Prayer is not something we do; it’s something we become.
When the spirit of prayer is injected into a conversation, it’s “Say-tonic.” It releases clumps into the brain of separate somebody-ness that causes the stroke we call “communion.”
Why am I promoting prayerful repartee and “ego black-outs?” Because, at this particular astrological juncture, communion is not just sublime; it’s strategic.
During times of relative peace and leisure, we are tasked to fight hard on our inner battlefield to break free of complacency and self-absorption through pedal-to-the metal gratitude for our Libran team-mates.
By inviting the Libran team to join us in collaborative reverence we are “soul prepping:” gathering together the “allies in awakening” we will need in the coming months when the great karmic pendulum swings faraway friction into our own private space.
Grenade in a Steel Box
Mars is approaching a long retrograde in the sign of Cancer. Including its pre and post shadow periods, this retrograde will last for a whopping seven months (Oct 4- May 2nd, 2025).
When the red planet is parked in Cancer it frequently evokes passionate patriotism. Racing backwards as it squares the Sun, Moon, Mercury, and Chiron then opposes the 29th degree of Pluto (what Astrologer, Jeffery Green calls “a grenade in a steel box.”) folks can get trigger-happy in defense of the homeland.
Time to pull out the big guns.
The Killer Koan
Slowly recite the following koan– inside or out loud. Pause between each line, take a deep breath and resist the temptation to think about it. (Reassure the mind that it can do that later). Still getting mental? No problem. A good koan excites logical defense. It’s a testament to its power to re-wire you. You’re right on track!
Gently return to state of positionless wonder until a pixelating presence begins to wash over you. Repeat this process, over and over, at natural intervals for 10 minutes. It being Libra season, it may help to repeat the koan back and forth with a partner.
War is at peace with itself.
Awareness is at peace with war.
Equanimity has always been a kind of madness*
October 2nd Solar Eclipse in Libra
Letting truth decide the form of our relationships
This New Moon Solar Eclipse in Libra is conjunct the South Node, signaling that in order to make a fresh start we may need to let go of– or, at least, reconfigure– our relationship to a person, place or situation. But there’s a problem.
The objective light of the Sun is blocked by the subjectivity of the Moon. Enlivening self-expression is at odds with our security needs. Yet, a square to Mars in Cancer pushes us to take action. This creates tension. It’s time to make a decision but action without sight is reaction, not solution. What to do?
Perhaps this eclipse is pushing us to examine the decision making process, itself. It seems we have three options.
1) The Force-a-holic
Forced decision is veiled indecisiveness: the cowardly refusal to endure the tension of “not-knowing” long enough to feel into how the Greater Will wants to move through us. This is the “Force-a-holic” face of ego. The restless option-killer who refuses to navigate the vulnerability and disorientation that accompanies honest, “Beginner’s Mind” deliberation. The Libran art of weighing pros and cons is unceremoniously trashed by identity-hardening action.
2) The Reject-a-phobe
To exist is to reject. No matter which choice we make or which direction we take, we leave in our wake a trail of unchosen friends, careers and spurned stage sets. Lurking in the shadows of the most harmless, insignificant movement: the carnivorous slaying of an alternate option. Refusing to shed blood by not-choosing? Nice try, Soy boy. Not making a choice is also a choice. There is still blood on your hands and this wavering, passive aggressive style of blood-letting is just as crude and ineffective as the Force-a-holic.
3) The Vulnerability Ally
The answer we’re looking for often emerges from a courageous back-and-forth confession with a “vulnerability ally” (preferably someone who has no “skin in the game” because Mars in Cancer can make people unusually reactive to perceived security threats). The Vulnerability Ally knows that offensive and contradictory things may need to be said in order to dig below the layers of dead trajectories that are creating the stalemate.
This is us releasing toxic positivity (lower octave Libra). This is us letting truth decide the form of our relationships by tapping in to the co-arising Grand Water trine, involving Saturn, Mars and Venus. This is us being blessed with “courageously realistic love.”
Looking for a Vulnerability Ally? Let’s talk.
October 17th Full Moon in Aries:
The Hot Zone
From this point forward and for the next six months the world is besieged by a series of intensely combative Mars/Pluto oppositions (exact on Nov 3rd, Jan 7th and Apr 26th) along with a barrage of overlapping retrogrades:
1) Jupiter- Oct 9- Feb 4
2) Mercury- Nov 26- Dec 16
3) Mars retrograde Oct 4- May 2nd
4) Venus retrograde Mar 2- Apr 13
Remember now: this is a drunk Halloween.
The mask of personhood is too shmaltzy and absurd to incriminate anyone. The talking heads will continue to disappoint until we mischievously wave at the Merciful Witness peeking through the eye holes.
What ego calls “violence,” the soul calls “a militant command to meditate.”
Still rattled by the ghosts and goblins? No problem. Time to reach for your soul preps! Then, together, you can…
De-circumstance your gaze and fall back into unwavering wonder.
Meditation is just that simple.
Transits For October 2024
Oct 2nd- New Moon Solar Eclipse in Libra
Oct 9th- Jupiter Retrograde in Gemini
Oct 10th First Quarter Moon in Capricorn
Oct 11th- Pluto goes Direct in Capricorn
Oct 13th- Mercury enters Scorpio
Oct 17th- Full Moon in Aries
Oct 17th- Venus enters Sagittarius
Oct 22nd- Sun enters Scorpio
Oct 24th- Last Quarter Moon in Leo
*The Killer Koan is an excerpt from The Styles of Awakening Training
Hunter Reynolds- Oct 2024
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