Eris Direct: Awareness, Prompted

One of NASA's illustration of Eris (UB313) with the Sun in the distance

(credit: NASA, JPL/Caltech image source-Mike Brown)

Considering Eris’ alternate name (Discordia), it’s sometimes hard to think of the dwarf planet Eris experience of being ‘shaken into conscious’ as a positive. But there are those ‘discordant’ times of improvement, such as when we go through the mess and hassle of moving. Or when we take on a new job, complete with new co-workers, new tasks and that dreaded ‘am I going to screw this up?’ feeling which no matter how good we are at what we do does occur to all of us when we haven’t yet settled in.

There are ‘unsettling’ realizations which ultimately lead to great improvements in our life.

Then again, there are those times when life simply is discordant. Yet isn’t life – in some way – always trying to prove to us that we aren’t omnipotent, that we humans (and our precious egos) aren’t ‘in charge’?

Sometimes…apparently…we need reminding. That’s the Eris vibe. Whether it’s from without or within, whether the issue is what we need to do or be, Eris is always that thing we hadn’t thought of…and we will ultimately pay a price for. That price may be something we’re perfectly okay with the idea of paying because…well, if we want the house, we have to pay the mortgage.

Complications begin to arise as we realize that Eris is currently transiting through Aries, fiery sign of Self, motivation, tests of courage and of the physical body along with all we do or don’t do – and how we ‘see’ ourselves in anything. At an innate level, Aries energies are all about that we can use, embody or be motivated by – separately or together.

Aries is associated with the military (in the sense that soldiers embody the use of “motivational” force). In that sense, Eris in Aries is particularly ‘not gentle’ – a fact which would seem to fit uncomfortably well with it’s passage through Aries dating back to 1924, considering how mankind has harped throughout the 1900s about peace while pouring time and effort into building weaponry.

The question here is not political – it’s human. WHY do we have (or create) crises? We think of this in ‘fighting’ terms, of course…but if you think about that ‘fighting’ thing in metaphysical terms, the ‘fight’ is the reaction. You know, as part of a ‘fight or flight’ scenario. Even when campaigns (be they prompted by vengeance, politics, jealousy or anything else) are long planned, they still go back to the same place: our feelings of ‘less-ness.’

Those are feelings we don’t like feeling, because when we feel them, we feel ‘shook up.’

One last note here about dates before I move on: if you look at that chart and say ‘but WWI happened when Eris was in Pisces and WWI was allegedly one of the most horrific events of all time,’ I agree. But when World War I occurred, Eris was at 29 Pisces – the ‘culmination’ degree of the entire zodiac, a degree which with Eris (utter discord) present would be pretty good at events which would foist upon mankind all the follies of not wanting to be human or humane, most of all to ourselves.

That Eris did cross into Aries back in 1924 tell us that an entire celestial cycle finished then.

Which means that we are indeed in a new cycle of human development. And at the (Eris in Aries) moment, that development is aimed at who we are: our physicality, what we do with our lives or during our days. Through these venues, Eris becomes the timer, the flag-waver of all that we tend to say ‘why did this have to happen.’ From the startling to the disquieting to the shocking to the chaotic, our clocks – life’s clocks and life events will now be turning away from feeling a more or less ‘strictly’ internal sense of balance-and-rebalance as we mold, shift, shape and learn from life.

And what is it turning towards? Towards a whole series of events and months during which we will molds, shift, flex, respond/react to, be startled (even shaken up by) events occurring on the outside.

It’s straightforward astrology stuff….when the celestial object goes retrograde (which remember, is only ‘a matter of perspective’ from here on Terra Earth) its defined ‘effects’ are experienced internally. When the planet or object goes direct, the ‘interaction point’ is external.

With me?

The station – which in this case is occurring on January 9th at 10:26 in the morning UT/+0 time – is occurring at 21 Aries and as with all stations, can represent a ‘turning point’ in your life (or life in general as you see/experience it around you). Effects will tend to center around January 9th (if you’re going to feel anything marked) with events during the two ‘station allowance’ days prior generally speaking to things yet to happen or play out and those occurring during the similar period after January 9th indicating phases coming to an end and ‘conclusions’ being drawn, owned, realized, admitted to…(etc.)

With all that said, this station is occurring at 21 degrees of Aries, and 21 degrees of Aries is an ‘open invitation’ of sorts – which with Eris present may seem not all that fun a door to go through. Should you? Shouldn’t you? While not everybody is going to go into this time and considering how Eris will go retrograde again in July (when, by the by, it does so with one day of Uranus's station) this station at some level sets the stage for what we will either take on, grow through dealing with or find revealed in our own makeup between now and July.

We are all facing ‘newness’ of some type. For you it may be something you are doing. Or something you don’t know how to get done (and it’s just driving you crazy!). Whatever the focus, the Eris/21 Aries combination is likely to manifest in self-questioning which periodically gives way to devil-may-care bravado which in turn either prompts determination and advances or retreats, be they wise or cowardly.

And let’s remember: all this is happening with Sun in Capricorn and Venus in Capricorn and retrograde. So we’re concerned about our basic ‘standing’ in the world – however you see that. Plus, given that Eris is about to go direct but Venus isn’t, we would suspect  that some ‘thing’ we don’t control (Eris) is in motion even though we’re not sure we know what we think of it.

Not entirely. And it’s the ‘why’ here - the why we don’t know which is where most of us will miss the image. We will think this period is about others. Or the world.

It isn’t. It’s about each and every one of us. It’s about who we are as a person. It’s about how well we do or don’t take care of ourselves and whether we have any conscious, any cognizance that the world in which we live – that world out there that we think isn’t always so good – is a world of our making.

No, life isn’t about ‘them.’ It’s about us…which brings me to a whole other side of this Eris concept – the Sleeping Beauty aspect.

Like most of the ‘standard’ myths and fairy tales of childhood, if looked at closely enough Sleeping Beauty isn’t quite what you thought it was. The story’s origin is German. Originally published in 1697 by Charles Perrault as ‘Histoires ou Contes du Temps Passé’ the story – particularly as it has come to us (as ‘Sleeping Beauty’) speaks to the unconscious. Or that which we are unconscious to (or of) until we are ‘awoken’ to it – which is the underlying theme with Eris.

That 'not them, us’ is awakening us to who and what we are so that we can be that person more consciously.

You know…Eris in Aries, sign of awareness and consciousness.

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One of two poems by Tennyson about Sleeping Beauty, this one is from
'The Early Poems of Alfred, Lord Tennyson' (1901)

An illustration by W.E.F Britten from 'The Early Poems of Alfred, Lord Tennyson' 

Year after year unto her feet,
She lying on her couch alone,
Across the purpled coverlet,
The maiden's jet-black hair has grown,
On either side her tranced form
Forth streaming from a braid of pearl:
The slumbrous light is rich and warm,
And moves not on the rounded curl.

The silk star-broider'd coverlid
Unto her limbs itself doth mould
Languidly ever; and, amid
Her full black ringlets downward roll'd,
Glows forth each softly-shadow'd arm,
With bracelets of the diamond bright:
Her constant beauty doth inform
Stillness with love, and day with light.

She sleeps: her breathings are not heard
In palace chambers far apart.
The fragrant tresses are not stirr'd
That lie upon her charmed heart.
She sleeps: on either hand upswells
The gold-fringed pillow lightly prest:
She sleeps, nor dreams, but ever dwells
A perfect form in perfect rest.

                                               - Sir Alfred Lord Tennyson

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Apart from being fairly certain Disney either didn’t get Tennyson’s memo about Beauty not being a blonde or didn't care that to meet our unconscious or the unknown is to proverbially 'meet the darkness,' the other half of this Eris-Beauty comparison is one long made. It comes from how both stories ‘turn’ on forces which come from 'beyond that which we know in everyday life' - the fairy in the fairy tale against Eris as Roman goddess. In both cases, these 'forces' lay on a curse because they didn’t get an invitation to the party. (They were 'excluded,' in other words.)

The fairy gets all ticked off because she didn’t get invited to Beauty’s christening.

And Eris?

Well…far be it for any of us to cite and critique the behavior of a Roman goddess known for all things which go ‘bump’ in the night of our lives, but Eris turning up at the of Peleus and Thetis with a golden apple which she hands to none less than Paris – you know, the guy who steals Helen and causes the whole Trojan War?

Yes, that Paris.

That’s just mythic nastiness - as well as meddling on a truly mythic level. And it's even more so when you stop to look at the story and realize that Eris is prompted to go to this wedding by Jupiter (aka Zeus, should you be feeling all Greek about it), lord king Olympian and astrological emblem of all that we know or learn about our consciousness and life.

To look at Jupiter in the Olympian pantheon, he isn’t quite fate, so this is not instinct or habit we're talking about. No, Jupiter directs fate...which to us is the idea that what we know - whether we know it or not - becomes our fate so that we can consciously own it in or as part of our life.

Thus since the astrological Jupiter images wisdom… (knowing, learning, teaching, understanding, comprehending, et al ) …or even being determinedly unknowing (which would be the Jupiter/rejection position or energy used to not expand one's basis of existence...in light of all such, this ‘Eris energetic’ is that which stirs something which is going to come out anyway.

The next act in this complicated little Eris drama has Eris not getting invited to the wedding. But she shows up anyway with a golden apple which no, she doesn’t give to the bride (or groom) but to Paris, that very mortal known (to the gods) as starry-eyed and very, very passion-driven. 

Zeus …(pardon me, Jupiter)… evidently has this whole Trojan War thing in mind to being with, a fact which makes the ‘Jupiterian wisdom’ of setting Eris up to get insulted and all which follows, starting with Paris choosing love (Aphrodite/Venus) over personal-internal stability and security (Juno/Hera) and dispassionately clarified understanding (Athena).

And yes - Venus delivers. In typical what we put out comes back to us fashion, that Paris (mortal flaw that he is) has in the moment of being handed a 'golden opportunity' forgotten everyone but himself comes out to be a war where nobody thinks anything of anybody's life.

Of course the primary moral of this story is: always invite the local touchy goddess to your wedding, whether you like her or not. But more to the astrological point, everything about this is about our life. So the ‘not inviting Eris’ is our having shut some part of ourselves out...which at 21 Aries begs the following question: what do we need to be open to?

There is a very positive side to this symbol which is highly external – the fighting for some cause. Yes, this goes back to Eris in Aries having played host to so many wars during this past century. But more importantly, it says to us that we can stand for something. It may be a cause as in some social cause. Or it may be our willingness to stand up for some facet of Self we really believe in.

 Generated by JPL's databanks (thanks, JPL) the above is an interesting image as

it shows Eris in Aries (at 21 Aries) with Uranus - which is currently at 8 Aries - just

sort of 'behind' Eris' position, if you're looking at this as an orbit around the Sun.

Given that and something like Saturn (on the diagram's "near" side) being in Scorpio,

you can begin seeing how it is the orbital movement of planets around our Sun and

the astrological conception of 'wrapping' our solar system in a zodiac which is a

cipher for nothing more or less than the positioning of moving objects in space -

objects which in moving create 'ripples' of energy, as do we.

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This idea of ‘fighting for the cause’ – for something which is literally “beyond” the boundaries of your ‘Self’ reflects not just Eris position as a dwarf planet orbiting beyond Neptune, last ‘true’ planet in our solar system. Beyond Neptune… in the Kuiper Belt and Oort cloud… that’s the realm of all we cannot know simply because we don’t know it until we know it.

The Kuiper Belt: our land of things to come. This isn’t about ‘capacity’ – our ability to understand. This is about our ability to predict or be omnipotent.

Like you, I know a few people who would like to think they’re omnipotent (they’re not). But when you get right down to it, the issue is control.

And where Eris is concerned, we have to be willing to at least experience not being in control. Or the idea that we don’t control everything. We will experience it through what we hear on the news, someone who knows new, or even some event which occurs in real time or in our mind as we're walking down some street.

We'll just...hear it...we'll know because there it will be, and there we will be in the midst of experiencing it - and experiencing how we experience our life. Our existence.

The very process of our existing.

Eris is known as ‘Discordia’ mostly because humans like control. We like control because control feels like a defense against vulnerability. It feels safe – and sometimes safe is just safe and sometimes ‘safe’ is the space in which we improve. Or are productive.

But then Eris comes along. When an Eris moment hits you, that ‘which was’ a moment ago is forever changed. What was awoken? Why would it be awoken now? Were we in some beautiful dream – or is that what we have a chance to now see, experience and be motivated by?
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A 25 Gemini Full Moon

A dancer (name unknown) photographed at the Laban Dance School in November, 1929

(photo courtesy of the German Federal Archives)

Upon realizing that the December 2013 Gemini Full Moon would occur within hours of Uranus going direct, my first mental response was ‘uh-oh…’

Then I realized that this is a GEMINI Full Moon. An air sign Full Moon. So while the Full Moon may bring the ‘how deeply I feel about…’ to high pitch, the avenue…the means of release is going to be airy.

And that means fervency. Or perhaps distraction. Or the blinding glare of one of those ‘light bulb’ moments – which I say even if Aquarius tends to be more light bulb-ish than Gemini.

The point here is that it is the idea OF the moment which is likely to be highlighted by any such air sign Full Moon. So if we think of Uranus as not the intention to create the explosion but the energy which erupts or which is vented or liberated at the moment of explosion, this suggests that the Full Moon at 25 Gemini which will occur at 9:29 a.m. (UT/+0 time) on December 17, 2013 - spare hours before Uranus goes direct at 5:40 p.m. – is either going to be a doozie…or that it is going to indicate an event, a moment, a recognition, a decision which in turn leads to Uranian or Uranus-type energetics.

So…what is this about, this Full Moon/Uranus connection?

Associated with anything which could remotely be associated with ‘dancing’ (a fact I rather love, having during this lunation fallen back in love with dance, something I haven’t done literally for decades) 25 Gemini can manifest literally or, if we think of the whole Full Moon/air sign concept it could manifest as a moment which makes us ‘dance’ or (having fun with the concept here…) which would make our head ‘spin.’

Nimble brains, nimble (Gemini) feet and hands, deft thinking, timely statements, taking advantage of opportunities – anything which is about our mind’s ability to ‘dance’ is apt here. There is a quality of being willing to compete also present in this degree, but here the competition is much more in fun than at other times, much more about simply doing what I can do because living is so often a process of feeling ourselves operating at the mental level – that getting it done, that seeing it all come together, that seeing the advantage in some particular direction or plan.

So this whole incoming Uranus station could be a very productive time.

We can also say that, according to the timing we are being given (the UT/+0 timing of the Full Moon preceding Uranus’ doing direct) that since the Moon’s phases often tend to act like ‘timing’ mechanisms - AND since station theory tells us that anything which happens prior to the actual moment of the station pertains to something yet to come where things which happen after the moment of station tend to refer to that already done coming to fruition and/or winding up…

…all of the above tends to move us towards thinking of things yet to happen. And that there are things yet to happen.

Incoming: important changes or shifts of direction. (Flexibility suggested.)

On top of its ‘dancing’ quality, 25 Gemini is additionally known for intellectual skill, far-sighted visualization, high levels of concentration (or in this case perhaps ‘concentrated focus’).

Quite the list, eh?

One other (curious) note to add here: this degree 25 Gemini that we’re talking about? It’s not all that good in business.

 Fractured, fissured, unique and starkly impressive, moon Miranda lives up to the

iconic and unbounded reputation of its parent planet, Uranus.

(photo credit: Keele Astrohysics Group, NASA)

Which I guess means we had all best watch what stage we’re dancing on. The big challenge metaphysically seems to be utilizing the ‘broad specter’ (and generally impersonal) Uranian energy at the same time as the very personal lunar energy. How to do that?

This is indeed an odd combination. One way to handle it is to do something which affects many, remembering that when we get to the ‘general’ and ‘those I don’t know personally’ we’re in Uranus territory, which combined with Uranus as being associated with electricity gives us the perfect image of the internet.

So…knowing I’ll make YouTube very happy by saying this, if you know of any dancer with a video to release, you might suggest they consider December 17th as their release date. I have a whole other post about such things warming up, but for now, this is a definite Full Moon concept.

And remember – the metaphysical concept of ‘dancing’ is about deftness and ability, not how well you tap your toes. The lunar (feeling) idea here is rhythm. We want things to function in a rhythm, and where our life rhythm is together, all goes well. Where it isn’t, it doesn’t go well. That may be something we’re conscious of…then again, we may not be.

Which is a whole other way to see this time.

What do I mean by that? Just this: if you think things are hinky-dinky and this isn’t a time when you feel like things are opening up for you and all such joy? Then the answer is ‘think bigger.’ Think beyond the bounds of Self or the bounds of what you know now. Make your circles bigger, not smaller. Think more about the quality of what you do – don’t let yourself be distracted by what others are doing, saying or may not like.

Uranus is always about changing the status quo. So some of what happens now comes from what your status quo is as an individual. It’s an odd quirk that…how Uranus represents the very heart of the impersonal, the mainstream ‘idea’ as well as the individual and the need to be unique and differentiated. And one of the things this Full Moon may do is bring us to understand how both those qualities are important. In other words, if your life is out of balance you’ll find that out through things which happen or the ideas which now occur to you. And from that, you’ll begin to…you know…change. And you’ll do it because you know this is the (Moon) time to do it. You’ll do it because you know that it’s (Moon) the time to (Uranus) change and get more with an ‘individual program’ (there’s that Uranian and 25 Gemini ‘dancer’ sort of ‘trained stricture’ for you) which will get you where you want to go.

Of course as we say that, it bears reminding that ‘purely’ individualized Uranian energies can be disruptive. And that’s a fact which speaks well for that which we have planned over time, but is a little more iffy for those spur-of-the-moment things. They may be innocent enough, but will everything they touch off or which you encounter along the way be so benign, pleasant or easy?

Mind you…none of this has to be even vaguely problematic, nor does it have to be productive. With Mercury traipsing through Sagittarius there is a lot going on whether that’s in the world, in your life or merely in your head.

With Venus about to go on station in Capricorn this Full Moon moment may indicate a ‘breaking’ with what you’re doing – a stepping back, a taking your leave, a going on holiday vacation. Seeing this is Venus we’re talking about, everything which goes into the transacting of our social/societal mode is on the table now. And with Uranus in this mix, that would seem to start with suggestions about electronic banking (digital finance) as well as things like power grids, electronics in general and deeds of commerce, tracking and travel.

But it’s more than that. There’s an aura which comes with this image of the Full Moon which suggests the need for careful planning and how plans carefully played may have gone astray – and how now is the time to embark on a little reworking, refining, making sure things are working at they should, particularly at any ‘structural’ level.

And with that notion we get a few particulars which are probably best seen by starting with a chart of the Full Moon itself.

So we have Moon opposition Sun here with the Sun at 25 Sagittarius, a degree which in simplest human terms is most easily defined as our ability…and maybe our tendency to get carried away by ‘the idea of the thing,’ whether that’s personal or societal or maybe having to do with some ideal, some story, some proposal, something you’ve heard, some foreign culture or image, some body of theory or law - anything Sagittarian.

Given this, we’re either ‘dancing’ because we’re “faced” (opposed) by someone who is carried away with something… or perhaps by the results or consequences of our having gotten carried away…who knows. There will be some tendency to (Gemini) mentally isolate our (Moon-ish) selves in what we would like to (Moon in Gemini) THINK is true…and if that means we have to ‘blame’ or project onto someone else in order to square things with our Self…?

Yes, some of us will do that, much to the consternation of others who will – of course – see them as the person who is getting carried away. (See how that works?) Then again, some of us will examine our own (Moon) thinking (Gemini) in order to see what isn’t working and not whether it could work, but whether it’s likely that it will work, given ‘other’ parameters.

In other words, it’s not unlikely that some clarity or perspective which wasn’t apparent before will now crystallize. This would be very in keeping with Uranus (and therefore Uranus’ station), though the more sudden and ‘bubble-bursting’ your ‘clarity’ is, the more that will tend to ‘shatter’ (shatter being a Uranian term) some piece of your status quo.

 
Juno in Aquarius trine (blue line) the (Full) Moon at 25 Gemini asks what we have surrendered in ‘dancing’ for society. What this trine represents is a lever, with the question being whether life is controlling you and where you are or aren’t using and/or embodying your most universal appealing or ‘profitable’ attributes. Not highlighted (but certainly in this image) is the trine from Juno to Saturn at 18 Scorpio, an unfortunate notice where and if you have preserved or protected moral cowardice.

Meanwhile, the Sun is also trine Eris.

With Discordia (Eris) at 21 Aries, this brings the ‘carried away’ energetic into an unimpeachable connective with “a disturbance or shakeup” which has to do with the desire to be open (so as to be appreciated and validated) against a sensitivity which can well be detrimental and a naiveté prone to…well…getting carried away (over influenced would be another way of putting this).

Eris is in Aries. That’s personal. That’s about us. That ‘me-ness’ will surface in whatever ‘department’ of the chart 21 Aries falls in natally for you. (And if your astrology skills are up to adding in where 21 Aries falls in your solar return and current lunar return AFTER you relocate this Full Moon chart to your own town to see where the Moon falls, so much the better.)

But this is no ordinary Eris in Aries moment. (As if there is one?) No, this Full Moon has Eris in a t-square.

 
This t-square originates in Eris (in Aries), squares at Jupiter/Lilith in Cancer (which sounds like a rejection of/by others - or perhaps rejection of some factor regarding one’s family, culture or upbringing) and is ‘rewarded’ by Ceres at 17 Libra – a ‘plan’ with regards to others personal or impersonal (Libra).

And that plan involves some sort of communication – which itself is very Gemini. Said communication can be kind or snarky, loud or soft, giving or demanding. It can encompass anything. With Eris in the ‘I/Me’ sign of Aries, chances are there is a ‘need to do’ or ‘act’ involved here though there is a chance that this t-square could involve waiting until some sort of something which has been ‘denied TO you’ is made available, arrives, is delivered or…(yes!)…connects to you or communicates with you.

Or until you are willing to deal with it. Those who are in a ‘dealing with it’ position at the time of this Full Moon are particularly likely to feel restless or distracted, barring anything else. Through this time, knowing you have attended properly to the ‘basics’ that life requires of you or ‘demands’ is also important.

Note: the term ‘demands’ does NOT refer to finger wagging or deadlines, rather that which you need to do in order to keep life in decent order. You know…like turning off the bathtub faucet so you don’t cause a flood. 

(Yeah…that stuff. Mucho mundane.)

On a greater scale this t-square is, at some level, an expression of the need we all have to ‘get over ourselves’ about something. What that is? That’s up to you. On the whole though…if we deal with this Full Moon-Uranus time not so much as something so (Aries) personal as akin to a rite of human passage, we stand to benefit at least by understanding what we need to do and why we need to do it. After all, Uranus (plus) Moon on the astrological level means nothing less than ‘profitable mortal evolution.’

You know…ours.
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Eris Direct

  El Juicio de Paris (The Judgment of Paris) by Smnt

Dwarf planet Eris will go direct at 6:49 in the evening of Tuesday January 8th (UT/+0 time) at 21 Aries.

Currently accounted as the 9th most massive object in our solar system, Eris carries weight literally, and thus metaphysically. Or maybe I should put it like this...Eris is 27% larger than Pluto. And if you know anything about astrology, you know that Pluto (before and after its scientific “demotion”!) is a big astrological deal!

So given all this, with all the many objects out there to be studied, it’s not that surprising that Eris has caught the attention of so many astrologers.

It's also why Eris stations are times to pay attention to.

Or maybe it's just the nature of Eris...? You know, like Pluto - an object which fascinated so many astrologers virtually from the time of its discovery (in February of 1930)...maybe Eris gets so much attention because Eris is Eris?

Put simply, Eris is “discord.” Or if you prefer, ‘disruption.’ The long-form Eris story is interesting enough that if you’re not familiar with it, reading a bit about the Eris myth may be useful to you or illuminating in the greater sense, especially when it comes to why Eris acts the way it does by transit.

(And yes, that would be by transit to your personal chart or in the sense of general or ‘mundane’ global transit, such as we’re discussing here.)

Link to “ERIS DISCORDANT:

MASTERING OUR OWN WEAKEST MOMENTS”

This is a ‘way out there’ object – at its’ farthest from us (and the Sun), Eris is more than twice as far away as Pluto. As for what controls Eris’ orbit, Eris is sometimes classed ‘just’ as a dwarf planet, and sometimes as a Plutoid, which is to say an object whose orbit is governed by Neptune’s truly vast magnetic resonance.

Having observed Eris and its effects now for half a dozen years or so on a fairly steady basis, yours truly tends to think Eris’ astrological effects only seem Neptunian in that they come from “so far out into left field” that we are often shocked to realize what we didn’t understand about life yet.

That quality of ‘revelation’ or ‘dissolving our former sense of reality’ is yes, very Neptunian. But in the most defined or refined sense, everything beyond Neptune seems to carry something of that Neptunian ability to dissolve our former perspective.

So Eris must be something somewhat different. And when compared with acknowledged (Neptune-controlled) Plutinos Pluto or Ixion for instance, Eris doesn’t seem to test our sense of 'reality'…the what’s real, what’s an ideal or fantasy...or what’s actually possible. That ‘not knowing but being very convinced’ quality is the very ‘Neptune quotient’ we see in Ixion and Pluto and other Plutinos like Orcus and Huya. They’re all part of our process of learning what reality is, often through tempting us to ignore reality - or think the 'real answer' is something other than it is.

And that’s not how Eris seems to work. Eris tends to manifest in our lives with a sudden ‘burst’ of recognition or experience, which makes it’s turn to direct at a 3rd decanate ‘worldly’ degree like 21 Aries a time when we can and maybe should expect life to thrust new things upon us that we didn’t suspect could (or would) happen.

Considering this is Aries we’re talking about, the effects are personal. Or at least they feel personal. Thus this time can be one when we feel vulnerable. Or upset. Or amazed. Or intrigued. The variables and variations here are all about how closely Eris aspects anything in your chart…the closer the aspect, the more likely it will be that you’ll feel the ‘Eris Effect,’ that sudden ‘blowing apart’ of your former viewpoint on life, your world or your life in general.

Because this is Aries we’re talking about, we look to the ruler of Aries: Mars. As Eris goes direct, Mars is in Aquarius, a societal sign which is all about our effect on the world and its effect on us, whether that’s what it throws in our path or how it rewards us for what we have or haven’t done.

As a degree, 21 Aries has something of an odd reputation in that it both emphasizes the ‘notice me!’ quality so often associated with Aries as well as a sensitivity to others. That the Sabian Symbol is THE GATE TO THE GARDEN OF ALL-FULFILLED DESIRES which astrologer Marc Edmund Jones typified so nicely as ‘Abundance made possible by human togetherness and cooperation’ sounds like a positive.

And yet, this is Eris we’re talking about. So those who cling too closely to others may now realize the flaw with that. Those who are loners may not recognize the flaw with that. Some will realize that they are allied with the wrong people, even if the idea of alliance is fine. Some who think they ‘have it made’ will realize the poverty of their positions…or even be attacked for a life where they fulfill their own desires while ignoring others.

There is no hard and fast ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ here, only the lessons which are to be learned.

The station itself is defined as the date of the actual station (marking the change of perspective) with two days before and two days after being allotted as a modern ‘station window.’

But let’s also be realistic about the extent of this astrological affect. The farther away from Earth any object is, the slower it moves in respect to Earth. (And yes, in its orbit around the Sun.) So considering that Eris can be almost a hundred times as far from the Sun as Earth is, it’s natural that it moves through each zodiacal degree very slowly. In the case of 21 Aries, Eris retrograded back into 21 Aries (out of 22 Aries) on November 1st. And now it’s going direct in 21 Aries – again.

Here’s a chart showing Eris going in and out of 21 Aries over the past handful of years:

This is Eris’ last year of going in and out of this degree. Can we expect more of events to ‘rattle our psyches’ in the 21 Aries sort of sense between now and February 19, 2014 (Eris’ last day in 21 Aries during this 557-year cycle)?

One would think yes.

Does all the nastiness that we’ve seen (heard or maybe experienced) since November 1, 2012 give us a picture of what we can expect?

Again, one would think yes.

But remember…this has everything to do with how ‘glued’ we are to some status quo in our head, heart or spirit. So there’s some reason to suspect that Eris effects will hit those who think of the world (life) in terms of preserving ‘status quos’ or personal ‘peace’ or the ever-popular ‘it can’t happen to me’ most of all.

The unthinkable will happen. And it is likely to happen and feel unthinkable (in other words, shocking) most of all in the lives of those who either have no/less experience of shock or who think they are most immune to shock.

This isn’t popular news, I know. But astrology isn’t about just the fun stuff. It’s about understanding how life and existence works, complete with the ugly bits.

More about this particular Eris station:

For one, there’s a grand square involved.

Considering that this grand square is made up of one dwarf planet (Eris), one fixed star (Castor) and a trio of asteroids (Europa, Sisyphus and Kallisto) life’s greater challenges would seem to be about balance. We can’t just shove things aside (Castor). Band-aids, getting carried away by whatever and ‘just moving on’ (Europa) aren’t the whole solution.

Sisyphus/Kallisto in Libra and in opposition to Eris are the ‘confronting’ factor here. Sisyphus is what you can do which you shouldn’t, and Kallisto is the temptation to aim for what you want when you know you should care about others.

Eris is a positive when it’s a force for rectification and righting wrongs or misconceptions. In Aries (which is where it’s going to be for a very long time yet) Aries represents all the hard, hard lessons life deals. Here, it represents the temptation to “feather our own nest” (as it were) without caring about others. Or the system. Or the future. Or the lessons of the past.

It’s tough stuff, no question. And this Sisyphus-Kallisto factor is not just a corner in a grand square, it’s also the midpoint between the ‘Y’ of a Yod, otherwise known as the solution point.

The thing to understand about this Yod is that Eos (the dawn) in Virgo (health, work, service) is the point which is moving towards Sisyphus-Kallisto. Hebe, Huya (the servicing of those things which will serve as enriching “rainmakers” in our lives)…those are leading away from Sisyphus-Kallisto.

This tells us we are only beginning to deal with the questions of what ‘health, work, service’ really mean. AND…considering this is Libra…that it isn’t just about the ‘other guy.’ Events in life are about who we are to others as much as how others (individuals, groups, nations) act with us.

The semi-sextile from Eris to Sedna speaks to our need to stand on our own, especially when it comes to  what we think is important…or what our capacities really are.

Ras Alhague and Hidalgo (manners, protocol) in trine to Eris says this is a time which demonstrates the difference between harm and healing – and how close they actually can be.

Maybe even how entangled they actually are.

The sextile to Bellatrix and Ceres speaks to getting a plan and how hard it will be to come up with plans which really work, plus how hard they will be to get across where others are involved. Still, since sextiles represent opportunities, recognizing that we need to take on our “Bellatrix challenges” and tackle the really hard issues is the optimal thing of the moment.

This station is occurring but a couple of days before Pluto moves out of the shadow of its 2012 cycle. Not only that, but it’s occurring as Jupiter is moving towards its own station/direct point (at the end of January) which quick enough will be followed by Saturn going retrograde (in mid-February). This combination of factors suggests that where we have been trying to ‘hold onto’ something obsessively, that it’s time to let go.

And that letting go, or not letting go – that’s part of the Eris process. Our greater world and our personal worlds will reflect how well we deal with such choices.
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