The notion of anchoring is one of the central concepts of NLP (neurolinguistic programming — Ed.). It concerns a natural phenomenon which consists in associating an external stimulus to an internal state. The memory trigger is a famous example of spontaneous anchoring. By eating a sponge finger cake, Proust remembers in greatest detail a scene from his childhood. In this case, the trigger is a taste (stimuli) which awakens nostalgia (internal state). There are many other possibilities of anchorings. We can have associated the first notes of a song to a very joyful evening or the image of a beach with the sensation of relaxation. Most anchors are unconscious, but we can create them deliberately. Then, instead of undergoing a particular mood, we can choose it. Anchoring is one of the simplest ways of taking control of your mood and having access to an array of resource states.
We call ‘resource states’, the states which are optimal to live a situation (courage, relaxation or concentration) and ‘limiting states’ those which hinder and damage us (stress, fear, lack of motivation, etc.).
Managing internal states consists in choosing the adequate internal state in a given situation, being able to engage it and knowing how to remain in this state during the situation. In parallel, we learn to avoid entering invalidating states and to deactivate them. We can also create beforehand positive anchors which will be activated when needed.
Being able to draw from one’s wealth, the question to ask is: ‘What is the most appropriate internal state to face this situation?’
Find a previous situation where you lived this positive state. Mentally relive the scene with your five senses until you intensely get in touch with the resource state then associate it to a sensory anchoring: a pressure on the skin or a small victorious “Yes!” Personally, I like the anchoring which consists in closing the fist as if we were holding our internal state in our hand. So that the anchor works, you need to place it as soon as you enter this resource state entirely. Then, by doing the exact same gesture, the resource state returns with the same intensity. Do not choose a gesture that is too common; the anchor would be quickly worn out by other requests. Contrary to behaviouristic practices, if the anchor is well placed, it is not necessary to repeat it, to guarantee longetivity.
All the resources necessary for your evolution are inside you. You can now condemn the access to your old highways of gloom, discouragement and rumination. Anchor all these beautiful resources which you have in you: your state of awakening and curiosity, your benevolence, your optimism…
For example, now, which resource do you need to integrate your overefficiency? I would personally suggest you anchor a curiosity and pure wonderment like a child who discovers a park with swings. So you shall study yourselves by thinking “What a beautiful brain! It is fantastic to be able to be a lemur in my tree-like thoughts! Yahoo, it’s so fast in my head!”
Original text by CHRISTEL PETITCOLLIN from I Think Too Much: How to Channel Intrusive Thoughts (isbn:9782813220646)
translated from French by S.A. TEDMAN
EYAEL: Teachers look like ghosts. It's as if they"d just blended into the background or belonged to another dimension.
CHRISTELLE DABOS: It's part of the things that were brought against me by many teachers. Some teachers read the book and didn't like it precisely because it didn't give a positive image of the teaching profession.
When I wrote the book — again, the original title was Tales of Here and Only Here, and it wasn't meant as some kind of state of play of the existing education system.
I remember when I was in grammar school, all the teaching staff were ghosts. I hardly have any memory of classes, of what I've been taught. But I do remember school yards. I remember what was going on in between classes. Personally, that's what affected me most. Actually I think that's where a major part of learning was taking place ultimately. It wasn't with the theoretical knowledge in class.
And so I'd say in this story, clearly they're twicely — let's say ghosts. First because I deliberately chose to sideline them. And also because, since it's written from the perspective of youth, actually for them as well mostly, teachers are more present than they imagine. It's just that, for them, they too have blind spots. They only see their immediate reality. But they're still part of it.
I've had multiple feedback from teachers saying "Wow, that's not really enticing. And it doesn't give a positive image of our profession." I felt bad as it was so NOT my intention. I had absolutely no desire whatsoever to speak out.
Yet I thought it's a bit like in — pardon the parallel, but it's a bit like in Batman. For the Batman figure to emerge, it took a police system at best incompetent and at at worst corruptive. If the system were doing their job properly, the Batman figure would not be able to emerge. And so I thought that's the point too. If it were a school where everything's fine, with good communication and stuff, it might not be the same story at all anymore. And this wasn't what I wanted to write about.
In fact, the problem Here isn’t so much that it doesn’t change. It’s more that everything starts again. And I’m scared.
~ The substitute teacher
I have no desire to condemn in any way, as it's mostly the system which is being set up. The mechanism which is being re-enacted from one playground to another, from one generation to the next. And it's like an never-ending cycle. People are quickly labelled. And of course, there are the victims, the abusers, and those who belong to neither category but are caught in the middle.
Timelessness Minus the Internet
EYAEL: The story could easily take place anywhere anytime except that the current existing technologies seem out of it. Don't you think that with the Internet dimension, the story might not have ended the same way?
CHRISTELLE DABOS: Indeed, I really wanted to provide the most timeless dimension possible. Incidentally, the original title wasn't Here and Only Here, but Tales of Here and Only Here.
Actually, I did make a reference albeit a subtle one — I do mention certain things which might suggest they may have phones. But it's very subtle. For instance, at some point I mention there's some video trafficking going on. They're sharing videos, but I make no mention of what it is. There's one who's got a games console. Let's say these are small indicators that it's not set in the early 20th century.
But clearly, it wasn't what I wanted to explore. I think I'd need a whole book entirely dedicated to cyberbullying to provide such a dimension. So I thought, “no, I'm not getting into that dimension. I'm just sticking to the grounds of Here”. Especially since the initial aim was to talk about the place. I thought with the Internet, we might wander off a bit. But it might be interesting, indeed to explore a story based on the same premise, but this time, all the way on to the Internet.
It's so hard for me to imagine what they must experience with this strong Internet presence with regard to grammar school. So honestly, I don't know.
EYAEL: Isn't there a risk that it might prevent today's youth from identifying with the story?
CHRISTELLE DABOS: I, for one, know that when I was a schoolgirl,I had no trouble immersing myself in books about grammar schools that took place in the 19th century.
I remember, for instance, Little Good-For-Nothing by Alfonse Daudet which begins in some kind of boarding school in which Little Good-For-Nothing is a supervisor at the beginning. Well, clearly it was far from sensing what I would experience, yet the issues were there. He was the fall guy. And I would totally identify with him.
Or Carrots.I really loved Carrots (by Jules Renard). Incidentally I read the book in grammar school and re-read it many times since. It's extremely tough.
School Bullying
EYAEL: School bullying is a taboo issue generating buzz at the moment, but actually, nothing is done to really address it. So in this regard, your book is rather timely.
CHRISTELLE DABOS: Actually, with this grammar school issue, what's taking place behind the walls of schools and the whole issue of bullying in particular, but not only — I realise that (maybe less today) it's kind of taboo for it's something I hadn't addressed with anyone for a very long time. In my experience, with all the people, friends I've made afterwards, we never address these issues.
So when the book was released and I heard stories from people telling me “Well, this is the reason why this book shook me”, I thought this is quite alarming. Actually, I realise nine persons out of ten did have a very bad experience at grammar school. That ratio is scary.
And so I thought, “Wow! I thought I was the only one.” At grammar school, I felt very lonely. I felt like everything was okay for everyone except me. And now I realise actually I wasn't. It was painful for many.
So my feeling is that it's a sort of micro-society, but we'll find all this happening on a larger scale afterwards and that primary school won't prepare you to all this. You come from a very supportive, cocooned and regulated environment, and then, all of a sudden, you've got new codes but they're untold. They're extremely implicit and if you don't have the keys, it's not easy.
So I for one was lucky that there were no social media when I was at grammar school. Really, I think copying with all this today at school … That thing is pure harassment. I mean, before when you left the place, you really did. You weren't happy to go back, but once you had left … Whereas now with social media, it follows you home. There's no break anymore. In fact, it can continue. That how I imagine how scary it must be.
EYAEL: Do the people once subjected to school bullying really want to immerse into that again?
CHRISTELLE DABOS: Actually, the whole issue with this novel, was precisely “Who is the target audience?” We did wonder and still do.
In fact, I realised what happened with the Mirror Visitor is that, ultimately, it was mostly parents — moms who read the book to see if it was suitable for their children and eventually became my first readers. And after that, they passed the book onto their kids. But when moms read Here and Only Here, “I don't want my child to read that. It scares me.”
It's scary either because they're about to enter grammar school or they're already in, and they're afraid to frighten their kids. So my publisher had assumed that it was supposedly aimed mainly at students leaving grammar school or already out of it. Ultimately, grammar school students were not the target audience. It was mostly those in the next phase.
There are people who carry that within for many years. At my personal level, which is not necessarily extreme, I realise that I've been haunted by grammar school for nearly my entire life. And in fact, in order to move on, I had to write this book. I thought, “That's it! Now I can say I'm definitely out.”
EYAEL: I don't know if you remember "College Boy", that famous music video Indochine released in the early 2000's. It featured a grammar school boy being bullied by his schoolmates and who ended up literally crucified before being shot down. There was a whole hullabaloo about it at the time and it had been censored in France.
CHRISTELLE DABOS: Since you mention Indochine's music video, I came across — but I can't remember the titles — many Japanese and Korean dramas addressing this issue in a very direct way. They're going full way! Really, they're showing scenes of how it all begins so that, very quickly, someone may find themselves excluded from a class. And all the abuse that may ensue, first psychological and even physical. Sometimes it may escalate. And I've seen many of these dramas. For me, it was amazing as I don't often see such staging, the way it is addressed and shown. I thought that's really tough, but it's something very real.
That's what we were talking about. Ultimately, it's a microcosm which is the reflection of something occurring on a larger scale. And it begins to take shape at that time.
New Upcoming Book
EYAEL: Do you have any other writing project underway?
CHRISTELLE DABOS: What I can say at least — at this point, I think that's certain, there's a book coming out on Gallimard Jeunesse in November.
It's the novel I mentioned earlier on, the story I started writing right after the Mirror Visitor and which was temporarily suspended by the writing of Here and Only Here. And as a result, it is a bit like a bridge between both. Then, actually, world-wise speaking, it's purely fantasy since it's not our world and not exactly our humanity. It's very similar, but just like the Mirror Visitor, it's pretty similar but it's not.
Except this time, I was very inspired by the 1980's in terms of general atmosphere. That's my childhood years, that is. So I said, “I want Walkmans, I want rollers, I want Minitels …” In terms of colouring, I kind of wanted that 1980's texture. So strictly speaking, it's fantasy. But my publisher, I think, will be more specific and label it as dystopia.
Since it's been written right after the Mirror Visitor and before Here and Only Here, you may feel it. Even though I picked it up again after I completed the latter, I think you'll actually feel the Mirror Visitor touch as well as the Here and Only Here touch, while it's like neither of them.
New Moon Eclipses are among the most exciting astrological events. They herald a complete change of pace. It's as though you're headed in one direction, probably being guided by your ego, and then here comes the Divine — the Goddess or Spirit — to turn you instead to face the direction you actually need to go.
Yasmin Boland, Moonology
In all eras, from early civilisations, that would regard them as messages from the gods, to modern civilisations the god of science told them were just the shadow of the moon momentarily obscuring the sun when aligning in between the latter and Earth, eclipses never ceased to both fascinate and terrify mankind. While it's actually a matter of perspective if the moon, which is 400 times smaller than the sun, looks larger. It's only because, at the time of watching the sky, it's 400 times closer to Earth. In fact, it's mostly the rarity and brevity of these astronomical events which seem to trigger so much dread and fascination.
I, for certain, do not intend to discuss the various doomsday prophecies nor the many “conspiracy” scenarios which can be found online, but I do have many questions. I'm wondering because, for a change, all the varying perspectives, from the most eccentric to the really practical, seem to converge and agree on one fundamental issue: humanity is now up against the wall.
First of all, if anyone would like to enjoy this rare sighting, I'm afraid the eclipse on 8th April will only be visible across the North-American continent and Gulf of Mexico for a maximum duration of 4 minutes 30. It will be the second total solar eclipse visible across the United States since 1918 — the first occurred on 21st August 2017. Federal authorities are expecting huge inflows of eclipse hunters willing to travel thousands of miles in order to witness this uncommon event in action. So far, it's hardly surprising as regards to American people as they're always looking for sensations, one may say.
Things get interesting, even challenging, when you hear that National Guard units will be deployed as well as “22 members of a special biological, chemical, radiological and nuclear unit [who] will be present if necessary”. FEMA is also reported to be on the case. Residents of Oklahoma, on the path of the eclipse, have even been urged to store food, water and gas for a couple of weeks. They're also being informed that communication channels might be saturated, impacting the mobile network…
All this for a mere eclipse?!
Intrigued, I decided to generate the chart of the event using the one and only true astrology†, that is sidereal astrology which takes the precession of equinoxes into account and you'll see how significant this “detail” is.
A Patch of Sea Between Heaven and Earth
In that day they will roar over it like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks at the land, there is only darkness and distress; even the sun will be darkened by clouds.
Isaiah 5:30
The chart of next week's eclipse is somewhat unique in the sense that all the planets are gathered on one third of the zodiacal circle, forming a pattern called bundle or wedge, the edges of which are occupied by Pluto (god of the underworld) aka the Great Reformer and Uranus (god of heaven) aka the Great Awakener with Neptune (god of the sea), master of the eclipse in Pisces, standing on the midpoint between these two planets.
The first troubling fact is that Pluto in sidereal Capricorn (the sign of power, governments and institutions) is conjunct Altair, the brightest star of the Aquila constellation, the Eagle which happens to be the symbol of the USA. Now, the last time this conjunction occurred (as seen from the Earth, Altair is a fixed star and Pluto takes about 250 years to revolves around the ecliptic/zodiac) was on the declaration of independence of the United States of America on 4th July 1776.
Another interesting “detail” is that Uranus, at the outer edge of the bundle planetary pattern, is conjunct (3 degree orb) the Sun of the creation of the state of Israel on 14th May 1948 at 27°26 sidereal Aries, whereas the latter is conjunct Algol the demon star.
Even more unsettling are the combined paths of the two Great American eclipses, 7 years apart, intersecting to form a gigantic X across the USA as you can see on the above picture. Could it be the marking-off the end as for Nineveh, the last capital of the Assyrian Empire as mentioned in the Bible? Oddly enough, the previous eclipse path had crossed 7 American cities named Salem (meaning “peace” and which was also the name of Jerusalem at the time of King Abraham) whereas the path of next will cross 7 cities named Nineveh.
Please, note the predominance of number 7 which, numerology-wise, happens to be in analogy with planet Neptune.
7 in the Belly of the Fish
Now the LORD provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah 1:17
Jonah is a prophet mentioned in all three Abrahamic religions — which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam. God sent him to Nineveh for the great city to repent of its decadent ways. But Jonah disobeyed and took a ship to Tarshish instead, which was in the opposite direction. In order to punish him, God created a terrible storm. Concerned with preserving his companions in misfortune from the Divine wrath, Jonah asked them to throw him overboard and the turbulent sea came to peace. Jonah did not drown but was swallowed by a huge fish in the belly of which he was held for three days and three nights, imploring Divine forgiveness. On the fourth day, he was cast upon the shore.
The Bundle pattern condensing the energies of all eleven planets in one third of the zodiac is even more potent since it harbours a stellium or cluster of 7 planets and points in sidereal Pisces (that is Neptune, Venus, North Node, Moon, Sun, Chiron and Mercury). Associated with, amongst other things, Christic energies, spirituality, reincarnation, the subconscious, dreams, imagination, intuition, empathy, invisible worlds and hidden things, Pisces is an elusive nocturnal dual sign as illustrated on my cover picture. It is related to the 12th house of seclusion, ordeals, secret enmities and betrayal as well as ambivalent Neptune which may bring to enlightenment as well as to confusion; to redemption as well as to perdition; to merging as well as to alienation.
Note that the planets clustered together in a stellium act as one, providing a special emphasis of the sign they occupy. Each planet relies on all others as one united family. This stellium is even more potent as its ruler Neptune is part of the cluster and conjunct Scheat, a giant red star from the Pegasus constellation which could potentially cause flooding. Interesting since the elusive Q advises to “watch the water”.
Out of water all life comes.
The Koran
Neptune, the archetype of universal love and ruler of our evolution (North Node) and Mercury, ruler of our collective karma (South Node) are located at either end of the cluster. Neptune is directly conjunct Venus, the planet of worldly love and opposite true Lilith (shadow self) in sidereal Virgo, which should challenge humankind to confront its illusions, unravel its unconscious patterns and fears, while serving as a catalyst for its spiritual evolution. Mercury retrograde on the day of the eclipse calls to introspection and forces us to look back at ourselves.
In addition, Chiron, the Wounded Healer, exactly conjunct the New Moon, suggests a brutal awakening both necessary and salutary, especially as the karmic axis (lunar nodes) is located on the midpoints of this energy bundle. As though the scales from our eyes were taken off in order to force us to face the shadow monster we're desperately attempting to flee. The parallel with the story of Jonah therefore seems totally relevant.
The Finger of God Pointing at Our Karma
And suddenly Ralph shrieked: “Larry! Larry! The Hand of God!” Ralph’s face was transported in a terrible joy. His eyes shone. He was pointing into the sky.
Larry looked up. He saw the ball of electricity Flagg had flicked from the end of his finger. It had grown to a tremendous size. It hung in the sky, jittering toward Trashcan Man, giving off sparks like hair. Larry realized dimly that the air was now so full of electricity that every hair on his own body was standing on end.
And the thing in the sky did look like a hand.
“Noooo!” the dark man wailed.
Larry looked at him ... but Flagg was no longer there. He had a bare impression of something monstrous standing in front of where Flagg had been. Something slumped and hunched and almost without shape—something with enormous yellow eyes slit by dark cat’s pupils.
Then it was gone.
Larry saw Flagg’s clothes—the jacket, the jeans, the boots—standing upright with nothing in them. For a split second they held the shape of the body that had been inside them. And then they collapsed.
Stephen King, The Stand
Usually, the planetary pattern called Yod or Finger of God only applies to planets or luminaries — not to hypothetical points such as the lunar node axis in this case. However, with such a peculiar chart, I find it further emphasises the message as if the Universe wanted it to stand out clearly like a neon sign in the dark of night.
See the large green arrow shape made of two quincunxes (adjustment) with the Mars-Saturn pair (considered action) in Aquarius on one hand, and the Uranus-Jupiter pair (social justice) in Aries on the other hand, all pointed toward the South Node of karma in sidereal Virgo like a laser beam.
Besides, Mars and Uranus are in mutual reception (i.e. in each other's sign of rulership) potentially prompting to violence and impulsiveness. With Black Moon Lilith on the firing line teaming with Pluto, all dark issues related to satanism and paedophilia the general public didn't want to hear about or even consider until now, could be irrefutably exposed at long last, triggering knee-jerk reactions and anger.
Let Go of the Tail of the Dragon or Sink
Virgo and Pisces, that's the Christ axis. In the Christian era, these are the two constellations that influenced the development of the qualities of Virgo and Pisces within human souls: purity and love of neighbour. You know, the early Christians weren't symbolised by the cross, they were symbolised by the fish. […] All men have two fishes and five cakes of bread, but the majority are partly fed. They solely feed the physical plane, unaware that they also need to feed the spiritual plane.
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov, Le Zodiaque, clé de l'homme et de l'univers
The South Node in sidereal Virgo symbolises excessive materialism and intellectual inflexibility. Just like Saint Thomas, ordinary people only believe in the tangible and repress their sensitivity and intuition. In order to believe, they need to see first. Here you go!
The message of the Eclipse is to let go of the mind which has been hacked by the involutive forces operating in the shadows — and pulling the strings of the official puppet clowns acting as our leaders — to reconnect to the Divine Source, the Christ energy within, by way of the heart and unconditional love. Letting go of our limiting beliefs (Virgo) to embrace our infinite creative potential (Pisces).
The theme is that of acceptance, forgiveness, healing, and redemption, but again, Neptunian energies are ambivalent. What about the fish that chooses to remain in the involutive shadow of the tail of the Dragon while the other chooses to face and transcend its past in order to evolve and get out of the vicious circle?
Judgement Day
Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
Jonah 3:4
40 days after the eclipse would be mid-May, the anniversary date of the creation of Israel when the returning Sun is conjunct violent Algol again (since it's a fixed star), supported by exuberant Jupiter. I will say no more as I'm neither a fortune teller nor a fatalist. Astrology is not a crystal ball, but rather a tool for self-knowledge in our pursuit of evolution.
Numerology is too and it's interesting to note how the numbers of the day, correlating with the major arcana of Tarot, echo the chart of the eclipse. Thus 2024 is a 8 universal year (2+0+2+4) of Justice or the Law of Return in analogy with Libra.
April is a 12 universal month (4+8) of the Hanged Man or the Crossing of the Desert in analogy with Neptune, letting go and the need to change perspectives. It may also suggests a reversal just like the 8-shaped hourglass you turn over when the time is up. A new cycle.
The 8th (again!) is a 20 universal day (8+12) of Judgement or Reconnection in analogy with Pluto and the Phoenix. Dying to ourselves and being born again. Clearing out what no longer serves us and undermines our collective evolution.
Reduced to a number between 1 and 9, it's a 2 universal day (2+0) of the Great Priestess or Inner Sanctuary of introspection in analogy with the Moon.
2 is also the number of duality and the 2 fishes. 2 timelines?
Back to the predominance of number 7 as mentioned earlier, it's often associated with God and Divine Perfection. The 7th major arcanum of tarot is that of the Chariot of victory or Steering Power. This is what is requested of us whenever we're torn between two opposing forces in order to keep focused on the middle way.
We've had a 7-year period (of reflection or misfortune depending on our mindset) in between two eclipses to see what lies behind the curtain of the Magician of Oz and decide where we stand. To see or not to see, that was the question. Sometimes it's not enough to tell people, you need to show them. That's why we've had 7 years of veil-tearing over what we call reality, so that a large number of souls could wake up. The Devil worshippers are so no longer hiding and, over the last few months, we've had a real ever-increasing flood of filth on display, so that anyone condoning these acts or words can no longer use the excuse of not knowing.
I see it as some kind of a countdown expiring soon or just being activated; the last remaining grains of sand flowing through the bottleneck of an hourglass. Place your bets! The wheel is turning. The die is cast. There's a parting of the ways. When? How? I don't know, it's just how I feel.
Endnotes
^ “Our zodiacal reference tool is modelled on the genuine constellations of the sky. Not the astronomic constellations since they vary in length, but the configuration of the Mesopotamians who, thousands of years ago, identified 12 major star clusters on the ecliptic path of the Sun. I mean 12 and not 13 as there are 12 constellations with their main star on the ecliptic. At the time, the first sign was Taurus since it was the Age of Taurus. When we entered the Age of Aries, Aries became the first sign and ever since we entered the Age of Pisces, that was 1,800 years ago, it should have become the first sign. It hasn't because a Persian cult (the Khorasanians) fixed the false Aries as the first sign of the zodiac and this heresy spread all over Europe […] The sidereal zodiac is based on stars whereas the tropical zodiac is based on the seasons of the Northern hemisphere regardless of stars.” (Source)
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