Soul Retrieval
This month we enter into a sacred initiation. We are invited to partake in a rite of passage into body centered wholeness. The journey will require a ferocious surrender to presence, and a willingness to return to your forgotten perfection.
We are in the heart of the eclipse season, and on May 16th, we are poised for a harbinger of change Full Moon Eclipse in Scorpio. Meanwhile, Mercury is in retrograde starting in its own sign of Gemini from May 10th – June 3rd. What this means is two-fold: a mental introspection necessity during this Blood Moon, and blinding levels of subjective time acceleration.
This Full Moon of bloodletting is wildly shamanic and purifying. I can’t describe this ceremonial process as comfortable, but comfort and peace is the end-point evolutionary goal – more on that later. In some shamanic traditions they believe that when you experience a great trauma, there’s a shard of your soul that gets broken off at that location in the astral plane. If you work with a shaman in a healing ceremony, he/she will journey into the underworld, and find that place in the astral to recover your lost soul shard. They call this soul retrieval.
This month we enter into the underworld to go on this quest to seek wholeness and healing. The underworld isn’t a pleasant place because it’s full of demons, warlocks, and all kinds of unsightlies. It’s full of the collective’s trauma ghouls, and disembodied beings. We will face our greatest fears and resistances which has historically fed the belly of the beast, but we can come out on the other side no longer missing pieces of ourselves.
Transitioning from the symbolic to the practical, I think on a personal level this month will be deeply transforming for a lot of us, especially if we humbly purge with veneration. Look to what house in your chart this Blood Moon will land for a deeper understand on how you can work with this event directly. The house that the eclipse is in is where this shamanic energy of transformation is, and also highlights where potentially something needs to change or end. If you don’t know how to find 25 degrees of Scorpio in your chart, I recommend my 45 minute tutorial here: https://bryancolter.com/product/finding-your-chart/
Within the collective, there will be a lot of those astral human created pain bodies rising to the surface to be seen by all. Blood Moons are about fated endings, breakdowns or breakthroughs. If we face a crisis eclipse moment, we are often pushed out of our comfort zones and feel that our lives are changing before our very eyes. Eclipses are very powerful, and we commonly see big events in the world occur near (a week on either side) an eclipse. For example, 5 days before the solar eclipse in Taurus on April 30th, Elon Musk’s deal to buy twitter was accepted, starting a major new beginning involving a boatload of money (Taurus), and this will affect the lives of many people since so much political discourse happens on that platform. Will it be a good or a bad change? Stay tuned.
Instead of new beginnings, this Blood Moon is more about endings and disruptive changes that are Scorpionic in nature, or, culmination points where things reach their natural conclusions. Scorpio deals with deep truths rising to the surface because of its energy of fierce inward investigation. Also, our pain bodies will be viscerally felt and reactively expressed for folks who operate primarily subconsciously (which is most people). We combine this with the reflectively speedy Mercury in retrograde, there will be a lot of deep insights but also confused communication and misinterpretations.
Jupiter enters Aries on May 10th, and to evolve with this energy is to cultivate in your inner Warrior King, and to strengthen your courage under pressure, resilience, and your ability to bounce back from adversity. If you already have a lot of fire in your personal chart, be cautious about using too much force over the coming months and instead practice restraint and be wary of ego inflation. Folks will generally have more pluck and resilience until late October when Jupiter enters back into Pisces, but we want to be careful about the challenge of the marriage of ego and anger.
In the collective we will see heroism, and improvised strategy and tactics in the face of unforeseen circumstances. We will also see the dark side of bombastic ego-inflated impulsive actions. We combine that with the intensity of the Blood Moon, the potentials are heated. This is a direct quote from my teacher’s book, The Book of Fire about Jupiter in Aries: “Aries energy is the astrological equivalent of nuclear power; when allied with the expansive qualities of Jupiter, it is essential to maintain some restraint and clarity of intention, lest we leave a trail of blood behind us. Self-knowledge about what is actually good for you must underlie your decisions”.
Although this energy feels somewhat ominous, I’m still hopeful. The Jupiter/Neptune conjunction is in a harmonious aspect to the eclipse. This suggests a focus on spiritual evolution, and a faith based positive influence on the manifestation of a better dream for our future. As I’ve been saying all year, a deepening of your spiritual life and meditation practices is a great way to work with this energy. The more you raise your consciousness, the more you can help us as we transition to a better timeline. With Neptune transiting through Pisces, the core intention to raise the frequency of the collective, so that we are better prepared for this full entrance into the Age of Aquarius.
Eclipses are incredibly karmic, so we want to deeply embody the energy of the Taurus North Node right now. This is the primary karmic antibody that will heal the diseased parts of our emotional complexes. To help with undergoing a Soul Retrieval, it’s good to connect to nature. The act of laying down on the earth and returning to natural breath is conducive to releasing and letting go. Any sort of body relaxation exercises can help the body let go naturally. I’ve been practicing a form of Yoga Nidra meditation that has been helpful to reach deep levels of relaxation and restoration. Anything earthy, natural, that can bring your awareness back to a grounded body centered awareness is pure medicine. This month will feel intense at times, but if we can remind ourselves to reconnect with that silence within; the part of us that knows by instinct and by being in the body, we can cultivate a deeply grounded peace.
These are the core evolutionary intentions, with the goal always – to expand our consciousness.
Your ally in evolution,
Astrologer at www.BryanColter.com
Our new Patreon community is running strong for two months. We held 8 live events so far, and I’m about to schedule the next batch for May. If you want to join in the fun with some live guided meditations, and astrology deep diving, check out it out at: https://www.patreon.com/bryancolter
Beautifully written words, Bryan, about what sounds like a spooky time in front of us.
Already feeling the “Depths” of the Eclipse Energy. Deep “Inner child” wounds have resurfaced for me to release. Although everything on the Earth is Intense right now, I feel Optimistic.
Stay Grounded Friends