2nd Annual Drupchen – Day Seven

Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin as Vajra Master (Chenrezig permission blessing)This material is copyrighted by Kirby Moore.  Reproduction without permission is prohibited.  To support my business and blogging efforts, please visit my website.

More recently, I have begun teaching Astrology classes on Trauma-Informed Astrology, see http://www.traumainformedastrology.com for more! Thank you for visiting!

1/1/10 – Happy New Year!  Hey Hey – we are in a new decade!  Although, here on retreat, it was difficult to tell – the chanting continued and the sleep deprivation continued, resulting in, “Happy New Year!”  “What’s that?… Oh… right.”

I am starting to feel sick – sinus issues and a rapidly developing head cold – ugh!  I wonder if I am pushing myself too hard.  Need to rest down.  I notice that most people start to nod off several times throughout the retreat, whereas it only happens legitimately to me once or twice.  Am I pushing enough, too much, or just right?

Interesting conversation between Hun and a young man who attended the retreat but who mainly poured over books from the bookstore.  In a nutshell, Hun presented evidence that there is no way to fully trust our mind and therefore we need the help of outside influences to achieve enlightenment.  It was inspiring to be apart of that.

The lamas add one session of calm abiding per day and today, I had a little bit of an experience.  I focus on a speck of lint on the carpet about ten feet in front of me (keeping my gaze downward) and I work on relaxing my mind – forcing thoughts to dissipate before they form completely.  If I get the whiff of a thought forming, I say to myself, “no mind…”  As I do this, for fifteen minutes or more, my mind gets into a state where it quiets down and eventually I notice a ton of heat forming from several organs – definitely from my guts and my liver – maybe pancreas as well.  The heat rises and as it intensifies, I try to wrap my mind around it and then it vanishes just as quickly as it arose, leaving me wondering what it was, how it occurred, etc.viewing the mandala and Mani Drupchen ritual items

Impermanence is really coming home to me at this retreat.  I have now been attending TMC for four years now, and I am starting to see the affects of aging, as many (regularly participating) members are between 55 and 70.  It is sad and yet it is a sign that it is time for me and younger generations to step up to the plate.  Be gentle Kirby but keep practicing with diligence!

Then, on this evening, a plumbing problem manifests…  See the next post for more!  It is pretty funny.

2nd Annual Mani Drupchen – Day Six

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the sand mandala and all its accessories12/31 – early morning… I swallowed some irritation toward a fellow practitioner.  I need to speak my truth here, if gently and compassionately.  What a test!  Now my jaw is tight – maybe as a result?  I have heard that to truly practice patience, we must be fearless – yep, I need to speak up.

I am noticing a correlation.  In the past, I have tended to eat too much while on retreat.  This time I am practicing more moderation and with that comes the observation that the more I eat, the more my discursive mind is active.  I am still churning over girl issues (especially when I eat more than I need to).

Wow – the 2 am to 3 am hour is the longest hour of my life.  I got up several times and unfortunately only 5 to 10 minutes have passed in between kitchen visits… argh!  Finally the time for a brief rest comes around.  Is it possible that the acid in my mouth from eating is that much stronger now or is it the fact that while I am on retreat, I am that much more sensitive.  I need to brush my teeth.

I have a dream about the young woman I have been thinking about and of course my retreat-muddled mind claims to need to send her an email.  Therefore I snag a friend’s laptop and do that.  I notice my adrenals being more active as I am about to do so.  Then, throughout the next 24 hours I regret doing so – I am so distracted!

Today the CD started skipping, and the little player is sitting on a cushion in front of the microphone.  So the yogi next to me commented and said, “Yep, we all slide off our cushions sometimes.”

Due to the lack of sleep, we are all suffering the affects, like this afternoon’s deep topic was, “How is it that the fortunes inside of fortune cookies are not oily and runny?”

I took a nap downstairs and I was out like a rock.  The guy I told me to wake me up said he tried three times – no wonder I felt a sense of de ja vu when he finally succeeded!  I stay in sluggish sleep mode for several hours and I am glad.  I am finally putting the pieces together – I am sitting in front of the sliding glass doors in the shrine room and they are not the greatest insulated panes.  Therefore I am realizing that my kidneys have been struggling to stay warm for like, the entire retreat up to this point!  From my experience with bodywork I know this is highly not recommended.  It would explain some of my vivid, strange little dreamlets that I have when I lie down in the shrine room.  I close the curtains and make certain to keep extra layers on me.my "old looking" reliable prayer wheel

Today I learn that the prayers inside my prayer wheel are pretty much junk.  It turns out the merchants put old looking scrolls in there to add to their appeal but the prayers are not old at all – just smudged and unclear… (they were not legitimate prayers to begin with in this case.) Harrumph!  I need to purchase good quality prayers.  And I am wondering about all the previous rotations of my wheel – do they still “count” (toward merit earned?).  I definitely had faith in my prayer wheel being a productive thing to spin.  And then what about all the people who I handed my prayer wheel too – does my faith keep them covered?  Very curious indeed.

Tonight had delicous tukpa – Tibetan noodle soup.  Unfortunately I remember too late that my body cannot really take much in the way of processed grains (flour), and I start to feel sick again (stopped up).  How can I guard my mind from turning sour when I feel sick?

2nd Annual Mani Drupchen – Day Five

A modified mugThis material is copyrighted by Kirby Moore.  Reproduction without permission is prohibited.  To support my business and blogging efforts, please visit my website.

More recently, I have begun teaching Astrology classes on Trauma-Informed Astrology, see http://www.traumainformedastrology.com for more! Thank you for visiting!

12/30 – Fun with tormas!  Around 5 or 6 am every morning, the lamas who were on that particular chanting shift do a torma practice.  This means chanting a special prayer and opening the curtain to the mandala, getting out a little plate of tormas and putting them on the lamas table.  On this particular morning, Khenpo Chophel sprinkled salt in the middle of the three tormas making them slump over.  These tormas were small and made from oatmeal, so I guess the salt dried them up further, causing them to droop.  Then Khenpo Tsultrim requested the camera and he took pictures of the sagging tormas.  Pretty funny – they got a good laugh out of it anyway!

I made my table into the picture of a face with cough drops and my mala – to which the yogi sitting next to me added eye brows and a mustache.  I got a serious laugh out of this.  My sitting partner had a mug with a Walt Witman quote on it – I celebrate myself and I sing myself or something along those lines – to which he modified to be “I celebrate no self…”

I desperately need a nap.  My body is tired and my kidneys are continuing to ache.  I do the opening prayers and supplication and then go and crash for a half hour.  I feel better – integrating, calm, settling and more grounded.

It snowed over night here, so I wander out into the chilly, wind swept white TMC terrain.  The Stupa is magnificent as usual, but the snow seems to bring out the vividness of the prayer flags.  The ice crunches beneath my feet as I ponder a plethora of possibilities.  Fresh prayer flags catch the gusts, whipping prayers into the cosmos for all beings.

Ice crackling purification.  20 degrees F – this is more like being in Tibet eh?  Except over there, the winter lasts for 8 months and it is bitterly cold (so I have heard).

brief interlude from Mani Drupchen – about teachers and attitudes

This material is copyrighted by Kirby Moore.  Reproduction without permission is prohibited.  To support my business and blogging efforts, please visit my website. More recently, I have begun teaching Astrology classes on Trauma-Informed Astrology, see http://www.traumainformedastrology.com for more! Thank you for visiting!

Recently, both during the Mani Drupchen and over the past few months, I have been learning about many great masters.  I am slowly evolving and developing and changing my mind, thankfully.  Especially in the arena of dogmatic attitudes.  When I met my lineage – the Drikungpas – I felt like I had come home.  There is a feeling of embrace in being with fellow Drikung Kagyu practitioners.  However, at first I think I projected my early conditioning in Christianity onto my new found tradition.  What I mean is that I was very(!) skeptical and even disdainful about other lineages of Buddhism – if it was not Kagyu, it was not cool in my book.

However, soon thereafter I met Geshe Jampel Thardo, a Gelugpa, and since then my attitudes have slowly been changing.  And what I am now aware of is that there are so so so many masters, and each lineage has their legitimate Dharma Lords.  I have been reading about Patrul Rinpoche, the Khyentse lamas, known and unknown teachers plus tertons who had miracles occur every time they taught (how cool would it be to have termas – secret treasure texts – fall from the sky still hot while a lama is teaching?).

Therefore, if you notice yourself gravitating toward one particular lineage, that is great.  But don’t hold out against the others – because wow!  Of course, now I am wondering about other religions – maybe I need to expand my sphere of non-judgment – what a concept!

Okay, on that note – Happy New Year!

2nd Annual Mani Drupchen – Day Four

Avalokitesvara during the intensiveThis material is copyrighted by Kirby Moore.  Reproduction without permission is prohibited.  To support my business and blogging efforts, please visit my website.

More recently, I have begun teaching Astrology classes on Trauma-Informed Astrology, see http://www.traumainformedastrology.com for more! Thank you for visiting!

In this piece, you may notice that mind was beginning to peel apart as I had pushed really hard up to this point.  Considering the next day I would draft an email to my ex-girlfriend, and then spend the following 24 hours worrying about it, this may have been the deepest I was into the retreat, despite several days to go.

12/29 – Fresh wrestling match with my conditioned / discursive mind.  I continue to stare at whatever speck on the carpet to train my mind and to continue to look downward.  Last year I had some people, whose advice I deeply respect, tell me that when I close my eyes, they roll up in my head and that action could lead to being less than grounded (mind wandering off).  I am more conscious of where I am looking now when I sit, even if my eyes  are closed.  It is slowly getting easier to practice.  Although I am beginning to wonder about my mind – I have been hearing my name being whispered in the midst of conversations?  How much should I push my mind?  Or should I say, how much should I trust my mind?  Heh…

By the way, during Drupchens, no cleaning is allowed of the shrine room.  Just practice, eat, sleep, practice, rest.  Therefore, the carpet accumulated specks of lint, scraps of paper, etc.  I am surprised the lamas allowed me to clear their wrappers and orange clementine peels.Wash and love your Mani Drupchen cup. [heart]

Yesterday was a very productive breakfast making day.  I was already up at 6 so I went into the kitchen and did everything along with having time to stretch and enjoy the solitude.  This morning I awake at 6:45 (late) to do breakfast.  I am being really hard on myself as a result.  Luckily help arrives and I am told it will be okay.  The meal was fine, just a few minutes late.  I need to be more gentle with myself.

I wonder about something – last night my giddy laughter started.  Not sure what about, but I had a good giggle fit.  This morning I am very hard on myself when I make a mistake – I wonder if these two events are correlated (my pendulum is a swingin’!).  Need to find a healthy balance.  I want to let go the next time I laugh – I was stifling it a little last night.  Just be free and do what my body wants when I laugh – allow the pleasure to move freely and healthily.

I want to explore resting my awareness in my three bodily centers – head, heart and pelvis.  It seems that if I am in my head, the laughter comes easier.  I will experiment later.  What happens if I rest in my heart?

I wonder what the universe is up to.  Despite my best efforts to secure a job and / or fresh clientele, I have had a pretty dry month.  Therefore when I rolled into town for the Drupchen, I only had enough money to cover January’s rent.  I have no idea where the money will come from to pay my other bills (and not to mention beyond!).  I am only able to contribute my service for this intensive which brings up some guilt – I would love to give offerings to the lamas at the end of the retreat.  They really do so much!  I am lucky though to be healthy enough to contribute hard work.

In addition to being broke, I have just broken up with a beautiful, kind-hearted, tres intelligent young woman, which seems for the highest benefit (although parts of me still want her).  So there is lots for me to chew on during this retreat.  On top of these heart aches, now my knees are starting to hurt.  At least my belly has begun to function properly.  Sitting for hours on end is not easy, although, compared to five years ago, I have made great strides!  Well done Kirby!  Well done.

prayer flags around the snowy stupaWhoa!  I just drank some Chai.  I normally do not touch caffeine, or milk for that matter, so my system is buzzing hard!  Wow – at least I am no longer tired.  The lamas were offered Chai by some women who had to leave, and later they asked me if I wanted what was left.  I generally do not turn down anything a lama offers me.  I am beginning to re-think this assumption.  I am noticing my kidneys are hot (cooking) – not sure if this is the caffeine or something I am processing.  There are some perks to serving the lamas…  don’t think like that Kirby!

Some funny conversations with the old yogi sitting next to me.  Hun opens a window in the shrine room, despite the fact that it is 20 degrees F outside.  My sitting partner leans over to me and says, “Wow!  Opening a window now?!  He’s insane!  I mean he’s a nice guy but he’s crazy!!”

People come, and go.  Get together and separate.  Some new faces arrive, some familiar ones leave to go back to their lives.  I’m starting to lose my voice – uh oh!  There are still several days left.  My heart is starting to open more and warm up, soften and make room for more beings.  How can I maintain this state of beingness?

Due to the aforementioned caffeine intake, I do not get to sleep until midnight – meaning less than 3 hours sleep.  That was in spite of drinking the Chai around 4 pm… ugh!  My lovely sensitive body…

The old yogi leans over to me again and says, “Tuesday is Dewachen.”  I ask what he is talking about.  He says it’s like being on a tour – “Sunday is Venice, Monday is Paris and Tuesday is Dewachen.”  Hey – I like the sound of that!  (By the way – Dewachen is the Buddha Amitabha’s pureland and Chenrezig is considered to be the son of Amitabha. And the Mani Drupchen is the vast heart celebration accumulation of Chenrezig’s practice and healing mantra.)

2nd annual Mani Drupchen – Day Three

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a snow frosted Tibetan Meditation Center12/28 – I am assigned to the group that chants the 3 am to 7 am shift first.  And wow am I not in retreat mode yet!  I am so restless – I get up, walk around a bit, stretch and do yoga.  When 6 am comes, I am so thankful that I volunteered to cook breakfast.

Breakfast is typically the same each day – although there were a few changes throughout the week.  I sneak downstairs to boil some eggs for my personal consumption.  I say sneak because at the last Mani Drupchen we were not allowed to consume them in the public space.  In doing so, I discover that the downstairs stove has an electrical problem.  I stick a metal spoon in the water to pick up an egg and I notice a foreign, shocking feeling.  I think to myself, “What the heck??!!”  However, due to the fact that my mind is a little fuzzy from chanting on top of waking up at 2:45 am, it takes several shocks for me to realize that electricity is passing through my body…  So basically I electrocute my eggs (ah kha!) – it turns out they are only soft boiled despite being in the boiling water for twelve minutes.

I am noticing pain in my abdomen – my digestion is stopped up and I suspect it is from the soy I ate on Saturday night…  :^(    Well I press on with chanting and I make a mental note to massage my viscera later.

During the day, when all the retreatants are in the shrine room chanting, like 9 to 10 am, I notice people doing a variety of activities (sometimes while chanting the Mani mantra and sometimes with the exclusion of chanting).  Someone is drawing musical scales – I learn later it is for the tune we are singing during the day, someone else is staring wistfully out the window, yet another person is nodding off (this is just the first full day of chanting – wow!), the lamas are tying protection cords while they chant and the funniest thing up to this point – one young man, who proclaimed that he is not a morning person, came in at 9 am and put on thick sunglasses!  Of course there are many people spinning prayer wheels and clicking malas (counting mantras).  And you might say that I am busily watching the other members of the intensive as opposed to fully focusing on the practice.Khenpo Tsultrim, Drupon Rinchen Dorge and Tsunma Khandro (right to left)

Sometimes my finger clicks the mala without my thinking about it, sometimes, if I want to actually be accumulating an accurate number, I must focus my mind on my fingers to will them to click at the appropriate time.  Sometimes I start day dreaming and I chant dozens of mantras which go unaccounted for…  alas.  Luckily this Drupchen is about the time (a week) and not the number of mantras accumulated (most retreats go for 100,000 plus mantras per person).

It turns out I do not have to sign up for any jobs – not because I am on the facilitator team, rather because I am put in charge of hydrating the lamas and the ordained.  I serve them hot water or coffee if they request it.  In addition to bringing them occasional snacks and clearing any refuse from their little tables.

I have taken to staring at spots on the carpet as I chant, as a way to force my mind to be single pointed, and not distracted by what is going on around me.  Therefore, when I finish a mala round, I am only too happy to get up and take care of the lamas.

As an aside, I find many ways to distract myself when I am up.  I say distract, but actually I find that many little jobs are left undone – like washing the kitchen / bathroom hand towels, or taking out the compost, or making certain a particular door is left open to prevent pipes from freezing, etc.  I am secretly overjoyed to be out of the shrine room, yet being of service elsewhere.  So I do a job and then chant, I water the lamas and chant some more, wash, rinse and repeat.

2nd Annual Mani Drupchen – Day Two

This material is copyrighted by Kirby Moore.  Reproduction without permission is prohibited.  To support my business and blogging efforts, please visit my website. More recently, I have begun teaching Astrology classes on Trauma-Informed Astrology, see http://www.traumainformedastrology.com for more! Thank you for visiting!

A page detailing the schedule of the Drupchen as I do not have much written in my journal about the day.  I think I was still dragging a bit from the Christmas vacation and resisting being on retreat.

12/27 – I am sleeping in the living room, on a friend’s air mattress (as that was another item I forgot in my haste – ugh!).  This means that every morning by 7 am, I must have my stuff packed and back in another room to make space for everyone to sit and enjoy breakfast.  Personal space is something you cannot expect to have much of at the ManiDrupchen!  I was actually lucky to have a little room around my sleeping area – sharing the living room with two other retreatants who slept on the couches.  Downstairs people were packed in like sardines – one woman actually slept curled up under a medium sized display table.

9 am – we have a meeting for the retreat participants detailing what to expect, what conduct to maintain, a list of the jobs needing to be done daily and signing up for those as well as talking about candle donations.  I mention that I might want to have some days of quiet and that I would be wearing a name tag that said “Noble Silence Please” when I wanted it.  This is because I am feeling the need to get the most out of this upcoming week and I remember last year, when the kitchen and living room were full of chatter and some minor chaos.

10 am – Khenpo Tsultrim gives a Dharma talk about the practice of Chenrezig.  He is such a great teacher – his english is decent so he can reach us without the need of a translator.  He talks about the common and uncommon preliminaries which one must practice and maintain in order to conduct a yoga tantra like Chenrezig (Avalokitesvara).  He emphasizes that Bodhicitta (the mind that wishes to attain complete enlightenment for the benefit of all beings) is mandatory and necessary to attain successful and positive results in tantrayana practice (vajrayana or mantrayana as opposed to mahayana and hinayana).

Around 1 pm we actually start the Mani Drupchen chanting.  There are typical opening prayers and blessing mantras.  Then this particular practice has some gorgeous prayers – a supplication to Avalokitesvara and the lineage of masters and more.  Then we start chanting the slow, melodic Om Mani Padme Hung Hrih mantra (or Om Mani Pemme Hum Hrih in Tibetan).

Once the Mani Drupchen starts, we will be chanting around the clock – taking shifts at night where some people sleep and others keep the mantra going.  We decide, due to the lower number of participants to have two night shifts.  One group sleeps from 11 pm to 3 am and then chants from 3 am to 7 am and vice versa for the other group.

On Sunday, there were a good number of people attending and participating – maybe 25 to 30.  There are many new faces this year – some participants come from Boston, Charlottesville (Virginia), Va Beach, Georgia, Texas, Ohio and Indiana and beyond.  I hear that there are also groups in Vietnam and Malaysia chanting along with us.  Hooray!

The above picture is of tormas or ritual cakes, made from flour and butter.  From my limited understanding, tormas are used for a number of reasons – some of which are to feed (pacify) numerous spirits who might create obstacles to the practice and to make offerings to enlightened protector deities, etc.

The 2nd Annual ManiDrupchen (intensive) retreat begins

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More recently, I have begun teaching Astrology classes on Trauma-Informed Astrology, see http://www.traumainformedastrology.com for more! Thank you for visiting!

One day has passed since returning from the 2nd Annual, Vast Noble Heart Chenrezig ManiDrupchen.  There is much to say and yet much to reflect upon.  Actually, in my case, there is much to do – I had several issues clear up and now it is a matter of implementing the information I have come across.  We had less people attend this intensive, but it still went well and was maintained around the clock for a week.

It is my intention to write these posts in a style that is present tense, from the perspective of a series of journal entries.  I got this idea from the book, Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind by Maura O’Halloran.  This is a book I highly recommend – the author was one of the first women to enter the Zen temples to become a Zen priestess [I would say nun but in the Zen tradition, their teachers are permitted to marry, hence priest(ess)], she pushed herself tirelessly for 3 years, accomplished awakening and was recognized as an emanation of Kannon – the Japanese version of Guan Yin (or Chenrezig / Avalokitesvara).

12/26 – I rush home from my parent’s place, after enjoying Christmas with family.  Upon arriving at my apartment, which is in the Dharma Duplex (a duplex with four Drikung Kagyu Tibetan Buddhist practitioners in it), my friend meets me at the door saying “I am ready to go.”  Okay… well I’m not!  After several days with my family, whom I love dearly, I am dragging a bit.  But I do not have time to dwell on that for long as I need to unpack and then re-pack.  I swiftly clean my car, dump out my suitcase and try to remember everything I will need for the next 9 days at the Drupchen.  I quickly pack my car and then my friend and I are out the door to pick up a yogi who lives across town. The trip is fairly uneventful – we have good conversations as one of my passengers is an older yogi who knows many stories about Tibetan spiritual masters.

We arrive at TMC around 4:30 and we are some of the first people to arrive.  Khenpo Tsultrim (Tenzin) greets us with, “Do you want tea?” which is his customary hospitable manner.  We learn that Gyabra Tritsab Rinpoche – the Regent of the Drikung Kagyu – who was invited to be the Vajra Master of the Drupchen, is definitely not going to be arriving for the commencement of the retreat.  He is having visa problems.  The lamas who will be at the retreat are Drupon Rinchen Dorje, Khenpo Tsultrim, Khenpo Chophel along with Lama Gyaltsen and Tsunma Rigzin Khandro.

In my haste to get out the door, I realize (too late), that I forgot all the Tibetan shirts I had planned to bring – meaning that I have one long sleeve shirt to wear for the next 8 days…  It is my green Irish rugby jersey – LOL!

I take a little nap, snap some photos of the mandala and do a little sitting in anticipation of tomorrow’s big start.  I am one of Hun Lye’s assistants – Hun is the TMC president and the main organizer and facilitator of this particular Mani Drupchen.  He tells me that it will be my job to keep an eye on the chores that are assigned and to make certain that they are being maintained on a daily basis.

In this picture of Chenrezig (and retinue), I would learn later that Chenrezig’s consort, son and daughter are present, along with the Lords of the Five Buddha Families – Amitabha (red – above Chenrezig), Amogasiddhi (green), Vairochana (white), Akshobya (blue) and Ratnasambhava (yellow).

Eccentric relationships – Venus and Uranus Part II (astrology)

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So… for those of you fascinated by the first article, you will discover my theory(s) about dealing with Uranus in hard aspect to Venus below.  For those of you who have not read Part I, I would highly recommend going back and doing so. You can find that link here: https://wordpress.com/post/astrodharma.me/785

Several thoughts arise when I consider Uranus in aspect to Venus in a Natal Chart.  First, Please keep in mind that spiritual (evolutionary) astrology is quite complex, therefore, to only look at one aspect in a chart and to think that you can isolate it and its reflected traits without considering the rest of the chart is a big error.  As a result, please, please(!) do not read this series of posts and think that you know all about someone who has this aspect in their charts.  Rather, spend time getting to know the whole chart – it can take years, seriously – before jumping to any solid conclusions or assumptions.  Also, when we practice frequency based astrology, you never know where the person is on their psycho-spiritual path, so we cannot label a certain aspect and say, “Oh you have “X” squaring “Y”, therefore you must do / think / process “Z”…”  Nope!  Does not work like that – in fact, that is what gives astrology a bad name (see fortune telling).  Choice-centered, frequency-based astrology takes many, many factors into consideration before concluding anything, and it should be a fluid, flexible conclusion – not the written in stone, “it can’t change” prediction.

Speaking of fortune telling, I wanted to make certain that my audience understands that I do not fully agree with the teacher who told me about this aspect (Uranus and Venus in hard aspect causing men to require new partners every few years).  We do not know what karma is in store for us – and I have certainly seen exceptions to this rule – men who lived happily with their partners for twenty years or more, while having Uranus in a hard aspect to their Venus in their birth charts.

In my personal experience, I believe that A) once we discover who we are and what we need from a partner to lead an inspiring, growth-filled existence, then B) we can seek out that partner.  However there is a reason most people cannot do this, when we are going through life reacting to each situation and keeping so busy trying to just make ends meet, that taking a lot of time out of our lives to unwind the deeper essence of our being might be out of the question.  To get down underneath all of the layers of conditioning and “you-are-supposed-to-do-X-with-your-life” thinking, takes a lot of time and contemplative energy.  So are you willing to work on yourself first?  When I was in the 9th grade in high school I told my mother, who might have asked me about girls at the time, I said, “you know Mom, I want to improve myself until I meet the right one.”  Little did I know it at the time, but that is what I have been doing, and I think it is what is necessary if we want to avoid some of the pitfalls I am pointing out in this article.

What is someone going through who has this aspect?  In answering this, the complexities surrounding a chart must be considered.  Merely having Venus opposite Uranus does not mean we can know everything in the way of challenging traits.  It can bring about magnetism, charisma, charm, guile, jealousy, flashiness, bohemian likes and desires, and / or a unique fashion sense among other traits – which depends on the signs involved and house placement of the aspect.  If someone has many beneficial aspects in their chart (keeping in mind that some squares and oppositions manifest positively) and very few challenging ones, then a Venus / Uranus contact can be positive overall, without much in the way of hectic forms of relating.  However, in my limited experience, trouble can arise (in intimate relationships) when there are a number of Saturn / Pluto / Neptune hard aspects in a chart plus Venus / Uranus.  I will develop this idea further…

It is my humble belief that we are purifying our karma in each incarnation as human beings.  However, while we keep that in mind, it should not be used as a crutch – we can’t say, “Oh, I act like that because it says so in my chart.”  This is an erroneous belief, in addition to being a horrible excuse, and a foolhardy method of going through life. But seriously, I have heard it – all you Scorpio Moons out there, please stop saying, “I can’t help my behavior, I have a Scorpio Moon.” Sure, your lust / jealousy / emotional dial might be turned up a tiny bit more than someone with their Moon in Leo, and turned up higher than a Moon in Aquarius / Virgo often is… but it doesn’t mean you lose all self control! Sorry about that rant. I have heard it a few times – especially when someone is a double or triple Scorpio (not easy to be sure).

Rather than blaming my actions on my chart, I would recommend saying, “my chart would indicate certain proclivities.  I have noticed these tendencies manifesting within intimate relationships.  Now, having this foresight, what can I do to work on deepening my awareness, practice mindfulness and strengthening my inner resources to gently confront and change these patterns?”

We can always be thankful for the opportunity to purify our challenging karma – just don’t lean on it too hard, or give up saying, “what’s the point?  My karma is my karma.”  That is also in error – the Buddha, among other spiritual teachers, said that we have to work on ourselves in order to grow and improve.  No one can save us, no one will do the work for us (at least not the work which results in lasting transformation).  We have to step up to the plate and say, “okay – this is my issue.  I acknowledge it.  And now I will try to practice being gentle and kind with myself and with my process as I work through it.”

Back to the astrological issue at hand – Venus and Uranus, while keeping the above information in mind, we can start to discuss what this aspect is and ways around / through the energy.  As I mentioned, someone who has a lot of personal growth work to do around their inner patterns, who also has a hard aspect between these two, will probably be reactive and involved in some strong, subconscious projection and defense mechanisms, especially in intimate relationships.  So, the first step is to gain some clarity about the self – meditate, do yoga, chill out in a contemplative manner, have your chart done by a professional, spend quality quiet time in nature, go to a therapist (for a number of months at least – get into the uncomfortable material and gently continue working it) and / or receive bodywork from a qualified practitioner or any number of introspective alternatives.  [Revised 4/26/21 – I would highly recommend receiving Somatic Experience sessions if you can. Some psychotherapists use this excellent body-oriented approach. This will help you to exfoliate layers of activation and reactivity, especially if you can do 5 to 10 or more sessions!]

If you have experienced trauma as a youngster or if you suffer from high levels of anxiety or worry (indicators of early trauma or birth trauma perhaps), then you should not do talk therapy alone. Find a somatic-oriented approach, like Somatic Experiencing. Talk therapy which is cerebral in nature only (excluding the body as it were) could just re-trigger you and possibly re-traumatize you without allowing you to release the deep cellular wounding.  Rather supplement talk therapy with some form of bodywork or at least do some acupuncture as well.

If an individual has done a lot of their personal growth work, then they are aware of their old tendencies and patterns and they have either released them, compensated appropriately or learned positive methods / tools for adapting.  If an individual does not have much in the way of strong, subconscious patterns or reactions, then they have many choices – to be in a long-term intimate relationship, where they can speak their needs and requests and have them honored, or they can discuss their patterns and habits with their partners and work something out, maybe living separately but still being together, among other options.

As I mentioned in Part One, space is necessary where Uranus is concerned.  So there are many ways to create a win-win situation within partnerships with one or both partners having this particular hard aspect.  Have a separate bed ready in case you want some space, or do what my aunt and uncle do – have separate houses.  One of the partners might travel quite a bit, creating natural space and allowing creative, positive tension to build by not being around each other every day (absence usually does make the heart grow fonder!).  There are options – talk about it and try to understand each other’s needs and then work to meet them (compromise or negotiate as appropriate).

Remember as well that astrology is a blue print of our ego.  And most of us are very attached and tied to our ego states.  However, with diligent meditative practice, we can start to overcome the ego, or at least gain control over it.  Supposedly, when the Buddha attained enlightenment, he was no longer affected by his astrology – because his only wish is to benefit all sentient beings, there is no ego to wrestle with.  Wow- there is hope after all!

There are many manifestations of relating with awareness and clear communication but the take home message from this aspect is to expect a bit of excitement, freshness and magnetism.  If you are in a relationship with someone who has a hard aspect between these two, you might want to analyze where they are on their path – are they embodied?  Have they done much in the way of personal introspection?  Do they react strongly or in strange ways when you make requests? If this answer is yes, then expect them to grow and to change – so I would recommend not being too attached.  But you should ask yourself why you have attracted that person into your life.

Or on the other hand, are they mindful, kind and patient – both with themselves and others?  Do they take time for themselves – time for self care?  Then you might have a bit more of a clue as to how conscious they are of their inner processes.

The heart speaks a language of its own, and it truly takes time to learn that language (especially for men who grow up in Western cultures).  Then honoring what we hear the heart saying takes even longer.  So have heart, and more importantly, have patience – with your heart, with your partner and with yourself.  When we have this aspect in our charts, we have the capacity to hear that new language of the heart, but do we have the courage to march to the beat of our own drum?  Plus we need resources – time, energy, financial – to take the time we need to move toward present, wholesome embodiment.  It is well worth the journey.

These words were hastily written in November 2009 by Kirby Moore.  Updated 3/1/2010, further supplemented in 2015. And revised a touch yet again in 2021.

Eccentric Relationships thru the lens of Venus and Uranus Part I (astrology)

This material is copyrighted by Kirby Moore.  Reproduction without permission is prohibited.  To support my business and blogging efforts, please visit my website. More recently, I have begun teaching Astrology classes on Trauma-Informed Astrology, see http://www.traumainformedastrology.com for more! Thank you for visiting!

I am writing this series for several reasons.  First, I would like to inform my audience of my experience and opinion regarding astrological Venus in aspect to Uranus and how this affects relationships.  Second, my theory will be introduced about how we can avoid the typical flash-in-the-pan relationships which often arise with Uranus and Venus combinations.  Finally, I will gingerly discuss the ramifications of what I am proposing – most of which will be in further posts.  [Please note – anyone with sensitivities to colorful language or sexual topics should quit reading now.]

Normally, I would not be so frank and open, but it feels like this information needs to be shared.  Because these are my intimate thoughts on a delicate subject, I ask you to not reproduce anything written here – if you want to refer people to my blog that is fine.  With that, I am writing what is near and dear to my heart.  Having in my horoscope, this funky little aspect, of Venus square Uranus (6 degree orb), has been a fascinating experience and journey.  Many astrologers – both my teachers and peers – have shared their thoughts with me about this dynamic.  And actually it is funny how the mind works (my afflicted mind in particular) – for several years, I would casually glance over and past this aspect in my chart.  I’m not sure what my reasoning was – “oh it’s 6 degrees, that’s too wide to matter…  I think… moving on now…”  Subconsciously I think I knew this aspect indicated work that needed to be done, however I was not ready to face it.

Something like that, except I did not consciously realize it was uncomfortable until one day, my first main astrology (and meditation) teacher, about a year into our teacher / student relationship, told me, “you know Kirby, men with Uranus in hard aspect to their Venus cannot keep an erection after several years of being with the same woman.”  I thought about this for a minute.  Then I realized… oh damn!

“Hey!  Wait a minute.. I have Venus square Uranus in my chart…”  I replied.  Well, yes you might have guessed it, she was a Sagittarius and Sagittarians are exceptionally talented at sticking their feet in their mouths.  She was no exception to this rule and she answered with, “oh… well..  maybe you will find a way around this…”  She did not realize, as far as I could tell, that she was pointing out something from my chart when she said it.  Nonetheless, her response definitely sounded flaky, leaving me undecided between dumping my respect for her (and possibly regretting it later) or realizing I had some significant work ahead of me.  I thought to myself, “well, so much for traditional relationships,” or to be more honest and accurate, “Damn it!!…  I’m screwed!”  Actually, having six years of cathartic, plumbing-the-psychological-depths-spiritual-practice time, I feel I have discovered some ways around it.

I now realize that this teacher was not justified in proclaiming the encompassing blanket prediction like she did.  I say this for several reasons – first, consider the raw numbers of men who possess this aspect in their charts – I am absolutely certain that at least a few of them do just fine being with the same woman.  Second, each Venus / Uranus hard aspect is different – house placement, signs involved and how the partner plays a role in this dynamic.  If you think about it, consider how many people have Uranus in hard aspect to Venus.  The opposition, square and conjunction are three aspects, and say each has a seven degree orb (both sides of the aspect), we are looking at 14 degrees per aspect.  Three aspects times 14 is 42 degrees of the birth chart, and 42 into 360 (all the degrees of a chart) is 7 / 60.  Therefore, if this statement is entirely true, seven men out of 60 would have this issue and therefore would have a major difficulty maintaining intimate relationships with the same woman for more than a couple years.  Consider the United States having 300 million people living in it, say half are men.  Then this ratio produces the number of 18 million men in the U.S.   To me, this number seems high.  Sure, the divorce rate is increasingly higher, but I would argue that there are many (other) factors involved.  Not to mention the fact that each of our karmas is different.

Second, consider all the possible mixtures of these two planets.  Uranus in aspect to Venus can happen in any sign and in any house of the horoscope.  The conjunction would produce the same house, same sign contact.  The opposition produces an opposite house / opposite sign dynamic, and the square can be in any number of sign / house alignments.  I have to wonder if there are some houses that diminish the affects of this aspect.  For instance, the angular houses of the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th houses seem to give more strength and physical manifestation to the planets occupying them.  This is the case in my chart, but it would only be the case in one out of three charts having this hard particular (specific situational) aspect occurring.  It seems like having this aspect in the succedent houses – 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th – would soften the physical manifestation of the dynamic – it might affect the personality or the mind.  Then, as I mentioned, another piece of this puzzle to consider is the partner.  Actually, I am going to touch on this extensively in Part II of this series.

To me, Uranus in hard aspect to Venus (square, opposition and conjunction) produces eccentric, authentic relationship needs and sometimes this dynamic can be discerned through the softer aspects of the trine, sextile and quincunx.  So, what is this series of aspects about?  Uranus is a fast energy – buzzing and electrifying, it energizes the nervous system and speeds up synapses in the brain – basically leading to wittier thinking, ingenious ideas and outside-the-box, ahead-of-the-curve types.  Uranian types are the visionaries of our time – thinking at least 20 years ahead of conventional methods.  Venus of course, is all about love, art and what we desire (to keep it simple).  Combine the two, especially in a hard aspect and you suddenly have an individual who, in intimate relationships, easily bores of the same routine, the same types of love making, the same responses and reactions – they have a flare for the unique and for freshness.  They need to find ways to liven up their relationships and to do new activities and explore new places – maybe expand the social and psycho-spiritual circles as a couple.  And most importantly, there is a need for space – nothing clingy or sticky is allowed for long when Uranus is involved (there might be some RARE exceptions to this rule when Scorpio / Pluto is involved).

There is another piece of Uranus that I would like to touch on.  Uranus, to me, has an element of enlightenment within it.  Clairvoyance, lightning bolts of clarity and insight, and intuitively knowing what direction to move in – instantly – are some of Uranus’ higher frequency gifts.  Now, combine that with Venus, and you get a mind that is capable of making a decision rapidly, regarding an intimate relationship and then it is just as capable of thinking weeks, months and even years into the future regarding where a relationship is heading or where one could go if the relationship were redefined.  Uranus demands authenticity, and if we listen carefully, whole heartedly, with patience, deliberation and discernment (not jumping to any rapid conclusions as the mind is very capable of throwing some curve balls), we can know when we find a suitable mate or when we have found another growth experience.

In conclusion, people with Uranus in hard aspect to Venus have an exciting, fresh and unique method of being in intimate relationships.  One of my teachers, whom I respect, mentioned a controversial ramification of this aspect, which could easily be true when there is not much consciousness brought to the process.  However, when we do start to unpack our painful decision making, to explore our suffering and our habits / patterns. And most importantly, when we start to process our activation and reactivity, then we will have to choice to approach relationships from a more stable, enduring perspective.

In further posts, I intend to elaborate on my theory regarding this dynamic.