Pelion Direct: Peaking Ahead

Pakistan's K2 is the second highest peak in the world, after Mount Everest

(photo credit: Maria Ly, August 2010)

Depending on whether your chart reacts to 14 Aries, my telling you that asteroid Pelion is going direct at 14 Aries on the day after the Sun enters Capricorn may get a big shrug…or a gasp.

Let’s put it this way. If you have a planet, node or axis (vertical or horizontal) point between 9 and 19 degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn (speaking of Capricorn)…OR between 12 and 16 degrees of Scorpio, Virgo, Pisces or Taurus, the days between December 20th and 24th may be a bit of a headache.

Those in the Aries or Libra bucket are likely to feel put upon or challenged. (I say growl early, avoid the crowds.) Those of you with positions triggered in either Cancer or Capricorn will do well to bear in mind what you’re doing, why you’re doing it and that the higher the quality, the more secure the result and eventually, the better the reward.

Pisces and Taurus people are likely to get all the put-upon-ness of the Aries and Libra group with a sprinkle of feeling personally offended on top. And for those in Pelion’s Virgo or Scorpio station sights, undoubtedly you didn’t need things to be more complicated, any harder or in general, so trying.

The reason for all this is the fact that asteroid Pelion is going direct on December 22nd at 14 Aries (which you may have already figured out). Pelion represents all the challenge, all the feelings of possibility and yet all the understanding that there’s a ‘hard road ahead’ which we might feel if we saw a great mountain in the distance and knew we were going to have to climb it.

Are there no ‘easy ways out’ here? Well, there might be. It’s to be supposed that if you have a natal Pelion conjunct a well placed, well graced Saturn, you’re good at mammoth tasks. Or maybe you have Pelion natively conjunct a favorably placed Mars in Aries or Capricorn. In that case, we’d pick you out to be someone who thinks those who quail at the thought of climbing Everest with no practice, no climbing gear, no oxygen and no Sherpas are just Class A wimps.

Or maybe you’re the person who has already conquered their challenges? That’s possible too. Pelion changing direction appears to be a marker. It tells us we’re facing up to something, taking it on, or recognizing we’ve ‘done it’ and can now move on.

The actual date of the station/direct moment being December 22nd, this also comes a day after the Sun’s Capricorn ingress – which we talked about in the previous post. It’s a whole interesting moment of time, which you may be able to better understand with one of my handy-dandy little diagrams…

The idea which seems most important to this moment is that the Sun’s Capricorn ingress falls before Pelion goes direct. Astrological logic suggests this means there’s a greater chance that the “Pelion effect” (the challenge, whatever that may be) lies ahead. And since the indicator is not just the Sun but the Sun AND Agamemnon going retrograde…there would seem to be a likelihood that what lies ahead either needs you to ‘steel yourself’ to doing something, or that you are going to have to deal with some “pre-determined idea” (Agamemnon) that you have had, or some sort of resolve you need to develop going forward – or in order to go forward.

For some of us, this will just be ‘getting through the holidays’ and all the usual heaving of the sigh as we strap on our mental snowshoes and trot over hill, over dale to grandma’s house while toting buckets of goodies, edible and otherwise.

For others, this is a time, a season, a period when you are realizing that what was, was…and that you really need to turn over a new leaf or tackle that huge challenge (problem? task?) which needs to get done, dealt with, sorted through or otherwise made (Capricorn) enduringly functional.

Or at least more functional.

Any other year I’d vote for this just being a seasonal ‘in with the new, out with the old’ sort of thing, whether it applies to the holidays, to relationships, to your career or cleaning out the garage. But this year being the year of the Mayan calendar renewal, what with that chiming a reminder that the Ages they are a’changing (can you imagine what Bob Dylan singing astrology would sound like?)…never mind my glibness, but this does seem to be a time when a lot of ‘old’ thoughts, old stances, old habits, old whatevers are going by the wayside. I know people who are changing entire careers. I know people who are leaving marriages.

I’ll bet you know of such situations as well.

We all know of countries which are struggling with the changing of not just regimes, but entire ways of living, being, thinking of their national identities. And sometimes those ‘worldly’ images are the best to focus on because they give us the “macro” picture which we’re each living out on a “micro” level in our own way.

If you’re traveling during this time (which considering the holidays, is likely) Pelion going direct sounds at least like it’s a “big deal” – which could mean any number of things.

But all is not yet over. In fact, looking ahead at next week’s astro-doings, without getting into that too much (what, and spoil all the end-of-December fun?) this seems to be a period which asks us to do what we do well because it will set a tone and a pace for us to roll ahead into 2013 with.

Capricorn is always about ‘the quality of the thing.’ Pelion going direct in Aries tells us that greater effort or quality or use of our qualities (conscious attention) is upon us…and ahead of us. Any symbol going direct means we can ‘do’ the thing or have life (ahem!) “prompt” us with situational interactions which require that attribute – in this case, the willingness to do what’s required.

Pelion in Aries is a very personal form of challenge. It is about who we are and whether we are willing to take on being all that we are with an understanding that what we are and what we do (Aries is an action-oriented sign) has consequences. It has implications. It affects other people, and those other people can have an effect on us.

But it’s all part of a dawning, growing process. Those who think of the end of the “Mayan Calendar” (which is actually just a cycle within the greater whole of the Mayan Long Count) as cataclysmic are likely to be disappointed. But that’s part of the challenge when looking at ancient texts. Their use of the word ‘world’ often doesn’t mean what it’s come to mean in modern times. Back when scriptures far and wide were being written, humans didn’t even know Earth was a planet zooming through space. The term ‘world’ to them, was still greatly about understanding what it meant to be a human being and dealing with survival.

Tibet's Mount Kailash is one of the sacred mountains of Hinduism, a religion which (like Buddhism) dates back to 5,000 BCE (plus), giving us a serious perspective on where spiritual thoughts come from, how long mankind has been struggling to understand life and existence, and how important it well may be to know when and how our eternal quests are colored by the old and when they should be seen through the lens of modern life.

(photo credit: Heringf, February 2006)

Just as unfortunately, there are many among us who still deal with survival in this day as well. So the term ‘world’ can mean many things to us. It can be something which is global, even militaristic.

And it can also be about that world we exist in personally. It can be about who we are and what we conceive of ourselves in our own head, or as one person living among others.

What we don't do any more is think of life in as limited terms as the Maya did. While its entirely possible that their metaphysical grasp on time and existence surpassed ours, their ability - the tools, the knowledge, the technology we take for granted have totally transformed the sense of the word 'world' since the day of the Maya.

And still...when you get right down to it, the more we learn about the universe and what it means to exist, the more life is brought into focus as a matter of perspective. 

Sometimes just gaining that perspective can be the greatest challenge of all. So whatever your challenges are, expect them to evolve now...and here's to having the confidence and the courage to be the person who tackles and carries through on whatever your challenges may be!
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