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November 7 through November 13, 2022

A Taurus full Moon/lunar eclipse marks the second eclipse in two weeks on Tuesday, setting us up for big change and a new focus for the next six months. Because it will occur in Taurus, we can orchestrate a plan to improve our physical, financial, and health surroundings through the spring of 2023. Monday and Tuesday's Taurus Moon make for a productive start to the week, allowing us to address anything that's been on the back burner or at the bottom of our "to-do" list. Wednesday through Friday we'll be cruising the information highway, as the Gemini Moon encourages us to do research, develop new ideas, and reach out to collaborate with others. There's power in numbers, so join forces with others to make the most progress. An easy and flowing weekend awaits under the Cancer Moon, encouraging us to focus on self-care, restoring order to our surroundings, and immersing ourselves in creative and nurturing activities.

by Sam Bennett

You have so many great ideas, and you can’t decide which one(s) to follow through on. Or maybe once you finally settle on one and get into it, you get bored and drop it like a hot potato for something new. I know.

One of the side effects of being a creative genius is that you have a billion great ideas and a lot of skills and talents, so it can be difficult to figure out where to focus. This is so often what happens: You get a brilliant idea. It appears instantly — so full and rich and detailed and vibrant inside your mind — and you just know it’s a truly 
great idea. And then — just as quickly — you feel stuck, overwhelmed, defeated. You have no idea how to move forward. Thinking about the thing in its entirety is just too overwhelming, so you get stuck before you’ve even started.

Here’s the thing: your brain is a beautiful machine especially designed to look for patterns and solve problems. It works like a charm. Pose almost any question to your brain, and it will present you with an answer in no time at all. Genius, I tell you.

But if there are too many unknowns or too many variables, the machine grinds to a halt. Or it gets stuck in a loop, going around the same block over and over again. “I want to do X, but maybe I should do Y first, but I can’t do that until I do Z, so maybe I shouldn’t even try...but I really want to do X, but maybe I should do Y first...” Exhausting, right?

Breaking It Down
Let’s say your big, beautiful idea is “I want to redo the whole house!” And you can see it! Gorgeous and gleaming. A full, rich, detailed vision of your house completely redecorated appears in your mind.

In this situation some people recommend creating a Vision Board, which I think is fun because I love gluing things onto other things. A Vision Board is a fun, artsy, self-actualization project — it’s a collage you can make of images and words, usually cut from magazines, that, posted prominently, serves as a visual reminder of your goals and dreams. You can also make one online, which is fun, too. And if a Vision Board helps or delights or inspire you, then go ahead. But artists usually have no problem articulating a clear vision. Their vision is usually quite detailed and complete and often features sequels, theme parks, and a worldwide grassroots social movement.

As you consider this beautiful vision of your redone home, you feel the gears in your mind begin to grind: Where to begin? How to afford it? Is now the right time? How do I know if a contractor is trustworthy? What if the paint comes out ugly? Where do I find those cool glass tiles? I don’t know how to tile! Ack!

Too many unknowns and too many variables.
So if you can limit the scope of your project — take it bit by bit — you will be doing your brain a big favor. Tackling, say, just the carpeting in the upstairs bedroom will allow your brain to start searching its files for carpet in the same way that your computer can search for and find information easily once you give it the right name or search term. And now that your brain is whirring away on the idea of carpet, it might just remember that there’s a carpet store over by the lunch place you like, and it might remember that your cousin Denise just redid her house — and maybe she’ll have a few ideas for you — and hey, is that an ad for a carpet sale in today’s paper?

If you have some Vision Boards that are just hanging around making you feel bad about not having achieved your goals yet, for crying out loud, get rid of them. Inspirational tools are just that — tools to inspire you. The minute they quit inspiring you, lose ’em.

Breaking your project down into manageable, bite-size bits makes it something you can actually do, as opposed to leaving it a big, overwhelming, untouchable vision that leaves you stuck. Think of it this way: If you find yourself procrastinating, your project is too big!

You can see how you might be able to make some real progress if you break you projects down into smaller chunks and spend a little time on them every day, yes? But this still leaves you with the all-important question, How do you know which project is the right one? For starters, you have to discern which of the projects matter most to you, and ditch the ones that don’t. Here’s a little quiz-type exercise that will help you do that.

We often downplay the importance of desire in our lives, but I have noticed that the things we really want to do pretty much get done. And the things we do not want to do pretty much do not get done. Have you noticed that, too?

Exercise: Five Quick Questions
Call to mind one of the many projects you are procrastinating on. I know you have lots, but for now, pick just one. Whichever one floats to the top of your mind first is fine. Now — working swiftly and without pondering — answer yes, no, or sort of to these five questions:

1. Do you think you will learn from and enjoy working on this project?
2. Will completing this project make a difference in your life?
3. Will completing this project make a difference in the world?
4. Does your soul ache to work on it?
5. Ten years from now, will it matter whether or not you have done it?

Take a minute to muse on your answers, and jot down a few notes about what you notice. You may have noticed that those five questions are really one question, phrased five different ways — five different angles of attack on “Does this project truly matter?”

You may find that while you feel your project would make a big difference in the world, your soul does not ache to do it. That’s okay. And that’s important information for you to have if you decide to move forward: don’t expect this project to make your soul sing. You may need to find some other spiritual sustenance while you’re working on it.

Or perhaps you answered yes to every question but the first — that might be an indication that you need to find someone else, or gather a team, to execute this project.

But if you discovered that the project you were thinking about really doesn’t matter to you, then for crying out loud — cross that project off your list or delegate it or something. There’s no sense agonizing over a project you don’t even care about.

Now think of another possible project, and repeat the exercise. In fact, repeat it until you have five possible projects that definitely matter to you. Feel free to pull projects from various areas of your life; this doesn’t need to all be about your creativity. It’s always a good idea to try it with at least one really crazy-daisy, dumb idea — even something you think is a bad idea. And you may also want to add in some “duty” options (like the voice in your head that says that you really should go back to school and get that advanced degree).

So now you have a list of five front-runner projects. Congratulations!

From the book Get It Done by Sam Bennett. Copyright © 2014 by Samantha Bennett. Reprinted with permission from New World Library. www.NewWorldLibrary.com

Sam Bennett worked at the renowned Second City Theatre in Chicago alongside comics Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert. In addition to her multifaceted writing and performance work, she specializes in personal branding and career strategies. She lives in Los Angeles, CA. Her website is TheOrganizedArtistCompany.com

After much research, I am beginning to buy into the idea of reincarnation because it makes sense. I love my life, so I hate the idea of not remembering my past lives and being apart from loved ones, but I'm willing to accept it on one condition. I hear that when we reincarnate, we naturally gravitate back toward those whom we really love. I have read that it is possible for roles to change from one lifetime to another, so that my husband could be my daughter in the next life and vice versa. I'm willing to believe in reincarnation but the thought of this role change truly saddens/disgusts me. I'd rather be an atheist, but I can't force myself to believe that either. Is it possible that unconditional love exists, but we still have types of love such as parental, platonic, romantic, etc., and it is all equal? I'd like to think we have the same type of relationship with certain individuals from one lifetime to the next.

Chelle

Susyn:

Though you have understandable concerns about the concept of reincarnation, it does answer many questions we have about life, love and spiritual experiences. Reincarnation is a beautiful explanation as to why we feel drawn to a certain person, place or culture that we have no tangible connection to in our current life. The idea that we have shared past lives with others or lived in other countries and cultures is not so far-fetched when we consider the strange feelings of familiarity we sometimes experience.

We like to feel we have complete control over our lives and are free to choose the people we will love, the kind of relationships we will have with them, and the places we will live. In truth, the karmic energy that drives our lives to a certain destiny is pre-ordained. Though we may not be able to see them from our earthly perspective, there are deep reasons why our lives take certain paths.

It is commonly accepted that we reincarnate with certain groups of people. When they incarnate as a parent in one life and a child in another, their spirits offer us new and different perspectives of themselves. This is vital to our journey to self-actualization and spiritual fulfillment. If we came back in the same relationships each time, our lessons and growth would be limited and we would not be able to experience these multi-faceted aspects of each other.

The other side of this coin is represented by past-life karma. If we have harmed another in a past life or vice versa, we are given a second chance to rectify the situation. One example of this can be seen in the evolution of love relationships. Never before have so many people found themselves unable to connect with their soul mates. They gravitate from relationship to another, only to have everything end in frustration, divorce and broken hearts. This is happening because at this time in history, we are choosing to clear out as much past-life karma as possible before we enjoy being with our true loves.

On the other hand, in our past lives, we may have not been able to be with our twin flame or soul mate. Perhaps class differences, war or contract marriages prevented us from being together. In this lifetime, most of us are free to rectify that and spend our lives with our soul mates.

As you become more comfortable with the idea of reincarnation, it will be easier to accept the fact that our relationships change and evolve. It doesn't really matter what earthly form a relationship takes; the important thing is that it is ever growing in unconditional love.

*****

Oceania:

All forms of love are equal because love is about YOU - not who's on the receiving end. Love's about opening yourself to the grace that surrounds you, accepting and embracing it, and then allowing it to flow from you into the world. Love accepts what is, and in so doing, it transforms what is just as sunshine turns seeds into gardens.

While I don't rule out reincarnation, neither my training in science nor my spiritual intuition can confirm it for me. I sometimes have an experience of feeling I knew someone in a previous life, but I think that feeling can be explained by the person unconsciously reminding me of someone from my past in THIS lifetime, probably my pre-verbal past, which therefore stirs a sense of long-lost familiarity. Science is ever-evolving, and I'm humble enough to admit anything's possible, but from what we know so far, consciousness, memory and personality die with the brain. When a brain is damaged through injury or dementia, personalities can change and memories disappear.

We're overly attached to our egos, names and identities, which probably all dissolve at death like a raindrop in the ocean. I see ego as a sparkle in the light or a wiggle in the motion of the cosmos. Perhaps Jesus dying on the cross is a metaphor for death of the ego: once we let it go, our sense of self expands and we feel part of something greater.

The eternal part of me may be a wisp of energy that'll take on a new form, just as the molecules of my scattered ashes may mix with the soil and get sucked up by the root of a tree, which may bear fruit that someone will eat, transforming the old me into the new them. Perhaps my new level of awareness will not be consciousness but rather the lull of peaceful slumber I experience in the dark in the middle of the night.

I like what Byron Katie has to say about death: It's the pure unknown and I love that. We imagine death is a state of being or a state of nothingness, and we frighten ourselves with our own concepts. Death is kind enough to be still and silent, and I appreciate that. Everything else is projected into that stillness by your mind.†

The universe is filled with orbiting, revolving spheres, and cycles like night and day, winter and summer, sleep and wakefulness, death and life. We can trust that it will all keep rolling around. Just as light, sound and other energy waves ripple through time and space, so do our thoughts, words and actions! The choices we make each and every moment will echo long after we're gone, and in that sense, we will live forever.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.