Leo | Gaye Mack

Keys to What’s Holding You Back-Evolutionary Astrology and Dr. Bach’s Flower Remedies-

Posted on August 18, 2013 by Gaye Mack in Balance, Karmic and Self-Discovery Astrology, Writer's Work Leave a comment

August 20th arrives with a Full Moon in Aquarius. Ruled by the planet Uranus, individually and globally we’re being pushed to embrace innovation, individuation and collaboration…a mouthful. This said, illuminating this Aquarian moon is the Sun in heart-centered Leo, reminding us that we must not forget to be true to our Soul’s intent for us to evolve as spirit in body.

As I’ve discussed in previous posts, the science of Evolutionary Astrology is about transformation. In the evolutionary analysis of the birth chart, we’re presented with a powerful tool that metaphorically offers a map and compass which reveals our Soul’s unique agenda and pathway for this lifetime. In addition, this process presents us with the opportunity to confront psychological karmic energy from a distant past that haunts us at an unconscious level; in essence this elusive energy holds us back. Certainly the prospect of stepping up to this challenge is a daunting one that requires courage and faith to leap into the unknown in order to ‘break the ties that bind.‘

Once we become aware of what we need to leave behind and in what ways we need to move forward on this journey of self-discovery, we can call upon several of Dr. Bach’s powerful flower remedies for support. His remedy Walnut immediately comes to mind, for Walnut expressly helps us to cut binding ties and at the same time ‘stay the course’ toward our ‘next right step.’

Additionally, there’s another remedy for this situation in Dr. Bach’s famous ’38’—Honeysuckle. The dynamics of Honeysuckle specifically relate to those emotional states of mind wherein the individual cannot let go of the past. Often this memory state manifests as unrealistic longings to return to a nebulous history that’s wrapped up in fantasy or it can be recall within the present lifetime that nevertheless, is also conjured up in fantasy. Such desires can be attached to grief and loss or simply a wanting to escape. In either state of emotional psychology, it’s the avoidance of the present which prevents movement into the future.

So, as we enter the energy of the forthcoming Aquarian Full Moon, we have tools to help us move forward on our journey of growth…an analysis of our astrological birth chart through the evolutionary lens, Dr. Bach’s Honeysuckle, or both!

Dr. Edward Bach’s Walnut

Dr. Edward Bach’s Honeysuckle

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LEO’S NEW MOON-TIME TO WORK FROM THE HEART WITH HELP FROM DR. BACH’S WILLOW AND WALNUT FLOWER REMEDIES

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Gaye Mack in Balance Leave a comment

Friday, August 17^th calls in the new LEO moon, the roaring lion of the zodiac. Inside of a month, we’ve now traveled from the opposite, expansive full moon in Aquarius, that urged us toward courageous, revolutionary thinking with regard to our creativity and perceptions. Now we have come half way around the circle to the spot where Leo’s moon and sun sit together on the launch pad of new possibilities and mindset.

As I wrote in the full moon blog post, Leo works from the heart when the lion is in his/her glorious fullness, shinning like the sun to which this sign is astrologically connected. However, for each of us this life is anchored in one or more Karmic Contracts grounded in relationships, reconciliations and life missions, interconnected more often than not, with the purpose of impacting soul growth and evolution for our and this planet’s, greater good.

But because we are human, none of us escapes from our metaphorical hearts being hurt. Losses, shattered dreams, unrealistic expectations, compromised skills of discernment…these ‘matters of the heart’ all bear grief…such life experiences impact each and every one of us. For some, these experiences are repetitive bearing deep pain. When this happens self-pity, bitterness and resentment wait in the shadows making it difficult to pick oneself up, dust off and carry on.

During 1934-35 Dr. Edward Bach discovered the ‘final 19’ of his famous 38 Bach Flower Remedies, declaring that these ‘19’ functioned at a ‘higher vibration’ (and therefore deeper) than the earlier discovered 19; the remedy Willow was among these discoveries. Willow comes from the ‘weeping willow’ tree with its boughs that bend so sadly over water. If one is a student of the ‘Doctrine of Signatures’ philosophy, it’s easy to see why this is the remedy for positively shifting the perceptions of self-pity, resentment and bitterness. Several years ago I had a female client who through various circumstances of life had worked herself into all three of these mood states. After adjusting her remedy formula several times I decided to add Willow; the outcome was dramatic within days, which sometimes but not typically, happens so quickly. She called me crying, saying “I realize I’ve been sabotaging myself and that I have a piece in my outcome.” This self-realization and accountability was most definitely the action of the Willow, giving her a new lens that allowed her to move forward in a positive manner.

So now we have this wonderful new moon of Leo’s energy encouraging us to take charge of who we really are at the HEART of our being. As I blogged nearly a year ago (see the 9/24/11 posting) on Dr. Bach’s remedy Walnut, I won’t belabor it here again other than to say that Walnut is THE remedy for making such changes, as in Dr. Bach’s own words, Walnut is “the Remedy for those who have decided to take a great step forward in life, to break old conventions, to leave old limits and restrictions and start on a new way,”

What perfect remedies for this Roaring new Leo moon!

WILLOW

WALNUT

Photography©Dr. Edward Bach Foundation

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WHEN THE SUN MOVES INTO LEO, LIONS MAY NEED EDWARD BACH’S ELM AND VERVAIN REMEDIES FOR EVOLUTIONARY BALANCE

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Gaye Mack in Balance, Karmic and Self-Discovery Astrology Leave a comment

On July 22^nd, the summer sun left the quiet, nurturing sign of Cancer, and roared into the fire sign of Leo. No doubt about it, nothing is quiet about this sign. Jupiter may be the king of planets, but Leo is royalty in the zodiac and like royalty, all things are about ‘expression’. Where Cancer prefers involution, Leo thrives on evolution… “All the world’s a stage” for The Lion. Like its feline counterparts, Leos like to preen, be seen AND HEARD! And, because this sign rules the zodiacal 5^th house of ‘creativity’ (among a few other things), there’s an innate flair for dazzling drama other signs can only sigh and fantasize about (well there are a few exceptions about the fantasy thing, which I’ll leave for you to speculate on!)

Like all astrological signs, Leo has a shadow side that can get in the way of its soul evolution. In the body, Leo traditionally rules the heart, blood and cardiac system. Typically those born under a well aspected Leo sun have big hearts but never doubt that they need to shine. In evolutional astrology, the Leo sun is here to develop personality and ego, but there can be predictable bumps along this path.

Leo is a ‘fixed sign’ like Taurus and Aquarius. Despite the lion’s endearing enthusiasm for ‘going big’, he or she, can become zealous, overbearing, over the top, intense and prideful along the way. And, they can easily take on too much, more than they can handle and in the end, burn themselves out. When Leo moves into any of these energies, Dr. Edward Bach’s flower remedies, Elm and Vervain, immediately come to mind as resources for getting the lion back on track.

Elm is typically regarded as a ‘temporary’ mood state (which is why it’s another remedy I have in the big bottle on my desk!). “Overwhelmed Elm” succinctly describes the mood, which is one that overachieves, takes on way too much and then hits the wall. The action of the Elm remedy is one that shifts the perception of everything being ‘priority’ to one of prioritizing in the very ‘Capricornian’ manner of one foot in front of the other; chop wood, carry water.

As one of Dr. Bach’s original ‘Twelve Healers”, the energy of Vervain is both a mood state and a soul type. Vervain is all about ‘over enthusiasm’ fighting for the underdog, seeing the ‘right’ in all things. Vervain is ‘heart centered’, but like the well meaning Leos, when this soul type or the temporary mood state moves into its negative or shadow energy, it becomes intense, zealous and can be intolerant. The beauty of this remedy is that its energy brings these shadow behaviors into balance, particularly regarding tolerance so that the soul can come through, bringing harmony to the Leo’s heart with evolutionary intent.

ELM

VERVAIN

Photography©Dr. Edward Bach Foundation

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WAS ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE A DRAMA QUEEN LEO OR….

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Gaye Mack in Ancient Legends of Great Britain, Gaye's England, Scotland & Wales, Karmic and Self-Discovery Astrology, Writer's Work Leave a comment

In “Flight Through Time”, my 12th century mystery series, Eleanor of Aquitaine is the queen of the hour. Historically a fascinating woman, scholars, historical fiction authors… not to mention Hollywood, can’t seem to get enough of her; nor can I. If someone were to ask, “if you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you choose?” hands down it would be Eleanor.

As I was working on a scene for my 3^rd book, “A Watch of Nightingales”, the thought crossed my mind… ‘I wonder what Eleanor’s birth chart looks like?’ An hour of searching through various sources resulted in the disappointing realization that most likely we’ll never know. While in the 12th century the midwife wasn’t noting time of birth according to the birthing suite clock, scholars can’t even agree on the year of Eleanor’s birth and no one of any authority even contemplates a date. Disappointing news for sure but the thought becomes an intriguing brain game of speculation.

Eleanor was a woman who by all accounts, was highly educated and welcomed travel…and travel she did, throughout her lifetime. Even when her second husband Henry II (the rogue!) had her locked up, he would take her on the road with him or more accurately, back and forth across the Channel. She was a well read woman for her time. In addition, her biographers (of which there are many) do not indicate that she found travel extraordinarily distasteful . Thus, one could suspect that she might have been a fiery Sagittarius or that she had a strong 9^th house (long journeys over water, higher philosophy). “Exploring the world as your oyster” would have been a suitable mantra for Eleanor. Enduring relationships however, were an entirely different issue…not a strong point for her. We know her relationships with her children, as well as her marriages, were not evenly balanced (despite the lone and suspect chart I found that places her as a Libra….really?). She definitely was not a role model for harmony and integration.

In the realm of ‘what if’, it’s apparent that Eleanor liked the kind of drama often ascribed to the Leo sun. No question,y she reveled in it and in her own way, reveled being on the world stage. No wall flower was she. Alison Weir, the highly regarded authority on Eleanor, states that Eleanor’s court (obviously before her incarceration by Henry) was like no other in all of Europe. She loved and supported the arts. She had fine clothes and possessions… “gold for plates and goblets…favorite wines from La Rochelle.” Her decoration was always the latest in fashion including glazed windows, tiled floors and carpets from the orient. In a phrase this was a woman who was not economical and was all about “how it and she looked.” Very Leonine. (I admit, she may have also had Venus in Taurus!)

On the other hand, this was a woman who was calculating in a very analytical way. In all of her efforts to protect land holdings for Richard I, her favorite child, she plotted and schemed with military precision as if she were in a chess game for life against Henry who favored young Henry until his death and then, John. Unfortunately no one liked the other son, Geoffrey.

She plotted with Richard behind the scenes; she plotted with her spies when Henry gave her more freedom around 1180 and onwards. Bottom line, Eleanor never gave up plotting against Henry until he died at Chinon in 1189. Now, one could say this is the shadow of Scorpio…and it would be fair. However, keeping in mind that the Sun in a chart is the spirit, the spark, the vitality of our soul, Eleanor’s penchant for plotting like a military general, the analytical approach in her make-up not to mention her duty and service as Queen to her vast constituency as she moved the chess pieces of life around the board behind the scenes, I think point to a different sign. While not the best face forward of it, I think she possibly might have been a…..VIRGO.

A final note: the ‘Flight Through Time’ series is in production and not yet published.

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LEO’S FULL MOON-CREATIVITY & HEART, MIND & VISION

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Gaye Mack in Balance, Karmic and Self-Discovery Astrology, Writer's Work Leave a comment

Admittedly, it has been almost two months since I last blogged…definitely a faux-pah in the eyes of the blogging police. However, I have a good excuse for this temporary absence…at least in my mind and it falls into the category of ‘there are no accidents’.

It has been almost 20 years since I attended my last mystery/thriller writer’s conference, but at Thanksgiving an opportunity appeared (notice I did not say, ‘by accident’) out of the blue for me to attend such a conference that was held in Chicago this past weekend. The important thing about this conference was that not only did it offer the opportunity to really schmooz with some of the best mystery/thriller writers we have, but to ‘live pitch’ one’s latest project to some of the country’s top literary agents… but there was a catch.

In order to do this, I had to finish my ‘current project’ which I’d already been working on since last spring. The expression, ‘pedal to the metal’ was an understatement as I became glued to my keyboard(and my wonderful, selfless editor up in Minnesota) racing against the clock, while dosing myself with numerous flower remedies. I hardly saw anyone and only had clean clothes thanks to my husband who took over laundry and shopping duties…Christmas? When did that happen? You get the picture. Thus my long apology for the silence as I endeavor to get back to work!

The outcome of this effort is that the book is done, the conference was a success and my pitch was a success insofar that agents want to see the full manuscript….so now I wait. Even if I receive an offer for representation there’s no guarantee a publisher will offer a contract…it’s a dicey business that’s becoming more chaotic by the day(note the current stand off between Amazon and BN), but writers are compelled to write, myself included, the torpedoes be damned.

In the midst of all of this effort, my astrological work and studies languished(along with the previously mentioned laundry and shopping duties). Only today did I realize we are under the influence of Leo’s shinning full moon, lit by the fire of February’s Aquarius Sun. Astrologically, Leo rules our heart and creativity for it is from the heart that this authentic piece of ourselves resides. Aquarius, the sign of the collective is ruled by that rebel of the planets, Uranus with its mental energy and vision. If it weren’t for Uranus thinking out of the box, we’d all be still writing on clay tablets and I don’t mean IPads! So what a better ‘opportunity’ than to sit in the energy of this full moon where we can each contemplate the job that is uniquely ours, that evolutionarily, we came to do?

This pairing of the Leo full moon and the Aquarius sun reflects the Divine message that we are to align our heart and head in carrying out the job, whatever that may be. One thing’s for sure…each of us has one! And if you need a little self-confidence, try some of Dr.Bach’s Larch flower remedy….having drunk a bottle of it this past weekend, I highly recommend it!