Leo’s Full Moon & the Spark of God

Photo by Mae Mu on Unsplash

Tu’Beshvat – Trees’ New Year
This Sunday we are having one of the most powerful Full Moons. We all know the Libra Full Moon which is dressed by the story of Passover or the Full Moon in Scorpio which gave birth to the life, death, and enlightenment of the Buddha, or the Harvest Full Moon in Pisces, celebrated around the world in many ways. But not many know of the mystical significance of the Full Moon in Leo which will take place this Sunday, Feb 5.

Leo’s Full Moon
Leo is the sign of love, children, creativity, happiness, and spirituality. Since its opposite sign is Aquarius, we celebrate the fullness of Leo during the month of the Water-Bearer. In the Jewish calendar, this Full Moon is dubbed Tu’BeShvat, which means the 15th of the month of Shvat. The name of the month, Shvat, was assimilated by the Jewish diaspora from Akkadian during the Babylonian Captivity, the same time and place when the first sparks of Kabbalah emerged. Remember, the Working of the Chariot (Merkava) and Ezekiel vision—”by the water of Babylon we sat and cried.”

We suspect the Akkadian origin of the month name is Šabātu, meaning “strike,” which eludes to the heavy rains of the season. That is, by the way, why Aquarius, the Water-Bearer, is associated with the bucket. End of Jan and beginning of Feb is the time of the year when the rains strike the heaviest in the New East (and living in the Wild-West, I can say attest it is the same for California and her atmospheric rivers). However, there is another meaning to the word Shvat (שְׁבָט), which is tribe as well as staff, as in the wizard’s stick, or the witch’s broom…The sages reasoned that the tribe, as in, the people, should use the Full Moon during the month of Shvat to plant trees and decided to name this lunation the Trees’ New Year. The soil is saturated with water and ready to receive the seed of life. The tree is the magical wand, the wizard’s staff, the witch’s broom, hence the reverence to trees in different traditions, from the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, to the Bodhi Tree, and Yggdrasil to name a few. Trees are magical even without their mythological backstory, for without them, there is no life. And what is the tribe of trees? A forest. The purpose of Tu’BeShvat is for everyone to plant a tree. Imagine how wonderful the world would be if every year on the Full Moon in Leo, every child would plant a tree. We would have enough magic to change the world…

“Man is a tree of the field.” Deuteronomy 20:19

If a man is a tree on the field, as the bible suggests, then humanity is a forest. That is the esoteric meaning of the Full Moon in Leo and its connection to the etymology of the word Shvat – tribe. While Leo is the sign of “my will,” Aquarius is the sign of “our will.” Aquarius is the archetype that represents humanity, altruism, and making wishes come true. Another mythological reasoning behind the association of trees with wish-fulfilling. The Full Moon in Leo is the time of the year when we have to integrate our needs (Leo) with that of humanity’s (Aquarius), and the best ritual to bond these wills is planting a tree. Let’s commit to planting a forest this weekend, one seedling a time. You can plant a tree or a sampling, size doesn’t matter since trees grown nonstop until they die. In the hole you dig for the seed or plant, put a note with a wish you would like the tree to fulfill, thus putting humanity’s need for more trees together with your personal wish you want to manifest.

Kabbalah and the Spark of God

Rabbi Isaac Luria (16th century Israel), one of the most influential Kabbalists, was also known as the Ari, which in Hebrew means “Lion.” He added an interesting layer to the holiday of the trees by suggesting that every one of us possesses a divine spark, an embassy of the divine, inside of us, covered with layers, hidden, yet longing to germinate. Very similar to the yogic idea of the Kundalini coiled snake at the tip of our spine, waiting for an awakening.

According to Luria, during the Full Moon in Leo, a fixed fire sign, the spark of God, begins to pulsates and attempts to break free of its coat and sprout. On this Sunday’s episode of Cosmic Navigator Show (or live Insta), I will lead a guided meditation designed to help you connect to that seed. Bring with you an eatable seed to help with the ritual (can be any nut as well). Kabbalists suggest on this Full Moon to eat seeds that can symbolize the divine kernel within you.

The Earth’s Divine Spark

It is an interesting synchronicity that leading up to Tu’Beshvat, the airwaves are full of stories regarding the earth’s core changing direction. I found it fascinating since scientists were always boggled by the fact that the earth’s core is a spinning solid iron ball, with extremely high temperatures, about the same as the surface of the Sun. It’s like having a Sun above and a Sun below. Because the solid core is surrounded with liquid outer core, the inner core rotates. We owe our existence to that fact since the spinning of the core generates the magnetic field that protects us from Solar winds, helping us deal with the Sun’s overbearing love.

It was in the early 1970s, that the inner core stopped spinning relative to someone standing on earth. Like any planets before and after retrograde, it was stationary. Then, the inner core slowly started spinning faster eastward, until it overtook the speed of Earth’s rotation. Then the core slowed down until its rotation seemed to have stopped right when the world’s economy went into a halt during the Great Recession 2009 and 2011. It is interesting to note how the spin to the East correlates to the time when China transformed into a superpower.

Now adays, the inner core, the spark of the Sun within the earth, is starting to spin westward relative to Earth’s surface. The next standstill will be in the 2040s. In March this year, Pluto is transiting into Aquarius for the first time in 250 years and will remain there until 2044. What the last few weeks taught me is that the old alchemy axiom – As above so below, can have many different meanings.

Conclution

This coming Full Moon in Leo is a mystical and magical day, connecting us to the change of rotation in the earth’s core as well as to the divine inner core within you. Pay attention to synchronicities and dreams in this weekend, perchance you will be able to experience the godly seed in you crack open its shell and bring forward a powerful new growth into your life.         

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Gahl Sasson makes Kabbalah, astrology and psychology engaging, illuminating, and fun. The way he sees Kabbalah is accessible to anyone from any faith and background.

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