Everyone knows how creative the Scots are. They’re always sculpting, painting, singing songs, and writing plays. They invented television, the telephone, and deep-fried Mars bars. 😁
~ David Baillie (1977 — ) Scottish writer and artist best known for creating the Red Thorn comic series
Dear friend and neighbour and fellow traveller;
Uranus into Gemini indicates an explosion in the the communications and information processing fields. Before you roll your eyes and ask, “What now, Uranus?” understand technology is not the issue; it’s the way we use technology that gets us into trouble. In the same way, the creative power within us can be used or misused — it’s always up to us.
In astrology, the creative process is a multi-planetary dance that involves a path drawn from the Sun’s authenticity where the creative power is first sparked and given to Jupiter (creative power), then carried to Mars (will) and expressed through Venus (manifestation). Even Saturn and Mercury who at first glance seem to have no role to play, are involved. Saturn paves the road and removes the obstacles and Mercury greases the gears of the intellect so creativity can be fully unfurled.
PART I: The Sun’s Role
The integrity of any process is only as robust as its weakest link. Given the intensity of our karmic map, in reality we may experience multiple failures. When the Sun is afflicted, we are disconnected from our true nature creating confusion about who we are. Such a person tends to wander through life rather than drive with confidence. They frequently change fields of study at the university or go from job to job not because they are inept; because they are bored. Finding satisfaction and contentment eludes them because their unconscious is steering them towards what is safe and comfortable rather than what is fulfilling and natural.
Fulfilment is a product of living true to our authentic nature. The afflicted Sun person lives behind a veil of delusion about who they are. They have assumed a false identity that is dominating their existence as a means to protect themselves from pain. This identity can take many forms and contains all the “I ams” that reverberate through the psyche. We can spend a lifetime attempting to prop up a false identity. Eventually, if we are fortunate, we come to the realisation that the heavy weight that suffocates us is our own doing and we seek a deeper answer through self-improvement and therapy. If we even more fortunate, we find answers through the grace and guidance of a spiritual master.
I worked with a young fellow in the ashram kitchen many years ago who had embraced a kind of gothic/punk identity since his teenage years. Personality wise, he was very intelligent, very kind, and quite unruffled. He had a high intensity position in the kitchen office, but in the ten years I knew him, I never saw him lose his cool. I was personally present when the guru commented that he was the only strong person in the kitchen. Being an athlete at the time, I knew she was not speaking about physical strength for his arms were like the legs of a chicken. She was speaking about his inner state. I took notice.
I never saw him wear any colour but black. He listened to heavy metal punk, kept his hair cut like a punk rocker, wore skull earrings, eye shadow, and a black leather jacket and boots. The question, of course, was not whether he was a punker. His outward appearance and lifestyle were not an issue for any of us nor should it have been. To the guru, of course, authenticity is not something we wear, but a state of being. The guru is not interested in what we we do but how we do it. If we are not being true to ourselves, eventually the guru’s fire of love will sandblast the false ideas and notions we have carried for an eternity.
After a year’s absence from the ashram, I could not believe the transformation that had occurred in not only his appearance but in his aloof, detached demeanour that somehow always seemed to be a form of self-protection. Now dressed in a sport coat and tie in shades of brown and tan, he was a first class executive. No makeup, no skulls, and no black leather. Married to one of the guru’s secretaries, he had a prestigious position in the ashram foundation. All this time, there had been another, more authentic fellow underneath the black clothes waiting to be expressed. He lived as Saturn, but became the Sun.
How does the Sun show its afflictions?
The Sun’s most powerful enemy is Ketu, but Ketu only afflicts the Sun if conjunct (in the same sign). When it is, the effects are like a cloud passing over the Sun and we have enormous trouble seeing who we really are. Ketu is the past, and its influence upon the Sun reveals profound trauma in previous lifetimes around expressing oneself authentically and living true to one’s nature.
In a similar vein, Saturn is the next most powerful enemy to the Sun. In Vedic mythology, Saturn is the son of the Sun who became inimical when the Sun and his court rejected Saturn because of his lack of brilliancy. In the Sun’s kingdom, Saturn plays a crucial role. Saturn is the castle, the fortified walls that offer protection and survival. Together, however, Saturn causes the Sun to focus on survival at the expense of the individual’s creative nature. In such individuals, you find them caught in an unfulfilling cycle where they feel they need to choose practicality over what truly fulfils them. These are the people you hear later in life regret “the other road” not taken. The other road was their true nature, but it was pushed aside “to pay the bills.”
Next up is Venus. Venus is an enemy to the Sun because its influence causes the Sun to believe that fulfilment comes not through fulfilling its destiny, but in helping others fulfil theirs. This is easy to see in couples where one of the two has turned away from their authentic nature to support the other. In essence, they allow the partner to become their Sun.
This does not need to only happen in a couple relationship. We give away our sun to friends, relatives, or work colleagues. Groupies and super fans are other extreme examples of how this dynamic manifests. In short, such people are living through someone else. As long as that someone is there to live through, they may sustain this dynamic for a while. Eventually, however, the other leaves, either by choice or by death. From the perspective of the Self, either way is a blessing as it offers a chance for the individual to finally live through their own volition.
As always, it’s much better to take our destiny out of the hands of Destiny. 😉
🤗
Warm thoughts and many blessings,
David 🙏🏻
astrologyofjoy.com
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