Cancer: The Great Embrace
Summer Solstice!
The time of the ‘great light’ here in the northern hemisphere is upon us. We have arrived at the ‘Full Moon’ point of the yearly cycle. At Winter Solstice, we were at the point of ‘least light’, with the days short and the nights long. This point can be co-related to the New Moon. If you go outside at New Moon and look into the sky, you will see stars but no trace of Luna. It appears that the sky is moonless! New Moon time is the seeding time, a time of gestation, womblike, mysterious and fertile. On the other hand, Full Moon is a time of revelation, fruition and manifestation. This is a natural cycle of becoming and does not alter in its flow. First comes seeding and birth, the beginning, followed by an unfolding until that point of full manifestation occurs so that all is revealed. The celestial sphere mirrors this cycle beautifully, as a reminder to us to pay attention to the natural cycles of being around us.
In the northern hemisphere, winter drives most of us inward, we slow down and even, for some, hibernate, metaphorically speaking. This meditative state can facilitate the birth of new projects, new mind sets, new protocols. After the gestation period, we start to implement until finally, we see the results of all of our dreaming and activity. So, if you follow the flow of energy mindfully, you can take a moment now, as we approach the Summer Solstice, and review for yourself, how you have worked with your own cycle of growth. Did you set any specific goals back in December? (New Year’s resolutions could serve for this purpose.) How have those goals or resolutions formed so far? Are there aspects of your own unfolding reality that need adjustment and refinement? If you are a journal keeper, you can look back at your December and January entries and note how you have evolved over the past few months, how initial ideas have changed, how your perspective of situations has shifted. Now is a good time to make some evaluations and necessary adjustments!
It is now, as the Sun enters Cancer that the cycle shifts into waning of light. The days will begin to shorten and slowly we will move into the dark. But, for now, for these glorious sun filled days we are bathed in the light and warmth of summer.
Cancer is one of the Water signs, flowing, emotional and sensitive. It is also a cardinal energy, keyed to movement, relatively swift in its reactions and attuned to growth. The element of Water is usually associated with the emotional body and Cancer does indeed correlate to the breast area of the physical body as well as the stomach. The breasts are the outer layer of the heart area, suggesting a connection here with love and nurturing. The stomach, of course, is critical to our well-being, since we need nourishment in order to live and Cancer is the nourisher.
The celestial object associated with Cancer is the Moon. Constantly shifting above us in the sky, the Moon is the least constant heavenly body except for, perhaps, the comets and meteors. At any given moment, we can look up and see a transforming Moon, first a little sliver, then a delicate crescent, then a whole half pie, then a humped back old woman and finally, the full fat globe that rivals the sun—sort of…☺ The Moon’s changeable nature lends insight into something important about Cancer. This is an energy that is constantly flowing from form to form. On an ego level, this could manifest as a certain moodiness, a restlessness that could appear as irritation. If you have an accentuated Cancer energy in your psyche, you must honour your very real need to follow your feeling nature and if you feel grumpy, it might be that you just need some down time to unwind and re-integrate. Experientially, Cancer types are absorbent, like a sponge and as a result, must take the time to sort through the wide array of emotions that they take in through their skin. Once this is understood, both by the Cancer types and their loved ones, life gets much easier to bear. The old scripture that tells us about there being a “season for everything under the sun” is particularly true about the Cancerian experiential process. Laughter is often followed by tears and sorrow leads to peace…and swiftly.
Cancer is found in the 4th house of the natural wheel of the Zodiac. This 4th house is all about the deep things of the personal, where we come from, where we are, in theory, most comfortable or, at the very least, where we better come to some sort of terms of agreement, our deepest emotions and our impulse to nest, to build home and family, to be ultimately who we truly are. It is the ego in search of its roots. No wonder that Cancer is attuned to caregiving and nurturing. One of the archetypes that comes to mind when talking about this energy is The Mother. Of course, just what kind of a mother springs forth from the Cancer soul is quite another matter. We can witness the controlling mother, the detached mother, the oppressive mother, the ineffective mother, the monster mother and so forth. The maternal demonstration is entirely dependant on other factors in the natal structure! However, with mindfulness and intention, the strongly cancer type can find her way into the arms of the ‘Model Mother’ who nurtures just enough to give support without eating her young one up!
The symbol for Cancer is The Crab. Here is the little creature who, basically, carries his house around with him. Think about this for a moment. What is a home, really? Is it a place or is it a feeling? For Cancer, it is the feeling of Home that is of paramount importance, thus the image of the little crab, trucking around all that is familiar and secure wherever he goes. And, as long as there is a sense of security, then the Cancer type can really step out and shine. It is only when she does not feel safe that she recedes into her ‘shell’ to hide away from the world.
The Partner sign to Cancer is Capricorn. Winter solstice occurs when the Sun moves into Capricorn, exactly 6 months after Summer Solstice. Where Cancer is soft and emotional, Capricorn is all business. Where Cancer can typify the feminine side of parental care, Capricorn is the disciplinarian, the task master. While we recede into the security of our own space in Cancer, we face the external world in Capricorn and carve out a place for ourselves in society under the auspices of that energy! Together, working in harmony, we see a complete picture of the self, both private and public, in here and out there. Cancer is, as I mentioned, a water sign. Capricorn is an earth sign. When you mix water and earth, you get mud which, with some expertise, can be made into bricks and bricks, after all, are what make up a building, a home, a structure to be safe in and for all the world to see. What a fitting metaphor for the energy of Cancer/Capricorn!
Next month, I will revisit the energy of Leo and the glorious Sun, the romance of the 5th house and all that sort of thing. In the meantime, relax, kick back and enjoy the summer warmth. It only comes around once a year!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Astrology and the Age of Reason
The birth mandala is a representation of the energetic potential of any given individual. By understanding it & studying it, we can get insight into our internal mechanisms of behaviour & into possible blockages to action & avenues of release. Not only that, but the possibilities of the outworking of any energetic patterns inherent in the mandala can be discerned, so much so that many astrologers are able to use the basic mandala as a predictive tool for their clients.
For centuries the study of this archetypal representation of the self & the soul force behind it, has focused on the specific patterns of relationship as demonstrated by the planetary energies of choice. We can look at the planetary points as areas of high focus either in the form of a blessing or in the form of a challenge, but we should not exclude the potential that is available to us in the rest of the mandala even though it may not be engaged with personal planets and asteroids, targeted by fixed stars or involved in aspect structures. As we move collectively into a potential energetic future (often referred to as the Aquarian Age), we should strive to open ourselves to a shift in how we view energy & our own unique inter-facing with that energy. Why should we be restricted to trines, squares, oppositions or any other so-called aspects? Just because we may appear to be a compilation of a certain zodiacal ‘family’, Fire, Earth Air or Water, why should we limit ourselves to this energy? Just because the obvious focus of a life may be on certain areas of enterprise, why should we feel that we cannot explore other areas of life as well? The concept of transits is familiar to anyone who works with astrological tools & it is time to expand that understanding to include the whole mandala of 360* of energetic potential.
With the advent of the Age of Reason, humans began to push the bar in terms of how they viewed existence. The scientific method did free us in many ways. Certainly, social hierarchy met its demise, though slowly & it can be argued that it is still in its death throes even now. Nevertheless, the scientific model did much to equalize the playing field. Opportunities for advancement were opened up & even the so-called lowest member of society was able to advance to a place in the sun. Magic was, in some cases, explained through careful experimentation & exploration using the newly understood formulae & newly derived ‘scientific methods’. However, the Age of Reason also brought in some negative repercussions. Reductionist thinking & rationalism really led to a shutting down of an important, dare I say, even essential aspect of human existence, the intuitive side of life. Rather than just explaining Magic, science actually contributed to the eradication of the possibility of Magic for the collective. Only that which could be measured was considered ‘real’.
If a possibility is excluded from the psyche, it cannot, in fact, manifest. Form follows thought. Interestingly, science has now brought the collective back to possibility with the new ideas that are coming from the clearly unscientific area of quantum physics! (Using their own definitions, of course.)
We live in a time of widening possibility; a time of a magical renewal of the fullest of human potential. We are beginning to see the universe as an organic whole that encompasses many different ways of being, a multi-leveled existence. If the universe itself is viewed as an organism, and integrally linked to all other lesser organisms, this single realization or thought can dramatically alter the way we, as sentient parts of that organic whole behave. This is certainly the force that is fueling the ecological movement, all humanitarian actions and socio-political movements that seek to create unity & coherent interaction between member states; even scientific breakthroughs that serve to improve the human condition for all members of the earth. We are beginning to think of ourselves & the universe in which we reside as one holistic reality which survives, thrives or expires in entirety.
Part of this growing awareness, this wider perception of reality, of life, of ourselves, relates directly to how we can use the tool of astrology. We want to begin to look at the mandala in a holistic way. Of course, when doing a chart interpretation, a good astrologer already does this to an extent. The sum is, often, greater than the parts that added up to it. A good astrologer has to make intuitive leaps & judgments. The great debate over astrology is as a result of the fact that “Magic” is involved in chart understanding & delineation; that same “Magic” that the Age of Reason so effectively shut down. It is only because we attempt to shove astrological detective work into the scientific model that the debate arises. This is not to say that astrologers should throw out their Mercury (reasoning) function & rely completely on a Uranian or Neptunian modality (intuition & inspiration) to do chart work. That would also be counterproductive to the spirit of holism. Now is the time to call a truce between the two opposing factions, the right side of the human brain and the left side of it. The intuitive process works best when well supported by a clear logical thinking process. An incisive mind can really soar to great heights when fueled by intuitive understanding. And really, the greatest of human achievements have always been made using both of these functions. (Einstein ‘dreamed’ his theory of relativity during an afternoon nap!)
So, for the modern astrologer, it is imperative to look at any energy system, as represented by the horoscope (birth mandala) in a whole way. This opens up multi-leveled doors of opportunity for the person in question. Once a possibility is explored, it has much more likelihood of taking form through the interaction of the ego with the energy available to it! Any horoscope encompasses all 360* of the Wheel of Life—the Zodiac and at any given moment in time, there is interaction of energy somewhere within this wheel, as representative of the psyche. Here is a very simple illustration. Maybe you were born when the Sun was in the Zodiac sign of Cancer, (its current location, by the way). That simply means that your birthday falls somewhere between June 21 and July 23. Cancer is linked to two other signs of the Zodiac by element and three other signs by modality. Suddenly, whole new possibilities are opened! A person with Sun in Cancer can also feel energetic activation through her connection to the 2 other energies linked to Cancer by element, Scorpio & Pisces, and the 3 other energies linked to Cancer by modality, Aries, Libra & Capricorn. Possibly, she may not have any actual planetary archetypes in any of these areas of the Zodiac but she will, nevertheless, still feel something since energy is like a wave, not something rigid and fixed. This example is merely one way that energy could be experienced. However, each and every one of the 360* of the horoscope is in relationship with the whole wheel of degrees, in every moment of consciousness. How could it be any other way? We are whole beings within ourselves and part of a whole system of being that holds us all. Everything connects with everything. The poet, John Donne, expressed this idea in the following words;
“No man is an island…”
How right he was and on a much more profound level than we may have understood when we first read those words!
How exciting this concept is! We are so much more than what we ever thought we were! We are not limited! We truly are infinite possibility! We may have shut the door on the magic of the metaphysical as The Age of Reason took hold, but, we have now found our way back to that door through the discoveries made about the nature of reality, existence and energy through the very tools of the Age of Reason that once shut that magical door.
To explore your own possibility and potential using the Astrological Method and especially with a focus on this new way to look at the birth mandala, contact me @ christinaraiw@gmail.com. Together we will step through those magical doors of perception and discover a whole new you!
The birth mandala is a representation of the energetic potential of any given individual. By understanding it & studying it, we can get insight into our internal mechanisms of behaviour & into possible blockages to action & avenues of release. Not only that, but the possibilities of the outworking of any energetic patterns inherent in the mandala can be discerned, so much so that many astrologers are able to use the basic mandala as a predictive tool for their clients.
For centuries the study of this archetypal representation of the self & the soul force behind it, has focused on the specific patterns of relationship as demonstrated by the planetary energies of choice. We can look at the planetary points as areas of high focus either in the form of a blessing or in the form of a challenge, but we should not exclude the potential that is available to us in the rest of the mandala even though it may not be engaged with personal planets and asteroids, targeted by fixed stars or involved in aspect structures. As we move collectively into a potential energetic future (often referred to as the Aquarian Age), we should strive to open ourselves to a shift in how we view energy & our own unique inter-facing with that energy. Why should we be restricted to trines, squares, oppositions or any other so-called aspects? Just because we may appear to be a compilation of a certain zodiacal ‘family’, Fire, Earth Air or Water, why should we limit ourselves to this energy? Just because the obvious focus of a life may be on certain areas of enterprise, why should we feel that we cannot explore other areas of life as well? The concept of transits is familiar to anyone who works with astrological tools & it is time to expand that understanding to include the whole mandala of 360* of energetic potential.
With the advent of the Age of Reason, humans began to push the bar in terms of how they viewed existence. The scientific method did free us in many ways. Certainly, social hierarchy met its demise, though slowly & it can be argued that it is still in its death throes even now. Nevertheless, the scientific model did much to equalize the playing field. Opportunities for advancement were opened up & even the so-called lowest member of society was able to advance to a place in the sun. Magic was, in some cases, explained through careful experimentation & exploration using the newly understood formulae & newly derived ‘scientific methods’. However, the Age of Reason also brought in some negative repercussions. Reductionist thinking & rationalism really led to a shutting down of an important, dare I say, even essential aspect of human existence, the intuitive side of life. Rather than just explaining Magic, science actually contributed to the eradication of the possibility of Magic for the collective. Only that which could be measured was considered ‘real’.
If a possibility is excluded from the psyche, it cannot, in fact, manifest. Form follows thought. Interestingly, science has now brought the collective back to possibility with the new ideas that are coming from the clearly unscientific area of quantum physics! (Using their own definitions, of course.)
We live in a time of widening possibility; a time of a magical renewal of the fullest of human potential. We are beginning to see the universe as an organic whole that encompasses many different ways of being, a multi-leveled existence. If the universe itself is viewed as an organism, and integrally linked to all other lesser organisms, this single realization or thought can dramatically alter the way we, as sentient parts of that organic whole behave. This is certainly the force that is fueling the ecological movement, all humanitarian actions and socio-political movements that seek to create unity & coherent interaction between member states; even scientific breakthroughs that serve to improve the human condition for all members of the earth. We are beginning to think of ourselves & the universe in which we reside as one holistic reality which survives, thrives or expires in entirety.
Part of this growing awareness, this wider perception of reality, of life, of ourselves, relates directly to how we can use the tool of astrology. We want to begin to look at the mandala in a holistic way. Of course, when doing a chart interpretation, a good astrologer already does this to an extent. The sum is, often, greater than the parts that added up to it. A good astrologer has to make intuitive leaps & judgments. The great debate over astrology is as a result of the fact that “Magic” is involved in chart understanding & delineation; that same “Magic” that the Age of Reason so effectively shut down. It is only because we attempt to shove astrological detective work into the scientific model that the debate arises. This is not to say that astrologers should throw out their Mercury (reasoning) function & rely completely on a Uranian or Neptunian modality (intuition & inspiration) to do chart work. That would also be counterproductive to the spirit of holism. Now is the time to call a truce between the two opposing factions, the right side of the human brain and the left side of it. The intuitive process works best when well supported by a clear logical thinking process. An incisive mind can really soar to great heights when fueled by intuitive understanding. And really, the greatest of human achievements have always been made using both of these functions. (Einstein ‘dreamed’ his theory of relativity during an afternoon nap!)
So, for the modern astrologer, it is imperative to look at any energy system, as represented by the horoscope (birth mandala) in a whole way. This opens up multi-leveled doors of opportunity for the person in question. Once a possibility is explored, it has much more likelihood of taking form through the interaction of the ego with the energy available to it! Any horoscope encompasses all 360* of the Wheel of Life—the Zodiac and at any given moment in time, there is interaction of energy somewhere within this wheel, as representative of the psyche. Here is a very simple illustration. Maybe you were born when the Sun was in the Zodiac sign of Cancer, (its current location, by the way). That simply means that your birthday falls somewhere between June 21 and July 23. Cancer is linked to two other signs of the Zodiac by element and three other signs by modality. Suddenly, whole new possibilities are opened! A person with Sun in Cancer can also feel energetic activation through her connection to the 2 other energies linked to Cancer by element, Scorpio & Pisces, and the 3 other energies linked to Cancer by modality, Aries, Libra & Capricorn. Possibly, she may not have any actual planetary archetypes in any of these areas of the Zodiac but she will, nevertheless, still feel something since energy is like a wave, not something rigid and fixed. This example is merely one way that energy could be experienced. However, each and every one of the 360* of the horoscope is in relationship with the whole wheel of degrees, in every moment of consciousness. How could it be any other way? We are whole beings within ourselves and part of a whole system of being that holds us all. Everything connects with everything. The poet, John Donne, expressed this idea in the following words;
“No man is an island…”
How right he was and on a much more profound level than we may have understood when we first read those words!
How exciting this concept is! We are so much more than what we ever thought we were! We are not limited! We truly are infinite possibility! We may have shut the door on the magic of the metaphysical as The Age of Reason took hold, but, we have now found our way back to that door through the discoveries made about the nature of reality, existence and energy through the very tools of the Age of Reason that once shut that magical door.
To explore your own possibility and potential using the Astrological Method and especially with a focus on this new way to look at the birth mandala, contact me @ christinaraiw@gmail.com. Together we will step through those magical doors of perception and discover a whole new you!
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