Thursday 23 September 2010

A Time of Balance

Today is the Autumn Equinox; marking the day when the Sun enters Libra. At the Equinox, day and night are of equal length representing balance. Also today, we have a Full Moon in Aries making this year’s Equinox considerably more potent than usual.

Balance remains the focus, but each of us has been connected to an intensified wave of cosmic energies over the past few months creating restlessness and trepidation connected to our paths ahead. Whilst we may be aware of the increased intensity of the energies about and within us, at the same time we feel unable to channel it into anything specific or particularly useful – it is just building up and causing stress.

It is therefore a confusing time; a time where struggling to gain clarity and direction will only lead to more tiredness and confusion. It seems to be a time to go with the flow for a while, and to focus on the balance within. Taking time out for reflection, contemplation and inner healing will help each of us to struggle less and to glide more easily through life.

There is also a strong sense of awakening today, a sense that whilst there is confusion and uncertainty, there is a slowly emerging feeling that our paths will soon be revealed. We need to have faith, trust and belief that this clarity will come. So, during this current time, we need to focus on the essentials in life and keep our heads above water whilst all about us seem to be struggling against the current.

So, for now try to keep the faith that all will be well and that – for now at least – take a deep breath, stop fighting the current and believe that clarity, balance and harmony is coming...

Tuesday 14 September 2010

A Change of Flow

Powerful Pluto moves direct today, and this is likely to come as a welcome relief to many of us as this remote little powerhouse has been wreaking havoc in our lives over the past few months. He has been pressing our buttons, making us face our own inner demons, pushing us towards letting go of those things (thoughts, patterns, attitudes, ideas, people and situations) that no longer serve us, and to resolve those issues that have remained unresolved within us for some time.

Pluto’s presence has weighed heavy on the shoulders of many of us trying to move our lives forwards or trying to gain a sense of clarity or direction. Whilst in Retrograde, the energy ray of Pluto has become more intense and concentrated, and his focus has been turned within – shining a light on our inner worlds.

Pluto is a force who cannot and will not be ignored, he always finds a way for each of us to take notice and he will continue to chip away at our resistance until we start to take notice and act. If we continue to ignore his presence, he gets stronger and more wilful until he makes us stop and take notice...

Pluto can seem cold and harsh, yet unless we let go in our lives, we cannot embrace the new. Without endings there cannot be beginnings. Of course the irony is that resistance to change is futile – it tends to happen whether we want it to or not, so to embrace it and work with it makes more sense as it places us in a position of empowerment. To resist and retreat leaves us the victim, powerless and without a voice.

So, this past few months have given each of us an opportunity to go deeply within to face those things about us that we don’t like, ignore or that we find too painful to access. Pluto has helped us to see that unless we face our true selves, we cannot move forwards. Pluto has helped each of us to take hold of our inner strength, and to embrace the inevitable changes that we all face.

The past few months have been challenging as the sheer pressure and force of the release process has been hard to handle at times. Many of us have felt overwhelmed most of the time; and under-whelmed the rest of the time. Not sure about you, but I have longed to simply feel whelmed!

The effect of retrograde Pluto has helped each of us to go within and connect to the true core of who we are. Pluto has helped us to be aware of our true calling, and our true power.

Pluto is the catalyst, he may be challenging, but he is absolutely necessary. He cannot be ignored, and this retrograde phase has been testament to that…

Now Pluto is moving direct, his energies will burst forth back out into the world around us, giving each of us a chance to explore the ways in which we can express our true natures in the world in which we live.

Those of us who have faced our fears will now start to feel stronger and stronger, and for those who stayed in ostrich state? Well, Pluto won’t give up, that’s almost guaranteed; he will continue to chip away until each of us reaches our true core and have become ‘baggage free’ for it is time to travel lightly now. Pluto wants each of us to be free, to stand in our power and to fulfil our true potential.

So expect a surge of energy over the next few weeks once Pluto gets back into the swing of things again. And combined with other planetary movements over the coming weeks; more and more awareness and clarity is likely to come forth.

Monday 13 September 2010

A Turning Point

Little Mercury moves direct in Virgo today (13th September). We can each breathe a sigh of relief as those frustrating little niggles and hiccups look set to come to smoother conclusions.

Thursday 9 September 2010

The Potential Within

Retrograde Jupiter moved back into Pisces on the 9th September, joining Retrograde Uranus who moved sign last month. These two planets are once again building up to another powerful conjunction on the 19th September.

Jupiter is the planet of wisdom, growth, expansion and abundance. Over the past weeks, whilst in Retrograde, we have been turning our focus within to understand, embrace and to honour the wealth and abundance that resides there.

Whilst in Aries, Retrograde Jupiter was the fire in our bellies, giving us a strong sense of adventure and new beginnings. There was a real awareness of the beginnings of forward movement in our lives. Yet, before this truly has the chance to get off the ground, Jupiter dips back into Pisces for a spell of reflection and self-honesty, before things really start to move forwards again by the end of the year.

So, now is the time to honour the abundance within, and to be appreciative of all that we do have in life. We may not have everything we want, we may see our lives as far from perfect, but the more we can appreciate even the little things we do have, we can begin to honour ourselves and ultimately attract more abundance (of all kinds) to us. Remember, like attracts like – positive thoughts feed positivity, negative thoughts feed negativity.

The mighty Jupiter is now giving each of us the chance to contemplate our paths ahead in order to be absolutely clear about what we want to achieve and how we want to achieve it. Each of us may have many goals and dreams, but it is time now to focus on what’s truly important and life affirming, and to have faith and self-belief to step into the unknown.

Jupiter is about adventure, growth, expansion, wisdom and new beginnings, yet in order to truly grow and become wise, we need to push our boundaries, to step beyond our comfort zones and to explore pastures new.

So many of us, remain paralysed in indecision in life, unable to follow our dreams through fear of letting go, taking a risk or walking away from something familiar. Yet, this leaves us feeling somewhat empty and unfilled as we long to walk our paths and live our dreams. It is hard to walk away from routine, regular (although unfulfilling) work and income, and familiar friends and environment.

Yet, we walk our paths in life alone, each of us are unique Beings, with unique goals and aspirations. To live life as a sheep following the flock because that it the easier and ‘safer’ choice is an option, but Jupiter now wants each of us to go within to realise just how much potential resides there.

Jupiter is asking us to awaken from the slumber of routine and familiarity, and to have the courage of our convictions to take that first step towards our dreams. There are no guarantees in life, and so success is not inevitable, but when we see the world through Jupiter’s eyes and realise just how much we have in life even when we are not ‘living our dreams’, we see that the word ‘failure’ loses its power and even if we do not achieve the success we hope for. By taking that chance and stepping into the unknown, we have moved ever closer to our dreams, aspirations and freedom of Spirit.

In short, we become more alive, more aware and more empowered....

Sunday 5 September 2010

Going With The Flow

It has been a couple of weeks since I last posted on the blog. The main reason for this is a spell of retreat and contemplation; reflecting on life, the universe and most things in between (well, that’s what Libran’s tend to do!).

This summer has been somewhat intense and challenging for so many of us, our paths have been littered with challenges and issues to resolve. Maybe one of the strongest themes is connected to ‘going with the flow’. Whilst we may know how we want to move our lives forwards, we have to wait for the right time, and trying to push ahead against the current will only exhaust and frustrate us (and not to mention create anxiety and panic within some).

Yet, going with the flow is much harder than it sounds. How many of us can truly let go of the steering wheel of our lives and trust that the current will carry us to where we need to be? How many of us can stop thinking, analysing and trying to understand the meanings of our experiences rather than just simply being in the moment? How many of us continually berate and beat ourselves up for not being better or doing more? And how many of us stay paralysed in indecision, because we cannot be sure which is the best path to follow as we cannot know what lies ahead (and wait for a guarantee to land in our laps)?

Surrendering to the flow of life is not about giving up but it is about having faith, belief and trust. Once again though, just how easy is it to live these qualities with the worries of day to day life all around us?

In many ways, the need to surrender or ‘go with the flow’ goes much deeper than the realities of our physical worlds. It is about our cores, the centre of our being, that place deep within where our ‘higher selves’ reside. Our higher selves are wise and removed from ego and the stress of day to day life. In this place we can release conditioning, negative thought processes and trauma, and feel truly free and alive.

Once we can truly go with the flow at this place deep within, the stress of our physical realities becomes far less stressful and infinitely more manageable. In many ways, our perspective shifts enabling us to see life differently and to realise that we can find paths of far less resistance in life if we believe that they exist.

One of the biggest pressures that many of us place on ourselves is the need to succeed and the need to be great. We are all great, but the pressure that drives so many of us is the drive towards perfection. Of course, working towards perfection is part of the human condition, but it is the journey that is far more important than the destination. Perfection is possibly never achievable as we all continually strive to move goal posts and to keep reaching for something more.

So, what should we strive towards? Maybe it should be simpler and more tangible? Maybe we should simply strive to be the best that we can be? Some days this might parallel ‘perfection’, other days we might fall far short of this, but if we are truly being the best that we can be, surely it doesn’t matter?

By being the best that we can be and going with the flow (trusting, believing and having faith) we start to let go of the stress, anxiety and worries that we all carry around with us like a large rucksack full of rocks bearing down on our shoulders. We start to feel more flexible and freer to live, breath and exist.

In this powerful space within, our lives fall into sharper focus. Un-important goals slide away and clarity allows us to see how we can progress in life. Those guarantees we seek seem less significant as we can ‘feel’ or intuitively know that we are on the right path, making the right decisions. In short, the forces that create stress and anxiety lose their power as we reside in stillness, peace, clarity and faith.

So, by taking a step back, going within and surrendering to the flow; we can each start to regain a sense of balance, harmony and focus in life...