The Mystery…Looking towards the Cen­ter of our Galaxy

A read­er posed this ques­tion today and I thought that I should share the answer with you all:

Dear Bill,

Would real­ly like to hear what you think of this and your insight to these par­tic­u­lar dates and plan­e­tary align­ments ♥ On May 20th of this year, which is only 10 days away, the Earth, the Moon, the Sun and the Pleiades star sys­tem all simul­ta­ne­ous­ly line up with the Cen­ter of the Milky Way galaxy. The Mayans had this very clear in their cal­en­dar, and many crop cir­cles depict this event. To add a side note, the Pleiades star sys­tem is referred as the Anti-Cen­ter of the galaxy to the Mayans. They saw that these 2 points in the sky nev­er move to the per­cep­tion of Earth.

Dear Tere­sa,

There is actu­al­ly no Astro­log­i­cal (or Astro­nom­i­cal) con­fir­ma­tion that this align­ment will or can hap­pen on May 20, 2012. There can­not be an exact align­ment with the Pleiades and there could nev­er be an align­ment with the Galac­tic Cen­ter on that date at all.

There is a New Moon (Solar Eclipse) on May 20. This Solar/Lunar align­ment is locat­ed near to an align­ment with the posi­tion in space for the Pleiades (which are about 430 Light Years from Earth). How­ev­er, the Pleiades clus­ter is about 5 Degrees above the Eclip­tic so there is no direct align­ment of the Sun, Moon or Earth with them what­so­ev­er. Yes, there is a seem­ing order­ing or arrange­ment between this star clus­ter and the Sun and Moon, (and this can hap­pen quite reg­u­lar­ly from year to year), but there can be no exact alignment.

The Cen­ter of the Milky Way Galaxy is approx­i­mate­ly 27,000 Light Years from our Sun (and Earth) and is locat­ed in the Equa­to­r­i­al Coor­di­nate Sys­tem as: Right Ascen­sion: 17h45m40.04s, Dec­li­na­tion: ‑29° 00′ 28.1″. This puts it zodi­a­cal­ly near to the very end of Sagit­tar­ius, which the Sun will seem­ing­ly pass in front of (in our era) around Decem­ber 18 or so every year. The “align­ment” of the Sun, Earth or Moon with the Cen­ter of the Milky Way Galaxy can only hap­pen 2 times per year, around Decem­ber 18 and June 18, give or take a day (giv­en our irreg­u­lar cal­en­dar sys­tem, leap year and all).

Rel­a­tive to the Galac­tic Plane, the Solar Sys­tem is not in per­fect align­ment with the Cen­ter of the Galaxy and we are present­ly about 5 degrees off from being in the Cen­tral plane, which means per­haps as much as 80 Light Years away. As we revolve around the Galac­tic Cen­ter, (we are in the “Ori­on Arm” and it takes per­haps as much as 235 mil­lion years to make one turn), the Sun and Earth weave up and down with­in the Galac­tic Plane. We are now most def­i­nite­ly above (or you could argue below) the plane and so there is no pos­si­bil­i­ty of an exact align­ment with what is at the cen­ter of our galaxy whatsoever.

On May 20, there can­not be any align­ment with the Galac­tic Cen­ter since that will occur on or about June 18. That is a spe­cial date and I will write about it then…but con­sid­er this. Where­as we can look at the Sun’s posi­tion on Decem­ber 18, (not­ed in my post­ing for that date) and know that we are look­ing towards the Galac­tic Cen­ter, and we can and should give thanks for the spe­cial ener­gies that flow from and to this point of ori­gin, it is on June 18 that we can look up at the Night Sky and actu­al­ly SEE IT! (Of course, we can­not “see” it, because it so very far away and there are far too many Stars, Clus­ters, Neb­u­las, etc between us and the Center).

How­ev­er, when we look up around June 18 and gaze at this beau­ti­ful Arc of Light, at the won­der that is the Milky Way, we can also know that we are look­ing into the very Heart of our Galaxy, towards the Divin­i­ty who watch­es over us all.

Yet, we should more tru­ly acknowl­edge and take com­fort from that fact that with­in each of us is a spark of that Divine Flame, which is always with us, known to us as our High­er Self. We do not need to look up to the “heav­ens” to expe­ri­ence or touch the Divine, because we are embraced by and for­ev­er one with this Divine…we are the ever-unfold­ing ves­sels or embod­i­ments of this great Spirit.

We need to look with­in and lis­ten to our own Teacher and Guide who waits patient­ly for our awak­en­ing, and then we can turn our gaze out­wards upon those whom accom­pa­ny us and see that the Cen­ter of our “Galaxy” is all around us as it is also with­in us.

The Cen­ter we need to focus upon is not “out there” but right here…for we are the Cre­ators and there is much work and joy in our Cre­ation that is yet to be…

There are whis­pers today…intimations of some­thing greater, more true and more pro­found than what is com­mon­ly under­stood to be…

Always remember…You are the dream-walk­er, fol­low­ing your self-lit, lumi­nous path…You make and fol­low this path of your unfold­ment, from form­less­ness to formed, from inner worlds to worlds with­out, from spaces to Space…You are spir­it, light in self-motion, you are the Ever-Becom­ing, the Self-Lumi­nous, you are a Deva, a Shin­ing One…You, the pil­grim, whose dreams dri­ve Creation.

To unfold from with­in, to become and so cre­ate what will be, you are guid­ed by your expe­ri­ence, your knowl­edge and the wis­dom you have gained. Through the agency of your low­er con­scious­ness, the ratio­nal­iz­ing mind, you form the struc­tures and sys­tems of under­stand­ing so as to nav­i­gate with­in the worlds and with the beings you encounter.

But as you jour­ney, as you seek to climb the path, you are also guid­ed by high­er fac­ul­ties, by intu­itive whis­pers of inspi­ra­tion that come from beyond these low­er realms, from that Greater Real­i­ty which stands behind these phys­i­cal forms and worlds of your man­i­fest­ed expe­ri­ences. These prompt­ings and mes­sages emanate from the very heart of you, from with­in you, from your high­er self…

But they will appear to you as if they come from beyond, like a vis­i­ta­tion, as a whis­per rid­ing in the cur­rents of the ordi­nary winds of your life…These mes­sages turn your head and open your eyes.…and you need to pay atten­tion. If you wish to climb faster, to leave beyond the plod­ding pace and quick­en your ascent…yes you need to lis­ten to your high­er self who does not force or shout, who is unde­mand­ing and very, very patient…Yes, you need to bend your atten­tion away from out­ward dis­trac­tions and pay atten­tion to these Sub­tleties that sup­port the so-called real­i­ty of this world…

And, today is such a day…today is a day for mys­ter­ies and mag­ic, for per­cep­tions that pierce beyond the appear­ances of this world to reveal what lies within…Today Nep­tune, the Lord of Maya, of the Greater Mys­ter­ies, the Lord of Illu­mi­na­tion and Illusion…today Nep­tune is grac­ing your low­er mind with a gen­tle breath of inspi­ra­tion, a kiss from the deep, deep dimen­sions beyond your ordinary.

You can­not see what you do not Believe, you can­not believe what you do not Imagine…

Today is a day to step beyond your self-cast shad­owed Reality.…to catch a glimpse of some­thing greater…It is with­in you and it sur­rounds you, but you do not know it…you do not yet believe…yet, you do sense some­thing don’t you…you hear some­thing, it is an offer­ing, a whisper…Listen!

Nep­tune brings to Mer­cury the quick­en­ing of your intu­ition. Your cat­e­gories and facts, dis­solve into a greater under­stand­ing, into that truer con­nect­ed­ness which binds each and every to one another.

Today you can slip beyond the lim­its, beyond the line you laid down before…

Today, you move fur­ther along that razor’s edge, between faith and fear…

Today, you under­stand that sep­a­ra­tion is the illu­sion, let go of your fear…

For it is Love that binds each and every one with the ONE.

Today and everyday…You are the Cre­ator, Danc­ing between the Dark­ness and Light.

Gen­tler now…slower, steadied…you are more sta­ble and focused. Yes this is def­i­nite­ly a wel­come break from that hec­tic pace and fre­net­ic buzz in your head (and else­where) dur­ing the pre­ced­ing period.

Your mind dials it back as you ease out of Aries into the more sub­stan­tial and sen­su­al thought-forms of Taurus…You need this now…and you bet­ter take advan­tage of this respite! Although Mer­cury is slow­er in tem­pera­ment in this Earthy pas­sage, the actu­al time that Mer­cury will be in Tau­rus is very short indeed…in only two weeks you will be dash­ing about again as Her­mes, with a thou­sand and one delight­ful dis­trac­tions, skips into his own sign of Gemini.

For now…it is your turn to take a deep breath and indulge your sens­es. Take it all in and take time to lux­u­ri­ate in this, your gar­den of earth­ly delights! Those pas­sion­ate ideals and grandiose plans, those leaps of dar­ing-do thoughts give way now to the prac­ti­cal, rea­son­able and reli­able steadi­ness that is Tau­rus’ stock in trade. Your visions will now take on sub­stan­tial form, you see your­self as the self-unfold­ing, as the becom­ing in the mate­r­i­al worlds…

Mer­cury rules your so-called five phys­i­cal sens­es, giv­en his ruler­ship over your ner­vous sys­tem, so now is the time to taste and touch, smell and hear as well as look upon the beau­ty around you with a new-found sen­si­bil­i­ty and satisfaction.

After all, you are in this won­der­ful earth­ly realm because you need to expe­ri­ence embod­i­ment, and the enjoy­ment of these phys­i­cal delights is one of the stronger pulls that keeps you com­ing back for more…so enjoy them!

The Door is held open for you…

By those who wait and watch, who guide and inspire…they stand fast, and they will hold the por­tal open till the very last, for this is their ded­i­ca­tion, this their love for you and all of Creation.

They have gone ahead but they have not for­got­ten, they have walked the same path­way you now follow…they under­stand and they offer to you what they can…They are The Watch­ers, the Devas, the Shin­ing Ones, whose Com­pas­sion and Love deflect some of what oth­er­wise might make more dif­fi­cult and delay your jour­ney of unfold­ment and becoming…

These Great Ones are a liv­ing sac­ri­fice, they stand firm as the Bud­dhas of Compassion…and it is today, always at the Full Moon dur­ing the month of Tau­rus, the Scor­pio Full Moon, it is tonight that all the novices and chelas, all the Ini­ti­ates and Mas­ters of the Sacred & Mys­ti­cal schools will bow their heads, they will give thanks…They will dance and sing, chant and pray to cel­e­brate the sub­lime mes­sage and exam­ple which was set before us all by the one known as Sid­dhārtha Gau­ta­ma, The Buddha.

Today, tonight is the cel­e­bra­tion known as the Wesak Fes­ti­val where­in the promise that was made, kept and con­tin­ues to be passed on through this Hier­ar­chy of Love and Com­pas­sion is re-affirmed by the exam­ple set before you by one of your own. For Bud­dha was a human who showed you the way to your Free­dom. He achieved full con­scious­ness through self-striv­ing, freed from the uncon­scious he is the self-anoint­ed, The Enlightened…The Bud­dha walked the path that you walk now.…to unfold your poten­tial as you seek to become a Spir­it freed from the Karmic Cycle of Death and Rebirth.

The Bud­dha, as Teacher and Guide, whose bound­less love is the Com­pas­sion­ate Bridge, offers you a clear­er way to your destiny.…And, it is this Full Moon tonight which pro­vides a beau­ti­ful illus­tra­tion of the core prin­ci­ple of the Bud­dha’s Teach­ing, (which is one of the cen­tral Pil­lars of the Ancient Teachings)…

This core prin­ci­ple is that your true nature, your true being, is Spir­it. At the core of you, the high­est part of you, (which is always “in heav­en”), is quite sim­ply a spark of the One Divine Prin­ci­ple which is the Foun­tain-Source of the Uni­verse. Your jour­ney, begun as an unself-con­scious spark of the Divine, moves out through the Uni­verse so that the One can become man­i­fest in all the var­i­ous dimen­sions of Cre­ation. To do this, you move through forms, sur­round­ing your­self with vehi­cles of man­i­fes­ta­tion that per­mit you to expe­ri­ence each dimen­sion of real­i­ty as you grow into greater and greater con­scious aware­ness. You tru­ly are spir­it mov­ing through the worlds of mat­ter, spir­it in the mate­r­i­al world.

Yet, as you move into any form of val­ue you become attached to that form…which leads to suf­fer­ing. You, a spark of the Divine, descend into forms that delight you…but these very forms lim­it you too. These vehi­cles of man­i­fes­ta­tion per­mit the exer­cise and growth of your under­stand­ing and pow­ers, but because these forms are lim­it­ed, because they are imper­ma­nent, they weak­en and fail, and you suffer…and you often for­get, for a while, your Divine nature.

Bud­dha taught that the way through these worlds of mat­ter, of Val­ue-Formed was to devel­op the mid­dle path, the noble “way of non-attach­ment”. Your truth is Spir­it! You are Spir­it mov­ing through the forms of Cre­ation, you bring life and con­scious­ness to these forms, but you must not iden­ti­fy or become stuck with­in any form. Nei­ther glam­oured by the Beau­ty of Val­ue beyond form, or by the won­drous glo­ries of the Val­ues in Form, you must be the Con­scious­ness in Motion, the Dancer who dances the spi­ral Song of Spir­it in and through Form­less­ness and Formation.

This is the mes­sage of the Full Moon dur­ing Tau­rus, of the Scor­pio Full Moon, of Bud­dha’s Moon. For Tau­rus cel­e­brates Embod­i­ment, it is the great­est surge of val­ue tak­ing form, of the word made flesh, of beau­ty and val­ue exalt­ed. The desire for and attach­ment to form is nev­er greater as life, and beau­ty and love are surg­ing through and around you.

Yet the mes­sage of the Full Moon of Scor­pio is that all of this is only for a time, that all things must even­tu­al­ly pass away and return to formlessness…so that Spir­it and Val­ue may be Free to come into new forms…again and again. You must and should cel­e­brate beau­ty and fruit­ful­ness, to take joy in the abun­dance of life and love well lived…yet be equal­ly ready and at ease in releas­ing your spir­it from these forms when the day is done.

The mes­sage of Bud­dha, the mes­sage of this Scor­pio Moon, is that the great­est real­iza­tion of val­ue comes when you are able to be unat­tached to the forms of value…that as you cel­e­brate your move­ment through the forms of val­ue you under­stand and accept that you can­not tar­ry in any one form of value.

Reach­ing this state of non-attach­ment, you can be at peace with the things of this world and with one another…self-possessed and non-pos­ses­sive, you move beyond fear…

You move clos­er, into the Greater Awareness…

Your love unbound­ed, uncon­di­tion­al and true…

Even­tu­al­ly you will cross that thresh­old, between the dark­ness and the light, join­ing those who have come before you.…

And you will turn, like they who stand, watch and wait…

To extend your love to those that follow…

As you wait and hold the door.…

For those who fol­low you…

Into the Light.

Well this is nice, yes very nice indeed! Mer­cury and Venus will form this aspect sev­er­al times a year, either before, dur­ing or after a Mer­cury retrograde…and each time it is a real gift for you.

Mer­cury the Mes­sen­ger rules your thoughts and Venus the Beau­ti­ful rules your values…so when they com­bine in this benef­ic aspect you find your­self in that sweet­est of spots, you are at ease with your­self as you observe, under­stand and share what mat­ters to you to most.

Today is a day to share with one anoth­er the beau­ty of the day, to take your delight in artis­tic diver­sions or in one anoth­er. You will find your rela­tion­ships more effort­less, mean­ing­ful and reward­ing as you are guid­ed by a kinder con­sid­er­a­tion for one another.

Today your Mind and Heart find that del­i­cate bal­ance, you walk the noble path, the path of know­ing-lov­ing gra­cious­ness which comes with beau­ty shared.

May you walk togeth­er, for­ev­er in Beauty!