Sedna and Ceres Direct

Adapted from 'Castle Fairy Tale'

by Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurtionis (1909)

Sometimes when astrological events pile up it seems like too much to write about. But that’s the point: sometimes there are many things going on in life. Or which we need to consider. Sometimes it means we’re just busy, busy, busy. And with Jupiter just having come off station in early Gemini, choosing what to do and having (and carrying through on)  priorities may be your challenge.

But when many signals go off at once, that can also indicate things coming together. Or a complex situation which has many facets which is challengingly difficult to think through.

So Jupiter just stationed and went direct in Gemini: that means life is going to prompt us to think, and that our choices need to be made thoughtfully. Since Jupiter is in a sign of its detriment, we have to be careful about overstepping our bounds. Or clinging to ideas which don’t work. Or even offending others in ways we’ll pay for later.

We also know that Saturn is sitting at 11 Scorpio, the degree it will go retrograde at come mid-February and the degree of the yet-to-come November 2013 solar eclipse. This is handwriting on the celestial wall telling us that this is an important time. We can build for the future, or we can limit ourselves by not being willing to ‘risk’ our own opinion of Self (or reputation with others) even where we know at some level that we’re on a wrong track.

Then there’s the fact that Venus has just entered Aquarius and Mars has just slid into Pisces, which by any estimation is a need to consider the ‘greater aspect’ of any situation.

And now we come to dwarf planet Sedna and Ceres, an asteroid which with about 3% of the entire mass of the whole asteroid belt to call its own is being considered for dwarf planet status.

Dwarf planets seem to be getting something of a Rodney ‘I get no respect’ Dangerfield treatment in a goodly portion of the astrological world. But that makes no sense, considering the inordinate symbolic power attributed to dwarf planet Pluto.

Whatever Ceres is, whether it’s a dwarf planet or “just” 3% of the total mass of the asteroid belt, it seems to be a pretty potent object – and one which is a good deal closer to us than either Jupiter or Saturn.

So what is Ceres? Often thought of as simply as a harvest goddess and another form of Virgo, the stories of Ceres and the historical Roman-era regard for Ceres translates to a metaphysical meaning which at its most basic can be summed up as “planning” and all it takes to create and carry through on a plan.

(Does anybody else think this echoes the whole Jupiter-in-Gemini theme?)

And as a matter of fact, Ceres is going direct in Gemini, a fact I’m sure you’ll be oh-so delighted to know.  

Does this tell us we should be very careful about how we think and the considerations we bring to any plan? Probably. It could also be telling us that this is a time when our (Jupiter/Ceres) attention is going to focus on how thinking (or not thinking) affects us. Even how our willingness or unwillingness to think through how the thought process works affects our lives.

The Ceres of Mérida, a marble statue from the 1st century CE

(photo credit: Oscar Marin Repoller, December 2010)

Is this a reference to mental health? Social allegiance? Education? Considering Gemini’s association with transportation and everyday life, is this a call for community planning? More attention to planes, trains and automobiles (throw in bikes, horses and tanks if you like)…and all the many ways we move or transport information, such as mail, phone, fax, email, the internet, newspapers, media…and so on, including all the machinery, power and infrastructure which keeps all that stuff in motion?

(See? I told you this could be complicated!)

Then there’s Sedna. (Go ahead, groan.) Dwarf planet Sedna wanders through space so far, far away from us that it takes some eleven thousand (plus) years to go once around the Sun. It’s pretty darn lonely out there, and just that should alert us to Sedna as representing – at all levels – the idea of ‘being alone.’

On one hand that can represent the ‘aloneness’ of being a mature adult. (Oh, don’t we HATE that?)

On the other hand, that ‘being alone’ can represent alienation, either our being alienated from our Self in some way, or a person who is alienated from their family or society…and everything which goes with same.

Sedna is going direct at 22 Taurus, a degree which being part of the 3rd decanate of a sign (i.e., in a degree between 20 and 29) means the ‘turn of Sedna events’ will now center on a.) things we don’t control, seeing as the 3rd decanate always represents external activities or input…and b.) things which will prompt each one of us to let go of whatever immature impulses we may be harboring.

Together, this Ceres-in-Gemini and Sedna-at-22-Taurus makes me think of the actions of people in need. And people who feel marginalized or ignored, whether in reality or through some internal (mental) mechanism. On a global or national level, this could mean this will be a time when matters of elitism and the effects of poverty or being ignored will come up for discussion. PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is another issue which is current in the social consciousness (Venus in Aquarius) and by nature defined by Sedna/Taurus alienation/’threat’ to security, whether in the individual or through some individual to society. In fact, with Jupiter and Ceres in Gemini against Sedna’s turn to direct in Taurus, this would be a time which may challenge all of us to (Gemini) think through what our (Taurus) values really are – and why we (Gemini) think they really matter.

Then again, maybe this is about food, since Taurus has a definite connection to food, particularly the commercial food chain, including restaurants, distributors and such. And when we get into anything which is a 'chain' or about consumers (literal or figurative!) we are in part discussing the Gemini theory of timeliness, how to get from here-to-there and all the steps which guarantee success, which in the case of food would of course be food safety and ingredients and packaging and all that.
 
Maybe we’re right, maybe we’re wrong. But with Ceres and Sedna going direct on Monday, February 4th at just around 8:30 in the morning (UT/+0), we’ll do well to be aware that their stations begin on Saturday, February 2nd. And with all the overlapping energetics, maybe even Friday 1st.

On the other side of the Monday station/direct moment, these effects will certainly extend through the 6th, and maybe even February 7th – that being because Mercury represents some piling on (otherwise known as complications) as it moves into Pisces on Tuesday, February 5th.

Does Venus moves into Aquarius (squaring Sedna but trining Ceres by sign) indicate a reluctance to change? Or maybe a recognition that Aquarian equality or universality of some sort is the thing to plan for and aim at? Will some claim inconvenience or that ‘it can’t be done’ as an indication that they’re unwilling to alter some status quo for some reason?

A Roman Fresco of Venus and Mars from the

Casa di Marte e Venere in Pompeii, Italy

In sextiling Sedna by sign while squaring Jupiter and Ceres from Pisces indicate a Mars sort of ‘giving up’ or convictions being overwhelmed or even given up on creating some sort of alienated hopelessness?

Is this all about some (station) event which will stir the social conscience or beleaguer some societal structure? It could be. But it could just as easily represent a time when we realize a gap between what we are doing (or have been doing) and what we optimally could be doing – and maybe need to start doing.

That Sedna is conjunct the lunar South Node as it goes direct lends a lot of ‘weight’ to what everyone conceives of as their ‘status quo,’ whether that’s financial or moral or ethical or situational. Ordinarily, one would simply say that this is a sign that sitting on one’s tuffet (with or without curds and whey). Especially with Sedna/South Node (the South Node being the ‘easy thing to do’) being conjunct Algol (a reactive response based on personal desire) we would think those who are comfortably entrenched are just going to stay entrenched, wherever their entrenchment may be.

However! Atropos – the Greek fate of ‘endings’ (literally the ‘cutting of the thread’) is conjunct Algol. So this may be an ‘end’ to some sort of stonewalling or resistance.

In astrology, one of the ways you figure out what means what is you construct what is known as a ‘chain of disposition.’ That means, if I want to know more about a planet (or dwarf planet or star) in Taurus, I look to see where the ruler of Taurus (Venus) is.

We know that Venus will be moving into Aquarius as of early in the wee hours on Saturday, February 2nd. But it isn’t until February 4th that Venus is joined in Aquarius by Medusa, the asteroid which represents all those things we’re scared really might be true…because if they are, we really need to stop behaving like a gorgon!

The combination here tends to make an intriguing sort of statement about how some folks may now change their minds or positions because they’re afraid of what not changing will do to them.

And that brings up alienation of a whole different sort. Putting this most euphemistically, how do rats feel when one of their number deserts the sinking ship? Do they make fun of the departed rat until suddenly they’re up to their whiskers in sea water?

For that matter, how does a rat feel when with a seriously sinking feeling it recognizes the truth and deserts the duly-doomed ship? It’s leaving its rat pack behind. Does it feel all alone? Is it worried or guilty about leaving its rat pack behind to go down with all the fishes?

Okay…so that’s a cheesy comparison. But while you’re muttering dark utterances about my tendency to make bad jokes (and yes, I plead guilty as charged) there is a reality to the proposition here.

Is this a moment when a light will flash and everything will change? Probably not – that doesn’t seem to be how Sedna works. Remembering that Sedna takes over 11,000 years to go once around the Sun should tell us this is symbol of a quality which moves/develops slowly, over time. Considering that the last time Sedna was where it is today (by degree) the calendar read something like 9,000 BCE (give or take) and humankind was still wandering around in little bands, not having yet even figured out how to plant and harvest food…that says a lot.

We’ve come a long way. But there’s still a long way to go. And that’s really some good news. That there is more to do, more to learn and more to learn says we can make a better plan, become more productive, own up to our mistakes and in time, get where we all need to go - and want to be.
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