Series: Fears of the Spleen #6 – Gate 50 “Fear of Responsibility, or of Failing One’s Responsibilities” 

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: Defense
The Defense Circuit energies provide protection, resources, procreation, caring, nourishment, bonding, transmission of values, and even the impetus to fight war. These energies create strong families and united tribes to ensure survival.

High Expression of this Gate

Called the energy for values, this gate is the guardian of rules and laws for the tribe/family/business/community, and also the challenger of outdated or self-serving rules.

The highest application of this energy is to establish the moral code of the tribe, e.g., right and wrong, highest values, etc. This is especially important for transmitting values to children so the tribe remains unified and viable in the long term.

If you have the Gate 50 defined in your chart, you use wisdom and intuition to identify those laws and rules that do not serve the community, and to challenge or change them.

You care deeply about the well-being and survival of the tribe, and may feel particularly responsible for the proper nourishment of the family. You may enjoy cooking for friends and loved ones and have an interest in health and nutrition.

After all, a well-nourished tribe has optimal physical and neurological development, ensuring its long-term health and survival.

Low Expression of this Gate

While the high expression takes responsibilities seriously, the low expression can go in one of two directions. If your Gate 50 is defined, you may totally abdicate and run away from responsibilities, or you may become overly responsible and take on burdens and duties that are not yours.

The worst effects of this second path are 1) not letting others take on their own appropriate responsibilities, and 2) burning out or feeling resentful. For example, you may be an overprotective parent doing everything for your child so the child does not learn to take responsibility for herself. This can strain your energy, your patience, and your relationship with that child.

Because the Gate 50 energy is such an integral part of supporting and “guarding” the tribe, you may easily be manipulated by guilt—especially if you also have an open Emotional Solar Plexus Center.

Two more possible low expressions: being a strict and inflexible enforcer of  rules and laws, or being a flagrant, irresponsible breaker of rules and laws.

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 50:

-Fear of responsibility – “I won’t measure up, and will let the tribe down.”

-Fear of failing your responsibilities – resulting in taking on too much responsibility or completely abdicating responsibility.

Tips for Using this Energy

This gate is activated by the sun from approximately October 20 through October 26 each year, though this can vary by a day or two. While the sun is transiting Gate 50, you may find that this energy heightens our awareness of values, responsibilities, laws and rules.

You may notice an increase in the high expressions and low expressions described above, both in yourself and in others.  If you pay attention to the news, you may recognize the effects of this energy at the local as well as international level.

Gate 50, like all four gates in the Defense Circuit (50, 27, 59, 6), is an Aura Busting energy. This means that people who have predominantly Individual circuitry or predominantly Collective circuitry will more easily be drawn into Tribal energy and (temporarily) feel obliged to honor the rules of the tribe/family/community/workplace.

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

-As with all splenic fears, it is just energy and it soon shall pass.

-Take a few moments to assess how you are showing up for your various responsibilities in life. Taking on too much? Not fully stepping up?

-Look at your boundaries, especially regarding family and workplace, to ensure they are healthy. Tribal energy demands that the tribe’s needs come first, before individual needs. This is when your boundaries may get tested.

-If your fear around the issue of responsibility is stopping you from moving forward, take a deep breath and push through it. If you’re taking too much responsibility–out of fear–take a deep breath and re-read the paragraph about boundaries above.

-Cook up a big batch of food and see that everyone is fed and happy!

Next gate in this series: Gate 28 – Fear of Purpose; Fear of Death