Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Astrology of Depression in the Natal Birth Chart, Robin Williams, and SOLUTIONS



DEPRESSION

We have all felt it at one time or another in our life.  Is there an astrology to it that makes one person more vulnerable to it than another? Well sort of.  Let's look at the following:

Drug abuse leads to depression.  If you look at the natal chart any kind of prominent neptune or pisces or hard aspects to neptune, especially involving the 8th or 12th house, would be one indicator.

Pluto problems. Depression could also be seen as a difficult pluto in the natal chart.  Pluto and scorpio can go hand in hand with obsession.  If there is a hard aspect to Pluto from
one of your personal planets, or if Pluto is near your ascendant, you could have pluto problems.  Donna Cunningham has a really good book that I recommend everyone read it's called Healing Pluto Problems.
Sometimes it is not you directly that has the pluto problem.  It can also be someone close to you that has it.  You kind of get caught in the crossfire of his or her pluto problem. It's a good read for anyone who wants to learn more about pluto, the astrology of it, and more important, what to do about it.
You can purchase it from Amazon here.

Abuse. Let's talk about abuse for a second.  Abuse can be seen in the natal chart usually through a hard aspect between mars and uranus. The pattern of abuse can be set up at such an early age that it very hard to ever get over it.  It also sets up patters of abuse in the future. 

Chiron.  Chiron is the area of your chart where you do feel the most pain.  Part of your lesson here at earth school is to learn how to take your pain and use it to heal.  A good read is Melanie Reinarts book Chiron The Healing Journey.  You can purchase it here from Amazon.com.  It is an on demand book ships in 1-3 weeks.

Neptune in the Fourth House and the Father This is a tough one.  Typically, the father was absent, or addicted to drug or alcohol or in some way shape or form not stable and nurturing for the person who has neptune in the fourth house of natal chart.  This can lead to life long struggles of self worth.

I am not just talking about Depression, 

I am offering a Solution to Depression



As you can see, there are a lot of issues in a birth chart that could lead to depression. I will be talking about them in more detail in future blogs, but for now, I just wanted to let you know they do exist, and they are real.  When we are willing to look at ourselves, recognize the patterns, identify the people, situations that create the pain, and try different things to make changes, our life can be happier.  Live by the Sun, Feel by the Moon, Move with the Stars by the Light of the Libra Moon.

Robin Williams.  On the outside he looked like he had the world by the balls didn't he? On the inside, he must have been feeling a lot of pain.  In my last post, I talked about the planetary triggers.  What I want to talk about today is how to heal.  I have a couple astrology reports that help.  This one below is an example of Robin Williams Gem and Essensce Therapy Report.  For emotions, the flower remedies are great.  They really help.  What this report does, is it takes the issues that are present in your chart and offers gem and flower essence SOLUTIONS.  You do not have to live with your pain and don't let anybody tell you that you do.  These SOLUTIONS help you to heal and move forward with your life. 


ORDER GEM AND ESSENCE ASTROLOGY REPORT


SAMPLE GEM AND ESSENCE REPORT: ROBIN WILLIAMS
 Sun and Ascendant: General Characteristics

        The position of the Sun in your birth chart represents the person you are at heart and the path you must follow to fulfill yourself as a unique individual. It also indicates your personal strength and vitality, as well as what activities or life experiences you require to feel alive and to replenish your life force. The Sun represents your personal identity.

Sun in Cancer:

Key issues: Self expression through what is familiar; nurturing soulful connections to others and to the past.

Key qualities: protective, nurturing, sympathetic, emotionally attached, retentive, devoted.

        When you are at your best, you radiate sympathetic understanding and mother-like caring and concern. Taking care of others, especially "your own" (family, neighborhood, etc.) is central to your very identity. You are apt to be tenaciously loyal and somewhat irrational in your attachments. That is, it is not easy for you to be detached and objective. Like the adoring mother who can't see or admit her son's delinquent behavior, or the patriot who stoutly defends his country's treachery simply because "it is my country". Emotional affiliation is what matters most to you. You value belonging, family solidarity, home, and continuity with the past. Cherishing what is familiar, it may be very difficult for you to leave home either literally or figuratively. You are also very tied to the women in your life.

        You are a feeling, sensitive person, easily hurt. Often you cover your tenderness with a self-protective shell to hide your sensitivity, moodiness, and emotional vulnerability. And you often hold on to feelings, hurt feelings or grudges as well as kindly ones, for a very long time. Learning to flow with your fluctuating emotions is important for you, also.

Patterns of Imbalance:

        For worry, over-concern, and over-involvement in others lives: the flower essences RED CHESTNUT and CHICORY.

        For longing for and clinging to the past, inability to live in the present or create a positive future: the flower essence HONEYSUCKLE.

        For moodiness, emotional irritability and extremes: the flower essence CHAMOMILE.

        For willingness to confront life and its possibilities, and coming out of one's shell: the flower essence MEXICAN SHELL FLOWER.

        To balance and express mothering or nurturing qualities in a positive way, and to encourage self-nurturing: the flower essences MARIPOSA LILY, POMEGRANATE, and MILKY NIPPLE CACTUS.

Gemstones that may be beneficial to wear, carry, or take as an elixir:

        MOONSTONES, PEARL, and CLEAR QUARTZ.

        Your Ascendant (or Rising Sign) describes your physique, as well as indicating how you relate to and are affected by your environment. It has a direct bearing on your physical health.

Ascendant in Scorpio:

        Physically you are very strong and capable of surprising potency, endurance, and resilience despite a somewhat reserved or even mild outward countenance. You do not reveal the depth of your emotions, your will, or what you are really capable of physically until you need to. When threatened, however, you puff up like an adder to intimidate your enemy, and can be truly venomous if cornered or treated poorly. You are a survivor, with strong primal instincts and an almost purely animal or bodily sense of what and who is good for you. Articulating and verbalizing your felt-sense or "blood knowledge" may not be very easy for you, though. You act on your gut-sense of a situation. When out of balance, your natural wariness or guardedness can become an obsession with self-preservation to the point of paranoia. You go to extremes.

        To feel fully alive, you need direct, passionate, lusty involvement with life, and you may seek out high-drama, life-and-death, crisis situations, whether through your work with people undergoing crisis, dangerous physical activities, creating a lot of emotional melodrama in your personal life, or simply choosing a lifestyle that does not buffer you from nature. You enjoy storms.

        When ill, you respond very well to therapies that are cathartic or purgatory in nature, fasts, enemas or colonic treatments, sweat therapies, herbal remedies intended to purge the system, etc. Clearing out emotional debris, old grudges, etc. (which you are apt to retain) is also very helpful. The garden and flower essences which can benefit you include TOMATO (which is cleansing, assists the body in throwing off disease, and also helps ridding oneself of unwanted habits) and HOLLY (to let go of toxic emotions like envy, suspicion, desire for revenge, etc.).

Asc. Trine Moon:

        Your subtle sensitivity, intuition, and ability to tune in emotionally to what is going on around you is an asset. You instinctively understand what others want and need, and can lend support without compromising your own needs, and when you need help, your friends rally around. A good support system bolsters your overall well being.

Asc. Trine Mars:

        Strong and direct without being too aggressive, you can accomplish whatever you will. You also have strong, active powers of immunity to disease, and usually recover quickly from injuries.

Asc. Quincunx Jupiter:

        You have an expansive outlook that inspires confidence, faith, and hope in the people you come into contact with. Others are drawn to you because you appear wise and you give them positive encouragement. You believe in possibilities, miracles, and grace, and thereby invite them into your life. This attitude certainly contributes to your health, which overall should be quite good. Unless other factors in your chart indicate humility and a realistic sense of limits, however, you are apt to be rather grandiose, self-righteous and preachy at times.

Asc. Trine Uranus:

        Your approach to life is improvisational, extemporaneous, impulsive, unorthodox. You have a sensitive "psychic antenna" attuned to meaningful coincidences and the wave of the future. You enjoy being spontaneous, changing your plans depending upon on how you feel inspired.

        Lively and unpredictable, you keep a fresh and open perspective, and can be an agent for positive change and renewal in your environment.




Moon and Venus: Emotions and Feelings

        The position of the Moon in your birth chart reflects your emotional nature, what you need to feel nurtured, what feels familiar and comfortable to you. It is also your deeply-held beliefs and mostly unconscious or instinctive responses, which play themselves out in your closest personal relationships. Your moods, memories, dream life, and feeling-self are depicted by the moon in your birth chart.

Moon in Pisces:

Key issues: Needs a feeling of unity with others and the world. Emotionally experiencing the spiritual or transpersonal realms.

Key qualities: gentle, imaginative, compassionate; easily moved, swayed, or influenced by others' need.

        You are highly empathetic and sensitive to the atmosphere around you. You merge with others' psychic and emotional energies quite easily and are able to sense and feel their inner state, regardless of what they show or try to present. This may cause you some confusion until you learn to trust your instincts and sensitivities, to discern what is coming from you and what, indeed, is being generated by someone else. You also need to beware of taking on other people's troubles. For instance, if you are with a friend who has a headache, often you will find you get one too. Also, because you feel others' pain you want to remedy it, and you may try to do for them what only they can do for themselves. Rescuing (or wanting to be rescued) is part of your emotional make up and you need to discover when that is wise and when it is not.

        You are extremely suggestible and malleable. More forceful individuals or energies can overwhelm you, and you may have learned to cope with this by spending a lot of time alone, away from external input. Dreamy and imaginative, you need periodic escapes, time for reverie, music, listening to your inner voice.

        You are predisposed to being passive and receptive, to go with the flow, to avoid direct confrontation and conflict, to let life take its course rather than energetically taking life by the horns or forcing things.

Patterns of Imbalance:

Flower essences that may be helpful to you include:

        For clear psychic boundaries and psychic protection; extreme vulnerability to others and the environment: the flower essences YARROW and MOUNTAIN PENNYROYAL. The gem essences of HEMATITE and COVELLITE help to give strength, clarity and definition to the aura and build stronger, clearer energetic boundaries, also.

        For an overly active or overly expanded psychic state, leading to hyper emotionality, or a sense of psychic vulnerability: the flower essences MUGWORT and SAINT JOHN'S WORT.

        For shyness related to over-sensitivity: the flower essences VIOLET and MIMULUS.

        For unbalanced sympathy, a tendency to get emotionally and physically enmeshed, inappropriate merging with others: the flower essences PINK YARROW and BLEEDING HEART.

        For avoidance of present life and practical concerns, being too much in another world: the flower essence CLEMATIS.

        For a tendency to evade responsibility, indulge in self-pity, or feel like a helpless "victim" the flower essences: DESERT MARIGOLD, FAIRY LANTERN, and SELF-HEAL.

        Your responsiveness to external stimuli can be used to your benefit when you are feeling out of balance. Music has a profound influence on you, and generally you do know what effects particular pieces have on you. Some compositions that may increase your sense of well being include those of the sounds an unborn child hears in the mother's womb, ocean sounds, or the sounds of birds in the wild.

        Aromatherapy oils which can be used as perfume, in bathes, or in a diffuser or mister include: For upliftment, increased energy and enthusiasm: PATCHOULI, JASMINE, ROSEMARY, JUNIPER. For hypersensitivity: CHAMOMILE, JASMINE, and MELISSA.

Moon Opposition Venus:

        You are temperamentally predisposed to want a soft life, one that is filled with love and affection, beauty, pleasure, and comfort. You hunger for domestic and familial sweetness, happiness, and closeness. You may, in fact, be addicted to "sweets" from desserts to amours. Wanting to be pampered and babied, wanting one-sided support, or for the good things to be provided for you with no serious, sustained effort on your part may be your weakness. On the other hand, you may indulge others, be too lax and forgiving, adapt yourself too readily to others' wants and needs, be an overprotective parent to those you care for, be more concerned with others' happiness than your own, or sacrifice important personal values to avoid creating discomfort for others particularly family members. Flower essences that can ease some of these patterns include POMEGRANATE and MARIPOSA LILY (for the capacity to give and receive nurturing in a balanced way), and MILKY NIPPLE CACTUS and MILKWEED (for transforming dependencies into self nurturing autonomy).

        The position of Venus in your birth chart reveals your capacity for love, intimacy, pleasure, giving and receiving, and relationships. Representing, also, your taste in beauty and your values, it is a key to how you can create harmony within yourself.

Venus in Virgo:

        Your tastes are understated, modest, simple, refined, perhaps very practical and unadorned. Both beauty and the desires of your heart are often put aside in favor of practical concerns. In love and friendship, you are quite devoted, and enjoy being useful to and serving the other person, but may not be very open to receiving or enjoying them. You are also rather proper, conservative, even prim about expressing or receiving affection (certainly in public if not in private), but you may show your affection in odd ways: fussing over, even criticizing your loved ones in hopes of helping them. You can be very hard to please. Being overly critical and rigid in your standards can lead to "female problems", either within the body or in your personal and social relations. Consider taking the following flower essences if you feel you are expressing the negative aspect of this pattern: BEECH (for criticism and intolerance of others), DOGWOOD (for more grace in relationship as well as in your own physical movement), and COLUMBINE (for greater appreciation of yourself; less criticism of oneself or one's appearances).




Mercury: Thinking and Ideas

        The position of Mercury in your birth chart describes your intellectual qualities, how you communicate or express yourself verbally, and in general how your thinking patterns operate.

Mercury in Leo:

        Your mind makes intuitive leaps rather than logical associations. You love to tell colorful stories, and to relay information in an enthusiastic, entertaining, or creative way. You may also slant facts to suit yourself. Consider taking the flower essence HEATHER if you wish to curb the tendency to talk too much about yourself.

Mercury Conjunct Pluto:

        Your mind is keen and penetrating, and you are capable of considerable intellectual passion. Unsatisfied with superficial analysis or pat answers, you probe into the very core of an issue or subject. You perceive the deeper, unspoken motive, what is hidden, obscure, buried, or taboo. Often you voice what others are trying to skirt, and you are a convincing, persuasive, even charismatic speaker. Your words can be potent and healing, going directly to the heart, transforming other's entire understanding. When not positively directed, however, you may use your mental powers to overwhelm or coerce others into accepting your viewpoint, become intellectually or philosophically extreme, paranoid, intolerant and fanatical, use deadly sarcasm, connive, or secretly obsess over some convoluted scheme or negative intent.

        You may have blockages in either the throat or brow chakras due to early experiences in which you were told NOT to see what you did indeed see (brow), or not to speak about your perceptions (throat). You may have decided to close down your intuitive perceptiveness, or not to trust others enough to speak openly and truthfully about your experiences and what you know. To clear and open these centers healing energy work (such as Reiki or other laying on of hands techniques) can be very useful.

        If you feel creatively stifled, have difficulty speaking, or feel you must tightly control every word that escapes your lips for fear of revealing too much about yourself, and/or if you have physical problems and/or constrictions in the throat area, the following practices may be useful: 1) Do color breathing (as described in Appendix I) with the color SKY BLUE. Wear a necklace of some blue stone; LAPIS LAZULI is particularly recommended. 2) Use your voice. Create a simple affirmation and speak it aloud several times a day (for example: I use my words to praise, empower, and heal myself and others.).

        Take a singing or toning class. Let yourself make any sounds you wish. Strange, wild, or unexpected sounds may come through you as you open and release the blocks in this center. The sound "HREEM", repeated during meditation or quiet time, tones and expends the throat chakra.

        If your brow chakra is damaged or blocked, you may have some difficulty visualizing. Use the color indigo or violet blue. Gemstones that can be worn to clear or open this center include: DIAMOND, AZURITE, and SAPPHIRE, as do the flower essences EYEBRIGHT and QUEEN ANNE'S LACE.

        Other flower essences that may be appropriate and helpful: OREGON GRAPE (for inability to trust, paranoid thoughts or expectation of ill-will from others), CALENDULA (for more gentleness and receptivity in communicating with others), and VERVAIN (for extremist views and forcing convictions upon others.).



Mars: Ambition and Drive

        The position of Mars in your birth chart indicates your will power, physical vitality and sexual drives, and your capacity for decisive action and self-assertion, as well as the musculature and adrenals in the physical body.

Mars in Cancer:

        You have strong instincts for self preservation and though seemingly rather soft or mild, you can be surprisingly territorial and fierce in defending what is yours. You are not generally very physically aggressive or assertive, unless you feel threatened, but your loyalties (to country, team, family, etc.) are very strong and you will fight for them.

        Your energy level, sexual drives, and overall physical vitality depends a great deal on your emotional state, and how secure and supported you feel. Your moods have a pronounced effect on your health, in a very direct way. The flower essence MOUNTAIN PRIDE (to strengthen positive masculine energy, ability to assert oneself, etc.) could be helpful to you.

Mars Square Jupiter:

        Your life force and physical energy is quite strong, and when young you appear to have inexhaustible reserves of vitality. With this comes a certain confidence (perhaps bordering on arrogance at times) and the belief that you can do anything. You enjoy healthy competition and an active, adventurous life. Your physical health is beneficially affected by your positive attitudes, and you often achieve impressive successes in life as well. When out of balance, you may be rebellious or impatient with superiors, and with rules or limitations on your freedom to act. Premature action, overconfidence, exaggeration, or lack of moderation (in physical activities, sexual expression, or competition) can be problems. Taking on too much, promising the sky and then feeling pressured to deliver, can also be stresses in your life.

Flower essences that may be helpful if you wish to work with any of these issues include:

        TIGER LILY, for overly aggressive, competitive, "yang" energy.

        LARKSPUR, for power of leadership abilities marred by the desire for self-aggrandizement.

        DANDELION, for driving oneself too hard, tension held in the musculature of the body.

        ALOE VERA, for overuse or misuse of fiery creative forces, feeling burned out.

        JUMPING CHOLLA CACTUS or PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS, for adaptability and flow rater than pushing-pushing-pushing.

        Listening to a deep relaxation tape once a day is also recommended, to avoid becoming scattered or burned out from too much activity.

Mars Conjunct Uranus:

        Impatient, impulsive, original, and irrepressibly independent, you assert yourself in ways that may seem audacious to other people. You have a self-willed, rebellious streak that resists authority, conventions, rules. Somewhat of a daredevil, you have strong need for action, excitement, physical thrills, change, experimentation, stimulation, or high energy situations. If it has not been tried before, you will want to do it (NOW!). You are an innovator. Though essentially strong and energetic, you run the risk of burning out your creative, sexual, or vital energies through extremes, lack of moderation, or misuse.

        When out of balance and not constructively oriented, you are prone to accidents caused by recklessness, speed, or taking dangerous risks, unpredictable temper tantrums, or even violent episodes.

        In addition to having healthy physical outlets to release your energies from time to time (anything from vigorous dancing to athletics), there are a number of flower essences which can help you: ALOE VERA (for the type of burn out described above), IMPATIENS (for irritation, intolerance, impatience), TIGER LILY (for unbalanced, overly aggressive "yang" energy), SHOOTING STAR (for feeling that you are ahead of your time), WILD OAT (for restless dissatisfaction; trying many activities but chronically restless and unable to commit to any of them), CHERRY PLUM (for feeling out of control and afraid you will do something destructive). MULLEIN (if what you are seeking to do is unconventional and not socially validated) and CLIFF ROSE (for the follow through required to actually manifest your intent.). Also useful for you is DOGWOOD, for more grace, tact, and ease in relating to others.

        Gemstones that calm, ground, and harmonize your energies include: BLUE LACE AGATE (which calms impulsiveness, encourages tact and discernment), GREEN or BLUE CALCITE (which relax, calm and soothe the solar plexus and nerves), CHRYSOPRASE (which relieves apprehension as you move into the unknown, and encourages emotional peace and stability), and GALENA (a lead mineral that is very grounding). These can be used when you are out of balance. LARIMAR is a very excellent influence also, helping to build confidence when you are involved in unique or innovative projects.



Jupiter and Saturn: Opportunities and Challenges

        The position of Jupiter in your birth chart represents the principle of growth, improvement, expansion, faith, and the quest for ultimate meaning or broader understanding of life.

Jupiter in Aries:

        You are a believer in self-reliance, personal effort and courage, pulling oneself up by the bootstraps, "God help those that help themselves". Philosophies that emphasize positive thinking and positive action appeal to you (as opposed to more contemplative, passive, "yin" approaches).

        You have well developed capacities for independent ventures and/or leadership.

Jupiter Square Uranus:

        You have an innate sense of the interconnectedness of life and of universal principles, but very little interest in formal religion or dogma. In fact you may often find yourself at odds with religious authority and conventions, perhaps needing to break away from the beliefs you were raised with in order to find your own way. Inspired and motivated by humanitarian ideals, you are essentially utopian and liberal in your beliefs. You view change, even revolution, as a positive thing and are quick to enthusiastically embrace the new, at least philosophically. You have a great need for freedom in order to pursue your inspiration, intuitive impulses, and opportunities which are presented to you suddenly. You will experience unexpected twists of fate and rapid gains or losses through speculative ventures. Because you are apt to take chances and go out on a limb (that is where the fruit is, right?), you will have periods of uncertainty in your life, during which the following flower and gem essences can be helpful: BIG ROOT JATROPHA (encourages a feeling of security during phases of expansion and change), COW PARSNIP (for inner peace during time of transition, as well as contentment with the present), AVENTURINE (supportive during transitional periods when you need to take a leap of faith), and PERIDOT (which stabilizes one during times of new beginnings).

Jupiter Opposition Neptune:

        Positively you have great concern and hope for the world, an expansive faith in possibilities, and the ability to inspire other people to a larger, more encompassing vision. However it may be difficult for you to tolerate any sort of restrictions or to set limits in your life. When out of balance, you can be wastefully self-indulgent or easily seduced by visions of the good life gained without effort, grandiose dreams and schemes, or escapist fantasies. Disappointments may come through foolish overoptimism, naivete, over-generosity, or relying on grace or luck alone. Unless other factors in your birth chart indicate practicality, it may be very challenging for you to try to actualize or concretize your dreams. An ungrounded or disembodied spirituality, or too much focus on a better future, can prevent you from living fully in the present. The flower essences which can help bring you into balance include: CALIFORNIA POPPY (for escapist or addictive tendencies, always seeking a better "high"), BLACKBERRY (for bringing ideals and goals into concrete manifestation), CLEMATIS (for day dreaming, poor concentration on the immediate; impracticality), SAINT JOHN'S WORT (for an overly expanded state leading to psychic vulnerability), and WILD OAT (for chronic dissatisfaction and restlessness, inability to make commitments). For learning how to set boundaries and appropriate limits, RHUBARB.

        The position of Saturn in your birth chart represents the bones, the skeleton, and the principles of hardness, heaviness, structure, stability, form, and boundaries. It shows what is hard for you, what you struggle with, where patterns of rigidity or fear hinder you, what is heavy for you, where you develop character, maturity, and depth through being tested.

Saturn in Virgo:

        You have a well developed sense of humility and awareness of your own inadequacies and limitations, which when out of balance can become extreme self-doubt or excessive perfectionism. You may thus settle for being only "the humble servant", believing that is all you deserve or are capable of, and fear taking any real risks or stepping out of line in any way. You tend to fear the unknown. Order, or cleanliness, or having everything "just so" could become an obsession. Hypochondria may be one of your negative habits, also. On the other hand, you may expect perfection from the outside world, mercilessly criticizing, censoring, editing, or correcting others. You may struggle with guilt and rigid "shoulds" a great deal.

        Flower essences that can be especially beneficial include: BEECH (for judgmental, critical, intolerant attitudes toward self or others). PINE (for guilt and perfectionism). LARCH (for self-censorship, lack of confidence or expectation of failure), FIG BLOSSOM (for greater flexibility, feeling burdened by "shoulds" and "have to's", being too hard on oneself) and SACRED DATURA (for the ability to let go of the known and familiar without feeling threatened).



APPENDIX I
FLOWER ESSENCES, COLOR THERAPY, AND AROMATHERAPY

FLOWER ESSENCES:

       The following information will enable you to make up your own flower essence remedies. However if you wish to try them but are not interested in doing it all yourself, you can contact a flower essence practitioner. Many astrological counselors and other holistic practitioners use the flower essences and gem essences in their work.

       1. Choosing your essences: Generally you can use up to five essences at a time. Some people believe five essences is ideal, as the number five is associated in myth and folklore with the healing process. Others find using a single remedy at a time most effective. Follow your own intuition and impulses on this, but please do not try to address too many issues at once. Gem essences can be used with flower essences.

       2. Making the remedy: Once you have chosen the essence or essences you wish to take, purchase them from the supplier in the concentrated form ("stock" bottles). You will need a glass dropper bottle such as pharmacists use for eye drops, which are sold at some pharmacies as well as through the flower essences companies. The one ounce size is standard. It should be sterilized by boiling it for a few minutes, then letting it cool. Then, put four drops of each concentrated essence into the bottle, close it, and shake it vigorously for about a minute so that the essences are well blended. Fill the bottle about 3/4 full with distilled or spring water. (For a more potent remedy you may wish to use color-solarized water instead, as described in the color therapy section). Then, close the bottle and, again, shake vigorously for about a minute. To preserve the mixture, add a teaspoon or so of either brandy or apple cider vinegar. (They work equally well; it is a matter of personal taste and preference).

        3. Using essences: The standard dosage is four drops four times a day, taken under the tongue. Taking more than four drops will not increase the remedy's effectiveness, and taking it more than four times a day is usually not necessary except in crisis situations. However, if you feel inclined to use it more frequently than four times a day, these remedies cannot be harmful in anyway. They are self-adjusting, meaning that you will simply not absorb more than you can use.

        To further activate the remedy's effect, you may wish to use a simple affirmation that corresponds with your intent and the nature of the remedy. For instance, if you are taking a remedy to increase your receptivity to love, you can say "I now let love and appreciation into my life", each time you take the remedy. Keep the words simple, positive, and framed in the present tense. Or, you may wish to put a self-adhesive label on your bottle, with a list of the essences it contains and a short phrase such as "receptivity to love" or "opening the heart" which you will see each time you take the remedy.

        Other very effective ways to use your remedy are to add 7 drops to a bath and/or several drops to an atomizer or spray bottle filled with water and spray it around the rooms of your house or workspace.

        4. What to expect: Please understand the flower essences do not "take away" troublesome feelings or attitudes. Some people actually experience a temporary intensification of the issues the remedy is designed to address, what is referred to as a "healing crisis", as strong emotions or other reactions begin to surface. Naturally you can temporarily stop taking the remedy if you get too uncomfortable. You can also get some support while this process is occurring, since a willingness to experience and feel what is actually there is an intrinsic part of the healing. Most people, however, find the remedies quite gentle. Insights into the nature of the problem and how you are contributing to or maintaining it may emerge. Or, you may simply notice a gradual attitudinal, emotional, or energetic shift, and more harmony in that area of your life. Some very sensitive people feel the effects of the remedies on their chakras (particularly the heart and solar plexus) immediately upon taking them.

        If the pattern you are working with is longstanding, as the ones which are related to your birth chart are apt to be, you may need more than one bottle of given remedy. Or, after one bottle, you may want to give it a rest, and then go back to that remedy later. If you frequently "forget" to take the remedy or simply lose interest in it, this may be a signal that now is not the time for that particular one.


COLOR THERAPY:

        Color can be used to calm or energize, to cleanse, to stimulate a given energy center in the body, or to promote balance and an overall sense of well-being. In addition to paying attention to how color affects you and using that awareness in your choice of clothing and home or office decor, here are two methods to utilize color:

        1. Color-solarized water: This is a very easy method. The supplies needed are a clear glass jar or bottle, colored cellophane (which can be purchased at an art supply store), drinking water, sunshine, and a clear quartz crystal (optional). Sterilize the jar or bottle, fill it with water, and if you wish add a clear quartz crystal (this magnifies the effects of the color). Then, close the bottle, wrap it in the colored cellophane, and secure the cellophane with a rubber band at the top. Place the bottle in a sunny spot for 2-6 hours, preferably outdoors. After removing the crystal, you can drink it freely and/or use it to make your flower remedies.

        2. Color Breathing: This exercise can be used to clear your energy system of psychic debris, stimulate a sluggish or blocked chakra, and promote healing. Choose a place that is well-ventilated. You may stand or sit as you prefer, keeping your spine erect. Begin by taking 2 or 3 deep, gentle breaths, inhaling slowly through your nose and exhaling through your mouth. Then as you breathe in, see and feel the color filling your entire body. As you continue to breathe, imagine the color surrounding your body as well, extending out about two feet all round you, to create a beautiful egg-shaped bubble of colored light. Simply breathe in this color for 5-10 minutes.

        To work on a particular chakra, you may start by breathing clear, white, or golden light (as described above). Then focus your attention on the center that needs clearing or balancing. For the base or root chakra, imagine a glowing sphere of bright, apple red at the very base of your spine. As you breathe, imagine the light becoming stronger and brighter. For the sacral center (located about 2 inches above the pubic bone) the color is orange. For the solar plexus (halfway between the navel and sternum), the color is bright yellow. For the heart, green or pink. For the throat, sky blue. For the brow center (located between the eyebrows and up about one inch), indigo blue. For the crown center (at the top of the head), purple, violet, or white. (You may use which ever one you feel most attracted to).

        If you cannot "see" the color with your mind's eye, just imagine that it is there. An inability to visualize a certain color often indicates a particular need for that very color.

        To derive healing benefits from visualization and color breathing, it is not necessary to spend a great deal of time. Five to ten minutes once or twice a day is quite adequate. And, once again you decide when you have "had enough" of a given color or exercise. A change in your feelings about a given color (less attraction to or "craving" for it, or less repulsion toward it, for instance) can be a clue.

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