Winter, or the Flood, 1660-64
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Last night in my dream I had images of flooding. I was visiting a large group of people who lived in an apartment which was part of a series of old Victorian-style apartments on a river bank. I was up one tier, and the river kept rising to the level of my car which was parked outside on the street.

I ran outside to the car, and after some fumbling with keys, losing the needed ones, I managed to get my car parked on the crest of the hill. I ran back downhill - I think I had a child to take with me. I’m not sure if others in the apartment were planning to evacuate, but I sure was. This wasn’t the first flooding incident in that neighborhood.

Then I noticed a large family of impoverished Hispanic women and children returning to an apartment further down toward the river. I ran down to warn them, in Spanish, of the river’s rising. The mothers were unmotivated to do anything to save themselves or their children. It seemed the government had harassed them and they just got their children back, and felt overwhelmed and traumatized by the events they’d been through. They could not handle any more, so they refused to worry about the flooding.

Then I saw a family next door to them, living in a more prosperous looking apartment. I asked them how they survived, and they said they just shut the door. I guess their apartment was waterproof! They were sitting in there relaxing and watching TV, undisturbed.

I ran back uphill and the river started rising again. I had done what I could to warn the women and try to save their children. Now it was time for me to save my own and get out of that neighborhood.

. . .

A dream of flooding indicates feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope. I believe this dream indicates that I feel overwhelmed by my blogging activities. One of the blogs is for families falsely accused by CPS, and I feel the apartment filled with traumatized women and children represents that blog. It is my most popular blog, hence, closer to the river. The other apartments could be symbols of other blogs I’ve been working on. I didn’t see a Geniyyah Healing blog, but it may have been there. I didn’t visit all the apartments.

The contrast between the two riverside apartments could indicate what it takes to be a successful blogger. I feel I’ve been part of the women/children group for many years. I started blogging in 2001, partly as a result of being traumatized by the 9/11 tragedy. I raised children from 1973 to the present time - that’s almost 35 years of being a mom. My youngest is now 17.

The waterproof apartment had three relaxing people in it. They were prosperous, with a plush white carpet on the floor. No children were there. I need to be part of that group of bloggers who are capable and competent because they have fewer constant worries in life.

The people I was visiting with uphill were other bloggers. None of them seemed ready to bail. But I’ve decided to work on multiple blogs because my interests in life are so diverse, and I’m having a hard time keeping all of them up to date. I’ve heard of at least one professional blogger who worked on eighteen blogs, updating them daily. Wow, I’ve got less blogs than that, and am lucky to get to some of them twice monthly. In the world of blogging, that’s completely unacceptable.

I’ll be working on this issue, privately, trying to do the right thing by keeping blogs up to date or eliminating blogs that don’t work for me. Geniyyah Healing won’t be one of those - I see my future as being deeply involved in spiritual healing issues, so expect to keep seeing me here.

I used to be very into astrology. I had books to tell me how to create the charts, an ephemeris, and even the special papers with pre-drawn charts to fill in. I got pretty good at it and learned all the houses, signs, and symbols and what they meant. I could tell you what all the planets, aspects, and everything else meant. This was in the days before computerized astrology programs made it easy to get the information.

I’m aware that certain signs are considered to be more compatible than others. And after 55 years of living (my 55th birthday is today) I’ve got this to say about that.

Astrologically speaking, signs of each element are supposed to be compatible with each other.

Fire Element Signs: Aires, Leo, Saggitarius

Air Element Signs: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius

Earth Element Signs: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn

Water Element Signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces

Also Fire and Air signs are said to make good friends, and Earth and Water signs, the same.

…

Okay, I’m here to tell you, it isn’t that simple. I was born under the sun sign, Cancer. I have had a number of relationships throughout my life, and unfortunately never found the perfect person for me unless this turns out to be Bob, who has been my boyfriend for just over a year now.

My first three relationship experiences were with Scorpio men. All three of them were supposed to be compatible, yet they turned out to be toxic relationships. After that I quit caring about finding someone compatible. My last three relationships have been with an Aquarius, a Capricorn, and a Saggitarius (Bob).

Each relationship had its good points, and bad, but I can honestly say the relationship with the Capricorn man was the easiest. He and I were almost exactly opposite on the sun sign chart - as he was born January 15 and I was born July 13. Although we got along great, we didn’t have a lot in common and that eventually convinced me to move on to find someone who wanted to do the same kinds of things I dream about doing. My Capricorn friend’s interests were never going to be the same as mine.

The relationship with the Aquarius was intriguing but had to end for my preservation of sanity. It wasn’t an easy relationship, but who said I want things to be easy? And I can say the same about my Saggitarius partner. His way of thinking is much different than mine, and I’m learning a lot by learning from him. I find that when I pay attention and try to take in his suggestions (and philosophical Saggitarians have plenty of them) I benefit. I am changing - not by being with people of my own Element, but by seeking people of other elements to teach me who they are and how they think.

…

Astrological star sign compatibility is much more complex than the chart above suggests. It is based on which houses your planets are in, and how the planets aspect those of your partner’s. And even if you think you’ve got the perfect person, astrologically speaking, you may run into trouble. There are too many variables. Unless you are an expert, or have access to one, astrology is not a good indicator of who to choose as a partner. Remember me with my three Scorpio guys, none of which were good for me in the long run.

…

A better way of choosing a partner is to find someone who has the same hopes and dreams as you do. And know that finding this person is luck. You have to be in the right place at the right time. You can ask the universe to help you, and intend to find the person who is right for you. For example, place yourself into a quiet, centered frame of mind, and say, “I intend that I will find the best partner to spend my life with, someone who I’ll be happy with, who will be good for me, who will encourage me to fulfill my highest potentials in life; insofar as it is for the highest and best good of all involved, so be it - and so it is.”

…

I’ve read a lot of astrology books and guides. My favorites which I go back to again and again are the ones written by Linda Goodman: Sun Signs, Love Signs, and Relationship Signs. Though the compatibility guides can’t tell you whether a relationship will last forever, it will give a pretty good idea of some of the aspects of what it will be like.