personal growth

From the archives: The Ebb and Flow of the Cycles of Time

astrological transitsby Lynn Hayes, reposted from 2006.  Mandala by Paul Heussenstam.

As humans, we tend to think that happiness is better than sadness, that good luck is better than bad. We may avoid difficult confrontations and pursue more comfortable situations. When tragedy strikes our well-protected lives, we shout out to our god of choice: “How could you do this to me??” We believe that our birthright is the pursuit of happiness, and we spend our lives trying to protect ourselves from sorrow.

The soul, however, has a different journey. The soul travels an ancient evolutionary path that seeks wisdom and connection with the divine. Often in our desire to defend ourselves from discomfort, we erect barriers within ourselves. Often we become so effective in compartmentalizing our emotions we become cut off from our very selves, our soul and our spirit.

In astrological terms, the orbiting planets form geometric angles to each other as they travel through the solar system, and also to our birthchart planets. We call these movements “transits.” Each transiting planet has its own nature, its own personality and its own purpose—calling upon us as the ancient gods they represent to bring forth something in ourselves that has been lost. The inner planets move quickly: a transit of Venus will encourage relationships and creativity, a transit of Mars demands that we defend ourselves appropriately. Easy Jupiter transits can bring financial opportunity, or liberate us from difficult situations, whereas the challenging transits can cause reckless and risky behavior. The outer, or transpersonal planets, including Saturn which acts as the bridge between the personal planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter) and transpersonal (Uranus, Neptune and Pluto), take much longer to traverse the zodiac and therefore their effects […]

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By |2019-11-10T20:01:05-05:00April 23rd, 2012|Astrology|4 Comments

Preparing for the upcoming Solar Eclipse on July 1

lunar eclipse July 1 2011I generally reserve my posts on the faster moving cycles for my Facebook and Twitter pages, but we have a few things going on right now that are worth mentioning here.

First, the Sun is moving into a potentially challenging alignment with Uranus and Pluto that will last until the solar eclipse on July 1st.  I see this eclipse event as the trigger for the big Uranus/Pluto square which is as close in July (less than two degrees) as it will be until the two clash for real next year.

As individuals, we have a number of different influences that make up our personality.  These are clearly identified in our birthchart which makes it easier to understand how these different facets of our personality interact and work together or clash.  As the Sun moves closer to the exact square to Uranus on June 26th and to Pluto on June 28th these different facets within us could become more difficult to integrate.  Remember that planetary cycles don’t create problems for us unless there is something that requires adjustment in order to find balance.

The Sun is a powerful force that illuminates our lives with nourishing warmth, but that powerful force, when strongly aspected with the planet of revolution (Uranus) and the planet of endings and new beginnings (Pluto) will likely reveal to us areas of our life where these different facets of ourselves require integration.

It’s human nature to avoid pain and seek pleasure, so when we are in a difficult time it’s tempting to hide out and wait until it’s over.  But if we utilize these intense cycles we can make tremendous progress in our personal growth.

Transiting Mars is in Gemini right now […]

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By |2011-06-24T06:14:49-04:00June 24th, 2011|Moon|12 Comments

Practice makes permanent

I heard this quote over the weekend at a hammered dulcimer workshop: “Practice doesn’t necessarily make perfect, but it does make permanent.”  Evidently Warren Buffett obtained this piece of wisdom from a golf pro, the point of which is that if you do the same thing over and over again, you will obtain the same results.

As an astrological counselor and guide I often have clients who want to know when their lives will get better.  Usually I can point to a particular planetary cycle that is activating a challenging place in their birthchart, and I can tell them that on such and such a date that cycle will ease up and they will start to feel better.  But sometimes, especially after a long slog of Saturn or Pluto cycles, habits of negativity and fear start to build up and it takes more than the movement of those planets off the natal chart to provide release.  It takes a complete change of perspective, and a new course of action.

If a musician practices a tune over and over, but practices it incorrectly, the mistakes will become habit and a part of his repertoire.  Tony Robbins used to say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  Whether you play the piano, or golf, or tennis, or practice yoga, bad habits can lead to injury and a failure to accomplish the goal of the practice session.

If we want to change our lives, we have to shift our course and do things differently. Holding a vision is crucial to making this change, but the actions that we take must reflect that vision if change is to occur.

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By |2010-09-16T14:59:27-04:00September 16th, 2010|Life|3 Comments