Navigating the dissonance of the light and the dark

By Amanda Moreno

My life has been a whirlwind lately, complete with Neptunian euphoria followed by Virgo crash-landings of exhausted obsession with detail, as I attempt to create a life for myself that is both meaningful and sustainable. These attempts seem to be working — but all of this exists in tension with this other “reality” of the world.

Photo by Eric Francis.
Photo by Eric Francis.

On the one hand, I’m blessed to be spending more time on client work, astrology and writing. A new man has entered my life with whom I can fall into bubbles of bliss at the slightest contact. In a sudden twist of fate, I’ll soon be living with a dear teacher for a month to help out while she writes a book. Magic is combining with hard work to create something my heart is singing to receive.

Yet every morning I head to a coffee shop near my office and browse The New York Times while I wait. Today — more bodies on the cover. Wrapped in shrouds this time.

The work I did during graduate school was based in depth psychology and explored the use of astrological ritual to assist us personally and collectively through apocalyptic rites of passage. Apocalyptic images, such as the mushroom cloud, were a primary component of my work as was the understanding that images take the form of visual, auditory and kinesthetic imprints that are directly linked to emotion.

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