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The Astrological Theme for October was Liberation.
I am a nerd for etymology. Because I love symbols. Because letters and words are symbols. Because sometimes when I hear people talking, it strikes me how ridiculously amazing it is that we’ve agreed certain sounds mean certain things. That we’ve developed communication, and shared ways to stimulate and organize our minds.
We find the root “lib” equates with “freedom” and “book.” [As an astrologer, I notice it also begins the word “Libra,” the sign of equi-lib-rium.]
Liberation: setting free from imprisonment, slavery, or oppression.
How fascinating that “book” contains the same root as “freedom.” What is a book? A gathering of ideas. Mind-stuff made manifest. What is the relationship here, between freedom and manifest mind-stuff?
Consciousness wants to become more conscious.
Or, more commonly known:
“Free your mind, and your ass will follow.”
As ideas come forth into clarity, a natural breaking-of-chains seems to occur. Movements may start small, but they can grow like wildfire. The past few months has been called the Summer of Change.
In early October, news leaked on Donald Trump’s despicable comments about women. As the month progressed, he provided inspiration for many new t-shirt and mug designs to be flaunted by those flagging themselves “nasty woman.” Meanwhile, Mars (the Masculine), joined Pluto (Power) in Capricorn (sign of the Patriarchy). Mars-Pluto often represents violence and outright war. Looking deeper, it is the penetration and extractive elimination of shadow material in the collective Psyche.
Liberation can take many forms.
It can be outright and confirmable. It can be supremely invisible.
As Trump triggered folks with his comments, many women freed their voices through written word, offering stories of sexual abuse and intimidation. It was a catalyst to see more about the culture, and the world we live in today. Gross masculine dominance took an observable hit.
In my own life, chains cast aside were subtler. Barely noticeable.
I’ve been sifting through a lot of material (what with this existential crisis transit still going on in full-force). A synopsis of my recent mental activity: WTF am I doing here? What is anyone doing here? This is all a sham! I’m useless! Am I useless? What do I know about anything? Do I have any skills? What kind of life do I want to live, anyway? What actually matters? It’s all illusion/reality/illusion. WTF??
It’s a crazy thing to dissolve to your old self.
To find a formless version of you in a vacuous spaciousness with little to grasp. Thirsty with want to rest understandings somewhere. Yet empty of desire.
I remember experiencing something similar to this twice before in my life. Both times preceded major life changes. It’s like a primordial soup. Raw material’s got to get messy and cooked before it becomes digestible.
Last time I suffered from depression, it put me on my path.
A bout with psychosis got me into this work. I hesitate to name it that because it’s often labeled as mental illness. But it’s not mental illness. It’s perceptions that don’t fit the mold of current cultural format. It’s opening to extra senses. My opening just happened at a time when the rest of my anatomy wasn’t clear, grounded, or strong enough yet to quite handle it.
I was channeling like crazy, and seeing all kinds of visions. They were literally knocking me over at times. The electrical input was so intense that I would short circuit and end up on the floor. See related Article: How to Survive a Hard Uranus Transit. Clearly I needed to ground. I shared my experiences with a teacher. He told me to keep practicing Qi Gong. So I did, like it was my job. And now it is my job for real.
I needed a container for the energy. So I wrote poetry. I studied Ancient Kamitic Theosophy and took detailed notes. I went wild on learning astrology. Anything that could help me logically order this information and apply conceptual understanding to my experience. That way, I could potentially navigate it. I could maybe somehow find myself within the beautiful, messy madness of destructive renewal.
How can depression be liberation?
My recent depression distracted me enough from myself and my life in business-as-usual to allow for some sort of shift to take place. Something beyond me, orchestrating a change. A weird death-opening.
In my depression, I got a chance to look at the ways I put pressure on myself and stew in inherited patterns. It gave me a closer view of ancestral weakness and the unwillingness to be on Earth. I saw my life from a distance, because I wasn’t able to participate in it in the same way. I experienced a different way of being me, undefined by previous self-conceptions. And I experienced completely modified ways of seeing the world. I also found that I was too tired and apathetic to give a fuck about a lot of things; things that normally preside in my awareness. Dispassion somehow is gloriously freeing. In all of its numb dullness, it feels permissive. Though the emotional climate was heavy, I held less judgment, and reduced mental weight. And I didn’t feel like I had to do anything about it.
In our modern Western culture, participation is prized. External involvement, busy-ness, and prominent world presence is often heralded as success.
When impediments to worldly participation come down the pike, fear rouses. I notice it in myself and others. When I confide openly about feeling depression, the topic is swiftly avoided as if it’s a communicable disease. Even my holistic doctors rally with battle cries. “We’re gonna fix this! You will feel better! Let’s get this chi moving!”
There is an urgency in the demand to feel good.
(Not to mention a HUGE MARKET for it.)
Maybe I’m crazy, but I trust my depression. At first it freaks me out, and the longer it goes on the more I resent having to submit to it. I feel concern about it, especially as it interferes with worldly behaviors like maintaining friendships and working; but ultimately, I want to snuggle with it. Wrap myself in its tendrils. Listen to all its fears, neuroses, and skepticisms. Get to know it while it’s visiting my world. I want to take long walks with it in the dark and whisper about pain. I know big gray clouds can linger for seasons, but eventually the wind blows them on. Meanwhile, they change shape in curious indefinable ways. Apathy’s just a weather pattern. Anxiety’s more squirrely, and I can’t say that it’s one I fully I trust yet, but as time rolls on I see more and more how things just Are as they Are. And they function. As meaningless and meaningful as how a river’s got all kinds of nooks and crannies of stagnation alongside its easy flowing stretches.
There’s lots of people out there touting freedom. What does it mean to be free in this world, in this life? What does freedom mean to you? It's worth it to take some time to feel into that question. I advise not to put your freedom eggs in one basket (i.e. To be free is to travel! To have money! To be thin!). You may find that the thing you believe will feel most free becomes its own prison. There are more and less valuable concepts of freedom to define and attain.
For me, freedom, connection, and nature exist together.
To be free means to have this conscious experience. Full stop, no qualifiers.
Que sera, sera.
Exactly what is, as it is, My Love.
How were you Liberated in October? What were you liberated from? What were you liberated towards? How did the month move you? Comment Below.
The Astrological Theme for November 2016 is: Brave New World.
***NOTE: I pre-chose the monthly themes at the dawn of 2016 based on observing the astrology***
Building on our “lib” theme of freedom through manifest mind-stuff.
Brave New World.
It’s a book title about a dystopian reality,
and, it’s an invitation.
In the 1931 Huxley novel (set in 2540), society is scientifically controlled and divorced from nature.
In the 2016 Earth story, folks gather in North Dakota to peacefully protect indigenous land from the installation of a life-threatening pipeline. Indigenous tribes and others join in an unprecedented show of unanimous prayer to save our water. “Authorities” make arrests en masse and use brute force in attempt to dismantle the protection site. Media is hushed. Facebook Livestream videos mysteriously vanish.
And here we are, poised at the brink of a Presidential transition.
Brave:
The Courage to Endure Discomfort without Fear
New:
Not Existing Before
World:
Humanity, the Planet, Existence
Has the wool effectively fallen yet?
Regardless of what occurs in this election, many ugly things are clear about the state of this nation. Private monetary interests take precedent over all other concerns. Even (and sometimes especially) over concern about the well-being and survival of the human population. Some refer to this as the Global Oligarchy: power of rulership vested in the hands of the few.
World events of the past several months have shaken me to my core. They have provoked much of my questioning and general dis-ease. I do not believe it is adequate, or even possible, to maintain the status quo – in society, and in my own life. I also see that it is not always sustainable or realistic to immediately overturn the status quo. Part of me knows and trusts that everything is operating according to Divine Law. And another part of me screams; THIS IS INJUSTICE.
How do we hold both.
What actions do we take?
There are a million paths we can walk to freedom. We can choose to take the frontlines in battle (Standing Rock needs bodies. If you feel the call, Go Now). We can call our representatives. We can use bikes and buses instead of gasoline-fueled cars. We can invest in renewable energy. We can educate ourselves in earthways and reciprocity. We can pray. We can direct our energies wisely with chosen abstinences and participations. We can dive deep within ourselves and feel, until we know in our souls what our own personal next step will be.
No single individual knows the answers to the issues at stake, and the problems grow ever-insurmountable. The reality of happenings on the ground in real time is bone-chilling.
But as convoluted and crazed as all of it seems,
Solutions are as simple as can be.
When I ask myself, and when I ask God, what is needed in these times, I hear one thing on repeat:
Heart.
Return to the Heart.
The Heart as Teacher.
The Heart as Guide.
The Sovereign Heart.
Our hearts strengthen when they soften.
Our hearts open when they break.
Our hearts govern the lifeblood system in our entire body.
Where does courage come from?
The Heart.
Where is Bravery Born?
The Muscle of the Heart.
The Heart is not a lone organ. A Heart exists mostly for communion.
Now, more than ever, we need to Connect.
To our humanity. To sympathy. To empathy. To one another. To all sentient beings. To nature. To things we know at the most basic, primal level. Like what it feels like to be warm, cold, hungry, or satiated. We need companionship. Togetherness. Commonality. Insight that only and absolutely sprouts from shared presence.
I’m not talking about groupthink; which is a collective brainwashing. What I mean is: show up in space with others and be real. No dogma or propaganda, no story and no script. Show up, communicate authentically, look into each other’s eyes, sense the palms of each other’s hands. Feel and be led.
The problems seem so big, and the solutions are so small:
Get together.
Protect and serve Life.
Feed, clothe, house, and heal your people.
Use your life to Love generously.
Seek fulfillment from within.
Moving FORWARD. Progress
I don’t know specific answers, but I do hear the insistence from spirit:
We are charged with the formation of a Brave New World.
Something we get to dream into being, and create. Something that will never exist in a vacuum, but rather will be the kaleidoscopic child of the whole human race and ecosystem, in tandem health. Something that is already being made, and is simply waiting for more attendance. A critical mass of Love.
Can you taste the possibility of living on a Heavenly Earth?
In my etymological nerdiness, I discovered that “ad lib” means “at one’s pleasure.” As we free ourselves and one another through sharing our hearts and minds, we liberate humanity to live ad lib. At the pleasure of Divine Love.
When, in the throes of my sorrow, I question “why are we here?” I hear: to play. To embrace. To enjoy the magical bounty of this miraculous Earth. To dance and sing and pray and continue legacy. We are here to utilize natural magic with reciprocity and grace. To uplift and energize the ineffable phenomenon of what is. To be absolutely humbled with astounding gratitude by magnificent beauty. To deepen our sensations of perception. To fully utilize this gracious chance of being alive.
So mote it be.
Ashe.
"Our Father who lives in the heavens, Let your name be honored, Let your Kingdom come, Let your will be done down here on Earth, as perfectly as it is in the sky." The Lord's Prayer
***If you benefit from my work, please consider making a donation of your choice here. Monthly forecasts are time-and-energy consuming. In the spirit of reciprocity, even one dollar contributes to make this offering sustainable <3 ***
Astrologically Speaking
Full Transit Report for November
Nov 1 Sun trine Neptune (4:17am)
Innate mysticism. Yearning for the higher ideal. Longing for Spirit to touch, infuse, and inform life on Earth. Higher realms of consciousness. Prayer, ceremony, music, art, and energy work are flowing. Rather than allowing disillusionment to sap your energy, focus on creating the dream and becoming more empathetic towards suffering. Vulnerability is strength. Call the vision in now.
Nov 2 Moon conjunct Saturn (4:09pm)
Feeling the gravity of Saturn in Sagittarius, existential crisis and global citizenship transit. Intuit heart whispers. What values are you committing to and how will they inform your life actions? It can feel heavy. And/or it can feel like putting yourself in charge in the most important ways.
Nov 3 Mercury sextile Pluto (1:10am)
Knowledge is power. Do your research. Use words wisely. In the beginning, the Word existed, and the Word was God. Primordial sound. End today and begin tomorrow with a conscious verbal vibration. Intonate that within and without. This sound can be the alchemical prayer for the structure of a New World we build with conscious empathy.
"The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named is not the eternal name
The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth
The named is the mother of myriad things
Thus, constantly free of desire
One observes its wonders
Constantly filled with desire
One observes its manifestations
These two emerge together but differ in name
The unity is said to be the mystery
Mystery of mysteries, the door to all wonders"
- Tao Te Ching, Derek Lin translation
Nov 4 Venus square Chiron (12:39pm)
Oh, sweet pain and sensitivity. The keys to our humanity. Pain in relationship. Pain in love. Sensitivity toward peace, harmony, balance – and the lack thereof. Feel it to heal it. This will lead the way to re-integration. Wherever you are, make beauty. Varnish your blemishes with gold. If your worth is in question, stare lovingly at something you admire, and invite it to stare back at you with reciprocal admiration. Rejection catalyzes re-direction.
Nov 5 Venus trine Uranus (2:23am)
Freedom is worthy. Revolution is valuable and needed for the progressive evolution of consciousness. Womyn, and the feminine, gather to produce change. Create relationships based on liberty. The electric quality of your gatherings with literally amplify love on this planet. No need to cooperate with oppressors. Use your buying power to support your beliefs and the direction we can head in as a global society.
Nov 6 Mercury trine Chiron (2:01pm)
Healing talks with an insightful, shared emotional quality. When we speak to one another softly, with compassion, tending to the deepest heart’s needs, we cannot help but be heard on the subtlest level. Listen to what cannot be said, but what can only be felt in realms unseen. Learn to trust those intuitions, and share them with companions.
Nov 7 Mercury inconjunct Uranus (12:11am) Sun sextile Pluto (3:25am)
A clash between basic needs of your mundane life and actions towards real progressive change. Begin revolution in smallest steps of habit. See what you support with your breath, your words, you attentions. The purest forms of power are inherent within you. It is not your power. It is the power of Source itself. It does not belong to you, or to anyone. Empty, yet inexhaustible. Purify yourself. Step back and allow this energy to pour through you as conduit.
Nov 9 Mars enters Aquarius (12:51am)
No longer conservative and stalwart. The warrior energy available now is less predictable. Ideal for invention and rebellion. Untamable, ideological, driven to serve the collective rather than preserve structures of the past. Mars will move through this innovative sign of genius until December 18.
Nov 11 Venus enters Capricorn (11:54pm)
A love of stability, responsibility, and integrity. Place value on essential structure and inner authority. Set longterm goals. Conservation is highlighted. Take time alone to hermit and climb mountains for your heart’s desires to reveal themselves to you. Venus moves through Capricorn until December 7.
Nov 12 Mercury enters Sagittarius (9:39am) Sun trine Chiron (2:05pm)
Eagle’s eye. It’s time to see the bigger picture, and to look at this Earth as a global unit. Broadcast your thoughts. Boldly claim your true perspective. We can become dogmatic, overly righteous, and obnoxious, so if you stand on your soapbox, do so with openness. Polar extremes contain the potential to braid together in synthesis. This creates art. The biggest blessing of this transit is its optimistic, faithful, visionary capacities. Use your gratitude, and speak words of Trust. Mercury moves through Sag until December 2.
Nov 14 Full Moon in Taurus (9:52am) is Historic. This Frosty full moon is the closest to Earth as it has been since the start of the 21st century. Shed skin. Potent Scorpio moons always bring transformation. Emotional and physical attachments are highlighted and asked to reconcile. Our attachments can be healthy investments that allow for stable growth; or they can be habitual comforts that stagnate our development. This moon illustrates a stand-off between old and new. A patriarchal status quo confronts a radical populace. Ingrained behaviors inside your life are encouraged to take a different tack. The builder meets the saboteur. Peace and crisis wrestle. Greed and issues of power come into focus. Poison can be medicine: what matters is usage and dose. Enormous inexhaustible power awaits us all, but we need to know where to focus. Let us reach towards the renewable resource within. Beneath fluctuation, between definable lines. The ineffable source that persists in Holy emptiness. Many shamanic and alchemical traditions advise 'practicing death' as a way to enhance life. What does this mean? Stepping out of known realms and into the mystery. Releasing, in small and large ways, who you used to be and embracing new identities and life conditions. When we die without loss, we find eternity.
“Knowing others is intelligence;
knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength;
mastering yourself is true power.”
- Tao Te Ching
Nov 15 Mercury sextile Mars (12:22pm)
Walk the talk, and talk the walk. Quick wits. NOW is time to take action in a new way, on your ideals, and speak your mind freely. Take a stand or a step like you never have before. Let freedom ring.
Nov 18 Mercury square Neptune (11:04am)
Scattered, visionary mental energy. It can be a challenge to focus. Great for mental travel and seeing all potentials. Spiritual, emotional, and energy perceptions. Continuing adjustments around systems of belief. Confusion abounds. Let your mind rest a spell. Firm decisions not recommended.
Nov 19 Venus sextile Neptune (6:03pm) Neptune stations Direct (11:38pm)
Practical matters of business, advancement, and personal achievement meet with altruistic dreams of a more heavenly existence. Romance and beauty liaisons offer benefits. Trust your heart's connection to spiritual love and dreamy fantasy today. May we all strive to incorporate this level of Divinity to our lives on a daily basis. For example: consider viewing financial income as a means to give generously and uplift those around you. A vehicle for sharing blessings! Hard and fast decisions are not advised while Neptune stations. We are awash in a spiritualized view, not able to quite see reality as it actually is. Dreams are not the same as goals. Dream and vision now, and let those cleanse and prepare you for the goals you set later on.
Nov 21 Sun enters Sagittarius (4:22pm)
The season of travel is upon us! The time when we gather around warmth in celebration and jubilance of common beliefs or other ties. Expand outward. Socialize. Broaden into new horizons. A hearty season of excess, optimism, faith, and gluttony. Do some physical and mental sparring. Blow some hot air. It's all an adventure. Doesn't have to make sense, as long as it's spirited. To Infinity, and Beyond. Tally Ho!
Nov 22 Mercury sextile Jupiter (1:19pm)
Pay attention to the messages coming in today and tomorrow. Things are happening on the world stage. Despite appearances, steady progress is being made. It seems smooth. Perhaps too smooth? Unruffled. It is worth it to keep inquiring about who is really being served. There is good tolerance and diplomacy in our midst; but balance it with critical thinking.
Nov 23 Mercury conjunct Saturn (1:43pm)
Perceptions now can be sobering. The mind and conversations show us what we're working on; more about the realities of our soul purpose. Believe it or not, we are all growing. Even if that growth seems stalled, there is a higher intelligence operating. Make assessments. See what progress you have made since December 2014, and especially since May/June 2016. This is your Saturn in Sagittarius story. Longterm choice and view are in focus. Positive thinking falls short unless we practice what we preach. The commitments we make in life pave the way for accomplished fulfillment. Publish and broadcast.
Nov 24 Jupiter square Pluto (6:00pm)
Big power. Increasing wealth. First of all, what is wealth, actually? Is numbers in a cloud? Or is it personal satisfaction, community, health, and a viable future for our beloved descendants? Is wealth the ability to purchase mass-produced goods and fly around the world? Or is it having a sense of identity connected to the land where you live, providing meaningful service, and supporting all the brothers and sisters around you? There is a direct link between true wealth and morality. It's a simple equation. Wealth is an internal sense of fulfilling abundance, and it is the birthright of all who exist on this generous planet. It makes no difference if you have $15 or $150,000. When you have love in your heart, people to care for and people who care for you, a connection to spirit, and the recognition that all things in this world ARE YOU (rather than belonging to you), you are a fortunate being. This transit can point to greed, excessive pride, and a drive towards success. Ambition is healthy when your cause is ethical. Build off a foundation of gratitude. Be an example of one committed to your ideals. True power is vested in the hands of the many. Bond with that power deep within yourself and your loved ones, and increase it with loving nurturance care. A culture of nurturance and connection will fertilize this loving planet.
Nov 25 Venus conjunct Pluto (6:50am) Venus square Jupiter (8:45am)
Transformations taking place now influence our money, our resources, our relationships, and our sense of values. The shadowy elements of control and dominance can play out in these areas now. Possessiveness, jealousy, manipulations, love-triangles, hidden fatal attractions.. just some of the spice of life when these planets meet. Big pleasure, indulgence, and gluttony are in the air. Taste the intense sweetness. Just know there's an inevitable come-down post sugar-high. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." Jimi Hendrix
Nov 26 Mercury square Chiron (3:22am) Mercury trine Uranus (8:38am)
Sensitive, especially with thought and communications. Fresh insights. Take time to write and speak well today. You may be healed by what comes through, even if it hurts at first.
Nov 29 New Moon in Sagittarius (7:18am) Venus sextile Chiron (10:14am) Venus square Uranus (3:20pm)
New Moon in Sagittarius boldly goes where none have gone before. Seeking strange new worlds, new life, and new civilizations. Where lies the final frontier? We access it through our bodies, our travels, and our lived experiences. We access it through engaging with things foreign. We access it through interpreting symbols. Through continued surrender and releasing of the past, and hopeful welcomings of the future. Through faithfully embracing all that is grace. We humans are animals. Animals have uncanny instincts. They track the subtle. They seek clues in their environment. They listen to the rumblings of the wild within. In this way, keen self-knowledge is the compass of navigation. Sometimes, we must lose ourselves in order to find the path of our soul's journey. Embark. Envision the new mission. Track your hunches into learning landscapes. Open all of your senses. When we lose ourselves, we find each other. And we find a love that stirs beneath and between the threads of all. Well-worn, yet undiscovered territory, the eternal.
Nov 30 Sun square Neptune (8:17pm)
Use this day to dream. Boundaries are thinner, vitality can be low unless you align with your highest ideals and compassions for self and others. Fortify your spirit through rest, meditation, or anything that activates inspiration.
***If you benefit from my work, please consider making a donation of your choice here. Monthly forecasts are time-and-energy consuming. In the spirit of reciprocity, even one dollar contributes to make this offering sustainable <3 ***