November 7-16: Kallisto, Mercury, Damocles, Nessus and the Leonid Meteor Shower

The Leonid meteor shower as photographed from space

(photo credit: NASA, JPL, February 2005)

Barely in the wake of November 6th’s Full Moon, asteroid Kallisto goes direct. That it does so in Aquarius suggests that the message (or ‘experience’) of Kallisto is something we will experience either very much with others - or in a sense of isolation as we oppose or are opposed by others. As a symbol of the need to endure and the reality that sometimes the thing we must endure is not of our making, Kallisto sometimes represents patience and sometimes represents durability, dedication or adherence to a thought, cause or needed activity or action.

And then sometimes Kallisto represents that force - be it something which happens (the ‘force’ of an event) or the fact that something we have tried to change, or even which we depend on, how despite all that external status quo (or resistance) is holding out or holding fast against all which is being thrown against it.

Landscape with goddesses Diana and Kallisto by Cornelis van Poelenburgh (17th century)

.

As for the degree Kallisto is going direct at, that would be 21 Pisces, a degree which simply because it’s a third decan degree between 20 and 29 of some sign cannot be purely personal: there is some quality of influence or interaction, whether responded to or not, with a bit of emphasis here on the ‘responded to’ sign as all odd-numbered degrees have a subtle tendency to assert or take independent action where even-numbered degrees are shaded slightly towards responding to current input from the environment.

In the case of this particular Piscean degree however, this tendency to act is somewhat muted...even convoluted by the instinct to plan - even to deceive, though as this degree functions through a framework of time, such deceptions are more likely to end up being us fooling ourselves, not others.

Whether this has to do with something in the moment or something from long ago which is affecting current thinking or choices...that’s all individual - as is our tendency to cling to truths as opposed to myths we prefer to believe - or are even afraid to not believe.

And that’s just where this week of days start. As we move from date to date and day to day things are unlikely to get a whole lot more clear or clearly clarified, and for a lot of people that is going to be confusing, frustrating and disappointing - even as others are feeling elated, excited and delighted...with none of it pertaining to reality or fact.

The reason for that would be Planet Neptune, which in going direct early on the 16th (early in the UT/+0 time zone, that is) is providing us with a marker which asks us to allow ourselves not to know...and which tests how well we are equipped to deal with not knowing.

In theory, what this describes is a situation where all the confusion or excitement, the discouragement or idealization is a point of view and perspective, sure enough - but where it also may well be all and only about our desire to feel what we want to feel and to not feel what we would simply hate to feel.

About our Self, that is - and that note is provided by the fact that Neptune is going direct at 4 Pisces, a degree which on its own is about our individual ability to face and deal with our own emotions (part one) and with the fact that we are one human being amidst a sea of life, human and otherwise, on this planet.

How do we feel about that?

Even more importantly - and more to the point of Pisces, how do we feel ABOUT how we feel about that?

Pisces is so often an endless hall of emotional mirrors. We feel, we feel ourselves feeling, we sense the feelings of others and feel for them even as we feel ourselves sensing how mortal, how human this business of feeling really is. Emotions can be enriching. Emotions can also be innately deadly.

Emotions are human - and in going direct at 4 Pisces, Neptune is dissolving our barriers and removing that which stands in the way of our coming to some greater understanding of how intrinsically emotional we are...And how emotions and our willingness to feel feelings, good and bad, ours or those of others...to some very great extent define both the grief of our mortality and the potential for glorious goodness which is part of our humanity.

And as that happens, our mistakes and achievements become more real simply because Neptune is going direct at 4 Pisces, that being the current position of fixed and royal star Fomalhaut.

You remember Fomalhaut, right? The star which promises success only if our aims (dreams, efforts, feelings, etc.) are neither corruptive, corrupted, coercive, corroded or corrosive?

(Yes, I majored in Thesaurus - you have no idea.)

This Neptune station, occurring exactly at the royal star’s position is likely to be a stirring occasion (all puns and realities intended)... hence the extended period of affect and a very strong likelihood that things which are revealed during this time (and just after Neptune’s station) will have long-term and lasting effects.

Kallisto goes direct on November 6th - and just over twenty-four hours later (at 23:10 or 11:10 p.m., UT/+0 on the 7th) Mercury re-enters Scorpio.

To recall for a moment: Mercury originally entered Scorpio (this year, that is) back on September 27th before going retrograde at 2 Scorpio on September 4th. And when Mercury went into that retrograde, it did so while trining Neptune, which makes this incoming Mercury moment part of an entire cycle which questions illusion, self-delusion and through eliciting our tendencies to opt for what we want (or consider correct), our ability to require of Self that we don’t choose based on emotion rather than fact.

When we ignore that... when or where we do choose or attempt to get others to choose based solely on some feeling... those actions will backfire and undermine or defeat us. Maybe not immediately, but in time... and probably lastingly.

This station is Neptune’s last exact conjunction with Fomalhaut for the next 160-plus years. Where the lesson is ours to learn, such ‘last passes’ tend to exacerbate issues more than otherwise, even without our having just experienced a solar eclipse which at 0 Scorpio would be very much in trine to Neptune’s station - a factor which enhances both the duration and likely effects of this station. So we should expect to see, hear and feel variable behaviors which overlie, betray or reveal vulnerabilities both in those on the ‘doing end’ and those on receiving ends of various things. We should expect an unwavering if indistinct (and virtually impossible to describe) sense that we’re not ‘in charge’ where we most sincerely (even desperately) want to be in charge - without any way to know if what we’re feeling is valid or not.

And where we're oh-so confident? Well, seeing as such convictions are bred, born and harbored in the heart of the human ego, Neptune is bound to deny them.

In other words, such notions will - now or in time - prove either incorrect, flat-out wrong, unworkable, damaging, unlovable or just plain not what you had imagined... idealized... clung to with all your heart in the depths of those nights filled with longing.

You know - during those Neptunian times.

Oh yes, it’s enough to drive a few people crazy... (even more than a few)...making these days ahead all about what we will get ourselves to do or be or face or tackle in spite of that weakness which says 'I just don't like it' (when you know that's an excuse) or when we insist something else is more important despite knowing that just isn't true.

It isn't the thing we're talking (or thinking) about which is the native weakness. It's our willingness to not take that high, hard road - that being OUR weakness.

However willing we are to face whatever our vulnerabilities are, particularly as that pertains to something 'old' or from our past and despite our attempts to protect or defend that 'old' or traditional thing which we stand for and stomp for on merits...but which in truth we would feel most vulnerable without.

And the mix up of influences isn’t complete yet. Kallisto goes direct approximately a day after the Taurus Full Moon, Mercury re-enters Scorpio about twenty-four hours after that - and a day after Mercury re-enters Scorpio, Damocles goes direct.

'The Sword of Damocles' by Richard Westall (1812)

The story of Damocles is one of those ‘well all do it’ sort of things. It centers around a courtier (Damocles) who, while standing around the king’s court looking courtly comments about how the job of a king is downright easy. Why, if Damocles got a chance to run the kingdom...

Unfortunately for Damocles, the king is not only listening, he’s irked just enough by the courtier’s offhanded remark that he orders Damocles to take his place for a bit so Damocles can see if a king’s job is truly all wine and roses.

And it’s in that very minute when Damocles plants the appropriate body part in the seat of the king's throne when he realizes what he’s gotten himself into, for above hangs a sharp and dangerous sword.

It's right above his head.

And it’s hanging by a hair.

Wherever we find Damocles in the chart, that’s the area of life (and by degree, the specifics of the issues in that life) where we face having to learn that though something may look easy, it’s not only not simple, but also possibly fraught with personal dangers. And wherever we find Damocles by transit, that would be where things and situations promote a peculiar combination of 1.) heightened awareness and 2.) concerns of some seriousness or importance - both of which become far harder than they "need to be" as we become ever more aware of the need to manage very different priorities.

Speaking of managing, the Juno grand trine discussed in the previous post will be in force through late on the evening of November 8th. 

In going direct in Aquarius, Damocles references social, income, systemic and societal matters which are also more difficult than they look. Whether actually dangerous or not (danger implied by Damocles often merely has to do with the ‘puncturing’ of our an idea or inflated ego stance) these are moments meant to connect an idea or theory with the reality or realistic approach. That the degree involved here is 19 Aquarius emphases tenacity, intellectual exchanges (spoken or otherwise, successful and otherwise) and an ability to get to the crux or core of an issue even if doing so could be rather painful.

And unsuspected.

Remember: what we do now which is meant to coerce doesn’t work. That which we do or opt for now which is based only on what we want or our dreams will not work. There is a ‘ranking’ in astrological influences which in this moment still says that whatever else is happening the ‘big deals’ are really the big deal - and that’s not Damocles, that’s Neptune and the Solar Eclipse, twin factors which at this time are ‘feeding’ back and forth still challenging us to get past what we like to what we really need to fix FIRST within our Self, then in the world around us.

The last addition to this piling on of effects in the wake of the Full Moon would be centaur Nessus going direct at 27 Aquarius on November 10th, an event which happens as Mercury finally exits its retrograde shadow. (Think of this as adding ingredients in making a cake batter before you put it in the oven and you’re pretty close to the workable notion.) So to whatever we are dealing with which pits our (Kallisto) desire to preserve the old even though that is gone, forcing us to proceed on a new basis, even though Mercury has left the airy Libra arena and immersed itself in more intense (and sometimes choppy) Mercury in Scorpio waters, even though things aren’t quite as easy as we thought they were going to be, now we’re on new ground.

That’s what Mercury exiting its shadow means: we are moving into an area of experience, operation or discussion which is - and should be - based on a new perspective and all which has been learned to this point with an eye to moving forward.

A carved relief of Mercury (Hermes) in Stuttgart, Germany

(photo credit: Ecelan, 2009)

And just to recall: 2 Scorpio (the degree Mercury went retrograde at, which now becomes the ‘gateway’ to new experiences) is all about who we are and how we go about being who we are.

2 Scorpio is about character and the character we choose to be, who we want to be - and in some venues, how that plays against the expectations or desires on the part of others with regards to who they want us to be, with a particular emphasis on whether we are ready to accept the responsibility (or whether we have accepted the responsibility) for who we are and what we do or have done.

Deianeira and the dying centaur Nessus by Howard Pyle (1888)

How interesting then that Mercury exits its shadow just as Damocles going direct points us back to external matters (current or past) which look easier than they really are. Because Mercury is doing this as centaur Nessus goes direct there is a quality of ‘again’ (or repetition) here which speaks to ill will being carried forward beyond all limits of reason. Often thought of as something of an influence which ‘poisons the well,’ Nessus always points to unbridled passions which in whatever form are harmful both to the originator and others - though seldom (if ever) to the object of loathing and disregard...which in Nessus’ going direct at 27 Aquarius speaks to some a tie between past, present and future (a connection through time) which now is defended or insisted upon. With Nessus there is no shyness about exacting a ‘blood cost’ for that one thinks just - and yet just that act of insisting is often wrong, no matter how its presented or justified. This degree often manifests with a friendly, calm demeanor just as Nessus is well known for being an unkind, even blindly heartless influence which surfaces after a period of perfectly civil integration and association.

All of this happens as this period begins to evolve. And once Nessus goes direct and Mercury exits its shadow, then we have the rest of the Monday-through-Friday work week to deal with that before the onset of the Leonids on November 15th, just before Neptune goes direct. (Expect a separate post on Neptune and Venus next week.)

So what do we know about the Leonids? For one, they aren’t Earth’s longest meteor shower - this year’s edition will begin on the 15th and be over by November 20th.

On the other hand, the Leonids are ‘thick.’

What is a ‘thick’ meteor shower? Well, due to the fact that the comet responsible for the Leonids (Tempel-Tuttle) has an orbit which comes close enough to Earth that its ‘sprinkles’ (the meteorites we see streaking across the sky at night) don’t have much time to spread between where they are thrown off by the comet and where they cross Earth’s orbit.

(And just for the record here, we’re talking about ‘close’ in astronomical terms - which is still plenty far away.)    

All this amounts to a generally high rate of meteors per hour - a real plus for meteor watching. More to the metaphysics however, given that meteor showers are known as times when we get ‘sparked’ by ideas and input, that may spell a time when new thoughts, ideas and influences appear almost as fast as we can perceive them.

And yet...that the Leonids begin just a day in advance of Neptune going direct (and Venus entering Sagittarius) - does that say our ‘new ideas’ or ‘takes’ on given subjects are wonderful or terrible? Does this just add to the confusion or help straighten things out?

That, and why that is...that’s probably what we’re about to go through learning - again.
.
.
.

Orcus, Venus, Mercury: Bringing Us Down to Earth

Bain de Venus by Odilon Redon (ca.1900)

TNO Orcus goes direct in early Virgo at 6:05pm in the evening (UT/+0) on May 15th. Several hours later, first Venus, then Mercury will move into Taurus.

Venus in Taurus is the taste of…or often for the finer things life has to offer. For those who like pop astrology, Venus tends to be spoken of as ‘lucky’ or ‘fortune in money’ and thought of as connected to a love of beauty, ease and all things tasty and pleasurable….and a period when we can manifest things as we will.

To this last, a big ‘well….sometimes yes and sometimes no.’ Much depends on what is going on in life as a whole. Venus (and Mercury) are both personal planets. So they certainly speak to what we’d like…and in particular, Venus in Taurus speaks to a time when we’re likely to really want what we want out of life. So with Venus entering Taurus with Mars – symbol of ambition and drive - already in Taurus, it’s pretty plain our hearts (if not our eyes) are firmly on personal goals and what we think is good, right and…to put it plainly, our due.

Venus moves into Taurus at 10:13pm (UT/+0) on the 15th and what with Mercury follows suit at 11:19pm (UT/+0) we are all heading towards the May 17th Full Moon with our eyes on the personal goal, need, desire, ambition.

But there are a few other things to consider here. One is that Damocles is on station to go direct tomorrow (May 16th) in Aquarius. Another is that Nemesis just went direct last week (on the 11th) in Virgo (score another for the earth sign team).

Damocles outlines difficulties we don’t recognize until we take the job on. Nemesis is the 'you know better, don’t you?’ which is now being heard. People are going to be very big with hindsight right now…that would be the Nemesis part. With Orcus going direct today (May 15th) there will also be a lot of pointing of fingers at things which have gone wrong. And we can count on a lot of that really irritating ‘now that you’ve screwed things up…’ sort of tone going around – as if everyone chooses to do the wrong thing?

Actually…no. But sometimes, yes. And the difference between these two factors (or factions, if you prefer) is part of what’s on our minds now. Could we have known? Should we have known? Could anyone have known? If they did, why did they choose to do the thing which has the negative consequences anyway?

Events, comments, realities, news…all which happens now will have a peculiar sense of consequence and often enough, resignation attached to it. Now all we can do is cope…but why would anyone want to be in the position of coping with this? (Whatever ‘this’ is.)

That all the named factors save Damocles are in earth signs says the matter is very real and very tangible. Damocles here adds…oh, call it a touch of the societal – and like as not, economic.

The Full Moon we are heading towards will occur in Scorpio. And as a matter of fact, that Moon is entering Scorpio as of 4:33 in the afternoon (UT/+0) on this self same May 15th we’re talking about after having just ‘tinged’ off Venus, which at that point will still be at 29 Libra.

 Road with Cypress and Star by Vincent van Gogh (1890)

That Moon/Libra connective sets up a bit of a hint that this is all about how we relate to others. Or how we feel about them. Or whether we think they think of us or even known we exist. Or matter.

By the time Orcus is turning direct in Virgo, the Moon will be in sextile from Scorpio, granting us an  opportunity to do something. But whatever that is, it had best take others and their opinions, needs and values into account.

That the Full Moon of the 17th will be in Scorpio tells us this whole lunar cycle is to some degree all about our ability to recognize that life is not simply about us or how we think. Or our ‘group.’ Only when something works for all does it…really work for all!

That would seem obvious.

About now though…we’re probably asking ourselves how obvious it really is – and why anyone in their right mind would ignore the idea that to work for everyone, things have to actually function and satisfy (you know, Venus in Taurus?) everyone.

Which leaves….what? The question of who is in their right mind? Yes, that would be apt, especially as we’re heading towards a solar eclipse in Gemini, sign of mentality – and one conjunct Aldebaran (think: integrity).

There are a lot of ways our reality can get shattered. And when we don’t die...what are the consequences of that?

Neptune & Damocles Direct: An Odd Couple, Coupled

 Only....what?

If we were just talking about Neptune going direct, it would be an astrological moment of note. We could discuss how Neptune is the outermost (full fledged) planet in our solar system. And as such, how Neptune symbolizes the edge and end of our personal comprehension.

  Ever-shifting clouds on Neptune suggest planetary weather

systems, the strict mechanics and composition of which are

not yet known - photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

If we were just talking about Neptune going direct, it would be an astrological moment of note. We could discuss how Neptune is the outermost (full fledged) planet in our solar system. And as such, how Neptune symbolizes the edge and end of our personal comprehension.

Objects beyond Neptune we experience (for sure!)...but we don't seem to 'hold onto' them as qualities or  quotients in present tense terms. My father once told me a story which seems apt in describing this: when serving in WWII he was in Egypt and came up with a toothache. Dentistry being relatively primitive as compared with today, he felt a little less than joyous as he approached the dentist's tent - from which came intermittent screams of pain.

As he settled apprehensively in the chair, he tried a little joke - not that (according to him) the dentist seemed impressed with much...not even the idea of performing dentistry pretty much in the shadow of the pyramids.

 

I bet you don't get many volunteers for repeat business, dad quipped.

The dentist fixed him with a world-weary stare. Sergeant, the only reason dentistry survives is that the human mind has no memory for pain. 

Which is true. We know what pain is, we remember how we may well dislike pain very much. But the feeling of pain? That doesn't stay. Nor should it, if you think about it. After all, if we could 'remember' hurt with any degree of actual pain, the body/brain system couldn't use pain as a primary warning signal. We react to pain because it hurts and we remember how we don't (or maybe do) like pain when nothing actually hurts.

That 'memory/non-memory' quality...the knowing without present tense security or clarity...that's the essential Neptunian dilemma. Thus we ask...Is it? Am I wrong? Or we know for sure...then find out we 'knew' nothing; reality was a whooooole other thing!

When any planet is in retrograde, it functions on a subliminal, internalized level. So over these past months since Neptune went retrograde at the very end of May, we've all been going through our 'what to do?' and 'who to be?' and 'where to go next?' and 'how to make that work?' thing.

We have been challenged by our very doubts and indecisions.

Now as Neptune goes direct, it is not our doubts or quandaries which challenge us, but real life situations which in coming at us, provoke indecision....questions of value. The world, by its nature and through daily life confronts us with the need to weigh our options and consider what's right or workable.

That's what we'd do if we were just talking about Neptune.

But we're not just talking about Neptune! We're talking about Neptune and Damocles. Damocles goes direct first - at 10:51 (UT) on November 6, 2010. Neptune follows less than 24 hours later at 6:05 (UT) on November November 7, 2010.

And considering this is Big Blue Neptune we are talking about, this suggests the whole of the weekend of November 6 and 7 is going to be one long Damocledian-Neptunian to/fro sort of experience.

Part of this has to do with how similar - in some senses- these two points can seem to be. We've discussed Neptune in part and if you'd like to read more about Neptune, I refer you to the Daykeeper Journal archives, where you will find a lengthy two-part article on Neptune, a heap big planet with heap big metaphysical as well as celestial mechanical effects. Here's the LINK .

For those who would like to read a full-length article which includes a full discussion of comet Damocles, that's available too (LINK).

Don't want the whole Damocledian tap dance? Fine - then here's a freeze-dried version, starting with the fact  that Damocles is not a planet. Nor is it an asteroid.

Nope...Damocles is a comet.

Comets don't go 'around' the Sun like planets do. So they don't define factors which are part of the proverbial 'cycle of life.' What comets do is cycle from one (outer) point in our solar system to some other (inner) point in our solar system - a metaphysical picture of 'bringing' some idea 'to'....or at least 'towards' us.

In this case, Damocles' outermost point is beyond Uranus (change). So it represents concepts which are beyond changing. As it cycles inward, it passes Uranus, suggesting that its message brings 'a change.'

Then it moves past Saturn, entering the realm of what is humanly visible with the naked eye from Earth and thus 'within grasp' (part of our reality).
 

  

 Saturn (computerized coloration) 

photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

After that, Damocles passes Jupiter and passes through most of the asteroid belt which circles the Sun between Jupiter and Mars. Since asteroids represent factions and attributes of thought, personality or experience, Damocles' association with any such point gives us clues as to what thing which is beyond changing is going to bring a change to how we think of things.

This very much goes with the story of Damocles, too, as said story is - in short - all about how simple we often think the lot (or life) of someone else is until the job of dealing with all the parameters lands in our lap, hands...or wherever else it might end up.

In the story, Damocles is a courtier who thinks the job of being King is a piece of cake until he's given the opportunity to try it on, at which point he realizes that a sword is suspended right above the King's head.

We all know this story...it's easy to talk about love or responsibility or leadership or parenting - or anything else - until all the costs and time and parameters become apparent. And they never are when you're just an onlooker.

Besides...who likes trying to do something difficult with a sword poised to fall and puncture their skull, heart and anything which may lie below and beyond?

  An 1832 Artillery sword 

photo credit: Dverckis

Okay...so those are the components of this moment. But as cook will tell you...or as any artist will say about colors, or any do-it-yourself'er will tell you about epoxy, when you add two things together, you often get a whole other thing.

And true to Neptunian nature, that's true...but sort of not true in this current situation. Since Damocles is about a recognition that change of a nature we are not free to tamper-tinker-or-otherwise-alter is now ours to deal with, with Neptunian on station the lesson is about accepting and dealing from a lesson of acceptance.

But let's be real. When life hands us a lesson about not changing things and about acceptance, what's that likely to mean? Does it mean that things are all peachy keen or that things are tremulous, confusing, nebulous, unsettling or otherwise out-of-hand, out-of-control or out-of-bounds?

The answer is pretty obvious, right?

Okay. Then that's the first big clue to this weekend.

Second clue: since Damocles is inherently about a realization and Neptune (especially when on station or in aspect to your personal chart) is about letting go of whatever aspect of ego is involved/which is provoked, whether or not the dynamic arises because of what someone else says and does...the issue is about how you/we react. And yes, you could easily say 'well duh - it always is!' but that's where you would be not getting the metaphysics involved here.

The lesson here is that yes, we have to recognize. And yes, we have to not be just about ourselves but able to take into account the greater situation, complete with self and other people and greater social/societal complexes (this last coming from the fact that both symbols are in Aquarius).

But most important is this: we will determine now what happens going forward. Those who cannot accept, who refuse to recognize any 'sharp point' being shown them, who are unable to get out of the way of their own ego will do what they do.

And everything will fall apart, fail them, or otherwise become something totally other than they had planned on.

THAT's the point of this double-barreled station-direct. Will we be driven by unaltered/unalterable personal convictions which 'design' life as being only about our own point of view, whether or not that includes ourselves and others in equal measure? 

Neptune is all about the dissolution of ego - but not of Self. That's important to remember here. Sacrificial lambs are not called for. They're not even recommended here. Aquarius and Neptune (interestingly enough) are both about the ability to honor the Self as valid and other selves and the collective as equally valid. 

Sound confusing? It should, because it is....which leads us to the last and best rule of all whenever and wherever we see Neptune doing its magnetic resonant thing: as said by astrologer Robert Hand, where Neptune is concerned about the best thing you can do is allow yourself not to know. 

The greater the allowance you find it possible to make, the greater the possibility. Of what? Of all which is possible. Yes, good and bad - which is part of the test here. How well do you tolerate not knowing what will happen where feelings are at stake or matters evocative are in the offing?

With Chiron having gone direct on the 5th, it's station effects last through November 7th. So necessity is in the mix here too. That Damocles goes direct first says that we 'get the point' then deal with how well we handle all which comes of that.

Damocles station effects run through the 8th, and Neptune's station effects run through the 9th. That's a good deal of time to be dealing with whatever is being put to us, or held over our head.

Whatever happens, it may pay to remember that in the end we're all only human. And yet, that would be why what we do or choose or let go is what ends us costing is greatly or paying us happy dividends as the sun rises in a new day founded on new ideas and new understandings of who we are and what actually matters.

 Sunrise in Jamaica

photo credit: Adam L. Clevenger (Feb. 2005)

 

Neptune-Damocles Station Effects: Layering on Reflectivity

Neptune and Aphrodite (Venus) - detail from

a painting by Frans-Fracken de Jungere

 

This post is about a pair of astrological signal lights suddenly beginning to blink. And of the many lights which could go off at the same time, to have those symbolizing Neptune and Damocles going direct...what, at the same moment ?

That's a celestial odd couples if there ever was one! 

And yet...that's what's happening. So on one hand, it's up to us to cope. And on the other, those among us who have some sort of belief or faith that What Is happens when its supposed to happen...? Those folks will say these are the attributes we are supposed to learn about at this time.

Specifically, this pair of attributes. 

But maybe you're not so familiar with these two? Or maybe you've never considered them in tandem? Well then - you've come to the right place! That's why we gather here several times each and every week...to muse over (and occasionally get all aghast about) the doings of life and the the universe - which is surely more convoluted and surprising than we suspect!

Okay...so what's up here? For one, Neptune is an immortal and Damocles is a mortal - which astrologically pretty much comes out to the difference between something we are and something we experience, do or choose.

Put another way...one is fate (Neptune) and one is free will (Damocles). And yet in either case, if is what you do about the situation once you're in it.

There are certainly longer forms of the Neptune and Damocles stories than we're going to go into here. If you want to read them, here a full scale article Damocles link...and here are the links to Neptune Part 1 and Neptune Part 2 articles at Daykeeper Journal. (And yes, all these articles are by yours truly.)

Getting back to our musings and ponderings however, Neptune is about to go direct in late Aquarius: the emotionality of our world society and how we feel about said world society. And Damocles? Damocles is also going direct in Aquarius - but in the Aquarian 2nd decan.

What's a decan? From the Latin 'deca' meaning 'ten,' a decan or decanate is a group of ten degrees. The first - of any sign - is physical and pro-active. The third is experiential - results, reactions and responses from the world around us.

And the second? That being degrees 10 through 19 of any sign, that decan is where the sign manifests emotionally or through evoking our emotions. 

So if you start with Aquarius - the world, what I get from the world and how I'm treated in the world - and you add emotionality and funnel it all through the testy and testing measures which are so very Damocles (how everything looks easy until you're the person in the hot seat making the hard decisions)....'at'sa pretty darn toasty hot seat, no?

Ouch - yes!

Then we have to deal with Neptune. Neptune is famous (yea verily, infamous) for its ability to fog issues, delude us, inspire us while baffling us. And Neptune in Aquarius? That's about life itself. About our ability to deal with the world and be understood by it. That's about finding our place in the world and getting what we should get from that world.

Neptune clouding these issues? That would seem to spell a lot of insecurity. Or what seems like irrationality. People who make no sense, and getting presented with options which would seem to be either too good or not enough, which when real turn out to be nothing and which are served up like slices of pie in the sky which we're supposed to believe in but which....what, we really think that's going to hold water?

Whenever a planet goes on station, its effects are felt as is intensified. Life seems 'full of that' for those given moments. So Neptune plus Damocles? Let's just say these next couple of days are not likely to be filled with peace. More like a bunch of internal question marks, most likely!

And when is this going to happen? Well, since both planet Neptune and comet Damocles go direct on November 7th, that means station effects start tomorrow - November 5th - and continue through two days after the station, which would be November 9th.

Understanding that astrological effects work like swinging doors (that is, we can be walking into the mess or the mess can be being delivered to us on what in this case is likely to be a tarnished silver tray...) our quandaries, puzzlements and downright despairings on what to do about....whatever ....can be about looking at the world (who can fix THAT?)....

...about what we can do about our lot in the world (heavens to Betsy...what ever am I to do NOW?)...

...or about what's going on in our personal world which prevents us from even being able to really cope with that other stuff (don't bother me with that stuff, I have my own catastrophe in progress...!).

Or any combination of the above (she says, trying to smile in spite of an inner conviction that her face may possibly crack).

 The Sword of Damocles (1539)

source: Artshooter

Last week we had Nessus go direct as Mars moves into Sagittarius - just as bodies as yet unnamed tried to ship packages containing explosives into the United States). Mars equaling things which are 'new or foreign to us' combined with Nessus' 'poisonous jealousy, even beyond death' is very fitting to this scenario. And to many a dynamic I heard floating around at that moment. 

The point in raising this is so that you can understand what Neptune/Damocles may be going into this joint station/retrograde. You thought last week was a bump in the night, a shudder of the window, a crinkling of you wanted-to-be-peaceful-and-lovely-day?

This is likely to be stronger. Not necessarily worse, just stronger in its effect on you. Mind you...there may or may not be any real tragedy here at all. But the effect of this moment is one where we all are likely to feel a sense of 'OMG..I hadn't thought about that!'

And that may just be the point. Maybe we should all stop insisting and hoping (instead of doing something about things) and trying to cling to our ideals....maybe we should all deal with reality?

Those who don't, or tend not to? Those are the people who will feel this station the most strongly. Those who are used to sorting fact from fiction and who get how to enjoy the moment without relying on it will do okay. Those who don't...? They're going to have a few problemos.

The station occurs on Sunday. Lore suggests that events which happen prior to that time have yet to fully unfold. Events (recognitions, realizations) which happen in the wake of the station but before station effects end are like as not about learning the lesson(s) implied.

Of course, with all of this happening under Venus retrograde, it all feels a bit more oppressive than it might otherwise. But this too is part of a process. It's not fate as in 'no option' - this is fate as in here's the situation - what are you going to do about it?

Considering we are likely to be able to see the possible difficulties and dangers of the situation (a nice Damocles touch) there is a distinct possibility that this can indeed be a turning point when we stop ourselves from going over some brink. Neptune is a wholly positive signal in that it's premier theme - that of ego negation - allows us now to take a breath and see where we have maybe put the cart before the horse. Or where we have made a really bad bet and need to cut our losses.

Whatever happens, this is yet another one of those odd moments in time which believe it or not, is meant to allow us to educate ourselves. On what? On who we are, and what actually will work, never mind what we want to work or think should work.

Sometimes that square peg just won't go into that round hole. Do we want to break ourselves, others or our world - or are we willing to admit we may need to refine our ideas and ideals, that maybe we have gone down a wrong road, that maybe we need to take a more productive tact? 

What can I tell you? Life has its Damocles recognitions and its Neptunian quandaries. It's up to us how we deal with them each and every time they arise - yet again!