As we go deeper into our journey of self-exploration, sooner or later we will have to change something. Most of us will have to change at least some of our habits and routines to create the space in our lives for something else: meditation, yoga, or some kind of regular practice that supports our self-exploration.
Making change isn't easy, but it can be easier for some people than others. A while ago we discussed the astrological
modalities, which indicate how our energy flows:
cardinal, fixed and mutable (to refresh your memory, or if you are new to this newsletter, see the archived
newsletter from December 4th).
Cardinal signs are the initiators. When it comes to change they are right there at the beginning getting things started. Like the ignition of the car, they give a burst of energy, impulse and enthusiasm at the beginning to ignite any project or practice. The challenge for cardinal signs lies in following through. Once a change becomes established as habit or routine, cardinal signs can become restless again and seek something new to capture their interest. This can lead to starting one thing after another without sticking at anything long enough to establish it and reap rewards.
The fixed signs find it hardest of all to change. Fixed energy creates structure and stability. They find a deep sense of security in established routines and are happy to continue plodding on exactly as they are. They are often resistant to change. This can make it very challenging for them to create space in their lives to do something different in the first place, but if and when they do they will likely continue until it becomes firmly established and achieve the results they desire.
Mutable signs have no problem with change because mutable energy is the energy of change. They change all the time and have probably already tried every form of meditation, yoga and everything else in between, just for the experience of it! Often a practice can be dropped before it even gets started because they have done all the research, read about every possible practice, maybe dabbled a little, failed to experience any results, concluded that it therefore mustn't work, and moved on. Their challenge lies in applying something long and deep enough to get at least some preliminary results.
Most of us have a mixture of these energies which means we can access the strengths of each, and from time to time be affected by their weaknesses! We might find that we have one modality that dominates which means we might be absent in another area.
To check which are your dominant and/or absent modalities - look at your natal chart and see which signs the first seven planets are in (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn). Then check the modality for each sign:Cardinal: Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn
Fixed: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius
Mutable: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces.Next add them all up so you have something like this:
Cardinal 3 Fixed 2 Mutable 2
If you have a dominance of cardinal signs, you love to take the lead. Choosing methods that allow you to improvise, like active meditation*, will be helpful to you.If you have a dominance of fixed energy it will work better for you to approach any change in a structured and methodical way. The faster you can integrate the change into your daily routine the better. Then it's plain sailing for you!
If you have a dominance of mutable energy, you will thrive on variety. For you it might work to
practice at the same time each day and to alternate between 2 or 3 different methods: for example if you practice at 7am each morning, day 1 might be an active meditation, day 2 might be yoga, day 3 might be a sitting meditation then back to day 1 again.
All is not lost if you are heavily dominant in one modality. Part of our journey is learning how best to work with the energy we already have.
That's all for now see you next time, and in the meantime... happy exploring!
Best Wishes,
Ruth
