Balance Point.

Here we are on planet Earth, the school of hard knocks. The learning curve here is steep, demanding, and relentless. I imagine we, as souls, have selected one of the harder learning programs available for incarnational opportunities, celestially speaking. Although it’s a tough undertaking to be sure, there’s no greater prize if we get it right. If we can manage our relationship to suffering in an evolved and virtuous way, we in turn raise our consciousness, grow closer to “God”, and eventually graduate from this school much faster than we would if we only lived through our reactionary egoism. There are tools out there that can help us understand which chapter of the lesson plan we are working with. Astrology is a method to emphasize particular archetypal fields to explore and work with. Within these symbols of potentialities, is a polarity between light and dark, evolved and not.

Within August’s lesson plan is an array of challenges, but there’s one in particular I’d like to focus on, and that’s the juxtaposition between Aquarius and Leo. We have entered the Leo season (July 22nd to August 22nd) while the Sun is in Leo. The Sun rules the sign of Leo, therefor shining a spotlight on this archetype. Meanwhile, there’s a lot of Aquarius energy this year as a whole as Saturn, Jupiter, and Aquarius’s ruler – Uranus, has been squaring Aquarius from Taurus. With Jupiter just returning into Aquarius, the energy is ramped up, and applying pressure to this Leo/Aquarius complex. It’s important when working with opposites, to honor them as both sides of the same coin. They will of course have stark differences, and “rub each other wrong” as the tension eventuates their different energies. However, if we can manage to stay in a balance point between them, we tap into the virtuous expression of both energies, and put our personal growth and evolution into hyper-drive!

Aquarius, the ruler-breaker, the trend-setter, the raw unadulterated expression of self – unimpeded by external influences. It represents the energy of change and evolution. It’s the genius archetype, bringing to bear the “think outside the box” mentality to the mutation of life. If there was no mutation, there would be no possibility of evolution. It’s air sign, which is on the mental plane. It’s heady, intelligent, and when healthy, applies ingeniousness to new ideas that go against the grain of cultural norms and expectations. This is its ideal expression, and it only gets into trouble when it caves to herd mentality and tribal consciousness which would impinge on its revolutionary ideas. If that were to happen, there would be a lack of connection to others emotionally as the Aquarius disassociates, and becomes alienated from others and its own path of individuation. Then we would see that disconnect resulting as the darker side of air signs in general – a lack of empathy or compassion, and a general coldheartedness.

Leo is the sign of the heart. Aquarius is the sign of the head. The art form that is gracefully standing on the balance point is the connection of head and heart. How do you do that through Leo/Aquarius? Leo is about practicing vulnerability through self-expression. Aquarius is about individuation. The synthesis is expressing oneself authentically, without the the egoic attachment to be part of the consensus “reality”, but instead expressing what’s really in your heart of hearts, and to allow sparks of insight to flow through you without a second thought. Easier said than done, but that’s the practice.

This is the challenge before us all, in varying degrees. Can we become the authentic, vulnerable, expressive, heart-centered truth sayers?

Good evolutionary astrology questions to ask yourself this month are:

In what way am I stuck on ideas that disconnect my heart from others?

How can I practice being more authentically vulnerable?

We are in a divisive point in human history. There’s a disconnect between different versions of group think, and the chasm between people’s heart connection is getting wider with each day. Leo is asking us to sink into that heart space, while Aquarius doesn’t want to lose sight on the goal, evolution. Within the balance point, we can find the virtuous expressions of joy, understanding, unity, compassion.

These are the core evolutionary intentions, with the goal always – to expand our consciousness.

Your ally in evolution,