Astrology of Joy

Tag: new year

  • Starlog January 2022: A New Beginning

    January 2022 through spring 2023

    According to your Sun sign:

    In Elemental Astrology, we examine human life according to three levels of consciousness: Body (physical body), Mind (mental/emotional body), and Spirit (energy body). Here we give a very brief overview of the prevailing influences upon your energy body currently unfolding in both Scorpio and Taurus now and through the spring of 2023 as determined by your sun sign.

    Sun Sign

    Self-image is harmed through our subconscious associations with pain and pleasure from countless past lives. These cause us to compulsively seek pleasure and avoid pain. However, because these actions are built upon past circumstances and situations that no longer exist, it is as if we are trying to build our life upon a cloud. In this sense, we are not being authentic to who we really are.

    Through the relationship between your sun sign and the nodes of the moon (points of eclipse), we can glimpse both the constrictive subconscious karmic impressions from past lives affecting your self-image and the opportunity to enrich your life through an expanding awareness of who you are — from the limiting self-identities you have gathered over lifetimes to an all-inclusive experience of oneness. The constriction arises from unconsciously holding onto the pain and pleasure of past lives which cause you to build walls of identities as a form of “protection”, e.g., I am old, I am young. I am black, I am white. I am a man, I am a woman. I am rich, I am poor. This attachment to what is limited and “small” leads to all sorts of afflictions: discontentment, depression, pride, jealousy, compulsive behaviour… even illness and disease.

    To offset these constrictive karmic patterns during this period, the sign of Taurus holds the key to forging a new identity by embracing conscious action in the areas listed below in association with your sun sign. For a more in-depth examination of these patterns and their corresponding effects upon your physical and mental/emotional bodies, you may find a dedicated astrological consultation helpful. You can find more information here.

    A brief overview of prevailing influences according to your sun sign for 2022:

    Aries
    A need to control harms your self-image and limits success in these areas: unearned income, business partnerships, income from spouse, willingness to receive, the occult, exploration of psychological processes, accepting change. Lighten up. Transform these areas from compulsion to conscious action by: embracing your burgeoning ability to communicate and express yourself; learning to value your possessions as a springboard to a deeper understanding of your power to manifest what you truly desire.

    Taurus
    A need to control harms your self-image and limits success in these areas: relationships; intimacy; the ability to live in a foreign country or unfamiliar environment. Lighten up. Transform these areas from compulsion to conscious action by: reinventing yourself — begin with knowing who you are what you really, really want. Let go of your attachment to limited and petty identifications and embrace your universally inclusive nature. Take responsibility for everything in your life.

    Gemini
    A need to control harms your self-image and limits success in these areas: health and wellbeing, serving others at the expense of yourself, pacifying enemies, getting lost in the details of life. Lighten up. Transform these areas from compulsion to conscious action by: seeking the support of like-minded individuals to help you experience your timeless, spiritual nature; offer money to charitable organisations and persons in need. Travel to distant lands. Invest in periods of solitude.

    Cancer
    A need to control harms your self-image and limits success in these areas: creativity, children, romance, intellectual activities. Lighten up. Transform these areas from compulsion to conscious action by: seeking the guidance of influential and successful people; focusing on income generation and community involvement; making a life plan.

    Leo
    A need to control harms your self-image and limits success in these areas: home and family life, vehicles, houses and land, emotional connection, contentment, education. Lighten up. Transform these areas from compulsion to conscious action by: making sure work and activity reflect who you are and where you want to go; doing what needs to be done at the time it is needed.

    Virgo
    A need to control harms your self-image and limits success in these areas: personal desires and your ability to fulfil them; performing arts (dance, music, theatre, film, photography, writing); life courage, working with others. Lighten up. Transform these areas from compulsion to conscious action by: finding an authentic teacher/mentor/guru to take you to the next level; embrace your abundant self; spending time with animals.

    Libra
    A need to control harms your self-image and limits success in these areas: communication; public speaking; ability to manifest wealth and acquire possessions; resolving childhood issues; speech and language. Lighten up. Transform these areas from compulsion to conscious action by: embracing the unseen and the mystical; exploring your own psychology; learning to receive; forming business partnerships; giving attention to disease prevention.

    Scorpio
    A need to control harms your self-image and limits success in these areas: identity, self-awareness, self-image, sense of worth, confidence. Lighten up. Transform these areas from compulsion to conscious action by: improving relationships; becoming willing to live in a foreign country or unfamiliar environment. Embracing intimacy as a means to experiencing tenderness, gentleness, etc.

    Sagittarius
    A need to control harms your self-image and limits success in these areas: spiritual journey, solitude, spiritual community, charitable donations, sexual pleasure, exotic travel. Lighten up. Transform these areas from compulsion to conscious action by: serving others selflessly and without expectation of reward; giving time to your health and wellbeing; giving attention to the details of your life; turning enemies into friends.

    Capricorn
    A need to control harms your self-image and limits success in these areas: income generation, networking, community involvement, life plans. Lighten up. Transform these areas from compulsion to conscious action by: engaging your creative self; becoming a Life romantic; giving attention to the needs of children; increasing your intellectual capacity.

    Aquarius
    A need to control harms your self-image and limits success in these areas: work and activity; “doing the right thing” (as an unhealthy obsession for perfection). Lighten up. Transform these areas from compulsion to conscious action by: focusing on home and family, house and land, education, and emotional expression. Discover what really makes you feel content and full of bliss and joy. Cultivate unconditional feelings of compassion, love, and joy.

    Pisces
    A need to control harms your self-image and limits success in these areas: teachers, mentors, gurus; your connection to good luck and good fortune, travel, pets and animals. Lighten up. Transform these areas from compulsion to conscious action by: discovering what you truly desire and taking real steps towards fulfilling those desires; pushing on the boundaries of your comfort zone (not in a dangerous or unhealthy way); exploring the performing arts (song, dance, music, writing, acting, film, and photography).

  • Global Forecast: 2022

    Appreciable change is coming, but so is the opportunity for real transformation…

    The South node of the moon spends 2022 in Scorpio showing the tendency for those in leadership positions in government, industry, and technology, to resist beneficial change which becomes an impediment to real transformation. This resistance arises from an unhealthy need to control the direction of life and leads to compulsive actions represented by the North node of the moon in Taurus. This will tend to create an excessive increase in manufacturing and production brought on by higher rates of consumption, especially through manipulative forms of communication, marketing, and “fake news”. There will also be a wide scale attempt to possess, develop, and control significant aspects of the earth, especially land and minerals.

    What to do? Taurus is ruled by Venus and is related to seeking comfort and convenience through materiality and worldly possessions. Unfortunately, when our primary means of seeking fulfilment is through the world rather than by establishing a strong relationship to an inner state of wellbeing, we develop an attachment to worldly results and define our contentment through what we possess. This leads to “confidence without clarity”.

    As individuals, we should remember that the best form of government is by the people and not by the government. Unfortunately, in an era of extreme ideologies fostered by power-hungry media and social media giants, society tends to vacillate between the two extremes of right and left, either between the over-fixation on profit at the expense of human wellbeing, socio-economic harmony, and a healthy environment, or the attempted social engineering and attachment to petty personal identities at the expense of a free society and an all-inclusive state of universal brotherhood. Taurus is especially energised during 2022 and this spells opportunity to “sit at the same table” if we can become better at controlling the knee-jerk emotions that arise from our past pain. As individuals, this means we need a better relationship to our higher, authentic self.

  • A New Year of Relationships

    We all have relationships in our life.  We have relationships with people, animals, places, circumstances, objects, possessions, activities, beliefs, ideologies, etc.  We even have relationships with emotions, pleasure, and pain.  A typical human life is a vast network of relationships. The quality of our relationships, the importance we give them, and how we prioritise them determines everything about us, in this world and beyond.

    Do we have a relationship with God?  With Truth?  With our own Self?  If so, what is the quality of our relationship?  How important is it?  How do we prioritise it amongst all the other relationships? One of the most fundamental indicators of spiritual growth is the change that occur in our relationships.  As our inner being grows stronger, wiser, and purer, our relationships with people and things also grow stronger, wiser, and purer.  They are profoundly transformed.          

    Why does this happen?  Because life is a process of evolving from the ordinary to the extraordinary, from the temporary to the eternal.  There are some people who fully align themselves with this truth, there are others who do so partially, and some dismiss it entirely.  Nonetheless, this process of evolving pervades Creation.

    During the beginning stages of this evolution we tend to have many relationships that are not important.  Some are unnecessary and burdensome, some are entangled in conditioning and emotions, some are debilitating, and some are simply the product of poor understanding and delusion.  In the beginning stages, that which is worldly and temporary is most important to us.  In the later stages, that which is spiritual and eternal is most important.  

    As time goes on — whether this is in terms of months, years, or lifetimes — a spiritually-minded person gradually matures resulting in comprehensive and profound changes to their relationships.  Their relationships are purified and prioritised by the subtle workings of Grace, by the inner Companion of our own heart.

    A new year is before us:

    Let’s stop putting off what needs to be done now.

    Let’s stop relying on outer pleasures and comforts.

    Let’s rely on what’s inside us.

    Let’s follow the will of our inner Companion, not the will of our mind.

    Let’s stop being afraid of Truth.

    Let’s stop making excuses.

    Let’s be honest with ourselves and each other.

    Let’s make this new year a year of spiritual maturity such that all of our relationships are purified and prioritised.  

    And then let us live by this… this year and the year after.

  • Be Prepared for 2022

    Writing about the future is always a delicate task, one that requires a deft pen and discerning mind. On the one hand, the future has yet to happen which implies that we have something to say about how it unfolds. On the other hand, human beings have rarely been able to manage the world in any respectable sense, so any talk of the future is necessarily influenced by the current list of unresolved conflicts and challenges and a leadership which lacks the clarity to make a difference. Still, to go into the future without a plan is like living on a flood plain and surrendering to chance what we have worked hard to accomplish. Though seasons may pass uneventfully, likely will come the day when we are faced with a life-altering tsunami of circumstance. Being prepared helps even the odds against an outright catastrophe.

    But what does being prepared mean?

    In 1907, an English soldier named Baden-Powell first conceived the Scout motto: Be Prepared. A year later it was published in Scouting for Boys where he wrote that to be prepared means “you are always in a state of readiness in mind and body to do your duty.” And what of duty? Duty is an inner call to do the right thing at the right time, that is, to do what is needed when it is needed. Being prepared, then, is to be in a state of readiness in body and mind such that when the moment calls for us to act, we are able to do so in decisive fashion. As the old proverb implores, we should dig the well before the house is on fire. 

    Being prepared refers to taking ownership of what is within our control. Regarding body, this means that it is our duty to maintain the body in such a condition that doing what is needed is never compromised due to our own negligence. Life happens and at times our physical health is simply at the mercy of what is to be; however, to a large extent, good health is determined by the food we eat, the stress we take on, the environment within which we choose to live, and the amount of movement and exercise with which we engage our physical self — all things with which we have at least some control. Going back to the metaphor of the well, it does no good to know what needs to be done if we are physically unable to do it.

    Mental preparedness in part refers to our level of skill. Obviously, we cannot be experts in every field, but we can be an expert in our own life. This means knowing our talents and abilities and taking steps to make sure they are fully realised. Whether this means going back to school, enrolling in adult education, or becoming our own teacher, being in a state of preparedness means that our innate talents and abilities are honed such that a lack of skill is never an impediment to step up and do what is needed. We may see the necessity of digging the well before the fire and have the necessary physical attributes, but if we are unsure how a proper well is dug, our insight and good health are wasted.

    Mental preparedness also refers to our willingness to do what is needed. No matter our skill or physical ability, if we are unwilling to dig the well, the well will never be dug. The greatest enemy of willingness is our attachment to the laundry list of likes and dislikes we carry with us like a King’s treasure. As with morals, our list of likes and dislikes is in large part an aspect of our personality created from childhood associations to family, culture, and environment. Through astrology, we discover that these “compulsions” arise from lifetimes of experiencing pain and pleasure. Of no particular significance other than social, likes and dislikes are closely related to our desire for comfort and convenience.

    Remember the story of the Little Red Hen? In the end, the other barnyard animals do not get to share in the prosperity of the hen because of their unwillingness to do what was needed when it was needed. Their attachment to what was pleasant and convenient, e.g. the cat’s attachment to napping and the pig’s dinner-time overindulgence, stamped out any willingness to help. In the same way, when we are unwilling to put aside our thirst for comfort and pleasure even for a few moments, what needs to be done and should be done will be sacrificed at the alter of compulsion and our life unfolds unconsciously. 

    A compelling example of the consequences of becoming distracted can be found in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 war epic Apocalypse Now. After leading an effective charge of helicopter gunships against a Vietcong village, Robert Duvall’s iconic figure Lt. Col. “I-love-the-smell-of-napalm-in-the-morning” Kilgore admonishes a group of South Vietnamese soldiers for refusing water to a gravely wounded Vietcong. Declaring how he gives a drink to anyone brave enough to give their all, Kilgore offers water from his own canteen. Right at that moment, however, a soldier tells Kilgore that one of the infantry soldiers present is an accomplished surfer. His attention now diverted by one of his passions, the water from Kilgore’s canteen falls aimlessly onto the ground inches from the wounded man’s mouth who desperately struggles to catch even one drop. Though this scene lasts but a few seconds, the message is clear: if we live life unconsciously, our compulsions will always rise to the surface, no matter how demonstrative we proclaim otherwise.

    Our moments of distraction are probably not as dramatic as Lt. Col. Kilgore’s, but they just as easily separate us from doing our duty. They have become an intimate part of our life whether through comfort and convenience or living in such a rush that even our morning shower becomes an obstacle to our ambitions. And to what end? Modern society enjoys technological convenience like no other society before and yet finding time to quietly reflect on life with a warm cup of tea is akin to finding a ruby on our doorstep. We have sacrificed peace of mind for what?

    Being prepared means that we are willing to put our distractions aside for the greater good. It means we are able to respond in each moment to the capacity with which we can. This means we are responsible to each other, no matter creed, colour, or family history. For a responsible person, there is no prejudice; we do what is needed because the duty of the moment requires us to act. Moreover, such responsibility extends to the entire world and all of life becomes our responsibility. In such a state of willingness, there is no need for “right action” legislation; instead, our awareness of what is beneficial for all makes us guardians of the world.

    Being prepared also recognises our responsibility towards not only our generation, but to all future generations. Though some things are simply beyond our control, we can do well if we remember the popular poem attributed to Reinhold Neibuhr (1892-1971):

    God grant me the serenity

    To accept the things I cannot change; 

    Courage to change the things I can;

    And wisdom to know the difference.

    What can we change and what must we learn to accept? Knowing this difference allows resources to be concentrated towards real solutions. More importantly, it suggests there are things we should not change. Too often, however, leadership initiates change without any real clarity of the consequences of doing so. Confidence without clarity tramples the rights of others and ends up being abusive towards at least some — even if initiated with altruistic intent. The road to hell, it is said, is paved with good intentions.

    Being prepared is inherently tolerant. With nothing written in stone but the willingness to do what is needed, each moment of life is lived responsibly and out of the box. Having no prescribed formula or prejudice, we simply offer what is needed when it is needed according to our capacity and abilities. By focusing on the greatest need of each moment, we automatically have a hand in making the world a better place.

    As we begin this auspicious new year, approach each moment as a moment tailor made for your talents and abilities. In this way, you offer what you can, just as you are. Doing so, you will have done your part to create a better future not only for yourself but for all life on this planet. Like a pebble dropped into a clear lake, your conscious actions will reverberate outward and contribute to a better world. 

    References

    https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2017/05/08/be-prepared-scout-motto-origin/

    https://www.lords-prayer-words.com/famous_prayers/god_grant_me_the_serenity.html

    https://www.bookologymagazine.com/resources/authors-emeritus/dodge-mary-mapes/

    https://groovyhistory.com/i-love-the-smell-of-napalm-in-the-morning-apocalypse-now

    https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/the-road-to-hell-is-paved-with-good-intentions.html

  • O What Joy!

    On top of Calton Hill, Edinburgh at sunrise…

     

    O what joy hath found a man,
    Who wakes to find this morn at hand,
    The new day is born; the child’s arrived,
    Another chance to come alive!

     

    Happy New Year, Everyone!

    ~ David