Consider the current astrology for a moment—Mercury retrograde, one eclipse just passed and another on the horizon, and the Mars-Pholus-Ixion conjunction earlier this week (free registration necessary to view that link).
This is a thick brew, which is having a diversity of expressions—whether feeling mired, frustrated, volatile or like change is absolutely necessary but wondering how, exactly, to go about it.
I think that for the duration of Mercury retrograde (which ends October 25), the message of the planets is to go deeper. We are in a time to understand the need for change and to prepare for change, rather than to plunge ahead.
This takes patience, but something more. What is necessary is going deep. And in addition, going closer to the root of resistance to change. What is not often said is that improvement is change, and that to improve our lives it's necessary to let go of resistance to change.
It's easy to look out at the world and say, "Oh, that has to change! Then the world will get better. It could be so simple." Now for a reality check, focus closer to home and consider the challenges you face when you strive to make any minor changes or improvements at all, or if you want to shift even the simplest pattern.
Consider how, when the local deli moves the magazine rack, someone might say, "I don't handle change so well." Clearly if we want improvement, we're going to need to get accustomed to change—and one change leads to another.
One thing I don't talk about much is the Age of Aquarius. It takes a little energy to cut through the misunderstanding about what this is. It is not, unfortunately, a groovy era with a fantastic bass line going all the time.
We are clearly entering the Age of Aquarius based on two key pieces of evidence: one is the overwhelming presence of technology—to which we are intermingled with something verging on a clairvoyant blood-bond. This situation has crept up on us, and it's going largely unnoticed as people queue up for the iPhone 6.
The other is how everything we touch seems to crystallize into a pattern that's nearly impossible to change—one's schedule, for example.
Think of how challenging it is to schedule lunch with two other people. You practically need a computer program to handle all the variables, and come up with the correct answer of 10:30 pm on June 31, 2015.
So as we swim around in the thick brew of our current weather pattern, remember the background. Remember the way that patterns settle in, and what it takes to get out of them (usually a shock, jolt, mishap or disaster—that is, something involuntary). Consider whether that's really progress, or what Patric Walker used to call "enforced changes."
It’s something to think about.
