Some Suggestions for the Virgo Full Moon

The Virgo Super-Moon on the 19th March seems to have a lot of people worried. I'm not going to make any predictions, that's not my job, but instead offer a few suggestions that you might find helpful.

Helpful Suggestions for the Virgo Super-Moon

Try not to worry
How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie


Definitely don’t panic

How Not to Panic from EHow


If you feel angry (this lunation connects with Uranus in Aries), try to detach from the emotion and simply observe it. Let it go, let the anger pass

Apply yourself to practical service and helping others

Avoid criticising others and try not to let criticism that comes your way get to you, unless it’s offered in a constructive, kind way

Give thanks for what you’ve got

If you’re feeling particularly stressed, take Bach Rescue Remedy ~ a formula for comfort and reassurance

Practice meditation. Mindfulness, Compassion and Wisdom, Three Means To Peace meditation from Shambhala Sun seems appropriate for this lunation

Eat healthily, drink camomile tea, get some rest

Go to a party, it’s a Full Moon after all! (And help the host to clear up afterwards – LOL!)

With love

Mandi
www.mandilockley.com 

Libra New Moon ~ Free Your Mind

Image from meditation website getsomeheadspace.com

Venus energies are so prominent this month…the Sun is in Libra, the sign ruled by Venus, and recently conjoined Saturn in Libra. Venus conjoined Mars, the planet that is Yang to Venus’ Yin and on October 8 Venus turns retrograde (more on that in a forthcoming post).

All this adds up to a lot of work and attention on relationship matters.

But that’s not all because on October 7 there is a New Moon in Libra, bringing relationship issues into sharp focus once again.

But don’t forget there’s more to Libra than relationship and partnership. Libra is an Air sign, it’s about our mental faculties, about connecting and communicating, it’s about feeling appreciated. I think most of all Libra is about gaining peace of mind and the mental loop-the-loops we often have to do to get to that state. Libra must work to ensure the mind remains balanced as it is through the mental faculties that Libra can attain the emotional equilibrium it needs.

Therefore, during this Libra New Moon, I think we would all be wise to try and find some balance and peace of mind. This is true for everyone, but especially for Libra Suns and Moons or in fact anyone with planets around the middle degrees of Libra or with strong Air in their charts (get your chart at http://www.alabe.com/).

I always advocate going within, resting and contemplating during a New Moon. Yes, very often we hear that New Moons are good planning times, but for my money the New Moon is the time just before the planning begins. You see, it’s dark at the New Moon, we can’t see our way, we must simply stop and feel our way, or at least take a mental pause and wait for the light to grow, so that we may move forward again with renewed surety.

It is therefore serendipitous that this New Moon coincides with World Mental Health Day on October 10. However, I would suggest that we don’t wait until the 10th to do some work on our mental health – releasing stress, worries, anxiety – because the New Moon time provides us with more conducive energies.

One very useful method of improving our mental health and balancing our mental state is through meditation. There are many different ways to meditate, but a new website just launched is aimed at helping beginners to get into meditation, starting with just ten minutes a day for ten days. See getsomeheadspace.com  to get started, but it’s worth checking out even if you have some experience at meditation but perhaps need a bit of a reminder of the benefits of daily meditation.

Simply follow the instructions and you’re away. However, I also think that if you are in tune with the cosmic energies (which of course you are or you wouldn’t be reading this) it is helpful to have some images/phrases to anchor your meditative practice, so here are a few ideas for meditating on this Libra New Moon:

~ Meditate on the Sabian Symbol for 15 degrees of Libra (the degree of the New Moon, rounded up). The Sabian Symbol is “Circular Paths”. What does that mean to you? Perhaps think about the circular rhythm of the planets. For example, the Moon has a monthly cycle and the Sun a yearly cycle. Contemplate the cyclical rhythms of your own life, its ups and downs, or think about the seasonal cycles of nature.

~ Meditate on circular images if you prefer a more visual prompt. Use whatever works for you. It could be a Mandala, or ripples in water, or a spiral pattern.

~ Meditate on thoughts or images of balance and equilibrium. Perhaps it’s the perfect balance between the masculine and feminine or darkness and light that inspires you, or perhaps it’s the timeless image of Yin and Yang, which shows us that within darkness there is light and vice versa.

~ Concentrate on your breathing, the balance between the in-breath and the out-breath.

I hope you manage to find some balance in your life during this time. Remember to love and appreciate yourself, because you are a beautiful soul.

Wishing you a very peaceful New Moon.

See here for more about Mental Health Day

Namaste

Mandi

http://www.mandilockley.com/

A Valentine’s Day New Moon Meditation

This year’s Aquarius New Moon falls on Valentine’s Day and all in all, it’s set to be a friendly and dreamy day. With the Sun and Moon falling on the idealistic conjunction of Neptune and Chiron and with Venus in Pisces cosying up to Jupiter, it’s a great day for romantic interludes, social interactions and chilling out in general, especially as it also falls on a Sunday!

I always think that meditation is a really nice complement to the New Moon energies and what better for this particular New Moon than the classic Buddhist Meditation on Loving Kindness, which is used to evoke the four qualities of love: Friendliness (metta), Compassion (karuna), Appreciative Joy (mudita) and Equanimity (upekkha).

Here’s a how-to link from Buddhanet:
http://www.buddhanet.net/metta.htm

Enjoy!

Mandi

Libra New Moon Meditation

A New Moon, under the darkening sky, is a good time to go within and this Libra New Moon, on the 18th October, is a good time to reflect upon where we need to find balance in our lives. So, this month, rather than looking at the astrological chart for the New Moon, I have devised a meditation which you may enjoy.

All you will need for this meditation is a quiet place and an Autumn leaf. It can be done indoors or outdoors.

Start by sitting down in a comfortable position and concentrate on your breathing, following your in-breaths and out-breaths until you start to feel stiller and calmer. As you breathe out, relax your body, making sure you are not tensed up in your shoulders, back, facial muscles etc. Make your breaths slower and longer, but comfortable. Feel your lungs filling up on the in-breath and emptying out on the out-breath.

When you are ready, take up your leaf and visualise the following image:

“A little boy, rebellious against school, watches a fluttering autumn leaf that seems to spell out his lesson for him”.

This is the Sabian Symbol for 25 degrees of Libra (the degree of the New Moon, rounded up).

Think about this image as you look at your leaf. Imagine you are that little boy, looking at the fluttering autumn leaf. What lesson do you think the leaf can teach you? Look at the colours. Think back to when it was a young leaf in the spring, unfolding and growing, full of promise. Then see it in full green colour in summer, on the tree, magnificent and strong. Look at the leaf now, beautiful, but dry and fallen from the tree. Imagine the tree in winter, bare of leaves. Now visualise the tree coming back into life in the spring and give thanks.

Now think about your own life. The ups and the downs. The happy times and the not so happy times. Think about how your life turns like the seasons. If life is currently happy and full, rejoice and give thanks, but if life has been difficult, absorb the promise of the tree and have faith in a new season of happiness and fulfilment to come. Take a moment to enjoy this feeling. Feel that you are able to hold your problems in perspective and balance now, for you are wise and like the tree, you will know when to surge forth and grow and when to rest and wait for better times.

Check in with yourself now to make sure you are still breathing and your body is still relaxed.

Look closely at the patterns on the leaf again now. Look at the symmetry and balance and contemplate where in your life you need to find more balance and harmony. Visualise yourself living your life in complete harmony and balance. Enjoy this feeling.

Now think about a circumstance where you have rebelled or resisted recently. Why do you think you did? What does this tell you about yourself? What is the lesson here? Like the little boy, ask nature or spirit to help you find the answer. Let the thoughts and images float around you now. Resist the urge to follow a single train of thought, try to remain detached. If you need to break a train of thought, go back to contemplating the leaf and check your breathing.

When you are ready, give thanks to nature or spirit. Go back to concentrating on your breathing and then slowly come back to yourself. Make sure you are grounded before you jump up, to avoid feeling lightheaded. A good way to do this is to plant your feet firmly on the ground and feel the earth beneath your feet. Visualise your feet as the base of a tree, with deep roots – secure, solid and safe.

Enjoy.

Namaste
Mandi

http://www.mandilockley.com/