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What does it take to get through a difficult passage in your life?
Astrological
concepts by |
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When going through a crisis or a difficult period in your life, the first thing you have to decide is - do you wish a breakthrough or a breakdown? I am sure you will choose "breakthrough" - meaning some understanding of "why" you are going through the pain and despair. Carl Jung wrote once that "meaning makes a great deal of things bearable - perhaps everything". Meaning and purpose help us get through life. They help us to endure. The person who loses faith in the future is doomed. The person who fears the future is psychologically seized. Inside each one of us is our deeper Self or core Self which guides, unfolds, and regulates our growth and development. This is the part of us which knows what we are meant to become and the path we need to follow to get there. Aristotle called the end of this process entelechy - the full and perfect realization of what was previously in a potential state; how we unfold according to certain inner designs. Each of us is in a continual process of unfoldment and the transits and progressions on the birth chart (horoscope) show what our deeper Self has in mind for us at any point in our lives. We need to listen to what is going on inside us. Often, you experience external manifestations of the inner changes through people, circumstances, life experiences. Many seem to be beyond your control and are labeled as fate, destiny, karma, etc. However, these energies and circumstances are being orchestrated by your core Self. If you are not aware or are not listening to your growth pattern that the core Self has in mind for you - you will attract outer circumstances into your life which force you to change or adapt. You are operating unconsciously and are not in control of the circumstances. Sometimes an event may be felt as an illness. Often, after much reflection, you will finally come to the realization that you may be the instrument or sacrificial lamb for someone else's transformation . . . something you may have agreed to before incarnating into this life. It does not seem fair but in the macro scheme - it probably has its purpose. Think about what is going on in your life for a moment. Admittedly, it is not always clear as to what the inner Self is up to and why you are going through times of pain and crisis. But if you can hold on to the concept that the Self does not set up situations simply for the sadistic fun of it and that its purpose is to oversee and guide your development and full unfoldment even if this involves times of upheaval, trauma and turmoil - you will cope a great deal easier. Pain can be a messenger telling you that things are not as they should be. If over a period of time you have not been true to yourself - if you have persistently neglected fundamental needs - if you have stayed in an unfulfilling relationship - physical symptoms or other life-difficulties will manifest. You may want to ask: So who am I suppose to be when I grow up? |
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Let's look more closely at the role the transits of the outer planets - Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto play in the process. However, before we can discuss the transits of these planets, we must come to a clearer definition of the term "ego" and how it develops in childhood. The ego is our sense of "I", the feeling of a "me-in-here". We are not born with a very clear sense of "I". In the womb, we are in an ego-less state and have no awareness of the self as a separate, distinct entity. After birth, we gradually develop a sense of self or ego with our own body, mind, and feelings. Our ego-identity is like a boundary line; everything inside the boundary we define as ourselves - everything outside the boundary line is "not us". We may accept that part of us which is loving and kind, and deny that part of us which is cruel and destructive or - do the reverse.
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Saturn is the planet
associated with boundaries. Saturn helps us to define ourselves
and to steady, focus and harness our energy within specific forms and
structures. Saturn symbolizes the ego's urge to structure itself -
the ego's defense system - a dynamic in us which builds and tries to
stabilize and maintain the status quo of our narrowed-down
identity. When we create boundaries between ourselves and others
or between those facets of our nature we own and express and those we
deny - we create the possibility of conflict and stress. However,
it has been observed that stress and conflict play a critical role in
the process of transformation. You and I can be changed by the
invasion of unconscious contents of our psyche into our existing
conscious awareness. However, if the disruptions into the
consciousness increases beyond a certain limit, the contents will be
instrumental in generating a state of "creative chaos". What
previously worked is no longer effective. The individual is forced to
assimilate or accommodate too great a disruptive influence to survive in
its old format and a crisis occurs. Some new order must be
established. Grieving is part of a process which helps to clear
away the old so that room can be made for the new.
People having challenging transits of Uranus, Neptune or Pluto and who are faced with the disruption of their life as they knew it, need time to mourn what is passing away. Eventually, the crisis is accepted and a new awareness emerges. Tears turn into the salt of wisdom. There isn't any specified time assigned to this passage. Each one of us deals with pain and suffering on an individual level. Sadly, some of us never heal. |
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Uranus, discovered by
William Herschel in 1781, is the planet of eccentricity and
surprise. Uranus is considered "the rule breaker" having
little regard for the status quo. Along with its discovery came
the advent of the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of major new
breakthroughs in science, technology, and communication. On a
personal level, a Uranus transit is associated with change and
disruption, and a phase in our lives when something new - something
eccentric - needs to break through into conscious awareness. In
areas, for the sake of security and safety, we have become set in our
ways, Uranus signals (often jolts us) that we are ready to break out of
the routines and patterns which have become too limiting and
rigid. If we block or repress the changes called for by Uranus, we
may outwardly keep the lid on things - but inside - we boil with
resentment towards those we feel are holding us back - we seethe with
envy towards those who are free to progress while we remain stuck.
We are angry with ourselves. If we do not act upon the urges
for change, the energy which would have been used to make changes in our
lives now have no where to go. It turns back on itself, attacking the
body in the guise of illness. It may erupt in the form of a
nervous breakdown. Interestingly, if we do try to obey
Uranian impulses and change existing structures in our lives, we will be
resisted by those closest to us as they now feel threatened. This
is when relationships are broken. They can continue, but only if others
embrace the new you and accept your new aware and transformation.
Families, too, form systems or structures which organize and determine how its members interact. Unwritten rules and repeated behavior is allowed in the family - who can do or say what to whom. Try to break out of the mold and the role they wish you to play and watch what happens. How many of you have experienced the anger and disapproval of children and parents? To move forward, one must undergo much pain and resentment from those who would insist "they love you". It requires a great deal of tact and diplomacy with all concerned to be receptive to new concepts in existing relationships. We don't have to destroy totally existing structures in our lives, but we need to make room for some new elements to enter. Awareness will not catch us off guard or overwhelm us with its intensity. But to be unaware - the transiting aspect will gather greater power and the end result is that our desire for change explodes uncontrollably and expresses itself in an extreme way, or change is forced upon us via external events and circumstances. We all have the planet Uranus transiting in our charts which is reflective of the changing circumstances in our lives . . . each one of us will experience a different scenario as we are all individually unique as reflected in your chart. |
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The planet Neptune is a
boundary-dissolver and by transit, it blurs or dissolves the boundary
between ourselves and others. It could be a time when we
"lose" ourselves in another person, or have experiences of our
oneness with all life. Neptune undermines boundaries, whether
those between ourselves and others, or those between our ego and
unconscious. Grasping the concept of the essential unity of all
life is not easy. Under Neptune transits, the religious or
mystical urge could be triggered by a growing dissatisfaction or
unhappiness with our present life and accomplishments. Unfulfilled
by external accomplishments, our attention turns inward, and we search
for meaning and fulfillment in the inner world of spirit.
The dissolution of the ego does not automatically mean an ecstatic experience of our infinite and unbounded nature. It can feel like coming apart at the seams; we lose control over what is allowed into conscious awareness and what is kept out, and as a result, we are invaded by parts of ourselves we previously managed to keep at bay. We no longer know who we are or what we want in life. This confusion can and does lead to escapism, suicidal urges and the temptation to lose the self in drugs, alcohol, or in anything or anyone that comes along. We often find ourselves in situations we do not wish to be in but can do nothing about. We begin to realize there are forces at work which are greater and more powerful than we are. We discover that our ego isn't really running the show and that we now have to bow to a higher will. Neptune often asks that we sacrifice or let go of aspects of our life which have been important to us. Our desires are often denied and frustrated. Learning to let go is a Neptunian lesson even if we find our world is crumbling. The rug is taken out from beneath our feet. We stand on shaky ground and feel powerless and at the mercy of life. Loneliness, confusion, and depression become our constant companions. While all this is happening, it is difficult to imagine that anything positive could emerge from the experience. Yet when we finally do give up and let go - we create the possibility for something to come along to help us through our difficulties and into our next step or phase of life. We should resist the need to ask "why?" A solution to a problem can sometimes only be found by giving up trying to find the answer. Only when the ego exhausts its own resources and its normal way of dealing with problems, a situation is created which allows us to discover new ways of resolving or coming to terms with our difficulties - ways we never would have considered unless our usual tactics had failed. In some area of your life you will be forced to face the terrible loneliness of being forsaken. But if you survive the ordeal, you will discover that when everything and everyone you thought were your support isn't there anymore, you alone are your own strength and support. You have tapped into deeper inner resources and discovered that there are dimensions of your being that you never knew existed. We have many symbolic deaths and rebirths in one lifetime. Under difficult Neptune transits we may fall to pieces and lose those things and people that give us a sense of identity and yet our heart - our essence - remains. As long as our essence remains, we can be born again. Falling apart means dying as we know ourselves, but it also creates the possibility of putting ourselves back together again in a new way. |
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Transiting Pluto often brings us painfully into contact with death - either a literal death - our own or some else close to us - or it can correspond to a psychological death or "ego death". Some part of us dies. Most of us establish and bolster our identity through attaching ourselves to people that give us a sense of who we are. These are the people we marry, we work and associate with, the children we produce, the religion or philosophy to which we adhere to - all helping to shape and support identity. We derive our psychological identity not only through relationships or a job, a vocation or a talent, but also through a "life statement" that contributes to our sense of self. Examples: "I am able to achieve what I want", "The world is a safe place" or "The world is a dangerous place". These kinds of statements and beliefs about life and ourselves run deep. They are part of our personal mythology and may be unconscious and therefore unchallenged. Under a Pluto transit any of the "props" from which we derive our identity could collapse or irretrievably break down. With Pluto, there is no going back. We have all experienced the end of chapters in our lives. These experiences many times trigger and bring to the surface much darker emotions - rage, humiliation, abandonment, pain, etc. Many scenarios stem from childhood and have never been addressed and worked through. Transiting Pluto may well create pain, crisis or difficulty, but it does so in the name of growth and needed change. It will challenge an existing world view or philosophy, a memory, a hurtful relationship, a disappointment, etc. to help us re-identify ourselves in a broader and more inclusive way. |
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