You Were Searching ...

Fixed star Alcyone as it appears in in the Pleiades Star Cluster

(photo credit: NASA, ESA, AURA/Caltech, Palomar Observatory, November 2009)

It being the end of this calendar year, I thought to write something a bit different ... something totally about you, the readers - and what’s been on your mind.

And how would I know what’s on your mind?

If you’re just a casual blog reader (which is to say, you’re someone who doesn’t write a blog) you may not know what goes on ‘behind the scenes.’ (And it’s certainly not necessary that you do!) But there are a few interesting noodles in that pot. For instance - when you set up a blog, not only do you get all the software tools needed to set up posts (or at least all the tools your blogging platform thinks you need) ... but at least at Blogger, you also get access to several pages of fairly non-exotic analysis reports.

Before you get worried, none of that data is at all specific. We-the-bloggers don’t know who you are, nor where any given comment is coming from.

But one thing they do give us is a list of search terms - you know, those things you type in your browser’s search bar which brings up the slew of options. Depending on what site you choose, a lot of those sites get ‘one liner’ lists of what you were searching for.

Yes, it’s data collection - if in this case (which is to say in the bloggers hands) harmless data collection ... unless you’re unhappy to know that from all I’ve seen it seems nobody uses capitals when they type a search string!

Anyway, those searches are the motivation for this post. I have a list of search terms and am just going to take a shot at answering or commenting on some of them. Who knows, this may even inspire some highly creative future search strings - to which point I have to warn you about one thing: Blogger (Google) only delivers about thirty characters (including spaces) ... which means a few of the missives I’ve collected got cut off, which is a shame as one or two of them looked intriguing.

But if you don’t know the question ... hey, it’s hard to write an answer.

Also - a little disclaimer here. Charts are a unified and connected set of factors: we are not solely our conscious (Sun) mind any more than we are fully defined by the (Mercury) way we speak, what (Venus) flavor of ice cream we prefer or what (Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, etc.) things have happened to us along the way.

That said, I do love your search terms. So let’s try this on with a first handful of search terms ...

Pholus in the 11th House Natal
Pholus is a centaur. So as with all centaur symbols, its effects are first and last about our ability to deal with our own emotionalism, particularly when we have (or have had) any amount of factual or intellectually based training which could (and which maybe should) be what we rely on as opposed to flying off the handle or otherwise throwing the calm-minded baby out with the hot (or at least overheated) ‘idea of the thing’ bath water.

Specific to Pholus, this centaur quandary becomes a choice: as we choose to not take some challenge on thoughtfully, we imbed ourselves in some position about what ‘should be,’ ‘should be done,’ or how things ‘should work.’ Yet in doing that, we limit our Self by choosing not to use some ability we have worked hard to learn. Were we not so wrapped up in some emotionally protective position (which can but doesn’t have to have anything to do with how truly important or not important the issue is) as to instinctually fall back into older habits we would recognize the thing we aren’t doing is more important or far-reaching than that which we are ‘sitting on’ (or holding on to).

And as in mythic terms, that bias itself is poisonous - at least in (or to) the moment.

Taking that to the eleventh house, adding in the house concept adds the issue of Pholus either as that which drives us to cling to or retreat from (or possibly wall out) some idea, person, group, organization or other ‘collective’ which we ‘belong to’ or are ‘seen as’ (social groups, our society, a company or business association, etc.), all of which have to do with ‘fitting in’ and/or being identified and/or rewarded for what you do as an individual. Given this, Pholus in the 11th can manifest as whatever those feelings are which prompt us to hang back in spite of our ability to do, help or connect with others - or with some challenge or situation.

Or it can be the experience of having others (those we want to connect to) refuse to help us or join in some cause which ultimately proves ‘fatal’ (not necessarily literal) to something or someone’s aim, belief or position. Pholus in the 11th can even point to attributes and ways in which we sabotage our Self by not bringing our best understanding or knowledge or ability to the table because we think there will be some advantage to us in hiding it. 

2017 Eclipse Area of Path
There will be two solar eclipses during the year 2017. The first one will be at 8 Pisces and the second will be at 28 Leo. Here are the eclipse maps:

Solar Eclipse of February 26, 2017 (UT/+0) at 8 Pisces ...

an Eclipse Map for the Solar Eclipse at 8 Pisces which will occur on

February 26, 2017 at 14:59 (2:59 p.m.) UT/+0

... and the Solar Eclipse of August 21, 2017 (UT/+0) at 28 Leo.

an Eclipse Map for the Solar Eclipse at 28 Leo which will take place on

August 26, 2017 at 18:31 (6:31 p.m.) UT/+0

Mars opposition Ixion
Without reciting the whole Ixion myth (a post on which you can read HERE), in short Ixion represents some lesson or standard that we don’t learn or refuse to accept or hold ourselves to which, after multiple incidences, ends badly (for us, that is).

With Mars in opposition, assertion, assertiveness, actions, anger and/or ‘injuries’ (however you see the term) becomes the means by which Ixion is ‘set off’ (i.e., triggered) - and that could be your action or anger triggering your own ‘I don’t care I want it anyway’ Ixion tantrum, it could be someone else triggering you, or it could be your choice to do or say things which triggers someone else.

If this is a natal chart placement, as with all natal placements it’s important to note the sign on the cusp of the houses Mars and Ixion are both placed in, and how well or unhappily the planets ruling those signs are in the given chart. If one of those rulers is well placed and the other is badly placed that will tend to ‘color’ this configuration either positively or negatively, and with Mars being a personal (self motivated) symbol and a planet (not an asteroid, not a dwarf planet - a full-fledged planet!) it is likely that any native with this placement is going to face issues about control, through how this manifests will be individual.

Wherever we see Ixion we are going to be prone to some degree of feeling helpless - at least now and again. Ixion’s placement (by house) also tends to say something about where we tend to not like having responsibility. The real positive of this type of configuration is that with Mars in opposition there is an in-built ability to govern the Self which is admirable and often successful even if others fail to flourish. But signs matter a lot here. Given that Ixion is currently in late Sagittarius and how Ixion moves rather at a similar rate as Pluto does we know that there are a lot of people with Ixion in Scorpio out there, and if Mars is in opposition to Ixion in Scorpio, that’s going to mean Mars is (in all likelihood) in Taurus - a position which in opposition to Ixion wouldn’t have Mars-the-Assertive in its most altruistic mode ... and which could easily result in displays of defensiveness which are not the act of the noble warrior defending others but much more about personal feelings of vulnerability.

Does the Alcyone Star Change Over Time
The nature of fixed stars as star symbols doesn’t change over time any more than the symbolic meaning of Venus changes as it moves from sign to sign or degree to degree. Astrology is in some ways very much like playing with a color wheel: if we think of Venus as yellow and it’s in some sign we think of as blue, the result is green - which differs from what we would get if (yellow) Venus was in a “red” sign, which would give us an “orange” result.

So no - the meaning of Alcyone, a star which is both a mystical influence and one which is connected to the ‘point’ of any choice (i.e., its result or consequence) plus whatever ‘judgments’ evolve from there, some of which are likely to be strict or restrictive in nature.

As for its rate of motion, Alcyone moves slowly from degree to degree as all stars do. Currently positioned at 0 Gemini, Alcyone reached that degree in 1999 and will remain positioned at 0 Gemini until the year 2070, lending to the Alcyone ‘nature’ some measure of 0 Gemini’s habit of starting on the ‘dark side’ (or in some sort of “negative mode”) before improvement occurs and a more productive/positive note is adopted at a (Gemini) thinking level - a quality those with natal points conjunct 0 Gemini (i.e., between 25 Taurus and 5 Gemini) probably know a good deal about!

Sexual Aquarius Man in Lilith
Apart from the fact that this search snippet sounds rather like a personals advertisement, I admit it - I’m perplexed as to how a man (or a woman, for that matter) can be “in” a celestial point, be that Lilith or anything else until there comes the day when humans are residing on asteroids - in which case, I suppose someone could live underground (rather like hobbits do) and thus they could be said to be living in Lilith.

File under: intriguing but unanswerable.

Venus is in 3 degrees of Libra
When I see a search term like this, I always wonder whether someone is trying to look up something in their own natal chart or if they’re trying to understand someone they like (and who they probably want to like them).

Be that as it may, this is Venus in one of its two signs of rulership - so this is Venus in a potent position by sign, whether or not that potential tends to play out well, or not so positively (that part of the question being answered by where Venus is in the chart, the ruler of the sign on the cusp of the house Venus is in and how Venus is aspected by other planets and things like the lunar nodes).

As for 3 Libra, this is a degree likely to exhibit some of the unique or “alternative” qualities we associate with Black Holes as there’s a giant Black Hole at 1 Libra, so don’t look for this Venus to manifest as marked preferences for the classic and traditional  unless everybody else is decidedly non-traditional. Beyond that, this is one of those Libra degrees which calls for connecting to that which is supportive without taking away the necessity to act, lest nothing happen. 

Handled properly and supported by the whole of a productive chart, 3 Libra (and thus Venus in 3 Libra) can be a signature of achievement and success ... it just doesn’t guarantee it.

Aries Nasty Facts
When I saw this search string I laughed. I so wasn’t sure whether someone was looking for information on what their flaws might possibly be ... or if they were looking to hassle some personally known Aries person.

In any case, let’s be honest here - every sign has a nasty underbelly. That’s just the nature of internal sign polarities just as it’s the nature of opposition sign polarities.

As for Aries specifics, if the positive is assertion, the negative is aggression, violence, anger and self-righteousness. If the positive is self-motivation and self-direction, the negative is bossiness and presumptive judgment directed at others.  Confidence is another Aries positive - and one which can be utterly drowned out by stunning displays of Aries ego or some tendency to indulge in ‘it’s all about me’ bragging.

Does Alex Miller Astrologist Use Fixed Stars?
Not that I remember. Alex and I haven’t caught up of late (which is to say I don’t know what it’s working on at the moment) but to my knowledge he works a great deal with ‘personal asteroids’ and galactics (black holes,quasars, masers, etc.) ... but I don’t recall Alex working much with fixed stars.

Orcus Represents Betrayal
Not exactly - except in the sense that Orcus starts as a representation of finality, specifically the type of finality we might associate with death, be it physical or the ‘death’ of faith in an idea, the ‘death’ of a relationship or some project - even the ‘death’ of a job.

If it’s over, in the moment when we recognize it’s over and not going to rise again, that’s when we are dealing with the Orcus dynamic, a quality and the experiencing or grasping what has been lost as we wonder about what lies ahead because of that. Just the process of facing what can’t be changed is Orcus, as is the realization about what having something ‘set in stone’ may be.

You know, the inevitable consequences ... the possible ripple effects ... and all those things which may (or are likely) to happen as a result of something we have chosen, done, committed ourselves to ... all such things are part and parcel of the Orcus Effect.

So ... does Orcus represent the act of betrayal? Not unless it applies to us - which is to say, not unless we believe we have betrayed our own purpose, beliefs or standards. Orcus is not the act per se, which is why it’s hard to associate Orcus with betrayal.

But dealing with the consequences of a betrayal? Realizing that you have been betrayed?

Yes, those would be Orcus-like ... or if I may be allowed to coin a term here, such moments would be Orcusonian.

What is the Venus of 9-15-1979
As of noon (UT/+0 time) on the indicated date, Venus was at 27 Virgo 45.

Do you need a complete chart? If so, there are websites listed in the sidebar where you can cast a horoscope for free.

Constellation Aries

 

4 Major Stars in Aries Constellation
Aries is generally known for three stars, all of which were originally used for navigation purposes. The brightest of the three is alpha Arietis or El-Nath, a star astrologers know as Hamal and which was involved in the April 2014 solar eclipse.

Beta Arietis (beta Aries) is a star known traditionally as Mesarthim or El-Scheratain. Said to have a Mars (plus) Saturn nature, this star is said to bring tough or hard/harsh results where there is a lack of thought or consideration of consequences.

Botein is a star known to astronomers as delta Arietis. Traditionally Botein is also known as Nir al Botain, a name which was brought into Latin as Lucida Ventris (meaning ‘the brightest of the belly’) which gives Botein an interesting association with 41 Arietis, an Aries star well known in Vedic and Chinese astrology (if not in western/tropical astrology) under the name Bharani.

The term ‘major’ stars may or may not apply here as none of these stars are (for instance) considered royal stars as Antares or Regulus is. But in the constellation of Aries these are the four stars which by and large come to the top of the astrologer’s list, so I hope this answers the search.

JSM Dancer - Who is Justsomemotion
To the question ‘who is he?,’ I have no answer other than the obvious: a very talented guy who has posted some dance videos on YouTube.

And yes, I wrote about JSM - in last year’s New Years Eve post, as it happens.

- link to post -

Product Astrology:

Justsomemotion(JSM) + YouTube

But as to your search? He’s not here. But because I’ve seen this question so many times I did go into the back of the blog and turned over a few digital rocks to check.

He didn’t appear, cleanly binary floor or no.

So sorry ... I can’t help with this one.

Gemini and Virgo Sexually
Apart from having to resist the urge to stick a comma into that search string, and though I will guess that the searcher was thinking in terms of Sun signs, the generics here really apply no matter what set of planets or points is applied.

First of all, Gemini and Virgo are two signs which are natively in square to each other, which astrologically speaks to two very different tendencies: that of bonding together as a team and that which we might think of as two cars arriving at an intersection at the same time with both drivers wanting to go first. And that this should be true with two signs which are both ruled by the same planet (Mercury) is one of those things which really underscores how important astrological qualities like element and modality really are.

Virgo is an earth sign: the Virgo energetic works through tangible drives and tangible results with a lot of ‘working with what we have or can get our hands on’ strung between. All things Virgo pertain to things which can be done in terms of how it’s done, inclusive of function, functionality and morality, though nothing about Virgo intrinsically says any of that has to be positive. (You might think that, but no ... it just isn’t so!)
Against all this, Gemini is not an earth sign - Gemini is an air sign, meaning all things Gemini evolve from an idea and exist in theory or  as a concept.  Gemini’s world is all about ideas and anyone with Gemini planets will explore those ideas - within the Self and with others - in terms of the planetary energy Gemini is focused through.

Ceres Cancer 21.09
I’m taking the above search string to mean ‘Ceres at 21 Cancer 09’ with an invisible “What does it mean that Ceres is at 21 Cancer?’ stuck behind.

That declared, Ceres is both a guardian of those involved in a process and the importance of the process or plan itself. The mythic Ceres is often written about as a harvest goddess - but the astrological Ceres seems to have as much to do with how we get something from ‘seed’ to that ‘harvest’ as anything else.

As for 21 Cancer, it represents some sort of challenge to one’s nature (or with Ceres, to some process) which may look like simple rebellion - and if rejection of ‘that’ is all that’s going on, often not much in the way of positive outcomes tend to result. Better outcomes are found with this combination where plans get made and carried out with a set of aims having been decided upon which includes some degree of clarity as to why not just the aim but how you get there matters.

South Node conjunct Antares
The south lunar node being what is always ‘easy’ for us to do. It may be what we ‘know,’ or it may be what we were were ‘brought up with.’ It can even be something which we have a knack for - that informal and mysterious ‘knowledge’ which is just about who we are.

Wherever the South Node falls in our chart, that is an area of life we will find ‘easy’ - which isn’t to say it’s all good. Considering how the nodes always refer to our ability to ‘relate,’ (be that to people, a nation, ideas, career paths - or anything else), the sign that the South Node is in (and the planet which rules it) are always important, but something which is also to be taken in hand as the lesson of the nodes is to do that which isn’t easy and which isn’t hard - which may tell us all something about relationships in general.

In conjunction with Antares (one of the royal stars of Persia) the instruction is that things will go well providing we don’t do one ... little ... very particular thing - which with Antares is ‘obsess.’

And with Antares currently positioned at 9 Sagittarius this tendency is strong, as 9 Sagittarius is known for its fiery and enthusiastic - sometimes over-enthusiastic (read: over-focused) qualities.

So we put these ideas together and come up with the following: to have Antares conjunct the South Node makes it easy to get over-focused on things, on people, on how you feel about things or people - and none of that is likely to help. Depending on the placement/sign of Jupiter in such a chart, someone with this sort of placement might also be charismatic (though they may not know it). Or they may become someone who comes to rely on their charisma as a way to get along ... which lore says eventually won’t be ‘enough.’

(By itself, that is.)

Solar Eclipse Scorpio 3/9 Axis
Any solar eclipse which strikes a cusp (axis or otherwise) ‘explodes’ the current perception or operation of that house, often through something which you can directly attribute to meaning(s) associated with the planet which rules the sign on that cusp.

As with all solar eclipses, whatever comes of that ‘exploding’ the old (which makes way for the new, however happy or reluctant we are about it) will take a full three years (36 months) from the time of the eclipse to either come to fruition or ‘stabilize’ either in reality and real time or as a concept we’re willing to pursue to its aim. Also, the more tightly we try to hold onto or preserve the ‘old,’ the more difficulty we are likely to experience.

And that’s (in all likelihood) a bit of a challenge here, as Scorpio is well known for its difficulty not so much with physical change as with changes of an emotional nature (or the nature of one’s emotionality). It’s somewhat easier if we are the one initiating the change and somewhat more problematic if change is being thrust upon us.

At least that’s what we feel - with there truly being some chance that a solar eclipse striking either end of the 3/9 (mentality versus expansion) axis being a peculiar situation where you can see where something else might be better, but you can’t quite get there emotionally - and the process of understanding that (on the inside) as well as what you are doing/trying to do on the outside becomes a long-term dual journey. As well, depending on which end of this axis line is struck, something which is already in progress may be abandoned - at least for now or in the form that it is in.

As always, all things Scorpio test our understanding of Self, our will to be who we are (and to make something of that) while recognizing that the difficulties we encounter through others (however that may manifest) may well be about them, but at the same time it’s also about us - we attract people, things and situations which test our capacity, our tolerance and our (emotional) willingness to develop our Self so that others will want to “fight” with us - not against us.

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So that's it for now, leaving me to close with a sincere hope that we all enjoy a safe and happy beginning of 2015.

Here's to life, love and peace!

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(P.S. this was fun for me - so you keep searching and I'll see about working in some time to post signposts along your road!)
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Alcyone: The Taurus Point

 The star group known as the Pleiades

(photo credit: NASA-ESA-AURA-Caltech-Palomar, June 2004)

Currently positioned at 0 Gemini, Alcyone is a star I haven't heard about much. Nevertheless, it's part of the constellation Taurus - which certainly gives it some importance.

And there is that little fact that the South Node, Sedna and Algol are doing a mish-mosh conjunction thing - which we should probably think of as either an exacerbating or strengthening of Taurean tendencies, issues and necessities, whatever that may be in your world.

We do talk a bit about Algol in astrology. Maybe it's because Algol has acquired such a bad reputation for stubbornly self-involved reactivity (read: pig-headedness). Astrologers - like everybody else - do seem to like celestial train wrecks. (Yes, we sky ogle.) But there is always that concept that there is a good side of every astrological placement if we can understand how to get there. With Algol, it's the end to which you use/aim your reactiveness and outrage. It's the why behind the pouncing on something which counts.

No, that doesn't defend going around shouting 'Off with their head!' like the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland.  Being self-centered is still a Taurus downfall - as is going after money and material things purely for their own sake.

But back to Alcyone. Alcyone is not just ‘part’ of Taurus, it’s the brightest star in Taurus. So why don't we hear more about Alcyone?

Well...this is just a guess, but people do think about  Taurus as the sign of security, satisfaction and self-worth. They just don't like the process of getting to that sense of inner security, satisfaction and self-worth.

So what do people do? They try to get things which will provide them with security, satisfaction and self-worth, which isn't the point of Taurus at all.

Taurus is about what you do and how that affects how you feel about yourself. All three of the zodiac's first trio of signs (Aries, Taurus, Gemini) are focused on 'Who am I? Who can I be or become?'...Aries is the physical part, Gemini is the mental part, and Taurus is that heart, soul and sense of personal sensitivity.

Hence why Taurean Sun sign people like things which feel good and luxe goods. But those things will never make a Taurus feel good. Or safe. Or secure. And part of the 'why?' of that may lie in Alcyone - the star which is the tip of a Taurus horn.

This gets back to that old Taurus/Scorpio polarity. Scorpio is the sign of war and in that light Alcyone is the ability to go to war if needs be...with the understanding that the optimal sort of life involves not going to war at all, but finding (Scorpio) ways to live with others and keep the peace (maybe even advance the cause) by enduring our sense of possible invalidations along the 'what, my way ISN'T the high way?' experiences in the (Scorpio) interactive arena.

Having our values is one thing. Testing them is quite another. And learning that other people may have different values which are quite different and equally as valid in their life? That's Taurean security.

If the old expression 'speak softly and carry a big stick' holds water (which it tends to) and the greatest use of power is not to ever have to use that power (ditto) then Alcyone is about capacity. It's about the readying and the readiness of the Self to take on and endure through whatever life brings on. It's the (inner) knowing that you are at least secured by....whatever....and if it came to it, you would be willing to stand up for your Self.

That's self-worth. When we could saber-rattle but don't have to saber-rattle, that's because we are satisfied enough with our Self to just go about our own business.

That's Taurus. And more to...uh...the point, that seems to be the 'bright point' about Taurus - which gets back to Taurus as a star all about self-development. It's the work we put into developing our Self which we then have confidence in. Which enables - and perhaps even motivates us - to go out there and take on the world and bring home that bacon.

Or maybe that fancy car, yes! 

Constellation Taurus as pictured in the 'Uranographia' of Johannes Hevelius back in 1690

As a star, Alcyone is no shrinking violet, either. Classed as a Blue Giant, Alcyone is in the same sort of category as Thuban, Arcturus and one of the most easily found stars in the sky, Alnitak – one of the trio which makes up Orion’s starry belt. So again, considering how ‘mainline’ Thuban and Arcturus are as astrological stars, it’s interesting that Alcyone doesn’t get more press.

That it deserves our attention would seem likely. After all, Alcyone changed signs in September of the year 2000. Any time a fixed star changes signs that’s a pretty good signal that the ‘base harmonics’ of life as we know it are going to change. Maybe that change will be pretty subtle…but over time, subtle accumulates and can become a big deal.

Now positioned at 0 Gemini, Alcyone evokes and ‘lights up’ a degree described in the Sabian Symbols as “A Glass-Bottomed Boat Reveals Undersea Wonders.” Astrologer Marc Edmund Jones (he who collected the Sabian symbols to begin with) referred to this degree as ‘the revelation of unconscious energies and submerged psychic structures’ which, considering this is Gemini we are talking about, seems apt. Thus Alcyone is bringing to light unconscious energies…which with water being referenced are either emotional, or emotionally driven. (Water is always, always, always about our emotions!)

Gemini itself is an air sign – so this ‘unconscious emotionalism’ comes from and comes to us (“to light”) via the realm of mentality, thought, verbalism and choice. It will also be filled with that Gemini tendency towards ‘much, more, many, varied and variable’ which as we’ve sorted through before (in talking about the Gemini stars Castor and Pollux) tends to go for the (Castor) ‘sheer strength of numbers’ where ultimately it’s the (Pollux) thoughtful choice – replete with sacrifice where necessary – which saves the day.

And lets remember also…the ‘lit lens’ (if you will) – the Alcyone ‘quality’ through which all this Gemini-ism is funneled (yes, I just made up that word!) is still Taurean. It still aims to fulfill our personal sense of security, importance, satisfaction with our place in the world – all that.

As I started thinking through all this it didn’t seem remarkable to me – considering these ideas – that it’s just since 2000 that we’ve had the invention and rise of things like Facebook and Twitter. Particularly since whenever we find references to ‘the unconscious’ that’s not just ours but the global unconscious…the whole, the mass, that which connects us all or which is common to us all…things like Facebook and Twitter would seem to apply.

But to really understand Alcyone, we need to add in her myth. For one, Alcyone is one of the Pleiades. Seven in number, the Pleiades were the daughters of a sea-nymph (more water equals more emotion) and Atlas – the one person saddled with the task of holding the entire world on his shoulders.

 A wonderful rendition of Atlas holding the weight of a world which here is beautifully fashioned from a Nautilus

(circa 1630, housed at the Walters Art Museum)

As a group, the Pleiades were in service to Artemis – sister of Apollo. Associated with everything ‘under the Moon’ and always referred to as chaste (besides which she was the goddess of hunting and the chase) Artemis symbolizes the need to reflect on what we do and why we do it…and the Pleiades serve this cause.

We can guess that papa Atlas was probably happy with his daughters’ choice of partner, too. Not that in those primal times there was all that much choice of course.

Three of the sisters (Maia, Electra and Taygete) were taken in by Zeus. One was claimed by Ares and another turned Orion the hunter down for (of all people!) Sisyphus.

Bad choice, that. Sisyphus ends up being one of the great sinners in all of Greek myth and in astrological form embodies that edgy testiness we feel when we know we can take advantage of a situation (or person) and know we shouldn’t. The fact that Sisyphus falls prey to his inner carnal weakness is a commentary on how easy it is to do just that.

Even if we always pay. Maybe the injured party doesn’t catch us. Maybe we get away with the nasty moment, the illicit act, the misuse of power.

The truth is, we only get away with it on the surface. We always know. We will always bear the scar of having known we did ill when we didn’t have to.

I’m really thinking this one sister would have done better to marry the hunter. At least Orion has a fabulous belt. As the story goes, he chased all the Pleiades – and caught not a one of them.

Maybe he wasn’t that good a hunter?

As for Alcyone, she and her sister Celaeno were claimed by Poseidon (aka Neptune) which in underscoring the idea of emotionalism tells us that Alcyone is part of the urge – even that which ‘goads’ us to become part of the ‘emotional mass consciousness’ of life which has come to be part of life really since the year 2000.

 The Pleiades by Elihu Vedder

(1885, oil on canvas, housed at Metropolitan Museum of Art NYC)

The ‘up’ side of 0 Gemini is that it implies a fresh mentality. For those of us born prior to the year 2000 we are challenged by the new and challenged to reformulate our perspective on life as a whole. For those born after September of 2000 (the month Alcyone moves into Gemini) the whole of life…and their life will be part of this new and different world of communication and perception.

Yes, it’s something to think about, parents. Your kids are made not of ‘different stuff’ than we are, but along a different line of perspective than we were born with. What we have had to learn will be native to our children, who will grow up in a world which indeed has the ability to see into the depths of our lives as through a glass-bottomed boat.

Of course there’s a down side to 0 Gemini too. That down side is the naiveté, the vulnerability which comes as the other side of a fresh, clean outlook. 0 Gemini is really Gemini at its least experienced…and thus probably at Gemini’s least reflective.

Maybe self-measured is a better way to put it.

And that may mean that Alcyone is asking us to ask ourselves 'what's the point?' before we take something on. Before we join that crowd. Before we sign onto that standard. Or even taken on that job.

Also to be considered here is how at 0 Gemini, the Alcyone ‘vibe’ is also colored by Algol - what with Algol being currently positioned at 26 Taurus. But then, after rolling through the star charts back to about 2,000 BCE and forward to 2,200 CE, it seems to have always been that way.

So Alcyone - which we're seeing here as a sign about our ability to do things - may 'suffer' some from the Algol 'because I can' sort of vibe. Hence malice. Hence materialism. Hence....

A star on the tip of Taurus horn…is that life goading us? Is that us human types attempting to ward off that which makes us uncomfortable? Is that 'I only want the cherry on top, never mind what it takes to milk the cows and make ice cream' marking us as self-indulgent and unrealistically so?

Maybe yes.

Yet at the same time, through the implied connection with Neptune and Artemis, Alcyone would also seem to represent a myriad of possibilities which we tap into through recognizing how we are connected to others. And how that connectivity and our ability to 'drive the point home' needs to be judiciously used if we hope to achieve our aims and not just get put out to pasture in the regards of other people.

Our new age is filled with new prospects which we can tap into, of course. But to make the most of that, maybe we need to look deep inside our Self. Maybe we need to be honest about how secure or insecure we really are and how that plays out in our lives...how it affects our relationships and our ability to relate to others and be related to in turn.

The bull is a noble beast. Yet plenty of bulls will shake their heads and threaten even when there's no evidence of danger.

What is our point? What do we lead with? Do we over-react? If so, why do we do that? What do we need to do to understanding our own feelings - and how that which stirs us doesn't just connect us to one another, but is probably the very thing which humans have most in common?
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Mars in Sagittarius: Headings versus Headaches

 Mars thin...sometimes described as 'tenuous' atmosphere as photographed by the Viking Orbiter (photo credit: NASA-JPL, 1976)

Mars is entering Sagittarius on Sunday, October 7th at 3:22 in the morning, UT/+0 time.

Generally speaking, as an astrologer I think of Mars entering Sagittarius and I say ‘oh boy – everyone’s going to be out there living to the max!’

To me, Mars in Sagittarius connotes good things. Active things. Trying-it-out new efforts, new attitudes, a renewed willingness to hear others out and listen to new ideas. Mars in Sagittarius fairly reeks of open our minds to the improbable but possible. The startlingly stunning, but real.

Okay…so full confession here, I do have a natal Mars in Sagittarius. Conjunct asteroid Scheherazade, my Sag Mars is a validation of my life as a writer. It doesn't matter what field I work in...eventually I end up writing.

And yes, this does mean I'll soon be getting a new Mars Return. Also yes - all such returns are highly informative!

But when I erect my personal Mars Return chart, you can also bet I'll be thinking about this Mars/Sagittarius ingress.

 Mars entering Sagittarius

October 7, 2012 - 3:22 a.m. UT/+0 - Aries Wheel

(location not specific)

And oh boy - is this an interesting chart, or what?!!

The first thing I notice (and yes, I'm looking at a highly detailed version of what's posted here) is that as Mars reaches 0 Sagittarius, asteroid Medusa is sitting right there.

That's right - right there at 0 Sagittarius.

And five degrees ahead? There stands Juno.

And four degrees behind?

There sits the Scorpio North Node.

Here's a snip from my screen view:

Medusa is one of the most interesting asteroids around. If you haven’t read a full discussion on it, here is a LINK to an article I’ve written on the subject. But for those who don’t have time for that at the moment (don’t worry, it’ll still be here later), suffice it to say that Medusa encompasses all of our fears about what we might learn…most of all about our Self.

That ‘hair turned to snakes’ Medusa thing and her gaze ‘turning us to stone’ – that isn’t about others. That’s about us, about how scared we each can be to learn things about ourselves which causes us to simply be scared of who we are. Or could be. Or have been. Where we see Medusa, we see where we are apt to try our hardest not to have to look. We’ll skate and avoid and deflect and evade, all in an effort not to see the truth.

And that truth is not about the thing we’re seeing. It’s about our reaction to it. It’s about us – our feelings and how we do or don’t govern them, how we do or don’t own them, how we do or don’t allow ourselves to feel them….or at the other end of the spectrum, how we do or don’t govern or reign them in – maybe take responsibility for them.

That part of the Medusa tale speaks volumes about Juno being positioned here at 5 Sagittarius. Juno (another name for Hera, wife of Zeus - aka Jupiter)…Juno is a guardian and regulator. When all is well and our Juno is well placed, we’re good with taking care of our home, our family, our responsibilities, our job, our mentality, our emotions – the whole enchilada.

When Juno is iffy in the natal chart, or during periods of stress even the best of us will squirm and quake. The question is however, will we give way? Will we allow ourselves to let our discomfort cause us to run away instead of doing something which could benefit us in the long run? Or maybe something which could help someone out – even heal some terrible wound?

Juno is about priorities. Most often you’ll hear me speak of Juno as self-discipline because that’s what it takes to get ourselves to face life’s music no matter how discordant we think it sounds. To have Juno just ahead of Mars says that some of us need to be prepared to ‘discipline’ ourselves through a process soon to come.

That could be just cleaning the garage. Or maybe you need to start a new business. Or maybe you need to admit you’ve made some terrible mistake or misjudgment somewhere along the way. Maybe you need to admit your mortality? Or your irresponsibility. Or your unwillingness to feel your own vulnerabilities, hurts, anger or disappointment.

The issue is not about ‘them.’ It’s not about whether you can tell them…it’s about your ability to deal with the truth of who you are and discipline yourself to be the person you really want to be.

Juno and Medusa are a really and truly tough pair. I know one fellow with Medusa-conjunct-Sun who does a very tough job and does everything he can not to be involved in it. As a result, he fails the standards he would like to think he lives…and the more the process goes on, the more upset with himself he becomes and the less he wants to admit that he’s upset or feel the upset….

Medusa can be a quagmire. Medusa is a tough, tough point – and we all have one. Yours may not be conjunct your Sun, but it’s somewhere.

As for Juno, I know probably fifty or so people who have very prominent Juno’s in their natal charts (I went on a Juno study kick last year, hence this particular collection of people and charts). Out of the fifty people with prominent Juno positions, so far forty-nine of them have revealed their ability to be highly disciplined people UNTIL you hit those couple of vulnerable spots…at which point someone else becomes the object of their ‘you need to…’ disciplinary chant.

Juno’s interesting. It’s not the emotional molasses pool Medusa is…no, Juno is less sticky than Medusa but tougher. Our Medusa factor is squishy. And if you learn to master your Medusa factor you will be looked upon by friends, foes and various standers-by as pretty awesome, but tough – probably beyond their tolerance.

Like attracts like. Remember that. When you work to improve your life you automatically run the risk of needing a whole new herd of friends to run with. Why? Because people aren’t all that good at tolerating differences. Tons of people partner (and marry) based on someone who matches them at their lowest and weakest point instead of their strongest. Then, when one person grows, the marriage (or partnership) ends. Our wanting someone to ‘feel’ us is usually about our fears, our lack of willingness to try, our being sick and tired of being the whole who ‘always has to…’

Who’s disappointed when we don’t do that ‘always’ thing? Them, you say? Uh, no. Us. We’re disappointed that they don’t like us in spite of our not trying.

That’s Juno. That irritation with them is really about us. That’s our Juno responding to the ongoing, life-long conversation we all have with ourselves about what we need to do, what we can slough off, what we can leave for later, what we need to do now…all that stuff.

(And now that you know more about the astrology of Juno and Medusa than you had on today’s to-do list, now we're going to add in the North Node!)

(The NORTH NODE?)

The Nodes just changed signs – the blog on which is found HERE. Suffice it to say that the North Node always (always, always, always) represents that which we should do …and which we don’t really want to do…which in this case is to find solutions which really-o, truly-o work for EVERYBODY equally. That may not be ‘equal’ in the same sense, but the amount of satisfaction from ‘the thing’ should be equal.

For instance: ask a half-dozen people what they want from a primary relationship and you may end up with a list which goes like this…one for love, one for companionship (so they won’t be alone), one for sex, one for financial security, one so they can have children and one so that their parents will stop going around whining ‘oh where did I go wrong…?’.

The numbers you can argue. The point is, people do things for different reasons. And when it comes to the Scorpio department of life – which in this case involves your doing that thing you don’t really want to do and which seems soooooo burdensome and so NOT what you want to be doing with your life…not only do you have to do the thing, but you have to care that everybody gets an equal share of satisfaction out of it.

Got it? NOBODY likes their North Node. The South Node? Hey, everybody likes their South Node – which in Taurus is wanting it OUR way….not THEIR way.

(Sometimes as I write these blogs I get the vision of the entire human race as a bunch of kids about to flunk ‘play nice in the sandbox’ class...)

 Children playing in a Harrisonburg, Virginia Our Community Place sandbox

(photo credit: Artexerxes, June 2008)

The combination of all this has Mars entering Sagittarius with our being afraid of what lies ahead or studiously ignoring that which is back there in time…or simply lurking in the back of their mind. We know we have to get to it, but…

And wait – there’s more!

(I know…who can wait, right?)

Just to make this all more juicy, Mars’ ingress position (0 Sagittarius) is the ‘starting point’ of a mutable t-square.

As portrayed by this t-square, everything we’ve just discussed is a factor in some current situation. The ‘object’ of the t-square being the South Node (in Taurus) conjunct Black Moon Lilith in early Gemini – this is  something not every exotic (read: all too common) in our lives - wanting to get ‘the thing’ over and done so you don’t have to talk…or even think about “it” anymore.

That “it” may be what you need to get through to achieve freedom from the problem-situation-challenge (etc.). Or “it” may be the situation itself.

Not noted on the above diagram (sometimes things get by me in the moment, sorry...!) are two fixed stars which enter into this discussion. The first is Mirfak - also known as Alpha Perseus. Positioned at 2 Gemini and thus exactly conjunct Black Moon Lilith and soon to be opposed by transiting Mars (around October 9-11, depending on what time zone you're in), Mirfak has two main thrusts and a duality which fits its position in Gemini.

The first part of the question asks whether we are courageous, or merely into competition or competition's nasty brother, arguing.

The second question asks us what's the honorable (respect-generating) path to follow and if we're going to follow it.

In conjunction with Black Moon Lilith, Mirfak describes a (Gemini) choice of how to act and why to act that way, with the understanding that there is a universal response to decisions we make on how to act and what sort of standards to hold ourselves to.

The second star is Alcyone. Currently positioned at 0 Gemini and therefore in exact opposition to the Mars-Sagittarius ingress, Alcyone (also known as Eta Taurus) is worthy of a blog post on its own (I'll schedule that for later in the month - not to worry!) but in short, a star which at some level represents the linking of our spirit - the essence of who we are - with our life, what we do and how well or not well that functions.

With Black Moon Lilith involved here, there's a whole statement being made about how you are affecting your world as seen through how you are being received and respected BY your world.

Our lives are very separate. We each live with unique circumstances and considerations. We may be very 'popular' or successful in an area of life which gives us one thing but not another. As with all things Gemini, the big question is priorities. If one thing is going well and another thing is going not so well, the real question is which is more important to your life?

The Black Moon in conjunction with Mirfak and Alcyone says we're all missing some component in our equation. Most important are those which cause us to not get where we want or...even worse...to be trying, trying, trying without getting any positive responses.

Constellations Perseus and Triangulum from the Mercator Globes

in Harvard University's Map Collection

(Gerald Mercator 1512-1594)

So the 'goal' now is to re-balance life while (Mars in Sagittarius) growing your effectiveness and ability to operate in that life. As part of this Mars ingress (and the involved t-square) we are being asked to focus and work on our lives with particular attention to how well our choices are working (or have/haven't worked) and whether this means we need a shift or re-orientation in our priorities. With Mirfak in this picture, we either want our challenges to work/work out for us here in this next six weeks or so, or to at least understand why and where they aren't working so we can fix that - all while maintaining some modicum of honorable behavior or responsible priorities - in short, whatever is required to not just 'get the job done' but to earn/maintain the respect of others in the process.

And now that we understand the goal, back to the challenge - the 't' in the t-square!

So what of this particular 't'? Composed of Neptune-Fomalhaut-Chiron, we know that anywhere where we've tried to cut corners (in life, in our heads, in our hearts), we stand to experience emotional comfort. And as if that wasn't itchy enough, we also seem to have a Neptune-Fomalhaut-Chiron request (read: requirement) to self-examine ourselves for behaviors which...whether they're 'uber-good' (pure as driven snow) or rather off into the corruption ditch, have to do with our efforts NOT to have to confront our own vulnerabilities.

Especially where that may pertain to mistakes we have made.

This sounds very much like a six-week transiting pain in the low back (or neck, depending). And it well may be just that! But it's also the solution to life's current puzzles.

How would that work? Well...Mercury/Saturn in Scorpio here is talk to them…or think through it, step by step. (Same parameters on “it” as before.) And the Moon-Ceres part of this? That’s have a plan or get a plan. So if you need to talk to someone, think through what you need to say. Think through what questions you may get asked.

Your (Ceres) plan is to get through what you need to do. Something needs to be cleared up, cleared out or made to function dependably and productively in order for you to get past your emotional road block.

That means you either haven’t yet thought things through (Saturn-Mercury) or your (Ceres-Moon) plan has a flaw in it that you don’t want to acknowledge.
The giant kicker in this configuration – which let’s remember, is going to play out through the next six weeks while Mars transits Sagittarius – is that Fomalhaut is involved.

Fomalhaut/Chiron is pain, painful circumstances or ‘progress being injured’ by something which isn’t wholesome. Fomalhaut/Neptune is a wavering ‘is it real, is it not real, is it me, is it them’ sort of quality which creates discomfort of whatever sort.

Still, Mercury/Saturn in Scorpio spell a way forward: finding out the facts and sorting everything out from there in spite of the emotional discomfort involved.
It’s music-facing time!

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Just as a sidebar note here…any time we see a connection between Neptune and Saturn there is a marked chance for compulsion/need driven activities which - whether habitual, addictive or otherwise amount to compensations or 'walls' again the difficulty somebody is having with the idea of dealing with life (reality) on the emotional level.

With Saturn in Scorpio this energy is particularly likely to surface as efforts to deny culpability, involvement, guilt, debts or responsibilities - particularly those which involve 'Saturn things' like laws, contracts and career matters and/or Saturn-Scorpio 'transactional' issues which, whether they involve money or not, are plainly based on trust or emotional responsibility.

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The rule with t-squares is what it is: until we get past the ‘my ego’ factor described by the ‘t’, we get bounced back to the start of the configuration. In this case that means getting bounced back to that Mars-Juno-North Node knowing you need to face doing it even though you don’t want to.

So what happens if you do nothing?

Ordinarily, that’s a maybe this, maybe that sort of question. But in this case, there’s going to be a solar eclipse on November 13th.

AND...as that solar eclipse occurs, Mars is going to be rolling across 27 Sagittarius – the degree of the Galactic Center of our local Milky Way galaxy.

The Galactic Center has a rule: what you get out of life depends on what (how well) you contribute to that life.

Being in Sagittarius, this is not 'local.' It cannot just be about you or your chosen few.

Being at 27 Sagittarius (part of the last decan/third of the sign), YOU don't get to decide how worthy you or your contributions are - the world (other people and worldly institutions) do that! 

Solar eclipses are a big astrological deal. So particularly if life is not going your way, there's some tall thinking which deserves some priority, quality time in your near future...lest you regret not having stopped to think in the long run.

We always say that the last six-to-eight weeks before a Solar Eclipse represent a 'breakdown' period. Anything which you know (in your heart, head, or otherwise) is not working needs letting go of. 'That' - whatever it is - is not your answer, your solution, even your safe harbor at this time. You need to let go, move on and accept that life...inclusive of your life...is changing/has changed.

We'll be talking more about the Solar Eclipse in days (and weeks) to come. But this Mars entering Sagittarius event? That's a tick-tick-tick of the cosmic clock.

What is it time for in your life?  
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