Dionysus Direct, Deucalion Retrograde

Amzinybe (Eternity) by Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis (1907)

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Are you wondering if there’s anything afoot for Valentines Day, astrologically speaking?

That answer would be ‘yes’ as asteroid Dionysus and TNO Deucalion are going on station as of the date of this blog with both actually taking their station turns on February 14th.

In going direct at 17 Gemini, Dionysus is taking a ‘direct stand’ in trine to the degree at which Mercury’s recently concluded retrograde started back on January 21st. Does this mean these two issues have to be connected? Not necessarily, but it is likely that these days which follow in the wake of Mercury going direct holds a few notions about things each one of us feels we need to do (which isn’t about ‘needing to get it done’ but rather some underlying ‘requirement’ to do it). That’s a Dionysus quality - which yes, may seem a bit odd if you’re thinking of Dionysus solely as the Greek version of that rowdy wine-swigging Roman god, Bacchus, everyone’s favorite good-god-to-go at a good-time party.

But that’s the point - the astrological point, at least: asteroid Bacchus is about the celebration as the good time and the party. And Dionysus? Well, Dionysus, the celebration is more of a ceremonial or even sacred type of event - which is probably a good thing as in going direct at 17 Gemini, Dionysus is doing so in conjunction with fixed star Rigel (teaching/learning through/about the mind) and TNO Chaos (endless potential), the combined influence of which is virtually unlimited, but not precisely romantic.

Yes, it does speak to choices. And this being Valentine’s Day, we know a whole lot of people are going to be making all sorts of choices. (Ahem!) In fact, with the Moon moving through Sagittarius (the opposition sign to Gemini) during the day of the 14th, and Dionysus turning to direct motion late in the evening (UT/+0 time), there are likely to be all sorts of things going through our heads all day.

(Oh goodie ... a think-a-thon!)

As for Deucalion, let’s just remember what Deucalion is before embarking on any astrological dance steps here. Like Chaos, Deucalion is a TNO, which first and foremost means that both objects orbit way out there in the cold vastness of the Kuiper Belt (beyond Neptune and thus metaphysically beyond all which we can ‘imagine’ and everything which is - or which could be only about the 'us,' whether we think of that 'us' as our Self as an individual, or some 'group' or segment of humanity ... even Existence).

-link to post-

Deucalion: Freeing Our Will

And after that? Well, after that comes the real Cubewano quality, that being how Deucalion, like Chaos, is not affected by Neptune’s more than powerful magnetic resonance. Said magnetic and Neptunian quality does affect Pluto. And it also affects Ixion, both of these points being astrological tiger-traps we all manage to tumble ourselves into along the line. (And sometimes, repeatedly all along that line!)

But Chaos? And Deucalion? Both of these points represent notions which at some level are free from outside influence ... as they come along and deliver the unexpected. That Dionysus stands with Rigel and Chaos is a chance to learn more about what matters - and an invisible question posed as to whether it matters to us. Add to that how Deucalion going retrograde at 15 Scorpio is in part a universal announcement that we haven’t yet gotten to the point where we can move ahead because the person who needs to move on isn’t who we are yet being in this moment?

Fifteen degrees of each of the four fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius) is what’s known as the ‘cross-quarter’ point. It’s a reference to having gotten through half of that zodiacal quadrant’s ‘business’ - or in this case, having gotten to the half way mark without having yet quite enough to move any farther.

In Scorpio, the question is how we handle the feelings and values of others in our own terms - or in terms of our Self and that Self’s perhaps Self-ish emotionality. After all, Scorpio is where we put questions of (Taurus) security to the test - and that security is not ‘about’ “them,” but rather a question of whether we are able to deal whatever it is ‘they’ (or life) is presenting us with.

Do we feel rejected? Neglected? Are we of the nicely independent opinion that others need to have their brains, priorities and morals inspected?

To whatever extent we are merely reacting to what others do, say or are now, that’s the degree to which we’re not taking advantage of some opportunity to achieve mastery.

No, not over them - over our Self, which would be both the business of Scorpio (getting us to own our own vulnerability at least enough to get past them so we can think, plan and make decisions based on choice and not instinct) ... and Deucalion, as Deucalion is a point which presents a challenge (sometimes a crisis) which is either emotional in nature or which promotes or provokes general emotionalism in order to get us to be independent of whatever is capable of causing us to (Neptune) feel overwhelmed (or stirred up) and to thus rise above the storm, discarding that which was weighing us down in the process.

Some of us will beat a (retrograde) retreat now and think things through (which would be more  Deucalion than Dionysus). Then again, some of us will go right through this cupid-like and chocolate-covered time and learn from all we see, hear and experience. That Deucalion is going retrograde in a degree (17 Gemini) which emphasizes planning not done (or) executed solely on an individual basis does indeed favor not going solo at the moment.

It just doesn’t guarantee happiness or success. We may be delighted with where we are at the moment - and then again, we may be wondering who the ‘right person’ is (and how to get close enough to them) with regards to whatever we’re trying to accomplish, whether that’s romantic or entirely otherwise.

Deucalion won’t be going direct again until July 27th, and during the whole of that time it will only move two degrees. By the time it goes direct we will (hopefully) have learned a deal more about our Self ... about what works for us, what we can agree to be 'about' or stand for (or against), and that which may work in the moment but which we know in the long run isn't going to generate the rewards or ‘harvest’ which emotionally we might be thinking of ... but which we know at the bedrock of our heartfelt recognition isn't either likely - or not actually the truly and functionally universal answer.

Deucalion always asks us to rise above our emotions, whatever they may be and be about. To have an 'emotional regard' for the whole of an issue or situation is very Deucalion. To parse that down to bias or something which is emotionally convenient violates the Deucalion premise, virtually insuring that we'll get 'swamped,'

By what?

By whatever will incite or produce and understanding of why emotional convenience is actually seriously inconvenient.  

So ...! Between now and then, either we’ll 'get it' and it won’t be good, or we won’t get it and we will realize just how we have squandered other opportunities  - and in some cases the lives of others we care about - by being so focused on one thing ... or even just one facet of one thing ...as to be willingly blinded to so much else, as to be emotionally unwilling to speak or stand for what we know is universally true about one of us... and therefore all of us as human beings.

That we will not name in the world and which we will not look at in our Self is the thing which will most upset and in moments upend us - and lest we forget, we deny such things and turn away from them not because they are not worthy of our attention, but because we know we are guilty of having not given something which merits attention its due.

That is also Deucalion. 

As for Dionysus, it will be in direct motion for nearly the balance of the year, going retrograde next December 8th at ... (do you want to guess?) ... 22 Leo, the degree at which Jupiter went retrograde last December as Saturn (then at 28 Scorpio) crossed the degree line denoting the start of our 2014-2015 efforts to grow, prune, structure, restructure and slowly develop that which will provide us with a framework which allows the rest of life to blossom.

Are these factors connected? They don’t have to be, but they may be ... in which case, by the time Saturn finishes its yearly round (which happens in early  August) and we wrap all that up, maybe we’ll be in the mood and just the right position to celebrate something which from here is yet an ocean of emotional experiences - and understanding - away.

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Blogpost (May 12-19): The Scorpio New Moon (+ Mars and Other Stations)

 

A photograph of the April 15, 2014 Lunar Eclipse taken in Minneapolis, Minnesota

(photo credit: Tomruen2)

As May 12th comes upon us, life [Sun] shifts us out from behind a variable set of lenses colored by contradictions which want resolving plus a smattering of just those sorts of cravings which make us feel everything or anything we have or are isn’t as good as what someone else has (or is).

Fortunately, it’s only been a day of that - a 20 Taurus sort of day which had us wanting to do whatever our way when for good or ill what we want, especially in the long run was more likely to come from an honest estimation of personal needs.

From solidity of self comes the ability to tolerate differences in others. Without that security, Taurus becomes the land of endless wanting - of whatever your “medium of choice” is, be it money, power or any of the other illustrious polarizing (Scorpio) forces which are apparently part of life not so much so that we can test or control others but so that we can learn about what works for us and...separately...for others so that we can forge a path forward which works to equally support the need/drives/aims of all.
 
With every year comes a 20 Taurus sort of day. And once we complete that task, life rolls on...time pushes forward...and we get to the next thing, the process of enacting yesterday’s realizations.

It’s something of a theme this week, that process thing. No matter who we are we’re in the middle of something, and the Sun’s moving into Taurus’ ‘third third’ (degrees 20-29) is where our more (and most) personal view(s) encounter the minds, the lives, the push back, applause, critique and support of both a few...and at other times many others.

There will be a literal highlighting of sorts which will occur around/at the time of this month’s Scorpio Full Moon. The date will be May 14th and the UT/+0 time 7:17 p.m. as this Moon takes its mark at 23 Scorpio.

And if that degree sounds familiar, it should. 23 Scorpio is the degree Saturn went stationary-retrograde at back on March 3rd.

Which yes, would be one day after Mars went retrograde at 27 Libra....which was one day after Mercury went direct at 18 Aquarius.

- link to -

Mercury, Mars, Saturn on Station

And we’re all still dealing with that. Whatever was afoot then was what we like as not stubbed our mental toes on, with the whole of the Mars retrograde and solar eclipse process slowly moving us towards a ‘bottom line’ we are just about to reach with our Self, and which all around us we hear people wanting to reach (often just so they can be ‘done’ with something).

Over this time...through whatever has happened to us over the past few months...our trajectory has changed. Why we do what we do (the way we do it) has become clearer to us - and the flaws with that, personal or social - have also become clear.

We all have been changed. A little or a lot...that’s individual. But as this Full Moon comes to be...during the time leading into or out of it (some people tend to do one, some the other - that’s natural) we’re likely to feel ourselves recognizing just how we’ve changed.

And what that means with regards to our personal  potential, alone or as part of some greater group or concern.

Maybe even as part of many groups or concerns, some of which don’t overlap so well. Energies stirred at 23 Scorpio wash through life either with a ‘scattering’ or ‘wasting’ effect or a revealing of that which has been scattered or wasted which here is ‘highlighted’ symbolically by a Full Moon - a ‘high tide’ of feelings summoned from deep within whether we really want to feel them or not.

But it’s just a phase. The Moon moves in phases...this is just another phase, and after this one will come countless others. When we make a Scorpio-Moon connection, we tend to feel the impact...of how we feel in the moment we register our feelings most of all.

It’s a lovely thing indeed...although it can get us stuck. The Moon in Scorpio fights for control; its habit and instinct are to use external sources to  stabilize anything we feel [Moon] is keeping us from ‘getting on’ with whatever it is we want to do next...and to find/use/employ whatever we [Moon] feel will support our positions.

At it’s best, Moon in Scorpio supports difficult emotional constructs and the constructing of whatever will support, detoxify, rebuild and/or regulate any force. Sometimes that means investing. Sometimes that means pruning. Sometimes that means detoxifying. Sometimes that means not doing anything and sometimes it means ripping the old construct down to whatever level lays it bare.

Scorpio is the sign of the Phoenix. We are transformed by our ability to trust our Self, whether or not others agree - whether or not we like (or trust) them. That all ‘Scorpio tests’ are internal and yet enacted through others or external circumstances will lead most of us to experience at least a moment or two (or three) of insecurity...maybe confusion or even that helpless, hapless feeling we all dislike. The Sun-Phaethon-Dionysus (in Taurus) side of things describes demands and determinations being balanced against a future and a potential we should want...and which we actually have the ability to go after if our overall priorities are in line.

If not, others will let us know. They may not even be subtle about it.

One other thing about this day or so in time...with the Moon (at 23 Scorpio) conjunct Mnemosyne (creativity) and Huya, there is something we can give - something which we have learned at hard cost long before now [Huya] through the sorts of events and experiences which try the human soul.

However we connect to that...whatever we have learned from that...it is the offering of that which becomes our “Huya Rainmaker.”

- link to -

Huya, Rainmaker: Direct at 20 Scorpio

Remember: this is your Huya we’re talking about, which in Scorpio has to do with what you have to offer others out of your own life which will ‘make it rain’ for everyone...and thus bring fulfillment to us. 

 Asteroid Eros as photographed by NASA

 

Eros station-retrograde at 19 Capricorn

As astrological Eros the ‘object’ as been covered about as well as I'm ever going to cover it in a different post, let’s start there...
 

- link to -

Eros and Psyche: Falling in

Love With Our Minds

...after which what you need to know is that asteroid Eros is going retrograde at 19 Capricorn on May 11th.

Yes, that is the same day as the Full Moon. But let’s remember, stations (be they station-retrograde or station-direct) all get 'allowances.' I'm currently using a two-day allowance, but if you may find three days works better for you, feel free.

Representing ‘passions’ of all kinds, Eros energies tend to arise as described by the sign element in your natal chart. In other words, if your natal Eros is in an air sign (Gemini, Libra or Aquarius) you are stirred by ideas and your ‘passions’ function greatly on an idea-driven level and it doesn’t matter what the subject matter is, it’s the idea of the thing which ‘gets’ you (or gets to you).

With natal Eros in water (Cancer, Scorpio or Pisces), the drive and driver is emotional. With natal Eros in fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) the ‘vision’ is the thing.

And when we find Eros in an earth sign - as it is now, transiting Capricorn, it’s the reality which we’re passionate about, and life’s realities which stir our passions, however they’re individually shaped. With Capricorn pointing us to the worldly and public sections of life as well as all things/concerns ‘structural’ (and the price or penalty we pay for a lack of Eros focus) certain types of ‘standings’ (or our regard for same) take a ‘turn’ now... or don’t, depending on our individual relationship to the kind of passionate assertiveness of the interactive type this Scorpio Full Moon favors working with.

Our ability to negotiate, team up with, support or serve as a coalescing (Scorpio) force is in the (Full Moon) spotlight.

Known as least mildly pro-active (and more than a little bit determined, 19 Capricorn is a degree which presses for its goals with an unusual degree of creativity. And though advances can be made, the fullness of what one wants to accomplish probably can’t be done overnight.

Yes, patience is required. That may be the test here, as Scorpio Moons (Full or otherwise) tend to ‘freeze’ or ‘hold off’ where Eros energies tend to erupt as ‘pushing’ for what we want or need.
 
Balance and an understanding of who or what we are dealing with in its own terms (not pre-defined by us) is necessary for what is done now to endure as a supportive measure which does what we want it to correctly.

If nothing else, the Sabian symbol for 28 Virgo ('A SEEKER AFTER OCCULT KNOWLEDGE

IS READING AN ANCIENT SCROLL WHICH ILLUMINATES HIS MIND,') reminds us how in

great part the decision (and effort) to continue seeking and the remaining open to new ideas

(not the allegiance to what we already know) which provides opportunities for growth. 

Srimad Guru Adi Shankaracharya by Raja Ravi Varma (1904, Oleograph)

Byblis direct at 28 Virgo

There’s an unpleasant quality to Byblis, one which can probably be typified either as the defense of the indefensible or the attempt to defend one’s Self against that ‘awful’ thing we don’t want to think about or contend with.

But that’s the point - the metaphysics of asteroid Byblis is about us. It’s about what we will or won’t consider or face having to deal with, whether that ‘dealing’ is self-contained or whether such things ask us to take on matters beyond our Self or even our understanding.

The point is that with Byblis, there always seems to be something involved which is ‘wrong’ - or at least something which seems or feels wrong. And with Byblis’ station taking place in Virgo, the ‘lens’ through which this ‘wrong’ is being seen (or through which it is manifesting) will be the means, method or reasoning/rationales for doing/not doing things...or the means, methods or rationales being employed in the doing of things.

That Byblis is making its turn to direct at 28 Virgo (one of Virgo’s last ten degrees) also tells us that whatever the Byblis note is, it will be ‘group’ and not personal. So it’s something we can react to... or which in embodying a reaction to something we’ve already done brings out the Byblis effect (theirs about us or us about something ‘out there’).

This isn’t the sky falling. Like most main belt  asteroid energetics, Byblis represents something we ‘run into’ and thus are affected by, which may color what we do, how we think or some choice we make because of or maybe in spite of everything and anything disquietingly ‘Byblis-like.’

At the same time, seeing as Byblis went retrograde back in early February in tandem with Mercury there is some chance that an assertion made back then may fall through now. If so, it will fall through on the basis of improper choices (which of several options was taken)...  or how a choice, commitment, resistance or position has failed to take all of the details and/or universal needs (or universal commonalties) properly into account.

In other words, where we may have thought over-much of our Self (in the ‘self important sense) or even just more of our opinion in some situation which really needed to be more balanced in the ‘my’ versus ‘their’ department...such issues may arise - or even re-arise now.

Again, this doesn’t have to be any sort of costly  interruption or reprocessing of anything. For many of us these Byblis moments are just those ‘do you have to bring THAT up again?’ sort of influences.

And since we’re here...the answer to the above is ‘yes, they do have to bring that up again,’ if only because their Byblis says they have to bring ‘that’ up again for their own Byblis reasons.

How would we know who would react and who wouldn’t react to such an influence? Granting that energetics tend to have a low-level effect no matter who we are, the person who reacts now will have 28 Virgo as a sensitive point in their natal chart or a natal Byblis which is somehow emphasized, however that happens.

Also, one other item worth noting...

Astrologer Marc Edmund Jones (the original astrologer to work with Sabian symbols)

typified the image for 0 Libra - 'IN A COLLECTION OF PERFECT SPECIMENS OF MANY

BIOLOGICAL FORMS, A BUTTERFLY DISPLAYES THE BEAUTY OF ITS WINGS, ITS BODY

IMPALED BY A FINE DART' - as 'the immortal archetypal reality that a perfect and dedicated

life reveals,' validating in yet another form those many age-old sayings which warn how 

with every great honor comes some sort of responsibility and feeling of being 'pinned' to

that 'perfect beauty' we represent, stand for, have achieved or have created.

A Chinese cloisonne and enamel box (photo credit: Vassil, June 2007)
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Haumea direct at 0 Libra

Haumea is a dwarf planet, not an asteroid, meaning it’s greater size and mass translates rather literally into the metaphorical world of metaphysics, telling us it’s effect will have ‘weight’...or perhaps ‘gravity’ in our psyche, if not our life.

And maybe our life too - but first the psyche, as that is the principle realm (hierarchy of thought) around which western (tropical) astrology is organized. There are other forms of astrology which tend in that direction, but in western astrology, fate is what you are handed: what you do with it is free will and that’s what we see in your chart...which is why what happens (astrologically) isn’t about ‘them’ it’s about you and your responses, reactions and learning curve.

And why does that apply here? That applies because Haumea is a goddess of tricky manifestations, whether we’re talking about Haumea as an entity capable of ‘giving birth’ through various portions of her being (which metaphysically would suggest our ability to ‘give birth’ to ideas or efforts when various facets of our lives are triggered)...or Haumea the ultimately self-destructive shape-shifter as a representation of how we choose, do or say this or that to placate or ‘get by’ or ‘get along’ in any of the many manners which ultimately come home to us in some form of self-undoing.

In going direct at 0 Libra, Haumea drives us to understand truths even while (or because) we’re being driven crazy - or just driving ourselves crazy over something we need to deal with before moving on. There’s a ‘spin’ on complications here which suggests easy things being made more complicated (perhaps more complicated than they need to be) even as complicated issues are being simplified - and yes, maybe over-simplified. Whichever effect is encountered, the subject... interestingly... does seem to be something important, particularly in its ultimate potential with problems of the moment being linked to an undermining of momentum through improperly applied efforts.

Either the right method is not known, the right skills are not present or skills are needed but not present, all of which is complicated by questioning which in the end will tend towards lack of capacity - a quality which isn’t going to be felt as any more cuddly or cozy by any of us seeing as Venus is still in Aries (a fact which links because the Venusian drive for reward rules the Libra principle of relating).

You do remember Venus in Aries, right?
 

- link to -

Venus in Aries

Haumea and Byblis both go direct on May 18th, which means their stations (conservatively) begin on the 16th (Friday) and extend through March 20th, the actual end of Mars retrograde.

And that station (Mars’ station) begins on the 18th, the date Haumea and Byblis go direct.

Wait...let me try to make this a little easier by offering what schools the world over have no doubt taught us all to regard as a ‘visual aid.’

I’m sure to some, this all sounds rather dire - and it could be for those brining their minds in some proverbial pickle while waiting on someone or on something to happen. But the element involved here - air -  tells us that however Haumea and Mars manifest amidst all other things is of theoretical concern.

In other words, they’re arising in our mind, and whether it’s an evolving idea or some new notion about how life works or who you are in this life...with the Sun in Taurus’ latter degrees, we’re all being subjected to some level of interfaced wants and ‘security needs.’ Or maybe for you that’s the interfacing of wants and whatever allows you to feel secure (starting in your mind, evidently).

Or maybe it's just all in our mind. Sorting through that question is part of what happens now...and evidently it needs to happen as part of Mars reaching the end of its long Libra retrograde. How much of what we do in life is governed by what we think others like or dislike? How much is our life modeled or molded by ideas which may 'hold their shape' for us but which in the end are undercutting or compromising our greater ends? 

By the by...just to define here, ‘security’ in this sense is the Taurean (and/or 2nd house) version of security, which is to say that we find in our Self, making this reference ‘that which makes us feel secure as a person in life and/or in any given moment of our life.’
 
For the record here, the obvious is also true - namely that the reason why Scorpio as the polarity to Taurus is so often associated with death, birth, war and various kinds of tests of control are because where and when Scorpio functions that way it does so as a projection onto others of that we feel disquieted by ourselves.
 
Some factor which arises from this quadrant of our thinking plays a role at least in how we will tend to consider things now... and with Mars continuing to ‘sit’ at 9 Libra (conjunct fixed star Diadem), whether we’re in position to be comfortable with some sort of separateness of perspective or struggling through dealing with feelings, tales and issues having to do with separations or a ‘separating of ideas,’ isolation and/or its elitist cousin isolationism will be pushing us each and all to see the beauty, full potential and possible nasty (to our thinking) ideas to be faced amidst all.

Traces of liquid passage as recorded in planet Mars' surface

(NASA, GSFC, December 2006)

Damocles, Mars-Diadem

and Orcus on Station

 

Speaking of Mars (you knew we were going to get around to this, right?), the strangely unsecured feeling so many people are feeling, reacting to, and whether productive or not - that continues...as does the [Mercury in Gemini] pace of things in general. We often think of Mercury in Gemini as a somewhat ‘hectic’ time - and that factor may well be missing this time around, what with the overhanging Diadem/Mars retrograde effect. The net is likely to be a deal of coming to terms with Self first and then others, yet with Mars and Venus both in ‘fervent’ degrees we will need to conquer our own trepidations going in and be willing to work through a process of consideration and reconsidering (most of all with our Self) if by week’s end we are to arrive at suitable (or at least employable) combinations of [Venus in Aries] aspiration, [Mercury in Gemini] facts, choices or options and what may only be a dawning of the greater [Mars/Diadem] understanding of why (in the biggest-of-big-picture metaphysical sense) you have gone through so much of what you have gone through over these past days, weeks and months.

This period has its own function, absolutely. But it is also part of an intense and challenging period filled with personal tests which dates back to December, 2013 - just before Christmas.

Speaking of intensity...since Mars is going direct in square to Pluto (conjunct Vega) in Capricorn, apart from and yet as part of all else we go through now we are experiencing a long-term [Pluto] transformation of allure and that which fascinates us, draws and or commands us.

The longest range personal and societal shifts began a couple of years ago and won't become evident in the general sense for several years hence. However the short term effects of Mars-square-Pluto (which this would be with Pluto in Capricorn and Mars in Libra) could be explosive IF both symbols were not in retrograde.

In other words, froth if you must, but the transformational energetic is personal and wholeheartedly internal, causing us to 'work over' issues in our own way and at our own individual pace starting somewhere around May 14th.

This is not a transit to quail at unless you have done something dishonest, wrong or wholly manipulative (i.e., without regard for consequences or who gets harmed). If that is the case, as always Pluto/Mars contacts are likely to time out matters which 'expose' your secrets and 'occulted' (hidden) matters...and something like Mars squaring Pluto through a station is certainly that kind of event.

For everyone else the latter part of this coming week is likely to feel 'constrained' or 'compacted'...or perhaps weighty but complicated in that messy if not in-obvious manner which persuades us we can get where we need to go if we will but tackle the job and get on with things.  

In this light, some of us will solve short-term problems first as greater perceptions filter down upon us...some of us will have one of those light-bulb ‘epiphany’ moments then use that to develop new strategies which apply to the here and now of today, tomorrow and next week.

Then there’s the rest of us - a vast swath of humanity which is seeing so much so fast that it will take a bit to sort out, shake out and otherwise prove out.

Which is okay too...and entirely astrologically sensible. Even before Mars enters its two-day ‘station allowance’ on May 17th, asteroids Damocles and Sabine go on station on May 16th, serving as metaphysical clockwork chimes striking new notes of recognition...

In light of Damocles going on station at 24 Aquarius ('A BUTTERFLY WITH THE RIGHT
WING MORE PERFECTLY FORMED' ) we are reminded to stay in balance with ourselves

...and just how much doing that much requires of us.

A plate of Charaxes Aristogiton from Adalbert Seitz (ed.) 'Macrolepidoplera of the World'

(published before 1930, author unknown)

...yes, we see what needs doing...it’s just that it’s [Damocles] a whole lot harder to carry through on, especially given the growing understanding that reactions may arise during the process. As the weekend of the 17th-18th comes upon us time [Damocles in Capricorn] is ever more an essential ingredient going forward...but there are distinct real-time, present tense needs too. 

And one or two of those are likely to feel a bit like volunteering to sit on a tack the ‘point’ of which is driving home our own mortality, our vulnerability to being human as both the reason we care about others (and need to be cared about) and why we need to individuate.

It’s back to that Libra thing - the knowing who we are in the presence of others and knowing how we act to, with and about them is the cause of the effect they hand back. It’s all about negotiation, most of which happens first and last with and within our Self.
 
You know, the [Orcus] consequences which come from being who we are and aren't...or who we have come to think we don't want to be or need to become in spite of all. Through others, through all we have been through and been thwarted in, so we come to realize what is possible, reasonable and - in the end - maybe not so desirable in spite of all.

 Asteroid Sabine going station/retrograde at 16 Capricorn, a degree imaged by the image
'A REPRESSED WOMAN FINDS A PSYCHOLOGICAL RELEASE IN NUDISM' representing

whatever unexpressed or denied experiences we meet up with (in our own life or that of
others) which causes us to see, become free with or 'put on display for all to see' either
that which represents our inner (Capricorn) structures or external (Capricorn) goals,
drives or aims. 

Inu (Nu debout) by Jean Metzinger (oil on carton, 52 x 35 cm., 1911) 

 
Maybe it's not our path or role in life. Maybe the thing at hand (or in mind) isn't ours to do even comment on. Why this should be - and why we will, in reconsidering our current focus arrive at considering the 'where we are now' in light of all we have done...that both holds us back [Sabine] and in getting us to [Sabine] take hold of that which is immediately available to us gets us to consider what our life should be as well as the [Damocles] difficulties we're bound to encounter whether we adjust or stay our course.

In other words...in light of all that, what is really worth doing [Mars] and/or investing our [Mars] energies in? At some level we know our choice cannot be just about what we want, nor can it be entirely about what one (or many) parties are lobbying for.

It's about any and all of us - and what we mean...at least on a theoretical level...amidst all that.

Considering we're all going through this together (which is a thought worthy of contemplation right there...) patience and thoughtfulness will count now more than usual - and though we dare not leave ourselves out of the mix (yes, a little 'be nice to me' time is in order) we also dare not neglect others, with and without regard for who they are.

Libra is about equality - a theoretical equality which on a metaphysical level must allow for differences simply because together we all balance each other out.

(And isn't that a metaphysical noodle worth thinking about?) 

The better we understand why all this is, the more likely we are to ask ourselves that we actually hear others instead of just listening (in general, read as 'tolerating') them. And once we do that, we're likely to not just hear what they're truly saying (as opposed to what we might have been thinking we wanted to hear)...from which we will begin to really understand why others choose as they choose.

Such perspectives...or our unwillingness to contemplate same...are what we carry into and through the Mars/Diadem station, wherever that may yet lead.

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Dateblog: December 2012

December 2012

The wash of red and burnt-orange of November where here in December gives way to more orange mixed with the turquoise representing Capricorn tells us that the global intensity so prevalent in October and November is giving way to a 'cooler' outlook and a lot of energy going into getting things done and make things work - that being the combined signature of Sagittarius and Capricorn.

That Mars is the first of the personal symbols to be in Capricorn is a bit of a ‘sober(ing) note’ in what otherwise may be an expectant (or expectation laden) mix. So given that Mars (the 'doing' planet) is already in Capricorn as the month starts with the Sun in Sagittarius, we know (or think we know) what's possible but we're not much in love with the current pace of the process.

The human words with would seem to apply here are frustration, impatience, overwrought, even anxious, though anxiety is more of an Aquarius reaction. 

Sun in Sagittarius has us making the effort and trying to get things done. But let's remember...Sagittarius is a sign associated with test runs and ‘putting it out there’ to see how something works. Sagittarius has an explorative nature which with Venus and Mercury still in Scorpio as the month starts is testing us. Are we listening as much as we're talking? Are we taking into account all the parameters of any given situation or merely the ones we think will get US to where we want to go?

The Mars factor in all this is the note of necessity. The thing which is emphasizing structural soundness. Whatever we do now, we want it to be structurally sound. We want it to withstand what life throws at us. And we know getting to such goal may take some time.

But we don't like that it may take some time. That may not work for us, considering other issues in our lives.

What to do? How to keep things moving and working in the meantime?
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 The Great Mosque of Samarra (in Iraq) was built back in the 9th century CE.

Obviously a structure meant to endure through the centuries, this is a

beautiful example of what the human mind can conceive and create when

we build carefully...sometimes in a literal 'brick by brick' manner.

(photo credit Jim Gordon, December 2007)

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That in the wake of the eclipses we’re reconnoitering and recognizing that all cannot remain status quo is signaled by Orcus (a Plutino) going retrograde on December 3rd. That this is happening at 5 Virgo says one of two things: either something isn’t working (or we see it can’t work the way we thought it would) or we’re seeing (a little too late) that actions have consequences.

On that note we continue forward into December’s second week – a week which is notable for Mercury entering Sagittarius (likely to manifest as intensity of focus being released or simply coming to its end) and something we might refer to as an astrological coagulation occurring on December 13th.

This conglomeration is composed of...Uranus and asteroid Kassandra going direct in Aries (would you believe the unbelievable is about to happen?), Circe going retrograde in Libra and, just in case we’re disinclined to think this applies to us for longer than a moment, a New Moon at 21 Sagittarius – which like all New Moons indicates an entire lunar cycle (ending January 11) all about seeing how well things work...and where they don’t work, figuring out why they don’t work and what to do about that.

The combination of Aries/Sagittarius (Uranus-Kassandra-Mercury-Moon) is likely to turn into one of two things, especially when we throw in the Circe ‘spellbound’ effect. Either we reject the idea that we ‘have to be like everyone else’ (and all that ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ stuff) or we are driven by some magical (Circe), theoretically dynamic (Sagittarian) idea that we can change how our life works (or is/isn’t working)...or image how others see and regard us (read: reputation) through doing something either unbelievable or which nobody believes.
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 Mercury's Southern Hemisphere as photographed by the Mariner

spacecraft (photo credit: NASA)

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The plus and/or minus here is purely individual. And considering that this is just about when Pluto is finally (FINALLY) finishing its primary conjunction of that nebula-of-ill-repute (Facies), a lot depends on whether we are each willing to – as the saying goes – ‘clean up our act.’

And if all that happens during the first couple of weeks of December (in the wake of November’s eclipses) isn’t telling enough for you, then we reach December 16th’s Venus entering Sagittarius, the culmination and re-start of the Mayan ‘creation’ cycle (read: a new era of being) and the seasonal (Capricorn) solstice – the official beginning of winter in the northern hemisphere and the sounding of the summer bell in the southern hemisphere.

All signs point to one thing: humans have by now learned how to survive in on this planet. What are we going to do now? This is not a question about spirituality or ecology or economics or education or political nationalism or internationalism. This is a question about balance. About taking a holistic view on what it means to exist. For all we know, we’re a mote of dust in some other universe. For all we know, we are the canker sore on Earth’s planetary behind.

Then again, we may just be a gift to the whole of the universe and all that exists and all that ever will exist. In that light, just how important is that new car or iPhone that you want? What is having children really about? 

Yes, there is a level at which we need to find pleasure in our life. But is that all we’re really worth? Is that why we’re given years of breath and a mind to think with?

All this swirls around us in many a form, shading every form of nuance as Mars moves into Capricorn on December 26th and we come to yet another pile of signals on December 28th.

It would seem that Creation wants to make an impression on us. Sometimes, we humans need more than a gentle tap to get our attention.

Hel going direct in Taurus combined with dwarf planet MakeMake and Achilles going retrograde (both in Virgo at the moment of a Full Moon would seem to be something akin to a realization of what it’s going to take to get done that which we need to get done. Considering the combination here, we've put ourselves in various positions which challenge us (Hel) mightily. We also realize (MakeMake/Achilles) that it's up to us to make things work in our lives.

This may have short or long term repercussions (maybe both) and so ends December.

Well, except for Mercury entering Capricorn in tandem with Dionysus (sacred rituals) going retrograde in Virgo on December 31st. For some, there’s a traditional ‘obligation’ of sorts to ring in the new calendar year. The term ‘rituals’ in the astrological Dionysus sense can be sacred, but then again can be that yearly de-cluttering of the house now that festival season is over. Or maybe you’re someone who has New Years Day rituals akin to mine: I belong to the ‘get up late, make breakfast and watch the replay of the Rose Parade’ group myself.
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 A 2008 Tournament of Roses float honoring the City of New Orleans

(photo credit erinbrace, January 1, 2008)

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But whether your ‘ritual’ is family, sports, religion or turning to closing out last years files in anticipation of this year’s business...whether it’s getting back to your exercise routine or starting something new so that 2013 becomes something different than 2012 was, the point is, we all have rituals. Some are declared, shared and traditional some are private and uniquely individual. Some are religious, some are social, some are familial and some are about business.

One last note here...having already done calendared all the major astrological issues "of note" for December (is 'calendared' a verb?) this is one of the 'clumpiest' months I've ever seen. So whether you're in high or low gear, you should expect this month will include some really intense periods with all sorts of factors in the mix interspersed by groups of 'more of the same' and 'adapting, dealing, flexing' days. Here at the blog I'll be breaking some of these lists up (yes, they're actual lists) into separate blogs which post in a chain so that you can read them one by one, like building blocks (or Legos, if you prefer). The famous 'end of the Mayan calendar' is also this month. I've talked about the calendar before here on the blog and there's a chapter on it in my eBook Travel Gossip if you want to know more (the link is in the sidebar). The point which seems most of interest here however, is that the Mayan calendar 'turnover' is in sync with the Winter Solstice with December's day-to-day intensities falling more in line with the Moon's lunar cycle.

There are some of you (and some cultures) which still use a soli-lunar calendar. Because this combination is about 'reconciling' (adapting) our emotional and valuation nature to that rational thought by which we run our daily lives, this seems one of the big 'make or break' concepts this month. In other words, don't work to mesh your feeling and thinking worlds (in every sense that that's applicable) and you'll find life far more difficult than if you do. 

Whatever yours plans are, and whatever your circumstances are, I wish you well in all things, from work to holidays to health and year-end/year-beginning pursuits.

I also hope you'll pass the good wishing along!

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Orcus on Station

 A simulation of Orcus' orbit as example of Plutino-class objects, all of which orbit in a 2:3 (2-to-3) resonance with planet Neptune

We don’t talk much about Orcus. Then again, there isn’t much written about Orcus the (Roman) god, and having only been discovered in 2004, the celestial object hasn’t been around long enough for astrologers to have built up their huzzahs and grudges about it.

(Yes, astrologers do such things. Some love Saturn, some loathe Saturn. Some are all juicy and into Pluto, some would just rather avoid the whole Plutonic subject.)

What we do know about Orcus is that it’s a Plutino, which means its orbit is controlled by Neptune – as is that of Pluto. (Hence the astronomical category name, yes.) Both Pluto and Orcus have orbits which are hugely off the plane of the ecliptic, too…the ‘ecliptic’ being the path of Earth around our local star – the Sun.
Most planets orbit the Sun more or less in the same plane as Earth does. But not Pluto. And not Orcus.

  It's a little hard to see in this orbital diagram, but the 'level' orbital ring of Neptune is being used here to show pretty much what the plane of the ecliptic is. As you can see, Orcus' orbit tilts in one direction (low on the left and high on the right) while Pluto's is just the opposite - hence the concept that Orcus is an 'anti-Pluto' Plutino.

(diagram generated by and courtesy of JPL's Small Body Database)

 
So we know that Orcus, like Pluto, carries with it some of the mystery and ‘now-you-think-it, now-you-don’t’ quality so typical of Neptune. Wherever we see Neptune’s influence, there’s always an emotional quotient. And that’s sensible to think should be true, as Neptune is the ‘outcome’ ruler of Pisces, a sign which is all about all those feelings we long to feel (which sounds oxymoronic, if you think about it)…and which at the same time has us scared to death of the power of our feelings.

All Pisces lessons ‘enter’ on a Jupiter note (since Jupiter is Pisces’ first ruler). This makes the emotional experiences…or avoidances…so common to all things Pisces and the associated 12th house a test of how well we know our emotional self (Jupiter equaling knowledge)…and what we are willing to learn about ourselves and life through emotional experience, particularly really tough, trying or even frightening emotional experiences.

We all know how this works with Pluto: Pluto is all about that which draws us, magnetizes us…Pluto is the lure in allure, the obsessing in obsessions.

But in anything Plutonic, we don’t know the truth of the thing. We’re swayed by our emotions. Our emotions gain control…which is why Pluto (and Scorpio, the sign Pluto is co-ruler of) is all about wanting control. We think we want control of ‘it’…but the truth is, we want control of ourselves. If we think ‘it’ is the issue, that’s only because we don’t have control of ourselves and we want to not run ourselves off some cliff.

Orcus will have some of that ‘emotionally reflexive’ quality too, simply because like Pluto, Orcus is a Plutino.

Another interesting Orcus factoid: it’s orbit is sufficiently offset to that of Pluto that some astronomers refer to Orcus as the ‘anti-Pluto.’

Pluto as photographed by NASA in June of 2010

Which is also very interesting – and apt – on the astrological level. Why? Because what we do know about the Roman god Orcus is that Orcus is a god of the dead. To be more precise about it, Orcus meets the soul as it passes over from life into death, and the idea was that Orcus would walk with you to where you were going to be ‘judged,’ apparently discussing all the pluses and minuses of your life with you along the way.

But let’s remember…nothing Orcus would discuss with you can now be changed – this being what makes the astronomical ‘anti-Pluto’ comment so interesting. Pluto as an astrological symbol really is about all we still have a chance to do. We may not like it, but we still have options and choices with regard to whatever that Pluto subject actually is.

Where Orcus comes into play, all is now done. So Pluto is any possible (which granted, comes with emotional risks) where Orcus is about the consequences we have to deal with, replete with feelings of nostalgia, regret or remorse.

Orcus is going retrograde at 9:30 p.m. on December 3rd (UT/+0 time) at 5 Virgo. Right away this tells us the subject matter concerns what we have done or how well we have taken care of ourselves (or loved ones) or how responsible we have been.

In going retrograde at 5 Virgo, Orcus is conjunct Royal Star Regulus at 0 Virgo, Agamemnon at 6 Virgo and fixed star Thuban along with Dionysus at 7 Virgo. The combination of Dionysus and Thuban definitely adds a note about ‘sacred obligations’ and things which perhaps have been ‘celebrated’ but come to naught. Or maybe they’re not worth the (Virgo) effort we’ve put into them, or defending them?

Regulus’ presence in this “equation” (if you will) speaks of success which only comes when we resist retribution or vengeance. But with Regulus combined with Orcus…is there some consequence for not having exacted revenge? In other words, is success now happening where we have resisted going after that pound of flesh but with that comes some overarching sense of regret?

What makes this all even trickier is the opposition to this Orcus station by Chiron, the image of those vulnerabilities in life we are really, really good at seeing in others but not so good at dealing with in our own lives.

It’s not a recipe for a whoopie-doodle moment, no. At some level, we’re facing the (Orcus) consequences of our (Chiron) vulnerabilities and what they can (Chiron/Orcus) do to us - or others.

 We don't have any photographs of Orcus as yet, but one of NASA's artists

has given this rendering of what Orcus just may look like

(image credit: NASA, May 2007)

But this can be educational. While Orcus is about ‘deeds done and choices made’ which cannot be changed, because this is our life we’re talking about, we can learn better going forward.

And maybe that’s the point. Whatever difficulties, whatever ‘endings’ we face now, maybe they have come into our lives at this time so we can learn from them and not do ‘that’ thing again in the future.

As always, we give a station like this one a two-day prior-and-after “station window.” So we can expect these Orcus ‘station effects’ to begin on December 1st and run through December 5th. The ones which happen before Orcus actually goes retrograde involve ideas which have yet to play out. Or maybe – in this case, being that it’s Orcus – where we’re going to get another chance. Or run into this same sort of dynamic again rather soon.

During the time that Orcus is retrograde, we can expect to be a little more…choosy, maybe? Or perhaps circumspect about what we do or don’t do? Following the idea that people born with Mercury in retrograde tend to feel transiting periods of Mercury retrograde less than those who have Mercury direct in their birth charts, maybe those born with Orcus in retrograde won’t feel this shift as much as those born with Orcus direct. (And if you’re going to go check this by looking up your natal Orcus somewhere online, you may want to know its astronomical number…it’s 90482.)

Orcus will be in retrograde until May 17, 2013 – at which time it will go direct at 3 Virgo. That it only moves two degrees during the whole of this time suggests that everyone with planets, axis points or nodes at very early degrees…(that’s me holding up my hand)…is in for a series of months during which lessons learned probably bear thinking about, particularly where choices have been made based on ‘getting back at’ others.

Whether we have exacted vengeance or where we’ve chosen to walk away and not do anything worse than yowl in pain (if that’s applicable)…all that is worth thinking through.

One last thought here: this would be a natural time to hear of consequences being suffered by someone else – particularly someone who ‘violated’ the ‘effort, standards, morality’ concepts which are so very Virgoan. While the burned hand teaches best, many of us learn deep-down lessons in our own lives by seeing what can happen to others.

Which is good…at least I’m guessing its good, though I wish nobody ill. It probably shouldn’t surprise me what people are capable of, but it still does.

May you and yours be well, and may all your Orcus consequences be inconsequential - except (of course!) where you can learn, benefit and thus do better as a human being!
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