Dr. Lea Imsiragic M.Sci
ASTROHEALING A Textbook of Astro Therapy
Astro.Lab
Dr. Lea Imsiragic M.Sci ASTROHEALING A Textbook of Astro Therapy
Book Editor:
Emily Trinkaus
Published by:
Astro.Lab, Belgrade
Design and prepress: Djurdjija Djuric
Print:
Apollo Graphic Production, Belgrade
Beograd, 2016.
Copyright © 2016. by Astro.Lab Note to the reader: This book is intended as an informational guide. The remedies, approaches, and techniques described herein are meant to supplement, and not to be a substitute for, professional medical care or treatment. They should not be used to treat a serious ailment without prior consultation with a qualified healthcare professional.
I dedicate this book to the Knowledge that comes from the Center of the Soul and to Jupiter at 15º of Pisces
AstroHealing
CONTENT
• Foreword • Introduction to AstroHealing - Vibratory Essences • Basic Planetary Essences • Animal Essences • Planetary Assistants • Aspect Assistants • The Moon - Balance and Healing • Mars - Balance and Healing • Venus - Balance and Healing • The Sun - Balance and Healing • Mercury - Balance and Healing • Jupiter - Balance and Healing • Saturn - Balance and Healing • Uranus - Balance and Healing • Neptune - Balance and Healing • Pluto - Balance and Healing • Twelve Essences of the Zodiac Signs • Environmental Essences • The Complete System of Healing for Aspects • Astrotherapy • Appendix 1 - Flower (Bach) Essences by Planetary Center • Appendix 2 - Animal Essences by Planetary Center
07 11 25 43 45 49 51 75 93 121 149 175 193 213 243 269 299 305 323 329 339 343
Foreword
AstroHealing
FOREWORD
At the very beginning, my teacher taught me two basic astrology rules: 1. Before practicing astrology, first develop the awareness of an astrologer, and 2. There is no "other people." Everybody is just a planet of yours. Therefore, be good to them. Thank you. When I started practicing astrology many years ago, the question I kept obsessing about was the issue of challenging or so-called “bad” aspects in natal charts. My Sagittarius ascendant constantly searches for meaning and purpose, and therefore I kept asking myself: “What is the purpose of it all?” Astrology is ruled by Aquarius, so it is governed by Saturn – the primary ruler of the sign. Each planet develops a need within ourselves, and Saturn represents the need in astrologers to get insight into this system of time recognition and events unfolding in it, as well as everything that determines us. With the discovery of Uranus, the modern ruler of Aquarius, new information and the human need to free ourselves by changing our social and scientific systems entered our collective network of consciousness. At the same time, both astrologers and clients started to feel a greater need to look at the natal chart not only as a means to predict events, but also as a map of causative patterns that need to be recognized, released and transformed in order for personal potential to manifest. 07
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My long-term study of astrology's links to various other disciplines (electromagnetic fields, acupuncture, flower essences, energy psychology) was motivated by the belief that the end goal of astrology is not only to diagnose and give information, but also to provide a means of transformation (exalted Uranus in Scorpio). Finally, it was my own personal planets in the eighth house that spontaneously led me to see people as energy beings before ever seeing them as beings of “muscle and bone.” Since all knowledge is contained within the center of the Soul (the exaltation of Jupiter at 15° Cancer), it is necessary to allow seemingly different puzzle pieces of knowledge to form a unified picture. The end result emerged through establishing clear links between our basic energy centers (chakras) and planets in the natal chart. Next, the whole system developed through knowledge acquired in various places on our beautiful planet with their different essential vibrations. For the AstroHealing system to spread quickly, it needs to be simple, easy to apply, and reveal the essence of the native. At the same time, AstroHealing makes it possible for people to access planetary energies (their vibrations) in a practical way, as well as balance them out. When we look at the natal chart in this way – as an energy map in which each planet is linked to an energy center (chakra) – we gain a completely new perspective. Every challenging aspect becomes only an imbalance of two energy centers and their vibrations that need to be balanced. During years of work with students from various parts of the world, as well as with many clients, I reached a clear insight that it is our problems that make us similar to one other, while it is our virtues that make us completely authentic and original. In astrological terms – as long as we’re living out the low vibratory potential of our challenging aspects, they will manifest in predictable ways, and every aspect will unfold in a similar way in different people's lives. On the other hand, when people activate their challenging aspects and start “working” on them consciously, the other side of the coin becomes apparent: the authenticity of the native and all the challenges that the Soul consciously chose in order to grow, to reveal their beauty and talents, and share them with the world. This latter perspective makes each planetary energy a source for the Soul's growth, a way of discovering its beauty and joy at a personal level, as well as on the level of soul mates and the level of our planet Earth. 08
Foreword
My vision for the future is a new generation of astrologers who will, first and foremost, be astrotherapists of the Uranian archetype. They will carry a living Knowledge and will reveal the power of the natal chart’s meaning, as well as know how to balance out planetary energies, making them not only informative, but primarily transformative. Lea
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Introduction to AstroHealing - Vibratory Essences
Introduction to AstroHealing
INTRODUCTION TO ASTROHEALING Vibratory Essences
The goal of AstroHealing as a separate branch of astrology is to develop the ability to balance and heal negative planetary influences that can be diagnosed through classical astrological practice. The diagnosis alone, however, cannot heal the problem, regardless of whether it is linked to one particular period of life, or to life as a whole. AstroHealing is a unique astrological approach to healing negative astrological influences by balancing planetary energies (which is a separate field of study within Energy Astrology 1), and by systematically approaching the healing process through addressing specific challenging planetary placements and aspects. Although AstroHealing, as a method and technique for healing negative astrological influences, has more than one approach, this book will deal with the primary system of balancing with flower and other vibratory essences. Flower essences, especially Bach flower essences, have proven to be an extremely efficient means for balancing planetary influences, since they work on a very subtle level, corresponding with the frequency of the planetary influence. In addition to Bach flower essences, we now have a great number of other flower essences that originate from various parts of the world. Flower essences, as well as gem stone essences, contain a minimal quantity of physical substances, while animal and environmental essences do not contain them at all. Therefore, they are all considered vibratory remedies. The carrier of their energetic qualities is the universal natural medium – water. Vibratory essences can help fix the dysfunctional energetic matrix between certain energy centers (planets), better known as 1 More details can be found in my book The Energy Astrology Handbook.
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a “challenging aspect” between two planets in a natal chart. The essence itself represents the intelligence of a certain entity (plant, animal, stone or natural phenomenon) which balances out a certain imbalance within our energy matrix, enabling us to harmoniously and consciously learn the spiritual lessons of our energy centers. These lessons are inscribed in the energy matrix of our natal chart in the form of planetary codes. AstroHealing also teaches you the correspondences between essences and the appropriate planetary positions and their aspects, the method of their preparation, and ways to determine the duration of treatment. Certain essences primarily work through the planets, while others work through signs or houses. In addition, in order to fully understand and apply AstroHealing, we also need to have some basic astrological knowledge about natal and predictive astrology, as well as other branches of astrology (for example, electional astrology). It is very important that we, as astrologers, understand that the goal of astrology is to connect us with cosmic laws. However, as we mentioned before, it is not enough only to understand cosmic laws or events – which is the primary goal of Uranus – but also to learn how to balance out energies within us, i.e., within our chart. Uranus represents the big cosmic intellect that shows us what happens in life and why, as well as when things will happen, but astrology linked to AstroHealing adds the knowledge that enables an individual to change certain things in life. AstroHealing is, therefore, actually from the sphere of Chiron rather than Uranus. Although we, as astrologers, primarily aim to understand that “higher” (mental) – Uranian – astrological knowledge, in order to access cosmic knowledge and to live in harmony with it, we need to be able to heal. First, we need to heal ourselves on a certain level, while other parts of our being will be healed through our work with others, through a relationship or significant person in our life. While we help others through AstroHealing, we do a lot for ourselves too, because we help ourselves live in harmony with our own higher nature. When we say that this astrological work belongs to the sphere of Chiron, we see the first astrologer on Earth, the astrologer-healer. He carried a wound he wished to heal. Through working on ourselves and with other people, we study ourselves, we acquire knowledge and we finally align ourselves with the “Uranian” cosmic state. At its core, Chiron is 12
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Uranus's foundation, since it is the link between Saturn and Uranus (i.e., because Chiron orbits between Saturn and Uranus). We call him the Cosmic Soul. In order for this Soul to open up and grow big, it is necessary to heal any problematic energies. In our charts, these problematic energies show up through certain heavy aspects and uncomfortable planetary positions, preventing the light to fully flow and creating a spasm on some level that prevents our energy from circulating. The most important role in a person’s energy circulation is assigned to the fourth, the Moon (heart) chakra, and this Moon needs to be “permeable.” In order to let all kinds of energies in the form of harmonious feelings to flow through us, we need to have an open heart. The open-hearted state prolongs life and enables its unfoldment. Also, consciousness flows through the heart chakra, connecting the inner and outer worlds, and life becomes whole. This state provides goodness and, at the same time, purity. It is a subtle state that we strongly crave deep inside of us.
Planet Earth and Its Elements
The first rule that needs to be understood is that the planet we live on is, in itself, medicine. Nature on the Earth contains medicine for any disorder, and nature has healing power. This is where the story of the shaman begins, and where Chiron understands that story. An astrologer communicates with the energies of planet Earth in order to bring himself or herself into balance in the same way that planet Earth harmonizes with everything else in space. This planet has its own heart, and it is linked to the core of the Earth, while its mind (brain) is linked to the Moon, which holds all memory. The Earth and the Moon are one and the same body. By aligning with this frequency of union, we experience an aligned state of being and we begin to live just as our planet lives – in alignment with everything that surrounds us. Just like any person, and like anything else that exists, our planet Earth has her four bodies, or better said: its four levels of existence. These levels are contained within a figure eight, which is comprised of the upper, Yang level, and the lower, Yin level. This is the general model of planet Earth and all the other planets, as well as all the chakras contained within the human body. Each chakra, i.e., each energy center, has its four levels, its four vibrations through which 13
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Humans
Causal Body of the Earth
Animals
Astral Body of the Earth
A IR
YANG
FIRE
Plants
Etheral Body of the Earth
Minerals
Physical Body of the Earth
WATER
YIN
E A RT H
it functions. These vibrations are linked to the four elements. Since each planet in the natal chart occupies a sign that belongs to a certain element, the process of bringing that planet into balance necessarily happens first through that element. The lowest element is Earth. Right above it is the Water element, which is still within the lower circle of the figure eight. In the upper, Yang circle we have the elements of Fire and Air. Positioned one above the other, these elements represent the basic Tetragramaton model, i.e., the model through which things grow more dense. The least dense level is represented by the Air element, and it becomes Fire when it grows denser. Fire grows denser into Water, Water into Earth, and then materialization happens. This is the general model of becoming. At the same time, here we have four frequencies, four levels of our existence: physical, etheric, astral and causal. When we speak of planet Earth, the basic level of the Earth element is represented by the physical body of the planet and is linked to its minerals. Frequencies of this physical body are transmitted via minerals and precious stones, so although each mineral has its unique frequency, the 14
Introduction to AstroHealing - Vibratory Essences
whole physical body is determined by them. This will be one field of our study. The etheric body of this planet is linked to the plant kingdom, and it is mostly contacted through our work with essences. The plant world is the most direct way for us to connect with the etheric body. The etheric body contains the inscriptions of all codes, all feelings and a huge number of memories. The etheric body represents the molecular level of existence, which is inscribed on the molecular DNA level within us. This is the level of our ancestors and the memories that we carry in our genes. This is where our entire destiny is inscribed. Plants have unbelievable intelligence and are capable of connecting heaven and Earth. They are authentic inhabitants of this planet. Unlike minerals, which are held within the Earth, plants dive into the Earth with their lower part, but their upper part is above the Earth, so they represent a very fine link between these two worlds. When we work with plants, we establish the most direct link between our physical and etheric body. In much the same way, chakras – our internal energy centers – represent the gate between these two levels of existence. Just like plants, our chakras or planets dive into the etheric world with one part, while being in the physical world with the other, becoming a bridge between those levels. In other words, each planet strongly functions through the Water element, and this is the most direct way to connect with it. The astral body of planet Earth, its astral kingdom, is represented by animals. When you look at the animal world as an entity, you are looking at a whole other level of the planet's existence, as well as one's own astral body. Although there are so many varieties of animal species, together they all form one vibration – the vibration of the astral body. The highest level – the causal body of planet Earth – is represented by people. Here, people are united into one category and, regardless of how different they are, they form one frequency of the planet, i.e., its level of existence that is linked to the Air element. Just as our planet has these four levels of existence, we have them too. Therefore, it is necessary that we align our frequency with the frequency of planet Earth, because it is our guide through the Cosmos, our guide through the whole Universe. In the same way, each of our natal planets vibrates on these four levels, and can contain a problem within itself. For this reason we use certain energies that originate from planet 15
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Earth – plants, minerals or animals – in order to balance our elements through subtle communication. If any element is not completely balanced, we cannot expect to understand the events manifesting around us. For example, Venus in a chart can be positive on a causal level, but at the same time be negative on the physical, etheric or astral level. It is necessary to pay attention to the element which is connected to a planet in order to define its true vibration. This identification of a planet and its element, which is necessary in order to reveal its true vibration, is a very important part of AstroHealing
The Etheric Body's Figure Eight Humans
Causal Body of the Earth
Animals
Astral Body of the Earth
A IR
YANG
FIRE
Plants
Etheral Body of the Earth
Minerals
Physical Body of the Earth
WATER
YIN
E A RT H
The basic model of the figure eight, with the four elements representing the energetic structure of planet Earth, contains within its Water element another figure eight. Water contains within itself the relationship of all four elements, and it represents a big field of all the vibrations and memories we have. It 16
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carries the memory that originates from the Earth element and contains Earth elementals – Gnomes – small, subtle beings that exist in the invisible, etheric world. Other elements and their elementals are contained here in the same way – Nymphs (Water elementals), Salamanders (Fire elementals) and Sylphs (Air elementals) – or, in other words, the entire invisible etheric world with all its elements. Our energy has to cycle within this figure eight in order to be well-connected, because the goal of our healing work is to allow our feelings to flow in that figure eight in relation to any person or in any situation in life. When we locate a place in the natal chart where a certain congestion or block exists (usually connected with hard aspects), it is necessary to administer a certain essence which will purify it and turn it into a channel that flows.
Planet Earth’s Energy Centers
Just as people have seven energy centers that connect their physical and etheric bodies, these centers also exist on the level of planet Earth. The first energy center is located in South Africa, in the region of Stone Mountain. All the plants that grow there, as well as the essences made from them, connect us in the most direct way with the first chakra of the planet. This chakra leads into the core of the Earth and connects us with the lower, interior part of its existence. This book will deal with a whole range of South African essences for all ten planets. The indigenous plants that grow here connect us to the basic element of Earth because Mars is exalted in the sign of Capricorn (Earth sign) and has the ability to ground us. Therefore, the energies of Mars and the first chakra are grounding energies 2, so we will use some of the South African essences to additionally balance out planets that are placed in the Earth element. The second energy center is located in the region of Lake Titicaca, on the Peruvian-Bolivian border. It strongly describes the Venus frequency which is linked to the second chakra. The third energy center is located in Australia, in the region of the Uluru/Ayers Rock. This is also one of the lower chakras and therefore is positioned below the equator. This is where the plant world is especially rich. The plants are strong and full of Sun and life, so the Australian essences carry a strong message of the third energy center, which is the one 2 More details can be found in my book The Energy Astrology Handbook.
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E A RT H
WATER
FIRE
A IR
AstroHealing
Introduction to AstroHealing - Vibratory Essences
most connected with a person's health. It is called the center of healing and whenever we strengthen it, we strengthen the entire person. Plants from this region directly influence endocrine balance, i.e., the balance of the thyroid gland and pancreas. The plants are linked to specific hormonal centers and balance them out. Essences originating from this region activate planets placed in the Fire element and represent our closest link to the realm of Fire. We will use ten Australian essences, as this is the number of planets that can be found in the Fire element. We can expect that problems will manifest themselves in powerful ways through the events and people around us, as if things of a fiery nature need to be evoked in order it to be balanced out. The Australian essences work in a powerful way and sometimes quite violently through outer circumstances. When we work on the inner level, on the heart center level (where the Water element dominates, in addition to working with Bach essences), we reach an emotional balance which in time manifests through outer circumstances, but these are much less visible than this fiery nature that needs to express itself. If there is an afflicted planet in Leo, problems are often very tangible on various levels and they belong to the field of the visible and obvious. The person might need for things to “come to life” and have clear expression in order for him or her to balance them out. In that case, it is very beneficial to use these kinds of essences. The fifth energy center – the Mercury center – is one of the three upper chakras of planet Earth, and is located on Mount Shasta in California. This chakra is linked to the Air element, so Californian essences are used to work with a planet of that nature. We use them to resolve imbalances on the Air level. These essences, as well as the Australian ones, are greater in number than the Bach essences, but we will use only ten primary ones that correspond to the ten planets. These essences are prepared in that location and exclusively from native plants. Each essence could be made anywhere on Earth, but we need to have the essence made in the same place in which the plant grows, so that the energy it carries is completely pure and in harmony with its location on planet Earth, and it carries specific information. An essence prepared somewhere else will still function to a certain extent and will be similar to the indigenous one, but we need the purest possible channel of the elements we use. 19
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Since the Californian essences are of the nature of Mercury and work from the Air element, their specific characteristic is that they work fast, just like the Air element. They will not have as deep an effect as, for example, Bach essences, but their Mercury nature make them especially good for using with children and teenagers. These are not the type of clients who come to reflect upon their evolution and study the deeper issues of life, but instead need a quick fix for an immediate lack of concentration, mental confusion or a similar problem. Therefore, they especially correspond to the element of Air. The sixth energy center – the Jupiter center – is situated in the town of Glastonbury in England and is most linked with the Bach essences. Due to the link between the sixth and fourth chakras, these essences are primarily connected to emotional work. Jupiter (the sixth chakra) is exalted at 15° Cancer (the Moon – fourth chakra) and its ability to activate depends on strong emotional balance. Everything we need at the Water element level is connected with these essences. The seventh energy center – the Saturn center – is situated on Mount Kailas in Tibet. This is an especially important center. Throughout the greater part of our known history it served as a link to higher levels of existence. The seventh center opens us to the cosmos, so this is where great wisdom and knowledge come from. We are currently living in an interesting period of transformation, when kundalini energy, which originates from the core of the Earth, which used to go through the seventh chakra (in the Himalayan region), has now changed directions and instead goes through the Venus chakra in that region in South America. It is obvious that great breakthroughs of knowledge are happening in these parts of the world, as well as the development of a strong feminine, Venusian principle, which is of great importance for planet Earth. The fourth chakra – the chakra that all the other chakras revolve around – is an axis described by the Moon. It is located in the Pacific, on Moorea Island in the Tahitian group of islands. The island itself is shaped like a heart and is located very far away in the high seas. This place is quite etheric and especially intimate. Although various groups of essences correspond to these principles, like the Polynesian ones, none embody them in full and are mostly prepared in the coastal areas of the continent, while special essences from this region still do not exist. This is why the 20
Introduction to AstroHealing - Vibratory Essences
primary essences we will use for contacting the Water element are Bach essences which are defined in the sixth (Jupiter) chakra region. Since Jupiter is exalted in the very heart of the sign Cancer (15º), this group of essences represents the most direct channel for contacting the holy Water. Therefore, within the small figure eight of the watery, etheric world, we will employ healing techniques by using South African essences for the Earth element, Bach essences for the Water element, Australian essences for the Fire element and Californian essences for the Air element. These are, actually, essences that fit the nature of the specific elements and are of crucial significance in the healing process. Before a planet is linked to the house or sign in which it is placed, it has to be in a healthy relationship with the element. It is the basis for everything we further want to balance within it.
Environmental Essences Animal Essences
Flower Essences Gem Essences
AIR
FIRE
WATER
Californian Essences Australian Essences Bach Essences South African Essences
E ARTH
The complete system of balancing and healing a planetary energy is based on the use of special planetary essences 3, with help from the elements in which the planets are placed. The basic planetary essences are 3 More details can be found in the following chapter, “Basic Planetary Essences.”
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of a general type for a specific planet, and are used independently of the planet's placement. But in order to make it more personal and stronger for the person we wish to heal, we use it in combination with the appropriate element until this relationship is in harmony. Only then can we work on the combination of a planet with its natal sign and house. After we couple a planet with the element it is in, the planet begins to vibrate within the element and balances it out, harmonizing itself with the element that maybe is not comfortable for it, or with which it is in a certain imbalance. This problem will be reflected in the whole world of that element within our etheric being, i.e., in all other signs of that element within our natal chart. When we talk about the “big” figure eight, on the Air level we use environmental essences that correspond to the astrological houses. In regard to this wider story, we have animal essences for the Fire element, flower essences for the Water element, and gem stone essences for the Earth element. The small figure eight, therefore, represents flower essences that are linked with certain energy centers of planet Earth, creating an image of all four elements. The big figure eight relates to vibrations on a broader level, those which not only belong to the etheric body in a narrow sense. This type of AstroHealing (working with essences) is always linked to the etheric body on a wider scale.
Conclusion
Each planet we work with represents a living entity with its separate intelligence, its own core, and its own Fire element. It also contains all the other elements. It must manifest through all four level of existence, and if we use basic planetary essences, we influence the general nature of a given planet. However, a planet will gain the characteristics of the element in which it is placed and will influence that element if it carries an imbalance. For example, if a problematic Mars is in any water sign, emotions are already running high, and this problem does not pertain only to Mars, but to the entire Water element. Therefore, a planet will affect not only what that planet symbolically represents, but since it is built into our chart, its vibration will be carried over to its sign, and then to the whole element in which it is placed. If a malefic is in the sign of Cancer, it will influence all of our Water as well as our heart chakra, 22
Introduction to AstroHealing - Vibratory Essences
which is a balance for all the other chakras, and in the most direct way. Therefore, the Moon will not be the only factor working from the heart energy center, but also each planet that brings problematic energies into the Water element. We combine planetary essences with the addition of one of the four elements, which we call helpers. Therefore, if we use essences to balance the Moon in a Water sign, we will add a certain helper from the Bach essence series to it, and it will influence the Water element and help the balancing out of the heart chakra. The basic planetary essence is always a combination of various essences, but if it is combined with the essence of the element in which that planet recognizes itself, it will make a big difference in the way it works. After we balance a planet in relation to its element, we can link it with the sign. The planet is a representative of its sign, the one it rules. However, the planet is a deity, while the sign of the zodiac represents the animal part of its nature. By connecting these two values, a person emerges as the final combination of deity and animal. The planet gets used to the sign, and the sign gets used to the planet. This is how consciousness (the planet) gains elements of the unconscious, while the unconscious (the sign) gains the element of consciousness. Our goal is for the sign of Leo to be the same as the Sun, i.e., that every sign becomes the same as the planet that rules it, or for that which is in the divine world to be the same as its representative in the animal world.
Houses
Planet 4 Elements
Sign
Next we develop a model of the houses with environmental essences, which are a completely personal and individual matter. Houses separate us from genetics in a certain way, as genetics are represented by planetary positions within the zodiacal circle. These personal channels for memories of our ancestors are sometimes well-adjusted, and sometimes not. It is important to understand that the level of astrological houses is the youngest of all. The energy of our personal Mars and our first house will be linked to the energy we carry within our genetic inheritance, the energy of the sign of Aries and, finally, the energy of the planet.
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Gem stone essences have the purpose of stabilizing the water that we have on the previous level. It is supposed to gain its crystal structure from the best possible memory of the given symbolic pattern. We speak, for example, of the diamond essence for acquiring the crystal structure of our Saturn. This is how the symbolic pattern of the highest quality manages to harden a certain level by calling upon the best memory of the given symbolic pattern, purifying it on the water level. In addition to gem stone essences, which are in fact a blend of the Water and Earth elements, we also use the pure essences of the Zodiac signs. There are twelve of them, and there are also twelve environmental essences which affect the level of houses. The remaining ten essences correspond to the number of planets and energy centers. There are ten animal essences and ten flower essences for each level within the small figure eight or etheric bodies, and they spread to twelve houses, i.e., twelve signs on the Air and Earth level, with a single point in the middle which represents Anahata and the ultimate center of everything. What is inside must express itself on the outside. Manifestation happens both above and below, within twelve signs and twelve houses, while planets are between them. The planets represent the link between our ancestors and our descendants (from previous and future lives), between that which is below and that which is above, between signs and houses. All things are connected with those ten strings (planets) which permeate all other things, travel through various vibrations and need to be brought into balance in order to make our lives whole.
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Basic Planetary Essences
Principles of AstroHealing
BASIC PLANETARY ESSENCES
Planetary essences are a group of essences that connect us to the world of flowers. These essences provide a foundation for working with the Yin principle, when we balance a person’s passive, feminine nature by using the transformative power of flowers. The creator of planetary essences is the author of this book, and it is through her astrological experience and practice, as well as from her experience of working with Bach and other vibratory essences, that she created unique formulas for the essences of planets. Each of these essences is made up of a special combination of Bach and desert essences, with the addition of gold water and an invocation for each planet. Bach and desert essences activate the Taurus-Scorpio axis, which represents the primary “container” of the life cycle on Earth, so its Yin combination is the carrier of the whole vibration. The Yang carrier is represented by the addition of gold water (Leo), as well as a special planetary invocation (Aquarius). This is how each planetary essence is created and activated. Working with essences enables people to better accept their unconscious characteristics, i.e., to accept their ancestors, and this is the most important part of the work to establish the first level of balance in their lives. The essences develop people’s ability to accept the place they occupy in order to transform their characteristics into correct ones, all connected with the story contained within the given planet. A planetary essence represents a model of the correct functioning of a given planet, and working with it makes it possible to balance the very core of a planet within its own energetic nature. It is only after achieving a foundational balance by using the pure essence that we can add assistants, which link the planet with the energy of the element through which it incarnated. 25
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After accepting the planet, we add another kind of essence, which connects us to everything that is linked to the element it is in. People should go through the entire process of this work before moving on to any other types of essences. When there is a strong need to reject certain things that are in the symbolism of a given planet, various types of purification occur, which are a completely normal part of the process of balancing the planet. For any given energy center, there are three phases of work: 1. Phase 1 is a process of purifying, liberating and opening up the energy center. 2. Phase 2 is linked to the balancing and correct functioning of the energy center. 3. Phase 3 is when the balance of the planet stabilizes, enabling people to discover new potentials on that plane. Not all three phases will happen in all the work, as some clients will not have the purification phase at all. The energy of a given center will immediately start coming into balance, and progress will be fast. Entering into the nature of the planet we are working on will be easy. When rejection is strong, phase 1 will ensure the process of liberation and purification, in order for balance to be achieved in the next step. The whole process is individual, so phase 2 can be the first thing that happens to a person, within a week or month, but the period of purification can also last much longer, depending on the problems that each person carries. The essence certainly provides people with a model of the correct functioning of a given center, i.e., it serves as a guide post for how a planet should vibrate and look. The question is how capable people are of recognizing themselves within any given planet's nature, so if they cannot do that, the purification phase will occur in the form of a need for personal change and adaptation to the nature of the planet. This type of work is still not connected with the element that the planet needs to link to, but only deals with the core of the planet and its essence. It is only after we purify all blocks to accepting the planetary essence that we can link the planet to the feelings inherited from the ancestors by using assistants that link it to the element or nature of its sign. Stabilization will more often be achieved before the planet is linked to its 26
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element, although the assistant connected to it can be used even before phase 3, as a way of supporting the planet. However, we start our work with the pure planetary essence as a rule, because it is the easiest way to start working with people, and it is the simplest kind of such work. Phases 2 and 3 slowly bring people into a state of stable balance, and that enables them to discover their inner potential for a finer personal quality that is gained through accepting a given planet, a potential they did not know they possessed. After phase 3 of our therapeutic work is finished, we can move on to animal essences of an appropriate nature, which will help create balance in a similar manner. When people who work with flower essences achieve a state of balance in phase 3, using animal essences will surely be a much smaller challenge than if this balance is not there at all. However, after we have purified and balanced the Yin nature of a given planet through flower essences, the appropriate animal essence can also lead to certain challenges and a purification phase, so that the Yang nature of a planet can be brought into balance, too. Whatever phase appears during our work, it is important to understand it and know which phase is linked with which balancing step of a target planet.
Mars Planetary Essence
The role of the Mars planetary essence is to balance out our first energy center on the Yin level, the center located at the bottom of our spinal column and which represents the root from which we draw our energy. If people are not well-grounded, i.e., if the first chakra is not balanced, there’s a feeling of not being able to stand on one's legs – whether in a physical, mental, material or any other way. A Mars imbalance leads to a state of dependency on other people. This can express itself as a physical, but also as a material problem, when people need to lean on their parents, husbands, society or someone else to provide material means for them, and that creates mutual distrust. 27
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The role of the Mars essence is to remove the first and main problem that occurs in the first energy center, and that is fear, and its “other side of the coin” – aggression. Fear and aggression are inextricably linked and we can recognize that in common everyday examples: people who feel that someone has threatened their sense of security attacks the other person, although that person may have no idea that they have been threatening in any way. Whenever people feel that their environment is threatening them, they generally become aggressive. In phase 1, purification will happen on the first chakra level, so people will get rid of anything they need to in order for that center to be able to function in a balanced way. If people suppress their emotions, their energy level becomes suppressed, and that can be experienced as anger or the recognition of anger (becoming aware of it). People around them will often react to the sharpness of the native, and the native himself might be surprised with that characterization of himself. This will not happen with everyone, but it often happens that when we try to balance something out, and that thing has been in a state of imbalance for a long time, a person can swing between a state in which repressed energy bursts out, and a state of low energy. This oscillation will be proportional to the imbalance in the given center, so it can be expressed as tension, but also as harshness and anger. In principle, the more a person was prepared to compromise and the fewer personal boundaries they raised, the greater and more explosive the reaction will be, and the same is true for the intensity of purification. In order to achieve the desired balance, sometimes people need to activate their sharpness so they can set boundaries, so even if it looks harsh at first glance, in time they will start carrying that need with lightness and subtlety. The increase of energy that the activation of this center brings can also be accompanied by feelings of aggression and anger, so repressed anger will surface in order for people to become aware of its cause and to identify the object of anger, as well as to understand why they are angry with themselves. Only then can they make necessary changes. People are often afraid of their own anger, so they repress it out of fear, and that leads to depression. Therefore, we can say that every depression is caused by anger, just as Saturn and Mars always work together. By recognizing the things that have blocked the workings of this center, tension goes down and energy comes back in a healthy form. 28
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By removing fears and through “grounding” we become aware of the need to be self-sufficient, so we spontaneously feel that we trust ourselves and that we can depend on ourselves in order to achieve material or any other success. Physical symptoms that may appear are the so-called “phantom pain” symptoms that conventional medicine fails to explain, so a feeling of jitters, itching or pain might occur in the bottom of the spinal column. Since fear is very heavy and cold, the process of liberation from fear might be accompanied by feelings of coldness from the inside, and the native can’t find a way to warm up. This might be so dramatic that people might sweat from whatever they tried to heat themselves up with, but still feels chills through their knees, feet and the whole lower part of their body. When people get rid of fear, their body temperature might go up and the cold feeling disappears. Body temperature can rise quite high in people whose immune system was weak for a long time. It is as if people are physically lukewarm and are incapable of springing into action, so their temperature purifies their system and strengthens their immune system. At the end of phase 1, people spontaneously start clearing things that were left unfinished and that they were incapable of facing before. In phase 2, increased energy will slowly transform from feelings of anger and sharpness into stable energy that people can use for everyday functioning. People develop the ability to grab ahold of a situation and resolve it, even if before they were fearful of saying or doing anything. Their behavior need not be harsh anymore, but they become focused and dare to accomplish things. The body’s inner heat is developed, especially in people who were previously sensitive to cold and always had cold feet. In this way they acquire a greater resistance to external cold. Their blood pressure balances itself out, they become hardy and their physical injuries heal faster. Phase 3 brings a completely new feeling that people recognize as a quality they have never experienced before. This feeling influences people's energy in such a way that they powerfully and fearlessly carry trust within their body. People's bodies become their friends, they allow their instincts to guide them and they link to them, so free of fear, they start listening to the messages of their physical bodies and they become their guides. People are no longer afraid of being alone, or in the dark or around other people, but instead carry a feeling of inner trust and start changing their environment with their very presence. They now radiate safety with 29
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their presence, because they carry a deep sense of peace in their bodies and the people around them start releasing their own fear, because they know that nothing can happen to them while these people are near them. They shape their environment with their stability, providing it with peace and security, while their bodies and instincts become perfect and reliable guides and support.
Venus Planetary Essence
The Venus planetary essence will not lead to dramatic reactions in most people. The most drastic and most turbulent phase 1 will mainly be caused by the Mars essence. Once we feel the energy and anger thanks to this essence, everything else seems very mild in comparison. However, if Venus is in a great imbalance on the Yin level, in phase 1 people might start feeling a powerful dissatisfaction with various things, because that is the field that needs to be purified and that people need to become aware of. Oscillations might happen, so people might start relaxing only to get scared and feel the need for powerful control. Then they relax again, only to start feeling guilty and feeling like they need to work. Feelings might swing from one extreme to another, and they will mostly be noticeable in the field of relationships, where people will either let go or be controlling and possessive. On the physical level, “phantom” symptoms might occur, just as in the previous case, in the lumbar part of the spinal column – sensations like jitters or pain. People can become aware that their body is not flexible and elastic, that they are not light and that their movements are stiff or rough. It is as if the awareness emerges that the body is not as it should be. A desire for laziness and sweets might increase, and that is something a great number of people experience. In phase 2, the process of balancing manifests through a state in which people notice fewer mistakes and negative things. It is as if peo30
Basic Planetary Essences
ple’s attention moves to what is beautiful and valuable, because their perception and point of view is changing. This mostly gets expressed in the field of relationships, because people with a problematic Venus will say that other people are boring and too demanding. The balancing phase will lead to their opening up to other people, who will notice that they have become fun and relaxed. This relaxation can lead to falling in love and being showered with compliments. Other people notice them, even those they have worked with for years, and they start receiving gifts or start romantic relationships. The thing is that they relax and start attracting what they want with ease. They allow themselves to experience such things, and sexuality and sensuality increase too, while their movements become more gracious and their body more flexible. A relaxed body will be especially beneficial for the lumbar part of the spine. When working with these essences, we deal with a very deep energetic level which, in time, leads to even a displaced disc being put back in place, without any effort. Ultimately, urinary infections and lumbar back pain indicate a Venus problem – a problem in the field of relationships and partnerships. The Venus essence will help us resolve precisely these kinds of physical and emotional problems. Phase 3 is a relaxed state in which people can allow themselves to receive with ease whatever they want and need. This is when they realize that contraction and ease cannot co-exist, and they often realize that a higher power is leading them, as if gods or the Universe dances through their bodies and they need not exert any effort to make a move, but only need let go. This state relates to the entire existence of a person, and how that person lives in everyday life, so people get an opportunity to fall in love with themselves and realize how wonderful they are. Therefore, after using this essence, people often say: “This is the first time I see myself in the mirror and realize how beautiful I am.”
The Sun Planetary Essence
When we work with this planetary essence, in phase 1 people with challenging aspects to the Sun on the Yin level can have the feeling that everybody is attacking them within any given area of life. They might be criticized by their boss, hear that their work is not satisfactory and feel that everybody wants to humiliate them or be in conflict with them 31
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in some way. This process can manifest on the outside, but people can also spontaneously remember a feeling of inferiority, shame or some kind of humiliation on the inside. The third energy center is especially important, because when it is seriously imbalanced, incurable problems occur and cannot be healed, regardless of whether the problem is medical or any other kind. Every healer will tell you that this center is the most important one for health and the correct functioning of the body in general. This is where our self-confidence and power center is situated, so if people are powerless to heal themselves, external influences cannot help them solve the problem. This is the reason why it is not good to think that a doctor or any healer has greater power than ourselves, because that is how we separate from ourselves and behave as if we are not an active participant in our own life, and then healing cannot happen. In ancient times, the greatest punishment for a supreme ruler was banishment. This illustrates the function of the third center very well, since – from the Sun's point of view – shame and humiliation are greater punishments than death. This feeling can very easily emerge in us if we do not employ our will and if we feel powerless to make necessary changes. In phase 1 of this work, people start experiencing the awakening of their will and vitality, but due to the feeling of having too much power, they can easily slip back into a state of complete powerlessness and despair. These two conditions will keep alternating until a balance is established, when people will feel that things in their life are truly theirs and that they can do whatever they want to do. The stomach is an organ where purification will start first on the physical level, since it is the main representative of the state of the third center. Digestive problems are consequences of impressions we are unable to digest, whether because we do not give ourselves enough time to do it, or we feel we cannot do it. We live in fast times and each day is filled with a great number of impressions. All of them need to be “digested” and contemplated because, if we surrender 32
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to the high speed of life, we might easily end up feeling completely unreal. This is the greatest problem of the sign of Leo, where Neptune has its fall – the feeling that we are not real and present, although so many things have happened to us and we have done many things as well. When we don’t take time to reflect on ourselves, we can completely lose a feeling for reality and our own existence. This feeling is similar to the loss of feeling for food that we ingest into our body, when we fail to smell and taste and enjoy it, and eat without any feeling or pleasure. When we have time to enjoy food, or any experience, we become able to digest it in a proper way. Awareness about the things we ingest into our body or life is important for the health of the third energy center and our ability to use the energy from food, impressions and relationships. Weak digestion points to a problem with vitality, so people are melancholic and suffer from bad moods. Sometimes phase 1 can initiate purification on the level of the fifth center, i.e., the throat, because the third and the fifth centers are in constant connection. In phase 2, people become more decisive, clear and they understand their desires and priorities. The third center is linked with the courage to accept what we want, so the feeling of powerlessness can make people afraid to face their own desires. In this phase, spontaneity is developed, while the need to be “prepared for anything” decreases because people do not worry as much about the impression they give other people and they develop a strong sense of individuality, enabling them to be themselves. In phase 3, people reach a state of spontaneous directness and sincerity. They radiate with vitality and enthusiasm, shining on everything that surrounds them. By their very existence they fill others with energy and a feeling that they, too, carry the power of the Sun’s nature inside themselves. Saints who embody these higher Sun principles with their presence and existence make people feel their own strength and power, so people spontaneously gather around them, although they probably will not talk nor even have any obvious interaction. People around them start feeling inspired and experience bliss and peace. People with a balanced third energy center can really initiate great changes on the personality level and affect the energy states of others in their environment.
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The Moon Planetary Essence
Whichever energy center we want to balance out, sometimes we need to go back to the essence for the heart center. Our clarity, strength, will and the sense we are being good toward ourselves and others depend on the strength of our heart field. Expansion and the ability to change are linked to the heart center. It is as if our heart rate increases every time we inhale air, and decreases when we exhale. What can block us and stop us on this plane is our relationship toward someone or something around us. This is why we say that our co-worker who is an alcoholic can be forced to make any kind of decision if we leave a bottle of whisky on the table. The moment he notices it, all other functions will stop for a while, he “gets stuck” and his changeable nature cannot flow anymore, but stands in front of a wall, disrupting everything else in his life. The ability to flow is closely linked to the Moon, so in stressful situations this function is completely disrupted and stopped, and that can lead to various kinds of disorders. When we work with this essence in phase one, a lot of people want to be left alone. It is as if there’s a need to be tucked in and enjoy the warmth of one's home, to nurture oneself in order to access oneself. This essence starts the wheels within our body, so it all happens through tears and sometimes anger, but mostly it is activated through venting sorrow. It might cause memories of various people from various periods of life who hurt us or made us sad, so even if it seemed insignificant at the time, now it can surface as an important thing that we want to unburden. When sorrow leaves through tears, the feelings of joy, enthusiasm and total lightness occurs. In children, the heart center is still not overstuffed, so we can notice that we are moving like children and feel that kind of lightness, no longer resembling serious people who walk slowly through life with a frown on their face. Purifying the heart center provides us with the ability to recognize things in our surroundings that make our whole body tingle 34
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with happiness and our heart “jump” from joy. On the physical level, the start of this flow will express itself through tears, but those who find it hard to cry start to get rid of excess fluids in other ways. Certain “phantom” symptoms might occur, like heart palpitations, the feeling that one’s chest is being ripped apart, etc. In time, we can recognize a certain calm in the faces of these people, as well as notice that their eyes are clearer, that they are more trusting when relating with other people, that they are taking down their walls and becoming more pleasant beings. When working with the heart center, we can notice that people start opening up toward the support of the Universe, so others want to be close to them, to support them and cooperate with them. They can notice that other people are more open and pleasant, while in fact it is true of themselves. Their circulation improves and their body gets rid of excess fluids – whether it was collecting in the form of swelling, cysts, fibroids, or the like. Breathing becomes deeper. Emotional problems make the breathing shallower, so now people spontaneously start acquiring healthy eating and social habits, often quitting smoking. Smoking is closely linked to this center and feelings of self-love. Self-criticism decreases and people start supporting themselves. In addition, people who are “too” empathic and get easily overwhelmed by other people's problems acquire a much healthier approach, so they can help others open up, talk and feel better just by being present. They develop the ability to feel love for someone and support them without feeling sorry for them. Feeling sorry for someone is always a reflection of the same feelings for oneself, so this is an indication that self-pity is eliminated and no longer manifests as a problem in relationships with people who burden us with their own problems. If people are able to completely heal their heart center, they can heal any illness, even the most serious ones. In phase 3, i.e., during the phase of stable balance, this healing on all levels happens. Cancer is considered to be one of the illnesses whose cause lies in self-denial and insufficient self-love, so it is in this center that it needs to be healed. The same is true for most autoimmune diseases. Every autoimmune disease is a sign that people are rejecting themselves, because it is their own body that is attacking them. Complete balance on the heart center level enables us to invest enough love into any problem we have in order to solve it, which brings about the total support of the Universe. 35
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Mercury Planetary Essence
Mercury's energy center is the fifth chakra that is called Vishuddha, meaning “purification.” When we feel uncomfortable while talking to somebody, this center quickly activates and then there can be coughing or an unpleasant sensation in the throat. This center represents our need to clean the system of all unnecessary words and information. When we work with this essence in phase 1, we can feel a kind of speeding up, while purification can happen through an over-abundance of talking by people around us, even if we never needed to hear their words. When someone tells us something beautiful, it is as if they are giving us wonderful food that is easy to swallow and digest with pleasure, so the conversation gives us energy. On the other hand, if we meet people who are just looking for an audience at any cost, and we easily slip into the role of a victim who should listen to them, their words actually overcrowd our fifth center and we are unable to tell them that we are not interested in what they have to say. In phase 1 the expulsion of excess words happens, thoughts multiply and the whole process is experienced through increased tension. People no longer have tolerance for further “crowding” from others’ superficial words. On the physical level, cleansing can occur in the form of coughing, throat tingling, voice changes and various sensations in the shoulders. You might be surprised, since some people will speak up about things they should have spoken about a long time ago, but other people simply go completely quiet. The latter start listening and understanding others in a way they never understood them before, so they might be surprised by their ability to listen to information that others want to share. In phase 2, the quality of listening deepens. Listening is an active process, and someone who knows how to listen inspires us to say different things about ourselves and completely open up. On the other hand, people who did not know how to express themselves can start speaking 36
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with much more confidence and say something they’ve always wanted to say. In phase 3, people have already developed a stable ability to say what they want. They speak in concrete terms, clearly and in an understandable way, even when they speak in a foreign language. We might be able to shape the atmosphere with our voice vibrations to such an extent that people who do not speak our language can actually receive information and knowledge from us. Creativity increases while thoughts, words and decisions become clear. People start hearing their inner voice; the plethora of thoughts has dispersed and people know exactly what their inner voice wants to tell them. In this way they come closer to the correct version of their own life.
Jupiter Planetary Essence
In phase 1, the Jupiter essence will find various ways to impress upon us the feeling that limits do not exist. This is the reason why people taking this essence often dream of flying. People are, first and foremost, limited by their own beliefs. Since we face them and start recognizing them during the purification phase, this essence can sometimes cause us to feel confused due to the illusions that start clearing up. While this process lasts, we seem to not know who we really are: we might feel that some sort of a vision appears, only to be followed by disappointment. We have a greater need to sleep, it is harder for us to wake up in the morning, dreams are more intense and messages from the sixth energy center start reaching us. On the physical level, we might experience headaches, especially in the forehead and temples, or occasional flashes of light. We might occasionally happen to see the auras of people around us and similar things that can be seen only with the inner vision. In phase 2, we experience expansion. The role of a real teacher is to broaden our horizons, remove anything that is unclear as well as prejudices, and expand our consciousness. We start to see things in a broader 37
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and clearer sense, as if suddenly “our eyes are wide open.” In a broader context, things become more relevant, so minor problems might suddenly appear to be a good thing, because we are looking at them from a different perspective. Meditations become deeper and especially beautiful, intuition and telepathy awaken, and people who already have the sixth center opened experience a wider range of perception both in the physical and metaphysical sense. People develop an ability to send someone a message without words and to communicate on a different level than usual, especially with people who are very close to them. In phase 3, people start recognizing that they have imposed on themselves limits of what is possible with their own beliefs, as well as that these limits can be changed. Ultimately, their inner vision becomes a stable quality that they use to create their daily reality.
Saturn Planetary Essence
When working with the Saturn essence in phase one people often experience deep tiredness and their need to rest increases. We should advise clients to let themselves sleep, if this need occurs, especially those clients who are rigid and refuse to “be lazy.” Oscillations will express themselves as a great need for silence and inner peace, followed by depressive feeling of loneliness, until balance is created and people feel that it is okay both to be alone and with other people. Purification happens on the level of fears that are an obstacle to spiritual experience and are linked with spiritual teachings and religions, ghosts and, ultimately, death. The main cleansing on the physical level will happen through the feeling of being cold, similar to the Mars essence. In phase 2, people start feeling different, they master time and patience because they feel that they are in the right place at the right time. They relax their limitations, they acquire deep peace and surrender, and this is the consequence of trusting the Universe to do the best thing that 38
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can be done. Strong mental and emotional peace and stability are acquired, and people heal themselves from depression, psychosis and a sense of oblivion. In phase 3, the fear of death that all religions stem from – disappears. It is not only that people liberate themselves from fear, but they truly become spiritual and start seeing things with more light and interconnectedness. They link to “the other side” and accept the unity of life, while the process of death is accepted as a part of it. Beyond fear and the unknown, people see the overall connectedness, wholeness and Universal Law through their own, everyday experiences.
Uranus Planetary Essence
Truly strange things can happen with the use of this essence, so people start dreaming of various things that are associated with Uranian symbolism – staircases, aliens, other galaxies, etc. There is a feeling that they are “plugged into an electric socket,” charged and sped-up, so this can create strong tension. People can be disoriented in time, unpredictable in taking care of obligations, and have a hard time focusing. Their sleep rhythm might temporarily be changed, and they might feel a tingling in the body which can lead to feelings of stabbing and strange “phantom” pains and tics on the physical level, which come and go.
In phase 2, people start feeling free. The sign of Aquarius and the planet Uranus rule the ability to overcome Saturn, they tell us that Saturn’s rings are actually spirals, which allows people to do certain things in a different way. They start clearly recognizing patterns of behavior in their life, they see where they are repeating things and they realize how to let go of that habit. They feel greater freedom, which is reflected in their ability to suddenly acquire new habits, get new ideas and feel unconstrained. This eventually activates changes on the outer plane, often 39
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in the form of a change of job, residence or anything else that had constrained them, while now they are allowing themselves to be different and authentic. To a certain extent, Uranian people always feel like they have “landed” here from another planet, so with time they seem to accept the fact that they are on Earth, but they have trouble shedding the feeling that they are not accepted. In phase 3, they are able to feel connected with their cosmic brothers and sisters, and they start networking with them. What we have here is a strong need for recognizing a relationship with our cosmic origins and angels, and this is what gives us peace, freeing us from the feeling that we are only half of something, not belonging anywhere.
Neptune Planetary Essence
The most correct way to explain the influence of the Neptune essence would be to say that it causes a “dawning.” Neptune is meant to be “the fog,” but this will only help us understand how problematic it is. In phase 1, we get rid of illusions and fallacies, which can be expressed as confusion and decreased concentration. We start receiving messages through dreams, memories of past lives and communication with our guides. In the beginning we are doubtful, not knowing whether to trust this process or not, as it all seems confusing and unclear, with mixed messages, and we feel as if we are floating and nothing is real. The dawning process might be emotionally painful. Physically, the purification will be experienced as slowing down, so people can become lazy and feel a lack of strength. In phase 2, confusion disappears, things clear up, and messages become more comprehensible. People recognize their guides, understand their guidance is real, and understand what they have to say. Dreams become a source of information, and people find lightness and meaning in their everyday activities. 40
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In phase 3, people discover their real, grand life mission, they recognize the fact that they are on a journey on planet Earth and they feel inspired to travel across it and get to know this planet and the people that live on it. They experience a strong feeling of happiness, fulfilment and harmony with themselves and the environment. When people open up on this level, they understand that there exists a group of Souls that descended to Earth to support their own mission in life, and they recognize people who are part of that same mission. New interests and a strong inspiration to live spontaneously occur.
Pluto Planetary Essence
When working with the Pluto essence on this Yin level in phase 1, people start remembering painful moments of fear and rejection, and painful moments with their living or dead ancestors. They start understanding the causes of their compulsive behavior, i.e., the repetition of certain patterns of behavior, as well as the reason for doing things they only regret later. They become aware of the origins of deep conditioning and self-sabotage, and they finally understand what they cannot forgive in themselves.
They establish relationships with their ancestors who are often no longer alive, and the problems of the family tree are activated. The family tree is connected with the nature of the 8th House and the sign Scorpio, representing the biggest challenge of the Moon, since this is the sign of its fall. This essence heals the family tree and is great for working with people who attend “Family Constellations” and similar psychological workshops, because this enables them to perform deep work on the field of ancestors and to see the things they carry in their own genetics. On the physical level, some part of the body can start “tingling” or some uncontrolled movements might occur, only to disappear a few days later. 41
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In phase 2, people start seeing the deeper causes of problems and they initiate the process of family tree healing through personal evolution. Fears that are connected with deep subjects, and are linked to death, disappear. People discover the power of energy that exists in the depths of their Being. The contact with this energy field enables communication without words as well as fast regeneration. A person’s sexuality and charisma increase. In phase 3, people are able to perform the end-goal of their life journey, i.e., to understand and forgive anything. They understand their deepest urges and irrational behaviors and they accept them, so they can live their own passion and energize the people around them. Ultimately, they succeed in forgiving themselves and others, which is not an easy thing to do for people – fallen angels who landed on Earth. It is as if these angels rise again, and people realize that they themselves are the Light. This is where everything that is not us dies, and there is great strength, peace and silence, making us feel truly united with the energy of life.
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Animal Essences
Special AstroHealing Essences
ANIMAL ESSENCES
Unlike flower essences, which are quite common in the world today, animal essences are rather rare. Their creator and only producer in the world today is Daniel Mapel from Virginia, USA. Animal essences work on the Yang level, unlike flower essences which work on the inner, Yin level. While the Yin level implies that the planetary characteristic of a person will be resolved by inner reorganization (balancing), and therefore change everything that it is connected to, the Yang level allows the outer level of development of a certain planetary characteristic. The Yang level actually adds qualities that belong to a given planet, but a person may have failed to recognize it before. The primary difference, therefore, is in activity. Animal essences work on the level where the expression of the symbolism of a given planet can be activated, as well as their planetary aspects, while flower essences allow the balancing of the inner state that is contained in the nature of a planet or a certain planetary aspect. All animal essences represent vibratory essences of various wild animals’ spirits, and there are no animal substances in them. They are acquired through a ceremonial process of invoking the animal's spirit, which is then contained within a given essence. The animal essences produced by Daniel Mapel are used in AstroHealing work for the creative activation of planets, as well as for the balancing and positive activation of various challenging planetary aspects. Daniel Mapel is a Master of spiritual psychology and founder of the Wild Earth Animal Essences company. You can find more information about his work and essences at www.animalessence.com 43
Planetary Assistants
Principles of AstroHealing
PLANETARY ASSISTANTS
Each of our planets is already woven into the Zodiac itself, and therefore none is a "pure planet" but rather a certain mixture of planetary and sign qualities, and above all – the element it is placed in. The planetary essence represents the model of the archetypal planetary influence, and therefore its vibration represents the correct vibration of the planet. However, since this planet is “incarnated” into our genetic memory, it consists of various nuances. Therefore, to efficiently balance its influence it is important to first connect it with the element in which it is placed. That gives it the possibility to connect with us, descend to where we are and incarnate itself with its most direct influence. Each planet receives the vibration of the element it is in, but it also transfers its own vibration to this element. This is how its influence widens and becomes more than just a planetary influence. If, for example, we take the Moon in Leo – it influences the entire sphere of Fire and changes the very quality of Fire. In the same way, the Moon acquires characteristics of the Fire element, i.e., it "incarnates" into a specific dimension of our life through that very element. Elements are the primary carriers of communication between planets on one side, and signs and houses on the other. Therefore, in order to solidify a planet and to give it a more real and stronger connection with the native, we use specific planetary assistants from the element's specific group. There are seven basic energy centers arranged in the native's "tree of life" (the spinal column), and we use planetary essences to treat them. Furthermore, we have the eighth and ninth chakras which are situated in the etheric world and carry impulses from the higher, astral level. Finally, we have the tenth, Pluto's chakra, situated below all the other levels. This 45
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chakra most directly connects us to the core. The seven basic centers connect our physical body with the etheric body. They primarily communicate through the circulation of energy via opposite pairs by connecting the first and the seventh chakras, second and sixth, and third and fifth, while all of it is happening around the fourth chakra axis. The higher levels of the transcendental planets are also very important, although they are not directly linked to the physical body. It is through them that we connect with our collective and higher Self.
Forty Assistants Californian Essences Australian Essences
Bach Essences
A IR
FIRE
Each of the ten basic essences (for ten planets) has four assistants (for four elements). Basically, each planet fundamentally resembles this figure eight, with the planet situated in its very center, having two levels of being that surround it.
Vibrations of the lower levels are linked to the Water and Earth South African elements, while those Essences E A RT H of upper levels connect to Fire and Air. If a planet is in the Air element, in addition to the primary essence of that planet we would also add an assistant from the group of Californian essences to the mix. We already mentioned that they act through the element of Air.
WATER
For the Fire element, we use assistants from the Australian group of essences. For the Water element, the planet's assistant comes from the group of Bach essences, and assistants for the Earth element come from the group of South African essences. 46
Planetary Assistants
Californian Essences
Australian Essences
Air Fire
Water Earth Bach Essences
South African Essences
The most important thing for us is to help a planet, which vibrates at the level of its element, to "improve its memory." It is quite possible that a certain planet knows how to vibrate at the Air level, but not the Water level, and this might be the reason for a person's suffering. Maybe they have a planet which would function well in the Air element, but it’s placed in Water instead – which can be detected through a certain aspect or dispositor. What is most important to us is that such a planet is capable of recognizing itself through that element, because each planet actually has the shape of the figure eight, with its heart always in the central core of a planetary essence. However, that essence vibrates through four elements, doing four tests of its karmic scripts. The element is comprised of the karmic weaving through which a planet can establish a link with the Zodiac and then spread through the entire elemental kingdom, connecting with all memories contained within other signs (and houses, too) of the same elemental nature.
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Therefore, planetary assistants are elemental essences which belong to one of four groups, depending on the element, and which add up to the basic tree of planetary essences. Each planetary essence has its four assistants and in that way, in addition to ten planetary essences, we gain another forty of its planetary assistants in order to fully balance this small figure eight that we carry within ourselves, and which most directly connects us with the etheric world in which this figure eight dwells.
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Aspect Assistants
Principles of AstroHealing
ASPECT ASSISTANTS
Just as we have planetary assistants, we also have aspect assistants that we assign to each planet. Besides the basic, systematic healing of a certain aspect that lasts for seventy days, we also have Bach essence assistants for each aspect on the Yin level, as well as certain animal essences on the Yang level, with appropriate planetary correspondences. Bach essences function within the Water domain, and they are capable of cleansing relationships between planets from within, while animal essences activate the creative potential of those planetary relationships which have been unused. Animal essences are always connected to one primary energy (defined by a planet) which is in relationship (aspect) with some other energy (planet). This means that for every aspect that we balance on the Yang level (through animal essences), we have two different essences at our disposal. If, for example, we have a Sun-Moon aspect, we can use an animal essence which either balances the Moon-Sun aspect (Black Panther), or balances the Sun-Moon relationship (Jaguar). This is not the case with flower essences, because they are always linked to the relationship (Yin level), while animal essences are primarily linked to one side of a relationship, and then the whole relationship is balanced from that angle. The reason for this is found in the essential difference between the Water vibration (Yin) – linked to the general state of the relationship itself – and Fire (Yang) – always linked with the principle of individuality within relationship. The only exception with flower essences pertains to aspects between the outer (transcendental) planets. In this case, just as with animal essences, we make a distinction based on which planet is emphasized. For example, we have one essence that balances Uranus-Neptune aspects, and another for balancing Neptune-Uranus aspects. 49
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When we use a Yang essence to balance a certain aspect, we choose one of two animal essences, depending on which planetary center we primarily want to balance. We should have in mind that this system of balancing aspects is not comprehensive, but is instead used as a short version of aspect healing and planet balancing. The full process of healing aspects is applied in order to achieve a more stable condition in the long run, but it also requires more time. Utilizing aspect assistants is recommended in cases where there is no time for a comprehensive approach to solving a certain aspect problem and a faster effect is needed. In such cases, the effect is usually visible within a few days. It should be kept in mind that aspect assistants will always have a better effect if used together with the basic planetary essence, and that it is only an additional factor which helps a planet solve the given aspect and achieve balance immediately. In regard to the planet itself, aspects represent a kind of “mental state” in which an effect is created based on the communication of two planets. In the case of strong aspects, that “communication” becomes more dominant in the life of an individual than the essential condition of the planet, or at least it greatly endangers it. Therefore, it is well advised to use the basic planetary essence together with the aspect assistant, since it will reinforce a planet’s pure nature, enabling the resolution of a given aspect. This is when aspect assistants are most efficient.
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The Moon - Balance and Healing
Planetary Essences and their Assistants
THE MOON
Balance and Healing
The Moon energy center is the middle chakra, located in the area of the heart. This chakra connects pairs of opposite energy centers, which are above and below. Therefore, in any given chart the Moon represents the connection point between Heaven (the upper chakras) and Earth (the lower chakras). An individual’s state of consciousness, as well as the overall balance of the chart, depends on the stability of this center. This is why the first step in AstroHealing is to analyze the state of the Moon.
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The Moon is that point in the heart of the figure eight through which everything naturally flows. The Moon’s permeability is two-fold: one connects it with the Earth, and the other connects the Earth with Heaven. Therefore, the Moon ensures the proper functioning of the figure eight, i.e., the cycle and connection between Heaven and Earth. If a problem exists at the level of the Moon, then we have a separation. This is why the Moon often represents duality. Its function is to join two things into one and provide the permeability necessary for their unification. This is why all of the opposites are mixed inside the Moon, just as the feminine (Yin) and masculine (Yang) models of being are combined in the womb, from which a new One arises into being. The Moon’s function is to provide a bed in which opposites will merge, and therefore it needs to be permeable. It must not support dualities, but merge them within itself. That is its basic essence. When the Moon is pure, everything is accomplished, because on its most subtle level the Moon knows how to turn Fire into Water. The Moon is the light (just as Fire is too), but it is also the symbol of all the waters and therefore, by allowing one into the other it joins Fire and Water. That is why the Moon is in the heart of all things. We know that each planet’s structure is represented by the model of the figure eight. This model represents its circulation, and when it is completely alive, the planet is healthy and has no internal conflicts. A planet can be problematic if conflicts dwell within it. For example, a person can have an ideal Venus if they know how to receive and give love, and if that love moves from one to the other. However, sometimes conflicts dwell within Venus itself, so it ends up harboring both love and hate (hostility). Each planet has its duality, and that duality is expressed in the symbol of the figure eight and the connecting dot in its center. The two principles that each planet holds within itself are its Yin (feminine) and Yang (masculine) principles. The Moon is the central part of the chart, representing this merging of opposites within one being. If it is alive, the planet is healthy and functions well. However, as long as separation exists, some other problems exist too. The figure eight is the energetic shape of each planet. The heart of the planet, or its knot, is located at the very center of the figure eight and it represents the core of that planet. Everything else represents its four 52
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elements (Air, Fire, Water and Earth), which are in fact its manifestations. Each planet can vibrate at different levels, and therefore a planet can have great permeability on the Water level, but a problem when it comes to permeability on the Air level. This restricts its energy from becoming fully positive. Of course, the heart of the planet is its most important part, since it directly heals any planet.
The heart of each planet is in the center of the figure eight
If this model is viewed as one planetary sequence, it is easy to see that within these sequences there are planetary energies contained within planetary centers which follow each other. We can see that energy centers shaped like the figure eight are aligned along the spinal column. The planet is within the heart, spreading qualities of Air, Fire, Water or Earth around it. Therefore, the highest level of a planet is at the same time the meeting point with the lowest level of the next planet. For example, in the case of the Moon, we can see that its Earth element in the lower part of this figure eight touches the Air element of the Sun, while the highest level of the Moon – Air – touches the Earth element of Mercury. 53
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In this sequence, each planet is connected with the next one, building an energy bridge for mutual communication. In this way the figure eight, when alive at the level of one planet, also supports the neighboring chakras (planets). In the process of self-development, each chakra or planet acquires some of the qualities of the planets that are both below and above it. When the Moon’s chakra is fully developed, it is capable of gaining the power of understanding and insight in its upper part, while in the lower part, it gains the stability and energy of the Sun. Each planet is grounded with its lower part, and that level always connects us with energy – in other words, the total amount of energy we receive comes from the lower part. Therefore, when the Moon’s chakra is fully alive, its fundamental, clear sense of being is gained from the Sun, because the Moon receives its light from the Sun. In the upper part, it also gains from Mercury all kinds of abilities to understand. Other chakras function in the same way. If we look at Mars (the first chakra), we see that its lower level (the Earth level) is connected with Pluto and the energy core of the Earth. This is where it draws on its full energy. However, in its upper part, it gets transformed into emotions of love, passion, etc. The lower level basis of Venus is Mars, and we know that Venus is connected with Mars in myth. The ancient Sumerian culture called her Inanna, and later Ishtar, and she was also a goddess of war, fully armed and embodying Mars. Therefore, in its lower layers, in its primordial parts, Venus leans on Mars, while in its upper level it has shine, creativity and radiance, because it is the Sun that influences her there. If Venus is not balanced in its lower part, on the Earth or Water level, we have jealousy, lack of fulfilment and all the other problems associated with love relationships. This can easily be turned into a problem of grounding with Venus. Our goal is that the planets within this figure eight become activated, because then they allow the elements to flow both up and down. This is how Mercury will receive in its upper part all the insights about meaning from Jupiter, as well as the ability to feel in its lower part. In order for Mercury to have positive comprehension and communication, it first must establish nonverbal contact with its environment via the Moon. This is where it will receive information in the form of feeling, while its understanding will come later; at the same time, its upper level receives wisdom, purpose and meaning from Jupiter. When Mercury (or 54
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any other planet) is underdeveloped, it becomes mediocre. This can have both a good and bad side, as it is not awake. The figure eight represents the awakening and complete fulfilment of a planet, and this is when the whole axis of spirituality develops. This is when the channel that moves through the spinal column is bright and carries this enhanced quality of energy, while each planet is awake and offers insights. In order for this to happen, a planet should feel content in all four elements. This is when circulation happens. Even if we manage to develop this figure eight only in one planet, it will support all the other planets by a chain reaction.
Emotional Level of Manifestation
Mental Level of Manifestation
Physical Level of Manifestation Of course, the best strategy would be to start with the Moon and the heart chakra, but this is also the most delicate chakra of them all. If a person manages to achieve wholeness here, they have practically solved all their other problems in the most direct way, because the essence of the heart chakra is contained in the nature of every other planet and in the heart of every figure eight. However, regardless of which planet we work on, the moment we establish this figure eight, we actually begin to gain insights through it. It is as if some kind of channel opens and enables a person to establish a vertical line towards their higher Self via that planet and what that planet represents. 55
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We have seven gates and three additional centers (two above and one below) which are transcendental and not connected with the physical body, but live in the etheric world and therefore are not used as examples.
Three Levels of the Moon’s Manifestation
When we have challenging Moon aspects, on the physical level they usually manifest as problems with breathing. For example, this could show up as: a person might be allergic to something in the air, or have trouble inhaling deeply when excited, or maybe asthma might develop. It is interesting that asthma has been nicknamed “suffocating love,” and that it might develop for various reasons. For example, if a woman can’t establish a positive connection with her husband, she might redirect all of her love toward her child, who then feels overprotected. The interesting thing with people suffering from asthma is that they can fully inhale, but have problems exhaling. It is as if a person is trying to take more than they can give. We all live in connection with other people, and that connection is more through air than skin. This is the air we all jointly inhale and exhale. As far as illnesses are concerned, most common are cardiovascular problems – as if a person’s heart is not invested in their life. On the one hand, the heart chakra is very important because, when we have “our heart in” something, we can do anything. But on the other hand, when other people hurt us, this is the first place we close down, because it is the most sensitive place. We can see the state of mankind’s heart chakra (on the collective level) from the fact that heart disease is still the number one cause of death in the world. This fact serves to remind us of the need to connect our lower chakras with the heart center (the Moon). When a person turns toward themselves, especially if it is not easy to do because of a lot of sadness and emotional pain, they might experience their heart “falling out of rhythm.” This manifests through an accelerated heart rate. Another thing that can happen with clients is that, when working on one of their centers, they reach a state where they have a hard time accepting themselves. Simply put – good things start happening to them, but they fail to accept them. This is often an indicator that you should go back to the heart, because as long as it is not open, clients cannot really accept any support – whether from other people or from the Universe. 56
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Both the front and back of the heart chakra are important here. The front is what a person uses to give to others, as well as to project themselves toward others and toward the future. The back is what is left behind a person, what has already happened, and the need to lean on somebody or something. If one part of this center is overemphasized, two kinds of imbalances are possible: front-back or up-down. A frontback imbalance manifests as a person constantly giving to others, at the same time being unable to receive other people’s help, and especially not being able to ask for help and support (which they keep giving to others). In some cases this goes so far that even if help and support are offered, the person does not know how to receive them. This closure of the back of the heart chakra (located on the back, between the shoulder-blades) is often a consequence of failing to learn or experience support from another. Or, it can be the result of a negative experience and disappointment, where a person did count on someone, only to conclude that it is better not to trust others, so they are trying to protect themselves from being hurt again. The up-down imbalance refers to the fact that energy centers resemble a staircase, and that each energy center serves as a foundation for the next one, providing support for it. The heart center or the Moon leans on the Sun (the third chakra) and if the native has a strong solar plexus, they are aware of their own identity and possess self-confidence. They will never have a problem with having to do something to get praise or acceptance from others, but will feel good about themselves regardless. However, if the native has a weak solar energy center (the foundation on which the lunar energy center stands), they will feel the need to do favors for others in order to elicit support or praise. Or, if the heart center is very open while the solar center is weak, then literally everything hurts this person, and other people’s problems overwhelm them to such an extent that they have a hard time returning to their own identity. The Moon also represents circulation, because it rules our waters, and water equals emotions. When emotions are blocked (knotted) somewhere in the body, it manifests itself as “retained water” in the body (breast-cyst, knee-water, swollen legs, etc.). When work is done on the Moon, a person can release this water from the body through tears and frequent urination, but also partly through more frequent dreams. 57
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The more a person is hurt, the bigger the walls they place around their heart, and they keep interpreting other people’s intentions with less trust and as a form of rejection. Similarly, when a person works on healing himself or herself, they change their perception. The more relaxed they feel, the harder it is to hurt them, because their peacefulness heals others in some way. When this is the case, even if there is someone with bad intentions toward such a peaceful person, since the peaceful person does not have a perception of it, the person with bad intentions will not be triggered to act. When we talk about the mental part of the Moon, we should have in mind that the heart center is the foundation of Mercury, i.e., the throat chakra. Therefore, whatever thought or idea a person has, it always comes from the Moon’s foundation. How much this foundation (i.e., the emotion in the heart chakra) is aligned with some affirmation or idea determines how great the possibility is for its manifestation, because the mind of a person is both Mercury and the Moon. Mercury corresponds to the IQ part of the mind, while the Moon rules emotional intelligence. Therefore, in order to determine the quality of a person’s mind, we should always look both to Mercury and the Moon. When this part is in balance, a person speaks when they have something to say. When they are not in balance, the native often talks too much, which is a strategy to avoid penetrating one’s emotional life and coming into contact with oneself and one’s emotions. Such people might behave quite irrationally and have certain delusions about unrealistic things, usually as a result of their own projections. They lose touch with reality and go into the fantasy realm quite easily; in the worst cases, this becomes a basis for mental illness. In such cases, the Moon is no longer the conductor between energy centers, but becomes a knot through which energy cannot pass from one world into the other (from the lower to upper chakras). It’s similar to a situation in which a person experiences very severe pain in their soul, to the point where they lose the mental capacity to transfer the energy from one world to another. When a person finds it impossible to forgive something, they can’t connect two things. This leads to a mental disorder because the Moon is extremely sensitive and has the most direct bearing on a person’s mental state. The stronger the pain and mental block, the stronger the division within a person; and the more a person divides, the greater their mental disorder becomes. 58
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Basic Assistants for the Moon
As stated before, each planet has four vibrational assistants which work on four levels, and therefore the Moon also has these four levels. The central (heart) level is the part of the “figure eight” that makes up the very heart of the planet and its planetary essence (in this case, the planetary essence of the Moon). To the basic planetary essence of the Moon, we add one of four vibrational element assistants.
Californian essences Australian essences
A IR
FIRE
Bleeding Heart Pink Flannel
Planetary essence of the Moon Bach essences South African essences
Red Chestnut
WATER E A RT H
Wild Jasmine
The Moon in Air Signs - Bleeding Heart (Californian Essence)
On the Air level we use the Californian essence Bleeding Heart as an assistant. It connects the Moon with its elemental nature. It is the first “entrance” and “passage” that connects it to the Zodiac and the world of ancestral memories. Therefore, the Moon not only has its own vibration, but is linked with the entire element of Air. For example, the Moon in Aquarius is linked with everything in the signs of Gemini and Libra. 59
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Even if there are no planets in these signs, some house cusps will be in them. The Moon spreads itself through the element assistant and sensitizes those parts connected with Air, and everything that was left unresolved on that plane now becomes accepted. This is how the circulation of energy contained within that element happens. In such a way a person is connected with their element and enters a phase of real balance. Bleeding Heart is an especially important essence for all emotional problems that require consciousness to open to a higher level of freedom and release negative feelings experienced as emotional dissatisfaction. In other words, this essence opens up the perception of freedom and gives a person the ability to express love with an open heart, resulting in freedom from emotional dependence. It is when the Moon is afflicted in an Air sign that these kinds of problems are often present: a person needs to experience a feeling of love and closeness, but at the same time needs to be free from ties and experience constant freedom. This essence, together with the Moon planetary essence, is a powerful cleansing agent of the heart chakra for anyone who has their Moon in an Air sign and has experienced a “broken heart” trauma, since this is the fastest way to get a person to a normal and stable emotional and energy level. The effect of this essence, as well as most of the Californian essences, is very fast, because information is transferred through the Air element, making it possible for the entire emotional field, which might be quite painful because of the feeling of being restricted, to be “flown over.” In order for a person to affirm that all things are good and that everything has its purpose, they need to have a wide consciousness. These essences help exactly that. The native learns that the ability to love others is at the same time an ability to respect and take care of oneself. In addition to a sense of lightness, which is carried over through the Air element, a person also gains a certain degree of “self-referential consciousness.” Of course, this essence is used when there is a Moon affliction in an Air sign, but it’s also possible for some essences to be used in addition to some other, more acute state a person is experiencing. For example, maybe a person does not have an afflicted natal Moon in Air, but during a certain period of time they have challenges caused by their progressed Moon in an Air sign.
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The Moon in Fire Signs - Pink Flannel (Australian Essence)
On the Fire level, it is the Australian essence Pink Flannel that is the Moon’s assistant. It connects the Moon with the signs of the Fire element (Aries, Leo and Sagittarius), from which the Moon takes all memories. Pink Flannel is the essence which connects the Moon in a Fire sign with all the memories of this element. Above all, however, it awakens the ability to rejoice in everything. A person gains the ability to respect everything. There exist a million reasons for a person to be happy, and this essence develops a person’s capacity to rejoice in all aspects of their life. When someone experiences an emotional state in which they are not able to feel gratitude, it is the Fire element they need in order to bring their emotions back into a balanced state. Pink Flannel essence is meant for those who feel uncomfortable expressing their softer side, feeling it to be a weakness. It enables a person to feel good in the presence of other people in all sorts of circumstances. Sometimes people with a Fire element Moon (when it is imbalanced) can’t express their tenderness in a stable way, but keep pushing themselves on people; they are extremely passionate in everything they do, feeling incapable of expressing their softer nature. They often feel uncomfortable and give the impression that they would feel weak if they expressed their emotions, and therefore this essence enables them to feel good when they are close to other people, without the need to shine and prove themselves. The Fire element makes these people, when they are imbalanced, feel comfortable only when they can prove themselves in some project, which fails to give them an inner level of satisfaction, which the Moon’s role is all about. Of course, this essence can also be used with some acute problem of a similar type, or an imbalance that appears during the Moon’s progression through a Fire sign.
The Moon in Water Signs - Red Chestnut (Bach Essence)
For a natal Moon in the Water element, we use the Bach essence Red Chestnut which connects the Moon with the realm of water and all feelings that are typical of water signs (Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces). 61
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Water is a relatively complex element and, if this element causes a Moon imbalance, a person can slip into a very complex inner state of suffering. This is a category which can be transferred through memory or via a family member (for example, if in Cancer, via the mother), and it often manifests as too much worrying and an inability to let go. At the same time, this kind of Moon can give pathological worries and fears about loved ones, and a person often has the physical sensation of coldness and the constant need to worry about something. On an even deeper level, this kind of Moon, when imbalanced, gives a person an inner sense of abandonment or destitution. A damaged Water-sign Moon is a “double Moon,” so a person is overly sensitive about everything, which can easily lead to neurosis and mental instability. When these kinds of emotions exist, they are far from rational, far from anything anybody could say to help a person, because words – if they are even able to penetrate the sphere of the Moon – touch upon only its upper part, and therefore can’t reach the deeper levels. If this does not get healed, it will create other kinds of problems later, and the person will be stuck, trapped and suffocating in these waters, i.e., in these kinds of feelings. When in balance, this Moon gives a great capacity for empathy, as well as a very developed intuition, but when imbalanced, it all turns into an unhealthy kind of sympathy that doubles the suffering. This assistant, along with the Moon essence, can also be used in situations in which the progressed Moon is in a Water sign. When balanced, such energy will create a tender, empathic person, without all the other less desirable effects.
The Moon in Earth Signs - Wild Jasmine (South African Essence)
If the Moon is placed in an Earth sign (Taurus, Virgo or Capricorn), we use the South African essence Wild Jasmine. It connects the Moon with all the qualities of the Earth signs. This kind of Moon can give the skill of manifestation and making things concrete, i.e., “giving birth” to something, since the Earth element naturally leans against the first energy center below it, which is the Solar center (the third chakra). People who don’t love themselves enough (or in other words, who lack a good connection between the Moon chakra and the Sun chakra, which can be expressed through a challenging Moon 62
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position in an Earth sign) cannot manifest things, or conceive. The lack of conception is not meant only in the bodily sense, but also as an inability to do or start something new. As we said before, this lower earthy part of the Moon leans on the Sun, while the third chakra (the Sun), together with the fourth chakra (the Moon) enable conception, a beginning, and the creation of all that needs to come into form. It is as if the person had a mother who did not wish to give birth to them, or parents who keep negating each other, or – if we go even further back – ancestors who needed to reject the material world. Now this Earth element fails to provide a feeling of self-love in the native, and therefore they find it hard to make the things they want become concrete. The Moon needs the Sun, and it is very important that a person does not reject and deny manifestation for themselves. It is a picture of contradictions because manifestation is sought on one level, yet denied on another. Wild Jasmine essence is the Moon’s assistant for the Earth element, and it enables the balancing out of this contradiction in such a way that a person develops the ability to realize and materialize their needs. After the native succeeds in balancing this energy out, they end up healing one very important part of themselves and reach a point from which they can begin something new, create or give birth or manifest their own reality without unconsciously rejecting it. All four of these Moon levels that express themselves through the elements represent certain emotional states which can be recognized in people. This is where we can recognize the type of Moon a person has, and what kind of emotions they express not only on the emotional, but on mental and physical levels as well.
The Complete Process of Moon Healing
In order to completely heal someone’s natal Moon it is necessary to balance out its Yin and Yang nature and then stabilize them. This is why we often first balance the Moon on the Yin level by using planetary flower essences and their assistants, and only then move to the Yang level of balancing through animal essences. We finish the process by using gem stone essences to balance out the Yin and Yang principles themselves. The key animal essence for the Moon is Wild Horse, while the gem stone essence we use is Emerald. 63
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Wild Horse Essence The Yang Level of the Moon
The animal essence used for activating the heart center is the Wild Horse essence. The horse is represented by Jupiter, which is exalted in Cancer (the sign ruled by the Moon), and therefore it has a very strong effect on our limbic brain, the emotional part of the brain. The heart center is easily closed due to wounding, because it is our most sensitive part. Some people never leave their “inner fortress” in order to protect themselves from injuries in this area, while those who leave their fortress often go back to it fast, after being hurt by experiences outside of it. Every injury causes us to put up walls, to arm ourselves and do everything possible to feel safe and protected, but we end up in a situation in which nobody can approach us or establish a deep connection with us. We can stay protected, but lonely, within our walls for years. Some people never open up in the area of their heart chakra, because they are too scared they will be hurt. The horse is a very sensitive animal which is very easy to communicate with, and at the same time able to go wherever it wishes, based on its own feeling. We are not using the essence of a domesticated horse, but of a wild one with a spontaneous nature. It carries within itself a deep intelligence that has a special ability to show us the way, since it links us with the degree at the center of Cancer (15º) where Jupiter is exalted. Although it does not represent a special pathway to other universes in itself, it always knows the way home and brings us to our inner being with ease. It is aware of where the core of our Soul is and, if we need to balance our heart center, this essence will help us find peace and wake up every day feeling it. Unlike the Lion essence, which has the goal of bringing us back to our personal identity, the essence of Wild Horse brings us back to our self, in the deeper meaning of that word. This essence enables us to open our heart chakra and disarm ourselves, regardless of emotional traumas that we’ve suffered, healing our heart center in the process.
Gem Stone: Emerald
The fourth energy center is stabilized through the essence of Emerald. It helps us achieve stability on the emotional level. Emerald is a universal cleanser and balancing agent for the heart chakra, the Mother 64
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Goddess, the Female Goddess who softly opens our heart to enable us to experience greater love in our physical body. It carries the capacity to love without fearing we will be hurt, and enables us to be stable in our tenderness. It is precisely this tender nature of the heart center that leads us to close it easily, run away from it and get lost in the transcendental field. This center is where our most subtle nature resides, but also our greatest ability to transform and change. If we open up and activate this center, we gain the limitless possibility to experience love. It is within this center that we carry information about the amount of love we can allow ourselves to receive, and it is necessary to make its maximum capacity stable. The Emerald essence emits balancing vibrations, and brings healing and infinite patience to those who need to experience psychological and mental harmony. It awakens powerful creative love and is used for regulating physical weaknesses, like disruptions in heart function. Therefore, if we need a greater capacity for love, tolerance or peace in that tender universe, we will use this essence. It does not only bring about the feeling of tenderness, but also gives it stability and durability. In this way it establishes an inner balance which enables us to express our love in the most creative way possible, for the good of all people and all of nature. Since this essence releases love in us, it helps with heart and breathing dysfunctions, provides support for creative work, and brings tenderness, kindness and softness in our relationships and feelings. Its effect is similar to that of the planetary flower essence for the fourth center. The only difference is its emphasis on stability, which must first be developed within this center. If the natal Moon is unstable, then the sensitive place which functions to open us up and connect us with others, instead carries fear or insecurity. These vibrations make us doubt whether we are capable of doing anything. That is why it is important to work with the flower essence that will balance this out and therefore help us adjust to the natal placement. The Emerald essence will show us how our Moon nature is supposed to look when it is of the highest quality on the material level and stabilized. The Emerald structure is what we should contain within our fourth chakra, but the emotional balancing is achieved through flower essences. The reason our heart chakra closes is our insecurity in relation 65
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to the reality that surrounds us. The question is whether we can do anything without getting hurt, and that is determined by the state of the third chakra (the Sun). Therefore, if the native does not have a strong identity, if they don’t have courage and don’t feel they can love, the heart center cannot open. The person lacks the feeling of having nothing to lose if they try. It is as if the Moon fears that it will lose the light it receives from the Sun and be hurt in the process. The third energy center, in its highest-quality form, speaks of our ability to radiate and give. Therefore, if we have nothing to give, the question is whether we can dare receive love into our heart center. This is an internal, unconscious experience, and in an unstable person it can create the feeling that they are incapable of receiving the light they themselves do not possess. It is required that these two centers be fulfilled in order for a person to be able to open up to the world and develop trust in life. This essence will certainly give stability to the quality of our heart center, whatever our current emotional structure.
Assistants for Challenging Moon Aspects • The Sun and Moon in Challenging Aspect •
(opposition, square, quincunx, semisquare and often conjunction) - Yin level Bach essence: Gentian - Yang level Animal essence 1: Panther (for healing the Moon from a challenging aspect to the Sun) Animal essence 2: Jaguar (for healing the Sun from a challenging aspect from the Moon) Here we address the solar plexus, which runs our will (the Sun), as well as the heart, which contains our feeling center (the Moon). So, when these two are in conflict via challenging aspects of these two planets, we use Gentian essence as the Yin foundation, or Panther and Jaguar essences as the Yang upgrade. Gentian is a Bach essence recommended for people with a weak will who feel that doing something is impossible, and therefore give up easily 66
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or feel discouraged. This is not a case of feeling discouraged because you have tried something many times and therefore give up because chances are it will never happen. This is the case of feeling discouraged at the very beginning, because the inner feeling (the Moon) is in conflict with the will (the Sun). It is from the third chakra (solar plexus, the Sun) that the feeling “I can do it!” or “I can’t do it!” arise. Therefore, challenging aspects of these two planets bring about a situation in which the person is, actually, faint of heart – and that jeopardizes the state of the will or the Sun. Decisiveness and indecisiveness both come from the Sun. If a person feels (the Moon) that they can do something, even if they are aware there is some risk involved, they will do it. However, if that feeling is missing (the Moon), the person will certainly not do it. A weak inner feeling will make a person give up before they even try, and they will avoid risk-taking and miss opportunities. If they experience the slightest problem, they will easily give up and not follow through to the end. The Moon is, at the core, the capacity to accept oneself, and here we have a person who can’t accept themselves in relation to the Sun, just like the mother of a child who could not accept or support the child’s father. This is always the picture of a child with very different parents, which does not always have to mean that they are divorced, but it emphasizes their differences and mutual lack of acceptance. This creates a situation in which the child needs to reject one party. These people also often experience conflict with authorities, because they have one dominant parent within themselves who kept infringing his or her will onto them. What happens is that such a person simply can’t be what they truly are, but instead they accept what the authority tells them they are. Gentian essence gives a person the ability to persevere, to connect the Moon and the Sun within themselves and gain the inner feeling that something can be achieved. Furthermore, when they succeed in certain actions, self-confidence grows. On the other hand, the ability to accept both parents as a whole grows, and that creates an excellent basis for a very powerful personality who, once this balance is fully developed – becomes even more harmonious than a person who has natal Luminaries in a harmonious aspect.
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• Moon and Mercury in Challenging Aspect •
(opposition, square, quincunx, semisquare, and sometimes conjunction) - Yin level Bach essence: Crab Apple - Yang level Animal essence 1: Deer (for healing the Moon from a challenging aspect from Mercury) Animal essence 2: Wild Duck (for healing Mercury from a challenging aspect from the Moon) Crab Apple balances this aspect on an inner Yin level. If we know that the Moon heart center rules feelings, while Mercury represents thoughts, we have a clear picture of a conflict between thoughts and feelings. The person has a hard time quieting their mind, experiencing silence and hearing their own inner voice. This is the picture of a baby or a very small child crying because their mother doesn’t hear them, or they don’t hear their mother. In either case, over time, the misunderstanding between these two centers turns into some kind of obsession, and that obsession becomes its own goal. The throat chakra is called “Vishuda” in Sanskrit, and it means “to purify.” So, when it is in an imbalanced state with the center it leans on (the Moon center, i.e., the heart chakra), the person becomes overly mental (Mercury) because they find it too hard to dive into their feelings. This can sometimes point to frequent misunderstandings. However, the most typical problem expresses itself as a constant need for some improvement, beautifying, obsessive cleaning, or some kind of criticism and rejection of sexuality, i.e., imposing special moral standards on it. However, as things are on the outside, they are on the inside too, so these people feel inadequate and obsessively try to correct and improve themselves in order to please others. Such a child (Mercury) received a feeling from the Moon (usually mother) about how they should be, so throughout their life they try to meet the demands of the Moon which does not forgive. At the same time, the Moon strives to correct the disobedient child (Mercury) and to set new standards for it. When a person finally achieves balance, they become pure and uncompromising in their inner voice which they hear and follow. This is how they express their authentic nature. However, the moment the Moon 68
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and Mercury are out of balance, life becomes unpleasant, and a person is overly formal and spotlessly clean, but lacks the inner qualities of warmth and satisfaction. This obsessive-compulsive disorder also represents an attempt to live in accordance with the norms of others’ voices (Mercury), which are not the person’s own voices but usually the voice of their mother who was unable to accept the child. Mother (the Moon) could not accept the child (Mercury), and the child (Mercury) later could not accept himself (the Moon). This essence is also given to people who can never admit to themselves that they did anything well, or to those who will proudly exclaim that they are perfectionists. The essence gives you the ability to hear your inner voice in order to start living your authentic nature in accordance with your own values, without compromise.
• The Moon and Venus in Challenging Aspect • (opposition, square, quincunx and semisquare)
- Yin level Bach essence: Wild Rose - Yang level Animal essence 1: Robin (for healing the Moon from a challenging aspect from Venus) Animal essence 2: Seagull (for healing Venus from a challenging aspect from the Moon) Wild Rose is a Bach essence for people with a lack of enthusiasm for and interest in life. We can notice they are indifferent, suffer from apathy, resignation, a lack of sexual desire and an overall lack of satisfaction. The person goes through life, but nothing really interests them. Inner motivation is gone and there is a lack of interest and creativity. Venus, being love, beauty and joy, represents the main motivation in life, so if a person has a Moon problem, they experience the loss of this vital joy of life and then redirect all of their attention to some other field, accepting their weak, Yin part of existence. People with a strong Sun and Mars (typical for Yang qualities) compensate for all that and deal with the positive placements in their charts, but have given up on this part. The type of love associated with the Moon is different than the love associated with Venus. Venus’ center is below the belly button, where all the sexual glands and organs are, so that part is related to sensuality, sexuality 69
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and pleasure. It does not represent the sexual urge as such, but more the ability to experience pleasure. If this center is strong, and the heart center is closed due to some injury, such women usually play the role of a mistress and keep finding unavailable partners. Also, these women wish to look 15 even when they are 35 or 45 years old, since they actually don’t want to be women and have curves, don’t want to grow up and become the Moon, but instead are always someone’s mistress. On the other hand, when the Moon is dominant, she becomes a woman and lives as if Venus does not exist. She is a mother, she cooks, works, cleans, takes care of her children and her husband as if he is a child too, while Venus is neglected and boils down to the consumption of sweets, romance novels or TV shows. These people also suffer from hormonal imbalances and weight problems, so they try all sorts of diets. Since they unconsciously reject this part of themselves, it easily manifests in the form of a mistress that their partner finds. However, after the Moon and Venus are well-connected, people suddenly experience energy, charm and attraction, and they usually manage to keep their weight in check, because motivation and joy originate from within. This essence awakens a feeling of inner motivation, happiness and joy, because this is when the Moon and Venus can work together, and mistress and mother can exist within one person.
• The Moon and Mars in Challenging Aspect •
(opposition, square, quincunx, semisquare and conjunction) - Yin level Bach essence: Holly - Yang level Animal essence 1: Gazelle (for healing the Moon from a challenging aspect from Mars) Animal essence 2: Shark (for healing Mars from a challenging aspect from the Moon) The Bach essence Holly is for people who behave aggressively. They are easily upset and they react with anger and rage to other people whose intentions they often wrongly misinterpret as too threatening or aggressive. In essence, one cannot tell them anything, since they are very explosive and immediately burst into rage. They have a reputation for having a short fuse. What one can find in their soul is the fact that they experienced 70
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“back-stabbing” from someone very close to them. Even when they were children (the Moon) and needed to be nurtured and cuddled, they were physically abused and beaten on a daily basis – depending on the state of their Mars. In its milder form, their mother was a “Spartan” who did not allow crying except when someone died, and maybe not even then. Therefore, in its extreme form, these people learn to hate weakness, especially if the Moon is in a sign that does not love it (Capricorn or Scorpio). Men with this aspect can be very nice and charming when young, but once they are married and create their own family, they become rough. When they become fathers and see and experience the vulnerabilities that the role brings, as well as the sensitivity and vulnerability of their wives, without being able to protect and help them, it all starts to irritate them and they start deeply resisting any weakness. People with this aspect feel irritated by anybody who is soft and sensitive. They have an urge to sever such relationships, because they see them as threats. The essence Holly has an exceptionally good effect with such people. They start developing trust toward other people and create such a vibratory atmosphere around them that people flock to them. People feel the vibration of somebody being so strong that they permit themselves to be gentle, protecting the weak.
• The Moon and Jupiter in Challenging Aspect • (opposition, square, quincunx and semisquare)
- Yin level Bach essence: Centaury - Yang level Animal essence 1: Hippopotamus (for healing the Moon from a challenging aspect from Jupiter) Animal essence 2: Elephant (for healing Jupiter from a challenging aspect from the Moon) A problematic relationship between these two planets can be described as “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Good souls with the best intentions often have a challenging aspect between these two planets. But they have one fault too – they overdo everything, and end up as victims. These are the people who do not know how to say “No.” In their genetics we find overprotective parents, so these children easily 71
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become drug addicts later in life, as they never got used to facing reality and using their first chakra. Parents permitted everything and there were no boundaries set, so these people never learned how to set boundaries themselves. In essence, everything was nice, but too nice; as adults, these people do a lot of nice things for others, but have problems finding the right balance and tend to overdo it. The essence used for this aspect on the Yin level is Centaury. It provides a person with the ability to help and serve others, but without becoming their servant. The most important thing is for these people to find the right balance, because what Jupiter always suffers from is excess.
• The Moon and Saturn in Challenging Aspect •
(opposition, square, quincunx, semisquare and especially conjunction) - Yin level Bach essence: Honeysuckle - Yang level Animal essence 1: Tortoise (for healing the Moon from a challenging aspect from Saturn) Animal essence 2: Owl (for healing Saturn from a challenging aspect from the Moon) Some people with a challenging aspect between these two planets sometimes say they simply don’t know where all the sadness they feel comes from, since their life has not been especially hard. This all points to the fact that this feeling has been carried over from a past life, or that sadness exists on the genetic level, through ancestral memory. Of course, this aspect is often associated with a very difficult childhood and destiny. These are pathologically nostalgic people who suffer from melancholy and are tied to the past. They live in their memories. They find it hard to accept their current situation and keep longing for happiness that was lost either in this or a previous life. These can be refugees who long for happier times in the past, and for their homes. They also have no idea where all the sadness comes from, but keep believing that the past was a happier time. Therefore, for example, they can have an attitude that two centuries ago life was better than today. This prevents them from being present in the here and now. 72
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Honeysuckle essence frees these people from sadness and literally breaks their chains, regardless of whether they have been chained to something from the recent past or from two lifetimes ago. In this way, these people start living in the present moment, gaining a kind of inner peace and stability that a harmonious relationship between the Moon and Saturn usually brings.
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Gazelle Robin Black Panther Deer Hippopotamus Turtle
Holly Wild Rose Gentian Crab Apple Centaury Honeysuckle
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Yang level 1
- respective planet
Yin level
Owl
Elephant
Mallard
Jaguar
Seagull
Shark
respective planet -
Yang level 2
Emerald
(Gem Stone Essence)
Yin - Yang stabilization
Assistants for Challenging Moon Aspects
Wild Jasmine
Red Chestnut
Wild Horse
(Animal Essence)
Yang level
(Bach Essence)
Aspects
Earth (South African Essence)
Water (Bach Essence)
Pink Flannel
Fire (Australian Essence)
Planetary essence of the Moon
Bleeding Heart
Air (Californian Essence)
(Flower Essence)
Yin level
The Complete Process of Moon Healing
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Mars - Balance and Healing
Planetary Essences and their Assistants
MARS
Balance and Healing
On an energy level, Mars is certainly the most important planet, not only because it is a natural signifier of energy, but also because it is connected with the first energy center, i.e., the first chakra, in our etheric body’s energy system. It is located at the base of the spinal column, and its basic function is to connect the native to the core of the Earth, enabling him to get “grounded” and have a constant supply of energy. When we talk about the Mars energy vibration, we should always have in mind that energy is the key foundation for all states of consciousness. We need it to be able to change, and Mars conducts energy through the body, channeling it from the Earth’s core. This is the level of the first chakra, and its main task is to supply energy for all the other centers so that it can circulate through them. This energy will be colored by the energy centers it goes through, by their own qualities, so if it is lacking, we have a “poverty” problem that manifests as many potential issues with other planets. In order for the energy we carry inside ourselves to be healthy and strong enough, opposites must be reconciled. We inherited some of our Mars energy, so it can flow through the old, root memories which can be damaging for any other planet or chakra of ours. This would be the case if Mars, series 1 or series1 8 have problematic configurations, because these are the factors that connect us to that energy. Energy must go from the 1st to the 8th house. The 1st house is direct action, and the 8th is the energy’s shadow – the reverse side of the energy, which is unconsciously 1 The astrological series means everything associated with the symbolism of a particular house. For example, “series 9” refers to the 9th house, the ruler of the 9th house, Sagittarius (the 9th sign), and Jupiter (the ruler of Sagittarius).
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created as the effect of whatever you do. If the energy does not circulate well, the energy shadow that returns to us from the 8th creates serious difficulties in life. The work we do in this field is very deep and spiritual. To work on the energy of Mars is to work on the entity that links our memories with planet Earth. We are connected to the Earth via energy which passes through all our ancestors and constantly flows through us. We are, first and foremost, linked to a particular ancestor, and then with the primordial ancestor too – with the foundation, the heart of the planet, which is our cosmic channel. It is from this energy that we get a certain Air memory that we carry, the Fire energy of our ancestors, which is very unconscious Water and which links us with Earth plants, animals and minerals. All this connects us to the very core and flows Air through our DNA coding. This energy, as well as the Fire energy of every planet, Water always looks like a figure eight with four levels: Air, Earth Fire, Water and Earth. In other words, we live our Air Mars on four different levFire els that manifest through the four elements. If Mars Water energy is strong, it flows Earth well through our causal, astral, etheric and physical bodies, but it has to be strong in all its elements in order to perform its complete function. This function will manifest on the ancestral level as well as through memories we receive through our genes.
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This happens when Mars connects, from its own Earth level, to what is below it – Pluto and the very core of the planet. Mars’ upper level connects with the lower level of Venus. In other words, we can say that the Air of Mars is connected with the Earth of Venus, and if Mars energy is well-balanced, this energy can circulate and connect memories, enabling one of our ancestors to live well, supported by the other ancestor, and the second one on the third, etc. This vertical connection of planets links all our genetic memories. It is of the utmost importance for our destiny, because this is the cycle that connects Mars, the ruler of the first chakra, with Saturn, ruler of the seventh chakra, and this is the story of our cosmic being. We carry two memories inside ourselves: one needs to align all the ancestors into a sequence and to bring memories from our DNA molecules into an energetically harmonious flow along the spine; the other is the cosmic memory with which we strive to connect. If we manage to awaken at the cosmic level, we will resolve the ancestral level. At the same time, on the daily destiny level, it is important to understand that balancing Mars helps our Venus – our second center. When the energy is healthy enough, Mars will always express itself as a protector of Venus. It will give her a good foundation for feeling satisfied, i.e., it will gain a foundational energy of satisfaction that is unharmed by jealousy, rage or arguments, and this person can experience peace and satisfaction. This is an enormous force that serves the preservation of peace, and if we are connected to Pluto, the lower level of this energy, we hold thermo-nuclear energy within our personal arsenal of weapons, but we don’t use it. It only guarantees us a peaceful existence and the preservation of that peace. This is of essential importance, since Venus can’t survive without powerful energy that functions properly. If Mars is harmonious, everything else will be harmonious, because we have achieved a tame relationship with the animal part of ourselves. This animalistic part is often offensive or aggressive, because these are the core feelings it carries inside itself. Ancestors often deposit their experiences of fights, wars and hatred here, and we want to turn that into a positive thing and help them do what they could not do in the past. We are their product, and this kind of energy is supposed to serve precisely this purpose. Ultimately, it is supposed to connect its edges to Venus and Pluto – these are its two goals. Mars bridges Pluto and Venus, representing the full story of Hades and Persephone. This is the story of an extremely powerful inner connection, powerful enough to be able to 77
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be gentle, as it has the support of the huge energy it carries inside itself. If Mars is unable to circulate through all four bodies, it will have difficulties on some level and an experience that creates some kind of block will appear, since the energy is not flowing adequately. This causes sparks, so problems and challenges arise, automatically resulting in a person losing their feeling of peace. Problems in the Mars energy center simply have to express as a Venus-type problem, because she needs a good foundation in order to be harmonious. Therefore, for a person to be able to live the experience of beauty, love and happiness, they have to possess strong enough energy; this energy does not have to be expressed, but it must be like a powerful motor that stands behind it. The basic rule of Mars is: “To be powerful is to be right.” It does not analyze things beyond this. If you are weak, you are doing something wrong somewhere, i.e., you are not connecting yourself well enough and sincerely enough with this type of energy. This manifests as a problem which will bring disorder into the whole system and all the other chakras. Mars knows that the field at the bottom of the spine reflects everything else and that working with what we inherited is a form of art. Therefore, we will follow this energy on all four levels and notice how it functions, since we know it is a very important factor for any person and their development. After Anahata, which represents our cosmic center, bringing Mars energy and the first chakra into balance on the genetic, karmic and daily destiny level is of utmost importance. This is what most people need, because when they do something positive with Mars in their life, they align with their own karma, i.e., personal actions. If Mars manages to circulate with Saturn and create a platform for Pluto from there, it will have made a really great entity and life story. Even if it does not achieve such a great thing, this will help the next level of their genetic coding to be stronger.
Elemental Mars Assistants
As we already mentioned, Mars is energetically represented by the figure eight, just like any other planet. This figure eight has its four levels, and the basic planetary essence for Mars is located in its very heart. The upper level represents the Air element, and we will use Californian essences to work with it. For the Fire level, we will use Australian essences, for the Water level, Bach, and for the Earth level, South African flower essences. 78
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Californian essences Australian essences
Corn
A IR
FIRE
Macrocarpa
Planetary essence for Mars Bach essences South African essences
Holly
WATER E A RT H
Belladonna Lily
Mars in Air Signs - Corn (Californian Essence)
The Californian flower essence that we use for the Air element in the first energy center, i.e., the airy Mars, is Corn. An imbalance of Mars on the Air level, from the mental sphere, will fill it with stress and tension. It feels like it travelled far away from the Earth, and its main need is to connect to the Earth and its energy. The problem we have here is a man who is disconnected from nature. The energy represented by Mars is weak here, because the person is completely “in their head,” and this is easily recognized. The thing is that Mars traveled far away from its rightful place (Earth, as it is exalted in Capricorn) so the person does not feel things enough, feels irritable due to a lack of grounding, restless and disconnected from nature. A problem with manifestation emerges too: the person keeps planning and announcing action, but fails to make things happen because Mars is within the mental field of Air and can’t descend into physical reality. This essence liberates people from a surplus of electricity and provides immediate grounding, enabling energy to flow in and providing 79
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the person with the feeling they can live and act in the present moment. This Assistant has a very quick balancing effect, so it can be used for acute conditions, for example: if progressed Mars is in an Air sign or the current dispositor takes it into the Air element. In the case of chronic issues, this essence is given to a person with Mars in Air sign, but – just as in the case of all Californian essences – we still expect it to work very quickly.
Mars in Fire Signs - Macrocarpa (Australian Essence)
If Mars is placed in the Fire element, we will use the flower essence Macrocarpa. It brings enormous strength and vitality, because Fire is the natural element of Mars and it simply feels in harmony with it. If there are difficulties in expressing this huge energy in a creative and positive way, a person can become aggressive. What we should see here is the will to live and the huge power that Fire brings, but an imbalance can lead a person to force their own personality upon other people and insist that things be done their way. This is the image of attack more than defense. The person has problems with vitality, so problems with strength on the fire level develop. On the medical level, this will express itself through heart or back problems, because there exists a certain aggression that radiates in a dominating and judgmental way. Adrenal fatigue can also develop, as an imbalance in the functioning of the adrenal glands, so that the person feels tired and has muscle pain upon waking in the morning. This essence enables a person to rejuvenate their energy and gain the strength they need. It leads to the regeneration of enthusiasm and immunity, giving this Mars an overall strength, because the Fire element is its natural place, when looked at from the perspective of the first house which represents the strength and stability of person.
Mars in Water Signs - Holly (Bach Essence)
On the water level, we use the Bach essence Holly for the first energy center. This essence is also used for challenging aspects between the Moon and Mars, which beautifully describes its function. If a problematic Mars is in the Water element, the problem can be linked to the signs of Pisces, Cancer or Scorpio. The dignities of Mars are very different in 80
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these signs. However, they all speak of emotional problems and trigger in a person the need to defend themselves because they feel attacked or threatened, and they will very often misinterpret what is going on. Whatever is placed in the Water signs, especially Cancer, leads to unrealistic ideas, so these configurations can lead people to misinterpret other people’s actions as attacks for the simple reason of wrongly directing this energy within themselves. Ideally, the healthy state of a Water Mars will be obvious in a person’s ability to energize other people, to “transfer” their own energy to another and empower them. Energy thus transferred will have no problems coming back to them. In any case, this essence is meant for people who are overly sensitive to external influences and those who feel threatened and attacked, so are prone to behave in an offensive and aggressive manner. It is necessary to investigate if a person carries this in their natal chart, but also what sort of energy they have currently and what caused certain feelings they experience or behaviors they exhibit. This essence causes a person to let go of the defensive behavior and realize they can achieve their goals without fighting against someone. In other words, they understand that one does not exclude the other, and that protecting one’s rights can be a comfortable and pleasant experience. The final effect will be seen if we can circulate this energy with others, the people around us, in order to achieve a positive outcome.
Mars in Earth Signs - Belladonna Lily (South African Essence)
If Mars is linked to the Earth element, we use the South African flower essence Belladonna Lily (Naked Lady). This kind of Mars energy lives very deeply on the Earth level and it touches the part that connects us with Pluto. Therefore, when there is an imbalance, a person can experience great weakness, rage and aggression which render logical and rational thinking and action impossible. Mars can have problems in the sign of Taurus, but it can also have problems in Virgo, and even Capricorn, in which it is exalted, especially if it has a hard aspect with its dispositor Saturn, or if its dispositor is badly placed. When imbalanced, Mars creates a dense anger within a person, anger that they don’t even see, because it is in their unconscious. This anger is compressed into the form of matter, no longer existing on the level of 81
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feelings. It is as if that energy went through water in the previous phase, and now lives within the body of the native. When people start cleansing themselves from this level, they often experience physical pain, because anger is compressed in the physical field. This state of anger is supported by certain activities, people, situations and circumstances around them, and it is through them that this anger gets back to them, gets recognized and keeps inspiring them to further fighting. This memory pulls a person so strongly that they also become like that memory and start experiencing life in the same way. We are talking about quite an unconscious energy that runs very deep. The final goal of a Mars that has hit rock bottom is to make a full cycle of energy in order to turn an enemy into a friend. Mars in the Earth element hits bottom and it is important that it is taught how to regenerate itself through Pluto. Anger arising from this level can make a person rough, although they might not think of themselves in that way, so the problem can manifest on the physiological level and unresolved anger will express itself as some kind of inflammation or something similar. This essence enables aggression and rage to transform into constructive energy. This provides a person with the opportunity to center themselves so that they can use this energy for correct action, bringing them peace in the process. It is as if we try to achieve the concept of a strong Mars in Capricorn; the energy becomes centered and grounded, and from there a person can act in a stable and peaceful way. This essence heals the roots of manifested problems, which can often be linked to violent childhood experiences.
Three Levels of Mars Manifestation
We recognize Mars vibrations through the four elements, but it will manifest itself through three separate qualities, i.e., three levels of manifestation: physical, emotional and mental. First, the physical level of manifestation will be primarily linked to the base of the spinal column, where the first energy center is located. This is the place where we “plant” ourselves into the soil, just like Mars goes to Capricorn in its exaltation. This enables us to grow roots in order to receive water, minerals and everything else we need from the soil. Depending on the strength of its root, the plant can then grow and become 82
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strong. Physical manifestations of Mars issues will express themselves in the lower part of our digestive system and will lead to changes in the anus (like hemorrhoids), inflammation of the colon and the like. For example, if there is a chronic problem with colon inflammation, a person has problems with matter. They either fear creating it or are incapable of letting it go, or they will have problems differentiating between the material and spiritual worlds (physically, this manifests in the form of diarrhea and constipation). Mars represents our immune system as well. It is the warrior who defends us from everything that wishes to attack our body. Fear is the basic emotion linked to the first center: fear for our life, fear that something might physically harm us. Therefore, whenever we feel this threat, we spontaneously activate our Mars warrior to defend us. When Mars is activated, it raises the body temperature as a form of “fire cleansing,” but if it is too weak, it is incapable of doing this properly. Therefore, low body temperature does not always reflect health, but can be a sign that – due to the inability to develop an acute condition, we slowly slip into a chronic one. This is the reason why Mars was not considered a malefic in traditional astro-medicine, but rather a planet that protects the patient with the acute action of fire-building and “burning” the attacker, while Saturn was considered a malefic as a planet that transforms acute processes into chronic conditions. Similarly, blood pressure reflects the state of Mars in our system. People who frequently get angry actually send a message to the system to get ready for a fight. The reaction of Mars is to release increased quantities of adrenalin in order to help us with that. The problem arises when the fight (resolution) does not happen, and the level of adrenalin and blood pressure is raised, assuring that the body is ready for the fight. If this is the pattern of behavior, a person develops high blood pressure – because they fail to fight on the physical level, and therefore have to fight within themselves. On the other hand, low blood pressure is present in people who are unable to connect with planet Earth. It is typical for people who do not enjoy their time on Earth, who consider the Earthlings harsh, banal and mostly boring, failing to establish a connection with them. These people don’t want to ground themselves, they withdraw from reality and their first chakra and its lessons, considering them too demanding or rough, and as a result their blood pressure lowers. The final outcome is fainting, as a mechanism the person uses to switch off and lose awareness of their surroundings. 83
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On the physical level, Mars expresses itself through our attitude toward money. Problems can show up on this level as struggle with manifesting things or as a fear of poverty (a deficiency of energy flow). The problem can also arise when people find it easy to manifest things, but don’t trust anyone except themselves, feeling they can’t rely on anyone else (strong energy flow in the first chakra, but they are stuck here and fail to connect with the other chakras). On the other hand, an imbalance can manifest as an inability to manifest things, weakness in the legs and an inability to rely on oneself, but instead constantly depend on others. The expression “to stand on your own two feet” describes this well, because grounding and stability in the legs speak of a person’s ability to rely on themselves and manifest whatever they need for survival and living. When we talk of the emotional manifestation of Mars, it is like talking about hot water. The emotional level is sensitive, and if Mars disturbs these waters and an imbalance occurs, the person can start feeling threatened in relating with others, and can easily experience everything as an enemy attack, even if that is not accurate. As a result, there’s a need to strike back, to defend oneself and take revenge. If this manifestation is balanced, however, strong sexuality arises and the person is the master of it. The mental manifestation of Mars is very interesting, because it likes to accelerate things and give energy to them. If it does this to Mercury, the belief arises that fast equals efficient. A balanced mental manifestation enables a person to immediately do what they envision, making them faster than others. However, if an imbalance exists, various life areas are full of irritability and tension, depending on the planets with which Mars forms challenging aspects. Mars will feel more comfortable in the first and second circle (physical and mental), because by its very nature it is not very close to the emotional level, so it needs a lot of practice in order to become a master in that field.
The Complete Healing Process of Mars
In order to balance Mars, i.e., to bring healing to a person’s life, we need to address the Yin level (flower essences), the Yang level (animal essences), as well as gem essences for stabilizing the Yin and Yang principles. Therefore, after achieving balance through the planetary essence of Mars, it is necessary to work with the primal animal essence of Mars – 84
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Buffalo – and then with the Ruby gemstone essence, in order to achieve complete stabilization.
Buffalo Essence - Yang Level of Mars
Buffalo essence has a calming effect, slows down frequencies from the upper centers and thus enables “descending” to the Earth level, as well as manifestation. Buffalo was the most important animal for Native Americans: they used to pray before the hunt and always expressed gratitude to the spirit of buffalo, because it symbolized material wealth for them. This essence develops a deep inner feeling of security when it comes to material existence, so it is successfully used by people who lost the feeling of being connected to the Earth, matter and security. The buffalo was celebrated precisely because of the abundance it provides, so this essence enables us to feel rich, to become aware that we will always have material things, and we gain the abundance consciousness that we always have enough and things come our way. This enables us to generously give to others part of what we have, in order for the energy to flow. It is through interacting with others and the unselfish giving of money and time that we express our consciousness of abundance within which we feel gratitude and assurance that we will always have enough wealth, on the inner as well as outer level. Buffalo also provides us with great endurance and the patience needed for concrete projects. Buffalo can also be administered as a short-term essence in case people experience some kind of a shock and lose mental stability, when their body has activated the “fight or flight” mechanism.
Gemstone: Ruby
Ruby replenishes physical energy, balances the first chakra and supports a person’s ability to ground spiritual energy into their physical body. This gemstone communicates with our deep nature from Earth, with our strength, i.e., the physical energy we carry within ourselves, as well as with our ability to regenerate ourselves. Mars is exalted in the sign of Capricorn, so its greatest strength is in stones, and this link will provide us with endurance and strength. 85
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Ruby’s effect is strong and stimulating. It heats up, raises energy, refreshes the body, initiates activity and circulation, strengthens immunity, activates and revitalizes the entire body through the bloodstream, brings cleansing fire and awakens potentials. It is also administered for regulating anemia and blood pressure.
Assistants for Challenging Mars Aspects • Mars and Venus in Challenging Aspect •
(opposition, square, quincunx, semisquare and often the conjunction) - Yin level Bach essence: Hornbeam - Yang level Animal essence 1: Porcupine (for healing Mars from a challenging relationship with Venus) Animal essence 2: Stoat (for healing Venus from a challenging relationship with Mars) If a challenging aspect of Mars and Venus exists, we use the Yin-level assistant Hornbeam. When imbalanced, these planets create a fear of failure and a feeling of being overworked, so tiredness occurs even before work begins. Hornbeam is administered to people who have a feeling that everyday life challenges are too much and too difficult, and that they can’t meet those demands. This feeling causes them to behave in one of two possible ways. First, they might not even begin any activity, i.e., they keep postponing it. On the other hand, we have an example of people working too much, and therefore postponing their involvement in fun and pleasurable activities. Here we have a problem with Venus, i.e., motivation, which might not be satisfied due to the influence of Mars. Just as the relationship of the Moon and Venus speaks of inner motivation, the relationship of Mars and Venus speak of outer motivation. When this essence is administered, it is necessary to estimate whether Mars or Venus is stronger in the natal chart. Usually, it is the planet that is more connected with the ruler of the Ascendant that is stronger. If Mars is dominant and in a challenging aspect with Venus, these people work too much and keep postponing pleasurable activities, cultivating beauty, and enjoying nice things. Mars wants action and it 86
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will not care that Venus does not enjoy something. On the other hand, if Venus is dominant, it is not possible to prompt this person into action with firmness and demands. They accept only what is comfortable and pleasurable, declining to do anything they deem disagreeable. In both cases, people develop a completely unrealistic and pessimistic attitude that they can’t face a given challenge, regardless of what the challenge is. This is all just a consequence of the fear of disappointment and emotional wounding. Since we are talking about outer motivation, this essence will enable a person who faces outer challenges to develop the feeling that they can meet them, but on the other hand, they will also start enjoying more pleasurable activities too. This is how Mars and Venus are brought into balance.
• Mars and the Sun in Challenging Aspect •
(opposition, square, quincunx, semisquare and often the conjunction) - Yin level Bach essence: Vine - Yang level Animal essence 1: Skunk (for healing Mars from a challenging relationship with the Sun) Animal essence 2: Gorilla (for healing the Sun from a challenging relationship with Mars) When we talk about Mars-Sun aspects, the Yin assistant is Vine essence. We see a strong masculine archetype through this aspect, a contact between the first and the third chakra, between the Sun and Mars, which indicates self-confident and exceptionally strong people who are capable of turning ideas into action. This is a combination of huge strength, so someone with a positive contact between these planets has a strong will and the organizational ability to perform and fulfill the needs of their Mars. This is the image of a born leader. If there is a problem here, this is a person who has a very hard time cooperating. They are leaders, but they have a need to give orders and make decisions, so the people around them are jeopardized. There definitely exists a strong will for action here, but the need for domination also appears, so the person demonstrates superiority by being intolerant of others. 87
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Vine essence will not take away the leadership characteristics of a person, but will provide them with the ability to inspire others, so that others want to follow them, instead of brutally demonstrating the power of their will.
• Mars and Mercury in Challenging Aspect •
(opposition, square, quincunx, semisquare and often the conjunction) - Yin level Bach essence: Impatiens - Yang level Animal essence 1: Pileated Woodpecker (for healing Mars from a challenging relationship with Mercury) Animal essence 2: Ant (for healing Mercury from a challenging relationship with Mars) In the case of Mars-Mercury aspects, the Yin essence we use is Impatiens. If these planets are in balance, a person turns their thoughts into action immediately, they speak clearly and to the point, and they manifest their ideas faster, more skillfully and efficiently than others. With challenging aspects between these two planets, people tend to be very impatient and irritable. The speed that Mars brings into an imbalanced Mercury makes these people feel like everybody around them is slow, so they get irritated, which makes them verbally aggressive, hasty and rough. They have this idea that a thought has to be turned into action the second it appears, although it might be more appropriate to postpone the action until a time that would better suit the people around them. This impatience is expressed through rough words, a raised voice and an intolerance of others, filling the person with irritable and restless feelings. Impatiens enables a person to develop the patience and thoroughness that they lack, to develop their own rhythm and easily find their way around situations with deadlines.
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• Mars and Jupiter in Challenging Aspect •
(opposition, square, quincunx, semisquare and often the conjunction) - Yin level Bach essence: Vervain - Yang level Animal essence 1: Badger (for healing Mars from a challenging relationship with Jupiter) Animal essence 2: Mongoose (for healing Jupiter from a challenging relationship with Mars) The Bach essence used for aspects between Mars and Jupiter is Vervain. Jupiter leads to exaggeration and carries the message that things are done for someone’s benefit, so this essence is known for its use with people who are known as “intolerant benefactors.” Because of Jupiter’s nature, these problems always arise from good intentions, so we have a situation in which, for example, a person believes that going to church is what’s best for someone’s love life and their health, so they keep trying to convince the other person that it is so. Jupiter has an idea, a philosophy and optimism, while Mars has to turn them into action. Therefore, even if Jupiter would say “live and let live,” when it is in a challenging aspect with Mars, it has to materialize its own conviction. These people can be so full of enthusiasm that they find it hard to switch it off, and can be tortured by insomnia and restlessness. They might actively interfere with other people’s lives with the best possible intentions, all in line with their moral code and life philosophy. These are typical missionaries who wish to help others and convert them to their own religious and moral convictions, in order to make them feel better. This essence helps people to free themselves from this unhealthy and exaggerated enthusiasm, as well as to realize that other people have their own beliefs and that, even though they might not agree with them, other people have a right to have them. It increases their tolerance and keeps their moral strength and convictions healthy, just like people who have a harmonious aspect between Mars and Jupiter.
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• Mars and Saturn in Challenging Aspect •
(opposition, square, quincunx, semisquare and especially the conjunction) - Yin level Bach essence: Rock Water - Yang level Animal essence 1: Bighorn Sheep (for healing Mars from a challenging relationship with Saturn) Animal essence 2: Armadillo (for healing Saturn from a challenging relationship with Mars) Challenging aspects between Mars and Saturn are balanced with the Bach essence Rock Water on the Yin level. This is the only essence from the Bach set of essences that is not a flower essence, but a vibration of the sunlit spring water that flows over rocks, and therefore holds the nature of stone. Since Mars is connected with the first chakra, material things and the physical body, while Saturn is connected to the spiritual chakra that opens us to the upper planes, if they are imbalanced, we have a strong division between the spiritual and material. Whether we are talking about a skeptic who believes only in what he can touch, or about a person who believes that they have to detach themselves from the material world because Saturn’s world is better – a strong division between upper and lower reality is evident. This aspect can be found in people who devote themselves to an asceticism that is punitive and who feel the need to physically harm their body, to fast without any food or water intake. They have the need to enter their seventh chakra – Saturn – but in a way that will make them separate from the first chakra and Mars. There is a belief that one is better than the other, and these people can be too harsh toward themselves, give up too many things, and can be prone to self-punishment. This will not always express itself as asceticism in a classical sense, but sometimes as a person who is a fanatic. When they decide to do something, they will do it regardless of the cost, without being aware that sometimes one needs to be gentle toward oneself. This is a self-inflicted rigidity that often expresses itself through giving up all kinds of physical pleasure. Therefore, these people can harbor the idea that they will become saints if Saturn beats Mars, i.e., that harsh dis90
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cipline will make them superhuman. On the physical level, they develop rigid muscles that even massage cannot loosen up, because the spasm is too intense. Essences can help these people to become more flexible and to free themselves from the strict acceptance of life conditions. These people become aware that the physical and spiritual world can live together, so there is a general relaxation and meeting of these opposites, i.e., Mars and Saturn connect in a more pleasant way.
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Porcupine Skunk Pileated Woodpecker Badger Bighorn Sheep
Hornbeam Vine Impatiens Vervain Rock Water
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Yang level 1
- respective planet
Yin level
(Bach Essence)
Aspects
Buffalo
(Animal Essence)
Yang level (Gem Stone Essence)
Armadillo
Mongoose
Ant
Gorilla
Stoat
respective planet -
Yang level 2
Ruby
Yin - Yang stabilization
Assistants for Challenging Mars Aspects
Belladonna Lily
Holly
Corn
Planetary essence Macrocarpa for Mars
Earth (South African Essence)
Water (Bach Essence)
Fire (Australian Essence)
Air (Californian Essence)
(Flower Essence)
Yin level
The Complete Healing Process of Mars
AstroHealing
Venus - Balance and Healing
Planetary Essences and their Assistants
VENUS
Balance and Healing
On a physiological level, Venus is located in the lower belly region, within the second energy center or chakra, the role of which is to “bring dreams into reality,” providing the feeling of bliss. Through this center, people enjoy “matter” – food, material objects and physical pleasures – as much as “the dream” – i.e., human relations, love and happiness. In its most developed form, this center gives the means to create “Heaven on Earth.” When we study the Venus energy center and the energetic vibrations that are important for Venus, we should have in mind that this is one of the most important centers for practical work, because it is situated in the middle of our lower energy body. People who have a harmonious energy flow here, i.e., who have balance within their Venus in such a way that its energy is flowing and fulfilling, also enjoy a fulfilling life on Earth. This quality is also very important because Venus is the real goal behind many things we wish to accomplish. When a person is balanced, Venus is in a healthy condition. It rules the sign Libra and represents the balance we have successfully established, thereby becoming the balancing center for everything on Earth. Venus connects all that is represented on the levels between Mars and the Sun, i.e., within our inner code it represents the connection of very strong energy fields that it should bring into balance. When we study all possible manifestations of Venus, we should always note the level on which some imbalance occurs. If we are in harmony with Venus, we are basically in harmony with everything that exists, and there is no other planet that is more important in a practical sense. The reason for this might be the fact that we are living on planet Earth, which belongs to the sign of Taurus. 93
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Just like every other planetary center, the Venus center has four levels of vibrations, four planes, four levels of its own existence. When we look at these elements within us, they are expressed in numerical values under the model we discussed earlier.
3 6 6 9 Air Fire
3 6
Water Earth
6 9 3 6 6 9
6
Fire
= 12
6
Water
Air 3 (21)
Fire (6)+ Water (6)+ Earth (9)
Therefore, the Earth level will always have a value of 9, the Water and Fire level, a value of 6, while the Air level (the one that contains everything) will be represented with the number 21, which – in its total sum – adds up to 3. Air is the quality that contains the other three elements in its sum total, and therefore the ultimate evolution of one planet should express itself in this upper part, the Air level of its being, the level in which the previous three levels are contained. This highest level is in charge of establishing contact with the next level of being – the Earth level of the next planet, which always carries the value of 9. In sum total, they have a value of 12, similar to the relationship between Water and 94
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Fire. In this way, one planet grows out of the other, the second from the third, etc. The quality of our Sun greatly depends on the state of Venus and what it has accomplished. On the other hand, Venus is the goal of Mars, which wishes to accomplish self-fulfillment. This is because the upper energy level of Mars links to the lower level of Venus, and those primary energies and needs manifest through it with the passage of time. Our personal Venus level is primarily connected to one level of being, but that does not mean that it exists on one elemental level only. It does not matter in which element our natal Venus is placed, as it has to circulate through all the levels of its own energy. It is natural that Venus permeates every level of its energy, i.e., it has to be expressed through all four elements. It is clear that none of us has one distinct placement of Venus, and that its nature will express through its dispositor, progressions, and aspects with other planets. These various positions will express themselves in different time periods. We are all a combination of different influences, and it’s up to us to evaluate Venus’ “color” and feeling, as well as the extent to which a person has managed to connect the various natures that spring from this place and make one special being out of them, not endangering any of those natures. Our goal is not to find everything in one element, but to have the ability to guide the energy through all the levels of each planet. Therefore, the placement of a planet in various elements gives us a story that needs to be made whole in order for a person to live harmoniously on Earth. If one of Venus’ natures is not lived, people experience it as a lack of satisfaction, regardless of which sign their natal Venus is in, so it is necessary to accurately identify which of its parts is not expressed in everyday life, because various periods can lead to various imbalances in this sphere. However, we do have a special relationship with some particular levels, based on the placement of natal Venus in an element, and this is usually the place where we should do the most work. The fact that Venus is placed between the Sun and Mars gives Venus special significance when it comes to life on Earth. It is the quality of Venus that will bring all that Yang, masculine energy into balance. Venus should connect Mars and the Sun in such a way that energy flows harmoniously, being well-balanced itself. If it does not have a good flow itself, it has no means to create a good Sun. Its experience and level of satisfaction will turn into the energy of the Sun, so if there is an imbalance here, it will 95
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ask the Sun to provide fulfilment through domination and ego expression, taking energy away from it, instead of building happy Water and Fire within the third energy center. This is exactly what happens within one genetic chain. If the parents were happy, they will create happy descendants. However, if they were unhappy, their dissatisfactions will be transferred to their children, and they will express this dissatisfaction in their own lives. What happens on the Water and Earth levels is experienced as passive acceptance, as receiving, while the upper levels of Fire and Air represent giving and active doing. Therefore, within the energy of each of our planets, there are levels from which we act and give, creating karma. In other words, we have the Earth and Water of the next entity, of the next generation, in the genetic sequence. Therefore, one planet is not only a foundation for itself, but also for everything that surrounds it. When Venus is healthy, it brings us a good balance of everything on Earth. It is not up to us to rationally study whether someone is “correct” or not, but to assess the degree of pleasure that Venus experiences through its four elements. If a person is satisfied on all these levels, they will be able to express it by living the highest quality of this energy, and this will also have an influence on the next level, through the Air element. This is why it is important to listen to what people say about other people, as this is the Air level. In the case of Venus, it is necessary to evaluate the quality of its balance on these levels. On the Air level of Venus, we see all the qualities of Venus that are linked to the nature of the sign Libra. This is the sign in which Venus maintains balance in its relationships, establishes equality and reveals its ability to inspire others to have high-quality relationships. Venus has to overcome its separate sense of self, and this is where it experiences its maximum expression within the creative field, because this is where it touches the Sun, which allows Venus to express its beauty and inspire creativity in self and others. If the Air level is out of balance for some reason, we see a person who has closed down their creativity. This can happen because a person has an afflicted Venus in an Air sign, but also in the case of a progression, or an afflicted dispositor. A person can experience monotony – they are incapable of expressing satisfaction in life and with people, so the feeling that they are not inherently good or worthy enough settles in. This is how 96
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people absorb the energy of their ancestors into themselves, manifesting it through the nature of the Sun. This is where the personality can be emphasized, or ego or power, and a person has the need to feel “better than they are,” i.e., in a false light. These are people who need to talk too much about things they want to highlight, for example, their own beauty. They will express whether they like something or not in too direct a way, and since this is not a Venusian way of doing things, harmony will be lost. It seems that something at the Air level – communications and connections – is wrong. When Venus starts expressing what is right and what is not, and what makes them better than someone else, we see a problem that comes from its Air element. This is the most important part of its expression, because Air contains everything in itself and relates to the total field of relationship from the sign Libra. In the end, it is through relating to other people, our attitude toward them and their attitude toward us, that we experience our own Knowing, since these two things are one and the same. The reality we experience here is the degree of Knowing we are capable of living and the indicator of balance we find ourselves in. In the broadest sense, this is what Venus can do on Earth – to apply the knowledge it has in such a way that it inspires the Sun, life and creativity. When Venus is strong at the Fire level, there is a strong need for giving, for expressing creativity and love, so a person does not need anything but their own creativity and expression. This is where it works well, radiates and has fun. It has enough self-confidence and Fire to feel stable, but this is not a passive model of Venus, but one that gladly shows itself and feels confident when it comes to a person’s own inner and outer image. When well-placed, Venus does not feel insecure and does not have a need to gain something. The person simply rejoices in their own life by living it. Venus does not have an essential dignity in any of the Fire signs, so Fire is not familiar to it. This can easily cause imbalance and damage to Venus, and this is where Venus can be turned toward outer conditions and be overly demanding. As the Fire element is linked to the active masculine principle, Venus asks for and demands something. Therefore, even if Venus’ primary role is to attract, because its essential nature is the feminine principle of attraction – Venus here does not attract, even if this is 97
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where its strength lies. If it is balanced here, it radiates and attracts. But if it isn’t, it can develop a need to fight. In this fight, it loses its ability to feel and enjoy, because it is turned toward the masculine, Fire model of behavior. This can lead to various other kinds of dissatisfactions, because it loses a sense of inner peace. What is needed is for Venus to express creativity and establish a good link between the two Fire entities – Mars and the Sun – that it is situated between, because this is its natural role and great task. If it does not manage to play this role well, it will be prone to arguments and will accept that masculine part, losing what is strongest in itself. A person will see things through masculine logic, without the nature of Venus, and that will constantly cause dissatisfaction. Venus acting from the Water level is much more like this feminine, passive model of receiving. This is where it naturally expects to be able to receive, experience and feel things. Its big advantage on this level is the fact it has an opportunity to connect to feelings and experience a healthy connection with the heart chakra, gaining a great degree of satisfaction in the process, provided that it is in a balanced state. Since both Water and Earth are the result of what people inherit and now receive through passive experiences, Venus’ placement in this element speaks of things we have created and produced, and which now manifest through present situations. Maybe we have a proper attitude, but we need to see what is placed in the Water element in order to be able to evaluate it, because the degree of satisfaction of Venus depends on both its placement, and the element in which it is situated. If it is not well-placed, the likely problems it will bring boil down to jealousy, dissatisfaction and a lack of fulfilment; people fail to find emotional fulfilment, become overly dependent and forget that they are creating the reality around them. Depending on the nature of the sign it is placed in, a person can experience sadness, but also the feeling of being suffocated or unable to really live life. Venus would like to move toward its higher nature, but if it gets stuck at this level, it finds it hard to swim out of it, it fails to climb up and act, failing to reach its own level of existence from which it can radiate Fire or inspire the Sun. These people are stuck in emotional problems and the feeling of dissatisfaction, feeling sad about losing the love they once experienced, or feeling unloved and deprived of things they want. They can’t connect with their authentic self, they are blocked and prevented from radiating love and beauty in order to attract what they need. 98
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The Earth level of Venus has its deepest roots in the previous Mars chakra, and connects to it the most. Here, Venus works with the energy field, with Mars, and very often is there to help Mars out. Such a Venus finds it important to achieve material security, while Mars has a need to provide this for Venus. When Venus is in an Earth sign, it corresponds with the level of material reality and can experience difficulties, depending on how it is positioned. This is where all kinds of blocks can be found on a sexual level, regardless of whether we are talking about a man or a woman’s chart. These problems can express themselves as the inability to express one’s gentle nature, because there are fears linked to this plane on some very deep level. Of course, this will depend on its placement and the sign it is in. The nature of Venus in its rulership sign of Taurus, when unafflicted, gives great sensuality, passion and the ability to enjoy material things. This hedonism is the best part of Venus’ nature, but balance is easily lost because it has very strong connections with the previous chakra. It needs balance in regard to Mars, which is not a simple task. Venus might have some unresolved karmic issues with Mars, and therefore can’t go further before it resolves the issues it has with Mars. It is tied to the lower levels and can’t reach up toward the Sun, from where it would be able to shine creativity. If energy flows without any disruption throughout its figure eight, Venus connects the feeling of security, grounding, passion, sexuality, attraction and generally, the energy that it carries in its lower part, with the positive, creative state of its active principle. If we look at this phenomenon on the societal level, we see that in societies in which the feminine principle is respected, we find powerful men and Yang expression that is well-developed. On the other hand, in societies in which the feminine principle is restricted, where women are not allowed to express their emotions, and where the Venus principle is very shut-down, we notice that men are very harsh, almost wild. When balance is built within the model of a Venus that is satisfied, we have a healthy expression of the masculine nature and logic, because this is the role of Venus. Therefore, we need to see how our Venus is feeling and if it is satisfied to such an extent that masculine energies within us can also be healthy and strong. If a person shines on the Venus level, they will be satisfied in the real world. They don’t have to live in some special higher state of consciousness, but they will love their life and will possess good energy. If the Sun is 99
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also emphasized, their personality will be strong and fulfilled. If a strong Venus is connected to the Earth level, we will see a person who is open to receiving things from the higher level. But, even if they don’t receive them, their life on Earth will be good in the broadest sense of the word. This satisfaction will be transferred to their descendants through the genetic code, and this is the state we receive from the sign of Libra, where the Soul is being measured. This state is also transferred further, and this is how we influence the nature of our Sun, our creativity, vitality and, ultimately, our health. A person needs to feel satisfied, and it is the second energy center that provides this. Venus is placed between two masculine principles, which tells us that its role is to connect to men objectively. When imbalanced, we will often find two men in a woman’s emotional life, because this comes naturally to Venus. If it is not satisfied, it will express a need to connect two different worlds, so on the one hand it will look for a young man (Mars) and the passion he brings, but on the other hand it will look for the kind of love we see through the Sun. In order to be able to express itself through a relationship with one person, Venus needs to be very whole and happy in different areas of life. If it isn’t, it starts noticing that Mars and the Sun are different, and that it cannot find both needed qualities within one person, but actually, what it wishes to do is to join these two natures within itself, because Venus is the bridge between them. A perfect Venus attracts a perfect relationship. Its imbalance can further be seen when it speaks more than is needed, feels strong but unfulfilling emotions, harbors envy, has a feeling that it can’t express itself on the outer level, or fears how it will perform in certain activities. It is as if Venus believes that it is not valuable or beautiful. We need to learn how to live our Venus, and the first step is to accept any imbalance we see in it as our own. Due to its relationship with the Moon, Venus has a special importance, because it speaks of our capacity for satisfaction in everyday life. Venus is the expression of the emotional state of the Moon, which is transparent and fleeting in comparison to what is contained within Venus. Many things that we associate with the Moon actually arise from Venus. Also, what we carry within our Soul often originates from the story of Venus. It is here that we can realize that Venus is the planet that connects 100
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us with the feeling of fulfilment, happiness and satisfaction on Earth, and that it is Venus that provides the Soul with a feeling of lightness and flow. That is why, if Venus is brought into a healthy state, it provides a shortcut for achieving balance at the Moon level. The Moon and Venus help each other because they have a similar vibration. The Venus vibration is expressed through everyday life, while the Moon is a universal factor – a deeper, underlying level surrounding everything and which is a foundation for any kind of Venus expression. Venus is like a concrete expression of one’s emotions, of the emotional life and the living of that life, and the Moon can receive this expression and achieve an essential flow. Always have in mind that the Moon is exalted in the sign of Taurus, and that the Soul is measured in the sign of Libra. This is a permanent connection that should result in the pleasurable enjoyment of life on Earth, and make the Soul light. Some spiritual philosophies have separated these two realms into the world of the senses and the world of the spirit. This is how the heart chakra becomes closed, because one principle cannot function without the other. A person who is not satisfied through Venus cannot be satisfied in the Moon. Even if they decide to live in a cave, completely separate from the world, they have to experience their own pleasure from material reality in order to develop consciousness from the heart center. When we work with clients, we first pay attention to their degree of satisfaction, and evaluate the possible origin of the issue, because this is what matters most to a person. Although we should work on the Moon even when everything else is in balance, it will often prove necessary to assist and improve the state of a person’s Venus. Therefore, addressing Venus is high on the list of priorities when it comes to working with clients.
Three Levels of Venus Manifestation
Independently of the element in which Venus is placed, it will also express itself through a certain quality, i.e., one of three possible manifestations. The physical level is not only the level of events and circumstances. The physical level is also expressed through a person’s physical appearance, through the posture of their body and its movements. So it is through one’s appearance that we can start evaluating the state of Venus 101
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they enjoy. If we notice that a person is rigid and inflexible, especially if we are talking about a woman, this is the first indication that the state of her Venus needs improvement. Venus should provide a sort of grace and lightness of movement, as well as attractiveness and beauty. This need not be physical beauty in the classical sense, but a sense of joy that a person radiates, as well as their lightness, like a person in love who appears to be flying above the earth, free of any feeling of heaviness. When Venus is not in a healthy state, we will notice that a person moves slowly and suffers from stiffness in the lower part of their back, lacking lightness and flexibility. Venus is, in its essence, the element of Water. It is like a Hawaiian woman dancing, and we can immediately notice its permeability, graciousness, lightness and attractiveness. When we are happy, we move and express ourselves with ease, but when we are reserved, a spasm is created, leading to stiffness – whether in the hands, stomach or any other body part. An additional indicator can be personal neglect, as this is one of the first physical manifestations of problems in the second energy center. When a person does not shine, fails to take care of their body, deprives oneself of pleasure and always puts oneself last, it is noticeable through a general sense of neglect, and the problematic Venus becomes obvious. When Venus is imbalanced on this level, a person tends to escape into one of the two neighboring energy centers, in order to compensate for what they’re lacking. Therefore, if a person turns to Mars (if Mars is strongly placed in their natal chart), they work non-stop and have no time to relax and enjoy life. Venus stands for the feeling we deserve something, so if Venus is weak and Mars is strong, we have a person who feels they must work in order to deserve something, i.e., in order to know their own worth. It is only when they work that they feel valuable. It is in the most diligent sign of Virgo that Venus is in its fall, which tells us that the feeling of self-worth does not come naturally, but is attached to the feeling of how much we work. In any case, Venus is not in charge of making concepts, plans and strategies. This is the job of Mars and Saturn. Venus represents our ability to surrender and enjoy, which is a familiar concept to Venus, because it knows that one does not have to work. Mars is the one that believes that work liberates, while Venus sees that the only thing one needs to do 102
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is to love something, and it will come to them (the law of attraction is a Venusian law, while the law of action is a Martian law). At the highest level, the complete surrendering of Venus is expressed through Venus in Pisces, which then turns into Neptune (the higher octave of Venus) and makes its dreams come true. Here it is possible to feel and believe that something is easy and belongs to us, and it will come to us on its own. However, for such a manifestation, Venus needs to be especially light and must not have obstacles or blocks in its energy flow. That is its essence. On the physiological level, Venusian issues will be expressed through the intestines, possibly leading to bloating in the lower belly. Women can have problems with endometriosis, irregular and painful menstrual cycles, and serious mood swings while pre-menstrual. Men might express these issues through problems with their testicles, prostate and sex hormones. Venus represents balance, so every imbalance is always connected to it, whether it comes from the physical, emotional or mental level. Venus also represents sexuality and is linked to the sex organs, sex glands and all places in which sexuality is expressed. On the emotional level, Venus represents lightness and how much we allow ourselves. How much do we allow ourselves to rest, to enjoy, to let things come easily to us? If you talk to a man who was inspired by a woman he fell in love with, he will tell you that, apart from her physical beauty, he was also attracted to the fact that she was smiling, happy and relaxed. Venus represents precisely this kind of sexuality and sensuality that is linked to the feeling of inner satisfaction. Mars represents the animal need to procreate, the basic sexual urge. On the other hand, Venus is subtle play, sexuality that can be seen through happiness, laughter and pleasure. It resembles a woman who dances with ease, surrendering to music. That kind of sexuality is seen through a person’s ability to enjoy their senses, food and, ultimately, to celebrate their own beauty – outer as well as inner. We are talking about the beauty of words, hair, feelings, surrendering, and happiness as feminine principles. When Venus becomes very intelligent on the mental level (Venus’ fall in Virgo), it has the very good intention to point out how things could be improved, by criticizing others. However, this Venus is not satisfied herself. So, regardless of whether our impressions are something wonderful or something that needs to be changed, they become part of us and result in the final state of our Venus and our satisfaction. 103
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On the mental plane, Venus will express itself through words. How smart can Venus be if it is exalted in Pisces and in its fall in Virgo? This might be the reason for the widespread belief that a person cannot be both smart and beautiful at the same time, because if Venus enters the field of the intellect, it starts recognizing “mistakes,” it notices what her partner lacks and what she is unsatisfied with. This will be recognized through words and her manner of expressing herself, through what she says to other people. If Venus is imbalanced on the mental level, other people will irritate her and she will criticize them, both silently and out loud. The very symbol of Venus looks like a mirror, so it reflects what other people carry inside themselves and then falls out of balance when she starts analyzing and judging the value of people around her. It forms a cycle with Jupiter and simply can’t afford this because, if imbalanced, it will start to moralize. And when Venus starts dividing things into moral and immoral, good and bad, it is a clear sign it needs to rest, cleanse and improve its flow.
Venus Element Assistants
Just like other energy centers, Venus is represented by a figure eight that has four levels within itself, pertaining to the elements of Air, Fire, Water and Earth. The basic planetary essence for Venus is generally used, but Venus placed in the element of Air needs a Californian essence; in the element of Fire, an Australian one; in the element of Water, a Bach essence; and in the element of Earth, a South African flower essence.
Venus in the Air Signs - Iris (Californian Essence)
The assistant we add to the Venus planetary essence when it has a problematic placement in an Air sign is Iris. Venus can express its imbalance on this level if it is placed in an Air sign, but also if its current progressions bring her in contact with this element, or if this is the case with its dispositor. Iris has an effect on this most subtle Air level and brings inspiration with it. When Venus is imbalanced on this level, people lose inspiration and start living their lives routinely, lacking the feeling of joy they need. Life becomes gray, monotonous and a person’s deepest needs can’t come to the surface. What people lose here is actually the ability to touch their own Sun and creativity. Venus needs to have fun and be hap104
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Californian essences Australian essences
Iris
A IR
FIRE
Five Corners
Planetary essence for Venus
Bach essences South African essences
Wild Rose
WATER E A RT H
Blushing Bride
py, to engage in play in life, because this is what it considers creativity to be – a game. For the Sun, creativity is an act of creating, but for Venus, it is a game of creation, and this is what it needs. If this magic disappears from life, a part of Venus’ satisfaction is gone, and that problem then manifests on every other level, since Air contains them all. Similarly, by working on the Air level, one can bring everything else into balance. When Venus is balanced, we have a very inspired Venus. If this level of happiness exists, nothing bad can happen and a person constantly touches the energy of the Sun, which leads her forward. However, it can happen that, when a person does something they love and that fulfills them, after a certain period of time their inspiration disappears and the work becomes an obligation. This essence is especially effective in these cases, and brings fast results. Therefore, when our work or a relationship stops bringing us the feeling of satisfaction, and is no longer a joy but turns into a habit and obligation which suffocates the creative process, this essence is an excellent choice. Venus needs to do things in order to feel passionate, creative 105
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and satisfied, and this essence replenishes the feeling of lightness on the Air level. This is a strong catalyst when we need fresh inspiration and enthusiasm. The best effect will be reached if this essence is used in combination with the planetary essence for Venus, because then we work on all of Venus and not just the Air element. This is not only because the Air element can point to an imbalance on some other level, but also because our final goal is to enable energy to live throughout the whole of our being, and not just in one point and at one place. This essence is also called the essence of the artist, because it connects the chakra of lower creativity (the second energy center) with the chakra of upper creativity (the third energy center). It is also known as the “painter’s essence” or “paintbrush to the soul,” and sometimes it is called “Rainbow Goddess,” which is especially interesting since Iris is the rainbow goddess. In essence, its role is to help connect the second and the third energy centers, Venus and the Sun. To bring Venus to life, when it is on its way toward the Sun, means to bring to life the creative light, charm and joy, and to live a “colorful life.”
Venus in the Fire Signs - Five Corners (Australian Essence)
If we need to balance a Venus that is problematic on the Fire level, we use the Australian flower essence Five Corners as an assistant. This essence allows the life force, joy and beauty to flow through all the centers, enabling a person to feel their own love and beauty. This Venus works from the Fire element and seeks life energy and joy, so if there is an imbalance here, a person feels that they are not good enough; this feeling is often masked by some other character trait, because they feel too vulnerable. Therefore, they can appear very rough, bitter and unpleasant, but in essence they suffer from low self-esteem and self-respect. Since they still have a need to express themselves, they will do it in a clumsy and brusque way, because it does not come naturally to them to show themselves in their real light. They lack the feeling of self-worth needed to feel confident and light enough to express themselves properly. This can be either a temporary or chronic state, which can be seen from the natal chart, but in any case we will notice that they need to raise themselves up and achieve the feeling that they can express themselves, live 106
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their life and feel valued. To be able to express themselves through Venus, they need to become aware of their own wonderful qualities. Venus in the Fire element always expresses itself on an outward level, regardless of which sign it is placed in. If we notice that someone has Venus in this element, but they are moderate in their use of colors, tone of voice and do their best not to stand out but to fit in, it is often an indicator that this Venus is not living its nature. This will then express itself as a problem in all areas of life that Venus rules in the person’s chart. This essence helps in cases of low self-esteem and self-appreciation, i.e., it allows a person to develop self-confidence when it comes to their own outer and inner beauty. This is when a person becomes more radiant, feels more joyful and grows more attractive. Venus is now active because of the element of Fire, but its whole nature is inner and passive – so what we have here is the mechanism of active attraction. It is said that this essence brings a person to a state where they start celebrating their own beauty. And when Venus in Fire celebrates its own beauty, you can always see it on the outer level. It is as obvious as fireworks.
Venus in Water Signs - Wild Rose (Bach Essence)
When Venus is in a Water sign, we use the Bach essence Wild Rose. This is the essence we already mentioned as an assistant for problematic Moon-Venus aspects, but it is also linked to all Water signs. Therefore, regardless of whether Venus is in Cancer, exalted in Pisces, or in detriment in Scorpio – this essence will balance out emotional problems we have on the Venus level. When Venus in Water is imbalanced, emotions don’t flow. We can say that this essence is used for balancing the Soul, since Venus and the Moon are in a close emotional relationship (through the Water element). If their relationship is not harmonious, dissatisfaction arises and then influences both energy centers, so often they both need to be worked on, and it is not always easy to determine the best starting point. On the one hand, Venus should get the opportunity to feel satisfied and express itself, but on the other hand, the Moon’s state is more subtle and very deep, so the job will not be easy. Each Venus in Water carries various emotions 107
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and memories. Here it is most directly linked to genetics, with what used to be and what is contained in its memory, so if it is strongly linked to ancestral memories, it can fall into an emotional imbalance that creates a problem with the first and the third chakras. The degree of satisfaction that we have within Venus is what makes us healthy and successful and which raises our overall energy. That is why so many things in our life depend on the level of happiness we feel. If this state cannot be kept stable, but a person keeps repeating experiences without healing them, the experiences become memories that get stuck in the Water element and need to be given special attention. When we have a problematic Venus here, a feeling of disappointment can emerge in a person’s emotional life or in connection with something they failed to achieve, so the will to live dies out and they surrender to that unpleasant state of being. They can be disappointed in love or life in general and don’t want to risk being hurt again, so apathy and a lack of motivation set in, without true joy or passion. When Venus is in Water it has a natural need to climb to the upper level. It wishes to express itself, to reach Libra and have relationships, but if it gets stuck on this level, it simply stays here immersed in unpleasant memories, surrendering to them. Even if it manages to become successful by working on other centers, it is not satisfied because it does not enjoy what is achieved. The problem with Venus in Water can be its feminine nature, because it does not have the will necessary to get itself out of problems. This is the image of Sleeping Beauty, a princess in a tower who will wait for a hundred years and longer for her prince to show up and save her with his kiss. This can easily be a problem for Venus in Pisces, even if it is exalted in this sign, because if a Water Venus has a problem, it loses faith and surrenders to things that make her unhappy. Therefore, such people can easily end up in marriages in which they are unsatisfied for years, or at jobs they don’t like. Even if they do other things in life and are satisfied in other fields, some things they have simply left unfulfilled, not believing they can be fixed. Since Water contains the memories of our ancestors, we have a typical image of a woman who knows that nobody in her family was ever satisfied in marriage – neither her mother, nor grandmother, nor any female ancestor before her – so she ends up wondering if it pays to even try 108
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and change her own situation, since it seems like a waste of energy. Here, we have a certain sensitivity that can be the consequence of some disturbance from the early days of life: a person had a strong need for something, and her mother failed to respond to it. Later on, she developed into a person who constantly wishes for something nice to happen, but harbors a memory that such a thing cannot happen. It is the relationship of the Moon and Venus that can bring this type of challenge, so even if they are not in a tense aspect, the very placement of Venus in the Water element can point to these types of problems. If Venus is in the sign of Scorpio, it can lack tenderness, and even if it is passive in the Water signs, here it can become entangled in a knot of jealousy and passion, often with the idea that somebody else got something she didn’t. Feelings that disable her from climbing further up emerge. When in Cancer, Venus can be too attached to the idea of motherhood and her mother, maybe feeling that her mother didn’t love her enough. Venus in Cancer is a wonderful channel and it helps the heart center to make things flow easily, but Water is the most delicate of all the elements and the greatest thing one can do is to make it flow with ease. When we work with Venus in this element, we will often notice that the cleansing appears on other levels, because cleansing is what Water needs. Therefore, we should look at other planets placed in this element and find the ones that are contributing to the imbalance. This essence has an effect on the root cause of apathy, enabling the awakening of joy and the capacity to enjoy life again. It is as if it clears the levels at which there is a block that makes us feel disappointed and unable to actively search for the way out of the problem we are in. Today’s Venus in Water or Earth (the Yin principle) is yesterday’s Venus who used to create (i.e., the Fire or Air element, Yang). The Yin elements are a consequence, a mirror of what has been done in the past. Venus in Water wants to receive love and be loved, but if this “programming” is not correct, i.e., if actions from the higher levels were not satisfactory, we enter into a passive experience of receiving love that is never enough. The goal we have is to purify ourselves through our connection with the heart center and to enable ourselves to act while at the same time feeling our Water.
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Venus in the Earth Signs - Blushing Bride (South African Essence)
The essence that affects Venus on the Earth level is Blushing Bride. When Venus is placed in this element, we often find karmic reasons for it, and it is often in such a placement in order to work on a basic level – Mars and the first energy center. Sometimes this is connected to sexuality, sometimes with physical survival, but it seems to be here to help Mars correct its energy so that she can continue to live. When it is imbalanced, we have blocks in emotional relationships. The soft side of a person can be pushed aside by masculine energy, and there is conditioning present, i.e., a person feels that certain things should and should not be done in love relationships. This creates a sense of pressure that does not allow a person to relax, and their energy is very linked to the physical field that touches Mars. The energy of this connection between the lowest Venus and the highest Mars, and between the first and second chakras, is supposed to jointly create all the levels that follow. If there is a problem in this connection, the masculine part of the story can become dominant, while the feminine nature is pushed aside, which leads to a block in sexual energy flow. This essence has the task of reviving the inner feeling of femininity and opening awareness for one’s emotional and spiritual life, in order to enable a person to access the information needed for their healing process. A Venus that is well-connected with the Earth element develops the feeling of circulating sexual energy and is capable of channeling the energy of Mars. This energy can further lead to the Sun and become a bridge between the two masculine principles. In this way, it joins these opposites, it connects two persons into one, regardless of whether we are talking about a man or a woman’s chart. Blushing Bride is recommended for men who repress their gentle, feminine nature, as well as for women who have repressed their sexuality and femininity. Problems on this level can be linked to the sense of being overly attached to matter or material wellbeing in general, so Venus cannot feel safe and comfortable. She likes to be in Taurus, because this is where she feels safe and secure. However, if it gets lost there and an Earth imbalance develops, many things can collapse and problems with Mars can develop, i.e., problems with grounding, energy, sexuality and the material world in general. What is often needed here is to clear the 110
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lower levels of Venus, enabling it to move forward. The degree of blockage will depend on all planets placed in the Earth element, their houses, the placement of Saturn and Mercury (rulers of Capricorn and Virgo – the other two Earth signs), aspects, dispositors and everything else that might be needed for purifying Venus and raising it up from this level. An Earth Venus can be in one of three signs. In the case of Venus in Taurus, it naturally feels good – this is a sensual Venus that needs to feel secure. However, it can also be in the signs of Capricorn or Virgo. Regardless of which dignity it is in, an Earth Venus has the feeling that it needs or has to do something, because the Earth element gives her this information. She knows she needs to get married and work, so the Venus that gets married most often is an Earth sign Venus. She does this not because she is truly in love, but because she simply thinks this is what she should do. In addition, marriage provides this Venus with a good distance from other people, because she does not want to be approached. If Saturn is strong in the chart, a person plays along with the rules because this is what is expected, but it is a huge stress for them to constantly have to go out and meet new people. She simply wants security and stability, and even a marriage in which she is not satisfied can last because this is simply what she should do. It is very easy for her to fall into imbalance here, to lose the feeling of intimacy and connection with her partner, and their relationship becomes routine, without closeness. Venus in Capricorn especially needs this feeling of intimacy, because it strives to create obligation in everything that gives her pleasure. Venus in the Earth element is actually very shy and this is the reason they might have for entering a marriage – they see it as a protection from potential suitors. Marriage represents a kind of safety zone that they are looking for. This essence removes the feeling of obligation and allows the development of intimacy that may have been neglected. In this way, Venus is awakened within the person’s body and starts feeling physical intimacy with her partner. Venus represents touch, and since Saturn represents skin, the most challenging aspect in this sense is an unpleasant contact between these two planets.
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The Complete Venus Healing Process
Venus, just like all other planets, is healed through establishing balance on the Yin level (through planetary essences and their assistants), the Yang level (through animal essences) and through creating a stable relationship between the Yin and Yang principles of a planet (through the appropriate gem stone essences). Therefore, after Venus is balanced through its planetary essence and elemental assistants, the next level of balance is created through the active, Yang level of Venus. In her case, we are talking about the essence of dolphin – the primary Venus animal essence.
Dolphin Essence - The Yang Level of Venus
The animal essence that we use for activating the second energy center is the Dolphin essence. The Dolphin is a water mammal and its specific trait is sociability. This is an animal that gives the impression of cheerfulness and is constantly happy and smiling. The Dolphin jumps and does tricks through acrobatics with ease just because it enjoys it and has fun doing it. Unlike other animal species in its environment, it socializes with all the species that surround it. These animals fall in love easily, they are very sexual, and the only source of their conflict is love and sexual relations. The Dolphin essence allows us to open up our second energy center and awaken a kind of sexuality that has no archetypal feeling of dirtiness, restriction or shame. This allows a person to express themselves in everyday life through beauty and enjoyment. Sexuality does not mean only the sexual act, but this essence also enables us to discover our own sexuality. This essence helps us feel light and pleasant in everything we do or feel. Dolphin gives us the capacity for being light, as if we are in the water world, but especially in partnerships. Just like dancing, it allows us to express our true nature and makes us attractive to the world. Dolphin has the ability to be like a wave, because it dwells below water but has to come to the surface to get air. The same goes for whales, which also fall into this group of animals. They are models of how substance turns into wave by being present in two worlds at once. The feeling of freedom is of the utmost importance for them, because Venus creates its own joyful cycle with Jupiter and needs space in order to feel optimistic. 112
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Gemstone: Watermelon Tourmaline
This gemstone has an interesting look – it resembles a watermelon both in color and shape. It contains within itself both love polarities, feminine and masculine, the Yin and Yang principles, and provides us with the balance and unity of opposites. It represents the balance of Venus expressed through the joining of opposites, the joining of the masculine and feminine principle, and it helps us bring things into balance on the level of material reality. Its primary function is to bring all sorts of various opposites that we carry within ourselves into balance and finally unite all these opposites through relationship – resolving emotional problems by stabilizing the material field of Venus. Watermelon Tourmaline enables us to develop the ability to both give and receive. We want to be able to give and receive within a relationship, we want our love to be reciprocated and our relationship to be in balance. Whatever problem might exist in a marriage or emotional relationship, we want the energy to start circulating in a stable way, and for Venus to be wholly satisfied. When both principles, masculine and feminine, are satisfied within the Venus model, we enjoy satisfaction and a stable relationship of high quality with our partner. This essence directly helps creating the stability that is needed for an enduring and quality relationship.
Assistants for Challenging Venus Aspects • Venus and the Sun in Challenging Aspect • (semisquare and sometimes conjunction)
- Yin level Bach essence: Scleranthus - Yang level Animal essence 1: Swan (for healing Venus from a challenging relationship with the Sun) Animal essence 2: Peacock (for healing the Sun from a challenging relationship with Venus) If there exists a challenging contact of Venus and the Sun on the Yin level, we use the Scleranthus assistant. The only possible challenging contact of these two planets is a semisquare (45°), while the conjunction is 113
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rarely challenging, but in certain cases can be problematic. If there exists a problem at this level, a person might have problems deciding between two, and sometimes even more options. What we have here is an imbalance linked to the sign of Libra, whether on a mental, emotional or hormonal level. The person does not know what they want to do or choose, and this essence will help them become aware of their own personal value system. The Sun provides will and the feeling of being able to act, but that is of no importance if Venus does not know what she wants. So we need to help a person become aware of what is important in order to enable them to reach a decision. They can swing between extremes, overanalyze and list the positive and negative sides of everything, but fail to make a list of priorities and reach a decision, so they end up in a very difficult state. They keep asking themselves which one of the two solutions offered is the perfect one, and realizing that neither is, the options seem equal to them and they don’t know which to choose. The basic problem, therefore, is not one’s will to act, but their personal value system. They need to become aware of what is important to them in order to be able to find good solutions for themselves. These are not people who necessarily ask for other people’s opinions, but have problems with their own internal conflicts because they simply don’t know what they want. This essence has the task of helping people become aware of their value system and helping them get to the point where they know what they want, independently of the options offered to them. The combination of these two planets is especially important in the field of relationships, because if an imbalance exists, a person can have problems choosing an appropriate partner. In these situations, men might be surrounded by women, not knowing which one to choose, while women in an extremely problematic situation might have two partners because she needs the qualities of both of them. This is the contact of Venus’ upper energy level with the Sun, and if people don’t know what they want from a marriage or relationship, they will enter it and then not know whether it is good for them. It is as if they never grasp what they want, but always feel that something is lacking. People with this kind of problem can be desperate because they can ask themselves the same questions year after year and be in parallel relationships because they are unable to decide what they need. Such situations will create negative feelings and pressure. These people need to find a middle ground, to under114
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stand what is most important to them. The task of this essence is to help them connect things into one whole through the process of becoming aware of what is really important to them.
• Venus and Mercury in Challenging Aspect • (semisquare and rarely conjunction)
- Yin level Bach essence: Cerato - Yang level Animal essence 1: Chipmunk (for healing Venus from a challenging relationship with Mercury) Animal essence 2: Otter (for healing Mercury from a challenging relationship with Venus) The essence we use for problematic configurations of Venus and Mercury is Cerato. Just as with Venus and the Sun, Venus and Mercury can only be in a difficult semisquare aspect, while the conjunction will rarely be problematic. However, this aspect gives a completely different kind of indecisiveness. A person knows what they want, but they look for other people’s approval of the decision they made! Therefore, we have the image of a person whose decisions depend on other people’s opinions, so even if Mercury reaches a decision and knows what it wants, an imbalanced Venus introduces insecurity due to other people’s opinions. This often tells us that the person was brought up in childhood to be nice and polite, so out of the need to be accepted fails to express themselves in a proper way. Words need to be nicely “packaged” and sometimes their meaning gets lost – as if the way in which they are expressed has its own meaning. Mercury represents the throat chakra, and this is our inner voice. Therefore, when there is an imbalance here, a person doubts their own words and keep thinking that, if they speak, others will not like it, or will leave or reject them. This essence enables people to gain confidence in their own opinion and inner voice, so that they can feel what they want and then act upon it without needing to get others’ approval.
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• Venus and Jupiter in Challenging Aspect • (opposition, square, quincunx, semisquare and to a lesser extent the conjunction)
- Yin level Bach essence: Agrimony - Yang level Animal essence 1: Rabbit (for healing Venus from a challenging relationship with Jupiter) Animal essence 2: Wild Turkey (for healing Jupiter from a challenging relationship with Venus) The flower essence in charge of resolving problems between Venus and Jupiter is Agrimony. Challenging aspects between benefics are always especially interesting, so we can ask ourselves, how are Venus and Jupiter even capable of bringing any problems at all? Jupiter stands for exaggeration and Venus for happiness, so it sounds strange if we say that we have an exaggeration of happiness. However, this is clearer when we understand that we are talking about people who give up on their own path in order to avoid confronting problems. It is as if they are trying to hide their own wishes and feelings from themselves in order to preserve a false image of their own carefree and happy existence that needs to be kept up at all costs. This is an aspect that keeps telling a person they need to smile and look at the bright side of life, so if keeping up that image means eating too much, or consuming alcohol or various narcotics, these people easily surrender to it. They feel tension, but repress it, filling their heads with other impressions from the outside world. These people “always feel good,” and even if something unpleasant happens to them, they will present it in such a way that it looks funny. By making people laugh about it, unpleasant things look less heavy and negative. Above all, these people have a need to be happy and carefree so, even if this is a wonderful aspect, it can make people escape reality via consuming various substances – just to keep a smile on their faces. This essence frees a person from tension and helps them face problems instead of hiding them from themselves and others. It is also called a “catalyst” and is recommended to clients who come to a consultation 116
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not really knowing why. They only know they don’t feel well, but are at a loss why, so what we see is a person with almost a “taped” smile on their face – tense, but hiding the causes of that tension, or being unaware of it. When this essence takes effect, we can expect repressed things to come to the surface, as well as anxiety and tension finding release. This person will still see the positive side of things, but will not run away from problems.
• Venus and Saturn in Challenging Aspect • (opposition, square, quincunx, semisquare and especially the conjunction)
- Yin level Bach essence: Pine - Yang level Animal essence 1: Squirrel (for healing Venus from a challenging relationship with Saturn) Animal essence 2: Sloth (for healing Saturn from a challenging relationship with Venus) The essence that is used for Saturn-Venus aspects on the Yin level is Pine. Contact with Saturn is possibly the most challenging one for Venus, because it always carries a strong feeling of guilt. Just as the core of problems with the first energy center is the feeling of fear, in the case of the second energy center, it is connected with the feeling of guilt. This configuration lowers Venus, so a person is never satisfied and keeps having a sense of guilt or debt. We see a person who never judges themselves well, regardless of their personal achievements, and never feels better than others. They feel a sort of shame about even complimenting themselves silently, in their own mind. Due to the feeling of guilt and shame there is a need to constantly tell themselves they can be better and that there is always something they need to improve. It’s like the image of a family that never appreciates the person, no matter what they do, so they never have the privilege of feeling valued, remarkable or beautiful. It is as if there is someone pushing who does not allow them to relax and keeps forcing them to invest effort into becoming better than they are. There exists an inability to applaud and honor their achievement, to enjoy it, even when it is very big and important, so perfectionism sets in and a sort of spasm that does not 117
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allow them to relax. They constantly think about how others will judge them and whether they will make a mistake, being their own harshest critic. They judge others too, but are strictest toward themselves because they are simply incapable of overcoming the sense of guilt. It is as if some sin and error existed on a very deep level, so what we have here is the classic Christian model of sin, deeply religious and attached to the need to atone for it. In relationships we will see that these people attract partners who are unavailable and there always has to be a sense of heaviness, torture and pressure present. They justify this by the depth of emotion they feel, because they can’t see depth in gentle and pleasant relationships. When they make a mistake, they can feel guilty about it for years, even for the smallest of things. They often take upon themselves the mistakes of others and feel guilty for them. In general, they feel guilty the moment something happens. On the other hand, we have another extreme in the type of person who constantly defends themselves. They take on too much, constantly accusing themselves on a very deep level, and when the confirmation of it comes from the outside, they fail to accept it because it feels like “the drop that overflows the full cup.” On the outside, they look like they are not capable of accepting criticism, but they actually keep defending themselves because they are their own worst critics, so now they feel even more guilty for defending themselves from it. There exists a deep need here for their partners, or other people in general, to judge or reject them, which is only a reflection of what they keep doing to themselves. A need emerges for this to express itself through circumstances that these people defend themselves from, because they can’t bear them anymore. Pine essence liberates these people from this type of masochism and they start enjoying their achievements. This is first noticed in small things. They start allowing themselves to receive things, including love. Since these are very deep needs, this essence often needs more time to work than others, although these people start feeling its effects quite fast. The need for more time is due to the fact that these problems rest on some deep, collective archetype which does not allow these people to get out of the vicious cycle of guilt and sin.
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Swan Chipmunk Rabbit Squirrel
Scleranthus Cerato Agrimony Pine
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Yang level 1
- respective planet
Yin level
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Sloth
Wild Turkey
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Peacock
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Watermelon Tourmaline
Yin - Yang stabilization
Assistants for Challenging Venus Aspects
Blushing Bride
Wild Rose
Dolphin
(Animal Essence)
Yang level
(Bach Essence)
Aspects
Earth (South African Essence)
Water (Bach Essence)
Five Corners
Fire (Australian Essence)
Planetary essence for Venus
Iris
Air (Californian Essence)
(Flower Essence)
Yin level
The Complete Venus Healing Process
Venus - Balance and Healing
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Planetary Essences and their Assistants
THE SUN
Balance and Healing
As a planet, the Sun manifests through the third energy center on the human physiological level, and is situated in the solar plexus area. Its role is to provide a person with an awareness of Existence, establishing him or her within it. The stability of this center provides the basis for harmony with all the laws of Nature, i.e., for developing higher states of consciousness. When we study the importance of the Sun in our lives, we start discovering the enormous importance of this light. It plays a central role not only because it is naturally the biggest body we use in astrology, but because it also represents the light and the source that links us to the world of higher beings and the world in which all sorts of energies exist. If the Sun is well-balanced, we have a very good life. To have a well-balanced Sun means to have a well-balanced personality, and therefore a person necessarily will have a good life on Earth. If they manage to balance the Sun’s vibration, they will be free of karma and any other negative influences, because they will be self-sufficient, stable, active and awake. They carry enough light within themselves to allow us to call them enlightened. Therefore, the third chakra is the most important energy center in the life of a single incarnation. The third chakra clears experiences from past lives, because the Sun is linked to series 5 with all the emotions and things we provided ourselves with during past incarnations. Inside of us the Sun is linked to the third chakra, which is situated below the fourth, so we can still talk about the energy center that connects us with the Earth, i.e., the center that links the core of our being with the Earth. It is almost certain that every person has some sort of imbalance on this level, and it is expressed through the nature of their 121
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personality, the nature of their ego – which is often defined in some other center, instead of being situated in its natural place, the solar plexus. If a person manages to become aware of “I,” they are properly energetically balanced; however, people usually have a sense of themselves in the area of the forehead, which is connected to the nature of Jupiter, not the Sun. The third chakra requires that we have greater balance, because it produces ego, and without self-awareness people can get limited by the confines of their small ego. They switch off their own body, not feeling it as part of themselves, and then also disconnect from other things and other people. The position of the Sun is truly an important point for awareness, because this is where the quality of our core is. It tells us where we are and whether we have managed to find a place that allows us to express ourselves in a proper way. It tells us if we are centered within our body and our life, because this is the core that opens up all the other worlds within the incarnation we are living. In the previous chapter we emphasized the special importance of the placement of Venus, since this is the energy center between that of Mars and the Sun, and because her role is to balance two masculine energy centers and a healthy Yang principle within us. Therefore, if we wish to have a very harmonious masculine principle and masculine energy, we need excellent communication and relationship skills (Venus), and the ability to balance the opposite natures of Mars and the Sun through the nature of Venus. In this way we reconcile the parts that are in conflict on a genetic level, because the Sun and Mars usually carry information about conflict within themselves, and transfer it mostly through male genes. Similarly, the Sun energy center is situated between the Moon and Venus energy centers. In that one genetic sequence, it is the Sun that balances our feminine nature. If the energies of Venus and the Moon are in a healthy balance, we experience harmony in the Yin principle. In one of the Yin-Yang models we have precisely this image, where the white field represents the active, masculine, Yang principle which contains the dot of balance – feminine, Venus energy; the black field represents the receptive, feminine Yin principle which contains within itself the white dot of Yang energy, the Sun’s point. This is the joining of opposites in balance. The key pair of planets that is in charge of the balance of masculine and feminine principles 122
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within us is the Venus-Sun pair. Both of these chakras are situated below the heart center and are connected with the Earth. They represent everything on Earth. Whatever role we are playing in this incarnation, or we have played in some previous ones, our ultimate need is to reconcile these two principles within ourselves. Therefore, to have a healthy Sun means to have harmony between Venus and the Moon. This is the most important story on planet Earth, since it belongs to the sign Taurus – the sign that Venus rules, and the Moon is exalted in. The strong energy center of the Sun is necessary for life on this planet and for resolving all karmic problems. From this it follows that the degree of satisfaction and functionality for any woman is situated in the third energy center – the Sun center. This strength is often borrowed from some other person, so in a woman’s chart we can see a man who represents the factor of her stability. If she does carry a strong Sun inside herself, this man will fulfill her needs and she will be quite satisfied. On the other 123
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hand, if a man has well-placed feminine planets (the Moon and Venus) in his chart, and if Venus manages to reconcile opposites within it, he will be strong and satisfied. This is the basic model – a man (Mars and the Sun) is balanced by the feminine principle (Venus), while a woman (Venus and the Moon) is balanced by the masculine principle (the Sun). If some of these centers are not strong enough inside of us, we will become aware of it through a partner or some other person who is standing opposite us – through their inability to help us and provide us with what we need. Moreover, the reason for it is the fact we did not carry it within ourselves to begin with. This is not a question of the other person’s character, but a question of the state of our own personal energy. If we do not possess high quality energy at some point within ourselves, we will not have it in a relationship with any person outside ourselves either. Our partner represents that opposite dot which is in the center of the Yin and Yang model. We must always have in mind that the first, lower three chakras are most important for life on Earth and for everything we experience within objective reality. In a way, they are more important than the upper energy centers, because every one of them is one of the higher entities who cannot be activated unless they have a good relationship with the appropriate Earth level. If the lower centers are not balanced, the higher levels will stay in the mental sphere and this almost resembles a planet that dares not enter its own element, because when it does, a person experiences back pain, knee pain, and eventually pain throughout the body. It is as if there exists a fear of fully incarnating, so things “pass by” a person, instead of being lived by them. This is a mechanism of living “on credit,” i.e., this is how we leave behind everything that we did not manage to balance out for our descendants to do it. Only when the upper chakras are balanced, have we essentially resolved things in our life. Therefore, they are all very important. However, the core of our life and personality is located in the solar plexus, in the third energy center. It is within the third chakra that we have a healthy state of being. When balance exists in this center, we have a good sense of our own body and it is through the body that we easily experience what surrounds us. In this state, uncomfortable things do not exist, because our primary need is to keep our body light. If something around us looks uncomfortable, we are not in our body but in some of the upper centers, recognizing it as “not belonging” to us, and living through the stomach or some other body 124
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part’s reaction that tells us we are facing something that does not please us. If we are dwelling in our stomach, we are with our Sun and we do not allow “the enemy” to even appear. The enemy simply does not exist, because even before anything negative arises, we shine and create our own orbit around us, being aware of ourselves only. This kind of relationship with one’s body, through a well-balanced Sun, is a normal state in the cosmic sense. This is the state of health. On the physical level, this will manifest through the ability to digest, and it is the digestion that health depends upon. The third chakra also enables communication with the fifth energy center, so when we are in a state of balance it is easy to understand things. However, if this is not the case, the problem will still not exist since “negative information” will either not reach the person, or if it does, the person will be able to digest it well on an energy level. It is very important to always pay special attention to Venus and the Sun, i.e., the second and third energy centers. In our Universe, Venus and the Sun are two planets that – together with the Venus retrograde mo-
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tion above us – form a pentagram. Every 20 months these two planets meet and form one entity, one star with five rays. Therefore, the relationship of these two planets and these two centers is what we are constantly contained within. These are the masculine and feminine principles that have existed for eons, above us and above planet Earth. These two planets change their relationship every eight years and then go back into the same shape. All karma and the field of relationships are contained within this image, within this motion of planets, within our second and third chakras.
The Evolution of the Sun through our Personal Development
Basic communication between people unfolds in the solar plexus area. We communicate with animals instinctively, at the level of the first chakra and Mars. At the level of Venus and the second chakra, we communicate with plants. With people we communicate through the feeling that arises from the third energy center, the Sun. This need not be a person who is our superior, nor somebody who fits the symbol of the Sun. This is simply the first thing we test when we come in contact with others. During any contact with people, we test our ability to stay firmly within our own identity. How much we succeed in this depends on how true and real our self-confidence is. Self-confidence is developed in life through four separate stages of the Sun’s development. The first stage of development is the one in which we feel helpless. Since the third chakra is the center of our power, if there is an especially problematic configuration, a person can feel as if they cannot survive without other people. Helplessness creates a deep sense of despair, because they feel that their reality does not depend on themselves, that nothing comes from them, but that they are dependent on outer conditions. The second stage is a bit above the first one, in the energy sense. It is called the stage of help. A person here feels they can do something, but not on their own. They need the help of other people. If they have a choice, they will choose to be a partner, to be an assistant. They will choose a position in which they will not be too exposed. These are people who are afraid of success, because if they expose themselves to the public as successful, everybody will look at them and attack them, con126
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stantly testing their knowledge and skill. They do not feel they are good enough to face this, so they decide to be followers of somebody else who can deal with this. In this stage, they are much stronger than in the helplessness stage. The next, the third stage looks like complete self-realization to the majority of people, and is called the stage of external power. A person feels they have power, but they link it to outer factors, feeling strong because they have a title, earn a good income, or drive a nice car. They have the feeling that, whenever they appear before other people, those people consider them to be important – and contacts with people from stages one and two only confirm it. There exists a belief that the outer image is the real image of power, and a person starts investing everything into trying to keep up that personal image for as long as possible. Meanwhile, inside they still feel tension, since they know that their image is vulnerable to outer influences and that everything can simply disappear one day. A typical example would be some strong, influential person, a general with many medals who, at one point, is caught embezzling money or making some other mistake that costs them their position. When such people lose their power, the basic problem of the third center sets in – the feeling of shame. This is a critical developmental stage and its highest part is pride – the feeling that a person can achieve a lot, that they are smart and capable in every sense. Pride is the turning point that provides the energy needed for further development, but when people are attached to an external image of themselves, they cannot progress further. The loss of the position they have attached themselves to can lead to the feeling of deep shame and if this attachment is too strong, it can even lead to suicide. When they cannot renounce their own pride, physical reality often sends them a warning in the form of an illness or stressful event. This is necessary in order for them to get back to themselves. A smaller number of such people spontaneously progress into further development, but it is often necessary to expose vulnerability and weakness during the stage they are in, because it is only then that they start asking themselves who they really are and if something more than their inner feeling exists. The questions they need to ask are not easy, and they have problems going to deeper levels, into the core of the Sun and the next stage of its development. 127
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The final stage of the Sun’s development is the stage of inner power. This is the point within the Sun that is reached when a person looks beyond external power and recognizes what nobody can take away from them. The person no longer feels sorry for themselves or others, they do not try to present their image to the public in order to earn a good reputation, they do not make idols of other people – and all because they now understand one important thing. They understand that they are special and authentic and that there is no need to compare themselves to others. They understand that others are special and authentic too, and they respect them for it. There are no better or worse people. The only thing every person needs to do is to switch on their inner light. This is why this center is also called “the city of radiant gems” or “the inner Sun.” Everybody has the right to switch on that inner light. There is no reason to feel sorry for other people, because if they want to, they can do it, and if they do not want to, it is not up to us to force them. When we reach this point, we have truly entered the center of inner power and our inner being. This fourth stage of development corresponds to the Air element and is most akin to the nature of the Sun in Aquarius, in an ideal sense. A person who manages to reach this final personal need has managed to join the Sun with its opposite point. The position of the Sun in Aquarius did not achieve this on its own simply because there is harmony at the level of Air. What is needed is for all other previous levels to be in perfect balance, and these previous levels need to be united. The Sun wants to touch the Moon. It is by discovering its own being and entering the heart chakra energy that the Sun finds the subtle form of being, the seed and the spark of life. From the point of cosmic consciousness, this is where the capital city of man is. This is where people act and create from, and this is where they can achieve perfect harmony within their personality.
Three Levels of the Sun’s Manifestation
The quality of the sign in which the Sun is placed will be directly linked to any physical imbalance within the third energy center. On the physical level, the Sun is the solar plexus and stomach. In Ayurvedic medicine it is thought that good Agni (digestive fire) prevents any problem. If the digestive fire is not good, this is the cause of all kinds of problems. Above all, vitality, inner fire and warmth are compromised, and all 128
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other disturbances arise from there. This is why there exist numerous methods for balancing the elements through food in order to bring the digestive fire into a state that will support overall balance in the body. Therefore, we take food through our mouth, it then travels down through the esophagus into the stomach where the main part of the digestive process takes place – the digestion of bigger chunks of food. If digestion is good on this level, the native gains the maximum benefit from what they eat and turns matter into energy. We describe a person with a lot of energy as “energetic,” and the first Zodiac sign, the sign of pure energy, is Aries – where the Sun is exalted. Many people who have problems with digestion, i.e., problems on the Sun level, experience a deficiency of energy after meals. They are sleepy and they need time to regain their energy. Caffeine and all other artificial substances raise energy levels, but their ultimate influence is to actually lower it. Therefore, the core need of the body is for digestion to be good, because there is no way to fool it. Just as we digest food, we also digest any kind of material experience. We digest people, we digest what they told us and we “swallowed” and took in, we digest impressions and places, so if our digestion is strong, we can gain energy from it all and then can use it. However, if we have a problem here, bloating sets in, as well as stomach pain, gastritis, ulcers and all other kinds of disorders on this plane. Bloating is one of the first signs that there is something wrong with our third energy center. This is a sign that we failed to face some rough things, that something that is not digested well has gone into the body parts that are in charge of the fine processing of food. Regardless of whether we are talking about food or some experience from material reality, we are allowing things to go through our system in a way that overburdens it, because the part of us that is in charge of the fine processing of the experience (Venus, the lower belly) cannot cope with it. Whenever you fail to face things right away and leave them “for later,” you create debt and this creates a bloating problem, a problem with candida or some other problem in your digestive system. The ability to face things means that we can metabolize every experience and then use it (provided that we have a strong digestive fire, strong solar plexus and stomach). Food is the main thing we take in, but our metabolism will also generally be in charge of all objective circum129
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stances and people. These are often lessons connected to people who are our superiors or are important, strong personalities in our life, because these are representatives of the Sun. These can also be all persons who are naturally strong personalities, or who play the Sun’s role in the native’s life, for example, the general manager or somebody who is in a position above the native at their job, the native’s father or anybody who is the center of activities that the native takes part in. When the native fails to establish boundaries in relation to them, when they do not know how to face them in a proper way, or when they engage in an aggressive battle of wills, it tells us that something on the Sun level is out of balance. The Sun needs to tolerate relationships with other people who bring differing opinions or perspectives that may transform us. The end result of such contacts should be a single solution, since the Sun is always One, and therefore it is not important whose solution it will be: yours, the other person’s or somebody else’s. It does not make a difference as long as the Sun is the primary force. Whatever way the situation resolves itself in the end, the system has metabolized the experience well and there can be no negative consequences. The stomach is not the only organ attached to this center, but other organs in that part of the body as well. We can speak of the liver, which is connected to anger – whether a person does not express it enough or is too “fiery” and keeps imposing their attitudes and will onto others. Often, when we have a strong Sun story that is in a challenging relationship with the twelfth house, the native does not know how to handle their own anger. The gall bladder is situated below the liver, and in a similar symbolic situation it can be linked with various problems on the fire level. The pancreas is situated here too, and is in charge of metabolizing sugar. Therefore, if Venus and the Sun are not in good contact, it can result in problems with blood sugar levels or any type of diabetes. The main reflection of the state of the third chakra we can find in the body posture, i.e., the spinal column. Some people can appear “spineless” or crooked, because they bend in the area of the third center since they don’t know how to express themselves loudly and clearly, so we see that there exists an imbalance. When it comes to emotional manifestations of the Sun, we should keep in mind that the Sun holds the emotional characteristics of “I” – of personality, ego and a person’s state of consciousness. If they make a change here, it is the most direct way to change their consciousness. All 130
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spiritual work is expressed here, while the state of consciousness depends directly on self-awareness and the stage of development it’s in. Based on the natal chart we can easily see problematic areas for a person during certain periods of life, so we will look at the position, dispositor and aspects of the Sun. The objective manifestation of problems on the emotional plane will be reflected primarily within marriage and relationships. This can sometimes be an indicator of an imbalance in the second, Venus center. It is definitely in one of these two centers that we find the key for resolving relationship problems, so it is important to evaluate where the problem originates from. When a person is not sincere toward themselves and decides to make a compromise, it will “cost” them in time. However, if they develop faith that everything is One, that there exists only One, it becomes irrelevant whose One it is and there is no need to impose one’s will (and this is why the Sun is exalted in the first sign of the Zodiac). The intensity of energy from this energy center is capable of finding the answer and gives us the potential to metabolize every situation in such a way that the common denominator is found for everything. This is where the power of the Yang nature and our Sun comes from. When we have a state of balance here, Venus and the Moon function harmoniously and no problems can appear in a marriage; the woman is satisfied and skillfully balances the man, since there is an awareness of One and every situation always has one clear solution. The role of the Sun does not have to be played through us; it is possible that some other person plays it in any given situation. However, we should acquire the ability to become a conductor for this energy, because its very presence is important for light in life. This is where the personal ego transcends itself and allows us to “digest” any experience, person or situation, thanks to its intensity and energy. If our Sun is really golden, not corrupted and protected from external emotions and experiences, and if it is the source of its own emotions – everything will circulate around it in perfect harmony. The Moon and Venus orient themselves in regard to this Sun and find their balance, regardless of whether we are talking about a man or a woman’s chart. If we decrease the quality of this gold and give it “fewer carats” or try to fool ourselves by painting it yellow, experiences cannot be metabolized and problems are created on all levels. The quality a person gains from 131
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the Sun within the frame of their Soul is the most noble of all, and once this center is developed, they find nobility within themselves. Gold is a precious metal, the best conductor of electricity, so therefore the Sun is the best conductor of Uranus and this makes it valuable within the collective unconscious. When we learn how to live this nobility as a primary state in all instinctive reactions, when the body itself stops reacting to outer experiences because this center radiates and creates a completely new thing or situation, then we can say that we are in harmony on the Sun level. The Sun does not deal with reactions. It is the ruler of the sign Leo and the heart within us and therefore represents the most important energy center within our fixed, emotional quality in life. As we know, the heart is astrologically linked to the symbols of the Sun and the Moon, while the emotional level of being is primarily connected to the heart energy center, i.e., the Moon. However, their contact is what will give us warmth and generosity within the fourth energy center. The concept of a “warm” or “cold” heart is linked to the fire that the Sun carries. When the third center is flowing, when there is warmth in our Sun, it provides the basis for the fourth center. It is as if its fire warms up our Soul and its contact with the Moon enables us to feel warmth in regard to all things we respond to and receive from life. If we find this genuine gold quality within ourselves, we feel the need to give, we become generous and noble, because when somebody is golden, they shine upon all people in their surroundings, and people love them and want to be in the presence of this energy. It is pleasant to be in the company of such a person, because they are spontaneous, they express themselves freely and do not feel the need to create an unrealistic image of themselves. This requires courage, because a person must be especially courageous in order to openly express their feelings, without worrying what others will think or what kind of impression they will make. When they find themselves and the center of their being, they can allow spontaneous expression through words and feelings, so people around them want to cooperate with them and receive this warmth. When the emotional manifestation of the Sun is not balanced, there is a need to compete and a person constantly compares themselves to others, judging who is better, who is more prominent and who will end up being obedient and bend their will. They enter one of these roles and issue 132
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orders that need to be followed, creating situations in which somebody needs to do something against their will, while somebody else is imposing their will on them. The mental manifestation of the Sun is the root of organizational abilities, clarity, and the potential to reach a good decision in spite of risks. If this fire of the Sun is lacking, we feel that we cannot surrender to this need of ours, we are indecisive, we fear risk and exposure and in the end we become passive and cannot find a way to express personal initiative. As we already mentioned, gold is the best conductor of electricity and is taken as a standard of quality of everything in the material world. This is the best quality for our Uranus, for our Cosmic I and for all the knowledge we can recognize on the mental level through our fifth energy center. When in correct balance, the conductivity of the Sun is such that it leads us to insight, metabolizing our impressions and giving Mercury the necessary strength to understand things. The Sun and Mercury in perfect harmony give birth to Uranus, and therefore represent the conductor for our “Cosmic, Higher Self.” Of the highest importance here are the Sun and our third chakra. Only after we build a good foundation on the Sun level, by encompassing all energies that are situated below it and make life on Earth special, we can enter the fourth energy center, our heart center, with enough energy. Here, we establish such a contact with it that we enter a special ethereal state in which we are able to forgive and accept everything and to receive everything. However, this is the state that almost takes us out of our physical body, as it is positioned between worlds, completely out of reality. The average man cannot reach it, as it is on the highest level of the Sun’s energy. This point of contact is the point of cosmic consciousness that a person naturally aspires to, since it is the Sun’s natural need to rise up to this point. The mental manifestation of the Sun is linked with the upper energy levels, above all with the element of Air. There is a tendency here for a person to be harmless and very childish, because this is the primary nature of the fifth house and the child within. A balanced Sun does not have a reason to impose itself, but simply lives the nature of its inner child. When imbalanced, it is precisely this childish nature that can look strange and create problems for a person, but it nevertheless carries a certain cheerfulness and lightness when positioned well. 133
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The Sun’s Element Assistants
Depending on the element that the Sun’s imbalance expresses itself from, we will use one of the following flower essences. If we need to work on the Sun’s overall energy, we will use the basic planetary essence for the Sun that balances its nature. Depending on the concrete problem of the imbalance, we will use the appropriate Californian essence on the Air level, Australian essence for the Fire level, Bach essence for the Water level, and South African essence for the Earth level.
Californian essences Australian essences
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Hibbertia
Planetary essence for the Sun
Bach essences South African essences
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Sunbonnet
The Sun in Air Signs - Buttercup (Californian essence)
For balancing the Sun on the Air level we use the Californian essence of the flower Buttercup. As we already mentioned, an imbalance on this level can make a person too childish, and Californian essences, as we know, have a very fast effect and are excellent for children and teenagers, since they easily establish communication with their nature. The 134
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problem that arises from this level we will recognize when a person has a big need to talk about themselves, to assert and express themselves in an immature way. This is where all sorts of personal complexes originate from, because this Sun wants more than it realistically is capable of. If it fails to realize itself based on the criteria it imposes upon itself, all sorts of complexes can develop. Air wants to rise up to the next level, but if it lacks a strong foundation at the other levels, this manifests as the inability of a person to fulfill their own mental task because they have set themselves a standard they are not capable of achieving. They then believe they can’t live up to the existing standards of intelligence, beauty or success, and this creates a feeling of uselessness or worthlessness, which they try to make up for by maintaining a strong attitude about every little thing in life. This flower helps us heal our inner child and allows us to remember the creative gift we brought into this world, realizing that a divine game is behind every human activity. The highest quality of the Sun in the Air element is play – an ability to be a joyful child, which is the best image of our fifth house. Just like any other Californian essence, this one also has a very fast effect and allows a person to gain the lightness of creativity and the awareness that they are not in danger, that they are loved regardless of the fact that during their childhood somebody kept sending them the message that they are not valuable or special. Within this upper energy level there is often a problem in relation to a mother who did not provide the person with tenderness and the sense of worthiness they needed. Therefore, they keep unconsciously setting higher standards for themselves than they are realistically capable of achieving. If the child was happy, chances are that they will be capable of realizing themselves in life because they carry the feeling of being supported, stable and safe. This is the place that connects us with family, with the fourth house of the chart, i.e., with the next energy center. This field is also linked with all social contacts, so problems might not originate from family relations, but also from social contacts through which a person or a child did not manage to find their own identity and kept feeling they were not good or valuable enough. Regardless of whether the Sun is in Gemini, Libra or Aquarius, the common quality of all three signs is that a person builds their identity through relating with other people. These are social signs that depend on social contacts more than any other element. 135
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This is why this essence is excellent for children and adults who need to enter some new social circles that are different from what they are used to, especially if the new environment is more demanding and can make them feel inferior or handicapped in any sense.
The Sun in Fire Signs - Hibbertia (Australian Essence)
For a Sun that is imbalanced on the Fire level we will use the essence of the Australian plant Hibbertia. This is a vine type of a plant that can be found only in Oceania (New Zealand, New Guinea, and Australia). On the Fire level the Sun has most strength because it is the natural ruler of the sign Leo and exalted in Aries. This is the most typical representative of the Yang principle, and no other planet that is a natural ruler of a Fire sign is this strong in its masculine nature. Mars is exalted in Capricorn, Jupiter in Cancer, so this gives them a different character than this strongly masculine, powerful, fire energy. The Sun contains the essence of the Fire nature, but it is precisely because of this emphasis that it easily falls out of balance. Very little is needed for it to fall out of balance and then it starts imposing its will, working too much and endangering others around it, forgetting that its task is to balance the feminine nature and the feminine model within the personality. This imbalance produces one of the most typical problems that might not be obvious in a person’s behavior, but can be expressed through any other person from their surroundings. An ego problem is always present to a certain extent on the road to enlightenment, but sometimes it can be very dominant and emphasized. This is when the problem emerges in some relationship, a problem they cannot “digest” and cannot find a solution for. Then, this problem develops further problems in all other areas. These are mostly very powerful personalities, and regardless of whether this problem is expressed through us or some other person from our surroundings, the Sun can be resolved only through working on ourselves. When the ability to accept people and circumstances is lacking, a person feels that something is not comfortable and that they might reject the whole thing, distance themselves from the other person or situation and perceive that they are not capable of digesting and accepting something. It is not especially important in which way this will be expressed as long as there is an existing 136
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problem on this level. In the case of the Sun, there is just one point we aspire to reach, one thing we should achieve – we are born with the possibility to use our own energy in order to bring everything into the One. This essence is given to people who are too strict or disciplined, or even fanatical toward themselves because they feel the need to be superior in relation to others. These are people with strong personalities that they wish to present to others, and they need to feel they are progressing, but with the ultimate need to control others. This creates strong ambition in order to achieve a sense of power. This type of person has to feel power, to dominate and rule, to show others they are better than them, so the Sun on this Fire level easily slips into this kind of problem that ends up being too strong and too fiery. The person does not even need to make an effort – they are simply born that way and have to use their knowledge or power to gain an advantage over other people. These people know exactly what they want, they create clear boundaries between themselves and their surroundings. These boundaries are set in a position that makes them better and more valuable than anything beyond those boundaries. Under such guidelines, they often lose the feeling of satisfaction, because when they work so much on this need, they stop enjoying the journey toward the desired result. The goal becomes the most important thing, and this ultimately leads them to feeling unsatisfied because they are too detached from everyday reality. This essence provides the will to “enjoy the journey of life” and to snap out of an exclusive concentration on the final goal. If you have a client with this type of problem, they need this essence. If there is any person around you who has this type of problem, then they are the Sun from your own Universe, and you are the one who needs the essence. In the end, we are dealing with our own planets and the people around us can only be as we are within ourselves.
The Sun in Water Signs - Larch (Bach Essence)
For the Sun on the Water level we use the Bach essence Larch. A Water Sun can be very challenging because a person feels they are lacking the strength to express themselves, so they become shy and insecure. These people have problems appearing on stage, under the spotlight and 137
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are often stuck in the second developmental stage of the Sun, having a fear of their own fiery nature, which they need to access. Water can lull the Sun to sleep, so a person feels suffocated, as if they can’t express themselves, so even if the Sun in Water is not meant to be like the Sun in Fire, it still should be capable of living through all four elements, and each should be capable of expressing itself through the Fire element within the energy of the Sun. When Water starts restraining and suffocating Fire, the first consequence we will notice is a weak metabolism and a problem with will power. Memories are strong, the Sun is not self-sufficient but overly reactive, and a person reacts too fiercely to things that happen, becoming hyper-sensitive. Larch essence is used in situations in which a person lacks self-confidence, has problems with valuing themselves, which result in the need to withdraw from the world, to give up, to feel inferior, shy and timid in relationships. Many people have a latent fear of expressing themselves, so it is necessary to evaluate whether this is a core problem, or whether it is acute and situational, when a person needs to be in the public and doesn’t feel confident. This is the inability of the will for life to express itself in the outer world, so even if a person wishes to shine, they cannot do it because it feels like their Sun is switched off. If this problem exists, people might appear in life who prevent them from expressing themselves easily, or they have a feeling they cannot live up to them. This might express itself through a partner, especially a husband in a woman’s chart, as well as through a person who does not have enough will to start what is needed. Since she does not get from the Sun what she needs, a woman easily falls into dissatisfaction, because it is only a good Yang that can develop stability within Yin energy. A woman does not recognize that it is because of the person she is with that she does not get enough pleasure, will for life, and ultimately that is the energy she carries inside herself. This essence increases self-confidence and enables these sensitive personalities to evaluate circumstances and not take on more than they have strength to take on. Strength comes from Fire, and when person does not have enough strength they don’t judge situations accurately, they take on what they have no energy to carry and they start valuing themselves less because they feel incapable of finishing what they started. It is impor138
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tant for the threshold of satisfaction to be placed lower than this, to lower their expectations, because then whatever they achieve, they will appreciate it much more than if the expectations were too high. Then, all of their achievements will help them recognize their own value. The special value of the Sun in Water is its ability to remember what is authentically theirs and which talents they possess. This essence has the primary task to awaken talents which are somehow specific and which their parents often considered impractical and useless. This is never a talent for mathematics or some other generally accepted thing, but something specific that the parents did not recognize as needed for practical life, so it was pushed aside and repressed. The effect of this essence leads to the awakening of these talents so that a person starts recognizing that their true value lies in what was not recognized within their genetic code.
The Sun in Earth Signs - Sunbonnet (South African Essence)
For the Earth Sun level, the one which has the strongest link with Venus and the second energy center, we use the essence Sunbonnet. The Sun leans here to the field of relationships and to Venus. Often it cannot function correctly unless it gets somebody else’s support. The problem of the Sun on this level is that it can’t rise to the higher levels without somebody else’s help, so as a consequence problems with authority develop, with all the personalities who play the role of this Sun, because a person recognizes that somebody else took what belongs to them – took their Sun and are now living it. In essence, the Sun energy is so low that someone else needs to shine, issue orders and guide the person, and since they can’t accept this, they keep getting into trouble in relationships with their superiors, father or partner. It is just another inability of a person to creatively express themselves because they are dependent on somebody, while the very nature of the Sun is independence. A person does not know how to be independent, and when the Sun is joined with its true nature with the sign of Aquarius, it becomes free and enlightened. This is the state that the Sun aspires to, while in the Earth element it can have a strange interdependence, preventing a person from expressing what they truly are in relation with other people. Fire 139
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is extinguished when it comes in contact with Earth, and what we have here is the depletion of strength and will. Although the Sun placed in the elements that link it to the lower energy levels – in Water and Earth – has its special qualities, it can easily be suffocated and extinguished because it cannot come to the surface on the higher planes. This essence is used for people who are possessive due to feelings of inadequacy, feelings of not being good enough and feelings of dependency on some other person. There is a strong need to recognize oneself through someone else, so they attach to other people because they see in them what is theirs. This is when the feeling of not being able to proceed alone comes to the fore, and they become possessive and demanding. This typically develops in relationships when two persons become dependent on each other due to the abyss of personal inadequacy. This can manifest as a need to control the other person, or to keep the other person in a submissive role. In these situations, instead of simply shining, the Sun is caught up the question of whether it is better or worse than the other person and whether it is “above” Venus, so the energy is lowered while they spend time on things that are too small compared to the essence of the Sun. Although a person can mentally be in some other state, the energy is brought down and forces them to deal with relationships. They will be tied down, jealous and dependent, all of which lowers their level of consciousness to a high degree. A state develops in which they are not allowed to live their real story, but are caught up in unimportant things that are not part of the Sun’s nature, and they look at it as a type of game – to subordinate others or to be subordinated. These people suck up a lot of energy from other people when in contact with them, as if their problem is seeking energy in order to feed and lower the Sun’s energy level.
The Complete Process of Healing the Sun
In addition to balancing the Sun through flower planetary essences on the Yin level, for complete balance it is necessary to work with the appropriate animal essence (the Yang level of the planet) and then with the specific gem stone essence (to stabilize the Yin-Yang principle). The key animal essence for the Sun is Lion, while the stabilizing essence is Gold. 140
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The Essence of Lion - the Yang Level of the Sun
For the Yang balance of the Sun we use the Lion animal essence. Lion is an animal that roars, not because it wants to scare others, but because it wants to announce its royal origin and nobility, demanding to be recognized. In addition, this is how the Lion announces how much he loves, respects and values himself, giving others the example to do the same. This is the essence that brings us back to our identity and we will use it when we find ourselves in a situation in which our personality is threatened, our identity hurt or at least we feel that way because of other people’s or our own words and gestures. It helps us recognize our inner strength and power, so it is very good when we have to take some leadership position and become a manager or assume some other high position. This is when it enables us to enjoy our own identity, without any reason to become a “tyrant” and impose our opinions or feel fear because of the new position we are in. A healthy inner relationship toward the self and cooperation with our personal identity will allow us to have authority over others without fighting or a need to prove anything. People will recognize a leader and will want to cooperate with us. In addition, Lion is used when we need to confront challenging circumstances, because it gives us the courage to do what is needed. Precisely for that reason this is the essence administered to people who feel insecure and are unwilling to admit their own desires to themselves.
Gemstone: Gold
Gold is the goal of the alchemical work on oneself. This is the essence that supports the creation of our noble nature. Gold brings energy and balance to the third energy center, allowing people to accept themselves and express the highest aspects of their personal identity in physical reality, helping them to plug into their personal creative energy source. When used, it stabilizes the Sun, makes it stronger and a person acquires a greater sense of security and better connection with the core of their personality. The Sun is represented by the gold that we find below the Earth. The Sun is the first chakra “below Earth” within our energy body, situated below the fourth energy center – the Moon. It carries a 141
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sense of value within itself, the feeling that we have gold and are rich, so we feel positive and great. The essence provides warmth, vitality, strength and feelings of bliss and abundance. The real abundance is within us, and everybody should be aware that they are rich and positive, without feeling the need to overly express it. This is not the emotional but rather the energetic state that enables us to create the material reality that fits our personal, inner value. The essence helps the metabolic process of food as well as of various experiences, and gives us the ability to digest any event or person. In that way we recognize our strong Sun and have an opportunity to be healthy. This chakra is in a very strong relationship with the nature of Mars and the first chakra, so when they are overly strong, they can give us a strong personality without a good feeling for relationships – a person who thinks that the end justifies the means. Therefore, the third center needs to enable a person to be nice and noble, having a good relationship with the Venus center that the third center is based on. It is precisely this nobility that provides us with the real strength, joy and ability to accept and metabolize everything. The quality of the Sun is contained in our ability to not be reactive, because Gold is not a reactive element. It carries divine non-reactivity and self-sufficiency, as well as an ability to function and act in line with what is correct, independently of anything that might happen. Its ultimate value is in complete self-sufficiency. We are not talking about selfishness, as it might appear. We are talking about a quality of personality that does not react and is positive enough to be able to metabolize anything, not hurting anybody in the process, because they carry enough light within themselves not to endanger anything in their environment. There exists a feeling that we are rich enough to be able to buy anything, so the question of limits is not raised. If the Sun is connected with any of the angular houses, it is very important to make our Sun strong in order to be able to live our inner abundance of personality within material reality.
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Assistants for Challenging Aspects of the Sun • The Sun and Mercury in Challenging Aspect • (possibly the conjunction)
- Yin level Bach essence: Heather - Yang level Animal essence 1: Bumblebee (for healing the Sun from a challenging relationship with Mercury) Animal essence 2: Sparrow (for healing Mercury from a challenging relationship with the Sun) For a challenging contact between the Sun and Mercury on the Yin level we use the Bach flower essence Heather. There can exist only one aspect between these two planets, and that is the conjunction. We can see in their relationship that Mercury is the messenger of the gods, always close to the Sun, to the center of consciousness. We will easily recognize a problem on this level in people, and throughout life this imbalance can happen to anybody, because the conjunction of the Sun and Mercury is the most frequent aspect that will show up in a great number of natal charts, but also in various predictive techniques and current placements of planets in the sky. This essence is for people who need others to acknowledge them and for those who cannot be alone but constantly need the attention of people around them. The problem will be noticed primarily through communication with a person, noticing that they are not talking with you but at you. These people cannot wait to speak, but they are completely uninterested in what other people have to say, so the dialog is turned into a discourse about themselves. These are people who are not interested in others, but are only in search of an audience that will hear what they have to say about themselves. The subject of the conversation depends on the sign in which the Sun is placed, so if a problematic Sun is in the Air element, they will surely talk about their intellect and situations that illustrate how clever they are. When the Sun is in Virgo, they can talk about their health or how special their illness is. In any case, they will have a need to emphasize they are special within the area of the sign in which the Sun is placed. The subject itself is not especially important. The most 143
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important thing is to talk a lot, to emphasize their uniqueness and in the case of a great imbalance, these people will not just energetically hold onto you, but if you try to leave the conversation they might actually grab hold of your arm and increase the intensity of their discussion in order to receive confirmation from you that they are valuable and special. These people are in a constant search for somebody to talk to, simply because they need to get validation from others that they are important and special. The essence enables them to get to know themselves and build self-respect, because it is through Mercury (talking) that they are trying to get others’ acknowledgement. When this is brought into balance, they start awakening the divine part of themselves and start to recognize the part of their personality that needs to be acknowledged as unique. It is a great truth that each and every one of us is unique. Nobody is the same as anyone else, so we only need to become aware of this in order to free ourselves from the need to provoke others to recognize our specialness. This imbalance often develops when we find ourselves in a strange environment where we cannot express ourselves in the proper light. As there exists a connection with Mercury, it is clear that there is a connection with childhood, since we have a situation in which a child did not receive recognition from others during the age in which it was important for them, so they are hungry for it and keep looking for it from other people later in life. It is easy to recognize this problem in other people, but it is important to recognize it in ourselves too, since every person has a mild tendency to develop it. When in balance, these people will not talk less and be more silent, but their talk will become different. They will talk in a way that shines the light on people and warms them up. They lose the need to receive recognition from people around them, and they are able to express themselves in a way that makes others want to hear what they have to say. They develop their sense of self, the ability to express what they truly are and the courage to show their true nature, which eventually allows them to listen to other people and speak in a way that makes others want to listen.
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• The Sun and Jupiter in Challenging Aspect • (opposition, square, quincunx and semi-square)
- Yin level Bach essence: Wild Oat - Yang level Animal essence 1: White Lion (for healing the Sun from a challenging relationship with Jupiter) Animal essence 2: Kangaroo (for healing Jupiter from a challenging relationship with the Sun) The flower essence that we use for challenging aspects between Jupiter and the Sun is Wild Oat. When there’s an imbalance of these energies, there is a deep feeling that things could be better than they are, or a person cannot find a direction for the energy they have. There are always multiple talents here, so people can be successful in any given field, whatever they decide to do. Often, after they achieve success in a field, they leave it because they do not find any meaning in that achievement. Dissatisfaction appears because they cannot find a field in which they find meaning. They have a powerful feeling that they should give something to the world, that they should do something big and important, but they do not know which direction to go in order to fulfill their purpose. It is as if quantity is having a damaging effect on quality, so they want to give it away, but since they have too much, they cannot see where their gifts should be placed. Once they travel several wrong directions enough times, they lose their sense of purpose and slowly sink into depression because they do not see the meaning in life. This essence encourages them to deepen their inner search, because it is only within themselves that they can discover what gives them a sense of purpose. If they do not discover what truly fulfills them within themselves, they will think they can do better in some new situation, while actually they will never be good enough because things lack meaning for them. When they reach a crossroads in life, when they feel that what they used to do simply does not have a purpose, this essence is excellent to help them find a direction they want to continue traveling. It also helps them let go of looking outside themselves to find who they are, and instead look within. When people with this aspect enter their inner Sun, 145
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they can easily achieve anything on the outer level, but they first need to become aware of what gives them meaning. This is when they can clearly and decisively finally find their calling, career or direction. This assistant is best used in combination with some other essence which additionally strengthens the Sun, because then the effect will be stable and decisive, and it needs to be such in order for the Sun to reach any decision.
• The Sun and Saturn in Challenging Aspect • (opposition, square, quincunx, semi-square and especially the conjunction)
- Yin level Bach essence: Oak - Yang level Animal essence 1: Mountain Lion (for healing the Sun from a challenging relationship with Saturn) Animal essence 2: Snow Leopard (for healing Saturn from a challenging relationship with the Sun) The essence used for a challenging aspect of the Sun and Saturn is Oak. Oak is considered to be a holy tree, and is well-known for its exceptional strength, stiffness and unbending quality. This is a tree that is extremely durable, but can suddenly snap under extreme pressure. This is a good image for understanding the problems of people under this symbolism, because when they are imbalanced they consider themselves very hard and durable, only to snap once they overstep all their emotional, physical and mental boundaries. They push themselves so much that it leads to total breakdown. These people cannot give up. They have such a strong will to achieve their goal that they do not allow themselves the possibility of quitting. This is a certain stubbornness, much like a pathological ambition that creates unbelievable pressure and tiredness, but these people keep telling themselves that quitting is not an option, and they overstep all their personal boundaries in order to reach their goals. It does not make any difference even if everybody else gives up. This kind of toughness does not allow them to rest and replenish the strong energy they possess. 146
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When they break, it is usually through some dramatic health-related or psychological problem, but they rarely learn their lesson from it and go back to the old mechanisms of behavior and get themselves into the same problem. They stubbornly do not want to face their own limitations, so others often keep relying on them, seeing that they never give up or stop to rest. Almost all the great world dictators had a challenging aspect between these two planets, so it can tell us a lot about the degree of tolerance for others that these people may or may not have, if they tie themselves to their ambition. This essence enables these people to allow themselves to rest, to replenish their energy and to develop a certain respect for their own limits. Eventually, this problem leads to stiffness and pain in the spinal column, and the use of this essence gives it back its flexibility, bringing these strong energies into balance.
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Lion
Bumblebee White Lion Mountain Lion
Heather Wild Oat Oak
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Yang level 1
- respective planet
Yin level
(Bach Essence)
Aspects
Sunbonnet
Larch
Hibbertia
Buttercup
(Animal Essence)
Yang level
Snow Leopard
Kangaroo
Sparrow
respective planet -
Yang level 2
Gold
(Gem Stone Essence)
Yin - Yang stabilization
Assistants for Challenging Aspects of the Sun
Earth (South African Essence)
Fire (Australian Essence) Planetary essence for the Sun Water (Bach Essence)
Air (Californian Essence)
(Flower Essence)
Yin level
The Complete Process of Healing the Sun
AstroHealing
Mercury - Balance and Healing
Planetary Essences and their Assistants
MERCURY
Balance and Healing
Mercury is of exceptional importance for a person, primarily because it rules the human signs – Gemini and Virgo – and therefore is especially linked to human life. Mercury describes us as people living on this planet, as beings who think, so Mercury’s energy center, the fifth energy center, is one of the most important ones for our personal evolutionary story. In addition, the energy center of this planet is located in the throat area and, from a physiological point of view, it connects the head and the body. Therefore it is one of the most important centers for communication between Heaven and Earth. We know that Mercury is known as “the messenger of the gods” and as such is connected with the speech function that is a kind of channel of the Higher Self that communicates with us. This is the first of the three “upper world” chakras (situated above the fourth, central chakra) and in its real function it connects the native with cosmic intelligence. Of course, in order to reach the channel of this intelligence, it is necessary for the third energy center (the Sun) to establish a connection with this center, because only then does this fifth center have a “messenger of the gods” function. Without this connection, the fifth chakra represents a mental threshold that a person can cross over, inevitably experiencing the world as a dual field of battle – which becomes an energetic foundation for all kinds of problems in life. When we look at the energetic nature of Mercury, we see that the fifth center is situated between the Lunar center, the fourth chakra, and the sixth, the Jupiter center. It is obvious that the fifth chakra is a kind of conductor. 149
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We say that Mercury is the messenger of the gods and it serves the function of transferring Jupiter’s message to our emotions, to our Moon. It brings down that knowledge into the form of our life, i.e., the form of the Moon, which has an exceptional function within our being. It represents our Air Soul, and in that ethereal, emotional world there are memories Fire of all our ancestors, all experiences Water that we inherited through genetics, i.e., from the point of karmic Earth evolution – everything we inherited from our past lives. Mercury, therefore, has the task of transferring Jupiter to our ancestors, our Soul, and to activate memories of our divine, cosmic nature that we can live when this energy center is balanced. That is its ultimate goal. That is why the fifth center is the first upper chakra in all of us, the first “above Earth” and above our heart energy center. If we notice in a chart that there exists a problem with Mercury, the throat chakra, we know that this state is a product of a typically human problem – their mental capacities, ways of thinking and the decisions they make. Through Mercury, the ruler of the third and sometimes the sixth houses, we will see a person as a human in the more narrow and literal sense of that word. We can see very concrete things: what type of person they are, how they function and work.
Like any other planet, Mercury has four bodies in the energy sense, i.e., four levels of energy. In the upper, masculine levels, it is prone to separate from the emotional part of our being and be very mental. The Air level of Mercury touches Jupiter’s energy center with its highest part, so the energy of this chakra must be lowered and grounded in order for Mercury to be capable of feeling and learning to hear the messages arriving from 150
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the higher level with its heart center. Jupiter always speaks to us through the Soul and comes through feelings. Mercury has to touch this emotional, gentle world in order to be able to understand the messages it receives. Within this sphere of masculine Mercury energy it can be tied to the element of Fire in a problematic way, which will give it expressiveness, but since it is positioned in the upper levels and is very mental, it is detached from the practical part of its function. Therefore, if we don’t know how to turn its Fire into Water, and if we can’t find the subtle point of transformation within ourselves, a fear of expressing oneself through the element of Fire will easily set in, as well as a fear of public exposure. A person can see it as a complete drama when they need to express themselves. All of this upper part of Mercury’s energy is definitely linked to nervousness, restlessness and tension, because the active part needs to be linked to the lower, feminine, emotional part in order to connect with its practical nature. Mercury has a very powerful masculine model on one side, and a feminine one on the other, because it rules one masculine and one feminine sign. Regardless of how close Fire and Water are, Mercury in the lower levels can be completely extinguished and incapable of expressing itself, because this is where it enters the gentle, feminine world, where it can be overtaken by emotions and very far away from its mental nature. Fire is certainly closer to it than this Water nature, because it is in its fall in the sign of Pisces and Water generally scares it and makes it feel insecure. The natural state of Mercury is, above all, Air. It can also be Earth, but this will represent the intelligence of the body and material reality. In any case, it looks for very practical and concrete things, or very mental ones, so Fire is the state that is closer and clearer to it in a way, but Water can flood it and it can drown in it, leading to fantasy and confusion. The role of Mercury in our life is huge, and it needs to learn how to center itself well, especially in regard to its Water, in order to become a conductor of Jupiter toward the Moon, just as any human being has the task of being a conductor between Heaven and Earth. The link between Mercury and the Earth element can provide it with practicality and the ability to be very concrete and stable. But if it is incapable of raising itself toward the upper levels, it cannot see the whole picture and is often dealing with inner things, losing itself in details and failing to reach Jupiter. The feminine part of Mercury’s energy corresponds to its Virgo side and completely leans on the state of emotions and the 151
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state of the chakra situated below it, i.e., the state of the Moon. The lower part depends on feelings and water, so is guided by ideas from this sphere, while the upper part has the urge to sometimes live in a theoretical world that cannot come down to the practical level. Therefore, for each Mercury that is connected to the lower elements, we will also look at the position of the Moon, since it will tell us about the foundation that will enable a person to carry such a story to fruition. If the Moon is not well configured, we see that a person makes decisions based on false emotional premises and dissatisfaction, which their living conditions reflect. Mercury should have all four elements flowing, it should be whole and it should have both its masculine and feminine parts in balance, since it is supposed to be a conductor. Mercury is the only planet made up of all three symbols: semicircle, circle and cross, and it is meant to be an entity that contains everything in it and joins the two worlds. When it is capable of conducting energy, it will touch Jupiter with its upper part, and the Moon with its lower part, establishing balance between its masculine and feminine part, between Gemini and Virgo, and between people in general. We need to create the ability to join opposites here, to join theory and practice. The upper part should express intelligence that is extended through the lower part, through vibration and voice. The fifth chakra rules the voice that carries its message. If the message we send is only in written form, it will be very narrow, small and limited. Without voice, the message is poor, because the vibration we carry in this center is not just a vibration of the meaning of the word, but of the tone of voice and everything that is vibratory and connected to this center. This is where intelligence turns into matter, Gemini into Virgo and theory into practice. Therefore, when a balanced Mercury lives on both these planes, it carries the messages of Jupiter to the Moon. A person who establishes this balance can live in line with the laws of nature, because they transfer their knowledge to the ancestors. Otherwise, the ancestors will not listen: while ordinary man speaks, the ancestors are being fed, and while he is being fed, they speak. His thoughts and messages fail to reach the ancestors, because they have their own story and decide what life will provide for the native. When Mercury establishes a harmonious flow of energy within itself, a person is able to get their ancestors’ attention by simply touching the Moon, making contact and creating a channel through which they can change all feelings and memories contained in the Soul. When Mer152
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cury is balanced, life can be harmonious. Mercury helps us “correct” our destiny and brings everything that comes its way into balance, as much as possible. Since people in this state are capable of communicating with their ancestors, they will develop an ability to communicate with various circumstances and people that come their way, and will establish normal, harmonious relationships. People are different, but they are all our people, so when consciousness is developed, this is no longer a Mercury that enters arguments and creates problems. As this knowledge develops, in the next phase Mercury starts penetrating the neighboring levels in a deeper way, establishing an even stronger connection between the Moon and Jupiter, which brings greater stability. This will be especially felt through relationships, because not only will enemies become neutral, but the native will even start seeing some good in them and they will start improving themselves. When the higher part of Jupiter – its Water – is connected with the Fire of the Moon, Mercury touches the center of their energy and completely closes the circle, giving life to the central point of the sign Cancer.
Air Fire Water Earth
15°
The complete need of a person is to enliven 15° Cancer in their life, because this is the center of their Soul. This will be possible when Mercury “installs” the message of Jupiter into their ancestors, their Moon, and their Soul enlightens all their memories. This is when they become initiated, when their soul is activated and becomes vibrant, so healing abilities set in. A teacher is built into their beings and they can fix things, heal relationships and people and completely organize their ancestors, improving their overall karma. This is no longer just the potential 153
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for stable relationships with other people, but their entire life is healed and the knowledge needed for other things to be brought back to health is awakened. Mercury is not meant to be the one who speaks from its Air level, but it should vibrate with its knowledge and transfer Jupiter to our soul in order for us to activate it and live our higher nature. In energetic terms, Mercury is represented by a figure eight that contains two upper, masculine levels that correspond to the nature of the third sign Gemini, while the lower part of its energy corresponds to the elements of Water and Earth and is connected with the sixth sign of Virgo. We also know that the final number it naturally rules is 36. Its task is to learn how to assume a proper attitude and how to become a good conductor that manages to “pull through” the energy from the upper levels through the singular knot, representing the only connection with the lower part of the energy. This knot in the heart of every person is the point from which everything is created, and in order to turn Fire into Water we must have one very fine, peaceful, correct and precise ability that Mercury is learning throughout its life. It is its ability to recognize both the masculine and feminine nature, because it must join them and it must be both masculine and feminine. If it fails to accomplish this in one incarnation, in the next one it will assume the opposite role – the gender that it did not recognize – and will live that life through its point of view. It needs to join these forces in itself in order to be able to live its androgynous nature as a genderless planet. As this ability develops, contact with the center of the Soul is slowly established, and this relationship that Mercury contains in itself – the key relationship of the number 36 – is then projected onto 15° Cancer and onto the sign of Gemini (the very degree of Chiron’s exaltation – 9° Gemini). In this way the sign of Gemini is linked to the sign of Cancer and the nature of Chiron is awakened, bringing the ability to heal, which is the highest ability a person can have. Chiron is the only planetary body exalted in Gemini, and the highest ability of a human being is to heal in some way. With Chiron’s ability to link different worlds and by its very existence, it heals its ancestors and its destiny. Chiron’s point of exaltation is placed at 9° and is akin to the nature of Jupiter, so a connection with the teacher is awakened, a connection with knowledge and the inner field that represents the point of its initiation into the Cosmic Soul. 154
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When Mercury finds the connection between the numbers 3 and 6, between Gemini and Virgo, it develops the ability to connect the Moon and Jupiter, and Chiron slowly wakes up as a first sign that Mercury has played its true role. The number 36 is the key number for an incarnation, and 36 degrees of projection from the center of the Soul connects us with the art of healing, with Chiron’s exaltation degree, so this is a Mercury that managed to join the masculine and feminine within itself, as well as the numbers 3 and 6. When a connection with the Moon is established, which is the inner field we carry within our Soul, it becomes able to feel what it says, it stops being mental in a dry way and it becomes strongly grounded, because it feels things well. Its intuition will grow, as well as its ability to express knowledge, because it feels knowledge, conducts it through itself and its ancestors, leading a person to insight. From a wider perspective, the first function of Mercury is to join Jupiter and the Moon, but once it masters this model, it makes a connection with the third energy center and lowers the energy into the very core of a person, connecting itself with the Sun. Such a Mercury is already Hermes who puts his mission into practice. Every Mercury should have its teacher, and once it learns how to connect with its Soul, it can live this teacher from the center of its being and independently accomplish its mission. Mercury’s mission is to join itself with the core of a being, because the process of joining Mercury with the Sun is the process of Uranus awakening. In this way Mercury – an ordinary human, a mortal – becomes Uranus in two stages. In the first stage, it initiates its Soul and develops the ability to heal, becoming like Chiron and creating a strong foundation for its Higher Self. In the second stage, it awakens its entire being and eventually lives its mission. Within the Zodiac circle, after it has activated the link between Gemini and Cancer, it goes a step further and activates its contact with the Sun through the sign of Leo. This point is 36 degrees away and leads to the point of Neptune’s fall – 21° Leo. It is through this point that the connection of Mercury with the Solar principle through the Lunar one is established, and this is how we activate the role of Uranus within our own Soul. In Gemini we are connected with the exaltation of Chiron, while in Leo we are connected with the fall of Neptune. The Soul that connects these principles is Uranus. In the Solar system, Uranus orbits between 155
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Chiron and Neptune, so it is between them that we see this special being that we can awaken if Mercury is fulfilling its proper function. Ultimately, it has the task of waking a person up, activating that special being inside of us, and certainly has no small importance – its task is the task of every human being. We can look at all the other planets, see their role and function, know which one is important for balancing the masculine principle, and which for balancing the feminine, but Mercury is the one in charge of balancing the cosmic principle and our role on planet Earth. It represents constant work on oneself and it is through that work that it incarnates. This is why its energy center is situated in the area of the throat chakra, since it represents the link between the head and the body. This is the point in which a person dwells and which undoubtedly represents the state of existence, because if this connection is lacking – life can hardly be present at all.
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Three Levels of Mercury Manifestation
A Mercury imbalance will express itself on the physical level through various problems with the throat, primarily through coughing. We can often notice that, when a person talks to someone about some unpleasant subject and finds issue with what is said, they start coughing, feeling uneasy and like something is stuck in their throat. This mostly happens when they need to “swallow” words they do not want to hear, and which are spoken by the other person, not knowing how to leave the unpleasant situation. In essence, Mercury and the Sun work together, so if a person does not possess enough self-confidence and strength in the core of their personality (the Sun), they do not feel able to stop the unpleasant conversation. Instead, they keep silent, they suffer and they “swallow” (take in) unpleasant things. There exists a very strong relationship between these two energy centers, so if a person has a thyroid problem – which would be a typical fifth center problem – they often suffer from stomach problems, digestive problems and stomach pain as a precursor to that condition. One additional possible indicator of the cooperation between the third and the fifth energy center, which is present when we cannot “digest” something from our environment, is acid reflux. Stomach acid, which becomes “incapable of digesting something,” rises towards the fifth center and attacks the vocal cords. In order to protect themselves, they create mucus which a person keeps feeling in their throat, and which forces them to cough. Although this is often not an alarming problem that would render a visit to the doctor, it is the first sign that there is something wrong in the relationship between these two centers. When there exists a problem with expression and a person feels they have failed to speak up, there is a feeling that they have “a bone in their throat,” which is actually everything that was left unspoken. The main disorder of the throat chakra is linked to the thyroid and parathyroid gland functions, since both are located in the throat area. Since the fifth center works together with the solar plexus, and the solar plexus is connected with the digestive fire, i.e., metabolism, thyroid gland dysfunction leads to metabolic disorders. The metabolic process itself is linked to the third center, i.e., the Sun, but it is Mercury that establishes its rhythm and enables the body to have an uninterrupted digestive process. We can see that it is Mercury that is responsible for the speed 157
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of digestion, so depending on the imbalance, we will determine whether we have hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, i.e., a surplus or deficiency of thyroid hormone levels. On the physical plane, we can see the state of Mercury in people’s movement and speech, which can be either faster or slower than usual. All throat problems, coughing and inflammation are linked to this center, and they can often be present in people who have problems expressing themselves, which is a problem directly connected with the emotional nature of Mercury. This chakra is also called Vishuda, which means “to cleanse,” so every cleansing starts from here. If there is not a good link with the Moon, we cannot hear our own authentic voice but only the voices of our ancestors, and these lead us into reactions and confusion. Eventually, this can lead to pressure in the head and an overall feeling of tiredness, because too many thoughts make it impossible to distinguish one from the other. On the emotional level, a Mercury imbalance will express itself as a “noise in the head” which creates a physical feeling of pressure. This seems like a huge quantity of thoughts that upsets a person and make them irritable. Therefore, the need of this center is to clear the surplus of thoughts, enabling us to become awake and present. This means that we look at situations and our thoughts, but we do not have to automatically react to them. If we react, we stop being observers and we become involved, so we keep getting into the same kind of situations and patterns because Mercury does not have a good connection with the Moon. It is the Moon that needs to “prevent reactions” by accepting what is happening with its inner peace. When the native stops reacting, they allow themselves to start creating. Both cannot happen at the same time. Mercury can fulfill its role of the immortal twin Pollux only after the native allows themselves an opportunity to hear their own inner voice, which starts the creation of what is divine and immortal, what they leave behind and becomes permanent. When clearing this center, the native becomes present. If that part is strong, they gain the courage to say what is currently important, they do not have problems speaking up and they feel that they are authentic and present in the moment in which a situation is developing. If there is a problem with the solar plexus, they do not dare express themselves because they are constantly preoccupied with other people’s opinions and worried about the impression they will leave: 158
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whether they will appear clever enough. This is how their fifth center is disabled from performing its proper function. In this way they lose authenticity and this is the moment in which their environment is linked to the universal field through one subject, the moment in which creativity unfolds and when they need to contribute to their environment. They can spend their whole lives wondering when is the right time to say or do something, and that moment is invisible for them because they are insecure and have too many thoughts, which prevents them from making a link with the energy field in which they can be creative participants. It is only when we stop worrying and reacting and start observing the world around us that we become able to hear our inner voice. The mental manifestation of Mercury is best expressed when we manage to link ourselves with the nature of the Moon and to hear ourselves through a Mercury of good quality, because it is only then that we start learning properly. There are two ways of learning things. First is simply learning things by heart and then reproducing that knowledge, and this is what is often expected of a child during their years of education. Therefore, the teacher is setting up the rules of the game, and children have to follow the rules, to memorize dry information and reproduce it for a grade. What we have here is a typical Mars in Capricorn exaltation image: the effort “pays off ” if we follow the rules of the game and we will become successful and gain the status we are fighting for. However, the problem with this type of learning is that it does not have much space for application in real life, because experiences that are really important for us need emotional intelligence, too, i.e., the relationship of Mercury with the Moon. Most children, especially those who have a more pronounced Uranian nature, experience this as boring and uninteresting. These are the children who learn in another way, who have the ability that we all carry – to learn by wondering. The real process of learning happens when we wonder about something, when we are interested in something, when we want to know everything about a certain subject. This is typical for the sign of Gemini which is curious and constantly hungry for new information. The process of real learning is rounded up by experiencing Uranus, Aquarius and mastering the art of wondering. In Aquarius, all people and things are wonderful, and we learn the most by wondering about our159
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selves and our own thoughts. What we are talking about here is the sense of new insights that come into our mind “out of nowhere,” and then we wonder how brilliant we are for coming up with something unbelievable. This is actually a process of “hooking up” to the network of Uranus from where we can directly download any wondrous idea. When Mercury is in balance on this level, we receive its link with the Moon and we feel it in terms of knowledge that is pouring into us when someone speaks to us. It feels pleasant to listen to everything they have to say, they do not tire us and we want to hear their voices. If there is an imbalance in Mercury’s mental sphere, it can be manyfold. When the energy is too strong, a person talks too much, they interrupt others, they are too loud and others do not like to listen to them. On the other hand, the energy can be too weak, so a person is too quiet, inarticulate and often mumbles something we have difficulty understanding. An orator with a weak Mercury can talk about a subject that interests us very much and that we know very well, but we still might have problems understanding what they want to say. It is of no consequence whether the person is educated in a particular field and how much knowledge they possess – they are simply incapable of expressing it in a way that would allow us to understand them, even if we are talking about very basic information that is already known to us. On the other hand, a strong Mercury gives us an orator who can talk about complex things that we are totally unfamiliar with, but still manage to make them clear for us. Although this experience requires a listener who is capable of hearing, the whole situation mostly depends on the conductor, on the orator who is conducting the information to the audience. When a person has a good balance and vibration in the throat center, most people they communicate with will have the impression that the things they are talking about are simple and easy and they will understand even that which is otherwise not familiar or known to them. Ultimately, a good balance of Mercury on the mental plane will allow us to be pleasant and understandable, and will make us capable of expressing ourselves in a clear way, speaking the right words at the right moment. This is a process that goes the other way too, so we will become capable of really hearing and understanding other people. Any rigidity that Mercury might have on the mental plane turns into worry. Rigidity on the mental level can strongly manifest itself on the objective as well as the emotional 160
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level, and this will shape the nature of a person, their attitudes, their ways of thinking or acting, diverting them from proper cosmic functioning. Mercury’s great capacity is precisely in making a change – transforming itself from one shape into the other.
Mercury’s Elemental Assistants
When there exists an imbalance in the fifth energy center, in the first stage we will use the pure Mercury planetary essence, and then we will add one of its assistants, depending on the element in which Mercury is placed. As always, for a Mercury imbalance on the Air level we will use a Californian essence; on the Fire level, an Australian essence; on the Water level, a Bach essence; and on the Earth level, a South African essence. In general cases we use Mercury’s basic planetary essence.
Californian essences Australian essences
Cosmos
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Bush Fuchsia
Planetary essence for Mercury
Bach essences South African essences
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White Chestnut Sonderina
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Mercury in Air Signs - Cosmos (Californian Essence)
If there exists a problem with Mercury on the Air level, the essence we use is Cosmos. Practitioners describe this plant as a flower that is turned toward the cosmos and they mention its similarity to a satellite dish that receives signals from space and transfers them to us. Mercury on the Air level is very mental and has a tendency to express itself as a brilliant part of a person, separating them from the feel of their body. This is even more pronounced if it is afflicted. Such a Mercury has a tendency to think too much, to get too many ideas that it does not know how to put into practice, it talks too much, it is nervous, enters conflicts and the first thing it needs is to calm down its thoughts in order to become able to hear. This Mercury is so far away from Earth that it lacks the ability to feel things, and that is a necessary quality for allowing the values of Jupiter, which it is in contact with, to pass through. Mental balance cannot be established before feelings are in order, so if a person has a problem with the Moon, too, or with the Water element in general, we can immediately understand how far away from Earth they have gone. The mental processes will here be filtered through events from the past and the native will not have an influence on their fate but will only switch from one subject to another, whether while speaking, or living their life. They lack the energy to make a change that is needed to calm themselves down. It is not easy for them to sort out what constitutes a surplus of thoughts, and which of them are really needed, because the organizing principle originates from Earth, from the sign of Virgo and the lower energy levels that they here lose connection with. This Californian essence is recommended to people who fail to clearly express themselves because of a disorganized and confused train of thought, and it enables them to connect the functions of thinking and speaking in the right and harmonious way. This is how excited mental activity or vagueness is turned into a light, articulate and precise way of expressing thoughts and words. They will learn how to pause, gather and order their thoughts, and will no longer have a need to interrupt themselves or others. This is how they slowly develop an ability to listen to and hear the Jupiter that they are supposed to connect to, because it is only peace and the feeling that comes from the center of the Soul 162
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that can grant them that ability. This essence opens up Mercury, reveals the right focus and harmonizes thoughts and speech with higher mental functions, so people can properly express their spirit through speech and thinking. In everyday life, we will notice that conflicts disappear and that we develop the ability to respond well to people around us, finding the proper purpose for them since we are well-organized. The goal of Mercury at this level is to reach an orderly mental state and mental flow.
Mercury in Fire Signs - Bush Fuchsia (Australian essence)
When Mercury is problematically linked to the Fire element, we will use the Australian essence Bush Fuchsia. This is a shrubby plant with wide applications amongst Australian Aborigines who consider it to be very medicinal. It is linked to our ability to express ourselves and gives us the courage to speak. If Fire invites us to say something, this quality must be alive. When linked to the Fire element, Mercury will have expressiveness, but if the Fire is not balanced enough, it will give a person the tendency to react too quickly, to be too involved in their own ideas and sometimes too authoritative. In this case, it feels almost as if thoughts are on fire and the head is “in flames.” If Mercury is connected to the sign of Sagittarius, the native can easily digress too much or speak passionately about everything. This is a Mercury that is too broad and lacks the ability to focus. When the image of the Fire element is too dramatic, the native can have problems expressing themselves, they can suffer from the fear of speaking in public or have a problem when they need to practically show their attitude or knowledge. This Australian essence is recommended for people who lack personal security and self-confidence in situations in which they need to speak in public and feel nervous. In such situations, their mind becomes tense, they lock themselves into a logical line of thinking and lose touch with their inner voice. They can think about their own lecture so much that, once it is time to do it, they feel too insecure. It is as if the surplus of energy – the Fire that Mercury is placed in – throws it out of balance and it does not feel well under the spotlight, experiencing its own speech as a very tense and unpleasant thing. 163
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This essence provides calm and balance, enabling people to feel safe so that they can express what is needed, loudly and clearly, with the right amount of energy. It leads them to clarity and courage in speaking and expressing themselves, enables them to accept things and solve problems, and is also excellent in cases of dyslexia or learning difficulties. Learning problems can develop simply because Mercury has no patience, so even if it knows that it should pay attention to something, it has problems focusing on it. It is as if too strong an energy is separating them from a calm approach. This is a Mercury that feels heat and wants to run away from it, so it needs to accept the element it is connected with in order to gain the most from it.
Mercury in Water Signs - White Chestnut (Bach Essence)
The main essence that we use for an imbalanced Mercury on the Water level is White Chestnut. The Water element is especially challenging for Mercury: it is in its fall in the sign of Pisces and mainly has difficulties connecting to this nature, regardless of the sign it is placed in. Mercury here enters its own feminine nature, but that’s the part it is least familiar with, so we can notice that the native lacks the ability of rational thinking, that they imagine things and are incapable of freeing themselves from mental processes that make them worry and feel burdened. They feel unable to find solutions, because they are too unclear and confused. This Mercury is supposed to be like a diver who will guide their attention and show them where and how to build a platform for their higher consciousness to pass through. It is supposed to show us how to establish a relationship with our own inner being, so these people are certainly naturally inclined to introspection and self-reflection, but when imbalanced, they become preoccupied with their mental, emotional or physical symptoms, generating negative feelings. When we do not feel well on the Water level, it leads us to all sorts of other problems, so what is needed is for Mercury to learn to feel well in the element it is in. When there exists a challenge for Mercury in this element, some aspects that burden it, it is clear that it has a need to run away from there. That place does not feel safe or logical to it, and it finds it hard to accept such a po164
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sition. If we are born like this, our task is to accept it, because if we keep running away from it our whole lives, it can feel very uncomfortable. If Water is the element of our Mercury, it has to learn to swim in it. Additionally, the image of an unfit Mercury connected with the Water element we can expect to find in hypochondriacs or people obsessed with their health. Although we should first think of the sign Virgo, which can be our first indicator, you will always find that Mercury is mixed with the Water element in some way. For example, a person can have a Water rising sign, or the ruler of the Ascendant is in a Water sign or house and such a contact make them unable to get out of the state they find themselves in. This essence is popularly called “a broken record,” because it describes people who can talk about the same things for years, and live the same things for years, making us wonder why they don’t realize how they have tied themselves into a knot. A person might say the same negative things about their partner, children, lost job or anything else that has hurt them for years, without being able to stop and step out of that vicious cycle. The essence can have a liberating effect here, allowing them to face and resolve problems, instead of continually living them. When connected to the Water element, regardless of whether it is the sign of Pisces, Cancer or Scorpio, Mercury will feel fear. This is a big fear and the person is insecure and scared of this element, of living, of being connected with that emotional field. Since this is not a comfortable element for Mercury – highly unstable, changeable, sensitive and feeling-oriented – it needs to be able to find its own way of expressing itself in order to find clear thinking in everyday life. If these people manage to find this peace, even to a certain extent, they will somewhat open up this channel. These people are able to feel things. However, in the majority of cases, Mercury finds Water a challenge and we need to pay special attention to it if it is linked to this element. This essence helps the native to master their thoughts, regain inner peace and stop being the victim of their own mental processes that they have no control over. Thoughts become constructive, they can be turned into action and people who were lost in their thoughts now have an opportunity to snap out of it and start living in the present moment. We can imagine a person in the middle of some water, drowning, only to then slowly regain their peace, become functional, connect with themselves, and it all stops being a fight for their life, becoming a comfortable place 165
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they can swim in instead. With a Mercury that is problematic on this level we have a mixture of feelings and reason, so we need to reconcile them. Since we can expect that the reaction to the connection with this element will be fierce, it is advisable to do this when we have a clear space around us. This resembles a person who, when you put them in water, starts running and screaming, but cannot escape it ever, because they have been born into it. This is where the great value of Mercury lies, because when we connect it with the Moon, with Water, with the ability to feel, we get a connection with the Soul, and that is a very important and delicate process.
Mercury in Earth Signs - Sonderina (South African Essence)
The South African essence for Mercury linked to the Earth element is Sonderina. Even if Mercury is in its highest dignity in the sign of Virgo, an Earth sign, it can be very sensitive here and also very problematic. It often develops rigidity of thought, closing down and forming blocks – turning thoughts into a sanctuary and a safe place. By developing this imbalanced state, the fifth center closes to the center below it, and a person is separated from their Soul, their emotional nature and their heart center. Mercury sees that the Moon center represents one unstable state, so it needs to be totally logical and correct in order to survive, closing all communication with the lower energy centers. In such a case, we see a person who is completely “down to Earth,” who will not try to think about anything that is outside of their material reality, and who will significantly separate themselves from their higher nature. The mental process is completely separated from the experience of feeling, Mercury does not recognize feelings. Exalted in Virgo, its outlook on things is narrow and petty, so it is unable to see the whole. When Mercury is balanced on its own Earth level, the native has a special channel, but they need to connect themselves with their family, ancestors (Mercury with the Moon) in order to be able to live its high quality nature. If a problem from this area remains unresolved, it leads them into such mental processes that they are unable to connect to emotional satisfaction, so the whole system becomes imbalanced. A person has to communicate with their ancestors, through words or vibration or a 166
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tone of voice, in order to heal the whole thing and finally become able to communicate with their own genes. It is only then that change happens and that a person becomes a complete conductor. This South African essence is administered to people who cannot stop thinking until they find a solution for a problem they have, which overburdens them. Thoughts often end up in circles and the native is stuck in the same pattern, so thoughts cause insomnia or disrupt constructive activity. Mercury’s problem on the Earth level is to a certain degree similar to its problem on the Water level. Mercury on these lower levels looks familiar and similar. However, the Water element will primarily indicate fears and irrational thoughts, while Earth will incite Mercury to lean on what is logical and rational. In both cases, Mercury suffers because of Water, the only difference being that Mercury in Earth has a universal solution – to completely separate itself from its feelings, to keep holding to certain attitudes and to try and resolve everything by thinking. It keeps repeating the same story in its search for the solution, it has trouble falling asleep, because it cannot find the solution, it cannot let go, and being so overburdened, simply cannot find a way to relax. This essence breaks down rigid thought patterns that have trapped mental energy in unproductive activities. In this way, creative mental energy is fed through clearing the mind and calming down restlessness, finally bringing inner peace. When a person uses this essence, we have a feeling that they have finally allowed themselves to relax and they can now sleep, because they have left their burdening patterns of behavior. This essence is often used as a foundation for spiritual work and meditation, because it nicely clears the mind and prepares it for these kinds of activities. It gives us the potential to clear the unconscious level of the mind – Mercury’s Earth level – from everything that is deposited there, thereby freeing the path through which it can connect to the Moon. Meditation is the process of opening Mercury toward the Moon, of opening the fifth chakra in order for it to lower down to the fourth, so that Mercury need not be only rational, but can also enter the Water and stop talking in order to allow Jupiter to speak through it. It should translate the teacher to its ancestors, to its everyday life, in order to build this knowledge into its own Soul and therefore become a healing being. 167
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This is how it grows into a free person, into Uranus. Mercury is the reason for our incarnation, because it connects the Higher Mind, Higher Knowledge with memories we carry inside ourselves, and it can change destiny and everything that is within us.
The Complete Process of Healing Mercury
When Mercury is balanced via the basic planetary essence and certain assistants, we should approach balancing on the Yang level through an animal essence, and then stabilize it all through an appropriate gemstone. The animal essence that brings the fifth chakra (Mercury) into balance is Wolf, while the gem stone essence that stabilizes the overall state of Mercury is Aquamarine.
Wolf Essence - Yang Level of Mercury
For activating the throat chakra we use the essence of Wolf. A specific howling sound is linked to this animal. This is the way it communicates (Mercury) with the pack and it also carries the need for freedom through personal expression. Its nature connects us with the communication that draws us to our pack, our society, and enables us to make contact with those people we need to connect with. On the other side, this essence allows us to find a way to express ourselves and be accepted, for people to hear us and ultimately to find ourselves through interacting with society and other people. This essence helps us find our community, because everybody wants to belong to a certain pack and find their right surroundings. The Mercury energy center cooperates with the heart chakra, and that enables us to find ourselves and express ourselves in the right way. This essence develops the power of perception, sharpness of mind and intelligence that is reflected in a person’s ability to reveal and discover hidden things. Wolf is linked with an important intelligence field, and the possibilities it opens up are linked to its sense of smell that awakens “the detective spirit” in the native, enabling them to clarify things that were left unknown. This essence awakens the level of information that we need and, just like the essences of Lion and Wild Horse, its task is to connect the native with their own identity. 168
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The Wolf essence is linked to our intellect, with Mercury, which carries our ability of speech, expression and authentic self-representation in public. Therefore, it is good to use this essence if it is necessary to give a speech or present something before a great many people. This enables a person to feel calm, self-assured and convinced that they will reach people who need to hear them, because they carry courage and strength which enable the message they have to flow in a correct way.
Gem Stone: Aquamarine
This stone is known as “Mermaid Stone.” It brings calm and clarity to the active mental body. It increases a person’s ability to achieve a neutral, calm state of mind and create a mental oasis. When a person is too aware or worried on the mental level, and especially if we are talking about a Mercury that rules one of the angular houses, this essence will enable a neutral stability of mental processes. In its ideal form, Mercury does not ask us to engage in some special thought process or creative performance, but rather seeks inner peace. This essence is used for purifying and opening the throat chakra, by activating the creative potential of the native and trust in their own divine nature. It purifies emotions, words and thoughts, strengthens concentration and calms the mind. It carries a strong quality of Mercury that is stable, durable and cold. Every stone has a cold nature, even Gold – as the only precious metal – so we have the impression of freshness, clarity and “a cool head.” Aquamarine definitely instigates communication and expression, makes speech flow, and on the physical level regulates the thyroid gland function, keeping the throat free from illness.
Assistants for Challenging Aspects of Mercury • Mercury and Jupiter in Challenging Aspect • (opposition, square, quincunx and semi-square)
- Yin level Bach Essence: Chestnut Bud - Yang level Animal essence 1: Coyote (for healing Mercury from a challenging relationship with Jupiter) 169
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Animal essence 2: Canadian Goose (for healing Jupiter from a challenging relationship with Mercury) The essence we use for a challenging aspect between these two planets on the Yin level is called Chestnut Bud. We might wonder: what could be the problem of any planet when it is in aspect with the benefic Jupiter? Besides the fact that Jupiter likes to exaggerate, its relationship to Mercury is often very carefree and light. Although it is nice for a person to always have pleasant thoughts, Jupiter can create a picture of reality that is too beautiful, exaggerating it. Mercury is connected with the throat chakra, and Jupiter with the sixth chakra that is situated between our eyebrows. These are upper centers and if they are mutually disturbing each other, none of them will be able to ground things. It is said that this is the essence given to immature people. It is actually people who can be very intelligent and wise, but they keep repeating the same, ridiculous mistakes and keep “tripping” over the most banal things. Although they are always carefree and always have a smile on their face, lacking any dark thoughts, it is obvious that they fail to learn from their experiences and keep repeating the same mistakes. It is if these two centers connect to each other and strongly pull a person up, so they end up seeing only what really interests them, failing to see or hear anything else. We could wonder how is it possible for someone so intelligent, with such special talents (because this is precisely what we see in Mercury-Jupiter aspects) to keep endlessly repeating such banal mistakes, failing to learn from their experience. The problem is that a person keeps entering into unpleasant situations only to then run away from them, failing to realize what their role is in the event that just happened. They will say they were simply unlucky and that next time it will be better, without it ever occurring to them that, maybe, after ten similar situations, it all might have something to do with them. People with this aspect enter a new relationship with a partner as if they have not already had a sequence of the same type of partners, always thinking they will have better luck next time, relying on some strange optimism that real events seem to keep canceling. These are “distracted professors,” people who are experts in fields that interest them, but who fail to deal with ordinary, everyday things. This essence seems to provide people with the possibility of not relying exclusively on luck. Jupiter 170
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exaggerates nice thoughts, so even if this is not extremely problematic, it is important for these people to realize that luck is not the only thing determining events. It is important for them to understand the meaning of their actions and to realize they have an influence over circumstances in their life. When these people stop laughing at their own mistakes, they can learn from them and receive the information they need. Mercury in aspect with Jupiter will never give dark thoughts, but we will have a search for meaning and a lowering of mental processes to the level closer to Earth. This essence is excellent when people need to face things that are not interesting or pleasant, so it is often given to children when they have difficulty learning about things that do not interest them.
• Mercury and Saturn in Challenging Aspect • (opposition, square, quincunx, semi-square and especially the conjunction)
- Yin level Bach Essence: Mustard - Yang level Animal Essence 1: Koala (for healing Mercury from a challenging relationship with Saturn) Animal Essence 2: Beaver (for healing Saturn from a challenging relationship with Mercury) The assistant for a challenging relationship between Mercury and Saturn on the Yin level is Mustard. A person with a relationship between these two planets will be very responsible, serious and inclined to reason. If imbalanced, this natural seriousness is turned into a lack of a sense of humor and enthusiasm, into negative thoughts and expectations, and an overall bleakness. They slip into melancholy, bad moods and even depression easily, without outer triggers or anything bad happening. It is as if a dark cloud comes along, completely disconnected from anything from the outer world, and they cannot escape it. People with this kind of aspect are often prone to endogenous depression, i.e., depression that is not caused by external factors, but unexpectedly appears out of nowhere. It is difficult to predict when they can leave that state. It is like bad weather in their thoughts. 171
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This essence enables them to establish balance and a harmonious relationship between happiness and seriousness. It prevents the conversion of reason and seriousness into depression. Happiness connected with this aspect can never be superficial, because these are not people interested in superficial things. We have a great depth of mind here, such a depth that even their happiness has to be quiet and deep, with a dose of solemnity, but reason does not have to slip into negativity. These are people who can always give us good advice if these energies are well balanced, because when we need to solve something, they will know what needs to be done. Even when we have a positive aspect between these two planets, these people can be prone to uneasy states of mind. It will never be as bad as in the case of a challenging aspect, but if communication between these two planets exists, an imbalance in the system can easily lead to similar problems. We are our natal chart, we are the Universe and everything exists within us, so therefore any contact between planets, whether positive or challenging, can express itself in various sort of ways.
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Wolf
Coyote Koala
Chestnut Bud Mustard
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-
Yang level 1
- respective planet
Yin level
(Bach Essence)
Aspects
Sonderina
White Chestnut
Bush Fuchsia
Cosmos
(Animal Essence)
Yang level
Beaver
Canadian Goose
respective planet -
Yang level 2
Aquamarine
(Gem Stone Essence)
Yin - Yang stabilization
Assistants for Challenging Aspects of Mercury
Earth (South African Essence)
Fire (Australian Essence) Planetary essence for the Mercury Water (Bach Essence)
Air (Californian Essence)
(Flower Essence)
Yin level
The Complete Process of Healing Mercury
Mercury - Balance and Healing
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Jupiter - Balance and Healing
Planetary Essences and their Assistants
JUPITER
Balance and Healing
Jupiter is a planet that physiologically has its core in the third-eye area, i.e., in the part of the forehead between the eyes. Astrologically speaking, this corresponds to the meeting place of the two signs ruled by the Lights, or in other words – the point of transition from the sign Cancer to the sign Leo. This center represents the place where purpose and knowledge are revealed, as well as the place of clear foresight and an open channel of intuition and spirituality. It is a strong representative of Heaven, whose goal is to manifest on Earth through the Venus energy center. The Jupiter energy center gives us life purpose and hope, and helps us overcome the burden we are carrying. When Jupiter is damaged in a natal chart, the burden of life becomes quite bulky and many things become heavy. Jupiter knows how to make things light and flowing. Within our energy being, Jupiter’s center touches the energy centers of Mercury and Saturn. In order for a person, represented by Mercury, to live a meaningful life and to be able to deal with Saturn’s nature, i.e., the burden of fate or the times in which they live, they have to have a good channel between Mercury and Saturn, or in other words – they need to have a good Jupiter. If Jupiter is not strong, Saturn’s burden becomes too heavy and resembles a challenging Mercury-Saturn aspect. There will be worries, difficulties and an inability to see the whole picture, so a person’s thinking will be limited: they will not see the bigger picture, many possibilities or their own potential. The sixth (Jupiter) chakra should provide purpose, so when we see these kinds of problems resembling a challenging aspect between Mercury and Saturn, it is clear that a person lacks a healthy flow at the level of 175
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this center. This is why Jupiter’s natal position is important, especially if we see that Saturn creates a problem for Mercury, or any other personal planet. Jupiter helps both Mercury and the Moon; it guards the Soul because it is exalted in Cancer, and it helps by providing possibilities – both subjective and objective. PeoAir ple can change concrete things with the faith they carry within themFire selves, because Jupiter is very conWater crete, much more concrete than it might appear at first sight. Although Earth it rules the sign Sagittarius, which represents space and the higher level of the mind, and Pisces, which represents what is hidden in us and our psyche, it is also connected to Taurus, which is linked to material reality and the Earth element. The Bull is, in fact, a disguised Zeus, a disguised Jupiter, so Taurus carries Jupiter’s nature within itself. Therefore, we see that Jupiter rules all those things that belong to the spiritual sphere – visions, distance, purpose and understanding – but also material values. It is present everywhere and we need only ask ourselves how alive it is in our life. If it is, it will help Mercury feel well, and we will lead a comfortable life.
On an objective level, a strong Jupiter will provide material support and easy living. To those who feel like they’re carrying Saturn’s burden of time, genetics, the country they live in – everything that “in reality” limits them, as Mercury would say – Jupiter will say: it is what you believe it is. If we feel limited, limitation is what we will create, so the rewards we reap can only be modest and small. However, if we learn the trick, if we become aware that everything is relative and we look at the broader picture, Jupiter can make us the richest person on Earth. It is capable of expanding any limitation, and that makes it valuable. By 176
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putting things into relative perspective, it finds their purpose and always reminds us that we have reasons to be happy. It knows how to accept everything coming its way, while the mind – the ordinary Mercury burdened by Saturn – tends to reject things. Jupiter enables Mercury to accept things and expand its borders. It makes poverty into richness by looking at things in a relative way. It has a broad perspective and allows people to experience things in a different way than they might appear at first sight. Jupiter dwells between our two eyes, we call it “the third eye,” and it gives people vision, knowledge and contact with their inner guides, their higher Self, their Heaven. Saturn represents time and Mercury has a hard time understanding the laws of time; it cannot predict what will happen to it in the future. However, when Jupiter connects these two centers, it gives wisdom and the ability to predict the future, as well as psychic abilities. Finally, it is in this center that astrological abilities are developed as a kind of wisdom that we can use to see events around us. Jupiter enables us to communicate with our future selves. The average Mercury sees time as a straight line, as an event that unfolds from yesterday to tomorrow, but Saturn rules cyclical time. By connecting the fifth and the seventh centers, Jupiter enables Mercury to see this. People with a highly developed sixth chakra are able to see the future, and that gives them a great sense of purpose and understanding. They really see things around them and lose the feeling of insecurity about what might happen. With Jupiter, all fears of Saturn and the unknown disappear. It provides visions, finds purpose and allows a person to receive what they ask for. It connects us with a new world and with everything that exists in the world of Saturn, the world of time. Moreover, what lives in time are the codes of destiny. In past and future time there exists everything that might happen, everything that comes our way in the form of circumstances, so Jupiter allows us to change things, to communicate with ourselves in past or future time, and thus change our destiny. This energy center is the higher level of Mercury that, actually, grows into Jupiter. Their communication represents the communication of Mercury with the field of knowledge, its evolutionary phase in which it becomes the higher Self. A student spontaneously becomes a teacher by vibrating in the same way in which the sixth energy center vibrates, because knowledge is not transferred through words, but through vibra177
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tion. The way in which the sixth chakra breathes is the way in which Mercury receives knowledge, and when Mercury starts breathing in the same way, it becomes knowledge, taking on that vibration and opening up a channel through which we can easily see the future, understand things and our place in relation to our ancestors, the times in which we live in and our past and future incarnations. These are very important and big things for us. Jupiter is a blessing on all levels, so if a person has a hard life path, Jupiter is the one that will help, by clearing the dark clouds of worry, hopelessness and depression, and enabling the manifestation of what’s needed. This chakra is the main carrier, the main link between our worlds and, like the other chakras, it vibrates on four levels within all of us. On the Air level, Jupiter is very open to the mental influence that is linked to a multitude of ideas. In order for Jupiter to be whole, energy needs to flow through all four levels, so it is not enough for us to live it only within the field of our ideas and aspirations, but it needs to be expressed on the level that knows its purpose, and that level is connected to the element of Fire, as well as the level in which it can feel. On the Water level, it represents our inner contact with someone we are in relationship with, whether that is a teacher or anyone we have a relationship with. On the Earth level, there exists a need for Jupiter to manifest things, because it is connected to the sign Taurus. We cannot have complete knowledge unless we have a Jupiter with a good flow on all four levels of existence. When Jupiter is afflicted in the element in which it is placed, this primarily speaks of a nature we need to maybe work on, since Jupiter is connected with that element, feeds from it and receives all other influences through it. However, its memory about various elements can be problematic, so it is necessary to look at the dispositor’s placement as well as its progressions and transits. It is always necessary to study its basic, natal energy, but in different periods of life any of its energy levels can be activated, depending on various factors. On all of its four energy levels, Jupiter represents a higher being that we carry inside ourselves. It should be whole and strong, because then it enables us to change our destiny. When a person lives their Dharma, their purpose, they manage to change all that is contained within the sphere of Saturn, to communicate with their ancestors and to change things in time. Clear visions give them a sense of lightness, things can get materi178
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alized and they start living their knowledge. How much purpose they can live depends on the quantity of knowledge that is awakened at the Jupiter level. The ultimate knowledge that comes from this chakra is about the truth always being expressed as beauty, and that there cannot exist a truth which is not at the same time beautiful. In other words, if something is beautiful, it must be true. This is a very high level of Jupiter’s existence, and it leads us into completely different worlds, redesigning the whole concept of Mercury’s worldview, finding greater purpose to everything. When Jupiter is awake, people can see and really live their knowledge. Jupiter always speaks about greatness, since it is great itself. It wants to tell us that bigger is always better. It tends to expand everything as much as possible, and then it can have a very relative perspective. Its consciousness is not limited to a small form. It has to “go big.” This is its important function. Therefore, whenever we need to “lift” a person, to give them a sense of purpose, some spiritual or very basic optimism, it is very good to give them some of Jupiter’s essences. When we work with Jupiter, it helps. Just as all Angels come when summoned, everything that flows through Jupiter works in the same way. It is a fine prayer to a being we carry inside ourselves, and all prayers are directed to it – our sixth energy center.
Three Levels of Jupiter Manifestation
The physical manifestation of Jupiter is primarily connected to the sense of sight. The sixth energy center is located between the eyes and it represents inner vision, so any imbalance can affect our sense of sight in a variety of ways. Although it might appear to us that cataracts are quite normal at a certain age, it is necessary to ask what causes this problem and what it is most directly linked to. If we closely study a person who experiences vision problems, we will notice that there are some things they do not want to see, so they get what they wanted because they had a deep need to turn a blind eye on something around them. The causes can be different, but regardless of whether it is some person they do not want to see, or it is himself or herself aging or anything else in their physical reality that they do not want to face, these types of problems are always linked to the Jupiter energy center. It has a strong need for happiness and if a person cannot find it within their surroundings, Jupiter will make it possible for them not to notice it. There are people who, at some point, 179
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start diminishing their sight in order to activate their inner vision, so we have a lot of examples of people who went blind in order to activate another kind of mission that we can call intuition. The term “clairvoyance” nicely illustrates this characteristic of the Jupiter energy center, because what we have here is a strong activation of clear inner sight. Even if we speak of people who consciously want to develop this center, we will see that in most cases they need to close their eyes in order to make a connection to their inner sight. Another possible problem on the physical level is suffering from headaches. They are sometimes very strange and these people see colors in front of their eyes. This is often a migraine, and the sinuses are linked to this, although we primarily look at them through Uranus. Additionally, nightmares and lucid dreams are connected to this center, as well as all messages we receive through dreams. This is where the pituitary gland is located. It consists of two parts, the first being responsible for lactation after child birth and the concentration of water in bodily fluids, clearly linked to the exaltation of Jupiter in Cancer. Its second part is called “the Command Center,” since it controls the overall system of glands in our body. The original name of this chakra in Sanskrit is Ajna, which means “recognition” or “control.” We see that this pertains to the gland that controls the functioning of all the other glands, so we can easily recognize how our own attitudes dictate our reality in the same way. How things stand on the emotional and mental level will be how things stand on the physiological level as well. Therefore, it is clear that our beliefs have an influence on all of our other energy centers. On the other hand, the phenomenon of recognition that is linked to this center is very interesting, because it is described as an ability to see things “behind the veil,” behind illusion and deception, behind the obvious. The ability to see what is behind things – as if we have X-ray vision to see inside a person and recognize their heart center and aura – allows us to know what they are talking about. The real state of a person is hidden behind their appearance, clothing and hairdo. This center is linked to our inner light, with the ability to see other people as a light of different colors when we close our eyes. It is the light of all possible frequencies. The level of emotional manifestation and its imbalance can best be understood if we remember that Jupiter’s fall is in Capricorn. This very fact is connected with its emotional manifestation. The Cancer/Capri180
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corn axis is our emotional axis, and these two signs are in relationship, so even if these two different emotional natures are being expressed in different ways, primarily we are talking about the emotional part of us. Jupiter’s fall in Capricorn illustrates its greatest possible emotional problems, because it speaks of hopelessness and the loss of purpose that a person can experience. They can find it hard to live without certain things, but the hardest thing is to live without hope and the hardest blow can be the idea that things do not have purpose or meaning. If the native does not find meaning, they essentially give up on themselves and their life, so even if they continue to exist on the physical level, they believe that their life is lost and that it will never be better. When people have hope and this center is alive, everything has purpose and the inner light shines, so life becomes different. If there is an imbalance on the mental level of Jupiter, it can be very pronounced and holds a lot of energy that fails to descend to the lower energy centers. This is when a person has a lot of ideas that fail to manifest in reality. People can be overwhelmed with ideas and feel deep disappointment because they cannot figure out why they do not manifest. In addition, if this center is very open, people can be overwhelmed with dreams and messages, but they tend to be too confusing. When this center is closed on the mental plane, people lack vision and cannot imagine how things will look in the future, so they keep trying to find a mental solution for it, being unable to see the bigger picture. They use their logical mind too much and cannot predict even the slightest thing, like how their apartment will look if they paint it a certain color, or how the dress they want to make from a certain fabric will end up looking. People who are capable of seeing the end result of things in the future are called visionaries. Even when we are talking about very small things, these people can clearly see what things will look like in their final form. As Jupiter is a remedy for a Mercury under pressure from Saturn, it is useful to work with it when students and children have learning problems. If the lessons are too hard, Jupiter can make learning easy, with greater attention, enjoyment and meaning. The awakening of Jupiter not only improves concentration, but also activates the desire to learn, and that improves the speed and longevity of memory. When there is an imbalance in Jupiter’s energy, we start to forget, we become confused and our concentration is weak. This is the center in which we connect with our 181
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Teacher, and when the Teacher is weak, Saturn tires Mercury and creates heaviness, transferring it then further to the Moon and all the other centers. Jupiter is the one that helps the entire sky above Mercury be light.
Jupiter’s Element Assistants
In addition to the basic essence for Jupiter, which is key for its effect, we will use Californian essences for connecting Jupiter with the Air element, Australian essences to connect it to the Fire element, Bach essences to connect it to the Water element, and South African essences to connect it to the Earth element.
Californian essences Australian essences
Blackberry
A IR
FIRE
Angelsword
Planetary essence for Jupiter
Bach essences South African essences
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Agrimony
WATER E A RT H
Strelitzia
Jupiter - Balance and Healing
Jupiter in Air Signs - Blackberry (Californian Essence)
The Californian flower essence used for balancing Jupiter on the Air level is Blackberry. This essence has the role to help a Jupiter that has a lot of ideas that it cannot bring into reality, so it will allow a person to start manifesting and living them. This level of Jupiter’s activity can make people so highly mental that they fail to connect with practical, living things. Gemini, as one of the Air signs, speaks of the essential exile of Jupiter, so although it can be placed in Aquarius or Libra, we are talking about the Air level which slowly separates people from reality and leaves them in concepts and theories which fail to materialize. These are often people who have a lot of energy in the sixth chakra, but it does not circulate properly through their bodies, so goals fail to become concrete and are never put into practice. Everything seems “too high” and there is no feeling that it is possible to bring them down into physical reality. People can be full of great ideas and knowledge, but lack feeling in their bodies, from which they feel completely separated. This leads them into an unrealistic realm. It is as if Heaven and Earth are separated in their lives. Mental energy is often strong here, but the body is weak, especially the legs, so the focus seems to move toward the future, toward descendants, while the ancestors and the feeling of real grounding are not present. In order for these people to be able to live from their Jupiter, they need to find a certain balance. Blackberry essence helps move this energy first toward the solar plexus, and then down the legs, making people feel greater inner strength and the ability to take action in the real world, recognizing spiritual values in the everyday world. Heaven needs to be connected to Earth and spirituality needs to be lived. We should always have in mind that Jupiter is very prone to theoretical study and can easily detach people from everyday living, from the feeling and application of the knowledge they carry within themselves. The goal of Jupiter is to live its knowledge and this is the thing that especially needs to be brought into balance. This essence has a very fast effect, just like all the other Californian essences, and it is especially useful when people are “all over the place” – starting with one idea, but finding so many new ones that they fail to make real even one of them. Blackberry essence helps stop this inflow of ideas, and provides grounding. 183
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Jupiter in Fire Signs - Angelsword (Australian Essence)
When we talk about Jupiter in the Fire element, we have one very special essence called Angelsword (“angel’s sword,” but it can also be read as “angel’s word”). It has an effect on the level of visions, connection with spiritual guidance and higher Self, and it works to clear things that are contained within visions, but are foggy and unclear. Jupiter in Fire has a strong angelic influence, because angels work from the Fire level and have a very positive, strong, purifying contact. Jupiter does not have any negative dignities in the signs of this element, but it has its rulership in Sagittarius. Therefore, it is strong here and has a very dominant and direct energy. This is the essence that opens us up for messages and knowledge, so it allows us to get a clear vision and pure mind when defining things. Therefore, negative trends and influences are easily removed, especially if people are carrying some kind of trauma, problem, or damaged aura. Everything that has collected in our field and is generating fog in our inner vision, gets cleared with this essence. Its energy is linked with the symbol of the sword, so this essence is for achieving one’s own spiritual truth, cutting through the confusion and disinformation. It helps people differentiate between various levels of truth in channeled messages. Therefore, if the truth needs to be established, if knowledge needs to be identified, as well as the path that it leads us on, this is the essence that will help us do it. On the Fire level we can gain access to our past lives and enjoy their gifts. In essence, every gift we have is developed through this channel, as if it were a string of light connecting us to our previous incarnations. The greatest quality of Jupiter is that it unites two incarnations and creates a platform for this person to become higher being. Angelsword protects people from outer influences and entities so they can receive information from their higher Selves without distraction. We should always know that the Fire of Jupiter is the most direct point through which we can connect with the world of angels, which is located in the very center of Anahata – at 15° Cancer. Since this is the exact point of Jupiter’s exaltation, its Fire nature is in contact with the astral universe, because Fire in Water is the place through which we can communicate with our higher Self. This 184
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gives hope and meaning, so this essence is good for anyone who wants to get to know their higher level. It is not enough to just receive information, because if we have truth, it must be expressed in our lives and must be alive. This is probably the most important task of Jupiter, but it first needs to become strong on all of its energy levels. The Angelsword essence is especially important for people who are open and have the ability to channel and receive knowledge, especially if series 9 and 12 are emphasized in their natal charts, often afflicted. There exist an open field and aura here, and that allows things to enter the field easily, so we use this essence to clean the aura from energies that dwell there, and later we will use the essence Fringed Violet, which we will discuss more when we talk about Neptune, since its task is to heal damage and openings in the aura.
Jupiter in Water Signs - Agrimony (Bach Essence)
On the Water level we use the Bach essence Agrimony. This is the essence we already mentioned as very useful for challenging aspects between Venus and Jupiter. Water is the element in which Jupiter is the strongest, since it is in its rulership in Pisces, and in its exaltation in Cancer. Since it has no negative dignity in Scorpio, it is very strong when connected with Water. This essence is recommended for people who give up their path in order to avoid solving problems, and try to hide their desires and feelings, maintaining an image of being carefree and happy, even if it is just a mask that they never take off. When Jupiter is imbalanced in this element, it can try too hard to present itself as more passionate and active than it really is, as if it does not recognize the element it is in. Jupiter in Pisces is quiet and transfers its knowledge in silence. Only Jupiter in Fire has the most direct enthusiasm. The idea of Jupiter in Pisces, and in Water in general, is to do well in transmitting information and to create a good channel. It needs a strong inner connection, the feeling of leadership, but quietly contained within. It is as if we are talking about a Teacher inside us. When it is threatened, people need to get support in order to recognize it, or else they will be overwhelmed with the worries that Saturn brings to Mercury, so everything will seem to be very hard. 185
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This essence clears tension and helps us face problems instead of hiding them from everybody, ourselves included. This is why it is recommended to clients who do not know what they want or do not know how to respond to concrete questions about themselves. It is typical for Jupiter in Pisces to not know, because it needs to understand every piece of information in order to live its knowledge, so if they do not accept that the mental level of understanding is not the level that can be applied, an imbalance occurs. These people need to let go of attempts to mentally understand, and accept that Jupiter needs to be lived, that knowledge needs to be lived, in order to get themselves back into balance. It is people with a Water Jupiter imbalance who will experience things they don’t understand as their own problem.
Jupiter in Earth Signs - Strelitzia (South African Essence)
The South African essence we use for an imbalance of Jupiter on the Earth level is Strelitzia. Jupiter is in the worst possible dignities in this element, since it is in detriment in Virgo and in fall in Capricorn. The only place that “belongs” to it here is the sign of Taurus, where it is capable of becoming concrete and establishing a connection with matter. In most cases, the things it draws from the Earth element seem strange to it, so life for a person with such a Jupiter often seems gloomy. This is the energy level of a Jupiter that is in contact with the fifth energy center, so that the basic enthusiasm and positive vision that Mercury should see is unrecognizable to a person when their Jupiter is weak. The vision is not clear and feels like it is missing something, so things appear to be very gloomy. This is the essence that stimulates the power of will, bringing clear intentions, beliefs, inner knowing and decisiveness to clear out any stagnation. When people do not have a clear vision of their purpose, they do not know where to turn, they become fainthearted and feel like outer conditions are pressuring them, since without this great leadership, they try to resolve everything through their small Mercury. When we lack leadership, we feel weak, we lack the will and enthusiasm for higher levels. The good thing about Jupiter in the Earth element is its connection with Taurus where it has the potential to materialize in a very concrete way, but it can also be problematic in this element, too. Quite often, de186
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spite their relationship with the material world, these people lack their own will or vision and simply do not know where to go next. With this essence, they stop seeing the world as a place full of constant problems, so they find their own creative solutions and ideas. Our first contact with Jupiter is through its Earth element and this is the most direct way to reach it. Strelitzia is also used in spiritual rituals for connecting with teachers, because it is of utmost importance to connect to what is above us. If we look at a person as Mercury that develops towards its higher Self, the first contact is a good connection with this part of Jupiter’s energy, i.e., with its Earth element.
The Complete Process of Jupiter Healing
In addition to the planetary Jupiter essence, which primarily gets this planet into balance on the level of inner stability (the Yin level), for complete healing we need to develop balance on the level of outer expression (the Yang level) and then establish the stability of both of these principles through a gemstone.
The key animal essence for Jupiter is Eagle, and its gemstone is Sapphire.
The Eagle essence - Yang Level of Jupiter
The animal essence of Eagle enables the opening of the sixth energy center, i.e., the Jupiter chakra. The Eagle is a bird of Zeus and represents the potential for a person to rise above all things and look at things from a wider perspective. It is capable of looking from high up, so this essence provides the consciousness necessary for things to be seen in a better way and for a person to realize how everything is accessible and possible. The Eagle not only sees everything, but also can reach and take what it needs, able to achieve whatever it wants. In all traditions, not just the Greek, the Eagle is recognized as a bird of the gods and its essence is closely related to our ability to open up and expand our own consciousness. It allows us to see things we never imagined. It is as if a person used to have an idea about what they wanted, but it is only after they ascend into this energy state that they can realistically look at things and act accordingly. Since this is an animal essence, it will not dwell in the field of imagination and visualization, but we will 187
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take the concrete action needed to achieve what we want. Animals do not discern between the intellectual world and what is actually happening in life (the real energy), and the Eagle teaches us that we have what we see, that we can take whatever we need and that we should be free to embark on any path in life. This essence develops our vision and ability to see the future. It is used with people who are too attached to personal achievements or problems from the material plane, closing their upper centers and blocking themselves off from having a vision of success. Eagle enables us to open up for visions and inner sight in order to recognize things clearly and detect other people’s auras. It will definitely allow us to see what we need and create it, depending on the symbolism of our own personal Jupiter.
Gemstone: Sapphire
Since this is Jupiter’s chakra, this essence awakens our loyalty to divine purpose. This gemstone has been known for centuries as “Zeus’ Stone,” because it is claimed that, when he did not know what to do with Earthlings who disrespected him, this stone gave him calmness and showed him his function on Heaven and his function on Earth. It is said that Zeus resolved his dilemma by stepping on this stone with both of his feet, and thus discovered a vision about what he should do next. In addition, Sapphire is also known as “the Protection Stone.” In cost and value it is right behind the diamond and is considered special because it is believed that, if it is worn, there is no chance that a person can be arrested or slandered, and that nothing bad can happen to them. It was also thought that witches and women who had the power to see the future drew their powers from sapphire, also using it to see future events in it. This is the reason that it is also called “the Witch’s Stone.” In our energy work, this essence helps the synchronization of a person’s energy system with their higher goal, strengthening their sense of purpose on Earth. It helps them discern between illusion and knowledge, to see the light more clearly, and it helps them in meditation, expanding their consciousness and clairvoyance. Sapphire carries the potential of our personal stability when choosing the path we need to travel, and it activates the positive quality of life purpose. If people have been without a sense of purpose for a long time, they start suffering and the whole 188
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structure of life is endangered, so it is very important to create a stable feeling through this chakra. Ultimately, this is the center through which we connect with the ability to enjoy life – through the nature of Venus – since the sixth energy center circulates with the second center (Jupiter with Venus). Therefore, if this center is not strong, people cannot find joy, can’t see the meaning in things, and that robs them of the feelings of satisfaction and worthiness that should be lived through Venus. This essence helps with headaches, eye problems, epilepsy, distraction, insomnia and nightmares. It is especially effective in treating mental disorders and clearing all sorts of “problems in one’s head,” giving people mental stability. The stone is always the quality that represents the common denominator of all things on the planet that are linked to a certain chakra and the nature that we need to balance out. This is certainly a stone that strongly links Jupiter (purpose) with its nature on planet Earth.
Assistants for Challenging Aspects of Jupiter • Jupiter and Saturn in Challenging Aspect • (opposition, square, quincunx, semi-square and sometimes the conjunction)
- Yin level Bach essence: Gorse - Yang level Animal essence 1: Wildebeest (for healing Jupiter from a challenging relationship with Saturn) Animal essence 2: Moose (for healing Saturn from a challenging relationship with Jupiter) The essence we use on the Yin level when Jupiter and Saturn are in a challenging aspect is Gorse. This flower was known as a signpost for Roman travelers who consulted it in order to know where to go. It was believed that it showed them where the weather would be warmer. Although this is a Bach essence, its effect is very fast. It is also called “The Sun in a Glass” or “The Light at the End of the Tunnel.” It is given to people who feel strong ambivalence. On the one hand, there is a great need for happiness and optimistic behavior, but on the other hand it all turns into powerful sadness, and even desperation and hopelessness, if their hopes do not come true. 189
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These people give up because they go to extremes, believing that some higher power is preventing them from acting, that they have tried everything and that there is nothing left to be done. This is a typical state that people who suffer from incurable diseases find themselves in, but with this aspect it need not be so dramatic for them to feel bad. It is as if a sense of purposelessness and strong pessimism can appear out of nowhere, or is prompted by the slightest thing that is not so obvious and therefore it seems unreal that it could have caused so much hopelessness and despair. Regardless of the fact that these people can see that the problem is not so big, they simply get overwhelmed and it can feel very heavy for them. Sometimes it is the big plans they failed to realize that cause this state, but this still might not appear so tragic to other people. This essence enables us to achieve a balance between these two energies, between Jupiter and Saturn, in order for a person to live without plans or expectations, believing that there is a bigger and better plan for them, which will naturally happen to them. It is as if Jupiter gets an opportunity to live with Saturn, because Saturn is our higher leadership and the seventh center is our spiritual chakra, so this is where our life and hope are sustained, but without any deadlines or plans. The person here gets to learn one bigger spiritual story, and as long as they try to control, plan and determine things, the plans will go south. The connection of these upper centers is very spiritual and when they are connected, a person should learn how to link to their intuition and higher guidance. Therefore, even if they do not plan things in the usual way, the purpose is present in the very fact that plans are not unfolding as envisioned. It is necessary for these people to understand that a deeper purpose and meaning is contained within it. This essence brings back hope and the desire for really living, instead of a person just physically existing without any sense of meaning. Since it once looked like Saturn was blocking Jupiter and the hopes of achieving their wishes, these people can now find purpose again, even if their plans will not materialize in a typical way. Direction can be found once another kind of control is established, i.e., when a person starts following what the Universe throws their way. This is when the spasm loosens up and they realize that they are a unique and perfect part of the Universe. They stop resisting and they realize that they are always in the right place at the right time. When this happens, we start receiving everything that fulfills 190
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our purpose of being here, while our obstacles become opportunities. However, this does not happen easily, because Jupiter wants something, but has the impression that circumstances (Saturn) do not allow it to achieve what was planned. Until a person stops resisting, they will have a feeling of despair and hopelessness, and this is the great spiritual lesson of these two centers. This essence is also called “The Light at the End of the Tunnel” because there is always a purpose, as well as a reason why we needed to travel along the path we could not see very well.
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Blackberry
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Aspects
Strelitzia
Eagle
(Animal Essence)
Yang level
- respective planet Wildebeest
Gorse
Yang level 1
(Bach Essence)
Yin level
Moose
respective planet -
Yang level 2
Sapphire
(Gem Stone Essence)
Yin - Yang stabilization
Assistants for Challenging Aspects of Jupiter
Earth (South African Essence)
Fire Angelsword (Australian Essence) Planetary essence for the Jupiter Water Agrimony (Bach Essence)
Air (Californian Essence)
(Flower Essence)
Yin level
The Complete Process of Jupiter Healing
AstroHealing
Saturn - Balance and Healing
Planetary Essences and their Assistants
SATURN
Balance and Healing
The planetary influence of Saturn manifests through the energy center located at the very top of the head. From there – as if from the top of a mountain – it opens up the native to the vast space of Heaven. This chakra represents “the crown” which, if a person reaches it, enables them to exit the karmic cycle by bringing all time (Chronos) from previous incarnations into balance and enables them to open up and energetically travel through any time. The native exists in all times, not just in one, so it is possible to establish a direct link to their “Self ” in any future, as well as in the past, and bring them into one whole. In any natal chart, Saturn will be the point of measuring one’s balance. It measures the state of correctness. The balance of our equation of life, our cause and effect, is measured by the precise scales of Saturn. This is where the feelings of either heaviness or lightness of life events come from, so if we feel that something is difficult, that is always a sign that we should come back to ourselves, turn inward and rest within our field of silence. If we feel lightness, we open up to new levels of being and we gain the possibility of achieving higher states within ourselves. Saturn is the last visible planet and the final level of energy within the set of links that exist between our physical and ethereal bodies. Saturn rules the seventh chakra that observes everything happening below it, so has the overall picture of the balance of life experiences. This chakra is always in strong relationship with the first chakra, which is our primary link to the Earth. Saturn rules gravity and regulates all karma in relation to the core pull of the Earth. On the other hand, Mars is the energy that arises from that core, and these two natures are in constant connection. If there is a good relationship between Mars and Saturn, between the plan193
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ets themselves or the appropriate houses, and not only at the level of the chart, but at the level of the native’s life and consciousness as well – this is the energy thread that enables a person to have a good relationship with their field of ancestors, their field of energy, and, in the most basic sense, with the whole field of karma. Mars is the primary representative of the first chakra, which links us to the Earth, but here it is actually represented through its exaltation in the sign Capricorn. It links us to the Earth because of the quality of its exaltation in an Earth sign, and this is the sign that Saturn naturally rules. Saturn is located at the end of one thread, at the top of the head, and it is exalted in Libra, so the final connection of Saturn here is with the element of Air. Saturn is completely impartial and, generally speaking, the seventh chakra is a completely impartial part of us that contains the totality of justice and the nature of things that are the reason for our existence on Earth – those that we need to balance out and correct, those that are the task of this incarnation. From here, it measures all karma and has an overview of what is going on in the other energy centers. Its goal is to establish a balance between Heaven and Earth, i.e., to connect and completely unify all the differences we carry inside ourselves. It wants to establish peace among the ancestors as well as communication with all of them in order to bring all the planets into one whole. It is the equation that reads: all that is on the left side must equal what is on the right, or, cause equals effect. It is the lord of the rings. Saturn rules over all destiny, but its beginning and end are in the core of the Earth because it rules the gravity that arises from there, so its permanent place of rulership is at the level of the first chakra. The consciousness of humans is so special precisely because the first chakra – which is connected with the Earth – at the same time has its representative at the highest level of the seventh chakra, which is not the case in the animal kingdom. The task of the seventh center is to revive energy from the Earth and find the balance that needs to connect everything inside of us. Saturn wants to satisfy the ancestors before it connects us with any higher level of energy. The energy of the seventh center leans on the sixth chakra with its lower part, i.e., on the energy of Jupiter, while it connects with the eighth chakra and the energy of Uranus with its upper part. Here we have to 194
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keep in mind the fact that Saturn had a serious problem with Uranus, his father, and that this problem was transferred to the son – Jupiter. Saturn is positioned between them, so it carries the image of an error or a problem that needs to be resolved in order for balance to return. It contains our inner need to correct and balance things, and it always strives towards the sign Libra in which it is exalted. Its rulership is in line with the deep core Air of the Earth, because it is connected with an Earth sign, with gravity Fire and the source of an intelligence that is unique. Libra rules gravity Water and it is thanks to gravity that we Earth can measure the weight of things. Therefore, Saturn has a connection with the Earth and gravity on one hand, and it strives to correct the equation on the other. Until it makes these sides equal, it will lead us from life to life and keep revealing the secret through the manifestation of events in time. This need to correct things and to improve relationships between the ancestors lives in our seventh chakra in the form of a task. If relations were difficult, a person has a problematic Saturn. However, if this is something they inherited, they are above all tired. The tiredness that an afflicted Saturn carries with it is what lowers the quality of all the other chakras, as well as everything else in life and, ultimately, it lowers the level of consciousness. This is when the quality of everything that happens is endangered, because a problematic Saturn is like a burden that stands on top of one’s head and pressures the whole axis and all the other planets that are below it. When Saturn is heavy, all the other planets become heavy. Therefore, this stone we carry must be a diamond, must be completely perfect and strong enough to connect us with higher levels. For Saturn to even be
Phase 2
Phase 1
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able to connect to his father, with Uranus, with the energy that is above him, he first needs to connect with what is below him – with Jupiter. Jupiter is the foundation on which Saturn stands. The importance of Saturn is huge. It is the software of life, the Law of Karma. If we want this karma to be light, Jupiter’s chakra must be strong and must function well. Saturn hands over its burden to Jupiter, while Jupiter hands over lightness to Saturn. This is the core of their relationship, and the task of that relationship is to cleanse and heal Saturn’s problem, whatever it might be. Therefore, whatever Saturn wants from the world above, it first needs to turn to what is below. This is why rest is the first stage of karmic purification. We need to first work on the physical body and relax in order to reach Jupiter, and then it will lead us through time to find wisdom and a guide for Saturn. Saturn needs to learn to surrender to Jupiter. When we look at the mythological basis of the Saturn-Jupiter relationship, we see that Saturn resisted “surrendering” to Jupiter because of the fear that he would take his power away. He was afraid to be replaced and robbed of his position, and this is what did happen in the end – because Saturn’s fears easily manifest when a person lacks the courage to accept the things they fear. Saturn is balanced by the acceptance of Jupiter in any life, so the only question is: will we allow the teacher to lead us and allow us to gain lightness? The lower levels of Saturn’s energy, the levels of Earth and Water, can be especially heavy because they represent tiredness on a physical and emotional level. Therefore, when we gain lightness through the relationship of Saturn and Jupiter, and when these lower levels of Saturn’s energy are liberated, the upper levels become much lighter and more accessible for us to work on. The seventh chakra is also called the crown chakra because of the upper levels of the figure eight energy of Saturn that opens us toward higher energies. When Saturn establishes a healthy balance with Jupiter, with his descendant, then balance with the ancestors can also be established. Saturn is based on the energy of Jupiter, with all the memories that dwell in it as a result of the ancestors’ conflicts, or conflicts between a father and son. In the first stage, Saturn needs to surrender and allow Jupiter to have things his way, to let Jupiter – the teacher in us – lead it in order to awaken optimism and clear the burden carried in the lower levels. In stage two it can establish a good relationship with Uranus. 196
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People carry a problem within Saturn because one ancestor did not like some other ancestor, so they left unresolved issues. This can be a problem with material things, so typically we have the image of a person who is upset because some relative received an inheritance and they didn’t, even if they fought for it. This is how a problematic picture of the Earth element is built into the lower part of Saturn, and then it will not give things easily and it will lead to poverty just because one ancestor didn’t give something to another ancestor, failing to realize that this other person is a part of him or her. It is as if a person once wanted this for another ancestor, but now has to take on his role, since they failed to realize that what they wished for another is what they wished for themselves. Saturn knows all this and carries it all within itself, so it needs relaxation, rest and surrendering in order to open the walls it built in its Earth element. It has very strong membranes that are not easy to penetrate, so it needs to hold onto certain things to feel safe. It finds it hard to develop the ability to surrender and to allow something else to lead it and change it, and this is precisely what it needs to resolve its problems. Only after this is done can stage two begin – the stage in which a person opens up toward their cosmic being and becomes able to start dealing with much deeper “problems,” connecting with its cosmic Self. The lower part of its energy needs to resolve problems with ancestors, while the upper part integrates us with the oldest cosmic ancestor, making us a completely new being. However, the first stage of Saturn requires us to resolve that which is behind us. This is simply how Saturn works. It will never go forward unless it has solved what is behind it, and this is the mechanism that should exist in every system of ours. The most important thing to Saturn is for things to be equal, neatly arranged, finished and calm, not allowing any unfinished business. It represents the “tails” – debts of all sorts – when it is not perfectly balanced, and its goal is to achieve complete balance and connection, so it will not go forward before it resolves what is behind. It is positioned between two planets that want to go forward – Jupiter and Uranus – in order to create something new. Jupiter has great ideas and visions and wants to do more and better, while Uranus can open the universe for it. Saturn agrees to that, but only once all the ancestral business is settled. This is why we need Saturn to become a diamond, a perfect crystal that is the image of a perfect civilization. It is one system, one society and needs to make everything perfect 197
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in the field of relationships – and that is a very complex task. This is needed in order for a jump to be made from Jupiter to Uranus, so Saturn is the cosmic stone we are looking for, the philosopher’s stone that needs to be completely pure and transparent so that answers for all ancestors can be seen in it, and in order for everybody to be able to look at it and find a solution. To achieve this, it must find itself in its exaltation sign of Libra, i.e., it must have that perfect balance that connects all the ancestors. In that regard, the role of Saturn in our life is two-fold. First, it connects us with all the ancestors from planet Earth, and then it connects us with the oldest ancestor who does not originate from here – with Uranus. And always in that sequence. A person who is in good balance with Saturn and does not have any conflicts within their inner being, who is relaxed and rested, has enough time and carries a certain light flow and peace within themselves. They work harmoniously, they are satisfied with their lives, and this is when the crown chakra opens up toward the Universe. If there is no balance here, they are closed because of a problem with some debt, and their inner scales are still not balanced. This is why this chakra, as well as the chart position of Saturn, represent one of the most demanding and most important things in life, since they require balance which opens up the gate of enlightenment. A well-balanced Saturn chakra brings people into a state in which there are no health, material or social problems, in which there are no relationship problems. Whatever the situation is, Saturn does not recognize it as a problem because it has everything it needs. This is a special art form. Some people have relatively little, but don’t feel like they lack anything. That relativity is key for Saturn so, if people learn how to be relatively easy with things, i.e., things that are relatively heavy, they will be able achieve the balance that will reconcile opposites within themselves. When this burden is present on the Water and Earth levels, it will manifest through tiredness and depression, as if it is always cloudy and they feel heavy. On the Air and Fire levels, Saturn tends to worry, to have problems accepting responsibility and always thinks that other people are responsible for what happens to him. A well-balanced Saturn is responsible for all things in life, takes on everything, and that gives him the ability to change his destiny. In this way, it has all of Jupiter and from there opens up to Uranus. 198
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Three Levels of Saturn Manifestation
On the physical level, an imbalance of the seventh energy center will primarily manifest as tiredness. This is not tiredness in the classical sense, which is connected with Mars and results from intense training that has exhausted us. Saturn gives us the feeling of being tired of life, tired of too many thoughts, projections, questions about what should have been and never was. This is chronic tiredness that makes people feel they can’t control their life, that obstacles keep appearing, that things get postponed, and so on. People feel that freedom will come eventually, because Saturn wants to go to Uranus, but they always have one more thing to do or finish before that moment comes. We should all rest because rest changes consciousness. This state cannot be achieved by making positive affirmations, because when people feel really tired, they cannot rest by doing more exercises. Affirmations can be additional methods for strengthening the physical body, but sometimes the system needs to be “reset” and people need to deeply enter into peace and silence. When we lack the opportunity to sleep in order to rest, meditation is an excellent technique of the seventh chakra that allows us to temporarily dive into silence and enter our seventh center without any thoughts. When we free ourselves from thoughts, we allow ourselves to open up within our seventh center and connect with the cosmos, with prana, with the peace of the unified field, awakening the awareness that we are a part of a perfect universe. We start engaging with that feeling effortlessly, so the rest we need can be achieved in only ten minutes, regardless of whether we are surrounded by noise or if our chair is uncomfortable. People exert too much effort, and even when they meditate, they do the same. However, the seventh center teaches us that it is time to stop trying to control everything. This is perhaps both the easiest and the hardest thing, because pressure is present: between the upper level that we have reached but cannot pass, and the field that wants to connect with us, there exists an iron gate that does not allow energy to go from one side to the other. The feeling of pressure arises because both energy flows want to pass through, so we can feel as if we are between two forces that press upon us: one wants to get out of us, while the other wants to enter. When we allow our will to stop dominating, when we stop worrying what will 199
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happen in the future and what happened in the past, this iron gate opens up and it leads us to an unbelievably healthy physiological condition and the feeling of rest in the body. Saturn also leads to the feeling of coldness, one that can be felt in the bones. In addition, any sort of bone problems are connected with this center, such as rheumatism, pain in the joints or knees, or anything connected with our skeleton. Memory is also linked to Saturn, because it is part of the axis of the sign of Cancer and Capricorn. Since it gives rigidity to the body, it can lead to the hardening of blood vessels, making them inflexible and rigid, which can eventually lead to dementia and senility, preventing people from remembering things. During the time of the Chiron return (around age 50-51) a problematic Saturn can lead to hair loss that is strongly connected to the fear of aging. When talking to clients with this kind of problem, we can often notice how they keep talking about some memories from their younger days, how they feel the passage of time and are at a loss as to what is in front of them, feeling burdened with the feeling that life is ephemeral. They cannot see that what has passed will never return, and are unable to see what is yet to happen. The Chiron return is just one possible trigger for this, because this phase of life requires them to face Saturn. However, Saturn problems can be triggered in other ways, too. From Uranus’ point of view, we are babies and can always start a completely new life, but if we are not prepared for it, we will keep looking back and going into the negative story of Saturn with Jupiter, a story where purpose is lost, things disappear and nothing new comes along. This is simply a fear of aging and it often appears during the crossroad periods of life, when the transits require us to reassess our inner system. People should realize that things have passed, but that there is some new, wonderful story in front of them, so they can reinvent themselves. There are many cases in which people, especially women, open up only in their fifties and then became important figures in some field, achieve unbelievable things in life and free themselves from old patterns and fears. There always exists a need to really liberate ourselves, to live that moment we have been waiting for. We will either get stuck in this process or will simply take a leap and liberate the Self.
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An emotional imbalance of Saturn can manifest either because its center is too open and the person is not grounded enough, or because its center is too rigid and closed. Since Saturn needs to first connect with Jupiter, on the emotional level its problems will initially appear as apathy and depression. There is a feeling that life has no meaning, so people enter the emotional state we often call “the dark night of the Soul,” when they feel like they have hit rock bottom and life cannot get any worse. The state of depression is a phase that is sometimes necessary for progress; it is not a goal in itself, but it has a purpose and is necessary for the Soul to enter a new cycle, to enter Uranus. Depression is a stage before awakening, the darkest night before the dawn, before the creation of something new. Unfortunately, people sometimes cannot find someone who will understand that and to whom they feel close enough to allow them to be their guide to a place from which they can make a big leap. Medication used for “treating” depression – various anti-depressants – actually freeze the problem instead of solving it. They have a lot of fluoride in them, and fluoride attracts calcium and leads to the calcification of the pineal gland. This masks the transient state, so people do not suffer as much, but they stay where they are and have no opportunities to make further progress. On the other hand, Saturn’s barrier can be violently broken and teenagers often get themselves in a state they cannot control by consuming too much alcohol. In a great many cases young people are hospitalized for psychosis – a state of reality completely breaking down. What we have here is a violent opening up of this center, i.e., people did not achieve insights and open up to other worlds through a natural development of consciousness. Since their physiology is too sensitive, such an opening causes a so-called psychotic episode in which they see ghosts, entities from some other world or strange things they cannot explain. The majority of young people who experience this recover and never have a similar problem in their life, but in some people who are naturally very open and weakly grounded, this can become a chronic problem. Physiology is gradually built and sometimes, during the process of incarnation, when people are powerfully connected with their guides, they seem not to incarnate completely and they fail to fully connect to the Earth. If such people start doing some spiritual work, they easily completely detach from reality, because they lack the strong grounding that is needed for us to be 201
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able to open up to higher levels of consciousness. Shamans often avoid giving certain plants that open up this center to people who they estimate are not grounded enough, because it can simply do them no good. The opposite thing happens when people are very connected to their lower energy centers and completely closed in the upper ones. These people are skeptical and dogmatic, they need to have their own rules because they are not connected to the cosmos and they simply strive for dogma. They can find it in church, science or any set of rules that they then hold onto mentally. These are not people who have found higher meaning, but people who take it for granted that rules exist. They are not connected with their higher quality, from where they would be spontaneously connected with everything that exists. People with this problem cause the disconnection by insisting on certain rules of behavior. Generally speaking, we can divide people into idealists and materialists. However, neither of them is completely right, because this division speaks of a division between the first and the seventh energy centers. If we have incarnated, we should connect to the Earth, and it is definitely unpleasant to be incarnated and not connected to the upper spheres. This center balances rest, regardless of the way in which people can achieve it. Meditation is one technique that connects us with this field, mostly because it allows us to stop making an effort. The more tiredness we feel, the more effort we exert and things become heavier and heavier. When we feel rested, we need less effort and everything happens more easily. This is probably the reason we say that the morning is smarter than the evening, because things can look quite different when our physiology is rested. The knowledge we carry within Saturn’s center is the ability to surrender to this river, and we often do not let go until we are in crisis, in the state in which we have no choice but to surrender to destiny. The mental manifestation is closely linked to the mutable quality. Typically, these people think of themselves as being very spiritual, renouncing the material world – or vice versa. When there exists a Saturn imbalance on the mental plane, people are rigid, scared, and keep creating obstacles. Sometimes people with this kind of problem need to experience the break-down of their ego structure in order to finally connect with their higher nature. It is important to understand that Saturn is not the one who decides to be dogmatic or closed, but it only does that in or202
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der to establish some kind of order, find a system and protect itself from things which cannot be solved. Saturn has problems with other people only because it wants to establish a certain system that it considers to be proper; the problem arises when it becomes rigid in that effort and starts controlling others. The greatest need of this center is to let go, to stop making an effort, because Saturn needs to enter its lower energy levels, to rest and balance out its ancestors, before it can move forward. It needs to solve things without stopping being Saturn, which it would not be able to do even if it wanted to. Saturn needs structure which can be lived in time and space and which can be reconciled, so it needs to surrender to the task it carries within itself in order to purify this level of being.
Saturn’s Element Assistants
The basic planetary essence for Saturn is administered in general cases, and for connecting it with the element it is in, to integrate it on the deeper levels in a more stable way, we will add some of its element assis-
Californian essences Australian essences
Fairy Lantern
A IR
FIRE
Old Man Banksia
Planetary essence for Saturn
Bach essences South African essences
Honeysuckle
WATER E A RT H
Disa
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tants to it. Just as in previous cases, if the imbalance is linked to the Air element, we will use Californian essences; for the Fire element – Australian essences; for the Water element – Bach essences; and for the Earth element – South African essences.
Saturn in Air Signs - Fairy Lantern (Californian Essence)
When Saturn is imbalanced on its highest level of energy, the Air level, we will use the Californian essence known as Fairy Lantern. The level of Air energy of Saturn is the one touching the lower part of Uranus’ energy, so we need Saturn to be a strong base for it. However, if Saturn is problematic, it can have a mental tendency to be too high, it can have problems with manifesting things and it can be very worried. People with an imbalance on this level of Saturn’s center often stay children forever. They are immature, helpless, dependent and unable to assume responsibilities. Saturn can find it hard here to take things on, because Air is light and it does not feel natural to it to assume heavy responsibility, so people with an imbalance on this level easily give up when faced with some kind of problem. Such people become sensitive and demanding because they lack the inner strength to face the world and carry adult responsibilities. This kind of Saturn complains easily because its thoughts and words are heavy, and in time this turns into worries and other complicated states, because it is heavy for a person to keep all that heavy stuff in the light Air. This essence enables a healthy maturing process and acceptance of adult responsibilities, paired with positive integration of the inner child identity. People need to find a way to accept life circumstances, to accept Saturn in their head and thoughts in order to organize their activities without losing the lightness of the child that wants to dwell here. This position of Saturn has a strong inclination toward higher states of consciousness: Saturn is exalted in the sign Libra and has its rulership in Aquarius, and this gives it strength and quality. However, problems can easily appear if people are not grounded enough, if everything stays in their heads, in theory, and in the forms of ideas and ideals about what is and isn’t just. Saturn here easily recognizes injustice, it clearly defines and labels it, because people can’t assume responsibility and accept that they are part of the injustice they see. Even if people understand that all the circumstanc204
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es and people around them are part of their inner world, they still look at them from the outside and shift responsibility to others; they see problems in others, at the same time being aware that this is a reflection of their own grounding and connection with the core. It is necessary to enable the integration of worlds in order for these people to feel mental relief. This essence frees people from the past, enabling them to mentally mature and get out of the developmental phase they are stuck in. The past can strongly pull these people toward lower states of consciousness, creating problems in their attempts to rise up. When emotions linked to the past start showing up, everything in life becomes heavier, so even if they feel the need to travel toward Uranus, to go forward, they are still attaching themselves to memories they find important, problematic and torturous. They often think about the past, about what used to be, and this is only the way that Saturn tells us we need to connect to our ancestors and go back to a feeling, which has nothing to do with mental processes, in order to be able to move forward. The mind would like to rise above and go high, but the body can’t carry the weight; therefore, strong grounding and connection with ancestors is needed in order to balance Saturn on this level. Fairy Lantern is a very unusual plant because its head is always down, and it never completely opens up during the flowering process. It starts to rise and open up, but always stays a lowered flower bud, as if the flowering process never reaches its end. It is very interesting to link the nature of this flower to people who have such a position of Saturn, because we can recognize this sensitive nature in them: as if they are protecting themselves from the world and fail to completely rise. On the other hand, Saturn is quite strong in Air signs, it is exalted in Libra, so regardless of how fragile and sensitive this plant looks, it can grow on steep mountains and in river canyons, where few plants are able to survive. It is clear how much strength Saturn has in the Air element. There are two possible manifestations of imbalance on this level of energy. Often, we are talking about children who were somehow encouraged to stay children, as if such behavior would earn them love and attention. In this case we notice that people behave completely immaturely for their age, their facial expressions and way of speaking will be childish, and they will often have a strong need to stay young. Because of this need 205
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they might dress as teenagers in their older years, which is easily noticed as inappropriate, as it is clearly visible. Girls with this position of Saturn might have problems with the idea that they should become women, so their menstrual cycle might be absent or irregular. When strongly imbalanced, it can lead women to fasting and anorexia, because there is a strong need to keep the body of a young girl. On the other hand, some people are mentally superior and strong, but they have problems with emotional relationships – they are completely emotionally immature and stay stuck in some problematic relationship from the past. However, this Saturn is still connected with the sign Libra, so any injury on the relationship level can connect people to a certain event and result in them constantly having the feeling they are not being accepted. A typical image of this problem would be a man who did not receive the motherly acceptance he wanted, so even if he is mentally very developed, he is somehow stuck in that phase of life and in his emotional relationships with women constantly seeks to gain what he did not receive from his mother. He keeps repeating the problem in the relationship arena throughout his life, as an adult. This essence enables people to grow out of a relationship from the past and finally stop repeating the same stories in order to achieve the appropriate maturity needed to move forward in life.
Saturn in Fire Signs - Old Man Banksia (Australian Essence)
When there is a Saturn imbalance on the Fire level, we use the Australian essence Old Man Banksia. This is a very tall plant which can grow as much as 17 meters high, and it was named after Joseph Banks who was the first one to describe its role. Traditionally, it is used in combination with Makrokarpa (the element assistant for Mars in Fire signs) to raise the level of vitality. The combination of these two plants leads to a balanced mixture of the natures of Mars and Saturn. Saturn is not complementary to the element of Fire. It is in its fall in the sign of Aries, in detriment in Leo. In Sagittarius it has the most acceptable dignity, but mythology tells us that he was not in good relationship with his son Jupiter (which rules Sagittarius). In these signs, it is as if it does not know how to find a balance between activity and relaxation, so it fails to feel 206
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the ancestors and the more expansive need it carries within itself. People with Saturn in Fire become worried, frustrated and discouraged to the point of completely stopping any activity and becoming tired. This leads to low activity of the thyroid gland as well as to general tiredness and exhaustion. Fire pushes Saturn to make more effort, until the energy is completely depleted, so even if the thyroid gland is primarily linked to the fifth chakra, this is in line with the burden that Saturn can carry when it is not in a healthy balance with Jupiter. It is as if the shield is lost and people fail to recognize their own limits, which leads to complete exhaustion. Saturn needs an atmosphere of stability, quiet and peace, a feeling that it is accepted and supported, and Fire is completely opposite to this principle and easily throws it out of balance. People with this position are very reliable as a rule, they are constantly on a mission and they hide their tiredness, constantly fighting it. This feeling of tiredness leads to all other problems and eventually big worries, frustration and discouragement arise, because people lose their will and everything becomes too hard. This essence replenishes enthusiasm and interest in life, and it fills the deficiency of energy in the upper energy centers. When we say that a person is exhausted, we don’t primarily think of the physical exhaustion, but the will that is overly directed toward a certain goal, leading them to work too hard and not allowing themselves to relax. The center of the tiredness is in the upper, mental part, and it is only later, when it accumulates, that it leads to physical tiredness. Ambition is too strong, and whatever Saturn wants to achieve is being pursued with too much force; therefore, if it is not directed toward something really special, this becomes too hard for a person. Before they take any action, people with this kind of Saturn should make a deal with the ancestors in order to achieve the goal.
Saturn in Water Signs - Honeysuckle (Bach Essence)
In the case of a challenging position of Saturn in connection with the Water element, we will use the Bach essence Honeysuckle. We mentioned earlier that this essence is used as an assistant for challenging contacts between the Moon and Saturn, which directly links Saturn with the Water element. This position of Saturn typically leads the native into depression. These people carry memories of ancestors that can be particu207
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larly difficult. It is really important for people in one genetic sequence not to be too dissatisfied, because this is how the burden accumulates in the element of Water, which can lead to some very heavy problems. If Saturn is not healthy at its Water level, it can easily attract difficulties and manifest unpleasant things in life. This essence is administered to people who are pathologically nostalgic, melancholic and overly attached to the past, people who live in their memories and can’t accept current circumstances, lusting after lost happiness in this or a past life. The imbalance can lead them into endless sorrow and yearning, detaching them from reality and making them believe that life is hard and problematic. They need to free the energy on this level, because these people shut down easily, and if they wish to move forward, this Saturn is not at peace and cannot let go. At the same time, Saturn in this position can be a particularly strong channel for dealing with the issues of ancestors and balancing them out. Ultimately, this is the need that has to be fulfilled before they can move on to the next step on their path of development.
Saturn in Earth Signs - Disa (South African Essence)
The South African essence which may be the most important of all the essences from this part of the world is Disa. It is used if we have a challenging Saturn linked to the Earth element. Disa is a plant that grows on Table Mountain in South Africa and in a way represents a symbol of that part of the world. It points to the strong connection that Saturn has with the Earth element, even though it is connected to the crown chakra and exalted in an Air sign. Its rulership is in Capricorn, the sign in which Mars is exalted, so it is very important for areas that are strongly connected with the Earth element, since the natural tendency of Mars is to be exalted in Capricorn. This plant is also called “the bottom of the cross” or “the base of the cross” and is used in states of total desperation, the so-called “dark night of the Soul,” when people feel they have hit rock bottom. People with an imbalance at this level of Saturn’s energy can develop deep disappointment, discouragement, tiredness and hopelessness, seeing the future as very dark and gloomy. When Saturn is on the Earth level, it can become so heavy and rigid that it becomes unable to open up to the Air level of the Jupiter center, so people can lose hope and a 208
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sense of meaning. The stronger the connection to Earth, the more Saturn closes up and hardens in order to maintain a feeling of security. This is how it closes to Jupiter and becomes unable to see any light, anything beautiful, and this then leads to a deep state of depression. This essence brings hope, trust, lasting peace and optimism, eventually opening up the lower level of Saturn which leads to Jupiter. Only then can people start resolving relationships that they carry within their deep memories, so this essence is used for working with the Shadow and is called “the core,” because it has the power to release emotions from the Shadow and help resolve the main issues that people are facing. South African essences in general have the power to act on a very unconscious level and penetrate deeply, and this plant is especially strong, providing us with maybe the deepest connection with the field of the unconscious within us.
The Complete Healing Process of Saturn
In order to completely balance this energy, in addition to the planetary essences that balance Saturn on the Yin level, we need to balance this planet on the Yang level too (animal essences), as well as on the level of the stability of the system by balancing the Yin and Yang levels (gemstone essence). Saturn’s primary animal essence is Crow, while its gemstone essence is Diamond.
Crow Essence - Yang Level of Saturn
The Crow is a bird of Saturn which is especially important for alchemy and transformation on the path between two worlds. According to legend, Merlin the Wizard had a crow on his shoulder because it carried magical knowledge that we all contain in our seventh energy center. The bird is black and appears to be a bird that is hard to accept and love, but it stands at the gates between the two worlds, being present in both of them, and represents the guardian of alchemical and magical knowledge. Different memories are connected to Crow, just as various negative natures are connected to Saturn, so we call it “malefic” or “negative.” However, at the ultimate level, Saturn represents a perfection of structure. 209
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Similarly, in mythology, Crow is represented as a symbol of lies. It decides to trick Apollo because it has put its own needs before the needs of the gods, which is the reason it has to carry the curse of being caught in a lie. A memory that can be found in this center is connected with fear, distrust and quite possibly – rejection. In essence, Crow represents the wisdom that certain people can understand and work with. It is connected with the knowledge of the eternal Soul, it is considered immortal and represents a part of us that is able to lead us from one world into the other. The Crow essence removes fear and grants people inner peace, in regard to the relationship between the first and seventh chakras. It allows us to enter the so-called unmanifested space, i.e., the space of the unknown. Just as its color is black, it is a symbol of our ability to enter darkness and bring in the light, to connect worlds and free ourselves from fear. People don’t enter this center often, because they are afraid, they feel that the end of something they don’t want to see the end of is there. This is a dark place and often represents a field of ignorance, so this bird can give us enough awareness and light that we can bring into our dark quarters. Any kind of fear, obstacle, experience of finality or ending can be balanced out by using this essence, since it enables people to easily transition from one reality into another. Although the Crow often appears as a symbol of death or destruction, it speaks of a far deeper energy connection, so it can enable us to recognize our role and the message of our ancestors, to accept responsibility without fear and to acquire the power of peaceful action. Finally, when we recognize the message in our seventh energy center, it is not hard for us to communicate with the first chakra and choose the right line of action. These two centers are in powerful connection, and Saturn is the one that enables us to quiet down and understand the messages that an ancestor wants us to recognize. Saturn enables us to accept without resistance, so that we can correct what needs to be corrected within ourselves, and finally within our own circumstances and life in the material world.
Gemstone: Diamond
The Diamond is the strongest stone in nature, one that opens us up to the sky. It has an ideal structure and it connects Heaven with Earth. It is the most powerful and strongest stone, and it is a symbol of ultimate transformation because it originates from black and porous coal which, under 210
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high temperature and pressure, becomes the most beautiful gemstone in the world: transparent, compact and hard. The purification of this chakra creates the most noble, hardest and strongest part in any person. Every Saturn should be like this, and this is the stone that describes our personal transformation and our ability to shape ourselves by various life experiences and to turn into conductors of clear, white light. The Diamond already exists in our Higher Self, and every time we take this essence we connect with memories of that channel and establish contact with the Universe. It harmonizes divine and personal will and helps us activate our personal will in the highest possible form. Mars finally has to exalt in Saturn’s sign, and it is Mars that speaks of the ratio between the personal and the collective will, of the connection of the first and the seventh chakras, of what is completely personal and what is the ultimate divine structure. The Diamond is the highest manifestation of the bright white light in matter, a symbol of purity and enlightenment. The color white contains all the colors within itself and is universal, so the Diamond contains the very goal of life on planet Earth. The Diamond essence is in constant cooperation with the first chakra and the deepest part of ourselves, although it is primarily linked with the field of the Universe. Therefore, regardless of how much we wish to travel toward the seventh center and fulfill its need, the path leads us through the very core of the Earth, through the first chakra and the discovery of that gemstone that is deeply within the Earth. Just like any other stone, the Diamond is far removed from anything emotional, so emotions need to be brought into a state of harmony by the use of flower essences, but it is important that we gain experience that shows us how far we are from this ideal structure by using the gem essence. If a sense of total peace exists, then we are well connected and activated in the seventh energy center. However, if that is not the case, if situations seem complicated, flower essences are the ones which will gently bring us into a state of peace over time. The Diamond speaks of the ultimate goal of the first chakra: to win before entering the battle, because it represents the ultimate goal of Mars and is the place of its exaltation (Capricorn). Connection with the Diamond nature enables us to see ourselves in any moment in time, to transfer energy to our future Self and to win, i.e., to realize anything we need. This stone is a complete portal of light, and its full quality is contained within non-linear, i.e., circular time, as well as in our ability to expand our consciousness and cycle our energy through time. 211
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(Bach Essence)
Yin level
- respective planet
Yang level 1
• All Saturn aspects are mentioned in the tabels of other planets.
Aspects
Disa
Crow
(Animal Essence)
Yang level
respective planet -
Yang level 2
Diamond
(Gem Stone Essence)
Yin - Yang stabilization
Assistants for Challenging Aspects of Saturn
Earth (South African Essence)
Fire Old Man (Australian Essence) Planetary essence Banksia for Saturn Water Honeysuckle (Bach Essence)
Air (Californian Essence)
(Flower Essence)
Yin level
The Complete Healing Process of Saturn
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Uranus - Balance and Healing
Planetary Essences and their Assistants
URANUS
Balance and Healing
Uranus is the first transcendental planet (i.e., the first planet not visible to the naked eye) and therefore its energy center is the first transcendental energy center. As such it has a much greater energy potential than usual, and in order to be activated it needs what every transcendental center needs: for two opposite energies (represented by the appropriate pair of opposite chakras) to be brought into a completely synchronized state. Where Uranus is concerned, its manifestation channel on the physical plane is the combination of the third (the Sun) and the fifth (Mercury) chakras. It should be emphasized that this center is located within the highest level of the etheric body and that it rules the entire etheric universe. All transcendental planets are unique for not having a natural connection with our physical body. They are parts of our energy being that are not directly linked to the body, but instead have mediators through which they communicate with us. They have a more complex structure than planets we have studied until now. Each transcendental planet seeks its channel – a combination of two planets in our physical body – in order to manifest itself. Otherwise, we cannot talk about its stability. It is as if each outer planet wants to tell us that just one energy center is not enough to carry it and for its vibration to live within our physiology, but that two energy centers need to be simultaneously active. Whatever we want to do with these distant entities, we need to develop an ability to function from two centers at the same time, so that two channels are expressed in one story. These are the complex levels of our existence. In order to live their story, we first must reach a consensus through the first seven centers, and this consensus is reached through the seventh chakra which brings all the other centers into balance. 213
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The Uranus energy center lives above all the others and cannot connect to them unless the seventh center is completely open to flow, i.e., until the balance of all the other centers is established. The moment we reach an agreement with our ancestors, which is the role of the Saturn center, and when we establish balance between all our differences and all our centers, when we reach that state of total peace, this energy of Uranus can freely flow through us. Therefore we need to establish contact with all our genetic ancestors, with those who were rejected, and especially with the one specific person who was completely rejected in our family, even if we don’t consciously know of this person, or even if our primary family is unaware of them, but the memory of them lives in our genes. This memory is of the utmost importance for the successful integration of the self, and that one “last” ancestor must be included in the chain we carry within ourselves, the chain that is bound to our destiny. This will allow energy to flow through us. It is as if we would compare the DNA chain with one sequence of ancestors which needs to respect the last one in that sequence to establish balance with Saturn and at the same time on all levels within us, i.e., with all the centers linked to our physical body. This is the gate that opens us to Uranus, and before we open it, we cannot even access it. Only after this balance is established, the Uranus figure eight that lives above us can come to life. Before that, Uranus is linked to one relatively chaotic sequence and we cannot use it. When there exists one connection, one line, one whole on our genetic memory level, we gain the possibility of activating two planets at once and then two energy centers work as one, enabling us to lower this transcendental nature into the body through them. In other words, in order to link Uranus with the physical body, we need to activate its carriers through balancing the third and the fifth energy centers, i.e., through the Sun and Mercury. Otherwise, it is expressed only on a higher level, in our etheric body, and we cannot fully access it. Uranus has four vibratory levels: Earth, Water, Fire and Air. They are expressed through certain channels in the basic energy centers, so their Earth level will be expressed to the degree that the energies of the first and seventh chakras are recognized. The Earth takes it for granted that these two opposite parts can recognize each other, and that does not mean that their energy has to perfectly circulate between them, because that would suggest that they have already established the energy of Pluto. The first 214
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Air Fire Water Earth
Fire
Water
Air
Earth
step in establishing balance between two opposite energy centers is for them to recognize each other, to understand where they are and to notice each other, even though their interaction is not yet balanced. The second step establishes the circulation of energy between them and their mutual cooperation, while during the third phase, the energetic figure eight is formed between them, making them one whole that circulates through Anahata, the heart energy center.1 When Uranus is alive, it becomes a platform or “airport” for all the higher energy centers, i.e., for the other transcendental planets. The Earth level of Uranus is therefore the point of Mars-Saturn recognition, while their further communication represents work on the Pluto energy center. The Water level of Uranus is linked to 1 More about this can be found in the “Energy Astrology Guide,” by the same author.
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the recognition of the second and the sixth energy centers, i.e., Venus and Jupiter. Although this quality is still not activated, the path is set, the link is established, and that constitutes the basis for what will become the Neptune energy center in a later phase of development. The Fire level, in which Uranus primarily dwells, constitutes the communication between the third and fifth energy centers – the Sun and Mercury. Fire is the arena in which any planet dwells, because it constitutes life and represents the energy of one awakening, conscious entity. Therefore, Fire is the place that fits the circulation of energy between the third and the fifth chakras, the Sun and Mercury. The Air level of Uranus describes its total awakening within the fourth, Moon chakra. Finally, a primary division of Uranus vibrations can be expressed through the Moon which represents its Air, the Sun which represents Fire, Venus which represents Water, and Mars which represents Earth. These are the first four chakras or energy centers that link the native with planet Earth. Uranus is the primary creator, the basic code of man. It came into being before Saturn. The activation of Uranus within the heart chakra, the Moon, represents the awakening of intelligence, the Cosmic Soul. Both planets rule an opposition: the Moon represents duality in itself and the principle of opposition, and that can easily be linked to Uranus, which itself represents opposition. The difference between them is in the dynamics, because Uranus is very dynamic and represents the movement within opposition, while the Moon represents its static state, the state of duality. The Human Soul constantly keeps these two different parts together, even if they are in conflict at times, and there is a need for them to reconcile and join – and that is Uranus’ story. When opposites join, they live within Uranus. Uranus is like a bicycle – it requires movement in order to maintain balance. It requires dynamic movement and when we manage to integrate this need with our heart center, the result is the awakening of the Soul to a certain degree. This is the awakening of Uranus which gives life and makes us familiar with the cosmic nature we carry within ourselves. The electrical shock that gives the heart its life awakens us and most directly brings Uranus into our physical body. Uranus is above us and when we dwell in it, we are not in our body, so sometimes we need to connect it with the heart chakra in order to get back into our body. These are situations in which we literally need to bring electricity to the heart in order to bring someone back to life. Ura216
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nus and the Moon are one being in the cosmic sense, but this experience can be too harsh for people because their physiology is not ready to withstand it. However, this is the link that provides life and then leads to the connection between the fifth and the third centers, forming a figure eight through the fourth center when Uranus is completely alive. The ability to awaken the Uranus entity is developed through the cooperation of the Sun and Mercury via the heart chakra. Neptune is awakened the same way, only through connecting Venus and Jupiter via the fourth center, and Pluto through connecting Mars and Saturn in the same way. These planets or energy centers first establish a circular connection, a connection of mutual cooperation, and then such closeness is developed between them that it gives rise to a new entity, a new being that develops the shape of the figure eight and is linked to the heart center. Uranus is the cosmic model that defines the path toward higher levels, so the picture of a higher Being that is being built through us arises from it. This is the reason why the higher Being cannot be built unless the basic energy centers mutually recognize one another and cooperate. Saturn is the key to balancing all the energies connected to the physical body. The cooperation with higher entities cannot be achieved unless the ancestors are balanced out, because when there is no agreement and no unity, there will always be that rejected ancestor who will “jump out” of the system and block your access to Uranus. The reason for this state of affairs lies in the original myth. It is Uranus who is first rejected, who is overthrown, so it is natural for him to connect to the very ancestor who dwells deep in our Sun – the ancestor who used to be the main character. Uranus, having once been a central figure, was then overthrown from power and is now last in the ancestral sequence. For that very reason it is he, the last in line and the one that genetics has the greatest problem accepting, who becomes the primary channel for establishing cosmic consciousness. There exists a “black sheep” in every family, so even if they lived in our genetic tree centuries ago, our genes still remember them. This is the ancestor who was not forgiven and the ancestor who becomes the vehicle for our enlightenment. Ultimately, the light exists in every person. Every person has a purpose and it is for various reasons and inner pain that people act in “unacceptable” ways. People often have problems expressing this pain, so 217
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they shout, but beneath that noise, behind their acts, there is a living being who carries pain inside themselves, pain that needs to be healed. This light can be found within it, as well as a sign that the system is in balance – which is Saturn's ultimate need. It needs to settle all things, to reconcile all the ancestors and all the karmic issues in our life. This is why we mostly deal with essences and astrological work linked with the closer planets, with those within Saturn's limits. All the other, distant planets represent the installation of our Higher Self, and as such are only the superstructure of our perfect being. Maybe there exists a Uranian problem in our natal chart, but it also might only seem that way. If we try working on Uranus and deal with things of a Uranian nature, none of it will have meaning unless we deal with the ancestors and surrender to the needs of Saturn. Problems with Uranus, Neptune or Pluto are always problems with one of the seven primary planets, with one of the seven primary centers. Ultimately, problems with transcendental planets are not caused by them. They are not problematic in themselves, but are only the expression of an imbalance of their carriers, which do not allow the true nature of our Higher Being to be expressed. When we look at the general nature of Uranus that is expressed within the energetic figure eight, we can see that it is based on Saturn. Saturn is the foundation of Uranus. How can we even speak of Uranus if Saturn is not perfect and does not enable enough flow to let Uranian energy through? Saturn must be like a diamond, like a perfect stone that can let the light come through, being completely clean. It is Uranus’ conductor, so when a perfect, balanced structure is built within it, it can conduct the energy of Uranus in such a way that it can find its Sun – that ancestor who is its best conductor. There always existed that ancestor who resembles Uranus, one who was overthrown and rejected. It is this ancestor that Uranus will have the least problem recognizing. The best conductor of electricity (Uranus) is gold (the Sun), so the best conductor of Uranus is the Sun's chakra. Uranus will manifest through the Sun and from there grow into Mercury (since the Sun and Mercury represent unity within the chakra energy circulation system). However, in order for Uranus to reach the Sun, Saturn must open its gates. When there are pain, ignorance and problems within Saturn, it cannot see Uranus, so it rejects it and is unable to connect with that in218
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ner cosmic part. On the other hand, Uranus connects us with Neptune with its upper part and therefore represents our channel for another wondrous new world. Neptune is above everything, it represents the most fascinating world we can imagine, a completely new world of deities. It opens up a whole new universe for us, but also forms a connection, between that world and the one we live in at the level of our karma and intelligence, our incarnation on planet Earth – represented by Uranus. Uranus connects our current incarnation, which consists of our total genetics, all of our ancestors expressed in the form of Saturn, with the fairy tale of the life that is above us and all other versions of life that are not contained within this plane of time and space. Neptune contains our spiritual essence, our higher value, our Higher Self, our ideal version of life. It represents the place where all the dreams of our ancestors have manifested. The nature of Saturn in the sign Libra testifies that we have reached an agreement with all our ancestors, so even if their dreams have not yet manifested, they are united and function without conflict, being one energy within us. This enables us to open up toward new possibilities, toward Uranus, toward possibilities in life and our own higher potentials. This is when we can raise our whole life to a higher energy level and let the energy of Uranus move through us. Then, when we finally start living Uranus through the Sun, we can channel the nature that leads us toward realizing Neptune, which represents our deepest drive and the purpose of all our ancestors. This is where the purpose of our life story is contained, and it can be realized only within Neptunian consciousness. It enables us to live Heaven on Earth. This desire of ours is inherited from our ancestors, so we first need to establish a balance with Saturn. Next, we can let Uranus through in order for it to give life to this connection. Uranus will establish the necessary recognition on all levels, the recognition of opposite pairs, while Uranus itself will be activated through the cooperation of “that ancestor” with Mercury. This is the ancestor who is awake, living, talking and thinking, enabling a person to let their Higher Self into their physiology. Without physiology that can withstand this, Uranus will make a person nervous and tense. Their physiology will reject it. The state of our physiology can be seen in the state of our third chakra, through our relationship with the rejected ancestor, through our relationship with the least acceptable part of our genetics. 219
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The rejected ancestor from our genetics is the one who is “lost” in a way. This person connects to our Uranus, although it does not necessarily have to be Uranus. Uranus is just the archetype that is easiest to reject and is unacceptable to a certain value system. People who assume a “black sheep” role often have objective reasons for being classified as one, so this can ultimately be an image of a serial killer from our genetics. It is necessary to understand that a serial killer is what he is due to the pain he carries deep within his Soul, so even if the causes are covered by different layers, once we reach the essence we can see that he is like an animal who does not know how to explain what exactly hurts him, and who is trying to get rid of that pain in any way possible. People most often react to such a person by rejecting them completely: they do not try to help them with their pain, but simply conclude that they are in chaos and decide not to deal with them. This is where the problem lies, because work needs to be done with something that such a person does not know how to express. This is a very common situation. Ultimately, an animal who hurts can bite because they do not know how to get rid of the pain, and this is what happens to people all the time. We can sometimes connect with such an ancestor in the most direct way, by playing his role. This is when we need to be deep enough to avoid playing his role on the outside, but instead get into his skin in order to understand him. We do this every time we recognize a person in our environment who is completely different from us. If we are rebellious, we might notice a person who is not and who is therefore unacceptable to us – just like we are unacceptable to someone else. When we recognize such a person, we need to find a way to completely understand them, get to know them and, above all, accept them. We need to not react to them and to stay in touch with our body. This will enable us to get into their skin and understand what is hurting them. They will not know how to explain this to us, but will instead just be angry, dissatisfied and the like. However, beneath all that there exists something that truly tortures and hurts them, and once we understand that, we can see them as warm, kind people, achieving resolution. Once we manage to reconcile and completely understand them on the inner level, we will be calm and they will be friendly because they feel that our attitude toward them is kind. This is how we heal major issues within ourselves and feed our Saturn, which is the prerequisite to opening up Uranus and everything that comes from it. Whatever our 220
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role is in this life, we meet ourselves through other people, through the relationships we form. In this way we get to know ourselves and an unconscious part of our being. The whole Saturn story leads us into a state from which we can forgive anything. Saturn remembers everything, so if it remembers that something is not good, our attempt to forgive from the Moon ends up being impossible. We cannot forget on Saturn’s level, but we can restructure the memory in a different way. When we manage to correct our energy flow, Uranus will provide further paths for us. The point of building Uranus’ energetic figure eight is to create a foundation from which we can create and realize our dreams. People can be tortured only with what exists up to Saturn. When we are in balance with Saturn, the whole karmic issue is resolved, and from then on we are only building additions to the basics and are dealing with possibilities to make our dreams come true, to realize our purpose and depth, to transfer Spirit to Earth and to awaken greater knowledge within greater emotional fulfilment. In our natal chart, Uranus will be a factor that reminds us of sudden, surprising events which can lead to completely unexpected situations. Whichever assistants we decide to use for the Uranus level, we will be dealing with the third and fifth chakra assistants, i.e., those for Uranus. The goal will be to reconcile and resolve some issue within us. Uranus is based on Saturn, so if there exists a Saturn problem, we will not be able to conduct Uranus, which might create problems of an extreme nature, depending on how badly Uranus is positioned. When we use Uranus without a good Saturn, we take out more than we can pay for, as if illegally taking something that does not belong to us. The use of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto without balance on the Saturn level always leads to consequences which can significantly upset the system. These are big entities who influence several energy centers at once, and that can lead to multi-layered imbalances. It is Saturn that brings it all into order. Saturn is the answer and the solution for every situation coming our way. Uranus is our eighth chakra and it is exalted in the eighth sign of Scorpio. If we look at the symbol for Uranus, we see that it resembles Venus turned upside-down and we can imagine it being an angel with wings who lands on Earth. 221
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What if Uranus is that fallen angel? What if all of us are just fallen angels who came to Earth and entered bodies? When Uranus is in its fall in the sign of Taurus, we are conscious of our bodies, of the fact that our bodies have desires, and this is when we forget our true nature, falling into slavery. We are so identified with the body and its desires that we forget the previous moment in which we were pure consciousness. Before we reach Taurus, the sign in which Uranus is in its fall, we are still not identifying ourselves as people, as Earthlings. In the sign Aries, we are only a scream, a pain, which is a hint of the fact that we started breathing on this planet, since our lungs opened up. This pain often makes us lose the purity of consciousness. On the one hand, we start breathing and incarnating. On the other, it is as if that mechanism of pain cuts off 222
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consciousness. After Aries comes Taurus, where we acquire a feeling of pleasure in the body, a feeling of safety and comfort. This is the sign of the Moon's exaltation and Uranus’ fall, and the sign where the Leo/Aquarius consciousness axis (the Sun/Uranus axis) is in its fall. A man is that fallen angel, part of that great light, one spark that entered the planet and physical body, but from the moment they identify with the body in Taurus (the very sign of planet Earth), from the moment of the feeling of security without any pain, from the moment of identification through one's own desire – Uranus is lost in Taurus and our cosmic memory is cut off by sensual identification. Ultimately, what is the Taurus/Scorpio axis if not the axis of desire. It speaks of what we want and what we don't want, what brings us a sense of security and what scares us in life the most. Therefore people are eventually liberated when they enter the figure eight, when they cross the third degree of Scorpio (the degree of the Moon's fall), when they lose the physical body and again remember that they are pure light, the angel descended onto Earth. However, our need from a Uranian point of view is to stay in the physical body, but remember who we are.
Three Levels of Uranus Manifestation
Uranus is our eighth energy center, situated right above Saturn. It represents the first energy field outside of our physical body. Saturn represents the skin, and that is our physical boundary and that which guards us and protects us. The first layer of our being that is right next to the skin, the layer that can be seen in Kirlian photographs and that more or less resembles a layer of electrical current outside our body, is connected to Uranus. This is our acupuncture network, our consciousness and the place that records all our traumas. A great many energy methods employed today are based on meridians, acupuncture points and ultimately, on the deepest level – energy centers (chakras). Our energy being is like cities with their roads leading to our energy centers. On the physical level, Uranus is rhythm. It is a person's ultimate mediator between the physical body and the environment, quite unlike Neptune which is completely separate from the body. Uranus connects us with the whole network of consciousness, with the rhythm of the Universe. From the angle of the Uranus-Saturn center link, the rhythm of the Universe needs to be linked with the rhythm dictated by gravity. If there is 223
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tension between these two rhythms, it shows up in the body in some way. A strong Uranus linked with the Ascendant or natal series 6 can result in a person who constantly feels strange, as if something unusual is bothering them. First something is “twinging” them in one part of the body, then something is “piercing” them in another, pulsates in a third part, and often these are all unexplained symptoms. A Uranian imbalance will typically express itself on the physical level as an irregular heart rate, so it can lead to tachycardia or “jumps” in heart function. People with a strong Uranus came to this planet in order to bring a new, faster frequency and to make all of consciousness more human, so these impulses are sometimes hard to withstand, because they make us different than our environment. The manifestation of Uranus on the emotional level will primarily express itself as upsets in feelings of belonging. These people are so different that they feel they have to either “switch off ” and proceed toward Neptune, or destroy the system, in case they are directed toward Saturn. These are Indigo children who we see more and more, who possess a faster vibration, greater awareness and feel more things simultaneously. As they register and receive too many things, it speeds them up and makes them tense and nervous, so sometimes they feel that the easiest thing to do is to go toward Neptune and completely switch off. This is why they appear to be unruly or brazen children (when their impulse reception is increased, so they become faster than others) or they refuse to obey (when they move toward the Neptune center and switch off ). This child switches off because they understand things faster, so the rhythm of events is unpleasantly slow for them, and everything becomes boring. In the second version, they try fighting Saturn, but when they fight against the body and gravity, it is as if they are ripping themselves apart. The key is not in the fight between these two natures, but instead Uranus should enter the existing system and incorporate new humane values through the cooperation of Uranus and Saturn. During the critical age when these children enter puberty, they often feel like outsiders, and judging from Saturn's point of view – they are. Their value system is too different from the typical one, so they cannot understand why people watch the TV shows they watch, why they find boring things so interesting and, in general, nothing feels truly familiar. Their relationships are unconventional, direct, open. They cannot understand other people when they appear hypocritical, or even when they keep repeating 224
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the same phrases. It is as if they cannot completely understand what purpose it all serves. Such children can become hyperactive, unpleasant, even delinquents, because they do not know what to do with the nature they were given. They feel the need to destroy the system, so they rebel or they move toward Neptune and completely switch off, making it all look like attention deficit disorder, since they do not care about the things that others find important. These children definitely prove that similar cases already existed in their genetics, as well as that they are never alone, because there is a spiral plan for a new vibration to be brought to Earth. These children almost always arrive into a family which has had similar cases before. The mental manifestation of Uranus can also be expressed by turning toward the energy of Uranus or the energy of Saturn. When there is an imbalance here, people cannot reach the eighth center and become conscious of their source, but instead keep interpreting things that happen to them in life as insincere and unjust. They become very unwilling to forgive. Thoughts are turned toward problems, so life seems unjust, as well as the government, and they are convinced that people are not good. In other words, instead of using their free will, they consider themselves to be victims of circumstances. They cannot accept that they are masters of their own destinies, but instead nurture the idea that they have been deprived of something, that their parents did not support them and that the system is bad. They keep thinking that things would be different if they were born somewhere else or in some other time. It is as if they do not know how to become masters of their destiny and really use their free will. When people accept that they simply do not know, that they cannot understand why they ordered such circumstances for themselves, they can finally admit that they do not know anything, but that they are definitely masters of their own fate, and then they can look at things in a different way and live their story in full. When we accept that we are the only power and that our life scenario is a consequence of our own free will and prenatal decisions, it is then that we can see why and how we determined our own path. Only when we accept this can we understand why we need it all and, ultimately, that these decisions – from this energy center – can be changed by our own free will. When people accept that they are masters of their own fate, and when they manage to understand this, two paths open up for them. The first one leads to Saturn, and this is where new values can be imple225
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mented, while the second one leads to Neptune, where a new kind of mind can be found by creating concrete things via mediation and prayer. This is the connection between Saturn and Neptune, this is Uranus – an ability to “address” issues correctly within the network of collective consciousness, and get answers from it. It is also enough for us to be within this field for others to receive all our data, if Uranus is connected to the Neptune field, and this is the reason why certain “distance healing” methods require only the intention and some carrier in the material field for the treatment to bring results.
Uranus Elemental Assistants
Although Uranus can, at some point, become a challenging planet that we need to work on, we should always have in mind that problems connected with it have their cause in an unresolved Saturn, i.e., in an imbalanced Saturn energy center. This can manifest through third chakra problems, since this is where Saturn needs to be found and needs to be balanced with the fifth chakra, too. However, the primary problem is al-
Californian essences Australian essences
Arnica
A IR
FIRE
Boab
Planetary essence for Uranus
Bach essences South African essences
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Star of Bethlehem Silverleaf
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ways in that first conductor. Uranus without Saturn cannot be used well. In addition to the basic Uranus essence, there are four more assistants we administer depending on Uranus’ position and its relationship with certain elements. For an imbalance of Uranus on the Air level we use a Californian essence; for the Fire element, an Australian essence; for the Water element, a Bach essence; and for the Earth element, a South African essence – in the same way as with the other seven energy centers.
Uranus in Air signs - Arnica (Californian Essence)
For the Air level of the Uranus energy center we use the Californian essence Arnica as an assistant. This is the upper part of Uranus’ energy, a part that is already connected with the psyche (Neptune) and it connects us to that level of being. Since this is the Air element, it is clear that it mostly connects us with the psychological kind of Uranian problems. The essence is administered to people who have lived through some trauma or shock which left them feeling without energy or the desire to live, or left them feeling emptiness in their body because the Soul detached itself from the body that experienced trauma, even if it all happened a long time ago. A strong tendency of Uranus, especially when it works from its upper sphere, is to detach people from their physical bodies. This is its higher level and once we step into Neptune's field from it, we enter the world of spirits. When there is an imbalance on this level, it is as if the last, most subtle part of our nervous system gives in, so once we experience stress, we completely leave our physical body. The main problem of Uranus connected to the Air element, whether via its position, dispositor, sign or house, is mostly linked to a mental, psychological shock. This essence can be particularly helpful when there is a need to resolve “confusing psychosomatic illnesses” or symptoms that do not respond to the usual therapies. Psychological processes here do not bring results and people do not know how to bring the system into a stable state, so our task is to heal that wound, that part of the aura which has loosened or opened too much, allowing too much energy to enter the Neptune sphere. Arnica can be used for first aid and it brings fast recovery from trauma. Its effect is fast, just like all Californian essences, so it easily frees people from experiences of shock and stress. When some major trauma, 227
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shock, or fearful situation happens, people can completely detach from their bodies and stay disconnected. This often feels irrational because, although reasons for it can be very objective, the reaction seems too intense. When balance is restored, the body and psyche are liberated and the union of Soul and Spirit with the body is achieved. This essence also helps when the physical integrity of body is threatened, either because of some shock or the use of narcotics.
Uranus in Fire Signs - Boab (Australian Essence)
When there is an imbalance of Uranus on the Fire level, we use the assistant Boab. Although Uranus rules an Air sign, it connects to us via the Sun and it represents lightning, so Fire is Uranus’ primary element. The Boab tree looks like it is turned upside-down, so its roots look like a treetop. It looks like a tree from some other planet. There actually exists a myth about this plant being from the Pleiades. The Boab flower is very special and different, and the whole tree is unusual, just as Uranus is unusual. There is an idea that the Creator planted this tree upside down because it was too ugly. The very idea that something is inverted in regard to “normal” is very Uranian. Boab is a plant that contains a huge amount of water, and this adds up to its Aquarian nature. This essence erases negative patterns carried over from generation to generation, patterns that are dysfunctional, limiting and keep consciousness trapped in repeating those patterns, beliefs and behavior. It is as if this imbalance provides a sense of security that leads to negative things being carried in the name of tradition. With this essence we allow ourselves to turn upside-down in order to look at and awaken the fire of life linked to Uranus, bringing to life the cosmic nature we carry within. Work on this level is closely linked to the work on Saturn and its cleansing, and it is as if the tree itself has roots on the top, and “root” is also a Saturnian symbol. This essence can help with genetic illnesses and is also used to help lost souls reach the light. With problems on the Fire level there is a need to change something on the genetic level, so Saturn needs to be awakened, and the problem that is sleeping within us needs to be cleansed. Boab liberates us and we are no longer stuck in negative patterns; it raises our consciousness, allowing us personal freedom because it can let go 228
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of family patterns, connections and beliefs, i.e., it can liberate us from karmic links. In order for us to be able to free ourselves from things that tie us down, we have to find the right path, and Boab gives us a clearer picture of what is within the Saturnian field that we need to balance out. When our ancestors are reconciled, Uranus is happy. Otherwise, it hurts because the problem originates from it, because all the other deities are its ancestors. Saturn carries the same problem within itself, but it is Saturn who overthrew his father, his ancestor, from power, so this is why Saturn's story needs to be resolved before Uranus’ energy can flow. This essence can help us take the first step, i.e., to identify the problem that needs to be resolved on Saturn's level. The role of the flower essence of this plant is to harmonize us first with the energy meridians of Earth, and then with the whole field of the Universe. Similarly, the method of reconnecting has an idea that we need to get in alignment with the energy meridians. This essence can be used in a spray and is very useful if we want to purify a space. When we feel “a field of negative energy” somewhere, some heavy and dark story connected to a space or an apartment, a story that is otherwise unrelated to the inhabitants – this spray can be very useful. It allows trapped souls to move into the light. When we get scared of something that seems too dark or heavy, it can be a sign that some trapped soul is roaming about and that we need to liberate it. Boab is also recommended to people who deal with karmic astrology and regression therapy with the goal to free us from family patterns. Therefore, this essence is good for people who attend workshops of such sorts.
Uranus in Water Signs - Star of Bethlehem (Bach Essence)
When Uranus is imbalanced in a Water sign, we use the Bach essence Star of Bethlehem as an assistant. When it is linked to the Water element, Uranus can disturb the whole element within a single chart. It is like a powerful propeller, so we can feel restless, lacking patience to deal with problems, experiencing whirls of passion and lacking the inner peace that the Water element has a natural need for. This is why many things can stay unresolved and repressed, since we fail to have the patience to deal with them. 229
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This essence is recommended for people who lack the strength to bear unfortunate situations or devastating experiences that life throws their way, people who cannot face bad news, a death in the family and major shocks, so they become depressed and lose their inner balance. An Air Uranus reacts to trauma on the mental level, but a Uranus that is linked to the Water element works through depression and drags us into emotional problems. We then start feeling weak, incapable of facing anything, failing to solve problems and leaving things unfinished, which only leads to bigger problems later. Star of Bethlehem helps the emotional flow and enables us to face emotional pain instead of repressing it. This is what the main problem here is – when problems appear, we are incapable of metabolizing them, so we repress them instead of trying to solve them. It then stays with us like a scar that never heals and we need to free ourselves from traumatic emotions and regain balance. A great number of experts consider unresolved trauma to be the main cause of serious illness. If we have things in life that we do not know how to solve, which are remembered with strong impressions and we have failed to find their place and meaning, if we fail to find a way to live with it – it will manifest as a much bigger problem. We need to be calm, regardless of how much stress we’ve experienced. This is where this Bach essence is very useful, because it can take us out of acute problems and stress that we’ve lived through, enabling us to work on them and resolve the story that awakened strong feelings in us. Once we heal the emotional trauma, we can completely get rid of the physical problem, no matter how big. A great many doctors consider that a lot of cancer patients actually die due to the trauma they feel when they hear the news, as well as because of the way in which that news was delivered. It is as if they give up at that very moment, having no capacity to face such news, i.e., because they are not resistant to such shock and trauma. People who have no obvious health problems, who eat healthily, exercise daily and overall take good care of their health also often suffer from these serious diseases. The reason is some trauma they did not face when they needed to. This essence is also called “Bird's Milk” or “Consoler.” It is a medicine for those people who, after having experienced a trauma, continue living with all the pain caused by it, unable to get over it. Many diseases that can be caused by this imbalance are hereditary – people are often predisposed for a certain 230
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problem, because it already existed in the family. These need not be unresolved problems of a person, but can be much deeper. Therefore, even if a person is dealing with problems on one level, they fail to resolve the genetic cause that they are carrying within them. This problem is always expressed in some relationship, because genes within us communicate between themselves just as people do, and all manifestations happen on the inner and outer level at the same time. We are all born with various predispositions and potentials, so the only issue raised is: to what extent did we manage to reconcile our ancestors?
Uranus in Earth Signs - Silverleaf (South African Essence)
For an imbalance of Uranian energy at the Earth level, we use the Silverleaf essence as an assistant. This plant is considered to carry the spirit of Joan of Arc. This is the face of a female warrior who fights for justice and brings light into darkness, enlightens and opens up consciousness for new spiritual domains. Its power and moral courage provide protection and inspiration for all around her. On this level, Uranus links to the Saturn energy center via its lower part (Earth element). This is the place where the signs Capricorn and Aquarius meet – a place that naturally divides the Zodiac into two parts, because what we have at the opposite end is the junction of Cancer and Leo. This is the entry point into the Zodiac, into the current incarnation, into the material world, and it constitutes the courage needed for a person to raise their energy and merge old and new, Uranus and Saturn. What is needed here is the courage to merge all ancestors, with the native being that special individual who brought that Spirit into life, who is awake and active, although quiet. This is the place where two apparently very different things merge into one. This essence frees the energy of the Goddess within the native, with the task to strengthen, inspire and open up consciousness toward inner power.
The Complete Process of Uranus Healing
This first transcendental planet is brought into a complete healing process when balance on three levels is achieved – Yin (flower planetary essences), Yang (animal essences) and the Yin-Yang relationship level (gem stone essences). 231
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The primary animal essence for Uranus is Whale, while the gem stone essence for Uranus is Rutilated Quartz.
Whale Essence - Yang Level of Uranus
Whale strongly connects us with the transcendental field and higher planes of consciousness. Just like dolphins, whales represent our ability to join worlds by our life on planet Earth. Whales and dolphins are closely linked, just like Venus and Uranus are in powerful relationship (Uranus being father to Venus). Their music and the sounds they make are of high frequency, and it is considered to be an intergalactic frequency which allows communication with other worlds. These are beings who represent points in the network of consciousness on our planet, and it is spontaneously being transferred through them. Whale symbolizes communication with other universes and represents a very fine Uranian vibration. This essence is most useful when we need to enter some completely new kind of relationship, or new way of communicating with people, or if we need to function within a completely new life sphere and establish contact with strangers, with some other world we enter. When using this essence, various life events become easier. For example, if we are at a crossroads and need to enter a completely new phase in life. Or, if we wish to try anything “new,” this essence is a strong support and enables us to establish a relationship with any world, situation or person. A good example is divorce, when a person is not ready to enter some new world, because they have a feeling they will not find new people and circumstances there. Whale essence gives us the energy needed to free ourselves. Whale essence provides us with deep intellectual insights about nature and represents an excellent choice in cases in which we wish to enlighten new fields of knowledge. We can also use it when we need to establish ourselves between something we used to know and something completely new. Whale carries the energy of new things, it supports change and is similar to a space ship which travels between two worlds, two galaxies, which opens us up to things that look distant and unknown. It is not connected with our emotional nature, but with new worlds we wish to visit and as such definitely describes a part of our cosmic nature. 232
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Gem Stone: Rutilated Quartz
Rutilated Quartz is a quartz crystal with rutile threads, as well as titanium dioxide, a sort of reddish mineral which gives it a special structure and patterns. These threads give it greater intensity and increase its healing power. They sometimes create wonderful patterns which carry the power of Earth’s magnetic field, as well as golden divine Light – the most creative vibration. The nature of Rutilated Quartz is very special and carries very special knowledge and insight. This gemstone enables harmonization with higher sources of energy and inspiration. It helps us contact information from other dimensions. Rutilated Quartz represents the unity of Heaven and Earth, matter and Spirit, life force and pure light. It opens us up toward the field of knowledge and cosmic intelligence, and it can become someone's true story that needs to be stabilized, even if this is not an essence that is used routinely and often. We will use it if a person is traveling the Uranian and eighth chakra path in order to link it to the Earth, because it contains memories of beings from other dimensions and galaxies. If a person is an astrologer by profession, this essence can enable them to establish stable contact with special sources of information. Rutilated Quartz is a wonderful gemstone that gives us harmony, complete physical regeneration and higher thoughts and feelings. It is also known as “Venus Hair” and it stimulates the energy flow from the brain, through the structure of the nervous system to all other body parts. The Uranian nature definitely has a strong need to enlighten us, but we need to constantly be within that vibration in order for the nervous system to be able to link Mind with Body and Heaven with Earth, and create a completely different life. This stone is rare, special and represents cosmic life. If we have a need to find stability within that, this is the right essence.
Uranus Assistants for Challenging Aspects
Assistants for aspects of transcendental planets differ from the ones we use for planets directly linked to the body. On the Yin level, aspect assistants are also certain Bach essences, but their effect is connected with the circulation of centers linked to the physical body, so we will have the 233
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same assistant for a challenging aspect of Uranus with the Sun and with Mercury (since these two planets make up one joint system). In the same way, just one assistant will be used for challenging aspects of Uranus with Venus, Jupiter and Neptune, and one for its aspects with Mars, Saturn and Pluto. It is only in the case of aspects between the Moon and Uranus that we use a separate flower essence. When aspect assistants on the Yang level are concerned, we use separate essences for each type of aspect, and from two different angles – just as with other aspect assistants via animal essences.
• Uranus and the Moon in Challenging Aspect • (opposition, square, quincunx, semisquare and especially the conjunction)
- Yin level Bach essence: Water Violet - Yang level Animal essence 1: Zebra (for healing the Moon from a challenging relationship with Uranus) Animal essence 2: Flamingo (for healing Uranus from a challenging relationship with the Moon) The essence we use on the Yin level for a challenging aspect of these two planets is Water Violet. This plant gives the feeling of being pure, white and untouched, so it is not easy to understand that it actually grows in marshlands. It rises high from the center of the marshland and opens up its beautiful white flower at the top. The facts we know about the behavior of a certain plant in nature tells us a lot about the nature of people who have certain aspects. Therefore, people with a challenging aspect of the Moon and Uranus actually feel that they are “above their environment,” as if they constantly observe the marshlands surrounding them. These people really have a Cosmic Soul and can have a strong fear of melting into “the marshlands” that surround them. When you look at people with this kind of challenge, you see that they indeed possess something different and special. This is why they start withdrawing even in childhood, because other people consider them to be strange, unpleasant and incapable of understanding human-style communication. 234
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These people have a very pronounced individuality and independence, and they are completely unfamiliar with close relationships in which everybody is taking care of everybody else's business, offering others their own solutions, giving advice and taking an interest in what others are doing. These people will never offer their own solutions, unless they are directly asked to do so. They also resist other people’s advice, and if they notice that somebody is imposing their solutions on them, that they “drop by” unannounced and start taking for granted that they have “normal” friendly contact, they will run away and, if need be, disappear forever. They will do this even with their own family members, as they do not care if they are related to somebody if they do not have a core understanding with a person. Very often they establish understanding with cosmic brothers and sisters, i.e., people they meet and in whom they recognize a similar vibration. These people are able to solve their own problems, they do not ask for advice and they do not give it to others, so they really appear a bit aristocratic – having something special that people from their environment lack. The problem appears when such a person finds himself in a “marshland” environment where people are vulgar, harsh and ignorant, where people like interfering with other people's business and have opinions about everything. Then they do not know how to organize their lives within such a framework. These people are not fit for small environments, but need wide-open ones with distance – which they can find only in bigger cities. If these people find themselves in a small community, they are often labelled as arrogant or unavailable, while they are simply trying to protect themselves. Because of this need, they can isolate themselves too much, feeling uncomfortable in such an environment and therefore creating boundaries in regard to the outside world, often without much discernment. They stop noticing nice, useful or interesting people in their environment, because of the impression created by the majority, so they put up walls to protect themselves. This is how great loneliness is created. Actually, they do not feel lonely when they are home alone, but when they are among people, since they can see them, but cannot feel them. This is why they can often create a powerful feeling of nonbelonging. This essence helps people become more social, to open up when in contact with other people and to communicate more. They will often not even notice that a change is happening, but other people will see it, 235
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so they will think that others have changed in their relationship to them, becoming more open. This essence is especially important when working with children who are different and who withdraw in order to cope with society. They do not need many friends to begin with, but they do need to be able to feel other people in order not to feel lonely when among them. This type of personality is not that common and this essence is not used often. These people are different, aware they have something special within them, they do not socialize and people from their surroundings label them distant, reserved and arrogant, while in essence their basic need is to protect themselves from the outside world.
• Uranus and Mercury or Uranus and the Sun in Challenging Aspect • (opposition, square, quincunx, semisquare and very often the conjunction)
- Yin level Bach essence: Elm - Yang level for Uranus-Mercury aspects Animal essence 1: Chimpanzee (for healing Mercury from a challenging relationship with Uranus) Animal essence 2: Mosquito (for healing Uranus from a challenging relationship with Mercury) - Yang level for Uranus-Sun aspects Animal essence 1: Toucan (for healing the Sun from a challenging relationship with Uranus) Animal essence 2: Peregrine Falcon (for healing Uranus from a challenging relationship with the Sun) The essence that we use on the Yin level for challenging aspects of Uranus with the Sun and Uranus with Mercury is the Bach essence Elm. With this combination we might have an acute crisis connected with success or goals, so we call it a crisis of self-confidence. However, it is interesting that, unlike a crisis of self-confidence in the classical sense (for which we would use Larch essence, as mentioned earlier), the problem here does not boil down to the fact that a person failed to succeed or try to succeed, but in the fact that the crisis unfolds after a series of successfully 236
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accomplished tasks. The problem is in the fact that a person falls out of rhythm through inappropriate behavior: they are good at accomplishing tasks, but they keep increasing the scope of obligations and assignments until, at some point, they realize they cannot keep up. This is when they start feeling like they cannot bear such a rhythm, but they still do not cut down on work and instead increase it. In the end, the stress is so great that they can’t stand it and sometimes it is just one little task that becomes a trigger and they suddenly feel they cannot do anything anymore, not even that little task. This does not happen to people who do not achieve anything and cannot accomplish tasks, but quite the contrary – it happens to people who accomplish everything and keep taking on more and more responsibilities until they feel like they cannot do anything anymore, because they are so exhausted that they cannot concentrate on the smallest things. This is when the acute self-confidence crisis and breakdown set in, since they feel that the situation is overwhelming them, that they cannot grasp it and that the best thing is to give up on everything. This essence enables these people to reintegrate, recover from stress and pick up their rhythm again. This is when they can look at things and see that tasks can be accomplished, and they can then finally leave the pattern of behavior that requires them to do everything at the last minute. These are often people who feel that everything depends on them, so they have problems letting go of things and delegating to others, but instead keep working like mad. This essence makes them realize that they do not need to be under such stress, and enables them to catch their own rhythm. When they go too far with self-expectations, this essence might make them feel a need to completely stop, get as much rest as they need, as a prerequisite of re-establishing a normal rhythm again. This essence helps bring Saturn into balance, because Uranus is in a challenging aspect with the Sun and Mercury and that causes huge activity and tension, moving the person away from peace and stability (Saturn). These people have problems with authority, i.e., with some person who represents a central figure in some way, like a general manager who assigns them more work than they can do. They will do what is expected of them for a while, but if they are not well organized and if they do not get enough rest, they will have a need to completely “jump off ” that flow and stop everything. Activity will stop, any kind of relationship will stop, they will leave a relationship so – if we are dealing with a woman’s natal 237
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chart – divorce might ensue; and if we are dealing with the problem of Uranus with Mercury, people will just explode and go out of their mind, feeling they have been overwhelmed. In essence, the problem is in the fact that these people do not have contact with that ancestor, with the Sun, so the electricity of Uranus fails to find a conductor in that gold. Therefore, by using this essence we slowly get into a balanced state, so if Saturn tells us to rest and not do anything, this is what we will do. In order to be very active and cosmically fast, we need to be well-organized and rested, i.e., the crystal from our seventh energy center must be a completely clear conductor. This happens with any other planet too, because Uranus’ energy must always pass through Saturn, so if Saturn does not have conductivity, all other planets are very weak when in contact with Uranus energy.
• Uranus and Venus, Uranus and Jupiter or Uranus and Neptune in Challenging Aspect • (opposition, square, quincunx, semisquare and very often the conjunction)
- Yin level Bach essence: Beech - Yang level for Uranus-Venus aspects Animal essence 1: Hummingbird (for healing Venus from a challenging relationship with Uranus) Animal essence 2: Prairie Dog (for healing Uranus from a challenging relationship with Venus) - Yang level for Uranus-Jupiter aspects Animal essence 1: Giraffe (for healing Jupiter from a challenging relationship with Uranus) Animal essence 2: Great Blue Heron (for healing Uranus from a challenging relationship with Jupiter) - Yang level for Uranus-Neptune aspects Animal essence 1: Arctic Tern (for healing Uranus from a challenging relationship with Neptune) Animal essence 2: Seal (for healing Neptune from a challenging relationship with Uranus) 238
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For Uranus aspects with the second cycle – the emotional cycle of Venus and Jupiter, i.e., Neptune – on the Yin level we use Beech essence. These people can have deeply ingrained intolerance, an aversion toward certain things they find repulsive, but on the other hand they have a very Uranian, free spirit which tells them: “Live and let live!” When there exists a strong emotional repulsion toward something while at the same time this kind of humanism and a need for freedom exists, people do one of two possible things: - The first possibility is that they will mask their intolerance, pretending everything is great, even if nobody else would find it great, because they want to feel like an especially tolerant person of the new age. However, since they are not aware of the intolerance they actually feel, this will express itself through various allergies and intolerances in their physical body. If there are things in our environment that we do not tolerate and try to ignore, because we want to appear tolerant, that will express itself as intolerance to something from the environment – whether it is gluten, pollen, dust or something else. These conditions are proof that the free, tolerant spirit that a person believes he or she has is actually superficial and that they cannot face the fact that they feel aversion to certain things. If they would delve deeper into their own emotions, they could deal with the cause of problems and become aware of things they are unable to accept, and would then be able to look for something good in them, to truly integrate and accept them. - The second possibility is that such people would constantly criticize others for judging, at the same time considering themselves free and open. They constantly recognize people in their environment who are too inflexible and do not accept things, feeling that they limit them. However, they would never notice such a nature in those people if they did not possess deep intolerance for something in themselves. This essence enables the native to accept the fact that he or she feels aversion toward certain things, and to recognize that intolerance in order to approach it in the right way, understand that everything is relative, and finally bring into balance the very thing they have been rejecting.
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• Uranus and Mars, Uranus and Saturn or Uranus and Pluto in Challenging Aspect • (opposition, square, quincunx, semisquare and especially the conjunction)
- Yin level Bach essence: Willow - Yang level for Uranus-Mars aspects Animal essence 1: Running Bird (for healing Mars from a challenging relationship with Uranus) Animal essence 2: Cheetah (for healing Uranus from a challenging relationship with Mars) - Yang level for Uranus-Saturn aspects Animal essence 1: Walrus (for healing Saturn from a challenging relationship with Uranus) Animal essence 2: Camel (for healing Uranus from a challenging relationship with Saturn) - Yang level for Uranus-Pluto aspects Animal essence 1: Orca (for healing Uranus from a challenging relationship with Pluto) Animal essence 2: Anteater (for healing Pluto from a challenging relationship with Uranus) The Yin essence for challenging aspects is made from the flower of the Willow. Since these are aspects with unconscious planets, this is the most challenging position of Uranus of all the positions we’ve talked about so far, because the hardest thing to do is to change things within the body. Mars and Saturn speak of circumstances, so these people can realistically experience very limiting circumstances. For example, they can be great scientists, but in order to express themselves they might have to join a certain political party. If they do not do that, they will never be successful, although in some other circumstances they might win the Nobel Prize. Therefore, here we speak of real circumstances, so these people become resentful because their life is unpleasant and full of limitations. The problem develops because they fail to learn the lesson from what is happening to them, because they have a strong feeling of personal cor240
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rectness. They know that they are correct and that the system is limiting their progress, but they fail to accept those circumstances and integrate them. This is a huge struggle and people with these kinds of challenges constantly feel that they have to fight circumstances, that other people are no good, that the state or other people are to blame, and they lack the ability to awaken the Cosmic Mind within themselves and look at things in such a way that they realize they are masters of their own fate. In order to be able to use their free will, they have to accept that circumstances happening to them are part of them. The hardest thing to do is to accept that we are responsible for being born at a certain time and in a certain place. People mostly recognize the huge injustices that they need to fight in every possible way. These are the people who are spiteful during childhood and achieve things thanks to ill will and rebellion. This essence enables them to accept the fact that their circumstances are there to stay. Without any labelling. They need to understand that what is around them is correct and just, regardless of whether it is easy to understand why that is so. Only in that way do these circumstances become signs on the life journey and they can contact the Higher Mind and start unfolding their real life story. These kinds of aspects can literally get these people “stuck,” because they make them strongly attach to something that is happening in objective reality, while unable to accept it. This is why they become resentful and bitter, and they can spend their whole life believing that things would be different if they were only born in some different time and society.
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Aspects
Earth (South African Essence)
Water (Bach Essence)
Whale
(Animal Essence)
Yang level
- respective planet Zebra Chimpanzee Toucan Hummingbird Giraffe Arctic Tern Running Bird Walrus Orca
Water Violet Elm Elm Beech Beech Beech Willow Willow Willow
Yang level 1
(Bach Essence)
Yin level
Flamingo Mosquito Peregrine Falcon Prairie Dog Great Blue Heron Seal Cheetah Camel Anteater
respective planet -
Yang level 2
Rutilated Quartz
(Gem Stone Essence)
Yin - Yang stabilization
Uranus Assistants for Challenging Aspects
Silverleaf
Star of Bethlehem
Boab
Fire (Australian Essence)
Planetary essence of Uranus
Arnica
Air (Californian Essence)
(Flower Essence)
Yin level
The Complete Process of Uranus Healing
AstroHealing
Neptune - Balance and Healing
Planetary Essences and their Assistants
NEPTUNE
Balance and Healing
Neptune is the second transcendental planet. It rules the entire astral universe, establishing contact with mankind through great depths and secret channels of its deepest subconscious. It rules the space within which dreams turn into reality, because it is located at the very point where intelligence turns into matter, but the reverse is also true – it is here that the world of sensual reality turns into pure spiritual phenomena. When we enter the world of Neptune in someone's chart, we actually enter into a very subtle part that is not clearly visible, but on the other hand, a part that is closest to us, because it represents everything that our energy (the 1st House) naturally extends from. No matter how distant, invisible and strange Neptune appears, it actually constantly lives beside us, as a dream that we carry inside ourselves, as a story that wants to be told, realized and present. The Neptunian 12th House is naturally by our side, as our invisible follower. It represents a very subtle and special channel and is situated in a special place, and at the same time it is so present and all-encompassing, that by bringing this chakra into balance we can realize our highest ideals. It is enough to remember that Venus is exalted in Neptune's sign, where it describes a need for maximum pleasure, so it is very clear why this world is so important. If we notice some kind of imbalance within Neptune’s sphere, we know there exists some deep and subtle problem connected to the psyche. Neptune is a world of its own. Its energy structure reveals that it is based on Uranus and its unusual foundation. The chakra that is situated below Neptune's is the Uranus chakra, so the world leans on it. Uranus is the sky in itself, and it represents cosmic consciousness, so the Uranian level of being is the level from which Neptune continues to develop itself. 243
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We can say that Neptune is “the sky above the sky,” so it strongly links us to Aquarius, the sign in which it is exalted. On the other hand, the upper energy levels of the Neptune center are connected to the tenth, Pluto chakra and with the underworld. Therefore, from the point of view of its energy structure, the representation of Neptune looks quite different than it is usually imagined. This is the channel that has the sky (Uranus) “below its feet,” and it grasps for Pluto's world and the core of the Earth. If we imagine that it is very high, we become mental and cannot grasp it, because Neptune has the sky under its feet, while gravitating toward the center of the Earth. Ultimately, Neptune rules the feet, which connect us to the ground, so if we connect to the sky via Neptune, we can ask ourselves: Does the road to the Sky actually lead through the core of the Earth? Neptune's world is reversed in regard to what we would expect it to be. It exists though pure retrogradation. To find Neptune, to find the spirituality that it represents is to have a completely different energy flow from the one we hold in our beliefs. The usual idea of development is that, the more we move toward the sky, the more spiritual we become. This is true up to Saturn, maybe even Uranus, but once we touch the sky, we understand that the process is completely reversed – because Neptune is the link between the sky and the core of the Earth. It is the bridge between Uranus and Pluto. The experiential representation of Neptune gives us a completely different quality from the one defined in a typically mental way, where the sky is defined as “good.” As long as this attitude exists, as long as the idea is that the sky is the goal we aspire to, while the Earth is the problem that we should detach from, there exists a problem with the Neptune energy center. If, for example, a person does not want to incarnate anymore, he or she dwells within the mental sphere and their Neptune is certainly imbalanced. In order to be able to reach Neptune, they have to fully wish to incarnate and need to link to the Earth. The idea that we refuse to be material makes us completely mental, because Neptune's world is reversed. Mercury is in its fall in the sign of Pisces, so that Mercury, which is very human because it rules Gemini and Virgo (the human signs), has difficulties understanding this world without experience. Neptune is a fine and at the same time superior world, so special that it is surrounded by two transcendental planets. Unlike all the other energy centers, the Neptune center has no links to the closer planets and it dwells in a world where, once it bridges its two neighbors, they provide the whole secret of life, the secret of the union 244
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and communication of Heaven and Earth. Everything we aspire to in life is contained in this part of our energy, and the degree to which we manage to actualize ourselves reflects the quality of that channel and our spiritual being. If Neptune's center is balanced and vibrates in a healthy way through its elements, people have a special ability to link these distant entities, and not only by turning their ideas into something concrete, matter into energy, or vice versa, but they also become a channel for their Higher Being. This world is always secret and the most intimate part of every person, so it requires our special attention.
If we look at the energies we carry inside ourselves, energies that are defined by this planetary cycle, Neptune is certainly somewhere high up. Pluto should be on the lowest level and Uranus on the highest, while Neptune links them and represents their secret connection. It has its secret place it dwells in within the seven basic centers. 245
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Material doors that are the entry into this secret world are located within the second, Venus energy center. It goes through the Venus energy center within its whole deep existence. Therefore, the material thread that links Heaven and Earth is within the Venus chakra, just as Venus has its exaltation in Neptune's sign. The maximum goal of pleasure and everything that Venus tries to express is achieved through the union of Heaven and Earth. Venus is the daughter of Uranus, created when Uranus’ genitals fell into Neptune's kingdom – the ocean. We can say that it was born from Uranus through the kingdom of Neptune, and through Venus’ Persephone archetype it is strongly linked to Pluto, too. Therefore, Venus is our messenger and establishes a link with the higher kingdom of Heaven. Venus is the one that hides Neptune within itself. It wants to become the full feeling of pleasure, and the greatest spiritual experience will always materialize through it. A spiritual experience is never expressed through suffering or pain, because that is not what Neptune is. These are only necessary cleansing processes. Every real spiritual experience, every Neptune within us, is always expressed through extreme happiness, through the pleasure and happiness in love we feel through our second energy center, through the planet we live every day. The greatest Venus happiness is the complete presence of Neptune in our lives, because this is a Venus that has reached its exaltation. Essential spirituality is experienced through happiness that is expressed to the maximum. Neptune is always surrounded by Venuses. In mythology, these are nymphs, and Neptune always hides in this world. It is extremely important to understand Neptune's nature well, because there is no other planet like it, nor a planet that links such greatly different things and worlds, that represents the key to the entire entity that we carry inside ourselves. Our true SELF, our true Being, will be expressed in Neptune. Of course, all ancestral memories have to be reconciled and linked beforehand, and a positive relationship between all the planets that precede Saturn has to be made, as well as contact with Uranus, which further invokes Neptune in order for us to live it. Neptune is the common Spirit of all our genetics, karmic debt and all the incarnations we have lived. It is our true entity and it is always beautiful, like a special kind of energy, like a very special flower. 246
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The entire field of AstroHealing is linked with this special world. This kind of knowledge, the secret truths that work through Venus, are the ones that activate this Neptune channel. It is extremely strong, especially present, and all that needs to be done in order for that center to be kept in balance is for the structure of the basic seven energy centers to be present and reconciled. Then, the eighth, Uranus chakra can establish communication with it and conduct Neptune’s intelligence through it. When we achieve this, Heaven on Earth starts spontaneously happening. Work on Neptune will become an important part of our healing work when we see that the psyche level of being, the one connected with our aura, has become unstable. When people have an unstable story connected with series 12 in their chart, they do not want to be present, they want to leave, to not incarnate, and that is always the result of Neptune's inability to establish a connection between Uranus and Pluto. This is when it cannot live through Venus in a proper way, and when it is not happy enough in physical reality, but instead lives in its own, invisible, distant world. Its role is not to live within the imagination, somewhere outside of us, but to connect itself with the core of the Earth – which is its heaven. Neptune’s Heaven is the core of the Earth, but also the center of the Galaxy – the black hole. Whichever way we look at it, Neptune aspires to enter the darkest point from where it can realize complete connectedness and unity. It does not hold the feeling that things can be bad, because it knows that Venus and Jupiter are one and the same thing. It is clear to Neptune that beauty and truth are completely the same things, and that nothing ever existed that was true and not beautiful. This is its greatest knowledge and this is why it gladly goes into Hades’ world, into the world of Pluto. It contains the secret of spiritual integration which enables people to live their true story, their real myth, the story they were born with, in order to connect its great Being. Above all, it is necessary for the closer planets to be brought into balance, but Neptune needs to be worked on the whole time because, once we establish that secret connection with it, we will bring into balance the whole channel contained in our spinal column. Every essence that we use comes from the world of Neptune, the whole field of AstroHealing also falls under its symbolism, so we only need to look at which specific work needs to be done on Neptune, and how its imbalance is manifesting. 247
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Neptune is never problematic in itself. We create problems by being dishonest, because in order to even reach it, we have to have a strong foundation – Uranus (honesty). We are not honest if we do not allow ourselves to desire what we truly desire. Everything we try to compensate for in this life, everything that is a lie, comes as a consequence of us not allowing ourselves to truly want something, so we allow ourselves a lot of other things in order to make up for that original need. The one thing that prevents Neptune from making our wishes come true is our dishonesty toward ourselves, and not allowing ourselves to live our own dream. Neptune cannot be bad, because it is the realization of everything we want. But it needs a strong foundation, people’s great honesty and courage to want what they truly want, in order to be able to observe and create the world at the same time.
Three Levels of Neptune Manifestation
On the physical level, Neptune lifts people into higher energy levels, which can lead to weak blood circulation in the legs (detaching from the Earth and the grounding of the first chakra through the legs). The fingers and legs are cold, blood pressure goes down, and people are pale in the face. Vertigo can often be the result of this, even fainting, as well as the need for someone to completely separate themselves from material reality and avoid the lessons of the lower chakras. Neptune represents the field of our aura that surrounds us, so if there is a weakness in any of its parts, people will let in various environmental influences and have problems with them. When people are open to Neptune, they connect with the first chakra and Mars, and therefore with the seventh chakra and Saturn, and this is where all the fears and worries come from. Neptune is not problematic in itself, but it comes in as an ocean, as an angel, and, if we are fearful, we can physically feel a presence that scares us. The feeling of some invisible presence often causes great fear in people, instead of a pleasant sensation, while challenging Neptune aspects (especially with Mars or the ruler of the 1st House of the natal chart) make people feel the presence of entities as if they are sitting right beside them. Since we do not know what we are feeling, we can get scared, and it is this fear that creates the problem. If people are strongly connected with this world, they are able to sense future events through feelings in their 248
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physical body. However, if they then start worrying that they will feel and foresee something bad for themselves or their loved ones, they start running away from it, thinking that it is better not to see anything. This is when this natural gift can be experienced as a strong irrational fear that overwhelms people. It is as if people receive a gift, but are afraid to open it, because they do not know what’s in the box. When people clear their “channel,” they can really feel the presence of angels through their bodies, and also invoke their own angel when they need him. In this way, they make it possible not to fear walking “through the fog,” because they know that nothing bad is waiting for them, so they gain a sense of protection and complete safety on the physical level. The emotional level of Neptune speaks of creating magic. Venus is able to recognize the beauty in everything and to appreciate herself. It is from this point that the appreciation of everything else originates. She says “Yes!” to everything. Venus is one big YES, while Neptune is an unconditional YES. Venus says Yes to life, she sees harmony and acceptance in everything, as well as gratitude and beauty. In this way she experiences joy and lifts herself more and more. This feeling turns into magic which leads her into a state of exaltation. This feeling is not a thought, because we cannot conclude anything about Neptune, we cannot think about what it is, but we need to allow ourselves to feel gratitude and surrender until things start surfacing from that fine vibration. Neptune does not seek intellect because it has a need to feel and enjoy things, to smell and surrender to them. It does not need to talk (Mercury in its fall in Pisces) because the feeling of joy and bliss is enough for it. There are two kinds of challenging Neptune manifestations on the emotional level. The first is addiction. It can be a caffeine addiction, chocolate addiction, drug addiction, an addiction to another person or various other things that provide us with a sense of pleasure. The only reason for the development of an addiction is our inability to independently generate and sustain the feeling of pleasure, which we then gain through some other thing. People with a challenging Venus-Saturn aspect, after having done something wonderful, often think they can do better. Instead of dwelling within the sense of happiness, creation and beauty, instead of enjoying themselves, they find themselves in a spasm and keep telling themselves that they can do better. It is as if they are afraid to surrender and enjoy what they have created, to appreciate themselves and their achievement. 249
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People with Neptune connected with the emotional planets have a strong need to feel joy and happiness, and they want to constantly be in such a state. If they are unable to generate this feeling from within, they attach to external things that provide them with this feeling of satisfaction. If we can constantly be in this state, that means we are generating that feeling ourselves – not by attaching from the world of imagination and dreams, but by doing things we have learned to appreciate and enjoy. This is when we can feel gratitude, producing that feeling of satisfaction we need. We will often notice that it is precisely “Neptunian people” – artists, painters and actors – who are prone to alcoholism and other addictions. These professions can be very challenging in that regard, because these people need constant inspiration. They have an emphasized Neptune, but also a problem with Venus. If there is a problem in this carrier, people cannot sustain that feeling of pleasure and inspiration. Venus is exalted in Pisces and this tells us that satisfaction is created from within. People can receive some beautiful thing as a gift, and Venus in Pisces would smell it, enjoy it and allow this wonderful feeling to infuse the body and stay with her forever. However, when Venus is imbalanced, people will want to save it, to wait, to orchestrate the feeling of satisfaction. They come to some conclusion about the feeling that they should have simply experienced, and once they come to this conclusion, that feeling of satisfaction – the most valuable thing – disappears, leaving them to try and attempt to get more of it, even if they have already renounced it. The other kind of problem on the emotional level is a person having exaggerated emotional problems of a Neptunian nature, and at the same time, the person is very mental. In this case, it constantly feels like the person cannot completely surrender. This is especially true for people who have the feeling that something must or needs to be done. When there is a link between emotional planets and Neptune, we see people who are especially kind and gentle, so if they surrender, they can blossom and create wonderful things. It is precisely these kinds of people who inspire us with their creative power. However, if these people have a feeling that they have to do something, that they have to get up early or the like, they tire themselves immensely because they are simply not cut out for that. This is when they start feeling physical and mental exhaustion and the need to have faith in themselves and the courage to be what they truly, spontaneously are. 250
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On the mental level, a Neptune imbalance makes people forgetful. They cannot remember what happened three minutes ago, where they left their keys or anything else they had in their hands just a few seconds ago. If we truly have enlivened the Venus-Jupiter relationship, then we understand that this kind of manifestation also makes deep sense. Therefore, if we have “ordered” everything, if we ordered forgetfulness, that can “make us crazy” or, perhaps, we can understand the deeper meaning of that characteristic of ours. If people with this kind of challenge completely let go – through meditation or while dreaming – far bigger things will surface than those that bother them on the daily level. When they become aware of what they need, they understand that the mechanism of forgetfulness serves the purpose of dissolving thoughts, so that they can remember something far more important and greater. This cannot be forced and thought out, but simply needs to be allowed, and people should allow this greater truth to surface from within. Ultimately, Neptune manifests in every part of our lives. It is present always and everywhere, in all things. It is the link between Heaven and Earth, and that is its main place. If people cannot manage to stay present and happy enough with the seductive emotion that Neptune carries, without addiction and effort, some other challenge appears that needs to be resolved. One needs to be completely unbound, subtle and linked by the invisible net to all things around them. The question of Neptune is linked with the emotional cycle of Venus and Jupiter, so if we do not surrender and allow ourselves to feel these feelings, its net will catch us. Venus rarely denies herself anything. It only happens if it is prone to self-denial and self-punishment (for example, when in challenging aspect with Saturn). In most cases, Venus cannot refuse, cannot resist, and the problem is the fact that it carries yearning. Therefore, once it experiences being in love, the feeling that inspires her, she remains constantly attracted to it and easily becomes addicted to it. If this addiction is in the form of attachment to some person, after they leave, Neptunian emotional and psychological problems appear: feelings of sadness and disappointment, a lack of energy, a feeling of being caught in the net from which one cannot escape. In order for people to be able to live Neptune constantly, they need to be so subtle that they can fall in love completely, but at the same time to be happy even without that person, because they know that they are linked to them with invisible threads. Their Venus needs to turn into Nep251
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tune and the object she becomes addicted to should experience Neptune. They should be able not to use alcohol and opiates, while being in the state they crave to be in, to feel all the higher states that they would acquire by using narcotics, without damaging their aura or developing an addiction. Neptune is an invocation and it is enough just to think about something in order to invoke it. It is connected with all things, and everything we invoke comes to us through the world of Neptune. When Neptune is well integrated, it is enough just to think about a thing in order to feel it and invoke it. When it is not, it becomes the net that catches souls. However, hardly anyone incarnates without a problem from the Neptune sphere. We are here because of Neptune issues, caught in the net of planet Earth in order to connect with that emotion and refine it to such an extent that we can live with it while being completely subtle, unattached, independent, and at the same time – completely tied. When the emotional field of Neptune is activated, purification progresses toward the inner, mental level, or toward the outer, physical one. The only cause of problems is the fact that they cannot resist something. The original cause of this is the addiction that we have through Neptune, the feeling of being tied to things and people, to experiences we lived through thanks to Neptune, experiences that exalted and intoxicated us. It is as if we had a drink that prevented us from liberating ourselves from something. As if sirens seduced us and now we cannot resist their song. When energy is being purified toward the physical level, we experience allergies, unknown illnesses, we are fooled or lied to, our things get stolen and we objectively experience some Neptunian problem. The immune system weakens and various other problems manifest because of that. It is as if we need to feel secure, but fail to feel security on various levels. People we need to lean on become dishonest and we have problems finding the environment in which we can feel protected. When purification develops toward the inner, mental level, mental problems develop. Perception gets distorted, and that influences all parts of the psyche, so very strange things can become a real experience. When we feel the need for sleep, for dreaming, for forgetting – that is only a breeze that relaxes the mind which needs to liberate itself. However, when the limit is reached, if people do not allow themselves to rest and mentally relax, this can cause serious mental problems. Neptunian 252
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mental problems are the greatest problems of all, because people live in a world built from their prejudices, in a world built contrary to the outer world and their environment. It is as if one misunderstanding is put on the top of another, and then another, until the entire concept gets to the point that fails to give us the correct result. People cannot add things up or achieve some concrete system of thought or logic. Mental problems of Neptune manifest in varying degrees and are not always noticeable in the early stages. In time, people let in some strange Spirit, a strange entity based on the energy of some ancestor. This is certainly not a person’s higher Self but some memory connected with an experience of some ancestor, and this memory overwhelms the person to such an extent that they cannot work or live in their present world. We can talk about the higher Self only after we achieve balance at the seventh chakra level, the level of Saturn, and when all the ancestors are reconciled (or our memories from past lives). This is when we can soften our great Self, our true cosmic being, which finally allows us to live our true, great story. Neptune is so present in us that we constantly feel it as an intoxication if there is no balance here, and that always creates some type of addiction. Therefore, whatever happens on the mental or physical plane has its cause within the emotional sphere of Neptune. If Neptune is the net, and we are the only fish in the ocean, it is easy for it to catch us in its threads. However, if we are the ocean, if we become Neptune itself, we will go through its net like clean water, instead of just one emotion, one fish in that wondrous world. Therefore, we need to become the most subtle part of the sea and ocean in order to go through Neptune's nets, and that subtlety is the key.
Neptune Elemental Assistants
Besides the basic flower essence for Neptune, we will use a Californian essence for balancing the ninth energy center at the Air level; Australian essences for the Fire level; Bach essences for the Water level; and South African essences for the Earth level. We should always have in mind that, when we work with any essence – we work with Neptune. However, the essences we will discuss now represent a way to speak to Neptune directly, and therefore they have a pretty powerful effect in this strange world. 253
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Californian essences Australian essences
Angelica
A IR
FIRE
Fringed Violet
Planetary essence for Neptune
Bach essences South African essences
Clematis
WATER E A RT H
Wild Garlic
Neptune in Air Signs - Angelica (Californian Essence)
The Californian essence made from the Angelica plant links us with the upper, Air level of Neptune. This is a very important part of its energy, as it links us with Pluto, i.e., with that part of existence linked to the very core of the Earth. When we enter into the mental spheres of Neptune, problems with spiritual feelings often emerge, so people can think that they have strong spiritual aspirations while actually, these aspirations are strictly mental. If there is a block in the process of touching Pluto's energy field (the highest, Air part of Neptune), people cannot establish a relationship with the core of the Earth, but instead keep looking for spirituality “somewhere up there,” somewhere high, and they start attaching to it. They touch upon Pluto only as a field of rage, arguments and similar problems, and it is very interesting how a spiritual approach can have such manifestations. On the other hand, an opposite problem might emerge, a problem that is not expressed through a link with the spiritual world, but through completely blocking access to it. 254
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This is when people strictly adhere to things that do not allow them to establish contact with higher values, and they keep looking at the world in a strictly materialistic sense. Therefore, this essence is often used with people who feel that they are living in a material world that is technologically sufficient in itself, for people who are cut off from higher guidance and live in spiritual isolation. What Neptune connects to is not in the mental sphere at all, and its level should be the channel that connects to the core of the Earth, a very special level of existence. An imbalance here often leads people to a state in which they talk about the spiritual sphere a lot, although they are actually only trying to clarify things to themselves with their mind. This essence encourages people to develop a relationship with the spiritual world by transforming overly abstract or intellectual thoughts and attitudes into honest feelings for various spiritual spheres. Angelica is linked to the world of angels and is used in a great number of flower essence combinations. It is especially important during births, deaths and other important life moments. It is a good meditation assistant, if we want to enter Neptune's world but thoughts keep distracting us. It enables purification of the mental field and helps people experience the peace Neptune needs in order to guide us toward Pluto.
Neptune in Fire Signs - Fringed Violet (Australian Essence)
If there is a Neptune imbalance on the Fire level, we use the Australian essence Fringed Violet as an assistant. It is especially important if the aura has been damaged, and this we will easily detect in charts that contain an emphasized challenged Neptune in the Fire element. This essence repairs aura damage that results from shock, strong feelings of sadness, or abuse. Any dramatic experience can lead to it, so regardless of whether Neptune is placed in the 1st House (which would be typical) or there is a planet in a Fire sign linked with the 12th House, we have a drama that the native was unable to overcome. This essence provides psychic protection, so that people are not exhausted by others. This nature can always be linked to the placement of Neptune in the 1st House, and it is clear that people can be completely exhausted from outer influences, as if their aura is completely open, making them unable to control 255
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information received from the world around them. This essence is often combined with Angelsword essence (the Jupiter assistant on the Fire level) which heals holes in auras, while Fringed Violet closes them, as well as with Pink Flannel (the Moon assistant on the Fire level) for those who were victims of abuse. In this way people heal their auras, get psychic protection, and remove the effects of the old, damaging energies. Also, this essence combines well with past-life regression, because it helps clients return to the present moment, after they complete the session. With Neptune, there is always a tendency for the Soul to leave, so Neptune's incarnation can easily attract it during the process of cycling between incarnations. Neptune is the one that connects our incarnations and is always strongly involved in this type of work.
Neptune in Water Signs - Clematis (Bach Essence)
When we speak of Neptune in the realm of Water, the Clematis essence is used as an assistant. This essence is recommended to people who have no affinity for the real world, but prefer living in the world they created in their imagination. Neptune here is dominant and strong, because it is linked with the element closest to it. When it is expressed as a problem, we feel these people’s restlessness and lack of grounding, as if they were not there; they do not react to real-life events and lack the energy that would allow them to be present. They can lose interest in everyday life, become confused, distracted or sleepy, losing contact with reality in the process. When there exists a serious imbalance at this level, it can lead them into narcotics and other heavy addictions. This essence enables them to consciously experience parts of reality that they ignore and then to start making their dreams come true. Instead of waiting for some salvation while watching movies, they start creating an interesting and fulfilling life. In this way, people who look dreamy and are slightly confused, manage to connect their inner and outer world and again become interested in reality and the people around them. These people will never become fully focused, because they have a need to look at things in a dreamy way, but they do need materialization – to find themselves in the field of movies, music, art or any other sphere 256
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that would allow them to do concrete things. They need support to find their own world, they need courage and energy, which they lack because they are so connected to the element of Water. The greater the affliction in the chart, the more strongly they will be drawn into problems, and it is important, after recognizing this, to allow them to find themselves and their own world that they can live in. The most beautiful thing in every life is to achieve one's dream, one's myth. That is, after all, the goal of life. It is just that some dreams are so deep that people do not know how to articulate them, let alone how to manifest them. This essence needs to be administered for five to six months in order for the effect to show. The initial results will be felt when they wake up a little, because they will notice how the world really is. Only after they pass through this phase, will they manage to recognize things in that world that they can do, and this is where the effect of the essence will be really noticeable. Working with this plant is a process of coming back and integrating, and often one needs to work longer on this problem.
Neptune in Earth Signs - Wild Garlic (South African Essence)
In the case of a Neptune energy imbalance on the Earth level, we will use the South African essence Wild Garlic as an assistant. This essence is used when people feel lonely or are afraid to engage with life. People with an imbalance on this level feel lonely even when they are surrounded by people, and they have the feeling that they are alone on Earth. Various real fears emerge here, so even if they should be creating magic on the Neptunian Earth level, they fail to engage with the world at all. This essence enables them to feel secure, relaxed and connected to the things around them. Primarily, Neptune should be connected with Uranus at this level, so they need to connect with society. If we want to live the world of our Neptune, we need to create our world, our people and one big Uranian foundation. This is when we can exist in our own world, having this strong foundation. When there exists a problem at this level, the average person cannot fit into society, with ordinary people, and they do not know how to do it, but instead experience psychologi257
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cal problems connected with it. When Neptune is fully developed at the Earth level, they will find their own community. They will not depend on the community of ancestors, but will create friends throughout the world and in that way develop a foundation for their Neptune. However, if they are randomly surrounded by people, they fail to catch their own dream because they are living the story of their ancestors. Neptune seeks to be exalted in Aquarius, and also seeks the sign of Uranus’ exaltation – Scorpio (since Neptune is the link between Uranus and Pluto). If it is linked to the Earth level, fears and weak immunity lead to illness. A deficiency of vital energy and will emerge, and if the 6th House and its ruler are involved, the problem easily manifests in physiological form. It is as if a sort of instability and insecurity exists that leads people to lose contact and start feeling fear. This essence helps a person digest food as well as experiences, i.e., it makes people capable of accepting and metabolizing things. It leads to a powerful feeling of relaxation and grounding within their inner being. This is not like the grounding of the Mars energy center, but the field of fears is cleared and people become safer because they notice that there is no reason to worry and that everything is fine. It is as if everything becomes “normal.” This only confirms how important grounding is. Neptune wants to ground us and, regardless of its need to open up a completely new world for us, its highest level and gravitation is toward the very core of the Earth. South African essences mostly have a very slow effect, but this essence manages to lower us down and connect us rather fast, showing concrete results. It is an excellent remedy for “energy vampires,” as well as for people who keep thinking they will be fooled and betrayed by friends and partners, or that someone will steal their property. Its use develops trust rather fast.
Neptune's Complete Healing Process
After we bring an unstable natal Neptune into balance through its planetary essence and assistants, we need to achieve balance in its emphasized (Yang) level of functioning, and then also achieve stability between the flower and animal levels – which is achieved with the gem stone essence. The animal guide for Neptune is Dragonfly, and the gemstone that stabilizes it is Kunzite. 258
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Dragonfly Essence - Yang Level of Neptune
Dragonfly is an animal that connects us to especially subtle levels of existence and remembers the beauty of our planet from times past in the form of one ancient, magical being. It carries memories of beauty in its shape and colors, so this essence relaxes us in order for us to be able to let go and open up to the experiences of daydreaming and spaciousness. This essence is used when we need to go through a very light and gentle energy structure, through the nature of Neptune itself. It is able to show us magical worlds, dragonfly worlds. Just as the world of Neptune represents a very intelligent level of existence, the dragonfly essence reveals to us the field of ultimate inner inspiration that we live through outer events, through signs, things and paths, as if magic opens up within our field of vision. The period of use of this essence can be particularly important, so it is necessary to pay attention to things that happen within that period. Even if this is a very subtle and fragile animal, its effect is especially pronounced, powerful and stronger than many others. This essence supports people to believe in their dreams and to trust that they can make them true, which is what makes them happen. In essence, it leads us to open up toward unusual and quite unique ideas that are so imaginative and partly pure fantasy. However, they inspire us to follow them and support us in various life circumstances. One part of our life is expressed through our ability to recognize that magic, to bring it to life and carry it inside ourselves. The Dragonfly is a symbol of grace and the ability to walk between spiritual worlds, as well as the ability to feel things from various angles and see them in a new light. It brings the feeling and symbolism of Neptune through compassion, support and our ability to make things gentle and beautiful. This is a harmless animal that is thought to possess healing powers, and in some cultures it is called “snake shepherd,” because it is believed that it travels and heals people bitten by snakes. It has the power to heal pain or injury that people have suffered, because it brings back the memory of our inner lightness and everything that is naive, innocent and harmless within us.
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Gemstone: Kunzite
This gemstone is named after the scientist and explorer who discovered it. Its role is to open the heart of the native to the awareness of their personal angelic nature and angelic presence. Just like any other connection with Neptune, it opens us up to a very subtle and special nature, and it is important to establish whether the stability we seek in our Universe is really connected with that nature. If, for example, people carry a very strong Neptune with a 10th House nature, they can be confused, unaware of what they want to do in life, so they fail to connect their professional aspirations with the material world. It is quite possible that the calling of these people is to establish contact with subtle beings from this sphere, and this is the stone that will allow this nature to come to life on Earth, providing stable communication with angels in a certain line of work, practice or through a person, but in any situation, it will happen on a very constructive, material level. This essence helps people experience the spiritual love of the angelic kingdom and to integrate it in their physical body. This is a very fine, transcendental experience that belongs to an unusual aspect of existence on planet Earth. Kunzite frees us from conditional love and selfishness, opening us up to infinite spiritual love. The typical earthly love leads us into relationships in which we can develop connections and a sense of belonging – there is a sense of security that someone is “ours” or we belong to him or her. This gemstone gives the ability to awaken a completely different nature and it is primarily meant for people who are professional priests or missionaries of a spiritual nature, who need to acquire a certain sense of being present on Earth, providing them with peace and happiness on their life path. It is important to understand the true nature and function of this stone because in most cases, the sign of Pisces on an angular house cusp is a sign that the native needs to introduce stability into their chart through Jupiter. Neptune is distant and people rarely need to work with Kunzite essence to materialize their nature. However, sometimes this is the case, but even then we do not talk about the usual things and experiences, because the infinite spiritual love that it represents is a very elevated term compared to its usual meaning. If Neptune is in a very strong relationship with the 7th House, it brings disappointment with people, for example, that the one they want to be with actually wants to be with someone else. In that case, this es260
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sence will allow people to see things from a universal perspective, so they can open up to love, accept that it is wonderful that they exist, and be grateful to people who inspire them to love. There is no need to ask for anything from somebody else. This is a much wider concept that they need to activate. This essence is often administered when somebody is seriously ill, and when conventional medicine has no cure, or other methods failed to solve the problem. Kunzite is a gemstone that connects us to our own higher leadership, with the field of gold in which we mix with spiritual Teachers, with angels and guides, with the core of our Soul. The ninth energy center is also called “The Seed of the Soul” and it represents our connection with the healing energy of love. If this essence is used on people who suffer from terminal illness, we should have a broad enough approach to understand that it can have different effects. On the one hand, it is possible that patients realize that they have a lot more work to do on Earth, which could lead to a “medical miracle” and total healing. However, people taking this essence may experience this union with guides through the conclusion that their healing is precisely in the transition to the other side and the experience of death. It is certain that people using Kunzite essence feel blessed, whichever of these two healings they choose. Sometimes it is not easy to understand that people need to stay with their guides, because it is hard for us to part with them. But despite the fact that we might experience death as “the end,” it can actually provide the dying person with a feeling of wholeness and healing. Therefore, we need to have a broad awareness in order to work with this essence, understanding that healing can happen in two ways, because we cannot guarantee the current need of the Soul.
Assistants for Challenging Neptune Aspects
Just as with Uranus, assistants for Neptune aspects are linked with the mutual circulation of basic energy centers, so we will have a separate essence for Neptune's aspects with the Moon, one essence for the cycle of the Sun and Mercury, i.e., Uranus, one for the cycle of Venus and Jupiter, and one for the cycle of Mars and Saturn, i.e., Pluto.
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• The Moon and Neptune in Challenging Aspect • (opposition, square, quincunx, semi-square and very often the conjunction)
- Yin level Bach essence: Clematis - Yang level Animal essence 1: Dove (for healing the Moon from a challenging relationship with Neptune) Animal essence 2: Jellyfish (for healing Neptune from a challenging relationship with the Moon) For challenging aspects between the Moon and Neptune, we will use the same essence as for balancing the Water energy level of Neptune, i.e., Clematis. The effect of this essence is explained in the chapter: Neptune in Water Signs - Clematis (Bach essence).
• Neptune and Mercury, Neptune and the Sun, or Neptune and Uranus in Challenging Aspect • (oopposition, square, quincunx, semi-square and very often the conjunction)
- Yin level Bach essence: Walnut - Yang level for Neptune-Mercury aspects Animal essence 1: Fox (for healing Mercury from a challenging relationship with Neptune) Animal essence 2: Frog (for healing Neptune from a challenging relationship with Mercury) - Yang level for Neptune-Sun aspects Animal essence 1: Bobcat (for healing the Sun from a challenging relationship with Neptune) Animal essence 2: Opossum (for healing Neptune from a challenging relationship with the Sun) - Yang level for Neptune-Uranus aspects Animal essence 1: Arctic Tern (for healing Uranus from a challenging relationship with Neptune) 262
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Animal essence 2: Seal (for healing Neptune from a challenging relationship with Uranus) When Neptune makes challenging aspects with Uranus and its cycle, i.e., the Sun or Mercury, we use the Bach essence Walnut on the Yin level. This is where Neptune is in contact with conscious planets, so it produces people with weak personalities who are easily influenced by their environment. In a way, a challenging aspect between Neptune and the Sun is one of the hardest aspects, because it makes it difficult for people to understand who they really are and what they want. These people are prone to the influence and opinions of others and they find it hard to come back to themselves, so they might end up in situations they never wished to be in, and they can suffer for years. Whether it is a marriage or unhappy relationship, career or something else, they seem not to know how they got there, nor how to get out of this situation they do not enjoy. Also, these people are naturally very open and easily believe anything they are told by anybody. By balancing these aspects, people can be somewhat protected from the outer influences and not so opened in their world made of gossamer. When there is no boundary within the first cycle, which is the rational level of Mercury and the Sun, people do not even know what their own idea or opinion is, and what belongs to other people. Therefore, they need to develop a “thicker skin” in order to become able to observe their own needs and attitudes. These people are often overwhelmed by other people's problems, and they can even mimic physical symptoms of the people around them. These people refuse to visit sick people even when their illness is not contagious, because they know that if they see them, they might experience the same symptoms. Acceptance of other people's thoughts and attitudes, as well as a loss of self-awareness are particularly emphasized if they enter an emotional or any other kind of relationship with a dominant person. They already have a weak ego, so if they have somebody strong and dominant by their side, they completely lose awareness of who is who and can easily identify with the other person, although the attitudes they absorb might not have anything to do with their own personality. With its nature and thick shell, Walnut helps these people fend off outer factors and protect themselves in order to enter their personalities, look at their own needs and stop falling under other people's influence. This essence is good for children during puberty, if they “fall into bad 263
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company,” because it allows them to fend off requests that come from the environment, and hold onto their own identity. Since they trust other people, they need to build a system in which they will trust themselves. When they build a protective membrane, they can really start believing in themselves, eventually recognizing their own path and direction. Walnut essence can be administered in all situations that can additionally open us up to outside influences: when we change jobs, schools, homes, or go through some challenging inner changes, because it helps us stay inside ourselves, regardless of outside events. A favorable placement of Sun-Neptune energy should infuse people with trust in themselves, so this essence is very important when inner faith has been shattered or threatened by outer influences.
• Neptune and Venus or Neptune and Jupiter in Challenging Aspect •
(opposition, square, quincunx, semi-square and sometimes the conjunction) - Yin level Bach essence: Olive - Yang level for Neptune-Venus aspects Animal essence 1: Ladybug (for healing Venus from a challenging relationship with Neptune) Animal essence 2: Manta Ray (for healing Neptune from a challenging relationship with Venus) - JYang level for Neptune-Jupiter aspects Animal essence 1: Hawk (for healing Jupiter from a challenging relationship with Neptune) Animal essence 2: Salmon (for healing Neptune from a challenging relationship with Jupiter) For challenging aspects between Neptune and its carriers – Venus and Jupiter – we use the essence Olive on the Yin level. What we have here are special people of a very gentle nature, and the imbalance mostly manifests if they are born into a family or circumstances that are too aggressive or harsh for their world. These people are very delicate and they carry the need to deal with beauty and light things, so the usual behavior 264
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– long working hours and hard work – can exhaust them. The problem appears when they try to fit into the lives of the people in their environment, so they force themselves to do things they do not find pleasant or enjoy. They should develop their own beauty, often through art or professions that allow them to be creative, gentle and energetic, because their gentle nature has a hard time finding its place within harsh requests from the environment. If such people are provided with favorable circumstances for development, they can develop huge amounts of energy inside themselves, because this energy springs from total inspiration that invigorates and regenerates them. An imbalance occurs when they are not connected only to Venus and Jupiter, but instead enter some harsher world and try to identify with people of a very different nature. Olive essence enables regeneration, and re-establishes balance and vitality, so these people are able to connect with the universal energy of love, pleasure and happiness. People using this essence often think that it has the wrong effect, because they expect it to give them more energy, while the first effect might actually be completely opposite and force them to rest from too many activities or a demanding way of life. Only after they are rested, can they enter the state that allows them to generate the energy they need, which is not connected to the physical plane. This essence is very good for problems of a weak heart, exhaustion and anemia. Anemia is a consequence of a lack of joy, so it is often enough for that feeling to be awakened in people for this problem to be healed.
• Neptune and Mars, Neptune and Saturn, or Neptune and Pluto in Challenging Aspect • (opposition, square, quincunx, semi-square and very often the conjunction)
- Yin level Bach essence: Aspen - Yang level for Neptune-Mars aspects Animal essence 1: Polar Bear (for healing Mars from a challenging relationship with Neptune) Animal essence 2: Praying Mantis (for healing Neptune from a challenging relationship with Mars) 265
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- Yang level for Neptune-Saturn aspects Animal essence 1: Bear (for healing Saturn from a challenging relationship with Neptune) Animal essence 2: Octopus (for healing Neptune from a challenging relationship with Saturn) - Yang level for Neptune-Pluto aspects Animal essence 1: Earthworm (for healing Neptune from a challenging relationship with Pluto) Animal essence 2: Spider (for healing Pluto from a challenging relationship with Neptune) The relationship of Mars, Saturn and even Pluto and Saturn speaks of a deep unconscious level. On the Yin level, the flower essence Aspen is used for this field. People with challenging aspects of these unconscious entities with Neptune feel them intensely throughout their physical bodies. This plant “quivers” and nicely describes the nature of people with this kind of challenge, because they actually quiver and carry some unnamed fear inside themselves. This is where anxiety and panic attacks originate from. They do not fear thieves, other people or some typical threat. Their fears are unexplainable. Children with this aspect are often scared of monsters from the dark, afraid to get out of bed, thinking the monster might grab their legs. They insist on sleeping with the lights on, fearing some presence they might find in the dark. They realistically feel entities that surround us and are “not from this world,” and they feel it as a physical sensation: there is a sense of cold going through their body, as if a ghost is touching them and breathing down their neck. Also, these people can have premonitions in the form of physical sensations. They can correctly predict weather and even more significant events. Their dreams can be intense and feel quite unreal. Children often dream that somebody is suffocating or attacking them, or are in the room they sleep in, and the like. These are actually souls that got stuck somewhere and need help going into the light. It is only natural for them to address this need with people who can feel them. Simply put, these people have access to deep, unconscious contents. They wash over them, and enter their system, so people feel this within their bodies. The problem occurs when they start fearing their own premonitions and do not want to predict unpleasant events for themselves or the people close to them. 266
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They do not know how to control this ability, and that increases their fear. Although they might experience quite pleasant things, the fear of unpleasant ones often wins and they find it hard to integrate this ability into their life. Aspen most directly enables these people to gain trust – first in themselves (in order to be able to accept their feelings as real), and then in life, so they do not feel the need to be afraid anymore. Only when the fear is gone can they live these aspects in a proper way. All people with this type of challenge are fascinated with the occult and mysterious things. The only question is: how much do they fear them? Fear is often so strong that, when someone even mentions something that is outside of their security zone, they want to run away and do not want to ever see this person again, powerfully renouncing possibilities that such a world opens up for them. It is important to distinguish between a skeptic and this type of person, because a skeptic would not show interest in the field and would probably just wave his hand. However, if there is a passionate reaction to the subject, we can be sure that we are dealing with a challenge on this unconscious plane. When this challenge is balanced, people can integrate and purify the deepest levels of unconscious content, both within themselves and in other people. This essence helps us free ourselves from the fear that can be attached to these aspects. These people will not lose this ability, because it is a part of their character, but they will become free of fear and will admit what actually fascinates them, allowing themselves to engage with these things.
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Aspects
Earth (South African Essence)
Wild Garlic
Clematis
Fringed Violet
Angelica
Dragonfly
(Animal Essence)
Yang level (Gem Stone Essence)
- respective planet Dove Fox Bobcat Arctic Tern Ladybug Hawk Polar Bear Bear Earthworm
Clematis Walnut Walnut Walnut Olive Olive Aspen Aspen Aspen
Yang level 1
(Bach Essence)
Yin level
Jellyfish Frog Opossum Seal Manta Ray Salmon Praying Mantis Octopus Spider
respective planet -
Yang level 2
Kunzite
Yin - Yang stabilization
Assistants for Challenging Neptune Aspects
Fire (Australian Essence) Planetary essence of Neptune Water (Bach Essence)
Air (Californian Essence)
(Flower Essence)
Yin level
Neptune's Complete Healing Process
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Pluto - Balance and Healing
Planetary Essences and their Assistants
PLUTO
Balance and Healing
In everyday life, as in the Solar system, Pluto is hidden from sight when the glance is directed upward, because it is located beneath our feet – i.e., in the underworld. This center represents the essence of every knot in our life, i.e., the place where opposites meet. It is the heart within the symbol of the figure eight, where transmutation happens, and it is the black hole in the universe that represents a portal for “the multiverse” which has a white hole on the other side. In order for this energy of eternity to become a part of life, people need to join Mars and Saturn within themselves, i.e., the first and seventh chakras which, when united, change the past. This happens because here the energy of Mars meets the energy of its previous existence – Saturn. Since Pluto already knows about portals that lead from one universe into another, alternate universe – all events (those that already happened as well as those that never happened in this universe) actually exist, so any past is changeable because there exist many versions of life that unfold at the same time. The energy of this chakra lives in the heart of the infinity symbol (∞), but also within the heart of the core of the Earth, as well as in the very center of the Galaxy – the black hole around which everything spins. Pluto represents an unusually important place in our chart, especially when it makes exact aspects with personal planets or is positioned on chart angles. It is a silent witness of all our life happenings as well as the ways we treat our planet, and every behavior that is not in harmony with the core of the Earth is registered by it as a need for personal purification or transformation. Pluto is the universal need for purification. It is the universal ecologist who lives on our planet and 269
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deals with the purification of rivers and genetics – the river of our ancestors. Purification in all forms. This is its only goal. Pluto is a silent witness of all there is.
If we look at its energy structure, we can see that it is based on Neptune, so even if we are thinking that Neptune is situated high above Uranus, Neptune's chakra is actually the one which connects Uranus with Pluto, representing the link between Heaven and Earth. Neptune is the spirit that connects to the core of the Earth, while the core itself is where all opposites that exist on this planet unite. These are the opposites that are inherited from our ancestors, and we see them in our lives and they must flow through Pluto's point of unity. If we are in harmony with it, things are clear and flow nicely. If we are not, it seeks change, purification, and events that we need in order to align ourselves with Neptune, on which Pluto is based. 270
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The upper part of its energy is linked with the Mars energy center. Therefore, Pluto is the one giving energy to our ancestors and to us. Pluto links us to the Earth via Mars, which can gain huge strength, support and security from it, if our link to the ancestors is fortunate. It is as if we enter a clear river and enjoy swimming in it. When we enter a dirty river, we do not feel well and we want to get out of it. When the native is not well-grounded, he or she is not well-connected with the Earth, and they are expected to swim in a river that is not clean enough – and that is a sign of problematic memories of the ancestors that we carry within. When Pluto is powerful, Mars will be favorably and well-connected with the Earth. Pluto is a broader reality than Mars and, just as Mars represents one ancestor that we connect to, or our ability to ground, Pluto is the whole river, the collective part of us that comes to one point and represents the energy from which Mars arises.
1st Houses
12th Houses
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If we are looking for Pluto's place, it is the very core, the very center of the Earth. Above it is the energy of Mars, and below it is the energy of Neptune. Pluto's task is to enable the transformation of Neptune into Mars, and to allow these two energies to become One. Pluto is the center of the figure eight, that small part within its heart, and that heart is the point of transition from one energy into another. By joining Neptune and Mars, Pluto allows the joining of our 1st and 12th Houses, and that is the point of birth, the point of transition from one life into another, from a state of sleep into a state of awareness. The transition always goes through the fine point of Pluto. If we knew how to send ourselves a message right before we fell asleep, or right before we woke up, we would always have contact with the core of the Earth and with Pluto. To be in contact with the heart of this planet means to be in harmony with all of its natural laws. Ultimately, it all always boils down to Pluto and the entire life story on this planet must pass through the point that it represents, through the funnel that leads to it. This is the gathering point of everything. Pluto is never aggressive, but is always totally and intensely present. The only way aggression can arise from it is through Mars, which practically represents the upper part of Pluto's energy, while Pluto’s lower part is connected to Neptune. Pluto is the point in the very center of this energy and it is there to join two different worlds through two different chakras. It is the point that allows unity consciousness, the kind of consciousness that gives us the feeling that we are One with everything around us. The point of Pluto should always be clean and flowing, because even the smallest grain of dirt might block the energy flow and make a person feel like he or she has a problem. This is when dualism happens and worlds part, so a person stops recognizing other people or things as part of himself or herself, so the energy cannot easily flow. If we build our life on the foundation of a Pluto that blocks the energy flow between planets and their figure eights, life becomes harder and loses purity. Pluto enables us to be connected with all people and circumstances, which allows energy to flow and transform from one shape into another. In that way we allow ourselves to change shapes, stopping ourselves from playing the role of one ancestor that we chose based on the position of the Ascendant and its ruler, but we can instead touch all the other planets that we carry inside ourselves. For this reason it is necessary for this energy to be pure and to flow through our energy centers 272
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and all planets in our chart. When Pluto is not clear, the relationship that exists between ourselves and other people will be perceived as a threat, as an experience colored with strong emotions that we experienced in some other life, emotions our ancestors brought forth. Every purification that happens when we use essences is sparked by Pluto. It has a need to join different things because it is located between each pair of planets as a point of their unity. We could ask ourselves: is Pluto actually similar to the Moon, if it is in the heart of the relationship between each pair of planets, because the Moon is the one that joins everything in our heart? The only difference between Pluto and the Moon is that the Moon represents on a personal level what Pluto represents on a general level – the level of our ancestors. The Moon is our heart, while Pluto is the heart of the planet. Ultimately, it is the third degree of Scorpio, where the Moon has its fall, that speaks of their powerful relationship, because that is the point of transition of our personal heart to the heart of planet Earth, since it also represents the degree of Pluto's exaltation. That can be a dramatic experience sometimes because, while connecting with the energy of ancestors, people should broaden their horizons to such a point that everything is purified, while their heart brings everything into balance, eventually making the river of their ancestors clean and happy. We can always say that Pluto is there to purify things and that we should never be afraid of it. Pluto can work through Mars in an unpleasant way and make it very aggressive only if the energy flow is not clean enough. Any aggression that people experience is actually an imbalance in the upper levels of Pluto’s energy, while problems with the lower levels are expressed in the form of panic or strong fear. Pluto is like a snake, and we know that it becomes very aggressive and deadly when it is scared, so an imbalance of Pluto's energy works precisely in this way. It represents the relationship of Mars and Neptune, the hidden, masked Mars, and that is its basic nature. Since it is expressed through that invisible Mars, it represents invisible fears within us, so aggression coming from there can be expressed as a Mars that completely loses control and we can no longer recognize it as part of ourselves. It all comes from personal impurity, so the process of purification is needed for all things in life to function properly. 273
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This is the reason why it is particularly healthy for people to purify themselves, while the use of essences which help this process allows us to finally connect all the centers inside us. When this connecting happens, recycling and purification necessarily happen too, because this is the need of Pluto. Our only goal is to make this gentle and subtle, since Pluto is not aggressive but needs only to unify all things. Aggression occurs through the relationship of two worlds that have never loved or accepted each other. It is enough for someone to only say that they don’t like something or someone in order to unconsciously invoke or create that very thing or person. Aggression is like an unconscious connection between two worlds; if you put a lot of energy into rejecting something, you attract it in a different way. This is how they invoke these two parts to unite. The relationship between them will be purified sooner or later, and it can happen in a variety of ways. Everything that constitutes a conflict in life – arguments and wars – represents a purification from planet Earth's point of view. Pluto is such a master of the earthly kingdom that it will do everything in its power to make rivers clean. So, if a meteorite needs to fall on Earth in order to reach that goal, it will not get upset as long as its goal is achieved and the energy flows on Earth are purified. Our whole life is working toward that goal, so the only question is whether we want to do it through dramatic events and circumstances that we attract, or through changes we can make on a more subtle level, allowing the subtle changes within us to be reflected on the outside in the form of adequate change. We will eventually achieve harmony. The only question is in what way, because purification is a universal and absolute need that will be present until all things are completely in line with the core of the planet we live on. When we look at an imbalance in the chart on this energy level, we should have in mind that Pluto's problem is very deep and is caused by a person shutting out other people. It is expressed through powerful energies, obsessions and any kind of extreme, negative focus. Its problem occurs when two things in a person’s life are overly separated, and when he or she cannot flow the energy between them. This automatically manifests as hatred and a huge fear – which are one and the same, but sometimes working from Mars, and sometimes from Neptune. In essence, both things carry the same message and give us the information that it is necessary to work with the energy of Pluto and the emotions that come from it. 274
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When we discussed Neptune, we said that Venus represents our ability to say “yes,” and that Jupiter needs to broaden, in order for both of them to create Neptune which represents an unconditional “YES.” Here we can see that Neptune is linked with Pluto, so even if their orbits around the Sun intersect, there exists a strong relationship between them on a personal level. When we start our life on planet Earth, when we inhale our first breath, physical pain makes us forget our past life and the fall of Pluto, Uranus and Neptune happen in a certain order. It is as if by entering the physical body we acquire an experience we did not count on when we incarnated. People are so afraid of death because they forgot all about this moment of exiting the physical body, because after the violence of the experience of death, suddenly lightness and a painless state unfold. Not only is physical pain gone, originating from injuries to the physical body, but the suffering originating from the mind and emotions is gone too. This is when we suddenly realize that we have spent our whole life in fear of something we should not have feared. That flash of light is so strong that we easily forget the physical experience felt in the body. At that moment, nobody knows how it will feel to be in a physical body, because the memory is gone, so when we finally choose the scenario for our next incarnation and descend into our body like an angel, we are suddenly exposed to the feelings of our ancestors and the total sum of our genetics. Emotions that we feel in the first phase of incarnation are unbelievably intense, because the whole river of genetics overwhelms us, so we feel sadness and anger, we remember pain, we fall into the river of the ancestors – and this is when Pluto falls. The test of our Soul is mostly connected to Pluto, because the heart center is linked with its exaltation via Pluto's fall. Evolutionary astrology primarily looks at the position of Pluto as an important point for our Soul's development. It is obvious that its link with the heart chakra is of the utmost importance. It is hard to understand what is in us, as people, that makes us so easily hate ourselves. It is much easier to hate and reject oneself than to love oneself the way we are, the way we exist, without any reason – unconditionally. It seems like we have to learn how to do that, we need to live through certain life experiences in order to come back to ourselves. Criticizing oneself, hating oneself and being self-destructive comes easily. Just one high-pressure situation is enough for us to easily fall into that feeling. It is as if we live the nature of a fallen angel 275
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with the task to come back to the light. In order to be able to come back to the light, we need to go through our water, through Neptune. That is not easy to do if we have the image of a father that did not match the image of the father we wished to have, or a mother who did not provide us with what we needed, or any other relationship which makes this split into good and bad, into what we needed and what we didn't need, and finally – to all those things we are ready to say “no” to. When we are at that lower level of consciousness, at which we forget the light we are waking toward, since the feelings we carry in our genetics keep distracting us, Neptune appears through a huge number of entities we feel we have no control over. Therefore, just as there are parasites and leaches on the physical level, they exist on the energy level too, and when people enter into a state of hatred and destruction, although these entities have no intellect to plan something intentionally, nevertheless they feed off our feelings. Then they do everything they can to make us provide more food for them. Like a lion that chases an antelope because it is hungry, not because it has some bad intention. Sometimes, when we see how certain people behave, we wonder whether it is possible they cannot see how bad it is for them, and they appear possessed to us. And actually, they are. They lose their sense of self and, when the madness they are in finally ends, even they cannot figure out what made them behave in a certain way. When we chose our life story, we chose different tasks. Some chose to take care only of themselves, some chose to take care of their immediate family, some – to take care of whole nations. We simply estimate which quantity of light we need, and we count on the fact that we need to swim through the rivers of genetics that we chose. The key to the solution of every problem is in accepting the personal level of consciousness. It is as if people need to live through painful experiences and injuries to be able to notice their own weaknesses, to recognize their inner hatred, anger and rejection, and to realize how hard it can be for somebody else. Only then are they able to forgive themselves for not knowing that the physical body will bring them such experiences, and to understand that their intentional walk toward the light is conditioned by loving themselves. When people love and accept themselves, they accept the entire genetic line they chose to purify during this lifetime, and if they chose it, first and foremost, they should forgive themselves. It is absolutely impossible to forgive anybody else unless we know how to forgive ourselves. 276
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Regardless of how strange Pluto might appear to us, it is actually the biggest test of self-compassion. In order for our Neptune to be a real saint, people must allow themselves to turn a blind eye to light and dark entities, because Neptune does not make these divisions. The entity we experience as dark is dark only because a light one rejected it at one point. All of them live within us, so the best affirmation for working in this field would be: “All that is mine is good.” We should only realize that everything within us is good in order to allow ourselves to figure out what purpose it all serves. Since Neptune is the representative of a sign in which Venus is exalted and Mercury is in its fall, it is impossible to figure out with our mind why we need to say “yes” to everything. This is an irrational, unreasonable need to be happy, a need that Pluto leans on with its energy. Pluto is a constant silent witness. It does not appear or bother anyone until its time has come, until there is a strong need for people to recognize the importance of the river they swim in, and finally deal with it. Pluto makes us realize we are in a dark tunnel, so if we are aware that there is a light at its end, the light we strive toward, its road need not be hard. If we see what we are walking toward, we are ready to go through all the challenges and make all the necessary changes in the process. Pluto problems appear when people do not see the goal they are walking toward, when they feel like they are in a blind alley and are walking in the dark. This is when heavy illness, depression, mental disorders or outer events that bring a sense of loss happen. These are all warning signs that they should get back on their right path. All unpleasant things that Pluto might bring tell us that we should leave the path we are on, as it leads nowhere, and that we need to bury something and allow ourselves to embark on a new life. We can often have really silly thoughts, because we have tied ourselves to someone or something in our life, so it might look like we cannot live without our partner, or money, or a job. However, Pluto is there to remind us that we are wrong. A deadly threat often makes people question their beliefs and makes them see their own abilities and the purpose of life in a more realistic way. Ultimately, Pluto comes after all the other planets. It appears after all the warnings of the closer entities failed. When it appears, there is always a significant reason for it, and it will bring all things into balance with the needs of nature in any way possible. 277
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It simply guarantees solutions and it is impossible to resist it, because all the opposites are already united in that field. Therefore, whatever needs to be, will be in order for us to get on our real path and connect with the spirit that needs to lead us.
Three Levels of Pluto Manifestation
On the physical level, Pluto represents memories of ancestral pain. This is the feeling that something happened in the place in which we were born, that it is not safe. Through Pluto and its aspects some outer circumstances will unfold which might bring us pain or danger to our physical body. Suffering from the river of our genetics will appear in our body, in our life circumstances, and finally we can also be physically threatened. On the other hand, people can have a very strong fear of very concrete things. Unlike Neptune, where fears are induced by undefined things and entities, here we have concrete objects that people might fear, and it can even be a phobia of snakes, dogs, flying, etc. This fear is so intense that people think they will die if they come in contact with the object of their fear. The fear appears as a combination of Pluto's and Neptune's chakra, so people fear real things, but the fear grows to such an extent that it becomes irrational, making people think they will die if they come in contact with something that other people do not fear at all. They might think they will die if they are left penniless or if they lose their partner, so it eventually becomes a completely irrational threat that other people do not think about at all. Physical manifestations of an imbalance occurring at the level of Pluto's center might even express themselves as body spasms, heart attack or breathing problems, as well as tics that are beyond our control. Mostly, it is things we cannot control, so these are also uncontrolled movements or reactions in our body. When people fully master Pluto's energy, they have no thoughts no emotions, but are able to establish whether something is dangerous by pure feeling, and then they can focus on avoiding the danger without any fear. Mastering Pluto might give us a complete sense of the circumstances we find ourselves in. If Pluto is beyond our control, physical manifestations might be very dangerous and dramatic, and they might lead people into dangerous, even deadly, situations. Animal attacks or dangers originating from other people might occur, but in any case – 278
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dangers will come from very concrete things that occur as circumstances beyond our control. These circumstances are a very objective threat to life, and their goal is to make dramatic changes in our lives. They usually manifest as some part of a person dying, disappearing or leaving. On an emotional level, we can see hysterical episodes. People might have hysterical episodes of anger, crying or being demanding, and they lose control over their feelings. Pluto forces people to have strong self-control and those who have their Pluto emphasized have a much bigger need to control things than people with an emphasized Saturn. Control linked to Saturn is linked to worries and fear, but control linked to Pluto carries the feeling that, if we let go, something will completely overwhelm us. Therefore, we feel that certain ways in which people behave, dress, talk or act are completely unacceptable, and we feel that, if we let go, that will be the end of life, “the end of the world” and the moment at which they completely disappear from the face of the Earth. When love actually manifests from Pluto's need for complete unity, when someone connects with a partner on the same level, the feeling of peace occurs. Pluto is in balance when it is completely peaceful. It knows that Persephone is waiting for him in his world and does not feel jealousy or anger. It simply carries inside itself the need to create that complete link and, if anybody threatens that idea, an imbalance might occur and lead to quite dramatic love stories. Problematic aspects with Pluto make us feel greed and hunger for whatever is symbolized by the planet Pluto is in aspect with. If people are hungry on this level, they are insatiable and can really suffer while searching for the satisfaction of that need. They keep searching for proof through money, love or anything they feel the need for. It is as if they have a hole within themselves that cannot possibly be filled and, regardless of how much love they receive, it is never enough for them. If they could only see themselves in the mirror and realize that what they are trying to acquire they actually carry inside themselves, it would be easy for them to satisfy that deep need they have. People with an emphasized Pluto in the mental sphere have a need to fascinate others with words. They want to show off their impressive will power and character, using that as a way to keep people in their life. When two such people form a relationship, one becomes fascinated by the intellect and ideas of the other, and that can keep them in an unusual 279
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relationship which is hard to break apart. One person is fascinated by the other person, while the other person is fascinated by the fascination of the first person. When such a relationship breaks apart, mutual hatred might result, as well as a conflict that is very hard to heal. Pluto can hate most precisely the person it used to love, because it wants to keep that person forever, while that person is leaving them and going away. On the mental level there is a need to fascinate others with words, deeds and personality. The need to make others stay by our side by sheer will power, the need to manipulate and, ultimately, the need to keep things under control in our life. When people try to control life in Pluto's way, they do not leave room for surprises or unexpected things, so a total loss of reason and madness can occur. These are the people who appear to have the strongest control, because they actually do, but they do not leave any room for surprises or changes in any form. When people go overboard with rejecting the possibility of unexpected events being incorporated into their life, they do not know what to do when they actually happen, because they lack a flexible attitude and they wish everything to go according the plan they made for themselves. There is always a strong focus with Pluto, as well as the need to control things. When control is lost, there is a feeling of loss, because things have to change. When Pluto's issues are out of balance, particularly powerful things happen and they represent a kind of major transformation. They can manifest on any of these levels, but are certainly always dramatic and force us to accept that something is fleeting and will disappear: people lose things and persons they were attached to, who were important to them. The model of tying and untying is a central issue of Pluto, since its need is for everything to flow like a river and to transform from one form into another. Therefore, when people attach to some material quality that should be changed, Pluto comes along and frees its attachment. Pluto is a magician who is aligned with the laws of nature and the more people are capable of allowing changes into their life, the greater the number of things that can be shaped into the form they need. The price for that ability is clean water, so whatever we attach ourselves to in this life, it will disappear and leave us because we need to be untied and clean. We need to be with someone, but not tied to someone, to be connected to that person on a deeper level, to realize we do not possess them and to be peaceful in the relationship we create. 280
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Pluto's Elemental Assistants
Besides the basic essence for Pluto's energy center, we will use a Californian flower essence for a Pluto connected to the Air element; an Australian essence for its connection to the Fire element; a Bach essence for its connection with the Water element; and a South African one for its connection with the Earth element.
Californian essences Australian essences
Red Clover
A IR
FIRE
Warath
Planetary essence for Pluto
Bach essences South African essences
Rock Rose
WATER E A RT H
Wild Gardenia
Pluto in Air Signs - Red Clover (Californian essence)
If there exists an imbalance of Pluto's energy center on the Air level, we use the Californian essence Red Clover. This is the level of Pluto's energy that leans on the Mars energy center. Pluto is the one that transfers its energy to Mars, whether it is clean and strong or not. Problems of an Air Pluto can be expressed if it is not stable in an Air sign or house, through transits or via the natal dispositor of transiting Pluto, but events in people's lives should be evaluated in order to establish whether this is the essence Pluto needs. 281
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The mental influence of a negative Pluto connected with the Air element can easily be expressed through emphasized aggression, and people can also experience very dramatic things. We need to work on it when some acute problem appears, which might be visible through big changes in a person's life, while in a more chronic sense it enables purification and the focus of energy into certain changes. When there is an imbalance, the “syndrome of the king of the world” occurs, i.e., people have an apocalyptic vision of reality and they concentrate exclusively on negative things. This is why they are worried and anxious and keep having panic attacks. When people are upset on this level, they feel strong tension, and thought processes can easily lead them to imagining potential negative events and consequences. This essence enables people to keep their personal calm and clarity, especially in unusual situations. They do it in a way that awakens the feeling of being able to keep their individuality, which can be threatened by outer circumstances, especially in situations of mass hysteria. Pluto speaks of the whole river of ancestors and it tells stories that are greater than individual ones, greater than we are. This center connects us with collective events. Whether it is our family or the wider field of our nation, times and circumstances in which we find ourselves – this becomes the river in which we swim. When the energy is unpleasant on this plane, when the nation is scared, that can have a strong influence on people and they can start living those circumstances and their ancestral stories as if they were their own. When people are connected with themselves, they can be separate from these collective feelings that dwell inside them in the form of fear or stress, and they can then connect with the pure field of energy. From this level, Pluto works through so-called contagious mental diseases, so people keep getting information about epidemics, even pandemics. Their environment reacts to it, so they react to it too, they start talking about it and they get involved in the mass hysteria. Although people are not sick, they feel as if they are, and they can almost die of sheer anxiety alone, because they are helpless to resist the influence of the masses. This essence carries a powerful force of self-awareness, so people can think in a calm and stable way, which allows them to act from their own center and become leaders in crisis situations. The basic role of Mars that leads people is expressed in the ability of people to metabolize collective 282
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feelings, so the goal here is to free people from the influence of collective fear and help them find their way through the collective feelings, the way that will be their own solution and exit. During earthquakes, people might jump out of windows, flee their apartments and easily fall into the flow of mass hysteria. When we are part of it, we lose our grounding and we believe that our behavior is normal because we observe people around us. What appears normal is actually dependent on Pluto's position in our chart and our relationship with it, because if we are capable of keeping our calm in situations like this, we are capable of leaving an undesirable situation – whatever that situation might be. Pluto often brings people only the immersion in their own collective river, so if that river is not clean, people cannot establish a relationship with the source of their own energy in order to avoid collective events. When Pluto's Air level is clean and flowing, the first chakra can be strongly connected with deeper levels and people gain the strength that allows them to be leaders who will help others avoid danger in crisis situations.
Pluto in Fire Signs - Warath (Australian Essence)
When there is an imbalance of Pluto's center that is connected to the element of Fire, we use the Australian essence of the Warath plant as an assistant. With this sort of imbalance we experience a strong connection with the big dramas in life, and the strong experiences they carry with them. Warath carries the name given to it by the Aborigines, and the name means “wonderful.” This is a very special plant, as it is used for deep purification. This essence has a powerful effect and, as a rule, less than a week is needed for strong effects to be achieved. On the Fire level of Pluto's imbalance, the problem that occurs wants to connect us with a concrete problem of one of our ancestors, and it manifests in a dramatic way. Everything that connects us with the Fire element is pretty alive and, although coming from Pluto's world, it tells the story of a person who lived before us. The root of this plant is very long and deep, as if it has the need to connect all our distant ancestors. This is the reason why this essence integrates us very nicely, because it is capable of finding a connection with some ancestor from our river, an 283
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ancestor who had some dramatic problem similar to the one appearing in our life now. When we manage to heal this ancestor, the problem we had – disappears. When we are unable to reach our roots, we do not recognize events in our life as our own, and that deepens the problem these events represent. People who have a Plutonian imbalance on the Fire level go through some tough times, they are in crisis and they feel desperate, even suicidal, while they are living “the dark night of the Soul.” Warath provides the strength and courage necessary for people to fight the crisis they find themselves in, as well as to draw on their own survival skills. Mars and the first chakra give us a natural need to survive. However, when the river of ancestors carries someone who had such a dramatic story that this basic need was threatened, by connecting with that distant part of the river, people lose the feeling of being grounded, they are thrown off balance and they have no good and clear energy of the first chakra, so their survival instinct is lost. What we have here is an instinctive feeling that can disappear only if the fear of some ancestor was so strong and dramatic, that it overweighs the basic instinct, so people “jump over” their first chakra and lose the feeling for Earth and their basic needs. The energy then falls very low, suicidal ideas occur and the crisis is dramatically experienced through outer events. This is an essence capable of very quickly connecting people with their first chakra’s basic instincts. The effect of this essence is visible in the strength and ability of the whole plant, but especially in the strength of its root, which can grow very far. It is this network that will balance the problem within us, link us to the ancestor who can be very far away in our lineage, and once we heal him or her, the problem we experienced can be solved and integrated, becoming a part of our life, a part we can do something with. We have described the psychological level of experiencing problems here, but we should have in mind that the causes can be very concrete, objective life problems that are so dramatic that people have the feeling they cannot face them. Maybe it is some life-threatening situation, and we see a person who gives up, feeling that the problem is stronger than her, and that she cannot live with it. Therefore, we need to connect them with Earth in order to provide them with the feeling that they are in control, and to remind them of the need to overcome problems, instead of surrendering to them. 284
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Pluto in Water Signs - Rock Rose (Bach Essence)
For balancing the Water level of Pluto's energy center, we use the Bach flower essence Rock Rose as an assistant. As we move toward the lower energy levels of Pluto, we get closer to the field of Neptune and enter into the feeling of panic, fear and some “other worldly” story. Although these feelings can later turn into anger or hatred, our own or of another person who is present in our life, we connect more and more to the story of intense fear when there is an imbalance in the lower energies of this center. If there exists anger in the chart of a person, that anger simply exists in the atmosphere, so it can be expressed through the atmosphere or some other person in the environment, but it is always the consequence of the division that Pluto carries within itself. If people were sincere enough and purified enough, they would recognize that they carry all these things within themselves, that they belong to them, and then they could see the unity of these different worlds. However, with Pluto there is often a need for repression, so a lot of things that are trapped in its knot remain unexpressed and unresolved. This essence has a direct effect on the field of our fears. Pluto causes panic and such upset that people cannot “gather themselves” and instead have the feeling that their foundation is crumbling. There might exist a collective story here, like a war or an event that affects the whole environment of the person, so panic appears as part of the broader frame and people do not know how to get rid of it. Fear becomes so big that their being is occupied with things that they think are not under their control, because these are circumstances in the widest possible sense. Their fear can be completely irrational, but based on a much wider issue, and simply overwhelms them. They are overwhelmed by fear, most often in situations in which they feel helpless and unprotected. Pluto always brings dramatic experiences and the situations it faces us with never look easy or temporary. It is quiet and appears in life in the form of high-intensity events. When people have clear rivers of ancestors, Pluto brings them changes, so they develop an ability to change and transform things, not seeing them as dramatic. However, when the rivers are not clean, Pluto appears in the form of death: of various things, people and situations. People experience this as very intense pain and suffering. Everything Pluto brings might be too strong. 285
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This essence can purify emotions on that very deep level. Problems can also appear as the consequence of a nightmare or post-traumatic stress syndrome. This might cause vomiting, uncontrolled urination, shakes and spasms of the body, etc. Some people, when they enter their element of Water through meditation, start physically shaking and have a strong reaction when they attempt to enter their own silence. What we have here are real, physical feelings which are linked with those strong waters, like a powerful vortex in the river that might draw the person in. When swimming in that kind of river, people feel unsafe because something keeps constantly dragging them, and they feel it as a total loss of control. This essence enables people to eliminate the effects of trauma, and provides them with the possibility of staying constructive and reacting properly in threatening situations, bringing back the feeling of calm, courage and normal coordination between mental and vegetative functions. It leads to connecting the conscious and unconscious systems of reacting.
Pluto in Earth Signs - Wild Gardenia (South African Essence)
The typical essence for the Earth level of Pluto is Wild Gardenia. This level of Plutonian energy constitutes “a touch of death,” since this is the point where one world transitions into another, and is linked to the physical plane – since this is the Earth element. This essence calms people and brings them into a state in which they can accept the necessary transformation. We have a subtle sort of transformation during the transition between two worlds, because this level of Pluto's energy leans against Neptune's energy center, and constitutes a direct point of transition from life within the world of Earth into the Neptunian world of spirit. When our river has ancestors who could not connect and easily transition from one world into another, they become entities who are trapped between two worlds and leave stress in our point of transition, because somebody could not leave their life on this Earth. If the feeling of fear is trapped in this point, it creates problems for the energy which wants to pass through there, so this channel needs to be purified and freed from stress. 286
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This essence is linked to death and dying and is used when it is time for some part of us to die, when we need to let it go, or when a certain part of life is ending. There is a strong relationship with endings here, and the use of this essence is mostly linked to the need to help our ancestors transition from one side to the other. This may be a real-time event – when somebody needs to help somebody else go through the experience of death – or the person herself needs to separate from something. When there exists a feeling of fear, or trauma from ancestors, or there is something stuck in this transition point, preventing it from flowing – this channel needs to be purified. This is linked to stories of those who ended their lives in a dramatic way, and Wild Gardenia purifies these passages between worlds in such a way that energy can circulate, allowing people to breathe and heal the whole system. The river has to be clean, because if there is a spasm left in it, or dissatisfaction and the feeling of fear, that resembles parts of the ancestral energy that are stuck and prevent people from leaving a difficult state they are in. They block this point of transition and it manifests itself as fear, weakness and energy that is easily spent and lost, constantly encouraged by parasites that we talked about earlier. There are strong entities that take away life due to fear, and these experiences are extremely strong. This essence is for people who are afraid of endings and keep holding onto pain in order to avoid the unknown. Things that remain unresolved on this level lead to fear of anything that needs to end or leave their life. People feel fear even when the change is unavoidable, because the river simply has to flow. Everything is transient, and the only thing that is not is the transience itself. This is Pluto's basic premise and, once people try to attach to someone, or something, and they link their happiness to this, sooner or later a serious problem will appear. By attaching, they order a problem that will arrive at some point. People will hold onto pain in order to keep what they are tied to, and this pain occurs because the energy on this level is not flowing. These things happen on the deepest unconscious level, because that is the land of Pluto – especially quiet and deep. This essence provides people with contact between Soul and Spirit, enabling trust in the flow and the ability to surrender everything that needs to be surrendered through calm and gracious transition. People come to terms with changes that are needed, they accept that things should separate in a certain way, and they can find peace because they 287
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realize that change doesn’t need to be extremely dramatic. We are dealing with very deep energies here, so problems arising from here are not easy and people have a hard time rationally accepting them with clarity. These are feelings contained within memories of ancestors who wept when someone died, so an ancestor who lived some five hundred years ago might have left a strong memory and keeps dragging us into strong fear and painful experiences. He is the entity that feeds off of that energy and leads people into feeling sadness or fear, because they do not know any other way to look at things. To provide ancestors with blessings and happiness on this level is a prerequisite for people to gain really great energy in this lifetime, because a healthy relationship between Pluto and Neptune is built. This is the tunnel between incarnations and an especially subtle and fine thing that exists deeply in our consciousness. When ancestors are stuck here, they often appear as unpleasantly aspected planets in the 8th House of a chart, so when we have Neptune and the Moon here, unfavorably aspected, we can see and feel ghosts in our home, ghosts who are stuck and cannot leave because they are attached to this earthly existence by a powerful fear. This essence is invaluable help in hospice work, i.e., active work with Souls who transition from one world into the other. Traumas in transition points that we carry in our genetics need to be purified and, if people feel a big drama linked to the departure of people or things from their life, this is a clear sign that this level of Pluto's energy center needs to be purified. We are strongly connected with the river of our ancestors and, if we can help them make this transition point easy, that is good for both sides, for them as well as us, and it provides huge energy for our life. We are all incarnated in order to repair things and make them better. This is why we came to this planet. Therefore, when we progress in this at one point and clean the path, at the other point we open some other door for us. This is why we need to get enough rest – to be able to direct our energy to a certain thing we want to solve. When we use this essence, we are conscious that we want the transition between worlds to be easy. With this consciousness, we feel gratitude for an ancestor who we helped leave, and this will show up in the outer world as an open door for something new in our life. We should make a deal with our ancestors, provide them with the help they need, because that is the only way to wipe out the sadness that Pluto can cause. 288
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Although Pluto carries feelings of fear and pain within itself, it is primarily linked to the Water sign Scorpio and therefore carries memories of great sadness that dwell in our waters, in our genetics. When a person dies in a home in which there is a small child, this essence is an excellent assistant. When a child is small, part of the energy of the dying person can easily “glue” to the child who might grow into an adult who carries a strange feeling that they cannot get rid of, and do not know how they acquired it – and it might be the energy of an ancestor who was afraid to separate from this world and go into Neptune's world. Most people leave in a great state of panic and fear, and these feelings stay recorded in Water. Small children, up to four years old, are most susceptible to these influences, as they still do not have protective mechanisms and “filters.”
The Complete Healing Process of Pluto
Ultimately, in order for an unstable Pluto in someone's chart to be healed, we need to balance out the Yin (flower planetary essences) and Yang (animal essences) level, as well as the relationship between them (gem essence). The main animal guide for Pluto is Salamander, while its stone is Smoky Quartz.
Salamander Essence - Yang Level of Pluto
This essence is linked to the astrological symbolism of Pluto, as Salamander is one of the oldest creatures on our planet and is considered to most directly link us to the core of the Earth. During medieval times it was thought that Salamander protected us from evil spirits and demons, and that it is good to always have one in the house, especially in the bedroom, near the bed, and this was the reason people hunted them. Salamander is one of the animals linked to magic and magical and alchemical rituals. Phoenix is another such creature, but completely mythological, and it also describes the nature that connects us to the center of the Earth and offers the power of complete regeneration. However, Salamander is an ancient animal on our planet and has the power of connecting us to the mysteries of the Earth. It helps us feel grounded and find the power that connects us with the mysteries 289
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of transformation and rejuvenation. We take this essence whenever we need to bring something to life or rejuvenate, as well as when we need to go deeper within our unconscious field. The essence of Snake is very intense and powerful, and it certainly falls into the category of essences for working with the tenth energy center, but we stick to Salamander essence primarily in our practical work. We use it to balance out and positively activate aspects between Pluto and Mars. Salamander is a powerful representative of this energy and it has the task to lead us to the very core. It differs from Snake essence because it is much less connected to the nature of “shadow” and fears, so working with it on this field of energy can be easier. By using this essence we employ the force of magic and awaken the ability to change, transform, regenerate and rejuvenate the things we carry inside ourselves. It activates great inner power, deeper than the Buffalo energy and the first center in general. Therefore it is excellent for regenerating any situation or relationship, giving it new energy. In order to bring anything to life, we always need a very deep energy of transformation within us.
Stone: Smoky Quartz
In Serbia, this stone is also called “Sooty Quartz,” because it is a very dark stone. Its function is to ground and calm us. This essence synchronizes the energy of the body with the energy of planet Earth. Smoky Quartz most directly links us with the common vibration of the first and seventh chakras. If the sign Scorpio is found on any chart angles, people very often need to introduce stability into the nature of their Mars, but the need for this vibration that connects them most strongly with the Earth might also appear. This stone regulates and stabilizes the detoxification of unwanted energies from the physical, emotional and mental bodies. It teaches us how to see the light within darkness, it transforms negative emotions into positive, it stabilizes common changes of mood and feelings, and it purifies the energies of lower entities. Feelings of envy or jealousy, as well as ugly feelings toward other people in general, can be balanced out with this essence, because it allows people to see the correct shape of their own Pluto. On the physical level, the essence of Smoky Quartz regenerates muscles and helps with genital and glandular problems. 290
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Assistants for Challenging Aspects of Pluto
Just as with other transcendental planets, we use a separate essence for aspects of Pluto with the Moon, and one essence for aspects of Pluto with the cycle of Uranus, the Sun or Mercury, another for the cycle of Neptune, Venus or Jupiter, and a different one for its contact with Mars or Saturn.
• Pluto and the Moon in Challenging Aspect • (opposition, square, quincunx, semi-square and especially the conjunction)
- Yin level Bach Essence: Chicory - Yang level for Pluto-Moon aspects Animal essence 1: Mole (for healing the Moon from a challenging relationship with Pluto) Animal essence 2: Python (for healing Pluto from a challenging relationship with the Moon). The essence we use on the Yin level to balance challenging aspects between Pluto and the Moon is Chicory. When there exists a contact between the Moon and Pluto in a chart, a person has a deep need for intense emotional relationships. Whether we are talking about a relationship with their boss, child, husband or sibling, we are talking about a highly intense relationship. People have a need to take care of someone else in order to make their life better, and they want to feel strong love and attachment, carrying an insatiable need to acquire proof that they are loved. A child with this type of aspect can constantly keep asking their parents if they love him, although he was already given the answer numerous times that same day. It is clear that these are people who cannot accept that a person they love might leave them, abandon them or simply disappear. It is easy to fall into imbalance with aspects between these planets, and they lead us to a strong need to dominate over the object of our love and make them dependent on what we provide for them. This is not a mental, but deeply emotional need to know that a person will be with us forever. We do everything possible for them, nothing is too hard, but the only thing we cannot agree to do is to let them leave us. These people tie up and hold other people close to them, so if we are talking about a parent with this 291
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type of energy, since they are stronger than their child, this child can leave home in an attempt to live their own life. This is a very deeply felt emotional need and, once it glues people together, they cannot separate and they become mutually dependent and conditioned with each other's presence. The Moon with Pluto has a strong need for love, but there is a question why these people cannot provide self-love. These are people who go overboard in servicing others, they are always prepared to give, but eventually they end up feeling that they have given their all, they have renounced their own life, and other people end up being ungrateful and unable to appreciate it all. This is, actually, a sign of a lack of self-love. Emotions and feelings of love are fuel for every person, and we cannot function without them. Therefore, if we cannot love ourselves, we are trying to receive them from other people by giving them everything we’ve got, and expecting them to provide us with love in return, staying with us forever. The more we love ourselves, the less emotional dependence we feel. The more we hate and reject ourselves, the greater our greed and the pathology with which we do things for other people, expecting a return and self-validation through them. This essence enables people to give without expecting anything in return, without requests or self-pity, without asking that others provide anything, realizing that we all have a right to live our own lives and be what we are and love ourselves. It is only then that people can realize that they have a right to their own life and the right to love themselves, just as other people do. It is important to understand that it is natural to do things for other people, if they ask us to. However, when we go overboard in doing things for other people without ever being asked, when we do that with the best intentions, but disregard our own life, we must eventually ask ourselves: how can we provide others with anything we do not have ourselves? The Moon-Pluto relationship is always an especially intense thing because the Moon is our heart, and Pluto is the heart of planet Earth. Their contact is especially demanding and requires people to purify their ancestral genetics with their heart, to purify collective energies in order to be able to resist the self-rejection that strongly pulls them in another direction, and to therefore finally accept and love themselves.
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• Pluto and the Sun, Pluto and Mercury or Pluto and Uranus in Challenging Aspect • (opposition, square, quincunx, semi-square and very often the conjunction)
- Yin level Bach essence: Cherry Plum - Yang level for Pluto-Sun aspects Animal essence 1: Tiger (for healing the Sun from a challenging relationship with Pluto) Animal essence 2: Condor (for healing Pluto from a challenging relationship with the Sun) - Yang level for Pluto-Mercury aspects Animal essence 1: Raccoon (for healing Mercury from a challenging relationship with Pluto) Animal essence 2: Bat (for healing Pluto from a challenging relationship with Mercury) - Yang level for Pluto-Uranus aspects Animal essence 1: Orca (for healing Uranus from a challenging relationship with Pluto) Animal essence 2: Anteater (for healing Pluto from a challenging relationship with Uranus) When we talk about Pluto's aspects with the Sun, Mercury or Uranus, we talk about the conscious, willing part of people, and for challenging aspects on this level we use the Yin essence Cherry Plum. People with this kind of Pluto contact often have a strong and highly developed rational nature. Their mind is dominant and at the same time they have strong emotions. The Sun or Mercury, i.e., Uranus, talk of a very powerful intellect, while emotions stem from the Scorpio field and are very deep and intense. A strong rational mind forces these people to repress the urges they carry in their emotional nature, because they have a need to keep maximum control. A strong polarization of the rational mind and feelings occur because people try to control their nature, which has a need to come to the surface. Urges can lead people into total self-destruction, so they literally lose their mind trying to strictly stick to 293
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it. That can lead to reactions beyond their control, so when these people are confronted or lose their nerve, they react so violently that they become dangerous or, at least, overly anxious. The energy with which these people defend their opinions in order to keep control can be terrifying to such an extent that you might ask yourself whether you should ever speak to them again. Hysteria can unfold, as well as uncontrolled attacks of anger or crying. This essence is a great assistant for children who learned to get what they want by being hysterical, because that is a form of powerful manipulation. We need to understand that these people need to express themselves in such an unpleasant way because they need to learn to allow a part of themselves that is being repressed to come to the surface. Although this is not a great way to do it, if they repress things too much, they put pressure on what’s inside themselves, and it has no other way to express itself except through anger, hysteria or tears. This essence allows people to understand that they do not need to control things, because people with these kinds of aspects are usually so scared of what they might say or do, that they have problems allowing their inner nature to guide them. After they take this essence, they start accepting their own shadow, their dark parts, and they recognize their own inner richness. This finally liberates them from fear, because they can allow themselves to look at the dark corners of their own personality and understand that they motivate them, that their strength is contained within them and that they have to accept that, besides that powerful rational and controlling part, they have strong urges within themselves that pull them in other directions. Only after they manage to accept this, when they liberate themselves from fear, they become able to integrate their deep emotional nature into everyday life and to constructively use their own energy.
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• Pluto and Venus, Pluto and Jupiter or Pluto and Neptune in Challenging Aspect • (opposition, square, quincunx, semi-square and very often the conjunction)
- Yin level Bach essence: Sweet Chestnut - Yang level for Pluto-Venus aspects Animal essence 1: Eel (for healing Venus from a challenging relationship with Pluto) Animal essence 2: Butterfly (for healing Pluto from a challenging relationship with Venus) - Yang level for Pluto-Jupiter aspects Animal essence 1: Ostrich (for healing Jupiter from a challenging relationship with Pluto) Animal essence 2: Wolverine (for healing Pluto from a challenging relationship with Jupiter) - Yang level for Pluto-Neptune aspects Animal essence 1: Earthworm (for healing Neptune from a challenging relationship with Pluto) Animal essence 2: Spider (for healing Pluto from a challenging relationship with Neptune) A well-known essence for working with challenging aspects of Pluto with the cycles of Neptune, Venus or Jupiter on the Yin level is Sweet Chestnut. This essence is said to be good for a “broken heart” and is used when people feel that losing someone or something has completely wiped out the purpose of their future life. People can lose someone or something, but there is also another possibility – that they keep failing to acquire someone or something they consider to be a prerequisite for a purposeful and happy life. After many attempts to get what they think they need, or to prevent losing something, these people realize that they will not succeed and that realization eventually leads them to the feeling of total desperation, so they can even become suicidal. If they feel that they have been denied either Venus or Jupiter, they feel that life has no joy or meaning. These are people who can easily start 295
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crying over the smallest of things, and when they reach a phase of no more tears, they surrender completely and can assume a suicidal attitude. These people are ready to give their life for love, if we are talking about Venus, or for their mission, if we are talking about Jupiter, so they easily become obsessive and fanatical in their need to convince others of their ideas. A Pluto imbalance always leads into some kind of fanaticism, and in this case people will do anything in order to win a certain person, so that their own life can acquire meaning and become joyful. The problem occurs when things do not go according to their plan and when they fail to keep what they have gotten themselves attached to, or acquire what they think they need. There is a problem of accepting that something is not going to happen and, as much as someone else might feel bad in a similar situation, these people completely surrender to the feeling of meaninglessness and they can take their own life because the despair they feel overwhelms them. They exhaust themselves completely, eventually reaching a state in which they have no strength to keep going. This essence prevents them from sinking and giving into feelings of despair, at the same time helping them to reach new insights about themselves and their values, leading them slowly toward change.
• Pluto and Mars or Pluto and Saturn in Challenging Aspect • (opposition, square, quincunx, semi-square and especially the conjunction)
- Yin level Bach essence: Mimulus - Yang level for Pluto-Mars aspects Animal essence 1: White Rhinoceros (for healing Mars from a challenging relationship with Pluto) Animal essence 2: Snake (for healing Pluto from a challenging relationship with Mars) - Yang level for Pluto-Saturn aspects Animal essence 1: Raven (for healing Saturn from a challenging relationship with Pluto) Animal essence 2: Alligator (for healing Pluto from a challenging relationship with Saturn) 296
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These configurations are always linked with the physical body, so in the case of contacts with Mars we carry a memory of physical pain, while with Saturn we carry a memory of worry and suffering. The pain comes from the body, suffering from the mind, so in any case, what we can expect here are very objective events that fit this symbolism. This essence is recommended to people who are full of earthly fears. This is not a fear of ghosts or some distant entities, but the fear is linked to real things from the environment. People who are under a strong Plutonian influence feel much more pain and suffering than other people, and an imbalance of this sort can express itself in two ways. People can fear snakes, spiders, flying, loss of material security, job or anything they focus on. This fear is definitely overblown, so we can see that these people might think, for example, that they will die if they lose their job or board a plane, even if this is something that happens to other people without such dire consequences. On the other hand, when people have a combination of these planets in the unconscious houses, like the fourth, eighth or twelfth, and the ruler of the Ascendant is strongly placed and emphasized in some way, they can realistically get into very dangerous situations too easily. These are not people who plan how they will face a small threat, but instead behave as if they want to get themselves killed. It is interesting that, when such people work on discovering their inner urges, they realize that they are actually very afraid. When fear is not present, there is no need to test ourselves in extreme situations that can be life-threatening. The way these problems will express themselves greatly depend on the position of the ruler of the Ascendant, because it will tell us if these people see themselves as fearful or completely fearless. In any case, with this kind of challenge, the fear is there. The only question is: how realistically is the person aware of it. This essence provides people with courage and enables them to face the origins of their fear. It opens up a possibility for people to rise from the ashes like a phoenix, much stronger than they were before. Eventually, they acquire the ability to realistically evaluate their own fears, so they lose the need to recklessly enter risky situations and can protect themselves when needed.
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Aspects
Earth (South African Essence)
Water (Bach Essence)
Salamander
(Animal Essence)
Yang level
- respective planet Mole Raccoon Tiger Orca Eel Ostrich Earthworm White Rhinoceros Raven
Chicory Cherry Plum Cherry Plum Cherry Plum Sweet Chestnut Sweet Chestnut Sweet Chestnut Mimulus Mimulus
Yang level 1
(Bach Essence)
Yin level
(Gem Stone Essence)
Python Bat Condor Anteater Butterfly Wolverine Spider Snake Alligator
respective planet -
Yang level 2
Smoky Quartz
Yin - Yang stabilization
Assistants for Challenging Aspects of Pluto
Wild Gardenia
Rock Rose
Warath
Fire (Australian Essence)
Planetary essence of Pluto
Red Clover
Air (Californian Essence)
(Flower Essence)
Yin level
The Complete Healing Process of Pluto
AstroHealing
Twelve Essences of the Zodiac Signs
Special AstroHealing Essences
TWELVE ESSENCES OF THE ZODIAC SIGNS
As we mentioned earlier, Dr. Bach defined twelve basic essences that correspond to types of personalities. It is important to understand that the goal of our work is not to remove the symptoms or fight anything, but to bring the whole system into balance. Since these twelve essences are linked to the signs of the Zodiac, we will see that each of them, when balanced, can be wonderful – regardless of the problems that were central to it.
Sign
Essences Impatiens Gentian Cerato
Chicory Vine
Centaury
Sign
Essences Scleranthus Rock Rose Vervain
Mimulus
Water Violet Clematis
The first sign of Aries corresponds to the Impatiens essence. As the name implies, this is a sign that is impatient when imbalanced, and it wants everything at once, forcing other people to immediately say or do something. It is unpleasant in traffic and constantly has the need to rush everyone else. When balanced, this sign is still fast, but it becomes pleasant and develops an understanding of others, as well as patience. The second sign of the Zodiac is Taurus, and as a fixed Earth sign, it is the densest and slowest of all. The essence that suits it is Gentian and it serves to resolve the imbalance that can occur due to the heaviness of the 299
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Vervai n
tiens Clemati a p s W Im ate n r it a
o
Ro ck i
[
se Ro
ulus m i t M p e l o Vi
s C ranthu entaury Scle
]
u
y
q
t r
ne
ory Chic
e
Vi
w
Cerat o
Ge n
sign, which tends to dig into an unpleasant situation, unable to get out of it, feeling discouraged and stuck. When balanced, this is a very persevering sign that is capable of working in a stable, dedicated and patient way on something that fulfills it. The third sign, i.e., Gemini, is linked to the Cerato essence. Just as the majority of people connected to this sign often say that they have at least three sides to their personality, when it is imbalanced the impression is that they have problems knowing what they want and making a decision, so then they need to ask others for advice. When balanced, this is a harmonized sign that can express its true nature. The sign of Cancer is linked to the Chicory essence, which is known as “motherly love.” When imbalanced, it is insecure and does not know how to love itself, which leads to too much worrying about others and 300
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this eventually turns into manipulation in order to get proof of love. When balanced, this sign is unselfish in its deeds and gifts, capable of taking care of others in a proper way, starting with itself. The fifth Zodiac sign of Leo corresponds to the Vine essence. When balanced, this sign stands for general managers, leaders, natural authorities and people who are capable of organizing themselves and others. When imbalanced, they organize people around them despite their own wishes. The sixth sign of the Zodiac is Virgo, and it corresponds to the Centaury essence. It points to a nature that is naturally self-sacrificing and likes to serve people in the most positive meaning of that word. An imbalance leads to an inability to say “no” and a tendency to do more than they can bear. The sign of Libra is connected to the Scleranthus essence and points to the possibility of an imbalance in not being able to make a decision from a great number of options. When balance is restored, this is a sign that makes beautiful things, because it is capable of making all of its potential choices a part of a final picture. Next is Scorpio, a Plutonian essence with the name of Rock Rose. When imbalanced, this sign implies panic and fears that completely paralyze people, so even if they function normally, under the surface one can find a field of great problems and fears. When the sign of Scorpio is balanced, there is no fear, so this is a person you can lean on during crisis situations. The sign of Sagittarius is linked to the Vervain essence, and it carries the image of a knight, one who has excellent ideas and knows the way one should go. When imbalanced, there is a need for this knight to take someone's side and fight for his ideas with people who do not want to listen to him. The tenth sign, Capricorn, corresponds to the Mimulus essence. This is a very serious and practical sign which likes to plan and create security for itself. When imbalanced, it suffers from fears and worries about concrete things, but when balanced it is capable of correctly planning and building the very thing that frees us from everyday fears. The sign of Aquarius and Uranus are linked to the Water Violet essence. An imbalance leads to feelings of being an alien among the Earthlings and feelings of complete distance and reservation. When balanced, 301
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this is a person who solves all of their problems easily, so they can help others solve their problems, too. They never give advice unless asked for it. Pisces, the last sign of Zodiac, corresponds to the Clematis essence which, when balanced, stands for painters, movie directors, composers – artists who provide magic on planet Earth. An imbalance easily separates them from the material world and they can lose connection with their lower centers, living their art in the world of imagination. These twelve basic essences serve to balance the signs of the Zodiac, so if a planet does not feel well in a sign, or is not accepted, the whole sign does not function well, and this is the level at which the essence will work. Of course, there will be a relationship between a planet and its sign, but now we are talking only about the sign and how to work on it. Therefore, these are essences that function on that most fundamental level within the Zodiac, and we can often notice that we have a problem with a certain area ruled by a planet positioned in a sign. The sign is a place that, like our family, has the task of providing a sense of stability, so if there exists a memory within it that endangers that stability, we need to use essences in order to link the planet with the sign in which it is placed. For example, people can have marriage problems because their seventh house is afflicted, and that would be typical. However, the same problem can happen due to unresolved difficulties in the sign of Libra, so in that case we will balance the sign of Libra in order to influence the origin of the problem. The work on a planet that we mentioned earlier begins when it links to the element in which it is placed. This leads to its recognition on the emotional level, and its incarnation – just as during the process of incarnation when we connect to one nation, one people and a field of emotions that we need to accept. However, the element connection links us with three signs of the Zodiac, so we accept the whole memory that we carry within that given element. This emotional awareness is very important as phase 1 of our work with a certain planet. Only after the planet is well connected with the element do we go to the next step and connect it to the sign, initiating the necessary incarnation in that way. When a planet is connected with a sign, it is connected with the concrete level of our reality – it is as if it has accepted its family and can now act. 302
Twelve Essences of the Zodiac Signs
H O US E
Air
PL ANET
Fire
Activation
E L E ME N T
Water
Emotional awareness
SI G N
Earth
"Incarnation"
We all mostly play the role of one planet, above all through the lord of the Ascendant which then, through the element, more or less incarnates based on the sign level it is in. Family is the unit that needs to provide us with the feeling that we belong to a certain place, and this is when a planet feels really good. If a planet, and especially if it is the lord of the Ascendant, is problematically placed in a sign, weak or in its detriment, there is not good grounding through its nature. When we work on raising its awareness, we primarily think of connecting it with the whole element it is in, as if that element is its “people;” only after that do we work on linking it with the sign, i.e., its “family.” The next step is to link it to the nature of the house it is in, because this is where the essential “personality” of that planet will be able to activate. Every planet gains its natural ability to express and activate itself through the area of life it incarnated into, through the house. Although the house is related to the sign, it represents our personal area of activation, while all previous steps are needed in order for the planet to feel present, to be alive and strong. After accomplishing these three phases, a planet is well connected, grounded and eventually gains support from 303
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the foundation from which it acts through the house. The house represents the field of life within which a planet has its creative expression, a field within which we feel we are alive, we function and are writing a new story for our descendants. Each planet has a need to descend into its foundation, to fully incarnate in order to find itself through the function provided by its house. The pure planetary essence is supposed to remind the planet of its natural state of balance, but when we connect it with its element and sign, we are working on much deeper levels. This is the reason why this part of emotional awakening can be sensitive, because we need to enter our own existence and link to it through the nation in which we were born. Connection with the sign is much more concrete, because this is where we find things that should give us support, as well as the part of ourselves we need to unite with. The sign is a more narrow category, similar to a person’s connection with their family, with the field from which we receive basic energy. On the other hand, the house represents our ability to express ourselves, and soon we will encounter practical work in this area that will allow us to notice the difference. The complete awakening of a planet happens when it is capable of functioning well within its area of life, its house, thanks to good grounding in its sign.
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Environmental Essences
Special AstroHealing Essences
ENVIRONMENTAL ESSENCES
It is on the Water level that the primary part of our destiny within the smaller figure eight is defined, i.e., the energy within which most of our AstroHealing work happens. This is the level of plants which allows us direct contact with that which leads us to our inner transformation via sub-levels of the Water element. In the broader sense, our energy being also carries the elements of Fire, Earth and Air. Planets naturally reside on the Fire level, because this is the place of their aliveness. A planet is
Environmental Essences Animal Essences
Flower Essences Gemstone Essences
Houses
A IR
FIRE
WATER E A RT H
Planet
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Sign 305
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an intelligent being, an entity that has its primary nature, while a planetary essence enables a planet to bring itself into balance. By using various assistants, we connect it with the foundation where it expresses itself on the Water level. We said that the sign is the foundation for Water, expressed through its four elements. Therefore, before we link a certain planet with a sign, we link it with the whole world of Water, with the elemental world. On the other hand, we have the level of the house in which a planet is placed, and that level is linked to the element of Air. If it so happens that on the Water level we cannot easily accept certain information, if we develop a need for a change, if we feel stuck, or if we get caught in over-processing, as if too much had been frozen in this element, we influence it from the upper side, from the level of Air. This is the work with environmental essences, and it has a very strong effect. These essences open up a channel in a completely different way, they introduce a vibration from a completely different angle and enable the flower essences we use afterward to be much more effective. Environmental essences are used in a way that opens the door of a given area, from which our planet should act, and they have very good cooperation with changes that we wish to additionally achieve on the level of Water. On the Air level, information is recorded in the form of messages, so from that mental level and the intentions which are part of natural phenomena, we introduce a strong vibration in a special way. This vibration has the task to purify the given area. The effect is extremely fast: their work in regard to the house can be imagined as opening windows and doors, airing out the house and space, so that we can continue working in it. Sometimes this opening up is quite enough for the desired change to start happening within us.
Preparation of Environmental Essences
These are Alaskan environmental essences, as they are mostly made in the Alaskan wilderness. The process of making them first identifies specific elemental characteristics within a space which want to enter a co-creative agreement for healing. The person who prepares the essence communicates with the vibration of phenomena, with the elemental kingdom, and through that communication an agreement is made to enable certain phenomena in the world, in an environment, to be introduced 306
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into the life of an individual and come to life. Just as we have Spirit and Soul, the world of planet Earth and all phenomena in it have their own Spirit, which the practitioner here introduces into water. During meditation we broaden this connection between the practitioner and the Spirit and elemental beings that represent these characteristics. This is vibratory work that is no longer connected to physical touch, as in the case of flower essences, but represents communication with nature Spirits. Through this connection, the practitioner expresses love and blessings, asking the entities of these phenomena to transfer the identified energy into the bowl of water that has been prepared. The resulting essence is accepted with gratitude to nature, completely unique, and as a vibratory quality cannot be duplicated in exactly the same way. It is work that is created through communication with nature, with the energy it carries, and represents a record that is introduced into the vibratory structure of water through communication. People who prepare these essences are shamans, like those who prepare animal essences. They never prepare them alone, but always work in a group. There is always some light, whether Sunlight or Moonlight. The nature of the element whose vibration we need to transfer to water depends on the quality of day (or night). It is often necessary for the sky be clear and the day bright because, if not, the nature of a different elemental being is received. It is as if we want to photograph and preserve in water a certain image or event, but we need to have the clearest possible picture. After this process, the water that carries the desired vibration must be fixed in order to retain the information. Water is a universal cleansing agent and, whatever information it carries, in time will return to its basic state. Just as it does with unpleasant information, it will also do with positive information, so we need to somehow preserve it to give it stability. If there were no external influences, all water would clear out information, regardless of what it is, and would regain its clear, crystal structure. Prayers and certain affirmations can speed up that process, because each affirmation is a way to connect with the cosmos, but different vibrations that people create leave different memories in water. Water changes shape in time, like any emotion, so we need to provide it with stability for these essences, and in most cases this is achieved by adding a small amount of alcohol. 307
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Effect and Use of Environmental Essences
When taken internally, these essences stimulate and provide support for transformation on the most basic level of a person’s energy system. They are often used topically, as a vibration that will have a purifying effect within a field, and that is why they are called “environmental.” They purify the whole space around us and thus enable the activation of whatever might be blocked somewhere. They act on the fundamental level of natural existence, because they contain phenomena that existed on planet Earth before the plant and animal worlds were created. They represent a door that opens to a given area of life, i.e., the house in our chart. We use them when there exists a deeper block of the whole area, so they are an exquisite addition to flower essences, which strongly support and speed up the process. At some point when using flower essences, we will need to evaluate if some sort of a stoppage or block has happened, and if it needs to be removed in order for us to continue with our work. This might happen if we work on the same planet for several months, or at the very beginning of our work, when things need to be initiated. Their use does not need to last for a long time – a period of two weeks is quite enough to purify blocked energy, initiate it and shake up the energy system in order to be able to continue working on the Water level. Environmental essences are very catalytic, they speed up processes, so it is recommended that they are taken when there is a need for strong energy to be activated, or strong cleansing to be done, or to bring vitality to someone who does not react to other therapies or modalities. Therefore, if we need change, we will first choose to work with flower essences, but environmental essences will serve as a foundation for working with them in case the need occurs for strongly purifying or opening up an area, or in case we want to achieve a very fast effect. These are essences of the oldest natural phenomena, essences of nature Spirits who existed before all other living organisms on our planet. These are the most basic elementals that exist, and when working with environmental essences, we establish contact with them. This process involves the purification and liberation of energy from our living and working environments, and then charging and revitalizing the space with fresh, clean energy from nature. Environmental essences are often used in the form of a spray, which can be applied topically if it does not contain essential oils. Purifying a space 308
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with these essences is an especially useful process for people who live in crowded, polluted urban environments where elemental natural forces are weakened. Their use can make a much more comfortable atmosphere in the space where we live or work, and it will be easier for us to deal with inner problems we want to solve. They can also be used to provide balance and stability to people who are in emergency situations, like natural disasters. Any anxiety that is linked to the outer world and the environment in which we reside can be purified with elemental Spirits of natural phenomena. They are very fine entities, mostly from the North Pole, that carry very special energies. Their effect is very deep, calm, basic and pure. The water itself in these places is exceptionally clear so its effect is too, and the energy they carry is very present and deep, as a basic natural law. Using an essence that corresponds to the house in which the natal ruler of the Ascendant is placed, the native achieves a strong connection with that area of life in which he should act and feel well, and that connection will make our work on other levels easier. Any of the twelve environmental essences listed below can strongly connect us with that area of life where we feel we are somehow stuck and need to open it up in order to be able to access it. If we want to feel the environmental essence we use more strongly, we can apply some of it to our palms, feet and the area of the heart chakra before going to sleep, because this gives it an even faster effect, and in the morning we might feel as if we had used that essence for a long time.
Twelve Environmental Essences 1ST HOUSE - Chalice Well
The 1st House essence is Chalice Well. It is made out of water from the “Chalice Well” (Well Gardens, Glastonbury), in England. This is a very ancient well and it is believed that it carries that name because Joseph of Arimathea left in it a chalice in which he collected Jesus’ blood after the crucifixion, the same chalice from which Jesus drank at the last supper – so this place is in a way connected with the lineage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The water we find here is very unusual and can sometimes be red, and sometimes blue. It is always very warm and abundant, although this spring is rather old – it is considered to be more than 2000 years old, 309
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and therefore is really special. It connects us with the deeply personal and eternal support which is always at our disposal from the Kingdom of Angels, the Plant Kingdom and the Mineral Kingdom. This essence can connect us with the Earth, with the 1st House and primary energy with which we were born. This is the nature that connects us with our own source on the level of the elementals and their environmental forces. It is not only that the well, as such, represents a direct link with the Earth, but it also has the ability to connect us with what gives us strong energy and enables us become conscious of the fact that we are not isolated but part of the whole network of life. When we are born, when we acquire our Ascendant and 1st House, we connect to the frequency of life and enter the network that makes up the totality of everything around us. During our entire life, everything we see around us is ours and connects to everything that surrounds us. A problem occurs if people experience isolation or separation of any kind, because this is when their energy is not strong anymore. When we are well-grounded and connected to this network, we have very good energy and we receive support to fight. This essence is very important when we need help in taking the next step on our life path. Every need to find our own identity and place within that network, the possibility to continue further and achieve our goals, can be supported with the use of this essence. It brings us back to what we truly are, and that gives us energy. We use it if we need to work on a planet that rules the 1st House or is placed in it, and we feel that some sort of “block” or problem exists in opening up the field of energy we are working on.
2ND HOUSE - Polar Ice
The environmental essence for the 2nd House is Polar Ice. It is prepared on the ice of the Arctic Ocean, near the North Pole. The water that is created has exceptionally deep, stable and calm memories. The core of this essence is to encourage the native’s ability to become able to manifest through stability and patience. Naturally, building on the energy of the 1st House, every person has to take the next step through which they live in the world of the senses and fulfill their material desires. The 2nd House is always a part of our life on Earth, while the 1st House serves for the grounding of the 2nd House, because it represents the place at which people realize their own worth, their own myth. This 310
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is where the value of life is realized and dreams get materialized. The 1st and 2nd Houses are like wave and particle, and transformation of one into the other requires the patience that the nature of the 2nd House needs. The 2nd House lowers the wave that plugs us into the general energy field, and turns it into a particle. This essence develops the presence and stability at the place of pure memory, without waiting for something that is yet to come. The ability to not attach ourselves to the thing we are waiting for, the ability to persevere, allows us to manifest everything we need. The 2nd House is a place where we can realize our happy story and everything that is part of our lightness, and the role of this essence is to directly support our ability to realize this. We will use it when there is a problem with a planet that rules the 2nd House or is placed in it, especially if we notice that we are stagnating in the process of its purification by using flower essences. Polar Ice carries memories that are further and deeper than any level that flower and animal essences can achieve, so this ancient, deep energy is what will open up a field of personal peace in the process of materialization.
3RD HOUSE - Glacier River
The essence we use if there is a need to open up the field of the 3rd House in some way is Glacier River. It is prepared from the sunlit water under the “Gulkana” glacier in central Alaska. The water itself flows from the base of the glacier, carrying rock particles in it, eroding the mountain by constant pressure of the glacier ice. It carries that which is deep below the ice, so this essence embodies the process of eternal creation of wave from particle, enabling thoughts to get rid of patterns of feelings, thinking and acting that have become rigid and unforgiving. Just as the nature of the 2nd House told us of the possibility to turn a wave into a particle, the 3rd House shows us the process of creating wave from particle. The nature of the 3rd House is the thinking part of us, where we have an ability to be flexible enough to change things. However, all our thoughts come from very unconscious levels that have the nature of a particle, and that are made up of hard levels within our physiology. People with constricted physiology have rigid attitudes because that is one and the same thing. Tiredness definitely points to a lack of flexibility, to an inability to change attitudes, and this essence enables liberating the flow of thoughts from those constrained forms. The problem of the 3rd House can manifest in 311
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various ways, so we might be talking about flexibility in traffic, things that are in one's way, or things that need to be moved because they appear too fixed. Here we also see the ability to understand, or events concerning people linked to the symbolism of the 3rd House. This essence enables things to change, to flow, and through the vibration of the glacial river, a deep message is sent to a very subtle level of mind.
4TH HOUSE - Full Moon Reflection
This essence is used for work on the 4th House and is called Full Moon Reflection. It is made on a cold and clear night of the full Moon, in a canyon that overlooks Katchemak Bay in Alaska. This is a completely unpolluted atmosphere, very clear, because the biggest part of Alaska is not only uninhabited, but also mostly unexplored. Nature is really preserved here, and the reflection of the Moon under these conditions describes the nature of the 4th House in its purest form. This essence penetrates deep into the subconscious in order to bring to the surface whatever is yet unresolved. The nature of our family often has unresolved issues, or the nature of our ancestors or from our deep state that we have been in during the earliest part of our life. This essence brings these things to the surface and purifies them. Since the reflection of the full Moon speaks of the transfer of the Sun's light via the Moon, the Spirits in this case are the Moon and Sun, i.e., our parents. The purification happens because the Sun shines on the Moon, while the Moon sends this light into very clear water in a clean, untouched part of the world. Our 4th House asks for that purity so, when we want to achieve that, we introduce the support of this elemental level. In this way, this essence provides us with the opportunity to let go of the shadows, shining the light of our own consciousness on them. Since this is a very deep emotional field, when we work with this essence, shadows will appear at one point, and that provides us with the opportunity to recognize them – in order to get rid of them. This often appears as a meaningful self-awareness, the end of a block, and the shadow does not cover that emotional level anymore. When something unresolved is bothering us, we put a light on it, we understand, feel and get to know it, and then we become free of it, so that the feeling of inner purity is acquired. While there is a feeling that we are not pure, clear and calm within ourselves, we can use this essence because it rep312
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resents that Spirit, that atmosphere. The reflection of the Moon in clear water, on a clear night when it is quiet and cold. That is the nature of a completely pure Moon.
5TH HOUSE - Liard Hot Springs
The environmental essence we use to work on the 5th House field is called Liard Hot Springs. These springs are located in northern Canada, in a rather cold area, but their water is warm, so they represent a special spring of life. This essence is prepared from this warm spring mineral water during a clear day at the Liard Hot Springs. This is an essence that rejuvenates energy, bringing us back into contact with the innocent truth of who we really are: spiritual beings who came to Earth to learn. In essence, it activates childish joy in us and shines light on the fact that we are here because of something we love. The masculine, Yang principle is expressed through this essence, and it is linked to the model of love. The Spirit of that nature is such that can help us find warmth even in the coldest environments and circumstances. Northern Canada is very cold, while these springs are so warm that one can swim in them. This essence brings energy and authentic creativity into the cold structure of life. When we feel that the 5th House in a person’s chart is weak, that their heart has frozen for some reason, this essence awakens the feeling of warmth within this cold they feel. It works very fast and just within a day or two people have a sudden feeling of joy, which we all carry within ourselves anyway. It is a feeling that there is something in us that we can show to the world and other people.
6TH HOUSE - Stone Circle
The 6th House essence is called Stone Circle. It is prepared within the natural circle of stones located very high in the Talkeetna mountains in Alaska. The energies created by this circle of stones have great healing power, and this essence is used to support healing, especially if we need purification on the physiological level. In addition, it improves our relationship with the people we work with, so it becomes pleasant, easy and stress-free. Using this essence creates a very balanced protective energy within the aura, and it calls upon us to relax, rest and charge our life force. It is especially useful for working with people and environments, since it enables the maintenance of openness and sensitivity, without absorbing 313
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or taking on their energies. If we work with people we often need to relieve pressure and protect ourselves from outer influences. This essence prevents us from falling into a state of stress while working with others. The most important thing for our physiology is to be stress-free, because it is stress that causes us to become ill. The sixth house from the 6th House represents the sickness of physiology, and this is the 11th House which can bring very stressful things. This is the most uncomfortable and dramatic thing for our physiology, so sometimes we need to create a protective “circle of stones” and activate that Spirit made of matter, in order to protect our field. This essence works like self-healing, but also provides a preventive measure against unpleasant states caused by a chaotic lifestyle. The 6th House represents our everyday life, so we need to pay attention to whether people have orderly or restless and stressful lives. This pertains to their eating and sleeping habits and relationships with other people. If their everyday life is not particularly beautiful, but mostly filled with tension, they need the vibration of this elemental. This essence provides harmonious energy flow. The stress that a person’s physiology suffers from resembles stones thrown around without any order, without forming any logical image, and this is why their daily life is in such a state, as well as their physiology. Sometimes we need to bring them into a state of harmony, and that is very quickly achieved through contact with this Spirit of nature.
7TH HOUSE - Greenland Icecap
To work with the 7th House of the chart, we use the environmental essence Greenland Icecap. Greenland is a very special place on our planet, because what lies beneath the ice cap is a very powerful connection. This is the essence of sunlit glacier water, prepared on the icecap of Greenland, above the area where two continental plates meet. Greenland is a place where Euro-Asian and North-American plates meet, so this is the place where two worlds touch. These plates are constantly coming closer together, just as we all carry a deep and constant drive to find our partner. That need is rooted in the nature of every person, so this essence contains the intense energy of coming closer, the energy of the natural movement of the Earth crust upwards, through thousands of meters of ice. It might seem to us that Greenland is not an especially romantic place, it might seem cold and look like a place of harsh opposites, but 314
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the 7th House – the nature of what is further away from us – is actually something we feel as being very close. There is a deep need in people to live here. The place where this essence is made is the place where East and West meet, so no matter how cold the place seems, if we focus our attention on the elemental nature it carries, we see precisely this place where opposites meet. This essence helps us stay flexible and feel supported while we move through the deep inner change of joining with some other person or situation. Flexibility is especially important because every time we enter a relationship with another, for us it resembles a clash of continental plates. These can sometimes cause earthquakes, and this is where anxiety stems from – only because different worlds are being joined. The ability to join with some other party is very delicate and requires balancing skills. Therefore, if there is a problem within a relationship or marriage, Venus or the ruler of the 7th House, and ultimately with any planet that we want to bring into balance with flower essences, we need to clear this field and allow different worlds within us to connect. With its use we develop flexibility and the ability to join two opposite things in our aura, in our Universe, making them normal and balanced during that process, i.e., making it possible for the two parts of us to finally find each other. If we live with a person and feel a need to purify our relationship, purifying our space with this spray is a very efficient option. Ultimately, all energy, all feelings and emotions are recorded within the space where we live, and especially in the corners of our home – because they are like squares in which energy gets stuck easily. Depending on the amount of gratitude and love that exists here, we can have a need for these qualities to be activated and the energy created in a relationship to be purified.
8TH HOUSE - Portage Glacier
For purifying the 8th House we use the Portage Glacier essence. It transfers information from one world into another in complete silence. One part of it enters the ocean and its melting lasts for thousands of years. The essence is prepared on the shore of a nearby lake in the south of central Alaska. It represents a catalytic energy which helps us get rid of unnecessary and unbecoming things in our life, things that dwell in our mental, emotional, etheric and physical body. In other words, regardless of the level of manifestation we are talking about, strong purification happens here. The nature of the 8th House enables complete purification, 315
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as if we are in a very clean river that is, actually, a glacier river. Just like the 8th House, this place is also especially quiet and can appear lifeless, while water can seem too fixed, as if it carries too many memories and history. Eventually, the glacier melts where it touches the sea, and this speaks of the nature of the 8th House in the chart. This essence is used for revitalizing and balancing the entire energy system, so if we need to enter the 8th House without problems, without fear and negative emotions – this is the essence we choose. This is the field of pure peace, without pollution, it provides only what the 8th House should provide – regeneration and connection with the elemental Nature that is present as a primary energy of life for millions of years. This essence is very useful in spray form when we travel somewhere or spend the night in somebody's house. Maybe we are in a hotel room, a friend's apartment, an indoor space that has not been used before, or a room where someone was sick. In that case, it is good to purify the space with this essence, especially in the corners, because they block the energy flow.
9TH HOUSE - Rock Spring
The essence for working on the 9th House is Rock Spring. It is prepared from the spring water that originates in the high Talkeetna mountains in Alaska. This water descends through cliffs and cascades down to its basin below. This colorfully describes the flow of Jupiter which starts in our 9th House and goes down to its degree of exaltation in the sign of Cancer, i.e., in the 4th House. Our fourth chakra represents a basin in which Jupiter tends to flow. The 9th House speaks of this type of movement, about journeys and, ultimately, about that one journey of the Soul toward self-discovery. This is the essence of hope and miracles. It is the embodiment of the constant proof that everything is possible and it strongly purifies the space of the 9th House in our chart. This is a natural phenomenon that gives hope and a path that enables miraculous things to happen. We all naturally have our own connection, our thread that connects us to the field of the 9th House, so if we need to invoke that level of the broadest natural laws, we should use this essence. It will later link to the use of flower essences in order to bring the entire phenomenon to the level closest to us. Environmental essences alone are very powerful, and these elemental beings can constantly be used only if we are complete316
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ly Enlightened, if we are among the people who live entirely in a state of global consciousness and use the broadest levels of planetary intelligences. This essence helps us find our path through seemingly impossible obstacles, by providing us with patience and trust. The water with which the essence is prepared always knows the way and arrives to its base, so it speaks about that part of us that always has a solution for everything, because it finds meaning in everything.
10TH HOUSE - Solstice Sun
For working with the 10th House we use a very special essence called Solstice Sun. It is prepared at midnight between the 21st and 22nd of June, when the day in Alaska lasts twenty-four hours. This is the essence of the midnight Sun in the northern inlands of Alaska and it is clear that we are talking about one very deep and clear field. It catalyzes our possibility to access the energy of light and make it circulate better through our body; also, it activates the light in us, the light that will show us the way to the goal, to what we want to see. The very fact that it is made at midnight, but on the day when the Sun never goes down, speaks of the unity of two principles that are seemingly impossible to unite. It is only when people lose sight of their goal, when they are not clear about the direction they are heading, that this essence shows their inner need and the goal toward which they are striving. Whichever situation we find ourselves in, if we lose our goal, there is always an active consciousness at some place on planet Earth where there is no darkness and where that goal can again be found. The10th House is that goal of ours, whatever our life purpose might be, so this essence opens the heart and the energetic pathways in the body as a preparation for the peak of that experience. In addition, it helps people integrate such an experience after it happens, enabling them to truly achieve what they are striving for. The top of the 10th House in our chart represents the place where the Sun is highest and where our heart should find its expression, so we can achieve our goal if we have a heart that is warm enough, the heart that leads us toward that part. Our natural state leads us toward our 10th House, showing us how to activate and start up our career or anything else we want to achieve in life. In order to achieve this, there must be strength within us that is linked to the Sun and the happiness we carry within us. The 10th House, which represents 317
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the peak of our experience, corresponds to the sign of Capricorn which does not really support the Sun, unless it finds some bright point in the depths of the sign. It is as if the 10th House speaks of the idea of joining opposites that has to happen for us to be able to achieve any goal we are striving toward.
11TH HOUSE - Tidal Forces
The environmental essence for the 11th House is Tidal Forces. It carries the vibration of an elemental that guides with the force of nature linked to the tides. It is made out of spring water and sea water from Kachemak Bay during an entire twenty-four-hour period, because this is the time needed for the whole cycle of the tides to unfold. This is the essence of rhythm and balance, loss and gain, i.e., adaptation to the changeable currents of life. It is clear that it represents a risk that leads to certain turnarounds so, depending on the problem and position of the rulers and planets in it, these changes can manifest as a certain gain or loss. It might happen that people do not see clearly some opportunity in life in the broadest possible sense, so this is when they need to develop the ability to be open to it, as well as to accept their life as a constant pulsation, like the cycle of the tides. This is a form of the breathing of life, the breathing of the planet, and a rhythm that needs to be understood. Otherwise, people experience life as a sequence of pleasant and unpleasant surprises, because the 11th House can bring opportunities for gains, but can also suddenly take away what we were building. This essence harmonizes us with the frequency and rhythm of nature, it helps us free ourselves from the old and accept the new, with constant and uncompromising awareness. The 11th House asks us to accept new things and to allow them to flow through us, i.e., people should be always ready for the experiences it has to offer. On the most basic level, there might be a problem in some friendly relationship that we want to resolve, and we are certainly talking about entering a natural rhythm that leads all things to be as they should. Maybe we need to change a friendship, or all the company we are keeping, or circumstances around us, but in any case we should be aligned with the necessary changes. Just as the sign Aquarius maintains the heartbeat, we need to live the harmonized rhythm on a balanced level through the 5th House. This is a constant wave, just like the symbol of Aquarius. 318
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This essence removes overly intense emotional states and mental resistance to change that people might have. The 11th House and the sign Aquarius have the ability to clean us of strong emotions of any kind by bringing us into a state beyond the usual emotional nature, where we become calm and detached from what was generating emotional anxiety. This is where the ability to let go of emotions lies, and this is the reason why in certain combinations with emotional planets, the 11th House often represents divorce and sudden endings of emotional relationships, because this is a very objective way to free oneself from the feelings that a relationship brought with it. This essence provides us with twenty-four hours of natural rhythm, i.e., a form of relationship between two opposite states, and it immediately brings us into frequency with life. When we lose the rhythm, we lose the possibility to be social beings because we are not in touch with the ability to be present in what is currently happening, here and now. In order to do that, we need to embrace the opposites and contradictory things of the 11th House which gives and takes, because the only way to answer the demand of that pulsation is – to be present in the current moment.
12TH HOUSE - Northern Lights
The last elemental for the last house of the chart is contained within the Northern Lights essence. It is linked to the extremely subtle, transcendent level of our existence. This essence is prepared during a windy and very cold Arctic night, under the whirlpool of the green image of northern lights. This is a pure energy of nature which has the power of the wind in it, and it represents a very cold, calm and quiet atmosphere, with the vibration of a phenomenon which happens only at the Earth’s poles and is a miraculous image. This essence enables us to reach transcendent levels of reality, far away from the defined limits of the personality, i.e., to link with the fundamental basic force of the creation of the Universe. It enables contact with the 12th House, with entry into the world that completely links us with the most elementary, most basic state. These are strong, beautiful forces, and a wonderful experience of one special night during which a miraculous scene of the northern lights unfolds together with a powerful wind. The 12th House must surely attract us; although it can be very heavy and incomprehensible for Mercury, as if it is not easy to grasp and be lived, it certainly offers a unique experience. The 319
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Spirit of this phenomenon opens up the door of this world and makes it possible to feel whatever we may be feeling in our field of fears, enabling us to form a good relationship with the basic nature of this house. We can then see beauty in it, recognize peace and live the memories of it as if it is one divine, exceptional place, far from the usual human presence. Mercury is in its fall in this world, but that does not mean that it is not good, and the cold does not make it less divine and exceptional. This essence enables the purification and reprogramming of our energy patterns on a very deep level, so that we can change the scripts we carry in our psyche, because this is a water house in which all scripts from which we surfaced have been created. This is the water from which we were born and it represents our transcendent part in which we often carry memories of the fear of something that happened. It speaks of traumatic experience at the end of our previous life which, in addition to unpleasant things, also carries the memory of that beautiful light that we need to awaken. When people are able to recall the light they saw back then, they free themselves from the trauma they carry in the 12th House. This essence helps us free ourselves from emotions that were blocking our correct life path. These are emotions from the end of our previous lifetime, which are often very powerful and make people experience anxiety, fear and insecurity, and this is why they forget their correct path. When we connect to this light, we awaken that path, and the light comes from the nature of the 5th House and the Sun, because this is our true nature from the previous incarnation. That light connects us to the Being who used to feel joy, who feels joy even today, so we allow the flow of these feelings. Emotions contained within the experience of the very end of life can easily make us forget that joy and many other things in life that we should be happy for. This can lead to a contradictory life. This is when this connection needs to be made again, that special thread between two incarnations that links us with our transcendent, spiritual being in a very fine way, within our most subtle nature.
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Working with environmental essences implies the understanding that each element in nature is alive. The way to communicate with the elementals of nature is by awakening their energies on our very fundamental, inner level. However, we should always have in mind that the 320
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biggest part of our memories we live through the world of plants, because plants are the first contact with our etheric body. Environmental essences are much more subtle and much more powerful, because the more subtle a force is, the more powerful it is. This is why we take them as assistants at certain times when we need to open up a house, i.e., some area of life, and we often use them on the outer world and our surroundings, because they are very basic and they cooperate with our wider Being. When we use them topically, they will serve to open up the possibility to work on a certain area, but the real sense of balance and peace will further be accomplished through working with flower essences, since the most important thing for us is to install a stable and fine plant world. Therefore, environmental essences show us a spiritual part of our nature and in practice we use them to open up some area of life for further work, and not for the process of fine balancing itself. In addition, we can use them when there is an acute problem that we have no time, strength or ability to deal with, because they make it possible to invoke strong forces, the “heavy artillery,” in order to purify the problem fast. We will not use them unless we need an urgent solution, because they are not meant to be a primary tool. Theoretically, in order to be able to work with these essences all the time, people would need to constantly be in a heightened state of consciousness, because they work in a very broad sense because our cosmic Body is wider than the body we usually experience as “ours.” These essences connect us to the oldest ancestors and the question is: can we live the state that they provide us with on the physiological level, because we do have much closer ancestors. The communication they enable links us with our cosmic ancestors, with the basic forces of nature that are the most subtle ones of all. Plant structures are finer instruments for inner work, while the forces of nature are strong, global vibrations that we can often live on the everyday plane. If we look at the statistics of human life on this planet, we will see that over 50 percent of people do not have drinking water. A slightly smaller percentage does not have a toilet. We should remind ourselves of the wealth that we already have – the clean drinking water and the air we breathe, in order to feel truly thankful. We have obviously brought ourselves into this state because we were missing a feeling of gratitude in our heart center. We should remember how much we have already received every day, by simply having this life and this body. On the one hand, we 321
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can claim to live in a poor country, but all is very relative and we should always remember how many things we already have that we should be thankful for. If just one group of people would become conscious of it and be able to activate this feeling on a daily basis, even if just for a moment, that would make a huge change in our wider reality. Things can be very beautiful and very quiet, so the very purpose that we carry inside ourselves is spiritual and especially quiet. To establish contact with it we need to go back to that inner feeling of gratitude. Ultimately, the place from which we give love is in front, through the front projection of our heart center. Gratitude is felt from the back, and this is where our ability to surrender and feel trust for other people from the feminine principle is hidden.
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The Complete System of Healing for Aspects
Astrotherapy
THE COMPLETE SYSTEM OF HEALING FOR ASPECTS
Through the element it is placed in, every planet links to its subconscious field. It is through this field of the “subconscious,” i.e., through the elements, that planets “communicate” with each other – and this communication we call “aspects.” Each aspect, as a specific relationship, forms a communication knot in the shape of a “figure eight” through which two planets establish one joint entity that we read as a story of that aspect. That model of a “figure eight” is formed in all other relationship situations: for example, when we say something to another person, a figure eight is created on the Air level. The knot of relationship (the figure eight) on the Air level is shaped through information; on the Fire level – through the energy of feelings that are willingly created; on the Water level – through deeper feelings that the other person (planet) experiences as a kind of inspiration; and on the Earth level it is formed through material deeds, money and physiology. There is a figure eight circling between us all the time, and that is the general story of all relationships, that is the knot and essence. When the knot does not allow enough flow, problems occur – not because people thought or said something on the conscious level (Air), but because there exist figure eights of other elements that are sometimes not pure. The complete process of healing an aspect consists of four phases and lasts at least seventy days, which will be explained in more detail now. In order for a planet to be healthy in various aspects, it must first fit well in its element. In order to correct some heavy aspect with another planet, we first need to form the figure eight between a planet and element by joining the planetary essence and its elemental assistant. Next we form such a knot of relationship for the connection between the other planet and its element (the planetary essence and its elemental assistant). 323
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This kind of harmonization of each planet with its element allows for the relationship of the two planets (regardless of whether it is a square or opposition) to be 50 percent healed, and the first two phases of this process are thus complete.
Planet 1
Planet 2
(14 days)
(14 days)
Element 1
Element 2
The relationship that is established between the first planet and its element represents phase one, which lasts 14 days, because this is the natural lunation phase; a vertical relationship is established between a planet and element, just as in fourteen days the Moon reaches its point of opposition in regard to its natal position. This is how consciousness is established, and it represents the unity of opposites within any system. Therefore, in an ideal case, fourteen days would be a normal time to establish one relationship (of a planet and its element), but sometimes we might need more time, depending on each specific case. In a normal situation, fourteen days is more than enough (no less than that) for that planet to be brought into a state of accepting its element. When a planet becomes mature enough (just as with people), it can enter aspects (relationships) with others and this is why we do not work directly on the relationship of two planets, but first we work on the rela324
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tionship of planets with the elements in which they are placed. In phase two, which lasts another fourteen days, we work on the second planet (which is in aspect with the first planet) and its element. After that, in phase three, when both planets have gained their vibratory whole, when they have connected with their elements and become stable, we work on their communication. We do this by establishing communication between the first planet and the second element. This means that the first planet is linked to the element of the second planet, i.e., we use the elemental assistant of the second planet.
Planet 1
Planet 2
(14 days)
(14 days)
Element 2
In this way, the first planet accepts the nature of the second planet through the element it is placed in and in that way, actually, through the subconscious knot of relationship, the communication between these two worlds is formed. Two planets establish a primary relationship through elements. If someone has Venus in Sagittarius opposing Jupiter in Gemini, during phase one, lasting 14 days, we would use the planetary essence for Venus and the Australian essence for Venus (“Five Corners”) as an assistant. In 325
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phase two, lasting 14 days, we would use the planetary essence for Jupiter and the Californian essence for Jupiter (“Blackberry”) as an assistant. After that, we would take the planetary essence for Venus with the Californian essence for Jupiter (“Blackberry”), which represents a key code for these two planets to subtly recognize each other through their elements. They communicate with each other in this way through the activated knot of relationship – i.e., through the figure eight. This phase also lasts for 14 days. Finally, phase four is especially important because Anahata is activated between these planets now, i.e., the heart chakra. Since we assume that one planet is the main planet that establishes a relationship with the second planet, in this case planet number one would be Venus, and now, in addition to the Blackberry essence, we would add the essence of the Moon (Anahata – the heart chakra), as a universal factor for joining two different worlds. The Moon most directly enables the joining of two worlds, because it connects the upper and the lower worlds. In order to join two planets that are in any kind of aspect, and in order for the energy to be able to circulate between them, they must have activated Anahata, which is represented by the Moon.
Planet 1
Planet 2
(14 days)
(14 days)
ANAHATA (28 days)
Element 2
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14 + 14 + 14 + 28 = 70 days
The Complete System of Healing for Aspects
This phase lasts twenty-eight days and therefore, under normal circumstances, the whole cycle of healing an aspect lasts a full seventy days. Sometimes this can be prolonged, if there is a need to do additional work on that aspect. After Anahata is established in the aspect of the two planets, they become as one being. When the planet we are treating (in this case Venus) becomes stable in its relationship with the other (in this case Jupiter) while Anahata is used, complete success results. However, in this phase there might exist a need for a bit more “cleansing,” and that is why a twenty-eightday cycle is employed. In this process of forming the knot of relationship (the figure eight), we first need to make “a small eight” between planet and element, i.e., the planet needs to accept the element in order to establish its first inner balance. Balance is reached when the vertical line is established, and the point is that this vertical line exists in every planet. When the vertical line is established, each planet does what it is supposed to do. It might happen that a planet is in its rulership sign or exaltation, so – in the element that automatically suits it – unlike a planet in the sign of its fall or detriment. However, in essence that means nothing, because dignities are, after all, just “theoretical agreement” and “theoretical disagreement” between a planet and a sign. For example, for a planet in the sign of its fall we conclude, in principle, that it has a problem, but that planet can go into a sign that suits it via its dispositor, or be favorably supported. Therefore, it potentially has a problem, but we do not know that for sure before we study it. This process of the complete healing of aspects, in ideal circumstances, requires seventy days to complete and to bring an aspect into balance. After that, we need to sustain the established state for some time, and that we do by repeating the fourth step (with the addition of the Moon essence) until the system is used to it. How much time that will take depends on the difficulty of the aspect, but the optimal time for this process is around six months. After this process is finished and the planets are brought into balance, in case the problem was bigger and the aspect more difficult, it might happen that strong inertia still has a pull on the native, and so he slips into a weaker state. Therefore, if memories are stronger, this process of healing needs to be extended and six months is the time that all Bach practitioners use in order to get the system used to a new state. The planet will tend to go into its previous state, and the previous state is the state of inertia. What we have in a chart is only energy that manifests through genetic memory, and it is certainly important on one level, but on another, deeper level we have a memory that is 327
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even older than the memory of genes, and that is the memory of our cosmos and our cosmic nature. We are reminded what it means to function in our true cosmic state, because we have tied ourselves to one model – maybe because of strong impressions that our ancestors left behind, or maybe because of the impressions we carry from a past life. When two planets reconcile, we change and start functioning by getting used to that deeper, cosmic reality. This whole process of healing aspects between two planets can be called the four-degree process of cosmic awakening through a relationship. Those four degrees are analogous to the four elements of existence. The first process of healing aspects is working on planet one and element one, at the level of Air; then on the level of Fire (the second level) we work on planet two and element two. These are two upper levels and at this point we still have not brought anything down into the level of manifestation. This level begins when we start working with the aspect by joining planet one with element two (which is the Water level); and finally, the Earth level represents the connection of planet one, element two and Anahata (the planetary essence of the Moon).
Healing of aspects Air (Planet 1 + Element 1) Fire (Planet 2 + Element 2)
Water (Planet 1 + Element 2) Earth (Planet 1 + Element 2 + ANAHATA) 328
A IR FIRE
WATER
E A RT H
Astrotherapy
Astrotherapy
ASTROTHERAPY
The main goal of astrotherapy is to bring people into a stable psycho-energetic state that enables them to take the energy of their life and their natal charts into their own hands and learn how to live it. Ultimately, all of us should live our lives in the best possible way, with all that we inherited, all the ancestors we chose, no matter how different they are. The energetic state that marks this kind of wholeness requires us to develop a coherent consciousness. It is clear that astrotherapeutic work is not aimed at enlightenment, but we certainly do bring people to the light by raising them into the energy state of courage – the courage to take responsibility for their life, i.e., all events and people described in their natal charts, and to lead their life as a harmonious whole. Only then does life acquire full meaning, while people have all the support of the Universe. This state should be stable and permanently present in their lives, not just as a fleeting experience after which they go back into lower energy states. In order to make our work with clients easier, we need to define the things we need to work on and clearly divide the phases of that work. Depending on a client's wishes, we can apply one of the following astrotherapy classes, and it is important to decide this in the beginning, so that the development of the therapy is clear from the start. The four basic classes of astrotherapy are: 1. Complete Astrotherapy 2. Astrotherapy of Problem-Solving 3. Astrotherapy of Desired Achievements 4. Astrotherapy of Support
(Class A) (Class B) (Class C) (Class D) 329
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After we get the picture of a client's current state, his needs and the things that should be worked on, we determine one of the above classes and mark it in our records. This will give us insight into the way the therapy is unfolding and the ways in which we will reach the desired goal, while the division makes our work easier because things are clearly predefined from the start. After one type of therapy is finished, we can move on to another one, depending on the needs that might occur over time, while the final goal is definitely to reach Class A, i.e., complete astrotherapy, to bring our client into the ultimate state of courage in relation to the established natal problem areas. Complete astrotherapy is like a highway, while other classes are like the roads that lead to it. After people resolve a certain acute problem, achieve what they wanted and gain support, they can the start deeper work on themselves and enter complete astrotherapy. Although they might not want to do it, feel that it is not time for it or want to solve other acute things that bother them, they should always understand that doors are open for longer, more demanding work through complete therapy. When clients are satisfied with the first part of the work, it is likely that they will want to create greater total balance in their life. It might easily happen that clients who arrive with minor goals or concrete problems at some point decide that it is time to engage in more serious work and move on to Class A of our astrotherapeutic work.
Complete Astrotherapy
Complete astrotherapy is Class A of AstroHealing therapy, and its goal is to bring the energetic state of clients into a stable state of courage by changing their state of consciousness which will then manifest on the mental, emotional, physical and social planes. During this therapy, we can raise the energy of a planet to a higher level, so the whole process lasts for at least six months, maybe longer, and often people will not have time for it, because this is not the reason they came to ask for help. However, if clients do not have a clear goal in mind during the first conversation, this is the type of therapy that we can definitely suggest, and it can be applied also as a continuation of some of the previously successfully completed therapies that were shorter in duration. Depending on the specific state, complete astrotherapy will unfold through seven pre-determined steps that involve working with flower 330
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and animal essences, as well as gemstone essences and environmental essences. In order to reach a final goal, we should attain the correct vibration on all energy levels, so during this type of work we will balance out certain energy centers through transformation, awakening and energy stabilization. This class of therapy assumes that the given planet activated its own balance on the level of planetary, flower essences, as well as on the level of animal essences and gemstone essences. At the end of this phase we add special “environmental essences” that we talked more about in their own chapter. Their role is to activate a given area of life after people have already built a stable state of courage, and this is the necessary minimum for them to be able to gain command of their own Zodiac. We will achieve a good effect when people accept everything they inherited through the signs of the Zodiac and the planets linked to them within certain symbolism, i.e., through memories of the ancestors they carry within themselves. People often lack the courage to take things into their own hands, i.e., some unconscious force pulls them more strongly than their personal consciousness, and onto a road they do not enjoy and that creates problems in their life. A typical model of Class A therapy consists of the following seven steps: 1. Working with a certain planetary essence for at least a month. If the results are stable and progress is shown on the test for the given energy center, we move to step two. 2. Adding a planetary assistant for the given element for at least fifteen days. After we have activated the core of the planet we are working with and have awakened its correct and balanced flow, this therapy step allows us to incarnate that planet into the sign and connect it with the energy of the ancestors that is contained in the element in which it is placed. If results are stable and progress is shown on the test for the given energy center, we move on to step three. 3. Working on an aspect formed by the planet or adding an essence for the sign. 331
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Depending on the planned strategy, this step assumes one of two possible things. First is working with an aspect that the planet makes, and second is its connection with the sign it is in. We need to evaluate whether working on its aspect is a priority for the health of a given energy center or whether the planet can be balanced well enough through its connection with the sign, which would be a more typical and logical approach. If we need to work on a given aspect, we move to the steps explained in the chapter “Complete System of Aspect Healing,” and this therapy then receives A2 Class status. Our goal in this phase is to link the planet to the sign, and that link should be like a strong connection between the mind and the body, and those two things should make One. An aspect as such represents communication between two planetary centers and can strongly imbalance them. It often happens that planets, while communicating with each other, assign priority to their relationship, just like people in mutual relationships start building a separate entity which lives on its own, becomes strong and is mainly made up of the memories of ancestors who had the same relationship. This relationship can become such a strong and dominant part of somebody's nature that people might lose connection to their roots. Therefore, an aspect always represents a mental state. And, just as a person who is overly mental does not have proper grounding, the same is true for a planet that is not very well grounded in its sign, and this eventually becomes a problem. Aspects carry the story of a relationship which, if repeated long enough, can create a whole new separate being, like a disease that slowly develops in our unconscious and often needs to be treated, because it is too alive. Conjunctions can be especially powerful, but other aspects are not far behind. What is important to have in mind is that any work on an aspect is a way to help a planet involved in it, and not the entity of an aspect. The aspect is helped automatically, through working on the planet, but it is important to be aware of what it is that we are primarily focusing on. If we have decided to move directly to the connection of the planet with its sign in this step, we will do it by using the appropriate Bach essences. This type of work is far simpler and less demanding, and it represents a normal flow of working on one energy center. We will work on an aspect in case a planet is losing its connection with the sign because of the aspect it is forming, if it is dominant and keeps dragging down a 332
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client, because this is when we need to sort it out on that level before we can move forward. It is as if two planets are exchanging energy and gaining each other's characteristics more than the characteristics of the signs they are in. A good dignity often speaks of a planet that is more strongly connected with itself and expresses its own characteristics better, regardless of the relationship it might have with other planets. A dominant aspect might lead a planet, so that it refuses to stay in the sign it is in, like a person who cannot accept their own roots, their home and circumstances, so they keep running away into the mental sphere. When this is not the case and the aspect is not damaging the planet's position in its sign, we apply standard therapy for connecting the planet with the sign, which is explained in the chapter “Twelve Essences of Zodiac Signs,” and this therapy has A1 Class status. If results are stable and are showing progress on the test for the given energy center, we move on to step four. 4. Working with animal essences for a given planet, which lasts at least a month. The important thing when working with animal essences is to keep in mind that they are not to be combined with flower essences in the same solution. An animal represents a separate entity and a very personal being which likes to be alone in a bottle. Animal essences are very rarely combined among themselves, too. It is possible to do it, but in principle we never combine them with flower essences in the same solution. If we did Class A2 therapy kind of work in the previous step, therapy that included planetary aspects, in this phase we introduce the animal essence linked to the other planet involved in the aspect. They are used simultaneously, with a break of only a few minutes, but should never be mixed into one, joint essence. In this way we achieve balance on the Yang principle level, which enables planets to function together in an active form. If the previous step was Class A1 work, when we were connecting the given planet with the sign, the client will use just one animal essence – the one linked to the given planet. If the results are stable and progress is shown on the test for the given energy center, we move to step five. 333
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5. Working with the same animal essence, but with the whole process of practices for bringing to life the Spirit of the given animal guide, for the duration of at least fifteen days. This step will mostly activate and raise the quality of energy of the animal linked to the center we are working on. This is the phase of strong energy awakening, energy needed to ascend into the state of courage that the animal guide should invoke. It is very important that the client is capable of working with this entity, so that he is balanced both when using the flower essence and animal essence for the given planet. If results are stable and progress is shown on the test for the given energy center, we move to step six. 6. Working with the appropriate gemstone essence, for the duration of one month. The essence of the appropriate gemstone should provide stability for the achieved energy change and show us a state of balance between the Yin and Yang energy principles within a person. If we have brought a client into a stable state of balance during the previous steps, we can expect that with the gemstone essence, the client will experience peace, stability and the possibility to start living what he already started feeling. Each imbalance that might happen during the use of this essence points to the need to repeat some of the previous phases, so the gemstone essence is like an exam that a client needs to pass at the very end of the work in order to prove that he is completely stable, while this essence helps him solidify this quality. If results are stable and progress is shown on the test for the given energy center, we move to step seven. 7. Working with the appropriate environmental essence. The environmental essence that we use is determined based on the house that the planet rules, the house it is positioned in and based on its essential signification for the given house. This essence should allow a person to live through a certain area of life all the things she achieved in the previous work. The energy of a planet is transformed into something personally ours through the appropriate house. Signs and planets are inherited from the ancestors, but houses are something most personal, something that is only ours within the chart, and this is why the transition to 334
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this vibratory level of work represents an opening of the possibility to live the developed quality of the energy center in objective reality. It is through this step that we expect the native to develop the ability to independently live the balanced nature of the given center, and the goal is to initiate the ability of concrete control of one's life via energies that have been developed in the meantime. The use of environmental essences can also help us when we need to “shake up” or start up a certain area of life, but in such a role, the environmental essence is just an addition. The real goal of its use is to allow us to control our chart within a certain area of life, to initiate a certain area and maintain its stability. This is why the effects of this essence greatly depend on the stability of all previous energy levels.
*
When studying these seven steps of Class A therapy, we need to have in mind that the whole therapeutic process can start from the Yang perspective, too. In that case, therapy begins with step four, i.e., with using the animal essence for the desired energy center. After we achieve a complete balance with the animal Spirit through step five, we move to working with the basic planetary essence and with plant assistants and essences. We will certainly administer a gemstone essence after our work with plants and animals shows satisfying results, and before we move on to using environmental essences. It can often happen that only after contact with the energy of the planet is established through the use of an animal essence, a person recognizes that she needs to work with the inner story of the given center, so the use of flower essences can last longer – until the desired results are achieved. Although we can have two different starting points, the goal is always the same. Within complete astrotherapy we cannot disregard either the importance of plants, or the importance of animals, but instead need to get these two kinds of energies to work together. All phases of work should be carefully monitored, and the whole process of work should last at least six months, although it might easily happen that it gets extended to up to a year. After we start complete astrotherapy with clients, we need to keep a journal and carefully monitor all the listed steps, having regular meetings and check-ups on the states that the clients went through. Only after we achieve stability in one step should we move to the next one, and it is important that each of them is 335
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good and stable, so that we can bring our complete work into one quality whole. Clients should inform us about their state and they should come in for an evaluation once a month on average. On a monthly level, we need to give the test for the energy centers for the planets we are working on, in order to get a clear assessment of progress. It might happen that a person gets “stuck” within one energy “knot,” and in that case, we will extend the therapy with the same essence until the problem is resolved. During the whole process we wish to avoid purification that is overly powerful. It is an especially important part of astrotherapy, but we should have in mind that if it is too intense, it might hinder other areas of life, which might be unbearable for a client. If a great purification happens, we will use some support essence (linked to Class D astrotherapy) which will momentarily mitigate the problem. Our evaluation should help a client make the greatest positive effect, with the least possible amount of purification in phase one, in order to receive the total sum of the work well and to wish to see it to its end. This is the reason why the correct path needs to be chosen and followed throughout the complete process of the work for it to be most effective, and at the same time – the least painful. You will notice that people are prepared to go through periods of extreme challenge if they know beforehand that this may happen, as well as what the end result will be. This is especially important to have in mind and the client should be clearly and openly informed about what might happen, what purification involves and what it will lead to. That is why the self-image a person has before astrotherapy is so very important. We should explain to each client that the very fact that they want to change something makes them healthy, conscious, good and powerful. When people understand that they are strong and conscious, they already feel better to a certain extent and are ready to meet their challenges. In addition, clients should be informed that there is a possibility that purification might happen, and it should be clearly explained to them. For example, if we are working with Mars, people should be warned that the energy they did not know how to work with might start awakening, so they might experience fevers, rashes, sweating spells, bursts of anger, but it is all a good sign that confirms that the energy is growing and will lead to a state in which they will be stronger and free from fear. When clients have a clear self-image, when they know why purification is happening and that it is a sign that the process is going well, and where it finally leads – they will 336
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not have a problem enduring until the end in order to reach the state they want to achieve. This is why it is important to evaluate from the chart what kind of purification might happen, and how intense it might be, as well as to inform the client so that he is ready for the possible development of things during therapy. A period of six months or a year is short if we are aware that what we are doing is actually moving a person from one energy state into another, and that is a big thing in a person’s life. Every change of consciousness requires great work on oneself and one year is not “too long” if we look at it in this way. It is possible that the client will not be ready for this kind of work at first, maybe he will not ask for it, but it is important that we, as astrotherapists, understand the importance of this kind of work, since it represents an all-encompassing process of AstroHealing with the goal of bringing a person into a state of higher energy. This state is the basis for awakening a higher state of consciousness and therefore represents a big step forward in a person's life.
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Flower (Bach) Essences by Planetary Center
Appendix 1
FLOWER (BACH) ESSENCES
by Planetary Center
Dr. Bach defined a total of 38 flower essences, all of which have a certain planetary correspondence which we will get to know in the following table. In the following tables are essences that serve as assistants for certain planets in the Water element, or for aspects between certain planets. When we talk about essences that are assistants for planetary aspects, it is clear that they can be used not only when there is a challenging aspect between planets, but also when we want to emphasize a positive aspect, because they will invoke that quality of consciousness within us. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.
Bach Essence Hornbeam Vine Impatiens Vervain Rock Water Scleranthus Cerato Agrimony Pine Heather Wild Oat
Balances Aspect & & & & & & & Assistant for + & & & & 339
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12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38.
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Bach Essence Oak Gentian Crab apple Wild Rose Holly Centaury Honeysuckle Chestnut Bud Mustard Gorse Water Violet Elm Beech Willow Clematis Walnut Olive Aspen Chicory Cherry Plum Sweet Chestnut Mimulus RED CHESTNUT WHITE CHESTNUT LARCH STAR OF BETHLEHEM ROCK ROSE
Balances Aspect & & & Assistant for + & Assistant for + & & Assistant for + & & & & & & , & & , & , & & , & , & Assistant for + & & , & , & & , & & , & , & & & , & , & & , & , & & , & Assistant for Assistant for Assistant for Assistant for Assistant for
Flower (Bach) Essences by Planetary Center
Each of these essences has its special application, and some of them are used also as assistants for a certain planet or some of its aspects. For example, Wild Rose is the planetary assistant for Venus in the Water element, and at the same time is used as an assistant for aspects between Venus and the Moon. If, for example, Venus is in a Water sign in someone's chart, at the same time making an aspect with the Moon, this is definitely a very useful essence for the native, as it helps both the planet in the sign and its aspect with the Moon. In the given tables, all Bach assistants are listed, starting from the basic ones that are linked to the closer planets and their aspects, to those that are used in work with the transcendental planets. When aspects of the transcendental planets are concerned, one Bach essence will be used for the whole cycle with which it interacts, so Beech has a role in working with Uranus and its relationship with the whole cycle of Neptune, i.e., with Neptune, Jupiter and Venus. The last five essences in the table above are exclusively planetary assistants and have no function linked with planetary aspects. Every combination of Bach essences can always be used as a foundation for everything that is happening in our emotional life, and even for all the other levels, since the emotional level is the one from which all other things come into being, whether we are talking about the physical or mental level. Sometimes it might be most important to work with essences from the Water group, and we need to evaluate which aspect or planet needs to be worked on, because the best effect of this application is when we work with one targeted assistant. When we use just one assistant for a certain planetary aspect, the information we give to people is direct and specific, so it slowly brings results. However, the fault of this approach lies in the fact that the state we achieve is usually not stable enough to be permanent, because the imbalance that we live through one planetary combination often has deeper memories than what can be seen in the natal chart at first sight. The degree of durability of the solution we achieve by using a certain assistant depends on how deep the real problem is, but this approach is certainly very useful in cases of temporary imbalance or acute conditions that might happen during some period of life.
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Animal Essences by Planetary Center
Appendix 2
ANIMAL ESSENCES
by Planetary Center The tables below present the distribution of animal essences by energy (planetary) center. Therefore, we first have a table with animal essences that represent the first (Mars) energy center, then the second (Venus) center, and so forth until the Saturn center and the three transcendental ones linked to Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. The first essence in the table is always the key for the given energy center, and then all others are listed – representing an aspect between that planet and another planet, as well as the nature of the sign with which one of those two planets is linked. The sign itself can always be looked at as if it were a corresponding house, so if there is a symbol of Sagittarius next to it, it also corresponds to the position of either of the two planets in the 9th House and the like. The nature of the sign (i.e., the appropriate house) here is only an additional description of the nature of the essence, while the most important thing is the planetary center through which the essence works (the first planet), as well as the planet that it is in aspect with (the second planet).
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Mars and Venus Animal Essences for Mars Buffalo Porcupine Skunk Shark Pileated Woodpecker Badger Bighorn Sheep Roadrunner Polar Bear White Rhinoceros
Planetary Code U-T- -Q-H U-R-H
Animal Essences for Venus Dolphin Stoat Swan Seagull
Planetary Code T T-U-F T-Q-G --L
U-S-I
Chipmunk
T-S-
U--J U -W - J U-X- U-Y-J - - B
Rabbit Squirrel Hummingbird Ladybug Eel
-- T-W-C T-X-C T-Y-J T--H
The Sun and Moon Animal Essences for the Sun Lion Gorilla Peacock Jaguar Bumblebee White Lion Mountain Lion Toucan Bobcat Tiger
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Planetary Code Q - - A Q-T-L Q-R-E -- -V-L Q-W-E Q-- Q-Y-H Q - Z - H
Animal Essences for the Moon Wild Horse Gazelle Robin Black Panther Deer Hippopotamus Turtle Zebra Dove Mole
Planetary Code - - -- -Q - H - - R-V-B R-W-D R-X-K -- R-Z-
Animal Essences by Planetary Center
Mercury and Jupiter Animal Essences for Mercury Wolf Ant Otter Sparrow Mallard
Planetary Code S S-U-F S-T-E - Q - F S-R-L
Coyote
--
Koala Chimpanzee Fox Raccoon
S-W-L -- -- --
Animal Essences for Jupiter Eagle Mongoose Wild turkey Kangaroo Elephant Canadian Goose Wildebeest Giraffe Hawk Ostrich
Planetary Code V-U-K V-T-K V-Q-K - - V - - V-W-K -- V-Y-C V--K
Saturn and Uranus Animal Essences for Saturn Crow Armadillo Sloth Snow Leopard Owl Beaver Moose Walrus Bear Raven
Planetary Code W W - U -A W-T-L W-Q-F W-R-H W-S-J W-V-K -- W-Y-D --
Animal Essences for Uranus Whale Cheetah Prairie Dog Peregrine Falcon Flamingo Mosquito Great Blue Heron Camel Arctic Tern Orca
Planetary Code -- X-T-H X-Q-F -- X-S-L X-V-A - - D X-- X-Z-L
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Neptune and Pluto Animal Essences for Neptune Dragonfly Praying Mantis Manta Ray Opossum Jellyfish Frog Salmon Octopus Seal Earthworm
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Planetary Code
Animal Essences for Pluto Salamander
Planetary Code Z
--H
Snake
--L
Y-T-H Y-Q-D Y-R-L -- Y-V-L Y-W-H Y-X-L Y--F
Butterfly Condor Python Bat Wolverine Alligator Anteater Spider
Z-T- Z-Q- -R-L -S-H -V- - W - - X - F - Y - C
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