I believe that in times of crisis we often must go through the first four stages of grief as outlined by Elizabeth Kubler Ross before we can come to a place where we are able to consider a way forward. In the age of Coronavirus these have been my five steps.
- Denial. The virus is only in China, it’s no worse than the flu, I’m not going to let fear stop me from living my life.
- Anger. You can’t stop me from doing what I want to do! I have freedoms. This is _______’s fault. (Many people appear to be stuck here currently.)
- Bargaining. OK, I’ll wear a face mask and wash my hands, and then I get to go for a run.
- Depression and hopelessness. This is never going to end. I’ll be stuck in my house until the end of time.
- Acceptance and finding meaning. After all, Jupiter (the search for meaning) is conjunct Pluto (destruction and transformation) throughout the year, and our ideas of what gives life meaning are going to keep shifting.
Once we get to the point where we are ready to let go of Denial, Anger, Bargaining and Depression we are ready to find a way to look for meaning in the tragic event, whatever it is. Many things in life are beyond our control and trying to fight or resist the reality offers no solution to help us move forward towards something approaching a sense of peace or even happiness in a difficult situation.
The sense of acceptance is a critical piece to allowing us to find meaning in crisis or tragedy. The helplessness at stage four can lead to a sense of hopelessness, or it can lead to the peace of surrender. We are dealing with Pluto after all – the power of Pluto is creative destruction that can’t be manipulated. We can’t fight it, we can’t change it, we can’t control it.
Pema Chodron has shared three practices in her book Three Methods for Dealing with Chaos which I see as being paths for the mind, the heart, and the soul, The first is to cease the struggle over things we can’t control (the mind). This is the step of acceptance in which we let go of the story and begin to see things as they are, and not as we want them to be. Step two is to “use poison as medicine” – to awaken our feelings of compassion for others who are also suffering (the heart). Step three is to view every situation as “enlightened wisdom.” The world is sacred, and every experience contains an awakening and a path to understanding (the soul). Darkness and light coexist in the earth school, and the journey from darkness to the light is the path each of us must follow in this earthly existence. ❤️
Sure there is the way forward , but there is a basic profound sadness. Which will never go away, once the heart has been stabbed so deeply. And to say that in time, we will all just “forget this” is horrifying.
Marta, I don’t believe I said anything of the kind.
I am extremely sorry for your reaction. That remark was something I heard our illustrious leader tweeted. I meant no offense to you.
I didn’t realize, it seemed a response to the article. I think we are all a little reactive right now. Thanks for clarifying!
Lynn, I shared this on my FB page because even though many of my friends are not astrology followers, I felt your observation regarding the pandemic in light of the 5 Stages of Grief was very insightful. I am experiencing some crippling back pain and am working through various healing attempts, including the usual medical interventions. Today however I realized I carry this bag of vitriol around with me, directed at those who are mishandling and/or mocking the situation. I did a forgiveness meditation to let go of that anger. When I read this immediately afterwards, it really helped me put their reactions into perspective. This is a long comment but wanted you to know how valuable I found your article.
I always love my Sundays with Lynn Hayes!
Mostly stuck in anger and depression here, with heaping big dollops of fear (fear is always part of the grieving process too, at least for me).
Thank you for speaking to the wiser, more loving part of me, of all of us Sacred Earth. Sacred Soul’s Journey. Earth School. Accept what can’t be changed. Use poison as medicine.
Thank you, my teacher!
[…] appears that as a human society we have emerged into the fifth stage of Coronavirus: Acceptance. Denial is virtually impossible now, we no longer have the energy for anger, attempts […]