Rhythm

"Everything flows, out and in; everything has its tides; all things rise and fall."

Historical interpretation

Hermetic and astrological thinking has always paid attention to cycles: planetary motions, seasons, life stages, fortunes gained and lost. Nothing stays fixed. There is a swing from one pole to the other, and a wise practitioner learns to anticipate, ride, and in some teachings partially neutralize the swing instead of being dragged by it.

Current-day interpretation

Our bodies, moods, economies, creative energy, and relationships all move in waves. There are productive seasons and fallow seasons, social seasons and quiet ones. Problems arise when we expect endless "up" and interpret every "down" as failure instead of the natural counter-swing.

Relatable example

Think of your energy over a week. There are days when you wake up ready to clean the whole house, answer every message, and start a new project. Then, a few days later, you hit a low-energy day where taking out the trash feels like a quest. Nothing "went wrong" with you in those 72 hours. You are simply on a different part of the same wave. When you recognize this, you stop promising yourself that the high-energy state will last forever and stop accusing yourself when it ebbs.