Spring 2010

We are waking up.  Through the three signs of the zodiac we will cover in this issue, we will have a collective yawn, make some coffee, and get the year moving.  New Year's Day came at the midnight of the year, and we have slept a bit since we made our resolutions and set our intentions for the calendar year.  But now we have a new opportunity to get moving, one which is in deep harmony with the cycle of the year.

This issue of Queens Karma arrives while the sun is in Pisces.  The sign of the fish is the last sign of zodiac, and represents the final month of the astrological year.  Because the year is an ongoing cycle, however, Pisces is not so much about endings as it is about transitions. 

Having completed any cycle, there are two paths before us.  On the one hand, we can appreciate the experiences and maybe even wisdom we have gained, then dive into the next round of the cycle.  On the other hand, the possibility also exists that we will leave the cycle at this point of completion.  When we go the latter way, we find that we move to a higher level but - paradoxically - we begin the cycle again at that higher level.  It is as though a spinning disk begins to spiral upwards.  This possibility of moving up to the next level is why Pisces is often portrayed as a spiritual, or at least otherworldly, sign.  But we have to remember that while one of the fish swims upstream, the other goes in the opposite direction, back into the lower waters.

Here in Queens, we can feel winter beginning to lose its grasp.  It may still snow and the wind is hardly a warm breeze, but the coldest days are behind us and the light is growing so that the sun is above the horizon for almost half the day.  Pisces is another seasonal transition sign, no longer entirely winter but not yet spring.  Like the still of the night, Pisces offers us a time to reflect on where we have been and where we would like to go.  Unlike New Year's resolutions, when our egos decide that we would like a new job or to lose five pounds, the Piscean time is there for us to consider if we are fulfilling our soul's purpose.

Perhaps you can see the first crocuses pushing their way through the cold ground a bit before the sun enters Aries on March 20th.  The vernal equinox begins springtime, and it is the start of the astrological year, corresponding to sunrise in the cycle of the day.  Aries is not "typical" spring, that is still a month away.  Rather, Aries is the pushing upwards and outwards of the life force which was sleeping through the winter.  Sap rises in trees, the buds become full and ready to burst, and grass begins to green. 

Aries is an active time.  It is neither too cold nor too hot to work, and our collective motivation is high.  In farming cultures, this is the time of preparing the earth for planting, starting the new cycle of growth.  You will find that it is a very creative time, when projects of all kinds can get off the ground more easily.  More than anything else, it is a time of beginnings, so use the natural energy of the solar year to put the wind at your back as you move in whatever direction you choose.  Aries is a very me-oriented sign, a time when it is appropriate to push our individual agendas with what I like to call "creative selfishness."  Respect others, but honor your own path.

Taurus is the central and quintessential month of springtime.  The flowers are in bloom, the leaves begin to clothe the trees that have been bare since late October, and finally we feel again some warmth in the air.  In Taurus we begin to venture outdoors more often and for longer periods of time, wearing only a sweater, if we are lucky. 

The sign of Taurus is a bit of a paradox.  It is associated with Venus, the Goddess of Love, and it is known for pleasure and sensual indulgences.  Yet it is represented not by the docile cow but by the bull.  Bulls are passionate animals, yet they can also be harnessed for work.  Taurus is certainly a time of work, and as one of the "fixed" signs it is capable of shouldering a burden and seeing the work to its completion.  And so while the sun is in Taurus, we can honor both sides of this sign, actively working on our projects with steady determination, yet also finding some time to laze in one of our beautiful parks. 

The conventional wisdom, as I hear it, is that we don't get spring any more in this area.  "We have winter," it is said, "and then we go right to summer."  Although it is true that last year we had some of our hottest days in April (!), I think that this perception comes more from a failure of observation than from anything else.  Just as the years seem to be speeding up and time is flying as we busily pursue our plugged-in culture, we fail to take the time to notice spring.  

It's hard to miss summer with the sweat trickling down the small of your back as you wait for the 7 train, and you can't deny that it's winter as the blustery winds hit you as you stand perched on iron skeleton of Queens Plaza, transferring to the N.  In the fall, the leaves are orange, for Pete's sake, so you can't miss that entirely.  But spring comes and goes more subtly, and you have to take some time to stop and smell the roses that are blooming in that guy down the block's front yard.