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by Terry Lamb, M.A., C.A.

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New to astrology? Read on and ignore the technical bits. There's plenty here for you too! Why don’t I write horoscopes for each sign?

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ABOUT A YEAR AGO, I sent a message to the universe. I realized that, for the areas of my life that weren’t working, I only had a portion of what I needed to know to make the changes I wanted to accomplish. I decided to ask the universe to lead me — to bring me what I didn’t understand, since I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I would follow my guidance to the best of my ability — allow myself to be led — knowing that the caring nurturing universe that we live in would support me in my goals as long as they were sincere (not ego-centered). It was a bold step into the realm of miracles.

Miracles are, by definition, discontinuous with our normal waking reality. When we ask for a miracle, we ask for something out of the ordinary, something that does not (seem to) extend organically from our current existence. This is what I asked for. However, I didn’t realize how I would be experiencing that in the moment-by-moment drama of life! When I stepped into the realm of miracles, I stepped out of the realm of the expected. I invoked a world where the surroundings were unfamiliar. I had lost my context.

Context Is Everything.
Whenever we make a decision, ask a question, give an answer, take an action — a number of factors enter into why we do what we do: everything from how we think we feel about the situation at hand to what makes logical sense to get what we want, to how good we feel at the time (tired, hungry, at peace, joyous, grieving) to what somebody taught us about how to achieve our desired outcome.

What is not so evident is where these factors come from. Our assessments of what we are experiencing are based on experiences we had before — perhaps prenatally, age 7, age 16, age 30, past lives. We may think that our decision-making processes are all perfectly logical and free of self-limitation, but a deeper look will tell us a different story. In fact, our context is much broader than we can imagine (without an understanding of the inner world), and all these factors are poured into every action we take.

What You See in Others Is Not What You Get.
Looking at this from a different perspective, how can we ever think to interpret someone else’s behavior? They have just as many complicated factors that enter into their thinking and deciding. Their context is just as important to them as our is to us. There are strings, complicating factors that make us feel bound to someone in a particular way. When we look at the decisions made by, say, President Obama, we tend to judge them as if we had made them with the knowledge we have of the situation. However, his context is very different from ours. What basis can we use to judge his behavior?

Ultimately, the only resource we have for this (if we need to judge at all) is our evaluation of the other person’s character. If we trust that person and know them to be well-intentioned, then it places their actions in the context of good intentions. Even if they make a decision that seems crazy at the time (and it could be at least counterproductive), in their own context they are doing the best that they know how at that moment.

When someone does something that they or I don’t understand, the first thing I look at is their surrounding reality. Once I discover what that is, I am always filled with compassion for them, their joy and pain, their valiant effort to do the right thing, whether or not they succeed.

Context Isn’t Everything.
The process of healing is one where we let go of an old contextual construct and replace it with something new, unfamiliar, and at first there is often nothing recognizable that we can put it its place. Of course, constructs have their limitations, and perhaps we don’t need a construct at all. Perhaps we should focus on losing context, but we should at least be willing to let go of it, because that’s what places us in the realm of miracles. In fact, losing context is what frees us to experience quantum leaps in consciousness and in our daily circumstances.

Miracles eject an old context out of our lives, whether we want it to or not. (This is why some miracles don’t feel that great at first.) Whether or not we pull something else in to replace it depends on the circumstances and our nature. To be in a physical body is to accept some context — our physical body itself, for instance, and all that it needs to survive.

For example, in deciding whether or not to get married, a person may draw on the context of previous relationship experiences. But that person will also use the context of their experience of their parents’ marriage as well. They may draw upon what they’ve been taught that their culture or society expects of them more than their personal feelings. Many people will sacrifice their personal desires for the sake of what their parents/society/partner/family want. Their context is heavily weighted toward “consensus reality”, or what can be called collective ego.

Releasing the Collective Ego is Part of Freeing Ourselves.
Collective ego (social convention) is a part of our context that limits us until we release it. It is a task that all of us face in the development of our true selfhood, to release the “group think” that limits us from being who we are in our most authentic form. Any form of ego, collective or personal, places constructs on us to which we become attached. This then curtails our ability to experience the miraculous, to enjoy quantum leaps of development that take us into the newness we crave.

Sometimes these leaps of consciousness are not something of our choosing but come to us from outside circumstances. This is what is happening to humanity as a whole right now. Three years ago, we started to see the fabric of worldwide Western society start to come apart. My IRA! My retirement fund! My home! All of these things that we thought were solid started to feel ephemeral. Now we are wondering “What’s next?!” and we are drawn by some invisible energy to shed old ways of thinking. This uncovers hidden resources and pulls us into the safety of inner truth like a ship to a port in a storm. Humanity is being drawn into the realm of miracles.

We Are All in a Liminal State.
When we decide to bring transformative processes into our lives (or life imposes them on us), we are also accepting a transformation of all that we cling to in life — our familiar surroundings, our context. Transformation means shedding our context, and in the process we pass through a liminal state. A liminal state is one “between the realms”, neither this nor that. It is an unfamiliar — indeed undefined landscape full of blurred shadows and dim, diffused light, as if fog coated our senses.

When we lose our context, we no longer know how to respond to life’s stimuli. While uncomfortable — even excruciating, it is absolutely essential because it is the place from which we can grow. Without context, we respond to circumstances organically, without expectation or strategy, from the true-self center of our being.

This is the process of dissolution, and it can be bewildering because our cultural wisdom about it, buried in alchemy and the hidden corners of the best modern psychology, has been (temporarily) lost. Dissolution is addressed very clearly in the I Ching, with direct guidance about how to use this energy to move us forward (just as it does with every energy state). It tells us to surrender to the process and let go of all obstructing energies and emotions.

September’s Gift to Us: A Little Breathing Room
This process is emphasized as we enter September. Mercury’s retrograde contains the energy of dissolution. It helps us navigate the shadow world between the old and new. We will make a transition to something new and beautiful, and it begins now.

By the beginning of the month, Mercury has shown us what our process is, but has yet to share all of its secrets with us. It gives us three weeks of relative quiet to assimilate all that has happened since mid-May. Two arrows of planetary energies have been released finally, after months of drawing them back and back and back into the bow; while two more are still active, waiting to find their mark in our lives. There is much to integrate.

We’ll feel a shift as early as the 3rd, a chance to look forward to build upon the past to develop what we will experience for the rest of the year. Mercury’s retrograde is especially strong for those with placements in Virgo, but it also affects Gemini, Sagittarius, and Pisces. Taurus and Capricorn will find this time particularly productive. Mercury’s retrograde ends on September 12.

Time to Fly!
We’ve already noticed a softening of the energies gradually from mid-August. In September, this continues as Jupiter returns to Pisces, echoing Uranus’s behavior last month. When last we encountered our adventurous and inventive duo in this sign of vision and refined attunement, we were riding the waves of energy high in the canopy of consciousness, with ropes and harness to guide us along. Although we may feel like we have since crash-landed into more ordinary awareness, our lives have been altered by our time aloft. As we return to this energy pattern, we’ll identify the feelings we had through the end of May but now we’re on a mission. We have a focus for that energy, and something to accomplish. Once again, we have the opportunity to float over the dense energies if we allow the universe’s love for us to flow through our veins. This time though, it’s without the ropes — we’ve sprouted wings of our own and have learned to fly!

A Cosmic Course in Miracles, or “What Am I Doing Here?”
Through Jupiter-Uranus, we have been called upon this year to think/feel/act out of the box. If life has put us in a corner, we can use our ingenuity and inspiration to walk through the walls of conventional thinking. This process now comes to a head as Jupiter and Uranus bring us a crescendo of insight, an inner clash of cymbals that will reverberate in our heads and hearts September 12–22.

This opens a doorway to the miraculous realm in our lives, as the veil between the visible and invisible worlds becomes thinner. We may be able to feel the energies of transformation as if they are dipping down from the heavens like the hand of the god/dess showering graces upon us so close as to whisper in our ear. It is a good time to listen and activate what we want to bring more fully into our lives.

This is a culmination in awareness that we can step into or not — it is our choice. Miracles do not just manifest instantaneously but are cultivated. If we are in the middle of creating our miracles, we are in a liminal state. We are asking the universe, “What am I doing here?” If this describes you, it is a sign that you are in that place between old and new contexts. It is not a time to try to pull out, but to trust. What we are shown now we will have the opportunity to develop between now and next April. It is especially strong for those with Pisces placements, but it also affects Gemini, Virgo, and Sagittarius. Those with placements in Cancer and Scorpio will find that this energy produces harmonious changes in their lives.

Venus Under the Radar
The very bright, beautiful star that we see high in the western sky at sunset is Venus, getting ready for her descent into the Sun. This is what we see as she prepares for and then enters her six-week retrograde period. We are already cooking in the energies of what Venus will bring us (since August 20), and there will be an aspect of our experience which will not be complete until the end of May next year.

As of September 5, we can start keeping track of our experiences within our relationships with all others in our life — lovers, friends, family, coworkers, business partners and associates. We will be renegotiating all our agreements with everyone important to us. No agreements, you say? We may not have anything written down, but we have many, usually unspoken and therefore very powerful, agreements with others. This may take the form of “I agree to cook dinner for you every night if you agree to take care of the yard,” or it could be more significant: “I agree to take care of your children from your first marriage if you agree to take care of me.” Commitments and agreements that are renegotiated stay fresh and keep our relationships alive. If we remain in rigid agreements, we stifle our lives and our bonds with each other.

Venus during her retrograde virtually requires such adjustments. We naturally look inside to evaluate how our close ties are working for us. As we grow, our relationships must also grow. This phenomenon has been observed since the most ancient of days. In fact, it is codified in the story of Inanna, the Sumerian goddess of love. In this story, she descends into the Underworld (the brilliant light of the Sun that blinds us of her presence), successively stripped of her garments and possessions (ego). We also go through a process of stripping ourselves of our ego trappings during the days leading up to and including the first half of her retrograde, and we can amplify the (beneficial) effects through various spiritual practices and processes of inner growth.

During this time, we will be asking questions like, “What’s missing in our relationship?” or “How do I know if it’s the real thing?” This will be a relationship turning point for those with placements in Scorpio, but Taurus, Leo, and Aquarius will also find this to be a powerful time. Venus begins her retrograde on October 8, lasting until November 18. We will not be complete with her process in our lives until December 19, with some effects reaching as far as the end of May 2011.

Pluto Unravels the Knots of Time.
September 12–13 is a powerful time indeed. Just as Mercury returns to forward motion, Pluto does the same, unleashing more energy into our lives than we usually associate with Mercury. During a planet’s retrograde, its energy is intensified (requiring more focus) but somewhat suppressed, so that there is a release at the time it returns to forward motion.

While Mercury’s retrograde usually feels like a decompression, this will be a much more profound release that reaches back to promises we made to ourselves last December and activates transformations that we have been developing since then. This can result in a revolution in our lives, but not one that surprises us much (although it will gratify). The form and manner in which it arrives will be new, but it will relate to something we have been trying to change. Well, it finally worked.

This will relate to the challenges we took on this summer and be especially strong for Capricorn (any placements), as well as Aries, Cancer, and Libra. What we experience now will not be the end of the saga but the beginning of a solution that is a stage in a much larger process.

And Now for Something (Almost) Completely Different . . .
On the 22nd, the energy changes abruptly back to the issues and patterns we were addressing in the summer. This is the time of the Autumnal Equinox, when the day and night are equal all over the planet (Spring Equinox in the southern hemisphere). It is also the time when the Sun powers up the planets that have been bringing us so much energy (possibly an overload) — the Cardinal Grand Cross. While technically a grand cross is not being created at this time (a T-square), it is particularly significant because this brings us to a major decision point that we have been working up to since the beginning of the year, but was intensified dramatically with the eclipses of June 26 and July 11.

The dilemma we face is a familiar one, but we feel that it’s a critical time, when action is required, and in some sense this is true. The actions we take now will feed our process for the coming year. It may help you clarify your decision to ask, “What do I want to do (who do I want to be with) for the coming year? Then observe what your feelings tell you. Our mind will help us during this time, but our heart knows the answers that come from our authentic self, felt as inner truth. We will maintain this focus now through the 30th. It will tie into the major process we have been working with since last November.

On the 30th, we start a new yearly cycle of building and restructuring our life, as the Sun conjoins Saturn in Libra. It is a time to plant seeds of intention for the coming year, where we will seek to build a foundation based on balance, harmony, and peace. One of the keys to this is right relationship — being in relationship with those (including but not limited to intimate partner) with whom we can team to do our work in the world, fulfill our life path and purpose. Whether we work alongside that other person (those other people) or they are there for personal support and fulfillment, they cannot undermine or take (us) away from our path of divine service. Once again, people with Libra placements are affected most, but close behind are Aries, Cancer, and Capricorn. Gemini and Aquarius will find this to be a very supported and productive year.

Deepwater Horizon Oil Disaster Update
It seems like the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is old news, no longer worthy of media attention, but for the people and other life forms that inhabit the region this is not the case. There is more to come with this situation, since the planets that were active at the time of the explosion are still not complete with each other. There is more to come. This does not mean that there will be more damage, but perhaps that humans have to follow up by doing the responsible thing. Oil spills will continue to make news, and it is becoming evident that this is not a solitary occurrence but one of a continuous string of events where humanity is soiling the planet with its use of oil. This will be an ongoing matter, legislatively, politically, and environmentally at least through March 2011.

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September’s planets fling the doors of awareness wide open. Participation in their process is not optional, but we can choose to what extent we want to invite miracles into our lives and accept the challenges they bring. It is a beautiful and powerful experience, a path of wonder and excitement. It’s what we are born to experience through the grace of a caring, abundant Cosmos.

September 1–3
We start again! Another round of the 3 ½-month cycle of discovery (ruled by Mercury) passes a milestone on the 3rd. A new realm of discovery lures us forward, and we want to leave the past behind. Not so fast though — we’ve still got some old business to take care of before moving ahead unfettered.

Meanwhile, we get a little poke in the ribs by the Moon as it brings back our summertime lessons and activities. We will take another small step forward now. Anything we put good energy into now will make our end-of-month turning point go more smoothly.

September 4–6
Enjoy some rest from planetary stimulation, as we get a few days to digest what we’ve been forced to swallow whole over the past three months. New clarity emerges as a result on the 6th.

September 7–8
The Virgo New Moon on the 8th (3:30 am) inaugurates a momentous month that has maximum movement for Virgo but won’t leave out Gemini, Sagittarius, and Pisces. You know the thing you were thinking would happen after the last Full Moon (the 24th)? Watch it unfold in a most surprising way during the 12th – 22nd, perhaps with an abrupt change in direction before the 30th. Watch the miracles emerge!

Our feeling awareness is augmented when both Venus and Jupiter enter water signs. Venus in Scorpio arouses our desire for mystery and passion, while Jupiter into Pisces enlarges our awareness of inner truth.

September 9–13
We can feel something brewing, getting ready for release. The pressure is lifting, and that means energies that have been stored up will now expand and create motion in our lives. You may decide to do something where you’ve been waiting for the right time to act. You’re clearer about what you want, what you can’t do without, and what you can’t stand any longer. This is big for Virgo, Pisces, and Capricorn, but will also be important for Aries, Cancer, and Libra.

The morning of the 9th gives us access to the core of our inner being, while the 10th – 11th bring out a growing emotional truth about our relationships.

September 12-22
The veil between the world thins, and we begin to see more vivid images and experience stronger mind flashes as inner reality begins to manifest into outer reality. What we have been developing for many months (and much longer) becomes more visible in our world. Slow down a little and allow the invisible world to seep through into this one.

On the 12th (4:09 pm), Mercury returns to forward motion (stationary direct), and our ways of perceiving the world normalize again. The 13th brings Pluto’s standstill before it moves forward again (9:35 pm). This is felt for several days before and after, lending punch to whatever events occur. Mars follows Venus into Scorpio on the 14th (3:38 pm), making it easier to bite the bullet and resolve disagreements/imbalances based on what feels real. We can power through what we wimped out over the past month. The 15th builds energy toward the startling developments that will emerge on the 18th – 22nd. The peak of this time is on the 21st.

September 22–30
The Sun enters Libra at 8:09 am on the 22nd, increasing our focus on that big decision we’ve been putting off. It is a moment of truth, one that will stand in front of us until we deal with it. Until we do, our tension (read: stress level) will be big, even almost unbearable. Act based on your inner truth, and you will be freed to the serenity of inner peace.

We may not know what we want or be firm in our resolve until the pattern completes itself on the 30th. After that the sense of urgency will reduce, but the problem won’t go away until it is faced and a decision is made.

The Full Moon (the 23rd, 2:17 am) expands our awareness of what’s going on, even bringing things to a head. On Saturday (the 25th), we make progress toward our ultimate goal; this is not a situation that can be dismissed in one approach/ interaction, but requires multiple contacts. Actually, we won’t notice a break in the action from the 25th – 30th, after which other situations assume a greater role in our moment-to-moment experience. (See Chart B.)

Significant Planetary Events

Mercury, Chiron, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are retrograde. Mercury and Venus are in rulership. Saturn is exalted. Mars is in detriment. Venus is in fall.

All dates are based on Pacific Time.

Blue = harmonious/Red or orange = challenging/intense/black = neutral

Events in bold are more significant.

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© Terry Lamb