JAMES MORAN

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How Astrology Compliments Therapy and Meditation

Have you ever had a behavior that is causing you and those around you to suffer, yet is proving resistant to change? Since the advent of Freud and the birth of psychology at the start of the twentieth century, therapy has become the go to method for addressing these kinds of stubborn and destructive behavior patterns. I will here invent a hypothetical scenario to illustrate a point. A man named Fred was happily married for many years. Then along came Selma. Fred became literally obsessed with Selma. Fred loved his wife and did not want to hurt her, but his obsession with Selma was so strong his wife was suffering. Not only that, but he himself was suffering, and even Selma was suffering. He decided to go to therapy. In therapy he was able to explore his past, his relationship with his parents, his emotional conditioning, all of which are undoubtedly relevant to his life and this scenario. Over time therapy has diversified and sharpened as a tool for healing. Currently there are therapies that can demonstrate impressive depth of insight, speed of execution, and profundity of transformation. Yet, let's say in this scenario the behavior proved annoyingly sticky and impervious to change. The therapy helped Fred, but he did not achieve his desired resolution. So Fred opted for mindfulness meditation. In meditation Fred learned not to resist the behavior, yet also not to act on the behavior. This helped Fred a lot, but it did not free him from the behavior. Next he sought an astrological counselling session. In astrology he was able to take the bird's eye view of his entire life and his current situation. Is the behavior here to help him actually deepen his love for his wife? Is it here to transform his life completely and usher him out of a marriage that is not right for him? Is it here to connect him back to his passionate side? The bird's eye view, or the "above" view will allow him to see the exact energies at play and interpret them in the way that is most true to him. Now that he has experienced all three of these modalities, who is to say which one yielded the result that was most helpful to Fred? My opinion is, if we are dealing with situations and behaviors that are causing ourselves and others to suffer, then why not experience all the modalities available to address that suffering? Isn't the wellbeing of you and others worth it? If you don't have the time or resources to try all of these approaches, then start with what really lies at the core of all of them: surrender. This doesn't mean just give in to the behavior or situation. It means surrender to the fact that you are suffering and you don't have a way out right now. Doing this might just open a little gateway through which the universe can provide you with the method, practice, therapy, approach, attitude that is right for you in this moment.