So this has been a really intense weekend energetically has it not? How has it been for you?

I know that I have heard of people feeling like they are barely staying afloat; feeling like they are drowning. I have heard of people spending a lot of time in meditation. I have heard of insights being gained and realities shifting. I am guessing there are those who are blessedly just bopping along not even noticing that the house is up in the middle of a cyclone, and a lady just passed by the window and it seems as if any time now we will find ourselves well passed the boundaries of Kansas, firmly planted in OZ (and I don’t know about you but I am not even going to go look under the house for those ruby slippers). 🙂

This was according to some the opening of the Lion’s gate. I read that the Lion’s gate is a yearly cycle, although this specific one has to do with ascension and moving into the higher levels of light. I may post more on that later. The other big thing though was the Cardinal Grand cross with everybody and his brother in the mix (planet wise) really stirring up the pot. I think these are parts of the same thing of course, with each accelerating the other.

Here is an except from something that was emailed to me by a friend. The Astrologer is named Susan Miller and can be found at the Astrology Zone. These are excepts from a longer article; but it was interesting and important information on the astrology, so I though I would share some of this here as well.

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“Truths will be illuminated, secrets will be exposed, and any injustices will be corrected. Under this type of configuration, we cannot deny, ignore, or hide from certain realities, but that’s good, for only then can we be energized to make things better. The cardinal cross – like eclipses – often pushes us to either end of the spectrum. That means you may find events to be either very difficult or very thrilling. Either way you will know where you stand and you will be able to plan with a greater sense of certainty.”

“This month’s cardinal cross will include Pluto, Uranus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Mars, Venus, and the transiting moon in Cancer. That’s eight heavenly bodies! The only ones not involved will be the Sun, Neptune, and Mercury. That is a large degree of participation!

“Technically, in order to have a true cardinal cross, you need to have four squares and two oppositions. You would see a perfect square box with an X in the middle. That’s a grand cross. When the group of planets involved are all cardinal signs (Aries, Libra, Cancer, and Capricorn) you have a grand cardinal cross.
This month’s grand cardinal cross is extraordinary because it will have not four squares but ten, and not two oppositions but seven. Wow, as you see, this is a very intense cardinal cross. Looking ahead 500 years, I could not find another cardinal cross involving so many planets.

“Another remarkable feature of this cardinal cross is that each planet will be within five degrees of each another, and many will be in even tighter configuration, within a degree or so! Cardinal signs are VERY energetic and when they are found in very early degrees of zero to 1.5 degrees, like many of these planets will be, they epitomize the very life force. This is very powerful!
Furthermore – another point that astounded me – is that Mars will be at a very sensitive degree on August 6 and 7, unlocking the message of the June 26 lunar eclipse, or bringing more news to a situation that arose at that time.

“Squares are known to present obstacles, but they also help you move forward and even turn a corner. They are a necessary part of life, for they uproot us from our complacency and shake us into awareness. You may experience a big breakthrough or the final ending of a long and debilitating circumstance.

“Two particularly important planets to watch will be Saturn and Uranus, still standing approximately 180 degrees apart. Even though they had their last opposition on July 21, they are still very close. Saturn rules all that is traditional and conservative, and Uranus represents all that is new and revolutionary. As you see, these two planets are very different.

“These two began confronting each other on November 4, 2008. Since then, they have been engaging in combat, separating and retreating, engaging and now finally separating. They have not have had direct confrontation since 1965-1967, a time when society moved out of the roles and mood of the 1950’s into a much more modern time. In the USA the changes focused on the changing role of women and African Americans in our society. Often when we are participating in big change we are too busy to notice how massive things are shifting, but in hindsight it becomes clear.

“Certainly Saturn and Uranus have been keeping up the pressure to force us to decide what is valuable and to be preserved, and what is new and revolutionary and should be embraced to replace all that is outworn. As creatures of habit we tend to cling to what we know rather than try something new.”

“So in the coming week, if anything is weak and ready to break, it will. It will be obvious that the center will not hold – something has to change. Actually, that’s the good news, for extreme planetary energies like the one we are about to experience will soon display any defective parts in a relationship, project, certain investment deal, or other endeavor or part of life. Those outworn or faulty elements will either spin off quickly and be discarded, or demand fixing or advice very soon. If you were deprived of reward on any level, it may come to you now.

“Cardinal energy is not patient, so when the news its, it will demand you attend to it quickly with a sense of urgency. We all will have no choice but to act under such strong gale force winds, but let’s not forget that forceful, difficult aspects illuminate and clarify situations like none other. The universe will now take a strong hand in things to show us what we could not see for ourselves. Yet, as I have been saying, if you are with the wrong boss, the wrong sweetheart, the wrong investor, or in the wrong living situation (you name it – there are many possibilities), the cardinal cross may suddenly end that situation and help you get into a new one quickly. “

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I know for myself I had bouts of internal tension at varying intervals. I have also had big shafts of light shining right through me into my world. I chose the path of coming home Friday night and doing some really chewy (the technical term :)) meditation and Theta healing on myself. I figure if this much stuff is up I might as well put it to good use and start some big ‘ol clearing. I meditate daily anyway as part of a spiritual practice that has been going on for 30 years now, but there are times when the call, or opportunity, of meditation feels like it has a capitol “M”. This was one of those weekends.

I mostly focused on looking at what my beliefs really are, and how are they effecting me today. Plus starting up an even more in depth conversation with the Universe about whether or not I am truly supported and please give me some signs of land thank-you-very-much. I got some of those signs, to my joy and relief; and so I am doing daily work to be right here right now and not jump into the potential future of what might or might not be (lions and tigers and bears oh my!).

I had a good “out-loud” conversation with God tonight, and it was strangely comforting. I normally do this quietly, but tonight out-loud seemed to be the way to go. I realized that there are levels of honesty and if I found it interesting that there can still be this desire to “look good” to God even where only my cats and I are physically present. I love that I can laugh at myself, it’s a way I grow. I can be truthful in the middle of being really silly, which is how it felt tonight saying all the things out-loud that had been running around in my brain, even if I “know” I am not supposed to be thinking/saying/pondering them. I am a teacher and I know better right? Well Thank the powers that be we all change and grow all the time.

I have decided once again though, that if we do indeed create our reality based on our beliefs, then that means that we really do get to do that very thing. Therefore in my reality I get to have a God(dess) that hears me and loves me and totally understands me and answers me no matter how I am feeling when I start the conversation.

This may seem like an odd thing to say but I find our ability to create new rules when the old ones go out the window, is pretty impressive. Such as the rule that I find popping up sometimes which says God only hears you and answers when your consciousness is up high enough and you are positive enough. Which is oddly reminiscent of replacing the idea of being “sinful” with being “negative”, but having it essential fill the same role. LOL. OK in some ways they are similar in that sin=missing the mark (it is a term that originally came from archery having to do with missing the mark, or coming up short) and being “negative” is simply another way to miss the mark of where we want to be; so that I suppose that is reasonable.

However I am going to keep the idea of the God/Universe who loves us and listens and responds even in our “broken times”; otherwise I am keeping myself from my source at the very times I most need to remember that connection. How often do we cut ourselves off at the times we need it most, waiting to be in a better place before we ask? It’s like cleaning the house before the house cleaner comes over, what’s the point? If God/the Universe is All and is everywhere present, then wouldn’t that mean it is right where we each are all the time; even in the times when we are twirling around in the winds of change?

I was reminded tonight (during my conversation) that things can only happen in the now they are happening in. Which means that I can ask all day for something to happen in the future (and I do believe it does get created energetically in the moment we put our attention on it) but it will take coming into that place in time that I now see as future for that darn thing to actually manifest! Which is to say that it is counterproductive to ask for something to happen next Monday and worry all week because it hasn’t happened yet; when indeed it’s something that can only actually happen on Monday!! Funny funny humans!

So once again I am brought to present time and to appreciating what I have in-this-moment, and when I hear that voice that says but… but… I go back to appreciating what I have in-this-moment (rinse and repeat); because often what I have in this moment is quite good; it’s the fear that something will be lost, or not gained l-a-t-e-r that often throws us all off kilter. The paradox is, the times I have been right in the middle of some kind of experience that I might want to label “yuck” (so technical I know) I am totally OK in the midst of it…and I have made it through.

I am finding so much juice in all of this, I have been listening more intently, really tuning into that guidance, not taking things for granted. This is a very good thing.

So how has your weekend been? Any insights gained?

(oh and by the way Mercury is going retrograde in a couple weeks…but I am thinking walk in the park after all this…waddya say?) 🙂

Aloha and Blessings,
Erika