transformation Archives - Astrology readings and writings by Lynn Hayes

Tell me something good.

It’s human nature to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Nobody wants to feel bad, or go through difficult situations. I have been an astrologer for more than half of my life now, so it’s hard for me to remember what it was like before I knew about planetary cycles that were likely to bring challenges that required adjustment and change, but I imagine that it is pretty confusing. Life is going great, and then all of a sudden here comes a curve ball and suddenly I’m feeling depressed for apparently no reason.

Some of you have heard me say that I have the hardest chart I’ve ever seen, and I like to think that’s so that I can bring some understanding to the table when consulting with clients. When I talk about healing the core wound, or dealing with depression, it’s not just a concept – I’ve been there. I know what it’s like to consider suicide. I know what it’s like to feel that life will never get any better. But I also know what it’s like to have moved through these horribly difficult times and come out the other side with great joy and happiness.

Sometimes in a consultation the client will say “I’ve just had a terrible time but now I want to move on. Tell me something good.” And it would be easy to help her to forget about where she has just been and talk only about the Jupiter transits that are coming, or the fact that her Moon has just progressed into Sagittarius which will make it easier for her to avoid the pain that she’s feeling. But my experience tells me that before we can REALLY move on, we have to understand […]

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By Lynn Hayes|2019-11-10T19:09:05-05:00August 28th, 2019|Astrology|3 Comments

Sunday inspiration: Moving through blame to liberation

Art by Melanie Weidner

It is a commonly held belief among explorers of the New Consciousness that as souls, we work with our guides to choose the life that we will next be born into. For many people that’s a horrifying thought! Why would I choose the kind of torment I experienced as a kid?

But the birthchart often reflects with eerie accuracy the psychological setting of the family of origin. Pluto conjunct the Moon – your mother seemed terrifying to you? Saturn square the Sun – you never felt you were good enough for your father? Yet you were born with this astrological chart; the birthchart predates the events that cause us emotional pain. This makes it hard to continue blaming our parents since it appears that we come into this world already prewired for certain experiences. Later in life we learn to make conscious choices that lift us out of a state where we simply react to external stimuli that keep us stuck in the psychodrama of our lives.

I am always impressed by the tenacity and strength of my clients, many of whom have come through difficult childhoods with tremendous coping skills and an eagerness to transcend their limitations. The nugget of transformation lies within every painful situation, and is a great gift.

I’m not so sure it’s necessary to forgive the ones that hurt us, but I DO believe it’s imperative that we end the cycle of blame. As long as we blame anyone, whether it’s ourselves or someone else, we keep ourselves locked in a box of victimhood from which we can’t escape. When we make a choice to turn away from blame and self-pity, we naturally open to the gift of power and transformation that […]

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By Lynn Hayes|2019-08-27T10:41:09-04:00July 14th, 2019|Inspiration, Life|Comments Off

The astrological Hero’s Journey

A friend posted this article on Facebook, and since I use the archetype of the Hero’s Journey in my client consultations I found it quite interesting.

The great spiritual teachers, culture bringers, warriors, and saints: these are examples of Heroes who obey a Call to Adventure to descend into the depths of the time and of themselves, fight the dragon (whatever its form), obtain the great treasure it guards, and bring it back to the dayworld. This heroic Monomyth fleshes out the archetype of Initiation:

Separation > Initiation > Return

It is a dangerous path. Heroes can die or go mad walking it. They do it under compulsion, for they bring new ways of seeing and being that nourish their cultures of origin and, through story, humanity as a whole. . . .

As I’ve studied myth I’ve pondered what model might surface from tales that deal with how non-Heroes journey, struggle, and with a bit of luck find fulfillment.

I call this The Journey of Reenchantment.

read more here…

The author then goes on to outline the stages of this journey:: Childhood Magic, Disenchantment, Alienation from the Magical, Rupture and Underworld Descent, Seeking, Re-emergence, More seeking, Finding the Magic Door, Living in Both Worlds, Opening the Door for Others.

From an astrological perspective, the Hero’s Journey as defined by Joseph Campbell, the famous historian/philosopher of myth, is probably best suited for individuals with difficult charts – those who have had tremendous challenges in their lives which have forced them to seek understanding and healing. The Journey of Re-enchantment as described above, which this author describes as being for non-Heroes, is perhaps more applicable for those who have not felt that their lives were full of […]

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By Lynn Hayes|2019-08-27T10:37:24-04:00June 20th, 2019|Consciousness, Favorite posts|4 Comments

Transits and Transformation: Turning Crisis into Healing

Art by Susan Seddon Boulet

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 our birthchart planets, or “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 are felt for a longer period of time.

The planets in our birthchart also “progress” through time, particularly the […]

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By Lynn Hayes|2019-11-10T20:01:05-05:00August 16th, 2013|Consciousness, Favorite posts, Lessons|5 Comments

Catastrophe and transformation

catastrophe Tower Tarot I was browsing around for something when I came across a definition of the word “catastrophe”:

catastrophe (plural catastrophes)
1. Any large and disastrous event of great significance.
2. (insurance) A disaster beyond expectations
3. (narratology) The dramatic event that initiates the resolution of the plot in a tragedy.
4. (mathematics) A type of bifurcation, where a system shifts between two stable states.

As an astrologer, I am always curious about catastrophes in a person’s life, because there is nearly always something of great significance astrologically that provides clues to the nature of this apparent disaster. I believe that when we are ignoring our lives or unable to face certain truths, the Universe will present us with a catastrophe to get our attention and create the change and transformation that is required.

In order to get there, though, we have to completely suspend our usual ideas of what is good and bad, life and death. A horrible childhood event can serve as the tool to foster a lifetime of introspection and self-discovery. A terrible accident can create a lifetime of pain, but also shock us into realizing that a change in our life is needed. A natural disaster can wipe away a family, but allow us to put our grief to work in helping others. A terminal illness will end a life, but can bring great richness and transformation to an entire family as well as the patient.

All of these events could be considered catastrophes in definition #1 described above: “a large and disastrous event of great significance.” And certainly a disaster beyond expectations (#2), because most of us don’t expect to encounter these disasters – they sneak up on us and shock us into an altered state.

#3 is […]

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By Lynn Hayes|2019-11-10T19:04:59-05:00April 26th, 2013|Fate, Favorite posts, Inspiration|8 Comments