“As the sun moves through Libra before crossing into Scorpio’s shadowed terrain, October asks us to trade politeness for truth. In the Northern Hemisphere, the days shorten and the light turns amber and low; below the equator, the world stretches open into spring warmth. Something in the air sharpens our attention, pulling us away from small talk and toward what actually matters. With Venus retrograde from the month’s opening days and Mercury joining her late in the month, this is no season for rushing. Let October be a place to look honestly at what you’re holding onto and what’s ready to be composted, released, or simply acknowledged.”
Keep in mind that the last Mercury In Retrograde of 2026 will happen October 24th-November 13th.
During this Mercury In Retrograde season, may we rewind, reflect and remember the co-creative trails that we have blazed together already during this Year of the Fire Horse.
Please enjoy this newly created podcast version & the original 1st post galloping into 2026 by cicking on the links below:
Please check out the original post at the link below:
A glowing lion constellation roaring amidst a starry cosmic background
Pip: August arrives with grain harvests, eclipses, and a moon named after a very large fish — which honestly sounds like the universe decided to pack a lot into one calendar page.
Mara: This episode draws on Ari Joshua Bouse’s recent posts for Classroom Mothership Earth, covering the seasonal and astrological energies of August — Lammas, eclipse season, Leo’s New Moon, and the Full Sturgeon Moon in Pisces. Let’s start with the whole sweep of what August is actually asking of us.
Lammas, Eclipse Season, and the Moons of August
Pip: August opens with Lammas, a harvest midpoint honored by ancestors in the Northern Hemisphere, and then barely pauses before stacking two eclipses, a New Moon in Leo, and a Full Moon in Pisces into the same calendar month. The question the post is really sitting with is: how do you move through that much cosmic pressure without white-knuckling it?
Mara: The post opens with a Gandhi epigraph that sets the whole tone — “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. We need not wait to see what others do.”
Pip: That framing matters because the post isn’t treating eclipses as things that happen to you. It’s treating them as invitations — specifically, chances to release what it calls the heavy luggage passed down by ancestors, so you can become the change you want to see.
Mara: The post describes eclipse seasons as “major cosmic reset periods that trigger rapid personal growth and sudden life changes,” and it’s careful to add that there’s nothing superstitious about that framing. The language is more about being guided than being controlled.
Pip: And then the Leo New Moon on August 12th arrives via a Total Solar Eclipse. The post calls new moons during eclipses “new moons on steroids” — amplifying new beginnings, identity shifts, sudden breakthroughs.
Mara: Leo’s energy, the post notes, thrives on visibility and praise, but the more interesting moment is when the spotlight finds you and you still feel at a loss. The post is honest that feedback, not just admiration, is what actually fuels creativity and confidence.
Mara: Then August closes with a Partial Lunar Eclipse in Pisces on the 28th, illuminating the Full Sturgeon Moon. Sturgeons can live over a century, grow to twenty feet, and weigh nearly a ton — the post uses that resilience directly as a meditation on surviving challenging times, including what it calls the deeper waters of Climate Change.
Pip: The closing instruction is genuinely disarming: let go of the oars.
Mara: The thread running through all of this is that the season’s intensity — harvest, eclipse, release — is an invitation rather than a threat.
Pip: Let go of the oars, trust the sturgeon, and we’ll see what the next tide brings.
Pip: Classroom Mothership Earth — where the lunar calendar, indigenous ecology, and the occasional ET sighting all share the same cosmic waiting room.
Mara: Ari Joshua Bouse has a post out that moves through a stretch of celestial events — strawberry moons, mercury retrograde, a full buck moon — and what each one asks of us emotionally and spiritually. Let’s start with the moons themselves and what they’re tracking.
A Full Strawberry Moon, A Buck Moon, And The Space Between
Pip: This segment covers a sweep of sky events from late June through late July — and the post isn’t just listing dates. It’s asking what each moon, each season, and each planetary shift is actually inviting us to do.
Mara: The post opens with a grounding claim from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin: “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” That framing sets the tone for everything that follows.
Pip: So the celestial events aren’t decoration — they’re a curriculum. The moons and retrograde periods become prompts for inner work rather than just astronomical footnotes.
Mara: Right. The Strawberry Moon on June 29th connects to Algonquin and other North American nations who tracked the wild berry harvest by this moon. Mercury retrograde runs concurrently — June 29th through July 23rd — and the post frames that overlap as an invitation to slow down, reflect, and work with subconscious material rather than resist it.
Pip: Mercury retrograde as a scheduled appointment with your own programming. Honestly, worse things have been on the calendar.
Mara: The New Moon in Cancer on July 14th follows, and Cancer season carries its own specific energy — nourishment, emotional safety, hearth and home. The post notes that Cancer encourages reconnecting with the feeling realm and stepping back from negative self-talk.
Mara: Then the Full Buck Moon arrives July 29th. The post traces its names across cultures — Native American, Native Alaskan, Celtic, Anglo Saxon — each name anchored in what the land was doing that month: antler growth, salmon runs, herb harvests, honey.
Pip: That cross-cultural naming is doing something real. It’s a reminder that people everywhere were paying close attention to the same sky, just through different lenses.
Mara: Leo season closes the arc, running July 22nd through August 22nd. The post calls it a time for “radically confident self-expression through the heart chakra” — but also cautions against chasing praise or applause as substitutes for genuine inner authority.
Pip: The whole sequence builds toward that: not outward performance, but grounded presence. The moons are a map, not a stage.
Pip: Spiritual beings, seasonal moons, and the quiet work of not outsourcing your sense of self to the crowd.
Mara: Next time, more from Classroom Mothership Earth — same sky, new questions.
Please enjoy the original post that inspire the podcast version by clicking on the link below:
A magical lion adorned with glowing flowers sleeps peacefully in a mystical forest at night.
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
-Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Please enjoy the following videos below that capture the sentiment. Perhaps listening to them together in peaceful alignment, will be music to your ears, if you’ll pardon the pun . . .
We Shall Overcome
A Full Strawberry Moon on June 29 reflects lineage connections to the Algonquin and other North American nations who noticed the connection between the wild berry harvest to this Full Moon.
Also, Mercury will be in Retrograde on June 29 – July 23. These energies are in alignment with slowing things down, reflecting on the past, and focusing on the here and now.
Energetically, Mercury in Retrograde is a good time to be mindful of subconscious thoughts, including past programming. These energies can be a healing and highly intuitive time when we work with its energies intensionally.
Moreover, our psychic abilities and dreams can become triggered so that we can tap into deeper insights by working with our subconscious minds in ways where the unseen realms yield useful information to light our way.
A colorful New Moon in Cancer rises in the skies on July 14, 2026. Cancer season continues till July 22nd.
As always, new beginnings are in the air. And specifically, the new waves coming into the shores bring back feeling safe in family matters of the hearth, and other related activities like cooking and gardening.
Crabs are known to weather their emotional fluctuations. Might as well be mindful of co-creating a sense of belonging in the world.
Cancer the Crab is a time when we are encouraged to focus on nourishment, self-care, and our emotional health that breathes in a softer tone that supports reconnecting with ourselves and our hearts. Crabs reflect emotional sensitivity and tapping into the feeling realm.
Remember there is God in forgiveness, and it can be good to get out of our heads; especially when getting seduced into negative self talk narratives.
Or perhaps merely an atheistic appreciation the mysterious forces of Nature are enough to be shelter from the storm.
Looking ahead, a Full Buck Moon will happen on July 29. This Moon gets its name from the Native American observation that male deer antlers began growing in late spring and reach peak growth in July. Many Native Alaskans called this moon the Salmon Moon for its timing with salmon runs.
Whereas in Celtic culture, this moon has been known as the Wyrt (Wort), Mead or Herb Moon because most herbs can withstand harvesting by July. And in Anglo Saxon lineage, this moon was known as the Hay Moon. Bees buzzing out and about reinforce that honey is the elixir of life.
It is important for all humans to remember our shared history. This includes our lineage connections to our indigenous ancestral roots that are part of our planetary history before Colonization. This has impacted everyone and continues to do so.
Of course knowing our spiritual roots connects to that truth as well. Because we all have stardust in our DNA, not to mention oral traditions passed down about our cosmic connections to the Sky People.
Speaking of cosmic connections, a growing body of people are talking about Disclosure these days:
Late July’s full moon cycle amplifies a strong need for emotional freedom that can heighten emotional complexities.
Whether you’re an ET, human or otherwise; the resonate point is that harmonizing with groups can be challenging for everyone till you get into the right vibe, if you’ll pardon the multidimensional pun.
Moreover, Aquarian energies that also constitute July’s full moon cycle can intensify in those of us with strong rebellious streaks, our need to assert ourselves, and can make getting along in groups feel more challenging.
But then again, that’s just part of the human condition.
Speaking of the human condition, fear, anger and jealousy aren’t particularly healthy emotional cravings. And yet, all emotions are fleeting and transient, so we might as well see them as they are; no more or no less.
Besides, the power of community shows that people can be good mirrors for each other to reflect on what triggers us, and can shed light on better understanding of our humanity.
Finally, the tides of Leo season roll in from July 22-August 22. Tis the season to broadcast radically confident self-expression through the heart chakra, and a friendly reminder to nurture our inner child. Leo’s energies encourage movement out of the shadows, and stepping into the light with courage and passion.
Of course dominating the spotlight and always stealing the show can be blinding; as is self-stimulation as a form of meddling into the affairs of others. Besides, it can come across as an arrogant form of defensive pride.
Truly, the 3D realm we live in still carries a strong identification as an outer directed culture. Might as well see this reality as a friendly reminder that we stand in a deeper and higher personal authority when we stop chasing after happiness in the form of “praise, likes, or applause.”
May all Beings awaken to God Consciousness, Cosmic Consciousness, Unity Consciousness, Diversity within Unity, Inner Peace and the Universal Pillars of Love and Truth,
A glowing full moon rises over a peaceful countryside at dusk
Check out this newly created experimental AI Podcast feature that aligns with my writing, compliments of WordPress.
Full Disclosure: Truly, I do take pride in my writing, and have yet to use AI for the written word. However, I have been having fun with playing around with AI for illustrations.
This podcast version of 1 of my more recent writings stars 2 AI created characters named Pip and Mara.
Please enjoy the podcast & transcript below:
Pip: Gemini season, a solstice, a strawberry moon, Mercury going sideways — June is apparently doing a lot.
Mara: This episode covers one post from Ari Joshua Bouse, mapping the celestial events of late June and what they invite us to pay attention to — new moons, seasonal turning points, a full moon with Indigenous roots, and a retrograde worth taking seriously.
Pip: Let’s start with the sky.
A New Moon in Gemini Through Mercury Retrograde
Mara: June opens with a New Moon in Gemini on the fifteenth, and the question this post is really asking is: what does the sky this month want from us, and how do we work with it rather than against it?
Pip: The post frames the Gemini New Moon as a prompt to balance thinking and feeling — and it puts it plainly: “Harmonizing with our heads and hearts helps support effective communication.”
Mara: That’s the throughline for the whole month. The New Moon opens a window for setting intentions, connecting socially, and letting communication projects move more freely. The post specifically names storytelling and sharing topical truths as things that can come to life with greater ease right now.
Pip: Then June 21 arrives carrying two things at once — the Summer Solstice and Father’s Day, a pairing that won’t repeat until 2037.
Mara: The post draws a real contrast there. In the Northern Hemisphere, the solstice carries what it calls Grandfather Sun-Yang energy — outward, expansive, growth-oriented. In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s the opposite: the longest night, Grandmother Moon-Yin energy, a turning inward.
Pip: The planet literally experiencing opposite seasons at the same moment — that’s the kind of thing that makes the phrase “duality of living on this planet” feel less like a bumper sticker.
Mara: The Full Strawberry Moon follows on June 29. The post traces that name to the Algonquin and other North American nations who connected the wild berry harvest to this moon, and notes that other cultures named it for whatever mattered most to people on the land at midsummer.
Pip: History embedded in a calendar. That’s not nothing.
Mara: June 21 also opens Cancer season, running through July 22. The post frames Cancer as a softer emotional register — nourishment, self-care, reconnecting with feeling. Then Mercury stations retrograde on June 29, lasting through July 23, and the post treats that as a genuine invitation: slow down, reflect, and pay attention to subconscious patterns.
Pip: So the month ends with two overlapping energies asking for the same thing — quiet and inward attention.
Mara: And the psychic and dream life, the post says, can surface real insight during that window if you’re working with it intentionally rather than just waiting for it to pass.
Pip: Which points straight toward how we actually tend our inner lives day to day.
Mara: A month of thresholds — new beginnings, a solstice, ancestral moons, a retrograde. The invitation seems to be: meet each one with some awareness.
Pip: More sky ahead. We’ll see what it asks for next time.
Please enjoy the original post that inspired this new podcast version at the link below:
A New Moon in Gemini on June 15th welcomes new beginnings with manifestation of changes and spontaneity streaming through the airwaves. Safety lies in thinking about our feelings and sharing them with others.
It’s hard to go wrong with a cool head.
And yet, a cold heart can be a good relational repellant, not to mention coming across as callous to others.
Harmonizing with our heads and hearts helps support effective communication.
Tuning in to the energies of this new moon gently aligns with guidance around setting intentions for the months ahead. It’s as if the Universe is encouraging us to lighten up, be playful, and have fun along the way.
Tis the season for connecting with friends, organizing social events, and storytelling. Perhaps communication projects may come to life with greater ease, or communicating topical truths. Tapping into healing vibrations can be a real felt sensed experience during this timeframe.
On most places around the planet, the Summer Solstice and Father’s Day both fall on Sunday, June 21. This is a rare occasion, and will not happen again till 2037.
Peak sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere is associated with Grandfather Sun-Yang energy, where outward expansion, frolicking and growth seem organic.
In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s Grandmother Moon-Yin energy where the darkest days reaches their Zenith, and then we turn inward, journey into the soul and sit with the darker aspects of life.
Ah, the duality of living on this Planet reflects the interplay between the Yin and the Yang.
Even in darkness, there is light. If you look to Nature, you will see the fluidity of these energies at play and the way they are always seeking balance.
Additionally, a Full Strawberry Moon on June 29 reflects lineage connections to the Algonquin and other North American nations who noticed the connection between the wild berry harvest to this Full Moon.
And depending where you are around the world, the other names of this Full Moon reflects what mattered most to humans on the land during mid-summertime.
We will also be shifting gears into Cancer Season (June 21-July 22).
Cancer the Crab is a time when we are encouraged to focus on nourishment, self-care, and our emotional health that breathes in a softer tone that supports reconnecting with ourselves and our hearts. Crabs reflect emotional sensitivity and tapping into the feeling realm.
How you can integrate self-care into your daily routine?
How can you integrate a sense of safety and security into your life?
Furthermore, Mercury will be in Retrograde on June 29 – July 23. These energies are in alignment with slowing things down, reflecting on the past, and focusing on the here and now.
Energetically, Mercury in Retrograde is a good time to be mindful of subconscious thoughts, including past programming. These energies can be a healing and highly intuitive time when we work with its energies intensionally.
Moreover, our psychic abilities and dreams can become triggered so that we can tap into deeper insights by working with our subconscious minds in ways where the unseen realms yield useful information to light our way.
Please feel free to echo my reading of the Great Invocation Below. Consider speaking the lyrics aloud, telepathically or any way that you want to amplify the sentiment to co-create Heaven on Earth. Doing this embodies becoming the change you want to see in the world:
May all Beings awaken to God Consciousness, Cosmic Consciousness, Unity Consciousness, Diversity within Unity, Inner Peace and the Universal Pillars of Love and Truth.
“The real measure of our lives has to do with your Values, not your valuables; by your Goodness, not your goods; by your Self-Worth, not the weight of your wallet.”
-Dr. Wayne Dyer
Following a powerful Wesak Full Flower Moon on May 1st, a New Moon in Taurus will happen on May 16th. Spring energies are springing, in the Northern Hemisphere at least. Everything is ephemeral, and it’s hard not to feel inebriated by the seasonal energies of growth and transience that are reflecting back to us from Nature.
This new moon gives us a friendly reminder that a deeper sense of stability comes from self respect. Deeper respect comes from accepting ourselves for who we are over what material things we manifest, and perhaps become identified with.
Nothing wrong with manifesting abundance in the 3D realm. But we can align with calmer and restorative energies by focusing on how short term actions may affect long term gains. Imagine the possibilities when politics and the stock market consistently reflect that kind of mindset.
When we accept that change is a natural part of life, then we are more equipped to embrace that change is the only constant in everyday living.
I focus on this when dealing with the losses that we face with our loved ones during our lifetimes here. As a human being, I still get sad when people (including animal friends) close to me get sick and suffer, die unexpectedly or those who have lived a good life or die by natural causes. And of course I grieve the death and dying process of those I have never even met. But what I am mindful of is reminding myself to have the self respect to not get sucked into the dirge.
Truly, facing our own mortality is sobering. Because I had to face my own mortality and loss of innocence at a younger than normative age, I woke up to the truth that doing so gave me an opportunity to work with the feeling of facing my own death. It isn’t that I don’t have my fears. I just move through them by trusting that the light of consciousness will guide me toward the end of the tunnel.
Many people, like my dad, have experienced that process during near death experiences. But you don’t have to physically die to know the experience. Just as an example, the sacred medicinal energies of Groundhog is a friendly reminder that the shamanic death without dying is a real possibility.
But it is also freeing to awaken to our soul purpose, know that our time here is limited and it’s what we do with this precious gift that counts. It’s like the old story about the zen master whose students are watching him die, and they are perplexed because as he’s taking his last breaths, he grieves his own death by asserting that he wants to live!
Speaking of death and rebirth, Gemini season will be in the air from around May 20 till the Summer Solstice on June 21st. During this timeframe energetically, our chi will be flowing from our lower chakras to our upper chakras to support creativity, self-expression and our desire to share. Communication is doubly powered up by Gemini, if you’ll pardon the astrological pun.
The Twins reflect our status as part creature and part divine. As spiritual beings having human experiences, we exist as the form of a mortal that has incarnated in this lifetime.
Coupled with our form identity, we have a formless eternal identity that reflects a central Law of Thermodynamics positing that energy cannot be created or destroyed. Our souls live within our bodies during the gift of this lifetime. Our bodies are our temple, but they are temporary because we all die. However, our souls live on. Interestingly, science and spirituality are converging on this Universal truth beyond a shadow of a doubt.
There will be a Blue Sagittarius Moon on May 31st. A Blue Moon only happens approximately every 18 months or so, and occurs when we have two Full Moons in one calendar month. Blue is symbolic of water, loyalty, trust, and faithfulness.
This extra Full Moon at this time invites us to release old aspects of ourselves that no longer serve us so that we can move forward in alignment with who we are becoming. The winds are at our back for taking risks and opening up to a sense of adventure in our daily lives.
An optimistic and longitudinal approach to life; such as communicating with our ancestors, can invite abundance and good fortune. Remember that there is so much help in the spirit realm just waiting for us to tap into, if only we ask and allow ourselves to receive their collective crystalized wisdom.
But then again sadness, sorrow and hardship are natural parts of reality that are not to be suppressed or repressed. We can lean into them, and discover acceptance of them as part of the totality of our experience.
Keep in mind that the forthcoming Summer Solstice reflects peak sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere. Time to frolic in the festivities of the season.
In the Southern Hemisphere, it will be the Winter Solstice or the darkest day of the year. Coaxing back the light resurrects a felt sense perception that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
May all beings be free from suffering and awaken to God Consciousness, Cosmic Consciousness, Unity Consciousness, Diversity Within Unity, Inner Peace and the Universal Pillars of Love and Truth.
A Beaver Moon fades into the backdrop after waning from its full status on November 5th. This Full Moon gave reflection to heightened pre-winter activity in preparation for colder temperatures, freezing waters, and the arriving winter season.
Just after that, Mercury went in Retrograde on November 9, and will remain there till going back direct on November 29.
Time to turn our clocks yin-ward to rewind, reflect, remember and slow down our pace. Darker days and cooler temperatures give us a natural advantage to journey into our inner caves, and gently allow the seeds underground to rest and hibernate, till its time to wake up in the spring.
Speaking of journeying into our inner caves . . .
Connect to the ancient indigenous people that still remain in underground societies. Heed their stories of communion with the Sky People, who were harbingers of change back Zen and as they still are right Tao.
Mercury in Retrograde can facilitate the process of receiving deeper insights into our subconscious minds. Tis the season for introspection, self-reflection, meditation and journaling.
Additionally, about a week before Thanksgiving; a New Moon in Scorpio on November 20th powers up deeper feelings. Moreover, meaningful relational exchanges may give less incentives to pursuing shallow relationships that no longer quench your thirst.
Human beings are complex, as are our relationships. Superficial relationships are challenged by the complexity of developing more meaningful relationships that challenge us to push our edges, and act as catalysts to grow in ways that our souls need.
Purification in relationships awakens us to sail with the winds of change at our backs. Being triggered by any chaotic energies can help us face up to what is rising to the surface for us to re-examine, and re-evaluate on how we want to move forward.
Keep in mind that it is still the Year of the Snake; which is highly symbolic of transformation. May the shedding of old skin or death of the old self awaken transformative inner alchemy by stoking the embers of your percolating new self.
What old wounds are you carrying from your longitudinal and multidimensional quest that you would like to release and let go of?
What old narratives do you wish to let go of, based on the stories that have been projected onto you or that you have adopted as your own?
What new growth would you like to see the light of day in the New Year ahead?
Appreciate that tunneling into the underground caverns of our souls requires facing unknowing and uncertainty with faith and trust that we will be shown the way. May we be mindful of and guided by the signs and synchronicities as supportive guides in the mirror of our minds.
A Cold Full Moon on December 4th, followed by the Winter Solstice on December 21 will mark the darkest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere. This is the time when our ancestors coaxed back the light; which gently allows for shifts in our consciousness into a new dawn of awakening.
Of course, it is the opposite in the Southern hemisphere because it will be the Summer Solstice; signaling the lightest day of the year there. Movement toward subtle waning light carries on after that.
Furthermore, it will be the New Year of the Fire Horse on February 17th, not long after the Imbolc aka Groundhog Day on February 2nd. By that time, Spring (or Autumn in the Southern hemisphere) will be starting energetically, even if only subtle hints are perceptible at that time.
The choice is ours what we choose to carry with us along our lifetimes. By that I mean what our ancestors have passed down on to us versus what we want to give back for inner alchemy and transformation.
We are magnetic creatures that are made up of energy. Like attracts like.
If we want to receive change, we have to become the change we want to see in the world first. We have to open up to the frequencies of joy and light if we want to become joy and light, just as examples.
May all Beings be free and awaken to the vibration of Inner Peace,
