Mary Jo Wevers

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Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence can be defined as having understanding and insight into our feeling experiences. The sign of Cancer is devoted to creating a safe haven to experience emotions in their purest and most direct form. It understands emotions are an integral part of the human experience that provide richness, depth and color in our lives. Cancer intelligently nurtures their healthy expression, application and management, and encourages us to appreciate and master our inner emotional realm.

In her excellent book The Language of Emotions, Karla McLaren explains that emotions contain valuable information and guidance for us. They are our first, pre-verbal information channel to the world, connected to our inner truth and intuition. They continue to inform us, if we honor and pay attention to their messages, after our rational mind develops around age three. 

Cultural conditioning, however, encourages us to value the ration mind and disregard emotions as troublesome, or as annoying inconveniences, especially emotions that we label as “bad.” Yet as Daniel Goleman explains in his groundbreaking book Emotional Intelligence, the rational mind cannot control our emotions. Rather, our primal emotional nature can harness the rational mind to justify its association of emotions from the past with present experiences, distorting our perceptions and ability to respond appropriately in the moment.

Emotions, like the element of water, are fluid. They are ephemeral, usually lasting less than a minute, and are continually changing. They arise from our inner depths, shift, ebb and flow into one another. Emotional agility requires welcoming the changing nature and flow of feelings, and allowing ourself to fully feel an emotion in the moment. When we pay attention to our emotions without judging them, we become the neutral observer. Then we can acknowledge the personal information an emotion is conveying to us, and employ the rational mind to guide our response.

Karla McLaren’s book describes messages specific emotions provide us. For example anger informs us a personal boundary has been breached. Fear is our intuition telling us  something is dangerous. Sadness signals something must be released so we can move forward. And shame alerts us that we are out of integrity with our values. Disregarding this information, or allowing the rational mind to explain it away, separates us from important inner truths. 

In his book Daniel Goleman outlines four domains that constitute emotional intelligence. Self-awareness is the ability to observe our internal state and recognize our emotions. Self-management is handling an emotion appropriately by self-regulating our response. It requires adaptability and striving for emotional balance. Social awareness is the ability to recognize emotions in others, having empathetic understanding. And relationship management is the ability to work with the emotions of others in productive ways, of having social competency in the world.

The archetypal energy of Cancer rules our emotional foundations in life. Its wellspring nourishes our security, well-being and creativity in our “inner home.” It guides us with care, concern and compassion to embrace our emotional nature and learn to use it skillfully in the outer world. 

“The more clearly you understand yourself and your emotions, the more you become a lover of what is.” – Baruch Spinoza

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Re-forming our Vision of Venus

The planet Venus is named after the Roman goddess of beauty and love. To the Greeks she was known as Aphrodite. She is perhaps the most ancient and primal of all the goddesses around the world, and has had many names from many cultures over human history. She is often referred to as the Goddess of Love, and the Goddess of Generation due to her creative powers of attraction, abundance and prosperity. She is associated with the lush fertile greenness on our planet, and the life giving force it provides to animals and humankind.

As an archetypal figure Venus embodies the power of spirit to attract and animate matter. Venus expresses love in the world by drawing to her the prima materia to bring Spirit into physical form. She provides warmth and substance. She holds, cares for and preserves the seed: the embryo form of beauty gestating in our earthly world. Venus represents our ability, as spiritual beings having a human experience, to manifest the beauty of spirit through our corporeal selves and by working with material resources in the world to create tangible objects of practical beauty.

All human creative endeavors, including mythology, are influenced by the cultural paradigms, beliefs and assumptions of their time and place. The Greek and Roman myths we know are a product of the patriarchal worldview of the past three thousand or more years. The archetypal figures in Greek and Roman mythology and their stories are all interpreted and told through a misogynist lens. Masculine endeavors and traits are over-valued in the patriarchal system, while the feminine are under-valued, even denigrated.

Reforming Uranus conjoining the Taurus Sun this month directs us to break through the old patriarchal view of Venus and revise our attitudes, stories and interpretations of this important feminine archetype. It is high time to up-date and modernize our vision of the Divine Feminine principle. Getting back to basics, looking at Venus and her sign of Taurus from an energetic level may help us see her in a truer light. As a receptive fixed earth sign, Taurus is patient and loyal, warm and generous, earth centered, and practically creative. Connecting with the earth through all our bodily senses can help bring us into direct contact with Taurus’ planetary ruler Venus, and develop a greater appreciation and understanding of her archetypal principle.

“The body is condensed Soul.” – LiYana Silver

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Finding Spiritual Meaning in Everyday Life

The archetypal principle of Neptune, modern planetary ruler of Pisces, is to transform our consciousness by expanding our spiritual understanding of individual and collective experiences. Neptune and Pisces guide us to transcend the superficial appearances of everyday events by turning our awareness from preoccupation with the outer world, and examine them from an inner, deeper place. Working with the principle of Neptune is a process that helps us soften the boundaries of our ego-identified self in order to find greater spiritual meaning in life.

The ego tries to protect us in the physical, material world by interpreting and judging experiences from the point of view of the individual self. The mind chatter generated by the ego tends to be fear-based and self-centered. It can lead to suffering, selfishness, jealousy, and all forms of disillusionment. When we quiet the mind we allow ourselves to tap into deeper, more intuitive levels of our being. By listening to our inner knowing we can find a broader and more universal perspective on matters. Neptune and Pisces help us transcend our personal earthly experiences, find commonality in our human condition, and guide us to find the spiritual significance in them.

When we find ourselves emotionally charged by something that is happening we can use our ego-mind to explore inwardly rather than re-act outwardly. Ask yourself these questions in this three step introspective process.

  1. What happened? What was the experience? Simply state the incident or event.
  2. How did I feel? What emotions arose naturally and spontaneously? Instead of judging your emotions, just recognize and name them.
  3. From a place deep within, ask why your soul or higher self might wish you to have this experience. Why might you have attracted or created it? What is the opportunity for healing, for growth, or simply for greater awareness? Finally, gently ask yourself what judgments you made about the experience, or about others or yourself, that interfere with understanding the spiritual gift of it.

Neptune and Pisces ease our suffering and misery in life by dissolving and washing away the boundaries and limitations of the ego and its self-importance. We surrender the need to be a victim, a martyr, or a rescuer in the world. We release co-dependent dynamics playing out in life. We find unity with all of humanity through sensitivity, sympathy, empathy, compassion, and forgiveness. We can experience Oneness consciousness and universal Love. Even when our ego-mind cannot fully comprehend the meaning of our life experiences, we can have faith they contribute to our greater good and spiritual evolution.

“All human beings are interconnected, one with all other elements in creation.” – Henry Reed

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The Age of Aquarius

The Earth is tilted about 23.5 degrees as it rotates on its axis in space, giving us the seasons. Like a spinning top or gyroscope, the axis itself rotates slowly in a circular motion. The gradual circular movement of the Earth’s axis is called axial precession, and takes about 26,000 years to complete a single rotation. 

Because of the Earth’s axial tilt, the position of the Earth in its orbit around the Sun at the equinoxes and solstices slowly changes over 26,000 years. This results in the vernal equinox moving from one of the 12 signs of the zodiac to the preceding sign roughly every 2,160 years. An “astrological age” is defined as the period of time it takes for the vernal equinox to complete its movement through one sign.

There are various methods for calculating the movement of the vernal equinox into a new zodiacal sign, and therefore many estimations for the beginning and ending of any particular astrological age. Approximate dates for the end of the Age of Pisces and the beginning of the Age of Aquarius vary widely. Many astrologers estimate the Age of Pisces began around 1 AD and that we are now, or have been, moving into the Age of Aquarius. 

Rather than looking for a specific date to assign to the beginning of an astrological age, we can view it as a gradual shift over an extended period of time. In recent decades planets associated with the sign of Aquarius, its planetary ruler Uranus, or planets in aspect with Uranus or Aquarius, have brought forth its archetypal themes and issues. A series of overlapping planetary cycles over a period of years helps us make a gradual transition while providing opportunities to learn and experience the themes, issues, and “flavors” of the new age. This allows us to better hone our skills and adapt to a new phase in human evolution.

The Uranus-Pluto conjunctions in the mid-1960s coincided with the rock musical “Hair,” which foretold the “dawning of the Age of Aquarius.” Its themes included personal freedom and rebellion against conventional societal norms. The Harmonic Convergence of planets in 1987 was believed by some to be the beginning of the Age of Aquarius. This event preceded the end of the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Russia is associated with the sign of Aquarius in astrology, and exemplifies rebellion against monarchy and egalitarian social and political systems. Aquarius rules science and technology, innovation and invention. The Saturn-Uranus-Neptune conjunction during 1988-1991 brought huge advances in computer technology and solidified its role in communication and information sharing and processing. Some assign the beginning of the Aquarian Age to the August 1999 total eclipse of the Sun. At this time the Leo Sun and New Moon shed their light upon opposing Uranus and the lunar South Node in Aquarius, marking a new Aquarian cycle.

The transiting lunar north node, our collective spiritual destination, was in the sign of Aquarius from December 2007 until August 2009, urging us to value individual uniqueness and diversity, and embrace tolerance and open-mindedness. At this time in the USA we saw the rise of a progressive movement, and the successful campaign and election of the first president of color. In 2010 the planet Uranus entered the first sign of the zodiac, Aries. This was viewed by some as a new beginning, a new cycle of understanding the Uranian archetypal forces and expressions in us as individuals and in relationship to others. During subsequent years issues around freedom of individual identity and expression surfaced in government institutions, such as acceptance of LGBTQ people in the military. The struggle for acceptance by minority, fringe or under-represented groups is a re-occurring theme of Aquarius. December 21, 2012 brought the end of the Mayan Calendar, which many thought marked the beginning of a new Aquarian Age.

Just this past month Jupiter and Saturn conjoined in the first degree of Aquarius on the winter solstice. This is another important turning point moving us into the Age of Aquarius. Jupiter expands and uplifts the Aquarian principles of equality and independence for all peoples, and provides an idealistic and optimistic vision of the future. Saturn grounds the innovative ideas of Aquarius by finding practical uses for its scientific and technological advances, and employs them to advance social progress. The years ahead will continue to astound and disturb us with the unexpected changes Aquarius brings into our lives. As we learn to break free from attachments to the past and make room for change, we can garner the gifts of Aquarius.

     “Be wary of great leaders. Hope that there are many, many small leaders.” – Pete Seeger, after leading an Occupy Movement protest in 2011

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Pluto’s Transit of Capricorn: Transforming Patriarchal Systems

The planet Pluto entered the sign of Capricorn in January 2008. During its transit of Capricorn, Pluto functions through the element of earth. It turns its attention to the systems, structures, and organizations we have built that have provided us with material stability and security. It digs down into their foundations, searching the hidden places for that which is degenerating, out of integrity, dishonest, corrupt and decrepit. It strips away the false facade of inflexible, controlling authoritarian traditionalism to reveal the bare bones, the deeper essence and truth about the system in which we live.

Archetypal Pluto in Capricorn is represented in our world by the patriarchy, which wields ultimate power. We have been living within the confines of patriarchal systems for centuries. Its values reflect hierarchical race, gender, and class distinctions. Its institutional structures, and economic systems place white males in charge, who often subjugate others as they exercise their power and control over resources. Before we can fully manifest new foundations, personal and societal organizations and infrastructures that serve all members of society equally and are sustainable, Pluto must do its work to root out and deconstruct all that is toxic and decaying. During its transit of Capricorn Pluto will continue to be a powerfully disruptive and purging force in patriarchal systems until 2023.

Capricorn rules business and government and financial institutions. In recent years we have experienced eruptive revelations and chaotic fallout in the stock market, banking industry, real estate and the housing market, in large corporations, and in government and political institutions. The student loan crisis has been coming to a head, and a recession looms on the horizon. The coronavirus pandemic revealed inadequacies and corruption in health and social services. As we sift through the ashes of old economic, political, and societal systems that are currently crumbling, we have an opportunity to eliminate that which is not honest and in integrity, and develop practical plans for rebuilding.

The Me Too movement and Black Lives Matter challenge institutionalized sexual harassment and abuse of women, and racially motivated violence against people of color. The LBGTQ movement promotes equal rights for people traditionally discriminated against in the patriarchy. In the next few years we can expect more disruption and protests as additional members of society subjugated by patriarchal systems are unearthed by Pluto. As we sort through the debris ripe for elimination or transformation we are reminded that Capricorn discipline and responsibility is the balance to Plutonian power.

While we observe these events in the outer world, it is important to look within and recognize the parts of ourselves that are also degenerating and need to be eliminated or transformed. This is a time for us to transmute immature parts of ourselves so that we may be spiritually reborn as wiser, more responsible, self-reliant individuals. Rather than give away our power and authority to others and then resent them for it, it is time to reclaim our own Capricorn power and become a wise, compassionate Spiritual Authority to our self. Take time to assess your own attitudes around being “adult.” Revamp immature beliefs and approaches to life. Use self-discipline in exercising your power. Be honorable, self-respecting and respectful of others. Success in life occurs when we are fully grounded in mature, responsible wisdom.