Energy Astrology: December 2006 Column

Lassoing the Stars for a Better Life

By Cyndi Dale

The Power of Self

It’s fun to look to the stars to perceive what they hold for us. Will the flash of a comet’s tail bring us true love? Will seeing ourselves in the moon’s reflection reveal our attractiveness? We all want to know which particular or peculiar swish of planet, star, or eclipse assures happiness. Such is the basis of astrology, the thought that the energy of the heavens can better our lives on earth. (I’ll be fully convinced when said-stars start to do the housekeeping.)

In most Energy Astrology columns, I’ve analyzed the heavenly for insight as to what the stars are sending and how we can best respond. This month, the last of the year, I’m taking a different approach. This month, I’m going to emphasize the power of self in setting our own course along the starry path of life. Concentrating on what’s inside can affect what occurs outside. We don’t just have to wait around and see what’s coming (or falling) our way. Why not invite the heavens to bend to us, even to the point of lifting us to the skies? And we’ve the perfect opportunity to effect our own change in the winter solstice.

As Above, So Below

There is a saying encrypted on an ancient stone known as the Emerald Tablet. It reads, “As Above, So Below.” This is a spiritual truth that has become the basis for an emerging scientific observation, called the theory of holography. That which is true in the grander universe is true in the smaller particulars of the world, and vice versa. If gravity affects the planets, then it affects even a cockroach or firefly. If a microbe makes your mitochondria ill, then your entire self is ill. If the Creator’s thoughts established the Universe, then the thoughts in the Universe affect the Creator.

Even the most traditional and rigorous of scientists acknowledge that what happens in the skies affects the earth. Take the moon, for example. The waxing and waning of the moon affects all living beings, from animal to human to plant. Years ago, I met a shaman who was building a hut in Belize. He had finished the walls but was waiting until the full moon to cut the plants for the roof. As he explained, the shift in the moon and the tides quickened the flow of sap. If he cut the plants after the full moon, the roof lasted a good ten years less than if he harvested them when the sap was thicker. For that matter, even our blood flows different when the moon is full. It’s common knowledge that suicide rates rise, as do visits to hospital emergency rooms, when the moon is full. Who knows what else might happen when our blood flows faster?

Astrological buffs insist that cosmological occurrences do more than make the sap zippier or our hearts quicken. Not only do the constellations shift the physical world, but also create spiritual, emotional, and mental shifts. Each planet has a personality, each star a spiritual side, each moon-season a reason to be spotlighted. Each cosmological confluence creates some sort of observable change within all parts of us, not just our bodies. Even a traditional scientist would have to acknowledge the possibility that the planets can affect our feelings, thoughts, and prayers. The soft sides of the self are partially biochemical in nature. Think back to your most recent bite of deep, dark chocolate and tell me that it didn’t make you feel better! Modify the material environment and you initiate a chain reaction in your internal environment.

We all have the power to alter our external environments, at least to an extent. I have a good friend who is a Feng Shui master. She relates story after story about how changing your house changes your life. It might not make sense to the uninitiated, but try rearranging your furniture or better yet, throwing away all your junk. Guess what? Your brain will work different! The neurotransmitters in the brain are equivalent to the furniture in your front room! Who needs those age-old, cluttered thoughts, anyway? As my consultant friend reports, she’s seen people become employed after months of looking, happy after feeling despairing, and even married (or divorced) after years of waiting.

The opposite is true as well. Shift something inside of yourself, and your external life changes. Consider what happens when you’re depressed. When I’m in a bad mood, I look at the world through “bad mood glasses.” Everyone appears too skinny or fat, annoyingly bothersome, altogether frustrating, and rather ridiculous. Of course, I’m treating others as if they are mirrors of my inner being, not a good ploy in relationship management. Once my mood clears, it’s amazing how nice others “suddenly” become!

We employ the same mirroring relationship with the stars that we do with our moods. By altering, owning, or becoming something new inside of ourselves, we alter our relationship with the cosmos. If we decide to refresh our appearance, the stars will clothe us in garments of light. If we decide to become abundant, the planets of prosperity will lend support. If you seek adventure, the heavens will flood you with fun. If you think better thoughts about the Creator – even to the point of feeling loved, the Creator can inspire you to dimensions so high, you can’t even imagine.

What’s so special that December 2006 warrants this diatribe? The winter solstice, that’s what.

The Winter Solstice: Claiming Your Desires

One of my favorite songs is Bing Crosby’s version of “Winter Wonderland.” The best of winter invigorates and rejuvenates, inviting us to see the world as a wonderland.

Winter is also a perfect time for introspection. In many parts of the world, the greenery is covered with a blanket of ice and cold. Rather than risk our lives outside, we light a fire and remain inside. No matter where we live in the world, this is the nature of winter, the call to stoke our internal fires and stare into the flames.

The winter solstice reflects this call for internality and the need for warming ourselves, perhaps not with a literal fire, but in the flame of our own spirit. A solstice occurs when the sun is at its greatest distance from the equator. The word actually combines the Latin term for sun, “sol,” with the word for standing still, or “sistere.” At the winter solstice, December 21^st, the sun apparently stands still in its decline, meaning, we stop losing daylight and begin to get longer days. We also stand still, longing to release the shadows and open to more light.

Most religions ascribe meaning to the winter solstice, tracking back into pre-historic times. Winter was hard for northern aboriginals. As the sun sank lower, so did their spirits. The renewal of longer days meant that the warm season would eventually return, as would food and ease. Interestingly, most celebrations probably fell onto December 24^th or 25^th, after the days had brightened noticeably.

Stone markers have been found worldwide marking our ancestor’s perception of the winter solstice. Granite blocks and stone circles reflecting the solstice have been found in Brazil and other Central and South American countries and across Europe and Asia. Cross-cultural stories enwrap the date and themes of the solstice. In ancient Egypt, we have Osiris, who died and was entombed on December 21^st, later to be reborn. In ancient Greek, women ate the harvest god Dionysus on the solstice. Later, he would return as an infant. In Zoroastrianism, the state religion that preceded Islam in Iran, people celebrate the solstice by gathering at home to tell stories and read poetry, all to mark the rebirth of the sun. Ancient Rome revered the god Saturn during solstice time, while Christianity attributes Jesus’ birth to a near-solstice date, even though he was probably born in June or the fall.

Our primordial selves are attuned to Nature, and one of the most important shifts occurs in the winter solstice, when we are prompted to finish what fall started -- the process of release, death, and endings. We can only look forward to what’s new if we have released that which is old.

Are you ready to let go of old thoughts, unhealthy perceptions, poor reasoning, bad moods, and more importantly, attitudes like self-hatred? What we hold dear inside of ourselves appears in front of ourselves. The more strife inside of us, the more strife we create in the world – all the way to the stars, which like mirrors energetically reflect what we are sending, back down to earth. If through the solstice we could decide for peace, for hope, for love, think of what the stars could then echo to all Humankind, to all of the earth.

I love one of this season’s sayings more than any other. “Peace on Earth, Goodwill toward Hu/man.” The solstice provides opportunity to open the peace latent inside each of us, and so contribute to our personal well being. The idea of “As Above, So Below,” reflects the effectiveness of sharing this peace. We can each be a star in our own lives – and summon the dreams of the stars closer to earth for all.

The Dance of December

Here are ways to dance the dance of December, so as to captivate the energy of the skies for yourself and others.

1. Let fall “fall away.” The darkening of days continues to the solstice. Dark enhances the light; it cannot contain or eliminate it. The first three weeks of December, in that they continually darken, invite you to spiral deeper into any mysteries that have caused you worry or stress, for these are really diamonds in the rough. Where is the darkness in your soul? Where are your shadows, the attributes, feelings, and thoughts that embarrass you? Uncover these and you discover your disowned selves. Listen to these inner selves, and you will find your hidden needs, gifts, and dreams. Ultimately, by probing your inner self, you unearth your heart’s desires. Why would we ever so furtively conceal our innermost desires? Well, think back. How much support did YOU get for having them – for being yourself, for that matter – during childhood or beyond??? What doesn’t come to light festers in the dark. Don’t be afraid of who you really are, no matter how light – or dark – parts of you appear to be. Diamonds begin as charcoal.
2. List your heart’s desires. Lists, lists, lists. Everyone tells you to make lists. Well, I am doing the same. This list, however, should be joyful and exciting. Write down what you really want out of – and for – your life. Write down the desires revealed through your searching, and count them as good.
3. Let go. If you’re going to “go after” your true desires, you have to make room for them. Make a list of these factors, goals, attitudes, and beliefs that have kept you from living as your true self. The dreams that empowered us when we were twelve might not fit any more than the clothes we wore at that age. The relationship that stirred our sexuality might now reflect our earlier immaturity, and have to go. The self-image that suited us even a year ago might no longer be accurate. Decide that the due-date for letting go will correlate with the darkest night of the year.
4. Open the secret self/ves. On or around December 21^st, decide it’s time to REALLY be done with the past – and to embrace what you really need, and are.
5. Celebrate your emergence. The word, “celebrate” means to show happiness for something good that has happened – or will happen. Why not assume the best by celebrating the solstice – and your own emergence into the future you desire?
6. Invite the stars. However you celebrate, remember to invite the stars. They love to dance in the moonlight! Toward this end, get a good astrology book and look up descriptions of the planets, moon phases, or other cosmological bodies. Instead of waiting for particular energies to grab you, reach out and pick a star to ride! Which constellations emanate the energies supportive of your new self? Which would refresh, renew, sustain? These are physical bodies that enable change in your physical body, as well as your emotions, beliefs, and soul. Decide which energies can best help you at this phase in your life, and through the ultimate stargazer – and star-maker, that which most of us call God, ask to be bonded and assisted by the stars that can lift you into your life.
7. Decide to move forward with faith. I have a friend from the Czech Republic who doesn’t ever seem to fear anything. Shares Jan, “I don’t really try and “find my way” through life, rather I find myself “on the way.” What do you want to find on your way? WHO do you want to find on the way – which “you,” that is? This “who” is already within you. Seek it inside, and that outside of you will help you shine.

A special note for this season:

As a Christian, I celebrate the season through acknowledging the meaning of Christ’s birth. As a human being, I consider the winter solstice to reflect the truth that we are all presented the opportunity to release and renew through this season. No matter our religion, ethnicity, background, or life issues, this is the season for putting aside differences and holding hands and hearts; for finding the self within that is already at peace and for sharing him or her with others. My hope is that we all acknowledge the beauty and goodness of our inner selves and that next year finds us all able to live this truth – and to see it in others. Blessings in this time, Cyndi