2 October 2018 Imagine That

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Drawn By Walter Crane, Engraved and Printed by Edmund Evans 1907 {{PD}}

We can address issues, especially practical problems, ones that are skill-related, or ones that are pressing us for smart solutions, with the greatest of imagination and ease today. Thinking it through is necessary, and at first we may start from the point of what we can’t change, but soon inspiration is upon us–so we’d be wise to tackle things we’ve previously seen as insurmountable or as not presenting any viable solutions–because today, if they can be solved, we’ll be able to see the solution. That doesn’t mean, though, that we’ll magically see a way forward for something that’s not meant to be in the first place–only that which can thrive with the right approach will fire the imaginative and creative spirit today. Also beware of accepting deceptive or misleading communications; the same energy that opens us to the creative also opens us to untruths.

(Neptune opp Pallas, Mercury sq Pluto and parallel Neptune)

Tea harvesting in Japan ‘Smiles at Harvest Time’ 1914 Photo by Elstner Hilton, published to Wikimedia by A.Davey from Portland, Oregon, EE UU under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

Here’s something interesting on a tea especially harvested during particular Full Moons–

1 October 2018 Dark Recesses

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Charles West Cope ‘The Night Alarm’ 1871 {{PD}}

We are compelled to run into the dark recesses of the mind, the places we’ve been avoiding or in denial of, and we (probably wrongly) believe we can get in and out unscathed. Today we believe in the power of the intellect to surmount or address every issue–silly us! There’s something about those hidden, forbidden, or enraging topics that pulls us in, that makes us run into the burning building, and despite our hair catching fire, we still think we are at one remove, safe, unharmed. Beware the illusion of invincibility, even as you embrace the chance to right something gone very, very wrong (Mars conj Black Moon Lilith, Sun contra-parallel Chiron)

Morse Code receiver and recorder from the late 19th century. Photo By Rauantiques CC BY-SA 4.0

Today’s word image is a future where media–print, dvds, cds, film, video, all ways of recording picture, sound, thoughts–is scarce. For me that would almost be like losing language itself. What would you miss? Would your life be deeply affected, or barely touched, by the disappearance of such material? Now imagine that future world is your brain–are there ‘tapes’ you’d like to get rid of? Would your future be poorer if you were able to erase the painful things, or richer, freer? What ones do you want to make sure to keep, no matter what? Sort through them, and give yourself permission to discard the ones that are negative, painful, or no longer valid, just as long as you have nothing else to learn from them, or don’t need them as important reminders. (This image points me toward the Void Gemini Moon period, or perhaps toward Mars, SN, and BML huddling together in Aquarius, ‘acting to wipe out the past’, plus Saturn-Vesta in Capricorn: ‘What constructs and parts of the past are sacred, to be honored and preserved?’)

Your Weekend 29-30 September 2018 The Grind

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‘Old Mill: The Morning Bell’ by Winslow Homer 1871 {{PD}}

Calling it a grind really is making this weekend sound much more harsh, and perhaps much slower-paced, than it really will be. With Pluto stationing direct on the 30th, we may feel that immensely slow grind and reversal and not really notice that in other ways we’re fleet, smart, wrestling with creative problems, with creating the future, and with looking for the best ways to empower ourselves, and so get where we want to go. Actions are effective and efficient; trouble only comes when we try to pin down power, especially when we try to mull, categorize, and codify it. If we’ll only let it flow through us, a river of energy that carries our talents, then we can draw on that power like a watermill, giving that power expression shape, form, purpose.

Be aware, too, that our psychic wounds have a direct pipeline to our health, and so may show in bodily issues even more strongly than usual. Our imaginations can cause problems, as well, if we overthink or go with speculation instead of fact (Perfecting this weekend includes: Chiron conj Hygeia, Mars parallel Saturn, Merc contra-parallel Hygeia, sesq and contra-parallel Juno, and qnx Neptune, Sun parallel Pallas and contra-parallel Ceres, Pallas nov NN)

Have a lovely weekend!

28 September 2018 Spin Cycle

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You may be as inspired as Joan of Arc today, here shown offering guidance to a young woman. By Jules Bastien-Lepage {{PD}}

Two major players make subtle contacts today, and though there are a few other ‘conversations’ taking place, none carry the impact to the mentality and the attention-focus these do. We see Mercury novile Jupiter and sesquiquadrate Sedna, suggesting some brilliant thoughts on the philosophical meaning of things, on the belief system, on the social order, and on personal attempts at learning/ educating and expanding the scope of the individual purview, and these may shake the instincts, challenging us to integrate ‘blind spot’ material or to access that which we ‘know but don’t know’. The mind is inspired by faith or by fact, and that creates some stress over some aspect of the interior ‘knowing’. Likely, the dazzling idea or realization springs directly from this stirred un- or barely conscious material. It’s a chance for both revelation about the Self, and revelation about the world you live in.

The other dynamic aspect is the Sun’s trine to the Black Moon Lilith point. This helps the Mercury realization process by putting a spotlight on those things we naturally push into the shadows. We really can’t be indifferent to what we have ignored, denied, or what has enraged us, and it, too, is stirred up. Like a centrifuge the mind spins a lot of unconsciously held material today, and what is pulled from that can create optimism or open up opportunity–so take note of what surfaces at this time, even if it doesn’t immediately seem to have value or obviously forward your cause–because, eventually, what it adds to conscious thought, and its usefulness, becomes clear.

27 September 2018 Think Like A Boss

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Ramon Casas i Carbó ‘La Carga (The Charge) or Barcelona 1902’ {{PD}}

As previously noted, today is the day to Do It! Let’s break it down: Saturn conjoins Vesta, offering a sacred view of reality–good for connecting us to the sanctity of the energy manifestations around us, not so good if we take it to mean the status quo dare not be disturbed (add to this that the Moon enters Taurus just after midnight Pacific time, enhancing the tactile impact, the sensuality, comfort levels, and so making what’s material feel even more ‘real’, and take a more prominent place in our awareness); Mars noviles Neptune, prompting action on our ideals and creative urges, effectively giving us the chance to at least begin to bring dreams into reality, not so good if we act on delusions or out of misunderstanding; Mercury conjoins Ceres while being contra-parallel, as it also is to Chiron, giving us the capacity to think with authority, ‘like a boss’, and connecting thoughts to both Nature and nurture, though the contra-parallels suggest we may shrink from actually exercising our authority out of fear of hurt; and the Sun trines Mars, offering abundant energy and a clear view of both our own and others’ Will and aggressions.

All those are perfecting today, but a couple of other things to note: if you have a natal placement roughly 2-6 Gemini, your natal body/ point fills in an Air Grand Trine, with the notable part being that Mars is also closely conjoined by Black Moon Lilith and the South Node; for everyone, this could flavor actions with what we’d rather deny or ignore, and may find us drawing on the past or from among past choices, as if there are no ‘new’ alternatives–but for the person with a natal body involved, this could speak of current actions combined with past choices, denial or indifference, and these finally find a balance in terms of the natal body expression.

Have a great Thursday!

 

25-26 September 2018 Looking for Hope

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‘Les Poètes au bois sacré’ (Poets of the Sacred Woods) By Henri-Jean Guillaume Martin {{PD}}

We’re post equinox, post Full Moon, and that means the light is waning. What do we tend to do when things dim before us? We look back to the past, and with Mars conjoined and Sun trine the South Node in Aquarius, we may comb our memories for Higher Mind moments, looking for those things and people and thoughts that elevated us, and may hold the key to rising above, again. We’re looking for hope, and the very act shows us just how down we’ve been of late; the re-entry of Chiron to Pisces possibly spurs this creative quest, this turning toward the Cosmos for answers. The world seems tough, unsupportive of our values, our commitments, and disrespectful of our boundaries (Vesta and Saturn squared by the Sun, forming a T-sq with Chiron-Hygeia-Earth, exaggerating any associated hurt), but current conditions suggest our minds really do hold the answers; we can not only see opportunities and horizon-expanding scenarios, we see the difficulties of getting where we want to go, which is the most useful of combinations (Merc semi-sq Jupiter and parallel Pallas). With the Full Moon we’ve seen the consequences of our choices, we’ve seen where we are–now we take the time to mull it over, to consider what it means, to mine the past for what’s useful in our future.

Have an important step you want to take, project to launch, or creative effort to make in the near future? Barring negative contacts or larger cycles happening in your personal astro scenario, Thursday the 27th is probably a good day to go forward.

24 September 2018 Full Moon: Healing the Self

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By Bjørn Krogstad, Norwegian artist – Own work, Bjørn Krogstad, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18257892

The Full Moon falls at 1 Aries 59 at 7:52 PM Pacific time on the 24th. The FM is just past perfecting a semi-sextile to Uranus, and forms soon after contacting both Hygeia and Chiron. Our realization or culminating situation at the time of the Full Moon is a healing one, a stance that readies us to either express our own original or unique character, or to successfully join the group (both Uranus). Falling in Aries, the focus is on ourselves, our actions, our responsibilities, the role we play, the example we set–and the square to Saturn-Vesta tells us that what happens here has real world consequences to those people and things we honor or are committed to (and yes, if we count the Sun, we have a Cardinal T-square, which by its very nature demands we do something, adding strain to an already-stressful situation).

The Full Moon is in loose sextile to Mars-South Node in Aquarius, and, in the other direction, a tense, 29 degree Juno in Taurus. Our attention is pointed toward a certain tension first implied with the square to Saturn-Vesta: the intellect believes it knows the course to take, based on past experience and learning, but material matters introduce an element of stress, a sense that personal empowerment may be lost, or not enough to meet challenges, and that dealing with real-world issues may threaten our priorities and those matters to which we’re dedicated. The Full Moon energy offers direction, in the sense that it says, ‘See? You really are healed, really are stronger than you thought, really are capable of exerting your Will. Be confident; go forward. I shine the light on how to proceed.’

Mercury, along with the ever-present-in-opposition-to-a-Full Moon-Sun, opposes and yet is moving away swiftly, suggesting the mind flees, distracted by others or by the beauty it finds (Libra), and yet part of what the Full Moon supplies us is the sense that using feeling, emotion, intuition is the most effective way to gain knowledge at this time, to see which way to go–so that a less-than-focused mind isn’t really an issue.

The Sabian for the Full Moon is, ‘A Comedian Reveals Human Nature’. This says to me that the tragi-comic nature of the Universe may speak loud and clear at this time. We may find our healing or revelatory culmination delivered with irony, humor, pathos, or a sense that we are both heroes because of and victims of our own humanity, and that we may need to take a step back from events in order to really see. The Sabian for the Sun reads like a high-falutin’ version of this post: ‘The Transmutation Of The Fruits Of Past Experiences Into The Seed-Realizations Of The Forever Creative Spirit’. So, said either way, we are seeing a point of readiness, one that generates tomorrow.

The Aries ‘I Am’ coalesces under the Full Moon influence; what we are becomes apparent, what we have to work with at a personal level is clear, and what action to take, or role to play, sits before us, a product of the healing we have undergone, found by acute attention to our feeling state, ready for us to embrace.

23 September 2018 Rectangles, Triangles

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‘Jaune Rouge Bleu’ (Yellow Red Blue) 1925 By Wassily Kandinski {{PD}}

A Mystic Rectangle is formed by the Nodal axis (NN in Leo, SN in Aquarius along with Mars and Black Moon Lilith), and Sun-Mercury opposed Chiron-Earth-Hygeia. We saw this one coming, right? We could feel a sort of inevitability to this configuration, the implication that actions in the past denied or ignored will be revealed, communicated, and healed–all good, right? The time has come.

There’s also a Grand Trine of Juno, Sun-Mercury, Mars-South Node. Again, empowerment comes from seeing, communicating, accepting actions taken in the past, or arising from the past but happening now. Add to this the Uranus trine to Vesta, and Merc’s square to Saturn; taking an original tack that honors our highest values, and being aware that realities may present obstacles or real-world contradictions to plans, and we have a clear mandate: do what’s right, do what’s best.

22 September 2018 Radical, Sacred Thought

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Notice the butterfly-like wings peeking out from behind Psyche. ‘The Abduction of Psyche; 1895 By William-Adolphe Bouguereau {{PD}}

We may have some very ‘unhealthy’  or contrary thoughts, but how are we going to respond to them? Will we refuse to question our own assumptions, insisting that our ideas and assertions are sacred, not to be modified even one iota despite intellectual recognition that they are ‘out there’? As our attention turns toward partnership, toward sharing and healing, we’d be smart to accept the unusual quality of our ideas at this time, to exploit them for their originality, their ability to help us innovate and invent, their capacity both to help us express the uniqueness of our individual natures and to help us fit in with or contribute to ‘the group’. We can be wonderful, radical butterflies right now, if we recognize the ephemeral character of what occurs, and the beauty and creativity available if we are flexible enough to take it in, to modify our viewpoint. A special kind of day, one where we can celebrate our uniqueness, if we’ll only open to it. (T-square Mercury opp Hygeia, both square Vesta, Merc also qnx Uranus, Neptune nov SN, Sun enters Libra and opp Chiron)

Today’s word image is just a word: ‘incorrigible’. The basic definition in adjectival form is, ‘(of a person or their tendencies) not able to be corrected, improved, or reformed.’ I’ve always heard the word used in a cutesy way, applied to someone behaving badly that the speaker doesn’t want to punish or judge, but to instead implicate is unchangeable, being themselves, a ‘boys will be boys’ attitude that removes responsibility for behavior and choices from the individual and places it within their nature, as if the characteristics displayed are inevitable parts of the Being, and so must be accepted. Of course, we have a version of this travesty of co-dependent excuse-making playing out before us right now with Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh and his supporters responding to sexual assault accuser, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. We may be looking at the battle between Zeus and Pluto in Cardinal square with Kavanaugh’s defenders–ambition and power so ravenous they actually work against each other, revealing the naked desire to obliterate the Truth in favor of bestowing unquestioned power and reach, seeing their desires as sacred. Is there someone like this in your life, someone who thinks their egregious behavior is simply a reflection of their superiority, their right? There’s an old retort I’d like to put to Kavanaugh and his ilk: ‘Have you no shame?’ The answer, apparently, is no, they don’t.

21 September 2018 Eye On The Prize

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Beautiful rendering of a human eye. Essia dkhili Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Today Mercury enters Libra and burrows briefly (and is joined by the Sun shortly thereafter, with Merc’s stay in the config lasting through the 23rd) into a T-square by opposing Chiron-Hygeia and squaring Vesta-Saturn. Our focus may move to what others are doing and how unhealthy that is, especially if we feel they are wounding us. We tell ourselves we’re just trying to be good partners, but the reality is we’re upset because they’re not doing ‘it’ our way–and we may pull indignation, righteousness, and tradition out of our bag, hoping to force their cooperation (or, of course, others may do that to us). But, our salvation comes in applying our effort and attention on attaining our own goals, on fulfilling ambitions, rather than in changing others. This approach grounds us, and asks us to concentrate on manifesting our skills, doing what we’re here to do (whether we are consciously aware of this role/ mission, or not). This is our best response as Merc contra-parallels Pallas, which may have the effect of thoroughly separating reasoning from what we know to be wise or practical–and yet, a trine to Juno from Merc and the Sun means we can see how to get control of the situation, how to make it work for us: eye on the prize, that’s how.

To D.M., who wrote to me privately: no worries, I don’t mind the questions, and I’m happy to explain: I take into account the overall picture in my analysis; in my view it’s unnecessary to list everything in effect, in part because my focus is on what will change for us, and in part because lists of aspects can be misleading, inviting people to over-interpret (that is, look for aspects to directly describe everything, a focus that encourages people to sort and see things separately, discouraging a holistic view and so discouraging comprehensive understanding), or inviting readers to think the answers lie in the aspects–technically they lie in the interpretation and synthesis of the aspects, which is why my time and energy go there, and is presumably why readers come here. That’s the Art of Astrology, and why being armed with a list of aspects doesn’t make someone an astrologer, or even aware of how those aspects are affecting their lives.

(Also perfecting today: Pallas nov Zeus, Sun trine Juno)

Julie Demboski's ASTROLOGY

Addressing the Individual Experience Within the Universal Truth

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