The Ties That Bind

During this time of emphasis on the Cardinal signs and all that they mirror to us of relationships, I am drawn to this colloquial phrase ‘the ties that bind’.  August in the Northern Hemisphere is peak vacation time for families as a rule, and I have just come back from the East Coast where three generations of just the women/girls in our family enjoyed a reunion.  It was so much fun doing our girlie thing right in the middle of the ‘Cardinal Climax’.

What struck me is that irregardless of all that abounds on the planet of calamities, crises, tragedies, and dramas, families continue to join together and celebrate life together.  It is important that we do this I feel.  Going to the Jersey Shores and watching all the different groupings—tiny tots with parents, young children with grandparents, teenagers footloose and free parading about, young and old lovers alike—-all enjoying the boardwalk, the junk food, the colorful rides, and most of all the white sandy beach, the bright sunshine, and the glorious crashing waves of the Atlantic brought me the nostalgic feeling that this place and scene was pretty much the same as when I was a child and even a teenager strolling the Long Beach boardwalk on the West Coast.  These places where families can still go to renew and relax are still with us, and that is a great comfort to me.

The sign of Cancer is going to be kept in the spotlight for years to come due to Pluto’s passage through the opposite sign of Capricorn, Uranus’s journey through Aries, and now Saturn’s shorter cycle through Libra.  It is through the experiences symbolized by Cancer that the important and lifelong ties of family are created.  If an infant is held, suckled, and loved unconditionally by parents, if a toddler is protected from harmful situations and encouraged to explore their world knowing that parents are there to catch them when they do tumble, if a child has a parent to talk to and connect with as they venture forth into the world of school, friendship and discovery, then a bond of trust is well established and self-worth can grow.  Later in life these same individuals may become parents themselves and repeat the cycle of love, protection, and support of a child’s growth. Becoming a grandparent further enriches this continuity of loving, nurturing, and caring for each other.  Finally, if the investments of love have been made, the aging and eventually dying parent/grandparent is cared for and midwifed to the other side by children and grandchildren who care.   These are the ties that bind in a healthy way.  These Cancerian ties help to create the great circle of life that is ever renewing itself.

My eldest granddaughter, Persephone (10 yrs), was watching the old TV series from the ‘70s The Brady Bunch.  My new grandchild, CoCo (2 yrs), enjoyed it as well, and called it ‘The SILLY Brady Bunch’.  As unsophisticated and suburbian as the Bradys appear, they still model the basics of healthy family life.  The mother has three girls from her first marriage, while the father has three sons from his first marriage.  Together they parent all six.  Seeing so many episodes from about 4 or 5 seasons over a span of 10 days I was struck by the pattern of both parents always sitting down together to talk with their children who freely came to them with their hurts and joys.  Sometimes the parents would have to figure out what was going on and skillfully either come to a child’s rescue or teach the lessons of consequence when a child veered into dangerous turf.  Again, there always seemed to be a unified front presented by the parents who also obviously were in love.  This was no ‘reality show’ of today, but it obviously presented an ideal family life that millions of viewers loved and still do. We do continue to need our ideals.

Pluto in Capricorn is gradually showing us the truth of wherever the ties that bind are corrupted and in need of transformation.  Uranus in Aries is going to be encouraging us to wake up and honor our own truths as we re-evaluate all the ties that bind, and Saturn in Libra will bring the effort and discipline that we need to make sure things are fair, just, and equal for all.  If our ties are predicated upon bondage in any form we need to become aware of that and change these relationships.  No one has a right to hold another being in bondage and slavery.

These basic principles of life are going to be applied to other forms of relationship beyond family in the years to come:  human rights, animal rights, earth rights, water rights, etc.  We are now in a time of first principles which cardinality implies.  The basic actions necessary to create the circle of life are being brought full-blown to our attention in order that each of us can do what our heart tells us is the right thing to do when it comes to the ties that bind.