A Thought for Today. . .

"A tree has both straight and crooked branches; the symmetry of the tree,
however, is perfect. Life is balanced like a tree. When you consider
the struggles, difficulties, and sorrows as a part of it,
then you see it as beautiful and perfect."
- George M. Lamsa

NaNoWriMo, Mercury Retrograde and Lessons Learned

"Much may be done in those little shreds and patches of time which every day produces, and which most men throw away." - Charles Caleb Colton

I spent the whole month of November taking part in the NaNoWriMo challenge where the aim is, hmmm it's probably better if I let them tell you...

"National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel by November 30. Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output."

Now I, on a whim, signed up for this challenge!
With no ideas, no plot, and no experience of writing anything longer than a blog post!

The whole point of NaNoWriMo is to get yourself a rough draft. To enable you to put down the bones of your story, so that you end up with a body of words to work from. They tell you not to read or edit it as you go, just to write and that is exactly what I did.

I can see their point that the endless revision and rewriting and inevitable procrastination would slow you down. As they say, the time for that is afterwards.

I managed to complete the challenge!

In fact I went on to write 72,300 words in 30 days. I finished on the 30th November and did as they suggested and left it alone for a while.

Now I am preparing to get it out and use the mercury retrograde period to do what needs to be done next, rereading, revision and rewriting.

What a perfect use of a mercury retrograde!

I am going to be making sure that I respect the energy of the mercury retrograde and make sure to take frequent back ups of everything I write too!

A Mercury retrograde tale. . .

I must admit I didn't used to take much notice of the mercury retrograde period until last year where my partner was looking for another car.

Now, I thought to myself, it isn't really a good idea to buy another car while mercury is retrograde. In fact I may have even mentioned it aloud and said it would be much better to wait until mercury went direct, but I didn't push the fact and my partner with his sun and mars conjunct in gemini was impatient to move on, so went ahead and bought the car.

Of course it looked perfect on paper, a really good deal and we always have such good luck with cars, or should I rephrase that, we always HAD such good luck with cars...this one on the other hand is - trigger scary music...the car from hell!

Well ever since then and as each new, unseen, and almost laughably unfortunate fault arises, I can not help but repeat "we shouldn't have bought a car under mercury retrograde".

My partner answers . . .

"you should have said at the time".

I did, but only in a half hearted way, I didn't INSIST, as I hadn't had personal experience of the consequences.

But I tell you what though, neither of us would EVER buy a car under mercury retrograde again!

So this mercury retrograde . . .

(10th - 30th December 2010) I am going to use its energy, and get on with my next stage of NaNoWriMo and reread, revise and rewrite.

So come on mercury retrograde get behind me on this, you owe me one!

"No one knows what he can do till he tries." - Publius Syrus

Out of that windspun night . . .

The hero journey is inside of you;
tear off the veils and open the mystery
of your self. - Joseph Campbell

"Sometimes you need to define what it is for you
- what is the purpose of this wild and crazy life,
where is your place in the scheme of things.

Will you plod steady down the centre path of your life,
or skirt the edges, dancing with shadows,
listening to the music that is yours alone to hear.

Will you sparkle and shine and burn with passing passions,
reflecting the lights of the peripheral and almost unseen.

Or do you want to sink roots deep into the black earth and remain
steady, growing branches, sprouting leaves, reaching for the sky.

Do you run, do you walk, or do you sit and wait for the
sparkling moments to blow through your hair."

Out of that windspun night, from those galloping hills,
spangled with your precious stars

you come on heels of burning fire
you come with eyes full of desire

the raging sun burns in you
the gentle rains flow in you

No man remains quite what he was when he recognizes himself. - Thomas Man

How could I have been anyone other than me? - Dave Matthews

"I'll walk where my own nature would be leading:
It vexes me to choose another guide." - Emily Bronte

Images and words - Susannah Bec 2010

Darkness Illuminated

As subconscious becomes conscious
great energy is released
and transformation occurs.

Image - copyright Susannah Bec 2010


Twelfth house

subterranean

dungeon of

things that seethe

and ferment.


It is a big place

intercepted and

home to mars

its ruler

and his anger

and the moon

and her vast ocean

the place is awash

with emotion.


I had no access

that room was locked

camouflaged to my

conscious mind

revealing itself

surreptitiously.


Repressed

and disowned

its infantile

energy

grew.


Then you came

with your venus

perched on

my moons

exact degree


and your mars

conjuncting

mine

(exact again)


and through

you

I could see

what I hadn't

before


and

I entered

that place

I could not see

and the

volcano

erupted

and

my world

fell

apart



and it

swept

away the

locked doors

and what was

subconscious

finally

became

conscious.

"When consciousness draws near to the unconscious,
not only does it receive a devastating shock but something
of its light penetrates into the darkness of the unconscious.
The result is that the unconscious is no longer so remote
and strange and terrifying, and this paves the way for an
eventual union....What happens is that its contents cross
over into consciousness more easily than before."
- Carl Jung, Mysterium Coniunctionis

Image and Words: Susannah Bec

Transit to Chiron

Lately, I have been unsettled by the shadows
those fleeting glimpses at the periphery of my vision
for there seem to be ghosts living in the corner of my eye...

Copyright - Susannah Bec 2010

,

Individuality - Sun conjunct Uranus

"Revolutions begin with the self, in the self" - Toni Cade


S u n C o n j u n c t U r a n u s

I think that with Uranus conjunct the Sun it automatically makes you hard wired with a kind of high voltage electrical energy. With a charged nervous system, stress easily effects these people and they are prone to being highly strung especially when the Sun is in Fire or Air.

They are strongly individualistic and have a highly developed sense of self and if you push these people...they will push back. They resist moulds and are not afraid to be seen as different and to stand up for what they believe. They have original minds and can easily think 'out of the box' and have an uncanny ability to pluck thoughts and inspiration out of thin air.

They can have trouble with physical co-ordination and as children they can find it difficult to catch a ball, for instance. They also may experience phases when they have trouble going to sleep or find them selves waking suddenly.

They relish being individuals and have no particular need to 'fit in' with the crowd - feeling their 'differentness' to be an asset rather than a fault.

"To me, the whole process of being a brushstroke in
someone else’s painting is a little difficult." - Madonna

I N D I V I D U A L

She was never one for pastels, her colours were bold
too volatile to have ever been considered demure
she screamed when others merely whispered
it was not her intention to offend, it was just her way

August bought forth a fiercely individual spirit
she couldn't, wouldn't, dull her shine for anyone
her voltage was high, she contained the electricity
but you could still hear it, popping and crackling

Under the shiny surface a golden heart was beating
as it pumped the ruby red lifeblood through her veins
Dancing flames licked around her head, a fiery halo
while all around her ankles the angry ocean roared

- Susannah Bec 2010

These are three verses of a recent poem... for the rest of the poem please visit my poetry blog - Out of My Ocean

---

Image and words Susannah Bec.

Pisces Full Moon - Time For Forgiveness

"Forgiveness is a rebirth of hope, a reorganization of thought,
and a reconstruction of dreams. Once forgiving begins, dreams can be rebuilt.
When forgiving is complete, meaning has been extracted from the worst of
experiences and used to create a new set of moral rules and a new
interpretation of life’s events." - Beverly Flanigan

I opened the door and there you were
Just as I had left you so long ago

The frozen moment immortalised
still replaying. . . over and over

But, now I am here again
to tell you I am sorry

to ask you to
forgive
me

*

This Pisces full Moon conjuncts Chiron (and falls on my natal Chiron).

Image and words by Susannah Bec.