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	<title>astrodharma.org &#187; Hunter Reynolds</title>
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	<link>http://astrodharma.org</link>
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		<title>Oracular Uprising: Aquarian scripture comes of age</title>
		<link>http://astrodharma.org/2012/05/oracular-uprising/</link>
		<comments>http://astrodharma.org/2012/05/oracular-uprising/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 May 2012 06:57:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Hunter Reynolds</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[archetype]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[astrological]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[astrology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ego]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oracle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[personality]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[relationship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sacred]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spiritual]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://astrodharma.org/?p=1175</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>IN TIMES OF TROUBLE and uncertainty, the people of Greece and Rome paid visits to shrines dedicated to particular gods for insight and revelation. The term &#8220;oracle&#8221; referred not just to the shrine, but to the priestly intercessors overseeing them.</p> <p>Today, the times of trouble and uncertainty are global in reach. The need for oracles [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://astrodharma.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/920783_burning_hands.jpg" alt="oracle" title="oracle" width="225" height="300" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1178" />IN TIMES OF TROUBLE and uncertainty, the people of Greece and Rome paid visits to shrines dedicated to particular gods for insight and revelation. The term &#8220;oracle&#8221; referred not just to the shrine, but to the priestly intercessors overseeing them.</p>
<p>Today, the times of trouble and uncertainty are global in reach. The need for oracles is greater than ever. Without a radical &#8220;oracle upgrade,&#8221; however, we moderns would have little time and/or interest in visiting them. For better or for worse, this is the age of instantaneous relational connectivity. Solitary sacred sites and intercessor egos no longer cut it. What kind of broadband oracle might suite this globally conscious Aquarian age? Nothing short of personality, itself. Either the entire parade of me-stories upgrades into Oracle status or we devolve into a planet full of superficially connected, devotional illiterates. In an ADD world, the Divine is every face, or no face. </p>
<p>Indeed, for a relationship with life-long aspirations to survive this age of constant game-changing innovation and thirst for new stimulation, each partner must become, as relationship expert Randi Gunther puts it, &#8220;the human equivalent to a technological gadget in constant evolution.&#8221;  Both partners must feel that they&#8217;re having &#8220;sequential, fascinating relationships with many people who happen to be the same person.&#8221;<br />
<span id="more-1175"></span><br />
Consciousness, it seems, is approaching a bifurcation point. As the feeling of &#8220;lifetimes within lifetimes&#8221; gathers momentum, we either ground ourselves in an unchanging transpersonal experience of the Divine or we fracture into a distracted, mechanized morass. Could the apocalyptic meme of 2012 be a melodramatic outpicturing of the end times our ego feels drawing near as the personality-as-possession paradigm becomes more and more stressful and cumbersome?<br />
 <br />
<strong>Cracking the Code of Personality</strong><br />
 <br />
From an Astrodharmic perspective, each fleshy bundle of thoughts, feelings and behaviors is a kind of message-in-a-bottle hurled into the sea of time by an invisible hand.  Were we to shake out even one of these messages and take the time to decipher it (learn the basics of reading birth charts), we would, no doubt, be stricken with awe at the endlessly incarnating intelligence shining through. </p>
<p>Ah, but that would mean taking the time to awaken the felt language of astrological archetype. Easier to join everyone else in what can only be called, &#8220;Jewel Trashing.&#8221; </p>
<p>In the throes of personality aversion (and, yes, craving), we don&#8217;t just judge specific facets of others ego; we trash entire matrices&#8211;the very archetypal jewel in which consciousness is embedded. We pawn off the archetypal Diamond that weds us to the Divine Mind. By the same token, we don&#8217;t forgive and soften to anyone; we simply confess that we mistook the impersonal archetypal flashes on the Jewel&#8217;s surface (personality traits) for the Diamond itself. We confess, &#8220;I fell for the trait-bait.&#8221; When will all this Jewel-trashing end? When we stop treating personality as a personal possession and honor it as a Divine oracle. In short, when we get hip to God&#8217;s archetypal ornamentation and start studying the scripture encoded into our very face and demeanor.  </p>
<p>The best defense of the Bible I ever heard as a child was that only a cruel Creator would deprive his creations of some kind of instruction manual. Something deep in my little boy soul nodded with approval even as I squirmed at the thought of a revelation so heady and vulnerable to egoic twists of interpretation over time. Now I squirm with anticipation. In this computer-for-everyone age, the stage is set for the de-suppression of an ancient &#8220;dharma&#8221; previously reserved only for the mathmatically sophisticated astrologer-priests, and those rich enough to consult and/or control them. We are witnessing the beginnings of an oracular uprising in which the one-size-fits-all commandments of the past are being upgraded into a more compassionate and customized kind of Bible: archetypal astrology. </p>
<p>This, I believe, is the essence of what the age of Aquarius is all about. </p>
<p><strong></strong><br />
<em><strong>Ready for more?</strong></em><br />
<a href="http://www.astrodharma.org/mentorship/">-Click here to learn about the upcoming Styles of Awakening online training and mentorship in astrology as a tool of awakening</a><br />
<strong><a href="http://www.astrodharma.org/astrology-readings/">-Click here to schedule an astrology reading with Hunter</a><br />
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		<title>Letter to the Graduates of the Styles of Awakening Training</title>
		<link>http://astrodharma.org/2012/04/letter-to-the-graduates-of-the-styles-of-awakening-training/</link>
		<comments>http://astrodharma.org/2012/04/letter-to-the-graduates-of-the-styles-of-awakening-training/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:43:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Hunter Reynolds</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://astrodharma.org/?p=1139</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p> CONGRATULATIONS. You have devoted three months of your life to cracking the code of personality. Three months of feeling past the ego&#8217;s 12 lonely, strutting, believed-in me-stories, to the spacious, all-embracing and benevolent heart that animates them all. Will this course provide enough psychological insight and momentum of mercy and to establish a lifelong [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://astrodharma.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/angel.jpg"><img src="http://astrodharma.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/angel-236x300.jpg" alt="Angel" title="angel" width="236" height="300" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1141" /></a><br />
CONGRATULATIONS. You have devoted three months of your life to cracking the code of personality. Three months of feeling past the ego&#8217;s 12 lonely, strutting, believed-in me-stories, to the spacious, all-embracing and benevolent heart that animates them all. Will this course provide enough psychological insight and momentum of mercy and to establish a lifelong habit of hearing the muffled cries for love undergirding the ego&#8217;s various brands of reactivity? Will you use your archetype-spotting skills to feel past the circumference of personality to the positively intended Being shining through? Truthfully, so long as we imagine ourselves as solid, separate beings wanting to &#8220;help&#8221; other solid, separate beings, the answer will be &#8220;no.&#8221; </p>
<p>The best this course can do is deliver you to the threshold of a meditative way of seeing&#8211;a worldview in which &#8220;people&#8221; are simply the outer circumference of your own mind. Indeed, the archetypes are nothing more than windows into this relaxed, open and interpenetrated worldview. This is what &#8220;Oneness&#8221; looks like. Why, over time, might you pull the drapes back over this window that reveals such an awesome archetypal landscape? Three reasons:<br />
<span id="more-1139"></span></p>
<p>1. Because living in a world of automated egos, going in and out of trances of archetypal possession, with little means of understanding or honoring their style of awakening will, and must, break your heart open. </p>
<p>2. Because the archetypes will hold you to a higher standard of compassion. No longer can you afford the luxury of dumb dislike; whereas once you may have justified your aversion to a display of pushy Aries anger, you now quickly recognize this archetype&#8217;s style of grasping for &#8220;solid somebody status&#8221; as no more desperate than your own.  </p>
<p>3. Because you long for &#8220;the good old days&#8221; when body types and personalities were tethered to rock-hard inner entities and you weren&#8217;t &#8220;reduced&#8221; to staring into a fog of smoldering, impersonal archetypes back lit by some unfathomable Driver speeding towards you with their brights on. </p>
<p>How will we develop the stamina needed to intelligently meet these endless waves of me-stories crying for release from themselves? How will we resist the temptation to look away as we stare, squirming, in the mirror of yet another soul as they take long, deep drags from the cigarette of personal history? We can&#8217;t. Only a regular practice of meditation and tender self-inquiry can do that. Only awareness itself, can heartily and playfully engage with the styles of awakening because only it has the naked seeing necessary to recognize personality as dream sport- machinations of the One Mind in the throes of waking up to itself. In short, without &#8220;Dharma,&#8221; &#8220;Astro&#8221; is just too heartbreaking to stay present to. </p>
<p>Thank you all, fellow Styles students, for making this uniquely Aquarian investment in your awakening. On behalf of all those who will, no doubt, be feeling themselves compassionately penetrated by you in places where others obtusely judge, I say &#8220;God bless you.&#8221; May we all walk lucid through the dream of separation with muscular Aries presence and intuitive daring.  </p>
<p><strong></strong><br />
<em><strong>Ready for more?</strong></em><br />
<a href="http://www.astrodharma.org/mentorship/">-Click here to learn about the upcoming Styles of Awakening online training</a><br />
<strong><a href="http://www.astrodharma.org/astrology-readings/">-Click here to schedule an astrology reading with Hunter</a><br />
<a href="http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=001iSHr32lsdpp9a7NZ6HHfiw==">-Click here to subscribe to Styles of Awakening Newsletter (monthly)</a><br />
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		<title>The Three Quandaries of the Pisces Muse</title>
		<link>http://astrodharma.org/2012/04/3-quandaries-of-the-pisces-muse/</link>
		<comments>http://astrodharma.org/2012/04/3-quandaries-of-the-pisces-muse/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:09:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Hunter Reynolds</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[astrological]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[astrology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[buddhism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[creativity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dharma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ego]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[muse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pisces]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://astrodharma.org/?p=1131</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p> THE AWAKENED PISCES part of us was born fully able to see through the play of form. Whereas the other archetypes must meditatively inquire in order to recognize their 3-D stomping grounds as transient, surreal and unworthy of attachment, Pisces meditates in order to stay psychologically solid, incarnate and materially invested. The only thing [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://astrodharma.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/pisces-muses.jpg"><img src="http://astrodharma.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/pisces-muses-300x224.jpg" alt="pisces muses" title="pisces muses" width="300" height="224" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1132" /><br />
</a>THE AWAKENED PISCES part of us was born fully able to see through the play of form. Whereas the other archetypes must meditatively inquire in order to recognize their 3-D stomping grounds as transient, surreal and unworthy of attachment, Pisces meditates in order to stay psychologically solid, incarnate and materially invested. The only thing that stands a chance of grounding Pisces is embodying their karmic part in the play: becoming a beckoning muse that crashes creaky egos into the rocks of timeless presence.<br />
<span id="more-1131"></span></p>
<p>In Greek mythology, the muses inspired and presided over the different creative arts. Indeed, artistic beauty is a kind of benevolent seduction. It lifts us up, then drops us down into a more enriched, sacred experience of ordinary life. for Pisces, personality itself is a canvas and psychic energies are their entrancing—-but, too often, unconsciously dabbed—-color palette.</p>
<p>Fascinating, is it not, that the most feminine, shy and receptive archetype has access to the greatest power: the ability to lighten the burden of the separate self in others and induct them into states of timeless reprieve? As Mathew 20:16 says, &#8220;the last shall be first.&#8221;</p>
<p>What happens when the Piscean power of induction is put in the service of ego? A shape-shifting, chameleon-like personality that uses their sensitivity to manipulate you into helping them regressively withdraw from the harshness of the world. Think: addiction, codependency and delusional introspection. In short, false transcendence.</p>
<p>How can you help them reclaim their true inductive potency? By understanding and having compassion for the three psychological quandaries they must regularly deal with:</p>
<p><strong>1) Menacing guilt</strong><br />
Pisces is, perhaps, the most uncommonly genuine and infectious wielder of unconditional love. This unfakeable aura opens many doors. Sprinkle just a dash of egoic agenda on top and, voilá, they&#8217;re pretty sure to get whatever they want. Of course, because they&#8217;re so psychically interpenetrated with everyone, the slightest deception or betrayal subjects them to a thousand lashings in their dreams. At this point, they have three options: take it to their altar and repent, dissociate, or go have a drink. How would you feel if the universe held you to such high standards?</p>
<p><strong>2) Identity theft</strong><br />
Because Pisces feels so intimately what a costume the archetypal trance of personality really is, no other sign has more command over how to manipulate its wardrobe of images, energies and guises. This explains why Pisces is so good with media, photography, film and, yes, acting. Because their identity is so fluid and they so effortlessly &#8220;become&#8221; their characters, it&#8217;s positively vexing when they choose a less-than-admirable partner or part for themselves. How would you feel if every passing mood had the potential to rewire you into a new identity?<br />
<strong><br />
3) Personality as perpetration</strong><br />
Pisces is haunted by the truth that the automated trance of personality is inherently unkind and manipulative&#8211;a collection of contrived, behavioral strategies lab-tested to move us closer to whatever ego wants and repel what it doesn&#8217;t. The fact that we were born predisposed to certain traits (from strategies-turned-habit in previous lives, symbolized by our birth chart) and that our personality traits have become, over time, second-nature does not change the fact that a large percentage of our  me-story shtick is motivated by hope and fear-the two proven ways of avoiding true intimacy with the moment. How might you feel if anything less than pure emptiness and presence felt like unkind manipulation? </p>
<p><strong></strong><br />
<em><strong>Ready for more?</strong></em><br />
<strong><a href="http://www.astrodharma.org/astrology-readings/">-Schedule an astrology reading with Hunter</a><br />
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		<title>The Pornification of  Oneness</title>
		<link>http://astrodharma.org/2012/02/pornification-of-oneness/</link>
		<comments>http://astrodharma.org/2012/02/pornification-of-oneness/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 26 Feb 2012 22:28:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Hunter Reynolds</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://astrodharma.org/?p=1114</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>Like nipples stare through tanktops  may space peek through all skin  and prayers turn into Shakti&#8211; erotic touch within. ~Hunter Reynolds </p> <p>IT&#8217;S TIME WE ASK OURSELVES a disturbing, all-too-timely question: Is there any redeeming, divinely-inspired purpose to this media-hyped, lust-a-thon so ruthlessly yanking everybody around? Clearly, it&#8217;s not just about the idealization of romance or [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://astrodharma.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/purple-heart.jpg"><img src="http://astrodharma.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/purple-heart.jpg" alt="gothic valentine" title="purple heart" width="300" height="199" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1117" /></a><em>Like nipples stare through tanktops <br />
may space peek through all skin <br />
and prayers turn into Shakti&#8211;<br />
erotic touch within.<br />
~Hunter Reynolds </em></p>
<p>IT&#8217;S TIME WE ASK OURSELVES a disturbing, all-too-timely question: Is there any redeeming, divinely-inspired purpose to this media-hyped, lust-a-thon so ruthlessly yanking everybody around? Clearly, it&#8217;s not just about the idealization of romance or selling stuff. Even before the media-manipulators got hold of it, this was a morality-massacring, culture-devouring force and it&#8217;s naive to think we can now monastically repress or STD ourselves into some kind of exhausted transcendence. It&#8217;s time we got a handle on what, exactly, lust is. Here&#8217;s an Astrodharmic perspective: <br />
<span id="more-1114"></span><br />
Sex is ruled by Scorpio &#8212; the part of us that wakes up in the midst of slathering itself in the depravity and divinity of the human condition. Scorpio craves intense, uncompromising confrontations with the full spectrum of messy, mortal experience &#8211;  sex, death, rebirth and everything in between. Sex in particular fascinates Scorpio because compressed into the drama of sexual tension, foreplay, consummation and the post-coital siesta (and/or disappointment) is the entire drama of incarnation.  Equipped with such a profound existential metaphor, reasons Scorpio, who needs a Bible?<br />
<strong><br />
Scorpio has the uncommon guts to admit that we&#8217;re all born haunted by a creepy question: </strong><br />
<em><br />
How consciously and benevolently are you wielding your instinctual power to influence and control others? </em></p>
<p>Notice I didn&#8217;t say anything about &#8220;letting go&#8221; of control. To Scorpio, that&#8217;s foolish denial. It&#8217;s about conscientiously wielding one&#8217;s psychic power, and only in matters as raunchy, risky and primal as sex does Scorpio sense it can fully confront, transform and purify its unholy, dictatorial powers into a mutually therapeutic, if not outright spiritual, art.</p>
<p>Needless to say, the stakes are high in this kind of interpersonal poker and &#8220;winning&#8221; means hovering holy above the smoky scene even as you bet the house. To do this, one must understand what a &#8220;bad hand&#8221; looks like and when to &#8220;fold.&#8221; Here&#8217;s a few hints:</p>
<p>The lustful self is a narcissistic self. It desires the experience of itself desiring. Lust, by itself, is inherently addictive because it is based on the vague, forever just-out-of-reach ideal of an &#8220;I&#8221; that just might get lucky enough to experience oneness, the ultimate intimacy: the orgasm of no-self. Could there be anything more self-contradictory and doomed to failure? Ah, but there&#8217;s hope.</p>
<p><strong>Being the archetype of change and transformation, Scorpio has three developmental stages (and corresponding critters) assigned to it:</strong> the scorpion, the eagle and the dove. People strong in Scorpio move constantly and vividly through these critter-states. The rest of us are on the same transformational merry-go-round, but we circle more subtly and, thus, with less accountability. An entire book could be written (and has) about each of these three critter-states but here they are distilled so you can get a feel for them:</p>
<p><strong>Scorpion:</strong> <em>Physical penetration. Self-preservation. Cunning. Kill or be killed. Psycho-sexual manipulation. Heartless power-grabs.</em></p>
<p><strong>Eagle: </strong><em>Psychological penetration. Shadow work. Wise counsel. The compassionate, street-hardened counselor.</em> </p>
<p><strong>Dove: </strong><em>Spiritual Penetration. Ego death ally. Initiate of sacred mysteries. The spiritual teacher and/or psychic.</em></p>
<p>Here are some other ways of articulating this progression:</p>
<p><em>1) Funeral Pyre, Burnt Bones, Ascension<br />
2) The Fall, Forgiveness, Redemption<br />
3) The ego, The Witness, Pure Awareness</em></p>
<p>Finally, here&#8217;s an Astrodharmic interpretation:</p>
<p><strong>Scorpion: </strong><em>Seeing personality</em></p>
<p><strong>Eagle: </strong><em>Seeing positive intention</em></p>
<p><strong>Dove: </strong><em>Seeing divinity-in-action </em></p>
<p><em>(Note: It is precisely this evolutionary progression that the <a href="http://astrodharma.org/mentorship/">Styles of Awakening Training</a> is designed to facilitate).</em> </p>
<p>How do we keep moving toward Dovehood? Step number one: Awaken as compassionate witness to the short-sighted lust of the scorpion.<br />
<strong><br />
Like drugs, lust delivers an addictive glimpse </strong>of the mind-killing simplicity and silence of who we are. It conjures a desire-drunk doer, a spat of undefended being, then dumps us back into the achingly insufficient, pre-aroused banality that made the lust-ticket so impossible not to purchase. How much for the ticket? Who made the purchase? Never mind. In the absence of spasm-surviving Eagle love and the soul-tethering devotion of the Dove, lust could be the most cynicism-inducing force in the world.</p>
<p>Love-infused lust, on the other hand, makes love to the entire human condition; carnal desire mixes with a full-spectrum embrace of our partner&#8217;s humiliating sense of inadequacy and their interminably gnawing karma. In short, love moves closer to- and finds humble beauty in- what lust considers &#8220;a turn off.&#8221; Thank God for our poker-savvy heart, who gladly lays down a few intoxicating-but-unsustainable Scorpion cards for a chance at a royal flush: the unbroken communion of the dove. </p>
<p>The ultimate purpose of this lust-a-thon? Simple. To hit bottom. To make the outlines of &#8220;wanting mind&#8221; so stark and depressing that there&#8217;s nothing left to do but start aiming our lust at the One Being. To back us all into communion-rich &#8220;recovery&#8221; communities that skillfully arouse that steadier taste of oneness that lust so famously fails to deliver.</p>
<p><strong>And how might one speed up their soul&#8217;s journey toward &#8220;hitting bottom?&#8221;</strong> By learning to recognize and feel the luminous, positive intention so often eclipsed behind the attention-grabbing lower octave expressions of the Scorpio archetype; by prayerfully applauding- even as others scorn- this divinely-ordained style of awakening.</p>
<p>As we learn to lucidly encounter our own and other&#8217;s bullet-proof prejudice against death-stinky Scorpio, we come to see that what we are demonizing is not the person, but the entire heartbreaking cycle of death and rebirth, itself. When we witness the witheringly extreme, all-or-nothing movements of the lower octave scorpion, we are catching a rare, panoramic glimpse of the traumatizing perfection of our own incarnational saga &#8212; a vista so sobering and unintelligible it is meant only for the eyes of God &#8212; in us.</p>
<p><strong></strong><br />
<em><strong>Ready for more?</strong></em><br />
<strong><a href="http://www.astrodharma.org/astrology-readings/">-Schedule an astrology reading with Hunter</a><br />
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		<title>Styles of Awakening Training: Transforming the ego field into a Buddha field</title>
		<link>http://astrodharma.org/2012/02/styles-of-awakening-training/</link>
		<comments>http://astrodharma.org/2012/02/styles-of-awakening-training/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 26 Feb 2012 22:17:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Hunter Reynolds</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[astrological]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://astrodharma.org/?p=1104</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>Current Course Dates: January 9th &#8211; April 1st  (FULL)</p> <p>Upcoming Course Dates: April 30th &#8211; July 23rd Class size is limited. Reserve your space now.</p> <p>WOULD YOU LIKE to develop an intuitively accurate, real-time awareness of the astrological archetypes in your everyday life, work and relationships?</p> <p>Are you an aspiring astrologer or would you like [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://astrodharma.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/mesmerize-1.jpg"><img src="http://astrodharma.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/mesmerize-1.jpg" alt="mesmerize" title="mesmerize-1" width="164" height="135" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-426" /></a><strong>Current Course Dates: </strong>January 9th &#8211; April 1st  (FULL)</p>
<p><strong>Upcoming Course Dates: </strong>April 30th &#8211; July 23rd<br />
<em>Class size is limited. Reserve your space now.</em></p>
<p>WOULD YOU LIKE to develop an intuitively accurate, real-time awareness of the astrological archetypes in your everyday life, work and relationships?</p>
<p>Are you an aspiring astrologer or would you like to deepen your current counseling, healing and interpersonal work with Astrodharmic insights into your clients? </p>
<p>This training may be just what you&#8217;re looking for.</p>
<p><span id="more-1104"></span><em><br />
</em><em>&#8220;With wizardry, wisdom and poetic compassion, Hunter playfully and skillfully introduces each of the 12 astrological archetypes and their polar opposites. Each week, our engaged awareness is taken on a new carnival ride down through the layers of ego and into the clear essence of each astrological signs unique gifts to the world (where you fall in love with each signs beauty and innocence!). The highlight of each week is the opportunity to speak with a truly devoted and adept teacher who uses his skills as an astrologer and counselor with genuine warmth, intuition and friendliness, to help fine tune anything you might have missed from that weeks teachings.&#8221;<br />
      —Dorothy Codville (current Styles student) <br />
         Golden, British Columbia</em></p>
<p><strong>In this one-of-a-kind, experiential online training,</strong>  you will be personally guided through 12 weeks of study (One week per archetype). In addition to the daily reading assignments, perceptual tasks and journaling exercises, you will have a unique opportunity to speak regularly with a full-time, professional astrologer (me!) who will answer any questions you may have and help you understand how the higher and lower octave expressions of each archetype play out in your birth chart.</p>
<p><strong>Here&#8217;s what the current <em>Styles</em> students say about the course:</strong><br />
 <br />
&#8220;Studying astrology with Hunter is like being handed a treasure map that reveals hidden pathways, shortcuts, and traps, turning the challenge of connecting more deeply with oneself and others into a discovery process filled with exciting &#8220;a-ha&#8221; moments about what is actually happening. I am now curious and intrigued by what I previously judged or dismissed. Becoming archetypically literate is really about learning to see the world through 12 different lenses rather than one, and I&#8217;m personally loving this rare opportunity to develop full spectrum vision.&#8221; <br />
<em>   &#8211;Tesa Silvestre, Consultant, Ubud, Bali</em><br />
  <br />
&#8220;Each week, Hunter offers an opportunity to not only explore experiences and questions regarding the course material, but to speak with openness and curiosity about my journey as a student of astrology. He is a gifted counselor, and the regularity of contact feels generous and enlivening. I have no reservations about recommending his course.&#8221;<br />
<em>   &#8211;James McEntee, Marriage and Family Therapist, San Francisco</em><br />
  <br />
&#8220;Awakening requires an honest personal inquiry into the depths of our unconscious patterns. And who would go there without a handy map, loving guidance, and some entertainment along the way? If you happen to be intent on awakening compassion; called to be of service consciously aware of your gifts and challenges, I highly recommend this life-affirming, happiness-generating class.&#8221;<br />
<em>   &#8211;Nicole Coombs, Bodyworker and Counselor, San Diego</em><br />
  <br />
&#8220;The Styles of Awakening Training really presses me to live the experience of the archetypes rather than just intellectually analyze and understand them. The opportunity to have weekly check-ins with Hunter is what really makes this course &#8211; not only for the opportunity to further deepen my understanding of the material but also as a way to hold myself accountable to doing the work &#8211; something often missing in other online courses.  You can go as far as you want with the material, and I feel like I&#8217;ll be continuing to digest it long after the course is over. Very illuminating.&#8221;<br />
<em>   &#8211;Lee, Geographer</em><br />
  <br />
  <br />
&#8220;Hunter&#8217;s Styles of Awakening Training is a daily exploration into the archetypical aspects of real time life. It&#8217;s inspiring, fun, spooky (good kind), honest, compassionate, intelligent and totally awesome.It&#8217;s like a really good book where you can&#8217;t put it down and you dread that one day it will end. I haven&#8217;t felt so passionate about a course in quite some time.&#8221;<br />
<em>   &#8211;Rupa Westbrook, Massage Therapist, Maui, Hawaii</em><br />
  </p>
<p>&#8220;This is a great course to compassionately delve into the beautiful complexity of each astrological archetype.  You will emerge with a deeper understanding of yourself and all those you interact with mentally, physically and spiritually. I have been amazed with what has unfolded thus far. Hunter is a master guide and explorer.&#8221;<br />
<em>   &#8211;Joanna Fassl, Doctor of Chiropractic, San Francisco, CA</em><br />
 <br />
<a href="http://astrodharma.org/schedule-a-reading/"> Limited space! Register now > </a><br />
<a href="http://astrodharma.org/mentorship/styles-of-awakening-outline/">Complete course outline ></a></p>
<p><strong></strong><br />
<em><strong>Ready for more?</strong></em><br />
<strong><a href="http://www.astrodharma.org/astrology-readings/">-Schedule an astrology reading with Hunter</a><br />
<a href="http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=001iSHr32lsdpp9a7NZ6HHfiw==">-Subscribe to Styles of Awakening Newsletter (monthly)</a><br />
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		<title>The Intimacy of Shared Aversion</title>
		<link>http://astrodharma.org/2012/02/intimacy-of-shared-aversion/</link>
		<comments>http://astrodharma.org/2012/02/intimacy-of-shared-aversion/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:18:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Hunter Reynolds</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://astrodharma.org/?p=1032</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>We don&#8217;t forgive egos &#8211; only archetypes.</p> <p>INSIDE EVERY FELT AVERSION is an unarticulated judgment &#8211; a facet of ego we find unforgivable. What we fail to appreciate is that this condemned facet is just one of many other cut faces on a greater archetypal jewel. In the throes of aversion, then, we don&#8217;t merely [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://astrodharma.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/aversion.jpg"><img src="http://astrodharma.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/aversion-300x225.jpg" alt="aversion" title="aversion" width="300" height="225" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1033" /></a><em>We don&#8217;t forgive egos &#8211; only archetypes.</em></p>
<p>INSIDE EVERY FELT AVERSION is an unarticulated judgment &#8211; a facet of ego we find unforgivable. What we fail to appreciate is that this condemned facet is just one of many other cut faces on a greater archetypal jewel. In the throes of aversion, then, we don&#8217;t merely judge specific aspects of ego; we trash entire matrices &#8211; the very archetypal diamonds in which consciousness is embedded.</p>
<p>The advantage of becoming archetypally literate (see <a href="http://astrodharma.org/mentorship/">Styles of Awakening Training</a>) is that whenever aversion strikes, we have the language and perceptual acuity with which to stop and identify the innocent, totally valid style of awakening that this judged person is so clumsily attempting to employ. We feel their positive intention and we know how to support them. In short, we learn to move more and more quickly from aversion to archetype to appreciation of the One Being in the throes of waking up to itself.<br />
 <span id="more-1032"></span><br />
<strong>Each of the twelve archetypes has their own favorite targets to aim judgment at.</strong> To fully unravel the motivations behind a person&#8217;s particular areas of harshness and bias one would need to look at their whole chart.  However,  some valuable insights about judgment that apply equally to all signs can be harvested from the Virgo/Pisces polarity. </p>
<p>The Virgo part of us is driven by the instinct to make order out of chaos &#8211; to attend to inner and outer environments in such a way that they glorify and accentuate the innocent simplicity and intelligence of this seemingly random and impersonal universe. And what happens when the quest for an outpicturing of life&#8217;s sacred order gets into the hands of ego? Heartless fault-finding.</p>
<p>If there&#8217;s any hope of washing this snap judgment from our eyes and cutting through ego&#8217;s swirling fog of verdicts it is through understanding what judgment really is: projected self-hatred, which is the ego&#8217;s desperate attempt to stop it&#8217;s perversely enlivening habit of self-cutting by turning the blade on someone else&#8217;s psychic skin. Seen in this light, there&#8217;s no such thing as criticalness &#8211; only muted cries for love.</p>
<p>How do we break this habit of psychological self-cutting? Perhaps, by cutting even deeper to the very root of Virgo perfectionism and finally getting an honest, meditatively-earned answer to the following question: <em>Why, exactly, is it not a tragedy that the sharp cut of space has chopped us up into these separate, searching egos?</em></p>
<p>The answer, of course, comes as a shift in Piscean paradigm, not a linear explanation. But if silence could speak, perhaps its answer would sound something like this: <em>With no skin to press up against, the seamless field of sentience would have no one to kiss into shivery arousal.</em><br />
<strong><br />
Why does the lower-octave Virgo part of us self-injure? </strong>For three misguided, but nonetheless logically consistent, reasons:<br />
<em><br />
1) Believed-in judgment is an anti-chaotic.</em><br />
Judgment is what happens whenever ego feels that a more spacious, provisional interpretation of events would make our lives too mysterious and disorienting for us to psychologically cope and successfully navigate the world.<br />
<em><br />
2) Believed-in judgment validates the existence of a separate somebody who knows.</em><br />
To the time-bound sense of self, it&#8217;s not important whether our mental assessments are true or false, self-empowering or self-immolating, so long as the fog of mental interpretations remains thick enough to obscure the ego-dissolving face of the present moment.<br />
<em><br />
3) Believed-in judgments, when shared, provide a safely-scripted, heart-protected illusion of intimacy.</em><br />
From ego&#8217;s point of view, the experience of One Being is overrated- a kind of faux intimacy that is either too emotionally flat or psychically incestuous to truly enjoy. Why resort to such surreal, disorienting ways of connecting when you can unite via visceral, unambiguous zaps of shared aversion?<br />
 <strong><br />
Notice that all three justifications for self-cutting have one thing in common:</strong> the desire to shoo away disorientation &#8211; the lower-octave expression of its opposite sign, Pisces. Until we learn to trust ourselves to groundedly navigate our inner and outer worlds without strongly believed-in stories about who we and others are, the temptation to orient ourselves via judgment will be impossible to resist.</p>
<p>And how do we develop this grounded kind of storyless-ness (this Virgo kind of Pisces)?  Simple. The higher octave expression of Pisces: meditation.</p>
<p><strong></strong><br />
<em><strong>Ready for more?</strong></em><br />
<strong><a href="http://www.astrodharma.org/astrology-readings/">-Schedule an astrology reading with Hunter</a><br />
<a href="http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=001iSHr32lsdpp9a7NZ6HHfiw==">-Subscribe to Styles of Awakening Newsletter (monthly)</a><br />
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		<title>Astrology and the Middle Path: The Six Paired Lessons in Love</title>
		<link>http://astrodharma.org/2011/12/astrology-and-the-middle-path/</link>
		<comments>http://astrodharma.org/2011/12/astrology-and-the-middle-path/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 31 Dec 2011 15:16:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Hunter Reynolds</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[aquarius]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://astrodharma.org/?p=972</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>WHAT IF A ROADMAP TO AWAKENING was built into the very fabric of the cosmos? What if a pathway to the Buddhist middle path &#8211; the ego-dissolving center between mind&#8217;s wildly swinging extremes &#8211; was laid out for us in the pattern of the planets? This is the essential, but too often hidden, insight of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://astrodharma.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/astro-wheel-flyer1.jpg"><img src="http://astrodharma.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/astro-wheel-flyer1-300x187.jpg" alt="astrology dharma" title="wheel " width="300" height="187" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-976" /></a>WHAT IF A ROADMAP TO AWAKENING was built into the very fabric of the cosmos? What if a pathway to the Buddhist middle path &#8211; the ego-dissolving center between mind&#8217;s wildly swinging extremes &#8211; was laid out for us in the pattern of the planets? This is the essential, but too often hidden, insight of astrology. </p>
<p>There is, of course, no formula for storyless presence; it has no precise preconditions. But there are archetypal hints &#8211; a grid of thematic extremes that, in their balancing, may help us collapse the duality of matter and spirit and return us to our storyless center. In simplest terms, this means learning to synthesize the six archetypal dualities: <br />
<span id="more-972"></span><br />
	•	<strong>Independence/Intimacy</strong> (Aries/Libra)<br />
	•	<strong>Stability/Metamorphosis</strong> (Taurus/Scorpio)<br />
	•	<strong>Information/Synthesis </strong>(Gemini/Sagittarius)<br />
	•	<strong>Nurture/Discipline </strong>(Cancer/Capricorn)<br />
	•	<strong>Hierarchy/Equality </strong>(Leo/Aquarius)<br />
	•	<strong>Discernment/Faith </strong>(Virgo/Pisces)</p>
<p>To achieve these six integrations, both sides of each artificially held-apart duality must be fully understood and appreciated as half of a paired lesson in love. When we learn to love both aspects of a dichotomy, the dichotomy collapses and gratitude releases us into an all-embracing nondual dimension. Christians call this &#8220;the descent of the holy spirit.&#8221; Buddhists call it &#8220;enlightenment.&#8221;</p>
<p>This awakened synthesis of poles happens by swinging faster and faster between them until the opposites flicker together with such rapidity they become perceptually fused. The purpose of astrology is to help us define and make more conscious the  polarities we are vibrating between so we can more discerningly meditate them back together &#8211; each side constantly pointing us back to the middle.</p>
<p>In truth, then, there are not so much twelve signs as there are six pairs of opposites, and each integration represents a particular pathway back to Oneness. But in order to stabilize in this ego-dissolved center point, we must first learn to understand and skillfully manage each of its twelve poles. </p>
<p>Our Journey begins with the Aries/Libra polarity and continues counterclockwise around the wheel to the Pisces/Virgo polarity (see zodiac wheel below):</p>
<p><a href="http://astrodharma.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/chart.jpg"><img src="http://astrodharma.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/chart-298x300.jpg" alt="astro chart" title="chart" width="298" height="300" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-988" /></a><strong>Aries/Libra: Independence/Intimacy</strong><br />
<em>If the pendulum swings too far towards Aries, </em>we become interpersonally divorced, self-centered and start acting as if we need no one else. The psychologically corrective states of loneliness and isolation arise. </p>
<p><em>If the pendulum swings too far towards Libra,</em> individual truth is sacrificed to the god of interpersonal harmony, leading to inner emptiness and vacuity. This then drives us to overly-individuate, often via expressions of insensitivity, anger and conflict.</p>
<p><em>The resolution of the Aries/Libra polarity</em> is the realization that all precious, but imaginary, &#8220;others&#8221; exist as mirrors in which we might come into a more steady, full-spectrum embrace of our true nature. What happens when we spread our awareness equally between self and other? The space between us becomes as conscious and alive as the beings who appear within it. Tibetans call this, &#8220;licking honey from the razor&#8217;s edge.&#8221; We enjoy the sweetness of bridging the interpersonal gap even as we appreciate its unreality. Infatuations are re-aimed at disowned parts of ourself. Aversions are used to highlight unforgiven imperfections. What do we &#8220;get&#8221; from others? The taste of honey and an uncut tongue. </p>
<p><strong>Taurus/Scorpio: Stability/Metamorphosis</strong><br />
<em>If we swing too far towards Taurus, </em>we become miserably secure, fixed and complacent. Dullness and overindulgence pull upheaval closer to us. We are unconsciously driven toward the enlivenment of chaos, crisis and the indiscriminate destruction of built up structures.<br />
<em><br />
If we swing too far towards Scorpio,</em> we get overly obsessed with shadow truths and impermanence, become psychologically overwhelmed, stinging our self and others with too many toxic, indigestible revelations. Chaos and upheaval drive us toward the overvaluing of Taurean stability, jealous attachments and rigidly orthodox values and world views.</p>
<p><em>The swings of this polarity</em> are constantly attempting to hone us in on what is truly sustainable: our unshakable, meditative fullness of being, without which all material comfort and psycho-emotional truth-telling is quickly drained of meaning. As we remember that all egos are actors in need of a firm, provisional stage on which to perform their Self-realization dance, our needs for stability and transformation start dancing together, neither one stepping on the toes of the other. </p>
<p><strong>Gemini/Sagittarius: Information/Synthesis</strong><br />
<em>When we swing too hard in the direction of Gemini,</em> our attention becomes fragmented and we indiscriminately devour isolated facts and random experience. We lose touch with the ultimate meaning and direction of our lives. As feelings of pointlessness and disintegration build up, our thirst for meaning may drive us into obsessive Sagittarian study, preachiness and involvement with  fundamentalist groups and philosophies. </p>
<p><em>When the pendulum swings too far towards Sagittarius, </em>we lose the ability to tune into the details and Tao of each moment. We become addicted to abstract principle and impatient with anything mundane. As our search for the philosophical or geographical overview deems more and more ideas, moments and relationships &#8220;provincial, petty and already known,&#8221; we develop feelings of remoteness, dislocation, and nihilism. This makes the  distracted, moment-to-moment repartee of Gemini look irresistibly straight-forward and connecting.<br />
<em><br />
The frustrating swings of the Gemini/Sagittarius polarity</em> are trying to center us in a third kind of knowing, born neither from spontaneous impression or overarching preconception. Residing at the center of these two poles, seeker and seeking step aside, baptizing us into a graceful rhythm of curious, moment-to-moment listening and purpose-harvesting self inquiry. By learning to transpersonally witness the divinely told story of our life, we come to savor each cleverly articulated turn of phrase even as we feel into the ultimate plot.</p>
<p><strong>Cancer/Capricorn: Private nurture/public discipline</strong><br />
<em>When we lean too hard in the direction of Cancer, </em>we become emotionally dependent and needy — regressively shrinking from what appears to be a cold, uncaring world that offers no heart-friendly forms of service in which to nurture ourselves or others. This leads to feelings of ingrownness and insular despair which, in turn, make us cling to any professional sense of identity and belonging we can get — even if it&#8217;s heartless and unfulfilling.</p>
<p><em>Leaning too hard in the Capricorn direction,</em> we become overly image-conscious and ambitious — equating our personal worth with our reputation and professional status. This leads to over-work and feelings of austerity, enslavement and aridity. To compensate, we may be driven toward insecure, dependent people who overly evoke our emotions or through whom we can live vicariously.</p>
<p><em>The purpose of the Cancer/Capricorn swing</em> is to help us hone in on that steadily vulnerable sense of authority that arises when we are meditatively in tune with our soul&#8217;s natural heart service — whether it brings us anonymity or exposure, poverty or riches. By putting self-discipline in the service of a caring that comes natural to us, the burden of the separate self naturally dissolves, allowing us to selflessly self-promote and successfully raise others up alongside us.<br />
<strong><br />
Leo/Aquarius: Hierarchy/Equality</strong><br />
<em>When the pendulum swings too far into Leo,</em> self worth seems to depend on our confidence and charisma. No matter how much we are admired or respected, however, we feel alienated, unseen and alone behind an impossible-to-shed mask. To compensate, ego drives us into individuality-denying relationships and overly idealistic Aquarian communities that under-validate us and snuff out our creative fire in the name of some repressive idea of equality.</p>
<p><em>Leaning too hard in the Aquarian direction,</em> we take on the identity of the hierarchy-bashing community activist, impatient with repressive structures and authority. The more resistant people are to our righteous, reforming jabs, the more our identity feels threatened. This creates feelings of being an impotent, unappreciated outsider. To recover a sense of self-worth and belonging, we re-enflame a feeling of Leonine &#8220;specialness&#8221; by unconsciously stepping into the same kind of autocratic, ineffective, leadership style we previously rebelled against. </p>
<p><em>The synthesis of the Hierarcy/Equality polarity</em> happens naturally when we develop a relaxed sense of the world as a community of eternally marching souls whose evolution is not, ultimately, slowed or quickened by egalitarian activists or inspiring leaders. What matters is not whether we appear humble or proud, but that we take on the role in which we will, for the sake of all souls, most thoroughly self-actualize. In doing so, a sense of specialness and equality arise together as we realize that a good leader is one who makes the team think they did it themselves and a good team is the one in which each person exercises superior leadership in the area of their expertise.</p>
<p><strong>Virgo/Pisces: Discernment/Faith</strong><br />
<em>Straying too far into Virgo,</em> our soul worships discrimination over flow and makes an identity out of efficiency, planning and service. Since the play of form is like smoke — constantly blowing away — our tidy Virgo facts and formulas are continuously undermined by unforeseen Piscean variables, causing us to become obsessive, anal and perfectionistic. Seeking relief from this tightly controlled, formulaic approach, our ego overcompensates by swinging too hard into intoxicating Picean faith and indiscriminate merging — hygienically flushing all logic and pragmatism down the drain.</p>
<p><em>Swinging blindly into Pisces,</em> we make a self out of idiot compassion and a difference-denying idea of oneness. This quickly devolves into martyrdom, collusion and &#8220;saving.&#8221; As our alpha-humbleness becomes more and more physically and psychologically depleting, ego thrusts us into harshly severing and clinically administered acts of boundary-assertion.</p>
<p><em>Virgo/Pisces integration</em> is achieved by becoming mystically realistic &#8211; relieving real human suffering by soberly and clear-headedly attending to the unique needs of different situations, people and organizations even as we remember that we&#8217;re all safe at home in the heart of God. Indeed, it is this relaxed faith in the ultimate perfection of all worldly outcomes &#8211; be they chaotic or painful &#8211; that equips us with the relaxed, nurse-like focus needed to balance subjective intuition with diagnostically accurate analysis. Our heart breaks for those who suffer from lost awareness of &#8220;the condition of all conditions,&#8221; but not so much that we overly empathize and lose sight of the clear yes&#8217;s and no&#8217;s that make for real human support.</p>
<p><strong></strong><br />
<em><strong>Ready for more?</strong></em><br />
<strong><a href="http://www.astrodharma.org/astrology-readings/">-Schedule an astrology reading with Hunter</a><br />
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		<title>The Aries Paradox: In-Your-Face Emptiness</title>
		<link>http://astrodharma.org/2011/12/the-aries-paradox/</link>
		<comments>http://astrodharma.org/2011/12/the-aries-paradox/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:47:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Hunter Reynolds</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[aquarius]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[aries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[astrological]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[astrology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[buddhism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cancer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[capricorn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[desire]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dharma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ego]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fear]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gemini]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[libra]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meditation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pisces]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sagittarius]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scorpio]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spiritual]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[taurus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virgo]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://astrodharma.org/?p=957</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>Which of the following &#8220;motorist&#8221; metaphors do you find more appealing:</p> <p>1) Driving merrily along, lost in the buoyant beat of some smooth jazz station&#8211; oblivious to your toxic wake and the incalculable plant, animal and human sacrifice that allows you to fly across eroding rock trails made bump-less every night at 3:00 AM by [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://astrodharma.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/1291780_curly_horned_ram_1.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-959" title="1291780_curly_horned_ram_1" src="http://astrodharma.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/1291780_curly_horned_ram_1.jpg" alt="ram" width="300" height="200" /></a>Which of the following &#8220;motorist&#8221; metaphors do you find more appealing:</p>
<p><strong>1) Driving merrily along, lost in the buoyant beat of some smooth jazz station&#8211; </strong>oblivious to your toxic wake and the incalculable plant, animal and human sacrifice that allows you to fly across eroding rock trails made bump-less every night at 3:00 AM by growling, dinosaur-sized machines manned by bloodshot souls so desperate for food and rent they trade circadian sunlight for freakish floodlight.</p>
<p><strong>2) Inching tentatively along a dusty, deeply potholed country back road that gnaws on expensive, unknown parts of your car&#8217;s chassis,</strong> alternately triggering fears of a shivery, bone-crumpled night spent alone in the back seat and spontaneous prayers of gratitude for the durability of your vessel as it slows to a self-fumigating, but delusion-free idle that suddenly makes audible an awesome profusion of insects and birds crackling electric in the bushes and trees all around you.</p>
<p>I know. Not the most mouth-watering set of options. But these two gnarly combinations of dark and light describe the two basic topographies available to a soul firmly buckled into the seat of a body/mind.<br />
<span id="more-957"></span><br />
&#8220;Surely there must be an alternate route,&#8221; demands ego. &#8220;What about equanimity, insight, compassion, Kundalini?&#8221; &#8220;Oh that,&#8221; says our inner Buddha with a sly smile. &#8220;That&#8217;s just phoenix activity&#8211; the soul&#8217;s heartbroken response to the dinosaurs and the gnawing.</p>
<p>So, fleshy motorist, which route will you choose?</p>
<p><strong>Option #1 is a form of pleasant automation, </strong>or &#8220;machine mind.&#8221; It&#8217;s dualistic. It can&#8217;t fathom a joy that includes heartbreak. It&#8217;s cyncial. To mechanical mind, our only shot at &#8220;happiness&#8221; is to anesthetize half of our heart so we don&#8217;t feel the shades of suffering our ego causes ourself and others.</p>
<p><strong>Option #2 is a form of meditation, </strong>or what Tibetans call &#8220;natural mind.&#8221; It&#8217;s nondual. It feels grace in the midst of consciously negotiating inner and outer poisons. It&#8217;s innocent. It doesn&#8217;t divide or harden people and situations into good and bad categories, preferring, instead, to see all beings and moments as perceptual wombs for the child of pure awareness to mature in.<br />
<!--more--><br />
Ah yes, meditation. These days, whenever I hear this velvety Libran term with all its peace-promising connotations, I flinch, secretly replacing it with a more accurate, urgent and Scorpionic one: &#8220;self-reckoning.&#8221; This is the art of releasing loving kindness into the mind&#8217;s mildly &#8212; if not wildly &#8212; tortured ambiance.</p>
<p>To be fair, the fruit of meditation (the equanimity that gives rise to wise loving) does indeed have a Libran signature, but the process, itself, can hardly be called &#8220;Venusian.&#8221; Rare is the person who will baldly admit that the sweet spring of pure awareness trickles under a thorny tangle of self-betrayal habits, and that blood is the price of drinking. Sound like a Libra pastime?</p>
<p><strong>In truth, all twelve archetypes are at play in the practice of learning to abide as witness of the mind.</strong> But in this article, I thought I&#8217;d shed some light on what I believe is the most essential archetypal challenge that, when fully understood and embraced, may strongly assist us in returning to presence: Aries.</p>
<p>The goal of Aries is the goal of all incarnated beings: a presence-governed ego. In a very simple, straightforward way the Aries path of awakening is the template for all the other styles. Understand the force that &#8220;rams&#8221; oneness into seemingly separate bodies and you understand the basic steps involved in returning each of the succeeding eleven archetypes back to their true nature.</p>
<p>But how does the archetype that corresponds to the very birth of the individuated ego (I AM), break free of ego? By holding fast to the center of the wheel of desire as it spins crazy around us.</p>
<p><strong>The Wheel of Desire</strong></p>
<p>Buddhism boils all desires down to three:</p>
<p>1-The desire for objects of pleasure.</p>
<p>2-The desire for the sense that we exist.</p>
<p>3-The desire for the sense that we do not exist &#8212; do not desire.</p>
<p>These three desire-fires are, in truth, one: the desire to exist in some absolute, independent sense from our own side &#8212; apart from God and the seeming &#8220;others&#8221; that She dances around us. This is quintessential lower-octave Aries: individuation gone rogue. The essence of every ego.</p>
<p>These three desire-fires are also interlocking &#8212; circling round in repeating cycles of frustration that proceed according to the following twisted logic:</p>
<p>&#8220;If I can attain this object of pleasure (Desire #1), I can, for a moment, have the sense that someone separate and real has attained it (Desire #2).&#8221; When the object of desire fails to deliver me the fullness of my being, disappointment arises. In desperation, I then twist my very disappointment into an identity: &#8220;I&#8217;m suffering, therefore I am&#8221; (Desire #2).  <em>(A popular identity-strategy in these crashy/conspiratorial times, no?)</em> When the pain of this me-story becomes unbearable, I turn to desire #3: the desire not to be, not to desire. However, since it is the illusory self that desires this supposed selflessness, the quest for the experience of true being is frustrated yet again so I turn to a &#8216;new and improved&#8217; object of desire (Desire #1) that promises to make me feel solid and separate (Desire #2).</p>
<p>Round and round we go &#8212; every moment, every day, every lifetime.<br />
<strong><br />
Moving to the hub of this desire wheel is called &#8220;meditation&#8221; </strong>and, as even the most dilettantish meditator knows, it takes a subtle kind of chivalry to &#8220;fear forward,&#8221; to remain anchored in the observer, unseduced by the 12 archetypal sirens:</p>
<p>1-Aries Fear: Selflessness</p>
<p>2-Taurus Fear: Groundlessness</p>
<p>3- Gemini Fear: Boredom</p>
<p>4- Cancer Fear: Aridity</p>
<p>5- Leo Fear: Averageness</p>
<p>6-Virgo Fear: Chaos</p>
<p>7-Libra Fear: Loneliness</p>
<p>8-Scorpio Fear: Powerlessness</p>
<p>9- Sagittarius Fear: Meaninglessness</p>
<p>10-Capricorn Fear: Uselessness</p>
<p>11-Aquarius Fear: Confinement</p>
<p>12- Pisces Fear: Enmeshment</p>
<p><strong>The final test for Aries</strong> and for all souls mad enough to be mortal and sane enough to disappear? Allowing our more and more palpably sensed unborn nature to infiltrate the fully-downloaded personality style and karma symbolized by our birth chart. To let our 3-D somebody-ness be lit from within. And how, you might ask, does this Bodhisatva-like re-inhabiting of personality for the sake of inspiring storyless presence in others actually look? The variations are infinite, but they all dance to the same full-circle, Aries-meets-Pisces beat: &#8220;in-your-face emptiness.&#8221;</p>
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<em><strong>Ready for more?</strong></em><br />
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		<title>Astrodharma Mentorship Program: Learn astrology as a tool of awakening</title>
		<link>http://astrodharma.org/2011/11/mentorship-intro/</link>
		<comments>http://astrodharma.org/2011/11/mentorship-intro/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:42:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Hunter Reynolds</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://astrodharma.org/?p=948</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p> Learn to recognize and work with the archetypes, even if you never look at an astrology chart. </p> <p>IF ONENESS or &#8220;divine presence&#8221; is ever to become more than a flickering insight, we will need to find a way of converting the everyday ego-field into a Buddha field. That means consciously confronting our archetypal [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://sublimatrix.com"><img src="http://astrodharma.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/oracle.jpg" alt="oracle" title="oracle" width="211" height="280" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-253" /></a><br />
<em>Learn to recognize and work with the archetypes, even if you never look at an astrology chart. </em> </p>
<p>IF ONENESS or &#8220;divine presence&#8221; is ever to become more than a flickering insight, we will need to find a way of converting the everyday ego-field into a Buddha field. That means consciously confronting our archetypal biases and learning&#8211;through self-inquiry, meditation and compassion practice&#8211;to have a steadier experience of divine intent. </p>
<p>This psycho-spiritual training is designed not only to guide you into this personality-penetrating world view, but also trains you to facilitate this clear seeing in others. In this program, you will use your daily life as the laboratory for understanding how the archetypes manifest in the world. The material is presented through email and weekly, individual mentoring calls.<br />
 <span id="more-948"></span><br />
In this training, you will:</p>
<p>&#8211;<em>Improve your relationship to yourself and others </em>by becoming astrologically literate.</p>
<p>&#8211;<em>Ground spiritual insights </em>through Astrodharmic methods so that you can start living them instead of just thinking them.</p>
<p>&#8211;<em>Become skilled and effective at using astrology </em>without the time-consuming, technical learning curve usually necessary to become a full-time, professional astrologer.</p>
<p>&#8211;<em>Learn to consciously work with your archetypal challenges and gifts </em>&#8211; and to facilitate this for others &#8212; by using practical meditative techniques and perceptual tasks tailored to specific archetypes.</p>
<p>&#8211;<em>Increase your professional effectiveness </em>by learning a powerful, intuitive method for bringing astrological insight into the work you are already doing. And for those looking to change careers, did you know that astrology as a profession has been shown over the years to be recession-proof?</p>
<p> <strong><br />
Limited space!</strong><br />
<em>Because of the amount of personal attention given to each participant, I am taking only a limited number of students for this pilot program, so sign up now to reserve your place. Training begins on January 9, 2012.</em><br />
 <strong><br />
SPECIAL DISCOUNT if you sign-up before December 1st.</strong><em></p>
<p><a href="http://astrodharma.org/mentorship/styles-of-awakening-training/">Details on the 3-month program ></a><br />
 </em></p>
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		<title>We are the 100%: An Astrologer&#8217;s take on the Occupy Wall Street Movement</title>
		<link>http://astrodharma.org/2011/10/we-are-the-100-percent/</link>
		<comments>http://astrodharma.org/2011/10/we-are-the-100-percent/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:43:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Hunter Reynolds</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[flash mob meditation]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[nondual]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Occupy Wall Street]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[protest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spiritual]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://astrodharma.org/?p=854</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p> THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS to justifiably protest against. But what, I ask myself, is  the most fundamental, cross-cultural oppression &#8211;  the &#8220;meme,&#8221; if you will &#8212; that gave rise to this rant against the great vampire squid called Corporatocracy? My guess: it has something to do with flawed community.   Thich Nhat Hanh [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://astrodharma.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/money-man.jpg" alt="money man" title="money man" width="200" height="276" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-855" /><br />
THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS to justifiably protest against. But what, I ask myself, is  the most fundamental, cross-cultural oppression &#8211;  the &#8220;meme,&#8221; if you will &#8212; that gave rise to this rant against the great vampire squid called Corporatocracy? My guess: it has something to do with flawed community.<br />
 <br />
Thich Nhat Hanh once remarked that the next Buddha would, in fact, be a community. It&#8217;s a timely Aquarian age perspective that I cannot help but sympathize with. However, having spent a good portion of my life living hip-deep in these viscous group-mind experiments, I find myself substituting the phrase &#8220;compressed egos&#8221; whenever I hear those starry-eyed words, &#8220;intentional community.&#8221; For me, community without Sangha is nothing short of Orwellian. <br />
 <br />
Don&#8217;t get me wrong. The experience of community (including the squid-like, corpgov variety) is absolutely essential &#8212; not because of what it offers, but because of what it doesn&#8217;t. Disillusionment is the entire evolutionary point of utopian Aquarian experiments: it flips us fast into the next sign, Pisces. It kills off every last shred of hope in the possibility of horizontal, egoic harmony, sending us screaming into a more timeless, meditative way of relating.  <br />
 <br />
Sound a bit harsh? Looking for a more graceful dawning? Good news. Astrology has a few tips. <br />
<span id="more-854"></span><br />
Forget, for a moment, about the 12 astrological signs and replace them with six polarities. One of these tense, opposing pairs of archetypal opposites takes place between the signs of Leo and Aquarius. Leo rules individual leadership; Aquarius rules group leadership. No organization of egos escapes some bickering between these two principles and, alas, no amount of group-sensitive leadership or expertly guided consensus will ever relieve this tension. What is needed is not a Leo/Aquarius compromise but the birth of a nondual awareness in the members of the group such that flawed authority &#8212; be it autocratic or democratic &#8212; is met with compassion. This compassion springs from the realization that the closest we ever get to the experience of fairness and unity  amidst all this &#8220;evidence of separation&#8221; is to see its dreamlike unreality. <br />
 <br />
What do modern egos of all stripes find most unforgivable and worthy of protest? Samsara: The born-to-fail dream of Aquarian egalitarianism; the unfairness and dysfunction of living as a separate self grasping at a world-saving ideal; the un-hushable, eerie siren call from our soul to move past our collective Kumbaya ambitions and embark on a subtler, steeper and more inward climb.  <br />
 <br />
But what of the Occupy Wall Street movement? <br />
 <br />
Does it make any sense for the safe-at-home-in-the-heart-of-God part of us to protest against the corrupt corporate state? Hell yes! Ever heard of &#8220;flash mob meditations?&#8221; (See accompanying article: Pure Pisces Protest). God is the 100% and she has no problem advocating for the 99%&#8230; so long as waves of compassion also go out to the 1% &#8212; the legions of cozy, compartmentalized number-crunchers that unwittingly protrude, like amoral, instinct-driven tentacles, from the heart of the squid.</p>
<p><em>[For more on how taking a new attitude can launch a movement, see <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-brunette/occupy-wall-street-and-meditation_b_1033381.html" target="_blank">How Occupy Wall Street Demonstrates the Power of Meditation in Action</a>.]</em></p>
<p><strong></strong><br />
<em><strong>Ready for more?</strong></em><br />
<strong><a href="http://www.astrodharma.org/astrology-readings/">-Schedule an astrology reading with Hunter</a><br />
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