Sunday 22 August 2010

A Reminder of Jupiter's Mantra

'I am infinite potential'.


Hard to visualise or conceptualise granted, but try to feel this, and say it to yourself regularly...

Friday 20 August 2010

To Infinity & Beyond...

Time and Permanence. Both seem hugely important now, and have both featured on the Blog this week. Why?

The summer of cosmic highs and lows has been quite a roller coaster ride for so many of us. Some have faced emotional upheaval, some have faced physical fatigue or illness, some have faced mind-based confusion, and others still have faced spiritual upheaval and shifts. Of course, there are also those of us who have faced all four!

Digging deep within to the dark recesses, nooks and crannies, it seems clear that everything within us is seeking the Light now; it wants to be felt, witnessed, experienced and acknowledged. This is hard for so many of us, but at the same time there is a strong sense that this is cathartic and necessary for us to be free of the ties that bind us physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

For too long, many of us have felt trapped within our bodies and our lives have been dictated to us through the constraints placed upon us. Realising that we are not the sum of our physicality opens each of us up to the infinity of the Divine, of love and of the Universe.

At the same time, we see that in terms of Time, we live in this moment, in the blink of an eye. Geologically, of course, our lifetimes (or even the time since humans first came into being), are miniscule moments on the Universal timeline. Yet, we all know that we consist of energy, and quantum physics tells us that energy can be neither created nor destroyed, and using that theory we are timeless, we are immortal, infinite. Confused? You are not alone.

Of course, when we think in terms of our existence in the Universe, we are tiny microscopic dots, but at the same time we are everything and infinite in size and potential. So, in many ways, this all comes down to how we think about our place in the big scheme of things. Think small, and we tend to stay confined by our physical limitations. Think big, and we go way beyond our wildest dreams to a life of enrichment and fulfilment.

This sounds simple, but in practice it is not. It goes beyond thinking; we have to ‘feel’ this as well, and we have to believe it and know it. Not easy on 21st Century Earth. But is that last statement really true? Does it have to be so hard? Surely it can be that easy? Maybe we complicate things too much? Perhaps we let the weight of our worries burden us and weigh us down, when we could move beyond these to a place of knowing?

This goes beyond affirmations and positive thinking, this is about positive Being, positive existence and breathing in the life force. This is about feeling vibrant, truly alive and connected with All There Is.

Our thoughts and beliefs are going through a major shift and transformation now. Despite the upheavals and struggles we face, it is time to think big, to see the glass half full, and to realise that we are vast, limitless wells of potential, love and energy. When we truly shift into this phase, our struggles and pain will start to shift and move, freeing each of us up to fulfil our destinies and to help us to embrace our infinite potential and limitless sense of Being.

It’s time to feel, believe and to live this infinity now. Once again, it does come down to choice, and we can only shift when we are truly ready. Yes, it is taking a huge leap of faith into the unknown, and yet, do we really have the option of staying put?

So, despite the state of confusion that so many of us find ourselves in now, if we can slow down and find solace in the stillness, in the peaceful moments between the confusion; we will start to connect to the infinity of our existence, and our perspectives and beliefs will start to shift...
.

Tuesday 17 August 2010

Permanence

‘Everything is temporary. No matter how hard we try to hold on to things, our grasp is momentary. Just like the tides...we are just passing through’.

Neil Oliver

Monday 16 August 2010

Time: Friend or Foe?

Although I am not a Trekkie, I found myself watching Star Trek: Generations this weekend, and the following words really struck a chord with me... (no need to worry about the plot, who the character is etc, it’s the words that are important).

Picard: 'Someone once told me that time was a predator that stalked us all our lives; but I rather believe that time is a companion that goes with us on the journey and reminds us to cherish every moment because it will never come again.

What we leave behind is not as important as how we’ve lived, after all...we’re only mortal'.

Saturday 14 August 2010

The Freedom Within

On the 14th August retrograde Uranus re-enters Pisces. Uranus is still dancing around Jupiter (who also enters Pisces on the 9th September).

Uranus in Pisces is a familiar energy to us, after all Uranus was in Pisces for 8 years until this Spring. However, he is more energized now after a brief spell in Aries, there is more fire in his belly, a stronger sense of purpose forming.

It seems that each of us now need to truly go within to find the source of nourishment and sustenance that resides there – from our souls and our imagination. This will help us to break free from the dependency we all have on others and on the material, to a more enriched way of being.

Uranus is the risk-taker, stepping into the unknown and listening to his inner call. Risky? Yes, but he helps us to grow, evolve and develop, and we can only truly do these things when we step into the unknown, test our beliefs, test our mettle and have faith in ourselves (and in the Divine).

With the Arien fire now in Uranus’s belly, it has become time to break down those inner barriers that hold us back from reaching towards our dreams. It is time to honour our individuality and our gifts, and to realise that in order to find true fulfilment and joy, we sometimes have to step into the unknown, into the darkness in order to find the light.

When we are truly connected to our inner worlds, we feel free and alive. When we trust our intuition to guide us, and when we listen to this advice, a sense of destiny emerges. Yet when we struggle against the flow and let our heads rule, we might play safe and survive, but do our lives feel richer and more rewarding for the decision.

Uranus is a tricky chap to embrace. Risk is risky after all. In these uncertain economic times, it is hard to throw caution to the wind and say ‘what the hell!’, yet this is what Uranus is asking of us. Of course, as humans we have that wonderful option called ‘choice’, and each of us is free to decide whether to embrace Uranus and step into the unknown with faith as our safety nets, or we can ‘play it safe’ and stick to what we know – this could prove rewarding and fulfilling in itself, but only if we are not pondering the ‘if only I took a chance’ path.

If we choose to let Uranus go at this time, we need to do it wholeheartedly and with purpose!

Thursday 12 August 2010

Stargazing

Just thought I would remind you that this week is the annual Perseid meteor shower (which occurs every August). It is likely to be best seen tonight. If its clear we could see lots of shooting stars, and as we have just had the New Moon, we should get a good chance of a great view (particularly from Scotland). Try to get away from light pollution to take a peak...

Wednesday 11 August 2010

To Love, Nurture & Honour - Part 2

Ceres is the nurturer, her position in our birth charts helps us to understand more our motivations behind how well we care for ourselves and for others. Ceres as Mother represents housewives, teaching, midwifery, farming and care work – all core nourishing roles.

The unconditional nature of Ceres’ love is very important now, for each of us needs to love ourselves unconditionally. We need to honour ourselves (warts and all) and nourish ourselves in every way possible.

Interestingly, Ceres has been linked with psychological aspects of nourishment from relationship complexes, food complexes, and eating disorders – all of which stem from an imbalance in nurturance either given or received during those times which were particularly influential in our lives.

Despite not being on best terms with Pluto (understandably!), Ceres complements him in many ways. She helps us to accept loss, abandonment, cycles coming and going (through suffering, grief and loss we come to realise that a new cycle begins; and this helps us to develop compassion, acceptance and empathy). In addition, Ceres helps us to come to terms with death and dying – at some point each of us must descend within into that dark place where our fears reside. Ceres wants us to fully understand the process and to let go of fear. She wants us to see dying as the beginning, not the end.

As Goddess of the harvest, she teaches us key principles of sharing (the earth’s resources), living sustainably, love, compassion, ‘letting go’, the eradication of world hunger and our love for nature.

So, now is the time to think about nurturing not only ourselves, but to look outside of ourselves and to nurture all around us as well. This is not about depleting our own energy reserves, but it is about treating the earth (and all her other many inhabitants) in the ways in which we expect to be treated ourselves.

Finally, Ceres shows us that the expression of anger is extremely important – her anger drove the world barren, and unless we find channels of release for our own anger, we turn our inner landscapes barren. Letting go of this is a must if we are able to love and nourish ourselves and others.

It is important to continue nurturing and nourishing ourselves on every level of our Being. This is vital for our well-being, but how many of us actually look after ourselves that well? Some may treat the body as a temple eating well and exercising often, some may meditate and tend the gardens of their minds with love and care, and some may find ways to release stress, anger and other strong destructive emotions on a regular basis. But how many of us do all of these things?

Ceres continues to ask each of us to honour and nurture ourselves on every level and to take the necessary steps in our lives to create the Inner Utopia we each need in order to fulfil our potential and achieve our dreams. Yet she wants an Outer Utopia as well – a world balanced, in harmony, and it is up to each and every one of us to try to make a difference.

In a way, this is a time of re-birth. As we step back into the world over the coming weeks, we will begin to see more clearly our paths ahead.

This may feel like a huge undertaking, and in many ways it is. Yet it is simple – the more we can look after Number One, the more we can eat well, to get the work / life balance right and to re-focus on our priorities, the more we can address our outer landscape and collectively create Ceres’ Utopian dream...

Monday 9 August 2010

To Love, Nurture & Honour - Part 1

On August 8th, Ceres moves direct in Sagittarius. Ceres is a ‘dwarf planet’ now in the same category as Pluto, Charon and Eris. Ceres is an important astrological influence, and as an energy I have been working with for many many years, she is very familiar to me.

Ceres is the Earth Mother and she represents unconditional love. In myth, Ceres, known to the Greeks as Demeter, was the daughter of Saturn and Rhea. Her sisters were Vesta and Juno, her brothers Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto. Ceres was swallowed by her father Saturn, but freed by Jupiter after his victory over Saturn and the Titans. These deities became the ruling family of ancient Greece.

Ceres lived not only in the heavens, but on the earth with humanity to whom she gave grain, agriculture, and shared with humanity the cornucopia. She was worshipped as the all nourishing mother. Ceres was very close to her daughter Persephone. Pluto kidnapped her daughter and took her to his domain – the underworld.

Ceres searched high and low for Persephone, and in her grief, the earth became barren, people starved. Pluto refused to return Persephone, and in the end Jupiter (Zeus) ordered it (somewhat ironic, as Jupiter had given his blessing to Pluto’s dark plan). Before allowing Persephone to return, Pluto tricked her into eating pomegranate seeds which made her marriage to him binding,

Ceres was furious, and the earth remained barren. In the end, Jupiter (Zeus) agreed that Persephone could spend 6 months with mother and 6 months with Pluto each year. She emerges from the underworld in the spring (new life) and descends in the autumn (land becomes dormant and barren again whilst Ceres grieves).

This is the original story of loss, return and loss. Whilst in her retrograde phase, we tend to go through an inner period of loss and return – letting go of all those things that no longer nurture and nourish us. This is to prepare us for Ceres moving direct, when we can once again step into the sunlight and breathe new life into ourselves, our paths, our bodies etc.

To Be Continued...

Saturday 7 August 2010

The Cosmic Bottleneck

The cosmic bottleneck of energies continues to ebb and flow as we experience another Grand Cross of energies involved Pluto, Jupiter, Uranus, Moon, Saturn, Venus and Mars.

The energy feels heavy and stifling, and yet there is a subtle underlying sense that things are moving. This movement is hard to detect, and the more sceptical amongst us will doubt it’s even there, but the intensity is shifting focus, and there is a stronger sense of clarity, vision and purpose emerging.

This is not a time to fight the current though; it is a time to ‘go with the flow’ and to observe the trends in our lives to see where we will soon need to make changes. Neither is this a time to charge ahead with our plans, it is a time to think, ponder, plan and to consider our options, it is a time to prepare so we can be ready to act at the perfect time.

At the same time, another theme is emerging. Each of us have our own unique paths in life, and yet, there is a sense of a convergence of ideals and dreams. Coming together with like-minded kindred spirits is important now, and each of us should be open to finding our collective of people to be with.

This is not about leaders, egos or taking control though, it about coming together in balance and harmony, to work together as one. Allowing few to dominate or lead will defeat the object – we ALL have as much to offer as the next person, and so we need to form circles rather than hierarchies, where we are all equal and share the responsibilities.

Be open to this now, ask Spirit to call your circle together – place the intent to the Universe, and allow it to happen. Be in the stillness, in the calm within.

***

So, in many ways this is still a time of treading water, of standing still – yet it is in the stillness that we can find out so much about ourselves. If we struggle, trying to get ahead, we miss the beauty of the present moment, and we miss the lessons and the insight to be gained now. ‘Going with the flow’ maybe Taoist in philosophy, but it is a philosophy that we can all do well to adopt. This is not about giving up, for surrendering to the flow of the Universe is very different, this is about having faith that the Universe will carry us and guide us...

Remember to listen to the stillness, and to ‘Go with the flow’. Try to ride the storm of the tiredness and fatigue that so many of us are struggling with – see it as the Universes’ way of slowing us down, helping us to let go of repeating patterns in our lives and helping us to focus on what’s truly important.

Have faith and trust in the Universe to listen, and allow your vision of your future to become clear within you, so you can be ready to make it a reality when the Universe unleashes the bottleneck of energy in the weeks to come...