You Were Searching ...

Fixed star Alcyone as it appears in in the Pleiades Star Cluster

(photo credit: NASA, ESA, AURA/Caltech, Palomar Observatory, November 2009)

It being the end of this calendar year, I thought to write something a bit different ... something totally about you, the readers - and what’s been on your mind.

And how would I know what’s on your mind?

If you’re just a casual blog reader (which is to say, you’re someone who doesn’t write a blog) you may not know what goes on ‘behind the scenes.’ (And it’s certainly not necessary that you do!) But there are a few interesting noodles in that pot. For instance - when you set up a blog, not only do you get all the software tools needed to set up posts (or at least all the tools your blogging platform thinks you need) ... but at least at Blogger, you also get access to several pages of fairly non-exotic analysis reports.

Before you get worried, none of that data is at all specific. We-the-bloggers don’t know who you are, nor where any given comment is coming from.

But one thing they do give us is a list of search terms - you know, those things you type in your browser’s search bar which brings up the slew of options. Depending on what site you choose, a lot of those sites get ‘one liner’ lists of what you were searching for.

Yes, it’s data collection - if in this case (which is to say in the bloggers hands) harmless data collection ... unless you’re unhappy to know that from all I’ve seen it seems nobody uses capitals when they type a search string!

Anyway, those searches are the motivation for this post. I have a list of search terms and am just going to take a shot at answering or commenting on some of them. Who knows, this may even inspire some highly creative future search strings - to which point I have to warn you about one thing: Blogger (Google) only delivers about thirty characters (including spaces) ... which means a few of the missives I’ve collected got cut off, which is a shame as one or two of them looked intriguing.

But if you don’t know the question ... hey, it’s hard to write an answer.

Also - a little disclaimer here. Charts are a unified and connected set of factors: we are not solely our conscious (Sun) mind any more than we are fully defined by the (Mercury) way we speak, what (Venus) flavor of ice cream we prefer or what (Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, etc.) things have happened to us along the way.

That said, I do love your search terms. So let’s try this on with a first handful of search terms ...

Pholus in the 11th House Natal
Pholus is a centaur. So as with all centaur symbols, its effects are first and last about our ability to deal with our own emotionalism, particularly when we have (or have had) any amount of factual or intellectually based training which could (and which maybe should) be what we rely on as opposed to flying off the handle or otherwise throwing the calm-minded baby out with the hot (or at least overheated) ‘idea of the thing’ bath water.

Specific to Pholus, this centaur quandary becomes a choice: as we choose to not take some challenge on thoughtfully, we imbed ourselves in some position about what ‘should be,’ ‘should be done,’ or how things ‘should work.’ Yet in doing that, we limit our Self by choosing not to use some ability we have worked hard to learn. Were we not so wrapped up in some emotionally protective position (which can but doesn’t have to have anything to do with how truly important or not important the issue is) as to instinctually fall back into older habits we would recognize the thing we aren’t doing is more important or far-reaching than that which we are ‘sitting on’ (or holding on to).

And as in mythic terms, that bias itself is poisonous - at least in (or to) the moment.

Taking that to the eleventh house, adding in the house concept adds the issue of Pholus either as that which drives us to cling to or retreat from (or possibly wall out) some idea, person, group, organization or other ‘collective’ which we ‘belong to’ or are ‘seen as’ (social groups, our society, a company or business association, etc.), all of which have to do with ‘fitting in’ and/or being identified and/or rewarded for what you do as an individual. Given this, Pholus in the 11th can manifest as whatever those feelings are which prompt us to hang back in spite of our ability to do, help or connect with others - or with some challenge or situation.

Or it can be the experience of having others (those we want to connect to) refuse to help us or join in some cause which ultimately proves ‘fatal’ (not necessarily literal) to something or someone’s aim, belief or position. Pholus in the 11th can even point to attributes and ways in which we sabotage our Self by not bringing our best understanding or knowledge or ability to the table because we think there will be some advantage to us in hiding it. 

2017 Eclipse Area of Path
There will be two solar eclipses during the year 2017. The first one will be at 8 Pisces and the second will be at 28 Leo. Here are the eclipse maps:

Solar Eclipse of February 26, 2017 (UT/+0) at 8 Pisces ...

an Eclipse Map for the Solar Eclipse at 8 Pisces which will occur on

February 26, 2017 at 14:59 (2:59 p.m.) UT/+0

... and the Solar Eclipse of August 21, 2017 (UT/+0) at 28 Leo.

an Eclipse Map for the Solar Eclipse at 28 Leo which will take place on

August 26, 2017 at 18:31 (6:31 p.m.) UT/+0

Mars opposition Ixion
Without reciting the whole Ixion myth (a post on which you can read HERE), in short Ixion represents some lesson or standard that we don’t learn or refuse to accept or hold ourselves to which, after multiple incidences, ends badly (for us, that is).

With Mars in opposition, assertion, assertiveness, actions, anger and/or ‘injuries’ (however you see the term) becomes the means by which Ixion is ‘set off’ (i.e., triggered) - and that could be your action or anger triggering your own ‘I don’t care I want it anyway’ Ixion tantrum, it could be someone else triggering you, or it could be your choice to do or say things which triggers someone else.

If this is a natal chart placement, as with all natal placements it’s important to note the sign on the cusp of the houses Mars and Ixion are both placed in, and how well or unhappily the planets ruling those signs are in the given chart. If one of those rulers is well placed and the other is badly placed that will tend to ‘color’ this configuration either positively or negatively, and with Mars being a personal (self motivated) symbol and a planet (not an asteroid, not a dwarf planet - a full-fledged planet!) it is likely that any native with this placement is going to face issues about control, through how this manifests will be individual.

Wherever we see Ixion we are going to be prone to some degree of feeling helpless - at least now and again. Ixion’s placement (by house) also tends to say something about where we tend to not like having responsibility. The real positive of this type of configuration is that with Mars in opposition there is an in-built ability to govern the Self which is admirable and often successful even if others fail to flourish. But signs matter a lot here. Given that Ixion is currently in late Sagittarius and how Ixion moves rather at a similar rate as Pluto does we know that there are a lot of people with Ixion in Scorpio out there, and if Mars is in opposition to Ixion in Scorpio, that’s going to mean Mars is (in all likelihood) in Taurus - a position which in opposition to Ixion wouldn’t have Mars-the-Assertive in its most altruistic mode ... and which could easily result in displays of defensiveness which are not the act of the noble warrior defending others but much more about personal feelings of vulnerability.

Does the Alcyone Star Change Over Time
The nature of fixed stars as star symbols doesn’t change over time any more than the symbolic meaning of Venus changes as it moves from sign to sign or degree to degree. Astrology is in some ways very much like playing with a color wheel: if we think of Venus as yellow and it’s in some sign we think of as blue, the result is green - which differs from what we would get if (yellow) Venus was in a “red” sign, which would give us an “orange” result.

So no - the meaning of Alcyone, a star which is both a mystical influence and one which is connected to the ‘point’ of any choice (i.e., its result or consequence) plus whatever ‘judgments’ evolve from there, some of which are likely to be strict or restrictive in nature.

As for its rate of motion, Alcyone moves slowly from degree to degree as all stars do. Currently positioned at 0 Gemini, Alcyone reached that degree in 1999 and will remain positioned at 0 Gemini until the year 2070, lending to the Alcyone ‘nature’ some measure of 0 Gemini’s habit of starting on the ‘dark side’ (or in some sort of “negative mode”) before improvement occurs and a more productive/positive note is adopted at a (Gemini) thinking level - a quality those with natal points conjunct 0 Gemini (i.e., between 25 Taurus and 5 Gemini) probably know a good deal about!

Sexual Aquarius Man in Lilith
Apart from the fact that this search snippet sounds rather like a personals advertisement, I admit it - I’m perplexed as to how a man (or a woman, for that matter) can be “in” a celestial point, be that Lilith or anything else until there comes the day when humans are residing on asteroids - in which case, I suppose someone could live underground (rather like hobbits do) and thus they could be said to be living in Lilith.

File under: intriguing but unanswerable.

Venus is in 3 degrees of Libra
When I see a search term like this, I always wonder whether someone is trying to look up something in their own natal chart or if they’re trying to understand someone they like (and who they probably want to like them).

Be that as it may, this is Venus in one of its two signs of rulership - so this is Venus in a potent position by sign, whether or not that potential tends to play out well, or not so positively (that part of the question being answered by where Venus is in the chart, the ruler of the sign on the cusp of the house Venus is in and how Venus is aspected by other planets and things like the lunar nodes).

As for 3 Libra, this is a degree likely to exhibit some of the unique or “alternative” qualities we associate with Black Holes as there’s a giant Black Hole at 1 Libra, so don’t look for this Venus to manifest as marked preferences for the classic and traditional  unless everybody else is decidedly non-traditional. Beyond that, this is one of those Libra degrees which calls for connecting to that which is supportive without taking away the necessity to act, lest nothing happen. 

Handled properly and supported by the whole of a productive chart, 3 Libra (and thus Venus in 3 Libra) can be a signature of achievement and success ... it just doesn’t guarantee it.

Aries Nasty Facts
When I saw this search string I laughed. I so wasn’t sure whether someone was looking for information on what their flaws might possibly be ... or if they were looking to hassle some personally known Aries person.

In any case, let’s be honest here - every sign has a nasty underbelly. That’s just the nature of internal sign polarities just as it’s the nature of opposition sign polarities.

As for Aries specifics, if the positive is assertion, the negative is aggression, violence, anger and self-righteousness. If the positive is self-motivation and self-direction, the negative is bossiness and presumptive judgment directed at others.  Confidence is another Aries positive - and one which can be utterly drowned out by stunning displays of Aries ego or some tendency to indulge in ‘it’s all about me’ bragging.

Does Alex Miller Astrologist Use Fixed Stars?
Not that I remember. Alex and I haven’t caught up of late (which is to say I don’t know what it’s working on at the moment) but to my knowledge he works a great deal with ‘personal asteroids’ and galactics (black holes,quasars, masers, etc.) ... but I don’t recall Alex working much with fixed stars.

Orcus Represents Betrayal
Not exactly - except in the sense that Orcus starts as a representation of finality, specifically the type of finality we might associate with death, be it physical or the ‘death’ of faith in an idea, the ‘death’ of a relationship or some project - even the ‘death’ of a job.

If it’s over, in the moment when we recognize it’s over and not going to rise again, that’s when we are dealing with the Orcus dynamic, a quality and the experiencing or grasping what has been lost as we wonder about what lies ahead because of that. Just the process of facing what can’t be changed is Orcus, as is the realization about what having something ‘set in stone’ may be.

You know, the inevitable consequences ... the possible ripple effects ... and all those things which may (or are likely) to happen as a result of something we have chosen, done, committed ourselves to ... all such things are part and parcel of the Orcus Effect.

So ... does Orcus represent the act of betrayal? Not unless it applies to us - which is to say, not unless we believe we have betrayed our own purpose, beliefs or standards. Orcus is not the act per se, which is why it’s hard to associate Orcus with betrayal.

But dealing with the consequences of a betrayal? Realizing that you have been betrayed?

Yes, those would be Orcus-like ... or if I may be allowed to coin a term here, such moments would be Orcusonian.

What is the Venus of 9-15-1979
As of noon (UT/+0 time) on the indicated date, Venus was at 27 Virgo 45.

Do you need a complete chart? If so, there are websites listed in the sidebar where you can cast a horoscope for free.

Constellation Aries

 

4 Major Stars in Aries Constellation
Aries is generally known for three stars, all of which were originally used for navigation purposes. The brightest of the three is alpha Arietis or El-Nath, a star astrologers know as Hamal and which was involved in the April 2014 solar eclipse.

Beta Arietis (beta Aries) is a star known traditionally as Mesarthim or El-Scheratain. Said to have a Mars (plus) Saturn nature, this star is said to bring tough or hard/harsh results where there is a lack of thought or consideration of consequences.

Botein is a star known to astronomers as delta Arietis. Traditionally Botein is also known as Nir al Botain, a name which was brought into Latin as Lucida Ventris (meaning ‘the brightest of the belly’) which gives Botein an interesting association with 41 Arietis, an Aries star well known in Vedic and Chinese astrology (if not in western/tropical astrology) under the name Bharani.

The term ‘major’ stars may or may not apply here as none of these stars are (for instance) considered royal stars as Antares or Regulus is. But in the constellation of Aries these are the four stars which by and large come to the top of the astrologer’s list, so I hope this answers the search.

JSM Dancer - Who is Justsomemotion
To the question ‘who is he?,’ I have no answer other than the obvious: a very talented guy who has posted some dance videos on YouTube.

And yes, I wrote about JSM - in last year’s New Years Eve post, as it happens.

- link to post -

Product Astrology:

Justsomemotion(JSM) + YouTube

But as to your search? He’s not here. But because I’ve seen this question so many times I did go into the back of the blog and turned over a few digital rocks to check.

He didn’t appear, cleanly binary floor or no.

So sorry ... I can’t help with this one.

Gemini and Virgo Sexually
Apart from having to resist the urge to stick a comma into that search string, and though I will guess that the searcher was thinking in terms of Sun signs, the generics here really apply no matter what set of planets or points is applied.

First of all, Gemini and Virgo are two signs which are natively in square to each other, which astrologically speaks to two very different tendencies: that of bonding together as a team and that which we might think of as two cars arriving at an intersection at the same time with both drivers wanting to go first. And that this should be true with two signs which are both ruled by the same planet (Mercury) is one of those things which really underscores how important astrological qualities like element and modality really are.

Virgo is an earth sign: the Virgo energetic works through tangible drives and tangible results with a lot of ‘working with what we have or can get our hands on’ strung between. All things Virgo pertain to things which can be done in terms of how it’s done, inclusive of function, functionality and morality, though nothing about Virgo intrinsically says any of that has to be positive. (You might think that, but no ... it just isn’t so!)
Against all this, Gemini is not an earth sign - Gemini is an air sign, meaning all things Gemini evolve from an idea and exist in theory or  as a concept.  Gemini’s world is all about ideas and anyone with Gemini planets will explore those ideas - within the Self and with others - in terms of the planetary energy Gemini is focused through.

Ceres Cancer 21.09
I’m taking the above search string to mean ‘Ceres at 21 Cancer 09’ with an invisible “What does it mean that Ceres is at 21 Cancer?’ stuck behind.

That declared, Ceres is both a guardian of those involved in a process and the importance of the process or plan itself. The mythic Ceres is often written about as a harvest goddess - but the astrological Ceres seems to have as much to do with how we get something from ‘seed’ to that ‘harvest’ as anything else.

As for 21 Cancer, it represents some sort of challenge to one’s nature (or with Ceres, to some process) which may look like simple rebellion - and if rejection of ‘that’ is all that’s going on, often not much in the way of positive outcomes tend to result. Better outcomes are found with this combination where plans get made and carried out with a set of aims having been decided upon which includes some degree of clarity as to why not just the aim but how you get there matters.

South Node conjunct Antares
The south lunar node being what is always ‘easy’ for us to do. It may be what we ‘know,’ or it may be what we were were ‘brought up with.’ It can even be something which we have a knack for - that informal and mysterious ‘knowledge’ which is just about who we are.

Wherever the South Node falls in our chart, that is an area of life we will find ‘easy’ - which isn’t to say it’s all good. Considering how the nodes always refer to our ability to ‘relate,’ (be that to people, a nation, ideas, career paths - or anything else), the sign that the South Node is in (and the planet which rules it) are always important, but something which is also to be taken in hand as the lesson of the nodes is to do that which isn’t easy and which isn’t hard - which may tell us all something about relationships in general.

In conjunction with Antares (one of the royal stars of Persia) the instruction is that things will go well providing we don’t do one ... little ... very particular thing - which with Antares is ‘obsess.’

And with Antares currently positioned at 9 Sagittarius this tendency is strong, as 9 Sagittarius is known for its fiery and enthusiastic - sometimes over-enthusiastic (read: over-focused) qualities.

So we put these ideas together and come up with the following: to have Antares conjunct the South Node makes it easy to get over-focused on things, on people, on how you feel about things or people - and none of that is likely to help. Depending on the placement/sign of Jupiter in such a chart, someone with this sort of placement might also be charismatic (though they may not know it). Or they may become someone who comes to rely on their charisma as a way to get along ... which lore says eventually won’t be ‘enough.’

(By itself, that is.)

Solar Eclipse Scorpio 3/9 Axis
Any solar eclipse which strikes a cusp (axis or otherwise) ‘explodes’ the current perception or operation of that house, often through something which you can directly attribute to meaning(s) associated with the planet which rules the sign on that cusp.

As with all solar eclipses, whatever comes of that ‘exploding’ the old (which makes way for the new, however happy or reluctant we are about it) will take a full three years (36 months) from the time of the eclipse to either come to fruition or ‘stabilize’ either in reality and real time or as a concept we’re willing to pursue to its aim. Also, the more tightly we try to hold onto or preserve the ‘old,’ the more difficulty we are likely to experience.

And that’s (in all likelihood) a bit of a challenge here, as Scorpio is well known for its difficulty not so much with physical change as with changes of an emotional nature (or the nature of one’s emotionality). It’s somewhat easier if we are the one initiating the change and somewhat more problematic if change is being thrust upon us.

At least that’s what we feel - with there truly being some chance that a solar eclipse striking either end of the 3/9 (mentality versus expansion) axis being a peculiar situation where you can see where something else might be better, but you can’t quite get there emotionally - and the process of understanding that (on the inside) as well as what you are doing/trying to do on the outside becomes a long-term dual journey. As well, depending on which end of this axis line is struck, something which is already in progress may be abandoned - at least for now or in the form that it is in.

As always, all things Scorpio test our understanding of Self, our will to be who we are (and to make something of that) while recognizing that the difficulties we encounter through others (however that may manifest) may well be about them, but at the same time it’s also about us - we attract people, things and situations which test our capacity, our tolerance and our (emotional) willingness to develop our Self so that others will want to “fight” with us - not against us.

* * * * * * * * * *

So that's it for now, leaving me to close with a sincere hope that we all enjoy a safe and happy beginning of 2015.

Here's to life, love and peace!

* * * * * * * * * *

(P.S. this was fun for me - so you keep searching and I'll see about working in some time to post signposts along your road!)
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Astrologer’s Diary: Political Times

One of the photo's from NASA's 'Earth at Night' series (2012)

Initially I thought of this post as a form of ‘update’ to a piece logged into the astroPPM flow as of January 11, 2011, namely ‘2011’s Fixed Star Eclipses and the Eclipsing of the US Congress’ which for a mélange of reasons likely obvious and inexplicable has been wrested from relative reader obscurity to the position of number one all-time read post here at the blog.

Mind you...all this happened without anyone so much as commenting or sending me an email. But being not insensible to interests being expressed (and well aware of the sudden swelling of noise, discord and violence around our world) lists were duly compiled, birth data was dug out, charts were cast and research was begun.

What turned up?

Something which though not entirely comfortable, is highly informative - if you consider things from the metaphysical perspective, that is.

First, a full and proper confession: I did not pull charts on every last living member of the US Congress. There are hundreds of congress people and not even a dedicated researcher such as myself was up for that task.

So what list was used? Simple: the US Congress has two houses - the House of Representatives and the Senate. If you head either chamber, you went on my list (hello, Senator Reid and Representative Boehner) with the same ‘invitation’ being extended to majority and minority leaders and their respective party whips.

(No, I’m not going for that joke. That's just too easy.)

After that came a group of congress people thought of as Those Who Stand in Front of Cameras. In other words, if you’re a member of Congress whose name has become engraved amidst the folds of my gelatinous if retentive brain merely because you show up on the news all the time, you were on my list.

To those of you who are students of astrology I will answer what is often the next question I gets asked about such studies: where do you start? My answer is generally ‘anywhere,’ though dates (or ranges of dates) help, as that will give you a time period in which to look for planetary stations, eclipses or some other ‘celestial notice’ to test against your mass of charts.

Which is what I did, with the celestial notice in question being April’s 8 Taurus Solar Eclipse, an eclipse which occurred in conjunction with fixed stars Schedir and Hamal.

- link to -

April’s 8 Taurus Solar Eclipse

(Pt. 3: Stars and Patterns)

What I found was that there was a definite split by party. While by no means a 100% occurrence...which is not to say every Republican and/or every Democratic members was affected, nor would those which were ‘hit’ by the eclipse affected identically...there was indeed a pattern: if aspected by the eclipse, Republican congressperson charts tended to be aspected by conjunction or opposition as opposed to the eclipse squaring objects in the charts of Democratic congress people.

Here are a few examples...

Speaker of the House, John Boehner (Republican)

November 17, 1941 - Reading, Ohio - Aries Wheel (glyph chart)

Speaker of the House, John Boehner (Republican)

November 17, 1941 - Reading, Ohio - Aries Wheel (text chart)

With Mercury at 6 Scorpio, the 8 Taurus eclipse was in opposition, indicating testing situations and trying interpersonal matters, all of which have to do with the ability, manner, purpose or denial of [Scorpio] profitable connections, all of which would have been in what might be called ‘oppositional focus.’

Because no time is given for Speaker Boehner’s birth, no Moon is shown in his chart. However, given its position at dawn (2 Scorpio), unless the Speaker was born in the first few hours after midnight (say, by 4 in the morning) his Moon will be in Scorpio and will also be involved in the opposition by eclipse - which would be a rough emotional ride for anyone.

Heroes and villains alike have quailed under such pressures.

Moreover, Mr. Boehner isn’t out of the celestial woods as yet. Also highlighted in his chart is Juno (the principle of ‘management’ or ‘protecting the use of XYZ through proper application of management’) at 28 Libra, a degree which brings up one’s ‘mental culture,’ particularly where integrity, honesty and willingness to try/work/make an honest effort are concerned.

This Libra Juno is going to be eclipsed by October 2014’s 0 Scorpio solar eclipse.

And yes, that will be by conjunction.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Republican)

June 6, 1963 - Richmond, Virginia - Aries Wheel (glyph chart)

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Republican)

June 6, 1963 - Richmond, Virginia - Aries Wheel (text chart)

When House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his recent bid for re-election in the preliminary (primary) round, everyone was shocked. Everyone who didn’t have his chart, that is. Eclipses atop Black Moon Lilith are all about a ‘mass rejection’ whether that’s by others or by us. With the natal Black Moon in Scorpio anything which promotes or provokes emotions or emotionality (or emotional responses) is the venue - and with Black Moon Lilith conjunct Sabine (a point which can mean ‘raped’ but more often refers to a confinement or some sort of restriction) in the natal chart, when added to the idea that Mr. Cantor’s primary fell within the purview of Neptune’s early June 7 Pisces station, Neptune opposition Pluto (transformation) + Ceres (standing for defense) + Hebe(helping) + Deucalion (independent morality) + Child (physical children, childhood, immaturity, innocence)... that would seem to be the ‘recipe’ for voters evidently feeling Mr. Cantor was (reportedly) “too liberal” on immigration (that being the Neptune opposition) and too “out of touch” with their needs... which caused him to be ‘eclipsed’ (voted) out of office.

The charts above are less typical than some in that they have dual signals, but they are fairly typical of Republican charts as sampled...with the caveat that yes, those who would speak out (be seen on the news) would probably be those people whose charts were being eclipsed and who experienced that as passionate experiences, be they pro or con. And on the other (Democratic) side we have charts like this - the chart of Representative Nancy Pelosi, who was Speaker of the House last time the Democrats controlled that chamber:

Representative Nancy Pelosi (Democrat)

March 26, 1948 - Baltimore, Maryland - Aries Wheel (glyph chart)

 Representative Nancy Pelosi (Democrat)

March 26, 1948 - Baltimore, Maryland - Aries Wheel (text chart)

Holding to standard (Ptolemaic) 5-degree orbs for conjunction, opposition and square, the eclipse at 8 Taurus is not in conjunction/opposition with the Nodes of this chart. But it was in square to Representative Pelosi’s Pluto, just as it is in square to Pallas (dispassionate perspective) and all the many indications of variable pressures denoted by Pluto in the chart of Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Senator Elizabeth Warren (Democrat)

June 22, 1949 - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - Aries Wheel (glyph chart)

Senator Elizabeth Warren (Democrat)

June 22, 1949 - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - Aries Wheel (text chart)

Yet the details to all of this (interesting though they may be) are not nearly as illuminating as the idea of how distinctly charts of party members fell into pattern with each other, which makes sense if we think of how ‘like minded’ (or even relatively like minded) people would tend to gravitate towards one rather than the other party - particularly in what has come to be America’s basically two-party system.

And that leads us to the charts of the Republican National Committee (known widely as ‘the RNC’) and the Democratic Committee (known as ‘the DNC’).

Republican National Committee (RNC)

June 17, 1856 - Philadelphia PA - Noon (glyph chart)

 Republican National Committee (RNC)

June 17, 1856 - Philadelphia PA - Noon (text chart)

 Democratic National Committee (DNC)

May 22 1848 - Baltimore MD - Noon (glyph chart)

Democratic National Committee (DNC)

May 22 1848 - Baltimore MD - Noon (text chart)

One of the issues the RNC is dealing with (and which it has been dealing with for a couple of years now) is the rise of the Tea Party wing, a segment of Republican thought which seeks to change the status quo in a rather across-the-board kind of way, making its point by (among other things) working to bring about Eric Cantor’s primary defeat.

That movement to change the party from within the party is a hugely Plutonic sort of process, and with Pluto in Taurus the issue is values while Pluto’s placement in the 8th points to the ‘field of play’ being a place where values must be negotiated and joined, whether within the party or across party lines.

(Just to note: this being a chart for a worldly ‘entity’ it automatically gets a noon time, so we know the house placement.)

Being that this chart dates from 1856, fixed stars Hamal and Schedir are not at their current position of 7 Taurus - they’re at 5 Taurus, which puts them exactly in conjunction with the RNC Pluto, a combination which will tend to point to potent tenacity if a cyclic tendency to expand and contract depending on how the idea of ‘restraint’ (Schedir) is internalized and dealt with.

More important in this moment, this 5 Taurus Pluto-Schedir-Hamal was eclipsed in April and will be eclipsed again in October, pointing to an extended period of turmoil which will naturally reflect and be reflected in the work and feelings of party members.

The Democratic Party isn't going to escape turmoil either - both parties are solidly founded in Piscean Age ethics and thus will inevitably change as we move into increasingly Aquarian Age times. So we can expect more turmoil...but that turmoil is part of what might be called 'necessary evolution' - the trading of one set of considerations for another. Piscean ethics are always emotional. Aquarian ethics are always conceptual.

It's a process, one in which metaphysically, individuals feeding into (or on) a given party’s turmoil... or an industry's challenges...or the debates of one or many nations - they are all responding to the overture of our times. Political parties, being theoretical entities which operate within a realm of ideas, formulating concepts as 'product' are always going to be more wholly ‘theoretical’ than anyone of flesh and blood corporeality could possibly be.

And that would be why they...along with all things theoretical, conceptual and to some extent "not real" (like the internet) represent the means by which the influx of our times stimulate our lives...our thoughts...our perception of the world we live in.

This is what seemed so interesting to me. As we enter the Aquarian Age...

The wheel of the Aquarian Age (Aquarius rising)

   

...Scorpio - the sign which tests our security - rises to the top of the wheel. In that position, on an individual basis it represents our desire to achieve or gain enough power over our life to feel secure - though surely some will interpret that as simply the lust for personal power.

And that’s the test for governments as well. The point at the top of the horoscope wheel - the Midheaven - is also the cusp of the 10th house, a house which in the worldly sense speaks to everything which structures our life, which ‘runs’ things we then deal with (or don’t deal with). In positive mode the 10th is inspirational and motivational. In negative mode the 10th is restrictive, paranoid and suspicious.

This is the polarity we all will be dealing with for the whole of the Aquarian Age - all 2,160 years long of it. Aquarius is the sign of systems and mass collectives, of the marketplace and everything which powers our world... our thoughts... our willingness and ability to join together... or not.

And here’s the point: Aquarius is an air sign, and air signs function through considerations of thought and concept, which makes it not at all surprising that the reality of functionality which is - and which is going to be  the Aquarian Age is making itself known not just in this instance, but across societies and our world through the theories we like or don't like. Which we discuss, debate, deny, which we excuse ourselves from any responsibility for (lack of responsibility is a famously Aquarius negative quotient)...which we debate, explore, abandon, work to purify, get upset about and yes - occasionally explode and go up in smoke about. Aquarius calls our attentions to foibles so that we can take responsibility so that we have an opportunity to conjure up the type of inventiveness which gets us past our sticking points and testing times.

Note please...not their sticking points, our sticking points. Aquarius functions well only when all points in the system are engaged, properly utilized, attended to and kept current. Though Aquarius honors equality and a lack of those distinctions which under the winner/loser, ruler/ruled, rich/poor, upper/lower class Piscean Age were both common and accepted, there will come a time - probably not all that long from now - when Aquarian imperatives will provide the means by which such things as cast, gender (as identity) wealth and other such  qualities become less important than our humanity... a humanity which, to put it in Aquarian terms, we will adopt and adapt to as soon as we are truly done being inhumane - most of all to our Selves.

Not that all this will come to us as easily as breathing - which is good cause to see and grasp and understand what is going on in American politics. Yes, there is a level at which it is entirely about the laws and budgets and human beings.

But it's also about the flow of time... and when it comes to Aquarius, though Aquarius honors equality, its early manifestations are often disruptive, elitist, intolerant and far from the stuff of dreams. It takes time for us to learn that as individual as we all are, we only all gain when we all pool our knowledge, when we become willing to let go of personal priorities and cease  arguing about ownership in favor of discussing the ideas which really  count.

Which is really what politics is all about - if often challenged by.
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October’s 0 Scorpio Solar Eclipse (Pt. 1: the Map and Basics)

 A map of the path for this year's Solar Eclipse at

0 Scorpio which will occur on October 23, 2014 at 9:58 p.m. (UT/+0)

A sense of advancing plight overtook me while listening to news of desperate and desperately deceived parents risking the lives of their own children, paying fees to smugglers willing to subject others to dangerous desert crossings on their way to a United States border the crossing of which would bring only limited respite while inflaming long-postponed (and of late, deadlocked) US domestic issues.

All through the week the story kept spreading. First came the stories and photos out of Texas and Arizona showing children being housed in makeshift Red Cross-equipped quarters by a government which had neither invited them, nor which had seen any reason to set up boarding units for plural thousands of children. It was a mess - one helpfully not helped out by the US Congress, which for reasons of its own seems hell-bent on not working through the problems and business of the nation which funds their paychecks.

(Need I say how evident it seems that the U.S. Congress doesn't study metaphysics? On the other hand, I do - which would be what I've been thinking about of late...what does it mean in a greater and more metaphysical scope that any legislative body of any nation would simply take to sitting on its collective, quill-grasping thumbs?)

More to the present day reality speaking of which (politics, that is), political rhetoric ran hot and noisy with the next act in this drama - a crowd turning back buses loaded with undocumented moms and kids in California...which rather filled out the scope of the eclipse map as it applies to the United States, with the additional given that the nations from which these people are arriving are also getting eclipsed.

Plus there is the fact that this is the final North-Node-in-Scorpio eclipse we're going to have for a while, which signals a sort of cumulative effect of all the North Node/Scorpio, South Node/Taurus issues which have been building in our lives and in our lives as a product of our ability to live with/in our world, home, lifestyle, belief set, relationships, commitments (etcetera) over the past couple of years.

And this 'last of the series' is at zero, no less. As a metaphysical numerical signature, zero represents the most basic of all basics. It represents the need to start from zero and the possibility that all will be reduced to zero given our ability or inability to deal with the implications of the sign being triggered.

Which in this case is Scorpio, that 'fixed' water sign which invites us to fix ourselves, lest others 'fix our wagon' for us. (Badly, that would be.)

Considering this along with the Sabian symbol for 0 Scorpio (which I will type out here for you in a moment) I felt moved to post the October solar eclipse map. Not only is forewarned forearmed, but seeing as the intensity of what's going on at this point is the sort of thing we would expect to see during the two months immediately prior to an eclipse but not as yet...well, that suggests a level of concerted consternation (and upheavals) yet to arise from this eclipse map.

An event map generated by the USGS for the June 23, 2014 earthquake which shook Alaska's Aleutian Islands to a magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter scale.

Speaking of which (the reference here being 'upheavals') there was an 8.0 (prelimitary reading) earthquake in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands on June 23, 2014. This is also in the solar map zone...and we are about three years out from the 13 Capricorn solar eclipse of early 2011 which preceded Japan's Fukushima quake. That Japan itself is not included in the eclipse map isn't itself surprising - nor is the fact that this recent quake occurred to the east of the former, as that's the direction eclipses 'rotate' as well.

It's all part of a singular mechanism - the same one we're all part of. 

Without knowing exactly why this next ‘eclipse season’ seems to be giving us such a clarity of foresight (or in the case of the quake, foreshock) of what’s to come, it is worth noting that the “standard” two-month ‘breaking down’ of situations (or resistance to things) we would anticipate with an eclipse occurring on October 23rd would begin on August 23rd (give or take).

Is there something about our times which extends eclipse effects? Are we merely dealing with a chaotic combination of influences?

Yes - but that doesn’t seem to cover the astrological bill, even when we take into account that this next eclipse will be positioned at 0 Scorpio - a degree which with whatever else it may be, would also be a signature for ‘karma coming due.’

As usual, we will as humans no doubt assume that karma means someone else’s karma and act accordingly - which when we talk Scorpio generally means acting badly towards the whole while purely focused on the first-person personal.

All of which makes the prospects of a U.S. election season occurring under this influence truly flinch-worthy.

And yet...and yet the point of any eclipse coming to a ‘zero’ degree is to take things entirely down to basics - which with Scorpio is going to refer not to ‘the ills within’ we saw with the Taurus eclipse exploding the myths...our myths of mythic Self...within the frameworks of fixed stars Hamal and Schedir...no, this next eclipse is going to be all about the ills we create in our own lives and all the destroying of the potentials and possibilities we set ourselves up for through not holding that which is ‘without’ (others, our cities, societies, world, planet, etc.) in as high a regard as we hold for those instinct-driven desires for personal validation and security.

The Sabian symbol for 0 Scorpio reads as follows: A CROWDED SIGHTSEEING BUS ON A CITY STREET, an image Marc Edmund Jones’ original interpretation spoke of as the fundamental human eagerness to expand one’s social horizon and to experience the results of collective achievements and new ways of life. This interpretation, which dates from 1930, probably should be thought of in more modern terms since in today’s world there’s as much ‘exploring of the world around us’ which takes place electronically as through any other means.

And that, my friends, is the hallmark of the Aquarian Age - an idea which seems more and more important to think about as we live through a stretch of years rife with the turbulence of one set of patterns evolving into another...as people and parents born under one age inevitably struggle with their children and a society which is going to naturally have some ‘phasing in/phasing out’ issues of its own - a quality we can expect will appear over the months ahead (because October's eclipse is in opposition to fixed star Mirach) in a more or less obvious forms as well as in ways far more subtle (and perhaps more painful) where life's (eclipse) processes cause us to meet up with where our 'easy going' feelings of friendship are based neither on strengths (theirs or ours) and/or our ability to 'own' how willing we all are out of human necessity to deceive ourselves.

You know...that famous 'risk now, pay later' thing?

Known for great accomplishments where sufficient personal strength to deal with frustration, 0 Scorpio seems to bring things ‘to a point’ where intensity of aim and/or focus either breaks through, breaks down or breaks under the weight of some fallacy (innocent or otherwise). Just as the immigration situation is doing in the United States, all matters 0 Scorpio threaten us with our worst (though we all would rather fear the worst about others) in such a manner that we think we can be 'defended' (most of all against being overwhelmed by our own feelings) when the real issue is about adjusting to reality/realities with the understanding that no one gets to have 100% of what they want in life.

That 100% of the want, that is the ideal - which at its best Scorpio teaches is less attractive than that which is achievable and though not ideal, validating in the fact that we have lived up to and achieved our level best as human beings. 

People often act immature in Scorpio situations. Scorpio asks that we experience our own sense of vulnerability through ‘agreeing’ to tolerate the flexing of our emotions through interactions with others...and through choosing to risk/not risk tomorrow’s gains, opportunities and growth based on how secure we are with ourselves - on the inside.

When things go wrong under Scorpio, we will always tend to blame others. And yet, just under the surface - our surface - is that thread of searing Scorpio angst which says ‘I chose to get involved.’

In the end, the biggest tests of Scorpio are all about not our defeats, but about learning how most defeats are defeats of ego, not worth - and how for some of us, only through having our ego defeated can we come to recognize that truly lasting Scorpio power which has everything to do with that cognizance of others which inspires sufficient respect that they become...and remain...conscious of us, as well as willing to respect us both equally, separately and together.
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April’s 8 Taurus Solar Eclipse (Pt. 3: Stars and Patterns)

An Annular Eclipse

(photo credit: Sancho Panza, October 2005)

Each of Earth’s yearly solar eclipses is a process...in this case one which in rolling over us on April 29th at 6:15 in the morning (UT/+0) moves us out of a ‘breaking down’ phase where whatever is outmoded gets revealed so as to challenge our values and whatever we value or why we value or prioritize it, for good, bad and indifferent.

From this shift, exposure and need to re-evaluate our perceptions will come a new phase of development, experience and resultant utilization of abilities.

And though we may need such changes, let’s be real - we may not like going through them. There is something about the solar eclipse process which, with all due respect for dentistry is rather like having teeth extracted without painkillers.

There is a level at which we should take that sort of difficulty as a hint, perhaps. Why? Because throughout the millennia, the observation of solar eclipse effects on humans and in this world includes some of our very worst attributes.

You know...that very popular human sport called “being stubborn.”

Mind you, having opinions is lovely and standing for what you believe in and who you are the most necessary of things in this world. (Those who can’t do even that much have a very hard time.) And stubbornness has it’s place - no question. But when we are stubbornly refusing to know ourselves...that’s where eclipses come in.

Eclipses are very mysterious timekeepers. But they do seem to clock out areas of our life which will get exposed to us no matter what else happens and who else does, or doesn’t see.

Also: in the case of eclipses - a “blinding” object in the sky - IF someone else ‘sees’ you in the middle of dealing with your eclipse puzzle, whether or not they react you may be assured that witnessing is part of their own process. In other words (to quote a seriously Leo female I used to work with), ‘it’s so NOT about YOU.’

Well, mostly not. There is this factor of ‘like attracts like’ (metaphysical water/emotions seeking its/their own level) between people at eclipses and for good or bad, whether we like it or not the polarizing effects have much to teach us, if we’re only willing to learn.

So...do we value learning more or sticking with a ‘decided upon’ perspective or set of priorities?

Right now...right in this moment as we move into and through the solar eclipse, something will end or get ‘blacked out’ as the metaphysical ‘eclipsing’ of our former ‘norm’ - “the way we thought things were” gets wiped away.

This doesn’t have to be violent. It doesn’t even have to be unpleasant, though eclipses in Taurus tend to be particularly trying as they reveal things which, while they may or may not make us vulnerable in reality, sure feel that way.

It’s a prescription for insecurity - all of which we are being ‘told’ (astrologically) is going to challenge us with our own ability to act on faith...or to be faithful to some promise and/or precept.

-link to-

Mercury in Taurus / Neptune at 7 Pisces

Solar eclipses happen about every six months, reminding us of our mortality in the sense that events which happen during ‘eclipse seasons’ operate at a mental latitude omnipotent, humbling and incomprehensible in the moment. The sextile from Neptune (at 7 Pisces) to the eclipse (at 8 Taurus) signals a manifesting, an outpouring or ‘bursting forth’ of all things which confuse and disorient us precisely so that we can see or witness something different...or at least differently than we have seen it.

From that will come a nebulous strew of new perceptions, some of which - at least - will challenge us to be more honest with our Self.

And if we can’t (or won’t) go there...then we feel our own pain most acutely. It’s easy to make excuses now. It’s easy to do that which makes us feel better in this moment. Yet even the most determined (or hard headed, depending) among us are likely to have doubts at the moment. Whatever we’re involved in (or not involved in), there’s no clear path through the fray.

We will cope, of course. With the degree of this eclipse being 8 Taurus this time is simply personal in nature - and equally so for each and every one of us, whether you’re baking cookies at home or being focused on by schools and scads of media on some high profile international stage. In some way reflective of our ability to think ahead, adapt along the way and plan for the proverbial ‘rainy day’ (whether that’s past or present) we are at something of a ‘checkpoint’ in time - an idea quaintly referred to by the eclipse’s Sabian description ‘A fully decorated Christmas Tree.’

Can this reference be religious? It could be, but since the origin of Christmas is northern-hemispheric it’s as (or more) likely that this reference is to cyclic renewal: the idea that late December is when in the northern hemisphere days start growing longer and (solar) renewal is thus promised.

There will be another growing season, another harvest, we have more time, we can try, try again.

Evidently we humans like knowing there’s brighter light ahead. Before Christmas and around the globe humans have always celebrated the moment when we feel life quicken and begin to grow.

We celebrate it in our calendar, we celebrate it when in the moment when we learn of a human’s conception - or see their birth. Such things transcend our differences as societally, culturally, globally accepted moments worth celebrating even in the life of our dearest enemy.

Okay...so maybe we won’t celebrate the birth of their child as they would, but we’d probably stop shooting at them long enough to let them kiss their newborn.

Those who don’t and won’t go that far may win in some short run, but in doing so either seed or reveal their monster/monstrous tendencies...which only begs the question when they’ll notice that the psychic blood being spilled is really theirs.

Solar eclipses are not gentle. Solar eclipses often manifest in group experiences but are always and eternally about us - who we are as individuals and our ability to recognize, realize and/or deal with who we are.

At the moment, this entire process is highly amplified and yet strangely ‘inaccessible’ - that being the manifestation of that pesky Mars still in (Libra) retrograde which remains with us until-and-through Mars’ May 20th station - a station which will open doors to ‘move forward’ starting at the ‘theoretical/mental’ end of things with actions and “progress” (as we see it) slowly picking up pace as we move through June. Prior to May 20th the (Mars/Libra retrograde) ‘gap’ between the ‘me’ and ‘them’ (or ‘it’) of life will tend to feel like isolation. Where we are and where we want to be are just not in synch. We can think of this as being given us a bit of ‘space’ and “mental room” and many of us will do (and have been doing) just that.

But there is that (Neptunian) insecurity. And if there’s anything humans don’t like, it’s feeling insecure.

And why would that be? Could it be that insecurity stems from feeling that our personal power (or power to be the person we are) is being threatened?

Or maybe we aren’t “all that” (with or without the bag of chips)?

The good news is that we’re all in this together. The bad news is that there is no clear-cut solution to whatever it is we’ve gathered onto our plate...nor are we all that happy about having to confront knowing about all those choices which got us to wherever we are at the moment.

But then, so did everybody else. And if E=mc2’d...or if you merely want to think about Existence as a single thing which at whatever level manifests as the whole of what it is in every given moment, then you...me...the doorknob and your computer, we are ALL energy.

As is all the space between us - which really means we’re contiguous...from which vantage point individuality takes on a whole other perspective: that of knowing our part in order to play our part in a Whole which provides all we need and all we could ever conceive of or want.

So given that, who are we fighting when our feelings prompt us to upset? It’s a whole different question, isn’t it?

And one which is not all that comfortable to deal with as generational shifts continue evolving. Deep within we want things to change - we just aren’t sure that anyone else knows how to do the right thing.

Then again, neither do we. Our lives social, societal, worldly and planetary are all changing, bringing about a wholesale crumbling of old allegiances (Pluto/Sabine) and whatever attitudes or perspectives have outlived/completed their usefulness in our lives, our world, our life and times.

Whatever (Pluto/Vega) appeal brought such qualities to the fore is beginning to fade, asking that we (Pluto) transform our Self - not that (Uranus) change is very easy. The innate difference between Plutonic and Uranian processes has pitted us against our own ability to tolerate inexorable inevitabilities we may or many not like amidst an aura of fractious reactivity, ‘shaking us’ at an entirely (TNO Typhon) primal level and as always, Uranus will manifest as situations which 'exert' change in a more abrupt force where we are unwilling or unable to be sufficiently flexible.

Given the ongoing Mars/Libra retrograde, we may see such displays in others...Or we may feel like someone is ‘doing’ something “to” us (or even with us in mind) when that very concept is far less (if at all) about them and (more or less) entirely about why we’re reacting to them in the manner that we're doing.

We feel like it wasn’t long ago (Diadem @ 9 Libra) when in comparison to this moment, things were simple. And part of us does know that the difficulties of this moment are valuable because whether we like it or not, some of humanity’s most valuable (Diadem) lessons come not from joy but through the discomfort of times when we fight the hardest with our Self.

And this is where solar eclipses get so interesting. In moving over our world they move through our lives erupting in whatever sort of event or situation will bring out our weaknesses - in this case, our weakest values.

Priorities - particularly those we have been comfortable with allowing or identifying with (not to mention being known for) either have or will form  lasting (Lachesis) images (Photographica) we will carry forward for some time to come.

Our challenge: not to get (Europa) carried away and not to (Uranus in Aries) over-react. Innovations and various forms of ‘catching up’ are needed and meeting those needs will require (Uranus change)...and probably some degree of sacrifice (Alpheratz) as we relinquish old ideas and ways of thinking, particularly about who we ‘are’ (or need to be) in our own eyes - or those of others.

That all of this comes to us in the form of a grand cross suggests a period of days...even weeks...which with whatever else they bring will also pose challenges, challenges which through their very lack of resolution cause us to question.

Some of our questions will ask why we’ve (Capricorn) come to this place. Some of our questions will ask what we can do in the (Libra) face of feeling like nothing can be done. Some of our questions will cause us to want to know why it is that as individuals or whatever form of family, group or alliance we have such issues (Cancer) with living a fruitful, peacefully productive life. Are we really at such cross-purposes with an other, or with our (Aries) Selves?

All of which brings us to the most symbolic and astro-mythic figure in this side of this eclipse as represented by fixed stars Hamal and Schedir being at 7 Taurus, just a degree off the eclipse itself.

8 Taurus manifests generally as sensitivities and difficulties, one which feeds the other. Responsibilities become focal whether our issue is a rejection of responsibility or our being overwhelmed in the face of responsibilities we don’t know how to (or simply can’t) handle with the whole of this degree being somewhat more ‘airy’ (idea-driven) than many a more earthy, ‘reality oriented’ Taurean degree. With the eclipse at 8 Taurus it is the ‘idea’ of the value we have lacked - most of all in our Self - which in becoming exposed changes our ‘playing field.’

Against this, 7 Taurus is a highly corporeal degree - and one known for its focus on ‘physical existence.’ Not known as a particularly pleasant degree, 7 Taurus tests our ability to cope with painful realities which at some level are the result of choices made, perhaps over time (read: probably within the last eclipse cycle of 19 years) which did not fully grasp or ‘embody’ the reality of consequences - be they theoretical, physical or...considering the ‘trigger’ on this lesson is a solar eclipse...life changing in terms of how we regard life, whether or not our lives are touched in any moment-to-moment manner.

As for the stars, as primary/alpha star in the constellation Aries the Ram, Hamal (alternate name: El-Nath) stands for either the type of (Saturn/Mars) focus and motivation which could be typified as ‘determined effort’ ...or (at the other end of the polarity string) something akin to ‘limited options’ or ‘restricted range’ (implication: of activity, motion or effectiveness). Like most fixed star effects, Hamal’s ‘backdrop to life’ quality tends to take on some ‘coloration’ from whatever is associated with it or in its constellation (Aries) at the time the star is ‘triggered,’ as it is being by a solar eclipse one degree away.

As photographed by NASA and ESA, HST-G1 (also known as Mayall II)

near the core of the Andromeda Galaxy (Sept 2006)

Metaphysically speaking, the eclipse marks at time which seeks to educate and inform us through the ‘expose’ or ‘release’ all things having to do the energies of Hamal and the principle of all things Aries and currently Aries, giving us to think about the nature of our consciousness, about what we’re doing with our life, about who we’re being and about the innate innocence involved in being human, an innocence and vulnerability of mortality we so often like to (consciously) forget.

The eclipse is in Taurus, to be sure. But with the ‘currently transiting Aries’ list currently being headlined by Uranus and dwarf planet Eris, that points to changes which come about through whatever puts us in position to be tumbled into periods of self-confrontation.

And considering how few people really like that sort of thing, we can hardly expect things to be powder puff pink and cutely rosy. Considering the retrograde implications here (Mars rules Aries), something about ‘them’ hits ‘home’ to (Aries) on a personal level by whatever means will promote careful (even critical) reflection. The more (Libra) ‘married’ we are to ‘them’ or their (Libra) ideas, or the more we tend to impose, restrict or reject others when and where they are simply different, the more difficult things will seem.

In other words, we need to know and be who we are, as do others. But to the extent that this equation (either the being or doing or both) is out of balance, things now won’t ‘pay’ or ‘play out’ as anticipated and the more problematic the moving ‘through’ this eclipse period is likely to be.

Situations have now broken down to where we can either ourselves or feel our own inner walls. Why we have those walls is part of our metaphysical corona - the opportunity to see in Self and life that which ordinarily gets lost in day-to-day doings. Once we get through that...once we get honest (at least with our Self)...then we move on.

Constellations Cassiopeia (center), Andromeda (lower left), part of

Perseus (upper left) and the edge of Cepheus (middle/right)

 

But that probably will involve dealing with Schedir principles at some level, since of the two stars at 7 Taurus, Schedir is definitely the one related to emotional knot-tying.

The myth behind Schedir is that of Cassiopeia, the beautiful if arrogant and vain queen of Ethiopia. To those who know the tale of Niobe this story will sound familiar - though there are a few key differences. Where Niobe claimed her children were more beautiful than the collective intellectual attributes represented by Apollo (the truth of enlightenment) and sister Artemis (the truth of experience), Cassiopeia merely claimed her children were more beautiful than the sea nymph daughters of Neptune (Poseidon) known as the Nereids - which is another way of announcing that she (Cassiopeia) was so wonderful that things she could do (or produce) would be more valuable to human beings than the products of their (Neptune/Poseidon) feelings.

I’m sure you hear some bad times brewing behind this highly mythic sort of assertion, and for those  pondering in that direction, you would surely be right - although this is not the ‘arrow to the heart’ solution reaped by Niobe for her arrogance. Arrows and such being the things of airy flight, that is not how Neptune (emotionalism) chose to punish Cassiopeia. Instead he sent Cetus (a monster of our unconsciousness or ‘the monstrous image’) to attack Ethiopia itself...which is a curious way of saying that the arrogance of our emotions and/or emotional assertions is fully capable of damaging that we stand for, say we love or are trying to lead, protect or otherwise be in charge of.

How Cassiopeia responded to this situation appears to be not so noteworthy. But when king and husband Cepheus learned of the impending attack he sought out advice from an oracle. And when that oracle said the only way to save his kingdom was to sacrifice his own daughter Andromeda, that’s what Cepheus chose to do. In chose country over family he also chose intellectual ideal over emotional commitment - an idea metaphysics has long spoken of in discussions about mythic male and female character images. They aren’t ‘man’ and ‘woman’ in other words, they’re the naturally assertive and responsive parts of our individual nature... which makes this conversation at least in part about the ‘seed of the child’ within us as Alpheratz - the fixed star in conjunction with Europa in the eclipse’s grand cross - is a star located 

To finish with the myth, Andromeda was duly chained to a rock at the ocean’s edge and abandoned.

Andromeda by Gustave Dore

And just as the monster Cetus appeared, so did hero Perseus while on his way home with the head of Medusa. Having already ‘done battle’ with his own fear of facing fear (Medusa) Perseus was exactly the right fellow to rescue Andromeda from  being living ‘payment’ for her kin’s self-defined, self-concerned values.

As is our more ‘heroic’ self Perseus represents whatever part of us which has seen the bad, which has survived the ugly, which knows to look at fears in reflection. It is not that Perseus - or that we always know how to attack the problem of those dangerous emotions which can appear from the psychic deep to threaten us, but that we need to face the real need to try our best which counts.

- link to -

Medusa: Through Our Mental Mirror, Darkly

So...over the past two months (more or less), life has evidenced and provoked situations and experiences which reveal to us the embodiment of everything which has gone wrong in areas which are (8 Taurus) rather sensitive. The whole idea of trying to deal with something complicated and which seems - at least on the intellectual level - potentially massively destructive probably bothers each and every one of us as we think about it, and that makes facing up to what must be done in facing the physical attributes of whatever is at hand now all the more difficult.

Why that is...and what that value can teach us about other things in our life? That’s for us to sort through, and as the date of the eclipse passes and we give up trying to hold onto some bygone status quo we will indeed do that.

In the meantime... since our emotions seldom let us escape such ‘monstrous’ situations unscathed it’s not surprising that Neptune/Poseidon (our emotionality) imprisoned Cassiopeia - and in classically Greek illustrations her punishment was an evocative one which has come down to us with Cassiopeia as the ‘chained woman.’

A woodcut of Cassiopeia depicted seated in her 'chair of tormentr'

(from the Hyginus 'Poeticon Astronomicon,' courtesy of US Naval Observatory Library

Tied to her throne (her ‘seat of vanity’) constellation Cassiopeia remains ‘on top of the world’ as it circles Earth’s pole, but for fully half the year she is pretty much ‘standing on her head’ - which some think of as an invitation to ‘turn tables’ and reinvent one’s self and some think of as doomed destiny.

Apparently it’s up to us. (Again.)

Through the period of this eclipse - both as we come to it and in its wake as we start a long, three-year evolutionary process we cannot as yet know the end of, Schedir’s involvement may reflect some grotesque or grotesquely negative reality in your world or which has surfaced in your life. Or it may represent your being ‘tied’ by some commitment, promise, legality, situational parameter, custom... something which prevents you from ‘getting up from your throne’ to act. Looking at the myth it would seem the more ‘tied’ or ‘bound’ we are emotionally the more we will tend to attempt to handle matters on more of an ‘externalized’ basis - and that for those choices to succeed we must be ready and willing to face our fears (or our fear of our fear) about something in fairly short order even though the fullness of whatever happens will not become apparent for several years yet to come.

That the name ‘Schedir’ (which comes from Arabic) means ‘breast’ would seem to indicate that some sort of ‘failure to nurture’ (or nourish or even ‘parent’) is involved here, in which case the ‘chain’ would be the connective between that ‘nourishing factor’ and whatever considerations you may be going through with regards to values and valuations or  evaluations being - or which have been exposed since the latter part of February (2014).

As I’ve said (and will no doubt say again), eclipses are difficult to understand while in the ‘break down’ and ‘passing through’ phases. We look back at eclipses in our life and understand what was changing at that time but seldom understand in the precision of the moment what the eclipse is truly about.

All we know are the current circumstances...which is apparently all we should know as, unbeknownst to us the universe functions as it should. And as it does that, irrevocably if effortlessly we are each and every one of us moved individually and in contiguous continuity through our metamorphic processing: stripped of  whatever seeming solid convictions are separating us from being our most self-respected - and therefore validated in value) Self - we are therefore left with the opportunity to better utilize what we are in the support of who we can be: one human among a contiguous E=mc2 many we of this greatly blue planet tend to call 'All.'
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