Energy Astrology: February 2006 Column

Lassoing the Stars for a Better Life

By Cyndi Dale

The Shortest Month, A Long Reach

Sometimes February gets a bad rap, stuck between the joy of the January New Year and a March promise of spring. For a short month, February promises to have a long effect.

A heavenly event at the end of January set the stage for a February invitation. At the end of January, Jupiter formed a testing square with Neptune. We were collectively thrown into a maelstrom of confusion and questioning, as the end result was a blurring between fantasy and reality, fiction and truth, desire and actuality. We enter February on the heels of engaging our discernment, and continue this stride all the way to February 19^th when Saturn in Leo goes into opposition with Chiron, the wounded healer. It’s now time to complete healing on the deepest parts of our soul, having methodically and maybe painfully sorted the differences between real and not real. What is the spiritual key for the month? Humility. With Humility, we face sometime painful truths. Some people fall from the pedestal, others are suddenly regarded with more admiration. Ultimately, Chiron asks us to see the truths of ourselves, with love and forgiveness. Modesty is sometimes the very key to scaling the heights of success, and assures that we won’t fall once we get to the top.

The Spiritual Backdrop

Humility is one of the least understood of all the spiritual values. Other words for humility include modesty or meekness, but perhaps it’s easiest to comprehend the real meaning of humility by looking at its antonym, which is arrogance.

Arrogance is disdain for others, as if in believing that they are less important than you are. An arrogant person treats others with contempt or prejudice. We are all arrogant at times. I still remember teasing another girl on the playground when I was only six-years-old because she wore different clothes than I did. I felt mean and I knew what I was doing was wrong, but my behavior helped me feel like I “fit in” with the cool girls of the class, who had singled Lisa out for ridicule. A few years later I found out that Lisa could have turned the tables at any time. She was descended from Prussian royalty!

To be humble rather than arrogant often means suspending judgment about someone else’s differences, appearances, lifestyle, habits, or even needs until you understand them better. Arrogance often strikes when we perceive a difference between ourselves and someone else; or between someone else and the group norm. Like everyone, I tend toward feeling smug or triumphant if I follow the norm and someone else doesn’t. The irony is that the most successful people are those who break away from the pack and strike out on their own!

A few years ago I went to a high school reunion. There was a man there who had been the object of a great deal of teasing all the way through school. He thought differently than others. No one had thought he would or could make something of himself; after all, he hadn’t been one of the bright and popular! He owned a string of retail establishments that had just gone public.

We’ve all been humiliated by other people. Sometimes this sort of taunting, ignoring, or shaming precedes a breakthrough, occurring just before someone takes notice of us and says, “Neat!” One of the major lessons of humility is to allow others their arrogance. Not only shouldn’t we take it personally, but also we should see it as a compliment! It means that we create confusion ­ we stand out in a crowd ­ we are potentially onto something that could take us to the stars.

My own successes chiefly fall in the areas that have created the most discord and grief in my family system. I have authored several books on spiritual energy. A few years ago, I was ignored at a family gathering when I attempted to explain what I did. An entire passel of relatives shifted to the opposite side of a sun deck when my cousin’s parents asked about my work. Only these two lovely and obviously “out of the box” individuals stayed around to listen to me talk about my passions.

Living in humility is about finding a balance between self-appreciation and gratefulness. It takes a lot of patients, tenacity, and guts to separate from the crowd (and our own fears) and follow our dreams. No one becomes successful, however, without the help of other people, whether they dwell in the past or the present. I look back and am ever grateful for words of advice from both my parents, a special sixth grade teacher, a group of high school friends, a college professor…I look around and know I couldn’t accomplish any of my goals without the input or support of my current friends. And none of us could create the miracles that pepper our past; those provided from Above.

As Chiron enters February, let’s prepare ourselves to humbly appreciate the people we have known, including those who have challenged or even seemingly threatened our self-esteem; as well as all the people who have served as cheerleaders. Next send up a prayer of thanks for being loved enough to have been guided and protected thus far, for we all have far to go. As Robert Frost said, we have miles to go before we sleep. And this is a good thing!

The Healing Powers of Humility

Chiron, known as the Wounded Healer, was discovered in 1977 and named after the Greek mythological centaur known for his healing powers. Currently, Chiron is in Aquarius, which represents the popular people and everyday reality. In February, Saturn in Leo enters into an opposition to Chiron. Saturn signifies master or leadership energy. Hence we have a seeming battle between oppressive world leaders and the people, or more mundanely, the arrogant and still-developing parts of ourselves. The only way to connect the “have” and the “have-nots” in the world is to do the same within us. Humility is the bridge.

We all bear the wounds of the world. I remember my dad returning from work and drinking his martinis in a state of depression and anger. If I asked him to play with me, he would snap. I perceived that he was too adult and important to engage with a mere child, as I was constantly told by my mother to leave him alone. “Daddy has a hard job,” she would say.

At one level, this type of behavior rings with arrogance. The truth is, my father was truly depressed. He hated his life and his job and felt powerless. People act arrogant, mean, special, or more important than others when, trapped in their own worlds, they seek ways to avoid their inner truths in order to sustain a “necessary reality.” Chiron helps us break out of our OWN self-, culturally-, gender-, or otherwise-imposed traps so we can analyze what is working or not, and make changes accordingly. It invites us to listen to the “other” parts of ourselves, perhaps the childlike aspects that want to play, laugh, sing, be creative, or sometimes just be quiet.

I believe that if my father had let down his guard and played, he might have discovered the inspiration needed to have altered his reality. There’s nothing like a good game of hopscotch to get your mind off a negative boss. How about a jigsaw puzzle to muzzle those “can’ts” and to start looking for “could’s.” February’s theme presents the opportunity to listen to the usually overlooked inner selves; to stop ignoring the inner voices; and to start engaging the inner children.

As we humbly converse with our own inner aspects, we might find it easier to listen to the people around us that we’ve previously been ignoring. How long has it been since we’ve asked our children what they would like to do today? What would they like for dinner? How about our parents? Our friends? You might even go another bold and daring step, and ask what they might want of you—or for you! None of us have figured out how to really live the lives that we want, because all too often, we live out the voices that tell us what we “should” be instead of what we “could” be.

Let’s embrace the teachings of Chiron this month, the wise self inside who has learned from his or her past. Your own Chiron self knows what mistakes he or she has made and without shame, has gained wisdom for the pain. Your Chiron-self has been hurt and beaten up by others, but has reached a level of understanding and even compassion for the seeming-abuser. Your Chiron-self is aware of his or her own arrogance, but is willing to reach inside and pull forth the innocent self, who is always eager to begin anew and start over. The path of Humility is perhaps the most endearing and powerful path to healing that there is.

Hailing Humility: Techniques for Humble Healing

How can you use the gentle balm of Humility for healing purposes? Here are a few exercises that might encourage your healing.

1. Forgiveness of Others. Think of the person who has humiliated you the most. Remember one of the incidences, if there are several. Recall what occurred and how you felt, pretending that you are repeating the experience in slow motion. Feel every feeling and remember every thought. Now ask yourself how this experience still affects you today. After thoroughly analyzing its effects on you, return to the scene and ask the Divine to help you switch places. Go through the events as if you were the perpetrator. What did he or she feel like? Experience? What was happening deep inside of this person’s soul? How has the experience of being abusive shaped or altered this person? Once you feel complete with this analysis, meditate for a moment. What have you learned? What is the path of forgiveness ­ of releasing this experience into the past? 
2. Play Like a Child. Most of us are guilty of ignoring our own inner children, the representatives of the “popular masses” signified by Aquarius. For one week upon arising, think like a child. Ask yourself what is the single most important activity to conduct that day. In your adult mind, figure out how you can achieve that goal, if not in the requested form, at least in an acceptably modified form. At the end of the day, review what happened and ask yourself how following this desire changed your attitude, behavior, or life that day.
3. Express Your Arrogance. Sometime we have to own our judgments to release them. Either out loud or on paper, write down everything you are angry about, for anger is the essence of arrogance. We become arrogant where we are angry. We might be angry with the oddball in the office because he or she is bold enough to be creative, and we are not. We might be angry with an expressive child because he or she is able to act so freely, whereas we don’t think we should. After conveying all your angers, look for common themes. What is your anger telling you? What do you need to do to be happier?