Reflections on ‘we create our own reality’

by with 4 Comments Astrological InsightsProfessional Astrologer

Today I was listening to another fellow astrologer doing a live and some thoughts came up regarding what we do and what we say as astrologers as well.

Astrology is very pluralistic, and there are many different ways of practicing it, I can definitely see that. But I can also see, and have read some articles about that too, that in western astrology the ‘psychologising’ is pretty strong, where it is commonly claimed that the internal world speaks much louder than the outer world.

I do agree that enhancing self awareness is a pretty important step towards empowerment and the idea that that which remains unconscious has a very strong potential to become our ‘fate’.

But at the same time, I see the limitations of this way of perceiving reality. I have been watching a couple of documentaries about the cult that was under Keith Raniere’s leadership (who was convicted recently to 120 years in jail) and one of the main things they used to catch people and brainwash them, was this sort of ‘new age’ discourse claiming that you create your own reality etc.

By all means, I am not trying to compare a cult leader to astrologers who genuinelly have the best interest of their clients at heart. Not at all!

I am just reflecting on the potential pitfalls of claiming that we create our reality too much when it comes to illnesses for instance, or trauma in general. I don’t want my clients to feel guilty for having problems that we don’t really understand, even if Saturn is transiting that person’s whatnot, we still don’t fully comprehend why certain things happen in someone’s life the way it does.

Here is where I think astrologers would do well in keeping a sense of inflation under control, yes, we do have access to information that the majority don’t have. We spend more time exploring certain mysteries that most people have no interest or don’t even know it is possible to explore. But that does not mean that we fully understand what the universe or these mysteries are all about.

You might have a strong feeling about past lives, or whatever, but I don’t think that we should impose our belief system upon our clients in a way that might be causing more damage than healing.

Just a thought…

Prognostication as New Lenses

by with 10 Comments Astrological InsightsAstrology and me

One of the things that I find most interesting regarding prognostic techniques in astrology is to see them as an opportunity to experience your natal chart differently. To have a temporary experience of how different certain placements are from what you know (especially regarding progressions/solar arc directions).

For instance I have a tight natal square between Venus and Neptune (with Venus being the ruler of my 7th house) and this has been very obvious in my love life. All of the classic stuff that we usually link to that kind of aspect: evasion, confusion, being the saviour or saved by someone else… my sometimes (many times to be honest) lack of discrimination has consistently put me into trouble.

It is not a surprise then that having my progressed Venus exactly conjoined natal Saturn has somehow been feeling refreshing (a word that we hardly imagine paired up with Saturn’s symbolism). But that’s how it partly feels to me. Suddenly I am more sober, more serious and unwilling to delude myself.

I want to see who is truly in front of me rather than dream about it. As I get older I am increasingly tired of the Neptunian fog that comprised my love life and this progression seems to reflect that. This time is an opportunity to learn Saturn-Venus lessons (transiting Saturn is also trine my natal Venus!).

And I welcome that right now!

The other day I had a date with someone and it was brilliant not to do anything, it was great to just hold and give myself time to slowly meet someone else. I told him I want to be friends and make sure we do have anything before becoming physical. I’ve never really done that before. It was great!

Sure I do feel isolated and alone at times (all of the Saturn stuff), but it somehow feels good being able to be with myself. I don’t want any illusions anymore, I’d rather isolate myself instead and concentrate on important things, like my dissertation (which I just started the process) and my astrological practice.

So whenever you see something like that coming up (progressed Venus on your Saturn), this could be a great opportunity, an antidote to an old pattern represented by the natal astrological symbol, like my Venus-Neptune for example.

Another Venus-Neptune post

by with 2 Comments Astrology and meInner life

We are all living in a liminal space at the moment, perhaps for this whole year. Around me I see people struggling with different things, some having financial problems, others psychological struggles, but everyone seems to be feeling the difficulties of a very charged moment of change (collectively and individually).

As I work on my dissertation’s topic and delve deeper into concepts like ‘peak experiences’, ‘enchantment’, ‘ecofeminism’, I realise how disconnected from each other and everything else we are as a society. I feel that it is exactly in the ‘illusion of separation’ that lies our troubles. And how are we going to work on that?! Are we even going to?!

Sometimes (most of the time) I think that our survival as a species depends on that, on this spiritual shift and realisation that we are all interconnected. The deep understanding that if someone is suffering in the room I too suffer. The notion that if we continue to exploit and usurp from the environment there will be consequences, as above so below – as within so without. The way we treat the environment reflects how we treat ourselves and each other.

Transiting Venus, the ruler of yesterday’s new moon in Libra, is just about to oppose Neptune and I feel flooded by these feelings and I somehow resent being in this world at this moment. I resent having to witness all the ugliness around me, the lack of solidarity and kindness. I feel alone and sad right now, hoping that I can transform this energy into fuel for something else…

Solar Arc Direction and inner shifts…

by with 3 Comments Astrology and meInner lifeProfessional Astrologer

Yesterday my Solar Arc ascendant has officially shifted to Capricorn, which will last for the next 30 years, so I guess this is a big deal.

Amongst a variety of prognostic techniques in astrology, Solar Arc direction is the one I don’t use it so often but as a kind of a ‘scientist’ I like observing it.

Apparently, in Solar Arc direction (I would actually consider that in relation to any astrological prognostic technique), when there is a shift in astrological sign like the one mentioned, we better look at what we have in that sign natally to get some clues on how the next 30 years might play out.

I have only Jupiter and the part of fortune in Capricorn, and the sign is also on the cusp of my third house. Natal Jupiter is in a tight trine to my Mercury-Sun conjunction and this seems to have a similar message to the third house cusp thing.

My take is that perhaps this shift from Sagittarius to Capricorn will enable me to move and travel a little less and to focus instead on work and intellectual production.

I also hope that this process will reflect a change from emphasising my Mars (out of bounds) conjoined Uranus in the first house in Sagittarius (square Sun-Mercury) to, the already mentioned, Jupiter.

I feel that I could do not only with learning more about practicing patience, but also and specially dealing better with boredom, something that tend to sabotage many opportunities in my life (for work, relationships, etc).

Perhaps living on the fast lane isn’t for me anymore and I would really like to learn more about taking things slow, learn more about working steadily and patiently towards a goal, and feeling ok with being temporarily bored without the need to act out and create disruption.

(BTW, Solar Arc Pluto is one degree away from my natal Mars… so perhaps learning these lessons are in the cards for me anyway…)

Have you observed a shift of signs by Solar Arc direction in your chart? How did that play out for you? Did it help integrating your natal chart more?

A note on Mars retrograde

by with No Comment Astrological InsightsSearch for home

I officially moved into my flat on Saturday night and yet I feel strange. The current energies seem to be so heavy that I can almost touch it with my hands.

During the day I felt sad, nostalgic, lonely, irritable, I don’t know what else…

Retrograde Mars in Aries is coming up to square Saturn again, followed by a square to Pluto and Jupiter, all in Capricorn. In addition to that, Mercury in Libra is also coming to an opposition with Mars.

We better brace ourselves!

If you feel angry and frustrated the probability is that you are also picking up on these tense, to say the least, energies. Better not to act out unconsciously. This isn’t the best time to set your boundaries, to tell someone off or to go with road rage.

Be cool, be calm, this should be the mantra!

The best we can do with retrograde planets is to go inwards rather than outwards, is to reassess how we express the archetype reflected. In this case, with Mars, how do we deal with anger? How do we express frustration? What triggers irritation? These are some of the questions that are worth asking ourselves now until the end of November. Ask yourself but try not to take action right now as when the planet moves forward again we tend to regret what we did during its retrogradation period.

Wishing you (me included) all peace, patience and calm as much as possible during the most challenging moments until the energies shift again.

Be well everyone.

New Moon and Venusian things

by with 4 Comments Astrology and meInner lifeSearch for home

Happy New Moon everyone!

This one is quite a powerful one personally as it activates my natal Venus (which happens to be in the midpoint of my Sun-Moon, and also square to Neptune-Jupiter).

I actually have been overly aware of everything Venusian, together with my already mentioned eagerness to have a home. In fact, they’re both connected as my natal Moon is ruled by Venus.

Dreaming about having a beautiful home (that’s a good phrase for the Venus-Neptune-Moon combo…) and I guess that it won’t be much longer until I move into my new flat. I am so excited about that, I could scream!

Perhaps this is the beginning of my midlife crisis, me wanting to settle down a bit more and being tired of travelling much. Or maybe that’s my progressed/solar arc ascendant moving to Capricorn. All I wanna do is to have my beautiful base and to work and study. At least for now, that’s how I feel.

Regarding the New Moon Venus stuff, with also lots of trines from the Capricorn transiting planets as well as progressed Venus conjoined my natal Saturn, I feel more pragmatic and rational when it comes to love. At least so it seems.

It’s like I have taken down my rose tinted glasses for a bit and it feels good. My new mantra is: from now on, they will have to EARN (I can hear Saturn here!) my respect, time and attention. No more freebies! No more projecting my worth; validation needs to come from within.

I guess that I will always be a Venus Square Neptune person, but throughout life I believe that we can fine tune our natal aspects into a more refined way of expression. I enjoy the potential for compassion, forgiveness and unconditional love that the Venus-Neptune combo can reflect; and I also love art and beauty.

I am planning to learn how to play the guitar when Neptune opposes my natal Venus in a couple of years; maybe that’s a good way of negotiating with the universe in order not to fall into a massive delusion again and again and again… ? Have you ever ‘negotiated’ challenging transits to difficult points in your natal chart before? How did that go?

Catching Up

by with No Comment Astrology and meSearch for home

Here I go again, in two days I will be flying across the Atlantic once more. I feel like I have to give one step backwards in order to go forwards again; at least that’s how I perceive the current transits activating my MC-IC axis.

I need to have a solid home to work from.

Since I left Brighton almost a month ago I could barely focus and be productive. Feels weird not to be focusing on work after going through 2 months and a half of being busy like never before with my masters and astrological talks/teaching/consultations.

I also did not manage to send my books to my flat in São Paulo because of the COVID situation. Another pandemic postponing of plans… It seems like I will have a solid base, with my belongings in it, only when Saturn will be transiting my IC by conjunction later next year. That’s ok, I have to learn how to be patient. Another Saturn lesson to my Mars-Uranus…

When I bought my tickets to go back to Brazil I thought that Mars retrograde could be a good significator of me going back and redoing what I started when I left, my new base. I am looking forward to start decorating my flat and to have the feeling, for the first time, of finally having a home. Let’s see what happens.

I also currently have transits from Pluto/Saturn/Jupiter to my natal Venus, with progressed Venus almost conjoined natal Saturn, and my values seem to be becoming more visible to me. The coming new Moon is on my natal Venus as well and I plan to make a little ritual to consolidate this process of self possession that I seem to be going through right now.

I think that’s it for now. I hope you are all doing well out there.

Grand Cardinal Cross

by with No Comment Astrological InsightsSearch for home

As I organise myself to send my boxes to Brazil, I think about the current energies and the full moon in Pisces.

At the exact moment of the full moon there was a grand cross in the sky involving Mars in Aries, Saturn/Pluto/Jupiter in Capricorn, Venus in Cancer and Juno in Libra. What do we commit to, how, and the motivation behind it, might be the theme of this intense month. The grand cross is in cardinal signs and I can imagine plenty of energy being available for us to tap into and problem solve.

Cardinality asks for action; so one way of channeling the intensity is exercising a bit more than usual.

Another thing I was thinking about is the challenge regarding compromise; do we know when to compromise and when not? With Mars stationing to move retrograde soon, we better revisit how we assert ourselves and where resentment might still be present, even without our conscious awareness. Buried anger is another one that might come up in the next few months.  How have you been using your libido? How do you get what you want? Do you know what you want or do you get confused in the middle of everybody else’s wishes? These are some of the questions worth asking ourselves now.

Cardinality also speaks of taking initiative, so I can imagine this grand cross reflecting a big amount of energy compelling us to get out of whichever stagnant situation we’ve got ourselves involved in. The important thing to remember though, with Mars just about to go retrograde, is to rethink our strategies rather than just impulsively create more conflict. Rationality goes a long way with so many tense astrological aspects.

Wishing you all a happy full moon!

Venus-Neptune rant

by with 6 Comments Astrology and meInner life

After much tension for the last couple of weeks here I am to write another blog post. This one I think is more of a need for self expression than anything else.

I feel confused and not sure about how to proceed, where should I be or how should I deal with my situation now. My natal Venus Square Neptune has been transited by Pluto and Saturn for some time, with my progressed Venus just about to conjoin natal Saturn, and I do feel this is potentially a big time of learning. Learning about boundaries and self worth, learning about my self-delusion tendencies in love, etc. Learning to get hold of my longings and to not project into a potential partner.

But these days I met an ex lover and all of that knowing and self awareness sort of went down the drain. I’ve always made a point in meeting past lovers after sometime just to complete the process of getting over someone. Just to see how much that person does not have a hold on me anymore. Banishing someone I like from my life forever, has never been my way of dealing with a broken heart.

But what do we do when even after not seeing someone for 5 years you realise that you still have strong feelings for that person? How can that even be possible? I feel like I’ve had so many lives for the past five years, so much travelling, moving cities, jobs, doing a masters, different relationships, etc. So much has happened, so much growth. How is it possible to still have strong feelings for someone that I thought I left behind long ago?

He is one of the only people I’ve met that I felt completely comfortable sleeping beside me, I didn’t feel restless and could manage to go into deep sleep quite easily. Many of his personal planets fall into my 12th house and I have the feeling that that reflects an access that he has to my unconscious, which is quite nice for sleeping. I don’t know. It actually feels like he has free access to my soul, and that’s the trouble. How can you let go of a connection of this kind?

Although a lot of good things are happening in my life at the moment, I feel sad. I wonder what is the point of having such a strong and deep link with someone if you’re not able to pursue and explore it further. Grow together. Why? What is the point in learning about letting go of someone you like so much, knowing that they feel similarly towards you?

Not meant to be? What does that even mean? …

On the current Mars’ transits

by with 2 Comments Astrology and meSearch for home

The last few days have been mental and beyond intense. Somehow I got dragged into a drama that does not have much to do with me, apart from being the friend of one of the persons involved. I don’t really want to get into the details of everything as it isn’t worth it, but I was locked out from my house at 10 in the evening and the shock and absurdity of that situation for me was absolutely maddening. It was traumatising, to say the least, and it made me think about all of the people out there suffering in abusive relationships.

My heart is with you and I hope that you can heal and manage to break out from whichever pattern of hurt and suffering you feel you’re stuck in.

Astrologers know and have been talking about the myriad of challenging astrological transits for 2020 for quite sometime already, and we are currently navigating the energies reflected by Mars in Aries in square to Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn.

They manifested in quite a real way in my case, with a touch of physical violence included, but it doesn’t have to be that way. What I think is that whatever intensity and anger that came up to us now is pointing out to the changes that we are contemplating and aware of their need for quite sometime already.

We have to be brave to be the best we can be, to leave behind whatever, or whoever, feels familiar but does not embrace and support this best version of ourselves.

Raise up to the challenge!

Use the current energies to embrace courage (Mars in Aries) and to take constructive action towards a better life. Learn about healthy boundaries, and about not blaming other people for your shortcomings. Take responsibility for your process, and your process only. You can’t take anyone else with you, you can’t change anyone or ‘make’ them behave in one way or another. It’s about you and what you want in your life.

May we all find creative and constructive ways of working with the challenging changes ahead!