It’s constantly surprising to me just how much our knowledge of astrology doesn’t keep it from impacting us. I’ve seen this particularly during this Autumn of retrogrades… first Venus and then Mercury.
For the record, I count the traditional Celtic cross-quarter days as the start of the seasons. That means that sometime around my birthday at the start of August, autumn arrives. I can sense it in the morning and in the evening light and it doesn’t matter if there’s a heat wave or sunshine. Just like spring arrives in early February, even if there’s snow on the ground. The difference comes from latitude, not weather.
This Autumn has been about major change and transformation, but in a way that looks backward as much as forward. Like Janus, I’m positioned on a threshold between the past and the future. For example, I was discussing with the Jungian whether speaking ill of the dead can encourage them to haunt us… he wisely pointed out that this question meant I was already being haunted.
Yesterday I went with three witchy friends to see a workshop performance of “Rebels and Priestesses” at our local Back Door Theatre. This is a work based on Women of the Golden Dawn: Rebels and Priestesses by Mary K. Greer focusing on the lives of Maud Gonne, Moina Bergson Mathers, Annie Horniman, and Florence Farr. Four cast members, four priestesses, and the four of us going together to see them — perfect symmetry.
As a piece of theater, it had strengths (it’s raw authenticity) and weaknesses (it’s expository nature) but as a work of ritual magic it was excellent. This wasn’t accidental either. The circle was real, the invocations of the spirits of these women legitimate.* Throughout the performance, tarot cards were drawn, seemingly at random, that lent context and color to the script. At the end, the women asked what is theirs to do and drew a card to add to the circle… then we in the audience were asked to do the same. Then these actor/priestesses read the circle and I can tell you that their reading was true.
I drew a card from the Wild Unknown Archetypes deck (large, round, quite beautiful – I think I need to buy a copy), but accidently drew two. And while the top card spoke directly to my future, the one below was a stark reminder of my past.
Balancing on the threshold is uncomfortable. I certainly feel a bit haunted. But it’s also EMPOWERING. Looking back, I can see things that I have yet to deal with… while looking forward I see how things might be. Possibility and memory blending together. Knowing why this is happening (astrologically speaking) doesn’t mean it’s not happening to me… in fact, knowing why it’s happening may make it happen more consciously and therefore strongly. That’s what it means to live an enchanted life.
* The devocation at the end left the door open wider than I typically do, so I wouldn’t be surprised if these actors, this theatre, and this show are also haunted
