We are in the final throes of this super long Scorping and Lady Luna is now void of course. This is astrospeak for when the moon has no more aspects to make in one sign but has not yet moved on to the next. Tools down, in a lunar sense. Traditionally this is not a time to begin anything, make bold statements or take giant leaps.

The moon in Scorpio for more than two days (one down, more than one to go) is certainly causing a ripple in the matrix. Lady Luna is not at her most comfortable here and largely speaking, neither are we. The vibe is challenging as our shadow buttons are pressed and our little demons hanker to run about unchecked.

The equinox beckoning from the other side of the weekend and we are finally beginning to feel the clarity that comes with her balancing, or at least the promise of it. Some of the puzzle pieces are wafting into view and we can steal long moments to gaze on what we are pointing the bow of our little ship towards.

If the nitpicking, judgey-ness or finger pointing of the last few days is now seriously getting on your tits, you are still mired in the hangover of the Virgo full moon. The potential of its earthy balm and superpowered ability to at once declutter, order and streamline our life is unsurpassed. That's the high side well worth tapping into.
Equally powerful though is her critical shadow self.

This full moon peaks in the Virgoan realm of practical magic, a place of pragmatism and selfless service. She shines opposing her lover the sun still in dreamy Pisces, allowing us to marry clear thought and sight with our intuituve vision. Virgin energy is beholden only to itself and in its purest form is untainted by the projections of others.

In much the same way that life and death have their roots embedded in each other, our endings and beginnings are forever intertwined.

If there is one thing you can bet the gingerbread house on during a Venus retrograde, it is a return of your exes.

Our Lady of Love's annual retreat has begun as she withdraws to contemplate, revise and thus reinvigorate all that tickles and tugs at our hummingbird hearts. Venus rules those areas of our life that bring us pleasure - or her counterbalance, pain - and which reflect our values, desires, taste and attractions.

The mad season has passed in a tumbleweed of inexplicable plot twists. By now we have all had time to catch our breath, stretch our freshly minted wings or climb shakily back to our feet, and begin to survey our adjusted ground zero. Making sense of where we find ourselves now is the only job at hand.

As we begin today to come up for air after a typically torrid saison d'eclipsia, not for me the new moon intention setting or break neck fast track to my brave new world. I am wary of any kind of bring-me-this magic woven under eclipsing skies. We know eclipses to be portents of change, unpredictable beasts who do not bow to our attempts to tame or harness their peculiar magic. We know too that they ripple: across astrological and emotional axes, across years, pinging our past and future alike.

The new moon eclipse half a day away now and oh how I can't wait to float down the backside of this seasonal tsunami. Our main players have taken their position, each vying for dominance as they come at us from completely different scapes.

Still may we be, sitting through the spin cycle of les eclipses. In moments or minutes or more. Mars continues to throb away, testing the true nature of our firepower. The divine scramble is palpable, nostalgic and prophetic all at once.

The dark moon has slipped on its Aquarian coat and the heaviness of the agitation cycle is giving way to Neptune's call as visions now travel both ways down our personal highways.

This has not been your garden variety full moon. Rising in Virgo there was high likelihood of forces grounding us for good, anchoring us to home and hearth. Instead the lead up to this full moon just peaked was an extended player in whose strange grasp we found ourselves jolted.

This guy is a walking community service announcement for the back end of this particular eclipse season and we all have Uncle Mars to thank for this. Our planet of Get Shit Done can fast turn into a war mongering trail of destruction when engaged the wrong way.

Time once and again for the deep dark moon dreaming that is de rigeur for the balsamic lunar phase, aka right now. You know the dark moon drill my darlings: declutter, release and repeat. This is *the* time every single month in a row to let go of anything / everything that irks, niggles, pains, blocks or bothers Beautiful You.

Sometimes when you're deep in the countryside you'll meet three girls, walking along the hill tracks in the dusk, spinning. They each have a spindle, and on to these they are spinning their wool, milk-white, like the moonlight.

I could not possibly list the myriad talents that constitute my femme friends. Mothers, lovers, daughters. Sisters all. Creatives, rebels, carers, weavers. Witches all.

Eclipse seasons should come with a similarly succinct warning but even with all possible due diligence, this mad season oft gets the best of us. If everyone or everything is feeling chaotic, unsteady or simmering as though about to boil over, remember this sandpaper is how we (all) make change. Not one of us is immune.