Category Archives: Spirituality

The Western Esoteric Traditions (Part 2)

My summer reading: The Western Esoteric Traditions: a Historical Introduction by Nicholas Goodrick – Clarke (Oxford University Press – 2008).

Carl Jung was heavily influenced by Henry Corbin, a renowned 20th century scholar of Islamic esotericism. 

A central aspect of Corbin’s work was the idea of the imagination as both ‘cognitive and creative’. In line with the Persian philosophers whom he had studied, Corbin identified the human imagination as ‘an autonomous world of intermediaries, the mundus imaginals, where visions, apparitions, angels, and hierarchies occurred independently of any perceiving subject’. 

Corbin concluded that this world of hierarchies is as ‘real and objective’ as the material world in which we carry out our everyday lives. But because these intermediaries are not as dense as the material objects populating our everyday world, they are not easily perceptible. To access mundus imaginals, we must use our active imaginations rather than the sense of sight, smell, and touch, through which we usually navigate.

This, along with the work of other academics and scholars, leaves us with six fundamental characteristics of western esoteric spirituality: 

  1. Correspondence –  all constituent levels of being (stars, planets, humans, animals, plants, minerals, humours, and states of mind both healthy and diseased) are linked together through a series of correspondences. Imagine two violins. Sympathetic or corresponding  vibration occurs when two strings are tuned to the same pitch. When one is plucked, the other will sing out in ‘in sympathy’. The connection between these various levels of being is not causal, but symbolic. As Dr Liz Greene reminds us, the gods have left their traces in the material world for us to find and this is done through symbols. Humans don’t invent symbols. We discover them through our active imagination. Dr Greene says we use symbols to coax the gods to come down to earth and partake with us through ritual and this is precisely what Jung did whilst writing Liber Novus.
  2. Living nature – all things in nature are alive, full of divine energy or soul. It is through this divine energy or soul, that Marsilio Ficino, an accomplished magician and protégée of Cosimo de Medici, one of the most powerful men in Renaissance Europe, lived what he referred to as a ‘well-tempered’ life in cosmic harmony with the divine plan. This plan was charted in the heavens and so it is no surprise that Ficino was also an accomplished astrologer. In Ficino’s solar system, there were only seven planets (Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto had yet to be discovered). Ficino believed that in order to thrive, soul needs exposure to each of those planets. For example, the Sun symbolizes the qualities – insight and imagination – that are uniquely human. Thus solar energy is associated with consciousness, rational thought, and the pursuit of truth and honour.  Cultivate solar energy through solemn music, all things gold coloured, nutmeg, heliotrope, myrrh, honey, crocus, corn, cinnamon, aloes, lions, swans, beetles, and chickens. Visualize a king on a throne in a yellow garment, along with a raven and the form of the sun.
  3. Imagination and mediations – as mentioned earlier, it is through our active imagination that we establish a cognitive and creative connexion with mundus imaginals. As Goodrick-Clark reminds us, where the mystic typically seeks a direct and immediate connexion with God, for the esotericist, this connection is made through the intermediaries that extend up and down the hierarchal ladder. In essence, this is magical thinking –  a unique type of consciousness – participative of mode of thought whereby participants gain awareness of the Inter relatedness of all things in the world by a means of simple , but we find, sense perception. In this sense, magic does not seek to fix or change the objective world.[1] Dr Greene reminds us that when we coax the gods to come to earth and partake with us through ritual , we have invoked them not to ‘fix’ our outer world, but instead to ‘fix’ our inner world – in other words, to transform us to live, as did Ficino, in harmony with the divine plan. 
  4. The experience of transmutation – as noted above, as the result of esoteric work we must expect to experience change in some uniquely manifest way. This is not an intellectual pursuit. For Jung, the arrival of his Philemon, his Saturnian daimon with Aquarian leanings, was a key moment in his life. Dr Greene suggests that Jung stopped working on Liber Novus in 1929-1932 because he needed to understand what was meant psychologically by Philemon as symbol of his ‘inner’ self.  As the result, he developed psychological models like perhaps synchronicity to explain what had resulted for him as the result of his esoteric work. Jung believed synchronistic experiences mirror deep psychological processes that further ‘individuation’ – the process by which we gain understanding of our place in the world. He believe that synchronistic experiences always involve an archetype. Consider the case of the Golden beetle. While Jung’s client was relating a dream which she’d received a gift of a Golden scarab (a large dung beetle held sacred in ancient Egypt), Jung heard a gentle tapping on the window. He opened it and caught a beetle whose green gold colour was the same as that of the Golden scarab his client had described. When Jung related that the scarab was a classic rebirth symbol depicting the archetype of self-transformation , exactly the issue with which she’d been struggling, the client was shocked enough to breakdown her resistance to therapy. Here you can see the connection between magical thinking (i.e. synchronicity), symbols, and personal change of transmutation.[2]
  5. Concordance – the idea here is that all of these western esoteric traditions (perhaps also some or all of the eastern traditions) are linked together in important ways and perhaps even stem from a single source (prisca theologia).
  6. Transmission – most esoteric traditions suggest that the fullness of their teachings can only be passed from master to disciple through an established path of initiation. In other words, book learning or even personal experimentation will never be enough.  

Finally, and very importantly, Corbin and other esoteric scholars have demonstrated that the esoteric traditions and ideals come back into fashion whenever the world order as we currently know it starts to fall apart. This is exactly what happened in the European renaissance revival of all of these traditions and we will see more examples of this in future blog posts.

(to be continued) 

[1] Campion, Nicholas, Editorial (p 1-8) in Culture and Cosmos: A Journal of the History of Astrology and Cultural Astronomy, papers from the 2013 Sophia Centre conference, special double issue on Celestial Magic, vol. 19 , Number 1 and 2, Spring/ Summer and Autumn/Winter 2015.

[2] For more on this, see discussion at pp. 116-117 in The Astrological World of Jung’s Liber Novus, (Routledge, 2018) by Dr Liz Greene.

Astrological Anxiety (2)

This is the second in a series of blog posts based on the work of a fabulous astrologer, Acyuta-bhava from Nightlight Astrology. I’ve thrown in my two cents here and there as you might expect, but many thanks to Acyuta-bhava for having put this in place in the first place.

To this point, we’ve defined astrological anxiety as follows: ‘I’m warned in advance that a ‘cosmic weather front’ is coming through. OMG, what do I now do?’ In important respects, this anxiety is very much like the existential anxiety addressed by philosophers like Heidegger. As Heidegger reminds us, we expect life to progress with logical linearity over which we remain in conscious control at all times. 

That, however, is not how it works.

When we refuse to accept this, we get into big trouble. Religion is meant to keep us out of this trouble, yet it seems that more often it plunges us deeper in the thick of it. That’s because we fail to understand that true religion is not the same as organised religion. True religion, practiced everyday, helps us to connect with the divine. In the words of Heidegger, to accept that ‘time is no longer a reckonable sequence’ but instead, ‘an inexhaustible inescapable presence’. Organised religion tends to tempt us to move closer to this understanding only in great times of personal need and/or the major religious events/festivities like (for Christians), like Christmas and Easter. 

We often think that we don’t need religion because we tend to define it with the stuffy set of rules that came along with any religious upbringing/training we might have had as children. But in reality, however much we might like to think otherwise, the religious impulses – i.e., the impulse to connect with the divine plan – is innate – alive and well within us. 

When that impulse is thwarted, (or misdirected)  we not only feel bad (in the sense of suffering), but we tend to act out that impulse in ways that go over the top. For example, thwarted religious impulse can result in religious fanaticism and/or ‘drama queen’ displays of childish superiority. In other words, when our true religious impulse is thwarted, our emotions – the powerful passionate stuff, get channelled in ways (politics, money, obsessive dieting, securing the best schools for our kids, whatever) that do us more harm than ever they could do us good. 

This is where astrology comes in. 

Properly approached, astrology helps us to be sober about our lives in the sense that we make life choices in line with the divine plan, of which, like it or not, we remain an integral part. By its very nature, astrology, used correctly, should thus not make us anxious, but instead quietly confident that we are (or are not) on the right path.

By contrast, if astrology is causing us to stress out about the future, we are not approaching either it or our lives soberly. In this sense sobriety does not mean without great passion or pleasure. What it does mean is that we do not allow our need for great passion and pleasure to drive our lives. 

The upshot of this is that some people are simply not cut out for astrology – be they practitioners, students, or clients. The goal of astrology, handled correctly, is allow us to be content and steadfast in where we’re headed. The goal of astrology is not to aid us in expending energy to attain that which, for reasons we may never understand, is unattainable.

When you find yourself getting worked up about what comes next and asking astrology to help you prepare for it, you’d be better off leaving astrology – and indeed, all forms of divination – alone. 

Astrological Anxiety (1)

This is the first in a series of blog posts based on the work of a fabulous astrologer, Acyuta-bhava from Nightlight Astrology. I’ve thrown in my two cents here and there as you might expect, but many thanks to Acyuta-bhava for having put this in place in the first place.

Astrological anxiety – what is it? 

It goes something like this – now with the benefit of astrology, I know a little bit what to expect and that somehow makes everything worse. I’m warned in advance that a ‘cosmic weather front’ is coming through. OMG, what do I now do? This knowing puts a good deal of pressure on me to somehow prepare for the storm but as don’t yet really know what will happen, I can’t really do that. Is the resulting tension I feel the same as existential anxiety?

In many important respects, the answer is yes, it is.

As existentialist Heidegger reminds us, ‘time is no longer a reckonable sequence’ but instead, ‘an inexhaustible inescapable presence’. In other words, real time, unlike time displayed on clocks and calendars, is primitive, primordial, spooky; real time, as understood by Heidegger, is all that man has and will ever have. Scandalously, sadly, said real time is also shorn from otherwise comforting pre-Reformation notions of eternity.

Thus, it only makes sense that having called our attention to this existential reality, astrology serves us best not in trying to tell us what will happen but instead to more fully understand our situation so that when that cosmic weather front does hit, we will be in a position to release false expectations and accept what does happen. To accomplish this, we need to give up our attachment to the qualifiers ‘good’ or ‘bad’. This does not mean that ‘good’ and ‘bad’ things alike won’t happen; astrology is not meant to help us to detach from this reality. Instead, astrology is meant to help us to realise there is a divine, cosmic plan – and each of us is part of it even though there are cycles and themes that are beyond us and and our ego-focused view of the world. To develop such a realisation is a mission statement – both for the astrologers but also for clients and students of astrology.

The goal is to develop a mindset that is accepting of both what we have in front of us as well as what is behind of us – a mindset that helps to us to think of our ‘karma’ not solely as gifts and challenges carried over from the past but instead as a divine connection between the past, present, and future.

Astrology helps us here. For example, you might think of the astrological symbolism as an expression of the ‘thought forms’ in the mind of God. When you reflect upon this more deeply, you might see astrological symbolism as something more more transcendental – more meaningful than how much money will “I” have (or not have) tomorrow and/or will ‘I’ get this or that job or marry this or that man/woman. 

One of the significant benefits of this deeper approach is to flip ourselves out of the Ego-based game of ‘ how much more do I need to do – or get- have ‘ (i.e., the Western  ‘rat race’ – also known as ‘who’s on top and who’s on the bottom) and into a more serene, conducive state of true ‘happiness’.

As the Buddhists are happy to remind us, happiness doesn’t mean not having more, but instead means not surrendering one’s entire peace of mind to having it.

(to be continued)

Karmic Astrology (12)

In posts to date, I’ve investigated many different way to astrologically identifying your past and future karma using invaluable information gained by attending workshops/retreats led by July Hall many years ago as well as a very special technique, the Draconic chart, which I learned about from Christeen Skinner, a clever and articulate financial astrologer here in the UK.

To demonstrate how this all fits together, Ms KS, has volunteered to have her chart, as well as that of her husband, used as a case study. 

SUMMARY

In prior lifetimes, Ms KS gave up her personal power in service to groups whose agendas were of a political and social nature. The position that she played in those groups (of which her now husband might well have been a member) was not 100% above board and involved conning or otherwise using clever communication skills to ensure that what people saw was not what they got.

This might have operated in the healing arts or other positions ‘of service’ – perhaps as a courtier.

During this incarnation, Ms KS is asked to take back her sense of self and personal power but that won’t be easy. In those prior lifetimes, she developed (or adopted) an inflated – or haughty – sense of self that will all too easily slip back into play during this lifetime if she’s not careful. Likewise, she will struggle with ‘learned helpless’ during this lifetime – take the easy way out – and shuffle-off sideways without confrontation. Holding her personal ground in a practical yet pleasant way is key to success.

DETAILS

Ms KS

Natal Chart (Ms KS) – (inside ring)

  • Ms KS has Gemini rising and Mercury, the ruler of her chart, in Leo in the karmic 4th house.  
    • Clustered at her Gemini ascendant, we find Venus (12th house) and Mars (1st house) in Gemini, although they are too far apart to be considered in conjunction.
    • Ms KS was not so pleased when I reminded her that Gemini can be quite indiscriminate when it comes to telling the truth – this does not mean that Gemini is immoral but rather more amoral – if in doubt, revisit the Greek/Roman mythological surrounding Mercury/Hermes – who is known as the ‘trickster’ god for good reason. 
    • Also consider that Boris Johnson, current prime minister of the UK, has an unusually high dose of Gemini (Sun, Venus, Mercury and Mars) ­­­in his natal chart: Boris spends a good deal of time defending himself of claims that he’s a liar. 
    • This is not to suggest that Gemini tells untruths (I myself have two personal planets in Gemini and believe that energy to be truly charming). But it is to suggest that the relationship that Gemini has with the truth can often be perceived by others as, how shall we put this, ‘challenged.’
    • Mercury in this chart is in Leo in the 4th house – this suggests communication during past lives (4thhouse) was ‘self-aggrandizing’ and ‘boastful’ and ‘self-serving’ (with a casual nod to truthfulness) and being in the 4th house, is quite possible something that ran in Ms KS’s birth family. 
  • Next, we have a Sun/Jupiter conjunction in Cancer in the 2nd house. 
    • On the plus side, this is the signature of an upbeat person who has a knack for finding the silver lining in the darkest of clouds. Ms KS is a very caring and considerate person, perhaps , however, sometimes to a fault. Although her chart is reasonably well-balanced elementally (i.e. there is a nice distribution of planets in the fire, water, air, and earth zodiac signs), Ms KS does have an imbalance of mutable planets, leaving her more than capable of ‘slip-sliding’ away from trouble, which of course is also the nature of Cancer the crab. 
    • The karmic question asked by the Sun in any chart is ‘who am I’ – both in this incarnation but also in respect to prior incarnations – this is not as easy a question to answer as you might think – remember that inscribed over the entrance to the temple of Apollo at Delphi is the ancient Greek aphorism ‘know thyself ‘. Good advice for certain but before you can follow it you need to dig deeper into the very nature of the self that you wish to know. To learn more about this, you may wish to consult an informative book: Selfie: How we became so self-obsessed and what it doing to us by Will Storr. 
    • The karmic lesson of Sun in Cancer is to develop a healthy vulnerability in her relationships, especially with those whom she considers to be part of her ‘family’ or ‘tribe’. 
    • Add Jupiter to the mix, and this suggests past lives where MS KS had in ‘inflated’ sense of self-worth – haughty – and above her station. With the Sun/Jupiter conjunction in the 2nd house, there’s a suggestion that this is something with which Ms KS has grappled over many lifetimes and has for the most part come to grips with this and hence that knack for finding the silver lining in the darkest clouds is considered a karmic resource – none the less, there are suggestions (see below, for example, Moon in Capricorn) that this comes at quite a price. 
  • The Moon in Capricorn is in the karmic 8th house, although again a bit too wide of the mark to be considered in opposition to the Sun/Jupiter. 
    • Nonetheless, in this chart, the Sun and Moon are linked. The price for keeping a tendency for an inflated sense of self-worth in check comes with some deeply engrained – and highly unconscious – emotional patterns of thought and haviour of being cold and judgemental, a fortress of stone and an impenetrable heart. 
    • In the 8th house, this plays out in the way that Ms KS shares both herself and her personal resources with others – think Ebenezer Scrooge before his reformation. 
    • The 8th house is a highly karmic house suggesting many lifetimes of perfecting this way of relating to others. I figure that there is no such thing as good or bad in karma, but instead it’s about finding balance and so I’ll go out on a limb here and suggest that Ms KS developed this fortress of stone/impenetrable heart in order to compensate for being too open to the judgement of others.
  • Mars in Gemini is square to Saturn/Chiron in Pisces across the 1st and 11th houses.
    • Mars in contact (in this case, by square, suggests a constant tension one tends to ignore until it blows up in his/her face) with Saturn suggests present life feelings of powerlessness/helplessness in the face of knowing that one needs to take action.
    • The suggestion is that in prior lives, Ms KS abused her personal will (through communication) and because the 1st /11th houses are involved, this was carried out as part of a group, in which she shared radical ideas/ideals.
    • There is also a suggestion that Ms KS may have given away her personal power for the ‘greater good’ of the group and as the result, fears (or is blocked) taking it back to use for herself.
    • In karmic astrology, Chiron symbolises the wound of the soul, and because he is found is the 11th house of Ms KS, the suggestion is that this occurred as being considered an ‘outsider’ or ‘outcast’. With Pisces involved, there is also a suggestion that the wound as to do with loss of one’s own contact with the divinity. When we chatted about this, Ms KS did say that as a young child, she resisted her parents attempts to make her attend Sunday School because it made her feel that she as if she were being ‘controlled’ by religious dogma. Healing with Chiron in the 11th house comes from the realisation that one size doesn’t fit all and what’s good for the goose is not always good for the gander. It seems that Ms KS is well on her way to healing her Chiron wound, which only makes sense as she ‘enjoyed’ her Chiron return back in 2018. 
  • In the 6th house, we have a Neptune conjunction with the South Node in Scorpio (the North Node being in the karmic 12th house in Taurus). 
    • Although that Neptune/South Node conjunction does not make an aspect with any of Ms KS’s personal planets, and hence is purely a generational marker, I consider it important because the nodal axis is involved and as we will see, it provides good clues as to what the types of karmic patterns that Ms KS has developed during past lives. 
    • Neptune is the planet of seduction and glamour as well as illusion and disillusion. The suggestion here is that in regard to healing (6th house), Ms KS may have been a charlatan, perhaps a courtier, who masted the art of indiscretion through flattery pretending to yield to his or her superiors in order to assert power over others in a most oblique and graceful way. 
    • As the South Node is involved, the suggestion here is that MS KS has honed this art – these skills – this craft of subtle, yet fascinating power games to achieve her own ends over many lives. This comes easily to her. she also has to work extra hard to be more truthful more direct and more grounded (North node and tourists). 
  • The generational signature of a close Pluto/Uranus conjunction in Virgo shows up in the 5th house of Ms KS. 
    • This symbolises a political vision which combines an urgent need to destroy old forms and attitudes in regard to ideologies quite possibly having to do with unjust wars (as was the case during this time at least in the United states with the Vietnam War). 
    • Although this generational signature does not tie to any of the personal planets of Ms KS (thus suggesting that this is not her personal karmic responsibility during this incarnation), it does raise the important question of why do we reincarnate in a particular time and place? I’m guessing that the answer to this has to do with that Neptune in Scorpio (in the six house , the House of Virgo closed parentheses the only other generational marker that strongly resonates in the chart of mis KS. Yet looking at her Draconic chart (which comes up next) this  urgent need to destroy old forms and attitudes was not really ever part of Ms KS’s karmic game.

Draconic Chart (Ms KS) – (outside ring)

  • Along with that natal Neptune/South Node conjunction, we now have the draconic Moon in Scorpio in the 6thhouse. 
    • Again, the Moon represents deeply engrained and largely unconscious behaviour and emotional patterns and karmically, functions very much like the South Node. This puts extra emphasis on Scorpio in prior lives and again in the 6th house.
    • Again the image of a con-man, a charlatan, perhaps even a courtier, who used subtle manipulation(Neptune) to take advantage over others. However tempting it is to suggest something along the lines of a psychic vampire or even a black magician, if that were the case, I’d expect to find Pluto (‘power over’ others) lurking around in a prominent position – and he’s just not there – in neither the natal nor in the draconic charts. With Neptune is involved, the power plays are accomplished not with guns but with smoke and mirrors – sleight of hand, fascination, and glamour. 
  • Interestingly, the Natal North Node in Taurus (where Ms KS is heading in this lifetime) is still right on top of that Sun/Jupiter conjunction – in the draconic chart, now in Taurus in in the natal 12th house, the most karmic house of them all. 
    • This suggests that in prior lives, Ms KS had plenty of Taurus energy but somehow lost touch with it and so in this lifetime, her goal is to gain it back. 
    • This might be going out a bit on a limb, but I have a feeling that because Saturn/Chiron in the draconic chart is now in Aquarius at the MC, or the top of the natal chart, this is all connected with that natal Saturn/Chiron in the 11th house – see above – re: in prior lives Ms KS abused her personal will (through communication) as a member of a group, in which she shared radical ideas/ideals.
    • If that were the case, then Ms KS did not do that alone. Her social status/career were tied up in a partnership, likely with a spouse (draconic MC sits on the cusp of the natal 7th house).
  • Finally, both the natal and draconic charts continue to point to communication in past lives as being the source of present life challenges. 
    • Again, the emphasis on amoral, gossipy, loose affiliation with the ‘truth’ Gemini is highlighted. In the draconic chart, Mercury now in Gemini is sitting right on the natal ASC – Ms KS’s window on the world in this incarnation. 
    • Again, the notion of a courtier who had to bow to the will of others and sing the party line – and bow to the will of others – in order to survive comes to mind. Yet with the draconic Venus in Aries, when it comes to love relationships, in prior lives Ms KS most certain got around – yet again, this fits in with the idea of a courtier, one whose challenge is both to be noticed as well as to be seen as a source of pleasure to others without getting too attached to anyone or anything except her next ‘challenge’.

Relationships

  • More often than not, we get an ever more detailed picture of someone’s karma through looking at the connections he/she makes with important others in the present incarnation. 
  • Often people come and go into our lives without making a huge impact. But we all know that some persons – regardless of the amount of time we’ve actually spent with them – make a huge and lasting impact on us and our lives. Especially when we choose to strengthen the bond either by marriage, partnership, or other close family relationship. 
  • Ms KS was especially interested to discover what she might have to learn from her relationship with her husband. The results actually were not so surprising:
    • The husband of Ms KS has a grand earth trine (Mars/Saturn/Venus)– and karmically these are gifts to be reclaimed during the current lifetime. Yet more often than not, trines can be the ‘slippery slope to hell’. The incarnating soul often responds to further development of these gifts with an attitude of ‘why bother’. The attitude suggested here (and confirmed by Ms KS) was one of a strong-willed person who demanded everything to be ‘his’ way whilst at the same time playing an unconscious script in his head of ‘I don’t deserve to be loved’.
    • The ‘why bother’ response is suggested by his Moon in Pisces in close conjunction with the North Node, which suggests that for him, the goal of this incarnation was to do with developing behaviours that would allow the sharing unconditional love with takin on the burdens of others/or paying the martyr. 
    • At the same time, he has a stellium of planets in Libra (Sun/Uranus/Mercury/Jupiter) which put the emphasis on finding balance in the essential dance of give/take in relationships. 
    • His draconic chart suggested he’d lived similar lives dealing with similar issues multiple times. 
  • Enter Ms KS – who because in synastry (comparison of his and her charts on a grid to see where they interact) her natal Saturn in Pisces is closely conjunct his Moon/North Node in Pisces has some karmic debt to repay to her husband from prior lifetimes. The composite chart (putting the two charts together to make one that symbolises the relationship a whole). Here we find the classic signature of the teacher/student karmic aspect and the sense that they both had something difficult to teach each other in his lifetime. 

This is the final post in this series on Karmic Astrology, so thank you for reading!

If you’re interested in learning more about how your prior lives (psychological and otherwise) impact your life now, book for an astrological coaching session now.

Karmic Astrology (11)

In prior posts, I’ve investigated several different ways of astrologically identifying your past and future karma using invaluable information gained by attending workshops/retreats lead by Judy Hall many years ago. We’ve looked at the Sun, Moon, nodal axis, and karmic relationships (through synastry). Now it’s time to look at a completely different significator of astrological karma, the Draconic chart.

A Different Kettle of Fish 

Like the Tropical zodiac (developed in ancient Greece) used by western astrologers and the Sidereal zodiac (older than the hills) used by eastern astrologers, the Draconic zodiac is a method of assigning the planets (and other important points) to one of the twelve zodiac signs.

  • The Sidereal zodiac lines the planets up against the fixed stars or constellations. 
  • The Tropical zodiac (now 28 degrees out of sync with the Sidereal) is a moving target. It lines 0 degrees Aries up with the vernal equinox which, because of the earth’s wobble on its axis, shifts ever so slightly each year.
  • The Draconic (Dragon) zodiac is a completely different kettle of fish. Although based on the tropical zodiac, it realigns all planetary placements in keeping with the north lunar node (the dragon’s head). It is the cosmic dance of the two lunar nodes which plots the predictable point at which the moon will cross and crisscross the ecliptic (or the apparent path of the sun through the sky). 

Traditionally, the lunar nodes are more spiritually inclined than the rest of the planets/points; the north lunar node heralds your future, your destiny, whilst the south lunar node symbolises your past, as well as what’s holding you back.

The upside of this is that whilst both the Tropical and Sidereal zodiacs rely completely on the Sun’s movements, the Draconic captures the cyclical waltz between the Moon and the Sun. It is for this reason that the Draconic zodiac is believed to capture the essence of a soul (or higher self) incarnating into the earth plan as well as documenting the karmic strengths and weaknesses carrying on through multiple incarnations (rather like the Akashic Records).

Destiny Calling

Where the tropical natal chart and the draconic charts intersect, there’s much information to gain; in essence, this is destiny calling.

As you can see, the structure of the chart (natal chart on the inside and draconic, the outer wheel) remains the same but the planets and angles will have changed sign. In my Draconic chart, my Tropical Sun has shifted from Libra to Sagittarius. Indeed, although using the traditional western Tropical zodiac, my chart is primarily air (6 planets), using the Draconic zodiac, it is primarily fire (6 planets)- Leo and Sagittarius.

This suggests that once upon a time, I was spirited and full of trust in myself and my intuition but at some point in my karmic journey, I lost faith in myself and my direction, my connection with divinity (Draconic Chiron, the wound of the soul in the 9th house). As the result, I developed an obsequious tendency to give over to the needs and wants of others. In essence, this became ‘who I am’ (Draconic South Node in Libra conjunct my natal Sun in Libra). You might say that I sacrificed myself – my solar essence – to keep the peace. That probably isn’t far from wrong, from what I’ve experienced in this, my present, incarnation.

Nevertheless, a firm Leonine appreciation of ‘self’ and my personal creative spark is a unique karmic gift during this lifetime. This is shown by my natal Pluto in Leo close contact to my Draconic Jupiter in Leo – both in my natal 2nd house.

I might well have gotten carried away with a desire for power as the result of my learning and wisdom (all those draconic planets in Sagittarius in my natal 6th house of service and healing) and preserving my reputation as grounded and practical wise woman/healer (draconic MC in Taurus), but I have the opportunity in this lifetime to reclaim that gift.

Often these opportunities comes as the result of transits to the natal chart and I can only hope that when transmitting Pluto conjuncts my natal North Node at 29 Capricorn (mean node) in 2023, I’ll make serious progress on achieving the authority and respect that I’m meant to achieve during this lifetime.

As my draconic Pluto at 23 Libra is intimately connected with what I consider to be my communication karma (Mercury/Neptune/Saturn in Libra), I am hopeful that the Pluto transit to my natal North Node in 2023-2024 will finally see one of the novels that I’ve written published (i.e., I will be heard!).

Further, the reason that I started this series of blog posts on karmic astrology was because I was having some serious troubles with my karma (psychic attack – yes, WOW – look, I’d never have believed it either before this – but it actually did happen – even my husband and cat got the message something weird has been going ‘bump in the night’ for me for the last couple months – although the two dogs seem oblivious). I am trusting that karmic blockages holding back ‘being heard’ are now being cleared both by my own efforts and especially those of two very gift healers.

I’d hoped to be able to see this clearing of the blockage (as well as the reason/source of the attack) either my natal or draconic chart or both, but I haven’t.

Or, rather, let’s rephrase that – although years ago I had transiting Neptune square my natal Neptune (i.e. the life is one big soppy mess), I’m currently getting transiting Neptune square my draconic Neptune (in Sagittarius). OK, well, I did say that Neptune is the lynchpin in my communication karma – so who knows right? Life is again on big soppy – – psychic – mess – but on a completely different level – fingers crossed, handled correctly, Neptune can be immensely healing.

Time will tell.

(to be continued)

Karmic Astrology (10)

In prior posts, I’ve investigated several different ways of astrologically identifying your past and future karma using invaluable information gained by attending workshops/retreats lead by Judy Hall many years ago. We’ve looked at the Sun, Moon, nodal axis, and karmic relationships (through synastry). Now it’s time to take a look at some of the most common karmic dilemmas and how they are most likely to play out for you if they show up in your natal chart.

Do you have a Complex?

Most karmic dilemmas are comprised of two planets coming together to form some close aspect.

They tend to play out rather like what psychologists refer to as a complex, which itself is a complicated concept as follows:

TheoristTheory
CharcotIdentifies a complex as ‘an idea’ or ‘group of ideas’ that ‘settles in the mind in the fashion of parasites’.
JanetSuggests that a complex is an ‘idée fixe subconsciente’ that, having split off from the personality as a whole, wields enormous (unconscious) power.
FreudAttributes to complexes a combination of mythological and emotional significance – for example, Oedipal complexes, the incestuous childhood triangle leading predictably to desire, fear, guilt, aggression, and shame
AdlerFocuses on inferiority complexes, which he believed led to compulsive (and dangerous) power drives
JungConnects complexes with archetypes, or universal psychic patterns, that absorb personal experiences like a sponge

Aspects Matter

The way in which these complexes or karmic dilemmas are most likely play out in your life depend on the aspect the two (or more) planets make with each other, as follows:

Aspect PatternExplanationResolution
OppositionThe tendency to farm out one side of the dilemma or complex on to someone else even thought it remains 100% your energy playing out.Like riding a see-saw, you need to find a point of balance - first step is to take back that projection and own it - for example, if you find people always getting angry with you, more likely than not it's your own anger that they are reflecting back to you. Get in touch with your own anger and find a healthy way to express it and see what happens the result.
SquareTendency to ignore things until they blow up in your face.When you find yourself fighting fire after fire, at some level you know you did - or could have - seen it coming. You're always in a better position to tackle these tensions in advance and head them off rather than dealing with them on the defensive. The problem is that at the time, it seems easier to let the 'sleeping dog' lie. But your own experience will tell you that that dog won't sleep forever.
TrinesRepresents difficulties from the past that you've tentatively sorted.Now comes the test - did you really learn your lesson - or will you keep repeating negative patterns over and over again? Some will tell you trines represent that which is easy in your chart and that much is true. Trines also represent the slippery slope to hell.
ConjunctionsSuggests that you've learned your lesson well enough in past lives but now you really need to put it into practice.The first step is recognising this energy and that it is looking for an appropriate form in which to be expressed. This is much easier said than done.

The Usual Suspects

Some examples of planetary combinations representing karmic dilemmas – how you choose to sort them, remains up to you. But guaranteed if you fail to address them, they’ll come back to haunt you over and over and over until you do.

Planets in PlayIssue to be Addressed
Saturn / NeptuneMystical Pragmatist – do I float on a cloud and meditate or fill my bank account? The challenge is to ‘float’ whilst grounded! You cannot flip into either end of the spectrum.
Saturn/ JupiterContraction/Expansion – this is a natural cycle so you can’t always remain in one or the other. The challenge is to get into tune with the natural rhythm of your chart.
Saturn/Sunifferent self-image – you’ve worked hard to develop a firm (not necessarily bad) self-image in the past. The challenge again is how best to use it now.
Saturn / UranusMaintenance/Change – don’t throw the baby out with the bath water! The challenge is to keep using the wisdom that you’ve gained.
Saturn / VenusDon't deserve love - you've experience more than your share of hard knocks in your prior relationships and so have learned to expect more of the same. Like a child whose mother rejects him or her, you internalise this and have concluded that you - and not the other - are to blame.
Saturn / MarsBlocked energy - in prior lives you may have incorrectly used your authority over others and as the result, you now feel as they did - powerless and helpless.
Saturn / MercuryIn the past you may have used your ability to communicate in ways that caused pain and suffering to others - maybe you were a gossip or a tattletale or even spread lies that got others into trouble. As the result, you've learned that effective communication is nigh impossible but it isn't and so time to relearn how to express yourself and be heard.
Pluto /VenusBlack hole - you'll never receive enough enough love to fill you up and bolster your sagging self-worth. Now it's time to learn how to love yourself.
Uranus / VenusDon't need love - in prior lives, you learned that you couldn't depend on the love of others to keep you afloat and so now you've concluded that you can life - very well, thank you very much - without others but the hitch is, that you can't.
Neptune / VenusLove must be Perfect - the perfect dilemma between the Madonna and the whore - you put your love on a pedestal and expect them to act like a god or goddess but instead, they disappoint you by acting like a mortal.

The above is just a selection of some of the most typical karmic dilemmas found in peoples charts but any planetary combination can take on a feeling of being ‘fated’ and hence, probably is. When that happens, break down each of the elements involved.

Example

I have a close Saturn/Neptune conjunction in Libra – this is in part generational – as the conjunct was in play for several months before and after my birth. Also in play at that time was Uranus in Cancer which formed a square aspect to the Saturn/Neptune aspect in Libra. At the same time, Jupiter in Gemini was making a trine to this conjunction. This narrows the timing somewhat – but still this placement shows up in the birth charts of many born at the same time as me.

You might consider this generational karma and indeed in large part it is. Souls incarnate at a certain place and time for a reason and often, especially after a global event like WWII, they do so together.

To figure out what these four planets mean in combination, let’s consider each as follows:

  • Saturn is is almost always teaching us a difficult lesson about where we are vulnerable and can’t afford to let down our guard and/or where we need to pay special attention to making some in particular happen in the material world.
  • Karmically, Neptune brings an element of withdrawing from people, places, and situation in for self-protection – dealing with the pain and suffering of others is overwhelming and so we retreat into a fantasy wold of our own making.
  • Uranus adds a certain rebellious, revolutionary, and fractious element to this mix. There’s a hint of deja vu – i.e. that which has already happened will (or already is) happen again. Societal upheavals are a fact of history and with Uranus in Cancer, the suggestion is that my entire generation were part of one that quite literally destroyed our homes and families. Yet even in the darkest times, there is a silver lining and with Uranus, comes a certain freedom of experiment with new ways of being and in Cancer, that experiment most likely would manifest in relation to a new definitions of ‘tribe’ or ‘family’ in contrast with the traditional patriarchal (Capricorn) model in play for so many centuries.
  • Jupiter adds a sense that in prior lives we’ve honed our spiritual skills and wisdom, perhaps through temple work especially in ancient Egypt (quite possibly because the Egyptian temple age went on much longer than that of the Christian era, and of course the focus was much different as well). This suggests a real need to find a way to use these highly developed skills and wisdom in the here and now to help alleviate the karmic suffering of all mankind.

As I mentioned, there many were born under this particular planetary grouping but what makes it special for me is that Mercury, one of my personal planets, is tied in with this energy as well.

The job of Mercury is to communicate in a way that makes connections/build bridges. I’ve noted earlier that I believe that my karma in the forefront during this lifetime is communicational – and this fits also with signifiant 3rd house placements (Venus and Mars in Virgo). the suggestion us I need to find a way to bring the spiritual wisdom/skills honed in past lives to today’s world in a way that is revolutionary and rebellious.

Well, certainly astrology fits this bill and as you might tell by looking carefully at this blog as a whole, astrology is my overwhelming. Yet at the same time I need to bring Saturn into this and I believe this has to do with becoming an authority figure in a traditional and well-respected profession (in my case, international tax law) in order to gain credibility. When I tell people I’m an astrologer, many roll their eyes. But when I also tell them I had a successful 30-year career in law (in large global firms), many of those eye-rolling folks sit up and listen.

(to be continued)

Karmic Astrology (9)

In prior posts, I’ve investigated several different ways of astrologically identifying your past and future karma using invaluable information gained by attending workshops/retreats lead by Judy Hall many years ago. We’ve looked at the Sun, Moon, nodal axis, and karmic relationships (through synastry). Now, it’s time to look at the placement of Saturn in your charts, as being ruler of the boundaries  (the ‘ring-pass-not’) between the personal planets and the collective planets, he is truly the Lord of Karma.

Saturn / Lord of Karma

Astrologically, Saturn is equated with ‘virtues’ such as responsibility, duty, and obligation. Heavy going! Given this is karmic astrology, it was never going to be easy. Saturn may not be the brightest light on the block (we leave that to Jupiter), but he lies at the base of all our accomplishments. Hence, Saturn is often considered somewhat tedious (bywords include self-control, tact, thrift, and caution). But he is very necessary. In effect, Saturn equates to your backbone.

On the other hand, never forget that Saturn is two-faced – both a friend and a foe. With one hand, he gives you that structure & strength necessary to succeed in life but with the other, he makes you feel as like a foolish failure. This is why Saturn is oft associated with fault, failure, fear, guilt, and blame and, for this, he gets deserved bad press. When things go wrong, as inevitably they will do with Saturn, it’s easy to blame others. But in reality, when Saturn is in play, you cannot afford to blame anyone but yourself. 

I suppose that at the end of the day, Saturn is doing us a favour by highlighting where it is exactly that we’re most vulnerable. How else we could we shore up those weaknesses to be strong? Given that as Judy Hall reminds us, karmic astrology is based on the premise that we are eternal, spiritual beings reincarnating into a physical body in order to perfect ourselves through multiple incarnations, it only makes sense to pay close attention to the lessons that Saturn would have us learn.

Sign /HouseKarmic IssueLesson to Learn
Aries / 1st HouseBlockage in self-assertionKarmic duty - when you're young, this feels like a burden or curse but as you grow older and more willingly take up obligations presented, it will get easier.
Taurus / 2nd HouseDeep seated fears of poverty and/overcompensation for previous materialistic lives or consciously taken poverty vows.Develop more traditional and healthier notions of what security and personal safety might mean.
Gemini / 3rd HouseBlockages with communication - hearing or speech impediments and/or learning disabilities. Need to find workable balance between when to speak and when to hold your tongue as well as taking full advantage of any/all learning opportunities, even it not of a traditional kind.
Cancer / 4th HouseFeeling always cut-off from others and/or growing up in a strict household.Drop expectations that you will be treated coldly and without affection and replace them with a warm and welcoming heart.
Leo / 5th HouseFeeling inadequate/insignificant and/or ability to procreate or otherwise create.Stop looking from validation from outside and learn to value yourself for who you are and what you create.
Virgo /6th HouseMay manifest in chronic health problems and/or living in servitude to others.Instead of being evil, your body is a temple and when you are called upon to serve others, choose to do so with an open heart.
LIbra / 7th HouseBlockage relating to partnership, old promises kept that are no longer valid or necessary.Need to develop a healthy and happy relationship with yourself.
Scorpio / 8th HouseDifficulties in sexual expression and/or intimacy - likely manifesting from prior celibacy vows - your own or inherited. Take personal responsibility for your role in sexual relationships which in turn allows you to risk true intimacy.
Sagittarius / 9th HouseDark night of the soul - crisis in religious or spiritual or philosophical beliefs - likely to have arise from many prior lives bowing to the dogma of others.Strike out and find your own path.
Capricorn / 10th HouseOften manifests as debilitating fear of failure in worldly pursuits, especially in younger years.Once you access your innate inner authority, this placement can help you achieve success especially in older years.
Aquarius / 11th HouseOften manifests as feeling out of step with society, as well as deeply critical of your fellow men.Realign yourself to 'higher' vibrations and in doing so, become a wise guide to lead your fellow men.
Pisces / 12th HouseOften manifests with generalised feelings of guilty and powerless and/or fear of being out of control Know thyself - and release the past and embrace not your inadequacies, but instead your personal strength. With age this becomes easier as you gain discipline and confidence.

Example

My Saturn is in Libra in my 4th house and I can definitely relate to feeling cut-off from others. Although not authoritarian in any sense of the word, the home in which I grew up was most certainly not warm and cuddly. My mother took centre stage and as I’ve noted in prior posts, tried to ‘steal’ my personal identity so that she could live her own unfilled life through mine. I was given every opportunity to do whatever it was that she’d not been able to do, which included piano lessons, which I did not want and never had wanted – but nevertheless got along with a whole load of guilt. 

When assessing the karmic effects of my Saturn during this lifetime, it’s important to note that it doesn’t stand  alone in my 4th house but is closely tied with Mercury and Neptune. This put me smack, dab into the mystical/pragmatist dilemma which combined with my communication karma, leaves me pretty much in fantasy land. I have what I have named the ‘Henry James’ syndrome’. Most of his novels (including my absolute favourite, The Portrait of a Lady, explore themes where naïve Americans go back to their European ‘roots’ to obtain the education and polish they didn’t get in their native land.[1] 

But eventually (like Henry James himself) they must come to terms with their roots, or otherwise wander aimlessly like Peter Pan. Those of you familiar with that brilliant 19th and early 20th  century American author will know that he died here in England, never having returned home to America for other than a brief visit. Some might say that he was the archetypal Peter Pan, the lost boy, the eternal youth.

It’s not lost on me that in some strange way, I might even be a reincarnation of Mr Henry James – although clearly lacking his immense writerly talent. I myself have lived abroad in Europe for nearly thirty years and have not returned to my native land – even for a visit – for 18 of those years. I’m not actually certain where that leaves me. But as I started this series of karmic astrology post to help deal with some very complicated karmic issues that and most unpleasantly surfaced over the past month, I hope to make some progress on this.

(to be continued)

[1] In this regard, the history of Bildungsroman might be interesting – coined as it was in 1819 and ‘born’ around 1795-96 with Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship by Goethe. It’s a ‘coming of age’ story – but isn’t just passive – it really features a ‘sensitive’ person who goes in search of answers to life’s questions – and not so much about making money or getting a job. 

And (perhaps not so surprisingly) the Bildungsroman ‘model’ is essentially German. Indeed, perhaps all ‘portrait’ motifs have some basis here. Certainly, there’s suggestion that this basically is what The Portrait of a Lady is all about – the title suggests it as does the plot – both indicating that this is a story about ‘process of development’. It’s more than a biography but shares some elements especially covering a lengthy period of time and includes accounts of (painful) experiences that ‘teach’ the heroine about herself and the world.

The end result is an ‘ethically charged change in consciousness’ – or what fiction writers know as the character arc, through which a series of what might otherwise be perceived as isolated events, characters develop toward what might be considered to be Aristotelian ideas of ‘virtue’.

But back to Isabel Archer herself, our heroine in The Portrait of a Lady. Apparently, James broke with the conventional resolution of the Bildungsroman  because Isabel’s story doesn’t come to an end with the end of the book. It’s left open-ended and I wonder how this better suits her than if we closed her down however carefully and comfortably. I have a feeling that she and her story hold an important key not just for me but for everybody who wants to learn from his/her mistakes.

Karmic Astrology (8)

In prior posts, I’ve investigated several different ways of astrologically identifying your past and future karma using invaluable information gained by attending workshops/retreats lead by Judy Hall many years ago. We’ve looked at the Sun, Moon, nodal axis, and karmic relationships (through synastry). Now, it’s time to look at overall chart with regards to its composition re: elements and modalities.

Squaring the circle was a problem that greatly exercised medieval minds. It breaks down the original chaotic unity into the four elements and then combines them again in a higher unity.

– CARL JUNG

The circle is the sign of infinity; as with the universe itself, it has no beginning and no end. At birth, you step into this circle, aligning with the four directions of the material plane, which in turn correspond with the four angles of the chart  (AC, MC, DC, and IC). With this, the circle is squared and the map for your current incarnation has been drawn. All that remains is how it is read.

Elements

Each of the twelve zodiac signs belongs to one of four essential elements – fire, earth, air, and water – the elements that have been considered to be at the base of our Western word since the ancient Greeks. One of the first considerations in karmic astrology is whether there is an elemental imbalance in the chart. If you have no planets in one of the elements or more than four, you’re on to something as follows:

ElementChallengeToo MuchToo Little
FireNew HorizonsCan't sit still long enough to process new lessons. Difficulty 'burning' off old karmic patterns in order to transform.
EarthTo be comfortable in one's body without being weighed down by it.Eating disorders and lack of spontaneity and lack of imagination. Difficulties earning adequate living or dealing effectively with practical issues.
AirDistinguish knowledge (taught) from knowing (intuition)Overly rational, stuck in the dogma (perhaps religious) of how things are and should be. Difficulty detaching oneself from a situation so as to see it through the eyes of another - inability thing rationally about a situation.
WaterDevelop emotional detachment whilst still remaining sensitive to needs of others.Finding oneself adrift in emotions, either one's own or those of close others - easily pulled into the victim/saviour/persecutor triangle.Difficulty connecting with one's own feelings, often projecting them on to others and then labelling them as overemotional.

Modality

Likewise, we need to consider whether or not there is an modality imbalance in you chart.

Each of the four astrological elements (earth, air, water, and fire) presents itself in the zodiac in one of three modalities or ways of being – cardinal, fixed, and mutable.

The modalities work as follows: in cardinal mode, the energy first forms and presents itself – usually with a forthright bang.  In fixed, the energy holds steady.  It’s just what the package says – fixed – stable – unmoving as a brick wall.  In mutable the energy disintegrates and disperses – getting ready for cycle to repeat again and again.

For example, the element of fire in Aries is cardinal – bright and strong with intent, energy, and little or no control (have you ever known an Aries to stand still for long?).  In Leo (fixed fire) the energy is controlled and steady like the hearth fire, which warms us and cooks our food.  In Sagittarius (mutual fire) the energy is scattered as sparks from the fire, spiralling outwards and upwards until it melts away in the great beyond.

Karmically, we consider the modalities as follows:

ModalitySigns HighlightedKarmic ChallengeExample
FixedTaurus, Leo, Scorpio, and AquariusDevotion and WillThis manifests in a resistance to change, a reluctance to let go of people and experiences that are no longer good for you. Now, you need to cleanup your karmic attic, so to speak, especially in regards to ancestral heritage.
CardinalAries, Cancer, Libra, and CapricornTesting your duty to and relationship with othersThis usually manifests in relieving stress and tension not through knee-jerk rather than carefully considered actions. The trick here is to look more deeply to yourself as to the cause of your problems rather than assuming others are always to blame.
MutableGemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, PiscesWisdom and BalanceThis often manifests with hazy boundaries - what is mine and what is yours? This leaves you with what is often known as a 'leaky aura' and hence been over-responsive to others. The trick here is to remain flexible whilst at the same time developing discipline, and focus.

Example

For example, I have no fire (planets in fire signs) in my chart. Yet at the same time, this missing element holds both my greatest potential as well as the seeds for my downfall. ]

Until I can become conscious of this and find a constructive outlet for the f things fire governs, it will function unconsciously through the collective most likely to my detriment.

Fire represents both trust in one’s intuition as well as faith in oneself. Those with too much fire often demonstrated an easy passion in life, until someone or something causes them to loose their connection with their destiny.

With no fire, I have had to work hard to develop my intuition yet its erratic expression has led to such unpredictability in the past, that I’d learned not to trust it. What’s worse, with all the air in my chart, it was too easy for me to rationalise away my intuition, even when it was right on point.

One instance springs dramatically to mind: years ago I was walking home from the metro late one night after work and heard someone running up behind me. Turning, I saw a young man in jogging clothes and so ‘decided’ (rationally) that he posed no threat to me – after all wasn’t he as entitled to use the sidewalk as I was? Of course he was, end of story. It may come as no surprise to you, but it did to me, that as he jogged away ahead of me, he was holding my purse. Although I’d had my purse carefully strung over my shoulder (a no-no – but then, hey), he’d so carefully used a knife to cut the purse strings that I’d not even felt it. I was so angry with both him and myself that I actually chased after him. Later the police told me I was lucky he’d disappeared into the bushes because quite honestly, if I’d been successful in confronting him, he probably would have used that knife on me.

This is also a lesson in modalities: I have four planets in Libra – and that qualifies as an overload of cardinal energy. Knee-jerk reaction instead of carefully consider action that very well might have gotten me killed.

(to be continued)

Karmic Astrology (7)

In prior posts, I’ve investigated several different ways of astrologically identifying your past and future karma using invaluable information gained by attending workshops/retreats lead by Judy Hall many years ago.

We’ve looked at the Sun, Moon, nodal axis, and karmic relationships (through synastry). Now, it’s time to look at the placement of Chiron in our charts, for this more than anything points directly at what Judy Hall calls ‘the wound of the soul’.

Chiron / the wound of the soul

Chiron is oft considered a minor astrological player, hiding away in the constellation of Sagittarius located between Saturn, his mythical father, and Uranus, his mythical grandfather. 

Product of one an illicit union between Saturn and Philyra, daughter of Oceanus, the primeval deep, Chiron was half-mortal and half-immortal. He was raised by the god, Apollo, and as the result possessed amazing healing skills. But when accidently wounded in his leg, his mortal half, with the poison of the Hydra, he was unable to heal himself. Although the wound refused to heal, being half-immortal, Chiron could not die. 

In karmic work, Chiron shows not only where the incarnating soul has been wounded but also suggests what must be done to find release from that pain. Like Chiron, who eventually found release in voluntarily taking up the burden of Prometheus, who having stolen fire from the god had been condemned to endlessly have his liver pecked out. The key here is voluntarily. To find release from his ‘wound of the soul’, the incarnated souls must freely release its hold on the world it has always and through ‘death’ (of sorts), hope that something greater may emerge. 

In this sense, Chiron is a shaman that helps us move between levels of consciousness in order to embrace our pain before letting it go. Both house and sign placement give important clues to how this process is meant to play out:

Sign/House Karmic ChallengeExample
Aries / 1st House / Aspects with MarsWound to the ego, one's self of self.In prior lives, you may have been too egotistical or else, through some experience, completely lost your self of self. Either way, that sense of self must now be rebuilt on firmer ground in line with one's eternal, indestructible essence.
Taurus/ 2nd HouseWound is in regards to resources (both external and internal) and personal security.In prior lives you learned how to heal this wound but have forgotten. Now is the time to delve back into that past and find the resources you already have to integrate your body and soul and 'ground' your spiritual gifts.
Gemini / 3rd HouseWound in making yourself heard.In prior lives, you may have been punished for misusing your gifts of communication - perhaps spreading gossip, mistruths, or informing on others. Now you must work past these earlier experiences and learn important lessons that will allow you in this life to speak your truth with perfect integrity.
Cancer / 4th HouseWound is emotional in relation to home environment and parentingIn prior lives, you learned that your home environment was not safe, often because parents were untruthful and/or unreliable. Now the challenge is rise above such experiences in order to parent yourself. You do not have rely on others. You came into the world alone and will also leave it alone.
Leo/ 5th HouseWound is in relation to one's now creativity, which may or may not involved having children.In prior lives, you may have experience destruction of your personal creations and have come away with sense they were unworthy or unappreciated. Healing comes from resolving this split between head and heart. When you create for the pure joy of creating, it matters not what others think.
Virgo / 6th HouseWound in constant self-criticism.Pin prior lives, you may have been made to feel you were not good enough and as the result, constantly worried about being criticised. The healing now comes from learning that is not true and indeed, through being of service to others using your amazing healing powers, you develop faith in your ability to heal yourself.
Libra / 7th HouseWound is in regard to your relationships.In previous lives, you may have learned to believe that you will always attract unsuitable relationships that are destined to fail. Healing comes when you realise that your relationships are nothing more of a mirror into your own should. Work on your relationship with yourself and watch your relationships with others prosper and grow.
Scorpio / 8th HouseWould is in regard to the experience of death.In prior lives you may have experienced severe pain as the result of untimely deaths of others and/or yourself which resulted in loosing of parts of your own soul. Healing comes from soul retrieval and integration, especially of those part of SELF that you' previously chosen to disown.
Sagittarius / 9th HouseWound in old beliefs and attitudes, especially those of a religious/philosophical nature.In prior lives, you might have held on to beliefs for which you were persecuted or punished. Healing comes from letting go of the need to cling to beliefs and learn how to be in the 'here and now' instead of the process of 'becoming'.
Capricorn / 10th HouseWounds in regards to external worldly affairs, especially of a business or political nature.In prior lives, you might have caved into the demands of others and done things against your conscious and/or stood by your conscious only to be used as the scapegoat to protect unscrupulous others. Healing comes from connecting with and staying true to your own inner authority regardless of what others do or say.
Aquarius / 11th HouseWounds relating to being an outcast, or outsider.In prior lives you may have been punished for having clearly seen (and tried to fix) the wrongs of society. Healing comes with the realisation that one size does not fit all and what's good for the goose, is not always good for the gander.
Pisces / 12th HouseWounds relating to loss of connection with own divinity.In prior lives, you may have given yourself in order to heal the wounds of others. Healing comes from taking back your personal power and using it for the good of all involved, which includes both self as well as others.

Times of healing

Chiron transits (i.e. current position of Chiron making a key aspect to your natal Chiron), are often immensely healing turning points. But because of the eccentric orbit of Chiron, these periods often prove hard to predict.

Your first Chiron square, which separates you from that which gives comfort from your pain, can occur anytime between 5 ½ years – 23 ½ years of age. Clearly there is a huge disparity here as to how emotionally capable you will be with dealing with this.

Next, comes your Chiron opposition, which intensifies your wound.

Finally, sometime usually sometime between age 49-51 years of age, you will have your Chiron return, which if you get it right and have been successful into integrating all the phases you’ve experienced to this point, can be an enormously healing time. So much depends on how you’ve dealt with your earlier Uranus opposition Uranus transit. However if, like too many, you fail to get this right, serious health issues are the usual result: men often have heart attacks and women, throat problems.

Example

My own Chiron is in Capricorn straddles my 6th and 7th houses.

This suggests that the wound in my soul not only has something to do with worldly affairs and becoming my own authority, but also regarding relationships gone wrong as well as the damage done by constant self-criticism. Healing should come through using my healing powers in service to others in such a way as to establish my person sense of authority, which in turn should also benefit my personal relationships with close others.

As my own Chiron return was due in the early spring of 2003, a visualization done during my summer 2002 retreat in Glastonbury should have proven useful: during that visualization, I saw the planes of war over the skies of England. My home and family were gone – now what? Churchill and important other world leaders of the time were the ‘new authority’ of the ‘new world order’ and I knew that I must join them; together we’d win the respect of the people lead them forwards to release themselves from the damage of war into a new and better future. 

Although all the pieces of the puzzle as suggested by my natal chart were in that visualisation, I do not know if it accurately reflects a prior life. Neither or since have I had any suggestion that was a reality. But I do know that because my North node is in Capricorn (in the 7th house), that becoming an authority such as this is a goal for me in this lifetime. Although at the time of that visualization I didn’t know that a few months later I’d be made redundant after many years of working for Ernst & Young as an international tax lawyer, I’d have a new job in the same field with a smaller firm, where I’d have the opportunity to establish myself as that authority.

In hindsight, I cannot say that was all a huge success because it wasn’t. It’s true that I gained some ground in becoming an authority in my field of expertise, in this regard whilst at the same time developing some significant thyroid (i.e. throat) problems. 

The lesson, I suppose, is never to underestimate the karmic challenges with which we find ourselves presented. As the result, we ought not to become too critical of ourselves when we fail to meet them full on in complete triumph. Another lesson is that there are so many threads of our karmic past to follow up during any lifetime, that sometimes they get hopelessly tangled. For example, it was pointed out to me by a fellow student during that retreat that with Uranus in Cancer in my 1st natal house close to my ascendant, that I’ve come into this life with an expectation of my home/family (Cancer) would come to an end by something like a war (Uranus) and who knows, but that this expectation coloured my visualisation as much as did past life karma. 

(to be continued)

Karmic Astrology (6)

In prior posts, I’ve investigated several different ways of astrologically identifying your past and future karma using invaluable information gained by attending workshops/retreats led by Judy Hall many years ago.

Sometimes these indicators fit together nicely and, for the most part, point in the same direction. Sometimes, however, they do not.

Karma with personal relationships

It’s been my personal experience that souls incarnate at a particular place and time to deal with multiple of issues usually to deal with unfinished business with particular persons.

It’s also been my personal experience that although sometimes you have no idea that someone is pushing one of your ‘karmic buttons’, in other cases you know that someone is ‘special’ for you in some way from the moment that you meet.

Finally, it’s been my experience that the nature of that unfinished business always shows up in the synastry (comparison grid) between two individual’s natal charts. This identifies the essential energies in play between the pair as well as showcasing what has brought them together in the first place.[1]

When looking a synastry aspects, the closer the contact (within 0-5 degrees of orb) the more you’ll feel it. The conjunction is the most powerful of all the karmic contacts and if it’s close (within 1-2 degrees) it’s guaranteed whether or not admitted, you will BOTH feel it.

Also when looking for signs of karmic connections, the contacts of most interest are between (1) the personal planets of one person (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, and Saturn) and (2) the karmic planets of the other (Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, and Chiron).

Karmic PlanetNature of issueExample
PlutoPower-over issues (subtle and obvious) Moon/Pluto - this is typical for mother-child relationships that manifest in dependency issues where one person lives his/her life through the life of the other.
NeptuneSubtle debts, illusions, challenge for unconditional loveNeptune/Venus - this is the classic soulmate syndrome - the soulmate fails to love the other in the way that they have in the past - sometimes the only answer is to walk away and set them free.
UranusFreedom/ commitment issues and acting as a catalyst to find a new way to express the relationshipUranus/Mercury - the Uranus person forces the situation where the Mercury person must finally say what he really believes/feels.
SaturnKarmic debts often revolving around duty (to stay)Saturn/Venus - Venus sparkles in the social limelight, Saturn sulks. Her very existence remind him of his saturnine ineptitude. He puts her down. She flirts to compensate. He gets jealous and controlling. Both parties are miserable but feel duty bound to stay together for financial, family, and/or religious reasons.
ChironHealing wounds and finding integrationChiron/Venus- triggers some wound we carry from the past regarding our sense of personal self-worth. The dynamics between the two persons brings this to a head hopefully allowing a suitable solution to be found.

Soul Mates

Perhaps the most problematic of all the karmic connections is that commonly known as the soul mate. These are carefully programmed old patterns of emotions and behaviours that run very, very deep. The aim of the soul mate game is to step off the karmic treadmill (habits) and find a new way to handle the relationship.

Unfortunately, more often than not, this proves impossible and it all ends in tears. This is not only because it really does take ‘two to tango’, but also because when it comes to ‘soul mates’, Neptune, planet of illusion, delusion, and downright deception is always involved. Often this points to prior patterns of collusion – i.e., you each played into the other’s distorted understanding of reality.

Example

When I moved to the Netherlands back in 1994, I met a glamorous red-haired Dutch woman who stole my heart and more. I started having spontaneous past life regressions (walking through Dam Square and finding myself dressed in clothing from the 1920’s) and other mystical experiences (I knew what she was thinking without it being spoken aloud and vice versa).  Back then, I didn’t know anything about astrology, but I was prompted to explore it – I needed answers to what was happening to me – after all I was a logical international tax lawyer (and she was too) – what could this ‘fairyland’ dream adventure be about?

Her Neptune fell smack on my Sun in synastry.[2 I painfully experienced the pursuit of glamour that comes with connecting up with a soul mate. She didn’t look very happy either. In our present incarnation, we were face-to-face with each other every day (she was my boss) yet we never dealt with our ‘reality’ in a realistic way.

From the start, I knew in my heart, she was ‘mine’ but that I’d ‘lose her. It had happened before to ‘us’. In a meditation during my retreat in Glastonbury, I was walking up steps to a big house in the icy, dark, cold of mid-winter and my glamorous red-haired Dutch woman (in that prior life, my husband), was following me, his/her head bowed. We were in mourning. Twice, I went back down the steps and tried to take his/her hand but he/she refused. Knowing what I did about about that which we’d be faced in the ‘future’, I thought that if only we could be closer in the past, that things would be different. They were not.

In our separate natal charts, our nodes were reversed (which will always be the case with those born 9 years apart). Karmically, the reversed nodes suggests that we are meant to learn from each other in this incarnation but are heading in opposite directions: she is meant to accomplish that which I’ve already accomplished and vice versa. In a North Node meditation directed by Judy Hall, the glamorous red-haired Dutch woman and I (both dressed in fabulously beautiful furs) were stuck alone in a face-off on a ‘ice island’.

The last time I saw that glamorous red-haired Dutch woman in real life was back in the summer of 2002 in Amsterdam at her retirement party. I’ve never seen or heard from her again except that, every once and awhile, she erupts unbidden, illusive as ever, in my dreams.

[1] Whilst synastry examines the impact one person has the other, a second technique – a composite chart – uses the individual natal charts to create a whole new third chart. This represents the relationship as a whole and provides insight into the dynamics upon which it, as a relationship, functions. By comparing the two techniques, we often find repeating themes, which of are of special interest because they will have a significant, longer-term impact on the relationship. For purposes of this blog post, I’ll only consider the synastry but the combinations of the two planets in a composite chart will, symbolically, tell the same story.

[2 In our composite chart, Uranus/Venus (freedom in the relationship/breaking the ‘old’ contract/bond), Mars/Pluto (this could be the power struggle with the sibling – that showed up with Mars in own 3rd house), and Moon/Saturn (mother/child ‘duty’ and ‘debts’ that now need to be repaid) were closely highlighted.