Series: Fears of the Spleen #5 – Gate 32 “Fear of Failure” 

This series explains the energy of each gate around the Spleen Center (these are known as the Fear Gates) so you can learn to master your fears and become unstoppable—in ways that are correct for YOU. For each gate, we’ll cover the circuitry of the gate, its gifts and challenges, its “fear,” and practical ways to apply this information. The Introduction to this series and links to all of these posts can be found here.

Circuitry

Every gate energy belongs to particular circuitry within the chart, which is like an electrical circuit board. This circuitry shows the evolutionary role of the gate energy and how the energy moves through the chart. Each Circuit Group has two Circuits within it.

Circuitry of this Gate

Circuit Group: Tribal
The Tribal Circuit Group is concerned with survival of the tribe. It provides support and protection for family and community and transforms individual ambition into teamwork. This is group energy in which the good of the tribe/family comes first.

Circuit: Ego
The Ego Circuit energies govern the structure of how we function in groups, including laws, values, business agreements, marriage, families, communities, and management of resources. It contains emotion, but no logic (that’s in the Collective Logic circuitry).

High Expression of this Gate

The highest application of this energy is to evaluate what ideas have the best potential to work, and determine which ambitions and dreams are worth bringing forward. This is “practical ambition,” not starry-eyed hope. If you have the Gate 32 defined in your chart, you are probably good at adapting as you embrace and navigate the changes and progress around you… while keeping your eye on the goal.

You use wisdom and intuition to compare the benefits of stability against the opportunities of risk and new ideas. You recognize the value of transformation and change, and look for the most successful route for the tribe to move forward while minimizing risk to ensure continuity.

You have a knack for finding talent and skills that will help the tribe transform and meet its challenges. When you pay attention to your intuitive awareness, you can “smell” what will help and what might hinder long term success and endurance, for you personally and for the tribe.

Low Expression of this Gate

Although the intuitive impulse is available for guiding the tribe responsibly, it’s possible to not “hear” it or simply override that intuitive “hit.” This leaves you rudder-less in the swift current of decisions, ambitions, and what is best for the tribe.

You may fail to distinguish between healthy ambition and fear-driven overcompensation. The latter leads you to work too hard, or too ambitiously, out of fear of not succeeding.

This energy can be indecisive as it weighs and evaluates possible outcomes. In the low expression, there can also be resistance to change and lack of adaptability.

The “Fear” of this Gate

All Splenic Fears are in-the-moment fears that feel so real they can stop us in our tracks and keep us from moving forward. But we are meant to simply push through them because they are not truly survival-related fears. They quickly dissipate when moved through, often never to return again (though it may take a few times of “doing” your fear to banish it permanently). Focus on using the high expressions of this gate to help you get past the fear.

The potential fears of the Gate 32:

-Fear of failure at a personal level – “I won’t succeed at this, and will let the tribe down.”

-Fear of failure at a tribal level – “The tribe won’t survive.”

Tips for Using this Energy

This gate is activated by the sun from approximately October 14 through October 20 each year, though this can vary by a day or two. While the sun is transiting Gate 32, you may find that your senses and intuition are keener for assessing what to do or not do, and what changes to embrace (or not embrace) for your success and that of your family/tribe/community/company.

Others may also be making choices about whether to move forward during this time. Notice if you or others are being driven by the fear of failure.

Any time of year, use these tips to help you:

-Know that this fear of failure is just energy and that it, too, shall pass.

-Be patient with yourself and your fears (and the fears of others). Those fears are just trying to keep you safe and keep you from failing.

-Listen for that intuitive awareness that occurs in the moment, and choose to trust it.

-If the fear of failure is stopping you in your tracks, recognize that it’s probably just False Evidence Appearing Real (F.E.A.R.), take a deep breath and push through it. Nothing would ever get done if we let the fear of failure stop us.

-If you are feeling indecisive about moving forward, notice your “gut instinct” about it. Does something smell fishy? Do you smell a rat? Or do you not yet trust your intuition? Or, is the fear of failure driving your indecision?

-Practice distinguishing your gut instinct/intuition from the fear of failure.

Next gate in this series: Gate 50 – Fear of Responsibility or of Failing One’s Responsibilities