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by Isabelle Ghaneh

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

You can discover your own personal mythology through your astrological chart, especially by utilizing your personal placements of the asteroids named for the goddesses. As you understand the archetypal role models the goddesses represent for your life journey, you will gain a deeper knowledge of your own life experiences.

Psyche is one of the most important asteroids in your chart. Psyche's asteroid number is 16, and she was discovered on March 17, 1852, when the Sun was in Pisces. Pisces is the sign of unconscious thoughts and dreams, and is ruled by Neptune, the planet of illusion, mist, and vapor. Pisces and Neptune can give us great creativity and artistic ability, but also incline us to want to escape from reality, into a pleasant dream world, where nothing is real, unless we want it to be.

Psyche is the Greek word for soul, and Psyche is the place in your chart that can detail for you where you can find your entrance into your self. Psyche also represents psychology and is involved with the discipline of the study of the mind. Psyche encompasses the soul, the mind, and the self.

The ancient Greek mythological saga of Psyche has formed the basis of numerous fairy tales and folk stories, including that of Beauty and the Beast, and The Knight and the Loathly Damsel. The elements of Psyche's life are trust, love, passion, betrayal, and jealousy. Beyond that, we can learn from Psyche the uncovering of who we are, why we act as we do, and what love means to us.

Psyche's story is filled with archetypes, as are all mythological tales; fathers who are cruel or neglectful, or overindulgent, foolish, and devoted; jealous women, as in mothers, stepmothers, or sisters, and of course the lover. The lover may be disguised, so the fair maiden cannot see his face or guess his identity. He can be cruel, or he can be kind. He can be a demon or a god. His being and persona changes in each story, and in each version of the story.

The end of the tale is always the same, since the ultimate end of the heroine's story is her final understanding of herself. It is the final acceptance of her totality of being, which includes her mind, body, and spirit. Psyche's story involves the ultimate acknowledgment that the soul can be granted immortality through its' ability to love.

As the myth relates to us, Psyche was a very beautiful girl who was the youngest of three sisters. Psyche was so beautiful that she was treated as a statue or idol to be gazed at. The ancient Greeks began to ignore the temple of Aphrodite, (the Greek counterpart of the Roman goddess Venus), and started to worship Psyche instead of Aphrodite.

Aphrodite became jealous, and asked her son Eros to magically induce Psyche to fall in love with the lowest and most horrible man on earth he could find. Instead Eros himself fell in love with Psyche and had the Zephyr, the west wind, blow her up to a beautiful palace in the mountains. Once there Eros appeared under a cloak of darkness, and told Psyche that she could never look at his face, but that he would visit her nightly, as her husband. During the day Psyche had free rein to live in the palace, and roam the beautiful grounds it was on.

After awhile Psyche missed her older sisters, and asked her mysterious nighttime lover/husband to let them visit her. Eros finally agreed, and Psyche's sisters saw how much material wealth she had. Her sisters became jealous and convinced Psyche that she was really married to a snake, or some other horrible monster. They urged her to look at the man/monster she slept with at night, for her own safety.

Psyche waited until Eros was asleep, and then uncovered him. Once she did, his identity and his beauty was discovered by Psyche, and he woke up and fled from her. She then realized she had been with Eros, the god of love, all the time.

Psyche then went to Aphrodite to ask for a chance to be reunited with her soul mate. Jealous Aphrodite, Eros' mother, set out a series of arduous tasks for Psyche to fulfill before she would agree to allow Eros to see Psyche again. Helped by some of the Olympian gods and goddesses who were sympathetic to her plight, Psyche ultimately passed each test, one of which involved Psyche's descent into the depths of Hades, the underworld, to see Persephone, the queen of the dead. Psyche ultimately won Eros back, married him, was granted immortality, and became a goddess in her own right.

Psyche's story is in essence every woman's story. Psyche's tale begins when she is in early womanhood, and brings her to an uncharted place, where she is not sure of anyone or anything. She is then forced to deal with the world, and surmount many difficult obstacles before she, the embodiment of the soul and mind, is able to merge with her other half, her animus, or her male lover. Once she achieves that goal, she achieves a true integration of her self, becomes a goddess, and achieves immortality.

Astrologically, how does this apply to you? Psyche's journey through the signs of the zodiac varies widely each year, but she is in each sign for between two and ten months. Psyche entered into Virgo on October 5, 2006 and will be there until August 21, 2007. Psyche then moves into Libra for a three-month stay, and will be there until November 18, 2007, when she enters into Scorpio. Psyche will be in the sign of the Scorpion for the rest of the year of 2007.

Psyche can tell us a lot about ourselves and our own journey, but it may take us some time and thought before we become aware of what Psyche symbolically wants to say to us. Delving into our innermost depths can take some time, and reflection.

For example, let's say your own Psyche astrological placement is in Scorpio, conjunct to your Sun or Ascendant, your Rising Sign. Psyche in Scorpio means your understanding of the soul and the mind involves the attributes of the sign of Scorpio, which is a watery, fixed placement. You might have a very deep need to explore your own psychology, and you could be willing to take that exploration to its furthest levels. Psyche conjunct to your Sun or Ascendant means you incorporate your ideas and beliefs about the soul and mind into the very fabric of your being.

To understand Psyche's place in your own chart, it's a good idea to have a grasp of the elements of each sign, and an understanding of the houses and aspects involved. Look below for astrological keywords that will help you understand Psyche's place in your own astrological chart.

Signs: Aries: Cardinal Fire; Taurus: Fixed Earth; Gemini: Mutable Air; Cancer: Cardinal Water; Leo: Fixed Fire; Virgo: Mutable Earth; Libra: Cardinal Air; Scorpio: Fixed Water; Sagittarius: Mutable Fire; Capricorn: Cardinal Earth; Aquarius: Fixed Air; Pisces: Mutable Water.

Houses: First: Your inner sense of self; Second: What you value the most; Third: Your conscious mind; Fourth: Your childhood; Fifth: Your love affairs; Sixth: Your day to day job; Seventh: Your partnerships; Eight: Your attitude to sex, and death; Ninth: Your philosophy of life; Tenth: Your career path, Eleventh: Your hopes and goals; Twelfth: Your unconscious mind.

Aspects: Conjunction: 0-6 degrees apart in the same sign, influence is Positive; Sextile or Trine: 60 to 120 degrees apart, influence is Positive; Opposition: 180 degrees apart, influence is Challenging; Square: 90 degrees apart, influence is Challenging.

Psyche is currently in the sign of Virgo, so the harvest maiden is meeting the goddess of the soul and mind. Virgo is an earthy, mutable sign, and Virgo imparts to Psyche the ability to process information very quickly and analytically, while still exhibiting a deep desire for a physical union with the world around her. Virgo thinks deeply and profoundly, and she has a very down to earth nature, and a true realization of her physical wants and needs.

Psyche in Virgo will bring a tone of questioning to our life stories, and give us the ability to look at our past experiences from many different angles, so we can chart our own paths, and forge ahead in our own life story.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2007. All rights reserved.

"Life happens. Life in the flow."

We learn over time that nobody can solve our problems, but someone can guide you how to solve the problem. You may receive guidance through a teacher, a guru or even strangers that you run into every day. As we practice yoga we learn that the more we know, the less we truly know. Every day I am reminded how much I truly do not know; a very humbling experience.
Yoga teaches me to be present. To just live for being and enjoying life as it is right NOW. Not ten minutes from now, no five days ago, but right now. We are taught to get out of our heads, to release worries and fears of the past or the future and to only live for this very moment. Presence.

"Lead me from untruth to truth, lead me from darkness to light." ~ Buddha

Through yoga we are reminded that we do have a dark side as well as a light side. We are not to repress the dark side, but embrace that side of our Self. We are the yin and the yang. We ultimately cleanse the dark stuff we hold inside. We shine the light on this. We must make friends with dark side. Both positive and negative balance out the whole. Daily practice refines and improves our inner vision to see our Self more clearly. We no longer need to run from fears. Face them and say I'm not running from you anymore. So much is in our heads, so much dark is only in our heads, self-doubt judgment betrayal. Yoga grounds the body so that the light and dark sides of ourselves become clear. So much is truly untrue. But as we diligently practice we are able to find the middle ground and walk our centered balanced line in life. We gain balance in centered lightheartedness. We can have harmony in both light and dark.

"Yoga tells us that the world is actually a projection of our own thoughts and we can modify our inner world to manifest into our outer world. When our inside realm is at peace and in harmony, our outer world shines this projection back at us."
~ David, Jiva Mukti Yoga co-founder

Yoga is observation.

We can observe our world and see what part that is in us is begin reflected back to us. We can then see what part of us needs modification or adjustment in order to have our outer reality reflect back to us the peace, happiness and love we so greatly desire and deserve.

Yoga is already inside of you. Happiness is there. Yoga helps you peel away the onion layers to get to the core. To freedom. The deepest Divine connection to the Ultimate Light Source.

Come out of wanting and back into acceptance and Joy. A yogi or yogini can turn any situation into bliss. That is a yogi. Yoga is being now. Ultimate yoga is meditation. Just BE.

Yoga is love.

"Love is the light that dissolves all walls between souls." 
~ Paramahansa Yogananda

Through a dedicated practice of all forms of yoga we can participate in the world with a sense of freedom, unaffected from trauma, depression, anger, etc. The freedom is balance in both.

Maggie Anderson is a Yoga & Spiritual Teacher, Reiki Master Teacher, Integrated Energy Therapy® Master Instructor, Soul Coach®, Past Life Coach, Magnified Healing® Master Teacher and Angelights Messenger. She is the author of How I Found My True Inner Peace and Divine Embrace. You can contact Maggie at SpiritualCompassConnection.com.

"Follow Your Bliss. It's Your Spiritual Compass."

Hi you two! I've been reading about how there are some places (like hospitals and cemetaries) where people tend to pick up earthbound entities. Do you have any advice for how we can protect ourselves from something like this happening if we have to go to a cemetary for a funeral, or to a hospital for some reason? Blessings!

- Shawna

Dreamchaser:

Here is my famous disclaimer - are you ready? The answer I am about to give you is MY opinion only. That doesn't mean I am right and you are wrong; it's merely my opinion based on what I have seen, heard, experienced and gathered as I have lived this journey called life.

I live down the road from a cemetery, and the fastest way to the main road is for me to drive through that cemetery. I do that every time I head into town. If I could be picking up earthbound spirits, I would have every soul in that cemetery attached to me by now.

One of my very good friends is a nurse. If she could pick up earthbound spirits every time she went into the hospital, she would be covered in them as well.

Let's use voodoo as an example. Voodoo works if one believe it works. A middle class office worker from Montana would probably not believe in voodoo, whereas a fieldworker from Haiti may be a firm believer. If you threw a headless chicken into the office worker's yard in Montana, he may just wonder where on Earth it came from, but if you threw it into the Haitian's yard, the people in the house would probably pack up and move, for they would be terrified!

This is all about belief systems, and the power is in the belief. The chicken is the same in either yard - it's the belief systems of the people involved that are different.

If you believe you can pick up earthbound spirits, then they will have a much better chance of attaching to you. I personally won't let anything near me that is in any way not from Love and Light. Any entity that might want to attach to my aura is not allowed near me. That's my own belief system.

Of course, when I wake up in the morning, I ask for protection and guidance throughout the day, and if I get the feeling that there is some form of unfamiliar energy around me, I stop and say (out loud when possible), If you are not here from Love and Light, I command you to leave this place immediately in the name of the One God.

According to cosmic law, any being must then leave if it is not from Love and Light. Since anything from Love and Light would not attach to you without your permission anyway, I suggest you try this method.

When you are going into a hospital or through a cemetery, just stop before going in and ask for protection. Picture yourself wrapped up in sheets of light or a bubble or whatever you want to use as a visual symbol that you are protected. The Universe will protect you when you ask every time.

I wish you faith in divine protection.

*****

Astrea:

Throughout history, people have made and carried talismans against bad luck and evil entities. Talismans can be as simple as a rock or a shell, or as complicated as a day-long cleansing ritual. There are specific charms for specific situations. Every person I know who carries psychic protection against negative entities has a different idea about what is best for this sort of thing.

I have an ugly plastic turquoise and yellow rosary in my glove box that was given to me by someone at a wake. I also keep a rock from the Forum and one from the Island of Delos in Greece there. I have talismans that have come from every member of my family, every student and every corner of the globe. I have some that were just shiny things this old crow spied and collected because they had a feeling of power to them.

People wear crosses to protect themselves from vampires. With a list of Catholic saints at your fingertips, you can find protection from every kind of bad energy. I keep St. Michael the Archangel over every door in my home and studio, and a St. Michael card in my purse.

I would love to see people shift from carrying things for protection to carrying things to draw positive energies their way. Rose quartz is said to draw love, garnet to enhance brain power, and clear quartz to facilitate mental clarity. Lapis lazuli placed under a pillow will help a person dream of past lives.

There's a poem that lucky little children from psychic lineages learn to remember how to protect themselves, with verses about various spiritual remedies. While you might find the same information at a number of websites, this poem is not something you'll find on the internet.

The first twelve verses talk about the Catholic Saints: When ghosts you fear, St. Michael's near, When folks are cross, Ariel is boss, St. Francis cures the critter dear, Bad dreams? Invite Fatima here.

There are ten verses about charms to cure common human complaints: Rose quartz for love, tied to a tree, Green ribbons, money then you'll see, Cat whiskers cut to break a tie, Carnelian ferrets out a lie.

There are nine verses about rocks and gemstones, seven verses about common medicinal plants, and five verses on the power of precious metals and stones. There are three verses that deal with death and doctors, but those are secret.

You can come up with your own objects by researching your needs online and investing your talismans with protective energy. Remember to always take your time in any ritual that deals with mysterious or supernatural power. Transferring energy to an inanimate object of any kind can be tricky, so go through every step slowly and carefully.

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.