Note, if you live in Massachusetts or the Hudson Valley, please see note below.
Libra Birthdays for 2007, part one of two
(through the Libra New Moon on Oct. 11, 2007)
It Don't Come Easy by George Harrison, with regards from
Steve
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Heirloom tomatoes from Free Bird Farm at the Kingston Farmers Market. Photo
by Eric Francis. |
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MANY factors distinguish this year from any other, most particularly that you are becoming known for what you do, and in addition, the spirit in which you do it. This recognition has been a long time coming, and you seem to have had several false starts in recent months despite many promises of success. This time has not been wasted. You have invested it well through your experience of getting to know how others perceive you, and also discovering how you have a tendency to perceive yourself through their eyes.
Were I to give you one concept to work with, it would be this: try to track this tendency to decide how you feel about yourself by noticing how others feel about you. It is great to be recognized, but this must never be the determining factor in your relationship to yourself. This is common sense, but too often forgotten. The reason it might be so compelling to forget now is because you are currently positioned to get so much affirmation for your value to your community, your friends and perhaps society itself that you could come to depend on that as necessary encouragement. Ideally, it would be nice, but not entirely required.
I also suggest you sort through your goals and make sure that they are all your own -- not, for example, those of a partner, parent or other "authority" figure. That may take some time, but it does not need to -- you know what you want; you know when someone is trying to tell you what you should want; it's a matter of putting the two together. Giving up your perfectionism is also a matter of allowing yourself to change course when you know you need to do so. It would be wise to give up the notion of permanent, in place of something more flexible, such as "committed, for now." The more room to make choices that you give yourself, the less flaky you will be when changing your mind when that time comes.
Your exterior life goes in cycles, particularly your professional experiences. Some days, seasons or years, you may feel you have a great and urgent mission; then you can get to a place where you feel you have no role in the world at all. This has not been true lately, when you are likely to be at your most visible and ambitious for the past two years, at least. These days, you face another challenge.
The astrology of your solar chart is calling you in at least two directions, which may seem to be splitting you apart. One direction is further out into the world; the other is deeper into yourself and away from any distractions or external commitments. The weight of the planets would seem, on its face, to be about equal. You need to be out there, and you need to be in there. Yet as the months of this solar year unfold, your inner life will take precedence, even if you continue on your path of worldly achievement.
The astrology looks like this. In this season of your solar return, Venus is completing its retrograde pattern in Leo, your 11th solar house. The Venus retrograde phase represents a time of experimenting with your public image a bit more boldly; exploring a wider circle of friends; and expanding your sources of professional income. Most of all, it's about dreaming real, truly solid dreams that you want to give a chance to manifest.
Added to this is the presence of Mars in your 10th solar house, Cancer. This is astrology that will, because we are about to begin a Mars retrograde, hold its power for many months, well into next year. Mars in this sign represents a drive for achievement and recognition that all but assures you will get what you strive for. While your professional activities typically run in cycles, you are doing your part now to break the pattern that you have lived with for a long time, instead setting the intention of putting sustained effort into a focused, concentrated goal. What's significant is that you are allowing yourself to feel what really feels important, though again, I suggest that at every opportunity, you make sure that you are aware of the influences others have on both you and your feelings.
The other side to all of this outgoing astrology is that Saturn has entered your 12th solar house, and that is a deeply interior journey that lasts more than two years. This is one of the deepest soul-searching times of your adult life. If there is an antisocial transit, this is it. If there is a time when you will probe to the deepest recesses of your soul, this is the one. If there is a time when you will want to disconnect your phone and flush your cellphone, you're getting there quickly.
You are, secretly, a perfectionist and hold yourself to an extremely high standard, whether you are able to attain it or not. This quality has often paralyzed you, and is often accounted for by the allegedly Libran quality of weighing and balancing your choices. Actually, the property is more about how you experience Virgo, which gives you a tendency to scrutinize and analyze yourself to a degree that must be very difficult to live with.
Saturn has now commenced a journey that will lead you to take a wider and deeper perspective. Your life is not about judging yourself, but rather knowing yourself. Your inner motives, your responses to people and most of all, your sense of where you fit into things much larger than yourself, are all in the process of being re-evaluated, or encountered for the first time.
This will influence your choices. The outer world will take its role as secondary in your life; as a mode of expression, but not what is being expressed -- or why.
Here is a key to help you make some decisions: you need to be working, and relating to others, on the right level. You need to be involved with activities and people who suit your intentions, your talents and your needs. If you aim too low, you are likely to be left feeling like you don’t have some important elements of what you deserve, or what will truly support you in fulfilling your role. If you aim too high, you may feel the discouragement of setting goals you cannot keep. Given the choice, though, should you aim higher or lower; more or less ambitious, than you think you can handle?
Normally I would say aim high. This you could have guessed. But I’m going to reconsider that idea and suggest, perhaps, that you aim for extra modest. I say this because within a short time, achievement and recognition of any kind are likely to be the last things on your mind. The real trend is inward, for the moment.
To the extent that you must make decisions that will affect your outer life, I suggest you make them on the basis of who is involved, rather than what. The subject matter of any situation, be it professional, community-related or strictly social, is much less critical than the people who are present. The deeper into yourself you go, the more you're going to need to be surrounded by people who in some way reflect your inner growth; who are sensitive to your viewpoint; who appreciate the subtle way you appreciate the world.
And these are the people who are going to support you in completing the aspects of your worldly goals that are not so appealing to your currently extra-sensitive soul.
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