“Strong currents continue to move through our collective fields. It’s easy to feel tossed around and swept up, but these are the tides of the times, and we are learning to become better swimmers so we can reach new shores.” ~ Mystic Mamma
*Comments on this post are automatically entered into an end-of-year raffle.
Coal needs pressure to become a diamond. The first stage of alchemy, called Calcination, involves burning off impurities under the heat of the flame.
We are in such a pressure cooker right now, collectively, as citizens of planet Earth. But we can use the heat & pressure alchemically, to crystallize our consciousness. Which will in turn give us more to offer the world in its upheaval.
[18th century alchemical drawing.]
In 2016 we lost a host of archetypal cultural icons—David Bowie, Prince & Leonard Cohen, to name a few.
Bowie & Prince in particular represented wild daring & freedom, revolution & authenticity.
From a mythological standpoint, all three musicians represent the archetype of The Bard. 
This means they occupied the role of the sacred artisan-musician, vision-bringers & human vessels of divine inspiration. A sphere similar in our cultural iconography to a shaman in a tribal scenario—particularly Bowie fits this archetype, bringing in the idea of other worlds & magical transformations.
Both Prince & Bowie also harken back to the Anrodgyne in alchemy, a stage of spiritual integration wherein the inner masculine & inner feminine aspects unite, creating a whole & balanced human, symbolically represented by a hermaphroditic figure.
The respective deaths of these iconic figures, which seemed to mark the end of an era, coincided with a year of mounting grief and tension in America—in particular, over equality & racial issues.
According to the Washington Post, this year “unarmed black Americans were five times as likely as unarmed white Americans to be shot and killed by a police officer.”
One example of the pattern we are seeing can be glimpsed in the case of Terence Crutcher. “The 40-year-old was shot and killed by police on Friday after officers saw his stalled SUV in the middle of the road. Initially, the police department said Crutcher had not followed orders to put his hands up. The released videos, however, show Crutcher walking toward his car with his hands in the air.”(Source.)
The rising division between people who support the #blacklivesmatter movement and reactionary movements like #bluelivesmatter & #alllivesmatter—which don’t claim a white supremacist alliance, but whose emphasis suggests it to many on the other side—further solidified the national divide, which was then exploited for campaign momentum by Donald Trump in his efforts to procure the seat of president.
In the debates, Trump advocated for racial profiling and “stop and frisk” methods, which have been deemed unconstitutional. He blamed undocumented immigrants for leaching the system & endangering Americans. And, last month, despite having lost the popular vote by a landslide, he won the electoral college vote and became America’s next commander in chief, giving way to a rising sense of crisis for a huge swath of Americans, who now feel unsafe in their own country.
Trump’s decisions, like picking a climate change skeptic with close ties to Big Oil to head the National Department of Energy have environmentally conscious Americans terrified as well.
Add to this the ongoing crisis at Standing Rock.
“For months, opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline have been expressing fears that it would affect local drinking water, because it was to be built under the Missouri River near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation—the primary water source of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.
“Last week, the US Department of the Army announced that it would not approve the crossing of the pipeline under the Missouri River. The massive nearby spill —which was discovered on the same day that the Dakota Access Pipeline construction permit was denied —might have just proved the protesters’ point.”
Indigenous peoples have long considered themselves custodians of the Earth.
This stand off between Big Oil and the Oceti Sakowin people represents the two forces currently in battle on our planet: systems of control versus the people, separation versus unity, violence versus peace, corporations versus the planet, ego versus soul.
So, how do we survive the pressure cooker? By using it as a purifying force that will expedite the refinement of our own consciousness. Allow it to knock out complacency and revive your purpose.
Astrologist Cathy Pagano details that the configuration of Pluto in Capricorn offers each of us a way to engage in the transformation of the culture. Forcing us to ask ourselves what aspects of the collective mindset no longer serve the future of humanity. What parts should be expanded upon?
“We can begin to create this possible future with our art and our actions. Our actions, like what happened at Standing Rock with the Water Protectors, now will have more affect since we’ll do it as a group (very Aquarian of us). We show our Aries courage in standing up to the wrong use of power, to the stupidity of self-destruction. Life is what matters.
“Uranus is energizing our pioneering spirit again, though this time let’s seek the unknown for the good of all, rather than personal aggrandizement.
“When we return the Arts to their archetypal purpose—to teach, to heal, to create, to enliven, to imagine, to share, to learn—they will lead the revolution just as John Lennon and the Beatles opened up the world to a new paradigm. (December 8th-RIP John.) Artists can bring the message home to the heart. If we play our parts in truth, it will be a peaceful revolution.”
Leave a comment for a chance at winning a “Tao Te Ching” pocket edition! (Most wisdom in one book you’ll ever find, best translation, too, by Stephen Mitchell.) The raffle will be held on January 1st 2017. Tell me a bit about how your year went, or your dreams & goals for 2017—or what subjects you would like to see me write more about.
I promise I won’t keep posting about politics, I know we’re getting it from all sides right now. (I might have to sometimes, as conscience demands, but I know that Parallax has traditionally been a respite from all of that, and I intend to keep the majority of posts that way). It just seemed like it had to be addressed. And it’s become a tradition here at Parallax to create a “year in review” raffle post at the end of each calendar year, so I had to revisit that caustic cocktail one last time, but 2017 will see a return to our favorite Parallax themes:
What is the nature of reality and what is humanity’s role within the cosmos? What are the latest scientific breakthroughs in understanding consciousness? How to be a visionary in a cookie cutter world. Why your genius lies in your wounds, and how to reclaim that power. How to live a mindful life & embrace your authenticity...My intention is to make Parallax your haven of thoughtfulness in a world gone mad!
May 2017 be the year of lived dreams for each & every one of you!
