Points of Orientation: a personal example

Whenever I am unsure about what I should be doing or what the events are my life are telling me I consult first the astrological chart, and then pull up google earth in my browser. I type in my location and watch the screen cross the globe to land right where I am. I research the place’s history, native habitation, ecological factors and current cultural characteristics. I get oriented. This takes a bit of time and, especially because I am on the move, is not always easy. To know a place—like a person—requires the development of a relationship of mutual respect.

But it is important (in my view) to know a place. Like each unique horoscope, each place contains certain signatures and stories alive within it which will impact our lives in that place, often unconsciously.

So, here I am in Northern New Mexico having reached a moment of confusion (any moment of confusion is a gift, as it requires us to dig a bit deeper into the problem and emerge with new answers and insights) regarding a story that seems to be playing out through me.

So I begin with my embarrassing little Wikipedia search which tells me: “Ojo Caliente (an upscale hot spring/spa just a few minutes from me) is one of the oldest health resorts in North America. Tewa tradition holds that its pools provided access to the underworld.”

Yes of course! I’m in the underworld again. I can’t seem to get out of there. I would guess that the underworld in the context of Tewa tradition is not an altogether negative place, but a place of immense power, mystery and access to other worlds. That is to say: not necessarily comfortable for the day-to-day living of most individuals. And so this gives some meaning to what’s been rolling through my life since I’ve landed here, and now I can begin to work with it consciously instead of being flung around on its wings blindly.

And then I can look to my horoscope and see that harsh desert environments in general activate a difficult place in my chart (this I figured out while in Utah) shown by the sign of Scorpio (scorpions live in deserts) which always sets me up for some deep learning and letting go and spiritual growth which have historically required quite a bit of effort. AND I can see that the planetary period I’m in amplifies this place in my horoscope in such a way that I would be drawn to these very desert environments which are challenging. When things are difficult it’s nice to be continually reminded that they are also incredibly magical.

From here I can go even deeper into the lives of the Native people who have been so harassed here, the whole shit-show of the weapons testing which occurred very nearby and which brought the underworld into the daylight world in a way we can never reverse. So this will all align in various ways with my own story in ways I can begin to resolve here, if I choose to consciously approach the unfolding mythology.

And I can use the horoscope as another point of orientation, which will show me my weaknesses and strengths (even elementally) and timelines for what might be ahead. This is a short demonstration of how any one person can go from feeling burdened and chaotic to feeling elevated by the ways in which their life is entangled with larger presences, even if those presences are not of the rainbows and unicorns variety.