Jul

13

Filed Under Astrology & Magic Making, Capricorn, Saturn the Teacher

One year around Christmas time I decided to perform a Saturnalia ritual. Saturnalia was a Roman festival involving presents, revelry, and a little bit of bad behavior including the uncanny reversal of the established social order: for a period of time slaves would become their masters and masters would become their slaves. It was a devilishly good fun time, but only for a time. Sources say the social order wasn’t entirely subverted (potentially causing an uprising, not Saturn’s style) when apropos to the two faced planet, masters would take a turn at serving their slaves, then return to their respective roles. At that time, I was feeling terribly enslaved. I had a Horrible Boss, chronic back pain and I was Alone. I was however living in a small studio that I affectionately called L’Hermitage. It was the kind of magical hovel only magical hobbits live in. Capricorn rules my Fourth House; my inner Hermit loved her hovel.

The ritual, inspired by Christmas blues and being down in the dumps, was my own personal reminder that all of my ‘problems’ were mine by choice—I could walk away from any or all of them. My job? Nah, I didn’t want to leave it, not yet anyhow. My alone-ness? I’d rather be alone than with someone I didn’t love. The back pain wasn’t a choice, but I was working on healing it. Some involved commitments I had consciously undertaken, some I hadn’t and I was trying to respond to the best of my ability, but none were outside my realm of power. This ritual (and title) was also inspired by Carolyn Casey, Visionary Astrologer, who, like Rob Brezsny is also from a similar parallel positive meta-universe, turned me onto the idea of getting outlandishly magical with my problems. Both have a way of prodding and poking a person into shifting their dull stupor into a conscious one by getting radically and courageously imaginative. They are also huge advocates of personal responsibility and outside the box thinking, my own personal life savers.

So recently, listening to clients struggle with issues of personal accountability within their partnerships, I remembered this ritual. By staying in the problem circumstance, or other person and their problems, we ‘forget’ that we are fifty percent and that we’re here by choice. In forgetting this, we’re the last to see how we effectively tie our own hands behind our own backs.

Then, sometimes we actually do need to subvert the existing social order but by so doing we’d probably sabotage our self. Fire that unruly boss, leave that difficult landlord –those acts could leave us homeless and jobless (depending on our approach), but an intentional act of mirthful revelry sends a deep self message that no one is the boss of us, but us! Which serendipitously is also good for anyone who has been caught in the trap of losing authority to approval-seeking -or- those of us under a Uranus in Aries transit. We can untie our own hands. We are the King or Queen of our own life choices, no one else.

When to do it: when you need your authority back (the root word of authority is ‘author’, as in author your own life).

What to do: Ask,What fears and anxieties are keeping me enslaved? Am I blaming other people and their situations for my problems? We all have limits, hardships, responsibilities. Can I see mine as a consequence of any positive choices I chose to make? Instead of bitterly complaining about my problems can I laugh at what’s been getting me down –and thereby take it’s authority away? (Saturn appreciates our attempt at humor, loosening us up; laughter is the best medicine)

The ritual: Get a string and tie it around your belly. Then do as the Romans did: untie it. During Saturnalia, they untied the ties that bound the statue of Saturn for the rest of the year. After, dance around the room and make faces. Jump up and down. Listen to music. If you can get your partner to play, even more power to you. Raise some hell. When you’ve loosened up and laughed, willingly step back into your string, self-elected role and commitments. Leave behind unfulfilling authority stealers, like seeking approval from other people instead of your self. Take a deep breath. Inhale back your authority.

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