Harmonizing with the Shadow

Molly Hall About.com
Harmonizing with the Shadow
Thursday September 30, 2010


My bedside reading lately has been The Hope, A Call to Sacred Activism by Andrew Harvey. Link: http://www.amazon.com/Hope-Guide-Sacred-Activism/dp/1401920039 I'm inspired by his passion, and hands-on attitude -- as startlingly tough talk from a mystic and man on fire. Sometimes it's just enough to hear someone affirm that we're living in urgent, remarkable, exciting and frightening times. He writes in the chapter, The Death and the Birth, "All of us, even those who have made it our life's work to build in ourselves the faith, courage, hope, and vision to persevere, find it hard."

The starkness of that message comes home today, with the Sun aligned with Saturn in Libra (at 7 degrees). We could find out where we're dying for more balance. I'm thinking of a quote I heard recently: "Death is nature's way of telling you to slow down." Venus and Mars are also conjunct in emotionally wise Scorpio for a full on meeting with what's usually in the shadows. This is a great time to hold to your visions, especially those that to now have only been shadow realities. What needs the breath of life, to be revived and brought into being now?

I picked the Frog in the Medicine Cards today, a totem of cleansing the soul's waters. The urgent call for balance could be to take a break, let the swampy waters clear. With Venus-Mars in Scorpio, we sense the true depths of what we value, and what motivates or controls us. With that sight, we see where we can set things back on a path to harmony. From Medicine Cards, "The key thought is to find a way to rid yourself of distractions and to replace the mud with clear energy. Then replenish your parched spirit, body, and mind."

We can see how these two significant cosmic alignments complement each other. When the waters are clear, we are better able to stay in balance. When we're less confused, we're less emotionally mixed up. This is the relationship between air and water.

I'm sensing the compelling drive to make changes with how I manage my time. Saturn is Cronus, the reminder that time waits for no (wo) man. With the Sun-Saturn conjunction today, this influence is like a friend that loves us enough to tell us the truth, not just what we want to hear. For me, it's looking at obsessions (Scorpio) that feed underlying emotional needs, but don't bring any return on the investment. It's a time to take what's surfacing, and transform it. You can look around and see a lot of suffering, confusion, anger, lostness, strain. But if we make time to heal deeply, there's power locked in the seeds of any buried wounds/resentments/unfulfilled longings. And these can be the inspiration for a solid vision you can commit to heart and soul.