A 14 Taurus Full Moon

'Die Heuernte' by Ford Madox Brown (1855)

 
The November Full Moon is about to grace Earth’s skies. The time of this event will be at 10:24 in the evening of November 6th (UT/+0 time), which means that for many of us this Full Moon will actually be occurring on the 7th.

But wherever we are, it’s at the same degree: 14 Taurus, a degree which in the most basic of terms is defined as being evocative, feeling and yet ever so simply practical and pragmatic by nature - sometimes positively, and sometimes not so joyously. Sometimes displaying loner tendencies and sometimes manifesting as gregarious, 14 Taurus seems to be much about our own sensibilities about where and how we’re going to be most comfortably secure - either in general or with respect to some situation or effort of the moment. Hardly known to be as stubborn as some degrees of Taurus, 14 Taurus generally displays the willingness to discuss things against a marked ability to own our own opinions as just that - our opinion (no more, no less), which is a very useful thing sometimes.

Further clues as to the point of this unusually flexible Taurean degree come from the Sabian symbol for 14 Taurus: ‘Head covered with a rakish silk hat, muffled against the cold, a man braves a storm.’  The obvious here being the man’s willingness to ‘brave’ this ‘storm,’ we should ask ourselves what kind of a storm this might be. Is it physical weather? Is he braving the wrack and ruin incurred after a run of bad luck? Is this about some ‘tide of time’ or some family, social, or societal period of upheaval?

Or is this just some inner conflict?

All are possible. In fact, all could be possible - singularly or collectively.

The 14 Taurus Full Moon (glyph chart)

November 6, 2014 - 22:22 (10:22) pm UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

The 14 Taurus Full Moon (text chart)

November 6, 2014 - 22:22 (10:22) pm UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

The ‘cold’ indicated here could also be physical. Then again, this may well be a reference to having to brave going against people who don’t think as you do - a fact made more likely than it might otherwise be by the fact that we are just in the wake of a solar eclipse in a moment when the Gemini eclipse of two-and-a-half years ago is having yet another moment of influence.

- link to post -

October’s 0 Scorpio Solar Eclipse

(Pt. 2: that ‘Other’ eclipse)

In his writing about this image, astrologer Marc Edmund Jones commented on how the man’s very willingness is the key here in that he is plainly willing to take on something which is unknown, implying a maturing of outlook (getting past reluctance in becoming willing to go out and brave that storm) which Jones thinks of as something which needs to happen before a higher or more productive consciousness/outlook can develop.

That’s an image which fits very well with this Full Moon, seeing as it opposes Taurus and Scorpio, which in greater terms is always about the ‘greater group’ or society or world - or maybe just you and your significant other.

The point is, Taurus is personal - and as its polarity,  Scorpio is where we work out where whatever our personal boundaries and values are against the personal boundaries and values of others (or things in this world). Thus the integrity of those boundaries - and the validity of the opinions or motivations which creates those boundaries - is tested.

Or to put it more simply...every polarity in the zodiac has its issues. But Taurus-Scorpio dynamics are  FAMOUS for pitting us not against others, but against a need to take our Self in hand.

And we don’t like that...(not at all)...from which arises all the digging in of Taurus heels and all that Scorpio snarling which can simmer into aggressiveness and even violence.

Fortunately, this is just a Full Moon. So it’s a moment, a day, a latter-part-of-the-week which highlights some facet, some factor in life which however emotional, however startling, however challenging is merely - as they say in parenting - a phase. It’s to enjoy if good, it’s to learn about and from probably no matter what - and after that, it’s time to move on.

Yet considering this Full Moon in particular... and considering how this Full Moon is the first step off the block in the wake of the October 23rd solar eclipse...and how, once we add in a couple of astrological ‘pictures’ included with the Full Moon chart...well, maybe we shouldn’t expect things to be less than intricately complicated.

Good or bad...they’re just likely to be complicated.

Why do I say that?

I say that because of the many and multiple relationships in the following diagram:

Complicated enough for you? And let’s remember - anything we see in a chart is BOTH what is going on around us and what is going on inside our ‘inner world,’ be that your home, family or mind.

That’s the way it works - and why though there are some things we will never control, why we actually have more control than we often think. As they say, life is not what happens to you, life is how you respond to what happens to you.

Yes, I know...it’s that effort thing. Life requires personally employed verbs.

So with regards to the above (that most convolutedly complicated diagram), let’s isolate a couple of facets - starting with one which focuses on Sun and Moon in a way most likely to be an active consideration during this time:

Yes, it’s a t-square - that adorably challenging notion which causes so much mental toe stubbing. T-squares speak to us (each of us as individuals AND the collective Us) asking whether we ‘get it’ that our concerns have greater applications. Whatever we come to a t-square with we are likely to be thinking of very individually...you might say almost possessively.

And that’s all before we get to the fact that in this particular t-square, the ‘t’ (the “hurdle” we have to get past in how we are approaching any given issue, contemplation, situation, effort or relationship)... that ‘t’ is being presented here in the sunny if sometimes sun-blind sign of Leo.

Leo is all about making something of our Self. It’s a natural sign of self-development - and thus pleasure in the achievement, be said accomplishment be athletic, social, financial, or anything else. Leo (and the associated 5th house of the chart) are where we look to see our spirit of fun - what we like and what we like to have fun doing - whether it’s fun for anyone else or not.

Leo is the birthing place of the individuality we need in its polarity sign, Aquarius, as to be part of the Aquarius whole (the group, the company, the society, etc.) requires that we are-or-have something individual which ‘fits’ into said functional process, business, social group, way of living, marketplace, system...OR the breaking apart of or breaking away from same (whatever group).

As for that ‘whether it’s fun for anyone else or not, that’s exactly the part of Leo which Leo depends on (individuality requires being willing to be yourself) as Leo’s engine... and yet too much Leo when in or applied to group doings can often go very wrong. Especially now as we’re starting into the Age of Aquarius there is a tendency - which may yet grow - to isolate or behave overly individual (separatist) manner, along with a tendency for some to believe in the anarchistic approach to changing how the system works.

(Again, this is a phase - it’s just that it’s a phase in a process...the astrological age of Aquarius...which is 2,160 years long and which is likely to be filled with a number of wild swings of various pendulums. To us things may seem like they’ll never end, but they will...they may just never end for us.)

So here we are with this Leo balance to master and the t-square issue of getting past thinking something is only about us - which is something akin to a double helping of the same thing framed slightly differently...and THEN we add in Juno, the emblem of management.

Not control, management. Juno is more about running an ongoing process and dealing with variables than designing how things are going to be done. It’s more about running the household than building the house or going out and slaying any dragons, if you take me.

As for 11 Leo, this is Leo in one of its more creative modes - not Leo at it’s most worldly and deft, suggesting that as this Full Moon comes into formation there will be some ‘managing’ of something which is otherwise not going to (as they say) get the job done.

With the origination point of this Full Moon being that comfort-prone 14 Taurus Moon, Juno’s presence in this Full Moon t-square may be exactly what causes us to take something which we know how to do and can do and cause us to do it. The ‘object’ of this t-square would be the Sun at 14 Scorpio, another degree which is uncharacteristic for its sign as 14 Scorpio isn’t known for much of Scorpio’s well-known (and well-documented - in blood, yet) steeliness.

Oh yes, there still is some of that Scorpio brooding energy quality in this degree...but there is also a recognition of the real and valuable resource which not just inherent in the ability to understand others (though that’s valid, too) but in the ability to use what we understand about others to create a tide of interaction through which resistance can be overcome in favor of actual give and take. Though this energy can seem brutal (it certainly carries strength) it’s honest; those who choose not to deal with it because it’s not ‘nice’ are only being asked to see their lack of realism as to what life is - a combination of light and shadow, good and bad, pain and joy, success and nullification.

And that may well mean that one important fact inherent in this lunar Full Moon tick of the cosmic clock is simply that it’s purpose is to move us or to time our moving from that which is comfortable into that which is less comfortable but more workable.

However: with all three points in this t-square (and both ends of this Full Moon figure) in fixed signs, there are going to be qualities of hesitation plus those ever-popular and always evocative ‘I don’t WANT to’ outcry humans all fall back on from time to time.

At which point, that may be what we have to manage. Maybe so...maybe not.

Plus we’re not done with Juno yet. Just to make things interesting (as if they weren’t already interesting enough), Juno is not only focal in this chart by being squatly positioned at the ‘t’ of the t-square, but it’s also involved in a grand trine of the thoroughly fiery kind.

Fire signifies a vision. The imagination. How things could be. In this case we have two well-known asteroids (Juno and Vesta) in trine with what is arguably our solar system’s most peculiar planet: Uranus. In keeping those peculiarities, the astrological Uranus speaks to ‘breaking with the status quo’ whether that’s breaking a habit, achieving a scientific breakthrough, the idea of a tunneling crew finishing breaking through a mountain.

Uranus indicates a reordering of things. So in trine to management-prone Juno and ‘the cost’ involved in keeping one’s Vesta promises (whether that’s a monetary cost or what it ‘costs’ you to hold yourself to some standard) this is an ongoing (grand trine) effort to change OR disrupt (depending on who you are) something...which either pertains to some ‘vision,’ or which provides the means by which something is changed/altered so that it can become the vision.

That seems like a lot to heap on one Full Moon, but there you are. With Uranus in Aries as there is a ‘weighting’ towards things First Person, whether that pertains to physicality or some need to wrestle decisions, indecision, conflicts, disruptions or conflicting/conflicted aims.

And the dream is still there. Whether or not we are pro or con something, we are still (Juno) managing to (Vesta) hold to some pre-determined notion (image, vision) whether real or imagined - all of which is being brought back to that very same managing (or) managerial Juno which is sitting at the ‘t’ of the Sun-Juno-Moon t-square.

The combination suggests two things. The first version would have the entire Uranus-Vesta-Juno grand trine as some sort of ongoing commitment to change (or change something). The second version would have us trying to manage at least two very different things, whether or not they have any direct connection or influence on each other.

All of which takes us back to that ridiculously complex initial diagram.

To have all these planets (green), fixed stars (blue) and asteroids (white) this closely aligned isn’t all that unusual. What is interesting is to see so many sextiles (green dotted lines on the left side of the diagram) basically linking Sun to Moon in one direction while the other half of the cycle is pretty much linked by semi-sextiles (dotted lines in purple).

Semi-sextiles are tough moments, clashing ideas and ego bruises (purple). Full sextiles (green) are opportunities. The path of opportunities leads through the global and worldly sector, telling us that this Full Moon - and to some extent everything which is on life’s table right now - is far more about how we relate to the world and in the world than about who we are or our more individualistic characteristics.

But it’s natural to be who we are - and the (blue arrow) trine from the 14 Taurus Moon to the North Node (and all its friends) in Libra speaks to an ongoing tendency we all have (and that we need to tap into at the moment) to relate to others in a manner which is consistent with our aims and our past (or cultural conditioning) whether or not we recognize that what we are putting ‘out there’ is what is coming back to us in some fashion, thus allowing us to hone what we do and thus achieve the desired result.

In other words, we don’t ‘change’ them - we change our Self so that they automatically respond to us.

And this is an interesting moment. Looking back to the fuller diagram of this Full Moon we see the Moon in conjunction with Europa and fixed star Menkar, a quantity which speaks to our ability to [Europa] ‘get carried away’ by our efforts to avoid our inner [Menkar] Self, most likely through ongoing or old ‘messages’ which are clouding our ability to know the difference between what we do for-with-to others and how that ends up affecting us.

-link to post-

Menkar: Soul, Searching

 
And on the Sun’s side? With the energetics described by Deucalion (fairness), Atropos (endings), and asteroid Maximov (maximums or maximal effects) all ‘fused’ with the Sun while conjunct   Kassandra (a truth we choose to deny) and Lumiere/Venus (the light of approval or acceptance) what we can do and what we will ask ourselves to follow through on may be two very distant and different thoughts.

Yet in the end this is just a moment in time - a Full Moon which asks and points out what’s important to us.

Will we heed that call?
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Black Moon Lilith at 22 Leo

(image) Maser M 31 at the core of the Andromeda Galaxy as photographed in X-ray by the Chandra Space Observatory

(photo credit: NASA, January 2000)

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Here’s my thesis for the day: orbits aren’t round. In science, that’s just a fact - orbits tend to be egg-shaped complete with one end of the orbit being pointier than the other. (Which may, with all due respect for chickens and eggs just beg the question ‘which came first, the orbiting object or the orbit it is orbiting along?’ or some such akin to that.)

So we have these egg-ish orbital tracks. And most of them are pretty constant. But some - such as the orbit of our Luna Moon around Planet Earth - do their own little orbital dance, one which in the mind’s eye (provided you’re not feeling blind-sided) might well remind you of that child’s toy known as a Spirograph.

The tracings of a Spirograph

The Moon’s orbit being the Moon’s to moon over, what seems notable to mention at this particular point in time is the fact that the ‘short’ or ‘near’ end of that "rotating" or transiting Spirograph figure is what is known in astrology is known as Black Moon Lilith, a calculated point which like the Ascendant and other axis points (the MC, IC and Descendant) is often difficult to manage simply because this isn't a planet. Or an asteroid. Or a comet, star or dwarf planet. They all have mass. But a calculated point has no mass - and when you watch things astrological for long enough it becomes rather apparent that the metaphysics of 'mass' is related to any form of a very common expression: I'm trying to get hold of it.

Metaphysically, that's about mass. Any attribute denoted or described by an object with mass appears to be something we can develop 'habits' with (or about) - and thus we can change those habits. No one's saying such changes are easy, just that they're possible...with the real idea here being that Black Moon Lilith, in being an astrological symbol of zero mass is very hard to 'get hold of' or otherwise remain constantly and consistently aware of...which in one sense leads to a very consistent kind of perspective on the Black Moon as in the world of energetics it functions something like a ‘shadow effect’ in all of our lives, shifting through the zodiac raising this and daunting us with that, always originating from some area of thought or feeling, ethic, perception, value or awareness which we have ‘pushed away’ or abandoned outright.

As for the reference to Lilith, that would be something which ‘embodies’ something we have - individually or as a culture (or race, perhaps) turned our back on, rejected, or denied in manner which may or may not be obvious to us...or others.

Just to make this all a little more interesting, there are also two forms of Lilith: the calculated point (Black Moon Lilith) and a main belt asteroid (Lilith). And yes, there's a post on that too, if you'd like to read the long form:

- link to -

The Two Liliths 

The effects of Black Moon Lilith are not always entirely noticeable in our busy moment-by-moment days, but we do feel them. They're there even if they're that itch you can't quite scratch, that certainty you can’t quite define and that uncertainty which, try as you may, you can’t quite resolve...at least not to the degree of relaxed satisfaction.

As for why Black Moon Lilith seems worth taking time to think through in this moment, that would be because Black Moon Lilith moves into 22 Leo on September 17th (UT/+0)...and 22 Leo just happens to be the degree Jupiter (the desire to get ahead, achieve, expand one’s understanding/ability) will go station/direct in come this December.

Technically... (read: in the short run)... the Black Moon will only be in 22 Leo until early on September 26th (UT/+0). But it still seems worth our while to be on the ‘lookout’ for social and/or societal clues as to where you’re going to be (most of all with your Self) or be facing come mid-late December 2014 - and in this regard, the Black Moon is a metaphysical signpost we are all being given (even if what we do with it is our business).

To understand how this will function in your life, obviously the first place you need to look is at your personal chart, complete with sign, degree, aspects and all the usual contemplation. Then, where does 22 Leo fall in your natal chart?

As for 22 Leo as a degree, it’s a sensitive one - which you may read as ‘emotionally sensitive’ or ‘psychically sensitive’ or any other kind of sensitive as seems applicable, given the rest of your nature (and chart). There is a need to be of use and help in the world, plus a need to learn how to value and be valued properly - which is to say, not too much and not too little. This degree carries with it a quality of anxiety which is often made worse by attempts to ‘cope’ with the problem rather than deal with the reaction to it (the anxiety) which in the long run is really the problem - and as I say that (typing to you as I look up the Sabian Symbol)... well evidently that anxiety could be deserved - at least at some level.

Sabian 23 Leo (Zodiacal 22 Leo):

In a circus, the bareback rider displays her dangerous skill.

Keynote:

 The audacity and perseverance required to control and play with the powerful energies of the vital realm in human existence.

Astrologer Marc Edmund Jones wrote of this degree as one which in being both vital and creative is the driving engine behind spectacular human feats. In commenting on this degree Astrologer Dane Rudhyar typifies it as that which turns ego into imagination and inventiveness, providing us with the insight as to our own potential for dramatic native virtuosity.

And yet this showmanship cannot be ego-aware. The moment it turns into a means to receive those accolades or those longed for rewards and/or advantages, that’s when the shadow of the Black Moon becomes the gaping vulnerability which though perhaps not apparent to others, nonetheless swallows us unimpeded.

Nor is the Black Moon going to be lighting its 22 Leo September-to-December ‘shadow torch’ on its own.

As the Black Moon begins activating needs imbedded beyond conscious perception on September 17th, so too will Europa (getting carried away) and Hestia (structural protection/protection of life structures) move on station to turn retrograde as of September 19th. And since both of these influences originate in Taurus and any turn to retrograde means the symbolic energy is turned ‘inward,’ the whole of this September 17 through 21 station will like as not test our ability to balance control against lack of productive participation, maintaining (or supporting) our personal sense of [Taurus] ‘having things secured’ as part of the process. Mind you, with Hestia (a guardian figure of home, hearth, family and state) in this mix there may be something we need to ‘guard against’ or take proper care of here, whether that thing would be doing our homework, nursing a drippy cold or remaining aware of some job effort, social obligation or merely our erratic temper.

There’s also the idea that the degree Europa is going retrograde in (19 Taurus) is one which tends to get bogged down or which ‘chases around in circles,’ which may well lead to much action and many words while also acting as a ‘symptom’ of the underlying (subconscious, rejected, misunderstood) Black Moon matters. Plus with Hestia on station and conjunct Europa in a degree (14 Taurus) known for beating a full retreat as well as doing much (too much) out of an abundance of instinctive (perhaps spiritual) beliefs there are likely to be more than a few ‘turnabouts’ during this time.

In point of fact, the whole of this week seems to be one long series of patchwork overlays. Europa and Hestia going retrograde on the 17th is not only its own event but also serves to mark a beginning the Cubewano (and possible dwarf planet candidate) station-retrograde moment for TNO Chaos.

Unlike Neptune-influenced Plutinos like Pluto, Ixion and Huya which test our ability to keep our dreams either separate or strongly rooted in fact, Chaos is a [Cubewano] symbol of something which exists apart from all other influences.

And what is that ‘something’? That something is all about possibility. Endless possibilities. Originally a symbol of that sort of fertility which promises there are more ideas yet to be had, and that the Sun will yet come up again tomorrow, the energy of Chaos is generally the proverbial ‘light bulb moment’ which starts some inspirational process. And here? Well, in going direct at 19 Gemini, Chaos presents us with a variety of [Gemini] choices - none of which are likely to utterly delight us... at least not in the short run. The Sabian symbol for this degree (‘A modern cafeteria displays an abundance of food, products of various regions’) being plainly multi-regional, multi-cultural or even international, the image being presented is about nourishment (food) of various kinds, some of which is foreign to us - an idea which fits very well with the endless source which is TNO Chaos.

And then we add in asteroid Apollo, which in overlapping Chaos’ station goes direct at 1 Leo a day after Chaos goes retrograde (on the 22nd, to be exact). Representing truth (the light of truth) and general enlightenment of every informative and curative kind, asteroid Apollo’s station at 1 Leo shines a light on vulnerabilities not as a negative but as something which gives us a chance to relate to others - and maybe more importantly, relate to our Self.

Our oh-so mortal Self.

For reasons mentioned before (read: because of a newly installed back injury) I will mention all this then let you think it all through...pausing only for one moment more to point out how all of this is happening during the run-up to Pluto going station-direct on September 23rd in tandem with the Sun moving into Libra, a fact which gives everything about this Black Moon-Europa-Hestia-Chaos-Apollo sequence something of a hint of ‘cosmic prelude’ preceding the bringing of all into [Libra] balance for good, for bad, for all it can possibly be worth.

So yes, everything about such moments are valid in the moment that they become: individual global transits will evidence their effects in and across all our days in all their symbolic if sometimes subtle manifestation.

And while all that is happening, time and our Black Moon Lilith timings will also be weaving all of this and more together seamlessly, bringing us to a place where no matter who has denied what we are ready to face another round of Plutonic transformations and the chance (or risk) of being transformed as we pursue our relationship to life and our place among others on this planet we call our world.
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Shades of Nodal Menkar

An aerial view of the San Andreas Fault as crosses the Carrizo Plain in Central California

(photo credit: USGS, July 2006)

It was a couple of days before Jupiter moved into Cancer back on June 26th that things started popping. Since I knew Mercury was about to go on station in the latter part of Cancer I wasn’t surprised to start feeling like I was being buckshot with  emotional shrapnel.

It was a day or so before our current triad of major planets (Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune) slid into water trine formation that feeling blood began to flow. Like many, I wear a social mask. Unlike many, mine is a defense against extremes of emotional vulnerability which though in the end have been the strength which has gotten me through a havoc-strewn life, still I’m not very fond of being open about my soft underbelly.

Hardly anyone is. I’ve long made a joke of a pet slogan – when in doubt, cry – but for all that I’ve always told myself that other people didn’t want to see my fears or lingering pain, the truth of the matter is that and more.

It’s scary being human.

During the period July 9th through July 20th, the Moon’s South Node is going to be at 14 Taurus – the current position of fixed star Menkar. I wrote about Menkar not long, so I won’t go into a lot of details. But when it comes right down to it, Menkar is one of those cosmic devices which is all about the efforts we make to avoid those dark corners of our Self.

The degree 14 Taurus has a reputation for many things…some of which connect us to others and some of which are about whatever tendency we may have to ‘go it alone’ or retreat and hide from the world.

From our life is more like it.

There are moments of solitude we all experience. There’s nothing wrong with that. The question comes when we withdraw, when our need to pull away is driven by avoidance.

Any and all such tendencies – to connect or withdraw, or maybe to connect as a form of withdrawing (from ourselves)…all that comes into focus as the South Node rolls over Menkar’s position at 14 Taurus. Considering how the Nodes (North or South) refer to relationships or our relationship to the world (or relationships as connected to our worldly pursuits), we’re all in for some measure of this effect no matter where we go.

And the reason to bring it up is…what? WHY do we need to know about this in the middle of a grand water trine made by our most worldly planets (Saturn and Jupiter) with everything made more hugely nebulous by Neptune’s magnetic presence?

That would be because in theory, this is also a moment when others should also be most receptive. That all of our emotions (and emotional barriers) are being stretched a bit like so much human cosmic taffy should make it easier to connect.

If we will, that is.

Of course we may also hear a lot of things we’d rather not know. South Node – Menkar – 14 Taurus as a combination is likely to bring out some truly strange stuff.

Or is that the North Node at 14 Scorpio?

Oh, these continuums…they so have us by the tail and nose.

Usually when we look at pairs of opposing degrees we can see something like a dimensional reflection. That may be true here, though considering 14 Scorpio is known for skill where 14 Taurus is very un-earthy (even unearthly) in its own mystical, far-seeing way…perhaps so. Not particularly known as one of those ‘fiery’ Scorpio degrees, the fact that the North Node (the “should do’) side of the nodal axis is in a Scorpio degree which more than others takes up the causes of others says we should get with others and we should form alliances.

Yet 14 Scorpio also has a bit of a reputation for indiscretion. So we should be careful what we say for this next little while. While communication can solve many problems, there should be established limits.

This rules out sky writing and watch those internet posts, one would guess (she said while writing an internet post).

(Never mind. I’m the astrologer – I’m just doing my job!)

Other other part of the North Node at 14 Scorpio which seems important as the South Node conjuncts fixed star Menkar: people are more complicated than we know.

The bottom line here thus suggests that we shouldn’t jump to any grand, assumptive presumptions. When in doubt…especially for the next couple of weeks…ask questions. Or ask yourself what that means or why someone would have said that.

We are all in a position to learn a lot about other human beings. In doing so we may learn a lot about others…and why we’re okay, just the way we are.

We’re in the midst of a seriously feeling time. We’ve just begun to evolve. This astrologer can’t say she thinks it’s all going to be peachy-pleasant, but our greatest gains are not achieved through ease or simplistic fun.

Growth takes energy and effort.

That’s why we call them ‘growing pains.’

So in spite of the ouches, it’s time for all of us to try to remember to stand tall, particularly (and maybe most of all) when we're feeling most vulnerable and truly small.

Real strength isn't about what you can do to someone, it's about the ability to endure the trials which go along with being human - most important of which have to do with the courage to be and know yourself honestly.
 

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For more information on our current dynamics:

- The Lunar Nodes at Cross-Quarters
- Menkar: Soul, Searching
- A Water Grand Trine in Planetary Major
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Menkar: Soul, Searching

A section of the Taurus Molecular Cloud shows a filament of

cosmic dust more than ten light years long

(photo credit: ESO-APEX-MPIR,OSO-A Hacar, February 2012)

The fact that I’ve never read anything which really satisfied my curiosity about fixed star Menkar is the genesis of this post. Positioned (as of 2013) at 15 Taurus, Menkar is referred to as a star ‘linked to the forces of the collective consciousness’ (source: Solar Fire’s star files) with others adding in comments about how the likelihood is that, where Menkar is involved, we will take an 'easier path.'

But that could mean a lot of things.

It could mean that for those who have a planet, node, cusp or axis point in aspect to Menkar, that object's symbolism represents the means by which we “access” the collective consciousness.

Or maybe that's where we are accessed by the collective consciousness in the area of life represented by that planet, node, cusp or axis point?

And yes, there is a difference. Astrologically, the point where we access something implies choice, purpose, aim/goal and volition. Where the we would be accessed by something is about being effected by situations or energetics which come upon us whether we want it or not, and which prompt certain reactions.

This second form seems likely in the sense that Menkar is known for choices which opt for the 'easier' or more 'pleasant' outcome. But when we get that far, the fact that Menkar is known as a ‘difficult’ star gives me cause to ponder. Is this about difficulties we meet up with in life because we take the path of pleasantry? Or is this about difficulties we simply have as part of life as a result of taking the easier or more popular path? 

Some who are into science fiction may have heard of this star under it’s alternative name, ‘Menkab.’ In doing a bit of research on the subject I came across the fact that Menkab has been mentioned in various incarnations of Star Trek and (apparently not to be outdone), in an episode or two of South Park.

So much for stellar dignity, eh?

None of this proving very satisfying, I wandered further afield (which is a pretty long way when you're talking about stars). Or maybe I should say I swam a far piece as in current star-lore, Menkar is part of the constellation Cetus – the whale.

A sky map of constellation Cetus

(image credit: IAU, Sky and Telescope Magazine - Roger

Sinnott/Rick Fienberg, June 2011)

But lest you think this is the great whale we love and respect in today's world, it would seem that the astrological Cetus is not about the amazing creatures we may be lucky enough to see if we go whale-watching (or if we just spend a bit of quality time watching Discovery Channel). No, the idea of constellation Cetus as the whale goes back to Mesopotamian times, when whales were thought of more as ‘sea monsters.’ And that explains why Cetus is sometimes though more of in the mold of the Loch Ness Monster rather than Flipper the friendly sea porpoise. (Now I’m dating myself.) And it’s not just the Mesopotamians who saw this concept with regards to constellation Cetus. On a whole other side of the world the Tukano and Kobeua people of Brazil saw this constellation as a jaguar, the jaguar having been a powerful image all over South and Central America (where it figured large in the myths of the Aztecs and Maya).

But the interesting thing is that even though these Brazilian peoples chose a “terrestrial” image (the jaguar), the constellation was (is) thought of in connection with violent storms – in particular, hurricanes.

And hurricanes are certainly ‘creatures of the ocean.’

Maybe the better way to think of Cetus is in terms of the ‘whale’ in the book Moby Dick. Yes, there might have been a real whale, but it was the whale in Ahab’s head – the ‘whale of his obsessions’ – which is the real Cetus.

 An illustration from an 1892 edition of Moby Dick

(publisher: C.H. Simonds Co.)

That’s a useful clue in our search for understanding Menkar, as this star really does seem to have some mythic quality to it specifically as that concerns our thinking. There’s the reality of the thing…and then there’s what we think of the thing. Either may have validity. But then again, our thoughts may be what are ‘swallowing’ us up, so to speak.

Myth speaks of Cetus as the sea monster which was going to devour Andromeda, the fair maiden left chained to the rock by her parents. The story here is instructive, as it seems to point to some of our Cetus challenges.

Andromeda’s mother is Cassiopeia. And Cassiopeia is an arrogantly proud woman who boasts that her child – Andromeda – is ‘more beautiful than the Nereids,’ the Nereids being Poseidon (Neptune’s) children.

The last time we saw a ‘queen here on Earth’ brag about her children thinking they were better than the gods, that figure of overblown braggadocio (read: pride) was Niobe. Her brag was that her kids were both more plentiful and more talented than those of Leto.

Leto happening to be the mother of Apollo and Artemis (the god of truth and enlightenment and goddess of the hunt and human reflection, respectively)…that didn’t go so well for Niobe. A highly insulted Leto sent her kids to shoot all of Niobe’s kids down, allegedly proving the difference between mortality and that which is eternal and how important it is to keep the two things straight.

Unfortunately, Cassiopeia wasn’t keeping up on such warning labels. So she makes her boast about Andromeda as being more beautiful than the children of the ocean (the Nereids) and Papa Neptune gets so frothed up that he calls in his brother Jupiter and together they send Cetus to teach this arrogantly vain mortal a lesson by destroying her kingdom.

One suspects there must have been a lively ‘what the #$^!@ did you do, woman?’ conversation between Cassiopeia and hubby (King Cepheus). And yes, I’m using the term ‘lively’ rather liberally. But as folks did in those days, their answer was to go ask an oracle for a solution.

And – interestingly – the oracle they chose was an oracle of Apollo, which probably got a chuckle up on immortal Mount Olympus. What? Another silly, vain human being? Oh, when are they ever going to learn!

Vain and arrogant or not, Cassiopeia is upset to hear that the way to assuage Neptune is through sacrificing Andromeda, but she’s not so upset that she and hubby don’t go and chain Andromeda to a rock. (Whether they hung out a sign for Cetus saying ‘come and get it!’ isn’t mentioned.)

Andromeda by Paul Gustave Dore

This is one of those impossibly poignant Greek question: do I save my family and sacrifice my world (i.e., the kingdom which Cetus will eat if Andromeda is not sacrificed) or do I sacrifice that beautiful thing which is MY world (my pride and joy) in order to safeguard and better the world?

Greek myth is full of all the truly difficult questions of life. Who among us hasn’t faced this question of whether we should prioritize the greater good or our own personal good?

Seen from this vantage point, Cetus is the ‘monster’ we are afraid of, the ‘what if’ we do, and the ‘what if’ we don’t.

Either way, there’s going to be pain. Will we take that on ourselves for some error, or some allowance we’ve given ourselves which is ‘monstrous’? Or will we force others to pay for our unwillingness to own the consequences of choices, acts and priorities which have been shown to be anywhere between faulty and truly grievous?

In case you’re worried about Andromeda, she gets rescued by none other than Perseus, who is on the way back from slaying Medusa – which in astro-psycho-mythic terms means he’s ‘already faced the horrible fact.’

- Link to post -

Medusa: Through Our Mental Mirror, Darkly

Andromeda the sweet and giving child who never fought the parents who would sacrifice her to their own ‘monster’ ends up wedded to Perseus, the essence of our willingness to face the facts – however scary they may be – about ourselves.

And if we can do that, there may indeed be a happy ending.

But first, back to Menkar’s part in this whole parade.

Referred to as ‘Alpha Ceti’ (‘first star of Cetus’) in astronomical terms, Menkar is not the most notable of all Cetus’ stars – that honor goes to Mira, a famous variable star which doesn’t appear much in astrology. (Evidently stars need lobbies too.) Mira pulsates. Mira glows bright, and then fades away…it blows hot and cold, one might say.

Menkar on the other hand, is a point of relative stability. But as it’s positioned in the tail of Cetus as a constellation, stabile is a relative term – there’s bound to be some thrashing.

Maybe stabilizing is a better term. And that is a really helpful idea in understanding this star which sits so close to the 15 Taurus cross-quarter point.

 
The zodiacal cross-quarter points fall at 15 degrees of the fixed signs, an indication that they’re a ‘turning point’ when that which the fixed sign is so ardently ‘fixed’ on learning (degrees zero through fourteen) shifts into active mode.

Or at least it should. Particularly where and when we see degrees of fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio or Aquarius) which are 15 or higher representing attributes which have not learned to manifest the useful (read: positive) sign attributes, this leads to problems and results which are less satisfying than one might have envisioned.

So saying, back to the basic lore on this point. In everyday life, ‘forces of the unconscious’ can be our desire to fit in. Then again, they may be our interaction with ‘the’ mass consciousness (universal understandings or truths) or some subset thereof which we are tapping or tapped into through culture and upbringing, religion, nationality, peer group, generation or the times we live in.

Our ‘difficulties’ with that ‘sense’ we have of what’s out there, or what we ‘should’ be, or whether we ‘fit in’ or ‘greater realms’ or ‘inner evils’ (or hopes, etc.) …those are our ‘Cetus,’ our whale which isn’t about others – it’s about us. Menkar is in other words, the aperture…a sort of porthole through which we see the ‘greater realm’ or greater possibilities and through which we ‘feel seen.’

Because we are talking about Taurus, the question here is security. And because Cetus is a constellation which lies in proximity to the ecliptic, it's something which is 'close to us' at all times. Because of Earth's position in the whole of the greater universe, that which we see as 'the whale' is actually a construct composed of things near and far...stars which are relatively close to us and those which are many, many light years away. Thus the questions posed by Cetus - and therefore by Menkar come to us through Taurus in a manner which is both very immediate and very philosophical. So there is a very real part of the question "Am I secure?" Then again, there's a very broad-scope consideration about what security is, and whether we are every entirely secure other than being secure with ourselves seeing as we live in a world we don't control with a whole lot of people we surely don't control.

So whether the question is security or potential or acceptance or survival, there are 'real' versions and 'philosophical' versions for all those questions. And when we get done with all that, we still won't know for absolute sure whether 'right now' will carry over for the next five minutes or if in the whole of things, we're just kidding ourselves anyway.

Why is our potential? And why can we see everybody else's potential so well even when they can't see it? Is that what others truly see in us?

This touches on something written by Marianne Williamson back in 1992 in her book ‘Return to Love.’ Often thought of as being quoted by Nelson Mandela, it embodies another way to see the Menkar dilemma:

“It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

—Marianne Williamson

I have long realized that I attract people whose charts contain pointed commentaries on Menkar. They are most often friends than clients, and our relationships are rife with the interlocking of our personal struggles to fulfill our potential, often in spite of our marked ability to trip ourselves up by prioritizing desires over ability.

It is that choice of priority again, that very Greek question of the micro-versus-macrocosm of life.

And that explains at least some of why Menkar is difficult. It’s hard to think through this sort of conflict of self. And it’s one which shows up time and time and time again.

In the charts of people I come to know, most often there’s a planet sitting close enough to conjunct Menkar. In studying those (inclusive of the planets and asteroids in conjunction) I’ve come to understand that Menkar represents what we face in dealing with our world and what we embody in the lives of others. This was never made as plain to me as when I realized that someone I know with a literal life-or-death job has Medusa conjunct Sun conjunct Menkar.

And from there I looked to the chart of my sister, born to die at age 17 of a devastating and fatal disease. Nessus conjunct her Sun conjunct Menkar speaks eloquently of the understandable bitterness she felt at knowing she was going to die young and the scars she left on the lives around her while like so much connected to Nessus, live on decades after her death.

In a chart where Venus, Mercury, Phaethon and the South Node conjunct Menkar I see the experience of a life which, true to Phaethon’s ‘headstrong teen’ influence got on track early and which didn’t get challenged in the internal sense until much later on, at an age when that native was long past teenage adaptability. A lot of the growing up and facing of life’s realities some of us learn early this person is struggling with now in their 50s.

They’ve fallen down and they can’t get up because they are too afraid to see they’ve fallen down - yet another version of the 'Menkar Effect.'

A composite photo of NGC 1068 (M77) which is one of the nebula formations to

be found in constellation Cetus. That M77 contains a rapidly growing black

hole adds to the astro-mythology of its constellation.

(photo credit: NASA, CXC, MIT, Canizares, Evans et al,  STSd, NSF, 

NRAO, VLA, March 2010)

Menkar began the 1900s by moving into 13 Taurus in 1905. 13 Taurus is a degree which promotes and provokes the idea of right and wrong, some of which may be real and may be driven by some already-established internalized sense of priority or propriety. That would seem to be doubling up on some of Menkar’s least likable attributes, which may explain why between 1905 and 1976 (when Menkar moved on into 14 Taurus) we  saw more war (as a world) than we’ve seen since. With a lot of people still alive who were born during those years there would seem to be something of a ‘hyperbolic’ tendency still among us.

And of course there is that Menkar challenge which asks that we see the good and bad not just in others, but in ourselves. Humans are not always so very good at that.

Since 1976, Menkar has been positioned at 14 Taurus, a degree with a very mystical bent which in ‘real life’ terms could be simply mystical – but which may also give us a clue about the role of spirituality and religion seen during in the nearly 50 years since. Dividing ‘the times’ from the people who live with/through/by the natal charts, the times will be what they will be (which we would astrological see more through ongoing transits and eclipses)…but the people born with Menkar at 14 Taurus – is it any wonder that they are swayed by that which may be all around them but which they cannot see, such as social media?

There are ups and downs with everything, to be sure. And given that Menkar will be at 14 Taurus until June of 2048 (which will happen just as Neptune conjuncts Menkar and Eris moves into Taurus) we have a ways to go with this “mystical” quality which could lend so much insight – leading to great realizations about life…and maybe even the afterlife or other dimensions. But at the same time it speaks to a time and half a dozen astrological  generations (using Pluto as our generational market) which are all predisposed to manifesting and feeling this “mystical” influence both for the strength and weakness, the faith and vulnerability that any “mystical” reference can denote.

All this is timely because here in the year 2013 we’re about to experience a Solar Eclipse at 19 Taurus. Using standard 5-degree orbs, that means this Solar Eclipse will conjunct Menkar.

Plus there is a Solar Eclipse which will happen this November at 11 Scorpio? That’s within orb to oppose Menkar.

Anyone with a birthday between April 26 and May 15 (or) October 29 and November 17 should pay attention to this for sure. Those with birthdays between May 4 and May 15 along with those with birthdays between November 6 and 17 should pay particular attention to this May’s Taurus eclipse. Those with birthdays between April 26 and May 6th and October 29 and November 8 should focus on the November eclipse yet to come.

And for you whose birthdays lie in that overlap? This going to be a big year in your life. Many things you had thought were lasting – particularly as part of your internal value system – will now be supplanted. Being that humans are not the most malleable in such areas, the process won’t feel gentle, even without any loss of lifestyle or limb.

But let’s be real here: Solar Eclipses are not gentle. Nor are they a 'one-and-done' sort of affair. Solar eclipse effects evolve...and of all the astrological processes, they are perhaps the most dramatic, which may account for the histories of Solar Eclipses marking the rise and fall of kings and nations back into ancient times.

Yet since our focus here is Menkar, what we can expect from a Solar Eclipse on Menkar is the ‘shadow’ of our inner Cassiopeia coming out. Where we have not learned to be Perseus and figure out how to deal with those “frightening Medusa truths” – whether about ourselves or others, now those facts come out.

At the time of this post (April 26th) asteroid Child is conjunct the South Node with Lilith (the asteroid, not the Black Moon) conjunct Menkar, representing some facet of our Self which we don't want to acknowledge (Lilith) being focal in those dealings with the collective either as we stand against them, wanting to be an individual...or as we yearn to be part of them.

The Child/South Node part of this is most easily understood as 'wanting things to be easy' (or simple) which in combination with Lilith/Menkar sounds like a subterranean confrontation with that inner 'knowing' of who we are and what we're capable of becoming against what life has made easy to comply with or conform to.

As the days of May tick by (on our way to the Solar Eclipse on May 10th, or May 9th for those in the Americas)...first Mercury, then Mars conjunct Menkar.

This is a recipe for 'vital affairs' with far-reaching implications, the strength of which have everything to do with where these objects (Mercury, Mars and Menkar) lie in your natal chart.

And that's important to remember: the degree to which these things surface now, and to a great degree the effect Menkar has on your life is all about your natal chart. Whether (or how closely) Menkar and this eclipse are associated with any planet (dwarf or regular), node or axis in your chart multiplies effects in this moment.

Also yes, asteroids, TNOs and all such 'extra points' (as they're known) count in conjunction to Menkar natally and obviously (as discussed here) by transit. But unless you have a planet, node or axis positioned with Menkar or in such a position that it will be heavily impacted by the eclipse, you are less likely to see your shadow rise up and swallow some part of your life whole during the next weeks or month.

You know, like Jonah and the Whale.

Jonas en de Walvis (Jonah and the Whale)

by Pieter Lastman (1583-1633)

One more comment about that, since Jonah has crept into the conversation. The idea of being afraid of our own power is something many people from many walks of life have talked about. It’s known as the ‘Jonah Complex,’ which suggests that we are more apt to get swallowed by our fear of Self than anything else.

But what is fear and what is reality?

That seems very much part of our Menkar challenge. And maybe it's why we do so much soul searching throughout our lives.

Evidently we're meant to.

But then...maybe we should also reflect one last time on Cetus. Yes, the constellation began as a monster of the deep. And it's only in the past hundred plus years that whales have stopped being thought of as ship-wrecking monsters and giant sources of baleen and oil.

The whales haven't changed - we have. And maybe that's something very important to understand about Menkar. We may all need to - at some point - be 'swallowed whole' by our demons, our personal fears.

And maybe we survive best by accepting that our fears... our very human vulnerabilities, are part of the beauty which is life.   
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