“Our major struggles end up being with our own inner fears, insecurities and destructive patterns and not with outside forces.” ~Michael A. Singer, The Untethered Soul
Coming down from Franceschi Park recently there was a doe descending a slope. When my car came round the corner she quickened her pace and disappeared into the bushes. It was a surprising sight somehow. A large wild animal roaming free. It has been years since I have seen a deer in Santa Barbara. The occurrence startled me into contemplating its symbolic meaning. Especially at this time of the New Moon and in light of current turmoil.
In Celtic tradition there were two aspects of the deer: the feminine element, called Eilid in Gaelic, the female red deer, symbolizing femininity, gentleness and grace. It was believed that the deer called to men from the kingdom of the fairies to free them from the trappings of the earthly world and taking them to the world of magic. https://www.faena.com
It was a bit how I felt. Perhaps wanting to disappear into the foliage to discover what has given these seemingly delicate but mighty animals the ability to survive in ever changing circumstances. It must be magic! Though humans have the capacity to think we too are animals. When we stop thinking and tune into deeper waters we are guided with ease and grace toward the unknown. This may seem mysterious and it is somehow magical that Life will unfold without us ‘doing’ anything.
Deer symbolize the powers in nature that are not easily subdued. They are native to every continent except Australia, thus they are able to adapt very well to many habitats. They represent instinctual energy, independence, and regeneration, which stems from their antlers being shed and re-grown each year. This instinctual energy that deer represent tells us to trust our gut reactions…http://www.purespirit.com
With the constant flow of information that comes at us from many directions we may seldom pay heed to the deeper waters of the intuitive faculties. So many distractions! These days it may seem to require Herculean effort to still the mind and be in silence. Deer are quiet. At times they take on the cloak of invisibility. There she was in that moment, agile, moving with great ease. Then gone in the next moment. Leaving her message rather indelibly etched upon my inner eye. Everything is possible when we are irresistent to change. Animals do not think they know anything; are guided with perfection based on their wholly instinctive natures. We too have that capacity.
Deer also symbolizes the gentle, enticing lure of new adventures. Should a deer come into your life, Ted Andrews tells us to look for new perceptions and degrees of perceptions to grow and expand…http://www.purespirit.com
Beliefs are being examined and those that are limiting are being discarded. The approaching swell has the power to diminish all that has stood in time to guide us in ways that have created the under utilization of our truest qualities. Heaped upon them is fear.
Deer beckons us to go deeper into the forest, into the mystery that lies deep within. There in the quiet, the stillness we may be and contemplate nothing in particular and witness the self/ego disappear as the energy of ancient solitude settles into the bones. With a sigh, an exhale I realize I am that, this infinitude of peace.
New Moon: July 20th 28 degrees Cancer 27 minutes 10:33 a.m.
Not much fanfare around this New Moon. No eclipse or solstice or exact conjunction to any important angles or fixed stars as we had in June. It is the second new Moon in Cancer this year. June 20th saw the solar/lunar conjunction at 0 degrees Cancer 21 minutes. The alpha and the omega we could say here. In the beginning (June) the moon was influenced by the moon, ruler of the first decant of Cancer while the ending (July), the last decant, is represented by Neptune natural ruler of Pisces the last of the water signs.
Moon is our emotional, instinctive, instinctual self—in June, new moon in Cancer, we received a large dose of energy focusing on this area of experience. Neptune now alleviates the burden of self examination due to emotional upheaval, in favor of letting go of all things personal to feel the true lack of separation between “this one” and all else. We are offered a glimpse of the magic of freedom from suffering. The instinct is to be without boundary, without need to classify or identify. To not take things so personally.
In the July New Moon chart there is a long trine—8 degrees between Sun/Moon and Neptune. Neptune only gently nudging these luminaries—a blessing and a whispering; to discover the treasures that lie within.
Neptune exactly trines the asteroid Vesta at 20 degrees Cancer elevating the notion of our task to one that serves the heart of humankind. Vesta is associated with the vestal virgins of Rome, the keepers of the flame. They tended the hearth that symbolically was the heart of Rome.
Vesta is where we find our deepest desires kindled; that are kept alive through great moments of victory or times of distress and devastation. Always alive within us is ‘spirit’ that which survives when all else ceases to exist, it is. Neptune and Vesta energy touches us in such a way that we cannot not sense the fire of spirit burning within. Each life is being altered according to the extent of openness we each have at this time. The cup cannot receive more than its capacity. The rest would be lost.
In exact opposition to the Sun/Moon is Saturn in Capricorn. A heavy hand to discipline, to teach us our lessons? Or the mature hand of wisdom that guides us toward a deeper sense of responsibility for the well being of all—not the victim but a part of the healing. And thank goodness for Saturn in Capricorn! It is the rudder that keeps the ship upright. It is the grounding that keeps us ‘heads above the water’. Neptune is in Pisces and Sun/Moon, Vesta and Mercury are all in water. Saturn provides an earthly anchor lest we feel in danger of being swept away. That of course is the thought, “I will be swept away, annihilated.” Saturn asks us to allow for old patterns to be swept away and to trust that what lies underneath the old structure is our greatest sense of security, our salvation.
The sign of Cancer with Moon rulership has not only to do with nurturing and nourishing the physical and emotional bodies but also the ‘soul’. This we do by diving into source.
The Moon XVIII of the major Arcana in Tarot rules the night the unconscious and represents our quest for freedom from the tyranny of the mind. It requires courage to plumb these depths, the darkness can be daunting. Fears are sequestered here. And yet, once we recognize that these fears are not of our making, that they are the product of conditioning we are freed from their grasp and free to gather the riches of these depths—stillness, peace, quiet that is the soul’s domain.
“In the stillness of the mind I saw myself as I am – unbound.” Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Be Still 