Dec 22, 2022

December Monthly Message and 2022 Wrap Up: Elephant in the Room

“There’s a lot that we can learn from elephants. Despite their huge weight, they tread gently, almost silently upon the path they walk, carefully picking their way through. Despite their size, they never leave a trail of destruction behind. Similarly, we too must remember to tread gently through life, spreading love and kindness along the way. Because remember, in the end, life’s all about the footprints that you leave behind.” - Soulveda

2022 has been the 3rd year in this trilogy titled ‘Saturn in Aquarius’ aka Heavy Times for Humanity. This particular astro-chapter started in March 2020 and ends in March 2023.

Saturn asks us to check in with our relationship to control and authority, realise where we need to take greater responsibility for our own lives, increase our awareness around our response-ability, step into adulthood more fully, and face reality more clearly (so that if we don’t like what we see, we can do something about it).

Aquarius represents the increasingly delicate dance between humanity, freedom, artificial intelligence and technology.

With Saturn travelling through Aquarius we’ve had a large-scale preview of how things like AI, big tech, and the digital world can be tools of control just as much as they can be tools of freedom. We’ve had a collective preview of what happens when government ‘protection’ turns into government over-reach. We’ve been journey-ing through a choice point for humanity, a fork in the road, each leading to very different pathways.

One pathway has been seemingly stronger on the surface, seemingly all-powerful, but it is not sustainable. The foundation is rotten, the trust in it is diminishing by the day. The other pathway is like a field of cultivated soil. The weeds are being removed and debris cleared, allowing it to absorb air and water and nutrients. The seeds are deep in the ground, some have started to sprout, others not yet, but they will. This pathway is full of life and growth, leading to something new.

This 3 year journey has been one of revelation and migration, seeing clearly the two pathways and choosing which one to be on. In our day to day life it isn’t as black and white as that. You may feel in total alignment with the new pathway, but have to participate in the old for one reason or another. This is why the old pathway seems stronger and more populated – most people are dependent on it in various ways. Yet millions are slowly migrating over to the new, emotionally and energetically. Millions of souls are anchoring to the new, gradually becoming a silent, unseen, invisible majority. It is inevitable that one day, sooner rather than later, there will be a Tipping Point, a flip, where the new pathway becomes the dominant reality. There is less and less energy available to hold the old.

We used to talk about this decades ago as a theory. We can now see it happening in real time with topics going mainstream and viral that would have remained in the rabbit hole even only months ago. We all wish it would happen faster, but it’s important to acknowledge that this process IS happening. In the meantime it can definitely be an emotional roller-coaster swinging from hope to frustration to excitement to disappointment to anger and back to hope.

It's a wild ride, and thus absolutely crucial that you find ways to tend to your emotional/nervous system, stay connected to your heart and centre, listen to your body and be tuned in to your inner guidance system.

How are you feeling?

The not-much-publicised heavy elephant in the room this year has been the number of excess deaths in many countries: In Australia we’ve had 17.3% more than the historical average; In the EU it’s been 16% more. This amount of excess deaths means that more families and communities than usual are feeling loss and grief in some way. If you haven’t been directly impacted by the death of someone close this year, you may have supported a friend, colleague or neighbour who has. Or have had people in your world who have been going through grief without you necessarily knowing. It’s impossible to be part of society, part of a community, and not feel the emotional impact of this – even if you aren’t aware of why you’re feeling how you’re feeling.

If you aren’t aware of the statistics you might just think “Geez, our family/circle of friends/workplace really has experienced a lot of deaths this year”, not realizing that, at this moment in time, this experience is being shared by more people than you realize. If you aren’t aware of the statistics you might be wondering why am I feeling so heavy? Why am I feeling so sad? As an empath you might be picking up on the considerable amount of excess emotional energy that surrounds us.

It’s a good idea to practice good energetic/emotional hygiene: have a shower or cleanse with sage after you’ve been out and about, use an aromatherapy diffuser to lighten the atmosphere at home, have a good diet/exercise/sleep routine, connect with nature and unplug from social media regularly.

Everyone experiences grief differently be it feeling sadness, overwhelm, shock, anger, depression, guilt, processing new feelings or old feelings that have been triggered. Then there is bereavement burnout, carer fatigue and compassion fatigue. Once a death occurs there can be relief, depletion or renewal of energy, death and rebirth of identity, a re-shuffling of priorities, a deepening of faith or a loss of faith, hope or loss of hope. That’s a lot of intense energy to suddenly increase by almost 20%!

This has come on top of the 2 years preceding 2022, the infamous 2020-2021, where many of these ‘loss and grief’ symptoms came up due to other forms of loss: loss of jobs and livelihoods, missing out on final farewells and funerals, loss of social connections and celebrations, and loss of illusions. On the other side of the coin, many thrived being able to work from home, have quality time with their children, review their priorities and finally have a valid excuse not to attend constant weekend events!

This brings us to our Elephant theme: an Elephant is heavy, yet treads lightly. Their feet are covered in a soft padding which helps them to walk quietly. Interestingly this padding also acts as a shock absorber. It feels like Elephant has shown up in this final Message for 2022 as a guide or totem, reminding us that we can feel heavy yet tread lightly, walk quietly and go gently. We can surround ourselves with ‘shock-absorbers’ – self-care that soothes us, and loving people who comfort us.

Elephant is also famous as the ‘elephant in the room’. Some of what you regularly feel these days can come from seeing the elephant in the room – and when not everyone does, it can be difficult. Surround yourself with other elephant see-ers, or at least know that there are many of us all around the world, more and more each day.

Elephant as a totem is known for being strong, wise, gentle and compassionate. Elephants are all about family, and particularly bond to their motherline – mother and grandmother - and matrilineal social group. Thus they are associated with the Sacred Feminine. The oldest female Elephant is head of the tribe, and is followed because she is respected. Much like the ancient matri-focal communities Elephants work harmoniously together with a sense of shared responsibility.

If you have been struggling with these times, maybe look up Elephant as a totem and read about this beautiful teacher.

Wishing you and your loved ones a safe, happy and joy-filled holiday season.

Thank you for all of your support this year.

Onward and upward to 2023!

(c) Dana Mrkich 2022

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