On Wednesday afternoon, a week and a half ago, I was on a taxi back from a wonderful day of meeting my friends in Tel Aviv. The taxi driver and I were engaged in an interesting conversation, when I got a phone call.

“I am calling from the Women Cancer Center”, the caller introduced herself. My heart stopped beating. Before our trip to Israel, I experienced some breast pain and went to check it. “Your physician referred you to a biopsy”, she continued. Shaking with fear, I scheduled the appointment.

Intellectually I was not worried. Cancer does not hurt, at least not at initial stages. I just did a mammogram recently. I am on top of my health. I feel good. I take care of myself. Most biopsies end up with finding nothing to worry about.

Yet, since that call, I was not able to sleep well. At first, I thought it was jet lag but after a few days I realized I was terrified of the test and its findings.

On Thursday morning I went with my husband to the Cancer Center. They did another ultrasound which determined there was no reason to do a biopsy. I went home relieved. On that night I slept like a baby.

Aries is ruled by Mars. The red planet was named after the Roman God of War. Aries is the sign that represents the archetype of the warrior.

Pluto will square the sun from Monday, April 10, until April 29, 2023.

I have this aspect in my birth chart. The essence of it is transforming our fears into power.

How do we do that?

My son, who just recently turned six, is afraid of some characters in books and movies that are supposably suitable for his age. He often has bad dreams.

Last Thanksgiving, we started watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas and had to stop it as I felt my son was terrified. He could not sleep well for a few days afterwards. The Grinch still comes up and scares him on rare occasions.

The situation in Israel is scary. It is uncertain where things are heading. My friends and family are all making sure to have a second passport, just in case.

The New York Times has just listed ten events of mass shooting in the US that happened since the beginning of 2023!

We all deal with fear. Global fears, environmental fears, social fears, and personal fears.

The question is whether we deal well with our fears.

“The true warrior isn’t immune to fear. She fights in spite of it.”

 ~Francesca Lia Block

Fear is a natural human reaction. Fear is what drives us to protest and fight for justice.

The conversation around fear used to be different. We were expected to conquer our fears.

With Pluto squaring my sun, I experienced lots of fears as a child. I did not tell anyone about them. If I did, the reaction was “there is nothing to be afraid of”.

The subtext was “Your fear is not justified. You are weird and delusional. You should fix yourself. Stop being afraid”.

When my son expresses fear, I always support him. “I understand your fear”. It is scary to stay alone in a dark room. It is terrifying to meet a spider in your dream. Jim Carrey as the Grinch makes me uncomfortable.

Then, I help my son cope with the fear. “Repeat after me”, I tell him, “I am safe and protected. Nothing can hurt me.” I hug him and stay with him until I feel his fear subsides.

Feeling safe and protected, my son can face his fears.

We are so used to avoid our fears, to suppress them, to ignore them. We categories them as interruptions or negative thinking. But when we do not deal with our fears, they become bigger and bigger. They get out of proportion. We need more and more energy to keep them hidden from our consciousness.

Pluto squaring the sun in Aries is asking us to acknowledge our fears, cope with them and work with them.

Only when we are ready to look at our fears in the eyes, we become true warriors and claim our true power.

Yesterday, I attended the weekly live meeting of Find Your Voice, the writing program I mentor at Elephant Academy. Waylon Lewis hosted Alexandria Crow, a renowned yoga teacher. The discussion was about mindful marketing.

One of Alexandria’s suggestions was that when we market something, we list all the fears we have around it. “No one will sign up for my workshop.” “No one will read what I publish.” “No one will buy my product.” And so on. Then, we should write best-case scenario results. Finally, we find a reasonable medium that reflects realistic expectations.

We need to look at our fears so that we can see which fears are based on our wounds and psychological patters that do not serve us well, and which are based on valid warnings.

We need to discern between fears that we should embrace, fears we should let go of, and fears that should motivate us into action.  

Only when we acknowledge our fears, we can truly work with them. Otherwise, our fears find ways to manifest and manage us, without us noticing. Then, our fears stand in our way.

Pluto squaring the sun in Aries is asking us to be courageous and brave in facing our fears.

This week ask yourself:

• Do I tend to suppress my fears and tell myself that there is nothing to be afraid of? Or do I respect my fears and work with them?
• What am I afraid of right now?
• Am I ready to face my fears and transform them into power?