Full Moon in Aquarius 22 August 2021: Moment of Crisis

19 Thursday Aug 2021

Posted by in astrology, current events in the sky, forecast, Full Moon, Sabian Symbols

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

55 Cancri e: Skies Sparkle Above a Never-Ending Ocean of Lava. Poster from the NASA Exoplanets Exploration Program’s Exoplanet Travel Bureau {{PD}}

‘Moment’ of crisis isn’t quite right, is it? More like decade–but then again, has there ever truly been a time of no crisis? Even if one’s corner of the world was peaceful, or one’s awareness was truncated, there was still turmoil elsewhere–so no, we’ve never been without that condition. It’s just that this Full Moon falls at 29 Aquarius 36, at 5:01 AM PDT of the 22nd of August–and as we all know, that’s a degree rife with tension. So then we must ask, How will the stress of this culmination affect me?

The answer, of course, is found in how this event interacts with the natal chart, but here we must speak in more general terms–and I don’t mean mundane, worldly ones, but in ways that address the individual. A Full Moon in Aquarius promises ends, peaks, denouements, and final pronouncements or dispensations in matters of the natal House where it falls, and/ or in areas where we are involved with rebellion, with being in the avant garde, in areas that touch on Higher Mind or academics, in our group involvements (especially those that include a question of leadership), in what’s most original about us (and by extension, involving our original thoughts or products), in those life areas where we feel most unique or individual, and in matters of the unexpected, accidental, or of the ‘rare bird’ variety.

And what does that 29 degree placement add? Anticipation to the bursting point. Shock. Anarchy. Surprise. Excitement. Chaos. Or a kind of irrelevance of events or perceptions, as we take an academic approach to something that we need to feel. We may find ourselves floored by an ending we never expected, a mishap that changes everything, a sudden revelation that brings understanding (for understanding is the expression of Aquarian divine nature), a fantastically original idea–or a pervasive idea given a whole new approach. Consider the mind blown.

This time the aspect picture looks like it’s written in code: the Full Moon bodies of Earth-Moon have recently passed over Jupiter, the Earth just a few days before, the Moon a few hours, and they can still be considered conjoined. Immediately we know the FM event or experience will be exaggerated, and/ or that we’ve lately been hit with ‘the facts’ or our belief system has sustained a blow or received a revelation, with these related to a material circumstance (Earth) that we then have an emotional reaction to (the Moon)–and no matter which applies to us, the FM brings the moment of Truth (otherwise known as, you got it, a moment of crisis or opportunity) in terms of what this means to us, what concludes, reaches apex, or stops short, providing an opening for something new.

We also have a pair of squares, one rather wide, to Black Moon Lilith, the other close, to Sedna (and these two can be considered widely, out-of-sign conjoined). What comes with the Full Moon is instinctive knowledge, or ‘blind spot’ material, that we’ve hidden even from ourselves–and the difficult, stressful, or urgent Lunar events bring this to light.

The Full Moon also sesquiquadrates Vesta, suggesting events create a need to adjust or otherwise modify what we honor, what we consider sacred–so this challenges the way in which we frame our world and our priorities. And there’s a quindecile to Mars, a prompt to action, likely that involves actions we don’t want to take, or choices we don’t want to make, or the whole thing is just painful, in terms of what we’ve found/ learned/ discovered, and what we must do about it. With any luck, it’s just a matter of having to go outside our comfort zone–so not so bad, really.

It all sounds no fun, but considering the degree at which the Full Moon forms, the involvement of Sedna and BML, and the way Earth and Moon have just met with Jupiter, we would be wise to realize: 1) what we need or are forced to do at this point is truly necessary, that 2) it’s likely something we’ve put off, consciously or not, and 3) though this may bring disarray or upset, at least initially, it not only needs doing, it will clear the way for a fresh and probably more accurate understanding of and relationship with our world.

The Sabian is a wordy one: ‘Deeply Rooted In The Past Of A Very Ancient Culture, A Spiritual Brotherhood In Which Many Individual Minds Are Merged Into The Glowing Light Of A Unanimous Consciousness Is Revealed To One Who Has Emerged Successfully From His Metamorphosis’. Roughly translated: if you’ve done the work, you graduate at this point to a ‘next level’ of consciousness. Not that it’s an up-and-down hierarchy; it’s more like a giant Cosmic map, with each individual ‘location’ being different, rather than superior or inferior to others. Even if you don’t level up, you are promised like-minded surroundings–or put another way, water seeks its own level, so wherever the Full Moon leaves you, you’ll have company.

The Sabian for the Sun, which generates the light in the first place, is ‘An Unsealed Letter’. Something that had been hidden ‘under seal’ is illuminated. Now we know; we would expect no less, with a Jupiter redolent Full Moon in Aquarius!

Eris In Action

12 Thursday Aug 2021

Posted by in astrology, Eris, Transit Effects Explored

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, ,

In honor of Eris helping us not be run over.
‘A Woman Defends Her Castle’ From Smithfield Decretals [Decretals of Gregory IX]
Author: Raymund of Peñafort, editor; Bernard of Parma, glossator
France 1300-1340 (text), England circa 1340 (illumination) {{PD}}

So, I thought after yesterday’s explanation of how I see Eris, an example is in order. The current situation with the sitting governor of the state of New York, Andrew Cuomo, involves women speaking up about mistreatment–which seems like an Eris situation, or at least one where she might have something to tell us. How convenient that Cuomo has promised to walk away from the governorship after accusations by at least eleven women of groping, assault, and inappropriate behavior led to a plethora of investigations, a potential impeachment, and (so far) at least one criminal complaint.

As of the 10th’s egregiously Self-serving press conference, the situation has revealed that 1) Cuomo’s made so many enemies during his strong-arm political career that when he needs them he’s without friends, and 2) that in spite of his many excuses, no one’s buying his ‘they moved the line as to what’s acceptable’ reasoning. Touching someone against their Will has always been over the line; Cuomo’s inability to admit he’s wrong is firmly rooted in Self-justification that says, I have the right to do as I please with others–the kind of power statement made by those who both hold power and believe in their own superiority. All his rambling, kitchen-sink speech on resigning the governorship has done is show the world how Cuomo doesn’t grasp that hiding his aggressions behind ‘friendly’ manhandling of both men and women isn’t acceptable–no matter how you characterize it and what you call it.

We have a birth date and place but no time for Cuomo (6 December 1957 ntk Queens New York USA). I drew a noon chart, as this gives us a clear idea of what his Moon situation is–in this case, showing that no matter when he was born, the Moon was in Gemini; this also shows us he was born not long before a Full Moon that will form early hours EST of the following day. No time unfortunately means we have no angles and no Houses, but we can see plenty just from relationships between bodies.

Eris is conjoined Hygeia and Vesta in Aries, and may sextile the Gemini Moon. If the sign in which she sits is any indication (and it is) his Eris may have issues with Will, assertion, and aggression. He may, in a phrase, insist upon himself. This also suggests a focus on ‘Me First’ in areas of health (reasonable) and in what he may commit to and find sacred, the problem with this latter being that, when one believes the decision of what’s sacred, what to respect, is one they are personally granted to make, one doesn’t completely respect anyone or anything else–the viewpoint is instead that they are the final arbiter of every topic and individual’s worth.

Eris’s placement is both a little wide for a quincunx to the North Node, and for a trine to Uranus–only a square to Mercury in Capricorn is in orb, aside from the conjunctions. Mercury in Cap suggests organized, structured, and constructive communications–we saw this in his daily Covid briefings early in the pandemic–but these same briefings also showed a plodding insistence, repetitive expressions, and a notable defensiveness (just think of the nursing home scandals that he managed to, if not bury, certainly dilute their political potency). In square with Eris-Hygeia-Vesta, we see persistent defensiveness over what, and probably how, he communicates, especially in areas of health, commitment, and what should be honored–so with the latter an inclination to reject what the establishment (Cap) thinks is honor-worthy in favor of, again, whatever he decides (Aries).

From what I could find, it appears the press conference began at 11:53 AM EDT 10 August. If that’s even close to accurate, that gives us a Virgo Moon square the natal Sun-Saturn-MC/ Earth-Juno axis, suggesting an emotional point of extreme tension regarding the established professional identity/ reputation and the material empowerment situation, especially the way the fortunes of the material environment ‘turn’, for him, on the empowerment of women. The natal situation with Earth-Juno further suggests that how he treated women he found ‘worthy’ was an integral part of his story–certainly true right now, and perhaps true over and over for him, throughout life.

And what’s transiting Eris doing right now? She’s conjoined his Sedna in Aries, and opposed, only one minute past exact, his natal Jupiter in Libra. aha! Here Eris’s presence may reveal by disturbing the ether, by shaking things up, by seeking justice, as she forces what Cuomo ‘knows but doesn’t know’, his ‘blind spot’ material, out into the open, this only reinforcing the awareness that he really does know what he did was wrong–but that he also allowed himself to continue with this behavior by pretending it wasn’t.

Transiting Eris’s opposition to Jupiter is interesting, if we see it both as his proclivity to push past reasonable boundaries (literally encroaching on others’ personal space) within relationships (Libra), and opportunity, publicity, and popularity, as defined through the public lens. An opposition describes some of what he did in his resignation speech: point the finger of blame at absolutely everyone and everything else, from cultural norms to political enemies to (hold on to your hats for this one) vengeful women.

Currently, transiting Eris is in close semi-sextile to transiting Pallas and square transiting Pluto, suggesting that difficult change, even destruction, stirred up by Eris (remember, she’s a catalyst) contains a certain amount of wisdom. As to the idea that what’s happening is vengeance on the part of the (female) accusers, it’s pretty clear to me it’s not. Transiting Eris is quincunx transiting Venus in this chart, the latter of which was due to be hit by the Moon before it left Virgo, which may at first glance imply this is revenge on the part of the women–but look again: t Eris isn’t contacting his natal Venus, which is at 00 Aquarius, implying a newness for Cuomo in the ‘modern woman’ concept as part of his core perceptions, and t Eris also isn’t in contact with his Ceres at 29 stressful degrees of Cancer, making Ceres a natal out-of-sign opposition to his natal Venus.

That scenario says it was almost inevitable that his reaction to the personal authority and autonomy of women in his life would create problems. Ceres so late in Cancer and under pressure from the modern idea of womanhood (opp to Venus in Aquarius) suggests to me that he’s a bit of a cave man, longing for the days (at least, a time he thinks existed) when women were responsible for nurturing–indeed were required to nurture (and so required to coddle, indulge, and cooperate with) everyone in their sphere. He’s always had trouble treating women Beings as valid in their perceptions and rightfully autonomous as himself; that’s his flaw, not theirs. When we see that transiting Juno is trine his Eris, and transiting Mars is quincunx it, we get the message that it’s his own assertive actions, his own choices, that have put him in this uncomfortable position (the quincunx), and that transiting Juno in Sagittarius has been stirred to speak up for herself, to take her own power back by broadcasting exactly what happened, by getting the facts out into the open.

And to those who say, why didn’t those women speak up sooner? I have to answer: if you’re asking that question, then you’re either oblivious to the system we live in (one in which it’s an uphill battle for women to be taken seriously, to be believed, even after Me Too), or oblivious to the massive power imbalance that made Cuomo, like so many other men, feel it’s their right and privilege to take what they want.

Welcoming Eris to the Fold

11 Wednesday Aug 2021

Posted by in astrology, Eris

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

,

This is the shotgun wedding Eris was supposedly so bent about not being invited to. ‘The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis’ By Peter Paul Rubens 1636 {{PD}}

I make a practice of not jumping too quickly into using a body in astrological analysis; normally I watch and wait, until a consistent interpretation picture forms, one that is born out in chart interpretation. That means I may not publicly use all the chart bodies my contemporaries do (and I use a few they typically don’t), but when I do feel comfortable, sure of it’s meaning after long observation, it becomes a part of every chart reading.

One of the things I’ve learned is that asteroids, dwarf planets (with the exception of Pluto), and other minor objects tend to enhance meaning, refining it and making it more specific, that’s carried in broader terms by one of the major astrological bodies or lights. Eris is no exception; my initial inquiry placed her as goddess of discord and chaos, relating her to facets of major bodies Uranus, Mars, Venus, and Pluto, and to the calculated point Black Moon Lilith. That means though she holds some of the same character and characteristics of other entities or points, she brings her own special viewpoint–and our task is to define that the best we can, sharpening her meaning within the chart over time and from experience and observation.

When I started my investigation of Eris, I looked to both the conclusions about meaning some of my contemporaries have come to, and to the myths about her and her character, and one big thing began to bother me: there are an awful lot of minor bodies named for female goddesses or other entities that are described as “vengeful”; in fact, many of them have rage as their defining (and sometimes their only) characteristic. And yet I don’t see male entities ever characterized that way. They may exact revenge, but it’s described as righteous, as appropriate (read ‘manly’) Warrior behavior or a seeking of justice, a righting of wrongs, as noble, or even just as a display of temper that they’re entitled to, while the female taking the same steps is portrayed as petty, acting from ego, vanity, or jealousy. Women are treated as if their anger is personal and toxic, typically coming from some form of rejection (though often that assertion almost has the quality of an afterthought, as if her anger needed a bland, no-questions-asked raison d’etre), while a man’s anger is seen as a reasonable response, a necessary action, as energy mobilized to redress injustice–and yet when they’re essentially the same thing, dressing them up so differently depending on who is taking the action tells us that the way these entities are described is rife with negative assumptions about women, positive assumptions about men, and the belief that these prejudiced lenses are required to understand these actions–and they are, if we’re talking about making those images fit into Western patriarchal culture.

But if we’re talking about making them speak in astrology, a patriarchal lens doesn’t do us any good at all, except to parse out how images may be distorted. Too, it doesn’t help that Eris is more of a personification of particular traits than an actual goddess, often referred to as Strife, and sometimes equated with Enyo, a Greek goddess of war and sister of Ares. A long list of Eris’s ‘children’ includes starvation, murders, lies, and forgetfulness, and Eris, having been snubbed on a wedding invitation, responded by ginning up the Trojan Wars–or so the most famous story about her behavior claims. Interesting side notes name her sister Aneris as representing Order and Non-Being (so does that suggest that chaos and strife are an integral part of being? I vote Yes), and Eris’ Roman equivalent may be Bellona, or Discordia, depending on how you sort things and who you ask.

In my search she struck me as very much a kind of Trickster in that her purpose seemed much more to sow chaos and confusion than to punish–and though I can’t count how many times I saw her referred to as ‘vengeful’ or ‘angry’, I can say that her characterization was paper-thin. Some have valiantly tried to give her more of a personality, to define her in something closer to three dimensions–but the reality is she appears to be more of a construct around a concept–which makes the attribution of vengeance and spite and rage at not being invited to the figurative party all the more puzzling (or more probably projection, or again, succumbing to the ‘enraged woman’ as some kind of short-hand explanation for everything, an explanation that satisfies the misogynist and the unthinking).

So, the more I searched, the less she seemed to be about creating discord, and the more she seemed to simply embody discord–that is, she seems to represent the state of disorder that is a natural part of the Universe. We can’t know order without the absolute of chaos, but there’s an enormous area in between when things aren’t completely chaotic, but they are discordant, not yet harmonious but with all factors searching for order, searching for pattern and rhythm, not through consciousness but through the tendency of dynamic systems to organize by interacting. In that sense Eris may be a catalyst energy, and that’s one of the functions (maybe the main one) I think she performs: her presence brings out the rage, upset, irritation, and, yes, vengeful inclinations, of others. She may set up the circumstances, but like the Devil, she can’t actually make anyone do anything–at least, that’s my hypothesis.

A couple other ideas on this: she definitely carries a ‘Warrior spirit’, but it seems to be one that responds to the unspoken messages in the environment, to what’s conveyed beneath the surface of things–again, like with the Trickster activity, I’m seeing her as linked more and more to Mercury–and that warrior tone isn’t so much that of a fighter but of an assertive quality–which, if you’re someone who expects smiling compliance from a female, you may interpret as aggressive–so in my reading modifying the martial nature of Mars to something less than the stereotypical warrior, to something more along the lines of confident and sure of right and wrong within the situation.

There might also be a difference in how we see this energy in the charts of males and those of females, just as we see with Juno: my thought is that in the female (or anima identified) chart Eris might indicate what issues she’s willing to fight for or about (this differs from Black Moon Lilith’s willingness to fight, in that BML is enraged, typically because of injustice done–in her case, the anger spurs her to fight, while fighting may or may not be part of Eris’s response); in a male (or animus identified) chart, Eris’ contacts may point to areas where he insists on the ‘upset’ nature of things (or just plain insists upon something, drawing chaos or ire by so doing), or possibly projects his own anger into related relationships or circumstances–but within the male chart, Eris always carrying the sense of ‘these aren’t my energies, they’re really out there’.

The fact that Eris is a dwarf planet, bigger by almost 1/3 than legit major body Pluto, suggests to me that her presence, her impact, is far greater than as humans we consciously acknowledge. Entropy is pervasive, and we may be exceptionally uncomfortable with that pervasiveness; I think it may trigger an animal response in us, so aggressively do we reach for order–because order means we have control of (or at least a chance of controlling) our world–and anything less is threatening, a requirement we acknowledge there are things bigger than ourselves in this Universe.

Many may be uneasy not having an explanation for why Eris would behave the way she does. Is enjoying chaos not enough for them? The tendency is to go straight for the idea that she must be angry, and that her anger must come from being told she can’t have something she wants, but I’m going to refuse that idea for now; instead I want to emphasize that she represents natural stesses that are just part of being alive. Her energy may be most comfortable in that space between chaos and order–and she just naturally brings that to anything she touches. Any results from her presence, then, should be read from where she sits in a chart, what rules her, and what she contacts, specifically as those stresses may ‘trigger’ those related or contacted energies that presumably are in their own, less-than-ordered state. It just may be, this is what Eris is meant to point out.

Of course, these theories of Eris’s meaning will be tested and modified over time–and discarded should they prove to be inaccurate. I’ll be back tomorrow with an example in the chart of a current newsmaker–until then!

New Moon in Leo 8 August 2021: Are We Healing Yet?

06 Friday Aug 2021

Posted by in astrology, current events in the sky, Finger of God, forecast, future events in the sky, Lunar Aspects, New Moon, Sabian Symbols

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

, , ,

‘Study at a Reading Desk’ By Frederic Leighton 1877 {{PD}}

The New Moon forms at 16 Leo 14 at 6:50 AM PDT on the 8th, and I want to call this a ‘looking back’ Moon (with the exception of one thing I’ll mention last). We keep our usual tight orb and get a very succinct picture: the NM makes a square to Uranus, and a wide trine to Chiron, and nothing else. Both aspects are separating–and that places them in the past. The scenario is of a recent material surprise, group choice, or sudden shift or erratic choice that affects surroundings, comfort level, or asset situation, upsetting, real-world shock, environmental revelation, rebellion, or Higher Mind conclusion, or some combination of these that shook up the scene, and this is either wounding or arose from your own responses to wounds–and the New Moon now delivers a kind of answer to this, in the form of how you as an individual ‘light’ should proceed.

Leo requires you shine–but what does that mean for each of us? The place to let yourself glow out into the social order is outlined by the natal House where this New Moon occurs. Subjects found here tell you where your particular brand of ‘me-ness’ is needed, and welcomed, with the New Moon instruction one of ‘go forth and dazzle!’ Doing so offers healing–though there’s a caveat: we must do our thing, take our light out from under the proverbial bushel for all the world to see, most likely without immediately seeing where and how the healing occurs. We don’t have to take this step on blind faith so much as by having faith that what we do matters, is important, and is a contribution to the good. So, act on matters of the House where the New Moon falls with some confidence, knowing that action here is a necessary part to the healing formula.

I want to point out two other things that are happening at the same time as the New Moon that are likely to figure in: a still extant square between Sedna and Jupiter–this suggesting lingering and significant conflicts between our own inner perceptions and instincts and the public/ wider world and/ or ‘the facts’–and a Finger of God with a base of Pallas sextile Pluto, apex in just a day or two Mercury, this latter with the Moon in just three days, and the Sun in nine days, following behind and filling in, each in turn, the Finger’s apex. This suggests a kind of flow into the future of the New Moon energies as they follow in the wake of wisdom (Pallas) plus change (Pluto) creating a firm, possibly ‘new’, idea (Mercury) of who you are (Leo). Then the Moon comes along and offers emotional illumination of the change that has occurred; the Sun brings the final reveal, a kind of spotlight moment that shows you the real state of your own intentions, and Soul, as it has been shaped by the recent string of events.

The Sabian for the New Moon is, ‘A Volunteer Church Choir Singing Religious Hymns’. This emphasizes the group facet of Uranus, probably signalling that what comes at us is more than just personal, that it may affect many. There’s also that ‘faith in the Self’ aspect, where the New Moon asks you to ‘sing out’–so do, as this is the key to healing–and we all hope for that.

Sharp-eyed readers will notice I’ve added Eris to the chart (she’s there at 24 Aries, looking like a buoy with an anchor, to me), and I’ll be reading the lady in, when applicable, from now on. There’ll be a post soon to come on this new addition.

Thank you, everyone, especially to those who’ve offered individuals they would like to see examined in the upcoming Moon book–and it’s not too late! If there’s someone you’d like to suggest, please do. Have an excellent New Moon experience!

An Update, And A Question

01 Sunday Aug 2021

Posted by in astrology, current events in the sky

≈ 17 Comments

Tags

,

That’s you and me, getting a gander at this crazy weather. ‘Sunset’ By Caspar David Friedrich c1830 {{PD}}

Hello! I hope you’re all enjoying your summer, no matter how hot, smoky, weird, or stressful–though I suspect most if not all of us are under at least one of those negatives right now. It’s not particularly hot here, but the sky has a visual quality that reminds me of when there are fires nearby, and the sun is shining in that eerie way you see during a Solar eclipse, glowing but strangely subdued, both light and shadow looking unreal.

So now that you have the weather update (!) I’ll tell you why I’m here: in working on the Moon book I find I want to add more examples–and want to know who you as readers might want to know about. The focus of the book is reading and understanding the implications of natal Moon placements, just so you know. These can be historical personages or alive right now–anyone you like. You don’t have to know the placements of the people you’re suggesting–I’ll find those myself. Any suggestions would be appreciated, though I can’t guarantee all (or any) will end up making the final cut, as much depends on the example’s usefulness in conveying a concept or illustrating a point, but again, that’s my job, your only task is to tell me who you’d like to read about. Just put your suggestions in the comments. Thank you!

Also, What’s Up With Jupiter? The behemoth has moved back into Aquarius as part of its retrograde phase, pulling back on our dreams to make us focus once again on the impracticality of what we may have been moving toward. That’s not only unpleasant, it’s as if Jupiter wants to just throw the facts in our faces–as if things don’t change, as if potentials can’t become reality, as if our attempts to expand can’t go forward as we’d hoped–oh but they can. This interlude is only meant to make us approach our opportunities more practically, no matter how Jupiter taunts us like an out-of-control circus clown–it has no business calling us fools, so don’t believe it when it comes at you with that painted face and scary ruffles and big shoes. Whoever’s trying to puncture the dream is the one who’s floundering, who’s lost their dream–so take a moment to understand that, and know how little their critique really means.

Jupiter’s under pressure at 29 degrees, and so is Sedna, which Jupiter is squaring. This is a prescription for feeling our instincts and internal knowledge are untrustworthy. We may feel very shaky inside right now–everything kind of looks the same, and we may sense so much internal uncertainty that even things we would normally trust our judgment on come into question. Sedna is in Taurus, prompting us to feel we don’t understand (Aquarius) what’s right in front of us. I suggest we wait until the New Moon of the 8th to make any decisions or take any steps, since by then Jupiter will have changed degree and, even though will still be in orb of the square, the pressure will lessen, and so will the uncertainty.

It doesn’t help that Ceres and Black Moon Lilith are together in Gemini, infiltrating our thinking with–what? A fear that our personal authority, autonomy, or ability to negotiate our own path may be ruined (or at least seriously impacted) by all those things we may have ignored, are in denial of, or are enraged about and don’t acknowledge. Being conscious of this influence might help us handle it, as we’ll see it invading our minds like some sort of ink poured into water, dark tendrils of negativity spreading and coloring everything, and the sooner we recognize it, the sooner we can identify its effects as not inherent to our perceptions–and so not necessarily accurate or even real.

I’m mindful of the way Michelle Wolf characterizes blogs as a conversation no one wants to have with you (!) so I’ll take off now–see you soon with a New Moon report. Have a great one!

Mystic Rectangle: Where It Leads 28 July-3 August 2021

27 Tuesday Jul 2021

Posted by in astrology, current events in the sky, forecast, Mystic Rectangle, Sun/Mercury Superior Conjunction, The Weekly Word Image

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

‘The Hilly Path, Ville d’Avray’ By Alfred Sisley 1879 {{PD}}

There’s a Mystic Rectangle forming that will be in play through the 2nd of August; let’s walk through the situation, and see where it leads.

A Mystic Rectangle is a configuration made up of a pair of sextiles, with each pair opposing the other; that is, point A sextiles B, and point C sextiles D, with A opposed D, and B opposed C. This generates a certain synergy among the energies, a positive dynamic that otherwise would allow the oppositions to have a greater, and decidedly more negative, say.

Now that you’re thoroughly alphabet-confused, we’ll describe what’s actually in the sky, as the Sun in Leo moves into place to complete the pattern. The Sun sextiles the North Node, forming one end of the rectangle; the other end is the South Node closely conjoined by Juno sextile Earth, the latter approaching conjunction to Saturn. It’s not unusual for the Nodes to act as ‘anchor points’ in the forming of this configuration, and as well for the Sun-Earth axis to move into position, almost as if our energy, attention, and surroundings develop until we reach a point to make choices (relatively easy ones–the sextiles) that have, one way or another, life-direction changing impact.

This config suggests illumination (Sun) of the future (NN) we are currently generating via our thoughts and ideas (Gemini), especially as they make statements about who we are and the role(s) we wish to play (Leo), and the way these notions confront (oppositions) our status, roles, and empowerment circumstances of the past (Juno-SN), specifically as these attempted to expand our horizons, help us learn, or exposed the facts (Sagittarius) and created current material surroundings (Earth) and, subsequently, our reality (Saturn). So, it’s a period of assessment and evaluation focused on ourselves and our methods, and where those ideas and efforts have taken us.

We might initially think immediate action is the answer, as the first two days of the Rectangle coincide with Mars at 29 tense degrees of Leo. The issue is that actions at this point may be purely motivated by ego or a need to put the Self forward, to ‘shine’, because our ‘I Am’, our action urge, is under stress, even panic, wanting to redress and make corrections to our previous conduct, because we see quite clearly where that led, and where it did and didn’t bring success. The ‘I Am’ is roaring during this period, so be prepared for some chest-thumping and a few pirouettes, from ourselves or others, and see them more as blowing off steam than as serious assertions of who we are–and this may happen publicly, is definitely exaggerated, but could generate opportunities or some balloon-ready-to-burst optimism (Jupiter in Aquarius, also at 29 degrees and opp Mars).

Too, we see Ceres-Sedna closely conjoined at 29 Taurus. Though not part of the config, those 29 degree bodies fill the air with tension and encourage rash (and sometimes disastrous) action. In this case this pairing adds a dash of desperate-to-be-seen-as-autonomous (Ceres) to the inner landscape (Sedna), stimulating our ‘blind spot’ material (Sedna) and making us sitting ducks to act out, rather innocently believing we’re following instinct when we’re really riding on a subtle current of info we ‘know but don’t know’ (Sedna).

By the 30th we’re not as prone to act (Mars enters Virgo, and gets a lot more inclined to demand to know the odds, the details, and the stats before doing), and Mercury flies close to the Sun in Leo, adding a prompt to think. Are we, Icarus-like, prone to be blinded by consideration of ourselves and our purpose and intentions, so much so that we flame out and plunge back to earth? Maybe, but the real message here could be that we pull back from being dazzled by our own potentials and intentions, and start to apply our smarts in service of getting closer to our goals.

Superior Conjunction of Mercury and the Sun on August 1st says we’re successful at drawing useful conclusions and making effective plans, and the ability to bring our ideas into solid reality only increases, peaking on the 2nd as Earth and Saturn finally perfect their meeting. Plan accordingly, and expect by the 3rd to get a good emotional reading on life direction and modification of efforts as the Gemini Moon passes over the North Node.

‘Sitting Quietly’ By Li Mei-Shu 1959 Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0

Today’s Word Image is a woman, seated in a pool of lamplight, in the middle of the night. What, literally or figuratively, is ‘keeping you up at night’? The image suggests awareness at a point when rest would be more appropriate, and could speak of overwork, hyper-vigilance, or an emphasis on being overly responsible, probably for things outside one’s control, as well as a state of worry. Since the woman in the image isn’t doing anything, it may suggest that anxiety without action is just wasted energy, and that it may be keeping us from getting what we genuinely need (in this case, sleep!)

Full Moon in Aquarius 23 July 2021: A Lunar Progress

22 Thursday Jul 2021

Posted by in astrology, forecast, Full Moon, Grand Trine, Sabian Symbols

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , ,

‘The Harvest Moon’ By George Mason 1872 {{PD}}

This Full Moon brings with it a couple of perfectly legitimate astrological questions: should the Full Moon at 1 Aquarius 26 be considered conjoined Pluto at 25 Capricorn 24? And what about Saturn at 10 Aquarius 51? Though both bodies are at greater orb than I normally count in a Full Moon scenario, I’m open to the idea of recent or imminent proximity to the bodies involved in the Lunar event as qualifying those bodies as relevant since they have exerted or will exert an influence right before, or soon to come after, the Full Moon perfection–and so may set the stage, or be part of the aftermath, of the Lunar event. This is based in part on the idea of the Moon as showing the passage of time and the development of any situation, and on the idea that the horoscope is a moving picture, a ‘story’ told through the movement and contact of the bodies to one another, with any chart simply a ‘snapshot’ of a moment in time.

In this case, both Earth and the Moon have just come off a conjunction to Pluto in Capricorn, the Earth about 6 days previous, and the Moon a mere 10 hours before. That means that both energies have recently seen their energies meet Plutonian ones, and more than likely we will see these energies reach some sort of peak or conclusion at the Full Moon. Earth and Pluto implies a material change, purge, transformation, or destruction, one that shifts our material view and perhaps changes (even if only temporarily) our surroundings or asset situation or availability–an earthquake, of one kind or another. Pluto-Earth may have made itself known, probably no more than 7, and no fewer than 5, days before the Full Moon–shaking up the scenery, preparing the ground, so to speak, for the emotional event of the Full Moon, which is one of completion, ending, conclusion, the finish to a situation, cycle, or effort, that now must wind down, shift focus, become something else.

Moon-Pluto suggests a trauma, an episode that enrages, a deep hurt, or release from trauma or hurt, a resurrection or re-making of the emotional nature, probably the emotional framework that once supported us and was so familiar, now being torn down, re-fashioned, or eliminated, with the Full Moon offering us a definitive point for this event. We make peace with it, most likely through the support of the group, understanding via Higher Mind, or by taking a ‘modern’ of highly original approach to this Plutonian emotional experience, all these reflecting the Full Moon happening in Aquarius.

And what of Saturn? Both Moon and Earth will reach Saturn relatively quickly, the Moon in about 14 hours, Earth by August 2nd, with the promise that this either brings an end or resolution to the emotional or material upset or change, or that what we feared, formed, or pushed for emotionally takes solid, maybe even literally tangible, form–so, signalling the final shape of events that we can directly trace backward to the Full Moon.

The Full Moon (23 July at 7:37 PM at 1 Aquarius 26) otherwise makes only a few contacts, but one in particular is potent, an Air Grand Trine with Sedna at 29 Taurus-Black Moon Lilith at 0 Gemini, and Vesta at 2 Libra. This suggest that no matter what upheaval, trauma, extremes, or shake ups precede the Full Moon, the situation that comes from it is in balance. The feelings about surroundings or material circumstances find harmony within the support and commitment of others (Vesta in Libra) and those matters that have been in the ‘blind spot’, denied or ignored, that now will not just be dealt with, but ‘satisfied’, in the sense that they will no longer sit in the shadows, exerting unconscious pressure, but be faced in the light, discussed, and a resolution found (again, likely concluding with that Earth contact to Saturn on the 2nd).

The only other contact is the Full Moon’s quincunx to Venus-Hygeia, implying that it’s healthy, of value, for us to deal with these matters–we’re uncomfortable until we do–and good relationships or positive financial situations show themselves and help us navigate.

The Full Moon Sabian is, ‘An Unexpected Thunderstorm’. Yep. Next!

We also look at the Sabian for the Sun, source of the Full Moon light: ‘An Epidemic Of Mumps’. Whatever happens, it’s catching! We’re ‘exposed’ to something that may be rippling through the populace all around us: an idea, likely of how we see ourselves or how we see our role (Leo), based on what will let us shine. It’s the good side of pride, the impulse that makes us every day move closer and closer to expressing our core Self. And that’s good.

Lead Up to the Full Moon, 18-22 July 2021 Fingers Everywhere

16 Friday Jul 2021

Posted by in astrology, current events in the sky, forecast

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, ,

Hand Sketches, Artist Unknown c1600 {{PD}}

See material for the 17th here–

Coming down off that reveal of Sun opposite Pluto, the one that shone a bright light on our real feelings about the destructive nature of what institutions, practices, traditions, and restrictions hem us in (because that’s what we’ll remember about it, not the tortured drama and stress that we actually lived), we may find our attention drawn to material matters and to what hurts, but this time we’ll be a lot more concerned with discovering the smart moves we can make that will pay off or reward us (Finger of God with base of Earth sextile Pallas, apex Venus). We’ll home in on what creative (Pallas in Pisces) take we can apply to material efforts (Earth in Capricorn) that will benefit us, especially in ways that make us shine as individuals or that brings us the regard we crave (Venus in Leo). There’s a small window here for success, so it will take concentration–we have the chance to act through the 20th–and a willingness to deal with things both as they are, and in the smartest way we know how.

There’s another Finger, what I would term a ‘moving’ one as the apex is the Moon in Scorpio, meaning that it will be in effect for a relatively short time, from about 1 AM PDT of the 18th through, max, 10 AM of the same day; the base is a wide sextile between Chiron and the North Node. This Finger points out the emotional costs of not acknowledging the impact that our wounds have on our life direction, and encourages us to ‘purge’–which can mean excavating with care, and then setting about transforming what we find, preferably into a Chirotic gift (check the natal Chiron sign for likely gifts that you can express uniquely, an ‘only you can do it that way’ endowment).

Venus also squares Ceres on the 18th, possibly leading to contests of Will over who has say over whom. Other potential topics include, ‘I Don’t Approve of What You Spent’, ‘We’ll Do What I Say’, and ‘Love Means You’ll Give In To Me’. If you’re getting these kind of Power issue signals, you may want to reassess just what beyond being told what to do this relationship provides–maybe that can be what the Finger of the 21st allows you to reform.

By the 19th Mercury squares Chiron: do you hear whining, do you hear excuses, do you hear a litany of hurts, or do you get a difficult-to-hear message about what others care about? Next question: is the one doing the communicating you?

The 20th we see another brief Finger formed, apex the Sagittarius Moon with base of Mercury-Uranus, 11 AM through 4 PM PDT. This could bring accidents or surprises that expand thinking and open up the feeling nature; the test will be in taking what occurs as a positive thing, as supplying you with knowledge or opportunities you didn’t have before.

The 21st what jumps out at me is another Finger, this one with a base of Sun sextile Vesta, apex Jupiter. This lasts right about up to the Full Moon of the 23rd, and suggests opportunity, reward, or a widening of options if we keep our attention and effort on doing things according to our deepest values. Honoring what we care about will, without any other factor needed, draw to us something that offers bounty or helps make us optimistic about ourselves and our future. And, on the 22nd, Mars quincunxes Pluto. Do the rewards of the Finger arrive through unpleasant or aggressive circumstances? Maybe. What I am sure of is that taking change into your own hands, initiating re-making or cleaning out, will be key to experiencing this in a not-traumatic way; if you sit on your hands and leave it to fate, you could suffer attack or become exceptionally angry at the change that happens without your input or consent.

Good luck! I’ll be back later with a Full Moon forecast.

AstroNotes, Through 17 July 2021: The Crucible of Excess

12 Monday Jul 2021

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

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

, ,

Njommelsaska i Lappland by Carl Svantje Hallbeck {{PD}}

I’m a little bit consumed with the upcoming opposition of the Sun to Pluto, perfecting on the 17th, but as I look at the sky patterns for that day, I’m struck even more by two bodies and a point (Sedna-Black Moon Lilith in Taurus trine Vesta in Virgo) all at 29 degrees of an Earth sign, and even more commanding, at that point Earth-Pluto will be trine Ceres (again, Earth placements) and sesquiquadrate the North Node. So, what might seem like a perfectly straightforward aspect (Sun opposed Pluto) seems to burn in a crucible of stress (the 29 degree placements) and difficult, fate-shaping events or, more likely, difficult or fate-determining thoughts or ideas (the North Node is in Gemini). We may be tasked with sorting and committing to what we really value, as opposed to what we instinctively value and what we may value but deny is important to us. This suggests a strong material, health, or instinctual component that works on both the mind/ way of thinking and that brings forward the challenge of how best to serve our highest values (which feel as if they’re under assault)–and that could prompt many of us to either ignore what we know but are loathe to acknowledge, or to unleash a ‘scorched earth’ policy in areas we think are too messy, or too unpleasant, to sort out and deal with. This kind of excessive response (Jupiter is planet of earliest degree, flooding the environment with exaggeration) would indeed shape the future, and probably not in any way we would see as desirable. Pluto-Ceres says it will be easy to be destructive; or, that Nature herself will make change, or even do damage. Better to be willing to look at the Plutonian elements revealed by the Sun’s bright glare without being too judgemental–the ‘warts and all’ glimpse that we get should remind us we’re all human and that on its own is not a sin–and then refuse to overreact–which is exactly what all those 29 degree factors, plus Jupiter, will push us toward. Add that the Moon will trine Jupiter on the 17th, alerting us to the possibility of emotional factors persuading us to justify a too-big response–so just be aware.

During this period through to the 17th, these aspects are accompanied by a lingering meeting of Mars and Venus in Leo, suggesting nothing so much as the kind of romance where each person is thinking more of themselves than they are of the other. I don’t mean that negatively; the Leo placement suggests to me the kind of satisfaction and pride in one’s ability to attract and interact that is part and parcel of the Leo charm (and, admittedly, the Leo ego!) This conjunction promises a short time when relationships that are in some way complimentarily balanced (male/ female, animus-focused/ anima-focused, one where one brings the money or looks, the other the strength or capacity to ‘get it done’, and so on) will shine particularly brightly–so if you’re part of one of these partnerships, time your moves for this window. Even singles will gain by being a little more confident, a little more of a peacock.

Jump back a bit, to the 15th, and we see Earth and Neptune acting as base for a Finger of God with apex Venus. This won’t last long but could bring one of two effects: our idealism is made manifest, and we are rewarded, or we experience the material impact of our delusion, and it costs us. Just another argument for being as honest as possible with ourselves–and that means being as connected to the real world as we can be, and still dream.

The only other thing I want to mention is the still extant sextile between Saturn and Chiron. Here’s where we get a clue about what could be putting us in a bad position in terms of the Finger mentioned above: if our sense of reality (Saturn) is filtered through wounds and hurts, especially those related to our own agency and competency, or around our expression of Will (Chiron in Aries), then we are much more likely to suffer the delusion/ cost expression of the Finger, rather than the rewarding one. Proceed with care.

There was a trend at one point to hide or disguise a mother in a portrait as she held her child, and this is the eerie result. {{PD}}

Your Word Image for the period: a white room, where a dark-eyed, dark-haired woman sits dressed all in white, with a baby, also dark-haired, dark-eyed and dressed in white, who sits on her lap; the woman is upset to learn that this baby, which is her baby, is ‘haunted’. This is an image from a dream and carries a wide variety of possible interpretations, all of which may depend on your definition of what a ‘haunted baby’ really is. ‘Somebody’s baby’ is a phrase that for me brings to mind something special an individual may be deeply engaged with, usually a project or creation they see as uniquely theirs–and if your ‘baby’ is haunted, that may suggest there are unseen or even unperceived influences that are affecting creation.

Or maybe we should look at this more in light of the woman as an individual, and her baby as the part of herself that is extraordinarily young, inexperienced, immature, or undeveloped, ‘new’ in some important way, and the haunting as what’s preventing the maturing of this part of her. Could the baby be a ‘fresh’ thing, talent, characteristic, or project that is being held back by the influence of others, whose criticism or comment has seeped in and may need to be exorcised?

Do you think of a baby as an extension of its parents? In that case it may be that some way that the individual is reaching out into society is being unduly invested with the ‘spirit’ of others–or maybe it’s something as simple as being afraid of something new, something ‘just born’, that we don’t understand. In any case, an interesting image; apply it to your own life as you will.

New Moon 9 July 2021 ‘Do It For Me’

06 Tuesday Jul 2021

Posted by in astrology, current events in the sky, Fist of God, forecast, New Moon, Sabian Symbols

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , ,

Statue of Leszek I the White in Marcinkowo Górne. Sculptor: Jakub Juszczyk, 1927

Photo By Krzysztof Mizera

{{PD}}

You might hear that, in one form or another, quite a bit over the coming week or so: “Do it for me” “Do it because I care” “Care because I do” or maybe even “I’m angry because you do (or don’t) care”! The meeting of the Sun and the Moon a 18 Cancer 01 9 July at 6:15 PM PDT is semi-sextile Mars in Leo–a recipe for action or anger prompted by (or disguised as) concern or affection. Is this you speaking to someone else, or someone else hoping to move you? It doesn’t really matter–it’s how you respond, or if the speaker is you, what motivates your efforts, that really counts. But what else does the New Moon scenario tell us? What other influences shape the energy of caring and motivation?

We find Jupiter loosely sesquiquadrate from both the New Moon and Zeus, with Zeus square the New Moon and our system’s largest planet apex to a Fist of God. This suggests intense desire, want, ambition brought to light with all obstacles to achievement glaringly apparent in the Lunar light–and if a way is found to make that New Moon germ of tender concern overcome problems, the reward is plenty, more, abundance, overdoing in some way, a social or material ‘glut’, the support of the public, or maybe the reward is the discovery of ‘the facts’–but in any case, an alchemy that takes what dawns with the New Moon, mixes it with wants and ambitions, and serves up a Jupiterian result.

Maybe we can count the New Moon trine Neptune, adding a dash of delusion, imagination, inspiration, or hokum meant to deceive, and maybe even a gaping opposition to Pluto, which brings a sense of danger, a challenge, to what’s before us (both aspects are approaching, so that helps), but everything else has in my opinion too wide an orb for the aspect to count in a New Moon scenario.

I do however want to note a couple of other contacts, unrelated to the Lunar event, but that are distinctive enough they may ‘flavor’ surrounding occurrences. One is the meeting of Sedna and the Black Moon Lilith point at 29 tense degrees of Taurus=this may suggest material matters make us face what we ‘know but don’t know’, what we’ve been hiding from ourselves, and now see reflected back in real, and potentially crisis, terms.

The other is the sextile between Saturn and Chiron. In the best of times this may act like a punch in the nose, and in the worst of times spells a particularly poignant kind of catastrophe, of a distinctly personal nature. It suggests the manifestation in real-world forms of one’s deepest wounds. Together with Sedna-BML, these may add an aura of pressure or fatedness to that push for action, that appeal to do whatever needs doing in order to reach a goal or realize an ambition–just know that this suggests if we push forward right now, if we coerce others or ourselves, we may end up creating not the dream we’ve been working toward but a circumstance that features our own sore points and vulnerabilities in stark and unmistakable terms.

The Sabian for the New Moon is, ‘A Priest Performing A Marriage Ceremony’. A New Moon is like the couple marrying, the solid Earth and the bright, reflective Moon uniting, but in this scenario, what is the priest? This may be us, because it’s on our initiative that something productive can be made from the New Moon union. It’s up to the individual to 1) use the Martian energy for positive Self-motivation, rather than to push others, 2) to use what begins with the New Moon in such a way that we enjoy a positive Jupiterian ‘gain’, 3) harness the ideals and power of the creative urge to support new starts, and 4) to accept our own power while studiously avoiding wielding it over anyone other than ourselves and our own personal options. The circumstances surrounding both material matters and our wounds will be a delicate one, but the key to navigating successfully will be found in not overreacting, while at the same time striving to be as responsible as possible for ourselves and our choices. Keeping the why of things as clear as possible will go a long way toward keeping everyone in their own lane and focused on what they can do about things, rather than just on what they want.

Have a wonderful New Moon!

Julie Demboski's ASTROLOGY

Addressing the Individual Experience Within the Universal Truth

Skip to content ↓