The most powerful question anyone has ever asked me is, "are you actually committed to being here?" (Here, as in on this planet right now in this body, alive.) We all have reasons for holding back, some reasons that we are conscious of, and some that we aren't (which are usually the really powerful ones). And they are very good reasons, or at least they were very good reasons at one time in our lives. Yet, when we fully commit, a profound shift occurs. When we commit, we say yes to life and the Universe. When we do that, a funny thing happens - we gain a certain freedom and empowerment. It is just like the rules of nature that apply when we are downhill skiing on a snowy mountain - we must lean downhill to stay over our skis and in the "sweet spot," where we actually can make the best use of our edges and carve turns. At first it may feel counterintuitive to lean out over our tips on a steep run, stretching downhill with each pole plant, but doing precisely that is how we stay centered and in alignment. We find out quickly when skiing that leaning away from the hill does nothing but send our legs out from under us and land us on our asses. The same natural laws apply energetically in life - we have to fully commit, we have to show up, we have to lean in. If we want to ski that sweet steep, snowy run, we have to let go of that tree we are holding on to. We cannot do both at the same time. But then there are our reasons. All the reasons, all the fears. All the things that somehow got lodged in our subconscious minds, and slowly, one by one, began to shut us down to life. The Art of Consciously Creating Life is about developing self-awareness, so that we are able to seek out what is in alignment with us and navigate our most authentic path forward, as well as developing awareness of the energetic dynamics around us, so that we can be in flow with them and harness and work with them. One of my favorite ways of developing this sort of awareness, both of self and my environment, is astrology. Then working with the energies at play at any given time, I bring in other techniques, practices, and modalities to help me with whatever I am working through at that particular time, such as yoga, journaling, therapy, Reiki, bodywork, meditation, or even learning a new practical skill set. Sometimes it is as simple as seeking out fresh inspiration, whether it is through music, conversation, travel, or some new film or performance. Mercury currently retrograde in Cancer, along with Venus having just stationed direct in Mercury-ruled Gemini, is giving us an opportunity to dive into our subconscious and clear some of those old blocks that have been keeping us from living the life we are most authentically aligned with - the one that sets our hearts ablaze with passion. First, the astrology. Venus has been retrograde in Gemini since May 13th, and actually just stationed direct in the wee hours of the morning of June 25th. (Read my May 15th article, Venus Retrograde in Gemini: Rewiring Your Self-Worth, and my most recent article on the subject from June 25th, Venus Direct and Inanna's Journey Home, for a more in-depth discussion.) Venus rules love and money, but by way of our self-worth, self-love, and broader sense of values. Venus is the divine feminine within us and thus rules over how we attract what we desire into our lives by aligning with the energy of it. When Venus is retrograde, we are likely to be getting a look at our old patterns around love and money, which is, at its core, about our values and our value of ourselves. In Gemini, we are doing this through the energetic prism of that sign. Gemini is ruled by Mercury and involves the mind, thoughts, words, ideas, and expression. Venus retrograde in Gemini, then, has been an opportunity to get a look at the beliefs and thoughts we carry that are creating our life experience and especially around our values and self-worth. This just wrapped up on June 25th. On June 17th, just a week prior to Venus stationing direct, Mercury, ruler of Gemini, stationed retrograde in neighboring sign, Cancer. Because Venus is in Gemini in retrograde, Mercury's retrograde in Cancer is linked to it, as Mercury is the ruler of Gemini. Where Venus rules our value of self, Mercury rules the mind. Cancer is the moon-ruled sign of the archetypal mother, our ancestry, the past, tribe, our sense of belonging, how we feel safe and nurtured, home, the subconscious, intuition, and emotions. Cancer's realm includes those places hidden beneath the surface of our consciousness where all of our past experiences weave together to give rise to our "nature," our instinctual emotional reactions. This same realm is also the realm of our intuition - our inner wisdom and inner knowing. When Mercury is retrograde, it slows down our communications so that we can review our thoughts, words, and expression, and make any necessary edits. In our lives many times we experience Mercury retrograde, at least up front, as technological chaos, accidental emails, lost communications, mistakes on contracts, travel plans gone awry, and interpersonal misunderstandings. This mainly has to do with the slowing down as Mercury stations retrograde - when we aren't aware this is happening and continue business as usual when the energies are switching to review-mode, things tend to get a little out of sorts. When Mercury is retrograde in Cancer, the ruler of the mind dives deep into the ocean of emotion and the past, into all of those soft, tender places we keep protected from the outside world. During Mercury retrograde in Cancer, we can expect our intuition to be working well, and we may also experience more (or maybe just remember more) dreaming, as the subconscious bubbles up into our conscious mind. What Mercury retrograde in Cancer is a perfect opportunity for is delving into our subconscious and past and cleaning up any of those blocks that are keeping us from that freedom and empowerment to lean in and ski down that snowy run of our heart's true desires. Venus retrograde in Gemini has even set us up for this opportunity, as we have just finished reviewing the beliefs, thoughts, ideas, and words that we carry around our self-worth and values and how they create our reality. Now Mercury, as ruler of Gemini, offers us the option to go deeper during its retrograde in Cancer. Now, about working with this astrology.... Its easy to intellectually understand the concept of clearing what blocks us from staying in that sweet spot in life, but becoming conscious of what is unconscious within us is a different story. Like so many things, it is much easier said than done. We can grasp the idea intellectually, but embodying it is a completely different animal. Many times trying to gain consciousness of the subconscious blocks that are holding us back is like bumbling around blindly in the dark. But if that is our starting place, then that is where we begin. Every journey is unique - we can learn from each other, but too much comparison many times does more harm than good. It is not so much about where we begin or what we do. It is about just being willing, and beginning, and putting one foot in front of the other. When working with the subconscious and the shadow, trying to "hunt it down" doesn't work that well. For one thing, it is a part of us, so trying to turn our brains inside-out and look inside them is just self-torment and beyond frustrating. It is more about building the safe space for it to come out into, and the container to hold it - to hold us. If we go back to the skiing reference, we don't start out on a double black diamond mogul run - we work up to it. We put in the practices, self-care, and self-love, and patiently wade through the layers. Then when we get to the big stuff, it may not be a "cake-walk," but we have the skill set to handle it, maybe even to handle it gracefully. The dark moon, the three days preceding the new moon during each lunar cycle, is a monthly chance to practice this art of stillness and allowance. The dark moon is the deepest point of the lunar cycle, when we have the most access to those places deep within us. It is also the part of the lunar cycle that supports deep release as we prepare for the coming new moon. The best thing we can do during the dark moon to facilitate this, however, is to retreat into rest and meditation, becoming as quiet and still as we can to create space for whatever wants to rise to the surface. The same concept applies to retrogrades and especially Mercury now retrograde in Cancer, because Mercury rules the mind, and Cancer rules the emotions, subconscious, and past. Right now we might get clued in to what wants to come up for acknowledgement, acceptance, and release, through dreams, journaling, or even random conversation. Sometimes a memory can get brought up by a certain smell or song, and that memory attaches to an emotion that attaches to a deeply held belief within us that it could be time to review and edit or possibly release. If we have been thinking about doing therapy or coaching, now could be the right time, since the mind is currently more attuned to the subconscious than usual. Many times, when something is coming up, all we know we are feeling is some vague sense of discomfort or dis-ease. It can be vague for a number of reasons - one being its something we don't want to feel or deal with (for any number of valid reasons), and another being that many times its several different emotions bundled together, so its hard to separate them out until you have worked with it a bit. Techniques like the Emotion Code can help in these types of circumstances. I personally have had a few sessions with a professional, but found it to be of the most help to me when I started using it on my own. It is a simple muscle testing procedure that follows a flow chart. There is a book on it, and many online resources. The founder of the technique is interviewed in the movie E-Motion. When I started applying it throughout the day as that sense of dis-ease began creeping up on me, I not only was able to sort out the clusters of emotions coming up, but I began to sense things coming up more quickly and address them before they intensified. I also began to associate what little things throughout each day were setting this off. Not only was I unraveling the mystery of my subconscious blocks as I did this, I was gaining a sense of freedom and empowerment. So here we are. And there is no time like the present. The present moment is infinitely magical. The present moment is our sweet spot where anything is possible. When we are truly embodied in the present moment, our past cannot affect us nor can the future cannot worry us. When we are present, we are in our full creative power. When we are present, we have the ability to choose in each and every moment, and with each breath we take. Here we are with Venus just having stationed direct in Gemini, leaving five planets still retrograde, including Mercury in Cancer. We are still in the eclipse portal - we still one have one final eclipse in a series of three coming up on July 4th - and eclipse portals are huge portals of change when our worlds are much more malleable, and so our ability to be present and focus on what we are for with clarity and strength of will is all that more important. There is no time like the present to dig deep, and from the firm foundation of our freshly edited values and sense of self-worth, dive into our subconscious and lovingly transform those old blocks into the pure light of creative potential, and begin creating a life that sets our heart ablaze with passion.
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Venus, the third of the retrogrades to start, was the first one to station direct just after midnight on Thursday, June 25th. Venus went retrograde on May 13th, after Pluto on April 25th, and Saturn on May 11th. (Read my May 15th article on Venus retrograde here.) Those won't be stationing direct until September/October. Since Venus stationed retrograde, Jupiter, Mercury, and Neptune have all also begun retracing their steps. When planets are in retrograde, their energy becomes directed inward, and we are given the opportunity to review our relationship to this energy (through the energetic prism of whatever sign the planet happens to be retrograding in) in our lives. Venus is known as the planet of love and money, but everything Venus represents in our lives shares a common root: self-value. How we express love, how we show up in relationships, the types of people we attract into our lives that we enter into relationships with - all of this hinges on our value of ourselves. How we attract what we desire in our lives, how we put ourselves out in the world for work, our ability to receive, our capacity for abundance - again, this is rooted in our self-worth and self-esteem, how we value ourselves, and how that translates into our broader value system. Venus begins its retrograde journey every eighteen months as the evening star, the goddess of love. At the midpoint of the retrograde, the planet disappears beneath the rays of the sun. This point in the retrograde is referred to as cazimi, or combust, when the planet is "in the heart of the sun." At this point, Venus is said to, "sit in the throne room with the King." The sun, as the light of consciousness, now imparts some new wisdom to the goddess. When Venus emerges from this special audience with the the sun, it does so rising before the sun, now a morning star, which is Venus as a goddess of war. (In natal charts we can look to see if a person has Venus as a morning star or evening star - a morning star Venus is feistier.) To the ancient Sumerians, the planet we know as Venus, the Roman version of Aphrodite, was the goddess Inanna. The Sumerian myth of Inanna's Descent is the myth associated with Venus retrograde. When Venus meets with the sun, this is the part of the myth of Inanna's Descent, where Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth, meets her sister, Queen of the Underworld (her shadow self) and dies, and then after three days is brought back to life with the help of her hand servant (her higher self) and Enki, God of Wisdom. Because Inanna has met her shadow and died to the old consciousness, when she is reborn, she is reborn to new consciousness. This is Venus disappearing from sight when she meets up with the sun, light of consciousness, as the evening star, and then reemerging as a morning star. Venus, as the divine feminine within us and our value of ourselves, extends into how we attract what we desire into our lives, or what we don't desire, depending on how consciously we are working with the principle of attraction, and how aligned we are, as that is ultimately what Venus is about. From our self-worth extends our larger value system - how we value others, resources, and how we relate to others and the world at large. Venus in retrograde helps us to review these things, primarily through our relationship with love and money in our lives. Venus also rules art and aesthetics. Typically, astrology says that Venus retrograde is a time to stay away from any big spending on luxury items or big aesthetic or fashion decisions, from hairstyles to remodels to tattoos, as our judgement will be clouded. Also, we may experience in some way our past, as far as love and relationships, coming back, whether in physical form or just emotional patterns, for review. Venus retrograde in Gemini means that we are reviewing all things Venus through the energetic prism of Gemini - the twins - mutable air. Gemini is ruled by Mercury, and Mercury rules the mind, thoughts, words, messages, and communication. With Venus retrograde in Gemini, we have the opportunity to review how our values and our value of ourselves directly affects our beliefs, thoughts, emotions, and behavior - how we relate to the world outside of ourselves. So now, with Venus having gone on this retrograde journey, this descent into the underworld to meet the shadow, and after having disappeared under the rays of the sun, we have arrived here at the point where Venus stations direct. In the Sumerian myth of Inanna's Descent, when Inanna first comes back to life, she is still a little bit, well...she has been dead. Her corpse has been hanging on meat hooks in the Underworld for three days, while her shadow wailed and moaned, overwhelmed with pain. She has been through a lot.
The rules of the Underworld say that Inanna can leave, but her soul must be replaced with another's. So Inanna must choose someone to take her place in the Underworld. But she does not want to. Who would she choose? So she ascends and begins her journey home, quite literally straight from hell. And because she has refused to choose someone to take her place in the Underworld, she is still harassed by her demons even though she has been reborn to a new consciousness and allowed to return home. Inanna finally arrives home to find her consort, Dumuzi, ruling from the throne she gave him, as if it was his kingdom, not seeming to give a care at all that she had not only been gone, but dead for three days. On top of this, the demons are still harassing her. Inanna, in a moment of rage, ends up damning her beloved to hell, where he will have to face his own shadow (as well as hers, again). Inanna has been reborn to this new consciousness and new power, but because she is still tied to the old, has not fully stepped into it yet. Inanna has just been through a huge transformational experience. She may have the higher wisdom, but she remains in-between. She has not fulfilled the requirements of the Underworld and so is still tormented by her demons and her shadow. The shadow still has not been fully acknowledged and satisfied. Inanna is still, in essence, running from her shadow at this point in the myth. She tries to ignore it and move on, but her shadow is wailing and wants her attention, even reparation, so it sends those nasty little demons after her, and they wait until some moment of weakness and then all fly out at once. This in turn aggravates her beloved's demons and his shadow. In this way, the Underworld's requirement has been fulfilled - a soul for a soul.
Inanna did not want to choose another soul to take her place. So she simply didn't do it. But this broke a rule of the Underworld, and the Underworld's rules must be satisfied - there is no cheating the Underworld. So she was in her new power and new consciousness but still had not satisfied the shadow and because of that her demons still gave chase. Inanna faced her shadow, but then as soon as she regained life, she tried to go back to her life without integrating the shadow. But isn't this the issue with our shadows to begin with?
After Inanna's consort, Dumuzi, is carried off to the Underworld, she realizes she truly loves him. As Inanna realizes her true, unconditional love for Dumuzi, she steps into her full power. She has finally made peace with the shadow and triumphed over those old demons, and so can fully embody her new consciousness. Because she is now "whole unto herself," meaning ruler of both shadow and light, she is able to make a deal with the Underworld for Dumuzi to spend half of each year there and the other half with her. Inanna has been able to integrate her shadow and therefore gain its cooperation. Now she reclaims her rightful sovereignty and throne, ruling over both light and darkness, over both worlds, as Queen of Heaven and Earth.
Last night, I was cooking when I was suddenly buzzed by something big, with a stinger. In a small place with no air conditioning, when I heat up the oven I leave the front door open to keep the place relatively cool. I panicked and chased the thing out, shutting the door behind it, but soon it was too hot and I reopened the door. It flew back in and buzzed me again! Just a few days ago, this same overly friendly flying beast (or one that looked just like it) startled me two separate times by flying in the open door and right up in my face while I was writing. I was already well aware that synchronicities and signs were flying (in this case literally). I had noticed them increasing in recent days with the moon passing by Neptune in Pisces and Mercury then stationing retrograde in Cancer.
So after my fourth encounter with this thing flying into my house and buzzing me, I decided to further investigate. It definitely was not a bumble bee, nor a honey bee. It also definitely wasn't a yellow jacket, although it had the same yellow and black stripes - it was larger, thicker, and fuzzier. I thought it must be a hornet. As it turns out, when it comes to the medicine - animals and insects as totems or spirit messengers - wasps and hornets have the same meaning. Wasps are the power of the feminine, communal living, and social diversity. The females are the only wasps that have stingers - they are actually a modified organ for egg-laying. (This is what we get stung with when they get pissed off.) This is why they are associated with the female warrior archetype. To further that thought, now we can see that in wasps, both the power to reproduce (lay eggs), and the power to protect (sting) lies in only the females. The females do all of the nest-building as well. On the subject of nest-building - those female wasps are master builders, making their nests using sacred geometry - six-sided shapes known as hexahedrons. And about those nests.... Many of us have found out the hard way that those female warriors don't tolerate any disturbance of their carefully constructed sacred space. One note I read on this stated that the protection of Wasp is gained by those who are, "...wise enough to give her space to do her thing." To those not wise enough to give this industrious feminine warrior presence space, the Wasp provides lessons in power and humility. We learn very quickly to be conscious of our energy and presence - of where we are, and how we move and speak and how this sends out disturbing vibrations - when we are around wasps, and especially when we are around their homes thus intruding on their territory. It is interesting that this encounter with Wasp showed up right around the solstice new moon eclipse on the night of Saturday, June 20th. This eclipse was at zero degrees Cancer, just a few hours after solstice was exact (when the sun arrived at zero degrees Cancer). Over the past two years with the North Node of the moon in Cancer and the South Node of the moon in Capricorn (since 2018), we have experienced a series of eclipses in Cancer and Capricorn. With the North Node now in Gemini (and South Node in Sagittarius), we are now beginning a new two year cycle, and this recent solstice eclipse was the big wrap up (along with the full moon eclipse in Capricorn coming on July 4th). Cancer is the mother archetype, and Capricorn is the father archetype. Cancer is moon-ruled water, our past, home, family, tribe, sense of belonging, ancestry, intuition, and emotions. Capricorn is Saturn-ruled earth, authority, responsibility, discipline, boundaries, limits, restriction, caution, practicality, wisdom, and discernment. Cancer represents the Divine Feminine as the Divine Mother. Because Cancer represents the mother and family/ancestry/past, Cancer also represents all things matrilineal, and even matriarchal, as Capricorn represents the patrilineal and patriarchal. We can tend to see matrilinieal/matriarchal and patrilineal/patriarchal as conflicting, but when looking at the Cancer/Capricorn axis of the zodiac, that is not at all what this is about, even though they are polar opposites. There are twelve signs of the zodiac, set in a circle, making six separate axes of opposing energies. But from an astrological perspective, we sit in the center of this circle, and at the midpoint of each energetic axis. The energy of Cancer is just as necessary in life as the energy of Capricorn. Our task is to balance them - to be able to understand them so that we can discern when one or the other is most appropriate or a blend of both. Whenever the pendulum gets to far to one side or the other, we get out of balance and it will inevitably swing back. And here is something interesting: as I was researching wasp medicine, one source linked the black and yellow stripes to the concept of duality, and yin and yang, and how these two seemingly different parts are both necessary to create the whole. Not only does Wasp speak to the Divine Feminine, it speaks to the balancing and blending of the two opposing parts - much like we are doing now as we move from the new moon eclipse in Cancer and the full moon eclipse coming up in Capricorn - because we are wrapping up the past two years of eclipses on this axis of archetypal mother and father, of Divine Feminine and the Patriarchy. As we complete this cycle, we might sense that things are out of balance between the two energies. We might sense the lessons around power, humility, and boundaries stirring now. Wasp can be a "wake-up call", as anyone who has ever been stung knows. But, one of the most important messages Wasp, this feminine presence, this warrior, brings us, especially now, is this: be a peacemaker. Be one who brings peace and walks with peace. Be one who puts other at ease. What happens when we are not peaceful near Wasp's nest? Complete chaos ensues. When we know this, we know when approaching wasps and their nests, to tread lightly, calmly, and softly. We know to take the responsibility upon ourselves to be peaceful and keep the peace. When we do this, we create the opportunity to work in harmony with Wasp and gain Wasp's protection, because we have been wise enough to give her that undisturbed space to do her thing. I have spent a fair amount of time in my life on rivers, specifically whitewater rafting. In sections of river where the elevation change is more significant, the water flows faster, and we get "rapids".
When we are navigating rapids, everything happens faster, and the force of the current is much more powerful. During these stretches, we must be more focused, yet still relaxed and calm, to be able to read the current as we go and make the necessary adjustments to maneuver around obstacles. We also keep a watch on what is directly in front of us, continually checking for rocks in our path we may have missed initially, but also we keeping our eyes downriver, constantly mapping out our "line" - our path forward. The line is the pathway that is the fine line of working with the current, and also avoiding obstacles. We look to harness the power of the current to gain the momentum we need to be able to maneuver the raft. A raft that does not have forward momentum is almost impossible to move. One of the first things I was ever taught about rowing was that once you have made your assessment and set up and are coming in to a rapid, the worst thing you can do is change your line and try to change your boat position. Even if that line is better, turning at this point causes loss of momentum, which greatly increases the chances of being completely at the mercy of the current and being taken right into a rock, and danger. Running whitewater rapids requires working actively with the current to navigate the rapid successfully. It is the same principle when working with energetic currents. Right now, we are running some astrological rapids. We are picking up speed and there is a lot happening over a relatively short time period. We have one eclipse behind us, and two ahead of us, accompanied by several other astrological events in the same time period. This week as we approach solstice on Saturday afternoon and then the new moon eclipse in Cancer just after midnight, the best place to put our conscious focus is into honoring the dark moon - the three day period that precedes every new moon. (For a dark moon in Cancer, the moon-ruled water sign that is associated with emotions, I would suggest anything involving water during the dark moon - soaking in seaweed and salt baths, getting in the ocean, soaking in hot springs, being near any river or body of water, and drinking plenty of water all work. For more info on working with the dark moon, click here.) This new moon is a solstice new moon eclipse at zero degrees Cancer - that in and of itself makes it a profoundly powerful reset moment, but adding to that, this new moon eclipse is flanked two weeks prior and two weeks after by full moon eclipses. We won't see three eclipses in a row like this again until 2029. Eclipses are like new moons and full moons on steroids. They are harbingers of significant and lasting change. They act like portals or thresholds for us. During full moons the moon, subconscious/shadow/hidden, is illuminated by the sun, light of consciousness, in opposition. It is an illumination, a revelation, a realization. Things come to light at full moons. The same thing happens during full moon eclipses, but the effect is much stronger in our lives. The solstice new moon eclipse in Cancer, occurring in between two full moon eclipses, is a recipe for major things being brought to light and revealed that create a massive paradigm shift which becomes the threshold that we step through into a new beginning. But just like river rapids, with these energetic dynamics, we cannot necessarily see the bigger picture while actively navigating. We always have a better understanding of it looking back on it. Which brings me back to the importance of tending to what is directly in front of us while simultaneously looking ahead and mapping out our "line". This is about being flexible, adaptable, and able to respond as we go and course correct as needed. This is about being in the present moment every moment. To read the current now, we look to the moon. The moon is waning and now entering the dark moon phase. The dark moon is the lowest energy point of the lunar cycle every month. It comes i the final days before the moon is new, and after both the illumination of the full moon, and the third quarter square between sun and moon, the choice point or "crisis in consciousness." We have had time to assimilate and integrate what has been brought to light during this lunar cycle, and now the focus turns to releasing what no longer serves and resting in preparation to regenerate with the new moon - in this case with the solstice new moon eclipse at zero degrees Cancer, the sign of the archetypal mother - the mother of new moons. The moon will be making a conjunction with Neptune at 20 degrees Pisces on June 12th. (And in general over the next few days - between June 10th and 13th - there is quite a bit of astrological business involving planets in Pisces and the sun and moon, which is just setting us up for what is to come.) The moon, in every monthly lunar cycle, makes one lap around the zodiac. As it does this, it makes various aspects (communications), which each of the other celestial bodies. The moon, ruling our intuition, subconscious, instincts, emotions, moods, and feelings, acts as an instrument that broadcasts these energetic messages to us in our day to day lives. That's what following lunar transits is all about - it helps us understand the energies at play each day and when certain actions are supported as opposed to others, so we can be in better alignment with the energetic currents. As the moon passes by a planet in a sign each month, especially the planets that lie farther out and have longer sign transits, we will get an energetic update on what that planet is up to from the moon. When we pay attention consistently to these shifts, we start to pick up on patterns and themes of certain alignments. When the moon meets up with Neptune on June 12th in Pisces, this will be our last information update before Neptune stations retrograde on June 23rd just after the solstice new moon eclipse. So, now is a perfect time for giving a little thought to what Neptune retrograde in its own sign might be about. As within, without, as above, so below. Neptune rules Pisces, and therefore rules over the hidden realms, the spiritual world, and the subconscious/unconscious. This is the realm of angels as well as monsters, of imagination as well as deception. If we have been engaging in denial, delusion, escapism, or avoiding seeing reality in some way in our lives, Neptune retrograde has the potential to be the time when we are forced to face the truth of the matter. This is because when Neptune is in forward motion, we can easily access its abilities to avoid and evade, creating a different reality for ourselves in our imagination, and seeing life through rose-colored glasses. When Neptune is in retrograde motion, however, we cannot access these abilities so easily, and then have to face harsh realities without our illusion-overlay.
Neptune rules over our denial, escapism, fantasy, and illusions, but also is our connection to source inspiration and magic by which we create and bring our dreams into being in this world.
Neptune is also the mechanism by which we bring our nightmares into being in this world. Neptune retrograde will show us any realities we have been hiding from or denying. It sounds harsh, but this is actually a gift. With Neptune we can choose the rose-colored glasses and denial/escapism, or we can choose to actually manifest our desired reality instead. But we cannot manifest our dreams as reality while in denial. If we have been living a lie, we get the opportunity to see this during Neptune’s upcoming retrograde, and do the work necessary on the inside in order to manifest the reality we desire on the outside - not just an illusion. Everything is a reflection. As above, so below, as within, without. Mars has been in Pisces since May 12th, and will move into Aries on June 27th.
Mars is our inner warrior, our fire, our passion, our motivation to go after what we desire and need. Mars represents the divine masculine present in all of us, and our sense of self. Mars helps us stand up for ourselves - it helps us protect and defend. Mars is also our anger and rage. Mars is fiery - we know that fires can be very destructive when running wild, burning up all of the fuel and oxygen available. But a fire in a fire pit or stove can be very useful to us - even necessary, providing warmth, light, and means by which we cook food to sustain ourselves. Pisces is a water sign and the sign of the spirit and subconscious/unconscious. The realm of Pisces can be a confusing place - this is the realm of the unseen. Pisces rules over those places within us that we can't ever quite get a good look at - we know something is there but we can't make out exactly what it is. We get a sense of it, though. When we trust our intuition and what we feel we are sensing and then allow our higher self/imagination to fill in the details, that's when we will get an accurate representation of what we are working with when in the Piscean abyss. It works just like shamanic journeying, past life regression sessions, or dream interpretation, because we are working with our subconscious, and even the collective consciousness. But because Pisces is about dissolving and is so mutable and nonconfrontational, it can be a difficult placement for Mars, which is blunt and assertive. Pisces is represented by two fish swimming in opposite directions. Imagine our warrior Mars, in his heavy armor, knee deep in a stream grasping at elusive fish that keep slipping from his hands and disappearing. This is Mars in Pisces, at least on the surface level. On a deeper level, our inner warrior is getting a spiritual lesson - a lesson about seeing things from a higher perspective, forgiving instead of fighting, and dissolving walls between us instead of building them higher. On an even deeper level, and a more personal one, with Mars in Pisces, we are given an opportunity to face our shadow, personally and collectively, and become aware of that inner warrior within and all of that anger and fight. Although anger is a very appropriate response to situations that threaten us and our loved ones, because anger comes from our inner fire, it can very easily get expressed not so appropriately. Sometimes that fire gets a little out of hand. Yet sometimes we have been told our fire, our anger, is inappropriate when it is absolutely appropriate. We can feel it is not okay to express our anger when it arises, and so we end up stuffing it down. When we do this, we end up turning it on ourselves, because now there is nowhere for it to go and it becomes stagnant inside of us. Now this is not saying necessarily to direct our anger outward, but not allowing it and directing it inward is detrimental as well. Think about the fire and the fire in a container. How does the energy of our very appropriate response of anger and/or assertion, speaking up for ourselves and standing up for ourselves, get channeled and directed in a way that is useful and not destructive? How do we become creators rather than repeating the victim cycle (check out the Karpman Drama Triangle - it is about how we get stuck in a loop of playing victim, perpetrator, and rescuer, only switching roles, until we step out completely into a different dynamic, that of the creator)? How do we stay in our power without needing to control? How do we stay out of projection and blame, yet still stand up for ourselves and still feel heard? This is what we can access and really clean up within ourselves with Mars is in Pisces. Between June 10th and June 16th, Mars will be passing Neptune, ruler of Pisces, sitting at 20 degrees Pisces. This conjunction will be exact on June 12th/13th. This will be the climax of the "Mars in Pisces vibe", and the height of any confusion around direction (Mars rules passion, direction, motivation, self-assertion, and leadership, as well as our ability to protect, defend, and stand up for ourselves.) Pisces is the spirit world, in every sense, Pisces rules both angels and demons, but it is also creativity and inspiration. So while Mars is with Neptune we may feel extra foggy, but once it moves away on the other side of that connection, we may find as the fog clears, we have gained some very valuable insight. Pisces is the sign of unbridled compassion and forgiveness. When we apply Pisces spiritual wisdom to our courageous warrior Mars, we gain the ability to discern and not just fight blindly. Neptune turns direct on June 23rd, just two days before Venus retrograde in Gemini stations direct. Mars leaves Pisces and enters its own sign of Aries on June 27th, just two days after Venus stations direct. Once Mars enters Aries on June 27th, it will be in its own sign through the end of this year, which is an extra long transit for this planet to be anywhere, as its typical transit of any zodiac sign is about two months long. But Mars in its own sign for the entire last half of 2020? Well, that is a lot of fire. With Mars so strong in its own fire sign of Aries from June 27th through the end of this year, doing this work now will only empower our Mars energy, our ability to access it when appropriate, to discern when it is necessary and when it is not, and to consciously and responsibly direct it to serve the greatest good. With Mars in its own sign for such a long time, we are bound to feel upgraded in the motivation, passion, and fire-power departments, as well as the increase in irritability, restlessness, and impulsiveness. With Mars going retrograde while in Aries during this time, we will be given an opportunity to review the Mars energy in our lives whether it is coming from us, or we are on the receiving end, or both, as these two things are actually one and the same. A lot of Mars energy running around with no outlet and unchecked is a lot like a forest fire. A lot of Mars energy harnessed towards a goal - that moves mountains. Friday's full moon is both the culmination of this lunar cycle, which began with the new moon in Gemini on Friday, the 22nd, and the Sagittarius new moon that occurred on November 26th, 2019. To refresh our memories as to the astrological energies around at the Sagittarius new moon last November, here is what was written about it by astrologer Jamie Partridge (www.astrologyking.com):
The full moon eclipse, exact at 1:12 p.m., MDT, is all about beliefs.
At this full moon, the moon (what we are not consciously aware of but becomes the basis of our emotions, thoughts, and behavior) will be in Sagittarius, illuminated by the sun (light of consciousness, awareness, life force) in Gemini. Gemini and Sagittarius form one of the six axes of the zodiac, and as such represent a specific set of polarities in our lives. Gemini represents dualities, the mind, thoughts, words, communication, facts, and opinions, as well as the flexibility, versatility, and adaptability to allow space for all of them, even when they conflict. A negative expression then of Gemini would be lies, deception, and the manipulation of information to our advantage. In the positive, Gemini supports us in seeing situations from new angles and view points, which then gives us access to new solutions. Gemini brings awareness to new information and new perspectives, which is very important because we cannot implement anything in our lives until we have been exposed to the possibility of that option. Bringing our conscious focus to all things Gemini is what this lunar cycle is all about. The North Node of the moon, an astrological point of increase which shows us the pathway forward, the future, destiny, and soul growth, in Gemini as of May 6th into 2022, makes what we are being shown during this current lunar cycle even more important - this is illuminating "where we are growing" over the next two years. (Have you noticed the sudden increase in information and opinions in recent weeks?) Venus is also currently retrograde in Gemini. Venus rules love and money in our lives. On a deeper level, Venus rules our values, self-value, and self-love. It is by way of those things in our inner landscape that Venus is connected to love, money, relationships, and our powers of attraction and our ability to receive in our lives. With Venus retrograde in Gemini, we have the opportunity to dive in and face our shadow, and any pain, anger, shame, guilt, and grief that we carry. By doing so we welcome back to us the parts that get fragmented during painful experiences, and return to a state of wholeness, inherently valuable and powerful. Venus has just reached the heart of her retrograde journey on Wednesday, June 3rd, where she made a conjunction with the sun (sits in the throne room of the king) and attains some form of enlightenment. This is where she finds what she turned back and went looking for. This is the part of the journey where our heroin faces her shadow and is reborn to a new consciousness. For us, this comes just two days before Friday's full moon eclipse in Sagittarius, where the Gemini sun will be illuminating the opposing Sagittarius moon (and in square aspect to Mars). The potential for revelation in regards to at least some of the limiting beliefs we carry and of which we have been unconscious is high. It may not be comfortable, but if we embrace this opportunity and work with it, it could be profoundly healing and liberating. The intensity is high as we build towards Friday's midday eclipse. The more we are willing to look at ourselves, and our internal turmoil, and meet ourselves with acceptance and self-love, the less affected we will be by the chaos around us, and the more we will meet what is outside of us with acceptance and self-love. If we keep turning within, we are less likely to project outside of us. If we keep loving within, the more we will experience love outside of us. Right now Venus is working with this powerful full moon eclipse to support us in clearing out the residue of the past so we can access more love, give more love, receive more love, and BE LOVE. Love, and self-love, is our terra firma now, and from that we build the foundation of beliefs that support the vision of love we wish to create. |
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