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Newsletter No. 2: Pisces

Welcome to our second Alchemical Journey Newsletter! 

The Sun has now entered the sign of Pisces! So for the next four weeks our enquiry takes on Piscean themes as we seek to better understand ourselves and our connection to the Wheel of the Year.

Contents:

1. The Alchemical Journey: Pisces Cycle 
2. Forthcoming Events
3. Free Alchemical Analysis
4. Free Alchemical Coaching Session

1.  THE ALCHEMICAL JOURNEY: PISCES CYCLE: 19th Feb - 20th Mar:

A Journey of Enquiry and Celebration

The Alchemical Journey around the wheel of the year is simultaneously a journey of enquiry, and one of celebration.  Firstly, we are enquiring into our personal relationship to the turning year.  We do this through twelve distinct perspectives, drawn from the richly mythic symbolism of the journey of the sun through the 12 signs of the zodiac. This simultaneously draws upon our time-honoured understanding of our relationship to the seasonal cycles, as this is reflected in the sun's astrological journey.  Such enquiry enables us to be drawn into a contemplation of the mysteries of life, the mysteries of who we are, as physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual beings.  It opens us to questions that we might not normally ask ourselves in the course of our everyday lives.

Secondly, we are celebrating the turning year, by giving thanks and expressing gratitude to whatever it is that we perceive to be the source of our "being-in-the-world"; whether we conceive this as Mother Earth, or God or Great Spirit or whatever. 

We can all recognise a tendency to get caught in feeling separate, isolated, alone, disconnected to the cycles of life and diconnected to the source that sustains us, even if we can also experience a faith that we are not.  Such a belief is the breeding ground for fear and insecurity, yet our modern philosophical paradigm tends to be rooted in the assumption of separateness and we bump up against that assumption at every turn in our busy modern lives.  Through the enquiries we enter into at each stage of The Alchemical Journey, we have the possibility to transform that isolated perspective of separateness and realise at a very profound level of our being, the dynamic interconnectedness of life.  I have found the celebration of the turning year and my intimate connection to it, the most powerful way I know of accessing this understanding.  Whenever I do access this, usually through gratitude and a genuine openness to enquiry, I experience feelings of joy, a sense of well-being, an aliveness and connection to the magical synchroncities of life that seemed barred to me somehow, whenever I get caught in the paradigm of separateness! 

The Piscean Phase of the Journey

So we have just entered the Pisces phase of the journey.  Pisces is the 12th and final stage of the annual cycle, the 12th and final sign of the astrological wheel.  It is the phase of the year where one journey ends and another begins.  Life is on the turn, something new is ready to break through.  We can sense it, but as yet we do not see it.  Pisces is the mutable water sign, and we might think of the element of water being in a state of flux and transformation during this cycle.  The image I often work with for Pisces is of a river flowing into the ocean.  The definite identity of the river must inevitably surrender its identity and merge (or become one) with the larger body of water which ultimately contains it.  

Pisces is a sign that is full of paradox and apparent contradiction.  It is famously associated with struggle, the two fish tied together and pulling in different directions.  The paradox lies in the idea of Pisces being simultaneously the sign of surrender, of giving up, of sacrificing one's attachment to a particular identity and simply accepting what must be.  The word 'sacrifice' is one that is often associated with Pisces.  The word really means 'to make sacred' - or to return to what is sacred - and one of the profound things that we learn through this phase of the journey is that to in order to return to what is sacred, we must give something up.  We must sacrifice something of significance to which we have become attached, and which prevents us from returning to the source of where we come from and is thus the source of who we are.  This is reflected for example in the Christian calendar, with the season of lent.  Lent is a traditionally a time of fasting, when we give up the stuff of the world.  This can be a time where we might retreat to a meditative or reflective place, enter sacred territory, so that we might become ready to receive the new creative shoots of life that break forth at the Spring Equinox, the new Aries cycle, that comes in late March, where the daylight begins to extend its dominion over night,and the creative impulse is resurrected in the first buds of spring.

Pisces is associated very strongly with the poetic impluse, where attempts at reason and logical deduction must be suspended if we are to be granted access to the mystery of who we really are.  The Piscean phase of the journey resonates with the idea that the truth can only be reached through myth and metaphor.  Pisces is synonymous with a profound ambiguity where nothing is certain.  It is the phase of the journey where we seek guidance from those in our society whose perspective might normally be overlooked - the underdogs, the mystics, the artists, the storytellers, the disenfranchised and disadvantaged in society, for they may understand something that we have forgotten in our quest for distinction and success, clarity and order. 

Focus for enquiry during the Pisces cycle:   

• Ask yourself: What am I still holding onto in my life that I could release, let go of or relinquish?  This could be an attitide, belief or assumption about the world. It could be a relationship that is no longer an authentic representation of who you are.  It could be a job that no longer supports or sustains you.  It could be an identity that you have been clinging onto that no longer fits with you are.
• Look at a situation in your life where you are struggling, pulled in two directions, uncertain about which way to go.  Notice this tension within you. Could you just let it be exactly as it is?  Could you relax your anxiety around it, accept that there may not be a "right" answer to your apparent dilemma?  Could you just relax into the idea that, when the time is right, you could simply choose.  The time may not be right just now, maybe you just need to be with the question.  In the Aries phase that begins at the Spring Equinox in March, you may be more inspired to step out, take a risk and express that choice.  
• Could you simply relax your judgment of right and wrong, even temporarily and give up the struggle for answers.  
• Practice acceptance of what is.  This is a time of great mystery, a time of both endings and beginnings, where the old turning of the wheel no longer holds sway, but the new wheel's turning has not yet begun. 

Some Pisces Keywords:  Release.  Acceptance.  Struggle.  Surrender.  Flow.  Ambiguity. Confusion.  Poetry.  Retreat.  Merger.  Sacrifice.  Spiritual Union.  Epiphany.  Bliss.

2.  FORTHCOMING EVENTS

We are just over a month away from the beginning of The Alchemical Journey's 2008-9 programme.  My own Piscean journey this month is about clearing the decks, letting go of attachments to outcomes, and allowing the space for the programme to begin from a place of real possibility.  Deadline for enrolment is the Spring Equinox: Fri 21st March and the first weekend gathering is 28th-30th March. 

The programme is running in Bristol and in Brighton. See www.thealchemicaljourney.com/theroutemap1.php for further details and dates.  We still have places available for the programme.  See: www.thealchemicaljourney.com/theroutemap3.php for price information.

Forthcoming Alchemical Journey Performance / Presentation Evenings 

These have been a great success so far.  Three more are lined up over the next few weeks. 

• Fri 22nd Feb:  Brighton.  VENUE: 17 Chesham St, Kemp Town, Brighton BN2 1NA  Starts at 7.30pm.   £5 Entry
  • With Paul Chi's musical improvisation on piano. Pianist / Composer Ben Solomon will also be performing.
• Weds 27th Feb:  Bristol. VENUE: 128 Cotham Brow, Cotham, Bristol BS6 6AE Starts at 7.30pm.  £5 Entry
  • With Martin Solomon's musical improvisation on harp.
• Fri 7th Mar:  Brighton.  Venue to be confirmed.  7.30pm start.  £5 Entry
• Thurs 13th Mar:  Bristol.  VENUE:  Seven Generations Bookshop & Cafe, 10-12 Picton St, Montpelier, Bristol BS6 5QA Starts at 7.30pm - £5 Entry
  • With Vicki Burke's musical improvisation on harp.  Tickets for this event should be purchased in advance.  Contact us for details.

Details of these events can be found at www.thealchemicaljourney.com and also at www.healthyconcerts.com/whats_on

3.  FREE ALCHEMICAL ANALYSIS

If you haven't done so yet, then you might want to sign up for a free alchemical analysis report.  This is based on the element balance (fire, earth, air, water) in your astrological birth chart.  These reports offer insight into which elements are strong and which are weak in your birh chart, and what this might mean for you. It also offers guidance as to how to bring greater balance into your life.  It offers a snapshot of your strengths and areas that might be challenging for you.  It does not offer the whole picture, by any means, but can be an stimulating introduction to the themes in your astrological chart.  I have customised these reports to relate specifically to the lessons inherent within the alchemical journey, so they really are quite unique:  www.thealchemicaljourney.com/freereport

4.  FREE ALCHEMICAL COACHING SESSION

If you are interested in The Alchemical Journey and are considering participating in the programme (or simply finding out more about it) then for a limited period, I am offering free alchemical coaching sessions.  These sessions last 30 minutes are an opportunity for you to explore what you want to create in your life over the coming year, and how that might become a reality.  If you don't know what you want to create for your life, or don't believe that you can create it, then this session will give you the opportunity to enquire and perhaps enable a breakthrough in confidence or self-belief.  The sessions can be conducted face-to-face or by phone.  Please call me on 07869 133759 to arrange.

That's it for this issue.  Please let me have your feedback. It's really valuable. I'm on the lookout for an attractive newsletter template so if you know how I can get hold of one please let know that too! 

Have a wonderful month!

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