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Of all the pivotal events of transformation in our lives the mid-life "crisis" is surely one of the most well known and feared as well. As we move into the middle years of our lives there is a recognition that we are no longer young and able to do things as we have in the past. The body starts to be more and more defiant as we try to put it through it's paces. The mind begins to settle into a certain degree of familiarity and resists the radical changes of perception that we may have readily accepted with open arms in our younger years. Our emotional nature, especially if we haven't uncovered our familial imprinting or conditioning from the past, can start to calcify and the heart can literally begin to close down from reaching out to others. Worst of all, our spiritual aspiration can succumb to the deadening roar of consumer materialism and the prevalent belief in an uncaring God in an uncaring world! Sound familiar? It doesn't have to be this way though, Thank God! The mid-life crisis is indeed a crisis, but as the Chinese oracle, the I Ching interprets crisis it can actually be an opportunity in disguise. In this case the opportunity is for re-assessment and re-evaluation of both our strengths and our weaknesses. It can be an opportunity to delve more deeply into our emotional baggage or imprinting that we carry from our past. And it can be a time of awakening to our deepest aspiration for the spiritual life and seeing that aspiration manifest in our everyday life. Many writers through the years have spoken about the mid-life crisis. Back in the 70's Gail Sheehy wrote the best seller Passages: predictable crises in adult life. Along with the obvious physical changes, Sheehy described the psychological changes that occur in our late thirties and early forties: " Whatever your occupation, you cannot help but face up to the gap between your vision of yourself in the twenties and the actuality of your arrival at 40." Added to our anxiety about our vision can be issues around "the loss of youth, the faltering of physical powers we have always taken for granted, the fading purpose of stereotyped roles which we have identified with, and the spiritual dilemma of having no absolute answers." As an astrologer, life coach and spiritual counselor I see the effects of the mid-life crisis often in my clients lives. It is not suprising that many of my clients come to see me between the ages of 38-44, during this predictable crisis point in their lives, It's interesting to me that although Sheehy never speaks of astrology per se in her book, the crises that she describes are directly related to the transits of the outer planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto to the natal chart. In other words, at mid-life which for the baby boom generation is arriving earlier than their parents generation, the outer planets are making major aspects to the positions of the planets when they were born. These aspects between the transiting (the current position of the planets in the sky) and the natal chart are like symbolic directions for us to decode for our next stage of growth. The reason that so many people experience mid-life as a crisis rather than as an opportunity is that they are just not prepared for the challenging energies that are available to them at this time in their lives. What often happens is that because there is no context for the massive transformation that is occurring people often experience mid-life crisis as happening to them. And indeed that can be one manifestation of this time period; events that are happening in the external world are actually mirroring our inner process inviting us ever so un-gently to wake up and re-orient our lives to greater meaning and greater understanding. The main transits that occur during the mid-life crises or should I say opportunity, are when transiting Neptune and Pluto square(90 degrees) their natal positions, transiting Uranus opposes it's natal position (180 degrees) and finally when transiting Saturn comes to oppose it's natal position. So as you can see for many months (years, sometimes) the outer planets by transit are all influencing and helping to transform your life at the same time. No wonder they call it a crisis!! When transiting Neptune squares its natal position (Neptune square Neptune) in the chart we are confronted with that "vision thing". Neptune is associated with our ideals, our ideal vision of how things can and should be. This transit challenges us to revisit our vision for ourselves and see how closely we are aligned with it. If we are considerably out of alignment we can experience quite a feeling of loss and grieving over what could have been if we had only followed through with our vision. Neptune is also associated with the urge to transcend the personality so this transit can also be experienced as a questioning of how we are manifesting spiritual grace in our lives. In other words, questions of right livelihood, being an instrument for a greater power or aligning our personal will with the greater will of the universe become increasingly important issues at this time. Transiting Uranus opposing its natal position (Uranus opposition) is a time for determining how free we are to express our unique individuality. Have we become so identified with some aspect of our personality or relationship that we have become stagnant and resistant to change? If so, transiting Uranus will accentuate problems we have in these areas and challenge us to break free of limiting patterns. For example, transiting Uranus has been moving through my seventh house of relationship for several years now. When it came into opposition with my natal Uranus my freedom urge came up in spades! Although I am in a very committed relationship, we both had to look deeply into ourselves to see how we have been restricting each other's freedom of expression. Fortunately, we could communicate our needs, both for independence and interdependence, and were able to alter our relationship to allow for more freedom. In my case, the Uranus opposition not only awakened my need for freedom but also revealed my own patterns of dependence that were limiting my expression as well. According to Barbara Hand Cow in her book "The Liquid Light of Sex."the Uranus opposition also signifies a period where the maximum kundalini energy is available in the body Although the title of the book is somewhat deceiving, it is an excellent presentation of what's going on energetically in the body at mid-life. What Clow says is that at the Uranus opposition the kundalini energy starts moving up the spine in an effort to remove any blockages of the chakras. She also notes the increasingly high incidence of heart attacks in males of this age. In males, the resistance to opening the heart chakra is broken up at the Uranus opposition and that can manifest as an opening of the love nature or a breakdown of the system i.e. heart attack. In females, she says that the blockage often manifests in the throat center around issues of expression. I've found that it has been really important to be aware of where I'm holding in the body. As I let go of the chronic holding the natural aliveness of the Uranian energy just flows right through! Transiting Pluto squaring its natal position (Pluto square Pluto) brings on a process of deep psychological change and transformation. Pluto rules the shadow side of us and when it squares itself by transit it brings out whatever is seething in us underneath the surface. In many ways the Pluto square represents a purification process where we can eliminate emotional and psychological toxins held in the body. During my Pluto square I started manifesting these bumps on my head which none of my alternative practitioners could diagnose. I still don't know what they were but as I attended to what was "grumbling" and "seething" in me the toxins were eliminated and the bumps disappeared. I've found that for many of my clients the Pluto square is also a time when they are being challenged to purify their motives and the way they express their personal power. This is especially true for those who have Pluto conjunct (within a few degrees) one of their personal planets. For instance, if Sun and Pluto are conjunct in your chart , the Pluto square will also be squaring your Sun. This can be experienced as a real breakdown of your sense of identity (the Sun) and may feel like a part of your self is dying. The Pluto square will also challenge you to more fully "own" your personal power rather than using it in a more manipulative, covert way. By tuning into the purification process of the Pluto square you can begin to experience your power with more integrity. After Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto have finished their transformation dance with you Saturn gets into the act when it swings into opposition with your natal Saturn around the age of 44-45 (Saturn opposition Saturn. This transit is the last of the major 'mid-life' transits and represents an opportunity for re-evaluation and re-assesment. In a sense it is a time when we look back on all that we've accomplished since the age of 29 when Saturn returned to its natal position by transit. Whatever we have accomplished or constructed in our lives that is solid and is a true expression of our life path we can build on as we move into our most creative and productive years; ages 44-59. Whatever has failed to support us, however, whether it be limiting thought forms, too much control or rigidity in our personality, or hanging on to security at the expense of the soul, will be up for serious re-evaluation at this time. One
of the most important aspects of this re-evaluation period
is that it is a personal re-evaluation - not based on what
your family thinks you should be doing or what your boss, or
anyone else thinks. The whole trend towards downward
mobility is an excellent example of this transit in action.
The re-evaluation for the downwardly mobile professionals is
really a process of getting in touch with what is important
and has meaning for them. It also is a process of
eliminating structures (i.e. high stress jobs, for one) that
no longer support the person in his or her personal and
spiritual growth. This is equally true for all of the
aspects that constitute the mid-life crisis as, above all,
the mid-life crisis is a crisis of meaning; an opportunity
to clear out the blocks to expressing more of our Selves in
the world. If we can be receptive to the transformative
nature of this period of our lives, then we emerge on the
other side as radically changed humans! Mid-life: crisis or
opportunity? It's our choice!
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Mid-Life
Crisis... or
Opportunity?
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