We are a few days out from our annual new moon in Sagittarius and are well within the season as the sun has been traveling through this part of the zodiac since the end of November. The progression through the zodiac from sign to sign holds its own story arc. With the transition from Scorpio to Sagittarius, there is the unearthing through Scorpio which asks for our unflinching vulnerability toward all that we have personally and collectively kept from our own view followed by the untethered nature of Sagittarius, eager to discover again through new experiences and knowledge. Scorpio is where we release our fears and shame to the loving cosmic compost heap to be purified while Sagittarius holds the optimism and freedom that exists after our rebirth. With Sagittarius the life force is renewed and focused upon expansion, pointing its arrow toward new horizons. And through such dedication to freedom flows Jupiter’s generous nature.
Jupiter, the planetary ruler of Sagittarius, is well versed in gratitude. In a society purposefully manufacturing scarcity to keep us isolated and disconnected from our creative essence, it feels important to speak about gratitude. Gratitude is not a solitary expression or marker of personal wealth or success. Sadly, it feels like every concept needs to be unbound from the clutches of capitalism and gratitude is absolutely part of this. Re-learning how to experience gratitude as a connecting force goes hand in hand with allowing a larger range of emotions within our body, including positive ones, which can be more difficult than we may think.
Gratitude is found everywhere when we are open to feeling more.
Even in the deepest states of grief it shows up because the grief is telling us something about what we share/d with others.
For me in this moment gratitude feels like a powerful counterbalancing force to hold and honor the deep wells of grief running through the collective. We are witnessing at such an extreme the catastrophic result of trust and belief in authoritarian and militaristic governance to protect people. We have seen our emotional responses being used against us to fuel unprecedented violence. So many are being awakened at this time to the absolute truth that trauma is not healed by inflicting more trauma. The endless splitting and division of people into opposing categories is both heightened and crumbling in the same moment. And within this, it is crucial for us to feel.
Our emotions are rivers of energy that guide our lives whether we like it or not. A dam can only hold for so long and murky waters will remain through generations until someone is willing to feel. With Venus having just entered Scorpio, it is the reminder that we stay alive/awake to this life by learning how to be witnessed in our emotional bodies. This doesn’t have to come solely from human relationship, just acknowledging or asking for the presence of an ancestor or higher being to come witness and hold us through the emotional experiences that feel all consuming can be the level of intimacy that unblocks our hearts. And sometimes love is the all consuming feeling our system cannot take. This world deeply craves our love, our loving gratitude, our ability to embody and express love, just as much as it needs us to grieve.
Jupiter reminds us that generosity and abundance is unconditional within a universe which is always expanding. There is always enough and it is as natural as breathing to share. If we cannot base our actions on a belief that these things are true then I’m not sure how we can expect to evolve beyond the control of those who need us to believe otherwise. We are so conditioned to be disconnected and in competition with one another to the point that it becomes difficult to be trusting that experiencing love or joy won’t make us vulnerable to more pain. The problem is that it actually requires our willingness to feel differing states of emotions for pathways to form in our brain that allow these feelings to be more accessible to us.
I will admit that speaking about gratitude would have felt wildly unproductive and even offensive to past versions of myself. But that past self was not capable of being fully tapped into gratitude because they were significantly cut off from heart centered feeling (bless them and all their rage and resentments). If you doubt that your ability to experience the sensation of unconditional love or internal peace is important or productive, think about a younger version of yourself and ask if they might like to feel it. Consider how experiencing and having tolerance to embody these sensations could have changed the life of that younger self and the lives of others around them. Ask yourself if it is important to you that the world you are visioning be one where others can easily access these feelings? What do you think now?
One simple way that I’ve been called to practice gratitude as a connecting force is as follows:
I notice when I feel my being is experiencing a pleasing or peaceful sensation, feeling, or thought
I allow the feeling to get bigger until it starts expanding beyond my physical form
I visualize or ask that this loving sensation overflow infinitely into the collective to be shared by all
Learning how to be receptive to and embrace positive feelings (even/especially if they are arising from emotions such as grief) is one half of gratitude. If it is difficult to allow or stay with feelings of peace, solace, joy etc because of the wide range of reasons this happens; fear of loss, self protection, not feeling deserving, guilt because others are suffering, etc, try remembering connection which is the other half of gratitude.
What does it feel like to let a peaceful emotion grow and then overflow toward others? Emphasis on the overflow, gratitude is never about depletion but recognition of the truth that we are inherently part of a loving force which connects us to all things. The image this brings to mind for me is The Star card in the tarot. One foot on the ground, one in the water, the vessel is always pouring out and will never dry up. That is how gratitude should feel and why it naturally impels us to act with kindness, compassion, and generosity.
The Star card is most commonly associated with Aquarius but I find the imagery ideal for reflecting on the theme of Jupiter’s generosity so take it more as my personal inspiration here in what follows. This last week has brought this card into focus for me in a newly profound way that I now wonder if I was setting myself up to realize all along.
I got this rendition of The Star card along with these words from the band Rainer Maria tattooed on me long before fully understanding its message. I even have Star card imagery up in my home as the first thing you see when you enter. It’s like I left myself clues because I knew enough to understand that it would eventually lead to some greater unfolding.
“To have without keeping” is Star mantra. We don’t need to have or to keep, we just are, always have been and always will be. Source intelligence is love, and gratitude is like breathing. The waters of The Star card remind us of this. I have been followed around by it all week, even ending up behind a car with “STARSTAR” for a license plate after I started writing. My various knowledge streams all started to collide with the waters of the card.
It is estimated that 30-50% of the water on this planet is older than the solar system and even the sun. We are literally bathing, drinking, and majority comprised of this primordial celestial substance. In alchemy, one of water’s correspondences is the substance Mercury and in turn the planet itself and all its characteristics. Mercury is known as a messenger and psychopomp who can travel between realms. Similarly, the water element represents the subconscious and emotions, both of which express as messengers, acting as a bridge to bring what is unconscious to light through dreams, visions, intuitive sensation, feeling and all that is experienced in this subtle realm.
Water is a bridge between the physical and eternal. The waters of The Star card express infinitely as the subconscious traveling from our higher selves down into conscious awareness. The flow of dreams and visions not yet manifest, forever exist as all potential within this cosmic stream. All of us come from and are made of these loving waters. The message of this card is an offering of trust that infinite potential is always available to us and the promise that whatever we are open to feeling can be healed. It is also a call to be vulnerable enough to love our own dreams so they might become the gratitude that overflows into the lives of others.
And with that, I send many blessing on this upcoming new moon. It will be trine the North Node which feels like a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with any dreams that are asking for your renewed excitement and encouragement. I hope this overflow of symbolic and emotional meandering was enjoyable, resonate, and holding at this time.
From the celestial waters with infinite love and gratitude
xo,
Evan
If you are desiring a witness or some guidance in the emotional or cosmic realms, I welcome you to explore my current offerings. Learning to transform and rewire our inner landscape can be lonely and scary. It is truly a calling of mine to support folks in building capacity to meet with openness and care all parts of self with the spiritual understanding that this allows more of our higher self/soul essence to be present within our being in this lifetime. 💜
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