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February '14
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by Terry Lamb

We have a great opportunity in 2014, which some of us will undermine without even knowing it. The processes that we are involved in right now are big—have been since January 2008. But we have to use the energies that are available in order to survive, and if we want to thrive we have to use them well.

The stakes are big. At a time when we know that the planet, the worldwide economic system, and global society are in deep need of transformation, what can we do to support our own way forward and contribute to the solution?

This is one of the questions we’re answering in 2014, and fortunately the planets cooperate with us in that experience. We have started the year with a bang, as January’s New Moon conjoined Pluto and tapped the explosive vitality of the Cardinal Grand Cross, fueled by Uranus in Aries, Jupiter in Cancer, Mars in Libra, and Venus in Capricorn. Coupled with the retrograde processes of Venus and Mars, we get to write a new story for ourselves that will stick with us for some time if we have the will to persevere.

These are the planets that goad us. The more cooperative side I termed the "String of Pearls" last year—those planets that are linked by trines and sextiles in the yin signs around the Zodiac. While this pattern was strongest in 2012 and 2013, it is still with us in 2014, especially in the first half, focalized now around 13–16 degrees of each sign. Even if we haven’t been conscious of using this network of support before now, we have stored its energy and can draw on it in the future, a cosmic bank account that grows each time we tend our garden of personal growth and connectivity with others.

Given the power of the Cardinal Cross and the length of cycle we’re dealing with (more than 100 years for Uranus and Pluto), we have to encompass big processes, and develop big projects to manage where we need to go. A big project could be a total health transformation, a change in career or calling, a new direction in one’s spiritual path, a relationship dying or being (re)born, a move to a new location—maybe all of these things.

It takes time to do it right, especially under the circumstances we face, where our obstacles seem bigger. They are. That’s because we’re somehow being brilliantly guided to smite the biggest obstacles in our nature in these pressure-cooker times—the soul being ever the optimist-opportunist in proposing "growth opportunities" for us.

So, we have before the need, the goad, and the opportunity to embark on a Great Journey, taking on our own version of the Big Project. What’s to stop us? Ourselves! We find all kinds of ways to avoid change unless we are sure that greater harmony—and security—are at the end of the tunnel. When we’re unsure about what’s on the other side, we’ll head for home and safety, back into the familiar past. Even if that comfort and safety is an illusion, it is at least known to us. We need to be on the lookout for ways that we may sabotage our own efforts until we see that those treasures we seek are assured to us. In February, we get the chance to focus on just that part of our process.

Mercury’s newest retrograde comes to us February 6–28, in Aquarius with a pinky toe in Pisces. It focuses us on what blocks us, as it makes three squares with Saturn. This zig-zag path will reveal our current surround of mental obstacles—those ways of thinking and believing that keep us stuck. In dry, staticky Aquarius, sparks fly hither and fro, making random connections for us that ground us in reality.

But if we feel overwhelmed, we may rely on distraction and/or projection, a pair of infamous Aquarian methods of self-undermining. Together, they are a very effective means of separating ourselves from the thing that challenges us. If that thing is something we truly need to avoid, these methods can keep us safe. But if it’s something we want and will provide greater harmony for us in the long run, we need to overcome the distraction/projection pattern in that situation.

Western culture is full of distractions—indeed, modern society is built upon them. Currently, there are numerous distractions in the form of mild-pablum television shows like American Idol and any number of fictional series, or celebrity gossip masquerading as news. To discover your own distractions, ask yourself why you are doing each thing that you do. If you look under the surface, that mindless daydream, trip to the refrigerator, or Facebook fix may not be what it appears. Distraction can provide us with the space for healing and integration, but not when we need to focus and face something important. If we observe in the moment when we want to distract ourselves, we can see what we’re avoiding and decide consciously what we want to focus on.

This happens in any situation where we feel tension, but relationship interactions are a place where we do this with regularity. We may distract ourselves from relationship tension by turning on the TV, thus drowning out disquieting thoughts or the need to converse with our partner. We can do the same with a challenging life change. We have a project plan, but suddenly that long-avoided closet-cleaning becomes imperative!

The other part of the process is projection. This is the part where we make excuses for our lack of progress, perhaps blaming another person or situation (the economy, the government, our family, etc.). This projects our own inner turmoil onto another source. More than distraction, this can be damaging to our relationships. Projection is natural and unavoidable—we project onto others, for instance, what it would mean to us if we did what they did. But we need to reduce this process in order to truly know someone and get along with them on an authentic level. To chase down our projections, we can ask ourselves (with regard to a sticky situation): “What is my contribution to this situation?” If we are honest with ourselves, we organically reach the space of self-responsibility, the primary ingredient in healing any situation.

In February, with Mercury’s retrograde, we have the ideal circumstances to see where we are using these devices to lame ourselves. Just observing and becoming clear about where we are doing this is its own natural remedy, but we can augment the process by looking at the stories we have about the tension that leads us to this behavior to begin with. If we still struggle after observing our distraction-projection pattern, there are old stories from childhood/ancestry/past lives that need reshaping. Our psyche is eager to show these to us and will do so through dreams, imaginings, omens, and mysterious guidance from beyond. Affirmations and other verbal techniques are especially effective when Mercury is in an Air sign, especially with mind-bending Aquarius.

To get further beyond the distractions and projections—to bring our Great Project to fruition—we can (arguably, must) use the String of Pearls. It is a yin pattern in yin signs, which means that we must use less direct, responsive, cultivative processes to "grow" what we want. We must develop the magnetic-attractive field (as in the Law of Attraction, the ultimate of yin principles) to draw things to us, introducing only the right elements to our field of dreams. Gradually, we see our ideas take shape. This is "chipping away", as bit by little bit, we sculpt our life into a new shape, culling out the weeds that undermine our crop, bringing each species of our garden to flower and fruit. In February, it’s time to chip away at our distractions and projections. Step by step, we are clearing the soil so our garden can grow itself in the radiance of our inner light and the Source-waters of our soul.

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