Expansion & Our Shadow Side

We are currently knee deep in Eclipse Season, between the Lunar and Solar Eclipses. This is a time of great expansion,  or at least opportunity for expansion. It is important to remember that expansion can be highly unstable if it isn't balanced with the right amount of change. Growth is only as strong as our ability to let go of the past. Life is a combination of taking steps forward as we sweep up the dirt left in our wake. In order to grow we must be willing to acknowledge why we are growing... that is to say, what is so wrong about our present situation that we need to grow from? This requires us to address our shadow selves, the darker sides of our life that we tend to ignore or cover up with excuses. What are the problems that we continuously circle around and find excuses for? As karma continuously reminds us, if we fail to address these issues head on we will eventually come back to them. What problems do we keep coming back to? What unfortunate and frustrating situations seem to pop up time and time again? Maybe it's time to use a different formula to work through them. 

These are pivotal questions to be asking as a country right now, especially since the eclipse is working its way over North America specifically (coincidence? I think not). What dwells in the shadows of this country? There is a lot of light vs. dark lately and I think it is bringing to light a lot of traditions that are outdated and holding us back from being leaders within this world. This country prides itself on freedom to be who you are: freedom to speak, freedom to worship... but I am beginning to feel as though these "freedoms" are actually covering up and defending some very outdated ideas and institutions. When is the time to stand up and say that despite the desire for freedom, certain beliefs, institutions, holidays, customs, organizations are destructive towards the greater good of the country as a whole and it's path in a positive, forward direction? Should hatred and bigotry be a freedom or should it be addressed? How much can we grow as a country if we excuse this behavior as some sort of national right? Expansion is upon us, but if we aren't willing to let go of the past then we risk being torn apart.

This Eclipse season is being paired with Mercury Retrograde (again, I don't believe in coincidences).  Where most people view Mercury Retrograde with a fair amount of disdain, I tend to appreciate it. This is a time when we are being asked to slow down and readdress what has come to pass, making sure it is the right thing and we dealt with it appropriately, because again if we failed to honor our higher selves in the addressing of certain issues then karma is sure to bring it back to light at some point in the future. Mercury Retrograde is a karma check. If we are not speaking, acting and behaving in alignment with our ideals then we will be called out on it. Mercury retrograde calls us out on our empty smiles and bullshit "have a nice day"s. In my mind, this mercury retrograde cycle coupled with the two Eclipses is bringing the light and the dark together to remind us that our expansion is only as powerful and long lasting as our ability to deal with all of the dark details of our lives. The sooner we get over the fact that we are imperfect and we all have secrets in the closet, the sooner we can start working through them and figuring out what we need to learn and how we can realign these secrets or let them go. 

It is easy to get caught up in what is happening within this country right now. It is easy to point fingers and talk a big game of rights and wrongs, but we are a collective and the picture painted is the result of every piece of the puzzle. Each piece of the puzzle represents us individually. Belief systems can fight each other all they want but ultimately this changes nothing, because beliefs are always true for the beholders. The only way to change the picture we see is to change the depiction of our individual puzzle piece. As we expand through this season we have the opportunity to change the colors of our addition to this world. The sooner we are able to recolor our shadow side, the more vibrantly we can grow and shine. Trust in this process. It is so easy to point fingers of the shadows of the whole, but this shadow contains each and every one of our individual shadows. Trust that if we only look within, work within, change within that in the end everything will change. 
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Art by Sue Halstenberg
Much of the inspiration for this blog comes from Chani Nicholas' astrological work, which can be read here
Want to address your shadow side while realigning to your higher path and ideals? Then it's time for either a Higher Purpose Reading or a Resolution Reading. Email me and we can discuss the details.

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