|
As Sun Moves to Satabisha, ruled by Varuna and who can bring an essence of judgement to us, it is a good time to check in with our critic. The critic is a part of ourselves that feels neglected, small, under served. It acts out and badgers us because it is seeking attention. It has some need or want usually. If we can attend to the need and the want, we often can befriend our critic. Creating a relationship with the critic is essential for artists, creators and those wishing to have more harmonies connections to Self and others.
Mask work is a great way to address the critic "head on" quite literally. Mask work helps us address the layers of ourselves, our personalities and all that we encompass. On a large piece of paper, create a face drawing. This will be your "critic mask". When you think of your critic, what comes to you? What colors, textures, expressions arrive? Let your mask express your experience with your critic. Does your critic have a name? Does it have a message for you? Let your critic be heard. Let it voice it self and share it self with you. Harvesting. Ask your critic these questions: What do you need? What do you want from me? I am ___ I feel____ *Extra credit for taking your critic mask into a dance. Dance, play, sing with your critic. Then, return to the harvesting questions. What, if anything, has changed?
0 Comments
Moon is waning (Krishna Paksha) and passes through Virgo, Libra, Scorpio and into Sagittarius this week. Moon is debilitated in Scorpio the 21st to the 23rd.
For a jyotish Moon-centered approach to your day, follow my daily Moon Mind posts via Face Book. Retrograde Mercury moves back into Capricorn on 2.18. Read more about retrograde Mercury here. Sun transits Aquarius and moves into Satabisha nakshatra on 2.19 for the next two weeks. This nakshatra is ruled by Varuna and the planet Rahu. Varuna is judgemental and brings punishment to us if we are not in alignment with the Laws of Nature. He is said to have "a thousand eyes" and sees everything. It is especially important to mind ones health during this time; with Rahu giving drishti to the Sun as well (though Aquarius is considered Rahu's own sign), it will likely also be challenging to stay on a good routine and eat sattvic foods etc. as Rahu is notorious for pulling us off our "good routine" and our best efforts. Try hard though, as sickness that comes during Satabisha nakshatra transits can prove hard to manage and heal from. I do like to remind my Self during excessive Rahu periods, however, that the "chaos" has a purpose, that it brings a swing to the opposite side and can remind us at the least what "doesn't work" for us and what is not best practice. We then have the opportunity to swing back the other way for more balance later on. That said, Rahu brings worldly advancements as well; some of us may feel that benefit during this time. Look for increased connections through friends, partnerships, and communication in order for advancement. For increased awareness, utilize my jyotish inspired Body-centered Expressive Art Therapy articles. Each week I post a new Creative Engagement Activity to help inspire your own unique creative process, Self-tracking, and to enrich your cultivation of presence. This week we will be working with the critic. It is a big year with multiple {major} planetary changes. We will experience the changes of Jupiter, Rahu and Ketu, Saturn and unusual movements of Mars all in the next eleven months. Big changes are in store for each of us! Feeling uncertain about your action steps? What needs to change in order for growth? What kind of support you need? Schedule a yearly progression with me in order to make your New Year a truly transformational year. I am now booking sessions for late March. *Horoscopes are based on your Vedic rising sign. You can also check your Moon and Sun signs for further insight. Do the same with your Navamsa signs for further clarity. Do not use these horoscopes with your “Western Sign” as there is likely no correlation. These horoscopes are meant to be used as a broad overview of the current transits and obviously do not address the specifics of an individual’s unique chart. Aries: Avoid rushing into partnerships and contracts with others right now. Don't say yes right away; contemplate before answering. Watch your anger and angry words. You're likely trying to do too much and may feel overwhelm. Where can you ask for support and what details can be delegated? Taurus: When things don't feel like they are going your way, what is your response? A break down? Binging? Seeking out comforts through food or others? All of the above? These are the old habits to be watching for. Get underneath the cravings and ask your self what the real needs/wants are. Look to the past- especially childhood- for clues. Gemini: As the passions stir within, find a focal point to direct your energies. For you, the dreaming big is never the problem, it's the practical (and methodical) action steps that need to be applied in order for results. These slow steady steps really add up (over time). Take one this week. Cancer: Love and money. They make the world go round and you're not immune dear one. Notice what you're craving. What are your actual needs and wants, once you scrape out the gooey center. Get back to the basics. Leo: Courage and bravery require action steps, movement and momentum. Ask for support and encouragement from others. If you want things to change, create it for your Self. The arts are a brilliant tool for assisting you with this. Grab a paint brush. Dance. Sing. Move things. Virgo: Has the cat got your tongue? Turn it into a song and dance! Feeling the love? Share it before implosion. Prune out the unnecessary pieces of Self and life and get down to the basics. This is where you'll find your real nourishment. Libra: Forcing things is a waste of time. Right now, learning the art of allowing is best use of your efforts. In other words: surrender. Frustrations may be mounting within you. Use effective tools for letting off steam. I recommend art and creativity. Use it to go with the flow. Scorpio: Your focus is on all the endings in sight; which requires inevitable beginnings to emerge on the horizon in the near future. You are in attraction mode. Get what you want this time. No settling! Let the past inform your present, but don't return to it. Let the door slam on your way out. Sagittarius: Pluses and minuses. Gains and losses. Winners and losers. Friends and enemies. You're learning the practical application of "you win some, you lose some" and figuring out how to re-shuffle your care deck for a better game. Watch your team mates. Capricorn: Ready to charge forward? Listen to the warning signs and put your Self in neutral so you don't crash. Bad habits with love and money are possible right now. Slowing down is a worthy cause and will likely take most of your efforts. Speak your truth. Aquarius: The learning and growing curve right now is steep. As the dust settles a bit, turn your inner material into your offering. Write it all down and prepare to share, teach and advise. The best way to learn is to teach what you aren't an expert at yet. Pisces: The portal to the past is bringing out its beasts. Your self-esteem may be getting a hit or two, but use this as an awareness tool for new and different types of action. You are in a heavy transformation phase. Let the clouds come and do all the things cloudy days require. Trust the sun will return. Moon is waxing (Sukla Paksha) and transits Aquarius, Pisces, Aries and into Taurus this week. Moon is exalted on 12.14 and in its mulitrikona sign of Taurus 12.15 and 12.16.
Sun moves to Sagittarius on 12.15 at 14:35 CST and will be there until 1.14.14. Sun in Sagittarius receives drishti (gaze) from Saturn, Mars and Jupiter. There will be a desire to expand, yet contraction principles at play simultaneously. Frustrations can come if we push too hard, overextend ourselves or do not effectively re-calibrate our intentions. Things will likely take longer than you'd prefer to pan out, so adjust for this. Best use of your time and efforts will be through goal setting, making to-do lists and using methodical action steps. Set your goals and aim high, but work backwards effectively in order to get the results you'd like. Full Moon (Purnima) on 12.17 at 3:27 am CST. It will be sandhi in degrees and in Gemini at its fullest point and in Mrgashiras nakshatra. More on this next week. Utilize my jyoti/creative arts activities as a healing & awareness tool. This week's Jyoti/Expressive Art Therapy Creative Engagement Activity has us working with masking and unmasking. *Horoscopes are based on your Vedic rising sign. You can also check your Moon and Sun signs for further insight. Do the same with your Navamsa signs for further clarity. Do not use these horoscopes with your “Western Sign” as there is likely no correlation. These horoscopes are meant to be used as a broad overview of the current transits and obviously do not address the specifics of an individual’s unique chart. Aries: Over the last few weeks you've been experiencing a more inward and restful phase, experienced set backs and slow progress. The end of the week marks a cycle of uplift for you over the next few months as Sun moves through your 9th and 10th houses. Simultaneously you can expect clean up, restructuring and reorganization of your life and Self. It will take courageous action steps and doing things differently in order for maximum benefits. Take time for comforts and nourishment this week and find support. Taurus: Use this week for strong forward movement and structured action steps. Find comfort in wisdom and support through your relationships. The coming solar month as Sun transits through your 8th house, will bring a time of working through past "material", the need for more silence and inward reflection, meditation and some "down time". Expect some father issues to emerge, or re-emerge, and work with these effectively. When a thought comes to the mental body, you know it's rooted in the emotional and physical bodies and will need careful attention/intention to heal. Gemini: Get gains from career this week- it's all about who you know and how you treat them, which doesn't imply being a doormat FYI. Assume a take-charge mind set but expect there to be tests about your follow up and follow through. Relationships in general right now are requiring extra attention, demanding your focus, while providing both nurturing and excess effort which can feel tiresome. As Sun moves into your 7th house for the next solar month, it will feel as though people are expecting more from you. Maybe it's because you can do that, or maybe it's because you are needing a healthier habit of saying NO. Either way, it's up to you. Cancer: You are in a time period that calls for re-structuring how you offer your Self and your gifts to the world. This next month will bring ways to heal and be healed. Move forward with the intention of greater comfort and security, self sufficiency and self-reliance. The week can bring gains through knowledge and wisdom, career strategy, friends and wealth. Get goal focused and sharpen your focal points. Attend to your relationships, emotions and healthy boundaries. Leo: Career seems to be going through some recalibration. It will be through your bold responsiveness that things shift. Use this week for fine-tuning what effective action might look like and where adjustments need to be made. Ask for feedback. This next solar month puts Sun in your 5th house and brings opportunities for higher learning, actions that bring advancement, knowledge from children. It will require your methodical action though and some restructuring perhaps. Sometimes things turn out better than you'd imagined them! Trust this to be possible. Virgo: The heat in your head is creating a bit of steam and cloudiness. Are you having trouble seeing clearly? Creativity, relationships and education are pushing you to expand your visions of what is possible. It's important that you think in terms of expansion and dream big. However, it is essential you goal set, use a strategy of small victories and attend to your to-do lists in order to get results. As Sun moves to your 4th house this next solar month, some new confidence in your own Self reliance may set in. Doubt the doubt, leave it out. Libra: For you, working from the inside out is most important this week. Sun's transit into your 3rd house at the end of the week will bring you a new month of expansion within, and the courage to act on your abilities. For you, goal setting and structured plans of execution are paramount, as the tendency for flightiness and lack of follow through can get you into trouble, or at the least leave you without forward movement. Keep it silent this week and create a "goal collage board"- one that has all your desires on it and can help you visualize the future. Then write a solid "goal setting" plan of action. Scorpio: Get your ducks in a row and ask for support from workers, friends and eduction in order for advancement. Be clear and direct with needs, desires and expectations, then hope for the best. You can't get 100% every time. As Sun moves to your 2nd house for the coming month, getting comfort and financial stability from your career will be of the utmost importance. What needs to be done, what actions made, in order to bring more security and harmony into your work and offer a greater financial gain? It's time to really let go of the old fears, and step into something new. Remember, others want to help you thrive. Sagittarius: A desire and a willingness to shine is coming to you and through you this next solar month as Sun transits into your first house. Get your soul shine on and maximize this time of expansion in knowledge and wisdom. What skills can you upgrade and reform? This week may bring some new realizations and sparks of insight to set you in motion. Watch for overindulgence, especially this weekend. Capricorn: Creativity is on your mind and coursing through you, amping up your career and courage. This week illuminates your creative process, yet the coming solar month with Sun moving into your 12th house, will ask that you bring your attention inward. The transits will offer expansion, yet ask that you continue to return your momentum back to its origin, the silence within, for refinement. This will teach you to pause, before saying "YES" and to get very clear before using your precious energy on futile actions. Trust the process. Aquarius: Anger may be coming from out of no where. Frustrations from the past are asking for your attention. As Sun moves into your 11th house for this coming solar month, it will offer you some more time for sifting through these pieces. Siblings, father, and friends will bring awareness to you, don't disregard the insights. Right now, relationships continue to be your "guru" and will offer growth and fine tuning. Pay attention. This week, find time for comfort, enjoyment, Self growth and reflection. Spend your Sunday outdoors. Pisces: Learning from your communications with others is offering big opportunities to you for expanded awareness. What works for you, and what doesn't? Clear boundaries begin with clear languaging, but the root of this clarity is clarity within you. This week find a new, intelligent way of speaking; a refinement is possible. As Sun moves to your 10th house for the next solar month, you will be working with give/take, offer/receive more intimately. Self expression will be restructured and the throat chakra cleared of debris. Speak and listen. Find a connection between body, breath and your spoken word.  {When Fear Enters} Mask Exploration 1 ~By SJM As Sun changes signs late this week from Scorpio into Sagittarius (9th house activation and ruled by Jupiter) and the Moon gains power through its waxing phase (going from Kali to Lakshmi phases as well), we get a new opportunity to shine. This week can offer an increased relationship with Self, our Self expression, and what we present to others. Thus it can also be a useful time to navigate our mirrors and subpersonalities- what and who we turn on or up within us as we relate (and when we relate) to others. Mask work is therefor a great tool to help with this reflection process in order to cultivate a deeper relationship with the Self and all its dimensions.
Use the physical body as your entry point and start with gentle somatic movements. Explore spine and its relationship to the head, their intersections and fluidity. How does the spine support the head? Where is the head in relation to the spine? How do they work together as you move? When you feel your body exploration is complete, come to a pause, lying on your back, letting the ground underneath you, Support you. Take at least five minutes here in Sivasana. Come to your drawing pad. What color requires your attention? What does this color represent to you? Who is this color? Does it have a name or feeling for you? Let the image, the mask, arrive from the color you select and your relationship to it. Let its story come with these connections. Add colors if necessary or stick with one. Who is this mask and what message does it have for you? Complete these base line statements with your mask: I am____ I want____ I need____ As per this week's horoscopes:
This two week period between eclipses is a good time to "clean things up" internally and externally and will culminate on Diwali, the Vedic celebration of light where we honor goddess Maha Lakshmi. Think of the next few weeks as creating space for more light to enter, more wealth to flow, more creative abundance to course through you. Clear, clean, purge, and cut out all that is not working in your favor. This will be happening for you on a conscious and unconscious level as well as on multiple levels of existence. Surrender to the uprooting process. We have been creating masks over the last few weeks. First we created a warrior mask, then we "unmasked" this warrior. This week, we will create a dialogue between the two. Start with body movement- the pelvis is our body part focus right now (four planets transiting Libra which correlates to the 7th house, the house of pelvis). This is a place of creative potential, and also a very vulnerable part of the body. Vulnerabilities are invitations for strength and awareness to be realized. Start in a standing position and bring awareness to your alignment. Then begin to rock the pelvis back and forth, then side to side. Finally, make circles both to the left and to the right. Pause. Has there been any shift for you? Continue your spinal/pelvis exploration through standing poses, seated poses and by lying on your back. When you are ready, come to your drawing pad and place both of your masks in front of you. Begin with your warrior mask and ask it these questions: What do you need? What do you want? What is your purpose for me? What do you have to tell your unmasked self? Ask your "unmasked" warrior to respond: What do you need? What do you want? What is your purpose for me? What do you have to tell your masked self? Pause and breath. Wait for the emergent ["the third"] to arise. What conclusions can you draw from these two parts of your self? Are they each necessary? Why or why not? Do both have value and purpose for you? How can these two parts of your Self offer insights and awareness to your life process? If you would like to share your masks, please send them to me at [email protected] |