Thurs 18 Feb – Wed 3 March
Old father Time or Chronos as Saturn is known (from where the words chronology and chronometer originate) moves so slowly that he remains in Libra for about two years, and thus seldom gets much of a mention. But while he is in Libra, the balancing of love, legalities or politics can become an increasingly complicated yet necessary task. Personal partnerships and contracts can overshadow your private plans, throwing you off balance. Relationships will either become fully engaging, or overwhelming, especially if you have a fear about making a commitment or being more socially involved. Besides that you can expect more concern with laws that govern and regulate society so that it is just and fair. Problems start when people take it on themselves to decide and judge who is more worthy than others to receive support and benefit.
But then that is a background influence, while on a more immediate and current level the Sun joins Venus and Jupiter in watery Pisces this edition, greatly facilitating the ability to become more sensitive to the emotional environment and develop the intuitive faculties. Now is the best time to go within and explore your dreams or visions for your future as well as nostalgically reminiscing about your past. The artist within you may well be inspired to pick up the pen, brush, camera or guitar and capture in picture, poem or song the wondrous workings of the world, the heart or – for those of you whose ears are even more sensitized – the soul. Don’t worry if you missed the boat on Valentine’s day for now is still the time to win the easily melted heart of your potential loved one with the seductive arts of sweet words and sweet chocolates. The boundaries and defenses may be a bit weaker at this time so dust off your violin and don’t be shy to serenade your sweetheart into a serene and sublime state of surrender. And if that’s not your scene then there is always the solitary introspective contemplation of the divine within you, who may have some cosmic revelations to reveal while you sit enraptured by the beauty of the world around us. After all, with three of the most positive planetary influences in Pisces at present, the opportunity is there to be moved from within or without. Just don’t forget to feed the cat.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Saturn
Thurs 4 Feb – Wed 17 Feb
Although serious Saturn has also been moving in a retrograde motion through Libra since mid January already, he is such a slow mover that we only get to discuss him now. Also, this sobering retro influence will be with us all the way up to the end of May, so there is no rushing this venerable old grandfather of the solar system.
Saturn governs the physical and psychological supports and structures in our life. He governs the rules and regulations by which we guide our lives, as well as our sense of responsibility and our limitations. He allows us to define our boundaries for ourselves by saying “No”. When Saturn is retrograde, it is a good time to go back and assess or solidify commitments made, projects started and responsibilities undertaken in the past. It gives us the opportunity to go back and reorganize or renegotiate any activities or commitments that seem to be the source of frustration. Weed out the source of frustration during these coming months, particularly – since Saturn is in Libra – in your relationships, whether business or personal, whether the frustration is due to too much or too little happening in the relationship department. Know how much you can do before you start to feel frustrated, trapped or confined, and draw the line before you reach that point. It is highly recommended that you do not start any new business ventures while Saturn is retrograde, for you may find a lot of reorganizing has to be done before any success can be achieved. I realize this is a long time to put off your new business – until the end of May – but going back to old or ongoing business is preferred for this time.
With much more mobile Mercury joining Sun in Aquarius on the 10th of February, the pace of thoughts and ideas will speed up, with original, inventive and even unorthodox insights coming to the fore. So feel free to think outside the box, take the opportunity to become scientific, objective and well-informed. Team work is highly favoured as well as seeing the bigger social picture. After all, we are all merely small parts and parcels of the one whole community, all with identical rights, even though our tastes may differ slightly. If you find yourself feeling somewhat scatterbrained on occasion, just say you are having an “intuitive moment”. The corpus callosum that bridges the two hemispheres of our brain is not as developed in some of us as it is in others and if we can’t synchronize both to speak in unison, creating that “aha” moment of grounded conscious insight, then we can at least allow one hemisphere to speak at a time.
Hopefully Venus in Pisces from the 11th will add a healthy dose of empathy and a mood of voluntary self-sacrifice for the service of those in need, especially if the Aquarian influence becomes too coolly objective and calculating. Venus in Pisces should also stimulate musical or poetic inspiration, and if not personal romance, then perhaps a more altruistic love for humanity and a vision of that spark of divinity present in all life forms.
Although serious Saturn has also been moving in a retrograde motion through Libra since mid January already, he is such a slow mover that we only get to discuss him now. Also, this sobering retro influence will be with us all the way up to the end of May, so there is no rushing this venerable old grandfather of the solar system.
Saturn governs the physical and psychological supports and structures in our life. He governs the rules and regulations by which we guide our lives, as well as our sense of responsibility and our limitations. He allows us to define our boundaries for ourselves by saying “No”. When Saturn is retrograde, it is a good time to go back and assess or solidify commitments made, projects started and responsibilities undertaken in the past. It gives us the opportunity to go back and reorganize or renegotiate any activities or commitments that seem to be the source of frustration. Weed out the source of frustration during these coming months, particularly – since Saturn is in Libra – in your relationships, whether business or personal, whether the frustration is due to too much or too little happening in the relationship department. Know how much you can do before you start to feel frustrated, trapped or confined, and draw the line before you reach that point. It is highly recommended that you do not start any new business ventures while Saturn is retrograde, for you may find a lot of reorganizing has to be done before any success can be achieved. I realize this is a long time to put off your new business – until the end of May – but going back to old or ongoing business is preferred for this time.
With much more mobile Mercury joining Sun in Aquarius on the 10th of February, the pace of thoughts and ideas will speed up, with original, inventive and even unorthodox insights coming to the fore. So feel free to think outside the box, take the opportunity to become scientific, objective and well-informed. Team work is highly favoured as well as seeing the bigger social picture. After all, we are all merely small parts and parcels of the one whole community, all with identical rights, even though our tastes may differ slightly. If you find yourself feeling somewhat scatterbrained on occasion, just say you are having an “intuitive moment”. The corpus callosum that bridges the two hemispheres of our brain is not as developed in some of us as it is in others and if we can’t synchronize both to speak in unison, creating that “aha” moment of grounded conscious insight, then we can at least allow one hemisphere to speak at a time.
Hopefully Venus in Pisces from the 11th will add a healthy dose of empathy and a mood of voluntary self-sacrifice for the service of those in need, especially if the Aquarian influence becomes too coolly objective and calculating. Venus in Pisces should also stimulate musical or poetic inspiration, and if not personal romance, then perhaps a more altruistic love for humanity and a vision of that spark of divinity present in all life forms.
Thurs 21 Jan – Wed 3 Feb 2010
Well the good news is that Mercury has completed his retrograde phase and is now moving forward again through Capricorn, thus putting away his trickster mask and picking up from where he left off as dutiful minister of communications and noteworthy neural networking. Thus the thought processes, as well as the appliances or tools of your trade, should be a bit more grounded, practical, reliable and steady.
The not so good news, however, is that Mars, the minister of defense, is still moving retrograde through proud Leo, and as alluded to last time, now more than usual, anxiety could develop around image and libidinal expression, with aggression being the first symptom of a block in that area. Mars is usually fearless, independent, generous and honest, like a noble warrior, but the opposite may be the mood during this retro phase, especially should issues from the past, where grand statements were made, come forward to demand a reckoning. People in positions of authority, trust or responsibility may need to watch their backs lest Anthony return to meet Caesar. Even while working or playing hard, we need to beware the expression of a fiery or violent temper, especially those of us with heart conditions. A friend may quite innocently want to demonstrate to you his latest kung fu moves but end up accidentally poking you in the eye. Liability to fever, inflammations, sunstroke or back pain also increases (Leo is a fire sign that governs the heart and back). Any danger of accident or violence will probably be the outcome of carelessness, unchecked aggression or just plain foolishness, so stay cool.
To help you keep a cool head, the Sun will be gliding through the social, intellectual and sometimes progressive air sign of Aquarius for the next month, joined there by lovely Venus, so now is the time to spread your networking net and catch up with long lost friends as well as make many new ones. Anything more romantic than the swapping of interesting websites, theories on the origins of the pyramids, or eco-friendly dishwashing detergents may have to wait until later though.
This week also marks the move of jovial Jupiter into the potentially compassionate and sensitive water sign of Pisces. As a result there will be an underlying background influence over the next several months – for those who are thus inclined – of spiritual or religious receptivity, charity and a rediscovering of that once cherished but perhaps now eroded overall belief in the inherent beauty and goodness of the universe. The greatest tragedy is the waste, indolence and frustration that can result in not maintaining this belief. After all, the universe will manifest to you according to your personal perception thereof. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder for the eye is the window of the soul.
Well the good news is that Mercury has completed his retrograde phase and is now moving forward again through Capricorn, thus putting away his trickster mask and picking up from where he left off as dutiful minister of communications and noteworthy neural networking. Thus the thought processes, as well as the appliances or tools of your trade, should be a bit more grounded, practical, reliable and steady.
The not so good news, however, is that Mars, the minister of defense, is still moving retrograde through proud Leo, and as alluded to last time, now more than usual, anxiety could develop around image and libidinal expression, with aggression being the first symptom of a block in that area. Mars is usually fearless, independent, generous and honest, like a noble warrior, but the opposite may be the mood during this retro phase, especially should issues from the past, where grand statements were made, come forward to demand a reckoning. People in positions of authority, trust or responsibility may need to watch their backs lest Anthony return to meet Caesar. Even while working or playing hard, we need to beware the expression of a fiery or violent temper, especially those of us with heart conditions. A friend may quite innocently want to demonstrate to you his latest kung fu moves but end up accidentally poking you in the eye. Liability to fever, inflammations, sunstroke or back pain also increases (Leo is a fire sign that governs the heart and back). Any danger of accident or violence will probably be the outcome of carelessness, unchecked aggression or just plain foolishness, so stay cool.
To help you keep a cool head, the Sun will be gliding through the social, intellectual and sometimes progressive air sign of Aquarius for the next month, joined there by lovely Venus, so now is the time to spread your networking net and catch up with long lost friends as well as make many new ones. Anything more romantic than the swapping of interesting websites, theories on the origins of the pyramids, or eco-friendly dishwashing detergents may have to wait until later though.
This week also marks the move of jovial Jupiter into the potentially compassionate and sensitive water sign of Pisces. As a result there will be an underlying background influence over the next several months – for those who are thus inclined – of spiritual or religious receptivity, charity and a rediscovering of that once cherished but perhaps now eroded overall belief in the inherent beauty and goodness of the universe. The greatest tragedy is the waste, indolence and frustration that can result in not maintaining this belief. After all, the universe will manifest to you according to your personal perception thereof. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder for the eye is the window of the soul.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Meditation
“What a Trip” – or Further experiments with mantra meditation
Here’s a peak experience having itself: I stumbled quite spontaneously on a way to practice mantra meditation based purely on what made sense at the time. To engage the entire body/mind and generate increased focus I went for a walk on the deserted beach while playing instrumental dance music over the headphones at about 120 beats per minute. I started breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth in time to the music and in synch with the maha-mantra as I recited it to myself, one mantra on the in-breath and one mantra on the out-breath. It took some minutes, but eventually I was able to focus enough to generate a loop. The loop continued for over two hours, while walking up and down the shoreline as the waves splashed up to my feet. And although it was not your 16 rounds of japa and all that, it did feel like a heightened experience. Especially when schools of dolphin cascaded through the translucent sea across the entire bay. The walking meditation then turned to sitting meditation for another hour or so, during which time I shifted the breathing to a slightly faster pace by inhaling on half the maha-mantra of 32 syllables and exhaling on the other half. So half is recited aloud and half is recited silently in the mind. This would help to maintain the attention span if the mind became bored or wandered too much. After all it is always wondering.
Having sat and stared out to sea for some minutes meditating, I suddenly saw what had been there all the time just above the horizon – the Moon. Well, that just opened up a whole further host of synapses to receive the spontaneous feeling of joy or bliss.
I seem to have followed my nose to a state of paradise on earth. It helps when the environment is idyllic to begin with.
I don’t get down to the beach for my walking meditation more than twice a week, but with days like this I have decided to increase the routine…now that I’m in the mood. This is what is to be expected with the Sun and Moon both in water signs today at a harmonious 120 degree aspect to each other.
Here’s a peak experience having itself: I stumbled quite spontaneously on a way to practice mantra meditation based purely on what made sense at the time. To engage the entire body/mind and generate increased focus I went for a walk on the deserted beach while playing instrumental dance music over the headphones at about 120 beats per minute. I started breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth in time to the music and in synch with the maha-mantra as I recited it to myself, one mantra on the in-breath and one mantra on the out-breath. It took some minutes, but eventually I was able to focus enough to generate a loop. The loop continued for over two hours, while walking up and down the shoreline as the waves splashed up to my feet. And although it was not your 16 rounds of japa and all that, it did feel like a heightened experience. Especially when schools of dolphin cascaded through the translucent sea across the entire bay. The walking meditation then turned to sitting meditation for another hour or so, during which time I shifted the breathing to a slightly faster pace by inhaling on half the maha-mantra of 32 syllables and exhaling on the other half. So half is recited aloud and half is recited silently in the mind. This would help to maintain the attention span if the mind became bored or wandered too much. After all it is always wondering.
Having sat and stared out to sea for some minutes meditating, I suddenly saw what had been there all the time just above the horizon – the Moon. Well, that just opened up a whole further host of synapses to receive the spontaneous feeling of joy or bliss.
I seem to have followed my nose to a state of paradise on earth. It helps when the environment is idyllic to begin with.
I don’t get down to the beach for my walking meditation more than twice a week, but with days like this I have decided to increase the routine…now that I’m in the mood. This is what is to be expected with the Sun and Moon both in water signs today at a harmonious 120 degree aspect to each other.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)