Mercury enters Sagittarius

image: 'Abacus - a 12 part color wheel'

(image credit: DigiLab AVU, 2002)

Mercury is entering the Sagittarian realm on December 5th at 2:43 in the morning UT/+0 time. And that it’s doing so by hitting 0 Sag at a moment when it can be the thing shoehorned in between fixed star Toliman and universal(ist) Sappho would seem to say that everybody has stuff on their mind.

It's a bit of that Toliman thing...the what we can do but which we may or may not get around to doing (or being)?

Oh yeah, we’re all a bit at sixes and sevens with ourselves. No doubt we’d like to think we’d like things to be simple. But considering the evidence of how complicated all our lives seem to be?

It would appear that we humans don’t actually want anything to be simple. It would be antithetical to our big-brain beings to have nothing to think about, no matter what the meditation-prone think. Meditation and philosophy and all those things, those are coping mechanisms. They’re ways of gaining insight.

But for those who think any sort of silence or stillness or directed thought is going to change life? It may change their life, yes. But that’s because they’re changing the way they think.

That’s the Mercury precept. Whether we’re running through life, thinking about life or planning what we’re going to do with our lives, whether we’re using our thinking mechanism in a focused manner or merely to process our dance steps through life (I’m currently highly partial to electro swing, if you care) that’s the Mercury precept.

Mercury in Sagittarius has a reputation for lacking bounds and boundaries. So it would figure we will all have a lot…too much…the stuff we would rather not be thinking about…floating through our heads. And being that we’re humans (a mouthy species, it seems) some of that will fall out of our mouths and we will hear ourselves speak. Or we’ll hear others speak. Or we’ll have to contend with what we’re being told about ABC while we’re trying to finish up thinking through XYZ.

Yet for all that Mercury in Sagittarius tends to lack boundaries, for that same simple reason this is a hallmark of moving ahead. So you may be feeling like you need to ‘get out there.’ Or you need to throw off some shackle, some limitation, some old way of doing things because it’s just too confining.

The pitfalls during these weeks of Mercury in Sag (December 5th – December 24) are generally twofold. The all that’s out there and the wanting to get to what you want to get to can cause us to rush. Or be sloppy in some way which is going to trip us up.

Some of this is going to happen. So we take charge of what we can get ourselves to take charge of and we try and think through why we were sloppy in the moments when we were sloppy. What was so fool important and did we at least maintain enough of a sense of priority that the thing we did screw up on wasn’t something which is going to extract some life lynchpin?

A couple of days from now you’re going to hear that Mars is entering Libra. Considering that, it would seem that we have a time of opportunity.

And maybe we need it, yes. A lot of us have come to  Orcus' station with one path blocked, creating a consequence (Orcus) which is our needing to adapt... change...find a new way.

So some of us need to reach out. That quality - and minding who you're being as you reach out - all that becomes heightened once Mars gets into Libra. But there's more - the need to break through or break barriers for many of us is going to require striking out into uncharted territory of some type. That would be Mercury in Sag as the exploring and Mars in Libra as a 'conscious putting of Self (or what we do, have done or haven't done) on the line.'

Then as the month rolls forward we get into Uranus territory, which in raise tensions propels some of us into that 'new action' (creating our own 'breaking through' - namely of our own hesitation or resistance). That being mostly for those who have been having it in mind (or planning) coming into mid-December, others will find this period manifesting as new cracks in their mental asphalt and fractures crazing their nice neatly whitewashed image of things.

All of which gets us back to that Sagittarian ability (and tendency) to force the reality of the unknown on our imaginings. You know: learning differently. Or the different way. Or about the different thing. Or that your thing isn't what you thought it was, begging the examination of why you believed something so patently untrue.

(Oh yes...you wanted it to be true. You held onto its being true all during that long, long Mercury transit of that fixed emotions sign Scorpio.)

So yes...Mercury in Sagittarius is a great time for expanding horizons. Some will tell you it’s even a good time for taking a trip – which is a fine sort of idea as long as you’re starting out from the perspective of exploring what you could do.

Mercury in Sagittarius is a great time for the possible. But it also can raise your hackles. Those who can do the cheerful ‘letting water run off your well-oiled back feathers’ do pretty well under Mercury in Sagittarius… although there is some tendency to look like you don’t care. Or like you’re flighty… irresponsible... overly self-convinced without any real reason to be so full of yourself.

A lot of what is going to happen over these next few weeks will have a societal aura connected to it. That could be direct (as in: them and me) or it could be exclusionary, as in ‘I’m getting away from all that (and them).’ Ruling factors suggest a time when we’re in our heads and we’re thinking about how we feel about this or that and it all adds up to a lot about who we think we are, a world we’re living in which may or may not be what we were raised to think it was going to be…what ‘they’ know…what (as we all say from time to time to ourselves) we’re sure ‘they’ have no idea about with regards to our world.

Looking along the path ahead, Mercury’s doubling up on the Sun’s presence in Sagittarius probably heralds a few bobbled, messy days after which Mars enters Libra and we fly a bit less intensely but not any less proficiently until the weekend of the 14th when energy really begins to (Mars/Uranus) pop.

Or for you, maybe it’s a sizzle. Or a crunch, crackle or creak. 

The Omega Nebula (Messier 17 or NGC 6618) in Sagittarius

(photo credit: ESO/European Southern Observatory, July 2009)

We need to move on. This whole time is about moving on – not in terms of other people, but in terms of who we are. This is a time of rapid-fire re-estimations and when our values are going to be flexing, fluxing and squeezing out our impurities.

Or maybe keeping the impurities and squeezing out the good – there is that chance…which may be the point.

The thing about learning is we don’t know what we’re going to find out. Sometimes we learn things and they completely revolutionize our world. Sometimes things get tossed into our life and we hate them but they turn out to be good for us.

There are famous stories among astrologers about Sagittarius – it’s a sign which can be all about the magnanimous mentor and equally all about the over-convinced person determined to set themselves up to tell you the truth.

Except the trouble is…under Sagittarius, those who talk the loudest are often not able to make much stick. They may tell you what you want to hear or what you don’t want to hear not for your benefit, but because you aren’t even part of their equation.

Some call Sagittarius the sign of ethics. The truth is, Sagittarius can be ethical, but then again – your boundaries on ethics may not be the same as that someone else has.

Who’s right?

The Sagittarian response: “They are all equally right and equally wrong.”

Why that would be, could be and should be is the difference between understanding our Self and our Self among others – or as one part of the Whole which you may call society, Existence, whatever.

Sagittarius is where the zodiac breaks out it’s boundaries in every way. Where the first four signs are about learning to be who we are and the second four are about how and who we interact with, the last four signs are global and pluralistic.

They’re where we stop looking at everybody else and begin looking at ourselves through the perspective of everybody else. Every time any planet moves into Sagittarius and from there into Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces we know life is going to be more global. Speaking astrologically, we’re currently living through a period when generations are being shaped on this global level and when many of the powers which have kept individuals apart are being melted away.

It’s to think about, surely.

In that, these next few weeks will favor stepping light and keeping pace with yourself. Knowing what you’re doing is a good thing but that doesn’t mean you should only do what you know – or what you know will end in some manner you can predict.

It’s time for us all to take a step up, lest life tell us to take a step back with Mercury’s transit of Sagittarius merely being a timer pertaining to matters we need to learn from. The major influences which go along with this transit (Mars-Uranus in opposition plus Uranus and Venus stations) are all about getting us to flex and let go of old ways, limits, patterns – even alliance which no longer function as support or even supportively.

As we all know, when it comes to life and growth, we can change or we can be changed. And sometimes those things are one and the same – an idea which in its own right is rather hallmark Mercury in Sagittarius.
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Deucalion, Jupiter, North Node and Pluto

Speaking strictly (and in UT/+0 time zone terms), the lunar North Node moves into 11 Scorpio late on August 7th. And there it conjuncts Deucalion.

For you orb-ists, this does indeed mean that the North Node has been within orb of Deucalion for quite some time now – since back in early April.

So what were you doing back in early April? That was back when Saturn was moseying through retrograde at about 9 Scorpio, having (as we’ve discussed a few times) done it’s own station at 11 Scorpio in mid-February.

Getting a feeling we’re getting a real 11 Scorpio workout this year? Um…I’d say so, yes. And I know there are plenty of people with vital focal points at 11 Scorpio – even close by – who are getting a heck of a workout.

(Full Disclosure: I know this in part because I’m on that ‘close by’ list.)

As long as we’re on this subject for the moment, the standard orb to 11 Scorpio would be 5 degrees either way. (And yes, there would be some particular harmonic effects for similar placements in Taurus, Aquarius and Leo.)

Let’s face it: it’s a fixed sign sort of year. Between the eclipses, the Moon’s nodes (personal and societal relationships and the world’s functionality as a set of relationships) and Saturn’s transit of Scorpio, life is pushing us to get past our sticking points (be they hesitancies or reluctance). The whole fixed sign cycle (Taurus-Leo-Scorpio-Aquarius) being about creating the functionality and teaching us to recognize that ‘no (hu)man is an island’ in this world…how ultimately our satisfaction is about developing the whole of our being – not just those parts which are easy.

Even sort of, kind of, were-it-only easy.

Ultimately the issue is the good old fashioned Taurus-2nd house thing: how to get to a point where were feel secure and satisfied with our life. Taurus (and whatever the sign is on your personal 2nd house) indicate both our resources and the ultimate aim of developing those resources – that being the security and satisfaction thing. Our starting point being at some level our talents, abilities, self respect and self worth, those are what we carry with us into the ‘earning’ arena (this would be earning not just money but that satisfaction/security thing)…which we develop through challenges in the process of developing our abilities and Self (the Leo thing), and meeting the challenges personal, emotional and societal (the former two being Scorpio and the latter being Aquarius) in achieving the ultimate goal.

You know…security and satisfaction.

In fact, seen in this light, the whole idea of earning a living (you know, the money thing) is merely a necessity foisted upon us so as to push us through this very process. Income (as a concept) is Aquarian. (Aquarian and 11th house, to be more exact and nit-picky-personal.)

But to get that income, we have to develop some ability. And to do that we have to have at least enough self worth and self respect to get ourselves out there and give it a go.

Most of us are into the whole developing, experimenting, having fun with finding-what-we-like (what fits us, what we’re good at) part of the process.

That would be the Leo bit.

But after that comes Scorpio. And hardly anyone likes the Scorpio deal. Scorpio requires that we risk whatever sense of accomplishment we’ve built up through our Leo process – be that the developing of a skill or the development of our dating skills or whatever else you may want to cite.

Like, ouch. Either we get sent back to ‘Go’ (without the proverbial number of dollars) or we end up finding out that we need to learn to integrate ourselves into a group by offering that which we are complete with our vulnerabilities. You know, the I might have more to learn here part.

Some of us are good at one thing, some are good at the other and from what this astrologer can tell (after several decades in the study) it does no better to approach others as the total naïf than as the Commander-in-Chief. (Unless of course, you happen to be a commander-in-chief! But even then there are going to be things you need to learn.)

So…getting back to the orb thing. Eclipses cycle backwards through the zodiac – which makes sense if you think about how eclipses (either solar or lunar) only happen when the New (solar) or Full (lunar) Moon is within 15 degrees of the lunar nodes…and the Nodes of the Moon cycle backwards. (It’s a lining-things-up sort of issue.) You may remember this concept as part of our ‘the Nodes are at the Cross-Quarter’ point a while ago. If not, here’s the link:

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The Lunar Nodes at Cross-Quarters

The illusion I drew there was that by counting ‘down’ through the degrees the Nodes – in part – represent the various things we encounter which “bring things home” to us.

So the Nodes ‘count down’ through the zodiac as the planets (asteroids, etc.) move forward (“up”) through the zodiac. This in itself is akin to the spin-counter spin of electrons.

Or should you not be into things tiny, the twin helix of DNA. Or the inhalation and exhalation of our breath, the ebb and flow of tides, the process of life and death as the plus and minus of renewal and growth.

As things are brought home to us, we ‘shed’ the old and outmoded, the thing which doesn’t work, the idea or social masks which is too inhibiting or to far of the mark of truth…and whether we go through trepidation or we simply struggle to free ourselves, there is a trial to be endured if we are to grow and purify our being.

That – at some level – is the heart and soul of Scorpio, no matter where or when or through what or whom we encounter it. Scorpio is the process of transforming ourselves or being transformed through recognition. Through emotional encounter. Through risking our sense of safety and security on the way to creating those bridges and alliances and successes which ultimately lead to true and lasting security and personal satisfaction.

Augusto De Luca - Photo 5 (abstract)

Imaged as “AN OFFICIAL EMBASSY BALL” in the Sabian Symbols, 11 Scorpio tests our sense of perspective through situational exposure which embodies growth and risk and a reflection on who we are to have ‘come to this place’ in our lives.

Or who we should be. Or maybe don't want to be, whether or not we need to be it anyway.

As a symbol of finding our way, TNO Deucalion asks that we rise above whatever sea of emotion which may be assailing us now – which considering that August 8th (the first full day of this Node/Deucalion conjunction) is also when Jupiter perfects its opposition to Pluto.

Considering that Jupiter represents everything about (and involved in) the metaphysical process of growing our understanding (generally through use) which in Cancer is all about basics and our most intrinsic feeling experiences, to have Jupiter in opposition to Pluto signals a time of testing or change – depending on how we all deal with growth. That Pluto is conjunct fixed star (nebula) Facies says there’s a lot of ‘moving pieces’ and complexities to the process so one wouldn’t expect this to be a one-and-done sort of thing.

Jupiter is also conjunct Alhena – the star of Purpose – which if we take it into account as part of the Whole being presented here would seem to be asking what’s our purpose as a human being? Or maybe what does it take to BE a good human being? Maybe this is about what you do, maybe this is about what you don’t do. Maybe this is about how you see others (particularly those you have been connected to or influenced by in the past) and moving through (“transforming”) your relationship to them or to something you learned through your relationship with them.

With Pallas Athena (dispassionate wisdom) being conjunct headstrong Phaethon at 10 degrees of Cancer is most likely to manifest as convictions – some of which will be opposed (Pluto) by societal forces (or others who consider themselves to be “in charge”) and some of which you will recognize you need to disregard in changing your status quo.

As of August 8th, the Sun will be passing through 15 Leo – another of the zodiacal cross-quarter points. This suggests a ‘developing’ aspect of something which asks whether you are willing (yet) to move on. To take a ‘next step.’ To let go of whatever ‘has been’ your standard in the process of accepting and taking on a new growth phase.

The North Node will be at 11 Scorpio and in conjunction with Deucalion through August 18th. And since 11 Scorpio is the degree of the upcoming November 3rd Solar Eclipse…and because that means that the two-month period during which facets of your life which are no longer useful or authentic enough will begin ‘breaking down’ in (advance of said Solar Eclipse) come early September, this Deucalion-North Node conjunction would seem to be an opportunity to ‘get ahead of the flow.’ As in all things, astrology teaches that if and where we purposefully use the energy (which is going to be there regardless) there is less likelihood that the energy will come back to haunt us.

Or, to put it in the immortal words of honcho astrologer Rob Hand: use the energy wisely, lest it use YOU unwisely. 

Balls of World by Anastasiya Markovich (2008)

There is likely to be a desire to do what we want the way that we want to do it now, yes. (There generally is.) The North Node always being representative of that which we don’t really want to have to do (but which we need to do anyway), to have it combining with Deucalion is asking us to not see things as we might want to see them, but to see them in reality and through the lens of fact.

In case you’re interested, Saturn will be hitting this 11 Scorpio point in mid-October. Prior to that – call it September 16th – Saturn will have it’s own little encounter with the North Node. Again for the orb-ists among us, Saturn and the lunar North Node will come into 5-degree orb of conjunction as of August 15th, which yes, is during our North Node/Deucalion window of process.

Saturn being about responsibilities and long-term dedication, with the Nodes conjunct Deucalion, this is a grand testing period (and a grandly testing period) which is both about who and what we are in the world and who we are to others.

And who they are to us.

Not to make this simple or anything, there is also the not-so-little ‘little matter’ of the ongoing grand trine in water, too. Originally composed of Jupiter-Saturn-Neptune which added a little ‘dissolving of our defenses’ to the mix), Jupiter’s having moved on through Cancer has shifted this period of epic feeling-ness into a new mode which is composed of Jupiter in Cancer (emotional growth/growth which tests emotions), Saturn in Scorpio (valuing interactions, values learned through interactions and interactive values) and Chiron retrograde in Pisces (challenging ourselves to take on that thing we really don’t know how to do and which probably freaks us out to the max).

Many among us will simply say ‘this too shall pass.’ And they’re right. But what we do now would seem to be setting the table for what life will serve up next.
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Pandora Direct:

Pandora by Harry Bates (1891)

(photo taken by Lee M during August, 2010 while the statue was on

temporary display at London's Tate Museum)

Asteroid Pandora is about to go direct. The famous story about the girl Pandora being about someone whose curiosity drives her to do the one thing which will bring ills and evils into the world is often interpreted as a warning. Don’t do what you know you’re not supposed to do.

But is this really what Pandora is about? If we look at the degree Pandora is going direct in (13 Sagittarius) lore tells us that this degree serves as a lens through which we see – or experience – situations and moments which are testing. That being true of any Sagittarian degree to some extent seeing that the whole of Sagittarius is about seeing how well our plans, choices, efforts and decisions really work (which causes us to learn more about how life works…or could work beyond the limit of our conceptions), this particular degree evidently has a pointed references to that which we value.

Or yes, our values. There seems to be a bit of the Scorpio-Taurus polarity to 13 Sagittarius as it’s a zodiacal point which shows up…or reveals…wherever we have placed too much emphasis. Or too much belief - especially where that focus has to do with something we think is going to ‘protect’ us from life’s un-pleasantries.

Of course like all degrees (objects, cusps, etc.) this degree can embody the concept…or our efforts to prevail in our thinking, stay the course, have our way and get others to sign onto our agenda (so to speak) in spite of the fact we may not be seeing the greater picture. Or that something isn’t working. Or prevailing trends.

Even new fangled trends. 

And once we get this far, 13 Sagittarius actually seems to have a lot in common with Pandora - almost disturbingly so, wouldn’t you say?

This turn to direct is happening under Sun in Leo. So we’re all likely to be plowing along in some pre-determined mode when the ‘box’ gets opened and all the whatever jumps out. Since there are various versions of this story which say the container which gets opened wasn’t a ‘box’ and was a jar, this may be a ‘jarring’ moment in time.

Since Pandora goes direct on August 2nd, that means the ‘station allowance’ for this turnabout (which may or may not feel like fair play) begins on July 31st and runs through August 4th – at least. The more this astrologer watches stations, the more inclined I am to think the window on station effects is three days, not two.

But whatever. From the story we are given to know that when all the problems and challenges flowed out of the jar, the one thing which still kept in ‘bottled up’ was hope. Realizing what she had done, Pandora gawks long enough to let all the difficulties out, then in a moment of brilliance remembers to put the lid back on the jar, which she then clutches to her chest.

Thus, hope is retained.

Or has hope been imprisoned?

When we think of this in Sagittarian terms, can we ‘hope’ to operate with hope if hope is ‘still in the jar?’

It seems likely that situations with twinge about testing this concept – at least for the dates of station involved. And that this happens during the ongoing grand trine in water suggests the effects…or at least our feelings about the effects…are not going to be snap, crackle, pop.

There’s also the fact that Pandora’s station begins as Huya goes direct in Scorpio. So…does that mean that just about the time we’re either trying to (or making good on) putting hard-won lessons (and efforts) to work that we’re going to get a whole new chance to stub our mental toes?

Apparently so. But never fear…there would seem to be an astrological aspirin for this situation – namely Object Hierarchy. And before you finish that sentence which beings with ‘what the….?’ I’ll explain.

Pandora is an asteroid. A main belt asteroid. That defines Pandora as something we meet up with and work through on the way between ‘Start’ (Mars) and ‘Finish’ (Jupiter). Just as in life, there’s a big gap between the ‘us-in-our-personal-world’ and achieving anything in the Big World Out There. This is metaphysically (not to mention metaphorically) reflected by the giant gap between the inner solar system (in order: Sun-Mercury-Venus-Earth/Moon-Mars) and our astrological symbols of coming to understand (aka “getting the hang of it”) which is Jupiter and achievement-pure-and-simple – which is Saturn.

 All those asteroids represent things we meet up with between the point when we start…and where we achieve. And yes, there are gazillions of them – which is pretty interesting when you consider how each asteroid has it’s individual orbital track and orbital time, meaning they mix things up in an endless number of ways for us to come across as we ‘make our way through life.’

So that’s the asteroid thing – against which we have Huya, a Plutino.

Plutinos are not so very huge themselves – Pluto (the one we know best) is a bit less than 20% the size of Mama Earth. But Plutinos do all have something very special working for them: Neptune. And Neptune is mucho large – almost four times the size of our Most Dearest Earth.

At some level, Plutinos all seem to be about getting us to understand the difference between our yearnings and our ‘visions of how things could be’ and reality – our reality and the reality of who we are – which is truly the only thing we have to work with, build on and live with.

Accepting that idea is a most fine starting point. And now, as Huya’s station overlaps into Pandora’s, we’re going to all be having little (or even big) moments which test our ability to hope. Or which test our focus (perspective, perhaps?) on something we had high hopes for, but which doesn’t work.

At least not for the moment. Or in the way we’re approaching it.

With regards to Pandora, we shouldn’t get all flustered. In Greek myth, Pandora is the first woman and thus at some level embodies our innocence. Created at the order of Zeus (who we know astrologically as Jupiter, symbol of comprehension and that learning which leads to greater wisdom) Pandora is made soon after titan (instinct) Prometheus has stolen fire from the gods. Hephaestus (aka Vulcan, the Olympian smithy) is ordered to take some of the clay Prometheus used to make mankind and create the woman Pandora.

Apparently this all happens before Deucalion comes along and there’s the giant flood which wipes out all the ‘evil’ in the world, leading to a second ‘incarnating’ of mankind.

So this is very ‘early stuff’ and as such suggests that any station of asteroid Pandora has to do with ‘first steps’ and things which are new to us.

Or maybe it’s the lesson we learn in this moment which is new.

I guess that's yet to be learned.
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Deucalion Direct: The Giving Within

The Deluge (name disputed) by John Martin (1834)

When I sat down to write about Deucalion a couple of days ago (that would be the post for Monday, July 22nd) it just turned out to be too much of a jumble to discuss the point and the point of its station. As with many ‘new’ (to us) points discovered in the last ten to fifteen years, our astrological understanding of Deucalion is still evolving.

Metaphysically, the idea is probably that we should evolve with that understanding. Though it would seem unlikely that nature would ‘expect’ us to know the unknown – one of the sidebars to the greater concept that unbeknownst to us, the universe is unfolding as it should (a cousin to everything happens at the right time) is that as new ideas come along we should at least consider them.

And being humans, we obviously don’t always do that. We get busy, we’re tired, it isn’t our cup of tea, we’re not in the mood…you’ve heard all the same excuses that I have.

There is (of course!) the argument to be made that if we’re too tired to read or think something through, it isn’t the ‘right’ time. To that – as a person I say ‘sure…let’s make popcorn and watch a movie.’ But when I have the astrological hat on, I realize that to bypass, delay, ignore, (fill in with your favorite excuse)…that’s just inviting life to teach us why we really DO want to know that thing or things we are sloughing off like so much water off the proverbial duck’s back.

(I wonder…do ducks get royalties every time we use that expression? Who would we pay them to, the Universal Union of Duckery?)

Whatever that amounts to, Deucalion is going direct as this post hits the feed – on July 24, 2013. It is doing so at 11 Scorpio, the degree which was the degree of Saturn’s mid-February (2013) station-turn-to-retrograde.

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Saturn Retrograde at 11 Scorpio (Part 1)

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Saturn Retrograde at 11 Scorpio (Part 2)

 (Yes, it was important enough to get two posts)

And maybe even more importantly, 11 Scorpio is going to be the degree of our next Solar Eclipse.

Said eclipse will be on November 3rd (when the Sun reaches 11 Scorpio – duh!). And that means the six-to-eight week period prior to the eclipse during which we will experience that ‘quivering’ in our hearts and under our psychic feet as life begins ‘shaking out’ those things we don’t need any more…and those things which need to be changed (whether we like it or not)…all that starts in early September.

I can’t remember the last time I saw a year as clearly marked by something like Saturn’s turn at 11 Scorpio in February casting a straight if dotted line to this November’s eclipse, and I’ve been noodling around with astrology for a rather very extremely long time now.

(Thirty-plus years, give or take. So much for a hobby I took up to keep myself busy while I was healing from having broken my pelvis…which by the by, is nothing I suggest you EVER do. It hurts like a supernova explosion inside your body – trust me!)

By decanate definition a degree which is emotional (not to mention being a degree which is part of a deeply emotional sign), 11 Scorpio points us to those things which are ‘native’ to us, and which in particular tie back to our childhood. The central question posed by this degree seems to be whether whoever we have come to be because of or in spite of that background has created a closed circuit, a set of walls or a tendency to retreat to some ‘cave’ – principally for reasons which are emotional. Like all degrees of Scorpio, this one tests not so much whether we’re right but whether we’re willing or able to tolerate being not as right as we thought we were. Maybe there is a better way. Maybe we should be willing to risk that feeling of safety and security which comes with defining our own status quo.

As demonstrated by the trail of stations at 11 Scorpio, to some evocative extent, this ‘degree dynamic’ (as we might call it) underlies a lot of what goes on in our lives – and in life in general – during 2013. And now, with the grand water trine shifting from Jupiter-Saturn-Neptune to Jupiter-North Node-Chiron, evolutionary forces are shifting from ‘who am I in this world and what am I making of myself and my life?’ into a secondary phase of that exploration, growth and education (all symbolized by Jupiter) which is more about ‘how am I going to do this North Node thing I don’t really WANT to do, and which in typical Chiron fashion I feel totally ill-equipped to even know HOW to do or be?’ 

The Fates Gathering in the Stars by Elihu Vedder (1887)

In all of this, Deucalion’s turn to direct motion at 11 Scorpio not only tells us that this time is a 'touchstone' or a 'step' along our metaphysical path to the November Solar Eclipse, but that Deucalion's turn at 11 Scorpio is one ‘key’ to this moment...and perhaps the key to the  entirety of our (Scorpionic) evolutionary, transformative processes for the year.

So does that mean that each and everyone of us - individually and collectively - have much to be gained by referencing, recognizing and understanding our ‘native’ early imprinting?

Probably so.

And yes, the results or responses to same should also be on the table.

Since Deucalion represents the energetic which helps us find our way through whatever it is (and however we manage) to opt out of the greater reality because of longings, fears, over-idealization, self-deception, hurt, cravings, self-absorption… all those Neptune-fostered ‘you think it’s perfect but it’s not’ things, this would be when we need to ask or require of ourselves that we rise above the emotional tide. Whether it’s our (internal) tide, or that which is washing over us courtesy of life or others in our life, this is a moment when we need to allow all the ‘evils’ of our preconceptions to be washed away so that we can re-create and re-populate our lives.

That this sounds more than a little bit like an echo of the Persied Meteor Shower (see yesterday’s blog) only suggests that life is truly “conspiring”…or maybe a better word is gathering momentum to move us out of the old and into something new.

Is it easy? No.

Is this process likely to be instantaneous? No.

But it is what it is, and those of us who resist this shift are likely to feel unseated, even abandoned (at some level) when November’s Solar Eclipse comes along.

As you read this, you may be thinking ‘gee, why wouldn’t my “native” way be the better way to go? Couldn’t Deucalion be indicating that?’

At some level, yes. (And you’re obviously thinking as I did upon thinking this through if you came to that quandary.) Two things only argue against the whole ‘holding the status quo’ and ‘doing things as I’ve been doing them’ thing. One is the Solar Eclipse. Sure, solar eclipses have been known to create something good out of something mediocre…in fact, that’s something of the nature of this most gigundo of transits. Solar eclipses are all about getting us not to compromise, but getting us to be the Authentic Self we were born to be.

Sometimes that means stripping away our coping mechanisms, a process Solar Eclipses are notorious for. They aren’t gentle, they aren’t subtle. When a Solar Eclipse hits your life you KNOW it.

This painting, known as "The Flood" by Paul Merwart (1855-1902) gives us the image of

Deucalion holding his wife Pyrrha above the flood, protecting her as her own. We can see

this image literally, of course. But it may be even more important to see this idea on the philosophical 

level where Deucalion and Pyrrah are our dominant and more subtle or recessive life or

thought processes. In that light, Deucalion is the clarity of thought which carries our less

robust and perhaps more emotional nature - that which holds us above the flood which is all

we have been 'flooded' with which may or may not be applicable to our lives in this moment...

or as we move on. 

So that you have degrees for reference, anyone with any point, node or axis between 6 Scorpio and 16 Scorpio is having a very personal year all about remaking who you are in this world and what your life is built around. (And you already know that. Sorry about the headaches.)

Those with points, nodes or axis cusps between 6 and 16 Aquarius OR Leo are feeling a bit broadsided because things they haven’t considered are knocking them for a loop. (Again, my sympathies.)

Those with points, axis cusps or nodes positioned between 6 and 16 Taurus are either having a hard time standing up for themselves or being opposed by a life which just won’t get out of your face. (Such confrontations with Existence are absolutely exhausting, and you can’t win. My advice is make the change and get past it.)

Two other groups are having the hardest times: those with ‘stuff’ (by now you know the drill) between 9 and 13 Libra OR 9 and 13 Virgo…and those with ‘stuff’ (yeah, I know) between 9 and 13 Aries or 9 and 13 Gemini. Whatever is represented by such Libra and/or Virgo points (always remember – the WHAT is being ‘hit’ by a transit shows us which attribute, habit or area of life needs our attention)…those parts of your life are being challenged in such a way that feels very unfeeling. Even brutal. That bruising is going to continue until you realize the information isn’t personal. WHY you think it IS personal is the core of the issue: solve that and you’ll be on your fluffy way.

As for those 9-through-13 Aries or Gemini points, those areas of your life either need re-tooling, refreshing, refocusing or some out-and-out change. Letting go of what’s easy and taking on your inner core is the crux of things.

With all that said, one other note worth mentioning: Klotho (initiations, beginnings, ‘bringing to be’ energetics) will be going direct on July 28th.

That means that as you read this post, Klotho is just moving into it's July 26-30th station, a fact which makes Deucalion turn to direct something of 'a first domino to fall.'

In turning to direct motion, Klotho represents new things coming to be in the life/world around us and how this is a time when we can bring new and valuable things to life through our own decisions and efforts, which evidently are an adjunct to the representative 'purification' of whatever our 11 Scorpio predisposition, habit or reactive-responsive ‘structural defense’ may have come to be.

In terms of Klotho's station, Deucalion going direct first tells us how to the degree that we have done the work to rise to a level of clarity will we be able to successfully bring what we want to be into being.

Flipping this around, we would also say that Klotho's station happening after Deucalion's makes this rising 'above the emotional flood' something which can lead to new situations, opportunities and a new grace of comfort with others - and life itself.

That Klotho is taking station at 3 Sagittarius emphasizes the good we do in this world and – curiously – again references our ‘native programming’ by speaking to “skeletons in the family closet”…which for some may be systemic, but for many if not most of us tends to be the imprinting we got from our growing-up years.

A note on that: having met up with a whole series of people and situations involving family dynamics (and the results of same) during 2013, it’s well worth understanding that who a parent is in their own right is NOT necessarily who the child internalizes. The child may internalize a perfectly sane parent as ‘a crazy person’ because that child was born (as we see in their chart) as someone who sees things in a new or different or non-traditional light.

Then again, the reverse may be true. We may think our parents are just a little odd when in truth they’re really off the rails. Those differences can be seen in the chart; the well-schooled astrologer will be able to tell you the difference between who you think your parents are and who your parents are for real.

You may not like it. You may not even believe it. But if someone else was sitting in the room during the conversation (or reading the report on such given to you by the astrologer), providing they know your parents they would recognize that difference.

It’s to think about.

In this somewhat less 'traditionally Greek myth' version of the fates known as 'Le Destin' 

or 'The Destiny' by Henry Siddons Mowbray, we see four 'Fates' (not three, as there are in

Greek myth) sitting at a table planning what will yet come or be attempted, all under the omnipotent

watch of nature. Mankind plans, the universe corrects those plans, teaching us the pros

 and cons of life - and our thinking - in the process.

No matter where you are on your journey, the tides of time now seem ripe to force us to give within or to become more willing to be giving from within.

At the moment, insights may well help us ‘rise above the emotional flood’ in our souls.

But whether that helps us sail into brighter and calmer waters? That remains to be seen, as that's the process of the which starting in September leads us into November's Solar Eclipse at 11 Scorpio. The question is always going to be Scorpionic and thus challenging to us at a very deep and intrinsic level.

And it's to remember that though we may be scared of being left to 'drown' in our own emotions, that very statement is about becoming more of who we are. Human beings are emotional creatures. Any effort to escape our feelings only means we're abandoning our Self. Only once we realize that can we begin to understand that it doesn't matter what we have, what we achieve, how fit or pretty we are...none of that matters if we're afraid of the magnitude of our own feelings.

Water is thought to be the most powerful of the astrological (metaphysical) elements. It can quench fire, slowly but surely dissolve the hardest stone and turn what might be only a wind into a hurricane.

Yet water - emotion - is the very stuff of life. Water is the essence of nurturance which turns dessication into fertility. And just as water is a primal force in natural  transformations, metaphysical water - the power and potency of emotions - is creative or destructive. It is the essence of human liberation and the driving force behind all which is devastating to our lives and all life on Earth.

In emotion lies the power of healing, but that power is never generative in and of itself as water contained goes stagnant - which is why from time to time, nature topples our inner walls so we will not...so that we cannot go on alone.     
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Eris Retrograde

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

- link to -

ERIS DISCORDANT:

MASTERING OUR OWN WEAKEST MOMENTS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It sounds like fertile Eris ground.

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

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

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

Or what it feels like to go through changing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Hubble Telescope's view of Jupiter

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

Institute, Jupiter Comet Impact Team, July 2009)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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