Balsamic Moon phase enters Pisces - Mercury Retrograde

"I'm one with the Goddess
 and open to Her Wisdom."


27th Day of the 3rd Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Hecate
Lunar Tree Cycle of Nion/Ash
13th Day of the Celtic Tree
Month of Fearn/Alder
27th Day of the Cycle of Raven -
Days of Air
Moon Phase: Balsamic - 7:24AM EDST
Moon rises: 5:01AM EDST
Moon sets: 4:19PM EDST
Moon in Aquarius v/c 6:21PM EDST
Moon enters the Mutable Water
Sign of Pisces at 6:38PM EDST
Ceridwen's Cycle of the Moon
Lunar Meditation: The silent
testimony of innocence in the face
of tyranny.
Sun in Aries
Sunrise: 7:08AM EDST
Sunset: 7:41PM EDST
Solar Question for the Day: "Are
you allowing spontaneity into
your life?"
Imbolc (Gwyl Mair) Quarter
of the Year
Mercury Begins 4:47PM EDST
March 30th, 2011

Balsamic Moon - (or waning crescent moon) rises before dawn and sets midafternoon. She is the last sliver of Moon seen in the eastern sky in the dawn and in the very early morning. The Balsamic Moon is the COMPOST phase of the moon plant, when nutrients remain in the soil, providing nourishment for the next new seed. Those who are born during a Balsamic Moon phase possess the potential to be wise, insightful, understanding and patient. They are prophetic and unique.
    So when is the Dark Moon? :

Also known as the "dead" Moon, this is the time when there is no solar reflection, leaving the lunar face in darkness. The dark lasts about three days before the new crescent appears.

Is this the same as the New Moon?:

For many, the new Moon begins at the moment of the Sun-Moon conjunction, but for others it remains the dark Moon until that crescent is in view. As the Moon wanes toward those final days of darkness, there's often a turn inward. In those contemplative moments, the inner reality is presented through dreams and waking visions. It's fertile ground for the new Moon intentions to be conjured.
     As Auntie Moon in her blog has advice to give us for this waning moon period:
http://auntiemoon.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/beyond-the-chart-a-few-things-to-inspire-during-the-dark-moon-of-pisces/



Moon in Pisces - The Moon in Pisces reveals our permeability. We dream, and need to ground our dreams.  We care, but can become overwhelmed by our awareness unless we feel spirit working through us. This transit is a time to imagine, share, sense, meditate, nurture, soak, and find constructive ways to be sensitive.  With Moon in Pisces we feel the world with compassion, heightened senses and strong imagination. We need quiet time in the temple or back under our covers to deal with the sensory overload. This is a time to vision, listen to our inner voices, allow creative juices to flow and touch each other with new awareness. During Moon in Pisces emotional life is more introverted. Intuition is at is height and psychic energy is powerful. You are now able to get in touch with your deepest self, but it can also be a time of vagueness, unclarity, and uncertainty. Pisces is about endings as a result to internal processing.  You may notice during this moon transit a moodiness in others around you as well as with yourself. Moon in Pisces is the best time to work magick involving dreamwork, clairvoyance,
telepathy, music, and the creative arts. Healing rituals for ailments of the feet or lymph glands are also done at this time. Those people who were born under a Pisces Moon have extra perceptions and need to built the strength (not defense) to match. They are sensitive, intuitive, responsive and compassionate; their dreams are a gift.

Woden's Day - Mercury Day - the Day of Communication and Connection..... there are minor magickal energies to work in your Book of Shadows and defend against psychic attack... with Mercury Retrograde beginning this afternoon you will find you need to take extra  care in your communications.

Mercury Retrograde - In my area (western Pennsylvania) this retrograde will begin 4:47PM.... and it will challenge us to be thorough and patient, even though outside the joy of Spring urges us to move forward enthusiastically. During a retrograde period, it is not a good idea to push forward any practical venture. It is better to prepare for it rather than doing it and to move ahead later with the direct phase of Mercury.  Mercury goes Retrograde three times every year. As it slows down before the Retrograde period, we call it the Pre-Retrograde. Mercury starts losing power then and hence new ventures cannot do well in this period. Then there is the Post-Retrograde when Mercury picks up or gains speed but is still moving slowly enough to cause a slow progress in the projects undertaken. During the Mercury Retrograde period it is best advised not to venture into any new territory and to stay put. Actually Mercury keeps going around the Sun, always in the same direction and more or less at the same speed. Knowing the Mercury retrograde periods can help you to plan your ventures in advance so that they do not go off-track.
      The first Mercury retrograde in 2011 will take place in the fire sign of Aries between the dates of March 30th through April 23rd. This is an important phase as Jupiter and Uranus have also transited into the house of Aries. . All of the Mercury retrogrades in 2011 are in fiery signs, which emphasizes the energy, enthusiasm and innovation. The other retrograde periods are in Leo (in August), and Sagittarius (in November/December). These same sign and the same degrees were the Mercury retrogrades experienced in 1932.   Mercury will move Direct on April 23rd. 
       Representative of our thinking aptitudes and perceptions, Mercury rules all forms of communications, methods of transport and commerce. During retrograde periods glitches can occur within communication systems, modes of transport and commerce related dealings that require us to slow down and reassess our approaches and choices.


    You may have noticed if you have read through the above articles that dreaming and dreams are mentioned over and over again.  So in these waning days of this lunar cycle Dreaming would seem to be one of the main things to pay attention to.  Here is an Celtic Spirit essay regarding this - the essay for
today - March 30th.. 

The Hidden Truth of Dreams

"Your dream tells a truth about yourself. A truth you hide from
while you are awake. A truth you need to know about yourself. For
your.... wellbeing."
___ David Rudkin, Penda's Fen

     Dreams are messagers of the soul. Every one of us has dreams, whether or not we remember them. Dreams speak of hidden truths in oblique ways - truths that we have not been able to understand or assimilate in our waking lives. Their enigmatic symbolism cannot be decoded by books or dream interpretation that give pat or plausible answers for standard dream themes; dreams must be decoded entirely by the dreamer and scrutinized for their personal symbolism.
    What is the truth that we need to know about ourselves? Whatever we have covered over or hidden from in our daily lives has a way of breaking through in self-disclosing (and often pun-filled) ways in our dreams, For example, we may dream of putting an annoying but senior colleague at work into the garbage, while in waking life we seriously wish that we could put a lid on his snide remarks.
      In a society that defines dreams as wacky or illusory, it can be hard for us to realize that they reveal to us the nature of our waking self-delusion. Dreams not only warn of dangers; they also reveal areas that we have never dared explore because of their power or wonder. Dreams bring us to meet the potentialities of our soul in a remarkable manner: we may dream that we are flying, dancing, shining, meeting - deep truths that are the very essence of our well-being, that we can find, court, and assimilate if only we listen to our soul's messagers.

"Take one dream fragment from this week. Without giving it a psychological spin-dry, look at it honestly and see what truth it has to tell you. What emotions does your dream evoke
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]