A life in harmony with nature, the love of truth and virtue, will purge the eyes to understanding her text...
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
In the desert we burn or find refuge in the cool shadows deep within the heart, stand silently by as flames consume structures brittle with age and exhausted from suffering. Blink in the afterglow to focus our vision. Stretch into infinity without boundaries to limit. The dawn quenches our thirst, soothes the mind, sends the breath into rapturous rhythms and frees us to embrace our Self long into eternity and beyond separation.
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Ouroboros by Lynnette Shelley[/caption]
November is a month to ride the dragon as it circulates through all the elements seeking resolution to the mystery of temporal existence only to find that perfection is the current state of everything. The Serpent undulates across a multi-colored landscape toward the undefined space that inhabits every cell, every string, every thing. Pure white, brilliant aroma that descends sharply through the illusion of this body, no matter what stage, to peel me from the thought that impermanence has any thing to do with the reality that I am.
Rising, ascension is merely descriptive of awakening from deep sleep. We go nowhere, experience no thing and embrace all. Or we are driven insane with desperate thoughts of escape without a glimmer from future possibility to aid us. We are stuck in this moment and whatever might be transpiring now. From bliss to blues there is only now and the repetition of destruction, healing and evolution tied intricately to the desperation we feel when our grasp is too weak to retain anything.
If you have ever experienced November in northern climates you know the biting cold of icy winds that sweep away remnants of lush summer abundance and autumn harvest. Skeletons populate the terrain. There is nowhere to hide. Here in a warmer environment can we expect a gentler journey? Not this November. Here the winds are just as relentless as they numb our fingers and we are pried loose from insistent beliefs. We stand naked, join the skeletal community, not bothering to look for clothes. Why mess with liberty? On the other side of this are keen intuition, focus, clarity and the success that results.
Mercury in retrograde motion has crossed back over Saturn in Scorpio, an insistence to purge; to regurgitate all that we have swallowed. With Jupiter in Cancer, filling in has to do with nourishing ourselves from a place of our roots. This applies to the Mother, our beginnings and the inherent sense of wholeness that flourishes in the absence of conditioning. Direct motion occurs on November 10th as Mercury makes an exact trine to retrograde Neptune with the Moon joining Neptune by the late hours of the evening. The vastness of the unknown where we create fantasy and entertain our selves with an array of scenarios that bubble up from the deep. With Mercury in Scorpio it may be hard to deny the emotions that arise. They will be well scrutinized with the chaff ultimately being separated from the wheat. Delusional content will be sacrificed. Vulnerability will be embraced and the intrinsic nature will blossom forth in the light of acceptance.
All of this activity is stimulated by the very powerful New Moon on November 3rd that includes a stellium in Scorpio and a Solar Eclipse. If the emotions seem overly consuming and you are not used to Scorpionic energy, be prepared for a few uncomfortable days unless you keep in mind that what arises has an opportunity to be released most possibly for good. You will never need to deal with that particular limiting issue again. Well, if you do, it certainly won’t have the impact that it may have during these few days.
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Art by Ravenari[/caption]
This is the Year of the Water Snake, Yin and perhaps most influential in this month of November. The Snake does not abide mediocrity and like Scorpio has an ability to reveal that which lies hidden. Both move through change easily and know that it is part of the natural process of human existence. Birth, death, rebirth and regeneration are the cycle that defines life in duality. This November transformation, shedding our skin is facilitated by an awareness that what we truly are is beyond the changing and transforming nature of physical reality. Sensitivity to awareness that is, is a comfortable skin to know.
Three Tarot Cards for November
The King of Cups, the Queen of Cups with number VIII, Strength, of the major arcana in between. An interesting arrangement as both court cards are of the water element, a big theme for November and this year (Water Snake). Water represents our emotions, what we are frequently slave to when not in balance but assists us in being able to go with the flow and be accepting when in balance. The fact that the Yang and the Yin element accompany each other along with a card of confidence and strength suggests a month in which we take charge of our fears, our desires and our creative abilities to successfully overcome what has impeded progress. November is not so much about reaction as it is about observation, what influences behavior that is limiting and overcoming dependence upon familiar ways of behaving.
If November sounds like work, be assured that it is well worth the effort on the way to an effortless existence. Much will be accomplished in terms of deeper understanding and eliminating fears and knowing a greater sense of what is valuable. If we must be stripped to the bone to realize that still, I am, and nothing else matters, then so be it.
