When I was at the village in October, we had a day long workshop given by Katherine James, Ph.D. (my advisor, btw) on Esoteric Insights to Death. Present at this workshop was someone I had never met (well, there were LOTS of people I hadn't met!) but I was particularly struck by Risa. Her comments during the presentation showed amazing depth and knowledge of the Wisdom Teachings and added significantly to the discussion. Tooling around the Sancta Sophia site, I noticed that the weekly astrology readings and commentary were written by Risa. So, I've started reading them to see what each week's energy may bring.

This week's forecast for Libra said this:

You may have been thinking of how to help those in sorrow, who need care and thoughtfulness, kindness and understanding. In the month to come you will reach out to those in need in a more spacious manner. All judgments of others, especially family members, you will find are not useful to you. Nor are they Right Human Relations. Something teaches you this.

A confession: In the past, I have been a very judgmental person. I am less so now but constantly have to be conscious of those thoughts seeping into my mind and heart. I realize, as Wayne Dyer has pointed out, that judging someone is not at all about them but about my need to judge. My need to feel "better than" someone else. I know I swing from feeling vastly superior to everyone (ha! I know. Isn't that sad?) to feeling like a piece of crap (sad as well). Who I am lies somewhere in the middle, most days. Do I have gifts and skills that make me a cool chick? Yep. Do I have things about myself that I need to work on? Oh yes. I'm thankful for being conscious of those things and making my way forward.

As I commented to Cousin 'O Love recently, I wish that teachers made things a little easier for us to learn our lessons. But what good would that do? The best teachers reflect back to us the things we most need to improve upon. (IMO, anyway) When I reach out in loving kindness and am met with indifference (or what I perceive as indifference), I feel sad. Yet, what is the lesson? Do I continue to reach out and detach from the outcome? Do I say "I'm done" because they didn't "ooh and ahhh" over my offer? Where is the middle ground for me here?

Risa's comments were right on target for me this week. Those judgments I am in the habit of making do not serve me. Being conscious of them as they occur helps me see the path to Right Action. And that is the role of a good teacher, is it not?