Pallas Direct in Pisces

 A 1899 photo-engraving of a statue known as the 'Pallas Giustiniani'

currently housed in the Vatican of Rome

If you’re in the UT/+0 time zone, Pallas goes direct in Pisces on Thursday November 22nd at 1:25 in the morning – four tick-tock minutes after Venus enters Scorpio.

So whatever else we can say, we know these this is both a “Pallas moment” and a “Venus moment.”

And what exactly do we know about Pallas in Pisces? Well, that would start with Pallas, a very unemotional symbol of thought. Call it esoteric or logical or maybe philosophical thought. Certainly in Pisces emotions would be a consideration…but Pallas itself is never a symbol of emotionality. Maybe thoughts about emotions, certainly. But emotionality as in ‘emotional thinking’? That seems unlikely as Pallas (aka Pallas Athena) is a goddess who springs full grown from the brow (brain) of Zeus – aka Jupiter.

Which brings us to a few interesting factoids about Pallas. One is that it’s another one of those objects which is in magnetic resonance with a planet – the planet in this case (not really shockingly) being Jupiter.

The basic ratio here is 18:7, meaning that for every 18 cycles of Pallas, Jupiter orbits the sun 7 times. This may mean nothing to you, but if you’re into numbers and things astronomical, astrological and metaphysical, this rings a bell along the Saturn and Lunar Node lines, what with the lunar nodes having an orbital length of 18.6 years and 7 being a classic Saturn number…and (oh incidentally) the age at which kids acquire the sense of reason, individuation and separation.

(Which yes, they promptly lose again for a few years when they hit those terrible teens!)

All of the above would seem to tie Pallas in with the growth (Jupiter), accomplishment (Saturn), and worldly (Nodal) integration factor which leads to achievement. In other words, achievement depends on thinking, whether or not emotions are part of the mix.

Another astronomical note comes from the fact that Pallas’ orbit takes it very much ‘off’ the plane of the ecliptic, as shown here in this orbital diagram generated by JPL for November 22, 2012:

 diagram courtesy of JPL

 
According to this diagram, Pallas is currently quite nearly at one end of its rather oblong orbit…yet rather close to the ecliptic. So while we may think that on the whole Pallas’ dispassionate way of thinking is part and parcel (or emblematic) of our ability to get perspective, at the moment that perspective may be lacking as Pallas is close to being on our “basis” (the ecliptic). It’s also at one extreme.

Does this mean our thinking currently lacks some perspective and may tend towards extremes? Maybe, although let’s remember – Pallas is a very particular pencil in our mental toolbox. So maybe ‘bias’ is a better word.

One more piece of astro-theory here. In going to the lists of aphelion and perihelion (near and far points to/from the Sun) for Pallas, another little curious tidbit jumped out.

Pallas’ outermost orbital point (it’s aphelion, or farthest distance from the Sun) is just inside Jupiter’s near point. Another link to Jupiter, yes.

But there appears to be a ‘neighboring factor’ here. And that neighbor is known as Hybris – the symbol of hubris, otherwise known as arrogance.

 

In this simplistic representation of the orbits of Hybris and Pallas,

their far and near points from the Sun are listed in 'AU' notation.

'AU' stands for 'astronomical units,' with one AU equaling the average

(mean) distance from the Sun to planet Earth. 

 
They’re not synonymous, but this would seem to give us a clue as to why people think being smart equates to being arrogant. And why intelligence often seems so ‘feeling-less.’

You know the old saying, “truth hurts”?

But to look at this another way, perhaps to deny one’s intelligence is a different form of arrogance. Who are we, after all, to waste the gifts we were born with?

In going direct at 22 Pisces, Pallas is in a the most worldly and ‘expressive’ decanate of a sign all about not just feeling our feelings, but being made to feel our reactions to feelings…and all which goes with that. Sometimes we’ll escape into something which elicits good feelings so we don’t have to feel anything else, sometimes we’ll do all we can to avoid feeling anything or being confronted with anything which could make us feel anything…and sometimes life just foists such moments upon us.

In the last decan of any sign, that sign manifests at the worldly or ‘impersonal’ level – not that emotions or people’s feelings are anything to dismiss. But that may be what you want to do now. Will Pallas going direct mean you’ll get dealt with more coolly by others? Or merely on the basis of the facts, never mind anyone’s emotionality?

Will there be so much emotionality in the air or in life or the world that logic requires that we back off simply so as to protect our sensibilities?

As a moment in time…there was a solar eclipse on November 13th and there will be a lunar eclipse on November 28th. By metaphysical definition, this is an unsettled time pretty much across the board.
So maybe Pallas going direct – with ‘direct’ meaning putting it ‘out there’ or that someone comes at us from an external source – maybe that means this is when we begin getting a handle on things and our ability to get them all sorted out?

Maybe, but there would seem to be a cost. The degree 22 Pisces has a weird reputation which has a distinct quality and concept of is ‘entanglement.’ This can be intimate, but it certainly doesn’t have to be. And no matter what the situation, since this is Pallas in your chart, the part of it that you need to deal with is your reaction.

 Planet Venus as photographed through a telescope by Mac Lecleire in August 2010

Apparently this is a moment when we should try to be dispassionate.

As Pallas goes direct, it does so in conjunction with Chaldaea, a symbol of ‘the old way’ or in some instances, ‘time honored’ ideas – be they traditions, teachings, ways of doing things…whatever. Call it the ‘status quo’ or ‘what you’re used to’ and go from there.

So are we going to be asked to think through the ‘old way’ (or the status quo) and decide if it needs changing? Or are we being asked to use what we know to be true in managing some current situation?

This would seem to be where it’s probably sensible to bring Venus back into this discussion. Venus symbolizes ‘results’ – the ‘what you get’ for who you are, how you present yourself (or what you’ve made or done) or your idea, reputation, relationship, aims, etcetera.

But then comes the Scorpio part. If you read the Venus entering Scorpio post, you know the challenge with this combination is taking the needs, aims and values of others into account even though we plainly all have our goals, aims and preferences.

And this is where Pallas may very well help. Seeing that Venus in Scorpio is successful when we can be a little ‘chill’ on what we want long enough to make sure everybody gets an equal measure of what they need or want…then maybe Pallas’ lack of passion and ability to bring perspective to the situation means that as Pallas goes direct we will all find better ways to express ourselves and move towards our goals. Maybe we’ll have just the right combination of personal passion and attentiveness to others to be able to come up with great solutions to large problems. Or maybe this is when we’ll be able to get some tough point across with a minimum of ego-bruises.

Considering that Pallas is only about 3% the size of the Moon, there’s still plenty of metaphysical room for everybody’s feelings. And since Venus in Scorpio is a winning theme when we share and hold others on a par with ourselves, maybe that’s just what we’ll now have the opportunity to enjoy!
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