When a child is born, he is born on a particular day, at a particular time, in a particular place. And when he breathes his first breath, there are certain cosmic energies surrounding him that will govern him for his entire life. Am I saying that we are bound to our astrological influences from birth? The answer is no. We are not slaves to the universe. This is an important kabbalistic concept. The stars impel but they do not compel. The point of spirituality is actually to overcome the natural robotic behavior that our sign seems to call for, so that we can ultimately reach our soul's potential.
Still, it is easier to ride a wave up, than it is to ride a wave down. In other words, it is to our benefit to learn about each month and the tools it makes available to us. Why? Because whether we are a Leo or a Taurus or a Scorpio, the cosmic alignment during each month will impact our lives.
Therefore, this week, as we welcome the New Moon of Pisces, it is important to know how we can use the month’s energy to grow.
So what can we expect?
The Hebrew word for the month of Pisces is Adar, which comes from the word idra, meaning "spinal column." Not surprisingly,therefore, one of the characteristics of the Pisces is that sometimes he or she lacks a backbone, so to speak. For the Pisces, it can be much more comfortable to shirk reality than to deal with it. When difficulties arise in their lives, oftentimes they put their head in the sand and say, "Wow, everything is great over here."
At the same time, Pisces is a sign of tremendous duality. On the one hand, Pisceans can be absolutely intuitive, clairvoyant, and capable of caring. But on the other hand, as we have mentioned, they can completely disassociate from reality when difficulties arise in their lives. Instead of saying, "OK, this is the situation, onward and upward," they fall back into victim-consciousness—a hole that we know can be very hard to climb out of. Why so hard? Because once we become victims, we are saying in effect that the Light of the Creator isn't in us, that the adverse situation we are facing is not a test to help us become better than we are today. When we are victims, we fail to see that everything is our lives has to happen as part of a bigger plan, a larger process.
So what does this mean for all of us this month? Well, for starters, we can practice overcoming our limiting Piscean tendencies, which we all have, no matter what our sign. Instead of running from the uncomfortable aspects of our reality, we can embrace them and take proactive steps to change ourselves, if necessary. We can also resist the urge to fall into victim-consciousness and instead choose to step up to the plate to learn from our difficulties. Remember, we are in a powerful time when the distance between cause and effect is changing. Years ago, we were able to do an action that would not come back to haunt us in 20 years. Today the line between cause and effect is so short. It almost seems like time itself is moving—and it is, but at a different rate.
We also need to acknowledge that just like the dual nature of the Pisces, there is a duality of consciousness in the world today. The kabbalists call the two poles of this polarity Oy and Ashrei.
Oy is the lackadaisical consciousness of just plain everyday living without having or needing any reason. It is a consciousness that does not accept that each and every one of us is responsible for tomorrow. Oy is when people say to themselves: "Eh, so who cares what's happening on the other side of the world. It doesn't affect me." Or: "So what if thousands of fish wind up on the shore dead. I'll pay more for them. Big deal."
On the flipside, the consciousness of Ashrei is a consciousness that recognizes the importance of our every action and that we can change the world by changing ourselves. Ashrei is when we are able listen to another person, to smile more, and to find small ways to take better care of others and our environment.
Remember, according to the kabbalists, those who can make the greatest changes in the world are those of us that have the greatest negativity, the biggest Vessels. It's not the guy that goes home, has his beer, watches TV, and goes to sleep. Rather, it's the guy that every minute of the day is fighting for something. It's the guy who is busy, moving, involved with life. Polarity works in everything. And the polarity this month is to take all that negativity that is around us, strengthen our backbone, and use it to go to our next level.
Overall, in the coming weeks, let's remember that whenever we make decisions, the boat may rock for a while. It can even rock for a couple of months until it stabilizes because that's the energy that's there for us right now. And it's a good energy because true personal transformation occurs only when the boat is rocked. When we find ourselves in a place that's placid and on an even keel, chances are that we are not growing. Why? Because growth comes only when we need to find a new avenue or a different approach to dealing with our circumstances.
On the New Moon, let's make a list of all the things in our lives that we haven't done—and I'm not talking here about washing the car on Sunday! I'm talking about all the people that we didn't call and all of the uncomfortable situations that we need to address. Why? Because you never know: Perhaps tomorrow is forever.
