I came across this amazing piece from Clarissa Pinkola Estes (a long favorite writer of mine) and it moved me deeply this morning. Especially after spending all evening yesterday binge-watching “The Family” on Netflix. “The Family” is a documentary based on a book based on this article about a secret shadowy group of powerful men who do not claim to be Christian, but followers of JESUS. For decades this group has been working to establish a religious right-wing government – a theocracy – not just in the US but around the world. They truly believe they are “chosen” and know better than the rest of us. The Family, or the Fellowship Foundation, or whatever they call themselves behind closed doors are the total antithesis of why our country was founded in the first place. People came over here to practice the religion they wanted to practice, to no longer have the overwhelming government-sponsored religion shoved down their throats. Our founding fathers made the separation of church and state and freedom of religion — and even freedom FROM religion — in the very DNA of the United States of America.
The Family would have hurt feelings to hear this and be the last to accept this, but they are Un-American, anti-democratic, and a friggin nightmare. They are the opposite of EVERYTHING Jesus of Nazareth came here to teach.
I might be a lapsed Lutheran but I clearly remember my Sunday School lessons. The “Jesus” they worship and glorify and allegedly do everything they do “in His name” is nothing like the Jesus in whom I was raised to believe. This Jesus is not a Lamb of God, but a sword of God. This is not a turn-the-other-cheek Jesus, but a back-room powerbroker Jesus – willing to entertain dictators to push his agenda. This Jesus is not a Jesus of the Beatitudes — “blessed are the meek, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers” — but some warped Son of the Most High who FAVORS the wealthy and powerful, the “broken vessels” who do God’s perfect work.
These men don’t even use the actual Bible as a reference. They use a slim book of just the four Gospels and “Acts”. However, they do dip back to the OT to use the story of David and Bathsheba to justify their shady behavior: David was a sinner but still favored by God, so it’s okay to be a cheating-lying-sexual predator-criminal, because if you’re chosen then you’re the “broken vessel” God works through, it’s all good. What these men skip is that David was punished for his sin! David’s son with Bathsheba died a week after he was born, the prophet Joab came and told David God was displeased and this would happen. David mourned and atoned. David surrendered to God, he didn’t believe he was entitled to sin because he was chosen. He came back to God a broken man after the consequences of his sin. The members of The Family, or the Fellowship Foundation, or whatever name they call themselves seem to skip over that WHOLE PART. They have cherry-picked things based on the word of God to justify their grab for power and their warped-Jesus imperialism.
What is one heartbroken woman to do in the face of this huge force of a weird psuedo-religious sect, the corporations and special interests who control our government — both parties, don’t be mistaken — who are hurting so many people and the planet in their quest for more and more wealth and control, damn the consequences and the collateral damage??
What can I do? I can love the people right in front of me. I can raise my vibration and help others to raise theirs. I can look over the prow of my own ship and see the masts of many, many other righteous souls on the waters with me. My ship is a ship of loving-kindness and healing, and I offer this to whoever needs it, no matter what side of the political divide they fall on. All humans are my brothers and sisters and need love and healing just as much as any other human out here, humaning.
Sometimes I get tired and I want to bury my head in the sand, turn off the news, and cut myself off from this world until I hear the siren that the missiles are coming. Screw it, we’re all going to Hell in a hand basket might as well roll over and wait for my doom. There is so much darkness all around: violence, hatred, scorn, fear, pain. Misogyny, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, repression of the “other” no matter what form the other takes while those in power claim that THEY are persecuted, raging and desperate to reassert the last gasp of privileges they deny they have. These ARE hard times. But as Clarissa Pinkola Estes says, we were made for these times.
We who are in recovery, we seekers who follow the path of the heart and soul, we who have done the WORK, who have looked our own self-delusion and self-destruction right in the eye and said, “No, you will not have me” – we have resilience. We are survivors of a bout with heavy energies and have experience! Those who have lost much have a lot of compassion. Those who have struggled know mercy. Those of us who have grown up feeling unloved and “othered” know how to include those who desperately need to have a chair at the table.
This is the work of Chiron, the wounded healer: we do not have to be fully healed ourselves in order to extend our hearts and hands to help those who can benefit from what healing we DO have that we can share. Chiron is in Aries right now. This means it’s the natal Chiron return for those born after April 1 1968. Chiron retrograded back into Pisces on Oct 18 1968 and re-entered Aries on Jan 30 1969 and stayed in Aries until 1976/7. What does this mean? It means that some of our old wounds about ourselves are coming back up to the surface for more healing. Aries is the sign of the Self – to have natal Chiron in Aries is to be wounded in the area of self-esteem, to doubt one’s abilities. Aries in Chiron folks are struggling with things like “the impostor syndrome” and fear of vulnerability. It’s hard enough dealing with our SELVES let alone the fakata world right now, right? It’s tempting to fret about our imperfections and feelings of inadequacy and stay right there in our navel trying to make it all better. But we have a choice.
We can get out of our own way by focusing outward. Rather than putting things off until we are “better people”, or waiting to love and accept ourselves before we go to the gym, write that book, ask that person out, get involved in local politics, march on Washington, start our healing practice, have that baby, let our selves TOTALLY SHINE FROM THE SOUL, Chiron says “Do it NOW. Do it broken.” We can’t fix ourselves until we feel ready to take action…it’s by taking action that we fix ourselves. If we wait until we feel ready, we will never be ready, because we will always find something “wrong” with us to work on or fix. It’s getting caught up with trying to be better that becomes the trap. We’re already there, perfectly imperfect with tools and skills and the heart and soul to live fully. We were made for these times. It is US who are the broken vessels for God’s perfect works. We can speak up for those who do not have a voice. We can donate money to the causes that speak to our hearts. We can rest when we need to and we can fight for the world where we want to live. We can be kind to the person right in front of us. We can hold space for the grieving. We can sign petitions and speak out truths. We can let our souls shine from the decks of our ships.
We are not alone – we have each other – a hundred million ships in the sea. Stand on the deck, let your soul shine NOW, ready or not! This world needs you. Do not be afraid, you were built for this. WE were built for this.
“When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what great ships are built for” – Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Want to know what in what house Chiron falls in your chart? Want to know where Chiron is in your natal chart if you were born before 1968 or after 1977?Want to know how transiting Chiron is affecting your personal energies? Contact me for a natal chart reading or a transit reading, we can get into it.
ELEMENTAL MERCURY 