You may have noticed something askew?

Like intense emotions? Things not quite coming together as they should no matter your efforts? Your life is taking a perceived step backwards?

Well, it’s nothing really, just four planets in retrograde and the dark crone moon phase encroaching!

But don’t panic, this may actually be good news.

Between the 15th and 22nd of May, there is an opportunity for personal alchemy.

Pluto -in retrograde April 25 To October 4, ruler of Scorpio the Mystic, unearths our deepest emotions, rattles at the door of our complacency and insists on transformation.

Saturn, in retrograde May 11 To September 29, will have us examining structure, limitations, boundaries – what will our new world be post Covid-19? What of sovereignty? BTW, we are not the only ones with sovereignty questions – Gaia, and all her sentient beings feel into this question, having dome so for eons, often with devastating results.

Venus, in retrograde May 13 to June 25, highlights finances and relationships. We sometimes think of Venus as a benign energy, all cuddles and kisses, but she can really kick ass!

Jupiter, May 14 To September 12, makes pertinent our spiritual search, things long ago abandoned; coming into alignment with core soul longings.

Planets in retrograde intensify what is, what could be, what was. They dredge up the past. We can either ignore it, or step right in. The choice is always ours, with varying degrees of comfort or discomfort.

The great thing about discomfort is that it always points us in the right direction – that of illuminating what needs attention.

Retrogrades are cyclical like us. They peel layers, reveal new skin, help us embrace change; and in the tradition of all great teachers, return over and over to guide us to new heights.

If we can embrace retrogrades with the understanding that they are an outer, cosmic reflection of our inner world, then we can become friends with their energy and purpose. In that way, we also come into deeper friendship with ourselves.

We enter Waning Crescent (Crone) Moon on the 15th of May until Dark/New Moon on the 22nd – all things dark goddess, womb-like, the incubating soil of future dreams.

This prayer of mine to the Crone Moon has held me over many returning phases.

Mistress of the dark moon, I surrender to the shadows.
I open to the sanctuary of my soul and release all that haunts me.
I rest in contemplation and seek guidance on my sacred path.
With heart grateful and open, I close my eyes and listen to the breath which leads me onward

The combined frequencies of Crone Moon and these planetary retrogrades are manifesting as head pressure, melancholy, doubt, lack of motivation, fear, body pain, OR the complete opposite of this, as bliss, optimism, high energy, heightened creativity.

Both are good medicine. Why? Both expect us to show up for ourselves. One, in the way of asking – “what is this I am feeling, where is it leading” – surrendering to what is, dropping resistance. The other, more seemingly blissful path asks exactly the same questions. The process is the same, the medicine is potent when we commit to the infinite growth we are capable of.

When the new moon arrives on the 16th of May, to begin the next lunar cycle and the magic of casting new dreams, we should be quite primed for manifesting IF we have allowed the retrograde energy to crack us open. In resistance we stagnate, in surrender, we birth new reality.

As I’ve written before,

Before we can be re-born, before we can imagine new worlds, we must gestate in the womb of the dark goddess, who holds us in her surprisingly tender hands, dirt beneath her fingernails from where she has dug us up, her warm tears the rain of our resurrection.

She is the incubating mother who holds our dreams in safety. She is the soil we sink into each month at the dark moon. Every seed of possibility must surrender to this darkness, must commune with rotting leaves and whispering spirits.

The cloak of the dark mother keeps us warm. It drags on the ground as she walks the earth in search of dreamers. Where would we be without dreams or the darkness that cocoons them. Before we grow wings, we sip the still waters of possibility. We wait…

And so this is what is before us in the next 8 days.

Nothing to be afraid of, or worry over, or to anticipate anything dreadful. It may be uncomfortable, but even then, it is beautiful, because we can learn to be comfortable in our discomfort, just breathing, listening, in stillness, in rootedness, in peaceful contemplation.

“I don’t mind what happens.” This will be our mantra for the next week or so. We fall apart, we come back together.

With love,

Monika.

P.S. Consider keeping a simple record of this next week. See what reveals itself?

**If you’d like my new ‘Abundance Consciousness Workbook’ a new gift dropped into my ‘Healing Mother Wound with Monika Carless’ group on FB, just pop on over, join, and it’s yours! Look in the ‘Files’ section. 

Here’s the link