Dateblog: August 2014

 August 2014

For various real life reasons (yes, something else has happened) this isn't going to be my longest post. Nor are these my finest diagrams, I would say. But I did want to offer some general August information...so here it is:

The above is a chart by sign which plainly shows that Leo (in yellow) is the dominant sign of the month. This speaks to a huge amount of energy and a 'brilliance' of mind (or mindset) which can accomplish great things providing others and the 'greater concern' beyond that which we are focused on as what we want/want to accomplish...providing all that is taken into proper account.

Towards the end of the month as the Sun and Mercury move into Virgo (on the 23rd and 15th, respectively) cooler thoughts (heads, solutions, reasoning) will begin to prevail, but with Jupiter in Leo there is likely to be a lot of 'stepping out' and much stepping over boundaries and limitations simply because some urge is so potent as to blind us to greater and factual issues, much as we might be 'blinded' if the Sun was in our eyes.

The are likely to be some very sun-struck (star-struck, arrogantly stubborn) folks around this month. As the Full Moon occurs in late Aquarius leading into the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower insights will happen and they may well mark the 'sparking' of new ideas, insights and choices which are made as a consequence of same. 

Ceres having entered Scorpio (see previous post) and Juno entering Cancer speak to a shift of energetics; where the 'idea' [Juno/Gemini] of the thing had been a premier  basis of consideration, now a more 'domestic' [Juno/Cancer] and less theory-idea-concept-driven orientation comes on line, like as not because sufficient negatives have been encountered (that being Vesta in Libra) that we are each driven to consider some sort of basic, very (Cancerian) personal...even primal sense of [Vesta] cost.

With the Virgo New Moon a more practical and pragmatic phase of operation/operational necessity is implied, with the close association of this New Moon to Sedna's station-retrograde in late Taurus posing 'how to...' questions precisely where our mentality has failed to mature - a fact which conjures up all sorts of ingrained possibilities.

Will all of this happen succinctly and politely? Looking at the month in terms of element, that answer would seem to be solidly and resoundingly 'no.'

(And yes I'm sorry I have to say that, but truth is truth.)

 
In the above diagram, red is fire, blue is water, that greenish brown is earth and...oh yes, there IS a little air in this amalgamation, courtesy of the Full Moon.

But remember, the Full Moon is a moment. So we can expect a moment of clarity around the Full Moon (plus Perseids), but the rest of the month - while possibly very productive, creative, delightful and developmental - is likely to manifest in a manner which is very fervent, either in pursuit of a [fire] goal or aim...or through some wholly [water] feeling effort or emotionally-driven choice.

There is a possibility for much knee-jerk activity here - the response by rote, the retreat into your own 'world' because dealing with others rains on your parade. This is also a recipe for real world (as opposed to theoretical) considerations.

In other words, just saying the words isn't likely to cut it this month. It's one of those 'the proof is in the pudding' periods with a lot of hungry and expectant folks poised at the universal table.

Which begs the question: what are we about to serve up to others and be served by life in kind?
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Sun in Gemini / Uranus squares Pluto

A photograph of New York's Madison Avenus looking north through

a jungle of structures humans have created, beyond which is the sky.

(photo credit: Zahnstein, June 2005)

Every year’s Sun-into-Gemini ingress is a chance to discover new things and think new thoughts. It’s also a time when choices get made, some simple, some complex, some off-the-cuff and a few of which are likely to prove life-changing.

The Sun in Gemini is also a time to change our mind. But since capriciousness is not a Gemini positive, we wouldn’t want to be using this time to give up on ourselves or something which looks (or mentally ‘sounds’) really difficult but which merely tests our ability to sort things out and learn things step by step.

There is a tendency to want to opt of the thing light-hearted or ‘just for the fun of it’ under Gemini’s influence. And that’s fine! But there is another side of Gemini which is all about our ability and willingness to think. After all, every zodiacal element is a ‘process’ which extends from the first sign in that element to the last. And when it comes to air signs (which encompasses the thought-oriented processes of life) Gemini is the start of something which in moving through Libra (which is the thinking through ‘how this would work’ part of the process) leads ultimately to Aquarian success… popularity… acceptance… income… inclusion in the world – all that stuff. The great discoveries we associate with science and Aquarius as the hallmark of all things techy and modern, all that has its roots both in our mental ability to recognize either the need or the possibility.

And yes, to then carry through on figuring out how to fix things or create that ‘something’ which fills the personal, group or societal need.

It all starts with the idea – the Gemini of it all. And when better to have ideas, or to think through an idea, or to move forward with an idea than when the Sun is in Gemini?

Although…nobody says getting somewhere is easy, right? The dualistic dichotomy of Gemini expressed by the twin stars Castor and Pollux is that there is the simple and very human ‘I’ll just give it a go’ and the more complex act of thinking something through, of making a plan, of being willing to build something even though that takes time, dedication and yes, maybe a flew flubs along the way.

There’s all that – and that level of ‘duality’ – and then there is the ‘why bother’ versus ‘I want to accomplish something’ sort of duality.

Yes, Gemini is a sign all about the need versus the want versus the urge versus the willingness to commit to something. And it’s about the mind or mentality which does or doesn’t make any given choice, leading us to Gemini as the sign of organizing our lives and priorities, or Gemini as the sign of learning, choosing to learn (or learn better) and our entire spectrum of life choices.

Gemini also rules all those things which help us do any of those tasks. So Gemini is the list of errands and the body limbs which go about getting those errands done. It’s transportation. It’s accounting. It’s the mail service. It’s writing and/or just writing things down – or remembering. At a mundane level Gemini is the equipment we use to do things with – the phone, the computer, the pen or pencil, the paper, with all this being true even if technology is Aquarian (because it’s all electrical) and paper as a commodity would probably fall under either Taurus or Virgo, the general signs of physical commodities.

One other very important aspect of Gemini: Gemini is the mind or mentality which is capable of doing all that. Which is capable of making a given choice, whether that means you have/don’t have the information, or whether your mental capacity is capable of making choices.

As the Sun is entering Gemini on May 20th at 9:11 in the evening (UT/+0 time), it ushers us into a seasonal month of searching and thinking about…or hearing about things. Occurring in the wake of a potent Solar Eclipse which has moved us all back towards bigger and more intrinsic questions about what we need to do in order to have the life we want to have in spite of the fact that we can’t ever promise ourselves or anyone else that everything is always going to “be all right”…there are a lot of pipe dreams which have been exploded over these past couple of months – and as terrible as those moments may have been, in the metaphysical scope of thinking, we have needed to learn such things and what we can glean is as yet not fully known.

Unbeknownst to us, the universe is unfolding as it should.

As a race, human beings have come to think they run this planet. And in one sense, the do. But the planet is still bigger than we are. Life is far, far vaster than we will ever even conceive of. For all we know, our Earth is part of a vast, vast universe which is just a dust mote on a flower in some other even vaster existence.

That’s the ‘Horton Hears a Who’ version of What Is, of course. But even if we just stop and recognize that with all of life’s immediate needs and responsibilities we are still a grain on the sand of time’s beaches…that’s humbling.

So why try? Is there any merit to being the shiniest grain of sand we each can be?

Probably yes. But probably not in the everyday sense we tend to think in. There’s what we do and there’s why we do it. And when that ‘why’ is just about us or our family, that has a value to be sure. But is that a credit to the beach? That’s hard to know and for each person to think through.

And fortunately, the Sun is entering Gemini now, so we have the perfect solar month to do that thinking in!

However (yes, there’s always a ‘however’) because the Sun is entering Gemini accompanied by Chaldaea and Phaethon, maybe you’re thinking things are just moving too fast? Maybe you’re feeling life has passed you by? Maybe you think we all need to slow down? Or not bully our way to our goal regardless of what harm we do ourselves, others or even our world?

Those are all valid. Yet another form of Chaldaea and Phaethon with the Sun is ‘the bold thought’ which ‘takes off’ from the old and soars to new heights. Given the story of Phaethon, the warning is probably to not go beyond the limits of our understanding or ‘strength’ (be that endurance or skill) over these next few weeks.

Will we want to? Heck yes! But should we give ourselves free rein to? Thinking through Sun-Chaldaea and Phaethon….

Phaethon

by Gustave Moreau (1878, Louve Museum)

Let’s just put it this way: this looks like another ‘Gemini dichotomy,’ a choice between impatience (or maybe frustration or need) against our willingness to not run ourselves off a cliff, into a brick wall or smack dab into trouble. In other words, particularly where we’d like to think we know and we’re on top of things, maybe that’s exactly the place to ask ourselves whether we really are on top of things…or whether we know as much as we think we know.

Or maybe just whether the status quo is going to hold…or where the world or our life is really going.

And whether we want to go there.

And whether we have a choice.

The pickle in the ointment here (and yes, I know that’s a singularly unappetizing concept) is that as the Sun enters Gemini, Uranus (in Aires) squares Pluto (in Capricorn). And that part of the current equation is happening at what seems to be this year’s favorite degree in any sign, eleven.

(That would be Uranus at 11 Aries and Pluto at 11 Capricorn.)

And that brings to mind one of the important concepts about eleven in the metaphysical realm of numerics and such. Twice eleven (in other words, twenty-two) is the number of “mastership.” So 22 equals 11 times 2.

Two is the number of direction, a concept drawn from the idea of one as the whole and two is ‘the duality.’ If you’re into numerology or Kabbalah you may have heard of these concepts. If you’re into Systems Theory this is also familiar.

But if you’re not familiar with any of this, that’s no problem either. One is ‘the whole’ or ‘the point’ or simply where you are. So two is somewhere else – and the line between where you are and where that somewhere else is that you might be going…which leads to that wonderful pair of dueling concepts: the shortest course between two points is a straight line versus the ever popular world of ‘the road less traveled’ and what we learn by diverging from that efficient and effective linear direction.

Again, a choice. Again, very Gemini.

Eleven is your life, your soul, your essence, you spirit bridging the differentiation of concept between the everyday-present and the Path of Possibilities which as a whole ‘bridges’ the gap between the life simple and a life of Mastership.

So eleven is a bridge in two senses. It is the ‘stepping out’ of your known into what you are either willing to experience or that which you need to learn or grow into, and it is also the first step in evolving your experience of existing in the whole of your life and as part of that greater life we know as Existence.

The image of 11 is also very Gemini.

Okay…so maybe you aren’t into systems theory or numerical sequences as progressions to mastery. Then try thinking of eleven in purely human terms. Eleven is the beginning of the teen ‘poltergeist’ years when our brains are rewiring and we just seem to know too much and nothing all at the same time.

And this makes sense in the planetary-astrological sense when we consider Jupiter’s 11.86 year orbit around the Sun. If as the largest planet in our solar system Jupiter represents ‘growth and expansion’ and all things which between the ‘overblown’ and the ‘fulfilling of potential’ (or promise), the first ‘round’ of Jupiter is ‘the basics.’ So in human being terms, the first 11.86 years is when we do a lot of physical growing. From our bodies to our brains, it all gets built. The ‘structures’ get put in place. And then all gets ‘filled in’ and ‘fleshed out’ during Jupiter’s successive rounds.

Eleven Capricorn is a degree which grants to us operational ability without revealing everything. Obviously this can be useful or detrimental, depending on what you’re doing and what you’re not showing to everyone. This is a degree which grants the ability to forge alliances as well as dissolve them. So with Pluto (now retrograde) at 11 Capricorn, we are both seeing some of the outcomes of choices already made to us via our awareness or feelings or situations which are prompting us to learn more about ourselves, we are being asked whether we are willing to make some changes which either build or discard situations, people, presumptions, alliances, life directions – something!

But this isn’t likely to be anything close to a simple or simplistic process. (Which makes it a very good thing the Sun entering Gemini makes this such an excellent time to think things through!)

And why isn’t this a simplistic process we’re waltzing, slouching, sauntering, tango-ing or being shoved into, depending on who you are to begin with? That answer involves the dynamics of a cardinal t-square.

  
Most of the time, t-squares connect signs of like modality (manner of action) and unalike element. The only exception to this is when one or another of the t-square elements is at the very end or very beginning of a sign. So in this case we have a t-square in cardinal signs, of which there are four (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn) which means the cardinal modality includes one sign from each of the four elements: fire, earth, air and water.

 
Modality tells us how a sign works. Cardinal signs always ‘go for it.’ People with cardinal Suns are those always willing to give things a try. If you don’t try, cardinal thinking is, how will you know what you can accomplish? And how will you know if you don’t enjoy something if you don’t try it?

Suffice it to say the other two modalities (fixed and mutable) see this differently. The fixed sign reply to ‘how will you know if you don’t try’ is ‘I’d rather not.’ Or maybe ‘Yes, I might gain something. But I also might lose something. Can you give me a good reason why I’d want to try?’

As for mutable signs, they’d want to try ‘a little bit.’ Your standard mutable answer also might be ‘Show me. You first.’ Mutable signs are willing to try things, but not commit to carrying through on the effort until they see what’s involved. Or what’s to be gained or lost – all that.

Need I say Gemini is a mutable sign? Learning to choose wisely enough that you can commit is a prime Gemini lesson (in the life of a Sun, Moon or Ascending sign of Gemini life). And that’s a biggie.

But fortunately, the Sun isn’t involved in this t-square. In fact, the Sun’s ingress into Gemini at the moment of this Uranus-Pluto square (cum t-square) gives us the clue that this is a good time to try to get some dispassionate, analytical perspective on goings on – whether in your own life or at some other level.

That said, back to the t-square. The core of it – and the challenge of it – is Uranus squaring Pluto.

Before I get all into this part of the astro-tale, let's remember that Pluto conjuncting Vega is a long term process. Here's the link to the post all about that:

Transforming Charisma:

Pluto Conjuncts Vega 

We say it in this order for a reason, that reason being that Uranus is the faster moving planet, and therefore it is moving towards and through the square with Pluto. And the reason why this is important is because the ‘t’ in the t-square is always the sticking point. We tend to think it’s just about us when the issue is not the ‘egotistical’ or “only about me” perspective, but a more inclusive concept. After all, the “goal” of a t-square is the polar opposite of its starting point (which in this case is Pluto in Capricorn)...which in this case means that what we do in the world (or “how things work” in the world) and how they may or may not be changing is meant to benefit not just us, but to be ‘worth the cost’ (Vesta) of going through understanding and dealing with what it takes to make good on the process (Ceres) at a very basic and fundamental, humanistic level (Cancer).

The sticking point – the Uranus in Aries part of it – is at some level about our willingness to own our uniqueness. With Uranus positioned here conjunct Kleopatra, there is certainly some sort of ‘cleverness’ involved. But if we’re coming into this time thinking we’re ‘the clever one’ and maybe therefore either entitled to do what we want or capable of outsmarting others, that won’t work.

 An image generated by the JPL Small Bodies Databank which

is annotated to show the current t-square.

In point of fact, with the Taurus Solar Eclipse which just moved through, we may be up against dealing with the repercussions of just that concept. We thought we could ‘get away’ with something and it’s come back to haunt us, biting us in our nether parts.

Some of us have been playing dumb. Some of us have been preventing ‘newer or smarter’ ideas from being put into play because (heaven forbid!) we might have to learn something new. Or maybe we just don’t want to change our ways. Or our point of view. Or how we think (Gemini) others see us.

11 Aries being a degree which by any measure reveals the need to ‘rebalance’ or learn how to balance asks us to see the unbidden and that we haven’t ever considered before. Of course, with Uranus positioned in this degree, it is to be expected that there will at least be some surprise involved. So maybe you’re ‘surprised’ at the amount of effort it takes to do something? Or maybe you’re surprised at the amount of (Capricorn-ish) time it takes to get things moving or changed or straightened out or built or, or, or….?

To those who resist, Uranus is your enemy. When I was learning astrology, I remember asking the guy who taught me the basics (his name was Tony) about Uranus. His answer was something very close to this: Uranus is the astrological precept which says that if you refuse to get out of a rut, life will at LEAST require you to redecorate that rut from time to time.

Colorful and true, that. But Uranus is much more. Uranus is the idea that discoveries engender more discoveries and that denial only bottles up energy which eventually bursts through. It doesn’t matter how much we don’t like something, in other words, in time we have to deal with it. As ‘outcome’ ruler of Aquarius, Aquarius symbolizes the release and all the many forms of reward we may get for accomplishing some goal. But woe be to those who don’t remember that no goal in this life is achieved in isolation. You may be baking a cake in your kitchen, for instance, but where did you get your ingredients? Where does your power come from? And are you planning on baking that cake and eating it too, or does your ultimate reward – the Aquarian knowledge that you’ve ‘succeeded’ which fosters the Taurus-sextile feelings of satisfaction come from the huzzahs which you get when everybody at the picnic or party sees that glorious cake?

Our greatest successes always come from being appreciated. The old expression is ‘no man is an island’ and that’s a tried and truism of great import. So since Uranus is always the outcome ruler of Aquarius (Saturn is the Aquarian qualifier and ‘in’ door) Uranus in Aries is about our changing so that we achieve greater (or maybe just different) forms of success in this life.

In that sense, Uranus in Aries is about turning us all into well-rounded folks.

Not that we’re all so snappy-happy about leaving our comfort zones. Or with what it takes to integrate our ‘special and unique’ qualities into a world which is already in progress. As people, we may or may not have to literally ‘fit in.’ Do you have to dress a certain way or talk a particular language or lingo? Maybe for convention’s sake in some situations. But in the end, time and again it has been shown that genius will out…and Uranus is nothing if not genius.

Aquarius is an air sign. And what did we start out saying about air signs? They’re a process and they’re mental. So it’s the idea which has to fit in even as it expands, changes, improves upon or otherwise enhances the functional status quo.

Given that the ruler of Aries (Mars) is currently in the third and most worldly decanate of Taurus and conjunct Sedna (a dwarf planet all about ‘letting go’), with the ruler of Capricorn (Saturn) retrograde in early Scorpio there are some of us who will let go of our hesitation, our insistence on things being ‘our way’ or some set of blinders we’ve been insisting on wearing. We may get the answers we’ve been working towards. We may reach some milestone.

Then again, we shouldn’t be surprised if this moment marks yet another episode where someone, somewhere isn’t able to maintain their Gemini Sun perspective. Where someone shows us just how important it is to pay attention to the quality of a life and not just ‘quality of life.’

This is not “splitting hairs.” This is a real and vital difference upon which lives may well depend.

We are on our path. Those who choose not to see the various levels life manifests on don’t get to negate the existence of that which is merely more esoteric or clarified than they want to deal with.

Or rather, they can…but they are also likely to fall into a hairy trap of their own design. Life is like that, after all.

As the Sun enters Gemini, the Moon is in early Libra. It will reach the opposition to Uranus (and square to Pluto) at around one in the afternoon on May 21st, UT/+0 time. Having moved into the square with Vesta (‘the cost’) some two hours earlier, this sets up a tension which may manifest in substantial problems.

Deep down inside, our sense of life is changing. That we were 'enchanted' by is being (dare I say) eclipsed and changed at a Plutonic, Vega level.

The next ‘window’ for this t-square to be set off occurs on May 22, as the Moon enters Scorpio. As of around 10pm (UT/+0) on May 22nd, the Moon begins to set off Saturn’s Scorpio vibe. Where trouble is brewing, this would like as not ignite a long fuse which then (rationally) needs defusing. It’s a time to be aware and when the cool and calm is often the solution for the volatile. Softness doesn’t win now, no matter what you think – go for the facts.

May 22nd is also when Mars conjuncts Sedna. It’s a good time to get over sticking points, and we all can hope no one comes ‘unstuck’ about now.

The Moon as a ‘timing trigger’ sets Saturn off at around 7 a.m. on May 23. It will be the afternoon of the 24th before it opposes Mars (which has now moved past Sedna to 25 Taurus) and Moon/Mars in opposition can be an argumentative, explosive, sometimes sulky and often intense sort of period.

Fortunately the Moon moves about a half-a-degree per hour. Things happen, they seem to wear off after a few hours pass…such ‘moments’ and ‘moods’ are triggered by the Moon, our prime and primal emblem of astro-emotionality.

Moonlight Night on the Volga River (1975) by Vladimir Ivanovich Ovchinnikov

Once the Moon reaches Capricorn late on May 26th (UT/+0 time) we are in for a day or so of efforts, accomplishments and disappointments. Both are meant to teach us what approaches in life really work, so if you don’t succeed, do try, try again.

But first regroup. Do the Sun-in-Gemini thing and think through why something didn’t work. Pay particular attention to where you may have ‘skimped’ on thoroughness (that would be the Gemini). And don’t be surprised if something you ‘threw out’ some time ago suddenly turns out to be the very thing you need now.
Pluto lessons are like that. They do tend to teach us that the easy way is not always the ultimately valuable way. (Drat!)

There will be another ‘edition’ of tension and shift while the Moon moves through Aries, an event which begins at around dawn on June 2nd in the UT/+0 zone. That gives us until afternoon on the 2nd (again, in the UT/+0 zone – you’ll need to adjust for local time) before we get to those evocative surprises and shifts of dynamic, focus or priority. By then, Mars will have moved on into Gemini, which means the pace of life is rather nutsy.

But this would be a good moment for finding our right path.

You know – the thing which will help bridge the gap from where we are now to that place which will truly help us become what and who we need to ultimately be.

We can think our way through this. And that’s the point: the Sun is going into Gemini, and what we think about how we think – and what we think about – becomes the name of the game throughout our next solar month.
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Sun in Capricorn, Agamemnon About-Faces in Virgo

 
The Capricorn ingress – otherwise known as the Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere and the Summer Solstice in the southern hemisphere – occurs at 11:13 a.m. (UT/+0) on Friday, December 21st.

This is also the first day of the new Mayan ‘world creation’ round and when asteroid Agamemnon goes retrograde at 7 Virgo.

Earth-wise, the Capricorn ingress is one of those moments of day/night extreme: in the south, the days now reach their longest and the nights are at their shortest – with things being exactly the other way around in the northern hemisphere. Traditionally (which is to say ‘in astrological tradition’) Capricorn is a ‘cool’ sign. It’s a sign of pragmatism and realism.

Some say ‘cold hearted’ realism, but I tend to think that’s all about where you’re coming from. Truth is truth and facts are facts – we just don’t happen to like some truths and some facts!

As an earth sign, Capricorn tends to promote and refer to things tangible and the ‘evidence’ which proves or disproves our theories or assertions. In being ruled by planet Saturn, Capricorn has a strong relationship to time and timeliness…and hence responsibility. Could’a, should’a, would’a’s don’t tend to work as well while the Sun is in Capricorn as they might at other times.

Oh…and maybe I should mention Mars is also in Capricorn? Yes, ‘tis true. And that combination of Sun and Mars is great if you’re trying to get something done and not so great if a problem has just reared its ugly head or you’re feeling down, alone, or guilty about something. (That goes double if you are guilty of something!)

Mars will be moving on into Aquarius early on December 26th…which could mean that Christmas Day is a stressful one for some folks (being that Mars will be at 29 Capricorn on that date).

With Mercury (and Venus) in Sagittarius at the time of the ingress and Mercury not shifting into Capricorn until New Years Eve, this means the ‘through Christmas’ period is Mars-in-Capricorn/Mercury(Venus)-in-Sagittarius, which creates a (Mercurial/Sagittarian) sense of expectations which are (Mars/Capricorn) most of all about what we expect from ourselves…or for some, as proof of how others think of us.

Or whether they think of us at all. Venus and Mercury in Sagittarius can create a vision in our heads that ‘everybody else is happy’ which is simply not true, even if it’s true for us. And once Mars and the Sun are both in Capricorn, many people will just get riveted on what needs to get done, forgetting that the holiday spirit is most of all about warmth, about kindness, about caring and giving of ourselves, not of gifts.

These last few days before Christmas may be particularly hard on people who are alone. If you can, reach out to someone. Share a smile. Wish someone the best of the season. Share a funny joke. Give them – if nothing else – a moment of quality attention.

Often times, that’s the greatest gift of all.

That the Sun is entering Capricorn in (a.) opposition to Ceres, (b.) in square to Uranus and (c.) sextile Neptune and (d.) conjunct Juno is a picture of all these things.

The closest aspect here is Sun-sextile-Neptune (from 0 Capricorn to 0 Pisces) which tells us that with the best of intentions, we may fail ourselves. Attentiveness and asking ourselves ‘why’ one thing is more important than the other thing really…(like, deep down inside?)…is the question being posed. Some will work this sextile as a way to forget the ‘big bad’ (Capricorn) world and retreat into the longed for comforts of Neptune in Pisces.

Unfortunately those dreams of storybook comforts don’t always exist.

Astrologically, the best thing we can do now is weigh things out…sorting between the ‘accepted’ thing to do and be and that we would really love ourselves for being on a human and mortal level. Sextiles always represent an opportunity, and here Neptune at 0 Pisces against the Sun at 0 Capricorn is an opportunity to let our guard down – most of all with ourselves. The Sun being in Capricorn will continue to remind us of our reality of the moment. But Neptune’s position at the beginning degree of Pisces – a sign it will be in for some years yet – gives us a sense, an ‘inner vision’ if you will, of what we can be, and what we want to be, going forward.

That as this applies the Sun is also conjunct Juno brings a question of quality or self-mastery (mastering?) into the mix. And then there’s the question of the opposition to Ceres – which is really Ceres, Betelgeuse and Polaris all clustered in late Gemini.

 A 2nd-3rd century (CE) statue of Juno in the Weisenburg (Bavaria) Roman Museum

(photo credit: Wolfgang Sauber, August 2011)

On the surface of it, this would evoke the ‘playing out of plans.’ But then…then we have to consider Uranus, which at 4 Aries and conjunct Child and Atlantis seems to be our holding ourselves up either because we’re acting like a child, or maybe because we haven’t gotten past the natural sort of egotism/self-centeredness which works when we’re young, but becomes increasingly unproductive as adult responsibilities become our daily fare.

Then again, maybe the Uranus in your personal universe is operating physically or being triggered through situations. If so, you can expect a lot of interruptions, changes, indecision, or ‘incapacity’ (of some type) to surface now…and probably on a periodic basis throughout the zodiacal month.

Representing all those many things and ways in which life, instinct or impulses forces our hand (mental or otherwise), Uranus is that part of the life process which when we’re the agent of it, brings the new into being. And when we refuse to change, change happens anyway.

In being connected with asteroids Child and Atlantis, there’s an implied ‘needing to let go’ (Atlantis) which once we do it allows us to find what we really want. But we just don’t like letting go!

The goal (represented in the t-square by Ceres, Polaris and Betelgeuse) may be some ‘childhood dream’ – an idea you’ve held onto for a very long time. Or it may be something you think will ‘fix everything’ (Betelgeuse) and you’re afraid of letting go of the idea that you (Polaris) need to do that.

Maybe the time is just wrong. Maybe you’re not the person who will accomplish that aim. Or maybe your approach is wrong. Perhaps your test is simply that of being or becoming willing to let go of some idea or image…or getting past some fear or instinctual aversion you learned or picked up on long ago.

Because Uranus is in Aries and Aries is ruled by Mars, this underscores the first few days of this solar passage of Capricorn in a very direct and personal way. Once Mars moves into Aquarius (on the 26th) the duration of Sun in Capricorn will ask that we (Mars) do what is needed to achieve our (Capricorn) aims in two parts or as the sum of two parts. That duality is dictated by Aquarius. It’s first ruler is Saturn (ruler of Capricorn) and its secondary or “outcome” ruler is Uranus…again pointing us back to Uranus as the ‘hurdle’ in the ingress t-square.

The Aquarius Saturn/Uranus is something akin to an astrological recipe. Saturn asks if you “know how” and if not, if you are willing to learn how or find the right way to get things done. Depending on how well you do that, Uranus then represents the ‘breaking through’ in your task or aim, the ‘earning the reward’ or the changing of a dynamic. Or not.

Those who don’t heed the Saturn rules, Saturn standards, Saturn messages about methods and such, they may succeed, but either not in the long run…or they’ll achieve their primary aim but then something they thought was perfectly okay goes totally kaput or utterly haywire. Example: let’s say you and your sweetie want to buy your first home. You scrimp and save and buy that first precious house. Then one of you gets transferred overseas. Or maybe the economy tanks out.

Aquarius, a sign known for quirky senses of humor, seems to have one. And it’s not always pleasant. Sometimes we cross all the ‘t’s and dot all the ‘i’s and life throws us a curve ball anyway.

Also worth remembering here is that until the 28th, we’re all in the first half of a ‘lunar month’ which starts in Sagittarius and comes to full in Cancer. So this is a natural time of adjusting and for feeling our feelings. It will be an emotional time when unbidden things and long forgotten moments suddenly pop to the surface. And when they do, don’t brush them off. Take a moment to think what they mean. Or perhaps how far you’ve come since some time in your past.

Or how far you have yet to go.

Once Venus moves into Capricorn on January 9th (joining Mercury, which will have moved into Capricorn on December 31st), we’re all going to feel more collected and directed.

And that pretty much fills the Sun in Capricorn bill….except for one thing. As the Sun enters Capricorn and the pendulum of light and dark hits one extreme and turns to move back in the other direction, Agamemnon is going retrograde at 7 Virgo, a degree which as I type it out reminds me of the Pluto/Facies conjunction which is just beginning to let go of us - or would be if the Sun wasn't going to set it off by running over the conjunction point come the 28th.

(More on that in a different post yet to come!)

But the trine between Agamemnon and Pluto/Facies? That seems highly emblematic of the difficulties and complications so many of us seems to be facing and be caught up with.

Anyone who’s familiar with the tale of Troy and Helen and Achilles knows the name of the Greek King Agamemnon. He’s not exactly a charming sort of fellow. Agamemnon was a classic power monger and power seeker. Stubborn to the nth degree, Agamemnon was a man bent on winning at almost any cost – and he paid some hefty prices.

From a Roman folio, this scene depicts opposing soldiers at Troy

As any symbol goes into retrograde, we tend to recognize associated matters internally. And during the time that it remains in retrograde, we mull and plan and sort through those issues.

Virgo can be simplified as what we do and how we do it (or don’t do it). Virgo stresses not quantity but quality. Associated with the military, health and health care and every sort of governmental or civic worker, it’s about all we do to keep things running and improve our lot…and (oh, incidentally) that of everybody else. Like all earth signs, Virgo tests our knowledge of and willingness to “follow the rules,” which in this sign tend to be those of duty, morality, ethics, priority, protocol and timeliness.

Together with Sun entering Capricorn, Agamemnon’s going retrograde suggests that we may ‘hit the wall’ in some way now…but not in any way which doesn’t allow us to move on.

In fact, what we recognize about what we're experiencing? That's probably a very important factor going forward. The good and bad here is all about our 'reality factor' - how realistic we are about what we need to do in this life, what life requires of us, how we're not immune to time or those pesky rules which may seem so annoying...

All that.

Yet even if life seems daunting, remember - the test is not about the 'thing,' it's about your journey to understanding who you are and what you're capable of, and willing to do. That reality is what determines what your reality becomes.

And that's entirely, completely, excruciatingly Sun in Capricorn!
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Ceres Station/Retrograde

 Asteroid...perhaps soon to be dwarf planet Ceres

(contrast adjusted - original photo credit NASA, ESA, J. Parker (Southwest Research Inst.), P. Thomas (Cornell Univ.) L McFadden (Univ of MD, College Park), January 23, 2004)

When Ceres stations and goes retrograde on October 1st at 3:47 in the afternoon (UT/+0 time) it’s a sign that a very subtle level, we need to let go of planning what to do in life (and how to get there) in favor of taking stock of what we need to do about ourselves, or who we need to be in this life to get where we need to go.

In stationing at 3 Cancer (a first decan degree between 0 and 9 of some sign), not only is the Ceres part of Ceres going station/retrograde signaling that this is about doing what we need to do about ourselves, but that the ‘doing’ part of that is entirely ours to do. Or at least initiate.

So far the cosmic vote is 2-to-0 in favor of our taking stock and doing something about where we are in some way lacking or maybe just not caught up with our life, lifestyle, plans, hopes, dreams…our whatever.
Being that the sign involved here in Cancer, we have a pretty good indication that either the issue has to do with ‘home,’ ‘family’ and who we are in our home or with our family (or whether we have a home or whether we need to do something about that home)…but also – at some level – that whatever needs to be at least acknowledged (if not worked on) is something which was instilled in us early on in life.

Because Ceres opposes Pluto (which is in Capricorn) at this station, life…the world…people in that world…there are external factors in play here. But they’re mostly the signposts which will have by now shown us that we need to reconsider. Take stock and inventory of who we are and how we go about being that person we are.

But this isn’t a simple opposition. We’ve seen a few kite formations of late. And in this one, Ceres is the tail of the kite.

The grand trine part of this kite connects Ceres (in Cancer), Neptune, Chiron and Fomalhaut (in Pisces) and Saturn/Hebe in Scorpio.

Taking our cue from Pluto’s opposition of Ceres, the clue here is likely to be pinpointed as Saturn (responsibility, work, effort, dedication) conjunct Hebe (serving up that which is necessary to sustain life) in Scorpio, a sign which is interactive and emotional by nature. Where we (Saturn) succeed now, we can take it that we are successfully navigating the (Saturn) job of (Scorpio) finding ways and avenues by which we can not just meet other people’s standards in a way which is ‘all them’ or ‘all me,’ but in a manner which works for everybody.

The trick of course is that this is Scorpio we’re talking about. And in all situations and things Scorpio, we want what we want pretty much because to be disappointing is going to hurt.

And what is hurting, exactly?

Answer: our self respect and feelings of value. In other words, our self worth and sense of competency.
And we know that. At some level, the Neptune-Chiron-Fomalhaut angle in the grand trine tells us that part of the reason we’re trying so hard is BECAUSE we’re feeling vulnerable. Whether or not we’re showing it, it’s there.

(Who, US? SHOW our vulnerabilities? Heavens!)

For those willing to be brave about negotiating new ground, that could also now work…

  
…its just that this can’t be a tap dance. Evaders, deflectors, all that ‘let me skirt/ignore the REAL issue here and just get what I want and be off and about my way’ stuff? That isn’t going to work. Try that about now and Uranus/Venus is likely to represent some effort, some situation, some relationship, some hope you’ve had blowing up in your face.

Or turning around and biting you – whichever applies!

But let’s say that you’ve had a plan to…oh, let’s say clean out the garage. And let’s say said plan depending on someone else coming over to help? Or maybe just to get stuff they left at your house a year ago which you’ve been trying to get them to come and claim?

That’s the kind of thing this grand square combined with the Ceres kite would support, particularly if you have plans – or are going to now make plans on how to use that space which you’re now setting about working to clear out, clean up and put to rights.

Which is another thing we should say about Scorpio. Scorpio is a sign of decay and rehabilitation. Scorpio is about the process of crumbling into toxicity and the detoxing and getting things back on track. Yes, I know – you’ve heard of Pisces being the sign of the addict. And it is. Pisces is the sign all about a different part of this emotional polarity slate – the having given up (usually on yourself, life, or your ability to cope) versus having faith, having hope, being willing to persevere and try, try again to do better. Pisces is all the emotionalism which goes into the state of denial…where Scorpio is that testing emotional time which may make you want to go into denial!

 The water sign cycle starts with Cancer, sign of childhood, family, home, homeland and in time, the habits and sense of culture and heritage we pick up through exposure to such things when young. Scorpio is the testing ground where many of us fall through the 'thin ice' of our emotional psyches, making it not remarkable that Scorpio is (among other things) the sign of psychology. Pisces is that level of emotionality we hold 'in our heart.' Whether that's spirituality, love for someone, the fantasy we have in our head which is never 'as real' in reality...Pisces asks us to hope and is also the emotional isolation, the fantasy or 'escape mechanism' we utilize when things get emotionally tougher than we can bear. Though Pisces is the sign of addicts and prisons, not all forms of 'escape' are harmful - Pisces is also the sign of charity, the inner spirit and sense of spiritualism, service to others and art.   

I’ll put it another way…Scorpio is the bad day which makes you want to go home, put your feet up and have a drink. Pisces is the abject abandonment of standards which goes with being a public, chronic drunk.
These signs are in trine…(and both in trine with Cancer)…which is why we say that what happens in childhood affects your adult life. The ‘basis’ of the emotional experience is Cancerian – the childhood. What your chart pictures as your 4th house (Cancer’s natural house) and wherever Cancer is in your chart is what we know ‘conditions’ you or sets you up for the emotional life lessons of adulthood – the balancing between Scorpio and Pisces where we want to allow ourselves to feel the bad days, but we still want to maintain a sense of hope.

Into which comes Saturn as the emblem of working towards that goal, that hope – or needing to. And that Ceres is now going retrograde in square to Uranus says we need to make some changes or plan on how to deal with changes which have already made or happened in life. Ceres now going retrograde in square to Venus speaks to needing to think through our relationships and relationship dynamics, thinking about what we need to learn, what questions we need to answer for ourselves and in general, where we want to go from ‘here’ in life.

Ceres is going to be in retrograde until February 4th of next year. During this retrograde, it will back up all the way to 19 Gemini. So the “theoretical dotted line” (or dotted line of theory, if you prefer) is about how things ‘said and done’ have led us to make certain choices which though made (Gemini) intellectually or mentally, really have to do with our (Cancer) emotional foundations.

And how well organized, stable, healthy and supportive of our aims they really are.

That Ceres will go direct in conjunction to the Black Moon (Lilith) and the Sun (which at that point will be in Aquarius) says that at some level what we do, don’t do or choose now will have results ‘coming out in the wash’ (as the saying goes) in early February 2013.

Is this kind of transit the living, breathing end? By and large no, unless Ceres is…uh…seriously (or maybe that should be Ceriesly?) focal in your natal chart. Otherwise this is a series of four or five days (remember, all stations get a two day ‘station allowance’ before and after!) when life is calling your attention to what works…and what maybe isn’t really working so well.

Which of course fits with the fact that we are now just days away from a Scorpio Solar Eclipse. 
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An Aries Full Moon: Striking a Working Balance

 A full moon framed in a window of Castelo Belmonte

(photo credit: Ken and Nyetta, April 2011) 

The tale of Pluto’s conjuncting of fixed star Facies…(a nebula which to us Earthlings looks a single point)…that year long work-over of our lives, our feelings, our sense of right wronged…

It’s been something like a bad fairy tale. And yet…it’s reality.

This Pluto/Facies trial by complicated conflicts will continue on until mid-December of this year. Even after that, it will return to give us a little back-paddling stickiness come next September.

Or so. With Pluto, it’s always ‘or so.’ And oh, how we wish it wasn’t! The good can’t come fast enough and the nasty is truly nasty.

We so feel caught between.

Anyway…at the moment the issue is the Pluto/Facies involvement in September’s Aries Full Moon. That Full Moon occurs on September 30th at 3:20 in the morning UT/+0 at the degree of 7 Aries – the degree of the Moon’s position.

 Full Moon of September 30, 2012 (3:20 a.m. UT/+0)

Aries Wheel - Location Not Specific

The Full Moon is always an emotional time. With the Moon sitting at 7 Aries, the Aries part makes this moment not just emotional, but very personal. And with this Full Moon happening at a degree between 0 and 9, we know it has to do with how we feel. Or our personal physical body. Or something we’re doing. Or are thinking of doing. Or need to do.

So this is likely to be a very intense and personally focused time. Plus or minus, we’re each all about ourselves.

With Mars – ruler of Aries – at 25 Scorpio and conjunct the more challenging if profitable North Node (as opposed to the more comfortable, easy yet long-term-dissipation effects of the South Node)…and ALSO conjunct the ‘I’m afraid that was going to happen’ (or ‘afraid you were going to say/think/do that’) Medusa, situations of the moment evoke Scorpio emotions.
And though we are all always tempted to love or hate such Scorpio moments based on what ‘they’ do, the reality of the issue is that Scorpio is always about testing our values and our choices.

Besides, this is not ‘just’ a Mars-Medusa-North Node thing (though that in itself is a loaded statement!). Why not? That would be because Mars-Medusa-North Node is part of a Grand Square formulation:

The Mars-square-Venus quality is likely to lend quite a bit of hurt feelings (read: ego) to the mix here. That Venus is conjunct Achilles and Agamemnon suggests emotional protests – which yes, may well surface in arguments and anger. But please take note: Venus is also conjunct Regulus – the famous fixed star which is all about success which is ONLY garnered where we avoid the pitfall of revenge.

With Achilles and Agamemnon behind Venus (if barely) and Regulus, Sabine and Eos just ahead, some of us are going to be pulling ourselves together to get out of a funk and over our big bad selves in issuing a Mars-Medusa-North Node apology.

At best, no matter who you are or what’s going on, if you can harness the moment in the service of (Eos) recognizing how you have (Sabine) limited yourself and deal with what the truth is and where you may have been shooting yourself in the foot (as it were), that would be a positive. As a figure of emotional responsiveness of the ‘I want it MY way,’ Algol’s opposition to Mars/North Node with Algol obviously in conjunction to the South Node lends a whole air and aura of reluctance to face that which is emotionally challenging to us. And this goes double where a situation is rooted in deeply held values or convictions (on our part) about how we think things “ought to be.”

Wherever you’re reacting from a ‘this is how I’ve ALWAYS done it’ or ‘I CHOOSE to do things my way and everybody else should just get over it!’ sort of perspective, life is going to be particularly challenging, too. Black Moon Lilith at 1 Gemini here is emblematic of choices which are sufficiently narrow to work only sometimes (if that) and in opposition to Mars-North Node this gives us a flavor of rejection or denial or simply not getting what you want out of a situation.

 Expulsao do Paraiso (Expelled from Paradise)

by Obra de Aldo Locatelli (c. 1950-1969)

If you’re not familiar with both forms of Lilith (there are two) I suggest you read a blog post from a while ago called The Two Liliths

Link to 'The Two Liliths' blog post

The last part of this Grand Square is Neptune. Ah yes…now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t Neptune. Neptune opposition Venus tends to have one of two modes: either it’s dreamy, hopeful and expectant…or its motivational in the sense that you can see what can be, you’re able to dream the dream and that keeps you moving and trying.

Remembering that Neptune in its home sign of Pisces is that thing which dissolves the illusion and ultimately reveals the truth…that tends to say that either we’re disillusioned with something (or someone) or we’re putting aside our self-pleasantries and just devoting ourselves to getting the job done, dealing with whoever and whatever (Scorpio) thing must be dealt with, adapting (Leo) as we go, calling on (Taurus) everything we know we can rely on in our own makeup as well as that conviction as to what can be accomplished…we’re doing all that and (Medusa) braving the Great Unknown, whether that’s our unknown or that of others…in creating something better, in advancing a cause, in building something which in (Neptune) reality can hold (Pisces) water…(which in this case would be the needs of our emotional self respect).

Since this is a grand square, the trick is keeping everything in focus, in balance and in motion. With three out of four corners of this square in fixed signs, those who come into this period already in motion, on the road and in gear will have the benefit of momentum to carry them through current difficulties.

Which yes, leaves the rest of us – those of us who have been thinking, longing, wanting, trying…but not really being honest with ourselves. Those people are likely to hit a high-in-lows at this moment – which fortunately IS only a Full Moon moment.

In other words, it’s part of a greater (life) cycle.

Yes, it is pretty easy to get shortsighted at the moment. Particularly on the emotional level..and particularly when that emotionality comes from a feeling of loss or sheer discomfort with changes necessitated by life’s greater scope.

It’s time to get a plan…or to put your current plan into motion. As we discussed in the last post (on Ceres entering Cancer) those who can undertake a journey knowing that it’s going to take a lot of work, that it won’t all be predictable and that they’re going to have to deal with people who may come from completely different walks of life…those people can  take what could be negative feelings which arise to bite them now and turn that into dynamic energy.

We just can’t be too proud, want things to be too easy or think that we can get away without having to invest our heart, noggin and abilities.

So getting back to the Moon proper – since this is a post about the Full Moon, yes!

All of the above was sort of background…the backdrop against which this Full Moon is taking place. But the Full Moon itself…?

That’s the object of a t-square.

 
And this is where Pluto/Facies comes into the mix. The way a t-square works, we “start” at the sign which is zodiacally before the sign of the ‘t’ – which in this case is Capricorn.

So this t-square starts with the Sun in Libra, faces the ‘t’ which is Pluto-Facies-Icarus…and the object of a t-square is to ‘achieve’ the Uranus-Moon-Child quotient, which one would suspect is rather like ‘the innocence of a child.’ Or to put that in a slightly more ‘adult’ way…to have things easy again.

It’s just…well, Pluto-Faces is a complication which surfaces out of a lot of gnarly factors which come together. It seems like you can’t fix one thing because another thing isn’t fixed yet.

Add in Icarus and we have the picture of haste having made everything a whole lot worse.

The Lament for Icarus by Herbert James Draper (1898)

Then we consider that all three of these points (like everything else about this Full Moon t-square) is in the first decanate: between the degrees of zero and 9. That means this is all very person. It’s about us, it’s about something we need to do or have done (Pluto-Facies tends to suggest here that this is something already done). And it’s affecting us physically. That may mean ‘physically’ in the simple sense – in terms of our health or physical body. Then again, it may be a question of our social standing or marriage. Or maybe (given all the Taurus-Scorpio in the background) how finances are affecting our ability to do anything about anything.

Sun-conjunct-asteroid House at 7 Libra is a reference to how comfortable we are with ourselves. With the Sun in its sign of fall, the answer is likely to be ‘not as comfortable as we’d like to be with ourselves.’ Where 7 Libra falls in your personal chart, along with where the Sun and asteroid House are natally (and how they’re aspected) will lend additional color to this factor for good and ill.

But plainly we’re considering (or reconsidering) how things are going, the nature of the people we’re interacting with (or not interacting with) – and whether all that is getting us where we want to go. You know…to that feeling of all being simple as it ‘should be’ in our most innocent of childlike dreams?

That thought brings up a good point: Aries can be childlike…or childish. How we have set ourselves up prior to now is like as not delivering results on this choice. If you want ‘permission’ from life to be childish and you’re hanging out with a bunch of responsible, thoughtful people that may not work. If you want to achieve personal freedom (Moon-Uranus in Aries) and you’re hanging out with a bunch of irresponsible folks, then that may not work so well for you.

(Yes, karma is apparently contagious)

There are as many ways these you-me-he-she-it things can manifest as there are leaves on trees. But at some level, whether or what you are/aren’t being to others (Sun in Libra) is setting the stage for successes and headaches of the moment.

Then we come to TNO Typhon. The Greek Typhon is a totally primal figure which references that essential level of life where biological drives manifest as the need to breathe…hunger…exhaustion and the need to sleep…the urge to reproduce…all such things.

To understand a bit more about the nature of Typhon, here’s the diagram yours truly drummed up for the Pholus blog (may it long be remembered) modified so as to include Typhon…and make a blogger’s best attempt to put things a little more to scale.

The point here is that Typhon originates in the Kuiper Belt – it’s a Trans Neptunian Object, hence the ‘TNO’ designation. And anything which comes from way out there (beyond Neptune) on the esoteric level can be thought of as ‘coming through the Neptune reality/non-reality’ gate.

In other words, objects which orbit beyond Neptune (our solar system’s last true planet) are ‘beyond’ that point where the known, where our conceptual ability to predict reality ends. Put all this together and we’re likely to have been drawn into Scorpio (joint/joined) situations (through assertive Mars choice) which at this time are confronting us with complicated, multi-faceted (Facies) situations which evoke emotionally transformative (Plutonic) upheavals at a very basic (Typhon) level.

Whew! That’s a thought-ful, right?

The bottom line here is that t-squares have a time-honored, if-you-can-do-it-you-will-end-up-happy formula. That formula says that we have to get over a “hurdle” (the ‘t’ in the t-square) which is really all about your focus on you. Call it ego, call it selfish, call it personal priority…the astrological rule where t-squares are concerned is plain.

So! If all is good now, probably things are really great. (At least for the moment. After all, this is just a Full Moon we’re talking about!)

And if things are tough, the challenge is to shift your focus to the ‘greater picture’…the what needs to be changed and how you can move to lead the charge, the moment, the effort there.

Oh yes…Diadem. Diadem is a fixed star which represents the ‘crowning glory’ – our most cherished thought, hope, possession, activity (etc.). Positioned at 9 Libra, Diadem is positioned in a degree which is quick to criticize and mentally aggressive, a degree known for its preference to talk (study, examine, think) rather than do. This degree does not favor making decisions…which gives us a hint not just about the present, but about these years we’re all muddling through.

Having entered 9 Libra on December 19, 2003, Diadem won’t be moving on into 10 Libra until December 25, 2075 (merry Christmas a half-century early!). And not only does this echo some of the data we got when discussing Pholus (and the ongoing game of zodiacal tag Pholus is playing with Ixion)…namely, that we live in changing times when it’s easy to complain and long for calmer waters, but when that’s truly not likely to happen.

Link to the blog on Pholus

By the year 2075 (interestingly) Pluto will be where Uranus is right now, a fact which poses suggests that what gets done today (or not done today) has some long-term ramifications.

Fortunately…(if that’s what you want to call it)…upheaval and difficult, challenging times seem to be the hallmark of every shift of astrological age.

So as they say…unbeknownst to us, the universe is unfolding as it should.

We just have to decide to live in this world instead of trying (expecting?) it to work as we want it to.

Is it worth your try?



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