I had one of those mornings when time was short and children and animals weren’t responding the way they’re supposed to (!). ‘Are you listening?’ I repeated more than once to my daughter as she danced around the room in la-la land whilst we were preparing I was preparing food ingredients for today’s cookery class at school.
When I found myself a short while later face-to-face with the dog on our early morning dog walk berating him for “not listening”, I experienced a minor epiphany.
Not only is it relatively futile to accuse one’s dog of not listening (see cartoon on left) but I suddenly realised that this wasn’t about the ‘badly-behaved’ child and dog but rather my own need of being listened to.
Sagittarius Lunar Eclipse
This fits perfectly with the theme of this weekend’s lunar eclipse which cuts across the Gemini-Sagittarius axis (exact May 25 2013, 04:25 GMT). This is a Full Moon eclipse and the last of a series of eclipses in Gemini and Sagittarius that began in December 2010. It’s also the third eclipse in exactly one month.
Gemini & Communication
In this weekend’s eclipse chart, the Moon in Sagittarius opposes the Sun in Gemini plus there are another three planets in Gemini, the sign of communication. This is a busy time for chatter, talking, sharing ideas, gossip, catching up on the news and yet this is only 50% of what communication is all about. If there’s no-one to hear your brilliant ideas or share your jokes, there’s something missing. In a similar vein, if there’s no-one there who can wipe away your tears and listen as you voice your pain or sadness, life seems a whole lot harder. We need people in our lives so we can share communication, to talk with, to listen to and be listened to in return.
At the Hairdresser’s
This was evident to me yesterday evening when I was at my local hairdresser’s for a cut and blow dry. Like many people I love having a gossip with my hairdresser and hairdressers must hear all kinds of stories, funny, sad and everything inbetween. Yesterday’s event was slightly different as the salon had a difficult week with one of the owners experiencing an unexpected death in the family and my own hairdresser receiving bad news from a friend earlier that morning.
She was talking to me about what happened so I listened as she cut my hair and at the same time I was aware of the client next to me listening to the owner as he told his story. There are times when we want and need to be heard and to have someone in our lives who can listen. Talking is rarely therapeutic unless someone is there to listen.
Sagittarius: the world’s always talking to you
Sagittarius is the higher octave of Gemini as this is the search for meaning and applying insight to what we know and learn and what we hear and read about. This is where we make sense of life and without that deeper understanding and an awareness and purpose, communication can end up being a lot of hot air and blather.
Sagittarius expands our world beyond human interaction and reminds us of our deeper connection with the universe and everything around us. Being a self-confessed lover of meditation I know that listening to silence can be a profound experience. One of my favourite quotes by Rickie Lee Jones says it best: “You can hear all kind of things if you just watch and listen; the world’s always talking to you.” In the quiet moments, you also hear your own voice in its clarity and purity.
The listening business
Listening is more than being there for friends, family or the stranger on the bus. Especially when there’s so much going on in the world that seems crazy, violent and out of control, we all need answers to the bigger questions as we try to understand why.
The listening profession is big business these days and many of you will not only have friends and family to talk to but coaches, therapists, healers and advisers. On this weekend’s eclipse when energy is intensified, why not ask yourself what questions you need answering and who you can turn to. Full Moons often feel emotional and this eclipse being square to Neptune, God of the sea, there’s a lot of water and hot air swirling around. Ask other people to help you make sense of what’s going on in your own life.
Who can I give a good listening to?
In addition to asking for help or giving yourself a good talking to, this weekend why not pose the question ‘who can I give a good listening to?’ When listening is proffered with an open heart, it’s one of the greatest gifts you can offer another human being.
[cartoon from flickr.com]
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