Draconids 2013

Comet 21P (Giacobini-Zinner) as photographed by NASA-JPL

The Draconid meteor shower begins on October 2nd and runs through the 16th, peaking around October 7th through the 9th.

Astrologically (which is to say, metaphysically), should we care?

Well, maybe.

The comet responsible for the Draconids is Giacobini-Zinner, so named because it’s one of those lovely little objects which got discovered twice: the first time in the year 1900 by Michel Giacobini, and the second time in 1913 by Ernst Zinner (hence the name).

Known in astronomical terms as 21P (a lovely designation, don’t you think?) Giacobini-Zinner was discovered while traveling through Aquarius. And that’s an interesting “commentary” (metaphysical commentary, I mean) because the actual radiant point for Giacobini-Zinner lies in constellation Draco (the dragon), a constellation which in Earth terms is oriented towards the pole – Earth’s north pole, to be exact.

  Constellation Draco - Image produced in Stellarium

In astrology, Draco is probably best known for a star named Thuban which, contrary to what you might think is located down in the constellation’s “tail.”

Thuban as superimposed on the globe of the Earth

in Solar Fire's Planetarium module

Thuban is a star which evokes the desire to…or need to protect or act as a guardian for something precious. Or at least something you think of as precious. That can be something physical, materialistic, spiritual, emotional or coming from some sort of reference to knowledge. Thus Thuban can apply to something you are or some physical attribute you want to ‘protect’ …it can refer to one of your gifts. It can refer to something you do, something you want to be, or something you understand which you want to be careful with – or about. Thuban can refer to a person in your life, or how you handle some relationship. It can refer to a goal, a job, a belief system, something you’ve been working on…

It’s a very encompassing star.

Located (currently) at 6 Virgo, Thuban exudes a quality of ‘the prize, the gift, the ability’ which you own or experience before coming to grips with or even recognizing the cost of. And because of this, Thuban is associated with people who burn out early. Or people who show great promise but who can’t ‘guard’ their treasure. Thuban asks us to figure out how to guard that which is worth guarding and to fine the (Virgo) proper ways and avenues through which to utilize our advantages without squandering our opportunities.

And that goes very well with the sense of Draco the dragon rather well – as does the fact that this star which is part of the ‘tail of the dragon’ is also one of the stars which has been Earth’s pole star.

Earth's precessional pole star cycle with dates noted for when each of the stars

will be our planet's northern "guiding light," a reference which goes to the

difference between that which is 'heady' or 'head strong' and that which we do

in a most thoughtful and considered manner, drawing on what we might think of

as 'the best of all worlds' in our Self...and in the greater sense of THE world.

Our current pole star is Polaris – a star which refers to our ability to be a leader…or to be led. Or maybe even led on by something – some desire, some image, some something.

But when the full ‘tale of the tail’ is told…then we come to Thuban and learn how to ‘do it for real.’ So at some level what we feel drawn to ‘aim for’ (Polaris) is part of a cycle – a great and vast cycle which at this point at least, isn’t as careful as it might be.

We may all be prone to doing a bit of squandering, especially since Polaris is currently positioned at 28 Gemini, putting it in conjunction with Betelgeuse, a star which on one hand represents things being made easy…and which on the other hand tempts us to take the easy way out.

No, they’re not always the same.

Metaphysically, these pole stars refer to a cycle by which we learn. Thus the Gemini choices we make to be a leader and make things easier all the way around is most likely going to be the thing which in the end allows us to safeguard our treasure, whatever that may be.

Those who take the easy way out…who maybe don’t make waves, or who opt for that thing which is so tempting and ‘shiny’? They will face Thuban’s price on…well, let’s just call it the ‘back end’ of things.

And that takes us back to Draco, the radiant point for the Draconids. There are two stories behind Draco, both of which speak to this constellation as not being all that nice and twinkly to begin with. The first story had Athena (dispassionate wisdom) killing Draco and tossing the dragon’s body up into the sky for all to see – and one figures, to be warned by. The other reference to Draco comes from the idea of Draco as a ‘fire-breathing creature of the Earth’ – a child of Gaia (earthiness) which is associated with Typhon, that most primal of titan (titanic) instincts.

Whether we’re speaking of Typhon the celestial object or Typhon the titan of myth, the references are those which we might think of as ‘core’ and biological. Sleep, sex, food, breath – these are the things of Typhon, as are the fight-or-flight mechanisms concerned with survival.

And when we think of that part of the story – the ‘survival’ level of Typhon against the ‘tale of the tail’ which is Thuban AND Thuban’s current position at 6 Virgo, then we really get to what may be at stake now as we’re moving towards a Scorpio solar eclipse.

Are we being driven by instinct? Are we taking some easy way out or are we being a leader? I’ve had a few situations arise in my own life which highlight this exact sort of thing: do we follow the letter of (Virgo) protocol and custom or do we do that which is right as a person, as a human, as an individual dealing with individual choice of who we want to be and what we are or aren’t willing to take on as part of the challenge involved in being that better person?

Since astrology tends to go with origination charts as the point upon which we build, here’s the (year 1900) discovery chart for Giacobini-Zinner – it’s “natal” chart as far as we’re concerned:

 Discovery chart for Giacobini-Zinner (21p) - Dec 20, 1900 - Nice, France

(Aries Wheel - time unknown)

In this chart, the Sun is at 27 Sagittarius – the current position of the Galactic Center. The Galactic Center is always a point about what we ‘give’ or ‘give out.’ Against this, we have 27 Sagittarius, a degree which is verbal and communicative in nature, and which shows great promise early on, but which often experiences great challenges elicited by jealousy. This is a social degree and one which may tend to focus on how we want things as opposed to the better Sagittarian path, which is all about what works all the way around. Sagittarius always asks us to see whether our ‘idea’ of the thing (the Gemini part of the polarity) works “in the big world of life operations.” So whatever you’re doing, or whatever your (Thuban) treasure is, or whatever ‘prize’ you are in danger of meeting up with the price of – that’s the thing of the moment.

And let’s remember, this is not just about us as individuals – these sorts of influences (speaking of the meteor shower) are entirely and eternally global.

For those not into math, Polaris and Betelgeuse most affect any placement which is between 23 Gemini and 3 Cancer. Maybe more importantly, anyone with celestial objects (particularly the Sun, Moon, Ascendant or Mercury) in strong aspect to Thuban…you’re probably in for something of a ‘heads up’ now, as the ‘price’ you pay may be more than your psyche wants to cash.

(If you know the original expression I’m alluding to there, aren’t you proud of how I converted it?)

So…the aspects to Thuban are:

- 1 Virgo to 11 Virgo. Yes, this is about you. (Sun) Your sense of your own life is the focus. (Mercury) The devil is in the details, for sure. (Moon) Pragmatism is lovely providing you aren’t being so clever that you outsmart yourself! (Ascendant) Following the straight and narrow is fine providing you don’t run yourself right off a moral cliff claiming you “couldn’t.”

- 1 Pisces to 11 Pisces. You need to pay closer attention to who and what you’re dealing with. Or not dealing with.

- 1 Gemini to 11 Gemini (OR) 1 Sagittarius to 11 Sagittarius. Your priorities are going to get challenged. Opting for that you like may be just fine providing what you like is in your best and greater interests. Problems arise where preference gets in the way of realities.

One last set of thoughts here…courtesy of JPL and its lovely Small Body Database browser:

Image courtesy of JPL's Small Body Database

 

I haven’t been able to come up with an install for Giacobini-Zinner’s astrological orbital positioned, but given the above…and that we know that Saturn is in early Scorpio, that Uranus is in the early ‘teen degrees of Aries and that Pluto (at the bottom) is in early Capricorn, that means that 21P (Giacobini-Zinner) is somewhere in Libra.

And that tells us that it is who we are being to others or the quality (high or low) or qualities (nature of presentation) that we are bringing to what we do which is going to be in focus during this meteor shower.

Give or take the fact that the overarching measure of all that we’re going into now has to do with Things Scorpio and whether we’re owning who we are, our issues with security and who or why or how we’re going about forming relationships and negotiating with others and conducting ourselves emotionally. Those of us who have self worth issues which involve denying some problem or that your feelings about something are being driven not by who you actually are but what you want others to think you are…? You’re going to be having bigger problems now – as are those who simply refuse to take anyone else into account. The ‘my way’ folks are likely to be acting out big time now, and in doing so, they’re creating their own karma.

(Don’t you love karma? It’s so the biggest bitch in the universe…!)

At the same time however…and this is where the rather magical quality of metaphysics comes into play…while doing whatever unfeeling thing they may be doing, the ‘I deny your value because I’m just all about only being invested in me’ people are also challenging those who are going along to get along to stand up and do the thing which is right in their own life.

See how that works?

Ain’t the universe grand?
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Saturn, Neptune and Giacobini-Zinner

 A photo of Comet Hyakutake taken on Mach 27, 1966 in Arizona.

Just above and to the right of the comet's head is Polaris, Earth's current 'pole star' (photo credit: NASA)

Every year about this time finds Earth plunging through a comet trail left by Giacobini-Zinner, an object which ‘comes from’ the Aquarian realm of our sky.

I say ‘comes from’ because of course, that’s just the way it looks to us here on Earth. The stars which make up constellations are millions upon millions of miles away. Or billions and billions, as astronomer Carl Sagan use to say in his own charming way. (Yes, I was a fan of the Cosmos series…are you surprised?) But comet Giacobini-Zinner is of far more local. Compared with the stars, it’s positively cozy with us, having a ‘far (aphelion) point’ of 6.014 AU (astronomical units) from the Sun, which means all the far it gets ‘out there’ is to a point between the orbits of Saturn and Jupiter.

Though that may not be ‘far out’ in metaphysical terms – and maybe not even in colloquial terms – this is of interest to us, particularly in this moment where Saturn has moved into Scorpio with planet Mercury playing herald just a couple of days ago. (Which is what Greek god Mercury used to do, by the by.)

In metaphysical terms, to have Saturn ‘escorted’ into Scorpio is something like using REALLY BIG TYPE in bold (and underlined) to get the point across.

At the moment, Giacobini-Zinner is on its way back out towards Jupiter and Saturn, having reached its near point to the Sun (the perihelion point) back in late February-ish, 2012.

To comment here...if late February has any application in your life (like say, if your birthday or your anniversary, or some anniversary of founding a business or something) falls in that realm, then wherever Aquarius is in your natal chart (or the chart of that marriage or company)…that’s probably showing great Saturn-Jupiter fluctuations this year.

 A JPL-generated orbital map showing the orbit of comet Giacobini-Zinner and where it will be (just outside the orbit of Mars) as of October 7, 2012 as Earth moves through the path of the comet's trail - an event we call the Draconid meteor shower.

Would that depend on where Saturn and Jupiter are in your natal chart? Probably. But even without getting that close-up-and-personal, even if we just think about where those two planets are and have been (Jupiter in Gemini, Saturn first in Libra and now in Scorpio), how you have deal on – and with those precepts is probably a pretty fair indication of your relationships with (Aquarian) groups and the general (Aquarian) principle of finding your place in society not as ‘status’ but as a participant…which points to that very important Aquarian concept of income.

With Jupiter in Gemini, one would have to ask if you know your own mind, inclusive of its strong and weak points. Jupiter’s well-known verbosity and tendency to overstate things or to go ‘over the edge’ in a verbal manner play in here as well.

Then we add in two heaping cups of All Things Saturn. In Libra, relationships are the means and our ability to understand others, take them seriously, be honest and upstanding with/to them – all that stuff takes precedence. As does knowing your limits and being able (willing) to take a hint.

As Saturn has reached Scorpio, the combination of Scorpio and Aquarius (speaking strictly in terms of Saturn against this meteoric moment) becomes focal – and that spells finances and your overall value in this world as viewed by others.

Since all meteor showers are ‘sprinkles of information’ this current two-day shower (October 7th and 8th) will tend to give us glimmers on what we mean to others and insights on that old saying ‘by our company we are known’…which with Saturn in Scorpio alludes to personal values.

So…getting any hints about the quality of your friends, companions, family and whatever else?

That would seem to be the message here. Having an orbital cycle of 6.621 years, Giacobini-Zinner seems to be something of a ‘sub-set marker’ of the greater 19.86 year long synodic Saturn/Jupiter cycle. Why? Because 6.621 years times three is 19.863 years, and that’s pretty much in sync with the cycle on which Saturn/Jupiter meet up with each other (their ‘synodic’ cycle) periodically by transit.

The last such Saturn/Jupiter cycle – the one we’re now in – began back on May 28, 2000. At the time, Saturn and Jupiter were positioned at 22 Taurus and (unbeknownst to us at the time) being conjuncted by Sedna. Which brings up one of the really fascinating things about metaphysics, specifically the phrase ‘unbeknownst to us, the universe is unfolding as it should,’ an idea closely linked to all things happen for a reason.

One of the artists at Caltech has given us this artistic conceptualization of what

dwarf planet Sedna would look like, were we out there in space and close

enough by to observe it.

(artist credit: R. Hurt (Caltech/2004), use courtesy of NASA-JPL-Caltech)

Dwarf planet Sedna was discovered on November 14, 2003 by my personal fave planet hunting trio, David Rabinowitz, Craig Trujillo and Mike Brown. (If you’re a follower of this blog you know I think Mike Brown is mucho cool.)

Obviously still being defined and refined as an astrological point, Sedna’s position in the way-far-away (76 AU to 937 AU) districts of our solar system seems to be about all those things which ‘happen to us’ in life which in evoking a very basic ego-superego-id sort of response ask us to see beyond our self and act for the greater good. Sedna asks that we let go. Sedna asks that we understand that in providing for others, we shall be provided for as part of the All.

And what happened in 2003, with Sedna being discovered at 17 Taurus? It was at that point that the ‘me-ism’ in all things income and finance went ballistically rampant.

Currently, Sedna is positioned at 23 Taurus and we’re all dealing with the excesses and individuals and societal forces alike being unwilling to recognize that for anyone to succeed, for our planet to thrive personally and ecologically, we cannot be focused on ‘the me’ and ‘the my’ and the ‘I want’ and ‘it should be my way just because that’s the way I like-see-need it to be for the sake of my ego-family-preference-plans…’

You get the idea.

22 Taurus has redeeming factors. It requires hard work but alone, hard work isn’t enough. There has to be in what you do an innate ability to inspire confidence in others. You can’t ‘con’ them into believing in you – pretense and pretending won’t work. A lot of people will succeed on one level and not on the other during this 19-year Saturn/Jupiter cycle, which is made more poignant in this moment by the meteor cycle and by Saturn entering Scorpio and by the fact that Saturn is the first ruler of Aquarius (the radiant point for Giacobini-Zinner) AND because come this Thursday, October 11th, Saturn will perfect a transiting trine to Neptune – which is sitting at 0 Pisces and in retrograde.

We've talked some about this already in previous blogs. But with Ceres in trine from Cancer, the question is whether our plans are panning out...whether we will be better if they do pan out - or whether we need to get ourselves a better plan based on who we are versus who we know we should be not because someone else says so, or because that's popular. No, not even because it feels good.

What is it that we should be if we are the very best version of our most honest potentials? Who is that person?

Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci is not just a wonderful

piece of art, but....try imaging this figure as being superimposed

against the wheel of the horoscope. The vertical man is the MC-IC

line - that which we stand upon and the highest goals we can hold

in mind. Our hands outstretched are the Ascendant-Descendant line,

those we reach out to and those we help along. Or, if you prefer, our

grasp on the past as we reach into the future.

The shapes which populate our world and minds are alike for a reason.

It's just up to us to recognize that similarity and, in doing so, to grasp

that we are truly part of this world and thus a contributor to it as much as

a person born to be part of it and who can reaps more than their fair

share at an overage of cost to the whole.

Just to finish up on the Saturn/Jupiter cycle: the next synodic meeting of Saturn and Jupiter occurs on December 21, 2020. It will be in Aquarius, which means the emphasis on ‘me-mine-my’ tangibles will shift into a more theoretical if purely economic-corporate-societal basis at that time. Income, elitism, group-ism, all-things-computerized…the years between 2020 and 2039 are going to test us. Aquarius is supposed to be about universality. Human beings having such an ego drive, we tend to want to make it be about ‘us and them.’

But let’s be aware too…times are changing. We are moving into the Aquarian Age. Over time, the ‘us/them’ thing is going to become a sign of weakness. It’s just going to take time.

So maybe this blog is your ‘sprinkling of sparkling ideas’ about what life yet has to hold. With this week’s transiting trine of Saturn (direct) to Neptune (retrograde) the issue isn’t about ‘life’ but rather how we deal with it and our ability to tolerate our own feelings about where we are in that life which now counts.

We’re about to experience a Solar Eclipse at 21 Scorpio. By being positioned at a degree between 20 and 29, we know without questioning that this is a reference to a change in how others regard us and our values. Or what we do and how they do or don’t feel valued by that. Or whether we have lived up to standards of emotional responsibility (integrity) or not.

Some of us are having our ‘cover’ blown. And it’s not that life has to ‘do’ anything to us – we’re really doing it to ourselves. Wherever we are weakest and the most under-developed, life or others in that life, or forces which are simply part of our lives, they’re revealing those vulnerabilities to us now.

Will you avoid them?

Will you admit to them?

Will you be willing to share your experiences with others?

Are you able to tolerate how you feel about mistakes you’ve made and either change your ways or make amends or simply realize what it says about you…to you…that you did whatever you did.

Never mind others - can you live with you if you are totally and nakedly honest with yourself about who you are and the differences between what you claim to be and what your actions prove you’re willing to say and do?

One last thought here. Asteroid Lilith will go direct at 23 Aquarius (square 22 Taurus) on Wednesday, October 10th. Lilith being all things we would like to ignore, deny, project or put off on others (even blame them for) the collective concept of the meteor shower, the Saturn/Neptune trine and Lilith suggest an unsettled emotional week. That the comet under discussion here - Giacobini-Zinner, which produces the current meteor shower - has just moved past Mars into the asteroid belt, that should also tell us that we will soon be encountering facets of our life, Self and personality we need to understand better and take more into account.

Yes, so in advance of the November Solar Eclipse we would expect things to be unsettled, right?

But will we do anything about it? Are we willing to let down our guard and take on the responsibility for who we are and may have done – or not done when we should have?

I'll do my part if you'll do yours.

Is that a deal?  
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Did Meteors Miss Planet Earth?

A truly great photograph of P1/Comet McNaught

photo credit: Fir002/Flagstaffoto (see link )

  

Most astronomical events happen on a schedule. For example, come every early October, planet Earth passes through two meteor showers. One - the Orionids - we've already discussed. The other, the Draconids usually happens, but hasn't.

So did the meteors miss Earth, or is Earth missing some  meteoric encounter? Either way, to know what might that mean suggests we have to look at the source of the Draconid meteor shower. And that source is a comet - a comet by the name of Giacobini-Zinner (aka 21P), which you may remember from a photo of it posted on this blog a couple of days ago...

 Comet 12P/Giacobini-Zinner

photo source: NASA/JPL-Caltech

So...what are comets? Put in broadest terms, comets are (generally) asteroid-sized objects which because of a collision or getting caught in some planet's magnetic resonance field gets 'thrown' into a highly oblong orbit. That orbit (again, generally) sends it in towards the Sun, in the course of which the comet crosses one (or several) planetary orbital paths. At some point it reaches it's inner orbital apex. And from that 'return point,' it turns around and goes zooming off back towards the icy outer reaches of our solar system.

Metaphysically, we see this as a 'bringing' of some attribute however close(r) to us. A comet is thus a symbolic connector, and the length of it's orbital cycle tells us how often Earth gets treated to new input from whatever the comet's (outer) source point is.

In the case of Giacobini-Zinner, that orbital cycle is 6.621 (Earth) years. And because three cycles of 6.621 years gives us 19.863 (years)...AND the Jupiter/Saturn synodic cycle is 19.86 years, we know these two things are esoterically connected.

Just to review...a synodic cycle concerns how often transiting planets out there in the solar system come to be posed at the same zodiacal degree. Saturn/Jupiter being a pair notorious as signaling a rise or fall of careers, societies, nations, religions, corporations and all other forms of structural expansion/contraction, we know that in missing this meteor shower, this is not the year to expect a lot of change to the ongoing status quo. Things which are changing will, like as not, continue to change. Things which are stuck will probably remain stuck.

The current Saturn in Libra 'attitudes (plus and minus) about how people interact (or need to if they want to succeed) will not change.' Nor will the blockades raised against them. Or the supports supporting them.

The current Jupiter In Pisces (conjunct Uranus) which has manifested throughout 2010 as events and situations which in raising our feelings cause us to actually recognize their power in our own lives and thus their importance in the lives of others will continue. It's been a rocky (and for many upsetting) year and we are being given a signal that those incidents are not likely to abate.

Maybe because we haven't learned enough yet? Maybe so.

So saying, what exactly is the path of Giacobini-Zinner? Answer: it's outermost point is just beyond Jupiter. It's innermost orbital point is pretty much in our Earthly neighborhood...

 An orbital diagram of Giacobini-Zinner 

(spatial relationships not to scientific scale)

This orbit is interesting because its outermost point is beyond Jupiter, but inside of Saturn. That defines it astrologically as something beyond that which we can know but not beyond our ability to do.

The inner point plainly being in the Earthly plane, we are thus told that Giacobini-Zinner is about that we don't know yet or can't be sure of which we still need to learn how to do. It would also tend to say that what we natively are, or what our reality of today is (Earth) needs to be taken beyond what we now know possible.

That would be what we might focus on or be inspired by if the meteor shower which Giacobini-Zinner brings us graced our night skies.

That it isn't a feature of our Earthly experience this year means we aren't going to get inspired. We are also going to struggle with seeing those little 'lights' which referencing the old 'light at the end of the tunnel' sort of thing tends to tell us end of some process is not all that far away.

When discovered back on December 12, 1900, the comet was between the constellations Aquarius and Pisces, emphasizing the 'big picture' and 'realistic results' best aimed at in connection with this object. Though Aquarius can idealize and Pisces is all about yearnings and hope, the core of these signs is all about those things which in being functional, universal and participated in by all are also moral, compassionate and non judgmental. So that our world (and our lives) are filled with examples of life being exactly not that shouldn't surprise us.

On the other hand, it also tells us what we have yet to do in this world. You know...the Saturn/Jupiter command. It is up to decide whether we grow or contract. And while clearly there's a balance to be struck in all things, were Giacobini-Zinner is concerned, there is also the necessity to go beyond our status quo.

Is life changing for you, or remaining the same? Take your cue from that - and look ahead. That which isn't fun or isn't what we precisely don't personally like isn't always bad. Sometimes it's just about our unwillingness to grow beyond our own egocentric (Pisces) view of this (Aquarian) world.

No meteor shower...no break in an ongoing process. So we keep on keeping on, one and all.