by Crystal Pomeroy  

The December Full Moon portal is a special opportunity for a number of reasons, a Supermoon in more than one sense. First of all, it takes places just four hours after reaching perigee, Luna’s closest point to the Earth, which makes her appear 14% bigger and 30% brighter than at any time this year. Her gravity pulls strongly, setting tides of both ocean and emotion higher than usual. Also, her connection with maternal divinity is pronounced, as she happens to become full on the Feast Day of Tonantzin, Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In an interesting aside, Tonantzin was not exactly a goddess for native Mexicans, since deities did not form part of their world view. Rather, she is a Virgin Mother force or entity, known to have appeared to Juan Diego on her own sacred hill, and to many other natives in pre-colonial Mexico. Until this year, I considered such reported sightings popular legend. Then, several months ago, I was invited to participate in a Toltec rite, and in an altered state of consciousness, actually saw her myself. I later learned that ladies in white like her, Our Lady of Lourdes, and many others around the world, are often seen in shamanic ceremonies. For me Tonantzin is now more than a fable.

Another figure associated with this lunation is Mother Bear, whose feast is one day earlier. According to Barbara Walker, “The concept of the goddess in bear shape was deeply ingrained… through the millennia and survives in contemporary Crete as 'Virgin Mary of the Bear'.” For several cultures, the Bear was considered the Mother of all. On Winter Solstice, she will give symbolic birth to the Divine Child, and we are now celebrating her motherhood. Some friends of mine will be in a cave near her shrine, offering their night to Tonantzin in dance and prayer to transmute the world’s karma.

Just as we can make offerings now to the Mother, she also gives us a gift: the special configuration of this Full Moon to bless our minds in preparation for the new cycles now beginning. One of these is Pluto’s definitive entrance into Capricorn, another is the New Year, whose Sun and Mars both closely conjunct that Lord of Power. This heavy-handed line up coincides with the shaking of the global financial system which, alongside other security issues, is being used to fan the fires of popular fear, and with it, martial prerogatives. Change is in the winds, and will demand focus of will and work. The Mother will not let us go forth unarmed, but sends us this chart like a holographic Christmas card. If you get a chance to look at the wheel, admire the beautiful pattern: a tight grand cross, crowned by a double sesquiquadrate of Venus with Moon and Saturn, this aspect fanning symmetrically like an upside-down V over the cross, reminiscent of Tonantzin’s full skirt. (Mexicans say the Virgin’s skirt protects their capital city where her shrine is.) In perfect symmetry, this configuration also resembles a pentagram, symbolic of Venus and the Goddess.  

The cross appears in civilizations throughout the ancient world, including among the Mexica; it is certainly connected with Divine Child to be born in the days ahead. The mutable cross is considered that of the aspirant, who reaches for a spiritual consciousness. Alice Bailey calls it “the Cross of responsive form.” It invites us to choose what we shall aspire to, and how we wish to respond to the changes that loom on the horizon. Although the square of Mars to Uranus at this lunation is active and potentially explosive, Molly Hall reminds us that Saturn's imminent station in the days ahead, “puts a damper on initiating action.” The restless energies can be directed by letting our souls move upward as we clarify our spiritual goals for the year ahead (as well as developing brilliant, audacious strategies for upcoming opportunities to act). Such an apparently simple act will also tend to harmonize the planetary vibration at this portal, serving as a cushion against its potentially destructive effects. The latter could forseeably include an onslaught of brainwashing, associated with both Pluto in Capricorn conjunct Mercury, as well as with the “Common Cross” of mutable signs, called so because, “it conditions the common herd, the mass of humanity,” to quote Bailey.

The invocations and prayers below are designed to synchronize with the highest and the best of the powers now at play, elevating the planetary vibration as we defer from being herded by the other kind of powers.

Prayerful Altar-ations for the Mother

• Incense, especially copal, rose or honey
•  A pink candle
•  Fresh flowers, particularly wild or cultivated roses
•  A picture or symbol related to bears, Tonantzin, or any of her sisters in white (such as Our Lady of Lourdes, Fatima, and so on)

Ceremony to Establish your Spiritual Intent

• Light the candle saying something like:

This flame symbolizes the light of the Mother, burning bright to guide her children through the night of change and into a bright day of peace, unity and victorious good.

• Light the incense, knowing that it is an offering for Tonantzin, Mother Bear and Grandmother Bear, along with any related guides you now wish to invoke. Invite them and their scores of attendant angels to enter into and protect your space, your mind and soul, and then say something like:

Dear Mother, we are here in your presence, acknowledging your assistance to heal, elevate and protect this sacred planet and its inhabitants. We offer our attention, love and prayers, and request that you assist us in expressing our true selves as we clarify our spiritual goals for the coming cycles. 

• Each participant can take a few moments to define the type of spiritual consciousness s/he would like to receive the New Year and new Pluto cycle. Such intentions come from the heart. Some examples from my prayer group include: “As an illumined being,” “With love for myself and well on my way to healing from co-dependence,” “With a consciousness of opulent prosperity,” “With greater tolerance and self-esteem,” “With emotional balance and greater ability to serve, especially the elderly”.  Write your intention on paper. If done with another or others, you can then take turns sharing aloud.
  
  
• Repeat words like those that follow three times:

Each time I affirm my intent to receive the New Solar cycle with spiritual consciousness, I unleash powerful forces which conspire in favor of the manifestation of this purpose. Contacts are instantaneously established, circumstances come together, information and any other required resources are magnetized to me.

Each time I affirm my intent to receive the New Solar cycle with spiritual consciousness, I fortify the lattice of light that connects all divinely-inclined souls around the planet. Our shared light grows and joins the light of Omnipresent Spirit to guide all beings into the golden era of victorious good.

• Thank the Mother and other guides for their assistance in this ceremony, and consecrate this lunar portal by vowing to make some special offering, such as praying for the world, abstaining from an addiction, acting on a pending impulse of loving kindness, etc.
  
  
• From now until the Winter Solstice, begin each day by referring to your spiritual intent, and then affirming words like those above during several minutes.

The Mother, like the bear, is tender yet powerful. We have been made in her image and likeness. All portals become blessed when we recognize our power to choose the level from which we will pass through them. By exercising this choice now, and aligning with helpers awaiting our attention in parallel worlds, not only do we receive the best the December Supermoon has to offer, but we discover that besides being its interpreters, we are an active part of its magic, one with the Mother and with each other in realms even now emerging from a sea of boundless possibilities.

References

Hall, Manly P., The Secret Teachings of All Ages (New York, Penguin Paperback, 2003).

Hancock, Graham, Supernatural, Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind (NY, New York, The Disinformation Co., Ltd., 2007).

Oken, Alan, Soul-Centered Astrology (New York, Bantam, 1990).

Walker, Barbara G., The Woman’s Dictionary of Symbols & Sacred Objects (San Francisco, Harper, 1988).

Related Astrology on the Web

Ponderings on the Mutable Cross

http://realastrologers.com

Molly Hall on About.com

Mother Bear/Goddess Cultures

Mother Bear at Discovery.com

Biggest Full Moon of the Year Photos (NASA)

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Self Esteem 24 Hours a Day by Crystal Pomeroy Take your affirmations to a new level, and your self esteem along with them. This artfully woven recording integrates a guided meditation to start the day, over 60 affirmations and music therapy. Discover why the author is number one in metaphysical audios throughout Latin America, now for the first time in English. Read more…

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