I'm sure I don't have to tell you how big this moon feels. Anger, overwhelm, anxiety, pain, shame ... anything that's been buried under the surface is bubbling up to be witnessed.
Libra is about justice. Rooting into what matters. Libra wants to know where you stand so you can take a stand. Scorpio asks us to bring our awareness to our inner landscape and to reclaim the taboo or secretive parts of ourselves that we’ve sent into exile (what we see happening with women rising and sharing our collective outpouring of #METOO is a perfect example of this).
Seasonally, in the Northern Hemisphere we are moving into darkness while in the Southern Hemisphere, things are bursting into bloom. Wherever you find yourself in the world, we can all relate to the seasons of change and transition.
It’s commonly known that the natives and ancients lived by cycles and seasons, that they revered the wisdom found in each phase of birth, life, death and re-birth ... What is less known is that the cycle of birth was actually revered for beginning in death.
This is gorgeously mirrored in the feminine archetype of the triple goddess, the Maiden - Mother - Crone. The three aspects are not actually experienced as separate entities of feminine life cycles or experience, they are all seen as interlinked, one is always upon the wisdom of the other. The Maiden grows into the Mother, and the Mother grows into the wisdom of the old Crone, and the Crone dies to again, be reborn as the Maiden.
Instead of death being seen as the Crones final destination - it's seen as what actually provides the fertile possibility for her rebirth. In this way, the knowledge from each cycle was carried over. Literal or symbolic death was not to be feared, it was to be revered.
"The goddess was seen as manifest in the three light phases of the moon as a trinity of growth, fruition and decay, reflecting the transient cycles of the seasons and of life. The un-manifest Goddess was the dark phase of the moon, the womb, the continuous source of all life. Later depictions of the moon goddess showed her as a trinity rather than in four fold aspect not because the dark aspect was unknown, but because she was hidden to the human eye like the dark phase of the moon. She was the darkness of the un-manifest, the source of life and potential and was the pure consciousness which lay behind the trinity of light. {Her darkness was the essence of the whole cycle} as the light phases could not be perceived except in relationship to the darkness." Miranda Grey from Red Moon
This is where we find ourselves now. In the Fruitful Darkness of the un-manifest. The place where pure potential lives.
Old structures are falling away. We see it in ourselves, we see it in others, we see it in our society. We are in a great time of Feminine Transformation, and this month we're accompanied by Scorpio, not coincidentally, a sign of transformation.
It’s said that this astrological sign goes through life stages, that it starts out as a scorpion, rises into a serpent and then eventually evolves into the Phoenix, the mythological creature that in Greek Mythology is a long-lived bird that would cyclically die and emerge reborn from the transformative fire of it’s own ashes.
If we look at the Feminine - this is where we find her - beginning to re-emerge, seared from the heat of own flames.
YES, there is a collective feminine fury that needs to be felt and expressed so it may be released. But it's also a collective time to channel that anger, pain and energy into something: to alchemize this pain into power so that we can rise into something new.
"When men imagine a female uprising, they imagine a world in which women rule men as men have ruled women.” Sally Kempton
This is what I wonder about. It's what I dream about daily ... what would the world be like with sexually liberated women? How would we run the world? What would be the impact of the full embodiment of our Feminine Power?
Because it's true, women are warriors. We are fierce. And we've been denied our sovereignty and robbed of our Feminine Power for so long that (now with the Patriarchy threatening harder than ever to maintain power) we're ready to draw our swords. We are ready for our justice - we demand it - and we won't back down.
But this moon isn’t about swords. It's about justice and morality. Specifically Feminine Morality. We can't fight the way we've been fought with. We've so clearly seen the ways that don't work - and now - it's our sacred work to find the ways that do.
This moon says go inside. Start with yourself. It isn’t about anyone outside of you, it isn’t about what anyone has done “to you” … it’s about you and what you choose to do because of what you've been through.
“Growth doesn't mean happy all the time. Happy is not growth. Life is balance, even pain sometimes is fine. What happened has only to do with what we do from now on, to go forward."
And this is the question this moon begs of us: what do we do now, to move forward?
The biggest way to move forward personally and collectively is to heal our own wounds and so (as my best friend says) we can stop throwing them at others.
Whether you're a man, woman or any beautifully unique identification in between, what are the wounds or taboos within you that need to be tended to? Use this moon to bring your tenderness to them.
If you need to feel the charge or process the pain USE THIS MOON TO DO THAT. If you need to take action to heal, find the courage to act or you need to breakthrough the shame / pain / silence that's been weighing you down, USE THIS MOON TO DO THAT.
I was at a live event last weekend, where I was approached by others who work with Feminine Empowerment and Sexuality about having a panel on Healthy Sexuality. I agreed that it could be beneficial to give people an outlet, within a safe community space, to share what was real for them. But the topic was immediately steered towards women. Towards women's pain. Towards women's trauma.
I mentioned, we need to make sure to include the men. I mentioned cycles of abuse and one of the women jumped down my throat. She proceeded to tell me that anyone abused becoming an abuser was perpetuating just another taboo, that it wasn't true, and that we shouldn't "give men excuses" any more.
I agree with that. People must be held responsible for their actions. 100%.
But men are in great pain too. Men face abuse too. Men are shamed too.
Cycles of abuse are perpetuated by societies standards and the lack of tools to learn, grow and heal our wounds with awareness. And the cycles of abuse aren’t just sexual. They are social, emotional, psychological, intergenerational.
I believe there (sadly) isn’t a woman alive who hasn’t experienced pain, abuse or discomfort at some point of her life because of her gender or sexuality.
Whether it’s been sexual abuse, rape, cat calling, harassment, getting groped or shamed by men, I agree, it’s time for women to break the shame by speaking of it and it’s time for men to realize and admit the prevalence and significance of it.
I obviously care deeply for the embodiment and expression of Healthy Sexuality. It's the basis of my business, and arming women with the tools to release any pain, trauma or shame so that women can rise is my mission. But we are in this together. And if we truly want the world of JUSTICE and EQUALITY that we speak of, we have to come to the table together, and be able to talk about these things together without the charge.
We have to be able to have conversations together and we have to be able to heal our own wounds so that we can come to the table at all.
I know that we have a lot to fight for. I know that we are fighting thousands of years of Feminine pain and suppression. I know we are still under threat. I know our rights are still being affected in the States. I know there are those who seek to keep us buried in shame and silence. I KNOW.
But if we want the world that we all say we want, we have to have the courage to heal in order to root into our true Feminine Power and move forward from *this place* of inner strength and compassion.
This is what the New Moon calls on us for.
To root in. To distill down. To have patience.
To be quiet. To reflect. To create space. To have FIERCE COMPASSION for yourself and for others. To remember that healing is not an overnight process and that transformation takes time.
When we can apply Scorpio’s wisdom of death and rebirth to our lives, instead of getting stuck in the fear or pain, we are able to understand it as a fertile place of transformation how we learn to evolve and to stop disowning the imperfect / wounded / shameful parts of ourselves. Here are some guide posts + questions for you this Libra New Moon:
- If you've healed your own wounds, it's time for you to alchemize into action. We need you to speak up and take action for those who are still in the process of healing their wounds and aren't in a place to do so yet. Use your voice, speak about the injustices, share your stories, keep on keepin' on ... and just incase you missed it the first time, WE NEED YOU, thank you, we love you.
- If you haven't healed your wounds, if you're still carrying a charge of pain, shame or blame, how can you take action, even if it's a baby step, towards healing? Who can you reach out to? What can you do to release what’s no longer (or never was) yours to carry? What can you do to let go? What's one thing can you do to re-claim your worth and your power?
- If it helps, tune into: how you choose to access your Feminine Power / how you choose to honor your Feminine Power / how you choose to express your Feminine Power / how you choose to fight for your Feminine Power / how you choose to take a stand for the Feminine.
- When it comes to Feminine Transformation, Healing the Feminine or Empowering Women, what's one cause you want to dedicate taking action towards? Are you Pro-Choice and angry about the recent changes to reproductive rights in the States? Are you a parent dedicated to changing the paradigm by teaching the next generation what it means to be equal and kind? Are you an activist that wants to bring your voice to a cause you care about? Are you a writer / healer / teacher / speaker / artist / human with life experience that can help others heal?
- What does Feminine Morality Mean to you?
The point of re-birth and transformation isn't to leave behind your past - it's to integrate it. Because the shame and shadows we carry aren't to be forgotten, they are to be carried as sacred seeds of wisdom into the next cycle.
They are the evolutionary agents that allow us to tend to the seeds of change that are ready to take root - and the Fruitful Darkness of this moon is where we are afforded the opportunity to consciously root down so we can consciously rise up.
I know it takes courage. I know it takes heart. I know it takes vulnerability. I know it takes trust. I know it hurts. I know it's uncomfortable. I know, you've come so far. No doubt, in your own way, you've been through hell and back. Celebrate yourself for that. Give yourself some credit. In light of it all, use this moon to tune into what really matters to you + to tend to your tenderness + to bring awareness towards what's ready to take root in you.
Tend to your embers + OM DUM DURGAYAI NAMAHA,
Ashly
