Extraordinary

What does it mean to be extraordinary?

In a recent email conversation with a new client, I described my view of Astrology like this:

“The configuration of planets is like a symphony. The music is constantly changing. We each have specific musical taste. Rap may be enjoyed by some and down right annoying to others. Even if you like up-beat music normally, you might not want to listen to it while stressed.”

I wrote that Monday morning, hours before the Grand Sextile peaked.

One Astrologer, in talking about the Grand Sextile, referred to it as a time when kings and queens are born. Interestingly, a second client I worked with over the weekend has a Grand Sextile in his birth chart – if you factor in the angles (e.g., mid-heaven).

So what does it mean to be extraordinary?

Statistically speaking, Monday’s planetary alignment was extraordinary. It was a rare configuration…and yet we’ll see it again in just less than a month. In a way, these two Grand Sextiles are like a pair of eclipses.

Eclipses always come in twos or threes. The general cause is the sun nearing the North Node or South Node of the moon. Then the swift moon catches one side for a solar eclipse and the other side for a lunar eclipse.

Four of the six points of the hexagram are stable enough to last a lunar month. The moon catches a fifth corner once and then twice. The special aspect of this pair is that the sixth corner just happens to work out with Venus the first time and the sun (and Mercury) the second time. Extraordinary.

So, did the day feel extraordinary to you?

I conducted an informal pole on Facebook yesterday. I phrased the question this way:

“I’m curious: how many people experienced yesterday’s Grand Sextile as something positive, supportive, and/or comfortable and how many people felt stressed, depressed, challenged, or frustrated?”

As might be expected, I received the full gamut of responses. The best included:

• “Mine was empowering and full of breakthroughs.”
• “My day was tremendous. Felt completely aligned with *everything*. It was like a new level of spiritual growth.”

The worst were like these:

• “…my whole day yesterday was ‘stressed, depressed, challenged, or frustrated’ with one small exception: you could change that last ‘or’ to an ‘and!’ Tell me it all gets better soon!”
• “Definitely challenged & frustrated!!”

In the middle, some described their day like the following:

• “…it was being in a brain fog and very sleepy all day!”
• “I slept. Incredibly deep sleep.”
• “Had an amazing meditation experience last night.”

Believe it or not, these responses did not surprise me. Why? Well, because I experienced nearly all of them myself! At times, I was vibrating with excitement. And I felt like I was in the middle of an epiphany. Yet, for hours, I was down, depressed, drained, sleepy, spacey, and…useless. And I was frustrated by the many things that were not going well.

And yet, in looking back on the last few days, some extraordinary things have happened! Monday was my best day ever on the blog (369 views). July, as a month, will more than double my best previous month. And yesterday, I submitted all of the docs needed for the print edition of Journey to the Temple of Ra! I will see and hold the first physical copy in days!

A Sextile is a 60-degree aspect. It is not a strong aspect. Six sextiles in a row span the entire Zodiac and form a Grand Sextile: 6 x 60 = 360 degrees – the whole circle. The configuration was complex – that is for sure! And if you’ve read my numerous articles about it, you know that I was well aware of all the challenging aspects within it.

Six is an extra special number. When my second book, Scribe to the Pantheon or Rome, comes out next year, you’ll be able to see why I think so.

In looking back, I am not considering the Grand Sextile as an event, but more as a sign. Whether your Monday was extraordinarily good or extraordinarily challenging is not the indicator of what’s to come.

Six points around a circle form a hexagon, but also a hexagram – a Star of David. Stars are meant to guide. [When I typed that first line, it came out “Start of David”.] When a star serves as a guiding light, it shows us the way to go, but it doesn’t take us there. Some of us are stretching ourselves, pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones. We’ve asked for a lot, and we’re being led there.

In Journey to the Temple of Ra, a young man is guided along a journey. If he can overcome all of the challenges and make it across all of the miles to the Temple of Ra, he’ll unveil his life purpose. And, of course, finding one’s purpose is only the beginning of a new journey.

What is your purpose as viewed from where you are today? Are you there and living it? Or are you stretching to find and/or reach it? If you could mold your life into anything, how different would it look than what you have today?

On Monday, the final cover of my book was sent to me. I cast a chart for that moment. Then yesterday, we submitted docs to the printer and I peeked at that chart. In both of them is the Grand Sextile. Maybe a king/queen was born this week? Maybe my writing will serve as a guiding light to some of those that discover it. And maybe it will guide me further along my own journey.

These past few days have not been without challenge. And, at the same time, they have been extraordinary. I can feel how I am changing, even if my life still looks the same.

Keep plodding forward. Keep looking up at that star. There is a glow on the horizon telling you that something bright is just beyond it. Hills and valleys may sit in between, and it will take time, but every journey starts with a single step and what other choice do we have?

Happy travels, my friends. There are 2 days left of my book promotion (click on the book cover above left), but to share a secret, I doubt I’ll have my site reconfigured until next week…

[8:00 am CDT addition:]

Sometimes, the question you really want to ask yourself is simply this:

Do I want this to fail, or do I want it to succeed?

If we’re being honest with ourselves, we sometimes want things to fail so we can move onto something new. And that’s OK. You don’t have to tell anyone else. It can be your secret with the Universe. Some of us have decided; some of us have not. Take as much time as you need.

Ask.

Decide.

Then tell the Universe to show you the way…