2025 marks an important turning point in our history based on astrological forecasts. It’s the year when Saturn and Jupiter finalise their first quarter square, indicating the forming of important structures in society. Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter all change signs (with Pluto having recently done so) which will recalibrate humanity at many different levels. A new wave of eclipses will open up new and old dimensions of conscious actions. And, as of the 12th January 2025, the Moon passed through an important turning point in its 18.6 year cycle, called the Major Lunar Standstill.

What is a Lunar Standstill?

The Sun at the solstices reaches its maximum northern latitude in winter and its maximum southern latitude in the summer (in the southern hemisphere). It takes exactly one year for the Sun to reach it’s greatest height at the summer solstice and its lowest perspective at the winter solstice. Having spent the last seven years owner building a solar passive house, we gained so much lived experience of the shifting latitudes of the Sun which we designed our building around (of course with many rookie mistakes).

But did you know that the Moon also does the same thing? The key difference is time and distance. It takes much longer for the Moon to reach her maximum northern and southern latitude – 18.6 years to be exact.  In terms of distance, the Sun will only travel 23.5 degrees north and south, dictating the ‘ecliptic path’ that all other planets follow when they are considered to be ‘behaving’ well. The Moon on the other hand will travel much further – a further 5 degrees beyond the Sun’s path (28.6 degrees maximum), which is the furthest a planet will stray from the ecliptic circle. There’s a whole study of planets that go ‘Out of Bounds’ beyond the ecliptic path and what that means for individuals and society. I’ll be talking about this an the 14th Astrology Day Conference organsised by Oner Doser’s school AstroArt in Turkey on the 22-23 March 2025.

Dreaming of a Lunar Standstill event

Visually, the Major Lunar Standstill is an astronomical showstopper. One is able to face north or south and still see the rising or setting Moon.  Many ancient communities from Neolithic times have tracked this lunar phenomena, seen in various archeo-astronomical sites such as stone structures, pyramids, petroglyph sites and natural observatories.

What I like about this cycle is that it’s long enough to be significant, yet not too long that you could observe a few events in one lifetime. It was this inspiration that led me to dream of a gathering around this lunar phenomena that would re-occur ever 18.6 years, mimicking what our ancestors did since very ancient times. At these gatherings, ancient communities observed the Moon rise and set, passed knowledge through the generations, conducted rituals and feasted together.

So at this year’s Major Lunar Standstill peak on the 12th January 2025, I decided to organise such a gathering, with the intention of reconnecting us back to our birth right as star people living under sky lore.

I also want to thank Cayelin Castel, astrologer, author, teacher, priestess and the wisest woman I know, for her teachings on the ancient wisdom of the Lunar Standstill, especially through her personal experiences at the Callenish Standing Stones in the UK. Without Cayelin, this event would never have been a thought.

About the event

We gathered at my family home with a great bunch of local folk, mainly from Dja Dja Wurrung country (Daylesford & Castlemaine regions of Central Victoria) who all came to learn more about this significant astronomical and astrological event. Here’s a little summary of our little camp out with much thanks to Stewart Carter, Marion Williams and Bianca Wiegard for their photographic contributions.

There’s always an element of risk when you run an outdoor event, especially when this involves camping, AV equipment, children, dogs and a full surrendering to the sky gods. On top of this, the Moon was extremely Out-Of-Bounds, a condition which forebodes great unpredictability and extremes, AND we were feeling the increasing pressure of the approaching Moon-Mars occultation. I knew that the only way to approach this lunar-themed event was to embrace the qualities of the swift and changing Moon by embodying a flexible and intuitive approach.

The Moon doesn’t like to plan too far ahead as it shapeshifts every time it touches another planet or star. She called for total presence from moment to moment and harnessing the power of the community in order to put this event together. A bit of weather magic to nudge things in favour was also a priority. And sure enough, right at the official start time, the rain clouds opened to radiant sun beams, and the curtains seamlessly lifted on the stage.

You can’t have a lunar-themed event without engaging the children to be your Moon Crew. Led by our Patrick, the boys did a brilliant job handling traffic management through an elaborate maze from the front gate, ushering campers to the camping zones and others to the short term carpark. Equipped with walkie-talkies in hand, Moon Crew managed to direct the traffic flow, prevent bottlenecks and keep gates shut for wildlife, all while sharing jokes and banter over ‘channel 1’ and the more-than-sporadic distraction of soccer thrown in.

Ritual practices fall under the domain of the Moon, so the first port of call for all patrons was to head to the fire circle to be cleansed before they entered the event, with great thanks to our (King) Solomon the head smudger.

One of the most special thing about this event was the transmission of knowledge between the generations and between astrologers to non-astrologers about lunar-based correspondences and general ceremonial practices experienced throughout this event. The Moon is our repetitive habitual practices, from everyday errands to sanctified rituals, so I felt it was important to demonstrate some of these practices during the event, which have fallen away from the our daily habits.

So, as part of the opening, our eldest Tenzin, read the very ancient Orphic Hymn to the Moon, which (may or may not have) coincidentally fallen exactly on the hour of the Moon. A candle was lit and burned though the night, alighting the sigil of the Moon at the altar. Honouring the Moon on her hour is an ancient magical and theurgic tradition which opens up a portal of direct communication with the Moon. And judging by the vibe for the evening and into the next day, I reckon most people felt the presence of Lady Luna.

But before the opening from the western occult traditions, we received a beautiful indigenous acknowledgement of country from Kelly Ann Blake, Wadawurrung woman living on Djaara Country, followed by a very moving transmission around sky country which she received from her Elders.

Then began some seriously incredible transmissions by two highly-esteemed teachers of their craft which we were so lucky to receive.

Firstly, Kim Lai taught us about a practice which stems from the Tibetan Bon Shamamic traditions, called the bLa. The bLa is said to be the ‘mother of qi’ and it moves through various parts of the body depending on which phase the Moon is at. As this event was held between the Waxing Gibbous and Full Moon phase, it activated the third eye chakra region which I later felt in our meditation, more on that later. Kim talked about what happens when the bLa goes astray within the body (mental unwellness for example) and how to cultivate a healthy bLa.

Kim Lai is a practicing astrologer and researcher of nearly 50 years, 30 of which has been dedicated towards the Tibetan approaches to astrology, alchemy and vajra-yoga. Through his academic career with LaTrobe University, Kim learnt the ancient Tibetan cosmological and shamanic traditions under the tutelage of several of Tibet’s Vajra Masters in yoga and alchemy, as well as , Masters of the scientific approach to Enlightenment called Rig Pay Ney Chu (the ten enlightened sciences). Kim acknowledges two of his teachers who were instrumental in this career…

Professor Jhampa Gyaltsen Dagthon – whom the Dalai Lama tasked with re-establishing the Tibetan Astrological Tradition after the Chinese invasion/destruction.  Today this is the Men Tsee Khang college which trains Tibetan doctors, pharmacologists and astrologers in the Dalai lama’s school of Tibetan Buddhism.

Professor Tsewang Namgyal – who was tasked with re-establishing the astrological sciences for the Karma Kaygu school which today is part of the Karmapa’s  Palpung Institute of the Tibetan Sciences.

Next up, Ben Turale, Director of the Temple of Mercury and Director of Education of the International Alchemy Guild joined us to share his depth of knowledge on the Western Alchemical traditions. Ben is a laboratory alchemist and educator and runs both in-person ad online courses on alchemy.

As a special treat for our evening, Ben crafted a ticture of silver, blue lotus and mugwort – all signaling the Moon’s correspondences – with a bit of emerald thown – a Mercurial envoy to guide us through the meditation process. Ben holds the prestigious Paracelsus Award for outstanding contributions to alchemy and combined with his personal essence that’s strengthened through his dedication towards the occult Hermetic practices, we were truly blesssed to be able to ingest this preparation for our Major Lunar Standstill Peak.

Alchemical preparations are much more complex than a standard herbal concoctions. Ben took us through the epic process of separating and combining the Sulphur, Salt and Mercury of each components of his medicine to create the powerful tincture we received.

With two hard acts to follow and a quickly moving sky that was about to see the moon rise for our planned meditation, I managed to share some thoughts on the importance of the Moon in timing techniques used in antiquity to the late middle ages. As astrologers, we’re all about assessing moments of time and one of the most tested tools available to us is the ever-changing movement of the Moon as she travels through each sign every couple of hours and touches every planet throughout the month. By understanding the cycle of the Moon, we’re able to judge the quality of time from each moment and what we could potentially do with it.

Freedom Cole said that ‘to understand the movement of time is to understand the functioning of the universe‘.  The meaning I draw from this favourite quote of mine, is that by aligning our thoughts with the flow of the Moon (and other planets), we can step into a role of creation where every action we take can feel more resonant with our environment and in synchronicity with our purpose, as destined by the greater universe. A feeling of total alignment, as they say. Things emerging with ease – just like how this entire event happened.

Looking at the crowd listening intently, I am in awe with all the wisdom, experience and skillset I see from each and everyone. Many of the 90+ people who attended weren’t astrologers, except for a handful, so I am truly grateful that they were willing to brave the elements to attend such an obscure astrological event. Ten points for spotting my pilates teacher, who is sitting with the straightest back ever!

After a couple of hours of sitting on the hard ground, it was time to process the cerebral downloads with something more embodied. Enter Judy, AKA Vallimaine, a singer/songwriter and vocal toning extraordinaire, to guide us through a meditative journey to observe the rising Moon at its peculiar 28+ degree northern latitude. Vallimaine was a successful music artist in her own right, producing her own material and singing with the likes of Paul Kelly, Augie March, Falloe, Tex Perkins, Tim Rogers and many other wonderful musicians. Thankfully for us, she’s given the rock and roll life away and now dedicates her musical creations towards transforming crowds of truth seekers with her angellic vocal tones, soundscapes and ThetaHealing.

For this event, Vallimaine guided us through the Moonrise just after the sun had set at the western horizon and Ben’s special Lunar tincture began to flow through our consciousness. During this meditation, I could feel a strong vibration at my third eye region which we learnt earlier from Kim, was where the bLa travels through on this particular phase of the Moon. Through astrological timing, we can determine when portals are opening up with planets. And after Kim’s brief teachings on bLa, I can now see where on the body those portals may be opening up at any moment in time, for the Moon at least. There’s so much more to learn and we’re all waiting for Kim to retire from his day job so he can get back to the ‘real work’ of teaching and writing more books .

Then it was off to bed to catch a few hours of shut eye before our morning meditation sesh.

 The morning meditation commenced in the stillness that one can only get at 4am in the morning. Again, Vallimaine guided us through the Moonset with the vibration of her crystal bowls and a voice from someone you wouldn’t believe has just gotten out of bed. Perhaps they were angels descending from heaven. Wherever that voice came from, it worked a treat and kept us all high-vibing through the next day, even though many of us were running on very little sleep. 

From the initial thought seed that was planted about this Lunar Standstill event back in 2021, I have spent many nights, mornings and sometimes days waiting for the Moon to rise and set, while marking her positions all over the property in search for potential observation sites. My kids and I even slept out under the stars one night so that I could track the Moon’s position throughout the whole night.

Over the past few years of this observation practice, I’ve gained a deep appreciation for our ancient timekeepers and observers, whose role was to record planetary movements. It’s actually really hard work and they must be more sleep deprived than mothers of new born babies (having had three babies, I can attest to this!) But what a gift they have given us, for without their dedication, we wouldn’t have knowledge of the cycles of planets and important events such as the Lunar Standstill. I’m also super grateful for computers that do this work for us. Yet there’s nothing that compares to receiving direct light codes from planetary rays in real time, that’s why, I’m also grateful for the meditation journeys we experienced during this event with Vallimaine. 

Quietly watching the event was our central altar, built by Kerrie Chilton and my (King) Solomon, which was also a place for people who wanted to charge their crystals overnight. The altar marked the eight phases of the Moon at one level, with the second level showing the Hindu goddesses who rule over the three faces of the Moon; 1) Durga from new moon to waxing gibbous, 2) Lakshmi from waxing gibbous to waning gibbous and 3) Kali from waning gibbous to new moon. And, thanks to Kerrie’s generosity, everyone left with a Selenite crystal to take home with them.

Just as the ancient time keepers preserved this knowledge of planetary cycles for our benefit today, I hope that this event has planted a seed, or, continued the cultivation process of sky observation in all of us. Seeing physical planets through a telescope or static screen is no different to any arbitrary made-up date in the Gregorian calendar. But understanding the dynamic movements of these planets and their interrelationships with each other, combined with star stories passed down from millennia of listening and observation, is how we bring meaning to these cycles. Hence, sky observation is Self observation, and the more we can witness the mirror between the two, the better we can write our stories to pass onto future generations.

And as for the next generation – my hope is for the next mob (yes, looking at you Moon Crew!) to run the next Major Lunar Standstill event in 2043. If all goes well, we will have a sculpture finished by the end of 2025 that will be our version of an observatory to capture the light of the Major Lunar Standstill from this property every 18.6 years. A time capsule that we started to create at this event will also be dug up, which will be interesting!

See you in 2043 for the next one!