Edisona in Gemini: What is a Bright Idea?

 

 Thomas Alva Edison

A famous Edison quote: 'Genius is 1% inspiration

and 99% perspiration.' (Harper's Monthly - September 1932) 

photo credit: Louis Bachrach (c. 1922)

May 4th and 3:08pm (UT/+0) will find asteroid Edisona moving into Gemini, joining an interesting little group which includes Dionysus (sacred celebration/ritual), Sabine (captured, enforced), Tantalus (tempting, temptation), fixed star Aldebaran (integrity), Orpheus (irresponsible/self conscious talent), Industria (industriousness), Hebe/Chaos (service/endless fertility), Klotho (bringing to be) and fixed star Rigel (the teacher)….all in Gemini’s first fifteen degrees.

Why care about the first fifteen degrees in particular? 

Because the above list of points are those which are going to be getting ‘fired up’ as we move forward through these next three weeks or so to June 1st’s Gemini Solar Eclipse.

Edisona, obviously linked to the famous inventor Edison is all about ‘the bright idea.’ You know - because Edison invented the light bulb.

A light bulb

photo credit: KMJ (Oct 2007)

It’s also about illumination...in something of the ‘lesser’ meaning of the word. Mercury, the Sun – those are the central astrological symbols of enlightenment or learning of the internal sort….the kind of understanding which we use in growing our interests.

Against this we have Edisona, which seems to be more about ‘seeing what’s happening’ or having a moment where we ‘get the drift’ or – as applies to the upcoming solar eclipse – we begin understanding the nature of things which will be at stake, up for grabs, in need of attention and of the moment as eclipse-oriented events become the talk of the day.

Considering this eclipse will be at 11 Gemini, Edisona being in Gemini would seem like (sorry, I just have to say it!) a really good idea.

The down side? Considering how solar eclipses tend to be all about blindly tossing the proverbial baby out with the unused bathwater, what we may hear now and going forward are a lot of good ideas which actually aren’t going to get anywhere because some giant force plows them down like a steamroller over an army of marshmallows.

However…that doesn’t mean that this isn’t a good time to have a great idea. Gemini being a sign all about mentality and choice, this would be a classic time to begin getting a clue as to what you need to do in order to make your own dreams come true. And if that new idea or concept or perspective on life includes letting go of something or some method or some situation which has worked ‘well enough’ but which deep in your….whatever (far be it for me to  presume here)…you know isn’t your passion, your ‘this is who I really am (or should be)’ thing…then so much the better. The letting go of temporizing and ‘making do’ is the heart and soul of what a lead-up period to an eclipse is all about, so the more honest you can be with yourself about who you really were “born” to be, the better off you’re going to be.

And listen...I know this isn’t easy. Plenty of us get into life wedgies with ourselves where we’re making the decent paycheck or we want to be ‘part of something’ which makes us feel accepted…but if that isn’t you, it isn’t. The lore about eclipses is all about this very concept – that when we compromise our real reason for being, particularly where we get all dug in and stubborn (yeah, that would be like what…half the human race?), that’s where an eclipse comes along and hits you really hard.

This isn’t about what you like, either. It’s about that inner sense of who you are and who you should be in the world. Let’s remember: Gemini is the polarity sign to Sagittarius, which means what we do or think up gets tested in real world surroundings. Where we love something but everybody hates it (or hates us for doing it, being it or loving it) that may or may not be totally wrong – you have to reflect. Deep inside, is this …no, not what you like or who you are, but who you know you should be in the greater world? Sagittarius is all about the ‘out there’ stuff – our making the way in the world.

And when the world hisses at us for how we’re making our way or who we’re making our way with, or…or…

…It may not be that said ‘group’ is really bad. It may just be that that’s not for us. Much as we might like it, it’s not for us.

Anyway….so let’s get back to the plus side of this ledger and how this all sort of times out. By May 29, Edisona will be conjunct Aldebaran, a fixed star all about integrity. That being at 9 Gemini (the last of Gemini’s ‘doing/being’ first decanate degrees), and with this being just a handful of tick-tocks prior to the eclipse, getting the idea (also known has ‘are you getting the idea already, bub?’) is the order of the day.

With Venus running with Mars at this point in Taurus, a lot of folks are going to be sticking out their lower lip and pouting ‘but I LIKE doing this!’ … and yes, that may work for some. But will it work for you? That idea is your Edisona/Aldebaran: check the inner integrity meter. Is your world growing? Are you more rather than less secure with your place in life and/or the world (both count)?

As of May 30th, Edisona moves into Gemini’s second decanate: degrees 10 through 19. This being where Gemini expresses itself about emotions and most emotionally (poetically? fervently? persuasively?) it’s a good time to ‘put out the appeal’ or maybe launch some sort of campaign.

Whatever you’re doing, the days of June 14, 15 and 16 have Edisona conjunct fixed star Rigel (the teacher). So it’s a great day to ask questions and get information, however you glean best. Since that Venus/Mars thing is now split up, everyone’s more in a ‘productive mode’ and with Mars still in Taurus’ late degrees part of the reason why would be that a few resounding NO!s have been delivered since we last checked in on this transiting pair.

From June 25 through July 21st when Edisona enters Cancer, this is the real test of how well things are working. The 3rd decanate of Gemini – degrees 20 through 29 – are like all zodiacal 3rd decans about the getting feedback, the responding to external force and influence. And here the response (and often the input) is verbal, textual – or otherwise expressed as the opinion on ‘idea of the thing’…even when Edisona isn’t around!

As photographed in UV, 'fixed star' Betelgeuse can be seen

pulsating. Is this a metaphysical indicator that things are - and are

meant to be more or less easy? I'd think so!

photo credit: NASA/ESA

And with this particular Gemini 3rd decanate…well, let’s just take our theme from the two fixed stars positioned at the beginning of said decan (Bellatrix) and at the end of the decan (Betelgeuse). There are a couple of others hanging in this arena, but these two really pretty much say it all. Bellatrix is the quintessential ‘oh, you think? PROVE IT!’ and Betelgeuse is ‘ease of passage/easy going.’ Obviously we all like Betelgeuse and hardly one in twenty of us enjoy Bellatrix.

But since all of life is a process, let’s look at it this way: if you receive the Bellatrix critique and you fix the problem, then you get the Betelgeuse approval and support – you’re on and about your biz. But if you fight for (or insist on persisting with) something which doesn’t work, which isn’t acceptable, which violates or ‘cheats’ on some sort of rule or standard…(or frankly, if your choice simply sucks) then Betelgeuse becomes the door which slams in your face.

The third decan of Gemini is totally about this process and the experiencing of this process. If Edisona’s passing through here gives you the idea of how life works, bravo! If Edisona passing through this decan even gives you some idea of what’s keeping you from achieving some peace and harmony in your life or efforts, we have to applaud that too.

Worth noting here also is that on July 4th, Edisona will be conjunct the South Node (ease of association) with fixed star Phact (and Bellatrix) right behind. Would this make it a good day to go out and do something new? It well might be.

But maybe more to the point...this combination really sounds like one where you get past the hard stuff (Bellatrix) and explore possibilities (Phact) which may well pay off. Or when you begin to understand how to get in sync with others. With Venus at 0 Cancer (the beginnings of connections) and the Sun already in Cancer’s emotional degrees (not to mention this coming right after the July 1st Cancer solar eclipse) this is a good time to get rid of the old, accept the new and perhaps …just perhaps to mend fences or bridges, depending on what’s gone down in your life.

To this we could at how Bellatrix and Betelgeuse (and come to think of it, Rigel) are all members of the same constellation: Orion...the Hunter.

A constellation map of Orion

by Blueshade (Nov 2004)

Take it as just another little celestial suggestion that we are meant to go find our answers, our inspirations, our new and bright ideas. Life isn't supposed to be easy...the eternal Gemini/Sagittarius polarity is all about the growth cycle and about stretching ourselves particularly in areas which seem uncomfortable or disquieting to us.

At the very least...we need to understand why they're such a problem, y'know?

So that’s all I have to say on Edisona - for the moment, that is. Which means I’m now leaving you with all these ideas so that you can have some of your own!

Is it a deal?

Happy gleaning!

Capricorn Ingress 2010

 An Aries wheel (non location specific) chart of the

2010 Capricorn solstice cast for (+0) Universal Time.   

Welcome to this year's discussion of the Capricorn ingress - which of course centers on the Sun.

And if we look at this chart...what do we see?

We see a Sun conjunct Mercury (retrograde in Sagittarius)...and Pallas, North Node and Pluto/Eros!

Well gosh! And this whole bunch stands in opposition to fixed star Betelgeuse at 28 Gemini….! What oh what could that mean?

Answer: a lot of things, of course!

Let's start with the idea that this is one of those moments when wisdom (Pallas) is inspired....and when wisdom (Pallas) is probably (North Node) needed. Even required! So though our yearnings and desires may be strong (Pluto/Eros), we know that what we do…or don’t do (Sun/North Node) ultimately determines the quality, stability and longevity of our life and lifestyle (Capricorn, Saturn as ruler of Capricorn).

Though we like to think of this time of year as one filled with joy and peace and family time, the truth of it is that astronomically, this is the shortest day of the year in the north hemisphere and the longest in the south. So the Capricorn ingress is a moment of shift – from northern waning to waxing and from southern waxing to waning. And this is reflected in the idea that in entering

Capricorn, the Sun leaves its six months in receptive-responsive mode and takes up six months in pro-active and explorative mode.

Come to think of it…

---

an astrologer’s daydream….

I wonder if anyone has ever considered the different paths, attitudes and cultures of nations in northern and southern hemispheres based on this fact?

Southern days wax while the Sun moves through signs which whether yin or yang function in a receptive-reactive-responsive mode and northern days grow longer while the Sun is in pro-active, assertive, explorative mode.

From the astrological point of view, surely this would have an effect on people and the countries they build/live in north and south?

---

Enough of that! Back to the subject…

There are many sorts of transit points throughout the whole of the zodiac. There’s the shift from sign to sign, the shift from quadrant to quadrant (from personal learning to personally operative to worldly interactive to world participant) the shift from lower to upper hemisphere and vice-versa…

…but only the shift from the left to right half of the natural zodiac wheel – from pro-active-assertive-experimental to reactive-receptive-responsive and back again – only those transitions are actually known as difficult. Yea verily, even problematic.

And that’s not hard to understand. Going from private/personal to worldly/public is something most of us do everyday. We go out our doors into the public, we come back home into our private realms. There’s a little ‘oh do I HAVE to?’ when it comes to hauling ourselves out of bed in the morning…

And there are those who even when they get home find it near impossible to just ‘stop.’ Housework, work brought home from the office, personal paperwork, returning phone calls, emails…it’s a whole list – which only proves that you don’t have to be out in the world to be being assertive and pro-active!

For many, the shift from proactive to passive, from directing traffic and living in the fast lane of their own brain to letting go and just sitting back…that shift is notoriously tough for a lot of folks. It’s even specifically mentioned when we look at lore and notes astrologers down through the ages have taken for 29 Gemini.

Yes, that 29 Gemini – the degree of yesterday’s Lunar Eclipse, and part of what was discussed in the blog on same.

But for others, getting out of the more passive, receptive/responsive gear may be just as hard. Some of us like risk. Some of us loathe risk. Some of us like the new, some of us like the known.

Every December Solstice – and thus Capricorn Ingress – is about this moving from a more contained and ‘responding’ (to circumstances, information, data, etc.) mode into a purely ‘let’s do it and see how it works out’ sort of mode. That idea colors the Ingress moment…and the whole of the Capricorn quarter – that being from here into March, this quarter being the signs of Capricorn-Aquarius-Pisces.

The concept of this quarter remains wholly worldly. This is about how well any ‘world’ works – be it that in your family, that in your nation, that of the globe, that in your head, that in your profession…and so on.

The next three months (the 'ingress quarter') is also ‘colored’ by the concept of Mercury retrograde. Mercury is in Sagittarius, telling us that the details are important and that we need not rush, but we need to find out why we aren’t getting where we want to go…or what is holding us back perhaps…or what we need to do in order to move forward in some new and more assertive, proactive way in whatever ‘world’ (or ‘worlds’) are not as functional (Mercury/Sagittarius) or structurally sound (Sun/Capricorn) as we’d like them to be.

Or as we need them to be…let’s be real here!

A lot of people are going to hold themselves back this quarter. You’re going to see it, hear it and maybe even experience it. The purpose for that hesitation is the key to whether it’s useful or not. If it’s just a biding of time, or dawdling because of not liking to risk, change, leave the comfort zone – that’s not all that productive. If there is a directed purpose – the ‘getting it right’ sort of thing – that’s a positive.

So on some level, we can really think of these next three months and a time in which to get right with OUR world(s). 

However…for those who hear this and think ‘oh, so I don’t really need to do anything for real until March’ that may or may not be so. Why you would think that is pretty Mercury retrograde (is it an excuse or is it really needing the time to get something right or ready?). But this goes back to that daydream about the solstice as a universal factor.

The two yearly equinoxes (spring and fall) are as implied: moments of equal metaphorical, emphasis – aka power, potential or more to the hemispheric point, ease of functionality.

The solstices are inequality incarnate. This moment is where the whole of the southern hemisphere (and thus everybody living or operating) in that hemisphere has as much potential and responsibility on their side as they will have during this ‘solar cycle’ with the northern hemisphere being in just the opposite situation.

So people who live (or who were born) in the northern global hemisphere should be thinking they are facing ‘the uphill battle’ now. In other words, this is a time of building. People in (or born in) the southern hemisphere are capitalizing on what has been done or dealing with results (sometimes also called consequences!).

  A glorious photograph of Planet Earth taken by Apollo 17 astronauts

photo credit: NASA

And for you who were born in one hemisphere and who are residing in the other? Since our innate (birth) nature is endemic to us, especially with Mercury retrograde you’re are likely to be learning about or maybe even confronted with matters pertaining to your own personal rhythms. Or maybe how you differ from those around you – which could be yes, a problem…but then, it could be just the kind of uniqueness which allows you to get noticed, shine and make big advances.

Wherever you live, the fact that Uranus commits to its transit of Aries mere days before the end of this calendar/zodiacal quarter tells us the object is to reincarnate our lives. To reinvent ourselves. To do something new. To renew who we are in our own world. To get real about what’s real in real life.

Given that, and that there will be a Solar Eclipse in Capricorn barely two weeks – a fortnight for you poetic folks – into the quarter? That tells us that old ways of doing, old (Capricorn) structures in life and that have been our life are passing away. With Venus in Scorpio at the ingress, a lot of the problems raised in us during and by the Venus retrograde cycle remain active now and moving forward, contributing to these changes.

How well have you learned those lessons? Have you figured out where and how you are either trying to get blood out of a stone? Have you recognized that some of your desires (or those of others you have chosen to deal with) are so personally ‘me-me-me’ oriented that what results is an unworkable situation?

To have Venus in Scorpio, Mercury in Sagittarius, Sun and Mars in Capricorn (an obvious zodiacal sequence) is a pretty sure sign that our values (Venus) and ways of going about getting where we want to go in life (Mercury) are lagging behind what we really want. We need to – in essence – catch up with our potential and what we actually believe in about ourselves. 

This ‘truth of self’ is pretty much the whole point of this quarter. Phrased a thousand ways and coming at you from a dozen quadrants, life is seeking to prompt you through events and promptings both happy and sad, positive and negative, productive and restrictive…the point is WHO ARE YOU?

And from that…are you headed in the right direction? Are you being a responsible person to yourself, to others and in this world? That’s the other part of the shift into the zodiacal 4th quadrant well worth discussing – and pretty fitting as a way to round up our chat. In the 4th quadrant, that land of Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces…ultimately the Capricorn world, the Aquarian society and the Piscean moral-social-humanistic standard always, always, always, ALWAYS wins.

And Uranus working over the very end of this quadrant is a reflection of how so many of us are trying desperately…maybe fervently…to old ways, whatever they may be.

Those ways, dreams, beliefs…whatever they are, they represent comfort zones. Uranus makes this transition once every 84 years. So we haven’t seen this cosmic ‘give it up!’ vibe roll through earthly life since 1926 - just before depressions rolled through a lot of national economies, setting the stage for WWII. The cycle before that was 1842. Not the same set of nations, not the same circumstances, but anyone who knows their history knows the kind of giant changes political (Capricorn), scientific (Aquarius) and humanistic (Pisces) which happened in the 20, 30, 40 years which followed 1842.

This is not a prophesy of war. Or economic collapse. What is it? One person pointing at a cosmic clock saying the ‘change’ alarm is about to go off – loudly. If you are someone who interprets change as a disaster…? Then yes, you may feel a lot is very wrong going forward. But if you’re willing to change in your head and in your life…if you’re willing to be a participant in change – this is truly a good time.

Those who linger will find things getting harder. Those who take it upon themselves to get out of their ‘hoping its all going to be okay the way it is’ mode will like as not prosper.

The bad news is…it’s all about what you do. It’s all about whether you are willing to become pro-active in your own life and in life in general.

The good news however is that it’s all about you! You have every reason and opportunity now to be pro-active in creating the life you want to have in a world which is more expansive and interesting than ever.

Orionid Meteor Shower

The constellation Orion over Arches National Park in Utah
(photo credit: Daniel Schwen/2004)

Having begun just as Venus went retrograde, October 12th marks the height of the annual 2010 Orionid meteor shower.

Named for the constellation Orion, the Orionids don't actually come from the constellation itself, rather from an area just outside of the 'body' of Orion - between Orion and Gemini.

And astrologically, knowing just that is the key to understanding this annual event.

Gemini we know. Gemini is the process of thought and all which comes from thinking - or the lack thereof. We either choose or choose not to. We are organized or not. We are neat or not. We talk or we are silent. We are mobile, stationary, hasty or simply stuck. We understand or we're confused, we're seekers or we know and comprehend. We communicate our thoughts through the mail, email, text, writings, speech or otherwise. We communicate ourselves or our ideas via phones, books, computers, mail carriers, cars, bicycles, planes, trains and last but never least, our mouth, hands or feet.

Gemini is the everyday. Gemini is 'temporal time' - the schedule, the people we meet along the way (shopkeepers, neighbors, etc.) and those who are 'part of our world' but not part of our core mom-pop-and-kids family.

Orion, on the other hand, is one of the most famous constellations in our sky which most people know simply as The Hunter.

 Constellation Orion

But astrologically, it takes only a little looking at the diagram of Orion to realize how many 'statements' are made in its form. No less than three well known fixed stars (Betelgeuse, Bellatrix and Rigel) are part of the full 'Orion picture.' 

So what does this tell us?

First in line, Betelgeuse is a red giant star nearing the end of its astronomical life. Known as a star of 'ease or easy process,' Betelgeuse is a wonderful example of how fixed star influences work, starting with the idea that though they are referred to as 'fixed,' this is 'fixed' in the astrological sense (slow to move) not 'fixed' as in concrete - forevermore set in place. Currently moving at roughly one minute of longitude per year, Betelgeuse is currently at 28 Gemini, having moved out of 27 Gemini towards the end of 1945.

Twenty-seven Gemini is a degree typified as either a 'sleeping giant' or a 'genie in a bottle' - you don't know quite what is going to happen until you rouse the giant or free the genie. That Betelgeuse moved out of 27 Gemini into 28 Gemini as WWII came to its end (a world-wide example of genies and sleeping giants if there ever was one!) is apt.

Since 1945, Betelgeuse has been colored by 28 Gemini's legendary preoccupation with values...whether you color that as money and wealth or morality and integrity. A degree known for just enough intuition to be confused and enough suspicion to promote caution, 28 Gemini often functions as a degree at which whatever is positioned there prompts situations through which we learn. That would be in keeping with 28 Gemini being a 3rd decan degree, to be sure - any degree between 20 and 29 of any sign is known as where results are only known through worldly/outside input or reaction.

Of course the down side there is that if Betelgeuse is about 'ease' and we see how it did when at 27 Gemini, then it's no wonder that so many difficulties have arisen in the last sixty (plus) years. We keep trying to take the easy way out and life teaches us to be more cautious and to opt for truly global rather than self serving values inclusive of the idea that though it's easy to assume and assert the meaning of 'morality' and 'integrity' that in the greatest of big picture perspectives, those ideas are always far, far more global than we tend to think.

 Young Stars Emerging from Orion's Head

(source: ASA/JPL/Caltech/Spitzer Team - 2007)

Betelgeuse is the star at Orion's right shoulder, representing that which is, and from which we respond. Opposite that is Bellatrix, a star known to represent a difficult process - apt, seeing as left is 'what is yet left to do' and thus the unknown. Thought by physicists to be too small to ever go supernova, the brilliant light emitted by Bellatrix is created by extremely high temperatures at its core: a metaphysical emblem of 'high power' and 'great friction,' both of which fit well with the challenges and struggles associated with Bellatrix.

Currently at 21 Gemini, Bellatrix operates through situations where the world reactions to whatever we have (or have not) done. That this degree represents an elevated tendency to scatter one's efforts, waste time and energy and in general, dilute one's effectiveness through lack of focus on the actual goal (through getting distracted) isn't very helpful, particularly when we think of Orion as the Hunter. Hunters need to be focused and aware. Bellatrix in this position suggests that individually and as a world, we are in a period where our ability to discipline our thoughts and efforts is being tested.

But all is not lost. Not in the least! Orion is a fascinating structure in that the 'shoulders' of the hunter are indeed burdened by difficulties in moving ahead and desires to live in or respond from values held over from the past. Yet even if this is emblematic of the 'shouldering of so much tension' in today's world, there is a third star - Rigel - which is Orion's left foot.

A left foot represents our metaphorical step into the future. And Rigel is a star all about being 'under the foot of the teacher' - the necessity to learn. Positioned at 16 Gemini (a degree all about emotional thoughts) Rigel asks that we use our emotions as motivations and from that, learn what we actually can accomplish - and become.

 Orion as a guide by Mysid

As a 'hunter' in the sky, Orion is also a mythic guide; as above it helps point to other major stars...other resources in our life. Using Betelgeuse, we find our way to Procyon, a star of opportunities which come and go if not grabbed onto and used. Rather like Betelgeuse, don't you think? We have a chance to prevent things from going wrong...and if we just ignore it, then the genie gets out of the box.

Fortunately, Bellatrix points to nothing in particular, but there is a line drawn from Rigel to Castor and Pollux, the double edged sword of creative brilliance against personal angst. Positioned in the 3rd decanate of Cancer, this duo becomes evident as a test of personal character once we try to make our way in our worldly life, reminding us that our emotions are powerful enough to get us off track even when we (Rigel) know how to get things done.

Maybe the best news with Orion is the ideas this constellation's famous three belt stars guide us to...

  Orion's Belt (source: NASA)

    

...in one direction the belt points to Sirius, the most brilliant star in the whole of the sky apart from our Sun. Called either 'the Scorcher' or the 'Shining One' by the ancient Egyptians, Sirius - sometimes also called the 'Dog Star' reminds us that small things can have great consequences, and that often times our personal desires need to be sacrificed for a greater good.

(Yes, just like sometimes our beloved canine companions sacrifice for us!)

Positioned at 14 Cancer, Sirius is said to grant grace in either writing, math or money-making, but seldom all three. It's a sign of resourcefulness and grace - a resource which relates it's position on the same side of Orion as Betelgeuse, the symbol of that we find easy to cope with or do.

Maybe most importantly is the fact that Aldebaran stands in the opposite direction. One of the Royal Persian Stars, Aldebaran promises great success if, where and when we hold ourselves to levels of true integrity.

And maybe, just maybe that tells us what it is which makes moving ahead so hard. Just as the belt 'marries' the bottom and top of this constellation's figure together in a metaphorical union of emotion and the ability to move ahead, so integrity is just that quality which is held to when we marry our needs and our aims to the positions, goals and necessities of others.

With all this said, it's to remember that the Orionid meteor shower comes not from the heart of Orion, but from that deep spatial gap between Orion and Gemini: the gap between thinking and formulating our ideas, choices and priorities with knowing how to 'hunt' down the means and find guidance so as to achieve our greatest goals. 

Occurring just as and after Venus has gone retrograde in Scorpio, this year's Orionid meteor shower would seem to be bits of light...recognitions, ideas, realizations...

...probably pertaining to what we're mulling over inside, retrogrades always being about internals.

There are things we want (Venus).

And they aren't going to just drop into our laps. We're going to have to deal with others (Scorpio).

And maybe most of all, we're going to have to find the right combination of what we already know and what we're willing to 'go forth and learn' (Orion).

We know there's some risk to what we're undertaking (Scorpio). But without taking some sort of Scorpio risks, we never make Scorpio gains.

And maybe worst of all, we know time passes by. If we do nothing, a year from now the Orionids will come yet again, their little streaks of light in the sky reminding us that our life is flashing by without our even having tried to live it.

No, no one wants that.

The Dalai Lama: Happiness as a Way of Life

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

There are a million places where you can to read about the 14th Dalai Lama. That became obvious when went to Google and typed in his name.

One thing I hadn't (somehow) noticed before is the Dalai Lama's full birth name. It's Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso. (Just try getting that on an ID bracelet.)

Like all Dalai Lamas, this one is considered a reincarnation of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. And yes, he lives in exile - his whole government-in-exile is seated in Dharamshala, Himachal Prodesh, India.

Like I said...all that, you can read elsewhere. What you come here for is the astrology, so let us proceed to just that.

Born on July 6, 1935 in Taktser, Quinghai (Tibet) at 4:45 (GMT) gives us the following chart...

...and the beauty of the personality written in this picture of the unfolding universe is told like this:

Just behind the personalizing Ascendant of the Dalai Lama is the symbol 'House'...which here speaks to being comfortable in your own skin. Positioned in early Libra, this tells us the Dalai Lama is a man who people feel comfortable with because he's comfortable with himself - and with whoever you may be.

He's willing to experience who you are (Eurydike), be made happier for his encounter with you (Polyhymnia) and to share the struggle we all have as humans to use our gifts for others when in truth, human instinct instills in us undeniable need and at times, a wonderful, frightening want (Sisyphus) which can lead us to our glory or to self-delusion (Diadem/Drakonia).

Interestingly, just at the far edge of conjunction behind House we also have Ixion - the very embodiment of entitlement born of lack of gratitude. And that would seem to be a really odd description of the Dalai Lama except for a couple of things.

For one, when we accept living in our skin, we have to recognize that with comfort comes a discomfort which by working past, creates in us a sense of peace in feeling we actually are ourselves. That we can master who we are and be who we want ourselves to be. Part of this interpretation comes from Ixion being in the 12th house of limitations. Ixion is in Virgo and the Dalai Lama's actual Ascendant is in Libra, giving us a picture of his 'putting Ixion behind him' in a sense.

And yet we live in all parts of our chart. His 12th house is Virgo and Virgo is an earth sign all about doing service. In Ixion conjunct Lust (fixation), we see the Dalai Lama's rejection of life as a materialistic competition. We see his life in exile. We hear him trying to teach us  not to focus on what we don't have - the ingratitude - but to treasure what is given to us with each breath, each day, each bee buzzing by a flower, each chance to be with each other. 

There's also the fact that Virgo is ruled by Mercury. The Dalai Lama's Mercury is in the 9th house of teaching and religion. At first glance this would seem to be a negative, as Mercury in the 9th is famous for haste, sloppy work and arrogant dogmatism.

But a second look at this Mercury reminds us what it means for any symbol to be positioned in the 3rd decanate. Third decan symbols (anything positioned in degrees 20-29 of any sign) have to do with how others react to what we do. With Mercury being about communication and here positioned with Bellatrix (difficulty in reaching goals), Echo (repeating that you are taught), Industria (industriousness), Betelgeuse (ease of effort) and poetic Sappho (love for everyone) we see the Dalai Lama working against the tide.

The depth of what he would so like to convey is difficult to get across (Bellatrix) in a world where people tend just to repeat what they've heard (Echo) amidst the hustle and bustle of life and all they need to get done (Industria). It takes work to really connect ideas in our minds (Industria). And it takes patience and perseverance (Industria) to reach a point where we understand that loving everyone isn't about definitions, roles and functions in each others' lives, but about the privilege of being in each others presence (Sappho) and enjoying the experience of life as a whole...a great rhythmic poem of which we are but part.

When and to the degree that we fall sort of understanding this idea, we all live in exile - from ourselves most of all. The Dalai Lama probably understands this well...just as he's probably long learned that even exile has its purpose.

This is not to say the man is angelic. With Tantalus (temptation) on one side of his IC and Klotho (beginnings) and Circe (the ability to enchant/reduce others to creatures which simply follow by instinct) it would seem the Dalai Lama is well aware of his appeal and charisma. This is a man who knows what he could do - especially with Tantalus opposition Sappho, sexuality is powerful implied.

But with the chart's public end of the vertical 'who I am in my own mind' axis (a Cancer Midheaven) being ruled by a Virgo Moon positioned not merely in a spiritual and often reclusive 12th but conjunct Neptune? Moon/Neptune is one of the clearest signatures of platonic love a chart can present. Strangely, it can also backfire - we will assume there are those who have misunderstood the Dalai Lama's universal affinity for his fellow humans. And there is here also a potential for great imagination, visionary potency and fantastic imagery....but not in public. At some level, the Dalai Lama feels he is one with mankind, and he will not risk himself for to him, that is to accept a risk to all.

This is not sainthood - rather it is an acceptance of human mortality, the strength of frailty in the human spirit, and how both are completely necessary if anyone is ever to by accepting their vulnerability become impervious to spiritual destruction.

The calculated form of a Virgo Lilith standing with this group underscores this idea of the mortal shadow. And in the opposition to a Pisces Saturn/Eros in the 6th house of responsibility, we know this man grapples with the understanding that even in all we think most ill about ourselves lies a measure of our potential.

Being that astrological planets (Neptune, Saturn and Moon) trump asteroids (Eros) as asteroids trump anything calculated (Lilith) in a chart, this Neptune/Moon opposition Saturn tells us this man will hold to his vows because vows are an expression of one's faith in the necessity of an ideal. That he will hold himself to first and last, even if on occasion his feet stumble as he walks his long road.

Great as he is in the eyes of the world, that the Dalai Lama is so apparently one of us is a huge reason why we accept him. That he admits his human vulnerabilities to us earns him great respect, which is why we venerate him even as we embrace him as our equal.

His humanity and humanness gives us hope in ourselves.

Another really interesting, thought provoking image is presented in his chart by Eris at the Descendant (article on Eris). It's a picture of discord (Eris), which on the Descendant would be what he presents to us, what he sees in the world, and part of the legacy he will leave as social reformer (discord in positive form), as a spiritual head of state in an ever-more secular world...and as teacher to those who would learn, and example to those who won't listen.

Even more information is found when we follow the astrological rule to see how a  chart house works (and often what it's really 'about') by looking to the ruler of the sign on its cusp. Seeing that in this case the Dalai Lama's Descendant is ruled by Aries, that means we look to Mars.

The Dalai Lama's Mars is in the 1st house of 'what I do and who I am.' It is positioned in an emotional degree of Libra, telling us he cares about others, is an emotional man unafraid of expressing his feelings and that when moved by others, he responds.

And what is his Mars set up to respond to and through? That's directly across the chart: Juno and Sedna in the 7th house, conjunct asteroid Child.

Seeing this, we see how this man is willing to embrace his own emotions in being with us. And how he teaches us to be the child we are. This is the signature of his caring for all of Earth's children, no matter what form their existence may take. In this man is both witness and teacher that we are all caretakers and all needy, helpless people in need of protection and love.

Emotionally, we are all those things. And we should be all those things - that's part of being a human being. Maybe even the better part of being a human being.

As you can tell from his birth date, today is the Dalai Lama's birthday. So here is his solar return chart....

Dalai Lama's Solar Return chart 2010 

This is a particularly interesting chart as it occurs a day after a Uranus station, telling us that there are some changes going on with the Dalai Lama himself - and since his birthday comes just after the station, he is evolving out of events rather recently passed.

With Tantalus (temptation) at the Ascendant opposition Algol (responsive power), Kassandra (lack of belief) and Capulus (cutting focus) we are likely to hear much from the Dalai Lama on the subject of the wrongful use of force this year.

Since the Ascendant-Descendant is an axis, it actually pays to look at both sides. Here the rulers are Mars and Venus, immediately giving us a creative...even procreative image.

The return's Mars sits in the 4th house in a proactive degree - yet in 4, Mars exhibits a lack of 'ability to act.' Conjunct the 5th house cusp, the subject is likely to be creative or having to do with children, and with Eris (discord) in an emotional degree just across that 5th house boundary, this would appear to be the Dalai Lama concerned about the plight of kids...not to mention needing a little time for the kid he is to rest and play and relax!

The actual ruler of the Taurus Descendant being a Leo Venus in the 9th house of education, travel and efforts again votes for children and the 'lighter side of life.' Venus and Mars are in aspect by trine (a 'flowing' connection) and yet Venus is opposed by an Aquarian Jupiter in the 3rd. Are people really too focused on the constructs of this world to be happy? Have we become so much the children of society and not humanity that we have lost some of our ability to free ourselves up to avail ourselves of our full potential and value?

It may be all of this and more. With Venus is sitting between imprisoning sorceress Circe and haunting Mnemosyne, this is an image redolent of not just what happens and what we learns during the early years, but how that continues to affect us. And how we continue to all be so easily persuaded throughout life, for the child within us never dies.

Fortunately for us, the youthful wellspring which is in the Dalai Lama is more than fertile: with Pisces Child, Edisonia and Huya (article on Huya) at the foundational position of this chart this is a year in which the Dalai Lama will perceive that beautiful sweetness which no matter how hard or hardened our lives come to be still resides in our hearts.

He knows, because he can feel it in his. And with this configuration at his Pisces Nadir we may be sure his Holiness understands that love is expressed in billions of ways... and each one of us is a unique expression of that love.

Yet, he will face his tests this year - we all do. And with the initiating ruler of Pisces (Jupiter) in the Dalai Lama's 3rd house of thought/communication, he will be thinking about what innocence is, what humanity means, why we have the problems we have as people...and he will tell us to reside in the gifted blessedness of our nativity...

...which comes to think of it, is what astrology teaches too. The fate we encounter, as challenging as i may be, is an opportunity. Sometimes in disguise, yes. And sometimes it is not the easy thing but that which tries our temper, mind and temperament which enriches us most of all.

We are our efforts, not our acquiescence...we are blessed by our patience, and cursed by that fear which causes us to demand. Only in accepting ourselves can we begin to harness our gifts and only by harnessing our gifts for the good of others and the healing of this world in its own terms (not ours) can we be blessed with ecstatic love which surpasses all personal definition.  

Will the world listen to the Dalai Lama this year? With secondary ruler of Pisces (Neptune) positioned in the first with Ceres Nurturer and Juno Protector, if you ask the Dalai Lama he will probably tell you that all ears can hear, but we don't know how many minds and hearts will listen.

But we can watch. And we can hope. And we can encourage each other by learning to love ourselves enough to free the light within our smile.