Anything different or limiting our usual freedom to engage with the outside world - especially that imposed on us due to a crisis - can feel restrictive and even suffocating right about now. We've had weeks of stay-at-home, and even if we usually like being home, this new temporary regimen can get old. We can feel boxed in, even if we truly have plenty of space, and our desire to know "when" the next phase starts can leave us feeling restless. Continue reading for a higher view of our conundrum and suggestions for responding.

Energies and Circumstance

For starters, even without a global pandemic, this week's planetary energies are catalyzing a strong urge for freedom. The next several days - with a Mercury-Uranus-Sun conjunction in Taurus - look for rebellion against the "rules" as some people feel beyond their comfort zones and want freedom.  

A planetary line-up like this before the virus would have felt different - related to a quite different set of circumstances.  

However, the underlying energy nudge may have been the same. We are creatures of habit - with routines and relationships we knowingly or unconsciously exist with. The universe sometimes gives us a nudge, however, that mixes things up and changes our "normal."  

Fast forward to April 2020 with the virus, and the same type of energy nudge is amplified exponentially. This can lead to moments of rash rebellion - sometimes conflicting with common sense and intuitively guided reason.   

What I suggest for all of us: take the middle path of balance, common sense, and a higher view of all things. Nothing lasts forever - this too will pass! More in these themes in my new book Predictions 2020. 

The Role of Certainty

Ironically, our urge for freedom now sits side-by-side with one of the most uncertain times in our lives. And since we as humans are wired to want certainty, this is a huge stress on our nervous systems and it keeps our ego-minds racing in search of any answers that can calm the anxiety.  

Since the ego isn't logical, too, it will settle for unproven information or even fear-based conspiracy theories. When we are run by our ego-mind, it can convince us that even untested medicines for the virus are worth a try.  

Here's another thing - the ego will give us the linear black-and-white view.

What does this mean? One example: something could be true, like how many people died today from the virus. However, if that's the only information we take in - without context - this intake can feed our anxiety.  

While I believe it's irresponsible for media to disseminate a death toll headline,  without context, in reality most people don't take the extra time and energy to take in more than headlines or to become still and present before digesting information. They can't possibly have the whole picture or quantum view, for they don't have all the information or the context.  

Most people don't question the context or research the larger picture often not included in stories. Example: 1,000 people could have died today in X place. What I'd want to know is context and big picture. Yes, people are dying of the virus. However, people die daily across the world from a host of other things like car crashes, suicide, heart disease. What I'd want to be hearing more about in the media is the tragic state of human health in the world, making people vulnerable to the virus and numerous diseases causing premature death and poor quality of life in one's last years. It doesn't have to be this way.     

Discernment During Chaos

Discernment is one of our chief allies during these times of chaos and uncertainty.  

We truly need discernment now given all of the misinformation, lies, propaganda, and lack of cohesiveness in the global response to the virus. The fact that our world really has NO coordinated plan, NO coordinated communications infrastructure, and NO coordinated response is beyond troubling.  

We don't need to be scientists or health experts to know that global pandemics require global collaboration and cooperation. Since this is not happening, for a host of reasons, there's naturally anxiety within the population about what's really going on and where we are headed. Remember, we are wired to want answers and solutions, and when our leaders fall short, our emotional bodies work overtime as we try to make sense of things ourselves.   

Here's a further complication. Uncertainty in general - virus or no virus - tends to fuel anxiety and fear. When we study history, we learn that powerful leaders over the centuries have capitalized on fear to pursue fascist-type policies. Individual freedoms were removed, the press was controlled or silenced, leaders incited hate against minorities and immigrants, and governments instilled within the populace a combative climate of us-vs-them.  

Here's a quote from Predictions 2020:

"Throughout history we've seen charismatic leaders appealing to peoples' darker nature run by greed, opportunism, and fear of reprisal. Leaders like this prey upon a universal human fear - challenging authority."

When people are anxious and uncertain, that universal fear of challenging authority becomes heightened. This can lead to a mass acceptance of things that in ordinary times would never be condoned. Dis-empowered people are less likely to question or dig deeper to discern the larger truth.  

Discernment is a developing skill. We all have it on some level, even without extensive training, when we connect with our higher self. In my first book - Your Guide to Earth's Pivotal Years (chapter 6) - I include a checklist for how to tell fact from fiction. Below is an excerpt.  

Tips: Recognizing Truth - from Earth's Pivotal Years

"(1) If something is true, it does not generate fear or create harm. (2) Truth exists outside of linear time, yet you access it in present time.(3) When someone insists that his or her religion or philosophy is right, he or she is not presenting truth but energies of exclusion and control. (4) If something of supposed merit appears false when you first hear it, or you are unsure of whether to trust it, be open to the possibility that the idea could be partly or wholly true. (5) With information that appears to be at least partially true, inquire within yourself to discover what aspect is true so you do not unconsciously digest the whole package as true. (6) Be careful of taking in anyone else's truth as your own without first investigating it fully. (7) When you are evaluating something to determine its truth, remember to step back enough to see the big picture. Do you know any of the backstory of the truth? Do you understand the implications of the truth, both big and small? (8) Learn to ask questions that delve deeper."      

To the extent that we develop and practice discernment, we are strengthened on an inner level and are less likely to blindly accept what we are told. We do our own research to know the facts, then go within ourselves to evaluate what they mean.  

Prophecies and Conspiracy Theories in 2020s 

This preparation and practice will help us greatly in the 2020s as our world continues its mega transformation and society's infrastructure is totally reworked. It will be messy. Many secrets will come to light. Prophecies and conspiracy theories will abound in social discourse - even more than we experienced in the 2010s.  

An example now are conspiracy theories about the virus and government secrets. Keep this in mind: most conspiracy theories have some facts correct - yet the interpretation of what they mean on a big-picture level is either lacking or simply incorrect. There is fear in them, further igniting the fear we humans already carry. That fear is now UP big time across the world.  

Your Wise Inner Being 

My suggestion is to be mindful of what I've outlined here - applying discernment and common sense. Trust that a very wise part of you, connected to your higher self and inner being, is with you daily. Learn to tap that wise self as you hear crazy things or have a nightmare about what might happen. Before going down what I call a "rabbit hole" step back and sit with what you took in. Get quiet and centered in your heart - no judgment, no fear. If the issue remains unclear when you do this, let things sit overnight so spirit can work with you on the inner planes.