You Were Searching ...

Fixed star Alcyone as it appears in in the Pleiades Star Cluster

(photo credit: NASA, ESA, AURA/Caltech, Palomar Observatory, November 2009)

It being the end of this calendar year, I thought to write something a bit different ... something totally about you, the readers - and what’s been on your mind.

And how would I know what’s on your mind?

If you’re just a casual blog reader (which is to say, you’re someone who doesn’t write a blog) you may not know what goes on ‘behind the scenes.’ (And it’s certainly not necessary that you do!) But there are a few interesting noodles in that pot. For instance - when you set up a blog, not only do you get all the software tools needed to set up posts (or at least all the tools your blogging platform thinks you need) ... but at least at Blogger, you also get access to several pages of fairly non-exotic analysis reports.

Before you get worried, none of that data is at all specific. We-the-bloggers don’t know who you are, nor where any given comment is coming from.

But one thing they do give us is a list of search terms - you know, those things you type in your browser’s search bar which brings up the slew of options. Depending on what site you choose, a lot of those sites get ‘one liner’ lists of what you were searching for.

Yes, it’s data collection - if in this case (which is to say in the bloggers hands) harmless data collection ... unless you’re unhappy to know that from all I’ve seen it seems nobody uses capitals when they type a search string!

Anyway, those searches are the motivation for this post. I have a list of search terms and am just going to take a shot at answering or commenting on some of them. Who knows, this may even inspire some highly creative future search strings - to which point I have to warn you about one thing: Blogger (Google) only delivers about thirty characters (including spaces) ... which means a few of the missives I’ve collected got cut off, which is a shame as one or two of them looked intriguing.

But if you don’t know the question ... hey, it’s hard to write an answer.

Also - a little disclaimer here. Charts are a unified and connected set of factors: we are not solely our conscious (Sun) mind any more than we are fully defined by the (Mercury) way we speak, what (Venus) flavor of ice cream we prefer or what (Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, etc.) things have happened to us along the way.

That said, I do love your search terms. So let’s try this on with a first handful of search terms ...

Pholus in the 11th House Natal
Pholus is a centaur. So as with all centaur symbols, its effects are first and last about our ability to deal with our own emotionalism, particularly when we have (or have had) any amount of factual or intellectually based training which could (and which maybe should) be what we rely on as opposed to flying off the handle or otherwise throwing the calm-minded baby out with the hot (or at least overheated) ‘idea of the thing’ bath water.

Specific to Pholus, this centaur quandary becomes a choice: as we choose to not take some challenge on thoughtfully, we imbed ourselves in some position about what ‘should be,’ ‘should be done,’ or how things ‘should work.’ Yet in doing that, we limit our Self by choosing not to use some ability we have worked hard to learn. Were we not so wrapped up in some emotionally protective position (which can but doesn’t have to have anything to do with how truly important or not important the issue is) as to instinctually fall back into older habits we would recognize the thing we aren’t doing is more important or far-reaching than that which we are ‘sitting on’ (or holding on to).

And as in mythic terms, that bias itself is poisonous - at least in (or to) the moment.

Taking that to the eleventh house, adding in the house concept adds the issue of Pholus either as that which drives us to cling to or retreat from (or possibly wall out) some idea, person, group, organization or other ‘collective’ which we ‘belong to’ or are ‘seen as’ (social groups, our society, a company or business association, etc.), all of which have to do with ‘fitting in’ and/or being identified and/or rewarded for what you do as an individual. Given this, Pholus in the 11th can manifest as whatever those feelings are which prompt us to hang back in spite of our ability to do, help or connect with others - or with some challenge or situation.

Or it can be the experience of having others (those we want to connect to) refuse to help us or join in some cause which ultimately proves ‘fatal’ (not necessarily literal) to something or someone’s aim, belief or position. Pholus in the 11th can even point to attributes and ways in which we sabotage our Self by not bringing our best understanding or knowledge or ability to the table because we think there will be some advantage to us in hiding it. 

2017 Eclipse Area of Path
There will be two solar eclipses during the year 2017. The first one will be at 8 Pisces and the second will be at 28 Leo. Here are the eclipse maps:

Solar Eclipse of February 26, 2017 (UT/+0) at 8 Pisces ...

an Eclipse Map for the Solar Eclipse at 8 Pisces which will occur on

February 26, 2017 at 14:59 (2:59 p.m.) UT/+0

... and the Solar Eclipse of August 21, 2017 (UT/+0) at 28 Leo.

an Eclipse Map for the Solar Eclipse at 28 Leo which will take place on

August 26, 2017 at 18:31 (6:31 p.m.) UT/+0

Mars opposition Ixion
Without reciting the whole Ixion myth (a post on which you can read HERE), in short Ixion represents some lesson or standard that we don’t learn or refuse to accept or hold ourselves to which, after multiple incidences, ends badly (for us, that is).

With Mars in opposition, assertion, assertiveness, actions, anger and/or ‘injuries’ (however you see the term) becomes the means by which Ixion is ‘set off’ (i.e., triggered) - and that could be your action or anger triggering your own ‘I don’t care I want it anyway’ Ixion tantrum, it could be someone else triggering you, or it could be your choice to do or say things which triggers someone else.

If this is a natal chart placement, as with all natal placements it’s important to note the sign on the cusp of the houses Mars and Ixion are both placed in, and how well or unhappily the planets ruling those signs are in the given chart. If one of those rulers is well placed and the other is badly placed that will tend to ‘color’ this configuration either positively or negatively, and with Mars being a personal (self motivated) symbol and a planet (not an asteroid, not a dwarf planet - a full-fledged planet!) it is likely that any native with this placement is going to face issues about control, through how this manifests will be individual.

Wherever we see Ixion we are going to be prone to some degree of feeling helpless - at least now and again. Ixion’s placement (by house) also tends to say something about where we tend to not like having responsibility. The real positive of this type of configuration is that with Mars in opposition there is an in-built ability to govern the Self which is admirable and often successful even if others fail to flourish. But signs matter a lot here. Given that Ixion is currently in late Sagittarius and how Ixion moves rather at a similar rate as Pluto does we know that there are a lot of people with Ixion in Scorpio out there, and if Mars is in opposition to Ixion in Scorpio, that’s going to mean Mars is (in all likelihood) in Taurus - a position which in opposition to Ixion wouldn’t have Mars-the-Assertive in its most altruistic mode ... and which could easily result in displays of defensiveness which are not the act of the noble warrior defending others but much more about personal feelings of vulnerability.

Does the Alcyone Star Change Over Time
The nature of fixed stars as star symbols doesn’t change over time any more than the symbolic meaning of Venus changes as it moves from sign to sign or degree to degree. Astrology is in some ways very much like playing with a color wheel: if we think of Venus as yellow and it’s in some sign we think of as blue, the result is green - which differs from what we would get if (yellow) Venus was in a “red” sign, which would give us an “orange” result.

So no - the meaning of Alcyone, a star which is both a mystical influence and one which is connected to the ‘point’ of any choice (i.e., its result or consequence) plus whatever ‘judgments’ evolve from there, some of which are likely to be strict or restrictive in nature.

As for its rate of motion, Alcyone moves slowly from degree to degree as all stars do. Currently positioned at 0 Gemini, Alcyone reached that degree in 1999 and will remain positioned at 0 Gemini until the year 2070, lending to the Alcyone ‘nature’ some measure of 0 Gemini’s habit of starting on the ‘dark side’ (or in some sort of “negative mode”) before improvement occurs and a more productive/positive note is adopted at a (Gemini) thinking level - a quality those with natal points conjunct 0 Gemini (i.e., between 25 Taurus and 5 Gemini) probably know a good deal about!

Sexual Aquarius Man in Lilith
Apart from the fact that this search snippet sounds rather like a personals advertisement, I admit it - I’m perplexed as to how a man (or a woman, for that matter) can be “in” a celestial point, be that Lilith or anything else until there comes the day when humans are residing on asteroids - in which case, I suppose someone could live underground (rather like hobbits do) and thus they could be said to be living in Lilith.

File under: intriguing but unanswerable.

Venus is in 3 degrees of Libra
When I see a search term like this, I always wonder whether someone is trying to look up something in their own natal chart or if they’re trying to understand someone they like (and who they probably want to like them).

Be that as it may, this is Venus in one of its two signs of rulership - so this is Venus in a potent position by sign, whether or not that potential tends to play out well, or not so positively (that part of the question being answered by where Venus is in the chart, the ruler of the sign on the cusp of the house Venus is in and how Venus is aspected by other planets and things like the lunar nodes).

As for 3 Libra, this is a degree likely to exhibit some of the unique or “alternative” qualities we associate with Black Holes as there’s a giant Black Hole at 1 Libra, so don’t look for this Venus to manifest as marked preferences for the classic and traditional  unless everybody else is decidedly non-traditional. Beyond that, this is one of those Libra degrees which calls for connecting to that which is supportive without taking away the necessity to act, lest nothing happen. 

Handled properly and supported by the whole of a productive chart, 3 Libra (and thus Venus in 3 Libra) can be a signature of achievement and success ... it just doesn’t guarantee it.

Aries Nasty Facts
When I saw this search string I laughed. I so wasn’t sure whether someone was looking for information on what their flaws might possibly be ... or if they were looking to hassle some personally known Aries person.

In any case, let’s be honest here - every sign has a nasty underbelly. That’s just the nature of internal sign polarities just as it’s the nature of opposition sign polarities.

As for Aries specifics, if the positive is assertion, the negative is aggression, violence, anger and self-righteousness. If the positive is self-motivation and self-direction, the negative is bossiness and presumptive judgment directed at others.  Confidence is another Aries positive - and one which can be utterly drowned out by stunning displays of Aries ego or some tendency to indulge in ‘it’s all about me’ bragging.

Does Alex Miller Astrologist Use Fixed Stars?
Not that I remember. Alex and I haven’t caught up of late (which is to say I don’t know what it’s working on at the moment) but to my knowledge he works a great deal with ‘personal asteroids’ and galactics (black holes,quasars, masers, etc.) ... but I don’t recall Alex working much with fixed stars.

Orcus Represents Betrayal
Not exactly - except in the sense that Orcus starts as a representation of finality, specifically the type of finality we might associate with death, be it physical or the ‘death’ of faith in an idea, the ‘death’ of a relationship or some project - even the ‘death’ of a job.

If it’s over, in the moment when we recognize it’s over and not going to rise again, that’s when we are dealing with the Orcus dynamic, a quality and the experiencing or grasping what has been lost as we wonder about what lies ahead because of that. Just the process of facing what can’t be changed is Orcus, as is the realization about what having something ‘set in stone’ may be.

You know, the inevitable consequences ... the possible ripple effects ... and all those things which may (or are likely) to happen as a result of something we have chosen, done, committed ourselves to ... all such things are part and parcel of the Orcus Effect.

So ... does Orcus represent the act of betrayal? Not unless it applies to us - which is to say, not unless we believe we have betrayed our own purpose, beliefs or standards. Orcus is not the act per se, which is why it’s hard to associate Orcus with betrayal.

But dealing with the consequences of a betrayal? Realizing that you have been betrayed?

Yes, those would be Orcus-like ... or if I may be allowed to coin a term here, such moments would be Orcusonian.

What is the Venus of 9-15-1979
As of noon (UT/+0 time) on the indicated date, Venus was at 27 Virgo 45.

Do you need a complete chart? If so, there are websites listed in the sidebar where you can cast a horoscope for free.

Constellation Aries

 

4 Major Stars in Aries Constellation
Aries is generally known for three stars, all of which were originally used for navigation purposes. The brightest of the three is alpha Arietis or El-Nath, a star astrologers know as Hamal and which was involved in the April 2014 solar eclipse.

Beta Arietis (beta Aries) is a star known traditionally as Mesarthim or El-Scheratain. Said to have a Mars (plus) Saturn nature, this star is said to bring tough or hard/harsh results where there is a lack of thought or consideration of consequences.

Botein is a star known to astronomers as delta Arietis. Traditionally Botein is also known as Nir al Botain, a name which was brought into Latin as Lucida Ventris (meaning ‘the brightest of the belly’) which gives Botein an interesting association with 41 Arietis, an Aries star well known in Vedic and Chinese astrology (if not in western/tropical astrology) under the name Bharani.

The term ‘major’ stars may or may not apply here as none of these stars are (for instance) considered royal stars as Antares or Regulus is. But in the constellation of Aries these are the four stars which by and large come to the top of the astrologer’s list, so I hope this answers the search.

JSM Dancer - Who is Justsomemotion
To the question ‘who is he?,’ I have no answer other than the obvious: a very talented guy who has posted some dance videos on YouTube.

And yes, I wrote about JSM - in last year’s New Years Eve post, as it happens.

- link to post -

Product Astrology:

Justsomemotion(JSM) + YouTube

But as to your search? He’s not here. But because I’ve seen this question so many times I did go into the back of the blog and turned over a few digital rocks to check.

He didn’t appear, cleanly binary floor or no.

So sorry ... I can’t help with this one.

Gemini and Virgo Sexually
Apart from having to resist the urge to stick a comma into that search string, and though I will guess that the searcher was thinking in terms of Sun signs, the generics here really apply no matter what set of planets or points is applied.

First of all, Gemini and Virgo are two signs which are natively in square to each other, which astrologically speaks to two very different tendencies: that of bonding together as a team and that which we might think of as two cars arriving at an intersection at the same time with both drivers wanting to go first. And that this should be true with two signs which are both ruled by the same planet (Mercury) is one of those things which really underscores how important astrological qualities like element and modality really are.

Virgo is an earth sign: the Virgo energetic works through tangible drives and tangible results with a lot of ‘working with what we have or can get our hands on’ strung between. All things Virgo pertain to things which can be done in terms of how it’s done, inclusive of function, functionality and morality, though nothing about Virgo intrinsically says any of that has to be positive. (You might think that, but no ... it just isn’t so!)
Against all this, Gemini is not an earth sign - Gemini is an air sign, meaning all things Gemini evolve from an idea and exist in theory or  as a concept.  Gemini’s world is all about ideas and anyone with Gemini planets will explore those ideas - within the Self and with others - in terms of the planetary energy Gemini is focused through.

Ceres Cancer 21.09
I’m taking the above search string to mean ‘Ceres at 21 Cancer 09’ with an invisible “What does it mean that Ceres is at 21 Cancer?’ stuck behind.

That declared, Ceres is both a guardian of those involved in a process and the importance of the process or plan itself. The mythic Ceres is often written about as a harvest goddess - but the astrological Ceres seems to have as much to do with how we get something from ‘seed’ to that ‘harvest’ as anything else.

As for 21 Cancer, it represents some sort of challenge to one’s nature (or with Ceres, to some process) which may look like simple rebellion - and if rejection of ‘that’ is all that’s going on, often not much in the way of positive outcomes tend to result. Better outcomes are found with this combination where plans get made and carried out with a set of aims having been decided upon which includes some degree of clarity as to why not just the aim but how you get there matters.

South Node conjunct Antares
The south lunar node being what is always ‘easy’ for us to do. It may be what we ‘know,’ or it may be what we were were ‘brought up with.’ It can even be something which we have a knack for - that informal and mysterious ‘knowledge’ which is just about who we are.

Wherever the South Node falls in our chart, that is an area of life we will find ‘easy’ - which isn’t to say it’s all good. Considering how the nodes always refer to our ability to ‘relate,’ (be that to people, a nation, ideas, career paths - or anything else), the sign that the South Node is in (and the planet which rules it) are always important, but something which is also to be taken in hand as the lesson of the nodes is to do that which isn’t easy and which isn’t hard - which may tell us all something about relationships in general.

In conjunction with Antares (one of the royal stars of Persia) the instruction is that things will go well providing we don’t do one ... little ... very particular thing - which with Antares is ‘obsess.’

And with Antares currently positioned at 9 Sagittarius this tendency is strong, as 9 Sagittarius is known for its fiery and enthusiastic - sometimes over-enthusiastic (read: over-focused) qualities.

So we put these ideas together and come up with the following: to have Antares conjunct the South Node makes it easy to get over-focused on things, on people, on how you feel about things or people - and none of that is likely to help. Depending on the placement/sign of Jupiter in such a chart, someone with this sort of placement might also be charismatic (though they may not know it). Or they may become someone who comes to rely on their charisma as a way to get along ... which lore says eventually won’t be ‘enough.’

(By itself, that is.)

Solar Eclipse Scorpio 3/9 Axis
Any solar eclipse which strikes a cusp (axis or otherwise) ‘explodes’ the current perception or operation of that house, often through something which you can directly attribute to meaning(s) associated with the planet which rules the sign on that cusp.

As with all solar eclipses, whatever comes of that ‘exploding’ the old (which makes way for the new, however happy or reluctant we are about it) will take a full three years (36 months) from the time of the eclipse to either come to fruition or ‘stabilize’ either in reality and real time or as a concept we’re willing to pursue to its aim. Also, the more tightly we try to hold onto or preserve the ‘old,’ the more difficulty we are likely to experience.

And that’s (in all likelihood) a bit of a challenge here, as Scorpio is well known for its difficulty not so much with physical change as with changes of an emotional nature (or the nature of one’s emotionality). It’s somewhat easier if we are the one initiating the change and somewhat more problematic if change is being thrust upon us.

At least that’s what we feel - with there truly being some chance that a solar eclipse striking either end of the 3/9 (mentality versus expansion) axis being a peculiar situation where you can see where something else might be better, but you can’t quite get there emotionally - and the process of understanding that (on the inside) as well as what you are doing/trying to do on the outside becomes a long-term dual journey. As well, depending on which end of this axis line is struck, something which is already in progress may be abandoned - at least for now or in the form that it is in.

As always, all things Scorpio test our understanding of Self, our will to be who we are (and to make something of that) while recognizing that the difficulties we encounter through others (however that may manifest) may well be about them, but at the same time it’s also about us - we attract people, things and situations which test our capacity, our tolerance and our (emotional) willingness to develop our Self so that others will want to “fight” with us - not against us.

* * * * * * * * * *

So that's it for now, leaving me to close with a sincere hope that we all enjoy a safe and happy beginning of 2015.

Here's to life, love and peace!

* * * * * * * * * *

(P.S. this was fun for me - so you keep searching and I'll see about working in some time to post signposts along your road!)
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Why Wisconsin?

Just in case you've mentally misplaced Wisconsin....

When the news reports of February 16 burst forth in living color on the subject of protests going on in Wisconsin, I wondered why.

No, not on a political basis – but why Wisconsin? The world is full of protests at the moment…but then, it’s one Chiron cycle after the last time protests seemed to become the demonstration-de-jour, a fact which got discussed in the whole chat about Chiron entering Pisces.

(LINK to blog on Chiron entering Pisces)

So that people are protesting (not to mention how there’s plenty to protest!)...that wasn’t my question. My question was more about why the American media would focus on reports coming out of Madison, Wisconsin (the state’s capital) rather than somewhere else. What drew the media there?

Yes, the media likes to say it covers everything. But we know they don't. They can't! So...astrologically, what got them to thoroughly entrenched in this story? What gives the story its crux-of-the-matrix sort of vibe in astrological terms?

 Wisconsin's Capitol building

photo credit: Dori (2004)

The first thing I did was what astrologers always do…I tracked down the chart for the State of Wisconsin, which as it turns out was admitted to the Union on May 28, 1848 – apparently being the 30th state to join the star spangled red, white and blue of it all.

The chart for Wisconsin looks like this…

 Wisconsin admitted to the Union

May 29, 1848 (noon)

…which means that what jumped off the page (lo, to my wondering astrologer’s eye there did appear…) a 5th house/11th house cusp line of 13 Capricorn. (No, not tiny reindeer, but nice try!)

Hmmm…I said. I was thinking about the January Solar Eclipse at 13 Capricorn. And being that when you talk Capricorn you talk Saturn….(which as we have noted has in taking station and going retrograde towards the end of January served as a marker for a whole slew of protest inaugurations)…my text mental stop was Saturn at 24 Pisces in the 7th house of ‘the other’ or what you present to the world conjunct Vesta (sacred service), Sedna (entitlement), Arachne (entanglements), Haumea (‘shape shifting’ into youth – which here would be references to the youth of the state), that all-time rejecter of ideas – Scheat, and the South Node, signature of all things which are easiest to do.

Frankly, the first conjugation of this is that it’s easy for the protesters to get out there and grandstand their case and equally easy for the government to say ‘no more!’ in proposing cuts.

Please notice – there is no right or wrong here, just the ‘why’ this is so pronounced. That answer would seem to be that all this action is taking place in a 7th house colored by Pisces on the cusp.

Pisces is king when it comes to striking the common mass-market emotional chord. Aquarius may have the mass market idea of it all, but when you really want to get the people where they angst, go for Pisces – no question!

This would be answer to my question part one. But I didn't think it would be quite enough to get this amount of air time and reaction from so many parties.

So where next?

Well, when you’re talk about Pisces (as with any sign) it pays to check the ruler of the sign, which in this case is rulers. With Pisces, there is the ‘what you know about yourself and your emotional position in/about life’ part which is delineated by Jupiter. And in this case, Jupiter is positioned in the 11th house of income (check!), in the sign of the people – Cancer (check!) and oh yes – isn’t the 11th house the horoscope home of the media? Yes it is – (check, and triple check!).

Plus, all this would have really fired the media when? Well, as the Moon was pushing towards its highlighting Aquarian Full Moon phase on February 17th. Think of it as a tide seriously starting to rise, with this particular Full Moon being at 13 Aquarius, just shy of the Aquarius’ cross-quarter point.

  Sunrise at North Point Park

photo credit: Dori (2009)

And there is the fact that anything Aquarian always ‘rings a chime’ with all things 11th house just because Aquarius is the underlying nature of the 11th house. It was so the right moment for people and the electronic, mobile, mass market Aquarian media to get into emotional gear. And especially so in a very icing-on-the-cake sort of way considering how in this chart that Aquarian cross-quarter degree (15 Aquarius) is on the 6th house cusp – the 6th house being the house of responsibilities, jobs and employees!

Now isn’t that special!

Ah...I'm beginning to feel this whole media thing....!

Obviously the unions are seeing this as jobs, the employees are seeing this as being about them and the state thinks it has certain responsibilities which may be to these groups and which may be overarching – i.e., in spite of these groups.

The ‘outcome’ ruler of Pisces being Neptune, that Neptune is conjunct Eris (and Fomalhaut) in this 6th house gives us a very feisty (Eris = discord) employee base…not to mention that Eris is on station in this chart, so make that a double does of feisty with a cherry and whipped cream on top!

With that Neptune/Eris being conjunct Fomalhaut, the integrity of the ‘dream of success’ is what it is at stake…and the trine to calculated Lilith (society’s denial OR denial of greater societal opinions) conjunct Chiron (speaking of Chiron…) with these two exactly in conjunction at 5 Scorpio AND exactly conjunct the 3rd house of communication (at 5 Scorpio) sets off the whole ‘government does, worker's protest, media pays attention’ triumvirate.

Who will win what part of this financial debate? With the 3rd house cusp in Scorpio, both sides are likely to be manipulative. And taxes, financial/fiscal agreements, who has what power over what...that becomes the tug-of-war. With Scorpio on the 3rd house of communication, thought and mentality, obviously the optimal here is to think things through, to talk things out to try and conjure up a solution which feels good (Scorpio is a water/emotional sign) for everybody.

And lacking that? Well, the negative of Scorpio on the third is much delicious venting of spleen, grand standoffs, emotional manipulations, name calling and all the rest.
 
Plus there is that rather nebulous space between...the needy person who acts brave, the traditional strong-arm type who plays innocent...any way that emotionalism gets used to try to sway others is Scorpio, and when it comes as a matter of thoughts or words, that's 3rd house...and oh how apt for it to be about taxes, power, the funding of pension funds and all such.

In the end, Medea at 4 Scorpio just inside the 2nd house may be the answer. Medea being the sorceress whose impractical love so lacking in perspective not only drove her mad but in the end undermined her, causing her to lose everything she wanted…in the 2nd house of Wisconsin’s state chart this is the classic love of money. 

But still...all this wasn’t quite good enough for me. (Fussy, I know...) I saw why/how the chart was hooked together, but then I said why now? The 1848 chart has been Wisconsin’s chart for…well, since 1848!

WHY NOW?

So I poked around a little more, realizing in pretty short order that a new Governor has just been installed in the fair city of Madison…and that Governor Scott Walker took office on January 3, 2011.

Here’s that chart…

 Inauguration: January 3, 2011

Madison, Wisconsin

And what do our wondering eyes see as the Midheaven of this chart? 12 Capricorn. And what about that January 3rd date…wouldn’t that have been scant hours before the Solar Eclipse at 13 Capricorn? Why by jumbo-gingo yes! You can actually see the Moon (conjunct Pallas AND Pluto) at 5 Capricorn heading on up there as it’s about to do its eclipse thang.

And Eros (passion) is on the Midheaven. The aim is focal!

AND Eris (at 21 Aries) is right there, tucked in behind the Ascendant at 24 Aries where it can do the most exacerbating.

Oh – now we see, right? At it’s best, let’s remember, Eris stands for social reforming. At it’s worst, it’s just plain disruptive. But under all circumstances, Eris a symbol of life forcing us to become aware of something. Wherever Eris is in your chart (or in any chart) that’s where life wants you to focus your awareness.

And the converse is…?

Yes, that that’s probably what we’re least aware of…and therefore we need all that reminding.

 Milwaukee, Wisconsin

photo credit: Dori (2008)

The Saturn in this chart is opposition Eris in that 6th house of state employees and responsibilities. There’s even a nice Virgo Juno (leadership) opposition Pisces Jupiter/Uranus in 12 thing in this chart which suggests it’s the union leadership which is driving some agenda. This may be purely about the employees – and surely it’s about pensions, seeing as Jupiter and Uranus are in the 24 house.

It’s just…well, when you get into charts like this, astrology teaches you to be circumspect. With the outcome ruler of Pisces (Neptune) conjunct Chiron (yet again) conjunct Rhadamanthus and Orpheus… it’s the ‘faulty/insecure’ talent of the Orpheus which makes one wonder.

Whatever the facts are, they aren’t probably all so totally on the table. Between the manipulative-vs.-manipulating Scorpio 3rd house of Wisconsin’s statehood chart and this…Gosh, it’s so likely everyone is trimming the fat off the facts to suit their own emotional palate!

(A lot of food references in this blog, aren’t there? I must be hungry…)

To wrap this up, that statehood chart really does seem to make this an ‘intrinsic’ sort of problem which, considering when this situation reared its protesting head is not likely to vamoose all that vast.

There is an 11 Gemini Solar Eclipse coming up this June. That will hit the top of the Wisconsin statehood chart like a passing cannonball smacking a too-tall steeple. Given that the eclipse will occur on June 1st but as with all solar eclipses we can expect a six-to-eight week lead-in/breakdown period, we should hear a lot of things happening starting in…say, April.

More to focal point perhaps? That this chart, in having a 9 Gemini Midheaven and 9 Sagittarius Nadir lines it up pretty much perfectly with the current positions of Antares (in Sagittarius) and Aldebaran (in Gemini).

This is all about obsession versus integrity – with the integrity side at the top. The government of Wisconsin is asked to function from a position of integrity – which sounds like a big ‘duh’ although recent years of governmental activity seem to remind us that this isn’t always the case…

But maybe even more important is Antares at the IC, a position in any chart which has a real ‘love/hate’ quality. We stand on our IC so long as it is a solid foundation and when it isn’t, it’s the rabid dog which bites us wherever we want least to be bitten.

(Subtle, aren’t I?)

Seeing that Saturn will go direct in mid-June – right after the Solar Eclipse…well, at least one solar eclipse…this becomes a prime time for changes and fluffling in Wisconsin. With a highly emotional Lunar Eclipse going to also grace June at 24 Sagittarius – opposition Wisconsin’s Mercury-Betelgeuse which is currently colored by Bellatrix (ideas which should be easy to understand but which apparently are very hard to get across)…?

It’s to expect some rambunctious times are on Wisconsin’s dance card. July’s Solar Eclipse at 9 Cancer will hit at the other end of the spectrum from the January eclipse, activating Wisconsin’s Aries Pluto-Juno-Moon square the state’s Cancer Mars of discontentment in 11.

 Taliesin, one of the beloved design constructs

of architect Frank Lloyd Wright

photo credit: Jeff Dean (2006)

If I were the media, I would plan on being in and around Wisconsin for a while. If I was either a member of the Wisconsin government or inside any of the political machines or the union strongholds, I’d be seriously cleaning up not just my act, but the grout which seals my act and makes it water tight.

The state is going through some stuff. But at least now I know why it appeared in the news. It got there because everything about Wisconsin’s statehood and 2011 inauguration chart lined up with current celestial events.

Et voila! That’s how things come to the fore…and hence why blogs like this ever get into digital print!