Mercury joined the Sun and Venus in Aquarius this week, so we move from the huge Capricorn influence a couple weeks ago to a significant Aquarius influence. This air sign is depicted as the water carrier. (The Air signs are the only zodiac signs depicted as human, the rest are depicted as animals.) Aquarius, this Air sign, carrying water, like the sky does. It changes like the weather, and yet always contains everything. Something is deeply constant in Aquarius (at times stubbornly fixed!) and yet can change as fast as the weather. So a question based on this -
What can help you cultivate a balance of constancy + openness to the lightning of inspiration and (social) change that Aquarius asks us to consider?
--
I am still in silence somewhere in the future right now. Here are some reasons I am still in silence, that I wrote before I was in silence. I’ll get back to you on if these reasons hold up after I return from the silence.
for grandmothers, mothers, family, ancestry
in faith in the future, that it will occur
to listen to the news that plants and weather have to report
to breathe with 100 strangers and see what happens
to resist becoming a compliant capitalist subject; to stay agile
to give it all back to the mystery
to hear what needs to be heard
to see as clearly as possible what is really there / here
to remind myself and be reminded that I am nature
because I used to think a retreat was self-indulgent and now I think we need as many people as possible who are willing and able to listen to the news from the silence
We need as many people as possible to listen to the grass, the turkeys, the oaks, the clouds, the electricity in the sky, the signs changing in the cosmos, the seasons changing on our planet. To listen to the sounds of 100 people sitting in silence, what that might make possible. To listen to space itself, to the news available when the internet news is turned off.
When was the last time you were in silence this week? In this definition of silence I’m including intake, not just output. When was the last time you were not receiving any information from a screen, or other people, just listening to a room, a building, the species living in the open air, or the sky and its water, wherever you are?
--
The thing that silence has taught me so far, that I offer here, is that silence is always available, moment by moment. It’s available in less than 10 seconds right now, when we remember that the earth, the actual earth, is supporting our bodies while reading this computer note. It’s available while breathing in and out in line at any store, while typing in your passcode somewhere, while making toast.
So I invite you to join me in any kind of silence available to you, in whatever way feels possible, this month, while washing your hair, folding clothes, archiving emails. I'll be asking what Aquarius season can teach me, what to pay attention to, attention being a form of love. I'll be thanking you for existing, like I'm doing right now.
ARIES (March 21-April 19)
Question - What is happening with your dreams lately?
Meditation - Dreams as news.
Assignment - It's not a matter of you having power - this is obvious - you do. It's committing long enough to wield it. Commit this week to something you've hesitated on. Even if it's your non-commitment! Do it whole-heartedly. And use your dreams as cues toward what to commit to.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
Question - How often do you find yourself wanting it to be easy?
Meditation - Expectation as a joy-robber.
Assignment - It's not that it can't be easy! It can be be. It's just that you trying to arrange it to be easy doesn't let it happen. The expectation of ease, (comfort - something Taurus loves) robs the ability to find the ease present. You know how to do ease, even when it's not easy. You can connect to your own root-vegetable quality, steadiness. Letting is different from arranging. Take note of this difference, practice more letting.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
Question - How often do you make room for poetry?
Meditation - Poetry as mental vitality.
Assignment - Poetry! Make it happen. Read it. Write it. Say it out loud. This week: NOW. Poetry!
CANCER (June 21-July 22)
Question - What is your connection to land?
Meditation - Land as lover.
Assignment - Cancer is connected to place as a holder of memory. This connection is so vital! Notice your land relationships, on a micro level this week. The land underneath your house, the land you travel to and from daily activities. Take note of its connection to your vitality.
LEO (July 23-August 22)
Question - What is the relationship between sex and creativity?
Meditation - Erotic as creative.
Assignment - Tend to your erotic self this week, like creativity you nurture. Don't neglect it. Let it come into the light like all the other essential parts of being. Practice the erotic like you practice creating.
VIRGO (August 23-September 22)
Question - What is there room for when purpose isn't present?
Meditation - Purposelessness.
Assignment - Let there be more purposelessness, even for a few minutes a day this week. Text someone about this. See what happens in the space without purpose. You don't need to give it up; it's a vital part of life. Just try out moments without it, notice how doable that feels, notice how not-doable it seems, see what happens.
LIBRA (September 23-October 22)
Question - What is happening with your money?
Meditation - Money exchange as spiritual exchange.
Assignment - How conscious are you with how you use money? Do you spend impulsively and hoard alternatively? Are these tendencies reactions to an imbalance or lack of willingness to look bravely at your finances? Money isn't you, so you can practice depersonalizing it, but pay attention! Just like with the observer effect in science, which states that you can't look at something and not change it, here too, just notice, and by noticing, it will change. Whatever is unconscious will come into the light, when you turn the light of your attention on it.
SCORPIO (October 23-November 21)
Question - When are you fully relaxed?
Meditation - Relaxation.
Assignment - You don't have to stay on alert anymore. You can relax. You don't have to worry about being unconscious. You can let yourself relax. All of your considerable investigative and bullshit-detector capacities will not disappear. They will always help you when you need them. But you can ask yourself if they are needed right now, and if not, take a tiny break. Relaxation is just reminding yourself that rest is another facet of divine expression.
SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21)
Question - Who do you admire who is quiet?
Meditation - Quiet as regal.
Assignment - Find someone who is quiet to admire this week. Find whatever external quiet is available, without needing to arrange this. Then go to the internal. Find harmony in quiet and rest.
CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19)
Question - When are you warm? When are you cold?
Meditation - You can let yourself be warm.
Assignment - You can be warmer. You can be as warm as you want. You don't have to wait for it to come from the outside. You can bring it in, right now, with the breath, with color, with all living beings around you. Take it as a practice this week.
AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18)
Question - When do you yell?
Meditation - It's time to yell.
Assignment - What you want. With conviction. It's your month. Like this Aquarius light.
PISCES (February 19 to March 20)
Question - When do you access fire?
Meditation - fire!
Assignment - Light candles this week! It seems simple but it's underrated. Fire. Bring it into your life. It's a reminder for how to take up space!