Astrology, Snakes, and the Transition Phase: Waiting Through the Cycles of Change
As a collective, we’re entering a period of transition, moving out of the fixed sign of Taurus into the mutable sign of Gemini. Seasonally, we are moving into the final phase of Spring, preparing for the harvest in Summer. La luna, grandmother moon in Aquarius is squaring off with the sun in Taurus, ushering in a shift in conscious perspectives. Mercury is at the pinnacle of his retrograde and many of our old ways for communicating are getting a much needed upgrade. It is a period of transition, and much can be gained from turning our attention inward and listening to our inner teacher.
Last night I dreamed that I was being chased by snakes. I was convinced they were poisonous and the only sensible action was to flee. Others around me followed suit, some ran towards their inevitable demise wielding swords and machetes, slicing clean off heads from slithering bodies. One of the braver ones called out to the crowd that these snakes aren’t poisonous. Still, the instinctual response to flee at the sign of potential danger was stronger than putting my blind faith in a stranger’s opinion.
As I ponder last night’s dream and its symbology, looking at this period of transition we are heading through, I recognize a pattern coming to surface. An old way of navigating the world is ready to be seen and acknowledged, understood and then released into a new way of thinking. The flight response is ingrained in my nervous system; the animal of me responds to stress by fleeing. Something in my psychology is triggering this response in the depths of my being, some thought sequence that formed as a child to understand myself in relationship to the world is reaching the phase of death, like snake, in process of shedding its skin.
I am intimately connected to the last quarter moon phase, having been born on one. Born to the familiar sensation of conflict within my inner world. The last quarter moon marks the phase of tension between the conscious and subconscious, the known and the unknown, the scary and the exciting. Whereas the first quarter moon that follows the new moon is characterized by shifts in external actions, the phase we’re now moving through following the full moon means change is happening within our inner landscape, what new information we’ve learned is bumping up against old beliefs and the battle for establishing a way forward commences. Caught between a rock and a hard place, this phase of the moon lasting no more than 2 1/2 days, is meant to move us out of rigid thinking patterns and into more fluid, harmonic states of being.
As I reflect on this last quarter moon in the fixed sign of Aquarius, I understand a couple of things. First, the idea of community has been instrumental in shedding old beliefs that governed my ways of relating with others. In my development years, I came to believe that relating to others meant becoming them, adapting to the desires of others and orchestrating my responses to ensure only positive, happy vibrations. I see what that does to my nervous system, always being on, hyper alert to any influx in emotion, the stage performer that never sleeps. Diagnosed with Epstein-Barr in my early 20’s was my first clue that I was operating far outside the reaches of myself. Self care had not reached mass comprehension and individuating to learn how to meet my personal needs wasn’t something I became aware of until age 27. I was operating from herd mentality; there is safety in numbers, others know more than me, if I continue to put my faith and trust in them then all will be alright, I will be alright.
Through the process of individuating, becoming my own person, being responsible for the choices I make and the ensuing consequences of my actions, I’ve found that instinctual idea for community is changing. On a universal scale, the earth is experiencing a huge evolutionary shift, having left the dark days of spiritual and material separation in the Age of Pisces and moving through the next 2500 years in group service and unity consciousness in the Age Aquarius. Being born in the 80’s, my body is patterned to the ways of separation in Pisces, and it is the evolutionary mind that is aligning to the oneness of being and service to the greater cause that is Aquarius. Through this, I come to understand the importance of mindfulness practices and deep inner listening. For the mind and body operate on separate pages when I navigate life habitually; however intuitively, by intentionally slowing down and giving space for the freedom of body and mind to have their expressive outlets, I sense a balance within me, separate pieces aligning to form one cohesive unit. A softening of edges, of rigid thinking, fluid states where the inner and outer worlds blend in cohesive, synergistic harmony.
When this happens, when I’ve reached the point of individual harmony, that idea of community moves out of the etherial realm of hope and possibility and into the world of earth-based reality. It is no longer a distorted projection mirroring my inner states of survival and turmoil. When I do the work of healing and reprogramming old ways of being, when I listen and respond to my own inner teacher, I create within me an embodied mirror reflecting higher etherial ideals out onto the world of external projections. This is the sovereign way forward, the work of coming home to the self and consciously evolving through survival programs.
The second piece that I am coming to understand with the influence of Aquarius, both occurring on a lesser and greater scale, respectively the moon phase and the phase our solar system is cycling through, is that all ideas must meet their end in manifestation. This idea of community, of togetherness, of inclusion and equality must move out of the mind into the desires of the body, and be brought up into the heart of compassionate, humble action. To say something is one thing, to move it out into the world with loving action is another thing entirely. This is the piece of self response-ability. To project non-dual ideals of oneness and equality into the world of separation and duality is a huge response-ability, and one that requires personal sacrifice. Shedding of pride and ambition, all semblance of personal gain must give way to the betterment of the whole. For when the idea is to bring together community, the self must be brought together in its entirety. The shadow and the light married in balance, the head and the gut merging as one in the heart. All in right timing, all work done in observance of the cycles in play.
This time from the last quarter moon to the new moon, lasting approximately 7 days is about coming to understand yourself in your dying process. When things come to an end, how do you respond? Do you fight it to maintain the familiar way of being? Do you embrace it and ride the process like a surfer riding waves? Do you distract yourself via some form of stimulation, hoping to avoid change entirely? Or maybe you haven’t given it much thought until now. With Mercury in retrograde, now is an especially potent time to learn about yourself and your triggers for change. Recognizing that all events happening outside of you have their mirrored reality within you. Once we become skilled at understanding our inner landscape, noticing our thoughts, feelings, and reactions to things, we can begin the work of polishing our inner mirror and making the unknown known to us. When things become known to us, they become less scary. Like seeing a shadowy figure in your bedroom at night, turning on the light and finding out its just your coat hanging on the back of a chair. Dedicating my time and energy to knowing myself in relationship to the cycles of change, has allowed for the rewriting of outdated survival programs to be replaced with a self model of compassion, empowerment, and trust.
These are the transition stages, change, when one thing moves into the next. The caterpillar becoming the butterfly. There is that phase that exists in which the caterpillar is no longer a caterpillar and is not yet a butterfly. It’s fluid, it’s neither and it’s both. Such paradox is evident in all of life, and especially now as we are moving through the in between states. Not quite asleep, not quite awake, residing somewhere in the middle. Finding familiarity as the chrysalis.
When snake goes through the process of shedding its skin, its eyes roll into the back of its head and it waits. What is it waiting for? To completely leave behind one layer of being before moving forward with the next. During the winter months, bear lives here while in hibernation. She resides in the in between. It’s considered limbo, splitting the realms, being in two places or more at once. This is where shamans go while in trance, activating healing work on multiple dimensions simultaneously. This is where I go to refuel and to receive, to unfurl the subconscious petals to the potency of imagination’s bee.
Honor this time as a space most sacred and vital to the well being of mind, body, and spirit. Slowing way down and settling into the moment as it is now. Reconnecting to deeper layers of self that are ready to shed away, and rather than forcing the next phase, let it rise up naturally from the depths of freshly cleared space. Walking mindfully in nature or going for a swim are ways to bring awareness to your body and those literal and figurative layers of skin. Take a gentle yoga class or practice qi gong, moving slow will ease the mind and clear the pathways for the next step to come.
