99.7% Totality [REPOST]
9/4/2024
Let me be frank with you all, I've had quite a week.
On Monday, April 8th, against my better judgement, I embarked on one of the most hellish road trips of my life, with only one goal in mind--- to reach totality. I drove 13 hours, nearly 800 miles to bumfuck nowhere Missouri to watch the eclipse in all it's glory.
Honestly, I'm still not entirely sure if it was worth all the trouble! The eclipse was truly spectacular and I am lucky to have seen it, but all the trouble that came about from it... it would have been nice to get a little more out of that trip to make up for it!
The eclipse transited my 7th house, highlighting some rather prominent luminary influences, which has manifested in my life as my social circle absolutely disintegrating around me.
It was a long time coming, these issues had been bubbling and brewing since the Venus retrograde last summer, which formed a trine with my 7th house. I was not surprised that any of it happened (indeed, I predicted it would happen months ago). Though I was taken aback by the sheer explosiveness of it all. The eclipse wanted to make sure there were no loose ends for me in that regard, I suppose! Any loose ends were incinerated.
I would have liked to write about the eclipse sooner than now, however between the aforementioned interpersonal conflict and school work, I've been swamped. In fact, I'm actually writing this entry on a school computer in between working on my various essays and presentations.
I thought the general hubbub surrounding the eclipse was rather interesting, however, and I feel it's not too late to comment on. The discourse has really shined a light on the new age community as a whole. The general consensus was (and still is) that the eclipse was a bad omen, that you should hide from it, don't do magick, its BAD and VERY NEGATIVE.
This is interesting to me because, in my opinion, it shows a massive imbalance in philosophical/spiritual belief. This brought me back to the ancient wisdoms of the Emerald Tablet (not to be confused with the sci-fi scam novel "Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean" which masquerades as an ancient tome). The first three lines of the Tablet (Issac Newton translation, 1680) reads as thus:
"Tis true without lying, certain and most true,
That which is above is like that which is below, and that which is below is like that which is above, to do ye miracles of only One thing,
And as all things have been and arose from one, by ye mediation of one: so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation."
This is the supposed origin of the most iconic "As Above, So Below", a beloved catchphrase for occultists and edge-lords alike. Though, despite its (in)famous reputation, many people misinterpret this passage. Usually this misinterpretation is in one of two ways.
The first misinterpretation is that it is referencing monotheism- that is, there is only one 'God', and thus Christianity is the only true religion. I'm not going to get into why I disagree with this stance in this blog post, let's save that can of worms for next time.
The second misinterpretation, and indeed the topic of today's rambling, is that 'Above' and 'Below' are two separate things that are just similar. This separation, this categorization of things, is deeply ingrained into the western mind. Western philosophies rely very heavily on empirical evidence and logic, which drives a person to very black and white thinking. There are certainly noble qualities to thinking logically. I, myself, strive to be as logical as possible and to find evidence to support my claims (when what I am saying does not pertain to my Unverifiable Personal Gnosis, which is by nature and title unverifiable). There is nothing inherently wrong with logical thinking by itself, and actually it serves as an indicator for an intelligent mind.
The issues arise when we begin to think overly-categorically, as if things are independent of one another. When the skies of my midwestern town were hazy with smoke from Canadian wildfires, most people did not wear masks to protect their lungs. Their reasoning? Canada and midwestern America are separate countries, thus incapable of influencing each other, except in highly controlled ways. Obviously.
Indeed, many people scoffed at the notion the haze was toxic smoke from wildfires and gleefully took their babies, dogs, and family members out into the thick of it- unmasked, unaware, and coughing all the same.
This example perfectly illustrates what I am getting at. The metaphysical/new age/occult community is notorious for this sort of thinking. Yet, unlike in the case of wildfire smoke, there are very few avenues by which to challenge this thinking. The majority of folks generally come from organized religion and do not want to hear criticism of their spiritual beliefs or anything that might be perceived as dogma (valid), and every single last one of us has at some point has faced rejection from so-called 'logical thinkers' or science as a whole.
I do not blame folks for being wary of 'logic' because that is the same thing that is levied against us, used to insult our intelligence, and our passions. However, what EVERYONE (new agers and 'logical thinkers' alike) fails to realize is that all things are the same thing. Night and day, heaven and earth, man and woman, positive and negative, spirituality and science..... It's all the same goddamn thing.
Everywhere one turns, we see false dichotomies, inaccurate methods of categorizing the natural world. We put ourselves and others in little boxes, forgetting that everything is complex and multi-faceted.
Indeed you find your greatest strengths nestled in your weaknesses. You find positives through negatives. Life has never been nor will it ever be categorical. Science was born from religion and thus great spiritual truths can be gleaned from science as well.
The 'negative' energy of the Eclipse is not evil. That is a false dichotomy. The negative simply is and it is up to you what you do with it. If you choose to see evil, all you will ever see is evil.
I believe the lovely Francesca Posgai at Limitless Living Fit said it best. In response to a tik toker who said that, due to the transits around the time of the Eclipse, now is the 'worst time to push peoples buttons and react emotionally', Francesca said:
"Now is the best time to say FUCK THEM and let the chips fall where they may"
Negativity is a part of life, my loves. You can practice positive thinking, you can comment that you 'don't claim it', you can hide your head in the sand, but sometimes facing negativity head on is the only way through.
In the negative, we find the positive because in reality, they are the same thing. The dichotomy is just an illusion.
Until next time, loves
Sigrid
