elephant journal is proud to co-sponsor the Hanuman Festival. Read this latest installment of their weekly column.

Debra Silverman is the Keynote Speaker of Hanuman Festival 2011.

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I am an astrologer. I practice an ancient oral tradition of story telling as I attempt to translate the cosmos into an easily understandable language custom designed for your psyche.

The depth of my art requires the right use of words focused to soothe and heal while speaking hard truths.

On that note, I get asked a lot about the whole 2012 thing. Words are a hard one for this issue, but I’ll dig into this question for my next two articles here on elephant journal.

Here’s my take on 2012 from an astrological viewpoint:

When I hear terms like 2012, paradigm shift, the Aquarian age, your authentic voice, pranayama, kahunas, naturally organic—I always want to say, what does that mean?

What isn’t naturally organic? The word authenticity is vague—aren’t we all trying to be ourselves?

I want to come up with a fresh look and language to describe the times we are in. I think it is safe to say that there is no question that we are in the midst of a change—we have left our parents’ reality far, far behind. As in all history, the corner that is turned becomes a marker of change.

The new sense of norm in our world is a result of the Aquarian age currently upon us. We are a group of individualistic people who are free to be whomever we want to be. We do not get banished, as we did in times of old, for believing in something ‘weird’. In fact, weird is the norm.

In these times, we are allowed to restrain from the use of a marriage license, to have children or not, and even to take on unique careers like that of a yoga teacher, clairvoyant, or astrologer — all practices that your grandmother and her mother would never have accepted.

And the chances are, you are disrupting the order of the old world. We are done with hiding in temples of secrecy and silence in order to do our magic.

In the heavens right now is a configuration that has not occurred since 1780, when Saturn was in Libra squaring Pluto in Capricorn. This was a time of imminent change—a true revolution that changed the face of our world forever. A new government was established, the constitution shifted its alliance from a devotion and trust in the fated royalty, the King and Queen of England, to a concept of sovereignty that allowed America to stand apart from its past, representing freedom for all. This was a wildly new concept.

Similarly, now as a collective in 2011 we are ready to let go of our old ways. We know we cannot continue the American dream as it has been lived up until now. We know we need to stop using oil, plastic, airplanes and chemically-altered foods, but no one wants to let go of their comforts.

So here is a scary question: have we surpassed our shelf-life as change agents? Are we falling behind the demands of change that are looming in the air? Is this revolution going to fall short and become a disaster instead?

I cannot tell you how often I hear someone telling me that they are not using their gift. That they sense a calling inside them that is slightly distant. That they wish they were helping more people, but do not know what to do or how to get the motivation to go and do it. That they are afraid they will not be able to support themselves in the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed.

This fascinating dilemma has led to more and more people becoming yoga teachers and healers. There are more spiritual books being sold than ever before and it’s certainly not just the Bible. We have become seekers.

The grass roots revolution has begun. I am absolutely certain if you are reading this you are not following the old story handed to you by your upbringing. But what are you doing to create change?

At the end of a yoga class, two women who knew I was an astrologer looked troubled and asked: “Did 2012 start already, because there sure is some crazy energy around?” Are we feeling some rocky, queasy sense of the movement at subtle levels of this reality that comes before an earthquake, a tsunami, a change that is hard to talk about?

What the world needs is for each one of us to enter every day with an open mind. We need to discover the quiet; the gift of silence, by listening, giving, and most of all trusting that we are being directed by a cosmic influence. We need activation and awake just as much as we need protection and guidance.

Are you embodying the wisdom of the practices you study? Is your heart open? Are you honest and real? Do you know your shadow? Can you feel the pain here on earth and cry for the sadness that we feel as a species?

As we embark upon 2012, I implore you to celebrate your raw humanness and become committed to being here. We need you. I love the words of a brilliant astrologer that I have been reading, Elias Lonsdale. He says:

Close the escape hatch. You wanted to be here and you agreed to stay until the end of this movie. Stop complaining or at least do it consciously. Let your shadow be real. Stay here in your life with surrender and joy and fight for us to be awake!

My next article will further illustrate the astrological implications of this summer and next winter as we enter 2012. In the meantime, ask yourself:

Is my language real? Am I facing my shadow? Am I awake?

Asking the questions is the first step.

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The Hanuman Festival is Boulder, Colorado’s community-oriented yoga and music festival, set at the foot of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. Seane Corne, Kathryn Budig, MC Yogi, Waylon Lewis and elephant journal will be there. Come celebrate – June 16-19, 2011 with world-class yoga instructors, mind-blowing music, inspirational experiences and a nourishing community. Immerse yourself in body, mind and heart as you relax and rejuvenate, dance and devote, connect and expand, have fun and just be.