Agamemnon, Eros, Damocles: What Insistence Brings

 Chryses visits Agamemnon to Ransom his daughter Chryseis (4th century)

photo credit: Habib M'henni (Oct 2010)

As asteroid Agamemnon crosses the line into Cancer at 35 minutes past midnight on May 16th, several things take hold…in our world, and as affects our outlook.

For one, this is Agamemnon moving into the sign of what will be July’s solar eclipse. We saw this trend begin back in April…first with Medea entering Cancer on April 23rd then with Psyche entering Cancer on April 25th (LINK to 4/25 Blog Post). Given that solar eclipses tend to give us a 6-8 week period prior to occurrence when issues concerning that sign get challenged, become challenging or seem to shift entirely, April would seem a little early when you’re talking about a solar eclipse which will happen July 1st.

But considering that Psyche represents our mind and the innate awareness of self?

LINK to Full Article on EROS and PSYCHE

And considering not just that Medea is the sort of fixation which can cause us to do totally irrational things but actually undermine our cause – and that Medea’s entrance into Cancer occurred at a moment when Mercury was not just on station going direct, but doing so in opposition to Saturn…?

LINK to Blog post of April 23rd

If life was a story plot we’d call this a ‘foreshadowing device,’ as this time was surely an echo of things to come. For you, the ‘echo’ may be emotional. For some it might have been situational. And for many, this entire April through July period is going to be one giant headache.

As we came into May, Medusa (fear of knowing) entered Cancer. And now here comes Agamemnon. So now we have Psyche (awareness of our mind) plus Medea (loving to distraction/destruction), Medusa (fear of knowing/fearful knowledge) and Agamemnon (stubborn insistence) all in Cancer. That sounds a lot like mental digging-in activity, particularly when we consider that in moving into Cancer, Agamemnon (and all the rest of the points mentioned in this regard) have moved from the ‘personally pro-active’ side of the zodiac into the ‘responsive-receptive’ hemisphere zone.

So adding all those things together, we are either aware of things which make us stubbornly self-limiting (even destructive) or we are becoming aware that there are things which we’ve been clinging to stubbornly which in the end are (or have become) limiting or undermining of our actual aims.

Such matters and realizations may be person. They could be global or societal. Or they could be a grandly dislikeable combination of both.

Also to remember here is that this is so not just about you! Cancer is the first of the water signs. As such, it got a whole ‘instinctive’ quality to it which feels very ‘me-ish.’ But when we’re talking mundane (global) astro-doings, it pays to remember that everyone is going through a version of this. It isn’t just you!

In fact, that others are going through all this stuff? That may be contributing to your questions, challenges and general sluggishness in achieving productive aims.

A lot of things say much is about to change however. The first would be that this moment – the ‘today’ of it all (May 16, 2011) is one day shy of a Full Moon. So while things are cranking up to ‘full,’ there’s this screwing down into ‘personal’ mode… which may or may not be productive. Considering how the May’s Full Moon will be (as it always is) in Scorpio, the real question is not what you want (even if you’d like that to be the question!) …the real question is how your positions work for everyone else, near and far.

Just to make this a little more exciting, asteroid Eros is also crossing into Aries today. Given that it’s doing so at 2:43 in the afternoon (UT/+0), that means it’s at a full-press maximally evocative 29 degrees of Pisces when Agamemnon hits Cancer.

That tell us that the first part of the day is distinctly emotional and centered-on-self quality. Whether or not it’s actually self-centered…? That depends on you (and where 29 Pisces, Eros and/or Agamemnon are in your natal chart). But rather universally, this would be a moment when emotions are getting provoked or evoked. It isn’t likely to be a cool-as-a-cucumber moment.

But let’s also remember – these are not planets, these are asteroids we are talking about. And considering that asteroids such as Eros and Agamemnon reside in the asteroid belt which orbits between Mars and Jupiter, what this all represents is a learning about self and life. Where planets are modes and ‘personal realities,’ asteroids represent all those things we meet up with on a periodic basis in various forms as part of our daily, normal life.

It’s just when we see them in clumps – and there are great clumps of asteroids – that does tend to emphasize a greater ‘learning curve theme’ that everybody is going through. At the moment there is a huge grouping of asteroids in Taurus, Gemini and Cancer, with less populated clusters strewn through Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius and Capricorn…

….which pretty distinctly pictures two sides of the picture, the problem, the coin, the issue, the debate – and all the other merry forms such pro/con, you/me, us/them, private/public (etc.) things can take.

And let’s not forget – TNO Orcus just went direct in Virgo. That ‘TNO’ designation telling us that Orcus – unlike Agamemnon, Psyche, Medusa, Medea, Eros and countless others…Orcus is not merely a TNO, Orcus is a Dwarf Planet. So as an astrological descriptor, it “outranks” an asteroid. Thus our experience of Orcus effects represent our meeting up with asteroid effects – not the other way around.

TNO's (standing for Trans Neptunian Objects) are things beyond our ‘knowing’ …except when they happen, that is. Japan’s catastrophic experience of  a Godzilla earthquake meeting up with a Mothra tsunami causing the mother of all nuclear plant malfunctions is something of this ilk. Those events – signaled by Neptune and Uranus both being at 29 degrees of respective signs for but a couple of days (during which the earthquake and tsunami happened) is causal. That’s a planetary signal.

But the consequences which must be dealt with down the line? That would be Orcus – and that Orcus is a TNO says such consequences are unbidden and unexpected: they just happen.

In a sense yes, we are all of this Planet Earth and therefore what happens in Japan and affects the ocean there (which is connected to all the rest of the oceans)…that’s global. The consciousness is global. But Orcus is a Dwarf Planet (smaller scale shift of dynamic) which in turning direct in Virgo yesterday puts us on notice that things will happen (direct motion: things happen, we react to or interface with them)….and that they are consequences or consequential. 

Into all this comes Damocles the swaggering courtier. Damocles had no idea why his king was always so worried. From where he stood (i.e., on the sidelines) the king’s job looked simple.

But jobs which entail a great deal of responsibility (especially where others are concerned) and which have serious potential to create lasting ‘ripple effects’ (i.e., consequences)…they just aren’t so simple. And that’s the point of the Damocles story. His king gets sufficiently irritated with his scoffing courtier to offer Damocles the job of king-for-a-day… and it’s only when Damocles sits down in the throne that he notices a sword poised – point down – directly over his head, representing all the possibilities of dangers which come with the job of king.

 The Sword of Damocles by Wenceslas Hollar (1607-1677)

As Damocles goes retrograde today at 4:40pm (UT+0) at 22 Aquarius, we are all reminded that some things aren’t as simple as they look. Damocles is a comet, too – not a planet, dwarf planet or asteroid. Comets have long been thought of as messengers which ‘bring news from afar’ – and that’s certainly one way to look at them. Another way is to think in terms of what their orbits really are.

In the case of Damocles, the other orbital point is at 22.1au – just beyond ‘breakthrough’ planet Uranus. It’s inner orbital point (the perihelion point) is at 1.58au…which places it in a region to do a do-si-do with Mars, given that Mars aphelion it at 1.6658au and its perihelion is at 1.381au.

Mars symbolizing the ‘initiator’ of action and activity in life, this seems rather apt – the whole Damocles story is about learning whether we should or shouldn’t do something (that kingly job). And learning what it takes to make such decisions – how doing the right thing (as opposed to the convenient thing) is not snap and strut and simple yes/no, black/white, good/bad.

When any type of object goes retrograde, the concept is that we reflect on its message. And just in case you’re not the type who’s reflective by nature, not to worry…life will come along and deliver the kind of moment which will get you reflecting if you need to.

All this just prior to a Full Moon in Scorpio? Yes, it's one of those sure fire tests as to whether our values and self worth are intact and aimed in the right direction.

It's an interesting moment, to be sure!

Mercury Direct: In the Thrall of our Thoughts

 Mercury's 2011 Aries retrograde pattern...plus a few items

(and indications of blogs) yet to come!

Telling people that Mercury is going direct always gets a big ‘whoo-hoo!’ Especially for those born with Mercury direct in their chart, it feels like getting out of school early with no homework on a warm early summer day with money in your pocket and nobody telling you what to do.

Whoo-hoo! Mercury’s going direct! And since it’s going direct at 10:05am (UT/+0) its even April 23rd pretty much everywhere. We all go direct together!

Whoo-hoo times two!

EXCEPT….

(Oh, don’t tell me you didn’t know this was coming! Is there ever NOTHING we need to deal with? Cammon! This is Earth! This is reality! Wake up and smell the responsibility!)

Look…this really isn’t SO hard. It’s easy to make it hard, but it’s really not so difficult to make this station/direct period really positive and productive.

And just so we have the disclaimers out of the way, here they are:

 /

Any planetary station is a ‘turning point.’ I won’t go into all the science here, but there is science behind this fact (discovered some 5,000 years after astrologers figured it out but what the hey…) and events which occur during the couple of days just before AND just after any station should be taken seriously.

 /

Events prior to the station have yet to play out…events after the actual station are the playing out of something which has already happened.

If you are waiting for information our some decision, it generally will happen on or a couple of days after Mercury’s station…as soon as the planet picks up ‘relative’ speed again. (In actuality, no planet ever slows down – retrogrades are about relative solar system positions of other planets vis-à-vis Earth.)

 /

As for where exactly Mercury is going direct, that would be at 12 Aries, a degree known for an egocentric sort of energy which cares a lot about ‘me and mine’ with some difficulty when it comes to balancing out ‘my aims’ with those of others. The confusion which results here can incite rebellion or attitudes which sound a whole heck of a lot like a kid having a tantrum.

 /

For many, this energy is SO strong they end up  drive themselves right over a cliff trying to prove they’re right, they’re right, it’s so all about that idea in their head!

And with Saturn in opposition here…can we say PUT THAT IN BIG AND BOLD? 

(By Jove, I think I just did!)

Mercury is going direct at 12 Aries. As it does that, Saturn is at 12 Libra, a degree known very much for trumpeting the good in the idea but not having the conviction to follow through on anything.

In abstract, Mercury in Aries opposition Saturn in Libra should be about a moment of considering how well what we choose (or have chosen) to do is working out. Are we getting the reception we had hoped for? The Saturn side of this is sort of the ‘applause meter’ – our gauging how well the actuality of reality is against what we had hoped life would be at this point.

And given that this is Saturn we are talking about, there’s always room for improvement (oh please – really? Do we HAVE to?) …AND this is also a good time to make those course corrections. Or when you can have that profitable ‘aha moment’ and set to work improving on whatever needs improving on so that by the time Mercury exits the shadow of its retrograde come May 10/11, you’re in much better shape – at least mentally.

Why not entirely? Well, some things take time. If you’re rebuilding a car or editing the Great American Novel, that may take longer than a few weeks, right? For you, by that May date you’ll be ‘in your groove’ and have an idea of how long things will take and what you need to do first, next and finally.

For others, you will – providing you put in the (Saturn) effort – be at least in the process and on your way to getting where you want or need to go. Results (as they say) are individual of course – those we would see in individual charts and most any astrologer will tell you that one of dangers of prophesizing any date based on effort is that there are WAY too many clients in this world who will figure out how to drop the ball.

Funny, isn’t it…? It’s far easier to predict release dates for hit movies or who’s going to win an election than it is to tell someone when they’re going to get a job because that sort of comment implies they’re going to make the effort where the others are based on efforts obviously already being made.

Anyway…this Mercury/Saturn opposition is a typical sort of ‘decision point.’ But because Saturn is in a public/worldly sign (not to mention because Saturn is Saturn) this can be a really motivational time. Like as not you’ll hear all sorts of decisions getting made – you may even make one yourself! It’s also a likely moment for exhortations – people trying to get you to go along with what they believe right.

And therein lies the decision and the seeds of possible confrontation…even rebellion.

In other words, it’s all the same “I/me + you” energy equation, but there are several general ‘formats’ in which this energy can play out. You can reflect on where you’re going and change that…or refuse to change that. You can do so as a matter of personal drive or you could do so in response to positives or negatives being dealt, handed (suggested, sold, etc.) to you by others. Or by life!

There’s one more symbol on the day here…Medea entering Cancer at 1:49am (UT/+0). And what’s that rule…? Things which happen prior to the actual station have yet to play out. So here we have Medea going into Cancer, sign of homeland, family, house (construction, real estate, etc.), tradition, culture, ingrained habits, childhood…

…all in advance of Mercury actually going direct.

 /

 Medea by Evelyn De Morgan (1855-1919)

For one, this sounds like news soon to come. And considering this is Medea, it might be news which is problematic (such as the abuse of children) or news which prompts that over-focus we just talked about with Mercury’s degree of station…or something which halts plans we had been formulating in its proverbial tracks.

Why? Call this reason 'the Medea Factor.' Medea’s is a story of a sorceress and madness and self-defeating, self-undermining love – a love which will drive one to doing the unthinkable.

Focused on Cancer, Medea spells a passionate devotion to all things emotionally defined as “mine”…and maybe to the point of self-destruction.

Okay, not maybe…rather assuredly!

And combined with Mercury’s degree of station and it’s tendency to focus on ‘my idea of right’ and Saturn’s “relatively” weak placement at 12 Libra?

Can you say ‘uh-oh’?

Und yet, yet, yet, yet….there is that eventuality of life. When we look at the relative size, placement and importance of the three players in this drama, though we tend to think of Mercury as the star here (both because Mercury is symbolic of thinking and because it’s the one going direct!) …the end-of-the-line truth here is Saturn.

So let’s review: this year’s Saturn cycle started with its station/retrograde at 17 Libra, a degree which is both theoretical, logical, gentle (at times) and quarrelsome. There is a quality of the ridiculous here (which we sure have seen a lot of!) and an implied necessity to work on our emotional position with an eye to reconciling what we may think so brilliant with a world which may or may not be so accepting of our sense of ‘rightness.’

Saturn’s station/retrograde of January 26 was the beginning of all the turmoil and violent events currently going on in our world. From economic and political uproars in the United States to uprisings and a demand for greater freedom in the Middle East and across North Africa to Japan’s nuclear problems, everything falls under Saturn – mostly in its role as ruler of Capricorn (commerce/commerical structures, governance/national structures, rulers, functional/responsible limits)….but also in the sense that with Saturn transiting Libra, now the good and bad of all such things are going to be brought to us to deal with. 

Saturn goes direct in June, another time we can count on as being full of upheaval as the June/July period includes two solar eclipses and one lunar eclipse – amidst which Saturn goes direct.

Can you say ‘handwriting on the wall’? That’s part of what this Mercury direct is about. But don’t think of it as just global or ‘big picture’ ….it’s also about the details and the nuances of life. Mercury always is!

The bottom line here is to be aware. The urge to be self-protective and maybe ‘think the worst’ or simply want what you want so, so much is obvious.

The better part of valor – and your future – is, however, wrapped up in your ability to take the bigger picture into account. Saturn is a ‘cold’ symbol (and a pretty cold place to be – brrrr!) …the point with Saturn is that in the end, facts and reality rules. You can’t escape that reality, no matter how much you want to. In fact the more that you do escape (or try to escape), the worse of a mess you will get into.

And yet, here we are faced with the problem that we can’t just ‘throw out the baby with the bath water.’ There will be wholesale calls for sweeping change – Uranus is here running with Amphitrite, Venus and Black Moon Lilith telling us that those who have the least to lose are urging that the masses just ‘get used to it.’

Mars at 16 Aries forming a bridge between Mercury at 12 Aries and Jupiter/Eris at 20/21 Eris tells us there is harshness in the mix now. There will be those who ‘draw the line in the sand’ and they’re likely to be highly emphatic about it. If they take a truly universal view, they may prevail. Those who are shortsighted or simply seeing things from their own point of view however, are likely to encounter some serious backlash(ing). Maybe not immediately, but soon enough.

Neptune is in Pisces. And not only is Neptune in Pisces but at this moment, Chiron is conjunct fixed star Fomalhaut, a star which promises success ONLY when one’s dream is not corrupted.

Corrupted by what?

By our own emotional longings.

That means facts and Saturnine realities rules. Neptune is not about my dream, its about our humanness…and how we all dream. The important word here is all…which means we cannot negate others. They are as entitled to be them as we each are entitled to be who we are, different though we may be.

An x-ray photograph of Saturn with a grid overlaid to show where

the planet is. And you thought Saturn was a regular, solid planet?

Think again! As one description put it, by the time you were

standing on Saturn's surface you'd be under it.

photo credit: JPL/NASA 

The challenge is figuring out what will work for all of us…even though that may well mean we each – universally - have to give up a few things.

Or maybe even our dream that we can have life our way, or go on thinking we actually know and/or are entitled to say what’s ‘right.’

Mercury Retrograde in Aries: Who Put the Why in our What?

Mercury in 'false' colors

photo credit: NASA/JPL - Caltech

Any time we see an astrological symbol do anything (or just wander by looking organic) in a degree between 20 and 29 of any given sign we know the indication is only person to the degree that things happen to us and we respond. Or we witness something and react. Or we are presented with a challenge or opportunity and decide what to do or not do, depending on many a factor (mayhaps including how Shakespearian we feel at the moment…!)

In this case, the symbol of the moment is Mercury – symbol of mentality, whether that’s in your head (as in, I was thinking….or maybe I should think this through, put a list together, organize my thoughts…) or in functional terms – whether that’s what the fern were they thinking? or the ever-so-not-popular act in haste, repent in leisure which is so the tale of not thinking things through before doing them!

So combine these ideas and the first thing we come up with is situations or moments where we are handed a project or asked a question or confronted with something which asks us to think…

…and considering this is Aries, the “I Am” sign of doing, being and acting all brave and warrior-like, the advisability to think things through before committing to them, taking them on or even just reacting to them.

As for why we would be discussing all this, that would be because Mercury is going retrograde on March 30th at 10:49pm (UT/+0). (Were you wondering?)

So....as we arrive at this moment there surely will be  those among us just champing at the bit, ready to go. Or insisting this needs to be done right NOW!!! Then there are those who will get the order and, urgent or not, stop a moment to reflect…if I do this, then that means… 

One of the big dividers here is generally whether Mercury is retrograde or direct in your natal chart. The gung ho types are more likely to have Mercury direct in their natal chart. Why? Because a natal Mercury retrograde predisposes you to thinking things through anyway.

I know many a person who hears the words ‘Mercury retrograde’ and groans as if they’ve just been asked to scrub the pyramids spinky-spanky clean using nothing more than a toothbrush and coffee cup of suds. I know people with Mercury natally retrograde who when asked will say they have no idea what the big fuss about Mercury retrograde really is.

This leads to the obvious observation that it’s the difference between the motion of natal and transiting Mercury which really gets to us. Me, I have Mercury retrograde (which works well for writers and anyone else who needs to go back over their work!). So if Mercury is direct, it just means that if I want to put it out there, I can. And if Mercury’s in retrograde and it’s a time to sort, polish, re-think, clarify, ask questions – that’s no big deal in my world.

But for those who are born to do, go, see and operate in constant real time motion? Telling those people that it’s time to stop buzzing and chatting and time to reorganize and plan sounds like a really serious wet blanket.

So I get their Mercurial pain. Not that I can change anything, but I get the chomping at the bit thing. If only they could order their life to take advantage of Mercury retrograde! It does come along with fabulous regularity – why not plan for it? It’s not about turning your brain off, after all – it’s just not about trying to get something done. You can certainly do research. You can make plans. You can test things out. You just shouldn’t set anything in cement if that’s where you’re planning to end up.

Common astrological lore says don’t sign any contracts under Mercury retrograde. But I know astrologers who have clients who buy and sell real estate all the time under Mercury retrograde. My brother (bless his heart…!) tends to take jobs under Mercury retrograde.

And there really isn’t anything wrong with that unless you are planning on the current action being the “end of the line.” My brother seldom ends up in the actual position he initially takes; he gets hired, then they realize he’d really be better doing a slightly different position so he ends up doing that. When I heard of the real estate transactions I asked that astrologer what was going on and it turned out that the properties in question were ‘house flips’ – properties being bought, rehabilitated and sold in order to move on to a bigger house.

In each case, the transaction under Mercury retrograde was not the end of the line. And Mercury retrograde does support that…it’s the idea that something is in an interim situation and not finalized. 

To pair this with Aries seems easy…we’re in the middle of something and not entirely sure of all the details just yet. Or when (exactly) it will be done.

This would also be apt for those who are in the process of changing their life in some way. Are you moving? Are you in the middle of some ‘personal makeover’ – physical or not?

Mercury retrograde is about the process. It’s about moving through whatever that process is, whether it’s the beginning, middle or end of a process.

And if you have a planet or other vital chart position within 5 degrees of 24 Aries (either way)? Then pay attention to events, situations, ideas and communications of the moment; they may well be important to some ‘long run’ you may not even be focused on at the moment.

People who have charts emphasizing 19 to 29 Libra, Cancer or Capricorn are also in the Mercury bucket. Cancer and Capricorns are meeting up with challenges, those with Libra positions are making decisions and dealing with ‘what they put out there’ and whether or not they’re getting a good, useful, viable reaction.

Learning from whatever goes on is apt now. Though people whose charts place emphasis on degrees between 19 and 29 Leo and/or Sagittarius won’t quite feel as ‘confronted’ by Mercury’s going retrograde in Aries as (say…) someone with an affected Libra component might, trines can spell ‘inability to escape’ which with the Aries ‘I/me’ idea thrown in may well be some responsibility or obligation which you are thinking through and maybe not all that thrilled with.

Oh, changes, changes – things need changing!

Also in the hot seat would be those who have planets, nodes, or axis cusps positioned between 22 and 26 Virgo or Scorpio.

Don’t have your chart? 

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and place of birth!

But back to those Virgo/Scorpio folks. For you, there are adjustments to your efforts which at least need to be considered…if not enacted! On the Virgo side the question is effectiveness, functionality and efficiency. On the Scorpio side the question is whether you (or others) think things are actually ‘fair.’ Just because you do doesn’t mean they do – and vice versa!

Here, fair is only ‘fair’ if it feels fair. And to get at what feels fair, there needs to be a.) full disclosure and a leveling of the ‘entitlement playing field.’ For instance, if one side is working on/for/towards life’s basics (food, shelter, clothing, survival) and the other side thinks ‘basic’ is haute couture style, a life of privilege, mansions and a private suite in the hospital for a case of laryngitis, there’s going to be trouble.

And let’s not forget: Neptune is still at 29 Aquarius. So while one side is likely to think that there’s nothing wrong with having earned billions…that they’ve worked hard or are just lucky, and who should begrudge them that – if that’s going on in a world where people are literally without food or decent shelter or an opportunity to educate their children or any hope of bettering their life the justifications for why people should just ‘suck it up’ and accept their lot (or work harder or whatever)…

That’s so not going to work! Look around – everywhere you go the rich are getting richer and the poor are struggling to be heard. The old rule – that “golden” rule He Who Has the Gold Makes the Rule allows the rich to get not just richer, but more powerful.

And then comes a different rule: absolute power corrupts absolutely. 

Neptune at 29 Aquarius exacerbates the differences. And if you think things are out of line now, wait until Neptune gets into Pisces!

All this is important…why? Well, in part because it’s what’s going on in our world. From obvious matters like Libya and Japan we draw big long dotted lines to entire economic systems modeled on trying to keep up with costs at the top based on foreshortening the opportunities of the bottom

It’s the classic inverted pyramid – and as any dairy farmer can tell you, there’s only just so much cream available to rise to the top.

The reason to recall all this is because this Mercury retrograde, though centered in the highly ‘first personal personal’ sign of Aries is all about who we are in this world.

Or who we need to be.

Or how this world needs to change so that we even have – or get – a chance.

By the time Mercury gets to the other end of its retrograde come April 23rd it will be positioned at 12 Aries – a degree of personal emotionality. How will you feel about you? How will you (and your efforts) be being received?

When April 23rd arrives, such questions will be on the table. Saturn will be in exact opposition to Mercury’s station/direct (at 12 Libra) and for most of this date the Moon will be positioned at the mid-point in Capricorn. That it's been at 12 Libra since...oh, around April 15th (happy tax day, US people!)...that just reinforces the whole concept of how basic, how developmental, how we all need to be considering/reconsidering and revamping our goals, approaches, means and methodologies really are!

In fact…just as Mercury goes direct, the Moon will be sitting at 13 Capricorn.

Remember that degree? Yes! The degree of this past January’s Solar Eclipse – the eclipse which has served as the herald to all the sweeping changes which are now ongoing in our world.

The Moon at the midpoint of what amounts to a transiting t-square says we need to get ‘past’ our inability to be real. If not, we “bounce” back to Saturn and hit hard times and tough receptions. And yes, this may well be part of the message given by the New Moon of April 3rd being at 13 Aries...one wee little astrological 'tick' of the degree past where Mercury will go direct. It sounds like the universe saying 'understand this and you can move forward. Don't understand this and you'll run into all sorts of interference and stoppages.'

So this retrograde is personal. But at the same time as it’s about finally cleaning the closet (or heaven forbid – the garage!) it’s also about “getting real” and realistic about what is and isn’t working in our world.

In your world.

And what’s more important than that, since our world isn’t our world without each and every ‘you’ who is alive?

Ixion's station/retrograde: The Depths into Which We Cast Ourselves

 

 The Fall of Ixion

by Cornelius van Haerlem

Facets of the story of Ixion bear a great resemblance to stories we know from other places. For instance, in the whole mélange of tales Greek, he’s the first to purposefully shed kindred blood, rather a la Cain and Abel.

Except in the case of Ixion it was his father-in-law. And the problem? That was about Ixion (who was king of his own realm at the time) not wanting to honor his “word of honor” to the dad-in-law. So he killed him.

A simple way to end the problem, if not a very gracious or respectable one, to be sure.

Tossed out of the kingdom on his royal keester by a the local populace (proving that early Greeks not only believed in absolute monarchies but their ability to absolutely banish the monarch) Ixion survived for a goodly number of years wandering in destitute lands – again, a familiar story device used throughout mortal (and immortal) history to define a period when we are forced to rely on, and face ourselves in a rather bleak way.

But Ixion’s story is a unique one in that as soon as he gets the Big Time Pardon and thus another chance (courtesy of Jupiter/Zeus, Olympian honcho supreme), Ixion not only goes astray yet again, but does it under the roof of his pardoner by attempting to take Hera, wife of Jupiter, to bed.

(And yes maybe beyond, though none of the myths mention this, suggesting Ixion wasn't aiming at opening a US retail chain.)

Being a Greek god and therefore all powerful but only reasonably omnipotent and definitely fallible, Zeus had suspected Ixion just might do the naughty-naughty and had squirreled the real Hera away, ordering a particularly voluptuous cloud to act as stand-in.

Although....considering how rocky the marriage of Zeus(Jupiter) and Hera marriage was, one wonders why he bothered.

Except it does tell us something about Zeus that the couple carried on...and hence, about the astrological meaning of our giant red Jupiter: if Zeus is going to break his own rules (limits), he’s going to do it knowingly.

 Zeus seducing Olympia

by Giulio Romano (1526-1534)

And whenever caught in the act, Zeus does fess up - which is a nice little comment on Jupiter as ruler of Sagittarius (the trial of law and hence honesty) and primary ruler of Pisces, sign of emotional honesty with self, if no one else.

Every once in a while Zeus even tells Hera that he's sorry. But considering Zeus is a 'creator god' by nature, it's hard to think he'd give up going around creating more beings. He's all about pushing the boundaries as Jupiter, and as is our astrological Jupiter.

Again, an interesting comment on Sagittarius, which has come to be the land of codified spiritual thought (i.e., the "rules" of being spiritual, aka religion) and emotional spirituality (Pisces) which ranges from fantasy to disillusionment replete with everything between. Life is nothing if not an emotional adventure!

As for Zeus, he had never promised Hera fidelity to begin with (never mind a rose garden). Besides, when left on her own Hera wasn't exactly virginal.

But I digress.

For having committed murder of kin and betrayal of immortal trust, Ixion finally rather literally burns in a hellish state: tethered to a whirling wheel which burns with unquenchable fire he is sentenced to go  through time immemorial tormented by fire, disoriented by the wheel (unable to get his bearings) and doomed to recite ‘I will be grateful to my benefactors!’ 

Not a pretty fate, no.

 Perhaps one of the precursors to our concept of 'the wheel of

fortune,' Ixion is ultimately sentenced to Tartarus (the Greek

version of Hell) where he is consigned to be forever tortured

while strapped to a 'burning wheel'

(from a private collection, print dates to 1731)

Looking at this story as a whole, there are – as there always are in astrological mythos – both pluses and minuses in the mix. There is, after all, something to be said for Ixion’s assertiveness and ability to endure and adapt to new circumstances.

What’s missing is a moral compass and sense of personal boundaries…which is something to contemplate, considering we all have an Ixion somewhere in our chart. And considering that Ixion’s great failings have everything to do with his inability to own responsibility for Self, one of the things we could guess right away is that the faster and more automatic our tendency to disclaim, deny, play down or disown bad (read: horrific) results, the more the danger that we may be embodying some of Ixion’s less lovable qualities.

A little more light on this subject comes from understanding that the astronomical Ixion orbits waaaaaay out there yandrow in the Kuiper Belt. You know, beyond Neptune, last true planet in the solar system.

At least currently. You may have heard a commentary out of the NASA quadrant not too long ago about the possibility of some giant (like Jupiter-giant) object lurking on the outer edges of our solar system. And if so, Neptune is not the last true planet. But let’s be real about this…recalling that an ‘au’ (Astronomical Unit) is the mean/averaged distance between the Sun and home sweet planet Earth, Mars orbits at between 1.6 and 1.3 au’s – and look how long it takes to get a spacecraft from here to Mars!

Jupiter? Jupiter and Saturn are both still pretty close in – 4.9 to 5.4 au’s for Jupiter and 9 to 10.1 au’s for Saturn. And it took Cassini what, three years to reach Saturn?

Now let’s talk Neptune. Neptune’s orbit is 29.7 au’s at its closest and 30.4 at its farthest.

And beyond Neptune lies the Kuiper Belt. The farthest object we talk about currently out there in that K-Belt is Sedna. Sedna’s orbit is…well, pretty ridiculous. At it’s closest it’s 76.1 au’s away. And at it’s farthest it’s 975.56 au’s....way, way, way the heck out there!

So now they’re saying there’s something beyond Sedna?

Okay…maybe. But in the meantime, there’s a whole lot of Kuiper space beyond Neptune and this side of Sedna.

And what’s interesting – and pertinent to this discussion furthermore (surprise!) is that Neptune’s enormous magnetic resonance controls the orbits of a bunch of objects out there. You know, like Pluto. Like Huya.

Like – (yes,) Ixion.

I always feel like this is a recitation of Goldilocks, y’know…? Huya can be very, very good. Ixion can be about the very, very bad. And Pluto is sort of what you make of it. Providing you can keep your cotton-pickin’ mitts off the Need to Control Everything button, Pluto can be a pretty darn good thing.

But Ixion?

 

While this isn't the easiest of all diagrams to decipher, the

right angle at the center represents the location of the Sun and

inner solar system. The red line represents the orbit of Pluto

and the green circle represents the orbit of Ixion. The orbits of

both these astronomical objects (Pluto being a Dwarf Planet) are

controlled by Neptune - a fascinating feat to consider being

that Neptune orbits in the 29-30 AU range (from the Sun) and both

Pluto and Ixion's orbits take them as far out as 49 AU.

That Neptune exerts such a 'controlling effect' on so much space

through resonant magnetism is astrologically very much on point

considering how emotionally driven human beings really are

and that Pluto and Ixion speak to emotional vulnerabilities of self

and the penalties we pay for not dealing with them effectively.

diagram credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech 

Ixion relates to our conceptual theory of Neptune (and thus the Goldilocks dynamic) by being a superbly negative end of the Neptunian command thou shalt not dwell in ego! Standard Neptune Rule #1 (coined as far as I know by astrologer Robert Hand) is that where Neptune is concerned, we must allow ourselves not to know. 

And Standard Neptune Rule #2? That one says the thing you are most certain is, like as not isn’t. That which you think least likely is the thing which is most probably true. 

Put them together and that’s the recipe for the antithesis of ego.

But Ixion embodies duplicity - particularly that of Self. Where Hybris is the thing we consciously think we can 'get away with,' Ixion is more problematic in that there's a deep-seated sense of entitlement (that "this is okay") which goes into the Ixion concept. We think we actually know. We think can are in control. That the common rules of decency and human regard aren't being compromised. No, no...we know better!

And when we find out we don't know and how we aren't in control, we burn with a superbly disoriented 'how did this happen' sort of shame. But it's too late!

That the Ixion personality lives and breathes entitlement, and that this sort of entitlement is shrouded in ego dreams of Neptune gone awry...that makes such problems particularly hard to pin down.

Until of course, the bloody truth comes spilling out.

So...can there be lesser expressions of Ixion? You  know, something south of murder or adultery? Certainly! And we have embodied such concepts into the English language. For instance, the old expression do as I say, not as I do is at it’s core, rather Ixion: it says you have to obey the rules, I don’t. The pop slogan ‘it’s all about me!’ is oh-so very Ixion…it says I’m entitled to have what I want, that I can do and take whatever I want because I want to…and who cares about your rules, laws and human moral or ethical decency?

No one says this kind of energy can’t be used to good effect: the demanding chef may make great food and be well understood by their sous-chefs and great friends despite all. As an astrologer I would hazard a guess that great surgeons and military leaders all have a prominent Ixion in their chart. The assertiveness isn’t bad – it’s how you use it, the regard you have for others which can become a problem!

Being that Ixion has a 249 year orbit, it doesn’t move through the signs all that fast. It entered Virgo in 1906, Libra in 1935, Scorpio in 1966 and Sagittarius – (where it will be until 2020) in 1996.

About mid-century, there were a group of years (1945-1953) when Ixion was in a long-term transiting conjunction with Neptune, with exactitude happening in 1949 at 14 Libra. Does this mean that everyone born during this time is a killer? Obviously not! But it is likely that people born during these years have some sort of issue with what’s known in psych circles (pop and otherwise) as ‘boundary issues.’

And since what parents don’t know they can’t teach, those born during this time who haven’t mastered their own Neptune/Ixion issues may well be more likely to pass them on to their kids than others.

That goes for companies and technologies too. The years cited are also when the large-scale machinery of ‘processed food’ began. That serious questions about obesity due to additives, chemicals and (at the other end of the spectrum) altered nutritional values of/in food began popping up a couple of years ago when Ixion hit the sextile point to its transiting  conjunction with Neptune? Might that suggest that part of the long-term connection with the planet (Neptune) which controls Ixion’s orbit is a cycle of our going in-and-out-of-touch with values or our ability to value ourselves? 

That would hold consistent with boundary issues, since boundaries are not only about letting others in or becoming co-dependent, but about valuing the ‘us’ which is (or should be) well contained by our own boundaries.

And speaking of Neptune (as toxicity versus purity), Ixion and boundaries (aka containments), does anyone else see the dotted line from this moment to the nuclear situation in Japan?

Anyway...along with associating Ixion with narcissism, perhaps we should associate Ixion with the attributes which manifest as or go along with addiction-prone or co-dependent personalities – all of which is a measure of our own ability to moderate with ourselves. In other words, some measure of assertiveness is good. A total lack of assertiveness is self defeating, a total indulgence in assertive entitlement is either totalitarianism or grandiosity.

 The Winged Man by Odilon Redon

(before 1880)

And again, it’s all in how you use it. But maybe even more importantly, it’s probably all in being aware of it. I don’t know about you, but to my thinking there’s nothing more annoying than those who are well heeled or well protected refusing to see why a lack of protection or lack of food or drinking water is some kind of problem.

Really? They need to have their Ixion examined!

The point of all this is that at March 18 at 11:42am (UT/+0) Ixion will be on station/going retrograde at 18 Sagittarius. It’s station effects began on the 16th and will extend into March 20th….when the Sun will be at 29 Pisces, about to make its Aries ingress.

Anyone willing to recall what’s been going on around our world while Uranus was at 29 Pisces?

And Neptune is still at 29 Aquarius.

When any astronomical body goes retrograde at a 2nd decan (degree 10-19) degree of Sagittarius we expect upticks in fervent emotionality, proclamations and efforts to ‘push boundaries.’ Given Ixion’s apparent connections with boundary issues, that probably goes double.

Then we add in the specific degree: 18 Sag adds a note of necessity to deal with hardships if one is to be thought sincere…against which it specifically cites the likelihood of mental illness. So while in a physical sense these two are not connected, the idea of Ixion – the plus and minus of our ability to own or abandon our Self, others, mentality, standards, etc….that seems entirely fitting.

Disturbingly so, perhaps.

And yet, there are signs that this may also be a turning point. Ixion is going retrograde with Panacea (making peace) just behind at 17 Sagittarius, meaning Ixion will do an ‘about face’ (into retrograde)...then confront Panacea first thing. With this station happening in square to Mars at 18 Pisces, one question is whether any of us can get past our ego in dealing first and foremost with ourselves and our failings.

That Mars is in this picture opposition Juno makes Ixion the ‘t’ in a t-square: entitlement of the personal and willful kind (that akin to pride and arrogance) is what we need to get past. The issue is not the issue – we are. Our issues are our issues, in every sense of the idea!

With Mercury in exact opposition to Saturn in this moment, who we are versus who we want to be to others is the focus. Though we may want their approval or think they’re wrong not to side with us, the real question is where our feelings of entitlement really lie.

What are we entitled to be or do? Do we live in this world alone or are we dependent to whatever degree on others?

The Aries Mercury trine Ixion/Panacea says it’s easy to defend our own opinions. Against this we have Saturn sextile Ixion/Panacea saying it’s possible to reach some agreement or learn something new now. 

In the end, maybe the most important thing to understand is the Jupiter part of this whole Ixion story…ultimately we know that if what we are doing is beyond the bounds of morality or sustainable reality, we will fall. And if we fall in such a moment, the fate of Ixion will become ours. The old saying ‘act in haste, repent in leisure’ is an incredibly mild-mannered way of describing Ixion’s ultimate consignment to eternal tortured disorientation. But when we do these things to ourselves willfully, do we really deserve to be forgiven?

Or merely dealt with and forgotten? Ixion is so often an answer when maybe it should be a question. We all spend a lot of time justifying what we do. Maybe we should be asking ourselves why we think we're justified (entitled) to do that.

And not how, but whether we should forgive ourselves - and what forgiveness entitles us to moving forward.