IT’S ALWAYS TOO EARLY TO DESPAIR
Fast on the heels of the November 29th New Moon in Sag which conspired to pivot us onto a more adventurous, soul-liberating trajectory, our thoughts become more sober and strategic as Mercury enters Capricorn on December 2nd.
And with good reason. The second half of December is a time of upheaval in the upper echelons of business and government. Hard to imagine that it won’t spill out into the streets. My advice: use the first ten days of December to fortify and ground yourself, both physically and psychologically, in preparation for the shaking during the latter half of this month and into 2017.
Best to finish up holiday travel on or before the full Moon on December 13th. In addition, try to make all of your holiday plans and purchases during the first two less-retrograded weeks of the month and get ready for a deeply intimate, low-key holiday season.
Christmas weekend falls on a Moon in Scorpio this year, which is not an optimal time for casual encounters. Gather, instead, with those with whom trust is already firmly established and let your interactions take on a more personal, confessional tone. Still want to mix casually on Christmas? Best to do this after 7:00 PM west coast time, U.S. when the Moon moves into Sagittarius.
Mercury Retrograde: Dec 19- Jan 7
(Full shadow period: Dec 2- Jan 27)
This Mercury retrograde in Capricorn is conjunct Pluto and square the Uranus/Jupiter opposition. Think: media-spun revelations that trigger power struggle between corpgov and common man. The epicenter: the U.S. Why? Consider the timing.
All 50 states meet in the Electoral College to cast their presidential votes on December 19th- the very same day that Mercury goes retrograde. Yikes! Not only does Mercury go retrograde in Capricorn (the sign ruling government and big business) on this day, but Mercury also squares Saturn in the USA chart. Then, on Dec 27-28th Saturn opposes the U.S. Mars, just as the electoral college turns in its votes to the vice president. Bottom line: “going against previous decisions,” is a high possibility. Given the tensions already built up on both sides, things could turn violent.
Ask yourself: in a fight between a rooster (Trump) and a scorpion (Hillary), who wins? This image should tell you all you need to know about the mood of the world during late December and into January.
Stinging, of course, is no better than pecking. Good news and bad news are unnecessary mental judgments, just as the distinction between happiness and suffering is, itself, suffering. I like how John Tarrant puts it,
Dreadful events can lead to wonderful events, and the other way around. It’s always too early to despair.
What really matters then? Simply this: Will you, or will you not, verbally recycle December’s sappy stagecraft with your friends for a quick shot of The intimacy of shared aversion?
Will December lure you into ego-hardening positionality or inspire you to take refuge in the authority of your timeless presence? Here’s two practices to get you started.
Astrodharma Practices for December
1) Meditative Relating Dyad
During this month, take regular retreats away from the media’s ideas about ideas about ideas and slip into a pod of “allies in awakening.” Couple up and take turns slowly repeating the following phrase to each other,
Timeless presence satisfies every craving and every need, because it is evidence of the god inside me.
Follow this meditative relating exercise with a short period of eyes-closed meditation, then- if you’re in a group- move on to a new partner.
Finally, before closing the circle, finish up with a few rounds of,
This is my place. These are my people.
Why? Because it’s important to give thanks for even the most episodic experience of sangha. Looking for spiritual community? Thanks is what grows it!
2) Huffpost/Breitbart Practice
During this month, alternate your news-gathering between huffingtonpost.com and breitbart.com. Identify an issue that interests you, then move back and forth between these two sites to see how they spin it. Keep doing this until you can feel the manipulative spin distributed equally on both sites.
Having trouble seeing them as equally skewed? I understand. It challenges our position-based sense of identity. But how else will we loosen our conditioned points of view and become aglow with The Looking?
Do both sites turn your stomach? But of course! The perceptions of the mind-made sense of self are smugly narrow. Its polarizing presence is, even now, bloodying the streets of every city on the planet. Clearly, nothing less than a timeless presence rooted in the broken heart of compassion, could survive such a politically nondual worldview!
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