NATURE'S MODEL FOR THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Summer is a-comin' in at last... not a moment too soon for those of you who haven't been enjoying this cool, rainy Spring... quite soon enough for folks like me who don't care for hot and muggy weather. However, there's always ice cream to look forward to... and swimming in the ocean...
Astrologically speaking, we here in the Northern Hemisphere are at the height of the growth season, heralded by the entrance of the Sun into the Zodiac's most fertile sign, Cancer, on June 21. The subtle softening... relaxing... opening... that began invisibly at Winter Solstice and picked up momentum with the slow return of the light, the melting of the snow, the softening of the ground, the sprouting of leaves and flowers, has reached full, ripe culmination now.
What does this tell us about the process of creation as modelled for us by Nature?
- We're at our most fertile when relaxed and open.
- It begins unconsciously, in the dark and cold, invisible on the surface.
- It's a slow, subtle unfolding process that builds on itself.
- Growth depends on nourishment -- the sunlight, the water, the minerals in the soil.
All this is a far cry from the high drama of the creative life as depicted in our cultural myths: the single lightning strike of inspiration, the agonizing struggle to express oneself, the lone starving artist in the attic. "An artist must suffer."
Is this true? Must an artist suffer? Does the seed suffer during its long cold incubation period, down in the dark? Or is this merely another, natural, essential part of the cycle? Perhaps we would suffer less during our own creative incubation periods if we knew that the softening of Spring necessarily returns, year after year, followed inexorably by the opening of Summer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WHAT'S GOING AROUND
June 2006
After an unusually quiet couple of months, we're receiving another visitation of 2006's major theme, the Fixed Cross. The Jupiter-Saturn square peaks on the 22nd, amidst an energy-revving fortnight of hard Mars aspects to both planets.
This is the second Jupiter-Saturn square in the series of three. As I mentioned in the December issue, this transit denotes a resistance to any pushing or probing that could disturb a stable situation, however undesirable that situation might be. The concurrent Mars transits tend to provoke pushing and probing, however, so undoubtedly many of you are embroiled in some crisis of this sort as I write.
The best approach to this, I believe, is to hold a vision of the highest and best possibilities for the combination of Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars energy, and to try to manifest that highest and best in your own world. What if you could come from a place of maturity, responsibility, and global perspective (Saturn and Jupiter) and use that Mars drive to initiate something worthwhile in the world. In short, now is the time to be channelling your inner grownup.
The second of three passes is the retrograde, reflective one. This month, take a giant step back from your present situation, try to see it in the largest perspective possible, and start building your response from that perspective. By the time the final pass comes around in October, you'll be already in motion in a positive direction.
Uranus begins its annual five-month retrograde stint on the 19th. If you've experienced Uranus transits lately, you get to experience them again -- and yet again after Uranus looks forward again in November. This triple-treat approach is typical of the faraway outer planets, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, all of which spend 4-5 months out of every year in retrograde motion. (Pluto sometimes makes the same aspect five times in up to two years!) In this way, the heavy hitters allow you plenty of time to let their messages sink in and to take the necessary actions.
While Uranus is backtracking, open up your mind and think outside that box. Uranus transits are usually a call to depart from entrenched habits of thought and action. If you aren't taking at least a few baby steps in some new direction, Uranus will find a way to deliver a well-overdue wake-up call. What new direction depends on the aspected planet(s) and houses involved. As always, see your astrologer for the complete lowdown on your own situation!
