Aging and the Eight Gates

Last updated on: June 12, 2007 at 10:57 am by Lynn Hayes

Aging and the Eight Gates 2007-06-12T10:57:00-04:00 Lynn Hayes

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

It’s no secret that aging gets no respect in our Western post-war culture. Over the past 50 years or so (since Pluto entered Leo) youth has been celebrated and anyone who couldn’t keep up was shunted aside. Without respect for the wisdom and history of our aging population, they became lonely and abandoned. My mother turns 80 this month, and she feels she has little to celebrate at having reached this advanced age. All she feels is the isolation and loneliness of her widowhood and the trauma at having lost her health. It saddens me that she feels there is nothing to look forward to, and it makes me hope that my own aging will encompass a different experience.

Angeles Arrien, in a wonderful book called The Second Half of Life, says:

The second half of life is the ultimate initiation. In it, we encounter those new, unexpected, unfamiliar and unknowable moments that remind us that we are a sacred mystery made manifest. If we truly understand what is required of us at this stage, we are blessed with an enormous opportunity to develop and embody wisdom and character. We enjoy limitless possibilities to restore, renew and heal ourselves.”

I have had the good fortune over the past few months to see clients who are in their seventies: several women and two men. It has been inspiring to see how people on a path of growth and soul evolution have resolved the complexes inherent in their birthcharts and have gained greater wisdom and depth of spirit. It’s been interesting to note the gender differences: the women have primarily come into their own power at this stage in life; they have become better integrated persons and have claimed the parts of themselves that earlier in their lives they may have surrendered to men.

For the two men in their 70s (men typically are less likely to visit astrologers, at any age) the process is different; having split off the more feminine aspects of themselves (the Moon and Venus) in their marriages and relationships, later in life they reclaim the goddess archetype within them. Either they forced through divorce and the loss of their female to do so, or they discover the goddess willingly and are able to celebrate the softer aspects of themselves. Witnessing the soul growth and personal evolution of these clients has been an inspiration in learning how they faced the challenges in their lives and transmuted these challenges into wisdom and tranquility.

Angeles Arrien maps the journey of the elder hero as the Eight Gates. Eight of course is the number of transformation; it’s the number of Pluto and Scorpio, and there are eight gates of energy in Tai Chi, eight gates of zen practice, eight gates to Paradise in Islam. The eight gates that we encounter at midlife are:

The Silver Gate – at which we surrender our egos and accept the aging of body and mind.
The White Picket Gate – requires us to detach from the roles we have played in the past that have constructed our identity.
The Clay Gate – constantly changing, the clay gate reminds us that we are living in a body that requires care as well as pleasure.
The Black and White Gate calls on us to engage in relationships with others, overcoming self-imposed isolation.
The Rustic Gate – here we explore meaningful work, service and creativity and reassess our life’s callings.
The Bone Gate – strips away any remnants of our false self and exposes the “bones of who we are.”
The Natural Gate – where we come home to our natural rhythm and internal sanctuary. (Taurus)
The Gold Gate – where we waken to our deepest core, letting go and trusting our own higher self.

(I have added this great book to the booklist in the left panel). In this approach, aging becomes an adventure to the unknown instead of something to be dreaded and feared.

In seven years (at the age of 87) my mother will reach her Pluto Opposition, the time when transiting Pluto opposes Pluto in her birthchart (at 15 degrees Cancer). Hers is the first generation to experience that transit; for earlier generations this would have occurred only after age 100. (Geeky astrological detail: This can only happen because Pluto’s orbit is so elliptical that it spends different lengths of time in different signs. Pluto was in Cancer for 25 years between 1914 and 1939, but in Scorpio for only 12 years (1983-1995)). Our elders now have the opportunity to experience a major transformation with this Pluto Opposition that has never before been seen, and this will be true for the next few generations as well.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

June 11, 2007

Autism and vaccine link goes to court

Next Post

June 13, 2007 Jessica Simpson: Venus/Neptune in Action

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2012 Age of Aquarius Astrology Astrology in my world Astrology in the news Astronomy Business Celebrities Consciousness Conspiracy Crime Death Ecology Events Fate Favorite posts Featured posts Financial Markets Future Shock Generations Health & Healing Holidays Inspiration Jupiter in Leo Lessons Life Lynn's favorite posts Mercury retrograde Miscellany Money and markets Moon Mysteries People Planetary cycles Planets Podcast Politics Popular Culture Predictions Psychology Relationships Religion Saturn in Scorpio Saturn Return Science Signs Skywatch Sports Sun Sun signs Technology Uncategorized Uranus square Pluto Wonders of the universe

Select a Month September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 August 2000

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who were Esther's adversaries in the Persian court?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Sanherib and Nabonidus Haman and his family Sanballat and Tobiah Geshem and Tobiah