We had a thread about power a few weeks ago Power is…. I am writing about power for the Saturn in Scorpio workshop and wonder how people feel it. When you hear the word, ho do you feel? What does it conjure up?
Do you think that power corrupts? Do you feel you are powerful or powerless? Do you resent people who have power or envy them?
Who should have power? Is power given, or do you have to earn it?
How do you feel about power?
34 Responses to “How Do You Feel About Power?”
I’ve got Scorpio Saturn squaring my Leo Sun/Pluto conjunction. It also sextiles my Mercury.
I have long been aware of abuse of power. It was a constant in my home growing up, with my father, and I feel very strongly that with power, comes great responsibility to use it wisely, for good.
I seem to have a lot more innate power than I realize. My words carry a lot of weight. This isn’t something I am inherently aware of. It’s more watching other’s reactions to me that makes me say “oh, that’s what’s going on.”
I think if I were to be totally honest with myself, I resent others for their power, not envy. This is not something across the board, I just resent it when people think that that power that money confers onto them makes them better than others, more worthy than others.
Feel it, but am scared of it. The years I was hurting so bad (thank God not so bad now!!) I used to think that if I could just plug all the energy in somewhere instead of just feeling it (painfully) internally, I could fuel a city. I had a hard time transmuting it, but I have learned some.
I’ve been afraid of attracting attention for fear of being killed, also afraid of being the bad guy with the power, and that has kept me out of leadership roles, my own business, even keeps me in the victim role sometimes. The times they are a changin’,
Everyone should have power. Self-determination.
What PixieDust says, plus stay out of debt and take responsibility for your actions and own your shadow.
OH, and I have Leo Pluto in the 7th, exactly sextile Jupiter/Chiron conjunct in Libra in the 9th. Also Mars/Saturn conjunct in the 6th in Cancer.
I like the word power! Just hearing it gives me a charge. *laughs*
I usually feel quite powerful, but lately I’ve been really nebulous so not in touch with it as much as I usually am. I’ve got Pluto at my base. 
For me, MorningMist has captured something- I think everyone has power but not necessarily the ability to access it, harness it or manifest it in the world. Some of us are inculcated not to use our personal power in certain ways, even if that’s at the expense of our own worth or values. Power that’s in service of what the individual believes is a force of conviction.
But it’s a generically used word. Some of the most impressive and powerful people I’ve met were ‘ordinary’ people whose personal power shone in how they could express compassion and hold their own boundaries without having to dominate others. Be themselves without having to put anyone down, no matter how hostile things got. I still remember a man on a bus years ago who expressed his power with a quiet implacable dignity when someone else disrespected him. That is the kind of power I aspire to. To hold my own authority like that – I find that hard.
The kind of power that comes with lots of money – money’s a shield is all. It lends power to the carrier.
Yes other people can put power (authority) on others, we do this as a society all the time. Doesn’t mean the person we put it on will wield it well.
Power:
Personal power is one thing. Personal power is freedom. I believe that people should have full personal power over themselves. With it comes responsibility.
Power over a collective is dangerous. It needs to be heavily controlled and diluted via strength in numbers. No one person should brandish power. Decision-making should be a checks and balances situation, with regard to the government.
power is a responsibility to me. What people choose to do with their power can either be good or bad. I tend to see people who seek power as people who don’t always understand the responsibility that it inherently carries.
Power corrupts if you get too much of it, especially over other people. Your own personal power is one thing, but once humans get to dominate others too much, it seems inevitable that they turn into a horror.
This is pretty much why I choose to avoid it. Like everyone else, if I had a yummy taste, I’d soon want everyone squashed under my boot. I have spent too much time under the boot, so I’d take it out on everyone else if I got out.
We all have power and if we don’t own it, it will eat us for lunch.
Power, if viewed strictly as the ability to do or act/accomplish something, is something we all need.
What came to mind for me personally when I read this post was the idea of “giving my power away,” if I am engaged in an unhealthy interaction or relationship.
Power, if viewed as control over others, I believe can become corrupt.
Real power comes through humility.
Recently I came across something I wrote about a legal discovery I had to take part in(for a court case I lost).
I told the defendant’s lawyer that the event left me feeling powerless.
‘So, angry?’
‘No. Powerless.’
The lawyer assumed powerless=angry. So…power=happy? I don’t know what he thought.
To me, power is defined by one’s effectiveness to see a task through to completion, win OR lose.
I feel very powerful as a divorced woman with two grown, successful children! I influenced my children to get an education, have high self esteem, strong work ethics, family values! I also feel very powerful that I’m completely independent, able to support myself, take care of my own home, have enough self confidence that I can do anything!
power is to be in control
Power is ever present as long as you don’t use it improperly or abuse it.
What I mean by that is as a parent you have the power to judge what is best for your children. You have the power to say what is allowed and what is not. Some parents abuse this power and some don’t use as it should be used.
There is power in partnership when two people become a couple. If one or the other of the pair abuses their partner in any way they forfeit their power in my opinion as a person and as partners.
If you give your power away and/or do not claim your what is yours then to me you have undermined your own power base.
“to see a task through to completion” I think that’s interesting Kash, and true, because to know something from early stages of infancy to full, mature form… Yeah, I associate that with power! I think a lot of power tends to be ignored before it becomes apparent or acknowledged by the masses, To be dedicated to something without any recognition, from beginning to end, or “through to completion,” as you say, can result in a lot of power – power in experience. So yes I think it’s earned – deep, meaningful power, that is. Superficial power can be given, like authority and responsibility, but until respect is earned in some way, that sort of power is meaningless.h
@kashmiri- maybe powerless in that case would be understood by lawyers as loss of agency, i.e. The “sense of agency” (SA) refers to the subjective awareness that one is initiating, executing, and controlling one’s own volitional actions in the world (wiki). I like the word- it was used in an article I read on gaslighting, which made the case that when one is hurt in that way-when a person’s reality is challenged and manipulated, they lose free agency. They feel like they don’t have control, and initiating (creating, living) becomes an invitation for the other shoe to drop, so it acting is dangerous; a risk.
That was a powerful bit for me. No pun intended, but I like it!
to me the power is an unseen source that fuels everything be it personal or universal, but that to be used it is converted to energy, like to make the toaster toast, you plug it into the power and the toaster converts it to energy to toast (just an analogy, not literally how toasters and electricity works lol) thus the power indeed can be a danger in the wrong hands or absolute brilliance in good hands, can not flow enough and you have soft almost breadlike toast, or toast the bread enough and its perfect or too much and incinerate it etc…mmm that reminds me, I didnt have breakfast lol!
You’re making me think, Elsa! I agree abluelily. I think of it as force too, and like when Elsa talks about energy, it’s neutral until it’s directed. Silence, beauty, pain, control, or freedom can each be described as ‘powerful.’ Power is directed through thoughts and/or actions.
Since I see it as inherently neutral, I don’t think “power” corrupts. Corruption comes from people; clearly, there are people with power who are not corrupt. For me, feeling powerful/less is about the choices we make and in every moment a new choice can be made (easy to forget if we’re on auto-pilot). There are times that I feel both (not simultaneously, but sometimes rapid succession!), depending on the situation. I work with people who are aware they have power but don’t use it, and then complain about on-going problems that could be solved by using their power! Gah! I’m not envious because a lot of responsibility can come with power too. As for who should have power, whether it’s given or earned, rightly or wrongly, those all seem very situational to me.
Yes power corrupts.
(I am talking about male economical and political power in our material world – not the force in the spiritual sense. The Shaman talk a lot about power – you can be a powerful spirit and in the material world people see you as a poor fool
I have pluto in libra in the fourth house and my major lessons about power stem from 1. childhood and 2. parenthood. In childhood we have people executing their power over us, as parents we execute our power in relation to our children. And what I learned is that it takes maturity to be a good power-person. Maturity for me means: You have to realize that you have power (even if nobody gave it to you – bad leaders rarely pass power on to anyone, by the way), you have to be respectful when executing your power, and that you can only be, if you know yourself well, know your shadow.
@nightowl13 LOL!! That is great! I was thinking of this:
http://youtu.be/_BRv9wGf5pk
@Kashmiri I think experiences of powerlessness are essential for a true understanding of what it is to have “real” power. I am very grateful to have this understanding of what powerlessness is. Paradoxically, it gives me power!
I am learning (3rd house) how to manage (virgo) power (pluto), in almost everyway (in aspect to all my personal planets). I am not powerless, unless I make myself that way, which is not often, pluto on my ic, moon is my chart ruler.
I definitely think it’s earned. It can also be very corruptive (I’m pretty sure that’s why I’m learning to managae it this time ’round). I neither envy or resent those in power, it’s a very fine and hard line to walk. As for how I feel about it, done in a highly responsible way, I find it attractive (neptune in my scorpio ruled 5th house) :O
Angie
I love having power and being in charge. Capricorn Sun/Mars/Venus trine 10th house Pluto. I have had to learn not to steamroll people, however.
Cocopeaches–power in experience, yes, that’s it!
Mena–sense of agency is something I have fought for, my entire life. Truly…my entire life.
Caracadabra–I agree that experiences in powerlessness are essential for a true understanding of power.
I feel very powerful as a person, mostly because I am confident I can endure. I am living proof, that I can endure.
To answer Elsa’s question–when I think of power, I think of what is internal. I think of myself. I don’t resent those in power, but I feel entitled to be opinionated about abuse of power, especially when it comes to government officials and people who run companies that can exact environmental damage.
Free association – when I think the word “power” i think of the song “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy.
I think power is organization. Entities become powerful because they become more organized, hence becoming more capable of pursuing their agenda effectively.
Sometimes power is bestowed on you, sometimes you have to stake your claim. Sometimes you become powerful by defending yourself. Other times you become powerful by being on the offense. It all varies. But because it is so variable, I am not as afraid of powerful people as I used to be. I know that there is no such thing as unilateral power. Often times it is the person/entity with absolute power that is the most vulnerable, because they are more easily corrupted. Once you’ve been corrupted, you lose integrity, then you become disorganized because your agenda has shifted, your priorities change with the wind.
So to sum it up, power is organization. It’s the ability to act with integrity. To pursue your agenda with effectiveness.
I don’t think power is something you can have. It’s not a thing that you can hang onto and if you cling too much, you will only bring harm to others and yourself. I’ve seen this basic principle apply to groups, nations, etc as well. In general, the harder one clings to power, the greater the harm and suffering.
One can only learn to ride the wave of power. A film director (whose name escapes me) described it best to me. He said something like, “The world dances around you and gives you what you need.” In this way, power is not about imposing your ego upon the world.
I would like to think that power doesn’t corrupt, but I won’t argue with many years of history!
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I find the topic interesting. Our culture defines what is power but even if a person has those things that fit that definition there is something inside the person that is needed for them to really express that power to others.
For example, Romney does have power but watching him doesn’t leave me with the sense of a powerful person. Maybe I need to see him in a different environment.
I think that inner quality might be the strength of their convictions. Stripped of all the outer trappings of power our inner convictions (and intellect) are all we have left.