Storm Cestavani - Psychic Astrologer

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Self Help

The Healing Power of Belief

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I am convinced that I was a scribe of the Torah in a past life.   Since I was a boy in high school, I have been a perfectionist when it came to writing things down.  Whether this was class notes, letters, or reports everything had to be perfect – and I really did not like to use white out.   I wrote and rewrote everything until it was just right.   Yeah, I know a little obsessive compulsive.

At this point, I am sure you are wondering what this has to do with being a scribe of the Torah.   Well, the scribes of the Torah had to write everything down to perfection.   This was an extremely tedious task that took 1-3 years to complete.    Every single spot, every single letter, every single nuance had to be precise and perfect.   If it was not, then the scroll was considered invalid, and had to be rewritten.     Could you imagine, getting halfway through a scroll and have to throw it out and start all over again because of a tiny little error?  No correction tape, no spell check, no word processing programs to fix it!

Crazy to think about isn’t it?

In the portion of Pinchas, there is an exception to this rule.   There is a cracked letter in the Torah scroll, and it is the only place in the whole Torah where this occurs.    What would be the purpose for this?   The secret lies within one of the Major Arcana cards of the Tarot!  But, as always you will have to wait…

The Astrology:

I don’t know about you, but after a month and a half of nonstop aspects including 3 eclipses, I am sighing with relief with the lack of astrological aspects.  We all need a cosmic break!   This week we have only two astrological aspects (although there is a Full Moon in Capricorn this week, which puts the focuses on business affairs and the public eye) – Mercury sextile Mars and Venus square Saturn.

On Monday, Mercury in Leo will sextile Mars in Gemini.   This is a great aspect if you need to communicate ideas, write, or for sales activities. Our ability to observe the obvious is at an all-time high at this time.    Mars gives Mercury the ability to convince anybody of anything, and the tenacity to get the job done.  Under a hard aspect, (square or opposition) Mars revving up Mercury could lead to knee jerk reactions to outer stimuli; however with this being a sextile there is minimal amounts of friction creating obstacles to derail our goals.  Take advantage of this energy while it is available, because Mercury will go into its shadow cycle later in the week.

This leads us to Wednesday when Venus in Cancer squares Saturn in Libra.   In my experience as an astrologer this is one of the most difficult aspects – especially for those that are more emotionally sensitive to the outer world.  Venus is our ability to relate and enjoy our connections with others.  When Venus becomes afflicted by Saturn, Saturn exposes Venus’ emotional vulnerability and we often close down emotionally.   In many cases, we begin to isolate and disengage from our social circles.   It is necessary when Venus is square Saturn for us to develop self-confidence and a feeling of personal self-worth.    This will allow us to build our current relationships with more reliable structure.

Your Cosmic Weather Forecast:

The Hierophant from the Alchemical Tarot www.thealchemicalegg.com

Now back to the fun stuff!

The reason I do the Cosmic Weather Forecast is because there are 52 different energies that are allocated to the 52 weeks of the year.  This week the energy is called “Pinchas”, which is the name of the central figure of this week’s story in the Torah.   The primary kabbalistic message in the story involves the power of healing, and is one of the most significant kabbalistic portions of the year.

Healing is such a tricky word.    How many times have you seen people in your life who are just fine, they go for a random checkup and then they find out they have some illness, and they go downhill from there?  It is amazing what happens to the mind once it believes something to be true.

As I mentioned earlier, there is an interesting occurrence that happens in this portion that does not occur elsewhere in the Torah.   There is a crack in one of the letters (in the word SHALOM) that normally would invalidate the scroll.   However, in Pinchas the crack is put in purposely.   The letter in Hebrew is called VAV, which means “nail”.    All of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet have a corresponding Major Arcana energy attached to them.   In this case, the letter VAV corresponds with the controversial Hierophant.

According to Kabbalah, everything originates at a seed (thought) level.  It begins in the upper worlds (thoughts) of Kether and travels down the tree to physical manifestation in Malchut.     The Rav states that the cracked letter VAV leaves enough space for us to go back and heal any form of illness at the seed level.  In essence, it provides us an opportunity for correction.  So, what does this have to do with the Hierophant?

In most books written about the Tarot, the Hierophant in some manner has to do with beliefs.  Whether it is religious beliefs, dogma, or the institution of religion the word “belief” is hovering around this card like a bee around a beehive.  C.C. Zain in his book “The Sacred Tarot” (Church of Light Press) simply refers to the Hierophant as meaning religion or law.  For many, the fundamental issue of belief involves their spiritual or religious ideologies, which is why the Hierophant in modern new age circles brings forth feelings of the dogmatic institution of the Catholic Church and fundamental Christianity.   These feelings many are repulsed by due to the vast amount of repression that has been inflicted on many by the Church.

If we take the Hierophant to be connected to the letter VAV, then we must also consider that the Hierophant itself (this week) has a crack in it.  What does this mean?   It means that we are granted the energy to change how we believe and how we think, and begin the process of reversing any damage that has occurred as a result of our belief system.  This healing is all healing – whether it is mental, spiritual, physical or emotional.

Take some time out this week to truly think about what you believe.   Do you find that your beliefs limit you?  Do you find that you’re too rigid in your thinking?  Do you find that you believe things simply because others believe it? Further, what does the Hierophant mean to you?   By exploring our inner ideologies and expanding our beliefs we activate the true power of healing.

Tarot Tune-up:

Pull your Hierophant card out of the deck.   Shuffle the deck and ask yourself the following questions.   What can I do to bring forth mental healing?  What can I do to bring forth emotional healing?  What can I do to bring forth spiritual healing?  What can I do to bring forth physical healing.

Lay down the cards in front of you.  Pick up your Hierophant card and look at it for a few minutes.  Get the image of the card implanted in your mind.   Now, close your eyes and ask the Hierophant if he has any further information that can help you with your healing.  Write down what he tells you on a sheet of paper.

Let me know what you learned!

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Is It Over Yet?

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“Is it over yet?”   I have answered this question multiple times over the past month, and each time I can hear the horror in people’s voices when I answer, “not anytime soon!”   It’s been a rough road since the beginning of June when the current eclipse cycle began.  Week after week we are being bombarded with very intensive astrological energies with no end in sight.

By the way, you have seen nothing; this week is going to be INTENSE! Buckle your seat belts — hazardous conditions ahead.

The Astrology:

Your major weather player this week is the Sun.  The Sun currently is in emotionally fluid Cancer.   Under normal circumstances, the Sun provides us with the ability to shine, be ourselves, and be individual.   He gives us the ability to know ourselves and remain loyal to the truth that lives within our hearts.   When the Sun has positive outlets from other planets, those planets provide us with a path to express our specialness.  However, when the Sun is afflicted (fancy word for difficult to express itself), our ability to shine can feel stymied, and we may feel pressured to conform to others or the collective consensus.  In fact, the urge to be unique and special can be threatening to others, who in turn may criticize or envy another’s sense of individuality.

As with the last few Cosmic Weather Forecasts, this forecast will continue to be challenging.  The Sun will be highly afflicted as it squares Uranus in Aries, opposes Pluto in Capricorn, and then squares Saturn in Libra.  In the midst of this intensive solar energy will be a Solar Eclipse on July 1 (I will focus exclusively on the Eclipse in a future blog) forming a cardinal grand cross.  If you are dizzy after reading all that, join the club!  I am dizzy thinking about it.

Your Cosmic Weather Forecast

Each week, I attempt to look at the current astrological signature and ask, “What is the lesson in this?”  What are the planets trying to tell us, and more importantly how do we understand this energy to make sense of it in a productive manner?  After all, what would be the use of knowing the energies of the planets if we could not use them to our advantage!

What can we learn from a grand cross?  A grand cross is an accumulation of astrological energies that have manifested over a period of time that have a profound influence on the collective.  Since they do not occur with regular frequency, they tend to bring about life altering energies.   Our natural tendency is to attempt to defend ourselves against their (the planets) onslaught, yet this only works for so long till we are forced to make particular changes and decisions that we have little choice in.  In many ways, if we are heavily influenced by these energies (major configurations such as Sun, Moon, or Ascendant in cardinal signs such as Aries, Cancer, Libra, or Capricorn) it is going to feel like we are being pulled in many directions until we hit “rock bottom” because there is no easy route out or any quick fix to our problems.  In fact, the intensity of our problems will persist until we make an active decision to change what we are doing, which might ultimately include a different path.

This week you will notice areas of your life that need changing.  What areas do you feel frustrated (Sun square Saturn) in?  Where do you feel obstacles are hindering (Sun square Saturn) your movement?  Are there areas of your life where you are reacting impulsively (Sun square Uranus) with knee jerk reactions?  Where do you feel worried, paranoid, obsessive, or uneasy (Sun oppose Pluto) in your life?   The areas of our lives that become highlight give us a hint about what changes we need to make in our lives to make them free of conflict and less stressful.

In Kabbalah, we are taught that what we see is only a small (very small) part of the big picture.   Often we are so afraid of change that we stay stuck in our current patterns much to our own dismay.   This week we are provided (via the stress of the aspects) an opportunity to see the bigger picture.  Often the scary change is for our better good, and often open doors and opportunities that would not be available to us.  The only condition is that we are brave enough to see.

Tarot Tune-Up:  Shuffle your favorite Tarot or Oracle deck.   Ask the following question, “Despite my current obstacles and frustrations, how can I best let my light shine?”   Pull 3-cards.  Let me know what you pulled!

 

It’s True — I Am Crushing On a Girl!

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Yep.   You read that right!  I, the openly gay astrologer/tarotist/psychic/kabbalist am totally smitten with a girl.  How can this even be possible?

When I first came across her, I didn’t really care for her.  Oh, of course, she was cute and sassy (which is always a plus for any red blooded gay man), but a little too gynocentric for me.   However, like a fine wine she has become an acquired taste.

So, who is this mesmerizing lady?  I am not telling you yet!

On with the forecast…

This weekend starts off pretty well, but declines rather quickly.  To begin, we have Venus in Gemini trine Saturn in Libra.   Anytime, Saturn is in aspect to a planet it forces the planet to be rather sober and contained, which social Venus has great disdain for.    Venus loves pleasure, relationships, money, and luxury – being put on a budget and being restricted from being a social diva is not really an experience she prefers.    However, since the aspect is a trine she deals with it rather grudgingly.   Sometimes every girl (even Might Aphrodite) needs a break!  Venus and Saturn instruct us to play it safe this weekend with our friendships and relationships.  Contain emotional reactions, and avoid those that tend towards the dramatic.  In addition, if you do spend time socially confine it to deep friendships that are dependable and reliable.

Now the fun begins – not!  Mercury, the weather maker of the week comes back again with two prickly aspects.   The trickster planet will square Uranus and the on Sunday (Father’s Day) opposes Pluto beginning a rather nasty grand cross (Saturn joins the fun next week).   This is a messy combination, which can lead to stress, disagreements, adversarial communications and downright nastiness.  Mercury in square to Uranus is a highly reactive aspect that involves Mercury’s quicksilver tongue.   This can be especially messy, because of Uranus’ restless and impatient nature.   We could easily find ourselves in situations where our impatience may impede our good social graces.  Mercury opposition to Pluto, on the other hand, is rather tense and compulsive.   Oppositions via their own nature produce conflict, but since Mercury rules communications, arguments and stressful situations are bound to occur.   Mercury oppose Pluto tends to see “what is wrong” with everything, rather than “what is right,” which can easily lead us down the dangerous road of obsession.  This weekend there is a great need to practice strength and self-control to cope with our difficulties.

Now, back to the fun stuff – you still want to know about the lady I am crushing on?   Well, her name is Marie Forleo and she is the webmistress of http://www.marieforleo.com .    She has an amazing amount of content on her website (that is gynocentric), but I have come to find her rather refreshing, innovative, and to be frank – amazing!  The reason that I have saved my “secret crush” until today is that she has a recent video that can help with the difficult energy of the weekend.  It is called, “How to Immediately Stop Stressing Out.”   I love her slogan, “everything is figure-out-able.” With the tense energy of this weekend, this video contains great information to help us through reacting to circumstances around us.

 

Tarot Tune-Up:   Shuffle your tarot deck, and ask the tarot the following question.  How can I better deal with stress?  Pull three cards.  Let me know what you pull.

See you guys on Monday!

 

The 12 Days of Yule: Day 12 — Everything That Has a Beginning Comes To an End

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Can you believe it?  We are on the 12th Day of the 12 Days of Yule!   What an interesting and amazing journey it has been.  I first want to thank all of the people that participated, and I hope that this has been a rather insightful experience for you.   Understanding the workings of our unconscious is the first step to making lasting change in our lives.   Doing these simple exercises of self-reflection will get you started on a powerful New Year that you can manage in a more effective and productive way.

Today, we focus on letting go of the past.   What past?  Your past!  As 2010 draws to a close it is time for us to dump our attachments to the particular experiences of the year that have left us stuck, frustrated, and out of sorts.   I know, easier said than done!  However, perfection is not necessary – only the willingness to let things go.  Whether your issues were financial, career, or relationship oriented now is the time to let go of the past and prepare for the new.

Activity 12:

Write down the issues that you wish to let go of from the past on your Yule page.

Get out your decks.   Shuffle the cards thoroughly and ask the following question,  “How can I best let go of circumstances that I may have attachments to from the past?”   Fan out your cards in front of you, and select one card from the deck.

The card that I drew from the Legacy of the Divine Tarot is Faith.

First, I found it interesting that both of the cards from our last Beyond Tarot intensive on Beyond Worlds appeared in my spread.   The Faith card in most Tarot decks is called “The Hierophant” – it is also one of the most difficult cards because of its pseudo religious connotation.   For many it brings issues surrounding religious dogma and the abuses of religious authority.   Thankfully, I have always seen this card as a need to study or become educated about the mysteries of life and the laws that govern the physical universe.

Personally, one of the ways for me to let go of the past is for me to concentrate on my faith and my spiritual work.   I made a decision several weeks ago that I want to focus more on the connection between Tarot and Kabbalah in 2011, and my pulling this card was the universe giving its blessing.

What card did you draw?

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Faith from the Legacy of the Divine Tarot is Courtesy of Llewellyn

The 12 Days of Yule: Day 11 — Honor Thy Inner Parent With Reservation

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Are we a culture that just does not like authority?  Or has authority got it wrong so many times that we have an innate tendency to view them negatively?   These were questions that came up for me as I was preparing for Day 11 of the 12 Days of Yule.   It appears that many views (at least from the metaphysical perspective) consider any ruling authority or ruling concept as limiting, constrictive, rigid, and dogmatic.   So, attempting to work with the content today has been a task.

Yesterday we explored our inner child and how to energize that archetype in our lives.  Today, we will explore the Inner Adult, another area in transactional analysis that needs to be healed for many people.   This is a trying concept because we tend to put the clothes of our parents on the Inner Parent.  If you had a good relationship with your parents then you will probably evoke the Wise Old Man or the Crone.   If you had a negative relationship with your parents then most likely the Synex or Dark Mother will be activated.   However, our inner parent is something inside of us – and he or she is a positive force that helps us make constructive decisions about our future.   At times the Inner Parent has to put some restrictions on the Inner Child (which often the Inner Child then acts like an Inner Spoiled Brat), but they are a pair and we have to give life to both of them.

Activity 11

Get out your deck.  Shuffle your cards thoroughly and ask the following question, “How do I best activate my Inner Parent?”  Fan the cards out and select one from the deck.

The card that I drew from the Legacy of the Divine Tarot is The Queen of Coins.

In my astrological system for Tarot, I equate the Queen of Coins with the sign of Taurus.   She is stubborn, steadfast, able to do business with a single bound, and has the discipline to be able to stay focused.  My inner child card The Chariot says to use the power of my will to push forward with all the activities I have before me, but the Queen of Coins requires me to do it in a stable and structured way.   I really like the energy of these two cards together, and am rather pleased and excited that I drew them.

What card did you draw?

The Queen of Coins from Legacy of the Divine Tarot is courtesy of Llewellyn

The 12 Days of Yule: Day 10 — Energize Your Inner Child

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During the 1970’s, the initial steps of analytical psychology merging with pop culture began with the advent of transactional analysis.  The recovery movement quickly jumped on the “band wagon” addressing new concepts such as codependency and adult child issues.   The movement gave birth to noted authors such as Melody Beattie, Ernie Larsen, John Bradshaw, Alice Miller, and Pia Melody.

One of the most written about subjects in transactional analysis was the inner child.  The inner child is all of the emotional experiences that we have stored in our brain from our earliest memory.   The main question that emerged was whether or not we all had been damaged by our childhood?  There have been numerous books written about it, and the recovery movement believes that healing the inner child IS paramount for long term recovery.

The archetype of the inner child has morphed over the last 40 years, and has worn many sets of clothes.  However, its essence has remained the same.    The problem that I see with this archetype is that we have spent years attempting to heal the inner child, but little time actually letting him or her play.  I will be the first to admit I spend way too much time working (my comfort zone), and not enough time playing.   Yet, it is necessary to give life to the inner child in some form of constructive way in order to live a well-rounded life.

Activity 10:

Get out your deck of tarot cards.  Shuffle them thoroughly, and ask yourself the following question, “What is the best way for me to energize my inner child?”   Fan the cards out and draw one.

The card I drew from The Legacy of the Divine Tarot is The Chariot.

One of the easiest ways for me to energize my inner child is possibly through my work.   I like to work hard and then when that is done I like to work even harder.   Could the power of my will to push forth many of the creative projects I am working on access this energy?   In addition, The Chariot refers to harnessing two different pairs of opposites – which in this case are work and play.   A likely remedy would be infusing my work with creative play and excitement giving birth to both worlds.

What card did you pull?

The Chariot from Legacy of the Divine Tarot is courtesy of Llewellyn.