Mental
health is a commitment to reality
Scott
Peck, psychiatrist and author of The
Road Less Traveled, wrote another book, People of the Lie (1983). Peck’s book had a profound effect on my
thinking and on my trauma recovery practice that began around 1990. The fundamental message of his book is
this: mental health is a commitment
to reality. I feel pretty
certain that statement is a direct quote but I don’t have the book in front of
me to check that out. There are
people who seek reality and truth and there are people who turn off the lights
and live in dark rooms of confusion and untruth. They are motivated solely by self-interest
and self-preservation. Currently we are being lead and governed by many people
of the lie. This full moon period
gives us another chance to wake up and shake the reality tree. The signals are
clear that we must commit to reality in order to stay health individually and
collectively.
The
Full Moon is in Sagittarius. The underlying motivation of Sagittarius is the
search for truth. We reach that truth by using the energy of Gemini and
Mercury. We are curious. Curiosity leads to openness, research and the
accumulation of enough information to finally have the sense that we have
reached some degree of truth, upon which we can make decisions. It is difficult
to get anywhere on the truth train when people of the lie are in charge of the
data and the dissemination of information.
Neptune
has strange ways of teaching us what is real.
The
Sun is traveling through Gemini and the Moon is full in Sagittarius. One would
think that everyone would be jumping up and down to find some truth during this
full moon. And many people are
doing just that. But Neptune blurs
the boundary between truth and non-truth. On the one hand, Neptune shows us
that everything is good and with time everything will be ok. We long for
perfection and believe eventually we will get it. On the other hand, Neptune
drags us into a hall of distorted mirrors and contradictions. During this full moon period, Neptune
sits like a neon sign in between the Sun and Moon. Neptune is either inviting us to stay content in our little
make-believe world or it is signaling us to reach beyond illusion and find some
truth. Neptune says there is more going on here than you realize. Neptune says
the masses, (and that means all of us) are confused and living in a cloud of
illusion. I do not propose that I know what the absolute truth is or where we
are in our search for truth.
We
accept darkness and we welcome the light.
Here’s
one possibility though. Truth is a process. Mental health is a process of committing oneself to reality.
Likewise the search for truth. The accumulation of information and experience
takes us on a journey to uncover what we can of our inner and outer truth. To journey into truth requires that we
stop lying to our self. We give up our addictions. We stop believing someone
will save us from our self. We stop living in a belief system that has no open
doorways. We DO seek exit signs to take us beyond of our denial and confusion.
We accept our darkness and we are grateful for all the light we can get.
Neptune
means compassion for all sentient beings.
What
is happening is this: the inside is turned inside out for everything to be
revealed.
This
full moon is yet another chapter in the ongoing essay of facing reality. Our collective situation grows graver
and graver. Every individual is asked to face reality. We are asked to integrate Saturnian
common sense with our Neptunian spirituality. If the spiritual world cuts us off from reality too much,
then we may never clean up the oceans. If spirituality cuts us off from
compassion for the living, then we are headed for a twisted social order. What we face as a collective is the
outer manifestation of what is held inside the collective. What is happening in
our world is just the inside of us has been turned inside out. We see the messiness now: a world of
lies, deceit, mean-spiritedness and manipulation on a massive scale. The
lessons of the past are distorted. The drive for greed overrides the desire to
face the bigger realities: like we are one, there is enough for everybody, we
are citizens of a universe. These
bigger realities are held in Neptune’s fog and we have to use a different kind
of sight to see them. Scott Peck
advises in his book to be aware that there are people incapable of looking at
their own darkness, people who can never admit they are responsible for something.
They cannot even see the relationship between themselves and what is happening
around them. There are people of the lie.
They are trapped in their fear and their willful drive to be in control.
Their life strategy is to be in control of others in order to survive. We cannot surrender to living in a world of lies.
We
can hope that Frodo is on his way to toss the gold ring into the blazing
volcano so these control freaks don’t take over. Or, we can realize that we
must go together to throw the ring into the fire. There is plenty of room for
leaders and heroes. But this is a collective march to make sure that the people
of the lie do not have their way.
We’ve
been here before. How can we do it
differently?
In
addition to this powerful full moon, some astrologers consider June 18th
the most difficult day of 2019.
Just after the full moon we face a strong roadblock with Saturn, Pluto,
the Moon and the south node (all in Capricorn) in a stand off with the Sun still
in Gemini and Mercury, Mars and the north node all in Cancer. The nodes can be indicators of the past
and the future. We have been here before. People of the lie have always been
among us. How can we make different decisions? If we get through this week
without finding our country in a war with Iran, can we rest a little easier? Hopefully wisdom will prevail and leaders
will breathe and reflect and remember that we have been here before. How can we
do it differently?
Same
is true in our individual lives. Look around yourself and inside yourself. What
truth about your life journey do you see? Is this the reality you want? Are you
pretending (that would be Neptune)?
Are you going with the crowd just to belong (that would be Saturn). Are you suggesting a revolution or
change (that would be Uranus? Just
something to think about.
Despite
“the heavy” this is a time of enthusiasm, optimism and hope. For many people, a
new life is unfolding and Neptune is showing the way.
Jupiter
rules the sign of Sagittarius, the full moon. There is enthusiasm, optimism and hope this month. This Full
Moon period has happiness and enlightenment. The Sun is in Gemini, ruled by Mercury. Water planets have been making happy
trines in the sky. We are asked to use our mind and all we know to help us stay
grounded in reality, while we move on to a new place.
Then
quickly we move from full moon to a strong dose of Capricorn: Saturn and Pluto and the Moon and the
south node. Capricorn rules governments and banking and big corporate entities. All of them want to keep the status
quo. They want to stay in control. They will use any Plutonian means to stay in
control of the Plutonian wealth they have acquired. This is NOT true of all corporations, wealthy individuals or
all members of government.
Then
we have the Summer Solstice on Friday June 21. The longest day of the year in
the northern hemisphere allows us to bask in the light. The Sun enters Cancer
and moves us into warmth, comfort and growth. Needless to say we are living in
powerful times. I will stop before
xaplanets. As this Inuit Song
announces: “there is only one great thing….to live to see in huts and on
journeys, the great day that dawns and light that fills the world.” Happy
Summer Solstice!
INUIT
SONG:
And
I thought over again
My
small adventures
As
with a shore-wind I drifted out in my kayak
And
thought I was in danger.
My
fear,
Those
small ones
That
I thought so big-
For
all the vital things
I
had to get and to reach.
And
yet, there is only one great thing.
The
only thing:
To
live to see in huts and on journeys
The
great day that dawns,
And
the light that fills the world.
Astro
Tips by Linda Sprague June 2019
