Out on the Assault Course
by
Sarah Varcas
As we approach the Uranus/Pluto square exact on Friday and the solar eclipse in Scorpio a couple of days later, intensity is building and many people are feeling under enormous pressure. Whatever our biggest ‘issue’ is, that’s the one being triggered at the moment. Of course it will vary from person to person, and one person’s struggle may seem like a whole load of noise about nothing to another, but many are feeling painted into a corner at the moment and this can make for some stressful times.
Looking at the charts for today I found myself wondering ‘what’s the best advice in the midst of this cosmic storm?’. The answer came back loud and clear: head down into the wind and keep on walking. Ugh, it wasn’t really what I wanted to hear. I’m looking for a solution the same as everyone else! But the heavens speak of the need for endurance now and a willingness to surrender completely any notion of immediate relief in favour of the greater value of moving through something rather than solving it from the outside looking in. We’re not in the cosmic classroom pondering problems in a text book to which formulae can be applied. No, we’re out on the assault course in the rain and howling wind, covered in the blood, sweat and tears of what it means to be human, amidst the challenges of life in this material realm where wounded egos hold sway. Life out here is far from all sweetness and light and the heavens refuse to collude with any notion it is. Right now we are facing the darkness and challenged to acknowledge it, step into it and accept it as our own creation. For once we do that – owning our own shadow, the karmic consequences of choices made and the ever-present influence of our egoistic mind-sets – we can recognise just how adept we have been at creating this present moment of challenge and strife and just how unconscious we have been in the process.
Today we need to recognise that unconsciousness, identifying when and how we have acted from a numbed-out place inside which just needed to avoid the pain, whatever the pain was, without considering the longer term consequences of doing so. Generally speaking the ego responds to a hierarchy of pain. Some things are more bearable than others. If we fear above all else, being alone, we will tolerate the pain of a dysfunctional relationship over and above the risk of facing our biggest fear. If we fear losing our security we will tolerate the stress of an unsatisfying job which pays well but destroys our soul at the same time. We each make these trade-offs to limit our exposure to the ultimate pain of facing our biggest and most terrifying fears. But the price of doing so becomes higher and higher the longer we continue to act in this way.
And now, at this point in the Uranus/Pluto cycle, we are receiving the bill for all that avoidance and all those unconscious choices. It’s not a punishment from the universe, just the natural consequence of operating from a place of fear. In that sense it’s a gift. Yes, the visceral and distressing nature of these times is a gift, because in seeing the consequences so clearly now, in feeling them lodged in our heart and soul like leaden weights, we can begin to make connections we’ve not made before and shine the light of consciousness onto our deepest and most profound fears, rather than side-stepping them to remain in the twilight of a barely half-lived life.
Yes, these are profoundly challenging times, but they come to rouse us from a deep and unhealthy sleep. If we’re in pain, something needs to change and if it’s our pain, then it’s our responsibility to change it, not by making a trade and opting for the easier route, but by looking without guile into the face of who we are and choosing a different way to heal and be whole once more.
May we all awaken and be free.
Sarah Varcas
