Everywhere I look right now I see doorways and corridors. In literature, in film, even on Netflix. So I looked up the symbolism (thanks Google!) and discovered a new word – liminal. It comes from the Latin for threshold and relates to that moment in a rite of passage or initiation ceremony when we’ve left the past behind but we haven’t quite formed our new status or identity yet. Anyone identify with this state right now?
The South Node/Saturn/Pluto heavyweights in Capricorn have been busy for months now, since November really, shedding/simplifying/breaking down a certain area of our lives. Along comes Mars and Mercury opposite to join the North Node, and suddenly there’s a focus on what’s possible, what we need to do, what the future could look like. Some say “when one door closes another one opens, but the corridor can be hell”, and that’s what many of us are feeling. We’re on a threshold. In a doorway. The door behind us is closing or has already locked shut. A corridor lies ahead. There is grief about what we left behind in that room, that space, in the past. Yet something keeps nudging us forwards, whispering in our ear “all is well, just put one foot in front of the other, reach towards that next door”. Perhaps the monkey mind pushes back, “But what if you left the best part behind, at least we knew what that was like, isn’t it better the devil you know?” Yet your heart tells you that is fear talking, and turning back into that room is a world of “what ifs”.
One tip is putting one foot in front of the other and allowing yourself to ask for support where you need it. Cancer asks you to listen to your heart as much as possible too. How do you know what is your heart and not your head? Try breathing into your heart. Take a quiet moment, 5-10 minutes, sit in a comfortable place and imagine you’re breathing into your heart with deep rhythmic breaths. As your mind settles and your body relaxes, try holding a positive emotion there. And just keep breathing. Listen to what comes up, what flows into you, and try to hold that space as long as you can. Then practice it. In bed before you get up in the morning. In the car or bus on the way to work. At your desk. With your children. This is so simple it can be done anywhere and helps settle nerves, stress and anxiety. There is a whole science behind this, related to neuron cells in the muscles of the heart wall linking it to our brain. Basically, it moves us out of our left-brain and into our right brain, which is a good thing in times of challenge and tension. In the right brain, we live in the present moment, away from grief about the past and worry about the future.
Hopefully, this simple technique can help you find some stability and moments of calm in amongst the challenges. And for those not affected right now, then you have a tool up your sleeve for the future. As the Moon moves into Sagittarius on Sunday and Mercury meets up with Neptune, lightness will come back in for a while.