Inside a Community of Outsiders

by Amanda Moreno

Being immersed in the “You Belong Here” theme for the past several months, I have a heart that is bursting with gratitude. My experiences with the authors I’ve gotten to work with and their incredible stories and hearts have been humbling and inspirational. There are so many of us in the world trying to engage our lives more consciously, and while that path might feel isolating at times, we are not alone in our efforts.

My own reflections on the past year have given me perspective about the incredible shifts we’ve experienced, not just in 2014 but throughout the Uranus-Pluto square, about to make its final exact contact in March. I’m filled with a sense of awe and hope — and quite a bit of exhaustion as well. I’m hoping we might soon begin to integrate and synthesize our collective journey into the underworld.

I’m not trying to be delusional, here. I am in no way saying that the final Uranus-Pluto square symbolizes an end to the need for change, for paradigm-busting (or bridging), for revolution, and for continued emphasis on increased awareness. I still feel that persistent sense of urgency, reminding me of how much still needs to be done to shift our culture to a more sustainable model. We are not out of the woods.

With that in mind, I’m becoming even more aware of just how much we have to do, now that the lightning bolts have hit and the underworld has turned itself inside-out. We have so much work to do to assimilate what we’ve learned, re-imagine our personal and collective roles, and then build the necessary bridges to bring these visions to reality.

As Saturn has shifted into Sagittarius, I’m discovering something magical and yet anxiety-provoking. It seems that so many of us have gone through such substantial rebirth we are left without narratives that help us to make sense of our lives. What a magical and harrowing thing, to be on the precipice of such great change. The process of rebirth provides strong medicine for the soul, yet there is hesitance in stepping out of the shadows.

The magic lies in that we get to really rebuild our collective and personal stories, reevaluate and restructure our beliefs. We’re returning from the underworld and the ground is ripe for planting. But my, oh my, how tempting it can be to cling to those old scripts, or let them take over when we face the feelings of emptiness that can follow transformation!

There is still wisdom in those old stories, however. The stories shared in these pages, for example. Stories of human beings dancing, laughing, fumbling, bumbling and trudging through life, making their own sense of things and using their experiences to guide them.

It’s an incredible journey we’re on, being alive at this moment in time. Communities of like-minded folks are important for many reasons, one of which is to allow space for despair and disillusionment, some members holding the vision when others just can’t see the light. I wonder sometimes about my own attachment to being an outsider, and what it would take to let go of that identity. Perhaps belonging to a community of outsiders? Time will tell. But I’m looking forward to figuring it out.

Amanda Moreno is an astrologer and general fan of practical woo and paradigm-busting. She can be found in the virtual world at aquarianspirals.com.