
Louis Léopold Boilly – ‘Conversation dans un parc’ 1812 {{PD}}
What does Ceres have to do with health?
In mythology Ceres’ Greek predecessor, Demeter, was goddess of Nature, abundance, and the fruits of the Earth, but by the time she reached Rome and her current name and form, she was decidedly more tame: a goddess of agriculture, of Nature that’s been shaped and subjugated to man. That suggests that in modern conception she may deal with the balance of the body and its vulnerabilities to natural elements, of being overwhelmed from without (drowning, buried in a landslide, struck by lightning, for instance, or from things like allergens and starvation) and from within by invasion (of germs, viruses, bacteria, fungi). She doesn’t offer a total picture of health in the natal scenario or by transit, but does speak of certain conditions one may be prone to, or illnesses susceptible to, aside from her other meanings: a sense of personal power and authority, a maternal interest in others (which can easily tip into a controlling one), territoriality, and negotiation.
Romantic poet Percy Shelley (4 August 1792 10 PM Horsham England) was just coming up on a Lunar Return in Pisces the day he drowned in a boating accident (8 July 1822 Lerici Italy). He has Ceres natally conjoined the Sun, Venus, Pallas, and Uranus in Leo in the Whole Sign 4th (and though Juno’s close enough to the Sun, it’s too wide for Ceres, in my opinion); Ceres is also opposed Pluto and quincunx the natal Moon and Sedna in Pisces. Already we can see that Ceres was a vital part of the life, and so of the death as well. In the context of the drowning event, the natal scenario suggests sudden accidents (Uranus) based on unwise decisions (Pallas–staying on the water despite the storm) activated the Self-destruction he had always been conscious of, and perhaps at times had to fight (Sun opp Pluto), with Ceres’ involvement implicating the elements, the weather, even potentially activating an emotional attachment to the water, and a need to adjust (the quincunx) to prevent getting lost in it! (the Pisces Moon)
On the day he died, Shelley’s Ceres was contacted exact by degree by the transiting South Node, suggesting a ‘pull back’ to a previous (pre-birth?) state; t Ceres was opposed natal Mercury in the 5th=the elements literally in opposition to the lung function; t Merc was conjoined n Chiron in Cancer in the 3rd of lungs, breathe=water water everywhere, water that injures; t Mars was conjoined the n NN, spurring actions and choices that take one into the future; and t Earth sextiled the n Moon-Sedna, forming the base of a Finger of God with apex n Ceres-Pallas=here’s a recipe for the environment ganging up with instincts and emotions to prompt that natal judgment of Nature. Shelley may have believed he was very practical (Pallas) in his relationship to the elements and the natural world (Ceres), feeling that instinct (Sedna) and emotion (the Moon) would inform his choices. There’s a sense that he didn’t fear them, that instead the Pisces Sedna-Moon may have seen the obliteration threat of the natal Pluto opposition as a kind of Oneness with Nature–absorption rather than obliteration. Too, the transiting Sun had just run over his natal Black Moon Lilith=he may have been more than a little in the mood to explore the darkness.
To A Star
Sweet star, which gleaming o’er the darksome scene
Through fleecy clouds of silvery radiance fliest,
Spanglet of light on evening’s shadowy veil,
Which shrouds the day-beam from the waveless lake,
Lighting the hour of sacred love; more sweet
Than the expiring morn-star’s paly fires:–
Sweet star! When wearied Nature sinks to sleep,
And all is hushed,–all, save the voice of Love,
Whose broken murmurings swell the balmy blast
Of soft Favonius, which at intervals
Sighs in the ear of stillness, art thou aught but
Lulling the slaves of interest to repose
With that mild, pitying gaze? Oh, I would look
In thy dear beam till every bond of sense
Became enamoured–
That was definitely written by a guy with Sun-Venus-Ceres-Pallas-Uranus conjoined, all opposed by Pluto!
Synchronicities
Synchronicities have been everywhere lately–have you noticed that for you, too? Those little mentions or phrases or events or people that grab your attention simply by the unlikely way they’re brought into one’s compass repeatedly within a short period. To my mind that signals we’re in a kind of flow, that attunement to the optimum vibrational level for you is very close to perfect–and that implies intuition is sharp and accessible, that information is yours to pluck right out of the air, that you can ‘know’ without anyone telling you. Though our tendency is to breeze through these interludes, to remark ‘Isn’t that strange?’ when we hear the same song or its lyrics or mention of the singer in every store and elevator and TV show and conversation we’re exposed to the entire weekend, and at the same time to be very focused consciously on the here-and-now, what we really need to do is pause; this is a point when we are cruising along with a lot of our perceptual abilities working below the surface, and we can see the world very clearly, if we are willing to. We can get our questions answered, if we’ll only stop looking out, and take a moment to look within.

Carl Schweninger the Younger ‘Not Willing’ 19th century {{PD}}
rejecting a Gemini man
Are you thinking there’s some magic word (he’s a Gemini, after all) that will make him take it well, not make a fuss, even see it as a gift? There’s not, and it’s likely that if he senses you are trying to out think him (by manipulating or being one step ahead, the latter of which you automatically are if you know something–that you intend to reject him–that he doesn’t) he’ll be very resentful, indeed. Geminis are highly focused on thinking, processing info, communicating, networking–so he may already be aware, whether it’s through the grapevine or through reading your body language and tone in previous encounters, that you aren’t interested. That puts you in a precarious position: if he does know and he’s still coming at you, he’s forcing you to say it outright, and if he doesn’t know, he’s going to feel especially upset that he didn’t parse it out ahead of time (it’s a Gemini thing–they always think they should’ve known!) All you can do, really, is send a clear, consistent, and polite message through every pore of your Being and, obviously, word spoken: no thank you. Problems will only arise if you’ve been ambivalent in your feelings or in your behavior, wrongly believing that will ‘let him down easy’ (and if so I bet you’re horoscope is chock full o’ Water signs). Come clean without engaging in any way that sends the wrong (that is, an enmeshed behavioral or contradictory) message, and it should go fine–the last thing you want to do, and he wants to feel you’ve done, is mislead him.
Have a great weekend, and support the blog–buy a book!
Very interesting Julie!
Thank you, Donna! 🙂
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Reblogged this on Lost Dudeist Astrology.
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It is all about pressure for me, I have been given a new mission and it seems insurmountable.
First, remember those immortal words: “should you choose to accept this mission”, so nobody gives one to you without permission, and second, how much of the pressure is internally generated, you thinking about being under pressure? Taking that stance can be one of the most pressure-filled possible! Of course, that’s all said with me not having any idea what you face–so, one step at a time, and make sure it really is your mission to accomplish.
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Thanks Julie, but it is regarding my job and entails driving to CT for work now. If I don’t accept it, I can be laid off. So a two hour ride each way to take over a project that the last Project Manager got tired of. I am tired just thinking about it.
I hate to say it, but the advice still (basically) stands: do you accept this (in order to keep the job)? I don’t envy the choice, but sometimes we keep getting handed things that are less and less acceptable because we keep saying yes–but then again, if we say no, we need to have something to move toward–and it’s hardest for those who are most responsive to externals, rather than internally driven, simply because the externally responsive person is looking to the environment (rather than the Self) for a new option. Maybe it comes down to asking yourself how long you could live with a commute like that–or if you’d consider a mid-week room or apartment to minimize wear and tear. I hope you find an option that really works for you, Terri.
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Well, I can stay in a hotel, that is the offer from higher ups; you know me being a Cancer-I would rather be home. 🙂 thanks.
I’m with you, Terri–I would rather be home just about every night. Good luck with this–I hope it works out well for you.
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And if dreams are prophetic, I dreamt that I was trying to clean up a mess and it just kept getting bigger. I was getting frustrated.
Oh no!
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My sense of Ceres is that it has to do with purity and perfectionism in relation to mother nature: to live chastely in regards to the senses.
That could be one facet of Ceres manifestation within the individual, but we don’t sense definitions in astrology, we get them by observation and correlation across wide samples over long periods of time–and honestly, how does one show an attitude of purity and perfectionism in relation to mother nature? Big concepts are great, but only when they can be meaningful in real life.
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