Eris Direct

Lightning strikes as Indonesia's Galunggung volcano erupts.

(photo credit: R Hadian - U.S.G.S., December 1982)

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So things aren’t quite settled ... which we know because there’s a lot of Uranian energy loosening the nuts and bolts (or our hold on) certain things we had finally really learned how to count on.

Which is all so Uranus-square-Pluto.

And with Uranus being currently in Aries, there is that oddity that just when we go to blame things on someone else we see or recognize something we hadn’t counted on.

Then there’s our relationship(s) with others - others known and amorphously unknown. A lot of things we hadn’t counted on are becoming important. We thought we could lean on certain things but now those choices need reconsidering.

Things are clearly in a sort of nebulous muddle. But it’s not anything we can simply walk away from or ignore. With Uranus conjunct the South Node and the Libra(north) and Aries(south) moving into 13 Libra-Aries with Pluto at 13 Capricorn forms a perfect transiting t-square: the transformation of our understanding of why something is important and how unless we get past thinking it’s just about us or “our identify” with or in the situation, we aren’t likely to get anywhere.

Or at least not where we really want to go.

With the North Node (the relationship to the thing or person/people we should have) at 13 Libra and Pluto at 13 Capricorn the primary challenge is to our sense of those we associate with. Do we know them? Are they changing? Are we changing? Do we need to change considering some (Eurydike) cost - and if so, what is the cost of changing? Are our chosen goals or aims still attainable - or would they be too costly?

Moreover, because the nodal shift (and thus the perfecting of the Pluto t-square) occurs on January 8th, that means that whatever all of this means to you (which - count on it - isn’t what it means to the person standing next to you) ... that date of January 8th highlights a metaphysical “dotted line” between the Plutonic/Nodal ‘transformation of relationship to...’ (something) and the idea that dwarf planet Eris is going direct on January 10th.

The Eris glyph

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The time of said event: 27 minutes after midnight, UT/+0 time.

The degree of said event: 22 Aries, a degree which though spoken of as an indication of a lot of potential which though unpredictable and sometimes problematic (even deadly), is nonetheless a precious example of our endless ability as human beings to face life and to be spurred by life to various acts of amazing ... and at some level mysterious ... creativity.

Ciphered through discordant Eris, this is good cause to wonder. Eris is nothing we control - it comes and becomes without our doing anything ... and at some level, because we haven't or won't do something as we know we should.

-link to post-

Eris Discordant:

Mastering Our Own Weakest Moments

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Eris often manifests with something of a shock, a jolt, a stunning confrontation - most of all with our Self. With an orbit which takes just under 600 years, Eris effects mark eras of development in crisis. Having been in Aries since the latter part of April 1923, the best part of everyone alive in today was born under this influence with Eris indicating (among other things) how we will react to life's unpredicted shocks and insights.

With Eris in Aries, we'll take it personally. Or take it to be 'about' us - or due to who we are, which in the case of an object which can be used effectively as a means to stand up or against some universal wrong (especially if or where we are not a member of the 'wronged' group) can be a very good thing.

But when not harnessed productively, Eris in action can be problematic. A great hassle which whether it is or not can feel like some sort of fate-ordained personal harassment (that would be the 'personally' part). Wherever we find Eris in the chart, there will be drama.

What we do with that drama is the question. So ... with Eris going direct now in Aries, will its station-direct period bring some need to be creative, the ability to be creative or some inspiration as to how to ‘create’ the thrust or sufficient motivational energy to propel or carry something to its fulfillment?

Also - just to finish the thought: the reason we would astrologically connect the Eris event to the Pluto t-square is because we give all stations a two-day before, two-day after ‘station allowance.’ During this time, events which occur tend to have lasting effects which go beyond the date of the station with events happening prior to the actual station generally pertaining to things which have yet to happen and things happening just after the moment of station referring to issues (or lessons) which are finally at their end.

Eris Direct at 22 Aries (glyph chart)

January 10, 2015 - 00:27 a.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Eris Direct at 22 Aries (text chart)

January 10, 2015 - 00:27 a.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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But what do we know about Eris?

We do know Eris’ station is in a receptive-responsive degree (all even number degrees have a hint of said quality). We also know that as Eris is on station, it’s in trine to a Jupiter which in Leo retrograde is referencing something which without additional effort (that being the ‘trine’ part of this) is being ‘delivered’ to, or received by us. If Jupiter was direct, we’d be doing the doing (so to speak!), but in Leo retrograde whatever is happening is (Eris) starting or startling us into an understanding which given Jupiter’s square to Sedna (at 23 Taurus) refers to something we want and believe we should have (or be able to/allowed to have) which is probably beyond ‘having’ at the moment.

All and all, this would seem to be a time which refers to corrections not necessarily about the ultimate course or goal (although it could be) but which certainly refers to some form of personal priority or prioritization which needs reexamination.

 An orbital diagram for Eris as of January 10, 2015

(courtesy of the JPL Small Body Database)

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Plus this isn’t the only thing happening during this time. As Eris enters its ‘station allowance’ on January 8th in anticipation of going direct on the 10th and as Pluto and the Nodes create a dynamic which may break us out of some ‘easy/easy out’ mode we’ve been dallying in/with, Ceres is moving into Capricorn, joining the Plutonic parade in the sense that Ceres is a known astrological commodity, and to have nurturing, protect-the-process/protective-of-the-process Ceres moving into Capricorn is an interesting counter-balance to Pluto.

Let’s remember: Pluto is that hand on the celestial and cosmic clock which indicates transformation - as opposed to Uranus, which indicates change.

Pluto is ... well, to use the geological term, metamorphic. Plutonic changes take time. They feel like being pushed, being pressured, being overwhelmed and being stripped naked - often all at once, and definitely forever and always on an emotional level. However concrete Pluto effects eventually become, the rending of our emotional soul which comes with the process is the thing which really transforms us.

Against this, Uranus is ‘a change.’ When you reach for a light switch and flip it on - or you strike a match and light a candle, you’ve effected change. If you stub your toe there’s a moment before the stub and a moment after.

With Uranus, the moment of shift is virtually instantaneous. It’s a break or a breakthrough - the light which as fast as we perceive it has already banished our previous dark.

In practical terms, Uranus squaring Pluto is a lengthy period which is transformative in the sense that we (and our societies) learn to be more flexible even as our power of, and ability to focus goes into  marathon mode as we endure a long and longer series of unpredicted (and unpredictable) incidents, changes and sudden recognitions. To have to deal with that at the same time that we’re trying to be constructive (which most of us are) is trying at best - and nerve-wracking for many. So it’s lucky that things will begin to simplify (at least) once we get through Uranus’ peak South Node/conjunction effects on January 19th and 20th.

And about that...? The best suggestion there is the standard and Uranian one: remember to flex.

 The Ceres glyph

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Until then, we do at least have an astrological assurance (labeled ‘Ceres’) telling us that we will persevere. Change or no change, the days will tick by, we’ll try, we’ll learn, we’ll recalculate and move on - and to have Ceres in Capricorn as we do this amidst all life’s pressures and bumps refers to an overarching ‘protective measure’ which is acknowledged by - and therefore a potential benefit to all. By nature, Capricorn always speaks to a ‘cooling’ of perspectives, so Ceres from this Friday until April 3, 2015 when Ceres moves from Capricorn into Aquarius, a lot of things which are currently ‘over heated’ will cool off, offering time for lots of constructive consideration and restructuring as necessary.

Of course that does mean we will have to deal with whatever needs cooling - which is slowly be/coming clear ... whether we're comfortable with it, or not.
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Eris Retrograde

An artist's rendition of Eris and its moon with the sun far, far away in the distance

(image credit: A Schaller, STSci, April 2006)

Sometimes discord is something which goes wrong. Sometimes discord is an interruption which gets us to think things through. Or to see things as part of a bigger picture and because of that, to make a more powerful choice.

Eris is a dwarf planet. That puts it on par with Pluto – another dwarf planet and an astrological symbol which is thought of as the energy of transformations which come upon us, which change lives, which in being harnessed can change or destroy our world.

Both Eris and Pluto orbit out beyond Neptune. And as such, they both represent energies we can’t quite predict, which are definitely ‘bigger than we are.’ That said, Pluto differs markedly from Eris in two vital ways. The first is the difference between Pluto being an object ‘controlled’ by the spellbinding (and evidently planetoid binding) energy of Neptune where Eris goes its own way.

The other is in size. Eris is roughly three times the size of Pluto…which says a lot for that Neptunian juju which gets Pluto all that hot human PR.

But Eris Effects are nothing to fool with. We of the astrological ilk are nowhere as near familiar with Eris (which was only discovered in 2003) as we are with Pluto, but for those of us who are avid (or habitual) chart watchers, wherever we see Eris natally…or by transit…those points represent areas or dynamics which we either use purposefully for positive benefit, or which tend to rattle our chains or otherwise bite us in the metaphorical nether parts.

So the name Eris – which in Greek mythic reality would be Eris Discordia is really about the discord which comes upon us, or our willingness or efforts or determination to go out there and shake things up. And it would seem that when our efforts are altruistic (as opposed to purely selfish) Eris seems to enhance not just the effort, but our lives as a whole.

I’ve written long-form about Eris, and here’s the link to to that page…

- link to -

ERIS DISCORDANT:

MASTERING OUR OWN WEAKEST MOMENTS

I’ve also written some about the pattern of Eris’ movements. In short and glib terms we can sum it all up by saying that Eris’ zodiacal progress is pretty much ‘slow and unsteady.’

Yes, that’s a joke. Eris moves slowly and it’s our lives – when Eris is affecting us in some focused way – which seem unsteady. Or maybe destabilized is a better word. But then, sometimes life has to destabilize the norm in order to get us into gear. My best astrological guess is that Eris energetics are part of that metaphysical machinery.

For now what we want to know is what degree is Eris going retrograde at, and what is it affecting?

Considering our these past few days with Mars entering Cancer, the deepening of the major water trine and Uranus going retrograde, Eris going retrograde represents a fairly serious challenge, one which comes from beyond our personal norm. The issues being presented are very real, and considering what with Uranus turning to retrograde on July 17th, for some it will be difficult to separate Uranus effects from those of Eris.

Uranus…change, breakthroughs, sudden shifts of circumstance, shocks, flights, insights, eruptions, explosions, discoveries…against Eris, the unsettling of the norm, the disrupting of our status quo, those forces which cause us to consider something totally unexpected not when we want to, but right now.

These two concepts sound rather like different levels of the same thing. And if we believe that unbeknownst to us, the universe is unfolding as it should, this mélange, this fusion, this confluence of effects – which is occurring during a highly emotional grand-trine-in-water period – has its purpose.

Obviously those whose charts answer to both 12 Aries (Uranus’ station degree) and 22 Aries (Eris’ station point) are going to feel the greatest shifts as we go into and emerge from the period defined by Uranus’ station on July 17 and Eris’ station on the 19th. For those whose charts are only aspected directly by one or the other, the energies of the object which aspects your chart will feel more ‘directed’ at you (or personal) while the symbolism of the other will be felt or recognized in the world around you.

With that said, Eris and Uranus are both going retrograde in Aries, the sign of consciousness, conscious awareness, physical existence, physicality, personal assertion and assertiveness… the whole panoply of variations on “I Am,” however you conjugate it.

But there are differences. Uranus (as we talked about in the last post) is going retrograde at 12 Aries. And 12 Aries is by definition emotional degree, which is to say where Uranian energies (the discovery, the interruption, the startling fact) is being manifested emotionally. That suggests anything from excitement to terror, from awe to fervency. Being that Uranus is the secondary of societal/’mass concept’ Aquarius, with Eris serving in a sense to ‘set off’ Uranian energetics it wouldn’t be unlikely to have people step outside of or depart from their societal roles…or societies rules during this time.   

As it goes retrograde on July 19th at 11:08 a.m. the shift of relative motion (perceived or otherwise) between Eris and Earth will no doubt manifest in many ways typified by 22 Aries, a degree which involves luck which can either be very rewarding or  undercut by frittering away time or opportunities through fudging, vacillation, indecision or that sort of simple confusion which invites us to ‘forget it’ and hope that things will sort themselves out.

It sounds like fertile Eris ground.

Being in that Eris is going retrograde in a third decanate degree (between 20 and 29 of some sign), it may do us well to think of this as a time when what we do to change, improve or benefit the ‘greater situation’ or status quo and thus utilize these energies for betterment (rather than sitting around waiting for them to thwack us in the face) may well be the most positive way to go.

But no, not necessarily all that popular. The mere idea that so much disrupting Uranus/Eris energy is being brought to bear on and in our world and our lives during an ongoing emotional period delineated by major planets Saturn, Jupiter and Neptune all in grand trine formation will without question have many people’s mindsets set to ‘stubborn’ simply because they aren’t prepared to experience something different.

Or what it feels like to have to cope with change.

Or what it feels like to go through changing.

Or what it feels like to simply have control wrested from their hands by forces – or even plain good sense – which apparently is beyond their control. 

By definition, Eris station/retrograde moments wouldn’t be thought of as effortless. The Eris energy is now turning inward and for the next few months will ‘reside’ inside, promoting and provoking any and all processes which get us to see life from a different point of view.

And that…or the process of getting there…may not be all that pretty.

After all, thinking back to the Eris myth, Paris (You remember him…the guy who started the whole Trojan War by stealing Helen from her duly wedded husband?)…Paris is given an ‘apple of Discord’ by Eris and asked to give it to the goddess of his choice: Venus (appeal), Hera (protective nurturance) or Athena (wisdom). And much like humans have done throughout the ages, Paris chose Venus…which leads to trouble for Paris, Troy, Helen, and a lot of other folks, with the implication being that to choose beauty – the ‘pretty thing’ – to favor that over other (Hera or Athena) qualities not only isn’t such a great idea, it actually opens the way for Discordia (Eris).

There’s another thing to consider here as well – that being how Eris is going retrograde (in the company of Pelion and trine Venus-in-Leo) just as Jupiter enters the orb to oppose Pluto.

This opposition doesn’t become exact until August 8th. So we evidently have a while to wrestle with the difference between our wants and desires (Pluto), that which will build a better future (Jupiter in Cancer), our willingness or ability to change things as they currently are structured (Pluto in Capricorn) and our ability to keep everything in perspective (Jupiter)…especially emotional (Cancerian) perspective.

Moreover, when Jupiter does reach the moment of exactitude with regards to its opposition to Pluto, Jupiter will be conjunct Alhena - the fixed star which speaks of Purpose – and (surprise!) Pallas.

Those who recognize Pallas as the first name of Athena will probably be going ‘ohhhhhh….’ about now. (Or maybe that was just me.) In any case, it would be reasonable to suspect that the Uranian cracks and Eris upheavals we get into now will lead to a gaining of dispassionate (Pallas Athena) sorts of lessons.

Call it wisdom, call it perspective – to have Athena (Pallas) brought into this Jupiter-Pluto face off with our Self, our life or maybe our concept of how life really works says there are lessons to be learned over the next few weeks.

And how those who learn them will become more wise. Whether this is our moment to swallow our nerves (our ‘emotional discord’) in the process of be or becoming the person we can be, in coming to the recognition of our Purpose and that said Purpose may not be ‘shaped’ the way we thought it was…that may not be easy. Or convenient.

A Hubble Telescope's view of Jupiter

(photo credit: NASA, ESA H. Hammel/Boulder Colorado's Space Science

Institute, Jupiter Comet Impact Team, July 2009)

But it is what it is. And whether we greet that fact with sulky dismay or with an eye to this being an opportunity – that’s up to us.

In going retrograde on July 19th, Eris ‘official’ station window opens on the 17th (Uranus’ station date) and ends on July 21st – a day after Mercury goes direct in Cancer (more Cancer energy, anyone?) and a day before the Sun enters Leo, Venus moves into Virgo and the occurrence of a Full Moon in Aquarius.

The fact that the Sun and Venus will both be moving through ‘critical’ degrees of respective signs just before the Full Moon suggests that a lot of us are going to be pressing and pushing to get something done. Things are becoming ‘cumulative’ in our world or in our psyches. There will undoubtedly be those who don’t handle the intensity of these feelings all that well, and ‘feelings’ or emotionality would seem to be a vital part of this discussion as any time we see a planet pass through 29 degrees of any sign we see it ‘setting off’ the energies of any other object or astrological symbol in that sign – which in this case would be Mercury, Pallas Jupiter, Mars and Black Moon Lilith (which adds a bit of ‘counter-cultural’ or ‘against the grain of tradition’ to this mix).

This last day of Eris’ ‘official’ station window will also see Mars entering the orb of opposition to Pluto. Considering that the theory on stations tells us that events which happen in the wake of the actual moment of stationing have something to do with the playing out of ‘things already done’ (or committed to, etc.) this well may be a moment when those who have been working or struggling to break through some set of restrictions or to get something ‘going’ will find ways to overcome inertia.

For those who have been ‘hiding’ from change however, this period may be particularly chaotic – particularly emotionally, however your emotionality is triggered.

Eris Discordant is not our solar system’s most genteel symbol. But Eris does serve to get us thinking in ways we hadn’t considered before. Whether that’s recognizing that you can make a difference…or that you aren’t bound by some arcane rule or tradition…or that you need to be more realistic about something or someone or life itself…that’s about you. That’s about your chart.

The Butterfly Nebula (NGC 6302) is really beautiful, but considering temperatures at its heart are

somewhere in the area of 250,000 C, it would seem to fall in the realm of 'look, but don't touch'!

(photo credit: Hubble Space Telescope, NASA, JPL)

As tough and trying and for many tumultuous as this month has been, it has purpose. Sometimes life tells us that it’s time to stop being caterpillars and time to transform ourselves into butterflies. Only by doing that can we not just fulfill the beauty of our potential, but do that which is necessary to leave something of ourselves…be that in our work, in how we effect others or maybe through having a family…for generations and eons to come.
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