Psyche in Cancer: Being Mindful of the Bottom Line

 Psyche Opening the Door into Cupid's Garden

by John William Waterhouse (1904)

Psyche is a very large asteroid. As such, metaphysically it represents something which ‘looms large’ in our life.

And what would that be? Our mind. Knowing our mind, being mindful of the fact we have a mind (and therefore should use it!)…from minding our mind (physiologically) to being aware of our level of mindfulness of not just our concerns but those of others (and/or how what we do affects others), even realizing that whether we mind or not others might and that what we have in mind may not be what others have in mind and that’s okay so long as they deal with us with respect and we reciprocate in kind… 

These are all Psyche issues. Every once in a while the Psyche in all our lives jumps up to confront us. Did you think before you opened your mouth? Did you know what you were getting involved in before you did the deed or signed on some bottom line, real or emotionally implied?

The concept that we can think and therefore we should think, that we can become informed and therefore we should be well informed…knowing the difference between how our mind handles facts and handles emotions – that’s all Psyche stuff.

And this last – the difference between facts and feelings – that’s is particularly important now…why? Because as of 6:43 in the morning (UT/+0) on April 25th, Psyche enters Cancer. And it will be in Cancer until July 15th…which is after both of 2011’s mid-year solar eclipses, one of which is in Cancer.

In the weeks ahead you’re going to start hearing of a lot of celestial objects – popular asteroids and such – moving into Gemini and Cancer. This is important as the summer solar eclipses are going to be in Gemini and Cancer. Now optimally, eclipses ‘open the way’ to great and purposeful achievement. But along the way there has to be a lot of tearing down and clearing out – witness what happened in the weeks (and now months) since January’s Capricorn Solar Eclipse (conjunct fixed star Vega) set off so much strife, struggle and violence, all of which has challenged and ‘exploded’ through what we might call ‘Capricorn portals.’

Considering June and July’s solar eclipses will be atop other fixed stars (with July’s also opposing a fixed star – not to mention Pluto!) we probably should be keeping track of asteroids and such moving into these signs. Like Psyche.

Psyche in Cancer is a metaphysical picture of our mind turning to or being confronted by all things Cancer. So family may loom large now – your family of today, or your family (or lack of same) as a child. Home, home life, real estate and homeland are other more or less ‘blantant’ Cancer ‘portals’ – as are subjects like homeland, national populations, culture, traditions and by implication, cultural or political movements.

This last would seem particularly apt now as Psyche is hitting 0 Cancer with Neptune at 0 Pisces. The niggle in the equation comes from Neptune being conjunct three other figures.

The first is Chiron, the symbol of that we need to do which we claim we don’t know how to do which in the end we can only actually learn by tackling the problem and learning as we go. Chiron also has one other little annoying quality in that generally what we need to do ourselves we’re not so good at getting to but really excellent at pointing out the lack of in others.

If there’s some area of your life that you tend to walk around in circles whining ‘but I don’t know HOW to!!’ that’s probably a Chirotic issue. Why you have it we’d read through the chart and there is one good piece of news here in that conquering your Chiron reluctance (fear? avoidance? projection?) doesn’t need to be necessarily done all by your lonely.

Also hanging around with Neptune: asteroid Hel.

Need I say more?

Actually, I’ve decided it’s good this asteroid has only one ‘l’ and not two as it’s not the classical ‘place’ (hell) but the flustered angst, the struggle we go through inside ourselves when we have to deal with something which is Hel’ish. (Not Hellish, Hel’ish.)

So what’s the difference? One is theoretically eternal – the other, situational. And that, at least in my opinion, is a substantial difference!

Chiron and Hel actually go pretty well together – if you like your scotch bonnet peppers mixed with a little freshly ground horseradish, that is. And we’d say this was just a good old fashioned bad time except for two things – the Neptune part (which we’ll get to in a moment) and Fomalhaut which at 4 Pisces is the Grand Affecter of everything between 29 Aquarius and 9 Pisces.

And if you remember how much destruction broke lose when Neptune was at 29 Aquarius… (just sayin’…!)

The standard recitation of the Fomalhaut ‘rule’ is that this is a fixed star which promises success where our dreams aren’t tainted by corruption.

 Neptune

photo credit: Manfred Bruckels (2005)

This being Pisces, that corruption is emotional. So it’s about the lengths or the heights or the level of fantasy at which we dream. This gets back to Neptune, the great symbol of fantasy and despair, charity and isolation, imagination and inspiration against abject abandonment, faithlessness and addictions. Neptune symbolizes the addict, the martyr, the guru, the savior.

And as Psyche enters Cancer, we should suspect that we could start ‘imagining the worst’…or at least that it’s likely there’s going to be a rash of blowing things out of proportion going around.

Indeed, with Medea already positioned at 0 Cancer as Psyche moseys on in, it is going to be very easy – in some cases even ‘popular’ (i.e. “the popular thing to do”) to be protective of our own.

And yet, considering this is Medea, and how the story of Medea has love being the very force which undermines everything….considering that the real lesson of Neptune in Pisces is not feeling the feelings but being rational in spite of emotionalism and knowing the difference between fact and fiction…

….well, this could be a trying time. Medea’s tragic (and yes, frightening) story of what we are each and all of us capable – at some level – of doing because we are so devoted to something we think so good or necessary…it’s to think about, especially now with Neptune in Pisces.

One more idea for the mental hopper here…beyond reminding you to watch for other celestial objects moving into Gemini and Cancer in the weeks ahead, as all those attributes will be ‘eclipsed’ come June and July…

This idea is about where Psyche the asteroid roams. I put together a little ‘visual aid’ (as they say in school) which I want to say going in is NOT drawn to scale! 

(I may be many things…a rendering agent of all things solar systemic is not among them!)

So here’s the diagram…

The lines represent asteroids going about their asteroid business in the big giant main belt of same which orbits between Jupiter (top) and Mars (fifth from the bottom).

If you will notice, Psyche’s aphelion (its farthest point from the Sun) is at 3.328 AU (astronomical units) from the Sun, just beyond the aphelion of Eos, the symbolic ‘dawning of instinct’ (LINK to BLOG on Eos).

On its way around the Sun, Psyche – our mind – crosses over, coming closer to us than instinct (Eos), representing our ability and (most likely) how necessary it is for us to be realistic, and to not simply be driven by instinct. In fact, since at it’s perihelion (closest point to the Sun), Psyche comes to 2.5 AU – which is actually inside Eos’ perihelion point (2.7 AU), that pretty much tells us that our mind fully encompasses and therefore is fully able to experience and move beyond instinct in searching for knowledge and understanding (Jupiter).

Orbiting ‘inside’ this realm we have Lilith – asteroid Lilith: those things we would like to deny about ourselves or in our lives…which probably create a huge proportion of our everyday problems. Very annoying, yes? But unfortunately, still very true. By sign, house and aspect, you should be able to theoretically understand where your asteroid Lilith problems lie….though let’s face it, really dealing with these issues is a whole lot harder, considering this is a celestial image all about that thing we really don’t want to have to admit, deal with, own, be responsible for (etc. etc. etc.).

But because it’s an asteroid and therefore has mass? Dealing with it IS possible. Because asteroid Lilith orbits between Mars and Jupiter? It IS something we will meet up with on a cyclic basis.

In other words, continue to deny at your own risk.

The point here is that Psyche’s near point (2.5 AU) lies within Lilith’s 2.14-to-3.18 AU orbital realm. That means that denial is in some senses even more native to us than our mentality. (Ouch! That hurts!) But it also says that as denial starts to ‘act out’ or ‘become functional’ in our lives, it enters a realm where we have the ability (i.e., choice) to deal with it.

So there you go...It seems we’re all moving into a period where our choices mean more and where what we may feel we need to do first may not be what we need to do most.

One suspects it’s not what you know…it’s what you’re willing to know or learn which will make a deal of difference now – and going forward.

So here’s to personal courage and determination! Here’s to the willingness to be and do not just what comes easily, but what will accomplish that which is actually necessary so that we all can have dignified and productive lives.

Looking forward, this would seem to mean a lot of changes. A lot of giving up living in dreamland and on some hope that ‘someone else’ will see the light. Much as we like to decry it, human beings are famous for liking to live in ignorance….it’s ‘bliss’ says the saying.

Except it’s not. It may be popular, but in the end, ignorance is the very compromise of existence.

And who wants that?

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

 Fog-laser effects

photograph by Gregory Maxwell

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

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

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

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

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

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

 Planet Neptune: a mysterious ice giant

of great and far-reaching power

photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech  

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

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

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

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

The Education of Achilles

(Chiron being the centaur teacher)

by Eugene Ferdinand Victor Delacroix (late 1800's)

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

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

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

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

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

  Detail of a statue of Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom

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

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

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

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

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

Maybe.

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

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

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

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

 Planet Earth as seen by Apollo 17

source: NASA

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

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

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

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