There's an aligning of seriousness and silliness in awaring that opens the space to breathe into our bodies. Through our soul's perspective we recognize and pay homage to how everyone and everything is connected. Once that light is turned on from within and we begin awaring, we are able to better manage the rhythms of our ego's energies, as it becomes impossible to ignore the steady resonance of the soul’s voice. As we invite all our fractured pieces into our concept of who we are, our self-judgment softens, and we are able to recognize that we truly are perfect in every single moment…Our Raw Material and Wholeness
Writer’s Note: This Fall 2023 I have merged Our Raw Material with Astrology called AstrORM. Tavish and I have labeled our exploration of Wholeness through Music. Each week I used music by James Ingram. If this merger has been too ‘heady’ or ‘intellectual’, I ask that you bear with us, particularly me. In my zeal, I may have attempted to cover too much in too little of space.
This week of Conflict, let’s breathe, relax and hydrate to the lyrics of Just Once (feel free to skip to your individual paragraphs/pillars. Remember to read your Rising as well as Sun signs. Thanks for your interest and support.
I did my best/But I guess my best wasn't good enough/Cause here we are/Back where we were before/Seems nothin' ever changes/We're back to being strangers/Wondering if we ought to stay/Or head on out the door/Just once/Can we figure out what we keep doin' wrong/Why we never last for very long/What are we doin' wrong?
Just once/Can we find a way to finally make it right/Make the magic last for more than just one night/We could just get to it/I know we could break through it/I gave my all/But I think my all may have been too much/Cause Lord knows we're not gettin' anywhere/Seems we're always blowin'/Whatever we've got goin'/And it seems at times with all we've got/We haven't got a prayer...
Just once/Can we figure out what we keep doin' wrong/Why the good times never last for long/Where are we goin' wrong?/I want to understand.../Why it always comes back to goodbye/Why can't we get ourselves in hand/And admit to one another/We're no good without each other/Take the best and make it better/Find a way to stay together
Just once...Can we find a way to finally make it right/Whoa/Make the magic last for more than just one night/I know we could break through it/If we could just get to it/Just Once Source: Musixmatch Songwriters: Cynthia Weil / Barry Man https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/jamesingram/justonce.html
Please take the time to imagine these lyrics as if your ego was singing to your soul...
This week’s New Moon in Scorpio perfectly aligns with ORM Week of Conflict. Scorpio and Conflict go back like babies and pacifiers. Soothing and placating or screaming at the top of their lungs…something both Aries and Scorpio have in common, their Mars rulership. Mars gives us the impulse to see ourselves as separate from others---much like toddlers in their ‘No!’ phase. Interestingly enough, the 26 month cycle of Mars moving around the Sun is timed to these lovable toddlers!
Not only does this Sun (ego) and Moon (instinct/subconscious) merge in Scorpio, but Mars is in Scorpio too! This indicates we are all looking for a fight. We are more likely to get into an argument in direct proportion that we do not look inside and observe our buttons, those triggers that our Mentors/Aries installed. These triggers create our wounds. These wounds are dark, draining and exhausting. Until we ask the questions of how these scars propel us to evolve, we seek light and healing from outside ourselves. Scorpio/Conflict requires we look inside. Introspection is not the same as depression.
Helping us breakthrough these self-destructive and self-sabotaging patterns is Uranus in the complementary sign of Taurus/Music. Firstly, Scorpio likes a good beat, but more importantly, when alone (or all-one), this self-controlled arachnid pays rapt attention to the lyrics of any tune that strikes a chord in their closely watched hearts and souls. Homework this week is to go through your favorite tunes and read their lyrics. Do they produce an egocentric conflict inside? Try this axiom:
All outer conflict is internal. Yep, any disagreement, argument or toddler like behaviors is rooted within your unexamined parts of your ego. Our shadows split off. Our dissonance completes itself through an emotional looping. In Scorpio/Conflict any feelings are infinitely better than no feeling. That sweet spot of indifference and neutrality must be explored. We must explore and accept our numbness, particularly after betrayals. Trusting is not a game to these sensitive beings.
AstrORM maintains we contain all 12 Signs/Pillars within us. Once we allow our egos to become aware of rooting a consistent connection to our souls, we become Cosmic Chefs--creating tasteful recipes to live our lives fully, joyfully in a celebration of knowing we are evolving every moment.
Which signs carry your shadows? Which signs bring sabotage in a nuanced way? Which Pillar supports your blind spots? How does your blind spot spur you into growth? How does everyone seek your weak spot? Where does awareness of this wound or weak spot strengthen your intimate relationships?
Scorpio/Conflict, you are the most psychologically driven sign. Gemini/Nourishing is often the snake that bites you because your mind is your greatest asset, or so you think. ‘Energy follows thought’. Gemini asks you to pay attention to where you focus your mind. Obsession, thy name is Scorpio is the same as ‘I think, therefore, I am’. You can mislead everyone with your highly developed social skills, but do not mislead yourself. Mars in your sign for the next several weeks requires transparency about your own motivations. Your soul wants your evolution, not spin. Allow the Gemini twinning to spin your heart to be placed above your mind or if you prefer, bring your racing thoughts into your physical body. Integrate your animal nature. Realizing your increased physical desires symbolize your need to release judge-ment around how you (and everyone else) chooses to fulfill them. Like all conflict begins within---all judge-ment is self-judgement. It is vanity to believe your heart is separate from others’ hearts. Nourish your thoughts on these inner truths.
Sagittarius/Intention, you love flying with your aspirations wings, as if you are the chosen angel who has come to earth. Cancer/Ignorance beseeches you to realize what you don’t know. Like all fire signs, you can see the possibilities in each moment---however, when you give unsolicited advice, you are also attached to the image of the all-knowing. We all have an equal opportunity to drop to our knees (metaphorically speaking) and ask for help from our inner truth, our inner advisor. Each person has equal access to their intuition. Simply admitting that you don’t know what is in another's heart and still ‘blessing their hearts’ (as a Southern ‘curse’) aids in your evolution. You leave your ‘high horse’. You seek our what you have in common with everyone. No longer do you elevate yourself or your knowledge, you express your soul’s voice---radiant, enlightening and magnetizing. You leave the comfortable Ignorance of tolerating those around you and soul source in accepting everyone in your sphere. Exceptionally Intentional, that’s you and your free spirit.
Capricorn/Resources, when in lack you tie a dark cloth around your eyes and ponder why everything is so depressing and black. Leo/Feelings rips this peculiar melancholy from you. You take a deep breath, step outside your comfort zone. You put your ego that can become easily attached to fame and reputation aside. You feel beyond what’s best for your career. You become grateful for those who’ve supported you all the way. Simply giving thanks for each sunrise, you radiate confidence. Your security is rooted in being human. Accepting that you have a glass--be it half empty or full makes all the difference in whether you offer grace and mercy to others or hold on to grudges. Adulting is a recent term that belongs to your realizing that the Resources you recognize begin inside. Those conflicts give you the pause you need to assess what you have instead of what you do not have. You give your all while Leo/Feeling mandates you keep your dignity of not throwing yourself away---ever.
Aquarius/Aligning With Intention is safeguarded by Virgo/Listening. Your heart is an organ of beauty when you set your intention on Listening to the whole story. As one of the human signs on this circle of animals, you are a lightworker guiding us out of our lower chakras (while simultaneously opening us our instincts, sexual desires/need to belong and will to power). You inspire us through being a transparent role model. But, yep, it’s a big but, you must Align With Intention. If you listen to anything that conflicts with your inner truth, you will hear your ego’s voice. Your life then descends into chaos. You imagine you’re a witch in Salem, Massachusetts---set on being a victim to public opinion. Every relationship (including with yourself) you cast yourself in the role of outcast. However, once you pause and breathe and hydrate (Water Bearer) your confidence increases in Aligning with Intention of being a ‘group of one’. Align with a future self who pours out their wisdom in the now---moment to moment.
Pisces, as you are associated with Wholeness. It can seem complicated because what brings conflict to your Pillar? The Values & Ideals (V&I) of Libra does. You can interject the messages from ego that creates a lessened value to contemplation and reflection. You turn yourself inside out to fit in and please others. Once you lean into reflecting on your own Wholeness, you release the idea that you’ve gone wrong in speaking up for yourself, your individual soul’s voice increases in value. You recognize the play to be experienced in your Ideal World. Yes, we should consider the feelings of others. In a practical sense there will be those you do not agree with. Libra challenges you to stand in accepting every moment as perfect from an evolutionary perspective (Wholeness). You cease to justify to us how you spend your time, money and physical body. You pause your ego’s domination of life simply through no more wondering or worrying what anybody thinks.
Aries/Mentors and their stories get ‘checked’ through Scorpio/Conflict. As you expose yourself to people and experiences outside of your family, early childhood and snap judge-ments, you expand beyond what you’ve been taught. Here lies the conflict---your innate loyalty to those closest to you. You have a warrior’s brand--an ‘us versus them’ instinct. For every person who challenges your perspective, you internalize the conflict. You begin to reflect upon why the ‘battle’ happened. You see, through reflection, you deepen. You start to reach out into the world and take risks that no one else in your family would have taken. Your presence challenges those who have supported the status quo. The more you’re told (or schooled) on something ‘has never been done’, it’s like putting a ‘red flag’ in front of a bull. You’re drawn to prove to yourself that you can succeed. Any conflict occurs through whether you do this from an inner competitive spirit with yourself or a chip on your shoulder to prove us wrong. Your soul’s voice whispers the difference.
Taurus, you’re connected to the Music Pillars, Conflict comes from the Sagittarius/Intention energies of AstrORM. Like your preceding sign of Aries, you want simplicity. They can be headstrong; you can be stubborn. When you set your Intention upon simply pleasing yourself, you become attached to the pleasure/pain cycle. It’s called ‘comfort zone’ for a reason. However, if you set your Intention upon expansion and inclusion, you increase your self-worth. You radiate a flexibility that is captivating and magnetic. Out of all 12 Signs/Pillars you have charming transparency. You say ‘no’ in a way that we believe it’s our idea to not do something. Your comfort zone becomes our comfort zone. Once you live from the vibe of simplicity is not synonymous to being dumb, you attract all the support you need, through simply setting an intention that life can be that easy---and free of mostly all conflict.
Gemini/Nourishing gets supported through having a mental Conflict through clearly seeing Capricorn/Resources. You hear voices of the past. These voices bring an anxiety of where you believe you’ve failed. Giving pessimism a central place in your consciousness, you do not see yourself as a Resource. Or you do not ask for help when you need it. Out of a misguided self-image, you stay in an adolescent loop. Yet, when you start to see your challenges as rooted in disbelief in your capabilities, your life expands. You leave the pettiness, particularly taking on other people’s value of Resources that do not serve your best interest. You feed yourself and mind on what can be accomplished over time. You radiate an openness. You attract those who give of themselves freely. Your life takes on a magical quality. Through commitment and discipline, your soul acts as Resource---demonstrating itself through synchronicity and ‘random acts of kindness’ given and received.
Oh, sweet soul Cancer who holds down the Ignorance Pillar. Conflict comes from within yourself when you do not Align With Intention from Aquarius. You can sometimes be invisible to yourself. In other words, you reflect and serve others to your own detriment. Who are you without those you take care of? You have Ignorance of who you are without others to reflect their needs to you. The self image of a caregiver is not all you are. Once you set your Intentions on larger visions and begin to work on manifesting this vision, you are unstoppable. Yep, you are an humanitarian force of nature. Through acknowledging what you do not know, you have wormhole access to all wisdom. Your soul knows from where the source of all wisdom comes. Align with that intention, and anxiety rolls off of you like water on a duck’s back.
Leo/Feelings can incite the conflict within. Through feeling superior/inferior, you separate from Pisces/Wholeness. You forget to remember how we are all connected. Eight billion or so individual people have learning experiences with each other. Too lofty and abstract? Then narrow this feeling to your immediate family, friends, coworkers and acquaintances. Start to consciously emphasize. Yet, the more you see yourself in everyone with whom you interact, you live from your Feelings---Wholeness is naturally born from these Feelings of inclusion. Your ego will tell you that it cannot be that easy, but from our soul’s protective energy, it can and it is. We separate from our inherent Wholeness. These unifying feelings are always available, we simply have to choose to call upon and recognize them in every moment.
Virgo/Listening brings in the conflict from Aries/Mentors. You are learning to listen to your creatively rebellious self. The part of your soul that ‘does what it will and harms none’. You easily suppress your individual desires to harm others, but you end up harming yourself. Through assessing the failures and successes of those who influence you, you become your own Mentor, your own inner parent. You allow your childlike nature to show. There’s a laughter that bubbles up from the recesses of your soul. Your set limits from within yourself, not from without. This does not mean you do not listen to others’ perspectives. It means to listen to your own inner truth. You shine light on how you’ve been tormented carrying the self-image of the ‘good person’. Imagine organized religion as a Mentor, whether you practice or not. Through this pausing and visualizing, you can hear and see the direction of your own moral compass blows,
Libra, in AstrORM, your pillar of Values & Ideals can create conflict through Taurus/Music. You may value beats, the way the Music makes you want to bust a move. However, the lyrics may be creating a victim's consciousness. Ideally, it should not matter. But, what if it does? What if the lyrics leave behind thoughts and feelings that are self-destructive. I say, time how long you're listening. Time your grief. As an air sign, energy follows thought. When thoughts are put to music they become even more powerful. I am not suggesting you never listen to sad music, simply know its potential affect upon you and your values. In an ideal world (and on the Ideal Playground), you should be able to elevate yourself out of its effects. A simple focus upon Wholeness allows you to feel the energy that each moment is perfect as it is from our soul’s perspective---everything happens for our evolution, yes? Breathe into this last statement.
