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| Life's Greatest Adventure!
| | | | | | Hi Friend,
Before we continue this mini-series on the planets, I want to make an announcement: from now on "Life's Greatest Adventure" will be monthly, on the first Wednesday of each month. So this is your first monthly newsletter - for March 2017.
As you can imagine it takes some time to research and write such in-depth newsletters so rather than creating shorter weekly bulletins, I felt it would serve everyone better by continuing to write in depth, albeit on a monthly basis. I trust this will continue to support you in your journey of spiritual awakening.
If you feel that a month is too long between newsletters and you're missing your Soul Astrology 'fix' remember at anytime you can access the complete archive and browse through past issues HERE.
This month we continue looking at the planets in their role as 'spaceholders', by looking at the role of Jupiter and Saturn, and how they contribute to the conditions that allow for the arising of intellect.
You can read more about the planets and their role as 'spaceholders' in chapter 5 of my book "Soul Astrology" ... enjoy! |
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| Jupiter, Saturn, and The Evolution of Intellect
As we evolve through the levels of instinct> intellect> intuition>illumination and emptiness, it is important to remember that each stage is necessary. It's not that we 'lose' our instincts as we move into intellect, but rather that each stage is a vital foundation for what comes next. So by the time we reach the level of the wisdom realizing emptiness, we also realize that we are also all of it. We are everything that has gone before. We don't 'transcend' instinct by 'getting rid of it' but rather it becomes integrated into our whole being.
Intellect is where we use our thinking mind as a tool. We are able to think, and to use our thinking for personal and collective advancement. It is important to distinguish intellect from intelligence. All animals have innate intelligence. The instinct that we spoke of in last week's newsletter is also a form of intelligence, and when we get to the next stage of intuition that too, is a form of intelligence. Intelligence is very closely connected to our capacity to be aware. Intellect is our capacity to think.
In astrology, the planets we mentioned last week, the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars, are known as the personal planets, for their influence is more about us, directly, as individuals. Next we come to the social planets, Jupiter and Saturn. Although they do have a powerful effect on us individually, they are also the interface where we, as individuals, meet and mingle with the wider society beyond our immediate family.
Jupiter creates the conditions for us to expand our minds beyond our immediate self-consciousness. Through Jupiter we expand our learning, give and receive education, and distribute knowledge. We are able to cultivate a 'philosophy' by thinking, what is the 'best' way to do, or be? Or, what is good? Jupiter is known as the 'greater benefic', bringing all that is beneficial. As humankind began to move out of our immediate family and organise ourselves into larger communities, we were able to share wisdom and knowledge so that we could learn from each other, spread knowledge and share resources, so our groups could evolve faster together than we could alone. No surprise then that Jupiter is exalted in the sign of Cancer, the sign of nurturing, empathy, emotional intelligence, and human connection.
Through the conditioning influence of Jupiter we are able to reach out to our fellow human brothers and sisters and connect with them, not as adversaries, but as our larger human family. It is through Jupiter, and our capacity to think, that we can begin to ask ourselves the higher questions: Who am I? Why am I here? What is the meaning of life? It is also through Jupiter, and altruistic thinking, that we are able to ask, who or what is God? We are able to seek our spiritual nature, and to form belief systems, and religions, for the purpose of 'formalizing' and expressing our spiritual beliefs. So it is through the conditioning of Jupiter that we are able to go beyond our instincts and expand ourselves, through the development of intellect.
Saturn creates the conditions for us to build structure and organize systems. As we become part of larger groups and societies, some kind of structure and organisation becomes a necessity if we are to succeed. Through the influence of Saturn we are able to formalize and structure our systemic thinking so we are better able to manage finite resources and live in harmony together. Saturn brings a sense of limitation to the expansion of Jupiter.
Through the conditioning influence of Saturn that we realize that life simply does not expand continuously, and that in our evolution we also need to embrace limitation and death. Saturn rules the structure of mind, and it is through the conditioning influence of Saturn that we develop structures and systems in our societies to distribute finite resources fairly among one another. Saturn brings us a sense of justice, consequences, and boundaries. Under the influence of Saturn we learn to curb our excesses and to put formal systems in place to regulate our communities and societies. No accident that Saturn is exalted in Libra, the sign of justice, balance, and legal systems.
Through the conditioning of Saturn we use our intellect to develop systems of law for managing ourselves, our society, and our resources on a scale that goes way beyond our immediate family. We use our intellect to formalize these structures in the form of laws, government, banks and corporations. Once we have our systems of justice in place we also need to regulate and police those systems, so Saturn brings us structure, balance, justice, government, regulation, authority and policing as our societies grow into larger civilisations.
So we can see that throughout humanity, the conditions for human advancement into larger, organised, groups and societies are held in place by the activities of Jupiter and Saturn: the spaceholders for the development of intellect.
However with Saturn we also feel the squeeze of limitation. We begin to experience the limitation of intellect. When we are overly controlled, regulated, and/or 'locked in' to a belief system, we begin to feel the pinch. On our spiritual quest, it is the conditioning of Jupiter and Saturn that can also present the greatest barrier for us as individuals if we lock ourselves into a belief system too soon, before we have fully explored what may be next, beyond the level of thought.
Our spirit wants to soar. We urge to break free, and we sense that there must be something 'beyond this'. That feeling propels us into the intuitive level where the freedom of Uranus awaits us as the spaceholder for intuition.
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That's all for now! Next month we will look at the role of Uranus in the evolutionary stage of intuition. In the meantime... happy exploring!
Best Wishes,
Ruth
PS If you are enjoying this series, you will love reading chapter 5 "The Planetary Spaceholders" in my book " Soul Astrology"...
| | Soul Astrology How Your Rising Sign Reveals Your Soul Path and Life Purpose
by Ruth Hadikin
“Who am I?” and “Why am I here?” are the biggest questions that you will ever ask yourself as you walk though this journey of life. The answers are hiding in plain sight and can be revealed through your birth chart. You just need to know how to look, and this book is about to tell you...
Drawing upon Esoteric Astrology, the Greek myth of Hercules, and ancient principles from spiritual masters, the author describes the journey of your Soul through the twelve signs of the Zodiac. This book offers a way of using your birth chart to answer life's big questions by recognizing the energy that you were born with and how it is wanting to be expressed in this lifetime.
For lovers of astrology, Soul Astrology is a powerful addition to your toolbox for your ongoing journey of spiritual awakening.
Available in paperback, Kindle, iBooks, Kobo and Nook... |
| | | | Ruth Hadikin, B.Sc. specializes
in the science of Soul Astrology, as applied to living our Soul Path
and Life Purpose. She is dedicated to supporting people to live from the
Soul in 'Life's Greatest Adventure'. |
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