Daykeeper Journal: Maya del Mar's Moon Report

by Maya del Mar

Sausalito, CA. April 16, 2001. The Aries New Moon (March 23) began our year’s personal cycle. Its First Quarter was in Cancer, and the personal breakthrough, then, involves family, country, and security status. Full Moon in Libra (April 7) involves cooperation with others, and Last Quarter, which occurred April 15 on Easter Sunday, was in Capricorn. With Capricorn we ask, What is the social significance of the new seeds which we’ve planted?

Several planets at this New Moon squared the Moon’s Nodes, now in the signs of Cancer and Capricorn. They brought into sharp relief the opposition between family and business, between personal connections vs. our impersonal obligations to society. Our personal security depends on a proper balance between those two poles.

This was illustrated by an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about how Silicon Valley attorneys finally have time for their neglected families.

It was illustrated by Crystal Pomeroy and her husband Fernando Ruiz temporarily leaving their thriving work in Mexico City to come to California to have their baby.

And it was illustrated by Susan and I taking two weeks off from our web site and other work to travel to southern California to help and support Crystal. The download Calendar is thus late this month, but for a very special reason.

At First Quarter Susan and I set off high and mighty in our rented SUV Ford Expedition, the only vehicle which Hertz had for us. Sagittarius, the traveler, was carrying Aries into new adventures. California was in the midst of its glorious spring season—green, growing, blossoming, thriving. Cows were calving, sheep were lambing, and we felt the passion of new birth everywhere.

We found Crystal and Fernando in a cozy little cottage set in green ranchland with rocky hills nearby and the ever-present mountains rising in the distance. Next door, sun-ruled roosters crowed until sunset, and moon-ruled hens laid eggs (at night?). Amongst them were broods of tiny chicks. To complete the fertile spring scene, we saw wild rabbits in the grasslands.

This was a perfect setting in which to welcome an Aries baby. We all set to work preparing for the new arrival, and it was a process of joyful teamwork. We spent the Full Moon weekend at the homey Natural Birth Center, waiting for baby. Crystal and her midwife, Ann Sommers, worked hard, and 9-pound Christopher was born on April 8.

Born-again Aries, Cancer family, and Libra partnership dominated our Aries Moon cycle.

Susan and I returned home driving through bounties of wildflowers, celebrating the renewal of earth—and of our family. We arrived in time for the Last Quarter Moon in Capricorn, calling us to work, taxes, home, and renewing our connections with our lives and responsibilities.

Nationally, global warming and U.S.-China relations have been major themes during this Aries cycle.

At New Moon the European Union urged the U.S. to reconsider its recalcitrant stand on global warming, and in response EPA Administrator Christie Whitman tells the world that the Kyoto Treaty, a worldwide effort to cut down on greenhouse gases, is dead in the U.S.

At First Quarter, national security interests—Cancer—came to the fore when a U.S. surveillance plane collided with a Chinese fighter plane over the South China Sea, and landed in China. Both of them were caught in the risky aggressive actions characterized by Aries. The U.S. is a Cancer country, China is Libran, and much of the month was spent with negotiations and a propaganda war between the two nations. Sagittarius, the other major sign now, rules propaganda.

Full Moon brought us two brand new studies showing solid evidence of the contribution of greenhouse gases to global warming. The spy plane crew members returned to U.S. territory. And riots against police brutality dominated Cincinnati.

During this Aries month Israel has stepped up its attacks against Palestine, and at Last Quarter Israel attacked a base in Lebanon, taking a chance of drawing Syria into war. During this last quarter, the U.S. and China will talk about the plane incident. Capricorn is associated with government, this is the release phase of the moon, and I predict the talks will go well.

Sausalito, CA. April 2, 2001. First Quarter Moon in Cancer occurred yesterday morning. Read April 1 entry in the Calendar.

Countries, nations, and ethnic groups are associated with Cancer. And aggression with Aries. As the Moon squared Sun to begin the action, a U.S. surveillance plane had a run-in with Chinese fighter planes over the South China Sea. U.S.-China relations are currently deteriorating, and this incident can further worsen the mutual security of both nations.

Slobodan Milosevic was taken from his home in Belgrade, despite large public protests, and arrested for war crimes.

This Quarter Moon, and both of these events are connected with the Cancer-Capricorn eclipse polarity of 2000-2001 which is shifting security arrangements everywhere, in many ways. With Venus retrograde these events are from the past, and with the eclipse involvement, their consequences will extend into the future.

Personally, Susan and I are getting ready to drive to Los Angeles to be with Crystal for her birthing process. This is her first baby, and it is a big family shifting. We have Aries new birth excitement, Cancer family, Venus love, and Vesta—commitment to baby.

Sausalito, CA. March 30, 2001 (new moon in Aries, March 24). See Calendar for March 24. With Aries New Moon we suddenly move from the universal to the personal sphere. That change of focus was like night and day for me. Suddenly the news has less interest for me, and taking a walk, more. Suddenly I’m more willing to be out in the community, connecting personally with friends and neighbors, in contrast to being holed up at home in my inner world—which, with me having Aquarius Sun, is quite universal.

This New Moon occurred in the fifth house in the chart set for Washington. This is the house of one’s creations, including children. And suddenly I am very immersed with my children. Venus and the Asteroids give prominence to women, and my focus is especially on my daughters. Venus is retrograde. This gives us an opportunity to return to the past and heal it. We have begun this process.

Vesta, goddess of the hearth, is here with Moon. She shows where we dedicate ourselves, and where we receive rewards for that commitment. Again, my children are my greatest investment and my greatest joy.

Juno, too, is here, and she shows feelings of abuse and powerlessness, issues we are working to heal.

Venus assures that love enfolds our work now.

Aries is a sign of new birth. Crystal, whom regular readers know from her fine meditation column in Daykeeper, is about to have her first baby. And this Aries New Moon occurred in my own ninth house of grandchildren!

Talk about persona! My personal life really reflects these energies. Check your own personal upwellings now!

Looking at the nation, we see a firming up of the U.S. stand of non-cooperation in reducing pollution, and thus global warming. The European Union, at a meeting in Stockholm, urged the U.S. to reconsider its recalcitrant stand on global warming. The U.S. Environmental Protection Administrator, Christie Whitman, responded by telling the world that Kyoto was dead for the U.S. The personal here means the personal, short-term profit of corporations opposes the long-term viability of life on earth.

Here is the Sun in Aries warming the Earth we love, Venus, through the burning of fossil fuels. Here is Vesta, holding fast to her investment in those industries. And here is Juno, the disenfranchisement of the entire earth.

Congresspeople are considering campaign reform, and have to balance conflicting personal needs. On the one hand, they need lots of money to campaign, and thus they must spend much of their time while in office doing fund-raising. On the other hand, their real job is governing. As Sen. Diane Feinstein says, "I don’t want to spend my six years in office constantly attending fund-raisers—which is how it is now. I want to do Senate work."

Money and values are Venusian. This is the first time that Congress has seriously discussed campaign reform. With Venus retrograde we return to old issues and re-evaluate them.

In Mexico, the Zapatistas made a historic appearance before Congress. Commandante Esther, a woman, spoke at length about correcting old abuses of the indigenous people. President Vicente Fox encouraged this meeting. He has said that investing in all the people of Mexico is his country’s greatest strength.

Mexico has an Aries Ascendant. Its progressed Sun entered Aries just as President Fox assumed office.

And, in California, a rise in power bills, up to 46%, was announced. This is guaranteed to make everyone personally interested in the energy situation.

go directly to Crystal's New Moon Meditation