Intuitive Illuminations from an Everyday Mystic… Most of you have likely been experiencing sharp highs and lows in your life, business, relationships and Inner lives. This may be accompanied by a feeling that you are outgrowing existing forms, relationships, roles and power dynamics. I have been seeing it with many of my clients and several have referred to it as shedding the skin of an old self. While you may have a deepening conscious awareness of what is changing internally for you, you may not be ready to act on these changes. This is what is causing the move between extreme highs and lows. There may be premature grieving for the future loss that is just becoming conscious. And there may be great bouts of joy about the new future you are imagining creating. Shedding old skin gradually takes patience, courage and imagination. All of these feelings and inner needs are due to the just completed Cardinal Grand Cross. It was completed on April 28^th but you may still be searching to understand what it has brought in its wake and unearthed in your inner life. This astrological phenomena creates tense aspects and energy’s in us and those around us. A lot of different types of energies show up and want to fill the stage in our lives at the very same time, and they often have conflicting focuses and needs. There are four big players in this Grand Cross. The first is Mars. Mars is a strong assertive and aggressive energy that wants its way and won’t back down until it gets it. Jupiter is there too, which is all about expansion, abundance and manifestation in the direction of our most desired dreams. Also active in the mix is Pluto, this planetary influence rules the unconscious and can evoke a need to express and perhaps exploit hidden power dynamics. Lastly Uranus helps us connect with our inner rebel and call out things that don’t feel fair or just to us. So you can see how these influences are hard to navigate, and may make us feel as though we are fighting with the brightest aspects of our best selves. It can also feel like we are fighting others too. We all have our own internal and external struggles with these dynamics and we can gage how far we have evolved through our own karmic lessons by how triggered we become when we face off with our own unique story about them. Think back in your life to a situation that you felt was intolerable, perhaps one where you were not extended dignity, respect or autonomy. This kind of situation may be manifesting again so that you can observe how far you’ve come. The job when you feel this is to state your boundaries without getting hooked into another’s agenda. Your ability to ground, stay in the place of the witness, and not spin out based on your feelings about the situation will get you far. If you are confronted with this need to face off to maintain your dignity or self-respect remind yourself of what you know to be true and remind the other of the external observable facts in the situation. Holding a clear boundary can be challenging but you will get better at it the more you get to practice the skill. And this time of the grand cross will give you plenty of opportunities to practice. These qualities of dignity, authentic power, and inner truth are connected with the third chakra. This power chakra resonates with the color yellow and the tone to amplify this energy is rum. If you are feeling a lack of confidence or an inability to clearly state your boundaries you can tone this sound. If you desire to amplify the outer manifestations of the energy, add some yellow to your wardrobe. If you hold the boundary clearly and consistently you will feel a strengthening and firming up of energy in your body radiating from your solar plexus area. If you place your loosely closed fists facing upward right under your diaphragm, with the left one on the left side and the right one on the right side and breathe in while imagining a workable co-creative solution for both parties, you will often recognize a win-win solution for both of you. This may also take assertive communication, negotiation and a real desire to move beyond power over the other. You will know your third chakra has expanded and softened when you walk away feeling that you were heard and valued and that you got your most important points across, and your needs and goals met.  It is really a break through if this is true for the other person as well. You can also do a lot to diffuse a potentially adversarial situation by imagining a positive outcome for both parties before you meet. Imagine the person seeing, hearing and responding to your request.  And imagine calmly and openly listening to theirs. Then imagine and try to feel the relief in your body when you sense the peace your openness and willingness to listen has evoked. When we allow ourselves to feel this shift, true external transformation can occur. Sometimes we are not able to experience the desired outcome. Sometimes it doesn’t work…but it is more likely to if we are consistent, clear and empathetic. If you find yourself in over your head and perhaps unequipped to deal with the other person’s energy or expectations, you can use bridging language. Bridging language helps to deflate a sense of you vs. me and creates an environment that honors and recognizes what works for both of you. Opening the dialogue by first listening to and then focusing on the other’s needs may disarm someone who may feel loaded energy going into a situation where they had imagined a confrontation was inevitable. Examples of bridging language are, “Boy, we are really having a day of it aren’t we?”, or “Let’s make sure this works for both of us, okay?” It is most often open-ended so the other person can see and feel that what they are contributing to the conversation is equally valuable. When we use this bridging language and respond with real concern, awareness and empathy toward the other person’s experience, we can heal a lot of past wounds and help the other person imagine and internalize the feeling of a different outcome. Through this clear mirroring process we learn to let go inside, to breathe more deeply and feel more supported in the world. Eventually the “go to” feeling in our bodies as well will be more relaxed and we may even realize that we have totally shifted. This feeling will then feel core deep as we are no longer bracing against the next imagined or perceived confrontation. The time we are moving through is a time that, although very tumultuous on the surface, also offers the potential to embrace lasting transformation in our self-concept. If we can open up with empathy to a previously perceived adversary we can begin to explore how we may share similar traits. When we brace in the situation—and hang on to our rigid unwavering perspective, we often end up embodying the exact qualities and behaviors that we most dislike in the other. We become a mirror image of what we meant to transform. Have you ever been in a tense situation where you hoped for a workable solution and found yourself in a screaming match with the other person? Perhaps you were surprised at your response and left wishing you could have handled it differently or better. Sometimes, stating your boundaries and truth and then simply walking away can be incredibly liberating. Often, when we get good at doing this, we find that we can channel this energy and authentic power into actions and projects that benefit ourselves in much more intrinsic and reparative ways than trying to get our way by presenting an ultimatum ever could. So, If you find that you are in a situation where you are offered the ongoing opportunity to turn the energy back from a place of destruction or stand off to one of real personal empowerment, which will be the case for many now; welcome it! Know, too, that you are being offered this so that you can transform a powerful underlying dynamic that is playing out in your life, and perhaps many lifetimes. This same dynamic will return until you begin to transmute the energy. So, what better time than now to bring it to the light of day and defuse the loaded power it has held over you. All that is on the other side is peace; join yourself there. May’s affirmation Gem is Tigers eye. This lovely gem is used to increase courage, confidence and protection. It is a solar plexus stone and helps by deepening perception and clarity in ourselves. It will amplify courage when you most need it. It helps us to manifest our visions in the 3D world. It helps us recognize right timing in all our endeavors. It assures one is seeing things clearly and helps us problem solve when we are confused or too emotional. It helps us recognize the correct use of power and helps us see clearly without illusion. May’s affirmation gem is: I am always connected to my own most healing and truth telling powers. Because of this I see, feel and co-create partnerships and healing alliances in my life. These are increasing daily. One last note on the Cardinal Grand Cross, although it is very challenging energy, know that we will get through it. It is a necessary part of our collective and individual Karmic growth. If we accept and embrace our inner work gracefully, when we do find ourselves on the other side of it, each of us will be stronger, wiser, and more aware of our innate needs, growing truth and emerging Soul-self as a result. Views:]]>