Unraveling the Spell of Hidden Beliefs Part 3

I confess I love the turn into the dark of the year. The earlier it darkens, the more content I am. I connect this to my twelfth house Venus. The Twelfth House represents hidden secluded places. Those of us with planetary placements in the twelfth house have moments of needing to cocoon. The Twelfth House represents the womb. We trust the dark and what is born out of it, we go there when we need to gestate.

The Twelfth House is also the house of letting go and having faith.  I admit, like all of us, I have intermittent crises of faith. One of the magical things in my practice of astrology is its ability to help me allow myself to step back and regain a larger perspective.  Through the practice of looking at my or a client’s chart, I have experienced too many ‘ah ha’ moments, where the practice of astrology, whether through gazing upon my chart or my client’s charts, has illuminated in a flash something that was hidden a moment prior.  Astrology, your chart, reveals a connection to a larger tapestry that we are a part of that is constantly being woven.  

For those of us who live with symbolic language, I don’t think there is any more pleasure than knowing that these living symbols exist in nature and culture, assuring us that we are connected to that greater pattern. Again another twelfth house symbology: the twelfth house is where we encounter the collective unconsciousness, how we( and everything)are all connected. 

The Twelfth House is also linked to places of confinement; hospitals, nursing homes, and prisons.  It is the house of self-undoing, and it is through our hidden beliefs that we commit our greatest acts of hara-kiri.  

I began this series by sharing about my current Artist Way Class.  We had just reached week five, the beginning of my favorite section as we began working with our “God concept.”

It’s right around this midpoint of the class participants usually feel the urge to quit, and it is not just my classes.  I saw it repeatedly as a student in the original workshop with Julia. I certainly experienced it myself in that first class.  I have had more people who have worked through the book on their own share with me when they find out that I facilitate the workshop that every time they have tried to work through the book on their own they quit week four or five. 

There is a reason for this: This is where they are coming up against their hidden agenda.  The part of us that wants everything to stay the same no matter how much we protest otherwise. This sameness is a place that feels safe and familiar. Ironically it feels like home, a place of sanctuary. 

When we are working to change something within our lives we come face to face with our hidden beliefs. But they are invisible to us. Hidden away. They appear as the “way things are:” the weight that we keep losing and then regaining, the core of why we can seem to shift our financial situation or find true love or within any other situation that we are constantly yearning to shift but just don’t seem to be able to. Here is the nasty truth; we are addicted to this version of reality.  We are so committed to it that we will protest through a variety of “reasons” why it is impossible to transform. And we will get defensive or irritated at anyone who suggests otherwise. We in essence become a victim of our current circumstances. We actually insist upon our powerlessness.  Crazy, huh?

I repeat myself here: The truth is it’s not our thoughts that create our reality, but our beliefs. They, particularly the ones that lie within our subconscious act as our bias about the world.  These somewhat hidden forces shape what is possible for us, and if this is too woo-woo for you simply examine it psychologically and look at your behavior. If you don’t believe something is possible for you at best you will show up half-heartedly rather than throw your whole self in; you will hedge your bets.  At worst you won’t allow yourself to even consider throwing your hat into the ring though you may endlessly talk or think about it.  Or if you do you will find a way to sabotage yourself and your efforts.  

Our unconscious beliefs show up in how we feel about something.  Think about it we usually choose to do something based upon how it feels to us.  How many times have you not moved forward with something because it didn’t feel safe?

Astrologically there are multiple ways that our belief systems both the conscious and unconscious are illustrated across the chart. I’ve mentioned Jupiter and Saturn.  

Jupiter is connected to our beliefs and makes connections of a higher order. Profoundly connected to our seat of consciousness., Jupiter is about intuitive perception.  It knows what is ‘right’ and ‘true’ according to the way it frames experience. One of the many things Saturn does is set and enforce boundaries. He deals with laws, borders, and authority; Saturn governs. Saturn also rules time. And these two archetypes work hand in hand. 

Then there is the Twelfth House.  And our Moon, that place of comfort that we yearn for and react instinctively from.  Astrologer Noel Tyl dubbed the Moon our reigning need. 

This is why truly changing your reality takes time and discipline(Saturn). You can’t just envision (Jupiter). Truly manifesting different circumstances requires you to make a conscious choice to move again and again, moment by moment, out of the safety/comfort zone (the Moon) and into the growth zone.  I remember a friend of mine, a recovering alcoholic,  sharing that when she first got sober she would say to herself “For five minutes I can handle not having a drink,”  and then she’d do it again.  That’s how she initially made it through the day.  To me changing our reality is like this.  As I noted earlier we are all addicted to our version of reality and will most often defend it as though our lives depend upon it.  And ironically they do. 

I am thrilled to be offering a new workshop, Crossroads in Consciousness, that will take place throughout the entirety of 2024.  With a small intimate group of participants, this workshop is designed to unravel the hidden beliefs that bind you over the course of the year.  You can find out more here:  https://www.alchemicalcompass.com/