Category Archives: Consciousness Explored

Musings on the Signs: Scorpio

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Scorpio and the preceding sign, Libra By Alexander Jamieson 1822 {{PD}}

As stated in a previous post: decades ago I’d written most of a book on something I termed the Void, the ways we malfunction when we deny, distort, or otherwise misinterpret our Lunar needs (those signified by our natal Moon placement). I talked about the Gap, the space between our genuine needs and our misunderstanding of those needs, and our inadequate attempts to bridge the two, with a goal of offering ways to recognize and remedy these imbalances. The book didn’t go anywhere (it was never completed), but it seems like now might be a good time to pick the bones for any tasty bits they may contain, and if I find enough worth passing on to you, dear Reader, I’ll probably also include it in the Moon book (as the fundamental need is based on Luna), with the new book to be finished (I’ve been working on it every day!) sometime before I expire. I hope. Here on the blog I’ll be posting, in no particular order, some of my thoughts on sign needs and dysfunction, for your edification, discussion, and rebuttal, as inspired by that old manuscript. Today, Scorpio.

What does the Scorpion need, with her sting and her exoskeleton and her deeply perceptive nature? She needs to feel powerful, of course. We can see that the defensiveness of the stinger is a response to the emotional sensitivity of Water, and the exoskeleton a response to the Fixed nature of the sign, as the hardness, the unchangeability, gives the sense of protection, surety, security–but what of the ability of Scorpio to peer straight into the depths of the darkness, unflinchingly? Wouldn’t that prompt fear? Yes, and Scorpio’s need, then, is to feel as if she can handle what she sees–and she sees a sense of power as the answer to her needs: power over the emotions and the emotional nature, enough power to feel safe, and enough power not to be threatened by change or the Truth, no matter what meaning that Truth holds.

We all need to feel we can have an impact on our environment; that’s not unique to Scorpio. Without this belief, we succumb to depression and hopelessness, or we try to prove we do have power via ruthless manipulation of people, things, or circumstances. So, this is a normal need, common to everyone, but Scorpio takes it one step further: Scorpio needs to see their impact through real change, transformation of what surrounds them, or through the wielding of Truth, sometimes like a shield, and sometimes like a bludgeon. They’re not just happy knowing that they have freedom of a kind, or that they have chosen or acted; they must change the landscape in deep and permanent ways for their need to be met, and that means they’re compelled to go beyond what the rest of us do. Scorpionic power brings irretrievable shifts and transformations, like casting a spell from which one can’t escape, or drinking poison that has no antidote, and it’s the no-turning-back quality of it that elevates this sign’s urge from a need to A Need–in fact, the principle one for the sign.

A Scorpio who hasn’t yet accepted that power expression as a legitimate need may project that intensity onto others, believing they make her ‘walk on eggshells’ or that they have hidden agendas or prejudices she can’t pinpoint but believes they’re intent on injecting into events, and so results. Scorpio may disown her own power, casting herself as at the mercy of others or circumstances; a listless Scorpio is a Scorpio who is abdicating not just her power but her responsibility, as well. The Will may become incredibly strong in a Scorpio in denial, casting herself as opponent to, well, everything, but she needs to realize that nothing will change (paradox alert!) until she accepts that change is what she exists to make.

Ways to successfully connect to and satisfy our Scorpio energy (for even if we don’t have a placement there, we all have it in our charts, so that at the very least, matters of the House where Scorpio falls will require dealing with this energy) include allowing the experience of unpleasant emotions (we must learn that we can safely look into the abyss, see what we see, and return from it, enlightened in some way. Scorpio teaches us that an encounter with the darkness doesn’t end in oblivion). We must also proactively learn to negotiate; the Scorpionic energy sees these kind of interactions as a contest, a ‘Sting ’til You Win’ scenario. What’s really needed is to understand that successful negotiation requires both parties get something out of the deal–if they don’t, it reveals itself to be a war, with one party collecting the spoils, the other angry and in ruins.

Scorpio energy needs to practice taking steps that make a discernible difference in the life. Start small, until you’re comfortable with the energy, by using Taurean pursuits, such as cooking, artisanal creation, or measures taken to insure comfort, to bring about changes that impact the senses. That will help ground the Fixed Water, with its natural tendency to need but resist flow; in drawing in other elements, and manipulating materials, we give that Scorpio urge something to grab on to, resonating with the Fixed energy, and we offer something tangible that prompts an emotional response, satisfying the Water factor.

When it comes to relationships, it’s pretty obvious Scorpio is more Self-protective than most. What looks like them being mysterious is really them lurking inside their own feelings, unwilling to show those feelings even to themselves. Dark and brooding may seem attractive, but more often than not it’s a symptom, one where unacknowledged and even unrecognized emotion is bubbling to the surface, making disorienting and unsteady feeling in a Scorpio who just wants to nail that feeling down and control it–and if you think of Scorpio disowning the feeling nature, that’s really the picture you get, someone desperately trying to nail water in place! They’ll have to connect that it’s okay to feel a feeling, that just having an emotion doesn’t unleash world-crushing destruction, to the fact that they’ll experience feelings and that those feelings will naturally change and change again, fluctuating as they flow in relationships, and that they’ll be able to handle it. Nothing scares a Scorpio like chaos (though the ones who love it are convinced they’ll get power out of it, making them black hat Scorpions), which is why it’s so ironic that Scorpios who don’t accept their need for power create such chaos around themselves. The other Scorpio fear is too much routine, promising no change at all, that can strike them like a waking nightmare. So go figure. Carpe diem, my Scorpio friends–you can handle it.

Musings on the Signs: Virgo

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Virgo https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/30844op/virgo-stars-heightened-in-gold-bayer
Johann Bayer {{PD}}

Decades ago I’d written most of a book on something I termed the Void, the ways we malfunction when we deny, distort, or otherwise misinterpret our Lunar needs (those signified by our natal Moon placement). I talked about the Gap, the space between our genuine needs and our misunderstanding of those needs, and our inadequate attempts to bridge the two, with a goal of offering ways to recognize and remedy these imbalances. The book didn’t go anywhere (it was never completed), but it seems like now might be a good time to pick the bones for any tasty bits they may contain, and if I find enough worth passing on to you, dear Reader, I’ll probably also include it in the Moon book (as the fundamental need is based on Luna), with the new book to be finished (I’ve been working on it every day!) sometime before I expire. I hope. Here on the blog I’ll be posting, in no particular order, some of my thoughts on sign needs and dysfunction, for your edification, discussion, and rebuttal, as inspired by that old manuscript. First up, Virgo.

It starts with a fundamental need: for Virgo, the need is to accept ‘what is’. With Mercury as its ruler, we might think that the need would be a mental one, and it is; if we tailor that idea to the proclivities of Virgo, what we find is that the mentality is employed in a function of discernment–and it’s this automatic impulse to judge, sort, categorize, assess, and account for, that is to discriminate via characteristics, that can also describe certain weaknesses, namely a tendency to believe that because the inclination is to judge, that judging is necessary, that every circumstance must be vetted and assessed by the Virgo energy. As in all things, for all people, just because Virgo can, doesn’t necessarily mean Virgo should.

Healthy discrimination and discernment are the ability to perceive differences and/ or comprehend relative worth (‘worth’ being defined as uses and/ or functions) between or among persons or objects. This differs from criticism and judgment in a single, important way: it doesn’t assign a valuation or character of ‘good’ or ‘bad’ to what is. It instead encourages the understanding of what exists and the recognition of its worth without imposing an idea of worthiness, or a moral assessment.

Wherever our Virgo energies are by House, we run the risk of failing or refusing to recognize and accept reality, and when in that state of Beingness we’ll be unable to sort appropriate from inappropriate behavior, or know which is the baby, which is the bathwater. For instance, we can easily discriminate between a butterfly and a moth. We can discern their differing functions and note the variations in appearance. If we make a critical judgment of butterflies and moths, though, we may judge moths to be ugly (no pretty colors) and ‘bad’ (they eat our woolens), while we may judge butterflies to be beautiful and ‘good’.

It’s one thing to recognize disparities and understand differences, it’s quite another to make pronouncements on the worth of, in our example, the moth and the butterfly; that kind of judgment means the conclusions reached aren’t objective absolutes, and if there’s room for disagreement, then one has rendered an opinion, not stated a fact, and so wandered into subjective criticism territory.

By Charles J. Sharp – Own work, from Sharp Photography, sharpphotography, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25023269

To work through the shadow side of Virgo, reality must be seen and accepted; that is, Virgo energy must know all about what makes the butterfly different from the moth, and in acknowledging the factual nature of these differences, let go of the prerogative seized, that of believing Virgo is entitled to judge the value of the life and functions of the moth vs. the butterfly. Two things help in acceptance of ‘what is’: 1) refuse to allow the mind to dictate priorities (as in believing in the rightness of its own judgments), and 2) realize that it’s inappropriate to sit in judgment of anything (and remember, this is much different than discrimination/ discernment). As soon as we give a ‘value label’, we distance ourselves, making the world and others into ‘things’ and reinforcing the proclivity to judge.

The difficult part for Virgo is that the facility for discernment is an asset, a strength–but anything used to excess inevitably warps into a liability–and this is what Virgo faces, the need to learn to accept the way things are, and to use that facility for discernment to determine whether judging is even the right thing for them to do. Assessment is Virgo’s natural response to, well, everything, but not every situation requires forensic dissection, nor is a pronouncement about the state or quality of every component of every situation desirable. Virgo won’t know that until the ability for discernment is firmly focused on reality, and simultaneously awareness is achieved that the autonomy and authenticity of others, and of things, situations, feelings, everything that makes up the fabric of life, has not only its own character, but an unquestioned right to exist, and that those things will be what they are whether or not Virgo judges them. Virgo must learn that the very fact something exists isn’t an invitation for a critique.

For Virgo, this all comes from a pure intent, one that strives to improve everything in its sphere. If we’re talking about a Virgo Moon, then we need to understand that there is an emotional need to feel competent, organized, informed, ready to ‘share the harvest’ in whatever form Virgo recognizes it as taking–and as well, there’s a fear of not having a clear accounting, of not having a sense of who’s responsible for what, and a fear of being in possession of a list of criticisms that aren’t being addressed. These conditions, linked with the Lunar consciousness, will feel like chaos to Virgo, like the Piscean energy of its opposite number has thrown a shroud of fog and confusion over Virgo’s attempt to keep careful, detailed books–and for Virgo, nothing could be (or feel) worse.

Though I’ve focused here on the shadow characteristics of the sign, Virgo excels in some of the most vital qualities to guarantee not just survival, but an ability to thrive. The properties Virgo offers allow us to discern the poisonous berry from the edible one, because Virgo took the time to study the fruit’s characteristics, to note in what ways they differ, and to make remembering (another Mercury function) what we know about these berries important. Virgo’s also the one who wrote down the recipe for berry pie, and paid attention to what conditions the berries needed so that we could plant them close to home. Am I making Virgo sound a little plodding, a little too mundane? But that’s the beauty of it! Virgo knows things, knows the details, and shares that knowledge in a clear and comprehensive fashion–and that’s something we should thank them for.

Things to think about, related to your Virgo energy: consider that interactions don’t need to be tracked on a balance sheet, of who owes what to whom; in what way do you freely serve related to Virgo? Do you ever give anonymously, and keep it anonymous? That would be your Virgo! List things you like about yourself (not physical features) and consider ways you can share these qualities with others in forms that benefit them; what’s the goal, when you offer criticism? How do you feel about partnership and sharing? Those can be two ‘prickly pear’ issues in chart areas where Virgo is located. Do you delight in attending to details, joyously getting lost in the texture of them, or do you resent them, feeling like they slow down progress?

Signs your Virgo energy is operating in shadow mode: overly critical, sometimes using this as the only form of communication, critical of others ‘for their own good’; detail obsessed (and consequently not giving enough attention to the Big Picture; proud of perfectionism; pettiness; lacking a sense of priorities and proportions (for example, making the color of the car as important as its performance); confusing productivity with busyness; fixes and serves even when those efforts are intrusive; the humble-brag of ‘I’m just a worker bee’ (false modesty) no matter what the actual role, accompanied by a laundry list of what the larger organization ‘needs to do to improve’; cattiness or gossip meant to make yourself look informed or better than the one criticized (where Gemini’s gossip is more about spreading info, even when it’s unproductive)

Signs your Virgo energy is operating really well: a rhythm to proceedings/ efforts; not offering an opinion unless asked; being organized in such a way that a larger purpose is served; knowing what information is important, and willingly sharing it; taking on responsibilities without resentment; taking care of the Big Picture simultaneous to attending to meaningful details; having and using good judgment; you know where everything is! work and play are balanced; any debt is well-handled; appreciation of dry humor and word-play; no issues with sorting through possessions, coupled with an ease at throwing out what’s no longer needed; able to edit the life and keep it on track toward goals; the patience to ‘nurse’ things along, when appropriate

Special note for those with: Pluto in Virgo=when activated this can plunge you down a complicated, labyrinthine rabbit hole in matters related to the House where it’s posited, confusing you, stymieing you, causing you to tilt at windmills, or it can make you a genius at organization and research in House areas, with info at the ready to support change, and an always-transforming-according-to-new-information attitude. You’re not scared of change, sex, death, or the Karmic ledger, you just want to always be completely informed about your status with each

Uranus in Virgo=Higher Mind can get bogged down in details or regulations, with this placement, and the group may exert more influence than is healthy, or activation can liberate you from unnecessary constraint, as you read the contract fine print and see that many conditions don’t apply, due to your uniqueness. You can embrace the academic and flow with the serendipitous accident or spontaneous idea or improvisation, just as long as you feel you know what you’re agreeing to

Saturn in Virgo=myopia is the dysfunctional expression of this, where you miss the forest for the seedlings underfoot, but it also means that under other circumstances reality delivers a sparkling, informative load of detail and meaning to you, giving you a navigation and decision-making advantage. Control of information flow or contract terms may be a big deal for you in some way; you’d do well to learn when you can lighten up and enjoy the fruits of your labor, and when it’s paramount you pay attention and buckle down

I hope you’ve enjoyed this! I don’t know when I’ll get back with a post about another sign, but will be back with a Full Moon report within a week. Until then, thank you, and stay safe!

Considering the 12th House

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By Willard Metcalf – National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C., online collection, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57432861

What follows is a re-print from an issue of ECLIPSE. Have a great weekend!

When I first studied Astrology (back in the last century!) it was hard to get a straight answer about how the 12th House really worked in an individual’s life. Since this House contains the ephemeral (spiritual experiences and practices, dreams, the unconscious) and big concept entities (large institutions, especially those that work in secret or where people are shut away, such as hospitals and asylums, connection to the Collective and to the Cosmos itself) it’s easy to see why it presents such a challenge to define; typically what was passed on for any House was a kind of shorthand formula, keywords that were meant to tell us succinctly what we had to look for. In the case of the 12th, the phrase was, ‘Serve or Suffer’, explained as the attitude that must pertain to any matters or energies connected to the House—either you served humankind through one of the 12th House concepts, groups, entities, or through a spiritual service or practice, or you suffered. And in spite of all your best intentions, with the unconscious material sitting in this House, just above the horizon (and so just out of your conscious reach), there might still be suffering through that mechanism wherein the unconscious sets up circumstances in order to bring us a particular experience.

‘Serve or suffer’ always struck me as too fire-and-brimstone, too much like the kind of religious admonition that sounds a lot like a threat: “Be good, or you’ll go to hell!” That’s no way to win recruits, and it didn’t really make the 12th House any clearer—if anything, it seemed to ask us to choose a sign-related 12th activity or entity and then to give a part of ourselves to that cause and just hope we’d please the gods and avoid being struck by lightning! That seemed fear-mongering at worst, and just generally less sincerely productive than true service could and should be at best, and it made me think a lot about what the House, and the phrase, might actually signify.

The phrase was probably an easier sell to the astrology student a hundred years or more ago, before questioning authority and exploring beyond what we are told became a daily routine. In that space of time, we’ve seen a Collective shift (and the Collective is ruled by the 12th, of course!) toward a development of inner viewpoint and consciousness within the individual that is no longer quite so willing to become a cog in the machine and, eventually, die—instead we see a demand for at least some fulfillment in life, along with the expectation that we deserve it—not a factor for most people to any significant degree before those Collective changes.

‘Serve or Suffer’ is really about choosing between a Universal viewpoint and a personal one, with suffering being the result of concentrating on the individual experience rather than the Collective need. We are asked to give up our own interests only in this area (and intermittently in the 5th, for our children, and in the 7th, for our partner or our Art), and we’re really not given a choice in the matter; we can choose not to have children or not to partner, but we are obligated to acknowledge our part in the Universe (no matter how small we may feel when considering it!)

Placements in the 12th are typically processed in such a way that we have a very hard time seeing them in ourselves; we will often completely project these qualities, at least initially, and the House anything posited in the 12th rules can become a hot line for expression of the unconscious and for projection of the group psyche: with, for example, Neptune in the 12th and ruling the 4th, we may swear up and down that our entire family is crazy (or creative, or deluded, or liars!) when it really may just be us! This kind of response to the 12th House energy makes it ripe for the ‘Suffering’ half of the equation; if we believe that everyone else in the family is wildly imaginative and creative, and we are not (because that energy within us is ‘hidden’ in the 12th) then we suffer with the feeling that we are ‘less than’ within the family dynamic. Only through excavating and recognizing as our own those 12th House energies will we have a sense of wholeness—until then, we may acutely long for the seemingly missing factors and talents.

In this example, the individual’s need and expectation are for a disciplined, controlled, or real-world grounded approach toward the Universe (Capricorn on the 12th) that can be modeled by or learned from Others, or that can be seen as a guide that brings the 12th House attitude into dealing with Others, Art, and/ or the spouse (7th placement of ruler) and this is being disowned; the individual is seeing others as the agents of the experience, rather than directly living it through the example of others (7th) handling 12th House matters. In the case of disowning the energy, the individual sees others as the ones applying restrictive standards in 12th House areas; in the case of owning the energy, the individual learns about or sees in others examples of dealing with 12th House matters—and applies the discipline, control, or real-world grounding on their own (this is, of course, aside from any other meanings carried by that Saturn placement).

With bodies posited in the 12th, look to the position of the ruler(s) and consider how much you may or may not be projecting these energies onto the matters and individuals represented by the House where they sit, or that they rule. If the 12th is empty, look to the ruler or rulers (in the case of Aquarius and Pisces, adding ancient rulers Saturn and Jupiter, respectively, can give a much more rounded picture) for how much one may be seeing the subjects or entities represented by the House where the ruler is posited as imposing 12th House conditions on you, or on the areas of life in the House(s) ruled by the 12th ruler. For instance, ruler of the 12th in the 8th could mean you see others as having sent you to prison—whether or not this is literal, and whether or not you’ve done anything to warrant it! With ruler of the 12th in the 10th, by contrast, you may see spiritual matters, the caprice of the Cosmos, or the role of large institutions as having a big effect on the career or public reputation. Don’t be surprised if you feel some shame surrounding neglected 12th House energies—this is common, as we tend to hide in the 12th, even from ourselves, those things we find less desirable about ourselves–or we place in the 12th the guilt or regret over not having addressed Universal/ spiritual energies as we feel we should, or we store guilt or shame related to matters or others represented by the House where the ruler is placed. The reality is we need to take our time sorting through, developing, and learning how to use all chart energies—to feel bad about what we need to explore only makes us turn away, drag our feet, and maybe blame it on (or project it on) someone else.

The Weekend Word Image is criticism that freezes you in your tracks. If you’ve received something like this lately, and the effect was to stop your forward momentum, please consider: this may actually have had the goal of keeping you where you are. The critique was a feint, a distraction, meant to shake your confidence, with the real point the speaker’s desire to keep you in a place they are comfortable with. If you see it that way, you can free yourself from some needless Self-censorship, and avoid a detour that’s the opposite of helpful.

Magic Under the Full Moon

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By Strobridge Litho. Co., Cincinnati & New YorkRestoration by trialsanderrors and Morn – This file was derived from: Zan Zig performing with rabbit and roses, magician poster, 1899.jpg:, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19060350

Such an odd little thing lately, this presence of magic within a larger scenario. It shows up in forms familiar from traditional stage magic acts, but that’s not where the real magic lies; instead the presence of, say, a handkerchief ‘turned into’ a dove by the tap of a ‘magic wand’ on a box is only an indicator of the presence of genuine magic. I know! What’s ‘real magic’ anyway? As far as I can see from recent events, it’s the existence of a force that quite literally can’t be attributed to any known physical action, and that can’t be explained. The top hat, the assistant in spangly dress, the draped table, the disappearing and re-appearing items, the box and saw, the chains and locks on the man placed in the container of water, all are saying: this is pretend magic, now look for the real stuff.

Or are those elements, just as the flourish and the spectacle serve in a magic show, simply announcing that they are distractions, meant to keep us from noticing the behind-the-scenes moves that create the illusion in the first place? Because the stage show and the ‘real’ magic are about illusion, in the sense that we can’t follow one thing to another in a clear fashion–and yet the results are undeniable, as the playing card moves from magician’s hand to the vest pocket of a man across the room, and the thing you never thought would happen, quite magically, does.

Think of real magic as the thrust of energy and intention into the quantum field; just as with stage magic, it’s a kind of sleight of hand, where many of the ‘energy steps’ are unseen, at least from our personal vantage point. With so many bodies and points in Aquarius (Sun, Saturn, Jupiter, Pallas, Mercury) and Taurus (Uranus, Mars, Black Moon Lilith, Sedna) we may be straining to understand (Aquarius) the material world around us (Taurus)–but those signs, one Fixed Air, one Fixed Earth, naturally square each other, with the Fixed modality creating inherent tension in the discord between thought and the material reality. Essentially, we create our own, personal version of sleight of hand as we fail to reconcile the physical with the mental, as some link our minds tell us should be there isn’t.

But, the persistent theme of magic I’ve been experiencing suggests we needn’t strain. All we need to do is take note when something playful comes forward that promises (or at least implies) it will astonish or otherwise amuse–and then we know there’s something working behind the scenes, something making real magic in our lives, and that we should be on the lookout for it. It’s much more easy to both recognize and accept the presence in our lives of the unanticipated benefit, the synchronicity, the fortuitous meeting, if we don’t insist on explaining it.

One of the recent events for me involved a button. I had sewn it to the paper cover of a hand-bound book I’d made years ago, and I just ran across it again after not seeing it for a long time, and reading what I’d written about the incident, it echoed this ‘magic’ very neatly. The button didn’t fall off my clothes (it wasn’t familiar–nothing any of us owned had this precise kind of button), there was nowhere nearby it could’ve come from, I’m sure, as it landed on the open dishwasher door. It seemed as if it were generated from, as the saying goes, thin air, and though I marveled at it, I couldn’t find an explanation for where it came from. I didn’t think about it beyond that until I was standing in the exact same spot a few days later and the lights over the sink started blinking on and off, not like a surge in the power line, but in a very deliberate, turned off then on way, as if someone were at the switch–but they weren’t.

I wondered if someone (let’s just say spirit, in a general way) was trying to let me know they were there. So, presumptuous as I am, I asked a favor: in my mind I pictured a lost earring, one I had been looking for that meant a great deal to me, and I thought about how I wanted to find it; the jewelry was one of those things that feels like you, so when you lose or destroy or misplace it it’s almost like you mourn a little, like a part of you has been misplaced.

Just a moment later I had the urge to walk out to the mailbox, even though I knew it was too early for the mail. I reached the mailbox, looked down, and there was my earring.

Now you could say that some part of my consciousness had registered it when the earring had fallen, and that this was just my unconscious mind prompting me to go back to where I knew it was. But then what about the lights, and the button? I called it spooky, back then, but now think it was just a little magic, making itself known.

Should you be looking for a taste of virtual magic, you might want to check out ‘Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself’ on Hulu, or a series from a few years ago called ‘Shut Eye’, about a con man who finds he’s not the person he thinks he is, also on Hulu.

The Full Moon falls in Leo on the 28th at 11:16 AM PST at 9 Leo 05, closely opposed Jupiter, which the Sun will perfect conjunction to less than 6 hours later, while the Moon will perfect opposition to Jupiter in less than an hour. The Full Moon is also in very close conjunction to Hygeia (only one minute off exact) and a loose novile to Vesta, forms squares to Mars, the Black Moon Lilith point, and Uranus, and a sesquiquadrate to Venus-Pluto, which two are in very close conjunction themselves. There’s also a loose Fire Grand Trine with Chiron and Juno, and if we include the Sun-Jupiter opposition point, we end up with a Kite.

A Full Moon in Leo brings something about ourselves, about our identity, about our passions and reason for Being, into focus, and maybe brings that form of identity or purpose to an end, or readies it for the ‘next step’, but in this instance it almost registers as an afterthought, with the ‘pull’ from Jupiter-Sun balanced between Chiron and Juno giving a dynamism that suggests either facts around the identity, or the Soul in interface with the social sphere, finds a perfect point of empowerment balanced between expression of the unique skills (or capitalization on the wounds) and the level of personal empowerment, and that this is delivered via the Lunar event.

This is healthy (conj to Hygeia) as, no matter what occurs, it will be an expression of the highest values, of what we want at a Soul level (nov to Vesta). Events may arise from conflict, chaos, or the discovery of what’s been hidden or denied (sq Mars-Uranus) and difficult, even threatening, circumstances around Love, relationships, or money, that we may want to classify as ‘moments of Truth’ (sesq Venus-Pluto). So, beneficial things that spring from contention or upset–so look for what good will come from the troubling, the uncomfortable, the needed purge or change, from the ‘Big Reveal’.

Let’s Discuss: Chiron Pt. 2 Self-Expression

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By Fritz Overbeck c1905 {{PD}}

Hi Julie,
We’ve talked about this a little (this is from a client), but I’d like to know more about my Venus conjunct the south node in my 2nd (Chiron there as well). How this affects my friendships, love and money. How can I work with these energies better. Also maybe more about the south node/north node in general. Thank you!

Hello! First we need to note how your Chiron in Aries in the 2nd sits in the 29th degree; this may be the most important thing about it, as it invests the sense of Self-worth, talent expression, and earning ability (2nd), and the sense of autonomy and agency, and the ability to act, choose, and do (Aries) with a perpetual dual aura of woundedness and of giftedness, which is under continual and enormous pressure, on the one hand to simply survive, and on the other hand to prove itself, once and for all.

The result of this influence of extremes may be confidence that periodically collapses into Self-questioning; a sureness in the possession of unique talents that fluctuates with a feeling that either those talents will never be appreciated, or that you will never be able to adequately express them; and possibly a too-strong idea that you are responsible for everything that does and ever has happened to you, that alternates with a belief that your circumstances would be different, if not for the influence (and sometimes persecution) of others.

Chiron here is a very tender spot, a wound always open to injury as well as a belief in unusual giftedness that is one’s greatest asset, and being conjoined the very close South Node-Venus conjunction, it draws the varied facets of the Chirotic nature directly into the values, the sense of yourself as a woman, into your ideas of Love and Money and relationships as a whole, into matters of the 3rd (thought processes, communication, agreements and contracts, sibling relationships, the early and local environments) and 8th (other people’s resources, cooperative ventures, particularly those where you are subordinate to or dependent on someone else, what you share with others and they with you, and some matters of human nature that may be secret or ‘hidden’) Houses ruled by Venus, and imbues it all with a sense of knowing or experience drawn from the past (SN).

One of the issues may be a perpetual mix-up in your own perceptions: is it me, or is it them? you may ask yourself–and essentially, it’s both! though of course, your own perceptual nature drives how you react to both your own thoughts and outside Chirotic influences.

So this may be a heavy, always-on-your-mind influence that presses you to act, to show what you can do–and we see this pressure principally channeled in Chiron as apex to a Fist of God with the very close Neptune/Midheaven-Zeus square as its base. Zeus is in Virgo in the 7th=fastidious attention to goals and ambitions, controlled expression through the Arts, the desire for a discerning audience, a vulnerability to criticism and critique that could separate you from your most inspired plans; and Neptune/ MC are only one minute apart in Sagittarius in the 10th=you want to share your factual knowledge and your inner ‘knowing’, to reach out, to bring disparate elements of the world together, to teach, to impart, with an awareness of the width of human experience, and you want to be known for this, you want it to be seen as your vocation/ career in the forms your ambitions dictate, to be seen as manifesting pure creativity–and yet the square says that they’re conflicts here.

My guess is those contrasts are seated in the friction between what you’ve been taught and what you believe, and the ways those have been contradicted by feedback and personal experience, all as it has formed your Self-concepts, especially as they refer to talent expression (2nd House)–and those shape both the experience of the wound, and the expression of the gift (both Chiron). But, since belief is the underpinning of both the Chirotic perceptions (via the lens they impose) and as they figure in to the creative energy, the public role, and the sense of empowerment (all through locating 10th House Neptune, the MC, and Juno in Sagittarius, ruled by Jupiter), we see that a look at Jupiter, as both belief and ‘the facts of the matter’, is in order.

Jupiter is late in Taurus in the 3rd, conjoined Black Moon Lilith (the mathematical point representing what we ignore or deny, or matters that enrage us at the way they violate our rights). This suggests that what you believe is strongly influenced by the mind, which we’ve seen is inextricably linked with both the Chiron wounds and the asset, talent, and Self-assessment picture. It also implies that those matters you’d rather not deal with, or that make you so angry you might explode, are thoroughly ignored, tucked away in a dark vault of the mind–probably so that they don’t spoil a perceptual picture that relies heavily on taking a positive tack to keep you both active, moving forward, and productive, without forcing the processing of the ways you’ve been hurt or feel put down–so overall, a likely healthy mechanism, and for the most part it probably allows you to exclude what could otherwise become obsessive or debilitating and overly critical Self-assessments.

The most striking thing about your Jupiter is that it sits sextile your Mercury-Sun in Pisces in the 1st, forming the base of a Finger of God with apex the Libra North Node. Aha! Suppression that would in other situations cause dysfunction in this case allows you to move forward in ways that are true to who you are and that allows cooperation and collaboration. So, what we can see around your Chiron is that it’s a kind of pivot point, connecting the sense of vulnerability and fear of being overwhelmed by others (your Aries Chiron–the last thing it wants is to lose autonomy!) reaching/ connected to other vital dynamics that allow you to balance influences in such a way that they optimize function. That is, you’ve got a well-oiled machine there–so digging at various parts or functions will only disturb what is already carefully balanced. Trust yourself, and the Universe, which will pipe up when you need to attend to something, and know that it’s not really necessary for you to excavate certain energies–just allow them to work as they naturally do.

Real-Life Symbols of Chiron: LeBron James

So I was contemplating Chiron (as we all do, in idle moments) and a commercial came on TV with LeBron James, whose bottom half was a motorcycle–and suddenly that clicked as a kind of modern-day Chiron figure! Though Chiron was a centaur, his parentage made him special; as the offspring of the Titan Cronus, who had taken equine form, and the nymph Philyra, Chiron was a Being beyond human and yet intimately familiar with many of humanity’s most painful experiences. He was abandoned by his mother, and it’s this part of the myth that likely led to him being representative of the primal wound, one so deep within the psyche that it figures in absolutely everything one does and is.

Chiron was unusual in that, unlike his fellow centaurs, he cultivated a life of the mind, beyond the lusts of the inherent animal nature, fostered by and tutored by the god Apollo. This represents that other major facet of astrological Chiron, its designation of one’s unique and very particular talent or gift, an area or process in which you’re innately educated and wise. And that leads us to how a basketball star (one who is unusually beloved, with little criticism or censure coming his way) may in some small way vibe to the Chiron essence.

LeBron James’s Chiron sits in Gemini in the Whole Sign 1st, but above the horizon, which in the Placidus system would place it in the 12th (birth data: 30 December 1984, 4:04 PM Akron, Ohio, USA). Right away we see someone with the facility to communicate through his own Beingness (the Chirotic gift)–he is the message, in a certain way–and this can carry a spiritual or ‘Cosmic’ knowing–and, we might surmise that his ability is rooted at least in part in an awareness of how much words can mean, of the impact they can have, with the significator of ‘the Wound’ in Gemini.

Ruler Mercury sits in the 7th, conjoined Uranus, ruler of the 9th, both in Sagittarius but not positioned in opposition to Chiron=communicating Higher Mind to all others, to an ‘audience’, through one’s Art (in this case, athletics, well signified by Sagittarius). Merc rules the 1st and 4th=there’s a harmony here between identity (1st) and the deepest inner Self (4th)–not to mention that James was raised to be what he shows to the world.

Most interesting in the Chiron-themed picture, though, may be the way, if we’re generous with our orbs (as we often need to be in natal work, in order to get a truly complete picture), we see Chiron as apex to a loose Finger of God with base of Pluto in Scorpio in the 6th and Neptune (which is widely conjoined the Sun, symbol of the Self/ Soul) in Capricorn in the 8th. So, the Chirotic skills are perfect for supporting change (this may even be seen as a duty) in service to the ideal (Neptune) that benefits everyone (8th).

Did I say most interesting? Maybe this is even more compelling: Chiron is apex to a tight Fist of God with base of a Cardinal square (and those demand action) between Vesta in Libra in the 5th and Jupiter in Capricorn in the 8th=tension between the sense that one must honor others even as one observes the restrictions and disparities in the social order can be reconciled via the Chiron energies; that is, through communication that heals, and expression of the gift for communing and networking.

LeBron has recently been involved in promoting voting and educating others not just on right and need to vote, but on how to go about it to insure one’s voice is heard. That’s the ultimate communication, the ultimate Geminian networking, that lifts the Chirotic energy to a Transpersonal level: I use my gift to make sure you are heard.

A final thing of note is that transiting Saturn, Pluto, Pallas, and Jupiter are all for various spans of time conjoining LeBron’s natal Jupiter, encouraging him to share what he knows in the name of making permanent meaningful change to the reality picture, to transform with wisdom and ‘the facts’ so that things are closer to those principles of freedom and enlightenment through knowledge (both Jupiter) that we all believe in.

See my book, Chiron in the Natal Chart here. And to follow next week, a third installment on Chiron–plus, a little something for this weekend later today. Stay safe and healthy!

Mercury Retrograde 13 October 2020 Feeling It

12 Monday Oct 2020

Posted by in astrology, Consciousness Explored, current events in the sky, forecast, future events in the sky, Mercury, Mercury Direction, Mercury retrograde, Retrogrades + Directions, Sun/Mercury Inferior Conjunction, Transits and Cycles

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The Messenger (and Trickster) enters apparent retrograde motion at 6:05 PM PDT of the 13th at 11 Scorpio 40–and his first move will be to reapply by opposition to Uranus, which is also retrograde. That aspect last perfected on the 7th, and perhaps offers a glimpse into this Water (Scorpio) into Air (Libra) cycle.

‘Mercury Sent to Admonish Aeneas’ By JMW Turner http://www.artuk.org/artworks/mercury-sent-to-admonish-aeneas-202360 {{PD}}

Mercury always means review: re-visiting, re-considering, reflecting, and perhaps going over plans or making plans to ‘try again’. We start that period in emotional, intuitive Water, and will initially be asking ourselves, “What am I feeling, and what do I think about that?”

In Scorpio this kind of review involves digging, getting to or acknowledging secrets, assessing our feelings about change and determining what further change we might want. It also encompasses those situations where Power is in play, and any relationships or situations where passions have been stirred, or betrayals have occurred (and remember, the concept of betrayal is seldom objective, when it comes to personal interactions–often it can be a matter of perspective, and this retrograde may bring consciousness of this to the fore).

With the re-visit to the Uranus opposition the first aspect, we may find that something we ‘knew’ (especially something Higher Mind or academically. i.e. fact-oriented) is overturned. We are likely to be surprised by some discovery we make, or shocked at something we witness, perpetrated by others in our direction or by ourselves unexpectedly, that latter as we ‘explode’ from accumulated pressures or act erratically in a bid for freedom. It could be that we wrap our minds around some spiritual concept for the first time (something we may have sensed or ‘known’ but been unable to put into mental forms like words), or we may find that accident illuminates our feelings about something–and so changes our perceptions.

House matters that come forward for this retrograde always have the chance of involving the subjects and energies of the natal Houses Mercury rules, and we must typically add to this the House where Mercury is currently transiting. That gives you some idea of where to be on the lookout for change, research, and re-thinking, as well as the potential ‘surprise’ factor of this particular retrograde, and can offer a head start if you know present circumstances in one or more of these realms are dicey.

The Inferior Conjunction of the Sun and Mercury (‘Inferior’ referring to Mercury’s retrograde status) occurs around the 25th-26th of October, marks a point I would characterize as a ‘birth’ point, where some attitude or mental choice takes form and perhaps is decided upon or simply becomes conscious, and this is based on what’s been revealed so far during the retro. Just remember not to act, yet.

Fountain with head of Mercury on Mercury Street in Pompeii watercolor by Luigi Bazzani from the book “Pompeii”, by Amedeo Maiuri (Pompeii superintendent from 1924-1961) {{PD}}

We re-align our passions, explore what we’ve been hesitant to think about or to really know what we feel about it, and then Mercury retros into Libra–and all the focus moves to our relationships, or, less probably, to financial or aesthetic matters. This occurs in the final few days of October, and is characterized by a back-and-forth square of Mercury to Saturn, which happens one more time after Mercury turns direct (on November 3rd, with the final square very close the 4th-7th).

This back-end bookends the retro period with a hard reality check for each of us, concerning all that we’ve reviewed and concluded over the cycle. Our present realities, as well as any boundaries, limitations, and requirements of duty or obligation come into direct conflict with at least some facet of our thinking–and this is a good thing, meant to show us where we might have slipped into thinking that doesn’t take into account where we really are or what we’re actually surrounded by or must deal with.

Use this retro period to see where you can transform the thinking or perceptions about those things you feel passionate about, have an overwhelming curiosity over, or need to investigate for what’s been hidden from you, and how this can constructively be applied to relationships with those you care about–and be ready for revelation, that can spin the whole game in another direction. The usual admonitions apply, with no signing or buying of major items, unless you’ve already pre-retro thoroughly inspected conditions and agree to them, and with the expectation that any agreements reached or conclusions drawn will likely need review or revision after Mercury goes direct.

Let’s Discuss: Chiron Pt. 1

10 Saturday Oct 2020

Posted by in astrology, Astrology and Identity, Chiron, Consciousness Explored, Natal Delineation, natal placement, Products and Services, What You're Asking

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Just thought this was pretty–it has nothing to do with Chiron–fungi are very Plutonian! Watercolour depiction of the fly agaric, 1892. Likely painted at an art class near Bristol, England, the writing says “Agaricus muscarius” and “Leigh woods Sept/92” CC BY 4.0

In our ongoing exploration of specific natal aspects Readers have submitted for discussion (submissions are closed), we focus now on Chiron. Though initially considered an asteroid, it’s currently classified as a Centaur (it was in fact the first-discovered, lending its character to the classification itself), which is defined as an object orbiting the Sun between the asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt–and yet it behaves a little bit like a comet, so also carries a cometary designation (95P), and some even consider it a dwarf planet. All this variety (or is it confusion?) about how to categorize it hints at one of its most prominent characteristics: that what it designates in our natal charts has layers of meaning, an onion of hurt, experience, skill, and unique perspective, all of which can teach us about ourselves and our place within the world.

There is the Chiron hurt, something so deep and pervasive the individual can often be unaware of it; there is what we learn from the hurt, that we can then utilize, to help both ourselves and others; there is a Chirotic gift (or more than one) related to the sign and to our own processing and experience of it, which before 2012 we could offer only to others (and that we can now access–and so ‘do’–for ourselves); and there is a Transpersonal expression of this energy, one that takes the individual, cumulative Chiron knowledge and applies it to the Collective condition. So, Chiron designates qualities that are highly personalized, highly individual, and that with enough effort at understanding and re-shaping, we may at some point in life lift from the entirely personal, reactionary arena to utilization of the ‘gift within the wound’, to, finally, a transpersonal, Collective expression, one where our gift in some way answers a need found in the Collective or out in the world.

(Birth data redacted) I am interested in my Chiron, in Capricorn. I have had numerous struggles with structures and authority figures. I feel that this recent period has been sort of like a final exam or defending my thesis. I know that the wound doesn’t really go away but I feel stronger just putting all the past struggles into context now instead of feeling as though they are coming at me as a series of random tortures. I wonder what you would have to say about a broad now-moment and a future with Chiron in Capricorn. Thanks for choosing my inquiry–if you do!

You don’t ask about an aspect, but rather an entity, a single body, which is okay when it’s one that in the general astrological world still suffers from a state of too little clarity–that is, it’s difficult to see Chiron’s action in the natal chart when we see it in its most simplistic terms, ‘wound and gift’. That tempts us to want to reduce its effects to a clear-cut negative or positive, and that’s not only unproductive, it dismisses our need to look at how truly personal the manifestations of this energy are, how completely they have been tailored to our character, experience, and responses. Neither of those definitions of Chiron as wound and gift is wrong, but those labels do remove the nuances of what can be a very important, even vital, influence for the individual.

For you, Chiron plays a fundamental role in Self-image, with its location in the 2nd of assets and talents, and in Capricorn, the wound almost certainly involves your relationships to and reactions to both structures in the life and the concept of authority, with the initial reaction almost always presenting in response to those who hold authority in your life. At least part of why you may be responding so strongly and personally to Capricorn life areas is this body’s location in the 2nd of Self-image–it may feel that what hurts you also, inevitably, defines you (and we might want to throw in rules, ways in which your Will or feelings have been thwarted or restricted, and matters where you feel it’s ‘all work and no play’, particularly when this stands in contrast to what others around you seem to enjoy).

Does it feel as if the drudgery always falls to you? Where Chiron sits can often seem to be a difficult place, one where we’re denied joy, and if it does for you, dear Reader, that’s not surprising, especially considering that the closest aspect Chiron makes to a major body is its opposition to Uranus–and that may feel as if every time you try to ‘be yourself’ or act spontaneously or think independently (Uranus rules the 3rd) you get a Capricorn response (which may sound like ‘Control yourself’ or ‘Sit down’ or even ‘You’re not allowed’ or ‘That idea’s crazy!’). Compound this with Uranus in the 8th suggesting that others seem to have all the freedom, are allowed to be as erratic, unpredictable, or unique as they want–and that you may feel you have to clean up after them–it may be the only initially perceived path that allows you to feel good about yourself, by complying with these ‘demands’ (and this is supported by Chiron’s semi-sextile to the Ascendant and its trines to Jupiter and Hygeia in the 6th, all possibly making you feel it’s your duty to serve the larger social order, and to modify yourself in order to do so, that being healthy depends on it–but really, being healthy depends on working out your relationship to Chiron and the social order that surrounds you, rather than just complying with it, as you’ll never find peace by conforming).

And, with Uranus in the 8th but ruling the 3rd (as well as the close assembly of Sun, Mercury, and NN–Whole Sign), you may have the feeling that others are either trying to control your thinking, or that they are assessing your mental processes and reasoning as flighty, unreliable, or ‘out there’–and so, by extension, calling you these things (Sun in Aquarius 3rd), reaching into the mentality and insulting the Capricorn wound, which demands adherence to and observance of the rules, the status quo, and authorities. It may seem you are being insulted, expected to be ashamed, every time you act in ways that feel original or unique to you–but that’s an internal mechanism, one that plays out in you but that is spurred by others, even though the message you may be getting is, ‘Who do you think you are?’

One of the most difficult facets of your placement is that this energy is in a highly personal space (the 2nd, the part of you that judges yourself) but doesn’t contact any of the personal planets. Without contact to the personals (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars) one can feel adrift, as if the wider world, even the Universe, is targeting you, inflicting puzzling and unwarranted Capricornian penalties, suppressing your efforts at Self-improvement and earning (2nd)–and unless you can get some perspective, may trap you in ‘Me Against The World’ scenarios that play out over and over in new circumstances, but using old energies. Capricorn Chiron can bring a heavy sense of responsibility, and that’s difficult to fulfill when you feel that authority may consistently be against you (or that authorities have such high expectations or standards for your performance that you feel they’ll never be met).

Born just after a Lunar eclipse, hence the natal Sun and North Node are quite close, and may give a sense that accomplishment is a relentlessly difficult uphill climb, as if the prime moment for presenting what you know and feel has somehow passed. Re-frame this as a sense of completion in terms of being ready to pass things on to others or to cooperate with others in your efforts. A sesquiquadrate of Chiron to Ceres points out how tough the relationship is not just to external authorities but to your own inner sense of being in charge, of granting yourself permission to go forward. Become your own authority, in a sense, and this may offer the freedom you’ve (probably) been seeking.

Though this exercise was about natal aspects, not forecasts, I can suggest this: both personal security about who you are, and about making your way in the world, likely comes from disciplined expression of the talents, especially the creative ones, when applied to achieving specific goals with the cooperation of others (Chiron ruler Saturn conjoined Neptune in Libra in the 11th of goals, wishes, friendship, group involvement); look for others who support your originality and who are accepting of an individuality that’s comfortable for you–and there’s no ‘right’ model for this, that’s what makes it so hard–you have to trust yourself and stay firmly connected to the reality of things, even as you dream and invent. This may be an intense academic stance, may involve the sciences or futurism, may be about creative uniqueness, especially manifesting the imagined in real-world terms, or the way Higher Mind and spirituality are intertwined, and may involve a need to write, speak, or communicate your specific viewpoint to others.

Taking an intellectual approach (Sun and Merc in Aquarius) may initially cause internal conflict as Chiron demands a material response, but seeing that creativity in the current reality (Chiron ruler Saturn conj Neptune) is needed will resolve the tension, without too much conscious effort. Knowing healing is possible will go a long way toward repair of the wound; so will seeing the creative or spiritual take material form in the life.

Part Two coming next week, and if you want to know more about Chiron, you may want to try my book, which takes a personal, experiential approach to exploring your Chiron placement, using both definitions and an included workbook and question format–have a great weekend!

Let’s Discuss: Natal Moon Square the Ascendant

28 Tuesday Jul 2020

Posted by in Aspect Delineation, aspects and placements, astrology, Astrology and Identity, Astrology of Careers Vocations and Callings, Consciousness Explored, What You're Asking

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The natal Moon in contact with the natal Ascendant can feel very much as if the individual is constantly interacting with and displaying the emotional nature.’Reaching for the Moon’ By Edward Mason Eggleston 1933 {{PD}}

The 29th is a day when no new aspects perfect, so maybe we should take some time to look at one of those topics I previously asked readers to submit.

“Thank you for your offer. If you choose so, I’d like to hear about my Moon square Asc aspect (birth data redacted for privacy). For the last few years, I’ve been trying to align questions about responsibilities (work, family, relationships, community) with what I consider my free will, independence, identity (I work in artistic field). Maybe it’s a never-ending process. Wish I could feel more decisive/confident with my choices/path.”

I can tell you with confidence that reconciling a natal square is a never-ending process; no matter how well we do at resolving the conflict and expressing the energies, we can always lift the expression of those energies to ever-higher forms–and that translates to a life-long fine-tuning process. So, the individual describes a pull between the Will and identity and those larger responsibilities that involve others–and the first thing we see in the chart is that the Moon rules the 4th of family of origin, which immediately emphasizes the perhaps perpetual conflict between the individual emotional experience and familial expectations. The personality of the individual, and the way that individual interacts with the world, is in some way at odds with the role or expectations within the family, in conflict with the concept of ‘home’ as they understand it, and/ or in basic discord with one or both parental figures. Ironically, though, the Moon is in the Capricorn 10th, suggesting that duty and a close link to one or both parents is actually what makes this Moon comfortable–so it may be that phrasing this square as an identity vs. obligations challenge is a bit of a distraction, at least in terms of emotional expression–it may really be that it’s the manner of reaching out to the world (the Ascendant) that makes this person emotionally uncomfortable.

What we see with the 10th House Moon ruling the 4th House suggests a kind of ‘tag team’ of authority and nurture from the parents, with the individual’s Moon in Capricorn in the 10th ruling the 4th, and Ceres, mother and authority, posited in the 4th in Cancer. These parents work together, and may see imposing rules and boundaries, expectations and goals, as a form of nurture–and a Capricorn Moon clearly sees it that way, too.

But the Ascendant, the way the individual interacts with and presents the Self to the world on first meeting, the persona and personality, is keyed to the energies of Aries–and that’s an energy that says, ‘I can do it myself, I want to do it my way, follow me!’ The Ascendant, in fact, is apex to a Finger of God with a base of Neptune, an almost Cazimi Sun-Mercury, and Venus, all in Scorpio in the 8th, and Uranus in Virgo in the 6th (and we note a close-but-no-cigar Finger combo of Mars and Pluto in Virgo, just outside comfortable quincunx range). This may be why it feels as if the emotions aren’t being served: an enormous amount of creative, identity/ Soul, communication, and relationship energy is interacting with the most original and unique impulses and then funneled out to the world through the personality, with the base placements in 6th and 8th suggesting a reliance on input/ feedback/ cooperation and understanding from others, especially through the course of work and discharge of duties–this individual can’t express things they find meaningful without others–and the individual feels they must be at the head of the line, leading, guiding, doing (Aries apex)–and yet we must remember that the outlet of the Ascendant carries a fundamental discord with the emotional nature via the square, which we might sum up as ‘duty (to parents, career, or convention-Capricorn, on which the feelings depend for a sense of well-being) vs. ‘a need to trail-blaze, express the individual Will, to have one’s say and way as an outlet to so many of the basic energies, including the Soul’s reasons for being here (Sun in aspect to the Aries Ascendant).

Add to this that the Capricorn Moon, which naturally aspects all that the Ascendant aspects, also happens to lie at the rough midpoint of the Sun grouping and the 12th House Chiron-Saturn-Black Moon Lilith in Pisces–which does not aspect the Ascendant. What! What? And now we see/ feel what is pestering the feeling nature that is on its own essentially at ease with the Soul/ communication/ love and creative nature and with the Uranian need for original expression, and with the Martian-Plutonian need to act and feel of consequence within the world. What the Moon is not at ease with is the way all these energies are expressed through the Ascendant–that’s where the conflict lies.

Too, that Uranus-Mars-Pluto grouping, such a dynamic and urgent mixture, requiring action, spontaneity, and a certain amount of power, directly conflicts (opposition) with Chiron-Saturn-Black Moon Lilith. It may be that action, especially spontaneous or unusual action, or action that seeks to create power and impact for the Self, stirs unconscious (12th) anger, resentment, and guilt–and so creates a feedback loop that hides the hurt, even as the emotional nature is highly aware of it (Saturn ruling the Moon)–and these angers and hurts are possibly brought into real-world circumstances periodically, as the unconscious ‘reaches out’ and orchestrates physical reality (Saturn).

The Moon contact to Chiron-Saturn-Black Moon Lilith implies that what’s really, really hidden, ignored, denied, or that enrages has also wounded, and the individual senses this (12th House) through the Moon’s emotional and intuitive faculties. Saturn of this grouping rules the Moon–and though the Soul’s expression is muy simpatico with what’s hurt and hidden (Sun group trine Saturn group), as is the feeling nature (Moon), we see the personality, the part that wants to meet the world head-on, the Martian-ruled Ascendant and the ‘I Am’ energies of Mars-Pluto and respect for uniqueness that is Uranus, is not simpatico.

The conflict, then, is a knotty one, and not easily (or possibly ever) resolvable. There are several things you might try to help make the energies more at ease with one another, with a focus on honoring the choices and career path, which you mention not having as much confidence in as you’d like. First, know that the emotions and emotional feedback will, for you, be much more reliable an indicator of right choice and right career than anything else. You are definitely meant to express your creative nature, to emphasize what you see of beauty and worth; your feelings will also be an excellent guide in responding to responsibilities and obligations, especially those involving the family. Most of your Water placements are in ‘soft’ aspect to the Earth Moon, and they find a great deal of emotional sustenance and nurture through real-world expression of what the emotions and the Soul both need and perceive.

It’s the ego or individual Will that cooks up problems; despite the way Mars-Pluto has found to cooperate with the Soul, it takes constant adjustments (the quincunxes of the Finger) for the creative, Soul, emotional, and action energies to express through the Arian personality–and that automatically means that the Martian ‘doing’ energies and the sheer Will have too big a say in choices and actions. The ego-power-individuality is also ‘against’ conscious awareness of hurt, vulnerabilities, and deep anger, especially when they’re observed in the real world–and that kind of denial can cripple creativity and relationships, as the ego insists on not looking at the negative, on powering through. So, honor the feeling nature more, and give it more trust–it’s best placed to handle, negotiate among, and facilitate the other charts energies, and can guide you in a much more perceptive way than the Will or ego can do.

I hope this helps, dear Seeker! Back to ‘Good Day To . . . ‘ tomorrow!

And, in case you missed the first installment

Let’s Discuss: the North Node

29 Wednesday Apr 2020

Posted by in Aspect Delineation, aspects and placements, astrology, Astrology of Careers Vocations and Callings, Consciousness Explored, Natal Delineation, Nodal Axis, North Node, Something For You

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If the North Node is the direction we’re headed on the road of life, understanding its meaning is like having a map that can help guide the turns we take and what types of things along the way we should look for; as well, it will help us avoid wandering back toward re-tracing our steps in familiar, South Node territory. ‘Hochalm mit Serles bei Innsbruck’ By Leopold Scheiring 1917 {{PD}}

I want to say thank you to all for such a robust response to the One Aspect invitation! I’ve already gotten far more submissions than I can use, far more than I expected, and the submission period isn’t over yet! So my apologies to the many who won’t have their situation addressed–I send you special thanks, just for being willing to offer your info, and I’m sorry I won’t be able to get to you. That said, I’ll probably be drawing from these for at least a month, so don’t give up hope–you may see yours yet!

Here’s our first aspect/ placement topic, the North Node. A large number of you mentioned the North Node as a point of interest. There seems to be a lot of confusion about what it really means, in the sense that knowing it points you toward the future doesn’t make things any clearer! I hear you. The North Node is an excellent way to illustrate my contention that aspects shouldn’t be delineated in a vacuum, as it isn’t just the sign and House placement that speak to us, it’s an axis of the chart as well as the aspects made to it and the disposition of its ruler that give depth to interpretation–so in order to effectively interpret a North Node placement at a truly individual level, we need that full chart info that allows us to add context, and so much more particular meaning than we’d get just from placement alone.

First a little background: the Nodes aren’t bodies, but points where the Moon’s orbit intersects the ecliptic, which is, in brief, the Sun’s apparent path through the sky as observed from Earth. So these are Lunar-related points that tell us about past (South Node) and future (North Node) personal development, and are generally considered to ‘point the way’, with the SN offering well-developed skills and qualities, and experiences we’ve already had and so don’t necessarily need to undergo again, and the NN describing what we must strive to experience, learn, and incorporate into our lives in order to grow and develop on all levels: physical, spiritual, emotional, mental, with the equation varying widely for each individual. The trick is to find ways to import and exploit that South Node knowledge to support North Node forms. Now our first seeker:

“I’d love to play along! My info: (birth data redacted for privacy). The aspect of my chart I’m interested in is my North Node. I left my South Node high paying job 7 years ago. My entrepreneurial attempt at a small business has been failing since it began. I’m at a loss on how best to navigate to the North. Thanks for your consideration.”

We are given a brief sketch of the current life situation, and we see it illustrated in the Nodal situation within the birth chart: South Node in Capricorn in the 2nd of assets, talents, Self-worth, earnings=this suggests someone who sees hard work, nose-to-the-grindstone, Self-disciplined effort as the way to success. Follow-the-rules careful, serious effort is probably natural to this woman–and with Capricorn the attitude, it may be hard to understand why joining the high-powered status quo isn’t completely fulfilling, as well as why hard work isn’t a complete success formula on its own–it always has been in the past!

Of course, this places the Cancer North Node in the 8th=it’s hinted here that cooperation (rather than the individual, jaw-gritting determination of Cap) or collaboration is needed, maybe even supporters who contribute or invest, or work where you do that for others, as an emotional investment on the part of the NN individual is required; she also must develop a sensitivity to changing circumstances and feelings–an ability to ‘read the room’, so to speak, rather than go blindly with authority and following the rules. The individual must care about what they’re doing, at a level that actually moves them. All these are required to move in the proscribed life direction–and so presumably to create success.

We turn toward NN ruler the Moon for illumination of the necessary conditions for progress, and what we see is a Moon in Libra in the 11th, just more than one degree past conjunction to the Sun–so, a New Moon baby!–and this again hints that partnership and/ or an ‘audience’ or other supportive public may be required, that aesthetics, Art, or relationships are central, and that the Soul’s purpose and the emotional/ intuitive nature are deeply connected. Too, we might infer that the kind of venture may be entirely new to the individual–something she doesn’t have a lot of experience with (New Moon status), and the House placement implies involvement with or leading of a group could be part of the ‘new’ role, and that the natural tendency is to create goals and then pursue them. We note that the Sun-Moon sit at the midpoint of the Uranus-ASC square, and that they semi-sextile Mars. Both suggest that the Will is strong and likely ‘leads the way’ in creating situations, some of which are surprising or ‘accidents’, that attempt to turn the individual in the direction most beneficial to her development. There is also a sesquiquadrate to Chiron, implying that there may be a lot of situations the individual either tries to accommodate (out of pain) or works to avoid (out of fear of pain), making circumstances more difficult or convoluted than they need to be.

Peripherally we look at the state of Moon/ Sun ruler Venus, which sits in the 12th in Scorpio, conjoined Ceres and sextile Zeus. This tells us that most of what motivates the individual is hidden, or at least working below the conscious level, possibly delivered/ revealed to the conscious mind through dreams or through Collective or spiritual experiences, and that ambitions, desires, and situations of autonomy, personal power, and responsibility are paramount learning experiences throughout life–even though they may not seem to be central to learning. That is, the condition of relationships, values, and finances may carry more info about the individual and the individual evolution than they do about their apparent subjects–and that implies the current financial situation is speaking about personal development needs, more than purely business ones.

Now back to the Nodes. We have three striking aspects/ configurations in which the NN is involved: a Cardinal Grand Cross with the Nodal axis and the Mercury/Pallas-Jupiter opposition; a Water Grand Trine with NN, Neptune, and Chiron; and a quincunx to Saturn. Let’s take these one at a time.

The quincunx to Saturn suggests a continual ‘adjustment’ of the real-world situation to the destined direction. The individual is constantly looking to modify ‘what is’ to take it in the direction they want to go. This shows high adaptability and practicality–they don’t fight the need to respond to circumstances or conform to the expectations (especially of authority) in order to move forward, and that’s good, but they also might be a little too quick to discard what they think isn’t working, or to modify efforts according to feedback–which is reinforced by the heavy Libra emphasis, suggesting a danger of losing one’s own desires by giving too much credence to what others say or do, to what authority or tradition tell us, or to ‘fashions’, as they apply to the individual’s own efforts. There may also be a sense that reality is perpetually unstable, perhaps making for a bit of fear around ‘what ifs’ or unexpected losses, or that there is always something semi-holding one back, anything from actual physical difficulties to a sense of barriers or a ‘glass ceiling’. The very rules and structure that gave a ladder to climb may have come to feel unreasonably inhibiting, along with an idea that things are ‘unfair’ and that the same restrictions don’t apply to others.

The Water Grand Trine speaks of the way feelings are the conduit for healing and creativity, for the spiritual and the most personalized of skills, and again we see the suggestion that these energies are held down deep, in the individual’s ‘deep down’ beliefs about the Self, or manifesting through familial relationships (Chiron in the 4th) or hidden and revealed in glimpses within dreams, spiritual experiences, interacting with large institutions that ‘confine’ the individual (like hospitals or prisons), or Collective events. So, the feelings hold the key to healing, to finding emotional balance, to accessing creativity and spiritual harmony, and so to creating with as much conscious intention as possible the life direction (NN).

But it’s the Cardinal Grand Cross that really lights this up! The thing with a Cross is that, when one arm is stimulated by transit or other contact, the whole thing lights up–and that means it can be very difficult for an individual to sort the energies out, or to handle them. It may feel like a landslide, with so much triggered at once, bringing forward a disconcerting confusion about why so much is happening at the same time, with the initial response often being a, Why me? as so little that goes down makes sense on the surface.

The Nodal axis is ‘crossed’ by the opposition of Mercury/ Pallas in Libra (wisdom and practicality, learned and offered through relationships) and Jupiter in Aries (belief in the Self! Too, always believing one can figure ‘it’ out on one’s own, or can learn ‘it’ by personal effort and availing oneself of the accumulated knowledge of society–that is, through education). That can also read as what the individual feels/ knows, the inner wisdom, is perpetually to some degree at odds with the ‘knowledge’ of the social order, making it hard for the individual to feel they belong.

The involved Houses are 2, 5, 8, and 11, and when combined with the Cardinal signs say that one’s own actions then form circumstances where things must be developed, calibrated, assessed. This can give a start-stop feeling that may frustrate that Cappy South Node and leave the Cancer North wondering what there really is to care about here, especially as the individual may be asked repeatedly to care about what others do or have, or to offer some sort of nurture or support, when to the individual it seems like it should be the other way around! And indeed it will be, as soon as the individual has put her energy into the needed, caring form.

Looking back 7 years, to the point when one career ended and the next began, we see something revealing: that between the Chiron Return, the proximity of transiting Pluto to conjunction with the South Node, Zeus’ conjunction to Pallas, and Saturn’s conjunction to Venus, the inclination was to ambition fulfillment through real-world means, but what was aimed for was pure South Node! Pluto’s contact made it feel like complete and utter change, but Pluto rules the 12th, cluing us in that what motivated the changes was at the mercy of the unconscious–which of course will work to stay safe, to profit, to gain power, to establish work that fits the dream (Saturn to Venus, ruler of the 6th and 11th)–and safety may have required a contained and conservative effort, rather than one as adventurous as intended. Her 3rd House Aquarian Saturn (thoughts consumed with creating a bright and progressive future, appreciation of the ‘new age’ of communication) was at this time receiving a longer-term transit of Juno (back and forth across the body), suggesting that the individual felt empowered in a real-world sense, believing her ideas had come of age, that it was her time to shine, that the empowerment picture and her place in it had matured–and that’s not wrong.

But, it seems to me that it was the timing of it all that may have thwarted the new start. My message might be this: Without meaning to, you may have followed the South Node, mistaking it for the change you were seeking. The ambitions felt smart and practical (Zeus to Pallas) and it looked like manifesting a prosperous earning situation was can’t miss, when it really may have been simply an echo of older, familiar ways couched in ‘new’ terms. Saturn natally in the 3rd and ruling the South Node may make it especially hard to break away from the past; the individual may do so on the surface, but the unconscious continues to orchestrate things in such a way that retreat may seem to be the only answer. It’s not, of course; a truly new venture may require amounts of feeling, vulnerability, and cooperation that are genuinely challenging to this individual. Now, transiting Uranus opposes Venus, driving home the unsustainability of it all, the unreliability even of the Self, life, and Purpose itself, and makes emotions feel like wild things (Uranus opp ruler of the Moon and Sun), even as Saturn transits the 3rd and prepares in a short while for the second Saturn Return, making the thoughts stubborn things, and making changing the way of thinking difficult, indeed. Surrender may be a concept to contemplate, with Uranus’ eventual sextile to the North Node in about two years potentially bringing illumination to the ‘which way should I go?’ picture.

And a second seeker interested in her North Node:

‘Virgo constellation from Uranographia’ By Johannes Hevelius 1690 {{PD}}

“My North Node in any aspects it makes, because I feel I didn’t figure out how to be of service/my mission/why I’m here anyways? (birth data redacted for privacy)”

Though normally we make some allowances for larger orbs in a natal chart, I’m going to keep it tight in this instance, as the picture is rather crisp and single-themed. This woman’s North Node is in Virgo in the 6th, conjoined Black Moon Lilith, semi-sextile Mars, ruler of the 1st, and trine Sedna. Interesting that she asks about service and her mission, as that’s definitely how Virgo sees things! The sign of service in one of the Houses of service, connected to the House that rules the Self. Add to this the contact to BML=a life direction one may actually try to avoid or ignore, or it may feel like it will stir up rage, if one addresses the injustices one sees–an attempt, perhaps, to just not open that can of worms that holds the key to one’s purpose–and contact to Sedna=again, easy to put the life’s mission in the ‘blind spot’ and ignore the inner knowing, the instincts and promptings. But why would someone want to avoid what they ostensibly seek?

I would assume that inability to pinpoint Purpose centers in a mistaken idea of what serving might ask of the individual, or as we see here, Purpose requiring some time and living to develop–so what kind of service does this chart suggest? Here’s where we see an amazing consistency in the nature of what the NN points toward: service through Virgo and the 6th, with NN ruler Mercury in Scorpio in the 8th of shared resources (opposed Sedna), Merc ruler Pluto conjoined the Sun in Libra–and what is Libra about? Justice! And cooperation/ aiding others, emphasized even further by placement of Sun-Pluto in the 7th of all others. With a NN in Virgo, we see that the Purpose in the largest sense is to serve–and we do that by some form of cooperation (Libra) with others. There’s also a lovely Taurus Moon in the 2nd–nurture as a talent–closely quincunx its own ruler Venus in the 7th in Libra=lifelong adjustment to the feeling nature through relationships–and this may signal that it was necessary for a good part of the life to have already been lived in order to develop a mature, resilient, and empathetic emotional nature, that’s now ready to take on the life’s purpose.

It seems to me this life is about serving either through forms of nurture, or in finding justice for others. This can take many many shapes, from health care or hospice care to forensic accounting to counseling or advocacy for others in court or within government systems to feeding others or finding housing for those without. Research, detective work, medical research or medical practice, tax preparation or administration, court advocacy or law, psychology, couples counseling, probationary officer, helping at-risk youth, nursing, chef, gardener or co-op manager, house mother, writer (concentrating on illuminating human nature, fiction or non-fiction)–I could go on, but the important point is all are in the broadest sense forms of looking for the Truth at the core of life, and in so doing benefiting those with whom one works/ interacts. This can be in formal roles that require training, or in the informal venues of friendship, intimate relationship, or motherhood, but in any case, an ability to think concisely, to follow the facts, to look unflinchingly at darkness but know how to show others the way to the light–that’s what you’ve got going for you–it’s up to you what shape your mission takes, but this service does need to have a public component, to be visible to others, especially others who can affect the fates of those you aid (like judges, doctors, or police, unless that’s the role you take on!) Please don’t feel like you’re getting a late start–you may already have gone in this direction to some degree, and just know that you needed time for what you have to offer to reach it’s full potential.

More to come! Thanks, everyone–

 

 

Time: We Are The River Running Through It

10 Friday Apr 2020

Posted by in astrology, Consciousness Explored

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By Harald Sohlberg 1906 {{PD}}

The following is an article, slightly modified, that first appeared in an October 2012 issue of ECLIPSE, for your weekend reading pleasure. Please note, the article uses Placidus charts.

There are a great many ways to think of time; all of them suggest connection among what we call the past, the present, and what is to come. It’s our nature to measure time from our own vantage point within it, and that means we do see it, whether we believe intellectually that it is or not, as a progression. Though one part is gone, seemingly unalterable from where we stand now, and the circumstances of one part have not yet coalesced around us, we somehow have difficulty both recognizing that the present is the one period we can affect without question, and that certain events in the present and the future actually arose in the choices of the past (and this is setting aside the fact that the ‘now’ that is as you read this sentence is not the same ‘now’ that existed when you read the first sentence of this article, an awareness of a kind of ‘micro-flow’).

Initially we tend to see ourselves as immersed in time, carried along on its currents, with a flow that comes out of the past and stretches out into our future. It’s only human to pretend at being mystified by this flow and the events it brings, to see what happens as beyond our control–for then who can blame us for what comes to pass? If we see things as truly random, the question of karma, of ultimate balance and reason existing whether we can see it or not, becomes invalid in our own minds; with this attitude we will see only chaos, and probably spend our lives struggling to affect what results.

Once we reach a point where we are willing to accept responsibility for our choices without excuses, to see the Universe as always, consistently causal (and that this is so whether we are privy to the causal chain of events, or the organizing energy behind it, or not), we open up a whole new way of seeing the world and the things that happen around and to us. We recognize that we are not floating on that river of time, but are part of it–we are running through it. We take our place as a component of the Universe, not as a segregated, helpless traveler within it–and it’s not a big leap from there to begin contemplating time, and how we might define it, affect it, even control it.

There is a time component inherent to those energies in astrology that define life urges. It seems that when we feel that spark of movement, we see the energy as dimensional, as containing one or more concepts of time. For instance, Saturn is the traditional indicator of time, standing for the actual process of what we perceive as time’s passage, for maturing, building, aging–it manages to symbolize all linear time–even our use of a baby for the New Year and an old man for the end of that year speaks of the Saturnian experience of time.

‘Head of a Bearded Old Man (Saturn)’ 1516 By Albrecht Dürer {{PD}}

But Saturn also tells of non-change, the antithesis of time itself; Saturn can signify the static, the permanent, the unchangeable. Saturn is where we are firmly rooted in reality (and sometimes fear), where the past is set in stone, and where the past and present are all there is. Saturn is usually our go-to reference astrologically for time, along with the Moon. Lunar influences are ever-changing, malleable and fluid, and so ‘fill in’ those ‘missing’ parts to the Saturnian definition of time. The emotional component of the Moon’s perceptual lens renders the passage of time subjective, and so difficult to measure with Lunar consciousness, which is so unlike the steady tick of the Saturnian timepiece. In every way that Saturn suggests forever, Luna implies an illumination of the moment, here and gone, ever-shifting.

But we have other astrological signifiers of the concept of time, and it’s important we’re aware of them, as they can, mentally and spiritually (and who’s to say not also physically?) describe our experience of the time we occupy within the Cosmos. They can become ‘where we are’ just as certainly as we can be contained within the more familiar Saturnian bounds of time. Time, from the astrological perspective, need not always be considered linear–though certainly the cycles and procession of planetary movement from our vantage here on Earth, the very stuff we examine to know the meaning behind it, implies that within the limited framework of our human brains, a linear approach helps us make sense of it all, at least for purposes of organization and understanding. Still, awareness of other perceptual possibilities shows us the dimensionality of the Universe, and gives us hints of ‘What If?’ always an exciting prospect.

The planet Neptune may be the most obvious astrological body with the potential to affect our perceptions of time. With this outer behemoth we see that to be in a Neptunian state, lost in creativity or confusion, brings our awareness of the passage of time to a standstill–not like the Saturnian permanence, but in a way that seems to remove us from the linear flow–we lose a sense of time passing, or even existing, when we are immersed in Neptune; we are in what is known to some as ‘Dream Time’. The House where our natal Neptune sits, as well as the House(s) with Pisces on the cusp, might be the places we are most likely to be able to slip outside the stream of time, to gain a sense of suspension that does not capture us in a single moment (as Saturn does) but that removes the tick of the clock altogether. Here we can apply imagination, and experience matters of the House unfettered by the linear prescription; these are matters where we can lose ourselves, and our Self-consciousness, in such a way that we can connect with both our own purest sense of creativity and with the Collective itself, without boundaries or even the ability to differentiate ourselves from ‘all else’.

For instance, the person with a 12th House Neptune, or Pisces on the cusp of the 12th, may easily ‘lose’ themselves in compassionate service, meditation or spiritual practice, or as a part of a large institution or cause. Mother Teresa (26 August 1910  2:25 PM  Skopje Macedonia) has Neptune in Cancer in the 7th, and Pisces on the 3rd. This suggests an ability to lose herself in caring, not for the Collective, as in the 12th, but for ‘All Others’ as defined by individuals, the human ‘audience’ all around her, with the Pisces cusp placement telling us of her need to communicate the importance of this caring attitude.

‘White Cat and Two Yellow Butterflies’ By Arthur Heyer c1900 {{PD}}

Or, as in the case of Henry David Thoreau, the naturalist and proto-ecology proponent (12 July 1817  9 PM Concord MA USA), we find Neptune and Uranus in Sagittarius in the 10th. That’s like a signature for someone who becomes known for his boundary-less connection to nature and his innovative and pioneering attitude toward it (and interestingly, Thoreau had Ceres, the asteroid of our relationship to nature and our own natural power, in the 12th–Neptune’s ‘natural’ House–trine the North Node, with Pluto at the midpoint–again, a recipe for fine understanding of nature, and the need to transform our attitudes and views toward it, as part of the Path). And, for good measure, he had Pisces intercepted in the 1st, making the ability to lose himself in those Neptunian areas a personal one. Not only does this illustrate our point about Neptune as our place of communion with the Cosmos, it brings forward another point: that our strongest characteristics and qualities are typically found repeatedly in the chart, echoing their importance within the life.

Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude you. But if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.”   Thoreau

With Uranus and Aquarius we find a time-sense of spontaneity, sudden events, immediacy, modernity, and ‘the new’–and in time awareness this translates as being in the moment. We are present in these parts of the chart, and usually highly aware of both our individuality and our place within the group. Artist Salvador Dali (11 May 1904  8:45 AM  Figueras Spain) had Uranus in the 6th and Aquarius on the 8th, suggesting that it was part of his daily routine, his ‘job’, to be unique and highly individual! His ‘uniqueness imperative’ was to be shared with others, and very likely supported by them (8th House)–an important thing for any artist to garner from his or her audience. Still unsurpassed inventor Nikola Tesla (10 July 1856 12 AM Smiljan Croatia) had Aquarius on the 11th–the dream/ goal of invention–in many ways Aquarius on the 11th frames it as the House of the Future, and Aquarian connections to electricity, Higher Thought, and computing seem apt–and Uranus in Taurus in the 1st, suggesting a personal ability to innovate with ‘materials of the Earth’–perhaps a more grounded-seeming energy than we would’ve expected, though not an inappropriate one, as a practical approach is essential to implement those things of the imagination in the material realm. Also of note: his Neptune in Pisces in the 12th, the perfect illustration of one who enjoys a direct creative line to both the Collective and the Universe.

Though Mercury can stand for the minutes or hours on a clock face or in a day, and as well for many other mundane systems accounting for the passage of time, or for the changeability of our direction, literal or figurative (as in the meaning of ‘mercurial’), the planet doesn’t capture a sense of time so much as a measure of it; and the Mercury-encapsulated idea of swiftness emphasizes movement rather than a state of perception (though we could grant Mercury domain over ‘an instant’, if we then didn’t have to define it as a ‘doorstep moment’, of revelation or a turnaround), so that something may change or pass in a Mercurial way, even as it is perceived through a lens of, for instance, Neptune (‘the hour passed in a fog’) or Uranus (‘suddenly I changed my route’ the suddenness of perception being Uranian, the movement–in this case a ‘route’–being Mercurial). Mars, though a proponent of action without reservation, speaks more of a viewpoint than of anything else: ‘I am here, everything else is out there, and I will act upon it’. So oriented is Mars toward movement and activity that he barely takes in surroundings or one’s perceptions relative to time–he is instead so intent on acting that the Mars perceptual lens can be acted upon, just as Mercury’s is, by other, more time-oriented, energies. The same is true of Jupiter; with his orientation toward expansion he pushes out, but does not think of other than efforts in the now, a spreading, sharing, enlarging of what he already is. All these energies are process, rather than time, aligned, placing them firmly in the ‘action’ category. And Venus? She too is in-the-now, the experience of Love, jealousy, envy, or oneness with another through intimacy removing the consciousness from anything other than the current moment. Venus is immersive, in every sense.

We might wonder, then, about Pluto: about his rulership of the Underworld, of what is hidden, kept secret, of what Plutonian lends itself to the idea of interior time, of those things internalized by the Self as making up a cognitive, emotional, and spiritual place populated by the deepest part of us. Our secrets, our most intense and private beliefs, our dark corners, our shame, our wants, our rage, the parts of our beingness that are known only to ourselves, create a personal landscape that is an accumulation of memory, and so an accumulation of consciousness of time. Pluto may represent the closest approximation astrologically to a living aggregation of feeling that makes up who we are–and so is another, very personal, record of the past that still lives within our memory–and so Pluto could be considered to keep the past alive inside the present. Pluto can, though, hold energies that project us into the future; he tells of rage, and lust, and change through destruction or transformation, and all these are like a view of what future will follow from the past–so maybe Pluto is our best indicator of the future, by transit, by Solar Arc, and from received transits.

‘The Bronx River’ By Ernest Lawson c1910 {{PD}}

Pluto, then, may embody us as the river that runs through time. It is created from our past, our present (through desires, anger, projection), and our futures–and I say ‘futures’ as it contains all the possibilities, running the gamut from re-birth to total destruction. Aspects to Pluto may indicate our ‘interior issues’, those things we may be pre-occupied with, in one form or another, until we have adequately plumbed the darkness that surrounds them–and that may take a lifetime.