There are times when the souls of even those born under the lucky star of Jupiter, feel as if they were “Deep in the shady sadness of a vale.”

Sadness comes to us at all ages, because we value and understand different things at different times. And because we are sharing this planet with others who both affect us and experience their own trials and tribulations.

For years, Americans have sought to medicate an entire line of legitimate, human emotions, feelings and mental states. But life is comprised just of this variety of states. Pain, sorrow, grief, discouragement, withdrawal and times of incapacity are perfectly normal states.

People sometimes are afraid of darkened states, but great treasures are found in darkness. One should not necessarily avoid or try to mask these states. One should enter them and explore deeply. Often one simply needs to find the desire that is being frustrated, in order to move into more light.

Sometimes one has to discover something about oneself that has nothing to do with desire, but more with aspiration, intentionality or habit. Very often, a state of confusion and perplexity comes from forces which are not personally related to us. This is a large planetary chain, filled with flowing forces and energies which impact us.

To medicate oneself unnecessarily is to take a detour to a dead end. Frequently the more difficult path–the unfamiliar, uncertain and unlit one–is the wiser choice.

– Raphael O’Suna, Haiku