Authenticity. Truth. Awareness. Being. These are our contemporary spiritual buzzwords – and for good reason – as that same message beams to us from the skies, coded in astrological alignments.
A few days ago, we saw the mighty Eris-Vesta conjunction, one that dared us to break through the many layers and forms of social conditioning that told us that we should never be our truest selves. This is especially true for women and for men who recognize their connection with a Deeper sense of Femininity. Be it the nurturer, the assertive seeker of justice, the avenging Goddess, the compassionate Mother – whatever you resonate with. What has been hidden or suppressed is now ready to be revealed and fully embodied.
Eris is the Goddess of Chaos, whereas Vesta is the Goddess of the Hearth or Sacred Flame. In Aries, they both encourage us to express and experience different forms and levels of Be-ing, Using the metaphor of flame, one represents the raging forest fire, and the other, the steady lamp that lights the home and hearth. Both are necessary, both are valid, both are aspects of Being. (and everything else in between)
In short, the Eris-Vesta conjunction is a powerful call to radical self-embodiment, where we are no longer constrained by these societal ´rules´ that tell us how to Be, and forms of Femininty we must or must not express.
Both Eris and Vesta are a part of a powerful Yod (Finger of Fate). They form its apex, connected by way of inconjuncts (150 degree angles) to Mars, the North Node and Jupiter. Essentially, Yods are powerful funnels of karmic energy and alchemy. They push you to make certain key choices and karmic decisions, accelerating and intensifying your spiritual growth process to a powerful degree. They can be profound catalysts of life-changing decisions, precusors to spiritual awakening.
The experience of a Yod can be harsh, particularly if you resist the changes it pushes you to make at a deep, sub-conscious level. Yods can be quite fun and energizing if you view them as opportunities to step out of old cycles and consciously choose your process of energetic engagement with the Cosmos. At the end of the day, it boils down to a matter of perspective.
This particular Yod began on February 8 and will continue to have effect till February 24, 2016. Let´s look at the other components of this alignment:
Mars´ role at 24 Scorpio tells us that the way to develop and discover this Radical sense of Selfhood is through the domain of the sub-conscious, and the ancestral or karmic lineage that we bear. We look to the energy and assertiveness of Mars in recogizing karmic patterns that relate to the way we seek intimacy, control, power and resources (financial, sexual and otherwise). Much of this ties in with the way we have been taught to relate to the Masculine (Yang) Archetype, be in through self-expression and/or projection unto our partners. Mars in Scorpio can seek power through conquest, manipulation, violence and other forms of control – this is when it operates through the Ego. At a more realized level, Mars in Scorpio can seek true power through the act of Surrender. Not necessarily to another, but as an act of honoring the Depth of the Self, and its connection with the Sacred. Much of this energy will focus upon lower-chakra work, our archetypal connection with the Shadow Domain and the Underworld and/or the Sub-Conscious. Scorpio´s energies relate to alchemy and the reactivity of energies or elements, be it in the boardroom or the bedroom. The merger of resources catalyzes the creation of something new, often through the destruction (and transmutation) of its component parts.
The North Node and Jupiter (20-22 Virgo) demonstrate how our path to greatest growth, spiritual evolution and personal expansion is linked with the need to preserve and nurture the material requirements of the self (before being able to serve others). Be it through the act of facilitation, organization, logistical management, or the need to take care of the ´little things´, i.e. the nuts and bolts of daily existence – Virgo tells us that through the seemingly mundane, we discover new ways to materially and physically sustain whatever newer forms of power/intimacy (Scorpio) and being (Aries) we seek to explore and embody. It is especially important to recognize the need to take care of the well-being of the physical vessel through daily routines, ritual-work and other material acts – so that it can truly serve. Whether it´s 5 minutes of deep breathing, chanting, earthing, or a bi-weekly salt soak for the feet, or making sure that you´ve got a roof over your head and healthy food to eat – whatever way, no matter how ´trivial´ it may seem as compare to the the ´larger questions´, this is where Jupiter (the Teacher, Revealer of the Path Ahead) and the North Node (A Chance to Break out of Old Karmic Cycles and Begin New Lessons) tell us to focus upon at this time. Bear in Mind that Chiron (18 Pisces) opposes Jupiter and the North Node, pressuring us to more fully look at the archetype of the ´wounded healer´ and the role that the ´wound´ has played in our understanding of Service thus far. Perhaps it need not play the same role as it had before.
This is linked with a far larger question on woundology, and how we have been taught that association with our wounds is somehow elevated, more spiritual and/or saintly. I´ve discussed this elsewhere, but here´s the argument in a nutshell.
For too long have spiritualists and facilitators been told that they must live from hand-to-mouth or suffer physical depravation and/or to pedestalize suffering and woundedness in order to truly be ´holy´. Perhaps that was the marker of sainthood in an earlier age, but it seems me that the ethos of the current age is decidedly different. That is not to say that true acts of surrender and sacrifice are not sacred, it is to say that there are other roads or paths to spirituality. We need not be confined to one.
Returning to the North Node and Jupiter in Virgo, following from this logic, we are asked to explore the idea of taking care of, or preserving the self first so it can be self-sufficient. We are shamed into avoiding this as it would (allegedly) make us ´selfish´. I find that a strange argument as a healer who has him/herself taken the time to heal, get grounded and perhaps even find happiness – is more likely going to be able to better help another through the process. In this sense, self-preservation, starting at the most everyday level, can only empower you further as a faciliator.
Taking it all together, this Yod enables us to penetrate through old-paradigm dogma, and to discover and experience a more fuller sense of Being. That doesn´t have to be all rage, anger and roaring fire at the status quo, it can just as well break through into a more compassionate heart-space where Radical Self-Embodiment is Radical Self-Acceptance. There are many ways this can play out, so feel free to explore what works for you.
I should also mention that the likelihood of seeing a health crisis emerge or erupt as the catalyst to awakening is also present. Scorpio rules healing and Virgo health – they both focus on Aries (the Self). Give your bodies time to adjust to the awakening process underway and feel free to take plenty of rest (you´ll be processing in your sleep anyway).
In conclusion, I would like to share something from an Eris Awakens session that just concluded. What I witnessed was so beautiful, fragile and powerful that it will forever stay with me. The lady I was working with experienced a beautiful breakthrough, an absolute moment of clarity that visibly showed on her face. From a place of deep anger, she moved into a far calmer heart-space, forsaking none of Her Fierce Femininty, but becoming far more open to embrace a more fuller expression of All-That-(She)-Is. It was quite a beautiful thing to witness, and it´s still sinking in.
What a powerful time we live in.
Blessings, and I hope this article has served as a guide to understanding the powerful energies of this Yod.
May we each find our own paths to Radical Self-Embodiment, in ways that harm none and create greater beauty, in Self and the Collective.
Bairavee Balasubramaniam
The Sky Priestess
Image: Composite of Astrolog screenshot and ´The Priestess´ by Louise Welden Hawkins, 1890, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
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Dr. Bairavee Balasubramaniam PhD: The Sky Priestess 