Allegra’s is a very reflective, intense, sensitive and profound question to which I am not sure I can do justice in this context. However, I will try! If any readers are able or willing to add to my words in a way they think will be encouraging to Allegra (not her real name) , they are most welcome to do so via a comment.
“….I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me. I am finally making great strides in my spiritual walk and I need some direction. First, I’ve been meditating, praying and consciously accepting positive energy. I once struggled with the idea of controlling my world, and now I am letting the universe flow through me. Lately, since I’ve been listening to myself and able to receive energy I’ve been experiencing very intense, very dense spiritual downloads. They come in the form of words, visions, dreams and feelings. Problems I’ve been trying to solve and sort out for years are so clear suddenly. I love this new connection I’m experiencing, but I would like to continue to grow it and keep receiving these solutions, and information and soothing comforting energy.
Any suggestions? The visions are vivid and so profound and I’ve noticed they often happen when I’m either in the dark, or in warm water. I’m an 11/06/1981 scorpio.
Any wisdom you could share with me would be greatly appreciated. I would love to learn how to live in unison with this great power and use it wisely and respectfully…”
Allegra- Sunrise Horoscope
Dear Allegra
it is perhaps appropriate – given your deep, dark Scorpio Sun – that I too am in the dark: in the sense that I do not know you, have no idea how much if any astrology you know beyond the popular, limited Sun Sign astrology, and do not have your birth time or place. However, I have put up a horoscope for you for Sunrise on your day of birth. This puts all the other nine planetary characters on the stage with the Sun, giving me a reasonable idea of which ones are to the fore on the stage of your life at present.
Given that this is a public reply, and that I do not do detailed horoscope readings on my blog, I am focusing purely on those characters. And there is plenty to focus on!
It will help you to follow my analysis if you think of the planets in the heavens at the moment as your play’s Directors. The main Director in your case at this time is Neptune, planet of spiritual longing and very often, psychic sensitivity: openness to those levels of Reality which the reductionists tell us do not exist – but which many of us have experienced over millennia and continue to do so to this day. The sensitivity, openness and compassion which Neptune brings is both a great gift and somewhat of a burden. Sensitivity needs nurturing, care and protection from too much harshness and stress if Neptune’s gifts are gradually to be fully realised
There is a very gifted, complex pattern in your horoscope involving Pluto, planet of power, Jupiter, planet of higher learning and Mercury, planet of information-gathering and communication. All these together in the sign of Libra make you a powerful teacher, traveller, communicator and writer in the pursuit of balance and justice. They are all positively linked with your Moon, planet of emotional receptivity and of the great Feminine principle in all its aspects.The Moon’s placing in the compassionate and empathic sign of Pisces naturally aligns with the planet Neptune, the main Director of your life’s play at this time.
For the last few years, Neptune has been gradually, continuously whispering to those characters that a more spiritual direction is what your deeper Self requires. This kind of call can be quite disruptive to one’s ‘ordinary’ life, but has a way of being insistent in altering one’s direction, over time. From the Spring of 2011, I would imagine Neptune’s influence has gradually become stronger, added to practical and realistic Saturn’s challenge to your Sun in Scorpio, especially in the autumn and winter of 2013, to seriously re-define your life.
So – everything you describe in your message to me makes sense, fits where your deeper Self needs to be and what that Self wishes to explore and develop at this time. All I really need to do is affirm that you are already doing what YOU need to do! Your respect for the ‘great power’ you describe is evident in the way you have written about your current experiences. With time, wisdom in the way in which you are meant to use it will open up. Be patient! The deeper Self usually has a different timescale and a slower rate of process than our impatient Ego would wish….
In the meantime, here are a few suggestions:
Make sure to develop a regular and steady spiritual practice, centred round meditation, contemplation, prayer and reading of material which inspires and supports you. Books like Jack Kornfield’s ‘After the ecstasy, the laundry’ spoke to me very powerfully at a time of intense spiritual journeying. Try to take ‘time out’ for this practice each day if you can.
Keep a journal, make art, music – use your creative gifts to work with the powerful process you describe. Write out your dreams and visions if it feels right to do so. If you do this consistently you will see an unfolding developmental thread when you look back which may not be obvious at the time of writing.
If you can find a spiritual companion to meet with regularly, someone with whom you can discuss your deep experiences, who has been through their own profound journey to the Underworld and back and who can help you gradually find your new direction, that would be helpful. I had such a person for a long time and now have a ‘spiritual friend’ with whom to share inner experiences that many people do not have and most people do not wish to know about – I find it very helpful!
And finally, but most important of all: trust the Unseen to guide you on your path.
I do hope what I have written helps you – and any other spiritual seekers along the way who may read this post.
Blessings
Anne
Zodiac
1100 words copyright Anne Whitaker 2014
Licensed under Creative Commons – for conditions see Home Page
Astrology: Questions and Answers 
I laughed aloud at “After the ecstasy, the laundry.” The only thing I’d add is, “sometimes in the midst of the laundry, the ecstasy.”
The Benedictines really are onto something with their ora et labora.
The meshing of manual labor and intellectual/spiritual/artistic/creative work is so important. I’m just sure I’ve mentioned to you one of my favorite books when it comes to such things: Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s “Gift from the Sea.”
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My, you are a swift responder, Linda. Only just posted this! Yes, I loved the title of that book too – in one pithy statement, it seems to sum up so much of life. But I can honestly state that I have never gained ecstasy from doing laundry…it’s a great book, so wise and so clear that the spiritual is in everything no matter how mundane and unglamorous. And that book title rings a bell – I’m sure I read it at some distant past point in my ongoing reading obsession. Maybe time for a re- read?
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I’m in the 82 boat, and can say I have experienced very similar issue. I even have a day a moment that has its own that day. A day I will never forget and would give any to experience again. However it was a day that changed my life. It was the first day things were different. Everything was coming to the light. I, too have had many issue that are now clear as glass.They are not easy. In fact down right painful. However I know for certain if I did not experience something beyond, I think things would be uglier. And has made me appreciate both the good and the bad. I do now feel like big brother is there and is present. Which i did not before. If I carry and sponsor that spark inside I can ride this baby out. My experience was unexplainably awesome. A nd a treasure I’ll carry..
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Mergie, thanks so much for this deeply personal feedback. Glad to hear that you carry the inspiration arising from your profound experience, forwards into your life. Blessings, Anne
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Anne, I enjoyed reading your response to Allegra. I was surprised you were able to give so much information without the time of birth. This has been my problem with trying to get an accurate astrology chart…the hospital where I was told I was born has no record of my birth..they tell me I wasn’t born there. A bit of a mystery surrounding my birth!
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Hi Bev, glad you liked this response to “Allegra”. I checked with her in a private message, and she confirmed both that the interpretation was accurate, and that the timings referred accurately to significant events/shifts in her life. I think you and I have talked about your birth records via another post on this blog. The key, without a birth time, is to ask the astrologer you consult to put up a Sunrise chart which will, as it were, put the characters on the stage although it won’t be able to show their locations in the specific sectors which a timed chart can reveal. Then, the astrologer should focus on the information in the chart which remains much the same for the whole day of birth regardless of time, and interpret those patterns in relation to where the planets happen to be in the heavens at the time of the reading. In this way, you will – as you have seen from “Allegra”‘s horoscope – receive quite a useful and illuminating reading. Why not give it a try? If you wish, I can recommend you a very fine astrologer whose approach I think would suit you and who does skype readings.
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Anne, thank you for the detailed response. My sister is an astrologer and has done charts for me in the past, guessing at the time of birth. She sees me as having a Libra rising and I strongly feel it is Gemini, so we will leave it at that.
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Greetings Allegra. And congratulations on the place you have reached deep inside of yourself.
We all have a large self, and a small self. Or, if you like, a big “I Am”, and a small “I Am”. Neptune represents the big “I Am”, and the small “I Am” is (partially) represented by Mars.
We reach the big “I Am” through surrender (represented by Neptune). We attempt to control the world and our environment via the human ego (Mars, and the small “I Am”). You have managed to bypass this situation by surrendering your ego. So how do you maintain the wonderful place and flow you find yourself in?
How does a poet find inspiration, how does a writer finish a book, and how does a musician compose a new tune?
Through (divine) inspiration (Neptune). And you can’t force that to come, or control it with the ego You have to surrender, open yourself up, and wait for the inspiration to bless you.
Things are looking good for you planet wise in this regard, because you are moving into your transiting Neptune square, so there will be lots more Neptune energy around you in the next few years to come. You also have your natal Sun in opposition to natal Chiron, which (among other things) highlights your ability to tap into additional dimensions of life, and pursue ‘alternative’ pathways.
As Anne has already noted, you are just really connecting to a deeper part of yourself – the Big “I Am”. It’s all you.
Transiting Neptune in Pisces (the Big “I Am”) has already begun the process of “spiritualising” your natal Mars in Virgo (which represents an aggressive mind and sharp analytical tendencies – the small “I Am” of the mind). Transiting Neptune is also activating your exact natal Mars-Neptune square. So you do have two definite paths to choose from at this time, and you are refocusing and re-aiming and redirecting your personal energy via your natal Mars. And this process will continue over the next couple of years.
Some people see “enlightenment” as a process you must follow. True enlightenment is about moving in response to your own internal inspiration, which flows deep within you.
You have a pure, strong desire to keep accessing this deeper part of yourself, and that is a good thing. When inspiration does come in response to your pure desire, be very thankful for that blessing, and more blessings and gifts will come.
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Hello Wizron
good to hear from you again! Many thanks for this eloquent and helpful response. I’ll pass it on to ‘Allegra’.
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Thanks Anne, and thanks for bringing such an important question and situation into the public arena and sharing it with us so that we can all learn from it 🙂
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Thank you so much wizron! I cannot tell you how much this means to me. I’m still a little green on this path, but I love what I’m learning and the more I absorb, the more free I feel. I cannot tell you a time when I felt more “awake”
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You are most welcome Allegra. When you reach this special place inside yourself, you inspire many other people as well as yourself, and transiting Pluto sextiling your Scorpio Sun will continue to bring you deep and powerful insights, both this year and next year.
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I will do my best to be ready to receive them. Now that the door is open, albeit cracked, I don’t want it closed again. This new direction has renewed my mind, body and spirit. A calmness I’ve seldom felt before in a traditional religious setting is all around me now and I’m literally drawn to a deeper understanding of not only me, but all things. It’s like I’m a child again seeing the world through new eyes.
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Hello again Allegra
thanks so much for keeping us posted. It’s very good to know that you are feeling renewed as you move deeper into your journey. And thanks too, to wizron, for a helping voice.
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