Moon Phase – Joy's Blog

Balsamic Moon Phase – October 2014 Leads to New Moon Solar Eclipse on the 23rd

October 21, 2014October 22, 2014Joy Star

Balsamic Phase! [AKA Waning Crescent Phase] Yep. Moon is at 2° Libra (today as I type this) and that feeling of wanting to escape into a mist of a cloud and fade out is here again–it’s a regular monthly feeling for me. Maybe you too? The Balsamic Moon says things like ‘I want change NOW or GET ME OUT OF THIS REALITY’…. that’s the feeling I’m describing that you may be able to identify with regarding this Moon Phase.

THE SOUL AND THE DIVINE ARE ULTIMATELY INSEPARABLE AND INDISTINGUISHABLE — we can know that… have that experience in this phase!

The desire for peace and silence is overwhelming. I currently reside (I changed the word live to reside just now) in a parking lot type townhouse setting where every 8 feet on both sides of the narrow drive-through is a parking space. Any time someone slams their car door, it sounds like a sonic boom going off around my head. Most days it barely registers but the need for silence contrasts with the booms and bangs. (No, I don’t have a headache but I feel the sounds in my body. Has that ever happen to you? You know the feeling, right?)

I have two roommates who bang around and dialogue early in the morning which I incorporate into weird dreams usually but it seems much more disturbing now. This is typical of the Balsamic Phase of the Moon—the need for quiet, silence as the psyche on all levels needs to commune with the inner energy and distractions from the outer world loom much larger. As I mentioned at other times in this blog, my natal Moon is balsamic (directly behind) my Sun and so this is true for me at all times, but at this time it is even more pronounced.

Coping with the outer world takes huge effort and concentration and discipline because all parts of mind/body/spirit want to go far away from the normal routine. I spoke with one of my daughters last evening who expressed feeling overwhelmed with the demands of earth living–the long drive to work, the financial stresses and strains and the having to work long hours without what she feels is proper reimbursement for her efforts. That’s another way to describe this phase. She didn’t know the solution or what to do about it but felt despondent–again, overwhelmed with the demands of life. That’s the feeling of this phase. And knowledge is power–and we know phases are just that, phases.

We could toss in the mercury retrograde and the two eclipses this month on top of it (and personally I’m having a Lunar Return today), but then why complicate things further? I’d like to stick to the blog post topic –the Balsamic Moon Phase.

Here’s the view from the perspective of the psychic/the sensitive.

The Balsamic phase AKA The Waning Crescent: the Moon is 315 -360° growing into the “dark of the Moon”

This phase begins with a very deep psychic sensitivity and alternate realities make themselves known to the psychic. Ghosts show up in this phase—like Halloween the veils are thin at this time. Communication from loved ones on the other side, spirit guides and angels are more common for everyone during this lunar phase but more so for the psychic. Imagination and visions are at their peak.

The archetype here is one of merging with Divine Will, surrender and a willingness to go into the abyss. More than any other time of the month, the psychic wants to withdraw from life when the Moon is in the Balsamic Phase.

There is a search for ultimate meaning now. And the desire is strong to turn ones back to the physical world. We are more willing than at any other time to ask questions like, “What is the nature of reality?”, “What is the nature of the mind?” Or “Where do we go when we die?”

We recognize the illusion of time and physical matter. A psychic who is comfortable in this realm already can lovingly go deeply that they enter into “the universes of spirit world” and experience a liberation and freedom as well as wisdom that… well, that helps one keep going through the next lunar cycle starting again with the New Moon.

New Moon happens again at 1° Scorpio which is also the time of the Solar Eclipse. Again, Solar Eclipses are about something new. Lunar Eclipses relate to some type of permanent ending. These things don’t happen overnight and some eclipse energy affects people more dramatically than others (which depends on their natal chart points as they relate to the eclipse points) but that’s the core concept with eclipses.

Date: New Moon Solar Eclipse October 23rd. It’s a good time to set your intentions for the new month and the season as well. Do so and then follow the blog posts through the phases if you’d like using the links below.

ADDENDUM: disclaimer: Maybe it’s because I’m in the midst of a PERSONAL LUNAR RETURN but I wanted to come back to post a bit more about the ‘feelings’ now as they relate to the earlier phases of the Moon as it grew full–a comparison and contrast. By the way, a Lunar return is when the Moon returns to the same degree and minute as it was on the day you were born. So, that happens monthly. I think that’s going to be my next project: to write about the Lunar Return. I’ve noticed, through the years, the days when I’ve felt — for lack of a better word right now– I’ve felt FUNKEY, different, strange, weird or felt something was ‘off’ and so looked at my chart to find time and again that the Moon was conjunct my birth Moon on that day. So I’ve been meaning to investigate Lunar Returns a bit more; my understanding at this point is that they are like a New Moon, but even more personal. That’s as far as my knowledge goes–and up until now I thought of a lunar return as a double moon of sorts just intensifying emotion. But I plan to find out more.

Anyway, back to this personal addendum on the balsamic moon phase. I look back to the New Moon and the Waning Crescent as I had this dilemma and desire and planted some seeds— well, okay. At the New Moon time I was telepathically screaming into the heavens asking what is going on, what direction should I take and what is this all about and then stating my needs and desires best I could. Stuff started to happen–very encouraging and validating stuff. I felt, well… validated, confirmed, 10-4 good buddy message received and all that. I knew what was going to happen and still do–eventually. It hasn’t happened yet but I have been given full assurances–in the physical–that it will and soon. Apparently, not THIS lunar phase unless something changes in the next few days–in which case I will be back to post it!

But it is strange — and this is the point that I wanted to make about this lunar phase — somehow the fire has gone out. Don’t misunderstand. It’s not that I still don’t want to have happen what I was assured will happen–it will happen eventually and it could be at any moment is what I was told. And the circumstances around this are very true to point–it is a concrete physical thing I’m talking about here. And the ‘any time now’ does make perfect sense in the 3rd dimensional physical reality–so that part’s ‘all-good’ as they say. Yet somehow the fire has gone out a bit or at least we could say there is no more open flame and the logs of the fire are just red embers, still producing warmth [as an analogy] but, again, no open flame. The excitement is over and the reality of life remaining ‘as is’ filters back in and there’s a sadness and at the same time there’s a feeling of how it doesn’t matter much one way or another. Intellectually it does because my mind is yelling at me — it matters! it matters! it matters a lot! but the heart of me is detached from the cares of the world, the earth and my own earthly life. There are more important considerations even if I can’t exactly nail those down either. There’s a desire to go sit on a nice huge boulder somewhere that’s warmed by the sun and let the wind blow my hair and move across my face and be completely STILL. Either that or transport into a fluffy white cloud in the sky and look down and laugh at the cares of the word and laugh even more loudly at my own life. I am not depressed, i am detached–detached, except from chocolate. Chocolate helps, it really does!.

QUICK MOON PHASE LINKS:

Disseminating (Waning)

Last Quarter

Waxing Crescent – Balsamic

Last Quarter Moon Phase October 2014

October 19, 2014October 22, 2014Joy Star

Last Quarter Moon Phase-2

The current energy: The head/Sun squares the heart/Moon… well, that’s one (of many) ways to say it. Today the Moon is in it’s Last Quarter Phase (270° to 315°). This phase started at 1° Leo and enters the last phase, the Balsamic at 1° Libra and then the next New Moon is 1° Scorpio. These phases happen every month of course as the Moon moves through it’s monthly cycle. So where are we now exactly as far as what we can expect will occur based on our New Moon intention from the last New Moon when we planted our seed and conceived something during the dark of the Moon last?

What is this phase all about? Well, we start with the fact of the square that the Moon and Sun are making and that brings frustration, uneasiness, the energy being at odds, conflicting. The Moon wants one thing and the Sun another and both must be resolved–but differently.

Dane Rudhyar calls this phase “Crisis is Consciousness” — and I think too “crisis in belief”. Internal conflicts, therefore, mark this phase. Do we deserve what we asked for during the New Moon? Is it possible to achieve? Are we in harmony with our own ideals? –these types of questions could be possible now. I can see this within my own self as I look back to the start of the cycle (Sept. 23/24) at the last New Moon and all that has happened over these last 3 week and I feel myself having to grapple with a few things internally. Here in this phase we should be careful that we don’t create a pattern called “the undoing of the doing”. We must not take things for granted and undermine our own creative efforts and all the while try to understand our own actions.

We are likely to seek a deeper cosmological understanding–again, crisis in belief. We begin to feel the pull of Source Energy now pulling us into the next phase. We may be confused about what to believe and the value system that we associate with those beliefs.

What you believe determines your values which in turn determines your lifestyle relative to your beliefs. There can be a crisis in lifestyle and a crisis in identity as well. An inner question such as “Am I living my life according to my own values?” Something in consciousness is being re-polarized so that a new foundation of awareness can occur–the soul strives for a new foundation!

There is society and then there is ‘me’–values may differ. We feel the new cycle and want to move into that but we are finishing up something in this cycle that must come first—thus, the frustration.

the Psychic in this last quarter moon phase

The psychic, the sensitive individual, feels the longing to go home, to withdraw, and seeks solitude more frequently in this lunar phase. Thoughts of what is left behind as a legacy are typical of this phase, And so perhaps in this lunar phase the psychic professional works on that class, that book, those teachings or the project of one kind or another. There is still engagement with the outer world but it is like the autumn if we equated this to a season.

The Moon wanes and the monthly cycle ends and now the psychic starts to review the month, the work and perhaps takes inventory of successes and perceived failures and maybe considers how to improve or change in some way.

There is a sense of wanting to finish unfinished business and so reviewing connections with others perhaps by checking over Email to be sure everything was addressed… just anything to tidy things up because subconsciously and intuitively the feeling of needing to withdraw again is nearing.

So there is a feeling of culmination and completion here and shedding the skins that were worn in the world this time/this month. The time is coming again soon to enter the cave once again where perhaps only a loincloth and meditation beads are needed—perhaps not literally but at least metaphorically.

No matter what your role in life or what profession you are in the emotional nature responds to an important principle or value that you feel you must uphold. However, it is important to be flexible about this because as you feel like you would like to reform the whole system of society and the world to be in harmony with your own ideals, there is a need to be reasonable. We can only do our best in our own corner of it working within the system (and societal values) that are already in place while being in harmony with our own system and values at the same time.

And we should remember that we are talking about the Solar-Lunar factors… the Sun relating to the Moon. We’re talking head (Sun) versus heart (Moon). The purpose and outer persona (Sun) and the evolving emotional and soul dynamic (Moon) and we started this phase with the 270° square. I wrote a post a while back about the difference between the energies of the Sun and the Moon which may be good to review: CLICK HERE.

This phase is like a sweet sorrow. Like sensing a return to the homeland after being away. Time now feels even more precious because we know something is soon going to change but before it does we ask ourselves, “Have I been doing my best?” These types of questions permeate our gradual return to the inner world as we move through this phase. Longing increases to return to the dharmakaya, the place of divine truth. We remember the “Cosmic Joke” as some say and we focus on today, now, and …. well, I just now realize that this very morning, I made a Facebook post that epitomizes this:

“In our lives there’s ‘this n’ that’ happening and then there’s the other ‘not’ happening and then again there’s the ‘meanwhile’… deep within; the eternal presence in the eternal now is meanwhile. Always meanwhile at the core of us, there’s exists, always, the divine connection meanwhile and the practice of the virtue of patience.”

There’s a sense of autumn about this phase and an acceptance of the imperfection of our lives, our values, our beliefs and those of the others and the outer world of society. We can almost laugh about it realizing how little it all really matters in the end. Yet, we still know we have to participate in it and so our grip loosens. We accept what we haven’t done and may not get to do and we also see that tendency in other people–that which has not been accomplished not only in this monthly lunar phase but in life generally. Yet, despite this, we’re okay with the imperfections of Samsara.

We know we cannot always be right, have everything we want, remain young all the years of our life but…

we must be very careful now not to become cynical. We should let go of all judgments of ourselves and others–that’s all irrelevant anyway and we can get a glimpse of that now.

Don’t snatch defeat from the jaws of victory

We do not want to repeat the past — this for sure is what we know and we must be careful not to “snatch defeat from the jaws of victory”.

It is important not to judge circumstances now, no matter how things appear! It’s best to say “I have no idea…” right now rather than to draw an erroneous conclusion about anything or anyone. Enlightenment, after all, in the end is knowing that you don’t know all that you thought you knew!

Next up: Balsamic Phase at 1° Libra starting on Tuesday the 21st. And then we go thought the cycle again, so you can come back and start again with the New Moon phase entry on this blog and let the Moon phases guide you through another month.