Participation in the Sorrows

Participation in the Sorrows


THE LEO NEW MOON
Friday, August 17, 2012 at 8:54 am PST

The Moon and Sun Conjoined at 25.08 degrees Leo

Posted Friday, August 17, 2012

When I was in college, I bought a little pad of white post-it notes inscribed with the pessimistic statement, "Life's a bitch and then you die." I actually thought it was funny. I wasn't a nihilist, and too young to be a full-blown cynic, but after losing my Mother to cancer, a couple years later my Dad having a major heart attack and triple bypass surgery, and moving three thousand miles away from my familiar hometown network of supportive cousins, friends, and a boyfriend, with whom I had just fallen in love, I could, unfortunately, relate to the dark humor expressed on those little nondescript notes. Life did indeed seem to be a bitch intent on taking away everything I cherished.

It's one of the greatest challenges in life to not allow ourselves to fall into that pit of self-pity that's always right there waiting for us, isn't it? Making the best of what is happening right in front of us, appreciating our blessings, and remaining humble, hopeful and positive even when life gives us a good thrashing can be difficult. The recent discovery that a local timber corporation has been dumping two tons of a super potent scary herbicide every year, for years, all around my home here, is my personal challenge right now to keep head above the water of despair, and work for positive change, all the while trying not to let the bastards get me down — nor let the fight ruin my life! When faced with callous evil of this ilk, that could justify poisoning the environment for profit, it can be hard not to be carried away by outrage or let depression drag me down.

"Those who make us believe that anything's possible and fire our imagination over the long haul, are often the ones who have survived the bleakest of circumstances. The men and women who have every reason to despair, but don't, may have the most to teach us, not only about how to hold true to our beliefs, but about how such a life can bring about seemingly impossible social change."

— Paul Rogat Loeb, The Impossible Will Take a Little While


Today, we begin again with a fresh new lunar cycle in sunny, creative Leo, the lion-heart. Ruled by our very own central star, one of the primary lessons with Leo is learning how to hold fast to our own center of gravity. Leo's greatest contribution is the courage to release the fears we all harbor of being unlovable and unworthy, which can weaken our resolve. Leo challenges us to be more self-determined and autonomous, to develop the confidence to evaluate our progress and performance according to our own personal criteria, to be satisfied and pleased with the work and effort we have made regardless of whether or not we receive roaring applause and attract "standing-room-only" crowds. Ultimately, if we do not achieve enough Leo autonomy, we are living by someone else's standards and neglecting our own. And to gain what? Power? Attention? Fame? But at what cost?

"I don't expect life to be easy." I once told a friend of mine, a substance-abuse counselor, and she immediately shot back with: "Good, you'll never be an addict. Life IS hard work," she stated emphatically, "it is undeniably painful and heart-breaking at times, when we are engaged with life, that is. Addictions come from avoiding that basic truth, thinking we can somehow escape the demands of life."



"In a time of destruction, create something."

— Maxine Hong Kingston


Kingston's statement above has been a truth reverberating in my life and a source of inspiration. It is also very much a statement of Leo creative courage. Life really is a tough challenge, and then, yes we all die. The statement is true, but incomplete. For we have a choice of what we make of it. There is also joy and happiness, wonderful potential along the way, and a way of participating in life, engaging with it despite the ugliness, the inevitable pain and suffering, the corruption and evil. To keep going even though things don't turn out the way we want them to, even though people do horrible, unspeakable things to each other, despite the bad guys winning and the good guys losing over and over again, life demands that we get out of bed each morning and put ourselves out there once more. Regardless. Finding a way to make this fun — to find joy in the fight — is the trick.



The Leo New Moon in Aspect to Saturn in Libra:

Joyful Participation in the Sorrows of the World



With the Leo New Moon in aspect to Saturn, the concept of "joyful participation" seems very applicable. Yet, it's a concept often misconstrued. It's the invitation to face the harsh realities of life with both Saturn resolve and Leo joy — not apply a false patina on ugly, pretend that "it's all good." It's not peace at all costs, that wrong-minded, pollyanna-naiveté of "no enemies." Saturn reminds us we do indeed have enemies, and to make no mistake about that. There really are poisonous, dark and wounded souls out there who are dangerous to life, your life and your loved ones. No matter how often you clear your aura, or wish them away, they are out there.






Life puts us in the ring with the beast whether we acknowledge it or not, whether we live up to the challenge, or try hard to avoid it. The living is in the participating, doing whatever we can to make our precious life worthwhile, all the while somehow, someway figuring out how to enjoy the ride. Life is engagement.

Engagement is a funny word, isn't it? It means both agreeing to marry someone or to fight them in battle, a description of many relationships! This dichotomy is reflected astrologically in the 7th house of the chart, the zone that represents both committed partnerships and open enemies. Friends and enemies alike have important lessons for us, which doesn't mean we cozy up to dangerous people, but that we learn more about ourselves, our resolve, our reservoirs of courage and energy when we face (sometimes wisely from a safe distance) what's out there.

With both "relationship" planet Mars — the astrological principle of forceful physical energy, how we move through life, deal with others and assert ourselves — and somber Saturn together in Libra, the Venus-ruled sign associated with the 7th house, aspecting the New Moon degree, Mars-Saturn sorrows and difficulties, challenges and roadblocks will no doubt be part of what we are meant to face and deal with over this next month.

Sun-ruled Leo and conservative, status-quo Saturn are not energies that mix well. They are antithetical in many ways. Leo is ultimately about the task of opening up the heart and expressing ourselves in true form, breaking out from behind those ego-fortresses. While Saturn is simultaneously intent on building and maintaining these same protective structures. The tarot card for the Sun offers a perfect visual example of this dynamic relationship. Here's a description, pulled from an earlier essay I posted when the Sun entered Leo in late July:

The Leo archetype closely correlates with the courage and openness represented by the Tarot Sun, shown here from the Rider-Waite deck.

On the card we see a brilliant Sol taking up the entire sky. In the foreground, a cherubic child rides a horse just outside a walled garden. The child has left the safe enclosure and is out in the open, completely naked. There's nothing to hide and nothing to fear. The sunflowers in the garden face the child rather than the sun itself, for the child possesses an equally attractive radiance and power. A red feather is perched on the child's head and a red banner is held in the left hand, both symbolize vitality. The child too rides a powerful horse bareback, no saddle or reins, with hands up in the air, in a gesture that reminds us it is in the letting go that we are able to connect with this great flow of life force from the Sun.

The Sun is our nearest star, it represents wisdom, enlightenment, and all things warm and rousing: being inspired to greatness, setting a glorious example, shining our own individual, unique light — believing in our worth. The Sun is euphoric, unselfconscious, gleeful delight at being alive, something we tragically forget to pack in our bags when we depart childhood. The Sun and Leo are reminders that we are, every one of us, young and old, made of this same infinite, vital light.

"All life is sorrowful; there is however an escape from sorrow; the escape is Nirvana — which is a state of mind or consciousness, not a place somewhere, like heaven. It is right here, in the midst of the turmoil of life. It is the state you find when you are no longer driven to live by compelling desires, fears, and social commitments, when you have found your center of freedom and can act by choice out of that. Voluntary action out of this center is the action of the bodhisattvas — joyful participation in the sorrows of the world. "

— Joseph Campbell