‘Seascape with Sailors Sheltering from a Rainstorm’ By Bonaventura Peeters the Elder 1640 {{PD}}
That difficult awareness delivered to us by the recently perfected, current, and future lingering Sun-Pluto Cardinal square will be brought to consciousness by the Sun-Mercury Superior Conjunction of the 18th, which also promised some revelations in line with the recent New Moon. What we’ve seen, become aware of, or seen eliminated, destroyed, or transformed has presented us with a dilemma, as the Sun in Aries asks, ‘What do I do about this?’
We’re likely to see a way forward on the 18th that’s informed by whatever was born at the New Moon. The can-do-ness of that Aries event will finally be able to act on a problem that has called into play the sense of personal authority, responsibility, and that even when we had no clue how to proceed, cried out for action! There is so much ‘doing’ energy in all this that we may be tempted to pick the first action outlet we see, so intense is our desire (no, our need!) to address the Plutonian breakdown; instead we should relax (at least a little): with Jupiter sextile the Sun-Merc and semi-sextile Pluto, Sedna semi-sextile Sun-Merc, square Jupiter, and trine Pluto, and Mars, bless his aggressive little heart, down in Gemini making the mind churn out ‘get going’ talk (and as well aspecting things, with a sextile to Sun-Merc catching Sedna at the midpoint, a trine to Jupiter, and a quincunx to Pluto), all this suggests that facts and/ or beliefs will inform our thinking (so it will be at worst characteristic of who we are, at best thinking firmly planted in the real world and its circumstances), and will permeate our plans and where our attention goes, as will what we ‘know but don’t know’ (information sensed but not seated in the conscious mind–Sedna), and that this will propel us in the right direction, as the social order or our own beliefs about the Universe construct the perfect confluence of issues, events, and occurrences to get us to an important new point in our development–because that’s what’s happening right now, we’re all having things transformed, carved away, removed, or otherwise we’re seeing the power situation take on new shapes and hues, all in the name of moving us around the Universal chess board so we’re in the right place, right time, for the next phase of life. Now more than ever, we are responsible for how we respond–do your best.
Just thought I’d weigh in on that. Also, it’s a great time to address your health, particularly through diet or with environmental factors–you have a lot of juice to re-shape your well-being right now. ‘Til next time, and have a wonderful weekend!
I’m sure many of us are feeling the heightened energy in the current atmosphere–and even as I write this I’m aware of the inadequacy of that phrase, ‘heightened energy’–it’s really more like the heaviest breeze you’ve ever felt, or maybe like floating inside a lead cloud. My symbol choices may be clunky, but I have no doubt you all know what I’m talking about.
For me it’s manifested as an inability to go to sleep. Now normally when I suffer insomnia, it’s either caused by a hamster wheel of overthinking spinning to the tune of free-floating anxiety, or it’s sheer, unfettered resistance of the ‘I’m a big girl and I don’t have to go to bed right now’ variety.
This time, though, it’s a pure alertness that doesn’t cause and isn’t prompted by anxiety; instead I’m simply AWAKE, with no agenda trying to push its way to conscious consideration–and for me, that’s really weird.
Clearly, this is a wave that’s lapping the globe, generated by a spectacular array of world events–and right now might be a good time to put a pin in the whole thing (with so many bodies in Capricorn, including today the Moon), so that any upset this frequency is creating can be seen for what it is: a Collective ‘web’ in which we’re all vibrating, and so it’s only natural we’re concerned there’s a spider that will emerge at any time to either eat us or wrap us in silk for later!
Here’s something that may help: the big changes, the big traumas, are already done–Saturn and Pluto are done with their dance, and that means that the real-world manifestations of change have already fallen into place (even if we haven’t yet seen those results, or you haven’t seen the dust settle in your part of the world, yet). By mid-December Saturn will be moving into Aquarius, fostering the processing of previous material events in intellectual terms, finding where they fit into and reflect both the modern Zeitgeist and our own future, and delivering revelations that push some of us to rebellion, some of us to the avant garde in our arena, some of us to erratic (and probably Self-destructive) behaviors, and some to show our most unique and original qualities and creative abilities. And really, it’s your choice, since it’s all seated in our response to prevailing energies, rather than determined by any one thing or series of things that happen to us.
The real culprit shakin’ our web is Jupiter. I really hesitate to call Jupiter by one of its traditional names, The Greater Benefic. It’s not that the moniker is untrue, but that Jupiter can be big, loud, colorful, overwhelming, sweeping in its effects–and that can feel a lot like bullying to more sensitive types, especially those heavy in Water (they need to feel and then sort through those feelings around what’s happening, before they can enjoy it) and those heavy in Air, as they need to digest events mentally, before they can determine their reactions (and that’s so even when onlookers might see things as unreservedly positive–how can they be, asks the Air individual, if I don’t yet know what I think of them?)
As easily as Jupiter can bring bounty, it can bring too much–and if it’s too much of something we didn’t want in the first place, that can be its own kind of trauma. So, now that we’ve properly recognized that Jupiter can be indiscriminately too too, we’ll look at his role in the current situation; we won’t worry about past contacts much, because honestly, at this point so much has happened that going back to sort through with a fine-toothed comb is a waste of time, simply because we don’t need the past illuminated–it’s what’s coming that’s important, now.
Jupiter’s direct and rapidly approaching Pluto, which is also direct as of earlier this month–but at this point the latter is barely moving, lingering on the 22nd degree, where Jupiter will, by November 12th, meet him. Are our beliefs destroyed, transformed, or seen for the darkness they carry? Or is it that what we know takes on meaning via matters of Power and the way they play out? Are we too quick to rage, our upset grown out of all proportion, or do the facts set us free by the way they transform the situation, our outlook, our world? No matter what, Jupiter and Pluto together mean an exaggerated effect, and too many of us respond to Pluto with fear, especially when our own sense of Power is inadequate, damaged, or we have rejected our own strength; that can spell dangerous misunderstanding about what’s happening, what’s changing, that may spiral us into destructive mode out of fear, when a better response would be to reassure ourselves that the Universe is working to our benefit (Jupiter) no matter what those changes (Pluto) we’re facing look like on the surface.
At this point Mars will be poised to go direct, on the 13th–and that adds a strong impetus to move, act, do, that rides on the energy wave of the Jupiter-Pluto meeting. What we learn may prompt our choices and motivate us–but we need to take care, as tendencies to exaggeration and extremes (Jupiter-Pluto specialties) may distort what we glean so that we essentially make those choices based on misleading impressions. It may be difficult to see at the time that the heightened atmosphere is meant to help us ‘receive’ what we need to know–but awareness that it doesn’t reflect reality in its correct proportions is vital to not overreacting, to not destroying or raging out of misunderstanding.
This is a potent influence, and so relatively strong for awhile; the most dangerous point for action based on misperception or illusion will be 5th-9th of December, as Mars moves to semi-sextile Neptune (thanks, Maree!), with the semi-sextile shouting loud and clear that what we base our actions and choices on at a personal level (Mars in Aries) needs adjustment and re-assessment, especially the small kinds that sneak under the radar (the semi-sextile). Those ideals (Neptune) we’ll think we’re serving won’t quite align with reality–so we must tread with care.
Let’s look at the Sabian for the meeting of Jupiter and Pluto: ‘A Soldier Receiving Two Awards For Bravery In Combat’. It’s going to feel very much like that; we’ll want to respond as if in the heat of battle, believing we’re doing the right, the noble, the brave (Mars in Aries!) thing–but as we can see from the larger picture, our viewpoint will be exaggerated, off, over-the-top–and that means our judgment of what to do, how to act, and how it’s all going to work out, will simply be a fantasy (Mars-Neptune).
So, we need to be prepared to feel things ‘too much’, at times, in the coming months, and we must also know that to act on our initial impressions will create problems, simple because what we learn, see, and experience will suffer some sort of distortion. But knowing that, we can go softly, and not need that big stick at all.
The New Moon perfects at 12:31 PM PDT on the 16th at 23 Libra 53, after just recently passing Zeus at 21 Libra and so still conjoined, and still within opposition of Mars, which recently conjoined Earth as the Warrior continued apparent backward motion. Immediately the New Moon takes on the tone of the near-past, where emotional aspirations and attentions toward ambitions and passions have been faced with the effectiveness (or not) of choices and actions meant to bring those goals into concrete realization. What dawns here may derive from recent choices and interactions, and let us know who will help us, who has hindered us, and who we must cooperate with or accept support (or even criticism) from, in order to make ‘it’ happen. With whom do we want to bond, with whom partner or share, in whom are we interested romantically, with whom are we aligned? This New Moon brings forward these important questions–but do we get an answer, during Merc retrograde?
Merc in Scorpio is prone to dig, and that doesn’t always sit well within Libran relationships–too, our Mercury cycle may focus our thinking in directions other than those brought forward by the New Moon, so it may be highly individual whether these two tie together in any way. If we don’t learn who is vital to our efforts and our happiness at the New Moon, we’ll definitely get an inkling at the Inferior Conjunction–simply because our excavations will naturally have at least some effect on our relationships, and vice versa.
This time the Lunar event forms one end of an opposition (the other end being the Earth and Mars), with both ends squared by Capricorn residents Jupiter (yes, we’ll give the orb a little more than usual, this time, because this body touches the two that have closer aspects to the NM), Pluto, and Saturn–and of course, that makes a Cardinal T-square. That’s a configuration of tension, stretching all energy components to their extremes within the situation, but it promises us something: we can resolve the basic opposition if we can resolve the conflict the ‘arm’ introduces to the general dynamic.
That presents a picture of ambition and desire fulfillment, and who or what is helping (or hindering) with that, as it stands in relation to our own actions and choices, and how these have affected the material situation. We’ll be seeing the disparities between enacting our Will (Aries) and our desires (Zeus–which naturally involve others, even if only in the form of an audience or witness, because we might ask if we really find satisfaction in a totally unnoticed act–even with an anonymous one, we want to see it affect others–Libra).
We sort through these disparities between getting our way and getting what we desire by recognizing what we’re doing that works, and what is impeding us–and this New Moon says we do so using the three energies of the square in a disciplined and controlled (Capricorn) way. There is a strong element of responsibility in all this, via both the need to assess our own behavior and its effectiveness, and in the ways to modify that in order to get what we truly want.
Jupiter says we need to face the facts, especially those that are restraining us or hemming us in, or it suggests that it’s our relationship to (or perhaps subjugation to) the social order that is causing problems, or that our expansion attempts are poorly engineered, or that our faith is somehow misplaced (probably invested in an unworthy authority figure). Saturn says we just need to stop! or that authorities have deemed we must, or that we are failing to follow ‘the rules’ or to discipline ourselves–and so we miss at least some of our marks. With Pluto the idea of power struggle is introduced, again possibly with authorities, or we either fail to recognize that change has occurred, or that changes need to be made. We underestimate the force behind the social order, the inevitability of evolution, and the march of time, and this New Moon allows us to re-calibrate, in terms of our own efforts.
Remember, it’s natural to weigh things, with this Libra New Moon–we’re meant to assess one thing against another–so don’t succumb to internal critics that may confuse discernment in matters that directly affect you with judging things that have nothing to do with you. Right now, weighing your own choices, actions, and goals is what it’s all about.
Though I don’t typically talk about other aspects in a New or Full Moon picture, because I prefer to keep the energies discussed Lunar-relevant, I want to mention a close square currently in place: Ceres in Aquarius square Sedna in Taurus, both late in the sign but not so late that they demand our attention (right now, at mid-28 degrees, they’re just whining and pulling on our sleeves!) This may bring an entirely different tension that we could mistake for New Moon conflict; in reality this shows more as our own intellectually held concepts of our personal authority as they clash with those matters that either sit in our ‘blind spot’ or that we ‘know but don’t know’. Here the clash is internal, and likely highly distracting, stirring all kinds of feeling–but not the same ones stirred by the Lunar need to measure our actions, and our effectiveness, as it applies to goals and the World.
Too, Black Moon Lilith at this time is found at 29 Aries 29, placing those things we’d like to ignore or that enrage us at a precarious, hard-to-maintain position that could become explosive–and that means this tension might factor in, as well.
This New Moon really is about knowing ourselves (Mars in Aries, retrograde, and so going over territory we’ve already seen but need to reassess), and this knowing must be in the context of our relationships with others. New interactions or bonds can be born at this time, just as long as we face what we need to. This NM may feel a lot more like a Full Moon because of the Mars opposition–so don’t be surprised if it brings as many endings as beginnings.
The Sabian for the New Moon is, ‘ A Butterfly With A Third Wing On Its Left Side’. This New Moon seems to be about discovery, specifically about our own assets and what we can do with them. An extraneous ‘third wing’ may at first appear useless, random, even in the way of our successful ‘flight’, but on a butterfly a wing is an object of delicacy and beauty, with location on the left suggesting a spiritual purpose or meaning to it. It may be that with this New Moon we find something, in the course of all our other weighing and measuring, that offers a profound spiritual connection to our own beauty and ability–do your best to accept it as genuine, and to incorporate it in your idea of You.
Feel like Saturn’s giving you a hard time lately? Are you near a Return? You may want to visit (or re-visit) this real-life Saturn advice.
Pluto spends so much time retrograde each and every year (roughly six months) that it tends, in whatever direction it’s exhibiting apparent movement, to become like background noise, a steady, grating grind, often convincing us that the conditions it offers are unavoidable, inevitable, ‘just the way it is’, simply because they take shape and then, because of Pluto’s snail-quick movement, stay that way. This is especially true at points of retrograde and direction; the circumstances around both Power and Change seem cemented in place, even as deep and scary changes well beyond our control appear unavoidable. So, simultaneous feelings of being stuck, accompanied by a sense that all will soon be flung into chaos from massive change.
At this point in time, ‘America’s Laxative’ might be exactly what Pluto is! Antique bottle of “Pluto Water” from French Lick Springs. From a display of memorabilia and antiques at the West Baden Springs hotel, French Lick Indiana. Photo by Geoffrey A. Landis CC BY-SA 3.0
This time, the first aspect it makes after direction will almost be inadvertent; as Pluto shifts its apparent direction (while still at the same 22 Capricorn 29 position), Mars in retrograde motion in its own sign of Aries slips toward a square, perfecting on the 9th of October–and what do we get from Cardinal squares? Action! Change! And no small amount of conflict, fiery pushes to express, and temper. It’s almost as if these two don’t mean to meet, as neither is in actual forward motion–and that can imply that the conflicts engendered aren’t ones we look for, but stem instead from more compartmentalized energies that happen to find themselves at odds. BUT, Mars will be moving retro, and Pluto will still be at the station position–and that could signal regressive upsets (that is, ones springing up, re-ignited, from the past), old territory of resentments, grievances, and Will thwarted, clashing with an entrenched power position or entity that is both immovable and seemingly permanent–yet here is the lesson of a square: that the particulars, the specific circumstances of each body, speak of the actual situation from which the conflict will arise–so that the anger may have a difficult time knowing where to go, that actions may be timid or find us ‘holding back’, and that the stock-still and apparently impenetrable nature of power matters at present is not at all the reality–things are on the brink of changing.
We may get some of the story, of both the square repercussions and the overall disposition of energies, if we examine a few other contacts on and around the 9th. At that point we actually see Zeus in Libra step in opposed Mars, forming a tight T-square with our heroes just as their contact reaches perfection. That implies that what we see aflame will be fueled by frustrations or denials around ambitions and desires. We also see that Pluto will be quincunx, Mars sextile, and Zeus trine the North Node=creation of our future comes directly from pursuing those ambitions, with success dependent on how well we adjust to and are able to modify the power situation, or to create change or even to change ourselves.
But perhaps most telling about the atmosphere may be a Finger of God with base of Venus-Juno, apex Chiron. This suggests that for each of us the power situation may feel very personal, but that with some effort, we can actually heal some significant facet of things (and this is so no matter the frustrations of the square/ T-square, though we should note, these matters aren’t necessarily the same–they could exist in two completely separate situations). We use our talents, our assets, what we care about, our relationships, or our values, applying them to the power we currently hold, even if that power seems inadequate to address a larger situation. (This is one of those times when doing what we can ends up multiplying its effect, being far more potent than we imagine possible). Putting into action what we have, doing what we can, opens the door to healing a personal wound (Chiron in Aries) around the Self, the identity, the ability to act as an individual, and around expression of the Will. Sound familiar? This may be a further expression of what occurred at the recent Full Moon, building (Pluto in Capricorn) on new, different, necessary changes to the power landscape, ones that will in time reveal Truth, and in doing so offer transformation of one kind or another to each individual.
Not the kind of cross we’re talking about, but still–Shillito Cross in Shillito Woods, Ramsley Moor, Derbyshire, probably erected by monks from Beauchief Abbey during the 13th Century as a navigation aid for travellers to outlying fields. Photo By Martinvl CC BY-SA 4.0
The 31st Is A Good Day To . . . focus on a Cardinal Grand Cross that lasts through the 2nd and then on the 3rd adds Mars to the arm with Black Moon Lilith; the other factors are Venus, Juno and Saturn. This is the cross that all of our challenges, anxieties, and upsets get hung on today, with our own sense of empowerment, our relationships and/ or finances, and the physical and solid perceptual reality picture all supplying components that in some degree we’ll each need to deal with. Here are the things everyone will deal with: hidden or denied matters either make themselves known or must be acknowledged or dealt with directly; our own position (the one that says, ‘I am in charge of me and my issues’) stands in conflict with our relationships, our finances, or both; reality presents some walls, some non-negotiable terms, or some endings. Know that what we are stopped from doing, however this obstacle presents itself, is to our benefit; it would’ve cost us (money or love), or would’ve created its own barriers to or curtailing of our empowerment, if we’d gotten our way. Don’t forget: the Universe really is looking out for us, if we’ll just accept/ listen.
The Cardinal nature of this configuration means we may already be in motion when confronted by one or more of these matters, or that we have seen these things developing. Though the need to deal with things may have a sudden urgency, or may seem to come out of the blue, it doesn’t really take us by surprise; Saturn retro tells us we’ve known about at least some of this for a long time, and now Saturn ‘delivers’ it to us in a way we can’t avoid. The addition of Mars on the 3rd says the individual will be required to make choices or take action on what’s before them at that point–or may signal that we are forced to do so by someone else, or that our own anger or aggression brings things to a head.
There is a simple-but-not-easy-to-implement way of handling all this: we ‘shine a light’ on those matters that normally fall into our ‘blind spot’ (which calls for a high degree of Self-awareness)–or, we listen without mental or emotional intrusion to our instincts. If we can do that, access what we ‘know but don’t know’, we can do well, taking the natural impetus to confront and complete issues or advance an agenda of a Cardinal Cross and using it to our benefit (Sun parallel Sedna).
A Good Day To . . . is based on the aspects perfecting on each day, Pacific time.
‘God the Father Creating the Heavens’ By Jean-Charles François 1760 {{PD}}
The 28th Is A Good Day To . . . talk about the astrological health picture–of ourselves, of the Earth–and Nature’s responses to our efforts to tamp down Her assertions (for what’s a virus but a living thing sent out into the world by Mom to compete for territory and success with other living things? A creative statement, perhaps, or a created statement, generated by the Mother of All Earthly Creation, Ceres.)
There’s a Fist of God (or Thor’s Hammer, for the Norse among us) with a base of Venus-Zeus in Cardinal signs (compelling action because we care–Cancer–about others/ loved ones–Libra) and apex of Earth-Ceres, with the Sun semi-square each factor of the base. This is a picture of everything we care about, everything we reach for and want for ourselves as human beings, in a crisis (square) situation, with the inevitable outcome showing in a difficult relationship to Nature (Ceres) and our material surroundings (Earth), a need to adjust our interaction to the needs of the planet, and a need to take into consideration her other inhabitants, as well.
The configuration itself is a punishing one. A Fist always describes a clash (the base square) between two disparate energies that are trying to find a way to resolve their issues and work together; even if they don’t find a way to mesh, the result is the energy at the apex, and it’s in the way the base energies have either resolved their clash, or failed to, that determines whether the apex energies manifest in a positive or negative manner.
This Fist stresses all that we love (Venus) in its conflict relationship to our own appetites and heedless desires, our thoughtless taking-what-we-want (Zeus), and asks us to consider what needs of the environment (Earth) would cause the response that Nature (Ceres) makes. For instance, in answer to global warming, Nature deploys the current unprecedented hurricane situation in the US gulf; for the first time we’re seeing two hurricanes at once, and storm Laura at the time of this writing promises something I’ve never heard in US hurricane forecasting before: an unsurvivable storm surge of 20 feet. If you are a reader in the storm zone, I hope you made it out of there, and are sheltered, safe, and warm!
So, we’re challenged to both admit how our appetites have affected the natural order, and admit that we are the only ones who can do anything about the disruption; Nature is only responding to our interaction with her and her creations–it’s up to us to learn respect, before we as living organisms are overwhelmed ourselves.
Ad for “Pluto Water” laxative by Pluto Water company. Text at the bottom recommends it as a preventative for Spanish Influenza. Printed in LA Herald Oct 1918. Pluto water contained an assortment of minerals, most notably lithium salts.
The only other thing of which I’d like to make note is the Cardinal square ofPluto to Juno. This simply points to the tension of a power struggle that calls for action (the Cardinal placement). Here we may see the power establishment sparring with the kind of empowerment that comes from cooperative efforts (Juno in Libra). The resistance of the power elite to sharing that power can’t be overestimated. In any case, it’s a day to reflect on all that it’s within our power to do, whether we admit/ recognize we hold that power or not.
A Good Day To . . . is based on the aspects perfecting on each day, Pacific time.
The Full Moon perfects at 9:43 PM PDT of the 4th at 13 Capricorn 37–and just so happens to be a Lunar eclipse, the third and final eclipse of the recent set. We see an enormous concentration of energies in Capricorn right now, which contains the Moon, Earth, Pallas, Pluto, Jupiter, and Saturn, the latter at 29 tense degrees (with the Saturn situation suggesting real-world pressures from which we can’t escape). The thing about this is that the Sun, arbiter of where our attention goes, of what’s in the spotlight, is in Cancer, emphasizing our emotions, our connections to others, and matters of care and nurture; add to this that the Sun is only two minutes from perfection conjoining Vesta at the time of the eclipse, and we see that what occurs with this Full Moon will occur in the real-world (Capricorn, Saturn) even as our attention is on intangibles, feelings, and the ‘comfort and care’ picture (Cancer). We have emotion, then, on both ends of the eclipse axis, with the involvement of Cancer and of course the Moon. It also suggests that we will be striving to operate at the level of our highest values and commitments (Vesta)–and that may offer an added layer of stress as we try to meet our own high standards.
Illustration by John D Batten for “Indian Fairy Tales” edited by Joseph Jacobs, 1892 {{PD}}
We’ll set our orbs to ‘generous’, as that gives us a dynamic picture of eclipse events. There’s a sextile to Ceres, a trine to Uranus, and a sesquiquadrate to Sedna, which implies easy personal expression of authority or a ‘mothering’ attitude (which may include overstepping those personal bounds), an urge to spontaneity, originality, and inventiveness, and difficulty ‘hearing’ the instincts or in seeing our own blind spot. So, a great deal of progressive, get-to-it energy focused on those we care about or have dominion over, coupled with an inability to adequately hear our own inner dialogue.
And what sets all this off? A Cardinal Grand Cross formed by the eclipse Earth-Moon opposition to the Sun-Vesta, crossed by a very close opposition of Chiron to Juno, which, though it sits ‘behind’ the eclipse by degree, implies that a recent (and possibly ongoing) wound to the autonomy or empowerment situation ‘blossoms’ with the eclipse contact. This suggests the trigger to authority expression, boundary leaping, spontaneity, and lack of touch with instinct and our own weaknesses is seated in this recent hurt, and that it creates an unsolvable emotional dilemma: do we honor our feelings about the situation (especially its material aspects–Moon-Earth; that is, do we honor the wound?), or do we honor the call to be our ‘best Self’ via elevation of those highest and most refined facets of our identity and commitments (Sun-Vesta)?
‘Bergziegen (Mountain Goat)’ By Franz Marc 1913 {{PD}}
That’s the choice, and it won’t be an easy one in the moment, in spite of how it may appear an easy choice when laid out like this, pre-eclipse. The Sabian for the eclipse is, ‘An Ancient Bas-Relief Carved In Granite Remains A Witness To A Long-Forgotten Culture’. This may best be illuminated in light of the Sun and Vesta’s Sabian at this time as it ‘fills in’ the axis and provides the literal illumination of the eclipse scenario itself, ‘A Very Old Man Facing A Vast Dark Space To The Northeast’. In both images we are presented with ‘witnesses to history’, to what may have disappeared or been forgotten, lost in the darkness, and this may relate to the triggering wound set off by the eclipse, a hurt that we, or those who inflicted it, may have tried to consign to the shadows. Our blind spot also resides in our internal darkness, out of our sight, and may as well figure in to what occurs.
There’s an interesting aside in the way that a chart drawn for the Northern Hemisphere assigns the direction of northeast to the 3rd House (this is something we need to know in horary, for instance, when trying to locate an object using a chart). This House describes all kinds of communication, local interactions, our neighbors and siblings (and the oldest sibling, in particular), and the act of writing. This may hint that the eclipse involves one or more of these elements, and certainly suggests that our experience will be as much lived in interaction with the world as it is an internal event, seen only by us. Some situation that has caused us pain may be resolved–or may act to blow things up–but in either case, brings a kind of ending or denouement to an emotionally volatile scenario.
That’s pretend me, waiting to get back here! ‘Awaiting the Return’ By Eugene de Blaas {{PD}}
We’ve moved, a ferry ride away from our old house, but what feels like a world away from Seattle. The new place is in a forested neighborhood near the water. Eventually I’ll show you some pictures of my favorite things here, particularly of two giant cedars, a pair of does that graze behind the house, and of a group of trees, dead but still standing, like an elongated, bleached bone crown on the hillside. It’s peaceful here, a perfect place to recover from the cold–or maybe light flu?–that’s lingered for the past 3 weeks, both delaying my return and continuing to leave me more fatigued than I expect to be.
So, I missed our daily chats, but really–I leave you all for five figurative minutes, and somebody gets a pandemic started! Humans are constantly generating, constantly creating, and so is every other living thing. This can’t entirely be a surprise, especially since we’re in prime flu season in the Northern Hemisphere; but that doesn’t make our new reality of isolation, and considerable uncertainty and fear, any easier.
Rather than re-tread ground that many others have examined astrologically, ad infinitum, I’ll just say that the current Capricorn stellium of Pallas, Jupiter, Mars, and Pluto, all sited within less than a 3 degree span of one another, do speak of breakdown, of cells and the social construct, with normalcy the victim of virulence, of drastic, extreme choices, of belief as it clashes with ‘the facts’, and in some, a determined effort to defend the status quo, even as wisdom tells us change must happen, for the good of the public, as well as the survival of the individual.
This grouping is headed toward, at different rates, trine to Sedna in Taurus, toward a meeting of change and destruction and the need to make choices, over and over, that dovetails with what we ‘know but don’t know’, with what we instinctively react to, and with what we have judiciously remained unaware of via our ‘blind spot’–that last encompassing the Taurean realities of Nature itself and the way certain among us have bet that we wouldn’t meet a crisis, so we didn’t need to be informed, didn’t need to care–and the wheel turns, and we see what a bad bet it was.
But what I want to draw your attention to is a Cardinal Grand Square, involving the Sun/ Earth axis, along with current players Chiron-Black Moon Lilith in Aries and the Nodal axis. As the Sun-Earth move toward closer engagement by degree we see the tension of the Cardinal imperative to do something pushing against the individual injury/ weakness and the way we may be tempted to ignore or deny the role of the individual, or the importance of the choices the individual makes and the actions one takes, in what is happening–and all of this charts the course forward, as the future rolls out from what’s been done and dealt with (or not) in the past.
I don’t mean to heap responsibility on the individual; I’m only trying to say that the astrology speaks to me of the vital role each of us can play, simply by doing what needs doing, as long as our choices are informed by both the facts and our awareness of the needs of the Collective. Our individual efforts may be small, but they are all building blocks in the well-being of the planet and humanity–don’t ever think they are inconsequential, that they don’t matter–and really, it’s likely to be that in taking responsibility on a personal level, we gain in ways we haven’t yet thought of.
I want to know what you all need from me at this time. I can’t promise I’ll be posting every day, as I’m still not up to par, but I’ll do my best. Put suggestions in the comments, and I won’t make them public–you’ll just be talking to me about what might help you on this page. And many thanks to all those who commented, or wrote directly to me while I was away–it’s appreciated, though you should know that I don’t generally see these things until I return. When I get off line, I really get off line!
‘Depicting the artist’s daughter Nana and husband Christian Krohg’ By Oda Krohg 1891 {{PD}}
We do and we choose because we care. We’re sensitive to a startling degree and find ourselves taking into consideration things we’d normally not notice, especially as they concern others. This could put the ‘I Am’ in an uncomfortable spot: alert to others’ needs, and feeling a bit alone. What is it that you care enough about that you’re willing to take action? That’s where your attention should go today.
Our relationships and our finances trend in the direction of comfort and security, and somehow that frees our minds–but do we use that freedom to create, to dream, or do we lead ourselves into fantasy or paranoia? Dealing with this may illustrate our biggest issue with Mars in Water: slogging through emotional considerations could slow or even stop action, and we may end up treading water just to keep from being overwhelmed. Here are some remedies: give the mind solid creative outlets, give the ego or action urge a caring cause to support that allows you to be in motion (and prevents subversion of the energy into passive-aggression), and use highest values as a guide to the appropriateness of ambitions–if they clash, then that goal probably isn’t for you.
(Mars enters Cancer, Vesta opp Zeus, Venus enters Taurus, Mercury sxt Neptune. the Nodes and the Zeus-Vesta opposition–along with the Moon for a few hours–forms a Cardinal Cross, making the whole question of life direction, ambition fulfillment, and values a dynamic one being acted out in our lives right now)
Setting the table for your year ahead. Art by Peter Ilsted {{PD}}
For those born with the Sun at 25 Taurus. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows, if you have minutes on your Sun position–together these offer a more complete picture of your year ahead). Dear Taurus, the emotions light up exactly what you want this solar year, and show you just how to go about getting it–and that means if you’re confused, you’re not seeing or acknowledging what it is that truly excites and attracts you. Honesty is the goal here, with your ability to tell yourself the unvarnished truth that sets the agenda and shapes your fate for some time to come.What’s working for you? Your sense of commitment, your willingness to give all to a cause, your openness to cooperation and collaboration, and your adherence to high standards. What’s working against you? FOMO if you give your all to only one person, area, or thing, an unhealthy relationship either to those in authority or with the idea of power itself, and your adherence to high standards. The reality is, pretty much everything is a two-edged sword–decide which ‘edge’ is the one you want to use. Good luck!
The figure in the lower left corner is a great symbolic representation of the Ascendant point of the chart. By an unknown artist. First appeared in Camille Flammarion’s ‘L’atmosphère: météorologie populaire’ 1888 {{PD}}
This is a re-print from an issue of ECLIPSE, with some new material added.
Using the Placidus House system over many years, I came to truly love the Ascendant of a chart; for the individual it’s a declaration, ‘Here I am, and this is who I am!’ literally representing the moment the person arrived in the world, and describing the attitude, the ‘face’ with which they meet everything they encounter. For an event it describes the moment of inception, the event’s first thrust into reality, and for both an individual and an occurrence, the Ascendant describes the character of what’s presented to the observer. This point in the chart both tells us of the initiating nature of the individual or event, and tells us what was on the horizon at the time and place of this ‘birth’. The integration of the point itself into the other points and bodies of the natal chart (by aspect) tells us the story of this entry point, and the character of the first House tells us what outlook supports this personality.
With the Whole Sign system, we see the Ascendant relocated, in a sense, to a point within the 1st; it no longer demarcates the chart in a definitive way, acting as ‘the place where everything begins’, but instead becomes a part of the 1st House itself, with the implication being that the environment of the 1st House determines Ascendant expression. By that I mean, the Ascendant is essentially a reaction to the environment into which one is born; as such, it describes survival skills the entity developed to cope with the early (immediate) environment. It’s a statement of what the individual believes they must do or produce in order to survive—and so can be highly revealing of core beliefs and assumptions about the world, as well as indicative of the individual’s likely natural, initial, instinctive response to pressure/ stress. This is in contrast to the approach in the Placidus system, where we may see the Ascendant nature as a fait accompli at birth, due to its prominence on the horizon of the flat chart. With Whole Signs, we allow for the shaping of reactions and personality, unlike with Placidus, which symbolically fixes the personality to the horizon, to birth, to the moment of entrance, and so imbues the Ascendant with an aura more fatalistic than expressive.
The Ascendant could also be viewed as the individual’s own personal Aries Point, if we define the Aries Point as the place at which the Sun enters 0 degrees of a Cardinal sign, which corresponds with the start of a new season. The moment of birth could be seen to represent the start of a personal new season for the individual. A new life brings a new outlook, and incarnation the translation of the unseen into physical form (that is, the spirit into a human body). We can’t discount what that individual may be bringing with them, consciousness that exists beyond the timeline that begins with the moment of birth, which argues for the Whole Sign system, with the symbolism of the Ascendant placed within the 1st rather than acting as the cusp of it, so that some of that 1st House ‘essence’ is placed above the horizon, symbolizing that non-material state of the spirit prior to translation into human form.
The flexibility offered by the Whole Sign system in relation to the Ascendant, represented by the way the ASC is found somewhere within the 1st House, means that we get a more holistic view of the personality; it presents not as an assertion of personality, a statement of ‘I Am’, as much as an ever evolving viewpoint that rises naturally from interaction with the environment. This means that we are inclined in interpretation to see the personality quirks and difficulties that arise from it not so much as irrefutable facts, but as responses—and seeing things that way offers us the opportunity of modification and change in the moment and in any direction, rather than the linear Placidus model that suggests only a single line of possible development, with much less suggestion of dimensionality.
If you’re still unclear about what I mean, draw on a piece of paper just your 1st House, once with the Ascendant on the cusp (the Placidus model) and then again with the Ascendant sign from 00 to 30 as the 1st House, with the Ascendant placed inside (the Whole Sign model), and see if this doesn’t convey two truly differing impressions of the Ascendant and its possible readings. Both are useful ways of looking at the chart, and both tell a story about who we are.
But what I want to draw your attention to is a Cardinal Grand Square, involving the Sun/ Earth axis, along with current players Chiron-Black Moon Lilith in Aries and the Nodal axis. As the Sun-Earth move toward closer engagement by degree we see the tension of the Cardinal imperative to do something pushing against the individual injury/ weakness and the way we may be tempted to ignore or deny the role of the individual, or the importance of the choices the individual makes and the actions one takes, in what is happening–and all of this charts the course forward, as the future rolls out from what’s been done and dealt with (or not) in the past.
Julie Demboski's ASTROLOGY 