To be present – A new beginning

As the world’s timer switch marks the end of one calendar year and the beginning of a new one, we automatically enter a position of temporary pause, in anticipation, a crossing, a threshold that has to do with experience. Our personal and collective rituals and all that we habitually do at this point in time become perceptions, turn our vision inwards and into the future, depending on our vantage point. Collective moments of a ‘ritual’ and a kind of initiation process, coordinated with greater intensity with two extreme poles of experience (togetherness and distance). The experiences that unite us, that bring us closer, and those that divide and alienate us. Those we move away from, or leave behind, and those we are going to or wishing to encounter. So, this moment, regardless of the proximity and distance that distinguishes it, is an in-between space, surrounded by wishes, with several messages; some seem fake and superficial, some hold true meaning. Nevertheless, the end of the year feels like a good moment for personal decisions or resolutions to be made. We feel more strongly that the future is in front of us, and the question of how this may be viewed, predicted, controlled and defined becomes more pertinent.

Astrology does not necessarily align with this timer as it studies celestial bodies that are in constant motion, represent energy, the way it is expressed, and how this may correlate with terrestrial events and human behavior. Astrology is more closely aligned with the changes of the seasons, the Solstices and Equinox points. A marked change of temperament and the way life is organized and lived, is certainly more evident at the start of every season.

Therefore, the end of each calendar year holds as much of its own unique significance as any other date in time, in the same way that each birth or beginning captures something potentially unique. Through this perspective, nothing really ends, yet something new is born that carries potential and evolves over time. Every moment in time is telling a story about a potentiality. If we truly feel the significance of this, then every moment we potentially have the power to change something, it can be as small as our mood, and as big as a radical change in our mindset, relationships, vocation or lifestyle. What is required for this to feel meaningful, is being present, heart, mind, body and soul.  

Many moments go unnoticed, and others are memorable. This is about the perception of the purpose of existence and creation, and of free-will. The moment calls for reflection, a review of the year that is ending, and an overview of the year ahead. In being present we may have a better chance for clarity of purpose. The presence on the web, the way we use it and the time away from it, has and continues to be an awkward equation. We are exposed to an increase of a lot of things including negativity, violence, lack of accountability, overflow of new information, of opinions and viewpoints, and potential new apps and advancements that appear like the ‘magic wand’ and their implications are impossible to grasp. We bring most of this through monitors into our homes and daily lives. What we share, how this is affecting our mind and body connection, and our capacity to make meaningful connections with others, to be focused, creative and target our energies productively is something to be aware of, for the way the quality of life and our sense of wellbeing will unfold. Inclusion and exclusion, of information and knowledge, apps, resources, situations, environments and people is a challenge we are faced with, in finding more meaning and purpose. Also, the relationship to the physical world.   

Find a positive target!

The most important message that can turn into a wish for all in 2024, based on the planetary alignments ahead, is manifesting in April and May. Firstly, we observe the first North Node Solar Eclipse in Aries of the series on this axis (signifying a dynamic surplus of new initiatory energy), next the beginning of the new two-year Mars-Saturn cycle in Pisces (signifying disciplined structured energy that aims at clearing, cleansing, helping, or working on a dream, vision and may require sacrifice or a type of dedication, seclusion or confinement), next, the start of a new 12-year Jupiter-Uranus cycle in Taurus (that aims in changing our perspective, liberating, experimenting or introducing new things and people, around our values, resources, creations, sense of worth, ownership, talents), and the ingress of Mars into Aries in May (signifying the birth of something new, an igniting, extrovert, initiating, assertive, or pioneering energy). All of the above, give evidence of a push for a new beginning. It can be as simple and as complex as we wish to imagine it, but the momentum and the opportunity to make it happen will present itself.

The urge to make a positive new beginning for all of us will be pressing, present or dominant.  The need to become more conscious of our individual attitude, behavior, and contribution, based on what we have, value or possess, and in relation to what we may have been avoiding in our lives and the evolution of the collective changes we are experiencing, is pertinent. What we defend, what we strengthen, where we target our energies, and what we enforce with our attitude and actions, no matter how ‘big’ or ‘small’, is perhaps much more critical or important in 2024, than the three years that preceded it.

The coming year, is more extroverted, more demanding, has more drive, divisive choices, desire and motivation to create, many new diverse elements, initiatives and calls for action. It may highlight more activism, awakenings, remind us to choose our battles, to demonstrate flexibility without scattering our energy, and it invites us to be present, but also try to find another pace with life and ourselves. ‘Find the target’ is perhaps the most appropriate and at the same time significant wish for the new year. What are the goals that make sense, that we believe in? Some potentially manifest impulsively, some due to the need to respond or re-act, and some more consciously. Our position makes or can make a difference.

The slow planets Pluto in 2024, then Neptune and Uranus in 2025, as they are gradually shift signs are collectively representing a preparation for a major transition, the dynamics of which we will begin to understand in 2026. This transition means that most of our familiar external reference points around our notions of power, collective ideals, and progress are shifting into unknown or totally new territory. This is something we cannot control, and have no capacity to grasp how it will affect our individual lives on the long run, at least for the 40+ generations. It is a shift in Air and Fire, from years into Earth and Water.

Circumstances call for a more holistic understanding of the experience we have gained since 2008, 2012, and 2018 onwards, and how it relates to groups, social environments, networking, knowledge, communities, common goals for progress, but also in alignment of the conception of ideas, dreams and ideals, that aim at contributing, supporting or offering assistance. What is the role and value of the individual’s identity, action, creation, resources, skills, knowledge and talents, autonomous existence and status, in connection to environments, groups and collective efforts? How vulnerable or protected it is? What is the quality and value of interaction, reciprocity, between the group or the community and the individual, in relation to contribution, assistance and progress. These are mega controversial issues for the coming years and the source for new creative avenues.

For 2024, the bet and the challenge is to find a positive target, where we aim our energy and efforts, to tread some new territory or ground that instills that sense of purpose. We may also become more aware if we have lost our sense of purpose in targeting our energies and efforts, if we have been aiming incorrectly, or if our aiming needs to shift elsewhere. Mars is the warrior in us, it is also the activist, it is the fire of passion, desire, creation and birth of new things, it is also the primal instinct, and the right to exist. If this energy is severely suppressed, everything becomes a blur, anger and depression prevails, and negative things manifest. Without this energy nothing new is born, initiated, we do not survive or experience fertility in life. New beginnings with no conscious healthy purpose (Sun), are like ammunition in the wrong hand, or the automatic weapon that misfires, or targets others indiscriminately to grab, to conquer, to get attention. And there is always an excuse for it. What is supressed will manifest.

This is a moment to reflect on how this upcoming wave of dynamic energy can be filtered through the healthy core of our ego, without arrogance, fueling positive interests, actions and purposes together with others, for the advancement of knowledge, creation, a healthier body or protection of the ‘common good’.  And as I write this, the other voice speaks and says, yes but look at what people do to each other, and how destructive or narcissistic they can be” “Can the common good be perceived differently or distorted by each individual, or groups of people?” Yes it can, we witness this throughout history. As, and whenever the negative pole magnifies, the positive pole must strengthen. The only antidote to destruction is creation.

This is also the holistic perception to which I referred above, that every idea, wish and action, and for the purpose of innovation, can be changed into anything that the mind conceives, with all its versions, and that we can no longer perceive how far reaching this is, and the impact it can have. This can be potentially wonderful or disastrous.

Everything we do and think requires a good and healthy relationship with ourselves, but also our physical presence and consciousness of the vulnerability in others as well as ourselves (Chiron in Aries). To be able to perceive what really matters, how we treat others, and in relation to what is happening around us. To be present somewhere, means being absent somewhere else. So, how do we find this healthy relationship with the ‘whole’, the world that surrounds us? How do we assume the right position? Whether big or small, the year is fit for a new beginning, in some area of ​​our lives. Above all, to strengthen the purpose within, and gain that inner clarity and the light that comes from the heart, to contribute to a more peaceful and less phobic coexistence with others and the world (our world). There is a place for everything and everyone. To accurately measure and evaluate distances, adjust our time of when it is important to be present, to exclude what is insignificant and harmful, to focus on building the right bridges, see where we lack boundaries, exchange knowledge, do things that give a sense of pride, fuel us with zest, desire and enthusiasm for what is called creation and life.

© Eleni Kostika 2023