A Headache the Size of...Saturn?

 December 28, 2010

(Aries Wheel - afternoon)

The folks at SpaceWeather (dot-com) were nice enough to send out a little blurb today which in part said: A giant storm even brighter than Saturn's rings is raging through the planet's cloudtops.

Here's a link. Or just go to http://spaceweather.com  And if you arrive there at any point after December 28th, specify the date in the upper right corner to get to the page with the nifty picture of Saturn having a stormy day.

For us here on Earth, that this is happening as Mercury goes on station underscores the sense of challenge, need to think things through and decisions which may change the 'structure' of a situation or some status quo.

Let's call it a celestial exclamation underscoring of the point. What point? Well, with this photo being reported to us as the Moon has been moving through Libra (where Saturn is)...that suggests the need to think about our relationships and interactions with others. What are they worth? Where do we want to go with them? What are others responsible for, and what should we expect - or even ask - of anyone?

Yes, there will be more on this Mercury station in a day or so. But in the interim, I thought you might like to see Spaceweather's photo of Saturn. Somehow it makes me think the planet has a headache.

And if Saturn has a headache.... well! Need I say more? That's a serious bottle of aspirin needed - and maybe (just possibly!) for us as well? Hmmm....

Mercury Station Effects Begin

 Washford Station in West Somerset, UK

photo credit: Nils Oberg

With Mercury going direct on December 30th at 7:22am UT/+0, that means Mercury's 'station effects' begin early on the 28th and extend through January 1st.

Considering time zones, Mercury's station effects would actually begin for many on the 27th. And certainly with  giant travel snafus going on in Europe, the United States and elsewhere, this would seem to be the sounding of the Mercury train coming to a gradual stop.

In basic terms, this means that anything having to do with a thought, an idea…or how you express that idea or get it – or yourself - from one place to another…all that is now up for Mercurial grabs.

Stations are points of emphasis. Effects….linger. I could bore you with the science here, but let’s say it’s been proven by real live science types that the conditions known astrologically for thousands of years – yes, the actually do vary from the norm.

The way it comes out most evocatively is that a planetary station…being that point where the planet (as seen from Earth) appears to ‘change direction’…it represents a turning point. So, given that Mercury symbolizes all things thought, said or ‘communicated’ (verbally, via feet, mail, phone or otherwise)….such Mercurial issues now tend to take ‘a turn.

For you, this may manifest as a change of mind. Or someone else changing their mind, affecting what you do - or how you think about something. Anything. It might involve them...then again, it might just be something which their comment seems to connect to in your life.

Plans often get changed during Mercury stations. It's a premier moment of disruption, distraction, and interruption. But it's not all bad. Sometimes what goes on at a Mercury station which starts out seeming like a glitch can end up guiding you to something which is fortuitous and far more profitable than that you had originally planned on.

It's sort of like the 'turn of events' or the 'twist' in the story which comes out of "nowhere" but which leads somewhere totally interesting.

Mind you, many of us will sail our way through these days with nary a wrinkle to our perfectly starched schedule. Then again, some of us will bungle and botch everything - or deal with what has been bungled or botched.

Yet even those who are pretty much unaffected using sense a shift in dynamics all around them. Well, give or take those people who live so totally in their own world that they wouldn’t notice a bomb blast going off next door. (Don’t we all know one or two of those?)

With Mercury making this turn while in Sagittarius, people may be busy. Discussions could turn into  debates. Mercury in Sagittarius is often a very fervent combination, so don’t expect everyone to be placid. They could be frustrated, they could be full of conviction – or they could just be full of laughter and devil-may-care joie de vivre.

Events and things of note now are to be taken seriously. Like said, stations mark things which actually matter. It may be as simple as a remark having a real effect on you, sparking a realization or idea. Then again, that thing or person you’ve been waiting for, that phone may ring.

That envelope may arrive. That communication may actually happen. Or not happen - either way being for an unexpected reason.

With this station taking place at 19 Sagittarius, we know emotions are primed. We know there's a lot of emotionalism going around too - especially after the recent Lunar Eclipse at 29 Gemini, Gemini being the sign of thought, communication and 'how we choose to go about things' with the 29 part seeming to be a focus on whether we consider the matter of choosing as a choice.

Or how we go/have gone about choosing.

There is an undeniable sense of challenge (to put it mildly) which comes with 19 Sagittarius. So you may be challenged, or you may just be feeling challenged (which otherwise may be known as feeling defensive!) There's an urge to do it 'the unconventional way' which may or may not work. The Sabian Symbol for this degree speaks to a use of 'natural resources' with an eye to 'foresight' which certainly discourages doing things in haste. And  with Mercury in Sagittarius, that's always an issue - no question!

One big divider here is whether you think you are right...or right for you or right for the moment against all of time. 'Fixations' may not play well. 'Consideration' of all at hand...? That's like as not the better route - though be prepared to want to do what you want to do (and much frustration if you can't or decide you can't do that!)

There is no ‘good or bad’ defined here, merely the sense of heightened awareness and when something happens, the knowledge that this isn’t just a casual moment – even if the moment happens casually.

More on this when Mercury actually goes direct. But for now – all aboard! We’re Mercury station bound!

 

Astro-Factors: Tempering an Outlook

D Dwarf Planet Makemake as photographed by the Hubble telescope 

photo credit: NASA/JPL

Other weeks are have had more asteroids changing  signs and take their stations to go retrograde or direct. And just that ‘number’ of things going on reflects in our sense that there are lots and lots of ‘things’ we need to pay attention to.

Now, things are slowing down a bit. Does that mean  things are less important now?

Absolutely not. In fact, there’s a good argument to be made for the idea that when life offers us less to deal with…maybe that means each of those few things is more important.

Or maybe that we have time to see what each is, to think over where all fits (or doesn’t fit) in our life – maybe just having the time to do that is the point.

For each, it’s probably a little different.

There are only five ‘minor’ points to report on before New Years. The first is Hubris, which moves into Capricorn on the 26th. On the 27th, Icarus follows Hubris into Capricorn as Chaldea moves into Sagittarius and dwarf planet Makemake goes retrograde. Then Arachne goes direct on the 31st.

That’s it. But that’s enough. That say a lot!

Two objects moving into Capricorn – a yin sign – suggests we’re getting into a more receptive mood. Or it might except for the fact that one is all about arrogance (Hybris) and one is the idea of haste incarnate (Icarus).

Considering asteroids are about things we meet up with in life (and both are direct), what’s likely is that we meet up with things which could move us to act arrogantly or act impulsively. Or perhaps we’ll meet up with other people acting that way and reflect on when we’ve done just that very same thing. And maybe that will help us understand their behavior. Or learn from it.

That Icarus orbits from barely outside of Mars to inside of Mercury pretty much suggests it’s a patron of our times considering the story of Icarus is one all about exceeding one’s own capacities and the bounds of common sense. With Icarus’ failings taking place when he takes to the air having not listened to cautionary instructions is very much like how we get too busy doing to even think. Or how we never stop until we hurt our own cause by exceeding our own bounds, be those physical, mental, relational or situational.

The Fall of Icarus by Peter Paul Rubens

But then there’s Makemake going retrograde early in the morning (2:49 am UT/+0) on December 27th.

Who is Makemake? The mythological Makemake is a creator god of Easter Island fame – a ‘parent of humankind’ figure with a somewhat less ‘ethereal’ and somewhat more ‘mankind-as-part-of-nature’ sort of bent.

With Makemake going retrograde as it meets up with Juno at 27 Virgo, that Juno part adds a note of ‘protecting hearth and home’ to the mix. Which yes we can take personally (my heart, my home) or which we can see ecologically, planet-arilly, or naturalistically.

On the other hand, Makemake, as a ‘creator’ force going retrograde asks us what we are going to make of ourselves. In that sense, Juno asks what we are going to do to create that better world and that better human race.

Or maybe just ourselves – how are we going to ‘create’ ourselves as better people?

A whole other point of view to be mixed in or against the ‘no, not thinking’ quality of Icarus and the arrogant ‘I’m right, never mind about you’ Hybris qualities, both of which are now moving into structural Capricorn territory.

This suggests a ‘steeling’ of attitudes. Against which we have Makemake, a dwarf planet… 

Asteroids are ideas, concepts, facets of the whole, a consideration we meet up with and deal with along the way. A planet being a human attribute, a dwarf planet is a ‘lesser’ human attribute.

But that’s still with us all the time. It’s part of us. Makemake represents our connection to life, our awareness – even if its marginal – that we are the makers of our world and the world.

So Makemake going retrograde isn’t just a now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t sort of thing. That it goes retrograde conjunct one of the primary ‘guardian’ symbols (Juno) at a degree (27 Virgo) which centers on the whole tendency (and perhaps fallacy) to ‘think about it but do nothing’ …or be ‘all talk and no action’ …especially given what’s going on in our world….?

There are international tensions, economies mired in tar, populations struggling. There are nations beleaguered by their own body politic biting their own tail (by any other name known as….)

People are putting a game face on – they’re being ‘steely.’ But behind that?

That’s Makemake conjunct Juno. And you can expect to feel it and hear it around your home and in the news. With Chaldea, a symbol of ‘the old way’ moving into Sagittarius there is an ‘old way’ and an ‘old guard’ which makes a lot of noise now at every level, in every venue. We all will do well to remember the Sagittarian rule here too as the level of noise bubbles and cranks and otherwise gets louder.

Sagittarius is about functionality. The idea without the functionality is just an idea. There’s a strong tendency with Sagittarius to try and ‘insist and make it so’ but that doesn’t mean the thing works. Sagittarius requires not just fiery rhetoric, it requires a fire in your gut to get the thing right whether it’s a thing of elegance or some Rube Goldberg machine.

In short, what works, works.

Remembering that all this is happening as Mercury slows down to go station/direct in Sagittarius on December 30th there is a prevailing sense of frustration. Maybe some outrage, from places expected…and unexpected too.

Then Mercury does go direct. And after it does, before Mercury is even out of station…Arachne goes direct too.

 Orb weaver spider

acclaimed photograph by Wikipedia contributor Fir002

Arachne – the spider – has several different sides. Of course it represents ‘ensnaring’ and becoming ‘ensnared’…which perhaps it a bit of a warning to all those who tend to party a bit hard on New Years Eve!

Another side of Arachne has to do with a spider’s legendary patient perseverance. Spiders who build webs choose their spot, set their lines and sit and wait. If something rips apart a spider’s web, they rebuild. Spiders are resourceful and capable of spinning one of the strongest substances (ounce for ounce) known to nature or man – the spider’s silk.

Creepy? To many, yes. But spiders are rather amazing creatures, creepy or not.

That Arachne goes direct at 17 Taurus points us towards an examination not just of what our emotional positions are but why they are what they are. Moments, thoughts, conversations, interactions which call this quality into focus are apt for the moment.

And curiously in sync with Makemake going retrograde, no?

The end of this calendar year seems to be a bit of a cliffhanger! Thank goodness we won’t have long to wait for the next chapter, right?