Mercury is direct! (Today), October 9, 2015

"Besides the fact that zero Libra is one of the critical degrees in astrology, the Moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and the n. node will all be in Mercury-ruled Virgo when the planet turns direct. This is a big one!" - ElsaElsa

Mercury

This makua o'o has herself filled with the daily practices of kilo. Paying attention. I am still vibrating with the experience of the three-day 'Aimalama Lunar Conference. Feeding on the energy as it was intended to do Pete and I feel the empowerment of being in the company of many kanaka who live and practice TEK (traditional environmental knowledge) and kilo. Slow and steady, consistency pays off as we root ourselves in the reality of place, this place where we live now (Whidbey Island, WA) while simultaneously feeling the heartbeat of my Hawaiian Nature. It's an awesome affirmation!

With the planet of communication just now (appearing) to move direct I have spent the retrograde weeks on editing and fine-tuning a project that combines a lot of my lifework as writing, myth-maker, kilo, navigator and translator. Behind the scenes I am stirring together the many ways I communicate my philosophy. Astrologically? That's 9th House stuff. That's where "Libra at zero" means for me. Elizabeth Rose Campbell identified the 9th House as "Worldly Wisdom," and writes in her Intuitive Astrology, "The ninth house encourages unifying all you have learned. Often called the house of holistic thinking, the ninth house synthesizes your life experience into beliefs that become the guiding principles you look to--your cosmology."

I really love that description as a way to appreciate what it takes to navigate and translate life where I am. It is the perfect synonym for the Hawaiian word and practice of 'kilo' applied from the kanaka viewpoint. Woven intimately SPIRIT and MUNDANE are inseparable. In the sky where this invisible 9th House resides my personal cosmology is coming together just in time for my solar return in mid-November.

So, as Mercury move forward, I too move my process forward. Rewarded by years of slow and steady progress to rebuild (makawalu) a new life after illness and loss, we have a community that is now more aware of my culture's cosmology: they have been introduced to Kaulana Mahina the Hawaiian Lunar Calendar that's to Mercury in action 2015. 'Live streaming' internet access linked Manoa on the island of Oahu with South Whidbey Island in the middle of the Salish Sea.

With that advancement, I continue to unify what I have learned, and leave this post here to let our readers know why most of my attention will be behind-the-scenes:

• writing the rest of the most recent myth and medicine story, "Spider Season"
• weaving together the details for a Native Artist's Grant
• continuing to attend to my health after a summer of forest fire smoke inhalation

What is going on in your world as Mercury goes direct?

Mercury is direct this week, but oh what a time!

"Expect people to project on to others this week, to the extreme...

 People will project their shadow, of course. They will also project their luck, their vision, their anger and their good judgement.

This is a week where whores and virgins can and will be confused."
Elsa P.

Mercury's three week retrograde changes gears today (Saturday the 20th) and that means thinking and projects needing extra attention to details can begin to move forward. However, it's a week where those hall of mirrors can throw a monkey wrench in the works. Elsa P gives a clear caution in her post and quote above. I know exactly what Elsa's talking about with projecting the shadow of my own extremes onto those closest to me. Like a volcano!

What I take from my astrologer's caution is the light and the possibility that I could project, and receive the luck, vision... and the good judgement in and amongst the chaos of the shadow and the anger. Energy is neutral until directed. Later today Pete and I are packing up a cooler (with marinated chicken wings and salads), taking the ferry across the pond and driving into Seattle for Bon Odori. The annual celebration of life, and a time to recognize and remember the dead, Bon Odori, or Bon Dance is something we have loved being part of. When we lived in Hawaii we began dancing with friends and strangers, joining the Japanese style street dances in a spirit of joyful companionship. If energy is neutral until directed, I am hoping that my ego is porous enough to allow for joy to fill in the gaps and give myself and others a break this week.

Last night update: Bon Odori was fantastic fun. The faces, families, the voices and the dancing. Just what we needed. Such a great time!

How about you?