Wake up and smell the fear

Dear Friend and Reader:

The one thing we can say about the swine flu situation is that it is spreading fear like a nice healthy bush fire. It’s certainly one of those things that is a potentially ‘legitimate’ source of this emotion — except for one thing: energetically, influenza is all about fear. I would reach so far as to say that if you’re afraid of this thing, you’ve caught the flu.

The fear level we are seeing, however, is merely an eruption of what has been around for a long time. After decades of denial and being kept under the bed, it is now spilling out into the room. Our lives these years have, in one sense, been a long litany of what to be scared of, from wiretapping to the threat of terrorism to the continuing threat of nuclear war.

Yesterday I covered the horoscope for the news conference where the public health emergency in the United States was announced. This was a watershed moment, as the United States remains in a position of global leadership and other countries look to see what we are doing and use our conduct as a guide to making their own decisions. With a legitimate president in the Oval Office, we can now count on this phenomenon once again. That the U.S. stepped into line with the World Health Organization is a strong statement.

Late last night, my good friend and astrology mentor David Arner reached me in Madison to go over the chart. He agreed with my interpretation but added two points. He suggested that the disinformation/confusion factor was a good bit higher than I was suggesting; and that Obama was telling the truth as far as he knew it, but he didn’t know the truth.

The Moon in its rather tenuous position — void of course, after just having made squares to Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune — suggests strongly that the public is in the same straits.

I suggest that you turn down the volume on input sources saying how bad this is going to be, and those that pump the uncertainty factor. If you are looking for vectors of this pathogen, the most prominent is television, which has nothing new to add to the discussion and is simply spreading negativity. As I have said, the disease itself is fear, but physical influenza is more likely to manifest in a state of fear than it is in any other condition. Therefore, if you want to address this for yourself, it would be wise to turn off the television and process your feelings.

Processing means more than ruminating. It means giving your fear a voice and taking appropriate action when you can: such as doing something you’re afraid of that you want to do. Fear often enough responds well to being challenged. If you can do the thing you’re scared of, the fear can vanish like it was never there. Then you can figure out that fear is a kind of invitation or magnet to grow and become, rather than some invisible force hemming us into the past.

The most reassuring aspect in the chart is that we are fully in the Jupiter-Chiron-Neptune dynamic of the truth becoming transparent, obvious and identifiable. There is an important factor to the truth: it’s not something that you need to be told. It’s something that you know based on an inner orientation. How one would sort this out from fear (which we also seem to ‘know’) is the essence of spiritual growth.

I think the most troubling aspect of the chart is that the Moon is waxing. The situation seems to be getting bigger and gaining momentum, and we may well have our first test of our new life in the post-Bush years right at hand.

We also need to bear in mind that we are in the dynamic of Saturn-Uranus-Pluto even though the Saturn-Pluto square has not actually happened yet. That is in mid-November, it repeats in January of ’10, and then in August of ’10, being a three-pass square similar to the Saturn-Pluto opposition of 2001-2002. Part of what we are feeling is the ongoing opposition of Saturn and Uranus. As I’ve suggested before, this is just part of the picture. It represents the polarized progressive versus regressive movements that we have come to witness and participate in over the past decade.

Then there is Saturn-Pluto, which is coming in now and which will take us well into 2011. Finally there is the Uranus-Pluto square, which officially starts in 2012 but which is also in full effect now.

So what I am here to tell you, friends, Romans and readers, is that whatever you think 2012 might be, look around you and take note that we have disembarked from our long boat ride across the 20th century and nearly a decade of the 21st century and are now standing on its shores with our feet wet.

2012 is not about ‘what happens’. On the spiritual level, for us as individuals and as a society, 2012 is about how creative we are about approaching whatever situations come our way. Can we even vaguely think in terms of community? Can we think beyond our own individual needs, and those of the person with whom we might be in a dyadic partnership? That’s the challenge. Jupiter-Chiron-Neptune in this regard is a powerful resource, and to dial it in, ask precisely what it means for you, and what it would be at its best. Thankfully this aspect will be our companion through the year, and as Jupiter heads off into Pisces for 2010, Chiron and Neptune will remain in a conjunction, fully available to awareness.

What we do with this extraordinary healing and manifesting power is up to us, and I do mean us.

Eric Francis

9 thoughts on “Wake up and smell the fear”

  1. Eric, good nuke. I thought, or maybe hoped, I had drempt it. Can’t go defensive everytime somebody farts.

    You and the swine flu bloggers really rock today. Not to mention your compilations from travel and colleagues. Good contributions from all.

  2. Eric,
    I haven’t heard you mention the missing viles from the military lab since all this has unfolded. Seems to fit into the picture/story quite well.

  3. Funny enough, I was down in Oregon visiting a friend and her baby and soaking at Breitenbush hot springs this past weekend when all the hullabaloo about the flu hit. I had no idea about any of it, got sick, came home and when the first friend asked if I had swine flu I just laughed and said I had 18-month old flu. When the next friend asked, seriously, I realized I’d missed something. I’m glad I was off grid this last weekend.

    And Fe- greek yogurt makes great homemade yogurt starter! The soup sounds great. For me- green tea, miso, chile and lots of sleep! Off to it…

  4. yeah, I’m really doing a media boycott on all this – I agree on the fear outlet. Though there’s so much chatter on Twitter & Facebook that it’s not like I’ve escaped much. There are so many simple things that can be done to keep the flu harmless, like Vitamin D & Sambucol, so I just don’t get it. Was sort of amused that my elderberry plant arrived from Territorial Seeds this weekend, though, since I ordered it back in Feb.

  5. Yogurt is great isn’t it? Always helps to clean things out! Hope you feel better soon Fe. Also, Eric, wonderful blogs this weekend. Really opened up some great stuff. Appreciate it.

  6. It started last Friday after a week of close-to-paranoid thoughts about a work situation. Friday it felt as though my left eye was pelted with some pollen, only it wasn’t, and I had a full-fledged fever and chills Friday evening.

    Fever broke late Friday for me to get to dance class and retrieve some endorphins. Gargling extra strength lemon chicken soup with cilantro-garlic pesto to finish it. Worked at home all day, nurturing the plants. Slept eleven hours. Still feeling thick-headed and congested. The Claritin only half-worked, trouble sleeping without waking up with my head exploding.

    While shopping yesterday, a little voice said pick up some pro-biotics, so I went directly to the yogurt section, picked up some good Greek yogurt and had a bowlful before I went to bed. What do you know? My congestion dissipated and I was able to breathe with mouth closed.

    Going in to the office for a half a day. Coming home after lunch. The garden needs me.

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