Part 1:
Easter and I find myself beside the Waitaki, sacred river of the Waitaha people again. Its such a place of contrasts from arid brush through to lush wetland and this crystal blue river solidly flowing through it. The place I am is called Fisherman's Bend, and I am reminded of another time I parked up here. It seems that this place stimulates deep insight in me. Last time was in 2004/5 and in those days before I returned to my work, I was taking time to collect myself from intense years teaching Psychosynthesis. During that time I wrote an online journal for three years (http://www.spiritflight.co.nz/sparrowhawk_personal_journal_2005.htm), and on this occasion, by this awa tapu, I wrote an entry that people still email me and thank me for (12 March 2005).
So it is not surprising that last night I dreamed. There was a talking possum who befriended me. Not telepathically talking, as occurs in vision, but verbally. He had a very agile mouth that struck me in the dream and could not be mistaken for anything else but verbal communication. A very wise and intelligent companion he was, and I regret that the topic of our conversation escapes me. I am sure it would have been profound. The dream moves into a Mormon Church set in Brisbane, where I was once a member long ago. As is the case in Mormon Churches, the ley ministry conducts the services and teaches the members, and I was asked to speak and teach, which I was willing to do with my small possum friend on my shoulder. He was about the size of a rat, but definitely a possum. This caused politeness, followed by blatant horror. To begin with I tried to play him down and even hide him behind me until I realised he was getting squashed. Then as things heated up I defended him and protected him from children that were interested in and yet wanted to fight him. At that point I awoke.
What was this about?? It was so clear that I knew it was a dream of significance. Interesting that it was a possum: beloved of Australian's where I was brought up. Abhorred by New Zealander's where I currently live. Interesting also that I found myself defending it inside an institution of religion, also from my past. As I looked deeper I could see that I am not unlike the little fellow. Hailing from Australia with a lot to say, which is, I hope, often wise. I also recognise that at times I try to hide myself so as not to rub the locals up the wrong way
. Was this a clue?? Looking at the Church scenario beside a very shamanic talking possum, I had to wonder if this was about the establishments rejection of deeper realities. I certainly come up against a part of me that has tried so often to be 'acceptable' to the societal norms in order to do what I came for, only to find rejection of the fundamental aspects that make my work affective. It seems always that as we challenge the established order, we face that rejection, simply because it is entrenched and people hold onto what they know for fear of the unknown source of all things. I have worked with, and moved on from, much of that as I transitioned from Psychsynthesis therapist to Shaman. My book, "Reweaving the Web' pushed me in the deep end but I was ready.
So whats it about?? Looking deeper still I realised that the possum was real. It sat on my shoulder and talked to anyone who would listen. It was too alive and 'there' for the church members. They ran. When I looked at the Church what I saw was a building with people talking
about spirituality, not
to it. The whole institutional process showed up as being an illusion. When confronted with a real power being, they ran. Yet my possum was right there on my shoulder, living with me, conversing with me, loving me. Nothing illusionary about him (in the dream).
So what is real??? The Waitaki river is and it is at great risk. So many want to carve it up and when you carve something up, each person gets smaller and smaller portions until it ceases to exist.
Yet this river is alive and speaking to us, calling us out of our institutionalized mind, inviting us to listen directly to spirit. All the boards and commissions and councils are talking about the river, not to it. Think of what it is like to be in a room full of people talking about us, not to us. It strikes me that this is the way we distance ourselves from the truth in many situations. But we only drown in our own illusion. So I feel that the message for me is a reminder that truth is found in direct contact and will brook no intermediaries. The essence of shamanic thought is that everything is alive, conscious and intelligent. If you want to find the answer to questions, speak to the being, person, problem or issue itself and trust that an answer is only time away.
For me, I know that being amongst the bigger beings of the wilder land takes me out of societies illusion and places me in direct contact with what is real. I need to do this more often. I recommend it. The river is a wise being. We are blessed by it. But so is the sky, the earth, the trees, the cat next door, the bellbird, the front door, the pillow, the packet of cheese........all alive, conscious and intelligent. It cannot be otherwise. What we are made from, we are.
Hope you had a good Easter break. See you soon. Blessings Sparrowhawk.
Part 2:
When I was a practicing astrologer, I took great comfort that this time was built into our system like a fail-safe for humanity. Now it is here as we enter this next phase. This article below outlines why things are about to change. Don't fear the change. Celebrate it. It might be a rocky road but its one we all need to travel to be renewed. Blessings.
Pluto in Capricorn to 2023
Earth Transformed
The transit of Pluto through Capricorn is such a long one, that it's hard to fathom what life will be like in 2023, when it ends. Capricorn is a cardinal earth sign, making it the master of the physical realm, the lasting structure-builder of the Zodiac. It's a sign of breadth and depth, whose efforts tend to be big in scale. Capricorn is a sign that digs in, to be an active part of the backbone of society.
Enter
Pluto (which moved into Capricorn in November 2008), whose planetary purpose is to destroy that which no longer fits with the evolutionary plan. Pluto is set to transform the very structure of society, and how we live on our planet.
Will we see clean energy, a re-seeded and de-toxified Earth? Will the economic system be reformed, so that all of the planet shares in its abundance? And will the sickness and corruption of our government institutions be transmuted into a higher ideal? It all depends on what we do with Pluto's profound provocations to change our ways.
Pluto's trials serve to shatter structures that have become prisons to growth, even though we cling to the familiar as it crumbles. Just when we think we've hit a bottom, Pluto sends us hurling down further into what seems like a bottom-less pit. Pluto transits take out the light at the end of the tunnel. And that's when the miracle happens, and you realize you're stronger than you thought you were. And when true faith takes root in your character.
Right now, Pluto's drama is playing out in the realm of finances, government and the environment. We're seeing desperate, compulsive and obsessive behavior come into the light, as more suffer from a system that's been revealed as unsound. Pluto's probing uncovers distorted thinking, and power being wielded destructively. The truth comes out, and in the financial world, we see a value-system that is poisoned by greed. It's based on a sick psychological foundation, one not in harmony with the cycles of life. Pluto has a way of using extremes to bring a point home. With the bailout, we see the truth made clear -- we have a hopelessly corrupt government, in cahoots with the banking interests.
As 'trust' in the market is lost, the whole system spirals out of control. Banks don't lend the taxpayer money they were extended, and citizens are re-thinking their budgetary priorities. They're not shopping 'til they drop anymore. The values are changing, and investors are desperately looking to funnel their assets into whatever is perceived to have
timeless value, like gold.
And this is a challenge to every household, as we try to adjust to the changes in the economy. There's taboo where you find Pluto, and Jessica Murray has written about America's loaded relationship with money. The issue of debt is fraught with dark emotions like shame, guilt and a sense of not being 'in control' of life. What's happening, with new rules and regulations skewed toward corporations, mirrors what happened in pre-Colonial America, the last time Pluto was in Capricorn. Pluto's dark powers of control, through money, is a theme that each of us will wrestle with, in some form or another. The specter of
debtor's prisons has risen in the news here and there, but it's not likely to go that far. There's a potential for profound healing of our relationship with money, and a release from the prison of burdening debt.
Since Capricorn deals with power hierarchies, it's not just the average citizen that will feel the burn. We're apt to see the mighty fall during this transit. The monied elite are in Pluto's hot seat, with an investigative eye on what's hopelessly unsustainable. For example, the formerly hidden truths about the Federal Reserve, are coming to light. Since they charge interest on the money they print for the U.S. government, each dollar issued by this private bank adds to the national debt. Simple truths like this are being uncloaked in the mainstream, and that could ultimately lead to reform of the whole system. It's Pluto's time to
follow the money with the promise that by exposing the hidden hands, any inherently destructive power structures can be dismantled.
Since Capricorn is a sign of enmeshed authority, we could be shocked by the fall or exposure of rotten-to-the-core leaders. Capricorn is the sign of the mentor and the archetypal patriarch...the Grand Poohbah. We will see the end of blind faith in paternal leaders to shape our world, especially ones with a
do as I say, not as I do attitude. The true imbalances of a patriarchal system will be outed, and what has been hidden, exposed.
The scourge of unregulated corporate power goes to the extreme, and Pluto's lessons on this are designed to be undeniable. This transit enables us to see the dark truths about corporate greed, and the destructive force that puts profit before people (and in fact, all life on Earth). The part we each play to create a sick or healthy society, by how we spend our money, is brought home in a big way.
Though Pluto can take us to a hopeless place, there's always a rebirth on the other side. It's a planet that transforms whatever life energy it touches. And it does that by shattering the outer structure, so that the core gems can be ferreted out. That nucleus of what's real and true, becomes the foundation for the new.
This is just the beginning of a transit that many believe will be a rebirth for the planet. Pluto strips away what's false or superficial, so that the authentic can come to life. If there's greenwashing going on, we'll find out. We can speculate on what will happen, but Pluto's nature is to push us past the comfort zone, and into the primal untapped places within. The Earth is the ultimate change-agent in this scenario, and may surprise us all with her lessons. The end result will be a return to earth wisdom, where we all become
back to the landers. And each of us has a role to play in re-creating society, and coming back into a give & take harmony with the Earth as the living entity that sustains us.
