Note: All archive entries are from Emergence-Activate Zoom poetry readings, organized by Nicky Rainey and Lucien Aeon.
This week we survived the Scorpio full moon in Taurus. This moon is known to be a doozy. The Taurus-Scorpio bridge is perhaps the most volatile of the Zodiac. As fixed signs, Tauruses and Scorpios have a rep for taking things deeply personally.
Scorpio gets a bad wrap for being the gothy (possibly murderous) drama queen of the skies. But I think people fuss over Scorpios because of their ability to see in the dark. It’s hard to like the futurist who can spot your potential for drama, lies and subversion a mile away. However, we need Scorpio; it plunges the depths of our shadows.
It is easy to dwell on the surface (which, one could argue, is earthy Taurus’ terrain). But as we literary folks know, a trip to the Underworld is necessary to achieve one’s destiny. I, for one, appreciate my Scorpio placement pals for articulating the difficult emotions we all have, but my Aquarian ass struggles to express: jealousy, loneliness, sorrow, rage, fear. Our shadows must be named and allowed to walk alongside us, else they will creep in when we are undefended and possess us from behind the scenes. Scorpio does us all a service by identifying these darker parts of the psyche.
It is commonly discussed that Scorpio loves a good, obsessive toxicity. Scorpio and Taurus can both form deep, unhealthy, unbounded attachments; but Scorpio has the perception to identify a poison, and Taurus has the strength to cut it off summarily. Both signs are known to fiercely defend themselves when the camel’s back is finally broken.
As we covered last month, full moons are an excellent time to let go. I thought it appropriate, as we passed through this Scorpio moon, to specifically address cutting cords with people or thought patterns we can’t seem to shake.
Is it appropriation to talk about chakras? Maybe! So google chakras, and for the sake of simplicity and brevity, I will streamline them into three zones. Is something, or someone, hitting you in your head, your heart, or your belly? Obsessive, racing thoughts are the dominion of the head. Toxic love you can’t release, or distress for someone you can’t help, lie in the heart. A lack of self esteem, as well as sexual issues, live in the belly.
This practice was taught to me by a Reiki practitioner. Again, is it appropriation to share it? I don’t know, but it really helps me. And I figure since I’m not charging you for the information, or repping it on the gram as my own, it’s all right to share tools.
So here we are: Identify the zone of your body being affected. Hold your hand in front of that place, and see yourself grasping a thread. Twirl your fingers like you are spooling that thread into your hand; visualize it gathering. Pull your hand away and feel the thread coming out of you. Release that thread into the wind; shake your hand like it has something gross on it (it does). If you want to be thorough, wash up after. The more you envision this process clearing you up, the better it works.
You may also do this protocol for people you love deeply, when you need a break from their sorrows. An example would be when you care for someone suffering an illness, but you can’t help them at this moment. If your grief is hindering you from helping them as much as you’d like, and/or keeping you from living your own life, it is ok to pull some of that pain out of yourself. As you love this person, the connection will easily reassert itself. It is not cruel to care for yourself when your loved one is hurting. (As I must tell myself often, because my heart weeps easily.)
Do not despair if you must practice this ritual more than once. In fact, straight up, do not expect this act to clear your issues altogether. This is a relief measure, like taking tylenol or doing stretches. It works best when it coincides with other, larger practices, like changing habits and attending some kind of therapy. Despite this caveat, cord-cutting can be a very useful, small tool to alleviate your pain in the moment; and moment-to-moment is often what we have to work with, during this time.
Dearest Activators, I wish us all release from pain that won’t heal, and won’t teach us. I wish us the strength to identify it apart from the sorrow that brings growth. And I want you to know that you can peer into the dark and emerge; if not unscathed, then stronger for it.
Ellen The Red 