Number
100 – January 1st, 2005
By Gururattan Kaur Khalsa, Ph.D.
Happy New Year!
It is interesting that Capricorn leads us into each new year, offering
us lessons to carry us through our tests and trials. As we learn, we can claim the victory of courage and the
satisfaction of knowing the strength of our spirit.
The Sun is in the land of Capricorn between December
21 and January 18th. The
Cancer Full Moon comes the day after Christmas, December 26 at 7:07 am PST and
3:07 PM GMT. The Sun is at 5 degrees
Capricorn and the Moon is at 5 degrees Cancer.
The Capricorn New Moon is January 10th at 4:03 am PST or
12:03 PM GMT. Both the Sun and the Moon
are at 20 degrees Capricorn.
Sagittarius challenges us to find our personal path
-- and not just any path. We must
define a path with a purpose. We must
commit to this path with all our heart.
Capricorn gives us the earth energy to ground the fire of desire of
Sagittarius. We take our passion for
our vision of our life and we live it every moment of each day. We explore and
embrace it with every step we take. We
discipline ourselves to devote every breath to the realization of our life
goals.
The mountainous terrain of Capricorn can be
experienced as either a laborious trial or a destiny path. Capricorn is the last to believe in or
advocate a free lunch. The practical
mountain goat knows that life doesn’t work like the lottery. Capricorn is willing and able to do the
work. With patience the goat slowly and
methodically climbs to up the mountain of life, one sure step at a time. The goat’s life long trek can be experienced
in isolation, fraught with adversity.
Or it can be experienced as a quest for self-empowerment, where each
challenge met brings a deep sense of satisfaction.
The practical goat teaches us that if we are
realistic about, and respectful of, our inner and outer resources, we do not
have to feel a sense of desperation or lack.
Inner anguish is not created by life’s challenges, but by abdicating our
inner authority and misusing our power.
We must learn to accept what is our responsibility and not take on the
burden of that which is not. Saturn, Capricorn’s
teacher, reminds us that our intention is to consolidate, not to control or to
compete. Our strategy is to manage, not
to manipulate. We lose energy and
authority with a negative approach.
With a willingness to grow, we gain power, authority and are able to
manifest our dreams.
Capricorn is the archetype of leadership. Capricorn is the tenth sign of the zodiac
and sits at the top of our birth chart.
If we have integrated the lessons of the first nine signs, we are ready
to step out into the world in a leadership role. But there is a personal prerequisite for our worldly destiny
path. We must first take a leadership
role in our personal life. We must
learn to take responsibility for our thoughts, words and actions. We must be willing and able to be
accountable for what we create.
Inner leadership means that we take responsibility
for
(1) defining our own boundaries
(2) setting our own standards
(3) knowing our purpose and honoring it
(4) defining our needs and making sure they are
met
(5) validating and supporting ourselves
(6) giving approval to ourselves instead of looking
for it outside ourselves.
We recognize our own limitations and figure out how
to live gracefully within them. We also
acknowledge our gifts and develop them with discipline, patience and gratitude.
As we proceed in our process, it is essential to
keep in mind that if we ignore or question our inner voice, we are listening
to, influenced by or controlled by some authority other than our Soul.
The dynamic of the Capricorn/Cancer polarity is
active during the full period of the Sun in Capricorn. The outer/inner dance is highlighted at the
Cancer Full Moon on December 26th when the Sun opposes the
Moon. The dynamic Cancer/Capricorn
interaction, which highlights both conflict and the possibility of resolution,
continues through and even past the Capricorn New Moon January 10th. The Sun and Moon both at 20 degrees
Capricorn are opposed by Saturn retrograde at 24 degrees Cancer. Saturn will complete its over two-year term
in Cancer in July. We are being
challenged to connect to our emotions and to use them to guide our actions.
Cancer is the tender underbelly of our
emotions. Cancer facilitates our inner
healing by connecting us to our feelings, family and the Divine Feminine.
Cancer is our home inside our body.
Cancer represents how we perceive our relationship to our home the
Earth. Our Cancer home base must feel
solid and secure for us to feel safe and confident in the world.
Our leadership capabilities must first be directed
to securing our home environment – our psyche, our physical body, our living
situation and our connection with nature.
When we feel comfortable in these domains, we can take a firm foundation
of Self into the world. This is
absolutely critical because of the nature of our challenge in the world. Everyday we face the unknown. No matter how repetitious and seemingly
predictable our daily routine, it is a fact of time-based reality, that no
moment is ever exactly the same.
The unknown factor is compounded dramatically if we
define the purpose of our path to innovate, to create something new and to
leave a legacy. In this case, we are
not just accepting the unknown as it presents itself to us. We are walking into the unknown with vision
that we are intent upon bringing into manifestation. We are stepping up to the plate of destiny with a design to be
implemented. We are accepting the cloak
of a leader. We are volunteering for a
leadership role in our community. We
are engaging the commitment to making the world a different place because we
came here for a visit.
To play a leadership role, we have to perceive
beyond the limits of status quo reality.
Envisioning a better world is not that hard to do. The real challenge is that we have to
transcend the boundaries of our own mental parameters and emotional projections
to make it happen. To do so, personal
transformation is required. Emotional
maturity is the foundation that will allow us to deal with the challenges that
confront us on our journey.
We qualify to take an authentic leadership role in
the world when we can work through and offer our presence to situations needing
healing, guidance and inspiration.
Everyone knows how to be confrontational, even though some are more
adapt and manipulating others through intimidation and conniving. But the ability to control others through
fear and judgment are not the skills of a true leader. A true leader inspires others through
kindness, compassion, courage, tolerance and living the truth. These skills are cultivated internally. The love of Mother Cancer supports an
authentic Capricorn authority. As we
say YES to our destiny path, inner and outer meet in the peaceful integrity of
our own heart.
Capricorn is the sign of self-mastery. Under Capricorn’s rule, we claim the
chalice. We find the Holy Grail. Obviously not an easy path, our integrity is
continually challenged on many levels.
We meet our fears, doubts and insecurities. We encounter external
resistance, which simply mirrors our inner resistance and lack of self-esteem
or self-worth. These challenges could
not access our psyche if there were no holes of doubt and fear inside ourselves
which allow them to enter.
It is critical that we understand and accept the
developmental context within which we are being challenged. If we are striving for self-mastery, we have
to build our internal power and our connection with our own authority. We are not going to become self-empowered
simply by thinking it is a good idea.
We have to meet the collision with life head on.
We build our power by facing our doubts and fears
about ourselves and our integrity. We
grow into a position of power by reducing and eventually eliminating our
negative self-talk.
We are not all destined to be visible leaders. But if we change our consciousness and hold
the space of peace and love in our psyche, we are playing a leadership
role. Shifting our internal space is
the first and most important criteria to play either a silent or a vocal
leadership role in the Aquarian Age.
We are not born into a leadership position or simply
anointed. A part of us always questions
the implications of moving into a bigger arena. Do we want to accept the responsibility involved? Do we feel worthy? Can we handle the commitment?
Can we move beyond our personal concerns and be neutral and inclusive? Will we be able to use a position of power
to serve and not to abuse? Can we stay
true to the higher cause and mission and not get derailed by personal gain or
loss? Is this what I really want to do
with my life? All these questions knock
at the door of our own fear and self doubt.
The seed of integrity is found inside
ourselves. There are very fundamental
prerequisites for inner integrity. We
must know what we want out of life and take a stand for ourselves. We must be guided by our own inner
authority. We must listen to our inner
guidance and be able to define our needs, our desires, our path – our personal
stand in life. The problem that many of
us face is that we don’t have our own identity and authority defined. In this any many lifetimes we have been
placed in the role of creating harmony and consensus by abdicating our not only
our point of view, but our values.
Yes, consensus is the only real way to create
peace. We should maintain this
goal. However, playing the energetic
role of consensus maker without listening to and honoring our own guidance
creates internal conflict, negativity and feelings of victimization.
Only superficial consensus is achieved by using the energy of those who relinquish their own identity and integrity to support the bullies that demand to have their own way. The Aquarian age is demanding more of us than to be sacrificial lambs to those who control power and resources by exploiting those who can be intimidated or don’t have the guts to stand up for their own truth.
The role of conscious consensus building is not
possible without first establishing our own inner authority. Once we are able to listen to ourselves, we
are able to listen to others. If we
aren’t listening, we either fester or manipulate to try to get our way. Real peace is not the product. When we can
listen to everyone, we can find common threads. We are able to negotiate and build real consensus.
Personal integrity requires us to identify the
extent to which we define our position by first finding out what others want
and then fitting in. We also have to
get in touch with why we do this? We
are either afraid of conflict and confrontation or we don’t know what we want
and we think it is easier to find out the options acceptable to others before
making our choices. If we are really
honest, it is embarrassing to admit the extent to which we cater to others out
of fear. This dis-ease is called
co-dependence.
We must examine the “embarrassing” factor, which is
our self-doubt, shame and questioning of our own authority. This is an indicator of a lack of
self-esteem and self-worth. Our
discomfort registers our lack of personal integrity – defined as acknowledging,
defining and legitimizing our needs, our identity, our worth and our path. We all have work to do here.
In order to establish our inner integrity, we have
to have realistic criteria by which we can evaluate ourselves and grow. Herein lives one of the most fundamental
blocks. We have set standards that we
cannot possibly meet – perfect and perfection! The perfectionist touchstone condemns everyone, except the
deluded, to failure.
To establish a sense of inner integrity, we have to
start out by internalizing the following facts of human life –
(1) Reality
on planet Earth is anchored in the unknown.
We live in the unknown. We
simply can’t know in advance what is going to happen. Every day we enter new territory.
(2) What
happens is influenced by our participation. The extent to which we participate
(and that extent is unknown) depends on what we think and do. We consciously
co-create to the extent that our intentions, expectations, words and actions
are conscious.
(3) The name of the game in physical reality is
growth and evolution. We grow and learn
by making choices and witnessing the results.
The law of cause and effect is our teacher.
(4) All humans have needs, desires, lessons to learn
and goals to work toward in each lifetime.
The more conscious we are of the above and the more we honor our unique
identity as well as our human condition, the more we will live in integrity
with ourselves.
Accepting the above as givens, the best we can do
cannot be measured against perfection.
The best we can do is to moment by moment do the best we can do. We can listen to ourselves, support
ourselves and make the best choices we can given the information
available. The conditions and the
information are never going to perfect.
At the end of the day we can reaffirm our integrity by knowing in our
heart that we did the best we could.
An absence of personal inner authority creates
self-doubt and stress. The result is
that we often react defensively. We
think we have enemies, when in fact we only have antagonists who dance with us
to help us define and claim our power.
Someone will question us, until we are clear and stop questioning
ourselves. The players of the game confront us until we can calmly say NO when
we require NO and YES when we choose YES.
We have to train ourselves to listen to our own guidance and to feel how
this process creates inner peace. We
have to become aware of how adjusting to others’ wishes creates inner conflict.
We are all learning. We are all teaching each other the same lesson.
As we learn to identify powerless patterns, we can
acknowledge ourselves for this awareness.
Instead of judging ourselves, we can be kind to ourselves. When we are
kind to ourselves, we can relax and are better able to get in touch with what
we want. We notice that we feel calmer
when we listen to and identify our position. When we know what we need, we can
figure out how to get it.
At the end of the day, we can be thankful that we
took care of ourselves. We have honored
our life, our soul and the Divine within.
This is personal integrity. This
is taking a leadership role in our own lives.
By doing so we open ourselves to new expanded possibilities. When we turn off the light and tuck
ourselves in, we are at peace, in integrity with ourselves
While the Sun is in Capricorn, we need to activate
our internal fire so that our earth energy doesn’t get stagnant, causing us to
feel depressed. Active exercise is
good. Running in place with punches 1-3
minutes in each direction – north, south, east and west – is a good work out to
generate fire, release anger and get your energy moving. If you have a mini trampoline, use it.
When you are done, stand still and then sit quietly
and be with your awareness inside our skin.
Feel both your life force and the weight of gravity that keeps you
solidly in your body and connected to the earth. This is a good time to connect with and listen to your inner
authority. If you wish, use the above
discussion to guide your self inquiry.
Remember, the Divine within you is the only authority you can trust 100%
of the time.
May you enjoy your journey in 2005.
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