To get the most powerful impact, this special Treasure Map is generally something you work on between the Aries New Moon and the Aries Full Moon, which falls 2 weeks later — ideally finishing it just before the moon is at its fullest.  I’ve written about it here and here, but basically a treasure map is a collage that you create by cutting out pictures and words from magazines or newspapers or even old maps and gluing them down on paper or poster board.  Since I’m rarely far from a keyboard, and am reluctant to cut up magazines that can be passed on to others, I’ve found it especially easy to work in a program like Microsoft Word or PowerPoint and use the text box feature to build layers of words and images (pulled from free clip art within the program or digital images I already have purchased and own).  Once my collage is complete, I save it and print it out.  My treasure map then is placed ceremonially on my main altar.  It resides there throughout the year and I periodically pull it out and look at it to help me remember what I am trying to stay focused on manifesting and what I need discipline to release.  At this time of year, I find it really interesting to look back at previous treasure maps — which I’ve been making since 2009 — and see what has actually changed in my life and where I need more work.

Focusing on our intentions enough to put them into words helps make our desires clearer and more structured. Speaking those words out loud is more powerful than just thinking them in our mind…even if no one else is listening.  Shaping those intentions into a physical object that symbolizes our desire — whether in words or pictures or a song or a 3D object like clay — helps our intentions manifest faster because there is now an anchor for them in the physical world where we want the experience to manifest.  Consciously infusing a physical object with our intentions expressed not only in thoughts but also in emotions/feelings makes that object an even more powerful attractive force.  That, in essence, is what a medicine bundle is.  It essentially functions like a lighthouse beacon, constantly transmitting our desire — in mental and emotional and physical form — out into the Universe.  And the Universe usually answers.  Of course, you can further empower this work with mantras, with dance moves or other physical gestures, with song, with tapping, and with many other tools that are becoming popular in new age circles.

So, as the Aries Full Moon approaches, I’ve just finished my own map for the coming 4 seasons.  I’ll use it to help guide me through the challenges and opportunities that lay before me.

Where do you want to go in the next 12 months?  Perhaps make a map of your own to guide you on your journey.

(c) Copyright PeggyMalnati, 2012.  All Rights Reserved.

We’re in that magical time every spring between the Aries New Moon (the very first new moon of the entire astrological calendar year) and the Aries Full Moon.

This is a really powerful time to make an Aries New Moon Treasure Map — essentially a physical representation of everything you want to attract into your life in the coming 12 months.   If made consciously with purpose and intention, the treasure map helps anchor in the energies of our desires, acting much like a lighthouse beacon beaming our intention out into the Universe and helping us manifest more effectively.

This year’s Aries New Moon period is especially powerful since we have a stellium of 5 planets in the Sign of the Ram (and new beginnings) right now: Sun, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, & Uranus, are there and were briefly joined by the moon.

You could consider this year’s Aries New Moon to be a super-charged New Moon. It’s a great time to start (or at least map out / plan out) something new, particularly if that something new is a change you’ve been contemplating but putting off starting for a long time. (Mercury is retrograde right now and finishing up unfinished business or researching ways to start something new (without actually starting it) can be favored.)

With Jupiter (planet of expansion) and Uranus (planet of revolutionary change) there along with Mars (energy/action), Mercury (thoughts, communications), and the Sun (our core identity), we have access to a tremendous amount of helpful energies to make change. Fortunately, there are some built-in braking mechanisms, however. The Sun and Jupiter are opposed by Saturn (time, restrictions, authority) in Libra, and Mars is in a fairly tight square to Pluto (planet of evolution, death/rebirth) in Capricorn, with the other Aries planets being loosely squared by Pluto.

The tough thing about these transits is that we can’t immediately make all those big changes we’re dreaming about right now; the good thing is that it’s not so easy to completely rip up our lives to do something new, and that may give us pause to consider a bit more carefully the ramifications of our plans…to make us cautious enough to look before we leap…something for which Aries is not always known.

A treasure map can be as simple as a sheet of paper or as grand as a fluorescent poster on which you’ve cut out and glued down, hand drawn/lettered, or inserted clip art words and pictures describing what you want to bring into your life in the coming year.

As I contemplate what I want to put on this year’s ANM treasure map, I find it helpful and interesting to look back at the maps I’ve made over the past few years. What I find is that my life has been changing…perhaps not in the ways I imagined it and not at the speed I’d wished, but I do find myself closer to meeting those long-term goals and my life feels more like I’d imagined it would when I achieved what I wanted.

And, yes, I am partial to sheep, thank you!

(c) Copyright PeggyMalnati, 2011.  All Rights Reserved.

My current lesson involves work with the Hawaiian Goddess of Fire and Volcanoes, Pele, and I’ve learned and done some fascinating things as her student.  One of the most interesting is a “lesson” she gave me a few weeks ago.  Pele explained that every land has a sacred fruit or berry that grows on it.  This fruit  is literally imbued with the strength, character, and healing energies of the spirit of that land and, much like a patron saint, you can call upon it to imbue you with these energies.  It was such a surprising and beautiful lesson that I thought I would share it with you today.  In her own words, this is what Pele told me:  

“In every land, there is a sacred fruit or berry, and maybe also a nut or flower.  Learn what that is for the land where you live, for there is great power to behad,and a powerful way to tune into the energy of a land by eating (after blessing) the sacred fruit.  It represents the blessings of that land, and contains the goodness of the land and its spirit protection…not just the energy of the diva of that plant.  Ask the land itself, and if you are sincere and you listen quietly, the land and its spirit will show you and tell you where to find it.  It may be a plant in cultivation or a small plant in the woods, but it will always carry the beauty, and sweetness, and bee blessings of that land.  And it may be different not so far away.”

Yes, she did say “bee blessings,” so apparently not only do you benefit from the energies of the plant and the land on which it grew, but gain additional blessings  from the pollinator insects, which spread pollen while drinking nectar from the blossoms, thereby fertilizing the plant and ensuring genetic diversity is preserved.  Learning that gave me pause to think of how “bee blessings” likely impact flower essences, herbal remedies, and the plants we eat directly.  And that, in turn, made me wonder about the even broader consequences of colony collapse syndrome on our world.

I was intrigued to learn that this sacred fruit differs from one location to another, and that land not much distant may have an entirely different species as the receptacle of its blessings.  When I asked how to approach the plant once you know which species it is, Pele had this to say:

“It is appropriate to approach with great respect and honor the plant for what it really is, and ask it if it will bundle the blessings of the land into one piece of fruit that you might be allowed to pick and eat.   Once you get a yes, make an offering.  It is most appropriate to give of your own body.  And then savor the energy (of the fruit) and ask that it fill your body, mind, heart, spirit with the blessings of the land.”

The offering (a giveaway in indigenous traditions) is a way of giving thanks for the gift of the blessed fruit and represents an attempt at an energy exchange between humans and the other energies involved.  The easiest gift is some saliva (given respectfully as the water of life from your own body), but a strand or two of hair, a drop of blood, or even some urine (which can be nourishing to the plant) will do.  In some traditions, a pinch of tobacco or cornmeal or even a small crystal you have been carrying on yourself is also deemed an appropriate gift of thanks.

When I journeyed to the spirit of the land on which I live, I was told that the area’s sacred fruit was the sour cherry (Prunus cerasus). I suppose this should not have surprised me, as I live on a remnant of an old fruit farm, and indeed I have many cherry (as well as apple, pear, and peach) trees growing there.

By the time I learned about each land’s sacred fruit, my cherries had stopped bearing.  However, next June I will do my best to approach them respectfully.  I look forward to enjoying the taste of that one very-special and blessed cherry.

(C) 2010  Copyright PeggyMalnati   All Rights Reserved.

Just this week I was beating myself up for not having made the time to blog in a while. I’ve got half-a-dozen half-finished posts sitting around in my drafts folder and they’ve been that way for months and months.  I occasionally open one up, poke around at the sentences, add a picture or two, and — still not satisfied — put it back into the drafts folder again.

What I think I most struggle with on this blog and in all my writing is finding the courage to be real, or, rather, to be self-revealing.

Part of that is just habit —  my bread-and-butter writing is about science and technology, where the object is to be a dispassionate observer and to not be found in your reporting — but part of it is an intrinsic part of who I am, the part that always feels a bit like an alien masquerading as a human and afraid of being caught out.  Like everyone, I suppose, I fear letting others know where my ouchies are lest they use them against me to cause me more pain.  But then again, I suppose that’s the push-pull tension writers are always struggling with:  that pressure to be revealing counterbalanced by the fear of being revealed.

This week one of my favorite bloggers opted to reveal something about herself that she feared to let her audience know.  As is so often the case, what she was afraid to show others about herself wasn’t something terrible at all. In fact, her honesty opened up a powerful discourse about vulnerability and how it plays out in all of our lives.  It led to real heartfelt communication within her blogging community and also led to better understanding about the human condition.  Really, what more can any writer want than that?

Since this blogger is also a professional writer, she occasionally passes on interesting articles about blogging and writing.  The article she sent today described exactly what I was struggling with:  how to be honest and let your readers find the real you in your writing, without being so revealing that you embarrass yourself and those close to you.  So after all the interesting conversation her post caused, and then receiving her forward on how to be real without being too revealing, I finally “heard” the message the Universe was sending me about getting back to my own half-finished postings.  All of a sudden, I was able to finish a piece I’ve struggled with for months and I posted it, then started several others.

Upon reflection, I realized just how perfectly the Universe was communicating with me this week, giving me plenty of feedback and examples of how to strike a balance between revealing too much and being entirely absent from my own writing (and blog).  Thank goodness I finally paid attention to the signs around me.

(C) Copyright PeggyMalnati  All Rights Reserved.

So assuming I did open a dialogue with my inner child, my younger self, where would I start and what would I tell her about what I’ve learned from 5 decades of life?

1. Never to give away your power to someone else — particularly someone who doesn’t see and accept you as you really are, and only seeks to change you into their vision of who they think you should be.   True freedom comes with responsibility, with taking care of yourself and not expecting someone else to solve all your problems for you.  As the Eagles opined long ago, “Every form of refuge has its price…“  By the way, you and only you have the choice to accept someone’s opinion about you or reject it flat out.  Your sense of self-worth is your responsibility, not everyone around you.
2. You are both far more and far less important than you think at any given moment. Your needs are real, but so is everyone else’s needs.  Learn to strike a balance between the individual and the collective.  And don’t forget that most people confuse their needs and desires just as you did once upon a time.
3. Boundaries aren’t just for marking property. While sympathy is nice and makes you a more compassionate human being, true empathy — the kind where you over-identify with another’s needs, issues, and pain to the exclusion of your own — is downright dangerous because you’ll lose yourself, you just will.  In fact, if you don’t have really strong boundaries, stop rescuing lost puppy dogs until you do…better yet, leave the rescue work to those with a better constitution.
4. Try more relationships but waste less time on the ones that don’t work (or require all your energy to keep them alive).  While all relationships require a certain amount of effort, if it’s all struggle with little payoff, there’s something wrong.  If a relationship is perpetually fraught with pain and anxiety, that doesn’t mean it’s powerful or deep or exciting,  it means its dysfunctional.  Get out as fast as you can!   If dating is a numbers game, you’ll be more likely to find a better match faster if you try more often.  If nothing else, you’ll figure out what you don’t want faster, which will help you better understand what you do want sooner so you don’t miss good opportunities in unfamiliar packages when they’re right in front of you.  And stop worrying that society constantly pressures you to pair up like Noah’s Ark.  If you’re not in a healthy, happy relationship, it doesn’t necessarily say you’re defective, it just means you’re selective.
5. Your body houses the Godspark Within, so treat it like the temple it is. Do this is by feeding it healthy food, giving it adequate exercise and sleep, taking responsibility for healing your own emotional wounds, and treating it to beauty, pleasure, love, and joy every single day you get to reside in it.  Don’t over-identify with it, thinking that it is all of you, but neither neglect it in pursuit of the inner realms.  And while you’re at it, make sure you also get out into the world of nature and really experience and appreciate this beautiful, precious planet for the temple it is too!
6. Be in less of a rush to get to your destination. Really, the journey of life is meant to be enjoyed.  It’s less important that you rush to the front of the line, score 100% on your final exams, or achieve seemingly impossible goals at a young age than that you really experience all that life has to offer you every single day.  While a little ambition is nice, being completely driven will make you miss the best parts of living.  In fact, quite frankly, it’ll make you a pretty unhappy, if not miserable, person.  You only have just so much time here and when you look back over your life, it won’t be the awards and the trophies and mountains you’ve conquered that you value most; rather, it will be the small moments that really moved you, the times when you really saw the beauty and felt the joy that is this life most clearly.  Sorry to have to tell you this, but collecting all those awards isn’t going to make those you love value you more dearly; in fact, it might actually put them off and make them feel like they can never keep up with you.
7. Trite as it sounds, you really DO learn more from your mistakes than from getting it right the first time and perhaps not understanding how you did it or how to repeat your results.  Fear of failure is failure, by the way, because if you never try at all, you will indeed succeed in doing what you most fear.  On the other hand, don’t make a career out of failing, as no one, not even yourself, will be eager to give you the opportunity to keep repeating THOSE kinds of results.
8. Guilt is a completely useless emotion unless you use it for course correction. What’s done is done, just another of life’s learning opportunities.  Think about it, learn from it, and move on.  Act differently next time, and you’ll likely achieve different results.  Don’t waste time and energy on could have, should have, would have…or you’ll waste the learning opportunity that feeling lousy brings you.  And never use guilt to pressure someone into doing something they don’t want to do, nor let someone use guilt to pressure you into doing something that you don’t want to do.  Enough said.
9. Work less, play more. What you most regret will be the things you didn’t try to do, rather than the ones you did — whether or not they actually succeeded.  On the other hand, work hard at everything you do.  Give even the most mundane task your full attention and best efforts.  Interestingly, the things you most struggle with in the beginning will be the things you gain the greatest mastery of in the end.  Also, don’t forget your friends.  While life will certainly keep you busy, if you neglect your friends, they may not be there when you most need them.
10. Money is important, but not in the way most people think it is. Pretending money doesn’t matter isn’t realistic in the culture and time you live in:  it does matter because it’s the main method of energy exchange.  Besides, it’s really hard to change the world when you don’t have food, shelter, clothing, an education, or access to those in power.  On the other hand, using money (or the ability to earn it) as a way to evaluate someone’s intrinsic value in society is a short-sighted measurement system.  Don’t be afraid to learn how to earn it, and don’t be afraid to learn how to manage it.  Money in this society is a way of voting for the values you care about.  Also, a measure of financial independence is just the ticket you need to leave bad situations, whether those be at work, at home, or in another area of your life.

I think what I’d most like to tell my younger self is that I’m proud of her.  She worked hard, faced her biggest fears, persevered when it really counted, made difficult changes, and I like who she became.   I hope you feel the same about your younger self.

(C) 2010 PeggyMalnati  All Rights Reserved.

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What does keeping track of accounts have to do spiritual awareness?  Well, actually quite a lot.

People involved in their growth often begin to think of themselves in terms of “planetary citizens,” or even “universal citizens,” but what that might mean in daily life needs some consideration.

The concept that there are “Universal Laws” can be found in many teachings. Science, often with great hubris, attempts to define them as they relate to the physical universe. Yet, even that quest has run straight into metaphysics since the advent of Schrodinger, Heisenberg, and the work of many seminal thinkers in the new physics….But, our purpose is to speak of “Universal Law” in the context of being specific vibrations that operate as “regulatory agents,” which have been put in place to assist mankind in its growth, and in the course of individual lives.  For the purposes of  this article, we will focus on the “Universal Law of Exchange.”

The tendency to think about laws as limitations and restrictions — to be rebelled against, ignored, or avoided –  is certainly understandable, but if we look from a spiritual perspective, we can view these Laws as information, as tools, provided to aid us on our path.

As Frank Alper puts it in his book entitled “Universal Law” (1986), “If an individual utilizes and exercises the energies of sharing with another human being, then he must make himself available and open to receive like energies in return… if one wishes to return energies to you, to share with you, you are receiving. You are allowing others to exercise the same vibrations you, yourself have exercised and you have no right to deny them this.”  I heartily recommend this book.  Mr. Alper is one of only a few teachers who has addressed this important subject.

You may note that in these words, there is no mention of the terms “give and take” as they relate to the concept of exchange.  The words themselves are part of the problem. You could say that implicit in the word “giving” may be a sacrifice, and in the word “taking” a process of drawing something to one’s self without permission… With higher understanding, we can see that “sharing” is the action of mankind.   That that sharing between individuals be equal is part of this Law.   The Universal Law of Exchange falls within the category of the Laws of Prosperity (or Abundance), which includes the Laws of Substance and Flow.  Much has been said and written about the former, while little attention has been paid to the significant corollary Law of Exchange.

Nearly everyone knows someone who maddeningly measures exactly what they receive and then attempts to reciprocate precisely (e.g.  the homemaker who estimates the value of each birthday, wedding, or Christmas gift and makes certain that she spends not a penny more than she or her family received).  Most of us regard this kind of nit-picking as petty and, appropriately, as nothing spiritual.  My mother was just one of these people.  As a child I rebelled at this and in frustration asked where was the place for open-hearted sharing of your prosperity?  Why couldn’t a gift be selected on the basis of pure inspiration related to the nature and preferences of the receiver?  Maybe selections might be influenced by altruism and even a consideration of the person’s financial status… I was told bluntly that I was naive and stupid.  In turn, I raised my position (in my own mind) to one of moral and spiritual superiority.  This particular arrogance made me resistant to a clearer understanding of the Universal Law of Exchange. Many years later, I was to find that I had reacted to what was a distorted interpretation and misapplication of this very real Universal Law.   Gifts, however, are in a unique position, almost outside of the Law of Exchange — so even before I define the Law, I’ll devote some space to them.

Several of the world’s religions take a position on the matter of gifts.  Everyone agrees that a gift given with the intent to obligate the receiver is an error — the classic gift “with strings attached.“   The gift that asks for more than the pleasure of giving it is not a gift but an attempt to make a purchase.   A true gift is a reflection of the Grace of God. It can be a statement of appreciation that may be general or specific, but a gift that is given out of a feeling of obligation, is not really a gift either but some sort of a payment.   The giving of a “true gift” does still represent a type of Exchange, but the exchange is complete for the giver in the joy of giving it.  If there is no joy, or what joy there is, does not produce a feeling of completion and balance in the giver, then the gift was not truly a gift, it was an exchange, and — most likely — an unequal one at that.

Let’s talk about the majority of our interactions with others.  These do take place in the form of Exchanges. Exchanges are natural and appropriate day-to-day dealings.  Most of our exchanges involve money.  What is money?  A simple definition I like very much is “frozen energy.”   You expend X amount of energy doing work at a job and someone gives you money.  You want to get a particular item, you generally go into a store and pay for it with money. Money is a nice, easily transferred, universally recognized medium.  Common exchanges are:  money for goods, or money for services.   There are other types of exchanges. Goods for services, services for services, services for goods, and so on.   But the point of this article is that YOU, as Universal Citizen become responsible for being consciously aware of what is occurring in your exchanges, monitoring them, and seeing that they do balance.

A reasonably clear guideline is this:   80% of your accounts you must monitor. That means 80% of what you share you must see to it that you receive back, and 80% of what you receive, you should see that you have appropriately “paid” for by sharing in return.  [Of the remaining 20%], 10% goes out on what you can call an indirect basis.  That could be a case where you received something that you did not pay for [directly] with money, services, or goods, but you have arranged for that person to benefit [in another way] through, perhaps, extensive referrals or by sharing your gain with others.  Ten percent and 10% only should be shared on the Universal Account.  What do I mean by the Universal Account?  Here, the famous dictum of the 10% tithe is recalled.  This is work, goods, services, or money that you give out and have no expectation of whether or how benefit may come to you –  in other words you share this 10% in the form of a gift.

Spiritual people often fall into the trap of thinking that they can live and perform all of their actions, handle all of their exchanges on the Universal Account. This is a fallacy. Constituted such as we are, at this incarnated level, simple observation makes clear that attempting this is not practical, and not in Divine Order.  This idealized thinking is prompted by one of several possible misconceptions:

1. Spiritual people don’t think about such things;
2. If I just share all the time, money, and effort I have freely, [then] the universe will care for me appropriately in turn; or
3. Poverty is holy.

There are many variants and combinations of these misunderstandings that may be involved in a given person’s attitude toward Exchange.  Underlying the reluctance to involve oneself in administrating one’s own accounts is often unworthiness masquerading as altruism.  In some cases, deep feelings concerning one’s own Karmic debt can be a factor.  In NEARLY all cases, if one does not accept the responsibility to handle that 80% in a fairly balanced way, a disservice to both oneself and those you deal with will inevitably be the result.

When we do not allow others to share with us equally, we may actually burden their Karma.   If we are teachers, [then] we do them a decided disservice because we further their misconceptions about this fundamental law.  There is “no free lunch.“  So am I saying that Mother Theresa was a famous thief in her last life and is appropriately working off her Karmic Debt?  Heavens no!   Am I saying that working in the way she does is not in Divine Order?  Again, no.   I am saying, however, that circumstances where one’s Dharma, one’s intended work, involves doing all that you do freely is a very-exceptional situation.  If one is truly guided to work in this way, there can be Karmic Debt involved OR a specific variance in the Law as it relates to the individual (generally for instructive purposes).

The result of trying to live on Universal Account can be truly disastrous or just mildly uncomfortable. Resentment is the natural result when you feel that you have shared much more than you have received. Guilt is natural result when you feel that you have received much more that you have given. Both are the natural results of ignoring an inner bidding to adhere to the Universal Law of Exchange.

When a given individual rises to a level of consciousness where one can not only intuit, but can begin to consciously live by Universal Laws, he or she does truly become a Universal Citizen. One who assumes that role then actively participates in the administration of such Laws. Does this dictate that he or she becomes a Universal Bookkeeper?  This is surely a question for contemplation and consultation with Divine Guidance.

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Julé is a seminar leader, conscious channel, healer, and the author of “What’s All This About, Anyway?… A Metaphysical Companion.” She teaches Integrated Etheric Healing Workshops, as well as workshops in other areas of consciousness development, and offers private sessions throughout the U.S. and abroad. She travels extensively and if you are interested in having her come to your area , you can contact her at:  www.intuitivecounselorjule.com or www.colorcounselor.com.

(C) 2009 PeggyMalnati (except for content provided by Jule’).  All Rights Reserved.

Beck, previously a college professor who taught business classes,  takes a lesson from the Japanese auto industry’s approach to sourcing parts and applies it as a metaphor for two very different life philosophies she calls Just in Time (JIT) and Just in Case (JIC).

For those unfamiliar with the story, in the post-World War II rebuilding efforts in Japan, with resources scarce and expensive, Toyota Motor Co. embraced a radical new parts-sourcing philosophy that originally was developed (but not adopted) in the U.S.  called lean manufacturing.  Rather than follow the traditional North American and European sourcing model — which called for suppliers to over-produce and automakers to over-inventory large surpluses of parts to prevent the possibility of having to shut down their assembly lines  — Toyota began working closely with its suppliers to ensure that they produced and shipped only what the automaker would need over a short period of time.

The old way of over-producing and over-inventorying parts could be called Just in Case (JIC), as in “I’m going to order twice as much as I need just in case I can’t get what I need next week or 6 months from now.”  The new model of ordering, producing, and shipping exactly what is needed timed to arrive just before a vehicle will be assembled is called Just in Time (JIT).  The JIT approach eventually became the way the entire industry ordered parts worldwide.  The advantage of this kind of manufacturing is that neither suppliers nor automakers have to pay for, store, and keep track of parts they don’t ‘t really need (and that might go to waste), tying up capital and floor space. It also forces all members of the supply chain to work together and communicate with each other in real time to prevent errors and supply shortages.  In essence, it requires customers to trust their suppliers, and suppliers to trust their customers, which in the auto industry, has not been an easy concept to embrace.

Beck’s interesting insight is that people tend to run their lives in much the same way automakers order parts. 

Some people spend their whole lives gathering up everything in sight just in case they might later need it.  Their underlying belief is that everything that’s good and/or necessary in life is scarce, so they have to stockpile supplies or risk not having what is needed at a later time.

Those taking the second approach trust that they will always have what they need just in time (JIT), so they take a more relaxed approach to life, trusting that the Universe (or those around them) will help them obtain what they need when and if they actually need it.

While the JIC approach of planning and hoarding was probably justified throughout most of human history, likely saving lives in families and communities that planned ahead and had something saved for bad times, Beck argues that when we spend all our time and energy gathering and hoarding  in times and environments of plenty, we cause a whole new set of problems on a personal and societal level.  The extreme materialism that characterizes much of current Western culture and is responsible for so much pollution, and exploitation of natural resources and human labor is one outgrowth of this JIC philosophy.  On a more personal level, the news is filled with stories about billionaires who commit suicide because their net worth has dropped to mere millions, and consumers who bury themselves in credit-card debt and then work themselves into heart attacks trying to pay for all the “stuff” the thought they “needed” but now have no time to enjoy.

Beck also believes that this type of extreme hording can lead to chronic weight problems because, on a subconscious level, the body also expects famine to hit at any time, so stores away food sources.  Given that over 50% of all Americans are now said to be overweight or obese, we in the land of plenty clearly have something to learn from all of this.

As the child of Depression Era parents who taught me early on to be prepared, a lesson that has served me well in times of need, I’m not ready to completely abandon my just in case operating procedures.  With 3 powerful planets in earth signs, I’m not sure I could even if I wanted to do that.

Neither am I ready to embrace the kind of true just in time philosophy espoused in the The Secret, which suggests that to manifest all that you want and need, you just have to apply focused intention on it and the Universe will bring it to you.  Either I’m just not “evolved” enough yet to manifest that spontaneously on a continual basis, or the physics of this planet have yet to evolve to where that’s possible.

On the other hand, I do recognize that being too much of a planner and preparer — and yes, saver — has made me less spontaneous and hindered me from taking chances on things I find at midlife I wish I’d tried.  I am at a point in my life where “lighter” and “simpler” really appeal to me.  I find that it’s a relief to carry a lot less baggage through life, and having fewer things to dust and vacuum around is proving advantageous as well.

With the final month of 2009 here at last, I find myself thinking back over the huge challenges I’ve faced (and that most people I know have faced) this year.  As I ponder what I have learned and what I hope to change in 2010, Martha Beck’s invitation to change your philosophy of living continues to give me food for thought.  Perhaps it will do the same for you.

(c) 2009 PeggyMalnati  All Rights Reserved.

Because of all the things in our lives Mercury can and does affect, astrologers traditionally warn us not to buy expensive things, sign important contracts, start new jobs, or begin new projects under Mercury retrograde.  They caution us to be extra careful when traveling:  check our tire pressure and oil and gas levels, start earlier and expect to arrive later, and drive defensively.  They also advise us to double- and triple-check our math, punctuation, and grammar, reconfirm that appointment and its location, and back-up our computers.  This is probably good advice at any time, but it seems we especially need to be reminded during periods when Mercury is retrograde — perhaps because we are less focused and not thinking as clearly.

However, let’s also be reasonable and keep things in perspective:  while this isn’t the ideal time to buy a new computer or car if you can help it, it’s fine to buy a bag of birdseed, replenish your toilet paper supplies, and try a new brand of barbecue sauce.  If it turns out you don’t like the product, you may be able to return it (save that receipt) and it’s unlikely your life will be ruined either way. You’re probably going to have to go to work and you may have to redo things a couple of times before you get them right, or it may take you twice as long to finish because you’re having a harder time concentrating.  More meetings will probably get set and canceled than normal, checks sure can get delayed in the mail, and you may well get lost despite having dutifully MapQuested the route out ahead of time…which is why you want to give yourself extra time to get there and back if possible.  Again, odds are good you’ve experienced all of this before (close to half of the year), so you’ll likely have already developed compensation strategies.  If your work is critical, then do your absolute best to focus (while eliminating as many distractions as you can) and take it one step at a time, rechecking as you go. This isn’t a once-in-a-lifetime experience for you. It’s something you deal with all the time — like it or not.

But what happens if you HAVE to do something like travel or start a new job or buy something expensive during this time?

Well, if you can delay starting or buying for a few weeks, it’ll probably work better in the end; if you can’t, just understand there may be a few more hiccups than usual and it may not work out quite the way you were expecting.

I remember about 4 years ago I was in a real bind with regard to transportation.  Both of the vehicles I owned were close to 15 years old and had over 125,000 miles on them. They both had major systems that were going or had gone and that would cost more to fix than the vehicles were worth.  One was completely dead in my garage and the other was limping badly.  Just as Mercury retrograded, Ford Motor Co. came out with a really great deal on new vehicles to lease or buy. The special offer, which took thousands of dollars off in addition to other discounts they were offering, would expire before the transit was over, and I absolutely had to have some form of reliable transportation — and soon.  I figured I was better off leasing a new vehicle (that would be fully covered by warranties) than buying a used vehicle (and taking my chances) or spending nearly as much just to keep my old vehicles running, so that’s what I did.  I really loved what I leased and it worked out great for me at a very low price that I could afford, but I did have a few challenges.  Despite trying to be extra cautious, I ended up in a couple of very-minor accidents while I leased the vehicle.  At the end of the contract, when I tried to buy out the lease, the terms were so unfavorable that it made no financial sense to keep a vehicle I genuinely liked.  I ended up buying a used version of the same make and model from another dealer at lower interest, lower mileage, more features, and a bumper-to-bumper warranty good for 100,000 miles that I couldn’t have gotten on the vehicle I was turning in. Of course, that time I was in a position to plan a little better.  Seeing that Mercury would again be retrograde right about the time I needed to lease a new vehicle, I started looking for a replacement 6 weeks early.  I did buy the used vehicle before the lease went back, so kept it in my garage for a month.  I only had to make one double-payment on both vehicles and it was worth it not to have to buy an expensive transportation item under Mercury retrograde again.

Since every challenge is also an opportunity for someone, and since every energy can be used in multiple ways, is there anything good that comes of Mercury retrograde? Of course!  As Donna Cunningham is always reminding us, REtrograde periods are all about “doing it over again.”  So verbs that start with RE- become the by-words of that period:  recheck, rework, recalculate, review, retrace, reconnect.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that neatness is not my forté and I have a penchant for clutter.  In fact, growing up, my mother used to call me “The Young Victorian.”  Well, under Mercury retrograde I can be absolutely ruthless with dispatching clutter and cleaning up messes that have completely befuddled or overwhelmed me at other times.  For some reason, during these periods I really get it that I’ll never be size 6 again in this lifetime so why not donate those clothes I used to look so nice in to  someone else who can actually wear them?  When Mercury was last retrograde in January of this year, I made great progress cleaning my office and basement. This time around it seems that my garage is the hot zone.  Despite its other challenges, I actually look forward to Mercury retrograde so I can more effectively clean, sort, and reorganize, which, of course, Feng Shui teaches us helps unstick other areas of our lives.

Ironically, at a time when we often feel scattered and more easily distracted retrograde Mercury energy can often be harnessed to help us do detailed research.  For reasons I can’t entirely explain, it turns out to be a really good time to do background fact checking, editing, and to reinterview people to help clarify points that you didn’t quite capture the first time around.  If you’re contemplating a big purchase in the near future, now’s the time to drag out all those back issues of Consumer Reports to see how the editors rated your product of interest.  If you’re considering several locations for a new business, it’s a great time to go back and talk with the landlords, former tenants, and neighbors to get a sense of what the neighborhood is really like and what you can expect if you choose to do business there.  It’s NOT the time to make a firm decision and it’s definitely not the time to sign contracts (if you can possibly help it) but it is time to more carefully review your current options.

Another thing about Mercury retrograde is that because we tend not to think as clearly or communicate as effectively, we really need to watch our mouths (and what comes out of them) during this time and pay more attention to boundaries — ours and other people’s.  That’s a worthwhile habit to get into. I find that while I often get myself into little skirmishes during such periods, that if I persist and really try to work through the miscommunications with whomever I’ve offended or who has offended me, that it often leads to a better relationship all around.  Last summer during a particularly stressful stretch on an annual project, I was less than sensitive to a colleague.  Neither of us really likes the other, and we know it, but we generally try to keep things civil. Well, after talking with me, she hung up her cell phone and tucked it down beside her in her car and continued driving. Unfortunately for both of us, she doesn’t use keylock and her cell phone redialed me.  Picking up the call, I got to hear her griping about me to her companions.  After about 10 minutes of listening to everything she dislikes about me while my stomach turned inside out, I hung up.  Alas, Mercury wasn’t done with me yet as her darned phone redialed me 3 more times in the next 15 minutes.  Although I never let her know what had happened, the experience remains a strong reminder that I always need to be especially careful about what I say to her.  Since then, I’ve worked much harder at being more encouraging and supportive of her ideas and less critical when something goes wrong.  The end result?  Our working relationship is less strained.  Because she doesn’t perceive me as always attacking her, she’s doing a better job, and that makes it easier for me to be less critical.  Getting my feelings hurt (after hurting hers)  led to something better for both of us.

Given that retrogrades often have us retracing our steps, we can find ourselves returning to things we didn’t complete or didn’t finish properly.  I have 2 planets and my Ascendant in Aries and a lot of cardinal signs in my chart.  I’m really good at starting new things, but not so great at sticking with it and completing them — despite my mother’s best efforts to train me otherwise.  But during Mercury retrograde, I find that I’m better able to go back and finish up those half-done tasks.  I also find that projects that have been stalled or hanging in limbo for one reason or another suddenly get life breathed back into them and are able to move forward again.  I’m targeting 2 rooms in my house that are partially painted during this retrograde period.  Even if I don’t enjoy painting as much as I do at other times, I really want to finish the work so I can put the rooms back to normal again.

That connection with things of the past can also mean that people you haven’t heard from in ages may suddenly contact you again, or you may find yourself drawn to contact them.  It’s completely amazing how old situations come up for review and healing again during this time.  Might as well deal with them and clear things up or they’ll just pop up again later I’ve found.

Last but not least, I personally find that when Mercury is retrograde, my mind is fuzzier, less disciplined, and harder to keep on task, but is also more creative and better able to find connections and patterns in things.  I get insights that startle me…why couldn’t I have thought of that before?   Maybe it’s because the noise-factory in my brain is a bit quieter or I pay attention more than usual since my mental processes have slowed down or changed.

Mercury retrograde is different for everyone, as we all have our own unique charts, and every Mercury retrograde feels a bit different too because it’ll be in different signs and houses and hitting different aspects in our natal chart.  Again, what this planet’s energy teaches us is that change is inevitable…but stress and suffering are optional.  The more flexible we can be about things getting more out of control than usual, the more easily we’ll flow with rather than struggle against the situation.  Ironically, it’s often more the way we respond to and overcompensate for a situation than the circumstances themselves that really causes us problems.

Anyway, I hope my sharing these thoughts helps you better get through this Mercury retrograde period.  By the second week of June, things should be moving a lot better, at least with regard to the things that Mercury rules.

(c) 2009 PeggyMalnati  All Rights Reserved.

If the public (thinks) it knows anything about astrology — beyond the basics of what Sun signs represent and who you should or should not marry if you’re a so-and-so [insert sign] –  it’s that Mercury retrograde is a very-scary thing. They may not understand what it means or why it could be a problem, but they know they’ve heard of terrible disasters befalling people while it was occurring.

In reality, Mercury is retrograde 3-4 times per year for 3 weeks at a time.  When you add in a 4-5 day “shadow” period as the transit phases in and then phases out at the beginning and end of the cycle, you’re running close to 5 weeks per transit or 15-20 weeks out of the year.  That means we really spend close to half the year under the influence of retrograding Mercury.  If this transit was automatically that disastrous, surely society would shut down and none of us would leave our buildings.

Let’s talk about what Mercury affects and doesn’t affect, what is best avoided during this transit, and what can really benefit from its energies.

Mercury is the fastest moving planet in our solar system (at least of the ones we officially recognize) and it stays pretty close to the Sun all year.  It’s generally either conjunct (in the same sign as) the Sun or 1 sign ahead of or behind it.  Our predecessors somehow intuited that Mercury ruled thought, communications, and movement, so therefore assigned it rulership over things like the functioning of the “lower mind” (the part we use to go about our daily activities), communications, and travel.   Since this planet is said to rule the mind and thought, it was seen to have a dual nature with regard to mental processes:  both highly analytical, critical, and detail oriented (characteristics assigned to Mercury-ruled Virgo) and also chatty, changeable, and scattered (aspects associated with the sign Gemini, which is also Mercury ruled).  It’s no accident that the word “mercurial” has come to mean capricious,  fickle, unpredictable, and erratic.

So when Mercury is well aspected in a chart, a person is said to possess an ability to communicate (possibly to be good with multiple languages), have a clever, versatile mind, and to be mentally adaptable (able to change opinions).  When Mercury is badly aspected, the person can have a hard time expressing him/herself, understanding and communicating with others, be mentally scattered, or have difficulty shifting opinions as circumstances change.  In the wonderful way that our weaknesses can often become our strengths, tough aspects to Mercury can actually end up forcing the native (person whose chart is being discussed) to work harder at developing skills that don’t come easily or naturally in the birth chart, thereby actually allowing the person to gain great proficiency in an area that used to be quite challenging.

It seems reasonable to me that in earlier times, Mercury retrograde wasn’t as big a deal as it is for us today.  When we lived in small, remote, agrarian communities, owned little, and didn’t move around a lot, the effect of this transit was probably mostly confined to inadvertently offending our family or neighbors by something we said, or getting our cart stuck in the mud, or having our horse go lame just when we needed to get our hard-earned crops to market.

Today, we move at a fast and furious pace and often travel a great deal — some of us covering more kilometers in a week than our ancestors did in a year or a decade. In Western industrialized societies, we are constantly inundated with news and data, so suffer from information overload.  We multitask with abandon yet fear we aren’t being productive enough. We juggle as many electronic communications devices as we do societal roles.  Since we control the movement of money and products and information electronically, it really should come as no surprise that when the planet that rules movement, thought, and communications has to retrace its steps or adds an erratic element to our days, that it’s going to cause us some stress.

Okay, so what do we do about it?  If Mercury teaches us anything, it’s that things are going to change, so we might as well learn to adapt.  For most of us, hiding in our houses isn’t an option for nearly half the year, so it’s better to understand what’s affected by this transit (for good and ill) and try to plan around its retrograde periods if we can.

To really understand the affect of Mercury retrograde on your life, you need to know where Mercury was in your birth chart when you took your first breath, and where the progressed (current) position of the planet is and how that relates to your birth chart. For those who’ve never had their chart professionally drawn up and interpreted by an astrologer, I highly recommend it.  For those who can’t or won’t, there’s a great free service on Astro.com where you can enter your birthdate, birth time, and birth location and the software will draw up a chart for you. You can then save your chart, select Astro-Portrait, and that will bring up an animated version of your chart. You can mouse-around on this chart and it will give you brief explanations of what various houses, planets, and aspects in their signs mean.  It’s not as good as a quality reading from a good astrologer, but it beats a bad reading from a poor astrologer and it’s free.  Once you understand what sign and house Mercury is in natally (at birth), and how other planets, asteroids, or even fixed stars aspect (influence/color) your natal Mercury, you can begin to understand how your basic mental processes work and where you have opportunities and challenges related to what Mercury rules.  Then, looking to see where progressed Mercury is in your chart (the aspects it forms and the houses it moves through) can help give you an idea what areas of your current life could be affected.  Sound confusing?  It’s easier to start with a reading from a good astrologer.  Thanks to the Internet, the world of astrology and astrologers is much more accessible than it used to be.  Once you understand the challenges and growth opportunities of natal Mercury, and how progressed Mercury is currently impacting your chart, it’s easier to prepare.

Certainly, there are some career paths that are more affected by retrograde Mercury than others, but nearly all jobs require some amount of focus and attention to detail, and even if you don’t work outside the home, there are likely tasks you will need to accomplish during the retrograde period that will require the brain to be engaged, or you will likely come in contact with others whose jobs do.   What that means is that people having bad days (or weeks) can and probably will affect you somehow during this time…but doesn’t that happen at other times too?

Those who travel for a living (or even those who just made a quick trip for groceries or had planned this time for their annual vacation last year) may find they get lost or have more delays and challenges on the road, suffer canceled or overbooked flights and planes filled with screaming children, or encounter ornery guards at border crossings.  Breathe deeply, be nice, and remember Shakespeare’s admonition that the traveler beware!

Those who write, do detailed analytical work (like accounting or working in a medical lab), or who need to communicate or counsel for a living may be less clear, less accurate, less patient, less sympathetic, and find it harder to concentrate during Mercury retrograde.  If you have a choice, it’s probably not the best time to get surgery unless the work is to correct problems from a previous procedure.  I’m a writer and I’m feeling especially scattered this go-round. Am I working on for-pay projects whose deadlines are looming and whose income I need to pay next month’s bills?  No, I’m working on fun stuff like my blog and a spiritual class whose idea came to me this week.  I’m indulging myself for the moment, but shortly it will be back to the grindstone for me!

Those whose jobs rely on electronic devices may find more equipment malfunctions and failures during this time. Websites can go down, satellites can be affected by solar wind, cell phones seem to drop calls more frequently, and computers can become completely squirrely.

And because we’re more easily distracted and not always paying attention as well as we should be, I’ve informally noted that there seems to be more accidents reported on the news during this time — from fender benders to fatal crashes — and I seem more prone myself to bumps and bruises.

Yes, Mercury retrograde does seem to have the ability to send our “modern” world into a tailspin from time to time.  I’ll cover some coping strategies in a separate post (Part 2).

(c) 2009 PeggyMalnati  All Rights Reserved.

Wesak is a week-long spiritual festival that celebrates the birth, enlightenment, and death of the man who entered the world as Prince Siddhārtha Gautama’, and who became Śākyamuni or the Buddha nearly 500 years before Master Yeshua (Jesus).

In esoteric traditions, the Wesak festival is said to be a time when the veil between the worlds is thin (much as it is during the time of Samhain / Halloween / All Soul’s Day) and the Buddha and the Christ join together to send blessings into the world.  Not only is it easier for us to communicate with ascended masters and saints during this time, but it is also easier for them to focus concentrated energy upon us and on the planet.  A portal is opened between the terrestrial and celestial worlds and we and the planet are bathed in higher vibration energies of love, compassion, and wisdom.

With people engaged in prayer and ceremony around the world, Wesak is a powerful time to attune to the Buddha, Bodhisattva consciousness, the Christ, and other great world servers to pray for the planet.  It is also a helpful time to ask that our hearts be opened more fully and that our path of service on the planet be clarified and empowered during this age of upheaval and change.  The spiritual work we do now can be of special benefit to the planet as well as our own souls’ growth.

There are several websites that offer a guided meditation so you too can join this great convocation on the “inner planes.”  The long-form version may be found here .  I have also posted a Wesak meditation that was given to me 5 years ago at elsewhere on this blog.

The energies are strongest the day of the full moon, but depending on who you ask are said to be accessible 1-2 days before and 1-2 days afterward, which in 2009 would represent the period between May 7 and May 11 (with the full moon falling late on the 8th/early on the 9th).  May you have the opportunity to spend time in meditation, prayer, ceremony, and service during this sacred time.

(c) 2009 PeggyMalnati  All Rights Reserved.