Full Moon Eclipse in Gemini: Think for Yourself

"A holy person is someone who is whole; who has, as it were, reconciled his opposites." - Alan Watts

Tonight, we have a full moon lunar eclipse in the mutable air sign of Gemini, the mentally questioning and flexible Twins. Eclipses are known for big surprises and major life changes that seemingly come from nowhere. Does that make you uneasy? Well, if we’ve learned anything in 2020 it’s that anything can happen, and change is swift and unpredictable. If you can get on board with impermanence, you might be able to ride the wave and enjoy the activity. Highly recommended.

The eclipse in the sign of Gemini Twins brings up the theme of opposites, polarities: hot and cold, light and dark, beautiful and ugly, yin and yang, etc. The critical thing to understand – that is, if one wants to be free of existential suffering and angst – is that polarities are perceptions. What is hot to one, might be cool to another. When is it a warm day to an eskimo? A hot day to a desert dweller? Think about couples sharing a bed – who needs the blankets more at night? Who wants a cooler room to sleep in? Perception!

And regarding beauty and ugliness – have you noticed the range of beauty exhibited in movies made outside of the image-focused U.S.? Humans with real features, real aging, real noses, teeth, body size, etc. are considered beautiful, and not ugly. Put those real folks in a Hollywood film? Doesn’t happen so much unless they are cast as the outcast or oddball. Perception!

It is the mind that creates issues by labeling and judging appearances. To be free is to go beyond these fixed ideas, and that is where Gemini the Questioner can be a guide. In addition, Neptune in Pisces stationed and turned direct Saturday, November 29, giving us the power to dissolve our fixed perceptions and allow things to be a bit more fluid – our thinking, our timing, our dreams. Neptune brings us out of the fixed ideas of duality and allows us to rest in the vastness of Existence.

Gemini Sisters, Jeffrey Maddex

Stepping Out of the Societal Superego

A simple definition of the superego is the Inner Critic, the evaluative aspect of the ego that tells us how we “should” be doing things, to fit in and adjust to the world around us. In a large percentage of modern humans, the superego gets overblown on steroids, causing us to doubt and question our natural inclinations. Some of us spend many years in therapy and self-help realms to combat the harsh voice of the Inner Critic. However we face the superego, happiness comes when we make choices based on who we really are, sans expectations.

Did you know that societies, cultures, countries all have a collective superego? When one becomes sensitive enough to input and conditioning, the collective superego can actually be sensed in consciousness, felt like a sticky glaze over the mind. Stepping out of the societal superego is why it feels so damned good when we travel internationally, especially to cultures that are vastly different than our own. We feel the freedom, viscerally – the freedom to think, act, err, express, move, breath outside of the constant, subconscious monitoring that is ever-present in our native land.

This is why a simple Thoreauvian “Walden Pond” experiment – leave everything familiar – can be so completely vital in one’s life, for a certain period of time. It can be six hours, days, weeks, months – or six years. The point is to disconnect from what you believe is true, because it’s always been said it’s true.

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

For about five years in my thirties, I spent 90 percent of my time in India, solo. I wanted to disconnect from the West in order to see how I really felt about things, and to learn to think for myself. I wanted to step away from even the “good” conditioning of California – being a healthy person, a spiritual person, a successful person, a moral person – and see what I was without all of these inputs. I immersed myself in a culture that wouldn’t automatically reinforce my regular thought patterns and habits.

Was this easy? Um, no. Did I feel alone and adrift some of the time? You bet! Did I feel unhinged at times, unsure which way was up and which way was down? Absolutely.

And you know what? As a result, I gained true, lasting happiness. I am Free. Dismantling belief systems and facing existence without the constant feedback of whether I was doing it right, I fell back on the Self. I examined my value system as well, and found that it was also fluid.

How do we move out of the conditioning of right and wrong, good and bad, and all of the other judgements that we carry with us, in our bones – genes and conditioning – if we can’t do a Walden? Some folks find that meditation helps, as well as other contemplative processes, time in nature, time with animals, time off the phone and computer, and languorous time in bed with a lover (another form of meditation!). It can be helpful to read news or follow media from other sources than the usual, or people you disagree with without categorically dismissing what they’re saying before you consider their point of view first.

At this Gemini lunar eclipse, we can take the opportunity to step outside of what we are being fed mentally. With flexible minds and hearts, we can take a good look at we’re being guided internally to do, to uphold, to live. And interestingly, the more we know ourselves, the less we need others to agree with us.

In good Gemini fashion, it is a fascinating experiment to question everything. Ask your body, your mind, your heart – is this true? Is it really true for you? Or are you swallowing what you’re told? When you ask, “Why?” do you automatically hear “Because it’s good for you” or “Because it’s the right thing to do”?

Is it? Inquire within. And be free.

Erin Reese, M.S. is a contemporary spiritual teacher, author and guide. A modern mystic with over thirty years of experience, Erin Reese offers incisive, practical intuitive readings to her clients worldwide. She is a counselor, guide and mentor to those seeking an alternative to traditional psychotherapy or business coaching. Erin also offers non-dual meetings and retreats on embodied liberation and freedom from suffering. Visit erinreese.com for more information.

Full Blue Moon in Taurus 🌕 The Unspookable

This weekend, we welcome a Full Moon on Samhain/Halloween, Dia de los Muertos/All Souls’ Day, All Saints’ Day, and a Blue Moon on October 31st. Mercury is still retrograde, and we are in the middle of an election that can only be described as tragicomedy. Kids are struggling to stay in brick-and-mortar school, the slightest scratchy throat brings paranoia, friends ‘n family relations tense up when it comes to heated topics such as anti-vaxxers, mask-wearing, race relations and oh hey, what about the environment?

After all, we are about to experience a Full Moon in the fixed earth sign of Taurus, tightly conjunct Uranus, the Great Awakener and planet of disruption, earthquakes, tornadoes, Kundalini rising, surprises and shocks, the totally unexpected and the flat-out bizarre. What’s a body to do? How to cope? Do we hide out like trolls, burrowing even further down into our bunkers? Hold our breaths and stress out? Implode in a news consumption frenzy?

Is there another alternative? Of course there is. 

Come along with me…

Imagine if you will that you are in a carnival or adventure theme park. You’re around twelve years old, and about to board, for the very first time, a massive wooden roller coaster. This could be the Giant Dipper at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, or the old Cyclone at Coney Island.  You’re simultaneously scared, and super excited. You’ve absolutely no idea what to expect once they strap you into your seat and pull the safety bar over your lap. Such is the nature of our upcoming days on Planet Earth…

Or, apropos of the season, imagine you are touring a pitch-black Halloween funhouse at night – terrified – as you put your hands through black curtains to feel something in the dark. “It’s the decapitated bloody head of Lizzie Borden’s axe-murdered mother,” your guide whispers to you. Your brain knows it’s actually a mannequin head with a wig soaked in greasy oil – after all, you know it’s not real! – but it’s fully freaking you out, nonetheless.

You place your hands in the next hole in the black curtain. “These are the eyeballs,” your guide whispers. You know it’s a bucket of peeled grapes but – O.M.G! – it sure feels like eyeballs! Completely grossed out, you turn to see a posed couple in turn-of-century garb soaked in blood. You know it’s ketchup – it’s got to be! You’re about at your limit when you see a man dressed as Freddy Krueger revving up a chainsaw in the corner. Quickly, you try to get out – get out! – of the haunted fun house.

Are you having a good time? Stumbling into the outdoor courtyard, you squeal, groan, and laugh with your friends and say simultaneously, “Never again!” and “That was so great!” “Totally excellent!”

Yes, you know it’s a haunted house. You know it’s a nightmare. And, you know deep in the truest part of yourself, that the truth of who you are IS SAFE.

“We live in illusion [and] the appearance of things. There is a reality. We are that reality. When you understand this, you see that you are nothing, and being nothing you are everything. That is all.” – Kalu Rinpoche, as quoted by Ram Dass

At this time of wild world happenings, we may have the luxury of getting spooked. This is the luxury of consciously experiencing the power of the human mind. The ability to believe. To believe that the stories you hear, imagine, watch are, in fact, real.

We all know about suspending disbelief, such as when we are watching a scary movie on Netflix, or tripping through a haunted house. Yet the real angst – the suffering – comes when we actually suspend belief. Suspending belief gives an appearance of a happening – which is all perspective – the illusion of a duration in time and space. Belief gives the appearance the quality of realness. It is a quality like stickiness – this belief stuff. The appearance seems to stick due to the nature of the mind. Embodied understanding of this illusion is the key to freedom – true happiness.

When you get spooked by what you hear, see, smell, sense, simply STOP. Halt, and wait. Do it quietly and internally, on the spot. It’s easy to watch the nature of the mind.

Can you allow yourself to watch the movie of current events, even feel the blood pressure rise, the sweat on the palms, the rising pulse, i.e. the somatic responses labeled as anger, fear, anxiety – when you tune into what appears on the movie screen known as “The World”? Can you realize it is a response of the conditioned mind, perceiving conditioning itself, and that it is all Consciousness playing the starring role, writing the script, and producing the show?

You can see the mind grasping concepts like a Venus flytrap snaps its jaws shut to claim its prey. It reaches out and gobbles up an idea – some news bit, something a friend sends you on social media, some advice or opinion from a family member about this or that. Whatever your mind takes in, consumes, it then must alchemize, digest, spit out the junk. It adds more work. Not ultimately a problem, nothing to blame, but also not necessary.

Can you see beyond the appearance of good and bad, notice that it is all conditioned preference? Whether the emphasis is on personal freedom, the environment, justice, health, responsibility? Or mystery, intrigue, shadow, conspiracy theory, the Dark, the Light, peace, conflict, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera?

Currently in the world play (lila), as always, it is much simpler to stay seated in the Self. Know that You Are the Eternal Self. Rest there. If you are not seated (or seeded) in the Self, it’s going to be a sticky mess when it comes to picking up ideas, notions of intentionality, cause and effect, and playing with them as if they are real. Check to see if you are truly ready for the PG-13 movie, let alone the R-rated director’s cut.

If, on the other hand, you know the Truth of Who You Are, as Consciousness, then – ONLY then – it’s no problem at all diving headlong into the land of maya, with politics, pandemics, plans, or purposes. Once it is all seen through… when there is no suspended belief in any of it – then go ahead and play fully in the divine lila game – the fun house. Play in it, and be happy all the time.

Live in samsara and be happy all the time

Nirvana and samsara are one.

Erin Reese, M.S. is a contemporary spiritual teacher, author and guide. A modern mystic with over thirty years of experience, Erin Reese offers incisive, practical intuitive readings to her clients worldwide. She is a counselor, guide and mentor to those seeking an alternative to traditional psychotherapy or business coaching. Erin also offers non-dual meetings and retreats on embodied liberation and freedom from suffering.

*Weekly nondual satsang in the advaita vedanta lineage is held Thursdays, 9am Pacific. Email Erin for more information. The November 13-15 retreat in the High Sierra has one spot remaining!

Notes from India 🇮🇳 follow me on Twitter

Hello beloved friends and clients!
Writing from Mother India with a few images to share..one more day in the north and then heading south. I am traveling sans laptop and thus posting occasionally on Twitter is much easier! If you'd like to follow my travels through images, please follow me on Twitter here:
@erin_reese
Check out Erin Reese (@erin_reese):
https://twitter.com/erin_reese

Sending you all so much love from the holy Ganga Maa!
Thank you Maa India 💖
Namaste and Hare Om
Erin 🙏

Rajasthani sweets

Local wedding procession

Travel and Soul writer on the Ganga

Jai Kali Maa

Shiva tandava

Jai Hanuman!

New Moon in Virgo: Perfectionism, Slightly Imbalanced

"Balance is the point I cross
on my way to the other extreme."
~ A Mentor of Mine

Baltic Sea (Ost See), Northeast Germany

It’s been several months since I’ve written a post. And do you know why? It’s a 6-letter word called SUMMER. Yes, in and among meeting with you, my beloved clients worldwide, I’ve been traveling in foreign cities, camping in wildernesses, exploring forests, swimming in streams. In the past, I’ve pushed myself to write articles while traveling. But this summer, I decided to tune in, drop out, listen to the flow of rivers, oceans of consciousness in which I’ve had the luxury of swimming. I’ve been online less, resting more.

Even with the unplugging intention this summer, it’s still difficult to live without distraction. So often, I desire to run away, to flee back to my semi-monastic years in India. But the dharma of my life has me here, in the world, doing that imperfect dance of the ever-elusive state known as balance.

Ah, yes, balance. This is where imperfection does its thing, perfectly. Think of a tightrope walker high above the circus. She is never completely in balance. The muscles in her feet, the tiniest bones, are constantly moving, shifting, keeping her aligned. It is never perfect.

I love the analogy of being permanently off-course, and still finding our way to a goal. Think of an airplane at 30,000 feet, en route to Hawaii. The airplane is always just slightly off-course. The auto-pilot technology continuously adjusts, adjusts, adjusts. It appears to be a straight shot all the way to Maui. But the truth is, the plane has been off-course the entire time.

I’ve been practicing yoga asana for 25 years, taking my first course in the UC Davis Experimental College before studios appeared on every corner. My body has changed over the years. Some poses that were mentally scary or seemingly impossible in my early 20’s are now easy – like headstand. I have noticed less flexibility in backbends. And I have far more strength in my 40’s, especially as I’ve taken up trail running in the East Bay Hills. And, with increasing strength has come better balance.

Virgin Mary Chapel, Andechs Monastery, Munich

The Imperfect Art of Health

Today is the New Moon in Virgo, sign of the Virgin - meaning, a woman whole unto Herself. Virgo is often critiqued as the “picky, perfectionist” sign. But I see it more as refinement. Whatever is needed, less or more…that is refinement.

New Shoes in Lisse, Holland

The sixth house of the astrology chart, traditionally ruled by Virgo, is the house of hygiene. And hygiene does not just pertain to physical health. It is also spiritual, mental, and emotional. The word “hygiene” comes from the from Greek hugieinē, meaning the ‘(art) of health.’ Like all forms of art, healthy living is individual, unique, original, and above all, authentic.

What is healthy living for me, may be entirely different for you. What I eat may not nourish you. What you smoke may not support me. Who you sleep with may perplex me. Who I love may confuse you. But the ultimate decider of what is HEALTHY is… YOU. Your own inner authority. You, and your own Higher Self. You decide. Hence, the falsity, the illusion, the LIE of perfectionism when it comes to health, to anything really.

Where are you lying to yourself? Where are you consciously or unconsciously living by the lies imposed upon you by others, by society, by culture? Are the beliefs that you have around what constitutes a healthy lifestyle surreptitiously sneaking in to harm you? Maybe you have a non-binary, non-right/wrong approach to gender, to food, to intoxicants. Maybe your struggle to attain the perfect amount of money, power, prestige, beauty, youth, creative expression, relationship, even mental health or spiritual serenity is driving you insane… even, paradoxically, the desire to attain inner peace – the subtle striving to be a super human. Can you see that sneaking in?

Typisch Deutsches Essen, Brandenburg

What happens if we let go of all that sh*t, no pun intended, and simply practice the art of health, of hygiene, that works for us, today? What happens if we listen to what we authentically need in the moment? What happens if we have faith that we will make the best choice for ourselves? When we say f* off to those rules and belief systems that purportedly protect and help us, but actually strangle our spirits and true selves? What if we trust that we will, like that airplane en route to Hawaii, get exactly where we need to go, all the while being ever-so-slightly off balance, imperfect all the time?

Yes, what if?

Trust that your body-mind-spirit know exactly what they need. Uniquely you. So, take an end of summer holiday, and drop the stress-monger super ego perfect voice, just for today.

Erin Reese is an author, spiritual guide, astrologer, and modern psychic reader based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She works with clients all over the world. For readings and spiritual counseling by Skype, phone or email, contact her directly. She can be reached at erin@erinreese.com.

Summer Holiday Scrapbook

Practicing headstand - imperfectly - on Mother Earth - German countryside

Running in Former East Berlin

Rolling Stones, Olympiastadion, Berlin

South Lake Tahoe Bear Friend

Desolation Wilderness, Lake Tahoe Basin

Reichstag Dome, Berlin

Backpacking, Lake Aloha, Desolation Wilderness