Under a Perseid Sky

Star trails, looking like meteors rain down behind Lick Observatory atop Mount Hamilton

(photo credit: LKluft, June 2005)

 

Having begun last month, the 2014 Perseid meteor shower will be reaching its peak between August 9th and 13th.

While that is happening, Juno will be entering Cancer (on August 9th at 1:30 a.m. UT/+0 time), a Full Moon will occur at 18 Aquarius (on August 10th at 6:10 in the evening UT/+0 time) and asteroid Pallas enters Libra...all of which will lead to the point when Venus enters Leo on August 12th as Jupiter and Neptune perfect a transiting quincunx.

Venus will be left for a different post, mostly because this approaching New Moon is such a moment of its own. But that Jupiter inconjunct (aka quincunx) Neptune - that deserves a mention, mostly because its miasmic effect is feeling more to a few people like an ill-defined overwhelm in which Jupiter’s too much is being bent back on us in every way we cannot defend against, believing in our right to believe...if nothing else.

Jupiter is Pisces ‘in door’ ruler - and as with all three (Scorpio, Aquarius, Pisces) ‘co-ruled’ signs, the original/ancient ruler is that part of the learning process/lesson in growth which in part determines the outcome of the relationship, situation, effort or whatever else simply because it expresses how well we understand sign basics. In Pisces, Jupiter asks how much we know. But this isn’t intellectual knowing - this is all about our feelings. How well do we know how our feelings work? Are we afraid of our feelings? Are we in denial of our feelings - or even that we have and need feelings and relationships and ways to express our feeling human nature?

To the extent that we truly understand our emotional standing (in particular with our Self), Pisces becomes the road to wisdom, a term astrology defines in Piscean terms as knowledge (Jupiter) tempered by  universal human experience along with the experience of being one with our emotions, able to tolerate and understand our emotions... and in short, the universal nature of emotionalism.

To the extent that we meet our Jupiter/Pisces challenges, resistance drops - first within our Self and then (in response) from others. And so long as we are able to keep ego out of things, this opens the way for growth, accomplishment and all sorts of amazingly quasi-magical sorts of moments.

But let us fall back on ego, whether through self-assertion or through failing to accept our own humanity (read: isolating ourselves through criticism and/or the abandoning of human/humane standards), that’s when the Neptune effect becomes one where the veil fades away and we find our Self disappointed - most of all in that Self.

With Neptune currently in Pisces and Jupiter in Leo, the aspect between struck is that of adjustment. From Neptune to Jupiter is six signs, and six signs always indicates requirements, responsibility and the need to deal with all things in factually morality terms. On the other side of this aspect, from Jupiter to Neptune is the famously eight sign harmonic we know as eternally transformative. In this case, the first version speaks to some sort of ‘dissolution’ which unveils some fact. Has this fact simply gone unnoticed - or was it being deliberately hidden? Was it something someone couldn’t deal with for their own emotional reasons, whether we’re aware of that or not? We could say we don’t care, but if we go in that direction that triggers the theorem commonly known in astrology circles as Neptune’s anti-ego requirement.

It’s a mandate, one we violate at our own risk. But given all the energy in Leo at the moment (Sun, Mercury, Jupiter and Black Moon Lilith)... well, those who are risk averse are probably already sitting on their hands. But those who like a little risk... a little gamble...? Those who live (and die) not by ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’ but rather by ‘the best defense is a good offense’ are likely to feel prompted. It may not be obvious...not much about Neptune Manifest is ever obvious.

Until it becomes inescapable, that is. The metaphysical teaching here is that Neptune transits (of which this is one type) often create feelings of helplessness, vulnerability or haplessness merely because that is how those who belong to Club Stubborn (you know who you are!) can only be taught the Neptunian (Piscean) path of salve and salvation so known as humility and acceptance.

Since few astrologers give an inconjunct/quincunx aspect more than a 2-degree orb, with sitting at Neptune at 6 Pisces for the whole of August that means this aspect will have begun taking effect as of August 3rd...and that after coming to fullest strength at 4:15 in the morning of August 15th (UT/+0 time) it will taper off to nothing by August 25th.

The problem (challenge) here would seem to be obvious: Neptune asks that we allow ourselves not to know while Jupiter is all about what’s what, what’s right and what (right or wrong) others will accept as allowable or true.

What to do? Who to be?

Yes, those would be but a few of the questions. Plus there is one other special thing...namely that 6 Pisces is the degree Neptune loitered around in earlier this year, specifically between March 22nd and April 23rd - leading into that 8 Taurus solar eclipse of April 29th I’m sure we all so...enjoyed.

(Not really.)

Normally one would think this sort of transit would manifest as fleeting floating disruptions, household insurrections and personal insecurities. But since Jupiter/Neptune are doing this dance of mutual discomfiture during the Perseids, there would seem to be a ‘peppering’ of voices, ideas, issues and other such phenomena coming more from the ‘don’t you know...’ Jupiter side of the coin than the comforting Neptunian shoulder-cum-slippery-slope.

And why would that be? That would be because Swift-Tuttle, the comet which produces the Perseids, does its orbiting through our solar system in a form of astronomical lockstep with Jupiter known as ‘magnetic resonance,’ this particular magnetic resonance coming to a ratio of 1:11 (one to eleven). That means that for ever one (1) time Swift-Tuttle completes its orbit, Jupiter orbits the Sun eleven (11) times.

Think of it as cosmic gearing - a gearing which at present refers to a rising tide of intermeshing factors which we cannot fully define, but can very definitely feel.

Clockworks on display at the Liverpool World Museum

(photo credit SomeDriftwood, 2011) 

As if that wasn’t enough to think about (or cope with), while we’re adjusting to all our ‘longer term’ Jupiter-Neptune situations, along comes a Juno in Cancer dynamic.

Juno represents the idea of management and managing, whether internal (managing our thoughts, feelings, appetite, longings, etc.) or externalized in whatever form. In entering water sign Cancer, Juno summons up matters concerning home, hearth, house, culture, family, land and nation. All those things which are native to us or native to this planet are Cancerian - as is all which affects or supports us, or any other form of earthly life... existence... eventuality...

Juno will be entering Cancer on August 9th at 1:30 in the morning (UT/+0) and remain in Cancer until October 7. And while Juno transits this most basic of water signs we will all be encountering things which prompt us to manage situations and our feelings about things even while stretching our native abilities a bit more.

At least a bit more.

Things won’t be dull, in other words. Transits - even one which sounds as status quo oriented as this one are still energy which somehow becomes manifest. Maybe we will only reflect on or reassert our efforts to maintain current standards, but in some way Juno will always make itself known, even if we manage to make our Juno known only to our Self. (Which yes, is sometimes the whole Juno effort.)

Juno and Jupiter by Gavin Hamilton (1723-1798)

In a more active mode, Juno energies often surface through the determination and effort to protect, guard, maintain or utilize things - and when under stress (look for aspects in your natal chart) Juno is seen as a factor which contributes with great strength and loyalty to the defense of something considered ‘intrinsic’ whether that concerns a position (tangible, verbal, financial or emotional) or some standard which is under threat or challenge.

All of this takes us into Sunday, August 10th - the date of an Aquarian Full Moon which in being positioned at 18 Aquarius recalls the Mercury retrograde of last February (2014) with all its Olympian world participation and the division into increasing world hostility which followed. Such different or diverse thrusts are quite typical of anything (and everything) Aquarius though it doesn’t represent Aquarius success. Taken in isolation the idea of the Olympics is quite Aquarian: the world coming together to enjoy the universality of sport as a way to test our physical human and compete against other humans while enjoying each other’s company without hostility. When Aquarius works well it utilizes energy in a systemically functional cause. And when Aquarius doesn’t work well, anarchy, disruptions, protests and explosive situations (physical, verbal, emotional) often result. Where Pisces is a test of what we can emotionally accept within our Self, Aquarius tests our ability to exist as part of a system we may never know the full extent of, which we may even dislike some of the parts of but which supports our vital functionality, nevertheless.

This one precept is likely to be a problem now and moving forward as the most common reaction to Aquarian differences is rejection and isolation, not provisional acceptance. But that’s part of the Aquarian lesson - a lesson which tests our ability to be tolerant of that we don’t choose to be but which works (in its own right and space) as part of a whole.

Back in February, Mercury went direct at 18 Aquarius...

- link to -

Mercury Direct at 18 Aquarius

...and now that same degree is being ‘highlighted’ by the Moon, ‘shining a light’ on the question of how far we have come since last February.

Among other things, that is.

The Full Moon at 18 Aquarius (text chart)

August 10, 2014 - 6:10 p.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

The Full Moon at 18 Aquarius (glyph chart)

August 10, 2014 - 6:10 p.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific) 

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That we may be having some issues with what we’ve learned (or not learned as yet) is basically imaged here through the picture of a t-square and t-squares are always about some need to rise above a personal focus or investment in some issue. With t-squares, only the overarching (non-ego-driven) position ever wins.

Imaged by the Sabian symbol 'A FOREST FIRE IS BEING SUBDUED BY THE USE OF WATER, CHEMICALS AND SHEER MUSCULAR ENERGY' (typified by astrologer Marc Edmund Jones as ‘the skill and courage necessary to bring under control the destructive potential of carelessness of karmic ‘visitations’…’), 18 Aquarius is spoken of in astrology as a degree which displays (or exposes) whatever issues are blocking connectivity of the very most human and often vital kind. Here the ‘standing’ of any person comes into the spotlight highlighting where problems exist in our individual life - or in the life of a community, group or nation. With 18 Aquarius is concerned, isolation is often considered (and tried) as a stopgap measure, but seldom does it provide any lasting answer as in the long run, the sign of Aquarius will not support boundaries based on preference or presumed (individually defined) differences. Whenever we see 18 Aquarius, activities which provide opportunities for integration and functionality are called for, though they may be in part difficult to implement. Patience is required, and the perverting of ideas is to be avoided, inclusive of a perverse tendency we are seeing a lot of here at the dawn of the Aquarian Age with regards to ‘shaping truth’ through selective phrasing and various efforts to use public/social communication methods (or the media) for openly or subliminally deceptive purposes.

The Sun in this figure being conjunct Mercury-Germania on one side speaks to strength of focus and like as not many a strident opinion (whether voiced or merely held). That both objects are at 20 Leo speaks to a need to know our own thoughts... along with how important it is to think through the positions (and possible objections) of others. With Black Moon Lilith (denial of, or by others) and Lachesis (duration) just 'behind' the Sun (in terms of the degrees they are placed in) there is some enduring position coming into the moment of the Full Moon or which is brought up (or out) at this time - and for those who attempt to deal with things through simple ignorance (or deferring to some lack of information) if this is a ploy (or flat-out lie) the effect is likely to be lasting.

And costly.

But of course many will just go ahead and do what they're going to do, thinking they're going to get away with it.

(Good luck with that - and the karma you're stirring up!)

The 'object' here would seem to be expressed by the Moon conjunct Damocles in Aquarius - getting out of (escaping) trouble or something troublesome.

And something's in the way. What is that 'something' which is sitting at the "hurdle" of this Full Moon t-square challenging us to get past it, most of all in our minds?

That would be Saturn, yet another form of inevitability we meet up with in the chart. Saturn's version of 'karma' is generally called "earning," a precept which allows us to fail any number of times providing we haven't done what will get us where we want to go.

If you’ve been wondering why things seem to be ‘stuck,’ this may be part of your astrological reason. Saturn is currently in Scorpio, sign of all things karmic. Probably more importantly (in astrological terms), Saturn is also spending its very last day at the degree (16 Scorpio) it went direct at back on July 20th as the Moon does it's Aquarian square dance in phasing itself into fullness.

Simply as defined in lore, 16 Scorpio is a degree known more or less for its positives... humanitarianism, everyday kindness and traditionally accepted manners and ways of relating to one another ranging from a simple ‘thank you’ to the most exotic of protocols and formalities. Yet like all other degrees, 16 Scorpio also has a ‘not so nice and not so mainstream’ side as well in being known equally for overgrowth as undergrowth and for over- productivity as well as problems and challenges where maturation (of various kinds) is concerned. In this tendency to arrest or polarize, fixed degree 16 Scorpio is theoretically testing our ability to respond with flexibility - in particular, emotional flexibly. But it also assures that when we are tested, when we’re being called upon to use those  resources of experience in the course of dealing with some ‘forest fire’ or other ‘incendiary’ situation, in order to achieve the maximal positive we need to accept everything which goes with being called upon for on-the-spot, present-tense (often tensely tendered) solutions.

That all this happens with the Sun, Mercury and Jupiter in Leo promises much drama and many an opportunity to be massively...even outrageously creative in overcoming emotional challenges (and challenges to emotionally bolstered and/or emotionally provocative opinions, situations, relationships, convictions, etc.).

It’s a personal moment. All Full Moons heighten sensitivity and reactivity (which can be wonderful or terrible, depending)...and with asteroid Pallas at 29 Virgo as the Moon comes to Full in anticipation of leaving Virgo for Libra early on Monday, August 11 at 3:29 a.m. (UT/+0 time) there is something intensely personal... if very impersonal about this Full Moon.

And for many, that will prove the very thing which is needed. As Pallas moves into Libra it leaves the personal/private zodiacal zone and enters into the realm of all things public, visible and interactive - which doesn’t just mean that others see us, but also that we see (or recognize) things in others we’ve never seen.

Or at least which haven’t been on display in the past couple of years. With its 4.6 year orbital cycle around the Sun, Pallas spends around two years in each of the zodiac’s hemispheres...

 The natural zodiac wheel (by quadrant)

...which means it spends roughly just over a year in each of the zodiac’s thematic quadrants.

For the past year or so Pallas has been moving through the zodiac’s 2nd quadrant - the quadrant which is all about development of abilities and our ability to put some sort of current plan into effective motion. As an emblem of all things mentally processed in a dispassionate manner, transits of Pallas (which is to say, whatever sign we see Pallas placed in) speaks both to where we need perspective and where we will learn about perspective... or at least how important understanding the whole of a process or situation really is.

But will we? And if we don’t, where does that leave us?

While there is no question but that anything we go through throughout these several days will embody its own importance, to those who believe that age-old metaphysical maxim ‘unbeknownst to us, the universe is unfolding as it should’ whatever happens is not only its own experience but preparation for what’s to come.

So since next up (astrologically) is Venus in Leo, that suggests that after experiencing all which comes our way we are either going to arrive at that moment feeling more determined than ever to be who we are (or want to be)...or simply full of some need to (come what may) be validated for something, lest we have no sense of validity in our own eyes and mind.

And yes, we may end up feeling both.
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Dateblog: August 2014

 August 2014

For various real life reasons (yes, something else has happened) this isn't going to be my longest post. Nor are these my finest diagrams, I would say. But I did want to offer some general August information...so here it is:

The above is a chart by sign which plainly shows that Leo (in yellow) is the dominant sign of the month. This speaks to a huge amount of energy and a 'brilliance' of mind (or mindset) which can accomplish great things providing others and the 'greater concern' beyond that which we are focused on as what we want/want to accomplish...providing all that is taken into proper account.

Towards the end of the month as the Sun and Mercury move into Virgo (on the 23rd and 15th, respectively) cooler thoughts (heads, solutions, reasoning) will begin to prevail, but with Jupiter in Leo there is likely to be a lot of 'stepping out' and much stepping over boundaries and limitations simply because some urge is so potent as to blind us to greater and factual issues, much as we might be 'blinded' if the Sun was in our eyes.

The are likely to be some very sun-struck (star-struck, arrogantly stubborn) folks around this month. As the Full Moon occurs in late Aquarius leading into the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower insights will happen and they may well mark the 'sparking' of new ideas, insights and choices which are made as a consequence of same. 

Ceres having entered Scorpio (see previous post) and Juno entering Cancer speak to a shift of energetics; where the 'idea' [Juno/Gemini] of the thing had been a premier  basis of consideration, now a more 'domestic' [Juno/Cancer] and less theory-idea-concept-driven orientation comes on line, like as not because sufficient negatives have been encountered (that being Vesta in Libra) that we are each driven to consider some sort of basic, very (Cancerian) personal...even primal sense of [Vesta] cost.

With the Virgo New Moon a more practical and pragmatic phase of operation/operational necessity is implied, with the close association of this New Moon to Sedna's station-retrograde in late Taurus posing 'how to...' questions precisely where our mentality has failed to mature - a fact which conjures up all sorts of ingrained possibilities.

Will all of this happen succinctly and politely? Looking at the month in terms of element, that answer would seem to be solidly and resoundingly 'no.'

(And yes I'm sorry I have to say that, but truth is truth.)

 
In the above diagram, red is fire, blue is water, that greenish brown is earth and...oh yes, there IS a little air in this amalgamation, courtesy of the Full Moon.

But remember, the Full Moon is a moment. So we can expect a moment of clarity around the Full Moon (plus Perseids), but the rest of the month - while possibly very productive, creative, delightful and developmental - is likely to manifest in a manner which is very fervent, either in pursuit of a [fire] goal or aim...or through some wholly [water] feeling effort or emotionally-driven choice.

There is a possibility for much knee-jerk activity here - the response by rote, the retreat into your own 'world' because dealing with others rains on your parade. This is also a recipe for real world (as opposed to theoretical) considerations.

In other words, just saying the words isn't likely to cut it this month. It's one of those 'the proof is in the pudding' periods with a lot of hungry and expectant folks poised at the universal table.

Which begs the question: what are we about to serve up to others and be served by life in kind?
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Aquarian Lunar Energetics: Uranus, Jupiter and the Full Moon

 Blue Vapour Planet by Timeastor (July 2009)

When the Moon reaches its Full stage at 1:46 in the morning of August 21st it will be generating ‘fulfillment’ through the ‘angle on Earth’ we call 28 Aquarius. So that’s where we start.

And there’s plenty to start with, as 28 Aquarius is (like most Aquarian degrees) all about the abstract level of life – in this case our mentality and how it stands up to everyday, or even extraordinary pressures. The Sabian symbol here is being A BUTTERFLY EMERGING FROM A CHRYSALIS, most of us will think of the charm, the beauty, the delicacy of a butterfly’s fluttering about the garden of our mind.

Or at least our garden in how our mind sees it.

But the image isn’t about fluttering and pretty things, it’s about the struggle to transform and to emerge after an uncontrolled encounter with forces beyond understanding which have wrenched us out of our former sense, style and habit of being, from that constructing a new life we now confront and must contend with.

In point of fact, the life span of a butterfly has three phases: the growth phase of the caterpillar, the transformative chrysalis stage and the ‘completion’ stage – that of the butterfly – where the object is not to ‘look pretty’ but to do what needs doing in order to assure the continuance of life.

 A female Lesser Fiery Copperbutterfly (Zeynel Cebeci, June 2013) 

This three-part phase evolution is very much like zodiacal elements. With twelve signs and four elements, each element is represented by three signs which follow this exact same evolution.

Thus we come to Aquarius, the third of the airy signs most concerned with the ‘idea of the thing’ and between lore on this point and the Sabian symbol’s imagery, it’s clear that this Full phase of the Moon is likely to ‘shine a light’ on areas in our life where we have been ‘cocooned’ or where we have been undergoing transformations – even where we have ‘gone underground’ or ‘died to our Self’ (and former notions of what life was going to be like) because of circumstances or life challenges.

Lore refers to responsibility here, but not responsibility in the sense of what we need to do, what time we have to be at the job, when the kids need picking up…none of that stuff. This is about the responsibility we have to ourselves to become the person we know (knowing being an air sign term) we are capable of being – which according to this symbol is a trying, sometimes exhausting and perplexing process.

What this is about in your own life is probably told by the sign,position and aspects to your natal Moon being how any lunar cycle is it’s own quotient for sure but still a reference to our personal evolutionary efforts.

And lack of same, yes!

(Would that life was easy, right?)

Making this obvious – at least astrologically - is the fact that this Full Moon is the ‘starting point’ for a t-square.
 
(I know…you’re just OVERJOYED at the prospect of dealing with this amidst all else, right?)

 
Nessus / Moon in Aquarius represents a tough energetic. It’s willful, it’s insistent, it wants to have it’s way even if that means blowing ourselves out of the water, out of whack, out of the running…or proving to ourselves that we’re out of line, out of our minds – and in general, ‘not part of the group.’ That group can be anything – from society to your circle of friends to the network created by co-workers, a belief system, blowing your budget…pretty much anything.

Holding that aside for a second (while remembering that the ‘degree’ of the Full Moon IS the degree of the Moon and therefore all the struggle is about being and becoming who we should be in our own estimation…next we turn to Ye Olde T-Square Sticking Point.

That point is represented here as Sedna-Capulus welded together at 24 Taurus and Algol (the urge to get ahead...or even ‘a head’) right nearby.

Capulus carries the energetic of Medusa’s head – which in turn is all about deep seated fears involving holding ourselves in check as we face learning about something which we think is going to scare us.

Will it scare us? Maybe yes, maybe no. How many times have we all been put off by something the mere idea of which brings up the urge to cut and run? And how many times have we all been forced to deal with those issues, only to emerge saying to ourselves ‘that wasn’t so bad…!’

If you’ve been around astroPPM for any length of time you know I’m into the full story of Medusa. In the symbolism and myth of Medusa we find some of our very deepest battles against insecurity being acted out at a vital and visceral level which in the end says you have to face yourself. Whether it’s something you’ve done or something you’re scared of doing, being or recognizing as a reality in your life, the more we evade the issue the more it grows snaky tendrils capable of scaring us into immobility (i.e., stone).

The face of a Lupine Blue Butterfly by Ingrid Talar (August 2009)

But when it comes to the head of Medusa, to understand how to wield the power to ‘freeze it in its tracks’ against those who would be bullies or do wrong or even some other factor in your life which seems to be ‘over-lording’ you? That’s a good thing.

Combined with Sedna, Capulus becomes a combination of facing ourselves and letting go. I described it not long ago to a friend of mine as ‘peeling posters off the walls of the corridors of your mind’…meaning that through facing the scary job of facing and ridding ourselves of preconceived or "pre-installed" notions about what you want life to be...or what someone (or society) has 'said' you should want...that's what allows you to then get on with making life into something you like. Something which, whatever it may be or look like, fulfills your potential.

By itself, Sedna presents some tough and scary challenges. It’s a whole lot easier to do as you were taught to by your parents even when you can see your parents have totally screwed their lives up. Or when their ‘ways’ haven’t done anything but stunt them or create unhappiness. Sedna is the life precept which asks us to see the difference between an internalized expectation or image and reality - whatever 'reality' means to you in your life at this time.

Life isn't airbrushed. Life is raw, and it's through our willingness to confront its rawness - and our most raw issues that we learn who we really are and thus what is really worth the caterpillar-to-butterfly transformation...replete with the struggle to escape our outworn shells...in becoming that spirit which can soar.

Moon / Nessus says some of us are likely to cut our own feet out from under ourselves rather than deal with these truths. But truth is truth – it’s not cookie cutter, it doesn’t all look perfect, but truth is truth.

It is what it is.

Given that this is a t-square being presented in third decan degrees (degrees between 20 and 29 of whatever sign) we know that ‘all those folks’ are part of our present equation. So maybe we’re afraid of ‘what people are going to say’ if we do something… or then again, if we don’t do something (or be something we think they want us to be). This combination may even be about your wanting to help someone who is terrified by their own sense of inadequacy.

Whatever the issue is, it is. Truth is truth.

But don’t take it personally. That’s the essential lesson of t-squares – it’s not the ‘my thing,’ it’s the universality of the concept, the relating thing which counts. The ‘t’ in a t-square is a confrontation for us because we tend to think in me-versus-them (or my idea versus their idea, my ideal versus their ideal) terms. Yet whatever we find in a t-square has something to teach us about relating and our relationship to others, to the world, to the greater dynamics of any situation, profession, movement, aspiration… whatever it is which life is ‘highlighting’ as being central to your ‘at stake’ issue now. The focus may fall on the issue itself… or something which you consider a distraction or “side show.”

In life, hardly anything is truly dispensable. Everything has something to teach us, even if it’s about – for good or ridiculous - our sense of priorities.

Those of us who can see the bigger picture and overall dynamic will get past the Sedna-Capulus-Algol ‘self-blockaded’ feeling. And when we do, we’ll arrive in Sun-in-Leo-land, where a lineup of Sun-Byblis-Ceres-Pappos-and-Mercury speaks to the need… and willingness to communicate openly about our plans (Ceres), the where-we-are-today state of being we’re in (Pappos), our concerns for the state of our world inclusive of…or may not including anyone else… and the all important Sun-Byblis concept of being able to be who we want to be in spite of what others think, the willingness to discuss our vulnerabilities as well as our aspirations.

It’s a worthy goal we all have in mind…the only question is whether we can get past whatever old ‘programming’ and presumptions we may have to finding out what our truth and the truth really is.

So often we think we know about something and we haven’t a clue what it is in real time or how it really works. Just recently I had a moment to explain something I know about through experience which a friend mine had some pretty standard misconceptions about. The subject isn’t important here, merely that we had been having a great time interacting with each other except for how every once in a while I felt like a Hollywood film was being superimposed on my being.

Media…hype…rumors…gossip…even things we read which are written by reliable authors and authorities – none of those equal personal experience. 

Two Butterflies on a Flower in West Virginia (ForestWander, January 2009)

 
That’s why at various points in our life the ‘Sedna Factor’ comes along. All along the line, Sedna is that process which causes us to shed the old and become what we are now – in this time, in this day, at this age.

It isn’t easy, but we do it. And that Sedna is part of this Full Moon picture is interesting as Sedna will be taking its station in about a week from now.

Are you into movies? If so, think of this as a sort of ‘coming attractions’ sort of thing. Or maybe you want to think of this as a warm up for the main event which is yet (if soon) to come.

One more thing to be aware of here: barely hours after this Full Moon takes shape in our skies, Jupiter (in Cancer) squares Uranus in Aries.

This says great things can happen. Some of us will make strides – even breakthroughs now. With Jupiter conjunct Alhena-Lilith-Sirius-Eros-Tantalus, we may figure out that when we focus (Eros) on why we meet up with things good and bad (and what we can learn from them, that being the Alhena nuance) that instead of living a life which deprives us of the opportunity to have what we (Tantalus) want, it’s actually possible to get past our disbelief in Self (asteroid Lilith) and begin to grow more (Jupiter/Uranus) freely.

May each and every one of us find our way to that reflective inner light which now so wants to be seen. It’s there, if only we can get past struggling with who and what we've become after being transformed through these past weeks of chrysalis where we were not aware of what we were becoming.

Now we struggle to free ourselves not from daily encumbrances or the needs of those around us but the shroud of preconceived notions about who we are - which we are no longer.

Gaining perspective on ourselves will take time. Yet in this moment we have the opportunity to grapple with ourselves in the gaining of perspective on what we've become. Once we do that we will be able to spread our wings and take off for wherever destiny may lead us.

But first we have to finish getting away from that which we haven't yet freed ourselves of.
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An Ingress Yod of Lunar Fullness

A hot air Balloon fashioned to look like the Church of the Monastery of St Gallen

(photo credit: Bohringer Friedrich, June 2008)

Every time I think we’ve gotten to the end of this month’s complications, something else comes up. I’ve experienced that in my life and it’s also true in astrological terms.

Not everything has been in-your-face obvious, but the trends are there. The moments are there. Maybe it’s (in part) because I’m someone born with a chart heavily canted towards water, all sorts of emotional issues, challenges and questions have been  surfacing, which certainly goes with the ongoing grand trine in water. I know this is time for me to do things – I can feel it. I can also feel how importance the people in my life really are to me. And how we’re all thinking our relationships through.

For those with natal charts heavy in air or fire, I can just imagine how tough…how uncomfortable, even unnatural this time must seem. ‘Earthy’ (earth sign)  folks have it a little bit better, but I’ve seen not just a few of my earth sign friends bogged down in mental mud about what’s worth what and what really priorities really are.

Or what they should be – which goes with the ever downwards ebbing of the South Node in Taurus. Elements are – to put it in Sherlockian terms – elemental, my dear fellow humans. You don’t have to be a Taurus to feel this nodal ‘countdown’ acutely; any major movement in any sign of like element chimes to others of like elemental orientation – it’s just more pronounced when it’s in your personal sign.

Earth to earth, water unto water, I guess we’d say.

And then there’s air. This month’s Full Moon occurs at 6:17 in the evening (UT/+0 time) of July 22nd at 0 Aquarius, a degree known for great ability which needs to be tempered with the needs and focus of the moment. Responsibility, realistic feasibility, consideration of resources and possible consequences at stake, such are the question marks which go with 0 Aquarius. And when we think of the Full Moon being at this degree, that ‘highlights’ a moment when that which we have been forming, formulating, working or hoping for reveals its possibilities.

Or the lack thereof.

The 0 Aquarius Full Moon - July 22, 2013 - 6:17 p.m. (UT/+0)

(Aries Wheel, location not specific)

There will be some cases where positives or negatives are about us. Then again, this is one of those moments when you may arrive at something you’ve been thinking of doing and say ‘no…I’ve changed my mind.’

Maybe the time isn’t yet ripe. Maybe your ducks aren’t yet in a row. Maybe you’ve decided your time, energy and priorities are better invested elsewhere.

Or maybe you're just hesitant about something you know is right but which is trying (on a personal level) whichever way you cut it.

Being positioned at 0 Aquarius, all the aspects to this Full Moon start in the preceding sign and flow into the next, as we would think of by realizing that the 5-degree conjunction orb would embrace anything between 25 Capricorn to 5 Aquarius. Part of this idea is expressed in the lore on 0 Aquarius as a degree – there being great potential BUT it needs to be tempered by structure, well thought-through planning and all that.

Whether you’re talking about the personal focus which is the Capricorn/Aquarius conjunction, the ‘being confronted’ by quality of a Cancer-to-Leo opposition, realizing through the Libra-into-Scorpio or Aries-into-Taurus square how there’s more to this moment than you anticipated or continuing along in a Taurus-to-Gemini or Virgo-to-Libra mode, any of these are going to be far, far more “acute” (if you will) if the aspect you’re thinking of is closer to exact.

Why that would be goes with why I didn’t mention the Gemini-Cancer or Leo-Virgo inconjunct (adjustments needed) aspects or the typically somewhat off-putting Sagittarius-into-Capricorn or Aquarius-into-Pisces semi-sextiles which would be all about not being quite on track (at least with others).

What I’m getting to is that this Full Moon comes cloaked in the guise of a Yod.

The aspect part of this is simple: Yods are finicky configurations in and of their own accord…where many planetary pictures allow for aspect spreads of 3 or even 5 degrees, Yods are really only ‘in force’ when the three points involved (the points of the ‘Y’) are within 1.5 degrees.

And in this case, we have that – although old-fangled astrologers may get huffy about the…granting that one of those positions is occupied by Pallas and Phaethon, neither which are even dwarf planets. But Pallas is the third largest member of the asteroid belt (known to be) out there. It’s also in a 1:18 resonance with Jupiter, a fact which is rather lovely on the metaphysical level when we stop to think how back in 1802 (when Pallas was discovered) the idea of magnetic resonance wasn’t known.

And yet the asteroid still got named ‘Pallas,’ which in being short for Pallas Athena directs us to the story of how this particular Greek goddess was said to have ‘sprung full grown from the brow of her father, Zeus.’ And who is Zeus in planetary terms?

Jupiter.

So it would be sensible to say that Pallas always carries the need or desire for knowledge or knowing, which with Pallas we think of as being ‘dispassionate’ because the goddess was not ‘born of’ any passionate act.

And let’s face it – Zeus/Jupiter was famous (if not infamous) for his passionate acts…which many of us express through the ‘passion’ with which we pursue ‘things’ Jupiter in our charts.

Jupiter and Antiope by Rembrandt (1660)

Ah yes, Jupiter.

Anyway, here we have a Full Moon expressed with the Moon in Aquarius highlighting the energy of the Sun’s Leo ingress. And facing off against it. Given that the Sun in Leo is always about what we can create and want to do, this Full Moon is ‘highlighting’ the need to consider the implications – which yes, ‘highlights’ the meaning of the Moon’s 0 Aquarius placement.

Reasons, people! Whether we like it or not, we need to have a reason to be doing what we’re doing and a plan for getting it done!

But yes, there’s more. A Yod is made up of one point (in this case the Moon) which is inconjunct to two other points, one of which is at the 150 degree inconjunct point – in this case Pallas/Phaethon - and the other of which is at the 210 degree inconjunct point (within that fussy 1.5 degree orb).

In this Yod, the 210 degree inconjunct point is occupied by Venus-Regulus, a combination which is all about ethical results, against which Pallas/Phaethon could be thought of as a ‘rush to perspective’ which in common parlance, particularly as positioned in the emotional ‘basics’ sign of Cancer might be better phrased as a ‘rush to judgment.’ Such judgment may be external (as in others rushing to judge you). Or it may be all about your having rushed to judge someone or something – and if so, that is probably based on your ‘emotional habits,’ if you will.

Then we get to the ‘solution’ of any Yod (Yods being one of those difficult-to-live if plain-enough-to-solve sort of configurations). The Yod of this Full Moon expresses an ‘adjusting’ force as Pallas/Phaethon. So this Full Moon comes a need, or a traditional expectation that you will choose in a given way. Or act in accordance with what you think is safest. Or that you will respond out of (emotional) habit or merely go along with the known, the easy or the comfortable. The other ‘side’ of this Yod (the 210 inconjunct position) is saying ‘ethical results’ are the best way to get/have what you want. Or that ethical considerations at least are wanting to be considered in the building of alliances.

And yet, the solution to this Yod is also plain. Yods tend to ‘hang’ us on the horns of a dilemma (which sounds seriously uncomfortable). One might say they have a point. But the ‘point’ isn’t what we will tend to think it is as the quandary expressed by the ‘rock and hard place’ horns of the ‘Y’ isn’t the solution of the Yod.

No? No. The solution to any Yod is defined as the midpoint between the two inconjuncts…which in this picture would be the point in opposition to the Moon.

And that would be the Sun.

So...! If there is something you really want or feel you need to do in order to be, become or grow into being the person you know you should be deep inside, this is a moment which highlights that choice. “Sitting” on the Moon’s point – the highlighted issues of plans and societal mandates – that may be part of what you’re dealing with.

But in the end, the object is to be you. Considering everything else which is going on this month there would seem to be much going on which is about ‘breaking out of our shell’ or maybe breaking away from some situation or preconception or estimation of what’s true, or what your limits are – or aren’t. Every year when the Sun comes into Leo life presents us with an opportunity to be and have more of what we want for ourselves…but it can’t all be about just what you want (which would seem to be where a lot of Leo sort of plans go awry). Much as taking a vacation to a beach in the middle of a war zone would have its problems, when we set out to do anything Leo – in this case, expand the bounds on our possibilities or what we can possibly do, be or create – we have to take our ‘real world’ surroundings and the others in that real world reality into account.

Associated at the ‘primary level’ with our pre-teen years, Leo has a whole ‘idolization’ quality which doesn’t always quite live up to the hype (or maybe that’s our imagination) if you meet it in the flesh. Known for ‘what it looks like’ this is sort of the ‘dream date’ syndrome which has us going for the thing which looks fabulous, but which in reality may not be all that satisfying.

The solution with Leo – always and forever – is to use Leo energy to invest in your Self…not what you provide yourself with.

That difference between ‘Self’ and ‘yourself’ is pretty much the Leo game. To make something of who you are takes a lot of hard work, which is the first Leo divider. In some realms, the dream is more appealing than the work it takes to get there. But even if we are willing to take on that effort (which would be ‘step two’ in the Leo process) we have to at least understand what the world around us likes and how the world around us works.

This brings us to The Leo Process Part Three: the Being Your Own Person thing. We are each and every one of us asked to be our own person. An individual who is known as who they are. That confronts us with the challenge to not just be that person, but to be willing to not be like everyone else. For a lot of people, this is a horrifying prospect as it carries with it the ‘risk’ of all we go through in being different, being unique, being an individual.

Oh, rejection! We all hate rejection.

This gets to the heart of the fixed sign process, a process which is all about being willing to stand out for the unique person you are…and to thus be respected for what you have come to know yourself as and accept yourself for being…which individuates you as something different so that you can garner the rewards of individuality.

That ‘separating’ of our Self from the easy-to-sublimate-me-in-the-group non-confrontational dynamic is the Leo-Aquarius process. That which follows is the forging of alliances in this world, alliances which start with our being willing to risk initial rejection in favor of forming eventual alliances. That’s where we test ourselves against our own willingness to own our power to be who we are and earn the respect which ultimately leads to our  greatest rewards, all of which is part of the Scorpio/Taurus challenge.

The zodiac works in overlapping groups. Most of us think of it in elemental terms: fire, earth, air and water.

Then, when we juxtapose elements against modalities (or ‘mode’) we start seeing that there are  many ways that elements ‘express’ their nature. But it’s only once we assemble all of this into a zodiac wheel that we see life’s fullest expression: the cycles and the natural tendency to start with ‘who I am’ and ‘my understanding of self’ first quadrant, the still-localized ‘learning how things work’ second zodiac quadrant, the out-in-my/the-world interactive third quadrant and the ‘full worldly perspective’ of the forth quadrant.

As the Sun move into Leo on July 22nd at 3:57 in the afternoon (UT/+0) time life moves into a ‘I want to do…(insert goal)’ mode which this Full Moon may ‘highlight’ in terms of the shifting of your gears.

Then again, it may represent a moment when you realize you aren’t moving and you aren’t growing. Or when you refuse to change, grow or alter a single plan.

All may have a true and valid place in your life, in the world, in the greater scope of your personal process. That’s for you to decide. And with Venus also changing signs on the 22nd (at 12:42 p.m. UT/+0), chances are you will at least be considering the yea’s and nay’s and your mental ‘this works, that doesn’t’ list.

Venus in Virgo isn’t known for fun and frolic. But it is known for getting things done. Sometimes that’s all about the grumble-grumble stuff we HAVE to do…and sometimes that’s all about what we deserve to have done so that everything else in our life will work better because we have some inner balance.

With royal fixed star Regulus currently positioned at 0 Virgo there is an ethical question being asked. And while the most basic of ethical questions is whether we are living our lives so as to fulfill our potential as a human individual…there are those ‘other questions’ (pesky though they may be) which ask us whether we work and play well with others.

- link to -

THE ROYAL STARS OF PERSIA (Part Two): REGULUS

Any time we talk about Virgo, we’re actually talking about one end of the Virgo-Pisces polarity. Virgo works so as to support the whole in which we live. This is why Virgo people are so often so intuitive by nature, though the earthy nature of Virgo as a sign tends to often push the instinctive ‘knowing’ to one side. With Virgo, the reality rules – and well it might, as reality is where we really live.

So we have Venus’ ingress of Virgo, a symbolic pressing to focus on processes which will lead to concrete results and getting things to happen in real time…set against life (the Sun’s) visionary Leo motivation.

ALL at a Full Moon, and a Full Moon which is itself set up as a Yod which points to that Sun in Leo.

Plus (by the by) this is when Mars is moving into position to oppose Pluto from Cancer. Change is thus in the works, it just depends on whether we are willing to challenge ourselves to work with it or whether life is going to foist change upon us.  

Put in most simplistic terms, this would seem to be a moment all about who we can be, not that person that others think we 'should' be. And so long as we remember that we are part of this world and not simply endowed with ‘amazing powers’ to be who we want to be without taking anybody else (including their feelings or their hopes) into account, life will support our forward motion.

All of this would seem to be about celestial signposts. Where life is raising blockades, where life is saying ‘no,’ that suggests we may be on a wrong track. Or we may have left something out. Or we may simply be being too much about our vision without any consideration of the world we live in, the humans we interact with and the fact that life really is about growth and not just about our personal desires.

This is a lunar phase, so it’s unlikely to signal any ‘end of the world’ moments. But all moments, all clicks of the cosmic time wheel do mark our opportunities to become more aware.

And thus we move on…hopefully into an ever more authentic world of our own making and design.
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