By Cayelin K Castell outlined by Mary Kern
The Earth has seasons as she travels around the Sun. There are four main recognized seasons, Spring when new life is growing and blossoming, Summer when the Earth is flourishing and abundant, Autumn when it is time to harvest and store up for Winter and of course Winter when life seems to be more still and inner as it prepares for new birth in the Spring.
There are also the four main cross-quarter points marking the halfway point though each of the four main seasons that are defined by the Equinox and Solstice points. In the same way humans also have seasons, or cycles that occur throughout their life. Knowing what these seasons are based on age (or how old we are) helps us navigate through the intended changes as we grow and evolve.
An illustration of this is the idea that it is not wise to plant a garden in winter, just as it is not wise to miss planting your garden in spring. Knowing what time it is for you is one of the most important ways that Shamanic Astrology helps us to navigate through life here on planet Earth.
When we know what Timing or Season we are in and we know what the intent of that Timing or season is, we can align with that intent and choose actions that support the fulfillment of that intention. In this way we are empowered with an understanding that helps us to make more informed life choices.
Initiation Cycles and Their Intent
When we understand the intent of these cycles, it is easier to cooperate with them rather than miss them or fight against them or resist the changes that are taking place with or without our conscious participation. It helps to remember that these cycles are a natural part of life. We can NOT stop them any more than we can stop Winter or Spring from arriving.
From this perspective it helps us to see that the planetary cycles we all encounter are deeply interwoven into who we are. They are not separate from us but a part of us. These cycles are here to help support our life journey, even when we feel we are at the affect of circumstances beyond our control.
Whatever is happening is happening for a deeper far more profound reason than we may have previously imagined, and it is all for our benefit and growth. This is true even when the cycles we are experiencing seem to be destroying every aspect of the life we have been living.
The Shamanic Timeline of Life
When we trust the process and get to other side of the cycle there is often something more magical and amazing than anything we could have imagined before we went through that initiation. Shamanic Astrology refers to these age related planetary initiation cycles as The Shamanic Timeline of Life that we all go through at specific ages. There are times when more than one of these age related initiation cycles is happening at the same time. These are referred to as “flashpoints” along the Timeline.
For example, we move from the student phase of life into true adulthood around age 29. This is intended to be a time of maturation that occurs during the first Saturn Return and the second Nodal Reversal.
Another example of a seasonal life transition occurs at age 40-42. This time has been called the “Midlife Crisis” by some due to the radical shifts many go through. These cycles include one of the most powerful Venus returns (an 8 year cycle) and a Mercury Return (a 6 or 7 year cycle) along with Uranus opposite Uranus and Neptune Square Neptune.
These cycles are intended to produce events that powerfully altar a person’s perspective, also referred to as shifting the Assemblage Point or belief system that organizes a person’s reality so they can discover the New Visions and Dreams that are aligned with their soul’s purpose. This often occurs through a radical identity crisis that allows for new possibilities, new awareness, new ways of perceiving reality to occur, thus transforming a person’s life in unusual and/or unexpected ways.
As a person approaches age 60 (sometime between 58-60) they are beginning to enter the years we refer to as Elder Knowledge. This is when Saturn, Jupiter and Mercury return near the same time, creating a special window of time when many find their life expression or purpose if they haven’t found it yet, or they move into a higher octave of their purpose that is even more satisfying and fulfilling.
These are just a few examples of the age related cycles we find on the Shamanic Timeline of Life. It is important to remember that we always have the freedom to choose our life path and our experiences and that those choice are what determine our experience. What the Shamanic Astrology Paradigm understands is when we are living in alignment with our soul’s original intent that is when we experience the greatest sense of fulfillment and happiness.
Each decade has cycles of time that can alternate between a feeling of all things are possible and feelings of density that are intended to support our evolution and growth. These cycles often feel like we are being forced to evolve whether we want to or not and it is often happening due to major life events that are taking place beyond our control.
We are living in a remarkable time so experiencing dramatic cycles of change seem to occur more often to get us on track with why we are here. We are navigating the shift of an entire 26,000 year cycle, dying to what no longer serves so we can be reborn into a whole new way of being that hasn’t been possible until now. This understanding helps us to know that the gift of knowing what time it is for us – both personally and collectively – is needed now more than ever as we dream into the New World now coming into form.