As 2018 comes to a close we are in the midst of a few astrological cycle changes, which will flavour the whole of 2019 and beyond, both globally and at the individual level. Firstly the evolutionary ‘curriculum’ changed on Nov 7th when the Lunar Nodes moved into Cancer/Capricorn, a cycle of personal and collective growth that will last 18 months. The Lunar Nodes aren’t celestial bodies like a planet or the Moon, but mathematical points related to the way the Moon orbits the Earth when it crosses the apparent path of the Sun. In ancient astrology the Lunar Nodes were seen as the head and tail of a dragon and these points represent something very important to us both personally and collectively since they relate to patterns of past karma (the south node or dragon’s tail) as well as to the way we move forward in terms of personal growth (the north node or dragon’s head). When the lunar nodes move sign as they did just a few months ago, it represents a change in the nature of our growth lessons. Some of the questions we might be faced with this year will involve looking at the existing ways that we have been doing things and finding out whether they still work for us or not. The task while the lunar nodes are in Cancer/Capricorn will involve the letting go of old tried and tested ways of doing things, if they no longer serve us. In this sense anything in our lives could be up for review, for example our life routines, jobs, relationships, lifestyle, diet, or anything that we might have given our authority over to, in the sense that strict routines can become overly restrictive, or how unchanging relationship dynamics can end up becoming stifling. The impetus behind these new energies in play is to make room for new ways of operating in space-time reality, which in turn will keep our lives both interesting and worthwhile. This same theme is also playing out as Saturn closes it’s cycle with Pluto over the next few years - see an earlier post called Realities Crumbling for more on this. A key growth challenge for many of us will be to connect to the heart through the emotional body as a means to move forward. In a fundamental sense we may be called to look at how long term routines and work schedules keep us locked out of our emotional reality. Maybe we are using the distraction of work as a way to manage emotions, or maybe we have gotten so used to the way things are in our lives that we haven’t realised how little time there is for home, family and personal down time. Perhaps we have become so caught up in our obligations, duties and responsibilities that we have neglected to care for ourselves and others. All of us need safe space in order to process emotionally; sometimes that involves intimate conversations with people we trust, and sometimes in means having solo time at home just to be with one’s feelings. Emotions can appear troublesome and inconvenient; their power can be overwhelming at times, yet none of us can evolve spiritually without engaging our emotional reality. The Lunar Nodes invite us to bring balance to outer life by calling us to pay attention to our inner life. We may find that making some changes to the way we normally do things, so that there is more space for internal self-reflection, emotional processing, intimate connections with those we care about, and warm sharing with close family and friends, will open the way for more balance and life fulfilment than we currently enjoy. At a collective level we may see more of our societal structures fail or breakdown for renewal during this period, especially those that have eroded our communities, home life, and ability to care for one another. As we face the failure of our systems, we can find ways forward through remembering that we belong to one human family, and that we can take care of ourselves and each other if we value each other and our communities. This is not a time for tribalism or collectivist ideals; by daring to face our emotions and embrace an appropriate level of empathy, as individuals we will be able to navigate more effectively and in so doing positively affect collective outcomes.
The Healing Journey
The planetoid Chiron is also set to move signs in 2019, from Pisces into the sign of Aires on Feb 18th, marking the end of a 50 year cycle and the beginning of a new one. Chiron is a significant archetype for personal growth and development because it represents our deepest soul wounds and our healing journey. Chiron has been in the sign of Pisces for the past 8 years during which time the collective healing work has been largely with resolving victim consciousness. We may have experienced this individually through the pain of disillusionment, or through old repressed emotions from childhood bubbling up to the surface from times when we felt victimised or bullied, or we may have noticed a pattern of feeling like a victim as challenging life events unfolded over the last years. We may have handled these feelings trying to escape them through distractive pursuits such as recreational sex, drugs, alcohol, binge watching of movies, over eating, over working etc. For some the emotional intensity may have been strong enough to compel suicide. Yet the evolutionary opportunity has been to embrace a transcendental belief system of some kind, and through compassion and forgiveness to both self and other, come into a richer relationship with the Divine. Surrender has been a key quality during this difficult Chiron phase as so much unprocessed material has been pushed upon us in order to finish up the lessons and intentions seeded when Chiron last entered Aires in Jan 1969. As Chiron moves into Aires, new collective seed intentions regarding healing and awakening to the path of service will be sown. Collectively we may see new innovative holistic healing methods developed, and we might see changes in our existing health systems as they become more and more integrated with holistic understanding. Chiron in Aires speaks to the emergent Spiritual Warrior archetype and some of us may find ourselves stepping up in terms of how we engage our life as a spiritual journey. We have the opportunity to work in those areas where we doubt ourselves and our individual choices; we may awaken to past pain where we have felt undermined and invalidated, and we may manifest opportunities to initiate in new directions and to trust in the choices we make as we dare to allow our true desires to have a say in how our life unfolds. The challenge will be to trust in instinctive intuitive action, while not always knowing the full picture. Perhaps we feel a need to take action at the gut level as part of our healing journey, or maybe it’s more about awakening to a greater path of service. If you find yourself in a healing crisis during this time, Chiron in Aires teaches that the power is in making your choices rather than letting others make the choices for you.
The Path of Liberation and Awakening
Uranus the planet of liberation and awakening will move into Taurus after a 7 year period in Aires. Over the last few years there has been a lot more talk about new technology and a lot more active engagement by the public to get suppressed new technologies released for public use. We also saw a rise in activism across the board, some productive and some less so, as more and more people appear to have awakened to the realisation that there is a big difference between what is really going on in the world and what we are spoon-fed by the mainstream media. The build up of momentum for the full disclosure movement regarding the release of new technologies and the truth about extra-terrestrial contact is, to my mind, evidence of the new Uranian seed intentions as the planet of liberation and equality started a new cycle when it first entered Aires 7 years ago. We can expect this momentum to be grounded and stabilised during the next 7 years while Uranus travels through Taurus, with hopefully some ground breaking new ways that we can clean up the environment and help the Earth’s ecosystem. We might also see new innovations in our economic system along with new ways to utilise resources especially through technology. On a personal level we may have felt pushed, shocked, or awakened into a more active involvement in making the world a better place over the last 7 years; we may have felt that enough is enough and in our own small or large way took steps to liberate from the default presumption that others more qualified need to do something, with the realisation that we all need to become the change we want to see in the world; that we each needed to learn how to participate more actively if we wanted to make things better than before. As Uranus moves into Taurus a number of personal themes may emerge. First we might realise that we need to get more grounded and practical with our ideals and inspirations for positive world change. It isn’t enough now to initiate the first steps toward greater inner and outer freedom, we need to stabilise the new energies available for positive change and learn how to ground them into productive step by step practical implementation. If you’ve been getting all excited about a personal project or idea that is your contribution to improving the world around you, the task now is to take steps to making your ideas tangible in some way, and this might require slowing down and if necessary down sizing the vision so that you can take the next steps more easily. Uranus in Taurus may throw up issues pertaining to survival and resources during this period as it encourages new levels of personal freedom. Uranian energy can occur as shocking and sometimes traumatising experiences, as old well-established inner structures are challenged or broken down. We may have to think well outside of the box, so to speak, to manifest the resources we need; sometimes we need that push to get something new and unimagined to happen, the key is to watch for those intuitive flashes of insight and have the courage to follow them. Stepping out of known familiar territory is always unsettling and sometimes hair-raising but it is what awakening is all about.
The quest for truth
Finally Jupiter’s recent move from Scorpio into Sagittarius will hopefully lighten things up a little as the emphasis moves away from learning about the personal and collective shadow toward the wide and expansive drive to understand ourselves within the context of a bigger more universal picture. Jupiter was in Scorpio most of 2018 and during that time there has been an intensive process of dredging the depths of the shadow. For some this has been a deeply internalised process, while for others the personal shadow material will have found a voice as it played out in outer life events either on the world stage or in those troublesome relationships that appear from time to time. The move into Sagittarius will give us all a chance to deal with the fruits of the last year as shadow elements come more clearly into our personal awareness for integration; there's opportunity now to join the dots, see the larger pattern and to understand something important about ourselves and our personal story. The next year may also have some of us feeling a strong desire to be more free from obligations in order to seek greater truth and a larger life perspective. For some this might literally involve taking a sabbatical and travelling around for a while. Jupiter in Sagittarius represents a strong expansive need for freedom from restraint, so it behoves us all to use our will to integrate these strong fiery impulses and stay balanced otherwise we might find ourselves casting all restraint to the winds and taking impulsive risks with undesirable consequences, especially with regard to the pursuit of pleasure i.e. sex, food, parties etc. It’s time to have a bit more fun, and to enjoy a more expansive vision of what is possible, but it is important to stay grounded and embodied or else we might find that we’ve spent all our savings and wonder what happened and whether it was worth it or not! Key inner growth pointers for this year:
What do I require to nurture and nourish the truth in order to be clear enough to let go of old outmoded ways of doing things, to release limiting beliefs around rules, regulations and authorities where I have given my power away?
How do I embody my power reliably and make Love the resource that I draw from?
As old familiar structures fall away I can remember to take care of my feelings, learn to find security within by trusting in the natural flow of life
I can bring balance to my world by embracing the Divine Feminine principle; through a connection with my emotions and feelings I am better able to trust that whatever is happening is okay and provides ample opportunity to change and evolve
I must work to ground and make practical my visions and inspirations for a better world for everyone
I may be tested through life events to trust in my own choices and to navigate some situations using gut instinct and intuition
Is it time to step up onto a path of service to the whole?
May your year ahead be blessed with grace, courage and flow.