(Above: Full Moon in Aries forms a Cardinal Grand Cross with Chiron involvement.)

Observe how snakes shed their skin.

They lay motionless for awhile, days even. They use pulses of contraction to shed the old layer, interspersed with periods of relaxation. Contraction and relaxation.

To the naked eye, the process is virtually undetectable until you start seeing the visible result of their arduous effort.

With enough contraction, the old layer breaks free, and the snake slithers away and continues on with its life — until it’s time to shed the next layer.

It is no wonder the symbol of the serpent has been used down through the ages to represent medicine and transformation. This wonderful creation of nature shows us exactly how it works.

Of course, it is no different with us. However, we live in a production- and growth-oriented society that does not value, broadly speaking, inner transformation or your periods of contraction and need for isolation to shed away the old.

It has to happen while you are at work or otherwise engaged in the busyness of the world. Still, nature gets done what it needs to get done.

The ego does not like the feeling of being stuck or moving slowly. It wants to move fast, expand, grow, fill up space, and the like. The ego is the reaction after sipping a little too much coffee or having a little too much sugar. It’s restless and mindless.

Learn to rest. Learn to identify when it is time to stop, let go of the old, and make space for the emerging new. This is a primal process that is very human and very beautiful.

Pain is always associated with transformation and contraction. Ask any woman who has given birth.

However, it is precisely this pain that pushes out the old layer of skin, the old way of being, the old attachment patterns, and so on. It is purifying in nature.

Our Earth revolves around the Sun every 24 so-called hours. It and we are in constant motion. Rarely are we the same way twice.

Every day something new is born and something old dies. We breathe in, we breathe out. We sleep and we wake.

How vulnerable we are. Exquisitely so.

To be vulnerable is to be human and to be human is to evolve. And to evolve is the reason you are here.

Embrace your periods of contraction as much as your periods of expansion. They co-exist. Prefer not one over the other.

Be grateful for it all. 🙏🏻

Suggested Use
- Have pen and paper ready.
- Read this passage once.
- Then, reread it a little more slowly. Pause. Reflect.
- Journal any connections or intentions that come to you.
- Come back a few days later and read again.
- Repeat two or three more times.

There is no correct answer. Only take what resonates.
Kindly share these words if you feel another could benefit.

ॐ शान्तिः