We’ve reached the Waxing Trine between Sun and Moon in the First Quarter phase. It’s a Grand Trine in Fire: The Sun @ 15 Leo trining the Moon @ 15 Sag, both trining Chiron @ 16 Aries.
This Grand Fire Trine offers renewal, celebration, and healing–or wounding, I suppose, if we’re not attuned to the opportunity on offer. In the exuberant light, we might end up going too far, triggering an old pattern. Or we can seize the day and channel its warmth into releasing such patterns.
Today is Lughnasadh, the Irish festival celebrating what has been and what will be. The god Lugh, many skilled, created the festival to honor his foster mother, Tailtiu, who worked so tirelessly to clear fields for the people that her strength failed and she died. He honored her memory in celebration.
Lughnasadh celebrates first fruits. Not harvest, but the promise of a harvest to come. Late summer was tough. Last year’s stores depleted, new crops not yet in. Berries from the hedgerows were welcome additions to lean meals.
The festival included games, feats of strength, contracts (including marriages), and feasting–all the things people do when they gather together. There were rituals to protect the harvest. First fruits were offered to the gods.
Today’s chart includes another pattern linked through the Sun, a Grand Cross in the fixed signs. The Sun squares the Nodes of the Moon, Uranus, and Mars, while opposing Saturn. Here we link to the great forces of our time, in a framework of deep past and unknown future.
These patterns, both strong, reflect Lughnasadh.
With the Fire Trine, we celebrate. Make alliances. Play games. Sing. Dance. Drink. Feast.
With the Grand Cross, we acknowledge our place in a much bigger world. We honor the past, ancestors and gods, who make our lives possible. We face into the future, knowing we’ll find challenges ahead.
Rituals of sacrifice and celebration. Honoring the life we have. Seeking right relationship with the many worlds around us.