This New Moon is happening at 7:38 am here in Hawaii (-10 GMT) on Sunday, October 30th and also marks a huge festival in India called Diwali. Diwali is the Festival of Lights and begins on the 13th lunar tithi (phase) of the waning Moon in the Hindu month of Karik, before the New Moon. This would be Friday here in the U.S. Diwali itself is on the New Moon on Sunday, and is a day to worship Mother Lakshmi, the goddess of Wealth, Beauty and Fertility and the triumph of good over evil. This epic festival has many myths associated with it, but Diwali itself is said to be the day when Lakshmi herself came out of the Great Cosmic Ocean that was being stirred by both the devas (the gods) and the asuras (the demons) in order that they might obtain the immortal nectar, Soma. She was a boon to the world, and chose Vishnu to be her partner. Lights will go up all over India in celebration and great joy is spread around the cities and villages.


The New Moon is at 13 degrees sidereal Libra, where the Sun has been debilitated for a couple weeks already. The Sun is at its weakest in Libra, because here is where we dole our energy, power and vitality out to others rather than keeping it for ourself so that we are sharing with others from an empowered place. When we fold on our Power and Strength, we are actually offering others our energy greatly weakened and it is not as helpful to them as it would be if we remained strong in ourselves and then gave from that place. This is a lesson of Libra. We find balance by throwing ourselves off and then regaining that balance. Who doesn't like a good lesson? ;-) The Moon in Libra often has the feeling of giving unconditionally to others and not receiving enough in return, because the Moon is where we give like a mother and Libra is where we want fair and equal exchange with others. This New Moon, we also happen to have Mercury, the planet of communication, ideas, information and the intellect here and only 2 degrees away from Sun and Moon. Perhaps the past few days you have noticed this strong combustion (Sun being close to a planet and “burning” up its energy) through missed communication and feeling as though you are not being listened to or heard. With Mercury, we tend to pass it off with lighthearted humor or some external manner, but it may not feel good to us inside, even if we just “let it go” on the outside.


The specific star cluster, or nakshatra of the zodiac that this New Moon is happening in is called Swati. Swati is ruled over by the God of Wind, Vayu and has a tendency to feel scattered. It is where we are learning independence, discernment and strength as shown through the symbol of the sword, but are perhaps sending our energy out like wind right now. Beyond this, the planets are also sort of spread out through the signs and elements right now, giving us even more of a feeling of being in many places at once. Our power is mostly coming from Mars right now, the strong, disciplined warrior within is in a righteous place in fiery Sagittarius, allowing us to walk the walk of our principles and take actions in the direction of our highest beliefs and ideals. He is going to be moving onto Capricorn, where he is at his most exalted the night of October 31st, so we will continue to have blessings with our action and discipline for the rest of the 2016.


Meanwhile, Saturn and Venus are neck and neck in Scorpio, with the Moon to join them on Halloween and into the beginning of next week. Saturn brings us determination, fear and humility while Venus is our sense of happiness, pleasure and enjoying the company of others. Neither is in very good dignity here in Scorpio, meaning neither is operating at high intelligence, although they are both receiving some blessings from the ruler, Mars being close by. This is an alignment that can put a damper on a good time, but also bring us to commit to others. With our soul power being hung up in Libra already we are feeling a lot of pressure from our commitments and engagement with others, and not necessarily feeling good about the sacrifices we are making. Emotional spurts may be had as we try to control the situation, or even our significant others but immense fear and a desire to “hold the peace” will likely keep us from making any long term damage with our potential drama:-)


As always, New Moons are a time for going in, reflecting and honoring your self and this can be especially important with all this energy going out to others. Nourish yourself and protect your energy as best as possible....you can go out again on Halloween, which is the day of the first phase of the waxing moon, setting you off on a New foot. Many Blessings on this New Moon. Hare Ohm


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On Saturday, October 15th at 6:24 pm Hawaii Time (-10 GMT), the Moon will be directly across from the Sun at 29 degrees sidereal Pisces, the very end of a long journey to our ultimate Home. Revati is the last nakshatra, or star cluster, of the zodiac and it is where we take the final journey towards peace in our hearts... merging our higher Self with the total being of the Collective. In Hindu terms, we are bringing the Atman (individual soul) together with the Brahman (God-soul). Revati is associated with the protection of animals and is ruled over by Pushan, the shepard who helps lost and helpless creatures find the path home. The Sun is across the way in Virgo, on its last day there before transitioning to Libra. Full Moons are a time of contrast and allowing us to sink into the energy opposite of the one of the Sun cycle we are experiencing. Interestingly, we have had two full moons in Pisces this cycle, one at the very beginning and this one at the very end. What we get as a glimpse in the first nakshatra of Pisces, the realization of our Self as much more than just this body and earthly existence is put to the test in the middle and finds its peace in this final star. Revati is also symbolized by a drum, showing us that when we find one ending, it is merely the beginning of something new as the drum beats eternally and the steady rhythm holds all of our lives' ups and downs in a single beat.
Mercury and Jupiter are joined the Sun in Virgo. Mercury in both his own sign and his exalted position is bringing high levels of intelligence to our communication and information highways. We may find we have clarity of thought and speech and that it is linked to our higher ideals and beliefs. While our thoughts and ideas may be clear, our hyper-attention to detail is distracting us from the true expansiveness that allows us to really understand the bigger picture our ideals and beliefs represent. We may have been experiencing anxiety and high levels of self-criticism this last month.
As the Earth turns and our perspective of the Sun transitions into Libra for the next month, we will find ourselves doling out our Soul Power to others. In an effort to find compromise and harmony with others, we may negate our own true source of strength and stability. The Sun is considered debilitated, in its least intelligent position in Libra, because the source of our strength must be contained for us to radiate that power out to the rest of what we are and do. In Libra, we are too interested in engaging with others and making things feel beautiful to hold to our higher power and truth.
Venus has moved out of her own sign of Libra and into Scorpio joined Saturn. We might find more pressure and fear is hampering our happiness and connection with others. In the tumultuous and self-interested sign of Scorpio, our relationship planet struggles for control of others in a stormy attempt at facing the inner fears we each have. Saturn has been here for almost two years now, so we are getting used to the feeling of pressure and fear, but now it will specifically be affecting our relationships and sense of happiness. Expect high emotions and perhaps some drama with others, with a dose of humility and diligence to bring us down to earth.
Mars is still giving us a lot of discipline and action in the direction of our beliefs and religious or spiritual paths in Sagittarius, helping us to practice what we preach.
Overall, the levels of anxiety and overemphasis on the details will begin to go down as we fade into the New Moon these next two weeks, and we will find ourselves instead dropping into a place of trying to find balance in our relationships and our personal power, struggling for control and perhaps finding ourselves belly up on the floor a few times in the process. Try to stick to your daily sadhana, or practice, to help ground yourself in your own space and rhythm before you interact with others and use tools such as NVC to help you make sure you are expressing your needs and wants and also listening to those of others. Lokah Samasta Sukinoh Bhavantu. May All Beings Everywhere Be Happy and Free. May you be happy and free. Hare Ohm.

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