By Esther Frances
Ahh, Summertime! I’m loving the long days and vitality of the summer chi. What are you “I-t-chi-ng to express, feel, be, do, in this fertile season?
Many of you may rejoice to learn that Mercury turns direct on the 1st. As much as I love Mercury retrograde, I have to concede that I am relieved that it is changing course. It will be easier to navigate both the internet and the highways.
Whatever you have been contemplating, preparing for, wanting to begin, now is the time to make some steps in that direction. With Mars in Libra, trine Venus in Gemini come the 2nd week of July, the timing is right for speaking up and out. Remember to listen with equal intensity and passion. Libra is really wanting the conversation, the dynamic dance, the co-creation.
The key is dynamic balance, neither holding back and suppressing or letting it all out in a volcanic spew that often brings regret. Instead, think a great volley as in tennis or ping pong, a duet that allows both voices their best. Are you ready to create a collaborative adventure?
Our jovial Jupiter leaves the habitat of Cancer and shifts gear into sunny Leo on the 16th. Celebration is called for even in the midst of all that befuddles us. You are invited to make sure to take time to “follow your bliss,” as the late Joseph Campbell advocated. Are you willing to allow joy to have its play with you?
Jupiter in Cancer has brought alarming reports of abuse, violence and lack of reverence and respect for the female. Horrific reports showed us how far we have to go. The images reminded me of the deep repressive south in the sixties and its behaviors toward people of color.
It is tragic that the belief that the male is superior to the female still persists. We all suffer, men as well as women, for this glaring mistake. The caring professions, from Motherhood to Education are paid little for their contributions, even though they provide Life. Ironically, people who make and sell “smart bombs” and weapons receive far more financial renumeration then people who make and nourish Life. Zen Question: Why do we reward actions that destroy more than we value actions that create, sustain, and celebrate Life?
Jupiter in Cancer brought a lot of attention to issues pertaining to women, children, families, nutrition and belonging. Thousands of families are being ripped apart by political policies, war and poverty. Where in your own Life could you use greater connection and nurturing? While Jupiter is still in Cancer, (and especially while the Sun is in Cancer until the 22nd), it is a good time to take a look and then take a step to give and receive emotional care and resonance.
On the 10th, the Cancer Sun opposes Pluto, as the Earth position conjuncts Pluto. Will we begin to transform the archaic structures that keep us from creating a caring planet? In your own life what transformations need to happen for you to leave behind antiquated structures and put what you really care about first?
Venus enjoys herself in Gemini until the 18th, and then moves into Cancer for the rest of the month. She wants you to enjoy learning, talking, sharing and socializing. Venus in Cancer continues to give us the opportunity to appreciate Mother Earth and our own Mothers who brought us here through their bodies. What a gift!
The waters of Life call us to respect and purify them. No more fracking, dumping, spraying, poisoning, or denying the tears that need to be shed when we allow ourselves to feel the pain.
We need rain. We need to feel. We need to feel to heal. Please no more messages to men or women that says that crying is a weakness. Not being able to cry or feel is to be an emotional leper, creating great pain because of the inability to feel it.
A leper lacks the capacity to feel physical pain. If their hand is on a stove top they get burned because their brain doesn’t receive the signal that their hand is being hurt. If we can’t feel or cry, we can’t be sensitive to others. Please lets collectively abolish the taboo against feeling and crying.
How could soldiers rape, pillage and kill if they were fully in touch with their feelings? The Divine Feminine, as expressed through the Cancerian Mother/Child archetype asks us to transform the way we teach men not to cry or feel. Mother Earth suffers as she is burnt and Her forests swept clear by machines that act as if the living were dead.
So the question to you is, “How can you take a stand, a step, a direction toward changing the status quo into a way of Being that loves, appreciates, and protects Life? Sometimes we shrink from action because we feel it won’t make a difference or because we feel overwhelmed by the immensity of all the issues. Why not take just one small step and see how that feels? Complacency guarantees continuance.
Why not act as if you are powerful? The Pluto in you is ready for empowerment. Not power over, but power that acknowledges that we always make a difference even if we hold the position that we don’t make a difference. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
Saturn turns direct in Scorpio on the 21st while Uranus goes retrograde in Aries on the 22nd. They are in a challenging aspect to one another, asking us to deepen and discover what we really care about so that we can summon the courage to take an action that is in alignment with our heart’s calling. In this way we can all give love a place within us to navigate from. And we can do it with laughter, celebration and gladness!
© Esther Frances, June 27, 2014
