SCORPIO FULL MOON e FULL MOON OCCURS ON: Monday April 30th at 00:58 am UTC ATHENS, GREECE: April 30th at 3:58am USA: April 29th - Pacific 5:58pm/ EASTERN 8:58pm SAU PAULO, BRAZIL: April 29th at 9:58am AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND: April 30th at 12:58pm SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: April 30th at 10:58am NOTE : The Scorpio Full Moon Magic concert will occur approximately 15 hours before the Full Moon, at UTC 10am on Sunday April 29th (8pm Australian East Coast Time). THIS MONTH’S RITUAL FOCUS: HONOURING THE DARKNESS SCORPIO ELEMENT: Water MODALITY: Fixed RULING PLANET: Pluto Ruled by the planet Pluto, the sign of Scorpio offers us the gift and the challenge of the transformative powers of the Underworld. The mythic and symbolic Underworld is not only the realm of the dead, it is the magical crucible of change where Death is transformed back into Life. Picture a plant that has released its seed to the Earth. The plant itself may die, but the energy of Life is held in the potent vessel of the seed. The Underworld is the place where this seed, this sacrifice of the harvest, is buried hidden in the darkness. It will lay dormant, seemingly dead, until the forces of Life call it back to the surface to begin the cycle once again. Although the scientific community recently demoted the planet Pluto to the category of ‘Dwarf Planet’, in astrology it still holds the full power of its vital and important role. The planet is named after the Roman god Pluto, the ruler of the Underworld, who holds many similar qualities to the Greek god Hades. In Greek and Roman mythology the Underworld is not necessarily a place of torment, it is simply the realm of the dead. Hades it the brother of Zeus, (who rules the realm of the sky), Demeter, (who rules the surface of the Earth and the cycles of agriculture), and Poseidon, (who rules the sea). Although his association with Death caused him to be feared by the ancient Greeks, Hades was just as respected as these other gods. Hades features in the myth of Persephone that we will explore this month. As Persephone discovers, Hades can seem to come out of nowhere to drag us to the Underworld. 2 The Underworld is also a place of wealth. The goddess Demeter has a son called Ploutos (Πλοῦτος in Greek), whose name literally translates as ‘wealth’. He is associated with the wealth of the grain that is stored below ground, and reminds us that many symbolic treasures can be found when we are willing to honour the darkness, and bravely explore the hidden or more challenging aspects of our emotional realms. The planet Pluto was only discovered in 1930, and before then, Scorpio was ruled by the planet Mars. In Roman mythology, Mars is the God of War, and also the lover of Venus. (The Greek equivalent pairing is Ares and Aphrodite). As a war God, he is connected with the energies of Death, but he is also strong, feisty, sexual and life affirming. And of course, sex and death are connected. In French, orgasm as even referred to as ‘the little death’ (‘la petite mort’)! At the moment of the Scorpio Full Moon, the Sun is in the opposite sign of earthy, fecund, sensual Taurus. We’ll be exploring this polarity of Life and Death, and the season festivals that occur at this time to honour these energies: Samhain in the Southern Hemisphere, and Beltaine in the Northern. Scorpio is one of the three Water signs in the zodiac, the other two being Cancer and Pisces. This month we will journey with the element of Water, and specifically with Scorpio’s expression of Water, which is deep, still, and underground. Scorpio Water like a deep dark well, an underground river, or a cenote. It represents our emotional depths, and also the hidden shadow aspects of self that lie beneath the surface. It is important to honour this still, deep water by creating points of stillness and self reflection in our lives. This is the realm of the Crone, which we can naturally access every Dark Moon, regardless of the sign. Scorpio offers us the gift of a ritual cleansing of the dark matter that lies as the bottom of the deep pool of Self. Being born on October 31st, and a Scorpio by Sun Sign, I feel very comfortable in this deep dark realm. My hope is that my comfort with this shadowy realm will help you to access your own healing connection with the divine dark. In this month’s booklet I’m also including some information on the astronomy of the lunar phases. A knowledge of the mechanics of the phases and an understanding of the many shifts of mood and energy that our Lady Moon moves through each month will help us to appreciate the energies of each Full Moon that much more potently. THIS MONTH WE WILL EXPLORE THE FOLLOWING TOPICS: LIFE AND DEATH BELTAINE AND SAMHAIN DARKNESS THE CRONE AND THE SAGE THE MYTH OF PERSEPHONE THE LUNAR PHASES THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON WAXING AND WANING THE ELEMENT OF WATER SUGGESTIONS FOR YOUR SCORPIO FULL MOON MAGIC ALTAR FURTHER ACTIVITIES 3 LIFE AND DEATH The word ‘life’ is used two ways in our culture. We use it describe the time that an individual organism spends alive; an animal is born, it lives for a while, and then it dies. We talk about its life, and its death. The same can be applied to plants. For example, we can say “that tree has been alive for 100 years”. When we use the word ‘life’ in this very individual sense, then the word ‘death’ can be regarded as its opposite. We’re born, and then we live, and then we die. In the space of a moment, we can pass from life into death, and the two are very clearly not the same! But there is another use of the word ‘life’. We talk more generally of ‘Life on Earth’ , or ‘the Life of a forest’. Death plays an integral part in maintaining this broader aspect of Life. In fact, it is inseparable from it. Whenever we go into a beautiful natural landscape, be it ocean, desert or forest, we feel the powerful pulse of Life energy. Imagine being in a forest now. You’re surrounded by living trees, birds are chirping overhead, maybe an animal scurries by. If you look under a log you might see some insects and worms. The forest is teeming with Life. But a closer look shows us that Death is just as powerfully represented. Fallen trees are rotting, becoming food for insects, mosses and fungi, and turning to soil once more. Last season’s leaves create rich humus for new seeds to germinate in. One animal eats another. A herbivore chews the leaves and grasses. An animal dies and its energy is re-absorbed into Earth. Life and Death everywhere, in perfect harmony. If there were no Death, there could be no Life. I like to distinguish between these two forms of the word ‘life’ by capitalising the more all encompassing term. So, in my scheme of experimental grammar ‘life’ refers to a singular individual organism, and ‘Life’ to the grand and endless cycles of Life and Death. I can talk about my life as Wendy Rule, knowing that I was born on October 31st 1966, and will die one day (a long, long time from now!). My philosophy and faith tells me that when I die, my individual life-force will return to the great collective and continue on in some way, but that I, as Wendy, will be dead. On the other hand, if I talk about Life, then I am referring to this collective energy that contains all of the myriad forms of life, and also their death. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, who wrote Women Who Run With the Wolves, refers to the Life/Death/Life Mother, reminding us that the two forces are equally sacred, necessary, and in some way, nurturing. Imagine a ball of clay. This clay represents the energy of Life. As we hold this clay in our hands, we can shape the surface into life forms - animals and plants etc. These will stay in that form for a while, and then we can roll them back into the ball, and they are simply Life once more. A return to the collective. 4 It’s appropriate to mourn the death of an individual life. But it’s also important to recognise that the energy of Death is a sacred part of Life. When we eat another life form, it is important to give thanks for this offering of individual life, of its identity. I’m sure that if our culture could honour the sacred energies of Death more fully, animals that are farmed for food, in recognition of their generous gift, would be treated with the reverence that they deserve. PERSONAL CYCLES OF LIFE AND DEATH The energies of Scorpio teach us about the powers of the Underworld, of transformation, and of Death. This Full Moon provides a good opportunity for us to re-establish a loving and trusting relationship with these sometimes challenging energies. Within our own lifetime, we go through many, many cycles of Life and Death. We may have one literal death at the end of our lives, but over the course of that time, we are born and live and die hundreds of times over. Every time we cross a life threshold, or find ourselves at one of life’s crossroads, we face the death of the old way of living, and the opening up of the new.