Nurturing and Creating a Home

Nurturing. Mothering. These experiences are associated with womanliness, but are not the sole definers of your womanhood. Although women are the only ones who can become mothers, it is not necessary to be a mother to become an exceptional nurturer! Nurturing is a natural expression for women - but the manner in which it is done is very individualized. Whether with children, lovers, partners, friends - or even with your own parents - you have ample opportunities to nurture others. The person who needs your nurturing most, however, is YOU. Although caring for others can fill a special place in your soul, the way you care for yourself is especially important. You may derive nourishment from developing your talents and skills, or through your work. Study or travel can be nourishing. And something as simple as a long soak in the tub can refill your spirit. Part of nourishing yourself is physical, part emotional and part is definitely environmental: what you create in a home. In exploring these factors together, you can begin to see the link between these different levels of personal fulfillment.

Yet another facet of your Moon beyond what you've already explored, is what your Moon shows about your deepest needs. You can only feel whole when these needs are answered and fulfilled. Although it is tempting to look outside, your wisdom tells you that a great part of the responsibility for nourishment comes from within yourself.

You may think that you don't really need much nurturing with an Aquarius Moon. The truth of the matter is that your soul is hungry for the feeling of freedom which occurs when you rise above the ordinary into the realm of the seemingly impossible. You can experience this transcendent freedom in many ways, but may feel it best when you're actually doing something that allows you to physically move beyond the bounds of earth. Flying, hot air balloon rides, hang gliding, even wind surfing may provide this boost to your soul. But you may also love skiing, skating, bicycling or running - when you feel the wind in your face and reach that point of lifting out of your body - your soul is free. Your approach to nurturing others is to help them find their own inner freedom, and you may encourage your children to feel good about their differences and to accept the true diversity of humanity. Your friends also provide an uplifting energy in your life, and spending time with them nourishes your soul. Sometimes a book is your best friend, and when you need to be alone with your thoughts, reading and contemplating can refuel your soul. Meditation and activities like hatha yoga, tai chi, chi gong or aikido may also help you maintain your mind/body/spirit connection.

Saturn also plays a positive role in nurturance. Despite the bad rap Saturn sometimes receives, this energy is necessary to your stability and growth. Through Saturn, you learn to take responsibility for yourself and your actions. Saturn also seems to be the repository of your fears, and it's important to understand and deal with these emotions in order to be whole. Trying to repress such feelings blocks your ability to feel the positive, supportive energy that life has to offer. In many respects, the energy of Saturn is played out in your life by your experience with authority figures. Your mother and father, extended family and teachers were your primary Saturnian influences when you were a young girl, and their direction and guidance still whisper in the way you approach establishing your personal security. As an adult woman, you express Saturn through the manner in which you take responsibility for yourself and your needs for stability and security.

Your interest in restoration permeates every part of your life, and is strongly influenced by your Saturn in Scorpio. Even if you sometimes fall short, you understand the importance of making the most of your life and its resources. Your influence upon others who cannot see the value in something on the surface can be immense, because you are the master of removing the crust and exposing the jewel at the core. You may also know when there's nothing there to expose, in which instance you can take what is useless or outworn and recycle it in the best possible manner. This attitude may be especially emphasized since you are a woman and experience the variations related to the cyclical changes within your own body. You can learn to make the use of the different levels of energy which occur at different times to become more productive, more secure and more confident in the natural order of things.

Your 4th House illuminates what you need in a home environment, where you will feel most comfortable and how you like to live. It is here that you create a feeling of safety, where you can let your hair down and be yourself.

The influence of Scorpio on this part of your chart adds a need for privacy in your home environment. You love being surrounded by things which appeal to your senses - soft fabrics, lush carpets, a fabulous bed - and may feel best around rich, deep colors. You have a natural sense of the energy of the places in which you live and may enjoy working with concepts such as Feng Shui to help harmonize and strengthen the energy of your home. Pluto's influence of your 4th House stimulates a need for healing within your personal space, and you may enjoy using some of the features of your home to help you maintain your physical vitality. A spa, hot tub or sauna would be excellent additions to your home, and you might also enjoy having your own massage table. However, you may have to import the masseur, unless you've gotten a lucky break and discovered a man who just loves to share sensual massage. But that's another story....

Your home needs to be a place of foundation and safety, but you may feel that you have to create it yourself with the energy of Saturn in your 4th House. Living a simple life may make more sense than striving for excess, and learning to live in cooperation with nature and the environment can be both rewarding and stabilizing. You may have issues with your parents or family, although getting beyond those issues can be much more difficult than it seems. Hanging onto the past seems to provide a stability which arises from familiarity, but can inhibit your growth. If you are to truly break free, you may have to relinquish your old attachments and strike out on your own. Creating your own sense of home and family allows you to recreate the fulfillment of your needs which may have been ignored or stifled when you were a little girl. Be careful that you are conscious about the way you parent your own children and nourish your own family. There's a temptation to repeat the patterns buried in your subconscious mind instead of defining a new paradigm.