Capricorn Solar Eclipse/New Moon of Fermenting Inertia with Birch Polypore and Kombucha Yeasts
Welcome to Earth's 6th New Moon and Solar Eclipse of Fermenting Inertia in Capricorn on January 5, 2019 at 5:28 pm (PST) at 15'25°.
For every new moon, the sun and moon come together from our point of view on earth -- and the moon fills up with new light and power of the sun, preparing to begin another 28.5 day journey. This New Moon sets the stage for a Total Solar Eclipse (super moon and blood moon) on January 20/21 that will be visible to all of North and South America and Western Europe.
This Partial Solar Eclipse marks the eclipse shift into the Cancer/Capricorn axis until the summer of 2020. With each eclipse shift, they become progressively earlier in the year, so for the last year and a half eclipse season was in August and February on the Leo/Aquarius axis. Eclipses happen in groups of 2 or 3 in a given eclipse season, which lasts for about 36 days and occurs twice a year. During this time, any full or new moons arise as eclipses from the earth's perspective, though there can be grey areas at the edge of seasons, just like this eclipse, which will be only visible in North-East Asia and parts of the Pacific Ocean.
Capricorn New Moon January 2019 MycoAstrological Associations
1) Birch Polypore (Fomitopsis betulina): soul connection, inertia, innovation, appreciation, anxiety, depression, envy, melancholy, grace, evolving limitations
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Mars; Secondary Planet: Saturn/Jupiter; Day: Tuesday; Main organ: Blood; 2nd organ: Gallbladder; System: Immune; Tissue: Muscles/Tendons; Action: Hot/Dry
2) Kombucha yeasts: karma, resolution, fermentation, responsibility, unconscious, connection, endurance
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Saturn; Secondary Planet: Jupiter; Day: Saturday; Main organ: Spleen; 2nd organ: Bone/joint; System: Skeletal/Structural; Tissue: Bones; Action: Cold/Dry
Much like fungi, to many people eclipses provoke a certain wave of eeriness, aversion, or fear. Throughout human observation of the sky, eclipses plunged our planet into darkness and withheld the consciousness-giving light of the sun from our paths. The constantly radiating and expanding brilliance of our sunlight dips away momentarily, reminding us of our smallness and emptiness. While the collective psyche may react with fear to eclipses or mushrooms, where there is fear there is power, and eclipses (and mushrooms!) are great forces seeking acknowledgment and expression.
Eclipses and fungi can teach us that there are many dimensions of life. Just as it's impossible to stare directly into the sun, we are unable to see consciousness or to perceive the magnitude of what it is. We are simply a part of it. It moves through us and with us. With as much refining of our knowledge and studying of the fungal needs that we can possibly achieve, the fungi are still wild and powerful beyond any human constriction. In the end, fungi will destroy and break down everything that humans have created.
Mycophobia, the fear of fungus, is accepted as inconsequential in our contemporary world. Considering how many cultures have thoroughly adopted fungi, for food, medicine, connection, bioremediation, and ever-expanding use, we cannot suspect that mycophobia has been woven into the human genome. Mycophobia is a custom with an origin and rationale -- mycophobia is reflective of a culture's relationship to the world. As fungi are custodians of the darkness, mycophobia is an outgrowth of a culture's avoidance with death. What is perceived as death in our culture is also transformation, connection, healing, resilience, intense persistency, adaptability, shapeshifting, nourishment, abundance, liberation; all the regenerative (yin) aspects that our mono-culture avoids. The wisdom of the fungus is too big to comprehend through human intellect just as the light of the sun is too big to comprehend through human intellect.
1) Birch Polypore (Fomitopsis betulina): soul connection, inertia, innovation, appreciation, anxiety, depression, envy, melancholy, grace, evolving limitations
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Mars; Secondary Planet: Saturn/Jupiter; Day: Tuesday; Main organ: Blood; 2nd organ: Gallbladder; System: Immune; Tissue: Muscles/Tendons; Action: Hot/Dry
Birch, or Lady of the Woods, is the bringer of promise, light, new beginnings, and regrowth. Druids held that the Lady of the Woods were Keepers of Tradition and across cultures birch is associated with fertility goddesses like Freya, Venus, Brighid, Blodenwedd, and Ariadne. The first message of Ogham, early Irish alphabet, was written on a Birch switch. Stripped of its bark, the birch is the original yule log. It is also erected as the Maypole, and its twigs used for Beltane fires as well as for the traditional broom. Medicinally, birch carries loads of remedies relating to fluid retention, arthritis and osteoarthritis, uric acid, swollen joints, hypertension, cellulite, cholesterol, kidney stones and urinary tract diseases, diarrhea and colitis, and liver health. Birch is also a disinfectant, stringent, and antiseptic. This ancient tree, aligned with the water element, corresponds to the the January moon, a time of kneading bread and letting it rise before cooking as our days are just beginning to lengthen.
Birch Polypores or Fomitopsis betulina is an annual fruiting body found exclusively growing with Birch trees. This fungus was one of the two mushrooms found with 5,300-year-old Ötzi the iceman, also explained in November 2018's Gemini Full Moon post. The Birch Polypore, which has traditionally been used to sharpen the edges of weapons and tools, are woody yet edible, medicinal, and can also be cut into small strips, aged, and added to smoking mixtures or made into tea.
Fomitopsis betulina helps us open to and accept the stages of emotion that surround soul connection and our soul's path. Our souls are neither inside or outside of us. Just as the light of the sun and the mycelium of the fungus are beyond human comprehension, Birch Polypores remind us that we are simply a part of cosmic life moving with us and through us.
Mars, the planet of action enters its home of Aries in 1/1 until 2/14. This is supple time to enact our emotional, physical, and soul connections.
Jupiter squares Neptune on 1/13, the first of 3 aspects (others in June & September) that suggests struggle with our expectations, faith, and dreams. We may need to deal with the consequences of disorganization, extravagance, neglect, exaggeration. Tendency for restlessness is magnified. Observe any tendencies to evade and avoid things and instead let Mars carry you boldly into your soul's story. Especially with Saturn's limiting energy, we may feel overwhelmed with responsibility. Don't be afraid to unwrap, decompress, and forgive yourself and others. Trust your soul's imperfect yet complete being. Reset habits, intentions, boundaries, and untie tied ends.
Birch Polypores help our exploring soul overcome external and internal challenges. This fungus brings lightness and grace to those who have labored at projects that fulfill their soul purpose. Birch Polypore assists in grounding us and attuning to our soul-centered paths and their rewards. Much like Saturn, Birch polypore is a teacher of limitations, from highs and lows. The Roman god Saturn is identified with melancholy -- to be depressed was to be "in Saturn" and a person chronically disposed to melancholy was known as the "child of Saturn". Our struggles, sadness, and lows are a part of our transformations. Saturn emphasizes our toughest lessons and the infamous Saturn return tells of the great changes, habits, and decisions formed through the 29.5 years it takes Saturn to orbit the sun.
2) Kombucha yeasts: karma, resolution, fermentation, responsibility, unconscious, connection, endurance
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Saturn; Secondary Planet: Jupiter; Day: Saturday; Main organ: Spleen; 2nd organ: Bone/joint; System: Skeletal/Structural; Tissue: Bones; Action: Cold/Dry
Kombucha is a fermented tea drink that offers one of the simplest routes toward allying with the little life inside -- beneficial probiotics, microorganisms, or gut bacteria! During this Saturn-ful time, listen to your little life consolidate and commit, nourish its desires, listen to its obstacles, and respond to its inquiries. Out of all the possible ferments, this moon phase emphasizes Kombucha's liquid ability to move around burdens and limitations. Water is the greatest flow and is essential to all life. Swim through the Kombucha, little sea-goat!
Kombucha SCOBYs (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast) look like rubbery disks and typically contain one or more of the following yeasts: Brettanomyces bruxellensis, Candida stellata, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Torulaspora delbrueckii, and/or Zygosaccharomyces bailii. Of the many bacterial species present, the alcohol fermenting species Gluconacetobacter xylinus is one of the most common.
Traditional Kombucha recipes use the leaves of a tea plant (Camellia sinensis) but many people use other caffeinated or herbal teas. Tea can be made strong or week and the amount of sweetener depends on taste, though .25 cups of sugar per quart of water is a good starting ratio. The SCOBY grows and grows until it covers the surface of the liquid and is left to ferment over a few days or weeks. It's done whenever the tang is as you please. If left long enough, Kombucha can become lightly alcoholic (2% is about the highest a home brewer is likely to achieve). Despite concerns over Kombucha cultures becoming contaminated, there's no documented evidence of Kombucha-related poisonings due to pathogenic organisms.
January's two powerful eclipses and the shift of eclipse axis to the Cancer/Capricorn stirs the themes of darkness that will be coming in the next year and a half of this axis' cycle. Cancer is the personal, ripe life, internal world and Capricorn is the impersonal, moving forward, and external world. What we learn about personal/impersonal is that it's not always about you -- it's what comes through you. This polarity is about feeling the length and weightlessness of your own spine, being in love with yourself and your vessel.
Eclipses are the cosmic reflection of our own shadow -- the thing that's chasing us perpetually. The ouroboros. The snake eating its own tale. Eclipses occur in the North & South nodes and they symbolize the turning of the wheel of karma. As the karmic head eats, the North Node symbolizes hunger, force of desire, what compels us, what we grow into and are attracted to. As the karmic tail releases, the South Node symbolizes what you're letting go of, repulsing, averting, releasing, giving away, emptying ourselves, losing ourselves and desire. To be in love with your vessel is to listen to the ways in which we hunger.
Karma is cause and affect in a profound and ongoing context. Cause an affect does not stop. If a vibration occurs in space it can travel forever. What your great-great-great-great-great-grandmother ate shows here and now in your blood and bones. Karma is the unconscious -- the energy driving you from your shadow. What is behind you, what is intrinsic to you, what you don't see, and what is all producing desire.
There are astrological cycles that bring karmas forward. Either karma is fermented, ripened, and ready to be realized, resolved, or released OR karmas are acted upon and we spin the wheel of suffering one more time around.
Fungi and bacteria of the soil web reassemble nutrients into nourishment for plants and organisms just as our gut microbes ferment, digest, and return what we consume into a simpler form (a protoplasm) that the intestinal lining can easily absorb. What we eat, so do millions of other organisms inside of us. The temple of the human biome reflects and contains this foundational ecology of the world (cosmos?) and this digestive flora requires occasional inoculation and regeneration to maintain balance and ensure longevity in the human ecosystem. People have been fermenting foods longer than we have been writing with alphabets and most ferments around the world hold unclear origins. Historically, ferments were often seen as gifts from the gods, with their ability to increase vitality and preserve foods. To ally with these molds and yeasts is to remember the ecological power and strength of the human body and, in a small way, defies constrictions laid upon the sovereignty of the human body by our contemporary cultures.
Just as we are cosmically reminded to consolidate and pay attention to the foundations of life, re-pair, and restructure, fermented foods replenish beneficial microbes for our gut flora. Just as fermentation is a process to produce the finest, eclipses are processes that hold immense opportunities for change. Fermented foods serve as a dense source (an inoculum) of the gut flora. Ferments like molds, yeasts, and bacteria are a probiotic that replenish beneficial microbes which can be lost due to consumption of antibiotic pharmaceuticals, antibiotic-infused animal products, or chlorinated water. When stomach microbes are killed or populations shifted, an imbalance in gut bacteria can cause a variety of physical and mental health issues.
Besides Kombucha, some ferments from around the world include Kefir, Tibicos, Mead, Wine, Beer/Ale, Alcohol, Bread, Yeast, Tempeh, Koji, Miso, Amazake, Cheese, Sufu, Ragi Tapai, Ang-Kak, Soy Sauces, and Katsuobushi.
Karma and discipline are center stage with the shift to Cancer/Capricorn eclipse axis and Saturn's presence. Mercury becomes more focused, goal oriented, and organized as it enters Capricorn on 1/4 until entering Aquarius on 1/24. Saturday, January 5th is Saturn's day! We see Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn, in the placement of the Sun and Moon, and in conjunction with the Moon on 1/5 -- auspicious time for projects demanding endurance or tolerance.
After 5 months of retrograde, Uranus turns direct on 1/6 in Aries (3/1) and in the coming weeks will gain speed and find the urge for creative expression, taking chances, listening to instincts, and stirring up change. Uranus is moving into Taurus for a new 9 year cycle. Bacteria is a theme of Uranus in Taurus, the sign most associated with the earth. Uranus is the planet of innovation and invention, it links generations, and through this ignition of power with Taurus, bacteria and the burst of life that is just big enough to eat and grow and multiply will come into to the foreground.
Citations
For every new moon, the sun and moon come together from our point of view on earth -- and the moon fills up with new light and power of the sun, preparing to begin another 28.5 day journey. This New Moon sets the stage for a Total Solar Eclipse (super moon and blood moon) on January 20/21 that will be visible to all of North and South America and Western Europe.
 |
| Transit Chart for January 5, 2019 at 5:28pm (PST) (astrotheme.com) |
Capricorn New Moon January 2019 MycoAstrological Associations
1) Birch Polypore (Fomitopsis betulina): soul connection, inertia, innovation, appreciation, anxiety, depression, envy, melancholy, grace, evolving limitations
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Mars; Secondary Planet: Saturn/Jupiter; Day: Tuesday; Main organ: Blood; 2nd organ: Gallbladder; System: Immune; Tissue: Muscles/Tendons; Action: Hot/Dry
2) Kombucha yeasts: karma, resolution, fermentation, responsibility, unconscious, connection, endurance
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Saturn; Secondary Planet: Jupiter; Day: Saturday; Main organ: Spleen; 2nd organ: Bone/joint; System: Skeletal/Structural; Tissue: Bones; Action: Cold/Dry
Much like fungi, to many people eclipses provoke a certain wave of eeriness, aversion, or fear. Throughout human observation of the sky, eclipses plunged our planet into darkness and withheld the consciousness-giving light of the sun from our paths. The constantly radiating and expanding brilliance of our sunlight dips away momentarily, reminding us of our smallness and emptiness. While the collective psyche may react with fear to eclipses or mushrooms, where there is fear there is power, and eclipses (and mushrooms!) are great forces seeking acknowledgment and expression.
Eclipses and fungi can teach us that there are many dimensions of life. Just as it's impossible to stare directly into the sun, we are unable to see consciousness or to perceive the magnitude of what it is. We are simply a part of it. It moves through us and with us. With as much refining of our knowledge and studying of the fungal needs that we can possibly achieve, the fungi are still wild and powerful beyond any human constriction. In the end, fungi will destroy and break down everything that humans have created.
Mycophobia, the fear of fungus, is accepted as inconsequential in our contemporary world. Considering how many cultures have thoroughly adopted fungi, for food, medicine, connection, bioremediation, and ever-expanding use, we cannot suspect that mycophobia has been woven into the human genome. Mycophobia is a custom with an origin and rationale -- mycophobia is reflective of a culture's relationship to the world. As fungi are custodians of the darkness, mycophobia is an outgrowth of a culture's avoidance with death. What is perceived as death in our culture is also transformation, connection, healing, resilience, intense persistency, adaptability, shapeshifting, nourishment, abundance, liberation; all the regenerative (yin) aspects that our mono-culture avoids. The wisdom of the fungus is too big to comprehend through human intellect just as the light of the sun is too big to comprehend through human intellect.
1) Birch Polypore (Fomitopsis betulina): soul connection, inertia, innovation, appreciation, anxiety, depression, envy, melancholy, grace, evolving limitations
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Mars; Secondary Planet: Saturn/Jupiter; Day: Tuesday; Main organ: Blood; 2nd organ: Gallbladder; System: Immune; Tissue: Muscles/Tendons; Action: Hot/Dry
 |
| Two Birch Polypores (Fomitopsis betulina) on birch trees (Betula spp.) (Celia Martin). |
Birch Polypores or Fomitopsis betulina is an annual fruiting body found exclusively growing with Birch trees. This fungus was one of the two mushrooms found with 5,300-year-old Ötzi the iceman, also explained in November 2018's Gemini Full Moon post. The Birch Polypore, which has traditionally been used to sharpen the edges of weapons and tools, are woody yet edible, medicinal, and can also be cut into small strips, aged, and added to smoking mixtures or made into tea.
Fomitopsis betulina helps us open to and accept the stages of emotion that surround soul connection and our soul's path. Our souls are neither inside or outside of us. Just as the light of the sun and the mycelium of the fungus are beyond human comprehension, Birch Polypores remind us that we are simply a part of cosmic life moving with us and through us.
Mars, the planet of action enters its home of Aries in 1/1 until 2/14. This is supple time to enact our emotional, physical, and soul connections.
Jupiter squares Neptune on 1/13, the first of 3 aspects (others in June & September) that suggests struggle with our expectations, faith, and dreams. We may need to deal with the consequences of disorganization, extravagance, neglect, exaggeration. Tendency for restlessness is magnified. Observe any tendencies to evade and avoid things and instead let Mars carry you boldly into your soul's story. Especially with Saturn's limiting energy, we may feel overwhelmed with responsibility. Don't be afraid to unwrap, decompress, and forgive yourself and others. Trust your soul's imperfect yet complete being. Reset habits, intentions, boundaries, and untie tied ends.
Birch Polypores help our exploring soul overcome external and internal challenges. This fungus brings lightness and grace to those who have labored at projects that fulfill their soul purpose. Birch Polypore assists in grounding us and attuning to our soul-centered paths and their rewards. Much like Saturn, Birch polypore is a teacher of limitations, from highs and lows. The Roman god Saturn is identified with melancholy -- to be depressed was to be "in Saturn" and a person chronically disposed to melancholy was known as the "child of Saturn". Our struggles, sadness, and lows are a part of our transformations. Saturn emphasizes our toughest lessons and the infamous Saturn return tells of the great changes, habits, and decisions formed through the 29.5 years it takes Saturn to orbit the sun.
2) Kombucha yeasts: karma, resolution, fermentation, responsibility, unconscious, connection, endurance
MycoAstrological Correspondences: Planet: Saturn; Secondary Planet: Jupiter; Day: Saturday; Main organ: Spleen; 2nd organ: Bone/joint; System: Skeletal/Structural; Tissue: Bones; Action: Cold/Dry
 |
| Lips of a very overgrown SCOBY, primordial little life, asking me to better my discipline. :) |
Kombucha SCOBYs (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast) look like rubbery disks and typically contain one or more of the following yeasts: Brettanomyces bruxellensis, Candida stellata, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Torulaspora delbrueckii, and/or Zygosaccharomyces bailii. Of the many bacterial species present, the alcohol fermenting species Gluconacetobacter xylinus is one of the most common.
Traditional Kombucha recipes use the leaves of a tea plant (Camellia sinensis) but many people use other caffeinated or herbal teas. Tea can be made strong or week and the amount of sweetener depends on taste, though .25 cups of sugar per quart of water is a good starting ratio. The SCOBY grows and grows until it covers the surface of the liquid and is left to ferment over a few days or weeks. It's done whenever the tang is as you please. If left long enough, Kombucha can become lightly alcoholic (2% is about the highest a home brewer is likely to achieve). Despite concerns over Kombucha cultures becoming contaminated, there's no documented evidence of Kombucha-related poisonings due to pathogenic organisms.
January's two powerful eclipses and the shift of eclipse axis to the Cancer/Capricorn stirs the themes of darkness that will be coming in the next year and a half of this axis' cycle. Cancer is the personal, ripe life, internal world and Capricorn is the impersonal, moving forward, and external world. What we learn about personal/impersonal is that it's not always about you -- it's what comes through you. This polarity is about feeling the length and weightlessness of your own spine, being in love with yourself and your vessel.
Eclipses are the cosmic reflection of our own shadow -- the thing that's chasing us perpetually. The ouroboros. The snake eating its own tale. Eclipses occur in the North & South nodes and they symbolize the turning of the wheel of karma. As the karmic head eats, the North Node symbolizes hunger, force of desire, what compels us, what we grow into and are attracted to. As the karmic tail releases, the South Node symbolizes what you're letting go of, repulsing, averting, releasing, giving away, emptying ourselves, losing ourselves and desire. To be in love with your vessel is to listen to the ways in which we hunger.
Karma is cause and affect in a profound and ongoing context. Cause an affect does not stop. If a vibration occurs in space it can travel forever. What your great-great-great-great-great-grandmother ate shows here and now in your blood and bones. Karma is the unconscious -- the energy driving you from your shadow. What is behind you, what is intrinsic to you, what you don't see, and what is all producing desire.
There are astrological cycles that bring karmas forward. Either karma is fermented, ripened, and ready to be realized, resolved, or released OR karmas are acted upon and we spin the wheel of suffering one more time around.
Fungi and bacteria of the soil web reassemble nutrients into nourishment for plants and organisms just as our gut microbes ferment, digest, and return what we consume into a simpler form (a protoplasm) that the intestinal lining can easily absorb. What we eat, so do millions of other organisms inside of us. The temple of the human biome reflects and contains this foundational ecology of the world (cosmos?) and this digestive flora requires occasional inoculation and regeneration to maintain balance and ensure longevity in the human ecosystem. People have been fermenting foods longer than we have been writing with alphabets and most ferments around the world hold unclear origins. Historically, ferments were often seen as gifts from the gods, with their ability to increase vitality and preserve foods. To ally with these molds and yeasts is to remember the ecological power and strength of the human body and, in a small way, defies constrictions laid upon the sovereignty of the human body by our contemporary cultures.
Just as we are cosmically reminded to consolidate and pay attention to the foundations of life, re-pair, and restructure, fermented foods replenish beneficial microbes for our gut flora. Just as fermentation is a process to produce the finest, eclipses are processes that hold immense opportunities for change. Fermented foods serve as a dense source (an inoculum) of the gut flora. Ferments like molds, yeasts, and bacteria are a probiotic that replenish beneficial microbes which can be lost due to consumption of antibiotic pharmaceuticals, antibiotic-infused animal products, or chlorinated water. When stomach microbes are killed or populations shifted, an imbalance in gut bacteria can cause a variety of physical and mental health issues.
Besides Kombucha, some ferments from around the world include Kefir, Tibicos, Mead, Wine, Beer/Ale, Alcohol, Bread, Yeast, Tempeh, Koji, Miso, Amazake, Cheese, Sufu, Ragi Tapai, Ang-Kak, Soy Sauces, and Katsuobushi.
Karma and discipline are center stage with the shift to Cancer/Capricorn eclipse axis and Saturn's presence. Mercury becomes more focused, goal oriented, and organized as it enters Capricorn on 1/4 until entering Aquarius on 1/24. Saturday, January 5th is Saturn's day! We see Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn, in the placement of the Sun and Moon, and in conjunction with the Moon on 1/5 -- auspicious time for projects demanding endurance or tolerance.
After 5 months of retrograde, Uranus turns direct on 1/6 in Aries (3/1) and in the coming weeks will gain speed and find the urge for creative expression, taking chances, listening to instincts, and stirring up change. Uranus is moving into Taurus for a new 9 year cycle. Bacteria is a theme of Uranus in Taurus, the sign most associated with the earth. Uranus is the planet of innovation and invention, it links generations, and through this ignition of power with Taurus, bacteria and the burst of life that is just big enough to eat and grow and multiply will come into to the foreground.
Citations
- McCoy, Peter (2016). Radical Mycology: A treatise on seeing and working with fungi. Portland, Oregon: Chtheaus Press.
- Rogers, Robert (2016). Mushroom essences: Vibrational healing from the kingdom fungi. Berkley, California: North Atlantic Books
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