Turning the Tide

Dear Friend and Reader:

When the Sun makes its way into the sign Cancer later in the month, it's going to be in harmony with Chiron and Neptune in Pisces. That's a water-to-water aspect -- a trine. The way we would say this in astro-talk is, "Sun trine Neptune and Chiron." Trines open up a flow, and where Neptune and the water signs are involved, that means the flow of emotions. Where Chiron is involved, that means emotional healing. And with Chiron, healing always begins with raising awareness.

Our society, and many of us as individuals, invest quite a lot of energy into figuring out how not to feel. It's true that a lot comes at us every day, and if you open your eyes to the world, one of the first things you might notice is a world in pain. Is it really possible to feel, in that environment? Well, I would ask another question -- is it really possible to suppress feeling, as you bear witness to the struggle of life in our benighted world?

Ideally, witnessing the struggle would inspire compassion, and that in turn would lead to taking care of oneself and of others. You could say this is the ultimate challenge we face as seemingly 'separate' humans.

The realm of Pisces, which can be visionary, is usually the place through which the shut-down energy is processed. That would be our obsession with entertainment, image, glamor and substances that are designed specifically to shut us down. I am speaking mainly of alcohol and antidepressants. Now, I'm not a teetotaler, and I recognize there are times when psychiatric meds can be vitally important. However, we do have a rather exaggerated situation on our hands and it is causing problems for many people, and I suspect for society as well.

Consider the Lake Superior-sized vat of liquor that is consumed on the planet every single day, around the clock, and just ask yourself why. Imagine the millions of people getting on the road drunk. There is something underneath all of that. It might be the need to loosen up; it might be the need to drown out the pain of life; in any event, many feelings are concealed.

Or, consider how antidepressants don't actually work to resolve any of our problems, and most people taking them know they would do a lot better in therapy. Of course, in our time of history, therapy is considered confrontational. It takes time. It's supposedly expensive. But mostly, I think it's daunting to consider all that we have not considered. We have this idea that it's just fine to 'leave the past behind', which works unless it keeps catching up.

Yet sooner or later, a healing process is inevitable. Emotional healing almost always proceeds in layers. At first, what we find as we proceed through them might not feel good, and that's a pretty big deterrent to many people; the goal of life, we are told many places, is to feel good. That, for sure, is the longterm goal of emotional healing. Getting started, I think we might need to add other inspirations, such as more honest communication with people around us, access to our creativity, and getting in touch with the will and energy necessary to improve our lives. Yes, that's about feeling better, but it's not quite swinging on a hammock in the Bahamas.

I have said before that one of the deepest needs the world faces is for the acknowledgment of emotional healing. Most of the pain in the world, whether it's in politics, business, relationships or our inner relationship, comes from unresolved emotional issues. The first and most useful step is admitting the need for healing. It's easy to see it in a politician expressing his regrets over Twittering a girlfriend. It's more difficult to see it when we are caught in our own suspicion, jealousy or desire for revenge.

Where Chiron (or any of the related centaur planets) is involved, there is a pointer to ancestral material. This means that many of the themes that would come up in a healing process are multigenerational. With the Sun in the sign Cancer, we will have a clue to look on the maternal side of our lineage: that is, on mother's side of the family. It may seem inconceivable that we are carrying the emotional weight of our great-grandmother, but once you start exploring your personal material -- as any practitioner can tell you -- it starts to seem really obvious.

With the Sun about to trine Neptune and Chiron, the flow is open to healing, to honesty and to imagination. A trine represents a fragile situation, or a potential that we must consciously put to use with daily practice. But it's there if we want it. And if enough of us do, gradually we will begin to turn the tide.

Lovingly,

PS: Later today we will be sending out an announcement about the first three astrology/tarot birthday reports -- Aries, Taurus and Gemini. These are done; we are just tidying up a few technical details. Please watch your inbox for the announcement in a little while. Season Pass holders (Blue and Gold) will be emailed the login information shortly.