Happy Summer Solstice! Rumi, dreams, and the Fantastic Shoes...
Daily Horoscope for Tuesday, June 21, 2022
Story Water
~by Rumi
A story is like water
That you heat for your bath.
It takes messages between the fire
And your skin. It lets them meet,
And it cleans you!
Very few can sit down
In the middle of the fire itself
Like a salamander or Abraham.
We need intermediaries.
A feeling of fullness comes,
But usually it takes some bread
To bring it.
Beauty surrounds us,
But usually we need to be walking
In a garden to know it.
The body itself is a screen
To shield and partially reveal
The light that’s blazing
Inside your presence.
Water, stories, the body,
All the things we do, are mediums
That hide and show what’s hidden.
Study them,
And enjoy this being washed
With a secret we sometimes know,
And then not. _____________________________________________
As I opened the book of Rumi poems this morning to find inspiration, a magazine clipping fell out that, apparently, I had saved many years ago when I was in high school; and went to a weekly Sufi circle to sing and chant, a sort of group meditation practice. The magazine article was about the Sufi tradition of whirling…
Glancing at the glossy magazine paper, as I picked it up to place it back in the book, I was struck with the memory of my dream…
I was on the side of a dance floor somewhere and I was waiting for the person in the middle to leave and it would be my turn. Then it was, and I walked out to the middle to whirl, like a whirling dervish! I don’t remember anything else of my dream, just this transition from waiting to walking with the intention of whirling.
“Whirling” is the practice of twirling, or spinning around, on a somewhat stationary leg, arms stretched out, one palm up—one palm down, and the head tilted back—the Sufi practice this until they can whirl almost interminably to, “educate the soul by using the body to connect all levels of the human being into a single act.” (Gdula, 2001).
I remember trying to learn how to do this when I was practicing with the Sufi circle. I went to a “performance” of a group of traveling dervishes once and observed this beautiful practice, and was in awe!
I don’t yet know why this is significant, but it seems I was meant to remember my dream! And I am filled with excitement, wonder, and an intense feeling of anticipation…but I don’t know why?
Today is the Summer Solstice—the longest day of the year and the beginning of the season of Cancer. Cancer is a cardinal/water/yin sign, meaning this energy likes to get things started from an emotional space and is usually a more introverted/yin energy. Cancer season is all about focusing on home and family, nurturing, and establishing your safe and secure place in this world. We get called home physically and spiritually during this time. After the Gemini season that we all just had with the Mercury retrograde (from hell! Or maybe that was just my experience?), we all could use a little regrouping and recentering in our safe space.
We also have the Moon, still square the Sun, but instead of being in Pisces and Gemini -mutable signs that are linked to change- now the Sun and Moon are in Cardinal signs: Aries and Cancer, so the emphasis is on getting things started. We may feel an urge, desire, and haste to get things done today.
It’s time to take care of things in our house that maybe we’ve neglected over the past few days. Do our dishes, make the beds with fresh linens, and/or put out some homey touches like a vase of flowers, a candle, or start the diffuser, you get the idea. We may also feel like cooking yummy food that comforts the soul and makes the house smell delicious and inviting. Over the next month, take some time to nurture yourself and your environment and connect with that Cancerian energy.
The Moon is now in Aries and she will be conjoining Jupiter today. Jupiter is still in a sextile with Mercury and I think that this will make flare-ups less likely. Sometimes when the Moon is in Aries, we want things to happen immediately and there is a tendency to get perturbed when things don’t go our way. With the moon meeting up with benefic Jupiter (and because of Jupiter’s relationship to Mercury right now), I think the tendency to have positive and uplifting conversations is more likely today than aggressive conflicts or temper tantrums.
Early this morning, while we were all sleeping, Venus made a trine with Pluto at about 4:23 am ET. A trine represents a relationship between the planets that is easy and flowing, free of any obstacles or barriers, and in harmony with one another. Venus/Pluto transits represent intense connections that could feel “fated” or “meant to be,” kind of like finding an article about the very thing you dreamed about!
This energy can also represent something happening suddenly because all the blocks have been removed, and with Venus, this means something related to love, relationships, money, and/or the things we value—so this could be a relationship forming or a relationship ending, either way, it feels fated. This could also be about large sums of money coming into or going out of one’s life. In Mundane astrology, Pluto represents the financial markets, and I’m sure with all the stuff happening in the crypto market right now, people are feeling this trine, big time.
Let’s pick a card for the day:
14 Temperanza
This is the Temperance card in traditional tarot and represents the integration of the dualities within the self. This card is interesting in that it looks like a shoe, but also like a jug— the water flows in from the top, but can’t be contained, so it flows out from the bottom.
It’s like in order to create peace, we have to learn self-control and let the emotions (the water) flow through us so that it doesn’t get stuck and cause issues. Water in a shoe is never a good thing.
This shoe is a modest shoe, showing that moderation in all things- like health, business, and love- is called for here. We don’t want to be too flashy and lose sight of who we are, but we also can’t be too drab or worn down, because we would lose our utility, our ability to do that which with we were meant to do. Temperance literally means to moderate or self-restrain, so this card is reminding us to use that energy as our tool today.
This may be very useful, depending on what happens today or what is brought up emotionally. We may need this reminder to keep our cool- remain calm- not “calm and collected,” but just calm. This shoe is not collecting the water, but letting it pass through, unhindered—I think that’s important. Let the emotions come in and then go out, don’t collect them for later, release them, but in a way that is helpful and useful to the situation, thereby creating peace.
I hope that makes sense and is helpful!
I would love to hear your thoughts. Please leave a comment about how this resonates with you today if you’d like!
Until tomorrow,
AstroMommy
Today’s horoscope was brought to you by: The Summer Solstice, Sun in Cancer, Moon in Aries, Jupiter in Aries, and Venus and Pluto in a trine in Taurus and Capricorn, respectively.
Today’s tarot card was pulled from The Fantastic Shoes—Le Calzature Fantastiche— by Osvaldo Menegazzi--a collectible--available on Amazon here.
Works Cited
Barks, C. (1997). The Essential Rumi. “Story Water,” pg. 171.
Gdula, K. (2001). Perfect Circles. Dance Spirit, World Section, page unknown.