Spirituality
Astrology Forecast May 10 – 16, 2021
With the Sun traveling through Taurus and a New Moon occurring in the sign tomorrow, it’s time for us to take action to make the changes that will move us forward into a new level of being.
Even simple changes to our appearance and surroundings can have a profound effect this week, so don’t hesitate to make that hair appointment or order that new throw rug or art print to liven up your home. The Taurus moon sextile with Neptune in Pisces will support your efforts with a rise in your artistic flair and imagination.
However, bear in mind that the Taurus New Moon tomorrow may cause some of us to be restless, irritable and even moody. Avoid disagreements and potential conflict with family and relatives this week, as things might easily escalate to a full-blown drama.
The Moon will travel through Gemini Wednesday through Friday, calling for more networking, socializing, and research during the later part of our work week. So, don’t worry if you run up against something you don’t have the answers for or are unfamiliar with, as this is a good week to learn new things.
Jupiter will move into Pisces on Thursday, where it will spend the next two years expanding our awareness and gifts on a spiritual level. Though we may not notice this shift on Thursday, we’ll begin to experience life on a higher, more enlightened plane for the next few years, letting intuition, inner peace and heightened spiritual awareness guide the way.
Plan on a nice, quiet, and relaxing weekend, as the Moon travels through Cancer, the sign of comfort, and the home. Taking it easy is a theme, and a good idea as the pace begins picking up again next week.
Let Your Spiritual Gifts Flow Naturally
We are all metaphysical beings born with a variety of spiritual gifts. Some of us intuitively know how to use our special gifts early in our life, while others may have difficulty embracing them.
Expressing our natural spiritual gifts takes a certain mindset. The key is to not try too hard. That’s right! No blood, sweat or tears are necessary. Just relax, surround yourself with calm and positivity, and clear your mind. Our metaphysical gifts and psychic talents flow naturally when we don’t try to force it.
We experience intuitions, signs and synchronicities every day, but often we do not pay enough attention. You may have felt someone was coming to visit today, or a vision of that person flashed through your mind, and then you bump into them later.
Maybe you smelled a sweet scent that reminded you of someone, or you knew the phone was going to ring, and it just did. We may have a feeling not to drive a certain way home today, and later discover that we missed a major traffic jam. We all have an inner voice that talks to us when we have important choices or decisions to make.
Some people have won the lottery, after the numbers just ‘popped into their mind.’ We all have dreams that reveal important information to us about the past, present or future. Some of us feel sadness or despair when we walk by strangers. We feel soul connections with some people we meet for the first time.
So, you see, we are all gifted, but we just need practice learning how to not try so hard, and instead just get comfortable and attuned with our spiritual self.
Once, Twice, Three Times A Synchronicity!
Synchronicities seem to be coming fast and furious these days! These magical ‘coincidences’ in our everyday world open us up to the Divine Flow, making us feel like we have the key to the ‘Matrix.’ Is it because our spiritual DNA is changing, or is it simply that our focus is now where it had not been before?
The more we become aware of something, the more it enters your daily experience. But it’s also like a boiling pot of water and constantly looking for synchronicities can begin to feel like a guilty obsession.
Of course, many of us are going somewhat ‘nuts’ these days during the pandemic, and we’re searching for deeper meaning while waiting out the crisis. When synchronicities occur these days, they indeed feel like gifts from the gods, and one should never look a gift horse in the mouth.
But that’s precisely what I did about three weeks ago.
My daughter is a young and gifted writer and actress. She recently graduated from a prestigious performing arts school, and her first novel was published this year. She also began working as a theater critic just before the pandemic hit and Broadway went dark, stalling career before it could even properly launch!
I urged her to return home for the lockdown and stay with me, while we waited out the pandemic together. She used this time to write articles for online publications and even landed an acting gig on Zoom. She also successfully pitched a project to a female producer in Hollywood, who graciously took her under her wing, slowly mentoring her with a promising script.
All of this was great, but she feared her trail-blazing would soon grow cold again, and she was hoping to find additional opportunities or prospects.
Everyone Is An Artist
Art is a powerful form of self-expression. It allows us to communicate complex emotions and spiritual concepts through various mediums such as the visual and fine arts, music, dance, acting, creative writing, and so on.
When we are being creative we connect with the subconscious part of ourselves. This can be a powerfully healing experience to help us process and integrate our thoughts, feelings, beliefs and life experiences on a deep level.
When we are children, we don’t have any preconceived ideas about art. If you observe young children, you’ll see this very clearly. They don’t worry about how ‘good’ an artist they are. Most kids just see art as a form of play. They love to draw, or paint, or color, and are typically pretty thrilled with their creations.
So, what happens along the way that we become so self-conscious about our artistic endeavors? It seems to me that at some point most people have had ‘the artist’ within subtly discouraged or silenced. Whatever the case may be,suffice it to say that life takes over at some point and being creative artistically takes a back seat.
“I was never very good at it anyway,” or “I just did it for fun,” are common remarks I’ve heard from people. But what’s wrong with not being very good at something? Especially if it’s fun? Moreover, the benefits of spending time being creative are vast! Art Therapy is growing in popularity and more studies are being done around this modality.
One particular study focused on people with chronic illness or cancer. The researchers looked at the impact visual art activities such as painting, drawing, and pottery had on patients and found that art helped to distract them from thoughts of illness.
Art therapy improved their well-being by decreasing negative emotions and improving positive ones. Depression levels were also reduced, and medical outcomes improved overall. There were also reductions in stress, anxiety, and distress. Further there were improvements in the patients’s spontaneity, expression of their grief, positive identity and social interactions.
The Cosmic Dance Of Life’s Challenges
No matter where in the world you live, the seasons always change, albeit some may present with changes that are more subtle than in other places. While there may be an unexplained blizzard in Florida in March, the windswept islands of the Greater Antilles may be balmy year-round with few dramatic changes in weather.
Wherever we live in the world, nature is a force all unto itself. It is sometimes predictable, while at other times intensely climatic, with extreme highs and lows.
As we all live on this big, green planet we call Earth, our human species is also subject to changes in our natural environment. We are all impacted by the seasons in some way, as well as climate unpredictability. It is an eternal cycle that impacts our crops, livestock and food supplies.
With nearly every turn we make, there is always an interconnectedness that is ever present – a reminder that our vast world is host to a greater macrocosm that supports each and every microcosm. In other words, Spirit, God, the Universe has our back!
The microcosm-macrocosm analogy is a reminder that there is a fundamental similarity that can be seen between the expression of life as we perceive it on this glorious planet, and the wider, infinite cosmos. Some philosophers have posited that a higher understanding of the cosmos may even be more closely inferred from the lessons of human nature, and vice versa.
Without expounding further on these mysteries, I believe we are bound on this plane by a natural ebb and flow that ushers in various degrees of change during many of life’s intervals. One lesson taught by life is that there is no growth without change. We see this in the natural world, as well as our personal lives. To move through various life stages requires fluid thinking, adaptability and purposeful actions.
How To Practice The Art Of Gratitude
My life has not been without its challenges. Nevertheless, I love my job, have a beautiful son, an adorable husband and supportive friends and family. Therefore, irrespective of current world events, I genuinely have a lot to be grateful for!
Gratitude is beneficial for all of us, including physically, emotionally and spiritually. For one, appreciating the good things in our lives helps us to be more tolerant and forgiving, with a higher sense of life satisfaction. Grateful people also tend to have more hope and inner peace and feel less anxious and alone.
God, Spirit, the Universe loves gratitude! Those who are sincerely grateful are blessed with even more to be grateful for. Like attracts like.
How does one ensure that you practice the art of gratitude ever day? The following guidelines should help:
Seek Out The Positive
In my own personal research into positive psychology, I became aware of something referred to as negativity bias. In case you have not heard of this, it means that our negative thoughts tend to be more dominant than the positive ones.
An excellent way of counteracting this negative way of thinking is to seek out at least three things in your life every day that you are well and truly grateful for. Try to make this a daily habit. By doing so, it should have you smiling in next to no time!
I remember when I was about 26 years old and in a particularly challenging place in my life. I was advised by a psychic, whom I reached out to with my troubles, to watch the film or read the book, The Color Purple by Alice Walker. It is some of the best advice I have every received. Once I had read the last chapter, I felt so grateful for whatever I had in my life.
Miracles Happen Every Day
A miracle is described in the dictionary as “an event attributed to divine intervention”, and also referred to as “a phenomenon that defies the laws of nature”. The online Encyclopedia Britannica defines a miracle as “an extraordinary and astonishing happening that is attributed to the presence and action of an ultimate or divine power”. In certain translations of the Bible the terms “wonder,” “mighty work” and “sign” are also used to describe miracles.
Most people would say that a miracle has occurred when the medical profession says there is no hope for a particular patient, and then, miraculously, the patient recovers fully, and without the complications which would have been expected connected to their condition.
But miracles are not necessarily always larger than life or dramatic. Miracles can happen for anyone at any time. And don’t expect an earthly explanation, or even to be taken seriously by everyone when the miracle has happened to you.
People have often told me of little miracles that have happened to them. For example, they don’t know how their bills will be paid, and out of the blue they receive a check in the post, or money is given to them, or they would win the exact amount needed to lift them out of their financial dilemma. Although I can’t prove it scientifically, I also know for sure that miracles have happened to me.
Two separate miracles I recall very vividly are both connected to my pets. A dog, and a cat named Miracle!
When my 5 year old Rottweiler, Sophia, was rushed to the vet with what we thought was an upset stomach, a burst duodenal ulcer and peritonitis were diagnosed instead. The vets had little hope, because even for strong humans this ailment can be life threatening.
Following the diagnosis, the vet phoned me and said they had to operate immediately. I asked if I could phone my husband and get back to them. I was informed with a sense of urgency that there was no time to do that, and even if they did operate on Sophia immediately there was very little hope.