EYE ON SPIRITUALITY: BEYOND AN ASTROLOGY OF FEAR
Saturn is doing its thing again. Finally moving out of the worst part of the danger zone at 0-.48 Sagittarius but not really going to lift fully until March 16th. That means the bogeyman fear is going to get you, right? Usually we deal with fear by drowning ourselves in food, abusive substances, sexual outlets, zoning out watch TV or movies, playing video games or even escaping to meditation. Does this serve us or numb us out?
When we turn on the television, the media is ranting and feeding our fear. Iran is firing test missiles. Trump is tweeting. The next storm watch is being hyped by the weather channel. Fear is a survival mechanism that protects us. Our parents taught us to be fearful so we would not talk to strangers or go to near the fire on the stove but how useful is fear in our mature years? That mechanism is still firing but are we not really taken care of? Those winter storms are never quite as bad as the media says and I find snow beautiful. Iran has been threatening us for years but they are Venus mahadasha and somehow everything we have feared about them has not manifested. The world seems on edge but is it the media or a dark government on edge about losing their power to create war and strife in the world?
I have been trying to move beyond an astrology of fear lately. As a mundane astrologer, I could list all the hotspots of the year like the Feb. 26 Solar Eclipse with Mars conjunct Uranus, which could trigger earthquake and volcanic activity or the Total Solar Eclipse crossing the US during the daytime on August 21st and impacting Trump’s natal ascendent at Leo 5 degrees and natal Mars at 3 degrees but why should we spend time being fearful. It’s Feb. 5th now.
But usually the worst I imagine does not happen and the world goes on and does not fall apart and I do not think 2017 will be a major catastrophic year when things will fall apart or even 2018 will be all that bad in the absurd ways that people are fearing. If you want to worry, maybe focus on 2019-20 when Jupiter is conjunct Saturn and Ketu and Pluto but that is taking us out of the joy and wonder that could happen in our lives this year or next year and who knows what will get resolved by 2019-20? I remember 1989 was a pivotal year for the world in the astrology but the Berlin wall came down peacefully and the Soviet Bloc crumbled peacefully and so maybe–just maybe–we can have a peaceful transition in 2019-20.
For those of you who like to live in the future and worry big, worry about 2031-2 when Saturn goes into Rohini, which is one of those apocalyptic transits that happen every 29 years and was running when 9/11 happened in 2001. But why worry about something 14 years away? The world will continue to exist somehow. God has a plan and even when the architect is razing a building, he knows and sees the beautiful new structure that will be created. Japan and Germany in 1945 were a mess but look what has emerged today and who would have seen that in 1945?
Look within. Is your survival mechanism misfiring too much? Is it serving you? Are you missing out on the small joys and wonders in the world? Playing with your kids or grandchildren? Enjoying the beauty of nature or art? Good politicians will come on go but will you be at peace. Having raved for 8 years at Bush/Cheney and finally realizing it was destroying my peace, I have decided to let go about Trump. Yes, take social action to create a better world but maybe it can be more effective and real in your community by volunteering to help the poor or the elderly. That is how we pacify Saturn and fear. Make a difference by donating to charity and do volunteer work and it will have more impact than rioting–which is a real threat this summer during the Mars debilitation in July and August.
I spend a lot of time with spiritual practice and love religious services and it is always helpful and always a reminder that God is still running the show. Do we want to spoil our belief in the innate beauty of deeper family connections and love and forget who we really are or get mired in the media’s story that the world is a terrible place where we should fear to go out of our houses because the “bogeymen” terrorists are going to blow us up? Yes, there are really threats out there but what are you chances of dying that way and for those of you with a spiritual background, you know there is no such thing as death anyway.
As Saturn stays weak much of the year, we have to really observe our fear and move out of it or it will consume us. I suspect our irrational fearful mind is going to go into warp speed. We are going to have to make new choices. Do we buy into our irrational fears that the politicians are going to destroy our world or do we help others and enjoy the beauty of loving and caring for each other? Like Bill Murray in Ground Hog Day, do we learn to discover our spirituality and express our artistic beauty by sculpting ice statues or do we cower in fear watching CNN rant about the latest terrorist. We are here on this planet to discover deeper and more spiritual truths and become enlightened and awakened human beings, not to become paralyzed in fear and confusion by a media that is owned by corporate oligarchy that wants to control your mind or to become addicted to the feeds on our cell phone.
Don’t let the media fool you. The world is a wonderful place. There are good people doing good things to help humanity every day. Do not buy into the dread and confusion. The mind tends to amplify the few bad things that happening in our world and make them seem like they are 100 times worse than they are.
Our time on earth is short and precious and not to be spent cowering in our living room waiting for the Arab terrorists to blow us up or for global warming fry us to a crisp. Yes, these are real concerns and we owe a better world to our future family but do not lose the precious moments of “love” and sharing and artistic creation that are part of the present moment. The future will take care of itself.
Use every day to enjoy the precious things in life: take time to hug a loved one, enjoy a wonderful cooked dish and see beyond the doom and gloom. Yes, we have problems ahead but God has a plan, bigger and brighter than we can imagine. I will leave you with some lines of a closing poem I wrote about Saturn:
The purple dragon is guarding the gate.
His billowing flames
block the light —
and yet there are no flames.
Walk courageously through his mouth
into cool waterfalls of laughter.
You are safe.
You are forever safe
in the loving play of the universe.
like the hummingbird floating from comet to comet
rejoicing in the infinite supply of nectar
and dancing on air.
Laugh at Saturn, the great magician.
Demand to look up his sleeves.
Jump off the cliff into
God’s arms
And relax softly into his Divine net.
–Barry Rosen
