The 10th sees Ceres enter Cancer and our thinking runs up against a brick wall; we become obsessed with having power over (that is, having control, or having a significant say in the action involving) what we care about. This may feel instinctual and so right, but what we need to do is stop and measure the validity of our own feelings, in terms of whether they entitle us to have our way in others’ lives. Do we have the right to oversee, command, require, or even give a nudge? Our values, and our sense of our own empowerment, are off the mark today. Let’s conclude with a quote from Carl Jung: “Where love rules, there is no will to power; and where power predominates, there love is lacking. The one is the shadow of the other.”
I’ve always wanted to stay in this ice hotel, built yearly near the village of Jukkasjärvi, Kiruna, Sweden. By Stephan Herz (User:Stephan_Herz) – Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=485118
Today’s word image is an ice-maker that stops making ice in the summer heat. Well that’s inconvenient. What thing have you become so used to that you see it as a necessity, that really isn’t? Keeping perspective about need vs. want is important today.
Louis Léopold Boilly – ‘Conversation dans un parc’ 1812 {{PD}}
What does Ceres have to do with health?
In mythology Ceres’ Greek predecessor, Demeter, was goddess of Nature, abundance, and the fruits of the Earth, but by the time she reached Rome and her current name and form, she was decidedly more tame: a goddess of agriculture, of Nature that’s been shaped and subjugated to man. That suggests that in modern conception she may deal with the balance of the body and its vulnerabilities to natural elements, of being overwhelmed from without (drowning, buried in a landslide, struck by lightning, for instance, or from things like allergens and starvation) and from within by invasion (of germs, viruses, bacteria, fungi). She doesn’t offer a total picture of health in the natal scenario or by transit, but does speak of certain conditions one may be prone to, or illnesses susceptible to, aside from her other meanings: a sense of personal power and authority, a maternal interest in others (which can easily tip into a controlling one), territoriality, and negotiation.
Romantic poet Percy Shelley (4 August 1792 10 PM Horsham England) was just coming up on a Lunar Return in Pisces the day he drowned in a boating accident (8 July 1822 Lerici Italy). He has Ceres natally conjoined the Sun, Venus, Pallas, and Uranus in Leo in the Whole Sign 4th (and though Juno’s close enough to the Sun, it’s too wide for Ceres, in my opinion); Ceres is also opposed Pluto and quincunx the natal Moon and Sedna in Pisces. Already we can see that Ceres was a vital part of the life, and so of the death as well. In the context of the drowning event, the natal scenario suggests sudden accidents (Uranus) based on unwise decisions (Pallas–staying on the water despite the storm) activated the Self-destruction he had always been conscious of, and perhaps at times had to fight (Sun opp Pluto), with Ceres’ involvement implicating the elements, the weather, even potentially activating an emotional attachment to the water, and a need to adjust (the quincunx) to prevent getting lost in it! (the Pisces Moon)
The Cremation of Percy Bysshe Shelley, by Louis Édouard Fournier
On the day he died, Shelley’s Ceres was contacted exact by degree by the transiting South Node, suggesting a ‘pull back’ to a previous (pre-birth?) state; t Ceres was opposed natal Mercury in the 5th=the elements literally in opposition to the lung function; t Merc was conjoined n Chiron in Cancer in the 3rd of lungs, breathe=water water everywhere, water that injures; t Mars was conjoined the n NN, spurring actions and choices that take one into the future; and t Earth sextiled the n Moon-Sedna, forming the base of a Finger of God with apex n Ceres-Pallas=here’s a recipe for the environment ganging up with instincts and emotions to prompt that natal judgment of Nature. Shelley may have believed he was very practical (Pallas) in his relationship to the elements and the natural world (Ceres), feeling that instinct (Sedna) and emotion (the Moon) would inform his choices. There’s a sense that he didn’t fear them, that instead the Pisces Sedna-Moon may have seen the obliteration threat of the natal Pluto opposition as a kind of Oneness with Nature–absorption rather than obliteration. Too, the transiting Sun had just run over his natal Black Moon Lilith=he may have been more than a little in the mood to explore the darkness.
To A Star
Sweet star, which gleaming o’er the darksome scene
Through fleecy clouds of silvery radiance fliest,
Spanglet of light on evening’s shadowy veil,
Which shrouds the day-beam from the waveless lake,
Lighting the hour of sacred love; more sweet
Than the expiring morn-star’s paly fires:–
Sweet star! When wearied Nature sinks to sleep,
And all is hushed,–all, save the voice of Love,
Whose broken murmurings swell the balmy blast
Of soft Favonius, which at intervals
Sighs in the ear of stillness, art thou aught but
Lulling the slaves of interest to repose
With that mild, pitying gaze? Oh, I would look
In thy dear beam till every bond of sense
Became enamoured–
That was definitely written by a guy with Sun-Venus-Ceres-Pallas-Uranus conjoined, all opposed by Pluto!
Synchronicities
Synchronicities have been everywhere lately–have you noticed that for you, too? Those little mentions or phrases or events or people that grab your attention simply by the unlikely way they’re brought into one’s compass repeatedly within a short period. To my mind that signals we’re in a kind of flow, that attunement to the optimum vibrational level for you is very close to perfect–and that implies intuition is sharp and accessible, that information is yours to pluck right out of the air, that you can ‘know’ without anyone telling you. Though our tendency is to breeze through these interludes, to remark ‘Isn’t that strange?’ when we hear the same song or its lyrics or mention of the singer in every store and elevator and TV show and conversation we’re exposed to the entire weekend, and at the same time to be very focused consciously on the here-and-now, what we really need to do is pause; this is a point when we are cruising along with a lot of our perceptual abilities working below the surface, and we can see the world very clearly, if we are willing to. We can get our questions answered, if we’ll only stop looking out, and take a moment to look within.
Carl Schweninger the Younger ‘Not Willing’ 19th century {{PD}}
rejecting a Gemini man
Are you thinking there’s some magic word (he’s a Gemini, after all) that will make him take it well, not make a fuss, even see it as a gift? There’s not, and it’s likely that if he senses you are trying to out think him (by manipulating or being one step ahead, the latter of which you automatically are if you know something–that you intend to reject him–that he doesn’t) he’ll be very resentful, indeed. Geminis are highly focused on thinking, processing info, communicating, networking–so he may already be aware, whether it’s through the grapevine or through reading your body language and tone in previous encounters, that you aren’t interested. That puts you in a precarious position: if he does know and he’s still coming at you, he’s forcing you to say it outright, and if he doesn’t know, he’s going to feel especially upset that he didn’t parse it out ahead of time (it’s a Gemini thing–they always think they should’ve known!) All you can do, really, is send a clear, consistent, and polite message through every pore of your Being and, obviously, word spoken: no thank you. Problems will only arise if you’ve been ambivalent in your feelings or in your behavior, wrongly believing that will ‘let him down easy’ (and if so I bet you’re horoscope is chock full o’ Water signs). Come clean without engaging in any way that sends the wrong (that is, an enmeshed behavioral or contradictory) message, and it should go fine–the last thing you want to do, and he wants to feel you’ve done, is mislead him.
‘The View at Lacroma’ Emilie Mediz-Pelikan 1901 {{PD}}
Today’s perfection of the Vesta-Pallas square, though ostensibly of minor significance, actually clues us in to something important: a current, standing conflict between our highest values and what we know to be wise. That puts us in a terrible spot: do we choose to honor what we find sacred, what we dedicate our life energy to, what we care for most, including home and mate, or do we do the smart and practical thing, the thing we know will be the wise choice? Both asteroids are at 29 degrees of their respective signs, and that means stress; we also know that Pallas in Sag will be oriented toward facts and knowledge, and will have a far-sighted outlook, while Vesta in Pisces will, if we honor our highest values, also honor our dreams, our creative nature, and our ideals.
Maybe we should go at this another way; we can consider each side by what it might cost not to get it. The wise choice is likely also the safe choice, but may be stodgy or fail to honor our standards. If we embrace what’s wise, we may lose the dream, but if we grab for our ideals we may end up with an impractical or foolish alternative. Serving the wise and practical Pallas choice will make sense, but serving the Vestal ideals will open creative options, though these options could prove untenable or illusory, and so leave us in a very impractical position. Of course, for each person the issue will present differently, and there is no right answer–but we might ask why this is even an issue in the first place.
This may be a signal that what is smart under present conditions and circumstances is in conflict with our deepest convictions and values because these matters have somehow drifted an unreasonable distance apart. Honoring what’s most important to us, what we find sacred, shouldn’t make it difficult for us to act wisely–but if it does, either our values need revision, so that they accurately reflect our circumstances (a mobster, for instance, would have a tough time honoring an ideal of non-violence), or our circumstances must be altered so that they support the highest values (we can’t continue to be a furrier if our ideal is to see animal goods removed from the marketplace).
There is one other aspect perfecting today, a Ceres trine to the North Node, with both at 00 of their signs. The more Self-possessed we are, the more clear on our priorities, boundaries, responsibilities, and abilities, the more easily we shape our life direction. If we can connect to that elemental power, we may not have to worry so much about what’s wise vs. what’s valued–it may naturally just shake itself out.
‘Demeter/ Ceres Mourning Persephone/ Proserpina’ Evelyn de Morgan 1906 {{PD}}
17 August the Sun conjuncts Ceres. This is a spotlight trained on our relationship with nature, with our children or those we hold dominion over (as in the role of boss, for instance, or in more subtle ways, such as when we are a customer and a server is dependent on us for their tip, though just as easily we are dependent on the server), and gives us a clear sense not only of what power we naturally hold, but of the power we might hold in future, as well. This also puts issues of diet, particularly of those items that affect us badly, in focus–and if you happen to be in an agriculture, child-care, or nutrition-related business, this is the time to do a thorough inventory and re-assess needs and plans in light of the current situation. An enlightening day, in many ways–keep your eyes (and your senses!) open.
‘A Mad Tea Party’ One of a series of brilliant illustrations Arthur Rackham 1907 {{PD}}
The 21st of September is a rough day for successful communication: Mercury sesquiquadrates Sedna, suggesting that much of what’s communicated is done without any awareness of what’s truly shared, and the Sun-Earth axis creates a T-square with Ceres, making for an ongoing atmosphere of tension between those who believe they should hold power and command, and the material reality, ‘what is’.
On the 22nd:
Void begins at 11:07 AM PDT; the Moon enters Capricorn at 12:21 PM PDT.
Immediately the Moon creates a T-square with the Sun-Earth axis and sextiles Neptune. We could feel put on the spot, facing a bit of a crisis, and creativity, imagination, or some careful dissembling (not lying, exactly, more like diplomatically avoiding the hard-line Capricorn reality) may be the way out. Keep in mind that just because someone applies pressure, it doesn’t mean we are under some kind of obligation to respond to it.
And the 23rd promises:
The Sun in Libra wants to co-operate, to shine a light on what may be deceptive, hidden in fog, mysterious, illusive, imaginative, creative, dreamlike–and Neptune will have none of it, pulling his Piscean curtain of fog and mirrors and video installations and shimmery, shiny things even tighter. This may feel like, hard as we try to see the facts, the ‘Truth’, or how to assemble the creative alternative, we may be left with little concrete or understandable to grasp. It all may feel a little ‘Alice in Wonderland’.
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Somehow I can't imagine Juno would approve of this: a peacock served in full plumage, detail from Brueghel's 'The Senses of Taste, Hearing, and Touch' 1618 {{PD-Art}}
Or maybe that’s ‘Let me tell you what to eat!’ Ceres doesn’t give up her sense of authority and dominion just because the material comforts and conditions are emphasized; instead, she feels them more. Her role as Mother Nature is key to her reactions and identity as she transits the sign of the bull; she translates her command of nature into a command of those over whom she feels she holds authority, and the result can be an unreasonable push by some to control the intake, output, and asset-level of others. You’ll recall that Ceres took her maternal oversight very seriously, literally negotiating daughter Proserpina/ Persephone’s position in the Underworld–and that means she won’t hesitate to overstep personal boundaries to try to control the situation.
There’s an advantage to her relationship with nature, though, that brings forward an enjoyment of the material during her transit of Taurus; the comforts and pleasures of physical existence are brighter, stronger, tastier, more pungent, fragrant, stimulating, and as a consequence of the world feeling so real and in your facewe may feel alive in a way we haven’t for some time. This coincides with a relatively warm spring in the Northern Hemisphere, which may exaggerate the effect for those who are able to get out and about in the sunshine.
It’s time to plant (don’t be too tied to the Moon phases–they seem to affect growth rates more than anything else, though I would avoid planting or transplanting in the Dark of the Moon–we must remain aware of the pull of the Lunar orb, and the way she symbolizes progression, and so growth); it’s also time to create, especially with Ceres kicking off her transit of Taurus with a first aspect of sextile to Neptune. This will enhance imagination and inspiration, and give even the dullest of us some truly fertile creative material and some unique, nature-keyed inspiration 🙂
If you have natal placements in Taurus you’ll likely take on a Ceres-type persona as she contacts the body or point; if you have natal placements in Scorpio, as Ceres makes opposition contact you may find yourself up against a Ceres-embodying individual, and in this latter instance, whatever you do, don’t attempt to negotiate–Ceres can’t be beat in the hammering-out-a-compromise department. In square by transit to a natal placement, Ceres may present us with a conflict via temptation: we may be drawn away from appropriate expression of the contacted energy with the promise (or mirage) of sensual comforts or delights.
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Ceres, an allegory of August, fresco by Cosme Tura c1480 {{PD-Art}}
7:30 AM PDT the Virgo Moon opposes Ceres in Pisces; here we have two sets of feeling, nurturing, and maternally-keyed energies facing off against each other–and this could prove to be an incredibly rough showdown. One side (Ceres) clearly will feel it has the advantage of authority, whether that is conferred through age, position, status, or is primal (Mom!) while the other side (Moon) will be all-feeling and perhaps intuitively already privy to what the other side wants to share or state–yet feels vulnerable, as what opposes inherently carries power (or at least, presents resistance and a differing point of view) over the individual or side that is ‘junior’ (the Moon) in some way. This can also be a clash of maturity, where the over reaching of boundaries on the one side clashes with a recently developed Self-possession on the other.
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Here’s what I said about this conjunction in the newsletter: “Earth also conjuncts Ceres today, suggesting that we should keep all our dealings strictly material today–if you can’t weigh it, hold it in your hand, or point to it in the physical world, then leave it be.” I’d add to this a little admonition as to what to do: imagine the authority you want to hold, visualize the territory you want to declare your own, commune with the elements of nature to connect yourself to natural flow that will pull what you want to you. I know we’re probably trying to do this every day; this is a day when the Universe won’t just be available to us, she will open her arms and welcome us into her energy stream, nurture us, and ‘feed’ us what we ask for and need, like any good mother will
Bierstadt 1886 'Storm in the Rocky Mountains' {{PD-Art}}
Here are the two most exciting Lunar periods for the 25th; since one is very early, I thought I should publish early, so you can take full advantage of it.
3 AM is the Moon’s sextile to Venus; Venus is in her dignity (a sign she rules) and the Moon is in the sign of Venus’ exaltation–is this meaningful? Perhaps only in that the energies are especially open to each other; the flow of emotional perceptions and intuition keyed to the Collective, the Universe, and the creative depths (Pisces) moves easily into relationship matters, the attaining of assets, especially those that comfort (Taurus), and into artistic endeavors, particularly those of an artisanal or crafts nature. This is the energy US East Coasters and Midwesterners start their day with, doubling the effect and allowing them to extend the effect; they ‘carry it with them,’ so to speak, as the energy that launches our day can linger, influencing our mentality and approach. Poor West Coasters! This happens when most are sleeping–but early risers catch the tail end and ride it out. A beautiful opportunity–make the most of it.
1 PM Pacific the Moon conjuncts Ceres in Pisces, bringing two strong female symbols together. Intensely felt intuition and even stronger instincts (Ceres) are tuned to nature (Ceres) and the Collective/ Universe (Pisces). This is an almost magical window for the anima in us all; an immense knowing is possible, one where the intuition and all instincts align and can tell us anything about the natural world, or the other Beings in it, we’d like to know. Also hugely healing, and powerful for all female related functions: reproduction, nurture, receptivity–open to the Universe and go with it!
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'Mother and Child' by Corke-Photo from 1912 RPS Exhibition
Through the 18th the Moon makes a handful of sextiles, nothing of real influence. It isn’t until 6 PM Pacific that the Moon makes significant contact, a square to Ceres; this, though, may be monumental. The emotions and/ or intuition are faced with a very strong authority, perhaps maternal, perhaps something resulting from previous negotiations, or maybe Mother Nature Herself. It seems our emotional needs are at odds with something that is essentially a fact of life (or at least, a fact of our lives!) This may be something of a shock; the Ceres energy in this equation is Piscean, and so seems to be everywhere and contain everything–we can end up feeling we’ve been left out of the Collective (which of course can’t happen–but these are feelings!) We need to be very clear about the rights of this Ceres-figure–is the disputed territory actually Hers to control, or is She overstepping Her bounds? Determine this and you’ll know how to behave in this situation.
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