We begin this week with the Sun in Taurus (as of late last Thursday). The more relaxed pace of solar Taurus should offer a counter-balance to some rather high-octane astrology that’s brewing: Mars forming a conjunction to Pluto in Capricorn Thursday morning.
Lightning; photo by Dean Souglass.
Mars-Pluto conjunctions are all about energy and power. In its most productive form, that means having the get-up-and-go to make meaningful changes to your environment — including changes that benefit those around you as well as yourself. In its more destructive form, that can mean things like power struggles with others, or using your power ruthlessly or even violently.
Remember: power in itself is not bad; it’s all about how you use it. We might take our cue from martial arts theory, which teaches the concept of using an opponent’s energy to block them; or, rather, redirecting their energy. That requires stepping back and viewing the situation from a place of detachment, as well as understanding where someone is really coming from — which in part means doing the same for your own motives.
If you’ve ever been drawn in to an online comments-section battle, you may know the value of this skill. The first tool is usually time: when in doubt, pause and reflect before responding, and check any immediate impulses.
However, several factors are offering a way to ground the power of Mars-Pluto. First is the aforementioned Sun in Taurus. As of Tuesday night, we’ll also have the Moon in Virgo (through Thursday night) to help. Both the Sun in Taurus and Moon in Virgo mix some sensible, moderating earth qualities into an otherwise electrically charged aspect.
This may also help you to adjust to Chiron, which is freshly in Aries (as of last Tuesday). The feeling is similar to beginning a new job, or changing homes. The overall theme is healing around identity: the way that plays out for each of us will show itself gradually, as we grow and stretch into the new environment.
In a Mars-ruled sign like Aries, that sometimes might mean discovering new layers of who you are through things like friction or confrontation with others. Or, taking a cue from Mars-Pluto, this might mean seeing more clearly your motivations for using your power, and how you go about it.
What is the difference between someone who is empowered and a bully? I might suggest that we need more people figuring out the answer.
The Sacred Space of Self, the brand-new 2018 Spring Reading, is now available for pre-order. This set of 12 video presentations will cover Chiron’s transition into Aries, and Mars retrograde in Aquarius over the summer. Pre-order soon for best value.
Nicely summed up, Amanda. Although the Mars-Pluto conjunction in Capricorn isn’t exact until 11:00:00 (UTC) Thursday, France’s President Emmanuel Macron has set a very Taurean tone in his meetings with Donald Trump – cuddly Venusian kiss-kiss – while practising some truth-telling in his speech to the joint houses of the U.S. senate – “Don’t mess with my patch of grass on the planet, pal. Munch, munch.”
Whether Trump will have a big come-back to the micron that is Macron remains to be seen, but it does at least show us the way in which the charm of the French can enlighten us all in the ways to handle a monster. Think Phantom of the Opera.
My personal view is that the Mars-Pluto conjunction is going to give us all a jolt in the political subconscious. It will occur in the 12th house of (the Age of) Aquarius, and could therefore enlighten us all to the hidden enemies and attitudes that threaten planetary survival. On guard!
Nice insights there, Geoff! I think the event you point out is absolutely related to Mars-Pluto. After all, as others have pointed out, Mars aspects tend to be palpable as they’re applying — perhaps even more so than when they’re exact.
Thanks, Amanda. As the clock struck noon (BST) I found myself in the middle of changing my energy (gas and electricity) supplier from a giant international owned by the Spanish to a small company run by a medium-sized English city council. It is 100% green for electricity and has no shareholders; any and all profits are directed towards those city-dwellers most in need. I hadn’t planned the transition to coincide with Mars-Pluto in Capricorn but it did seem to fit the astrology and I felt curiously pleased afterwards.
Haha — wow, Geoff, that is a brilliant little Mars-Pluto-in-Cap illustration. And a good reminder that “power” comes in many forms, and astrology like this can refer to any of them. I do often enjoy the universe’s sense of humor.
🙂
Insightful as always Amanda, Thank You.
In response to your questioning the difference between empowerment and bullying, the first thing I thought of was that an empowered being does not use any aspect of force, where a bully relies upon it. This use is obvious physically. Emotionally it is insidious, expressed in ways of blame and guilt. Intellectually it is intimidation and the use of words to confuse rather than to clarify.
To me, the use of force is directly proportional to the lack of empowerment. The more we rely upon it, the less empowered we are. The more we seek to control our environment and others, the less control we have over our own selves. Self control or Self Mastery and learning Self Nurturing, are the foundations of Sovereignty. It’s that inner foundation that a bully does not have.
A bully’s sense of identity, worth, and value is perceived through a lens of having to win. Which requires the creation of conflict. It also requires a loser, or someone who is going to lose. This also applies to exalting or profiting ones self at the expense of another or others. Wealth or material/physical appearances of it are used as placebos to soothe a non-existent sense of Self Worth.
An empowered being’s sense of identity, worth and value is perceived through the lens of their Soul, (Higher Self, Source, etc.). This perspective is different; it is one of the Whole. It is one of personal Knowing and the purpose is upliftment and empowerment of others. The Worth is in substance of character devoted to Values ALL share in common.
One’s purpose is to divide, because it is only through dividing the Whole that we can create parts. Which can then conflict. Without parts, no conflict and no winning. The other’s purpose is to embrace and Unify.
While one is fighting over pieces of the pie, the other works to create a bigger pie. The Value one creates, the other feeds off of.
Absolutely, Sue! This is exactly the kind of thinking I was hoping to inspire in readers by asking the question.
I get the feeling that in many of our current cultural dialogues, the difference between “empowered” and “bullying” has gotten quite blurry. I think that often tends to happen when individuals (or a collection of people) who have been dis-empowered suddenly find some power and don’t have a good model for how to use it as an empowered being. If your primary model for using power is one of bullying, then it’s often easy to slide into that mode by default. I think we need more visible models of what empowered behavior looks like.
As always, thank you for offering your well-articulated thoughts, Sue!
A good analysis of the difference between empowerment and bullying, Sue. I was reminded of an article by Eric published some 18 months or so ago which suggested that many men who had previously supported women’s liberation were now suffering at the hands of those women who were practising it. As an out-gay man publicly supporting homosexual rights, I can confirm that the well-educated and liberated upper middle-class woman in England can be a formidable opponent in defence of the heterosexual establishment and its realm. Loud, too!
In reply to your analysis, my twopenny’s-worth involves taking a long-range view of the social necessities which seem to underlie the need for individual strength. The human race has not yet reached that time or place where all the inhabitants of planet Earth are able to live without fear of conflict. Perhaps such Utopian bliss will never be attained, indeed it might be better for the long-term survival of our species if it was not, but as mankind moves between wars and peace, we make adjustments to our social understanding of the masculine and feminine principles.
Traditionally in times of war, men have gone off to fight while women kept the home fires burning and protected the children. Consequently, many male children would grow up with a strong female bond but an absent father, a classic situation for the development of a homosexual preference. When these boys reach maturity, they will demand their right to acceptance, but the authoritarian view is that this predilection weakens the male population ahead of the next confrontation.
So the mother must make amends for her fidelity towards the male offspring and discourage their natural affinities. Femininity in men is discouraged while masculinity is females is used as a determinant of strength and courage in the fight against “sexism.” In a combat situation it is obvious that the survivor is likely to be the more prepared rather than the more masculine or the more feminine.
What I’m really trying to say here is that this male-female debate is only held during times of peace when the intellectual viewpoint commands ultimate respect. In times of war, when the reality of conflict demands physical action, it doesn’t much matter whether you’re male or female, it’s whether you have the better ability to survive. Empowerment or bullying? Whatever gets you through the night.
But let’s not stop trying to be better people. Utopia might be just around the corner. U never know.
Your assessment is quite astute Geoff and I have no reason to disagree with it. The only thing I would say though is that none of the examples you mentioned was an empowered being. A lack of strength on inner realms is the cause for the use of forceful Personality.
We have also never known “peace”. Suppression and repression by a greater force is not Peace. It’s like asking the question, “How much is it going to cost to build a safe to store all the money I don’t have?” The ends never justify the means, nor ever result in them. For it is the means that dictate the ends. It is cause and effect.
Fellow employees who were men used to come to me when difficulties arose with our female secretary. As a female, I could voice their perspective without being accused of being sexist. Saying that, I don’t really want to get started on my fellow gender right now. When the blinders come off, women have been just as abusive to men emotionally, as men have been abusive to women physically.
Women have the upper hand. The Divine Feminine has nothing to do with a use of force, though it is not passive. An Unconditionally Loving Will is an extremely intense, potent, attractive and powerful WILL.
An empowered being has a Presence lacking in un-powered beings. How much of this Presence to reveal is always up to the individual. It’s easy to hide in plain sight since most of us don’t know what to look for.
While I would not disagree with your comments, Sue, I would suggest that empowered beings are a lot less thick on the ground than might be desired. If a war-time situation demanded that you run to safety would it be wrong if you were bullied into running rather than persuaded by an empowered one to do so?
As for times of peace, I think we should all be grateful in the West that we have had nearly 75 years without direct involvement in conflict, unlike many other parts of the world. Our homes and lifestyle have not been endangered and we have been free to indulge our intelligences in debate about how to further our life-affirming philosophies. Is the capacity to become empowered only possible when we are not being bullied?
I, too, do not wish to raise the spectre of inequality between sexes, sexual preferences, incomes, attitudes or beliefs which might cloud or colour our potential for beneficial social development. My point, really, is that perhaps the continuing revolution of this wheel is what ensures the continuation and forward progress of our species. If we attain “peace” there will be no need for more progress. If we reach Heaven where will there be to aspire to?
“If we attain “peace” there will be no need for more progress. If we reach Heaven where will there be to aspire to?”
I would say that “peace” is an inner substance and a response. Before it can become a condition on our world, it has to become our response to it. It involves our relationship TO Reality, or what we perceive as being “outside of us”. Response-abilities come in a package deal with being a human being.
I would also say that progress beyond most of our imaginings will become norm when there is not chance of militarization of the ideas and technologies. Similar to being given the keys to a car. A two year old behind the wheel is destructive. Awareness expands as we become mentally and emotionally capable of handling it.
As for ‘heaven’, there is much illusion behind that idea and concept. Most often it is imagined as a place where nothing “bad” happens. “Bad” is a perceptual judgment of qualification, which takes us back to the relationship between Us and Reality. I would also say that given the stories, there is a gate to heaven as well as a gate to hell. Few recognize it’s the same damn gate that swings both ways. It is a creation of beliefs in limited ideals. A limited unlimited is nonsense.
Oftentimes when our Personality is in misery, our Souls are in ecstasy, due to the growth that is taking place. The key is to begin Understanding what is occurring on different levels, which is provided via our Intuition.
To me, my country has been the biggest bully in the World for many years. Thuggish. Bringing death, destruction, misery, suffering and pain to others throughout our world. Control freaks, seeking to control, Reality and the World at large so everything fits within the confines of judgments and limitations.
Whenever we happen to reap what we sow, we’re the ones who cry “victim”.
I would argue that peace in our world (i.e. out there) is dependant upon those politicians who govern us, for better or worse. Being at peace within yourself is an excellent situation but if it doesn’t conform with what’s happening outside your front door I would suggest you may be near to a state of denial. How we achieve that state of peace outside of ourselves is, of course, a vital quest of sanity that I hope all of us are to some extent actively engaged in discovering.
As for progress, I would argue that our journey through the Age of Aquarius for the next 2,000+ years is undoubtedly going to be filled with the unexpected. I don’t, for one moment, think that we can accurately assess our future. We are still at the beginning of understanding ourselves, let alone our place in the universe. Concepts of good and bad, heaven and hell, Jesus and the devil, may be so wide of the mark that in 100 years they will be considered laughable.
I do agree with your concept of souls, Sue. I think we are here because we wanted to be here at this time. What we may discover is that if we had known what it would mean to be here at this time we might have chosen differently. But we are here now, and no-one here gets out alive. So it might be better for our continually-evolving souls if we carry on believing in the beliefs that led us here in the first place. It’s the only answer I can think of to the question: “Why was I born? What am I doing here?” Without such an enquiry, I think one must accept that consciousness is nothing more than a product of evolution and ends when we die.
I would also agree with your analysis about the role of America in world politics, yet it is the world’s youngest country at a time when the human race is only just beginning to understand its capabilities. If we knew all the answers there would be no problems. To rectify any misconceptions about the role of the USA, I can only say that that country represents our best possibility of reaching, and colonising, another planet. I defer to Stephen Hawking in suggesting that this might be the human race’s best hope for long-term survival.
Blame the politician’s huh?
lol
Stephen Hawkins was a brilliant man. He was not an empowered being nor an enlightened one.
I noticed how many times the word “argue” was used. To argue is to conflict, as in conflicting with Reality just because you don’t happen to like it or find it “good” or “pleasant”. Like the “heaven and hell” bit, projecting our own limitations upon the Universal. I remember when my Mind worked that way, too.
So I ask the question as I often do, “How much do you Love Life?”
Because Fear of Death is not the same as a Love for Life, nor does it bring to us the Wisdom to support and nurture it.
None of us are just dust bunnies, even though the majority of us identify ourselves that way. We will all “get out of here alive” because we are Life itself. Only our dust returns to dust.
You’re right, Sue. Donald Trump is a wonderful champion for the underdog, and Adolf Hitler was a supreme example of voter confidence in the right person at the right time. This is what democracy teaches us. I don’t blame these guys for taking advantage of the situation that enabled them to control your mind. They are, or were, what we deserve because we voted for them.
Astrological note: The last time Uranus entered Taurus (1934) coincided with the establishment of the first concentration camps in Germany. How long before Trump builds his first batch of barracks to contain the illegal immigrants that will provide the slave labour he will need if he is to take on India and China in a trade war?
To argue is to debate, not conflict. If your concept of empowerment teaches that you know what Reality is, I would suggest that you are deluded. Ultimate reality is beyond our comprehension otherwise there would be no path to tread towards understanding and future generations would be futile. We’re not there yet.
How much do I love life? Only so much. At present there are 37 Commonwealth countries on this planet that still punish homosexuality by imprisonment or death. Their laws were all imported lock, stock and barrel from the British government during colonial occupation. I shall love life much more when I know that, wherever you live in the world, you can no longer expect to receive a visit from the police at four o’clock in the morning just to determine who you are in bed with. Love life? I might, eventually.
Just to put you straight, I do not fear death. I first sought death at the age of 14 when I realised I was gay but I realised I had work to do on behalf of others similarly gifted and there was to be no spiritual reprieve at an early age for me.
You may be right, perhaps we all get out of here into a subsequent reincarnation. I”m happy to believe in that. But it is just a belief, not a certainty. It’s Age of Pisces stuff, and I think we are coming to the end of that particular episode. What is Real is knowledge that holds true across the universe.
Over and out.
Geoff, I live with an awareness of Infinity and Eternity in my head at all times. It hasn’t been easy to ground, integrate and assimilate. It required cleansing my Mind of all concepts and ideas in conflict with that awareness. Becoming of sound Mind, soundness as a result of Pure Reason.
I am a Sovereign Being, meaning that I claim accountability and responsibility for all the ideas I choose to entertain, the way in which I associate these ideas (like whether they make any sense) and the resultant emotions I experience as a consequence of entertaining these ideas associated in the ways I have chosen.
It is not an easy task but a simple one. We have to believe our own Life to be worth our own effort to do so. To believe the Universal is beyond our capacity to understand, is to deny and negate the value of our Minds. Something religious old farts have been shoveling out for centuries.
Trump was elected. He is the figurehead of our country and representative of the people in it. He mirrors quite a bit to us – he’s emotionally insecure, unstable, unaccountable and irresponsible. He’s entirely emotionally self indulgent. He has no Self awareness. Which becoming self aware is the first step towards our empowerment. He “blames” rather than “claims”. Most obvious of all is his value system based upon appearances.
G.W. was also elected. Twice. He was a sniveling neurotic with “security” issues running out of his kazoo. “Secure” is a psychological state of Mind. Issues of security can only be resolve through the use of psychological means.
Both of these men mirrored the emotional development of the people in this country. Over the past few decades our emotional development has been stalled or going backwards. There has been no role models for children left to computers or day care centers to learn from. Relationship skills and coping skills have suffered because of it. As a country, we are lacking the emotional development and Courage displayed by previous generations who made it to the moon and back using duct tape and computer capacity of an adding machine. It is now expected that in order to feel “secure” we have to protect ourselves from everything and anything “bad” or “unpleasant” happening to us.
To try to mask conflict using other terms is in denial of intent and Desire. There is no Desire TO Understand. It is not Heart centered or Soul centered being generated by ego.
Judgment, Fear, Drama, Gloom and Doom are not Soul expressions but coming from Personality separated in awareness and consciousness from Soul. There is a vast difference between believing we have a Soul and KNOWING we are a Soul. It is a matter of shifting Identity and involves what I have already mentioned.
It is a difference in our Values, that is all. I Value Understanding, so that I can actually BE an Understanding human Being. Judging and judgments belong to another value system. The one centered on Fear. A value system that chooses to separate from all that is judged or condemned. I can’t very well embrace something or someone in Understanding when I’ve chosen to reject or separate myself from it. These are conflicting actions and choices have to be made regarding our intent, motivation and Desires.
Always embraces all ways. All That Is includes what we have judged to be “negative” as well as the “positive”. Unconditional means exactly that. No lines drawn of exclusion. No limitations on Love, Understanding, Acceptance, Tolerance, Mercy or Forgiveness. I wake up every morning Knowing I am part of a Benevolent Universe that I can Trust with open arms. Knowing I am Loved and Known by the Universe.
There aren’t very many that can say the same. And therein lies our issues and challenges. The old order is dependent upon a conditional Ideal. One that is limited in substance of character. This breeds and creates issues of Self Doubt and Self Worth as we question whether we’ve met the conditions for being Loved and Accepted.
To Love is to Value and it is this Value that Trump so aptly expresses Doubts about, along with all the groups labeled as alt-right. Understanding and assurance of being Loved and Valued is what is needed to resolve our issues. The judgmental Mind needs to be put to rest. For it is the core of all our problems and woe at this time.
Next time you find yourself unable to see the Love in our world and what is going on in it, simply ask to perceive as your Soul perceives. That insight will be granted usually within 2 hours. Ask and you will be given. Seek and you will find. Just be prepared to surrender your ego and all its attachments.
Beautifully put, Sue.
My last conscious attempt at ridding myself of ego was back in the heyday of LSD. Partly inspired by Buddhist readings, it seemed to me then that egolessness could indeed be the way to go. My fellow acid travellers pulled me back, however, saying that destroying my ego would lead only to madness. I reached the edge of that particular precipice and looked over, then drew back because I lacked the confidence to jump into a place, as I saw it, of eternal timelessness without change.
I shall bear your final paragraph in mind and see if it does indeed lead me to where I dared not go before. Many thanks and all good wishes.
Dearest Geoff,
Much has been misinterpreted throughout the Ages and we’re all here now to start ridding ourselves and our world of the collective junk. Part of which is all about “ego”. Poor ego, getting the rap for almost everything.
Your fellow travelers were correct. Destroying our ego results in either insanity or suicide. Since ego means “I go” and without an “I” there is no Self or Self Awareness. I can’t very well say “I am that I Am”, without the I.
What it really has to do with is our sense of Identity. I describe it in terms of a lowercase “i” and an upper case “I”.
“Stick and a dot, stick and a dot
being disconnected
a big I I’m not”
The little “i” is likened to us, who believe we have a Soul but it’s floating around somewhere above us. Like being the stick with our Soul as the dot. The big “I” is when we become connected. Esoteric literature terms this the “two who become One”.
The surrender is not one where our ego is destroyed. It is a surrender, as in surrendering into the arms of our Lover. It is an orgasmic experience beyond any of our greatest imaginings. From there we change, as we are no longer a disconnected ego. Our attachments to ideas and things that we treasured while disconnected begin to fall by the wayside, like training wheels on our bicycles when we were little. Our Doubts and Fears subside.
From then on we are faced with constant choices as to which perspective we choose to embody. It’s a lot like having double vision. Do we choose to serve our Soul or the ole’ disconnected ego?
It turns out we’ve never actually been disconnected, only disconnected in awareness and perception. Most of us can see bodies. I see bodies, too. I simply see Souls also and these Souls are IN the bodies. They are the life force animating the bodies. It is because of this that I relate to a Soul, not just a material form.
The ideas you’ve shared about Heaven and the realms of timelessness truly sound boring to me. Like sitting on a fluffy cloud strumming a harp throughout Eternity. So let me share another perspective of it. What is everything on the physical planes of experience is simply Self (the Greater Whole Self) in expression?
The Divine Feminine, a womb with a view. (smiling)
Starting now in our Present day, how long do you think it’s going to take us to bring Heaven down to earth? Where our world is one where Souls relate to Souls in Love and Compassion as we go about our daily routines, stubbing our toes, brushing our teeth, mowing the lawn, etc.
Then there are the other levels, where the “two who are now One” join with a third aspect becoming the “three who are now One”. It’s a never ending story of Self expression. It is exciting and amazing and we are just now on the threshold of beginning this great Love story.
You are beloved, never Doubt it.
Harriet Tubman: ” I have freed may slaves, and could have freed thousand more if they only knew they were slaves.” Born 1820- Died March 10, 1913.
What a great example of 4th ray (esoteric astrology) energy from the signs Taurus and Scorpio; harmony through conflict. The other fourth ray energy sign is Sagittarius, the higher mind/self, and beyond the battle to fusing and blending; stick and dot and being disconnected. When they merge I am not.
Thanks Geoff, Sue and Amanda Painter, awesome work; great job.
Sue, Geoff, Glen — thank you for populating this little blog post with such an insightful conversation. It’s really been lovely to watch it unfolding, and I hope others are also finding some excellent food for thought — (or, perhaps, food for faith?).
Well, here’s thanks to Amanda, Sue and Glen for contributing to the discussion and making Planet Waves such a useful place to discuss our life experiences. Without it, we might all die unacknowledged as beings who life experiences went unrecorded.
Should, of course, be “whose life experiences went unrecorded.”
Thank You to Amanda, whose insight provided the spark and created the opportunity. Thank You to Geoff, who Loved Life enough to share his own with me. Making me a richer person by having known him. Thank You to Glen, who always shares words of Wisdom.
Thank You to everyone who happened to read our conversation. You spent countless heartbeats and countless breathes of your Life witnessing us playing Well, together. I Hope you consider them Well spent. If we had been surfing, we would have been “hanging ten”.
If we don’t open ourselves up to one another, we deny our chance of receiving Love & Compassion. It Takes Courage, because no matter where we grew up or under what conditions, all we saw and learned as children from our World, was being Judged.
With some sort of rejection, punishment or abandonment as a result. The whole shebang. Everywhere. In every religion. Dogma varied but foundations were all the same.
We can try to slough it off. Except it is by our choice of beliefs that we define our Values and the means considered Virtuous to obtain them. Even belief in nothing is still a belief.
What we all know of this code of Judgement, is that it HURTS.
I’ve spent all my Life in pain. (I’m 62) I’ve spent the past two years crying the tears I never shed. I told my pain management doctor that I might feel pain but I don’t have to suffer because of it. I have survived and overcome.
What I’ve learned by having one foot in the grave several times it that every moment of Life is a Present. Even if I’m in pain. At least I’m alive to feel it! A great day is one when I wake up to greet it.
One day I had conversation with a friend who thought his Life was rather on the bad side of things. His mother taught him how to jump trains when he was little and tried to burn him alive when he got older. He saw his father once, behind prison bars, who told him if he ever saw him again, he’d find a way to beat the crap out of him. He’d been abused all his Life.
I told him I didn’t see his Life that way at all and I said, “Taking all the Judgments of good or bad away from all you shared with me, you’re one of the richest men in Life experience I’ve ever met.”
Maybe we might consider taking down that gate to our Heart and letting Love flow, rather than Judgment?
What might have been the effect if after 9-11, we asked “Whoa, what did we do to piss you off so much?”
Then actually listened with the goal of Understanding?