In an article posted shortly after the Supreme Court declared marriage a universal right, Mike Adams, editor of the Natural News conspiracy website, decried same-sex couples are “begging the government for a license to marry.”
Should marriage be a renewable term contract?
He viewed the move toward same-sex marriage as more control by Big Brother. “While the gay community is wildly celebrating what they universally see as a victory, none of them are asking the far more important question: Why do we need government permission to get married in the first place?”
It’s a valid question, really, but Adams seemed to miss the deeper point, at least of the court’s action. The issues behind the struggle for same-sex marriage involved legal matters such as taxation, inheritance, adoption rights, hospital visitation and who makes decisions when one’s partner is incapacitated.
Those are the things that are, right or wrong, already regulated by the government, and one of the ways they’re regulated is through the marital contract. For those who want to use it, it can be a great tool — you get to look after your spouse in times of need. You can grant a foreign person citizenship to your own country. And it grants a diversity of tax breaks. Single people essentially pay a tax for not being married.
None of this is especially romantic. Yes, love is involved in these issues, though marriage is not about the right to candle-lit dinners, a spiritual ceremony or a big party with a band playing cover tunes and all your cousins and college friends attending.
“A far more meaningful victory would have achieved the elimination of all government control over marriage. The union of two consenting adults in marriage should never be a matter of government control in the first place,” Adams wrote.
There are some interesting correlations and mathematics in this week’s reading.
First, like last week, the first two cards belong to the major arcana, with a minor — this time Wands — to the right of them. We are riding on a theme here, and my sense is that this week is a particular evolution of something that is not new, but is starting to shift into new territory.
Justice, The Judgment, Nine of Wands from The Röhrig Tarot deck, created by Carl-W. Röhrig. Click on the image for a larger version.
Second, Pluto appears at the centre in the form of The Judgment, just as it moves to centre-stage in the news: the New Horizons space probe is due to fly past the dwarf planet tomorrow, July 14, 2015. One headline sums up the synchronicity: “Pluto to give up its secrets.”
Or, is it that the influence of Pluto is giving up your secrets?
Numerically, the number “two” is underscored in both readings. Here, Justice is card 11, The Judgment is card 20, both cards adding up to 2 (1+1 and 2+0). The High Priestess from last week, as card 2 in the major arcana, is making another visit this week, but in a different guise: the accompanying book to The Röhrig Tarot explains that the figure in The Judgment is The High Priestess — only this time, with her eyes open.
The liminal feminine, inward-looking, in the past (as the High Priestess to the left of last week’s reading), is now present, here right now, and calling others to their own awakening — as she is calling you to yours. You are turning your inner vision outwards. This is further reflected in the contrast between the angel and the blind-folded figure of Justice who sits in the recent past.
Finally, nine (from the Nine of Wands) is the difference between XX (The Judgment) and XI (Justice). This is all leading you somewhere.
It is leading you to the point of breakthrough. Are you able to recognise the call to action and shift that fortified, entrenched way of acting — the one that, quite frankly, has started to bore you, and everyone else, to tears — so that you give yourself enough space to a) see a way through and b) get yourself there?
Hint: get out of your own way. There is nothing else you need to do. There are bigger forces at work than you alone, and they are the driving factors. To push is to add unnecessary fuel to an already kinetic situation. To resist is to look into the eyes of an angel and mistrust what you see. There is no need to fight; the weapons were laid down some time ago. It is time to listen, to hear what is being spoken to you through the trumpet-blast of your own awakening.
It is time to look into the eyes of that angel and feel the steadfast, compassionate inevitability of your own exposure.
They say that Justice is blind. And, you know, that blindness served a purpose. It sifted out what was no longer necessary; it weighed up a situation and guided you in a particular direction (you might not have had much choice about it). It also gave you the time to honour the path not taken. The blindfold denoted an unwillingness to be swayed by sentiment or subjectivity. Justice brought you to where you are now — at the feet of an angel. And she is not blind. She sees everything. She sees you, fully; and, through the reflection of her eyes, you have a rare moment: to see more of yourself than you had heretofore thought possible.
To see more of yourself and to stand present in that knowledge, neither attacking your reflection nor turning away from it.
The eyes of an angel.
Imagine the power that is generated in that moment — an instant of recognition, the removal of what felt impenetrable. Simply because you realise that the way you’ve always seen something is not the only way to see it. What would our world be like if we acted as if nothing existed over the horizon? Now imagine what the world would be like if the choices you had were not limited to the ones you’ve made in the past.
Deciding to see differently is seldom enough to achieve different sight. Right now, though, the forces at work are such that a shift in perspective is within reach. You just need to get out of the way. No, you can’t put conditions on it. No, you cannot control it. No, you are not able to stipulate what you deem acceptable to see and what you’d prefer to remain concealed. No, there is no need to hide anymore.
The magic of an invisible world stands poised to reveal itself. It has only seemed like magic because it defied your sense of what was possible. Until now. Until now.
Astrology/Elemental correspondences: Justice (Libra), The Judgment (Pluto), Nine of Wands (Moon in Sagittarius)
If you want to experiment with tarot cards and don’t have any, we provide a free tarot spread generator using the Celtic Wings spread, which is based on the traditional Celtic Cross spread. This article explains how to use the spread.
Today’s Oracle takes us to the Cancer weekly for Sept. 17, 2010
Next week’s Aries Full Moon reveals something that has been hidden — for example, how much you’ve accomplished, most of which you forgot about or decided was not important. You chalked it up to experience without quite recognizing that it was actually a work in progress. Meanwhile, events seem to proceed on two fronts: one is some potentially dramatic development, revelation or recognition; the other is a subtler, more introspective breakthrough of thought that is actually more potent than anything that happens visibly. Remember this; while outer developments will no doubt be welcome and bring some recognition for all that you’ve done, the more significant matter involves the way you direct your mind, and how you process your ideas into action. Good things are happening, but the best is yet to come.
The Daily Oracle offers a horoscope selected randomly by our Intelligent Archive Oracle program, unique to Planet Waves. It’s also a database of my horoscopes going back to the late 1990s. You can use the Intelligent Archive Oracle to answer questions and give you ideas for how to handle problems and situations you cannot see through. This feature is available to our All Access and Core Community members. See this link for more information.
Today, and for the next few days, we’re in the last phase of the lunar cycle, known as the balsamic — when the Moon is 45 degrees behind the Sun, or less. I just spent some time looking for how the word ‘balsamic’ got associated with this phase of the Moon.
Himalayan balsam, photo from Plantlife.org.uk. If you know why the balsamic Moon has that name, please drop me a comment below. Thank you.
There were no references that I could find in astrology dictionaries. I checked Culpeper’s Herbal, to no avail. The best information I could find was from the old reliable Etymology Online Dictionary, which defines balsam as “aromatic resin used for healing wounds and soothing pains.”
I don’t know if the mysterious name of this somewhat mysterious Moon phase relates to that, though let’s consider the balsamic phase one of resolution, of healing, of closure and of preparing to come together.
It will be a few days before the Moon and Sun form their once-only this year conjunction in Cancer. That’s exact Wednesday, July 15, at 9:24 pm EDT (July 16 at 01:24 UTC). Even though it’s in the future, we can align with the energy of this aspect pattern as soon as we’re aware of it.
We will have more to say over the coming days about this lunation, but I will offer you a short preview now. This is a potent event for a few reasons, one of them being that the Moon-Sun conjunction will be exactly square Eris; that in effect brings Eris fully into the scenario, and that in turn is urging introspection.
Be mindful of the ways you experience being divided against yourself. Be mindful of any effort to deceive by compartmentalization or fragmentation. Be aware of subversive agendas, yours or those of anyone else.
I recently managed to procure a good amount of time off from all of my jobs, and having space to decompress and hit the reset button has been rad. The first few days were spent in revelry with friends in celebration of the last three Grateful Dead shows. Then, the shows were over, and just as I was wondering what reading materials would accompany me to my seven-day tour of Seattle’s glorious parks, I fell back into an old, glorious pattern: post-apocalyptic and dystopian young adult fiction and re-visiting all of the apocalyptic non-fiction from my grad school days.
Photo by graywacke/A Landing a Day
Yes, this is how my mind decompresses.
Having spent three years studying the psychology of apocalyptic thinking in terms of images, I’m fascinated by the trends I see in pop culture that point to increasing consumption of these memes.
This past week, I’ve watched episodes of “The Last Ship,” “Between,” “The Strain” and “Ascension,” most of which deal with some kind of “the virus killed everyone but us” kind of plot line. I’ve also read three young adult books written in recent years that are basically the same thing.
The other day, while sedating myself with the white noise of waves at my favorite local sandy beach, I began flipping through my favorite book about apocalypse, Dreaming the End of the World: Apocalypse as Rite of Passage by Michael Ortiz. Ortiz’s basic idea is that the foundation for apocalyptic thinking has its roots in Mesopotamian culture, as urban reality became exalted above or against the wilderness.
We are currently in a phase of technological realization of these myths, characterized in Judeo-Christian mythology by the battle between the Messiah and the Beast, images of which moved from the mythic to the literal with the single, terrifying and — Ortiz would say — ecstatic image of the mushroom cloud. What began as mythology reflecting an inward process of descent, destruction and resurrection has been concretized in a mythic image imprinted in the collective imagination.
In that sense, Ortiz would say that apocalyptic initiation is about waking up from self-destructive imperatives. Sounds so neat in that little phrase, but this can be harrowing work.
I wonder a lot about the ways in which mass culture is saturated with apocalyptic imagery, and whether this facilitates our “waking up” or compounds the fears that are already being repressed. There is a mystery to the “dream at the end of the world,” and to the apocalyptic imagination, that can become addictive. Not only do we have access to TV shows, movies and books laying out fictional accounts of post-apocalyptic landscapes, we have real world correlates and the images to go with them as well.
We can see the effects of ecological degradation, including assuredly human-caused effects. We know that bioterrorism is real. And we spend vast amounts of energetic reserves ignoring the fact that Fukushima is still leaking, and that nuclear reactors are peppered across the landscape.
Apocalyptic imagery is majorly seductive, and Ortiz puts out a warning that we need to use caution because, as he says, “the myth of apocalypse seeks to enthrall us into an epic fiction with very real consequences. Beware the fascination with what is larger than life, this vulgar passion play that would crucify the world.”
Astrologically speaking, I’m fascinated by generational themes in terms of outer planet transits. I’m currently paying a lot of attention to my Pluto in Scorpio clients (born roughly 1983 to 1995), namely because they’re the ones who come to me the most often. Although dealing with the wounds of living in “apocalyptic” times isn’t unique to this generation, they are a group that is, from my point of view, here to heal some of the deepest, most shadowy places of the soul, and they are being asked (or have chosen) to do so as they are coming of age on shaky ground.
The tension of having that apocalyptic consciousness blooming inside of you while at the same time trying to “be an adult,” settle into a career, get married and have children can be intense, even more so when one is individuating and actively trying to seek out the soul’s calling. The constant bombardment of images and articles at every turn can leave us in a state of perpetual numbness or overwhelm that makes it very difficult to do soul work at the level that is probably necessary.
Although many individuals have clearly existed in recent history who have done great things to steer the course of humanity away from the concretized apocalyptic myth, this is a generation that gets to attempt to individuate away from the self-destructive imperative. In that sense, I think that the glut of apocalyptic media can be a helpful outlet for coping and releasing some of the inner mayhem, so long as its seductive qualities don’t take over.
I’ve also been thinking a lot about this last cycle of Saturn in Scorpio, as I’ve mentioned twenty thousand times. It feels to me as if this transit has been asking us to take responsibility for a lot of psychic, and often physical, deep cleaning. I often think that this transit is doing some of the legwork for Pluto’s entry into Aquarius in the not-entirely distant future, an event that happens round about the same time Saturn is in Aquarius. Whatever was birthed or surfaced during Pluto’s time in Scorpio in the ‘80s reaches a crisis point, or first quarter square, in Aquarius. Perhaps Saturn is offering us an opportunity to re-work culturally ingrained apocalyptic thinking patterns.
What would that look like? Well, Ortiz speaks of the apocalyptic rite of passage as being about the awakening of compassion in a dark time. As apocalyptic mythology collided with and helped to sculpt Judeo-Christian myths, those who did not believe in the “One True Word” of god were cast into the role of the other — as someone who does not exist, has no rights, and is not quite human until they convert, saving their soul from eternal damnation.
What does a conversion to compassion for oneself and all others look like? What comes to mind for me is what I often speak of when I see Pluto in the 12th house of a chart, with the 12th house’s resonance with Pisces pointing towards a kind of culmination point for the journey of the soul, which is represented by Pluto.
Pluto in the 12th house to me speaks of a deep need for forgiveness. It reminds me of the need to go into our own suffering, to face the places where we are the most wounded and offer compassion to ourselves first, right there in the face of the shame, guilt and fear that might arise. From that place of internal compassion and unconditional love of self we can extend the same to others.
Of course, we have to watch for compulsive tendencies, as Pluto can represent compulsion, and the Pisces/12th archetypes can speak to martyrdom and self-sacrifice. But there is something about facing those deepest, apocalyptic-feeling fears, and then going to dance it out — say, at a friend’s house for the last three Grateful Dead shows — that is cathartic, and more importantly, regenerative. The creativity that comes from regeneration seems to be exactly what is being called for now.
We are now offering for pre-order the 2015 Midyear Report — The Art of Living / Astrology for Artists. The theme is how to live artfully; how to turn your life into a creative project; and how best to integrate conscious creation into your life, as a way of life. This is a 12-sign audio reading plus an introduction which will move elegantly through the astrology of the second half of the year — Venus retrograde, the two additional Venus-Mars conjunctions, the two additional Venus-Jupiter conjunctions, and Jupiter ingressing Virgo. You may pre-order here. Note, this fantastic project is a fundraiser for Planet Waves. Thank you for signing up. You will love it. By the way, I describe the project in detail, along with my personal commitment to the subject matter, in the last segment of this week’s Planet Waves FM.
Today’s Oracle takes us to the Pisces weekly for July 19, 2004
Uranus in your sign has delivered the one thing that Uranus never fails to provide — the unexpected. An image that has appeared in your charts for August is the presence of a child, or your return to a childhood home. If you can head that way, that is the direction to make your movements. A third possibility that does not exclude others is adjusting your present home-space to perfectly accommodate the child inside you, who has very specific needs right now. Wherever you are, that young one needs to feel like he or she belongs. Listen carefully; not all kids speak loudly.
The Daily Oracle offers a horoscope selected randomly by our Intelligent Archive Oracle program, unique to Planet Waves. It’s also a database of my horoscopes going back to the late 1990s. You can use the Intelligent Archive Oracle to answer questions and give you ideas for how to handle problems and situations you cannot see through. This feature is available to our All Access and Core Community members. See this link for more information.
Educator/therapist Prana Regina Barrett’s journey to using more inclusive language in her workshops holds valuable insights for all of us — not just teachers of Tantra or sexuality workshops (but if you are one, we’d love to read your thoughts). This piece was originally published on Decolonizing Yoga and republished here with the author’s permission. — Amanda
by Prana Regina Barrett
My husband and I have been sharing Tantra workshops worldwide for many years. Despite the historical heterosexual paradigm that Tantra has held, we haven’t practiced such a limited perspective on sexuality or gender in either our personal lives or in our teachings. And in keeping with this, we promote our workshops to all genders and sexual orientations.
Prana Regina Barrett
Because Tantra’s primary principle refers to balancing “masculine” and “feminine” energy within, those are the terms we used for many years. Knowing that this language may not fit the experience of the transgender community, we were careful when it came to teaching partner yoga practices that can be applied during lovemaking.
We made it clear to our students that partners should feel the freedom to choose whether they want to be in the traditionally male or female role. This seemed to work fine until last year, when a transgender man chose to study with us.
As it turned out, it wasn’t our language used when sharing these practices that turned out to be the hardest challenge for him. Instead it was the seemingly benign practice of dividing our group into male and female sharing circles. Because he knew that his fellow students were unaware of his history and gender identity, our student went along with the flow and sat with the rest of the men in the men’s circle.
Later, however, when we shared as a whole group, he revealed to everyone both the fact that he is a transgender man and also that, despite passing as male in society, he felt like he didn’t belong in either circle. At the break, his act of coming out had such a strong effect on his emotional body that he was crying and uncontrollably shaking. First our assistant and then I needed to provide skilled trauma soothing to help him to come back into balance.
We did a good enough job that he continued Tantra studies and completed our teacher training. Throughout the training, I would find myself in situations where I knew I was using insensitive language and would have to ask him for the best words. He was forgiving and helpful, and he was also challenged sometimes to find the right words to use.
He has agreed to let me share his story and has participated in the writing of this article to bring awareness and sensitivity not only to Tantra teachers, but to all practitioners who are unaware that there could be someone who identifies as transgender among their students or clients. As part of his final project, our student gave us a lesson on how to be sensitive to the transgender community when teaching.
I have included some of that information here. And although I wrote this article primarily for sex and Tantra educators, it includes language that is helpful to all who are teaching the general public.
One of the first things we need to do, as sex and Tantra educators, is train ourselves to drop the terms “masculine” and “feminine” and instead use descriptive words such as soft, gentle, nurturing Earth energy, and strong, assertive, active Sky energy.
We need to do this to acknowledge the reality that we as teachers may not always know the gender history or identity of our students. Although in this case our student had revealed to us his transgender male identity in his application, it could have been the case that he did not. Or there could be someone in your class who is questioning or transitioning their gender, or does not conform to the gender binary assumptions of “masculine” and “feminine.”
Thus when teaching, and this applies to all teachers, always assume that someone in your class does not want to be identified as “female” or “male.” Instead of saying “The woman to the left,” use some other non-gendered identifier, such as “The person in the blue shirt.” This small change could make a huge difference to that person.
As you may have picked up on already, the term “transgender” covers a broad spectrum of people. It includes not only those who are questioning their gender and those who have changed their appearance, but also people who do not fit the gender binary. There are very helpful articles already written on the correct vocabulary to use. One of the best online resources is GLAAD’s tips for allies.
It is always best to steer clear of labels. Follow the lead of each individual and their self-determined identity. Use the pronouns and adjectives that they use to refer to themselves. Do this regardless of your judgments about their physical appearance.
On offering men’s and women’s circles, after in-depth discussion and some feeling of loss, my husband and I have switched to sharing sexuality as a whole group. We had been focused on the value of single-gender circles when it came to sharing sexual concerns associated with having male and female reproductive systems, like erectile disfunction or low labido that can be a symptom of menopause. Yet there is even greater value when people of all genders and sexual orientations share sexual concerns as a whole group. After all, we often share sex together, so why not communicate our concerns to one another in a peaceful, open and honest circle? In my experience, this is most inclusive and beneficial for all.
Our society bombards us with advertising and other propaganda that displays a narrow perspective on sex, and for transgender people in particular these images often do not match up with their physical or emotional reality. This can result in obstacles to sexual engagement and to the ability to orgasm. Healing from the trauma this inflicts can be a slow journey. The subtle sexual energy circulation and connection that Tantra provides can help. Making your workshops, classes and private sessions welcoming to the transgender population is a valuable service and can make a huge difference in an individual or couples’ sexual health and life.
I know, it’s a huge shift and it takes intentional monitoring and adjustment of the language you are using, but it’s important. It also allows you to reach more people who could benefit from your teachings. When you do it enough, it becomes natural. This is how cultures evolve.
Prana Regina Barrett, BS, MIA, E-RYT, CYT, author of Lighter: Living Tantra, is the founder, lead educator, and yoga therapist at Tantra to Love™, a private practice and school offering private sessions, workshops, sacred union ceremonies, and retreats worldwide, as well as the Tantra to Love™ Lifestyle Immersion and 60-hour Educator Certification Program. She has created the audio podcasts Self Love: Gentle and Restorative Asana Flows with Photos of Poses. Gina is currently offering workshops called Balancing Energy with Yoga and Qigong worldwide. She has been facilitating playful, transformative, and engaging workshops for 30 years while creating a safe container for physical and emotional transformation. Her websites are: tantratolove.com and pranaheals.com.
