I woke one morning as the sun rose in early Virgo with the thought that the Zodiacal Round is an apt metaphor for our personal odyssey. Of course others have had this same brilliant thought. Aha! But is this a good reason not to pursue it? Throughout the history of literature there have apparently been only seven basic plots in fiction-writing though as an astrologer, I might push for twelve basic varieties.
Be that as it may, I woke with this simple but powerful image. I saw the twelve signs of the Zodiac as primary way stations along our life's journey. Simplicity is the doorway to the Profound--isn't that the essential nature of the Truth? Consider the elemental Yin/Yang symbol, how it captures the meaning of Life itself, the ever-shifting balance, the one within the other, the dynamic polarity of life seeking interdependence, All in One. The astrological symbol for the Sun, a circle with a dot in the middle, is a stripped down version of the same statement. Within the One, differentiation germinates and becomes whole.
So. Let us approach this simple but profound shell of Wholeness, the World Egg (Arcanum XXI of the Tarot) and take the Fool's Journey through the twelve station cycle of the Zodiac.
ARIES. We begin at the beginning with our leap into the unknown. We step out of bounds, beyond the pale (from the Latin palus for 'stake'; the staked boundary or palisade) and enter a new country, a new sense of self. It is the step itself that counts--the true source of our motivation lies in the mysterious, preceding station of Pisces. That source is the unknowable, the ineffable, and at the Aries point we are only concerned with getting a move on. If you have to think about it, it's not going to happen. The why's and wherefore's have no currency here, only the impetus to Begin matters.
Aries is the first sign AND it is the first fire sign-- the divine spark, the original ignition switch. Without this initial spark, there is no journey. If you want motivational inspiration, go watch a Leo in action. And if you want motivational text, go read something by a Sagittarian. But if you want your Pinocchio puppet to be magicked into a Real Boy, then begin your journey at your own "Aries point",
the degree of your rising sign.
TAURUS. Now, as we are not perpetual motion machines, our second way station provides the original Pause button. Whoa! Hang on just a minute here. Where am I? What was I rushing off for? Let me just stop a while at this particularly beautiful rest area, enjoy the view, drink in the fresh air, stretch my legs, maybe take a little snooze with my paramour over there in that lovely bower.... Ahhh, Taurus what are we going to do when the financially-strapped state highway departments start shutting down those idyllic rest stops along your wayside?
When the Powers that Be say "Nope, sorry, gotta keep moving," we lose our well-deserved Taurus pause that refreshes. We are harried on along our way--ours is not a culture that supports the long, lingering lunch, the leisurely Saturday morning, the sensuous indulgence of slow food. Of slow Anything. But Taurus is not just a throw-back experience to the pre-industrial age. Without that meaningful time-out, we become lost to our own journey. No amount of legal tender in our pocket is going to buy back the time we missed in evaluating just what is WHAT since we left our Aries starting gate.
My best advice. Do not short change your Taurus Pause along the Way. Stop and hug a tree, your dog, your child, your partner, your best friend. Check in. Stay a while. Smile. Breathe. The journey is meaningless without experiencing where you are. Own it. Find your Taurus and dive right in. Make it yours.
GEMINI. Okay, let's say you've gained your Taurus equilibrium, nice and grounded and feeling good. What's next? Look around--the world's a multi-dimensional playground of opportunities! Of course this isn't so obvious if we haven't taken the time to stop and smell the roses. Our focus is fuzzy, or strung too tight, or bored with the same old-same old. Gemini will get us into some pretty superficial situations with our Monkey Mind--talk for the sake of talk, gossip and hearsay, little lies and self-deceptions... Oh yes, it's a wily Coyote character we can encounter here if we're not really rested up and paying attention.
But what Gemini really wants is to explore this playground. Make new friends, share some toys--didn't you love finding just the right person to share the see-saw? Gemini looks around and looks again, sensing the possibilities, seeing all the avenues, feeling the delight of hands that wave and lips that speak. Bright ideas lead us here then there and back again. When we settled our Taurus bodies, our minds opened up--presto change-oh!
Winding Colorado mountain roads used to sport yellow caution signs that said THINK. Imagine that. Those road signs are gone, but we still have plenty of existential reminders about the unpredictability of the Road: CROSS WINDS MAY EXIST. Yes indeed, they may. Gemini wants us to pay attention, consider our actions, and discover delight in the vagaries of Life.
CANCER. All right, now we've set out down the road, we've stopped to enjoy the rest area, and we've explored this new ground with zesty awareness. What does Cancer's way station look like? Home. Home? What do you mean--isn't that what Aries left behind? Well, first you must understand that Cancer turns a corner. Our journey is one quarter completed, the first of the four Sacred Directions has been experienced. In the East, we traveled the quadrant of self-awareness (Aries), self-possession (Taurus), and self-discovery (Gemini). At the Cancer point we begin the second quadrant--personal development.
Cancer's station requires us to come Home and know it from the inside out. In a sense, we did abandon this home when we set out with our Aries bravado. We didn't look back--we couldn't or we never would have begun our journey. Cancer says now you must come to know me for who I really am, at the deepest level. I am your roots, I am your Grandmother's heartbeat, I am your place of ultimate safety, you can never lose me because I am your source. From this place you will become all you can be. You are unconditionally loved.
It is a difficult part of the journey for many of us, coming Home. Perhaps we must eat several servings of humble pie. Perhaps we don't know where we began and no one is left to tell us. But do not fear--the heart will take us home if we are brave enough to heed our most ancient longing and our deepest need for comfort. Slowly but steadily, with feeling, childhood talismans in hand (our baby blanket, Dad's pocket watch, Mom's pearls), we are guided.
LEO. I hate to be the one to tell you this. But only the one who has truly gone home again is going to succeed at the way station ruled by the regal Sun itself. I mean really, why do you think Leo gets to wear that crown? It's not some silly award handed out by your high school art teacher or even this year's Oscar judges. No, no cowardly lions rule this domain, though many stalk it. Our true heroines and heroes are those who have been courageous enough to return to their own fearful past and get right with it. With that quest behind us, our Leonine nature is proud to shine with an integrity that is inspirational to others.
When we shine from within our creativity overflows, laughing and joyful and good-hearted. At the Leo point we meet the lonesome child who dragged herself Home and re-won her brilliance, her genuine talent, and her right to express it all. Those who arrive by default, by shortcut, by the backdoor, we know as egotists, as braggarts, as the deeply disturbed celebrity. Witness Michael Jackson. It is obvious that Michael never went Home, hard as he tried. His own childhood was lost to him and so he claimed the childhoods of others.
We are all offered the grace to express our most royal selves. It is not an easy road, but it is our birthright. And we need our heroes and heroines--real ones--to show us that indeed it can be done.
VIRGO. Ah, NOW we're seeing some progress--be it the Fool's Progress or the Sage's. Talk about getting your work done! Okay, no one finds it exactly easy walking Virgo's sandy, up and down path, but you know you're accomplishing SOMETHING when you feel those calf and thigh muscles burning. Virgo can sometimes seem like the personal coach we love to hate.
First, there's the daily regimen. Yep, every day, no excuses. There's the "might as well eat right too" as long as you're committed to this wellness program. And, well, if I'm going to invest in that treadmill then I need to clear the clutter out of that spare room or corner... Sure enough, it turns out that doing right by ourselves and others requires a quotidian commitment and attention to detail.
In fact, the reason Virgo WORKS for us as a positive experience is because it is the sum total of all the work we've just accomplished. Having journeyed through the two quadrants of our interior landscape, Virgo has a discerning and practiced eye. It is effective because we know how to take the Aries leap into a challenging new course of action. Because we know how to Taurus-like stop and evaluate that action. Because we know how to use our brilliant Gemini minds by attending and responding, because we have made Cancer's brave journey Home again and earned the right to roar with Leonine joy. What else would we want for ourselves at this point but to apply everything we've learned?
Nice job, Virgo.
Page 2.
A final note regarding the first half of our journey. Virgo is the practical, measurable culmination of those experiences. But as Pisces' opposite, she is also the mysterious handmaiden of the Soul. Hold that thought til we reach the 12th station. Now it is time to turn another corner.
LIBRA. Enter, all you brave of heart, the land of Relationship. Here our path discovers it has an echo, it resonates with the understanding that we walk not alone but among loved ones, friends we have not yet met, cohorts and adversaries. Libra's station introduces us to those who live in our most private hand mirror. These are the people (or projects) who reflect what we both desire and fear. Libra teaches us the most amazing b secrets about our Selves and Others. We have met the Enemy and He is Us.
Here we make friends with our Shadow. Libra urges us to join hands and share our thoughts, our delights, our intentions. We put ourselves on the line and sit at the cafeteria table only to encounter the many shades of our own reflection in the world. How can we choose among them? But choose we must, as we learned along Virgo's way. This can be a frightening prospect or a long-awaited contract--both, most likely. In the end, all of our gregariousness--our deep breaths of social interaction--must come to an essential choice. Will we embrace our intention/intended and walk as one or will we dissemble into a lonely and private space?
There is only so long we may prevaricate. Yes, mistakes will be made, divorces and dissolved partnerships may mark our wayside as we learn about our reflections and projections and storybook ideals. Still, there is only one way forward. Through the looking glass Alice, as crazy as it all seems.
SCORPIO. Alrighty then. Libra sat us down at the table together, introduced us to the pleasantries of polite company and taught us how to pick and choose from the menu of life with others. In Scorpio's domain it's the middle of the night and we've left our bright dining room for the candle-lit kitchen, the bathroom or bedroom. And OMG we're not alone. That significant other we committed to is glued to our side, stitched to our ankles like Peter Pan's lost shadow.
We know it now, we're in this for the long haul. We're going the distance together, ready or not. Sex, birth, death, resurrection--all that power stuff we'd just rather not face... What's mine is yours and who ARE you anyway? The romance is over. Who IS that I'm waking up next to? How in the hell did I get here? All the best questions live along the Scorpio way. The deeper you take them the more miraculous the rewards. We're in the sacred place of Process. We may never get an answer, but we will experience the fullness of the mystery. How precious those late night truth talks at the kitchen table, the sweet balm of absolution, the passion of baring body and soul.
Our path has disappeared into the midnight hours where only the essential truth dawns. Many are lost in these haunted shadows. Many more finally recognize their own most precious treasures in the eyes of their demons. We have met the Enemy and we bless It.
SAGITTARIUS. Like the Phoenix rising, we ascend to the lofty, ever-expanding spaces of Sagittarius. Here we sojourn with our grander visions of life, we stroll arm in arm along broad, venerable tree-lined avenues beneath the halls of higher learning. Or solitary, we tread the peaceful, worn flagstones of the cloister walk. Sagittarius is the way station of Graduation.
We have gone the Scorpio distance and emerged stronger and wiser. Whether we now journey alone or with our re-vitalized Other, our relationship has been tested by Hellfire and purged.
Sagittarius is the land without borders, the realm of adventure and discovery. Here our higher mind breaks new ground. Beware your new-found enthusiasm does not beat your fellows about the head and shoulders--brow-beating and even bear-baiting are pitfalls of this path. Completing our relationship quadrant here, we have raised the bar of experience, set sail for distant goals, lit the beacon of our lighthouse and banked the embers of that fire so we will not lose our way again.
We wonder though, now what? What's next? What have I prepared myself for? What does it really mean? How do I use all this learning? For all its expanse and freedom, this is a shifting territory. We are urged to move on farther still, right to the pinnacle of our journey. We might have made peace with our Genius, but now that Wisdom must get to work.
Work? Does this sound something like Virgo's path? Indeed it does. Gemini as well. Each of these three paths wind and shift and beg the question, what is next? Each completes a quadrant of our journey, and in fact from Gemini's playground, when our swing is at its highest reach, we can catch a glimpse of Sagittarius's promise, way off on the far horizon.
CAPRICORN. Here we begin the final stretch of our quest--the Transpersonal quadrant. Meaning we must now transcend our personal experience of life and join forces with the world at large. Indeed we ARE the world at large. Capricorn's station is where we pick up our mantle of responsibility, our badges of honor, the name that the world knows us by. When we walk our Capricorn path it may seem solitary and self-reliant, but the mountain we are ascending is the massif of global reality.
The work we accomplish here is our contribution to Life. Whether our way is marked with pride or humility, whether we push bills through Congress or a shopping cart through metro LA, we are honor-bound to tread Capricorn's demanding road. We may trail clouds of glory or clouds of despair, but there is always a higher elevation urging us on.
Perhaps the inequity of life is the very calling we respond to. Whatever rocky point we stand upon, we desire to reach higher, with integrity and purpose. Capricorn's way is littered with failure and setbacks. It is the builder of backbone and fortitude so that we can truly know we have been this way. When you honor your efforts, you honor the path we all climb.
AQUARIUS. Here at last is the point on the journey where all our paths connect. Who knew? Like a living matrix, a great creative void of Chaos, everything we've learned (or haven't) can be found, or not, here in this psychedelic swirl of energy. Like particle and wave, now you see it, now you don't. Friends, ideas, visions, synchronicities--all come and go from this place.
No doubt about it, Aquarius is a trippy spot on the map. What's it for? Is this what I sacrificed blood sweat and tears for back on the Capricorn trail? Yes M'am! What we've accomplished has freed our imagination, granted us a liberty of mind and meaning, taught us that we all live side by side, regardless of station. What a relief! It's NOT all about duty and obligation, but about pouring those honorable efforts into the great mulligan stew of the masses and finding that it can nourish us each and every one.
And if this seems a rather unpredictable outcome for all our concerted efforts, you're correct again. Unpredictability is the rarest of spices--the one we, well, cannot account for. And this teaching is the last best preparation for the near-end of our journey. The great Harmonic Convergence looks like nothing so much as your huddled masses yearning to be free. We all stand together or not at all. Yecchh! The unwashed masses! It is a brilliant joke, no? Oh, shades of the Cosmic Trickster, it's going to take a stroke of genius to make sense of this wild country. As Einstein noted, our situation is not going to get resolved with the same elements that created it. Und so?
PISCES. So we come to the twelfth station and the final stretch of our journey. Of course this is not the end, this is preparation for the next beginning. Once we have completed our Odyssey, we are ready to start anew on any number of cycles. Every day the Earth rotates through all twelve signs of the zodiac, one every two hours. Each year Earth orbits through the zodiac, one sign every month. Each planetary energy orbits the zodiac according to its appointed tempo--29 days for the Moon, 248 years for Pluto. Whatever cycle we are tuned in to, we take the essence of our learning with us. If we skipped steps, we may try them again. If we accomplished great leaps, there may be a test.
Sacred Pisces carries the mystery of all endings and beginnings, where our journey enters the clouds of Unknowing. Here we integrate all we've learned, consciously or unconsciously.
We enter the dream of sleep, the sleep of dream. Our twelve stations merge here, collapsing and condensing until like a dark hole they draw our very essence through the tunnel of love, dissolution and renewal.
I think I need a drink! No? How best to negotiate the path of Pisces then? Surrender, Dorothy! Release, disengage, yield. Realize that those red shoes are going to take you home, as long as you've got them on your feet. The red shoes bind us to this life of incarnation and rebirth, like our bodies of red blood and tissue and marrow. This is the Pisces energy that infuses its complement, Virgo, with the inspiration to take each next breath, our continual re-commitment to this life's path.
This is also the Pisces energy that rebirths us
to begin again as Aries rises.
But along the Great Way, Pure Pisces is a barefoot experience. There are no red shoes to take us home Dorothy. Pure Pisces is the Soul dis-incarnate, our connection to Creator, Source, and Infinite Life. No matter which stretch of the path you are treading, your Eternal Self is always immersed in that unnamed mist of Pure Pisces.
Blessed be your Journey.
