvest(s) will you bring to the table? So far it is empty, ready to accept what is offered. In Aquarius the offerings reflect the need for equality, the vision of larger social systems, the responsibility of rebellion, and the developments in technology. The Moon’s harvest brings our feelings, insights and intuitions about the above to the foreground. Obviously this is a juicy time. Will we gorge ourselves in the feasting, purging to consume even more. Will we savor some in the moment and store the rest for the scarce times? Just how will you use your harvest under this moon? Visions of how it could be are a good start especially with Aquarius in the picture. With Juno as one leg of support we can ground ourselves in the ceremonies marking feminine time. Our ancestors laid foundations, calling to the old ruler of Aquarius, how do we translate that into our lives today?

Fortunately Mars supports our table and is there to encourage our first step to manifesting the vision. So dream during this time of what your life could look like, what our communities could look like, what our social institutions could become, then find that first step to living your dream.

Respectfully submitted,
Beverly Hof-Miller

**Wishing moons are the full moon closest to the cross quarter holidays. Quarter holidays are the solstices and equinoxes. The cross quarter holidays are the 4 days equidistance between solstices and equinoxes, thus February 1st, May 1st, August 1st and November 1st.

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