THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF ABORTION

What is the spiritual side of abortion? Why the 2019 Alabama abortion law brings up important questions about what it really means to be “pro-life” in the now age …

Alabama abortion 2019 Ruby Warrington The Numinous

“We must give every person the best chance for a quality life and a promising future.”

This is the #WTF closing line from Gov. Kay Ivey, the WOMAN who signed this week’s controversial Alabama abortion law, in her statement about the act. For me, it sums up everything that is so utterly illogical about this move—because on no level whatsoever, does the Alabama Human Life Protection Act actually promise mothers and the families who may be affected by it a “quality” life or a “promising” future.

On an entirely practical level, Alabama is the 6th poorest state in the US, with 17.2% of Alabamians living below the poverty line (the national average is 14%). Given that the people most likely to be affected by this law are also the poorest, many souls entering the world as a result of this bill, will be pre-destined for a life of poverty-induced suffering.

On a broader scale, over-population is one of the main drivers of climate change (see yesterday’s IG post on over-production / over-consumption). The future is already looking pretty grim for future generations, as we begin to experience what is only the tip of the (rapidly melting) iceberg when it comes to the devastating extreme weather events that are set to become our new normal.

And on a more numinous tip, the more unprepared, unsupported, and unwilling mothers, the more children with more generational trauma keeping them locked in cycles of suffering—and the LESS fully autonomous women, bringing our Universal, life-force, mother energy to other areas of life (something I discuss at length in Material Girl, Mystical World).

Fuck! It makes you wonder WHY Republican law-makers are so anti-abortion—the answer to which appears to be the religious roots of the pro-life lobby. Ban contraception, abortion (oh, and homosexuality while you’re at it), and more Catholic or Christian babies means more power (literally, more people taking up more land + resources) to the Church. Which brings us full circle, to a completely outdated and reactive response to an underlying xenophobic fear of our inevitable cross-cultural evolution.

I had my abortion at age 24, and I am so fucking thankful that a) being British meant I got easy access to a free procedure, no questions asked, and that b) I knew from age 5 that I didn’t want to be a mom, meaning it was not a tough decision for me to opt not to have my baby. I have thought about them sometimes, questioning whether it was selfish of me to deny another soul a life—something that came up when I did a family constellations therapy session with Marine Seleneé.

Marine believes that each and every soul, whether carried to term or not, has its own karmic role in our lineage—and that those we “abort,” as well as those who miscarry—are doing their own work. In my case, I truly believe that I am a “pattern breaker” for the woman + mother wounds that have been carried down my family line (why I knew so young that motherhood was not for me), and that my unborn child played their own role in ending this cycle of trauma.

This week’s move of Mars (conflict, courage, progress) into Cancer (motherhood, women’s issues, lineage), sets the stage for a passionate, angry, and deeply HONEST, response to this latest outrageous violation of human rights. Consider: what does it REALLY mean to be “pro-life” in the now age? How can you enact this in your day-to-day? Questions we all need to be asking ourselves on a level that goes beyond the surface, and gets into the womb of the matter.

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Donate directly to women seeking abortions in Alabama state at yellowfund.org.

TAURUS SEASON 2019: YOU ARE ENOUGH

Taurus Season 2019 brings transits that remind us to trust that we are enough—with nothing to prove, and a potent innate power, says Bess Matassa

flower crown Taurus Season 2019 Bess Matassa The Numinous
Photo: Jakob Owens

Taurus Season 2019 is vivid and alive, ready and willing to receive our lusts and longings. A time for letting the messy, beautiful range of life possess and work through us, Taurus Season 2019 reminds us that when we say “yes” to our status as part of these natural cycles, we can find radiance by moving to the rhythm of what simply is.

The season opens with Venus’ shift into Aries, and a one-two retrograde hit of Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn. Later in the season, Mercury and Venus shift into Taurus, while Mars enters Cancer, bringing questions of self protection to the fore. And, as the season closes with a fat Full Moon in Scorpio, we’re asked to hold fast to the gemstones inside of ourselves without gripping, noticing any place where we feel lack and flooding it with the lubrication of a lush, jungle cat kind of love …

Listen to the full Taurus Season 2019 report from Numi resident astrologers Bess + Sandy HERE and read on for more on the 4 key astro events of the coming weeks …

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Sun in Taurus (4.20-5.21)

Taurus energy asks us to come ever closer to the cusp of what just feels good, resting on the soft petals and sipping the sweet nectar of deservedness without wondering when the honeysuckle might end. Taurus Season 2019 amplifies this pleasure dilation. Where do you think we have to prove something in order to be served? What if you simply had to open your lips and palms and say “thank you” without wondering how you’d earned it? In the weeks to come, simply lie back into whatever feels like a bed of roses, and lap up the cream.

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Pluto Rx in Capricorn (4.24-10.2) + Saturn Rx in Capricorn (4.29-9.18) conjunct the Moon’s South Node

These two epic retrograde cycles carry us through to the “death” energy of the Scorpionic fall, and ask us to investigate where we place authority and who is really calling the shots and pulling the strings. Where do the “shoulds” in your life come from? What patterns feel like they’re “possessing” you? Take this time to notice the subtle polarities in your power dynamics. Give and take. Full and empty. What does your own power feel like when it’s simply coursing through your veins but doesn’t need a target? It’s a moment for recalibrating the controls and rediscovering a potency that ignites us from the inside out.

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Venus in Aries (4.20-5.15) + Venus in Taurus (5.15-6.8)

Venus in Aries brings an opportunity to turn over fresh soil on old romantic patterns. An invitation to move towards objects of desire with no strategy, this transit asks us to simply go for it! Like a just born baby animal, trust you will be perceived as all fluff and frolic. Learn to trust in carnal signals and, after Venus moves into Taurus, to go after what your body desires without shame. Harness this transit to quiet the storylines and to navigate your romantic life by touch, taste, and smell.

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Mars in Cancer (5.15-7.1)

Mars in Cancer harbors its hurts and healing inside a tightly packed shell, while fiercely defending what it loves. This transit is an invitation for us all to slip into our emotion ocean and examine what we can’t let go of. What feelings, memories, and entanglements we would defend with our very lives. There’s no need to try and validate these patterns of protection. Rather, we can take this time to see our defenses as gateways to a deeper understanding of what we truly value. Whatever you’re braving your body against is the secret diary key to what brings you most fully alive.

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Learn more about Bess and her work and check out all her personalized Astro + Tarot offerings HERE.

MY MYSTICAL LIFE: USING ARIES SEASON TO EXPRESS ANGER

The placement of Aries ruling planet Mars in our birth chart, can show how to express our anger in a healthy and progressive way …

My Mystical life Aries season express anger spiritual activism Ruby Warrington
Photo: Caitlin Mitchell

So here we are in Aries season, my birthday month. But I’ve never felt like a bone fide Aries. Bossy, sometimes. Sure I like to get my own way. But I’m not super confident. Far from confrontational. And definitely not aggressive.

When a life coach once asked about my big message for the world (the one I would shout from the top of a mountain if I had a megaphone that could be heard from Australia to the Arctic circle), I replied: Please, will everybody just stop fighting!

This was late 2016, my plea inspired by a summer of terrorist attacks and an backdrop of political warmongering. I guess I’m just a massive pacifist, I told her. Whereas Aries, ruled by passion planet Mars, is the warrior of the Zodiac. A hot-headed temper tantrum waiting to happen. The one leading the protest, shouting the slogans, and fighting for justice.

Rather, as I wrote in this piece, I see myself as a spiritual activist. On a mission to shift consciousness one open-hearted sharing circle at a time. Partly because, as Martin Luther King famously put it, I believe that “Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

But also, because I am terrified of conflict. To the point that for a long time I thought I didn’t feel any anger at all. FOR REAL. From my parents’ “amicable” divorce, to my grandmother’s silent acceptance of her husband’s affairs, somewhere along the line I internalized that anger is bad. Causes more trouble than it’s worth.

This is not uncommon, among women in particular. But it’s something I’ve been beating myself up about lately. Aren’t activist activists what the world needs? People getting right up in the face of injustice. Shouting and screaming and demanding change. It’s fine for me, comfortable in my straight, white, British privilege, to sit back and preach about healing the world with hugs.

But the truth is, we each have our own flavor of fight in us—as denoted by the position of Mars in our birth chart. And my Mars (ruler of my Aries Sun, and therefore flavoring my soul essence) is in Cancer, the softest, most sensitive sign. Meaning my anger often leaks out of me as tears. Since tears are a sign of weakness, crying is “ugly,” and makes other people extremely uncomfortable, it’s not surprising I learned to suppress this part of myself.

Understanding my Mars placement has helped me to accept that part of my activism is to enable an emotional and vulnerable expression of anger—particularly teaching that it’s okay to cry. As I often do now, freely and openly, whenever I speak publicly about anything that angers or otherwise moves me. After all, the purpose of anger is to inspire action for change.

A recent example of the power of our tears? The tear-streaked speech by 17-year-old Emma Gonzalez following the Parkland shooting in Florida. Her angry tears, anything but a sign of weakness, have helped motivate thousands to join the March For Our Lives in Washington this weekend (under a Waxing Quarter Moon in Cancer, no less).

Mars shows how we can express our anger—also how we can channel our passion, our actions, and our drive—in ways that feel healthy to us. All the time I wasn’t comfortable feeling my anger, I channeled my pent-up tears into my addictions. To alcohol, shopping, work, social media. The energy of anger has to go somewhere.

Don’t know your Mars sign? You can do your chart for free HERE.

We can also see how Mars expresses itself in our most powerful activists. Martin Luther King had his Mars in Gemini—the sign that rules communication and words. Nelson Mandela, Mars in Libra—sign of the diplomat. As for Rosa Parks? Mars in Capricorn. The patient, stoic, unflinching anger that can move mountains—also the sign Mars is currently visiting through May 16.

Regardless of your date of birth, your Mars sign shows where your inner Aries lives. Because no matter how our anger is expressed, that there is a warrior in each and every one of us.

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March For Our Lives takes place in Washington DC on March 24, with over 800 local events happening worldwide. On April 4, Black Lives Matter, The Peace Accelerators and a host of others, will march through Harlem, NY in remembrance of Martin Luther King Jnr. Join them HERE.

On behalf of all those who support The Numinous and allow us to do our work, we will also be donating 10% of sales all from our Total Guide To Your Mars Sign course to gun safety movement Everytown.