Periodot is associated with the heart chakra, and can be used to balance and stimulate that chakra. It is a stone of compassion. It has a friendly energy and is excellent for healing. It assists in rebirth and renewal of all kinds. Peridot also brings abundance and prosperity. It enhances the healing and harmony of relationships of all kinds, but particularly marriage. Peridot can lessen stress in relationships, anger and jealousy, slow aging, and heal ulcers and digestive problems. It also assists in finding what is lost, and strengthens ESP abilities. It has been said to make a shield of protection around the body of any wearer of peridot.

In the landscape feature Cancer is a boat rather than a crab and the feature in Victoria is one of the city's best known natural landmarks, Mount Douglas. It is the highest peak within the city with a 360° view from an eight-pointed star viewing deck at the summit. This was to be the site for our final ceremony of the day. We began at Community Living Victoria for the second time, with a slight difference in that Melanie Lichtinger(Astrology) and Mary Dowds (Landscape features) teamed up to inform us of all of the relevant information for the day. Melanie talked about the qualities of Cancer which revolve around sensitivity; nurturing, caring, intuitive on one side and being over sensitive and defensive on the other. Cancer is ruled by the moon and our sacred feminine intuition. It also connects to the ancestors and our ancestral lineage, in particular, which was to be a significant part of our day. The recognition that we all have a longing to belong to our tribe for safety and security, while at the same time recognizing that our tribe has its own limiting belief systems which we need to transcend and set ourselves free from. On this note, Mary referenced a book "John Livingston Seagull" which is my book review this month. She had faced a puzzle all month, of the direction in which our cancer boat was facing. Eventually she realized that it was bowless and rudderless- careening out of control as the collective unconscious of humanity was taking us into a chaotic and unsustainable future. One of the intentions for the day was to stop the out-of-control careening ship, bring it into stillness while placing the rudder back in place so that we as a collective can move forward safely on our awakening and expanding journey. The other very significant unfolding story in Cancer is the fourth labor of Hercules. His mission this time is to capture the doe- the Golden Hinde. There are three Gods who stake a claim to the doe- Artemis, representing the basic animalistic instinct of the doe. Diana representing the intelligence or intellect of the doe and finally Apollo who represents the highest expression of consciousness we can reach through our intuition. Using his own intelligence and hunting skills, Hercules has no problem catching the first two does, but it takes him a full year to capture the third doe. Why is this? The third doe is working on intuition and knows exactly where Hercules is and therefore does not show up there. Hercules has to go around the full journey of the twelve signs of the zodiac to realize that he can only capture the third doe if he becomes one with it. When he and the doe are at the same level of consciousness, as ONE, then they will appear together in the same place. This eventually happens and Hercules wraps the doe around his shoulders with all four feet next to his heart because they have become one and the same thing-ONE HEART!

Having completed the first four sun signs successfully our job now is to incorporate these insights into our daily lives. We know that we have been successful because we have already had two incidents of the doe- Golden Hinde(young antlered buck)- making direct eye to eye conscious contact with two members of our group.

Out in the field, Ted Speirs organized a brilliant day, starting off at Lochside Elementary School right on our North-South axis Ley Line overseeing the Blenkinsop Valley and also opening up to a magnificent vista to our final destination of the day atop Mt. Doug. We even had time to stop and play on the swings, slides and climbing apparatus- the idea was to take us back to our childhood- to approach the day with childlike innocence. We then went on a silent meditation walk through beautiful Outerbridge Park- formerly called Shangri-La! We walked a figure of eight of abundance and infinite potential. The first loop was used to shed all of our excess baggage- all the accumulated dross, negativity and limiting beliefs. We returned to the center to a choice point. Do we stay in that loop in the safety and limitation of home, OR do we step through the eye of the needle into a new expanded world of not knowing, excitement and expansion.

After a picnic lunch along the ocean in Mt. Doug Park, we were joined by Glenn Wainman who led us in drumming, chanting and the singing of a healing/gratitude song for the Elders of this sacred land, right on the beach along the shoreline where the ancients used to come ashore after their fishing expeditions. A beautiful man and a beautiful ceremony.

Next we journeyed into a still grove of 24 sacred trees standing alongside a sacred spring emerging out of the ground. This was an important Cancer site as Cancer is a water sign connected to the nurturing energies of spring water and by the nourishment through the roots of these magnificent trees of the Elders. We then had the opportunity to symbolically step through the eye of the needle-a narrow portal created by two trees-one Cedar and one Pine, conjoined at the base with trunks separating as they rose into the air. Stepping through the narrow space was both invigorating and freeing.

Our Earth Keeper, Lisa Cole, led us in our final ceremony at the top of the mountain, using her medicine bundle to balance our careening ship, with all gathered committing to right action, right relationship and right living on our sacred Earth Mother. One of the most important totems of the day was the Heron who looks deep into the water into its own emotional body in reflection. As we joined in final celebration, dancing and singing to Iz's upbeat version of "Over the Rainbow", a magnificent Blue Heron flew directly overhead and we knew we had completed a magnificent and successful day.

We have now moved into the larger-than-life fiery energies of Leo- Heart, Sovereignty, Gold, Playfulness, the Sun and most important-Humility. Katharine Maltwood's home in Victoria was in the "Heart of the Lion" in the landscape and we look forward to our next adventure on August 7th!

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For months now, the giant Summer Triangle of Vega, Altair and Deneb has been ascending the evening sky in the east. All that time Vega, the brightest of the three, has been the highest and is now nearly at the zenith(highest point) of our sky map. And running across the Summer Triangle is the biggest deep-sky object of all, the Milky Way. Inside the Triangle is an extra-rich Milky Way section, the Cygnus Star Cloud which runs from Deneb to the south.

Amongst the planet's this month, Jupiter rises around 11 PM shining brightly in the East after midnight, and stands very high in the South by the beginning of dawn. Saturn is visible in the evening twilight, but is sinking lower in the south-west every week. Look for it far below Arcturus with Spica twinkling to its left. Mercury may be visible very low in the east shortly before sunrise at the end of August. Mars is well up in the East just before dawn, while Venus is hidden in the glare of the Sun.