January 2010

New Year's Eve Lunar Eclipse :::Conversations with the Moon::: The second full moon of December takes place on New Year's Eve: Thursday, December 31st, at 11:14am Pacific Time. This full moon occurs in the lunar sign of Ardra, which is associated with the power of effort. That the lunar eclipse happens on this day signals success in new year's resolutions focused on quitting various activities. Ask yourself what you'd like to quit. Let's say you'd like to quit using your credit card for day to day living expenses, and shift over to using cash instead. Between now and New Year's Eve you'll have several days to remember what it was like to pay for everything on credit. You'll have time to thank the institutions that were willing to extend the credit, and time to thank the cards themselves for the lifestyle they afforded you. Then you'll want to envision yourself knowing how much you have in your bank account at all times, and going to the bank to have the cash you need for purchases. You could then write your resolution on a piece of paper: "My daily use of credit has ceased." Then ritually cut your credit card in half and place your new year's resolution into a new year's eve fire that you've got going in your fireplace... Get the idea? The important thing is to pick something you want to quit - not something you want to start. On a more esoteric level, the lunar eclipse in this sign promises an accelerated identity disassembly for anyone interested. (This day is a great opportunity to notice that who you are is not separate from Life itself.) Write this day/time into your calendar: Thursday, January 14, 2010, at 11:12pm Pacific Time. This new moon and the solar eclipse that accompanies it takes place in the vedic lunar sign of Uttara Ashadha. This lunar sign is associated with the ten "Vishvadevas," or collective forces of Light: Goodness, Truth, Willpower, Skill, Time, Desire, Firmness, Ancestors, Brightness, and "Peak." This lunar sign innately understands the responsibilities involved in leadership. That these collective forces of Light are being eclipsed mid-January will likely enhance greedy leadership unconcerned with widespread consequences (i.e. unconscionable bonuses for heads of financial institutions.) The power associated with this lunar sign is the power to grant an unchallengeable victory. With this power eclipsed, these next six months are like the scene in the movie where the good guys get their butts kicked, which makes their ultimate victory all the more sweet. Image: The Japanese Sun Goddess Amaterasu Emerging from her Cave, by Utagawa Kunisada, (歌川国貞), 1857

Planning & Scheduling :::Living in Accord with the Seasons::: New Year's Eve is an absolutely excellent day to lay low and spend some time in silence, resting and abiding in the eternal, unchanging truth of Who you are. The lunar eclipse will favor introspective, spiritual activities. Take some time to review the past year and connect with gratefulness for all it brought, and to playfully envision the upcoming year. Consider blueprinting your vision for 2010 with something creative like a collage. It is extremely important to connect with your heart's true longings, rather than holding on to outdated ambitions. Mercury is retrograde from December 26 until January 14. As during any Mercury retrograde period, patience will be required around Mercurial activities such as travel, communications, commerce. It's better not to sign contracts or initiate projects with high levels of detail during this time, as often the details must be revisited later. Mercury retrograde is a good time to edit, refine plans, go over details, and get back in touch with old friends. Venus and Pluto form a conjunction in Sagittarius on Monday the 28th of December, highlighting thrill-seeking activities, intense connections with others, and unblinking examination of existing relationships. Regarding relationships, resistance to change = pain. Letting go = freedom. Mars moved into the sign of Cancer on October 4, and will be staying in his sign of debilitation for almost eight months, until the end of May. In competitive areas of life, this placement of Mars may incline us toward playing an offensive, rather than a defensive game. Cultivate the balance of these forces as you go about achieving your dreams. This placement of Mars does not bode well for the real estate market. It is likely to create a general sense of insecurity in U.S. domestic affairs. Jupiter and Neptune are in an exact conjunction from December 20th until Dec. 25th. This conjunction represents several human tendencies: the tendency toward compassion, the tendency for striving toward ideals, the tendency for an unaware sense of entitlement, the tendency for an adolescent sense of invincibility. Actions benefiting others will bring far more joy and fulfillment than selfish actions during this time. Transiting Jupiter will conjoin the U.S. natal Moon from Jan. 23-26, which will likely coincide with the president's State of the Union address, promoting a general sense of hope and optimism. Saturn and Pluto have been dancing a tense little tango (forming a square aspect) since late October, and continue in this position until the end of February. No matter what good intentions exist behind reforming health care, reforming egregious banking/finance offenses, and creating jobs, powerful agents of change are already on the United States' doorstep. It is unlikely that governmental solutions will solve existing problems. Completely out of the box solutions will be needed. Social unrest brews. Notice what doesn't change, even when everything around you does. Coming from this place of what doesn't change - this is one way of apprehending enlightenment. Image: Inti Raimi, the Incan festival of winter solstice and the beginning of the year

July 2008

Planning & Scheduling Living in Accord with the Seasons On July 24, the Sun moves into vedic Cancer, (joined by Venus until Aug. 1,) stimulating a focus on the home environment and our domestic family scene. The Sun is sharing this sign with his eclipse point, Ketu, showing lessons for all of us around detachment in the Cancer realms - home and family. This need for detachment might be particularly acute, on Sun./Mon. Aug. 10/11, when the conjunction is exact. Venus experiences an exact conjunction to Ketu on Thur., July 24, bringing in an air of detachment to our love relationships. Watch out for interpreting this as dissatisfaction. Consider the possibility of being present inside a relationship, without either clinging or checking out. Mars and Saturn continue their transiting conjunction in the sign of Leo until August 9, signifying a strengthening of self-esteem through accomplishment and clear personal goals. On Aug. 2, Venus joins Mars and Saturn in Leo, and on Aug. 8, Mercury joins them all, making a spicy, creative jumbalaya. Artists, actors, performers, may all find Aug. 2 - Aug. 25 to be a prolific, or productive period. The conjunction of Venus with Saturn is exact on Aug. 14; expect to mix the energies of joy/ art/ love with responsibility/ diligence/ manifestation. You may find someone you love needing your assistance, for instance. Or you may find yourself carving out time in your schedule to follow your Muse. Mars transitions into vedic Virgo on Aug. 9, bringing some cool, rational assessments and strategies into the mounting boil of interactions. Strong, retrograde Jupiter continues to pass through vedic Sagittarius for roughly 4 months, symbolizing the internal review of our own judgments, codes of conduct, and man-made as well as natural law. Seeing that all these are based in thought, there is the ability for 'Law' to shift (especially while Mercury is opposite Jupiter in flexible Gemini, until Jul 23.)

Triumph of Light Over Darkness Conversations with the Moon This month we witness the brightest full moon of the year, taking place on Friday July 18, at 1:00am PDT, in the vedic lunar sign of Uttara Ashadha. A full moon is sort of like a revolving spotlight. Something in the collective unconscious of all life on earth gets "featured." This month, the spotlight is on the inevitable Triumph of Light over Darkness. Don't we usually think of fighting Darkness "out there," in the government, in the world, on the streets? After all, isn't that the central theme to most great stories of the past? Yet something about this time on planet earth seems to be urging us to look at the triumph of Light over Darkness, within. What does it mean, for Light to triumph over Dark? The ancient sages knew that we as humans, tend to understand things first in a very literal way, and then, gradually, we are illumined in subtler and subtler ways. So stories of Goodness and Virtue triumphing over Cruelty and Selfishness abound. But there's a deeper level to this. Consider Light to be a metaphor for Consciousness, that ground-level awareness that is the same in all of us. And consider Darkness to be a metaphor for suffering, which the sages tell us is caused by identification with thought, which creates the impression of separateness - the core of suffering. The triumph of Light over Darkness would then represent the inevitability of all Life to return to its source, whether at death, or sooner. Just like the inevitability of sunrise. Write this day into your calendar: Friday, August 1 - the New Moon in Pushya. The New Moon is a time when all of nature takes an exhale from "Doing" and naturally returns to "Being." It is a time when the absence of outer aid throws us back on ourselves to discover these qualities inherent in ourselves: warmth, support, contentedness; connection with all of Life.

"I don't 'have' a Life; I 'am' Life" an excerpt from "A New Earth," by Eckhart Tolle If there is such a thing as "my life," it follows that I and life are two separate things, and so I can also lose my life, my imaginary treasured possession. Death becomes a seeming reality and a threat. Words and concepts split life into separate segments that have no reality in themselves. We could even say that the notion "my life" is the original delusion of separeteness, the source of ego. If I and life are two, if I am separate from life, then I am separate from all things, all beings, all people. But how could I be separate from life? What "I" could there be apart from life, apart from Being? It is utterly impossible. So there is no such thing as "My life," and I don't 'have' a life. I 'am' life. I and life are one. It cannot be otherwise.