I have had an on-off relationship with astrology for as long as I can remember. One of the best readings I ever had was with someone who assisted in the vetting of American troops. Every single thing he mentioned was spot-on including weaknesses and strengths of character. He had never met me, and the only thing he had was my birthday details.

C G Jung on astrology “Understood in terms of his own psychology as a symbolic representation of the archetypes of the collective unconscious, Jung found in astrology a wealth of spiritual and psychological meaning and suggested it represents the “sum of all the psychological knowledge of antiquity.”

In 1955 he said ‘The basic meaning of the horoscope is that, by mapping out the positions of the planets and their relations to one another (aspects), together with the distribution of the signs of the zodiac at the cardinal points, it gives a picture first of the psychic and then of the physical constitution of the individual. It represents, in essence, a system of original and fundamental qualities in a person’s character, and can therefore be regarded as an equivalent of the individual psyche.”

Astrology readings in the newspapers which divide everyone up into 12 types, depending on their birth day, may or may not be valid but when I read them, I find a degree of blandness, advice which could apply to anyone in terms of being cautious, venturesome, this is not the time to do, this action.

I just received via Nexus Newsfeed an article written by Lorna Bevan “what goes around, comes around”: Astrology forecast October 29th to November the 5th 2023. The writer has quoted the aphorism “There is no try. There is only do or not do”  Yoda. The article starts with the following advice:

The week opens in the active seismic window of the October 28th Taurus lunar eclipse. Keep your agenda light, as both personally and collectively much that has been concealed or hidden will begin to reveal itself. Refuse to be carried away by fake dramas and overreaction stirred up by the Scorpionic Sun/ Mars opposition to the eclipsed Moon and Jupiter.

It goes on, “pay attention now to any part of your life where you’ve been cutting corners, hiding your head in the sand or evading responsibility – there’s no more from the consequences. Saturn means business. Resist any tendency to self sabotage through toxic habits or addictive behaviour or to be a rescuer or a victim.

As Saturn turns forward, choices are to be made and stances taken:

# Actions matter more than intentions
# be impeccable with your word
# If you are lacking sobriety and accountability, you are likely to drown
# Consistently deliver more than you promise
# Be kind and sensitive to the more vulnerable, or chaotic parts of yourself”

The writer then says that for much more information obtain “your guide to Saturn in Pisces: 2023- 26” as an immediate digital download.

I understand that overall astrological configurations i.e the position of the planets and so on can affect various factors irrespective of your date or birth but there is an additional factor a particular characteristics based on your exact place and time of birth.

Looking at the above advice, I find nothing harmful in it; you could say that it could apply to any living person. The materialist would ridicule astrology, because they have never studied it but think that if they did, they would find nothing of significance. However, if they look further they would find a statistical significance between types of occupation and the so-called star-sign as one verifiable instance.

The date you were born. It is likely that the critics have never had an analysis. If not, they should do so and then answer objectively and honestly weather the report bears any relationship to what they recognise about their own lives. If the astrologer is any good at all, he or she will get it right at least eight  out of ten times.

The summary of this brief article is:

* don’t dismiss anything without having a go
* if you have a chart already, read it from time to time and take notice of which aspects jump out at you
* at worst, the often bland advice does no harm to anybody
* if you tune your intuition to the universe, you will probably get it right anyway

Anxiety – what is it and how to minimize it

I would like to consider the topic of anxiety. As you must all know by now, I love the English language and the more it is attacked and degraded the more I love it. Consider the various words that are used as equivalence to anxiety.

Anxiety – this is an uneasy state of mind usually over the possibility of an anticipated misfortune or trouble. It can come about most easily when you have no control over the situation

Unease – this is a slightly more creepy version where you say for example I met someone and I had a feeling of unease with them. It is more psychological than the first anxiety which can relate to the outcome of anything on the material plane

Apprehension – this is a suspicion of fear of future harm or misfortune. So you are anxious for something but you are apprehensive about say your partner going hand gliding for the first time

Nervous – we can be nervous of strangers which can alter our behaviour, we can have a lot of nervous energy. Nervous twitch which originates in our nervous system. Nervous is a catch or word which needs to be more clearly defined.

Agitation – this is more about instability of emotion which can happen to humans or animals for example I could to tell from the horses agitation that something terrible was going to happen

Tension – this is essentially about things unresolved. The subject is striving in a state of unrest. They can be in a state of latent hostility or opposition between individuals and groups. Tension can also arise between opposing forces or elements in a committee for example

Dread – is an outside factor that causes fear for example ‘I dread the arrival of my father because he bullies me’

So let’s Stick to anxiety for a moment

I was drawn to this topic by reading a broadcast from one of the bible study tools groups that I subscribe to. The website is https://www.crosswalk.com/slideshows/ways-you-are-letting-anxiety-control-your-day.html

The first reason in the article they give is that we solve the problem of anxiety by avoiding it. There are various texts from the New and Old Testaments that can be read to support what they are saying. My take is that if you have a feeling of an inner presence in your life that will give you the extra confidence to move forward and face what ever it is that makes you feel anxious. My input – If you can put a name to a face and see why you are anxious, it may be that you can either on your own or with a supporter face the situation whether it’s a job situation, or a person that is troubling you or a fear that something might happen.

The second reason for anxiety is one well-known and that is overthinking. Today I was expecting a call back from my dentist’s assistant and it did not come. It was probably because they were overworked or someone had not handed a note to the people concerned. Perhaps they had a very busy day and just did not get round to it. I tend to think of more fanciful reasons why they should not call me for example because they had nothing to say to me or in some way taking it personally and this is a waste of energy.

Some people would find that praying or meditating or asking for help in your head is a more effective use of energy. I like the phrase in Matthew where Jesus says “therefore do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” so we are encouraged to focus on the present and not overthink about the future. I also think it helps to imagine that things will go right, and to think about things where you have succeeded and got pleasure from it. This helps to balance your mind.

The third way of dealing with anxiety is to attempt to be in control of every aspect of your life. Perfectionism in my experience can be a disease and a need for control can lead to exhaustion and frustration. Where the element of trust comes in and if you can trust in God and his guidance for you then so much the better. So rather than wasting time and energy anxiously trying to control situations, choose in God’s sovereign will or if you like trust in the universe. Whatever suits you. My own experience of controlling people is that they are very unpleasant people, dictatorial,  bossy, do not listen and frankly do not care. To anyone who wants to control the universe by brain power, I wish them the best of luck but please stay away from me.

The fourth Way of dealing with anxiety is procrastination. I am better than I was but I often used to say to myself, I really must get around to this sometime and I never did and the list got longer and longer. I find that undone things wear me out when I think about them. For example, ‘I really must clear out the attic and throw away what I don’t need’. Now I am much better and when I think of doing things, I do them immediately. I’m reminded of the text, whatever your hand finds to do who, do it all your might‘ in other words, time management and discipline are required.

Related to this is planning. When I’m going to go on a journey of more than a day, I always get all my paperwork ready, think of anything that could go wrong for example making an insurance claim and making sure I have the details. This is very important way and going abroad especially to USA where the medical charges are stratospheric, $5 for an aspirin and then  anything else they can get out of you. There is nothing better than starting a holiday having made a list of what you need and a list of what you would do if things go wrong and then you can enjoy yourself. Inevitably, if you prepare for the worst you get the best but if on the one occasion you don’t plan you will pay for it.

The fifth way of becoming anxious is to criticize yourself too much. We can talk ourselves into a negative state and feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt and our thoughts can be plagued by it. The sad thing is that with the right support and the right inspiration you probably could do a task that you were afraid of doing. So, you can fuel anxiety without any basis at all. This can lead in many cases to loss of sleep, loss of appetite, and loss of general health and even if it persists to the loss of friends, There is a text I find particularly useful ‘Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”

Gardening

We decided to risk it this afternoon doing a gardening job that we had been waiting weeks to do. It started in bright sunshine but within 45 minutes we had the pleasure of small hail stones, thunder and rain so we had to give up the job and we’ll go back on Friday to finish. I feel sorry for people who have to work come rain or shine and who just have to put up with inclement conditions, otherwise they don’t get paid.