MID-WINTER MANIFESTO: “Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do”
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“Choose the mountain you want to climb: don’t pay attention to what other people say, such as ‘that one’s more beautiful’ or ‘this one’s easier.’ You’ll be spending lots of energy and enthusiasm to reach your objective, so you’re the only one responsible and you should be sure of what you’re doing.” PAUL COELHO
Dear Friend,
We’re in for some interesting karmic tests in the relationship arena between now and Spring, culminating in some final exams by the Fall. That’s because the Moon’s North Node of destiny, which represents our highest Dharmic path, is in relationship-oriented Libra—ever-reminding us to do unto others as we would wish to be done to ourselves. And the South Node of past karma, which represents old habitual aspects of identity, is in me-first Aries—ever-reminding us that healthy selfishness is the key to, not just survive, but thrive.
The nature of the relationship tests which are ongoing during this Nodal Aries/Libra eighteen-month period, culminating in October, is in finding the balance between enlightened self-interest and being of service to others.
Trickster of Awakening Uranus in individualistic Aries started activating the South Node in January, so all of us are already dealing with habitual karmic patterns in which we may be choosing to conserve our energies for self first. With this, the question bound to arise is, “Am I just taking a pause of healthy selfishness to refresh the Being—or have I sunk into a pattern of self-indulgence and indolence that is stunting my soul’s growth?”
This question will need to be asked repeatedly as it will be triggered more and more strongly when all the personal planets move into Aries: This month, Venus and Mars—ruling our Yin and Yang energies—both move into Aries by the 20th. And next month, the Sun and Mercury—ruling our ego and intellect—follow suit. All this Aries energy may potentially bring out the primal infant in us all.
So, we are undergoing a continuous testing as to how well we can consciously utilize our discriminating minds to determine where the balance lies between right use of our energies and potential misuse in the relationship area. And, because the Moon’s Nodes move through the Libra/Aries axis in cycles of eighteen months only every nineteen years or so, we might as well get on with it!
This Winter and into the Spring, healthy boundaries will be the major focus, as Uranus, Mars, Venus, Mercury and the Sun will be triggering old karmic identities—especially of emotional immaturity. And with Jupiter in grandiose Leo feeding our sense of entitlement along with all this Aries energy, be on the look-out for the theme of: “His majesty, the baby” in self and others.
Here are some foundation-level guidelines for making the most out of this year’s karmic relationship lessons:
1. Healthy selfishness is a good thing—like putting the oxygen mask on first before those in our care—as long as our intent is to nurture ourselves and others and do no harm.
2. Indifference, or not caring about ourselves or others—especially those that we have karmic bonds with who are suffering—is a subtle form of harm as it constricts the heart center.
3. Be of service to others only to the degree that we enjoy the giving—in other words, to the degree of our heart’s capacity and opening. As compassion without passion—i.e. just acting “as if”—is “off” in terms of emotional tone and, ultimately—you guessed it—harmful to self and others.
So, after contemplating the above, you can see how tricky balancing healthy boundaries through the Aries/Libra Axis can be—and that’s just the beginning level.
Here’s a very common scenario of the type of challenge many of us are going through now. It starts with having limiting karmic beliefs that power is inherently “bad” and subject to more frequently being misused than rightly used. Sometimes, this comes from being a witness, victim and/or perpetrator of abuse of power—or from getting “whacked” in past lives when in a position of power, and then locking in the personal law: “Never again” and safety-sealing our power—seemingly for our own protection.
From this it’s a natural progression to shying away from stepping into our power—which puts us at the mercy of people, places, things and circumstances. But, sooner or later, once we bottom-out on feeling powerless, we can choose to embrace a more expansive definition of power as pure creative energy—of which there is an infinite supply.
The next level of karmic healing occurs after we’ve gathered our forces and focused on stepping into power in one area—for example, creativity. However, even though we have to start somewhere, a single focus can create imbalances in other areas. Especially if we still have limiting beliefs about power that are operating beneath the surface of our conscious minds. Then we can create situations of powerlessness as a form of displacement in other parts of our life—such as with our health and/or in our relationships.
This is a recurrent theme I’ve been hearing from clients, especially as The Libra Dharmic path can overcompensate and become imbalanced by giving away too much of self to others—to people-please and keep the peace—but then frustrated energies of depletion and powerlessness somatize through body symptoms. This is all to get the being’s attention that a course correction is indicated: To reprioritize placing self-care first—and care of others second.
It is not until we have made a commitment to right use of power on all levels—especially heart development 101: self-love—that we can begin to operate in a more balanced way throughout the fullest range of our development. Then, as we learn how to use our power on every level of chakra function—from the lower: survival/grounding, sense pleasure/ creativity, personal power—to the higher: heart, communication, psychic and spiritual power—healthy boundaries become a natural expression of Being.
With Libra-ruled Venus and Aries-ruled Mars moving into Aries together this month, we have the opportunity for a new internal balancing of our feminine and masculine energies. So that, through our yin side, we can allow Source, the Divine or the Tao to move through us vertically until we’re filled to overflowing with life-force energies—affecting all those in our life with heart chi without depleting ourselves.
And, simultaneously, using our yang discriminating mind, we always have our “YES” and our “NO” horizontally as to what feels intuitively right to act on in the Flow—i.e. which people we allow into our lives and hearts—based on vibrational alignment with the vision we’re manifesting for the highest good of all concerned . . . especially ourselves.
The only warning label on the rebalancing of our inner female/male energies comes around February 22nd, when Venus and Mars conjunct in combustible Aries. This means that, in matters of the heart (or lower), we may witness—in ourselves and others—impulse control flying out the window. So, have fun, but remember—safety first—because this energy is sizzling!
For those of you who are ready for a preview of the intermediate level of healthy boundaries in which the heart is wide-open with trans-personal or universal energy which is cooler in tone than on the personal heart level (and, of course, all levels can be worked on simultaneously):
I. What you choose to do with your life is your karmic business . . . and what I do with my life is mine.
II. What you choose to believe in creates your dream (aka personal reality) . . . just as my beliefs create mine.
III. I don’t have to allow anyone else’s dream of suffering (of which there are infinite levels) affect my dream of joy in Being—right here and right now.
IV. I only allow others into my dream if I enjoy the way we play together and the sides of my nature they bring out in me. YAY!
As we unwind our samskaras, i.e. karmic grooves, one layer at a time, from lifetime to lifetime, we get to dissolve three levels of karmic bondage, which most of us have going on concurrently to some degree:
1. Iron chains: which allow us to experience the balancing karma from past misuse of our energies towards others.
2. Silver chains: which allow us to experience the balancing karma from past misuse of our energies towards ourselves.
3. And finally, golden chains, which allow us to experience reaping the fruits of good deeds we have done, but with attachment—no matter how subtle. This also keeps us on the wheel, because we still have to come back into incarnations to receive the benefits of our good karma.
The ultimate contemplation in action—i.e. the final stage in our karmic journey— is in practicing being a channel for good—towards ourselves and all others—with no attachment, as if we’re walking on sand and leaving no footprints. No small feat.
But once we can get to the point of honoring All Beings including ourselves as aspects of the Absolute, the Divine, or the Flow—then all the good that we do is always and only just for Ourselves. And that makes it all very cozy.
In closing, wouldn’t it be liberating if we could use this year’s karmic lessons to embrace the truth that whatever we choose to do is nobody’s business but our own? As, ultimately, the only higher authority we have to answer to is our higher self, or Soul, which is always in perfect alignment with the Universal laws of cause and effect, i.e. karma.
Wishing us all happy trails with healthy boundaries along the way,
J O A N
“Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.” Khalil Gibran
If you’d like to learn how to more skillfully utilize your discriminating mind to maintain healthy boundaries during this challenging period, please check out:
Thinking about having a psychic and/or astrological reading? Now is the perfect time to clarify your 2015 personal coming attractions. For detailed info:
I’m looking forward to connecting with you, and if you’d like some help in deciding what type of session best suits your needs, please call for a free consult:
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With karmic teacher Saturn newly launched into consciousness-expanding Sagittarius, there’s no better time than now to reboot our perceptual operating system from the ego-level to the witness-level of the Soul. For more:
“Becoming One with the Inner Guru, or How to Make Saturn Your BFF”
To help catalyze an opening to a higher perspective, I’ve written a number of articles on themes such as: pleasure, joy and bliss, body karma, spiritual teachers, meditation, aliens and astrological themes.
MOST PERTINENT ARTICLES TO READ NOW:
INFINITE ABUNDANCE: Owning Our Inner Jupiter
“If This Were Your Last Incarnation . . . What Would You Do?”
FOR MORE: WRITINGS
Feel the need for some help in dealing with “the quickening” of energies now? Then it’s time for a daily mind/body/spirit practice that feeds your Soul! If you’d like to learn what keeps me sane, serene, internally stable and grounded, please check out:
Taoist Practices MP3s for $20.12
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Just posted:
A YOUTUBE video of me performing past-life regression therapy on the A&E channel documentary series “The UneXplained:”
If you’d like to read more about my karmic pleasure rut:
The Amorous Adventures of a Modern Mystic
For more of Joan’s art:
GALLERY OF MULTI-DIMENSIONAL DELIGHTS
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE RIPPLE EFFECT
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