July 2010

Cosmic Musings – July 2010

If it seems unusually intense and turbulent these days,

 do not take it personally. Your personal response is important, valid, even required, and contributes to the collective echo-chamber effect we are all vibrating within. While the Earth reverberates in the middle of such major planetary tugs-of-war as are occurring now, intensity and turbulence are common factors. Heightening the drama and dynamics for this month, as if we could hardly stand it already – it’s eclipse season!

The end-of-June Lunar eclipse on the 26^th was like the crescendo of an overture of a cosmic opera. Lunar eclipses can operate like emotional roto-rooter, much akin to the way drastic and suspenseful themes in a musical score stir up emotions and foster moods. And this was just the overture. The Solar eclipse this July 11^th, paired with the Lunar eclipse from June 26^th, are dual keynotes amplifying the themes in the current celestial dance, which in timely terms, have been noticeable and apparent since the spring of 2008, the year when President Barack Obama won the election over Senator John McCain at the moment in November when Saturn and Uranus perfected into an exact opposition! [See the summer 2010 Cosmic Musings for details]  Now take your mind back in time two years, and consider what has been going on for you, and in general for our world, since then… (take your time)

These eclipses bring to light

- because of the involvement of the Sun and Moon -the full scope of the music of the spheres, combining and colliding in compelling harmonies and raucous noise. Cancer and Capricorn are the zodiacal signs implicated by the annular eclipse pattern this summer. Economies of relative scale, both personal (Cancer) and societal (Capricorn) are rattling and jangling amidst the wild fluctuations heard far and wide, globally and locally, decrying the turmoil caused by debt, corruption and corroding financial systems. (My musician friend, Neal, says he saw some financial experts on Oprah telling the audience that 70% of U.S. citizens are in financial trouble.) Capricorn is tradition-oriented and can be status-minded. Another planetary player, Pluto, now in Capricorn, brings in a foreboding, heavy theme, resonant of rumblings subterranean and irresistible, like a magma flow, or tectonic shifts. Apply these sub-woofer-generated waves of power-bass, magnified in eclipse season, to teetering and decaying social structures and watch the tides turn once shiny and vibrant institutions dark and dismal, the same way the beaches of the Gulf coast are now smudged and repellant. Whole economies are being wiped out in slow-motion, as the fuel-source and lubricant of our civilization spreads from the depths, like Hades come to the surface, uncontained and destructive, unleashed from his Underworld in his raw, unrefined, vengeful aspect. Think Kali, Pele, Shiva Navaratri, Hecate, the Erinyes – furious and vengeful. At the time of this writing (early June, 2010), several un-successful attempts have been made by British Petroleum to cap or siphon off the oil gushing into the ocean. Along with the earthquakes, let’s not forget the volcano (very Plutonian) in Iceland, and the havoc wreaked-and-ongoing due to its eruption.

I look now to cards from The Goddess Oracle and see two poignant images. Sedna is an Inuit Ocean goddess whose newly-identified planetary counter-part has been named and included into the pantheon of deities orbiting our Sun. How synchronistic! Her keyword on the card is “victim”, and the image shows whale, narwhal, orca, dolphin, manatee, walrus and others rising into the aurora borealis, seen from under the water. Not only are fish providers, tourist hosts, and various Gulf Coast businesses facing disaster; the creatures of air, land and sea are facing suffering and destruction, also.

 Saving Grace

This brings into focus another card from The Goddess Oracle, Coatlicue. She is snaky, adorned, lunar and sad – her keyword is “grief”. This brings to mind a temporarily bonded pair of planets harmonizing as a divine duet into the veritable cacophony assaulting our metaphorical, astral ears. Subtly, Neptune and Chiron sing of redemptive emotional release and healing. Their chorus calls for surrender, which has its challenges. Spiritually, discipline and submission to a higher power make sense. So pray on! Personally and collectively, habits are hard to break; addictions are crises of the soul. The cosmic assistance comes as we face our fears and our attachments and undergo the agony of releasing our reliance and dependence upon that which was once good and energizing, and is now unhealthy and depleting. Float; let yourself be taken away, absorbed, overwhelmed and cleansed. Find a way to coast, enjoy the feeling of falling, sink willingly, dissolve, accept, give in and give up – but to something worthy and wholesome, like the Source of Infinite Goodness. Giving in can be ecstatic or scary or both. Having a heart-full intention to be healed, made whole, enriched, purified and uplifted, ultimately, to a higher, better place is crucial. Mediation or contemplation, sacred silence or enraptured engagement, sitting or singing, go to the altar of Neptune and worship in ways that please this planet and attract its blessings. Pay attention to your dreams; listen, really listen to music; enjoy a walk in nature; visit a beach; help someone who needs it. Neptune/Chiron will take you higher if you address your addictions and feel. Neptune rules refined substances such as sugar, flour and oil. If it was once o.k. in moderation and now controls you as you consume it, numbs you to your experience and helps keep you out-of-touch with long-standing issues, now is a very appropriate time to walk the path towards resolution and recovery. Chiron seeks to make us whole again, so reclaiming the lost, neglected, denied and broken parts of self and society will serve to move us forward through the turmoil and into a new, sustainable and healthier existence – together. We are “all in the same boat”, a phrase we might want to take extra-specially seriously in the weeks ahead. Be more loving, more compassionate and more kind and gentle. It might not be easy; at least you will feel content with your efforts, and what looks back at you in the mirror.

No foolin’ – the sounds coming through the cosmic air-waves this summer can be irritating, harsh, frightening, anxiety-provoking and nerve-wracking. However, if you “listen” carefully, you will detect the sweet notes of higher vibrations. You might have to turn down the (addictive) TV set and avoid the (compelling) computer blogs in order to detect the angelic chords. Too much Facebook for instance, according to my friend Jill, can take time and energy from the inward attentiveness that our heart and body need in order to be heard these days. Our own hearts and bodies are like tuning forks and divining rods. Love them, heal them and you will find it easier to cope and choose wisely.

Too much said! Until next time—more to come in August. Please give me feedback and thanks for reading.