Dateblog: November 2012

 November 2012

As you can see from all the hot red Scorpio and warmly fervent russet-orange denotation of Sagittarius above, this is 2012 in full interactive format. During the first part of the month Mercury and Mars in Sagittarius gives us an indicator of verbal and activity-oriented fervency.

 Maybe urgency. 

Mercury in Sagittarius being famous for discussions, debates, enlightening ideas and oratory, we can count on much being said. Maybe too much being said. Both soulful allegiance and heated opposition go along with this pairing, which with Sun and Saturn in Scorpio points to things of emotional (and quite possibly financial) importance. 

In short, this is a time which feels important – maybe even fateful. Is it really that? Maybe. But then again, maybe we just need to feel we’re being heard and considered. 

The United States presidential election falls on November 6th – the date that Mercury goes retrograde. With Nessus (lingering ill will) having gone direct on the 4th, Damocles (unsuspected difficulties) going direct on the 8th we have both their two-day station allowances overlapping on the 6th, along with the 6th being the date that Charybdis (the need to keep trying) goes retrograde in Cancer, the sign of the people and a national populace.

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 Marine One prepares to land on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C.

(photo credit US Department of Defense, PHC C.M. Fitzpatrick, July 1987)

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Plainly the US people will have their say. Whatever the outcome is, that will not fix worldwide economic problems. In fact, as Neptune goes direct on November 11th barely in advance of a Solar Eclipse at 21 Scorpio on the 13th, nations and individuals around our world are likely to realize just how difficult things really are, and – hopefully – how their clinging to personal perspectives and drives has damaged many a goal. 

Yes, their goal. And as Chiron goes direct on November 15th, just what ‘living by our own rules’ instead of universal humanistic rules means is going to become a wee bit clearer. 

We are moving into the Age of Aquarius, folks. This is an Age where commerce is king, but where the marketplace must be open. Playing fields long bounded by idea of ‘us and them’ or ‘have and have not,’ the ‘insiders and outsiders’ are all giving way. Rich and poor shouldn’t matter: survival should. Cultural heritages and religious affiliations can no longer be our definition of worthy and unworthy as they have been throughout the Age of Pisces. I raise the issue now as it is metaphysically clear, merely by the congruence of the changing of the astrological ages coinciding with the ending-and-renewing of the ancient Mayan ‘creationist’ count (which is not the same as their calendar, by the by)...things are changing. 

And that means they need to change. WE need to change. 

It’s just not a gentle process. Not one change of Age, not one round of the Mayan creationist count (which they called ‘one world’) not any of this shifts from one cycle to the next without a deal of fracas. There’s always upheaval. There’s always trials and warfare.

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 From the famous Mayan murals of Bonampak in Belize, this scene from

Room 1 depicts the torture of the captives. How things don't change when

it comes to human beings, right?

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Why? Because human beings don’t like change. People yell and scream that they want things to change, but tell them that the time to change is ‘now’ and they’ll shovel out the excuses. 

Change feels like a threat to our security. So sometimes life has to actually threaten our security to get us to change.

 Once Mars enters Capricorn on the 17th, the determined among us will get to work while the rest of us are treading water. With the Sun’s shift into Sagittarius (on the 21st) falling just a day before Venus moves into Scorpio as Pallas (dispassionate, realistic wisdom) goes direct in Pisces we are challenged to get ‘real’ with ourselves. Importance now falls on the proverbial ‘proof in the pudding.’ Yes, we may bluster and fluster about long-held positions and convictions, but on the inside a lot of us are going to be admitting to our all-important Self that we were wrong: what we were doing or how we were doing it or the company in which we have been doing it...that’s wrong. 

But what to do about such problems? The Neptune bet is that most of us will put a game face on and go about like all is cheerful and status quo. But considering how people react to knowing they’re doing the wrong thing, the only question is whether we are going to make an active move to change (which with Mars in Capricorn is not only possible, but may well earn brownie-respect-points from others) ...or whether we are going to just wait until we ‘out’ ourselves through some compulsive moment. 

For card carrying members of Club Compulsive, Mercury’s going direct (in Scorpio) on the 26th combined with a Lunar Eclipse on the 28th (at 6 Gemini) may mark your blowout. Then again, if you’re a member of Club Compulsive who has reached Gold Card Denial ranking, you may just dig yourself in deeper with this Mercury turnabout and Lunar Eclipse. 

The Lunar Eclipse is in Gemini. That makes it about choices in the moment...or choices already made. Considering that Mercury in Scorpio can either be transformative or incredibly dug in, stick-in-the-mud stubborn, what may come of all seems pretty obvious.

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A lunar eclipse in progress

(photo credit: Juan Iacruz, February 2012)

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No matter which course you choose, experience or get emotionally shepherded into, the whole of the last week or so of November IS ‘emotional territory.’ Those whose charts are closely aspected by this Lunar Eclipse (read: with positions between 1 and 11 Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Aquarius...OR chart contacts between 4 and 8 degrees of Taurus, Cancer, Scorpio or Capricorn) will be most effected.

But this is a time of intensity pretty much all around. 

Still, it’s worth remembering: Solar Eclipses mark events which change your life. Lunar Eclipses are emotional, yes. But very seldom do they indicate a major life change unless your chart is ALSO being transited by the solar side of the eclipse pair.

In which case, buckle your seatbelt and grab a fire extinguisher – it’s going to be a bumpy and hot, hot, hot (maybe even flammable) ride!

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Atropos, Eros, Scheat, Damocles: Cut it Out!

Le Poète Voyageur

by Gustave Moreau (latter part of 19th century)

Atropos is one of three Greek Fates, specifically the one who ‘cut’ the ‘thread of life’ after it had been measured out by Lachesis and initially spun by Klotho.

Astrologically, Atropos does not mean a literal ending of a life, but it means something ends – and yes, that can be a life, though seeing human death in a chart is always indicated by far more than just a cycling asteroid.

But wherever we see Atropos – which currently would be in Capricorn – we know that something will end. In this case, that ‘something’ is Capricorn in nature. So, is your time up? Are you totally out of patience? Are you giving up on something (or someone)? Generally Capricorn speaks to thing we are dedicated to, which we have continued to plug away at, which we have given steady, continuing thought to.

In going retrograde at 6 Capricorn, Atropos echoes a bit of what we got into in the days around April 9 as Pluto went retrograde at 7 Capricorn.

(LINK to Pluto’s Station Blog)

Now – as then – this is all happening in the ‘face of Facies’…a really confusingly tough fixed star which gives us the victim and aggressor all at one.

So on one hand, this is likely to be a time when something which has been tough “goes away.” We may be responsible for the ending of it, or it may simply end of its own accord.

But again – don’t expect this to mean that all the stress is going to vanish. Pluto moved into Facies’ orb back in 2010 and will not even begin transiting this fixed star’s position until early 2012. That will take a year. But Pluto won’t actually be out of Facies’ orb until late 2015.

What happens between now and then…optimally is that we learn to deal with our emotions and through things we dislike, can’t stand, which affect or afflict us badly or which prompt us to behave like arrogant asshats…that we learn to choose better in the first place.

In all of this, Atropos’ going retrograde at 5:43am on May 14 (UT/+0) represents a moment when by seeing something end we can learn a bit more about choosing. When we can learn a bit better what works so that we don’t get ourselves – as individuals or in whatever collective (couples, groups, societies, industries, nations…etc.) – into like trouble in the future.

  A Solitary Fate (Atropos) from A Golden Thread

by John Melhuish Strudwick (1885)

And yet, for some of us, this is going to be the precise moment when we get ourselves into troublesome territory. For you, this is all about getting into the Pluto-Facies-Atropos ‘learning space’…which is an unpleasantly trying space indeed.

How do we know some people will be making such choices now? Because Damocles is about to go on station come May 16th. And whenever Damocles raises its heady specter of assumption, we know that foolish choices will follow.

(LINK to Damocles Blog)

Yes, for some this will be leaping from the frying pan into the fire. But at some point…? Those who continue to make their life (or everyone’s life) a mess like being in a mess.

The question is why. And if you know one of these people, this is a super-duper time to start asking them why and to not take any of that ‘I don’t know’ garbage for an answer. People who repeatedly cause trouble or have trouble are getting something out of it. It could be negative attention. It could be all about not having to get honest with themselves about how miserable they really are. Trouble is about trouble, and given the combination of Atropos and Damocles (and let’s not forget the fact that Orcus is on station to go direct!) these days are really consequence city. We’re either seeing what consequences really are, doing things which are going to land us in some pretty sticky consequences, or getting hold of why we do stuff and choose things which will end us up forcing us to face consequences we really don’t like! 

Or maybe don’t even know how to handle.

That all this happens as we are moving towards the first of two solar eclipses which will go off during the next couple of months? That tells us that this is a time when mentalities or defenses are breaking down. When walls people put up can actually be taken down by insight or by evidence – even by accusation.

But remember, when you take a wall down…then you have to deal with what lies behind the wall – the true motivational driving force. And that may be ugly all around and not simply limited to them. People should be responsible, yes. But when they aren’t there is more often than not some truthful rationale behind their ill choices, their aggressive attitudes, their rejections…and that is not just about them – that’s also about us. That people tend to think it’s okay to act badly is generally in some way a reflection of, or reaction to some perception that others have acted badly towards them.

And that all this leads to a late-on-the-14th, early-on-the-15th conjuncting of asteroid Eros (passion) and Scheat (nobody’s favorite fixed star) signaling a real moment of rejection...or maybe denial?

 

Denial? Of what? Well, considering this is a fixed star, the affect is global. Scheat is a 'societal' type indicator, so the denial is either of us...or by us with regards to some social/societal standard. This meaning comes from Scheat being the beta star of constellation Pegasus (or Pegasi, as it's known). And why should that be something negative? Well, not that most of us seem to know this (which does sort of ring with that denial thing...) but Pegasus is actually the offspring of Medusa.

That's right, Medusa - the gorgon which scares us plumb to stone.

(LINK to Blog on Medusa)

That 'scare' part? That's all about acknowledging the truth. How that works is part of the Medusa myth (hence the link) - but the shorthand here is that Pegasus, in being the child of Medusa and Neptune is all about getting 'carried away' to a point which is either really scary or where we scare ourselves not only with what has happened...but with the fact we could be so blind, to begin with.

And Scheat - as the beta star of constellation Pegasus and located where the 'shoulder' meets 'leg'...Scheat is all about the 'junction' of whether society is willing to 'go forward' with a given idea. So it's our being unwilling to face truth...or a society which is unwilling to deal with what we want to think is truth...or a society unwilling to deal with truth in general.

Constellation Pegasus with Scheat
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Take your pick, it isn't cupcakes and bunny whiskers. The Neptune influence here says someone is deluded or doesn't want to know better (or in reality) and the Medusa part says knowing the truth is downright scary.

All and all, this simply says 'choose carefully.' This is a moment which asks us to think first, think hard and when we need to not just react out of spite or desire or because we just want to be ‘done with it’ (or because thinking someone or something should ‘be done away with’ will solve the problem).

Obviously this is a time when arguments and friction may flare. Those who weigh the consequences of their choices out and make decisions based in an awareness that they will have to deal with repercussions not even yet known – those people will be prepared for the rough-and-tumble times which will yet surely come.

Those who act in passion or react with recklessness may well weather what is to come as well…but they’re going to go through the months ahead whining and complaining that life is being done ‘to them,’ wondering why it all has to be ‘this way.’

Answer: because we want what we want – and are most often unwilling to differentiate between want and need. Secondary answer: because we structure our lives and choices solely for ourselves with little care to what it will cost others – or even ultimately ourselves.

All it takes to get on the high side of things is humility, the willingness to defer gratification and a lot of globally oriented personal responsibility. Will we all take to that like proverbial ducks to water? No! But those who do, will sleep better and by a few years from now, be in a far better place.

It's your choice!