#it's very common for people who don't have a support system to cling to whatever is the first group to give them a community

[highfantasy-soul]

On the one hand, I love weekly drops for episodes because you get time to sit with each section of the story and really dig into it.

On the other hand, some people don't quite understand that characters can say/believe something at the beginning of the series and then - gasp - grow and change through the episodes so that by the end, they don't believe that thing anymore!

Also, what a character believes isn't necessarily the 'message' the writers are pushing - the character could have a flawed world view that turns out to be in need of change.

Anyways, apropos of nothing, Loki s2e4 was great, huh? Nice little debate about philosophy between two characters - neither of which has the 100% right idea at the moment and events might transpire to get one or both of them to alter their 'goals'.

Almost like media isn't there to be a guide to life you need to follow word for word but rather an exploration of fantastical problems and how flawed characters deal with it through their own, limited frame of reference

[gg-astrology]

Hi thank you for quickly answering about my sun-moon combo and my ascendant 😊 I learned that I'm a second decan aries.. If you don't mind I have something to ask about some of my placements I have Jupiter retrograde in Leo in the 5th house opposite my saturn in aquarius in the 10th house, my saturn also squares my moon in Taurus in the 1st house, I have been having a really hard time.. My saturn return will be soon too 😭 right now I'm in a place where I dnt know where to go..

Hey there!! 💕💕💕 I’m so sorry I didn’t reply to this immediately :(( I jus saw it now, I hope things are going well for u!! I had to take a week off as well phew things have been Kicking My Ass 💕💕💕

So I gotta break this down a lil for me.... Leo Jupiter rx in 5th, 

Taurus Moon in 1st, square Aquarius Saturn in 10th 

Phew ok, so to address your saturn return (congrats for getting to this point btw!!💕💕💕) hopefully things will be better for you or at least, revert to something more manageable 💕💕💕 Depending on transit, it can be harder or easier for the person bc of the natal placement as well (Jupiter’s in Sag right now and Saturn is in Capricorn) 💕💕

When I do social planets (Jupiter/Saturn) I try to look at generational planet too. It has a strong impact/influence on each other, so somethings to look out for-- Uranus is in Taurus now and once it reaches an aspect with your Aquarius Saturn (square) that will be around the time you might be forced to go through unexpected changes. It’s a good time right now, to prepare for that. Try to prep yourself to be ‘open’ to things, flexibility, paths.

Long-term plan might change, and stability might get wonky, try not to rely too much on what you ‘know’ of the world, or your position or who you are-- often times Aquarius likes over-hauls. Overture of their personality, public reception or criticism, life paths and independence. That’s in essence part of their self-transformation and individuality.

It can be a period where you’re humbled to start finding different paths/structure for yourself again. Remember that Aquarius is one of the ruler of Saturn, but often time it’s rebellious (unlike Capricorn). The 10th house has to do with the public, so a lot of the time-- you may fare better if you prepare to be confident in yourself/your changes thus you don’t feel like you’re completely losing your footing in the public y know (as opposed to others opposing you, and then you start doubting yourself/feeling isolated/alienated again) 

The main key here is that the 10th house is the highest point in your chart, and often times when it’s going through some changes --- you’ll have to consider how ‘others’ are going to see your problem/situation too and will most likely judge you for it. In an ‘unexpected’ aspect (Uranus-Saturn) a lot of restructuring might surface, frustration and tension tend to rise.

Evaluate-- clearly, why little things rile you up or make you tense. This is a sign that you should probably start keeping checklists for yourself on what kind of changes, paths, restructuring you’d like to make because-- most of the time, the criticism/frustrations are valid. They are things that do require changes, because you are growing as an individual and you deserve to have a better path and goal for yourself.  

Of course things might get turbulent, but again-- try to believe in yourself and not others/what you materialistically have or has built up for yourself. You’re still growing, and this saturn return is going to have you humbling and starting from the ground on certain things if it gets to that (potentially/not always). 

There’ll be period where you’ll have to question the stressful system, limitation or restrictions you’ve been complacent/settled into. Think of this period as something to cut off the excess, to renew and revigorate yourself. Aquarius demands alot of hard disciplining lessons, you’ll have to be flexible and patient. 

Unlike Capricorn, it’s a period where you’ll most likely have to wait for things/circumstances to come to you and adapt/flex as you go (air sign after all, even if it’s fixed) Aquarius is self-made, even if it’s at the cost of the things it’s built for itself crumbling. 

Communicate, if you can-- and try to let others know what you’re doing along the way (doesn’t have to be the same people, new people who come into your life are often good choices too) build support for yourself with those who see, and can accept the changes you’re going through. Who has your best interest instead of those who clings to the old or has their own personal insecurity in mind. 

It’s completely normal to not-- know exactly where to go, or feel like you’re losing sight of things you knew were sure before (if that happens for you) remember it’s a period where planning and clinging onto the past will be faced with Taurus Uranus’s questioning-- most likely, there’ll be frustration to an extent. So try to be patient, flexible and open-mind about circumstances. And believe in yourself. You’re your biggest supporter here, so do it! 

Try not to resist the changes, or over-think too much. It’s a time and period where your Aquarius will be put through some test of patience. Think of it as a round of Taurus vs Aquarius boxing match, but instead of seeing it as black as white as that. Taurus is actually trying to make Aquarius manifest itself better by working as the catalyst for Aquarius to take action and get back into it’s original energetic form-- that is, believing in the self, being someone who can often think or see past old out-dated thinking, methodical planning but not exactly commitment, and working with the flexibility of air-- and the amusement of fixed signs. Try to reconsider that instead.

If problems start arising, restrictions starts forming and you can see that it’s causing you frustration. Deal with it or don’t let it settle into your new life with you, learn how to tackle these problems instead of ignoring it or letting it get to you. Remember, Aquarius can often ‘explode’ too, so make sure you deal with things the way level-headed Aquarius can do. 

Right, that’s probably not coming right now though... And we’ll be going through some Pluto shifting into Aquarius as well--- maybe that’ll catalyst something for you too. Make sure to consider your personal placements as well, but let’s get back to your natal??

Jupiter opposition Saturn can sometimes make the individual ---hmm swing between wanting something, having the other. It’s a matter of swinging between recklessness, spontaneously, ‘good things come when you act upon it/want it’ versus being too cautious, hesitant and serious that you end up don’t do things at all. Individuals of this position may often find themselves working between the two--- as they may find that having patience, perseverance and channeling their attitude forward tends to help them with situation a lot of the time.  

You’ll notice it, but both of these social planets makes the ‘public’ important to the individual, needing to seek approval or being seen can happen too (knowing how they’re seen) a certain way is always an important component. Through transits and whatever is happening (saturn return), it may become more prominent with you and you may feel frustrated that-- you act or say/seek things a certain way, when you really want to seek approval of yourself or find communication harder to bare, harder to be accepted, harder to beloved.

Realizing habits/behaviour pattern of yourself when you’re with others is common, Leo/Aquarius aren’t dumb and are very aware of how criticisms against their character can go. Often times you want to deal with internal problems like--- ‘no this is who i want to be/who i am’ yet at the same time, you keep acting in other ways. This frustration might be more prominent, particularly because it’s squaring your Moon that holds your emotions. Taurus here is at a position where it wants to be honest, open. But at the same time, the quarreling between Leo/Aquarius can be hard to settle in mutual agreement if you aren’t just shutting/suppressing them down completely.

Thats why being confident, prepping yourself to be ready for your Saturn return is important. The earlier section-- also I hope you can read the Saturn post as well, might be helpful? 💕 Don’t rely too much on thinking ‘oh this is like my childhood’  -- certain things can stick and stay, leaving a taint/mark on you if you let it ‘settle’ into a norm for you. Dealing with things and small frustration, talking to people, helps a lot 💕💕💕 I hope this is helpful to you! 💕

[sagebodisattva]

The Discipline of Detachment

So what about the discipline of detachment; a well known, yet greatly misunderstood and mis-characterized philosophical concept, generally defined as: a state in which a person overcomes his or her attachment to desire for things, people, or concepts of the world, and thus attains a heightened perspective...

So right away comes the common charge that detachment means that one is cold, apathetic and uncaring. This association is mainly due to confusing the meaning of the concept as used in psychology, with the meaning of the concept as used in philosophy. For the purposes of this video, we will be primarily concerned with the philosophical implications of detachment, but will do a general overview of the psychological meanings anyway, so as to get a better understanding of the subject by exploring many of it's various facets.

In psychology detachment is recognized as an emotional divestment, with a possible twofold functionality, one positive and one negative; the negative aspect definitely being a detriment for obvious reasons, and it is the side of emotional detachment in psychology that is supposedly lacking empathy, which usually gets associated with detachment in general, which thereby taints the entire concept with an adverse connotation.

So, in psychological terms, positive emotional detachment can be a behavior which allows a person to react calmly to highly emotional circumstances or individuals. Emotional detachment in this sense is a decision to "avoid" engaging emotional connections, rather than an inability or difficulty in doing so, typically for personal, social, or other reasons. In this sense it can allow people to maintain boundaries, psychic integrity and avoid undesired impact by or upon others, related to emotional demands. As such it is a deliberate mental attitude which "avoids" engaging the emotions of others. This detachment does not necessarily mean "avoiding" empathy; rather it allows the person space needed to rationally choose whether or not to be overwhelmed or manipulated by such feelings. Examples where this is used in a positive sense might include emotional boundary management, where a person "avoids" emotional levels of engagement related to people who are in some way emotionally overly demanding, such as difficult co-workers or relatives. This form of emotional detachment is basically harmless and is mostly related to being in a position of responsibility, possibly as a work requirement, or parental role, where being calm, while dealing with highly charged emotional people, is part of the job description. It wouldn't be beneficial for a doctor to get wrapped up emotionally while treating the his patients, for example, as it would interfere with his ability to perform his duties.

Then there is negative emotional detachment, to a lesser degree, being considered "emotional numbing", "emotional blunting", ie dissociation, depersonalization, or in its chronic form, depersonalization disorder. This type of emotional numbing or blunting is a disconnection from emotion, and is frequently used as a coping or survival skill during traumatic childhood events, such as abuse or severe neglect. Over time and with much use, this can become second nature when dealing with day to day stressors. Emotional detachment often arises from psychological trauma and is a component in many anxiety and stress disorders. The person, while physically present, moves elsewhere in the mind, and in a sense is "not entirely present", making them sometimes appear preoccupied. Thus, such detachment is often not as outwardly obvious as other psychiatric symptoms; people with this problem often have emotional systems that are in overdrive. They may have a hard time being a loving family member. They may avoid activities, places, and people associated with any traumatic events they have experienced. The dissociation can also lead to lack of attention and, hence, to memory problems and in extreme cases, amnesia. Social ostracism, such as shunning and parental alienation, are other examples where decisions to shut out a person creates a psychological trauma for the shunned party.

Then there is negative emotional detachment to a higher degree, wherein the person may seem fully present, but operate merely intellectually when emotional connection would be appropriate. This may present an extreme difficulty in giving or receiving empathy and can be related to the spectrum of narcissistic personality disorder. This kind of heavy negative emotional detachment also allows acts of extreme cruelty, such as torture and abuse, supported by the decision to not connect empathetically with the person concerned.

So, boom, there is is right there. This is the form of negative emotional detachment more generally known about and associated to detachment in general, the definition of which, ends up being the accusation most commonly leveled at philosophical detachment. Obviously this conflation is a misrepresentation, the motive of which, is mostly likely to dissuade an individual from freeing themselves from attachments by maligning the tool of freedom from this snare as something insidious and unsavory. In other words, whether people are even consciously aware of it or not, the natural inclination of individuals in delusion, is to try to keep everyone else also in delusion. It's mostly due to the conditioning, but sometimes there are also rare cases where the misdirection is deliberate and malicious.

So no, detachment, in the philosophical context, has nothing to do with the management of emotions for practical applications, nor of the emotional disorders of broken psychologies, but has everything to do with severe clinging attachments that inevitably bring deep suffering. Attachments, in this case, clarified specifically to mean: letting the configurations of illusory external appearances be conditional to some imaged state of emotional equilibrium; a pursuit that cannot ever be realized from it's approach, as real lasting inner peace is unconditional, and is unrelated to the addict like fixation of wanting certain gratifying feelings to be experienced, while wanting other frustrating feelings to be avoided.

So any assertion of detachment represented to mean: not caring, or being devoid of empathy, is an issue of psychology, not of philosophy; and this distinction should always be clarified for the purposes of serious discourse.

Yet, even if this distinction becomes clarified, one should also be prepared to recognize another major form of discouragement used to disregard detachment: that is, that the pursuit of this discipline is a waste of time because it's objective is an ideal. This type of dissuasion is a very commonly used tactic of the awareness denying externalists; indeed, it seems to be one of their favorites, as it is generously used as a sort of quick fix, one dismissal fits all repudiation. When in doubt, dismiss it as an ideal. And, of course, I say: whenever they play the ideal card on you, it means you are on the right track. Forge ahead with extra vigilance...

So now that we have elucidated these specific points about the general topic of detachment, let's tackle a couple of other common misunderstandings: which is: that detachment is basically the same thing as, or achieves the same purpose as, avoidance, denial or abstinence. This couldn't be further from the truth, pertaining to the aim and intent of detachment. Concerning avoidance, people often think that if they can identify the things that disturb their inner peace, and then set about to avoid them, that this somehow equates into a form of detachment. Or that, if one has no control over some feeling or experience they encounter, that ignoring it is a form of detachment. Sorry, but this doesn't cut the mustard. The first thing you need to come to terms with, is: it isn't anything "out here' that is actually disturbing your inner peace, so seeking to avoid any such factor isn't going to achieve the necessary subjugation, and hence mastery, over the mind.

Same goes for ignoring. Yes, the word is IGNORE. Which, on a side note, should be parsed for it's cryptosemantic implications; as the word "ignore" and the word "ignorance" have a specific relational significance worth meta analyzing. But, not to digress, ignoring isn't detachment. Ignoring is indicative of resentment, despite pretending that it doesn't bother you. It's obvious that, whatever it is that you are pretending doesn't bother you, is indeed bothering you, if you feel the need to go out of your way to ignore it. It's still succeeding in bothering you, but ignoring it is just the suspension of making the proper inner adjustment.

These types of provocations, that are seeking to push your buttons, are graciously serving as an instructive teaching; showing us exactly what we need to tweak within ourselves to overcome the power we give away by letting a state of inner peace be conditional to arrangements of illusion. I know you get upset when your buttons are pushed, but the HOPE, is that perhaps, after you eventually get bored and tired of always acting like a predicable wind up toy, that you will finally arrive at the point where you become aware of the existence of these buttons, and consciously choose to remove them. You don't have to feel you are compromising anything by doing this, for little by little you are making yourself impervious to oppression and manipulation.

And, don't expect any pats on the back for showing "tolerance"... as this still reflects an aversion. You'll get credit only when, whatever it is that you think you are so graciously tolerating, truly doesn't have the ability to bother you anymore. If you are avoiding or ignoring arrangements of appearances in an attempt to try and sustain a state of inner contentment, you are still playing the game of investments; and this isn't the discipline of detachment.

What the world needs is acceptance, not tolerance. None of us should tolerate within ourselves a sentiment of harnessed hatred. But that doesn't mean act it out either. It means purging all hate from the heart and becoming centered in all encompassing acceptance.