I sat at the feet of the venerable wise teacher Byron Katie last weekend at Spirit Rock, the meditation center down the road from where I live. She opened the class by saying, Raise your hand if you ate breakfast this morning. Hands went up. Then she asked, Is it true? Where’s your proof? Hundreds of us were now having breakfast in our imagination. I had the prickly sensation that all the enlightened beings that have passed through this space were now in this room, chuckling at the cosmic joke, with us.
It was a Piscean teaching moment. Katie has built her life’s Work around teaching us to investigate the stories we tell our selves, through gentle and patient inquiry. To the Ego, doing The Work is awfully similar to what Dorothy’s dog did to the Wizard of Oz at that moment when Toto pulled back the curtain of the Great Oz only to reveal a scared little man. The Ego doesn’t want to be found out; it holds onto whatever it can to feel safe. It’s painful to see where you’ve been caught up in a story, but the freedom of being liberated into truth is much sweeter.
Virgo Jupiter is lining up to oppose Pisces Neptune (thru mid-September), a dreamy and confusing aspect that stimulates our hunger for something more, rouses our belief that all things are possible. A bit like a long-awaited sedative for the grinding Uranus-Pluto square years, it’s softening our hard edges, and for some even helping to deliver some long awaited dreams. But Jupiter-Neptune can also disillusion. Earlier this week, news broke in the health community that some samples of fermented cod fish liver oil, long marketed as a near miraculous essential for health by the respected Weston A Price Foundation, were not fermented but rancid. It’s not unusual for an oil to go rancid, and there’s always a thin line between fermented and rotten. What is remarkable is how many “believers” there are -believers who either attribute their health to FCLO or, conversely, their disease, and how each side has a story in which they have wholeheartedly invested. Admittedly, I too felt let down by the Weston A Price Foundation – at first. Then I systematically analysed the book-sized report and discovered it brought up more questions than definitive answers.
As Katie says: Is it true? Where is your proof? And: It’s okay to not know…
Jupiter is in the classical sign of its detriment, Virgo. Analysis, skepticism, focusing on what’s wrong can restrain Jupiterian possibilities. Yet similar to the relief I feel to see pragmatic earth or Saturn placement amidst a client’s Neptune/Jupiter heavy chart, dubious Virgo offers a solid check and balance on flights of fancy or delusion we may be playing out in our minds. For instance, practical, sane Virgo will typically put the kibosh on a relationship with no real future in sight, and sometimes that’s a good thing. That said, this is an aspect made for dreamers –for exploring what holds allure, for playing with fairy plum visions that charm and enchant (to see if your dreams hold water, however, you may want to wait for a nice solid Saturn aspect).
At this Pisces Full Moon, the portal to both enlightenment and confusion is open. If you’re not feeling a tad dreamily romantic -and- disillusioned you’re probably not paying attention. We may retreat into our own better version of the world, we may wake up from an illusion, and likely we’ll experience both. Under Neptune in Pisces’ illusory gaze we might be wary of jumping onto any bandwagon– be it miracle cod liver oil or a guru.
Where this lunation falls in your chart you are ready to make a leap in your awareness. To do so: Sit at the feet of the Guru Pisces Moon, allow your self to drift on her gentle, tumbling waves, receive vision and inspiration. Quiet your ego. Be receptive to an unveiling. With Pisces, we lessen our chance of falling prey to confusion or delusion by taking some time outside of time, in a meditative quiet retreat space, or by the sea. Our power now is in our open, questioning consciousness. Yet before deciding on matters of practical importance, invite Virgo Sun’s eagle-eyed attentiveness to the seaside picnic. After all, the root of the word gullible comes from gull– the seaside bird that steals your lunch while you’re not looking.
great post jess! i’m currently trying to be ok with “what is”; “what is” being that i don’t know- the unknown of life i suppose.
Yay, Sara, for what is! In fact Katie says making friends with reality (what is) is the only way to live peacefully and without stress. Love, Jessica
It’s o.k. to not know…love that. How many people feel compelled, if not totally obsessive about being right all of the time? How many feel guilty when they are not? I think that would be most of the population. We see it all the time. How freeing your words are to those of us who feel that way. Thank you. I think that we are also abused by those who would use that self-righteous inbred anger at ourselves against us in order to manipulate and control, or sometimes just as a distraction for themselves so that they feel better. I am going to pass your sentiments along to as many people as I can, it is a much needed reminder of the acceptance and surrender we need in order to be gentle with ourselves.
Thanks, Sylvia. I agree wholeheartedly. “I don’t know” is a perfectly reasonable place to be. It is honest and clear. Gentle moonkisses of self-acceptance to all xoxo, Jessica