You are known by your nourishment

You are known by your nourishment

The words you speak are like food – they go out into the collective stream and nourish others.

You draw nourishment from this same stream and therefore need to be discriminating about what you ingest.

Hexagram 27 of the I Ching, The Corners of the Mouth (Providing Nourishment) is our hexagram host for this next week of Taurus.

Taurus, a feminine earth sign ruled by Venus, is closely aligned with food and nourishment. The Empress is the tarot card associated with Taurus (note the Venus symbol to the left of her chair). See how she reclines and is not in a hurry. She looks ready to receive and provide nourishment in a discerning way.

The nourishment of this hexagram is more than just food. It includes physical, intellectual, spiritual, social, and more.

Even your shadow is a form of nourishment. Robert Bly wrote about how we should “eat” our shadows:

So the person who has eaten his shadow spreads calmness, and shows more grief than anger. If the ancients were right that darkness contains intelligence and nourishment and even information, then the person who has eaten some of his or her shadow is more energetic as well as more intelligent.

A Little Book of the Human Shadow by Robert Bly

The nourishment you both provide and take in also speaks to your character:

If we wish to know what anyone is like, we have only to observe on whom he bestows his care and what sides of his own nature he cultivates and nourishes.

The I Ching or Book of Changes translated by Richard Wilhelm

Your tranquillity depends on it:

For tranquillity keeps the words that come out of the mouth from exceeding proper measure, and keeps the food that goes into the mouth from exceeding its proper measure, and keeps the food that goes into the mouth from exceeding its proper measure. Thus character is cultivated.

The I Ching or Book of Changes translated by Richard Wilhelm

This coming week is a suitable time to find some Empress moments and reflect, especially as we are winding down these last few days of Mercury retrograde in Aries:

What nourishment are you hungry for?

If you take in this nourishment, which sides of your nature will it cultivate and nourish?

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Difficulty at the beginning

Difficulty at the beginning

Difficulty at the beginning of things is something we are not always encouraged to embrace.

The Sun just entered Taurus and Hexagram 3: Difficulty at the beginning from the I Ching is our hexagram host for this next week.

That is appropriate, as Taurus, a feminine, fixed, Venusian earth sign can have a tough time getting started with things, unlike Aries.

To push past difficulty at the beginning I suppose I could talk about things like the “five-minute rule,” mentioned in the book Feel Good Productivity. It recommends selecting a task you have been postponing and give it your full attention for just five minutes. Then stop and decide if you need a break or are now in the flow enough to continue.

Or if five minutes is too long, we could talk about Mel Robbins’ Five Second Rule. Not surprisingly, her Moon sign is Aries: “From the moment that you have the idea, you’ve only got five seconds to take action, otherwise it’s gone. Write it down, schedule it, send an email to yourself or make the request.”

Or I could recommend Steven Pressfield’s book The War of Art and all the antidotes he provides in it for dealing with Resistance.

Mercury and Venus are still in Aries, so you may find greater ease in overcoming difficulty at the beginning of things, even as we begin Taurus season.

But I would rather talk about my favorite children’s book, Ferdinand the Bull. Here is a Reel I made about the book three years ago. The bull is the symbol for Taurus and this book captures the essence of Taurus well.

Taurus season is a time for us to seek our safe space, just like Ferdinand does:

In bullfighting the safe place is called the querencia. For humans the querencia is a place in our inner world. Often it is a familiar place that has not been noticed until a time of crisis. Sometimes it is a viewpoint, a position from which to conduct a life, different for each person. Often it is simply a place of deep inner silence.

Kitchen Table Wisdom by Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D.

It is from this center that growth begins. As the I Ching says, “Times of growth are beset with difficulties. They resemble a first birth. But these difficulties arise from the very profusion of all that is struggling to attain form. Everything is in motion: therefore if one perseveres there is a prospect of great success…”

Continue ReadingDifficulty at the beginning

It’s OK to take up space

It’s OK to take up space

While watching the eclipse yesterday, Air Force One flew overhead at the exact moment of the eclipse in Icarus-type fashion. It had just taken off from the airport after the President made a brief stop here.

It seems a fitting correlation to this week’s Hexagram 42: Increase of the I Ching an appropriate for Aries.

Just like Aries, the hexagram is about purpose, movement, and having a direction to go.

As Hilary Barrett says in her translation:

Increase simply flows, without limit; there is no need for restrictive frameworks to contain it. When you are blessed, it is good to respond with purpose and movement: participating in the increase, pouring more in, you receive more in return. Let yourself imagine where you want to be, and take the first steps that commit you to going there. This is how to keep the momentum.

I Ching: Walking Your Path, Creating Your Future by Hilary Barrett

The image of the hexagram shows a marriage of heaven and earth, with the earth being able to partake of the power of the heavens.

This reminds me how Jungian analyst and author James Hollis frequently reminds us to ask ourselves if a choice is diminishing us or not:

Then we look at our daily choices; some of them small, some of them are very large, and we ask: Does this choice make me smaller? Or does it make me larger? Does it enlarge me psychologically? Or is it diminishing me?

Life of Meaning by James Hollis

I like to think of the increase in this hexagram as being about NOT making ourselves smaller.

Or in other words, it’s OK to take up space.

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A still point in the thunder

A still point in the thunder

We have double the thunder this week … just in time for Monday’s eclipse in Aries!

With the snow (!) and winter-like winds we are having here in Wisconsin in April, I wouldn’t mind some thunder and spring showers.

Hexagram 51: The Arousing (shock, thunder) of the I Ching is thunder repeated. It describes a leader who is composed and reverent even though the thunder spreads terror 100 miles around:

This doesn’t necessarily mean resisting the shock itself, so much as keeping a still point in the midst of the tumult of reactions to it. Then you never lose your connection with the creative power that speaks through the storms. … Consider what remains constant and true when everything else is in turmoil.

Hilary Barrett, I Ching: Walking Your Path, Creating Your Future

Events like eclipses can cause shock and fear, especially if they impact one’s astrology chart in a powerful way.

While this eclipse is going on we also have Mars and Saturn in Pisces and Uranus and Jupiter pairing up in Taurus.

Once again both the I Ching and astrology remind us that we must get over certainty and wanting to always be in control.

Whenever I feel anxious about an astrological transit, I remind myself of one of my favorite James Hollis quotes:

Anxiety will be our companion if we risk the next stage of our journey, and depression our companion if we do not. …Faced with such a choice, choose anxiety and ambiguity, for they are developmental, always, while depression is regressive. Anxiety is an elixir, and depression a sedative. The former keeps us on the edge of our life, and the latter in the sleep of childhood.

James Hollis, Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life

Even with that reminder, part of me wants to be a recluse during this eclipse. But I have places to go and things to do. It is heartening to know that even the noble one described in Hexagram 51 was initially a little rattled:

When the outer world is shaken up, the noble one is also inwardly shaken. He is wide awake now, quivering with awareness of the changes underway, and ready to take on responsibility for restoring life to harmony.

Hilary Barrett, I Ching: Walking Your Path, Creating Your Future

Where do you need to restore harmony in your life right now?

What must change?

What will continue?

Continue ReadingA still point in the thunder

Biting through to your center of power

Biting through to your center of power

A lot of the advice in the I Ching, and Taoism in general, can be summarized as “be like water,” which I love.

But for this week’s Hexagram 21: Biting Through we have “vigorous measures” that must be taken at once. There’s mention of a “criminal lawsuit,” the “application of penalties,” and “disturbances of harmonious social life caused by criminals and slanderers.”

Drama!

The hexagram image is thunder and lightning. Thunder represents the just application of penalties. Lightning symbolizes the clarity needed for executing the penalties swiftly.

This fearless confrontation of obstacles ties in well with the assertive energy of Aries season.

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been reading The Vital Spark by Jungian analyst Lisa Marchiano, which is perfect Aries reading.

Marchiano emphasizes how empathy, care, and concern won’t help us when we are being preyed upon and face situations where we need to do our own Biting Through:

Standing up for ourselves will likely engender conflict—not just with our romantic partners but with our parents, siblings, co-workers, friends, neighbors, and more. Many of us find such conflict uncomfortable. We value harmony and often go to great lengths to preserve peace and affinity. Yet, if we can tolerate disagreement and strife, we will be able to act from authenticity rather than from a constricted compulsion to avoid conflict.

She includes a quote from Edward Edinger:

The majority of patients in psychotherapy need to learn how to be more effectively selfish and more effective in the use of their own personal power; they need to accept responsibility for the fact of being centers of power and effectiveness.

Acting from that place of authenticity is easier said than done. I recently read The Tools by psychologists Phil Stutz and Barry Michels, which provides a practical way to tap into your inner authority in the moment by using your shadow, of all things. The authors are favorably disposed towards Jungian psychology and believe in providing effective tools that are easily learned.

They describe an exercise for you to do to obtain an image of your shadow (I use a shadow figure from a dream). Then, prior to and even during a difficult conversation or encounter, you do the following:

Imagine that you’re standing in front of an audience of one or many. See an image of your Shadow off to one side, facing you. Ignore the audience completely and focus all of your attention on the Shadow. Feel an unbreakable bond between the two of you-as a unit you’re fearless.

Together, you and the Shadow forcefully turn toward the audience and silently command them to “LISTEN!” Feel the authority that comes when you and your Shadow speak with one voice.

We’re in the middle of a two week period between eclipses which can feel liminal and sometimes draining.

Mars and Saturn are both in Pisces, with a conjunction soon to form. This combination of archetypes is the very definition of Biting Through.

It’s an ideal time to bite through to the truth of a challenging situation you are facing, especially in the Pisces and Aries areas of your life.

What steps can you take to overcome any obstacles that stand in your way?

REFERENCES:

The Vital Spark: Reclaim Your Outlaw Energies and Find Your Feminine Fire by Lisa Marchiano, LCSW

The Tools: Transform Your Problems Into Courage, Confidence, and Creativity by Phil Stutz and Barry Michels

I Ching or Book of Changes translated by Richard Wilhelm

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You will NOT be assimilated

You will NOT be assimilated

It is not uncommon these days to buy followers online or to use strategies for inflating the number of followers that have nothing to do with true connection.

Leaders sometimes create followings by “force or cunning, by conspiracy or by creating factions.” That sounds like today’s headlines but is actually from the commentary of Hexagram 17, Following in the I Ching, our hexagram host for this next week of Aries.

Hexagarm 17 even warns that “joyous movement can lead to evil consequences.”

Before charging forth and using that fiery martial energy of Aries on external followings, one is advised to use it to tune into one’s inner self. That is why the image of this hexagram describes the importance of a noble one at nightfall going inside for renewal and rest.

Jungian analyst Lisa Marchiano writes in The Vital Spark (perfect reading for Aries season, by the way):

But if we don’t have sufficient access to independence and fire, our tendency to focus on others can cause us to lose touch with ourselves and the people we were meant to become. We can become alienated from our souls, which leaves us feeling depleted and inauthentic. Then, we must return to ourselves by reuniting with our Lilith nature, our own “unbridled life urge which refuses to be assimilated.”

Jung wrote about how our personalities become diminished when we adapt to others, but those discarded parts aren’t lost forever: “Many—far too many—aspects of life which should also have been experienced lie in the lumber room among dusty memories; but sometimes, too, they are glowing coals under gray ashes.”

There is an eclipse this week duing the Libra full moon. Eclipse energies play out over the course of six months and tend to make it more difficult to cling to certainty in that area of your life. As Marchiano says, “Being connected with the central fire can be exhilarating, but it can also be terrifying.”

Therefore this is a perfect time to take a look at the lumber room floor, so to speak, and connect with the vital sparks awaiting in the glowing coals of your unlived life.

REFERENCES:

The Vital Spark: Reclaim Your Outlaw Energies and Find Your Feminine Fire by Lisa Marchiano, LCSW

I Ching or Book of Changes translated by Richard Wilhelm

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The audacity of innocence

The audacity of innocence

Yesterday I saw a robin hopping around in the yard for the first time this year.

For me, nothing says spring more than the return of birds who fly south for the winter.

Spring migration reaches its peak in May, with hundreds of different kinds of birds migrating through. I often think of how wonderfully audacious it is that there are so many different kinds of birds.

Speaking of audacious, this is the start of Aries season and the beginning of the new astrological year.

Hexagram 25: Innocence of the I Ching is our hexagram host for the beginning of Aries.

Because Aries is a masculine fire sign ruled by Mars, the audacious part fits, but at first glance it might not seem to correlate well with innocence.

The image of this hexagram is thunder underneath the heavens: as above, so below.

As Wilhelm says in his translation:

In springtime when thunder, life energy, begins to move again under the heavens, everything sprouts and grows, and beings receive from the creative activity of nature the childlike innocence of their original state.

The Sun is exalted in Aries because Aries is the beginning of the solar half of the year where there is more light than darkness. By contrast, Saturn is exalted in Libra because it begins the Saturnian half of the year where there is more darkness than light.

Britten LaRue, in her new book Living Astrology, writes that Aries is often perceived as “blustery in its self-possession.” She provides a necessary corrective to this stereotype:

It’s important to understand that Aries is born out of the collective dream from Pisces. The precociousness of Aries grows from the wells of love inherent in the sign before it. We need the audacity of our springtime Aries self to catapult our dreams forward. It’s the audacity of being a child of this world before we’ve known hurt or grief or danger.

She also provides some questions that are worth pondering in the week ahead:

What would you do with such audacity?

What would you do today if you could trust that you can always start again?

REFERENCES:

I Ching or Book of Changes translated by Richard Wilhelm

Living Astrology by Britten LaRue

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Wounding of the bright

Wounding of the bright

Sometimes it is necessary to hide your light.

That is the message of Hexagram 36, Darkening of the Light, from the I Ching, which is our hexagram host for this final week of Pisces season.

But wait a minute. Isn’t it good to let your light shine and be authentic?

The poet David Whyte’s brief essay on Hiding describes the necessity of hiding:

We live in a time of the dissected soul, the immediate disclosure; our thoughts, imaginings and longings exposed to the light too much, too early and too often, our best qualities squeezed too soon into a world already awash with ideas that oppress our sense of self and our sense of others. What is real is almost always to begin with, hidden…What is precious inside us does not care to be known by the mind in ways that diminish its presence.

Per Wilhelm’s translation, in times of darkness “it is essential to be cautious and reserved.”

One should not engage in “inconsiderate behavior,” fall in with the practices of others or, conversely, “drag them censoriously into the light.”

When there are difficulties in your immediate environment, one must remain steadfast. Per Wilhelm, you can do this by maintaining your “inner light, while remaining outwardly yielding and tractable.” With an attitude like this you can “overcome even the greatest adversities.”

Furthermore, “In social intercourse one should not try to be all-knowing. One should let many things pass, without being duped.”

We turned the clocks ahead one hour this past weekend, and waking up in what is now darkness, it feels blinding when I turn on the light. My eyes and body aren’t ready to be dragged into the light.

Metaphorically speaking, that is what it is like when we shine our light at inappropriate times.

There is a quote from Ashok Bedi that comes to mind:

As we continue to individuate, we come to terms with…our formative, life-defining influencess and experiences…We accept ourselves as we are, and consequently are better able to accept others as they are. We are detached, but remain caring.

I like that phrase of detached caring. That seems to be the kind of equanimity this hexagram describes and it requires some hiding to cultivate that.

As we enter this final week of Pisces (and winter) with its wounded light, keep in mind the bright light of the exalted Aries Sun is right around the corner.

Don’t hesitate to hide a little longer in the waters of Pisces. David Whyte again: “Hiding leaves life to itself, to become more of itself. Hiding is the radical independence necessary for our emergence into the light of a proper human future.”

REFERENCES:

I Ching or Book of Changes translated by Richard Wilhelm

Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words by David Whyte

Path to the Soul by Ashok Bedi

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Choosing to choose

Choosing to choose

Grace has been a favorite word of mine since childhood.

When I was born my grandmother gave my parents a framed print of an explanation of what the name Anita means and it hung on the wall of my childhood bedroom. Anita means grace and that resonated with me.

So I was happy to see that Hexagram 22, Grace, of the I Ching, is our hexagram host for this next week. It describes grace as “beauty of form” and that which brings order and pleasantness.

The image is of fire at the foot of the mountain. This shows how grace has limitations, however. Fire here does not shine far; grace only brings success in small things and should be used sparingly. It’s the strong element of the mountain that takes the lead and is the decisive factor.

I’m reminded of one of my favorite James Hollis quotes:

I sometimes call myself “a recovering Nice Guy.” We were all raised to be nice, really nice. A reflexive “niceness” is a pathogenic loss of connection to the soul, and is not nice. The opposite of such a reflexive niceness is called authenticity, or integrity.

The planetary archetype associate with grace is Venus. Appropriately, Venus is exalated in Pisces and will be joining the Pisces party in about a week.

The opposite of Venus is Mars, which will enter Pisces at the end of the month.

The combination of Mars and Venus can help us turn niceness into authenticity and integrity. If you look at where both planets are in your natal chart, you will see what that specifically looks like for you.

From a typology perspective, developing a stronger connection between your hero (dominant) functon and inferior (anima/animus) function creates more integrity and authenticity. Jungian analyst John Beebe, my favorite typologist, says individuation is ultimately about integrity, not about the transformation of character.

With Saturn, the planet of responsibility, in Pisces for two more years or so, and soon Venus and Mars to join Saturn and the Sun there, it seems fitting to close with what Jungian analyst and astrologer Christina Becker says:

In life, being authentic means that you own your life and take responsibility for it, and this bears a striking similarity to the definition of integrity. Being inauthentic suggests an “unowned” life. The German philosopher Heidegger suggests that “authenticity is a matter of choosing to choose, that is, of making one’s choices one’s own and so being answerable and responsible for one’s life.

Remember it’s OK, though, to add a dash of grace once in a while.

REFERENCES:

I Ching or Book of Changes translated by Richard Wilhelm

The Broken Mirror by James Hollis

The Heart of the Matter: Individuation as an Ethical Process by Christina Becker

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A watched pot always boils

A watched pot always boils

Have you ever put on a pot of water on the stove to boil, walked away for a bit, then totally forgot about it until the pot boiled over? It’s possible I’ve done that a time or two (ahem).

That metaphor is inherent in Hexagram 63 in the I Ching, which is called “After Completion.” It consists of the trigrams Water over Fire, which symbolizes the image of water rising above fire. This hexagram represents the idea of reaching a state of completion or fulfillment after a period of effort and struggle.

Conditions are perfect and there is equilibrium. That also means, however, the slightest inattention can cause disorder to begin again, so caution is warranted. As Wilhelm says in his translation, “…it is only in regards to details that success is still to be achieved.” Constancy bears fruit.

This is similar to when a pot is above the fire waiting to boil and there is a meeting of opposites: water and fire. In the best scenario, a small amount of the water is transformed into vapor, and the rest remains behind to cook whatever is inside the pot. But if you get bored and stop paying attention even for a few minutes, the pot overflows, there is a noisy splashing of water, and the pot and food can get scalded.

This resonates with the end-of-cycle energy of Pisces, where one might reflect on the lessons learned, the growth achieved, and the closure of certain chapters of life. Pisces is the end of the astrological new year; the new year will begin with Aries.

Pisces is a time when emotions may run deep, and its energy encourages introspection, spiritual exploration, and connection with the unconscious. It favors embracing the endings and transitions that come with the conclusion of a cycle, while also looking forward to the possibilities of new beginnings as the wheel of the zodiac turns.

I’m reading Marion Woodman’s book Addiction to Perfection and she writes about how journaling “fulfills the need to pour out the heart” and is “crucial to recognizing those parts of ourselves that we have shunned.” Pisces season is a perfect time to start looking at those neglected parts of us, so that we don’t have a boil over, so to speak.

“Journal writing is a way of taking responsibility for finding out who I AM.” There’s no better time to start doing that than now, before the astrological new year begins. May your cup runneth over (instead of your pot).

REFERENCES:

I Ching or Book of Changes translated by Richard Wilhelm

Addiction to Perfection by Marion Woodman

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