Your Weekend 24 February 2018 Power Workout

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Image: Rainer Knäpper, Free Art License https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Art_License

And with that title, I mean working key power relationships out, specifically as they do or don’t allow or support our own autonomy, agency, and Self-expression. The focus is on our perceptions of how circumstances or others exercise constraint on us–but this isn’t the usual ‘How oppressive is this?’ inquiry. Today we’re meant to examine the way existing power structures and agreements can enhance our own empowerment (to include how the current situation can transform our role–Pluto nov Juno), how facing factors we’ve ignored or denied, or that have enraged us, will enhance our effectiveness and reach (Mercury sextile Black Moon Lilith and parallel Juno), and the ways in which turning away from our own uniqueness, originality, and spontaneous creativity may force us to modify (probably downward) our Self-possession, authority, and personal power (Sun contra-parallel Uranus and quincunx Ceres). We have the chance to see where we really stand, and how to make our position a whole lot better. Hints: don’t underestimate the genuine appeal charisma can exert, and be aware of the highly repellent quality of over-calculation–including manipulation–when exercising influence in power relationships.

‘Flamingo’ By Carl Moser 1922 {{PD}}

Today’s word image is a live flamingo standing in a sea of plastic ones. Can you identify the real in a mass of artificial? Is the eye too confused by the similarities to recognize the subtle differences? Do you care about finding the real one, or are you just as happy to have a fake one next to the pool? How much do you care about authenticity in others, and would you more naturally ‘stand alone’ as ‘real’, or flock with the ornamental molded ones?

‘Flamingos’ By Franz Marc 1906 {{PD}}

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Just a Little AstroEssence 23 February 2018 Suddenly

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A Black Brant IX sounding rocket launches from the Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska at 5:14 a.m. EST, Feb. 22, 2017. This is the first of two launches planned in NASA’s In Situ and Groundbased Low Altitude Studies (ISINGLASS) mission to study the structures of auroras. Photo By NASA – https://www.nasa.gov/and https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/sounding-rocket-launches-to-study-auroras {{PD}}

Shakespeare was onto these gals. ‘The Three Weird Sisters’, Mezzotint By Henry Fuseli http://wellcomeimages.org CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36658923

It’s a weird day, in the ancient sense of uncanny, unusual, or even in the way it can suggest meeting one’s destiny. The word itself springs from Old English, weorþan ‘to become’, and German, ‘werden’, the latter still in modern use. We see it in the way our empowerment may be brought forward through our own creative or imaginative powers, how we may be deluded about what constitutes our own effectiveness or privilege, or in the way we dream our way toward adequate Self-expression, as Juno enters Pisces. At the same time, we see the unusual, the heretical, the revolutionary, the accident and the shocking (Uranus) acted upon by the swift and small Venus (nov) and Mercury (contra-parallel and semi-sq), which flood relationship feeling, financial matters, values, thought, and communications with sudden events and revelation. This pulls our attention to all that’s wrong in our pursuit of ambition and desire fulfillment and in the current power picture (Sun sesq Zeus and semi-sq Pluto). We may vow to right it all–and yet, we can’t account for the influence of the weird, and the way it can make us ‘become’, before we even know it.

Today’s word image is a powerful telescope, fixed on one section of the night sky. We currently have the ability to see and concentrate on a single area of life very intensely, to understand, interpret, and shape it in ways far beyond our usual reach. Find that part of your life where you hold the most powerful sway, and make it whatever you want (please note: this isn’t necessarily the part of your life you most want to change, but the one where you hold all the power and influence).

 

Just a Little AstroEssence 22 February 2018 No Hesitation

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‘Portrait Of A Lady’ 1890 By William Merritt Chase {{PD}}

“He who hesitates is lost”—-Marcus Porcius Cato

That’s the essence of today, as the Sun parallels Mercury, mimicking a Superior Conjunction with its potential for attention on outcomes and results, Mars parallels Saturn, aligning Will with real-world conditions and urging action to affect them, and Saturn quincunxes Ceres, suggesting that with adjustment of our personal authority, our relationship to external authorities, and the ways in which we look to command the reality picture, we can make a deep and powerful impression on our environment, our circumstances, and our status or position. To hesitate is to lose our place in the beneficial flow of Universal energy. Today it’s be ‘in the groove’ or outside it, nose pressed to the glass, looking in.

We also see yesterday’s Venus-Neptune conjunction echoed in today’s parallel between them, both prolonging the ideal Love scenario and pushing it below consciousness; rather than being quite so literal in our seeking, we are now yearning toward that idealized state, whether we realize it or not. The quincunx of Venus to the North Node says that we may feel we need to modify our values, our associations, and/ or our financial circumstances, in order to honor our goals and the road ahead. As I said yesterday, “Dream in ideal terms, but ground steps taken in real-world channels that can give ideas and fantasies form”; aspects for the 22nd offer the perfect vehicle for this, one that will be a highly accurate reflection of the relationship between you and the world you live in.

‘At Sea – Soldier Playing a Guitar’ 1941 By Ronald Searle {{PD}}

Today’s word image is a guitar, long unplayed. You’re not using some instrument at your disposal, and it could enhance your expression. What talent or skill have you neglected, that now needs to be ‘picked up’ once again?

Just a Little AstroEssence 21 February 2018 Ideal Love

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Wacław Szymanowski 1891 {{PD}}

There’s a big promise in that title, isn’t there? We all long for what we consider ‘ideal Love’; the problem is, everyone’s picture of ‘ideal’ is different, so that pairing the purity of the Love concept with something as subjective as what one considers flawless is a sure recipe for disappointment, if only because perfection doesn’t exist (though it can seem to, particularly if we keep our viewpoint narrow, and so mislead us into believing it’s possible). Venus conjoins Neptune in Pisces today, promising that perfect state of Love, or some other idealized or dreamed of condition, especially as it may apply to relationships or finances–but we need to be aware that Venus also contra-parallels Sedna and parallels Zeus, implying we may be shutting out instinct in favor of ambitions and desires, figuratively ignoring our own warning signals and effectively indulging in wishful dreaming. In essence we’re then doubling the ‘want’ factor, making us much more vulnerable to deception or to investing in something hollow or non-existent.

Is there anything wrong with dreaming and hoping? Of course not, but when we pursue the fantasy while willfully denying our innate instinctual knowledge (or while insisting on ignoring our own ‘blind spot’ material–which we may or may not be conscious of, the latter possible if we ignore feedback), we risk potential gains and certainly risk loss: of assets as well as our connection to reality. Dream in ideal terms, but ground steps taken in real-world channels that can give ideas and fantasies form (Mercury parallel Hygeia and sextile Saturn). As a matter of practicality, expect to adjust the mental approach and/ or the diet in terms that offer you authority over and responsibility for yourself–flare-ups of allergies or other autoimmune conditions or digestive issues may alert us to this need. Connecting at this time with your own sense of autonomy and agency can be your best guide through a dense, obscuring, and highly appealing Neptunian fog (Mercury quincunx Ceres).

Photo by guaca https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Guaca Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Today’s word image is a crossword puzzle, the answers to which don’t seem to mesh together as they should. Well there’s only one issue here, perhaps one the crossword solver has ignored: they’ve answered incorrectly. Is there a situation in your life that you’re sure you have the answers to, that you’ve even, speaking in crossword terms, filled in the boxes of in ink? Are you now surprised to find things aren’t working? It may seem inexplicable, but it’s not: you’ve made assumptions somewhere along the way that are not right–time to lightly and with a fresh eye review your tracks, and make corrections–the situation won’t go forward, or operate correctly, until you do.

Thank you, readers!

Just a Little AstroEssence 20 February 2018 What We Don’t Know

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‘A Friendly Call’ By William Merritt Chase 1894 {{PD}}

What we choose not to know today won’t hurt us–in fact, it will make us act more practically or wisely than we might have otherwise–but it could undermine our healthier inclinations, or could create some tortured reasoning around desire and ambition fulfillment. We could engage in smart choices we almost immediately regret or see the short-comings of; could indicators be more at odds with themselves? Probably not. Likely results in a day where we don’t make any major problems for ourselves–we may actually put a few beneficial conditions in place–but in the end may feel frustrated and would rather write-off the whole thing as a wash (Hygeia semi-sq and Pallas trine Black Moon Lilith, Mercury sesq Zeus and semi-sq Pluto).

Rain Drenched Bird, Photo By Bhaskar.albert – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21043391

Today’s word image is a bedraggled bird finds shelter from the rain under the eaves.What wild and free-flying impulse or desire do you have that might need a little caring-for, a little protection, right now? Shelter that spontaneity and desire to ‘fly high’; it’s of great Soul-value, and losing it can begin an unwinding of the life force, a lessening of desire, initiation of an unfortunate kind of spiritual retreat.

Just a Little AstroEssence 19 February 2018 A Healthy Will

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‘Great Generals of the Desert and the Spirits of Grasses and Trees Who Dwell in the Void of Water and Land’ Ming dynasty, 15th century {{PD}}

Our actions and choices create the future, as they always do (Mars trine NN) but today, unlike most days, we can trust them completely. We accept our role in this creation, accept our power to effect it, and have integrated inner wisdom, a sense of practicality, and awareness of those things we have ignored or denied, so that our efforts are fully informed, and so completely healthy expressions of our Beingness and intents (Venus sxt Black Moon Lilith, parallel Juno, sxt Pallas, semi-sq Uranus, Sun parallel Hygeia).

Paperweight, glass art from Gozo, Malt. Photo By Edwinb CC0

Today’s word image is this: you hold a glass paperweight in your hand, thinking it is filled with colorful swirls, until you look more closely and see that it actually depicts _________ . That’s your Rorschach test for today.

Your Weekend 18 February 2018 Spirit Central

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‘The Storm Spirits’ By Evelyn De Morgan c1900 {{PD}}

We communicate directly with spirit today, directly with and from our own and others’ power space (Sun enters Pisces and along with Merc noviles Pluto). Conditions advise against listening to our instincts–they’re distorted by fear, so not in tune with what we really need–and though it may seem contradictory, do allow yourself to be spontaneous and to express your most unique and original inclinations, even if it takes a toll on relationships and/ or finances–your health is most important, in the end, and will be aided if you speak from your central spiritual power. Just sort impulses into positive and not-so by what you’ve learned from your own past; therein lies all you need to know to make right choices today (Uranus sxt Hygeia while Hygeia sq Sedna, Pallas parallel SN, Venus contra-parallel Uranus).

By Steve Evans from Citizen of the World – Americana: Scarecrow, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25839973

Today’s word image is a scarecrow standing in a long-dead garden. Are you trying to protect something that’s no longer viable, that in one way or another has been ‘dead’ for some time? Ponder what you may be getting from continuing to behave as if this ‘garden’ is still producing, and consider that your vigilance may be doing no one any good, possibly distracting you or draining energy from much better uses.

Your Weekend 17 February 2018 Cause-And-Effect

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In honor of Aquarius, which has taken us for a ride, of late. William Bell Scott ‘The Little Water-Carrier’ 1862 {{PD}}

Vesta trines the North Node today, suggesting that whatever direction you find yourself headed, it reflects your values accurately. Not the values you say you have, but the ones you actually live–and yet we may be unable or unwilling to see how what we hold dear shapes our lives, with Mercury entering Pisces and prompting obscuring or idealizing of what we face. The reality is, we’ll behold  the outcome of those seeds planted earlier, around mid-December 2017, at the time of the Inferior Conjunction; the Superior Conjunction of the Sun and Mercury (when they meet with Merc direct) perfects today and shows us what our choices have created, many of which will have been made in the unconscious. What comes to light is a minor lesson in cause-and-effect, one that we may be tempted to intellectualize or rationalize (Aquarius) in an attempt to deal with what will likely feel like an imminent crisis (Sun and Merc meet at 29 degrees)–and this sense of crisis may be what pushes us to act on fantasy, to make deluded choices, or to allow ourselves to be mislead, willingly accepting something that if we pushed back would prove false (Mars sq Neptune). It sounds a little bleak, doesn’t it? But, what we may find is if we enter conflict or circumstances of discord with a clear sense of identity (or, failing that, a strong ego), we easily see the spiritually correct answer for ourselves as individuals (that is, there’s no spiritual formula, but a response that resonates with the Soul) with which we can resolve whatever lies before us.

‘The Horses of San Marco, Looking North’ By Reginald Barratt 1906 {{PD}}

Today’s word image is: someone you know takes a trip you always wanted to take, and you aren’t a bit envious. This happened to me, and I expected I would be jealous, but I instantly realized that the trip that person took wouldn’t be anything like the one I would take–they are on their ‘journey’, in the largest and the most particular senses, and I am on mine, so that even if we did the same things when we arrived, we would have markedly different experiences. This may be obvious to you, but it wasn’t to me, and maybe the point is a wider one, suggesting we never really can know the dimensions of someone else’s experiences, someone else’s Path.

Just a Little AstroEssence 16 February 2018 Waves

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By Bjornsphoto – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25217401

Strangely, kind of a quiet day, in spite of any disturbances generated by Venus quincunx Ceres. After the revelations of the eclipse, which may only now begin to dawn, we are likely to experience a ‘making waves’ vibe that ruffles relationships and/ or fiances, and brings values into question, and this is so regardless of the way that, when we consult our sense of inner knowing, we get a straight, dependable answer that’s highly expressive of our true priorities and standards (Vesta parallel Pallas). Don’t be mislead or distracted by the waves; know that as long as choices echo highest values, you’ll remain on the right track–or at least make decisions that suit and express you, even if you end up putting yourself into an untenable position.

By Carsten Frenzl from Obernburg, Deutschland – faceless, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35078047

Today’s word image is a truck full of mannequins. Here’s an online description of the origins of the word ‘mannequin’: ” 1902, “model to display clothes,” from French mannequin (15c.), from Dutch manneken. A French form of the same word that yielded manikin, and sometimes mannequin was used in English in a sense “artificial man” (especially in translations of Hugo). Originally of persons, in a sense where we might use “model.” Later (by 1939) of artificial model figures to display clothing.” The part that caught my attention was ‘artificial man’–and a truckload of them suggests a crowd of ‘fake people’. Is there a group like this in your life? Would you like to get away from them? Do you find yourself inadvertently a part of this group? Consider them an example of what and who not to be.

 

15 February 2018 Solar Eclipse in Aquarius: Revelation, Revolution

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Robert Spencer ‘The Seed of Revolution’ {{PD}}

We see a partial Solar eclipse at 27 Aquarius 07 at 1:05 PM Pacific time of the 15th. Aquarius suggests a theme of understanding, beneath the flash of what’s new and original, beneath the trend toward being different, and below the busyness of the intellect and the fussiness of the academic; this is emphasized by the way this New Moon is tucked late in the sign along with the planet Mercury and asteroids Juno and Hygeia, all with less than a 1.25 degree span, so very close together. A New Moon is a time of beginnings, of inception, and in this sign and with these fellow travelers suggests the start to a new way of thinking and feeling centered on a healthy personal sense of empowerment. Somehow we have a better understanding of who we are and of our emotional landscape, and that translates into clearer perceptions in the life area (as determined by subjects of the House) in the natal chart where the eclipse falls.

It also translates into new starts, things begun in the spirit of an emotional need for an intellectual quest–or the intellectual need to discover and connect to the emotions. In whichever way you’re lacking, this Solar eclipse will prompt consideration of the missing facet, likely revealing healthy and fitting ways in which you can empower yourself. This New Moon promises a new and original mindset, tailored to who you are, a revolution in how you approach life itself, a spark that may bring chaos but that ultimately lights the way toward more effective forms of communication between the Self and the Universe. (On a personal note, look to the Houses of the natal chart ruled by Mercury for clues as to and from where that communication might flow).

The Solar eclipse and company also sextiles Uranus, catching Chiron at the midpoint. This implies sudden revelation, with the capacity to heal (most likely) or to wound (a scant possibility). The inclination is to reveal and understand, and so to make a space to heal, or to react radically and cause hurt to the Self or others. The NM also squares Sedna, and we’ll count a wide square to Jupiter, as all together these form a Fixed T-square that is destined to make a bigger splash than we might at first think. The understanding and revelation we receive with the eclipse will create tension among ‘the facts’ or beliefs, and the instincts and those things we ‘know but don’t know’; this discord may lead to the eclipse events, or may spring from them, but in either case will translate into a new understanding, and so to taking a new direction.

One other minor aspect of note: the eclipse is semi-square the point Black Moon Lilith–and of course, that means BML is sesquiquadrate the Earth. This implies that something ignored or denied will cause a problem that leads to eclipse events–or vice versa, that eclipse events bring forward difficult circumstances that have up to now been ignored or denied. This may be, at the time of the eclipse, the most prominent thing, a thing you’d hoped would just go away that now, ‘in your face’, must be dealt with–it could distract from deeper, evolutionary shifts that occur, so that we only later see how much has changed, and what a revelation that change is.

‘The Oak’ By Issak Ilich Levitan c1880 {{PD}}

It all adds up to a kind of revolution, the nature of which is determined by the revelations received; they are instructions on how to empower ourselves in the most positive way possible, and suggest that tension or missteps arise directly from a failure to reconcile the nuts and bolts of the reality picture with our belief system and those things that are a part of our nature. What happens here is described in the Sabian symbol for the eclipse: ‘A Tree Felled And Sawed To Ensure A Supply Of Wood For The Winter’. A resource sacrificed to see us through coming tough times may be what we face with revolution, which is a systemic change meant to foster a better life in a better world–but always, there is a winter that precedes a flourishing spring, one that must be lived through, best we can, as Nature goes through Her cycles and humankind reorganizes into a new system. What happens with the Solar eclipse may be our symbolic supply of wood, meant to see us through a stressful period while the world is rearranged and healed, the terrain becoming ready to bloom around us once again.

Julie Demboski's ASTROLOGY

Addressing the Individual Experience Within the Universal Truth

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