I am not an astrologer– I know what phase the moon is in and basic planetary hours for some of the work that I do. I mention this as my thoughts will not be from an astrological perspective but from a “feeling” or “seeing” perspective.

There is a lot of chaos in the world right now, specifically centered around the US. Both the political climate as well as eclipse energies (along with varying retrogrades and so forth, which you can read about from people more studied than me in this area) are making a significant impact.

The best way I can describe the interface with larger energies, such as world, collective, or societal energies (as well as astrological/planetary/”cosmic”) is a sort of vibratory wave. At times this wave is calm, like a smooth sailing night at sea. At other times this wave crashes onto the shore, and into us… and everything in between.

We then react to these waves headed our way– they meet and interface with our own energy fields. This is often without our consciousness. Even if we do not “believe” in energy, or vibration, or astrology (or insert words here), or believe the falsity that we are above such things, the “cosmic weather” affects us all.

We are continually affected by these outer waves… by the waves of our community, society, state, country, world, and the cosmos.

To understand these waves we must be aware of them. By becoming conscious of these waves, not from a studied or intellectual space, but by a deeply feeling space, we can not only discern between self and other (as in, “wow, world energies are quite wonky right now. Feel the intensity of that wave”) which can help immensely, but we can begin to take personal responsibility for our part in interfacing with that wave… as well as what we are returning to that wave (our backward flow, if you will, as we contribute our personal energies to the wave in some small or large way).

This is done by understanding the wave and its purpose.

The “wave” that we are currently experiencing is one that is quite tumultuous. It is like the bottom of the great ocean has been lifted from the depths, and all of the monsters– Tiamat and the great creatures of the deep– are ashore.

There is such a thing as continual motion to the point where it is experienced as a stoppage, a void. A dead calm. And this is what such energies currently feel like to me.

Our inner depths, our monsters, the shadow aspects of ourselves, both inner and outer, are being seen. That dark mirror, the void, the aspects of ourselves that we thought neatly tucked away are coming to our conscious awareness, our personal shore.

In terms of spiritual realities, the ocean is a metaphor for both the divide between the subconscious and the conscious, but such a wave as described also means that the inner depths, or the separation between worlds, becomes thin.

The world of the dead, the restless spirits that lie beneath us, that we usually can deny or ignore, are finding themselves on the shore, and perhaps noticed by a much higher percentage of the population than usual. The veil between worlds is thin, and it is hard for even those who would in no way describe themselves as “sensitive” or “seers” to notice that something energetically strange is afoot.

So what to do about such things is always the eternal question here…

Awareness is always first. Without consciousness, we cannot understand the waves and our interface with them. Although many people will interface with a wave of such hidden depths emerging in similar ways (such as depression, existential crisis, questioning of identity and purpose, realization of inner “monsters” and needs for healing) how we interface, and what arises for us, is deeply personal.

With understanding the wave and how you are interfacing with it, you can basically understand what you have to work on. It is by unearthing the depths of the ocean floor that we can create big shifts in our lives… if we are willing to become conscious of them.

It is a tendency to push such chaos outward instead of inwardly reconcile it. We get into arguments, we find outer villains, and we push our pain and shadows onto the nearest person, celebrity, or politician. It is much easier to do so, and I am not suggesting that many of the people in the news do not appropriately take up the “villain” mantle.

What I am suggesting is that it is far easier to create an outer villain than to reconcile the energies that are emerging; energies that may be painful to face. Our inner racism, division, placation, needs to feel safe, our relative privilege, class, sex/gender, anger/rage, fear, and anything else that we deem monstrous and project outward can be looked at inwardly… if we are willing to do so.

Energies such as the eclipse allow for things like our inner villains, our inner monsters, all that which we are inwardly divided by, to become more apparent to us. Instead of pushing such things outward, or creating chaos outwardly so we do not have to pay attention to such things, we can pull back our energy and consider our role in such things.

We can eat our shadows that are emerging, reconcile them, and shift our identity for ourselves and the world to a healthier place.

In this way we can act– not from a place of chaos, or from a place of being used by such waves, but from a place of deeply understanding both inner and outer. It is only by doing so that we can take back our power, that we can become aware of the outer manifestations of what is inner, and that we can begin to use such waves, instead of be used by them.

I recognize in saying such things that they may be hard to reconcile. The idea that we give our power away by not reconciling such outer energies that we have projected onto, or that such waves can be used against us, is difficult to reconcile.

It is only by taking back our personal projections and the power that we have given to our shadows run amok that we can fully take personal responsibility for ourselves, that we can heal such shadows, and more greatly interface with reality in a balanced and open way.

I do realize that the appearance of what lies beneath, what we have put at the bottom of our personal and collective oceans, is not terribly pleasant. If you need to simply take care of yourself, or your family, that is understandable. But for those of us ready and willing, we can meet our inner depths, greet the energies of this wave that are emerging, and thank them for showing us what we need to work on inwardly.

We can also understand from a spiritual perspective that this may be an overwhelming or inappropriate time to do spiritual work.

Or it may be a time to do work like psychopomp or healing work for the restless dead, understanding that they are feeling the wave, the sudden openness between worlds, just as we are. If we fear our inner depths, we can only fear the spiritual realms. If we fear our inner darkness, we cannot greet the outer darkness with any respect or regard.

It may be a time for protection, for shielding, and for simply staying out of the fray in a spiritual manner. I realize the irony of the fact that i will be posting this on Facebook, but understanding how many people are and will be affected by this wave, and feeling compassion for how they are reacting, and not feeding into or giving power to such things, is always apt.

Laughing, hanging out with friends and family, and serving your community are always ways to combat the emotions that are heightened by such waves. I am not telling people to disassociate, but chaos and projection of anger doesn’t really do much, and the power of making an impact, however small, to bring good to this world, is always helpful. One of my first spiritual teachers told me about the spiritual power of laughter, and he would prescribe funny movies and comedians to break up the remainder of heavy energies like curses.

If you are strong and able to, you can choose an appropriate action to use the wave, to transmute the energies that come with it, to support those physically and spiritually struggling with the wave. I will not list how to, as it can get people into trouble, but such transmutation of energies is possible, and will come across for those willing and ready to interface with the waves differently.

We all are unconscious of things to smaller or greater degrees, and it is natural for people, even “spiritual” sorts to feed into this energy, or to outwardly project, rather than inwardly reconcile.

We can either be used by the wave, or we can utilize it.

Realizing such a thing can allow for you to understand both the smaller and larger waves that inform us. It can allow you to “see” the wave, know where it may take you, and to ride the wave, to use the wave, instead of being victimized or giving your power away to it, or the outer manifestations of what is being unearthed from the depths of the ocean at this time.