Acutonics Institute of Integrative Medicine

Astrological Insights


2 Sep, 2021
In this article and treatment recommendations I explore ways in which both internal and external factors influence our thoughts and capacity to make informed decisions. During these challenging times, we may be heavily influenced by conservative or liberal mainstream narratives, or conspiratorial social media, as well as peer group consensus, all of which hamper our abilities to make thoughtful, well-informed decisions that are truly our own.

By Dr Vanessa Strauss

Fortunately, we now have cosmic support to shimmy ourselves from this subservient mindset and begin to see a new reality, however grim or beautiful that may be. Mercury (planet of perception, information, and communication) is Virgo's second home sign of critical thinking, discernment, and attention to detail) until August 30, 2021, AEST. This is nothing unusual as Mercury passes through Virgo approximately every year. However, if you look at the signs Mercury has guardianship over Gemini and Virgo, there was a fresh ingress of Black Moon Lilith (BML) mean node into Gemini on July 19, 2021, until April 14, 2022, AEST.

BML needs to be differentiated into three different phenomena that represent her archetype:

  1. The gravitational point of the moon, the lunar apogee. Known as Black Moon Lilith. 
  2. An asteroid in the asteroid belt. Known as Asteroid Lilith. 
  3. Dark Moon Lilith. We have a rare occurrence of 2 dark Moon/new Moon phases in one calendar month. 

The ingress of the oscillating and mean node of BML into Gemini, provides a powerful opportunity to identify and remove limiting and false thinking. We are supported to be more critical in our reception of information and to examine whether we are fully informed, or is information being omitted to shape our beliefs?

For this article, we are referring to the gravitational point of the lunar apogee.

BML represents the driving force of the undercurrent of collective thought. She can show us what's in the making, what's unmanifest and emerging forth. Her ability isn't something visible but can be felt viscerally. She spends nine months in each sign, gestating that which is to be birthed.

It's important to point out that the oscillating node of BLM entered Gemini on December 5, 2020, until December 2, 2022. The oscillating node will vibrate the sign and the undertone before the main node enters the sign. In other words, we will start to feel shifts in the undercurrent before the main node enters and does the work of bringing the unmanifest into the manifest.

Over the last 15 months, there has been a concerted effort to censor the parameters of the mainstream narrative. This has intensified since late 2020, and around the globe different factions attempt to direct our attention and our conversations.

A well-known experiment conducted by Solomon Asch in 1951 investigated how social pressure from a majority group could influence a person to conform. The experiment is now regarded as a classic in social psychology and has been repeated with similar results. It is known as "Vision Test Conformity Experiments".

Fifty male participants from a college took part in the study. There were eight subjects, seven were actors, and one was the test subject who was told it was a visual perception test. The one test subject was not aware the actors were briefed to give the same incorrect answer. The test subject believed that all participants were like himself.

All eight participants lined up in a row, with the test subject last. Each person answered the question verbally so that all participants could hear. The very basic multiple-choice questions asked was to match the lines concerning their length.

There were 18 questions in total, and in 12 of those trials, the actors agreed upon the wrong answer. Of those 12 trials, 75% of the test subjects gave the incorrect response at least once. 25% of the test subjects never conformed and only gave the correct answer regardless of what the other participants said. Interestingly, less than 1% of the participants gave a wrong answer in a control group with no actors. Most participants later declared that they conformed to the group answer out of fear of being ridiculed or thought peculiar.

This study demonstrates that people are social creatures that will conform to group pressure to be accepted (normative influence) or believe that the group is better informed than themselves (informational influence). How many of us right now are making decisions, maybe even life-altering decisions, based on normative and informational influence?

"Thinking for yourself and making your own decisions can be frightening. Letting go of other people's expectations can leave you feeling empty for a time. And yet seeing yourself as an independent adult who can stand up for your own choices frees you to accept yourself as you are." Ellen Bass

Abhijit Naskar said, "Whoever controls the narrative controls the people."

It is known that when we are directed to pay close attention to a particular detail, we often miss other important information in the environment.

A noble prize-winning psychological experiment demonstrates this in the "Invisible Gorilla test", an experiment conducted by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons, 1999.

In this experiment, three players are wearing white tops and three players wearing black tops. The test is to watch the video and count how many ball passes between the players in white tops. Midway through the action, a gorilla walks into the middle of the experiment, stops and pounds his chest, then walks off the screen. After the test is complete, over 50% of subjects stated they did NOT see a gorilla

The Vision Line Conformity Experiments asked questions a five-year-old could easily answer correctly. Simple questions were to ensure that the test subject would not make a perception error. But what happens when the questions are much more complex? Are we more likely to surrender our conscientiousness and align our opinion with the crowd? I mean, who has time to research such things? I could never know enough to make an informed decision off my own back!

Now with the ingress of the oscillating and mean node of BML into Gemini, we have an opportunity to identify and remove limiting and false thinking. We are supported to be more critical in our reception of information. Are we fully informed, or is information being omitted to shape our beliefs?

The cosmic signatures are there to feel viscerally, the undercurrent of a story. This would be like seeing the Gorilla beat his chest while counting the ball passes. Maintain awareness of the visible details (Mercury in Virgo), while staying connected to our intuition and sensitivity (polarity point Pisces) to feel the nuances in the airwaves. We must not fall into hypnosis and allow information to wash over us. We must stay alert and devoted to operating the station of our minds.  

"The human mind, freed from the disturbances or "static' of restlessness, is empowered to perform all the functions of complicated radio mechanisms - sending as well as receiving thoughts." - Sri Yukteswar.

This concept of mind control was discussed in the book "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananda. Sri Yukteswar, Guru of Yogananda, demonstrates to his disciples in the late 19th century the power of a clear mind and how it can intercept, read, direct and maneuver another's thoughts and action by tuning into the airwaves like a radio broadcaster and sending and receiving information.

"Thoughts are no more than very subtle vibrations moving in the ether" - Yogananda.

It's quite alarming to consider that another person can dominate your thoughts, to the point of influencing your behavior, when you are not fully occupied.  

How can we strengthen ourselves to be better positioned to identify mind control techniques and technologies?

From a holistic perspective, we need to turn our attention inwards. In Chinese Medicine, our decision-making capacities depends on the radiance and health of several organs. However, most important is that of the Gall Bladder.

The Gall Bladder is what gives us our capacity to make decisions. The Su Wen states "The Gall Bladder is like an impartial judge whom decisiveness emanates" and that "All other 11 organs depend on the decision-making of the Gall Bladder." This implies that the Gall Bladder is the organ that motivates all others. The overall mental aspect of the gall bladder is decisiveness, courage and initiative. It controls the spirit of initiative and provides the courage to take decisions and make changes (Maciocia, 2005)”.

"The Gall Bladder takes the Zhi (drive and will power from the Kidneys) and turns it into positive and decisive action. Thus, a deficient Gall Bladder will result in indecision, timidity and the person will easily be discouraged at the slightest adversity (Maciocia, 2005)." 

The Gall Bladder also provides the courage for the mind (shen), governed by the Heart, to carry out decisions. The Shen delivers the clarity and control to moderate the decisiveness of the Gall Bladder. Without the integration and control of the mind, the decisiveness of the Gall Bladder may turn into recklessness.

The natural physiology of the ascension of the Gall Bladder qi has a psychological implication that stimulates the ascending and free flow of liver qi on a mental level. The Hun (Ethereal Soul) movement housed in the Liver gives movement to the Mind/Shen of the Heart, providing it with inspiration, planning, ideas, initiative, and creativity. This movement between the Liver and the Heart is dependent on the ascending gall bladder qi. If this movement is lacking, the client will present with depression, and if the movement is excessive, the client may be slightly manic.

From a psychological point of view, the yang organ of the Heart, the Small Intestine, influences mental clarity and judgement. It is said that it helps us distinguish our options in any situation to decide. Although the Gall Bladder gives us the courage to make decisions, the Small Intestine gives the power of discernment to distinguish relevant issues with clarity, before we make a decision. When the Small Intestine is deficient, the client cannot decide the capacity to distinguish the various options and make the right choices is not available.

In addition to the organs mentioned above, we also need to consider the Yi, the Mental/Spiritual component of the Spleen and Earth element. The Spleen is the resident of the Intellect (Yi), which is responsible for applied thinking, studying, memory, concentration, focus and general ideas.

If the Spleen is strong, thinking will be clear, the memory good, and the capacity for studying, concentrating and focus will be good. If the Spleen is weak, the intellect will be dull and slow. The memory is poor and will impair the capacity for studying, concentrating and focus.

In the sphere of thinking, remembering, and memorizing, there is considerable overlap between the Yi of the Spleen, the Mind (Shen) of the Heart and the Will-poser (Zhi) of the Kidneys. The Spleen influences our capacity for thinking, such as study, concentrating and memorizing. The Heart allows us to think clearly when faced with life problems, affecting our long-term memories of past events. The Kidneys nourish the Brain and influence short-term memory in daily life.

Finally, we need to consider the Brain itself. In Su Wen. the brain "pertains to the marrow" and is regarded as the sea of Marrow. In Chinese Medicine, we consider sight, hearing, smelling, touch, and intelligence to depend on the Brain. It is the Kidney-essence that produces Marrow and fills the spinal cord and the Brain. Since Marrow originates from the Kidneys, the Brain is functionally related to the Kidney organ. The Brain also depends on Heart-Blood for nourishment. The Kidneys store essence, and the Heart governs blood. If the Essence and Blood are abundant, the Brain is in good health, vitality is good, the ears can hear properly, and the eyes can see clearly. If Essence and Blood are deficient, the Brain is sluggish, memory will be poor, and vitality is low. The hearing and sight will be decreased.

As we can see, there are just as many internal factors as external factors that we need to be aware of when considering how our thinking and decision-making capacities may be influenced.

Coming back to our astrology, in the Acutonics Integrative Medicine planetary system:

  • Mercury governs cognitive, thinking, communication, science and writing as well as synthesis of information and discernment.
  • Jupiter governs the Liver and Gall Bladder
  • The Sun rules the Heart and the Shen/consciousness
  • Mars for the Zhi, spiritual/mental component of the Kidney energy. Will power and Drive. 
  • Venus for the Shen/Heart, in addition to Sun/Solar 7th.

In devising a general protocol for supporting our decision-making process, work with the outside bladder points, for each of the organs involves the decision-making process, as these points relate specifically to the mental/spiritual aspect of the organ. Should you have a patient presenting with specific areas of excess or deficiency, you may like to add other points into the treatment protocol, treating not only the symptom but also the underlying cause. 

For example, your client may have poor memory, difficulty concentrating and blurred vision. We may use points such as DU-20 and Extra Point Shi Shen Kong. But if we don't add in points to build blood and nourish essence, we won't get long-term effects for our clients. For this article, I will lay out a primary treatment protocol for supporting decision-making; however, I will not specify underlying conditions and their relevant treatment protocols as this is beyond the scope of this article.

Begin With:

Ohm Unison: Kidney 1 (Gushing Spring) Ground and root the client.
KID 3 (Great Ravine): Venus/Mars layering interval: Builds Kidney Jing/Essence build Will-power of the Kidneys.

8 Extraordinary Meridians:
Du Mai Meridian: Opening Point: SI 3, Back Ravine and Balancing Point UB 62, Extending Vessel
Function: Goes to the head, nourishes the Brain, strengthens Kidney Yang.
Application: Layering with the Solar 7th interval.

Dai Mai Meridian: Opening Point: GB 41, Near to tears and Balancing Point: SJ 5, Outer Gate
Function: Indecision, fence-sitting, good intentions without good action.
Application: Focusing on the Liver/Gall Bladder component layering With Ohm/Jupiter
Outside Bladder Meridian points for the Mental/Spiritual component of each organ.

BL 44: Mental/Spiritual point of the Heart/Shen/Consciousness - Layering Ohm/Venus Interval or Layering of Solar 7th if the person is not manic or agitated by heat.BL 47: Mental/Spiritual point of the Liver/Hun/Ethereal Soul - Layering Ohm/Jupiter Interval
BL 48: Mental/Spiritual point of the Gall Bladder/decision-making, courage - Layering Ohm/Jupiter Interval
BL 49: Mental/Spiritual point of the Spleen/Yi/Intellect - Layering Ohm/Mercury or layering Ohm/Earth Day 5th.
BL 52: Mental Spiritual point of the Kidney/Zhi/Will-power - Layering Venus/Mars Interval or Ohm/Mars Interval
BL 27: Back Shu point of the Small Intestine for Discernment - Layering Ohm/Mercury Interval

Additional Points:
GB 34 :Ohm/Earth Day 5th, Ohm/Mars, Ohm/Jupiter. Strengthen Gall Bladder
KID 10 (Yin Valley) layer with Full Moon Interval. Nourish Kidney Yin if Intellect is dull and slow.
GB 39 (Hanging Bell) Ohm/Earth Day 5th, Ohm/Mars, Ohm/Jupiter. Influential Point of Marrow
DU 20 (Hundred Convergence) Layering: Ohm/Mercury. The Brain, knowledge, Intellect and Understanding.
SiShenCong: (Extra Points surrounding DU 20) Layering Ohm/Mercury Interval. Poor Memory, Concentration, Thinking, Focus.

Finishing the Treatment:
Cosmic Capstone: Expanded Consciousness beyond the conditioning of this world. Connection to Multidimensional Awareness, as taught in Acutonics Level II.DU 20 (Hundred Convergences)
P 8 (Ghost Cave)
Ren 17 (Original Child)

Remember, it does depend on the underlying condition as to what tuning forks to apply. However, as a general treatment, using Ohm/Mercury would improve overall cognition and multidimensional awareness alignment. After all, Mercury/Hermes is a psychopomp and can access all three worlds to deepen our understanding of self and root us in our self-authority.

If the client needs help holding their confidence and sovereignty, then the high-frequency Solar 7th would be fitting. If the client needs strength in decision making and courage, then Ohm/Mars or Ohm/Jupiter.

Ground on Kid 1 (Gushing Spring) to ground/root the person.

In conclusion, there are many internal and external factors that can influence our conditioning, perception of the world, thoughts, thinking processes, and decision-making capacities. 

This article has listed just a few of the outer and gone much deeper on the internal factors. Once we become aware of these factors, we can take steps towards protecting and strengthening our minds and thoughts as Black Moon Lilith passes through the sign of Gemini during these next nine months. We can support the intercommunication between our internal organs to strengthen our discernment, planning, and decisions and give the Brain the vital supports it needs for optimum functioning. 

For the external influences, we need an increased awareness of knowing our blind spots, such as selective awareness and how easily many of us conform to social pressures. 

These treatment protocols provide a valuable tool as the war over our minds intensifies.

Dr. Vanessa Strauss a Registered Dr of TCM is from Queensland, Australia. She has completed all core Acutonics curriculum with Dr. Eeka King of Australia Acutonics. She is an Evolutionary Astrological Counsellor, Acutonics Sound Practitioner, and a Senior Kundalini Yoga Teacher.  

She is available for Astrological Counselling at and can be found on Instagram: vanessa_strauss_astrology.

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