Mercury enters Taurus

In keeping with the Sabian Symbol for 0 Taurus, "A CLEAR MOUNTAIN STREAM"

(phase 31), a photo of a tumbling Alpine stream in Mollis, Switzerland.

(photo credit Glarnerwolf, October 2014)

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For all those whose brain circuitry is feeling all jumpy or overloaded even with Venus now in Gemini, calming influences are theoretically on the way in the form of Mercury entering Taurus at 22:53 (10:53 p.m.) UT/+0 time on Tuesday, April 14th.

And yes, this may mean you go directly from jumpy to all stodgy or stuck-on-a-stick-(ish), but at least with Mercury’s entrance into Taurus many a thing (human and otherwise) which has come to have a ‘mind of its own’ to the extent that the possible good is being offset by too much consciousness of Self ...or, particularly in the case of inanimate or insentient situations or objects, where there simply isn’t enough ‘integration’ to keep continuation of whatever is going on from creating problems for others/other parts of some ‘food chain.' (Which, in some cases could refer to actual - Taurus - food and/or issues connected to food, eating and the entire spectrum of 'nourishment' as a concept or practice.)

Being our solar systemic indicator of mentality and mental pacing, tone and potential, Mercury’s entering Taurus will reflect in something of a shift in thinking habits. Gone will be the drive and edge so common under Mercury in Aries - and gone too will be the tendency to think primarily (if not only) in terms of our Self, a habit which can be plenty disruptive under Mercury in Aries even if it also is a sign of standing up for one’s self or taking some stand.

Moreover, we’re not all that ‘done’ with learning a few new things. The first three signs of the zodiac (Aries, Taurus, Gemini) are all about learning who we are - and a lot of that learning gets done through other people (i.e., through influences described by the three signs in oppositional polarity to those first three signs).

In Taurus, Mercury seeks ways for things to be secure and secured. Optimally, this combination of sign and planetary symbol speaks to our confidence, our ability to cope when challenged by anything.

But therein lies the rub, if you get my drift. The oppositional sign to Taurus being Scorpio, all things Taurean become or tend to be tested by episodes of push-pull or through ‘discussions’ which we either have with our Self about that Self (and what they are or aren’t doing) ... or ‘discussions’ with-or-about others, with all of this basically being about what ‘worth’ means, and what in life really deserves our time, effort, loyalty, resources, sacrifices or anything other part of our life.

In short, why should we care? Or ... should we care?

Under Taurus we may feel guilty for being selfish or unequal to a looming challenge. We may take to thinking of ourselves as having done all we need to do, or we may recognize that we could do something if we would just prepare ourselves for the task (and eventual triumph!) through committing to some sort of Self-development.

And given the nature of Mercury, variations on these themes are what we are going to think about, talk about and experience from April 14th until Mercury moves on into Gemini come May 1st.

During that transit, Mercury will go retrograde. The dates are from May 19th through June 11th, and that Mercury is going to go retrograde under Gemini means that apart from things which are happening at that time (and which are totally unique to the moment) ... that makes Mercury’s transit of Taurus a period when what we are doing may well in some way end up connecting or contributing to whatever we are focused on (or possibly hung up by) during Mercury’s retrograde period.

Does that mean we will be so focused ...or so determined to finish something (come what may) that we end up making some miscalculation or omission which ends up forcing us to double back as is so common under Mercury retrograde? Might it mean we’re trying to hit/adhere to some deadline because once Mercury enters Gemini (or goes retrograde) we will have missed some known opportunity?

There’s another way to see the whole of this Mercury in Aries, Taurus and Gemini process which also may well apply here, particularly if you’re looking longer term (months or years, as opposed to days or weeks). Considering all else (the recent eclipses and such) and being how all three cited signs are zodiacal first quadrant signs (pertaining to learning about our Self, our abilities or things we need to know in order to effectively live our life), everything we do from now until Mercury enters Cancer (and the zodiac’s 2nd quadrant) is on some level part of an overarching ‘project’ - the inborn ‘project’ we have to tackle simply because we are what and who we are as living beings on this planet in this time.

It sounds so serious. And survival is serious - hence Taurus’ relationship to security and all the ‘necessaries’ which allow us to proceed along our way through life, the most popular of which seem to be personal security (physical and emotional), food, shelter and money ... the basic stuff of life.

If this is you, if you are in the middle of a personal learning ‘project’ (or if you’re needing to tackle one), Mercury being anywhere in the first quadrant supports your investigations - and at the moment, though there is some fixed sign tendency with Mercury to stick on some point just because admitting you’ve been wrong triggers an inner/instinctive sense of vulnerability connected to “not knowing” how to take care of your Self, those who can get past the sticking to the digging into the process of doing, doing better or learning how or why your efforts aren’t effective ... they will all stand to learn a lot and even make themselves feel a whole lot better (about something) through the process of making that effort.

Mercury in Taurus (glyph chart)

April 14, 2015 - 22:53 (10:53 p.m.) UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Mercury in Taurus (text chart)

April 14, 2015 - 22:53 (10:53 p.m.) UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Of course for some this is a particularly prickly emotional time. That is to be expected in the wake of an eclipse which hit fixed star Scheat - which among other things stands for our ability to wall things out, and our willingness to project the responsibility for feelings and reactions onto others without realizing that if its your reaction its your problem.

And how where and when left unattended, how such denied (Piscean) feelings, no matter how we dress them up or what we call them, are in the long run damaging to everyone, including us and including those many others we would like to think we are ‘sparing’ the sort of grief we are hoping we can avoid through sheer denial.

It’s pretty futile, but people do this sort of thing anyway. We humans are always trying to tell ourselves that if we don’t (Mercury) acknowledge or think about it we won’t have to confront our (Pisces) feelings on the subject and risk facing our own (Taurus) sense of insecurity - that being our true ‘the enemy within.’

Our sense of security - in the end - has nothing to do with anyone else. It’s only and always about us. They’re our emotions, and therefore ours to feel and ours to own and take responsibility for. Furthermore, history and reality teaches us exactly the opposite of that fervent wish occurs when we (Pisces/Scheat) avoid truths as energy is never lost.

So all that energy that we don’t want to deal with - whether for reasons of eclipse denial which we’re now struggling with or because we just don’t WANT to (that stubborn fixed sign thing) ... it has to go somewhere, this being a real challenge posed by the fixed sign energetic. Fixed signs energies are easily applied to resistance or stonewalling - and that’s something we all should think about (and work through) while tackling those challenges which tend to arise when the Sun is in a fixed sign - which it will be once the Sun enters Taurus on April 20th.

We also encounter such energies when we deal with people born under fixed signs, too. (Know anyone who seems born to resist changes to the status quo?)

Fixing things in place (or affixing them in place) is a typical fixed sign tactic ... and also the primary challenge placed before any of the zodiac’s fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius). But just as cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn) need to learn to look before they leap ... and just as mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces) need to learn that never making up one’s mind or committing to a particular choice goes nowhere, fixed signs need to learn that to work at controlling things is not the object.

Learning to control our most immature and insecure Self ... that’s what frees us to think, plan and choose effectively, which apart from all else would be something we may well need to do (or consider) as a factor as Pluto (you remember Pluto, right? Dwarf planet? Obsessive reputation?)... as Pluto heads into its station and turns to retrograde at the end of this coming week (on the 17th), closing out the first of thirty-six months of Pisces/Scheat solar eclipse doings.

But first we have to get past whatever our personal issues with personal security really are - which generally has a whole lot to do with where we come from in life and things we experienced early on, all of which would be perfect to spend at least a bit of time musing through during these next few weeks.

NGC 7320 in constellation Pegasus, the constellation which

fixed star Scheat is part of.

(photo credit: NASA, ESA and the Hubble-SM4-ERO Team, July 2009)

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Being that Mercury is coming into Taurus in a trine to Pallas at 0 Capricorn (Pallas entered Capricorn last week) we know there are issues (or yes, perhaps people) which matter ("structural," some would call them) and which (this being the 0 Capricorn part) we not only get much from thinking about, but which we 'connected to' and recognize that connecting on a level which is hard to define if vital to where we currently are in our belief in our Self ... and which we know we need to do more about ... or maybe with.

Pallas being an energetic which creates moments and views (or a 'vision') only attainable through cool-minded perspectives, this is likely to be an important - or at least lingering note being struck, if for no other reason than Pallas' impending turn to retrograde (as if you wanted to hear about another station?) at 0 Capricorn come April 19th.

Right now we are getting a perspective of life as offered by life and life circumstances. Once Pallas goes retrograde, perspective will turn on us - we'll see why we are or aren't what we thought or think we are.

But that's then, and this is now. And since Mercury’s transits through Taurus have long been spoken of as a time to develop or show what we’re capable of - most of all to our Self so that we can be confident and productive, not to mention secure in being our Self enough that we are even able to be there for, and interact with others - this is a useful time to think through all such possibilities as we work through our days and life's challenges. Given that we seldom attribute major life events to any of the so-called 'personal planets' (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars) when they're in transit, as with Venus' shift into Gemini a couple of days ago (see previous post) Mercury moving from one sign to another describes background perspectives and modes, just as Venus' placement by sign describes some of the general 'mood' we experience while pursuing our day-in, day-out daily doings.

And so we're clear here, all of this differs entirely (like, totally) from when our personal and natal Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus or Mars GETS transited by objects from Jupiter on outward into the cosmos.

Those periods (which when we talk about objects like Neptune can take a couple of years) ARE a big deal.

But as for now ...? Qualities we'd associate with Mercury and Taurus - the exploring of how to make what we have go farther and what's worth expending time, energy, attention or priorities on - with this combination of planet and sign, we expect to hear debates and conversations of many kinds, some of which we end up holding with ourselves (in our mind or otherwise) and some of which we experience as an interaction with others, all of it at base - no matter the surface text - being about the worth of things and how values and whether we care or don't care about this, that or them - whether any of it merits your time and loving attention.

And if so, which thing(s) matter - and why?

And all of this makes perfect sense if, when and where we think of Taurus as the sign before Gemini, Gemini being the zodiacal district of information gathering, choice and planning.

After all, before we choose, shouldn’t we get clear - at least to our own secure satisfaction - as to what matters so that based on that we will have the choice to choose intelligently or well?

One would think yes.
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Orionids 2014

 Constellation Gemini (at left) and Orion (on the right). Image generated

using Stellarium astronomical software in night mode.

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No sooner do the Draconids end but another meteor shower begins. Of course, being as its Mercury retrograde (even in the lives of well-intentioned astrologers - by which I mean me), hardly had I slept off the previous post (link: Part 2 of 3 on this month’s solar eclipse) when my calendar glared at me, causing me to recognize that in writing said previous post I had left out one almost literally star-spangled fact - that second meteor shower thing.

The Orionid meteor shower began yesterday, October 16th. And as I take to typing this reminder it also strikes me how, considering that the radiant (apparent origin point) for the Orionids lies between constellation Orion and nearby Gemini, there would/will be a lot of Gemini ‘sparking of the mind’ in the works and all goings on...not to mention at least a bit of Orion-like hunting and searching.

For what? For whatever our mind is bent on. And in that process, the idea of sudden realizations, recognitions, surprises, inspirations, notifications...and yes, reminders - they would all seem very much in keeping with the moment.

Given the notion we were just talking about (in that previous post) about how the current eclipse (in Scorpio) is only half of what is going on and how there is a distinct measure of Gemini in the eclipse works, to have this meteor shower seems...well, rather poignant (if not pointed). And the intrigue just gets deeper when we add in the idea that it's also Mercury (ruler of Gemini) retrograde.

So not only are we under a normal-and-standard Mercury retrograde auspice for thinking things through and catching up with what's needed, wanted and best for moving forward once Mercury goes direct again (an event which will occur on October 25th, UT/+0) - but we are also moving forward with (and) falling back on something which, like as not, has existed or has been in the works for several years at least.

And now we add in the Orionids...all those little 'sparks' of thought or insight or inspiration. Does the fact that Mercury has now retrograded out of Scorpio and back into Libra mean what gets ‘sparked’ will be about others? Maybe, but not necessarily. What is likely however, is that given Mercury’s current retrograde, most of what occurs to us now and during the days ahead will be more about informing ourselves than anything which is going to be broadcast for general consumption.

Well, at least for now. Once Mercury goes direct, given that the Orionids will still be in progress (though they will have tapered off by then) it doesn't seem unlikely that the 'standard' teaching with regards to Mercury station direct - that things which have been stalled will begin to move, how that which seems lost just may get found and how things which have gotten held up or ignored (by others, surely!) or which have otherwise gone off-track will either begin getting in gear and back on track.

Or you’ll come to understand why they’re not.

You may even find out why you’re fortunate that things didn’t go as planned.

Yes, unbeknownst to us, the universe is unfolding as it should - in spite of the fact we don’t always like where the creases fall.

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More detailed/astro-technical information on the Orionids is included in the 2010 commentary on this meteor shower, the blog post for which you can link to here.  
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Having Been Eclipsed…

The partial solar eclpse of November 3, 2013 as seen in El Hierro, Spain

(photo credit: EPA/Gelmert Finol )

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From a recent email: 

…That’s the point. We each are being confronted with the potholes of not having been present for ourselves. That which is most difficult for us now is the polarity of that we want to do with others. 

The Gemini I wrote this to works in the health field. Their chart was squarely hit by the eclipse, and in manifestation thereof, the middle of rapid growth of their various practices was put in jeopardy by the Gemini's own health becoming a sudden crisis.

What we are putting out there is coming back to us. The equation here is a little oblique, but plain enough if you stop and think about it a moment. Moreover it reminded me of why Gemini is so aptly seen as a jig saw puzzle. Wherever Gemini is in our chart, wherever we experience the Gemini vibe, it's in that area of our life that we become challenged to understand the nuance and detail as well as the whole. Only by holding both concepts equally in mind can we come up with a choice which makes sense, which can be grown and which will ultimately bear fruit.

This eclipse, with its Scorpio dishing out of karma, it brought home much of this to all of us - as well it might. Gemini is the 8th sign (the "derivative 8th") to Scorpio. And thus in all things Scorpio we are presented with many facts, many facets, many choices, all of which direct us to make not the choice which works for us but the choice which works.

Whatever sign you start with, the derivative 8th always shows you the 'rule' which for you defines whether you get past the gatekeeper of opportunity or not. This wicket has become incredibly sticky of late (think Pluto) with most of the problems we're each encountering in our life having a 'right' and 'right' or 'wrong' and 'wrong' side which asks us - in the end - to decide between power and personal preference. 

Or even where power IS personal preference.

And yet...whatever situation you've been working with, it will only work if it works on all sides and for all levels. The trick of this season has been to operate with power while not becoming helpless, acknowledging our weaknesses while not succumbing to them.

It hasn't been easy, obviously.  As your girl astrologer, this Pisces fell into an abyss on one side of her life while taking care of things on the other side of her life. 

It's just not easy. I'm entirely satisfied with parts of my performance and seriously not proud of others. But that's how astrology tells us that life is going to be. It's never all good or all bad...it just is. And as solidly as any of us can focus on getting one thing done, it's a cinch not everything is getting done. So with my Moon/Saturn in Scorpio, and because the Moon (among other things) represents the 'chemical' level of body functionality, I was bang on to tackle a detox.

Use the energy wisely, lest it use you unwisely.

I'm a Pisces. And Pisces rules the experience of emotionality (at the psychological/spiritual level) and brings that to a physical level. So to detox a Pisces is also to detox their feelings - which at some level says those feelings need to be detoxed.

And yes, I had looked at the Scorpio eclipse before it got here. I knew something bizarre could happen, but scheduled my detox anyway.  Scorpio isn't always the signature of frolic and rose petals (or leather and black lace, for that matter), but it can be incredibly productive if you’re willing to feel a little ouch way deep down in your soul.

I will also fully own that as an astrologer I knew there was likely to be trouble between me and anyone whose chart was going to be hit as hard. This me-and-thee thing is something we seldom take into account as much as we should...that which ties or binds us is (astrologically) symbolized by a sameness of object positions in our chart.

And that means that if MY chart is being transited, so is yours. Which means when an eclipse shows up, both of us are going to get eclipsed. And if it's a tender place in our chart which is getting eclipsed and we're not particularly good with handling those energies, the results can be nasty.

Even just pitifully and painfully messy.

The eclipse passes...and we find much has changed.

Or we've changed.

Of course there are those of us who refuse to do any changing. Several years ago, a Taurus friend was confronted with that most terrible of solar eclipse challenges - the loss of a loved one.

He simply answered “NO” when life asked that he move on emotionally. He just didn’t want to deal with it. And let’s face it, no sign does the ‘standing one’s ground’ thing any better than Taurus.

We've known each other a while now, so I understood. He was hurt. He didn’t want to feel what he was feeling. He didn’t want to leave feeling connected to his beloved wife behind. He just didn’t want to feel himself dealing with his feelings.

Heck, he didn't even want to feel himself not dealing with his feelings!

And so, Taurus bull that he is, he snorted at life and dug his heels in, even going so far as to notify me that there would be a ban on all conversation on the subject.

You may be surprised to know I cooperated with him on this. But I did, yes. Part was simple affection for a friend. Part was that I felt for his pain.

But besides all that, I also own an ephemeris. And really good astrological software. So I knew what was coming.

Taurus Keywords:
security, insecurity,self-worth, self-doubt, stability,
status quo, satisfaction, dissatisfaction, self-respect,
self-avoidance, self-loathing, comfort, need-hunger-satiation,
peace, values, motivation, likes, preferences,
tastes and dislikes

Suffice it to say, ever since attempting to not change in keeping with the eclipse on his chart, this Taurus has been plagued by an onslaught of problems. The bulk of them have had to do with money – that most common of common Taurus/Scorpio things. How odd is it that we assign such power to something which intrinsically (at the level of paper money being paper and coins being little chunks of common metal) are not 'of value' at all.

In fact...if you understand that money is a 'barter medium' and a 'placeholder' for Taurus/Scorpio worth-power-personal satisfaction measures, you understand why money doesn't buy happiness. It is not the money which counts and not all which it can buy which evokes happiness. It is the person we are and why we do what we do and the validity of the feelings which come from that which evokes and satisfaction.

It is the (Scorpio) validity that what we are placing our (Taurus) values in and whether that is true to us (as opposed to someone/something we are selling ourselves out to) which determines the quality of our result and whether there will be any associated negative karma.

As for my friend, after a couple of years he started dating again. But though he had done all the outward mourning, he hadn't dealt with his true inner hurt.

Those relationships (particularly the Scorpio/intimate ones) didn't work so well.

But then, it's tough thinking that intimate relationships are going to go well if you're not emotionally available or not able to be vulnerable or emotionally intimate.

Fast forward to now: as we talk in the wake of this eclipse, not only is his financial life finally coming back together, he's finally letting go of his pain. It wasn't easy and true to him, he had to find the right way to exorcise his emotional demons on the subject - which is typical for eclipses. If they hit your chart with any sort of exactness, you're going to let go of something. You can do it now, you can do it later, but by gum, you're going to do it.

Scorpio is famous as the sign of control. And surrender, which is the part of Scorpio most of us don't think about a lot. And Taurus, in being Scorpio's polarity, is all about how stable and satisfied we are with ourselves...not really anyone else. Where Scorpios often try to control others in order to feel safe and secured, Taurus often try to control life itself.

He couldn't. And when this Taurus couldn't control life, he gave up on trying to live his life.

And life taught him that wasn't a good idea, applying pressure after pressure after pressure until he simply let go of trying to control and instinctively began working to find his place in this world again.

It's about three years later now. Remember how I told you that solar eclipses take three years to mature?

I tell you this story for many reasons, the most obvious being that if you understand the path this man took, you'll understand something more about how an eclipse will work in your life. But there's another reason too - one I think just as valid.

Like I say, I have been friends with this fellow for several years now. So I had heard his story and walked alongside him as he fought his battles with what he thought was Life, but which really was with his Self. I could see very clearly what he was doing and the futility of trying to fight time...existence...reality.

And right when I got done saying all that to myself, just as he began turning his corner, I began doing exactly what he had done.

Really! I was doing it my way (cue Frank Sinatra, please) but I was that very same thing...which is the reason to be talking to you about this right now. No matter what 'events' happen in your life in conjunction with any transit - and particularly a solar eclipse - the issue isn't "them" or "that." It's you. It's not about what they're doing to you, with you, without you, despite you - it's about YOU.

It's about who you are coming into the situation or moment. You've heard me say that sometimes we learn more through the negative than the positive, right?

Whoever we are, however tough or tender we are, life manages to just overwhelm us when such events happen. Apparently that's what it takes to each humans something - and that's what eclipses are about. When eclipses show up we get into situations which reveal us to our Self, often leaving us little option but to deal with some issue with (or about) that Self we may have.

And then they leave us to figure out who we need to be in order to deal with what we have learned.

Provided we learn it, of course.

Scorpio eclipses are probably the second scariest in the book (I'll put Pisces eclipses first, thank you.) The 'why' of that is because of everything I've been talking about.

We're all raw. We're all thinking of someone else or something else and thinking 'if they were just...' when the real issue is who we are and what we're basing our values on.

How real is it, in other words. Scorpio is the energy of connection, the indescribable essence of sensing that someone or something is there. Or not there. That reality is a powerful thing - and the difference between the real and the unreal, the respect and the lack of respect we hold for human relationships the key to our personal problems.

If we can't relate to ourselves properly and honestly,
 we have no basis for relating to anyone else.

That's one of the premises of Scorpio - and why the zodiac's one and only fixed water sign represents the realm where the real meeting up with the emotional and our meeting up with ourselves through our relationships with others is the "gateway" to the zodiac's four most worldly signs (Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces).

It's as if through meeting up with others, we meet ourselves. And if we're not good (enough) with our Self, we don't take us out of the box. We don't let us/get to go for that next step.

What happens really is a reflection of what goes on within our mind. (Or, as I have long thought of it, our Mind - but that's in my life as a writer...more on when the books get released, hopefully at the end of January.)

More to the point, it's why so many of us would rather try and be happy feeling nothing than feeling anything which has a chance of actually affecting us. The effort to deal with or put off such issues is our Scorpio/Taurus axis, and wherever we find it in our chart represents how we're willing to handle this matter.

Or not handle this matter, depending.

The thing to remember is probably how - as opposed to Scorpio (or the Scorpio/Taurus) energetic being is the energy of connection (sensing yourself through feedback as you connect with others) astrology defines the experience of emotional issues as Pisces/Virgo.

Which oddly enough reminds me to tell you something. You know how I've (rather relentlessly) pointed out how we're we're in a series of Scorpio/Taurus eclipses? That cycle concludes next year (2014), and being how eclipses cycle backwards through the zodiac (which they do because they're in part determined by the lunar nodes), you might be thinking the next couple of years would feature a series of Libra/Aries eclipses.

But nooooo. If you were thinking that, you would be wrong - which now that I think about it, doesn't sound like the worst thing on the planet. Why would I say that? Well...if I say 'my feelings/your feelings' and then say Taurus/Scorpio eclipse series and then point out that this series has been going on since 2011, growing more and more personal all the time, perhaps you get some sort of...image. Feeling. Impression.

Maybe the impulse to dive under a table.

Okay...so take out the 'my feelings/your feelings' part (don't you feel better just hearing that?) and insert 'my existence/your existence.' 

THAT would be a Libra/Aries eclipse series. Oh, just think of all the ways we mortals could find not to have fun with that!

(Pardon me while I gag.)

But no, we of Terra Earth are going to move from evolutionary lessons framed by Scorpio/Taurus to processes typified by Virgo/Pisces, bypassing the Libra/Aries phase.

How lunar of us. (Or maybe looney, I'm not sure.)

So take out the 'my feelings/your feelings' part (I still feel better hearing that - maybe it's just me...) and insert key words for Virgo and Pisces.

Ouch.

Or...(ouch)...maybe not.

You think the world is weird now? Just wait. I'm thinking ahead to an eclipse series (considering all else) in Virgo and Pisces and suddenly Scorpio and Taurus, with all its venomous moments, doesn't seem so awful.

Why not?

Here's something metaphysical to chew on: Scorpio and Taurus are interactive. Pisces and Virgo pit us against our Self.

That means we have nobody to blame.

Oh yeah...that. It's enough to make you like the world of relating and relationships - which maybe is a way to appreciate the hard times, those times when someone we respect or love fails our standards or trips and falls in some particularly decrepit mental sewer.

We're human, y'know? Feeling...and feeling connected to someone else has (at a guess) led to more social and emotional suicide than anything else on the planet. 

NOTE PLEASE: I'm NOT talking about physically killing yourself. I'm talking about the many and creative ways we have of killing ourselves and our feelings, our relationships and our fondest hopes all because we all want so desperately for everything to be okay.

How ironic, eh?

And more to my point, how Scorpionic for me that the thing I had forever wanted…to feel connected at that most intimate of levels we call human...how I came to this eclipse having denied my fear of exactly what I thought I wanted.

Sometimes just feeling yourself feeling is beyond our feeling tolerance.

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After a lot of thought, in the wake of the eclipse I put this notice up on my Facebook page.

It was a protest - an expression of my desire to transform a feeling of futility. I can't undo what I am because of some accident of fate. 

I also posted this message on a different social network. There I installed it with a caption: and it’s the stuff you don’t know which will get you. 

A number of people on that network who have been abused read that post. Nearly every one of them was focused on my caption because I was talking about the one thing people don't think about when it comes to abuse. Abuse lies not only in what we do, but what we don't get to learn to do. We can be just as abusive in silence as we can be when raging at the top of our lungs.

And it's not just about the events. Abuse also lies in what we don't learn to do. Or to tolerate. Or allow ourselves to consider (as if most solutions to terrible problems haven't been solved by considering those problems?). And yes, there is child abuse - the worst of which teaches us to continue the abuse by not allowing ourselves to wonder, speak up, ask questions or think outside some box even as adults.

On the other hand, if we truly believe that unbeknownst to us, the universe is unfolding as it should...there are good things that we can turn ourselves to no matter what. Yes, we'd like to think we could stop such things. But sometimes 'good things' will come of not doing what we didn't learn how to do: we compensate, we turn to other things.

I'm not thinking systemically. I'm thinking individually. After all, we all have different lacks. Maybe they are just opportunities in disguise. It took me many years to know that the fear I learned in a youth full of marginalization, violence and dehumanization made me into someone who not only hears what people say, but someone who thinks about what people have said.

And yes, sometimes it's a plus. Sometimes, however...?

Not so much.

As the Sun moves into Sagittarius here in the latter days of November it’s a moment for all of us to be coping and moving on, yes. The Sagittarian drive to make ‘it’ work (whatever ‘it’ is in your life) and continue moving towards goals is highly evident. So the eclipse – in taking place in Scorpio – is now the derivative (or harmonic) 12th.

Just to reiterate the point: the eclipse isn’t over. That can’t be said enough! We are going to continue seeing and hearing of financial and personal strife. We are going to hear stories which sound like miracles and disasters which are totally unexpected.

Whatever you were confronted with coming into the eclipse, the underlying emotional metamorphosis has only begun. Things you think are gone may not be gone – or you may just be doing what you need to do so that you can come back to them from a different vantage point.

Or as a transformed person...you know, like my friend who is just starting to walk on, now that life has taught him to learn how to accept the terror of love lost.

And that his process shouldn't be instantaneous? That works too. Sagittarius is not a sign of instantaneous anything - this is the sign of debate and education, so all is a process now. And as we moving through this Sun in  Sagittarius time with the eclipse still glowing in 12th house harmonic rear view mirror, we should expect that ideas will arise. We should expect the unexpected and a few changes of plan-or-parameter to pop out of the woodwork. Anything which can get us to stop and pause, or think things through, or recognize the flaw and realize we need better plans or more workable solutions...all those Sagittarian things are going to occur to us or get posed by others. Or be manifested by life.

Or arise out of the thick of our unplumbed (Scorpio) instinct. So ask yourself...what have I learned about myself, about my inner feelings? Or is it that you haven't learned why you're at emotional loose ends and how to deal with how preciously frightening relationships are simply because they matter so much to us?

With Scorpio in 12th sign position (which by the way may provide some insight if your natal chart has Scorpio on the 12th house) interactions with others and what comes (or has come) of interactions with others are going to…

a.) make us sensitive
b.) poke us where we are already sensitive
c.) expose sensitivities or expose things which in turn make us sensitive

…all of which takes us back to wading through the soul, mindset and all-pervasive self-confronting experience which is so very Scorpio. But this is not Scorpio “in your face” or in real life or real time. No – this is the emotional experience of all you really need to think about as a result of whatever happened over the past couple of months.

We should also be realistic here: 'sensitive' can mean uncomfortable.

Even scared.

Also to be Sagittarius-type-honest here, this isn't about what happened (or didn’t happen)…this is your going through an ongoing, intensely trying time which in any of a thousand ways causes you to experience own emotions.

And what you think of those emotions.

Or that you have those emotions.

Or that you have made this emotional choice or that choice (in life or relationships, wherever) which ended up being so positive or negative on the emotional level.

The good news is that in the grand scheme of things, for most of us our having been eclipsed is still metaphysical present tense. That’s one of the lovely things about Sagittarius – the land of where theory meets possibility. Here this Sagittarius opportunity causing us to see how things can be…or maybe still can be…or maybe how they still are.

Of course, some of us will want to think things through a bit more. But some of us - in recognizing the truth of what life was trying to get us to look at will find in that a measure of liberty and freedom. The Sun is in Sagittarius, so this is still an interactive time, suggesting that some of us will heave a sigh of final comprehension and move on. Or we'll tackle that problem. Or we'll retrace our steps and not back down this time.

Whatever that truth is, it is to explore - and hopefully to appreciate, even enjoy the exploring of. It is at this point...as all that as life and the essence, the magic and the theoretical machinery of eclipse energies...as all that moves on it begins to evolve. And as it evolves it gives us enough connection with enough distance that we are able to begin seeing that it wasn't the 'thing' which happened which 'was' our eclipse.

It was who we were coming into the eclipse which got eclipsed - each in our own individual way by other people who were being eclipsed in their own way.

Whatever happened, lore teaches, happened so that we could experience some hidden aspects of our Self. So that we would continue to grow and not just 'make do' but strive to be more of who we truly are. 

And so it happens....once we grasp that it wasn't the 'thing' but our nature - some facet of our emotionality or how we deal with emotions because of our history or perspective...which was the point of the eclipse, then we are able to decide what to do next in light of a new understanding of what is true to who we are...and what isn't.

All can be, may still be or proceed to become the way we want it to be. Chances are, our accepting some facet of our difficulties as a reflection of something we fear (or fear to feel) is probably the trade-off there - but there is one all-important fact to consider when it comes to our fearful inner response to feeling fear:

Fear does not reside in reality.

Fear takes hold of us from inside our mind.

And when you consider that, to have life urging us to consider where we need fear not just isn't the worst thing to be giving thanks for on this day.

Or on any day.
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A Lunar Eclipse at 6 Gemini

 

 The above image is adapted from a photograph made by Juan Iacruz

of a lunar eclipse in progress.

Where solar eclipses tend to strike awe in the human heart, lunar eclipses seem to fascinate us. And perhaps that’s a reflection of the difference between our relationship between Sun and Moon.

We depend on the Sun for our very life and survival. But the Moon? We love our Luna Moon. We love to canoodle by moonlight and dream our finest dreams while the Moon seems to smile down on us from above. We love walking along sandy beaches playing tag with the tides, feeling the Moon’s tug on our hearts as we reflect on the lunar-like pulse of  everyday life.

November 28th is a lunar eclipse. Occurring at 2:34 in the afternoon, UT/+0, this eclipse is positioned at 6 Gemini. Like all lunar eclipses – all of which are a form of Full Moons – this eclipse will mark an emotional ‘high tide’ moment. For good, for ill, for the delight or the angst of it, feelings, hopes, the very sense of sensation now rides high.

It also fades fairly quickly – in celestial terms, that is. While solar eclipses evolve over three years with their ‘purpose’ (what we are finally led to understand about life) not often understood until very near to the end of that time, lunar eclipses are not only immediate, but short-lived. By three months from now this moment – though not forgotten – will have evolved into something else.

As a degree, the broad brushstrokes on 6 Gemini would involve ideas, mentality, transportation, communication, organization and schedules. It will also involve a choice. As life has taught us certainly of late, sometimes the ‘obvious’ ability to choose is taken out of our hands. But the choice of how to deal with whatever life hands us? That often remains ours even when someone (or something) else has already checked all the boxes.

Narrowing the Gemini field a bit more, 6 Gemini is one of those degrees which is very divided. With some degrees the Gemini choice is ‘do this…or do that?’ or ‘this first…or that first?’. But here the choice is far more stark – it’s simply between feelings and what we might refer to as ‘thoughtful’ or ‘intellectualized’ mentality.

Interestingly, this degree also speaks of a tendency to understand the ‘surface’ of a subject, but not go into it with all that much depth. There is a desire here to ‘just get on with it’ and to ‘get it done’ which can cause a great deal of trouble simply when that very lack of depth which manifests as a drive for analytical functionality actually ends up destroying relationships.

Lacks exhibited or experienced at this time are likely to feel like dim-wittedness or stupidity. But they’re not. They’re simply a result of lack of integration…which brings us back to that age-old story of the Gemini Twins, Castor and Pollux.

And maybe that's also been a choice. Then again, maybe not.

The full tale of the Gemini Twins is told HERE, as part of the May 2012 Solar Eclipse post. In case you're short on time, we'll cut to the chase here and just go with the idea of how Pollux – the intellectual and immortal twin (Castor is emotional and mortal) gives his own life to save his brother by trading that life ‘in reality’ for an eternal life among the stars.

This isn’t an easy lesson or idea. And though many of us are more comfortable with intellect or emotionality, the Gemini ‘choice’ (and Gemini is all about what we choose to do-or-be or not to do-or-be) only reaches ‘immortal status’ when we sacrifice a bit of one thing in the creating of the whole something which lasts…and which we can forever admire.

And this isn’t about ‘me versus them.’ This is about our regulation of our Self and of our own mentality and emotions.

6 Gemini points out the flaw in being one thing or the other. It brings out the flaws in putting all our emotions in one place and all our intellectual, rational thinking in another.

It brings out the challenge in integrating the want and the idea, and how that means there things about being a human being which are just downright tough.

All these issues – garbed in the guise of whatever is going on in your life (and life in general) – are what is likely to come to the surface now. So what’s likely to happen? Answer: anything which provokes these tendencies on each of our parts…and everything which has become problematic because of our tendency to act in this manner.

If you have any planet, axis point or node within five degrees of 6 Gemini or any of the ‘hard’ aspects to 6 Gemini (which would be between 1 and 11 degrees of Gemini, Sagittarius, Virgo or Pisces) this eclipse will hit you hardest. But remember – this is not a solar eclipse. So even if you find it changes your attitude or hurts your feelings way deep down to the core, this is not something which is necessarily life changing…merely attitude changing.

 Lunar Eclipse of November 28, 2012 at 2:34 p.m. (UT/+0)

 - Aries Wheel, Location Not Specific -

That doesn’t make it easier to deal with, absolutely not! Lunar eclipses sometimes live to become our most ‘infamous’ moments simply because as people we tend to ‘live’ in our emotions…which is true even for those who think they’re not into emotionalism. Such people are often so sensitive that they can’t even deal with emotions – so they run from them lickety-split!

But the essential difference between lunar and solar eclipses certainly stands. Lunar eclipses tend to be about ‘the human experience,’ if you will. Solar eclipses – particularly when they strike your chart with any acuity – mark changes which will change your life. The failed promotion, the romance gone sour is one thing - the lunar eclipse thing. The illness which cripples you, or the loss of a family member – that changes your life and your orientation towards life. That’s a solar eclipse.

That as this eclipse occurs the Moon (at 6 Gemini) is conjunct Atropos (endings), Hybris (arrogance) and Scheherazade (the story told) on one side and Black Moon Lilith and Aldebaran (integrity) on the other is also interesting. The Atropos-Hybris-Scheherazade side of things sounds very much like the ‘end of some self-serving tale’…but is that the end of the tale, or is that our ending our belief in something we’ve been told?

Certainly with Black Moon Lilith and Aldebaran at 8 and 9 Gemini respectively, this can go either way. Black Moon Lilith is being denied by society (or social groups) or denying some truth you’re being told by society or some group. Either way, the Black Moon has to do with some sort of rejecting or rejection – that’s the Lilith quality. But with the (Gemini) choice here being ours, this may be something we choose to reject, or which because of our choice we get rejected for.

Or maybe this happened in the past, so we choose to think that, or in that way. Or we thought some choice was the right choice…which maybe hasn’t turned out to be true.

Now that we have that much down, let’s add in the eclipse’s subtext and complications…

They come to us in the form of two planetary pictures, the first of which is a t-square.

Because t-squares always go in a zodiacal “forward” direction placing the ‘hurdle’ of the t-square in the middle, this one begins with the Sun – our consciousness, our conception. With this Sun being placed in Sagittarius, the ‘theme’ here would be ‘how we think things work’ or ‘how things work,’ depending.
With the Sun (by degree) we have Tantalus, an emblem of what we’re tempted by…or tempted to try and get away with, knowing on both counts that whatever it is, we probably “shouldn’t.”

But we’re pretty fixed – or maybe fixated, even obsessed with what we’re doing, our opinion, how we want things to be or with some notion that we can make it work and have our ‘tantalization’ work in our favor. All of this comes courtesy (if that’s the word!) of Antares, one of those infamously famous royal stars.

With Antares, the lesson is that we succeed ONLY when we don’t get obsessed. But with Tantalus in this mix…?

Right away this begins to suggest that anything which has (past tense) been based on what we thought we could get away with, or what we wanted to be true, or what we wanted to feel we were entitled to do regardless…anything we’ve done or set in motion to be built based on this sort of headstrong premise hits a bump in the road now. Your whole apple cart may even get overturned.

But that doesn’t mean we don’t want what we want, as someone once put it to me. And many of us are going to make that choice now – apparently with the division of feelings from rational thinking contributing to the mix.

The ‘t’ in a t-square being that thing we need to get past or get ‘over’ in ourselves (generally at an ego level) is composed of Lilith (emotional denial), Fomalhaut (success only where the process or goal isn’t corrupt, corrupted or corruptive), Chiron (vulnerabilities of the ‘healer, heal thyself’ type) and Niobe, the emblem of ‘pride goeth before the fall’ and all that.

In this grouping, Chiron stands out as Chiron symbolizes all those things which we don’t want to do even though not doing them is hampering us or otherwise getting in our way. Typically, when we see other people doing our Chiron thing we think they’re idiots. Let someone else quail from doing our Chiron thing and we’ll tell them ‘that’s what you SHOULD be doing!’ with nary a qualm.

Chiron is where we stumble over our own ego and our own reluctance and our own vulnerabilities and insecurities. So to have Chiron at the ‘t’ of a t-square makes it pretty obvious that there’s a reluctance to do something we know (deep inside) we really need to do. In Pisces, the overall definition is ‘not just feeling your feelings, but feeling how you feel ABOUT your feelings and getting in touch which where and how your feelings came to be.’

All of that is dangerous emotional ground. After all, many of us flinch at the whole idea of changing emotional course. What will people think? Or how about that tendency so many of us have to not want to question anything about our parents? Or our children? Or our spouse? Or our faith? Or our culture?

Pisces also represents long term and end-of-life situations. How many of us are able to deal at all well with death? How many of us have dealt with the loss of people we’ve loved all that well? Even when we simply ‘lose’ someone in the sense of a broken marriage or a treasured friendship which has somehow gone awry, that can hurt in ways many of us can’t bring ourselves to face.

Again, because this pertains to the lunar eclipse, the question here is whether you have dealt with both the rational and emotional quotients. Discovering where they may have parted ways and dealing with that would be a really good way to solve this t-square. As would be the letting go of whatever (Niobe) pride defenses you may have put up. After all, who are they really limiting?

The ‘goal’ in this t-square is what we talked about initially in terms of this lunar eclipse. Combining the (Pisces) t-square with the eclipse, this suggests that compulsions or feeling you ‘had no other choice’ was really your not wanting to deal with the emotions which would have gone with some other choice.

And then we come to the Yod.

The Yod which goes with this lunar eclipse appears to be particularly challenging - and potent so. Known as one of the most ‘fated’ feeling images in all astrology, which is interesting in and of itself seeing that Yods are composed of two 150-degree aspects which focus on a single point (in this case, the Moon and Black Moon Lilith, the denying of others or society...or to be denied by them).

In operational terms, Yods tempt us to remain at the ‘point’ of the ‘Y’. And seeing that 150-degree aspects (known as 'inconjuncts') denote "adjustments" which need to be made, while there's an argument to be made for people not liking being made to do anything (yes, well...we are human!) the Yod pictures a singular sort of understanding that we've been....well, maybe 'cornered' is the best word.

Hence the 'fated' part. Some people feel life is 'fated' because they don't want to make the effort (or deal with the emotional fracas) which standing up and being your own person involves. Then again, sometimes life really does lead us to a place where we don't have any other choice but to change.

Both are very Yod-like. 

As for this Yod, the factors which are with us now are delineated by the two points (or here, groupings) which form the ‘cup’ of the ‘Y’…which here is Pluto-Mars-Facies in Capricorn on one side and Venus, Hebe, Medea and Saturn on the other side in Scorpio.

Being that Gemini is an assertive (yang) sign and Capricorn and Scorpio are both responsive-receptive (yin) signs, the (Sun/Tantalus) temptation here will be to (Gemini) choose to negate or deny what others say, what the (Capricorn) rules and standards are, what others (Scorpio) need or want…even the (Scorpio) right of others to be treated as equals and a participant in the conversation.

And even when we go to the “solution” for a Yod – which involves going to the midpoint between the two ‘Y’ points, what’s that? That’s Sagittarius. In fact…isn’t that the Sun-Tantalus-Antares position we just talked about?

Yes, as a matter of fact, it is. With the eclipse at 6 Gemini the technical opposition is 6 Sagittarius, a degree all about being of service. Anything else goes unrewarded or is – ultimately – unrewarding.

Which in a sense does give us an answer here. If this ‘service is the path’ is the solution to the Yod, that means the solution to the Yod …AND whatever quandary we face now is found through starting with an attitude of service, even if you interpret that as ‘do yourself a favor…’ or being of service to yourself.

Once there, then we work through the t-square.

And if you think about it, that probably truly does describe the difference between the original choice to deny what others say and what we don’t want to hear and…will I stop holding on to some form of denial about what I need to be in this life? Will I let go of the stories I’ve been telling myself?

It’s an interesting moment, this eclipse. Hopefully it brings you some insights and ways to get hold of your challenges, becoming more productive in the process.

Whatever happens, at least enjoy it. Lunar eclipses are fascinating. They give us a moment to reflect – and moments to reflect on.
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