A Pilgrimage to the Christmas Star

 The long days are now just a distant memory and while we are speeding our way to the end of the year the brevity of each day almost takes your breath away. This time of advent is a time of preparation, waiting for the most important moment of the year, the coming of the light in Capricorn.

We are being asked to find patience and slow our pace of life down. The winter months are a time when Mother Earth stops breathing out and begins breathing in, when everything on the surface seems to have died, a time of hibernation. The outward energy of growth is exchanged for one of germination as the seed goes underground, out of sight and is growing in the earth’s fiery belly.

We are asked to do the same, to go within, to slow our energies and hunker down for the long winter months ahead. This allows us to take stock of all that we have propagated in the year, honed down and harvested in autumn, so that we can fully absorb, digest and process it all, ready for the next year’s spring growth.

It has been a tough year, no one can deny that, but we humans have an amazing capacity for resilience, to make good things out of bad. We all hear about the Blitz spirit in times of difficulty, well this is when we must dig deep and find it again, if we are to survive this dark time.

As a culture, we are terrified of the dark, of feeling unhappy and of death. It seems to be that now we are being asked to face all these fears at once. Although this might feel unbearable, there is not only light at the end of the tunnel but light beyond our greatest dreams. I am not speaking of this year, the journey’s end is still a long way off, but this is worth the wait and we still have a great deal to learn and remember.

This month of Sagittarius, ruled by Jupiter, the great planet that teaches us how to expand our energy and reach for new heights and scale new mountains, is leading to one of the most important astrological moments in our history. On December 21st Jupiter and Saturn will be conjunct at 0 degrees Aquarius. This will look like one big star in the sky much like the one the three wise men saw two thousand years ago. This has huge portent and if we wish to make the most of what this might mean we would do well to pause for a moment and follow the journey of the sun as it slows and reaches its time of rest; the solstice, meaning ‘sun stands still’. 

This Christmas star, as it has been named, will remain in view like this for a few days, while the sun appears to stop. Then, when the sun begins to move again on the 25th of December we experience the coming of the light. This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, of the Cosmic Mind, the time of the community, when the light can be found within us all. Then we may learn to allow our minds to be governed by our heart rather than our heads governing our heart.

This will not hit us like a thunder bolt or a huge shift in our lives. The feelings will be subtle. This is what we are being asked to do; to listen to the subtle energies that we have lost connection with for Millennia. When we still our minds, these energies may start to be felt and the more we feel the more we will be able to feel. We will be able to use our senses in ways we have long forgotten, retrieving many ancient ways of being. 

The Sagittarius archetype, looked at with a modern view, is often seen as the traveller, the one who shoots the arrow to far off lands in search of the truth. Another interpretation of this archetype is to know that the inner, rather than the outer, physical, journey offers far more wisdom with infinite worlds to explore. In the stillness we can expand our lives in limitless ways and discover truths beyond facts and figures, books and words.

In this time of preparation we can only imagine what is to come but the more we let go of wanting to know and learn to become still, like empty vessels, we can allow Jupiter to guide us and expand our possibilities beyond the limits of the ego.

This is such an important time, I truly hope that despite all the fear and pain we see around us we can choose to remember that this must be balanced by the same amount of joy and love in the world. I have faith, in these days leading up to this auspicious moment, that we will open our hearts to the amazing opportunities we are being offered during this incredible time. 

A Silver Lining in the Darkest Sky

How to look for the good in life when things can look so grim? I believe we all have an ability to look on the bright side, it’s a choice we make. I have heard people tell stories of their most painful experiences and yet they can be told with a positive outlook. 

I am aware that life comes in cycles and that we are currently experiencing the planetary orbital return of Uranus, that takes eighty-four years to travel around the sun. Looking back to the beginning of this cycle brings us right back to the thirties and a rise of political extremism.This shadow looms once more. 

A few weeks ago, we entered the astrological sign of Scorpio and here Pluto, the God of the Underworld, is asking us what are we going to do with this. Are we going to bury our heads in the sand and return to old response patterns or are we going to face our fears and choose new paths?

In these times of polarised views and our ability to create ambiguity between truth and illusion with comparative ease, knowing who to believe can become increasingly difficult to fathom. We need to look at this more closely.

Hallowe’en, or Samhain in its Pagan form, is the time when we are invited to follow Pluto into the Underworld and look at our demons, stop limiting ourselves to just the physical view of the world, but look beneath the surface and see what lies beyond the veil. In order to do this we need to block out the noisy external sounds in our life just long enough to feel what's within. This is a subtle energy field, where the feminine sensual aspects of ourselves come alive, a world lost to most of us, as we are bombarded with the harshness of modern day living. 

This invitation to slip beneath the surface of our awareness and allow ourselves to connect with vibrations that pervade our every moment with nonverbal, non audible communication can be a revelation when we allow it in. There is a wisdom here that cannot be so easily twisted, that teaches us how to listen and respond with a depth most of us are not used to.

It seems to me we have all settled into the idea that things have improved hugely since the terrors of the Second World War. What if that was also an illusion? It seems to me that all the improvements have only been made in our physical lives. Yes most of us in the West now live more comfortable lives, however, as the wheel turns once more I believe we are being asked to question if that’s enough. Are we only engaging with what goes on above the surface? Pluto, who isn’t so interested in the individual, is showing us what still lies below, what still lurks in the shadow of our culture.

When we truly pull back the curtain we see how the many of the improvements are just superficial, how racism is still a huge issue for those of us who are not white-skinned, how the power of the masculine stills rules with a tight rein over the feminine. 

- It is also important to remember that it is not the power and beauty of the sacred masculine that holds the power here but the fearful, domineering aspect of the masculine which is out of balance. This is the male energy which resides in us all. This is not a gender issue, this is the division that splits our heads from our heart, our actions from our feelings.

We just have to look around to see how we, through our consent, our non-action, allow so many people on this Earth to be harmed and so much of our environment to be destroyed.

This is what Pluto is asking us to examine with eyes wide open. 

It’s time for real change, to choose a positive outcome, and have a sense of command over what that could look like, rather than choosing to do nothing so we then have no choice when change is forced upon us.

Photo Mark Brookes 

A Question of Balance?

This month I am looking at balance and what that means for us as a community. Arriving in autumn we have the Autumn Equinox which offers us a chance to embody this beautifully. A time when the days and nights are of equal length and we have the Spring Equinox, the moment where we started our journey, coming into view as a reflection of where we are so far. This is the first month where this mirror is available to us. 

This year has been such a rollercoaster and feels like it’s hurtling towards its close at a ridiculous rate. Yet we are being asked, more than ever, to step up, in whatever way we can, to shift the problems in our society we have been ignoring for so long.

This month, the astrological month of Libra, is represented by the scales of justice. It is demonstrating fairness and judgement in the best sense of the word, where we can weigh up our situation and make the best choices. This is an air sign and we are very much in our heads being asked to create the best and most beautiful idea of the world we wish to inhabit.

It is at this time that the leaves are turning and for some this is the most beautiful time of the year. The colours are going back through the chakras from green to red, back to source as we are shown that, as this month corresponds with having reached adulthood on our lifetime journey, while we are now learning to live we are also learning to die, but that this is beautiful. 

Understanding what it means to be adult, to step into our heart chakra and use the metaphor of the mirror to feel the ‘others’ in our life with empathy and love, enables us to start waking up to the beautiful world we can create. 

The last six months were all about childhood where life is very self-orientated. We, culturally, have built our modern world around this mindset so we have lost the initiations and mechanisms to ‘grow up’ and feel what true balance means. In this way our lives are out of kilter and we are left feeling isolated, fearful and helpless to make changes.

Unfortunately there is no one out there who is going to do this for us, it is only something we can choose to explore ourselves. However, as the desire for change is growing, there are plenty of groups emerging who are offering online workshops and discussions, XR’s Trust the People Project, Conflict Transformation and Collective Trauma and Food Revolution workshops to name just a few that I have got involved with.

Of course none of these are of any use unless we bring the skills we have learned there and become engaged in our community, find a positive attitude that encourages us to be responsible, active and creative citizens. This doesn’t have to be a chore, when we get involved we start to feel like we belong and that we can, together make a difference. Our neighbours become friends and we can choose what kind of community we live in by being an integral part of it.

If you are frustrated with what you see in the world but feel you have no voice, this is the time to get inspired by the work thousands of people are doing and start balancing those scales. It’s one thing to want a better world, have the ideas and beautiful dreams, but there’s nothing like putting those desires into action., However small your part feels, with the actions of everyone else playing their small part, together it creates a field of energy that is vastly greater than the sum of its parts. 

This is much more than a few words printed on a page, this is what our hearts are yearning to feel. Let’s be the change and create a balanced and beautiful, fair world. I know it’s possible and it’s exactly what we are being asked to do. 

photo Mark Brookes

Choosing to Heal

And so it comes to us all, the time when we are required to grow up and look to the future. It can happen at any stage in life, but this year in particular the need is truly upon us. Whether we are in our teens or nearing the of life we all have something to offer and it as now that we are being asked to step up.

The summer is coming to the end and although it is unseasonably hot for the time of year, it is time for us to get in the fields and bring in the harvest; reap the rewards of the summer’s fruits. We are being asked to get back in touch with Mother Earth and get our hands dirty. Our sickle and scythe should feel comfortable in our grip while we can discern the wheat from the chaff, what is good to keep and what to throw out.

We have the long winter ahead and we need to prepare well. For many people in this country, this might well be the most challenging winter we will have experienced to date.

On our lifetime journey this archetype represents the apprentice, the university student, preparing for adulthood. We will be honing down our skills and learning what our particular gifts are; what we have to offer the world. As individuals living in our community we can begin to see how these two states of being are inseparable and the skills we attain help to shape and heal our own lives, just as they heal our world around us.

This year is our chance to work some magic, as it becomes imperative to bring our skills together and make sure everyone in our community is looked after, and not left out in the cold.

After holding the energy of the Leo lion, where we are king of our domain, now we are the peasant, or the secretary to the Managing Director, here we can ensure all the details are dealt with and the minutiae well organised. When we can learn to balance both states within us then we can begin to shine as individuals and as a community.

This is my dream, that we understand that we have to become responsible adults, responsible for ourselves and those around us. That way we all are looked after by those who know and care about us, rather than some distant overseer who has no clue about are needs or the way we work. When we continue to expect everything to be done for us and take no part in the running of our lives we will continue travelling away from each other rather than choosing to come together, discovering the unified field we are all a part of.

I am an optimist, I believe we are capable as a species of amazing things and I believe we can turn this pending disaster around but only if we step up, plug in and takes the reins of our lives once more. This means we have to start breathing and feeling into our bodies, being honest with ourselves and start talking to people in a caring and compassionate way. The body is a great healer and it holds all the memory of our pain and joy, our grief and love. 

Virgo holds the energy of the healer, this is the most amazing potential that we carry in our body. The sexual and loving healing that can bring life back to parts of ourselves that have been cut off and frozen in trauma is one step away from being transformed. That first step is simply choosing to rediscover the power latent in us all. I am choosing to heal, choosing life. Once that door is opened we can just walk the path and the more of us that make that choice the easier it is to walk together.

 

Standing Tall

What an extraordinary summer we are having, in all senses of the word. This month we have reached a time of extremes with the weather and with emotions running high from fear and anxiety to a sense of party time. Like a jack-in-a-box we, those who are feeling comfortable that is, have been allowed out to have a break from the constrictions of the past few months.

For some this has been very measured and for others not. We have seen over crowded pubs and beaches, cars driven at ridiculous speeds and the trashing of our countryside with fly tipping, to name just a few examples. 

What is this kind of behaviour teaching our children?

This month we are astrologically in the sign of Leo. It is a fascinating sign, full of contradictions and it is the sign we are being asked to inhabit fully.

Here we have the lion embracing the fact that he is lord of the jungle. However, in this energy he doesn’t need to do anything but tend the fire; just be fully in his power. 

When we understand this, we realise that we have everything we need within. This encourages us to be like the ruler who is generous to his populace and kind to his neighbours. Sadly this is a rare attribute to be found in our leaders today. I feel that this truth lies at the heart of our problems today. We have been disempowered over the centuries, the millennia, and while trying to reclaim this we realise we have forgotten what real power is and how it works. We are trying to gain more control rather than power, more force rather than learning to let go. Where is this is getting us?

Reflecting this archetype to our lifetime journey as humans, this time of year represents the teenager, adolescence. Here we have become fully grown physically but not yet emotionally grown. Here the contradictions and the paradoxes become fully present. We are feeling very powerful but without the tools to wield it in a mature manner. 

I feel this what we have in our culture today. Adults not having received the initiations and education needed to understand the power we have and the power we lack. The power we have is fuelled by emotions that have not been appropriately developed so they become led by fear and anger. The power we lack is actually all there within us but we have been separated from our understanding of it.

It is time, I feel, to choose differently, to decide to stop and reboot. We are running head on for a collision course with ourselves, unless we take a moment to take stock and reevaluate, and remind ourselves of what is important in life.

The Leo lion in its positive aspect is self sustaining, self reliant and fully responsible for itself and those dependant on it. In its shadow side, like the dysfunctional teenager, is self-obsessed, full of angst and lost in its black and white view of the world. 

The astrology wheel is constantly inviting us to find balance, balance within and balance in our world. The Leo opposition is Aquarius. This is all about community and when these aspects in ourselves are in balance we become the shining self fully engaged with its role in society. 

It is my hope that we learn to reach out for whatever we need if we are feeling lacking in anyway to create a supportive community for ourselves. Asking for help, giving and receiving is all the makings of a coherent society. This is what I believe this year is asking of us. Isolation, we know, creates problems with mental health and our sense of disconnection. We are really only just discovering how huge this story is.

Like a single sunflower, standing tall and following the sun amongst a whole field of sunflowers, when we work together in community we are strong. 

 

Coming Out Of Your Shell

Things are moving so fast at the moment I am having trouble keeping up. I have always been one who is last to any movement. I believe I would have been one of those tutting at the first Impressionist exhibitions, something to do with my Taurus moon I believe, always struggling with change. Now change is upon us so fast that each month brings a new story and this time it is really starting to feel positive. 

Last month I planned some discussions about conflict in my local community and they have been slowly gaining ground. At the same time I was invited to join an online conflict transformation summit which completely supported my work here. It felt like I was being lifted along and I am so grateful to all those who engaged with it across five continents over five weeks. 

As I was choosing to step up into the idea of working with conflict, something I have always been scared of, Black Lives Matter took to the streets just like Extinction Rebellion did last year. Now, once again, it feels that we cannot turn our back on this. The door has been opened and we have to step through. But this time I am not hovering in the background, I am ready to come out of my shell and meet this issue head on.

I want to take a look at what is happening in the natural world at the moment, the world that spins no matter what we do and watches our actions without judgement or fear.

The astrological sign of Cancer is the first water sign, the first sign of the emotions. Ruled by the moon our mother, we are looking within to understand our true nature. At this time of the year we experience the Summer Solstice, when the sun ‘stands still’ for three days before it begins its journey southwards; the coming of the dark. Now the days are growing shorter and the nights longer.

It is called the sweet spot of the year when the flowers are at their most beautiful and the honey is being collected by the bees and the scents are perfuming the air.

However, the solstice is taking us deep into the southernmost point of ourselves. It teaches us how to connect to our emotions, to the aspects of life that connect us to all living beings and those who have gone before. We can learn about our ancestors, who we are and where we’ve come from. We can journey deep into our inner feminine wisdom, something we have denied in ourselves for centuries, maybe even millennia. However, in the depths of our being and the heart of our world vibrations are shaking us out of our sleep walking and we’re remembering things we’d forgotten we once knew.

The symbol of Cancer is the crab, its shell protecting it against the cruel realities of life that we have become so fearful of. This month we are being invited to truly nurture ourselves and find our feelings of compassion and empathy that will strengthen our inner resilience. This is the preparatory work we need to do so that we can step out of our shells and create a future where difficult conversations must be had and the walls we have built in our lives to protect us against our own feelings of fear and pain can start coming down.

Those in positions of power (and I’m not just talking about leaders here, I am talking about all those who follow their lead. Being a white, middle-class person of privilege, I include myself) have created huge systems to protective themselves from the ‘others’ in society. Creating these divisions between us and them removes all empathy, allowing them to inflict pain on others without remorse as if they have a had a heart bypass.

Those of us who are managing to reconnect to our hearts and bodies, are having to do the hard work of feeling again, and my goodness, how it hurts. 

It’s not a pain that requires sympathy but it is time to understand that the vulnerability we all feel when we open our hearts leaves us open to rage, anger, guilt, shame and many other distressing emotions that need to be worked through and help is often required. 

If we choose to stay in our shells then violent conflict will never go away. It is important to note that this is not about removing conflict from our lives, just the violent aspect of it and our inability to work through it. Recognising that conflict is a part of life and to stop building walls when we can’t find ways to resolve issues, would be a step in the right direction.

I believe, it is time to build some resilience, prepare ourselves for an emotional journey that is going to strip us back to a place of humility and integrity. Although this will leave us wide open to feeling vulnerable, at the same time it will enable us to become greatly empowered by our own sense of self. We will no longer feel the need to have power over others as we will have a true understanding of what power is and how power with offers us all so much more.

Obviously this is going to take time and energy and will need a great deal of practice, undoing thousands of years of learned behaviour. We will make mistakes and sometimes lose our way. But this is too important to take lightly and perseverance is key and so is compassion for everyone involved.

There is so much to gain from this; the chance for humanity to become what it was always meant to be; a unified connected being that understands love and compassion at its core.

Are You Confused .com?

It’s the third month of lockdown and we’ve reached a point where people are either bored of it, are not even sure the virus exists (like we’ve all been duped!), or are still very fearful. And of course there are all the stages in between. 

How are we to learn from this experience? There are those who have suffered enormously, those that just want to get back to normal and those who really want to use this time to create something beautiful. And why not? The perfect self-enforced cocoon to give life to the butterfly we are all capable of transforming into. Could this go some way towards honouring those who have lost their lives.

This month we are in Gemini and this dualistic, polarised mindset is clearly symbolised by its archetype. The twins, the id and the ego, and the conversations we have with ourselves at this time, could be key. 

Gemini, is ruled by Mercury, the messenger god, and is the only one that can travel, carrying information, between the two worlds. But he is also the trickster, he plays the fool and we have to be careful of the information he brings. If we think we can outwit him then we are in trouble.

This is the state of our communication system we currently have working. The Media has become more corrupted, distorting the truth, than most of us can imagine and the Internet sits at the pinnacle of the Media tree. 

The more we engage as we try and understand more, the deeper we fall into the quagmire of game playing and fabrication. The manipulation that’s behind the veneer of ‘truth’ and ‘information’ is only creating more chaos and raising more tensions. 

The time to strip off the acceptable ‘face’ that covers what is really going on behind the scenes is absolutely now and crucial to our growth. This face that we have learned to wear as we go about our business too often morphs into the beast that trolls the social media and feeds the underbelly of the Internet, the subterfuge that sets the algorithms to create pandemonium.

If you want to get a feel for this in one quick hit, I am reading Ben Elton’s ‘Identity Crisis’ and as usual he sums up the situation in a fast, humorous and terrifying thriller of a book.

Leading up to the lockdown I had been enjoying a few online videos, and yes I know I have to be careful here, where people who have been caught up in some quite vicious arguments, usually on Facebook, have taken all this on board and played the system at its own game. One intelligent man, realising that the algorithms were feeding and validating his viewpoint, created a new identity of an opposing nature to see what he received from the new echo chamber he had entered. The information that was fed back to him, ratified all his fears.

His answer to it all was to get out, stop playing the game, and talk to people face to face. I believe, the street has to be the new Internet until we can find a way to communicate in a healthy way that is kind and from the heart. While we continue to buy into the Internet as it stands, the beast that has grown over the past decades, is not fit for purpose if we wish to emerge from this year into a better place.

I understand that we have created an online world that is almost impossible to dismantle, like our cars. But the lockdown showed that life continued without most cars and planes for a while and we simply adapted. We are adaptable beings and aren’t we worth the effort it might take to choose to make changes that will benefit all in so many ways; our mental health, our physical and our emotional well being.

What will it take?

Feeling our True Potential

Two months into this most unusual time and where are we now? As with all experiences, they are different for everyone, nearly eight billion different versions of the same story, eight billion views from this beautiful world we are living on.

When something all consuming like this takes over our lives we can think of little else, but it is important to remember that how ever awful it is for many people, for far more, life is ok and for many others again, life is wonderful. None of these feelings should be taken away from those who are experiencing them.

Although we can do our best to prevent bad things happening to people, and I am overjoyed to see how so many people are coming together to help others, we cannot save everyone. This is true every day of every year whether we are in lockdown or not.

I know I am very blessed and I wake each morning offering a heartfelt thank you to this beautiful world we live in. I know there is so much wrong with it and many changes I would make in an instant but until then, I understand that finding the positive is key to bringing the positive things we so desire in our world.

This is what this month’s archetypal energy is asking of us. As Mother Nature is breathing out all her beauty and abundance into the stunning display she puts on for us we are invited to bathe in it and respond with all our gratitude and love. 

Taurus is ruled by the Earth (in modern astrology), it is our home and we can receive everything we need, nature’s glorious banquet completely for free. Mirroring this in our journey through the lifetime journey we are the babe in arms, completely immersed in our relationship with our mother having, hopefully, all our needs met. This beautifully simple time of life is just about reciprocity; something we often, sadly, lose as we continue through our lives.

How can we make the most of these times we are living in? How we can move forward in a way that honours those that are suffering and makes the best use of those that are doing well? I believe that this model of letting those that can help those that can’t has to be allowed to come the fore now so that we can create a community that works wholly based on reciprocity. Those that give will naturally receive in this way.

Feeling that communities have already started coming together in ways never imagined before this time, due to this enforced time of isolation, I hope we can grow this so it can continue when the world returns to a healthy way of being together again. 

Last year I started creating my Magic Money Tree music video in the hope that we would recognise our communal wealth, wealth that appears in all walks of life not just the financial. It has been wonderful to see our government shake it a little more than it would do in normal circumstances. An imperative in these times and one it can, of course, afford however much it makes us believe we will all have to pay for it later. Statistics show that the money it is paying out will probably cost less than HS2 and hugely less than the bank bail outs a decade ago. I believe we need to find another story, a new relationship with money.

The other day, I was very happy to participate in a 700 strong zoom meeting about positive money and reimagining GDP and what it could really consist of, not just what the money people think is important. The best idea was to lose the idea of it completely, of at least the addiction to basing all our financial decisions on it. Our worth is not something we need to quantify in money terms. Our qualities are priceless. Here is our opportunity once again to re-invent the wheel, discover and value our true worth.

This is a huge subject and something to really delve into. But for now just owning the idea that we can make big changes for the better to improve our value system is exciting enough for me to start with.

For those struggling to see anything positive in this time, I believe staying grounded is crucial when we are feeling worried and fearful of the unknown future, working through it as a community is the only way to ensure we all come through this better than when we arrived here

For now, I feel we would do well to begin to choose the best we have to offer ourselves and each other. Seeing the best in each situation as it arises and being grateful for all the small things will together create great ones too. From here we can expand and grow into our true sense of self and community worth.

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Reinventing Ourselves?

Welcome to 2020. Who would have thought that this would be how we would start the seasonal, astrological new year and the new decade. I have been working this way for a few years now, exploring the archetypes and the wisdom Mother Nature gifts us each month, and each year the shifts are amazing. 

Last year many of us dived in as Extinction Rebellion began this time with a beautiful fortnight of activism, showing how powerful asking for change in an energy of peace and love could be. It felt like there was a connection all around the world with this truly global movement. 

Now we have a totally new worldwide connection. And as we step into the first stage on our astrological journey in lockdown, in isolation, we are all forced to look at ourselves. If I believed in a God that was retributive, I might say that I felt like school girl who had failed last term, failed to be in stillness, forgetting winter was a time of hibernation and preparation, and was now being forced to stay in and do it all again, but properly this time. But I don’t believe any of that is true.

In fact I believe that the word God is a synonym for love and life; a higher vibration, and any negatives we experience are just the limits of our own ability to feel this. This love is an unconditional love far beyond anything we experience day to day. So, I see this time of isolation as a time of opportunity, a chance to soften and to choose to feel and surrender more into this vibration. 

This month’s archetype is Aries, the first stage of the year and also represents the first stage of our lifetime journey; birth. We see the buds bursting through after the winter’s stillness and the baby bursting our from the mother’s womb. This time is all about the self and the creative journey. When we emerge after a time of stillness then we jump into action without thought, without judgement, riding the wave of pure inspiration and the thrust of life. We are also the mother, stepping into an opportunity to experience unconditional love for this perfect, beautiful spirit of life we have just given birth to.

This time is different for everyone but there are many who are being forced to isolate, come back to the self and perhaps reevaluate. Others are having to spring into action and get on with the hard task in front of them of saving lives and keeping the country afloat. The worldwide grief is immense and should be fully acknowledged but I think, for those who have the time, it is important to spend it working through this grief so we can come to a place where we can try reimagining what we are going to create as we climb out of cocoons. This is a chance to reinvent ourselves and build on all the positives we are gaining; the stillness, the clean air, and looking out for others as we experience a new level of community engagement.

Every archetype has a positive and negative and when this is in balance we have the chance to raise our energy. This is our opportunity, the first step on our journey of emergence. It’s important to acknowledge the hard experiences that many are going through, and appreciate what those on the front line are doing. Those, for whom this time is ok, may choose to reciprocate by playing their part. 

Guilt is not a useful emotion at this time, we each have a role, let’s not waste the time we have. 

I spent many years struggling with the fact that my father, a young Jewish naval officer in the Second World War, said this was the best time of his life. I eventually realised it was not my place to take that away from him but acknowledge how blessed he was.  

First, I think it is important to give thanks for the time we are living in, however, terrible and frightening it may seem. If we look back to the time of another big epidemic like this, a hundred years ago, we had no NHS, no Welfare and no immediate information service keeping us updated with instant news from around the world. Of course all these have their negative aspects but without them at all, people simply weren’t looked after the way we are; being informed and helped, medically and financially. However, bad you think it is, we are lucky in comparison, our Magic Money Tree is alive and well and being thoroughly shaken. And being grateful for what we have, I feel, is very important and I will talk more about that next month, but for now being in the positive is key.

We are most creative when we stop over thinking and just allow ourselves to be in the flow of the moment. When we stop trying to control the thoughts, the methods and outcomes, we go beyond our own capabilities and become a conduit for something far more powerful than ourselves and often beyond our own limited way of working. ‘Getting out of own way’ and being comfortable saying ‘I don’t know’ is often the best we could do in any situation and now, in the spirit of the energy of Aries, this is the invitation; to just be the instrument, not to believe we are the source.

When the isolation ends, what are we going to do? If we choose business as usual we will have missed a huge opportunity to make changes never believed possible before this started. Let’s be optimistic, positive and go beyond our imagination of the power of hope, joy and love we can all create.

Navigating Deep Waters

 

How to navigate these deep waters we suddenly find ourselves in? The extreme changes that have come to pass over the last week or so has sent most of us reeling. Personally, keeping a steady course is vital for moving forward through life in a positive way, so making sure we’re not feeling like a ship without a rudder becomes ever more important.

For all those who are struggling with overwhelm at the moment I urge you to reach out into your community, hoping that you have one, for support. If that’s by phone or online or from a reasonable distance that’s for you to decide.

This time of year, seasonally and astrologically, is all about the big story and immersing ourselves in its fluid nature. As we’re preparing for spring we are in a space of inaction, the calm before the storm. In this way it is best to just be and find some inner stillness. I am suddenly remembering the story of Beckham as he prepares for a goal, visualising and preparing in his quiet mind first. How we prepare and the energy we put into this is key if we are to start the next stage with positivity, strength and a clear sense of purpose. We have to feel into the best and most unified version of ourselves, 

Seeing the world in its multi-dimensional form, I view it as a set of Russian Dolls. This works on all levels, the physical, energetic and even time. So, this part of the year is the metaphor for last stage on the twelve step monthly journey. We can also connect to the Crown Chakra, the last of the chakras, which, like the biggest Russian Doll, contains all the others within it, like layers of an onion around our body. Being, astrologically, a water sign this month becomes like an ocean we can immerse ourselves in, or the baby in the womb preparing for birth. We are here, metaphorically, both the baby and the mother, the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega where one naturally turns into the other as winter turns into spring. 

Birth is never an easy experience. Each year we turn this point at the Equinox, but never before has this weekend felt such an important transition. Surrendering into the vastness of this energy as we step into this unknown can bring up feelings of fear and sacrifice but also great feelings of service and working with our highest sense of self.

This energy is the energy of love, the highest form of existence which contains all the other emotions within it including its opposite, which is, of course, fear and hate. Love is a paradoxical state as it holds the completeness of universal energy within it, without exception, in the same way that death is a part of life.

I will be talking much more about this in my new talk, from Paradise to Paradox: A Journey into the Labyrinth but for now I want to simply offer the possibility of looking at life for all that it holds, however harsh that reality seems.

We are moving into unprecedented times now and into the future. We are not used to or prepared for what might lie ahead. We are taught stories from our past of war and great social struggles and some might remember or have parents who lived through such times, but they are becoming increasingly few. The majority of us have, in this country and in the West generally, lived relatively blessed lives. We have not known the fear of bombs dropping on our cities or rationing or an absence of any kind of welfare.

Now as the cracks are starting to appear, poverty is on the increase and this new state of emergency which could wreck lives for many, we need to prepare ourselves. We may not receive the protection we have always depended on from the state. We may now have to turn to ourselves for resilience, our neighbours for trust and look deep within for a faith, in whatever that looks like for you, that we can come through this. And I truly believe we can if we stop trying answer all the questions now, leaping into action before we’ve completely explored the options and find some stillness first. 

This shutdown might just give us the chance we need to slow to a stop and review. Then we can move forward wisely. Isolation, for humans, is never usually a good thing, but for those who are well placed for this, we would do well to look within for extraordinary answers for extraordinary times. For those who are not being cared for through these times we need reach out and offer help where it is possible and be ready to receive help where we are in need. 

We are all connected at a very deep level. When we take time to explore this we will remember this fully.

Answers from Within

As winter has us in its grip, and although it’s certainly not been cold, its been dark and stormy, it’s sometimes difficult to stay upbeat and positive. I often feel I have a limitless supply of optimism and for that I am thankful. It comes from an inner source that has taken a lifetime to tap into and grows deeper the further I travel. I’m not sure how I’d manage without it.

At this time of year it is most needed, and when the sun seems like a cold disc, sitting overhead, disinterested and uncaring for days at a time it can be a struggle to keep the mind and body in good health.

The archetype we are looking at now is Aquarius, the water carrier, but an air sign. I call it the think tank, when we are most in our heads, and can have a tendency to be aloof. 

Last month, in Capricorn, if we followed the path well, we might have reached the top of a mountain and potentially, saved our soul. We are now coming down the mountain, like Moses from the Mount with the tablets of stone. We have solved our own problems and now with the answers inscribed in our soul we can see the populace below and see how, if we can solve our own problems then we can solve the problems, that reflect our own, within the community. This problem-solving nature of Aquarius is all about the shining individual working within the community. The individual is represented by its opposition, Leo, that when it is in its positive energy, is filled with inner strength and contentment. When these two archetypes work together, creating a society that meets the needs of both the individual and the community as a whole, it is easy to see that if a solution only meets the needs of one or the other then it is not a solution.

This is the founding principle of my project I have called PIPPA - People in Positive Politics Association. We have a created a two-party political system based on a dualistic approach, a society that is steeped in conflict and an ‘us and them’ view of our world. Our parliament is divided into two sides sitting opposing each other at a distance, two swords lengths apart, that debate, which comes from the word ‘to do battle’. It is from this basis that we solve problems within our community and sadly, I don’t believe we will see the changes we want in our society until we see changes in our governance.

Becoming the shining Leo energy, the powerful individual who takes responsibility for their own lives and their part within the community, is, I believe the way to grow grass roots independent political change. 

Aquarius is ruled by Uranus, the revolutionary planet, that sent shock waves of change into our world when it was discovered. It was the time of revolutions, French and American, and it was at this time that we discovered electricity. This  science based mindset discovered the telescope that enabled us to see the outer lying planets. We then continued our search into finding the answers by dividing, separating and compartmentalising our world. 

The beautiful paradox seems to be that when we got as small as we thought we could go, with scientists believing they now had a hold on the complete nuts and bolts of universal mechanisms, we slipped through the net of the microscopic out the other side into the vastness of the quantum world. Our search into collating the tiny and infinitely small opened the door onto the truth of our universe; its total connection and indivisibility. 

This knowledge proved also that we cannot be aloof observers, as the shadow side of Aquarius would like to be, and that we can only live as participants with every one of our actions having an affect on our world. I feel it’s time to awaken to this clear truth and behave accordingly.

There is much to do. Many ways of being that do damage to ourselves and our world, as the two cannot be separated, are so ingrained in our lifestyle we still have no idea that change is needed. We need to keep digging and clearing out what no longer serves us. I sense that once we have solved enough of the problems we have created by living on this land in such an uncaring manner, we will reach a tipping point. Then the problems will naturally cease to exist as our hearts will find these ways of living untenable.

This might seem a massive task, and yes it is, but if we start with our hearts in the right place, one difficult first step will lead to another and the work will start feeling like less of a burden and more of a joy. Let’s get to work together.

photo Mark Brookes 

Climbing the Highest Mountain

Happy New Year! And what a year this could be. I believe the choice is ours. 

As we hit the darkest part of winter when the days seem so short and dark, we will need to dig deep to keep faith and optimism alive, which may be buried well below the surface.

This is a tough month in so many ways but it is about celebrating the return of the light and it can always be found in the core of our being and in our hearts where the light is never extinguished.

The archetype we can look to at this time of year is Capricorn, ruled by Saturn, our teacher, guide and limiter. He teaches us the hard lesson, that though the mountain we have to climb may be high and tortuous, it will always be worth it. Though we may be brought to our knees, if we remember to take each lesson one at a time and find joy in the learning then, when we reach the top of the mountain, we will literally save our soul. 

This is the saviour’s birth for many northern hemisphere faiths. The sun stands still at the Solstice for three days and on the next, the 25th of December, the sun appears to turn around and begins its journey northwards; the return of the light.

At this part of our journey we reach our mid heaven, which turns our eyes, literally,  to the heavens, to reach for our highest goals, our life purpose. This is something we can look at on a personal level or at a cultural one.

Personally, this is a question I am constantly asking, ‘what am I here for, what is my divine purpose?’ In 2010 I arrived at Glastonbury Festival for the first time in 10 years having been invited to work in the Peace Dome, a 24 hour meditation space, with my harp. This felt like a huge gift. I had brought with me Neale Donald Walsh’s Conversations with God. My worry was that I was trying out so many new things, I felt I was losing site of my path. Within the first few pages my question was answered. It said that God doesn’t mind what you do as long as you do it with love. 

This was wonderful, I knew that was something I was constantly striving for and that I felt I was hopefully still on track.

9 years later, still expanding my ideas and trying out new things, I attended a course where it was explained to us that we are all here for a specific reason. It was iterated very clearly that it doesn’t matter if you come here and do a hundred things, even if all of them are good, if none of them are what you came here to do then, it is as if you have done nothing. 

I felt bereft, like my understanding of this matter had been turned upside down. I had to simply sit with this dilemma for a while till a resolution came.

As 2019 came to a close my search came to an end. First, I was reminded of the Einstein quote No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it. Then an explanation was offered to me (by Daniel Schmachtenberger, a progressive scholar of our time)  by way of an analogy, of two shapes/ideas; a rectangle and a circle, seemingly, completely opposing structures. One has sides and corners, the other just curved lines. You might assume there could be nowhere to find a compromise or even similarities. However if we rise above the level of consciousness, out of the two dimensions, into a three dimensional view, we find a cylinder is a perfect solution. A cylinder, if you look from above, has four sides like a rectangle, and from the side view, you see a circle. It holds both states together without  compromise.  

Our cultures contains many such opposing beliefs. We are a people uprooted from the universal flow of life and many of us find ourselves feeling lost and disconnected, like a flower pulled out of the ground expected to stay alive in a vase of water on a dining room table. We can see this metaphor, as a society, as we deforest great areas of our world almost as if we are creating the world in our own image. We expect struggling communities across the world to stop growing food for themselves so they can use all their water to grow flowers for our tables at home. Does this really help us to feel good about our lives?

No wonder very few people feel in place where they can have an inner sense (innocence? One of the many words in our language lessened by our disconnection) of their own purpose. Most people hate their jobs or think their jobs are worthless these days. How can we turn this around and find a way to ensure people have a real sense of self worth, ensuring people find joy in the gifts they bring to their own life and what they bring to society.

For me, I had to bring these two dichotomies, of working out what my purpose was, together. Was it one specific thing, or simply a way of being? I didn’t know what my divine purpose was so I decided just to follow the one I was comfortable with, making sure everything I did came from a place of love, then hope the other might follow. Soon enough I found I was not only working from a place of love but knowing exactly what I was meant to be doing with it. 

I have to admit that now I know what my purpose is, doesn’t mean I know how to fulfil it. But what also came was an understanding that not knowing can be a gift too. The idea is to slow the busy mind from trying to control and know the answers to everything. In the not knowing, there is space for ideas and ways forward, beyond the limits of our own knowledge, to slip into our minds. This was one of the greatest gifts I have received; being able to say ‘I don’t know.’

If we can gradually find our way as individuals, we may find it is catching and soon we will see it more in our culture as a whole.
Bring on the beautiful evolution that that is within our grasp and is our divine purpose.