Solar Aries Equinox 2014…and Icarus Retrograde

From the Pothos Series, 'Icarus and A Toy Plane'

by Manolo Yanes (2007-2008)

They say that approximately 70% of Earth is covered with water. With people, though the percentage varies with gender and age, 50% is pretty much minimal. 

Considering how energy is energy (you know, that E=mc2’d thing) whatever water is means a lot to us, our world – and our perception of that world...which on the metaphysical level is all about feeling and feelings, however that occurs.

Pisces, the sign the Sun is now leaving, is the realm of ‘deep water.’ So the trials we have seen ourselves feeling our way through over these past weeks…? Whether overwhelmed or purged of resistance by life lapping at some veneer hardened by and against life, now as of 4:58 in the afternoon (UT/+0 time) on March 20th the Sun moves into Aries.

And that marks our journey…for as the Sun moves into Aries, that is one of two yearly moments when Earth’s comes to its own point of equinox - the balance between light and dark, or the ‘length of time’ we should (and evidently need to) acknowledge as part of life. 

Representing metaphysical 'shifts' in general life, both yearly equinoxes reflect the Sun's change of zodiacal hemispheres, giving us a whole list of issues to think about: our private versus public life, the obvious versus hidden, the Self versus Others, ideas of intellect against our many tugs of emotion...whether coming from within or being tossed our way, any and every form of anything where there is preference or something native set against that which is not so native to us, our relationship and experience of all such dichotomies (or polarities) now arrives at a point where we can look at both sides of things.

Whether we will or not...that's up to us.

Since the year’s second equinox involves the Sun moving above the zodiacal horizon as it enters the Libra-through-Pisces realm of the public, worldly and interactive, that means the Aries equinox is our moving from that part of the year which we experience interactively into that six month (six sign: Aries through Virgo) period when our experiences are more personal, singular and internalized.

How we experience the current passage and shift has at least a deal to do with how well we handle our own reactions – the ‘how we feel about how we’re feeling about things’ part of life. That is the Pisces essence we are carrying forward into Aries.

And Aries, though often spoken of as rebirth and renewal is no guarantee. Aries represents our opportunity to be who we are, and to be that person with all the courage we can muster. This is not about aggression, nor even assertiveness except in the sense that as we come to this part of the year we all have things to do because of …or in spite of all which has come just before.

In a sense, Pisces renders us tender so that we can feel ourselves anew – the experiencing of which is all about Aries, sign of consciousness, the strength of innocence and the defense of that conceptual existence we refer to grandly and otherwise as ‘life,’ replete with its joys and defeats.

Associated with planet Mars and war god Ares, Aries asks us what skill we have – or need – in life, serving up those situations which will ask us to think carefully about whether we are just going to stand there hiding inside our armor or whether we’re going to use our power (i.e., our “weaponry”) to get something done. From cutting edges to burning need, Aries confronts us with that which tends towards the raw simply because it’s that very sort of experience we will tend to translate into the motivation which gets us to move…and move on.

The question is ‘from what.’ Aries being the sign of the singular and individual and Pisces the emblem of humanity’s collective emotional experience(s), some of us will stand strong simple for what we believe in – and some will stand strong in spite of what someone else believes in.

We we know that what we say carries as much weight as what we don’t say (Mercury remains in Pisces…) and that’s confusing. There’s a curious clear perspective on others as the ruler of Aries (Mars) continues its retrograde, counting down through degrees of Libra in reflection of a strange and increasing sense that we – not someone else – have to account for our Self.

Not ourselves (as in ‘I’m accountable to others’)…no, this is about accounting for who we are – and who we have been being or not being - to our Self.

Count on a few twinges (maybe even a regret or two) as this transit begins, some of which is reflective of this month (and the season which follows) being pictured as Sun conjunct Europa, she for whom Europe is named.

Europa by Willy Bosschem (1994)

And yes, that does indicate an astrological emphasis in terms of geographical effect (an important matter considering current global situations).

So there’s no doubt astrologers professional and amateur will be casting this ingress chart for specific locations all over Europe to see localized effects and/or specific indications of that will is…or which will yet be or become. What they – or we – will find is how where we are is either a product of having gotten carried away. There is some sort of difference or gap between what we think we know (or what we thought we knew) and that which we’re learning now…part of which are revealed as a truth we now have to contend with, and part of which is simply startling…even shocking…on its face.

Or it might simply be (as they say) ‘news you you.’

That this would seem to not be anything minor is also indicated: asteroid Icarus will be go retrograde within hours after the Sun’s ingress.

'Ikarus' (Icarus) by Heikenwaelder Hugo

(oil on canvas, c. 2006)

Son of Crete’s mythic labyrinth designer Daedalus, Icarus fell when he attempted to ‘take flight’ without having first mastered the skills of flying. Typified as ‘haste leading to a fall’ or some sort of (untrue) conviction about having everything ‘in hand,’ this is the sort of influence which can surface either way and from any vantage point.

In other words, we might act so as to cause our fall. Or  someone may set things in motion which 'melts away that which supports us.'

Or the opposite may happen: someone may step in to prevent some sort of fall, failing or potentially dangerous problem we're simply not conscious of...or doing something about, for whatever sort of reason.

Something strange and certainly unexpected is also indicated here by one other not-so-minor metaphysical fact: Icarus is taking its station and going retrograde in exact conjunction with Uranus. The degree being 11 Aries for both, what is shattered now is some sort of ‘vision’ of how something is, was, could, should, or might be.

Aries here says this error is ours or about some estimation we have of/about our Self. Innocent though tragically painful, the Icarus-Uranus side of things here is offset by Sun-Europa as Europa’s story is about a mortal who is ‘carried away’ from her homeland (i.e., her native orientation) by Greek god Zeus – the drive for knowledge and precept of knowing astrology clocks by watching the cycles of planet Jupiter.

More to the point here is where Jupiter takes Europa so as to ‘ravish’ the mortal with the overwhelming presence of knowing.

That place would be Crete – the same location Icarus was trying to escape from…leading us to understand that this ingress and the three months of the astrological ‘season’ which follows are all about our ability to face life courageously and without haste. There’s something in ‘the distance’ – some salvation or personal goal we want to be ‘out there’ which is both unlikely to be exactly what we think it is…and which will not be achieved by simply ‘launching’ ourselves at it.

The Sun's Aries ingress (glyph chart)

March 20, 2014 - 4:58 p.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (location not specific)

The Sun's Aries ingress (text chart)

March 20, 2014 - 4:58 p.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (location not specific)

For some of us, this consciousness will dawn as soon as the Sun reaches Aries. For others, everything just described will more akin to a tale of discovery which unfolds with each succeeding day. First will come a considering of all with an emphasis on what we can ‘manage’ in the overall sense, or what we can manage ourselves as opposed to needing help from others.

Then will come a test (or tests) of order. Timed by the Sun setting off the ongoing Pluto-Uranus-Jupiter t-square, early April becomes an expanse of days during which overly idealistic images succumb to sudden and possibly highly contested or conflicted assertions of realism, reality and limitations having to do with sheer human mortality. All is caught up now in the inexorable mechanics of time and manifestation, teaching some of us that ‘secret motives’ are hardly secret (we’re all human – we all understand such things) while teaching others how important it is to live in and with the reality of our planet and corporeal life.

We humans are prone to getting lost in the layering on of hopes, ideals and beliefs that we forget the essence of human life as a reflection of life itself.

Life is something we have an opportunity to treasure, marvel at and honor. We are who we are, no matter how we disguise ourselves in our disdain or love of Self or others.

The only real difference there really comes from what we contribute, as surely our causal energies and the choices we make to act or not act, to hate or take mercy is – in time – what comes back to us.

And not just to us, but through us to everyone we love and all we could in turn be loved and honored by, transforming our lives from a duration of endurance into that triumph over challenge we know it can...and should ultimately be.
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