Blessings,

I suspect most of you have heard about the 2012 planetary alignment and the Mayan prophecy that proposes that December 21, 2012 marks the end of time as we know it. This has been interpreted by some as the end of the world since the Mayan calendar ends on that day. But I’m among those proponents that understand that period as a “moment of cosmic shifting” that heralds a new era, an age we are co-creating as a collective, right here and now, the beginning of time as we would not only like it to be but as we already know it can be.

Maybe you are wondering what’s so unusual about the planetary alignment at that time. Just before sunrise eastern time, the Sun moves into the sign of Capricorn heralding the winter solstice. For the first time in 26,000 years the sun will rise to conjoin the intersection of the Milky Way (also known as the Galactic Center) and the plane of the ecliptic (the path of the sun). This is considered to be the embodiment of the sacred Tree of Life by the Mayans, heralding the Golden Age for humanity. From the Mayan perspective, we have been “between worlds,” a time of accelerated evolution and transformation since the total Solar Eclipse that occurred on August 11, 1999 (for more information on that eclipse, you can access the newsletter I circulated at that time).

Now you may be wondering why I chose today to discuss all this. For one thing, it’s apparent to many of us that we are indeed in a time of transition. Many people respond at such times of uncertainty with heightened states of anxiety and fear. We tend to forget that we have a choice and certainly this time “between worlds” is all about choice. That’s empowering. We have control! As a collective we created the world we live in now and it’s within our power to create it differently, to create the “Golden Age” exactly as we imagine that to be. I believe that is Venus’ message to us as she initiates her forward movement today. Venus assumes a critical role in 2012, just as she is taking on at this present time. She will also have a retrograde cycle in May and June 2012, crossing the disc of the sun on June 6, 2012—another one of the dates that has been predicted by some to indicate the transition to the new world (depending on what calculations are used).

These past few days, as Venus has been virtually stationary as she initiates forward movement again, I’ve been contemplating the significance of her station at 29 degrees of Pisces, in light of the fact that she has spent most of her retrograde cycle in the sign of Aries. Venus has been in Aries a total of 68 days (February 3-April 11) when she typically spends about 25 days in each sign. And she’ll return to Aries next weekend. Aries is the sign of the zodiac associated with the keywords, “I AM.” As the first sign of the zodiac, Aries symbolizes spirit into matter. First there is pure energy and then there is a form. As an archetype, I think of Aries as the impulse to “become what I am.”

That is the theme Venus establishes in Aries—“I desire to summon the will (my spirit) to be genuinely as I am, to recognize that there are facets of my life that are feeling stale, that some of its structures now feel stifling to me and things that used to matter to me no longer do.” That awareness necessitates the process of reflecting and defining who I am and what I personally value and find fulfilling here and NOW. That awareness recognizes, of course, that who I am and what I value changes over time--change being the only certainty in our Universe. We are all evolving beings. Our values change, our preferences change, what provides us fulfillment and pleasure changes. While Venus has been retracing her steps through Aries, she has been encouraging us to look honestly at our lives and courageously confront the falsehoods: the masks we wear, the roles we play, the experiences we engage that are no longer meaningful. From that awareness we are empowered to make the changes we need to make to ensure our being in this world is an authentic reflection of our “I AM.”

Venus backed into the sign Pisces this past Saturday, the weekend many of us were celebrating Easter and Passover and the themes of renewal and rebirth. On April 25th there is a New Moon in her sign of Taurus, the day after Venus reenters Aries to join up with Mars, the ambassador of that sign. Venus will then spend another 43 days in the sign Aries, providing us all with ample opportunity to initiate the changes we’ve determined need to be made in our lives. And she’ll do so with the full support of Mars, well known for his ability to willfully claim his position as master of his life. Shortly after Venus and Mars unite, first Mars and then Venus will form the dynamic 90-degree angle to Pluto, who oversees the process of death and rebirth. These next four weeks are powerfully primed energetically and it’s up to us to focus those energies. We can cultivate these energies so they’ll provide us with the inspirational guidance about how to lay the foundations for the life it will be our joy to live or, if we get caught up in the fear and anxiety, to create exactly what it is we fear. It’s our choice. I know we all choose the former over the latter so let us do it consciously and deliberately.

But before we go there, let’s return to present time and consider what Venus’ standstill for 13 days at the final degrees of Pisces is all about because that’s what is most relevant at present.

Pisces, as the last sign of the zodiac, symbolizes our awareness that we are pure consciousness, boundless free spiritual beings having a human experience. Pisces symbolizes the process of letting go of the world and going deep within to make contact with the sacred One. Pisces inspires visions and Venus’ standstill at the final degrees of this sign is encouraging us all to become visionaries at this time, remembering that we are not separate but instead that we are all in this together, we are all children of One Creator. While we may be feeling vulnerable and even consumed by fears during this time due to the chaos that defines periods of deep transformation, we can consciously redirect our focus to prevent being carried away by fears. Visionaries thrive during times of transition because they heed the Pisces call and go within, where they are receptive to inspiration and commit their mental energy to imagining the kind of world we’d all enjoy living in together—one that honors the dignity and value of every living thing.

As Venus is virtually at standstill until April 24, we are all being summoned by that sacred center of our wholeness—holiness—to release the false personas and the “lies” of our life and reclaim our authentic being in this world. Mars in Aries with Venus is reminding us that we are powerfully potent creators of our own reality and that it is within our power to create our lives as it is our fulfillment for them to be. The 29th degree of Pisces can be approached from the understanding that we are having a crisis of spirit, both collectively and individually, as we are summoned to rise above our fears and allow the process of inner transformation. This is a time where the answers are not to be found outside ourselves but instead within, where the voice of our Creator is heard. There are orphaned voices from our inner depths crying out; speaking from unlived parts of our eternal self. Our authentic selves are gestating and readying to be birthed in the Golden Age that we are establishing the foundation for now.

Life has a way of making it easy for us to forget our identity as divine beings. We are a collective seduced by the instantaneous, conditioned to expect instant results from coffee to access to immediate answers and information from our computers. We are lured by fast food and express checkouts and quick deliveries. It’s no wonder we desire spiritual short-cuts and agonize when we don’t have instantaneous results. Additionally, moving quickly through our days, we get lost in the roles defined by collective values, projections and others expectations. Many of us have lost our unique autonomy and self-validation as we fulfill our roles as someone’s employee, someone’s spouse, someone’s daughter or son, someone’s spouse/lover/friend, or someone’s parent. We may now be finding ourselves wondering, “Who am I really? What is the truth of me? What is real?” And that’s exactly what the cosmic energies are encouraging us to ask now so that we can shed what isn’t real and no longer vitalizing and consciously recover that which is.

At this time, Venus desires that our complacency be disturbed and our comfort zones pushed so hard that we can no longer silence the inner voice and cut ourselves off from the feelings we’d rather pretend we don’t feel. Our authentic self and its unique individuality is crying out to be validated. We are being summoned to cultivate a deeper intimacy with our genuine self and to bring wholeness—our holiness—to our fragmented selves and lives.

One of my favorite passages from Scripture is from Ecclesiastes 3:1-2: To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted.” Astrology provides us with magnificent guidance this way. It validates our authentic self and supports us in freeing what is locked up inside due to environmental, social and familial conditioning about the way we should be. Many of us learned very early not to trust our own natural guidance and the inherent flow of our own “right timing.” Our birth chart describes our energetic form of being and it is a rich, living, evolving statement full of insights and guidance. Each astrological symbol represents a diversity of possibilities. As we become aware of the strengths and challenges inherent therein, we are empowered to choose and then claim the joyful life we all know in our hearts it was our destiny to create.

In honor of this transformative process Venus has been prompting, I’m offering a special 50% savings on the “focused” 30-minute consultation on any issue that would benefit you at this time. In any way I’m able, it is my pleasure to be of service to you at this time we are “between worlds.”

The Grace of the One be with you,

Terri