Based on the Teachings of The Shamanic Astrology Mystery School
In May of 1990, Daniel Giamario, founder of the Shamanic Astrology Paradigm, invited me to attend a talk he was giving in Tucson, Arizona. Little did I know that event would forever change my life in ways I hadn’t imagined possible. I knew little about astrology, but immediately recognized a powerful and incredibly useful tool for understanding and navigating personal purpose – including why we have incarnated and what mysteries we are here to explore, express and help evolve.
A radically life-changing path had opened up for me. Over time I realized I had been given a powerful and significant way to engage the deeper shamanic mysteries calling to me. What follows is a glimpse into what I have learned.
Shamanic Astrology was inspired by ancient cultures and their understanding of how to maintain the vital balance with the Above and Below through direct connection with the sky, as well as natural cycles and seasons. It was (and is again becoming) a living relationship based in the understanding that we inform the mysteries as much as they inform us.
When we lost our sacred connection to the stars and planets as teachers, initiators, and guides, we lost a significant understanding of why we are here and how we can effectively co-create with Great Mystery. This is something ancient cultures knew and lived, creating standing stone circles, chambered cairns, petroglyph sites, kivas, pyramids, temples, and other structures designed to track the magical link between Earth and Sky.
Reclaiming direct shamanic experience of these mysteries helps us restore wholeness, empowered by knowledge of how Earth and Sky work together. Developing a personal relationship with the night sky helps us directly experience the powerful transformative times we are now navigating.
One of the most effective ways to do this is by visually tracking (whenever possible) what goes on in the sky from night to night, season to season, year to year. Being under the sky at night while opening to receive guidance is an ancient practice that can inspire and inform. Due to suppression and repression by those desiring control of the people, the sacred connection to the sky has been lost to most of us. Shamanic Astrology’s mission is to restore this connection.
Collective, Personal and Age-Related Initiation Cycles
Shamanic Astrology offers guidelines for the great collective cycles and personal initiation cycles reflected in the movements of planets and stars. The Shamanic Timeline (cycles related to a person’s age) is one of the gems of this paradigm.
The Shamanic Timeline reveals initiation cycles related to Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and more. Knowing the intent of each cycle helps us consciously engage as we rediscover the meaning and benefit these cycles provide.
For example, a rare collective alignment will occur in 2020 when Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto join together in Capricorn. This meeting symbolizes a major event in the current global reset for the Earth. These three planets initiate cycles of growth through the underworld initiation of death and rebirth as well as practical, substantial Middle World changes. We have an opportunity to enter into a whole new way of living with each other and our beloved Earth.
Saturn initiates new levels of maturation, taking responsibility, and finding effective and efficient ways to live in harmony with the Earth.
Jupiter initiates an expansion of vision, of what is possible, along with opportunities that present themselves during a Jupiter Return.
Pluto, shamanic by nature, creates events beyond our control to help us die to who we believe we are, so we can birth more fully into who we really are. Pluto works in part through engaging our personal and collective Shadow.
Many of us will be in personal or age-related cycles with this alignment. That personal connection will enhance our experience of the collective event. One important age-related cycle is the Return, which occurs when a transiting planet returns to its birth position. Each year, we experience a Solar Return when the Sun returns to its birth position in our charts: our birthday.
Everyone experiences Saturn Returns (every 29.5 years), Jupiter Returns (every 12 years) and Pluto Square Pluto (currently occurring around age 37 or 38). At age 59, we experience Saturn and Jupiter Returns close together. Each Return brings initiations related to that planet into our personal lives.
At the same time, everyone benefits even if no personal alignment occurs. Globally, everyone will experience the 2020 alignment.
From a shamanic point of view, now is the time to begin preparing for what is possible in 2020 and beyond. Willingness to let go of what has been and open space for personal and collective empowerment is a helpful practice, shifting our experience from what has been to what more is possible.
Choices we make now guide our experience as we enter these new Earth cycles. Choices motivated by love rather than fear and greed help create a world of peace, plenty and illumination as prophesied by the Hopi. Taking personal responsibility for working with Shadow issues like fear, need for control, and unhealthy habits helps us embrace the opportunity to transform our world into one based in love and harmony.
The 2020 planetary alignment is another powerful opportunity for us to make choices that help all life flourish and to rediscover an even deeper shamanic connection to the sky.
Engaging with These Events Through Shamanic Ceremony
There is no one right way to shamanically connect with any major celestial event. Sometimes the ceremony may simply involve going out and witnessing the planets, Moon, eclipse, or whatever is going on in the sky. I do find it helps to know the intent of the event and then align my intent with an in-the-moment living shamanic ceremony. This is a powerful way to help inform the mysteries unfolding before us.
Smudging, inviting in sacred space, honoring the ancestors, spirits of the land and sky, drumming, movement are great components to incorporate into your ceremony if they feel alive for you in the moment.
I love to ask for the most beneficial and supportive outcome for all life everywhere. You can also ask for a sign in the world of form that your ceremonial request is being answered. These signs might show up as a powerful dream, medicine animals, shooting stars or some other significant event that gets your attention letting you know the universe is working with you.
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