In this installment I will focus on the synthesis that
arises from the Virgo-Pisces axis, what I like to call
the axis of spirit. This energetic flow is about universal
love (Pisces) through service to others (Virgo) and the
cultivation of imagination (Pisces) through utter devotion
to your craft (Virgo).
Can
you invite the spirit of life into your daily routine
so that every act becomes holy? That’s what Virgo
and Pisces ask wherever they flow into your birth chart.
It’s also what their planets ask, Jupiter and Mercury
according to classic astrology and Neptune and Chiron according
to the modern additions.
Where Virgo asks us to analyze life and break the journey
into manageable steps, Pisces asks us to remember the
unity of life that brings all the separate wholes together.
Pisces yearns for us to experience the unified field
as a meaningful whole that unites everything.
As a poetic astrologer I often use poetry to illuminate
certain lessons that are shown in the birth chart through
planetary configurations at birth and/or current chart
evolutions indicated by the flow of transits, progressions,
and solar arcs. I usually open my interpretations with
a brief overview of the parts of astrology followed by
a poem to get the archetypal juices flowing.
To me astrology is an artistic language that invites the
client to argue for their possibilities. To get to those
possibilities I use the strategic intellect (Virgo) to
analyze chart factors and the mythic imagination (Pisces)
to bring it all together into ideas. The following poem
that I wrote on the beach in Key West illustrates the purpose
of astrology as a tool for awakening your potential.
Engaging the Infinite
Above the whirling sea, stars await your return
mirrored across the deep span stretching within.
The curving space between here and there is endless
yet it feels like you’ve been abandoned in the emptiness.
You can never stop the flow of dark imagery
coursing through your heart.
Those chambers of guilt and fear always struggle
to contain the tingling fire dancing as your soul.
It hurts to be free. It hurts to be free.
But when you step into your passion,
the whole universe opens within and
others may wander with black holes for hearts
devouring your visions with their fears.
Tell me. Tell me. How old are you?
That’s not your age. It’s simply the number
of orbits you’ve made around this star.
You’ve made many orbits around other stars.
Like a timeless electron zipping around
an atomic nucleus, you are infinite.
And if you argue for your limitations
you get to keep them.
But if you argue for your possibilities
you get to create them!
So stand still. Gaze at the sky.
Sense the awe and reverence rising inside,
and know that your being, your aliveness
is an extension of eternity.
Paths of Spirit
In all our spiritual traditions the mysterious void gets
misunderstood. The eastern thinkers saw the void as the
affirmation of life and the source of consciousness, giving
it the premier status as the 5th element that binds life
together. The word void conjures up images of nothingness,
emptiness, a vacuum where nothing we know of could possibly
exist. Even the illusions of the imagination are unable
to penetrate this secret repository of life. To walk the
spiritual path you have to create a way or ritual of entering
this luscious emptiness of the creative void. As being
crafted for love, the void is the pure affirmation of wholeness.
Above the whirling sea, stars await your return
mirrored across the deep span stretching within you.
The curving space between here and there is endless
yet it feels like you’ve been abandoned in the emptiness.
The void is the circle whose circumference is unlimited
and whose center is nowhere and everywhere, simultaneously.
It is the holy silence where all polarities are dissolved
into ultimate unity, where good and evil melt away and
zero equals infinity. From nothing comes unification, the
principle of oneness, and the principle of Pisces. Just
as in mathematics, when you raise zero to the power of
zero, you get one.
Jesus stressed that the most important precept was that
God is One, one unified being extending through creation
and containing creation. The pure void is the source of
being and the destination of non-being, where life equals
death, alpha equals omega, the beginning is the end. It
simply is what it is. It is aware of itself and life is
in it as it dwells in life. From this eternal perspective
it is creative. Therefore we call it creator.
Creativity as Religion
To
be unified with the creator we too must be creative.
The Hindu’s call creation Lela, God’s Play.
What a definition of the purpose of life? Creativity
and playful awareness are paths to the realization of
the source
of consciousness. Every moment it lives and dies in the
depths of your being. It is the source of all illumination
and vision, yet blacker and more hidden and invisible
than the darkest night of the soul.
To seek it in an actual location is to lose it. To limit
it to concepts of space and time is not to grasp it.
The only thing you can do is to realize it pure and simple,
the direct experience of eternal being in your heart.
The
Japanese call this awakening flash Satori, which means
enlightenment. The flashes of Satori insight are simply
eternal being’s awareness of itself in you.
To contemplate the creative void is the highest activity.
Yet it is a useless endeavor if you think you are separate
from it. To pray is to commune with eternity allowing it
to penetrate your being. Satori is the sudden rediscovery
of the creative void, the formless form, the imageless
image, the soundless sound. It is a flashing moment when
you step into the hub of the wheel of consciousness and
see all the spokes of life converging.
You can never stop the flow of dark imagery
coursing through your heart.
Those chambers of guilt and fear always struggle
to contain the tingling fire dancing as your soul.
Coping With Life
By tuning into the source of life you become fertile
and creative. You begin nurturing your dreams,
your visions,
spiritual longings, and your connection to Source.
In Dan Millman’s book "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" Socrates
says to him, "Life is not about suffering. It’s
just that you’ll suffer it until you learn to let
go of your mind’s attachment to the outcome and
just go for the ride freely, no matter what happens."
Imagine if you could live in that kind of unconditional
state of love with the universe, even when it needs to
crush you to teach you a lesson. And you still love it,
no matter what happens. You love it even more and when
the dust settles you rise from the ashes experiencing
rebirth. That tough love side of life is epitomized
by the Virgo
sacred servant archetype. We all have to play that humble
role at some point.
Virgo is about devotion, technical mastery of skills,
and effort. Wherever this sign is flowing into your chart,
that’s where you are distributing life, evolving
structures, and reflecting nature. Pisces is about swimming
in the stream of cosmic love that unites the two poles
of consciousness. Wherever this sign is flowing into your
chart, that’s where you need to seek the soul, penetrate
imagination, and reflect the essences of your visions to
the world.
I leave you with this final poem about bringing unity
into your heart in such a world that tries to divide
you and
make you feel isolated.
The Unified Heart
Through the sacred heart of eternity
life burns with love.
It is there in that endless ocean
where compassion is born
From this piercing empathy
forgiveness flows.
Its deep sapphire current
opens us to a new life of joy.
You can forget your fears in the raw ecstasy
and swim through waves of passion.
They are the source of dreams
and the essence underlying every simple thing.
In this unity of spirit
we must live to love one another
without letting our despair prevail.
Only the light of love can teach us
to overcome brokenness.
Then we can offer life a cup
of nourishing water from the
pure wake of our discovery.
As people drink from our glistening springs
we finally arrive at the shores
of untainted visions.
And the dark hollow of shattered hearts
is healed at last.
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