A boon of wild provisions from the soul

A boon of wild provisions from the soul

We are in a transitional space that invites us to enter into a state of receptivity, grace, and openness.

November 7 marked the halfway point between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. In the Chinese calendar, this date signals the start of a two-week period referred to as the “beginning of winter,” which we are now in the midst of.

The Receptive is associated with the beginning of winter:

To receive, be receptive. Embrace the power of yielding, and you shall receive. … Supportive power is the blessing of finishing to completion….A heart receptive to faith will never fear darkness or uncertainty. You are blessed with knowledge and intuition…you are a vessel for healing and receiving sustenance. —Benebell Wen, I Ching: The Book of Changes

This weekend’s full Moon in Taurus happens to fall during this time. Taurus is receptive earth and seeks stability.

This is a good time to follow the recommendation of Clarissa Pinkola Estés regarding “intentional solitude:”

Solitude is not an absence of energy or action, as some believe, but is rather a boon of wild provisions transmitted to us from the soul. In ancient times, as recorded by physician-healers, religious and mystics, purposeful solitude was both palliative and preventative. It was used to heal fatigue and to prevent weariness. It was also used as an oracle, as a way of listening to the inner self to solicit advice and guidance otherwise impossible to hear in the din of daily life.” —Clarissa Pinkola Estés

I love that phrase “boon of wild provisions transmitted to us from the soul.” I sometimes call it to mind whenever I observe the squirrels in my backyard as they gather wild provisions almost constantly. (Fun fact: squirrels have an association with Hermes/Mercury because of their ability to go up and down trees and cross difficult terrain).

Estés says that the only thing needed for intentional solitude is the ability to tune out distractions. This can be practiced anywhere, even in the middle of a contentious meeting, in the crowd at a loud sporting event, or in a cluttered home where children make constant messes.

“It is not hard to do, it is just hard to remember to do.”

Estés says that the word alone was once treated as two words, all one. This means to be wholly one and is the goal of solitude.

With the chaotic and distracting energy of Uranus involved with this full Moon in stable Taurus, being all one will be more difficult. I can’t help but note, however, that Uranus energy can also relieve the tension of opposites. From that, not only do we have the ability to be all one as individuals, but an opportunity to see that, ultimately, we are all connected and participants together in the Great Round.

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Finding Ground: The need for contemplation and a dash of humor in astrology

Finding Ground: The need for contemplation and a dash of humor in astrology

As someone who contemplates astrology every day, I’ve noticed how astrology can sometimes feel like a disembodied experience — lost in theory rather than grounded in reality. I found myself in one of those moments just last week.

While driving to the grocery store I was listening to a podcast episode about the October astrology forecast. They were discussing the upcoming Mars-Pluto opposition in early November in grim terms, as Mars’ intensity clashes with Pluto’s transformative force, a potent recipe for upheaval.

Before I knew it, a wave of anxiety overwhelmed me for a few minutes.

To find balance, I turned to reading, seeking something to ground my thoughts. A few days later I stumbled upon the essay An Urban Farmer’s Almanac: A Twenty-First-Century Reflection on Benjamin Banneker’s Almanacs and Other Astronomical Phenomena by Erin Sharkey (from this book). It was a wonderfully grounding experience to read it.

Sharkey said “I was uninterested in astrology until I learned that farmers had used it.” Farming! What a great entry point into astrology.

She made references to the The Old Farmer’s Almanac in clever ways throughout the essay, so I went to the library yesterday and picked up a copy of the 2024 Farmer’s Almanac.

Of course I took a look at what it said for the first day of the dreaded Mars-Pluto opposition. “On the 1st, Mars, now a brilliant magnitude 0, rises at midnight just below the Gemini twins, Castor and Pollux, with dazzling Jupiter high above them.”

Confession: I didn’t know what “magnitude 0” meant so I asked ChatGPT. It turns out magnitude measures the brightness of celestial objects. The sun is the brightest, at -26. A full moon is -12.7.

“Mars, at magnitude 0, would be bright but not as overwhelmingly luminous as Jupiter.”

Overwhelmingly luminous Jupiter! It’s too easy to forget that Jupiter is still in Gemini, adding magnitude to our collective astrological garden.

With Jupiter here we would do well to consider that the founding editor of the Almanac said back in the 18th century that his mission was to be “useful, with a pleasant degree of humor.”

I can’t help but take a fun jab at Pluto by noting that Pluto’s magnitude will only be +14.6 on November 1, which means it will be “incredibly faint.” Take that, Mars-Pluto!

In the the astrology section of the alamanc, called Best Days of 2024, while Mars and Pluto stir cosmic drama November 1-3, the Almanac urges us to “brew,” “demolish,” and “straighten hair” – down-to-earth tasks that remind us to stay present in our bodies.

My preference to focus on astrology as an embodied experience is why I like weaving in nature references from the Book of Changes/I Ching when writing about astrology and avoid writing typical horoscopes. I find there is a lot of value in focusing on the simpler things like the Moon and Sun and going deeper in learning more about the zodiac signs.

According to the I Ching calendar, we are near the end of the 15 day solar term that began with the fall equinox and are in the five day micro-season called “water begins to dry up.”

Per this calendar, which is similar to a farmer’s almanac, the Contemplation hexagram is the one presented to us:

A wind rustles the earth. Watching, observing.

Kings past call upon the four guardians of the universe to aid them toward the correct guidance of their people. You must see and also be seen. Others will then put their trust and faith in you.

…There is a need for contemplation. Reevaluate your motivations… Observe. Observe the wind. Observe the earth. — I Ching: The Oracle by Benebell Wen

As we move toward potent astrological shifts, the I Ching offers a timely message: contemplate, observe, and be seen.

Much like the wind rustling the earth, this Mars-Pluto opposition will be an opportunity to watch closely, not react hastily. There is wisdom in letting things unfold while staying rooted.

In astrology, as in farming, timing and observation are everything. Whether it’s the magnitude of planets or the rhythm of seasons, both systems remind us to stay grounded and to approach life with contemplation—and, when possible, with a little humor.

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Devout preoccupation on the court of Virgo

Devout preoccupation on the court of Virgo

After the brisk square dance of energies in August, I re-evaluated my astrological macro diet and realized that I didn’t help myself to enough servings of Jupiter in Gemini in August.

Maybe we need a MyFitnessPal app equivalent for astrology!

While playing pickleball this morning, on this day of a New Moon in Virgo, it suddenly occurred to me that I was actually having fun.

Pickleball, like tennis and other back and forth games, is the domain of Mercury, the planetary host of Virgo and Gemini. (A fun aside: Roger Federer has Virgo rising and Steffi Graf is a triple Gemini).

I also remembered that the New Moon is happening in a section in Virgo that has an association with Deliverance in the Book of Changes (I Ching). “The obstacle has been removed, the difficulties are being resolved.” Whew!

Jupiter in Gemini also happens to be in a relationship with this New Moon.

For me pickleball is mindfulness disguised as a sport. Everything I try to do on the court is just as applicable off the court. Pickleball, like any other sport, is a microcosm of all of life.

While preparing to serve the ball I focus on my breathing and have an inner and outer routine I follow that is a form of active meditation.

After the ball is in play, practicing that old maxim of “keep your eye on the ball” is another form of meditation that keeps me in the now perhaps more than any other activity I engage in.

Because I always play doubles, the game also requires taking others into account. Sometimes mindfulness takes a hit as a result and is replaced with shadow work! Ideally playing with others should help us attune ourselves to the energies around us.

If my partner is not coming up to the kitchen line when they are supposed to, which is a common court position error, it leaves us vulnerable to losing the point. It is always best if I adapt and reposition myself to help fill in the gap rather than think about how they are playing “incorrectly.” It goes without saying that my partners have to deal with my court position errors, too.

When I notice that the players opposite me are new to the game, I will slow down the pace on my serve most of the time. But not all of the time, because learning how to return faster services is important, and I also don’t want them to feel like I am dumbing down my game for them.

It’s always best practice to say things like “good shot” or “nice effort” and never give unsolicited feedback to a player about how to correct their shot.

“Bangers” are a common type of player in recreational pickleball. They focus on hitting the ball hard all the time. Admittedly, I sometimes get triggered by them. It works best if I focus on counteracting that energy with finesse, gracefulness, and a soft game. It also motivates me to be attentive to stretching my muscles regularly and work on hand-eye-coordination exercises off the court.

I was going to close with a quote about tennis by Jungian therapist Thomas Moore, but then found this in my stash of quotes and was happy with how well it fit with the theme:

In tennis, I am happiest when I am surprised by focus. When the concentration falls over me like the shadow of a bird overhead. Maddeningly, when I try to narrow my mind to a single outcome—hitting early, following through, footwork, even breathing correctly—I fumble. When I urge myself to just “enjoy” the contact, something clicks. I can see the ball spiraling toward me, and I hit it however I feel like. It is closer to forgetting than remembering, closer to “devout preoccupation” than “planning.”

And isn’t this our own plight, as adults at play? That we are at once trying to “cultivate” a skill, even as we seek that elusive “gladness”? What if we dared to replace the mindfulness paradigm with playfulness?

Racquet magazine, Issue #15

I’m up for such a dare.

Practical, earthy Virgo—rooted in planning, cultivating, and service—blended with a dash of Jupiter in Gemini, might just help us embrace playfulness and devout preoccupation as the ultimate mindfulness.

Continue ReadingDevout preoccupation on the court of Virgo

What makes you roar?

What makes you roar?

When you were a child did anyone ask you “How do you want to be when you grow up?”

My guess is probably not!

Calling is more how you do something than about what you do. That is a key insight I learned years ago from my favorite James Hillman book, The Soul’s Code.

We tend to find ourselves going through the first half of life focused more on what we want to be when we grow up.

Leo season presents the opportunity to revisit and reflect more deeply on the Hero archetype:

In reflecting on the archetypal gestalt of the hero, Jung notes how each of us has an innate cluster of energy whose task it is to overthrow the dark powers that threaten, whether outer or inner. The outer threats are the powers and principalities of this earth that confront us and generate fear.

Each of us knows this well, for more of our reflexive, patterning behaviors arise out of fear management, or rather our being managed by fear, than any other motive. And yet, each of us also knows a summons to show up in life as ourselves, no matter how deeply buried that impulse is.

–Living Between Worlds: Finding Personal Resilience in Changing Times by James Hollis

For a clue as to that “innate cluster of energy” within you, consider the Hero function of your personality type.

One indicator of the “summons to show up in life as ourselves” is the location of the Sun in your natal chart. The Sun shows us the manner in which we respond to that call; or, the how, not just the what.

Because the Sun is the host of Leo, the location of Leo in your chart also gives clues about that summons, even if there are no planets in Leo in your chart.

During the New Moon in Leo tomorrow, the Sun will be in the Retreat section of Leo (per the I Ching). Retreat is about a leader remaining at a distance from their people – an advisor rather than a friend. It takes the 10,000 foot view and practices caring detachment.

The lion is the symbol of Leo. The roar of a lion can be heard from great distances and establishes the lion’s presence without physical confrontation. A roar is used strategically; a lion never says more than is necessary. The roar of a lion captures the essence of Leo’s confident, expressive energy and Retreat’s strategic wisdom.

When you speak from your core and show up fully as yourself, it is like roaring. Roaring helps you reconnect with the essence of how you want to be in life, beyond just what you want to do. The deeper the summons to show up as your true self is buried, the louder you might need to roar!

What makes you roar?

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How you can influence the archetypes…and the world

How you can influence the archetypes…and the world

Astrology, personality typology, and working with dreams and the I Ching can all lead to a dead end of passive introspection if we aren’t careful.

That’s not necessarily a fun thing for my introverted intuitive self to contemplate! But it must be done. After all, it’s immoral to focus on individuation and not pay it back, as Jung wrote in The Symbolic Life.

Or as James Hillman said, “You make soul by living life, not by retreating from the world into ‘inner work’ or beyond the world in spiritual disciplines and meditation.”

Currently the terrain we are navigating as a collective includes a dynamite-like Mars Uranus conjunction in Taurus, which perfects on Monday.

The Mars-Uranus archetype is the Rebel. Its themes include sudden urges for freedom and independence, recklessness, sudden breakthroughs, angry outbursts, and erratic behavior.

Unfortunately, here in the United States we already have one major Mars-Uranus event at the collective level, which is in the headlines all over the world.

Passively thinking about a transit like this, especially in regards to one’s own chart, can lead to anxiety and viewing the energies as a threat.

An alternative is to instead view this Mars-Uranus Rebel as an invited guest that comes “in the service of health and wholeness,” the same way dreams do, per Jeremy Taylor.

You could totally flip the script and actually have an influence on the Rebel (or any other archetype):

“Each time an individual overcomes fear and creatively embodies the Willing Sacrifice in his or her dreams and waking life, the archetypal energies themselves are influenced and helped to change and evolve. … Whether or not we can measure either aspect of this influence doesn’t matter; at its worst, this is a useful way to imagine the “unknowable,” and at best it is true.”

Where People Fly and Water Runs Uphill by Jeremy Taylor

The language of the I Ching helps describe the type of situations we likely might face as we hang out with this Rebel: the polarity of Conflict and Holding Together.

For those of us in the United States, the type of culture in which this is happening is ESTJ, top-heavy in extraverted thinking, with extraverted feeling in the deepest recesses of its shadow.

“Beebe notes that extraverted feeling is oriented towards connecting with the emotions of others. When differentiated at a group level, it fosters ‘mutual trust and the harmonious working of groups’. Authentic empathy for the moral injury of identity groups other than one’s own is the necessary foundation for coordinated political action.”

Mark Hunziker and Peter Dunlap, Journal of Analytical Psychology, November 2021 issue

Fortunately, within the Conflict there is always the seed of Holding Together. We could have an influence on the Rebel archetype by bringing out our individual and collective extraverted thinking to help us Hold Together.

Then we can start to think beyond just my personality type, Mars-Uranus in my chart, my dream, my Conflict, to include our type, our Mars-Uranus experience, and seeing the collective elements in our dreams. This is how we become psychological citizens.

Mark Hunziker writes about how many psychological citizens engage in “Listening and empathy circles, ‘one-on-ones’ that invite activists to share their stories with one another. and many other practices.”

Jeremy Taylor wrote about the power of dream groups: “Working with dreams in groups helps us overcome the sense of isolation that we all feel from time to time, bringing us into more meaningful contact with one another. This renewal of community has an effect on the shape of society as a whole.”

The journey towards individuation is not merely an inward quest, but a call to engage with the world and its challenges, embracing both our inner and outer Rebels.

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The value of adversity

The value of adversity

Could you use a breather and an emotional reset?

That’s what the energy indicated by today’s New Moon in Cancer invites us to do.

As a small example of this, last week my local community received the abrupt news that this will be the final year of our local July 4th festival, which has run every year for almost 60 years.

Immediately a grassroots effort began to save the festival. Many residents didn’t know the festival is run by volunteers and that there is a dire shortage of them. That, combined with lack of funding, caused an Obstruction.

It has been heartwarming to see many people in the community come together to volunteer and raise money to save this charming festival, especially during these times when there is so much polarity at the national level.

It is the epitome of a Cancer type of activity – a community banding together to preserve one of its important traditions.

Today’s New Moon in Cancer occurs in the Obstruction part of Cancer, which is hexagram 39 of the I Ching.

Through introspection an external obstacle becomes “an occasion for inner enrichment and education. … An obstruction that lasts only for a time is useful for self-development. This is the value of adversity.” (The I Ching, Richard Wilhelm translation).

The New Moon in Cancer creates a brief, nurturing pause before the action-packed Mars-Uranus conjunction in Taurus perfects on July 15.

I admit I’m not looking forward what some of the headlines will be like during those several days.

But the reflections and intentions set during the New Moon in Cancer can be grounded in Taurus’s earthy energy, which will provide emotional resilience and practical readiness.to face the Mars-Uranus conjunction.

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The art of letting yourself go

The art of letting yourself go

No, not that kind of “letting yourself go,” which is a phrase used to disparage someone who pays less attention to their appearance than they used to.

We’re in the Keeping Still section of Cancer season, so I’ve been reflecting on the Chinese wu wei sort of letting go. Jung described wu wei as “the art of letting things happen, action through non-action, letting go of oneself.”

The Keeping Still hexagram of the I Ching is a doubling of the mountain trigram. It correlates with introverted feeling (Fi) per Chinese Jungian analyst Chenghou Cai: “For Fi, deep feelings are seldom articulated, but are powerful when they are expressed. At this level of introverted feeling, one is like the person who has mastered the art of Keeping Still as taught by the I Ching.”

One is at rest, not merely in a small, circumscribed way in regard to matters of detail, but one has also a general resignation in regard to life as a whole, and this confers peace and good fortune in relation to every individual matter.

The I Ching translated by Richard Wilhelm

The opposite of introverted feeling is extraverted thinking. The United States is an ESTJ culture and one-sided in extraverted thinking. Jung said extraverted thinking is the only kind of thinking recognized by Western culture.

Extraverted thinking (Te), which compares to Thunder in the I Ching, acts with directness and authority and has little use for wu wei and Keeping Still.

Since the Aries eclipse this spring, followed by the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction in Taurus, and then all the Gemini energy, it sometimes felt like it has been a never-ending parade of extraverted thinking, extraverted sensation, and extraverted intuition.

Now that it’s Cancer season with its introverted feeling energy, hopefully some of how we let ourselves go can be in the “Calgon, Take Me Away!” kind of way.

If the waters of Cancer ever get too choppy, here’s Marion Woodman’s reminder about stillness, with its introverted feeling undertones:

To find the stillness at the center of the whirlpool, the eye of the hurricane, and not hold onto it with the rigidity born of fear, is what in analysis we struggle to reach. That center I call Sophia, the feminine Wisdom of God. It is not the masculine standpoint, the highly-principled “Here I stand.” … It is an invisible center encountered only in a creative process, at first not consciously recognized, but gradually revealed as the process unfolds.

Addiction to Perfection by Marion Woodman

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The summer snooze…I mean solstice

The summer snooze…I mean solstice

Here we are at the summer solstice and the official beginning of Cancer season.

It seems like just yesterday it was the winter solstice and I was standing in the front yard watching Santa go by on a fire truck. Today I’m in the front yard tending – and talking to – pumpkin plants and petunias.

I felt waterlogged most of this week. The moment Venus and Mercury entered Cancer on Monday, the shift from the air of Gemini to the waters of Cancer found me taking as many as two naps a day.

Because Cancer has caretaking qualities I’ve even find myself looking up recipes online, which normally isn’t my thing.

The best way to understand a sign is to compare it to its opposite, which in this case is Capricorn.

With the Capricorn full moon happening tommorow, this is a perfect time to reflect on what has been happening in the Capricorn area of your life since the winter solstice.

Because I’m an introverted intuitive type and tend to focus on the future, I have developed an appreciation for the winter solstice and its promise of increasing light that builds up to the summer solstice.

Now that the summer solstice is here, which correlates with hexagram 15: Moderation, I want to slow down. I like using astrology as a way to process the present and better understand what is unfolding moment to moment.

A noble one is inwardly as self-sufficient as a mountain and firm as bedrock; she has quietly built up the inner resources to sustain an intelligent, centred generosity. She reduces exaggeration and brings things back to a state of equilibrium, weighing up what is needed from moment to moment, and always referring back to that inner balance point.

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

That quote is a wonderful way to describe the energy of Cancer in constrast to Gemini season.

Which inner resources are you quietly building up?

As fun as the exaggerations in Gemini may have been, which ones will you start reducing and bring back to a state of equilibrium?

What does your inner balance point feel like in your body?

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The real cause of stagnation

The real cause of stagnation

On the surface, Gemini is the last place one would expect Stagnation.

Yet here we are in the Stagnation section of Gemini, per hexagram 12 of the I Ching, which is where today’s Mercury’s cazimi with the Sun is happening.

That’s a fancy way of saying it’s a rebirth moment for Mercury, who has been hidden under the beams of the Sun in recent days. This can feel a lot like Stagnation, especially with Saturn in Pisces having an influence.

Mercury in Gemini is curious, witty, and multi-faceted. Being under the beams may slow it down externally, but Stagnation gives us an opportunity to turn inward. As someone who is an introvert and also has three planets in Gemini (something of an oxymoron), I heartily endorse this introverted version of Gemini.

In the I Ching, Stagnation immediately follows the Peace hexagram. It shows how Peace can rapidly turn to Stagnation. It’s a 63 hexagram journey back to Peace, yet, paradoxically, that can also happen in the blink of an eye. Especially if we follow Clarissa Pinkola Estes’ advice about getting over stagnation:

It is not the failure that holds us back but the reluctance to begin over again that causes us to stagnate. If you’re scared, so what? If you’re afraid something’s going to leap out and bite you, then for heaven’s sake, get it over with already.

Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Speaking of something leaping out and biting you, Mars entered Taurus earlier this week. As I’ve written about before, the children’s book Ferdinand the Bull is one of my favorite books with a Taurus vibe. Ferdinand accidentally sits on a bee and he momentarily overcomes some inertia (see my Reel if you need a refresh).

As we Stagnate for a bit in Gemini, may the wake up call from sitting on a bee help lead us back to Peace

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Live in fragments no longer

Live in fragments no longer

Have you felt like you are living in fragments in recent days?

A little bit restless and hard to focus?

Losing track of what day it is?

Are you getting a lot of stimulating ideas and making connections quickly?

Maybe you feel like you have strong extraverted intuition even though you normally don’t?

Have you received any surprise communications?

Perhaps you’ve noticed a dramatic headline or two?

Are you having an easier time communicating your thoughts, although possibly not always with a great amount of tact?

Are you a little bit more open-minded?

Welcome to Mercury in Taurus conjunct Uranus!

This goes exact today and has been in the air, so to speak, all week.

And how appropriate that hexagram 23 of the I Ching, which is associated with this part of Taurus, is called Splitting Apart!

Speaking of fragments, I’ve always loved the E.M. Forster quote, “Live in fragments no longer. Only connect.”

Mercury enters Gemini on Monday so some of this fragmented feeling might continue, because Mercury likes to roll that way.

Jupiter is there now for the next year, however, and will help with the “connect” part. Jupiter brings cohesion and makes things whole. It brings complete and full devotion. Jupiter is like a deeply wise sage, or crone, who encourages you to sort out what is you and what is not you. And helps you discover that the more you embrace your uniqueness the more you are connected to everyone else.

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