Capricorn Ingress 2010

 An Aries wheel (non location specific) chart of the

2010 Capricorn solstice cast for (+0) Universal Time.   

Welcome to this year's discussion of the Capricorn ingress - which of course centers on the Sun.

And if we look at this chart...what do we see?

We see a Sun conjunct Mercury (retrograde in Sagittarius)...and Pallas, North Node and Pluto/Eros!

Well gosh! And this whole bunch stands in opposition to fixed star Betelgeuse at 28 Gemini….! What oh what could that mean?

Answer: a lot of things, of course!

Let's start with the idea that this is one of those moments when wisdom (Pallas) is inspired....and when wisdom (Pallas) is probably (North Node) needed. Even required! So though our yearnings and desires may be strong (Pluto/Eros), we know that what we do…or don’t do (Sun/North Node) ultimately determines the quality, stability and longevity of our life and lifestyle (Capricorn, Saturn as ruler of Capricorn).

Though we like to think of this time of year as one filled with joy and peace and family time, the truth of it is that astronomically, this is the shortest day of the year in the north hemisphere and the longest in the south. So the Capricorn ingress is a moment of shift – from northern waning to waxing and from southern waxing to waning. And this is reflected in the idea that in entering

Capricorn, the Sun leaves its six months in receptive-responsive mode and takes up six months in pro-active and explorative mode.

Come to think of it…

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an astrologer’s daydream….

I wonder if anyone has ever considered the different paths, attitudes and cultures of nations in northern and southern hemispheres based on this fact?

Southern days wax while the Sun moves through signs which whether yin or yang function in a receptive-reactive-responsive mode and northern days grow longer while the Sun is in pro-active, assertive, explorative mode.

From the astrological point of view, surely this would have an effect on people and the countries they build/live in north and south?

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Enough of that! Back to the subject…

There are many sorts of transit points throughout the whole of the zodiac. There’s the shift from sign to sign, the shift from quadrant to quadrant (from personal learning to personally operative to worldly interactive to world participant) the shift from lower to upper hemisphere and vice-versa…

…but only the shift from the left to right half of the natural zodiac wheel – from pro-active-assertive-experimental to reactive-receptive-responsive and back again – only those transitions are actually known as difficult. Yea verily, even problematic.

And that’s not hard to understand. Going from private/personal to worldly/public is something most of us do everyday. We go out our doors into the public, we come back home into our private realms. There’s a little ‘oh do I HAVE to?’ when it comes to hauling ourselves out of bed in the morning…

And there are those who even when they get home find it near impossible to just ‘stop.’ Housework, work brought home from the office, personal paperwork, returning phone calls, emails…it’s a whole list – which only proves that you don’t have to be out in the world to be being assertive and pro-active!

For many, the shift from proactive to passive, from directing traffic and living in the fast lane of their own brain to letting go and just sitting back…that shift is notoriously tough for a lot of folks. It’s even specifically mentioned when we look at lore and notes astrologers down through the ages have taken for 29 Gemini.

Yes, that 29 Gemini – the degree of yesterday’s Lunar Eclipse, and part of what was discussed in the blog on same.

But for others, getting out of the more passive, receptive/responsive gear may be just as hard. Some of us like risk. Some of us loathe risk. Some of us like the new, some of us like the known.

Every December Solstice – and thus Capricorn Ingress – is about this moving from a more contained and ‘responding’ (to circumstances, information, data, etc.) mode into a purely ‘let’s do it and see how it works out’ sort of mode. That idea colors the Ingress moment…and the whole of the Capricorn quarter – that being from here into March, this quarter being the signs of Capricorn-Aquarius-Pisces.

The concept of this quarter remains wholly worldly. This is about how well any ‘world’ works – be it that in your family, that in your nation, that of the globe, that in your head, that in your profession…and so on.

The next three months (the 'ingress quarter') is also ‘colored’ by the concept of Mercury retrograde. Mercury is in Sagittarius, telling us that the details are important and that we need not rush, but we need to find out why we aren’t getting where we want to go…or what is holding us back perhaps…or what we need to do in order to move forward in some new and more assertive, proactive way in whatever ‘world’ (or ‘worlds’) are not as functional (Mercury/Sagittarius) or structurally sound (Sun/Capricorn) as we’d like them to be.

Or as we need them to be…let’s be real here!

A lot of people are going to hold themselves back this quarter. You’re going to see it, hear it and maybe even experience it. The purpose for that hesitation is the key to whether it’s useful or not. If it’s just a biding of time, or dawdling because of not liking to risk, change, leave the comfort zone – that’s not all that productive. If there is a directed purpose – the ‘getting it right’ sort of thing – that’s a positive.

So on some level, we can really think of these next three months and a time in which to get right with OUR world(s). 

However…for those who hear this and think ‘oh, so I don’t really need to do anything for real until March’ that may or may not be so. Why you would think that is pretty Mercury retrograde (is it an excuse or is it really needing the time to get something right or ready?). But this goes back to that daydream about the solstice as a universal factor.

The two yearly equinoxes (spring and fall) are as implied: moments of equal metaphorical, emphasis – aka power, potential or more to the hemispheric point, ease of functionality.

The solstices are inequality incarnate. This moment is where the whole of the southern hemisphere (and thus everybody living or operating) in that hemisphere has as much potential and responsibility on their side as they will have during this ‘solar cycle’ with the northern hemisphere being in just the opposite situation.

So people who live (or who were born) in the northern global hemisphere should be thinking they are facing ‘the uphill battle’ now. In other words, this is a time of building. People in (or born in) the southern hemisphere are capitalizing on what has been done or dealing with results (sometimes also called consequences!).

  A glorious photograph of Planet Earth taken by Apollo 17 astronauts

photo credit: NASA

And for you who were born in one hemisphere and who are residing in the other? Since our innate (birth) nature is endemic to us, especially with Mercury retrograde you’re are likely to be learning about or maybe even confronted with matters pertaining to your own personal rhythms. Or maybe how you differ from those around you – which could be yes, a problem…but then, it could be just the kind of uniqueness which allows you to get noticed, shine and make big advances.

Wherever you live, the fact that Uranus commits to its transit of Aries mere days before the end of this calendar/zodiacal quarter tells us the object is to reincarnate our lives. To reinvent ourselves. To do something new. To renew who we are in our own world. To get real about what’s real in real life.

Given that, and that there will be a Solar Eclipse in Capricorn barely two weeks – a fortnight for you poetic folks – into the quarter? That tells us that old ways of doing, old (Capricorn) structures in life and that have been our life are passing away. With Venus in Scorpio at the ingress, a lot of the problems raised in us during and by the Venus retrograde cycle remain active now and moving forward, contributing to these changes.

How well have you learned those lessons? Have you figured out where and how you are either trying to get blood out of a stone? Have you recognized that some of your desires (or those of others you have chosen to deal with) are so personally ‘me-me-me’ oriented that what results is an unworkable situation?

To have Venus in Scorpio, Mercury in Sagittarius, Sun and Mars in Capricorn (an obvious zodiacal sequence) is a pretty sure sign that our values (Venus) and ways of going about getting where we want to go in life (Mercury) are lagging behind what we really want. We need to – in essence – catch up with our potential and what we actually believe in about ourselves. 

This ‘truth of self’ is pretty much the whole point of this quarter. Phrased a thousand ways and coming at you from a dozen quadrants, life is seeking to prompt you through events and promptings both happy and sad, positive and negative, productive and restrictive…the point is WHO ARE YOU?

And from that…are you headed in the right direction? Are you being a responsible person to yourself, to others and in this world? That’s the other part of the shift into the zodiacal 4th quadrant well worth discussing – and pretty fitting as a way to round up our chat. In the 4th quadrant, that land of Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces…ultimately the Capricorn world, the Aquarian society and the Piscean moral-social-humanistic standard always, always, always, ALWAYS wins.

And Uranus working over the very end of this quadrant is a reflection of how so many of us are trying desperately…maybe fervently…to old ways, whatever they may be.

Those ways, dreams, beliefs…whatever they are, they represent comfort zones. Uranus makes this transition once every 84 years. So we haven’t seen this cosmic ‘give it up!’ vibe roll through earthly life since 1926 - just before depressions rolled through a lot of national economies, setting the stage for WWII. The cycle before that was 1842. Not the same set of nations, not the same circumstances, but anyone who knows their history knows the kind of giant changes political (Capricorn), scientific (Aquarius) and humanistic (Pisces) which happened in the 20, 30, 40 years which followed 1842.

This is not a prophesy of war. Or economic collapse. What is it? One person pointing at a cosmic clock saying the ‘change’ alarm is about to go off – loudly. If you are someone who interprets change as a disaster…? Then yes, you may feel a lot is very wrong going forward. But if you’re willing to change in your head and in your life…if you’re willing to be a participant in change – this is truly a good time.

Those who linger will find things getting harder. Those who take it upon themselves to get out of their ‘hoping its all going to be okay the way it is’ mode will like as not prosper.

The bad news is…it’s all about what you do. It’s all about whether you are willing to become pro-active in your own life and in life in general.

The good news however is that it’s all about you! You have every reason and opportunity now to be pro-active in creating the life you want to have in a world which is more expansive and interesting than ever.

Sun into Sagittarius, Mercury into Shadow: Working the Perspectives

A rendering of the 'impossible cube'

So...yesterday was the 2010 edition of a Taurus Full Moon.

And today, we enter into a zone where everything that Full Moon was turns into repercussions, explorations, adjustments and eye-opening moments of realization as the Sun enters Sagittarius and Mercury crosses over into the shadow of what will be a three-week December retrograde.

And yes, it's all about how you see things - beginning with what we've learned so recently on how well (or not well) our values, methods, priorities and choices mesh or don't mesh with others - that Scorpio functionality poke we got from yesterday's Full Moon.

Considering that Full Moon was at 29 Taurus (meaning the Sun was at 29 Scorpio), that makes today the day that the Sun enters Sagittarius, a fire sign known for expansive thinking, discoveries of any and all types... and fiery attitudes, pursuits and proclamations.

Of the three signs in the worldly/interactive zodiacal quadrant (Libra-Scorpio-Sagittarius) one is an airy sign of ideas, theories and 'meetings of the mind' (Libra)... one is an emotional water sign where we experience our own feelings through contending with life and others (Scorpio)....and one is our coming up with ways to affect the world and/or testing out those ideas in the world.

These signs are not just individual experiences. They're a process. Through our interactions with others we experience our Self and recognize what works and what doesn't work. And whether we win or lose, we emerge from the crucible of realization (Scorpio) generally ready to tell the whole world what we've learned - or to set off in the directions of our goals yet again.

That's the Sagittarius part of the process.

Yet as those born under Sun in Sagittarius will probably tell you, the Sagittarian vibe is not just about getting on with what we want to do. The whole idea of Sagittarius involves seeing what works and what doesn't work.

So if you skated (slouched, sauntered, stalked, scurried) or otherwise weathered this year's Scorpio testing without making changes - to life, to your approach, to your companions or how you go about picking what you choose to do and who you choose to do it with - then prepare yourself. These weeks ahead are likely to be full of toe-stubs and rebuffs.

And yes, the occasional 'that's brilliant!' too.

Interestingly, this 'interactive' quarter of the zodiac which has no earth 'tangibility' in it is all about trying to make things happen and be/become real. Does that make sense? It should, if you think in terms of that 'grass-is-greener' sort of logic. Each quarter of the zodiac includes three signs, and in each quadrant, what we are seeking has to do with the missing element.

It's sort of life's version of 'fill in the blank,' yes!

 After Aristotle, these were the four Hellenistic

elements - the basis of the ancient Greek concept of physics.

The Sun representing life, will, energy, we can expect the pace of life to pick up and carry us forward through the next month or so - interestingly (and quite tellingly) in sync with the holiday season.

Fast pace, more energy...how is it that the 'busiest' time of the year for most folks (the holiday season) is supported by this karmic, cosmic timing?

Some would say this is a sign of a 'sentient' Being overseeing all of life. But maybe this is just the way life is made. Maybe the fabric of life is just made so that the things which work because of such juxtapositions carry on and become traditions?

Could be. It just could be.

The other thing happening to day is that Mercury is reaching 19 Sagittarius - the degree it will ultimately come back to at the end of its upcoming December retrograde. This forward (to retrograde) /backward (during retrograde) /forward (after retrograde ends) pattern is known as the 'shadow' of the retrograde. Every planet which goes retrograde - which would be everything except the Sun and Moon - describes a 'process' and a period of time bracketed by its periodic retrogrades.

This one starts in Sagittarius, specifically in an emotional degree known for difficulties with the conventional and repercussions of rebelliousness. Nineteen being the last of Sagittarius' emotional degrees there would seem to be a 'climactic' sense of feeling or  conviction here; lore speaks of defeats and difficulties arising out of this degree bringing on bitterness and vengeance.

That this crossing into its retrograde shadow happens with Mercury conjunct Hybris underscores needs to be right and the lengths some will go to be right - or at least to appear that way.

And yet...as postulated originally by astrologer Alex Miller with everything found so far in my own work backing this up - where goes Hybris, there to we find an eventual 'comeuppance.' With this degree also being flavored by the 'alternative reality' of a galactic Black Hole, this may thus be the arrogant pronouncement...or the discovery that someone (even...yuk!...you!) have been oh-so-very wrong.

Given that this cycle concerns Mercury, symbol of thought, communication and daily doings from errands to neighbors to household matters and such...there are like as not parts and details and factors involved no, no matter what happens.

For some, the situation will evolve, take a turn at the station/retrograde and resolve at Mercury's station/direct in late December.

For others, this is a moment of decision which will take from now through Mercury's retrograde to set up, work out or get put in order.

For still another group, this moment launches a month-plus period of personal upheaval.

Whatever happens, watch for events which happen as we go into retrograde (December 10 at 12:05 UT/+0) and come out of retrograde on December 30 (7:22 UT/0+). As with all retrogrades, the day or two to either side of these dates is significant. Information you want or need is not expected to be fully forthcoming until retrograde ends, too. Something is holding you back from being 'fully operational' in some sense.

Many people will welcome this Mercurial 'umbrella' effect ...or at least manifest it as their turning their attention to family and/or holiday matters, forget everything else.

And yet, this can be problematic. Mercury in Sagittarius is notoriously sloppy, hasty, overstated, exaggerated and demanding. Yes, even selfish.

And yes, this goes all the way to the famous 'cutting my nose off to spite my face' degree. So don't be shocked if there's something important or difficult (or even just emotionally hard to grapple with) on the table about now and someone abandons the conversational ship.

Some people will push for what they want now - screw  the cost. Right or wrong, sensible or not, maybe even legal or not, safe or not, possible or not....

You get the idea.

And yet with all that said, this may also be the moment when good sense finally dawns. It sort of depends on where you are in what area of your life coming to this day and time....particularly as Mercury is going retrograde at the degree of Pluto's turning last April.

Had a big turn of events this year? Stand by for the next act...or what comes now, because of (or out of) what happened...or changed...or was denied...or left not fully dealt with back then.

Mercury in Libra: The Extent of our Grasp

 The constellation Libra (source: AlltheSky.com)

Among the many things that Libra represents is that place where our efforts end and other people begin to judge, react and respond, whether that be positively or negatively.

In that - and very much in keeping with the image of Libra as the sign of the scales - is the idea that what 'they' think is as important as what we think. And - conversely - that what we think is as important as what/how they think, yes...absolutely. No matter what culture we are born into or live by, astrology defines a theoretical equality in matters of exchange and conversation, making all interactions (no matter their nature) something of a negotiation. Or barter.

Bartering for sheep in China

(source: AMorgan/Flicker)

As of October 3rd, it's Mercury which is moving into Libra, bringing all that Mercurial contemplation and 'variations on the possible theme' into the realm of conversation, contemplation and - because Libra is a public sign - worldly initiation.

Of course there is a plus and minus here...while Mercury is in one of the zodiac's first six 'private/personal' signs (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo or Virgo) there's this quietly 'closed' sort of quality to our thoughts. What we think never has to leave our mouth. It can, but there's a whole lotta thinking going on which never goes beyond our internal cycle of thinking about things and learning more about what we think.

But once Mercury enters Libra, it is in for a goodly period of public and worldly doings. That means we learn more and better through interactions. That means we learn how to interact more effectively - and that what we really need to learn is going to be found through at least listening to (if not reading or talking with) people or sources beyond our own skin.  

Entering Libra with Kalypso and TNO Typhon behind in Virgo - and Atropos just ahead at 5 Libra.

Kalypso (Calypso) as a detail from an 18th century painting

AND with Mercury in opposition to Byblis and Eos in Aries....

PLUS Scheat, Uranus, Jupiter and Hebe in opposition but in feeling-my-feelings Pisces rather than knowing-myself Aries

Given all this, maybe the first thing to remember when diagnosing this crowd of influential signposts is that any celestial body entering Libra is going to meet up with M87, the famous super-massive Black Hole which sits just inside the boundary of Libran influences.

Since Black Holes always indicate 'alternative realities,' this tells us right away that part of the very act of shifting from the 'personal' to the 'public' is because  our situational encounter with 'others; provides us with some 'alternative' to our own thinking. Or that we need to think in terms of the 'I/thou' dynamic during whatever period specific planets (and therefore aspects of our lives) are indicated to be in a 'public sign' mode - as signaled by their being in any of the zodiac's 'worldly' signs (Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius or Pisces).

Mercury is a symbol mentality and thought. Or lack thereof. Or the actions/activities involved in following through on a thought or idea. In the Mercurial sign of Gemini we choose, plan, prioritize, correlate, organize and think things through. In Mercury-ruled Virgo we improve, recognize ramifications and consequences, consider functionality and implementation and in general, concentrate on function and functionality.

Mercury as photographed by the Mariner spacecraft (source: NASA)

In Libra, Mercury meets up with where 'my' thought ends and your thought begins. Thus Libra in Mercury fosters conversations, negotiations, arguments and debates, agreements, gossiping and the general sorting out of the mental level of relating. Libra in Mercury is not necessarily lovey-dovey though it can be very poetic (poetry being the expression of the romantic thought).

Under Mercury in Libra, we work things out, we establish a basis for understanding and/or communicating, we get our point across and we tell others what we think.

Meanwhile, they're telling us what they think, speaking their mind and expressing whatever their priorities are.

With Mercury entering Libra in opposition to 'old-school'  Byblis and over-focused Eos, we can bet there's going to be a lot of standing one's ground - at least to begin with. Another way to see this would concern the 'status quo' (whatever that may be on any given subject) and whether that is defended or considered totally trash-worthy. We could also bet on a bit of name-calling (rock throwing, mud slinging...that stuff) on every side. Alas... but humans will be human.

This is not made any less potent by Uranus/Scheat - a call to change things and a cry by forces exterior to any problem, declaration or situation about how 'very wrong it is.' To quote a wonderful (not to mention useful) song from the old Marx Brothers movie Horse Feathers:

Whatever you're for, I'm against it

If you've commenced it, I'm against it...

 Movie poster for Paramount Pictures'

"Horse Feathers" starring the Marx Brothers

 

Yes, there's a lot of that going around - in general, I mean. And what with Uranus/Scheat (plus Jupiter/Hebe) having been playing around at the end of Pisces and beginning of Aries all year, everybody's been up in arms about changes other people need to make (Uranus) and that it's criminal (or at least a cryin' shame) (Scheat) that anyone should go around being so dim as to not get what 'right' really is.

 

With this has come a liberal helping of Jupiter/Hebe - the 'I'm the good guy - I want to do right! I'm trying to help everyone! But does anyone listen to me? Noooo...and they're going to be sorry they didn't!' sort of stuff.

 

Life has been full of this, morning, noon and night. We get it at home, at work, from the family, from our government...our government (whichever one is yours) is getting this from other governments....

...It's been a very long year. Amazing how long one solar cycle can get to be, y'know? The universe delves out these cycles in regulation sizes which hardly vary but a breath of an ootch of a nonce and some feel like they go by in no time...some seem to last for(dreary)ever!

The up side here is that with Mercury having moved from Virgo (where all the discussion was on 'workability' and enough functional details to put Rip Van Winkle to sleep) into Libra, where negotiations are far more the rule of the day.

Actor Joseph Jefferson playing Rip van Winkle

- photograph by Napoleon Sarony (1869)

Oh - and manners. Libra tends to be a mannerly sign, so there's less mud slinging likely. Virgo is known for cleanliness yes - but the Virgo dynamic also often wallows in the muck which then has to get cleaned up! 

This positive/negative of signs as they are (Virgo as clean and dirty or Libra as arguments and peacemaking) is totally typical. And totally to be accepted. People who think a glass is to be filled and never emptied will soon find themselves out of room to pour!

With Kalypso and TNO Typhon just behind Mercury in Virgo here we have arguments about who loves who and who's fault what is now behind us. Well, hopefully. There is some chance you will still feel like you're being chased by questions of being at fault and whether you care about things which (after all) should be common sense and things everyone holds dear, important, as correct...and all the rest of such.

You may agree or not - that's not the point. What is the point now is how any discussion now goes on. We have left the earthy world of Virgo for the more abstract and theoretical Land of Libra. So while feelings are still important, they are to be discussed, not acted out!

 

And that's worth noting - as is the presence of Atropos in this configuration. Standing at 5 Libra as Mercury enter the public arena, Atropos stands for an 'end' point. And given 5 Libra is a balance between understanding and lack of comprehension, this argues (yes, I used that word!) for a need to identify what is fact against what is assumption - what is rumor against what is actual.

Astrological metaphysics work in the short, medium and long run. So this 'image' of Mercury entering Libra is strong as the planet enters Libra and tapers off from there, with the caveat that Atropos is telling us that at five days, five weeks and/or five months there will be a resurgence of either the situation or the dynamic of the moment. Hopefully we will learn how to deal once and employ such solutions with ever increasing deftness, but one never knows.

Like I say, humans are so human.

 

 

Earth, today's only human home, 

as photographed from the Moon (source: NASA)

That Mercury is making this entrance into Libra only a few days shy of Venus' station/retrograde, with Atropos in this picture also suggests some decisions, statements or recognitions that certain things 'have to end.'

The realization is now. The tangle with the doing and all which goes with that? That's the Venus station-and-retrograde part, which obviously we will get to in just a few days.

In the meantime, enjoy your Mercury in Libra moment. Maybe it's time to patch things up with someone? Maybe it's time to have a meaningful conversation which gives you insight on where you want to go next? Maybe it's just a fine time to have some fun with friends.

Whatever it is, the awareness of what you're doing is yours, as is your awareness that what you choose do defines what you're not doing - and what therefore remains to be done.

It's always a toss up...that darn cake we so want to have and eat too? It's not in the kitchen - it's in our head, and the truth is, we can't be everywhere at once and can't be everything to everyone. There is much we can grab in life, and many things we can hold on to. Some are worth it, some are not. Some we should let go and at some point, we need to recognize there are things we may admire, but which exceed our grasp either mentally, or for lack of interest or time.

Which all comes back to being happy with who we are and choosing to go on from there!

 'So Happy Smiling Cat' by Yumi Kimura of Yokahama

Japan (Nov 29, 2009) as posted to Flicker

   ,

Libra Ingress 2010

 

At the equinox (twice a year) the Earth receives

equal amounts of Sun exposure north and south

diagram credit: Przemyslaw 'Blueshade' Idzkiewicz'

Of the two very different astrological events taking place in barely over a breath of cosmic time, this is the second - the Libra ingress which takes place at 3:09 am (UT/+0) on September 23rd.

The other is a Full Moon which will come to fruition also on the 23rd (at 9:17am - UT/+0). It will get it's own blog post tomorrow.

Why two posts? Well...when we talk Sun versus Moon cycles, one is a month long (the Moon) and the other  (the Sun's) spans an entire year - which because of Earth's inclination (tilt) gives us our seasons.

They're just different things. Metaphysically, the Moon is about life in reflection. Or as a reaction. The Moon symbolizes our moods and daily emotional experiences which over time shape our memory and thus our (4th house/Cancer) basis for habits and 'ingrained' attitudes. Against this we have the Sun as the Big Picture and life's overview. The Sun isn't about what happens to us - it's all about what we can make happen!

Every year we get two days - the Aries and Libra equinoxes - when planet Earth is aligned as above. On those two days the planet receives equal exposure north and south. Zodiacally, this planetary "equilibrium" is well mirrored adeptly in the symbol of Libra as the scales...

 Libra's scales from 'Astrologie Strernzeichen Kalendar' (1512)

courtesy of Deutsch Fotohek

....but achieving such balance in everyday life? Not so easy. Everyday life... as noted...is lunar and reactive, meaning the life we generally react to is a feeling, not  intellectual affair.

Still...one can hope, right? I mean, for a little balance and beauty of the give-and-take, gracious cause-effect kind.

Ah yes, a lovely thought. But true?

Let's get real - which astrologically means, let's take a look at that ingress chart!

 Libra Ingress 2010

 v

Okay! Like the June Cancer ingress, this season's chart also features a kite, the bottom section of which is outlined above by a green triangle (that would be a grand trine)...with yellow sextiles reaching up from that triangle towards the top of the chart, completing the picture of the kite.

With that kite are also two t-squares. The first one (which is a sort of "double" t-square) is constructed by the Sun (in white at "3 o'clock") in opposition to Uranus, Jupiter and Moon (at the left in red, yellow and white)...with the 'hurdle' to get past being drawn in not one, but two ways at the top of the chart.

A t-square as helpfully shown by a road sign. 

The first hurdle is represented by Pluto: our emotional need to transform. What this represents is our need to get past our entrenched emotional attitudes. In Capricorn, this Pluto is telling us that we need to get over thinking things are going to work the way they used to work.

The second way hurdle pictured by this first t-square is to Ceres, symbol of nurturance and the harvest. Having gotten a lot of positive 'oh, I get it now!' emails after posting a blog on Ceres not long ago, I refer you there for nuances and details (link). But the nitty-gritty here is that we need to think and be thoughtful, but we can't rely on things being sweet, nice and comfy.

Evidently life is not going to be a picnic this season, capiche?

Now for a few significant differences between this ingress and that of last June. First off all, the need to allow ourselves not to know while doing anyway as pictured then by Neptune/Chiron is gone. So is the Moon/Pallas "knowing feelings" thing.

And yes, this really is one of those bad cosmic jokes: we were supposed to know our feelings (Moon/Pallas) in order to be transformed (Pluto) through the experience of those feelings?

Well, yes. And over the last season we have all have met up with various situations which have confronted us with needing to know who we are and why we are that person holding those values and emotional points of view (Moon/Pallas). And through those 'self-confrontations,' so we have grown.

At least in hard-core realizations about ourselves. Have we changed? Maybe. But at least we know more. So now at least we have the option to change - knowing why we are changing, and maybe why it would be a good idea to go through all that effort.

But we aren't home free just yet! Now with Moon-Jupiter-Uranus in late Pisces, now comes a season in which we are all aiming to get past difficulties to a point where we really understand how to be who we are effectively.

To get there we still have to get past that issue of wanting to hold onto the 'old way' or the 'old standard' or some old thought of how things work or how we're going to be able to operate. As we move through Libra, there will be a lot of talk, discussion, posing, posturing and proposals.

But as we get into October (and reach Libra's emotional degrees) things are going to get sticky. From there on, we will really begin to feel things get dicier. So expect more intensity. More pressure. A greater sense of need.

As the Sun moves into Scorpio (sign of "fixed water") those who have been kidding themselves or trying to get by on some hope, wish or level of personal denial will find themselves skating on thinner and thinner ice. And once we hit fiery Sagittarius, expect fireworks which may just light up your world - or explode it. 

It all depends on how you have treated this issue of getting past the difference between new and old and the nice (comfy, desirable) versus the workable, pragmatic and honest.

Obviously there are possible Grinch moments to be faced. And how to handle it...? Not so easy to figure out, evidently - that kid we discussed has the South Node at the tail (at the bottom of the chart). Normally we would cheer this, as the South Node is the 'easy thing.' 

But apparently not. Grand trines are all about what's easy to do and tough to get away from. And without belaboring a long list of planets and asteroids involved in this particular grand trine (including House, Hera, Mars, Venus, TNO Deucalion and Black Moon Lilith) let's just say that this grand trine says we'd rather check out or get rejected and continue doing things our own way rather than make changes.

Oh yes...and while we're doing this, everyone else is going to be doing the same thing and everything is going to get harder and less operative because the time really has come for changing!

Really!

 The drawing of an early kite design as submitted to

the US Patent office. In astrological terms, the long 'arms'

of the kite and its central cross bar comprise the three sides

of a grand trine, the short lengths from the trine to the kite's

top represent what we aim to achieve.

A couple of notes are pretty specific and worth mentioning. That 'finding the moral way' TNO Deucalion thing, because it's combined with Mars and Venus both being in Scorpio...that's a sure sign of 'desirous conflicts,' especially once Venus goes retrograde in October. We all have our wants and much is being wanted of us. (link to blog on Mars in Scorpio)

It's a recipe for feeling put-upon, people. And when we don't feel put-upon, we're likely to feel deprived, resentful, rejected or just drained. The medium may vary. Some of us will find ourselves confronted financially. For others, it'll be emotions. Or time. Or commitments. Or you'll find yourself in power/control struggles. Or situations which arouse deep-seated feelings of vulnerability or rejection.

Do I hear a big groan? Sorry. Even sorrier, I'm here to say there's more to this seasonal Libran tale. Going back to that astro-rule that when you see a kite you use the symbol at it's tail to 'steer' by, we see two little situational challenges. 

For one, this South Node is in Cancer. And that means it's ruled by the Moon. You know, that Moon sitting with Jupiter and Uranus which only begins to play in our favor once we get over the 'I want to do what I've been doing' thing? 

And one other issue with this South Node: it's conjunct Pandora. You remember the mythic, problematic Pandora, right? The girl who opens the box, freeing all the ills of the world?

'

Pandora by Arthur Rackham (1867-1939)

But there is some good news here - regarding Pandora, I mean. The good news is that the story of Pandora centers in the tale of the girl, not the ills she releases into the world. So we ask ourselves...why did Pandora open that box? Theoretically, if we can control those tendencies, we can not make her mistake, right?

Good thinking. So the answer to the question is that Pandora was curious. She also had been told not to open the box, which as we all know made opening it all but irresistible. She was also by nature impatient. Pandora wasn't happy about how long it was going to take her to grow up. She wanted a 'quick fix,' which if you think about it, is very much like the urge associated with the South Node - a symbol of wanting to do the 'easy thing.'

So the key would seem to be not giving in to our basic case of hard headed immature impatience. To not cut corners. To no opt for the short form, easy way out or indulgence in 'take a pill' mentality.

And lest you think you can just 'handle' this and be done with it? Uh...evidently not, as South Node/Pandora is the starting point for the last t-square in this Libra ingress, a t-square which has a 6 Libra Saturn as its hurdle.

Hopefully you get that all three of these planetary pictures are celestially crocheted together. And with this last figure asking us to take (Saturn) responsibility for ourselves (so as to benefit from life) it pays to remember that to get through this season we need to adopt a basic mantra: who I am, others react to. 

And that is pretty basic, no? 

But one more comment before we go. A seasonal ingress chart is all about it's Sun. And this Sun is at 0 Libra conjunct the giant Black Hole known as M87 and Atropos, Greek Fate of fated 'endings.'

 M87 as photographed by Caltech

So in essence, as we realize that who we are and how we act generates reactions from others and the doors of opportunity which open to and for us, we will need to face cutting things out and eliminating certain aspects of our behavior. Or maybe our attitude.

Or maybe even some of our alliances, associations or ways of relating to certain people. 

If we do, as we do, other things will happen. New doors will open but as happens in life, probably not until others are firmly closed. Atropos-Sun-Black Hole means you may feel at times like you're looking into the abyss. Or that the world seems like some foreign place. Or that you can see a whole new set of possibilities which you might have never thought of before, but which might not just work for you...but which might actually be fun.

Any of these moments may be a very good thing. Sometimes seeing the abyss makes us grateful for what we have. Sometimes seeing the world anew or as if we were a 'stranger' allows us to wipe our slate clean and tackle something totally different with no expectations, no preconceptions and that sort of cheerful innocence which everyone finds so very attractive. 

Will you be able to let go to have your chance at the new? Or will you require things to be taken out of your hands, forcing you to scramble?

The choice is yours. But choice is a good thing, no? So have a great ingress, and well balanced equinox!