2021’s Cautiously Optimistic Psychic Forecast: Keep Your Heart Open and Your Powder Dry

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“The body is a device to calculate
the astronomy of the spirit.
Look through that astrolabe
and become oceanic.” Rumi

For more: Ruminations of a Timeless Mystic

Dear One,
I hope this holiday missive finds you well and at peace with what IS. The good news is that, no matter how challenging our external circumstances presently are, there’s some more Light pouring in this Spring as we slowly emerge from our collective dark night of the soul.

For those of us on the path of awakening, the global pandemic is giving us a more important FGO (f**kin growth opportunity) than any lesser circumstances could have instigated. And this great boon is to allow our ego armor to soften as our hearts open wider and deeper with benevolence and empathy for ourselves and our fellow souls all over the planet.

“What is the best use of each day of our lives? In one very short day, each of us could become more sane, more compassionate, more tender, more in touch with the dream-like quality of reality. Or we could bury all these qualities more deeply and get more in touch with solid mind, retreating more into our own cocoon.”—Pema Chodron

Keeping our hearts open also means cultivating faith that everything is evolving perfectly in the Divine Plan for soul growth and karmic healing for each of us. If you find it hard to maintain this faith when the going gets tough, please feel free to borrow some of mine—which is unconditional and boundless.

Also, it helps to hold an emotional tone of cosmic humor as we incredulously witness global events playing out. It seems, more and more, as if we’re in a live-action sci-fi movie with: Mutant strains popping up daily, home-grown terrorists plotting insurrection led by a sociopathic ex-president, and conspiracy theory devotees, fueled by social media, dumbing down the mass-consciousness to ever-new lows of fear-based ignorance.

When I did a New Year’s reading for myself last month, I was informed that, because of the continuing quarantine which has enforced a much more extended inward focus of time and energy than in this life to date, my psychic and spiritual evolution has accelerated by over twenty years from the previous timeline probabilities.

This warp speed, supported by the Quickening of galactic, cosmic and planetary energies, as well as boosted by more and more powerful solar flares, has moved me to a very new place in terms of a more expanded concept of identity. Although, as always, it’s very challenging for the nervous system to acclimate to the higher-frequencies downloads. I keep hearing about this speeded-up inner growth from many of you as well.

For more on the ever-accelerating energies of the Quickening, which I define as the bombardment of the Earth plane with high-velocity frequencies as a Divine catalyst to speed up the evolution of consciousness:

The Bardo of Bombardment
How to Be in Paradise During a Cosmic Flu Pandemic

The major transit of 2021, which kicks off this week on February 17, is a combative one between Karmic Teacher Saturn in humanitarian Aquarius squaring off with Trickster of Awakening Uranus in comfort-loving Taurus. This contentious energy will be in effect for the entire year—coming to a head or point of crisis in mid-June—and culminating at the end of December.

The themes of this, which we can already see playing out on the world stage, are that Saturn, who rules the structure and rules of the Earth Game, is vigilantly doing his job—via the administration, higher authorities, and the powers that be—to oversee laying down new regulations for the highest good of all concerned. For the role of government, even for libertarians, is to protect the populace from collective threats, such as the pandemic as well as home-grown political violence.

But Uranus is also doing his job as the ruler of individual freedom, rebellion, revolution and the internet, especially the wild-west atmosphere of social media. And, since Saturn is in his traditional co-ruler of Aquarius, which is also the natural ruler of Uranus, he may go overboard in trying to suppress free speech and the first amendment.

Not to mention that, with Uranus in Taurus ruling the stock market, banks and financial regulation, we’ll continue to see more than the usual amount of unpredictable and, at times, extreme ups and downs in all money, real estate and material security areas—personally and en mass—fueled by the irrational exuberance of the Cosmic Trickster, whose function is always to shake us up to wake us up.

Uranus is up in arms against all this Saturnian authority telling us what we can and cannot do. As it is limiting our enjoyment of the comforts that Taurus so loves by requiring mask-wearing, restricting travel and gatherings and, just in general, imposing rules on our daily lives which cramps our style and, for many of us, our ability to make a living.

Saturn in altruistic Aquarius may say that all the restrictions imposed are for “The highest good of all concerned in the long run.” But Trickster Uranus wants individual liberty and wants it now!

Please scroll down to see my paintings of Saturn and Uranus for a visceral visual display of these energies.

We all have Saturn and Uranus as components of our personality in out birth charts. But some of us are more Saturnian or Uranian by nature. This year, when Saturn and Uranus by transit trigger sensitive points or planets in our baseline birth chart in the houses or areas of our lives ruled by Aquarius and Taurus, we’ll get to experience an exacerbated or enhanced expression of our natal predispositions.

These transits may make us feel internally a bit crazed or at odds with ourselves and, externally, as if the outer world is so crazy that we either feel more and more detached from it or more and more confrontational with it.

It’s easy to see who is doubling down with embracing the pandemic-fueled new rules and regulations and even wanting more stringent ones—that’s unequivocally a Saturnian type. And those that are up in arms (literally, at times) demanding their freedom and individual liberties no matter who might be harmed in the process—that’s a Uranian type, for sure. (And you can tell that I’m a Saturnian type, reinforced many times over in my natal chart, in every area except romance and mysticism, by how I’ve phrased this paragraph:)) For more:

Becoming ONE with the Inner Guru . . . Or How to Make Saturn Your BFF”

So, with this major transit/theme of 2021, we need to choose our battles wisely and not sweat the small ephemeral stuff. Sure, if we go along with all of Saturn’s big daddy rules and regulation, we may feel a bit squished or diminished in our freedom of choice on the ego levels.

Conversely, if we’re cavalierly operating with a sense of personal entitlement in a way that could possibly cause others harm, we are definitely incurring some karma sooner or later. This is especially so for those in any position of power, such as “influencers” on social media, touting nonsensical conspiracy theories and advocating Uranian rebellion from no-mask wearing, to being vehemently anti-vaccine, to out-right violence.

If we feel the desire to rebel too overtly against restrictions, it behooves us to look at our level of emotional maturity, especially if we’re fighting against health or safety rules that are not really life-threatening dealbreakers individually in the short run, although they may feel important on the two-year-old toddler/little self/ego/personality levels. For more on this, here’s a perfect send-off to the EX-toddler in chief who has Uranus on his Sun:

SOUL-LEVEL CURRICULUM: The Karmic Consequences of Entitlement (and it might not be what you think)

This year, we can choose “keep our powder dry” and stay vigilant of those actions which best serve our most important interests, and not sweat the small stuff so much just to be a freedom-loving rebellious Uranian teenager emotionally. Freedom is surely an inside job ultimately, regardless of external restrictions that test our alrightness at the core of our inner state of Being.

When Uranus first moved into Taurus on March 6, 2019, I wrote that we need to prepare ourselves as we witness more and more of that which has been known and safe falling away. And now, with Uranus continuing his journey in Taurus through April, 2026, we can expect even more phases of this particular cycle of karmic lessons coming our way on all levels—inner and outer. For more:

All Your Stagnate Comfort Zones Are Going, Going, Gone

Because expansive Jupiter is also in Aquarius, he is amplifying Saturn’s role, inciting him to operate a bit unrestrainedly in the rules and regulations department. But it does reinforce my prediction that Saturn may reign over Uranus slightly this year—in terms of their functions by sign. Added to this is the fact that we’ve just entered the Chinese Year of the Metal Ox, whose characteristics are much more aligned with Saturn’s rule of law.

“In essence, the Awakened Heart functions in some form of service to Humanity (Aquarius), allowing personal love to be an agent for transpersonal love.” Alan Oken

On a timely note, February is a month when our heart/minds instinctively turn more towards love, even if this is culturally induced by V-day:). So, even though our heart’s pilot light never goes completely out, as it is fueled by an infinite supply of Divine Love, this is a time (especially with Saturn in transpersonally-loving Aquarius) when we can allow more love to fill us from Source so that our hearts can blaze brighter and burn away any accumulated dross or debris that has blocked our love-light from shining out more brightly to nourish ourselves, all those in our lives and the earth plane itself in a natural overflow or ripple effect.

As we focus on love, which I call the gold-standard, in terms of what all human beings are ultimately seeking as the essence of true abundance, it’s important to keep in mind how many varieties of love there are: From love of plants, animals and nature, to friends and family, to the juicy romantic and erotic varieties—and, in the end, just pure love with Being and all of Life, whether one calls it the Flow, the Tao, the Divine or Source.

In Greek philosophy the varieties of love were broken down into seven categories (this list is adapted with updated personal commentary from an article in Psychology Today magazine):

1. Eros is sexual or passionate love, and is the type most akin to our modern construct of romantic love. In Greek myth, it is a form of madness brought about by one of Cupid’s arrows. The arrow breaches us and we ‘fall’ in love, (I say: “We don’t fall, but rather either step in it or rise in it:)”) as did Paris with Helen, leading to the Trojan War and the downfall of Troy and much of the assembled Greek army. Eros has also been contrasted with Logos or Reason, and Cupid painted as a blindfolded child.

2. Philia is love based on friendship. Aristotle believed that a person can bear goodwill to another for one of three reasons: that he is useful; that he is pleasant; and, above all, that he is good, that is, rational and virtuous. Friendships founded on goodness are associated not only with mutual benefit but also with companionship, dependability and trust.
For Plato, the best kind of friendship is that which lovers have for each other. It is a Philia born out of Eros, and that in turn feeds back into Eros to strengthen and develop it, transforming it from a lust for possession into a shared desire for a higher level of understanding of the self, the other and the world.
In short, Philia transforms Eros from mere lust into an impulse for shared growth as souls on a journey of awakening. Real friends seek together to live truer, fuller lives by relating to each other authentically and teaching each other about the limitations of their beliefs and the defects in their character, which are a far greater source of error than mere rational confusion: they are, in effect, each other’s therapist. So, it helps to find a friend with some degree of openness, insight and communication skills, both to change and to be changed.

This brings to mind a quote by M. Scott Peck which has been a guiding light for me for decades in my criterion for choosing romantic partners and friends:

“Love is the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth. Love is as love does. Love is an act of will—namely, both an intention and an action. Will also implies choice. We do not have to love. We choose to love.”

3. Storge, (‘store-gae’), or familial love, is a kind of Philia pertaining to the love between parents and their children. It differs from most Philia in that it tends, especially with younger children, to be unilateral or asymmetrical. More broadly, Storge is the fondness born out of familiarity or dependency and, unlike Eros or Philia, does not depend on personal qualities.
People in the early stages of a romance often expect unconditional Storge, but find only the need and dependency of Eros, and, if they’re lucky, the maturity and fertility of Philia. Given enough time, Eros tends to be transmuted into Storge.

4. Agape is universal love, such as the love for strangers, nature or the Divine. Unlike Storge, it does not depend on filiation or familiarity. Also called charity by Christian thinkers, Agape can be said to encompass the modern concept of altruism, defined as unselfish concern for the welfare of others. Recent studies link altruism with a number of benefits. In the short term, altruism leaves us with a euphoric feeling—the so-called ‘helper’s high.’ In the longer term, it is associated with better mental and physical health, as well as longevity.
Given the increasing anger, fear and division in our society, as well as the state of our planet, we could all do with quite a bit more Agape. In the Buddhist traditions, Agape equates with the cultivation of bodhichitta, or loving kindness and compassion as expressed through the Bodhisattva Vow:

“With a wish to free all beings
I shall always go for refuge
To the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha,
Until I reach full enlightenment.
Enthused by wisdom and compassion,
today in the Buddhas’ presence I generate
the Mind for Full Awakening
For the benefit of all sentient beings.
As long as space remains,
As long as sentient beings remain,
Until then, may I too remain
And dispel the miseries of the world
Beings are numberless, I vow to awaken with them. Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to end them. Dharma gates are endless, I vow to enter them. Buddha’s Way is unsurpassable, I vow to become it.”

5. Ludus is playful or uncommitted love. It can involve activities such as teasing and dancing, or more overt flirting, seducing, and sexual relations. The focus is on fun, and sometimes also on conquest, with no strings attached. Ludus relationships are casual, undemanding and uncomplicated but, for all that, can be very long-lasting. Ludus works best when both parties are mature and self-sufficient. Problems arise when one party mistakes Ludus for Eros, whereas Ludus is in fact much more compatible with Philia. Friends with benefits, indeed!

For me personally, one of the criteria of who I choose to be with is that we enjoy playing the same games of life together. For, if we are at a place where we can love everyone transpersonally then who we choose to spend our time with needs be not based solely on love, as our hearts are already open to everyone.

6. Pragma is a kind of practical love founded on reason or duty and one’s longer-term interests. Sexual attraction takes a back seat in favor of personal qualities and compatibilities, shared goals and making it work. In the days of arranged marriages, Pragma was very common. And, although out-of-fashion these days, it remains widespread, most visibly in certain high-profile celebrity and political pairings, as well as in many more traditional religion-based societies or groups.
Many relationships that start off as Eros or Ludus end up as various combinations of Storge and Pragma. Pragma may seem opposed to Ludus, but the two can co-exist, with the one providing a counterpoint to the other. In the best of cases, the partners in the pragma relationship agree to turn a blind eye—or even a sympathetic eye, as in the case of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, or Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicholson.

7. Philautia is self-love, which can be healthy or unhealthy. Unhealthy self-love is akin to hubris, overweening pride and narcissism. In Ancient Greece, a person could be accused of hubris if he placed himself above the gods, or, like certain modern politicians, above the greater good. Many believed that hubris led to destruction, or nemesis. Today, hubris has come to mean an inflated sense of one’s status, abilities or accomplishments, especially when accompanied by haughtiness or arrogance. As it disregards truth, hubris promotes injustice, conflict, and enmity.

There is, of course, a kind of permeability between the seven types of love, which continuously, over time, keep morphing back and forth between all varieties, helping us expand the emotional range of our humanness, which is, after all, one of the purposes of reincarnational cycles for soul development.

Especially important for 2021: Healthy self-love, which is similar to self-esteem, is our cognitive and, above all, emotional appraisal of our own worth relative to that of others. More than that, it’s the matrix through which we think, feel, and act and reflects and determines our relationship to ourselves, to others and to the world.
I’m huge proponent of what I call “healthy selfishness” which I describe metaphorically as to always remember when on an airplane to place the oxygen mask on oneself before on the baby in our lap. I also believe that what we choose to do for the highest good for our own soul growth is ultimately for the highest good of all concerned. For, how could it not be, if we are ONE Being with billions of faces?

However, there is a caveat to healthy selfishness on the personality-levels these days. And that is that the sign of a truly mature soul, which responsible-minded Saturn governs, is to view placing the oxygen mask on our collective soul first as One Being, before we place the oxygen mask on ourselves.

How we operate collectively now is perhaps one of the greatest tests to date of how we’re doing in terms of the spiritual evolution of consciousness as a race, as nothing less than the present global pandemic could lead us to the higher truth of unity consciousness in which we’re all in this together—and always have been. As the WHO said: “No one is safe from the pandemic until everyone is.”

In closing, wishing us all a daily practice of gratitude for all the varieties of love and abundance in our lives in the eternal Now, as well as glass-half-full attitude adjustments from the witnessing perspective of our souls. I’m holding the vision of some semblance of herd immunity in the USA and other developed countries by this Summer and globally by mid-2022 with over 70% vaccinated, with the support of ongoing Saturn in Aquarius pandemic protection measures.

While some may claim optimism is delusional (especially so in the present-day dark ages of the Kali Yuga), there is science-based research that optimists live longer than pessimists and enjoy a much better quality of life. So, I’ll stick with my always glass-half-full chosen view. One of the best books on optimism from a historical perspective is by Steven Pinker and is Bill Gates’s “favorite book:”

Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress

Of all spiritual philosophies my favorite is Leela, (aka cosmic play), followed by becoming One with the Tao (aka going with the Flow), as well as Maya (aka Life as a dream or illusion). And, of course, I also love and practice Tantra, which embraces the senses, emotions and awareness all as vehicles on the path—so it makes being in a precious human incarnation in the Earth Game like an all-inclusive resort:).

In this time of accelerated inner growth, if you’re seeking a new way to look at your life and a new philosophy to live by, why not consider one that offers you the most pleasure, joy and bliss regardless of external flux? For more:

Spiritual Practices Reading List
On Pleasure, Joy and Bliss

Finally, here are my soul-level resolutions for 2021 and beyond:
I. Enjoy the ride today—even more—by acting as if each day is our last . . . and smile.
II. Hold the faith that: Life goes on, our Souls live on and that which we have always been seeking—Source—has been inside us all along . . . and smile.
III. Be grateful that Life is doing its damnedest to help us remember why we are truly here . . . and just keep on smiling.
Sending out ongoing transmissions of visceral pleasure, joy in Being and bliss body shenanigans,

J O A N