Deep within the heart of Eastern European forests lies Baba Yaga, a figure whose eerie mystique has captivated generations. As a prominent example of the Crone archetype in Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga embodies the untamed beauty and inherent danger of the wilderness. Described as an elderly woman with iron teeth and wild, iron-gray hair, she commands fear and respect with her penetrating gaze and metal-clinking voice. Her attire, consisting of tattered rags, and her gnarled staff reflect her deep connection to the forest, while her hut on giant chicken legs adds a surreal, terrifying aspect to her domain, showcasing her role as guardian of the liminal space between life and death.

The New Moon on October 21st arrives at the final degrees of Libra, closing the eclipse portal and opening a new cycle. At its heart, this lunation is about conscious relating — finding balance between self and other, and choosing connection rooted in truth instead of illusion. With an exact opposition to Chiron in Aries, squares to Jupiter and Pluto, and the pressure of a rare Yod, the cosmos is asking us to examine the patterns that keep us off balance. Two days later the Sun enters Scorpio, adding depth to Libra’s call for harmony. This New Moon invites us to reset, rebalance, and begin again with clarity.

On October 6 the Full Hunter’s Supermoon rises in Aries, carrying the combined energy of both the Harvest Moon and the Hunter’s Moon. As a Supermoon, its influence is amplified, bringing emotions and insights more sharply into focus. Falling just after eclipse season, this lunation offers a chance to pause, reflect, and begin sorting through what is worth keeping and what is ready to be released. The Aries–Libra polarity reminds us that courage and balance must work together to guide our next steps.

We are living in a time of deep disconnection, where screens replace community and separation is mistaken for truth. Yet beneath our differences we are still one body, each drop returning to the ocean. Forgetting this fuels fear, loneliness, and violence; remembering it calls us back to compassion, wisdom, and the responsibility we share for one another.

The final eclipse of the year coincides with Mabon, the Fall Equinox, bringing a potent moment of balance, reflection, and release. This Partial Solar Eclipse in Virgo, on the South Node, invites us to declutter our lives, let go of unproductive habits, and reset our routines. As the Moon moves into Libra shortly after, we are called to bring harmony, fairness, and intention into our relationships and communities. Combining Equinox, Mabon, New Moon, and eclipse energies, this threshold moment encourages both personal and collective recalibration. It’s a time to honor what we’ve harvested, release what no longer serves, and step consciously into the next chapter of the year.

This essay has been in my drafts for months, but after everything that happened this week, it felt like now was the time to share it. For centuries, humans have divided themselves over arbitrary differences, and today cruelty and dogma are celebrated while dissent or disagreement is treated as a threat. Extremists and zealots reflect the shadows we refuse to see in ourselves, projecting fear and internal contradictions outward. True freedom comes not from fleeing conflict, but by facing it with curiosity, clarity, and compassion, strengthening our resilience and wisdom in the process.

September begins with a storm in the sky—and for many of us, in the body and spirit too. The Total Lunar Eclipse in Pisces on September 7th is not subtle. It brings endings that feel old, grief without names, and a deep sense that something is dissolving to make space for something else. This isn’t just a Full Moon, it’s a spiritual reckoning. The kind that strips away distractions and demands presence. What’s rising now may be tender, messy, and hard to articulate, but it’s honest. And it’s time.

In this companion to The Sacred Wisdom of Opposites, we shift the lens inward, into the psyche, the soul, and the sacred tensions we each carry between masculine and feminine, light and shadow, discipline and intuition. Healing doesn’t come from choosing sides. It comes from integration, from the willingness to sit in the discomfort of contradiction long enough to remember what wholeness feels like. Because the world will not balance until we do.

On August 23rd, the Virgo New Moon arrives as both Sun and Moon cross into Virgo, marking not just a seasonal threshold, but a spiritual one. This lunation is especially potent—falling at a critical degree, and as the first of two Virgo New Moons in succession, it amplifies themes of recalibration, service, and healing. Virgo’s energy asks us to clear what no longer supports us, refine the habits that sustain us, and return to rhythm rather than perfection.

Across myth and modern science, one truth remains: our strength isn’t in taking sides, but in balancing opposites. This piece traces how suppressing the feminine and distorting the masculine has led to emotional chaos, cultural collapse, and a world allergic to struggle and meaning.

This Full Moon in Aquarius, arriving just one day after the Lion’s Gate Portal peaks, brings a charged sense of clarity and disruption. It’s a moon that invites distance, not to escape, but to see clearly. Aquarius energy creates a kind of holy space between the self and the noise, asking us to examine where our individuality has been co-opted by groupthink, performance, or projection.

The Leo New Moon on July 24 isn’t about becoming more, it’s about releasing what’s too much. With the Sun, Moon, and Mercury Retrograde all in Leo this is a time to turn inward and get honest about where we’ve been performing, overextending, or stretching ourselves thin to prove our worth. This Moon reminds us that true Leo energy isn’t performative, it’s sovereign. It radiates not from effort, but from alignment. You don’t have to shine harder. You just have to stop dimming who you already are.

This year, Leo Season opens not with a roar, but with a recalibration. Mercury retrograde in Leo invites us to pause before we perform, to speak from truth rather than projection, and to return to a more honest version of visibility. With the Lion’s Gate Portal peaking on August 8 under this retrograde influence, the energy is turned inward.

On Thursday, July 10th, the Capricorn Full Buck Moon rises at a pivotal point in one of the most astrologically charged months of the year. As Cancer Season begins to wane and retrogrades ripple through the sky, this Moon asks us to slow down, tell the truth, and take responsibility for the lives we’re shaping.

As Uranus enters Gemini, we step into an eight-year cycle of mental rewiring, cultural disruption, and accelerated innovation. This isn’t just about external change, it’s a spiritual and psychological shift in how we think, speak, and perceive reality. This is not a time to tune out. It’s a time to wake up.

Oshun is a revered goddess within the Yoruba pantheon, embodying love, beauty, fertility, and abundance. Created by the high god Olorun to infuse the world with joy and life, Oshun is celebrated for her grace and compassion, acting as a protector of women, children, and the elderly. She holds dominion over rivers and waterways, symbolizing prosperity and the fertile land nurtured by these waters. Her worship persists in Yoruba traditions and the African diaspora through vibrant rituals, music, and dance, sustaining her legacy as a potent symbol of nurturing and life.