Adelaide Wellbeing

ART THERAPY

 Art is to inspire us, mirror us and embody our emotions. When words are not enough we turn to image and symbol to speak for us.

 They are a conduit for all we contain within.

 Artistic expression has astonishing power. It offers inner wisdom that can provide understanding, guidance, resolution and vitality.

 It is a wellspring within everyone that illuminates, rejuvenates, restores and transforms.

 Mcniff – when the soul is in pain, art spontaneously emerges.

 With art you access the intuitive powers within you to heal and naturally nurture the soul. It is as good for you as balanced nutrition, regular exercises and a quiet mind.

 As medicine embraces more integrative forms of treatment, art therapy is enjoying a renaissance as we are recognizing that the power of the creative imagination and expression contains a fundamental source of health and wellness for the body, mind, heart and soul

 I have watched this over and over again – from abused children, cancer survivors, trauma survivors, parents who have lost a child and children who have lost parents.

 Each has tapped into the ancient wisdom of image and imagination.

 Art helps us to make and create meaning in powerful and dramatic ways, conveys our deepest feelings, gives voice to our spirit and helps us transcend suffering and touch something beyond ourselves. The creative source within that heals, makes whole and helps us understand ourselves in ways of knowing that are unique.

 It is the source of our imagination – the ability to break free from the mold of the mundane and the limitations of the logical. It steps us out of our body and this is so important when the mechanisms of the body are no longer working.

 We intuited from early forages from the core, into the world that art is good for us in one form or another.

 We can create images with meaning.

 It is a natural process of caring for the soul and experiencing it in all dimensions and communicating with out outer world of relationships community and nature.

 It is the dark night of the soul that calls us to creative expression – to find the healing path in its reparative powers.

 When some one has died, or you have been diagnosed with a serious illness or you parent has [that which stands between you and the horizon of your mortality] that startle us out of our habitual slumber.

 Art making is an awakening agent – awakening to something beyond pain, suffering and illness.

 It is also a powerful therapy for the process and release of emotional pain and suffering. It can release profound grief and terror, abandonment, loss and rage.

 We are dealing with a population who was trained in infancy not to feel.

 It is all still trapped within and before this life ends it desires and demands expression. Art can facilitate this.

 The creative process of art can unleash and transform a wounded heart.

 The emphasis is not on a finished product but on the creative process to express oneself, increase self awareness and give birth to a new story for ones life.

 Both Freud and Jung – fathers of modern psycho therapy – realized that language is not enough and that images, in art and in dreams – can provide wisdom and inner guidance where words can not.

How much more important does this become when logic, intellect and works begin to be lost.

Artistic expression is one of our elemental tools for achieving psychological integration.

Art as medicine is an ancient understanding – from the cave paintings in the Pyrenees, to the Navaho sand paintings of the blessing way ceremonies to the ancient Middle Eastern uses of colour for protection and healing- art has throughout time been used to repair physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual health.

 This is now being recognized in western medicine where the reductionism – broken clock – view of the human being is being profoundly enhanced by recent awareness of the human being – being encountered at some stage of their life journey.  In preparation for the leaving of this life where we are viewing it from the perspective of staying in this life.

That when we constantly break down things to see their component parts – we actually lose sight of the whole.

 Physicians are recognizing the potential of art to heal patients in ways that medicine can not.

And healing and curing are not the same thing.

A cure is a treatment that removes all evidence of the disease and eliminates all evidence of disease. It is what a physician hopes to bring to a patient.

Healing is an inner process by which a person becomes whole – intact and undiminished and can occur on a physical, emotional, psychological or spiritual level.

 Both are interconnected with regard to health and well being. Healing can occur when curing is impossible-on emotional and spiritual levels.

This may not have a significant impact on the length of life but it is obvious it has a powerful impact on quality of life.

This experience of becoming whole is very real and unseen. Through art you can stimulate and witness the process of becoming whole.

 We cannot cure age related conditions – but the person experiencing them can heal the pain, trauma and grief associated with their approaching mortality – coming to terms with this stage of their journey and evolution.

 The miracle of it is that even if it has been neglected since childhood – it is still there – fully intact. It is not limited by your age, physical condition or training. All it asks is you be authentic, simply be yourself.

 Creative activities are also used for wellness. It is well known and researched that beauty and imagery, colour and nature have significant impact on stress levels and physiology and our capacity to communicate feelings about symptoms being experienced.

 It is known that creative activities enhance brain function and structure, alleviate depression and stimulate alpha wave patterns typical of meditative states.

 The frontier of psycho – neuro - immunology and brain plasticity has demonstrated that imagery is an important factor in self healing. Our mental imagery has a similar potential in directing our bodies t relax, increase blood flow, dilate veins, reduce heart rate an stimulate the immune system.

Evidence from neurology and evolutionary psychology increasingly suggests that arts play an important role in our ability to think, problem solve and remember.

Our creative source actually extends our life span and may be just as important to health maintenance as good nutrition, exercise and medical care. It keeps us vital and connected to life in ways that other approaches do not.

 Art can transport us to the place where the illness does not exist. To a place within where the normal limitations of time and space and physics do not apply and to access the resources within this and bring them back. To be in the flow of their experience.

This has profound implications for understanding the experience of aging, chronic illness and other realities in which we find ourselves.

 It is never too late to awaken the inner artist and discover what it has for you, for the challenges of your life, and the ability to recognize and navigate the truth of yourself!!

 Contact Prue at www.thrivebydesign.com.au if you are interested in experiencing this work

 Parenting is a profoundly sacred task and one that is vitally important for our wellbeing personally and for our species as a whole.

 It is also one for which there is no particular training that is offered outside of an ad hoc intermittent basis and this says a great deal about how we do not look at the importance of raising children well, as an issue of cultural and societal importance.

 There is nothing particularly surprising about this considering we are still operating under laws that remain on the statutes that tend to lump “lunatics, women and children” as all ‘equally incompetent”.

 In a world still dominated by values that place having and achieving, over nurturing and community building, then the work of families which statistically still falls in the majority on women – remains undervalued and under resourced.

 It is also true that the family network has continued to falter from wide ranging, connected and hands on, extended groups through to the isolated nuclear family, to a situation now where the rise of people living alone is the fastest growing ‘family’ unit in this country.

 So those that were there to lend a hand, to take the baby for a few hours so a new mum could get some sleep, to bring meals and pop them in the freezer, to being in the home with the new mum to help guide and support through that particularly difficult period of the first year of your first child – are predominately gone. They are all still working in jobs of their own, caring for elderly parents and all this in an increasingly time poor world that we have created.

 The skills that were known are not being handed on, children are now growing up without learning how to cook, do laundry, clean, budget etc because their mothers are either doing it in the middle of the night before collapsing into bed for a few hours exhausted sleep or help is being brought in to do it and much more is done on the run.      And these skills matter because what ever our children end up doing, they will still ideally have a roof over their head and food on the table and need be able to function within that context as well.

 And as for children – it is a subject that is rarely discussed between couples prior to having them. They may discuss the when’s of it, or the hoped for gender spectrum involved but it is very rare that they sit down and discuss child rearing as a practice, how they intend to approach it, problems they had growing up with their parents and how to avoid the same mistakes.

 It is something that we tend to jump into haphazardly as in, it feels ‘right’ about now, and find ourselves 9 months later with something so profound and joyous unfolding that our lives will never be the same again. Something so consuming and requiring so much time and attention and regularly crying for no apparent reason whatsoever, with that sound that is designed by nature to get your attention “NOW” , while we are sleep deprived and shell shocked, that our lives will never be the same again.

 Research attests that a significant percent of the population of parents – if given the choice again – would have had children, the answer was no!

 How is it that we are expected to “know” what to do with a squalling infant. Maternal feelings are profoundly deep in some people and not apparently present in others at all and while we could postulate over many reasons that contribute to this, it is a reality we live with.

 And being a mother now is so fraught with rules of how to do it right, from what to eat or not eat [or drink!] during pregnancy, the style and kind of birth we might want to have but fully aware another may be imposed on us, [the caesarian section rate in Australia is the highest in the OECD and a national disgrace as far as I am concerned], the whole breast feeding issue and getting that right, or not, and then the relentless media driven, madness of what it is to be a ‘good’ parent – without much useful information about how to go about it, that doesn’t induce bucket loads of guilt for being such a failure.

 Oh and at the same time we are expected to be ‘hot mummy’s’ – not so much by the equally confused, abandoned and long suffering fathers – but by trash magazines pushing the celebrity cult obsession with looking good and being right.

 All of this in a world that has in a single generation gone from being able to buy a home and create what a family needs on a single income to one where the only way you will ever have a home of your own and provide your family with what you think it needs, is to have both parents working - pretty well full time. And half of the second wage is paying for child care, where to be able to return to work to support the mortgage - the mother can be driven back from the time the child is barely a few months old.

So young families, stressed to the max, having immense pressure to get on, working hard to provide, in a world where the old supports are no longer there, feeling isolated, trapped and alone in a world where just when you get your head around how the child is, as a being, it enters a new developmental stage and the rules change all over again and we are intuitively meant to when this happens, what it means and how to deal with it.

 And we don’t so we feel inadequate, exhausted , not good enough and guilty.

 This is not a useful way of approaching our most treasured resource – the next generation who will inherit the world from us. What we tend to do in the face of all this outlined – is we tend to do what was done to us. Without thought or analysis, unconsciously handing on child rearing as we know it, by example or practice. And even this is diminishing. Once upon a time female children, and whether you like it or not the first primacy of care of an infant is the mother – from your body does it emerge and feed to grow – used to get a kind of apprentice on the job being around younger siblings or caring for neighbourhood children to earn some cash. However neither of these things happen much now, with overworked mothers outsourcing many basic needs and anxious parents now heavily concerned about leaving their children with anyone, other than equally busy extended family.

 We don’t learn the craft in the way we used to and we are beginning to see the results in endemic rates of child neglect and abuse, overwhelmed parents with record amounts of foster care being sought and a media drenched world of consumerism that is constantly pointing out their failings to them.

 It is time to change all this. To recognize that parenting is one of the most profound experiences of your life and one that your body holds a blueprint for as part of its involvement in a species that raises its young at heel, longer than any other mammal on the planet. To recognize that we have lost touch with what is instinctive and intuitive in parenting, in a barrage of “how to” books and pop psychology. To understand that young people need help, not just in feeding, sleeping and bathing rituals that involve small people but in understanding their emotional needs and how to meet them. Not just to understand the developmental norms of childhood and what to expect from them but how to navigate through them in the best interests of the family as well as the child. How to recognize your ‘style’ of parenting, how unconscious it is and how to bring it to your awareness, so that you can change it for the better - for your self, your partner and your child.

 Most manuals on parenting in the past were focused on the parent and their needs. Then they became almost exclusively focused on the child and their needs. Neither of these approaches is particularly useful for both are locked into how things ‘ought’ to be, not allowing for the massive change that occurs from generation to generation.

 And while some developmental norms are just that, normal, there is also the reality that each generation of children at the moment of conception, begins with all of the fathers blood line of knowledge, all of the mothers also and then brings it forward from that moment in to life. So in truth each generation is so much more adaptive than the one that went before it – giving truth to the cliché that our children can be our greatest teachers. And they would be if we were not spending a lot of our time putting them into the same little black box that we were put into when we were children, so that our parents [how had it done to them – ad nauseam back] could feel comfortable with us.

 It is our job as parents to teach our children to navigate the world. For we know more about what it is than they yet do. To do this in a way that they do not spend their lives trying to ‘fit in’ to a somewhat shallow, sexualized, hyper media driven consumerism, but from a set of values of connection to each other and the planet, integrity, loyalty and courage, that we have had the where withal to teach them, while at the same time learning from them what we have forgotten. How to live in the moment, be truthful and spontaneous and living in our bodies rather than our minds,  worrying about the future and looking at the past for ways of how to avoid it.

 I am sure any parent with young children today recognizes there is something interesting going on with the new kids coming in. They are different to all that has gone before and they are here much more as them selves and awake to who they are. As a grandmother to seven beautiful little bright lights I am constantly entranced by what they offer.

 So what we need to focus on in child rearing is the nature of the relationship with have with these little mites. How to be conscious in all our interactions with them, how to recgonise when it is our ‘stuff’ that is being triggered and how not to react to that - when communicating with them. How do we avoid handing on the same weird and downright crazy messages we got from our parents about all sorts of things.

 It is no co-incidence that the incidence of diagnosed cases of ADD/ADHD and the whole aspergers spectrum has increased up to 3,000 fold in some areas. No - it is not that our diagnostic tools have got better. It is because many of these new kids are not coping with world as we know it. They genuinely don’t understand why we behave the way we do with them and so to cope they either rebel [the add/adhd issue] or shut out the only world they can – the external world, by withdrawing [the aspergers spectrum] and in both cases we tackle it in entirely the wrong way by trying to force them back into our world rather than learning to join them in theirs, with all the wealth of information held there in. And if that doesn’t work we numb them into our world with medication.

 Parents need to be taught how to be conscious in their interactions with their children which then facilitates a healing of what was done to them as children by doing if differently with their own and at the same time children need to be taught how to remember themselves, how to not take on other peoples baggage, how to recognize their emotions and work with them rather than be overwhelmed by them or deny them, which in truth is the reality at the heart of the vast majority of mental health issues in the world today.

 This approach then facilitates a circle of love that embraces parents and children in which all activities become an opportunity for learning and healing the physical, emotional, pshycological and spiritual needs of the child and the family. To prepare us all for a new kind of world emerging, in which community with each other and the world, sharing and love become the way we live. 

 Commencing 29th April at 10 am [we have made this as kid friendly as possible for the parents] we will be running Partnership to Empowerment - Conscious Parenting for the Child and Family through Thrive by Design.

Some tips for Parenting the Special Kids

1.     When your child picks up on your underlying feelings they will act it out and model it for you.

2.     When a child is acting out – look within to discover what part of you feels this way – listen deeply for the answer.

3.     Teach your children it is safe to change and become by changing and challenging your self to step out of old ideas and old patterns of feeling and behaving.

4.     Remind yourself and your children that every morning is a new day – to leave the past behind every night when they go to bed.

5.     Slow down – feel with everything you have.

6.     All labels are limiting – for them and for us

7.     We have a template for being, for perfection, a blueprint – when it is contradicted it is discordant and distressing to our children – everywhere they go they feel it.

8.     It is important to parent with integrity – they know the difference.

9.     We don’t need to teach for they have not forgotten.

10.                        Be fully present, dynamically responsive, intuitively awakened and wholly open to them as teachers as well as learners.

11.                        If you are having trouble connecting to your child [labels of add/adhd] then connect with them in the dream world. A] set your intention to interact with them in the dream world and have a healing interaction. B] Sleep talk – when they are in the REM stage of sleep then sit on the bed with them and talk to them about the reality that they are safe, wonderful, and what ever they are wrestling with is healed and whole. Be honest and loving with this, they will scan you fully and download what you offer! Kind of weird but true.

12.                        Lavender, frankincense and valerian oil for peaceful nights and also use clearing sprays for their room before bedtime.

13.                        Teach them to set goals and break them down in to daily activities and tasks.

14.                        Discover whether they feel things, hear things or see things and then use their language when communicating. “I hear what you are saying” or “I see what you mean” or “I feel what you are telling me” etc

15.                        Make a dream board with them. Their hopes and aspirations, what ever it is and hang it in their bedroom.

16.                        No limitations or negativity, visualize good results and it will happen, visualize getting along well with others and it will happen.

17.                        Exercise in the sunshine and in nature – even 10mins a day is sooo good for them.

18.                        Low blood sugar is the most significant underlying problem in behavioural issues, feed them something first every time.

19.                        Never let them get hungry, eliminate refined carbs. Have things like trail mix, gluten free muesli bars etc.

20.                        Make sure they are getting their daily quota of vitamins for learning – B6, folic acid, thiamine, vitamin C, Zinc and magnesium. There are wonderful preps that this can come in if the child is going through a phase [normal] of limited variety of intake.

21.                         Fatty acids – flaxseed oil. One teaspoon a day in a smoothy or over cereal is wonderful for brain function generally and research suggests is powerfully preventative in relation to mental health issues later.

22.                        Eliminate food dyes, sugars, preservatives and additives. These kids have a very low tolerance for man made molecules.

23.                        These kids are often not easily integrated into the mainstream school system and are not valued as highly by teachers as conforming children are. These kids can be disruptive, thrill seekers, sensation seekers, inattentive, over excitable, fidgety, passionate, outbursts of temper, socially awkward – they feel their difference. Teach them it is ok to be different.

24.                        Dress them in natural fibres where possible, again they can strong reactions to man made molecules.

25.                        Be present, loving, open and honest in your communication and have clear and flexible boundaries, be sensitive – what matters to your child really matters, be understanding, compassionate, supportive and honouring.

26.                        Communicate telepathically with them, send them your thoughts with love and send them images of how you want them to be if you can’t reach them, eg calm, ok within themselves.

27.                        Imaginary friends are real – what it is, a friend, a ghost or unpleasantness depends on spirit.

28.                        If this happens make some enquiries. Is it fun, what do they call them, what do they talk about, is it kind? What does it like or not like. Engage them – to help find a lost object, where is the nearest park. In this as in all things, sovereignty and autonomy matter. Free will of the child, all are welcome until they are not and how you respond is up to you.

29.                        If it is negative or becomes so – You are bigger than it, visualize it clearly to be so, then visualize a bright golden light pouring in through its head and down into the earth – ask all that is the light that loves and supports you to move it away to the horizon now from which it may never return. Then ask the room what colour it needs and then what feeling [eg calm, love, peace, happiness etc]

30.                        Schools validate the intellect and the physical but not the spirit. Powerful children threaten an authoritarian system. Observe for this and heal it. [eg if you see a teacher struggling with your child - ask all that loves you and your child to help, visualize the teacher being calm and in a loving place with your child. Look for any labels you place on the teacher and heal them within your self. [shadow retrieval]

And so here we are galloping through 2012 already. People often reflect on what they perceive to be speeding time and it is no longer just the reflection of the old, even kids are saying it is going soooo fast lately!! For all the cynics of course who say….’my clock is still saying the same thing!” well of course it as as Einstein’s theory of relativity works. The clocks are changing with it, relative to where we are in this sphere and so ‘look’ the same of course.

However the quickening is upon us and people all over are feeling different, more intolerant of crowds, shopping centres and other mass gatherings of discordant energy. The number of people I encountered here in Adelaide who were simply choosing to avoid the wonderful festival season we have here was huge. Despite the fringe, the festival, womad and other wonderful things, a lot of people were saying the same thing. ‘I can’t face it, all those people, nothing I want to see, it’s all arduous’ – kind of things being said with the end result of more home time for all.  People are finding it harder to be a part of the circus on any level these days.

Symptoms of change indeed! I had the good fortune to be at a Lee Carroll channeling of Kryon in Melbourne last week and as usual filled with wonderful info about the world ahead. I have been following this for about 20 years now and have not seen one thing that he talks about, that has not unfolded as he describes it. Reliable and lots of science and physics in it. As with all things occupying humanity at the moment the conversation came around to the 2012 phenomena and the take on it is that we are in the centre of change. The 2012 marker is just a midpoint of change in which the astronomy of the precession of the equinoxes reaches the 26,000 completion point. The completion point is a 36 year window [not a nano bolt from the blue] and the 21/12/12 pointer is exactly 18 years through that window.

It is an opportunity for profound change as the feminine energy of the planet finally comes back into realignment with the masculine for balance and healing. Not to replace the masculine or supercede it for that would just be more of the same and the planet has in its time had a world where that was so and men were no better off under that than women have been under the last imbalance.

The shift of power and form, in its true sense, will be moving from the northern, land based, masculine dominated, suppression and war minded northern hemisphere into the southern, ocean dominated, feminine, open, connected [and free of the blood soaked horror of the north] southern hemisphere. In the same way that the Kundalini of the Earth herself has now left Tibet and India [which explains what is now changing and happening there] and has taken up residence in Chile.

The next 18 years will be vital as this is the time to seed new beginnings, new ways of harnessing energy [Telsa technology will become mainstream in the future as they work out the magnetics of it all] feeling connection with each other rather than power over another. It will all change and in fact has changed and the earth in her changes is simply reflecting this.

The weather and other scary things have nothing to do with atmospherics and every thing to do with the water cycle. It is always the water which dominates climate in the same way that in its 73% of sheer matter on the planet, it dominates all. The atmosphere is simply reflecting the change.

Prior to every ice age there is a period of global warming, melting the polar ice, redistributing water weight [very heavy] around the poles, putting distorted weight on the tectonic plates, leading to volcanoes and earthquakes and the slowing of the great current that brings water from equator to poles, leading to the next mini ice age which will be seen by the end of my life and is being heralded already by the recent big freezes of the northern hemisphere – and it is all ok!! The ocean is rebooting itself at the same time but more on that next time. But like the cover of the hitch-hikers guide to the galaxy – DON’T PANIC.

It is truly unfolding as it should and we are a part of it and just be calm and still no matter what happens and see it for the grand ride that it truly is!!

In the meantime there is much to do and play with and heal and transform and so at Thrive by Design we have many things on this month that help to unshackle us form the things from the past that bind us and to keep the new children coming in from buying into the old story. We will fill you in on what is happening this month and what you can get out of it, what is planned for the months ahead and how to make that work for you, also some tips for coping with Kids in ways that may be beneficial to all, feng shooey and witch tips for the house, workshops and groups!

I am also available for one on one sessions that can speed things up quite powerfully in terms of change and Simone runs wonderful programmes for social media and small business growth that are just amazingly good – at Mason College.

I get to facilitate another naming day for one of my most exquisite grandchildren – Saxon - this month and it truly is a privilege and pleasure to welcome them in formally and invite all the energies of sun and moon, earth and sky and all that runs before him, to assist in his journey of this earth walk.

So we shall begin with planetary plotting as usual so you can see what you are working with this month and do know that the very difficult energies of this year are only a month away from beginning now so work well with yourself and be kind to your self and all around you!

I also had the opportunity this week to listen to Don Tolman about health and how we have been conditioned to give our power to the Religion of Modern Medicine – absolutely wonderful and illuminating and I have spent many years as part of that religion so I am aware that what he talks about is actually very true. I will speak of this more next month but well worth looking up and checking him out.

Planetary Plotting

  So far as the personality is still potential, it can be called transcendent, and so far as it is unconscious, it is indistinguishable from all those things that carry its projections...[that is,] symbols of the outside world and the cosmic symbols. These form the psychological basis for the conception of man as a macrocosm through the astrological components of his character. - Carl G. Jung

The sun is in Aries until the 19^th of April and this signifies fun, laughter, good friendships and an opportunity to not take ourselves too seriously!

The grand trine of March indicates stability and strength growing from truth internal and we are all starting to form and create new ways of living and being; and with Neptune in Pisces almost trine to Saturn in Libra - a harmony in completing karmic reality in relationships [that now is a must if we are to move forward as a species] is here.

 The absolute cleanse of the false, man made religions of power and control, lies and deceit, stuff and nonsense is now also here and as Pluto continues to transform all archaic institutions of money, religion, politics and all other things that keep us from a genuine balance and equality - we shall see many things continue to be exposed. As the bankers of the world continue to turn on each other like rabid pigs in a trough that is finally running out of feed; there will be difficult days ahead, but continue to see it as the boil that has to be lanced and trust we will get through this also.

The Karmic new moon in Aries just past has been stressful but cleared a few things also, however we are still in waiting – needing to go deeper to discover our own truth in relation to desire, space, time and how we will utilize it well. While all is retro some things are not yet clear, some answers have not appeared. Here we must trust, we cannot think our way through this as the retro energies take us into old zap zones of experience with people or memories from our past - return for sorting.

Mars retro – shadow of the psyche, Set of Egypt – nothing is more mysterious or frightening in a world of blandness and mediocrity than the warrior self. Are we embracing it in right action of love? Or running from it, disowning it, with the inevitable result.

Mercury retro – sacred scribe, Thoth of Egypt – opening us to illumination, imagination and inspiration from spirit!

Here we have an opportunity to reflect on right action in the name of our soul’s purpose! For the spiritual warrior the first and most important battle is with the self.

Mercury turns direct on the 4^th in Pisces and Mars turns direct on the 13^th in Virgo. If we have journeyed well then we will bring the beautiful compassion and love of Pisces to our Wounded Warrior, both within ourselves and then out into the world, creating pathways for others to follow. Remember in order for the Warrior to act from love it must know that it is loved! Honour this and commit to right action.

 For this retro period is bringing to our conscious awareness the inequality that is still being experienced by members of our society. Women, blacks, muslims, children and much more transformation is needed if we are to align ourselves fully with the shift that comes.

Remember the guardians of the old world, who are already dinosaurs, will fight and fight hard to keep their privileges, wealth and power. They are doomed and have already lost their fight but they will create more havoc yet before we can stand over their graves in peace.

Dig deep to find your own stories and links to the past and choose a different path this time. As the retro period ends you will have greater clarity about who you are and in what direction you are heading! The old patterns are falling away, keep the faith with your self.

Soon after we will experience the eclipse cycle commencing next month and the awesome and evocative Venus transit of the sun with all zap things and increasing chaos that go with it but more on that next month.

Mercury goes direct on the 4^th and when it is in Pisces our thinking processes are more visual, inspirational, imaginative and intuitive. Our communications come from the thinking heart and the feeling mind and this is a good thing. It shows the retro worked as the rational mind was opened to the intuitive self. Your inner world has shifted and this will now flow into the outer world.  

Venus enters Gemini at the same time and this wonderful marriage of words and quickness and love leads to our ability to express ourselves from the heart with a clarity that is actually quite extraordinary so for all the poets out there, let the soliloquy to a loved one come forth, express your new loving truth well into the world.

The Full Moon in Libra on the 7^th asks for the balance to be brought between spirit and matter. The need to have independence and also to compromise. We seek harmony, justice and peace in our world and seek the determination and courage to create this without trampling on others rights in the process. 

This is large as with Saturn still retro in Libra the focus will be on relationships [yes again!!] and commitment. These subjects will loom large on the horizon for all and based on the retro issues we will also examine issues of equality and discrimination in relationships. We may be fed up finally with all the fighting and striving just to be allowed to be ourselves in the face of those who profess to love us but in truth want to control us so that they are not required to face their own fears. Under this moon we may strive to find a balance and bring harmony but our tolerance could well be reduced at the same time.

On April 10^th Pluto turns retrograde until September 19^th. This is intense and with a high degree of concentration allows for very real insights into the unconscious mind, allowing us to see much more of others than is normally possible which can lead to paranoia or suspicion if we are not careful. Remember everything we see is interpreted through the lens of our own perception so check it out before you act on your determinations of others. Retro motion is inward to observe and release inner patterns that affect the physical body. Pluto is about death and transformation so work well with it and you have an opportunity to overcome many difficult circumstances that may be afflicting your health at this stage.

Under this we are urged to let go of attitudes, thinking patterns, rigid emotions, security control issues and any ideas that contract us, narrow us and impact on us and others. This internal house cleaning is necessary and as this transit imparts an intense power of observation and investigation – look to where we feel out of control, where we give our power away, where we seek to have it over others, where are we attacked or neurotically defended in relation to others.

Utilize this to gain control over personal matters, professional and financial realities also. It is about regeneration so it is also a great time to detox, cleanse internally, not with pills and potions and the latest gimmick that is being commodified and sold back to you but with fresh air, sunshine, clean water, walking, whole food, loving relationships and something that you are doing that brings you joy and passion in your daily life!!

Remember this transit will take you to a much deeper level of all you have been letting go of in the last year as you search for the soul essence of who you are and find the alchemists gold in the magnetic fruitful darkness of the creative journey.

As Mars goes direct on the 14^th April a lot of the frustrations and treading water feelings that have been going on for the last few months will ease. We can actually begin to move forward now with projects and plans in all areas of your life that have been on hold during this retro phase.

Mars in this Virgo transit is all about the long haul so look to long term goals here and do not expect too many immediate answers. This will spread across society and community so again bide your time, review well, plan well while recharging your batteries during this long transit in Virgo. Things will come together and will do so better for good planning. Don’t overload yourself with too many projects, as it can be difficult to see them all to fruition during this.

On the 17^th Mercury goes into Aries until May 8^th. This is a wicked combination that leads to high octane, frantic, warp speed thinking and ideas flying around the cosmos. It is also about the nervous system so with this combo you slide from one fiery idea to another at lightening speed! Beam me up indeed Scotty – there are universes and omniverses out there waiting!! During this time you can expect lots of people wanting you to do lots more and work will ramp up and up and up at a frenetically fast pace so for gods sake pace your self!!!

On the 20^th the Sun enters Taurus and it is always delicious and sensual after the exuberance of sun in Aries. The ideas and seeds we planted then will now start to sprout. Time to turn over the garden, put in the mulch, get down and dirty in the dirt and plan for the winter garden. This sign condenses and brings in to life the fiery impulses generated during the last four weeks. It is feminine, steady, sensual and determined. Taurus is ruled by Venus, the goddess of love and forget your high brow search for Agape here – speaking of getting down and dirty, she is right into physical love and sensual pleasure and always a treat at this time of year.

On the 22^nd we meet the New Moon in Taurus, oh how delicious! Prosperity, abundance, love, patience, sensuality, love of Earth. In your new moon aspirations for this day you can ask for your business to prosper, to get a pay rise, to gain someone’s attention, cast a love spell, create a moon garden and receive artistic inspiration!! Eat fabulous foods and wear wonderful fabrics, watch the sun set and lie on the Earth and ask her to take you deep within. Ask her what she wants from us at this time. Here we can relax and let go, be at peace, literally to stop and smell the roses! Book a  float and a hot stone massage with Lotus Floating in the hills. More on the moons and sweats in Moon Madness at the bottom!

On the 29^th the Sun Trines Pluto – hauling out the last of the magnificent energy of last months trine.

So on it goes but enjoy this time as the eclipse cycle commences soon and the first of the major Pluto squares follows soon after! Ouch!