Knowing, Not Knowing, and Everything Else

05 Wednesday Aug 2009

Posted by in Consciousness Explored

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Is prediction knowing what will happen, and sharing it, or is it a guess, educated or not? And what determines whether something will indeed happen–is it already a foregone conclusion, or can we change the course of things? Does an event remain, Shroedinger’s Cat-style, in all possible states, until observation? Is there only one path to events, with both true and untrue visions parceled out like signs along a road (the ‘true’ ones) and decoys leading nowhere (the ‘false’)? I don’t know, but this evening I watched a movie, ‘Knowing,’ that poses a couple of questions: can the future be known ahead of time? The film asserts that yes, it can–and, to follow on this premise it poses the question, if you know what will occur (in this case, the end of life on Earth), what can or will you do about it?

I thought it interesting (synchronicitous?) that this was the film that arrived in the mail today, considering that this evening was the final eclipse of this set, and that my own chart for it made me think of nothing but earthquakes (for the curious, here’s a link to the latest quakes worldwide http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.html) Of course, when I made my own prediction, I was well aware that the message I was getting via planet placement was likely a symbolic one (though it pays to take into account the chance of the literal)–and for myself, I intend to watch the coming six months (through to the next eclipse set) for symbolic seismic activity across the House axis where the eclipse fell (for me, the 1st/ 7th)–and I think everyone else should do the same.

So, does astrology allow us to know ahead of time what will happen? I, for one, think the answer is both yes and no (hey, I’m a Libra, cut me some slack!) I believe in free will, absolutely, but I see, in every chart I study, that there are patterns of behavior that we so identify with (natal placements) and respond to (the energy of a planet in transit) that it’s almost as if these responses send a wave out before they even occur, a wave that can be discerned before the point in time where the action’s placed, when the two, the natal placement and the transiting energy, connect. As we examine the individual and his or her proclivities as shown by the precise point in space and time when they entered this world (the natal chart), we can see a range of possible expression–but we never remove the factor of choice–it’s just that individuals, acting within the spectrum of character, will choose in a way that can be anticipated via the construction of the natal chart–and even the choice no one was expecting can be seen if we are looking for it, often hooked to the influence of Uranus, or to any energy that can manifest as destabilized within the chart, for instance, in hard aspect to Pluto.

Annunciation by Beato Angelico

Annunciation by Beato Angelico

So, is prediction of the future possible? I still say, yes and no (okay, I confess, I have four planets in Libra!) I think we follow the path we are most inclined to follow, one that allows us to express most characteristically, and that that is the essence of Fate: it is the expression of what is most characteristic to our own uniqueness as it interacts with every other form of energy, including other Beings, on this planet. In the movie, an extraterrestrial element took the puzzle outside of the parameters we deal with everyday; it implied we label the other world Beings we see as angels, and their whisperings as clairaudience, and somehow this took the fun out of it for me, operating as it did like a form of deus ex machina (angelus ex machina?) with the number puzzle ultimately being the whispered code of observers, rather than our own intelligence translating the harmonics of the Universe, represented by numbers that stood for those waves I mentioned, but this time generated by the whole human race, rather than a single individual. By the end of the movie, I knew that the end of life on Earth wasn’t something I was interested in knowing about ahead of time, if that was even possible; because, if one can’t do anything with knowledge, what’s the point?

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Lunar Eclipse August 5th 2009

04 Tuesday Aug 2009

Posted by in aspects and placements, astrology, current events in the sky, eclipse, Fist of God

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The eclipse occurs at 5:55 PM August 5th PDT, with the Moon and Earth conjunct at 13 AQ 43; technically, the eclipse itself starts a few minutes after exactitude, but I think it’s reasonable to look at the moment of first contact, so here we are. And what do we see? No contact, using our strict two degree orb rule, except for a puzzling semi-square to the Ascendant (a ‘So what?’ position), and a sesquiquadrate to the Part of Fortune. But, if we stretch our rule just a hair (and what are rules for, if not to stretch hairs over), we finda Fist of God, with sesquiquadrates to the Part of Fortune and Ceres (aka Mother Nature).  Ah! Now a picture is forming.

Am I reaching, using the Part of Fortune? Depends on how you feel about the use of the Arabic Parts in general, I guess, but for an ‘occasion’ (or an event, as I’m guessing this will be) it seems appropriate. Using it allows us to have some fun (or to frighten the bejezus out of ourselves, depending!)

So, the chart I’ve drawn is for Seattle, my current hometown, and eclipse time puts Pluto at 00 Cap–what’s built is destroyed, disruption to the status quo–just inside the 1st at a late Sagittarius Ascendant, which makes a tight quincunx to the South Node–what’s happened before will happen again? or is it what’s been destroyed before, etc?–with Part of Fortune exact on the Descendant. Hmmm. Add the Nodes in crisis at 29 degrees, the aforementioned Fist of God, with component Ceres spanking new in Libra–nature, balance, out of balance, at 00–and Ceres square to Pluto–stability lost, Mother Nature disrupted–are we looking at an earthquake chart?

Now, I don’t like to make predictions, because I believe that nothing, absolutely nothing, is set in stone, nor do I want to whip my readers into a frenzy, or earn the epithet ‘Crazy Julie’; but this is an intriguing pattern, worth noting–and if nothing happens, all the better, or the earthquakes are personal or symbolic–I’d be glad to be wrong.

I don’t want to expect a disaster, but with these measurements I might anticipate one, and my own research has matched contact to the angles with earthquake activity–but of course, there are zillions of contacts to the angles all day long–it just seems that when an earthquake does occur, there’s significant, precise contact–so stay safe, West Coasters! And no matter how flamingly wrong I am about this, the post will stay up–just so we can all laugh about it on the 6th. (Typically, I feel eclipse possibilities last through to the following set of eclipses–so perhaps we’ll just have more activity than usual, through New Year’s Eve/January 2010)
Also see Jude Cowell’s excellent take here http://2hrsyulnvrgetbck.blogspot.com/2009/08/mystic-rectangle-lunar-eclipse-in-aq.html

Earthquake activity http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.html

Lucy knows what this means (see comments)

(see comments)

Hades, or Something Like It

25 Saturday Jul 2009

Posted by in astrology, Consciousness Explored, Pluto

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According to the best scientific data . . . the average and mean temperatures of Hell have risen 3.8 degrees since 1955. (Thus) occupants of Hell who in 1955 were standing night and day in boiling pitch up to their knees report that, owing to the expansion of pitch at higher temperatures, they now must endure the torment all the way up to mid-thigh, or even higher, during Hell’s warmer seasons.  –Ian Frazier,  The Temperature of Hell: A Colloquim from ‘The New Yorker’

Hell has been on my mind a lot lately, and not just because my computer crashed early Thursday morning and I spent the entire day trying to resurrect it. I was not successful, and it now sits, discarded, an emotional eyesore (“How could you?!”) on a side table. I went right out and got a new, sleek, smooth computer that actually seems to want to do what I tell it to–the only problem came when my new wunderkind was unable to run my Solar Fire–so now I’m in astrology limbo, armed with my trusty ephemeris, table of houses, pencil and paper, and whatever wits I have left after my epic battle to salvage my work–believe me, it’s a very small basket they all sit in.

I’m taking a few days off, then, from the world of push-button calculations (at least until the new program arrives next week) but I’m not exactly plunging in old school to working charts out by hand. Instead I thought I’d tell you about something that’s been going on for a while now, but which I only just connected the dots on. Let me preface my story by saying that I currently have transiting Pluto square my natal Mercury in the 8th,  sextile natal Neptune, also in the 8th, and trine natal Pluto in the 7th.

It started when I first noticed I was having dreams that didn’t make any sense. At least, they didn’t make any sense to me; theyPluto and Proserpina typically involved a feeling that I wasn’t ‘there’ at all. (And here’s where I should say, I’m no aello, who interprets dreams so effectively here http://dreamorpheus.wordpress.com/  In fact, I was on the verge of submitting at least one of the dreams to her when something clicked for me.) In many of the dreams I was an observer, but just as often I was a character in the dream, a person with a full history of which I was aware, who didn’t look or think or act like me, but whose life I was plunged into at what appeared to be a moment of stress (and the difference was distinct–I was vaguely aware, as David Byrne says, that ‘this is not my beautiful house, this is not my beautiful wife,’ while being extremely clear on ‘my’ past, and all the ‘whys’ of the present that would normally be fuzzy conceptions in dreamland at best) .

And this stress is what happened to be the key to understanding the entire sequence of dreams, because I realized that, though the situations were stressful for the individuals, they weren’t necessarily anything I thought was terribly difficult, threatening, or upsetting. For instance, in one dream I was a young woman living in Boston with my boyfriend, and the problem was a neighbor, a big tall man wearing basketball shorts, a headband on his ‘fro-ish hair, tall knee socks and a tank top (very ‘I think I’m an athlete’ a la 1977, the year it happened to be) who came almost daily to our apartment door while walking his brindle great dane; he would bang and bang on the door, demanding that my boyfriend come out to the park (a large open area behind the apartments)–apparently the boyfriend had made some objections to the man about his dog, as no animals were allowed in the building or the park area. This was causing an escalating stressful situation, as the couple was beginning to feel targeted, under siege in their own home by a man they believed was unbalanced. It was, in a word, their own special hell.

That’s what finally clicked for me: I realized that in each dream, I was seeing, and sometimes experiencing, a stress, a hell, very particular to the person in question. One more example will suffice, one where I was an observer, and this is the interesting thing with all the dreams: where the individual was known to me, whether personally or from the world stage, they were dead–and I had to wonder if I was indeed privy to their own unique version of hell, their lot in the afterlife.

In one of the observer dreams, I was at a small Midwestern US high school at the half time of a basketball game (and here I have to wonder, do I have some special association between the game of basketball and hell? Something to ponder!) There was a kind of popularity contest being voted on during this break–two girls stood in the middle of the court, and I knew that one of them, though she looked completely different, was actually Princess Diana (and I’m writing about how they stood “in the middle of the court” and think I was seeing her situation symbolically, translating ‘court’ to my non-royal way of thinking).

The outcome of the vote was announced, and Princess Di was not the winner; she began to sob. There was some comment that she was up against a ‘local’ girl, and that’s why the other had won–but she was inconsolable, crying that she was sure she was more popular than anyone else, that she should’ve received the crown. Though only All That Is can say for sure whether this is a true glimpse into the late Lady’s Soul, it’s not an improbable version of hell for her, given the events of her life.

I don’t claim to know why I’ve had this series of dreams, but will assume it’s to help me develop empathy, to show me how very specific and particular hell is for each and every one of us–and how, whether we admit it or not, hell is definitely a circumstance springing from our own choices, from the demands of the ego, where hell is decidedly of our own making.

                                                                                                                               ~~~

Thanks very much to all who commented on the Solar Eclipse article–I appreciate that each of you took the time to read and comment, and I apologize, I was unable to come to the site and answer in any timely way. It was a period of non-stop work for me (note to Self: any connection to explosion of computer? Naw!) –fun but exhausting–and now I have something of an enforced break until the new program arrives. Obviously, I won’t be posting a detailed Weekly Forecast, but I do have a few remarks on what to look for: Mercury/ Jupiter opposition for a few days at the end of the month=oh we want to talk! The pull to tell all we know, to learn, to expand the Self’s image (Leo), will be strong. Mars through Gemini assists, and with the Moon waxing this week the unconscious may push to expand its influence, as well. Expect the effects to run the gamut, from braggardly to scholarly, and for the ego to be (often sneakily) a more prominent motivating factor than usual–that means step back and ask yourself, In whose best interest is it that I believe (or swallow whole) what I’m hearing? That will make things clear.

And whatever you do, have a great week!

Solar Eclipse July 2009

18 Saturday Jul 2009

Posted by in aspects and placements, astrology, current events in the sky, eclipse

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Of the two Lunar eclipses and one Solar eclipse occurring in this set, the upcoming Solar one is the one to watch. Not literally, of course, as that will burn your eyes out (no wonder people were frightened of eclipses–there must have been plenty of village idiots who did just that–and who wouldn’t think it was God, or gods, or Baal, or Apollo, or Ra punishing those hubristic enough to stare into what in many cultures amounts to the face of God?) No, watch this Solar eclipse, promised in the Pacific time zone of North America at 7:33 PM the 21st of July, for the figurative burn it may bring.partial solar eclipse

The transiting Sun and Moon meet at 29 Cancer 26, an anaretic degree, and that signals the energies involved are both in a state of high stress. Why? Placement of any energy at an anaretic degree (the very earliest and latest of a sign) suggests that the body has traveled through the experience cycle of all preceding degrees of the sign–now the body is pressured to symbolically ‘finish up’ with the energy spectrum of the sign.  This means that any facets of the sign not experienced during the course of the transit now come forward, needing to be expressed in order to complete the experience cycle. In this case, the energies are Cancerian: of nurture, care, involved with others, nourishing, intrusive, emotional, intuitive, maternal, enveloping, sensitive, changeable or monthly. For all of us, the place in the natal chart where 29 degrees of Cancer falls (if this does not fall on a natal placement) will designate by House where we may be facing a crisis energy that blends the Cancer experience spectrum with the matters of the House.

Solar eclipseFor those with a natal placement at this degree (or within 2 degrees of it, either side), the crisis energy is much stronger, and specific to the manifestation of the natal body or point. By ‘crisis,’ however, I mean ‘need to face’ as it applies to the matters brought forward. If one is willing to be responsible, literally willing to respond, one need not suffer crisis or upset of any kind–in fact the impetus offered by the Solar eclipse energy can bring great leaps forward, particularly at the personal level, in illuminating all facets of a matter or issue, and endowing one with the energy and ‘sight’ to resolve it.

Other natal placements to which the eclipse is in hard aspect may share in the crisis energy (though to a lesser intensity or extent), with the aspect itself suggesting the way toward resolution. For instance, a square says that the eclipse will present an energy situation (related to both the 29 Cancer placement and the House in which this occurs) that is in conflict with the natal energy as it exists, and requires one to weigh, consider, and negotiate as one would with any square. Again, keep the aspect orb to 2 degrees or less, and as with the conjunction, a willingness to face the energy and deal with it can minimize or eliminate problems, and even turn them to your advantage.

Soft contacts to natal placements (sextiles, trines) offer to bolster the manifestation of the natal energy with the eclipse energy. We musn’t assume that this is uniformly positive, however, as ease in blending the two energies can bring forward a ‘path of least resistance’ manifestation that may effectively undermine our best interests. Control is the key with soft aspects, channeling them productively into assisting expression of the natal energy while remaining attentive to implications and ramifications of the interaction.

The eclipse itself makes a few aspects: a quincunx to Pluto, and a conjunction to the South Node in Leo (with complementary opposition to the North Node). Whenever we have an eclipse, it’s important to look at the pattern it forms with other transiting bodies, as this tells us something about the effects we can expect; the contacts the eclipse makes are essentially part and parcel of the ‘eclipse package’ we experience. A quincunx to Pluto suggests that the crisis energy of the eclipse will run deep, be intense, transformative, and perhaps a little dangerous or disturbing, unearthing secrets or things we’d rather leave buried. This aspect may make us feel that the eclipse itself is dangerous or disruptive, but this is the energy of the eclipse feeding through and adjusting (the quincunx) to the active energy of transiting Pluto, and to our senses there may be no distinction.orbital view solar eclipse

The Solar eclipse conjunct the South Node in Leo brings in elements of the past and our place in it. Identity issues are ‘lit up’ by the eclipse, and the South Node itself is at an anaretic degree (but this time in the opposite situation to the eclipse–here the South Node is back at the seminal moment of our past that helped form our identity, our creative sense of Self–00 Leo).

We can expect matters of the Self, our origins in the past, and secrets or change, to be the eclipse effect for all of us, with reference to the House where the eclipse occurs; those with a natal hook must figure in the natal effect, as well, using common sense and positioning oneself mentally to make the most of available energies. And remember, Dark of the Moon precedes the eclipse, meaning that we may all be feeling a little more ‘in the dark’ than we’d like beginning about evening PDT of the 18th, with illumination coming on the New Moon, as it always does.

lightningAn  eclipse is really an opportunity to put lightning in a bottle; let’s do our best to use the energy wisely.

And I love you all, but please, no questions about personal eclipse situations in the comments section–I’m available for single question assessments for only $25, and full eclipse reports for $50, email me at juliedemboski@hotmail.com  Thanks!

Sorry–can’t seem to get the post to capture the chart any bigger without cutting some off–will continue to try to remedy. You can blow it up through your browser, a little fuzzy but readable.

Solar Eclipse July 2009

A Few Thoughts on the Eclipse, Sarah Palin, the Magic Number 50, and Sweeney Todd

06 Monday Jul 2009

Posted by in current events in the sky, eclipse

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One thing it would be good to keep in mind about the eclipse is that it’s just a Full Moon, the alignment of which creates an extraordinary view of the line up from here on Earth–so it’s the same event we get on a monthly basis, it’s only our perspective that makes it special. Full Moons are traditionally periods of culmination, so I think it’s only natural, maybe found in our DNA, or our Collective memory, or perhaps a result of the Moon’s pull on the sea elements of the bloodstream, that causes us to be alert, to be looking for, if not danger, then unanticipated change and effect. It’s a primal call we’re feeling right now, on the eve of the event; we must honor the need to be attentive, to be ready to respond, while still remembering that we’ve lived through a lot of eclipses, and chances are we’ll live through quite a few more. eclipse

When on Friday Alaska governor Sarah Palin announced she was stepping down from the post later this month, I had to take a look at her chart, because with someone who likes (and abuses, see ‘Troopergate’) power as much as this woman does, resigning an influential and visible position doesn’t make sense. I used data from Astrodatabank, which rates her info as ‘DD’ dirty data, unreliable for one or more reasons, in this case conflicting possible times (11 February 1964  9:43 PM  Sandpoint Idaho USA). I’ll make just a few notes here: first thing that jumped out is that she’s been long-term experiencing transiting Chiron/ Neptune/ Jupiter on her natal gathering of the Sun, Mars, and Saturn in Aquarius, certainly suggesting the possibility of painful times, and circumstances that make it very difficult to know who she is with any certainty (irony alert: and yet, one of her major talking points both during the campaign and now is that she does know precisely who she is–perhaps the lady doth protest too much). Transiting Saturn is quincunx Jupiter, transiting Pluto is square Venus–both offer scenarios of the need to change, one through modification of public image/ contact to suit reality or goals, the other through change (perhaps drastic) to what she values, to relationships, to finances.

You didn't really want to see another picture of Sarah Palin, did you?

You didn't really want to see another picture of Sarah Palin, did you?

All well and good, certainly supporting the move; but then I looked to Solar Arcs, and a different picture emerged. She’s 45 years old, and that puts everything in the natal chart by Solar Arc (with some variation dependent on time of year of birth) semi-square its natal position, and in the process filled in some interesting blanks, a few of which I’ll note here. The admittedly unreliable Ascendant comes to conjunction with the natal Pallas/ Juno conjunction–this suggests a personal need to connect with circumstances of Self-empowerment and that allow the exercise of the Self’s wisdom and skills. How does this mesh with the idea of giving up a governorship? It doesn’t, unless one sees empowerment in going back to school, perhaps, or if one sees the potential for greater empowerment elsewhere–ah-ha, perhaps we’re on to something!

Solar Arc movement also brings natal Venus from sesquiquadrate with natal Neptune to a full opposition; I don’t think there’s a transit that exists that’s more likely than hard contact between Venus and Neptune to lead the individual down the primrose path (for you youngsters, we’ll call it ‘fantasy lane’!) And we should note that natally Ms. Palin has a Mystic Rectangle involving the Nodes, Chiron, and her Pluto/ Uranus conjunction, suggesting, perhaps, a compulsion to act from hurt, to see one’s Chirotic endowments and individuality as having a ‘destined’ quality, and giving a remarkable ability to rise Phoenix-like from the ashes. Clearly, we haven’t seen the last of her.

The number of prominent deaths recently has been nearly overwhelming, but one thing that drew my attention was that both Michael Jackson and pitchman Billy Mays were 50 years old. It would’ve just seemed an oddity if not for astrology, as death at or near the 50 year mark suggests Chiron involvement, with its cycle around the individual chart of approximately 51.5 years (but this varies quite a bit depending on placement). Barabara Hand Clow puts forward in her seminal book on Chiron that the hard contacts of Chiron to itself are potential exit points in the life, and the more I see the more I agree that these points are indeed times when we may choose to move on. Something to ponder on: “What dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause.” William Shakespeare’s HAMLET

I saw Tim Burton’s ‘Sweeney Todd’ again recently, the first and only time previous having been in the theatre when it Sweeney Toddwas released. I remembered the movie more clearly and vividly than is typical for me, except for the ending, which took me completely by surprise. I was stunned, depressed, and moved, and though the tragic nature of the circumstances of vengeance, unrequited love, and the murder of what one was seeking all along is on it’s own sad, I think it had an effect on me because it was, really, a lot like life; nobody got out of that pie shoppe unscathed, and nobody gets out of here alive! A morbid note to end on, I know, but I recall the first time the idea that ‘nobody gets out of here alive’ clicked for me with life itself; it made me laugh, and also pointed up our tendency to behave as if, indeed, it’s a desperate situation–and it led me to, every day, re-dedicating my energy to behaving as if it’s not.

Have a great Monday, everyone!

See my books here http://dogandsunflower.wordpress.com

Lunar Eclipse July 7th 2009

04 Saturday Jul 2009

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

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This may be a hangin’ offense, but I’m not only not seeing the upcoming eclipses as linked, I’m looking at them as separate events–and the first one, on the 7th at 2:21 AM PDT (point of the Full Moon, with eclipse beginning slightly after) at 15 Capricorn 24, helps me make my point, as the eclipse bodies make no exact contact to any other body. That doesn’t mean that nothing’s going on; there’s a lot of action, it’s just not related to the eclipse! When an eclipse makes no contact to other bodies, it seems to me to make an isolated energy statement that in effect locates all the eclipse energy and influence within natal contact; in other words, if it doesn’t make close connection to something in the natal chart, it probably won’t be felt at all.

Now, I know that view will be a disappointment to some, heresy to others, and seen as just plain wrong by a few (or many!) but all I can do is go with what I see–so here it is. I believe that other action occurring at the same time as the eclipse could easily be seen as being generated by or triggered by the eclipse–and certainly the extreme energy of an eclipse may influence the atmosphere at least as much as any Moon in hard aspect to the Sun does. That said, I see the significant energy elsewhere, though there are plenty of others who are taking the eclipse in a specific way (such as comparing it to the US chart)  or are seeing it in a broad-pattern of eclipse activity that gives a different and valuable perspective.

Maybe I’m not able to connect to the meaning of this eclipse because it will semi-sextile my Ascendant–maybe the personal effect is that I try to intellectualize (Aquarius) what should be felt–and certainly the effect for me will be to illuminate something about my own personality (Sun quincunx Ascendant). But I digress; here’s where I think the action will be:

Mercury and Vesta will be exactly conjunct on the day of the eclipse, at 7 Cancer. This suggests communication difficulties with many possibilities–and I say difficulties because, even though a conjunction isn’t inherently negative or positive, a union of communication matters with the energy of the sacred implies a likelihood of strong defensiveness concerning one’s message, thoughts, or ideas. We may allow no criticism or disagreement, and may see our pronouncements as inviolate–what we think seems to us to be not just ;the Truth,’ but to represent a concept that may not be challenged–and this is shown further by the Mars exact square to Jupiter/ Neptune and semi-sextile to Uranus, suggesting a hair-triggered (and perhaps intellectually based) readiness to defend our beliefs/ fantasies/ ideals, and also by a Finger of God with Pluto apex and quincunxes to Venus and the South Node that implies it may be values or relationships from the past that bring forward an urge to destruction or change, perhaps aimed at others, who are of course defending those sacred ideas–a roundabout that could become frenetic with the energy of a Full Moon polarity charging the atmosphere.

Also exact at this time is a semi-sextile from Pallas to Saturn that could urge us in the direction of trying to give wisdom or skills a physical manifestation, and a Fist of God with Pallas as apex and sesquiquadrates from Pluto and Juno–here the wisdom or skills we own may require both Self-empowerment and the flexibility to change or transform ourselves or our circumstances in order to effectively come forward.

Overall, I’m expecting a burst of righteous opinion-assertive and defensive energy that plays like the accidental setting-off of leftover 4th of July fireworks–and the odd thing may be that most of us will feel we’re being reasonable, simply standing up for what’s truly important to us. A Cancer/ Capricorn eclipse dichotomy suggests to me the image of water flowing around a rock–no matter how insistent or forceful the flow, the rock is not immediately changed (though it may be lifted and carried to a new place). The Sabian symbol for the lunar eclipse degree (Dane Rudhyar) is ‘School grounds filled with boys and girls in gymnasium suits’ suggesting the need for an organized outlet for physical energy–and perhaps hinting at a way to channel what otherwise might cause strife and discord (possibly of an adolescent variety, as referenced by the image) if left on its own.

The Sabian for the Sun at the eclipse point is ‘A man studying a mandala in front of him, with the help of a very ancient book’  To my mind this points to Pallas’ active role at the moment of eclipse, implying that accessing wisdom (no matter the source) is what’s needed to fathom the meaning of the Universal pattern worked out before us, the mandala of the image.

As I look around and find material on the eclipse I’ll add links; start with this one by Jude Cowell http://judecowell.wordpress.com/2009s-two-solar-eclipses-11-north11-south-jan-july/ and for another view, try Beth Turnage’s site http://www.astrologyexplored.com/july-monthly-forecast-the-eclipse-is-coming-the-eclipse-is-coming/ and here from Lauren Lesko http://laurenlesko.com/6573  Stats on the eclipse here http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2009Jul07N.pdf  and see Neith and Pat’s take here http://realastrologers.com/?p=816 View April Kent Elliot’s take on things here http://bigskyastrology.com/bloggish/2009/07/06/full-moonlunar-eclipse-in-capricorn-live-and-learn/

The Nature of Eros

19 Friday Jun 2009

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Let’s get something straight: Eros is not an uncontrollable, primal response that arises unbidden, ethereal as an instinct; it’s also not a spontanous indicator, either by its presence in the psyche or the natal chart, of a force of lust that promises ultimate sexual satisfaction. To see it as designating ‘the erotic’ is also a disservice, as that puts the function of Eros outside the Self–and it definitely is intimate. The thing is, Eros is an energy that is very much under the individual’s control, at least in the sense that it isn’t something that wells up and overtakes us with no ryhme or reason. We have many clues about this in the story of the demi-god Eros and how he falls in love with the mortal Psyche. He accidently shoots himself with a magical arrow, and the first thing he sees after the accident is the beautiful Psyche, with whom he is then totally smitten.

There are a couple of points here: a device, albeit a magical one, is the initiator of Eros’ love–and that suggests that, though the experience has a magical, out-of-the-blue quality for the individual, it’s really quite deliberate: one must choose the arrow in the first place, one must choose a target and aim, one must shoot–all conscious choices; it’s a fluke that Eros was the recipient of the magical-feeling energy. He’d actually been tasked by his mother, Venus, to shoot Psyche with the arrow while she was in proximity to a beastly and repulsive man, for Venus believed that Psyche would be rejected by the rest of humanity if she chose as a mate someone others found unacceptable.

So, the energy of the arrow made Eros passionately desire Psyche; not fall in lust, not just want to have sex with, but long for her in a consuming way–and it’s part of the Eros experience that one finds a certain satisfaction just in the stirring of the erotic energy–that itself is pleasurable, aside from anything else. We also note that because Eros sees Psyche and wants her, in a very straightforward way, he has in essence objectified her–she becomes the object that receives his erotic energy.

This is an extremely important point, and I believe the heart of understanding Eros and the erotic: the experience of Eros is contained in the way an individual fixes attention on someone or something (and here we can see that Eros is also responsible for fetishism) and imbues the person or thing with erotic energy and feeling. The erotic energy comes from within the individual; and a choice is made as to the object upon which (or whom) one will fix this erotic feeling. This implies that the Eros experience is mental, in spite of its magical and very exciting quality (and this, of course, is the very quality that persuades us there is something otherworldly, fated, or destined in that which we find erotic).

There’s another point to be gleaned from the story of Eros: yearning to connect with (really to become one with, which is certainly why the Eros energy typically takes a sexual form) the woman Psyche necessitated Eros break from Venus (which Eros did by hiding his paramour from his mother–so his reaction to forming a new kind of relationship, a sexual one, was not mature)—and that suggests that in order to experience Eros we must actually separate from our typical way of forming relationships, even of loving, that passion is not love–showing us again that we cannot truly love what we objectify, simply because the thing objectified becomes a servant to our own erotic needs, and thus cannot be related to as an equal would be in a healthy relationship.

Examples of Eros in action, along with the full story of Eros, Venus, and Psyche, are available in my book THE ASTROLOGY OF INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP  http://dogandsunflower.wordpress.com  Thanks, have a great Friday, and come back for the Weekend Forecast!

Spooning By the New Moon in June

16 Tuesday Jun 2009

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

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This month’s New Moon occurs on the 22nd at 12:34 PM PDT at 1 Cancer 30, and makes only a few aspects. Two contacts have a less than one degree orb, a conjunction to Vesta and an opposition to Pluto. This paints a very interesting energy picture, where we might see the melding of the New Moon in Cancer energy with the sacred feeling, sense of ‘home,’ and potential for sexual expression and then juxtaposed against the Plutonian darkness–the ‘bad guys’ are out there, and we’re cozy at home, curled up before the fire. It’s a lovely image of nurture and inclusion, and we should certainly feel free to enjoy the feeling, to spoon to our heart’s content–but we must also keep in mind that it’s dangerous to disown or deny our own darker aspects. Pluto enjoys a spot before the hearth in every home, as well, and only the dangerously naive or boldly arrogant claim “I would never . . .!” when it comes to the Plutonian urge. So, celebrate the warm and fuzzies that will come with the June New Moon, but be aware that we all hold that Plutonian potential, the seeds of disintegration–making this New Moon feeling all the more delicious in its contradiction of the dark.

Of course, the New Moon/ Sun will conjunct Vesta and oppose Pluto (and Earth), and at just over one degree variation forms a quincunx to the North Node, and one big possibility here is that there’ll be a lot of sex, the kind that actually causes us to adjust our life direction (if only by reinforcing a previous commitment, though making a new commitment is a possiblity, as well, with new intentions and directions ‘birthed’ by the New Moon energy) and this potential is magnified by the meeting of Venus and Mars in Taurus trine Saturn in Virgo–Earthy vibes are everywhere, and the sensual, caring, and nurturing facets of sex and relationship permeate the worlds of those open to it. It’s a cosmic recipe for stable, dependable, yet exciting love and congress–and only the unfortunate few disconnected from or disowning their sexual nature will miss out.

And see a beautiful take on love and spoons (a bit more literal than mine!) here http://bitze.wordpress.com/2009/05/06/welsh-love-spoon/

Full Moon 7 June 2009: When God Insists

01 Monday Jun 2009

Posted by in astrology, Fist of God, Moon

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See my latest at http://askjulie.wordpress.com ‘When He’s In Love: How to Tell, How to React’ Pt. 3 Sagittarius through Pisces

The Full Moon of June 7th falls at 17 Sagittarius 07 at 11:11 AM PDT, and naturally conjuncts the Earth. On this day the Moon/ Earth combo, or the Sun, is involved in several configurations known as Fists of God. This config consists of an apex point that is sesquiquadrate to other points, which are square each other. With a configuration where all angles are ‘hard,’ we can surmise that the effect will be one of Universal insistence, with the events and choices forced with a kind of divine inevitability, and certainly the name of this pattern suggests the forceful Will of some powerful deity expressed.

The central Fist has the Moon/ Earth conjunction (17 Sagittarius 07) at its apex, with sesquiquadrates from the South Node and Pallas(at 00 and 01 Leo, respectively) and Venus at 01 Taurus. Here we see the culmination of forces that have been building for some time (at least a symbolic month, as the Full Moon is the completion point of the Lunar cycle); the energies involved suggest the past and what we’ve learned from it that we know to be wise (SN, Pallas) will conflict with our current values, relationships, and/ or ability to earn/ prosper, and the disparity will be acted out through the emotional repercussions and effects of the material choices and situation (Moon + Earth). Full Moon June 7 2009

We must remember that this Full Moon occurs about two days post perfection of a Sun/ Earth axis T-square formed with Saturn in Virgo, and this says that we have likely just faced squarely the reality of the effectiveness of our choices as they are shown by the expression of the Soul and the Material circumstances we’ve built–we’ve seen how well our life is reflecting the intents of the Soul, and we’ve gotten a glimpse of how well the physical situation serves the manifestation of those intents–so we are well aware of where we might be falling short, and in what areas we’re meeting the Soul’s needs. Now, with the Full Moon, the Universe comes along and makes some forceful statements (the Fists) and we must respond.

There is another Fist of God with Venus in Taurus as the apex, the other involved energies being Saturn square the Moon/ Earth. This tells us that other pressures focused through the reality situation and the emotional repercussions of this must be worked out through either a values adjustment, through relationships, or through a change in the earnings/ asset picture.

We also have another Fist with the North Node as apex, and sesquiquadrates to Saturn and the Sun in Gemini, and this one suggests that our destined direction will have to contend with some bumps in the form of discrepancies between the intended direction and reality (Saturn) and the obstacles this may place in our path, and it may become apparent that both these areas (intended direction and the reality situation) are in some degree of conflict with the Soul’s intent, and these matters receive a spotlight (Sun) that makes the difficulties glaringly obvious.

Overall, this says that the majority of us will be getting a reality check, in one form or another (likely either Venusian–relationships, assets, or values related–or in the effectiveness of our reality structure) and this review will be unavoidable. The severity of the situation, or the depth of the upset involved, may be to some extent fueled by the ongoing Chiron/ Neptune/ Jupiter conjunction, as this has encouraged an exaggerated conception of woundedness–some have been looking for hurt from without out of a hyper-sensitive projection of responsibility (see some possibillities here https://juliedemboski.wordpress.com/2009/05/12/neptune-chiron-projection-hurt-and-ownership/)– others have experienced injury to the social ideals, and are struggling with adjustments to their social role, and to the change in their feeling about society itself. Those who will weather the Full Moon life assessment best are those who’ve taken these conjunction energies and applied the positive ideals (Neptune) to the unique skills (Chiron) and offered them in some form to the social sphere (Jupiter). The Full Moon offers an excellent point for accurate course correction–let’s take it!

Here’s the take on the Full Moon for our country http://starsoverwashington.blogspot.com/2009/06/full-moon-18sag-june-7-2009-washington.html

And check out–and possibly participate in–this intriguing experiment http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/twitter-experiment-starts-today/ Is it just a coincidence (but we don’t believe in those, do we?) that Mr. Wiseman waited for Mercury’s direction to begin?

Julie Demboski's ASTROLOGY

Addressing the Individual Experience Within the Universal Truth

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