I have been thinking about integrity a lot in the last few weeks. My own and others.
What constitute integrity?
To what extent are you willing to suffer to stick to your own code of conduct?
How long does it take you before you break under the pressure and act on something you know might be wrong?
Or
Can you even differentiate between the right way to act and the wrong way?
How do you usually treat others?
Are you a survival of the fittest type?
Or
Are you a philanthropist type?
What are you limits when it comes to letting other people step all over you?
Integrity from the online Webster dictionary: Firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility.
Here is the beginning of my reflection on the subject. Especially in regards to creative integrity.
Some people have integrity and some people don’t. Some people will step all over you
to push themselves forward. Let them because imitation is the highest form of flattery
and honour built on the sweat of others will only lead to self disappointment.
Experience and character is what shapes an individual unique perspective.
Riding a wave of glory build on imitation might get you somewhere but ultimately there is no substance behind stolen ideas. Integrity is knowing the difference between an immature need for recognition (or desperation) and work that comes from mature reflection (and most of the time some form of personal hardship).
In a rush to get to the top, you can make many enemies if you build a ladder with stolen materials.
-Integrity is learning to acknowledge others in your own creative process
-Integrity is living by the principles that you preach
-Integrity is knowing when you reptilian brain has taken over and stepping back for a moment.
-Integrity is an ethical principle, not biological.
“Let no pleasure tempt thee, no profit allure thee, no persuasion move thee, to do anything which thou knowest to be evil; so shalt thou always live jollity; for a good conscience is a continual Christmas.”
The Mirror of Venus by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones
Venus just moved into the sign of Libra where she will stay until December 5. Venus adores being here in the sign of her rulership. Clean the mirrors around your house to welcome and worship her. Since Libra is linked to partnership, we should expect a bit more ease in the relating department.
In astrology the Black Moon is calculated from several factors. The main factor being the lunar apogee or the spot where the Moon reaches its maximum distance from the Earth. (Please note that there are several different point used in astrology to identify Lilith but I am focused on BML for this piece.
Through history, Lilith has been depicted as a hostile creature, a devourer of children. First wife of Adam in The Alphabet of Ben Sira and a hostile demon according to The Zohar. Lilith was a foreign spirit, and intruder and charms were made to ward her off. Lilith was sometime depicted as a nocturnal seductress or spirit that steal man’s semen during the night to create her demon babies. (We can imagine where those myths came from).
Lilith Amulet to protect children
Some researched work from Jewish feminists urges us to re-examine Lilith’s depiction surrounding Lilith’s character as a demoness, claiming that it originated from the same source that satirically dealt with flatulence, incest, and masturbation. (2)
For centuries, Lilith cropped up in art and literature as the archetypal rebellious woman. Although her character changed over time, one thing that stayed the same was her hair, which is always described as long, unkempt and messy. This is significant because of the way that hair has long been tied to the history of gender roles and representations of women. (3)
In astrology, she is interpreted as the instinctual side that is often pushed to the darkest corners of our psyche as something too wild, too raw, too sexual, too angry and uncontrollable for society. Modern astrological interpretations of Lilith are connected to the expression of the long repression of female sexuality by the established patriarchy. So of course Lilith is angry.
Theda Bara
According to Juan Antonio Revilla, Black Moon Lilith takes hold of our emotions. It is a reactive point, never a point of integration. As such, it can cause strong identifications or very powerful projections of unconscious emotions which may not be recognized as such. His thoughts on it is that it always works at a reactive level.
“The Black Moon is an isolated point, a point of neglect, repression, fermentation, and “magical” transformations that belong to a phantasmal, nocturnal, and instinctive/erotic world. It contains all the more instinctual energies (including the atavistic wisdom and clairvoyance, which is dependent on bodily functions) deep within the psyche, of which sexuality is of course paramount, and which manifest themselves in fairy tales and in primitive lunar symbolism: the night, the mystery, the magic, the danger, the secret, the fear, that which is forbidden.”
Lilith, is often too much for the delicate hearts. A person with a strong Lilith signature awakens something dark and sexual or even violent in other people. They can represent what others try to hide. It can be related to sexuality and power or it can be the animal within, the instinctual side that we repress so that we can function in society. Hiding and wounded, our instinct lurks in the shadow waiting to be fed raw or primal experiences. The Lilith person disturbs because, like the animal, it doesn’t follow conventions and doesn’t try to get along, which is not always great for networking. That is why, Lilith tends to be reclusive, staying away from the danger of getting tamed. The need to exercise freewill is stronger than the need to be included. She will not be controlled or managed into submission.
Because Lilith is a reactive point, she is not something that can be rationalised. That part of yourself/society is experienced directly through the instinct. It cannot be thought through logically. Lilith doesn’t want to be defined and she doesn’t want to adhere to the social mores. When compromising turns sour or when the hurt feelings festering in the dark start smelling too strong we are entering Lilith’s territory.
—➢If you want to know more about the astrological Lilith, you can go ★here, ★here or ★here.
—➢For a general understanding of the story of Lilith in the bible go here
—➢If you are wondering about Lilith in your chart you can contact me
In order to understand Mercury in Libra and what the retrograde might bring up, let’s look at Libra for a moment.
Libra is the 7th sign of the Zodiac and is often depicted as the scales of justice. A cardinal air sign, masculine or yang means that this sign is active and initiating in comparison to the feminine signs that are more receptive and passive.
From an evolutionary point of view, Libra is associated with the integration of the individual through relationships. The first flames of the egoic self (Aries) has developed to a stage where it is ready to step outside of its immediate needs to accommodate another person.
Libra thinks (Air) in terms of polarities meaning that to understand itself, the individual requires external feedback. Relationships becomes a central piece that holds the identity together. Feedback becomes a building block for the ego. Libra will accommodate the other since the other is needed to develop self-understanding.
Venus, the planet associated with love and beauty rules the sign of Libra which certainly helps this sign relating and establishing partnerships. There is a strong connection to symmetry, harmony, how things should be and in its more superficial manifestations it becomes how things should look.
The scales measures and weighs to find fairness and equilibrium. The middle ground between me and you, between us and them. The decision making process becomes a lengthy affair.
Heart & Mind
One would think that being so preoccupied with balance makes Libra well calibrated but going from one extreme to another is essential in finding the middle path.
Why is Justice blindfolded?
The depiction of justice balancing the scales dates back to the Goddess Isis of ancient Egypt. She is often seen carrying a double-edged sword in her right hand, symbolizing the power of reason and justice, which may be wielded either for or against any party. Justice is also depicted wearing a blindfold representing objectivity. Justice is or should be met objectively without fear or favour, regardless of money, wealth, power, or identity.
Justitia by Maerten van Heemskerck, 1556
Mercury retrograde in Libra
Mercury is associated with the mind and our reasoning capabilities. The ability to speak and share our experience. Communicating and connecting two separate entities, language allows us to close the gap.
Mercury in Libra has a lot to do with feedback. Time is spent in a back and forth dialogue smoothing things over and making sure the other person received correctly what we are trying to convey. A diplomatic mission.
When Mercury goes retrograde, it is thought to be a time of revision. In Libra the mind turns towards the other. What connects you to another person and how the other person receives you.
Re-calibrating our message so that we can be better understood within our relationships. We already spent a good part of the summer revising our needs within our relationships with Venus retrograde in Leo. The Venus retrograde helped us identify our hearts desires. With Mercury going retrograde in Libra, it could mean a time of measuring how our relationships are bringing us (or not) what our heart desires. Having our needs recognized by someone else means being able to communicate them clearly. It could also be about rationalizing our desires and the push and pull between reason and the heart.
Relationships are a balancing act. We can never take them for granted. And we can never take for granted that the other understands us. When we involve ourselves with another human, we take a chance. We take a chance at being misunderstood but we also take a chance at being understood. And that is one of the most rewarding side effect of being willing to team up. No one is an island.
The story continues.
Johfra Bosschart
On a collective level, Mercury retrograde in Libra points it swords towards the injustice of the world. Equal rights for man and woman, equal rights for people of all nations. The discomfort is growing everyday as we become aware through social media of the huge gap between rich and poor, between rich countries and third world nations. Our selfish ways are highlighted and it is quite embarrassing. The Syrian refugee crisis is one of many dialogue going on at the moment. What differentiate you from them? Why is it that you are sitting in your comfortable life watching on a screen thousands of people fighting for the lives? And how are your decisions affecting these injustice and imbalance? Are we rationalizing tragedies to the point of becoming morbidly aloof?
When our attention turns towards fairness and justice, the inequalities are striking. Our societies have built so many laws in order to keep the peace. The corridors of bureaucracy are rotting and the system that is supposed to serve us have become an intricate way to avoid direct responsibility. Our objectivity and impassive posture towards injustice is becoming our downfall. We can apply those same ideas to our personal relationships.
Perhaps the blindfold of objective reason has become a weakness?
Sept 17 Mercury Station Retrograde at 15º Libra. 6.09pm UT, 2.09 pm EDT, 11.09am PDT
Sept 24 Mercury square Pluto.
Sept 28 Lunar Eclipse at 4º Aries.
Sept 30 Mercury conjunct Sun. (Cazimi 10.38am UT, 3.38am EDT, 0.38 am PDT)
Oct 2 Mercury conjunct Black Moon Lilith
Oct 9 Mercury Station Direct at 0º Libra. 2.57pm UT, 10.57 am EDT, 7.57am PDT
Oct 22 Mercury square Pluto.
Oct 23 Mercury out of the shadow zone at 15º Libra
On Saturday, there is a Full Moon-Lunar Eclipse in the sign of Libra. Relationships are on the radar but the Libra-Aries axis speaks not only of ”me” versus ”you” or ”us”, it also speaks of the relationship to ourselves. Balancing the scales also means taking the time to enter fully in a relationship to ourselves. To be loving, caring and generous within a relationship, one has to know how to give it to themselves. And from that starting point, shine it outwards. Once you have understood that principle, no one can ever take love away from you. Love originates from the center of your being and not as something outside of yourself. It is the starting point.
I leave you with a poem that Mystic Medusa shared this morning on her Facebook page:
The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other’s welcome
and say, sit here. Eat. You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you have ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
The Moon is in Libra applying to conjunct the North Node which represents a point of learning for us collectively. While there is so much going on in the opposite side of Aries at the moment with Venus-Mars-Uranus and the South Node pushing to be acknowledge and the impulse to be recognized as a unique individual, there is also the need to recognize how we can progress by teaming up with others.
Everyone has it’s own gifts but when we come together, ask for help, acknowledge others, considering new points of view we can actually progress faster. Finding the middle ground between your needs and what others need or want from you could come up this weekend.
We can think of Aries as the law of the jungle which is an expression that means ”every man for himself”. A necessary process for survival.
The opposite sign of Libra could be the image of John Lennon and Yoko Ono singing: ”Give peace a chance”.
In the first decan of Libra which is ruled by the Moon, we meet the courtesans, diplomats and artists of the zodiacs. Here Justice emerges, cutting through the subjective or selfish motives. It is the begining of social order and the building of societies through fair ethical judgments and laws.
So this weekend, with the Moon in Libra, we can play with images of US versus OTHERS.
♈When should I follow my own agenda in a (good for me) selfish way?
♎When is it ok to voice my discontent in a collaboration?
♎Where in my life am I giving up on myself to keep the peace?
♈Would I benefit by partnering up with someone or asking for help?
♎What does the word relationship means to me?
9th House 