Dateblog: June 2013

In the wake of April and May’s eclipses, June begins with things feeling a bit unsettled. And that's not unreasonable - at least given the 'wavelengths' coming at us in life. Come June 7th, Neptune will go retrograde at 5 Pisces in trine to Saturn (retrograde in Scorpio), relationships, which is a metaphysical sort of way of saying this is a time to wonder what's worth what and whether your parameters and priorities are realistic. Or even likely to get you where you want to go. Considering the signs involved here, whatever is afoot, it looks and feels like it's about what others think. Or what someone else is doing or is likely to do.

But it isn't. It's about whether we are each willing to weather the 'how we feel' about what they do, what they say, or what they think.

This isn't 'splitting hairs' as one person in my life sometimes says (with great exasperation). It's about our resilience. It's about our instinctual fear of how powerful our feelings are, or could be.

And if you think this moment is so feeling-ful, just wait!

 

Venus will have moved into Cancer on the 3^rd - just before Neptune dives into its June 5 – 9 station allowance. And as Neptune does its turnabout, feelings will out. We may experience them as avoidance of something emotionally provocative (which is a pretty good sign of how powerful our feelings are!) or it may be the diving into something which will 'carry us away' on wings of wonder. This Cancer-Pisces combination is ripe for personal enjoyment...and if we just give it a few days, Venus will be into orb of opposition to Pluto...

...How do you feel about intensity? How willing are you to experience how the depths can be the heights of life?

Some of us won't take any chances, to be sure. Many of us prefer the emotional safety and feeling sanctity of that we know best. Or activities and surroundings which in being already comfortable don't test us at any depth.

Is that stability? Or is that fear expressed as a refusal to try?

Maybe it's one thing...maybe it's another. With two of our personal planets Mercury and Venus in Cancer...and both moving into position to trine both Neptune and Saturn has us caught in a web of personal growth or a cycle of unshakable status quo. These early June weeks (which come with a Gemini New Moon on June 8th) invite us to review our native habits and all we know in preparation for making things happen.

One part of that which might call our 'Possibility Play' comes into focus as dwarf planet MakeMake (creation of something new) goes direct (and into active mode) on June 12^th. It's time to do something creative - though what 'creative' means to you could involve many a thing. Whatever your abilities or interests are, investing in bringing something new - even your awareness - to the surface works well with MakeMake.

And yes, this could be a 'shifting gears' point. Maybe you're done planning and are ready to commit something. Maybe one thing is now finished and you're free to take on something new.

Maybe you just want to expand your horizons.

That Juno and Chiron will both go retrograde within a day of each other (on June 16^th and 17^th) sort of extends this MakeMake influence by creating overlapping pools of timely influence.

Overlapping ripples

(picture credit: Brocken Inaglory, June 2007)

Call it challenging, call it some form of confrontation with Self, with Juno taking its station at 15 Aquarius and Chiron going stationary in Pisces just shy of fixed star Achernar, we’re being given a notice to ‘prepare ourselves’ for what is yet to come. (Which is another way of life saying 'something is coming'!)

The Sun moves on into Cancer on June 21^st, signaling not just a change of seasons but a change in mode. Overall, for the next six months we will be responding to the world as opposed to just doing what we want in the world – and this applies whether you live in the northern or southern hemisphere (it’s zodiacal, in other words). Whether you’re going into summer or winter mode, this is a time to learn more about how to operate more productively, more creatively, more effectively, so that you can expand your sights, your goals, your influence and imperatives later on in the year.

But as the Sun moves into Cancer, don’t be surprised if things feel like they’re ‘tightening up’ a bit. Mercury will be going retrograde (in Cancer) on June 26^th and the week before Mercury’s station always feels hurried and pressured. So don’t be surprised if people get snippy or impatient, particularly as we come across the Full Moon in Capricorn on the 23^rd. Considering all the combined factors here (and we haven’t even talked about Jupiter yet!) this would be a premier moment to act in haste and then repent in leisure later.

Don’t rush. With ‘Big Red’ (Jupiter) sitting at 29 Gemini throughout this week prior to Mercury’s station you don’t want to trip yourself up and you sure don’t want to get snarled up by the many people whose tongues are going to be moving faster than their brains now.

Not to mention the planes, trains and automobile stuff. Have a caution! Save a life – it might be your own!

 

The astrological ‘rule’ here would be IF something comes to fruition now NATURALLY…that’s great. If not, DON’T PUSH. If what you have to do is wait until Jupiter gets cuddled into Cancer (that ingress happens on June 26^th) and Mercury retrograde is over (July 20^th) you may well be better off doing just that.

There is nothing – read: NOTHING – wrong with finishing up business as Mercury goes into its direct-to-retrograde station, so long as nobody has rushed anything. If you’ve been taking diligent care and things just happen to work out for the last nail to get hammered into place now or for you to sign the dotted line with all due diligence having been done, all other (personal and individual chart) matters being equal Mercury stations can mark times of achievement and fortuitous crossings-of-paths.

Just don’t rush.

Jupiter in Cancer is a good time for everything homey - from home buying to moving to cleaning the closet to being with the family, to having some quiet time to studying your culture or heritage. It can be about investing in such things... expanding on such things... it can be enjoying such things. Jupiter asks that we do more, so maybe you've always been about your own family in particular, and now you'll take up studying family dynamics. Or maybe you'll join with a group of families in some project.

Or this could be the time when your children are finally grown and leave home. Or when they marry and start a family of their own.

Whatever happens, the exaggerations and explosions of Jupiter in Gemini will settle out (at least to some extent!) and real conversation will become more of the norm and a baseline for operations (and consideration - and much else) as Venus enters the brilliance of creative Leo on June 27 and Jupiter reaches 1 Cancer on the last day of June, bringing us all into a new space with regards to realizing just how valuable (and wonderful) inter-connectivity really is. The symbol of this ‘emotional illumination’ is a grand trine in water signs between Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune: an outpouring which cannot be stopped.

Of course, this being elemental water we’re talking about, this can be an outpouring of feelings. But it could also be an ‘outpouring’ of money – or even of something of great value to us, each separately and all together.

This is a developing configuration which by mid-July will turn into a kite of opportunity which those who don’t get ‘carried away’ will be able to turn to good use.

It all depends on what we’re doing now.

Is it worth our time, effort and the investing of our belief?

Events throughout June are likely to get us looking at,  thinking through and recognizing our feelings with regard to this very question. 

.
.
.

Mercury in Cancer / Mars in Gemini

This double-helix stairway stands in Munich, Germany. It's structure reminded me of the back-and-forth

sort of self-feeding connections this Mars-Mercury shift is likely to produce.

(photo credit: Oliver Raupach, April 2006)

That Mars and Mercury are changing signs on the same day speaks to a ‘changing gears’ or a shift in life’s ‘tone.’ 

Or maybe it’s our tone…?

Or – considering that we’re hardly past the last of three eclipses – the ‘tone of outlook’ or perspective we have on life, or some project, aim or relationship?

Mars being a symbol of assertion, Mars moving into Gemini either means we want to think something through or learn more about it…we want to make a choice (I’d say ‘good choice’ but that seems obvious)…or we’re wanting to convince someone of something.

OR….considering how Mars is entering Gemini in conjunction with asteroid Lilith (at 0 Gemini) with Pallas at 1 Gemini and Lachesis at 2 Gemini just ahead…maybe we are working to (Pallas) understand something we come to this moment not (Lilith)  believing.

Although…this is the asteroid Lilith, not the calculated form. Lilith the asteroid has mass. It takes up space. To draw on my last post (“A Watery Time”), it makes ripples. Asteroids in the main belt being postulated as things we learn about ourselves on the way to knowledge (Jupiter) and mastery (Saturn) of our Self or whatever we’re involved in trying to be or do, this asteroid form of Lilith points to something about our Self. Or more precisely, something we don’t want to know (Gemini) about our Self.

So Mars and Lilith jumping into Gemini may be our ‘jumping’ to defend ourselves against something we don’t want to think about. Or something we don’t want to think about some (Gemini) choice we’ve made. It could even be our jumping in to deal with some gap in our (Pallas) knowledge – something which changes the (Lachesis) status quo.

Or - considering Mercury – maybe this is about something we don’t even want to think is true.

Because Mercury rules Gemini, there is a natural quality to this double ingress which ‘pulls’ or ‘directs’ the “subject” being discussed or thought through here to the Cancerian realm. So that may be your home or home life. Your family or culture. Your upbringing and how that has ‘formulated’ who you are. Or maybe your nationality or homeland.

Whatever the subject du jour, it has an emotional bent. Or perhaps, as Mercury enters Cancer at 7:08 in the morning of May 31st, UT/+0 time (to be followed by Mars entering Gemini at 10:40 that same morning), your feelings will get provoked. Or evoked. Or maybe just poked.

Keeping zodiacal company with Mercury we have Scheherazade (“the story told”) at 0 Aries (which would be exactly conjunct) with Betelgeuse and Atlantis (“it’s easy, once you get used to it…”) just behind and Atropos (endings or cut offs) just ahead.

This does sort of look like a recipe for changes. So maybe you’re moving out of a period of doing less into one of doing more? Or maybe, despite some ‘I don’t get why I have to do this’ Lilith-ian protesting, you’re going to make some changes you have been dawdling about making since dinosaurs roamed the earth.

Okay…so maybe not quite that long – but for a while, at least! Maybe the issue is some ‘story’ you’ve been told or that you have been holding onto which you didn’t believe before and now realize is true. Or maybe you knew the truth of something but were handling it in a less-than-productive manner which given recent revelations, ponderings and emotional crunches (you know, that eclipse stuff?)

There’s a whole other level to this concept – one which is about having (Lachesis) waited to get started with or on something. And now, by gum, you have what you need to get a move on and git-a-going.

(Yes, I’m having an old time cowboy movie moment.)

There are a couple of resident images in my brain when it comes to westerns. One is Rawhide, an early 60's television show with Clint Eastwood which ran for something like eight seasons. The other (of course!) is John Wayne in any of a number of films he made, including the 1953 movie 'Hondo' which sticks out with me because it's based on a story called "Gift of the Cochise" by the one and only Louis L'Amour, a warm and wonderful man I was fortunate enough to grow up knowing.

('Hondo' poster courtesy of Warner Brothers, c. 1953)

 
Since these two celestial emblems are changing signs nearly in unison the relationship between these two signs is dearly underscored. With the Sun, Pallas Jupiter and Venus (oh yes – and the calculated form of Lilith) already in Gemini, there’s a lot of Gemini energy a-foot. This much Gemini energy will tend to produce a lot of discussion and tend to not get to any decisions all that fast, though that is the ultimate Gemini aim. Scattering one’s efforts or ideas or interests about is a common Gemini activity. But since the polarity is Gemini-Sagittarius, the real point of Gemini is to put together those things – disparate though they might be – which create something which works in the real world…that being the Sagittarius part.

If you think about it, that makes perfect sense with all which we think of as Gemini. Doing our errands is a Gemini activity because those separate little annoying stops when put together help us continue having our chosen life (or lifestyle). Communication and cars and driving and emails (or regular mail) or whatever else is simply part of this process – as is the maintenance which does the upkeep on our machines and the exercise and planning our diet, daily schedule and deciding to ‘do this, but not that’ which provides and protects the integrity of the mind with which we live that life.

Gemini is an air sign. It’s always mental. It’s always about the idea of the thing – or that which ‘processes’ and sorts through the idea, which at the most basic level is our brain.

So maybe a few brains will get into gear now? We can only hope!

Jokes aside, ALL that Gemini energy is ‘canted’ by Mercury. Think of it as a funnel…however many planets or objects are in Gemini, they’re pouring their ‘whatever qualities’ into the Gemini funnel. Where will that be directed?

The answer to that comes from where Mercury is. And on May 31st, Mercury moves from it’s home sign of ‘me and what-or-how I think’ Gemini into the first of the water signs: Cancer.

 
Gemini and Cancer live next door to each other on the zodiacal wheel. That always tells us that we’re dealing with modalities (methods of acting) which are very different in nature. Cancer is a cardinal sign – it’s all for taking a stand and doing what needs doing right now…even if as the first of the emotional signs (and Moon-ruled, to boot!) it tends to act in ‘phases,’ alternating between straight-out driving for the goal against retreats to rest, reconnoiter or deal with the need to protect one’s ‘home base’ of operation, emotional or otherwise. Meanwhile, Gemini – as stated – is an airy air sign. In Gemini we learn that we need to think as much as we learn how to think. As a mutable sign, Gemini tends to push the matter a little then think through what happens. Then it pushes a little more and sees what happens then.

That’s the mutable way of learning. It’s sort of like tacking a boat across a bay with shifting currents and fickle winds. Cardinal signs take aim and go for the bulls-eye. Mutable signs adjust the course trajectory and the ‘how you get there’ as things go along.

Obviously this can set up a little friction – in this case, in our thinking. All that Gemini energy means we’re seeing a lot of things in theoretical terms now. But once Mercury is in Cancer, we feel why it all matters. Thus Scheherazade being conjunct Mercury’s Cancer ingress may well be our seeing why ‘it’s said’ to do something a given way. Or why this or that method or standard or tradition really counts.

Thinking is a wonderful thing, to be sure! But sometimes people need to feel the reality of the human repercussion in order to know why they really do need to mind this, or do that, or delay this, or deal with that problem which they really don’t want to talk to.

That brings up one other quality worth considering here: quadrants. The first quadrant of the horoscope is akin to the infant (Aires), the baby (Taurus) and the toddler (Gemini) in human growth terms. Aries is all about discovering we exist. And hey – we have fingers and toes! (How cool, right?) Taurus is about that stage where we realize there are good and bad things in life – and we like the good and we don’t like the bad (and can I have some more baby food bananas, mom?). We want to feel secure, we don’t want to feel scared or threatened – so we coo and scream by turns.

Gemini is the toddler stage, where we learn to navigate in our environment. We learn that latches exist…then we figure out how to start unlatching those latches (much to our parent’s consternation!). Our sense of being ‘on our own feet’ is occurring to us, and thus we start running around causing havoc – often just to see what happens.

Those three signs are all about our experience of being in a very basic sort of way. And please notice: there is no water sign in this mix.

Metaphysical water – equaling emotions and the ‘feeling state – don’t come into zodiacal reference until we’re in the second quadrant: the land of being one among others. There are many ways to figure the ages denoted by the zodiac, but in human developmental terms (our life as part of the world we live in) Cancer corresponds to age seven-and-a-half to ten.

(For those of you who are astro-techie, this is part of the Greek Profection theory as applied to Saturn, planet of human maturation.)

Around age seven, “magical thinking” tends to disappear. Children realize reality is reality (often to the disappointment of parents busy enjoying their second childhood). This is also when kids start developing their first real relationships with friends in school. Or maybe in the neighborhood.

So as Mercury moves out of the ‘magical realm of thinking and thoughts’ (Gemini) into Cancer, there’s a quality of realism or reality which dawns. And with Mars ‘powering up’ all the Gemini energy, that may be a bit of a jolt. Then again, Mars entering Gemini as Mercury enters Cancer may be our seeing that it is time to make a move and get things into gear.

And because of that, in line with Mercury entering Cancer, we may reach out to people we feel comfortable with or close to with an eye to making our world work for us…which is ultimately the Cancerian goal. In childhood, Cancer may be our family. And in the Big World, Cancer is our adult family and our home and real estate in general.

But being that Cancer is also the sign at the ‘base’ of the horoscope wheel, Cancer also represents the ‘foundations’ of anything we do in life. From  that ‘base’ or ‘basis’…atop that ‘bedrock’ or ‘foundation,’ we build.

The Sun – our emblem of life and consciousness – will not reach Cancer until June 21st. Between now and then, we’ll have a major planetary station (Neptune’s) and the onset of a run-up to Mercury retrograde and Jupiter’s change of signs. So, like as not, some of us will interpret the weeks ahead as uncertain. Some of us will experience some heady breakthroughs and insights on past, present and future. Some will take these weeks as a space of time in which to move ahead, step by step, learning as you go while requiring of yourself that you press ahead, in spite of anything and everyone.

Mars will be in Gemini until July 13th. Because of the retrograde which will begin in late June and lapse over into July, Mercury will be in Cancer now until August 8th.

Yes, I said August.

So this is a time for building. Or maybe for rebuilding or founding, laying foundations or building various kinds of internal structures (or infrastructures) which will support where you’re going and who you want to be – and ultimately be known as – in this world.

So…where will your mind take you now? Many are the choices. Will you choose to make a choice to act?
.
.
.

Astrologer’s Diary: An Emotional Time

Lake Reflections

(photo credit: Paul Bica, November 2012)

If you’re into any sort of physics (astrophysics or any other kind of physics), you know that simple fact the rest of us think of as dropping a pebble into a pool.

You drop the pebble, there’s a ‘kerplunk’ and then the rings of ripples spread.

That’s the basic concept behind astrology. Astronomers and physicists now plainly understand that objects moving through space – a planet, a comet, an asteroid – distorts that space. It pushes through it, as it were. Space may be plenty empty, but it’s made of something.

Dark matter, many call it. But by any name the fact is plain: if objects are moving through space, space is something, not nothing.

So as space is distorted as the object moves through, the outbound ripples spread…until at some point, they encounter Earth, which is wandering along doing it’s own orbital thing around the Sun.

The angle at which those ripples encounter Earth is what we of this planet know as ‘being in a sign.’ The combinations of ripples hitting Earth at any given time combine to give a ‘ripple effect’ or totality of vibration which is unique to that moment.

It amazes me how many people don't understand that, just as it amazes me how anyone could miss the fact that the 'Earth is the center of the universe' idea which went out with Copernicus is actually true if you're thinking in terms of experiencing life as a being living here on Earth. 

Earth is the center of our world...it's just that in the whole of this E=mc2’d universe, Earth is not the center of All. 

Over the years I've come to see the organization of the universe...and more specifically our solar system...as a model for the organization of life - and our lives as individuals. It's a version of the microcosm as a reflection of the macrocosm theory which is found in countless teachings, none of which has ever struck me as starkly as a line which comes down to us from the Hermeticists of ancient Egypt: as above, so below.

That one statement says a lot. 

But more to the point...as I continue thinking about space and time and energy and the great sea of energy which is the Existence and the All, I wonder whether the astrology of objects orbiting beyond the asteroid belt is as it is because their ripples come through the asteroid belt? As it slowly has dawned in my thinking that the astrology of objects beyond Neptune (our solar system's last 'true' planet) all seem to pertain to things not yet conceived of in our life, it occurred to me that the energetics which "equal" the meanings of planets, comets and other things is in a very real way, cumulative.

That would not only explain the apparent "complexity" of objects beyond the asteroid belt, but the clear and clearly personal quality of those which orbit inside the asteroid belt.

Oh the things I think about, right? 

Of course, not everybody's going to agree with me. There will always be those who will object! That’s what humans do.

It’s part of being human. And as humans, it's as totally sensible to feel intimidated by realizing we’re just a tiny part of an infinitely vast Universe as to feel gloriously connected by conceiving of our life as a valid part of everything which has been or will ever be.

Ripple effects on water

(photo credit: Sergiu Baciolu, Romania, July 2009)

We’re now in May of 2013, when two of the five objects of largest mass orbiting beyond Earth are creating major energetic ripples in the astrological sign of emotion-provoking water. Those two planets are Saturn and Neptune, which together spell the dissolving of old ways and a difficult, often confusing and sometimes bewilderingly painful incoming tide of human growth.

It's just an emotional time.

Mind you…the word here is ‘human,’ not humane. Those who expect life to be peaceful are likely to be seriously disappointed in this next stretch of months ahead. But then, their disappointment is their own. Neptune in Pisces ultimately asks us to dream of the possible while dealing with the real and realistic – against which Saturn in Scorpio is life forcing us to look at ourselves in the mirror of others’ eyes.

It’s an undertow.

Those who know ocean swimming will tell you that the way to escape an undertow is not to aim directly for the beach, but to swim across the current until you leave the deadly pull – a pull which here is the death grip to have one’s desires be fulfilled before helping others survive in heavy surf.

And yes, the surf is heavy. Another two of those five major planets whose movements ripple our world and toss us from white caps to foam are in conflict. Pluto and Uranus are setting us at cross currents with our Selves, with our world, with our sense of what to do. As we might expect of any underworld god, Pluto in Capricorn represents the trembling of what we thought solid enough to stand on. Structures are begin torn apart like sand sculptures being hit by rising waves.

Waves of energy.

And while Pluto shudders, Uranus in Aries reveals gaps hidden in our lives. Being married to the idea of stability many of us will fail to see the light coming through these cracks as opportunities. But in the foresight of the future, that’s what they are.

The reason to write this post is simple: this is the beginning of an incoming tide. Just under a month from now, Jupiter will leave airy, idea and theory-driven Gemini for the world of where surf-meets-turn: the sign of Cancer.

And once Jupiter is in Cancer, all of Earth and all of us will experience a year of life alive with ripples coming from all three of the universal zodiacal angles known to be most emotional, as Pluto continues plying, prying and twisting apart the welds of outmoded life structures and worldly preconceptions. 

If a small body moving through space produces small ripples, a larger body moving through space will produce larger ripples.

Jupiter is the largest object in orbit around our Sun.

This suggests an incoming tide which is likely to become a flood. For some, it will be a surge of possibilities. In some instances, it will be the opening of flood gates, behind which has long been pent up feelings, needs and motivations.

And yes, there will be water which simply vanishes under many a bridge. Some of us will find ourselves in emotional water far over our heads.

Life is preparing us to go deeper. To live from a deeper and more vital, important level. Wherever we are, we stand to find ourselves in much deeper emotional water than we've experienced in perhaps forever.

Will you sink? Will you dive in? Will you swim life's emotional currents, braving your own abysmal depths and the cresting of life's emotional waves?

This sea of emotion is yours and everyone else's.

As are the emotional choices.
.
.
.

The Sagittarius Lunar Eclipse: Next Steps

An artist's rendering of a lunar eclipse as seen from the Moon

(credit: Lucien Rudaux, 1874-1947)

Arriving at long last at the final eclipse for the first half of 2013, we are taken into the realm of early Sagittarius. The degree 4 Sagittarius is obviously one of the first ten degrees of this most worldly of fire signs. So at once we know that which happens during these few days – and particularly on the date of the Lunar Eclipse (May 25) are emotional high water marks or ‘illumination’ points, as are all Full Moons.

And that this particular eclipse occurs in Sagittarius, that is about our ‘vision’ for ourselves and how well things are – or maybe aren’t going. Sagittarius and the 9th house which is native to Sagittarius is where our ideas reach the ‘application’ stage. It’s where the rubber meets the proverbial road and we our efforts either gain traction or our wheels begin to spin.

So the next time you hear someone in the media (a Sagittarian business) talk about ‘political spin’…now you know how apt that term is, right? Everything about the media is Sagittarian and 9th house in nature as the 9th house is all about ‘getting out there’ or in the case of information, ‘getting the word out there,’ which is what connects Sagittarius to travel, publishing, formalized religion, the media and education all in one. And since fire signs are at their heart about the ‘right thing’ (i.e., the honest and correct thing), thus we come to law and legal proceedings as a sorting out of what’s true or not true, otherwise known as ‘letting everybody know whose guilty of lying’ or breaking some law.

I love understanding why concepts which sound so different fall under the same sign, don’t you?

In particular, 4 Sagittarius is a degree known to carry peace as its core and basic aim. But be forewarned! When there’s ample provocation, the normally sunny and cheerful 4 Sagittarius energy flips, becoming fraught with righteously ‘right-driven’ energetics.

One of the things to reckon with here is the fact that in a season of evolutionary earth-and-water (Taurus-Scorpio) change and growth, this is the “odd element out.” That’s not to say fire is an ‘odd’ element (they’re all odd sometimes!) but rather that Taurus and Scorpio are a polarity.

So the Scorpio lunar eclipse against the Taurus solar eclipses have been part and parcel of the same sort of process, namely that of getting us more in touch with our inner self at a more realistic and tangible level.

Then we add in Sagittarius. In terms of zodiacal order, Sagittarius represents the next step in the process. So things which have been afoot or getting started now proceed. Some of us will try and ignore the possible glitches and find that the glitches don’t ignore us. (I hate it when a glitch bites me, don’t you?) Then again, some of us will proceed with caution and recognize the glitch as it appears, reflecting on what has been learned of late – thus avoiding the pitfall.

Or at least grappling with it, preparing to cross the pit without getting clobbered by the pendulum.

Harry Clarke's illustration for Poe's 'The Pit and the Pendulum' (1919)

(Yes, I’m in an Edgar Allen Poe mood.)

It’s decently easy to see this lunar eclipse as inspiring us to get our get-along into gear so as to get things done. And some of us will do just that. Those who have experienced the intensity of April-May’s Taurus/Scorpio energetics as oppressive or constricting may well now feel liberated and go bounding off along their path.

And sometimes that’s just the idea.

Then again, sometimes that’s just foolhardy.

Considering this is Sagittarius we’re talking about, it would seem to all depends on whether you’re properly prepared and willing to ‘see’ your way through the problems, the challenges, the places where your ‘truth’ meets up with a world which has a few truths of its own. How do you fit in? Are you willing to fit in? Can you swim in a ‘big pond’ with the big fish? Or maybe you’re a big fish encountering small fish hoping they’re not going to flounder.

(I’m guessing flounders really hate that expression.)

 
The semi-sextile between Scorpio (the April lunar eclipse) and Sagittarius is generally some challenge to our ego. Call it feeling offended with the fact that some idea of yours doesn’t work…or that someone has called you on some inconsistency which amounts to having traipsed out into a crowded street without remembering to get dressed.

(And you’re not a nudist.)

It may be simply that you realize you’ve been on the wrong track. Or that your ‘right track’ is more wrong than you thought.

That’s the lunar/lunar eclipse side of it. And then we have the solar (Taurus)/lunar (Sagittarian) side of this evolutionary process. For some, this will be the 210 degree yes, I get it shift into positive gear. For some this will be the oh gosh, now I realize I still have work to do (also known as ‘I’m not as free as I thought I was going to be’) moment.

But never fear…lunar eclipses are truly emotional signposts. Their effects have an ‘acute’ cycle which lasts about three months. Then what we learn (or – ahem! – don’t learn) fades back into the woodwork. When all goes well, the evocative moments which occur around the time of any lunar eclipse ‘meld into’ the greater shift denoted by the solar eclipse – in this case the issue of Taurean self recognition, self valuation, re-evaluation, recognizing how much more you can grow – all that stuff.

Not that anything in the Taurus-Scorpio neighborhood of our lives is done or anything. Hopefully you’ve heard me when I’ve said that this Taurus-Scorpio who I am and who I am with regards to others cycle (which includes the ever popular ‘how to get ahead in life without falling flat on my face or otherwise getting embarrassed lastingly and beyond belief’)…how that cycle as denoted by our yearly ‘eclipse seasons’ (two each year) began in November of 2012 and are going to be with us through October of 2014.

That means there’s a total of five ‘eclipse seasons’ which feature either Scorpio or Taurus solar eclipses, of which we’ve now gone through two.

Get the picture?

With this eclipse, as with seemingly every eclipse, we get a couple of planetary pictures. The first is a t-square which features the Sun and Moon – the stars, the ‘us’ in this celestial drama.

Sun – Hel – Aldebaran is pretty plainly a challenge to integrity. Phaethon-Chaldea is ‘quick to choose the old way’ whether that’s the old way out, the old way of doing things, the old way as in ‘traditions’ or just some stick-in-the-mud thing…in the mental sign of Gemini this could even be the old way of viewing mentality or wanting to go with what you know instead of learning something new, and so on.

But then again, this is a lunar eclipse. So with Sun - Hel - Aldebaran being in Gemini and in opposition to the Moon's position in Sagittarius, might this also be 'finding the flaw' in someone's thinking? Or the plan? Or the means and methods currently being employed?

In this scenario, Moon in Sagittarius would represent the finding out (or learning) the truth about some thing...or how life (the Sun) has been made harder (Hel) by some (Gemini) idea or thought which can no longer be held as having (Aldebaran) integrity. 

This seems particularly apt considering how this 'Sun and friends' grouping is positioned as the goal of the t-square. So we want to probably make it hard to be challenged, perhaps? Or maybe that which we have been insisting on doing has actually been making our life harder? Perhaps in our efforts not to have our integrity challenged, we've put ourselves in a position to be our own worst enemy to our own integrity?

And yet…and yet…this is Moon-Hebe in Sagittarius we're talking about. So the Moon-motivation is emotionally driven. It may be convictions. Or some monetary goal. We may be driven by habits or that fervent need to be right which is sometimes the 'down' side of Sagittarius. Hebe being the the idea of being of service (and optimally, being rewarded by being of service), maybe the question is whether our aims are misdirected in trying to get the world to work for us rather than being of service in the world and thus earning our rewards. 

If you want to get all gnat’s derriere about this diagram (which I tried to get in constructing it, and man – there’s a whole bunch of gnats who are ticked off at me!) ….you’ll notice two separate t-squares drawn in the image. That’s because squares and oppositions have a maximum range of 5 degrees. So while Hebe (at 2 Sagittarius) squares Fomalhaut, Neptune and Deneb (which by now I’ve typed so many times I’m beginning to think it’s either a law firm or a singing group)…and Hebe also opposes anything between 2 and 7 in Gemini (which here would be Phaethon, Chaldaea, Sun and asteroid Hel), Hebe is not in opposition to Aldebaran.

AHA! Integrity is not opposed by Service. A good thought indeed. And one which would seem to imply that there is some merit to be being of use and doing something useful while going forward in this world.

The Moon, on the other hand does oppose Aldebaran. So there’s something emotional which is being confronted by questions of integrity.

In short, what I tried to do is color code this drawing so you’d see the two slightly different t-squares. (You can let me know if I get a passing grade on this effort – just leave a comment.)

Either way, the “t” to this t-square is Fomalhaut Deneb and Neptune. Fomalhaut says we succeed only where our aims, our means, our methods and our ability to face ourselves as part of the process is neither corrupt, corrupted or corruptive.

Oh…and by the by, this has nothing to do with whether you like something. In the land of Pisces (read: Piscean ocean) it is the greater Creation Manifest which sets the terms, standards and lines which must be face and not summarily crossed.

Deneb, which gets less press than it probably deserves, is a shamanistic energetic. But since shamanistic energies have to do more with nature and time and evolution and existence than mankind and our Earthly lives, this may be why we talk less about this star than we might otherwise.

People – understandably – get very routed towards Things Earthy and Materialistic. It never ceases to amaze me that people will ask why they don’t feel like they’re living a ‘spiritual’ life when all their attention is on Earthy or Earthly means of understanding.

Be that as it may, people often reject the esoteric then wonder why they don’t understand it.

Anyway…since Deneb and Fomalhaut appear from our Earthly perspective to be so closely aligned (which holds true even if you go back a couple of thousand years) it’s likely we simply interpret Deneb’s rather ‘other worldly’ intuition and potency as part and parcel of Fomalhaut.

But with Neptune in the mix? Personally, I’ve been wondering if this isn’t why we’ve been seeing more and more investigation into the paranormal (at least we’re seeing more of it here in the US) as Neptune has moved through the end of Aquarius and into Pisces, ‘awakening’ the ‘mass consciousness’ which is so very Neptunian to energies which are beyond the norm – and yes, very much Denebian.

Will this ‘expanding of our knowledge’ which is so Sagittarian mean that we will see something more in the way of thinking of the world and our universe in a more – dare I say – whole or holistic sort of way?

Maybe. On the other hand, it may bring challenges to same…which is fine. One of these days human beings are going to wake up and realize that E=mc2’d means we are all contiguous. And then they’re going to realize what that means, and that those who are able to release their egos are not (almost by definition) the people who are limited.

That’s my Sagittarian eclipse statement for the day!

But in the t-square? That Neptune-Fomalhaut-Deneb is what we have to get past. And those who can’t get past it are going to be taught a lesson by it (probably through the auspices of someone or something which can embody that energy)…and that will set them back on their Moon/Hebe derriere.

At least their emotional one.

And from there the question becomes, how do I make this work?

Ah, life…ain’t it grand?

Moving on to t-square number two…

 
Where t-square number one focused on the ‘us,’ the Sun and Moon of this eclipse, this next t-square focuses on the Nodes. The nodes, as we remember, are groups and collectives and relationships…and our relationships with groups, others and collectives.

Read this starting point as: North Node-Psyche in Scorpio as the ‘you need to’ (North Node) deal with the mind or mindset (Psyche) of the Scorpio (joint) dynamic.

Then we get to Vaticana, Sualocin, Juno and Icarus, all in Aquarius, the land of results, acceptance, income and finding one’s place in the world, the community, amongst your peers – all that stuff.

Juno-Icarus is a straight-forward need to manage impatience and not to jump the gun. So no gun-jumping. Evidently haste will lead to waste now – that, or a hole in your shoe.

Another fixed star with an ineffective PR firm, Sualocin is totally of this world, though it describes that which charms us and maybe 'enchants' us, but which we can't quite put our finger on.

So maybe we’re being tempted to try to get past some challenge by saying we don't understand? Or maybe we'll try to charm our way out of something? Maybe we’re realizing that real self-discipline (Juno) is that which requires that we think not of ourselves as the object, but that which drives the success of the project or aim.

Ah yes…maybe so. (I’m moving into my Charlie Chan imitation now.)

Vaticana, which I have been doing some research on, is not the Vatican. By that I mean, while the Vatican is related to the same idea which gives us the astrological symbol Vaticana, Vaticana does not say “Catholic Vatican.”

Think of it as something akin to a 'which came first, the chicken or the egg?' sort of thing. 

The original concept behind Vaticana comes from the Etruscan name for the hill upon which the Vatican stands. And while I could bore you with a bunch of history about who did what when and how that hill came to be where the Catholic Church built its global "HQ," I won’t. What's important here is that the Vatican has come to be the name for that place where the Catholic church has centralized itself - and the not-unsubstantial amount of power ceded to it by various Italian heads of state along the Roman way (which is not to be confused with the Appian Way, which is a whole other Roman way.)

A section of the Via Appia  - that most famous of all Roman
roads. This section, replete with ancient stones, runs through
a section of Rome itself.

(photo credit: Kleusky, September 2005)

Vaticana, main belt asteroid number 416 is a very main belt asteroid – by which I mean it’s an asteroid which pretty much stays near the center of the asteroid belt. That 'centrality' relates very nicely to the idea of the hill the Catholic church built upon, centralizing its power.

We all have Vaticana in our charts. So where we see Vaticana, by sign, by house, by association with other asteroids, planets, nodes et al that points to where or how we will build our power.

Or perhaps resist building power. That can happen too. 

Currently in Aquarius and in this figure atop the cross quarter line at 15 Aquarius, Vaticana suggests very strongly that part of this lunar eclipse is about moving from a ‘thinking about’ or ‘planning phase’ into an active phase which by its nature is public, worldly and maybe even global.

The question would be whether Vaticana supports aiming for personal gain in Aquarius…or whether this asteroid is one which says power built only for the benefit of the self will come to grief.

If you look at Vatican history, that would seem to be the tale.

Anyway…the goal of this t-square is also interesting, as it’s expressed by South Node/Menkar, a making it easier to intersect with the collective in such a manner which makes MY life and MY relationships to those I interact with easier.

Apparently this is all about whether you require others play along with you based on YOUR rules…or whether you’re willing to be part of the greater standard and submit your ego to the ‘greater good’ out of which will come your benefit.

Still with me?

Last figure…a grand trine in water signs.

 
Chiron is that thing we don’t know and which we desperately want to know…but which we can’t stand the idea of having to go through learning. In Pisces, Chiron represents all the touchy, disquieting emotional moments we’ve all had which have been set off through dealings with others and the general state of life itself.

Evidently that’s not letting up. (Huzzah - not!)

The North Node/Psyche in Scorpio we discussed just a minute ago. The only thing I’d add here is that of all the asteroids out there, Psyche is one of the big ones. Really! Asteroid Psyche is about 200 km across, which means its mass is about 1% of the entire asteroid belt (that’s an estimate, mind you).

But if the asteroid belt, in lying between the personal planets and most specifically Mars (motivation, impetus, action) and Jupiter (knowledge, gain, expansion) represents all that we ‘go through’ on the way to gaining that Jovian knowledge (from which we move on to Saturnine accomplishment, then knowing our Psyche is one of the big things we meet up with along the way.

So maybe this is a moment when you either get to know your own mind…or in not knowing your own mind (or whether your mind is being mindful) you continue to meet up with problems or pleasures.

This is a grand trine in emotional water, after all!

The most personal side of this emotional equation is Cancer – our experience of emotion on a very basic, humanistic level. Scorpio is about us and someone else. Pisces is about the world and life and all the ‘ugh!’ or delights which go with that. But Cancer? Cancer is our native, inborn feeling base. Once we knew we were alive as little kidlets, we started having feelings. That’s Cancer.

Vesta-Pappos is the shape (or nature) of the cost. Of what? Of being who you are and that involved in doing what you want, or maybe even need to do. Especially when combined with Charybdis - the requirement that we keep trying (and trying) lest we get eaten up by some monster – this raises the specter of this Sagittarius lunar eclipse as a time when we’re all dealing with something. Or some things. For you, that may be bills. For someone else, that may be some sort of feeling of failure. Or anticipation about what lies ahead.

Maybe all at the same time. That’s the thing about Sagittarius…there are many possibilities and our challenge is to find the one which works.

Then we add in Ceres – the idea of having, making or following a plan. In Cancer, Ceres asks that we keep our emotional ‘feet on the ground’ as we go about doing what needs doing. And in point of fact, in this grand trine, Ceres is a help in that it serves to keep us grounded – which may or may not be comforting for those of us who want to soar among the clouds.

Evidently it’s not yet time to soar.

The last symbol in this grouping is a much-loved on, fixed star, dog star Sirius. To have Sirius in any grand trine implies a touch of brilliance in the mix. But is that the brilliance which leads us on – or the brilliance of not going too far too fast?

Uh, yes. Whichever.

And maybe both.

That’s the thing about lunar eclipses…they evoke an understanding. When all is said and done we get a lot of celestial commentaries on the nuances of the situation, but the ‘solution’ to the question is that which we just ‘know’ is there.

It may not be what we like. Or maybe not what we want to hear from our guiding angels.

(But if they're our better angels, can it really be for our worse?). 

Those of us with Suns or Moons in early Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius or Pisces are going to get the strongest ‘hits’ from this eclipse. The Pisces are trying to move on from something, the Virgos are getting into something, the Geminis are dealing with realizations and the Sagittarians are coming to a whole new understanding.

However this eclipse affects you and those you love, Iet’s hope it’s an enlightening and inspiring time. At it’s best, this is just the kind of eclipse which opens a doorway to a greater understanding of things which were beyond us mere weeks ago…

…and which now provide us with beacons of light, by which we walk into a more honest and wholly productive future.
.
.
.