Mon July 9- Sun July 15
MoonWeek Taurus thru Leo

It's the last quarter of the moon, darkest of the dark, in a way deepest of the deep and clearest of the clear for those who are brave enough each month to tune into it. For others it can be a cycle each month that old ghosts appear, skeletons of all kinds escape the closets and the hidden motivations of the outside world tweak buttons.

Monday the week begins in Taurus lending the opportunity for plenty of foxhole or graveyard humor. That attitude that spawns stickers like, "where the hell are we going and why am I in this basket." Mercury turns Direct, she has been Retrograde since the middle of June. A glance back over the machines that tortured you, the meetings that went awry or near misses of communication to harvest the lessons of what Mercury thinks you should work on concerning pace of life and quality of communication. Taurus is a great sign to survey your field like the bull, pass some contentment over your zone, don't be Pollyanna but well up a sense of gratefulness, it doesn't take long looking at the headlines to see that most of us are living a life that billions would trade for instantly.

Tuesday the Moon drops the clutch and shifts into Gemini, the official sign of babble. We all really love to babble, language and being the chatty ape is one of the great tools that we have used to get where we are. Conversation and babble are two different things. In Gemini it's easy to make a commitment that later in Cancer it's difficult to keep. This flows both ways so take care with what you agree to and check back on it in a few days to firm it up.

The Sun trines Uranus bringing together Cancer and Pisces. It's a great aspect for instantaneous healing if you can wrap your conscious mind around that. It's that idea that if you shift the way you think the issues and ills of the past can be just that, the past, the biggest hurdle is the part of us inside that identifies with being wounded. We have all witnessed this is some way through a person that just instantly shifted and was free of old patterns. This will flavor the whole week and leading up to the new moon in Cancer on Saturday makes it a potent undercurrent to this dark moon week.

Wednesday we still are under the lunar influence of babble. The overlooked conversation we're all having all the time is the one with the person in the mirror. Meditators will tell you that it's a constant talk radio network in there. With the influence of the moon we can all 'hear ourselves out', that is really dialogue with yourself. Call out that internal critic or saboteur and ask them a few questions, get them to back up the nasty smack that they talk. Getting some relationship with yourself is always exponentially more evolutionary then the external relationships and it can imbibe the other relationships in your life with that fresh feeling that you crave.

Thursday we move into Cancer, next stop the new Moon on Saturday. The Moon rules the sign of Cancer and this is one of the most potent Cancer moons of the year. Often the part of your physical/emotional being that needs attention will make itself known under this transit. Many women have their most intense menstruation leading up to this moon. Next to the full moon in Cancer, which happens in December, it's the most powerful. We don't have to duck it like a coming storm but can rise to meet this amplification of the feeling parts of our being. It's a chance to check over all the systems and see how the sensory equipment is working.

With the feelings high it's also a tightrope of sorts, you can delve into deep issues with someone and find new common ground and understanding but also there is the possibility of short fuses. Road rage, impatience and general grumpiness can surface in an instant. You have to watch situations that spiral out of control in a flash, if there seems to be too much emotion over a small detail then it's probably drawing off something deeper. You can just try and bull through it but a better track would be to take a breath while the issue is exposed and examine it. Remember that the door to the depths is open and that possibility of instantaneous evolution is there.

Friday we are 'within orb' that is very close to the new moon. It's the darkest phase and it would behoove the seekers out there to use this shadow day of the lunar month to examine the shadows of our self. We always think of it as a bit ominous and that's why few take this brave path of self-awareness. There is another look at it in that you could discover a hidden desire or need that is extremely positive and to nurture that is to allow a part of you ignored to surface and flourish.

Now is the time to clean the alter, set your intentions and generally gear up your human space ship for another cycle of the moon. It's always the best time to regenerate that part of us that is always aware of the lunar cycles. Full Moons get all the press but without the New Moon they would get no Moon at all.

Saturday the new Moon happens early here on the left coast of the u.s.s.a. at 5:06am. So for many it was during the night Friday. There is a link to a simple global time calculator below. For us on the left coast it's also Cancer rising so it's triple Cancer. It bodes for a weekend of fullness and home-style enjoyments. All the smack put on Cancer for just wanting to make you cry is true but often doesn't get paired with the element of Cancer giving us the sense of home, in the body and the structure. We can invigorate the home scene with a stellar energy that carries over. We can all be parents of our neighborhood for children of all ages, adopting that caring posture towards our whole community and not just the select few. It's like a muscle this caring sentient attitude, the more we use it the more artful and powerful it becomes. In the world we live in hard core caring and compassion is in short supple so fill it up to the brim and take full advantage.

If you did have the heart to heart with yourself earlier in the week now is the time to sink down to the cellular level the messages and intentions that you want the hidden parts of you to act on. It's okay to tell your 100 billion cells, "I want to be light, creative, loving, strong, dependable and flexible." They will listen, they have to, you're the reason they are here.

In the evening the Moon shifts into Leo giving us a break from all the heaviness and inspiring us to put on the red shoes and dance. It will feel refreshing and a great way to celebrate the new moon. Venus moves into Virgo for a month and we can now integrate the higher ideals, morals and concepts of beauty and harmony into our thinking patterns. If we have to obsess why not obsess on something gorgeous and inspiring? She will transit through until the middle of September with a retrograde that takes her back to Leo. So if you really want to shift how the heart relates to the mind here is your opportunity.

Sunday the moon rests in Leo with no major aspects. After this intense week we can use this energy of an open and passionate heart to sooth the parts of us that may have been bruised. To acknowledge the theatrical and playful parts of ourselves, especially for those that are naturally shy and reserved, is like cleaning out the fun filter. Just let it all hang out and don't worry how you appear to others. Really gaining a sense of how you appear to yourself is vastly more important and allows you to really engage with others on another level. The heart is definitely a "use it or loose it" part of us.