All posts by Jan

Lessons in a Life: Retrogrades & Unfinished Business

That dang bee would not leave us alone! - Photo by Jan Ketchel
That dang bee would not leave us alone!
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

Mercury Retrograde. Some people, when they hear that term, are immediately suspect, wary, and prone to morose depression. Mercury Retrograde means trouble!

Mechanical failures are rampant. The iPad won’t connect to the wifi. The car won’t start. A computer failure occurs. Bothersome memories flare up. Things left undone surface in gnarly and annoying ways.

On the other hand, I see Mercury Retrograde as a time of opportunity, offering very succinct and direct guidance on just what needs to be done right now! It is a time to complete unfinished business so that we can move on into new life. If we don’t do it we will never fully be able to move on.

That which we don’t complete remains attached forever; it WILL come back to haunt us. Why put ourselves into such a compromising position?

Retrogrades also offer us the opportunity to confront and discover our karmic challenges. Our karmic challenges, like unfinished business, return often throughout life, asking us to deal with them once and for all. To face, solve and resolve our issues is the only way we will be able to freely move on into new life, both in present reality and when we die and enter the bardos.

Will this be the life that we move on up the astral ladder? Or will we reincarnate into another life, playing out the same issues once again? It’s a choice we make during each lifetime, evolving a little more, completing a few more karmic issues each time. By the time we’ve lived several thousand lives, however, wouldn’t it be nice to go on to something entirely new?

Something is not quite clear... - Photo by Jan Ketchel
Something is not quite clear…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

So, with another week of this current Mercury Retrograde still to go, I suggest taking a good look at what has been happening in your life to challenge you. Perhaps the failure of mechanical devices means you should not be using them; perhaps your addiction to your iPhone or Facebook is being challenged.

Perhaps your recapitulation is pushing you to go deeper as it brings up memories. Perhaps your body is telling you to take better care of it as it pains you or shows you some weakness. Perhaps your insistence on doing things your way and them not working out means you should relax and flow better with life. Perhaps old legal issues finding you many months or years later are letting you know they will not go away; that it’s time to finally deal with them.

To face what comes with maturity, to quickly respond, clears the air, clears the mind, clears the body to be ready for what comes next. Retrograde is a great time to learn the importance of taking care of daily business so that it does not follow you beyond its “sell by” date.

If we learn to deal with what comes, when it comes, we have learned one of the great lessons in life: We are only free of something when we take the time to attend to and fully complete what life challenges us with. If something is done right the first time, we will not have to do it again. And that is a karmic lesson too.

So, retrogrades offer us the opportunity to face something about ourselves and clear not only our issues but also to erase some of our karma, which is really the business, the work, of this life. Rather than continuing to sweep things under the bed, it’s time to take out the vacuum cleaner!

With a little work all will be revealed... - Photo by Jan Ketchel
With a little work all will be revealed…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

And just so you have something to look forward to, this Mercury Retrograde, which is all about our personal issues, is being followed by a Venus Retrograde in late July, which will be all about our relationship issues.

And so, fresh opportunities for getting those relationships in good form are about to hit! Good Luck with that! But first finish the old business that is popping up now, so that you are free to fully experience what Venus has in mind for you!

Setting things right,
Jan

Soulbyte for Friday June 5, 2015

During this time of change some people are experiencing great shifts, moves, displacements, forced change and elected change alike. If you are feeling no change, there is nothing wrong with you. Remember change comes when it is appropriate. But also remember that the energy of this change is significant and so you ARE feeling it in some way.

Though your own big shifts may have come at another time, or are yet to come, you are still affected. People you know are affected, or fully participating, and so your own energy, sensitive as it is, naturally is affected too.

Find your balance, your equilibrium, no matter what your situation is. Stay upon your intended path and without swings of mood, desire or need, allow yourself to use this time of retrograde energy to build a strong tower within the self, a tower of love, kindness and compassion. And, without attachment, reside there knowing that your life is just as it should be in this moment. And then make the most of it, for your own evolutionary karmic journey.

Soulbyte for Thursday June 4, 2015

Keep changing! Each day make an effort to live differently, to think differently, to perceive differently, and to act differently. Keep the new and changing self on the spiritual path of understanding so that your path of heart is always lit from the curious and eager light of learning. Keep kindness in your heart for all beings, even those who know no path of heart, who merely exist in their human form, who resist and deny their spiritual connection to all else in existence, seen and unseen.

To live life differently is to constantly be on the alert for synchronicities and deeper explanations of your experiences, to enjoy each day as a great exploration into an unknown dimension where everything is possible, where everything is apt to change and reveal its truth, including your Self.

Do everything with openness and joy, with awareness of your spiritual, karmic path through life, of your transformational journey, and all your days will be different, and so will you!

Soulbyte for Wednesday June 3, 2015

A time of change naturally invites the opportunity for new insights, new behaviors and new adventures. Allow the changes in life, whether small and seemingly insignificant or large leaps of faith, to guide you forward. And yet constantly study your inner environment for signs of progress, for deeper insights, and for the clues that will tell you that you are going in the right direction.

To fear change is to fear life, and to fear life may lead to stagnation. Stagnation may lead to withdrawal, to obsession, to paranoia, and to unexpected occurrences of inner reality abruptly departing from outer reality.

To remain clear that change is inevitable and eventually good for you learn how to let go, not of the mental mind or the physical body, but of that which has you stuck; most likely such things as old rules, old ideas, old thoughts, old lies. Allow life itself, its natural progression, to guide you forward with clear mental mind and new energetic body-self, free to roam in conscious spiritual awareness.

Soulbyte for June 2, 2015

Change is dynamic, alive, progressive, and in the moment. Thus, like synchronicities, change comes at the right time. To avoid being overwhelmed, or to avoid the old phrase that “things always happen to me,” remain alert. As adults it is these moments of change that allow conscious awareness to develop, the hallmark of the warrior. This is not about predetermination, destiny or fate. This is about taking full advantage of what each moment offers.

A warrior does not fall by the wayside weeping and feeling sorry. A warrior takes note of that which has occurred and finds a way to use it for advancement, consciously aware that in its very occurrence it presents something meaningful. And so, a warrior studies what happens and, like a good student of life, asks: Why is this meaningful for me at this time in my life? And then a warrior takes the time to find the answer.

In this manner, the warrior soon learns that every occurrence in life, bidden or unbidden, comes at the right time. In knowing this, the warrior’s conscious awareness is honed and ready to receive future changes with a keen sense of anticipation and eagerness, for a warrior knows that these are the pivotal moments of advancement, bringing insight, offering the right change at the right time.