Pluto's Curriculum

This evening I sit at my kitchen table with with the slider open.

A cool front has swept out the heavy humidity.  Light rain falls on the full foliage of high summer. The sound of rainfall is soothing, like a long sigh.

I've been out of synch with the rhythms of Nature; but then again, Mother Nature herself is out of synch.

Usually at this time of year I'm busy working on a new project or planning fall events.  But this year, even the momentum of the Spring Equinox didn't shift this feeling of being in limbo -- on some kind of inward sabbatical.

I had an astrological reading the week of the Equinox, expecting to take advantage of the energy of light increasing, crocuses sprouting and stars shifting.

But my reading made sense of what wasn't happening.  Certain things had culminated for me on the previous Winter Solstice.  Now  I'm in a period of change.  Inside the chrysalis.

I'm not good with sabbatical.  Time off is not my thing.  I like momentum and goals.  Getting stuff done.

My astrologer, Carol,* sees it differently.

I love her interpretation of what's happening out there in the cosmos.  In my experience, when there's an astrological event, like a Super Full Moon, ten astrologers will give you ten different interpretations.  Carol's take always registers an inner  yes.

About this sabbatical, she says, We are in preparation; we're being re-positioned. 

Our entire society -- from the personal to the national -- feels at the very edge of sustainability.  The status quo is giving way.  And while it's good in many ways, if/when it crumbles -- what's out there?  Beyond our familiar structures?

And how will I be called to serve then?

What's going on with you, Carol says, One of the things the universe is coaxing out of you,  is to look at your insecurities -- and not knowing is a big one.

But, she laughs, You know a lot!  You are a knower.  Your mind is brightly lit and very creative.  

Despite this, I find not knowing unsettling.  I like to look to the future with some sense of what's forthcoming.

She mentions the massive shifts we are living through and how becoming comfortable with the unknown -- in other words, trusting -- is something I'm being invited to master.

This is part of my run-in curriculum with Pluto.

Pluto's power is largely inexplicable and difficult to understand.  Wherever Pluto appears in your horoscope, that area of life will show a marked change.  

Named after the Roman God of the underworld, Pluto signifies death and rebirth.  It is the planet of regenerative forces, of destruction and annihilation, and then complete transformation.  The keyword is elimination; Pluto wipes the slate clean.*

This astro-curriculum is teaching  me the value of letting go of my habitual ways of (over) managing everything.

Pluto advises me to relax my defensive ego.

And most challenging -- getting around my need-to-know mind and dropping into the lesser-known chambers of my heart.

   This is actually Pluto!

So this summer  I'm letting myself be.  I'm practicing being as opposed feeling like I should be doing this, that or the other.   All. The. Time.

My non-doing curriculum consists of the following, in case you want to study along with me:

Early morning walks to the pond, cool air on bare arms.

Admiring markings on the outstretched wings of the low-gliding hawk.

Tracking the turtle making his way across the undulating water.

Spying two racoons under the dock, looking up from behind their bandit-like masks.

Practicing my vinyasa in the verdant morning shade.

Embracing the sky in a series of sun salutations.

Sitting on the planks of the back porch on my cushions and sinking into uncharted realms in meditation.

Removing my (literal) mask and being met with a field of light behind my closed eyelids. Streaming into my third eye.

I trust that the shifting quality of my being will continue to inform what I choose to do.  I'm already deciding differently.

Getting comfortable with simply being is my current project.  Attuning inward vs. being directed by old ideas of what I should be doing -- it's a practice!

But I've got this curriculum  I'm working with, so it feels promising.  Change -- anything beyond the known -- always involves some trepidation because we're human.  We like stability.

Yet to reach sustainability -- unity, cooperation, and the ability to make choices that benefit humanity and the planet for seven generations -- something's got to give.

Maybe it's an old way of being, a way we are (painfully) outgrowing.

Maybe this curriculum teaches a way of being that yields as-yet-unknown riches.

 

Acknowledgments:

*Astrologer Carol Ciocco can be found on Facebook.

*Pluto information: The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need by Jaonna Martine Woolfolk

*Neale Donald Walsh, author of the Conversations with God series, first introduced me to be, do,  have -- in that order.

Paul Selig's channeled text, Beyond the Known: Realization (shown above) is due out August 6.  Soon! Having read all of his earlier work, I highly recommend it.