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Sunday, December 26, 2010

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?





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