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.