The picture I have this week with Saturn and Mercury Retrograde so close together is a wise grandfather walking a young child home. This kind grandfather doesn’t talk down to the child, instead he serves it up clearly as one human being to another. As a result you see the child stand taller, walk with more confidence as understanding and self respect emerges. That’s what’s possible. Or you could could stay committed to being a child and have a big old melt down. It really is your choice. It helps to know you have that choice, and if you do have a bad moment, you can also recover. The one thing I will say is that Saturn brings consequences. Long term consequences are likely. So take a breath before you blow or shut down, you may be very, very glad you do.
Consequences show up this week as the same trigger is presented to you again and again and yet again, until you take responsibility for your emotions, your reaction. Remember the definition of insanity and instead do it differently when that trigger reappears. If someone has an issue with you, take a good look at what the issue is. It is there for a reason. You may flat out disagree with their issue, and it still calls for something from you rather than a reaction or over reaction. How can this conflict teach you more about the empowered adult you are now instead of the wounded child. If you feel victimized in any way, your inner child needs a wise, loving hand to help get back home. You are not powerless and they are really not (usually) trying to hurt you. Disagreement between people is normal and natural. How you handle it can really mature this Mercury Retrograde and especially this coming week.
2017 ripped the bandaid off the festering wound from your younger years. While it may sting when ripped off, the fresh air and light only improves that old injury day by day. Instead of seeing difficulties through those young, helpless eyes this week, take inventory of what you did right, what you would change and where you can stand in the Truth of you for everything else. Then manage your own expectations, firmly and compassionately. Alos, hand back expectations to those who’ve put them on you and get through this week with less blow outs and more holiday cheer. I love to share my colleague Rhonda Britten’s definition of expectations as being premeditated resentments within you. Come this season, high hopes can too easily tip over into expectations and set everyone up for more tension and conflict. Try doing it as an intention instead, something you do for yourself rather than putting a load on someone else. Aha, there is maturity ahead when you do. The Cards and Stars can help…
Card of the Week: The Hooded Man
This Wise Old Hermit is perfect as the face of Saturn this week. Mercury Retrograde has us turning inwards in Sagittarius to fact check what we believe, why and if it is still relevant in our lives. The guiding light from the Hooded Man says that you and you alone know what is for you versus what is not for you. That isn’t information anyone else can give you. In fact you get into real power struggles in relationship when either person fails to own that core Truth. It has to work for you or it won’t stand the test of time in a relationship. The challenge comes in when you want what works for you to work for someone else. That isn’t always possibly and this week you discover options on how to handle it when there are differences that have to be negotiated. At least that’s the possibility. The potential requires you to choose it. For those who wish to go dark rather than listen to their wiser self, this week reveals what a cold and lonely path that will be. The Universe offers you course correction if you’ve been stuck in the blame game anywhere in your life. Instead of blame, take charge of what you will do in any situation in a way that feels right to you. What can you look at, try to understand, acknowledge for yourself or others and take a step in a new direction. You’ll like the feeling of power even if the unfamiliar road is a little unnerving. You aren’t alone on it for very long. We are all just walking our young selves back home to the place in you that knows yourself and lives from there. There are more and more people on this same path. So use this week well and your personal reflection has a real gift for you.
Monday: Two of Stones
Two’s are always about partnership and stones are the body so this is where real differences of opinion show up. Mercury, our Winged Messenger is in easy aspect to Eris the Goddess of Discord, so chances are things will get stirred up today but only so that you can soothe them out. The Moon and Venus are hanging out to help bring conflict to a more harmonious relationship. Ah, doesn’t that feel better. It’s a chance to see the other persons point of view and acknowledge it even if you don’t agree or see it the same way. Let them know they’ve been heard and check to see if they can return the favor. Then explore what fresh collaboration is possible from your own individual places. The differences between you can help bring about a new option somewhere between your two views that enriches you both. It matters that you explore how protection and defenses kept you in conflict rather than relationship. See your part in anything that happened and you will be richly blessed with this point of view. Two’s are a starter number so just head in that direction today rather than trying to get it all figured out in one leap. Better to agree that is the goal and take a few steps together in that direction while it all unfolds. This new point of view, shared between you, is a great beginning.
Take Action: Stay curious today if any conflict arises and navigate the disagreement from this place, see what’s possible.
Tuesday: Seven of Vessels
This Seven is called the heartfelt observer and in the Wildwood Tarot they call it mourning. This card represents the journey from chaos to clarity when you get to the heart of past sorrows and losses only to see your way forward once you do. This card is often a signal to give something a burial, either literally or symbolically. The Moon (what we love and fear losing) is in tense aspects to the big boys the Deep Transformer,Pluto and the Great Awakener Uranus to highlight the changes that have come in relationships this year. These guys make it easier to feel those deep emotions that gave rise to such intricate and sticky coping skills you’ve used to protect you from pain. The Moon gets help from the Sun and Mercury as the day goes on to remind you that you gain wholeness one choice at a time. So let the emotions come up and do some empowered inner parenting for yourself. First acknowledge the pain, comfort yourself. We need our inner Mother to soothe us first. Then find your backbone and rise to the occasion, know you are able to do whatever needs to be done with an assist from your inner Father. Balance is best. Too much comfort and you wind up as a stuck victim unable to move and defensive. Too much backbone and you wind up rigid an unyielding, likely to be cruel to yourself or others. This is a whole new 27/28 year cycle and it begins with these small moments. Let them string together, one at a time, to lead you down a sustainable path that feels right for you.
Take Action: Honor the trauma that gave rise to your wounds and have compassion before laying them to rest with a proper goodbye.
Wednesday: Page of Arrows
The Moon moves into the deep waters of Scorpio and this Page is about the internal messages we give ourselves to make sense of those bottomless emotions. The Moon is conjunct Mars which can stir up conflict directly related to the old wound you had a chance to revisit yesterday and bury those outdated coping skills. It’s a new day and you can act on those triggers in a new way, one that is in charge of you and your responses. Doesn’t matter what someone else does or how they see you – today it’s about how you see you and making it as authentically empowered as you really are. Saturn is in a slightly awkward relationship with Vesta, the Goddess that is about inner renewal and regeneration. This means have some grace while you get to the place where the old triggers don’t work so well on you. Your mind may want to be a bit hard on you for not ‘getting it’ sooner or blame someone else for making you unhappy. Hip check that mental impulse and try it over again if you do go down that thought path. Practice makes perfect and each flare up is just one more chance to embed yourself as the authority and choice-maker that you are in your mind, which is what the Arrows represent. Pages are that inner state that precede action so keep the focus inward today with whatever comes up. Reach for your inner parents as needed, it really can help move you through things more easily and with grace.
Take Action: If you catch your mind slipping to the dark side today of criticism, blame or doubt, take a pause and see yourself as both the wise grandparent and the child and talk it out.
Thursday: Seven of Stones (Reversed)
This is the second Seven of the week and highlights a spiritual or mental awakening. Seven’s are always about shared experiences versus isolation and corresponds with the sign of Libra. This Seven of Stones is about healing but it’s reversed. It may serve as a reminder that healing can’t be rushed. Then again it may be that the slow healing of the upright card is flipped on its head to give you amazing access to what it feels like to live from a place free of the wound. The Moon touches on Jupiter and Pluto along with the asteroid Ceres, so the picture I get for this is shedding the old stories that make you sick to swallow and instead you reach for new, tastier ones to take their place. Mercury and Mars help as you feel your way one action at a time. You may proudly give someone an adult response only to find someone else triggers you and you drop right back into the old story. Notice the contrast, trust that you are healing and consider the whole picture. Realize that others are feeling their way to wholeness too and be as generous with their moments as you’d like them to be with yours. To be long lasting, solutions must include everyone. Maybe not addressed in equal measure but equitably considered for sure.
Take Action: Let the trickster Mercury work with you today as your communication informs you of your progress in the adult conversation of life.
Friday: King of Vessels
Ah this King is the Magician of the Minor Arcana in Tarot. When you put the Masculine King, our reason, actions and initiative together with the Feminine Vessels you can get something much more than one plus one. After all, male plus female creates babies. New beginnings are possible and they are magic. Mercury meets up with Venus as if to say, ‘whatever you wish’, then Ceres joins the party and says ‘let me offer you a banquet of nourishing food for thought that makes you heart sing’. It feels so good to feel good about yourself, no matter what is going on in life. The Sun as your progress slowly moves away from the wounded child perspective and towards the more mature place you have within you. It may feel like it takes forever but each day gets a little better and then a little more if you pause and notice marks of your progress. Not that life has magically erased difficulties, but somehow they don’t seem so daunting. You may even see where you can make a difference in anything that happens today. Once you see that it is hard to stay in the old dark traumatized place that has others as the enemy. It really is a banquet in here and your job is to enjoy it today when you deal with disagreements and difficulties as the influential human you are. Go make magic happen, it feels so good once you do.
Take Action: Celebrate at least one place today where you make a difference, no matter how small it may seem. Vessels send out ripples that become waves of change…
Saturday: Nine of Bows (Reversed)
Nine’s are completion and teacher numbers. This card is called ‘Respect’ in the Wildwood Tarot and reversed it can point to carelessness that comes with speed or enthusiasm that forgets to stop and check how those around you are doing as you leap forward. The Sun is in easy aspect with Uranus so things can change in an instant, and it’s a strategic leap forward with a little help from wise Pallas Athene. But Saturn and Neptune remind you that if it only serves you it isn’t going to work for the long haul. Feel your full range of emotion, don’t rush past the unpleasant ones. Be aware that blaming anyone else for what you feel is to lose connection with your authentic self. The ‘poor me’ place drops you right back into the young helpless space that accomplishes little or nothing unless others do what we wish. In order for things to be sustainable (the key word with this Mercury Retrograde) it has to benefit more than just you, or just another. It must include all parties. Self sacrifice is also not sustainable. Each of us must be fed and nourished in order for us to survive over time. A lack of respect for either yourself or others can’t build a solid foundation in relationship. Notice where you’ve been careless and make amends. You benefit as much as anyone else when you do.
Take Action: Look closely at where in your life you feel out of balance to help ensure all feel seen and heard.
Sunday: Three of Vessels
This New Moon in Sagittarius is right on the Galactic Center and I see it as a Cosmic Starter Pistol. Ready, set, GO towards more heartfelt JOY. This is the card of community that brings good news and you can reset and rewire your beliefs about how you show up there and how to both serve your community and what you wish to get out of it. Both those sides must be represented to bring about the joy promised in this card. The Galactic Center is a black hole where the past can be completely recycled for a brand new fresh start. I won’t lie, there is pressure in this cosmic reset button, but sweet relief on the far side. The pressure comes from where you look honestly at when you’ve been in relationships from a wounded place rather than your whole self. Where has this robbed you and others of the joyful connection? If you want a different outcome, a better outcome and a joy filled outcome, you have to step in from the adult place with compassion, strength and self-discipline. Joy is there for you and it has an admission price. Pay it and reap the bountiful experience, don’t pay it and you are the only one to blame. Mercury Retrograde with Saturn in this New Moon says it’s time to grow up when it comes to how you take information in and how you then put it out to the world. Can you center on what you feel and take care of those emotions before you share them or do you expect another to be responsible for what you feel and need. Others can and do help but that works best when you don’t expect or demand it. Your request for support comes from a place of trust that you can and will find what you need in the world, just maybe not how and where you wished to find it. When you get to the freedom that knows that, absolutely, there is pure joy in the abundance of what the world has to offer you. Happy New Moon my friend.
Take Action: Take inventory of where you’ve made someone else responsible for your happiness and take it back. Own that you can and do have the means to meet your needs when you widen the circle of where it may show up.
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