Spica and Arcturus

The Moon, Mars, Venus and Spica as seen from Nashville, TN

 (photo credit - Goddard Space Flight Center)

Brightest star in constellation Virgo, Spica has been known to cultures around the world and down through the ages. Hindu astronomers and Chinese astrologers…evidently Spica’s prominent twinkle-power has not only added a lot to our night skies but stirred many a thought over many, many years.

Known in medieval Arabic tradition as ‘Azimech’ (the Undefended) or ‘Alarph’ (the Grape Gatherer), Spica has also allegedly played an interesting part in the development of science, too. How did it do that? Well, apparently those uber-builders of ancient Egypt liked focusing temples and monuments on particular stars. So that’s what they did.

In the course of this, somewhere around 3,200 BCE they built this one particular temple in the city of Thebes which was focused on Spica.

This particular temple was dedicated to the Menat, an early ‘Hathor-figure.’ And since Hathor was a major goddess of home, hearth, childbearing and providing that which life depended on, when this one temple failed to “stay in alignment,” folks started wondering why.

What they came up with was a theory - later validated by Copernicus – which is now understood as scientific fact: the idea we know as precession.

It’s hard, living here on Planet Earth, to really grasp that our planet is zooming through space, rotating as it does, and…(this is the precessional part)…wobbling ever so slightly in the process.

What this amounts to is that the imaginary ‘stick’ we tend to think of as ‘stuck through’ Earth and around which Earth rotates…that stick wobbles ever so slightly, rotating as a top does, describing a little circle. That circle - which moves in the opposite direction as Earth's rotation - is precession. And it moves one degree each 72 years, meaning the Earth precesses one zodiacal sign (30 degrees) every 2,160 years, with a full Great Precessional Age taking twelve times that amount: 25,920 years.

 From the Egyptian Book of the Dead / Papyrus of Ani, 

a scene which shows the goddess Hathor - here

portrayed as a cow - standing in the reeds (c 1275 BCE)

Now, you’ve heard people (including me) talking about Astrological Ages. That’s a function of precession. And what Spica has to do with all this is that Spica is the star which for whatever reason was the star everybody focused on down through the ages as they figured precession out. Arab, Egyptian, Greek (his name was Hipparchus), Polish (Copernicus), Chinese, Indian…everybody's eyes have seemingly focused on Spica.

Is it the brightest star in the sky? No.

hough it , though it is one of the brighter ones – the 15th brightest, to be more precise.

So what's the draw?

For the moment, let's just call that 'coincidence.' Though as someone once remarked to me, 'coincidence is just God's way of remaining anonymous.'

That said, a little about the science-side of Spica. There are astrologers (and those interested in astrology) who simply fluffy off science. Yet if metaphysics works, it has to work across the board. That says that we can learn more about the metaphysics from the science.

So let's consider the facts: Spica isn’t just ‘one’ star. It's evidently a closely tied pair of stars – a binary star. That tells us that in all things Spica, there's more than one 'part' of the question to consider if we are to arrive at our 'full brilliance.'

Next concept: Spica is classed as a ‘Beta Cephei’ type star (star formation) which means one or both of these energy spewing objects displays a ‘variable brightness.’

Easiest to say here is 'better them than us,' but maybe that's the point. Known as Alpha Virgo (the brightest star in the constellation Virgo), for our earth-bound purposes Spica 'illuminates' the Virgo concept of getting to our goal. Therefore the variable brightness says sometimes we'll do that 'attending to our work' well, and sometimes we'll be a bit more dim about it!

Interestingly, the rotation of this pair is estimated to be 4 days. Why would that be interesting? Well, being the brightest star in our constellation of Virgo, Spica could very easily be seen to have something of an overall association with life’s cycles. Four seasons is easy to associate with the agricultural cycle, and Virgo is the sign of the harvest.

Then again, seeing that the lunar cycle is 29.53 days long (rounded), that pretty much gives us four weeks of seven days in our month (a rough approximation of the lunar cycle).

And a week is how our lives are organized. Virgo is all about neat and organized, right?

More to the point, that's what our world uses to function. And that's seriously Virgo!

Yet beyond that, Virgo is a sign not just about getting from seed to harvest, or about morality, duty and responsibility (and all the effort mental and physical required to hold ourselves to our schedules and prevailing rules of conduct). No, Virgo is also about the ordered process and the ordering of the process, and about thinking through what it takes (for instance) to get something we plant - be it a ‘seed’ or a relationship or a company we want to grow to profitability - what it takes to bring those to full fruit and not to keep them from...spoiling, shall we say!

Growth, nourishment, food – it all has a connection to Virgo. Often associated with motherhood, the better Virgo word is probably ‘nurturance.' And on the flip side, Virgo would also be about how to handle 'toxicity' (which on the physical side leads us towards health, health care workers and medicine as a business)... and how eliminating our toxicity mental, biological, physical, moral, intellectual, fiscal or otherwise - is something which requires thinking through.

It's a process. Virgo is all about the process of getting from Point A to Point B, which is why the well-known Virgo 'caught up in details' thing is not exactly considered a Virgo positive.

Put this all together and what is Spica, this brightest star in Virgo? Known sometimes as a star of knowledge, considering the effort, patience, and diligence which Virgo honors, Spica would seem to be a star all about ‘know-how.’

Having the ‘know-how’ or learning to do something so that you have the ‘know-how’ - being able to help others who know less and all the Virgo responsibilities which weigh out what I 'owe' me and what I 'owe' them (that binary thing? That would appear to be in play here. And knowing when you can prioritize one thing (the 'me' versus the 'them or it') that would appear to be part of our Spica learning curve.

So! With all this said, what does Spica have to do with our world and our life as we meander, stumble or frolic through 2012?

  Copernicus' Conversation with God  by Jan Matejko (1872)

I’m glad you asked. For reasons I’m not going to get into at any length here, Spica (this star which is part of Virgo) is currently positioned at 24 Libra.

What? Why is Alpha Virgo's star in Libra, you ask? No, this is not a hostile takeover of Libra by Virgo (though that is a thought worthy of contemplation...). 

Part one: fixed stars do move, if slowly. And let’s face it. Any way you slice it, whether you’re hedging your bets Greek style or you're into going all the way back in astro-thinking to 3,200 BCE when the Egyptians were changing their ‘we're building this temple in Thebes,’  it’s been a seriously long time. Long enough for Spica to have moved a sign or so down the line.

Here's the skinny: Spica left the mathematical Virgoan space on February 12, 285 CE. As for the constellation Virgo, (this being Part two of 'What's Alpha Virgo doing in Libra?')Virgo is absolutely one truly large constellation. You might say Virgo ‘sprawls’ across a broad swath of sky. (Ah yes, a very earthy sign, Virgo!)

Also: not only is Spica a binary star in its own right, but for thousands of years now, it's been traveling through the zodiac (the sky as seen from Earth's perspective) in conjunction with Arcturus.

And what's Arcturus? Arcturus is brightest star in the constellation of Bootes and the fourth brightest star in our sky (third brightest if you're looking only at individual - not binary- stars).

Together, they're 'lighting up' 24 Libra as we live and breathe.

But is this a ‘focus’ on 24 Libra? Or is it a distraction - a 'hiding something in the light' sort of thing?

Arcturus has long been thought of as representing the courage of individualism. Wherever we see Arcturus, we see someone who is willing to be their own person or walk their own path.

Is it always for the best? Not necessarily. But the instinct is surely there.

So if Spica is 'know-how' and Arcturus is 'having the courage to be our own person' together, they ask if we know how to be our own people.

Though these two stars have been in conjunction for plural milennia, they do separate ever so briefly (in celestial terms) in changing degrees. Arcturus entered 24 Libra on December 5, 1983. Spica entered 24 Libra on January 12, 2011.

So what's 24 Libra about?

Being a 3rd decan degree (a degree between 20 and 29 of some sign) we know 24 Libra is about the quality of interactions we encounter, based on the quality of self (or other "product") we bring to the discussion.

Because this is Libra we're talking about, this is the 'idea of the thing' and thus the idea of how we are regarded by others or received by the world. Part of Libra's nature is to cause us to seek out and find ourselves through relationships - but the big mistake is to think it's them (or their fault) when 'they' are only giving us a heads up on either our quality or the equating of the qualities between two parties (or ideas).

24 Libra is not known as a particularly strong degree - which in Libra terms can lend itself to cooperation and a willingness to work out compromises with others. On the other hand, because 24 Libra is also know for a peculiarly black/white conceptualization, Arcturus having entered 24 Libra back in 1983 makes sense when we think of the 1980's as time when there was a decided upswing in materialism coupled with the extensions of credit needed to finance that.

But then we look at this metaphysically. Is this not a signal that this is a time when an entire generation of people began to think they - as human beings - should be able to act on credit too?

Taking this back to Arcturus' quest for individuality, as Arcturus moved into 24 Libra, there would be a rise in the temptation to think of ourselves in black-and-white terms. And to be confronted with our own willingness, the question of whether we have the courage to be our own person.

Then in comes Spica. As of 2011, Spica reinforced the 24 Libra in a time when the have-nots were asking can I live this way? as the 'haves' were saying will I be able to continue living this way?

All over the world we see people acting bizarrely. We ask 'how can they be doing that?' and 'how can anyone let that happen?' 

The question is partly about them, yes. But it's also about us. The Arcturus/Spica energy drives us to figure it out. It asks that we have the courage to stand for what we really believe in our own minds and to learn - not be judged - by the reactions of others.

Remember, in Libra there is always a balance. When there is a problem, the first Spica-Arcturus question will tend to be 'who is right or wrong' when the more correct question is probably who is willing to be their own person? Who is willing to learn more (or better)?

And that isn't about our 'group.' The human tendency is to retreat to those who will agree with you or at least coddle you. Why others do that is also something to think about. Is theirs an act of Virgo nurturing? If so, they will care for you, but not instruct you. After all, you need to be your own person - which includes learning how to be an independent being.

But again - why care about that now?

There are two very good reasons why this is important to us now. One is because Venus – planetary ruler of Libra – is about to go retrograde. It’s going retrograde in Gemini, the ‘other’ sign ruled by Mercury, the planet which rules Virgo.
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 Constellation Bootes

Metaphysically, this may give us a very really good hint about Spica as part of Virgo-the-constellation being now positioned in the sign of Libra. Virgo always requires that we think. Virgo is about getting it right being effective – if not barbaric – about achieving your goals. This is where the world ‘morality’ enters into the Virgo conversation. Virgo morals aren’t about being a prude or a clean freak, it’s about achieving the aim without undermining your own goals, breaking accepted collective standards or hurting/harming others.

Given that Libra is always about the quality with which we present ourselves and act in this world – those two can very easily go together. So for Venus to be going into a Mercury-ruled retrograde as of May 15th, that really is reason to think.

Or to be thought of…how?

Or to be critiqued or supposed based on whether we actually do or don’t have the ‘know how’ to support our claim, actions, efforts or position in life?

Venus will go direct again on June 27. But just before it does so, Saturn will have backed up to 22 Libra and go direct right atop a galactic Black Hole.

Saturn itself will be retrograding over 24 Libra from May 1st through May 16. After going direct on June 25th, it will make its final forward pass (for this time around the zodiac) over 24 Libra between August 3rd and August 17th.

If I just tell you that, it’s sort of like letting you watch Act II and Act III of a play. What happened to Act I – when we met all the central characters and set up all the plot and conflict stuff?

Right! When did Saturn first roll over 24 Libra? That was November 14 through 23rd of 2011.

Now…when you’re trying to piece this puzzle together in your head remember: this is NOT a literal ‘connective.’ We’re looking at themes of daring or know-how. Unless you have a very special natal chart which for whatever reason gives you ‘immunity’ to this passage (which would mean you use this concept of Arcturus ‘daring’ and Spica ‘know-how’ on an everyday basis) …unless you have that, you’ve been feeling this passage for some time now. It may be wonderful, it may be ugly, it may be ‘I’m good at this and I suck at that.’
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Constellation Virgo

Two votes for individuality: being our own person is evidently very important in this day and age. And if it’s being stressed so on the zodiacal level, doesn’t that suggest that a lot of us need lessons in just that issue?

Uh, probably yes.

No matter what your situation here is, This Venus retrograde/June Saturn station is a test probably not so much about who you are as who you are willing to be or become.

And that’s the ‘up’ side of Saturn. Saturn is a symbol of long-term growth. When we refuse to grow at a structural level, that’s when the astrological Saturn represents problems. Saturn isn’t about the social status, it’s about being the upstanding citizen who merits the social status. Famous for representing an intolerance of fakery, Saturn transits (personal or global) bring us advances or collapses, depending on what we’ve earned.

With all that said, do you know how your know-how quotient is doing? Do you know how to best utilize it? Choosing to do something more or something better if things are tough could be just the boost your life needs. 

So (Mercury) think it over. Consider how well (Spica) things are, or aren’t working. Make a (Venus retrograde) plan and if/where necessary, own your (Saturn) responsibilities.

Ultimately, ‘know how’ is all about us. It’s not just about what you can do, it’s knowing when you should and shouldn’t do things. Saturn’s turnabout atop a Black Hole in the wake of Venus retrograde and May’s Gemini solar eclipse is a glimpse into our future.

The Black Hole tells us that it isn't going to be what we think it is right now. Black Holes always indicate the 'alternative' reality. So we can change...or be changed.

Wherever Spica and Arcturus are in your natal chart, that's the 'venue' they will operate through during your lifetime. You'll see year-to-year shifts on the nature of the interaction depending on solar return charts and transits to your individual natal chart.

Yes, there's that individuality thing again! Your Spica-Arcturus combination is not 'just like' anyone else's. And that's the point. It shouldn't be. Nor should you want it to be, assume it to be or acquiesce to, should anyone else try to render you incapable of being your own person.

Whatever house Arcturus and Spica appear in, that will also be a 'department' of life where you meet up with their issues. Those areas of life will probably hold some almost 'magical' draw for you. Why? Because it's through those Libran interactions with others that you learn more about yourself and therefore are prompted to work on your individuality.

This duo seems more obviously dynamic when natally positioned on the right (reactive/responsive) side of the horoscope. But don't be fooled. Though a 'right-side' Arcturus/Spica placement would be doubling up on the manifest 'reactive' quality of having this pair in 24 Libra, those with a proactive left hemisphere Arcturus/Spica are probably more obviously at odds with who they are.

And what they're doing.

And how they're doing it.

And if they can deal with others not liking it...or what they do when others don't like who they are.

Either way, it's tough to remember it's not how they're treating you (or reacting to you) which is the prime and eternal thing. It's who you are being to evoke those reactions. Not all which glitters is gold, they say...and not all applause is healthy. Wherever and whenever we surrender our individuality or give up the job of being a courageous human being, we lose. It doesn't matter how much money you have, how glorious your lifestyle is - there are plenty of rich and famous and beautiful people in this world who are obviously and painfully unhappy.

Arcturus/Spica may, in fact, be part of the difficulty of being famous. Even notorious. Is the image the person? Libra tempts us to say 'yes,' especially in a 3rd decanate degree which has everything we do being commented on or critiqued.

And maybe that's the point - even for those of us who aren't 'famous.' We all wear social and societal masks and to a greater or lesser extent care (or don't care) about what anybody thinks of us.

Maybe we should be more involved in being who we are than listening to our own 'press,' as it were. Good or bad, they don't know everything that we are. This probably applies even to those we consider part of our 'group.'

Nobody knows what goes on in our head, in the depths of our heart or in the boundless insight of our soul.

Do we? Probably whether we do or don't know ourselves, Arcturus and Spica represent the (Libra) relationships and (Virgo)  responsibilities/areas/effort where we learn the most about ourselves.


And in the end, whether 'they' like us...does that matter as much as whether we like ourselves?

One last note here: if you have a planet, axis point or natal nodal placement in 24 Libra, you probably know that you polarize people. You are - in a sense - part of their Arcturus/Spica learning process.

But what you do with that...how you deal with that thing...that 'responsibility'? That's on you. At some level, even how we relate to things in our own minds - that's a Libra dynamic too.

It may even be the most important, for from how we deal with ourselves comes how we deal with others - and how they respond to us.

Modern life connects us to others - and allows them to react to us. Or more exactly, to whether we have the know-how and courage to be the people we'd like to think we are. 

We live in nakedly Spica-Arcturus times. 
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Mercury enters Aries

This blog is being posted on March 8th and is about something which will happen March 9th – namely Mercury entering Aries at 5:48 in the afternoon (UT/+0)

So why post a day early?

No, it's not just about the time difference. 5:48pm is quite late enough in the day that Mercury will enter Aries on the 9th no matter where you are.

(Well...except if you're like in New Zealand or Fiji. For you it'll be March 10th by the time Mercury gets its planetary bustle into Aries.)

So why post this on the 8th? Because immediately before Mercury gets to 0 Aries, it will be at 29 Pisces – an astrological descriptor of intensity and emotional evocation even without any other descriptors, of which there are several!

And what are they? Well...how about Uranus? That'll rattle your dice, eh? And also calculated Lilith (aka Black Moon Lilith)? Talk about your cold shoulders!

Plus there's Scheat, the fixed star any self-respecting Roman would have given a thumbs down to in the Coliseum.

(Okay…so maybe not. It’s hard feeding stars to the lions, I get that. But it's a nice concept…)

Of these three, Uranus is the most abstract, tending to be about the moment when things change. All throughout its transit of Pisces, Uranus has been about provocative levels and types of feeling or the provocation of emotionality and it’s not about to change now!

Less abstract and certainly less personal, the calculated form of Lilith is all about things we value which society doesn’t like (or wouldn’t like about us if it knew!) and/or things about “our world” which we don’t particularly want to know anything about. This isn’t just about something we don’t want to be involved in – this is whatever it is in your world which you habitually, even quasi-ritually make it your business to keep off your personal radar.

Another dislikable quality about Black Moon Lilith is that it tends to represent not only what we would like to ignore in our world – but what the world seems apparently determined to ignore about us.

This ability to treat us as less than valuable (even viable…even visible!) which tends to manifest when Black Moon Lilith is around is it has rather in common with Scheat, a fixed star which represents the ability to have your ideas (even when they’re right-on true!) rejected and even ridiculed.

It doesn’t exactly sound like a bowl of tutti-fruity, right?

And it’s worth being warned about this Lilith-Scheat thing, as it’s going to be with us for the next ten days or so – it perfects on March 19th, which would probably be not the best day to announce you’ve discovered the cure for the common cold!

I mean…you could announce it fine. Just don’t expect to get anything more than a bunch of disbelief hurled your way in return.

And a few sneezes, of course.

With all this energy piled up at in the last degree of Pisces, Mercury’s passing over this point as it presses forward to exit Pisces and enter Aries may indicate a coagulation of opinions, values – and like as not, at least a deal of acceptance-versus-rejection issues. Since Pisces (among other things) evokes, asks and tests all we think is worthwhile, that sets the stage for Mercury entering Aries.

And hence, the age old question: what do you want to be when you grow up?

Okay, so maybe a little sooner than that. Or even instead of growing up!

Mercury in Aries has a reputation for haste. For doing things quickly – either with great precision and mastery, or in a totally off-base manner which leaves out at least one really important factor.

Mercury in Aries can also be incredibly self-focused… which may or may not contribute to the above! Apart from that, the focus on the Self is really useful during Mercury in Aries if what you are trying to focus on is how to do something well. 

Unfortunately, this is also a passage which just seems to bring out the selfishness in many – and the overly dramatized in a few!

The determination there is really what this passage is all about – if, during Mercury’s stay in Aries you manage to remember to do things because they need to be done…or because the world (and thus your world) will be a better place for the doing it, then Mercury in Aries is an asset.

But if you’re going after the It’s All About Me award…? You may get it, yes. But you won’t win anyone’s love, respect or long term affection.

Aries as a sign has a reputation for burning hot on any given subject for a brief time. Then it fizzles out. Aries is the rocket, not the marathoner. Aries does the daring deed, but please don’t bore it with tedium.

 A depiction of Dorando Pietri at the end of the

1908 London Olympic Games Marathon

And yet…under Mercury in Aries, if you know why you need to undertake some incredibly intricate, overwhelming, job, you will like as not be able to conquer it. Aries is, after all, the sign of the warrior and Mercury does come equipped with a helmet of invisibility (except when he lends it to Perseus once every thousand years or so for slaying gorgons!)

Something to bear in mind however, is that Mercury in Aries can also be a time when we’re more easily frustrated than at other times. We want to go, go, GO!….and not everyone is with us.

Why not?

Well…let’s just put it this way: you’re feeling like the warrior-in-charge and so are they! So things can get to be something of a one-upmanship issue now…and going forward.

How much forward?

Far be it for me to hedge around here, but Mercury is going to be in Aries for a good, long sorta time.

And the minute I say that, if you’re half way into astrology you’re going to say ‘uh-oh…that means there’s a Mercury retrograde coming up!’ And you would be RIGHT!

Mercury will go retrograde just before the end of March, crossing into the shadow of that retrograde on March 16th, as it happens. From there until the station (which will occur on March 30th), you may feel even more pressured – don’t let life stress you out! Some things will arise during these days and go from solid problem to puddle like an ice cube on a tin sheet in the middle of highest summer.

But those things which don’t….?

Here’s the rule: if you know Mercury retrograde is a’coming and something just isn’t falling into place, don’t push it! It may resolve in during the station (March 28 – April 1st)…and things associated with stations often do indicate real ‘turning points’ in life.

But if you don’t get the yea or nay – or receive that information or answer you’re looking for by March 30th (maybe April 1st), figure on not resolving the matter or getting the final word on the final word until Mercury goes direct again in late April.

And during all this time, Mercury remains in Aries, first sign of the zodiac.

Being first, Aries is what you might call a very ‘basic’ sign. It’s about being. It asks what we’re being and how we’re being and what we want to do with our being-ness. As Mercury transits Aries it would be a natural thing to make plans, or do something to better yourself in some way.

It’s a very singular, very essential, very experimental sort of sign. Aries is willing, but easily discouraged – except where real need is involved, particularly the needs of a loved one.

Associated with the head, eyes, muscles and blood, Aries actually has a ‘sympatico’ sort of thing with Mercury, which is about thought, choice (of actions) and communication – which astrologically includes ‘communicating’ yourself from one place to another!

The combination can indicate the odd headache – real or psychological. And since Mercury is entering Aries in direct opposition to Typhon, Nemesis and Black Hole M87…gee, if you’re going to have a problem, feel entitled to have it now!

Black Holes always refer to ‘alternative realities’ which from Aries to Libra can easily be what you thought was ‘going to be’ which turned out entirely differently. With Nemesis and Typhon in attendance, the implication is that you knew better (Nemesis is the all time “I told you so!” figure) and that something uber-ultra basic is what was basically throwing you off your game.

Since Nemesis and Typhon are both in retrograde, there is also the chance that you’re going to be spending this next while thinking things over or making up for something which went off the rails some time ago.

Considering that the South Node is conjunct Betelgeuse in Mercury-ruled Gemini as Mercury itself enters Aries, there’s a strong desire for everything to be ‘just fine.’ But considering everything else…as much as you might like all to be peaches, sweet peas and rose petals, it probably isn’t.

But that is something you could work for…you know, while Mercury transits Aries?

Mercury goes Retrograde in Capricorn

 Hermes (Mercury) at the Grand Cascade of Peterhof

photo credit: Yair Haklai

It’s December 10th…it’s five minutes after twelve (in the afternoon) and you’re in the +0 time zone – the United Kingdom…somewhere not unreasonably close to Greenwich.

So what’s happening?

Mercury’s going retrograde, that’s what’s happening.

We’ve talked about this some already, yes. We’ve talked about how Mercury going retrograde at a first decanate degree like 5 Capricorn (first decanate meaning between 0 and 9 of some sign)…that this is personal. It’s about your physical self, what you’re doing, your Capricorn responsibilities or some Capriocorn-ish need to take care of life’s structural issues.

Because this is about Capricorn (and this implies a Saturn flavor), there’s a whole societal, commerce and commercial theme. There’s a governmental, leaders and ‘rules’ theme. There’s a kidneys, knees and spinal theme. The limits of capacity, the limits of what we can get done given what time we have today, this week or in our life – that’s all in the hopper.

And because this is a Mercury station, we’re all thinking about it. We are focused on it – or trying to embody the ‘anti-focus’ and not think about it at all!

As with any planetary stations, events, encounters and situational dynamics of note (including announcements and decisions) are ‘markers’ in life or in some ongoing process. So don’t ignore what happens in the two days prior to this station (indications of what is yet to come), in the two days after this station (a playing out of things which have already happened) or – in particular – on this date.

Things which happen ON the date of a station – any celestial station – are important. And that applies whether we’re talking planet, dwarf planet, asteroid, comet or TNO.

In this case, we’re talking about a real planet. Yes, Mercury may be a pretty dinky planet, but it’s a planet, nonetheless. Science ‘demoted’ Pluto, but nobody’s even peeped a pipe of a pip about demoting Mercury. (At least not that I’ve heard.)

So back to the astrology here…With Pluto, the North Node and Mars just behind Mercury (at 4, 3 and 1 Capricorn respectively) and Sappho (poetic universalism) just ahead, we’d like to think the ‘tough stuff is all behind us.

Uh…probably not. We are definitely in a moment of change. There are Black Holes a-plenty in this picture – one right under Mercury at 5 Capricorn, one behind at 4 Capricorn (conjunct Pluto) one right under the North Node at 3 Capricorn plus one in direct opposition to Pluto at 4 Cancer.

This is a sure sign of a changing society. Black Holes represent an ‘alternative perspective’ or ‘alternative’ possibility, point of view or way to go. And with Pluto-Mars-North Node-Mercury clustered in early Capricorn we may be sure that the entities which ‘rule’ our lives are hotly debating what alternatives exist.

But Capricorn is not just about ‘the world’ and ‘world forces.’ Far more importantly, it’s what we do IN that world, and thus how we harness our abilities and what we aim to do or accomplish.

One interesting note here is that there is a Quasar at 6 Capricorn. Quasars being ‘brilliance’ and ‘that bright light’ we all want to get to, that Mercury is going retrograde just shy of that Quasar tells us there is something ahead. Or that we can reach for. Or aim for.

But this either isn’t quite yet the time to “do it,” “go for it” or – given this is Mercury, symbol of thought, mental effort, communication, organization, the learning process – we may need to do a bit of work to get where we need to be in order to step out our launch our new effort.

Of course, for many, this is just about the holidays. Everything else is going on hold for a bit. And given that Mercury goes direct on December 30th – just as New Years rolls in – that doesn’t seem unlikely.

But there is also that on the other side of New Years is a new year – the classic time to start something new, no matter what that may be.

Thinking back a few days, we are reminded also that a bunch of astrological ‘factors’ (asteroids) moved into yang signs. So we want to ‘go’ and ‘do’…there’s a natural assertiveness in the air, in our minds, in the pace of life. Things are buzzing. Maybe it’s just noise. Maybe it’s a bunch of business we aren’t going to indulge in.

But maybe it’s the energy of wanting to change our life...an intention to dedicate some time to figuring out what we can and want to do and how to do that. All that ‘alternative vision’ Black Hole energy combined with all the yang factors suggests we may be very frustrated with others – or our situation because something is ‘blocking us’ or keeping us from being able to do what we want to do.

Yet if we think of life as ‘unfolding as it should’ (the great metaphysical mantra: whether or not we know it, the universe is unfolding as it should) …then there’s a reason for whatever delay or bollox is tying up forward progress.

Any way we look at it, at some level, this moment is about looking at, and into ourselves. This is about seeing who we are, who we can be, what we can do, and what we need to learn or accept or deal with in order to – in some way, even just mentally – get out of our own way.

So yes, this may well be a season for good thoughts. But it’s also one which calls for realism about ourselves and our life. Mars will conjunct the North Node on the 12th (at 9:34am UT/+0) – just as we move into Gemini territory – the Geminids being the last of the yearly meteor showers. As that happens, needs are ‘set off.’

And but a few days later, Mars conjuncts Pluto.

 

Mars as photographed by NASA/JPL in 2001

All of this will be discussed as things happen. But the point is that this is a Mercury retrograde period loaded with dynamic, transformative energy. There are things which will happen in life and in the world which you cannot prevent. What you can work towards is making the most of your life.

Thus so I ask: have you had a good think today? How’s life working for you as a whole.

It’s Mercury’s station/retrograde. If there ever was a moment made for thinking things over and getting to the nitty gritty of what you really need to change (whether you really want to or not)…this is it.

So I repeat: have you had a good think today?

Pluto/North Node: Society Signs

Diagram of the Pluto/North Node

conjunction of November 27, 2010

6:36am (UT/+0)

In the United States, the Friday after Thanksgiving has come to be known as "Black Friday," a day when shoppers newly fortified by a day of rest and much food descend upon malls, shopping with a vengeance. (Or at least storekeepers hope.)

Originally the name of a stock market crash which occurred in 1869, in modern times 'Black Friday' has come to be about a different bottom line, one where SO much shopping gets done (over the weekend following Thanksgiving, now including 'Cyber Monday' online sales)....that this is when retailers traditionally "go into the black" for the year.

In other words, it's when they finally get out of the 'red' (debt) and begin clearing profits for the year.

Anyway...that's the tradition. You know - in your basic 'pretty good' year. But this year has been anything but - and not just in the United States, but in many places around the world.

And we're not just talking retail - we're talking about this having been a hard year for Earth (and its inhabitants) in general. So when we say that the US goes shopping this weekend as we contemplate Pluto conjuncting the North Node, that's not a specific issue. It's more of a bell-weather. And it's not just about money - it's about how we feel about our life. How life, as a whole, is reacting to the pressures being put upon it.

We all together now on that? This is not about shopping or consumerism except as that is one form of human expression of obligation, wish fulfillment, escapism and/or the ever popular concept of the holidays as the time to 'give the gift' but have it be something useful.

No, I'm not sure how many people are delighted with strictly utilitarian gifts. But sometimes, when life is hard, to have what you need actually is a delight. Yes, even if it's socks, weatherstripping, a new shower head or a vacuum.

(And don't get me started on how much vacuums cost. Never was I ever so happy as when the carpet was removed from my house, taking with it the need to have one. We all have things which just irk us. The price of vacuums is on my list. Petty? Maybe. Honest? Definitely.)

That said, what about this Pluto/North Node conjunction which as we have now noted, is happening late on the USA's biggest shopping day?

 Kyoto's Nishiki market

photo credit: Kazutaka Nakano (March 2009)

The North Node is what we should do. And the simplistic reaction to North Node dictates when astrologer mentions them to client? NO! UGH! BLECH! I've ever seen people get up and walk out of the room when confronted with North Node 'musts.' 

But here's the lore: if we will 'do' our North Node thing, then we can have all the South Node we want. And everybody likes the South Node part of the deal.

So let's start there, with the South Node positioned in a degree of 'garbled messages' which tend to be so unclear that we ignore them. This is a metaphysical signal for 'being isolated in my own thoughts and feelings' which doesn't help matters - whether it's a family budget, a national agenda or a company looking at its own bottom line regardless of the general market or societal trends.

Meanwhile, the North Node and Pluto are both in a degree which is about 'curiosity which can get you into trouble.'

Known vastly and over-simplistically as 'transformation,' Pluto is above all the experience of emotionality...and thus emotional transformations. Pluto symbolizes 'the result of the choice' and the experiences which go along from realizing what has 'come of' what you choose to do, or not do.

Coupled with the North Node, we might think this could be a moment when we go to do whatever we're doing and curiosity draws us in and fascinates us to a degree we do what we had promised ourselves (or others!) not to do. And with two Black Holes bracketing this 4 Capricorn position, the fascination and 'alternative reality' quality associated with Black Holes may do exactly that in many cases.

However...this entire dynamic could have a diametrically opposite effect. Pluto's 'transformative' qualities, often known as create, deny or destroy and which in a natal chart often signify a quality which manifests as an obsession and drive at many, many levels...that may well here represent the changing of habits.

One way we would decide - astrologically - whether this is so, or what this might mean would be to look at the ruler of Capricorn, the sign the North Node and Pluto are in. The ruler of Capricorn being Saturn, we see Saturn here positioned at 14 Libra, the 'mask' and whether we live behind it, or come out from behind it.

With Capricorn being 'the goal' and the 'upheld tradition,' we have to wonder if this combination is about changing (Pluto) the way we deal with the traditions and celebrations we share with others (Libra) and as a society (Nodes) in a very real (Saturn) way.

 United States Federal Reserve Chart

(set for noon as a governmental agency)

With a Quasar (brilliance) just ahead of Saturn and a Black Hole (alternative reality) just behind Saturn and Edisonia (the 'bright idea') in opposition to Saturn...this is if nothing else, a rethinking of what we do and why we do it.

And this may mean a change of attitude on the part of all - whether that means shoppers using cash instead of credit cards. Debt and the pressure/debates which come of same (and which are infamously known for wreaking havoc in marriages) is Pluto. It is the emotional consequence of a (Mars) choice made in a given moment.

That Mars is in Sagittarius' 3rd decanate at this moment guarantees a lot of advertising and going back to our 'Black Friday/Cyber Monday' shopping model, a genuine desire to have things be as they "always have been" on everyone's part - whether you're the merchant trying to promote sales, the buyer wanting to 'have it all' or the anti-commercial person who would like to just go back to a time when holidays were about quiet times of family or contemplation or gratitude...or however anyone thinks of them.

Then there is also a bit of 'indicator history' to contemplate here. The world-wide economic fracas which led to such anguish in 2008 happened as Pluto moved over the MC of the US Federal Reserve's noon (governmental functionality) chart.

With the great heat of the American presidential campaign (replete with name calling and mud slinging) having ignited during March/April 2008, President Obama actually took office as Pluto completed its transit of the Federal Reserve Sun. This is a mark of a previous 'round of thinking' which would have begun one Pluto orbit ago.

Pluto's orbit being 248 years long, that would put the initiation of this 'theoretical' round (theoretical since the Fed wasn't yet in existence) as being in 1761. As it happens, 1761 was the year when George III became King of England - just in time to deal with the American revolution (lucky him!).

 King George III of England in

coronation robes

painting by Allan Ramsay

In the process, the English (and general political situation) also managed to annoy an already vastly over-extended French monarchy - one then headed up by Louis XVI - into entering the war on the side of the (American) colonies. And that exacerbated France's own problems to the degree that it ignited the French Revolution, bringing about the execution of Louis XVI and his wife-of-political mandate, Marie Antoinette.

Link to article on Marie Antoinette.

In short, cycles repeat.

As noted by astrologer Ray Merriman, the US Federal Reserve opened it's doors for business earlier in the day on December 23, 1913. And that chart, I've written about elsewhere (link). But as a US governmental entity we set any applicable chart to noon - under the theory that the government is the 10th house (the uppermost house in any chart) as the Sun is at its zenith at noon and as citizens of any country, we look 'up' to the government as top dog power in our nation.

(No jokes here, please. Several names went through my head too, but we're not going to wax frivolous. At least not at the moment!)

Okay...so when you set the chart to noon, what you come up with a wheel (above) which shows 29 degrees on all four axis points: what the Fed does is critical to the country - and arguably, the world. Cycles repeat and financial controls-markets-reserve banks do not exist in isolation.

Staying with the Fed's governmental chart, the current  conjunction is taking place as Pluto is moving away from the Sun (indicating a great change/upheaval already having taken place and now in motion) heading towards 7 Capricorn, where it will encounter Ceres.

Ceres alone is a symbol of what you have worked for and earned, so you harvest. Ceres success depends on not just wanting the results, but being willing to do all the hard work such as that farmers do in raising their crops.

Link to an article which describes the nature of Ceres in more detail.

In this Federal Reserve chart, Ceres is pictured as being opposition Charybdis, meaning there has to be a constant willingness to keep after various problems. Those problems - again, as described by this chart - are about debt. But not just debt as a concept - debt more specifically as a matter of home-family-real estate and desires.

Considering the interconnected nature of world economics, this clearly denotes the 'consumer culture' as a whole. A 'dominating whole.' If this was only a matter of 'consumerism' (Charybdis ruled by the Fed's governmental 8th house Scorpio Moon), then regulation of interest would be the one key. But Charybdis is an asteroid. Ceres is a dwarf planet.

 Dwarf Planet Ceres

photo credit: Hubble - ACS/HRC

Guess which one is more important? Or to put it another way, which needs to be our greater priority?

Yes, that which we understand is necessary needs to empower the consistency of effort. This cannot be about passion or beliefs or fear - that's anti-Ceres and plainly Charybdis in negative form.

Like as not, this whole discussion comes down to a couple of questions: will we make sacrifices now or later? What does 'sacrifice mean to us? What do sacrifices made in the past which have allowed us to get where we are today - what do they mean to us?

Who are we and what do we really value? What is the difference between what we want (Pluto) and what we should want, or should want ourselves to want (Pluto/North Node)? Where do we talk the talk but totally not walk the (Pluto/North Node) walk, hiding behind our (Saturn) mask of what should be changed and done (Pluto/North Node) but which we're just as happy to leave up to others (Libra) to take on the (Saturn) hard work and the (Saturn) challenges of doing?

Pluto will arrive at 7 Capricorn - the Fed's Ceres - in spring 2011. What we are going through now is a 'lead up' to that. Given how hard it is for societies and nations to change, we all know what 'should' happen, but which won't happen until the proverbial shoe falls.

Or kicks us in some providential part.

March/April 2011 has Pluto going station/retrograde right atop the Federal Reserve Ceres. That transit ends in January 2012, describing 2011 as a year of serious change.

So you can either fiddle and dance now, or pay the piper then. And maybe you'll do some of both. How much is probably up to you, and starts now.

It will be definitely interesting to hear reports of how retailers do over this long holiday weekend. It will tell us much about ourselves...what we're dealing with and what we're choosing to ignore now, and face later.

Stay tuned!