Aries: You have always been astonishing in your ability to speak directly from the source of your being because as the first sign of the zodiac, no one comes before you and almost everything you say is fresh and genuinely original. Add to that a current visit from transiting Mercury and Uranus in the first house of your chart making you even more a uniquely creative thinker. As if that is not enough, Venus and Jupiter are passing through the second house and a cornucopia of riches is waiting to be tapped by you (although riches does not necessary translate into the coin of the realm.) You might think that this all sounds as if it is too good to be true, when the truth is what is good is what is true. The one challenge is a whopper, a retrograde Saturn opposing your sign for six and one-half more months and impelling you to keep working on the diplomacy thing. This noble challenge may keep you silent more than one would expect. In those periods of golden silence, as the Sun and Neptune are sequestered in the twelfth house of your solar chart, communicate only to the forces that are high above us. Not a word need be spoken. Those forces can read your mind for they are your cosmic siblings. Great changes are coming down the pike and your sign is the first one to recognize what the new wave has to offer. Please keep this secret information under wraps so that the rest of us do not blow our minds prematurely.

Taurus: You may have your sights on distant places, yet you are comfortably settled in one place. Your sign is the counterforce to Aries, the previous sign, with its propensity for spontaneous combustion. You can be the immovable object when you see that you are close to discovering the treasure—whatever the treasure might be. You dig your heels in and ground all your forces. Then, no matter what life tosses at you, you can catch it and hold on to it if it has any value for you. You are in an intense work period yet you always find a way to offset the heavy duty demands by luxuriating in some way to restore your composure. It allows you to continue to believe you are still in control. Perhaps somewhere in the back of your mind, you realize you are kidding yourself and during those moments of sheer enlightenment, you consider doing what otherwise you would not voluntarily want to do. You consider letting go and emptying the vessel bolstered by your faith in the life process and your trust that you will be replenished. If you open up to some revelatory concepts that keep crossing your mind, there is a very good chance that by changing lanes and altering the way you operate, you will be better off in the long run. Were you to see a preview of what lies ahead and you realized a change in your thinking was imperative, would you still hesitate? In that case, save yourself the trouble and start working from a different script. It will be given to you if you are willing to turn a new leaf.

Gemini: Most of this cycle’s story for your sign lies in the last quadrant of your solar chart. The transiting Sun (the spark of divine light) joined by transiting Neptune (the planet of enchantment) are standing high in the sky at your solar chart’s zenith. Your standing in the world is what is highlighted now, only take care not to deceive yourself into thinking you are contributing something that you really are not. For one thing, while what we do matters very much to us; it does not matter all that much in the greater scheme of things. We live in a universe that has billions and billions of galaxies and all of them are teeming with life. Perhaps not life as we know it here, but life nevertheless. On the other hand (a Gemini expression if there ever was one), no one wants you to think that your efforts are purposeless. Every constructive effort made anywhere at any time moves the wheel of life further along and if your heart is in the right place, it raises the vibration of the planet as a whole. That said, you can surely be inspired to continue on with your endeavors and not give up in the face of stumbling blocks that offer you practical reasons to reconsider following your creative impulses. For, despite the hitches and the glitches, you have support from the cosmos and from the heavenly creatures on high who are pleased about how you bring brilliant light into this world. In some magical way, they will keep your ship afloat and keep you singing your song of love.

Cancer: You are thinking about your future during this cycle and forming pictures in your mind as to how you would like to see it unfold. Most especially, your focus is currently placed on the area of work and the service you provide. You ask yourself, how can you continue refining your product and your services? The answer is to keep allowing the cosmic flow of your higher mind to inundate your being and to transcend any thoughts of inadequacy or insufficiency. Jupiter, the planet of abundance is exalted in your sign and there is a cornucopia of plenty available to you in service to your mission. Fear attracts so there is no reason to go into a space of fear. Pessimism can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The archetypical role you are fulfilling in the world is that of the nurturing parent and your capacity to be there for people who need a little tenderness is not only your most effective tool; it is your most dependable source of support. Therefore, however you choose to channel the wonderful quality you have to lift people’s spirits and encourage them to follow their heart, never underestimate its power to uplift the world around you. After all, what would we do without people like you? The world would be a tougher place if some of us did not care as much as you do.

Leo: You are in a very nice alignment with the cosmos during this time period. The temptation, however, to think big thoughts and make elaborate plans seldom disappears, for nothing less than your heart’s desire is going to completely fulfill you. Pragmatism is staring you in the face and asking that you edit out anything you can live without, which in your way of seeing it means nothing is going to go. In that case, you will require some able assistance from the cosmic rescue squad because you are sick and tired of watching your dreams vaporize in the glare of Monday morning reality. Still, who can you trust? In your professional mode, your sunshiny smile suggests that you love everybody (because you want lots of folks to love you.) The people who want you to join forces with them, however, may attempt to change the way you like to do things and it is challenging for you to let go of the reins of power. The important thing to bear in mind during this cycle is that you are beginning to look at the world differently and the place you wish to occupy is one of style and substance, rather than a place where there is one and not the other or where there is none at all. Go deeper into your situation and you can perceive what you have been missing—the one piece that will complete the puzzle so that it can point you in the right direction—and the right direction is the one where you get to keep all that you love and still have room for more.

Virgo: Although your sign is infamous for being super critical, fussy and difficult to please, that is not at all the way you are playing on this go round. Just ask those nearest and dearest to you. Each day, you are growing into the perfect person to have as a steady companion—unselfish, attentive and caring; why the milk of human kindness just runs through your veins. If you are still single (and many Virgos are) you would not have to be once you show the most likely candidate for your hand, so to speak, what a dutiful partner you can be. Some energy has walked into you and awakened you to what makes your life meaningful. Accordingly, you are no longer going to bury yourself in tasks that make the world around you work better and leave you in the end feeling miserable. Instead, you are taking another look at what life is offering you. You are now or very soon likely to choose a new path in life where you let things flow organically without your constantly picking them apart. Sometimes the answer to the question or the solution to the problem is delayed, yet if you wait patiently the answers and the solutions will come without your having to coerce them. It is only when they land in your lap naturally that they work well enough to satisfy your standards. So back off and let the rest of the universe do its job and that way the coast will be clear for you to do yours without a whole lot of irritating distractions getting in your way.

Libra: Mercury and Uranus, representing the lower (concrete) and higher (abstract) mind respectively are in the seventh house of your solar chart where you meet the other person (whoever that might be at any moment.) The question is what part of your mind will you meet them with—will it be in the spirit of fairness and conciliation or will it be with the attitude of ‘what’s in it for me’? Perhaps the work you have been engaged in of late is not going as well as you would hope and you could use some positive reinforcement. You might attribute any run of unfortunate events as the result of the Saturn principle, still in your sign and staying there for many months to come. Saturn is known in astrological literature as the lord of karma. Through the power of crystallization, the karmic principle puts the energy of your thoughts and deeds on the screen of your reality to show you where you have slipped up, gone off the path and failed to live up to your promises to the universe. Saturn is a symbol of the universal taskmaster whose role is to assist you in becoming the magnificent being you know you can be. Once you tap into the strength you have to overcome any limitations that stop you from reaching your greatest good, Saturn eases up on the pressure. Basically Saturn is teaching you to be true to yourself, just as Mr. Shakespeare said, “This above all, to thine own self be true.” Then life will flow with greater ease, which is what Libra wants from life. So take a tip from another Brit, and a Libra as well, Mr. Oscar Wilde who gave some good advice when he said, “Just be you! Everyone else is taken.”

Scorpio: This is karma clearing time for you with Saturn positioned in the twelfth house of your solar chart; however, there are compensations. It would be unwise to be a shut-in during this cycle as your relationship life can provide you with growth and with joy (as Venus and Jupiter are placed in relationship sector of your solar chart where you have access to all kinds of lovely people.) You might also come up with some bright ideas about how to give your workplace where you carry out your labors a facelift that can help you shift your attitude toward work. It is time to make changes in your everyday routine and make sure you do not sink into a state of stagnation. Consistency and continuity may help you to feel secure but they can also dull down or even deaden your creative fire. If Saturn has been testing you in ways that are difficult to fathom, you can turn that overheated emotional energy of yours into a powerful urge to break through to the next level. That means engaging in activities that are new for you and pursuing projects that challenge you to stretch yourself. You may have been wasting far too much time processing your feelings and not nearly enough time channeling those emotions into something that gives you a renewed feeling of aliveness. In many ways, you have made substantial progress, yet there is still more to be done before you reach the level of satisfaction that you crave. For one thing, you might take a few days off and have a go at something you have never done before, if, in fact, something exists that would fit that description.

Sagittarius: You have always been an adventurer, only now the adventure is not to be found in travel to exotic destinations. Instead, the quest is in heading toward your inner depths, as you listen to what that voice down deep inside has to tell you. You are at a critical juncture in your life where the old vehicle you were hitching a ride on has reached the end of the road, while something new and expansive is budding in the windmills of your mind. At home, in the quiet hours long after darkness has fallen, you yearn to see this new plan of yours land on solid ground. At the same time, you question whether a different agenda can support the lifestyle you have been enjoying. As the optimist of the zodiac, you never wish to believe that you will fail, yet the human part of you that has still not yet reached perfection knows that a period of grinding to a halt is usually interspersed among the periods of triumph. This is why turning the page and beginning a new chapter can seem daunting. But wait a minute, you have Venus and Jupiter in transit visiting your solar sixth house during this cycle and this supports your ability to create something beautiful, bountiful and beneficial. It is the love in your heart that makes for the magic. This time around that love can make a beeline into your workplace where you can conjure up the answer to many a person’s prayers. Once again you will be a hero in your own eyes, as well as a role model and mentor in the eyes of the people whose prayers you are answering.

Capricorn: You are aiming to materialize the goals you have in mind, come hell or high water. Of course the fear that hell and a deluge to follow is exactly what many of us are in for when we finally wake up from a deep sleep and face the music is what drives you personally to raise the voltage in your efforts toward achieving additional power. If a strategic attack that can wipe out all opposition is the choice you must make, then, as Margaret Thatcher once said, “there is simply no alternative.” Still, if might makes right, then liberty is license and that is not playing fair. Ah, now we are getting down to it. Your ruling planet, the one that guides you from cradle to grave is Saturn and the Saturn principle currently stands tall at the top of your solar chart in the sign of the balance to remind you that regardless of what anyone else is doing at any time, you have agreed to honor the game of life and play by its rules. Believe it or not, instead of going into the lion’s den and risking it all, take time out to enjoy life. For the solution to any challenge that presents itself is not about fighting fire with fire (it just keeps the momentum of the battle going endlessly) or proving you are right (if you really were, you would not have to prove it.) The best solution is to embrace that most elusive of human conditions—happiness, and when you truly arrive there, you will no longer care whether you win or lose. If you are authentically happy, there is no way that you could feel that you have lost anything.

Aquarius: Neptune, the planet of idealism and inspiration, which when misdirected leads to deception, has finally left the Aquarian sky and moved into Pisces, the next sign. So now both Neptune and the Sun are in your solar second house of personal values and your challenge is to perceive what is most important. You cannot do everything, because there is so much to do, so you are going to need to prioritize. You do not want to keep doing the same thing over and over (unless of course that same thing is making you rich; or at least solvent.) You want to keep your life filled with a broad spectrum of experience and a wide circle of acquaintances. You may call those folks friends but as far as they are concerned much of the time they feel they hardly know you. You are always full of surprises and difficult to define. You get close to us and we respond with a display of intimacy. Then you back off at the first sign that we are getting close (which to you is too close.) You are omnipresent when we are distant and elusive when we are present. No wonder your sign is known as the most eccentric one in the zodiac. You will probably want to be hanging out a lot with yourself and by yourself these days, so go ahead and turn off the world. Getting more in touch with the person that you are inside is what matters now. That may seem scary when it actually can be quite wonderful because by building familiarity and intimacy with self, you will be far more able to hold your own in any situation that life presents to you. You might think you are already there. In that case, put it to the test. Take the month ahead and make a pledge to stick with every intention you have right now. Then you will know for sure if the true values you hold dear are strong enough and pure enough to withstand any challenge presented to them.

Pisces: You are usually filled with visionary ideas and never more so than now, as your ruling planet Neptune joins the Sun on February 19 and then a few days later, the Moon will be in your sign as well. So make the most of that week and the weeks to follow can deliver the kind of energy your soul longs for and your heart opens to with exuberance. Many astrologers have referred to Neptune as the great deceiver and Pisces must always be mindful about being genuine. Your sign is the zodiac’s endpoint and you have absorbed all of the information the eleven preceding signs have brought into the picture. Therefore, you are the chameleon of the group, able to project every facet of human behavior, whether you actually feel it or not. You do feel it in a way in the moment but then you return to where you are at and suddenly wonder why the feelings you are left with are ones of ambivalence. Examine the symbol of your sign—two fishes bound together, yet attempting to swim in opposite directions. One represents the journey toward the divine light while the other represents the path away from the light, submerged in deep darkness and the forgetfulness that follows. When you are in that second fish’s space what you are temporarily forgetting is that you promised the universe to be a vessel of love, compassion and healing. It is a high and holy destiny. Why settle for less by turning your temple into a tavern, trying to drown out the pain of living in a world that is not your natural habitat—a world that is too slow, too dense, too harsh and too lacklustre to ultimately satisfy you. If, however, you can rise above your own disappointment with much of life and become a pure channel of light and love, then the principle of Neptune becomes, as one astrologer put it, the cosmic Santa Claus and delivers to your door the stuff that your dreams are made of if only you will open that door to receive it.

Saturn transits through the Scorpio Sky (Saturn in Scorpio–210-239 degrees on the ecliptic) From October 5,2012 until December 23,
2014 and then back again on June 16, 2015 until September 19, 2015.

What does not destroy me makes me stronger—Fredrich
Nietzsche

Scorpio consciousness seeks deep merging with others yet when Saturn enters the Scorpio Sky, fears arise that one can be overpowered by others. The lesson to be learned is that the divine light shines in all living things and nothing ‘out there’ is more powerful than what is within. When this awareness is
cultivated, one can feel safe in the company of any outside presence.

Individuals with the sign of Scorpio strongly emphasized in their chart (Sun, Moon, rising placements or many planets in Scorpio) are fascinated by the dark side of life—the unknown and mysterious elements hidden from view in the everyday world. Once an experience captures their interest, these individuals cannot leave it alone until they have investigated the matter totally, all the way to
the core. When Saturn is involved, however, the investigator may grow fearful
of plunging beyond its depths and evoking forces that are a real challenge to
withstand.

On a larger scale, Saturn in Scorpio symbolizes a fear pervading society that the world is spinning out of control. As financial resources are drained, as productivity and prosperity decline and crime and rebellion go on the upswing, no amount of reasoning can placate the sense of dread that permeates mass consciousness–a fear that any day now, the dam is going to burst. As a result, it becomes imperative that austerity measures are put in place to bring to a halt the
ongoing tide of political and economic errors weakening the foundations of the
social order. As Scorpio represents the stage of the zodiac where consciousness
goes beyond previous limits, Saturn’s passage through that sign gives rise to
intense concern that extreme measures could be and perhaps must be taken to
avoid apocalyptic chaos.

Consider the steps the Nazis took to restore Germany back to its former glory in the aftermath of war and economic depression, which left that country in a state of devastation.

Western astrology was developed in the Northern Hemisphere. In its origins, it
corresponded with the changes in the natural world over the course of a year,
beginning with the year’s natural starting point, the spring equinox. Scorpio,
the eighth sign of the zodiac, is the sign that symbolizes the death process,
as its energy comes into play at a time when Nature is sinking into a state of
decay. There is still the promise of new life and new growth that the death
process is making room for and it is Nature’s pledge of renewal that enables
life to endure throughout the cold, stark reality that follows, when the
outside world seems to stand still in a state of perpetual postponement. The
underlying principle that allows us to understand the meaning of the death
process is that while something of value has expired, the value is not lost. It
will merge with forces of Nature that bring it back to life in an empowered
state that is able to overcome what previously challenged its very existence. This
is what is known as the process of regeneration, whereby energy that seems to
have perished from the earth is transformed into what it now needs to be, so
that the same circumstances that previously appeared to pose a threat will no
longer stand in the way.

This is the promise of Saturn’s passage through Scorpio. Whatever diminishes the power of life to grow and to thrive will be shattered and out of the ashes will re-emerge the truth of what was destined from the start. No longer scarred and diminished by flaws and limitations, by impotency and helplessness, Saturn’s passage through Scorpio heralds a time when those who ride its waves discover that their strength comes from the inner light that will shine forever, as long as they keep moving with the changing times.

Jupiter transits through the Gemini Sky (Jupiter in Gemini –60-89 degrees on the ecliptic) From June 11, 2012 until June 26, 2013

Do I contradict myself? Very well,
then I contradict myself. I am large. I contain multitudes—Walt Whitman

To provide balance to the intense energy of Saturn in Scorpio, we can all thank heaven for Jupiter’s passage through Gemini, offering us some breathing space when the emotional climate grows murky and the human shadow appears to be holding sway over our daily lives.

The Gemini principle represents a light-hearted approach to life. Prone to losing its focus more than any other sign, the diffusive, quick-on-the-draw and
multifaceted consciousness of Gemini wants to keep the cosmic flow moving
forward—here, there and everywhere, stimulated by this, and then that and then followed by the other thing. No two moments are the same for Gemini is bored with sameness.

As Jupiter transits through the Gemini sky, look forward to an outpouring of information so fast and furious that merely keeping up with the flow is certain to become an all-consuming experience.

The Gemini principle can be appropriately symbolized as an eternal student who loves to create alternatives– interested in knowing about everything and just as quick to lose interest and search for the next bit of knowledge to embrace. Gemini thrives on change, so in the second half of 2012, anticipate changes at work, changes in the form relationships take, changes in the social and economic
systems and fueling it all—changes in attitude.

Thomas P. Neill said of the author, Fyodor Dostoevsky, in a book entitled, “Makers of the Modern Mind” –“Whatever he was, and he was almost everything, he was also just the opposite.” Dostoevsky had the placement of the Moon in Gemini.

Not so much an originator, as an adapter, Gemini develops variations derived from an original prototype that keeps an activity fresh and sustains its amusement value. It is almost impossible to pin down the consciousness of Gemini, for it is clever and quick enough to discover an immediate escape route once the momentum grinds to a halt and the mood becomes serious and heavy-handed.

Jupiter is expansive, spiritual and philosophical in nature. While Mercury, Venus and Mars are relatively close to the Earth, Jupiter is much further away. Gemini wants to bring Jupiter’s far-reaching, big picture perspective into an everyday context, perhaps with a series of catch phrases that will make the
extraordinary ordinary, so that everyone can be on the same page, regardless of
how lofty a concept may have been at its inception.

Playing the Jupiter in Gemini game masterfully could be compared to being a champ at the game of trivial pursuit. In having stored a plethora of facts about the popular culture, one may lead others into thinking how smart you are, yet is it not true that for intelligence to be meaningful, it requires some measure of depth and substance? True intelligence possesses the capacity for creative and
original thinking with the ability to think abstractly while mentally cutting
through any obstacle in order to resolve a potentially problematic issue.

Normally, Geminis might prefer to evade unpleasant news. Perhaps this time around, Jupiter will expand the powers of Gemini so that the general population will take in information that blasts them out of their comfort zone, as it supports them in facing the facts. For despite having a highly geared nervous system that gives rise to a fragile constitution, it is the fact of the matter that Gemini seeks,
which is not a ‘pie-in-the-sky’ reality but simply the current physical
condition of what is happening in the moment.

Paul Six
December 22, 2011

The stories that unfold through the life process are allegories. They are bridges
to a comprehension of something greater, something beyond our conventional
experience. Human beings argue endlessly about the facts of these stories, yet
the stories themselves are merely stepping-stones. The meaning is the
destination and the reason there is a story in the first place.

The following essay expresses the essence of Kabbalah and of the Tree of Life. It might surprise some to learn that these great works are astrologically-based. The Jewish mystics who channeled this information saw the divine, not in an anthropomorphic sense, but as the light energy transmitted from the source of all life and alive at the core of every living being.

In the Jewish faith, all human beings are considered to be equal to one another, regardless of their individual accomplishments. No human being, however, could ever be coequal with God.

If Christianity had not made Jesus coequal with God, however, then as it was
originally formulated, it would have merely been Judaism, minus all of its
sacred rituals. What made Christianity distinctive was the ascension into
divinity of Yeshua Ben Yosuf, a practicing Jew, but one who wanted to refine
his religion, raise its vibration to a higher level and communicate the ancient
teachings of his people in a gentler sounding and more loving manner. He was
the first human being who completely surrendered the ego-mind to become a pure channel for the divine light.

The letter J does not exist in the Hebrew or Aramaic Alphabet, so the name Jesus is the theological person, not the historical one.

Yeshua (which means Lamb of God) was the one who took the concept of divine light and made it personal. Ever since then, millions upon millions of grateful followers have made his person divine. It is doubtful that the historical person would have ever wanted that, for the meaning of the second commandment of his religion is that human beings are not to bow down and worship anything that lives on the earth—past, present or future.  Only God is above us and because God is above us, God is unknowable. (I am that I am.)

To place one’s faith in an invisible reality was apparently too much to ask of most human beings, who perceived their brain and what their five senses reported to them as the source of truth. What they failed to realize was that their physical faculties revealed the perception of an illusion. The illusion existed and still exists, so that human beings could learn the lessons they came here to learn in the school of life. In the true reality, there is no way to distinguish one thing from another because everything is unified and therefore nothing (no-thing) exists.

In the process of creation, nothing became something by separating itself from everything.

Yeshua, the historical Jesus, was never a Christian. It was Paul, originally named Saul of Tarsus, who is the true founder of the Christian religion. He was struck by the thunderbolt (a spiritual revelation) while riding on a donkey to Damascus and as he fell to the ground; he awakened to the divine light.

Jesus, a theological creation of the church, was baptized and experienced the heavens opening up, as God acknowledged him as his son. Yeshua, the historical Jesus, said that we are all sons and daughters of God and that every one of us has the potential to awaken the Christ consciousness in our hearts and be anointed as universal servants.

“Everything I can do,” he said, “you can do as well, only greater.”

The Divine Light Almost 1000 years ago, the mystic practitioners of the Kabbalah created The Tree of Life; a universal vision of the subtle energies that they believed directed and regulated our material reality. They illustrated how divine light emanated from Heaven and into the world. A committed examination of Kabbalah provides a map of a higher reality; it opens
up the shell that protects the sacred.

The Tree of Life is the central figure of the Kabbalah and it is astrologically based on the ten planets of our solar system and the twelve signs of the horoscope. Every living being is endowed with the energies that the celestial bodies symbolize. The qualities of these energies are communicated through the astrological language. The ministers of the church, however, purged their teachings of this knowledge and instead made one single being the holder of the light. Thus, instead of placing the responsibility of self-salvation where it belongs, in the hands of each individual, the church sought to gain power over the masses and subordinate their autonomy to the authority of organized religion.

According to the Kabbalah, the divine light that was cast upon our world was so powerful that the Earth had great difficulty containing it and the light dispersed.  The practitioners of Kabbalah sought to learn
how to transmit the light’s invisible flow of energy in a vibrant and
constructive way that would enable everyone on Earth to share in the divine
wisdom.

Increasing numbers of individuals on the earth have descended into a co-dependent relationship with both the church and the state, rather than personally connect with the creative living process in an act of conscious co-creation. What neither the church (nor the state) reveal is that each one of us is that one being that holds the light, which is exactly what Yeshua had realized and wanted the rest of us to realize as well.

Present everywhere is the infinite energy of light. The invisible flow of light energy travels through space on its own power.

The divine light transmits the information that eventually leads humanity to The Promised Land and to a life of purpose and meaning. Concealed beneath waves of energy, which are hidden within particles of matter, great depth of perceptiveness is the tool that can access this information.

Light is a symbol of goodness (to be in the light), wisdom (to shed light), illumination (to be filled with light) and enlightenment (to be informed and healed by light). Light connects the creation with its source and makes life on the Earth a reality. The light nurtures every particle of existence so that all that dwell on Earth can experience the unconditional love inherent in the divine creation.

The light within is the element in a human soul that the world can never take away. When ashes return to ashes and dust once again becomes dust, the inner light of the soul remains to remind us of the transitory nature of the material world and the permanent nature of divine light.

One cannot destroy the divine light by destroying the physical casing designed to contain and to channel its expression. The body can die; the energy and the consciousness are immortal. The consciousness will continue on forever and with each new casing become a purer and more self-aware affirmation of the source that created it.

The divine light is a wellspring of inspiration, supporting any experience that brings us closer to the source of our strength. There is never a need within the framework of living here on Earth to fear the light, for it supports the growth and development of every living soul. A person who stands in the center of divine light can go anywhere in the world and remain unharmed.

Paul Six October, 2011

Scotland: I feel at home there. Sometimes events gets all stirred up and feisty tempers boil over but that is all part of the fun of hanging out with the clans. It’s a colourful country with some of the most magical places on Earth-the highland villages, the islands of Iona and Staffa, Findhorn, and the great city of Edinburgh.

Hawaii: One cannot exaggerate its beauty nor breathe air so clean. The climate is usually perfect, as long as the trade winds come in from the sea and the spirit of aloha that emanates from the locals comes straight from the heart.

Santa Fe: It is the oldest capital in North America; it has its own look and its own style, which is one reason it calls itself, “The City Different.” In the high and dry mountain air the intense light inspires the many artists that live there while the healers and astrologers like this place because the veils are thinner. New Mexico is called ‘The Land of Enchantment’ and the core of that enchantment is right here in Santa Fe.

Bali: Though it can sometimes feel like being in a steam-bath, until you switch on the air-con, this island is so special in so many ways that it transcends any sources of irritation. The Balinese people have much to teach about living graciously and the beauty spots of their world are beyond comparison to anyplace else. Bali is an amazing experience in instant manifestation where you can prove to yourself that thoughts are indeed things.

Japan: No other place comes even close to being like Japan. No outsiders went there until the middle of the Nineteenth Century and the Japanese developed a homogenous society so tightly knit together that the population can communicate to one another without words. Kyoto is the jewel in the crown with its treasures hidden beyond walls–walls that contained the former imperial capital for one thousand years. If you go, go in April when the cherry blossoms bloom–start in the South early in the month and work your way up to the top via some of the fastest trains in the world.

California: Probably no food exists that cannot be grown here so even if the economy plummets, there are fertile, elevated regions away from the coast where future communities can spring up and flourish. Meanwhile there is still a fabulous offering of places: LA and Hollywood, the Desert Communities, Santa Barbara, the Monterrey Peninsula, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Wine Country of the Napa Valley. This state may have known better days yet it is still a wonder that apparently refuses to accept limits even in the most of challenging of times.

Norway: Most folks stay away unless they are on a cruise through the magnificent fjords because it is cold here more than it is anything else and it is incredibly expensive with one of the highest standards of living on the planet. The government believes it exists to serve the people, although the people may not always think they are being served. Norwegians pay high taxes yet it is a small price to pay. They are blessed to be born in this haven. The population consists of many very attractive and intelligent yet modest people who are happy to speak English and who speak it fluently. These Nordic folk dwell within a safe and sound society and are both authentic and idealistic in just the right proportion. It is not easy to get to know them as they protect themselves from superficial relationships, yet once you break the ice, you realize how worthwhile it was to have made the effort. I am always glad to be in Norway.

There are many other wonderful places I always enjoy visiting–Vancouver, BC and much of Western Canada, Alaska, Australia, Tuscany in Italy, the beaches of Thailand, St. John in the Virgin Islands, Mallorca, Spain and the Algarve in Southern Portugal.

After your consciousness has become familiar with the basic elements of material existence, through the processes represented by the first four houses of the astrological chart: 1) having a body and a point of view 2) gaining material stability 3) learning what we need to know to survive 4) developing a conditioned personality through home and family life – you are then prepared to experience the fifth house and express who you are.

In house five, your personality, calls attention to the qualities within you that convey a special character that is unlike anyone else in the world. Taking pride in your talents, you seek out the ways and means of amplifying your self-esteem.

When your consciousness enters the Fifth House, you want all eyes to be on you, as you bathe in the glow of an admiring audience. Of course, the audience admires you because you are radiating heart energy and giving freely of the love that emanates from your heart center. In house five though, you are not so aware of the people watching you, that does not occur until you move into the Seventh House. Instead, you are self-aware. In that space of consciousness, your interest is in your performance and just how bright you can shine. Every soul has to go through the fifth house experience, for you can not transcend personal ego until you first have an ego to transcend.

In the Eleventh House, the complementary opposite to the Fifth, you are amazingly aware of the other people in your space. In fact you take them into consideration as much as you do yourself. What matters to you in this space of consciousness is being part of something greater-a group, a team, a circle of friends, a network where the aim is to achieve equal footing with peers. You come to realize through the Eleventh House department of experience that being a part of the group as a whole and contributing toward its collective success brings you happiness and a sense of personal significance just as much or more, as when you are standing on center stage and showing off your special gifts.

In The Eleventh House, you learn that the real power to make changes in the world comes out of a group effort – a group composed of a diversified company of individuals who have bonded together through the sharing of a common aim. Individuals in the group may have a divergence of opinions, yet at least one issue has landed them all on the same page.

There is more than safety in numbers; there is substance. An idea that one single person transmits (through house five experiences) gains weight and power and captures the minds of an assemblage (through The Eleventh House) who then adopt the notion and make it their own.

Of course, a group is expressing a kind of egotism too, as each member beats its own drum while keeping pace with a collective drumbeat. Only because it is a shared experience, it appears to be more altruistic. What is actually occurring is that the group’s ego is making a difference that the individuals involved were not able to accomplish on their own. The downside is that as the group members forfeit some of their personal preferences in exchange for accessing collective force. Individuality is sacrificed perhaps to a greater extent than is healthy. It may work out fine when this occurs in order to bring about social progress in one particular area. It is far less wholesome for any person to continue embracing a group identity while abandoning personal standards.

As with all the houses, the experiences available through the Fifth and the Eleventh are meant to be kept in balance, so that the amount of love given (house five) is kept on an even keel with the amount of love received (house eleven.)

A repolarisation is taking place on Planet Earth. The Eastern Hemisphere is destined to follow in the footsteps of the Western world and focus more on the development of personal identity, while the West is destined to usher in a cycle of existence, where the greater good is placed above personal considerations. This, in turn, will help to maintain the equilibrium of our global society. New forms of creativity emerging in the East and new humanitarian concepts originating from the West can demonstrate in unprecedented ways that people can get along with one another. The Fifth and the Eleventh houses in unison have the potential to clearly demonstrate that developing confidence in yourself (house five) enables you to open up to a life rich in human contact (house eleven) and gives rise to a wealth of experience and a subsequent growth in consciousness. In this way, the human race becomes more aware of both their personal as well as their collective identity.

Once the general population reaches a consensus and transforms an approach to life where money, power and egotism have been the ultimate values, war will no longer be profitable, peace will no longer be considered boring and harmony among all nations will at last become a definite possibility. Then it will become much clearer that Spirit is the driving force of life and that the Self is both the foundation and the zenith of creation.

Paul Six November 8, 2009 At Desa Seni – an eco village resort in Canggu, Bali

In a sense, all of the houses are subject to extra-dimensional forces, however, this only becomes obvious to any of us when we consciously move into house twelve, the last house of the chart. It is then that we can become aware of what we refer to as the unconscious, the part of life that is usually invisible to human perception. Consciousness must first break through the barriers of its own ego defences for this to happen. As long as there is an experience of separation, a person is not able to enter this space.

The process of consciously experiencing the unconscious begins in the third house and is objectified in the ninth house. The key word for these two houses is perception

It is as if we are all watching the story of our lives on the screen of our reality in a universal theatre. The theatre is the Planet Earth; the screen is the part of the planet we are observing. When our awareness is centered in a space of consciousness represented by the third house, we sit close to the screen. We watch the projected film by noticing as many details as possible and our perceptions are fuelled by our personal wants and needs. When we move into a third house space, perception is both localized and fragmented.

When our awareness is in a ninth house space of consciousness, we move away from the screen and view the story from a distance. We are up in the balcony looking at the screen of reality from an elevated vantage point. The vertical vision that this perspective affords us alters our experience of the story we are watching. We are more detached from what is happening and thus no longer as personally involved. Disentangled from all the stories that have defined our lives up to this point, we can expand our minds and encompasses a more spacious and extensive understanding of the events taking place on the screen of reality. The ninth house perspective, which obviously occurs after we reach maturity, is not what is true; it represents what could be and most probably would be true if all of us embraced a bigger picture of life.

Everyone has both a third house and a ninth house in their astrological chart, yet some have more planetary energy to tap into in one than in the other while other charts do not put an emphasis on either house.

For those whose perception focuses more in the third house arena, the immediate environment is the main event and the popular culture receives the majority of their attention. They may be at odds with society, dependent upon their inherent nature, yet they keep up with the latest developments nonetheless and their information is usually in step with the times. These are the folks who shine whenever and wherever people meet to exchange what is happening around the planet at present. They have a plethora of opinions and ideas, they never seem to run out of things to say and they are quick to alter their views as soon as the occasion warrants it.

For those whose charts emphasize the ninth house arena, the everyday world and the culture that emerges from it is far less interesting than the framework that supports it. While perceptions in the third house are anchored in solid realities, perceptions in the ninth are enlarged and elevated through philosophical inquiry. The concepts based on the current physical condition of events are stretched out by the ninth house mind and converted into abstractions. Crystallized facts, considered by most societies to be the mainstay of average intelligence, yields to a more speculative flavour of thought in house nine.

While third house mental processing seeks to describe the facts of the matter, ninth house mental processes are concerned with explanations. An individual enters a third house space when working with the cognitive mind–the mind that wants to know–and a ninth house space with the aspiring mind-the mind that wants to comprehend the reason why. In the third house the aim is pinpoint analysis, while the ninth house traveller seeks to blend everything on hand into a dynamic synthesis.

Practical knowledge, an outgrowth of the third house, is valued above all else by the general public, for it leads to the production of things that are useful in material life. Gaining a greater understanding of what life is all about, however, is often viewed by the modern mind as an exercise in futility. “Do not ask why”, said the self-help guru at an Insight Seminar in Los Angeles that I was invited to over twenty years ago. “There is no why”, the workshop facilitator confidently declared.

To individuals who spend much of their time navigating through the ninth house space of consciousness, however, why is the most important question one could ask.
Can there be an answer to a question that seeks out the reason behind an event? For instance, can any of us know what our purpose is for coming here to the Earth?
No group or organization knows why any individual has chosen to be here and participate in the creative living process we call life; it is up to each person to arrive at the true answer on their own. One by one, individuals have the potential to discover their unique purpose for being because life continues informing all of us with every breath we take. Regardless of how our astrological chart is patterned, the truth of our lives wills itself out in every thought that flows through our mind, in every feeling that pours out from our heart, in every deed that we set into motion and in every interaction that we have with others.

Moment after moment, as we imbibe the breath of life, the truth speaks to us from all the living things of the Earth, as well as all the things in heaven. Still, one has to listen to and hear that truth rather than continually become distracted by the ego-driven creations of a three dimensional illusion that successfully markets itself as the real deal.

Third house perception takes place when a person is seeking the truth in the moment. The result of this truth-seeking may well be the very tool that is needed to take the next step and move from point A to point B. If the show must go on, the momentary truth must be grasped or else the energy flow will stop and lose its momentum.

Ninth house perception kicks in when a person leaves their familiar surroundings and ventures forth into foreign locales. This journey is filled with the spirit of unprecedented adventure and one’s mind must keep growing in order to process and internalize experiences for which it has no previous frame of reference. In order to tap into truths that are universally meaningful, a person must travel to different places around the world, interact with many people and listen to what each one of them has to say.

Individuals whose chart puts emphasis on the ninth house often go through life unnoticed by the general public. Some circumstance of their existence tends to keep both them and their evolving wisdom outside of the popular culture. Years, decades and even centuries may pass before their ideas filter into mainstream thinking. Like many artists, they must leave the Earth before they can be appreciated by the culture, as the truth they channel into the world is what is important, not their personalities.

As with all the complementary houses, the third and the ninth house represent the summation of human knowledge from the beginning of time to the present and into the future. These two houses offer all of us the potential to both know and understand the lives we are living while, at the same time, reminding us that what we know and what we believe we understand is but a drop in the bucket that holds the answers to the riddle of our existence.

Written by Paul Six (with the Sun conjunct Jupiter in the Ninth House in his chart)
October 18, 2009 London, England (en route to Bali)

The first six houses signify arenas of potential experience in the astrological blueprint in which an individual is working toward creating a personality. Self-development is the focus here.

A specific value is given to every individual by the universe when a newborn comes into the world and takes the first breath of life. The first six houses provide the psychic substance that enables each person to develop the value they carry and learn to channel it into the world as a contribution that in some way can improve current conditions here on Earth.

The seventh house in the chart represents the beginning of the part of space that was visible in the sky when and where you were born. It indicates the arena of life experience where you become aware that there are other people who carry other value and that some of them are willing to make an exchange with you. Individuals meet one another in the seventh house and then merge in the eighth.

An eighth house merger signifies an important relationship-one that seems to have a fated quality. There are some connections that a person cannot possibly avoid for the mirror the relationship holds up is the mirror of truth and it offers a reflection that is not to be taken lightly. In fact, nothing that the eighth house contains in terms of potential experience could ever be taken lightly. This is the place where the road turns and the pathway is either all the way up to the top or all the way down to the bottom. Historically this is the house that some astrologers start to shudder at, as soon as they see a chart laden with planets in this domain. It indicates the place one consciously enters to take a roller coaster ride through forbidden territory, meaning the areas of life that many people are uncomfortable talking about to strangers and even to friends.

Whenever you join forces at a deep level with another person, you are on eighth house terrain. This includes any sexual relationship, any business partnership where joint resources are a focal point and any association where the partners involved are struggling to maintain a give and take arrangement that can satisfy both of them.

Only the strong at heart need to sign up for a lengthy eighth house excursion. If you do not know who you are, the complex energies you are subjected to in this part of the chart might destroy your identity. That is why this house is called the house of death. How interesting that the place where sexual relations and financial transactions between two parties is played out is also the house where ultimately every one of us is played out.

One word sums up all the experience buried in house eight and the word is transformation. To the well travelled soul who has built up sufficient personal substance and who is passionately committed to plunge into the underworld to learn the mysterious secrets of existence, the eighth house is waiting with open arms. Nevertheless, while overly optimistic or just plain naive individuals can easily slide beyond their depths here, they can also rise above their pain for there is no better place in which to heal one-self.

Do not expect to stay in your comfort zone as you navigate the perilous landscape of house eight for the road leads to spine tingling and hair raising experiences. In this arena, everything you think you are is stripped away, as you are exposed to your own vulnerability and humbled in the presence of a force that is entirely beyond your control. Think of any experience you have ever had where you felt utterly powerless, such as lying on an operating table in a hospital while a team of doctors cut you open. Imagine what it would have been like to be a prisoner in a concentration camp where every single day, death stared you in the face until life became so unbearable that you welcomed death. Visualize being homeless and penniless and out on the cold, wet streets not knowing what would happen next, yet fearing that any moment something horrible would.

Despite the nightmare scenario the eighth house brings into our reality, it can also lead to results that turn out to be blessings in disguise. If you did not know who you were before, a journey through this environment could inform you, but you need courage to pass through the initiation. Once you have completed the tour, you are sure to be a stronger, sharper and more self-possessed person than you were prior to your descent. At first it may seem as if the whole world has turned against you and no one cares whether you live or die. Then all of a sudden the power and the awareness that intense sexual experiences and ego-busting relationships opened up for you initially takes you to higher and higher levels. No wonder the phoenix, the mythical bird that rises from its own dead ashes, is a prime symbol of the metamorphosis that takes place here.

The eighth house is also suggestive of the kundalini energy that rises from the root to the crown and paves the way for cosmic consciousness in the house to follow (house nine.) Eighth house trials provide you with an undeniable sense of just how much there is to you. You begin to penetrate into one of the universes ‘cosmic jokes’ and come to realize that every person that has gravitated into your orbit was, one by one, showing you the depth of the consciousness that you have been invested with (and the unrelenting power at your command to use it to transform yourself and and everyone that you contact.)

Heaven and hell have been presented in the past as places one goes to, according to the cosmic report card you are handed upon exiting the Earth plane. More likely, religious tradition aside, they are states of consciousness and one does not need to leave the Earth to experience them. Individuals who play on the eighth house field are inclined to delve into areas that nice, polite people avoid like the plague. Here murky and tempestuous emotions surface between people; emotions such as jealousy, resentment and rage and they inevitably lead to a shattering denouement that rocks the world of the participants. The eighth house is obviously not about love, but it is about desire.

“It is desire that brought you here,” said the East Indian sage Sri Chimnoy, “and it is desire that will bring you back.”

What individuals desire is what often trips them up. Desire urges a person to abandon caution, so that a richer and more powerful experience becomes theirs for the taking. One leaves the soothing cosiness found in the opposite house-house two-and dares to dice with death for the thrill of it all. The darkest of human emotion, the most gruelling of human experience and then the final chapter when the spirit is extricated from the physical body are all contained in this arena. It is no wonder that the eighth house voyager becomes well-versed in human psychology.

Some event in a person’s life opens up a channel that is shut down in most of the human race at this time. This channel allows for feats of wizardry that startle the minds of those accustomed to a more typical form of mental processing. As you enter this dimension, all filters and covers are blasted off and mind reading is definitely on the menu. Prepare to have your secrets laid bare for there is more lurking in the corners of house eight than the physical senses could ever capture.

For those who only feel secure with things they can put in a box and slap a label on, this atmosphere ought to ‘give them the creeps.’ No wonder that a lot of eighth house inhabitants end up in therapy or become therapists themselves. They are dealing with emotions that are deep and dark-emotions that they have dragged out of the soul soup so that they could eventually be cleared up for the good of the world.

A successful passage through house eight is a victory of epic proportions and its repercussions are profound. An analogy to describe the process is one in which swamp waters finally find an outlet to the sea and begin to flow after being mired for ages. Something stagnant that had lost most of its vital force is now empowered to overcome whatever has blocked its value from being successfully shared with the world. Something or someone that the world seemed to give up on is by some miracle regenerated and renewed and with this added strength, the world has one more force to help raise the vibration of the planet.

In reducing this house to its most basic meaning, it is about sheer survival-not so much on a physical level but more on a psychological one. On its highest level, it is about connecting with the invisible world even though its activities seem highly visible. For sex, death and transformation are still a mystery to most of us. They are likely to remain so until the vibrations we resonate to accelerate and become rapid enough to take us into a dimension where nothing is separate from anything else and nothing really dies. Then we will all know the truth-that the experience we call death is the real life, only you have to choose to be embodied and go through the eighth house before you can realize who you really are.

Paul Six October 4, 2009 Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

So much has been written about house twelve, yet its meaning remains mostly a mystery up to now, as it pertains to experiences that have no visible frame of reference.

The prime lesson of house twelve is one of acceptance. That is to say that wherever one lands in life at any time turns out to be the perfect place for the lesson of acceptance to be learned.

Much that has been written about the twelfth house in astrological literature is unduly negative. Some astrologers warn you that if a planet is transiting (moving) into the twelfth house of your chart–beware–especially if the planet has a nefarious (if unwarranted) reputation, such as Saturn or Pluto.

The planets, however, do not do anything, either to you or to anyone else. They are simply indicators. Just like hands on a clock, their position in the sky informs us about the quality of the subtle energies that are prevailing at any particular time.

The ultimate lesson of the twelfth house is that no one is ‘out there’–it is all us. In the first house, it appears as if each person is alone. As we travel in our consciousness around the astrological wheel, more energy comes into our space and then it seems, it is not just our space anymore. The further along we travel, the bigger our space becomes so that more energy and information is able to be there to share our space with us.

House twelve at the end of the line represents the limits of human experience on the earth plane. Were we to go beyond those limits, it would be as if we were to send electric current through a conductor that could not accommodate the voltage being transmitted. Did you ever hear the true story about the woman who put her pet in a microwave oven to dry it off after giving the dog a bath? The poor thing exploded. So would we if we attempted to move outside of the boundaries of our reality. Of course, some boundary lines are drawn to extend farther out than others and some individuals are constituted to be able to channel higher frequency energies.

The twelfth house is associated with asylums, prisons and monasteries, as well as anyplace where individuals are stashed away because they cannot or do not want to integrate into mainstream society. House twelve can seem to be a lonely place to inhabit.

Still, there is another side to the meaning of this house. Once you have worked through much of your karma and fulfilled most of your dharma, the twelfth house is the place where your dreams come true. In allowing life to deliver its teachings to you with unreserved acceptance, the love in your heart opens up a space of conscious awareness within that had previously been hidden from you. Some might call this space a cosmic connection; others would say it is an encounter with the Divine. In this space of consciousness, there is scarcely any difference between the experience of pain and the experience of joy. Mystics know the feeling for they have removed their awareness from the cares and concerns of mundane existence (the space of practicalities, which the sixth house on the opposite side of the astrological wheel represents.)

One enters the twelfth house to transcend the ego-mind with its insatiable desire to create satisfaction amidst the seductive illusions of the material world. In this high and holy space, a soul surrenders the need to be somebody and dissolves the urge to shine brighter than its fellow earth travellers. Freed-up from the ego’s greedy demands; released from angry and hateful feelings and cleansed of all cravings for something that simply is not there and never will be, the soul has come full circle. All that was there for the soul to experience has taken place and what remains is love.

True love allows everything and everyone to be exactly what it is. Pass it by if you choose but let it be and let someone take your place who can fill its space with love and make it all right.

Dreams come true once an individual arrives at and resides in a state of grace. It is this experience that is the gift of the twelfth house. One does not have to be perfect to move beyond all fears and open up to one`s true and loving nature in a state of grace. Grace is a currency, one that cannot be bought or sold. It is different than the coin of the realm we use for the purchase of food, clothing and shelter (or anything material we might consider necessary), yet it can enrich one`s life in ways that words cannot describe. It is a quiet experience that in its humble and unassuming way is of greater value than anything that has a price tag on it because unlike all things material; it is not subject to the law of entropy. Its existence is eternal and its value keeps on growing.

When we consciously move into the twelfth house of experience, though we may seem to be as alone as when we started in house one, there could not be more support for us than there is in this place. For it is here that we cultivate the willingness to do what we promised from the start. Instead of asking what we think we want from life, we consider what is the most that we can give to life.

What happens in the twelfth house operates through indiscernible means and yet twelfth house events are the most unfeigned and definitive spiritual experiences that a human being can have. They are experiences that bring spirit into matter and enable a physical entity to realize in the most solid and substantial way the wholeness of being and the realization of total union with the universe.

Others point to Saturn’s role as the ‘lord of karma’ (what you give to life, life returns to you.) Here, the Saturn principle represents universal justice. Saturn is then seen as the force that crystallizes the energy of your thoughts, your feelings and your deeds and converts them into an objective experience. Like a boomerang, all that you send out returns to its source.

Complete objectivity, however, would not have a specific point of view, which is like asking how things look in the dark. Libra maintains several points-of-view and keeps juggling various options in order to reach a balanced assessment of a situation.

As people become selfish and self-centered out of fear that they are losing what they have, Saturn’s two and one-half year passage through the Libra sky restores the principle of fairness in our everyday lives. The purpose of Saturn’s work in this sign of the zodiac is to balance out the polarities, so that all that is disproportionate is adjusted and equilibrium is restored.

When the Saturn principle moves into the Libra sky, an intensified pressure is felt by members of society to participate in life according to the agreed upon rules of the game. Saturn in Libra motivates people to succeed in partnerships and in society in general by playing fair and square, by showing others the respect one would like to receive (the ‘Golden Rule’) and by ending up with lots of love in life.

Saturn enters the Libra sky on October 29, 2009-the eightieth anniversary of the stock market crash of 1929 in the United States, the day when the market lost 14 billion dollars.

This time,the passage of Saturn in Libra could herald the start of a new economic system. Ideally, it is also a time where people stop rushing in to fight one another and instead embrace compromise and conciliation as a means of resolving an issue.

Saturn moving into the Libra sky ushers in a period where goodness and loveliness prevail, for no consciousness appreciates all that is beautiful in the world more than Libra.

No work of art is entirely original, as everything a human being does rests on a past foundation of human knowledge and human accomplishment. Any person who has ever engaged in producing a creative effort that has lasting significance must submit to the laws of their craft. This entails showing deference to all that has come before, for only when there is a common frame of reference, can a work of art be truly appreciated by as many people as possible. This concept was expressed clearly and eloquently in a poem written by William McCall:

I slept and dreamt that life was beauty
I woke and found that life is duty
Straight is the line of duty
Curved is the line of beauty
Follow the straight line and you will see
The curved line ever follows thee.

Paul Six August, 2009 Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Granted, competent astrologers do have an uncommon understanding of how others are psychologically constituted. Equipped with an objective frame of reference for interpreting human behavior, such as astrology, one can gain a substantial sense of where individuals are coming from through this knowledge. The objective frame of reference that the astrological lens supplies offers astrologers the potential to get out of their way by removing any subjective preconceptions. It is then possible to witness the energies of a birth chart coming alive through the externalization of an individual’s self-force.

By applying a thorough knowledge of the nature of the chart’s energies and relating it to one’s perception of another person’s actions, a non-biased understanding of what that person is doing and what motivates them to do it is possible.

Of course, astrologers are not astrologers all the time. They have personal histories and likes and dislikes they have acquired along the way. They may be able to go to a neutral space of consciousness while they are at work; however, they are not going to stay in neutral every moment of every day. Their personal history will emerge with all of the prejudicial opinions they have collected along the way and they will no longer see others as microcosmic systems of energy. Instead, they will see a reflection of their own chosen karmic path. Their reaction to what is being mirrored back to them will show them how near or far they are from the gateway to their own private heaven.

What a great opportunity it is to be here on the Earth and to be enriched by the stories we watch on the screen of our reality. How enlightening it is to know that those stories are playing out to contribute to our own advancement. How connected it is possible to feel to the entire universe, once it becomes clear that every soul that shows up in the mirror that each of us perceives as the world-at-large is contributing to our further education

There was a school of philosophy called solipsism, which presented the concept that we cannot be certain of the existence of anything apart from what exists in our mind. Recently, when I was in Australia and a guest for lunch at a friend’s house, I listened as the partner of my host explained to me her philosophy, which went even further, I believe, than that. Her claim was that nothing was real, nothing had any meaning and nothing mattered. Life was all a great, big mistake.

Was she discussing life in general, or was she talking about her relationship to her own life?

I believe I am always in error when I make sweeping generalizations. The universe I have come to realize is one where there are ‘different strokes for different folks’ and where ‘one person’s food is another person’s poison.’ Two people can be sitting adjacent to one another observing the same event, yet perceiving it in totally different ways. For what they are really seeing is another layer of their multi-dimensional self that can extend as far and as deep as one dares to go. It can go as far as an encounter with a being from another world that may appear in the image of an ET creature, but is, in actuality, oneself–in a future time on a higher plane in a larger context.

The answers I receive from life are going to be based on the questions I ask. There were times when I did not even know that I was asking a particular question. Later, as the answer came, I realized that it was another step to a destiny I am impelled to reach in my lifetime and toward a realization about my life journey that holds great value for me.

My response to the lady in Australia was that human beings, equipped with an ‘earth suit’ that by and large gives each of us common ground in observing and interpreting physical reality, have agreed to go through the experience we call life. That alone gives this experience meaning. Billions of souls have focused everything they are and could be on an experience that gives them the freedom to explore their consciousness while setting limits on that freedom until they can perfect their ability to manage the powerful universal forces that are alive within them. How could anyone say life on Earth has no meaning? The opportunity to transform cosmic power into practical action that yields lasting, tangible results certainly seems meaningful to me–as the looking glass of life functions to provide us with the unique opportunity to see ourselves clearly, free of preconceived assumptions and all personal desires.