New Moon in Leo/Eclipse No. 3
“Vessels of Genealogies” exhibit by Firelei Baez (Gallery Wendy Norris photo)
In the 1993 film Groundhog Day, the main character repeats the same day (February 2) over and over (and over and over and over) again. Theories swirl around the exact quantity of successive days. Hundreds? Thousands? Regardless of the amount of repetition , the main character undergoes daily changes as he grieves his former, predictable life and attempts to escape his fate via avoidance and suicides. His quick fixes are an easy way out and Universe is having none of it. Ultimately the protagonist learns the same lessons taught to us by this New Moon in Leo/Solar Eclipse: (1) no one is the master of fate, (2) change doesn't need your permission, (3) unrecognized accomplishments happen every single day, and (4) practicing perfection only feels stagnate.
(1) All of Fate’s a Chance [Tarot: Wheel of Fortune, reversed]
I’m sorry to have to tell you this; you are not in control of Life. To some of you, that's a no-brainer. You are made up of, but are not entirely, the Universe. That said, Life -- yours or anyone else's -- was not your decision. You are here for a reason completely unknown to you. Rephrased: you are here for a reason. Period. (Comment below if that reason was directly communicated to you by an actual being.) If not, the reason for your existence was not your choice. While you do not call the shots, you do have choices about how you respond to destiny, which might give you a sense of relief to be absolved from sole responsibility. Perhaps the purpose of putting you in this body in this location with this shape in this color and with these features is to teach your Divine Spirit about honesty, compassion, love, and a bunch of other universal truths that you would not learn without experiencing your specific material form. Perhaps the purpose of being Human in general is to teach spiritual beings about Life, Existence, Time, and Space. Perhaps the duration of Life teaches us the difference between impermanence and immortality. That is to say, the burdens you feel and the obstacles you encounter have a purpose. You are living that purpose every single day. This is not up to you. You may attempt to make the purpose conscious in your mind, but wondering and searching generally breeds unhappiness and lack of contentment in the present. That’s your choice. However you may choose to believe that regardless of your big picture awareness, you’re still living your purpose. This thought might create gratitude, calmness, and joy. You express your choices every day and your choices guide your feelings about Life.
(2) Transformation is Creation in Action [Tarot: Death]
Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey (Brooklyn Museum)
Earth, Wind, and Fire sing “Sounds, they never dissipate. They only recreate to another place or time.” This idea is essential to change and might be the logic behind the oxymoron 'new and improved.' Change is both/and, not either/or. Change takes the seed to the flower, the flower to the vase, the vase to the garbage, and the garbage to the soil where a seed is sown. Life begins anew faster than we have language to capture because death takes place to allow life space. They are one and the same, a transformative cycle that teaches us to let go of what exists in order to create space for something else to begin. A common fear is that the replacement will be worse than the thing to which we cling. Bur what comes next won’t be the same as what existed before. The truth is that we fear the pain of growth, not the growth itself. It takes effort to find healthy, productive, and positive ways to manage pain and allow ourselves to grow. That doesn’t mean you won’t feel pain, but rather, you won’t get stuck there because growth isn’t about pain. Pain is an impermanent state of being if we’re willing to let it go to gain the benefits of what follows. Affirmations: I will not fear change. I will embrace transformation. I will view Death as the birth of Life.
(3) Achievements Happen Every Day [Tarot: The World]
Do you ever lay down at night and think “I didn’t accomplish a damn thing today.” It’s my pleasure to tell you that you’re wrong. Even if all you did was sit on the couch and binge watch Netflix, you achieved something. Your mind absorbed social and emotional cues and made sense of language and speech. Those are cognitive skills. You also used your fine and gross motor skills to drink water or brush your teeth. You made decisions to not do something else. All of those things are achievements that go underestimated daily. When you apply those same skills to something you can see, touch, taste, smell, hear, or otherwise experience, you feel like you’re really doing big things! As a former musician, I often spent eight hours working on the same page of music and felt so disgusted with my perceived lack of accomplishment. I’d contemplate burning the music and go to bed feeling like a failure only to wake up, try it one more time, and play the music as if I originally composed it! We often discount the things that we do because we’ve been taught that accomplishments are measureable and visible. And maybe they are, but not always right away. Have confidence that even the slightest effort made towards a goal is an achievement because it’s one step closer than you were the step prior.
Photo: Jerry Pinkney / Via jerrypinkneystudio.com
(4) Expertise Takes Forever And That's A Mighty Long Time [Tarot: Eight of Pentacles]
I could've titled this section "Release Perfectionism," but I thought that might excite resistance. The ego is a trip. The ego tells you that you deserved to get that job. You were entitled to that raise. You shouldn’t waste your time with ungrateful family. But when you humble yourself, you might realize that many people deserve jobs and raises. And your family? They are lucky to have you and you are lucky to have them for whatever reasons they contribute to your wisdom, knowledge, and growth. Remember up at the top of the page when I referenced Groundhog Day? Well at the film’s end (yes, spoiler alert) the main character plays jazz piano, saves lives, marries couples, and is in love. We see this selfish being transform into an absolutely selfless being, more fulfilled than we ever imagined possible from his career-obsessed, womanizing, ego manic beginnings. He ultimately finds a divine, peaceful stillness that others gravitate towards. He is enlightened. How? He achieved acceptance through exploration and gradual mastery. He invested time, attention, and energy into areas of his life not just to have skills for skills' sake, but to have multiple ways to communicate truth, love, and connection. I know what you’re thinking: easy for him, he had an eternity to learn jazz piano! True. True. The film’s protagonist wakes up one morning to find that things are different. It’s a new day. He jumps out of bed and can’t wait to see what new adventures are in his future. The point during the New Moon in Leo is to embrace all of our human vulnerabilities and to love those frailties in ourselves and in others. That is the only way that we'll move forward into our futures to achieve completion.