Eris Direct

Lightning strikes as Indonesia's Galunggung volcano erupts.

(photo credit: R Hadian - U.S.G.S., December 1982)

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So things aren’t quite settled ... which we know because there’s a lot of Uranian energy loosening the nuts and bolts (or our hold on) certain things we had finally really learned how to count on.

Which is all so Uranus-square-Pluto.

And with Uranus being currently in Aries, there is that oddity that just when we go to blame things on someone else we see or recognize something we hadn’t counted on.

Then there’s our relationship(s) with others - others known and amorphously unknown. A lot of things we hadn’t counted on are becoming important. We thought we could lean on certain things but now those choices need reconsidering.

Things are clearly in a sort of nebulous muddle. But it’s not anything we can simply walk away from or ignore. With Uranus conjunct the South Node and the Libra(north) and Aries(south) moving into 13 Libra-Aries with Pluto at 13 Capricorn forms a perfect transiting t-square: the transformation of our understanding of why something is important and how unless we get past thinking it’s just about us or “our identify” with or in the situation, we aren’t likely to get anywhere.

Or at least not where we really want to go.

With the North Node (the relationship to the thing or person/people we should have) at 13 Libra and Pluto at 13 Capricorn the primary challenge is to our sense of those we associate with. Do we know them? Are they changing? Are we changing? Do we need to change considering some (Eurydike) cost - and if so, what is the cost of changing? Are our chosen goals or aims still attainable - or would they be too costly?

Moreover, because the nodal shift (and thus the perfecting of the Pluto t-square) occurs on January 8th, that means that whatever all of this means to you (which - count on it - isn’t what it means to the person standing next to you) ... that date of January 8th highlights a metaphysical “dotted line” between the Plutonic/Nodal ‘transformation of relationship to...’ (something) and the idea that dwarf planet Eris is going direct on January 10th.

The Eris glyph

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The time of said event: 27 minutes after midnight, UT/+0 time.

The degree of said event: 22 Aries, a degree which though spoken of as an indication of a lot of potential which though unpredictable and sometimes problematic (even deadly), is nonetheless a precious example of our endless ability as human beings to face life and to be spurred by life to various acts of amazing ... and at some level mysterious ... creativity.

Ciphered through discordant Eris, this is good cause to wonder. Eris is nothing we control - it comes and becomes without our doing anything ... and at some level, because we haven't or won't do something as we know we should.

-link to post-

Eris Discordant:

Mastering Our Own Weakest Moments

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Eris often manifests with something of a shock, a jolt, a stunning confrontation - most of all with our Self. With an orbit which takes just under 600 years, Eris effects mark eras of development in crisis. Having been in Aries since the latter part of April 1923, the best part of everyone alive in today was born under this influence with Eris indicating (among other things) how we will react to life's unpredicted shocks and insights.

With Eris in Aries, we'll take it personally. Or take it to be 'about' us - or due to who we are, which in the case of an object which can be used effectively as a means to stand up or against some universal wrong (especially if or where we are not a member of the 'wronged' group) can be a very good thing.

But when not harnessed productively, Eris in action can be problematic. A great hassle which whether it is or not can feel like some sort of fate-ordained personal harassment (that would be the 'personally' part). Wherever we find Eris in the chart, there will be drama.

What we do with that drama is the question. So ... with Eris going direct now in Aries, will its station-direct period bring some need to be creative, the ability to be creative or some inspiration as to how to ‘create’ the thrust or sufficient motivational energy to propel or carry something to its fulfillment?

Also - just to finish the thought: the reason we would astrologically connect the Eris event to the Pluto t-square is because we give all stations a two-day before, two-day after ‘station allowance.’ During this time, events which occur tend to have lasting effects which go beyond the date of the station with events happening prior to the actual station generally pertaining to things which have yet to happen and things happening just after the moment of station referring to issues (or lessons) which are finally at their end.

Eris Direct at 22 Aries (glyph chart)

January 10, 2015 - 00:27 a.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Eris Direct at 22 Aries (text chart)

January 10, 2015 - 00:27 a.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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But what do we know about Eris?

We do know Eris’ station is in a receptive-responsive degree (all even number degrees have a hint of said quality). We also know that as Eris is on station, it’s in trine to a Jupiter which in Leo retrograde is referencing something which without additional effort (that being the ‘trine’ part of this) is being ‘delivered’ to, or received by us. If Jupiter was direct, we’d be doing the doing (so to speak!), but in Leo retrograde whatever is happening is (Eris) starting or startling us into an understanding which given Jupiter’s square to Sedna (at 23 Taurus) refers to something we want and believe we should have (or be able to/allowed to have) which is probably beyond ‘having’ at the moment.

All and all, this would seem to be a time which refers to corrections not necessarily about the ultimate course or goal (although it could be) but which certainly refers to some form of personal priority or prioritization which needs reexamination.

 An orbital diagram for Eris as of January 10, 2015

(courtesy of the JPL Small Body Database)

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Plus this isn’t the only thing happening during this time. As Eris enters its ‘station allowance’ on January 8th in anticipation of going direct on the 10th and as Pluto and the Nodes create a dynamic which may break us out of some ‘easy/easy out’ mode we’ve been dallying in/with, Ceres is moving into Capricorn, joining the Plutonic parade in the sense that Ceres is a known astrological commodity, and to have nurturing, protect-the-process/protective-of-the-process Ceres moving into Capricorn is an interesting counter-balance to Pluto.

Let’s remember: Pluto is that hand on the celestial and cosmic clock which indicates transformation - as opposed to Uranus, which indicates change.

Pluto is ... well, to use the geological term, metamorphic. Plutonic changes take time. They feel like being pushed, being pressured, being overwhelmed and being stripped naked - often all at once, and definitely forever and always on an emotional level. However concrete Pluto effects eventually become, the rending of our emotional soul which comes with the process is the thing which really transforms us.

Against this, Uranus is ‘a change.’ When you reach for a light switch and flip it on - or you strike a match and light a candle, you’ve effected change. If you stub your toe there’s a moment before the stub and a moment after.

With Uranus, the moment of shift is virtually instantaneous. It’s a break or a breakthrough - the light which as fast as we perceive it has already banished our previous dark.

In practical terms, Uranus squaring Pluto is a lengthy period which is transformative in the sense that we (and our societies) learn to be more flexible even as our power of, and ability to focus goes into  marathon mode as we endure a long and longer series of unpredicted (and unpredictable) incidents, changes and sudden recognitions. To have to deal with that at the same time that we’re trying to be constructive (which most of us are) is trying at best - and nerve-wracking for many. So it’s lucky that things will begin to simplify (at least) once we get through Uranus’ peak South Node/conjunction effects on January 19th and 20th.

And about that...? The best suggestion there is the standard and Uranian one: remember to flex.

 The Ceres glyph

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Until then, we do at least have an astrological assurance (labeled ‘Ceres’) telling us that we will persevere. Change or no change, the days will tick by, we’ll try, we’ll learn, we’ll recalculate and move on - and to have Ceres in Capricorn as we do this amidst all life’s pressures and bumps refers to an overarching ‘protective measure’ which is acknowledged by - and therefore a potential benefit to all. By nature, Capricorn always speaks to a ‘cooling’ of perspectives, so Ceres from this Friday until April 3, 2015 when Ceres moves from Capricorn into Aquarius, a lot of things which are currently ‘over heated’ will cool off, offering time for lots of constructive consideration and restructuring as necessary.

Of course that does mean we will have to deal with whatever needs cooling - which is slowly be/coming clear ... whether we're comfortable with it, or not.
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Eris Direct: Awareness, Prompted

One of NASA's illustration of Eris (UB313) with the Sun in the distance

(credit: NASA, JPL/Caltech image source-Mike Brown)

Considering Eris’ alternate name (Discordia), it’s sometimes hard to think of the dwarf planet Eris experience of being ‘shaken into conscious’ as a positive. But there are those ‘discordant’ times of improvement, such as when we go through the mess and hassle of moving. Or when we take on a new job, complete with new co-workers, new tasks and that dreaded ‘am I going to screw this up?’ feeling which no matter how good we are at what we do does occur to all of us when we haven’t yet settled in.

There are ‘unsettling’ realizations which ultimately lead to great improvements in our life.

Then again, there are those times when life simply is discordant. Yet isn’t life – in some way – always trying to prove to us that we aren’t omnipotent, that we humans (and our precious egos) aren’t ‘in charge’?

Sometimes…apparently…we need reminding. That’s the Eris vibe. Whether it’s from without or within, whether the issue is what we need to do or be, Eris is always that thing we hadn’t thought of…and we will ultimately pay a price for. That price may be something we’re perfectly okay with the idea of paying because…well, if we want the house, we have to pay the mortgage.

Complications begin to arise as we realize that Eris is currently transiting through Aries, fiery sign of Self, motivation, tests of courage and of the physical body along with all we do or don’t do – and how we ‘see’ ourselves in anything. At an innate level, Aries energies are all about that we can use, embody or be motivated by – separately or together.

Aries is associated with the military (in the sense that soldiers embody the use of “motivational” force). In that sense, Eris in Aries is particularly ‘not gentle’ – a fact which would seem to fit uncomfortably well with it’s passage through Aries dating back to 1924, considering how mankind has harped throughout the 1900s about peace while pouring time and effort into building weaponry.

The question here is not political – it’s human. WHY do we have (or create) crises? We think of this in ‘fighting’ terms, of course…but if you think about that ‘fighting’ thing in metaphysical terms, the ‘fight’ is the reaction. You know, as part of a ‘fight or flight’ scenario. Even when campaigns (be they prompted by vengeance, politics, jealousy or anything else) are long planned, they still go back to the same place: our feelings of ‘less-ness.’

Those are feelings we don’t like feeling, because when we feel them, we feel ‘shook up.’

One last note here about dates before I move on: if you look at that chart and say ‘but WWI happened when Eris was in Pisces and WWI was allegedly one of the most horrific events of all time,’ I agree. But when World War I occurred, Eris was at 29 Pisces – the ‘culmination’ degree of the entire zodiac, a degree which with Eris (utter discord) present would be pretty good at events which would foist upon mankind all the follies of not wanting to be human or humane, most of all to ourselves.

That Eris did cross into Aries back in 1924 tell us that an entire celestial cycle finished then.

Which means that we are indeed in a new cycle of human development. And at the (Eris in Aries) moment, that development is aimed at who we are: our physicality, what we do with our lives or during our days. Through these venues, Eris becomes the timer, the flag-waver of all that we tend to say ‘why did this have to happen.’ From the startling to the disquieting to the shocking to the chaotic, our clocks – life’s clocks and life events will now be turning away from feeling a more or less ‘strictly’ internal sense of balance-and-rebalance as we mold, shift, shape and learn from life.

And what is it turning towards? Towards a whole series of events and months during which we will molds, shift, flex, respond/react to, be startled (even shaken up by) events occurring on the outside.

It’s straightforward astrology stuff….when the celestial object goes retrograde (which remember, is only ‘a matter of perspective’ from here on Terra Earth) its defined ‘effects’ are experienced internally. When the planet or object goes direct, the ‘interaction point’ is external.

With me?

The station – which in this case is occurring on January 9th at 10:26 in the morning UT/+0 time – is occurring at 21 Aries and as with all stations, can represent a ‘turning point’ in your life (or life in general as you see/experience it around you). Effects will tend to center around January 9th (if you’re going to feel anything marked) with events during the two ‘station allowance’ days prior generally speaking to things yet to happen or play out and those occurring during the similar period after January 9th indicating phases coming to an end and ‘conclusions’ being drawn, owned, realized, admitted to…(etc.)

With all that said, this station is occurring at 21 degrees of Aries, and 21 degrees of Aries is an ‘open invitation’ of sorts – which with Eris present may seem not all that fun a door to go through. Should you? Shouldn’t you? While not everybody is going to go into this time and considering how Eris will go retrograde again in July (when, by the by, it does so with one day of Uranus's station) this station at some level sets the stage for what we will either take on, grow through dealing with or find revealed in our own makeup between now and July.

We are all facing ‘newness’ of some type. For you it may be something you are doing. Or something you don’t know how to get done (and it’s just driving you crazy!). Whatever the focus, the Eris/21 Aries combination is likely to manifest in self-questioning which periodically gives way to devil-may-care bravado which in turn either prompts determination and advances or retreats, be they wise or cowardly.

And let’s remember: all this is happening with Sun in Capricorn and Venus in Capricorn and retrograde. So we’re concerned about our basic ‘standing’ in the world – however you see that. Plus, given that Eris is about to go direct but Venus isn’t, we would suspect  that some ‘thing’ we don’t control (Eris) is in motion even though we’re not sure we know what we think of it.

Not entirely. And it’s the ‘why’ here - the why we don’t know which is where most of us will miss the image. We will think this period is about others. Or the world.

It isn’t. It’s about each and every one of us. It’s about who we are as a person. It’s about how well we do or don’t take care of ourselves and whether we have any conscious, any cognizance that the world in which we live – that world out there that we think isn’t always so good – is a world of our making.

No, life isn’t about ‘them.’ It’s about us…which brings me to a whole other side of this Eris concept – the Sleeping Beauty aspect.

Like most of the ‘standard’ myths and fairy tales of childhood, if looked at closely enough Sleeping Beauty isn’t quite what you thought it was. The story’s origin is German. Originally published in 1697 by Charles Perrault as ‘Histoires ou Contes du Temps Passé’ the story – particularly as it has come to us (as ‘Sleeping Beauty’) speaks to the unconscious. Or that which we are unconscious to (or of) until we are ‘awoken’ to it – which is the underlying theme with Eris.

That 'not them, us’ is awakening us to who and what we are so that we can be that person more consciously.

You know…Eris in Aries, sign of awareness and consciousness.

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One of two poems by Tennyson about Sleeping Beauty, this one is from
'The Early Poems of Alfred, Lord Tennyson' (1901)

An illustration by W.E.F Britten from 'The Early Poems of Alfred, Lord Tennyson' 

Year after year unto her feet,
She lying on her couch alone,
Across the purpled coverlet,
The maiden's jet-black hair has grown,
On either side her tranced form
Forth streaming from a braid of pearl:
The slumbrous light is rich and warm,
And moves not on the rounded curl.

The silk star-broider'd coverlid
Unto her limbs itself doth mould
Languidly ever; and, amid
Her full black ringlets downward roll'd,
Glows forth each softly-shadow'd arm,
With bracelets of the diamond bright:
Her constant beauty doth inform
Stillness with love, and day with light.

She sleeps: her breathings are not heard
In palace chambers far apart.
The fragrant tresses are not stirr'd
That lie upon her charmed heart.
She sleeps: on either hand upswells
The gold-fringed pillow lightly prest:
She sleeps, nor dreams, but ever dwells
A perfect form in perfect rest.

                                               - Sir Alfred Lord Tennyson

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Apart from being fairly certain Disney either didn’t get Tennyson’s memo about Beauty not being a blonde or didn't care that to meet our unconscious or the unknown is to proverbially 'meet the darkness,' the other half of this Eris-Beauty comparison is one long made. It comes from how both stories ‘turn’ on forces which come from 'beyond that which we know in everyday life' - the fairy in the fairy tale against Eris as Roman goddess. In both cases, these 'forces' lay on a curse because they didn’t get an invitation to the party. (They were 'excluded,' in other words.)

The fairy gets all ticked off because she didn’t get invited to Beauty’s christening.

And Eris?

Well…far be it for any of us to cite and critique the behavior of a Roman goddess known for all things which go ‘bump’ in the night of our lives, but Eris turning up at the of Peleus and Thetis with a golden apple which she hands to none less than Paris – you know, the guy who steals Helen and causes the whole Trojan War?

Yes, that Paris.

That’s just mythic nastiness - as well as meddling on a truly mythic level. And it's even more so when you stop to look at the story and realize that Eris is prompted to go to this wedding by Jupiter (aka Zeus, should you be feeling all Greek about it), lord king Olympian and astrological emblem of all that we know or learn about our consciousness and life.

To look at Jupiter in the Olympian pantheon, he isn’t quite fate, so this is not instinct or habit we're talking about. No, Jupiter directs fate...which to us is the idea that what we know - whether we know it or not - becomes our fate so that we can consciously own it in or as part of our life.

Thus since the astrological Jupiter images wisdom… (knowing, learning, teaching, understanding, comprehending, et al ) …or even being determinedly unknowing (which would be the Jupiter/rejection position or energy used to not expand one's basis of existence...in light of all such, this ‘Eris energetic’ is that which stirs something which is going to come out anyway.

The next act in this complicated little Eris drama has Eris not getting invited to the wedding. But she shows up anyway with a golden apple which no, she doesn’t give to the bride (or groom) but to Paris, that very mortal known (to the gods) as starry-eyed and very, very passion-driven. 

Zeus …(pardon me, Jupiter)… evidently has this whole Trojan War thing in mind to being with, a fact which makes the ‘Jupiterian wisdom’ of setting Eris up to get insulted and all which follows, starting with Paris choosing love (Aphrodite/Venus) over personal-internal stability and security (Juno/Hera) and dispassionately clarified understanding (Athena).

And yes - Venus delivers. In typical what we put out comes back to us fashion, that Paris (mortal flaw that he is) has in the moment of being handed a 'golden opportunity' forgotten everyone but himself comes out to be a war where nobody thinks anything of anybody's life.

Of course the primary moral of this story is: always invite the local touchy goddess to your wedding, whether you like her or not. But more to the astrological point, everything about this is about our life. So the ‘not inviting Eris’ is our having shut some part of ourselves out...which at 21 Aries begs the following question: what do we need to be open to?

There is a very positive side to this symbol which is highly external – the fighting for some cause. Yes, this goes back to Eris in Aries having played host to so many wars during this past century. But more importantly, it says to us that we can stand for something. It may be a cause as in some social cause. Or it may be our willingness to stand up for some facet of Self we really believe in.

 Generated by JPL's databanks (thanks, JPL) the above is an interesting image as

it shows Eris in Aries (at 21 Aries) with Uranus - which is currently at 8 Aries - just

sort of 'behind' Eris' position, if you're looking at this as an orbit around the Sun.

Given that and something like Saturn (on the diagram's "near" side) being in Scorpio,

you can begin seeing how it is the orbital movement of planets around our Sun and

the astrological conception of 'wrapping' our solar system in a zodiac which is a

cipher for nothing more or less than the positioning of moving objects in space -

objects which in moving create 'ripples' of energy, as do we.

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This idea of ‘fighting for the cause’ – for something which is literally “beyond” the boundaries of your ‘Self’ reflects not just Eris position as a dwarf planet orbiting beyond Neptune, last ‘true’ planet in our solar system. Beyond Neptune… in the Kuiper Belt and Oort cloud… that’s the realm of all we cannot know simply because we don’t know it until we know it.

The Kuiper Belt: our land of things to come. This isn’t about ‘capacity’ – our ability to understand. This is about our ability to predict or be omnipotent.

Like you, I know a few people who would like to think they’re omnipotent (they’re not). But when you get right down to it, the issue is control.

And where Eris is concerned, we have to be willing to at least experience not being in control. Or the idea that we don’t control everything. We will experience it through what we hear on the news, someone who knows new, or even some event which occurs in real time or in our mind as we're walking down some street.

We'll just...hear it...we'll know because there it will be, and there we will be in the midst of experiencing it - and experiencing how we experience our life. Our existence.

The very process of our existing.

Eris is known as ‘Discordia’ mostly because humans like control. We like control because control feels like a defense against vulnerability. It feels safe – and sometimes safe is just safe and sometimes ‘safe’ is the space in which we improve. Or are productive.

But then Eris comes along. When an Eris moment hits you, that ‘which was’ a moment ago is forever changed. What was awoken? Why would it be awoken now? Were we in some beautiful dream – or is that what we have a chance to now see, experience and be motivated by?
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Venus in Capricorn

  Wringin Lawang, a 14th century Majapahit split gate in Trowulan

 (photo credit: Gunkarta, September 2007)

The bare bones here are that Venus enters Capricorn on Wednesday, January 9th at 4:12 a.m., UT/+0 time. And Venus will be in Capricorn until early on February 2nd.

So we have the whole of January in which to do our Venus-in-Capricorn thing.

But what is that ‘thing’ about? Knowing all the popular concepts of Venus as love and Venus as pleasure (and how people far prefer such concepts to anything else one might say about Venus), if the metaphysical Venus means anything, it’s all about getting what you want out of life.

Venus represents results. And how we relate to what ‘results’ tend to be in life, that’s our natal Venus. All the pluses, all the minuses of disappointment and elation, they’re all read through our natal Venus placement.

That said, Venus is results because Venus speaks to how we go about getting or generating results. So Venus isn’t “fate,” per se. By placement, sign and aspect, Venus shows how we will tend to go about trying to get the results we allegedly want – and how realistic we are about how that works.

Or not.

Given whatever your natal tendency is, and that natal tendencies tend to be a life-long ‘habit’ we can only change through acknowledging and ‘retraining’ ourselves (think of it as quitting a really bad nicotine habit), planets through the signs represent ‘transiting times’ when aspects of our lives are up for understanding and when change can be more effectively and easily mastered.

Which is why we pay attention to transits, capiche?

Known as the sign of ‘achievement, social status, and success’ Capricorn is the most worldly of all zodiac signs in that it stresses everything which happens in the world and our need to understand that, learn about it and utilize it in our life.

What that buzzword list doesn’t convey is that effort is required. Social standing (or social status) is only partly that which we might otherwise refer to as ‘class and caste.’ Yes, that’s the ‘static’ reading of Capricorn, but especially as planets transit through this sign, it’s more about building our lives and what having aims and goals requires of us to know and understand. Everything has pluses and minuses, as we know. And that Capricorn is the sign of law as a ‘regulating force’ should tell us that Capricorn is a sign of consequences.

An old gavel and book of court minutes from the 1800s on display at the

Minnesota Judicial Center (photo credit: Jonathunder, April 2008)

This leads us back to Venus, a planet which on the metaphysical level could be thought of as something like a hinge. If the universal law is for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction, Venus represents the moment where one turns into the other, where what we do turns into how others react to us, or where what we do generates results.

Or doesn’t.

Ruled by Saturn, Capricorn is all about the time we have in life, the time it takes to get anything done, the rules of the road which we need to observe in reaching our goals. All things Capricorn remind us that we don’t exist in a vacuum. So while your ‘group’ may be all about a certain set of standards, your group’s standards are also – at some point – going to meet up with feedback from the world.

That would be your group’s Venus ‘hinge,’ which as we see Venus moving through Capricorn is likely to get activated…along with all the other places in the world and in your life where the public-and-private sectors are likely now to intersect.

For instance: January is a natural month when new laws, codes, rules…and other sorts of Capricorn-ish things go into effect. So to have Venus doing it’s Capricorn transit during January really emphasizes this fact. And that Pluto is also in Capricorn tells us that there are some rather significant changes in the works.

In fact, if we remember that Pluto is all about those obsessions, those passions, those cravings which seem to be about what others think of us. But they’re not. Pluto is really about the illusion we have that others can make us feel better about ourselves and all we go through trying to make that dream into a reality. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. And when it doesn’t…

Let’s just put it this way: there are hardly any ouches worse than Pluto ouches. Neptune is close, but where Neptune pits us against our own feelings, there’s always some sort of public twinge to the Pluto aspect, which raises the really awful specter of humiliation.

We should have known. But we didn’t because we didn’t want to know. That’s the Pluto lesson in a nutshell: knowing, whether you like what you learn or not, is always better. Forewarned is forearmed.

Venus conjuncts Pluto by transit on January 16th, having come into orb of Pluto on the 12th and not leaving Pluto’s orb until January 20th. So despite the fact that the Sun and Mercury are also in Capricorn as Venus toodles its way into the sign (on the 9th), this is probably the crux of this Capricorn Venus transit and thus when we’re likely to feel maximal Venus effects (courtesy of Pluto).

But there’s another factor here named Juno. Juno is also in Capricorn as Venus shows up, and while the Sun and Mercury scoot on ahead (both reaching Aquarius on the 19th), Juno lingers in the Pluto environs, giving us to know that discipline of self is really critical or called for during this time. Those who will not exert that effort for their own part (or who haven’t) are likely to be those who get notified that there are rules – new or otherwise – which are now going to levy the discipline which hasn’t been mustered.

 Juno and Argus

by Peter Paul Rubens (c. 1611)

Oh yes…Tantalus is in on this act. So some will be tempted to try and get away with something. Or maybe this is when bad choices, bad manners, bad acts all get slammed in that singularly Saturn/Capricorn way.

That as Venus enters Capricorn it also comes into range to square Uranus (in Aries) only doubles down on the idea that these are changing times and that we need to change with them.

This is also a signal that there will be three distinct camps: those willing to change, those against change and those who are going to get changed.

The rule with squares is all about the ‘measured’ response and the grappling not as much with the problem as with ourselves when it comes to approaching the problem. Astrological squares tend to represent situations or habits where we so favor one side of the question or the thing we like doing that we neglect a balanced approach.

Once we learn that we need to do what we need to do and that all must stay in balance, then we become the architects of our lives. There are more structures built on the principle of square angles – the 90 degree angle – probably than anything else. Look at almost any room. The walls and ceiling meet at a 90-degree corner. Engineering is the science which teaches us how to balance structure against load…the wall against the ceiling, so that what gets built doesn’t just stand, but becomes stronger for the unity.

Astrology’s square aspect is just like that. And when we favor one thing over the other…the not changing or the trying only to favor our desire to escape effort, responsibility, change or having to see ourselves as part of some ‘whole’…then we run into problems when the ceiling caves in!

This Venus-Uranus effect is strongest from when Venus enters Capricorn on January 9th through January 17th, with a ‘high point’ (when the square is perfected) on January 13th.

Considering that all these squares and conjunctions occur in 1st decanate degrees (that is, degrees between zero and nine of a given sign) whatever goes on during this period is about what we do, don’t do or have/haven’t done…or some physical circumstance which pertains to our life. With Capricorn being part of any and every chart, obviously there are things which will pertain to everyone. But it’s also safe to say that anyone with chart placements (planets, nodes or axis points) between 5 and 9 degrees are going to ‘feel’ things more acutely.

They also have a better chance of being able to change things. Or start something new. Or be a ‘mover and shaker’ in something – large or small, public or private – which happens or is under way.

Venus transits are not thought of as ‘major’ in terms of life events. But our feelings about ourselves and our lives are often reflected by Venus passages. Accomplishment and achievement are Capricorn issues. How you feel about yourself in this regard is likely to be tested during this time. Particularly in the chart of women (don’t ask me why, it just works this way!) marriage is a Capricorn thing. And considering how the happiness of one partner plays out in the life of the Significant Other, unless you’re a male in a homosexual relationship, this Venus passage may spell a whole period of effort, reassessment…or maybe just planning for the future, particularly if a change is sorely needed.

On the whole, Venus in Capricorn is thought of as a good time for steady progress, though the Uranus and Pluto aspects which go along with this Venus passage tend to say a light hand on the tiller and a willingness to flex are likely to be needed. With Pluto also transiting Capricorn, we are all already on notice that old ways and old standards are in transition. It’s a whole ‘old guard’ on its way out, making way for new ways of being, doing and regarding life as a whole.

Don’t expect huge shifts here. With the indicators we have talked about happen during the waxing phase of the Moon we know that these factors pertain more to the new than the old, telling us that old ways, old habits, old concepts of power and functionality are still pretty much entrenched.

But change is in the wind and sweeping in upon us. Uranus in Aries is a very personal sign of change. Pluto in Capricorn is a sign of changes in the public, cultural and commerce arenas.

And let's not forget that Venus is making this shift into Capricorn the very day after dwarf planet Eris goes direct. Given what we've learned about celestial stations, this means Venus' Capricorn ingress...and to some degree the entirety of Venus' transit of Capricorn (i.e., the rest of January) is going to either be about dealing with Eris effects in our life...learning from Eris effects...or trying to move past Eris effects.

(If you missed the Eris post, it's the one right before this one.)

 We have very few images of Eris, but here's one of Eris and its moon Dysnomia as imaged

by the Hubble Space Telescope.

(photo credit: NASA-JPL)

The standard astrology here is that any 'event' which happens after the actual station is about dealing, coping, evolving from what we've learned or what we're learning in the moment of the station. (Events prior to the station would indicate things yet to occur.) So at some level, Venus' transit of Capricorn is about those unexpected, unanticipated, unheard of 'Eris Effects' in our life...just as Eris' station, in leading into this Venus-Capricorn ingress has been about restructuring, starting anew and the care needed in order to not just 'do the quality thing' but have a quality life.

Maybe we're questioning what that word 'quality' really means, too.   

The smart mentality now takes stock of what’s coming down the pike. If you use this time to imagine, plan and assess, you’ll do well. Paying attention to the broader indicators and – especially as the Sun and Mercury reach Aquarius – the mass market, the public mood, the word on the street…while it’s not what you should bet the farm on, it is worth thinking about as a sign of what lies ahead. And where you want to be not just in terms of 'how it looks' but in the sense of what life is...and really should be.
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Eris Direct

  El Juicio de Paris (The Judgment of Paris) by Smnt

Dwarf planet Eris will go direct at 6:49 in the evening of Tuesday January 8th (UT/+0 time) at 21 Aries.

Currently accounted as the 9th most massive object in our solar system, Eris carries weight literally, and thus metaphysically. Or maybe I should put it like this...Eris is 27% larger than Pluto. And if you know anything about astrology, you know that Pluto (before and after its scientific “demotion”!) is a big astrological deal!

So given all this, with all the many objects out there to be studied, it’s not that surprising that Eris has caught the attention of so many astrologers.

It's also why Eris stations are times to pay attention to.

Or maybe it's just the nature of Eris...? You know, like Pluto - an object which fascinated so many astrologers virtually from the time of its discovery (in February of 1930)...maybe Eris gets so much attention because Eris is Eris?

Put simply, Eris is “discord.” Or if you prefer, ‘disruption.’ The long-form Eris story is interesting enough that if you’re not familiar with it, reading a bit about the Eris myth may be useful to you or illuminating in the greater sense, especially when it comes to why Eris acts the way it does by transit.

(And yes, that would be by transit to your personal chart or in the sense of general or ‘mundane’ global transit, such as we’re discussing here.)

Link to “ERIS DISCORDANT:

MASTERING OUR OWN WEAKEST MOMENTS”

This is a ‘way out there’ object – at its’ farthest from us (and the Sun), Eris is more than twice as far away as Pluto. As for what controls Eris’ orbit, Eris is sometimes classed ‘just’ as a dwarf planet, and sometimes as a Plutoid, which is to say an object whose orbit is governed by Neptune’s truly vast magnetic resonance.

Having observed Eris and its effects now for half a dozen years or so on a fairly steady basis, yours truly tends to think Eris’ astrological effects only seem Neptunian in that they come from “so far out into left field” that we are often shocked to realize what we didn’t understand about life yet.

That quality of ‘revelation’ or ‘dissolving our former sense of reality’ is yes, very Neptunian. But in the most defined or refined sense, everything beyond Neptune seems to carry something of that Neptunian ability to dissolve our former perspective.

So Eris must be something somewhat different. And when compared with acknowledged (Neptune-controlled) Plutinos Pluto or Ixion for instance, Eris doesn’t seem to test our sense of 'reality'…the what’s real, what’s an ideal or fantasy...or what’s actually possible. That ‘not knowing but being very convinced’ quality is the very ‘Neptune quotient’ we see in Ixion and Pluto and other Plutinos like Orcus and Huya. They’re all part of our process of learning what reality is, often through tempting us to ignore reality - or think the 'real answer' is something other than it is.

And that’s not how Eris seems to work. Eris tends to manifest in our lives with a sudden ‘burst’ of recognition or experience, which makes it’s turn to direct at a 3rd decanate ‘worldly’ degree like 21 Aries a time when we can and maybe should expect life to thrust new things upon us that we didn’t suspect could (or would) happen.

Considering this is Aries we’re talking about, the effects are personal. Or at least they feel personal. Thus this time can be one when we feel vulnerable. Or upset. Or amazed. Or intrigued. The variables and variations here are all about how closely Eris aspects anything in your chart…the closer the aspect, the more likely it will be that you’ll feel the ‘Eris Effect,’ that sudden ‘blowing apart’ of your former viewpoint on life, your world or your life in general.

Because this is Aries we’re talking about, we look to the ruler of Aries: Mars. As Eris goes direct, Mars is in Aquarius, a societal sign which is all about our effect on the world and its effect on us, whether that’s what it throws in our path or how it rewards us for what we have or haven’t done.

As a degree, 21 Aries has something of an odd reputation in that it both emphasizes the ‘notice me!’ quality so often associated with Aries as well as a sensitivity to others. That the Sabian Symbol is THE GATE TO THE GARDEN OF ALL-FULFILLED DESIRES which astrologer Marc Edmund Jones typified so nicely as ‘Abundance made possible by human togetherness and cooperation’ sounds like a positive.

And yet, this is Eris we’re talking about. So those who cling too closely to others may now realize the flaw with that. Those who are loners may not recognize the flaw with that. Some will realize that they are allied with the wrong people, even if the idea of alliance is fine. Some who think they ‘have it made’ will realize the poverty of their positions…or even be attacked for a life where they fulfill their own desires while ignoring others.

There is no hard and fast ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ here, only the lessons which are to be learned.

The station itself is defined as the date of the actual station (marking the change of perspective) with two days before and two days after being allotted as a modern ‘station window.’

But let’s also be realistic about the extent of this astrological affect. The farther away from Earth any object is, the slower it moves in respect to Earth. (And yes, in its orbit around the Sun.) So considering that Eris can be almost a hundred times as far from the Sun as Earth is, it’s natural that it moves through each zodiacal degree very slowly. In the case of 21 Aries, Eris retrograded back into 21 Aries (out of 22 Aries) on November 1st. And now it’s going direct in 21 Aries – again.

Here’s a chart showing Eris going in and out of 21 Aries over the past handful of years:

This is Eris’ last year of going in and out of this degree. Can we expect more of events to ‘rattle our psyches’ in the 21 Aries sort of sense between now and February 19, 2014 (Eris’ last day in 21 Aries during this 557-year cycle)?

One would think yes.

Does all the nastiness that we’ve seen (heard or maybe experienced) since November 1, 2012 give us a picture of what we can expect?

Again, one would think yes.

But remember…this has everything to do with how ‘glued’ we are to some status quo in our head, heart or spirit. So there’s some reason to suspect that Eris effects will hit those who think of the world (life) in terms of preserving ‘status quos’ or personal ‘peace’ or the ever-popular ‘it can’t happen to me’ most of all.

The unthinkable will happen. And it is likely to happen and feel unthinkable (in other words, shocking) most of all in the lives of those who either have no/less experience of shock or who think they are most immune to shock.

This isn’t popular news, I know. But astrology isn’t about just the fun stuff. It’s about understanding how life and existence works, complete with the ugly bits.

More about this particular Eris station:

For one, there’s a grand square involved.

Considering that this grand square is made up of one dwarf planet (Eris), one fixed star (Castor) and a trio of asteroids (Europa, Sisyphus and Kallisto) life’s greater challenges would seem to be about balance. We can’t just shove things aside (Castor). Band-aids, getting carried away by whatever and ‘just moving on’ (Europa) aren’t the whole solution.

Sisyphus/Kallisto in Libra and in opposition to Eris are the ‘confronting’ factor here. Sisyphus is what you can do which you shouldn’t, and Kallisto is the temptation to aim for what you want when you know you should care about others.

Eris is a positive when it’s a force for rectification and righting wrongs or misconceptions. In Aries (which is where it’s going to be for a very long time yet) Aries represents all the hard, hard lessons life deals. Here, it represents the temptation to “feather our own nest” (as it were) without caring about others. Or the system. Or the future. Or the lessons of the past.

It’s tough stuff, no question. And this Sisyphus-Kallisto factor is not just a corner in a grand square, it’s also the midpoint between the ‘Y’ of a Yod, otherwise known as the solution point.

The thing to understand about this Yod is that Eos (the dawn) in Virgo (health, work, service) is the point which is moving towards Sisyphus-Kallisto. Hebe, Huya (the servicing of those things which will serve as enriching “rainmakers” in our lives)…those are leading away from Sisyphus-Kallisto.

This tells us we are only beginning to deal with the questions of what ‘health, work, service’ really mean. AND…considering this is Libra…that it isn’t just about the ‘other guy.’ Events in life are about who we are to others as much as how others (individuals, groups, nations) act with us.

The semi-sextile from Eris to Sedna speaks to our need to stand on our own, especially when it comes to  what we think is important…or what our capacities really are.

Ras Alhague and Hidalgo (manners, protocol) in trine to Eris says this is a time which demonstrates the difference between harm and healing – and how close they actually can be.

Maybe even how entangled they actually are.

The sextile to Bellatrix and Ceres speaks to getting a plan and how hard it will be to come up with plans which really work, plus how hard they will be to get across where others are involved. Still, since sextiles represent opportunities, recognizing that we need to take on our “Bellatrix challenges” and tackle the really hard issues is the optimal thing of the moment.

This station is occurring but a couple of days before Pluto moves out of the shadow of its 2012 cycle. Not only that, but it’s occurring as Jupiter is moving towards its own station/direct point (at the end of January) which quick enough will be followed by Saturn going retrograde (in mid-February). This combination of factors suggests that where we have been trying to ‘hold onto’ something obsessively, that it’s time to let go.

And that letting go, or not letting go – that’s part of the Eris process. Our greater world and our personal worlds will reflect how well we deal with such choices.
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