Doing It Anyways- during Mercury Retrograde

A Story about - Doing It Anyways - during Mercury Retrograde

So I’m building a Tiny-House. It’s a mobile tiny-house so it’s being built on a trailer that I can move whenever I so desire or when circumstances require. Last year during a Uranus Conjunction to my Natal Sun was the day I bought and took home the trailer, which symbolized such a profound commitment I made towards a break with convention.  The land where I was originally keeping my trailer, and the place I built and completed the subfloor was on a piece of land just over an hour away from my house. Not ideal, but my only option at the time. Since last fall it became apparent for several reasons that I could not remain on that land and needed to find a new place to relocate for the rest of my build. Just as fate would have it a good friend of mine had some good friends of their own who had extra land and were looking for occupants to bring their tiny-homes there. Thank You Universe. I had a meeting with these guys and from the first moment we all knew this would be a good match in terms of our congruent energies and personalities. So the decision was made that I would move to their land, and now all that had to be done was to make the move! BUT WAIT, MERCURY JUST WENT RETROGRADE!!!

With great hope, the plan was set for one week out. (plenty of time for mercury retro to get in the way…) but as the week went by it seemed like everything was on track and making room for the move to happen! Rental truck was reserved, my friends set time aside to join me and help out, and the owner of the land I was currently on was notified of my departure date. From his own advice, the only thing he told me to hope for was that it would not rain before we tried to move it, because he recently had someone out there with a truck on the wet soil of the land who got stuck for over an hour in the mud! But it was alright because the whole week and been pretty sunny and clear and * Oh Sh*T the DAY BeFore the Move and It’S RAINING ALL DAY!!! * NNOoooooo…… Mercury Retrograde Strikes AGaiN!

So this was my situation: I have a truck reserved for rental, two of my friends blocked out a whole day of their lives to help me out, and by this time I was personally so mentally and emotionally ready to make this major move from being an hour away, to only being 25 minutes away in a new community of super supportive creative beautiful souls. BUT MERCURY IS RETROGRADE AND IT RAINED ON THE LAND THE DAY BEFORE I NEED TO MOVE A TRAILER OFF WET LAND!!! ….. The owner of the land calls me, I miss the call, but I already know what he called me for. His voicemail confirms my intuition of him giving me the ‘bad news’ advice that the land is now wet and he strongly suggests I postpone my plans for moving until a later date where we have at least 2-3 days of sunshine for the land to dry out…. ….* im so bummed * BUT I’m an Aries and this is my Season! Aries is about courage and going ahead on your own steam!! RAH! I let my friends in on the situation and they’re both behind me with going ahead anyways!!! And while that support feels super great, a part of me knows that good cheer alone will not prevent us from actually getting stuck in the mud tomorrow and maybe having to do this all over again anyways, and maybe next time alone! So I’m anxious, hesitant, and double-guessing everything at this point, though still hold to the plans to move forward with the plans as is.

In my head I’m battling with all these stories of Mercury retrograde and how whatever you attempt during one you’ll have to re-do at some point; and how ‘moving forward’ is not supported by this influence either; and pretty much feeling like Mercury was literally ‘raining on my parade’ in an effort to make me change my plans and wait until a clearer day when the planetary motion would be Direct once again…. As I reflected further and sat with those thoughts longer however, I began to feel a sense not so much that Mercury was trying to explicitly stop me from moving… but more that the planet might just be requiring some extra attention, consideration, and forethought if I did decide to move ahead at this time.

So I think about how can I prepare myself more consciously for this move… …I decide I need to bring some extra resources with me to help ensure that our moving truck does not get stuck. The morning of the move then I pick up my rental truck and go to the hardware store to buy some extra gravel and sand that I can put under the tires on the land! Also! it is the day before garbage pick-up in our subdivision and I remember that one of my neighbors had put out two bales of hay on their curb, probably left over from Halloween last year, hah! So I pull by and pick up those hay-bales as well! All to be used for greater traction under our tires.

When we got to the land, I instantly noticed as we pulled in the dirt drive that the tires were getting a bit caked with mud and were in fact getting a little slippery. Yet there was my trailer, all ready to be whisked away to it’s new home! Conscientiously, we cleared up the space, got the truck in position and hitched it up. 
Before we even made our first attempt to move however, we resolved to put in place all our precautions to begin with and spread out the gravel, sand, and hay bales in the most high-risk areas of the land. Now came the time to pray and to Act! All hitched up, I put the truck into drive, and as the trailer began to lurch forward, I picked up the momentum and went with it and the wheels kept moving us forward ……… it was Working!!! Before I knew it we were off the land and out onto the road and we had done it!!! 

We ended up making it all the way to our destination, unloaded just fine, and I even returned the rental truck on time! and by the end of the day I felt like I had really learned something about Mercury Retrograde…. that it didn’t simply want to squash my plans and make me have to do it over again in a few weeks… but that what Mercury wanted from me was to slow down for a few moments and really take stock of my situation, make a more considered evaluation of my circumstances and pay heed to them. I looked for available resources in my surroundings like the hay bales my neighbor just happened to be throwing out and capitalized on the present opportunity. I didn’t wait to get stuck until I decided I needed to take extra measures, I planned to get stuck, and then took all the measures necessary to make sure it didn’t happen in the first place. And communicating all of these thought-processes all the while to my friends where we were all able to go into the situation ready to be patient and maybe have to work a little harder than we originally expected. Through taking all those extra steps and considerations, I really felt like we pleased Mercury in his retrograde motion and enacted all the planet was asking of us, and in Aries I found the courage to move ahead on my own will to enact my plans anyways… and it worked out!

 EVEN DURING MERCURY RETROGRADE!!! :D

Aspect Chronology Chart / Transit Map

Tracking My Transits: Mars Opposition Sun

"Tracking My Transits" is a new Astrological Journal Series that I am going to try my hand at documenting and sharing for your educational and entertainment purposes :) When I go through notable or archetypally pinpoint transits, I want to be able to point at this and that in my chart and show you how that came to manifest in my life, so that you can begin to make your own relationships to the archetypes of the planets and how they may show themselves to you from time to time through a significant transit. 

Today's Transit I will be focusing on is the recent 'Mars Opposite Sun' Transit 

I just experienced this last weekend. 

Mars is most stereotypically the Planet of the Warrior Ares.

It is the principle of assertion, outward directed energy, and personal drive.

It is how we go about getting what we want in life.

It is our defense system, how we protect ourselves.

Instinctive and Spontaneous, Mars is fundamentally competitive 

and concerned with the will to survive. 

Base level expressions of Mars result in pure aggression

More evolved levels of Mars may express more as self-assured decisiveness 

in making decisions.

Sijo James W. Demile (right)

The Sun is the Heart of the Solar System, our Source of energy and vitality.
our center of gravity and consciousness, it is also a masculine principle,
predictable, reliable, and direct. Both the Sun and Mars convey qualities of Heat.
Positive expressions of the Sun convey nobility, honor, integrity, and personal authority.
Base level expressions can come off as arrogant, prideful, and narcissistic.

Oppositions tend to be period of tension, but they can also simply be moments where we come face to face with things and situations that arise outside of ourselves, rather than internally originating.

So naturally, this weekend, I attended 3 back-to-back Martial (Mars-Martial) Arts seminars taught by none other than one of Bruce Lee's original students (from his Seattle years)

 Sijo James DeMile, who happens to be the founder of a branch of martial arts 

that he developed with Bruce

- Wing Chun Do -

(a modified version of the traditional Wing Chun)

In terms of Annual Profection,  I've been living in -A year of Aries- (ruled by Mars),
and just about as soon as the new year began, for the first time in my life I started training in the Martial Art of Wing Chun Do. So this whole year has had the flavor of Aries/Mars energy going on throughout it. But it wasn't until this weekend, and Mars transiting Opposite my Natal Sun that I was able to experience such an intensified version of this Martial energy.

Chris Blanke's Jiu Jitsu Studio in Toledo, OH

My Sun is in the 5th house natally, making the opposite house the 11th which rules groups and societies, so Mars transiting my 11th house brought with it a much greater connection to the larger society functioning within the martial arts world. The 'Kwoon' that we train in here in Michigan at Ambrose Academy is actually a pretty humble sized yet completely sufficient establishment, but this weekend I traveled down to Toledo

and was introduced to a much larger studio,

filled with much more archetypally Martian Men.

Mars/Sun is a relationship that also has a lot to do with Self/Ego, (and there are both positive and negative expressions and uses of the Self/Ego.) This weekend, Sijo DeMile spoke to us a lot about the importance of feeling good about yourself, who you are, and being excited about your own life.

He spoke about a certain type of selfishness in his relationships that drove his decisions on whether to keep someone in his life and work out their issues head on,

or to cut someone out.

(Mars can also rule separations and things which 'cut')

But this wasn't a 20 something guy talking to us about being selfish for your own sake, Sijo DeMile has spent 80+ years of life evolving and perfecting his art of healthy selfishness and self-defense in a combination which has elevated it

to a much more philosophical and evolved level.

(The Sun also represents a spiritualizing energy that purifies and evolves by it's fire)

Sijo James W. DeMile and Me

Overall this Transit has been really helpful in facing some of my insecurities as a 'man' myself, it has helped instill a confidence within myself that I am worthy of defending myself, holding my ground, and standing up for my own truth. It has taught me about the importance of my subjective experience and perspective in very practical ways, 

not to the extent of pushing it upon others, 

but in the sense of self-defense from external forces, 

which is what a healthy expression of Mars can be all about.

We all need a well-rounded Mars expression to keep us safe and healthy (Mars also rules the Immune System, our body's natural defense mechanism against invading pathogens).
We need Mars to go after what we want out of Life, to feel good about ourselves and the actions we take in the outside world. Suppressing or ignoring our Martian drives
will only lead to frustration, anger, and rage,
while working with Mars allows us to be confident and decisive
about our direction and purpose in life.

Click Here for to hear a full interview from Sijo DeMile with John Kay

                                   
For More Information on Wing Chun Do visit: http://wingchundo.com/

Jupiter In Scorpio

As of Oct 10th 9:19am EST Jupiter is in Scorpiooooooo

Jupiter is BIG, it's expansive, it broadens whatever it touches, it's known as the greater benefic ('good' bringer) but can also bring us to excess, which in itself can be 'not so good'. Jupiter also has to do with Higher Philosophies, Spirituality, and Distant Journeys (both internally and externally) which 'broaden' our horizons. I just learned the other day as well that astronomically because of Jupiter's great Size and correlating gravity, Jupiter's orbit actually draws in a lot of passing comets and meteors, etc. that might otherwise have possibly been headed for the earth, in this way that corresponds to it's protective aspects over us from greater harm. but again, we need to watch out for where our own aggrandizement can lead us to arrogance, feeling untouchable, and acting all 'high and mighty'... (no one likes a know-it-all showoff)

Scorpio is a crazy cat.... (hehehe ^_^ ).... traditionally ruled by Mars, but with a modern correspondence to Pluto as it's ruler, Scorpio has an 'edge' for sure... being a Water sign, we have a correspondence to the emotional body, scorpio brings out our passions, our urges, those feelings that we completely loose ourselves is... can be rage, sexual fervor, or occult ecstasy... it is penetrative, still waters which run deep.

Being a Fixed mode sign, there can be stubbornness, scrutiny, an unwillingness to compromise, and issues of power, control, and obsession. Pluto is also that archetype of Death and Rebirth, so there can be a good amount of support now for those -regenerative- processes which are so needed in our world currently.

In this equation Jupiter is the Actor, and Scorpio is the Stage, or the Terrain where he will now be Acting (until November 8th 2018). or even Scorpio is the mask that Jupiter will be wearing for the next year... as The Great Benefic plays the part of the Scorpionic one. What might this look like??

On a general world level, I give you the insights of Elsa Elsa:
"On a global mundane scale, Jupiter in Scorpio can represent ideologies that have very deep, unyielding bottom lines, with severe repercussions for non-adherence. We see this on a daily basis thanks to the Internet and with Jupiter in Scorpio, I would expect that even more shall be revealed regarding fanaticism, such as the canings of women who dared to have sex or even speak to a man outside of marriage. The atrocities of ISIS against women may become so overwhelming that it can no longer be ignored.

A great positive example of the Justice that Jupiter in Scorpio could serve up is total, undeniable proof (Jupiter) of the sex-traffic trade (Scorpio) on a scale that finally gets enough attention that those who have been hidden in those dark crevices can no longer hide. Jupiter in Scorpio will be ruled by Pluto, now in Capricorn… it’s about time Pluto in Capricorn finally demolishes some of those long-hidden secrets that have kept society sick on subterranean levels!

The entire time Jupiter is in Scorpio, there are no harsh aspects from the outers. This is meaningful. The only aspect is the trine to Neptune, repeatedly. I think this bodes incredibly well for those who have suffered greatly and need to have their burdens lifted. There is compassion in this co
nfiguration, and a lets-get-to-the-bottom-of-this, once and for all, kind of feeling."


So far (for me personally) the past two days I've been doing a Deep and penetrative CLEAN of my house! Total chaos everywhere, hahaha, but really getting almost obsessive into those nooks and crannies. this is bringing with it a new found sense of Lightness for me, going into the depths both literally and metaphorically helps me find and realize my own strength to face all of that which is no longer serving me, clear it out, and be left on the other side with a regenerated confidence and optimism moving forward.

SO. Lots going on (as usual) but a new lens through which to hone the energies of Jupiter. For more personal insights into what this might mean for you, take a look at where Scorpio lies in your personal natal chart, see what planets are in there (or opposite there in Taurus).... if you would like a deeper reading into your own chart and what this and other transits going on may mean for you on a personal level, send me a private message and we can set up a reading! <3 br="">

 

Two Weeks

Performed in Flint, MI
at Unusual Operation Operation
November 21, 2014

Justin Walter w/ Dura

Destroy// Detroit

Destroy//\\yortseD //Detroit from Leyya Tawil / DANCE ELIXIR on Vimeo.

Concept and Choreography/ Leyya Mona Tawil
Music/ Mike Khoury (violin), Andrew Coltrane (electronics)
Dancers/ Rachael Ahn Harbert, Erika Red Stowall, Samuel Horning, Lynn Tofil, Molly McMillan, Kristi Faulkner, James Vessell

Video/ Alexander Weyer

17 May 2014
@ Detroit Contemporary

Spectral Slumber 2.0

Spectral Slumber 2.0

April 12, 2014

Detroit - The Jam Handy

Performance of Lofticries by Purity Ring

a boy playing with his shadow

watching his every action ripple

possibilities fractal 

every action equal and opposite

mirrored within and without

onward the journey flows

amplified and altered