“How did I get here again?” or The Resonance Patterns of Life

Astrology is an amazing tool that allows us to not only explain our personality and soul make-up, but the types of relationships and situations we are likely to draw to ourselves in the course of our lives. Wikidiff.com states, “As nouns the difference between dissonance and resonance is that dissonance is a harsh, discordant combination of sounds while resonance is the condition of being resonant.” While this definition is specific to music/sound, it also pertains to energetic dynamics in life such as relationships. Resonance is that space in which we feel comfortable and with the flow, whereas dissonance is that which requires an adjustment of action, thought, or being.

Astrology is a complex system made up of many parts: planets, signs, aspects (the relationships between the planets and points), modality or the quadruplicities (cardinal, fixed, mutable), elements or the triplicities (fire, earth, air, water). Each of these astrological parts relate to one another on an individual and collective level that are either supportive or challenging as follows:

When we listen to a beautiful and moving piece of music, it is often composed of a mixture of resonant and dissonant chords and themes -just like life. A melody made up of just harmony with no dis-chord will likely be resonant for either meditation, sleep (think “new age music”) or simply the type of music that opens the door ways to your creativity, but likely not one that will elicit a motivating response. Resonance doesn’t really require anything, whereas dissonance will, eventually, galvanize you into re-action and re-sponse so as to come back to some sort of re-solution. Having relationships with those that are resonant and supportive feel easy and comfortable, but are likely not to engage growth on the level that the dissonant relationships will create.

An article that beautifully reviews the musical logistics can be found here https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/arts/music/musical-dissonance-from-schumann-to-sondheim.html and contains the lovely quote from 1711, “What is harmony to one ear, may be dissonance to another.” This articulates the experience of those of us who are often mired in various dramas and problems and are not only fine with it, but actually thrive from it. I touched upon these themes in my last two blogs on the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The Dolly Parton quote I used in the last blog resonates here, “You cannot have rainbows without rain.” We rarely experience the necessary maturation without challenging dissonance.

The astrological birth chart indicates the resonant patterns and dissonant patterns in each of us. We all literally vibrate at the frequencies revealed by the planets, signs and relationships between them. Like a human-sized tuning fork, we pulse and radiate into our environment and the world in ways that attract and repulse others so that we can complete the lessons we each came here to learn. The karma magnetic will draw the people and situations necessary for our life’s purpose, but how we deal with them all isn’t always so clear. We live in a world of free choice: to engage or not. Sometimes we give ourselves freely to a situation or a relationship and sometimes we abdicate and abstain – but either way there is that seemingly invisible thread that draws us to the perfect experiences for our unique makeup. They are likely to continue to appear until we find the correct relationship with them.

Knowing the unique ways in which you are likely to deal with certain people and situations is important, nay, crucial. The old axiom is the gift astrology offers: know thyself. Our society likes to paint a picture that certain ways of being are better than others. This is all good and well if you, as an individual, are wired that way, but what if you aren’t? You put a mask over your way of being and try to act contrary to your natural operating system. Many of us contort ourselves into a pretzel trying to be who we are not rather than who we actually are in family, relationships, work and life. Not everyone is here to become a millionaire, have long term relationships, command a business empire or be a president, queen or king -and that really is okay. Astrology is one of the tools that gives us the ability to clearly see ourselves based upon our individual archetype. With this knowledge we can go about cultivating the relationships that are for our highest good.

If you are tired of finding yourself in the same old non-regenerative situations and relationships, maybe it is time for an astrological reading to gain some lucidity. This is the time to introduce a new way of relating that accepts the various parts of ourselves and one another and I am here to help.

Wishing you grace,

Michael