Holding the Soft and Strong in one Season
Happy Thursday! We’re deep into the throws of Aries season, Mercury retrograde started on Monday, and there’s another eclipse coming up on the 8th ... So if you’re feeling some type of way in the midst of all this planetary chaos, join the club! We’re all in this together.
It’s normal to feel all up and arms about a myriad of things during this time on the wheel of the year. In terms of the Yin and Yang, Aries season, as the leader of the zodiac, has that “guns blazing” & “all or nothing” Yang energy that can feel difficult to keep up with. A very go-getter, masculine vibe that’s both beautiful and brutal if not held with earnest presence. With this, I want to gently direct our attention back to where we usually turn in these newsletters… to nature for guidance.
Imagine if the trees and all the plants just immediately sprung into full bloom mode? How overwhelming would that be… There is no light switch ‘on’ or ‘off’ in nature, it’s all a gradual & cyclical process of expanding and contracting. Just because we’re noticing the plants and landscape emerge towards full openness, doesn’t mean we have to beat ourselves up in regard to our own process of opening.
Personally, I tend to run pretty hot. When I get an idea or an inspiration I often have to act on it right away and keep my head down until it comes to fruition; barely taking a breath between inception and completion. If for some reason something gets in the way, I get distracted on my quest or find myself in the midst of burnout, I feel ashamed for not being able to pull off what I had set out to do. If you’re anything like me, there’s no mistake why we’re like this, and it’s not your fault! We have absorbed the essence of the societal machine that we live within, which gauges how valuable we are based on our productivity. This could not be further from the truth in regards to nature. The Sun does not demand anything from the Earth and it’s creatures, it simply shines down on them allowing them to decide on their own unique paths, when it is right to accept in the light.
If it’s true that we’re all here as one collective unit, the Maple trees with their little red tufts of forming leaves and us, can manifest however fast or slow we deem necessary from the winter both of the soul and season. No one has an internal timeline for you other than you, I promise!
We can take solace in watching the slowness of nature appear in the midst of this fast moving season… there’s a bit of a paradox here though isn’t there! Fast or slow? Hot or cold? Why not take a moment to tune into the Spirit of all things, which can always hold the both-and of these conundrums.
I want us to have a chat this week about this, the Spirit or animation that is alive literally in all things. The word animate means “having life or to bring to life”, and is derived from the Latin word anima, which means “breath or soul”. As Spring continues to unfold, we will be watching the trees wake up, and breathe themselves back to life… they are indeed waking up just as we do in the morning. We know trees breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen, so why can’t they be animated, with a soul just the same? Why can’t they have a Spirit just like we do?
Why has our modern structure at large decided that trees are lumber and paper and profit, and not our grandfathers and grandmothers from a life our minds have been conditioned to forget, but our DNA closely can recall. We have been strategically removed from having intimacy and relationships with Nature. Not seeing nature as kin, isolates us from leaning on their wisdom for support when we are feeling these very human exclusive emotions. In this world that profits from how badly or subordinate we feel about ourselves, how can we give our feelings of inadequacy back to the Earth to filter?
Dr. Pinkola Estes, author of Women Who Run With the Wolves (please read this book if you haven’t) has lots of thoughts on anima. Her psychoanalysis of this concept stems from Jungian Psychology, in which anima is termed the “feminine part of a man’s personality”. “Jung described the animus as the unconscious masculine side of a woman, and the anima as the unconscious feminine side of a man, each transcending the personal psyche.” As I mentioned above, Aries often comes off as a very Yang season, everyone is do-do-doing. The birds are rushing around, we’re rushing around, and our mind’s are rushing through our to-do lists in this very fiery time.
We find ourselves in this here, there, everywhere predicament… The only problem with this is we can either be here, or be there, but we certainly can not be everywhere. The juxtaposition in all of this masculine do-do-doing, is that it’s in direct response to the feminine nature of the world naturally opening upon its new life cycle again.. Therefore the Yin and Yang are coexisting, yet we’re choosing to focus intently on only one side of this coin at this time, creating imbalance.
So instead of the hard strung conditioning that we must be over-productive, albeit exhausted all Spring… There’s now an invitation to hold the both-and of this season.
Spirit holds the both-and of all things like I said before… Spirit holds the ties between a tree being a tree, and a tree being a true friend. Spirit holds the both-and of us all being exclusively human, and us being puzzle pieces to complete nature as a whole. Spirit can hold the duality of feeling like we must hurry up, and knowing we are exactly where we’re supposed to be.
I think there is a balance dance all throughout cycles of life and death, highs and lows, and seasons and signs of the zodiac…
In seasons where it’s easier to be more Yang, how can we intentionally curate the time for the slow holiness of Yin? And in seasons where Yin comes knocking at the door more often than not, where can we find the Yang to bring a bit of pep into our steps?
If anima is the feminine part of a man’s personality, I assume that would indicate the parts of a man’s personality that allow him to receive belly laughs and naps in the middle of the day. The parts that allow him to drop to his knees in sobs when his heart is broken. The parts of a man that let him dance like no one is watching, and let another man cut in front of him in line just because. Anima is the feminine part of the man's personality, so then animus pertains to the masculine parts of a female personality.. Also known as the parts of a woman who busies herself nonstop in search of feeling safe and in control.. The parts of a woman whose jaw is clenched while folding laundry or waiting for her kids to get in the car fearing they’ll be late to tennis practice. The parts of a woman who chooses to put her artful life to the side because waitressing “pays more”. Who finds herself holding her breath in work meetings, in traffic, or in line for her 3rd coffee of the day.
We all know both sides of these coins well, we surf the waves of these human experiences day in and day out. Life is all about that dance between the polarities it delivers.. If you’re feeling chilly you put a sweater on to warm up, if you add too much sugar to something it probably needs a dash of salt or spice to tone it down… it’s all about coming back to center regardless of the prominent theme overall. Our invitation now in this season of doing the most, is to find action that doesn’t stem from structure or productivity. Perhaps a moment of childlike play or wonder about the world…?
Can you just for a morning, an afternoon or even just 10 minutes in the days or weeks ahead, allow yourself to come into full presence and slowness with the fact you will never hold this moment again, and give thanks for that breath of anima that fuels us forwards? Slowing down when you catch yourself in those moments you find your teeth clenched or breath held.
You are exactly where you need to be, and if you hate it right now, know it too will soon change. You will never have a Friday April 5th, 2024 ever again. Approach it intentionally, and dare I say, with love.
Listen to this guided meditation to dial into this slowness one might need amidst this fiery season of strength and movement.
With much love and gratitude,
Taryn xx
