HAPPY VERNAL EQUINOX!!

NOTE: Spring or Vernal Equinox occurs when the Sun crosses (from south to north) the Earth’s equator March 19th at 9:30pm Pacific time and for one day we have equal day and night 

Since I began doing astrology professionally in 2010, it has been my goal to educate others in the language of shamanic astrology and on a more general level, our connection to rhythms and patterns of our lives and how they relate to the Earth and Sky.  We are all intimately connected to those rhythms and patterns, whether or not we are conscious of it.  Observing and celebrating the equinoxes is just one of the ways were are connected.  The education begins with the awareness in ourselves of the rhythms through the (beyond) ancient understanding of the archetypal patterns that we embody.  From there, we can begin to see what role we play among billions of others in the relationship between the Earth, Sky and ourselves.  Astrology is a language that slowly emerged from the human desire to understand that which is around us.  It was weaved with astronomy for thousands of years (in its multitude of forms) and its only in recent times (comparatively-speaking over the span of human history) that astrology has been separated from everything else.

Humans looked up and we highly aware of the constellations and their patterns and their countless ways to connect them, emerging in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East as the zodiac we know today.  Those constellations, like the Lion, the Water-Bearer and the Bull have been the backdrop in which the Sun and planets have passed over our heads for eternity.  They are as much a part us as the terrestrial environment here on Earth.  It helps our understanding of time and our place in the cosmos.  When I work with astrology or more specifically, shamanic astrology, the night sky, seasons and all that goes with it plays just as important a role, if not more, that seeing the 2-dimensional image of an astrology chart.  It’s our experience with the sky that matters a lot.  We inform the signs, planets and stars as much as they inform us.

Education of others in this beautiful language of astrology (and my words above) was a goal when I came down for my stay in Tucson.  But my time here has been a real struggle and while I didn’t have concrete expectations I did hope to connect more with my work here as well as forging new friendships and relationships, like the last few times I was here.

Much of what took place here was due to circumstances beyond my control, like the illnesses that took hold and the actions of others.  But the real teaching was from the timing of my time in Tucson and a discovery that I lacked a certain diligence and had a little bit too much optimism.  My perceptions were colored intensely by the initiations I was experiencing, especially that of Pluto.  I was forced to experience a deeper dimension of myself in the trials in the desert.  I had to surrender to the process and give permission for things to develop as they were going to develop. My usual ways of doing things didn’t work and that “acute sense of something missing” has been quite pronounced these past months.

With that said, I do miss my friends up in the Northwest but I’m not under any illusion that the grass is always greener on the other side.  I feel somewhat more determined to feel into hat is going on with me and how I can approach this next chapter of my life with a little more courage.  I also feel much more ready to enter this next stage of the mid-life passage.

I am reminded that when I sit down with someone’s birth information, I note the stage or phase of life they are in.  It gives me a context from which to fill in the details, like what cycles are taking place and where the planets are, including the part of the sky they may be passing through.  I look and feel into the archetypes present and envision how they interact with each other and in how they are evolving in a person.  It is a process I don’t use on my own chart or self often enough and while I experience a surge of energy when I do a reading or a teaching, that same burst rarely comes from looking at my own chart.  I’ve realized its given me a gift of a new perspective and one that requires further study on my part.

In the meantime, I’ve been able to explore more of the gifts of looking at the planets not just in the signs but against the background stars and the energy they symbolize.  In the case of Mars, which has been a great focus of mine off and on since 2014, I’ve gained greater insights into my own masculinity, how astrology views Mars and how we can all gain a greater understanding of ourselves by observing each planet’s individual passage by constellations.

The stories from many eons ago are available for all to tune into and each star and region of the sky has a story to tell.  Each person also has their own story from the past, but even more importantly, an emerging new story their soul is exploring in this lifetime.  In my case, their is a role for me in educating others of this knowledge, be it Mars or another part of astrology.  It’s important that we can see this in ourselves.  I am following where I am being called and right now I am being called back to the Northwest to be of service.  I didn’t sign up to be a shamanic astrologer to give readings, per se, but more to empower others with knowledge.  To help them discover themselves so they can make informed choices and exercise their free will in harmony with their soul’s journey.

-EMR 3/19/2016