Venus Square Saturn

I had to laugh this week when one of my Facebook friends asked me whether or not there “was a positive week in my world.” It made me really sit back and reflect on how much challenging energy we have had this year. Ironically, the astrology for 2011 is much more intense than the astrology for 2012 – despite what people predict about the Mayan calendar. Batten down the hatches and put on your seat belts, the next several weeks are going to be very intense with the kabbalistic Negative Three weeks and Mercury Retrograde in the very near future. Sigh!

I think the most important question for us to ponder is what can we learn from these intensive energies? According to Kabbalah, the planetary activities are messages from the Light, and provide us with information on how to navigate our lives through “intensive periods”. Let’s face it with global warming, political gridlock, people forgetting about human dignity, and numerous wars that include the loss of human life, we begin to understand why the energies are so intense? Are we really learning the lesson or are we simply missing the point? We tend to see the problems of the world as ‘out there’ and anesthetize ourselves against any personal contribution or responsibility.

On Monday evening, the ‘Negative Three Weeks’ begin. Why are these three weeks negative? Kabbalistically, we are taught that during the last part of the sign of Cancer, and the beginning of the sign of Leo that the energies are no longer diluted (The Sun and Moon rulers of Cancer and Leo rule no other signs, so their energies are not distributed between two sources; whereas all the other planets rule two signs) and we get a straight shot of light without a filter from the universe. Kabbalists believe that during this period the spiritual ozone layer is removed, and as a result we are exposed to excessive amounts of Light that we spiritually cannot handle.

In essence, we have to create our own “ozone” layer, which I will reveal after the astrology…

The Astrology:

This week we have very little astrological activity. There are no major planetary aspects, and the only sign change is the Sun moving out of Cancer and into Leo. For those of you who have read my Cosmic Weather Forecast in the past, you know I am very suspicious about weeks that have no aspects. Why? The energy seems to enter into a stagnation period. This amplifies the last aspect which seems to take hold and linger without a shift of energy for a long period of time.

The last significant astrology aspect (minus the Full Moon) was Venus in Cancer square Saturn in Libra. I stated the following about Venus square Saturn last week:

“In my experience as an astrologer this is one of the most difficult aspects – especially for those that are more emotionally sensitive to the outer world. Venus is our ability to relate and enjoy our connections with others. When Venus becomes afflicted by Saturn, Saturn exposes Venus’ emotional vulnerability and we often close down emotionally. In many cases, we begin to isolate and disengage from our social circles. It is necessary when Venus is square Saturn for us to develop self-confidence and a feeling of personal self-worth. “

This remains true for the upcoming week as well.

On Saturday, the Sun will move out of watery and emotional Cancer and into its own sign of Leo. Whenever the Sun is in Leo, we need to find an area of our life where we can shine. This could be in career, relationships, or outside activities, yet there is a need for us to discover creative outlets where we can truly express ourselves and our uniqueness. Leo is a dynamic sign that reveals our own personal power. We can use this energy to find our own sense of personal destiny, which will help relieve the energy of the ongoing Venus – Saturn square.

Your Cosmic Weather Forecast:

This week the kabbalistic portion is called Matot (Tribes). This is a rather peculiar portion because it ALWAYS appears during the Negative Three Weeks. In Kabbalah, nothing happens by accident so there is a reason why this portion occurs during this time period. Why? Matot can give us needed information on how to create our own “spiritual ozone” layer to shield us from the intense energies of this period.

In this portion, there is a story where God instructs Moses to avenge the Israelites (code for those that believe in mind over matter) of the Midianites. God does not instruct Moses to send the best warriors, yet the most spiritually elevated members of the tribe. Why? This particular war against the Midianites was not a physical war, yet a spiritual one. The sages teach us that the Midianites never stopped provoking and instigating the Israelites. In fact, the Midianites went to other nations and stirred them up to attack the Israelites as well.

So, who are the Midianites? According to the Zohar, the Midianites are a code for “awakened negativity inside and outside of us”. They are the self-defeating behaviors (and we all have them) that continuously appear in our lives over and over. The Midianites are the parts of ourselves that we have problems letting go of despite the amount of chaos they create. They are a tricky lot! They will appear inside of you, but they also appear as people around us that ‘awaken’ our particular self-defeating behaviors as well. Further, the Midianites are prone to using black magic. In Kabbalah, black magic is different than what black magic is considered in the pagan tradition. Black magic is used to confuse us so we are not able to see the truth, and to distort circumstances so they appear in fragmented forms and guises.

This week (and the two weeks after), we begin a process of needing to keep our spiritual guard up. We need to be very aware of the energies (and the people) around us, and try not to fall into our own self-defeating behaviors. It will not be easy – as spiritual warfare is not easy. We may feel reactive, depressed, dramatic, angry, bitter, and attacked; however it is necessary for us to realize that it is an illusion. An attempt to throw us off our guard!

The portion Matot is about vulnerability, and the energies that arise when we do feel vulnerable. We can choose either to combat these energies, or we can choose to give in to them. According to the Kabbalistic sages, the most efficient way of battling this energy is for us to mourn how our self-defeating behaviors have limited our relationships, personal and spiritual growth. We need to be aware of how our self-defeating behaviors have brought circumstances into our lives that have caused pain and suffering – not only for ourselves, but for others. When we get to the point that we can truly mourn and release tears over our actions are we able to conquer our behaviors.

Tarot Tune-Up:

Get out your tarot or oracle decks. Ask the cards, “What can I do to let go of my self-defeating behaviors and remove chaos from my life?” Draw one card from the deck. Let me know what you pulled!

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I am convinced that I was a scribe of the Torah in a past life. Since I was a boy in high school, I have been a perfectionist when it came to writing things down. Whether this was class notes, letters, or reports everything had to be perfect – and I really did not like to use white out. I wrote and rewrote everything until it was just right. Yeah, I know a little obsessive compulsive.

At this point, I am sure you are wondering what this has to do with being a scribe of the Torah. Well, the scribes of the Torah had to write everything down to perfection. This was an extremely tedious task that took 1-3 years to complete. Every single spot, every single letter, every single nuance had to be precise and perfect. If it was not, then the scroll was considered invalid, and had to be rewritten. Could you imagine, getting halfway through a scroll and have to throw it out and start all over again because of a tiny little error? No correction tape, no spell check, no word processing programs to fix it!

Crazy to think about isn’t it?

In the portion of Pinchas, there is an exception to this rule. There is a cracked letter in the Torah scroll, and it is the only place in the whole Torah where this occurs. What would be the purpose for this? The secret lies within one of the Major Arcana cards of the Tarot! But, as always you will have to wait…

The Astrology:

I don’t know about you, but after a month and a half of nonstop aspects including 3 eclipses, I am sighing with relief with the lack of astrological aspects. We all need a cosmic break! This week we have only two astrological aspects (although there is a Full Moon in Capricorn this week, which puts the focuses on business affairs and the public eye) – Mercury sextile Mars and Venus square Saturn.

On Monday, Mercury in Leo will sextile Mars in Gemini. This is a great aspect if you need to communicate ideas, write, or for sales activities. Our ability to observe the obvious is at an all-time high at this time. Mars gives Mercury the ability to convince anybody of anything, and the tenacity to get the job done. Under a hard aspect, (square or opposition) Mars revving up Mercury could lead to knee jerk reactions to outer stimuli; however with this being a sextile there is minimal amounts of friction creating obstacles to derail our goals. Take advantage of this energy while it is available, because Mercury will go into its shadow cycle later in the week.

This leads us to Wednesday when Venus in Cancer squares Saturn in Libra. In my experience as an astrologer this is one of the most difficult aspects – especially for those that are more emotionally sensitive to the outer world. Venus is our ability to relate and enjoy our connections with others. When Venus becomes afflicted by Saturn, Saturn exposes Venus’ emotional vulnerability and we often close down emotionally. In many cases, we begin to isolate and disengage from our social circles. It is necessary when Venus is square Saturn for us to develop self-confidence and a feeling of personal self-worth. This will allow us to build our current relationships with more reliable structure.

Your Cosmic Weather Forecast:

hierophant — The Hierophant from the Alchemical Tarot www.thealchemicalegg.com

Now back to the fun stuff!

The reason I do the Cosmic Weather Forecast is because there are 52 different energies that are allocated to the 52 weeks of the year. This week the energy is called “Pinchas”, which is the name of the central figure of this week’s story in the Torah. The primary kabbalistic message in the story involves the power of healing, and is one of the most significant kabbalistic portions of the year.

Healing is such a tricky word. How many times have you seen people in your life who are just fine, they go for a random checkup and then they find out they have some illness, and they go downhill from there? It is amazing what happens to the mind once it believes something to be true.

As I mentioned earlier, there is an interesting occurrence that happens in this portion that does not occur elsewhere in the Torah. There is a crack in one of the letters (in the word SHALOM) that normally would invalidate the scroll. However, in Pinchas the crack is put in purposely. The letter in Hebrew is called VAV, which means “nail”. All of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet have a corresponding Major Arcana energy attached to them. In this case, the letter VAV corresponds with the controversial Hierophant.

According to Kabbalah, everything originates at a seed (thought) level. It begins in the upper worlds (thoughts) of Kether and travels down the tree to physical manifestation in Malchut. The Rav states that the cracked letter VAV leaves enough space for us to go back and heal any form of illness at the seed level. In essence, it provides us an opportunity for correction. So, what does this have to do with the Hierophant?

In most books written about the Tarot, the Hierophant in some manner has to do with beliefs. Whether it is religious beliefs, dogma, or the institution of religion the word “belief” is hovering around this card like a bee around a beehive. C.C. Zain in his book “The Sacred Tarot” (Church of Light Press) simply refers to the Hierophant as meaning religion or law. For many, the fundamental issue of belief involves their spiritual or religious ideologies, which is why the Hierophant in modern new age circles brings forth feelings of the dogmatic institution of the Catholic Church and fundamental Christianity. These feelings many are repulsed by due to the vast amount of repression that has been inflicted on many by the Church.

If we take the Hierophant to be connected to the letter VAV, then we must also consider that the Hierophant itself (this week) has a crack in it. What does this mean? It means that we are granted the energy to change how we believe and how we think, and begin the process of reversing any damage that has occurred as a result of our belief system. This healing is all healing – whether it is mental, spiritual, physical or emotional.

Take some time out this week to truly think about what you believe. Do you find that your beliefs limit you? Do you find that you’re too rigid in your thinking? Do you find that you believe things simply because others believe it? Further, what does the Hierophant mean to you? By exploring our inner ideologies and expanding our beliefs we activate the true power of healing.

Tarot Tune-up:

Pull your Hierophant card out of the deck. Shuffle the deck and ask yourself the following questions. What can I do to bring forth mental healing? What can I do to bring forth emotional healing? What can I do to bring forth spiritual healing? What can I do to bring forth physical healing.

Lay down the cards in front of you. Pick up your Hierophant card and look at it for a few minutes. Get the image of the card implanted in your mind. Now, close your eyes and ask the Hierophant if he has any further information that can help you with your healing. Write down what he tells you on a sheet of paper.

Let me know what you learned!

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Spiritual Warfare and How to Survive It

The Healing Power of Belief