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.

* * * * * * * * * *

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!

* * * * * * * * * *

(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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Sun into Sagittarius, Mercury into Shadow: Working the Perspectives

A rendering of the 'impossible cube'

So...yesterday was the 2010 edition of a Taurus Full Moon.

And today, we enter into a zone where everything that Full Moon was turns into repercussions, explorations, adjustments and eye-opening moments of realization as the Sun enters Sagittarius and Mercury crosses over into the shadow of what will be a three-week December retrograde.

And yes, it's all about how you see things - beginning with what we've learned so recently on how well (or not well) our values, methods, priorities and choices mesh or don't mesh with others - that Scorpio functionality poke we got from yesterday's Full Moon.

Considering that Full Moon was at 29 Taurus (meaning the Sun was at 29 Scorpio), that makes today the day that the Sun enters Sagittarius, a fire sign known for expansive thinking, discoveries of any and all types... and fiery attitudes, pursuits and proclamations.

Of the three signs in the worldly/interactive zodiacal quadrant (Libra-Scorpio-Sagittarius) one is an airy sign of ideas, theories and 'meetings of the mind' (Libra)... one is an emotional water sign where we experience our own feelings through contending with life and others (Scorpio)....and one is our coming up with ways to affect the world and/or testing out those ideas in the world.

These signs are not just individual experiences. They're a process. Through our interactions with others we experience our Self and recognize what works and what doesn't work. And whether we win or lose, we emerge from the crucible of realization (Scorpio) generally ready to tell the whole world what we've learned - or to set off in the directions of our goals yet again.

That's the Sagittarius part of the process.

Yet as those born under Sun in Sagittarius will probably tell you, the Sagittarian vibe is not just about getting on with what we want to do. The whole idea of Sagittarius involves seeing what works and what doesn't work.

So if you skated (slouched, sauntered, stalked, scurried) or otherwise weathered this year's Scorpio testing without making changes - to life, to your approach, to your companions or how you go about picking what you choose to do and who you choose to do it with - then prepare yourself. These weeks ahead are likely to be full of toe-stubs and rebuffs.

And yes, the occasional 'that's brilliant!' too.

Interestingly, this 'interactive' quarter of the zodiac which has no earth 'tangibility' in it is all about trying to make things happen and be/become real. Does that make sense? It should, if you think in terms of that 'grass-is-greener' sort of logic. Each quarter of the zodiac includes three signs, and in each quadrant, what we are seeking has to do with the missing element.

It's sort of life's version of 'fill in the blank,' yes!

 After Aristotle, these were the four Hellenistic

elements - the basis of the ancient Greek concept of physics.

The Sun representing life, will, energy, we can expect the pace of life to pick up and carry us forward through the next month or so - interestingly (and quite tellingly) in sync with the holiday season.

Fast pace, more energy...how is it that the 'busiest' time of the year for most folks (the holiday season) is supported by this karmic, cosmic timing?

Some would say this is a sign of a 'sentient' Being overseeing all of life. But maybe this is just the way life is made. Maybe the fabric of life is just made so that the things which work because of such juxtapositions carry on and become traditions?

Could be. It just could be.

The other thing happening to day is that Mercury is reaching 19 Sagittarius - the degree it will ultimately come back to at the end of its upcoming December retrograde. This forward (to retrograde) /backward (during retrograde) /forward (after retrograde ends) pattern is known as the 'shadow' of the retrograde. Every planet which goes retrograde - which would be everything except the Sun and Moon - describes a 'process' and a period of time bracketed by its periodic retrogrades.

This one starts in Sagittarius, specifically in an emotional degree known for difficulties with the conventional and repercussions of rebelliousness. Nineteen being the last of Sagittarius' emotional degrees there would seem to be a 'climactic' sense of feeling or  conviction here; lore speaks of defeats and difficulties arising out of this degree bringing on bitterness and vengeance.

That this crossing into its retrograde shadow happens with Mercury conjunct Hybris underscores needs to be right and the lengths some will go to be right - or at least to appear that way.

And yet...as postulated originally by astrologer Alex Miller with everything found so far in my own work backing this up - where goes Hybris, there to we find an eventual 'comeuppance.' With this degree also being flavored by the 'alternative reality' of a galactic Black Hole, this may thus be the arrogant pronouncement...or the discovery that someone (even...yuk!...you!) have been oh-so-very wrong.

Given that this cycle concerns Mercury, symbol of thought, communication and daily doings from errands to neighbors to household matters and such...there are like as not parts and details and factors involved no, no matter what happens.

For some, the situation will evolve, take a turn at the station/retrograde and resolve at Mercury's station/direct in late December.

For others, this is a moment of decision which will take from now through Mercury's retrograde to set up, work out or get put in order.

For still another group, this moment launches a month-plus period of personal upheaval.

Whatever happens, watch for events which happen as we go into retrograde (December 10 at 12:05 UT/+0) and come out of retrograde on December 30 (7:22 UT/0+). As with all retrogrades, the day or two to either side of these dates is significant. Information you want or need is not expected to be fully forthcoming until retrograde ends, too. Something is holding you back from being 'fully operational' in some sense.

Many people will welcome this Mercurial 'umbrella' effect ...or at least manifest it as their turning their attention to family and/or holiday matters, forget everything else.

And yet, this can be problematic. Mercury in Sagittarius is notoriously sloppy, hasty, overstated, exaggerated and demanding. Yes, even selfish.

And yes, this goes all the way to the famous 'cutting my nose off to spite my face' degree. So don't be shocked if there's something important or difficult (or even just emotionally hard to grapple with) on the table about now and someone abandons the conversational ship.

Some people will push for what they want now - screw  the cost. Right or wrong, sensible or not, maybe even legal or not, safe or not, possible or not....

You get the idea.

And yet with all that said, this may also be the moment when good sense finally dawns. It sort of depends on where you are in what area of your life coming to this day and time....particularly as Mercury is going retrograde at the degree of Pluto's turning last April.

Had a big turn of events this year? Stand by for the next act...or what comes now, because of (or out of) what happened...or changed...or was denied...or left not fully dealt with back then.

Mars/Mercury/Pallas: Are we Looking, Seeing or Seeking ?

 The eye of an Antarctic Krill 

photo credit: Gerd Alberti and Uwe Kils

Some moments are simply made for wonder. Some are simply made for wondering.

Then again, there are those moments, days and times which just make you wonder...why?

So let's start off by remembering that Venus and Jupiter have just gone direct as Polyhymnia went retrograde. Thus we're all primed to get going, and today may well feel like just that right day to head up and out and gain ground and get things going.

But it does pay to think things through.

And that's probably the message. REALLY, I mean - the message? Here?

Mercury is about the plan. The choice. The thought, the communicating, the making all those little details fit together.

Problem: Mercury is in Sagittarius. Mercury is never at its finest in Sagittarius. It either acts in haste, oversteps its bounds, opts for the flight of fancy which will never work or simply shoots its mouth off.

Well channeled, Mercury in Sagittarius can be seeing how things can work. Envisioning the really great solution. Getting where you could go if you (or everyone) was of a mind to get it right.

You can see the problem, right? One group is 'right here, right now' and the other is 'defer the gratification.' Given that Mercury in Sagittarius tends to opt for right now, it takes real effort, real thinking to keep ourselves in check and not overstep those bounds, insert the foot into the mouth (and beyond) or otherwise screw things up with trying to leap tall buildings in a single bound, forgetting we're not Superman.

No, you really aren't Superman...what, is that news?

So we have this instinct to leap buildings (or Grand Canyons). And there's just enough Mars in Sagittarius bravado, joie de vivre, raw enthusiasm (call it what you like) in today and tomorrow's Mix-de-Jour that our level of confidence, determination and/or impatience is really hard, hard, HARD to resist.

And should we?

That depends on how you feel about the greater concept of wisdom - here embodied by Pallas.

Clearly Pallas in any 3-way conjunction says there's an opportunity to think things through and do 'the wise thing.' But given the urgency of Mars 'wannas' and the restlessness so typical of Mercury in Sag...does Pallas  represent enough stabilizing energy to keep us on track?

Answer: if we are wise enough (Pallas) to understand the value of wisdom (Pallas) over urges and in urgent/urgent-feeling moments, probably yes.

Thus all (sigh...) comes down to a matter of how we consciously (wisely?) prioritize our internal workings. Will we think before we act? Will we say 'I don't have time for that now !' and live to say 'ooooh, maybe I should have thought about that?'

Sagittarius being known for fervency and conviction (for right or wrong) Pallas as companion to Mars/Mercury...IN an emotional degree....of a sign (Sagittarius) which is so much all about the process and 'doing' says we may blow others off now. Or we may blow off/cast aside our hesitancy or the misgivings which at other times would be keeping us stuck like a fly mired on superglue flypaper.

With all that in mind, we turn to the degree of this event: 17 Sagittarius. And what does tradition say about 17 Sag? It says this is a degree known for naive optimism, artistic and intuitive instinct plus a lovely dappling of sensitivity suggests we may just burst forth in creative flower.

Except for....

Except for what? Oh, what now...!

(stamping of impatient feet...oh, I so hear you!)

Trust me, I wouldn't bring it up if this wasn't an impressive little quartet of symbols: Kassandra, Ixion (shudder here, please) Lachesis and...Hybris.

We start with Kassandra, since this is the asteroid at the beginning of the chain. Sitting at 15 Sagittarius, Kassandra is a reference to something which had a spectacular beginning...but some insight which wasn't truly "believed." This goes back to who Kassandra was: a prophet of Delphi who offended her boss (god Apollo) by refusing to have sex with him, in return for which he cursed her to 'always being right and never being believed.'

(Sounds like a few marriages I know of, but that's besides the point...)

 Cassandra seeking the protection of Pallas (wisdom) to mitigate
the curse of Apollo (enlightenment which is never believed). 
This 1877 statue by Aime Millet is in the garden of France's
Tuilleries - an interesting comment on the time, seeing as its
creation was during the reign of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette,
both of whom would find themselves not believed and
incarcerated in the Tuilleries not twenty years later.

Link to article on Marie Antoinette

 

There are at least two ways to look at this Kassandra-at-15, Pallas/Mars/Mercury-at-17 thing. One is to say that whatever Kassandra represents, it's been put behind you. 15 comes before 17? So if 17 is "now" then 15 was 'two somethings ago.'

In astrology we call this 'progression theory' - but let's not get technical. Lust say the measure is pretty fluid: the "two ago" thing could be hours, days, weeks, months, years....relationships, jobs...any "two ago" you would care to throw in the pot.

It also could be many things. This is a common mistake people (even astrologers!) make with astrology - the reference is not merely a reference to just one thing.

And hey, that goes really well with the Sagittarian theme, since Sag is always into 'more' and 'expanding' those horizons and theories and abilities and so on.

So - with Kassandra 'two' behind the moment, you may have recognized an error (the "truth of the lie") and have already dealt with it. Or you may be now facing repercussions from it. Or it may represent something you still don't believe.

(Ah yes, denial is such a wonderful tragedy.)

Moving on we come to Ixion at 16 Sagittarius: "one" past Kassandra and "one" before now.

If you don't know the whole story of Ixion, it's a point worth understanding. Of all the "new fangled" points in astrology, if someone asked for a vote on which three they'd name as 'most potent,' Ixion would definitely head my personal list.

Like as not, we all have an Ixion (like other things we all have one of) and we all act out the Ixion drama at lest once or twice (or a dozen times) in our lifetime. So if you haven't read it, here's the link to the article on Ixion.

Basically, Ixion symbolizes our ideas of grandiosity, entitlement and self-involvement...in ways which don't turn out so well for us. One of the handful of Neptune-controlled 'Plutino' gang, Ixion situations tap into our  (generally) 'baser' nature.

And again, we all have Ixion in our chart...and ignorance is no guarantee of bliss here - far from it!

Positioned in a degree which is about life's 'pleasures' and specifically about our ability to maintain and sustain ourselves properly in relationships, Ixion here is referred to as a 'psychological contamination' with emphasis on one's ability to breathe. And yes, this could just mean something "takes your breath away" in the nicest way ...except for that little...uh...IXION part.

But again, this degree is "one" behind the Pallas-Mars-Mercury conjunction. So....was there something you didn't believe or didn't understand when it was said to you? (And yes, don't you hate it how prophecies are sometimes so oblique?) Has that turned into some sort of 'breath taking' moment?

Or maybe you're moving past that breath-taking moment? With Ixion at 16 and today's triumvirate of symbols at 17, if you had some seriously wrenching (or "breath taking") moment one day, week, month, year (etc.) ago - now may be when you actually may do something (Mars/Mercury) to move past it. You may now know or understand (Pallas) 'why' that happened and what it means in/to your life and be ready to move on.

In fact, you may be much the wiser (Pallas) person for such events.

Continuing our little lesson in astrological conjugation, this could be you arriving at a moment (Lachesis) of opportunity (Mars/Mercury) which you know (Pallas) won't or can't last. Or a decision (Pallas/Mercury) of what to do (Mars). 

Or maybe...with Lachesis (the symbol of 'duration') being in exact conjunction with today's trio of symbols, maybe that means something you want to do or have been doing (Mars/Mercury) gets put on (Lachesis) hold.

Or maybe you just have to wait (Lachesis) for an answer to some question (Pallas)? Sometimes that's all we can do. So we sit there and subconciously (Pallas/Mercury)  listen to the tick...tock...tick...tock...of each minute's passage, knowing (Pallas) that we truly have to wait however long (Lachesis) until there comes that moment when what we need to move on with - be it permission or information or the car keys - until that finally arrives (Mars/Mercury).

 The face of Westinister's Big Ben,
one of the most famous tick-tock'ers around.

Yet even after all this, we still have to face Hybris.

Hybris is an interesting point in that there's so very little written about it. The name is thought to have been derived from the Greek 'hubris' meaning "arrogance." A little looking into the term reveals that it's related to 'hybrid' and thus a 'forced interlocking' which here (with Hybris pictured "one" ahead at 18 Sagittarius) means there's something about to be 'inserted' into our efforts, dynamics, considerations...whatever it is we're up to at the moment.

And considering the relationship between 'hybris' and 'hubris' we shouldn't count on it being totally pleasant. Or even our being pleasant, come to think about it. There's a whole little theme here about trying to 'mate'  the 'tame' with the 'wild' which at 18 Sagittarius has a tendency to 'go too far.' The degree itself has a reputation for 'imbalance' which can manifest simply or in a truly devastating way. This is an 'internalizing' degree, suggesting that it's what's going on inside us which is the possible source of trouble.

Like we needed more of that what with Mars/Mercury and Ixion...plus Kassandra?

Another of the thousands of main belt asteroids, at it's farthest, Hybris is pretty much at the center of the pack. It is thus native to our thinking and our operations - we all have to deal with (and accept) that we have not only a capacity for arrogance (if that's what we take the point to mean) but a tendency to manifest that.

Does that mean it's just 'there' and we don't have to do/care/take responsibility for it? Probably not, though by where Hybris falls in your chart we also can like-as-not tell whether you tend to be someone who 'deals' with these tendencies as part of your personal responsibility quotient - or whether you're one of those people who needs to get faced off and knocked down before you realize you're totally out of line.

Being one of the points on a list sent to me by astrologer Alex Miller during my 'new point' studies we have at least one vote (Alex') for Hybris as the psychological inability to grasp the consequences of our actions and/or the thought that you can 'get away' with something - even that some rule or law doesn't apply to you. In looking at Hybris in charts and considering that its perihelion point (the point at which it's closest to Earth: Hybris' "delivery") is - as it happens - just inside Kassandra's.

So when Hybris actions/choices/activities come 'to us' that which we 'didn't believe' (Kassandra) proves true.

And that lies ahead.

(Kind of makes you want to look up your Hybris, doesn't it? Well, check the sidebar - use the link to Serennu.com, which has an extensive asteroid ephemeris base, and yes, is accurate. Just remember to use a "list" format, a "360 sort" and dd/mm/yy date formats, not mm/dd/yy date formats).

But before you go dashing away, let's just close here. All and all, this seems to be a moment for collecting our recollections and moving on from there. What that entails, what we each need to consider and contend with - that obviously varies.

Waters have been rocky, yes. We've had to take shelter in safe harbors as we could.

Now the way opens before us. Where do we want to go? Do we actually want to go there? What will it take to get where we want to go in life, and who do we want to be along the way and when we get there?

 (November 2007) an English seascape just after sunset. 

photo credit: rnbc

Eos Direct: Instinctual Awareness

 Eos by William Adolphe Bouguereau (1881)

As happens among astrologers, I mentioned something about studying 'new' celestial objects (new to me, not the cosmos) to fellow astrologer Alex Miller. He responded by sending me a list of non-traditional points he'd been working with for some time. 

On said list was Eos. And since Eos is going direct at 10:46 (UT) on November 12th, this seems a good time to focus on Eos (a good word to use with Eos!) as she is indeed what Alex suggested ("insatiable appetite") and yet more. And operationally, a different - in the general sense - than the term 'appetite' might imply.

And there is the fact that Alex is a chef. (And a good one, I might add...) Which brings me to a note about astrologers: the more you know about who they are, the more you can tease out what might be their natural inclination from 'just the facts, ma'am!'.

But starting with Alex' notation of 'insatiable appetite' it soon became plain to me that Eos plainly represents a fixation - or (yes,) focus.

Yet then there's the myth. The myth about the Eos of Greece (known to the Romans as Aurora) has her being none other than the Dawn. Probably most famously described by Homer as Eos 'the rosy fingered,' most of us don't know much about Eos - and those who do may well think of her as a 'minor player' in the world of myth and therefore in our lives.

Well, yes and no. The Greek/Roman gods we know the most about - Zeus/Jupiter, Apollo, Ares/Mars, Aphrodite/Venus, Neptune (and so on) - they may have just had good PR back in the day.

Then again, the 'common list' is more about our everyday lives, challenges and what we might refer to as the 'psychological facets' of our lives - how we cope, what we go through in making decisions, our personal responses to life as dished out to us so often in a muddled, squiggly heap.

But those other gods? Gods like Typhon (primal urges),  Selene (the disc of the Moon), and Oceanus (the body of the ocean) they're the backdrop against which all the other stuff plays. They're the basics of existence where  better known gods are experiences. 

That doesn't make them less important, though it may make them (collectively) the Rodney Dangerfield of gods...they get no respect! (Well, until we meet up with them and there's a problem, that is.)

With that much sorted through, back to the rosy fingered thing - one of a very few specifics we have on Eos, as it happens. Are those rosy fingers an indication that Eos has something to do with good circulation and thus health? Maybe - but not probably directly. Another of the classic references to Eos is how she goes in advance of the Sun...which in mythic terms could be a reference to either Helios (the Sun as a source of energy and life) or Apollo, god of light and truth - and thus enlightenment. 

And that 'circulation' part...that would thus either be seen as the cycle of the day or in the sense that the light, the heat, the orb of the Sun -- it 'gets around' one might say.

There is also that Eos is pictured as going before the Sun, which if you think of this in Apollonian terms has Eos running before Apollo's chariot, drawn by his fire-breathing horses.

 Apollo and Aurora by Gerard de Lairesse (1671)

And yes, that does speak to a lot of running - which could well build the level of one's circulation (hence the rosy fingers).

On the other hand, if we take the Sun as Helios - the disc of the Sun - then we arrive at the concept of 'the burned hand teaches best.' Could Eos have tried to 'touch the Sun' and have burned her rosy little fingers?

The answer well may be yes - and yes. In other words, both applications may well be correct, as suggested by the Greek image of Eos as rising out of Oceanus - the primal ocean. And therein lies a big fat clue: Oceanus is water, and metaphysical water is always a reference to emotions or emotionality. And Oceanus not being our experience of or trying to cope with the currents and tides of emotions (which would be Neptune, he who tries to rule the ocean)...this would be emotionality as a basic instinct. 

Thus we have Eos arises out of instinct. 

And once we have that in mind, then Eos as a figure which runs ahead of 'the light of truth' (Apollo) is the instinctual search to gain more understanding (Alex Miller's 'insatiable appetite') while also trying to stay ahead and not 'get burned.'

A third idea which might apply? That we are each led - by our interests, desires, needs and notions.

With Eos 'arising' out of Oceanus, she may be a figure of complete emotionality, yes. But then, the 'rising out of' may well represent a parting where we leave the emotional part behind and in 'taking to the airs' adopt and airy (intellectual, conceptual, theoretical) point of view.

Which is it? That's probably told by where Eos is in your natal chart - by sign and house, just as what you are 'fixated on' or trying to understand or trying to get away from in your life seems to be well told by aspects to Eos in the natal chart.

Here I add an astrologer's note: in the charts I have looked at, most likely because Eos is a 'primal' background figure of instinct, the being bedeviled and the blessing this point can be in our chart seems to be told maybe by standard planets but more often by the greater plethora of the modern and rather encyclopedic list of astrological objects.

So! If you want to know where your own Eos is, hopefully your astrologer uses updated software. If not - or if you're working on your own, I suggest using Serennu.com. It's free, its accurate and best of all, Serennu offers a dazzling array of literally thousands of celestial objects you can inquire on by using their 'extra point' numerical list.

Just a couple of cautions here though: You may be better off asking for a '360 sort' and a 'list' rather than a chart. Depends how you see things, but I find for a quick reference it's much much easier. Also - if you live in a land of dates formatted like this (mm/dd/yy) remember to turn it around when you use Serennu. On the Serennu site, dates have to be entered as (dd/mm/yy).

But all that said, such details are a small price to pay for so much calculating power offered free of price. Though Serennu does - like astroPPM - take donations.

(What, you think astrologers live on starshine? Pffft!)

Okay...! Now....where were we? Oh yes - we've just come to the point of summarizing Eos as a point which focuses on what we want, need or desire (and thus focus on) in accordance with where it is in your chart by house, sign and accompanying celestial factors. By implication, as Alex Miller has noted, this is an insatiable point; one day follows another, life's quests continue. And thus Eos becomes the instinct, the motivation which drives us to find out more, learn more and not get burned by what we know. Fire (knowledge) and water (emotion) do not mix well - either water quenches fire (extinguishing our light or life) or there is a hissing cauldron of conflict, or just a fog...which is when Neptune gets you!

So Eos represents a life-long focal point: a figure of personal drives.

And where is Eos now? In Pisces. So are we shocked that all things Piscean (to name a few: faith, oil, pharmaceuticals, charity, fear of self/fear of self as projected onto others, intoxication, imprisonment, addiction, toxicity, sexual fantasies, spirituality, abandonment of reason, helplessness, the Jungian collective)....that these are all involved in 'issues of the day' personal and global?

 The zodiac sign of Pisces as pictured in the stained glass

of Chartres Cathedral (Chartres, France)

We shouldn't be. And as with any celestial object, as Eos goes direct, starting with the couple of days prior to the event and extending to two days after the station, Eos dynamics are going to be at their best...and worst. 

Or to put it in more Eos-like terms, needy and motivational.

 And remember - we've just been through a week of having Chiron, Damocles and (the biggie), Neptune go direct. So we are probably all a little worn down and a little porous. We are subject to being led astray - and maybe most of all (in that sense) by our own desires to escape (stay ahead of) some internal driving curve. We don't want to get burned. We don't want to get drowned. 

But burned by, what? Drowned by what? This is Pisces, so though we think the issue is the 'other' nine times out of ten it is us - and the tenth time its how we are letting others use us because we have some fantasy about what surrender really means.

There is chemical intoxication and there is spiritual intoxication and there is emotional intoxication. There is physical incarceration and/or abandonment, financial incarceration and/or abandonment, emotional incarceration and/or abandonment....all these are what we will hear about from people who don't want to feel it in themselves, who don't want to see themselves as 'part of the problem.'

And yet we all are.

The good news is that since this is the only Existence we have, and since Existence continues to exist, none of this is precisely fatal in the grandest of all schemes. Could it be damaging to an individual, system of thought, activity, nation or relationship? Of course that answer is yes.

All may be highly exacerbated now as the degree Eos is going direct in (27 Pisces) has a known reputation for 'non-reality' which runs the gamut from simple naivete and innocent ignorance to a dangerous (to self and others) lack of inhibitions which leads one to personal perversions and behaviors which are not only unacceptable but ultimately self-damaging. Things undertaken, delved into or demonstrated at this time will bear this hallmark. People will, like as not, cling to some form of immaturity as a way to protect their sense of internal security.

It's a mish-mosh of a moment and made none the easier here at Eos' 2010 station/direct by this occurrence happening under Venus retrograde.

And yet...those who recognize that this isn't about what we want but what we can learn if and where we are willing to bring our Oceanus-nurtured instincts into the realm of rational conceptualization (Venus being at this moment retrograde in Libra)...

With Venus conjunct Sisyphus, there is a temptation to use our power to just please ourselves, as corrupt a sentiment as that may be. Those who follow this path will ultimately bring themselves to eternal harm - but sometimes that what people want. And here, Eos pictures the temptation to literally drive ourselves to defeat so that we can be free of the need to keep trying.


As a member of the main asteroid belt, Eos is something we have to contend with on an everyday basis - in that space between the Mars urge and the Jupiter/Saturn realm of knowing/understanding (Jupiter) and achieving/fully realizing our goal (Saturn). That Eos' orbit is pretty much in the middle of the asteroid belt and that it varies not a lot suggests this its drives are intrinsic and that we have to (or at least should!) take our 'Eos quotient' into account in most everything we do seems plainly stated on the astronomical/metaphysical level, too.

With an orbit of 5.23 years, Eos theoretically spends just under half a year in each succeeding zodiac sign. This 'quick cycling' quality may well have implications with regards to public attention spans (never mind our attention spans!) suggesting how and why the popularity of products, politicians and everything from celebrities to 'hot button topics' go in and out of favor.

Worth noting too is that at it's farthest point from the Sun, Eos' orbit is very close to that of Psyche - the asteroid symbol of our mentality as something we have to deal with, lest we (as they say) live to regret and repent at leisure. So these symbols seem metaphorically 'joined.' And that Psyche's orbit brings it even closer to us than Eos would seem to suggest that it is a human necessity to at least understand (and "own") our own personal instincts and drives.

At the moment, this station is colored by fixed star Scheat (lack of approval and/or public popularity) and Byblis/Uranus (old ways - particularly those which are 'inherent' or 'inherited' which need to change). So it's a turning point at which we should expect to hear, see and feel lot of dissatisfaction surfacing on many a front.

And yes, dissatisfaction with people being so  dissatisfied - and dissatisfaction with our own lot and probably also with the way we personally feel about things.

Which may...In the end...ask us to go back to that first image of Eos as the dawn, as that which precedes the light of understanding: Apollo, a god not just of light and truth, but also the spirit of medicine (taught by Apollo to Asclepius for passing on to humans)....and music.

In other words, just as the old expression tells us that 'the truth shall set you free' so Apollo also embodies two other attributes (music and medicine) which in 'healing  us, body and soul' also set us free.

And yes, Apollo is yet another asteroid - one which the above chart shows is not far closer to us than either Eos or Psyche, and thus by implication tells us that...whether we like it or not, truth, personal 'enlightenment' and knowing ourselves well enough to live on our 'light' and not 'dark' side is intrinsic to our nature. That asteroid Apollo crosses both the orbits of Mars and Venus tells us that real enlightenment may get in the way of ("cross") our desires, longings and lusts, but that's the way the cosmic cookie crumbles.

Or maybe how we stand to crumble ourselves if we don't deal with ourselves at a truly honest and intrinsic level.

The other side of this is of course how the myth of Apollo and Eos, in being connected becomes how  Eos can be our being both 'chased' ...and in a sense 'backed up' by our ability to heal ourselves, which recalls that  famous phrase: healer, heal thyself. But does that not mean that first we have to recognize that it's not the world which is injured, that the injury lies in us? And that through us, through our unwillingness or inability to bring ourselves to deal with our own injuries we thus injure our world and compound our own problems?

Alas...probably yes! So what are our real motivations and desires? Are we in this life to lead ourselves to a better way? Do we just spend our lives running away from ourselves in this or that way?

At the moment, that's a really good - not to mention really apt question as situations and people around us prompt our instinctual reactions.

Maybe you'll discover some new fascination?

Or maybe you'll react to something (or someone) with some knee jerk response echoing your long, long ago?

Or maybe instincts and instinctive (re)actions will become a whole category of experience, thought and broadening of experience.

In all likelihood, 'new' versus 'old' isn't what separates profitable from costly now. The real question is why you're doing what you're doing.

So be aware, lest you end up living in a Eos directed dark of your own instinctual making.