Pondering Pisces

Today, we shared our own career experiences with a 17 year-old who is about to apply for university.  My partner mentioned a few things which made ME think:  If I had heard that when I was 17, my career path would have been so different.....or would it?  My Mercury in Aries does have s a hidden rebellious streak so perhaps I would have done the same thing as I did in the end.....who knows?  It's fun to ponder on the other path not taken....

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Masculine & Feminine signs

 

In astrology, masculine signs are fire and air, whereas earth and water are feminine signs.

The easiest way is just to look at your sun sign, which is the sign you read about in horoscopes.  However, if you know your birth time, you can draw your birth chart (try Astro.com for free birth chart calculations) and work out the proportion of your masculine vs feminine signs.  

You may find that your sun sign is masculine but you are a passive person, one reason could be that the other planets (e.g. Mercury, Venus, Mars) in feminine signs overriding your unexplored masculine Sun.  

You can spot people with masculine signs a mile off, they are the ones who are active, always on the move, not afraid to speak their mind and to go after their dreams.  

Those who are more feminine are more reserved, they tend to hold back, physically and verbally until you crossed their boundary.

The bey is to reach a healthy balance of the two polarity.  Not to be a bully or a pushover.

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The Path to Becoming Selfless

In Buddhism, the ultimate goal is for each of us to detach from our egoic self and have compassion for others. 

In astrology, the sun is your ego.  It is your core.  It is your essential self.  How you display yourself, how you portray yourself.

Fire: being yourself is what you will strive for, you actively seek to be yourself and will automatically display the core you in any circumstances 

Earth: thinking of yourself in practical terms. You have your morals, rules and beliefs on how to display yourself and you will adhere to them stringently

Air:  your mental self is the most active and you will use logic to defend yourself.  You need to prevent your mental self from taking over your essential self

Water:  being overly emotional is your trouble and you either need to develop a clearer sense of sense, because you are too nebulous, or you need to prevent your emotional self from overpowering your overall personality 

Try to toy with the idea of gradually shedding your ego, layer by layer.  

Coming from a new age background, I initially found this pill ever so hard to swallow.  New age spirituality promotes each of us to be ourselves:

Do what you want! 

Be who you are!

Put yourself first!

Then when I began to study Buddhism, I learn that what Buddhists strive for is the total opposite! 

How mine boggling….

I’ve been observing this in my own life.  Every time when I become unhappy, I unravel the problem and most, if not all, of the time, it boils down to not getting what I (the ego self) want. So the Buddhist logic is that if I can manage to tame the ego self to become selfless, then putting myself first won’t be my priority anymore, so if I don’t get what I want or if my ego self become bruised, then I won’t feel the pain, therefore won’t become unhappy. 

Easier said than done.  

Yes, and if you believe in reincarnation, then we’ve probably been reincarnated many times before, each time not being able to fulfil the egoless goal.  

So why is it so hard to lose the egoic self? 

I’ll try to explain it using astrology. 

Putting kindness and compassion before yourself for fire signs is hard because Aries has a ‘me first’ attitude, Leo is all about ‘all eyes on ME!’ whereas Sagittarius is about ‘ME having fun first!’

For the Earth signs, to share one’s resources without judgement may need some justification, especially for Capricorn, though for some Taurus and Virgo, showing kindness via food and being of service to others do come naturally to some Taurus and Virgo.   For water signs, it may sound like a dream to them but their tendency for emotional attachment will hinder them from achieving an egoless self in a different way.  For air signs, being to logical can pull them away from being compassionate, ‘Why is it that we have to share? We all work for our hard earned cash after all….

My conclusion so far:  This selflessness approach does help to ease the stress, but I guess I have my Mercury in Aries so the egoic self is still predominantly playing a huge role in my mode of thinking.....they do say it would take more than one lifetime to pay our karmic debts and to overcome our life lessons....

💖Is there a path to happiness?💖

Everyone is seeking the path to peace and happiness.  

But what causes one to be unhappy?

Buddhism identifies the reason for unhappiness is not being able to get what one wants.  

I put together a simple (and I mean simple!) list of what each sign in the zodiac is likely to become upset if the following are taken away from them:

Aries- when you are not number one, when you cannot fight back, when you cannot be yourself

Taurus - when you don’t get to possess what you want, when your routine gets disrupted, when you are not financially secure

Gemini - when you can’t say or think what you want, when you cannot gossip and chat with your friends, when you are forced to delve too deep into issues (especially ones you’re not interested in)

Cancer - when you cannot protect who you want, when you are deprived of your privacy, when you feel emotionally vulnerable 

Leo - when you cannot shine, when you are ignored, when you cannot tell others what to do

Virgo - when you cannot have control over your environment, when you cannot have order in your life, when you cannot achieve perfection

Libra - when you cannot please other people, when you are not being admired, when there is disharmony around you

Scorpio - when you have no control over other people, when you are betrayed, when you don’t get what you desire

Sagittarius- when you do not have the freedom to do as you please , when you cannot play, when life becomes too serious for you

Capricorn - when you don’t achieve what you want, when you cannot identify a goal to strive towards, when you feel disrespected 

Aquarius- when you cannot be different, when you are forced to conform, when life become too emotional 

Pisces - when you cannot relax and let things flow, when you are forced to plan ahead, when you feel unloved 

Ask yourself why do you become unhappy under those circumstances.  Tease out the ultimate reason.  For example, if you have money insecurity issues, then work out where it originates.  If you are earning fine but still have this problem chances are that you picked up this mode of thinking back in childhood.  If you are still struggling financially as an adult, then look into why that is.  

There is always a solution to a problem, it’s just a matter of finding what that is, or for some of us, having the stamina and initiative to unravel the problem.

So to answer my original question of 'Is there a path to happiness?'  My conclusion is yes there is, provided you have the energy to do some weeding so you can see the path.  

Photo by Andre Furtado, pexels.com 

Meal to celebrate the summer solstice 2021

 Today, my astrology buddy in Hong Kong cooked up a delish meal according to the planets.

Our Midsummer's Eve menu

All guests were served with coconut water in its original container, representing milk from Mother Earth!

For starters, pea soup was served to honor the Moon and Mercury.  This yummy pea soup (Moon) was made with coconut milk (Moon) seasoned with mint (Mercury).  We had a potato and turnip (both lunar ingredients) pancake but I was too busy eating that I forgot to take a photo of it!

Then we had an interlude of honoring Jupiter with fresh figs and chestnuts glazed with maple syrup.  Don't they look like a work of art?!

Honoring Jupiter continued with another dish:  chopped chestnuts with cloves, nutmeg, sage and maple syrup.

Then we moved onto the Sun and Mercury with this sassy salad:  tangerine (Sun) and fennel (Mercury) drizzled with a olive oil-based dressing.

Continuing with the solar theme:  rice with cashew nuts and raisins, flavoured with cinnamon.  We also had cucumber (Moon) and celery (Mercury) salad, but I forgot to take a picture of it!

Lunar dessert:  peaches, papaya and pears with roasted coconut chips, drenched in coconut sauce.

Sparkling water with lemon slice (Mercury!)

Thank you for your hospitality Kimberly!  We also had a great astro conversation with another fellow astrologer, Tom, who gave us many food for thoughts!

Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius 2021

The lunar eclipse happening at 5 degrees Sagittarius on 25th-26th May 2021 square Jupiter, the ruler of the moon.  Beware of greed - one of the seven deadly sins.  If something looks too good to be true, it probably is exaggerated.  Overconfidence and blind optimism are on the cards.  In addition, we have Neptune square Mercury and Venus, possible misunderstandings and even deceptions are likely.  

This can be a highly emotional time so it is best to avoid making important decisions until you are mentally calm, especially for those with planets in mutable signs (Sagittarius, Gemini, Virgo and Pisces).

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The Mirror of Opposition Part 1

In astrology, when 2 planets are facing one another, i.e. 180 degrees apart, it is called an opposition. 

It has been described as both parties wanting the same goal but approaching it from opposite directions.

The word 'opposition' is understood as something or someone standing against you. The nature of an opposition in astrology is very similar - a part of you is being reflected to you in the external world. Ever had the experience of getting annoyed by someone? Sometimes you know why, but other times, you simply cannot stand that irritating git!  The key is to work out why you have attracted that person into your life and is able to trigger you emotionally.

An opposition is formed when 2 planets are in opposing signs.  With 12 signs altogether, we have 6 pairs of signs in opposition, each have the same goal, but approaching it from a different perspective.  Try to work out the role of the other person you have attracted and identify the part you play in this tug of war:

Aries - Libra

This is the axis of 'me' against 'you'.  Aries is concerned with the self, me me me, whereas Libra is about putting the others first.  However, they are both at the extremes.  

Is the other person being selfish? (Aries) Or are you annoyed by their inability to stand up for themselves and allow others to walk all over them? (Libra)

Common goal:  Relating to others

Incorporate both signs:  Relating to others cooperatively (Libra) but without losing oneself (Aries)

Taurus - Scorpio

Taurus is hoarding material possessions, whereas Scorpio is holding onto emotions.

Is the other person being Taurus (hoarding, being stubborn) or Scorpio (vindictive, jealous)?

Common goal:  Building/creating something that will last

Incorporate both signs:  Building steadily out of love (Taurus) and not go to the extremes (Scorpio) , e.g. being destructive and annihilate when the going gets tough 

If you could bear to take a moment and ask yourself why those people annoy you so much, you will often find that those irritating souls are merely mirroring a part of you that you have disowned.

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