Intro/Outro Music: 0:13

Aloha and welcome to your Heart Magic, an illuminating space where psychology, spirituality and heart wisdom meet. Here's your host, dr Bethann Kapansky-Wright. Author, psychologist and spiritual educator.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 0:33

Aloha everybody, welcome to your Heart Magic. This is Dr Bethann Kapansky-Wright, and happy spring equinox to everybody, or Happy Autumn Equinox if you are joining us from the Southern Hemisphere. We have just celebrated the middle point between light and dark that comes between winter and summer, and it is also the beginning of Aries season, I think, the day this podcast is coming out. They usually come out on a Thursday, and so all those things put together made me think that it might be really fun, since we are celebrating the astrological new year and stepping into Aries season, to explore the topic today of the Aries archetype and what does Aries season mean? What is the archetype of Aries season mean? What is the archetype of Aries? How can we channel and harness the energy that we are umbrellaed under during Aries season and use that to move ourselves forward in a way that works with the energy? So we had so much fun when I did the archetypes of the tarot and I got a lot of good feedback on that, and that was about a year and a.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 1:41

Archetypes of the tarot, and I got a lot of good feedback on that, and that was about a year and a half journey of going through the cards in the major arcana and, just as a reminder, archetypes are universal patterns and themes and symbols that represent something that holds true to the human experience. So an archetype is a collection of ideas that are usually under the name of something like the tarot card, the empress or the Aries season. Aries is an archetype and it represents these patterns and dynamics that hold true for all of us, regardless of who we are. And so, even if we don't necessarily fully identify with some of the archetypes that are out there mother maiden, the wise king, the golden child, the artist, the idea of having an aspect of ourself that is more goddess type energy, that we might have the emperor type energy those are different examples of archetypes and, as I was saying, even if we might not fully identify with one, there's aspects of it that can hold true for us. So, just like with any personality and way of being in the world, we all have preferences where we might operate under a collection or sort of a cluster of archetypes and ways of being that come with a little bit more ease for people who strongly identify with more we'll say, like emperor type energy.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 3:19

That's an archetype in the tarot and emperor very much represents structure and leadership and being in charge and being able to contain and organize systems to move it together for a higher good. Let's say that you don't necessarily see yourself as a leader and you feel like you have a lot more of a taking a backseat energy in you. It does not mean that you don't have access to that archetype, that you don't have an aspect of leadership inside of you, and it certainly doesn't mean that we can't challenge ourselves to develop something that doesn't feel quite as natural for us or something that's our go-to. That is the fun thing about archetypes we can draw on them and draw on the ideas and the symbols behind them in order to help connect us to a resource inside of us or build that resource inside of us. So we build that part of ourselves up.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 4:18

So I love talking about archetypes and we will be doing the archetypes of the astrological wheel and I thought what better way to start this than kick it off with Aries season? So each season, when we get to a new Thursday and we're moving into a new sign and astrology, we'll talk about whatever archetype that means. So back to Aries what does Aries season and the archetype of Aries mean? Aries is the first sign in the zodiac and it is all about I, I am, I can do. Aries is connected to the element of fire and it's about creativity and inspiration and action. Aries says act first, think later action. Aries says act first, think later. Fortune favors the bold Key words that might be associated with Aries are words like pioneer warrior leader courageous, decisive, taking action, blazing new trails.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 5:20

This is a very active sign and it's very active energy when we're in the sign. Like I said earlier, aries says act now, think later. It is the catalyst and encourages us to take affirmative action in our life on our own behalf. Now, as with any archetype, there's always a light side, and then there's more of a shadow side, the side that's challenging if that peace of ourselves, that aspect of ourselves, isn't in balance with everything else. So some of the challenging aspects of Aries can very much be me. First, aries can be very impulsive. There might be an assertiveness that goes over into aggression, or being really single-minded in pursuit of something without stopping to pause and think about the consequences. So none of those things are necessarily bad per se. It's all about finding balance and finding a way to balance and harness those energies. And when we can harness the energy of Aries and listen to our hearts and take action that's in alignment with the dictates of our heart, with whatever instructions and urgings we have in our heart, we are such and urgings we have in our heart, we are such powerful catalysts for change. So I wrote a poem back in Aries season, back in the beginning of April in 2016. And it's very simple. It is called Fire and Light and it's in my book Heliotrope Nights, and I just thought I would read these few words to set the tone for Aerie season you are your own best resource and your own agency of change. If you want something different in your life, make it happen. Like I said, very simple, and I wrote this poem when I was going through my initial grieving months after losing my brother in January of 2016.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 7:16

I wrote this at the beginning of April of 2016. And I remember writing it. I was actually in Oregon at the time and I had traveled there from Alaska to visit in-laws and I very much. It was in my heart to make this move to Kauai. It was also in my heart to start to write books and to start to change my life and make some shifts, and I've talked about this on the podcast before.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 7:42

But one of the things that came from the loss of my brother, when I was able to get through some of the worst of the grief and the happiness and the sorrow and some of those more dense feelings, was this renewed spark that I could feel within myself. It was this catalyst, this little flame within me that I could feel building as I was going through my grieving process, and I could feel this desire and this call to do something different with my life. And I felt like life was saying are you who you're meant to be in this world? Are you living as authentically as possible? Are you doing the things that you really want to do? And the answer was no. There was some things, yes, that I could have said yes to, but the no part was that I wanted to be a writer, but the no part was that I wanted to be a writer, but I was terrified to sit down and put a book together. That felt so daunting and it felt so overwhelming.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 8:40

And at the time I knew I wanted to evolve beyond my understanding of myself as just a psychologist. You can't see me, but I did air quotes with that, because there's nothing wrong with being just a psychologist. You can't see me, but I did air quotes with that because there's nothing wrong with being just a psychologist. It's a wonderful profession and one that I've dedicated a lot of years to at this point. But we are multidimensional. We all have the desire within us, I believe, to evolve beyond our understanding or a singular way of how we think about ourselves and to experience other aspects of ourselves. And so the part of me that was really artistic and intuitive and wanted to be able to bring those things into my work a little bit more, I felt a little stuck within like that current version of Bethann and that old version of my private practice at that point in my life version of my private practice at that point in my life and I also knew that I wanted to move to Kauai. This had been something that was on the radar and something that me and my husband had been talking about, but there was a lot of fear around when to make this jump. And so, as I was going through my grief and I could feel this little spark, this kindling building within me, and I really felt like something was being birthed or something was hatching. It felt like these seeds had been planted and were kind of springing up within me.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 10:00

And, as I said, I had this invitation from life of are you who you want to be? And if the answer is no, what are you going to do about that? And that is what Aries asks us to consider. Aries is I am. It is about the self, it is about understanding ourself. Aries says are you who you want to be? Are you doing what you want to do? Are you taking action on your own behalf in a way that is aligned with you? And if the answer to that is no, well, what are you going to do about it? Aries is very good, instead of arguing for our limitations, at just knocking them down and saying, okay, well, if we got those limitations out of the way and those preconceived notions of why you think you can't do something, then what's left? What are your objections now?

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 10:51

And so when I wrote this poem and said, like, if you want change in your life, if you want something different, make it happen. I was really getting in touch with my sense of agency and my sense of purpose, and my life was pretty set at the time. If I had chosen to stay in that incarnation of Bethann 2016 and evolved within that space, it was very comfortable and everything was really set up. But I also knew that I was not in alignment with what I felt called to do, and so I was really playing with this idea of how do I take my two hands and flip them up to the sky and open them up, right Palms up. I'm ready to receive and ready to like look at my hands these instruments of capability and do something, create something with my life. So that's the question that Aries ask us what do you want to create with your life and the wisdom of Aries?

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 11:47

The temperance of Aries that comes from working with this archetype and understanding what is good and beautiful and wonderful of Aries. That comes from working with this archetype and understanding what is good and beautiful and wonderful about Aries, which says act now, think later, leap first and then look where you're going to land. It also helps us understand what happens when we act first and think later, when we leap and don't look. We learn this temperance and wisdom when we work with that energy and learn like what are the beautiful things that come from taking action and when might we look back and say, oh, I wish I would have thought that out.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 12:20

Had I known then what I know now, I might have done this differently. That's how we gain wisdom. There's nothing wrong if we take action on our own behalf and we feel like we have taken ourselves down a path that we really don't want to continue on. We haven't messed up, we haven't missed the boat. We are not here to live life neatly and perfectly and always be in our wisdom and get it right. We're here to be gloriously messy. That is how we grow in wisdom. Be gloriously messy that is how we grow in wisdom. If we are gifted with a long life, maybe at some point we get to have wisdom from our younger years and we have lots of lessons of well. Now I know what I didn't know then. And so now that I know this, I'm going to do things differently and I'm going to take that wisdom into account and I'll move forward differently.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 13:10

But part of our sovereign right as a soul, part of our heart, wisdom is that we don't know what we don't know, and so sometimes we just have to take a chance on ourselves and find out what will happen if I do this. And again, that is all Aries. That is just charging into the bright future and believing in the brightness of the future and believing in the fire energy and finding that fire energy within us to move and to act. And so if we want to apply the Aries archetype to our life this Aries season, then I think the best way to do that is to think where are you holding yourself back in life? And this doesn't have to be something big. This is a pretty extreme example that I'm sharing, so I just want to fully acknowledge that I am not making this podcast today to say whatever.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 14:01

The biggest dream in your heart is that you need to leave life behind as you knew it and go for that. If that's in your heart and you're really feeling called to do it and this is your sign, well great, go for it. But it can be something small and it can be something modest. It can be that you've been wanting to sign up for a class, or maybe you've always wanted to travel somewhere. It could even be traveling somewhere close by where you live. You want a road trip somewhere. Maybe you want to try something different. Maybe you have been thinking for a while of oh, I'd really like to go hiking on this new trail, or I really wish that I could do this on my weekend, instead of being responsible and doing chores or whatever. Do those things.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 14:43

Aries will ask us to find the areas in our life that light us up, that we have a sense of excitement or fire, energy and passion towards and move in that direction. So we can work with the Aries archetype simply by taking a step and making the commitment to follow something through and we can also work with it. If we want to sit down and do some inner work in our journal and do some self-discovery, to really look at how am I limiting myself? What story do I have that says I can't do this thing or it's not for me to do whatever it is that's in your heart to do? How am I arguing myself out of it? How might I be overthinking something? I've definitely learned that there are times to wait and times to have patience and times to let the path unfold in front of us and to be putting out to the universe. I'm looking to take a step, but I can't see clearly what the step is. So help me figure this out and help the path unfold.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 15:45

There's times where that is where we want to be and it's not in our best interest to rush ahead because the timing's not there. And then there's times that we really feel like we're at an impasse and we've been asking for signs and we have been asking for a way forward and if we really sit with it, we might realize like the way forward is just giving ourselves permission. Maybe we are the ones holding ourselves back and we are the ones limiting ourselves and, like the universe and our angels and energy, is just kind of like hanging out waiting for us, tapping its fingers, being like, okay, I'll sit here and chill with you a while longer. If you want to stay at this impasse, that's fine. You can do work at the impasse. You can keep thinking about your choices. You can keep thinking about why you're afraid to take the leap or why you don't feel like you're ready to make the step. Like I'll sit here and chill with you until you're ready. But I found that a lot of times.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 16:42

If something's really in our heart to do that, what energy is waiting for is for us to take one step in that direction so that the ground can rise up and meet us there and the trail can begin to be made. If we are waiting for a map and a blueprint that says, yes, you are going to do this thing and here's exactly how you're going to do it and here's what it's going to look like, and here's a little clause that says it will all work out and if it doesn't, you'll get your money back and you can have life back as you knew it, that's never going to come. It's not why we are here as a soul. Part of our soul journey is about growing in wisdom, it's about growing in experience and it's about choosing our adventure and making choices and learning about where our choices lead us and what consequences come from those choices not in a negative way, but in a way that our soul is very curious. It wants to grow, it wants to experience, it wants to learn, it wants to see, well, what happens if I go over here and do this thing, and what's that experience like? And if we realize we're taking a path that's not in alignment, well, how can I choose differently? How can I empower myself to flip this and reframe it and to get back into alignment with my heart? So, from the perspective of our soul, for the most part we're always good and always gold. We're never really heading in the wrong direction, but we can get out of sync with what's in our heart to do, and so our soul kind of wants to guide us back and help us get back on the path and get back into resonance with whatever it is that's in our heart that keeps us close to our authenticity, our heart magic, our spiritual connection, our hopes and wishes and dreams, our soul calling our path and our journey. So don't be afraid to take a step, even if it's a small step, even if it is declaring to the universe. I don't know what my physical, tangible step is, but I know that I am ready to do whatever it is. Fill in the blank with whatever your thing is, and I claim this for myself. I claim that I am a writer. I claim that I am ready for growth. I claim that I am ready to be more intuitive. I claim that I am ready for aligned relationships in my life. I claim that I'm ready for a life change, and I don't know exactly what that looks like, but I know I don't want more of the same old stuff. So I am open to this. I claim my transformation, even if that's your step. Start there. That is a beautiful place to start and don't worry so much about making a mistake. I know that's really scary.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 19:23

I think for many of us we're living really consciously and like we want to get it right. We want to set ourselves up in a way to have a great life that supports us. We want to be aligned. There's a lot of fear around but like, what if I fall? And what if it's the wrong direction? And what if it's a mistake? And I think that, even though I understand the seriousness of that and wanting to make sure that we're pointing ourselves and heading in a direction that's right for us, when we've done as much self-work as we can do and there's no big thing stopping us or anything like that, I think sometimes we just have to go for it and we just have to say, well, sink or swim, I'm going to do this thing. Come on, universe, I dare you, I'm going in this direction. Meet me there. And I am making the best decision that I know how, based on what I know, based on what's inside of me, and so, whether or not this is the right way to go, this is the way I'm going, it's what I know to do. So please support me on this path and help me in this new adventure, help me in this direction that I'm going.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 20:29

As I was sitting down to put together the content for this podcast and make a few notes, I was reflecting back on my life and just different times that I've had some sort of Aries energy in my life and when I've really been like living by the mantra fortune favors the bold, and times that I've just been bold and I've claimed something for myself. And I was remembering back in the year 2020, it was February of 2020, because it was right before COVID came. And I was remembering back in the year 2020, it was February of 2020, because it was right before COVID came. And this was all happening for me more in the fall then of 2019, as I was making plans around this.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 21:03

But I was really frustrated by lack of speaking opportunities and lack of opportunity to create and speak in a bigger way, and I was having a hard time finding ways to connect with other people and to give myself the opportunity to step more fully into the role of being a teacher, being a speaker and not knowing what that looked like for myself.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 21:28

It's like I was waiting for somebody else to come along and define it for me, or maybe I was waiting for them to carve out the role or invite me onto something where maybe somebody else had set it up and I just got to show up and from that I got all this momentum and none of those things really happened for me. I was really frustrated career-wise and was really questioning my move to the island and questioning a lot of things in my life at that time a lot of soul searching that was going on, and I don't remember what the catalyst was. I really don't. I don't know what it was that sparked this. I just remember that I had this idea come into my mind. I thought well, nobody puts baby in a corner.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 22:08

If I feel that I've been sidelined here and I'm not getting the opportunities that I want, then I'm going to have to create those opportunities. And somehow this vision came that I was going to go back to Alaska because at the time I'd only been gone a few years and I still had a lot of connections there and I was like I'm going to go do an event weekend and from that I decided to put on a talk. I rented a stage. I can't believe I did this. I rented a stage at the LUSAC library, one that set 200 people, a little auditorium. I needed to know what it was like to be on a stage and what it was to be the keynote speaker, and I did not feel that I was getting those opportunities that I really wanted, and I didn't know how to find those opportunities. And so I was like fortune favors the bold, go get it. You go get your speaking opportunity and you go make it yourself. And so I did. And I was totally terrified. I was so scared and I was so exhilarated, I was so excited.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 23:04

I think my soul probably felt like it was on, like the greatest ride, one of the ones that, if you are somebody who likes rides at the carnival or at the fair. That part of you is like screaming half the time, but it's also so fun and you get off and you're like that was awful, let's do it again. No, I don't know that I want to because that was awful, but maybe I kind of want to do it again. I feel like that was my soul, just having this like exhilarating process around it, and I really had to work with the energies of overcoming fear and doubt and really manifesting and being this agent of change and saying I'm going to make this happen for myself. And, of course, earlier when I talked about sometimes there's times to be patient and trust the process and let the path unfold. I have told this story, but it was a great weekend and I really felt like I'd found this new pathway for myself.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 23:56

And then this is like February of 2020. And then March of 2020, covid hit and I was back on the sidelines again. The whole world was right. We all kind of got sent to our rooms by the universe and had a lot of time for introspection, and so that was. That was kind of that for that path and that shape and form, and I had to yield to what life was showing me, but I'm so glad, when the timing was right, that I struck while the iron was hot and I created that opportunity.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 24:23

Nobody can ever take that away from me, and you have that within you too. Whatever the opportunity is for you, it doesn't have to be something like that. It is your version of what it is, that you dream about, that you think about, that, you wish for, that you hope for. And how can you not only act on your own behalf, but find your brave, find your courage, be a leader in your own life and take that step and push yourself a little bit out of your comfort zone to expand into whatever it is that inspires you. So with that, I'm going to close with the passage today, and I feel like this embodies Aries, energy, and it's called leap. This is from small pearls, big wisdom, and this is a passage that I actually wrote after I had made the decision to go speak. So this is a little bit of a letter to myself and I hope it inspires you Leap.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 25:18

There will come a time when you're going to be asked to leap. It's going to feel so scary, your insides will jelly into liquid lava pools and your heart will drum into fiery flight frenzy and your mind will freeze in suspended disbelief because what you're feeling called towards feels so indelibly big. And you're going to do it anyway. You're going to do it because some core part of you knows it's the right thing for you to do. You're going to do it because the voice of your soul will hold you to it, insisting this brave, big leap will be the genesis for a braver, bigger you. You're going to do it because, despite your heart's thumpings and pumpings, it has been yearning for this moment, this rich opportunity, and waiting for its chance to break through and break out. You're going to do it because you've learned how to show up for you and you've learned through showing up for you. That spirit will always meet you in that space and help grow something beautiful and revolutionary. Mostly, you're going to do it because it's who you are and you never back down from who you are.

Dr. BethAnne Kapansky Wright: 26:30

But just in case you're reading this and you need a nudge in the right direction, just in case you've been asking for a sign or confirmation or message from the universe, here it is. I believe in you, you are brave and you can do it. Now please go take your leap. Happy Aries season everybody. Thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today. I will be back next week with a new episode on psychology, spirituality, heart wisdom and storytelling. In the meantime, as always, be well, be love, be you and be magic. Be love, be you and be magic.

Intro/Outro Music: 27:19

You've been listening to your Heart Magic with Dr Bethann Kopansky-Wright. Tune in next week for a new episode to support and empower your light.