Mercury Retrograde, You're Killing Me!!!

Of course I knew this would happen, it was unavoidable. It was just a matter of being able to go with the flow - the Mercury Retrograde flow in (Fixed) Water-Sign Scorpio.

Mercifully, Mercury finally stationed Direct today (11:12pm Jerusalem time / 1:12pm California time) after a three week long slithery backslide from 18 to 3 Degrees Scorpio, traumatizing everyone in it's wake.

Not all Mercury Retrogrades are as rough as this one was. The extra added presence of Saturn and the North Node in Scorpio for Mercury to (maddeningly) Transit over and back again made for wave after wave of purely Scorpionic intensity. After a very short while it became obvious that the best policy is to DO NOTHING! Just "be there now," and let "now" be all there is - because the past and the future are both competing to swallow you whole, and alive, much like a giant Python would given half the chance.

So now begins the climb back to where the whole thing began - back again from 3-18 Degrees Scorpio, we'll get there by Thanksgivukkah (November 28th). We'll try not to use a bulldozer to run over those in our paths on our way there, ok?

All those things you tried to plan the last few weeks? You'll have until November 28th to revise, review and reconnoiter. Optimally it would have been best not to make any plans, but simply to absorb, take it in, take it under advisement until the Retrograde period is finished. Whether you blew a lot of energy on plans that now have to be changed or not, it's time to start at least to begin making lists, plans and projects - an opportunity for a great thrust forward is only a few short weeks away. It's always good to be ready to go when conditions are right!

So - where did the whole Mercury Retrograde Transit happen for you? For me (that's me, Lorelai, by the way!) it happened in my 1st House - my basic, foundational "personality," the "me" I present to the world. What an irony, as during this time period almost everything I've said or done about MYSELF has been either misunderstood or misinterpreted. That's why I've tried to keep it to a dull roar - I get tired of correcting people.

Now it's time to get it right, to nail it, to bring it down and give it over.

Contact me for an in-person Astrological Analysis if you're in Northern California (that's where I am these days) or via Skype (Lorelai1211) - no matter where you are, we can connect.

astrolojew@gmail.com 
or
lorelaikude@yahoo.com

HOUSES OF THE HOLY

When I do someone's Astrological Natal Chart it frequently feels like a one hour super-powered therapy session on steroids. Issues that could take months or years to come out in conventional therapy are brought to the surface immediately and reflected back to the client in the context of their soul's journey in this life and how all their different parts work together as a whole to accomplish the work they've come to do.

On a personal level, my favorite is working with people I don't know at all, or whom I only know casually, as information I already know about them in the context of our relationship interferes emotionally (my emotions, not theirs!) in my ability to feel like I'm being a completely clear communicative channel.

My least favorite charts to do are of course my own children, I can barely look at their Natal Charts without bursting into tears (as how they experience both their parents and family of origin are so clearly marked in each of their charts and of course that brings up all sorts of MY STUFF).

The truth is, everybody's natal chart has certain "signatures" that indicate how they experience their own parents, their siblings, their own children, their own partners, romantic attachments and lovers (those are three different Houses, not all the same thing!), in fact relationships of all kinds (employer/employee, group member, etc.) are represented in various Houses of a person's Natal Chart.

Each one of the 12 Houses is related to one of the 12 Tribes of Israel. EVERYONE has 12 Houses in their individual Natal Charts! Where the Planets, Asteroids and theoretical mathematical points are placed in your Houses tells the story of how YOU were "fearfully and wonderfully made," a completely unique individual who chose the very life you are now living for a PURPOSE.

Reflective Rectification Astrological Analysis can help you connect with that purpose and give you insight into the G*d-given gifts you received at birth to help you accomplish your task in this world.

Contact Lorelai Kude at: lorelaikude@yahoo.com to make an appointment in person or via Skype to learn about your personalized Natal Chart.

Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan - Sharing is Caring

It's Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan and the New Moon in Libra (Sun and Moon Conjunct at 11 Degrees Libra). It's that "overlap" time between Zodiac Signs that happens when the Hebrew calendar and the English Calendar fluctuate in their cycles. Cheshvan is associated with Scorpio, with the Tribe of Menashe, and the energy of Fixed (Establishing) Water.

Libra, of course, is associated with the Month of Tishrei, the Tribe of Ephraim and the energy of Cardinal (Initiating) Air. These next 13 days between when Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan begins (today) and when the Sun actually goes into Scorpio (October 23) is what I call "Libra/Scorpio," meaning the Sun is still in Libra but the energy is already very much pulling towards Scorpio.

It's a time of intense passions, intense longings, and the impetus to protect what you believe belongs to you (Scorpio) while at the same time attempting to be "fair" to others (Libra). In a big way it's about SHARING - sharing love, sharing ideas (Libra), sharing resources, sharing intimacy (Scorpio).

What do we do with children who won't learn to share? We send them to their room to be alone and think about how they're hurting themselves and others. Thus the Universe will do to those who resist the impetus to share, until they grow up and learn that not everything is all about them.

It's important to remember Libra/Scorpio is Ephraim/Menashe. The brothers, the sons of Yosef haTzadik, the grand-sons of Yacov and Rachel. When Yacov went to bless his grandsons and reversed his hands to give the Eldest's blessing to the Youngest, the danger was jealousy (as had been played out in the generation before via the story of Yosef and his brothers). Ephraim and Menashe stand out in Jewish history as the first time our family (B'nai Yisrael) ever demonstrated that they had learned HOW TO SHARE.

Ironically I see this played out on a large scale in the conflict between women and other women at the Kotel this morning during Rosh Chodesh services - they don't want to share space, power, privilege, and they sure as heck don't want to share in who is "right."

Erratic, individualistic Uranus in aggressive Aries makes an exact Opposition to this New Moon, making everybody even more entrenched in their sense of self-righteousness and sure that their position is the one and only true and legitimate one. Squaring the New Moon is passionate, possessive, smoldering Pluto in materialist Capricorn, reflecting the blind spot (a Square is after all, a corner - and who can see around a corner without a mirror???) that keeps each group embedded in only their own reality and blinds them to the fact that other realities exist which are not their own. Expansive Jupiter in security-conscious, nurturing Cancer also makes a hard Square to the New Moon, thus completing the "Cardinal Grand Cross" of Planets that takes place today. Jupiter could reflect either the urge to expand one's consciousness (let's hope so) OR it could simply blow up Cancer's already possessive nature, making everyone guard their turf even more.

It's said that "Israel is 'above the zodiac.' This is true of our NATIONAL destiny, but as individuals it's true only as far as each member of Claal Yisrael takes personal responsibility to develop their own midot (personal characteristics such as kindness, patience, etc.). For those who choose to forgo personal growth and self-awareness, you're just stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again.

It's time to take a page from Ephraim and Menashe's playbook. SHARING IS CARING.

Tanya on the Four Elements - Releasing The Sparks of Holiness!

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
That's how the light gets in.
That's how the light gets in.

Fire. Air. Earth. Water. Our Zodiac (and our personalities) are made up of different amounts of each of these four elements. Each element has three permutations - Cardinal (Initiating energy), Fixed (establishing energy) and Mutable (transforming energy).

 The Tanya of the Alter Rebbe (Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi) provides a fascinating glimpse into how the world of Chassidut views the Four Elements in terms of the human personality.

The following is distilled from Chapter One of Tanya, in which the Alter Rebbe discusses the Two Souls and what they are comprised of - in this case, what he referred to as the "Animal Soul" - that part of our personality which draws its energy from the "Klipah Noga,"  the husk/shell/skin that contain discernible Sparks of Divine Light:

"Just as the four physical elements of Fire, Air, Water and Earth are the foundation of all physical entities, so too is this nefesh (the lowest level of the human soul, that part of us connected most closely with our personality and physical self) comprised of four corresponding spiritual elements...

...Namely: anger and pride [emanate] from the element of Fire which rises upwards;

Once ignited by anger and pride, a man (like fire) soars aloft. Pride is the state of considering oneself superior to others. Anger too is an offshoot of pride. Would a person not be proud, he would not be angered when someone defied his will.

The appetite for pleasures [emanates] from the element of Water, for water promotes the growth of all kinds of pleasure-giving things.

The ability of water to make pleasurable things grow indicates that concealed within it is the element of pleasure. Thus, the appetite for pleasure derives from the element of Water.

Frivolity and scoffing, boasting and idle talk [emanate] from the element of Air; like air, they lack substance;

And sloth and melancholy [emanate] from the element of Earth.

Earth is characterized by heaviness. A man encumbered by sloth and melancholy likewise senses a heaviness of the limbs."

What an astute description of the unrefined aspects of the Four Elements in Astrology! Who has not felt the legendary impatience and anger of an un-evolved Aries (Cardinal/Initiating Fire), the burning pride and roar of the hurt ego of Leo (Fixed/Establishing Fire) and the devastating scorn of Mutable/Transforming Fire Sagittarius when their will is thwarted! 

Have you waded in the waters of pleasure only to be deluged by lust? The material, sensual, security-minded Cancer (Cardinal/Initiating Water), the controlling sexual hypnotism of Fixed/Establishing Water Scorpio, the dreamy, distorted, self-nullifying Mutable/Transforming Water of Pisces can  drown you in unquenchable desire.

The people-pleasing insincere flattery of Cardinal/Initiating Air Libra, the cold bluster and indifferent bravado of Fixed/Establishing Air Aquarius, and the shallow, superficial gossipy Mutable/Transforming Air of Gemini fan the empty winds of communication without substance.

Capricorn's Cardinal/Initiating Earth sternly grasps and rigidly controls the material world, the Fixed/Establishing Earth of Taurus manifests as lazy, selfish narrow-minded parochialism, while the punishing perfectionism of Mutable/Transforming Earth of Virgo critically picks apart and deflates every dream.

Of course each and every one of the 12 Signs / 4 Elements have their refined, spark-uplifted nature as well. None so brave as Aries, none so loyal as Taurus, none so sparklingly entertaining as Gemini, none so faithful as Cancer, none so warm as Leo, none so calm as Virgo, none so balanced and beautiful as Libra, none so compelling or passionate as Scorpio, none friendlier and more fun than Sagittarius, none so stable and responsible as Capricorn, none more full of humanitarian enlightenment as Aquarius, and none as compassionate as Pisces.

The positive, refined characteristics of each of the 12 Zodiac Signs (and their subsequent Tribal affiliations and relationships to the 12 Months of the Year)  are manifested when sparks of holiness and goodness encased within the "Klipat Noga" are released.

How are these sparks elevated? Some say by prayer, drawing close to G*d, development of the spiritual self - and all of this is true. It's been my personal observation that one's spiritual work is the tool by which the conscious application of the desire to know and understand one's own unique self that breaks open the "Klipah" (shell, skin, encasement) and allows the light to be revealed.

As Leonard Cohen sings in his song "Anthem":

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
That's how the light gets in.
That's how the light gets in. 

How do the elements balance in your own personalized natal chart? Are you dominated by Fire, Water, Air or Earth, or are you a combination of two or more elements and lacking in one? Are you elevating your holy sparks or are you letting the Klipot grown from the skin of a grape to the shell of a walnut?

Contact Lorelai Kude for your personalized Natal Chart analysis session. Via Skype or in person. lorelaikude@yahoo.com 

Jupiter Moves Into Cancer

Jupiter - the big windy gas bag of our Planetary system, ruler of everything gigantic and over-the-top, has just moved from the Sign of Gemini (where it's been since June of 2012) and into the Sign of Cancer (where it will be until July 2014). This year we're "blowing up" Cancerian concepts of security: home, food, mother, money.

All the Planets are created by HaShem as energetic lenses through which specific attributes are filtered. These attributes reflect the corresponding conditions upon Creation - specifically, humankind.

Jupiter is the largest Planet, is associated with the Sign of Sagittarius (and traditionally, before the "discovery" of Neptune, with Pisces). It's also associated with the Month of Kislev, the Tribe of Benyamin, the tikkun of sleep and dreams. 

In mythology Jupiter is Zeus, the king of the Olympians, godfather to the mythological mafia line up, if you will. Jupiter has the attribute of extremism - although it is usually experienced in a positive and even beneficent manner, it can be excessive.

Beginning this week, Jupiter is making a transit (passing through) the Sign of Cancer for about the next year. Wherever Jupiter transits, that area of life gets expanded. During Jupiter's transit of Gemini everything having to do with communication (Gemini's forte) was expanded. Think of Wikileaks and all the security breaches of the last year!

Cancer is concerned with security and advancement. Cancerians are ruled by the Moon, which makes them emotional, yet they are Cardinal Signs so they always take the initiative although they travel Crab-like, scuttling in switchbacks and never making a direct approach, but never backing down.

Cancer's key words are: Food, Home, Mother, Money. These are triggers for them emotionally and in terms of motivation. Jupiter's transit of Cancer will see these key words / emotional triggers expanded.

Globally "Mother Earth" may be the Mother to whom we need to pay attention. To each of us individually those things that say "mother" to us, i.e. our literal mothers or those who provide nurturing energy to us in whatever form - those relationships will be highlighted and emphasized.

We have to ask ourselves: What are we growing in our lives? What are we nurturing, what is nurturing us? How are we providing for our own heritage and legacy?     

So friends - Welcome to Jupiter in Cancer, let's keep our eyes open for those things within ourselves and each other that need watering and care!  

Full Moon / Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius - Welcome The Beloved Stranger

Full Moon in Sagittarius, Lunar Eclipse 7:10am Israel time on Shabbos Day (Saturday). 

Communicative Gemini Sun's opposition to Wandering Philosopher Sagittarius Moon is temporarily blocked by the EARTH (that's what makes the Lunar Eclipse), with illusion-enhancing Neptune making a hard Square to both Sun and Moon in mystical Pisces. Strict Saturn in seething, scheming Scorpio is Semi-Sextiling the Lunar Eclipse. All this happening during Parsha Behaalotecha. 

What does this mean in English? EVERYBODY'S TALKING, NOBODY'S LISTENING, Egos, Super-Egos and Ids and each of their Evil Twins are causing numbing static, unless we can stop our internal and external chatter we can't hear the heart of the "Other," who is really our Shadow Self that we've created by rejecting what's too scary for us to own. 

Aaron lighting the Menorah brings Divine light into our intellect, the Pillar of Cloud by day obscures the searing, judgmental heat, and the Pillar of Fire by night illuminates the darkness with hope. Manna falls for us every day. 

Are we going to COMPLAIN about what we DON'T have or are we going to be thankful for what we DO have and make the most of it? Will we use our words to hurt or to heal? Will we give the "Other" the benefit of the doubt, a good eye, a spoonful of merit or will we automatically reject whatever isn't "us"? 

Wishing ALL of us Divine Light, mercy, hope and a positive attitude towards ourselves and others. Self-awareness sweetens judgement and invites rectification.

The Stars Were Created for Our Sake

 Gemara Brachot 32b says:

"But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me. Is not forsaken the same as forgotten? Resh Lakish said: The community of Israel said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Sovereign of the Universe, when a man takes a second wife after his first, he still remembers the deeds of the first. Thou hast both forsaken and forgotten me! The Holy One, blessed be He, answered her: My daughter, twelve constellations have I created in the firmament, and for each constellation have I created thirty hosts, and for each host I have created thirty legions, and for each legion I have created thirty cohorts, and for each cohort I have created thirty maniples, and for each maniple I have created thirty camps, and to each camp I have attached three hundred and sixty-five thousand myriads of stars, corresponding to the days of the solar year, and all of them I have created only for thy sake, and thou sayest, Thou hast forgotten me and forsaken me! Can a woman forsake her suckling child?"

This passage in the Talmud (Gemara, Tractate Brachot) is a beautiful illustration of how very exact HaShem, Creator of Heaven and Earth, is in His care of His creation. He created ALL of creation for the sake of Israel, including the stars in the sky - which were configured in a unique and particular way at the year, month, day, hour, time and place that YOU were born.

Each person's individual Natal Chart tells a unique story. Rosh HaShannah is coming - in fact, just a few weeks away. Give yourself the gift of self-awareness and schedule an appointment with me for a personalized Reflective Rectification Astrological Analysis reading.

I work in person or over Skype with clients from around the world. Our conversation (typically lasting about an hour, sometimes longer depending on the circumstances) is recorded and I send you a private link to the recording for you to download and keep yourself, as well as a copy of the drawing of your chart.

I don't tell the future, I don't tell fortunes. I use your chart to give you reflective feedback on your personality, your strengths and areas of challenge, your family of origin issues, your relationship with love, money, career, friendships, etc.

I've seen other astrologers who bill themselves as "clairvoyant" or "intuitive." I don't like to use adjectives like that about my own work but I can tell you that I look at the picture of your chart and even if I've never met you (ESPECIALLY if I don't actually know you!) I get a reading that 99% of my clients tell me is uncannily accurate, insightful and, most importantly - HELPFUL to my clients in their quest to understand themselves better and to obtain insight into the purpose and meaning of their lives.

I charge 400NIS (Israeli Shekels) or $100USD (U.S. Dollars) for a reading. I can be paid via PayPal at: lorelaikude@yahoo.com

Every picture tells a story. Let me tell you the story of your picture.

Lorelai
From Inside Israel: (054) 817-7935
From North America: (562) 219-2339
International: 972+548-177-935
email: lorelaikude@yahoo.com
Skype: Lorelai1211

Chodesh Tov Elul, The King is in the Field!

Monday's New Moon in Virgo - "The Virgin," Mutable Earth, the month of Elul, the tribe of Gad, the Planet Mercury (Kochav Chamah -  כוכב חמה) is closely followed by Rosh Chodesh Elul on Tuesday this week.

 A "New Moon" is when the Sun and Moon are conjunct (at the same position) - this New Moon is close to where Venus (Noga  נוגה ) is currently stationed, also in the early Degrees of Virgo. 

Sun/Moon/Venus in Virgo is focused on "borer" - sifting, evaluating, choosing, discerning, separating that which is useful from that which is not. It's about cleaning the schmutz and preparing for use that which is sacred. Personality (Sun), emotions (Moon) and creative self-expression (Venus) all cry out for that "White Glove" treatment right now.


Mercury is a Planet that does "Double Duty" in the Zodiac. Ruler of both Gemini (Mutable Air) and Virgo (Mutable Earth), Mercury is the energy that facilitates communication. During Elul, we blow the Shofar every morning to COMMUNICATE - to our own souls and to the world around us - that Rosh HaShanah - the annual "Day of Judgement" of the World - approaches only a month from now. 


It's a time to communicate - with our own souls, with our Creator - Who is especially available now, more than ever. It's said of Elul - "The King is in the Field," that is to say, He is accessible, on our level, He has left His palace and is wandering through "the Field" (the world where we live), where we can see, touch and cling to Him in love during this time - before Rosh HaShannah, where we will crown Him KING - in all His glory. 

During Virgo / Elul, we "sift." Let's remove all the impediments to closeness between ourselves and HaShem, by removing those things that are no longer useful.


It's one thing to meet the King in the Field - another to see Him "all high and lifted up" upon a glorious throne. Virgo - Elul - is the time where He is close, and THE PLACE WHERE HE IS CLOSE is where Virgo / Elul falls in your Personal Natal Chart. 


For a Personal Astrological Analysis and Natal Chart reading, contact: lorelaikude@yahoo.com

It Doesn't Take an Einstein

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift." ~Albert Einstein

It doesn't take an Einstein (as our Tribal grandmothers would say) to see the obvious: The Times, they are a-changing. Maybe a more apt lyric would have been: "It doesn't take a Weatherman to know which way the wind blows."

We feel it, we see it with our spiritual eyes, it's palpable to those who live right here at "Ground Zero" of all energetic realities - Jerusalem, Center of the Universe. 

Diplomatic Venus is moving into practical, discriminating Virgo today (0 Virgo), and Mercury Retrograde continues it's second curtain-call through the final dramatic degrees of Leo. Tomorrow the Sun at 29 Leo, King of the Jungle, will oppose idealistic, distortion-prone Neptune at 29 Aquarius, the Mad Scientist.

The 29th Degree of ANY sign is what's known as a "Critical Degree" in Astrology. In the case of the 29th Degree, it's as if all the energy from the previous 1-28 Degrees have rolled downhill and pooled into the 29th Degree. It's the critical essence of a Sign - just as 0 Degrees of ANY sign is the absence of that essence, containing only the promise or potential.

Venus is almost DISABLED until it reaches 1 Degree (a Planet is not established in a Sign until it reaches 1 Degree). This gives the Sun-Neptune Opposition more weight, energetically. The absence of diplomacy and balance with the potential for fanaticism (Sun-Neptune opposition) does not create ideal conditions for an experience of undistorted reality. 

Add Mars at the Cardinal Critical Degree of 13 Cancer (protectiveness, home, "mother," money, security) and it begins to sound a little like ... Elmer Gantry on steroids.

Beware of hyper-distorted, idealistic, delusional "humanitarian" (Aquarius) and ego-maniacal, fiery folks with a sense of self-righteousness, entitlement and "Destiny."

I'm just sayin' ...

 

Introduction to the Shema - We Praise G-d's Creation of the Luminaries

"G*d, The Master over all works, the Blessed One Who is Blessed by the mouth of every soul, His greatness and goodness fill the world! Wisdom and might surround His glory. He Who exalts Himself over the holy Chayos and is splendorous in glory above the Chariot - merit and fairness are before His throne, kindness and mercy fill His glory. Good are the luminaries that our G*d created, He fashioned them with wisdom, with insight and with discernment. Strength and power did He place in them, to be dominant within the world. Full of luster and radiating brightness, beautiful is their luster throughout the whole world. Glad when they go forth and exultant when they return, they do with awe the will of their Creator. Splendor and glory they bestow upon His Name, jubilation and glad song to the remembrance of His kingdom. He called out to the Sun and it glowed with light, He saw and fashioned the form of the Moon. Praise do they bestow upon Him, all the host on high!"

New Moon in Leo, Rosh Chodesh Av, Mercury Retrograde: - The "OYS" of Summer

The Hebrew Calendar is a work of both art and science. The almost poetic way in which significant dates fall out in relation to the cycles of heaven is beyond any mere human design - even that of Ezra the Scribe, whose work on the Jewish Calendar we owe everything.

Take for instance, the New Moon in Leo, which squares Jupiter (who is called "Tzadek" in Hebrew, connoting Jupiter's function as an energetic lens of both benevolent wisdom and in it's shadow form, fanatical self-righteousness) in Taurus. The Fixed Square (Leo/Taurus) energy is one of stubborn (Taurus) passionate (Leo) self-righteousness (Shadow Jupiter). Venus in Leo close to the Leo Sun / Leo Moon conjunction tips the balance of public opinion in favor of "brave leadership," while transiting Uranus in Aries makes a Trine (120 degree angle) to the Leo Sun/Moon/Venus conjunction. The stage demands an actor - someone is going to step forward to play the role - and in your own personal drama, that means: THE SPOTLIGHT IS ON YOU.

Rosh Chodesh Av comes shortly thereafter (Sunday night), quickly followed by Mercury Retrograde (at Zero Virgo, going "backwards" through Leo again) Wednesday morning Jerusalem time. It's said that a planet is not established in a sign until it reaches 1 Degree. Therefore, Mercury at Zero Virgo has all of the potential of Virgo (the ability to discern, to choose, to separate that which is useful from that which isn't) but none of the actual power. Mercury's Retrograde back through Leo re-hashes old arguments, demands "kavod" (respect) and is less like a roaring lion than a dog worrying a bone - gnawing at the same point, over and over.

Your inner voice may be harshly critical right now, your pride may be wounded and you may be tempted to take refuge in your comfort zone - whatever that is (Leo Venus says: Buy! Leo Venus squaring Taurus Jupiter says: Overindulge!). The whole POINT to this kind of astrological analysis is to create self-awareness, which is the key to being able to stop acting compulsively. If you KNOW you're just feeling sorry for yourself, you're less likely to buy that triple-scoop ice-cream or cashmere sweater you don't really need (and for G*d's sake, it's the middle of summer, why are you shopping for winter clothes already?).

The trick is to "know thyself." Where does the Leo/Leo New Moon conjunct transiting Venus in Leo fall in YOUR chart? In what area are you most likely to fall off the wagon?

Don't give in to the "Oys" of Summer. Take this opportunity to clean up the messes instead of making more of them. Torah-based Reflective Rectification Astrological Analysis Services can help. Email: lorelaikude@yahoo.com for details.

Summer Solstace - Outside and In

The Summer Solstice is here... 8:16pm Jerusalem time, tonight (Tuesday June 21st). The energies of the year which began Rosh Chodesh Nissan (Yehuda) now turn south (Reuven). Rosh Chodesh Tammuz (Cancer) follows closely at the end of this week.

We are in the "South" (bottom) of the year, energetically - as the Sun peaks and then begins, little by little begins to shorten the days until we're on the other side (Winter Solstice - the tribe of Dan, Capricorn) of the year. 

Tammuz and Tevet both have fasts associated with them, both have calamities associated with the Jewish People, and within a person's own Natal chart, these two cardinal points (the 4th House/10th House cusps) correspond with the Inner (Cancer, Tammuz) and Outer (Capricorn, Tevet) manifestations of the idea of SECURITY.

Remember what the Torah says about Reuven ... "you are as unstable as water" (Cancer, the Cardinal Water Sign), also Reuven was greatly beloved as the first-born, the son of Yaakov's "first strength," and yet acted inappropriately in the matter of his father's relationship with his wives, thus being stripped of his birthright as the leader of the tribes. Nevertheless, Reuven did true tshuva and has a place of honor as one of the 4 cardinal points (one of the four key CAMPS around the Mishkan, see BaMidbar (Numbers) Chapter 2-3.

In one's own personality, we have our "Inner Reuven." It's the 4th House: our family of origin drama, the "seat of the soul," the lowest and most private point of our chart, where we go inside the inside (like a crab goes inside his shell), where we make our "home." It's about our ROOTS - the root of our soul, the root of our family/tribe/origins. 


Find out what this time of year means to you (and more) - email lorelaikude@yahoo.com for information on how to book a private Reflective Rectification Astrological Analysis Consultation (in person or via Skype).



  

It's Tikkun Tune-Up Time

Last week I did an astrological consultation  for a woman who had so much emotional pain surrounding the "Why Am I Here?" question that she literally couldn't see the forest for the trees in her own life.

The North Node of the Moon is the "Karmic Setpoint" of the Natal Chart, the TIKKUN INDICATOR in Torah-centric astrology, and it's placement in the chart (by sign, house, degree and aspect) is a clue to the "fixing" task of the soul during this incarnation.

The irony of the North Node is that there is also the South Node - the placement of (which of course is exactly OPPOSITE that of the North Node) shows where the Soul was the last time around, and exactly where the "comfort zone" is that must be broken through during this lifetime. Because if you stay in your comfort zone, you never get to become yourself - the true self you were meant to be this time around. You'll be comfortable, yes. But you won't grow ... and that means you won't have accomplished the growth of your soul, so what's a lifetime for?

The woman whose chart I did was clearly fearful of her North Node. When I asked "Susan" (not her real name)  if she'd ever thought about being a physician or healer, she became visibly agitated. "Yes, I feel strongly attracted to the healing arts, I wanted to study medicine but my family didn't feel higher education for a daughter was something they wanted to invest in."

I began to gently probe Susan's North Node / South Node dynamic in relationship to the asteroid Chiron (the "Wounded Healer," the aspect of the "Leprous Messiah" in one's life, the place of wounding where, when understood, accepted and integrated into the emotions and personality healing may flow to others from one's own wound) in her 4th House (Family of Origin). I found it to be very SORE.

Rather than stand up for the truth of her own soul, this naturally talented woman succumbed to her family's belief in her own worthlessness and became their "caretaker" instead of becoming a physician or healer. Ironically, Susan ended up using her nascent healing arts on the very people whose collective will opposed her formal development, keeping them (her mother, aunt, a much older sister, each of whom developed disabling health problems shortly after this woman had reached adulthood) as her "patients" for many years.

After the death of her sister (the last of the "patients" Susan had kept alive over the years), Susan is now wondering what she should do with her life. Mid-30's, single, having devoted the prior 15 years to the physical and emotional care of her disabled female relatives, Susan could barely see that even though she had not pursued a formal education as a physician, she HAD in fact spent her adult life as both doctor, nurse and caretaker, hospice provider and diagnostician.

Having finally inherited a great deal of money, she was paralyzed with fear about what to do with it. Her deepest wish was to send herself to university and become a physician, but her guilt about stepping outside the box created by her acquiescence to other people's opinions about her worth created a frozen inability to decide.

When we looked at her chart together, I showed her the "picture" of her female relatives (a strong signature in the chart) in relationship to her South Node (the comfort zone of where we left off in our past life) opposite her North Node / Chiron conjunction. "You paid your debt to them, you gave them life, honor, comfort and dignity for 15 years, and now you're free to become the 'you' you've always known you could be," I told her. She wept and then, clearly moved by receiving "permission" (from a total stranger - me!) to be herself, told me she had only the day before asked G*d to show her what she should do with her time and her money now that she was free.

Liberated from guilt now that she could see an actual "picture" of the reality of her own life (the life she had lived but never had "reflected" back to her in the way that Reflective Rectification Work does), she realized that in spite of her feelings of shame for succumbing to the devaluation of her own intellect and abilities, the merciful and good G*d Whom she loved and served had, in fact, arranged her life so that she had been able to pay her karmic debt, honor her mother and older relatives, create dignity and comfort for those she loved although they had hurt her, and in the bargain acquire 15 years of hands-on experience that proved to her, beyond doubt, that her innate abilities were not "wasted," but employed in the care of others who themselves (in a prior incarnation) had cared for HER.

She now felt empowered to begin to explore her future.

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