Fixed Energy Challenges or How to Get Unstuck

I’ve been musing about fixed energy lately. I did a reading recently in which the woman I was reading for was complaining about feeling stuck and mired in the details. She has the energetic support of mutable energy, with her strong Virgo placements, but the shadows of the earth goddess sign were tripping her up.

I relate completely. 

I have a lot of fire and water in my chart. If you’ve met me in person, you see this in the way I express myself and then the way that I nurture. I love to start things, being a Cancer Sun. All that fire and cardinal energy is great for moving things forward and initiating projects. I’m the master at beginning projects, btw. 

The Sag rising that rules my chart often gets me into trouble though. This facet of myself is the reason I have so many projects going at any given time in the first place. The sparkly squirrels just keep coming and coming and it’s hard to say no. I’m getting better, though!

But, I also have a fixed moon. The Fixed modality simply means that these signs, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius are super-pros at maintaining the status quo. These signs are the middle signs of each season and preserve the season with their energies. This also makes them stubborn or inflexible at times.

I’m reminded of that heart-wrenching scene in Neverending Story when the boy’s horse refused to budge and instead was swallowed up by the bog.

via GIPHY

This is how I view my Scorpio moon these days—as Atreyu, stuck in the mud and refusing to move forward because she is determined to hang on to current conditions because it feels safer than doing the big scary things.

Do you relate?

Luckily, I’ve been brainstorming some ways to remediate fixed energy stuck in shadow. I’m sharing these tips to help you when you feel stuck. Btw, we all have fixed energy in our charts somewhere. This energy becomes big players in your life and career or business if it’s your Sun, Moon, Rising or Midheaven placements in your natal chart. 

Things I do in order to get unstuck

First, safety. In my case, my moon has certain physical and psychological needs that need to be tended to. Self care is the most important to-do on my list. If I don’t tend to my self with rituals and routines, I get on the negative train and spiral when things get tough.

Second, confidence building. Once my moon feels safe and nurtured, I can move on to big and scary things, but not too big. At this point, I look back to things I’ve done in the past that seemed scary and big at the time.

I ask myself these questions:

• How did I do this big scary thing last time?
• How did I feel going into it?
  What was going on in my life to inspire the choice?
• What did I do to feel safe before moving forward?
• How does my Sag rising handle things like this if I’m not afraid?
• How did it end or turn out once I did the big scary thing?

By the time I’ve gone through all these questions and felt into the energy of doing scary things turning out to be exhilarating and empowering, I do the thing. If the big scary thing is still feeling too big to face, read on.

how to get unstuck: Use your light to empower your actions

Recently, I had to do a big scary thing. I was terrified, my moon was shaking in her boots and I felt disempowered and fearful of taking the steps needed to move forward. The week prior, I had done a similar thing and it sent me spiraling down to the depths of my negative self-talk and pity pot. It was a dark and heavy couple of days.

This week, I intended to do it differently. 

The big scary thing, btw, was applying for a job. The previous week, I allowed my insecurities and shame to take over. I ended up not applying for jobs and wallowing in self pity for a day or two. 

This week felt different. I was determined and ready to make a move. I thought to myself “What happened last week was ridiculous. You know how awesome you are and that you have skills, gifts and talents that the world needs right now. It’s time to do the thing”

But I still didn’t know how I was going to go about it.

I remembered that I have the archetypal energies within my natal chart, my gifts that I was given to work with in this life. And so I looked at them and their “jobs” I had given them in my life. 

Since I was applying for jobs, I thought, “Well, applying for jobs is marketing. How does a Mercury in Leo market themselves?” I felt a visceral shift in my gut and my posture changed. Suddenly ideas started coming to me about my approach to this job application.

Authentically Shining is what we’re here to do

Once I tapped into that confident and courageous heart, I was able to try something new. Something out of the box and closer to being myself than all the advice I’ve read about job searches.

I went about the entire process of applying to this job that I really, really wanted in a different way. I wrote my cover letter from that place of empowerment. It turned out playful, lighthearted and authentically me. Very different from previous cover letters I’ve sent recently, cold and too professional…

And you know what? I got an interview. I haven’t had an interview in years, though I’ve applied to probably hundreds of jobs in recent times. (I don’t count the restaurant I recently left. Service industry is a completely different animal.)

The key was authenticity.

How Astrology Helps Us Be Authentic

I was able to dig deep into myself to allow my light to shine in a way that was different from the past attempts to search for a job. This is how astrology helps us. It allows us to tap into those gifts, the ones we may have rejected, smothered or hidden so that we can fit in and be normal—whatever that means…

By acknowledging the parts we have left behind, we can reclaim who we really are and be empowered to keep going on our path. All the fixed signs will be expected to show up authentically over the next 20 years due to Pluto, the Lord of Death, moving into Aquarius for the next 20 years. These signs are Aquarius, Taurus, Leo and Scorpio. If you have any planets in those signs, you will feel the pressure as Pluto slowly makes his way through the Aquarius house in your chart.

Pluto will be mining the shadows of the collective and bringing to the surface all the shame and control issues to the surface to be transformed in your life. Which area of your life is getting the renovation now?