Insights: A Cancer New Moon

Morning Fantasy by Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis (1904)

July’s New Moon comes into focus at 7:15 in the UT/+0 morning on July 8. And for those of us who don’t live in the +0 time zone, the clock may be different, what we’re doing in that moment will certainly be different, but the global moment will be striking the same note.

It says a lot about how billions of people on one not-giant blue-ish planet can take things differently. And how many ways there are to see and act in life – and this world.

By being a mid-Cancer degree, 16 Cancer is by definition an emotional degree of an emotional sign. An this isn’t Scorpio, so this isn’t about interactions with others. This isn’t Pisces, so this isn’t something which just ‘is’ despite any good effort. This is Cancer. This is about our sense of self – those basic emotions which ask ‘who am I’ and ‘do they like me?’ and ‘will I get in trouble for that?’ or ‘does anyone care?’ or ‘I feel lonely.’

Cancer is where we learn about our emotional self. Cancer is the sign all about our basic feelings about life, and having to do XYZ in life. Cancer confronts us with some seriously unenviable questions like ‘Okay, so I’m not happy about my life. What am I going to do about it? Why did this happen to me? Can’t things just be easy?’

The Sun having entered Cancer back on June 21st (again, UT/+0 time) set the stage for life to move us into this mode of being sensitive and sensitized to the quality of life – ours and life in general. But up until now (or more precisely, until the moment of the Cancer New Moon) we were all living through a series of days which was part of a previous lunar cycle, that being the Gemini New Moon which took place back on June 8.

The Sun represents ‘life itself,’ and our consciousness. Or consciousness of life going on around us. 
Reflecting the idea that our Sun (the actual star) isn’t going anywhere or expected to do much other than what its doing for another more-than-several billion years (yes, billion with a ‘b’) the Sun represents the fullness or entirety of life. Or at least the idea of same, which allegedly gets us to thinking about what we want to do with – and in – our lifetime.

(Allegedly.)

Against this, the lunar cycles represent our day-to-day daily concerns. Because the cycles of the Moon are actually about a relationship between the Moon and Sun, every month is another piece, another step, another ‘phase’ in the totality of our process – which is to say, the process of living our life. As the Moon’s light is light reflected from the Sun, so it is said that lunar cycles are ‘reflective’ of where we are in our life. Or – maybe more productively – where we are in the process of building that life we want to have.

Lore suggests that 16 Cancer is a degree about our facing up to what we need to deal with. At one level it’s about getting rid of excuses…and at another, it’s about dealing with all those ‘little things’ which come up which may become “The Excuse” for not doing what we really need to get done. There is something of a pliable quality said to be part of this degree – which may be something to keep in mind for the whole of this month, a month which will in time have the Sun pushing on into Leo just after the Full Moon.

This is what I meant to get to in mentioning how the Sun entered Cancer long before this Cancer New Moon, and how all those days were part of the lunation prior. Every cycle of the Moon has a way of saying ‘move on!’ in terms of life’s doings. And okay, for those who are more preoccupied or rooted in some status quo, maybe life has to pry your death grip on personal preference loose in order to move you along.

A lot of us took the Gemini New Moon as an opportunity to make new choices and to take on new tasks. Or to learn new things. Or maybe you got swept up in sweeping up the confetti of things which have fallen all around you while you were busy doing something else.

A small boy trying to catch confetti at a folk festival in Namur, Belgium

(photo credit: Ben Aveling, April 2006)

 
Life can be a ticker tape parade sometimes, yes. Great to look at, fun to play in, but boy – what a mess to clean up!

But once the Sun moved into Cancer (on June 21), the simple ‘idea of the moment’ changed. Life became more feeling, more about the important things which make life work and which make living life more worthwhile.

The zodiac’s three water signs are about ‘wealth.’ And while yes, that may be ‘money wealth,’ that can also point to our wealth of experience. Or the circumstances – emotional, situational or concrete – which, in allowing us to feel more comfortable, give us a ‘platform’ on which to build that greater (solar) totality of our life.

During the Gemini lunation, the Sun shifting into Cancer retained a bit of that Gemini ‘the idea of the thing’ quality. And its that which will shift as of the moment of the Cancer New Moon. During the next two weeks (i.e., while the Sun is still in Cancer) we are all likely to feel more or less ‘centered’ in our emotional self. So obviously those who don’t do as well with their emotional Self (or emotional life) are likely to feel a bit touchy…which is maybe really their feeling touchy about feeling touchy.

Another group will feel centered in their need to get on with things. For these people, the Cancer Sun phase of the Cancer lunation will manifest as feeling at home with themselves – and thus with the world which is immediately around them. That doesn’t mean everything is perfect…such folks may be all about rearranging the furniture or getting around to paining the living room wall. But (using painting as the way to ‘see’ this)(yes, that was a bad pun) gone will be the Gemini lunation ‘what effect am I trying to create?’ as emotions and life congregate into the ‘I know what I’m going to go for. And if I don’t like that, I’ll change it later’ sort of feeling.

Cancer is a cardinal sign. It’s willing to learn from results. Gemini is a mutable signs. All mutable signs have an issue with making choices just because life’s possibilities seem endless. The Sun moving into Cancer under the Gemini lunation got us into the ‘yes, there’s a lot of choices – narrow it down, already!’ mode…and now, during the first half of the Cancer lunation, we will be digging in and doing what needs doing to structure what we plan to move ahead with.

Once the Sun moves into Leo (on July 22nd) this ‘structuring’ phase will give way to seeing what will actually result. And where we want to go from where we’ve gotten to at that point. At it’s best, this Leo effect will open us to new possibilities.

Of course, it could also show up our personal shortcomings. Or where our wanting to be ‘in our comfort zone’ has actually undermined our ability to ‘structure’ our life by failing to take others (or life’s greater, mainstream ‘flow’) into account.

Sirius A & B as seen in an x-ray photograph taken by the Chandra Space Telescope

(photo credit: NASA-SAO-CXC, September 2000)

With the brilliance of dog-star Sirius and ‘story teller’ Scheherazade at 14 Cancer just behind the position of this New Moon, Atropos (endings) and Echo just ahead of the New Moon at 18 Cancer and Atlantis exactly conjunct this lunation, this would seem to be an ‘Atlantis moment’ of facing that which we think of as being “exactly what we want” (or how we think we want life to be) in favor of being brave enough to literally accept walking into another element, tackling the seemingly impossible and – amazingly – being rewarded for that.

Atlantis is a funny point. (And no, I don’t mean ‘ha,ha’ funny.) Atlantis is all about ‘the times’ we live in and how accumulated experiences show us how it doesn’t matter how much we think we want to fit in with ‘that’ or to have ‘that’ be true. Sometimes we just aren’t going to fit in with ‘that’ no matter how hard we try. Sometimes we have to let go. We have to stop trying to tell others (and more importantly, ourselves) that that’s what we want to do. Or how we want life to work.

Sometimes we just have to let go. Atlantis is all about that very thing – the letting go. And about how sometimes, despite all, we need to walk into what may seem like a totally foreign element, something we think would be ‘deadly’ (not literally) in order to be enveloped by a new and different environment in which we will find our bliss.

Or at least the path to that bliss.

Sirius/Scheherazade being just behind the lunation speaks to our leaving some ‘story’ behind. Maybe it’s a phase of life you’re moving out of. Maybe it’s a home you’re moving out of. Around the world lot of students will be leaving behind their comfort zone of the ‘known’ as they move ahead to the next form or even out of their studies into life’s Big World.

That Sirius is a binary star tells us there is a 'fusion' process which goes into creating anything. One of the brightest stars in the sky, Sirius is known as a point of ‘brilliance,’ or qualities which we think of as brilliance or some idea or example which to us is  just ‘brilliant.’

Or maybe daunting or blinding or dazzling.

So with Sirius being conjunct Scheherazade and the New Moon being conjunct Atlantis, maybe you’re letting go of…or moving away from some ‘story’ you’ve told yourself. Or something which is itself brilliance, but which now you need to incorporate into your life and build upon. Part of this – considering we’re moving out of a Gemini lunation into a lunar month which is founded in the Cancer principle may be about acknowledging how someone else may know more than you do about something, but that that’s not any reason why you shouldn’t excel in your own right. So maybe you’re ready to take on reaching some inner dream by making it real in the here-and-now. Or maybe you’re done listening to the idea of what life ‘should be’ as defined by others and ready to create that better, more solid, more secure and stable life which works for you.

In leaving that ‘thing’ behind, this New Moon may be a moment of emotional darkness during which you let go of that you used to believe about others or even about yourself. In that darkness we can’t ‘see’ ahead, but we feel like we’re ‘hearing’ the Echo of endings (Atropos) to…to what?

Is that the end of something bad? Or something good? Maybe it’s just the end of our kidding ourselves about something – even some ‘blindness’ to our own abilities which we may have long negated.

The mythic Echo is a servant of chief honcho Olympians Hera and Zeus. Or Juno and Jupiter, if you prefer. The difference here, which comes from the difference between Greek and Roman culture seems to reflect the Greek love of logic and intellectual insight as opposed to the human passions and more emotional approach of the Romans. Either way, whether we talk Hera/Zeus or Juno/Jupiter, we’re making an astro-metaphysical reference to ‘governing principles’ in our lives.

But it’s not like mom and pop Olympians get along. Much as how in life we have ‘different parts’ of our life and interest which don’t seem compatible with each other, hubby king and wife queen of Olympus didn’t get along 100% either.

Far from it. Zeus/Jupiter (knowing knowledge) was a well-known philanderer. In our lives, this tendency to ‘go out on the wife’ reflects in the fact that we may sometimes do things which are counter to our status quo. Or maybe not in sync with what we’ve been taught. Or whatever it is we’ve constructed in our life.

 Obviously in a moment when they're on more or less friendly basis, Olympians Juno and

husband Jupiter are perhaps working on reaching some mutual agreement on how life should

be...which is a lot of what we go through in our own lives with ourselves.

Jupiter and Juno by Frans Christoph Janneck (1703-1761)

 

The important thing to remember is that this isn’t about anyone else. This is about us. The constant and wholly human thing which says we need to grow even while we need to remain ‘married’ to the job of taking care of ourselves and our lives.   

So there’s Echo…a servant (another part of our psyche) which is working for both honchos. And when Zeus/Jupiter decides to go off and chase his latest interest (a new possibility, perhaps) Jupiter instructs Echo not to tell the wife.

That amounts to our not ‘telling’ or admitting to ourselves that we want to try something new. Something else.

In marriage counseling, you’ll hear psychologists tell their clients that ‘you never solve the problem inside the marriage by going outside the marriage’ which is true whether someone is having an affair or simply building a professional or social life which doesn’t just exclude their Significant Other, but which they don’t involve their Significant Other in – at least at the level of being open about what they’re up to. Let’s face it, there are plenty of great marriages where each partner has personal interests which doesn’t involve the other party.

The problem would seem to be in the not telling. The not being honest. And that’s the Echo thing. Echo applies where we’re not honest with ourselves about our needs. Where we don’t admit to ourselves that there’s some sort of problem which isn’t getting solve ‘inside the marriage’ of our Self.

Just to cut to the chase on the myth, in case you haven’t heard this one before, rather predictably it doesn’t go well for Echo. Wife Hera/Juno (representing the protection of our psychic ‘home’ and inner stability) not only catches up with Zeus/Jupiter’s doings, but realizes Echo has been placating her with half-truths – sort of like we tend to do from time to time in our own lives.

And yes, that would be the point. Through the moment of this New Moon’s evocative darkness now comes the ‘Echo’ of Atropos, the ‘end’ of something.

Is that our ignorance? Our struggles to hide something important from our Self?

What (Gemini lunation cycle) idea are we on the verge of letting go of? What (Atlantis) are we realizing is not going to work for us? How will this moment and the next lunar month reveal how in (Cancer lunation cycle) being more united in our Self and (Cancer) more emotionally (Echo) knowing and honest with our Self can we (Atropos) end the internal spin and thus the spinning of our wheels?

It’s going to be an interesting month to be sure. That it’s happening with a water grand trine in progress speaks to a lot of values changing and the world being awash in provocations.

And yet, that is our future.
.
.
. 

This Week in Astrology: Getting the Point

 From the Duc de Barry's private collection,

a calendar page depicting December

This is a really busy astrological week. Seriously! And first things first: ALL TIMES ARE UT/+0. So if you want to know when something specific happens in your local world, adjust to your local time zone.

The week starts with Sunday the 19th and Byblis conjuncting Scheat at 5:48am. Byblis being a point specifically about the attempt to justify something you know is unacceptable and Scheat being the essence of public disapproval, it’s not too hard to guess that there’s a whole lot of condemnation (and self defense) going on.

Monday the 20th starts with Venus exiting the shadow of its recent retrograde. Venus being a planet, this is a mode of life or part of our life which is now feeling ‘freed’ of constraints first encountered back in early September. Does this mean everything is peaches and cream? Heck no! But it does mean that the sticky-icky drama, the lack of clarity and all the indecision which has been in the mix since then is finally over. And yes, either out in the open or out with the trash!

Tuesday also has Photographica going retrograde in Leo early in the morning - at 2:52pm plus Kleopatra entering Scorpio later in the day (at 6:26 pm).

Photographica is the ‘how others see us’ point – otherwise known as our “image” or ‘putting on the social/societal mask.’

Kleopatra is a point of ‘intelligence exhibited through charming gestures’ and ‘charm revealed through intelligence.’ Either way, with Kleopatra entering Scorpio, gains are made through knowing enough about whoever you’re dealing with.

 Currently housed in the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum,

a statue of Cleopatra - known astronomically as 'Kleopatra' 

photo credit E. Michael Smith (2007)

Since this is Scorpio however…a caution: if all you do is exploit others to get what you want without regard for who they are or what they value, you WILL pay – big time! It may not be today, but beware – karma is a bitch!

Put these factors together and it seems likely there are social/societal connections to be made today – or that events will reveal how you have operated in society or with regards to social/societal contacts. Whatever happens, this is a moment when each of us can learn a lot about what works for us and where we need to re-balance the ‘me/them’  priorities.

Tuesday the 21st starts with Atlantis entering Libra at 4:26am. This is a signal all about letting go of what has been in order to find that which is truly fitting. But boy…is that hard, or what!

Not making anything any less good or bad is the fact that then comes a Lunar Eclipse at 8:18. (And yes, there will be a special post on the eclipse as of tomorrow, giving us all time to sort things out. So check back for that!)

With Byblis enters Aries at 10:49pm (mere minutes before the Capricorn Solstice at 11:49pm) our errors and those of others – and the world around us – seem to hang in the air for most of the afternoon or evening, depending on where you are. Given that we’re moving into Capricorn and the zodiac’s most worldly (non-personal quadrant) realism and letting go of  personal designs in favor of workable solutions seems apt.

Wednesday the 22nd has Medusa going direct at 12 Taurus early in the morning (at 6:40am – which would still be late on the evening of the 21st in some parts of the world). By general definition, 12 Taurus would be a degree about emotional values, the difference between ‘things of worth’ and ‘self worth’ and how we feel about ourselves. More specifically, lore has this degree imbued with a sweetness which assists with negotiating who does what without some of the irritation of feeling ‘put upon’ which can be present at other times.

With Medusa going direct here, the Medusa ‘fearful truth’ is softened as we realize that honesty honestly expressed is calming and reassuring. We may not like it all, but at least we can proceed knowing where we stand!

Oh…and in case you’ve never read it…an ARTICLE ON MEDUSA.

Thursday the 23rd is the busiest day of all. With Child entering Sag at 3:20am, against Lachesis (duration) entering Capricorn at 5:15am, there’s an awareness that not all things last forever…otherwise known as ‘time waits for no man!’ (or woman, either!) While this stresses what needs to be done (and for some may indicate a busy mental day) it’s also a call to enjoy what we have.

How well you deal with this dichotomy should tell you something about yourself. (Sorry, can’t help you there!)

But when we add in Industria going direct at 6:46am at 4 Taurus…?

Industria is an obvious one: it’s “industriousness.” And in direct mode, it’s life coming towards us, asking us to be industrious and get a lot done. Yet the Taurus part asks ‘is this really worth it’?

And yes, this is the continuing 'flash' of the early morning transition.

Especially in the lee of the Lunar Eclipse, whether said eclipse smacked us personally or not we are all likely to be a little more discerning in and about our choices. And with Charybdis – a symbol of having to continuously ‘do’ or ‘put something out there’ entering Aquarius at 11:21 am, we may find ourselves cutting down our lists in what may be sort of a ‘who’s been naughty or nice?’ sort of way, to use the phrase of the season.

 Britannia between Scylla and Charybdis

by James Gillray (1793)

And no, that's not just about gifts - except in the most personal sense! Yes, this is about the gift of our effort, time and attention...most of all to who we are, who we want to be, and what we are capable of (i.e., our gifts!).

Those who deal with all realistically (the Sun is in Capricorn, remember?) will arrive at Bali entering Scorpio at 5:17pm looking forward to pleasant times.

Those who arrive there merely figuring on having things be the way they want them to be (or that all their work is done) will be…well, less than delighted.

The point now is togetherness. That which works should work for all, and that’s the basis upon which choices should have been made…and upon which they need to be made going forward, especially over the next days and several weeks.

A last note here: remembering that all this is happening – still – under Mercury retrograde should remind us that all these shifts are about our recognition of who we are and why we do what we do the way we do it. 

Against this, if you’ve been following the Asteroid Factor posts, you’ll also remember how there’s been a lot of energy going into the yang ‘what I want/need to do’ category. This week doesn’t change that balance, but with the Sun having moved out of theoretical Sagittarius into realistic Capricorn, this is where the rubber begins hitting road.

Those who enjoy the ride instead of speeding through things will by definition, enjoy more. Those who take risks will like as not experience real ramifications. The days between eclipses are a built-in period of flux.

Feel life – don’t try to mastermind it!

The Leo New Moon

Envisioning the New Moon against a field of distant stars...

Come August 10 at 3:08am (+0/UT) a New Moon will appear at 17 Leo.

Of course the 'trick' word in that sentence is 'appear,' since a New Moon is the Moon in its darkened phase. And why is it dark? It's dark because Earth (reality) has literally come between the Sun (light-will-life-intellect) and Moon (emotions-memories-valuing).

Thus are all reflecting and reflections eliminated.  And since what we would be reflecting on or reflecting in the moment are life issues, thoughts and such...that rather clears our metaphysical slate.

So, with said slate clear, what do we do? Answer: we do what humans do - we find something new to think about or something new to do.

Ergo, voila...! Now you know why the New Moon is associated with 'beginnings.'

As for this particular New Moon, it's at 17 Leo. Here's the chart:

 Chart of the August 2010 

New Moon at 17 Leo

Seventeen Leo is a (2nd decanate) emotional degree in a sign fervently well known for manifesting as inspiring impulses and ideas which enhance our world, which bring incredible new things into being, and which envisions all the wonder of possibilities.

On the other hand, Leo is equally well known for its intensely fixed nature (call that hesitant or stubborn, whichever you prefer), its inability to tolerate critique while being all about your errors and a general 'the sun is in my eyes' sort of blindness to the emotional positions of those near and far.

The mixture gives us very much the picture of the lion on the veldt: a fabulously strong creature which can be aloof, courageous, apparently endlessly self indulgent, which prefers to be provided for by others and yet which is the heart and soul of its pride.

Yes, that would be its own emotional pride and the pride which is the lion's family.

As for 17 Leo in particular, this is a degree known for manifesting as 'will incarnate.' Thus we get a heaping helping of Leo courage and strength with this New Moon as well as all the stubborn self centered-ness we feel entitled to but so dislike in others.

Put simply: those who use this lunar month well will aim towards amassing credibility as a demonstration of competence. They will use power responsibility and show others that they can be trusted to do exactly that. They will build of a platform of creative creations through performance which earns them respect and gives them a position to speak from.

And so much for the noble part. Since we're talking about real human beings here, let's also admit to ourselves that plenty of people are going to own this moment as the starting gun for a siege of acting out.  Seventeen Leo is known as much for its battles as nobility, and only sometimes do the twain work as one.

According to lore, problems which arise now surface where/when people don't think they 'need' anything other than what they have. And while it may be true they may be living the life of rose petals and hog heaven, it may also be true that such people are living at the very roughest, crudest end of their potential. And that's the real issue: the compromise of Self is simply not a plus when living in the zodiacal Land of Leo. 

If you're dealing with such a person, you need to inspire them to think otherwise. Commands and heavy handedness isn't going to work now. Will they be easy to convince? Heck no! But you have a lot better chance to get somewhere with suggestions rather than instructions and with offers of help rather than bland-faced advice.

To make this all a bit more interesting (as if it needed to be?) Nemesis is also in the mix here. You know Nemesis - that voice which says 'you'll be sorry if you do this' just when you're all geared up to do it? Nobody likes meeting up with Nemesis but we all feel righteous entitled to be Nemesis when we embody it. 

Okay, so some of us get nervous when we play the Nemesis card, but we are righteously convinced we're doing the right thing all the same.

With all three symbols sitting in 17 Leo as the writing on the blank slate there's lots of energy likely to be taken in dramatic stances, efforts and statements. With Atlantis just ahead at 19 Leo, whatever is going on looms like some giant, huge decision which threatens a great loss of something cherished, clung to, longed after...something!

And who's going to want give something up just because they should? At the moment, not hardly anybody!

In square to this lunation point we also have Medusa and Industria in security/satisfaction loving Taurus... plus poetic Sappho in emotional risk-defining Scorpio. With Scorpio ahead of Leo, this is a general indication of the need to reach out towards or develop some universal (Sappho) answer, agreement or way of dealing with things. 

But the Taurus side of the thing says 'I've already put so much (Industria) work into what I've been doing!' which against the Medusa 'gee, that's scary' quotient isn't likely to win applause and get people all happy on any level.

 A rendering of Medusa's head as the forward

face of Pallas Athena's (goddess of wisdom's) shield. 

Yet it's worth bearing in mind that Medusa is often simply a fear of knowing ourselves. And since in the end we are who we are, does it really do us much good to deny the truth? 

That whole idea of truth is very Medusa - as we know from where her head ended up: on the front of the shield of Wisdom (Pallas Athena). (link to article on Medusa.)

This may be no big thing. Then again, it could be something major (probably depending on how this New Moon aspects your personal chart). All we know for sure is that the fear of moving forward, changing the balance of things, cutting your losses (if there are any to be cut)... that fear may be what is turning you to stone, like the old story says.

Then again...standing straight across the zodiac from this New Moon we have a pretty daunting trio. First is Icarus at 14 Aquarius - call it social/societal risks which may find us insisting on some flight of fantasy which ends up dooming us to a great fall.

At 19 Aquarius we also have Damocles, the 'dangerous point' becoming apparent in a way we so hadn't anticipated. Fortunately, with Damocles sitting in 19 Aquarius, with the recognition of the danger comes enlightenment, proving the Chinese association of 'crisis and opportunity' in one and the very same word.

Here the issue is about your willingness to own the courage to deal with your choices in powerfully regenerative ways. This is all about you and how you act once you understand what's really on the table; if you handle the challenge well, healing brings great rewards. If you don't...

...for those who don't, they won't do so probably because of Nessus sitting at 18 Aquarius. By itself, Nessus is spite which leaves poison which harms others even after (Nessus') death. This is malice. This is selfishness of a highly unscrupulous nature which isn't helped by being positioned at 18 Aquarius, a degree all about perverted sexual passions and isolation in a perversion of seeded influences.

Given this challenging triad sit opposition the New Moon, each and every one of us is likely to project the 'bad stuff' on others. While of course they're in their own world thinking the same about us and/or someone else.

In the end, this all comes down to something of a game of cosmic chicken - who's going to be first to be honorable? And so we get it, let's remember that this isn't about someone else - the game of chicken is something we're playing against ourselves.

Moving from poultry to felines, if we just go back to the original image of 17 Leo, the (perhaps Damocledian) point is clearly made: are we willing to past our reluctance, our petulance, our resistance and be our better selves?

At its best, Leo is magnanimous, forgiving and sunny. At its worst, Leo is dismissive, rejecting and critical. And this is not just about how we are with other people - we need to be not all one thing and not all the other with ourselves. We are neither saints nor sinners - we are vulnerable. We make mistakes. We are humans - and it's pride (aka ego) which makes it hard to be our own better friends (not best - just better!) which in turn makes it impossible to be genuine with anyone else.


All of which brings us back to the lion as king and protector of his pride...

All too often we reflect this Leo quality emotionally, when the far better way to manifest it is physically - as in all the courage it takes to be a productive and courageous member of your 'family pride.'

And while you may think that's just about your local group, it's really not; the greatest of human beings throughout history are those who have reached out to others who need the help we as individuals know how to give.

That's there the real pride and the real winning through  all the emotional (Scorpio) risks and the real (Aquarian) acceptance and thus lasting (Taurean) security and satisfaction really comes from...when your fellow human beings really love, cherish, respect and never forget you.

 

Happy Birthday, Clean Energy (Or Maybe Not Yet?)

Passed on June 26, 2009, the Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 is about to have a birthday. Considering how this 'birthday' is marked by a lunar eclipse and a massive oil spill, that says something. But what?  

The Sun – the will of this Act is pictured in its chart at 5 Cancer, making the bill's realistic nature one rife with ‘disagreements,’ ‘indecisiveness,’ even 'miserliness' in the money department. Another big difficulty? The lack of ability (“defenselessness”) when it comes to dealing with human weakness. According to the Sun's position, the desire to 'hear all and judge fairly' gets in the way.

Not exactly an auspicious start, wouldn't you say?

Moving on...with this Sun closely associated with service-oriented Vesta at 3 Cancer, the 'will' in this bill will suffer in martyred silence - which is probably why we've heard so little about it during this past year. In fact, if this bill had any teeth, this Vesta would have so little ‘toughness’ that you might figure a political dentist had gone in and pulled all the teeth out.

Okay...so now we have a bill which not only cannot enunciate its intent, but in the 'biting off what you can chew' department may well earn the right to be retitled "The Gumming Act." Apparently this Act is up to pablum, but not much else. 

But things may be about to change.

For one, the rather wussy Sun/Vesta of this bill is opposed by a Capricorn Pluto conjunct Klotho ('a starting point'), Edisonia ('the new idea') and Mnemosyne (memory). Capricorn being about commerce, government and structure, this makes Mnemosyne historical memory, Edisonia new commercial methods and Klotho/Pluto a ‘switch’ which tells us that once the chart is activated, its premises go to work.  And thus it may do some good.

So now we look for something to activate it.

A Moon at 28 Leo tells us that the passage of the Act was a proud achievement. Yet with this Moon being in the 12th house, that pride was probably mostly limited to the halls of Congress. Nobody outside the Capitol was apparently much impressed. Why not? 

Because nothing had been done yet. Amazing how lawmakers forget that part...

This Moon is actually the biggest indicator of problems in the whole chart (and hence, the bill). Why? Because in a chart, when the Moon hold the "highest numerical position" in the chart, that horoscope is said to have a 'Void of Course' Moon. And when we see a VOC Moon, we think of the chart as being an 'end product' - content to be what it is and not highly dynamic in a strictly worldly 'go-getter' way. 

So this bill - as it stands, will never do anything, or get anything done. One could say it's pretty much....dead in the water.

Fitting, don't you think?

But even if that's so, why that is provides grist for our learning curve because it tells us how, why and when we may begin getting ourselves out of what is looking more than a little like an aquatic tar pit. And that's plainly worth knowing. 

This part of the answer starts with recognizing the Act's grand trine in earth signs, earth being all about tangible commodities and, when we talk specifically about energy, forms of same which come from the Earth. Interesting how in a Clean Energy Act this would by element rule out all discussions of wind, solar, water and tidal energy, pointing to coal, oil and nuclear as the point of the bill, right? 

That's how astrology works. 

So what are grand trines? A grand trine is composed of three trines hooked together by numerical aspect producing a picture of an equilateral triangle which represents a ‘closed circuit’ of ongoing influence. 

Grand trines are notorious for being wretchedly hard to break into. Or out of.

The first point in the configuration involves the Ascendant, the ‘funnel’ or 'aperture' through which any chart performs...the present tense doing of it all. 

This Ascendant is at 20 Virgo, a 3rd decanate degree all about a battle, but not much about winning. In governmental terms, this means much talking, less than sterling amounts of action and probably few if any results.

Plus...sitting right behind this Ascendant (in prime position to affect doings) we have  Saturn and TNO Typhon, both at 16 Virgo. (article on Typhon) 

Typhon is primitive, titanic forces - of the Earth and in the choices/actions of mankind. And Virgo? In worldly terms, Virgo is ‘health,’ ‘the workforce’ and ‘ongoing functionality,’ all of which in an energy bill underscores how energy keeps modern society moving, the dangers associated with energy production and how Typhon things can get when energy production goes wrong.  

Saturn is Virgo is viability of functionality – the ‘the health of’ a society, an industry, a country or a world. In perfected conjunction with Typhon in a degree about dangers which arise 'when precision goes awry.' 

That these two symbols are 'married' in the 12th house conjunct the Ascendant is highly potent - and therefore highly problematic. But also interesting, especially if you're looking for a way for this Clean Energy/Security Act to 'find its voice' in the world. The 12th being known as ‘the house of limitations,’ and a Virgo Saturn in negative form being not only fear of tampering with the system but also fear of destruction of the environment tells us a lot about how this Act works - even symbolically. 

That it would take a real disaster isn't out of line here, either - the 12th is notorious for its lack of realism (you know, that 'think good thoughts and everything will be just fine!' stuff)...and we are talking about an earth sign (Virgo). Earth signs do like tangible results. Or a tangible disasters - yes, like the Deepwater Horizon explosion and all that oil pouring through the Gulf, invading America's southern coast. 

With the Moon of this chart in the 12th, and given that in a governmental bill the Moon is always going to represent (among other things) the people, we shouldn't be shocked that Americans turned a blind eye to necessity until the reality of a disaster hit home in spades. It would be far easier (and natural) for any government and its people to 'see' the Moon as money - which it also traditionally is. In that light the Moon in 12 would be a fear of what changing over to clean energy would cost. And what would happen to energy industries and people employed by same along the way.

Speaking of people and money, there's a whole other side of this 12th house Moon to consider here too - that being the 12th as the house of ‘passive income’ (royalties, dividends, lease payments, annuities, pensions). Have we thought about how many pension plans are invested in energy? If not, maybe we should - starting with looking to what happened to BP's stock the minute the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded. 

And what happened? BP’s stock exploded too - sinking about as quickly as the multi-mega-million-dollar drilling rig. A whole lot of UK pension plans had been invested in BP, relying on BP’s enormous yearly dividend payouts to support their pensioned clients. And those which hadn't already gotten out surely bailed when BP signed up for a USD $20 billion fund to begin paying off US damages, announcing it would suspend payments of dividends through (at least) the end of 2010.

Also – don’t kid yourself: this isn’t the end of the money pipeline. Any company which sets up a $20 billion dollar fund knows this is just the start of a long, long payout.  

Speaking of which, the 12th house is the part of the chart all about toxins, toxicity and ‘latent illness’ which develops down the line. So while Typhon/Saturn is on one hand the fear of tampering with business, it’s also about the damage which can be incurred because OF a business.

This is also where we finally 'get' that this particular Act is really about oil. Coal and nuclear may well have their problems, but neither is a 12th house commodity. This bill is about OIL.

Moving to the 2nd point in the grand trine, we get more specifics, starting with the fact that this second trine is positioned in the 9th house, classically the house of 'finding out what doesn't work' and 'things foreign'  which from the POV of an Act passed by a US Congress seems a perfect description of BP having problems with its deep water (and Deepwater) well.

In this 9th house we have a Taurus Venus and Mars. 

When Mars in Taurus works well, it 'goes after' what is wanted. When it doesn't work well, it manifests in disputes and frustrations, blowouts, feelings of obligation, neglect and various kinds of inability to control. 

Generally a wellspring of receptiveness, Venus in Taurus is easily seen as 'lucrative' and yet can wax as far as 'greedy.' 

Together, these two are a quintessential 'lets make something happen,'  which in a political chart and earth sign (Taurus) says security and safety really would fit the bill (so to speak) in Congress' efforts to get this Act passed. 

But the reality of Taurus is also about money in the bank. And given that Sun/Vesta thing, and that Saturn and Moon in 12th thing, we have a really good picture of stress between that right intent and the rights of business and the right thing to do for the economy and a national populace vastly unaccustomed to deprivation - even inconvenience. 

And let's not kid ourselves: this is also a perfect picture of foreign entities having no reason at all to want anything about current US oil attitudes to change...which in monetary terms rather leaves the United States reaching to grabbing cash out of its own back pocket by bending over and reaching between its legs.

(Yes, I wax poetic here. And I’d say ‘at least I wax!’ but this is a g-rated blog and joke or no joke, that just goes into a quadrant which is simply TMI!)

With Venus/Mars conjunct Sedna and this being the highest point in the grand trine we are informed that it will take death and storms of chaotic proportions to shift the power in this chart. (The astrology of Sedna) And it's not just Sedna (though that's quite enough!...there's an asteroid named Atlantis sitting conjunct Sedna, giving us two highly potent indicators that the crisis which erupts requires not just letting go of 'life as you know it' but that this is about power found at the bottom of the ocean. 

With Chaldea joining the group, we have one clear problem in the chaos being ‘antiquated knowledge,’ to which we add fixed star Capulus at 24 Taurus and fixed star Algol conjunct Nemesis at 26 Taurus.

Atlantis/Mars is the emotional (2nd decanate) part of this story, taking us back to how hard it is to change. Or even contemplate change, nevermind enact it. All the rest are 3rd decanate symbols (in degrees 20-29) - which tells us that it takes a truly titanic (Typhon) sort of crisis for things in the US to really change. What sort of crisis? Well, Capulus/24 Taurus is essentially a rape. And not the event of the rape, rather the horror which lingers on and on and on. How the whole of a life is forever changed because the rape destroys some sort of innocence or denial that it could 'ever happy to you.' 

As for Algol/Nemesis at 26 Taurus...that’s the ‘I told you so’ or the ‘you knew this could happen’ which either recalls Pollyanna thinking on the part of mankind or what may have been best put by JRR Tolkien (and filmmakers who have walked in his word) in Lord of the Rings when talking about a creature called a Balrog: those who will be so greedy as to delve too deep will stir up dangers beyond conscious calculation. (Here I paraphrase liberally, but suffice it to say those who know the book, know the reference).

What’s interesting here is that this chart tells us that it would not ultimately be a US concern which would do the ultimate ‘drilling too deep’…and indeed it wasn’t. The Deepwater rig belongs to Transocean: a company based in Zug, Switzerland. And BP is British.

The third leg of this grand trine is calculated Lilith at 19 Capricorn conjunct Arachne at 18 Capricorn and fixed star Vega at 15 Capricorn.

Again – Capricorn is a sign of government, business and commerce as structural entities (income from business and the economy or economics is Aquarian). The calculated form of Lilith is all about what we don’t want to look at in/about the workings of society.

Positioned in a degree all about the ability to take a stoic and solid stand against things, with Capricorn ruled by that Saturn/Typhon ‘don’t rock the boat!’ thing in 12 we know the lack of this ability is something that neither the US government nor its people really want to deal with.

Especially with this Lilith being positioned in the 4th house of the chart, we know this is about the people and the government of the people more interested in catering to the businesses of the land than the land itself - the treasure extracting exceeding the treasure of the inheritance and homeland. And the people of the US along with their government are hooked into this 9th house of ‘things foreign’: Americans are plainly not liking the idea of owning their own culpability in the world, in their homeland or for a future they love to talk about but don't like really planning for. Everyone bitches about it, but no one really wants to….(ugh!) …DEAL with it.

With Arachne (the spider) involved, we have the issue of being ‘tangled in a web’ – obviously of our own building. And we can expect all discussions of clean energy to always include the idea that 'we've been ensnared’ – it’s their fault we’re in this mess! (whoever 'they' are) 

And yet…we know. Vega is a fixed star all about knowing. Conjunct calculated Lilith however, it loses its charismatic ability – which may be why in America, Presidents as far back as Nixon have been pointedly calling for changes in attitudes about energy (“energy independence”) without much ever getting done about it.

So what does it take for a grand trine to be ‘broken’ into and made functional? Can it be made functional? 

This bill with it’s Void of Course (ineffective) Moon is not going to do the job. That much is plain. But by virtue of the lunar eclipse on its birthday AND a July 11 solar eclipse exactly in opposition to its Lilith...?

That suggests big, big changes in the works. America needs to learn some
lesson - that's evidenced in this chart by Mercury positioned well in Gemini near the Midheaven, but on the 'wrong' side to be instantly effective. So this bill was before its time. And with Mercury exactly conjunct fixed star Rigel-the-teacher at 16 Gemini with the Midheaven at 18 Gemini, the implied "two unit difference" suggests a two year gap between this bill and something actually done. 

However...! Tantalus is also in this picture. And Tantalus is all about the
'tantalizing' choice between using what one knows for gain and personal use (regardless of cost) – or knowing that things need to be done better so that ultimately life itself is a better thing to live.

So that's what remains to be dealt with, one supposes - and thus as we come to this lunar eclipse on the Sun of this Act (and incidentally, also almost atop the current corporation chart for BP, making it a lightning rod in its own right)...all that comes to the fore. 

Thus now comes a three-year solar eclipse hurricane timed out by this  chart. At the end of that, we will see what still stands, what has fallen, and what has washed up on which shore of our collective, 12th house conscious choice. 

This bill evidently said “fear now or later?” and evidently everyone said 'later,' thinking ‘later’ would be a whole lot farther down the line.

Apparently, everyone was wrong.

.