Why I’m loving learning astrology
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Disclaimer, sort of: Here’s where I state that I am not an astrologer (nor do I even play one on TV). Astrology is a complex and lifelong study. Before 2019, I’d say I had, at least, a passing interest in astrology but no real understanding of much beyond the Sun sign, Moon sign, and Rising sign. Then came Covid 19 and historical comparisons between 2020 and the astrology of the Bubonic Plague and other great world cataclysmic events. During lockdown, the astrology podcasts led to a new passion for the subject, followed by webinars and online coursework and books recommended to help me advance my studies (way too many books).
When I am attracted to something deeply enough to want to know it better, the Sagittarius (my rising sign) teacher archetype in me needs to study and share what I’m learning. I accept that the detective in me that likes to get to the bottom of things (Scorpio sun), loves to do the research (sometimes obsessively-also Scorpio) to find the root cause, to connect the dots. This is something I wish we valued more in western methods of healing. Band-aids and symptom relief are needed too, but too easily we have settled for not understanding why or how we got sick and what we might do differently in the future, in the name of “just make me better”.
I am reminded of the patient who said to me: “I’m tired of being a guinea pig. If you don’t KNOW what I have, please don’t give me any more drugs to try. None of them have worked, and they all have side effects.”
Enter astrology to save the day! Just kidding. In a way. It’s got a structure, framework, and methodology. It's been around for thousands of years in nearly every culture. It's based on the unique alignment each of us has with the heavens at the exact moment of our entrance into the world. Until recent history, every US President through Reagan had an astrologer, even if it wasn’t openly talked about. Monarchs and other heads of state around the world consulted astrologers on matters of importance to them. Often it was to know when to wage war, based on favorable planetary transits. When I noticed more astrology being discussed during 2020, I started to tune in to more podcasts about astrology, and soon I was taking notes, buying books, and watching webinars.
My analytical mind enjoys taking things apart, looking at how they work, and attempting to determine how they could work better. Having a curious nature has made me more averse to dogma; I am a rules-were-made-to-be-broken type, but I still appreciate certain traditions and the security they provide. Taking risks gives me the freedom to think outside the box; to make lemonade out of lemons. I see a place in healing for astrology. Energy medicine has actually been around probably as long as humans have been seeking to heal. Based on archetypal patterns, astrology can be a useful tool that offers us insight into ourselves. Of course, we always have free will, and life is not dictated by the movements of the planets, but that doesn’t exempt us as energy beings from feeling the effects of the energy shifts as planets move through the solar system. There have been specialty areas of astrology devoted to humanistic, psychological, and transpersonal astrology as well as medical astrology.
Besides nursing and midwifery, I’ve studied shamanic healing and quantum healing therapies like remote healing, therapeutic touch, EFT, herbal healing, homeopathy, et cetera for my entire adult life and incorporated them into my work and life. I see astrology as a natural extension of energy healing. Although the scientific community still considers it a pseudoscience, I’m comfortable validating its usefulness in my life and with my clients if they are open to it.
Everything is energy and has an energetic field that interacts with everything else’s energetic field - and the Universe. Sometimes harmoniously, sometimes with discord.
Astrology is probably more of an art than a science. Research supports the energetics, but the art is in interpreting the dynamic intersections that occur between energies through geometry, physics, history, mythology, and human psychology.
The planets form geometric angles to each other as they traverse the sky and their energies interact with each other, either conflicting or enhancing, depending on their polarities. Either it creates a harmonious tone (soft aspect), or a discordant tone (hard aspect). Trines and sextiles are soft aspects. Squares and oppositions are hard aspects. Conjunctions are aspects where the energies potentiate each other because they unite or enhance each other.
I wrote a little journal entry as part of my learning each day this week reflecting the energy I was experiencing as the week unwound:
8/16/21 Today is Monday and as we face down the second Aquarius full moon in a month, I’m writing against a backdrop of intense, bummer energy that feels like the bottom is about to fall out of everything. The world news is depressing and chaotic, so I turn it off to listen to the weekly astrology forecast, hoping for some encouraging signs in the heavens. I already know that I will hear that we are experiencing intense energy moving through the week, culminating in an intense full moon on Saturday. But I’m hoping to hear that there are some mediating aspects that will make it feel better sooner, like Venus moving into Libra.
I know that every Full Moon is a time to release and let go, but Aquarius energy triples the intensity of that power and this is the second Full Moon in Aquarius IN A ROW, with exceptionally powerful tension and intensity magnifying this releasing energy so that it feels more explosive. Like a ‘breaking - down, can’t- hold- it- together, forced- to- let -go, this- is- the- end’ - kind of energy. Very dramatic-feeling.
8/17/21 The sign of Aquarius, the water bearer, is an air sign. It is fixed air and its signature energy is kind of detached, deliberate, and outwardly focused. Aquarians tend to be the inventors and scientists of the zodiac, very much interested in moving humanity forward through progress and they have no shortage of big ideas. Innovation is paramount to the Aquarian vibe.
I think of Aquarius as holding situations at arm’s length so it can decide if it wants to engage and indeed Aquarians are often described as aloof individuals. As a fixed air sign (think of the gulf stream or a wind tunnel), Aquarius rules the mind, and Aquarians, with their highly active minds, are often said to be ahead of their time. They stream ideas like crazy, usually for the broad betterment of the world’s progress. They have respect for tradition as long as it does not hold back progress. Galileo and Charles Darwin were both Aquarians.
8/18/21 I know that every Full Moon is a time to release and let go, but Aquarius energy triples the intensity of that power and this is the second Full Moon in Aquarius IN A ROW, with exceptionally powerful tension and intensity magnifying this releasing energy so that it feels more explosive. Like a ‘breaking - down, can’t- hold- it- together, forced- to- let -go, this- is- the- end’ - kind of energy. Very dramatic-feeling today. I can’t even watch the news - heartbreaking as the women and children of Afghanistan get caught in the undertow of US withdrawal.
8/19/21: Last month’s full moon at the very beginning of Aquarius gave us a taste of this letting-go energy. I cleared out my bonus room big time and set it up as a new creative space. That involved lots of boxing up for the thrift stores and saying goodbye to things of the past, also revisiting memories and reflecting on where we came from, compared to where we are now.
The moon reflects the light of the Sun, like a mirror. Jupiter, large and expansive, wishes to enhance everything it interacts with. If the moon reflects Jupiter, like a mirror, and Jupiter broadens our big ideas and expands our revolutionary Aquarian ideas, this moon has a broader, more visionary quality. There will be significantly more potential for big changes, the finality of endings, and what follows can be revolutionary new beginnings for us all.
8/20/21: Impatient for change, feeling the drive to DO SOMETHING, shake it up. We may leave a job or situation that we can’t stand for one more minute, break up a relationship or partnership that feels stagnant. I don’t know but this energy has THAT’S FINAL stamped all over it. And if others are feeling that way too, know that it could be you who gets suddenly dumped or dramatically dismissed! Many planets are in retrograde now (Neptune, Pluto, Saturn, Jupiter, and Uranus) adding an underscore to your feelings. Retrogrades bring the potential of enhanced focus to everything. We get to review, revisit, renovate, regret our actions or reimagine, reinvent our situation. Discernment is the word. A good word for the next few weeks as we will have to juggle with this intense energy a good bit. Make your words and actions match as Mercury and Mars conjunct our exacting Ms. Virgo.
All month long we’ve been working on the micro-level, uncovering secrets, tinkering with details, tidying up our situations, but not quite satisfied, and now as we enter the sign of Virgo on the same day as this full moon, we’re asked to get it right, because time’s up! Uranus is here, planet of revolution, and joining all these other big outer planets retrograding, (slowing down) to make intensify the energies. Sudden changes with fast-moving energy are Uranus’ signature but in the fixed earth sign of Taurus,it will be like a simmer that suddenly comes to a boil and is likely to bring the world earthquakes, hurricanes, car wrecks, and sudden upheaval that can completely change our landscape (actual and metaphorical).
The ultimate message of this Full Moon reflecting all these retrograde planets is one of CHANGE and JUSTICE, finding your voice, using your personal and collective power to bring about change in the ways that align for you with the world you want to see. This energy is the same signature we had in the 1960’s when Truth and Justice were major cultural themes.
