Uncertainty is a gift
And when it is time for answers, this is the path to true knowing - a personal story
In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities,
but in the expert’s, there are few.
Shunryu Suzuki in “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind”
The second and last eclipse of March - at 9 Aries, the last in a cycle begun in spring of 2023 - occurs early Saturday, followed closely by Neptune’s shift into Aries for the first time in 165 years. We continue our life theme of endings and beginnings as old ways crumble and new ways have not yet materialized. There is a sense of standing on the edge of an unknown new world. The words I hear being used to describe this moment include “discombobulated”, “precipice'“, and most of all, “uncertainty”.
Our western-trained minds don’t like uncertainty, yet uncertainty is the gateway to possibility. Only when you soften the edges of what you know do you become available for something new. As long as you are the ‘expert’ on life, fully in charge and pushing ahead, it can be difficult to sense how life might want to be expressed through you. It is easy to forget that ‘your’ life is a co-creative expression of your soul and the soul of the world. Uncertainty offers the opportunity to listen deeply to what life has to say.
Many clients come to me hoping to find answers to the perennial question of “what am I supposed to be doing”. And yes, astrology can be very helpful in illuminating aspects of your desires and experience. Just like a map, it can help you see the terrain more clearly and choose the route you want to follow.
Astrology also offers the gift of looking forward and backward through time. What will the terrain look like in a month, or a year? Just as important, astrology often tells us when it is - or is not - time for answers.
We have been in a period of not-knowing for some time, with two major rounds of personal planet retrogrades. The turning of the year saw Mars backing up through the Zodiac, inviting review of how you align your will and energy with your soul’s truth. Mercury joined the retrograde party to ask you to rethink and review the beliefs and stories defining your life.
Now, at the end of March, we are past the halfway mark of overlapping retrogrades of Venus and Mercury. What do you value? How are you valuing yourself and your desires (Venus)? And again, what thought patterns (Mercury) do you have about these questions? Retrogrades bring more questions than answers so we can take a break from the relentless forward momentum of life and reassess if we are heading in the right direction.
Plus, the build-up of planets in the last degrees of the Piscean ocean has meant sitting in the fog of confusion and disorientation, feeling it all but not seeing the way through. The emphasis on the last degree of the Zodiac - 29 Pisces - and the transition to the first degree of the Zodiac - 0 Aries - is a cosmic process of ending and beginning anew. The ending brings the uncertainty, and necessitates letting go of how you thought things would/should/could be - but are not.
The beginning of the new is coming but not yet here. Perhaps you’ve had a glimpse of it already, tantalizingly close. With the Sun’s entry into Aries last week, and Neptune soon to follow (March 30), the mists are clearing. The new is coming into sight, to become more clear as the retrograde planets (Venus and Mercury) finish their return journeys in Pisces and once again cross the 0 Aries threshold in early May.
A new (and ancient?) way of knowing
However, the path to knowing the answers is not the same as it was just a short while ago.
You can’t just “figure it out” through rational thought.
You can’t just “follow your heart”.
You most certainly cannot find the answers through external authorities.
Instead -
You must tap into your deepest knowing, from your deepest place, in order to know what’s true for you.
You must listen to your soul’s quiet voice.
And then you must trust.
This way of knowing takes practice, especially in getting quiet enough to listen deeply to yourself. It’s likely you already hear the quiet inner voice; the bigger challenge is learning to heed it, especially when head and/or heart are tugging in different directions than the soul, or you are navigating the needs and wants of others in your life.
I am in the midst of a real world example.