Aquarius New Moon / Leo Full Moon feat. Bonnie Gillespie
I’m so excited to have astrologer Bonnie Gillespie
here to share her insights on the
Aquarius New Moon / Leo Full Moon lunation.
Bonnie works with the stars as both
an astrologer and casting director,
and her wit and wisdom are a blessing.
Subscribe! Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Pandora | Spotify | Stitcher | TuneIn
Mentioned:
Cauldron, my evolutionary, feminist blend of group, 1:1, and self-coaching. https://mindwitchery.com/cauldron
Bonnie Gillespie’s Chart Harmony https://bonniegillespie.com/ch/
Make Magic:
The motto for this lunar cycle is “fuck around and find out.”
Ask yourself, what’s turning you on right now?
Where are you feeling energy and excitement?
Identify the pursuits and values that are giving you life,
then give yourself permission to play!
Transcript: Aquarius New Moon / Leo Full Moon feat. Bonnie Gillespie
Natalie Miller: I love the idea of this particular lunar cycle, the Aquarius-Leo lunar cycle, really being about that heart-centered, idealistic, idea-fueled, and inclusive, right, its like radically inclusive perspective, like, inclusive to the point of not just like, "Is everybody here?" but, "Who's missing?" [laugh] Right? Which are the other parts that need to be invited in? Who else needs to be considered here?
Bonnie Gillespie: I think this axis brings the, "What is the best I can possibly imagine for the world, for humans as a whole, and do I know that I have the courage to be a part of bringing that to fruition?"
Natalie Miller: Yes, I love it.
[Music]
Natalie Miller: Welcome to Mind Witchery. I’m your host, Natalie Miller, and I’m so glad you’re here.
Hello, my friend. I'm so happy that you are here for a Mind Witchery lunar cycle episode. So, the thing I'm playing with here in 2023 is inviting an astrologer friend to come on and to talk about both the New and the Full Moons that are coming our way in the next lunar cycle so we can just get new ways of thinking about them and seeing them. And also, frankly, and especially today, it's just so fun to get to talk to fellow witchy, astrology aficionada people like my incredible guest, Ms. Bonnie Gillespie. Hello, Bonnie.
Bonnie Gillespie: Hello, Natalie. Thank you for having me.
Natalie Miller: I'm so glad you're here. So, Bonnie, everyone, works with the stars—wink, wink—in more than one way. So, tell us, Bonnie, how do you work with the stars?
Bonnie Gillespie: 'Tis true. 'Tis true. I'm the author of a book called Self-Management for Actors, so most showbiz people know me that way. I'm also an Emmy-honored casting director—yay—something gold and shiny in my life.
Natalie Miller: Ooh, that's fancy. OK. [laugh]
Bonnie Gillespie: But, yeah, I work with the stars in many more ways, obviously. Yeah, I grew up the daughter of an astrologer, so I was a child learning astrology and numerology and reiki and a course in miracles, and you name it, it's all of it. I grew up in a New Age household, so I have always simplified my life using the stories that I can tell through astrology. And here in my Chiron return, I've created something called Chart Harmony, which is a way to bring that childlike glee that I remember from the '70s into the complex astrological concepts.
Natalie Miller: Yes, oh, my gosh. And I feel like big auntie excitement when you talk about Chart Harmony. [laugh]
Bonnie Gillespie: As you should because I remember the day I sat in the park out here in Santa Monica, and recorded a Voxer to you, saying—
Natalie Miller: [laugh]
Bonnie Gillespie: —"I don't know what it's called yet, but I'll know it when it comes." And here we were in this coaching relationship and, suddenly, aha, it's Chart Harmony. And I'm like, "Oh, my god, this business was born under Natalie's doulaship. [laugh]
Natalie Miller: [laugh] Oh, my gosh. Well, it was such a pleasure to be a doula. And, everyone, go and check out Chart Harmony. It is such a fun and engaging way to play with astrology and aspects and planets and numbers and all of the things. It's super fun. And today we will talk about some specific harmonies in our world, which are Moons, New and Full Moons. So, Bonnie, when you think about lunar cycles or working with the Moon, as we like to say, how do you approach that? Like, how do you think about that?
Bonnie Gillespie: The Moon for me, I am Cancer stellium Sun, Mercury, Mars, Tenth House, so up there with my Midheaven, even though that doesn't count toward the stellium, I know, but it's still energy up there. I'm a Moon baby. I see the Moon as a big player in how I just navigate the world, which means I'm floating around on feelings, catching the emotional energy of everything that's swirling around me, and then making my life choices off that.
And that story of the Moon being the only body out there that has no light of its own, it only reflects back the light that shines upon it from the Sun, feels really loving to me, and nurturing, and I hear you, and I see you, to me, because the Moon is a really good Rogerian conversationalist. What I hear you saying is you feel full. What I hear you saying is you feel depleted and little and [0:05:11], and a sliver of the energy.
And so, for me, the Moon is the ultimate responsive bit of dust out there that just gives us so much of our calendar and our clock. And as a female-identifying person, so much of just my order to the waves of how I feel in any given moment are also connected to the Moon that it's a big operator for me.
Natalie Miller: I love that idea of the Moon is sort of saying, "What I hear you saying is…" And I would maybe even like raise that, see that and raise it to, "What I feel you saying is…" [laugh] It's like, "Oh, you're hungry. I also feel the hunger in my own body." [laugh] Right? Like it's—
Bonnie Gillespie: Yes, yes.
Natalie Miller: So, when you think about the New Moon, what is the New Moon a time for, according to Bonnie? How do you like to sort of say, "Oh, this is what's good to do for a New Moon"?
Bonnie Gillespie: I like the whole, you know, plant seeds, set intentions, get, you know, as witchy as you'd like to be with the idea of here's who I'm becoming, and here's some opportunities. But I really like to look at the New Moon from the perspective of every sign has its most healthy expression of itself, its healthiest version of itself, and each sign has its shadow side that is something that maybe the memes are all made about out on Instagram.
Natalie Miller: Yes.
Bonnie Gillespie: So, the New Moon, I feel like we're really getting an opportunity to connect with the most healthy side of every sign. We're getting to look at what is the best and highest expression, and can we connect with seed planting through all 12 signs throughout the year that give us an opportunity to get to know all parts of our chart, because a lot of people will come to me with a whole, "I have these empty houses. What does it mean?" And I'm like, "Nothing's empty, because there's a landlord for every one of those houses." So, we getting to know those energies become more connected with parts of ourselves that may be under-represented, or under-understood, or even just against in our lives.
Natalie Miller: OK, cool. I want to explore in this direction because it's delicious. So Aquarius, we have our New Moon in Aquarius. It is like at the starterty-start-start, starting line of Aquarius season on January 21st. When you think Aquarius, and its healthiest expressions, its most maybe harmonious expressions, what do you think of?
Bonnie Gillespie: Aquarius has been a hard sign for me to understand, especially when it comes to Moon, because Moon is all the feeling, and how do we get our needs met in a way that we sense a need, and Aquarius is robotic? It is [0:08:10 silon?]. It is, "Let me detach from what it is to be human altogether because why would I want to be into the feelings of things? I've got innovations to create." And, so, I will often look at what is it about the sign that doesn't connect me to it so that I can then work that access?
So, my favorite part about Aquarius is how it is here for the collective. Aquarius wants everyone to be served. It's that water bearer. It says, "I have plenty for everyone, and I'm probably going to come at it in a way that may be different than what you would expect, and good because I'm going to show you that there are ways you could come at yourself that are different than the way you may expect or the way you may be practiced at coming at yourself. And wouldn't it be nice to allow for a healthier future collective where we're headed as a people?"
Natalie Miller: Yeah, I love that. I think the question for me that always comes with Aquarius is, "And what else? And what else? And what else?" Right? Like, Saturn-ruled, and it's sort of like—we talked in the last episode for the New Moon in Capricorn about Saturn as the structurer and the builder, right? And I feel like Aquarius is kind of the [laugh]—OK, here comes an analogy. You know, you knew it was coming. Aquarius is like the builder that, like, builds a piece of furniture from Ikea, and there's like three parts left over, and Aquarius is like, "OK, these three parts, so what do we do with this?" Right? Like, what now?
Bonnie Gillespie: [laugh]
Natalie Miller: Because everything's included. Like, we would never let anything go. It's all included. Like you said, there's a spot for everyone. There's enough for everyone. We just got to restructure, and then we're going to have a space for this little peg and that little, you know, whatever else, right? Like, I don't know. Does that resonate for you? What do you think?
Bonnie Gillespie: I like that. I like that. You know, the part that feels frustrated energy for me with Aquarius is the whole it's fixed, but it's fixed air. And, so, I always envision those wavy, wacky balloon guys that are out at used car dealerships—
Natalie Miller: [laugh] I love it, yes.
Bonnie Gillespie: —Bolted to the ground by the feet, and then all this air just flip, flip, flip, flip, flip. And I'm trying to get this stuff out but I can't because I'm fixed. The fixedness is what says, "We will figure out what these parts are for." And in here says, "We're going to talk through it. We're going to air sign this out. And as a collaborative collective, we will co-create what it is we're going to use these parts for."
Natalie Miller: Oh, my gosh, that is my favorite. I love this idea of those air guys as Aquarius because, also, it's like, "Here's another idea. Woo, there's another idea." [laugh] It's like so, so many ideas. And that is frustrating, isn't it, because sometimes you just want to be like, "OK, can I just be with this idea because that would be great if I could just like…?" But, no, that's just not what we're doing.
Bonnie Gillespie: We have an Aquarius remember on my team, and we talk about how, "OK, it's time to show up for the Here are all my ideas show because that's what it's going to be."
Natalie Miller: [laugh]
Bonnie Gillespie: But just going and knowing that means let's be here. Hear all of that. Let it spark off some ideas that make us say, "Ooh, yeah, that feels good," and then let's channel that energy into what are we going to do with it.
Natalie Miller: I love that. And, you know, the other thing about an Aquarian, besides the ideas, is the idealism. I have a daughter with an Aquarius stellium, and she is just constantly like, "OK, but how can we actually make the planet inhabitable for everyone? And, like, but how can we actually no longer exploit animals in any way?" [laugh] Like, she has the big, big, big idealism, and she wants, I mean, you know, as a teenager, she wants to talk through philosophically, like, from a political scientist perspective, like, what are the ideas we have that we can use to make the world better, right? And I love that.
Bonnie Gillespie: Love, love. The hard part for me with the Aquarius seed planting is I get a little judgy about how people who have access to the billions of dollars and all the technology and all the innovation, who could be—I don't know—ending homelessness instead of buying Twitter, whatever, will go and instead do in fact what is at the opposite side of the seesaw on this axis, and do the big-ass narcissist version of, "Here's what I want to do with all of the things that could help the collective."
Natalie Miller: Yes.
Bonnie Gillespie: And I love being able to say my work during an Aquarius New Moon is to envision that optimistic, best society we could head toward that your brilliant child lives at a set point of, because I don't see that as easily or as optimistically. And, so, the seed planting for me under an Aquarius Moon is I would like to have intentions that I am more easily seeing things as solvable for the best version for the collective.
Natalie Miller: Yeah. Oh, I love that. Well, of course, since you kind of alluded to it, let's talk about the other end of this axis. So, in this lunar cycle that begins with a New Moon in Aquarius, it comes around, of course, to a Full Moon in Leo, and Leo is on the other side of the Zodiac. Let's talk about the healthiest, most harmonious expression of Leo. What do we love about Leo?
Bonnie Gillespie: I love Leo. I love the good hair day. I love the strut. I love the, "I am crossing the street in front of this car that has to be stopped at the stop sign, and you are welcome. This is a service that I am providing you as I go out in front of your stopped car. You are welcome for having to wait as I cross." That heart-centeredness, the Tigger, playful energy, the romp, the, "I just want to hug you and hug you and hug you some more," I love all of that friskiness.
Natalie Miller: I love it too. You know, when I learned about the sign of Leo, I learned, of course, Leo is ruled by the Sun. So, this really is the stretchiest access, everybody. Like, we start at the Sun, and we go from a Sun-ruled sign or a Sun-landlorded sign [laugh], as Bonnie says, Leo, all the way across to Aquarius, which is ruled by Saturn, which, you know, at that point was like the end. That was the edge. Saturn was the edge.
Bonnie Gillespie: Cold and hot, like, yeah.
Natalie Miller: Right. And, so, it's like everything. And Leo as ruled by the Sun, what I was taught—and this really rings so true to me—is like they are just the center. Like you were saying, it's this deep worthiness that is just like, "OK, I'm here. Party can start now because I've arrived." [laugh] Right? And, like, really like—and it kind of does work that way too. I mean, really, it's so lovely. You know who I'll say—this is who I'll say, who I always think of as a really healthy Leo: Barack Obama. [laugh]
Bonnie Gillespie: Exactly. That's where I was going to go because he is famously so heart-centered, and not with all that extra ego, narcissism flair that's so much Leo, that the memes are about, right?
Natalie Miller: Right, right.
Bonnie Gillespie: It's funny because, you know, working in show biz, I do a lot of charts that are people working in showbiz charts. And there's always significant Leo, and there's always significant like Tenth House Sun or Fifth House Sun, and things that just are very, very much, "See me. See me." And it wasn't until I started doing a lot of other people's charts that I went, "Oh, this is actually a thing."
This pattern is for real because being in the public eye, you're challenged with—you have to have the enoughness to be able to withstand what it is to be in the public eye. And that means if you do not have that core enoughness, that value, that worthy baseline that comes from that heart-centered Leo, you will find yourself too challenged to get out of bed sometimes, and do your doing.
Natalie Miller: Totally, yeah. I think that's another reason I love thinking about Barack Obama as a Leo in that, like, have you ever like watched a lion? They actually have a lot of different vibes. And I always, like, loved that about Barack Obama. He's got his like brush, brush the shoulder kind of like badass vibe when he would do, like, his little comedy sets basically at the Press Club, you know, dinners.
But then he's also got this, like, impassioned orator vibe, and he's got this, you know, debonair dance-with-Michelle-at-a-ball vibe. And it's like even as they are so kind of centered, there is a versatility there. There's like a multifacetedness to that particular jewel, and I think possibly because there is all that worthiness in our healthiest, harmoniest, harmoniousnest [laugh] Leos, you know, we get to see all of these various parts of a human sparkling and shining.
Bonnie Gillespie: And sparkling and shining, for sure, there is a lot of shimmer on that. And I love the video that I posted on my Chart Harmony Instagram. And I don't know whom to credit, but it is a showcase of all of the minor planets, and the moons, and then the main planets that we know of and work with daily, and then the Sun, and they are in size order. And the orchestra just swells as it gets to the Sun. And the Sun is massive.
And we talk about how Jupiter's so big. And it's like Jupiter nothing compared [laugh] to that sun. And it, as a ruler, explains so much of the heart-centeredness. And, yes, that can feel like an ego, and sometimes it has to. But, more than anything, it feels like that's sparkly shiny, "I know I am blessed." And I love learning from Leo—we all are—and not in the, you know, #blessed Instagram, you know, white-woman-in-a-hat sense.
Natalie Miller: Right. The throw pillow on that, on the, you know, Airbnb couch, yeah. not that one. [laugh]
Bonnie Gillespie: Right. [laugh] Not #blessed but the other kind that we actually are all touched by that sparkle, and I think it is upon us, under that Full Moon in Leo to do some releasing of the more negative, narcissistic, self-centered, again, the things that the memes are about. Full Moons are always easy. We just release the things that the memes say. That's it. But we love embracing what it is that every sign is great about. And with Leo, for sure, it is just reminding us that we are all really special critters with a lot of love, and a lot of love to give.
Natalie Miller: Yeah, I love that. So, I mean, it's interesting that you say that for this Moon, Bonnie, because what I'm thinking is, like, how fascinating that in this particular lunar cycle, the Sun is co-present with the Moon, of course, at the New Moon, because the Sun and the Moon are together in Aquarius, and the Sun is ruling the Moon when the Moon is in Leo.
So, even though kind of the Ginger of the Fred and Ginger [laugh] is in the sign of Leo, the Sun still leads. And, so, I love the idea of this particular lunar cycle, the Aquarius-Leo lunar cycle really being about that heart-centered, idealistic, idea-fueled, and inclusive, right, its like radically inclusive perspective, like, inclusive to the point of not just like, "Is everybody here?" but, "Who's missing?" [laugh] Right? Which are the other parts that need to be invited in? Who else needs to be considered here?
Bonnie Gillespie: I think this axis brings the, "What is the best I can possibly imagine for the world, for humans as a whole, and do I know that I have the courage to be a part of bringing that to fruition?"
Natalie Miller: Yes, I love it. So, let's go a little bit more deeply into these two Moons in particular. Let's start with this New Moon in Aquarius. It's on January 21st. The Moon and the Sun are at the very first degree, the very, very first degree of Aquarius. So, even that right there, what does that tell you, Bonnie? What do you see there?
Bonnie Gillespie: I always love looking at the first degree and the last degree of every sign because they're so very doing the most. That first degree always feels very Aries. It's very, "Let's initiate. Let's get this party started. Let me make sure you understand who I am and what I'm here to do." Similarly, the 29th degree says, "I'm not done yet. You will remember I was here. I'm going to be the critical degree before you get into the new place."
And I really enjoy that we get a New Moon this early in Aquarius because it feels like we don't even have to spend any time with Aquarius Sun being other things before it connects with the Moon, and says, "Here's the intention that I want you to now take around to when you get over to Leo." Because we got to remember that that bright light that's shining from the Full Moon when it is in Leo a fortnight later is an Aquarius Sun that's shining on it.
Natalie Miller: Right, right.
Bonnie Gillespie: Yeah, I like early degrees. I really do.
Natalie Miller: Yeah, it's really exciting. So, as you mentioned, when we were talking just before we started recording, our friend Pluto, our favorite goth friend who brought, like, drugs and six packs and all the [laugh] things to the party, it was like, "Hey, this fucking guy"—
Bonnie Gillespie: This Pluto. Pluto is the tower card of planet. I'm sorry. He needs to go. Get. [laugh]
Natalie Miller: Oh, I know. I know. But, and yet—and yet—our friend Pluto, here is the tower right alongside this Aquarian New Moon. And they're not conjunct by sign because Pluto is in Capricorn still for just decades longer, it feels like. [laugh] It's not that much longer.
Bonnie Gillespie: It's not. It's not. We even get a preview of Pluto in Aquarius in 2023, thank god. I'm so eager to see what's in store.
Natalie Miller: It's very exciting, yeah. So, everybody, like, if you're wondering like what the fuck has been happening since like 20—when did Pluto ingress?
Bonnie Gillespie: 2008, Natalie.
Natalie Miller: 2008, OK. What—?
Bonnie Gillespie: When everything started to fall with all the systems, starting with real estate and banking in 2008, you can thank Pluto in Capricorn.
Natalie Miller: Right, right, right, yeah. And we could have maybe, you know, like whatever. We had Obama that—it's not all bad. There's always some really great things there too. But if you've been wondering why the world has been so wrecked, it's Pluto has been wrecking, so.
Bonnie Gillespie: Well, Pluto's been transforming systems, which is its [0:23:33] Capricorn, and now it'll go transform technology, and progressive thinking, and the collective, and humanity, and artificial intelligence for 20 fricking years in Aquarius.
Natalie Miller: It's very exciting.
Bonnie Gillespie: Yes. But it's co-present and conjunct with this—
Natalie Miller: With this New Moon. So, what is this New Moon? What is Pluto's presence there? Like, what? We've got the question already. Like, what is the best I can possibly imagine? And I guess, like, what is the little insert that Pluto puts into that question? [laugh]
Bonnie Gillespie: And can I let it transform me?
Natalie Miller: Yeah. I love that. Like, what is—and I'll, like, maybe even just coachy it up a little bit. What is the best I can possibly imagine, and how must I let it transform me?
Bonnie Gillespie: Woo. Soul shivers on that one, yeah.
Natalie Miller: Ah, right?
Bonnie Gillespie: That's it. That's it.
Natalie Miller: Yeah.
Bonnie Gillespie: Seriously, I've got soul shivers all over my torso. I'm like, seriously, that's it.
Natalie Miller: Yeah, because that's where I see us right now. I just see us in this place of, like, we've seen some shit [laugh] in the past, right? In the past several years but especially in the past like four, we have seen some shit, and it's like we are through much of the worst of it, at least this round. And it is time to move forward. It's time to think bigger. It's time to let our hopes up. And, yet, in order to really step into that, what will we have to let go of?
Bonnie Gillespie: That's right.
Natalie Miller: How will we have to grow? Yeah. Ooh, I love that one.
Bonnie Gillespie: Do we have the courage to kiss the axis over here in Leo? Do we have the courage to let be destroyed everything that stands in the way of our transformation for this best and highest?
Natalie Miller: Yeah. I love it. So, what is something else going on with this particular New Moon that you're like, "Ooh, this is going to help us with this, or this is going to challenge this?" [laugh]
Bonnie Gillespie: I've got a few things I'm excited about. Mercury and Mars will have gone direct just days before this New Moon, and so we're still in shadow of those energies. But having started the year with Mercury retrograde, that's already got its vibe going. We all know Mercury retrograde inside and out, so I don't even have to go deep into what that feels like. But we'll be released from that, which always kind of creates this "ah" after Mercury goes direct. And then the fact that Mars has been retrograde—speaking of decades—for decades, it feels like—
Natalie Miller: [laugh] I know.
Bonnie Gillespie: —but since October, and Mercury will continue to be in Gemini through the end of March, so it's still got a long way to go in that energy. But it will now start heading in a direct direction. The illusion is over of retrograde, which allows our motivation to come back. Because one of the big deals with Mars going retrograde is, yes, the energy of Mars turns inward, but the lived result of that tends to be—our motivation just turns off, and we're like, "I was so excited about so much shit. Where the hell did it go?"
Natalie Miller: I have to say, I saw so many people in November being like, "I'm just going to go ahead, and call it. [laugh] 2022 is done, according to me. I'm just like I got nothing left for it." And, yeah, I feel that too. So, with those planets moving direct, what do you think is the invitation for us, Bonnie?
Bonnie Gillespie: As Aquarius would have us look at the collective, and not ourselves, but of ourselves as a member of the collective, and as a servant to the positive, and the best version of ourselves as community, I like that these planets turning direct give us that opportunity to not navel gaze, not worry over much about getting it right, being perfect, having it be camera-ready. There's this messiness that's OK because we're still in shadow, but not that—there's a self-consciousness of retrograde that feels like, "I'm not right. I'm not ready. No, it's not cake yet." And I think that that kind of leaves now that we're in this direct energy.
Natalie Miller: Ooh, can I tell you? This is so exciting. So, in my group coaching program, Cauldron, I just told them I, like, had this inspiration yesterday. I was like, "I know now what we're doing in February." And I didn't know why it was February but now I do.
Bonnie Gillespie: Oh. [laugh]
Natalie Miller: So, in Cauldron in February, it is going to be fuck-around-and-find-out month. [laugh]
Bonnie Gillespie: Yes. [laugh]
Natalie Miller: So, I think the question for Mars and Mercury direct, Mars being in Gemini still, which is a very, like, let's-fuck-around kind of sign, and, you know, Mercury even still in shadow being in Capricorn, like, "OK, let's like do some business. Let's conduct some business." Right? So, that's, I think the question is, where are you ready to fuck around and find out? Like you said, it doesn't have to be camera-ready. It doesn't have to be—it's not cake yet. But, like, every cake, you got to break some eggs. You got to whip some butter.
Bonnie Gillespie: And we don't even have to know that it's going to be cake. We know that that's what we went in trying to make. But it's like those holiday baking specials that I get obsessed with watching on marathon where something gets messed up, and they just go, "OK, I'm going to change it into"—these are, you know, this is now whatever magical thing they make out of the mess.
Natalie Miller: Yeah, I love it. So, it's sort of saying like, "OK, this is a place where I know it's time to make something happen." So, where is that place for you? Where are you ready to fuck around and find out? And then, of course, what does that look like? Yeah. Ooh, I love it.
Bonnie Gillespie: One of the ways I simplify things with Chart Harmony in terms of a formula is I say the planet—or, in this case, the luminary—the planet is the what, the sign is the how, and the house is the where it shows up in your life. And, so, if we say the Moon and, in this case, so moon is how I feel safe, how I'm getting my needs met, how my emotional body is connected, and then how it is doing it is the sign Aquarius—which we've spent tons of time talking about what that feels like—and then where that shows up in my life, I go take a look at the house that that's going to show up in for an idea of is it going to be shaped like cake or is it going to be shaped like a deck of oracle cards?
Natalie Miller: Exactly. Awesome. So, my sweet listener, if you should like to take it into that realm, you just need to look at your chart, and figure out where is the first degree of Aquarius. Where is the first degree of Aquarius? And then that house would be the area of your life that the invitation is, like, especially addressed to. And Chart Harmony will help you so much in figuring out like where that is, and what that means.
Bonnie Gillespie: Yeah.
Natalie Miller: So, OK, that's exciting.
Bonnie Gillespie: The super new too woo, I have free training bits, what your birthday says about you, and it's super, super easy. It makes it very clear with, like, cute little stories and everything.
Natalie Miller: Oh, good. Yes. Perfect. I love that. Anything else with this New Moon that we want to sort of look at?
Bonnie Gillespie: I'm obsessed with the sextile with Jupiter in early-degrees Aries because, first of all, oh, my gosh, Jupiter and Aries, can we? Jupiter and Aries, thank you, thank you, thank you. Talk about wanting to get stuff done and make them big. You know, this new 12-year cycle of Aries just is thrilling me already. And then that it will be sextiling this New Moon while we're still trining the energy, a larger orb, but we're trining the energy of that Mars that's, of course, now direct, I'm like there is such go-get-it-done energy. It's not just plant the seeds; it's plant the seeds, and and now go make it so.
Natalie Miller: Yeah, plant the seeds, and go make it so. I love that. And Jupiter is actually moving pretty quickly through Aries as well, and so it is like this little boost. You all know I love the Super Mario Brothers [laugh] like metaphors. It's like, you know, when you eat a mushroom in Super Mario Brothers, and then you get big. It's like that but just only for a limited time [laugh], right?
Bonnie Gillespie: [laugh] You're like exponentially bigger, and you're boing-boing. [laugh]
Natalie Miller: Exactly. You're like you're glowing. I don't know. Bad guys, like, they just pop off you, or whatever. So, yeah, maybe we do have a little bit of that [laugh] coming along.
Bonnie Gillespie: That is the most Jupiter vision. I love it. Oh, my God.
Natalie Miller: Oh, my gosh, so fun. And everyone is going to be like, "OK, prerequisites for listening to Mind Witchery: go play Super Mario Brothers from the '90s, apparently." [laugh]
Bonnie Gillespie: [0:32:21] Gen X, and you'll be fine. OK.
Natalie Miller: Exactly. [laugh]
Bonnie Gillespie: [laugh]
Natalie Miller: Yes. [laugh] Exactly. Yeah, so, there is an invitation here to, like you said, like plant the seeds but then really start making the moves. Like, let's make the moves. And, you know, with Jupiter, there's so much generosity. And I think here is a place to say, remember, this is not actually about you. This is about your contribution. This is about what you're bringing to all of us. This is about what you're growing, and what you're generating in this world, right? And that even might be—it might seem like it's about you, for example, to like go on a retreat. But I promise you, it is never only about you. It is always about all of the people in your circles, in your orbits, and everything. So, I really love that.
Bonnie Gillespie: And that's another place where I especially would look at the house to tell you who the people are that it especially is connected for.
Natalie Miller: Yeah. I love it. So, what do you, like, what do you want to start cultivating? What do you want to start growing for the collective, right? Now, it can be seemingly kind of self-centered. Like, it can be originating from your own self, but it's for the collective. I love it. OK. Awesome.
So, let's talk about this Full Moon that comes, of course, two weeks later. Two weeks later, now, our lovely, beautiful Moon has traveled all the way around the Zodiac, all the way over to the middle of Leo. And that's really fun for the beginning of 2023, I think, is that, like, the New Moons are in very early degrees of the signs, and the Full Moons are like right in the middle, smack in the middle. It's kind of—it feels wholesome. [laugh] I don’t know.
Bonnie Gillespie: It's almost like if you travel internationally, and they have the thing that's on the menu that's called the typical whatever. You get the typical whatever because you've never been to this country, and you want to get the typical whatever so that you can have the typical experience. That's the Moon being in the middle, or any planet being in the middle, of a sign, for me. You're getting that typical dish.
Natalie Miller: I love it. So, what do you see for this Moon, Bonnie? Like we talked about before, the Sun in Aquarius is ruling the Moon in Leo, and so what does that tell us?
Bonnie Gillespie: That Aquarius and Leo relationship already, for me, is so fee…it feels we for Aquarius, and me for Leo. We've got the Moon over in Leo, which, by definition, cannot be me only because it reflects back something else. So, it can't ever be only me. It's relational. The Moon has to be relational. That's the only way we see it. And, so I love that there is this connection between them that doesn't necessarily feel the chill of Saturn, which rules Aquarius, even though that's where the Sun is. It instead shows me look at how bright and sparkly and sunny Aquarius can be.
Natalie Miller: Oh, I love that. Look at how bright and sunny and sparkly Aquarius can be.
Bonnie Gillespie: The Moon will show us.
Natalie Miller: The Moon will show us. Yes. That is so beautiful. So, when you think about a Full Moon, Bonnie, what do you think they're for? What do you like to use them for?
Bonnie Gillespie: I'm going to again go with the—I do the standard. We're going to release what doesn't serve us under the Full Moon. We're at the end of a cycle that started usually six months before. If we planted seeds under a Leo New Moon during Leo season for what we want to intend for six months, we're now at that Moon's Full Moon. And it's going to release anything that isn't serving us or would be considered clutter for that goal that we set. And, so, this is a time for pruning. Now we've realized what we hoped for, maybe, and what we need to let go.
Natalie Miller: Yeah. You know, I love thinking about it that way because, of course, when we're thinking linearly, usually, we're just thinking of like a line. But when we're thinking about lunar spirals, it's very spirograph, right? [laugh] We have lots of lunar cycles happening at any given time, and so, right now, there's a smaller 28-day cycle. That's the one we're talking about. But, like Bonnie just said, there's also the full-year cycle. So, we can look back to the New Moon in Leo, which would've been in July, August, 2022.
Bonnie Gillespie: Our New Moon in Leo was July 28th, 2022.
Natalie Miller: OK. All right.
Bonnie Gillespie: Five degrees Leo.
Natalie Miller: So, we can look back to July 28th, late July, early August, 2022. What were you doing right? What was beginning? What were you focused on? What was interesting? And, so, now it's sort of like those seeds are planted, they've begun to come up, and what do you need to do? Do you need to thin? Do you need to fertilize? [laugh] Like, what do you need to do with those seeds?
And, you know, don't worry about getting super technical with it. Just like think back to that time, and whatever the first thing that is that comes to mind, that's the thing to look at. So, now, you get a much fuller picture of what's going on, and an opportunity to, as Bonnie said, release what doesn't serve. You know, I think for Full Moons, Bonnie, I love to think of this bigger year cycle because, honestly, the seeds I planted 14 days ago, I kind of don't know yet. [laugh] I don't know.
Bonnie Gillespie: They're still taking root. Like, there's a lot still to go for those Aquarius New Moon seeds. This is now pruning from this Leo garden I planted six months ago. There's some stuff here that I thought I was going to need six months ago that now is actually choking out this plant. And I'll do some pruning, and it'll be better.
Natalie Miller: Yeah. There are some things I initiated, and they didn't quite come up the way—some ideas maybe I wanted to work with didn't quite turn out the way I thought they would, and so now what do I want to let go of? What do I want to rethink? What do I want to release? Yeah, I love that.
And, you know, there's something also—Bonnie, I think it's interesting that you brought this up—is that Saturn as the ruler, I mean, really of the kind of whole cycle, this one [laugh], right, Saturn is a long-game planet. So, Saturn is like, "Oh, please don't look for your Aquarius New Moon seeds to be sprouting. Like, that's much later." So, I love this idea of looking back at that Leo New Moon. What else do you see in this New Moon that feels helpful and significant?
Bonnie Gillespie: So, in addition to Mars and Mercury having gone direct right before our New Moon, we now have Uranus has gone direct in the time before this Full Moon in Leo. So, having that Uranus direct in Taurus, is it a square? It is. You know, we're going to feel that. We've, you know, we've been feeling Uranus in Taurus for a long time, and we'll continue to.
Uranus is the planet of, "Where am I not free?" It walks in, and says, "Yeah, everything looks OK here, but we're going to have to flip some tables." There's some stuff here that's just not going to work for us feeling free, so how do we disrupt? And not for the sake of, you know, I want to fuck shit up, but for the sake of I'm going to be more free if I can create some space here.
Natalie Miller: Yeah. I love that. And, you know, I've also been thinking a lot of Uranus as like its relationship to like electricity and energy, right? I think Uranus is also like, "OK, where is the energy not moving?" It might be like, you know, it's like very [laugh]—I don't know. It's a very, like you said, like flip some tables, or it's like, "No, in this room, there's just a stagnancy, and so the energy needs to be able to move," so looking for where are you not free or where is the energy getting hitched or stuck? Like, wherever that is, it's time to make a change, and that change might be disruptive.
Bonnie Gillespie: Yeah. And if we think about it, the modern ruler of Aquarius is Uranus, and so it brings with it that electricity, that air that Aquarius, of course, being an air sign, conducts those shocks that come at us. And we're like, "Whoa, I wasn't expecting that. Whoa, that's innovative."
And technology and innovation disrupts. The technology of the car disrupted walking, you know. [laugh] It's just the way that advancements are. They will disrupt something, and it doesn't necessarily mean for the negative. In fact, many times, technology especially disrupts for the positive, for the progress.
And, so, I think this square is going to be really interesting because what it's going to allow us to do in this Full Moon release is clear out areas that we may not have thought we were ready to clear out. But, once they're gone, we go, "Wow, this room feels so much better with more space. I didn't realize how much clutter I had."
Natalie Miller: Yes. I love it so much. OK. The other spicy fun aspect that I love about this Moon is the little Venus-Mars square. I love a Venus-Mars square. I think a Venus-Mars square is so hot. [laugh] It's just—
Bonnie Gillespie: How hot is it?
Natalie Miller: It's so hot. Well, you know, I always love to talk about planets as like being on a date, right? And, so, at this date, when Venus and Mars—I want you to imagine they're sitting at a four-top, everybody, and they're sitting at corners of the table, and so their knees are rubbing up against each other and, they're kind of like playing with each other under the table. Like, they're sharing each other's food. I always think about it as like there's definitely some elbowing happening and, Yeah, that's how I think about it, so.
Bonnie Gillespie: You can feel the chemistry.
Natalie Miller: You can feel the chemistry, and it's just—so, I mean, what does that conjure for you, Bonnie, for this Moon, this little square we have going on? Venus has just moved. Venus has just moved past but, like, Mars is going so slow. This is—it's of the moment, this little square.
Bonnie Gillespie: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, they're definitely feeling each other, and it's mutable.
Natalie Miller: It's mutable.
Bonnie Gillespie: We got Venus in Pisces. We forever and ever and ever have [laugh] Mars in Gemini, and so being in mutable signs, that flirtation is palpable. It really is, "Will they or won't they?" It very much is, "I don't know which direction this is going to go, and I don't care. I love to see it?" It's so Maddie and David in Moonlighting.
Natalie Miller: [laugh]
Bonnie Gillespie: Oh, my god, am I such a child of the '80s [laugh] talking about Moonlighting. But it is that Cybill Shepherd-Bruce Willis chemistry of just I don't care what happens. I have to watch them, because it just feels so yummy. Whether they're pushing, pulling, teasing, taunting. I love it all.
Natalie Miller: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I think a question here could just be like—and, P.S., there's a little bit of me that is cringing at this question, but I'm going to say it anyway. But it's like what's turning you on?
Bonnie Gillespie: [laugh] Don't cringe.
Natalie Miller: What is turning you on right now? [laugh]
Bonnie Gillespie: Don't cringe. Don't cringe. That question is sexy as hell. It's perfect. [laugh]
Natalie Miller: OK. Right? But I do think there is kind of an element of like what is like revving your engine? What is getting you going? And that could mean sexually, like, with the connotations. But it's just like, ooh, what's like hmm? Where are you getting turned on? Where are you getting really excited in this moment? And seeing that as a key or a piece of the puzzle of moving the energy, disrupting, making things more free, and being more yourself, right, because that's of course the other thing, is the Moon is in Leo so it's like it's all of this shit is in the name of being who you are more fully.
Bonnie Gillespie: Oh, for sure, for sure. And I think, especially because the New and Full Moons, this tail end of 2022, and even early in 2023, are so much quieter than this pairing, because now with so much going direct, and these relationships feeling a little more like a tango, it's time to be a little more overt in our quest for what turns us on. And if that is problematic as a metaphor, then what activates my energy? What gets my spirit revved up? And, by god, if I could get my spirit revved up more of the time in 2023, what a fucking great year. I'm ready for it.
Natalie Miller: I love it so much. So [laugh], it's funny, the kind of motto for our Capricorn-Cancer cycle that I talked about with Claire Gallagher for the last episode was check yourself before you wreck yourself. But I really do think the motto for this cycle is fuck around and find out. [laugh] Let's just balance it out a little bit because I think we got to put on our stilettos, our energetic stilettos, and strut around, cross some streets.
Bonnie Gillespie: And can I make that an agenda-less find out? It's not find out so we can beat ourselves up if it didn't turn out to be what we thought it was going to be.
Natalie Miller: Oh, yeah.
Bonnie Gillespie: It's an agenda-less find out. It's like, OK, cool, thank you, moving on.
Natalie Miller: Yes. It's like give me more information, and I will happily take it, and I won't make any of it mean anything about me.
Bonnie Gillespie: A hundred percent that. Yes, yes, that's it.
Natalie Miller: I love it so much. Bonnie, tell the wonderful, lovely listener where can they come and find out more about you?
Bonnie Gillespie: Chartharmony.com is probably the main place. Bonniegillespie.com is the big main place. I'm eminently googleable. It's really hard not to bump into me if you need showbiz or woo stuff. I got both. [laugh]
Natalie Miller: I love it so much. Well, definitely check out Chart Harmony, everybody. It is so fun, and such a just really delightful, playful way to take your astro curiosity into kind of bigger understanding and knowing.
Bonnie Gillespie: And, Natalie—
Natalie Miller: Bonnie, I—
Bonnie Gillespie: —I have you to thank for so much of that, so please let's make sure it is very clear you helped birth this baby, and I am forever grateful to you for that.
Natalie Miller: [laugh] I just, like, put a cold washcloth on your head, and held your hand. That's all I really did. [laugh]
Bonnie Gillespie: That's a lot.
Natalie Miller: [laugh] All right, everyone, thank you so much for being here, Bonnie. Thank you so much for listening, my dear listener. Happy lunar cycle of Aquarius and Leo, asking you to shine and sparkle but, like, in the name of all that is just and good and possible. Yeah. Thanks so much for listening. Bye for now.
[Music]
Thank you for listening to this episode of Mind Witchery. To catch all the magic I’m offering, please subscribe to the show, or if you want a little bit of weekly witchiness in your inbox, sign up for my Sunday Letter at mindwitchery.com. If today’s episode made you think of a friend or loved one, your sister, your neighbor, please tell them about it. We need more magic-makers in this troubled world.
Like all good things, this podcast is co-created by stellar people. Our music is by fabulous DJ, artist, and producer, Shammy Dee. Our gorgeous art is by the sorcerers at New Moon Creative. Mind Witchery is produced in conjunction with Particulate Media, K.O. Myers, executive producer. And I am Natalie Miller. Till next time.
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