Waning towards death ... & rebirth
Liminal times start with releasing the grip and a letting go. It's about a shift of focus towards what matters, which isn't easy for the Ego, who fears the energy it will take to change.
Let’s take the idea for second that humans are aliens on this Earth for a second. We’re tourists from another star system having an adventure on this planet.
But Earth has its way of doing things, which can easily be summarized by the dictum: constant change.
Of all the models and philosophies, what we see again and again is that nothing stays the same; that in its very birth lies the seeds of its death.
And from death lies the seeds of an eventual rebirth.
Form may feel static and solid, but the waxing and the waning of all things is the well-trodden groove that rules this planet.
So why are we humans so challenged by letting go of what is and go kicking and screaming into the liminal dark night?
The complexity of incarnation
Incarnation into form is heavy business. Incarnation takes a lot of synthesized energy and complex elements woven together and is expected to work.
Think about how you have an idea and how simple it may seem to bring into form, only to find yourself spending more energy and effort than you thought you’d need. A lot of our frustration stems from a miscalculation of how much energy it takes to incarnate into a form anything we so easily have sprouted in our minds.
Now, think about your incarnation as yourself in this life.
How many threads had to be woven together to make you: You.
Then, think about what it took to keep you alive for years and years (if we’re lucky.)
If you transfer this thought to how to bring into form an idea you may have, you can sympathize with the complexity that it evokes.
In astrology, Saturn, the sickle-carrying time lord, is the planetary archetype related to incarnation. Anyone undergoing a Saturn transit will experience, one way or another, the leaden pressure that is its quintessential signature. It’s humbling to bring something from the ethers of our world of ideas into shape in this world.
Saturn is both the birth canal and the midwife.
Saturn also creates the necessary ‘vessel’ - the container - for the ethereal (i.e., idea, spirit, whim, etc.) to ‘land’ on this Earth. No wonder it rules our bones, joints, and skin - that which holds this ‘sack of meat’ together. Otherwise, we’d be a puddle of organs on the floor. Not much for incarnation.
Simplistically, I feel it’s due to the ‘hard work’ (an excellent Saturnian expression) of incarnating that we, as alien tourists on this planet, get stuck in not wanting to follow with ease the dictum of this place: constant change.
Because change - or any of its more poetic word siblings: transformation, transition, etc. - takes A LOT of energy and effort.
Waxing towards Fullness.
I’ve taught many of my clients the foundational wisdom of the Lunar Cycle as a way to give them a framework of how to approach change and transitions in their lives.
Accompanying the profound wisdom of the Lunar Cycle is the Solar journey through the Solstices, Equinoxes, and the seasons, which play out on the larger canvas of the year instead of the compressed month of the Moon’s journey.
Things are seeded, break from its casing, and sprout above ground - incarnation in 3D.
Then it grows into its Fullness, where it pivots from pulling in energy and embodiment to taking stock of what it has accomplished (or not) and then moving towards the waning part of the cycle that focuses on dispersement and release of what will not be placed in the future capsule of the next seed.
Our first part of life is the waxing of our incarnation.
We must root down to get the energy we need to grow and fully incarnate in this life. We create our identity in a mix of nature interwoven with nurture. We’re focused on ‘making things’ happen, driven to assert our identities and give birth to the ideas that want to incarnate through us, for we are their birth canals.
Waning towards the liminal. Â
Recently, in a conversation with my mother, whose health has taken quite a turn, and I can feel things are definitely waning in her lifeforce, she said that the reason we fear change is because it takes a lot of energy.
Ever the practical and sensate Capricorn, what she said has been swimming in my mind about why we say we want change and yet fear it. In her way of seeing, it takes a lot of effort and energy to deal with change or any of its more poetic siblings: transformation, transition, shift, etc. This led me to think about how much energy it takes to incarnate.
But what about when we’ve reached the apogee, the Fullness of our maximum incarnating powers, and now must start moving towards the waning part of the cycle where we have to disperse and let go of what will not be needed in our seed capsule of the future rebirth?
We can’t pack all that ‘we can’t leave behind’ - discernment and discrimination of what needs to be let go and what will make the cut into the future seed capsule happens during the waning phase towards the liminality of death and eventual rebirth (somewhere, sometime.)
Through pain, a sense of enoughness, and exhaustion, we slowly learn to release the grip on what we thought was necessary.
Only to finally see it as just a cover-up of what really mattered.
The energies start returning from the expansion of the fullness phase and start coalescing towards the preparation of transition.
If you think of the waning crescent Moon, hidden in its sliver of light in the sky, there are two important lessons: release the grip on what will not make it into the seed of the future rebirth and ‘pack’ only what is necessary for this journey. Less is more.
It’s also during the waning crescent moon time that we’re invited to retreat and cocoon because this is the time that we’ll hear the call of what wants to be birthed in the next stage.
The veil is thin between what is incarnated and what is yet to be.
It’s a divinatory time where we’re invited to quiet the noise so we can sense what is coalescing in the seed of rebirth.
Our Ego struggles the most in the waning part of life’s valleys and troughs journey. It took a lot of energy to emerge from the seed casing, break ground, and become an identity in this world. And now, to let it go? Enter ‘kicking and screaming’ play mode.
That’s probably why, in general, death is a longer process than what happens on the day of the passing itself.
It’s loosening the grip so we can shift our focus towards what matters and needs to be an ingredient of the next rebirth seed. The one we all carry within.
Now on to you.
What part of your life is waxing?
What is waning?
What is helping you release the grip?
Let me know in the comments.
Sharing your experience of liminal times helps us see that we’re not alone and that we’re all walking each other home.
So don’t be shy! We’re in this together!
Drop me a line in the comments.
Exercise your creative citizenry! Your vote is needed!
I shared my poll with two options in my last post since the third got voted out. But the poll wasn’t working. Alas.
So I’d love to hear from you about what perks up your interest. Below are the two options with a temporary blurb. Cast your vote and let me know what you’d be interested in having as an online workshop series for late Summer/early Fall (a loose timeframe.)
* The Astrology of the Liminal - Honoring the Planetary Gatekeepers:
We're living in very liminal times, where our old ways of being and doing no longer serve, while the new is yet to root down. Liminal times beckon us to descend into what the ancients called the Underworld, the realm of death and rebirth.
For the ancients, it would be unwise to descend without preparation or guidance. In this class, we'll explore this landscape, the stages of initiation, and how we can honor the planetary archetypes that serve as our guides.Â
* On Liminality & Purpose
Our relationship to work and our livelihood is in a liminal space in a post-pandemic world. More and more folks are questioning their assumptions of livelihood and the place of purpose, meaning, and even love in their working lives.
In this class, we'll explore how astrology can help us at this liminal intersection of purpose, livelihood, and love. Because in times of great change, we're all called to serve in some meaningful way.
I look forward to seeing what your preference is. My Muses and I appreciate you casting your vote!
Thank you!
The theme of this month's The Wheel of Myth is:
Inner Guidance
One of the unspoken gifts of traversing a liminal space of change and transformation is that we learn to listen to our inner knowing.
The wisdom within that speaks to us in a softer voice than our fears and worries.
At midyear, the natural fork on the road for the year, it’s time we slow down to listen to the oft-quiet voice within.
For this month’s theme, we will be crossing the threshold
guided by the torches of HECATE.
When: June 27, 2024 (Thursday)
Where: Wild Hearts Wellness
4230 NE Freemont Street, Portland, Oregon
Time: 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Get your tickets here or by clicking on the image above.