Have you ever immersed yourself in the deeply intensely glorious light that shines through pigmented leaded glass window? If so, you too could know how art, colour and light (Leo's forte) have the power to heal and purify and, almost miraculously, open your heart and lift one’s spirit into other-worldly realms. The colourful stained-glass Rose windows at the medieval Chartres Cathedral in France did just this to me a while ago (fyi: Chartres also has the signs of the zodiac in its' stained glass windows, and features in Dan Brown's Davinci Code); when bathed in the all-pervading lapis-lazuli and rose-pink light that streams in through Chartres spectacular windows, I felt myself merge into a truly religious experience that I’d like to share with you. For my short story holds some symbolism for this Full Moon in 29 Leo* opposite the Spirit Sun in humanitarian Aquariusm conjunct mystical Neptune, who is also with active Mars, and healing Chiron at 8:36gmt (5 hours behind for est, 8 for pst) on Friday, the 18th February.
Before I finish my tale, some background on this dramatic and soulful Leo Full Moon that reflectes the light of the Sun in Aquarius - which often brings about sudden events - quite out of the blue (pardon the colour pun). When conjunct Neptune, those events can be deeply spiritual when positive (or decidedly deceptive if negative); when Mars is involved in the cosmic Aquarian picture, the warrior can wield such force it can almost knock us out (North Africa is a current case in point). Yet while our Sun shines upon this Moon in theatrical Leo, we are reminded of love and romance, as Leo is a sign that comes from the heart; this Lion heart represents playfulness and fun, children, art and parties, as well as how we show strength and express creativity. My three planets and an asteroid in Leo might explain why this blog is more personal than usual: I love a good party and adore being with kids - my Goddess daughters in particular, and I have a ‘thing’ about the iconography of the Mother Goddess and Child - in any culture, as the love a mother gives her child is usually unconditional. In the Tibetan teachings we are taught, due to karma, to treat everyone as a mother would her child.
But back to my incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience: As I knelt at the feet of the beautiful Black Madonna which Chartres Cathedral houses in a small side chapel, I settled into the silence of my prayers. Okay, these were Buddhist prayers, but I am now certain the Divine Cosmos was listening. My internal peace dissolved into bliss by the sudden arrival of a global gathering of nuns who had come together to sing praises to the beautiful Black Madonna. During the course of an hour the choir swelled and diminished in size, as each countries' representatives came, sang their beautiful hearts out, then disappeared. In the spirit of Sun-Neptune in Aquarius, I witnessed a universal sisterhood, a hundred or more congregate from all over the world pay tribute to the Holy Moon Mother in their own language; a sacred hymn sung variously in French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, German and other tongues. Each group of dedicated women, all dressed in a variety of blue and white, sang a tune honouring the Goddess, which resonated with the magical healing blue light emanating from the Cathedral’s windows, infusing every pore in my skin with a radiant wonder. My Spirit elevated beyond any normal sense of being. Because of this very obvious out-of-body sensation (I was gone!), my dear partner and his friend left me to release the overwhelming love coursing through my heart-mind and body. An hour and a flood of silent tears later I was once again alone in front of Holy Mother and Child, wondering if it were all a dream as the last nun left the blessed statue; lighting a candle symbolic of the spiritual light of the Mother Goddess honoured, she departed. I realised then how I'd been witness to an extraordinary gift of devotion to the Divine Mother that truly humbled me in the face of unity and oneness.
And its this the kind of magical and mystical ONENESS with DIVINE LOVE that the current Sun-Neptune conjunction can invoke – through song, prayer, yoga and meditation, we can transport ourselves to the state of bliss, and reach a place of awareness where we see easily how we are all so interconnected. Understanding such interrelation enables altruism to arise from within, to become compassionate and loving which, to my astrological mind, is the highest vibration of mystical Neptune, as it flows through these last degrees of Aquarius before going into its' home sign of Pisces in April this year. Just writing about this precious choir-of-nuns memory, however, reminds me how important it is to drop Leo's ego, in order to open the heart and radiate the spiritual strength which love generates, including a natural non-pompous self-love.
In the face of any overwhelming thought or sensation: hot-headed confusion, surrender, martyrdom, which a Sun-Neptune-Mars-Mercury conjunction can all too easily signify: to mediate (from a meditative approach to problem solving) work best. So, while under the auspices of this dramatic Leo super Moon (so close to the earth we have also just experience our 1st X-flare for 4 years), I can’t emphasis enough how deLIGHTful it is to submerge oneself in the unconditional LOVE of the Divine; and am wishing you a wonderful Full Moon meditation.
*This is also last of the five-in-a-row 'anaretic' 29degree Full Moons, and is the last full moon before the Tibetan New Year, Losar, on March 5th. This Leo Moon is also conjunct Regulus, a fixed star that represents the red hot passionate heart of the lion which confers unbridled success, but only when revenge is not sought (then all is lost); Regulus is a Royal star, and conjunct the emotional Moon which is opposite the Aquarius Sun conjunct Neptune and Mars AND Mercury, it can bring about some kind of successful sensitivity and/or healing to the heart-mind connection, to accent an individual’s spiritual strength and, when living for the highest good, compassion for the suffering Neptunian masses - of which there are billions on our planet alone.
The Aquarian Sun is spacy; electrical energy over this Full Moon is also seriously felt (I have hardly slept a wink during these solar flares): with Mars in Aquarius, action and insight can be sudden and daring; but be aware how anger wipes out karmic merit in one fell swoop. My advice for this Moon? Steer clear of toxic aggression, and be thankful for Divine kindred spirits, along with the love and kindness that such friendship generates in one’s life.
One last observation (and please bare with me on this long but incredibly fiery interconnected planetary chain) is how this Solar flare formed almost simultaneously with our monthly Cardinal Cross of the Central Spiritual Sun (as opposed to the heart or the physical Sun). According to Alice A. Bailey in Esoteric Astrology, the Central Spiritual Sun’s outlet is through Jupiter, which has, interestingly, just moved into fiery Aries, the sign where the Sun is exalted; Mars, which rules Aries, is also currently conjunct the Sun, turning up the heat in this spate of solar flares that actually blew from a central zone of our life-giving Sun, to reach us here on earth on a Full Leo Moon, which is ruled by the Sun! Thus, this Sun-Leo-Mars-Aries-Jupiter-> Spritual Sun circle is, to those who read the signs and meaning behind this Full Leo Moon, (& should we choose to take this opportunity) propel the process of a heart-opening that awakens to central life-giving Spirit. Note: we may need to rest within said Central Spirit in a week’s time, when Jupiter squares up to powerful Pluto, on the 25th Feb. The celestial call to expand will be the spiritual warrior's point of transformation. Until then, I join you through the Sun-Neptune-Chiron meditation healing ethers in the Temple of unconditional LOVE - and wish us all many helpful insights, so we constantly reflect the clear light of Spirit’s wisdom.
Heaven knows, our planet could do with healing prayers as Neptune begins to leave Aquarius and enter Pisces 2012. This transit could be a big deal for the water element, ruling mass emotion, and our connection to the Divine_/\_♥ ΰ«... Imagine if we all tuned into healing...
Meanwhile...
_/\_♥ ΰ« love and thanks for illustrations to Sea Lion at deviant art for the brilliant leopard, 'The Moon's Daughter'; to Mystic Sun for the fractal; unknown artists for Oneness; and unknown photographers for Chartres Cathedral's Black Maddonna, Rose Window and Lion pane _/\_♥ ΰ«
☀️☽ * Solar Eclipse 29° Leo *☾
πKarma multiplied day x 100 million ... ⊚ 
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