Author Archives: juliedemboski

22 December 2018 Full Moon in Cancer: Beacon in the Dark

21 Friday Dec 2018

Posted by in astrology, Configurations, current events in the sky, Fist of God, forecast, Full Moon, Lunar Aspects, Sabian Symbols, T-Square

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‘Vuurtoren in de branding’ By Hendrik Willem Mesdag c1885 {{PD}}

This Full Moon in Cancer (22 December 9:48 AM PST at 00 Cancer 49) follows on the heels of the solstice (21 December 2:23 PM Pacific time–winter in the Northern hemisphere/ summer in the Southern hemisphere). For we northerners, the closeness of the two events makes the revelations and conclusions of the Full Moon a kind of beacon in the dark, both literally and figuratively, as Luna lights the way out of the longest night of the year, at least here in North America.

The Full Moon is apex to a Fist of God with base of Venus-Ceres square Black Moon Lilith, out-of-element sextile Uranus, T-square with close Chiron-Hygeia conjunction, novile to Juno. Always, a Full Moon brings an ending, a culmination, a conclusion, and this can signal a definite end or can usher in a new stage, or an entirely new beginning. In Cancer these endings carry a heavier-than-usual emotional component, a sensitivity to the import of what’s concluding, and intimations through the feeling nature as to what’s beginning. Emotional conclusions are reached and intuitive information received; that is, we realize with surety how our feelings resolve on some subject related to the House (or across the axis) in the natal chart in which the FM occurs. This resolution may come consciously (more likely if the FM falls above the horizon in the natal chart) or through the unconscious ‘assembly’ of information learned and intuited, presented to the conscious mind as it coheres into a relevant picture under the Full Moon’s light. It’s a ‘just dawning on us’ event, so to speak, represented by the very early sign degree in which the culmination occurs.

The aspects for this Lunar event suggest that what arises is conflict, stress, or tension that once expressed creates a more healthy atmosphere, leading to a new, unanticipated level of empowerment or a rise in or change of status. The challenge will be to stay true to our best Self even as we deal with what may be a messy situation; with Black Moon Lilith involved we may have to face what we’d rather ignore or suppress, what we may feel ashamed of or guilty about (though as we know, those are distortions, re-directions of anger as we avoid sending it to the appropriate target), and we may be required to deal with matters that enrage us, making things even more difficult.

There is also a matter of conflict among authorities, with authorities, or over who holds authority and so who holds the reins to assets. We may only observe this authority-centered upset, or we may find it angers us in the way it threatens to wrest agency from us or those we love. Know that misdirection of energy is a real possibility, and that inappropriate anger and overstepping of boundaries are the avenues of least resistance–and knowing that you can take a step back from the fray, receiving or causing no harm.

But, there’s a promise of healing, once we’ve located what or whom we care about, what needs our nurture, or what may offer nurture to us (Cancer), and caring mobilizes skills, especially the ones that only we can wield in just that particular, individual way we have. The key is twofold: pinpoint our feelings, and see where they can and should be ‘applied’, and be fearless in meeting, dealing with, and then letting go of whatever conflict transpires. Take care not to confuse the order of this–it doesn’t do anyone any good to fight first, then figure out what they want! This scenario probably won’t unfold in an easily palatable way, but will serve the cause of necessary emotional processing that supports both our health and our unique expression and empowerment.

The Sabian Symbol for this Full Moon is, ‘On A Ship The Sailors Lower An Old Flag And Raise A New One’. This may be a change of signal flag–letting others know changes in our intents or destination–or a complete change of authority, the new flag showing who is now ‘running the ship’. In any case, it’s a symbol of communicating identity, which is something we do quite naturally when we set priorities (identify what we care about) and then speak up in defense of or in dealing with what comes before us (with our Self-image shaping the forms and character of our assertions).

We also look at the Sun’s Sabian, as it’s the source of the light play that gives us the Full Moon event in the first place: ‘An Indian Chief Claims Power From The Assembled Tribe’. In this Full Moon’s aspects we have seen a recurring thread concerning individual authority; this symbol suggests that what generates the conflict, the expression, and the eventual healing, all stem from issues surrounding who holds the reins, who should hold the reins, and these may be best determined by who is supported by the group–but then again, the upheaval may come from the fact that this is tribal thinking–and if there’s anything we know at this point, it’s that blind tribalism is positively the most destructive way of organizing our priorities and our lives.

This Full Moon offers a beacon in the darkness of tribalism, help in sorting out the competition for authority, and shines a light on both our duty to use our skills and the ways in which we can access healing and enhance overall health.

21 December 2018 Larger Than Life

20 Thursday Dec 2018

Posted by in astrology, current events in the sky, forecast, The Daily Word Image

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Photo By Daderot {{PD}}

You can feel it building, brimming, and ready to break, can’t you? Immense, overflowing, perhaps a burning knowledge, or thoughts on the social order or on our own or others’ belief systems, permeate everything with a larger than life quality. It seems we can think transformation into being–and we can, with enough investment, enough creative and imaginative ‘juice’, enough Love–with a subsequent spotlight falling on the real-world results. It almost feels magic, this ability to Love, to throw our lot in with, to dedicate our energy–and that is the way it works, the Universe responding to our energy, a wavelength that is both assertive and receptive, listening and making a statement, open to what’s out there and closed in embrace of what we hold dear. Enjoy it, and feel the power of the mind as it stretches, reaches out, and contacts the new, the unfamiliar, the radical and revered.

(Merc and Jupiter conj in Sag, both sxt Vesta, Merc nov Pluto, Venus trine Neptune, Sun enters Capricorn)

Today’s word image is a question unanswered, despite a jumble of words poured out. What question are you putting out into the Universe that appears to be unanswered? I say ‘appears’ as the idea here is that no question goes unanswered; we may miss the answer, not see, accept, or understand the vernacular in which it’s delivered, may reject the answer, or may try to insist the answer take a particular form, and if it doesn’t, we’ll pretend no answer has been given. The reality is that as soon as we ask a question, we have the answer–it may take a little while to dawn on us, it may take a nudge from the physical world, or it may take a remark from your own personal angel (anybody who plays a part in your drama), but you have received an answer. Now you must be brave enough to see and accept it

Next up: The Full Moon in Cancer!

20 December 2018 Celebrate and Elevate

19 Wednesday Dec 2018

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‘A Party in the Open Air’ By Isaac Oliver I c1592 {{PD}}

Why do even the good things seem painful, right now? Relationships and financial choices and even values require careful negotiation; failure to deploy our most personal skills (that is, those that are most unique to us as individuals) will only add discord to the sense of woundedness. What we need is a celebration of who we are at core, done by honoring exactly what we find sacred in life, and most Soul-specific in ourselves. Yes, it’s a vague formula, but that’s the point: each of us must tailor the party to our experience, our needs, our gifts, our passions, here on Earth. Stay true to who you are, elevate that expression, and both surprising healing and unanticipated benefits will be yours.

(Venus sesq Chiron, Sun trine Uranus and nov Vesta)

19 December 2018 The Power of Self-Determination

18 Tuesday Dec 2018

Posted by in astrology, current events in the sky, Fist of God, forecast, Grand Cross/Grand Square, T-Square, The Daily Word Image

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‘Niños en la Playa, Valencia’ (Children at the Beach, Valencia), By Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida 1914 {{PD}}

We may start out rejecting authority or our own agency, but in any case it spurs us toward a kind of empowerment centered in Self-responsibility–even in wanting to avoid making our own choices, we end up wanting to! Or maybe we have to. We can’t resist the power of Self-determination–nor should we. For each of us, the vital factor on which so much hinges right now is either the health situation or the skill situation–and we must face where we actually stand with each, in order to see where we truly are empowered, where we can go with all this, and where we might’ve been fooling ourselves, just a tad.

There’s also the matter of a Fist of God formed by the square between Hygeia-Chiron and Earth, with all sesquiquadrate Venus. This emphasizes the material factors, the physical needs as well as the atmosphere/ environment, and implies that handling these in a realistic manner (that is, by addressing what we have the power to address) we create reward, a pay-off, or better a relationship–somehow we benefit, even though the situation the benefit arises from may be difficult or may be one of outright conflict.

Bonus: if you have natal placements at 26-29 of Virgo, this fills in a Grand Cross with the Sun-Earth axis and Hygeia-Chiron, suggesting a tense situation where health takes a big role in life direction and the plan for material accomplishment or manifestation of the Soul’s purpose, with the influence defined by the function (that is, the verb version) of the natal placement (for instance, Mars would be about doing or choosing or possibly aggressing, while Venus might be about valuing or receiving). Health (or possibly skill levels, that ‘gift’ that is unique to you, Chiron’s other broad meaning) temporarily has an out-sized impact on where you’re headed, and this is weighed through the natal planet or point and its action possibilities (the verbs associated with the energy). If the fill-in planet happens to be Pluto (which it may be for many), this could be more about the tension caused when one knows something must be eliminated or transformed, for one’s own good and/ or so that the life direction can continue as desired–so could bring a kind of crisis that may, initially, seem unsolvable.

(Uranus contra-parallel Ceres, Mars parallel Juno, apex Venus sesq Hygeia-Chiron and Earth forming a Fist of God, Sun-Earth sq Hygeia-Chiron conjoined forming T-square)

Also By Sorolla y Bastida 1915 {{PD}}

Today’s word image is picturing yourself walking out into a body of cold salt water on a brightly sunny summer day. What does this say to you? Are you frolicking at the beach, taking a dip to cool off from extreme temps, staying in the shallows because you can’t swim or don’t really want to be wet, planning to swim to an opposite shore, are you plunging in to rescue someone or something (a dog in a rip current, a washed-away purse), are you walking out with rocks in your pockets, Virginia Woolf-style? If the water symbolizes your spiritual essence, what does the interaction you imagined say about your current relationship to spirit and spiritual practice (this latter of which, I argue, is simply another phrase for life)?

18 December 2018 Pulse

17 Monday Dec 2018

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Instincts lead us–or is it drive us?–into the future–or rather, into creating our future by our current choices. That’s always so, but there are times like today when the pulse of energy we generate seems to travel a straight line to what we’ll eventually be. The direction we go right now will express (and consequently shape) who we are. It’s a chicken-and-egg thing, whether the impulse generates the thought or the thought the forward-moving energy, but in the end it doesn’t matter–the effect is the same. And, all this is done only half deliberately, with a semi-conscious notion that aligns choices and efforts with both goals and identity–and that means that whatever happens, your responses and those events you generate will be strongly attuned to who you are and what you intend. As always, if you’re not happy with what you see, you know where to look for change.

(Merc semi-sq Zeus, Sedna sxt NN forming base to a Finger of God with apex Sun)

‘The Tower of Babel’ By Pieter Bruegel the Elder 1563 {{PD}}

Today’s word image is an idea I’ll title, ‘Controlling One’s Image’. Are you the kind of person who believes they can (and should) try to tailor people’s impression of you to the image you desire? If so, do you honestly think that’s really possible? This simply calls for each of us to take a moment and reflect: Are we able to let others think what they think, without trying to shape perceptions or change their minds (manipulate them), while being true to ourselves (being who we are, without artifice or pretension)? Because if not, we’re failing twice: once when we don’t recognize boundaries, and once when we aren’t being true to ourselves.

17 December 2018 Mightier Than You Think

16 Sunday Dec 2018

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Illustration ‘Princessa i skogen’ By John Bauer 1915, from ‘En riddare red fram’ (A knight rode on) By Jeanna Oterdahl in “Bland tomtar och troll” (Among Gnomes and Trolls) 1915 {{PD}}
John Bauer

What we’re empowered to do, what we choose to do, is the focus today. Sometimes one and the same, sometimes wide apart, when our options are limited, or our Will is unsure, or when we just can’t muster the energy to make a choice–that latter being dangerous, giving ourselves up to the currents, not out of faith, but in abdication, in decreed helplessness–and the Universe has no respect for that. For the present we need to claim whatever power, in whatever form we own it, and we need to choose, need to act–because what results is greater than the sum of the parts, bringing fulfillment of an ambition or desire–and this is so even if that’s not what we’re aiming for! We have a healthy outlook, in terms of the future, so trust yourself, and don’t let others’ communications cause damage to you–and take care with your own words, as they are mightier, with a bigger impact, than you think.

(Juno sxt Mars, forming the base of a Finger of God with apex Zeus, Hygeia trine NN, Mercury semi-sq Pluto)

Photo By Soumyoo – Own work CC BY-SA 4.0 The Bird of Paradise Flower .jpg Created: 28 June 2016

Today’s word image is the Bird-of-Paradise–the flower, not the actual bird. As a kid I was confused about this plant–I thought it was somewhere between a plant and an animal (I thought the same of sunflowers–have I told you this story before?) These things seemed mysterious, kind of magical–and sentient, to my child-mind, so that when I was piled into a car with lots of others on the way to the cemetery, I silently prayed that I would not have to sit near the bird-of-paradise someone was bringing to put on a grave–and then I was told to hold it in my lap. I remember sitting very still with the tall, pointy flower balanced on my knees, really nervous that it might decide to take my eye out with its beak-like petals. I remember studying it, looking for an eye or some movement that might clue me in to what it was thinking, what it might do. It was a miserable ride for me; I arrived at the cemetery in a sweat! So what does this shaggy-dog story have to convey as an image? Probably that there is something in our lives right now that we fundamentally misunderstand–to the point that we’re frightened or worried, when we really don’t need to be.

16 December 2018 Hand-In-Glove

15 Saturday Dec 2018

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‘Stillleben mit Herrenkleidung’ (Still Life with Men’s Clothing) By Martin Mendgen 1932 Photo By Nutzungsrechtinhaber: Stadtmuseum Simeonstift (Diskussion) – Self-photographed, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36504942

Power expression and highest values go hand-in-glove–but is that a good thing? Yes, it is–we’re more likely to choose positive or productive means of showing our range, reach, and effectiveness–but only if we are free of identity crises and are sure about what in the real world matters to us. Elimination of what doesn’t align with our highest values and sense of the sacred goes smoothly, should we pursue it, and we can find tangible reward or profit–but it’s the power situation, and our feelings about it, that in the end determine how effective our actions and choices really are.

(Pluto parallel Vesta, Mars sxt Pluto, Venus sxt Saturn, Sun semi-sq Venus and nov Ceres)

Cast iron Pratt & Letchworth Deluxe Fire Engine set

Today’s word image is a fire engine. Now, my father was a fireman, so this image may have a somewhat different meaning for me than for you, but overall, it signals the need for ’emergency response’. Is there something, especially something anger related, that threatens to become a conflagration in the life, that if it isn’t addressed will grow out of control? Where are you busy ‘putting out fires’?–which phrase emphasizes the way handling problems is so time-consuming that you have no room for anything else. Are you performing this function for others, or are you in some way waiting for others to rescue you? And what will be lost, should you decide to do nothing about this?

Have a great weekend!

This is wonderful, on disappointment and expectations–

15 December 2018 No Shame

14 Friday Dec 2018

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‘Shame’ By Max Klinger c1890 {{PD}}

Personal authority or the exercise of our power or role (especially a maternal or nurturing one, or one where we act as a third party, such as a mediator or negotiator) brings direct conflict with all that enrages us, or that we prefer to ignore, deny, or keep hidden. That sounds like a mess! We can best handle this by embracing our unique Beingness (that means no shame over who we are!) specifically rejecting any illusions we carry about ourselves, or by dissolving any image we may try to persuade others is ‘the real us’. Being open to spontaneity will help, as will allowing creative energy to flow without immediately applying judgments to it.

‘Practice Safe Pride’ By Tim Evanson from Washington, D.C., United States of America – DC Gay Pride Parade 2012Uploaded by daisydeee, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29923990

(Ceres sq Black Moon Lilith, Uranus semi-sq Neptune)

Today’s word image is this sign:

14 December 2018 Genius Moves

13 Thursday Dec 2018

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‘Zwei tanzende Frauen am Strand’ (Two Women Dancing on the Beach) By Christian Rohlfs 1926 {{PD}}

Will it be the ego that drives innovation, invention, and rebellion, or will it be the Will, or matters of the House ruled by Mars in the natal chart? The impulse is to do, and to do it radically, in a modern mode, to push yourself to the front of the pack–and the choices to facilitate this carry a touch of genius, an electric charge, a potency and forward-looking attitude that is guaranteed to propel us farther into the future than a simple 24-hours usually does. Enjoy the ride–it’s likely to be surprising!

(Mars nov Uranus)

Today’s word image is the fake-out ending to a series or movie. You know those shows where they start with what you think is the ending, then flash back to tell the story–but it turns out that this is either not the actual ending (a dream, for instance, or a mid-point from which things recover remarkably, and head in a different direction), or that it’s arrived at so radically removed from what it seems is implied that you see it at the end totally other than you did at the beginning? What ‘ending’, result, or conclusion do you think you’re heading for, that may be an assumption that won’t necessarily follow from your choices or what goes down in between? To think we know the end of something is to condemn ourselves in a way that denies both responsibility and free Will–and to pretend we have a particular, inescapable fate before us is to abdicate our own part in things, our own potentials–don’t let this be you!

13 December 2018 Connection To Reality

12 Wednesday Dec 2018

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‘Sehnsucht (Träumerei)’ By Heinrich Vogeler c1900 {{PD}}

Instincts, and what we ‘know but don’t know’, can be smart resources today, and if we can relax our figurative grip a little, we can let that knowing flow guide us. It’s a good thing this is available, as we are otherwise inclined to one of two ‘Big Picture’ approaches: we are inspired in our exercise of our own prerogatives, roles, and authority, applying our creative energy to having an impact, or we’re totally and completely deluded in those same areas, spinning our wheels with choices either ineffective or misguided, following an unknown or an untruth! Those alternatives sound extreme, and they are; everything hinges on having an accurate and grounded connection to reality, and whether we do or not will be determined by how honest we are (and have been) with ourselves. Hide nothing from your own perceptions, and the result can be leaps forward toward attainment of goals and ambitions, and fulfillment of long-time desires.

Bonus: if you have a placement at 25-28 Libra, that placement is apex to a Fist of God with base of Hygeia-Sedna. The apex energy will bring a characteristic expression (related to the natal sign, aspects, and placements) of harmonizing ‘healthy practices’ (whatever this means to you) and the instincts, things you ‘know but don’t know’, and blind spot material (which in this case can be defined as things others know you shouldn’t do/ consume, but that you have so far ignored). What you can expect is a ‘best expression’ of the natal energy, as it figures into the health/ intuitive picture. This can be a good grounding influence, especially in terms of relationships.

(Hygeia sxt Sedna, Neptune trine Ceres, Mercury semi-sq Pallas, nov Zeus, parallel Black Moon Lilith)

Today’s word image is a man in full Viking dress standing in the parking lot of the Quiky Mart. What major incongruity have you seen lately? Have you noticed something that was absolutely not where it belonged? What in your life becomes meaningless, or at least strange or inappropriate, when it’s in the ‘wrong’ environment? This image may suggest that we’d be wise to pay a little more attention to placing the ‘right’ components in the atmosphere that allows them to thrive, rather than stranding them high and dry–and if we’ve failed to do this, it may point us in the direction of some portion of the life where we aren’t as honest, direct, or attentive as we might need to be.