Mercury retrograde in Scorpio

As I Ponder the volatility within myself and throughout this world, the moon waxes full into a lunar eclipse in Aries.  With the Aries/Libra axis of "Me/Other" playing through this eclipse (also being squared by Jupiter in Cancer), I'm observing how I relate.  In particular, how I relate with my own unique version of the shared felt expression of the collective wound with which we all participate.  This up close and personal review has me increasingly sensitive to my emotional reactivity to the uncertainty drifting through the cosmos, and the chaos it's generating on our planet.  I find it necessary to check in and ask myself... Am I relating with the wound in a way that constricts this energy or am I relating with it in a way that liberates my identification with it?

"The wound is the very impetus for our expansion of consciousness.  Our wound is a higher dimensional event which has manifested in our three-dimensional life.  Offering us either a deeper liberation or greater constriction, depending on how we choose to perceive it."
 ~ Paul Levy - from Dispelling Wetiko

Much is being forecast in the astrological blogosphere about what's to come.  To forecast is "to estimate or calculate in advance, especially to predict weather conditions by analysis of meteorological data."  When we track the planets in our solar system, we discover geometric angles that generate a specific and ever changing frequency in relationship with Earth.  Consider for a moment that our species has evolved with this energy and thus developed patterned ways of relating with it, and the narrative of this habitual way of perceiving reality plays out through the constellations of the zodiac.  As the Sun enters the land of Scorpio, a review of intense emotions is surfacing right on time.  The loss of something, while painful, ultimately transforms how we relate, with a deeper awareness of our truth and the realization that the dissonance we're feeling is unavoidably interpreted through our mind...

Which brings me to Mercury retrograde, also in Scorpio, Oct. 21 - Nov. 10.  Look at Mercury as the vehicle through which you perceive, reason and judge.  The perception of darkness has many reflections in the sign of Scorpio.  It's easy to get stuck analyzing, identifying or judging what arises in this uncomfortable energy.   Mercury rules our perceptions.  To understand the message of this retrograde transit, we look to Pluto, the ruler of Scorpio.  This transformational agent and death merchant has been churning away at our outdated structures ever since it entered Capricorn in 2008.  Transiting the constellation of wisdom and how to create structures that benefit all of life, Pluto reminds us the pain, suffering and despair isn't personal, but rather a transpersonal element of the whole, by which we're transformed and with which we can constructively create this world.  It's inviting us to give a ritual death to our identification with "our" wound and transform the unconscious habits and pathologies that maintain this identification.

"No one escapes pathology, for no one remains unwounded."  ~ James Hollis

Overseeing Mercury's retrograde is Saturn, the disciplinarian and promulgator of universal law.  Saturn transits13 degrees Scorpio in an exact conjunction with Mercury on October 29.  Here you can look closely, without identification, at the patterns grounded in fear... and remember... this is not who you are.  Most of us prefer to look away and deny this aspect of the human condition.  We're not given much of a choice with all this Scorpio energy.  What needs to be transformed is in our face right now.

"The heat of transformation is unbearable, yet change is necessary.  It burns up the useless, the diseased.  Time is a cool liquid, it flows away like a river.  We shall see no end of it.  Generation after generation, I create myself.  It is never easy.  Long nights I waited, lost in myself, considering the stars.  I wage a battle against darkness, against my own ignorance, my resistance to change, my sentimental love of my own folly.  Perfection is a difficult task.  I lose and find my way over again.  One task done gives rise to others.  There is no end to the work left to do.  That is harsh eternity.  There is no end to becoming.  I live forever striving for perfection.  I praise the moment I die in fire for the veils of illusion burn with me.  I see how hard we strive for truth, and once attained, how easily we forget it.  I hold that fire as long as I can.  My nose fills with the smell of seared flesh, the acrid smoke of death, so that years from now I might look on that scar and remember how it was to hold the light, how it was to die and come again radiant as light walking on sand.  I change and change again, generation after generation.  I find anguish then peace.  I am satisfied with my birth and the fate to which it led me.  I do not regret the discomforts and terrors of my mortality any more than I regret the company of angels.  I have entered fire.  I become invisible; yet I breathe in the flow of sun, in the eyes of children. in the light that animates the white cliffs at dawn.  I am the god in the world in everything, even in darkness.  If you have not seen me there, you have not looked.  I am the fire that burns you, that burns in you.  To live is to die a thousand deaths, but there is only one fire, one eternity." 
~ from Awakening Osiris: The Egyptian Book of the Dead, translated by Normandi Ellis

During Mercury retrograde the extremes of our mind and our communications are many.   Observe your habituated pattern of thought and communication as nothing more than an established disposition of the mind that masks a much deeper emotional vulnerability.  While it's easier to look away from this level of our selves, we're called to step through that which we've avoided for so long.

"Rather than attempting to get rid of our avoid our wound, it is only by being willing to face, consciously experience and go through our wound that we receive its blessing."       ~ Paul Levy

Pluto in Capricorn calls forth at this time a new generation of conscious influence on the planet.  This will be led by those born with Pluto in Scorpio (between 1984-1995, ages 18-29).  The impact of the transformational generation stepping into our out-dated structures is substantial.  Their (and our) task is to integrate the energy of our ancestors and generate the aligned structure of our evolving world.  If you're an elder to this generation, I highly encourage you to pay heed their wisdom and respect their guidance as we go deeper into this chaotic dance.  If you're a part of this generation, come together and lead as one.  Channel this chaos.  Ignore the disparate nonsense and divisive opinions pandered by generations past.  Discover and implement the solution.

"There are no problems, only solutions." ~ John Lennon

Much of what humanity does on this planet mirrors the manipulative power of Scorpio's shadow.  No longer can we afford to manipulate information, and one another, in ways incongruent with the highest good of all concerned - including and especially our planet.  Old structures have to fall before the new can be born.  Enter Uranus in Aries, shocking and awing us with revolutionary instincts en mass (see Middle East and elsewhere).  The intensity of these waves force us to go through suffering on many levels,  revealing the opportunity to remember a truth long forgotten.  As the snynodic square of Uranus and Pluto falls auspiciously on the day of the dead (November 1), traverse this process with grace and awareness.  Allow what arises and allow it to flow through you.  Release what no longer needs to be held.  See all aspects of the Self through this narrative.  Beware your reactivity and rationalizations, for you can be sure that the manipulation of the mind is at work.  Enjoy the freedom you discover when you take dominion over your thoughts and reconcile all the resistance into constructive ways that inspire.

"There is a way to creatively engage with our wound that liberates the energy that is bound up in recreating it, while at the same time transforming our consciousness.  As we decode this, we midwife ourselves into our wholeness." ~ Paul Levy
 
 As the noise turns up, perceive greater silence....

Stellar blessings,

Ryan

www.bodyworkastrology.com

namaste

New moon in Gemini and Summer Solstice. Think less. Feel more.

Almost six months have passed since the longest night of the year on December 21, 2012.  Just as we sourced more light in the midst of the heightened darkness, so too the three eclipses churned up some darkness to be channeled into the power of the longest day of the year, on June 20, 2012.  The Mayan elders regarded the end-date of their calendar not as an apocalyptic prophesy, but as a shift or acceleration in the evolution of human consciousness. Taking into account their teachings, those of Native Americans and a host of other traditions, it is my humble estimation that the bandwidth of human consciousness is widening at an accelerated pace.  Bandwidth, according to Wikipedia,is the difference between the upper and lower frequencies in a continuous set of frequencies.  If we are expanding the boundaries of our consciousness, so too in accordance with the laws of duality we must dredge up the deeper layers of that which is unconscious. 

The eclipses brought to the surface some old thought patterns and behaviors that many of us (myself included) believed (or hoped) we had resolved.  Eclipses bring forth that which must be complete for the new to be reborn.  The cognitive dissonance surfaced through this process is precisely the energy we need right now.  Before you seek respite from the discomfort associated with this dissonance, first recognize the import of its function.  This frequency, rooted deep in the unconscious mind, is what adds fuel to our heart-centered intentions and affirmations.  Instead of being set back by the resistance, it's yours to reconcile into usable energy with which to create.  This requires a great deal of focus.  As the sun ascends towards its summer solstice apex (in the northern hemisphere), we're reminded of the axiom "as above, so below." Like digging for water in the deepest of wells, so too light is sourced from the heart of darkness, wakefulness rises from sleep, and consciousness emerges from the unconscious.

For those of us who haven't quite reached the enlightened awareness that transcends cause and effect, astrology offers a fantastic lens into appropriating our subjective experience with the aggregate aspects of the planets and how best to attune with these celestial energies.  While all the planets are influential, Jupiter is primary for this post.  The planet that symbolizes our search for truth and meaning, expanding our vision of reality through broadened awareness, and the bringer of good fortune went into Gemini, the sign of its detriment, in June of 2012.  When a planet is in detriment, it tends to operate with the less strength and fortitude.  The benevolent remover of obstacles that is Jupiter has been laying low and working behind the scenes as a result.  And by that I mean he plunged deep into the unconscious mind so that that which has been hidden would splash to the surface. While it hasn't necessarily felt benevolent, trust that it is.  We needed to go deep into the chaos of the thinking mind in order to clear that which inhibits our intuition, the domain of Cancer.

On June 25, Jupiter will follow the Sun into Cancer.  This represents a time of getting away from thinking about what we want and evolving into feeling what is necessary to achieve it and acting accordingly.  We're moving out of the indecisive, restless and over-intellectualizing energies of the unconscious mind and tuning deeper into the intuitive, receptive and higher wisdom of our true nature.  This is a major turn on the wheel of human consciousness.  Let yourself be worthy of receiving nurturing and love.  To evolve your thinking into this new paradigm, it is essential to feel what's true and act in accordance with that truth.  It cannot be figured out with the thinking mind.  The upcoming new moon on June 8 at 7:56 AM is in Gemini.  This offers an incredible opportunity to entrain our thoughts and our communication with the visions and intentions we set forth at the spring equinox and/or the one's we're creating now.

Every planet in the zodiac is aspected during this new moon transit.  Some aspects are harmonious, others are frictional.  Given what's been mentioned about the dissonance of the unconscious, this is a time of expanding the horizons of your mind.  As mentioned, intuition is governed by Cancer, the sign that both Mercury and Venus recently entered.  Soon the Sun and Jupiter will enter Cancer as well, and we will (finally) think less and feel more.  Mercury and Venus will be in a Grand Trine with Saturn in Scorpio and Neptune in Pisces during the new moon, followed by the Sun and Jupiter during the Summer Solstice.  This harmonious aspect in water signs stimulates the creative juices and allows the emotions flow with far less inhibition than normal.  Caveat emptor... the ego paradigm of identifying with your emotions and the projections of others will not relinquish itself easily.  Attenuate your reactive nature by remaining steadfast in your focus.  Allocate your energy in accordance with what will successfully bring you to the fulfillment of that to which you are committed.  Remember that emotion is simply energy-in-motion.  Let it move.  Allow it to flow.  Feel it and let it go.  When your reactive nature arises (as it does) all you have to do is remember your aim, transmute it into usable energy, and prepare to enjoy the fruits of your efforts in the months ahead.

In gratitude for your contribution to our collective awakening...

Ryan

www.bodyworkastrology.com

New moon in Pisces

The new moon in Pisces began on Monday, March 11.  This seven day cycle initiates a new lunar wave that allows you to focus on your dreams, your magic, what you're gathering and collecting from waaaaay ouuuuut theeeeere, as well as waaaaay innnnnn theeeeere.  You're on the wave already, and it's building powerfully as we prepare for Mercury to go stationary, and finally direct on March 17.
This invites us to still our minds.  With 60,000 to 80,000 thoughts flooding our minds on a daily basis, Mercury's conjunction with Neptune, the ruler of Pisces, gives us a powerful window into our dreams, psychic receptivity, illusion, and confusion.  Neptune rules spirituality, and all things subtle.  This is where our minds can gravitate with ease right now.  The key during the final days of winter is to let go of everything you're identified with, attached to, or feel complete with.  Create the space for what's aligned in the year ahead.

We're awakening more and more from our hibernation and stepping out of our caves.  Many dreams transpired amidst the slumber of winter's wonderland.  So too the nightmare's of the unconscious mind mingled with us (and mangled us in some cases) so that we might step ever further and stronger into our truth.

The vernal equinox offers ripe conditions to plant the seeds of your deepest intentions in the fertile soil of an emptied mind.  A Yogi Tea recently instructed me to "Empty yourself completely and allow the universe to fill you."  It occurs to me the fertile soil of an emptied mind lives in the seat of the heart.  When we open our heart to the pain that it is to be disconnected from life, from Earth and our fellow man, we connect deeper with the truth of our essence that is ONE with the entire universe.  Access to this level of awareness will be incredibly heightened until next week.

With Saturn in Scorpio in an exact trine (harmonious) aspect to Chiron in Pisces, this end of the year portal opens to transform the deepest and oldest karmic wounds into the creative fuel we need to make manifest our dreams in the year ahead.  Every false belief or unconscious identification is up for rapid reconciliation as we prepare to enter the land of Aries.  Remember, the world holds you in the form of your ego-construct, because that's all it knows.  Saturn retrograde in Scorpio allows us to deconstruct the ego delusion that believes the projections of others.  The softening of that limitation allows this Pisces window to strengthen our inherent connection to divine truth on a whole new level. When resistance arises in the future, the strength of this connection will reconcile it with ease

With the Sun conjunct Venus, ALSO in Pisces, our feminine expression in the world, the lover archetype and the creative muse will be illuminated.  Let your creative juices flow into the river of life.  Let your cup runneth over.  Give yourself the freedom to co-create the new year.  When all these planets move from Pisces to Aries, the warrior will step front and center.  There's a lot of work to do.  And a lot of play.  Trust you'll soon have the energy you need to do it all.  For the next week, let yourself be nurtured. Receive, receive, receive…

"We are the magic makers.  We are the dreamers of dreams." ~ Willy Wonka

Thank you all for your contribution to our collective awakening.

Stellar blessings,
Ryan

www.bodyworkastrology.com

Pisces... the final countdown.

The Sun in Pisces is joined by Mercury, Venus, Mars, Chiron and last but certainly not least is Pisces ruler, Neptune.  As the last of the twelve signs of the zodiac, Pisces brings an extraordinarily fast (yet uncompromisingly long) year to a close.  Most celebrate the Gregorian calendar new year on January 1, which in my eyes gives us a false sense of completion that leaves us feeling peculiarly unsatisfied.  Kind of like premature ejaculation (or so I hear).  The astrological year begins anew at the spring equinox, when the sun enters Aries on March 20.  For those of you who remain in a quasi-refractory period, worry not.  There's a freight train of energy on its way.  But not so much this month.  While the Sun is ascending in the sky overhead and the nights are getting progressively shorter, we're still clearing out the residual tensions from all the heavy lifting over the past twelve months.  The first three weeks in March will likely offer extremes of equal proportion.  From visionary to illusory, inspiring to challenging and flowing to chaotic.

The polarities that make up our world are intensifying.  Actually, they've always been here.  Our sensitivity to the poles that comprise our dualistic world and our awareness of the paradox inherent in this three-dimensional reality are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.  Most avoid reconciling their sense of inner-friction in favor of projecting it out into the world like Jackson Pollack on a bad day (or Rush Limbaugh on a good day).  What we often fail to recognize and astrology never fails to remind us is this friction is by design.

Saturn's transit through Scorpio, along with Pluto's transit through Capricorn asks us, no... forces us to transform out-dated structures.  Our evolution depends on transmuting our deluded ego-based perceptions and dream a new world into being.  If we continue to pretend the path we're on is fine and stay asleep to the pain and suffering rampant in this world as well as in our hearts, things will only continue to get worse.  This is true on the microcosmic scale of our individual lives and the macro of the world at large.  For those doing the work, the real work of transforming our wounds into blessings, the light grows ever brighter.  For those clinging to archaic ego structures, now is the time to step up your game.  Saturn retrograde for the next four and a half months will bring a new level of instability.  This is a wonderful opportunity to transmute the poison you've avoided tasting.  When you finally swallow, just remember that every emotion and every action has an equal and opposite polarity.  Feeling doubt?  Faith exists in equal measure.


"Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother." ~ Kahlil Gibran

Identifying with the negative polarity in any situation drains our life force.  Beware not to mistake this to mean one is best served identifying only with the positive polarity.  That only propagates a resurgence of negativity.  Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.  Focus on the positive and the negative will rise up to greet you again and again.  Herein lies the catch-22 of duality.  Instead, focus on your awareness of being awareness itself.  Welcome the emotions as they arise, positive or negative, dis-identifying with any of your preferences, your fantasy-based myths, your staunchly entrenched attitudes about right and wrong, your gestalt-based reactions.  What matters is what you do with the energy.  All this Pisces energy implores us to drop into the heart of our dreams.  Let that be your focus.  There's never been a better time to let fall away what needs to fall away.  Tap into Pisces loving and creative nectar.  Tune the energy through your heart.  Architect your new year.

"Be the ball, Danny." ~ Ty Webb

With Saturn and Mercury retrograde, our mind's fixated and rigid nature will have no choice but to soften.  The ego's control can unravel extraordinarily fast as the equinox approaches.  Our physical, energetic, emotional and intellectual blocks have the space to move at an accelerated pace.  As these structures fall, energy becomes available.  To best utilize this available energy, remain in your center and maintain one-pointed focus on your AIM (intentions, goals, etc.).  If we remain asleep and forget to be mindful, we'll short change this opportunity to revise of our limbic patterning.  There's a substantial window to finally step out of playing back our traumas again and again.  Can you imagine the new year, instead of succumbing to the repetition compulsion of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?

Drop in and ask yourself what is my intention for the year ahead?  It's okay if you're still getting clear.  In fact, let yourself reexamine the pseudo-intentions you may have set on January 1.  With our ego-minds in a retrograde-induced weakened state, our heartfelt desires will sing a tune that we're less likely to ignore.  Heed the call and let this melody unify all opposites, within and without.  Beware also that retrogrades can intensify a planet's influence.  When your ego-mind, your addictions and your unconscious patterns rise up with a vengeance, Remember yourself.  Listen to your heart's song.  Let it guide you to the path of least resistance.  Allow yourself to return to a state of oneness with all opposites.  Cultivate your dreams from this inchoate pool of cosmic energy, and focus on what you're opening up and allowing yourself to give and receive in the year ahead.  It's the final countdown to the spring equinox, the cosmically potent time of planting the seeds of intention you're well on your way to clarifying in the month ahead.  Stay tuned for a forthcoming blog and read all about it...

Thank you all for your ongoing contribution to our collective awakening.

Stellar blessings,
Ryan

www.bodyworkastrology.com

Visit my website for information on astrological consultations and other joys.  May the force be with you...

New Moon In Capricorn

The winter solstice of 2012 has come and gone.  Much has been written and even more has been discussed about what this time in human history is all about.  Is it an awakening of higher consciousness?  Clearly it wasn’t the Armageddon.  Does that mean it’s the “new age?”  The mind’s contemplation about what any of this means is of minor importance relative to how it feels.

Indeed some people feel higher and higher vibrations within the incalculable strata otherwise known as human consciousness, while others feel relatively unchanged from where they were a year ago.  Regardless of where you fall on this spectrum, the new moon in Capricorn (on 1/11/13 at 11:43 AM PST) offers a substantial opportunity to align your self and restructure your life in accordance with your intentions.

The constellation of Capricorn is hosting many planets at the moment.  In addition to the Sun and Moon, so too Mercury, Pluto and Venus are transiting through the sign of wisdom and authority.  Capricorn knows the mysteries of sacred geometry and how to work with the planet and her resources in ways that preserve life as well as Earth.  Capricorn recognizes when it is time for the rules to change and how to effectively institute new ways of relating with energy as it arises, administering it for the highest good of all concerned and accommodating it with the natural evolution of life.

When you pay attention and are honest with your self, what is and is not in alignment with your natural evolution is crystal clear.  Capricorn’s ruling planet is Saturn, the Lord of Karma, reminds us to respect our selves and our time.  In the grand scheme of things, we’re only on this planet for a moment... so there isn’t a moment to waste.  Saturn’s transit through transformational Scorpio creates an environment that encourages you to transmute all your out-dated ego-structures, habits and attachments into a design complicit with your natural truth.  If you refuse to let go, Saturn will intensify the heat until you have no choice.  Add this to your 2013 intentions... I relinquish my sentimental attachment to learning things the hard way.

If you sat down and set your intentions on January 1, great.  If you didn’t, no worries.  Friday’s new moon lunar cycle is the momentous wave you want to drop in on.  Every new moon creates conditions that are ripe for initiating actions.  The first new moon of 2013 has the added bonus of an excess of affirming energy floating through our collective consciousness.  Hundreds of millions of resolutions have been written down or spoken or meditated on.  This aspiring energy is frequently disregarded at the first sign of resistance.  Most people forget the fundamental law of physics that states every action (affirming energy) has an equal and opposite reaction (denying energy) and thus lose sight of their lofty aims the moment resistance arises to challenge them.  This affirming energy continues advancing forward, available to anyone who has the discipline to stay focused, remember their aim and remain steadfast in completing the tasks at hand.  Tap into this momentum.  Imagine you have a strong wind at your back while cruising downhill on your titanium road bike, with a fat injection of steroids to fuel you to the finish line... cue Lance Armstrong.

As the disgraced seven-time winner of the Tour de France would undoubtedly agree, it’s not all rainbows and lolli-pops in our solar system right now.  Uranus’ ongoing (and seemingly never ending) square aspect with Pluto, along with Mars’ square aspect with Saturn and Jupiter’s square aspect with Neptune, means the heaviest hitters in the game are pulling no punches.  We feel all this friction as agitation, frustration and contraction.  All the things to which you’re reacting, even the ones you feel adamantly justified in, are nothing more than the rigid structure of your ego refusing to let go.  That’s the contraction you’re feeling.  That’s what causes you to react with increased frustration.  I’m not suggesting you’re wrong to react to the ills of the world, the irritants in your life and all the BS you smell in the lies perpetuated throughout these ravaged lands.  I’m simply acknowledging it’s not you reacting.  It’s your ego, with all its likes and dislikes, myths, attitudes, and gestalts running the show and putting you to sleep every time you react.

The irony is the friction of denying energy, which is unavoidable, happens to aldo be exactly what we want.  It allows you to double-down on the energy you’re channeling into the seed of your deepest intentions.  While the reactionary nature of the ego fights this energy instead of creating alchemy with it, the true Self embraces this friction and transmutes it into the energy you need to complete the many contributions you incarnated to create.

Here’s the all-star line up.  Look at it like a fantasy-league, with each archetypal player at your beck and call...

~ The Sun in Capricorn focuses the essence of your being into your new structure. 

~ The Moon in Capricorn remembers to remain objective with great discipline when emotions arise.

~ Mercury conjunct the Sun and Moon in Capricorn aligns the cognitive mind to listen to the frequency of your heart and align your thoughts accordingly.

~ Venus conjunct Pluto in Capricorn restructures how and what you’re attracting into your life.

~ Mars in Aquarius energizes your inner warrior for the betterment of the world.

~ Jupiter in Gemini (retrograde for just three more weeks!) expands you beyond all previous limitations in your mind.

~ Saturn in Scorpio aligns your inner-alchemist with your authentic contribution to the world. 

~ Uranus in Aries revolutionizes our freedom to listen to our intuition.
 
~ Neptune in Pisces, conjunct Chiron, heals the wounds of humanity with unconditional love of the universe.

~ Pluto conjunct Venus in Capricorn destroys the ego-structures so the heart can create and express truth in love.

While I remain of the opinion that the year doesn't really start until the spring equinox, I am also aware there exists a wonderful opportunity to plant seeds now that will blossom new structures in the seasons ahead.  Keep in mind we're still in the heart of winter.  Let the shakti build in meditation and preparation as opposed to running around like you have to conquer the world tomorrow.  Another note-worthy shift will arrive January 30, when expansive Jupiter goes direct after several months retrograde.  Come February, the waves will be building stronger and stronger.  Plan now where and how you want to drop in and ride them towards spring.

In gratitude for your unique contribution to our collective awakening...

Stellar blessings,

Ryan

Personal readings, synastry readings and bodywork astrology packages are available in Los Angeles and the San Francisco bay area.

www.bodyworkastrology.com