Is anyone else here an empath? Is there a way to find out if there is an astrological pattern or signifigance?

 If so...how do I turn it off!!

 I figure I am. I shut it off by going into denial.

I am both - I am very sensitive and an empath. Don't know what transits heighten this; never thought about it. It's a good thing but not so "respected" in this world...

How to turn it off? Learn techniques to "shield" or as someone said to me once "ground and shield"

Of course u can also avoid certain people. I know I do!

You can learn to direct and use this sensitivity if u want...

Do like a Scorpio and learn to protect yourself.

I was taught a visualization technique for this many years ago. It helps if you can reach a meditative state more or less instantly. Once there you visualize that you are putting on a dark protective suit sort of like a wet suit only it is perforated. Than you can really tap into your meditative state, bring in groundedness from the earth and light from the universe. Negative energy cannot get into you. but your powerful bright healing light can shine out through the perforations.    

Yup.  Moon/Neptune conjunct in my 7th house.  Other people tire me out.  I've done protective visualization work in the past but these days my primary strategy is misanthropic introversion.

Oh and they're in Scorpio -- which I guess means I didn't get the Scorpio self-protection memo.

Me too. This is probably why being around other people is overwhelming for me, especially large groups.

I usually end up coping by using devices like computers to communicate remotely, and make the psychological distance at any given time voluntary. 

I don't know if there's an astrological significance, but my MBTI type is INFJ... which seems pretty relevant. 

I used to think I was overly sensitive until I realized I was an empath. I (usually) have no problem with it because my boundaries are pretty good, generally speaking. 

If I do have a problem I remind myself that this is how I was born, and this is part of my human job description. I do get sick sometimes, but it's a quick thing. I was talking to a street person/addict a while ago, just chatting, and it was obvious she was suffering from things. Our chat was nice but I was overwhelmed because I was talking to the living dead and I wish I was exaggerating but she was about an inch from death and I felt it.

I walked away saying "See you later, have a good one" and she smiled and waved. I got terrible nausea and almost threw up. That nausea is a common reaction for me. It reminds me of the things I need to do in that moment...and off I go to do them. I'm okay with being an empath, because I'm okay with being born. 

I don't think I am an empath, but I am very sensitive as to what is going on around me, like athenian, i hate large groups.

It's interesting, some years ago; I had the opportunity to watch a woman with serious drug issues and her infant son, who she ended up having to give up. That child was less than 9 months old but he was completely aware of his mother's emotional state. He watched her and emoted with her. It was very profound. She's dead now and the boy was raised by a stable good man who came into her life before the boy was born. But he ended up being a rather normal young man.

I think we are all by nature very sensitive to others; we are social animals. Some of us for various reasons do not "listen" to the messages, others, like myself find it to be an important part of life to collect this "data" as well; it's part of communication.

ps; i have moon in the 7th house too

mimitabby--I agree with what you wrote about the various reasons people "don't listen"

when I was a child/teenager almost everyone around me was freaked out about how sensitive I was and did their darndest to stop it. I wish I could tell you how many times I was told to buck up, turn off, stop worrying etc. So maybe because I grew up with a counter message I found my way to the middle.

I, too, see this as a vital thing.

As for astrological pattern, I'm not sure. I do have Saturn in 8th trine Neptune in the 12th and I always looked to that. Saturn and Neptune both relate to boundaries, as well these houses are about other people/the Collective and their energies. 

I know that Moon=emotions (my Moon in aspect to much of my chart) but for me, I'm thinking about energy and so looking elsewhere in my chart for clues. 

oh definitely. visualizing a shield honestly does not work for me, it's too intangible. i cannot effectively shield myself from energies, i can only guide it once it's there. when i want to ground i have a collection of rocks and clay balls in varying sizes that i hold or roll around my palm. who knows if this is something anyone else can benefit from though. i say try some things out, find your own path, and know it when you do because it will become invaluable.

I have a 3rd house cancer moon--communicating/perceiving emotions and feelings is natural and inherently vital to me. I don't think I can turn it off, but I can tune it out - that's all about focus and direction.

to some degree, yes. i'm sensitive to strong emotions and objects that have lots of emotional energy infused in them. i wasn't entirely aware of this until the day i tried to go view a section of the AIDS quilt. OMG. I lasted all of 30 seconds before I had to get out of the room. it felt like a giant wave of pain, sadness, grief and loss. i felt sick.

and once in a while when i am talking to someone, i hear a stray thought. it's not all the time, but here and there. 

i don't get it constantly, though. if i'm feeling vulnerable in any way, i limit my contacts with the public and do visualizations of protective shields.

i figured this was neptune action of some sort.

I've been told I am because I come off as very closed off. Um...beats me.

kashmiri...I checked my chart and I have my moon conjunct my neptune! Oooooo...would that explain it?

Ha - I am very energetically sensitive, goddess mentioned hearing stray thoughts from people..I get those too! It feels like my bane because I know I'd be a much more productive and strong individual if I didn't have this...however...maybe...maybe it's a good thing. As you can tell the residual energy from my Libra ex's indecisiveness and seeing both sides hasn't completely warn off.

How do you turn it off?  Think of the last time someone tried to shut YOU out.  That's the energy, summon that feeling and direct it toward whomever is dragging you down.  If you think no one has ever shut you out, you are not a true empath, everyone gets shutdown sometimes, think about it.

whosthatlady: moon conjunct neptune, yesiree...

great suggestion, notatirem. too true. 

I haven't quite figured out whether or not I'm an empath. I'm very sensitive as far as I know, and I figure people out way before they figure themselves out.

However, I live in my own world a lot. I'm not sure if this separates ultra sensitive people from empaths. 

I have supposedly strong "psychic" or "sensitive" or "empathic" placements: Sun in Aries 12th house trine Uranus. Moon in Cancer, 4th house sextile Venus and Saturn square Pluto. Neptune in 9th house Sagittarius trine Mars, Neptune square Saturn in Virgo in 6th house. Uranus in Scorpio in 8th house.

I know I am ... sensitive, I suppose.  I'm not sure about being an empath, because in truth I'm not entirely sure how that manifests.  Fortunately, I have a mercury ruled chart, and I've found if I don't touch someone (at least with bare skin, but preferably with my hands), I won't get the info unless they are really wearing it out front.  

That being said ... I've had dreams about things before they happened, down to the buttons on someone's shirt and the conversation, verbatim.  (I was 10 the first time that happened.)  

I've reached out to touch a stone and had a conversation with a dead man.  (Battlefield at Gettysburg, and I should know better than to touch gravestones, even plain ones!)    

I've sat on the banks of the Seine with Claude Monet and discussed the play of light in shapes over the water.  (At the National Art Gallery in DC - and I want to find some of his later paintings to continue the discussion and see how his approach changes.)

Most of the time, honestly, I'm so busy with eighteen things that I don't tune in on it.  But I try to maintain a balance of knowing the energy that's around, but not getting too involved in it until I want to.

I have no idea if that makes sense!   

p.s. Moon/Neptune in 7H Sag  

Yes , definitely Moon/Neptune.  There is a really good article on Chirotic Journal about the sensitivity of this aspect, he has it himself.

I'm not an empath, even with moon/neptune and a bunch of planets in the 12th. (I'd have to know things about people even when they weren't there and be affected by people even when I couldn't see them or hear them- and I'm not.)

I think we're all a little empathic, but I'm not to any great extent.

 I do take things too personally, though. And sometimes I see someone ranting about something and I'll feel angry, even if I don't believe anything they're saying. I'll feel personally responsible for anything they're accusing their enemy of doing. It's like being someone else who's looking at you and not liking what they see...not empathy though.

 I would be *very* hesitant to claim I really knew how someone else was feeling.

I am an empath,

I am not always on the ball about what I am absorbing. But I am a bit more fragile than

i wish I was.

Taking a bath helps recharge, as does the smell of sage essential oil.

 Shaking my whole body like a dog can help to release me from other people's energy. I learned that one from a chi gong teacher.

moon square neptune

I know I'm a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP or empath). I think if you're sensitive, your an empath. Of course there are different levels of it, I am at the highest level. It has taken all my wits to learn to live in this world. Work was hell for me. Sensitive people seem to be targeted alot by jerks, bullies and horrid women with their Petty  Pink Politics. Yep, I was the target. I also became somewhat paranoid because I could sense what people were up to before they sprang out.Anyhow, here are some coping techniques, stuff I've learned. You have GOT TO protect your aura at all times. They call it "white lighting" yourself. You visualize yourself in a coccoon of white light and it runs from top of head to toes, seal the coccoon. Do this first thing upon waking up and last thing before going to bed. Taking a shower will wash off negative energy picked up from other people. See the water as white light cleansing you, hold out your hands with palms facing upward and say "release, release, release. Saying the Lord's Prayer will protect you from negativity, psychic attacks. ALso, wearing any material made of silk will protect the solar plexus which is usually the entry point for negative energy directed at you.  Red is another great color for protection. I avoid LIKE THE PLAGUE people who are negative, are jealous of me, petty or who have an agenda. If you are by nature a happy & bubbly person you can be a target for this stuff. Darkness hates the light.  I don't go to parties much more these days unless I know who is going to be there. I know this is extreme but I come away from most of these functions feeling like I've been beaten up.  I stay briefly, make an appearance and leave. CHoose your battles wisely. I have a small circle of friends who are sensitive like me and we swap stories and I know all this is really self defense - we've all had to do it.  If you find yourself in a negative situation, a quick stop gap measure is crossing your arms over your stomack and/or crossing your legs. That keeps people from pulling your energy from you. Having strong boundaries is a must.  Now I work from home so I am lucky to pick and choose my social situations. If I don't want to go, i just don't. For the most part I have to say most people are positive, kind or just sorta neutral but it's the rotten apple that spoils the whole thing. I wish I had the hide of a rhino and could just bull doze my way thru life oblivious to all this B***S**t but it's a jungle out there. I find great comfort in my alone time or being out in nature. 

I'm an empath. It came from my childhood and I come from a line of women who all have some kind of "otherworldly" quality and pass it on to their daughters...

 I'd rather be sensitive than not. It makes my life richer. Some days I know things I'd rather not, but that's part of the story. But I know when to tune out. I have to be assertive about this tuning it out.