Medusa: Through Our Mental Mirror, Darkly

We all know Medusa - that female gorgon of salacious tongue and twining snake hair...She who evokes such fright that human life turns to stone the moment one lays eyes on the utter perfection of her terrifying flesh.

Or at least we think we know Medusa. But neither the myth nor astrological Medusa are as simple as all that. In the general sense Medusa is about fear. But this point refers to no simple fear on our part.

No, Medusa is...more slithery than that, more frightening and less understood by that Self which in some way or form will learn to fear fearing fear.

In particular, fear of something you don't want to know...that you fear knowing about your Self or life itself. 

Which means Medusa isn't about 'that' or 'them.' Snakes and all, the Medusa in your chart says something about you.

Something intrinsic about you.

Classed as a 'common' main belt asteroid (number 149, should you need to know), we may take solace...(such as it is)...in knowing  asteroid Medusa is one of literally thousands of asteroids out there. Given how Medusa is about the sort of fear which disquiets us to the point that we will not or cannot do something (that being the 'turned to stone' quality) as humans we are going to have an intrinsic avoidance with regards to anything Medusa.

So that Medusa is merely one of thousands of life factors...that may help us feel comfortable with the 'odds' of reaching our goal(s) without facing something which will stop us in our tracks.

On the other hand, doing that very sort of 'odds weighing' as a means of getting ourselves to do what we need to do in life...isn't that also one of the ways we face the very Medusa we fear?

Ah yes, 'there is nothing to fear but fear itself,' as one American president put it.

Asteroids metaphysically represent all the many factors we face on our way from 'I'll give (this) a try...' to '...I understand now,' and in  Medusa’s case, the “cycle” period within which 'fear' or 'fearful' issues resolve whatever internal issue has been raised.

In other words, Medusa is not the solution to "the problem." The inception of Medusa cycles (which would be the conjunction in your natal chart) will refer to periods or situations which in evoking your response raises something about the difference between being driven by instinct and the honoring of that we know to be not merely true, but that which at some very deep and real level we are sworn to by our own choosing to believe...understand...stand for.
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Why all this is and would be...? That comes from the myth about Medusa, a myth which starts with three sisters.

Two of those sisters are immortal. Medusa isn't. Medusa is born mortal - just as we are - and is thus defined as "vulnerable" to things her sisters would never be affected by.

Human traits will differ. When they do, is that what makes us vulnerable to our fears? And in mythic terms, if we are reading the myth of Medusa, should we be wary if we are told that this mortal vulnerability is also described as extremely beautiful?

For Medusa is beautiful. In fact, all three of the sisters are beautiful.

But Medusa is extraordinary. Not only that, but she just loves to show off her long, gloriously beautiful hair.

As for her family, Medusa came from Titans - entities embodying the eternal, sometimes infernal and certainly uncontrollable ('titanic') forces which shape our life and world.

This being the philosophic if highly organized world of Greek mythology, it isn't surprising that such uncontrollable forces were embodied as unruly characters like the Titans. Never represented as particularly personable, wise or witty, they weren't held in high regard by the (somewhat more contained) higher ups of the Olympian pantheon.

But they were Medusa's parents. There is one version of the myth which speaks of Medusa as the child of Ixion's narcissistic lack of gratitude. Yet most name sea Titans as her parents with several names being volunteered as the parents of Medusa and her two somewhat less horrifying sisters, which because water is the metaphysical element of emotions might make it seem like sea Titans are the correct choice as the nominees for gorgon parenthood.

But if so, how is it that Medusa is born mortal and her sisters were born immortal?

That would seem to make the answer Ixion...which in turn (if true) would say Medusa began her own story as the child of Greek myth's original murderer.

And considering how the Greeks had no problem with that all-too-human habit of embodying guilt bequeathed to and embedded in our psyches less by the intent of others than by the triggering of our own internal fears...that explains a deal about the power of a myth which spells a bad end for Medusa from the moment of her beginning.

Not that the myth begins in Medusa's childhood. Far from it - the myth begins as Medusa has been sworn to serve as a priestess to the goddess of all knowledge ethical, logical and unemotional: Pallas Athena.
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Athena in Vulcan's Forge
Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574)

It was an honor to do such service in the day. So when the opportunity came to Medusa, she of course took the job of serving Athena on with pleasure.

Thus did Medusa, the vulnerable offspring of titanic emotionalism, enter into the Pallas Athena, she who in springing from Jupiter/Zeus' brow expresses the conviction that an ultimate sort of 'heady' power (wisdom) is to be found in the clarity of perspective and dispassionate comprehension.

And that's where Medusa was and what she was doing when into Athena's temple came Neptune (Poseidon). As ruler of not just oceans but all water physical and metaphysical, Neptune  embodies the 'fluid dynamic' of emotionalism - and considering how life on Earth is water based, it's not surprising that Medusa was drawn by Neptune's presence.

She could hardly help herself. After all, Neptune was Jupiter's brother - which in itself is an interesting foreshadowing of modern science considering the relative roles of planets Neptune and Jupiter in our solar system. Both planets control objects through sheer power of magnetism - which is not unlike what the Greeks postulated in their descriptions of both gods.

This is exactly how metaphysics works.

And yes, the implications can be frightening, particularly as we consider how in most versions of this myth Medusa abandons her vow in willingly succumbing to unfathomable Neptunian passions, thus defiling the sanctity of Wisdom.

That was an exceptionally bad thing to do, for while the knowing of Jupiter and truth of Athena is the basis of that we call 'Free Will,' so Neptune takes us through the full breadth of emotional arc to where all dissipates into that unconscious surrender mortals tend to call 'Fate.'
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Neptune
by Angelo Bronzino

As for the 'alternate' versions of this story, they aren't any more pleasant as they have Neptune raping Medusa. Either way, Medusa is overcome.

And because Medusa is so prone to being overcome by her emotions even when surrounded by the facts of all she has sworn to serve, Athena metes out the famous punishment by transforming Medusa from a beauty into a gorgon - something so shockingly awful as to arrest us where we stand.

In most versions of the tale Athena not only transforms Medusa but her sisters as well. Is that a curious reference to how the feelings of people who otherwise like, love or admire us are affected ("punished") by what we do? Or is the reference to punishing Medusa's sisters an allusion to how often a person shamed in one area of life tends to crumple in others?

The effects of our feelings aren't isolated, after all.

In any case, three young beauties become an ugly trio, though only Medusa achieves the landmark ability to turn mortals into stone.

It's an attribute guaranteed to make it hard to make friends and influence people in any enjoyable (never mind survivable) way and soon Medusa, frightened by her own power, did what many do: she went into isolation, turning punishment into the retreat of self-condemnation.

From that comes an important note on asteroid Medusa: where we find Medusa in the chart we find something which will cause us to hide - either literally, mentally or emotionally. That we hide from created our problems to begin with and it's always emotional.

Too bad we feel too scared of our truth to face it. But we do. There is a place in each heart, mind or soul where we lose the ability to serve in our best interest. The idea of that is scary - and the reality that we can consciously or unconsciously become the instrument of our own downfall simply because of how we are made, who we are, where we come from...that's even scarier.

And yet we know we dare not abandon ourselves to our fears, whatever they may be. 

So what do we do?

How is Medusa - our Medusa - to be defeated? 
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The call here being for a 'heroic effort' in our individual cause, the story now shifts to a Perseus, a hero in the making.

Unfortunately Perseus isn't happy. And the reasons for his unhappiness are very much understandable. Not only has Perseus just been given the task of doing away with Medusa, he's been ordered to do it for not the most altruistic of reasons.

And what would that reason be?

That reason starts with King Polydectes, a rather unsubtle fellow seriously intent on marrying Perseus’ mother, Danae.

Polydectes wants Danae in the very worst way and Danae wants nothing to do with Polydectes.

Besides being king (meaning he made all the rules) Polydectes must have also had some smarts as he didn't simply order Danae to become his wife - the common solution of the time for kingly types.

Instead, he concentrates on Danae’s god-like teen son - the product of a truly immortal affair Danae had with Jupiter. If Polydectes was going to have any chance of bullying mom to the altar, Perseus would need to be dealt with. 

So Polydectes cooks up a plan any lustful monarch would be proud of. Feigning a somewhat offended shrug, he lets everyone know that if Danae isn't interested in being his queen...well, that's her problem.

Polydectes will just be moving on.
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Danae, Mother of Perseus
by Gustav Klimt

And move on Polydectes does, soon announcing that he's chosen a different woman to be his privileged wife...at which point, with his new claim duly claimed, Polydectes stares young Perseus down. What, no wedding present?

Perseus tries pleading financial ineptitude, but that doesn't get him very far as Polydectes accuses Perseus of sitting around on his heroically lazy butt - an accusation which angers Perseus. He's been trying. He just hasn't found the right right job yet...and while he's doing his best, Perseus would take it kindly if the local king would just stop flacking him. After all, what kind of gift was Polydectes expecting from Perseus? What could a young Perseus give the king which would be any sort of suitable wedding present?

Thus the trap is sprung. Having lured young Perseus into volunteering himself, the entirely prepared Polydectes probably waits not a moment before replying.

He actually has something in mind...something Perseus could be a good lad and go fetch for his king.

That thing?

Medusa’s head.
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The Head of Medusa
(unknown Flemish artist, 16th c, oil on panel, Uffizi Gallery)

Hearing this, Danae realizes her headstrong son is in over his headstrong head. So she appeals to Zeus (Jupiter) in the key of plaintive, and Jupiter responds by sending his go-to god (Mercury) out as chief procurement organizer.

In truly Olympian fashion this soon results in Mercury and Athena (yes, that Athena) equipping Perseus not merely thoroughly, but in the manner befitting a bastard son of Jupiter (of which there were more than several).

First Mercury hands over a cap of invisibility (on loan from Pluto/Hades). Then the god helps strap his own famously winged sandals onto Perseus' demi-mortal feet before handing the teen an unbreakable, sickle-shaped sword.

But with all this, not surprisingly it's Athena's token which will count most when dealing with Medusa. That which is provided by Athena is Wisdom's own immortal shield. Brightly polished on both its outer and inner faces, Athena's shield literally images how we come to know truth (Athena) in reflection and how that reflection is meant to clarify our perspective on our Self (our truth) as we go up against our conflicts in this world, this life, this existence. 
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 The Arming of Perseus
 by Edward Burne-Jones (1885)
 

So Perseus seeks Medusa out...(apparently her cave is in Africa). And when he gets to that cave he kills the gorgon of emotionality not on sight or by looking at her, but instead by thinking through what to do and how to do it in reflection.

Perseus was out to decapitate and do away with his problem. And as anyone who has ever tried to do something based on processing directions given to them in a mirror's reflection, it takes a peculiarly intense concentration to overcome our instincts.

But it can be done - and that's the point and solution to the Medusa question: to not be driven by instinct. Where Medusa appears in a natal chart or by transit isn't our 'doom' - it's an instruction: this is where you must not operate instinctively. Understanding the issue may be frightening to you, but the cost of not facing such a fear is likely to be far, far greater in the long run.

In essence Medusa asks us to respect ourselves enough to brave our fears, whether they be simple or complex. The image of Perseus wielding the sword of Mercury while protected by Athena is nothing more or less than the metaphysical statement about how in the most dire or difficult of situations it is through the clarity of dispassionate reflection that our mortality is protected - most off all from that instinct which otherwise will prove our undoing. 

As Medusa’s head is severed, blood is spilled. And as that blood flows out into reality, from it comes Medusa's offspring, creatures sometimes considered hers alone and sometimes seen as the product of Medusa surrendering to Neptune.

Whatever that may be, whether taken separately or together, these two creatures do seem to represent Medusa's extremes of spirit: she who serves against she who without thought takes what she wants, regardless of word or promise.

Yes, Medusa does sound a bit like Ixion.

- link to - 

Ixion: Our Conflict of Self

Medusa's first child is the winged horse called Pegasus, a the embodiment of fear as flight, replete with the kind of brute-or-graceful animalistic strength which in the human terms may well suggest that aspects to and the placement of asteroid Medusa may be an important part of astrologically understanding our individual fight-or-flight imperatives whether they be active or unneeded in an otherwise happy life.

Known as “the giant Chrysaor,” Medusa's other 'blood child' grows to become a hero armed with a golden sword upon whom Medusa's curse falls through family - echoing many a human whose family experiences alternation of generational allegiances and trials. Recalling Medusa's reptilian side, one of the Chrysaor children is Echidna, a deadly she-dragon whose upper half is all beautiful female and whose lower half is that of a serpent.

The other child is known as the Geryon - or sometimes in plural form as the Geryones. This isn't a problem of counting, but rather one of distinction - a quality which recalls the 'fuzzy' or more indecisive aspects of Neptune.

In brief, this single-plural problem stems from this entity's description as “a three-bodied giant” - a quality which is somehow supposed to come out as less threatening than Echidna.

Assigned to guarding sacred cattle at the western end of the world, Geryon has come to be associated with constellation Orion the Hunter while Pegasus has its own constellation - one marked by including fixed star Scheat, a problematic star which often speaks to ideas, matters and personalities which are 'before their time' and thus subject to rejected by ourselves or others, either as a 'flight of (Pegasus) fancy' or something which is objected to instinctively.

And yes, thus often enough, incorrectly.

Using the power of reflection, after slaying Medusa Perseus covers her head with a leather sack and carries it away. Still wearing Mercury's winged sandals, he flies north with blood dribbling from the gorgon's neck.

And as those drops fall to the sands below, they give rise to all the poisonous snakes in Africa. Yet lest we think that which is poisonous is always bad, when several drops of Medusa's blood are given to someone with the highly polysyllabic name Erichthonius along with instructions how how to use it as poison, with that also comes instructions on how to use gorgon blood in reanimating the dead.

No, not literally. Perhaps in myth, yes. But for astrological purposes this is a reference to that image we most often associate with the Phoenix - the rising from the ashes, the bringing back to life that which our disproportionate passions may have theoretically destroyed.

To finish here, ultimately Polydectes receives the quintessential lesson in why we should be careful what we ask for, lest we get it when (as most versions of the story have it) Perseus returns home to learn Polydectes has raped his mother Danae.

The young hero heads for the palace where (not shockingly), Polydectes is surprised to see him.

But for good or ill, Polydectes is still Polydectes. Whipping out his most illustrious and kingly sneer, Polydectes informs Perseus that he'd 'known' Perseus couldn't kill Medusa.
 
But Perseus did kill Medusa. And to prove it, as all the king's sycophant courtiers sneer on Perseus pulls Medusa's head out of the sack, holding it up where all can see it...and be promptly turned to stone.

Some questions shouldn't be asked and some truths are impossible to live with.

But that's just life.

With the king and court duly dealt with, Perseus returns the immortal garb and weaponry to the proper Olympian immortals.

And what about Medusa's head? That Perseus gives to Athena, who then embeds it on the front of her shield - the same shield she gave Perseus to carry.

Is it a warning? Perhaps. Often we try so hard to learn and then are sorry we know. It's the essential lesson of knowledge - that with knowledge comes power, and with power comes the responsibility to use that power properly - which means sometimes in a manner which requires us to silence the voice of instinct in thinking things through.

So sometimes knowledge is indeed a frightening responsibility. But to not know and instead act solely on instinct?

That plainly can ruin a life which could otherwise have been just...beautiful.

Oh how scary...but truth nonetheless.
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Perseus (Andromeda's son) doing battle to save his mother - the mortal

spirit of innocence before that which has given Perseus life can be

overwhelmed by Neptune (emotionality) arising in 'mostrous' form from

'oceanic depths' - the psychic sea which is humankind.

So...do we really know who Medusa is? Or is Medusa that thing in our life which keeps us from being willing to know the 'frightening reality' of who we are, or what we are capable of doing to our Self or others?

Is that... the knowledge, the possible fear of 'doing' a greater share of why humans seem so drawn to preferring a dream that we can never build on in reality to a factual reality in which we could possibly build our dream but which we cannot access without facing our inner fears?

Probably.
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The head of Medusa as it ended up, mounted at the center of Pallas Athena's

shield, facing all who would approach - a lasting mythic comment on the

connection between fear, perspective and conscious wisdom...and

probably the need for just that.

Beyond whatever else, the frightening face in Wisdom's shield is a directive telling us that our greatest truths lie beyond facing our greatest fears. Only through knowing what our fears are can we choose to learn differently and dispell them.

Yet since there will always be more to learn and be, in the end the only knowledge which will ever really set us free of instinct's rampages is that truth which allows us to accept the beauty of that fear which allows us to know everything about our Self, that being the path to a life as a human being unafraid to face anything.
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A Host of Stations

 

 Image adapted from a Sierpinski square in public domain courtesy of Solkoll

With Athena (dispassionate wisdom) and Sabine (confines) just about to go retrograde, some of us are feeling....well, a wee bit cornered. Or confined. Some of us awill be actively denying things which might get in our way which in truth are something of a mental blockade simply because we're not dealing with them.

Yes, life will get to us, no matter what we do. The trick is getting ourselves to meet life on its terms...which is often multo hard to do!

Of course...there will be those who will interpret Athena and Sabine's turnaround as a recognition. Such people are likely to be coming to have a far better (Athena) understanding of what their (Sabine) limits really are.

It's all in how you use it, people!  At least that's what all the (Athena) lore left us over the ages suggests. Of course, my favorite way of thinking of it is in Robert Hand-speak: use the energy wisely, lest it use you unwisely.

Ah yes...the Rob of Hand. Nice guy, Rob.

So when will Athena and Sabine go retrograde? Athena’s station is this Wednesday, January 16th. And Sabine's is the day after (Thursday the 17th). But since there will be other astro-doings to discuss later this week, I wanted to prattle a bit about things asteroidal. (No, that's not dirty!)

And the first thing to discuss is Mnemosyne, mother of all muses (not to be confused with the muthah of all muses...I'm pretty sure she didn't live in the Hood). 

So let's start with the 'muse' part. Whatever they are in Greek myth, in astrological application, the muses tend to refer to comes out of our reflecting on things. You know…how we express ourselves and what we say, considering how we feel or maybe what we’ve learned.

Or haven’t learned, yes.

...a moment of pause while we all muse on this idea…

We can hope that Athena going direct will awaken our internal ‘think it through’ process. After all, Athena is the very vibe of cool, logical, dispassion. And considering the points which are going on station this Friday-into-Saturday…? Well! They’re emotional emotional enough that going into these next couple of days with a bit of thought and a breath of clarity sounds like a good idea!

As for the ‘when’ of all this, the station effects start now - January 16th. And they extends through January 20th….or the first few minutes of the 21st, if you want to be exact, seeing as Mnemosyne goes retrograde at about 9 minutes after midnight (UT/+0 time) on Saturday the 19th.

Depending on how the four objects involved aspect other things in your chart, you may be feeling a bit more evasive (or being avoided) and Haumea-ish and less Mnemosyne. Or maybe your life will be filled with a lot of Scheherazade ‘telling tales’ influences.

A fragment of a 17th century fresco depicting the round of the Zodiac

(photo credit: Kober, 2007)

Whatever our personal charts say, there will be a ‘vibe’ which is worldly and ‘mundane’ – which has got to be the most misunderstood astrological term around! In ‘regular’ speech, ‘mundane’ means ‘common’ or ‘general.’ And it’s this second meaning which leads to the astrological sense of ‘mundanity’….but really, something like Mars conjuncting Uranus or Pluto does NOT indicate a mundane event!

Far from it. Yet when you see the term, it means ‘world-wide.’ And on the world-wide ‘mundane’ level, that which is happening now – or being (Athena) thought about now, is about to evolve. And let’s remember, it’s going to do its evolving with the Sun in Capricorn with last Friday’s New Moon in Capricorn has given us all some sort of something which resembles a report card.

With Saturn the sole rules of Capricorn, that Saturn is transiting Scorpio tells us that how well we are intersecting others and that work around us will be generating what’s afoot. At it’s dig-down-deep base and bottom, this is about your personal values, so start there. What do you value? How well that is working for others in your world…and the world in general…will have built up some reservoir of support or respect where all is well, and will have built up some sort of ‘debt’ (be that financial, emotional or otherwise) with others or even with yourself.

So here we are trying to cope, make the best of things and inch-by-inch get things moving in the right direction…and then we get to this four-part station. The players are as follows: Scheherazade the story teller… Mnemosyne (reflections, and what we see, understand or do because of same)…Typhon, symbol of primal feelings…and shapeshifter Haumea, the goddess whose endless pretenses, pretending and ignoring of human standards lead to her eternal demise.

Taken all together, the basic question becomes what is driving us? Some of us will get in touch with those issues and act from them, and some of us will deal with a life which, in provoking our innermost feelings and needs, will show us what our (Capricorn) priorities really are.

So it’ll be easy to have these next days be a product of being driven by compulsions we don’t even consciously recognize. Or maybe you’ll get annoyed with yourself because you did ‘that’ again!

Oh, when will we learn!

But there are huge positives to be gained now. For those who are wiling to bite the proverbial bullet (no real bullet biting is advised!) this can be a time to turn a corner and turn over a new leaf. Things which have been out of line or gotten out of hand can now be stopped.

(with regards to this diagram, darker shades indicate retrograde,

lighter shades indicate direct motion)

With Scheherazade going direct, those who do take on making changes may face objections in the forms of reasons, rationales and excuses (in other words, ‘tales’) as to why things have been the way they are, or why they should stay that way. Or they may be telling themselves 'stories' as to why they need to do something. There's also the idea that Scheherazade’s station is in an exact trine to Mnemosyne’s. And that combination suggests that there are going to be some who do their best to ‘reason’ (wheedle, persuade, daunt, circumvent, avoid, stonewall, ignore…etc.) whatever gets brought up for discussion!

Who’s to say the new is any better than the old?

Good question!

With Libra being the host sign for Typhon and Haumea’s turn to retrograde, it’s also not impossible to hear some ‘if you do that, I’ll do this’ sort of stuff. And though this may be difficult to deal with, those who understand that those who feel most threatened are the one’s most likely to issue threats will understand how to cope. Sometimes compromise is needed, yes. But sometimes pointing out the fallacy of the (Typhon) feeling which is being triggered and driving the ‘digging in of the heels’ is a far better route.

At extremes, this can be a moment when ultimatums get issued. Are they real? Sometimes, yes.

With all of this happening with Jupiter having moved into the degree it will linger and go direct in come January 30th, many people will be feeling impatient either because they want to ‘move on’ or are fed up with ‘discussing’ and looking for additional options. This is part of the whole Capricorn New Moon cycle, which in part is about learning to stand on our own two feet and not worry as much about what others say as getting things right.

But at the moment? Well, let’s just say there may be a few matches getting lit under a few tender parts and a bit of resultant objections. With the Sun and Mercury coming into unison as they reach the end of Capricorn, maintaining perspective on your own reasons (and your ability to reason) is part and parcel of all which goes on now.

If you can remember that the instincts which drive you (Typhon and Haumea) are coming from an emotional place…and the reactions or input you’re getting may set off your reactions, you’re in a good place to learn a lot. You may even learn a lot about others.

And that would seem to be the point – learning who we all are. As this station is winding up, the Sun and Mercury will move into that universal sign of greater theory: Aquarius. We really are closing out the end of the Piscean Age and moving into the Aquarian Age, which is the astrological equivalent to the rolling over of the Mayan creation cycle.

(Yes, I know it’s not the exact equivalent, but these two Cycles of Different Sources do seem to have some sync-power!)

The reason to think about this comes from the idea that every time the astrological ages change, we see humankind in all sorts of turmoil. The Ages don’t have a ‘finite’ date for end-and-beginning like the Mayans had. (We can but wish they did!) Instead, astrological ages move from one to the next sort of like the colors in a rainbow meld one into the next. So yes, there is a point at which you’ve ‘totally in the yellow’ but you sort of have to get there in order to know you’re there.

 Pages from the famous Mayan Dresden Codex which has helped us

learn so much about Mayan astronomy, their understanding of numbers

and their truly astounding concepts about time.

Fortunately, we do have some signatures. That’s the clockwork of major planetary symbols (etc.) moving into Aquarius. Saturn (reality) will reach Aquarius in 2020. That’s our next big step…with Pluto changing many a parameter starting in 2024.

Prior to that, every time the Sun or Mars or another of the personal planets moves into Aquarius, we get a different perspective on life. We feel the need to change because change is in the air and on the way.

And that makes this set of stations leading into the 2013 Sun/Mercury Aquarian ingress our chance to gain some ground for – and with ourselves.
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Medusa's Entrance into Cancer: A Meteoric Collective Consciousness

The Death of Medusa by Edward Burne Jones (1888-1892)

When I say ‘Medusa,’ most everybody thinks of the Perseus Problem: how to cut the head off a gorgon if looking at said gorgon (with it’s hairy head of snakes)will turn you into stone?

Ultimately the answer to that question is you reflect on where to strike…Perseus does the needed deed of killing Medusa by looking at a reflection of that which is so deadly scary and using his INTELLECTUAL power to interpret that reflection and thus deduce where the problem (Medusa) stands…a process which then allows him to take aim at the problem and ‘kill it.’

Personally, I happen to think the Medusa myth is one of the most interesting in all mythology – which would be why I’ve written a full length article about it (LINK) and why I refer to Medusa so often.

In short however (should you not be into reading a whole other mythic saga at the moment…), Medusa got into trouble by being a.) simply mortal, b.) somewhat vain and c.) irresponsible. The technicals on this are that she was had sworn to serve in the temple (the wholly holy space) of Pallas Athena, goddess of dispassionate wisdom. 

That means there’s a big sign on the temple door: taking your shoes off is optional – leaving your emotionalism outside is required. 

Pallas Athena is just not an emotional entity. She’s all logic and deduction and cooler-than-the-cucumber intellectualism.

This matter of ‘taking an oath to serve’ is, as you might realize by yesterday’s blog on Kallisto, also a  Greek myth theme. In short, if you make the promise, the promise must be kept. There are various forms of this tale throughout Greek mythology, too. Some mortals – such as Kallisto – stick to their vows and go through all sorts of grief because they do that but in the end are recognized and honored for their loyalty. Sure, it’s not always perfect, but Greek immortals, unlike modern conceptions of immortality, are not so all-danged perfect.

And who’s got this right or wrong here…? That’s pretty much up for discussion. If you think the universe should be perfect (implying it isn’t already) that’s a point of view. It just isn’t the Greek one.

Anyway…so there’s the Kallisto version of the vow (you stick to it, no matter what), there are a couple of examples where the folks resign from temple duty so they can go off and have their earthly, earthy life (which sometimes is fine, sometimes not so fine) and then there’s Medusa’s choice, which is to not only not resign from her sacred vows before violating them, but to violate them right in front of Athena’s altar.

Obviously Athena was not so jazzed by this choice, which is how the hair went all snake-hissy (which made Medusa the first person to have a ‘hissy fit,’ perhaps?) and all Medusa’s goodness turned to grief.

However! In the end, Medusa’s head (once cut off, that is) gets installed on the front of Athena’s shield. And thus we are told that sometimes just facing the truth is scary. Or – given the whole ‘reflection’ inference – that in facing the achieving of real wisdom (getting beyond Athena’s shield to the reality and into the wisdom of Athena’s guidance, presence and protection)…that we have to reflect on what makes us so scared.

Wisdom itself isn’t scary, remember? We left our emotions at the door, so it can’t be scary…’scary’ is a feeling thing. So to come into the presence of wisdom we have to first deal and set aside whatever our fears are.

And why is this all so important on May 6, 2011? Because, oh grasshopper, this is the day when the Sun stands at 15 Taurus. In other words, this is the very day at which we move across what is known as the ‘cross-quarter’ point bisecting the zodiac’s first quadrant.

As we move across this mark, we are confronted with and asked to cope with the idea of how our choices and actions, our natural self assertion and justified interest in our own life…how all that affect will affects others.

This is a concept about beginning to lay groundwork for choice – for choosing everything from what to say or not say to choosing what we want to do with our life and lifetime…which is really what the second part of the first quarter (Taurus, part two plus Gemini) synthesis is about. What will get us where we want to go? What will earn the responses and opportunities we want, and by doing so, allow us to feel better rewarded, more satisfied and happier with our life?

That is the question poised by 15 Taurus. And as someone who has a friend whose Sun sits at 15 Taurus, that’s realistically what this degree is all about. Lore talks about 15 Taurus as a degree where people come to be ‘considered’ wise (in terms of whatever planet is positioned there) because they listen, learn from and respond others in their environs. My friend is a 15 Taurus Sun who very much likes to learn from compatriots and people encountered through daily life and work – definitely with one eye on the native ‘early-degree Taurus’ desires for security and ‘belonging.’

Whatever sign we belong to in terms of any planet, however far along the sign that planet is placed, we can always deduce that this is as much of that sign as the person has learned. For the Sun to be at 15 Taurus now as Medusa enters Cancer therefore brings the steady effort of Taurus’ first ten degrees and half of Taurus’ emotional quotient brought to the matter of home, hearth, homeland, and family.

For some, this will produce a sort of whirling dervish day: life (the Sun) ‘balanced’ at the emotional Taurean mid-point is a real ‘am I doing the right thing?’ moment. In transit, Medusa has the effect of getting us to at least stop and consider.

And for some, avoid.

Considering how Kallisto and Edisona both just moved into Gemini…(those would be the past two blogs)…a lot of people will suddenly have a case of Gulping Reconsideration. You know…the ‘what have I gotten myself into?’ or ‘why did I do that when I could have done this and it wall would have been so much better?

There’s definitely a lot of tall thinking going on now - and that may well be added to by the fact that today - May 6th, is the annual height of the yearly Eta Aquarids meteor shower.

The shower itself emanates from Aquarius - specifically near the star Eta Aquarids for which this shower is named.

Aquarius - as shown above, has its own cross-quarter point. These cross-quarter points are always sensitive times when the Sun (or any other object) pushes past them which is why people who are born around (or at) the time of year when the Sun is positioned at any cross-quarter point tend to be a little bit hesitant. The 'call' is to 'move ahead'...but there is a natural human instinct to also stay with that which you already know.

As time and planets prove however, we don't get to linger. Time marches on...our only choice is to keep up or fall behind, whether in the general sense or in the march of our own life's progression.

But wait - there's more! (Yes, I have watched too many commercials...how'd you know?)...In passing Taurus' cross quarter point, we are currently not just getting the cross-quarter effect. No sirree! With fixed star Menkar currently positioned at 15 Taurus we are also presented with our own fears or concerns centering on our ability to be an individual...against wanting to be accepted by those around us and in our world. 

 Constellations Taurus (top) and Cetus (bottom). Shown both in part,

it's enough to see how fixed star Menkar lies along a longitude which

would be (currently) sitting astride Taurus' midpoint at 15 Taurus.

Remember: the zodiac is a 'circle' drawn through the heavens "level"

with Earth's orbit around the Sun...a path known astronomically (and

astrologically) as the 'ecliptic.' Only constellations which lie on or across

this line are included as zodiac signs - which is why when, a couple of months

ago the old 'rumor' about Ophiuchus arose (again!) all the astrologers

chorused 'NO!' in 12 part harmony.

One other note here...off to the left you may see Bellatrix, a trying point in

Gemini, above which is the end of the name "Betelgeuse" which, also

in Gemini was simply cropped off as I took this screen shot of

Taurus and Cetus. Since we've talked so often about Bellatrix and

Betelgeuse, I thought you might like to see approximately where they

are in this discussion, so as time goes on you can become more and more

familiar with what's 'up there' when you go outside into the starry, starry night!

So to have this happening as Medusa moves into Cancer, a sign which (among other things) summons up everything from our childhood issues to our most childish instincts?

You could see why this would be a bit of a splutterful moment, right?

And when we double back to the idea that Kallisto in Gemini tend to give us twinges of 20/20 hindsight...and that Edisona in Gemini is a time when we are searching for ideas or being given to know how well we’re doing in our own mind (or not) this could be a trying, testing moment.

It actually could be testy too...but that's most likely where you (or someone else) hasn't deal with their own fear of knowing. You know, their own Medusa?

Yet…this is certainly not all bad news. No - not at all! One of the things to remember about Medusa is that she realized there was a cost for her transgressions. She broke her vows by having immortal relations with Neptune in Athena’s temple and for that was punished. But once she realized what she had become she didn’t go around taking her own grief out on others. And that’s where Medusa’s story parts with that of Godzilla munching Tokyo and other such tales. The person who says ‘they done me wrong and I’m going to take it out on everybody else!’ is not Medusa.

Medusa has a conscience. She moves far, far away so that her terribleness will not be inflicted on others. She doesn’t even fight much when Perseus turns up.

Medusa is not vengeful. As frightening as Medusa becomes, she is also merciful.

And that suggests that the passage of Medusa through Cancer will bring us all to recognize some of the scary things in and about life – and do what needs doing to deal with them. Maybe even while making sure others don’t know what we’re up to.

About the time July’s solar eclipse (in Cancer) rolls around, Medusa will be conjunct Mercury in the last couple of degrees of Cancer. Considering Mercury in Cancer is always emotional thinking and speech and how the end of any sign is how we react to life and events, this cold be a pretty emotional time. We may all be tempted to just tuck in and ‘not look.’

But remember…that’s not the plus of Medusa. That’s not what we’re supposed to learn. When Medusa dies, her children (with Neptune) spring forth to play their part in our world. One is Chrysaor – a savage guardian, initially of sheep (i.e., those among us who will not think for ourselves). The other is Pegasus, the winged horse which in symbolizing our flights of (thoughtful) fancy is destined to give good service to a mere mortal.

The Birth of Pegasus and Chrysaor

by Edward Burne Jones (1876-1885)

The mythical Pegasus, though every bit as beautiful as we like to think is not innately ‘thoughtful’ in himself. Captured by Bellerophon (grandson of grand sinner Sisyphus), Pegasus aids Bellerophon in killing the Chimera…which happens to be the offspring of Chrysaor.

Then again, from this line also come the centaurs – a whole race of beings whose challenge was to unify their great animalistic strength with human(e) intelligence and not simply to use their smarts to get what they wanted on an animalistic level.

These ideas are important because they help us understand the legacy of Medusa – and why she is just not a girl with truly scaly hair in search of a good conditioner. Medusa is more about the human condition in the sense that we each embody it. Do we work towards only our own pleasure – or for the good of all, from which comes our acceptance and ultimate security?

Mercury dances with Neptune: Enchantment? Flummery? Enchanting Flummery?

 Fog-laser effects

photograph by Gregory Maxwell

For those who don't know what 'flummery' is, you're not alone. I never knew the word (or the thing) existed until I got into watching the TV adaptations of Rex Stout's 'Nero Wolfe' series. An engagingly brilliant if grumpy, headstrong type, honcho detective Nero Wolfe was all about his food - ever was a case allowed to interfere with meal time.

Flummery being a form of pudding, one assumes Nero ate it now and again. But apart from that, seeing that the word 'flummery' is also used to describe something as utter nonsense, Nero's use of same brought the word into my vocabulary. And now into yours.

But what's this got to do with anything astrological? Plenty! Tomorrow at 12:06 (+0/UT - adjust to your local time) transiting Neptune perfects an air sign trine to transiting Mercury. So it should be an interesting day, afternoon or evening (depending on where you are). Or it might be one full of...flummery.

This starts with Mercury, our symbol of thinking, thoughts/ideas and all we go through to choose one over another and implement same. In being at 26 Libra, we know the Mercurial subject is 'about others' - thinking about them, something you need to discuss with them, someone you need to get in touch with, some 'type' of person you need to find or find out about...

...At 26 Libra, this Mercurial moment takes on a quality of superbly sensitive adeptness. We 'get' what needs doing or saying. Our antenna become aligned so that insight on the situation is suddenly gained. This may be just in our mind...or it may be as we are actually interacting with someone. Either way, this looks to be - at least on the surface - a rather positive moment.

With that said however, there is the other end of this trine - the Neptune/Chiron/Athena side.

 Planet Neptune: a mysterious ice giant

of great and far-reaching power

photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech  

Mercury's position, so close to the Sun, describes it as a process 'central' to our existence, our will to live, our operational 'center' (the Sun). Neptune is at the total and opposite extreme. Standing as the last true planet in the icy reaches of our solar system, Neptune is that 'jumping off place' in space and in life.

So all things Neptunian involve how we deal with 'the unknown.' Where we feel secure (say, when we're watching a movie and suspending our sense of reality in order to get into the movie) most of us feel very safe. Where we enter into a romantic relationship, we have great hopes but at the same time we know all could yet not be exactly as we think it is. Ah, love...!

Then there are those places where we choose not to know. Or we expect not to know everything - such as in the case of spiritualism. Having faith is all about allowing yourself not to know. And that one idea is truly the best one we can bear in mind when we deal with anything Neptune. Where Neptune is involved, we are not going to know.

Chiron, on the other hand, is about mastery of Self. Our 'rowdy' instincts, whatever they may be, must be set aside when dealing with all things Chirotic so that we can focus with clarity and bring our best (and often most "noble") attributes to bear in some cause.

The Education of Achilles

(Chiron being the centaur teacher)

by Eugene Ferdinand Victor Delacroix (late 1800's)

The 'purpose' of Chiron is to learn; as Chiron the centaur was taught by Apollo, god of light (or enlightenment), so Chiron was required to not merely pass his knowledge on, but to use it in his own life and understand that what could happen if he didn't.

Probably the best example of this is seen in Apollo (as god of medicine) having taught the medical arts to Chiron, from whence comes the common astrological nickname for Chiron: 'The Wounded Healer.' As one of the passionate, passion-driven centaurs, Chiron becoming educated about what could happen to wounds was a caution against doing something which could get him wounded and thus compromised...or dead. Yet that's exactly what happened - Chiron's 'lower instincts' (the animal/horse part) got the better of him, he got into a brawl and was mortally wounded.

In the chart, Chiron is a point most of us avoid like the plague (to use the obvious line!). But the real point is more to the idea of owning our own 'ills' and dealing from that point. Through Chirotic situations we are asked to recognize our own failings and vulnerabilities - and to perhaps even grow through recognition of them. At the same time we are being asked to act for the best - generally in an area of life which seems very "foreign" to us (as Apollo's godly life and ability was foreign to Chiron, a very earthy and earthly being).

Combined with Neptune, this brings us think about the possible versus the trepidation. Can we? Should we? Do we really have to? Oh, don't we wish...! If only....! Why can't life....

The third image on this trining Aquarian side of the equation is Athena, goddess of wisdom. Not knowing...that's Jupiter....wisdom - the quality of knowing how to apply knowledge, when to apply it, and as happens many times, when not to apply it.

  Detail of a statue of Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom

Sprung from the brow of 'father' Jupiter, Athena is pure concept and conceptualization. She is idea-as-resource; understanding as decision-maker. So metaphysically, Athena is a point which is incredibly fair, but non- emotional. She's a lesson in how what is 'just' doesn't always feel good, and how that's a function of facts untainted by emotional bias.

So we add Athena to Chiron and Neptune and arrive at....at what? Well, no matter where we go on this 26 Aquarian Neptune-Athena-Chiron side of the trine, there's a duality. 'Is it true, or is it not true?'. And there is always to consider (speaking of Athena and Mercury!) that any time we see Neptune connected to Mercury there is the possibility of 'the lie.' It may be a simple misunderstanding. It may involve people hearing what they want to hear (denial). Or just some unrealistic (entertaining or romantic or carefree) moment.

Then again, it may involve someone's out-and-out effort to deceive or lead someone else astray. And with Neptune and Chiron in retrograde, the effect is not on them, but on us. Athena in direct motion is the input from outside. Mercury in direct motion is our part in a process or situation. But the two retrograde symbols - Chiron and Neptune - plainly say the realism or lack thereof - that's operating inside us. Each one of us.

Neptune is said to be like a fog. Fog looks real. And it is real. But we cannot catch and hold it in our hand.

So maybe it's not a moment to do anything too serious? 

Maybe.

And yet in this configuration, particularly with Athena, Neptune and Chiron sitting at 26 Aquarius (a degree about either insight into unsteadiness or unsteady insights) ...this may be when we realize what some problem is really about. What comes from that?

That depends. And seeing that this is a transiting moment in time, it should depend on what develops from here. Going into these hours on either side of the moment of transit exactitude, things will be what they will be. It's our job to learn from them without depending on this being the 'last word' on anything in particular.

Some good things will seem ideal. Some bad things will seem dastardly. The issue is not the 'thing' itself; it's our willingness to recognize what it is (Athena + Mercury) and understand whatever our reaction to that is (Neptune + Mercury). But where we go from here? That depends on how well we know ourselves (Athena + Chiron) and others (Libra/Aquarius)...and how well we are able to accept the truth of and manage our more base/basic instincts (Chiron + Neptune).

Whatever this moment is, it's Chirotic and thus educational. It's about learning how to manage our own affairs in a world which contains other people (Mercury in Libra trine Neptune in Aquarius) and how we don't really have any choice in that (Chiron in Aquarius)... the world is what it is.

 Planet Earth as seen by Apollo 17

source: NASA

 So we realize, we recognize, we learn something new (hopefully)...and from there, we move on. Considering the Full Moon (at 29 Aries) doesn't occur until the 23rd, and that Mercury will oppose that impending Full Moon position as it reached 29 Libra on the 19th or 20th (depending on where you are)...

...there is surely more to come on whatever subject(s) is/are now at hand. Now is a moment to be honest - most of all with yourself. Just don't expect everybody to act as well. Or to understand their reasons, needs and rationales even when/if they are on the up-and-up.

Let go while keeping on. Be realistic while allowing for possibility. Don't bet the farm and don't give up the ghost. Laugh, cry, wonder and love as you must, but don't fall over the cliff of your own extremes.

It's a moment....which like all others, shall indeed soon pass.