Aquarium Age, Blogs

Aquarium Age: November 21 – 27

By Ralfee Finn

I’m taking a break this week from the regular format of these pages. Yes, the current Mercury Retrograde is overwhelming with techno-challenges (wasn’t last Friday just a bitch?). And you certainly don’t need me to delineate the retrograde do’s and don’ts. Mercury Retrograde is a modern sky myth that’s grown so popular we hardly need astrologers to point out its pitfalls.

It’s been a long, intense couple of years reporting astral activity with an eye toward contextualizing the evening news. Seeing the ongoing political madness through the vast lens of the sky takes a lot of spiritual stamina, so I’m taking a rest this week but not necessarily skipping a beat. I think we could all use a moment to replenish our reservoirs and fortify our strength, and I hope you will also find the time to rest.

But there is one more thing:

I want to say thank you to all the readers of the Aquarium Age who have been so supportive and loyal over the years. I am so grateful for you because each week for the last twenty-two years, you’ve reminded me of just how many people there are around the world who share a similar sensibility, for whom compassion and kindness are the first go-to response in times of crisis, and who passionately care about their fellow travelers.

Aquarium Age readers are smart, conscious, creative, and caring people and I want you to know that I know that. You make me a better astrologer, a better writer, and most importantly a better human. Those of us who care about our planet don’t get as much media coverage as we deserve. There are actually more people who care than those who don’t—we just don’t tend hear about the former. It’s almost as if we’re still stuck in the old model of the ‘70s that made fun of hippies, granola, and Birkenstocks before all those alternative choices became big business.

Oh, my…how things have and haven’t changed!

As I have written before: To be grateful is to be humble, and while it is hard to be grateful in a world that seems to be falling apart, don’t let appearances fool you. The current chaos we are experiencing is changing us—we can no longer deny the inequities and injustices that separate, divide, and blind us to our common humanity. Rather than concentrate on what divides, we need to feel what unites and strengthen an awareness of our fundamental interconnectedness.

This is my Thanksgiving prayer:

I put aside my grievances and refuse to let arrogance cloud my heart. Let humility clear my vision. Let each breath be humble. Let each breath open my heart to the Great Mystery of life, a mystery so vast, so unknowable, so powerful, even more powerful than the stars, that I can only be humble before its Presence. Let each breath strengthen my heart. Let all hearts be strengthened. And may humility teach us how to live love, even if we think love is lost. Let humility help me take a deeper, more resonant breath, a breath that feeds my hope in a better, kinder, and more compassionate world.

This article was originally published on November 21, 2018.