Inner Hunger And Thirst
Many times in the past I felt that it would be highly revealing to study the birthcharts of those who are valiantly battling to keep their weight under control. For a very long time I have been nursing certain suspicions about Saturn’s influence on the Moon and Venus in such charts. This continued until one fine day, the Universe sent Angela and her birthchart into my life, to provide me with as fine an example as anyone could wish to confirm my intuitive knowledge.
For non-astrologers let me explain that all difficult aspects, wherever they are found in our chart, are invariably an indication that in the affected area of our lives we shall encounter struggles, stress and strains. This is by no means something negative, because when handled correctly these aspects are an indication that potentially enormous soul growth can be achieved during this lifetime. None of the things that on the surface of life are usually perceived as something negative are ever meant to be some kind of punishment that the Universe dishes out. In truth, the hard aspects can present us with valuable learning opportunities; their intention is that we should learn to handle them better during this lifetime than we did in previous ones.
My experience has shown that overweight people usually are emotionally highly sensitive souls. They are engaged in a constant battle with the world of their feelings, to hold down their painful and unpleasant ones with food, in the hope that this will make them go away. But they only do so for a little while; then they return with ever greater strength. A vicious circle, if ever there was one! It is for good reason that from time to time unpleasant memories and their accompanying feelings surface in us. This happens because they are residues of unresolved issues, from earlier in this lifetime and also from previous lives. They do not come to haunt and torture us in some way. They are merely pleading to be acknowledged, looked at and dealt with by us because they are messages from our inner delicate and sensitive self, our soul. This part is trying to help us in this way to resolve the old memories and heal the feelings connected with them.
This can be an extremely scary process and so it is not surprising that for as long as the earthly personality is unaware of their true purpose, it would rather not attend to them. Not knowing what is at stake, it is only natural that it tries to push them away. And there are many ways of doing so; with the help of food is but one of them. Another two and even more dangerous ones are drugs and alcohol. But because these things are not meant to work, in the long run they refuse to do so and when they do, they create even more suffering. There is no need to despair for sensitive souls, if they but ask help will come.
For each one of us this present lifetime is a precious gift and a fresh opportunity for resolving the conflicts of all previous lives and for healing the wounds our soul received during its struggles. Everybody’s whole life is in need of healing and our human relationships are in particular need of attention, especially the most difficult one of all, the one with ourselves. And there is within each one of us a great hunger and thirst for spiritual wisdom, knowledge and understanding that is meant to lead us into soul growth. This is the very reason why we are here.
As mentioned elsewhere, our soul is always trying to communicate with us through our physical body. And whenever there is some disturbance and/or discomfort there, it is a cry for help from our soul who demands our attention because something is bothering it The same applies to emotional disturbances; they are trying to find an outlet but we, in our ignorance of what goes inside our bodies, suppress our soul’s signals with food, drugs or alcohol. The outer earthly self frequently misinterprets the soul’s promptings that are trying to express that very special inner hunger and thirst, which no food or drink of this world can satisfy.
The suffering that is inflicted in this way on body and soul can and will come to a natural and happy conclusion, as soon as the outer personality realises the underlying cause of its troubles and begins to make an effort to attend to its true, namely soul needs. Those who are strongly under the influence of Saturn, as Angela is, do well to bear in mind that this planet is a symbolism for the stern schoolmaster of earthly life who eventually turns into the great rewarder. But this is only possible for those who willingly and patiently attend to their lessons in this great school of life. For those who do, the benefits – when they arrive – can be great.
Astrologically and spiritually, Angela presents me with a picture book study of all the aspects of over-eating I have long suspected to be its true underlying causes. I would love to hear from some of you ‘out there’, who are willing to share their insights and learning they have gathered, either from their own struggling with this predicament, so very hard to get under one’s own control, or through someone close to them. As far as Angela is concerned, the best news of all is that she is young enough to change her by now deeply ingrained behaviour patterns. My feeling is that when the by now more conventional approaches to this disorder, like childhood conditioning and traumas, have been sufficiently explored, it may be worth while to reach further back into and try access a person’s soul memories of past lifetimes. It would be interesting to find out how other sufferers feel about this.
One cannot help wondering how far back Angela’s food issues really reach. Could she have brought them with her from previous lifetimes in the hope of overcoming them in this one? When this article came into being Angela was twenty-eight and therefore preparing for her first Saturn Return. Those unfamiliar with this concept can read more about it in the Astro Landmarks section.
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The above is a chapter from ‘The Spiritual Perspective Of Eating Disorders’
If it has whetted your appetite to read more, please follow the link below:
‘The Spiritual Perspective Of Eating Disorders’
