Category Archives: Natal Delineation

Let’s Discuss: Chiron Pt. 1

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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: 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–

 

 

A Change of Pace

25 Saturday Apr 2020

Posted by in astrology, Natal Delineation, Something For You

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I’ll just hang out here while you get your info ready. ‘The Valkyrie’s Vigil’ By Edward Robert Hughes 1906 {{PD}}

Let’s have a change of pace, shall we? The answer to that is Yes, and you can be part of it! I’d like to hear from readers who’d like a particular aspect in their chart discussed. As regular readers know, I do not like to discuss only one facet of a chart–it gives a lopsided and sometimes incorrect picture, when isolated–but with this we combat any distortions by having the aspect discussed as it functions within the whole chart. That means I’ll talk about the aspect, but as it fits into the entire natal picture. Emphasis will be on how it influences areas other than the obvious and expected ones (such as placement by House(s) or sign(s)). Expect about three paragraphs for any specific aspect–not an exhaustive analysis, though I do aim to make it an instructive one.

How do you play along? You can submit the aspect you’d like to hear about plus your complete birth data (stated as local time, date, and place–for example, 5:05 AM 6 March 1983 Los Angeles). It’s important you state the month in a word rather than a number, to avoid confusion (not doing so automatically gets your info discarded). You may also want to include a few words on how you feel this aspect has manifested so far. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU SEND COMPLETE INFO–leaving anything out makes it impossible to use.

Allow me plenty of time to choose and write up what comes in. I’ll be accepting entries through the end of April, for this first round. There’s no guarantee your info will be used, but if it is, your name will not be disclosed. I will not be answering individual entries–if it isn’t addressed publicly in this blog, it won’t be. Submit info through the comments section of this post only.

For at least a while I’ll be going to more random posts, covering current aspects or upcoming astro events or analysis of interesting people, rather than a Daily; the last one of those will post on Monday the 27th for Tuesday the 28th. Stay safe out there, dear Readers, and be happy–and if you need to you can do as I have, and mix it up a bit!

 

The Parental Inner Voice: The Internalized Mother and Father

19 Saturday Oct 2019

Posted by in Aspect Delineation, astrology, Astrology and Identity, Consciousness Explored, Natal Delineation, Parental Energies

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This weekend reading is an ECLIPSE re-print, edited, augmented, and with completely new sections added on Uranus and Neptune.

‘A Double Portrait’ By Abraham de Vries c1630 {{PD}}

The internalized voices of the mother and father (or the caretakers) are something everyone absorbs in childhood and carries for life. We know how a parent would likely respond to most everything we do, and often as not that assumed parental assessment floats through the mind as we make choices. But, as we age, we’re meant to compartmentalize those particular voices, and replace them with a central one belonging to ourselves, with ones belonging to our idealized Archetypes—the Mother and Father of our dreams, so to speak—as secondary, as a set of counselors. These have the benefit of being all-loving and totally supportive; they tell us what we need to hear to assure our choices are healthy for us and supportive of our Soul’s needs, and best of all, these Archetypal voices support the adult that we are, rather than commenting on the child we were. We can if we’re so inclined characterize these as God’s voice, the voice of our incorporeal guardians or angels, the Higher Self, or of the sexless but living Universe—whatever fits your belief system. The internal Parents will speak to what’s most productive for us as individuals—and this ‘feedback’ varies from that of the actual mother and father in situations where they were truly supportive to a kind of neutral, responsible common sense advice meant to aid.

Have your internal voices (at least the directly real-life parental ones) evolved from the personal voices of the actual caretakers into an Archetypal energy that ‘speaks’ in your best interests, or is the voice you hear still the one of the actual parent, with all the encouragement, judgment, and limitations of their life imposed on yours? And do you get that confused—or more likely, allow it to sidetrack you—when you’re in the midst of decision-making? We get some clues in the chart on how to deal with the parental influence by examining contact between the personal planets and lights (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars) and other bodies, some that are specific to the personal chart and some that are universal. Here’s a quick look at the info, cookbook-style. Remember, of course, that these are not the only meanings these contacts have–we’re just concentrating on particular manifestations and concepts.

Jupiter in contact with the personals seems to have two main early expressions: seeing the individual or subject represented by the contacted energy as god-like, or seeing the contacted energy as something we always need ‘more’ of. We tend to relate this attitude to, or draw it from, whichever parent seemed god-like at the time—so not necessarily the parent who held the most authority, but the one to whom it seemed nothing was denied. When this takes on an Archetypal maturity, we see the opportunities we’ve had related to the contacted energy, and we access direct knowledge of the related concepts. Natal Venus in Scorpio trine Jupiter in Cancer may suggest we had a female caretaker who ‘had it all’ emotionally, and that she was either provided this by a god-like figure or that she herself was that figure. She was cared for emotionally, at least (Cancer), and sex and mystery (Scorpio) may have seemed to be her province, denied to the individual with the aspect, as was a sense of truly being nurtured, with that reserved for the caretaker as well—and this may have resulted in over-the-top sexual experimentation, emotional spending, or having 15 children, trying to claim Venus-Jupiter for oneself. With maturity and an Archetypal Jupiter in place, one is not only able to claim the energies for the Self, but also to see how they may be best used. In this case, knowledge of what it takes to nurture (Cancer) combines with the worth of Truth, deep and intense relationships, and yes, sexuality, to inform the life choices and open the Self to the wider world and its worth.

As the Old Man of the chart, Saturn in contact to any of the personals can describe the permanent influence of an authority figure, usually the parent perceived as ‘in charge’. Typically this is a sense of suppression of the characteristics of the contacted planet, with maturity bringing a change that incorporates Self-discipline in place of external restrictions. For instance, the natal Moon in Aries square Saturn in Capricorn, with Saturn repping the father, may suggest the individual observed suppression of the mother’s (Moon) independence, autonomy, or leadership potential and incorporated this into the emotional make-up, or that the individual directly experienced it her or himself, possibly through a denial of the intuition or even the emotions themselves. Every time this person makes a move on his or her own, he or she may experience that sense of paternal suppression, and so may show temper, aggression, or insist on the ‘I want’ in response. With maturity and the Archetypal response, though, the individual may shift from seeing Saturn as conflict and potential negation of the feelings to support of these through following the ‘rules’ and through sufficient Self-restraint. This is just one possibility, of course. When we’re still hearing the voice of one or the other parent, we will tend to refuse or at least resent complying with Saturn’s requirements; by the time we form an Archetypal version, we will frame it as the inner voice of caution and common sense—and likely have attracted one or two ‘real-life’ versions, people exhibiting extraordinary maturity no matter their age, on which to model our approach.

Uranus related to the inner parent concept may stand for one or both as erratic, unreliable, Self-involved, and if it applies to both maternal and paternal authority figures (for instance, by ruling or being posited in the 10th) the parents may have presented as a ‘group’, sticking together so that there was no way for the child to make an end run around one parent to appeal to the other. The home life may have been perceived as chaotic, no matter the surface appearance of things, and the sense that accidents could happen anytime, or that the parent could simply disappear, could breed hyper-vigilance in the child that becomes an uneasy sense of distrust of all others, or the world itself, in the adult. Relationships may innately seem precarious, and if there’s a denial of this influence, the individual could be repressive and controlling themselves, unconsciously seeking to keep potential chaos at bay.

In my upcoming Moon book I discuss the personal effects of Uranus using the chart of singer Karen Carpenter; here are a couple of excerpts:

“She has a 00 Cancer 34 Ascendant, with Uranus retrograde at 00 Cancer 57–this shouts naturally wired, high strung, nervous, and in Cancer the likely conduit for the nerves is the stomach, and possibly in motherhood (or the rejection of it–Carpenter had no children). Uranus rules the Whole Sign 8th, which holds Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury. We can see anorexia, the disease from which she suffered and from which she died, in at least one sense as rebellion: from control of others, from norms, from forced sharing (8th House) in an attempt to create one ‘private’ thing in the life, one thing completely, irrevocably under the individual’s sole control—and these planetary and point relationships describe this to a ‘T’.

Uranus can be seen as a kind of co-Ascendant, so closely and thoroughly is it tied to Karen’s connection point with the world. It suffers significant isolation from the other chart energies, with only a semi-square to Pluto (which touches Uranus’ ruler, the Moon) and a square to Juno. These aspects suggest intense control issues, a known component of the equation that prompts anorexia. But, though the two bodies Uranus touches are control-oriented, the involvement of Uranus suggests a fear of losing control, a dread of the chaotic and the unanticipated. She may have identified herself as potentially always on the verge of personal chaos (Uranus closely conjoined the Ascendant)—and that easily could’ve driven her to be constantly vigilant, and to clamp down on anything and everything within her reach.”

Neptune to the personals and linked to the parental figures can make for a number of intensely disorienting experiences for a child: the parent may seem to (or even tell the child that) they hold all the creative ‘cards’, making the child feel they can never live up to the parental creativity (this is not uncommon in the charts of children of successful artists or celebrities). The suggestion in the mind of the child is that the parent presents an ideal that can never be reached, convincing the child he or she is drab and untalented by comparison, even if the parent has never implied this. Or the child may suffer from a sense of nebulous or incomplete identity, taking their cues about who they are and how they feel from the parent. There may be a lack of boundaries that, if carried into adulthood, can bring gullibility, unrealistic creative attempts, and co-dependent relationships until the individual learns to set boundaries and clearly differentiates the Self and the Self’s responsibilities from those of others. The child being persuaded they’re someone they’re not is a distinct danger. Learning they’re not responsible for those around them (and especially for the feelings of those around them) can be a significant milestone.

The sense that it’s natural for the individual to feel they are just a small part of something larger can bring perpetual uncertainty, and may be the foundation of a spiritual search in adulthood; a good parent will recognize the fears and inability of the child to know where he or she ends and everyone else begins, and can assist them in channeling that Cosmic awareness into appropriate expression–a not-so-good parent may use the child like a battery, absconding with the child’s creative and life energies, insisting the child exists as an adjunct of them. This can be a tough enmeshment to recognize, as it may present as the parent deeply concerned with fostering the child (the modern ‘helicopter parent’ comes to mind) which can easily smother or disorient the child’s creative and imaginative urges. Most difficult contact for the native within their own chart? Neptune and the Moon, no question.

‘Abduction of Persephone and Pluto on Horseback’ By Giuseppe Scolari c1595 {{PD}}

Pluto is symbolic of what’s commonly known as ‘The Devouring Mother’, but that’s too narrow a definition by far; this is really a designator of a power figure, male or female, who overwhelmed the individual, and likely persuaded them that, whatever energy Pluto contacted was not to be theirs. The typical indoctrination involves framing the energy as destructive, as likely to obliterate the individual if she or he engages with it. Who would tell (or imply) something like this to a mere child? Sometimes it’s done out of fear, in an attempt to protect, but just as often it arises from rage, an attitude that says, ‘If I can’t have this, neither can you!’ When this is the voice we carry in our minds, we are likely forbidden to even think about the energy too much; we have been so conditioned to see it as, essentially, death, that we avoid it actively.

As we see others access that power, though, this leads (at least at first) not to accessing it ourselves, but to rage of our own at being denied something we see others have: we in essence become, attitudinally, the mirror of our caretaker in regard to this subject. The classic example is Venus square Pluto, which traditional literature calls a denial of Love for the individual until they learn to be loving. I find this a misunderstanding of the dynamic at work: the individual appears to not understand Love and to behave badly because of it, but they are actually reacting to the denial of Love for themselves, in that they are raging at being denied what they see everyone else have. They are not devoid of Love themselves, but so afraid of it (and in some cases this applies to money/ assets, too) that they dare not approach it. Remedy begins when the individual first tastes genuine Love (not romance) and finds they don’t die; dramatic as it seems, that’s what it takes to show them they can not only have it, that they are worthy of it—and that is the essence of the Plutonian Archetypal form, the ability to be powerful and unafraid, and so abandon the need to rage and destroy.

I often see Ceres described as a kind of ‘Earth Mother’ figure, but that paints her as entirely too passive (and with far too little power of her own). She is an active energy, Nature itself, and though she nurtures, her mothering role is this: she cares for and carefully tends the welfare of her offspring, as long as they do precisely what she wants. I contend that the story we know of Persephone/ Proserpina’s abduction by Pluto/ Hades is told from Ceres’/ Demeter’s point-of-view; that’s why it’s an abduction, not an elopement, and imprisonment in the Underworld rather than the voluntary experience of sexual maturity, which in itself requires the individual to separate from the maternal figure. Ceres’ grief at her daughter’s escape to the Underworld in many ways resembles a fit by a too-controlling parent: I will withhold the very essence of life to all that grows on the planet (creating autumn and winter, which hadn’t existed–before that it was perpetual summer) until my daughter returns to me. The daughter is treated like a possession, and the negotiation for her partial return is carried out not with her but with Pluto—she is never asked what she wants!

With Ceres in contact to the personals, then, we may see someone who was required to conform to the caretaker’s expectations to the letter in the areas of life signified by the contacted energy. Getting free from that all-encompassing hold means acting, not necessarily in ways we want to, but in ways that take us outside the parental reach. That means early attempts to break free of Ceres’ hold can be very bad choices, indeed—but they serve to make the individual more autonomous, at the very least, and that may set them on their way with a determination not to return to a Ceres-approved life. When we bring the Archetypal version of Ceres into being, we connect directly with what we might refer to as the ‘Voice of Nature’; this energy makes us highly aware of and respectful of all living things (and even that life essence found in inanimate objects, invested by the Being who created them) and in its fullest form makes it very difficult for us to stand by and allow damage to the Earth. Natal Ceres conjunct the Sun, for instance, may start out with the individual placing a Solar entity (the father, or the person about whom their internal Solar system orbits) in the center of the life, which is really a position each of us should hold in our own lives—it’s inappropriate for another to be in that place. You can imagine the drama that would unfold as this individual struggles to claim the Solar energy for their own—and the life-or-death tinged threats that may be made if the individual withdraws from the temporary Sun/ Ceres individual’s compass. Eventually, though, withdraw they will—because in the end, that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

‘Demeter Mourning for Persephone’ By Evelyn De Morgan 1906 {{PD}}

Bonus knowledge on Ceres: When one person’s Ceres makes cross-chart contact to particular natal bodies of the mate, a super anti-romantic energy can ensue. For example, a woman’s Ceres conjunct a man’s Mars may start out okay (he may like the sense of nurture and acceptance he feels from her) but quickly devolves into something akin to a repelling energy: she soon starts to feel like Mom to him, and only if he’s into sex with Mom do things work out! It may not be that blatant (or icky) but he will likely come to see her every interaction with him as emasculating, in a sense—the funny thing is couples with this cross-chart interaction can end up staying together for a long time, as he becomes a serial adulterer (for sex) then returns to the mate for comfort and a sense of home.

 

‘No Fear of Perfection’ An Astro Portrait of Salvador Dalí

07 Thursday Jun 2018

Posted by in Astrology of Careers Vocations and Callings, Inferior Conjunction, Mercury retrograde, Natal Delineation, Sun/Mercury Inferior Conjunction

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By Carl Van Vechten – Van Vechten Collection at Library of Congress, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1316978

Another re-print from ECLIPSE, this time on the wildly original Spanish artist:

Born with Mercury retro, just after an Inferior Conjunction, Salvador Dalí (11 May 1904 8:45 AM Figueras Spain) spent his life as an innovative artist, so we might expect a prominent Neptune and Uranus, but the Merc retro natal point, at 23 Taurus 28 Rx, plays a big part as well. If Merc is our ability to communicate, Dali’s ability was shaped as a sense of anticipation. This is what we have in the post-Inferior Conjunction phase of the retrograde: a subliminal excitement, a shadowy coalescence of ideas and concepts, and we are willing to try things that are new and perhaps considered unusual for us—and somehow Dalí was able to translate this into his creative life, probably through the 29 degree Uranus in Sagittarius, a placement requiring expression of the individuality (and creating tension with the individuality!) perpetually.

Neptune is in the Whole Sign 1st, above the Ascendant, sextile Venus, trine Black Moon Lilith, and squared by the natal Aries Moon and Midheaven. He may have identified with being creative, but not entirely consciously. A great deal of his creative ‘fuel’ may have been women, relationships (he had many with both men and women, and met his wife Gala, 9 years older than he, when she and her husband, a poet, and daughter came to visit him—she remained when they went home). Dalí excels at delving into the material others avoided—as seen in his penchant for eyeballs, melting clocks, and the disturbing dreamscapes of his Art. The contact to Moon-MC is puzzling, until we consider that though the social sphere (Jupiter in the 10th in Aries) found him disruptive and odd (10th, ruler Mars conjunct Mercury—he was communicating), his parents, especially his mother (10th, Moon) encouraged his Self-indulgence and unusual creativity. This undoubtedly affected the emotional perceptions, with the Aries Moon emphasizing Self-Will as the way to feel emotionally nourished—and coupled with the MC, probably made him equate emotional satisfaction with fame and professional accomplishment.

Interesting to note that he was born 9 months and 10 days after the death of his older brother; given the same name and told he could never replace him, Dalí came to believe he literally was his brother’s replacement, his reincarnation. Mercury, the natural representative of siblings, is conjoined his Sun (in this case perhaps both suggesting the melding of identities and, as Merc is moving away from conjunction, the effort toward individuality and freedom). Merc rules his 3rd, representing his siblings, with Virgo there; it may have been the childhood criticism that made him who he was in a significant way—it certainly figured in his thinking.

His wife Gala may be key to so much here, in particular the extreme sexual nature, represented by Pluto opposed Ceres. This suggests his deepest sexual energy may have been at odds with what he considered ‘natural’, and yet Gala, an incredibly strong Mother Earth figure, came along and negotiated his own sexual nature with him—she was his Ceres, adjusting his sense of Self (Ceres quincunx the Sun) as well as becoming a foil for his passion (Ceres opp Pluto). Also interesting, this amazingly original and unique artist died in the period of his Uranus Return at the age of 84, at the point of a symbolic, and very real, completion of a cycle.

By Promomonster – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45094742

“Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.”– Salvador Dalí  This from a man who wielded the most perfect brush strokes in his oil paintings I’ve ever seen.

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22 April 2016 We All Cry

21 Thursday Apr 2016

Posted by in Art, Aspect Delineation, astrology, Astrology of Careers Vocations and Callings, Current Events, current events in the sky, health, Natal Delineation, Spiritual Considerations, The Daily Word Image

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'White Doves at the Blue Mosque' by Peretz Partensky from San Francisco, USA Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

‘White Doves at the Blue Mosque’ by
Peretz Partensky from San Francisco, USA Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

Aspects Friday the 22nd look like a tribute to musical artist Prince, who died early on the 21st in his Minnesota studio at the age of 57 (and we may note, the 21st was also the date of death of one of the founders of the band Negativland, Richard Lyons, who was also 57; and, Prince’s protege and collaborator Vanity, died 15 February this year, also aged 57–I’m starting to wonder if 57 is the new 27 in the music world, the age when we lost Hendrix, Morrison, Joplin, Cobain, Winehouse, et al). Venus (beauty, Art) conjoins Uranus (the original, the unusual, style) and both novile Neptune (the creative, music), framing the way forward (Venus-Uranus quincunx the North Node), putting our attention on our wounds and clever ways to heal them (Sun novile Chiron).

This combination hands us an awareness of the need for the creative, for Art, for Beauty, for the unique, the original, strange, and fantastical, as we move forward; we see there is no future without an intensely inventive spirit, without a love of both beauty and others (the relationship function of Venus), and both the desire to create (which really drives all life) and the desire to express that creativity in terms that are very particularly our own (Uranus). To me that sounds exactly like Prince’s life mission, one that in the eyes of many he fulfilled exceptionally well.

If we look at Prince’s chart (7 June 1958 6:19 PM Minneapolis MN USA) we see both the natal strains that were lifelong (for instance, a Whole Sign 8th House Gemini Sun, the position emphasizing the individual commitment to others, as well as the inevitable toll that commitment can take, and a 29 degree Pluto conjoined the Midheaven and ruling the 1st of the Self, suggesting serious strain through the career and public image to the personality and so too to the body itself).

Data via Astrodatabank

Data via Astrodatabank

When we look at the transits for the 21st, we note the transiting Sun just past contact to the natal South Node (bringing the individual attention to the past, perhaps to that point of what we are before birth–so, returning to one’s origins), and the way the current Sun-Earth axis is aligned his natal 1st House Neptune to the degree (conjoined by Earth, opposed by the Sun). According to The Atlantic, in a 1985 interview Prince stated, “There’s not a person around who can stay awake as long as I can. Music is what keeps me awake,” which is an interesting statement coming from one whose North Node and Neptune were fused in the 1st, a symbol of the creative, forward-looking consciousness he lived.

Transiting Saturn was just beginning to move off (in retrograde) Prince’s natal 2nd House Earth, and with the symbol of both time and ‘The End’ opposing his Sun, he was probably experiencing excessive debilitation; the weakness and exhaustion we feel when the transiting Sun-Earth is flipped from our natal one was likely mimicked and exaggerated a thousand times by Saturn’s contact to the material (Earth) and ‘draining’ of the opposing Sun.

Transiting Jupiter, showing his credentials as the harbinger of life’s longest journey, had already squared Prince’s Sun twice and is scheduled to square it again; once more, the sense is one of strain, and t Jupiter is opposed t Neptune, placing Prince’s natal Sun and Vesta as the arm of a T-square. What’s most vital to him (the Sun) and sacred to him (Vesta) is being strained and pressured by a temporary situation that pits the creative, music, against the social order, the need to reach out and share the creation. It’s no secret Prince fought long battles with record companies, a situation that lasted for years and made for the most frustrating environment imaginable for an artist.

And, the transiting Moon hours before Prince’s death passed over his 12th House Jupiter, possibly triggering that longest journey, in one form leaving the Collective but joining it in another.

Wybrand de Geest {{PD}}

Wybrand de Geest {{PD}}

The word image is a bright yellow canary, sitting on one’s hand, that flutters out through an open window. The music’s not lost, it just went somewhere else.

Show support to your favorite writers and Artists–donate, buy their work, tell them you love them!

 

The Astrology of ‘Perfume: The Story of a Murderer’

05 Friday Jun 2015

Posted by in Aspect Delineation, astrology, Astrology of Careers Vocations and Callings, ECLIPSE magazine, Natal Delineation

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Rudolf Ernst 'The Perfume Maker' 19th century or 20th century, but before 1932 {{PD}}

Rudolf Ernst ‘The Perfume Maker’
19th century or 20th century, but before 1932 {{PD}}

This is from the current issue of ECLIPSE.

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2007)  I initially thought this was based on a true story when I started the movie, though it became clear somewhere along the way that it was, even if based in reality, a kind of fairy-tale. The main character is Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (created by the writer Patrick Süskind in his 2001 novel of the same name as the movie), and we follow him from birth to death—or re-absorption by the Universe, as it were—with the presentation of his birth data and the date of his leaving this plane, the latter including the time. So, I thought it would be fun to look at his chart, and see if it really described a man who had a tremendously heightened sense of smell—but no ability to feel—and who goes on a ruthless quest to capture the odor of ‘beautiful woman’ in a bottle. The movie is gorgeously made, and has many striking moments, the best of which is when Grenouille, taken to be hanged in the town square, unleashes his intoxicating creation, to amazing results.

The story begins with Grenouille’s birth in the early morning at the Paris fish market on 17 July 1738. I chose 9 AM as the time, in part because it gives him a Void 29 degree Moon in Cancer in the 11th House=extreme sensitivity without the usual emotional protection afforded the individual (the Void status, which can make the environment seem like it’s assaulting the person, 24/7), located in the House of goals, wishes, dreams, making this sensitivity central to his existence. The Void Moon is square Pluto=emotions, under stress, burnt out, destroyed. He also has Mercury in Cancer conjunct Saturn-Neptune and only 4 minutes off an exact sextile to his Mars in Taurus=what a perfect portrait of a man driven by acute senses (Merc in Cancer) with the creative compulsion (Neptune—which by the way also rules perfumes, along with Venus) to bring what he imagines into reality (Saturn), via actions (Mars) that are focused on sensation and the sensory experience (Taurus)! Then when we see Venus in Leo conjunct the North Node=the Self-confidence (Leo) to bring one’s values, even the essence of Love (Venus) into the life as a kind of destiny (NN), and 00 degree Pluto in his own sign (the essence of death, and the power of regeneration, just being discovered) in a Water Grand Trine with Neptune and Zeus (when the ambition to create the ultimate scent is realized, he returns, ashes to ashes, dust to dust), we have to wonder, Did Herr Süskind have knowledge of astrology, or consult someone in choosing that date? It’s hard to believe he didn’t.

See the chart here–

Snapshot of a Life: Photographer Vivian Maier

25 Wednesday Feb 2015

Posted by in astrology, ECLIPSE magazine, Natal Delineation

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Taken at the "Finding Vivian Maier: Chicago Street Photographer" exhibition in Chicago 8 January 2011 http://www.flickr.com/photos/chicagogeek/5337419802/ Author ChicagoGeek Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

Taken at the “Finding Vivian Maier: Chicago Street Photographer” exhibition in Chicago 8 January 2011
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chicagogeek/5337419802/
Author ChicagoGeek Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

What follows is a brief look at the chart of Vivian Maier, subject of a recent documentary, taken from the pages of ECLIPSE.

I heard and saw mentions of her, bits and pieces: amazing photos. dead now. a nanny. walked around Chicago for years, taking photos. Nobody noticed. And then I caught ‘Finding Vivian Maier’, a documentary, on HBO. I was prepared to witness some great photos, and perhaps the sadness of a life not lived to as full an extent, or as widely celebrated, as it might‘ve been. What I saw instead was a portrait of a woman who had been seen as mysterious largely because she was both exceptionally private and thoroughly estranged from any family, who preferred the company of children (whom she often bullied) to that of adults, and with a background involving time spent in the village of her mother’s birth in France that had some acquaintances privately calling her accent phony.

I admit I’ve had a very difficult time writing about Maier, for as intriguing as it is to learn about a newly-revealed talent, Maier as an individual seems to have been difficult, and often unpleasant. By the last third of the documentary I found myself looking away at least as much as actually watching, not out of disinterest, but out of the sense that she was a human being who had inflicted pain on her charges, with the obvious inference that this was because she lacked the Self-awareness to separate her own behavior from the pain that had been inflicted on her—a nasty revelation about the doc’s subject, to be sure, and one I felt ambivalent about: did her faults as a human being detract from the body of work she left behind? Ideally, in my view, the work should speak for itself, but when the life seems to provide such a telling frame for the work, one that may be in stark contrast to what is produced while still holding the reflection of it, it may be unfair to look at one without the other, if only because one would not exist without the other.

With no birth time, we have no Houses, Ascendant, or Midheaven, and so Maier (1 February 1926 ntk New York NY USA) remains more mysterious than not; however, an Aquarius Sun sextile Sedna, trine Pallas, quincunx Pluto, and opposed Black Moon Lilith suggests an instinctive urge to hide from (and sometimes to battle) what may have felt like destructive, even vindictive, external forces. She may have seen confrontation (the opposition) as the only wise response to the anger or darkness or manipulative (to her) behavior of others (Black Moon Lilith, disowned, seen as ‘the Other’ through opposition), with the need to continually adjust the power expression/ situation (Pluto qnx) just the smart thing to do (Pallas trine).

The Sun is in an interesting spot: it sits more than 9 degrees from retrograde Venus, which suggests to me the potential rejection of the Venusian facets of Beingness; it’s like a statement, “I’m not beautiful, I don’t have money, relationships and Love are not ‘me’” (via the retro status) but if we had a birth time we would have Houses, and so see how the Art of photography was accepted as ‘hers’ when the other Venus qualities seem not to have been—and yet, we need to look no farther than the Ceres-Neptune opposition to Venus to find a possible explanation. This could imply that in rejecting (or in believing it wasn’t accessible to her in the first place) the usual Venusian expression she was able to embrace what opposed it—in this case, a connection to Nature and her ‘natural’ role as an authority (Ceres–which she may have lived as the ‘pseudo-mother’ to a couple generations of children) melded with her photography (Neptune, in Leo—and proportionally she seems to have taken a large number of Self-portraits—even when the lion hides, she doesn’t).

The observational eye of Maier’s camera seems attuned to those who don’t normally receive that much attention; she finds and frames the ordinary, the every day, and appears to make a specialty of informal portraits of those who aren’t used to being noticed. The Venus-Neptune connection could bestow the ability to see and appreciate what’s usually invisible, the beauty that’s typically obscured. Mercury and Jupiter are conjunct in Aquarius=choosing a modern means of communicating, and in contacting the social sphere; with the camera always between herself and her subjects, Vivian may have made an overarching statement about what she truly found worthy by what she chose to photograph—that was her statement, loud and clear. She takes an intellectual approach to society, communicating and recording with something of a cool, dispassionate gaze, through the camera. With Merc-Jupiter opposed Zeus, there’s no doubt that she saw her photos as an expression of ambitions and talent as even on the surface she appeared to deny she had any ambition at all.

Many ask why Vivian didn’t share her work. We see Juno (empowerment) and the South Node (the past) conjunct in Capricorn, and these hook by aspect into ruler Saturn, Uranus, Chiron, Mars, and Ceres-Neptune=this may speak of when Vivian and her mother lived for a time in New York City around 1930 with photographer Jeanne Bertrand, who likely taught Vivian the ‘rules’ of photography, and acted as an example of how taking pictures could empower, by giving the photographer a god-like ability to literally choose what will be seen, to frame, to crop real life to one’s liking. These contacts link empowerment and the past to the ego and action urge, material reality, originality and innovation, the wound/ healing or the Chirotic gift (in this case, in Aries, suggesting a need to heal so that she could do ‘me first’, and so act as an example), and that natural expression and creative energy—and yet the presence of Saturn may have muted the urge to take any action to share the work. The idea could’ve been that empowerment comes from a contained, modest life, where originality and urges toward independence were kept small, offering little encouragement to the Artist within her, who may have been hungry for more, and on a bigger scale (that wide conjunction of the Sun to Jupiter).

In fact, that Ceres-Neptune, so instrumental in her creative stance, is part of a Fire Grand Trine involving Mars and Chiron. This implies that, had she found healing and felt support in this life, she would’ve expressed her personal power (that the Soul required she make adjustments for—Sun quincunx Pluto) through creative action, as a ‘creative authority’ (Neptune-Ceres); but she clearly wasn’t able to heal, and so the creative output was toned down—not exactly hidden, but likely seeming untenable as a lifestyle and means of earning, despite the example of Bertrand.

And what of the clearly implied violations or abuse both suffered and administered by Vivian? There’s a point in the documentary when a portion of the will of Vivian’s aunt is read, (and I paraphrase), ‘I exclude all living relatives, and they know exactly why’. Whatever injury occurred in this family, it spanned generations. Vivian definitely had a Virgo Moon, with ruler Mercury planet of earliest degree, and conjunct Jupiter=does this represent exaggerated critical emotions, something even the strongest motivations would be hard pressed to overcome? It could, and with Jupiter representing society as a whole (and so possibly the children she cared for) conjunct the Sun in stressful relationship to Pluto, Vivian may have related to the children, seeing them as very similar to, even a part of, her (Sun-Jupiter) but have been in constant Plutonian turmoil that expressed through her treatment of them rising from her own past experiences—for if she sees herself in them, then the pain is alive and present, all the time, and she shares it as she experienced it.

Venus opposed Ceres and trine Vesta suggests that, though she at least theoretically valued beauty and relationships (along with all things that would be designated by the two Houses Venus rules, if we knew her birth time), there was a never-ending struggle going on, one where authority figures, particularly maternal ones (Ceres) always won over ‘the girl’ (Venus), with Vivian casting herself as the weaker player, even when she cared for children—that would’ve brought out the Soul-pain (Sun-Pluto), as Vivian would then play the powerful Ceres figure to her ‘spoiled’ and privileged (Venus) charges. The Venus situation becomes a loop of longing and denial, fed over and over through the mechanism of adjustments to the power scenario—with no reasonable resolution in sight.

I thought I’d provide links so that you can see how really crisp and gorgeous her photos are: http://www.vivianmaier.com/ about her life: http://www.vivianmaier.com/about-vivian-maier/ http://vivianmaier.blogspot.com/ http://www.motherjones.com/media/2011/04/vivian-maier-john-maloof http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/03/31/candid-camera-2 (the latter link addresses the film on Maier mentioned earlier) and for info on the very unusual copyright conditions in this case, see this: http://gapersblock.com/ac/2013/08/13/the-curious-case-of-vivian-maiers-copyright/

Just a Little on Natal Moon in the 3rd House

17 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by in 3rd House, aspects and placements, ECLIPSE magazine, Moon, Natal Delineation, natal placement

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It's all about communicating emotion for Moon in the 3rd. Pierre-Auguste Renoir - 'Confidences' {{PD}}

It’s all about communicating emotion for Moon in the 3rd. Pierre-Auguste Renoir – ‘Confidences’ {{PD}}

A little something on natal Moon in the 3rd, part of my new book on the Moon:

To Think They Feel, or Feel They Think, is the problem presented by both a 3rd House Moon and a Moon in Aquarius (and sometimes Moon in Gemini). The individual with Luna in the natal 3rd ‘hears’ the emotional content behind everything communicated, takes in the subtle current of what’s unspoken, and feels keenly every sentiment conveyed by others—and may do it all as a matter of course, without recognizing that emotion as communication isn’t the way everyone sends messages, or feels feelings. Too, they may not be aware that everyone doesn’t run the emotions through a language and symbol filter, just so they can get a handle on what they’re feeling—and so a person unable to express their emotions through language may be a unicorn the 3rd House Moon doesn’t believe exists, adding a degree of difficulty to relationships with, for example, Water or Fire types.

We can theorize that the childhood environment, also contained in the 3rd, sensitized the individual to all those unsaid things, emotional assumptions, and the uneven affections of family and friends to an excessive degree; this is the person who senses everyone’s feelings about everyone else—but that doesn’t necessarily mean their perceptions are accurate. For all their ability to discern emotional inclinations, the 3rd House Moon is not beyond placing her or his own filter over what’s perceived: their filter is the mind. This is natural for everyone, especially those with lots of Air, but may be especially relevant for this Lunar placement as, whether there’s an unspoken message or not, 3rd House Moon may perceive one. Since they believe all communications have these emotional undercurrents, it’s (nearly) impossible for them to see that sometimes, words convey only what they actually say, nothing more. They may have a hard time believing that others aren’t as emotionally engaged in communications as they are.

Just a Little Astro Essence on Venus in the Natal Chart

10 Tuesday Jul 2012

Posted by in astrology, Consciousness Explored, ECLIPSE magazine, Natal Delineation, relationship astrology, Venus

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‘A Breezy Day’ CC Curran 1887 {{PD-Art}}

Venus, of course, makes her presence felt by House at least twice in the natal chart, once in her rulership of Taurus, and once with Libra. These two signs are naturally quincunx each other, and this describes the way we quite typically see relationship matters (Libra) as incompatible with material ones (Taurus). We tend to believe that the lowest form of relationship in which we can engage is one where we receive a material benefit; we call this person a ‘prostitute’ or label them ‘kept’ and act as if this (a money for  action or energy exchange, and we condemn this in spite of the fact that a job has the same general parameters) is in itself a moral failing. Our natural uneasiness in mixing or equating the two must be tempered by an awareness that living in mutually beneficial material situations is really what we must do, not just for survival but in order to build civilization. We tend to see a relationship that involves love as more noble than one that provides something we need–and yet we mix these things, love and material need, all the time, particularly when we are in partnership–and perhaps that is one of the underlying reasons the mate relationship is so fraught with emotional landmines: we hold ourselves and our loved ones to impossibly high standards, demanding ‘pure’ love be given and received, and yet the very fabric of day-to-day requires an interdependence that, if we recognize any facet of it as a cold, material exchange, may de-value our relationship in our own eyes.

Taken from ‘Your Money-tude’ in the current issue of ECLIPSE; to see this article or to get the daily forecast (planetary aspects and those of Sedna, Chiron, Vesta, Ceres, Juno, Pallas, and Zeus, as well as most Lunar aspects, too) delivered to your email every Thursday, subscribe!