A perspective on "the weirdness"

I received this email from a client/friend yesterday:

I was wondering if perhaps you could shed some light on a feeling shared by several people I know – including me. I have had a very difficult time DOING anything productive over the past couple of weeks. I have a houseful for Christmas, and our tree has been naked in its stand for two weeks. I have to push myself to get anything done, preferring the almost hypnotic cocoon of Spider Solitaire to just about any other activity. My daughter has mentioned how lazy she and her husband have been. My friend and her fiancé have been procrastinating preparing their vows for their marriage ceremony on 12/31. It's just weird. I'm not depressed. I'm actually quite happy in spite of all the uncertainty around me. But, I'm just not wanting to do any of my long list of to-do's.

It's a little crazy-making. And it doesn't feel like me. I thought that perhaps you may have some astrological perspective on this weirdness. 

Here is how I responded, in two emails separated by a night's sleep and my morning meditation:

My First Email Response:

If it helps, I've been feeling exactly the same way! Even down to the Spider Solitaire cocoon...

I think it has something to do with being bored with the third dimension. Parts of us, still mostly outside of our conscious mind's ability to perceive, are playing with higher dimensional thought and experience. Our conscious mind is aware enough to know there's new and exciting stuff happening on higher levels of consciousness, but not yet aware enough to participate fully. So everything, even those things we would often enjoy on this earthly plane, can feel dry and uninviting -- something like knowing we can see colors the way bees do, but having to settle for the (still beautiful, but pale-in-comparison) colors that human eyes can see.

Astrologically, it corresponds with the Pluto-Uranus square, with Uranus in Aries representing a strong desire to awaken to higher consciousness, and Pluto in Capricorn representing the powerful attachment to reality that can block that higher awareness.

My Second Email Response:

Good morning! I got a bit more about this in meditation this morning -- not different information, just fleshed out a bit.

It also seems that we are simply tired of the old ways of handling reality. A part of us knows there are more expansive, higher-vibrational ways of utilizing this human existence, and we're just done with the old methods, even though we may not yet be consciously up to speed with the new. Many things that we've always enjoyed and appreciated feel like they're a part of the old, so we are restless and don't feel the same energy around them as we have in the past.

Again, we can see the Pluto-Uranus square at work. The conflict between the urgency to find and embrace the new (Uranus in Aries) vs. the reality that deep transformation takes time (Pluto in Capricorn). It's challenging to find inspiration in what seems like our old world, based on this.

I hope this is helpful!

New Mayan cycle begins December 18

I received an email  yesterday from a reader who recently spent nine days in the Yucatan on an Acupuncturists without Borders World Healing Exchange trip. As part of that trip, they met with Mayan elders. They learned more about the cycles of energy related to the Mayan calendar from a Mayan elder and shaman, Don Bartolome Poot Nahuat. Here's what they found out about where we are, according to the Mayan calendar:

December of 2012 was the end of a cycle. December 2012 through December 2013 is the in-between or "Zero" year. This means that a new cycle begins on December 18, 2013. In particular, Don Bartolome said December 17 is a very significant day -- a day for prayer, and a good day to do ceremony.

On December 17, 2013, the Sun rises and the Moon sets at essentially the same time. (You will need to check what time that is in your local time zone.)

If you want to do a ceremony at that time, Don Bartolome suggested setting out four candles, one in each of the cardinal directions: a red candle in the East, a yellow candle in the South; a black candle in the West, and a white candle in the North. You can also place a green candle in the center, standing in a bowl of water. Outside of the bowl of water, place 2 crystals, one of each side of the bowl in alignment with the Sun and the Moon. The goal is to have the light from the rising sun and setting moon pass through the crystals into the bowl of water.

I appreciated getting this information, and especially hearing that we begin a "One" year this coming week. That feels right to me, especially considering that Uranus goes direct on December 17, another marker of our readiness for forward motion. It's time to move into the next phase of our evolution!

"Surf's Up!" teleclass in January

TELECLASS 
Surf’s Up! 
Riding the waves of the first six months of 2014 
Astrologer Pam Younghans and Wellness Educator Elsie Kerns 

We have a powerful SuperMoon on January 1 to start off our new calendar year. This New Moon is potent not only because of its proximity to Earth, but also because it sets off the energy of the Cardinal Grand Cross that we’ll be working with for much of 2014.

Since the new year begins in such dramatic fashion, it perhaps is not surprising to hear that the planetary influences during the first six months of 2014 will keep us on our toes! The image of a surfboarder is especially appropriate, given that we’ll continually need to adjust our center of gravity to stay in balance as we navigate the ongoing waves of energy and change. Knowing when the big waves are coming, and knowing when we will have calm seas, can help us prepare and ride the waves more effectively.

To learn more about the astrological influences in effect January through June, please join astrologer Pam Younghans and Wellness Educator Elsie Kerns for their 90-minute “Surf’s Up!” teleclass on Thursday, January 9. Among the topics we’ll explore:

• The ongoing Cardinal Grand Cross between Pluto, Uranus, Jupiter and Mars, including the powerful week in April when all four planets are at 13 degrees of their respective sign, and other times when the energy of the grand cross is “triggered” by the Moon and other faster-moving planets 
•  The New and Full Moon energies each month 
• April’s Lunar Eclipse in Libra and Solar Eclipse in Taurus 
• Mars’ retrograde phase in Libra from March 1 to May 9 
• Mercury’s retrograde phases in February and June 

We’ve known for a while that the Pluto-Uranus square is inspiring major changes on global and personal levels. As we ride the waves of the first six months of 2014, we’ll have even more focused opportunities to take risks that help us break free from the limitations of the past.

Imagine how the surfer feels when successfully harnessing the energy of that ocean wave – the sense of empowerment (Pluto), liberation (Uranus), joy (Jupiter) and self-confidence (Mars). This is the reward for taking the risk and utilizing the necessary combination of courage, perfect timing, and trust. This is what we are aiming for!

Here are the class details:

Surf’s Up! Riding the waves of the first six months of 2014 
Astrologer Pam Younghans and Wellness Educator Elsie Kerns 
Thursday, January 9, 2014 
4 to 5:30pm PST | 5 to 6:30pm MST | 6 to 7:30pm CST | 7 to 8:30pm EST

Attend either by phone or online! Your $25 registration fee includes an audio replay of the teleclass and a copy of the slideshow, so even if you cannot attend “live,” you will have access to the class content afterward. To register, please visit http://astrology2014.eventbrite.com.

ISON synchronicities

A reader in Germany wrote this week to find out if I had heard about possible connections between Comet ISON and the Great Comet of 1680 (also called Kirch's Comet and Newton's Comet). Well, no, I hadn't, so I did a little research. Here's what one website said:

The orbit of Comet ISON has an interesting similarity with another bright sungrazing comet, the Great Comet of 1680. The two comets don't have the same orbits, but the similarity between these two bright sungrazers is remarkable. One thing, however, is for sure: they are not the same comet. Comet 1680 is currently 250 AU from the Sun, and isn't due back for 9000 years. But the similarity suggests they have a common origin. Perhaps they are two fragments of a much larger comet?

This possible connection between the two comets was interesting to me, of course, so I drew up a chart for November 14, 1680, which is the day the Great Comet was discovered. And guess what I found? That same month, Uranus and Pluto were exactly square, the same as we are experiencing now. Uranus was in Aries in 1680, the same as now, and Pluto was in Cancer, opposite its current location. That would be another jaw-dropper in my book, to have fragments of the same comet visiting our inner space at the time we are experiencing similar configurations of Pluto and Uranus. Both are rare events, and here they overlap twice in history -- in addition to the fact mentioned in my journal last week, about the other "ISON-like" comet that came through our solar system in the mid-1960s, when Pluto and Uranus were conjunct. Seems like there's some sort of plan at work, wouldn't you say?

The online list of historical events for 1680 is fairly sparse, sadly, so it's hard to find much else that we might find common to then and now. But, given that the Pluto-Uranus square has to do with unexpected changes, weather, and uprisings, it is interesting that 1680 was the year of the Pueblo Rebellion, when the Pueblo Indians joined forces with the Apaches to overthrow Spanish rule in New Mexico. It's also interesting that every timeline I researched included the item that "The first confirmed tornado in America kills a servant at Cambridge, Massachusetts." Clearly, early settlers were experiencing dramatic weather events that were surprising in nature -- why else would that fact of one tornado and one servant's death make it on the list of most important events for the year?

Just some interesting synchronicities to think about. And, a beautiful photo of Comet ISON "plunging into the sunrise beside Mt. Fuji on November 22" (photo by Japanese photographer Kagaya, posted on Spaceweather.com):

Past or future?

I got this email today, in response to the question of futures and comets:

I'm a bit perplexed about the notion that comet ISON, or any body visible to us would be carrying energy of a future time or self, because the light we are now able to see was actually emitted quite a while back. Counter-intuitive to my mental setup. Can you elucidate?

Here's what I wrote back:

I agree, it all kind of feels confusing. I hope this explains my reasoning:

A body is out in space projecting light that usually gets to us a year later. If that body gets closer to the Earth, its light will reach us more quickly. So, if before it has been ahead of us (similar to being on Universal Time) but then draws closer to us (say, on Pacific Time), it is drawing what was our future into our awareness sooner than before. Does that make any sense?

It make not make literal sense, but I think symbolically it works. Kind of like all of astrology...

Thanks for asking!

On comets and futures

As mentioned in today's NorthPoint Journal, we have four comets currently gracing our pre-dawn skies. Here's a collage of all four, courtesy of the Sormano Astronomical Observatory in Italy:

I also mentioned that I would write a simple visualization to use for calling in our future selves... It's wonderful that we have the comet images to guide us, since they so clearly bring a light toward us from far away.

I would start with that visual, imagining that the light of one of these comets is the aspect of your future self that you most want to integrate into your Now. It could be a part of you that has healed a wound (on any level); a part of you that understands the reasons for current events; a part of you that has released an issue or a relationship; a part of you that ________ (fill in the blank). All that matters is that you can clearly sense that the comet image is actually the light from that future self coming toward you.

When you are comfortable and ready to do so, invite that light to enter your energy field, and let it fill your aura, then your physical body, to the cellular level, and into the spaces between your cells. Call on this light to dissolve and remove all darkness and blockages that represent or hold the energy of the current challenge, that this future self has resolved or healed. And, acknowledge and invite your future self to fully integrate with you on all levels -- physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

Sit in this light for as long as you want, and repeat this exercise as much as you want. It should feel good, and the more you do it, the more your present self can hold and integrate that energy and knowing of your future self.

I hope this is helpful!

Blessings, Pam

Overwhelm

The past three weeks, we've worked with the energy of two eclipses, our fourth Pluto-Uranus square, amplified Sun activity with multiple X-class flares, Comet Ison moving inside Earth's orbit and growing brighter, and now this new asteroid with six tails being seen for the first time:

Is it any wonder we're feeling some overwhelm? It feels a bit like walking a path on the side of a steep mountain, wary of the hazards of not paying attention, but starting to feel exhausted from continuously paying attention... A part of me wonders -- what if this is like the Fool card in the tarot, where the young lad and his dog step off into the air and trust what happens next? What does that mean, to step off into the air, in real-life terms?

 

Not so many answers yet, but maybe some of these are the right questions to be asking.