Divine Culture Shock: How Astrology Is Like World Travel

I’ve been traveling the world since I was 15 years old.  I have always been pleasantly surprised by the culture shock that I experience when I enter and exit each country, and most powerfully when I return home.  I have found that there is always an adjustment period that I need to give myself when I arrive in a in a new place.  During that adjustment period, I usually feel quite anxious and vulnerable.  I tend to feel a little unsure of myself.  And even though I am a well-seasoned traveler, I don’t quite trust the new world until I’ve gotten spiritually grounded.  What I’ve learned is that entering a new country is actually a very sacred experience and if I don’t honor the guidance from the Divine, I suffer pretty greatly. I call this adjustment process Divine Culture Shock because it’s usually during this time, that I come out of my ego and turn myself over to God and my Spiritual Guidance Team.  I need the Unconditional Love to help me expand and grow, as well as to create a sense of safety in myself.

What’s most interesting for me right now is how every month, around the 17 through the 23rd, we all tend to experience a Divine Culture Shock within our psyches.  Check in with yourself, friend.  Haven’t you noticed that at the end of each Sun transit, you might find yourself feeling strangely confused as the momentum you have built of the last few weeks shifts gears and moves into a new energy?  Frankly, I am always amazed at how consistently my coaching clients complain of energy shift ‘symptoms’ such as confusion, resistance, deep sadness, anger, irritability, frustration, isolation, loneliness and even panic.  This is Divine Culture Shock happening as their awareness moves from one life sector to another.  Even those clients who don’t acknowledge astrology and vehemently deny its power complain about these ‘symptoms’ and they come to me with the expectation of insight and a strategy for repair. 

Well, my strategy for dealing with Divine Culture Shock is pretty simple:  be present, be patient, be listening.

As the Sun gets closer to the next sign in the Zodiac, you are moving away from one energy to another.  You can imagine that you are a world traveler. So let’s say that you’re flying from the wild west of the United States to the old world stoicism of Europe.  You’ve been in warm California with its sunshine and outward friendliness. There’s a casualness to your interactions with people. There’s a playfulness about California and although folks are confined for hours to their cars, you notice that there’s a willingness to chat in lines at the grocery store.  It’s like the big old freeways and bumper to bumper traffic make people eager to chat and unwind with ease wherever they are. After being in California for a while, you naturally come to resonate with what’s here and you develop a comfort with its rhythm.

The thing is, duty calls.  You’re called to France. So you hop a plane and land in Paris.  Culture shock hits you like a ton of bricks. Everyone is so well dressed and groomed.  Even their ‘casual’ is elegant. You’ve dressed for comfort in your PINK tracksuit and flip flops.  Ooooh!  Divine Culture Shock is making you aware of what’s going on inside yourself emotionally and it’s helping you outpicture it.  Perfect!!! You’re feeling a bit frumpy. And you find yourself walking with all your luggage from the metro to your flat and you’ve gotta lug all your stuff up seven flights of stairs!  You’re excited to be in Paris, but there’s no elevator because the building is full of ‘old world charm.’ Okay. You’ll get used to it because, you’re from California– you know… you work out!  You appreciate the challenge of walking up seven flights of stairs every day and by golly you’re happy to be in flip flops instead of stylish heels! You’re already starting to harmonize with the change. Divine Culture Shock is doing its job just fine!  You’re gonna spend 30 days in France so you can bet that even though you love your American breakfast of eggs, bacon and hashbrowns, you will eventually accept that the French take either a simple cup of yogurt and an espresso or a croissant and an espresso.  You’ll adjust your desires and come to harmonize with all the customs and ways of the French.   

30 days will pass and if you pause and look back, you’ll realize that you’ve become accustomed to the language, the food, the culture, the way of doing things.  The first few days of being in France were a little unnerving because you had to get used to all the change, but it if you were open and excited about the journey, you’ll have noticed that really, you adjusted quickly and any apprehension that you felt would have been replaced with genuine joy.  You’ve been actually having a good time!  

As your 30 days begin to come to a close– say around the 23rd day, you’ll start to notice a prick of anxiety as your psyche starts to feel the energy of your next move– Italy!  Depending on how you deal with change, you might find that you’re anxious, doubtful, apprehensive or downright fearful. Perhaps your mind is worried about how to organize things, wondering about timing, concerned about connections.  There are plenty of things to worry about when you’re traveling, so these concerns are natural. You would have plenty of compassion with yourself when you’re traveling. People who travel well travel with awareness of the energies around them.  We recognize the potential pitfalls of Paris traffic, we know the availability of tuk-tuks in Cambodia. We know the visa process for entering Bali. We know not to hop into just any taxi in Delhi after midnight, and we expect to haggle about the cost of the ride.  This awareness gives us travelers confidence. We even know what to do if we miss a flight. It’s important to understand that your personal wisdom and attitude towards journeying, will color the experience you have.  But don’t think that because you are well-traveled, you are immune to Divine Culture Shock!  And well, don’t try to be immune to it.  Let the opportunities move through you.  Look more closely and see what Spirit is inviting you to.

It is equally important to understand that as you travel from France to Italy, you’re gonna face Divine culture Shock again.  Whereas the border guards in France are slightly flirtatious, in Italy, they’re much cooler. That could get your fur up a little if you enjoy a little playful banter in your travels… and you know, you charm is one of your biggest assets. So you might notice that you’re entering Italy a little nervous, a little guarded because your cutesy wink at the handsome Italian border guard was met with a hairy eyeball.  Yeah, okay. You might also feel a little irritated by the lack of Uber in Florence. YIKES! 50 euros to get through Florence to Fiesole? It’s all of a 20 minute ride! 50 euros? Oh, man. That sucks! You get to your apartment and you notice that there’s mold in the bathroom AND a scorpion in the bedroom, and that freaks you out a little because in California, mold is not an issue and well, you’ve never seen a scorpion before in your life but you’ve heard they bite (which they don’t.  They sting, but regardless, it feels dangerous and you feel threatened by its presence.) OOOOh!  Divine Culture Shock is doing its job beautifully!  You’re feeling a little disappointed, a little scared and very irritated.  You are triggered and it’s annoying, but a total sign of spiritual awakening.  So go with it.  The more you relax into acceptance and appreciation of Divine Culture Shock, the more joy awaits on the other side.  So maybe you notice that even though that scorpion was scary, you realize that it represents transformation and sexual intimacy.  You begin to take it as a good omen.  And so then you start to realize that the owners of the house are so darned friendly! And they’re inviting you to dine with them outside in the beautiful garden. And all the family is outside laughing and they welcome you with such warmth. OMG. They are so curious about you and they make you feel so welcome. This is a big change from the coolness of the French city folks where you are kept at a distance until… well, until you’re just not at a distance any more.  Divine culture Shock is opening up your appreciation vein and raising your vibration.  RIGHT ON!!  Even though your arrival in Italy was a bit rough, you find it easy to adjust here. You resonate very easily because it is starting to feel like home.  

Journeying around the world is exactly like our trip with the Sun through the various zodiac signs.  Astrologers will even tell you that each country has a sign. There is some disagreement about how to determine a country’s sign, by the way.  The logical practice would be to assign a country the sign under which its declaration of independence was signed. However, intuitively, that feels wrong.  In my humble (but admittedly untested) opinion, a country is born at the moment the people have a shift in consciousness and it reaches their heart. That can be years before a final draft of legislation is formed. Where was the Sun when that moment hit the collective consciousness?  Well, here’s a guy, Raghvendra Khare, who has an idea that he’s figured it out. For your pure enjoyment, here is a list of compelling zodiac assignments to countries.  I’ve explored lists based on the declarations of independence and this list from Raghvendra Khare.  I feel like the former are way off and the latter, from Raghvendra, is much more real.  Interestingly, the latter uses Jyotish, which feels like a more feminine-driven approach to astrology.  Jyotish is scientific, but there’s something about its emphasis on the Moon and its insistence on including the gods, mantras and gemstones that really speak to my femininity.  And actually, India, where Jyotish has its roots, is considered Capricorn (a feminine sign) in Raghvendra’s perspective. Okay, so look, I’m now totally talking to you from my intuition.  None of this paragraph is about astrological fact. So take everything here with a grain of salt. But if it resonates with you, eat it up! If you’re an astrologer and you’re calling B.S., then throw it out!   

Okay, so as we travel with the Sun from sign to sign, we will likely notice that at the end of one transit and the beginning of the next, there is a mental and emotional adjustment period that we will go through. We might find that there are ‘symptoms’ of change within us.  Again, we might notice anxiety, confusion, resistance, deep sadness, anger, irritability, frustration, isolation, loneliness and even panic as we are moving out of the harmony and comfort we have just established and into another energy.  This is Divine Culture Shock at work in the stars. 

It’s important to note that we might resonate really well with some signs and less with others. So, for example, I really love Capricorn because I am a number 8 numerologically. All things business and vocation light my fire. I’m a natural entrepreneur.  When we moved from Sagittarius into Capricorn, I was sitting there waiting with a big grin on my face and when the Sun hit Capricorn, all my chakras lit up and I dove headlong into all the opportunities to create and heal around my life’s work. I quickly found my rhythm and got down to business.  In fact, I’ve been sitting at my computer writing and building my marketing campaigns and visioning my business for 12 hours a day seven days a week for the last month. And I have loved every minute of it. The move from Capricorn into Aquarius is going to also feel pretty great for me because I am Aquarius and this sign rules our Inner Purpose.  I am very much in tune with my Soul and my Divine Life Purpose, so I know that the momentum I have built with Capricorn will carry over into the next Sun transit.

If you’re not resonating particularly well with a sign, you might find yourself relishing the next transit and welcoming the change it brings.  What’s important is that you are paying attention to how you feel, what you’re experiencing and what you need. Very often, awareness and knowledge are enough to help you embrace the change and go with the flow of what you are experiencing.  Doing the work in my Jailbreak Your Heart & Howl at the Moon program is a powerful way to facilitate the changes that come along with each Sun transit. Here are some ways this program will help you:

• By reading the articles I share, you’re bringing awareness of your subconscious hidden emotions, motives and dynamics to your conscious self for repair and healing.  
• The information I provide about the life sectors will help you harmonize with the Universe.  It will guide you to use the Sun transit to powerfully heal your life manifest what you desire.  
• The Moon rituals will help you connect to your intuition so that you can be more open to receiving insights from your place of wisdom.
• The exercises will challenge your perceptions about yourself and the world around you.  They will help you step into your place of power as a co-creator with the Universe and a Master Manifestor.  
• I ask you to find any hidden sabotaging and negative beliefs and work with them to free your mindset from any limitations they place.  
• I teach you to feel your emotions so that your intuition becomes crystal clear and you learn how to dissolve emotional blockages with authentic presence, not spiritual bypassing, suppression, repression, denial or projection.
• I work with you in group sessions to give you meaningful insights to your specific issues so that you are getting help with your healing.  You’ll have a reliable, expert coach in your service so that your work is deepened.  
• You have the support of a strong core group of Badass Butterflies who are all working together to heal.  So there is support and accountability.  
• And there is also the option to work with me privately.  For those who want to dive more deeply into this work, you are invited to book a series of private sessions to use throughout the program so that we can deepen your healing.  

So as you move forward into the Sun in Aquarius, remember to be patient with your emotions as Divine Culture Shock is surely present to help you become aware of any blindspots you might be holding.  Note your triggers and remember that they are there to help you understand your emotional needs and they are opportunities for you to grow.  

My Jailbreak Your Heart & Howl at the Moon program is open and ready to use.  You can begin the program whenever you like, but this is a great time to start because we are at the beginning of the current module.  Each module opens around the 18th or 19th of the month when the Sun moves into the current zodiac sign. You can get all the program details at www.JailbreakYourHeart.com.