A Good Sign by Jennifer Freed, PhD Jennifer Freed PhD is the best-selling author of USE YOUR PLANETS WISELY and a renowned psychological astrologer and social and emotional education trainer. She is the CCO of Ahasb.org. Jennifer has spent over thirty years consulting clients and businesses worldwide on psychological, spiritual, and educational topics. She can be reached at www.jenniferfreed.com
Shout Out to Birthday Darling Rendy Freedman of Montecito
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endy Freedman is the co-founder of AHA! (www.ahasb.org), which is celebrating 21 years of serving teens, educators, and families. She is the proud mother of three amazing adults and two irresistible grandchildren. Rendy is beloved for her endless warmth, compassion, and her great capacity to work hard and play with abandon. Look for Rendy this summer enjoying her ocean swims, and then having a bright cocktail at a social distance. This month we are dealing with the virus and fierce and important social justice issues. Each of us will need to be part of the solution instead of adding to the problems. The worst thing we can do right now is create more separation or animosity between us. In order to bring our best to the enormous challenges this month we need to undo our shame, and promote noble qualities and conscious social engagement. Read each sign this month for clues on how to become more effective in social transformation. Using the energies of each astrological sign, we can tap into what may be underneath the shame – and can then find direction for dignifying our recovery from it.
Aries the Ram
they become consumed with drama. They have a deep core need to be on the throne of others’ admiration. They can dignify those deep needs for primacy and affection by realizing that wanting love is the most natural thing in the world. Learning how to make self-love the pinnacle of fulfillment is the key. Leos can be the HEART for the drumbeat of social change.
Virgo the Vestal Virgin
The Virgo can feel shame for feeling so utterly imperfect – for failing to live up to impossible virtues and standards. Virgos struggle with intense themes of criticism of themselves and others, which leads them to feel ashamed about their pettiness. They can dignify themselves by realizing that the quest for perfection is beautiful, and that the road to perfection is a pothole parade. They can learn to love the potholes as if they were each an oasis in a desert. Virgos can teach us all discernment and refinement.
Libra the Scales of Balance
Libras can feel shame for wanting to be liked so much that they sacrifice authenticity for social chits. They feel ashamed of being too much in response to others, and about how they merge their identities with those of the people they are with; they can dignify themselves by realizing that harmony and collaboration are beautiful values. They can remember that if they ask first for what they need and want, the chances for balance increase. Libras can hold both sides and see the common good.
Scorpio the Scorpion
Scorpios tend toward shame for having so much self-hatred; they are even ashamed of their shame. The dark thoughts and feelings Scorpios deal with make them feel like they are subhuman in some way. They can dignify themselves by recognizing that dark thoughts and feelings are the reason humans know light. Their experience of darkness is a superpower – especially when they help themselves and others to liberate these feelings from the prison of judgement. Scorpios can help us find the emotional courage to face the hardest times.
Aries people tend to feel shame for impulsive behaviors, acting out, or lashing out. They often feel ashamed of how badly they want to be central to others. They can dignify themselves by realizing that all rash behavior comes from inner irritation and a lack of emotional soothing, and by recognizing that wanting to be seen and acknowledged is a powerful longing – one that, when met with true compassion, does not have to emerge as a monopolizing, reckless energy. Aries can be the leaders in protecting safety and standing up for the underdog.
Sagittarius the Archer
Taurus the Bull
Capricorn the Sea-Goat
Taurus people tend to feel shame for needs around material security, stability, and control. They often feel shame for their focus on money. They can dignify themselves by realizing that their yearnings for comfort are part of being incarnated. When they upgrade their longing for material security to a strong sense of moral and social grounding, they can become a truly stabilizing force for others.
Gemini the Twins
Geminis can feel shame for being careless with actions and words and being all over the place in their minds. They often feel ashamed for being unrooted and insubstantial. These parts of the self can be dignified by realizing that the winds of the mind are not their true nature. The Gemini can feel self-compassion for feeling so spun around and can actively find ways to ground and stabilize their mind. Geminis can be the most effective at inspirational speech and writing.
Cancer the Crab
Cancerians may feel shame for underlying neediness, clinginess, dependency, and a deep orientation around security. They often have a deep shame for feeling so sensitively and having their feelings hurt so easily. They can dignify themselves by validating the desire for emotional closeness and the ability to mutually and vulnerably share intimacy. In recognizing that “home” is a legitimate longing, the Cancerian can feel proud to share their dreams for their ideas of home and family. They can allow others to know that underneath their shell of proficiency, they are highly sensitive souls who can be cut deeply by insensitivity. Cancers can be the sense of HOME we are all looking for.
Leo the Lion
Leos can feel shame for wanting to be adored and loved so much that
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Sagittarians feel shame for feeling superior – for thinking they know more than others and have the right opinion on everything – and, paradoxically for the inferiority complex that lies on the flip side of that sense of superiority. They can dignify themselves by becoming aware that the need to be right is about fear of uncertainty, and that fear is a beautiful emotion when greeted with compassion and curiosity instead of an emotional bypass. Sagittarius can bring the joy of earnest truth. Capricorns can feel shame around constant ambitious desires for recognition and success, as well as a secret shame for feeling like a fraud and failure. They may feel disgrace due to feelings of inadequacy and a lack of control. They can dignify themselves by validating the need for others to know how much effort they put into their contributions. Capricorns can address feelings of failure and inadequacy as natural outgrowths of having high standards and expecting more of oneself than is reasonable. They can come to see failure as just another word for learn and redirect. Capricorns can show us how to climb the great mountain with patient determination.
Aquarius the Water Bearer
Aquarians feel shame for their eccentric and unusual ways of seeing the world and for being different. They often feel ashamed for being at odds with their peers and for feeling out of place socially. They can dignify themselves by understanding how important being “not-normal” is to the development of the human race. Instead of being defensive and rebellious about how they feel different, they can soften with others about the ways in which they do not feel they belong. Aquarians can reveal a higher vision of the collective.
Pisces the Fish
Pisceans can feel shame for their unbearable emotional sensitivity and the longing to be saved by another. They often feel cowardly and weak because they are overwhelmed with feeling and dependency needs. They can dignify the vastness of their sensitivity by recognizing that feelings are always a call for love and intimacy; they can learn with others how to host feelings in a bigger story of impermanence and flow, and to find support systems to build true, dependable structures in their habits and lives. Pisces can demonstrate selfless compassion and empathy. •MJ
9 – 16 July 2020
