The Two Liliths

The stories about Lilith are many and varied. All of them stretch back into antiquity...to the Greeks, to early Jewish folklore, to Babylon and even early Mesopotamia.

There seems little doubt that Lilith is some kind of demon - but lest we get all she-devil about this, the Mesopotamians (which being the earliest in the lineage would seem to have some say-so about what this tradition is about) held that Lilith was merely the female form of a demon which also came in male and animal form.

There are a couple of interesting parts of all such myths which all come forward into the astrology. The first part is that (according to the Mesopotamians, who thought of Lilith as daughter of their sky-god), Lilith was given free will over infants, and it is through exercise of that free will that she chooses to do evil instead of good. 

The second fact which seems highly evocative arises most clearly in the Jewish/Old Testament (and Talmudic) tradition, which holds that Lilith was made from the same clay as Adam so that ol' Adam didn't have to be all by his lonely (humans are not a solitary species!). 

When Adam requests that Lilith be subservient to him, she refuses on the (literal) ground that she was created at the same time and from the same clay (earthly, earthy) substance as Adam himself. Of course, he didn't like that much, so after a fight she leaves, refusing to return to the Garden of Eden and eventually hooking up with Archangel Samael.

 Meanwhile Adam gets a new wife - Eve. Since she is created from Adam's rib, Eve is a natural 'subset' of Adam (so to speak) and thus theoretically is more amenable to being subservient to him. 

A brief disclaimer here: none of this is being said to degrade,denigrate or contradict anyone's spiritual tradition. This is simply what you find if you do the research on the evolution of Lilith as an image. 

As for Archangel Samael, though technically a 'fallen angel,' Samael remains in decent graces with the Almighty, serving as the Angel of Death. This is an interesting note in the astrological sense as when we take the whole pantheon of objects together, that connects Samael with Orcus, a TNO named for the god who meets one as they cross over from life into death, reviewing with you there all which by virtue of death can no longer be changed.

 In the end, What this amounts to is the 'wedding' of Lilith's 'free will' to ultimate consequences - something to bear in mind, especially since no matter which version of the Lilith myth you read, Lilith chooses to do at least the unpopular thing, if not the out-and-out evil thing. 

Yet astrology does run entirely contrary to the socio-historical-religious Lilith standard in one critical and vitally important way: since every chart contains Lilith, that means Lilith cannot be a woman or be merely about women. There is a Lilith quotient in all of us, just as there is an Achilles or Pluto or Mercury or Mars quality in all of us. 

And, in point of fact, there are TWO astrological Liliths. If you've followed this blog, you're aware of that by now. So what's the difference and why would they be what they are? 

First of all, let's be real here. No one likes to think of themselves as unpopular or evil. Even if we choose to be a hermit, we like to think it's our choice. And nobody, not Hitler, not Genghis Kahn, not Pol Pot - nobody gets up, goes to the mirror and says "Hello, Evil One! What nasty, nasty thing can we do to make this world worse today?" 

And this much we do see in the Lilith of myth and legend; whatever Lilith is to us, it's not that thing we like to focus on. Lilith is that primal 'wife quality' of our psyche - the 'other part of us' we have 'divorced.' 

In other words, Lilith is that we deny about ourselves. It's our psychological shadow.

 The first Lilith is the asteroid Lilith: a member of the main asteroid belt which cycles in a closer orbit than say, Psyche - our mind and the symbol of knowing ourselves (article on Psyche). That Lilith is closer to us than full knowledge of our mind tells us that we are likley to run into that we don't want to be before we find that which we truly are. It speaks to how easy it is to be led astray by our own ignorance, naivete, innocence...all those things we treasure as precious qualities we are 'created with' (the original clay)...once we achieve free will, that is exactly what we can run afoul of. 

Because Lilith the asteroid has mass and is tangible, it is something we can 'get a hold of' if we are willing to face our Lilith and understand its nature and how that Lilith free will can take us to where what we have done cannot be undone, equaling consequences. Having an orbital period of 4.36 years, the Lilith of our chart conjuncts TNO Orcus once every cycle. So asteroid Lilith is obviously not just about physical death. It may in fact be part of our learning process - those tough lessons which we come away from saying 'I'm sure not going to do THAT again!' 

The other Lilith is a calculated points. Having no mass, this is something we can be aware of, but cannot fully control. Sometimes referred to as the 'Black Moon,' calculated Lilith is the point at which the Moon is at its apogee (farthest point) from Earth.

 Looking at this metaphysically, this describes the point at which our feelings and link to mankind and/or social memory are at their most distant from earthly reality. 

It's perhaps interesting to note (if a bit disturbing) that many sociopaths and criminals speak of their 'greater perspective' on humankind and how that 'superior vantage point' made them feel 'entitled' to do whatever they wanted with what they thought of as 'lesser creatures.' You know, the rest of us. 

Even those of us who aren't criminals seem to have a need to flirt with our 'dark side.'

Some of us just need to learn our limits, others need to take a fall (or hit a wall) where either form of Lilith is concerned.

This conversation isn't about telling you that Lilith is doing anything in particular. This blog is calling to attention the fact that Lilith is alive and well in each of us. The Black Moon - calculated Lilith - is the dark side of societal forces which are always out there. They have influential 'free rein' on life and at times may manifest as forces which call us down on our disruptive behaviors or attitudes. 

The asteroid Lilith is our own dark side. It's things we don't like to see about ourselves but which are there, nonetheless. 

The real lesson about Lilith is probably that which is most primal: Lilith does represent an equal force to our conscious determination, but it's not always what we think. In symbolizing those forces which test our ability to not just knuckle under and become subservient to conditioning, tradition and habits, Lilith has a healthy function in our life - so long as we don't allow rebellion against all we know is good, worthy and productive to become our way of life.

Mercury enters Virgo Prior to Retrograde

Planet Mercury as viewed by Mariner - source: NASA

As Mercury enters Virgo on July 27 (9:42pm GMT) it does so in exact conjunction with Orcus, symbol of all those things which can no longer be changed, whether that means money gone, trust broken, lives spent or decisions made badly. 

And just ahead, at 4 Virgo, sits Atropos, the Greek Fate all about endings. 

Gee...does that give us a clue, or what?

 And yet, considering the great metaphysical theorems that 'all things happen for a reason' and 'unbeknownst to us, the universe is unfolding as it should,' that suggests that whatever 'ends' (or we let go of) is truly all for the best. After all, Virgo is all about making things better and more functional. 

So maybe this is a very auspicious way for this particular ten week transit to begin. 

WAIT! 

Did I say TEN weeks? 

Yes, actually, I did say ten (count 'em, TEN!) weeks. It wasn't jus a test just to see if you were listening. 

Now...I know that you the fairly more savvy astro-watchers know what this means. It means that Mercury's about to go into retrograde, elsewise it would move on to a new sign in something like...oh, say...three weeks or so. You know, the standard sort of time period for Mercury transiting any given sign. 

The retrograde itself we'll talk about in detail later. But as for this 'letting go' thing, there's a couple of ways to think of it, considering the retrograde is a-comin'.

 One is the pro-active concept. And yes, those who know something needs giving up who begin the letting go process now will probably have that process pretty much well and done by the time Mercury ends retrograde and goes direct on September 12th, having all 'in gear' and moving on to the next thing by the time Mercury exits its shadow come late September. 

Then there's the 'I guess I have to think about it, but I'm not making any decision yet' group. Considering this is all taking place with a Mercury (thought process) in Virgo (making things work better/more workable), this group is going to investigate all the angles and see what can be done without doing anything truly drastic until the September 12th station rolls around. At that point they'll see why something has to change and begin making changes. 

For the record, this is likely to be most people. 

The last group of people are the 'I'm going to do this my way - I don't CARE what anyone else thinks!' group. This group will resist pressure heading their way as retrograde approaches, hold on by the proverbial skin of their teeth (however unhygeinic that is) through the actual retrograde period and then, as Mercury goes direct, find out what the gain or loss is for having refused to yield to clear indications that things weren't okay as they stood. 

In other words, especially with Atropos as part of this picture, they are going to feel or experience loss. 

Truth is, there's some sense of loss to be associated with this transit no matter what. It doesn't have to be terrible or disatrous, it's just a 'loss' in terms of what comes out of it is an altered status quo - it could be totally positive! The question is really whether you want to participate in the changes and ultimately benefit from them, pinch Peter and pay Paul as you go along, hedging every bet - or if you're just going to have change thrust upon you, for lumps or glory. 

Virgo being an earth sign, this concerns something tangible. Something which is part of your reality. Considering that Virgo is a mutable sign and not set in its ways, that accounts for the aura of change, exchange, interchange, improvement and experimentation.

A medieval image of the astrological Virgo as the goddess

of harvest who teaches us to care for that which 'feeds' our needs

Being that Mercury rules Virgo, this is a highly focused period. Your thoughts are going to be on whatever your issues at hand are. Meanwhile, others are going to be focused on their stuff - so don't be surprised if you're not getting the normal amount of input or support you might normally expect. 

But that's not all. There's a whole slew of points standing in opposition to Mercury as we trot into this mini-epic, starting with Neptune, representing ideals and illusion or disappointment. Neptune supports non-egotistical energies and dissolves that which is simply too over-the-top selfish to bear. (And no, you don't get to decide which is which - that would be the cosmic/karmic point!)

Then there's Chiron, the mythic centaur healer. Chiron is all about those things which you don't know how to do (or "fix") and which truthfully you'd be much happier never having to face, never mind deal with.

 As it to underscore the issue, then we have Icarus. You may remember Icarus from the myth - a youngster who when equipped with wax wings takes off into the sky, forgetting that if you get too close to the Sun the wax melts and down, down you go. Astrologically, Icarus tends to be about overstepping the bounds of both safety and good sense. All three of these symbols are in social, societal, friend-and-income (supportive) Aquarius. In opposition to Mercury/Atropos, this sounds a bit like standards of behavior and/or operational parameters.

Moving on to the Pisces portion of this opposition program, only a couple of points, the first being royal star Fomalhaut, a star which rewards one with great success unless corruption enters the picture. And since Athena (wisdom) is here, this is a whole 'you should have known better!' story. Or maybe even a 'you DID know better and did it anyway' tale. 

Considering this ingress happens just a day or so after a Full Moon in Aquarius, whatever was 'highlighted' at the full Moon...(which would have been on Sunday the 25 in the Americas and Pacific region and on Monday the 26th in the UK-Europe-Africa region and from there, all points east)....whatever was highlighted then has set a tone, theme and tenor for what unfolds from this point forward.

Remember...this all started with Mercury/Orcus - the idea of something already done. We can build anew, we can fix, apologize, restructure...but we can't 'undo.' And sure as shootin' we shouldn't in this moment try and evade, deny or ignore. 

One more 'looking back' note: as we started we noted not just Mercury conjunct Orcus at 0 Virgo, but Atropos at 4 Virgo. That implies 'units' of 4: days, weeks, even months. (It could even mean years, though with this being about Mercury that seems highly unlikely.)

Atropos, cutting the 'life thread'

There's also that Mercury reaches 4 Virgo on July 30, so don't be shocked if something pokes you with a stick about then.

How you handle all this? That's of course up to you. And how you emerge from this cycle? Again, that's all your personal doing. With the whole of this passage in Virgo, cooperation is helpful and obsessive focus on doing your thing your way not only often not helpful, but undermining. 

This can actually be an incredibly productive time of substantial achievement. It just depends on your understanding and willingness to own that you don't know everything, your ways aren't always the best ways to do things and that the world has standards and necessities we all need to pay attention to.

So bottom line here, be honest with yourself. In the end, that's the Virgo-Mercury healthiest thing you can possibly do. You may not love the reality of your life, but it is your reality - and reality...realistically...that's all we ever have.


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BP: What Percent Crude PR?

 

There are two important versions of BP's chart. The first is its original incorporation chart:

  

 Anglo-Persian Oil Co. Ltd (BP) - Incorporation chart

Founded as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (Ltd.), the company we now know as BP's Descendant - what it would have put out as messages to the public (and shareholders, one assumes) is represented by 12 Aquarius.

Aquarius being the sign of the marketplace, corporations and income and 12 being a 2nd (emotional) decanate degree, we know that BP would always put out a message that was slightly fervent. With this position modified by Pelion - the great mountain one must climb? Make that fervent and long-suffering, even in anticipatory mode.

With Aquarius ruled first by Saturn (representing the foundations upon which the corporation's fortunes are built) then Uranus (its success), we then look to these two planets to see what else may be seen.

What we see first is a 14 Aries Saturn conjunct Mercury (at 15 Aries) and Sedna at 10 Aries. Sedna being all about the struggle to let go of security and reach one's actual potential being conjunct Saturn - which never mind being the signature for BP's Descendant is the premier symbol of business - this combination in and of itself is wonderfully descriptive. Founded in 1909, BP (then the Angle-Persian Oil Company) was one of the first oil producers and the first to go into Persia. It pioneered much of what we now think of as 'standard oil operations.' And it did all this in Persia - the place we now call Iran.

Obviously, to British would-be oil tycoons, Persia was a very foreign country, and the 9th house is the house of foreigners and foreign places. So that this fledgling British Company had to risk letting go of dear old England and travel abroad to found its fortune is right in keeping with the chart.

Once it was established that the Masjed Soleiman field held sufficient promise to justify same, an oil lease was negotiated with Shah Mozzafar al-Din Shah Qajar of Persia. This is Orcus at 10 Aries. Orcus describing things done which cannot be changed, the fledgling BP had to invest enough money to find the oil before they could negotiate the lease.

Industria at 12 Aries and Rhadamanthus (fairness) at 13 conjunct Mercury (thought, organization) at 15 tells a tale of the enormity of effort it would have taken to get temperate climate English workers out into the deserts of Persia and the training of locals to partake in what must have been a grueling effort to tap those first wells.

And that grueling part? That we would know not simply from knowing that its hot in Iran, but because Mercury in the 9th house would make anywhere where BP tends to work a harder-than-usual place to work. Hence Iran, the North Sea, Alaska, the middle of the Gulf of Mexico...

...it's a corporate thing with this Anglo-Persian company which grew up to be BP. This just isn't a 'take the easy way out' company. Which means - yes - that this is a company which even when it doesn't intend to can make things very, very difficult for itself.

And that Mercury reaches out just far enough to conjunct Pandora (and her famous box) at 20 Aries? That doesn't just reinforce BP's 'strenuous efforts' of all types but also speaks volumes to the repercussion oil was to have not merely on BP's fortunes, but on the world as a commodity. Ruled by an Aquarian Mars in the employee and work-standard 6th house conjunct Psyche (the mind) and an early Aquarian Moon however...that lays the groundwork for BP to have issues with cost cutting.

With Uranus, the secondary ruler of Aquarius also in this 6th house but in the last third of Capricorn, we see the Anglo-Persian Oil Company as a founding industrial giant. It did the (Uranus) job of literally breaking ground as it broke through all the Uranian/Aquarian geological, technical, distribution and marketing problems in turning oil into a commodity then a baseline necessity upon which the whole world has been running on for heading towards a hundred years now.

That same 9th house which represented the 'foreign interest' is also the house which rules dissemination of information. Ruled by Jupiter in Virgo in the 2nd house we get our second indication that everything which comes out of BP's corporate mouth isn't the whole truth and nothing but the corporate truth.

Why would that be? Well, because Jupiter in Virgo tends to over-scrutinize either the information or what it chooses to say. Ruled by that Mercury in the 9th which here being conjunct ultra-fair Rhadamanthus and Pandora's plethora of ills which one must endure in order to find hope...this is the picture of a company which will generally stick its oil boot in its corporate mouth before it loses the oil slick and comes clean.

Oh yes - Medusa and Ixion are also in the 2nd and also conjunct Jupiter, as is Thuban, a fixed star known for imparting struggle. Medusa is a fascinating entity - it's fear, yes. But also fear of the truth (link to article on Medusa)...and even fear of self. Ixion, meanwhile is about ingratitude, particularly of the 'I should be able to simply because I can or have the opportunity right here' type (article on Ixion). So this is greatly about corporate fear of what people think - no matter what the news is. Are they making enough money? Too much - do they look like gluttons? Will they undermine their own position by people knowing too much? Not enough?

Love the company or hate it, this is an entity almost to pity for its inability to take a stand and go with it.

I said almost.

Saying all that, now we come to the most recent major merger, that committed to as of December 31, 1998 with Amoco. The chart for BP/Amoco (later renamed simply  BP) looks like this:

 

BP/Amoco merger chart

Going back to the prime PR spots of any chart (the Descendant and 9th house) at the Descendant we have fixed star Spica -  the gift of knowledge and brilliance - sitting with Deucalion, signature of 'finding the moral path.' So far, so good.

But then we look at the Venus ruling this 22 Libra Descendant; said Venus is in Capricorn (sign of business structures) in the very worldly 10th house of leadership. Still not bad at all! Venus here is conjunct two pairs of symbols (with Venus at the midpoint, the pairs don't connect). On one side we have Atlantis/Bali, which in 3 decan degrees are without question the desire to have everything be good and as ruler of the Descendant, to look and sound good too.

The other pair would make is even more skeptical: Child and Hebe (the servant) at Capricorn's critical 29th degree tells us the worse the situation is for the business or world opinion (i.e., anyone outside the BP fold), the more they are likely to serve up something dumbed down to 'not scare the Child.'

But this is a classic astrological mistake: the Child we are referring to is BP asteroid Child, not yours or mine. They are projecting it on us and thus they are acting as though we are children better off without the real facts. But the real fact is that it's BP which is scared: wherever the symbol appears (by house) is the 'department of life' where that energy will manifest. So when it gets to the executive running-BP-as-a-world-entity level of the company, if/when BP runs into trouble it...acts like a child! (No mommy, I didn't break it - it broke itself!)

And since the Saturn ruling this 10th and the Venus (et al) in said 10th...

...Since that Saturn is a 3rd decanate Aries Saturn unhappily placed in the first house, we know BP dislikes outsiders and doesn't like anyone having input or the ability to comment or discuss what it is doing. Conjunct Circe, Sphinx and Sisyphus (sounds like a very bad law firm)...this is more about BP as a company which will do its best to wait out public furor (Sphinx) or transform  situations/information to serves its own purpose (Circe). And if necessary - which is to say if you disagree with BP while "on its turf" (which one would have to assume at least means working with or for BP) then BP will have to simply do away with you somehow (Sisyphus).

This kind of determination serves BP well as an oil explorer. It serves them very badly as a real life corporate entity in an increasingly interactive world.

For all the mergers along the way (BP has had a barrel full of them from inception until now)...this company hasn't and has changed. The Ascendant/Descendant of today's BP is only one degree off the original chart's prime vertical - the Midheaven/Nadir 'who are we as a corporation?' - with that original vertical axis now turned into the horizontal axis.

What would that say? That would say that who BP started out to be, they now use as the face of who today's BP wants you to think they are. They want the world to think they're that same pioneering company.

But they aren't. The vertical axis of this new chart is 8 Capricorn (Midheaven)/8 Cancer at the Nadir or IC - the foundational point of the chart. Looking to Cancer's ruling Moon we find it in the 2nd (emotional) decanate of Gemini (thoughts, communications, choices) in what would be the modern company's 2nd house of corporate coffers.

Through chains of rulership, the Mercury which rules the 2nd (value/values) and 3rd (organizational concept) house of this chart points to Jupiter - which rules both the 8th house of investment and 9th house of foreigners/foreign things. This says a lot, especially in this international world where BP has to work outside its native UK with less rather than more world power now being part of its national identity.

That the Jupiter which ends up ruling this 8th and 9th (the 9th house part including 'information disseminated and thus PR') being intercepted in the 12th house conjunct Pallas (wisdom) and Sabine (forced imprisonment) tells us two things.

One is that BP is in a sense hostage to its stockholders. BP knows that an enormous number of real live people - that their pension funds are invested in BP on the London Exchange, and that part of BP's financial power has come of its ability to be a premier source of dividends.

The second part of this is BP feeling that it can simply hold knowledge hostage. Niobe (pride) and Amphitrite (overwhelm) conjunct the 26 Aquarius 12th house cusp tells us that this company's overwhelming pride is a good thing when its about how they can indeed take care of others but a total detriment when they are focused on their own reputation and income.

With all this said, we each have to decide for ourselves exactly what percentage of BP's PR is simply crude which has bubbled up to the top. What is for sure however is that unlike oil, what BP says only ever partly dispersed by means natural or artificial.

That the modern chart was hit by the January 2010 solar eclipse on their Venus/Child/Hebe in advance of the Deepwater Horizon debacle speaks volumes to the financial hit BP is going to take coming out of this disaster. It may be worth looking ahead to incoming solars and eclipses to see where the company's going to go (vote with your blog comments - if you want more information, you'll get more information!).

There is no question but that BP is going to try to evade/avoid full payouts. That started as soon as the well blew out with BP trying to 'fudge' or cover up exactly how many barrels of oil have flowed out of the Deepwater well because of their agreement with the sovereign nation involved (the US). The US has every right to not merely make BP pay for every barrel 'extracted' from its mineral rights reserves, but fine BP for every barrel allowed to pollute the Gulf of Mexico.

And that ain't just chump change.

Lay on top of that physical/ecological damages and loss-of-livelihood lawsuits and BP will have more than just a pond of fiscal goo on its hands.

Oil is a dirty business, unquestionably. But protecting the current corporate structure at the expense of public opinion is probably the most karmic thing BP can ever do. For one, it will erode the public trust. And secondly, it will cause people to see that there really does need to be an alternative to oil.

That's literally driving consumers away - which in the end is not merely the most costly form of PR possible, but BP having crudely undercut the very legs of the platforms their corporation stands on. Literally.