Say yes to the process

For those who participated in my teleclass back in January, this card will look familiar:

This was the card I pulled for the month of April, and it certainly represents the energies we're already feeling. It's from the Osho Zen tarot deck, entitled "Thunderbolt," and here's the interpretation:

The card shows a tower being burned, destroyed, blown apart. A man and a woman are leaping from it not because they want to, but because they have no choice. In the background is a transparent, meditating figure representing the witnessing consciousness.

You might be feeling pretty shaky right now, as if the earth is rocking beneath your feet. Your sense of security is being challenged, and the natural tendency is to try to hold on to whatever you can. But this inner earthquake is both necessary and tremendously important -- if you allow it, you will emerge from the wreckage stronger and more available for new experiences.

After the fire, the earth is replenished; after the storm the air is clear. Try to watch the destruction with detachment, almost as if it were happening to somebody else. Say yes to the process by meeting it halfway.

It is this last sentence that continues to reverberate in my thoughts: "Say yes to the process by meeting it halfway." I've been considering how to best do that in my own life -- it at least involves being willing to embrace change, consciously letting go of attachment to the old ways, even physically doing a cleanse (either of the body or the environment). With each step we take in the direction of a positive change, we are participating in the process instead of just waiting for it to find us.

I also very much appreciate that the interpretation draws our attention to the background figure on the card, the "transparent, meditating figure representing the witnessing consciousness." It reminds us that we always have the choice to step into the higher perspective and to understand events from a place of Greater Knowing. It is also important to notice that although the meditating figure is "in the background," it is actually the most predominant feature on the card.

Flower essence support

With the rollercoaster ride we're currently on, more than ever we need to take advantage of all the energetic support that is available to us. Nature is one of our primary support systems -- we all know that just taking a walk through the woods can have a powerfully positive effect on our well-being.

For years, I've worked with various flower essences, some more to my liking than others. A few months ago, I was introduced to Green Hope Farm flower essences (based in New Hampshire), and I cannot say enough good things about them. They feel very pure (no alcohol), and I have felt their energetic support in many many ways.

If you're new to flower essences, here's an excerpt from the "What Are Flower Essences?" page of their website (http://www.greenhopeessences.com/what.html):

"Flower Essences are energetic tools. They offer us information of an energetic nature. We experience them energetically and use them in our energetic systems, something I also refer to as our electrical systems. Because Flower Essences offer their immense healing gifts energetically, there are none of the drawbacks of chemical medicine, yet the same healing information as chemicals can be conveyed. Our electrical systems read the data of a Flower Essence much as we might read a road map. If our electrical systems recognize that a Flower Essence offers a problem solving technique for a problem we have, our electrical systems will copy and use this electrical information to solve our problems. There is no involuntary chemical interaction that may lead to unpleasant side effects. Instead, our electrical systems use the same discerning skills they have always used to decide whether the Flower Essence is something useful or something we don’t need."

To read short descriptions of many of their flower essences, you can access a pdf at http://www.greenhopeessences.com/Documents/ShortDefinitions.pdf. Of course, their book with lengthier descriptions is very helpful as well, and available free by sending Green Hope Farm an email. You can also use the search tool on the "Finding and Choosing a Flower Essence" page to search for specific flowers or specific issues or conditions you want to work on (http://www.greenhopeessences.com/search.html).

If I sound enthusiastic about this place and these products, I am! One essence I am particularly fond of is Pyrola Elliptica, for dream work. After many years of only remembering my dreams sporadically, this flower essence has opened the doors of my unconscious and brought my dream images into my awareness on a much more consistent basis.

If you feel drawn to working with these flower essences, I hope you will share your experience with me.

Blessings, Pam

Enforced Pisces week

Having spent the greater portion of this past week in bed, fighting some sort of mega bug, I can see in retrospect how my experience fits into the amplified Pisces energies we've just come through.

My Moon is in Virgo, giving me many qualities for which I am grateful -- but also providing me with a large dose of "you're only valuable when you're working" mentality. My Moon happens to be at the 12th degree of Virgo, so is being transited this year by most of the outer planets.

In particular this past week, as Venus and Mercury aligned in Pisces exactly opposite my Moon, it appears the intention was to make me take a break, even if it took the form of a lot of physical discomfort. For five days I had no brain for work, no desire to be at the computer, no energy to put into anything other than self-care.

Now that I am finally seeing light at the end of the symptoms tunnel, and have some hints that I actually will be healthy again (which always feels improbable when we're in the midst of feeling bad), I need to remember this lesson about downtime -- especially since my Moon will continue to poked and prodded throughout 2013.

Completion

With so many planets in Pisces right now (six at last count: Neptune, Chiron, Venus, Mercury, Sun and Mars), it makes sense that we would be in a time of completion, given that Pisces is the 12th and final sign of the zodiac.

And, appropriately, the card I pulled for the month of March is called Completion. Here is the image, from the Osho Zen Tarot deck:


















The interpretation of this card reads:

Here, the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle is being put into its place, the position of the third eye, the place of inner perception.

Even in the ever-changing flow of life there are moments in which we come to a point of completion. In these moments we are able to perceive the whole picture, the composite of all the small pieces that have occupied our attention for so long. In the finishing, we can either be in despair because we don't want the situation to come to an end, or we can be grateful and accepting of the fact that life is full of endings and new beginnings.

Whatever has been absorbing our time and energy is now coming to an end. In completing it, we will be clearing the space for something new to begin. Use this interval to celebrate both - the end of the old and the coming of the new.

It feels like this completion is mostly taking place before the Equinox on March 20, when the Sun enters Aries. That day marks the beginning of a powerful last 11 days of the month, when we will be working with four planets (Venus, Sun, Uranus and Mars) all in alignment in Aries. Sounds like "full speed ahead" to me!

Managing Mercury retrograde

I've been reading astrologer Greg Bogart's latest book, Planets in Therapy, and came across his advice for working with Mercury retrograde just last night -- very timely, since Mercury goes retrograde tomorrow!

Using Mr. Bogart's guidelines and our current Mercury transits, here are some dates to consider:

This week, as Mercury slows to a standstill:

"Some unresolved issue or problem begins to occupy our attention."

Early next week, as Mercury begins its retrograde phase:

"We begin searching for a solution to this problem. Life seems busier, and we often feel more worry and tension. Know that a solution or clarification will emerge at the right moment. Now is the time to think about the issue, research it, gather new information, read, and make provisional notes. At this stage, don't try to organize your thoughts into a coherent or definitive decision, statement, or piece of writing. Simply try to get things moving and get the ideas flowing."

March 4, at the Mercury-Sun inferior conjunction:

"Our minds become clearer and full of ideas. Flashes of insight or new solutions to problems emerge into consciousness. We can contain the intensity of this period by focusing on mercurial tasks: thinking, writing, taking care of the small details of life, gathering information, and trying to shape our ideas into a clearer, more lustrous form. Mental powers are at their peak. It's common to be incredibly busy and preoccupied with our own affairs."

From March 4 to March 17, when Mercury stations direct:

"A time for re-evaluating, reconsidering, and reviewing all decisions or lines of thinking or analysis that emerged around March 4. Now we can edit, revise, and reshape our work into a structure that's appropriate for the task at hand. This is the time to bring a piece of writing, research, or a decision to a conclusion and to shape it into its clearest form of expression."

May 11, at the Mercury-Sun superior conjunction:

"Now, we presumably see the results of the new way of thinking or the decision reached around March 4."

It will be interesting to watch this particular Mercury retrograde period and put these guidelines to use. Let me know how it goes!

Meteor!

I received this question from one of my clients "down under" this morning:

"I am wondering, as I am sure many of us are: What effect does a meteor have on us metaphysically or astrologically?"

Meteors pose a special challenge for astrologers, in that we cannot use the usual scientific techniques to study them. Some may find it interesting (or laughable!) to quantify astrology as a "science," but it is based on studying the same kind of empirical evidence that scientific research regularly uses.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines empirical evidence as "a source of knowledge acquired by means of observation or experimentation." When a new celestial body is discovered, as Chiron was in 1977, astrologers immediately add it to charts and start watching how it plays out in people's lives. There are immediate ways to start interpreting the meaning and effect of a new "planet," based on the symbology of the name, for instance -- but much of our knowing of its impact is gathered by watching its effects over time.

When it comes to meteors that fall to earth, they are extremely short-lived events, and so we cannot study them in the same way we can other celestial influences that have cycles we can observe. Even many comets, which are fairly fleeting in their direct interaction with our planet, have orbits and cycles we can use to help us understand their purposes.

In many ways, we can interpret the general impact of a meteor strike to be similar to an earthquake, which causes large or small disturbances in the energy field of the planet and her peoples. In that way, a meteor is not so much a harbinger of change as the instrument through which energy fields are changed to allow shifts to occur.

If you've ever been in an accident that involved impact, or had an emotional shock, you know about the effects of these types of experiences -- almost as if your soul is jolted out of your body, and takes a while to re-integrate. I think we can look at the impact of the recent meteor that exploded over Russia in the same way.

Certainly, for those people directly impacted by the blast and the energy waves that were created, they are dealing with the same sort of effect as having been in a fall or other accident. Their energy fields have been changed, and as they re-integrate over time, they will find that they have changed -- some in small ways, some in larger.

For planet Earth, she is also absorbing the energy wave of the meteor, much the same as the humans, animals and plants in the immediate area must do. That means it really affects all of us who dwell on Earth, for what changes Gaia changes us.

So, we can watch in our own lives for those small (or large) ways that our own energy fields have shifted, and use that empirical evidence to demonstrate the effects of this particular meteor event.

Thanks for the question!

Comet Lemmon

Astronomers are watching a "new" comet, just discovered in early 2012, that is already within telescope-viewing distance and will soon be visible to the naked eye. The comet was named "Comet Lemmon," because it was discovered by astronomers at the Lemmon Observatory in Arizona.

Comet Lemmon's orbit takes about 11,000 years, so it's safe to say its energy will be a new experience! The comet is getting brighter as it gets nearer to our sun -- it will be brightest in the sky (about the same brightness as one of the stars in the Big Dipper) in late March.

Here's a photo of the comet, taken from SpaceWeather.com:

Energetically, comets are said to bring new information and insights to us, since they come from the far reaches of space. Here are some insights (slightly abridged) from astrologer Mary Elizabeth Jochmans about the effects of comets:

"Most people experience comets as intense, high-speed electro-magnetic energies, felt especially when Truth is spoken or heart or energy is moved, shifted or transformed. These people have lightening flashes of insight that may affect their entire energy field. This energy comes as sudden flashes of information that may be difficult to retain."

Since the end of March is already highly energized, due to the alignment in Aries that involves Uranus, Mars, the Sun, Mercury and Venus (!), we are clearly in for some exciting times starting at the Equinox. And, we should probably keep a pen and paper handy, since the information and insights coming in may come in quick flashes or in our dreams, so must be recorded before they slip away.