Mercury is half way through its retrograde cycle now, and made his inferior conjunction to the sun this morning. This point in the cycle, where he is so close to the sun that he disappears from sight as he makes his mythological journey through the underworld, is the time where he symbolically enters the royal chamber (represented by the sun) and can ask for knowledge and insight. The first part of the retrograde cycle leading to this moment, was for reviewing, reexamining, and rethinking. The nature of this retrograde cycle is Libra, so communication (represented by Mercury) has been up for review in partnerships (Libra). (This could also mean rethinking a partnership altogether.) Right on the heels of the recent eclipse showdown between Aries and Libra, with Venus still not fully finished with her journey to empowerment and before the fresh start of the new moon in the sign of partnerships (coming up on October 12th), this is a perfect opportunity to review and take stock of how you’re relating, especially by looking under the surface of your communications to the beliefs and feelings that drive them. Libra says balance, harmony and cooperation, but there’s also strong energy right now supporting valuing the self and personal empowerment. This speaks of being authentic, but being consciously aware of your shadows – in this case those wounds or stories or learned dysfunctional ways of communicating – so you can communicate and relate in a healthy way. This is a good time to notice where your wounds might be speaking for you without your realizing it. Think back to the last time you told someone you loved them. Go back to that moment and be there, in that moment, and make the memory vivid. Once in the moment, scan your body and take note of whatever was happening at that moment. What were you feeling? Take some time with it. Pay attention to any sensations in the body – a clenched jaw, a pit in your stomach, a tightness in your chest, a buzzing or warm feeling – just go back as an objective observer and see what you notice. When you said those three little words, what was happening? What prompted you to say it? Did you feel like you were so full of love for that other person in that moment that it spilled out into your vocal expression, or were the words coming from a hollow, empty place that you were hoping that other would fill for you? Did you care if they acknowledged what you had shared? Did you care if they responded? Did you say it with expectation of a certain response? Did you say it in an effort to elicit a certain response from your loved one? Did you say it out of obligation? What was the feeling in your body when you said it, and can you identify what that feeling was? What was their response and what was your feeling around that? Were you full of love and sharing that love? If their response fell short of an expectation you were holding, what did you feel then? Did feelings of hurt or disappointment bubble up? Or maybe it was anger, masking the hurt underneath? If big emotions came bubbling up then you may have run up against an old unresolved wound. This is called being “triggered” meaning something in the present has brought up an old emotional reaction from a past experience. If you are communicating in order to elicit a certain reaction that you want from another, then you may be relying on others to fill your emotional needs. You essentially are giving your power away to another and voluntarily becoming dependent on their emotional support. The key here is the awareness that we are each responsible for our own emotions. We always have a choice, and we are always responsible for our own emotional needs. We learn bad habits of relating, we have wounds and stories that can blind us from seeing this truth while we are stuck in victim mode, but we are powerful creators. Energetically, Mercury’s retrograde is a cue to slow down in our communications with significant ones in our lives so that we might reevaluate our patterns of relating. We can use this time to bring conscious awareness to our habits in self-expression and communication. With every communication, every text, every phone call, every “I love you”, take the time to stop and think about your motives for what you are relating. Are you reacting? Are you saying it out of habit, mindlessly? Are you filling an obligation? Do you truly feel what you are saying or are you just going through the motions because it’s the “right thing to say”? Are you trying to elicit a certain response? Do you have an attachment to a certain response or getting a response? If you’re sharing how you are feeling, is it with pure intent to share yourself or clouded by other motives? Is there a way you would like to choose to communicate that is different than your normal way? Are you noticing any patterns you have you might want to release? A great tool for understanding relating patterns is the Karpman Drama Triangle. This breaks down how we can habitually relate to our partners from a victim stance, and how our communications sound when they are coming from that place. It’s all about power, responsibility and vulnerability. With the astrological influences of late focusing on taking responsibility and becoming more empowered, and Mercury’s journey now enabling us to shine a light on how we communicate and relate in one on one situations, this can be a powerful tool for developing awareness and moving towards consciously creating our life experiences. The victim has three aspects – victim, persecutor and rescuer. In a conversation, each person (both playing the victim role) will rotate between the three positions. Here’s an example of how this dialogue plays out: In this scenario where everyone is playing the victim, no one is taking responsibility and the two people are trapped in this pattern. The way out is to switch from the role of victim to the role of creator. This is the empowerment triangle. The roles of the creator are survivor, challenger and coach. So now there is personal responsibility and accountability but with this comes freedom to break out of the cycle, because the creator is acknowledging that he has choices and the power to create a different reality by making different choices. This is a new way of relating, of being in the world, from the victim stance. This is expressing from a place of love rather than fear. This is being responsible for your own emotions, so that you aren’t overly attached to certain responses. This is the freedom and power to authentically express yourself and truly connect with those significant people in your life. This is knowing what is true for you, but being so strong in that truth that you can allow others their truth as well. The energies of late have asked us to confront some of the more uncomfortable and hidden parts of ourselves in order to value ourselves so that we may stand fully in our power. Now standing more fully in our authenticity, Mercury retrograde has encouraged us to take a closer look at communications and relating. Once we have gained awareness, we can choose what actions we can take in our daily lives to create a new way of being. By doing this, we take yet another step in consciously creating the life that we desire. As the energy from the big eclipse on Sunday evening dissipates and the moon begins its waning cycle, we now have the opportunity to examine what information we’ve been given about this theme of self and partnership and how it has shown up in our lives. Over the next two weeks we can identify and release old habits and patterns of relating.
How can we integrate these two seemingly opposing ideas of self and relationship in our lives? Since this eclipse series began in April 2014, what have you discovered about your relationship with yourself and how is that coming up in relationship? Our relationships are mirrors. They serve to show us what needs work within ourselves. What patterns within yourself have you noticed? A key theme running parallel with this eclipse and supporting this energy is the theme of Venus retrograde which is ultimately about claiming your personal power. This fits into the theme of the Aries-Libra eclipse because Aries is asking for each person to step into their personal power and honor self. By becoming aware of and accepting your less desirable aspects, or the shadow self, you honor your whole self. This is the journey of Venus retrograde. We all have these shadow aspects and they are necessary and valuable. You cannot have the light of the sun without it casting a shadow, just like you cannot have creation without destruction. The end result of confronting the shadow self is acknowledging the whole self and its innate value so that you can take responsibility for yourself and step fully into your own power. If you are consciously creating, you can choose to step into your personal power or give it away with nearly every breath you take. Every thought, every reaction, every interaction, every situation, and every communication throughout your day is an opportunity to choose to come from a place of personal power. Where are you giving your power away? There are many ways we give away our power. If you find yourself saying something like “he/she made me feel”, that’s a clue that you’re giving away your power. You’ve just acknowledged verbally that you relinquished your power by allowing your state of being to be determined by someone else; being in your power means taking responsibility for your emotions. Taking personal responsibility emotionally sounds like, “when you did X, I felt Y”. This also gives you a lot more freedom in the situation to choose your reality. Allowing others or outside influences to determine your state of being is playing the role of the victim. The victim mentality consistently gives up personal power by placing the responsibility elsewhere. When the victim role or archetype is active then there is blame and it’s always “out there’; it’s always the other person or the situation that is at fault for the victim’s experience. Less than desirable experiences can and do happen to all of us, but in the end only you can be responsible for your emotions. By taking responsibility, you reclaim your power and your freedom. You are once again ruling your reality. There are also a lot of habitual thinking patterns that erode your power by giving energy away. Over-identifying with labels and allowing them to define you (such as a medical diagnosis), complaining, over-explaining, worrying, venting, ruminating, replaying conversations in your head, and gathering allies are all ways of giving away your power. When you are overly attached to a specific outcome, you also give away your power, because once again you are allowing your state of being to be determined by something outside of you. Being in your personal power is like being grounded firmly in the center of who you are, in your uniqueness, and consciously choosing to create each moment. You may not have a choice about everything that comes into your life, but you work from the premise that you are always creating your own reality by being aware of your beliefs and choosing your thoughts which in turn affect your emotions and behavior. In this way you are accountable and responsible for your own emotional state. Because you’ve acknowledged those shadow parts buried deep within and have accepted them as a valid part of you, you’ve done the work that brings the awareness of patterns that may not serve the reality you want to create. With this awareness comes a huge amount of personal power and it is the key to your freedom. With this new sense of self, and value of self, you now have the ability to be in tune with your needs. You know that valuing yourself and honoring your needs is the only way you will have a foundation from which to offer value to others. Aries says the foundation is you, the self. Aries says make sure the foundation is strong and true. Aries says that there is a certain amount of “selfishness” that is necessary for your well-being and the well-being of your relationships. But actually rather than selfishness, it’s self-responsibility. Aries says in order to be responsible for yourself you must know yourself and know your needs. Aries says take positive action to meet your own needs consistently. Aries says you are the sovereign ruler of your own personal kingdom or queendom – all you have to do is step up and take your crown by taking responsibility for yourself. This crown signifies your value of self and is a symbol of the power you’ve claimed. You are standing in your center, in your truth, now, and from this place you rule your life, creating your reality. You trust yourself and you know what is right for you and what is not and you speak and act accordingly. You always come from a place of truth and speak your truth. Once you have honored the self and are coming from a place of valuing yourself fully, standing firmly in the center of your personal truth, you can then take that new way of being into your partnerships. In this way, instead of having self and partnership battling against each other, you can successfully integrate the self into the relationship. Rather than entering into relationship from a place of emotional dependency, expecting (most likely unconsciously) the other to fill a need for you, you are already whole. Then when you enter relationship, you do it with healthy boundaries and the concept of interdependence, in the true Libran spirit of equal partnership, collaboration, and cooperation. This is the resolution of the Aries-Libra dilemma that has been brought up by this weekend’s eclipse. Aries asks you to value yourself and take responsibility for yourself so that from that strong centered foundation you may enter into true partnership, which is Libra’s strongest desire. The question is, are you ready to step into your truth, take responsibility and claim your crown to rule your life like the King or Queen you truly are? Now is the time to examine your shadows - have courage and take a good look at your patterns of relating with others and with yourself. Notice whether you value yourself or devalue yourself and see how you give away your power. With your new awareness, you can acknowledge and release your old way of being, claim your rightful place ruling your life, and choose a new way being and relating.
The full moon eclipse in Aries will occur tomorrow evening. Energetically, we’ve been building for some time now to this crescendo, and astrologically, there are several major players that have been contributing. You may have noticed the presence of this change energy strongly in your life of late.
The main theme involves self-work and letting go of outdated patterns and beliefs and in general what is no longer serving in your life, in order to begin a new way of being that is more empowered and authentic, and it’s happening in the area of significant relationships. This started back in late 2012 when Saturn moved into Scorpio. In general, this is the energy of the Saturn – the teacher, Lord of Karma – churning through Scorpio’s deep waters. This would’ve brought deep psychological patterns or issues up for review and healing. Just last week, he passed through the final degree of Scorpio and finally made it into Sagittarius, which will provide a much lighter and more expansive atmosphere for our lessons. This could play out over the next couple of years with more focus being put on expanding our belief systems and incorporating more of a world view. Sagittarius focuses on higher learning, philosophy, and expansion. So think back about your life from late 2012 until now and see if you can pinpoint what you’ve uncovered psychologically that now could lend itself to a broader view of the world and how your belief systems are shifting. The area of life this has played out in is personal to you and is determined by what houses Saturn has been and will be transiting for you. In April 2014, at the same time we had the Grand Cardinal Cross, fueled by the ongoing battle of the Uranus-Pluto square (a ninety degree angle) that had seven exact hits in 2013 and 2014, we had our first blood moon full moon eclipse in a series of four on the Aries/Libra axis. Uranus the planet of freedom and unpredictable change, and Pluto, the Great Destroyer, planet of power and transformation were already forming a tense aspect, and then the Grand Cardinal Cross brought Mars and Jupiter into the mix with all four planets creating a sort of intersection as they squared off against each other. A square is the aspect two planets make when they are at a right angle to each other and it’s can present obstacles in our lives as the planets’ energies oppose each other. This planetary standoff was the stage for the the first eclipse of this current series, and the final and fourth one is happening tomorrow, September 27th. The sun and moon opposing along the Aries/Libra axis means self versus relationship. Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, fiery, maybe with a selfish impulsive streak. Libra is all about balance and partnership. The first eclipse was about breaking patterns in relationships, but also, being in Libra, finding equilibrium in the relationship. The second eclipse occurred October 2014 and this time was in Aries. This one was about new beginnings, taking action and being in your power. Maybe you were finding a new way of being in life at this time. The third eclipse was once again in Libra, emphasizing self-love within our partnerships and releasing old beliefs and patterns in our love lives. This was in April 2015. And tomorrow we have the final eclipse, with the moon in Aries. This is the culmination. What patterns have you come to realize in your relationships? What is it that you need to release now? Where do you need to step into your power? This eclipse in Aries has a “Phoenix” type energy. Where has the self become lost in the relationship? How can you empower yourself? Can it happen within the framework of the relationship or maybe not? Once again, looking at what houses of your personal birth chart the sun and moon are now falling in would give you an idea of what areas of your life could be at odds with this. On July 25th, 2015, Venus went retrograde. This, I feel, forms the core of this astrology along with the eclipse cycle. Venus goes retrograde every eight years, so this may have brought up a theme from the last time this occurred, in 2007. When Venus goes retrograde, she makes a celestial journey, beginning in her evening star or love goddess aspect, traveling very close to the sun (and therefore out of view from Earth) and then returning in the morning sky as her morning star aspect, the warrior goddess. She began her journey on July 25th, and turned direct on September 6th. She will be out of the shadow phase of her retrograde on October 9th, so that will be really when this energy fully dissipates. The Sumerian myth of Inanna’s Descent explains the retrograde journey of Venus. Inanna leaves her kingdom in the hands of her consort in order to journey to the underworld to visit her sister. She dresses in the seven garments of civilization and as she goes through the seven gates of the underworld she must remove them one at a time. These represent the seven chakras. They are also representative of all of her power in the civilized world. Those things mean nothing in the depths of the underworld however. She is stripped bare and vulnerable upon entering and then is attacked by her sister and left on meat hooks to die. She is there for three days before her servant’s pleas are heard and she is restored to life. Now having been to the depths of the underworld to confront her shadows, having died and been reborn, she is fierce. In order to leave the underworld she must find someone to take her place. She decides on her consort who has not been concerned with her absence and has been engrossed in ruling her kingdom as his own. Inanna leaves her kingdom on a spiritual quest. She confronts her shadows and fears and then is given new life by her higher self. Ultimately she has a new consciousness. She has slain her personal demons and maybe we could say that her ego has died, so now she does not fear death. She returns to her life whole unto herself and stepping fully into her power with knowledge of both her light and her dark, having one aspect of herself die in order for a new one to be reborn like the Phoenix. That analogy, taken with the culmination of the eclipse series on the Aries/Libra axis ending with the moon in Aries, speaks of taking ones power back and honoring those principles of Aries: new beginnings, a healthy selfishness, self-love, and courage. Saturn through Scorpio from 2012 until just recently was the part of the journey in which we confronted our shadows. And in support of this transformative work, the Great Destroyer and Change God Pluto enters the mix. Lord of the Underworld himself. I always get an image of a great dark gray wrecking ball rolling slowly through, moving so slowly, but nothing can stop it. Pluto is transformation. He tests. He will only allow that which is real and true to remain. Anything shaky, flimsy, fake, inauthentic, or not built on a solid foundation will go down. Pluto takes the most time to transit any sign or house, and as he moves through these, they will be felt as major life phases. He’s currently transiting Capricorn, but once again on a personal level you would need to see what house he is transiting in your natal chart to see in what area of life this is affecting you. Pluto went retrograde in April and turned direct yesterday. Planets never actually move backwards, as retrograde would suggest, but they appear to slow, stall or move backwards from Earth. A retrograde is a time for review, for reevaluation. Over the summer, Pluto slowed things way down and gave us a chance to reevaluate something in our lives. We were given time to dig down deep and maybe do personal work or see patterns in our lives we wanted to change. This gave us a final push to complete the work we had begun with Saturn in Scorpio, in order to prepare for the September full moon eclipse that will be the final astrological event pushing us into a new way of being. In addition to this, just last week on September 18th, Mercury began its final retrograde cycle of the year in the sign of Libra. This is generally interpreted as the energies of Mercury (the messenger, planet of communications and technology), being slowed or stalled. This is a time to slow down. Don’t rush. Take things slow. And the focus is Libra – sign of balance, harmony, and close partnerships, further highlighting the theme of the eclipses. Pay attention to your communications in close relationships. Review your communications with significant others – review your reasons for communicating, how you communicate and your patterns of relating. Understand your reactions. Understand your motives. This chance to take a closer look at your self supports the Phoenix rebirth and empowerment vibe set up by the other astrology, and compliments the self-examination being called for by Saturn and Pluto. Finally, today Mars entered Virgo. This is a supportive influence that puts plans into action. You’ve done the deep work on yourself, confronted shadows, realized where fears were holding you back, healed old trauma or maybe uncovered belief systems you weren’t conscious of that weren’t supportive of the reality you wanted. You identified what was no longer serving and needed to be released. You examined yourself in relationship and evaluated what the self needs and what the partnership needs. You are evaluating your ways of relating and communicating. You are now on the brink of completely releasing the old so that the new might be born. Anytime you do the psychological work of changing a deeply held belief, it isn’t “set” until you actually take action in the real world based on the new belief. Beliefs are the foundation of your thoughts, which create your emotions, which shape your behavior. Your behavior (the actions you take in the world) reflects your beliefs. Mars in Virgo supports us in taking action in the world based on our new beliefs. Tomorrow is the full moon eclipse in Aries – the final push to finally release the old so that you may step fully into the new. What will your Phoenix rebirth look like? What is your vision for your life moving forward? Venus will move out of her shadow phase on October 9th, symbolizing her full return as sovereign ruler of her queendom, followed by Mercury turning direct and moving our communications forward on October 10th, and then the new moon follows on October 12th in Libra. New moons are fresh new beginnings and this one, appropriately after all of this Aries/Libra action, occurs in the area of partnerships and significant relationships. Our journey has been one of self-examination and discovery, finding our true selves, and burning up what no longer serves in our lives. Now that we have a strong foundation in our authenticity, we are given the chance to begin anew. We can now take that new strong sense of self and forge new ways of relating with others. We can rise, like the Phoenix, reborn into a new way of being in the world.
I am a huge fan of astrology. My fascination with the subject started early in life and I am still learning. This subject is so vast I will always be learning. I am not an astrologer, but in my years of following the subject and studying it, I have come to appreciate its value as a guide for evaluating the energy of any specific period, much like an energetic weather forecast. In addition, I have found value in being aware of astrological influences more specifically as they relate to my life, as what I have found to be an accurate indicator of basic tendencies, in what areas of life challenges might be faced, and life phases. And my love of myth and archetypes just fuels this fire as astrology is deeply intertwined with these stories, and a valuable means to deepening our understanding of the energies at play.
My view of astrology is a barometer of greater energies at play in our lives. Just as we know all things are made of energy in our world, and we know that the seasons will change and spring brings a different energy than summer than does winter, planetary movements bring a certain energy of their own. Night brings a different energy than day and morning a different energy than evening. We know that the moon controls the tides, and that our bodies are 75% water, so would we then accept that the moon could have an effect on us? Do you feel differently around the new moon than the full moon? Many people report more energy and sleeplessness in the 3 days leading up to a full moon. There have been studies exploring the link between the full moon and an increase in crime. The study of astrology is thousands of years old and there are two different schools. Jyotish or Vedic astrology differs from western astrology in that the position of the planets in the sky are calculated differently, and the mythology follows the Vedic tradition rather than the predominantly Greek mythology most of us are accustomed to in astrology. Both are valid and can provide us with useful information for examining our lives. I have a much better understanding of western astrology than Jyotish, so I will be referring to that in my writings. In general, the birth or natal chart is a map of the sky at the moment you were born. On the eastern horizon is your ascendant. The ascendant line is the beginning of your “rising sign” and this determines where the houses fall in your chart. There are twelve signs that we are familiar with from the constellations in the sky – Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. Out of a 360 degree circle, then each sign is 30 degrees. In addition there are the twelve houses, also each 30 degrees. The ascendant’s placement in the sky based on time, date and location of birth determines where the first house will begin. The ascendant line is always the beginning of the first house, which represents the identity of the self, but the moment of birth determines its placement in the signs which “flavors” it, so to speak. Each of the twelve houses represents an area of life, and following them in order represents a journey of sorts. The houses and their areas of life are as follows:
Then there are the planetary placements in each sign and house based on the time of birth. Each planet rules one or more signs and houses. As you probably know, certain characteristics are assigned to each astrological sign, and an area of life as listed above is assigned to each house. The planets are assigned specific attributes as well, and combining these meanings and how they are relating to each other in a natal chart and at any given time is how interpretations of the energies are made. According to the authors Jan Spiller and Karen McCoy in the book Spiritual Astrology, the planets represent the ten basic internal urges we experience as humans, with an urge being defined as the desire to express or experience a specific energy; the signs represent the way in which you are predispositioned to expressing that urge or the way in which you need to express that urge; and the houses represent the area of life in which you would experience the energy of the expression represented by the planet and sign. The natal chart gives a road map of the individual’s tendencies and where one may find roadblocks in life or exceed. As planets move through the signs, we can get an idea of what energies might be at play for everyone. Looking to your own chart to see what house they are falling in will show you what area of life a certain energy might be at play. Planets move at different speeds through signs and houses based on how close they are to the earth. We start with the sun (yes a star and yes we are revolving around it but for astrological purposes we begin here) and then go moon, mercury, Venus, mars, Jupiter. These are the personal planets. Most of us are familiar with how the sun moves through the signs – that’s the standard horoscopes that you would read online or in the paper – the sun sign. The moon represents emotions and moves much more quickly, moving through a sign every couple of days. Mercury is also fairly quick-moving, the God of Communication, and so on and so forth until we get to Saturn. Saturn is like a bridge between the closer, faster moving “personal planets” and the outer planets Neptune, Uranus and Pluto. Saturn takes a little over two years, on average, to transit each 30 degree sign and house. The outer lying planets take much longer as they are farther out from earth and as they roll through each house of one’s birth chart can represent significant life phases. And here’s my point. Astrology can be a wonderful tool for self-examination and understanding greater energies at play in your life. There is no need for it to be the end-all-be-all and taken as a concrete forecast for what’s happening in your life. I believe it can be a very useful as a jumping off point to become aware of patterns you may be running unconsciously or flowing with certain energies that are manifesting themselves in your daily life. More often than not you already have some awareness of these things, but astrology can bring it to the forefront of your consciousness for more in depth evaluation so you are consciously working with what’s at play. In the book, Astology Karma & Transformation, Stephen Arroyo says, “Astrology, by providing us with a blueprint of our attachments, problems, talents, and mental tendencies, offers us a way – an initial step – of not only realizing in a specific sense exactly what our karma is and helping us to work with these confrontations within and without, but also a way of beginning to rise above and gain a perspective on this karma.” He also states, “The (astrological) chart…shows our mind patterns, our past conditioning, the mental impressions and….The chart shows what we are now because of what we have thought and done in the past. These age-old, deeply-entrenched patterns are not easily changed….It is not a simple matter to change powerful habit patterns merely through the application of a bit of old-fashioned ‘will power’….And the attempt to rationalize one’s conflicts and spiritual crises out of existence will only dam the flow of the life energies for a short while, quickly followed by a torrential release of power that starkly reveals the shallowness of pseudo-spiritual escapism….Those habits are not going to fade away overnight following a short positive-thinking pep-talk. These life forces must be accepted, acknowledged, and paid due attention.” In hypnotherapy, one of my main goals is guiding clients to uncovering their own deeply held and entrenched beliefs that are influencing their mind patterns and thoughts, which are in turn influencing their behavior and therefore their experience in this world. When someone identifies something in their life they would like to change, many times we can find at the root a thinking pattern based on a belief that is no longer serving them and then take steps to make changes on the inside, starting with beliefs and thinking patterns that will later reflect in a different experience in their lives. Astrology can be just one of the tools one can use to help shed light on your tendencies and patterns in life, helping to bring about understanding of oneself and provoking self-examination in order to provide a stepping stone on the path to creating the life you want consciously. |
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