THE LORDS OF DEATH & DESTRUCTION

This Sunday is the first of two full moons in Scorpio. The full moon in May is also in Scorpio. The House of Scorpio was ruled by Mars, the God of War and Aggression, until the planet Pluto was "discovered." Scorpio rules passion, death, rebirth, secrets, and the mysteries of power, especially hidden power.

A full moon is a sun-moon opposition. The sun is in the sign of Taurus, ruled by Mars (Ares) lover and sister of Venus, the Goddess of Love and Fertility (or great aunt, depending on the story of Venus/Aphrodite's origins*). The sun at 15 degrees of Taurus is the ancient Celtic Feast of Bealtaine, a fire festival celebrated to release the spirits of abundance, fertility and new life. The sun at 15 degrees of Scorpio is the Feast of Samhain, when the spirits of the dead roam the earth. At both times of the year the doorway between the worlds is open. The veil is lifted.

This Thursday there will be another in a series of Mars vs. Pluto oppositions. Mars is in Cancer, the House ruled by the Moon. Jupiter, the ruler of the Gods, is in Capricorn with Pluto. Jupiter's father, the Titan Chronos, or Saturn, is in Demeter's House, Virgo, ruled by the Planet Mercury, who is in Taurus. There is a pattern here, a map, if we listen to the old stories, the stories of the Gods, and if we listen in our hearts, to the stories we are writing with our lives.

Those of us in the St. Louis area felt the rumbling of the Underworld this morning. The God Pluto, the Rich One, He who feels no mercy and allows no one who enters His realm to leave it, flexing his muscle. Pluto ruled Hades with his captured wife Persephone. She Herself an older Goddess who once ruled Her own Underworld, until she was abducted by the Greeks and reborn as Demeter's maiden daughter, captured by Hades and made his wife, to rule the Underworld once more.

Think of a dance, a complicated dance. The most precise tango between two of the best dancers. The dance of the Lord and the Lady, the dance of life and death. A dance going on for many generations, husband and wife, father and mother. Intricate and complex, with no room for misstep or error. Kali consuming the entrails of her conquered lover Shiva. The Lord of the dark, lifeless Underworld plucking the most beautiful and most vibrant flower from a field of sunshine. The perfect choreography of the sun-moon dance- She always willing to go into the darkness alone and reflect His own light back to Him.

"The opposite of war isn't peace- it's creation!" ***

I believe the days between these two full moons in Scorpio, and especially Bealtaine itself (from sunset on the 4th of May until sunset on the 5th) will be the most significant days of this year, and perhaps many years to come. I think that this period will impact our future more than any day to come in the next twenty or thirty years, including the Mayan "Doomsday" of 21 December 2012.

I believe we are witnessing a rare time, a truly mystical and suspended moment in the Dance. A pause. A second of peace between the rhythm of destruction and creation. A moment of infinite possibilities. I believe that we are being given the opportunity to have no future, no destiny, no old karma- or at the very least the opportunity for a re-write, an edit- between these full moons.

Between now and Sunday, and between Sunday and the next full moon, if you can release the things that fetter you, you can be free of them. Forever. But to have no future is tricky. The safe boundaries that you always relied upon may not be there. And the abyss may open before you. Secrets and ghosts, lies, buried things, will arise. Even the dead, who have only the past, and are accustomed to having no future, will hold power.

Use this time wisely, and confront the chains rattling in the dungeon, and all will be well. But be careful of what you think, and how you think, and what you speak. The old rules will not apply. This can be a time of great healing and power for those that are committed to self-awareness and growth, but only if respect is given to the Lords of Death and Destruction.

Even the Gods will be without a future. The Laws of Karma, of cause and effect, will be the only balance. It is a time now, in our history, when even the Gods, even the Universe, must re-write their own stories. Truly, for this brief moment in time, nothing will be written in stone.

Think clearly and stay focused on the life you want for yourself, and don't be afraid if the one you are living begins to crumble. This year we must sow the field in a graveyard, and first the tombs and bones must be cleared.

PRAISES, THANKS, & BLESSINGS!!!

**Aphrodite as an earlier Goddess of Cypress was conceived when Saturn and the other Titans castrated their father Uranus. Uranus genitals fell into the ocean and out of the foam rose the goddess Aphrodite, the Lady of Cypress. In later Greek mythology she was the daughter of Zeus (Jupiter) and Dione.

Both Aphrodite and Persephone were once powerful Goddesses in their own right, demoted to wife and daughter by the Greeks.

*** From the Musical RENT!