
Forecast for Sunday, October 18th
Scorpio Crescent Moon
ॐOracular Mantra—another day of intensity toward that which you would likely rather not linger…
Many theorists and -ologists of various origin now believe that demons were merely a way of describing things we now understand to be viruses, bacteria, infection, or myriad neuroses, such as epilepsy, countless phobias, or even dyslexia…
Take the phenomenon of goosebumps.
One of the medical terms for goosebumps is horripilation—a fancy word sourcing itself to the modern day ‘horror’, its Latin root ‘horrēre’ meaning “to bristle with fear”.
We’ve all experienced goosebumps. Prickly shivers causing chills—these seemingly random and mysterious physical indications continue to elude many medical practitioners in the twenty-first century, and are better understood through the wisdoms of spiritual masters.
Innerself.com writer Floco Tausin writes that “according to current physiology, goose bumps are a relic of a distant past… when the hominids of prehistoric times were still covered with dense hair, the rise of the hair protected from the cold and made women and men look bigger and more menacing—which is thought to have helped avert combats in threatening situations.”
The bristling of fear…
❝Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity.❞
——Paulo Coelho
Tausin continues, as “religious and spiritual traditions of non-Western cultures point to a different aspect: prickly feelings are associated with meditative and ecstatic states, often while experiencing a deep devotional love towards a deity…” Tausin reasons that “this is not so difficult for us to comprehend if we remember that we know this feeling from very beautiful moments, be it while listening to harmonious music, looking at touching natural phenomena, or feeling as One with a person we love.”
Where is the bristling of fear within these?
Indian Yoga texts informed Tausin that ‘the prickly feeling’ we associate as goosebumps “as a phenomenon of bhakti”, which describes devotional love… “and in the Hindu epics and legends, the hair of the bodies of heroes, yogis and gods raise when they behold divine beings or hear timeless truths…” as well as in religious literature, “the prickly feeling is also mentioned as an accompanying aspect of deep contemplation and meditation: after the thoughts have ceased to flow, an overwhelming joy spreads throughout the whole body which may intensify to total ecstasy—the phenomenon is not unknown to some mystics of the Semitic religions, that church father Augustine wrote in the 4th century about a holy shiver that suddenly has come over him and let him recognize the invisible nature of the creation of God.”
Is fear, too, maybe something we’ve yet to fully understand within a daily basis context?
Indeed.
Tausin writes that goosebumps, in these ecstatic states, express a “state of deep humility… [that] the prickly feeling is a phenomenon often reported by members of societies that frequently use ritual techniques of ecstasy and trances to achieve altered states of consciousness… we have anthropological data suggesting a close connection between goose bumps and ecstatic states or trance from Bengal, Micronesia and South America, where the tingling is often associated with the presence of super-human powers and certain states of the soul.”
❝People are constantly going in and out of trance. When someone is staring out a window or reading a book and does not notice another person entering the room, or the passage of time, this is an example of trance. When we go to a movie, our minds enter the trance state, temporarily permitting ourselves to enter into the world of the film, and losing track of what is going on around us… We say we suspend judgment, but in reality the film entrances us, so that we agree with the premise of the reality portrayed in the film.❞
——Laurence Galian
And, like everything that is largely misunderstood, shamelessly entrancing, and shadowed through fear—an endless potential of healing can be explored through horripilation techniques.
Be it Ayurvedic teachings, medical diagnosis and research, neurological studies, or psychologically therapeutic processes—goosebumps are liberatingly intoxicating.
Allow me to share with you a smidge more of »Tausin’s findings…
»It is known as a symptom of various, often infectious diseases, along with cold, faint, dizziness, numbness and other troubles. There are indications, however, that the prickling is, like fever, a defensive reaction of the body. Fact is that certain medicine can cause prickly feelings in patients. Interpreted from the perspective of energy, the active agent of the medicine causes the patient’s subtle energy to flow out of the psychosomatic body through the prickly feeling and, thus, to clear body and mind from the disease.
»Furthermore, there are statistical studies suggesting ‘chills’, usually accompanied by prickling, to have an unexplored health benefit. It was found that fever patients with blood poisoning who have chills show higher survival rates, compared with those patients who do not experience chills. The researchers suspect that, in general, patients with chills are able to respond more effectively to diseases.
»If we proceed thinking in line with the energetic-cathartic interpretation, we learn that inner tensions are made conscious and get resolved through the experience of the prickly feeling. In fear situations, for example, it is the energy of fear that we release through our psychosomatic body—this allows us not only to stay calm and centered in such situations, but we can even learn to enjoy this energy—fear loses its emotional power over us.
»Also, the prickling in the head, which sometimes is noticeable in states of intense anger, has the effect of a ‘valve’ and allows us to immediately become calm and relaxed—in this way, we have not suppressed the aggression but rather let its energy flow out of our body without being rude or even destructive against ourselves or others—we have overcome the anger.
»The same happens with strong affection in love or sexuality. A conversation with a sympathetic human being can cause a relaxing prickly feeling—it enables us to enjoy that moment free from possible oppressive constraints and desires. Also, those who try to convert their sexual energy will increasingly experience hair standing on end, indicating the outflow of transformed sexual energy—by way of an ecstatic full body orgasm, which relaxes and strengthens body and mind and lets us experience a beautiful and joyful environment.
❝Como vulgarmente se dice, se le ponía la piel de gallina cada vez que se rompía un huevo.❞
(As they say, he got goosebumps every time an egg was broken.)
——Laura Esquivel
Seemingly, goosebumps resemble a physical manifestation of the universal relational law between love and fear… today may be a day to examine which response route you typically gravitate toward… and why.
Is fear serving you? Would choosing love free you?
Goosebumps manifesting, or not, something is emerging, something coming to the surface—to be acknowledged, better understood, tended to, and officially addressed—in its right light.
Today’s Scorpio moon could be easily triggered, defensive, or simply on the lookout to attack, much like the neural defenses of primitive man’s brain… severe misunderstandings could occur, or alarming misdiagnoses, or possibly a jolting recall to the squishy source of a matter. Lunarly energies alone, much more combined with pretty heavy influencing—today will have impact.
Perhaps even goosiebump prompting.
Mars retrograded in Aries will square Jupiter in Capricorn at 19°27’—the last time these two squared by aspect was on August 4th at 19°45’… these powerful energies will meet again through the uplifting degree which associates itself to “the use of creative imagination and understanding; of overcoming crises through compassion… and rising to the occasion toward the ideal of plentitude.”¹
If that doesn’t prompt goosebumps…
If you have the divine pleasure of knowing what it is you want and need—you are allowing no hesitation toward the activating of it.
Tuning in more closely, and unrelentingly, to what’s truly important will serve you now…
❝Man’s desires are limited by his perceptions; none can desire what he has not perceived.❞
——William Blake
Today’s degrees also conjure something of heightened perspective, to see more clearly the rigid details of your reality… “while little acts of kindness can improve people’s lives, things done for others often have an unexpected spinoff: nourishment can come in the form of food, water, words, love [however, there will be] those who stubbornly resist moving on or changing their habits even if it is to their own detriment… what would really happen if you left or withdrew your time, resources, or energy?—be careful that what’s being fed is in fact nourishing for those receiving it, and not just feeding codependency.”²
You may even be discovering so much from this heightened perspective—is it too much!?—that it’s becoming difficult to function as normal, or to feel as you typically would, or to narrow down the essence of it all in digestive bits… to more appropriately navigate your ideal—try to maintain a sense of balance.
Of course, today’s Scorpio moon may not allow this. Scorpionic energies are intense, and extreme—unapologetically—and strive to both question and honor both the shadows and the light; balance, per Scorpio, is for the mind, not the soul.
The soul seeks prickly chills… the soul longs for goosebumps.
Also, the balancing Libran sun will square the likes of Saturn at 25°39′ exactly; acting as a last quartered phase of a yearly cycle, this solar/Saturn influence could either interfere with or inspire your stance toward a healthy emotional equilibrium—a narrowed focus upon the important, with an active will and truth of heart working in a balanced tandem, will move mountains now…
❝If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.❞
——Toni Morrison
Do you dare self-author your own reality?
Do you dare allow yourself a much needed potential healing through goosebumps?
The sobering scare-tactics of Saturn are likely double-dog daring you… and today’s Scorpio moon will likely provoke goosebumps of fear if you resist the titillating goosebumps of your own power.
Tausin, F. “Goose Bumps: Holistic & Spiritual Messengers.” innerself.com; © 2017.
¹Rudhyar, D. “An Astrological Mandala.” Vintage Books; ©1973.
²Hill, L. “360 Degrees of Wisdom.” A Plume Book; ©2004.
★These current energies we’re all navigating will continue to circulate and circumvent throughout the rest of the year, into next—for better or worse—how can you best plan and prepare?—and in what ways can you strategize your personal ideals? Let’s talk about it—message me directly to book your reading—I look forward to being an asset on your journey.
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❝If you’re betwixt and between, trust the one with red hair.❞
——O.R. Melling