Notes on the Myths We Live - Finding Ourselves in the Movies
I’m staying at friends’, catsitting. They have quite a collection of movies (each is Sun-Neptune), and I’m a movie lover (Neptune-Mercury-Moon in 2/3, sextile Venus-Pluto in 12). I found myself busier during the stay than I anticipated, so I didn’t watch dozens of the movies over the last few days as a non-reality-based part of me had dreamily anticipated.
When faced with choosing one to watch tonight, I’m reminded of some work I’m developing on the idea that we’re living myths. At different times in our lives we relate to and bring to the world different stories. What these are at any given time in a life can be identified simply and easily by looking at the characters and themes in stories and various media that appeal to us again and again.
As a Scorpio, you might be able to guess that stories of transformation appeal to me. I like action flicks, indie stuff and I like some historical drama and musicals/opera, but stories of characters in deep transformation in any genre really do it for me. And they have for years. I haven’t sat down to work out all the dates, but so far Pluto’s transited to conjunct most of my chart, as Pluto at 3 Libra begins a stretch from the 12th to the 3rd that contains all my major planets but Saturn. It began with Venus-Pallas in the 12th, then Ascendant, then Mars-Uranus-Ceres in the 1st (all these but Ceres in Libra, with Ceres in Scorpio), and then Neptune-Mercury-Moon in Sagittarius in the 2nd-3rd. So, I’ve had plenty of opportunity to Plutonify various aspects of myself (or, um, have various parts of me injected/flooded with Pluto), and these stories of transformation are what I relate to. It seems my personal norm, I suppose.
While I’ll never be done, but as the same particular stories appeal to me again and again, I can tell that I’m in a particular phase of this business. I’m comfortable sharing some of the history (though I might not spill all the current choices): for a long, long time, my favorite movie was David Lynch’s Dune. “The sleeper must awaken!” came through as a kind of anthem to the part of me that was trying to come through. And pretty abruptly, I note, when I began taking channeling class and incorporating work with Spirit into my readings, Dune was no longer my favorite - someone had indeed awoken.
Tom is available for consultations and lessons. See http://tdjacobs.com for more information and to book a consultation.
November 10, 2007 By Tom Jacobs
Scorpio New Moon: Conjunct true Black Moon Lilith, opposing Rx Arjunsuri-Ceres
The new Moon at 3:03 PM Pacific time at 17 Scorpio is conjunct true Black Moon Lilith, at 13 Scorpio, and opposing Arjunsuri and Ceres, both retrograde in Taurus at 18 and 16, respectively.
For starters, some basic thoughts on Lilith can be found here and here.
With Lilith conjunct the new Moon, we’re talking about the probably-buried suspicion of your true, raw, animal nature that has an “in” to your more-conscious feeling nature at this time. The period that’s beginning with this new moon includes what could be considered an invitation to you to admit, if you haven’t done so already, that Lilith exists within you. She can appear in many different forms, but I suspect you’ll notice yourself wanting to edit an honest and sort of raw response to something in the moment because you’re clear that it’s socially unacceptable. And because you’re either not sure of what heinous response you’d get, or unwilling to get the kind of heinous response you know you’d get. And yet new Moon energy is about, in a sense, trial and error - stepping into experience without knowing precisely what we’re doing or where it’s going; forgiving ourselves for learning through experience and, thereby, risking pain and failure.
By house and sign, you can get a flavor for the ways in which you experience (and refuse to experience) Lilith in your life. With this energy conjunct the new moon, however, the opportunity for any of us is to allow more of our real natures time and space in our lives. Forget for a minute the details of any of Lilith’s stories that you may be familiar with - forget the subject matter of her experience for a moment, in other words - and understand that the edgy side of your animalness and it’s natural presence in you is what’s in question.
I’m not advising you to turn on the faucet of inexplicable crazy that you might think, or might have heard, is the key to Lilith energy. The fear that it’s too much to look at and deal with is what keeps it too much to look at and deal with, and so being willing to open to the energy and see that there are indeed parts of us that are kept far from the light of day may be more important than freaking out with suppressed anger, etc. - but it really just depends on what’s on tap for you right now.
Arjunsuri (asteroid 20300) opposing the new moon is a statement about the need to check the Scorpio intensity of expression with some Taurus grounding in the why we’re doing what we’re doing, specifically in being clear on whose voice we honor when we open up our personal Scorpio floodgates of feeling and get all Scorpio with ourselves or others. That the asteroid is retrograde suggests that revisiting our motivation for what we do (whose agenda are we supporting) is part of the question the moment asks. It’s conjunct retrograde Ceres, adding to the question of the moment a note on defining ourselves by the roles we perform for others. And this happens in Taurus, the sign of self-reliance.
Tying this all together, we’re looking at the opportunity to ask ourselves if the depths we’re either passionate about exploring or adamant about hiding (/hiding from) are informed by what we think about what we need to take care of ourselves, or what we’ve been told about what we need to take care of ourselves.
When the Sun’s in Scorpio, we’re always confronted with issues of where and how we meet others in the tight spaces of intimate relating. Scorpio’s the energy of wanting to penetrate another (person, thing, idea) in order to experience what it’s like to be it, which is to say be one with it. The conjunction of Lilith with the new moon and the opposition of Rx Arjunrsuri/Rx Ceres invites us to take a step toward deeper understanding of how we invite, create, recognize and interact in those tight spaces of intimacy - whose passion? whose desire? whose ideas of appropriateness? whose agenda?
This can manifest in our lives in many forms. Sex and sexuality are not the only playing grounds of Scorpio. Naked, absolute honesty is an area associated with Scorpio energy, as is removing the veneers of anything to see what’s happening below the surface. And it can of course come in the domain of shared material resources, but that’s often just a red herring for the issues of honesty and truth that’re behind all such transactions/interactions.
That said, those who are open to anything that might come up will in all likelihood see in themselves conditioning surrounding sexuality. In the ways that you understand yourself as a sexual being, one tack goes, what kinds of programming do you carry about what to do with that? What about how to do it? And as long as I’m throwing the “w” questions out there: With whom, why and when? (This could almost be another long post by itself, but, briefly: If you have control-based rules about whom you love, what it takes for you to love them, and what conditions make it okay for you/give you a green light to love, there’s an opportunity to sort out which of those rules are inherited/absorbed as a result of your conditioning and which are of your own design & manufacture, and which from each category are worth keeping and maintaining.)
This is happening on my Sun-Lucifer-Juno conjunction in my 2nd house, so I’m off to ask myself the hard version of the questions I so casually typed out for you above…
Tom is available for consultations and lessons. See http://tdjacobs.com for more information and to book a consultation.
November 9, 2007 By Tom Jacobs
Mars Stationing Retrograde: A Life of Have-tos
As Mars stations over the next week (going Rx on 11/15), you have the opportunity to see how you might have let your life become a series of have-tos that has eclipsed how you’d really like it to go. Mars goes and does, and cannot be held down, and yet we each make lives based in commitments to ourselves and others.
The planet of desire and motivation, of initiating new things, is going to retrograde in the sign of Cancer, the sign of needs, nurturing, rootedness and connectedness. It’s time to check in with yourself about the direction of your life, and how you feel about it. While Saturn is the one that does the sustained heavy lifting, Mars is the one that gets us instinctually pointed in one direction or another. During the retrograde, you get the chance to see if the directions you picked at various times to point yourself in are still working.
As it stations, become aware of whatever arena in your life offers the most Marsy tension. The house Mars is transiting will offer a vocabulary for this. In the 3rd house? Where does what you think, hear and say get you? Are you so invested in communicating something that you’ve lost sight of something you have to say that’s truly important? The 7th? How is your style of relating creating relationships that don’t serve you? What corners of the “boundaries” and “equality” conversations can you clear the cobwebs out of and be clear about your intentions and needs, and assert them with another? The 9th? How does the big idea that you use to run your life not fit in with the reality of the present moment and your need to participate in it? How does what you want differ from what you think you want?
Mars on one level is our instinctual response. During the retrograde the energy is turned inward, so it’s the time for retooling the pointer sense, not necessarily charging ahead with new directions. Give yourself time and space to gain perspective on your Marsing; see how you currently use your drive and what response from you the moments of the present (as opposed to the pasts when you set yourself on the directions you’re now headed in) are asking for.
During the retrograde period (11/15-1/30/08), allow yourself space to gain clarity on where your efforts have been getting you, and what kind of new directions might be called for. I invite you to see if you can view any frustration about Mars issues over the coming months as needed information for you as you unfold yourself along your journey. It can be easy to feel that since we’ve been headed in the “wrong direction,” that we’ve wasted time. This retro period offers the opportunity to shift where we’re putting our energy, and if you can remember that whatever it is, “it’s all part of the show,” you’re in a much better position to progress with what you’re learning without a lot of self-inflicted bruising, metaphorical or otherwise.
Tom is available for consultations and lessons. See http://tdjacobs.com for more information and to book a consultation.
November 8, 2007 By Tom Jacobs
Transit Lab: Mercury Retro Stationing on Mars-Uranus
This is on my Mars-Uranus in the 1st, as I mentioned in a recent post. The station is on the midpoint, and is square my nodes. I’ve found myself in a situation in which the only soluton for me is to assert my independence and leave (Mars-Uranus/1st), and stop sticking around in a group in order to “raise the vibration” of those less experienced than me (the pull to Cancer/10th house South Node).
It’s been difficult to sort through the layers of competing desires and perceived needs, but with Merc retro I knew that sitting down and being quiet, and jotting things out in my journal would help with some clarity. During these retro periods, there always exists a new door to understanding and clarity open to those willing to be a little more patient than usual, and to slow down and look at things differently.
I know that when anyone is more skilled or has a deeper understanding of something, there is the opportunity to help others. And yet in this situation, it became clear to me that the greatest use of my energy is in using it in the way that speaks to me the loudest. I was entertaining going back to this group and today I just really, truly, actially get it: Mars-Uranus in the 1st has to be listened to.
As you might expect from this combo, there’ve been some strong reactions along the way. I reacted harshly to the reality of not being heard - my Venus-Pluto in Libra/12th has a great investment in fairness, that the Mars-Uranus in Libra/1st can come to react against when push feels like it’s coming to shove. In short, some folks have decided who I am and what I’m about, and are unable to hear me as I am. As a consequence, it’s become impossible to communicate with them in the present - they parrot their incorrect versions of my position back to me repeatedly as a defensive measure because they’ve decided I’m not listening (though I’ve acknowledged and supported their position repeatedly), and it’s come to be too much for me to be willing to persist in dealing with.
I’m just sitting here with my journal open in front of me, just jotting away like crazy to get to the core of the issue. Wish me luck.
Tom is available for consultations and lessons. See http://tdjacobs.com for more information and to book a consultation.
November 1, 2007 By Tom Jacobs
The Call to Spirit - Present-tense notes on Chiron, Neptune, and Mercury
With Chiron recently direct, Neptune direct in the coming day, both in Aquarius (the sign of looking ahead, objectivity, and upgrading lowest common denominators), and Mercury stationing in Libra, are you someone who’s heard the call to reintegrate or reinvestigate, or reexperience your orientation to Spirit?
I’m not talking religion specifically, but it’s one way it could manifest (though, likely, not for most who are reading a blog that I would pen). I’m talking about the general orientation to life. The awareness of what’s going on not behind the scenes (the Sun IS is Scorpio, but that’s not why I’m writing this) but in the subtle layers within the scenes. You’re not just your physical body - have you been getting invitations to relate to life’s subtle layers in new ways?
Chiron by transit serves to sensitize, Neptune is the how we access and connect to greater or other sorts of realities, and Mercury is the messenger between the worlds.
Mercury in its station is trining Neptune in its station, both in air signs - there’s an invitation to gain awareness not only of what we’re doing as far as Spirit in our lives, but also with whom we’re doing these things.
And with the air signs being Libra and Aquarius, we’re talking on one level about an opportunity to understand more clearly what our bigger picture is and who in our life may or may not fit into it. This picture is the one that involves living with and in awareness of ourselves as more than simply physical bodies/Newtonian machines. Also could be time for opening to find those who do fit in that bigger picture whom we haven’t yet met. With Neptune in Aquarius involved, these people may come to one in unexpected ways or from unexpected sources, and may not be like anyone we’ve ever met. Heck, they might not even be people. The definition of “other” that Aquarius is wont to cover doesn’t discriminate between the number of legs, the point of origination or level of corporeality one seems to offer.
Tom is available for consultations and lessons. See http://tdjacobs.com for more information and to book a consultation.
October 31, 2007 By Tom Jacobs
Mercury Retro on this one’s Mars-Uranus
Oh, happy blessed opportunity to recognize and express heretofore-unseen-yet-necessary boundaries!
When Mercury was rxing right over my 1st-house Mars yesterday, I was aflame with the need to express some statements of fact about my constitution, limits, boundaries and the particular contours of my developing sense of personal will to a few folks. I was, admittedly, a little emotional about it. A friend who was present said, “You were sort of off the charts, emotionally speaking.” And she was right - I felt filled with fire, the need to assert my boundaries.
The charge melted away significantly when I reminded myself a bit later that it’s one’s ongoing (& evolutionary) job (argh, but I mean opportunity) to gain and maintain awareness of Martian issues, especially if one has the red planet with Uranus, the planet of sudden change, disruption and differentiation in the 1st house…and square the nodes (indicating that there is a new way the energies must be understood, which is done through making different choices than are habit). Some folks see this conjunction in Libra and think it’s probably toned down in the sign of the diplomat, but it’s toned down only when it’s afraid to really express itself, when it’s hesitant to make waves - and only until the pressure to express has reached boiling point, and then it seems to need to explode.
The user’s manual for this conjunction includes a chapter on preventative maintenance, a proactive scanning of the contents of the closet into which some self-assertion urges are sometimes stuffed so that a much-desired Venusian sense of social harmony, balance and proportion may be maintained. The evolutionary challenge of the placement, then, is to learn moderation of self-assertion and -individuation, to experience directly the cliche of enlightened self-interest while staying within relationship - no slashing and burning is healthy for one with this combo.
Keeping this in mind, I connected telephonically with the friend of mine who runs the group I was participating in, my experience in which triggered my need to assert the ol’ boundaries. I did what I could to frame what I was saying in the interests of the fact that I’ve appreciated the space she very intentionally creates the group to offer, and have benefitted from greatly - that I appreciate the opportunity she through it has offered. And my need to assert boundaries has nothing to do with her or the group - it simply offers the opportunity for me to see something about myself that can use some attention.
I may not return to the group, but I seem to have communicated in a fairly reasonable way what I needed to say. And this is the work of Mercury retroing over a 1st-house Mars. Between you and me, I’m giving myself a little gold star for coming out of the emotional imperative of the angry response and recovering my sense of honoring the opportunity I’ve had and have, and not making anyone else wrong for the parameters and feel of my experience.
Also, I’m having a Juno return today, the asteroid being natally less than a degree off my 2nd house Scorpio Sun-Lucifer conjunction. I’ve been working on the chapter on Hera (the earlier, Greek version of Juno) in Christine Downing’s fullyexciting and rad book about the mythological feminine (The Goddess: Mythogical Images of the Feminine, Continuum: 2000), in which she treats (among other things) the projections of Hera onto Zeus, her husband. With the Sun in Scorpio, Mercury retroing in late Libra, and Juno in mid-Scorpio, it seems an appropriate time for any of us to evaluate our projections and take back some shadow self stuff. This is an oportunity for anyone, yet especially anyone with strong Libra, Scorpio or Juno placements.
Tom is available for consultations and lessons. See http://tdjacobs.com for more information and to book a consultation.
October 28, 2007 By Tom Jacobs
Mercury Retro and The Languaging
I received the following text in an e-mail today:
Hello, at me was the holiday. Today has returned. You spoke, that looked for work. Not a problem. I work in the large company. The company looks for new employees. Freely about 1600 vacancies. You can be in time. I work with this company three months. I earn much. For three months has bought to itself the new car.
The company sells electronics. Now it is a lot of orders. Therefore the company has not time to send the goods to buyers.
I wait for the house. I receive the goods and I send its buyers.
I earn 40-60 dollars for each package.
Write more rapidly on e-mail [e-address] and the manager will register you. If you have friends they too can work here.
In a week you will receive the first package.
Registration will be till November, 10th.
I used to study and enjoy linguistics, and as someone like that, I love looking at the language in junk mail, the few times every few months that I read them.* This fits no convention I’m familiar with, it actually looks like a translation of some automated dictionary, and, you know, whatever, but then I caught these two lines:
1. For three months has bought to itself the new car.
2. I wait for the house.
And I knew right away that I was not going to be able to sleep tonight until I shared it with someone.
Good night!
*I admit to answering the so-called Nigerian scams with personal e-notes built around outrageous claims and demands. For instance, if the note offers to pay me $400,000 for transfering five million, I write back telling them I’m insulted and will accept no less than $900,000. If they offer 40% of the total, I write and demand 85% - etc. Also, I let them know in the interests of honesty that I’ve been convicted of a laundry list of crimes related to what they’re doing and just about everyone I know knows they can’t trust me, but I insist that I’m totally running a clean show now and have none of my compulsive lying and stealing urges active on the surface, but that they’re all stuffed down so deep in a tiny little box deep inside me that I doubt anyone will ever be able to find them if they tried.
Tom is available for consultations and lessons. See http://tdjacobs.com for more information and to book a consultation.
October 23, 2007 By Tom Jacobs
Mercury Retro and The Vehicles
I just ran into a dude on a motorcycle that wouldn’t start. He was practically less than a waif, and outfitted as though he thinks he’s riding a 125 CC somewhere in Central Europe in the 1970s. No gloves, a thin leather jacket not done up, a canvas courier bag over his retro sweater.
But he’s riding a 900 CC Harley.
As it wouldn’t start, he wanted help pushing it so he could try a rolling start. I almost just learned some about this from my stepdad, who’s always looking out for me and my vehicular adventures, but I wasn’t sure it was an answer for a dead battery - a totally dead battery. I guess I’m fessing up when I say that I didn’t so much listen to what he was telling me as appreciate that he wanted to…
This bike is brand new (= shiny shiny shiny! I was afraid to touch it for fear of ruining the blessed sheen), which made me ask him how long he’d been riding. “About three months,” he said kind of sheepishly, internally kicking himself in the metaphysical rear for buying this huge bike. I realized that he felt like a moron enough without me getting on him about buying such a big bike right out the gate. I helped him push it (meaning that I pushed it) out of the street and into a parking lot.
I told him that I’d bought a 250 CC when I started because I thought I wouldn’t even be able to pick up a monster like this one if when I dropped it. But this little guy couldn’t really even maneuver it! He said it was okay if I dropped it, he does it all the time. I asked him if he took a training course, and he said he did, so I dropped the big brother worry bit. See, I’m pretty strong, maybe even two of this guy, but I’m so conservative in my driving habits (10th house South Node + rx Saturn in Gemini/9th) that I would never start out with a bike like that. Also, I’ve been in enough actual bicycle and car and car-and-bicycle and bicycle-and-ice and dog-and-bicycle accidents (yes, it’s been as ridiculous as it sounds) to be by now fully formed as a stick-in-the-mud driver, perhaps to be mistaken for a driver twice or even three times my age.
And then a few months I sold my car and got a small bike. I was pretty clear I didn’t need a vehicle as large as a car, and also that I didn’t need a car payment on a car I didn’t need. I had no idea it would offer nifty opportunities for assertiveness training, loving the feeling of wind (which equals freedom), and an enjoyment of speed.
Assertiveness training: Mars-Uranus in the 1st house, square the nodal axis. I’m someone in need of figuring out the right place and use of self-assertion, the taking and having of freedom, and boundaries that allow me to be with others yet have enough room to get done what I want. Sometimes it seems like a confusing set of symbols - Mars-Uranus in the 1st square the nodes, seemingly about a rather loud self-individuation, yet in Libra, which means it’s to take place a lot of the time within relationship.
The feeling of wind: Sagittarius Mercury-Moon on the cusp of the 3rd house. Holy expletive pileup, do I love being on that bike and going going going.
Speed: I have a 250 CC, a small bike. It maxes out at 65 MPH, so I don’t take it on the highway. Also, I’m not in my view experienced enough to do that. This speed I’m al about loving is 40 and up. (It feels much faster when on an exposed vehicle. Remember when you took your bicycle down your first big hill? It’s like that, but with a throttle you can pull on as much as you like (until, um, of course, 65 MPH)).
I’ve been thinking about writing a post on self-assertiveness training that the bike has brought, and I’m taking the time now, during the Mercury retro. The Sun’s hit Scorpio, Mercury’s about to hit Libra, and they’re together on my Anti-vertex and Ceres in the 1st. And now is when I admit that I have no idea how to end this post.
I could tell you that I’m half expecting something interesting to happen with that combo on that conjunction. I watch transits to the Vertex axis, and stuff does happen now and then. Okay, that’s how I’ll end it - a total let-down, I know. That’s what you get for reading blogs during Mercury retro in Scorpio, when everyone’s obsessing about the secret emotional turmoil they’re unwillingly experiencing full-force and trying like mad to cover up and seem normal, if that’s possible, if that’s even possible.
Or maybe I’ll –
No, no I don’t think I’ll tell you about that.
Tom is available for consultations and lessons. See http://tdjacobs.com for more information and to book a consultation.
By Tom Jacobs
Mercury Retrograde: From Scorpio to Libra on 10/23
We’re accustomed to the natural order of the zodiac - Aries leads to Taurus, which leads to Gemini, etc. - yet when a planet retrogrades from one sign to the previous one, we feel it as an unusual event. Especially when that planet’s Mercury, given that it’s the astrological energy concerning thought, perception, machinery, communications, commerce, travel and pinball-playing skills.
In the natural zodiac, Libra as an externally-oriented intellectual sign gives way to the internal-oriented emotional energy of Scorpio. We go from interacting with others in an attempt to learn fairness and harmony (Libra) to a personal need to experience intensity and to bring it to/uncover it with another (Scorpio). Said another way, the shift is from establishing rapport with others (Libra) to uncovering and exposing the self on ever deeper levels (Scorpio).
Regardless of how we relate with and understand these two energies, we’re accustomed to Libra leading to Scorpio. When Scorpio leads to Libra, then, we are likely to feel out of place (this happens in this cycle on October 23rd at 8:36 Pacific time). When the planet is Mercury, our mental processing goes from the inward intensity to the awareness of others’ needs and wants. It might look like you doing your thing in what you think is an empty room, finally getting into your metaphorical dirty laundry, holding each piece up and examining it in the light, when you realize that you’re not alone, and you’re not actually in a private place at all. It can be uncomfortable to feel walked in on in your Scorpio intensity,* but there’s an opportunity in it: You can try on for size what it’s like to really show yourself to another - how you do it, why, and when.
Everything that’s been happening for you in the Scorpio phase of this Mercury retro can find a door to be shared with another. In Libra, it’s just about anyone - anyone we deem or experience as an equal. If you find yourself taking a Libra other (just about anyone) and sharing your Scorpio self (the part that needs to trust another deeply before opening - the one that’s been getting Mercury center stage during the retro), think of it as an opportunity to learn more about how you define and in what ways you build trust in your closest confidants. Most of us would never confide in a casual acquaintance the kinds of things we’re seeing about ourselves during this Scorpio phase of the retro. Perhaps your Scorpio self can see its way to bringing some part of its intensity to others, just because it exists and is a true thing about the self, and not because they’ve done something magnificent and impressive to earn its trust.
Additionally, the subject matter up for review is up for change at this time. From the taboos or hidden things of Scorpio to the issues of fairness and reciprocity of Libra. From the probing nature of Scorpio to the competing needs to be really heard by and to learn to really hear another. As someone with a Scorpio Sun and a stellium in Libra that spans the entire sign, I’m curious about what this might bring my way. But, again, everyone has every energy, and can make use of the opportunity to review the place and manifestations of these energies in their lives.
*Everyone’s got Scorpio somewhere in the natal chart, and so everyone’s got a Scorpionic side. Consider the house and sign Mercury’s transiting currently (plus whatever’s in the 8th house and Pluto’s placement) for the basic profile of that Scorpio self.
Tom is available for consultations and lessons. See http://tdjacobs.com for more information and to book a consultation.
October 19, 2007 By Tom Jacobs
Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio: See, Hear and Feel Your Limits (and/or Dead People)
Tonight I went to my second spirit rescue circle. The opportunity came up last month for the first time after a couple of years of scattered personal experiences in assisting earth-bound spirits leave this plane (and other general psychic wackiness that I wanted to understand and learn more about). At the time, I thought it would be good exercise for my channeling/intuitive skills, as practice connecting with spirit in an environment other than my work.
What I’ve found is something so entirely rad that I kind of can’t describe it in human language well enough to give it justice.
But since I’m determined to stay on track with this post, I offer this: Mercury retrograding can bring us ideas and information, and memories, to which we normally don’t have access, for whatever reason. In a water sign, these can be of an emotional nature and, you might have deduced from your living this week, can affect us emotionally. In Scorpio, these can be of a difficult nature that can frighten us, and this is totally normal - Scorpio energy contains a lot of what we’re afraid to see.
The opportunity for people on the planet during this retrograde period includes being willing to look at some scary stuff. Finding one’s limits in this area is a prime topic for exploration. Not just seeing but experiencing our limits in fresh ways tells us where we are. Being honest with ourselves about why we have these limits is important, and represents the next step for the proactive earth-bound human interested in seeing life as a series of growth opportunities (hey, lookie! - you can bring a dash of Southern California to your state!).
So, here’s what a spirit rescue circle is: A group of people assemble to provide a place of light/love to help disembodied spirits cross over into the next place, or phase of existence. There are those who have died suddenly and traumatically who may not even know they’re dead, and others who don’t believe that there is another place, or that they don’t belong there/deserve to go. Others are hanging around in order to accomplish something specific, and are bent on remaining here until it’s done. The stories are endlessly variable, but the point is that being here after death in this way can be disorienting, uncomfortable, and can contain a measure of unnecessary suffering (not to mention the connection-with-living-people attempts that can mess with the living and create tension all around).
These circles pick a place where a tragedy of some sort or other has occurred, and focuses on that place, scanning it to see if there are spirits stuck there that could be helped to cross over. Tonight, the circle was focused on a place where a gruesome crime occurred, and it was difficult for a number of us to tune into the feeling of dark energy that is associated with the scene and the folks who committed the crime.
I sometimes admit to being a Scorpio…and to having Pluto in the 12th house. This stuff fascinates me, almost endlessly. I happen not to believe that I’m in danger when I sense dark energy, and so I’m willing to look. My curiosity (my, um, Mercury is with Neptune in Sagittarius, on the cusp of the 3rd) runs deep, and I want to know how things work. In this case, before the spirits there could be helped to cross, a situation involving them being kept there would need to be changed. And this brought up some objections from some in the group, who emphasized that being intentional in doing such things is important. But what I heard in the main, between the lines, was this: “This makes me uncomfortable. I’m afraid of doing this. I’ve never done it before and that darkness that’s accessible, that I can see and feel, frightens me. I’m afraid of being hurt and getting damaged.”
One person in particular had met her limits, and openly stated them to the group. The Scorpio in me wanted to roll up sleeves and investigate just what was going on behind the scenes, and gather as much info as possible. The rest of me accepted that there was real fear in the room (and resolved to write this post as an educational offering). In my work and travels in these spirit-based circles I often meet people who had psychic experiences as children and shut their faculties down because of negative, painful experiences. Many times this kind of seeing and knowing isn’t supported by our family or social environments, and so here’s the time in the post when I invite you and everyone to just go ahead and lose the religious and societal conditioning that you use to keep you from yourself. There’s nothing wrong with you! The way you’re wired is no accident!
It could be said it’s natural to fear the dark, but I offer that it’s natural to be the dark. As long as we’re afraid to look at the dark, we’ll be creating shadows and stuffing parts of ourselves into them, fear of which we can use to run our lives. And I seem to be here to remind you that you are both light and dark, you are every energy. We need Scorpios and other Plutonian types to remind us to look into the dark, and we need Mercury retrograding in Scorpio to show us the hows and whys of our resistance to the dark.
In short, when Mercury is retro in this sign, everyone gets the chance to see and think like a Scorpio. Mercury’s transits are in general an opportunity to try on other ways of thinking (other than our own natal Mercury placements/configurations), and this time in general can be useful if:
1. you’re willing to look in the dark, or
2. you’re willing to look at why you don’t want to look in the dark.
Either way, you gain something from it. Anyone willing to share what they’ve been seeing about the dark or their limits in willingness to look?
And when Mercury retros into Libra…I’ll be sure to write here about the old-school manners lessons I get from disembodied spirits.
Tom is available for consultations and lessons. See http://tdjacobs.com for more information and to book a consultation.
By Tom Jacobs