This month the New Moon corresponds closely with the beginning of the month and thus has a greater influence on setting the tone for the month since New Moons represent new beginnings.

In addition, August 2016 is full of significant transits involving both the inner and outer planets. Generally, the inner planets affect us personally, the outer planets affect the collective. So, in case you missed it….there’s a lot going on both in the sky and on the planet.

From our perspective on Earth, a New Moon is a conjunction Sun and Moon. Leo is ruled by the Sun and so leonine energy is strong during this period of about 3 days – day before, day of, and day after. All the archetypes are complex, but Leo is generally concerned with creativity, play, fun, and a sociability.

Leo loves an audience, and so must have lots of people around for that to happen. Nothing worse than a lonely, isolated Leo. Leos also have a lot of love to give and need to have at least one someone to give it to. They are generous and gregarious. But their pride and need for admiration can be their ‘downfall’. If they don’t get the appreciation they think they deserve…all hell can break loose. They are masters of ‘attention getting devices’ positive and negative.

This being said, how does this affect the rest of us who are not Sun sign Leos? Remember that we are all the center of our own mini universe and thus we are all ‘Suns’. Allow others to get a chance on stage. Learn to share. To get more love, give more.
We start the month with four planets retrograde. Saturn will turn direct on August 13, leaving Uranus, Neptune and Pluto still retrograde.

 Mars will join Saturn in Sagittarius mid-month giving extra energy and will towards goals that have been set during the Saturn retrograde. I love what Steven Forrest says about Saturn work (paraphrasing) “with Saturn you have the choice of exhaustion or depression”. What this means to me is that Saturn sets the task or at least the area where work needs to be done. If you do it, you will get exhausted, but you will make progress and achieve something. If you don’t do it, you will remain where you are and get depressed about it.

The Mars conjunction to Saturn will provide the fire in the belly to do what you need to do. A great time to accomplish something that you know has to be done, but have been ‘too tired’ to do. The ‘hard’ thing about Saturn is that while it is demanding that you ‘do’ something, it takes all your energy away making it harder. Things move sooooo slowly….you may see no results…Like building a mountain one cup of soil at a time. You have to keep at it….. but it seems impossible. Saturn rules TIME.

Now while some see the current square between Saturn and Neptune as difficult I see it as a time when creative inspiration (Neptune) can be manifested (Saturn). Using the energy that will become available when Mars is conjunct Saturn you’ll be able to get a lot done towards accomplish goals that you have until now, only imagined, dreamed about.

Mercury will form a T Square with Saturn and Neptune. That is, it will be opposing Neptune and squaring Saturn. Mercury in Virgo wants you to be prepared by getting all your ducks in a row. Collect your tools, information, personnel or whatever you’ll need to do the ‘work’ at hand. Virgo wants to be prepared. Mercury is the ‘messenger of the gods’, the communicator. It will help you ‘get your message out’ so to speak.

This is all happening while the Sun is in Leo and I feel this New Moon is the launch pad.
GET READY TO CREATE, MANIFEST, AND MAKE YOUR DREAMS A REALITY!!

Cancer and Capricorn are often seen as representing Mother and Father. Cancer – home and family; Capricorn – one’s role in the world and career. So these are the themes of this Full Moon. They are not in opposition because in order to have a happy, healthy and balanced life, we need to get both in order. Some of us do better in the world, others in the home – we lean in one direction or another. Some don’t do well in either due to circumstances they cannot understand or control.
Nurturing oneself is critical to getting anything done in the world. Poor health can ruin all your plans, stand in the way of your success. So taking care of yourself is vital to any goals you might set. Eating the best food you can, getting enough sleep, and taking care of personal hygiene are not a waste of time but form a vital foundation. Cancer rules the 4th house - the nadir. It is also seen as the root, the womb and the source of our being. The soil out of which we grow.
Capricorn rules the 10th house and the cusp of the 10th is called the mid-heaven, our ultimate accomplishment in the world. The top of the tree so to speak. That to which we aspire.
Everyone knows if the root is infected, the tree either dies or is stunted, it cannot reach its full potential. That being so, why do we devalue the activities traditionally with the home?
Yesterday I had a desire for pudding and went to the market in search of it. I asked a fellow customer if he knew where it was and he said “The refrigerated section”. “No, I want to make it myself.” He said, “Probably with cake mixes.” As I walked away, he said “People still make pudding from scratch?” I turned and said, “A mix is not scratch…scratch is even more complicated, but I’m not up for that.”
The pudding mix has loads of chemicals. The pre-made pudding in the refrigerator section has double the chemicals. We’ve traded the good for the easy, but at what cost? There is little nutritional value in any of these products which used to be made from animal protein, but are now full of chemical substitutes which we learn can actually harm us. We are encouraged to buy into all this ease by the media which is supported by the manufacturers and purveyors of these goods. But again, at what cost?
This Full Moon just passed over Pluto retrograde in Capricorn, which is challenging all the structures of society. Unless you’ve been asleep or in a coma for the past few months, you can see that things are, indeed, coming unraveled.  Every day humans are killing each other with a vengeance
I feel the ‘issue’ that is at the heart of all this unrest is Capitalism. A system that used slavery, colonialism, repression and control to empower and enrich a few at the cost of the many. It is an unsustainable system and what we are seeing is the revolt of all the victims (the majority of people in the world).
The body of humanity is collapsing after centuries of abuse. As we age, we reap the results of our ‘wild youth’. If we neglected and abused our body when we were young, we will suffer the effects as we age.  
The structures are collapsing. The people will not put up with it anymore.
Most creatures know enough not to soil their own nest.
With our advanced intellect, we have created so much garbage and toxic waste that we have fouled our nest (the planet) in a way that may lead to our own extinction.
Technology creates more and more stuff just to see if it can. Do we need a new cell phone model every six months? The only way to continue more and more profits, things have to be made with built in obsolescence. Made to break. I have two refrigerators. One, at least 60 years old still works fine…the newer model only 25 years old, no longer works.
This past week, I have been dealing with health issues related to Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn. That is to say, bones and teeth. Due to pain, I have not felt like eating, have been sleeping a lot and have stayed close to home. Saturn and the Moon, Capricorn and Cancer have been the main actors in my life recently. Because I am in great health (for my age), I am not accustomed to be restrained by health issues.  Doctors say the things that have begun to plague me are part of aging….normal. “Nothing you did, caused this…it’s inevitable.”
Oh okay…
That being said, is it inevitable that our socio-economic system should now collapse? That it has lived it’s allotted time and will now deteriorate and eventually die?
Unfortunately, in its aging process, it is taking lots of people with it.
Trained as an anthropologist, I was taught that the development of agriculture is what was responsible for the ultimate creation of the State. The surplus of grain led to the idea of private property which had to be protected from (?) and controlled by (?) against (?). Move forward 5-7 thousand years and here we are bombing people from drones.
This ‘progress’ allowed the population to grow….food security.
So now we have a problem of over-population and people are fighting over resources.
Maybe the Earth is going through a needed readjustment. Maybe there is something going on that is much larger than ourselves. An Intelligence is at work trying to re-establish balance.
Our best resource is resilience. The more flexible we are the better we will be prepared for the uncertainty all around us. Spirals are examples of alternative ways of dealing with obstacles that come up in life.
Become a master of spirals
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Here we are with the New Moon in Cancer. New Moons are, from Earth’s perspective, a Sun/Moon conjunction.  In the West, the Moon is feminine, the Sun masculine. But in other cultures the opposite is true. No matter what culture, they are opposite genders. At New Moons then, the masculine and feminine energies are closely connected.

When I write these posts, I look to what’s going on in my own life because I feel we are all microcosms connected to the macrocosm and thus each of our stories reflects and responds to what is going on in the cosmos.

What’s up for me is that I am seriously considering changing my residence. In fact, I have found myself seriously considering becoming a nomad. A kind of positive spin on ‘homeless’. That is, disconnecting myself from the need to be rooted.

What I’ve found is I am responding to this thought process in exactly the opposite way. I have come to see the many ways I am connected to my home and community and want to strengthen those connections rather than sever them. Now I want to stay in my home or at least in my community. I need to find ways to do that rather than planning on leaving.

By allowing one thought, another, opposite one is coming forth. This corresponds to my experience of the Cancer archetype. Represented by the crab, it is said that Cancer individuals have a way of side-stepping. Unwilling or unable to deal directly with issues, they find ways of either avoiding or deflecting them. There are times when this is exactly what is called for and thus should not be considered ‘passive-aggressive’ or ‘negative’.  

The shell of a crab cannot grow, so as a crab develops, it has to abandon its shell from time to time. This molting process leaves the crab ‘naked’ and vulnerable until the new shell forms and hardens. It molts more often when it is young and fewer times when matured. Many believe there is a connection between molting and the New and Full Moons. This is an interesting and short article about it.
https://www.bluecrab.info/fullmoon.htm                  
My biggest issue about selling my house, is that I will have nowhere to go until it sells. I will be like a crab in the molting process. Crabs without their shells are called peelers. Naked and vulnerable. But unless the crab releases the old shell, it cannot grow and develop. The crab drops its old shell trusting that a new one will replace it. Why is it so hard to do the same?

Stephanie Austin says that this New Moon is conjunct the star Sirius the brightest and one of the closest to us. She says this signals the opening of “a stargate which facilitates heart-centered consciousness”. Sirius was extremely important in ancient Egypt and was associated with Isis. There are cultures that trace their origins to Sirius.
The Sun/Moon conjunction is a type of portal. The power of this image is magnified by the conjunction to Sirius our alleged homeland.

Are we humans actually peelers waiting for our new home to form around us? Or did we go through such a phase between when we left Sirius and we found our new home here? Interesting and intriguing questions.
Is our obsessive need for security; our insistence on creating, maintaining and defending our boundaries related to memories of when we were peelers? Did something happen to us during that phase that remains a deep trauma in our soul?

Why do we have such a hard time seeing our connections to each other rather than our differences?
Another feature of this New Moon is that there will be six planets plus Chiron in water signs: Sun, Moon, Venus and Mercury in Cancer, Mars in Scorpio and Neptune and Chiron in Pisces. Over the next 3 weeks, a Grand Trine in water will form. Trines are transits in which things move with less effort…but they can also be times when we don’t move at all. Talk about ‘the lazy days of Summer’. This is it!
If you have things you really need to accomplish, you might get more done by tricking yourself. Using the Cancer strategy of side-stepping, pretending not to do, avoiding direct confrontation when in the peeler stage. When I was in college and facing term paper deadlines, I often said to myself “I am not writing a paper, I’m just taking notes on this book.” Next thing you know, the paper was done.
In a culture that rewards action, movement, and doing, we may feel lazy and guilty when we are not behaving this way. And yet, taking to reflect and carefully planning our steps, we can ultimately accomplish more.
Relax and be a peeler for awhile. Trust that you will end up where you need to be.
 
 
 

This Full Moon is the second Full Moon in the same sign which occurs every 2 or 3 years which makes it more powerful than most Full Moons. The power is increased by other factors as well. This Full Moon peaks only 12 hours from the Cancer solstice which is a rare occurrence and thus also amplifies its energy.

The last time there was a full moon on the same day as the Cancer Solstice was in 1967; the next time will be 2062.

The Full Moon is close to the Galactic Center at 26° Sagittarius – the black hole at the center of our galaxy believed by some to be the portal through which we originate and will ultimately return.
In addition, a Grand Cross in mutable signs is still in effect: Neptune and SN in Pisces, Saturn in Sagittarius, NN and Jupiter in Virgo and Mercury and Vesta in Gemini. The mutable signs are the healing signs. They serve as mediators between action and stasis offering options and building bridges between apparently opposing viewpoints.
Since Gemini (Sun) and Sagittarius (Moon) are related to knowledge and wisdom, communication and education, this is an important time to examine our beliefs about ourselves and others and perhaps to question and/or change them. Are our opinions based on our own experience and understanding or are they programmed by others such as family, religion, mass media? Is it possible that we have become stuck in our thinking? Are we hanging on the old ways of being because we fear change?

If so, we may find ourselves ‘nudged’ or even ‘forced’ to re-evaluate and shift during this time. Life has a way of putting challenges before us providing opportunities to think and act differently. I have found that this is especially true when one commits to a spiritually oriented life. It’s as if Spirit says: “So you want to be more conscious, eh? Okay…here we go…a life full of ‘opportunities’ to evolve.”

Years ago, when the house I was renting came up for sale, I talked to the plants and animals and said, “If you want me to stay, make it happen. If I am the owner, I promise to care for you. You will be safe here.” Within a couple of days, the house was purchased. Now I face the opposite dilemma.

A man bought the land next to mine and is cutting down all the trees. Huge trees are coming down every day. I reported him and the County came out and inspected. He was fined etc. However, he has resumed his destruction. Yesterday, a large tree on my land spontaneously broke midway and fell into the creek. There was no apparent reason for this. I believe it ‘committed suicide’ in solidarity with all the trees being cut down nearby or perhaps they were connected underground. Certainly the mycelia are connected.

This process of destruction has awakened an understanding of how Native peoples must have felt when the ‘settlers’ came in and took over the land. How helpless and hopeless they must have felt watching it happen, knowing there was little they could do but try to survive themselves. Of course that destruction was huge compared to what is happening near me, but I still feel a sense of fear and panic. I feel like a hunted animal even though the guy is not directly threatening me.

Like that tree that fell in sympathy with all the trees being cut down, I feel my situation is, in part, my empathetic reaction to the many homeless and exiled people all over the world. External forces related to politics, economics and environmental factors are forcing people out of their homes.

Among the archetypes connected with Sagittarius is nomadism and nature. For thousands of years, people moved with the seasons. In some areas of the world, people still do that. Perhaps we are being encouraged to become nomads again, remembering that our stay here on planet Earth is only temporary and that our true home is with the Divine.

 
 
 
 
 

This Full Moon in Sagittarius occurs only one day after the Sun entered Gemini. It’s as if the spotlight has been suddenly turned on. The importance of communication and seeking understanding is highlighted at this time. Gemini gathers information, Sagittarius interprets it. Are we objectively collecting information from everywhere? Or do we collect with a bias that supports our prior attitudes allowing us to justify our position? Are we willing to open our minds to other opinions? What does it take to change our minds? Attitudinal adjustment is a theme for this Full Moon.
With Mars (masc) conjunct the Moon (fem) and Venus (fem) conjunct the Sun (masc) although in a different sign, one of the issues we all have to think about is gender. This Full Moon has a gender bending energy to it. We have been taught there are two genders. Biologically, this was a stage of evolution that developed in order to ensure genetic diversity which was necessary to ensure survival of a species. The human animal has survived and in fact, threatens the survival of all other species. However, actually humans are not always born clearly of one gender or another. Sometimes they are born with characteristics of both genders. This has been dealt with in different ways historically and culturally.
Some people think that homosexuality and transgender identity is on the rise. Many spiritual traditions say that ultimately humans will be androgynous…that is possessing both male and female characteristics. That sexual dimorphism and two sexes will no longer exist.
If you look at pictures of spiritual teachers like Jesus and Yogananda, you can see how they look both masculine and feminine.
Perhaps we are going through this transition now.
How do you feel reading this? Joy? Surprise? Nausea? Fear? Threatened? It’s time to examine your beliefs and feelings, and what they are based on. Knowledge? Experience? Are you just buying a package someone else has handed you?
We are in a period of rapid change. Our tendency is to want to hold on to the known, to seek security. When there is a tragedy or accident, people want to get back to the way things were before, as soon as possible. They suffer most when they hang on to the past. The expression “go with the flow” is associated with irresponsibility and laziness. A hippie expression only practiced with those who have no goals or aspirations.
However, as the nomads of the Sahara know, the best path to a destination is not a straight line. Sailors know you often have to aim the bow at an angle to the direction you want to go in order to catch the wind in the sails. The better you are at this, the faster you will move forward.
At this time, I feel we are being asked to set our intentions and then develop flexibility and resilience. Saturn in Sagittarius indicates that our work is to be the author (authority) of our own story…and be willing to edit and rewrite as we move forward. Sometimes the story we started out with no longer fits our reality. Sometimes someone else wrote the story and we are trying to force ourselves to conform to it. Be the author of your own life. Don’t settle to live someone else’s story.
 

This last couple of weeks I have been so busy preparing for a show, doing the show, then recuperating from it, I plum forgot about the Moon. So here we are again with another Full Moon and I am again playing catch up.

I have had no connection to Prince in his life, but his death has affected me. Mostly because I am seeing such an outpouring of grief and recognition of his influence and I basically know nothing about him except that he wore makeup. I see how I have been out of that particular loop (his music). But for some reason, his death has sparked the realization of my own morality. He was 10 years younger than me. As I lie in bed last night moving into sleep, I knew I could die at any moment. I have no ‘ailments’ that I know of, since I just had a medical exam, but Death could show up anyway.

Could be the Scorpio Full Moon? The archetype of Scorpio is complex like all of them, but as Pluto’s home sign, it represents death, transformation and rebirth. Among its symbols is the phoenix.

Last weekend I did a show called Art is You. A mixed media week long retreat, followed by a 2.5 day trunk show. I did the trunk show. I have to say that it had a profound effect on me. I have not been ‘the same’ since. I look around at my home and don’t recognize it. I have changed inside. And I know that means my outer life will be changing too.

I can’t explain the changes. It is a feeling, not a thought. The thought came when I realized how different I was feeling. My mind is recognizing a shift and trying to name it. The mind wants to know and understand…get a handle on it…in other words, try to control it. This is part of our human experience in a body. We seek to know and understand. But there are times when just feeling is what is needed. In fact, when seeking our ‘next’ in life, we are best served when we go with the feelings.

Many of us are ready to make big changes in our lives, but have no idea what or where we are to go next. I suggest you follow the crumbs left on the path of your daily life. Whatever ‘sparkles’. That is, whatever attracts you. It may not be the thing you are to do, but it will lead you there. Time to trust the process.

The Taurus/Scorpio axis represents the sensing and feeling aspects of ourselves in our environment. Taurus relates to the physical environment, Scorpio to psychological states. Taurus is practical, Scorpio seeks transformation. Sensuality vs Sexuality…related, but not the same.

So you can say, I have been doing this Full Moon…allowing my feelings to lead my transformation. For decades I have been following the teaching of Don Juan in the Castaneda books: using Death as an advisor.

What else would a SN in Scorpio conjunct Chiron do? My challenge, my NN, is to understand and move towards Taurus. I see Taurus as comfort. I have learned all I need to learn from pain and difficulty…now it’s time to learn from joy. Allowing myself to experience the sensual pleasures of food, my cozy bed, a hot bath, a healing touch. Here we are in a body. When we are sick or in pain, we see that body as a burden. But when all is well and we are experiencing a bodily pleasure, are we acknowledging that? The “Ahs” of life? In some ways, I feel that is why we are here in bodies.

For me, the Ninth Elegy by Rainier Maria Rilke gives some insights as to our existence in a body:
“Earth, is this your will?
An invisible resurrection within ourselves?
Is it your desire one day to vanish?
Earth! Invisible!
What do you demand but transformation?
Beloved Earth, I will!
Further springtimes are not required to win me-
On my word, a single May is too heady for my blood.
I have been your tongue-tied subject lo, these many years.
Ever you spoke true and your holiest idea is Death, our constant friend.”
Duino Elegies by Rainier Maria Rilke

What this means to me is that part of our purpose is to experience, record, and remember Earth. We are witnesses via our sensual experiences of this planet. I believe the “judgement day” will be when we will be asked to account for what we perceived and felt while here. Did we feel the pleasure of seeing beauty? Did we smell the flowers? Did we feel the warmth of the Sun? Did we love the sound of a bird’s song? Did we laugh, cry, sing, dance? Did we appreciate the Earth? Did we even notice where we were?
If not….that is the only “sin” we are guilty of. We were not in our body while we had one.
Be Here Now!
 
 

Last night I lay in bed dismayed that I had missed the New Moon – that it had already happened and I was not paying attention. I thought “oh well, I can write a belated New Moon post.”
I got up early to take my car into the shop - part of my ‘taking care of the earth plane first resolution’. Last week it was new glasses, the month before a health check-up. Got the loner car, drove the 15 miles home and realized I had left my house key in my car at the shop. You know what I said. Then I remembered I had a set hidden…and managed to find them only to realize I had recently changed the lock. Had I put the second key on the hidden ring? I HAD….Not as flaky as I thought.
I turned on my computer to find I had not missed the New Moon. Again, not as flaky as I thought.
This New Moon in Aries a double new beginning, along with all the transits and station retrogrades coming up, give us a chance for a lot of growth and new starts. If you have been using the last couple of months wisely, you will have already set some goals and made some plans. If not, don’t worry. This is not a pass/fail test. Things will happen anyway. The advantage of astrological knowledge is that you have a little ‘heads up’ and you can more clearly see what’s yours and what isn’t. The Sun comes up with or without you.
That said, flowing with the stream is easier than going against it, although there are times when you must push against the tide to develop your muscles ie your will.
That reminds me. I had been having episodes of unexplained vertigo. I was sent to a physical therapist who told me the most important thing about aging that I have ever heard. A baby falls a lot as it learns to walk. Walking entails many systems working together. It includes brain development, eyesight, inner ear balance as well as muscular development and control of legs and feet. As we age, if we do not continue to walk….we actually go backwards. It all reverses. That’s why older people fall a lot. They are usually not as active as they once were so the different inter-dependent systems start to shut down. The brain says, “Okay, we don’t need this anymore, so we won’t fund it.” This is why it is crucial for people to walk as much as possible as they age.
This made total sense to me. “Use it or lose it”. We have all heard that one. And I believe it’s true of other functions, including love, courage, imagination, creativity, etc. Use it or lose it.
This New Moon in the first sign of the zodiac asks us to take action even if we don’t have a plan. Just move forward. If something doesn’t work, try something else.
What works for me is to follow my curiosity. It serves as both a harbinger and a stimulus for synchronicity. I find that as I age something in me seeks more certainty. I know, however, that these days nothing is certain, so I can end up in a type of paralysis afraid to act because I don’t want to make a mistake. Not acting is the mistake. Not knowing what to do I have adopted the strategy of following my nose. Trusting the formless to lead me to where ‘my next’ is. It has been working splendidly. Hard to explain, impossible to teach. But you know it when you do it. Finding that sweet spot, when everything feels right and is inexplicably working.
In Evolutionary Astrology, both Mars, and its higher octave Pluto, represent Desire. Mars related more to earthly desires, Pluto, the desires of the soul. Both are going retrograde this month within hours of each other: Mars on the 17th, Pluto on the 18th.
Desire is what stimulates most action in life. In fact, I would say ALL action. If we didn’t want or think we need something, would we move at all?
Years ago, my favorite aunt congratulating me on completing my MA in Linguistics said,
“So you’ll be starting a career type job now, right.”
“Not right away, not sure what I want to do.”
“But don’t you want to make money so you can buy a house?”
“No. I don’t want a house.”
“Well, what DO you want?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing? You don’t want anything?”
“Right.”
“Well, if you don’t want anything, what is going to make you do anything?”
Obviously this conversation stuck with me. In fact, it occurred over 40 years ago and I remember it as if it happened yesterday, because, in a sense it did. I pull it out from time to time and has become a kind of teaching story and a form of self-examination. 1. What do I want. 2. What am I willing to do to get it? 3. How am I doing, do I have it?
Although I thought the concept of wanting things to be at odds with the spiritual seeker I have always been. I DID want ‘things’ but they could not be gained by working for money. Of course, one has to ‘earn a living’ another concept I thought strange. How can you possibly earn your living. You’re alive…that’s it. You don’t ‘earn’ it, in fact, you had nothing to do with getting it (or did you?) Our role in incarnating is another topic left for another day.
I have seen people devote their entire lives to getting things only to face their approaching death in abject fear.
One of the things I wanted was ‘to see God’. I am pleased to say I see God everywhere, every day as a result of my ‘search’. It was more like an unveiling. God showed himself/herself to be in ALL of creation. Everything is God. I didn’t know this before, but I know it now. Did I work for this revelation? In some ways yes, but it was also Grace, a gift bestowed after being willing to have certain experiences. Could I have known I would receive it? No. Was there a guarantee? No. Did it change everything? Absolutely. Was it a worthy Desire? I think so.
Sometimes we just have to move forward like the Fool in the Tarot deck. Head held high, whistling into the Unknown.
 
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Happy New Astrological Year! Yes, in case you didn’t know, the astrological year begins with the Spring Equinox, the beginning of the sign of Aries.
This year it is particularly powerful since in coincides (within a couple of days) with the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse.
Opening portals to new energy. Of course, in order to have room for the new, you have to release the old. From what I detect, many of us have let go of a lot this winter, whether intentionally or not.
One of the hardest things to let go of in my experience, is our suffering. We hold onto it as if it were a badge of some sort. “Hey, I earned this suffering …it’s mine.”
Suffering can serve a purpose, but not when it is clung to. It is a means, not an end. In order to fully get the teaching, you have to let it go. For many, all they have is their suffering. I forms their identity.
"Another thing that people must sacrifice is their suffering. It is very difficult also to sacrifice one's suffering. A man will renounce any pleasures you like but he will not give up his suffering. Man is made in such a way that he is never so much attached to anything as he is to his suffering. And it is necessary to be free from suffering. No one who is not free from suffering, who has not sacrificed his suffering, can work. Later on a great deal must be said about suffering. Nothing can be attained without suffering but at the same time one must begin by sacrificing suffering. Now, decipher what this means." G.I. Gurdjieff
 A parallel to this is one of the teachings of Caroline Myss who coined the term of ‘woundology’ to describe how some people define themselves by their physical, emotional, or social wounds.
Clearly, I have thought a lot about this. I believe the difficulty lies in that since dealing with suffering requires so much of us and our nature is to strive towards survival, when we do survive, we think we have done something incredible and we leave it at that. But…the true accomplishment is to go the next step which is to give it up. It is not enough to survive, you have to flourish.
I believe this is the teaching inherent in the death of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection, known as Easter, which comes up next weekend. He went past the suffering part of his ordeal to show us that just hanging on the cross and dying is not enough. You have to go beyond that. Resurrection – coming back to life.
The earth does this every spring. We see all that was dead and bare come back to life. Do we see that in people? They go through some ordeal and most of them die inside, never resurrecting. Walking dead. They are all around us. People who gave up their spirits due to suffering.
The movie “The Lady in the Van” shows what happens when your spirit dies due to trauma, loss and fear.
Mind you, I am not judging… I have my own issues to deal with believe me, but learning how then practicing resurrection within ourselves is a goal we might consider striving for.
Currently the nodes are in Pisces/Virgo considered in EA as the axis of Christianity, victim/victor and service. Right now we have SN, Neptune, Venus, Ceres, and Chiron in Pisces. The SN represent the familiar, habitual and oh so well-known ways we have been doing things. On the other hand, NN in Virgo is conjunct Jupiter – god of happiness, fun, bounty, luck, excess – the good life we are moving toward. How do we get there? More what? What do you think you need more of? Money? Love?
Well since it’s the 6th house, which represents methods, practices that develop new habits, health, service to others, perhaps we might consider a ‘New Astrological Year’s’ resolution, that we will develop new habits that move us towards resurrection. Faith (a Pisces virtue) might be needed as we do these new things not knowing if they will work. I’ll tell you this: standing still and doing nothing does not work. Not now. Now is the time for some kind of action.
Among the attributes of Aries, which began on the Spring Equinox, is to act impulsively with no idea of the outcome. When Aries fails, it just picks itself up and tries something else. So, if you embark on a path of resurrection and you don’t see any results, try something else. Keep trying until you find something that puts spring in your step and makes you want to go on joyfully.