It's time to let go. In a big way.
In the past weeks I've been getting calls from friends and astro followers saying "What the heck is going on?" Some people are finding themselves stuck -- caught in a place where they can't go back to where they were and they can't go forward.
We may feel this way because Uranus is riding out the end of its six year journey through the sign of Pisces -- the sign of "letting go" of things, including the past. And we're having a little trouble doing that.
"In everybody's life there's a point of no return. And in a very few cases, a point where you can't go forward anymore. And when we reach that point, all we can do is quietly accept the fact. That's how we survive." (Haruki Murakami, "Kafka on the Shore.")
Right now, not being able to go forward can be a direct result of not accepting that we are now at the point of "no return." And we have to accept that and let go.
Uranus represents the collective unconscious of everyone on the planet (or at least in the Western Hemisphere, since we collectively follow the Western traditions of astrology.) So we are all in the midst of a last opportunity to let go of whatever is no longer working in our lives now and what won't be useful to our future.
We've had six years to make some of these changes, and some of us have been letting go of that past all along. If you're one of those people, congratulations -- you're already moving forward. But most of us are resistant to letting go of things we love, even if they're not good for us. But now? We're in the end game. Time is running out.
We're now getting close to the time when Uranus will leave the sign of Pisces for another 80 years and enter Aries -- a fiery sign of creative vision and pioneering, a sign in which create our own path -- one that will fulfill us on a personal level. Others may follow us on that path -- and we may even become leaders because of our vision -- but that will not be the point. We will do what we realize is best to fulfill our own destiny.
In order to create this new life, which will begin in earnest in March of next year, the universe is saying "Time's up! You have to make space for something new to be born!" That means we'll need to let go of things that are taking up that space right now. The things we've been holding onto -- sometimes for dear life -- for years.
I Know This Isn't Working for Me, But I Can't Do Anything Else!....
Since this is the first time most of us are going through this planetary transition (if you're under 85 that will be the case for you) this may mean letting go of "baggage" that we've had all our lives. The baggage can be in the form psychological issues, physical possessions, mental ideas -- anything that has outlived its usefulness for our existence. Most likely you already know what it is. But you may be saying "But I CAN'T let go of THAT! It's too important to me. I'll be...(choose any of the following) -- alone, poor, rejected, empty. I can't survive without that!"
Have you been in a job or relationship that you've been trying to get out of for years? One that you know isn't working or worse, one that lowers your self-esteem and keeps you stuck where you are? "Give it up now!" is the message the universe is sending. "Give it up now and I will have more in store for you. Hold on to it and it will drag you down."
If you choose not to let go -- you will not be able to go forward -- and so the quote at the beginning of this piece will prove true. Without being able to go backward or forward -- you will need to learn to accept that you have lost the power of motion. In one way this is a solution: Accept where you are, let go of your need to move forward or backward and you may make space simply from doing that.
But there's a better way. If you can find your way clear to jump into the void -- over the cliff -- if you can let go of those things to which you've held fast but know are no longer serving you, you will suddenly find yourself walking lighter and easier and moving into a place where new opportunities and possibly a whole new life have the space to present themselves.
(This is is in part due to Jupiter - the planet of abundance -- that is also traveling through Pisces for the next couple of months. As you let go of more, Jupiter will give you the gift of more abundant space in your life. Space for creation.)
It May Not Be Easy, but It Will be Worth Your While...
This is not to make light of what we are letting go of and how painful it can be to let go of. This is not to say that this will be painless. Despair, depression and emotional trauma are not unknown around this magnitude of letting go. During some phases this can be intensely internal and difficult material to process.
So Go Ahead. Ask for Help.
And I am not a fan of saying "Oh, just do it!" which is the New Age version of a patriarchal male authority figure saying "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get over it!" (At times the New Age can be dictatorial in its unrelenting demand to approach everything with a positive "If you think it you can do it!" attitude.)
Pisces is a female sign -- and Pisces way of approaching "letting go" is a female one. To let go in Pisces means the softer female version of nurturing ourselves and accepting ourselves. Acceptance reached through acknowledging that this is how we feel, this is who we are. Acceptance through loving ourselves for our own very human traits. By owning and accepting who we are, we stop fighting who we are and we can use the energy we once used to resist instead to transform who we are -- and one way is by letting go of what no longer serves us.
The idea in this model of letting go, is to surround yourself with people and things that will support you and anchor you while you learn to accept the loss of, and grieve and mourn what you are jettisoning. People who will provide some safety and security while you let go of your old tethers. Short term therapy is an excellent idea right now if your baggage is mental or emotional. Supportive friends who will "hold the space" for you without judgment or criticism are another useful tool.
If it's physical objects you need to part with -- pay a good organizer (another type of therapy) or lean on friends that can help you lug that old set of furniture out of the basement -- the furniture you will never use again but just can't bear to part with. Rely on people and things that are helpful and useful in your life now. People and things that will help you move forward. If you do so, space will be made, and the pain will pass if you allow it to do so -- and in its place will come a promise of a future which could not have existed without the space in which to create itself.
Isn't that worth it?
