The Morning - by Philipp Otto Runge (1808)
Today, planets Venus and Jupiter go direct. It's time for us to stop having to deal with learning (Jupiter) about our Venus needs (and neediness) on the inside and start with the doing and having of real time, real life experiences and experiential situations which will allow us to get somewhere, do, accomplish and enjoy ourselves.
Or at least, that's the plan, right?
Astrologers (and astrology) once referred to 'good' and 'bad' planets - the 'benefics' versus the 'malifics.' It was a bit of an old time silent movie, I gotta tell you...Venus was the good and beautiful maiden, Jupiter was the rich uncle, Saturn was the wicked bad guy (which probably made Saturn's rings the mustache said bad guy was always twirling) and Mars was sometimes the hero and sometimes the dastardly murderer.
There are still forms of astrology (notably Vedic, which comes from a more 'fated' point of view) which tend to see planets and planetary motions and statements as 'decrees.' But western astrology, which for reasons I loathe to explain is known as 'tropical astrology' (hand me the coconut, please?)...western astrology has gone all psychological.
Thus planets are associated with human attributes, and in the same way that we know the Moon pulls on the oceans causing tides, the whole of the solar system - indeed the cosmos - becomes a giant clockwork mechanism.
Planets don't "do" anything...but the influences they are simply by being what they are, those wavelengths of gravitational magnetism or whatnot...or merely the ripples of space distortion a planet sends out by moving through space (like a boat's wake)...those ripple through our solar system.
Astrology is just the watch on our arm. A wrist watch doesn't define time. It isn't 'time itself.' What it marks is a relative position in time which allows you and everyone else to be oriented and synced up. Knowing that the Moon does the same thing for the tides, over the past six thousand years or so attentive human beings have been amassing information on what planetary movements do.
That body of 'knowing' (Jupiter again) is made real (Venus) in astrology. And very helpfully, science is now catching up with us planet watchers. Slowly but surely, experiments and theorems not only prove out how the universe works, but that astrology is real and thus astrologers are not nitwits.
Okay, so some of us well may be nitwits - as people. But astrology, providing it's treated as a science and not a toy... that's real. As real as that Moon and them ocean tides, astrology is the 'wrist watch' which tells us when cosmic clockwork strikes some hour as planetary, asteroidal, TNO, dwarf planet or any other kind of influence reaches us on earth.
I hope you find that moving, as Polyhymnia is going retrograde today. It's thus a very good day to allow yourself to be moved. And as Polyhymnia goes on being retrograde in the months to come, it pays to remember that to be moved, you have to allow yourself to feel.
Which yes, for some is scary. And for others, it's so carefree and evident that while it can be wonderful, it can also prove problematic. Even dangerous.
The moral: we feel the feeling. What we do about that... whether we embrace that, act on the spirit of being moved usefully or gracelessly, whether we deny difficult feelings and only go for the easy or candy floss - those are factors which contribute to how our life goes.
You know...in that old silent movie vein.
Getting back to that for a moment, Venus and Jupiter are not all good. That old term ('benefics') didn't take into account that security and satisfaction (Venus) doesn't make you a happy person. You can have it all (Jupiter) and still be miserable. Saturn requires effort and holding ourselves to an internally-defined standard, but Saturn is also the great symbol of what you earn you get. Saturn promises achievement if we will try, try again. Or just keep trying (dedication-wise).
As modern astrology acquires more points and the astrophysical science of our cosmos becomes more evident, more and more we are faced with the reality that its our willingness to be who we are and to deal first and foremost with ourselves which determines what we get out of life. And this is not about wealth versus poverty. It can't be - look around. There are a lot of very unhappy wealthy people and a lot of contented people who have very little.
Its about us. It's about our expectations. And this moment, this tri-party station, is in many senses all about expectations.
That said, we have a few other indicators. The first is where all these celestial objects are, and what is 'with them' and what is 'against them' (in opposition).
Venus being the most basic of attributes in this station recipe, we'll start with Venus - our cause/effect ability to make things happen and by that, feel secure (or otherwise) in life. Going retrograde at 9:17 in the evening (Universal Time/+0) Venus is positioned at 27 Libra with Atropos (endings). This is if nothing else a 'getting real' signal, so we can safely say this is a time when we either cut something out, or stop being unreal (the 'anti-Venus' concept, if you will) about who we are, who others are, the value of what we are/aren't doing and what we need to do in life in order to achieve our "Venus goals" of feeling satisfied and secure - at least with who we are and how we live.
Because Venus is going direct and Atropos is in direct motion at this moment, it's very likely that situations or (Libra) interactions deliver a message now about this 'reality' - or lack of same - in your life. You feel moved, to use the Polyhymnia term. And maybe that's the point! Maybe things you couldn't/wouldn't see or hear now become obvious. It's time to deal with (Venus) reality - and yes, realities - if we are to ever get where we want to go in being our own person, and in life as a whole.
A nice note comes from the 27 Libra quality, which here lends a note of 'intangible implacability'...which again suggests that we're getting real. Or that maybe someone is our life says something which cuts through all the mental foo-foo and really gets us where we live. Maybe something happens and we just have to accept it and move on from there.
It could be one...or all of these things and more.
Big red Jupiter, our Jovian (if not jovial) planetary aspect - the thrill of enlightenment, one might say...Jupiter goes direct at 4:53 pm (UT/+0). (Remember to adjust to to your local time zone!) Going direct at 23 Pisces, the most exact aspect to Jupiter in this moment is an opposition to Nemesis at 23 Virgo.
Nemesis being the 'standing up for the truth' (whether we like that truth or not) sets this opposition up to be a moment of discomfort. Not necessarily tragic, but probably not what we wanted to hear, see or think - most of all about ourselves. Nemesis being at 23 Virgo adds to this dilemma by describing a frustration between a resistance to realities or one's own nature. This may be about limitation(s), then again, it maybe part of that 'I've taken this position and by gum, I'm going to stick with it even though I know its' wrong, it's ridiculous, its even damaging.'
In other words, expect some ego to be in the mix today. And though you may well experience it in others, the most critical point of ego transition here is yours.
Remember: transits, like life events, on the metaphysical (as opposed to spiritual, which tends to be more "fate" oriented) level are not about doing things 'to you.' or even 'for you.' Much as we tend to experience or internalize them that way, if we believe the great central metaphysical statement that...
Or at least, that's the plan, right?
Astrologers (and astrology) once referred to 'good' and 'bad' planets - the 'benefics' versus the 'malifics.' It was a bit of an old time silent movie, I gotta tell you...Venus was the good and beautiful maiden, Jupiter was the rich uncle, Saturn was the wicked bad guy (which probably made Saturn's rings the mustache said bad guy was always twirling) and Mars was sometimes the hero and sometimes the dastardly murderer.
There are still forms of astrology (notably Vedic, which comes from a more 'fated' point of view) which tend to see planets and planetary motions and statements as 'decrees.' But western astrology, which for reasons I loathe to explain is known as 'tropical astrology' (hand me the coconut, please?)...western astrology has gone all psychological.
Thus planets are associated with human attributes, and in the same way that we know the Moon pulls on the oceans causing tides, the whole of the solar system - indeed the cosmos - becomes a giant clockwork mechanism.
Clockworks in the Deutsches-Uhren museum (detail)
photo credit: HNH (2008)
Planets don't "do" anything...but the influences they are simply by being what they are, those wavelengths of gravitational magnetism or whatnot...or merely the ripples of space distortion a planet sends out by moving through space (like a boat's wake)...those ripple through our solar system.
Astrology is just the watch on our arm. A wrist watch doesn't define time. It isn't 'time itself.' What it marks is a relative position in time which allows you and everyone else to be oriented and synced up. Knowing that the Moon does the same thing for the tides, over the past six thousand years or so attentive human beings have been amassing information on what planetary movements do.
That body of 'knowing' (Jupiter again) is made real (Venus) in astrology. And very helpfully, science is now catching up with us planet watchers. Slowly but surely, experiments and theorems not only prove out how the universe works, but that astrology is real and thus astrologers are not nitwits.
Okay, so some of us well may be nitwits - as people. But astrology, providing it's treated as a science and not a toy... that's real. As real as that Moon and them ocean tides, astrology is the 'wrist watch' which tells us when cosmic clockwork strikes some hour as planetary, asteroidal, TNO, dwarf planet or any other kind of influence reaches us on earth.
I hope you find that moving, as Polyhymnia is going retrograde today. It's thus a very good day to allow yourself to be moved. And as Polyhymnia goes on being retrograde in the months to come, it pays to remember that to be moved, you have to allow yourself to feel.
Which yes, for some is scary. And for others, it's so carefree and evident that while it can be wonderful, it can also prove problematic. Even dangerous.
The moral: we feel the feeling. What we do about that... whether we embrace that, act on the spirit of being moved usefully or gracelessly, whether we deny difficult feelings and only go for the easy or candy floss - those are factors which contribute to how our life goes.
You know...in that old silent movie vein.
Poster for 1914's "The Perils of Pauline,"
quiet easily the most classic (or at least archetypal) of
hero-villain-'damsel in distress' silent movie tales.
Getting back to that for a moment, Venus and Jupiter are not all good. That old term ('benefics') didn't take into account that security and satisfaction (Venus) doesn't make you a happy person. You can have it all (Jupiter) and still be miserable. Saturn requires effort and holding ourselves to an internally-defined standard, but Saturn is also the great symbol of what you earn you get. Saturn promises achievement if we will try, try again. Or just keep trying (dedication-wise).
As modern astrology acquires more points and the astrophysical science of our cosmos becomes more evident, more and more we are faced with the reality that its our willingness to be who we are and to deal first and foremost with ourselves which determines what we get out of life. And this is not about wealth versus poverty. It can't be - look around. There are a lot of very unhappy wealthy people and a lot of contented people who have very little.
Its about us. It's about our expectations. And this moment, this tri-party station, is in many senses all about expectations.
That said, we have a few other indicators. The first is where all these celestial objects are, and what is 'with them' and what is 'against them' (in opposition).
Venus being the most basic of attributes in this station recipe, we'll start with Venus - our cause/effect ability to make things happen and by that, feel secure (or otherwise) in life. Going retrograde at 9:17 in the evening (Universal Time/+0) Venus is positioned at 27 Libra with Atropos (endings). This is if nothing else a 'getting real' signal, so we can safely say this is a time when we either cut something out, or stop being unreal (the 'anti-Venus' concept, if you will) about who we are, who others are, the value of what we are/aren't doing and what we need to do in life in order to achieve our "Venus goals" of feeling satisfied and secure - at least with who we are and how we live.
Because Venus is going direct and Atropos is in direct motion at this moment, it's very likely that situations or (Libra) interactions deliver a message now about this 'reality' - or lack of same - in your life. You feel moved, to use the Polyhymnia term. And maybe that's the point! Maybe things you couldn't/wouldn't see or hear now become obvious. It's time to deal with (Venus) reality - and yes, realities - if we are to ever get where we want to go in being our own person, and in life as a whole.
A nice note comes from the 27 Libra quality, which here lends a note of 'intangible implacability'...which again suggests that we're getting real. Or that maybe someone is our life says something which cuts through all the mental foo-foo and really gets us where we live. Maybe something happens and we just have to accept it and move on from there.
It could be one...or all of these things and more.
Big red Jupiter, our Jovian (if not jovial) planetary aspect - the thrill of enlightenment, one might say...Jupiter goes direct at 4:53 pm (UT/+0). (Remember to adjust to to your local time zone!) Going direct at 23 Pisces, the most exact aspect to Jupiter in this moment is an opposition to Nemesis at 23 Virgo.
Nemesis being the 'standing up for the truth' (whether we like that truth or not) sets this opposition up to be a moment of discomfort. Not necessarily tragic, but probably not what we wanted to hear, see or think - most of all about ourselves. Nemesis being at 23 Virgo adds to this dilemma by describing a frustration between a resistance to realities or one's own nature. This may be about limitation(s), then again, it maybe part of that 'I've taken this position and by gum, I'm going to stick with it even though I know its' wrong, it's ridiculous, its even damaging.'
In other words, expect some ego to be in the mix today. And though you may well experience it in others, the most critical point of ego transition here is yours.
Remember: transits, like life events, on the metaphysical (as opposed to spiritual, which tends to be more "fate" oriented) level are not about doing things 'to you.' or even 'for you.' Much as we tend to experience or internalize them that way, if we believe the great central metaphysical statement that...
....then we have our tantrum or elation de jour, then we get on with recognizing that events are meant to evoke (Polyhymnia) in us whatever needs to be better understood and 'grown' (Jupiter) so that we can, in time, be secure, be satisfied and have the life we want (Venus).
Meanwhile, about the Polyhymnia evoking thing...yon muse of evocation (and one hopes happiness) herself is going retrograde at 0 Leo. Leo being the sign about what I do for my own enjoyment means we recognize now that some facet of our enjoyment or the really being happy with (or because of) said facet requires us to do some more inside work....that being indicated by the idea that Polyhymnia will go retrograde in 0 Leo but immediately retrograde back into Cancer...the land of family, habits which have grow out of childhood conditioning, basic needs (roof over head, food - that stuff) and how all such things tie together.
Mixing this Polyhymnia/0 Leo thing in with the Jupiter-Nemesis thing it would seem apparent that there is a temptation, yea verily a longing (do I hear a deep sigh?) to buy into that slogan, that excuse, that 'hey dude, it'll all be the same in a hundred years, why sweat it?' thing.
And no doubt some will do just that now - they will cast the idea of working towards lasting personal growth into the wind in favor of growing some personal pleasure (Leo)...probably one which is...fairly new to them (0 Leo).
We also know that at this time a lot of outside influences are in the mix. How do we know that? That we know by the fact that Jupiter and Venus are both in third decan degrees of respective signs.
Remember? First decan: zero to 9 - personal and proactive qualities. Second decan: 10 through 19 - emotional attributes. Third decan: degrees 20 through 29 of any given sign, this being where the sign manifests through external means. It may be feedback, it may be invitations, it may be goading, it may be people or external (3rd decan) situations which get us where we live - either physically, or on the inside.
So the Jupiter and Venus of it all are situational. Or responses from others (or corporate entities, etc.) But the effect is on us. And with Polyhymnia in what is technically known as an out-of-sign opposition to Circe (the sorceress who reduces people to an animalistic state)....and Orpheus (magical talents which can save us or cause us to sacrifice ourselves)....AND Scheat (public disapproval)?
Oy! There's a whole lot of input going on!
Our senses, never mind our internal Bank of Cravings is likely to be overflowing...or broken, busted and feeling desperately in need of contribution. It's a tug-of-war between ourselves and ourselves in projected form. What we see out there - whether it's a temptation or its our own press (reputation) that we're believing - it's a whole sort of reality/unreality test. It's "Damn Yankees" or "Bedazzled" or any of a hundred other stories, movies or sagas which rest on that Faustian idea that we have only to surrender our "soul" (our control of self) so as to have unlimited pleasures and knowledge.
And it doesn't matter whether what your pleasures of the moment are to live in your own little peaceful world or if your pleasures are intellectual, spiritual or absolutely wanton. The point is that when we give up on working on ourselves, no matter what we gain after that, who really are we?
That's the Faustian problem...and thus why in every version of Faust's story the protagonist finally realizes that realism...with all its highs and lows, its ouches and pleasures...that ownership of self is the real human deal.
Being a successful person, no matter what we would like to think, is about accepting that life is not all sunshine. It's not all light. If it was, nothing would have shape. The richness of life is the shading of our experiences.
So while there's likely to be all sorts of worldly personal drama around at the moment, maybe it pays to bear in mind that just as shadows give depth and form and beauty to an image, so difficulties and the acceptance of pain, loss and reality not as a 'happy life' but as something which moves us to be better people or experience every day of our lives in all the grandeur, with all the sweetness and yes, with the bitterness of some finalities... maybe that's what really gives meaning and ultimately, a sense of accomplishment to our existing here, in this time on this planet.
Yes, maybe that's the reason for life, and to recognize that life is both amazing...and in reality, all too fleeting.
Meanwhile, about the Polyhymnia evoking thing...yon muse of evocation (and one hopes happiness) herself is going retrograde at 0 Leo. Leo being the sign about what I do for my own enjoyment means we recognize now that some facet of our enjoyment or the really being happy with (or because of) said facet requires us to do some more inside work....that being indicated by the idea that Polyhymnia will go retrograde in 0 Leo but immediately retrograde back into Cancer...the land of family, habits which have grow out of childhood conditioning, basic needs (roof over head, food - that stuff) and how all such things tie together.
Mixing this Polyhymnia/0 Leo thing in with the Jupiter-Nemesis thing it would seem apparent that there is a temptation, yea verily a longing (do I hear a deep sigh?) to buy into that slogan, that excuse, that 'hey dude, it'll all be the same in a hundred years, why sweat it?' thing.
And no doubt some will do just that now - they will cast the idea of working towards lasting personal growth into the wind in favor of growing some personal pleasure (Leo)...probably one which is...fairly new to them (0 Leo).
We also know that at this time a lot of outside influences are in the mix. How do we know that? That we know by the fact that Jupiter and Venus are both in third decan degrees of respective signs.
Remember? First decan: zero to 9 - personal and proactive qualities. Second decan: 10 through 19 - emotional attributes. Third decan: degrees 20 through 29 of any given sign, this being where the sign manifests through external means. It may be feedback, it may be invitations, it may be goading, it may be people or external (3rd decan) situations which get us where we live - either physically, or on the inside.
So the Jupiter and Venus of it all are situational. Or responses from others (or corporate entities, etc.) But the effect is on us. And with Polyhymnia in what is technically known as an out-of-sign opposition to Circe (the sorceress who reduces people to an animalistic state)....and Orpheus (magical talents which can save us or cause us to sacrifice ourselves)....AND Scheat (public disapproval)?
Oy! There's a whole lot of input going on!
Our senses, never mind our internal Bank of Cravings is likely to be overflowing...or broken, busted and feeling desperately in need of contribution. It's a tug-of-war between ourselves and ourselves in projected form. What we see out there - whether it's a temptation or its our own press (reputation) that we're believing - it's a whole sort of reality/unreality test. It's "Damn Yankees" or "Bedazzled" or any of a hundred other stories, movies or sagas which rest on that Faustian idea that we have only to surrender our "soul" (our control of self) so as to have unlimited pleasures and knowledge.
Rembrandt's dry-point etching/engraving of Faust (1652)
And it doesn't matter whether what your pleasures of the moment are to live in your own little peaceful world or if your pleasures are intellectual, spiritual or absolutely wanton. The point is that when we give up on working on ourselves, no matter what we gain after that, who really are we?
That's the Faustian problem...and thus why in every version of Faust's story the protagonist finally realizes that realism...with all its highs and lows, its ouches and pleasures...that ownership of self is the real human deal.
Being a successful person, no matter what we would like to think, is about accepting that life is not all sunshine. It's not all light. If it was, nothing would have shape. The richness of life is the shading of our experiences.
So while there's likely to be all sorts of worldly personal drama around at the moment, maybe it pays to bear in mind that just as shadows give depth and form and beauty to an image, so difficulties and the acceptance of pain, loss and reality not as a 'happy life' but as something which moves us to be better people or experience every day of our lives in all the grandeur, with all the sweetness and yes, with the bitterness of some finalities... maybe that's what really gives meaning and ultimately, a sense of accomplishment to our existing here, in this time on this planet.
Yes, maybe that's the reason for life, and to recognize that life is both amazing...and in reality, all too fleeting.
An April dawn...our life springs eternal as long as
we are willing to grow and be renewed, and remade anew
in our own better interest by our own better knowing
of who we are...and our better regard for our nature
and that of the world in which we live.
Wow I only wanted to find out if the alignment of 3 planets in our system was going to have any impact of my life. I guess it already has by reading this. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteYou are most welcome!
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