MAY 2022 Collective Anchoring
13 Death//Pathway 15 Al-Qahha, Natural Power
Important Dates/Transits:
5/16 Total Lunar Eclipse and Supermoon in Scorpio
Key Takeaways:
Necessary endings, completion, (innovative) transformation, transience
References: Tarot of the Moors, The Sufi Book of Life, Runic Book of Days, Magia con Runas, Chabad.org, AlchemyofHolism.com
13 Death - The Child of the Great Transformers, The Lord of the Gate of Death
This month the energy of transition and transformation is unmistakable! The energy emphasizes awareness as we flow from one cycle or phase from one to the next. Maybe it's the fact that Saturn will be settling into its new placement in Aquarius but many of us are in liminal spaces in many ways right now. The best vehicle I see for integrating this energy is through the lens of Laguz and Beltane.
The literal translation of Laguz is “water”, which happens to be the primary element of death as an archetype. Water is widely associated with deep inner standing, transition, cycles, calm, violence, abundance, adaptation, and as author Kelley Harrell so beautifully puts it, “our primal imperative to always point home.” As human beings we operate vessels that are 55 to 60% water, it is our most present elemental constitution. Though water can take all states, in each it is form-fitting; continually adapting to its surroundings even as its very own structure and being is in metamorphosis. Time marked with the energy of Laguz requires heightened awareness, intuition, and deep commitment to development. Due to its very nature, a vast majority of its influence will be focused on that which is personal/internal. This month I pray we can all be like water; remaining who we are in our essence as we evolve and reform each cycle into who we are meant to be. This is a capability we have all been blessed with as children of the Earth, we need only cultivate it with awareness and intentional practice. The necessary intention for clarification is a basic, anchoring intention and not a "plan-things- strictly- and -step-by-step" intention. Sometimes conscious intention is limited by intellect, by overthinking through a lens we may not even know is compromised. In fact, we will likely find ourselves making intuitive corrections to opinions and conscious valuations that inform our reality and decisions. Recalibrating our conscious awareness through our subconscious truth may be just the medicine we require.
Water is the bringer and sustainer of all life. While some things are nourished even in stagnant pools, there is more often than not, sickness in avoiding the waves. When we find ourselves in the grip of stagnation, may the wisdoms of Quan Yin, Mami Uatr, Teotihuacan, Oshun, Yemaya, Bunzi, Olokun, Atabey, Brigid, Freyr, the Simbi, Hurucan, and all other spirits of the water aligned to our individual paths remind us of all the ways there are to be as water. Sometimes we are a babbling brook, others a summer storm, a drizzle, and still some others we are the sea themself.
Beltane is a Sabbat observation that occurs May 1st-9 when following the calendar and for 9 days beginning when the Sun is at 15 degrees of Taurus, May 30-June 7. Beltane is a celebration of the birth of the runes as a gift from Odinn so humanity could truly understand and experience the world. The gift of context, discernment, and of genuine awareness. Beltane reminds us that just to flow is not enough, you have to flow intentionally. Deliberate action is always better than habit, familiar does not mean same. S. Kelley Harrell writes “Beltane indicates the season of what can grow, Laguz symbolizes the inherent life force that fosters growth.” This season is about metacognition; the awareness of one’s own thought processes/actions and the innerstanding of the patterns behind them. Harrell continues, “With Laguz you can’t skip your body’s experience of water (read, death) or you will perish. You can't skip your soul’s experience of water, for then you won’t be able to recognize when you are carried by flow.” Retrogrades and eclipses are opportune moments to audit your patterns (of thought, behavior, etc.) to see which interrupt flow at the present time and which enhance it.
More on Laguz and initiation through Beltane.
Astrological Aspect: Scorpio
Before we get into Scorpio tings I must mention that we entered May on the heels of a partial solar eclipse, in Mars-ruled Aries. Solar eclipses, all eclipses for that matter, are known to be intense portals for transformation which make it essential for us to (re)assess our plans and intentions. This was amplified by the fact that this eclipse took place during a Black Moon.
A black moon is a rare phenomena where we see a second new moon within a calendar month. Black moons function similarly to retrogrades; urging us to reflect on the preceding lunar cycle with enhanced clarity and intention. Like retrogrades, black moons are powerful opportunities to revisit things we've done, planned, or learned armed with the wisdom of hindsight.
Check your journal to see what you've experienced last lunar cycle and note your new perspective on what happened.
Reflect:
How has your inner/understanding of reality shifted since the last lunar cycle?
In what ways have you grown through the last cycle?
What adjustments does your new awareness inspire?
Scorpio is a Mars-ruled water sign closely associated with intuition. death, transformative energy, and depth. Sound familiar? If not, the message has been to go deeper, truer, bolder, free-er If you thought you understood something before, look again.
This month has only one Scorpio transit, a Supermoon Total Lunar Eclipse on the 16th, the day it’s ruler Mars moves into fellow water sign, Pisces. (talk about laying it on thick!) Supermoons are when the moon is closest to Earth and thus appears bigger and carries a more potent effect on bodies of water (like our own). I suggest studying your natal chart to see how the aspects of your lived experience experiencing death, transformation, and a shift in flow are impacted/informed by your natal Mars placement and their current transit through Pisces. For help with this, I highly recommend Noela Star Queen.
Kabbalist Aspect: Nun, The 24th Path of Kabbalah - Imaginative Intelligence
Nun, the 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet is seen as the two-fold energy of 7 (significant in many ways with regard to Self mastery), carries the numerical value of 50. There are 50 levels of Binah; the 50th level being understanding granted through/by God. Once we do our part to walk in faith and right relations, God's divine influence in our lives is easier to recognize and access. In the Torah God says, “You do yours and I will do Mine. If you achieve the forty-ninth level, I will bless you with the fiftieth; the highest tier of Binah.” That 50th level of divine enlightenment brings freedom.
“...free of the false, materialistic constraints of society.. Free from one’s self-centered inclinations and able to maximize one’s potential, to be the best they can be,”
Nun, through 50, brings in some physical wellness remediations for Mars. Remaining active even if only lightly, feeding ourselves food that fuels our bodies instead of slowing us down. Essentially, we are called into greater Self-awareness.
REFLECT:
What helps us THRIVE physically, not just function?