Its probably a good day to stay home and write. The Moon is transiting my 12th house and sitting atop of my natal Pluto with Mars nearby. Could get intense in the outer world today–best to keep that intensity within the 4-walls here. Or so says the intuition. The 12th house is about seclusion and withdrawal — or at least that’s one of the archetypes. Or that’s one astrologically accepted classic model of the House 12 pattern anyway–withdrawal.
I think that its good for the soul: withdrawal, going within, terminating connections with the outer world.
Sometimes we withdraw from life or from certain situations for self-protection but what do we really want to protect ourselves from? The same thing that motivates all of us–we either seek pleasure or avoid pain.
Let’s face it. We don’t have to be martyrs in life. I don’t think it’s wrong to disengage from persons, places or things that are unpleasant if we have a choice. Sometimes we don’t but with the blessing of the universe, sometimes we do. Why not exercise the choice and not feel guilty about it?
That’s how my 12th house Moon conjunct Pluto feels about it today. I think that choice is a gift, why not use it and do so so without guilt?
I don’t know about you but sometimes my feelings of guilt, when present, seem to come from worries about what other people will think about me–people that I care about or who are important to me. Sometimes we see ourselves through other people’s eyes and that triggers those old patterns of guilt that we’ve probably carried over a number of lifetimes.
Guilt serves no purpose and is un-necessary self-criticism. Its like allowing those voices of the old Catholic nuns or critical parents or other authority figures to take over our psyche.
It serves one thing that is purposeful however; it let’s us know that we are still working on resolving something within our own relationship to our self. We always think these things are about us versus them. We think it’s about our connection to the ‘other person’ or ‘the job’, etc. When really its about our own relationship to our own self.
In other words, in my own case, honoring my own tendencies and feelings without concern of being misunderstood or judged as being uncaring or cruel. So in that way we can see that the concern really is self-judgment.
Give self permission to embrace one’s own natural tendencies which are there for a reason and there as much for other people’s benefit as well as our own. And honor that.
One thing we learn when we withdraw is how to experience our feelings fully and to release them in full too because we are giving ourselves the space by withdrawing in order to do so.
To carry guilt is to sabotage ourselves. Withdrawal gives us the space to know ourselves, and to understand our feelings and to release them.
One way to resolve any guilt is to rebuild faith in one’s self and withdrawal creates the space for faith and self-trust to become strengthened.
I always relate the TAROT card of THE HERMIT to 12th house withdrawal energy. I think of an “old soul” (if you will) and someone more comfortable alone than with others and not because of a lack of social skills or anything of the sort. Just someone who values alone time higher than surface or shallow time with others.
The Hermit card relates to the 12th house in another way –or so I think. I liken this energy to someone who has created their own religion or their own rules to live by following the inner guidance or personal conscience. Here is someone with personal dogma and may be seen as eccentric because this is quite different than the consensus rules of society and is seeking spiritual happiness in ways that the consensus cannot understand or does not follow.
Sometimes I feel a lot like THE HERMIT and its animal counterpart THE LEOPARD. Today that feels more intense than usual — it’s one of those times.
But then again, the Moon is setting off my 12th house now highly activating Pluto so I accept that as normal for today. Once a month my inner Hermit and Leopard get kicked up to higher levels as the Moon passes through this area of my psyche.
Thus, I stay home and even write about it! 😉 wink!
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