Is all this already written in the stars?
arts
I'm spending this month in Bali, which is guiding me to slow down after a busy year and indulge in all the healing that this magical island has to offer. In this month's moodletter, I wanted to talk about the moon, signs and choices.
If you haven't realised already, I'm a bit of an “emotions geek” (if there is such a thing). I'm fascinated by how we relate to our emotions, how we tune into those little whispers from within and what they are trying to tell us. But recently I've found myself being drawn to how astrology relates to our emotional beings.
As I mentioned last month, I attended a talk by Kirsty Gallagher at Soul Circus this Summer which sparked my enthusiasm for the subject. Kirsty specialises in lunar (moon) living and the cyclical quality of nature. She began her talk by saying (and I'm paraphrasing here) “many of us are very arrogant to think that we as humans are not affected by the moon, if the moon can move the oceans and changes the tides of the seas, then why can't they change us?”. I've come to agree with her. Emotions are flowing, free, water-like and we are, after all, made up of 60% water. As we learnt in the June moodletter where we focused on the sacral plexus chakra, the ‘feeling centre’ of our energetic being is associated with the water element. But how does the moon affect our emotions specifically?
Well, this week I went to see an Astrologer (so Bali right?!) - who read me my birth chart. If you don't know what a birth chart is, don't worry I didn't either. A birth chart is an astrological map of where the planets were in space at the moment, time and place you were born. And they can give you powerful (and fundamental) insights into who you are, your soul's purpose and what you are drawn towards. I learnt this week I'm a Sagittarius Rising and Gemini Sun. I grew up thinking Gemini was a ‘bad zodiac’. I think we often have a bad rep for the twin-like quality of this air sign, but this is the most misunderstood sign of the zodiac (so I've been told). This is a sign of communication, playfulness and questioning everything about life. Gemini has the power to see the world in all its duality, the shadows and the light, the good and the bad. Did you know that each zodiac also has an internal organ associated with it? The Gemini's organ is the LUNGS (!), for its two halves, and the air (it's an air sign) in which we breathe, which as you can imagine I was rather pleased about.
Sagittarius is quite the opposite. It's a fire sign, depicted as a centaur, half animal, half human with an arrow pointing up to the heavens. It is connected to both realms, natural beings connected to our earth mother, and cognitive humans looking up to the sky father, it is said that they look for the deeper meaning of life and of the universe. Sagittarius is a fire sign that roams, that explores in a direction (the arrow) and has the answers to the universe.
With this newfound understanding of these zodiacs and how I relate to them, you may say, this life for me was already written in the stars, or not, but either way, it's interesting, isn't it?
This week it's been a full moon - and not just any moon, but a Gemini/Sagittarius Full Moon. With every full moon, the sun is in one Zodiac sign beaming the light of that sign onto the moon, in another sign. The full moon can affect many of us deeply (because we are emotional beings), but when the moon is in any of the zodiacs in your chart it can amplify the effects of the moon tenfold. Needless to say, there's been lots of feelings this week…
I've learnt that this Gemini moon is about Choices. And it seems very timely as we come to the close of 2022 and look back on the year, that we get to choose how to move into the New Year. Often to move forward, we must first understand what has been. Choices come with an element of reflection. So how has this year been for you?
2022 has been big for me. Lots to be grateful for, new friends, new opportunities, and most of all qualifying as a breathwork facilitator which I'm immensely proud of and yet, part of me wonders, ok so what next? Where do I go from here? What am I moving towards?
This month in Bali was a way to give me some much-needed time and space to start to ask (Gemini) and answer (Sagittarius) what I want next. And I invite you to do the same as this is a time to celebrate you. What did you make come true this year? What did you do well? What can you be proud of? As the moon illuminates our life it can show us where we strayed and where we didn't allow ourselves to shine. So as we enter the final stages of this year, I invite you to put pen to paper and write from dual perspectives. First write from the side of your fear, uncertainty, and worries (also a Gemini trait, thanks universe) and then write from the side of optimism, hope and endless opportunities. Make it a dialogue between these two emotional perspectives. If there's something you are wanting to make happen next year but don't know how to get there - write it down, and have a conversation between your fear and your dreams. Imagine what you could do in 2023…
“I am in you and you are in me”
What I'm listening tothis month..
Songs from my Bali adventures…
Djuma Soundsystem, Fake Mood, Olith
(A joyous song from the Gemini Full Moon Ecstatic Dance in Ubud)
Xavier Rudd
(One of my favourite songs that was playing during a Clarity Breathwork Session here)
Maple Glider
(A special song about feeling love and letting the feeling go)
this month’s affirmations…
GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION
If there's one thing I learnt from my birth chart, it's that it gives us permission. Often we try and do what we think we ‘should’ be doing rather than what actually feels right for us. When I was planning the big white wedding years ago and wondering why it wasn't enough for me, the house by the sea, the marriage, the relationship, I thought there was something wrong with me - trying to fit in made me ill and in the end, I lost it all anyway. I've always had the desire to wander, to roam (like the Sagittarius centaur) but thought it wasn't the life I 'should' be leading. Now, knowing that this is part of my very nature I have permission to acknowledge and accept this part of who I am and live with it rather than against it. What part of your nature are you avoiding?
Last thoughts…
WE LIVE IN A RECIPROCAL UNIVERSE
Part of me didn't want to like Bali - I think my idea of Bali before coming here was that it was this spiritual place with lots of hype, full of Instagrammers and Westerners taking over. Well it is that, but with good reason - Mama Bali has a healing energy about her, she sucks you in and gives you want you need if you are willing to pay attention. And as for the Westerners, well we are everywhere here but in the last week I've been taking time to talk to Balinese locals, asking them what they think about people moving here and all the Western influence on this magical island. And so far I have been met with much enthusiasm, they want us here. They want to share their island with the world. Together we make it better, vibrant, and alive. We live in this reciprocal universe, where we help them and they help us.