 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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Kasey Ford, Soul-Aligned Love & Life Mentor to Women
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