Year: 2019

“A person is alive when she is wholehearted, true to herself, true to her own inner forces and able to act freely according to the nature of the situation she is in.” Christopher Alexander

When I first looked at the astrology chart this morning,  it reminded me of a scene from the film The Accidental Tourist.  The scene is towards the end of the movie and the character played by William Hurt has suffered a flare up of lower back pain  which pretty much confines him to bed where he has been fed painkillers by his  ex-wife.

Lower back pain in holistic circles can be related to feeling unsupported emotionally and in the case of the character in the film, he was trying to return to a life that emotionally no longer worked for him and which he had outgrown.

In the last scene he pulls himself out of bed with great pain, gets dressed and picks up his suitcase to leave the hotel.  As he is struggling to walk down the street, he suddenly sees  what he needs  to do, leaves his bag behind and  starts limping rapidly in the new direction.

The reason this scene reminded me of the current astrology is that there definitely has been a need to leave baggage behind and through a shift in awareness, move more freely in an updated, authentic direction. In the film he says, “This woman has given me another choice to decide who I am.”

This is the prevailing astrological weather now.  It is related to Saturn conjunct the South Node (this is starting to separate now) and a difficult aspect of Mars to Chiron last week  (which is waning.)  With this duo, there has been a  tendency to get drawn back into a familiar place of dis- empowerment related to the past.

But now with  Juno- the asteroid of commitment- conjunct the North Node, there is the  opportunity to commit to the path forward  in a way which leads in a more clear and  positive direction.

The North Node is in Cancer so more healthy directions related to self care – physically, mentally and spiritually  are on the front burner as well how we more appropriately  nurture and care for  others. The sign of Cancer is related to family issues and so new perspectives may be on the table there as well.

The astrologer Nadia Gilchrist suggested a combination of courage and empathy provide a good approach now.

One of the  Sabian symbols for this time is, ” The seed grows into knowledge and life.”

 

“In dreams begins responsibility.” William Butler Yeats

“Soul is what connects to you to everyone and everything else. It is the sum of all the choices you make. it is where your beliefs and values reside. Soul is at the center of our relationships to others and for me it is the center of the business enterprise. They don’t tell you this in business school.” Tom Chappell

This week the Sun moves into the mercurial sign of Gemini on Tuesday. Some astrologers call this sign the butterfly of the zodiac. Gemini is a lively, changeable sign that can move from thought to thought quickly as a butterfly goes from flower to flower. The symbol of this sometimes illusive and unpredictable sign is the Twins due to its dualistic nature. The sign of Gemini can often see two sides of a situation clearly without weighing in opinion-wise. It is a mental sign and like the mercury found in old thermometers, it has a glittering but sometimes scattered nature. The sign of Gemini can bestow a fluidity with the use of language and imagery akin to a magician who can make illusion seem like reality. There is a theory that people who excel in the realm of advertising are reincarnated magicians for this reason.

Mercury in mythology often traveled in disguise.

The shadow side of this sign is related to evasiveness, lack of commitment, overthinking  and being un-grounded.

The Sun and Mercury have been  traveling together in the sign of Taurus and will this week both ingress into the sign of Gemini. This bodes well for communication, traveling and exploring new ideas. It ends a lively mental landscape.

Saturn, the Lord of Karma and Taskmaster, is exactly conjunct the South node now for the first of three times this year. This brings forward the voices of the ancestors and whether the talents that have  descended down  through the ancestral lines are being used or squandered.

One of the gifts of astrology is that when looking at the charts of people in previous generations of a family, you can see these inherited  gifts and challenges. Often the most challenging issues in life can be related to the karmic inheritance.  The ancestors often  lived in times or places which prevented the evolution of their life work or aspirations and that work is left to the generations that follow.

With a strong Neptune in the charts through time you can see strong  gifts of creativity which  could be expressed in artistic pursuits  but often come with challenges of addiction. With a strong Uranus in the family lines, there can be strong willed , “know it all” natures and a desire to live an unconventional life with a lot of freedom which has its own set of rough landings along the way.

Saturn is conjunct the South Node now. Look to the house in your chart where Saturn is transiting  as this is where some of these issues may be making themselves known.  This duo is conjunct in Capricorn which is about how we structure our lives and work towards our aspirations. It  can bring up for review experiences from the past that have influenced our relationship to authority , the role fear and resistance play in our lives and the role of dogmatic beliefs. The opportunity of this is to clear away old debris that can keep us from fully living in the present and accessing our power in the present.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun and Mercury entering Gemini is, ” A nervous gentleman, dressed in an elaborate Santa Claus costume, is filling Christmas stockings secretly.”

Sabian symbol from Lynda Hill