My waltz with the Moon

What a tumultuous time we are all experiencing, and I have certainly not been left out of this collective experience! As you will all remember Mars squared Saturn at the end of September followed by powerful Full Moon in Aries. I had of course explored how these transits could affect me personally but was sure the old pattern of transiting planets in my sixth house of body and illness coinciding with a health bump was one I had long grown out of. I was wrong of course!

In the early hours of October first I was whisked by ambulance, semi-conscious and in tremendous pain, to our local hospital. The next 24 hours were a blur of doctors, machines, and a further ambulance drive to a bigger city hospital where yet more doctors, machines and needles poked at me. Once stabilised I spent a week in the ward being treated and observed. Being so suddenly unplugged from all in my life and with nothing to focus on other than giving my body the time and space to recover is an experience I will write of in another post as it was a humbling week of reflection and learning for me.

Of course this created a wake of chaos and I wish to thank my clients whose bookings had to be rescheduled and who have patiently waited until I was able to be with them. The experience is not over as I return to hospital on the 30th November for a surgical operation that will hopefully allow deeper healing for my body. The 30th is another Full Moon but now in Gemini and a lunar eclipse! This all feels to me as very linked to the cycles of the Moon and all that she symbolises for me personally. I am consoling myself with the thought that at least this time I have the illusion that I can plan for the time I am away from home!

My waitlist for bookings is full for December as I am being cautious and allowing healing time for myself. I am now starting to fill January 2021. There is a different feel to this new year as we move away from the outer planets all clustered in Capricorn and we enter the dance of the squares of Jupiter in Aquarius and Saturn in Taurus that flavour this coming year. So treat yourself to a consult to explore 2021 with me while the year is still new. I look forward to hearing from you!

With love and blessings
💙💙💙
Susan

Imagining and blossoming into the future!

I thought I would pop you all a line as it’s been awhile since I last posted. Theo and I are still medically sheltering in place and so life has been very contained at home and we find we enjoy the peace and quiet of just us. But having said that I am deeply grateful too for my online work as it nurtures my heart connections to my clients and the wider world. However it also feels very strange to be in this nowhere place of nowhere to go and not knowing quite where this is all going. I am sure we all relate to that feeling!

I heard a podcast from Brené Brown who used the term Day Two to describe the stage we are now living in worldwide. Day Two is the in-between stage when the novelty and focus on the new happenings have worn off but there is still a way to go before completing the process. We are confronted with difficulties, challenges, and obstacles and there is no end in sight. We can’t go back to the old normal and we have no idea what the next normality is going to be. We find we can’t rush to fix things quickly as we would prefer in this culture to do but need to accept the vulnerabilities and hardships of the present moment and allow life to unfold.

This matches beautifully with the astrology of the moment as on September 9th, Mars in Aries becomes stationary retrograde (until November 14) and during its retrograde phase forms a square with Saturn for most of September. Mars stationary has a feeling of energy with nowhere to go, or energy being confronted by the solid no way zone of Saturn and feeling frustrated and blocked. I’ve been thinking of a graceful way to navigate this time of outer and inner world difficulties and frustrations and it strikes me that finding a way to open up the space, to ask curious what if-questions by using our imaginations to dream a different inspiring future would mean we could use the muted and difficult fire of the Mars retrograde in a way that opens to possibilities.

Saturn is boundaries and structure and although we may feel very constrained right now I also know that I am way more creative if I have some framework to work with whereas an empty, too open palate means I never quite start the project. If we could balance our imagination with gentle action, cultivating a patience towards the blockages, and applying dollops of hope I feel this next six weeks or so could bring a different feel to our world. The photo above was taken by a friend and I love its sense of balance and proportion with the contained candle flame of Mars burning in service to what will be dreamed and meditated into being .

As the picture also suggests with its glimpses of the pastel hued dawn sky of Kalk Bay through the windows is that nature offers space for healing to us all. Theo and I now have favourite out of the way benches alongside the coastline that we visit. We sit listening to the sounds of waves, birds and wind whilst eating our picnic lunch and it brings us back into balance with all of life, just two tiny humans sitting in the immensity of False Bay, the wintergreen clad mountains behind us and the fierce cold wind roaring through the cloudy grey sky above us.

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I am on a winter break but taking bookings for the 15th of September onwards. Book while there are still slots in the calendar! This is a time for deep conversations, explorations into where you are right now and what you could imagine into being filling your life with meaning and passion and nurturing this precious world of ours with vision and love. I look forward to hearing from you!

With love and blessings
Susan

Wow, what a year it has been so far!!

There is so much to write about right now as we all experience this unusual and chaotic year, too much for one posting really. The cosmic skies continue to be busy with the second Jupiter/Pluto conjunction at 24 Capricorn having just happened on June 30th and Saturn returning to Capricorn on July 2nd with a Lunar or Full Moon eclipse closing the powerful Cancer/Capricorn eclipse cycle on July 5th. Plus Mars is now powering through Aries, its sign of rulership, where it remains for an unusually long stay until early January 2021. All three outer planets, Pluto, Jupiter and Saturn, have been pivotal as key symbols for this year and will continue to be up to and beyond the 3rd and final conjunction on November 12th. The graphic below from the wonderful website Archetypal Explorer shows just how busy the rest of the year is astrologically!

We are all struggling to grasp the enormity of the changes happening around us. Saturn and Pluto are doing their stuff in Capricorn first fortifying and then deconstructing the power and structures that we are living under, and these two planets were  joined in the last 6 months by Jupiter who intensifies the energies - as if we needed that! Anger belongs to Mars' domain and this is going to further ignite the stirrings of dissent and the need to protest – and how the world has been pushed into opposites of opinions on everything! But we have seen a movement into the sacred warrior in the protests that have swept the world and that at least is a positive use of a powerful energy.

We are all embarking on a new chapter in this never ending story of change and adaptation that is our world. I see this time as a powerful time to explore and understand our own archetypes, patterns that are both our own and those of our family of origin,tribe, and nation, as well as our survival mechanisms both positive and negative, and our shining possibilities that are coded into our charts and hearts like treasures for us to find and use to bring the best of ourselves to this challenging but also exciting time in our world.

In her book Paradise Built in Hell Rebecca Solnit writes about people and disastrous times and finds that often people not only rise to the occasion but do so with joy as community, meaning and purposefulness is found in living through the challenges. Hannah Arendt in a newly discovered and published article on What Freedom and Revolution Really Mean writes of how the word 'revolution' originally meant restoration. Could we, I wonder, rise to this time despite the grief at losing a family member to the virus and the horribleness of a funeral in a time of COVID, the loss of income and stability, and the sheer terror of the unknown of the precipice we are looking into. Could we  look for restoration of the good and creation of the new in the threads of the hopeful, in the shining gold of our love for life, and see possible ways of nurturing all human life and make meaningful change to how we care  for the more than human world, and live with a lighter footstep on Mother Earth?

I think this is a deep conversation worth having and I invite you to book a session with me to do just that!

I wish you well in the month ahead and much love,
Susan
 ❤

My Birthday Month Discount during a Topsy-Turvy Month!!

This year continues to be an epic time of transformation as June has begun and our world gets ever more chaotic with what looks like a topsy-turvy month ahead.

June is also my birthday month and traditionally I offer a special discount. This year it's a 15% discount on all sessions. Let's explore this very interesting month together!

The special runs for the period 1st to 30th June 2020 only.
If interested, please email me and book.

The 2020 summer eclipse season begins with two eclipses taking place on the 5th & 21st June. The power of the first one (see chart above), a Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius, the sign of wisdom, faith, culture, and learning through one's mistakes, can already be felt as Full Moons heighten emotions but this one is intense as it is square to Mars,the planet of action and aggression. People all around the world are angry and rightly so as they respond to the changing world which is revealing the ugly jagged fault lines in our societies.
 

The midpoint of the Venus retrograde takes place this week, June 3-4 and the Venus retrograde (in Gemini) will also square Mars (in Pisces). Venus turns direct on the 25th but then Mercury turns retrograde on the 18th. It is going to feel really hard to make any clear decisions right now as misunderstandings and over-reactions are the norm. Know that things could change quickly over the next few weeks and be flexible & adaptable. Many of us are coming to terms with an easing of the lockdown situation and long to connect but here too it's confusing to know what is okay and what's not and it can be frightening to venture out amidst all this confusion and a society reeling in pain and grief.
 

So, what do we do when our lives or those we love are put on hold, have a hole punched through it, or radically changed? I risk being called a Pollyanna but through the patterns playing out right now you can sense a deep cultural transformation starting to take hold and I feel the way forward is to take a long, loving look at what is right now and let our faith in the possibility of the good and the true guide us for the coming times. Even in all this chaos I think there is so much wisdom that we can derive now, so many lessons we can learn, so much expansion in our spiritual lives we can invite in, and so much more we can challenge ourselves to include and love. Changes are coming and if we all work towards manifesting the more beautiful world we all long for, in the words of Charles Eisenstein, it would sustain us in the journey.

Much love to you all through this tumultuous times,
Susan
❤ ❤ ❤

The Archetypal Wonders We Are Made Of

One of the wonders of exploring with clients the intricate inner patterns that live within them is the deep rich dive into the archetypes that dance through each person. An archetypal view of oneself allows you to pull back from a close narrow focus to a wide helicopter view of your life. In that free open space you see how the archetypes present in your life arrange your day, pick your love interest and even clothe you as it will be a dominant archetype choosing your wardrobe!

Archetypes choose different facets to manifest through at different times of your life. I live in a small seaside town and an archetype I get to notice a lot in our local population is one that I would call the Scavenger. The Scavenger has many faces and at its most romantic is the Beachcomber, a free spirit that wanders the beaches picking up smooth sea glass, interestingly shaped weeds and branches, or little gems of seashells. There is a lot of creativity in this facet of the archetype when the pickings are used to create beautiful weavings, pots, jewellery or decorate buildings. These creations often seem to shine with the relationship and joy of the beachcomber with the sea, waves and sky.

In today’s ecological climate this archetype may become politicised and the Beachcomber becomes the Recycler picking up the rubbish as well as the pretty and interesting jetsam and flotsam on the sea edge. A certain harder, darker energy can sometimes come in and the recycler becomes obsessed with picking up every single bit of rubbish. Or turning all that rubbish into something that can be made into a replacement of a non-sustainable material that society in their eyes categorically must use instead. But often that is just a dream or very hard to manifest and so the collection grows and grows, taking over space both in terms of physical storage space and inner space.

The Recycler then begins to share similarities with the Hoarder. The Hoarder is one I see a lot amongst the older population of my town. In this case every piece of paper, every magazine, every birthday present, every gadget and every gidget is collected and stored. Again, as the collection grows it takes over the cupboards, the drawers, the garages, and indeed eventually every room in the home. Both the home and the psyche have been invaded and taken over.

The Hoarder and the obsessive Recycler share the aspect of both outer and inner space being consumed by their collection of stuff. The Recycler finds they spend more time categorising and moving their collection around to fit everything into the storage space than actually recycling. The Hoarder is hoarding oftentimes out of fear and as the collection becomes ever larger, they find themselves with less and less energy to engage with the world and this reinforces that very fear. For both archetypes the engagement and focus on collection and hoarding consumes all the creative energy leaving nothing much to engage life with, to express our creativity, or explore and make known the unknown. These facets of the Scavenger archetype are illustrative example of the reason why all spiritual traditions ask us to be mindful on what we place your attention on and to practice a certain detachment rather than a fierce attachment to things.

There are other facets to the Scavenger archetype, the wanderer, the forager, the vagrant, the vagabond, and I could go on and on. And they all live in my little town!

The facets to all archetypes are many and fascinating. So come and explore the ones in your life with me. You will enjoy the conversation I promise. Book an appointment now!

Now is the time to clean up your internal waterscape.

I haven’t written to you for some time but this is such an interesting time that I thought I would drop you all a line. The currents sweeping our world and within ourselves are very much Saturn In Capricorn (December 2017-2020) inviting us to let go of old stuckness wherever it is in our life and welcome the new. But we are having a real hard time doing just that! You just have to watch the news to see how we are actually running backwards determined to create a paper mache model of the past, then wondering why it is cracking and dissolving and plain just not working.

Mercury is soon to retrograde (on October 31) in the watery feeling realm of Scorpio and this retrograde lasts until November 20th. We can use this time to help move that stuckness and the chaos it creates by surfing our own emotional psychological stuff and cleaning it up so we can enter as fully functioning multi-dimensional human beings the shared psychospiritual connectivity of the global oneness the earth is evolving towards.

The astrological Scorpio has four symbolic phases which we all ideally evolve through in our emotional life – first the scorpion which births the snake which has the potential to soar as the eagle and, finally, the phoenix that rises out of the ashes of the old and brings renewal. The work this retrograde invites us to.

Right now if we look around there is a lot of scorpion behaviour as we sting other’s with our divisive opinions and commentary so evident in our social media and online habits, and inevitably stinging ourselves when we indulge in this behaviour as we expose the worst of ourselves. This is the territory of the snake, betrayal and shadow tactics while hiding in the dark, all to no avail, as the secrets always emerge which they will in this retrograde.

But if we can face our own internal waterscape, bring light to our personal darkness, tell our inner child to grow the hell up, pull our ever tearful victim out of its pity parties, find our inner tyrant and overturn its regime by teaching ourselves emotional intelligence, even gritting our teeth and retiring our manipulator permanently. All this would free the waters of our own emotional life to flow and balance within us. And then, then we can soar like an eagle able to see a far wider world with all its complexities and interconnections. And with greater insight our conversations with others would be more compassionate and understanding.

The ultimate invitation is to birth as a phoenix, a human being fully aware that all of life breathes as one, and that truth tells us we share and interconnect at every level, physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual. Now we could help each other enter the new with connection, community and collaboration, dreaming the future together.

Doing the long, often painful work of growing up and transforming through and into the phoenix is an offering of healing to the whole. Rather than repeating endlessly the past may we choose instead to evolve. Such a deep and interesting time to be alive!

I would love to hear from you! - whether just to say hello or to inquire about a session with me. Please feel free to browse my website for more information on my work.

Sending you all courage to do this great work and much love!

Susan

NOW IS THE TIME TO BURST INTO A BEAUTIFUL CREATIVE FLAME!

! remember so vividly growing up in a South African mining town and being taking on school trips to the local gold mine. The pinnacle of the visit was standing in the great shed, barely able to breathe in the hot and close air, watching an enormous vat pouring a river of liquid gold, alive with sparks of fire, into the awaiting moulds. Then admiring the heap of cooled gold bars. I never had an opportunity to take a gold bar home though!

Jupiter shines this week and now is the time for all of us to to create our own bars of gold. We are invited to light our creative flames and shape the gold of our dreams and inspirations! The Sun and Venus in Leo trine Jupiter in Sagittarius brings Jupiter's fabulous optimism and hope back into our lives. Look at where Jupiter is in your charts right now to see where the action is!

It is so important to take the stance of the archer right now and be alert, poised and ready to say yes to any opportunity that arises. This Osho Zen card is one of my favourites for showing the stance of readiness that ensures you act quickly and shoot the arrow at the right target.

At the end of the week the Moon moves through Sagittarius and meets Jupiter and then Mercury moves back into Leo and Jupiter stations direct. What that dollop of astrobabble means is that dreams and projects can now come into fruition particularly with collaboration and communication so shine and draw those influential people and mentors into your life with all your wonderful fire.

In South Africa we celebrate Women's Day with a long weekend and this together with Venus in Leo makes me think of roses and honey and celebratory meals - enjoy ladies!

Jupiter is also the teacher and known for wisdom and higher learning so if you are South African make the most of the break this long weekend and allow yourself to be drenched with the sweetness of soul wisdom. It's a lovely weekend all round no matter where you are in the world.

I would love to hear from you! - whether just to say hello, or to inquire about booking a session with me, or to book in right now!

Please feel free to browse my website for more information on my work and I would also love your feedback on either the website or the mailer.

Sending you all the heart-warmth and joy and love of this fabulously beneficent week!
Susan ♥

Mercury will be retrograde from July 7, 2019 — July 31, 2019!

Mercury will be retrograde from July 7, 2019 — July 31, 2019! 
To celebrate the Mercury retrograde I am offering from now until August 10 Mercury Retrograde 90 mins sessions at a special price*. Text or email me to book.

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We are in the Mercury Retrograde! It began July 7th in Leo and ends on July 31st in Cancer but the full period six week period we will feel these energies is June 23rd to August 15th.

Every Mercury Retrograde brings a new message from the messenger trickster god Mercury on how best to work with the archetypal cycles and challenges in your chart that are presently activated. This time that message is delivered via two archetypes – Cancer & Leo. Thus it’s crucial to consciously understand how these two forces and their associated archetypes have been historically organizing your way of creating and why this Mercury Retrograde will though the Cancer/Leo part of your life suggest new ways of nurturing to support and grow the full creative flame of you and share that light with the world.

In our session I will offer you insight into how Mercury will be affecting your life based on what houses in your chart are represented by Leo and Cancer and by taking a deep look at how the Cancer and Leo archetypes are connected and their particular archetype facets through which this retrograde is working. We will discuss why and how you will be asked to go backward into your history and resolve and heal the negative patterns of your past. We will explore further guidance on how to successfully move with Mercury rather than against it which is the best way to avoid the trickster face of Mercury during a retrograde. During this period Mercury functions as a messenger for the larger planetary cycles of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, all very active right now, so we will be looking at the bigger picture of you as well.

So looking forward to hearing from you! Mercury retrogrades are a special invitation to work consciously on that path to self-knowledge and mastery we are invited to journey on.

Blessings and Love

Susan

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* T & C
Virtual Sessions only (Skype or Zoom)
Offer closes August 10th 2019