The Gift of The Stars: September 2007
Two eclipses invite an astounding opportunity.
What if you could see the world—and yourself—through the eyes of the Divine?
I can testify to the revelatory nature and joyful outcome of this approach to life, for I was taught how to do it years ago, when traveling in Morocco.
On the sands of the Sahara, I went to bed asking for insight about my spiritual purpose. I received a dream—and also a task. We can’t just inflict our purpose on others, as you know; we also have to live it ourselves.
In the dream, I owned an eyeglass store. It wasn’t a very big store; in fact, only a few customers could visit at any given time, and then, only in a single-file line. That was okay with me; I didn’t seem vamped about working all that much. The sign read, “Part Time Visions; Owner Frequently Travels.” Neither was I a particularly skilled or equipped optometrist: There was only one set of glasses in the entire store.
My job was to open a glass case, pick up the Plain-Jane glasses, and put them atop a customer’s nose. He or she would then peer into a mirror and relate a revelation. I then set the glasses back and waited on the next client.
Most of the clients left fulfilled, if not happy, for these were “God glasses.” They had been forged in the heavens and brought to earth, much as one might wish for the chalice of the Holy Grail. They were one-size fits-all, but what was really special about them was this:
When wearing them, you see reality as if looking through the eyes of the Divine.
What would happen if you could only see others or yourself from a divine perspective? If every thought, word, and deed were based on a spiritual point-of-view? How would your self-concept change? How would you treat others differently? Well, you don’t have to visit my illusory vision store to obtain this transformation. There are two paired events—matters of the constellations—that can shift your eyesight in similar fashion. Of course, you must choose exactly how you want to respond to these two heavenly happenings, for in their wake, you can either invite better—or worse—change.
It’s Time to Clap for…
Two eclipses!
Eclipses appear in pairs, first a lunar and second, a solar. This is convenient as the mess created by one can then be alleviated by the second.
On August 28th, a lunar eclipse shadowed the moon, the symbol of domestic matters, personality, emotions, dreams, and the feminine. This full eclipse occurred in Pisces, the sign ruling feelings and intuition. On September 11th, the sun eclipses in Virgo, the sign of the priestess. How might these stellar events affect those of us with our “feet on the ground?” How do these complementary concurrences invite the change of heart and vision needed to live as spirit-in-form, not just a form trying for a spiritual life?
The Lunar Eclipse
First the lunar eclipse. Well, moonlight sonatas have a way of pressing our deepest issues. A lunar eclipse in Pisces? It will seem as if every loose-ended, unwrapped, raw, or over-sensitive feeling now goes haywire, as if we’ve just been plugged into an electrical socket. Most likely, we’ve been responding in one of two ways.
Self-pity. We all have our moments. You’re the exceptional person if you can’t fill in this statement with at least a hundred phrases:
“Poor me, my life would be fine if only I had…”
The young people affiliated with my household would have a hey day.
The eight-year-old: “An unlimited toy allowance; a mom who lets me stay up all night; a new Governor that knows school should be outlawed; five more dogs.”
The nineteen-year-old: “An unlimited allowance, period; a mom who doesn’t expect me to return at night; no authority figures; no dogs (or turtles or guinea pigs or little brothers around when they are a pain) of any sort.”
The twenty-year-old with infant: “Unlimited sleeping time; a child that doesn’t stay up all night; someone else to tell me what to do; who has time to have an animal, anyway? I just want a good night’s sleep.”
And do you think all the complaining gets them anywhere?
Do we adults think our complaining gets us anywhere?
So, besides grumbling, what options do we have?
Becoming inspired.
Feelings (especially those Piscean stimulated ones) can cause incredible havoc—unless we’re able to take responsibility for them and actually direct them toward a greater end. If we could embrace a feeling, however “negative,” and read it for meaning, we can create goals, love, compassion, and just about anything else from it. Feelings are simply energies. Energy is nothing more or less than information that vibrations. By breaking a feeling into its component parts—the information and the vibration—we can decide how to respond to the encoded message and how to best react to it. Essentially, we can inspire ourselves; enthuse and motivate ourselves so we can achieve our goals. The first step, then, of shifting perspective is to transform feelings into inspiration. By practicing this technique for the first two weeks of September, we prepare ourselves for the gift of the solar eclipse and our already-introduced objective: Spiritual vision.
The Solar Eclipse
On September 11th, the sun goes Virgo. The sign of the Virgin, Virgo activates our priest and priestess selves, activating our ability to see the world and ourselves as if—well, looking through the eyes of the Divine! If we’ve spent the last few weeks bickering, blaming others for our feelings and problems, we won’t like what we see.
I’m sure you’ve already noticed the vast difference between potential and reality. Our priestly self sets his or her eyes on the heavens. Gazing only upon the desirable can leave us frustrated with and depressed about where we are. Of course you’ll look better ten pounds thinner or with a shade different hair color or in a Porsche rather than a 1995 Ford Escort—but does this contrast need to determine your opinion of self and others? Of course you’d like a world that has already conquered Aids and feeds it children and doesn’t blow up the innocent people in the Middle East—but are you going to put off happiness and joy, love of others, and your spiritual destiny, until the world is a better place?
The Divine sees what is here—and what is possible. There are two lenses on God’s eyeglasses. There is “now” and there is “later.” The bridge is love.
Love understands. Love is compassionate. Love accepts. It also cheerleads, promotes growth, and hands out help. How many miracles do we miss, because we don’t notice them? How many people stand ready to help us, but we can’t spot their readiness? How many great things do we already own—ARE we already—but we refuse to see it? A terrific party dress can be reduced to a rag because we only see the spot on the inner hem. A fabulous job can be destroyed by our attitude about a co-worker—even though the other 100 fellow employees are incredible. There’s an old phrase: What you see is what you get, and it’s often true.
If you perceive your feelings, even those so-called downer ones, as helpful, they will be. If you see others as loving, you won’t react to the behaviors that don’t come off as loving. If you love yourself, you’ll attract more love. It’s all about how you look at it.
How can you use the energies of the eclipses to—one and forever—shift your perspective? Make God’s glasses your own glasses? Here are a few ideas.
If the Glasses Fit…
This is how you might wear them.
1. Reductionism. In cooking (I only know this from the movies, as I don’t really practice the art myself), you thicken a sauce by boiling off some of the liquid. This “reducing” transforms an okay sauce into a “Triple A” award-winner. Reducing feelings is key to having a happy rather than blasé—or even terrible—life. After all, who wants to spend a lot of time around an always-depressed person? Who wants to marry a “Calamity Jane” or a “Whiner Willie?” Then again, who wants to be around—or be the person—in denial of feelings?
You can change any feeling into a revelation by sorting it into these two component parts:
• The message. Feelings contain messages. Fear tells us to change direction. Anger says, set up boundaries. Sadness indicates a need to embrace love, when we’re not recognizing it. Joy suggests we continue to do what makes us happy, and disgust tells us to get rid of something. Don’t act on a feeling until you figure out what it’s saying, and you—and everyone else—will be a lot happier.
• A movement. The message is the revelation. Now convert the communiqué into a true inspiration by taking action. How can we best carry out the feeling’s message? What action, internal or external, enables a desired change? A feeling is a message from your to you—it’s not caused by something or someone else. As often as possible, keep the process internal, unless it can only be fulfilled through an external expression.
2. Expansion. Having followed through on your heart—the ultimate origin of feelings—it’s now time to live the most important feeling of all: Love.
Love never contracts. It expands. Love doesn’t judge. It decides. What might happen if you commit to seeing the world through the perception of love, and only love? The Divine is “different” from the rest of us in that it’s able to do this, always, and all the time—plus, it’s willing to help us learn what it already knows. So imagine yourself accept divine eyeglasses. Put them on your nose. Now keep them there. Live life this way. If they slip off once in a while, analyze your feelings, get re-inspired, and put them back on. They are the only accessory that matches every outfit, mood, and motive. They are YOUR glasses, and why not wear them?
