This issue of Planet Waves’ premium membership service, includes Eric’s extended monthly horoscopes for July. The Sun entered Cancer earlier today: it’s the solstice (summer in the northern hemisphere and winter in the southern half of the world). This means the Sun is entering the grand water trine and will be approaching the Uranus-Pluto square — as will Jupiter, which enters Cancer next week — and Eric covers plenty more that’s going on, including the upcoming Mercury retrograde.
For Eric’s overview of the stunning astrology of the coming month, the horoscopes for all 12 signs and a fantastic news roundup by our editorial team, you can read the full issue with a single-issue purchase here. Or, sign up for our one-month free trial membership here, and let the best of Planet Waves keep you cool as the astrology gets hotter and wetter this season.
Read you loud and clear Green-Star-gazer. Thank you.
be
Thank you Green-Star-gazer,
I had made the connection between your own work with elementals and Elisa’s work chronicled here on PW. Being one who spends my time going between being extremely involved politically and living in the 5th Dimension, I appreciate the full spectrum of what we can each contribute depending on various times in our lives. There is room for everyone.
Thank you Fe, for your amazing contribution in all that you do. To my mind, you are both 21st century heroines.
Mia
With the pace of things in the news and here at Planet Waves, I doubt anyone is still reading this thread, now so far back in time but if you are, I’d like to recommend an excellent article by Sandra Ingerman which was just released today. Sandra is a world re-known teacher of Shamanic traditions which she blends with cutting edge New Physics understanding. Her work is not for everyone but for anyone who wishes to work on/from the inner dimensions to bring about healing for themselves and the world, her work is excellent.
Here is a quote from her latest newsletter and a link to it follows:
… ” This goes back to the Medicine for the Earth teaching of our perception creates our reality. As humans we all project. We can project suffering onto others and onto the world or we can see the brilliance and divine light in all that is alive.
What we feed grows. The more we nurture our projections of perceiving suffering the more that energy grows. The more we nurture our projections in perceiving the beauty and what is working we feed the energy of strength and beauty.
This does not mean that we should deny the challenges. But when we lift the veils between the worlds and look beyond human conditioning what we see is beauty, joy, love and health.
We really need to reflect on how our shifts of perception is an important piece to creating the world we wish to live in. For the more we feed the energies of what is not working the more we manifest problems. As we can focus on beauty the more all of life is lifted up. I realize how difficult this can be as the times we live in are so intense and filled with so much change. But at the same time this is an important practice to keep up.
This has to do with energy and what energies we choose to feed. And there are some very practical changes we can make in our daily life that can help to shift our perception, which shifts the reality that manifests.
….. ” – Sandra Ingerman
http://www.sandraingerman.com/tnjuly2013.html
She goes on from the quoted section to give some very practical advice and exercises which we can employ to help the underlying energy field shift so that the outer manifestations can shift. Anyone who like Elisa Novick’s articles will probably resonate with Sandra Ingerman’s work.
This newsletter ties in so beautifully with this thread’s conversation that I felt it important to include it, in case anyone is still following this discussion.
Hi Fe,
Thanks for taking the time to write and share your heart-felt views.
I don’t know if my reply will be useful or not but I feel called to try and expand the conversation.
The word “Spiritual” is vast in terms of how one chooses to define it. There are so many ways to be living with a Spiritual practice these days and each “Way” is important to that individual and their community if there is one. Yet some “Ways” can be diametrically opposite to each other. Does that mean one “Way” is right and the other wrong? Of course the usual answer is “It depends…” and then each side starts to debate the merits of their “Way” and pretty soon we have a war on our hands. Does engaging in this kind of debate make one more spiritual or less? Is a Monk or a Nun (of any denomination) less of a spiritual person because they have renounced the world? Is an activist more spiritual than a stay-at-home Mom? How can anyone make such a judgement? Yet people do all the time. This is the root of so much discord on the planet and has been throughout our time here as a species.
A functional society, like any organism, is made up of a variety of components. It takes introverts, extroverts, scientists, engineers, students, kids, grandmothers, clerks, nurses, artists, farmers and systems analysts and so much more create the fabric of a society. But, what we ALL have in common to one extent or another is that we all suffer. The richest person who wants for nothing materially may still have internal demons and monsters that keep them from experiencing any joy in life. They suffer though others may not appreciate what their suffering is like. Likewise, those who live with very little may suffer materially, but this does not mean that they are not exempt from experiencing joy, love and an abundance of spiritual riches in spite of their circumstance. How can any of us sit in judgement of who is more and who is less “Spiritual” based on their external situation and circumstances?
I do not remove myself from the suffering of the world and that is not what I mean when I use the word “detachment”. Rather, as a person who is extremely sensitive and borderline empathic one of the greatest struggles for me is to learn how to come fully into this world when it is so full of darkness. For me, when I use the word “detachment” it does not mean that I do not care, quite the opposite. For me, practicing “detachment” means that I accept that both light and darkness exists, that human souls come here to earth to work on their own particular set of issues and that (hopefully) we are all evolving towards a higher state of being as we do our work… and this is evolutionary process is a work-in-progress and sometimes progress does not always look like it is moving forward. I use the word “detachment” to signal that I am trying to maintain a sanctuary of Peace inside my being, not because I’m special, or because I don’t care what happens in the world but because I am ordinary and not different from anyone else. I feel that this IS (one of) my contribution(s) to the collective. People may not agree with my choice and they may not value or understand it. That’s OK. They are following a different path, one that is hopefully giving them what they need to move forward.
The way I see it, there is an abundance of pain, rage, passion and tragedy going on in the world. We all have suffered loss, endured trauma, experienced deprivation and probably a lot of fear in this incarnation and many other incarnations as well. We all must learn to deal with darkness whether the darkness is internal or external. No one gets a free pass when they come here. Life on Earth is hard. It is unpredictable. It is full of challenges. Everyone has a part to play. Some parts are big, some are small. Some are loud, some are quiet. Some are obvious and some are not. However, me choosing to ignore the suffering of others is NOT what I advocate and yet, me suffering MORE does not help the collective heal or evolve either. My choice to try and live as sustainably and peacefully as I can, regardless of the external and internal circumstances, that is the best of what I can give to this moment. This is not an elitist choice, or one that comes from arrogance or selfishness, though it may look that way to someone else.
Everyone has to decide for themselves how they will deal with the darkness of the world. Some will do battle with it externally and dramatically on the world stage. Some will meet it in their own families and neighborhoods. And still others will make small, quiet progress with meeting and working with their own internal demons and maybe that is as much as they can do this lifetime. I respect anyone who has taken up the challenge to face the darkness wherever they find it, and to bring it to the Light.
Green-Star Gazer:
I am coming in late to the game on this topic, but I am going to take Eric’s side. So you can stop right here if you care not to read.
There is no amount of judgement inferred, from what I got from eric’s post. What I do think, and we need to discuss this here, is that there is a disconnect with your preference of not connecting to the world – being in the world and not of it — that I find objectionable.
This is only my opinion. The fact is, there is something to be said to having the ability to remove yourself from the suffering that is existence on this planet, and that you can afford to do so, with whatever resources you have.
Many others are not so lucky.
Say what you will. Call me arrogant, condemning or judgmental. I really don’t care. There is too much in the world going on that you must connect with because, even if you think you’re not responsible, your detachment to it is just as much a cause to the misery we face as a planet as perpetrators of violence, bigotry, misogyny. So many more people do not have the luxury you have of being able to escape their individual, familial, community, regional or national hell.
If you believe you’re being spiritual, that’s fine. But there is a fine line between being or acting spiritual and spirit in action. With the world as it stands today, where our individual privacy and as of today, right to be able to vote for who leads us is at stake, where cities and countries worldwide are rising in resistance towards global injustices — do you really think it’s a good idea to retreat into an mystical, esoteric gated community?
Thank you for your words, Greenstar, especially the ones ‘recollected in tranquillity’! “The only way to work with these conflicting sides of the self is to choose which one to feed”. Yes.
And yes, I must confess that there are times when it’s all too bloody much for me and I have to withdraw, cos even if I’m not following what’s going on, I’m a sponge and I absorb it all anyway, so there are times when I have to protect myself. Think this is the case for many. Really recommend Yarrow flowe remedy.
Very interesting thread here. I think the main issue is that of judgement, judgement of oneself and others. A fundamental part of the spiritual journey is realizing how much power judgement has over us. There’s no right or wrong way, and as Flavia so beautifully pointed out, most times one is not even aware of the bigger picture, that, for example, in doing beautiful, deep soul work on oneself one is often healing others, maybe even the planet, but social activists, people who fight for a better world and defend those in need are very very necessary too. Everone has a different function, role to play – and I think we need to have great humility and realise that there’s a lot going on, at another level, that we’re not aware of.
That said – thank you for a truly magnificent, glowing edition, worthy of this Amazing Solstice, and for horoscopes that made my soul sing.
I would like to re-frame my comment if possible.
When I read your latest subscriber edition I felt an angry response rise in me. I am a person who chooses to not participate in politics, or the 24/7 media and news frenzy. I am one of those people who is in fact a deeply spiritual and sensitive person and I find that most of what goes on in the world is simply too overwhelming for me to handle psychically or energetically if I keep myself open to the media and all its toxic content.
When I read the subscriber issue (words which I have already quoted) I interpreted that you were making fun of people like me who consciously choose to be detached from the worlds turbulence. I felt that in a way I was being chided for my choices and being judged for them. I felt offended and ridiculed and as a result I felt angry.
Had I not been so angry I might have worded my comment more along these lines:
Everyone has the right to participate in their Spiritual practices without being judged by others based on how the practise may appear from the outside (unless that practise hurts or harms others – which I know is a big can of worms). Yet, having said that everyone would do well to also exercise a lot of discernment when it comes to what we say we believe in and how we go about putting those beliefs into actions and choices. No one person can really know the validity or usefulness of a spiritual discipline or practise except for how they themselves experience it which is an ongoing and ever-evolving process, hopefully. In these times of revolution and upheaval, most people I know are really struggling with how to be authentically themselves in the midst of enormous pressures to conform and comply. Sometimes this means having to place a barrier around themselves both psychically and energetically just so that they can maintain their equanimity. Does this mean they are wrong to do this? I would not say so. What if more people unplugged from the endless fear-mongering and scarcity-based thinking that saturates our airwaves? Perhaps their collective effort might actually open up the space for more healing and less strife. It is impossible from this limited, earth-plane perspective to know for certain what kinds of effects any one of us will have on the course of events for our collective history. So please, do not poke fun (even in jest) at those of us who are trying to live like lotuses…having our feet in the mud of the world while we also maintain our connection to the heavens.
Unplugging from hierarchical systems where ever we find them is not easy. Often times when we take steps to unlock ourselves from societies dysfunction or from friendships and relationships that are based on the abuse of power it may appear to look subversive, passive or ineffective when we simply step away. However, sometimes the best way to deal with the problem of hierarchical thinking/people/institutions is to simply no longer feed the ego and fear associated with their discourse and to focus instead on what one wants to encourage in oneself and each other.
This solution is well-illustrated in the old Native American story about the man with two wolves in his heart…one wolf is the one who would do good deeds in the world and the other is the wolf who will stop at nothing to get what it wants. The only way to work with these conflicting sides of the self is to choose which one to feed. Whichever wolf we feed is the one that will grow stronger, the choice is ours to make.
To me this is well said and well reasoned:
“In the spiritual discussion, this corresponds to the fact that most people are too conditioned to realize their unique preferences.”
The question of what we might alternately call personal growth, spiritual evolution, psychology, therapy, or whatever, is: what do we do with that conditioning? How can we learn to notice it, and what are some techniques for addressing it?
I would also propose that looking at the lives of those who have gone past that conditioning would be useful — so we can notice how they have managed to do it, what their motives were, and how and where they succeeded.
This feels very much related to the discussion the other day about Snowden’s chart and the printing of his birth certificate. A specific astrological aspect can manifest in countless different individual ways. Free will is the ultimate arbitrator. The higher you go spiritually, the less astrology is an influence.
Thank you, Green-Star-gazer, for the honest expression of your reaction to Eric’s article.
This is kind of like the discussion around economic models. Economics is all about the relationship between parts and wholes. Social activism as a general recipe is like socialism. Economically, it doesn’t work: central control isn’t efficient, it’s not a better allocator of resources than a market price system based on local knowledge. If you point to the problems with capitalism, the issue is not the market system in and of itself (each following their unique preferences) but the distortions caused by the asymmetry in initial endowment. In the spiritual discussion, this corresponds to the fact that most people are too conditioned to realize their unique preferences.
Hi, Eric & Green-Star-gazer
I don’t feel spoken to by social-activism “shoulds” either.
I know that my contribution to the collective is most impactful when I’m fully being my Leo self-absorbed self that only cares for intimate interactions. I couldn’t possibly be more effective by being intentionally a social-activist, since for me it’s not the path of least resistance.
Here’s an example: I had a lover who was an ayahuasca shaman. He used to say that I made his work much easier when i came to his sessions. Everything that was going on in the room would pass through me and I’d process it. All he had to do was to work with me – the easiest thing, my soul danced with his singing, riding the waves of sound, just as we did in bed. Now, I myself had no idea I was doing that – from my perspective, I was processing my own stuff, totally oblivious to anything and anybody else in the room besides him. I couldn’t even have done it on purpose had i wanted to. I’ve seen this pattern of indirect and unconscious contribution in many other situations – also with clients and teachers.
A misunderstanding of the relationship between the individual and the whole underlies the idea that social activism is a general recipe. The whole is not optimized by homogenizing the individuals but rather by each of us living out our uniqueness. In practice we do that by following our own paths of least resistance.
I don’t know what other people’s path of least resistance is. When I catch myself having a specific opinion of what it should be generally, I realize i’m wrong – I might even be entitled to such an opinion, but it’s not a smart one.
What I know for sure is that the more sensitive people are to their own authentic, bodily responses and the more they let that be their guide for action – instead of some external should or another – the better the world.
In the first few words of mine that you quote, I say: “One quest of our times is learning how not to be so self-absorbed without losing ourselves at the same time. We are a culture that extols the virtues of narcissism, selfishness and competition.”
I am speaking generally about our times and our society, not “in judgment of any individual person’s character for making personal decisions”
My role is as one who observes and who comments — from a subjective point of view, providing substantiation where necessary. If you see something different, per your own reasoning, that does not make me wrong; it’s just your point of view.
I believe that this statement: “be it what you really think about something in the news, what you really want from, or to do in, your relationships or who you really are in your sexual dimension” leaves people all the room in the world to be themselves. I am saying that many prevailing attitudes on all of these topics have something in common, which is a kind of culturally-mandated avoidance.
That is the whole point of what I am saying: that we have a right not to be defined from the outside, or through the conditioning to be allegedly pure. Of which there is plenty.
For the record, I am not out to simply cause trouble.
However…
You have made some statements in your latest subscriber edition that I find in appalling poor taste. In particular the three paragraphs where you deride and condemn people who, for whatever reason cannot or choose not to participate in the “dirty” side of life. I quote the paragraphs here:
>> One quest of our times is learning how not to be so self-absorbed without losing ourselves at the same time. We are a culture that extols the virtues of narcissism, selfishness and competition. These same qualities are often projected into our ‘self-help’ and ‘spiritual’ endeavors. Often the result is being a supposedly perfect person, connected to the universe, aligned in mind, body and spirit — and then offering nothing back except for how wonderful we are.
Part of being so enlightened often means ignoring or not being able to handle anything on the level of politics, civics, the news or developments in the world. It’s an extremely disconnected form of spiritualism — perfect for a world where everything is a commodity and where often the goal is total fulfillment without taking any risks except maybe pulling a muscle in yoga class.
There is an obsession with having clean hands: not discussing anything controversial, be it what you really think about something in the news, what you really want from, or to do in, your relationships or who you really are in your sexual dimension. This is the illusion of purity — the only kind there is. <<<
How dare you sit in judgment of any individual person's character for making personal decisions that are NONE of YOUR business! How dare you judge what level of connection or disconnection exists in a person's spiritual practise based on appearances and according to your values. You have no authority to decide what is right and what is wrong for how a person chooses to embrace a spiritual practise or what boundaries they may feel they need to draw for themselves. You have no authority to know what an individual's karmic path may be and how they should go about fulfilling it. You do not know what affect these people may be having on the collective by choosing to take a different path from the one you would choose for them. You have no idea how people who choose not to participate in open political debate may indeed be applying their support in other, quieter ways for the greater good that may be completely under your criteria of what you deem to be suitable engaged.
This kind of arrogance, condemnation and judgment targeted at a particular group of people is not what I expect to find here at Planet Waves.