[originally written & shared on january 9, 2021.]
this is the first time i’ve ever made anything like this and tbqh even tho the razzing is all in good fun, it felt kind of icky!!!!!
roasting the signs is not my typical m.o., but, when i started to do some mental prep for tomorrow’s #DignityBabes reunion on the ESSENTIAL DIGNITY FOR REAL LIFE panel with @astrologyvoices, this is what came through!
How the signs misuse essential dignity
Alternate title: 12 ways to not use essential dignity
Aries - thinks of essential dignity as a competition and themselves as a winner
Taurus - only incorporates the doctrine for the purpose of worshipping their dignified planets
Gemini - “well it all just depends on so many factors so it’s not even worth putting any weight on it”
Cancer - guilt trips people with exalted planets cause it’s not fair they have them and others don’t
Leo - are convinced that they’ve “earned” their dignified placements and are hot shit because of it
Virgo - Sees debilitated placements as something to be fixed
Libra - overly concerned with William Lily’s table of dignities & debilities and the numerical value assigned to planet condition
Scorpio - reduces people have they beef with down to a debilitated placement
Sagittarius - uses modern rulerships for hellenistic techniques *or* refuses that modern rulerships have any value even outside of essential dignity
Capricorn - uses others’ debilitated planets to justify complaining about them
Aquarius. Doesn’t adhere to the traditional system of essential dignity. It’s too conventional.
Pisces. Uses debilitated placements to convince themselves they should just give up
i’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we humans are pretty skilled at distorting just about anything in our pursuit of self-sabotage when we separate ourselves from our wholeness.
the systems that we seek out and learn for the purposes of liberation (as big as religion, or astrology as a whole, or as specific as essential dignity), can easily become just another source of conditioning if we don’t exercise discernment. when we disconnect from the truth that we are already perfect and when we disregard juicy nuance, these tools or systems can become just another mental prison.
how can we stay in right relationship with the frameworks that we seek liberation from? mmmm well i don’t think there is a super easy answer. but some ideas i have are:
notice how the systems you explore and integrate both challenge and affirm your existing beliefs
notice how it feels in your body to have those beliefs challenged or affirmed.
take your time integrating new concepts and allow them to coexist with the ones you integrated yesterday, at least for a while.
seek many perspectives.
trust your own experience.
remember that discomfort, pain, grief, and struggle are not indications of failure.