Eustress: on the cradle formation

Source of image

There is a recent formation in the sky that is pretty cool. It is between Pluto in Aquarius, Jupiter in Leo, Neptune in Aries and Uranus in Gemini, all in 4 degrees. I would not call myself an astrologer, but I enjoy astrological aspects as a maths lover. Pluto and Jupiter are making 180 degrees with each other, like a see saw, and they each make 60 and 120 degrees with Neptune and Uranus. This formation is called The Cradle, regardless of which 4 planets are involved. This specific cradle is relatively rare because all 4 planets are outer planets. Outer planet is the term in astrology for slow moving planets (as opposed to inner or personal planets that are fast moving). Since they are slow moving, they stay in more or less the same degrees for quite some time, which makes the formation lasts longer.

So this particular formation is called Barbault’s Basket, named after a French astrologer André Barbault. I could not access the actual text in his book. What I gathered is that in 2014, the English edition of his book was published “The Value of Astrology”. He predicted 2026 to be a “re-launch of civilization”, “a turning point”, where rational and spiritual mind of humans reach a higher level. He also wrote that the emergence of new world civilization begins in 2020 and will reach full flight in 2026-2028, where stagnancy will give way to reconstruction. To be honest, these description matched very well with the Chinese Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches system (天干地支), my personal experience and my observation.

Let’s go back to the cradle.

I recently learned about the term “eustress” and I think this cradle is exactly that. Eustress is the opposite of distress, coined by endocrinologist Hans Selye. It is the good kind of stress, that awakens our motivation, excitement, energy etc. Working on a puzzle is eustress, it challenges the brain. Weight lifting is eustress, it pushes our muscles’ endurance level. And then I thought of the scene where Daenerys Targaryen emerges from fire with her dragon eggs being hatched. The right amount of eustress pushes us to the limits of the current level, until the surface tension of the next level is broken, and we are at the other side. Just when you thought you are about to throw away the water with the baby and run and hide, you are reborn. The Jupiter in Leo and Pluto in Aquarius see-saw tension is the eustress, the rim of the basket. The beautiful, harmonious aspects are the glitters inside.

Pluto opposite Jupiter is the tension between ambition and control. It is the stress test that comes with a series of deep questions. When I choose A, do I choose it because it is truly my passion or is it because I can gain the upper hand? When I choose A, am I choosing it to run away from hidden pains or am I allowing healing and growth? When I choose A, am I driven by enthusiasm, or am I in a power struggle? Am I doing or am I waiting? Am I enjoying or am I self-punishing?

You might notice that the line between eustress and distress is thin. This is where self awareness comes in. If we do not know ourselves enough, do not read our bodily responses and sensations enough, do not allow space for our emotions enough, we cannot tell what is for us and what is not.

I have a personal experience to share. On the 20th of July, I was on an evening walk. It is the usual 30-45 mins brisk walk, where I interact with the sky, the flowers, the trees, the playing kids, the neighbours, the dogs, the cats and the lovely corners of my neighbourhood. I sometimes hum to myself when I am liking the walk. So on this day, when my walk was almost done and I was heading home, humming, I turned a corner near the house that has 2 dogs and 5 cats sleeping in different spots of the yard, I was zapped by an idea. It is related to my career options. The idea itself is not the point, the point is how I feel about this idea. I couldn’t believe that I’ve not thought of it, and I immediately felt excited about going for it. My analytical mind came in and asked a bunch of questions that evoked fears, but then all expression of fears ended with “but then this is so cool!”. I recognized this as a surge of motivation that only comes up when something genuinely excites me. And I also immediately assumed that it will come true, my brain automatically pictured what it will look like once I make it happen. I recognized this as intuitive faith that only comes up when something truly aligns with me. The whole thing did feel weird, until I found out that 20th of July was the day the see-saw opposition between Pluto and Jupiter became exact (meaning they were exactly at 180 degrees with each other). I was being invited by the Universe to the doorstep of the next level.

What I wanted to point out with this example is that it is super important to work on READING yourself, and having the space to observe in real time what is going on within you. We cannot expect our auto-pilot system to run the show well, because that system was inherited from our family and societal constructs.

If you are feeling this Cradle like me, work on coming back to your body, coming back to the inner self, so that we can MEET that eustress.