Kiera comes of age.

Note: this will be my only post until Monday morning.

When my granddaughter was born, on July 23, 2000, and her somewhat “conservative” parents chose the unusual name “Kiera,” I was astonished. Ki-e-ra! It reminds me of the cry of a hawk.

Last summer, Kiera and I toured Louisa May Alcott’s home in Concord, one town over from where Kiera lives in Acton, Massachusetts.

She has always been a bit shy with me, kind of frightened, I think, by my intensity, as I am of hers. Both of us are fiery. I have Sun, Mars, and Ascendant all in Sagittarius; Kiera has Sun in the first degree of Leo, conjunct Mars in the final degree of Cancer, square her Aries Moon. Neither of us likes to give in. I could see myself as a child in her. And it drove me crazy when I recognized myself wanting to act like my own father, and stomp her down. Unlike me, Kiera got to express her fury, and did. Born during World War II, I shut down at two and a half when my strict German father came home from the war.

As a baby and toddler, Kiera was so fiery that I’ve always said she was the kind of child that would have been abused when young, had her parents not been so even-tempered and patient. Her willful nature dominated the household during those early years and made it difficult for the rest of us to be around her.

But just look at that picture above. You’d never know it, right? She seems so sweet, tiny, and compliant. Even sensitive. And she is! That’s all true, too. Her sensitive, shy Pisces Ascendant covers up the roaring fire underneath — at least when she’s out in public.

This week, as the transiting Sun, moving one degree each day, began to oppose Kiera’s natal Uranus at 19° Aquarius, it briefly illuminated that revolutionary planet. Meanwhile, her progressed Sun, moving one degree per year, is now beginning to conjunct her natal Venus at 13° Leo which is within orb of opposing her natal Uranus. Okay. So what? And what does that mean?

Well, first, let me back up! I’ve been expecting some kind of switch to go on in Kiera, not because of the above, but because she will be 12 years old this July. Twelve years happens to be the cycle of Jupiter. Each of us reaches the first return of Jupiter to its natal position when we are about 12 years old. In Kiera’s case, her Jupiter will return to its natal place at 6° Gemini during her birthday month. She is, and will be even more as time goes on, a (Gemini) communicator of both big and small ideas. Generous Jupiter is the cycle of opportunity. And when the first cycle completes, the child begins to switch from the unconscious imprinting on the values and world views of her parents to the values and aspirations of her peers.

Okay. So that’s the background.

Let’s go deeper. When Kiera came in to this world, I remember being with her as she lay there naked on the table in the operating room (she had ended up a C-section baby) — and she looked right up at me, eye to eye, soul to soul. No fear.

And yes, she was a difficult child. Huge temper, very willful, she ran the household. Quite a handful.

I remember saying to her, after one of her terrible temper tantrums, that her fiery energy was wonderful, a great gift, and her challenge would be to learn how to focus the energy so that it did her bidding without going out of control. Not sure how old she was when I said this to her, around seven?

At any rate, over the years, she did begin to temper and refine that hot Sun/Mars/Moon combustion, and this strong energy then began to funnel into an enormous array of creative projects. Her art table, near the kitchen, has for years been a chaotic mess of paper, pens, paint brushes, pencils, little doohickeys of all kinds like sequins, coins, seeds, you name it! Here she is, inside the craft store I took her to last Christmas. I knew she’d love it.

At her own table, she sits there, with pure focused intent and an architect’s lamp angled above her, inside what to anybody else looks like that horrible mess, making one beautiful little object after another. Here is one of Kiera’s tiny watercolors, of maybe five years ago:

Like me, who was lucky enough to actually own my own horse when young, Kiera is also one of the 50% of little girls whose passion is ignited by horses. She rides at a nearby stable once a week.

Here’s her horse sculpture of a few years ago. (Wish I could get it to enlarge . . .)

And just a week ago, she came up with this bas relief of an Egyptian statue, from a web photo. (Again, won’t enlarge.)

Meanwhile, back to the point of this post. How the transiting Sun, last week, lit up her natal Uranus in Aquarius, a planet that occupies her hidden away 12th house, and so is not normally obvious. And what does she do with that sudden illumination? She starts a completely new phase of her life! She gets a jump on Jupiter!

Her mom Sue called to tell me. Said that Kiera had been frustrated that when the weather is bad at school, they keep the kids inside their classrooms for recess. But all Kiera’s friends are in other classrooms, and that means she can’t see them. So . . . publically shy Kiera decided to write the principal a letter. (Sorry, hard to see, but you can see there are signatures all over it . . .) Here’s what she came up with:

Dear Mr. Whitbeck,

Many of the 6th graders would really appreciate and enjoy the privilege to be able to switch classrooms during indoor recess. Many students use recess as a time to see, play or talk to our friends in other classes. But when we have indoor recess, we don’t get that opportunity. Also, kids who didn’t get all their friends at their lunch tables don’t get to see them at all that day if there is indoor recess and they’re in a different class. Please consider giving us (the 6th graders) the privilege to switch classrooms during indoor recess. If you are concerned about the potential for chaos then maybe we could choose one classroom to stay in the whole time?

Sincerely,

Kiera Cudmore

She composed the letter at home, then took it into the lunch room with her. She told her Mom when she got home that day that all the kids started crowding around her, wanting to sign her letter! (BTW: there’s a circled note at the top saying there were more names on the back). And, Kiera said, “a lot of them want to go with me to the principal’s office. But I think I want to go alone.”

Yesterday, Sue called again to say that Kiera had been learning to play the song “Revolution” by the Beatles on her guitar, when she had a sudden thought: “Hey! That’s the song we’ll use! Revolution! For our flash mob!”

Flash mob? What next? Who is this kid? Well, she’s just a fiery Sun/Mars/Moon learning how to fully express her real nature into the world. Kiera is lucky enough to have parents and a school that supports her nature. May we all be so blessed.

Imagine our world when all children are allowed to be their full selves. Imagine a world where everyone, from birth on, is encouraged to unfurl the ongoing mystery of the Self. Imagine who we are, deep inside, each expressing uniquely into the world. Each a pulsing center of brilliance and creativity. Each the exact center of the entire universe, one shining star in an endless sky.

Later, when Sue went in to say goodnight at Kiera’s bedside, she said to her Mom, “Just think, if we use that song, how much fun it will be if the principal refuses! . . .”