Care of the Soul Counseling and Astrology

11/18/2025

A "trauma-focused" medical doctor promotes the idea of “letting go of your victim story,” which overlooks the neurobiological and relational realities of trauma. ☣️

When people have been profoundly hurt, the “story” isn’t just a set of beliefs to be questioned; it’s the brain and body’s record of what happened. It’s carried in implicit memory, physiology, and attachment patterns, not just in thoughts that can be reframed. It's a biological effect. 🧬

When someone is still hurting, their nervous system is trying to complete unfinished processes of protection and connection. Shame or self-blame for “staying in the story” can deepen dysregulation and isolation. The idea that “no one can hurt you unless you believe they can” dismisses the fundamental truth that human beings are biologically vulnerable to one another. We are shaped in relationship, and injury in relationship leaves real physiological marks. ‼️

From an Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) perspective, healing isn’t about transcending pain or denying impact; it’s about integrating experience: bringing implicit bodily memories into awareness safely and with attuned connection. That often requires the presence of trustworthy others who can co-regulate, not just cognitive inquiry into beliefs. 👥

There’s wisdom in noticing when we’re looping in old narratives, but true transformation arises not from disowning the story, but from being compassionately witnessed in it until the body and mind can settle into coherence again. The story then naturally changes, not because we forced it to, but because integration has occurred. And that is genuine liberation! ⛓️‍💥

11/10/2025

11/03/2025

09/27/2025

I can’t harden myself to match the cruelty around me. I know that love is the only way forward.
Real healing doesn’t grow from brutality. It grows from compassion.
Love is not weakness - it’s the most radical form of resistance in a world that thrives on fear.

Ella Hicks
Artwork by Joma Sipe

09/08/2025

Local PNW/ South Sound resources.

09/07/2025

Happy Lunar Eclipse in Pisces, Beloveds 🌝🐟♓️ I feel like this painting really captures what the opposition of the Virgo-Pisces axis feels like to me. On one side, the earthy virgin stands stall on a mountain of cascading waterfalls and detailed greenery, a white rose suspended between her palms. Counterbalanced by the Priestess who sits on her throne of imagination, behind the veil, receiving a stream of divine water from above.

I always think of this painting as my first true moment of dissolution, when I surrendered completely and allowed my hand to be guided by spirit, painting without premeditation. My psyche also went through a total dissolution and the boundaries between worlds all but disappeared. It became difficult to distinguish dreams from waking life, and I oscillated between pure ecstasy and emotional overload.

But even though I let that Piscean dissolution liberate my imagination, the detail oriented Virgoan impulse still came through as I refined the images that emerged from the unconscious waters. I always say when it comes to dissolution that the important thing is to keep one foot on dry land. The lunar seas are a rich treasure house of images, but to dive too deep or too long brings the risk of lunacy. We need something that keeps us connected to earth, whether that’s a job, children, a pet, or some other responsibility, or physical practice that gets us into our bodies. It’s vital to know how to enter the liminal, but without a connection to earth we may get swept away. I was pretty close to being subsumed by the waters, but my creative practice has always been my tether, a way to fix the volatile.

What is this lunation dissolving in your life? How can you tap into Virgo’s energy to stay grounded while allowing the Piscean waters of the spirit to open your inner world to new possibilities?

The Composition of the Waters, oil on panel, 2016 (30” x 40”)

08/28/2025

It's not about someone stealing our heart. It's about restoring its aliveness. It's about softening its armor. It's about filling it up with light. When real love enters, it doesn’t take anything from us. It gifts us with the everything.

08/23/2025

“Healing from trauma isn’t a straight line – it’s a spiral.” You might find yourself revisiting old feelings, triggers, or memories you thought you’d left behind, and wonder if you’re ‘going backwards.’ But trauma often presents in cycles – moments of heaviness where you feel stuck, periods of numbness where you detach just to cope, and brief windows of hope where you catch a glimpse of the person you’re becoming. The first step to healing is recognising these cycles not as failures, but as invitations. Begin by noticing your body’s cues, honouring your emotions without judgement, and creating safe spaces – whether that’s through therapy, journaling, or grounding practices – to gently explore what’s underneath the pain. Healing starts small, with moments of self-trust built over time. And on the days it feels too heavy, remember: every spiral, no matter how messy, still moves you forward. You are not broken – you are unwinding, unraveling old wounds and becoming a different version of yourself and that is powerful!

Natasha Ann ❤️
Art is via Pinterest

08/15/2025

"So, if you are too tired to speak,
Sit next to me because I, too,
am fluent in silence.”
R. Arnold

Maxfield Parrish - River Ascutney, 1942.

08/01/2025

“Go out in the woods, go out. If you don't go out in the woods nothing will ever happen and your life will never begin.”
Clarissa Pinkola Estés - Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype, 1992.

Alison Ingram - Spring Shadows and Swallows, 2025.