As Above, So Below

I don’t watch, even avoid, the news for reasons probably obvious and I’ll spare from this post. But I’d have to live under a rock to not see and sense the changes happening in our world today. Since COVID, it’s been a theme of chaos and crumbling of old order in a way that’s knocking us all around, from the rich to the poor, the east to the west, politically, financially, physically, psychologically, and environmentally.

I’ve certainly been experiencing this. To such a degree that I started to question free will. I’ve always relied on my willpower to achieve and manifest, and it worked, until it didn’t, and I hit a wall of seeming back-to-back life trials.

That got me questioning. Where does free will start and end? A question that’s been brought to spiritual teachers for centuries. It’s one that’s repeatedly stumped me on my path, as you can read more about here. The answer, as with any good spiritual question, brings you back to you: “who’s asking?”

When we’re rooted in our Source, we have free will, because there we’re one with all. When we’re in our ego, we have no real free will, and are moved by the external forces, sometimes painfully so. This is the universe’s tough love way of nudging us back to our Source but that’s for the next post.

So, what other forces are at play? Of course, many. The cosmos being a big one.

Astrology is a practice, tool, language, and art that’s been used for millennia, starting in the ancient Egyptian time period when the spiritual/formless and material realms were far closer than they are today. Today, though less so every day, it holds the reputation of woo woo or pseudoscience. I was in that camp until I started witnessing its truth in my life and others’.

After meeting with a Vedic astrologer, I learned that I’m in the peak of my Sade Sati period, which coincidentally began around the time much of our world’s shifts began in 2020. Sade Seti is a 7.5 year cycle consisting of three 2.5 year stages in which Saturn transits close to your natal moon. It’s known as a time for Saturn, the planet of karma and justice, to ‘grow you up’, bringing trials in health, finances, work, and/or relationships in order to release old patterns and mature to your true purpose.

The degree of trials you face and when depend on your chart. If you’re interested when yours was or will be, check here, though I recommend scheduling a call with a Vedic astrologer as well to get more insight and not create a self-fulfilling prophecy of doom for 7.5 years (highly recommend Rafael Eisenkraft, email him to schedule a reading here).

As for mine, it graciously aligned right over my Saturn return as well as my Human Design 6th line’s transition. When I tried finding online someone who’s experienced the same, I got a wonderful Reddit comment “be ready for the ride of your life”, sounds about right.

I’ve learned from astrology that life is cyclical. Symbolized by the Fortune tarot card, the ouroboros, the Hero’s Journey, the mandala, the labyrinth, the Hindu gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, and many more myths, our lives are a journey from growth to stability to breakdown and back up again all around a still hub—our center, where the spiritual path guides us in order to stay calm and steady amidst the turns.

The period I’m in now and our world is in now is just one stage of many on the path to evolving. Chaos before a new order. Burn the forest so flowers can grow. Death and rebirth. Knowing this, resistance can shift to excitement for renewed growth and stability inevitably around the corner, or better—surrender to the peace within, its only true and reliable source.

Astrology doesn’t have to be about blaming the stars. It’s about seeing our inner and outer world as one, as above, so below, and broadening our lens to the many forces at play in shaping our lives. It’s brought a deeper surrender and solace to the tests I’ve faced, and even awe and gratitude for the lifetime’s worth of lessons they’ve brought in just two years.

As for the forces at play in our world, according to the cosmos, we’re in a pivotal time. Spring 2023 is bringing

• the end of a cycle that began in 2008 (soon after the financial crash) and the start of a gradual transition of Pluto moving into Aquarius until 2044

• the end of a cycle that began in 2020 (soon before COVID shutdown) and the beginning of a new 2.5 years of Saturn in Pisces

• the beginning of Aries season (the start of the astrological new year)

• Spring equinox

• Eclipse season

I.e. a fabulous recipe for new beginnings and, depending on how we respond, our transformation for the better. Many astrologers are calling this our expedited upgrade as a species stepping into the new earth. While this isn’t a panacea—the cosmos offer new energy to work with and we decide how to direct and manifest it in our lives—some material world predictions for this next 20-year period are:

1. A shift from top-down to bottom-up leadership. Aquarius is all about humanitarianism, freedom, technology, and independence. Perhaps this brings breakdown to large corporations and increases in entrepreneurship and local/small businesses, an expansion of plant medicine legalization, ending authoritarian government structures, cryptocurrency bouncing back, an increase in grassroots organizations and movements…

2. Expansion of AI technology and its accessibility

3. Revolutionized aviation and space travel

4. Water. Pisces is the mutable water sign. This could bring more flooding, and storms like we’re seeing today, but also new technology for cleaning our oceans, using water for energy, scaling clean drinking and bathing water, ionizing water, etc. I’ve already seen this in the growth of companies in this space, and through my own new awareness for prioritizing clean, alive water in and on my body. E.g. I started drinking only alkaline water and using a shower filter.

5. Structure meets spirituality. Pisces is the sign of spirit, intuition, and depth. Saturn is the planet of limitation, structure, and practicality. Yin meets yang, feminine meets masculine, right brain meets left. It’s two contrasting forces coming together that will and already is leading to confusion inward and outward. Some outcomes could be more organizations forming around spirituality and mindfulness, spiritually-informed and inspired leadership, new religions/spiritual practices being developed, Eastern philosophy and medicine weaving more with the West…

Stay on your hub ☸️

Roses And Cashmere

I’m sitting in a rose garden behind a cafe in Berkeley. It’s a Wednesday afternoon. I pause my writing, look up and feel the moment. A soft breeze on my skin, a majestic field of pink, red, and yellow flowers in front of me, and a ceramic mug of warm matcha in my hand.

1 year ago I rarely noticed flowers, drank espresso over tea, and spent the entirety of my weekdays in my office in front of a computer, often without pause between back-to-back Zoom calls and neurosis.

A lot has happened since then. A giving up of all grounding pillars in my life—my company, my relationship, my home. A journey East. A Vipassana. A solo Ayahuasca ceremony in the jungle (phew, this one’s due for a post). Living nomadically, sometimes planning month by month, or even week by week. Experiencing my first ISTA training…which released cinder blocks of hang-ups and unleashed my sexuality in a way that’s been so damn liberating. Studying Human Design and the Gene Keys golden path. Giving up coffee and alcohol. And practicing my own Surrender Experiment, endeavoring to not force any next outer venture, to focus entirely on my inner awakening and let the answers, actions, and invitations flow from there.

There are two primordial emotions—love and fear. Everything we do is either because of love, or because of fear.

When I faced the root of much of my behavior before this year, I humbly and painfully realized it was fear. Fear drove my eating disorder, my work on personal growth, and my achievement-addicted professional life.

I didn’t, don’t, want to live that way. I want to be driven by love and love only. I’m here to wake every morning into love. Love for myself, others, and my service to the world. I’m here to laugh and play in this crazy beautiful cosmic dance and inspire others to do the same. I’m here to never forget the truth of our connectedness and our source, to remember by looking inward, and surrounding myself with the things that bring me there—Roses and art and tea. Sunrises and redwood trees and swings. Poetry and sexuality. Emotions, feeling and expressing them to their deepest depths. Blueberries and candles. Rain and cashmere and books. Walks and meditation. Water and fire. Music and dancing. Napping and parks and puppies. My tribe and family. Authentic connection and belly laughs. Silence. Softness. Creating. Guiding and nurturing. Selfless service. Surrendering to the mystery. Slowing down. Being.

My intention with this path has always been the same. To discover and live my highest purpose. The result, of course, hasn’t been what I expected. The idea of what my purpose is has changed, along with much else in its wake.

My primary purpose is not some achievement in the outside world. It’s finding my bliss within.

The love list above is one of the many gems that have arisen from this. The second my inner world began to quiet, to meet the calm stillness that is its natural state, a purity came through. A pure way of living, being, and choosing—untarnished by programming or expectations from family, peers, or society. I began to hear myself. Hear my heart. To recognize and choose the things that resonate with its peace frequency, that contribute to it. That keep it not just living but alive. Not just present but in love.

There is a common thread in the love list you may have noticed, it’s all Yin.

I’d been in Yang for most of my life. And oh what a glorious place the Yin is. How deliciously wonderful. Maybe because I’d been so far from it. Maybe because it’s more my truth. Either way, I’m grateful to be here. And I don’t want to leave.

At first it felt wrong, like I’d have to leave eventually. Like it was a vacation to experience or dessert to taste, then time to go home, back to reality. But no no dear one, my inner Goddess says so lovingly…what’s wrong is the conditioning that kept you from it.

We live in a rhythmic, harmony-seeking universe. Yin and Yang are the dual ends on the energetic pendulum underlying everything. When there’s an imbalance, a swing in one direction, a correction must occur in the other. And when this natural rhythm is resisted, it’s forced through chaos and suffering.

This is the chaos and suffering that broke and opened me to the self-realization journey, and it’s what we’re seeing in our world today.

I’d been in Yang most of my life, at least partially because our Western human race has been in Yang most of its life. An overextended, toxic Yang. That’s the conditioning we’re working with. Build, progress, compete, achieve, and do it all from the logical thinking mind. Ignore your heart. Be hard. Quiet your emotions. Move fast. Charge past subtleties, beauty, intuition, empathy, presence. No time for presence.

It was unnatural living swung so far that way, particularly being a woman. We all have both energies in us, and do well to connect with and heal both sides, but the Yin is the feminine and so most commonly embodied through women (I believe that the root of much collective female trauma on our planet is due to the neglected and ostracized Yin).

I now see this painful imbalance as the breaking point that brought me to the spiritual path. As I went deep into my fear, facing the trauma and shadows driving it, I began to find my own sense of authenticity and safety. I learned my feminine truth, and I at last felt safe to express her.

My inner Yin, the feminine, began to unleash and wake up. Like a stretching cat after a long sleep, she slowly rose and draped herself over my awareness, thawing what was cold and rigid to something wonderfully warm and wild. Concrete to velvet. Soon she permeated my feelings, desires, and actions in the world.

Fear and lack of safety are the barriers to the Yin. The Yin is shapeless, flowing, yielding and pliant. Soft. Sensitive. Vulnerable. Without feeling safe, she won’t bloom through us in the divine radiance and abundance she’s meant to. Our hard Yang world isn’t a very inviting and safe place for the Yin.

But that’s changing. It’s changing in me, and As Above, So Below—it’s changing in our world. The planet’s consciousness is shifting. The pendulum is beginning to swing the other way, correcting after centuries of Yang. We can see this through the rising interest in psychedelic medicine, meditation, astrology, spirituality, holistic wellness, and movements like the New Age and environmentalism.

You can also see the shift happening through war, economic recession, and political unrest—this is the chaos before the new order.

We’d do well to surrender and let it happen, but many of us remain attached to the old consciousness out of fear. While surrendering to the unknown is scary, the outcome of resisting is worse. With resistance comes suffering. We’re fighting the natural rhythms of the universe, and we won’t win.

A perhaps contrarian statement—I invite this chaos. I see it as a symbol of great change on the precipice. Needed change. A change that will seep into the hidden but fundamental cracks in centuries-old systems that brought us progress and innovation while sacrificing compassion and love. A change that’s coming.