During lockdown I’ve done a lot of study and one part of this has been to map the acupuncture points in TCM to the astrology wheel. While I am still learning how to work with this, I am finding the extra layer of understanding around each point fascinating.
It was the Chandra symbols developed by Ellias Lonsdale that gave me the impetus to do this. These symbols sit at each point of the astrology wheel, as do the Sabian symbols, but I find the Chandra symbols resonate with me more.
The point that I looked at today is Bladder 10, the point where the key of faith sits – the symbol for all coronaviruses. I’ve discussed this point below in terms of TCM, the Peace Space symbol and the essence that relates to this point. The Chandra symbol that sits here at Cancer 9 is
A skeleton playing a flute.
Death is a haunting accompanist to the tender side of life. The spinetingling touch of death close at hand renders poignant and accentuates what is vital in the world of the living. It takes courage to dance with death. Fear is natural under the circumstances. You have to play your fear and turn it into the music of courage. Wandering along the threshold between the living and the dead, belonging to neither world, yet integrally part of both. Intimately familiar with every side of existence. One who passes as a stranger, unknown and unknowable. Solitude is your element. The contemplation of the mysteries becomes as natural as breath, as ingrained as holding steady in the violent windstorm of life in the Earth. Lyrical, melancholy, and disassociated from familiar comforting things. A mist or haze wraps you about, creating an aura of the uncanny, and it is there you feel at home and nowhere else.
To me this image captures much of the spirit of this year – the presence of death, the need to turn fear into courage, the inner journey forced upon us through our isolation. This melds so well with Bl-10 which “empowers the transcendence of fear”, the key of faith symbol and the clarity essence which helps us to stand in our own personal truth. We will need all of these qualities in order to forge a new world, both inner and outer, and to navigate its difficult birth. The fledgling magpie learning to fly in my backyard seems to symbolise this journey, fear making it take risks and fly. Magpie also reminds us of the need for strong and protective boundaries as we navigate change.