turning wheel astrology

This may not come as a surprise to readers of my forecasts, but I am a magical thinker. I believe that thoughts, intentions, and energy vibrations can alter the very fabric of reality. We change the way we see/think/feel, and the world changes. Sounds simple, right?

But there’s a sneaky problem with this type of thinking. Taken too far, and it can make us think that we are in control. (That we are not in control is a truth that I take personally and often try to pretend doesn’t exist.)

There are certain moments when we do know the whole of reality all at once, and these are called "peak experiences." They usually last about a minute before we are propelled back to ordinary reality and the laundry.

These moments of "seeing the face of God/dess" are powerful reminders of our personal connection to the Divine and our responsibility to all of creation. However, there are times when our direct line to Spirit – whatever our personal persuasion – can make us believe that we are in control. And here’s the thing: WE ARE NOT IN CONTROL. (Did I mention that yet?)

Now here’s the other thing: Looks do matter. Or, how you look matters. Or what you look at. We can choose what we see, how we see it, and how we interpret what we are looking at.

So with this in mind, I want to point out that within weeks of Rick Perry announcing his presidential bid, a wildfire broke out in Texas, destroying almost 100 homes and 19,000 acres of land. Someone (not me) might be inclined to think, "Well obviously, this is God’s divine retribution. She/He/It thinks "President Perry" is a very bad idea, and so sent this terrible fire to warn us."

Okay, so I did think this, but not in earnest. It was a response to the oh-so-many times the religious rigid-class throws about these declarations of God’s Will anytime a natural disaster strikes and they need to make a point about how wrong their opponents are about something completely unrelated. The latest one is Michelle Bachmann’s comments on Hurricane Irene being God’s wake-up call to Washington, but the list can go on and on. (Remember the lesbians, feminists, pagans, etc. responsible for 9-11? Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson are always good for a laugh. And a cry.)

Maybe natural disasters are a kind of wake-up call from the Divine. But what kind? If it’s a punitive wake-up call - as many would have us believe - then we could use some better parents to look up to. But what if they’re a call to understand the unpredictability of life and wake up to the loving connections that help us through times of uncertainty? In this case, the problem with "It was God’s Will" declarations is that they tend to exclude the person saying it from any responsibility.

We each see the world in different ways, based on our natural inclinations, our upbringing, and the choices we’ve made in the past. And then somewhere along the way, we take our point of view and encase it in concrete, buttress it with archaic doctrine, call it belief or faith and then feel the need to impress it upon others. This has been just as true of science, as it has of religion, politics, culture, etc. We only look at what we want to see. We only see what we expect to see. Then when we see it, we declare AHA! Even magical, mystical-minded folks have fallen prey to this with dire predictions of 2012. (We don’t know what’s going to happen in 2012.) (Really, it’s happening right now anyway.)

In the past, any interruption of activity was a threat to our certainty. If we stopped doing what we were doing for just a moment, the fear would overtake us: We don’t know. We don’t know. The thing our civilization just might fear more than anything else: not being right. Moral righteousness is just one symptom of this fear, but it’s one that has been wielded with deadly precision over the centuries, fanning hatred against any "out" groups, creating blame for unpredictable occurrences, and inciting a kind of purifying violence to wipe away any threats to our certainty. (For a fantastic documentary that explores this theme, check out "Flight from Death: the Quest for Immortality.")

But the good news is this: What I am talking about is dying. That old way of blaming other people for our own problems, clinging to moral certainty, and seeing only what we expect to see in the world – it’s on its way out. We are tired of literalization. More and more, we are ready to declare "I don’t know," ready to admit that we don’t know everything. (I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong about this…)

What does this have to do with my Autumn Equinox astrological forecast? Well, it’s a perfect moment in time to crack open this gateway, to help us dissolve old barriers between right and wrong, good and evil, light and dark. Here we stand, at the point of the year when the day force and night force are balanced.

Astrologically speaking, we are pushing the veil aside, bravely looking at our own short-comings and beauty, our gifts and our trials. We are being asked to stand fully in our own power – which comes from our unique experiences of the world – and unite with others who are standing in theirs – which could be a power based on experiences very alien to us. The continuing square of Uranus and Pluto, as well as the Sun-Venus-Saturn stellium in Libra, will amplify this need to "hit bottom" in our search for Truth and come back up with a more complicated, liberating, empowering version of the universe.

The Sabian Symbol for the Autumn Equinox chart is a profound and playful image for us to hold. It is quite simply, "A Harem." Harem originally meant "a forbidden place; sacred, inviolable" referring to women’s quarters in a polygynous household. Writing about this symbol, Blaine Bovee offers that "Confinement and social insulation are two harem-like motifs that suggest uncertainty about moving away from a comfortable existence, out into the wide world."

To me, a harem also suggests a wide variety of experiences and possibilities cohabitating. In the language of the psyche, the forbidden quarters of multiple wives with children and attendants bustling about could be a refuge for the variety and complexity of the soul’s deepest needs. It could be a safe place to create one’s individuality, to develop one’s feminine side or anima, before moving out to confront the world at large.

So for now, let yourself take refuge in your own sort of "harem." What do you think, believe, feel to be true about the world. Perhaps, let loose these beliefs and let yourself feel what it’s like to live "in between."

All of humanity is at a crossroads. We are not what we were, but we are not yet what we will be either. We are in between seeing the world so literally that we think our thoughts actually create reality, and seeing the world as so alive and magical that we feel a sense of communion with all life that enables us to co-create an ever-changing present. Can you take responsibility for what you perceive, for how you act in the world? Are you ready to step out of the safety of who you believe yourself to be and let a new reality emerge?♥