Beltane Ritual + Full Moon in Scorpio

This full moon in Scorpio, happening on April 29th at 8:58 pm ET, is dripping with alchemical potential. (It’s the perfect prelude to a Beltane ritual) It contains all the ingredients necessary for transformation on a deep, karmic level. And while I want to unpack it fully now, there are a few pressing items I need to break down first, so stay with me.

I don’t know about you, but like the moon, my life vacillates between two extremes: feeling like it’s magical and extraordinarily blessed, and like it’s all just a bit more than I need.

At the same time, I have come to learn that embracing rhythmicity, and cyclical living, is fundamental to staying the course with my crazy-awesome, crazy-full life. Instead of fighting it or trying to “cure” it, I’ve learned to embrace the ups and downs as vital; to hold space for it and understand it as natural.

Shifting The Cosmic Curriculum

Ladies, let’s face it. We are expected—and often motivated—to have it all. Fantastic health, thriving relationships, career clarity, remarkable talent, and an almost intangible combination of grace and grit. In some moments, this ideal feels so close you can taste it. And, in other moments, well… not so much.

If we’re not careful, this expectation to have it all can lead to feelings of crushing pressure.

Ask yourself this… If I am really sincere, despite everything I do, do I still think I need to need to prove myself?

Like there’s always that one-more-thing you need to do to feel like you are worthy of self-care, recognition, and rest. As though—no matter how much you plan, organize and commit—it feels like you’re always missing the mark.

Somewhere along the way, did you put up a wall against your emotions and spirituality? Maybe you thought that both were a distraction, or you feared that your feelings and spirituality would lead you astray on your path to success.

Or maybe your emotions have hijacked you! You feel so genuinely for others that you put everyone before yourself, and somehow you never get around to moving your projects off the ground.

When it comes to your health, have you’ve stayed determined for so long, thinking you’re just one lifestyle change away from finding the perfect balance? Like a new health routine, a new year’s resolution, or a shakeup in your career is what it’ll take?

The truth is: there’s no juice fast that can save you, and despite the salacious sales pitch, another exercise methodology isn’t the answer either.

Newsflash: There Is No Magic Pill!

We know this. But we can’t help but get swept away by the romantic promises of that One Big Change: a new prescription, a different workout routine, the latest superfood trend.

The 21st century offers massive healthcare innovation and evolution, so much so that we’ve come to believe that everything must be cured. That there is a single end goal to health, a completion, a peak health state to reach and maintain forever—if only you had the right cocktail of healthcare practices.

Yet, if that’s true, why do we perpetually suffer from the same problems?

Stubborn weight gain, dysfunctional eating, energetic lulls, sleep problems, and digestive issues; irregular, painful periods, reproductive health concerns, anxiety, and melancholic moods. Willingly foregoing exhilarating sex for more mindless time on Facebook? Where’s the cure for too much swiping? Or doubting our bodies brilliance and/or our capability to attract the partner for sex in the first place?

A New Era Of Healing Potential: Embrace Rituals

I bring this up now, at the time of the full moon, because as I write, we find ourselves amidst a massive energetic upswing and cosmic change.

For starters, in the days that followed the last new moon in Aries on April 15th, Chiron, an asteroid that relates to healing through a wound, changed signs. He moved from Pisces, the last sign of the zodiac, into Aries, the first. Chiron corresponds with in-depth soul-drenched healing lessons and spends roughly eight years in one sign. With this change afoot, the cosmic curriculum swings.

The Deepest Wound Offers The Deepest Healing

“Chiron represents our deepest wound (often from childhood, or even past lives). Chiron in Pisces is about radical, radiant self-acceptance. The past eight years have brought us lessons in boundaries, self-care, and empathy. It has been about loving yourself first, and not sacrificing, or working to earn love by being ‘enough.’” 

So good, right?

Our unprocessed emotions and malignant life experiences become the root of our symptoms.

Yup, every time we hold back our tears because we don’t want to go there, or said “no” to our intuition because it didn’t make sense, we denied ourselves something we crave more than anything: healing.  

Now’s the time to come home to your body and work toward feeling safe inside of yourself.

Life Isn’t Random: The Cosmic Plan

Here’s the deal: all of these crazy, beautiful, overwhelming things you have going for you? They’re part of a cosmic plan.

Chiron’s sign change—while a subtle shift—foreshadows a massive change in the future (something I’ll cover later in the year). He has changed signs for now, but he retrogrades back to Pisces in September. In the meantime, ready yourself for another massive change: Uranus changing signs on May 15th, 2018. Uranus represents disruption on behalf of freedom and correlates with massive change. Right now, he’s hanging out in the last degree of Aries, and come to the next new moon; he’ll enter Taurus. (I have a lot to say about that, so stay tuned.)

Until then, he loosely opposes this full moon and recently conjoined the sun, indicating that it’s time to break free of old patterns (even the seductive ones we think we need despite them causing harm.)

Let The Full Moon in Scorpio Call You Home

As we approach the full moon in sexual Scorpio, she travels opposite of the sun journeying through grounded, practical, and sensual Taurus; a sign he entered on April 19th and exits on May 20th.

Taurus calls us home to ourselves. Taurus asks us to embody our sensuality. Ruled by Venus (Aphrodite), Taurus invites us to feel good in our skin. Taurus season—a time of mid-spring for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere and mid-fall for those in the Southern Hemisphere—provides a precious opportunity to plant seeds of desires. The essence of Taurus season is grounded sensuality; it stimulates nurturance to allow us to feel restored, renewed, and embodied.

Scorpio represents a connection to the power that fuels creation. Call it esoteric mojo. A fierce devotion to an intended outcome. A conscious link to the other side. It’s potent. It’s real. It’s available. Especially now. This tenacious sign, known for its devotion to authenticity, asks us to embrace the Phoenix within and rise from the ashes. To welcome the transformation of our lives and shed the shame that holds us back. To firmly assert and claim our intended desires without giving up. To call upon the magic of the universe and solicit the required support needed to manifest our desires.

After all, Scorpio is driven by intimacy and represents one of the most persistent, tenacious, and determined signs of the zodiac. As a fixed water sign, Scorpio seduces us on a journey to find our truth, power, and sexuality. And with the sun at 9 degrees of Taurus and the moon at 9 degrees of Scorpio, this full moon offers a time for growth and magic.

This full moon in Scorpio is a potent time to call forth the powers of feminine embodiment. Especially if combined with a Beltane ritual!

Consider this:

• How connected to your body are you as you strive to obtain your goals?
• Do you remain connected to your body even in the face of setbacks and challenges?
• How can you increase the stewardship of your body?
• How willing are you to cultivate the power of feeling safe inside of yourself?

On April 26th Mars, the planet of action and drive conjoined Pluto in Capricorn, the planet of transformation, death, and rebirth. Co-rulers of Scorpio, Mars, and Pluto together contribute to the potential for intense drive and determination on behalf of growth. At the time as this full moon, Saturn—the planet that asks for profound soul growth and commitment to purpose—aligns perfectly with the sun in a configuration known as a trine (a manifestation angle). This simultaneously forms a sextile (another positive and supportive aspect) to the full moon in Scorpio. Saturn keeps his eye on the long game, and so should you this full moon.

Pragmatic Magic for the Modern Mystic! Do a Beltane Ritual!

With the full moon upon us, now’s the time to activate transformation in your life. The full moon occurs at 9 degrees of Scorpio on April 29th at 8:58 pm ET, however with Beltane on May 1, there’s no need to rush through your ritual (it’s Taurus season, after all). But please do a Beltane ritual!

A full moon in Scorpio represents a call to being in your body. Tapped in. Tuned in. And turned on! Even though this full moon might elicit emotional intensity (it’s in the water sign Scorpio), the opportunity to channel it on behalf of what you intend to create in your life stands strong. Sexual energy and creative energy are both rooted in the sacral chakra.

This full moon requires getting grounded in your body. In touch with your touch. Aligned with your truth. And you must commit to clearing the blocks that prevent you from standing in your feminine power and truth.

On top of all of that, Beltane (a cross-quarter day that marks the halfway point between the last equinox and upcoming solstice) makes this a brilliant time to clear through old patterns and behaviors.

Using The Full Moon In Scorpio To Clear Through The History That Binds You

If you have an altar prepare it for your full moon ceremony. And if you don’t have an altar, find a quiet place to sit and be comfortable. Then, try this ritual suggestion:

1. Honor your ancestors.
Think back on the generations of women who came before you on both the matrilineal and patrilineal lines in your family. Honor your ancestors and the hard work that went into their lives—ultimately making yours possible. (Even if you are estranged from family, consider the biological sacrifice that went into creating you!) Thank them. You may want to look at old pictures and literally say thank you or write a letter of thanks that you can either give to them (if still alive) or bring to their grave/read aloud to them. In the words of James Baldwin, “Your crown has been bought and paid for. All you have to do is put it on.” Thank the women who came before you for their hard work! (Making flower crowns, a tradition consummate with Beltane. You can learn more about that here from Sarah Jenks +  Co.)

2. Reflect on limiting patterns and beliefs.
Identify potential as a transgenerational pattern that you no longer need or that you wish to complete. Get clear. What patterns emerge? Are there any connections between how they mothered or worked (if they worked) that relate to what’s appearing in your life now? Pay attention to limiting beliefs or patterns that you no longer need. Identify patterns that no longer serve you. Write them down on a piece of paper.

3. Burn it to the ground!
Create a sacred ritual fire to let it go. Beltane rituals include fire ceremonies. You can light a fire outside, or you can do this in your kitchen with a pot lined with tin foil and dab of alcohol and a cup of Epsom salt. Instructions for a kitchen fire: Douse the salt with a wee bit of the alcohol and set it ablaze. Once it’s burning, drop the piece of paper containing your limiting beliefs and patterns that no longer serve you in the pot. Watch it burn. Surrender it to the fire. Let it be transmuted. Imagine any unhealthy, unconscious, and unfavorable transgenerational patterns dissolving.

4. Practice gratitude.
Say thank you for the lessons, and allow them to integrate into your heart.

5. Claim your right.
To be in your body in your birthright. Claim your right to live in your strengths. Meditate on your inherent worth. You don’t need to prove anything!

Once your fire ritual is complete, let your fire vessel cool, then if you feel inspired, you can find a place to bury the ashes, release them into the wind, or into the sea.

Now I’d love to hear from you. What are you creating this new full moon? Do you have a Beltane ritual you love? Share it in the comments below. Leave me a comment below.

P.S. Want to learn more about cross-quarter holidays? Buy my book, Cosmic Health.