The seventh lunation of 2014 is initiated as the Sun and Moon meet in the 6th degree of Cancer on June 27th. There are many planetary influences and events present throughout this period, especially around and after full Moon. Here, rather than giving direct reference to these, we will explore the key characteristics, qualities and energetics of the 29 day cycle as a whole, between new Moon and New Moon.

Traditionally, this lunation is associated with the swelling and ripening of fruits and buds, their growing fullness, and with the outer changes that accompany this organic process. It is a moontime, or month, that is infused with the red blush that spreads across the skin of fruits as they ripen, with the heat of the Sun and simultaneously with the inner warmth of the womb and deep earth. It is connected with the newly grown antlers pushing against their covering of velvet, with the transformation of bone to crown.

We can work through the symbiosis of this lunar cycle directly with the Earth through the refined energies of Rose Quartz translating into Ruby, a deepening of heart centered energy, from emotive feeling into sanguine visceral power. This Moon can be worked with for  intensifying the inner fire, the life-force that radiates equally in all directions from the heart of all things.

The seventh lunation offers a time in which to invoke love as a protective power, as a force that can be fearless and fierce, as that of the mother defending her young. There is a deeply instinctive as well as profoundly compassionate quality at work here, one which will transcend discrimination while wielding a cutting edge of unflinching discernment. Within this lunation this energy and its qualities resonate more readily, available in the human realms as a catalyst for positive change, especially in relation to that which feeds and nurtures us. Once again we are talking of Earthing, through an emotive connection .

These energetic qualities are all part of a maturation process that, within the seasonal cycle, precedes and makes ready for the ‘harvest’ in the north, and the flowering expression of new life in the south. In some sense this is part of the cyclical re-emergence of the sovereign power of self determination that is the natural right of all living beings. In the north the solar cycle begins to turn inward enriching the indwelling nature of things. In the south the awakening of inner energies begins to seek outward expression creating a magnetic field of attraction.

At full Moon this ripening and expanding energy finds breakthrough to a new level of maturity, a quality mirrored, as we shall see over the coming months, in the planetary movements. But, if there is a broad purpose to this process, in human terms it is to grow in stature and to increase our ability to give of our selves. In both cases Nature speaks through us.

It is fitting that the lunation that begins in tropical Cancer and ends in tropical Leo should emphasise inner beauty in outward expression, of radiance. Our ‘beauty’ can here be embodied as a power that can bring transformation and healing in this world, ‘Giving’. What we give with greatest effect in the world are our own natural gifts, as Nature teaches us constantly. This is an underlying impulse that defines the path of growth and maturation that the soul undertakes within Life. It is in the nature of being human, and this is a Moon of much humanity.

At a time when the inhumanity of our species is causing so much destruction and suffering on our planet this Moon holds a powerful mirror up to the a-symbiotic relationship we have developed with Nature and our Earth. We need to re-connect and begin to swing the balance back to the ‘selflessness’ of giving, rather than the sheer greed of taking, to facilitate a restoration. Our own collective healing is involved here, but, as has been said many times before, it all begins with our selves. Each of us is involved.

If there is a message that this Moon can give us en-masse it is a reminder that Our growth in stature arises most naturally in our-selves when we give from the heart. This also means being pro-active in healing our connections with each other, one that confirms and enhances feeling. The anaesthetic effect of contemporary culture upon our more subtle senses and the shutting down of our emotional responsiveness can be reversed. We can heal our seperation, an undertaking whose reach is through both space and time. This is not to say that the outer conditions make this an easy task, they don’t, but, how crucial is this in our increasingly restrictive and boundaried times.

With the lunation beginning in the nurturing sign of Cancer the primary qualities of the Mother archetype is developed throughout as the seed energy, with emphasis not only on the role of carrier and giver of the seeds of new life, but, equally on the raw instinct of both protection and tough love that the parent feels towards their young. This is necessary for survival.  To learn the meaning of boundaries, of threats and danger, the boundaries must be crossed. But, in a world in which the restrictive armour of an old cultural skin is stubbornly hanging on to its boundaries, the increased pressure that comes from within will prevail and the old skin will, inevitably, fall away.

How this will be facilitated is through the most natural of means, literally. It is mirrored in the four stages of the Moons cycle as they are reflected in our current planetary state. In observing the stages of this cycle we can reclaim what has become, within the dominant present culture, one of life’s most overlooked lessons and the most precious of gifts. At the heart of that lesson is ‘the Feminine’.

There is an underlying purpose within the process expressed through the feminine symbology of the lunar cycle. At its heart is the archetypal triumvirate of Maiden, Mother and Wise Woman, but, the fourth element, the en-closing one, has, in our times, an even more hidden divine countenance. We may call Her the Dark Moon, the Dark Goddess, the hidden one, ruler of Life cycles. She goes by many names, but, equally, could remain un-named, as She is within our contemporary global culture. However, given identity or not, Her power would still remain present within all our lives. While the three stages of womanhood have been overshadowed, suppressed, controlled, devalued, mutilated and violated within the dominant culture, She has retained her power. It is the natural power of Life and Death.

While Hers is a power that cannot be coerced or changed, it is the foolishness of Man that he has deigned to assume it for himself. Ironically, it could be that the self-inflicted demise of the present dominant culture is Her calling card. Certainly, we could discern an expression of Her purpose in that process; and, equally certain, She will prevail….and, She will kick back!

As distant as She may have become in our minds, Her presence, and purpose, cannot be eradicated from our being. So long as we remain human. That purpose is the definitive characteristic of the human soul’s journey in this reality, but, in this time it is an utterly crucial element within our awareness and transformation. We are a species on the brink of self annihilation. Just as we are on the brink of being ruled through and by our technology.

There is no place for the human soul within the body of the machine. But, we are here to give of our natural gifts, to heal, bring transformation of another kind, another kind alogether. The conditions prevailing through this lunation can help us fulfill this powerful undertaking and carry it forward, gift it to our future and our descendants.

The key to working with the energies of this lunation is to mark the four stages of the lunation itself, each according to its true nature as we percieve it through our own. It is a simple act of dedication to Her, the ruler of the cycles of Life, but, it brings Her, crucially, back into the centre of both our awareness and our being, and us back to the indigenous power of our natural selves.

She calls us back into Her fold, whose domain in human life is the wild nature of the feral soul, the fierce energy that burns at our centre, that illuminates our individual nature, the source from which emerge our personal gifts. Every human soul, without exception, comes here with the undertaking to deliver them. This undertaking is essential for our future and can only come from within our selves. For the mother, as much the archetypal Mother, this is the primary lesson, made visceral and literal. It is the antithesis of the machine……

Within the complete cycle of every lunation the boundaries between Life and Death dissolve, and the eternal circle of life becomes embodied, the gift of the ‘hidden one’. Collectively, we too are facing that lesson, must be prepared to let those boundaries dissolve, and in so doing protect and reclaim our human nature.

top image : DeerWoman, Susan Seddon Boulet