Lifestyle
Astrology Forecast February 13 – 19, 2023
The imaginative, dreamy idealism of a Scorpio Moon trine with Neptune in Pisces this morning is a great opportunity to boost your usual spiritual practice. Make use of this inspirational moment to meditate on your goals and set new intentions. It is also a great time to pray, do meaningful crystal energy work, or consult your favorite oracle card deck.
However, do take care today, as the Scorpio Moon might also be casting illusions and misunderstandings our way. Be mindful of what you read and hear, but also take everything with a grain of salt. Do your research before reacting or moving in any direction. Stay calm and act sensibly, as the Scorpio Half Moon has the power to plunge us into drama at work, public disagreements, and conflict with our loved ones.
A lighter vibe prevails tomorrow and Wednesday under the Sagittarius Moon, casting a productive, yet balanced energy.
If you have any heavy lifting to do this week, or projects that urgently need to be completed, then Thursday and Friday are the best days to accomplish those tasks, as the Capricorn Moon exudes diligence and drive.
The Sun moves into Pisces on Saturday, so we will be spending the next four weeks in a more spiritual, mystical state of mind. Exploring our inner lives more deeply and investigating the metaphysical will be more prevalent. Also, as the final sign of the zodiac before a new cycle begins, this will be the time to wrap things up, review the past year from a spiritual perspective, and resolve long-standing issues in the area of health, wealth, and relationships. This is also a time when secrets may come out, so if you’re hiding any, be extra careful, or they might end up on the evening news!
The weekend’s socially-oriented Aquarius Moon promotes, unity, friendship, and catching up with loved ones.
We Should Be More Like The Turtle
Most people seldom give themselves permission to take a breather and just relax. As a hypnotherapist, I often see clients for stress relief sessions. In this case, they usually feel it is more justified for them to take some time out, because they are paying for a form of professional healthcare. After all, they made an appointment for the session and their doctor referred them. So, it must be okay.
Many people cannot even relax on a vacation! They feel they absolutely must do all the tourist things, even if they are tired, or the money they spent of the trip will be wasted. Or they feel compelled to spring clean the hotel room, instead of lying on the beach. Only to feel they need a second vacation to recover from the first vacation once they return home.
In the good old days, folks used to simply take a ‘joy ride’ somewhere with no real purpose or destination in mind. They did it purely for the enjoyment and the adventure. It was a standing joke in my family that if you chose to get in a car with my dad, you had better have the entire day off, because you never knew where you would wind up or what time you would get back home.
My kids still reminisce about our family taking a ride during the holidays to see all the Christmas lights and decorated homes. We used to stop for hot chocolate with marshmallows and everyone received a homemade cinnamon candy cane. It was the tradition.
Today, we live in such a busy, fast-paced world in which we feel guilty for taking time to take care of ourselves. But what is more important: the journey or destination? We all need to rest and restore our body, mind, and spirit on a regular basis. Neglecting one’s self-care is a prescription for poor long-term health, and making bad life choices.
We Need To Reopen Our Hearts
If, like me, you are highly sensitive to energies, I am sure you have noticed the alarming increase in anger, hatred, callousness, and cruelty in our society in recent times. It seems many people’s hearts have hardened. In my view, this is due to a post-pandemic heart chakra problem in our culture.
For example, one issue I have been finding more of in post-pandemic readings is an inability for many of my callers to remain ‘in the flow’ with their romantic partners. Some of my clients are either overly focused on, and extremely loyal to a partner who clearly doesn’t deserve it, or they are too rigid in keeping their distance and even avoiding contact. I have also been noticing more of this with people’s friendships and interactions with their relatives.
Of course, we must set healthy boundaries in all our relationships for the sake of our own well-being. Without proper boundaries we will become too exhausted and energetically drained to be of any use to others. By taking good care of ourselves, we also take better care of others and will have more to give.
But there’s a difference between healthy boundaries and ‘excommunicating’ just about everyone across-the-board. ‘Blocking,’ ‘banning,’ and ‘ghosting’ every person who dares to express a different point of view on social media, and disowning every person in your life who has the nerve to do or say the slightest thing that may annoy you, is not exactly setting healthy boundaries. It is rather a sign of having very weak, fickle boundaries. If this has become your way of being in the world, then you may want to consider doing some heart chakra energy work.
What If There Is No Tomorrow?
A sense of anguish sometimes strikes us while we are experiencing something good in our life. In the midst of the delightful feelings of happiness and joy, we grimly remind ourselves that we must enjoy it while it lasts, because all good things come to an end.
Yes, everything does come to an end, right up to our own passing from this world to the next. Yes…our inevitable death. Thinking about this can be sad and depressing, but it also not… if we choose otherwise.
There is an ancient philosophy of reflecting on one’s mortality known as memento mori, which in Latin means ‘remember death.’ This profound saying does not only serve to remind us of that our death is inevitable, but also invites us to think about death in a more meaningful way.
In Stoicism, a school of ancient Greek philosophy, memento mori was seen to be a thought process to attribute deeper meaning to life. The philosopher Epictetus famously said, “Keep death and exile before your eyes every day, with all that seems terrible – by doing this, you will never have a base thought, nor an excessive desire.”
Although the notion of memento mori seems at first scary, sad, or tragic, it is in truth a reminder that everything and everyone will eventually come to an end. The moment we sensibly embrace this universal truth, we become so much more aware of how precious every moment of our life is. And ideally it then inspires us to live more fully and intensely, without wasting any more time on trivial things and petty issues.
Astrology Forecast February 6 – 12, 2023
This week’s cosmic energy is all about the mind, including new ideas and alternative ways of looking at things, that will lead us to bigger and better things. We won’t need to re-invent the wheel, but we should consider new uses for old objects, reorganizing our stale schedules and goals, and implement better energy flow in our home with a mini-remodel or feng shui project.
This morning’s Leo Moon opposite Saturn in Aquarius could cause no end of trouble at home, so keep a low profile and stay calm. This opposition is notorious for inspiring arguments and drama, especially regarding the children and household finances.
The Moon travels through Virgo later today until Wednesday, expanding our mental capacity and boosting our organizational skills. We will need to take care not to be too idealistic or overly critical. Expressing our opinions calmly, while remaining open to the ideas of others, will pay off handsomely!
Thursday and Friday are all about balance and equilibrium under the Libra Moon. The keyword here is vision. A great idea may land in your lap, but think it through for a few days before you jump to implement it.
The only significant planetary shift this week is Mercury’s electric transit into Aquarius on Saturday. Combined with this weekend’s Scorpio Moon and the Sun currently in Aquarius, it will inspire new insights, intuitions, and impossible dreams that are sure to catch our fancy. However, be prepared for possible delays in communication and travel Saturday afternoon due to the Scorpio Moon square with Mercury in Aquarius. Be especially careful not to get lost if travelling, and make sure you send that email or text to correct person!
Developing Your Herbal Intuition
Herbal medicine is becoming increasingly popular, and many people are increasingly turning to herbalism as a healthcare supplement, or even a substitute to conventional pharmaceutical medicine. Plants, flowers, and herbs all have unique energetic qualities that make them suitable for various purposes. They are alive and respond to their environment and how they are treated in the same way humans do.
When we think of herbs, we tend to narrowly categorize them according to the medical conditions they can be used for, or what aspect of our health and wellness they can improve. However, like people, herbs are much more complex and multi-faceted, and have many uses and applications, alone or in combination with other herbs.
To obtain the most benefit from any herb, we need to take the time and have patience to truly get to know the herb. When you meet someone for the first time at a social event, would you diminish the other person’s true worth by instantly deciding they have only one useful trait or redeeming quality, and leave it at that? Taking the time to get acquainted with a particular herb is much like getting to know someone in an intimate friendship.
Selecting herbs to work with or draw upon for healing is a highly intuitive process. The appearance, aroma, taste, texture, and energy vibration of the ideal herb for a specific purpose must speak to us mind, body, and soul. They convey a distinct energy signature and frequency of healing that the intuitively aware user will innately know is best to use at that time.
Control Is The Opposite of Love
I have learned that communication glitches and other side-effects of a Mercury retrograde can actually offer us valuable life lessons if we choose to pay attention.
For example, during the recent retrograde my daughter suffered a migraine on a day she was supposed to visit me. I decided not to pick her up, because she said she was not feeling strong enough. She is prediabetic and I pray and light candles for her daily.
So, I texted her a get-well soon message along with an animated chicken soup meme. Feeling worried about her, I checked in periodically throughout the day see if she had received her ‘virtual chicken soup.’ But the message read receipt only showed ‘delivered.’ No read receipt.
The next day, the text message suddenly showed it had been ‘read,’ but it had the previous afternoon’s timestamp? I noticed a similar phenomenon when co-parenting communication with my daughter’s father also suddenly failed repeatedly and produced delayed read receipts.
Instead of becoming frustrated about it, I contemplated the matter and came to an enlightening conclusion. Spirit clearly said to me, “The need for control is the opposite of love’s vibration.”
This is so very true. Controlling energy is toxic energy. It was a gentle reminder that I need to keep working on releasing my desire to try and be in perfect control of everything in my life at all times.
When we constantly feel the need to control every aspect of our day, rather than letting the energies of universal love, joy and abundance flow freely in our life, we block our blessings and personal growth.