The Third Quarter Moon arrives at 6:15 PM Pacific Time today, but she is a late riser at this time of the month, setting mid-afternoon and rising in the night sky around midnight. Perhaps you will see her peeking through the last of the Perseid Meteor Shower.

As LaLuna shifts from the vibrant active Yang of her Full Moon energy towards the deep Yin energy of the Dark Moon, you may find yourself in greater alignment with her energies… your intuition increases daily… you connect even more strongly with your Wise Inner Self… you understand more about who you are and your purpose, your lessons learned… and you connect more with your Ancestors.

This is the time for Gratitude, as you reflect on the journey so far and prepare for the coming New Moon next week.

For some, Quarter Moons represent a crisis point: at the Third Quarter we are returning home and perhaps questioning who we are, what we’ve done. We may find ourselves embracing our Inner Wild… wanting to run with the Wolves and howl at the Moon. .. declare to the world, “This is ME in all my glory!” Yes! Embrace whatever you are feeling. Own it. Explore it. Celebrate it.

The Third Quarter represents the West, Autumn, the flow and cleansing of the Water Element (emotions) guided by Mamaí Mara of the waters, aided by Na Fianna, the stag & doe representing the magic, balance and harmony between the Sacred Feminine and Sacred Masculine.

And, most importantly for your Soul Work, the Third Quarter connects to a different kind of Power as you find your Self in that liminal phase between Woman/Mother and Crone: The Matriarch, a newly defined stage of a woman’s life.

Four phases of a woman’s life? Many of us have defined typically our stages as a reflection of the Triple Goddess — Maiden, Woman, Crone — but our lives have lengthened considerably since that initial concept. There is a now a much longer phase between Woman and Crone.

So not just Maiden-Woman-Crone but Maiden-Woman-Matriarch-Crone. And, yes, there are other names for this new Matriarchal stage. Perhaps the word Matriarch doesn’t resonate with you. Perhaps other terms such as Guardian or Spiritual Warrior work for you. Or perhaps you have another word to define this phase.

In their book, The Women’s Wheel of Life, Elizabeth Davis and Carol Leonard describe 12 major archetypes in a woman’s life plus a 13th, The Transformer, which links all phases together. Each of the 12 archetypes are associated with one of four major stages, just like our blessed Grandmother Moon:

East / Spring / Innocence: The Maiden, as the archetypes of Daughter-Maiden-Blood Sister

South / Summer / Nurturing: The Woman, as Lover-Mother-Midwife

West / Autumn / Power: The Matriarch, as Amazon-Matriarch-Priestess

North / Winter / Wisdom: The Crone, as Sorceress-Crone-Dark Mother

And in the Centre of the Wheel, linking them all, The Transformer.

SOUL WORK

We are in such a powerful time this lunar month — our month of “Coeur-ageous Transformation“— and especially now at this Third Quarter.

We started with the intensity of the Leo New Moon, moved through the harvest/gratitude energy of Lughnasadh, connected to the Lions Gate Portal and the Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse and are now zooming towards the Solar Eclipse on the New Moon, which once again will be in Leo. And planetary retrograde energies as well! You may feel off kilter, that things are churning up internally.

It is said the Sun represents our Ego but that the Moon represents our True Self . . . and both are so prominent and heightened this month!

At this Third Quarter, a time of gentle respite in the chaos of astrological and astronomical energies surrounding us — at a time of balance of Sun & Moon, Yin and Yang, Ego & Self — take some time to reflect on your own energies as you consider the Question for the West in the Medicine Wheel reading:

What is Transforming?

This respite will support you in preparing for the intense Leo New Moon energy just a week away, and your experience with the Solar Eclipse…. which for some is energetically like a whole year at once!

SOUL QUESTIONS

How does your energy feel at present… physically, emotionally, spiritually?

• What has transformed… or is still transforming?
• Where/when are you acting from Ego and where/when do you act from your True Self? Do you recognize the differences? Do others?

With which of the Matriarch archetypes are you connecting … or wish to connect?

• Do you feel the power of the Amazon — strong, independent and reconnecting to her original purpose? Here you are supported by Goddesses such as Ceres and Athena. Call on them in your meditations and Soul Work.
• Are you stepping into the power of the Matriarch — self-assured, sharing your gifts with the world, serving as best you can? Here you are supported by Mab, Demeter, Yemaya, and Hera. Call on them in your meditations and Soul Work
• Do you feel the power of the Priestess — feeling those powerful surges of intuition and illumination, transcendent, shedding the skin and mask that may have hidden your True Self from the world? Here you are supported by Rhiannon, Inanna, Mary Magdalene, and Arianrhod. Call on them in your meditations and Soul Work.

If you did a Medicine Wheel Reading this month at the New Moon — or even if you didn’t — pull some cards from your favourite deck(s) for even more insight(s). You may find some answers. . .  or even more questions.

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Wisdom from Seanmháthair Gealach (Grandmother Moon)
Third Quarter Moon in Taurus
14-AUG @ 6:15 PM Pacific Time / 15-AUG @ 01:15 UTC
Moon Age 21.9 days

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