Medea: A Perspective on Priorities

Jason and Medea by Gustave Moreau (1865, oil on canvas, Musee d'Orsay, France)

Asteroid Medea entered Scorpio back on November 8, 2012. It conjuncted 11 Scorpio – the degree of this November’s solar eclipse, back on December 13, 2012.

By March 29th of 2013, it had moved all the way through Scorpio to 29 degrees of that sign, which put it into conjunction with fixed star Toliman, a star which in representing the foot of a centaur (which for various reasons is presumed to be Chiron). And that Medea went retrograde in that degree spoke eloquently to a process of pursuing things we love or need to learn to love… which could also be about learning how to love things we need to love. Or even learning that something we think we love isn’t all that good for us – or workable in real life.

Medea is the premise of ‘loving to the point of self-undoing.’ But since all astrological points should have both a positive and negative aspect, Medea should not only indicate where or how we are likely to undermine our best interests – or even our goals – but the process by which we can ‘undo’ our inclination or obsessions or simply our having gotten off track so that we can pursue that which will be rewarding.

The difference here is likely to be rather primal. After all, the story of Medea is about a sorceress who falls in love with a hero on a mission. Medea ‘does all’ for him and in the end loses her mind such that she kills her own children – the children she had with this man – because she is so very much overcome by the failure of their relationship.

The man is Jason – he of golden fleece fame, which tangentially brings up the whole idea of being ‘fleeced’ …in this case by our own desires, reactions and our yearning to have something we so think we need to have…or perhaps simply need to want to have.

The mythic Medea is the granddaughter of Helios – the god of the Sun, as opposed to Apollo, who is the god of enlightenment. In being THE Sun, Helios translates astrologically into the energy of existence and the consciousness of life – in particular (in our chart) our life.

Added to the Helios quality is the idea that Medea’s cousin in Circe – the sorceress encountered by Odysseus (aka Ulysses) on his rather circuitous trip home in the wake of that interminable Trojan War. Where Circe was all about turning men into animals so as to serve her at her leisure (and one assumes, to be occasionally served up as supper), Medea is more about ‘the relationship’ or the ability to have an manage our relationships, rather than the evocative (Circe-like) drives which in all of life push us in one direction or another.

Helios as the Personification of Midday

by Anton Raphael Mengs (c. 1765)

The temptation here (which yes, would be the word even when we’re talking about sorceresses) is to personify these attributes. Yet while it may well be true that we know people who either embody these energies or who embody them for us, the reality of any main belt asteroid (and yes, Medea is a main belt asteroid) is that this is one of many thousands of factors we will meet up with in life and which are about us…and about things we need to understand about the nature of being human.

In terms of orbit, asteroid Medea’s innermost point (its perihelion) is at 2.762 AU – meaning it’s just under three times as far away from the Sun as the Earth is. Probably the most important thing to understand in that sense is not so how far from Earth or the Sun Medea is, but where Medea fits in as part of the asteroid belt.

The astronomical asteroid belt occupies that space between the orbit of Mars and the orbit of Jupiter – which in astrological terms defines it as all that ‘stuff’ which lies between our ‘personal world’ and the ‘worldly world.’ We can either take that as our day-to-day life…in which case the fact that the Jupiter/Saturn ‘grouping’ beyond the asteroid belt becomes the greater growth of our life or our maturation as a person….OR we can take this all more in the sense of the astrological concept of the inner planets (Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars plus Earth’s satellite Moon) being our native mentality and habits and all that…and all that we meet up with on our way to becoming that which we can be or become – or learn how to master.

Mars’ aphelion (the outer range of its orbit) is at 1.665 AU. Jupiter’s inner range of its orbit (its perihelion) is at 4.95 AU. So that ‘gap’ between the inner planets and the next planetary ‘rung’ out is about 3.5 AU wide…which is to say, about three times the distance from the Earth to the Sun.

That’s a pretty big space. And there are literally thousands upon thousands of asteroids out there – most of which haven’t even been named yet.

In any case, seeing that Medea’s inner orbital distance (it’s perihelion) is at 2.788 AU, that’s about half way through the asteroid pack. So Medea is something we would meet up as we get ‘to the thick of things’…and thus it’s fairly easy to see (thinking of the myth) how the minus of Medea would be over-focus and the plus of Medea would be the seeing where or how we’re over-focused, perhaps to our detriment.

Medea’s aphelion – the farthest it gets from the Sun – is at 3.446 AU…which in astronomical terms is not all that far from Jupiter’s innermost orbital point, especially when we consider that Jupiter is the second largest object in our solar system, next to the Sun.

Jupiter has pull, in other words.

So Medea should be an object or a process through which we become wiser. Or at least more knowing or knowledgeable. Whether that happens the nice way or the devastating way, however? That’s up to us.

At the moment, Medea is roughly 4.0 AU from Earth and 3.42 AU from the Sun – which considering how it may seem that the Sun should be farther away really only makes sense when we look at an orbital diagram:

Image courtesy of the JPL Small Body Database

 

Medea is also on the way ‘in’ – which is to say, Medea is now in the process of moving from the Jupiter end of its orbit towards the Mars end of its orbit. So we’ve reached one point of cumulative ‘learning’ – particularly in ‘worldly’ terms, and now we’re moving through a phase which is about some lesson (or lessons) about our Self.

Medea reached that Jupiterian ‘learning’ point during the period between May 3rd and June 17th…which for you may have represented a point of intensity in some relationship – a point when you realized something about relationships (and the process of relating) or when you were just wicked over-focused on something or someone.

Or maybe all of the above.

All this goes back to where Medea is in your personal (natal) chart as much as it speaks to the cycles which life leads us through. But as far as that goes, it’s interesting to note that Medea’s ‘close approach’ data dates – and this would be its closest approaches to Jupiter, generator of educational energetics – occur in pairs separated by about a decade. In other words, there was a ‘close approach’ to Jupiter in June of 1937 and again in August of 1947, and then there wasn’t a ‘close approach’ (this is in astronomical terms, remember) until February 2009, an approach which will be echoed in April of 2019.

After that we move to the years 2080 and 2090, so let’s just lay that aside for now, shall we? But since in astrology we do tend to learn as much by looking back at known history as by any other means (we call this “research”…!), in June of 1937 (which would be leading into WW2, the golden age of the movie business and much else) Medea and Jupiter were in late Capricorn – which makes sense when we think of business or nations and national affairs, as both items are Capricorn in nature. By April of 1947 the world was trying to pick up the pieces in the wake of WW2, and both Jupiter and Medea were in late Scorpio.

Again.

For the detail mongers among us, this time Jupiter was conjunct Toliman but Medea hadn’t quite gotten there yet. But the Scorpio theme – the reclamation, the economics, the need to negotiate, the need for healing and caring for the injured – that seems to echo rather clearly, both on a national, international and personal level. The eclipses of 1947 were in sync where we are now – not by exact degree, but by sign. November 1947 saw an eclipse at 19 Scorpio with Chiron conjunct…there was a lot which needed doing which could not be learned except by doing it, and one presumes the process of the eclipse made that terribly evident amidst much angst and struggle.

February 2009’s Medea/Jupiter approach had Medea, Juno, the North Node and Jupiter all conjunct at 9 Aquarius, a degree which is successful when treated with in a philosophical manner which in being more or less ‘agnostic’ doesn’t rely on previous tenets. The Sabian Symbol for this degree fits rather fascinatingly with the time – which if you remember was all about the global economic collapse with one side of the discussion calling for seeing things in a new way from a global and more ‘scientific’ or ‘dispassionate’ manner while the other side was rooted in long held traditions and positions, come what may.

 Jupiter as photographed by NASA

The Sabian Symbol for 9 Aquarius goes like this: A MAN WHO HAD FOR A TIME BECOME THE EMBODIMENT OF A POPULAR IDEAL IS MADE TO REALIZE THAT AS A PERSON HE IS NOT THIS IDEAL. The keynote is ‘The need to deal with human beings as persons rather than as screens upon which one projects one’s dream and ideal.’

And that’s the keynote for this phase of Medea growth. From that place Medea is now moving back towards Mars – the astrological ‘how and what motivates us to do things’ point. And when that point is reached in April of 2019, Jupiter and Medea will be in late Sagittarius.

Which with the exception of needing to say that Medea’s orbital period is 5.5 years in length, brings me back to what’s been going on of late.

Having gone retrograde at 29 Scorpio in conjunction with Toliman back at the end of March 2013, Medea began the process of forcing us to grapple with what we don’t know (yet) about ourselves…and maybe about how we trip ourselves up…and how we can undo our prior errors, particularly those which are based on (or in) some obsessive attitude, regard or habit. Being that this is Scorpio we are talking about, both our desires and our fears are front and center – as would be our ability to find the right people with whim to form alliances and our ability to negotiate the process of creating and maintaining those alliances (aka relationships).

Medea went direct again late on July 8, 2013. And when it went direct, it did so after a good month and a half (plus) of having played footsie with the North Node, implying that we ‘had to do’ something in order to maintain our life progress, but that we were probably being tugged in other directions at the same time.

Metaphysically, the point would be the experience of this confluence and what we learned about ourselves – for good and for uncomfortable (even disquieting) as we realized our propensity to grow ourselves in one direction while perhaps short changing our growth in another.

And that is a lesson about priorities. Having gone direct at 16 Scorpio, our questions would have pitted some measure of personally desired aims against universal dynamics and the problems we get into by aligning ourselves with one ‘group’ or another without sufficient perspective on the group (or perhaps the members of that group with which we are interacting) to know what we’re getting into. There is a reference to ‘tumors’ and aberrations of growth (at either end of the scale) which can be literal or figurative, depending on how you’re inclined – and yes, depending on where 16 Scorpio falls in your natal (and solar) chart, especially in terms of how that affects your natal Medea (which in case you need to know is IAU asteroid number 212).

The Sabian Symbol here is again an interesting one (aren’t they all when we put them in use and perspective?) in that it images A WOMAN, FECUNDATED BY HER OWN SPIRIT, IS “GREAT WITH CHILD.” The key here is ‘by her own spirit,’ which plainly removes this image from the realm of the sexual or familial and places it in the realm of someone – or our ability – to handle creative energies within our Self, and to what end we do that.

And that is very, very much akin to Medea, in that the energetic may be about wanting what one wants…or the energetic may be about what we have to give to others.

So…how to know which would have been which back there at the end of May?

Probably the better judgment calls have to do with the degree or number of finite ‘dictates’ are involved. At its best, Scorpio is about supporting growth through measured guidance. At its worst, Scorpio says ‘do it my way OR ELSE.’ There are instances where Scorpio interactions will have someone bow out of the transaction because they cannot adhere to obligations, and in this instance the question is whether they are doing so for emotional reasons, or because they have considered the parameters and are making a calm choice because of understood priorities.

Again, it’s all about priorities...which is another way of referring to how we make our choices...which is, of course, the heart of the Gemini concept and thus in a greater sense, about our relationship to the Gemini/Sagittarius polarity.

In other words, how we go about making choices in the general sense, and how we prioritize what we do, with all that feeding into whether we carry through on things or abandon them midstream (in other words, how flaky are we?) and whether we understand the ultimate importance to us and to our world (that being the Sagittarian side of the polarity) as we make our choices...which in common parlance is  another way of saying 'how shallow are we?'...particularly as that applies to our ability to choose quality over quantity or something which means something to US versus what it 'looks like' to others.

Medea entered Sagittarius late on September 30st (except for those who live in time zones more than an hour ease of UT/+0, where it would have been already been October 1st). That not only puts us now in the sign of the next Jupiter/Medea ‘close-approach’ (and just over one orbital cycle away) but in position to be experiencing things which ask us whether we know the difference between the obsession which undermines us and the opportunity which, in helping us escape that which doesn’t work, allows us to grow into our Self.

Medea is not precisely about freedom. But then, not every human wants to be free about everything, or in every moment of their life. We all like to feel secure and to some sense secured. We all like knowing there’s someone to turn to and someone we can confide in.

There’s an old expression which seems rather apt here…the freedom to go is at least as important as the freedom to stay. It is the journey from obsession and reactivity to that of choice which seems important here – and which ultimately saves us from our potential for human tragedy.
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Politics, Mars and the Debates

 Planet Mars as photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope

(photo credit: NASA-JPL, 2001)

Oh, what a difference a week makes! In the blog about the Vice-Presidential debate, I said that the conversation between Biden and Ryan might be many things, but dull – that it would not be!

While that commentary might reflect the charts of Biden and Ryan, it was mostly based on Mars having moved into Sagittarius.

Both Vice President Biden and Congressman Ryan have charts where the natal Ascendant is in Sagittarius. There wasn’t a chance that they weren’t going to both be set off.

At the time of the debate, Mars was at 3 Sagittarius. That would be inside Paul Ryan’s first house (and conjunct Echo) and atop Biden’s 3 Sagittarius Ascendant. Love or hate Biden or Ryan, it’s an interesting astrological lesson to see the difference between Mars/Ascendant versus Mars in the first house. Biden was downright feisty; Ryan was assertive. They both spoke quickly with a lot of palpable energy in their speech.

It was very Mars in Sagittarius.

In Joe Biden’s chart, Mars was not only conjunct the Ascendant but also his 12th house Scorpio Venus. And thus we felt his ‘connection’ to an ideal which embraces the masses. That there are many criticisms of Biden isn’t astonishing considering this Mars was also in opposition to his 2 Gemini Uranus – the signature of that which many refer to as Joe Biden as a 'loose cannon.'

 Joseph Biden

November 20, 1942 - 8:30 a.m. (EWT +4) - Scranton, PA

Is he? Some will have been blown out of the water by Biden, absolutely. Others no doubt find him a breath of fresh air.

How do voters feel about someone capable of being a 'loose cannon' as Vice President - the person who would be President if something was to happen to Barack Obama?

That's always the VP question to ask.

As for Paul Ryan, Mars conjuncting Echo at 3 Sagittarius (with Eros and Circe conjunct in one direction and  Neptune/Ascendant conjuncting from the other) we have a picture of someone who is going to 'Echo' someone else's statements no matter what. This quality - here heightened by Mars but native under any circumstance - comes to mind with regards to Paul Ryan's stated affinity for Ayn Rand (among others). He was called down (by some) for that as he will be called down (by some) for anything which isn't his own independent and original thought.

And here's the delineation chain there: the Jupiter which rules Paul Ryan's Neptune-Ascendant-Echo in Sagittarius is in Scorpio - about to be conjuncted by Saturn (which makes this election a serious issue for Congressman Ryan's career as a whole) and the 11th house of economics, social/societal systems and personal income. With Ryan's 11th house cusp set at 17 Libra, we have an emotional view of 11th house matters described by an Aquarian Libra exactly atop the 3rd house cusp: a perfect description of Paul Ryan as a.) self-professed numbers wonk and b.) someone who can in the same breath talk about ideals and realities in a way some find apt and others find completely non-coherent.

Another note on the Congressman's Jupiter: natally in opposition to a 5th (what I want) house Saturn/Sedna in early Taurus, Paul Ryan is not exactly what one would describe as flexible about his societal or economic attitudes.

With that 5th house having an Aries cusp, the 'good or bad' which comes out of it (including the Saturn/Sedna thing) will be ruled by a very (head)strong Aries Mars in the 4th house - a place where Mars represents repression, struggles and feuds within the Self, generally about trying to escape an in-built sense of limitation (which may or may not be real even to the Self, never mind others). Mars conjunct Chiron in the 4th defines a vulnerability to frustration. And with both in trine to a Leo Black Moon Lilith in the 8th, Congressman Ryan will forever find himself denied by people he thinks are being foolish and short-sighted - while those people think Paul Ryan is blind to the realities, needs and rights to personal preference that others have.

Is this a great choice for Vice President?

Going back to Echo - which we saw activated at the debate - Echo is one of those chart commodities which can be hugely useful or very deadly, depending on how it's used. It's great for 'reciting facts' while ignoring others, but particularly when combined with Neptune at the Ascendant the whole can come off as either inspirational or deceptive.

Echo is a 'servant of the gods' (Zeus and Hera) who when questioned by Hera keeps saying exactly what Zeus told her to say. Then comes the day when Hera finds out the truth. Echo is punished - not for obeying Zeus but for not being independent enough, which in Paul Ryan's chart is...(yes)...Echoed by the Congressman's Sedna/Jupiter signature.

 

 Paul Davis Ryan

January 29, 1970 - 2:37 a.m. (CST) - Janesville, WI

Conjunct the Sagittarian Ascendant, Paul Ryan will do well to learn from things but not 'Echo' them. Admittedly this is a difficult thing to do if you're running in the VP slot on a presidential ticket. But there may not be any other option which doesn't end up 'costing' more than the Congressman cares to pay.  

So where will Mars be when President Obama and Governor Romney meet up at their next debate on October 16th? Answer: 6 Sagittarius, a degree which is noted for its great emphasis on service and being ‘one among all’ where vanity doesn’t work worth squat.

As an interesting counterpoint (and further illumination) to writings on 6 Sagittarius as a degree, the Sabian Symbol which will color what we might call the ‘assertiveness factor’ at the next debate is as follows: CUPID KNOCKS AT THE DOOR OF A HUMAN HEART which comes with Marc Edmund Jones’ keynote of ‘A stirring-up of individual longings for romantic love.’

Putting aside the idea that this is a very ‘poetic’ sounding concept, if Cupid (son of Venus) is ‘knocking’ at the door of a human heart, what exactly does that say? Doesn’t that imply that the heart has not yet felt real love?

Cupid with a Butterfly (L'Amour au Papillon) by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1888)

By extension, being that Cupid is the son of Venus, in this image would also be something which is connected to the (Venus) energy which attracts or repels that which we are aiming to accomplish.

And where will this Mars-at-6-Sagittarius fall in the charts of President Obama and Governor Romney on the appointed night of the debate?

For Romney, Mars will be in his 7th house – a house where Mars tends to act a bit subdued. On one hand this can be useful in the ‘conciliatory’ sense. On the other hand, this can be see (by some) as weakness.

In addition to being in Romney’s 7th house, by degree Mars will be conjuncting Hera, with Romney’s Hera being conjunct his South Node. Speaking off the political record, in a man’s chart this is generally the sign of a man who in a marriage likes a strong wife. Hera alone would be a bit bitchy; Hera conjunct South Node (again, in a man’s chart – though also in some lesbian charts) bespeaks someone who finds it (South Node) easy to do whatever the ruler of that Node describes for the partner.

 Mitt Romney

March 12, 1947 - 9:51 a.m. - Detroit, MI

In Romney’s case, the South Node is in Sagittarius, Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter, and Romney’s Jupiter is in Scorpio and intercepted in the 6th house. Scorpio being the sign of investments and money and the 6th house being the sign of health, work, service, in one direction this gives us a good 'Jupiter description' of Mitt Romney worked hard in the (Scorpio) financial field to (6th house) provide for his wife, her vision for their life and her health. In the other direction, this is also a classic signature of a man with a submissive streak.

With Mars transiting Romney’s 7th house at the time of the next debate, the candidate may well focus on relationships and marriage (or partnerships) as a vehicle in life. There has been talk about Governor Romney’s need to appeal to women and we may hear or sense his trying to do just that.

(Just as a personal note here: as an unmarried person, sometimes watching politics feels like an exercise in tolerating being told you're invisible. I have news for them - I'm not!) 

Yet then again (back to the subject), with Sagittarius being the sign both on Romney’s 7th and 8th house, if he has a chance he may well also move into matters of foreign affairs, abortion/right to life concerns and the national debt.

Meanwhile, over in President Obama’s chart, Mars will be transiting the President’s 10th house – the house of career, government and leadership. This is a strong position for Mars. With Sagittarius as a sign on Obama’s 11th house, the economy and the income of the people (as distinct from the economy) are likely to be important as a focus in what he says.

Mars at 6 Sagittarius is past the opposition to Obama’s 4th house (of the people/nation) 3 Gemini Moon, but still in aspect. We can thus expect some distinctly opinionated statements from the President, and maybe even feel conviction bordering on heat.

 Barack Obama

August 4, 1961 - 7:24 p.m. - Honolulu, HI

Maybe. Obama is after all, a famously ‘no-drama’ guy. But with the November solar eclipse hitting his philosophic 12th house cusp, maybe that’s going to change. With the eclipse being at 21 Scorpio and thus in a 3rd decanate degree (between 20 and 29 of some sign) which automatically denotes external forces as the prompting factor, it just may be the moment when everyone sees a whole new side to President Obama.

Will people like it? Maybe. Maybe not. 

Mars at 6 Sagittarius is not only in opposition to Obama’s Moon but also conjunct Medusa and Antares. On a personal basis this is a self-focal loop which warns Obama not to get so focused on one thing that he misses the details in things going on around him. And that means he is prone to doing that, even though with this pairing being presented in Sagittarius the ruler is Jupiter and Obama’s Jupiter is strongly placed (in Aquarius and the 12th – a sign of his understanding of people and how to speak to them).

 Situated at/as the head of Scorpio, Antares represents our ability to maintain focus while not getting obsessed by things or feelings, the Self or the Other

As Jupiter makes rounds of the chart we learn. With Jupiter’s orbit being 11.86 years long, we probably can look at the history of both the President and the Governor and see them ‘gaining ground’ on who they want to be, step by step.

But the placements here are interesting: Obama’s Jupiter is in 12, where it learns to broaden its view with every round and Romney’s Jupiter is in the 6th house where it narrows, focuses and hones its single-minded effectiveness with every round. 

A last note here: the Sagittarian house in Obama’s chart – the 11th – is the house of society, the economy, personal income and social systems (physical and business). With Kallisto absolutely conjunct this house he is likely to be blamed for things he hasn’t done and condemned to living through a ‘bear of a time’ before he becomes known as a ‘star.’ With Klotho and Ras Alhague situated just before this 11th house cusp (close enough to affect it) we have him starting (Klotho) healing or starting harm – the two poles of the Ras Alhague effect. Since he didn’t ‘start’ the economic collapse it is unlikely that’s the manifestation of this effect. The famously named “Obamacare” program however? That would be something the President started, something which (with Sagittarius being ruled by Jupiter) points straight at his Aquarius Jupiter in 12…

And if you want to follow the chain of rulership from there, Aquarius is ruled first by Saturn (still in 12) and then by Uranus. President Obama’s Uranus is at 25 Leo conjunct Kassandra (nobody will believe him even when he speaks the truth), Industry/North Node (“this should work to create work,” perhaps?) and Regulus (success achieved if revenge is avoided).

But in the other direction (counting down through the degrees this Uranus is also conjunct Pelion (a mountain to climb) Europa (getting carried away) and Black Moon Lilith – the sign of denying society or having the society deny belief in your aims or understandings of the facts.

This whole last bowlful of commentary has little to do with Mars’ exact placement. But it does very much describe the election, so it seems worth noting.

I’m ready for the next debate.

How about you?
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Libya’s Turmoil

 Um el Maa Oasis

photo credit: Michael Diederich (November 2005)

There are at lot of charts for Libya. For centuries it’s been ruled by treaty, partitioned by war and overrun by invaders. Not meaning this to sound cavalier, if your nation has been a power in the Mediterranean region north, south, east or west, its likely that at some point in history your nation has been in charge of the area we know today as Libya.

That nation – that collective/collected territory seem to have its roots in a peace treaty struck between the Allies and Italy which, as of February 10, 1947 has Italy relinquishing its command of Libyan lands.

February 10, 1947 - Italy relinquishes all control of Libya

in a treaty with the Allies (Tripoli)

This chart, in many a way – describes Libya as a nation as one which arose out of war (WWII) and which in that metaphysical formulation is created replete with the  groundwork for the Libya we know today, a Libya which is now painfully showing us its 'wartime-like' roots.

This concept starts with a chart which has 23 Libra on the 6th house of national health, work and service. Not only that, but this Libra 6th house contains the whole of the sign of Scorpio. Known as an interception, this ‘sign wholly encapsulated by a house’ is Scorpio. And in this intercepted pool of captive Scorpio energy is Chiron conjunct Niobe/Klotho and Jupiter conjunct Charybdis, Panacea and Eros/Hera.

The 6th house of any national chart is the nation’s ‘health’ as a nation plus its health care system, the general health of its people and the ‘health’ of its civil service and infrastructure, replete with whatever efforts are made to maintain the country in working order.

Modern Tripoli - Shari al Coiche

photo credit: Jaw101ie (June 2009)

A national 6th house also pictures the civil service, those who work to create or keep up the national infrastructure and – probably important here – the military.

One of Scorpio’s aspects is about death, conception and resurrection – hence the idea of the Phoenix being associated with Scorpio. So to have Scorpio intercepted in the 6th speaks of the war through which Libya was created, the warriors which created it and as a means of foreshadowing, the military man who would come to rule it.

The ruler of Libra (the sign on the cusp of this 6th house) is Venus. The Venus of this chart is in the 8th house of power, control, sex and joint finances – which in a national chart would be more like the nation’s use of credit and debt and/or what it uses money for.

Venus as a concept is about bringing things into being.

 We often think of Venus as the beauty of Aphrodite which inspires results. But the reality of Venus is more about what you earn, you have, what you have, you get to use as a resource. 

Which yes, would be why the concept of beauty is that ‘if you’ve got it, flaunt it!’ Of course that does sort of ignore how much work often goes into being that casually beautiful…

…But that’s another blog.

My point here is that the Venus of this chart is in the administrative/governing sign of Capricorn - is conjunct calculated Lilith. Calculated Lilith is either what we deny about our society or what our society denies (“refuses to know or acknowledge”) about us. And with this pair conjunct Scylla, there’s a whole stubbornness about this, plus a “whirlpool” effect – the ability to get ‘sucked in.’

In the 8th, this could easily be seen as Italy being…uh… ‘cajoled’ by the Allies into surrendering Libya. I mean, who thinks Italy woke up one morning saying ‘I want to set Libya free!!!’

 The ancient rock art of Tadrart Acacus bears mute testimony to

Libya's past as an area which was once far wetter - a land of

savannas which would have supported large animals like giraffes.

photo credit: Roberto D'Angelo (December 2005)

I don’t know about you, but WWII doesn’t strike me as a war which inspired such moods. As if any war does?

But moving on. In some houses (such as the 12th) Venus can indicate a free flow of creativity, no question. In the 8th however, it tends to be very controlling. And since it rules that 6th house (replete with its ‘impounded’ military) there’s the whole sense of ‘mandate’ to be associated with this Venus-Lilith-Scylla in the 8th. And that metaphysical essence would not only be part of Libya coming to be, but in what it is as it starts out.

No, not exactly what you would call a liberal start to national identity.

But we could go very ‘maybe yes, maybe no’ on whether this was going to be good or bad for the new nation…until we see how this 8th house is ruled by the Scorpio Jupiter intercepted in the 6th house.

It’s a closed circuit which turns itself a bit inside-out, right? The sign on the 6th is ruled by a Venus in the 8th with the 8th house ruled by a Jupiter which is intercepted in the 6th.

This ‘inescapable’ quality is what tips us off that the nation is not only controlled (Scorpio and 8th house) into being, but that the factor which goes into and comes out of this incarnating of the Libyan nation is a controlling (Scorpio) and probably charismatic (Scorpio/Jupiter) member of the military (6th house).

And no, I don’t know who negotiated for the Allies in WWII, but there’s no question but that Gaddafi – the man who will end of seizing and wielding Libyan power and power over Libya – he was widely known to have been a dashing, charismatic military presence when he took power.

Of course there is the other side of this Venus-Lilith-Scylla thing…that whoever would take power would do so without paying all that much attention to the people. And the people, in reality, would not be really honest with themselves about who this leader is.

If we had any doubt about this descriptor-description, we would look to the ruler of the Venus-Lilith-Scylla in Capricorn. That would be Saturn, which positioned in the 3rd house is in Leo.

Saturn in Leo is notorious for having…well, let’s just say a bit of an issue with arrogance. In the 3rd house of mentality and communiqués it’s a rather brilliant image of a nation created through treaty: you WILL give up these lands…they WILL become a country. On the other hand, this would also tend towards a country where those in charge would want (demand) to be right, and one prone to wanting to  dictate to others – including other governments. Making this all a little less comfortable is the idea that this Saturn is conjunct Eurydike and Atropos, making the newly freed Libya a place where the cost one is made to pay (Eurydike) equals and ‘end’ or ‘loss’ (Atropos) where the Saturn dictate is not adhered to.

Tripoli's 'Old Town'

photo credit: Franzfoto (November 2010)

At the risk of sounding a little like that old song about the leg bone connecting to the hip bone and the hip bone connecting to…. to have such a Leo Saturn-Atropos-Eurydike disposing the 8th house Venus (plus stubborn Scylla plus societal denying/disliking calculated Lilith) which in turn rules a 6th house with Scorpio intercepted therein replete with Jupiter…that seems to be the basis upon which the Libya we hear of today – a country ‘formulated’ less as a ‘nation’ as most conceive of it than a  hierarchal-tribal rule, leaving it apt to being not only run by a “strong-man” figure who comes to power through the 6th house military but who grows up thinking of this as the way the world should be run.

Children tend to formulate a good deal of their ‘view’ of the world between Jupiter’s first opposition (at about age 6)/Saturn’s first quarter cycle (approximately age seven) and the end of Jupiter’s first round (11.86 years), which is just shy of Saturn’s first opposition at about age 14.

Muammar Gaddafi was born in 1942. He would have thus been 5 when Italy relinquished its hold on Libya, and he would have been 9 when the Kingdom of Libya came into being on December 24, 1951.

 Kingdom of Libya: December 24, 1951 (Tripoli)

For a country to change charts, we would expect there to be some indicator on the original chart – in this case, the Independence (from Italy) chart. And indeed there is. Libya becomes the Kingdom of Libya as Pluto is opposing the Sun of the Independence chart – a challenge which comes from the 4th house of the populace and nationalism.

Interestingly, this is also what we saw with Egypt – as Pluto moved across the IC into the 4th house of culture, homeland, national population and tradition, Egypt changed. We see the same thing here. The new chart has Pluto at 21 Leo – the ‘exiting’ of the total opposition to the 20 Aquarius Sun of the Independence chart. This is Pluto picturing emergence…and in essence, the repercussions of transformation.

(LINK to the first of the blogs on Egypt. There are others linked in the sidebar Corporate, National and/or Political Kind section.)

In the Independence chart, shape shifter Haumea is at 18 Leo; Deucalion (finding the moral path) is at 22 Leo. Pluto runs over Haumea and ‘the shape of things’ begins to shift/change. Libya becomes a kingdom and then Pluto conjuncts Deucalion.

Considering that Pluto creates, denies or destroys, this is an interesting signal. Like as not, all three forms of this dynamic were felt in the new, young kingdom. But to fast forward to today, it would seem that the transformation into a kingdom which came to be ruled by Gaddafi ultimately denied the morality of the people and represents a ‘kingdom-format’ (as opposed to some other form of national governance such as a democracy) a format which is unlikely to work for Libya in the sense of giving the Libyan people their moral rights as a people.

That this is a negative and not positive call here is actually underscored by the idea that the Sun of the Kingdom chart is conjunct the Black Moon (calculated) Lilith of the Independence chart. Today we hear a Libyan people saying – if nothing else – that their kingdom’s ruler (Gaddafi as monarch) has ignored them and denied them their rights.

By this chart, their Independence would be denied. And since like all astrological signals this one swings both ways, the uprising of the Libyan people suggests some pretty serious consequences (a “dire” outcome) for Gaddafi. Black Moon Lilith can certainly represent a society or social standard which we want to ignore – but it can also represent the society or social forces coming to ignore everything about us. Considering that this statement is being made via the Black Moon of the Independence chart which is in the 8th house, the acts and attitude being displayed by Gaddafi towards his people (having them shot in the street) is absolutely 8th house.

Snow in Al Bayda, Libya

But as he has turned on his people, so also does this Kingdom Sun conjunct Independence 8th house Black Moon also says everything can be turned against him. Like attracts like…what we put out will come back to us. This is always true – and doubly potent when the symbols are 8th house oriented, which is to say either posed in the 8th house or in Scorpio.

As for the Kingdom chart as a whole, with Juno-Chiron-Sun conjunct in the 10th in Capricorn accompanied by Edisona, Medusa and Scylla, there is both a need to be strong and a likelihood that rulers of this Kingdom are going to be overly strong. Juno/Sun in Capricorn is the need and existence of dominant leadership – adding Chiron means one finds their own way in the doing of it, which in this case led to strength in Capricorn commerce (Edisona would be the ‘new idea’ which helped the country along) but Medusa/Scylla is a fearful stubbornness and ability to swallow others up which has been activated now as transiting Pluto is rolling over all these positions.

But why would Libyans explode now instead of continuing to tolerate their life? As viewers in a big world of events, we can easily say ‘that’s what’s going on in the Middle East – the turmoil is spreading.’ Yet astrologically, that doesn’t work – charts are more like data: they don’t react to external “feelings” or a world ‘mood.’

Instead, what we have is (let’s say it all together!) the January 4th Solar Eclipse at 13 Capricorn – an eclipse which occurring in Capricorn is easily ‘about’ government and commerce and what governments are doing with money and about commerce (their own and otherwise) …and this is an emotionally evocative degree.

In the Kingdom’s chart, this eclipse occurs virtually atop the Part of Fortune – Fortuna, as she is known. It’s something the Kingdom needs to go through and needs to know it will need to resort to (if necessary) time and time again until/unless things function correctly. That last part – the ‘functioning correctly’ comes from this Part of Fortune appearing in the functional 11th house. And since the 11th is about income, the marketplace, societal gatherings and operations of a nation in the world and a nation’s people in the national marketplace, all that we see going on and all that we hear from the Libyan people about their lack of opportunity and what is/isn’t allowed is entirely on mark.

That this Part of Fortune is conjunct Kleopatra says the people and Gaddafi know what they are doing and that they ‘speak with or in many tongues.’ Also conjunct Icarus, this Part of Fortune stands for actions taken in a sudden, headstrong and precipitous manner.

Jabal Al Akdar - Cyreraica in Eastern Libya

Photo credit: Barghathi

But does this have to be fatal? We would hope not, yet with Damocles and Vega at 13 and 14 (which makes Damocles exactly conjunct the Part of Fortune) there are perils to be faced…and frankly, Damocles/Icarus/Vega would spell an eloquently spoken ‘plunge’ which yes, could end in death.

(LINK to article on Damocles)

And there is another little pair ‘o’ points to be considered here. One is the 12 Capricorn Part of Fortune being semi-sextile Pallas (wisdom) at 12 Aquarius, which is an ego-bruising don’t bother me which mostly/greatly flows from the top down in this kingdom society. The Pallas portion of this also underscores a lack of regard for education of the people and use of their wisdom.

But there is that other little issue…namely that this Part of Fortune is in EXACT opposition to Uranus, aka Uranus conjunct Sirius, Ye Old Dog Star which teaches that little things (and “little people”) matter – and that sometimes we need to stick our ego in a box and do what needs doing instead of humoring ourselves.

Given how this Uranus is in the 5th house this is the quintessential ‘who gets to do what they want’ versus ‘no, you can’t do what you want!’ sort of energetic which the January eclipse went and set off, sort of like a heat-sensitive explosive encased in ice and left out in the sun.

With this all said, there’s also a teaching in astrology called progressions which, particularly with national charts functions best with a regimented ‘year-as-degree’ of movement. From 1951 to 2011 is sixty years, which in astrological terms is sixty degrees, or a sextile – equaling opportunity.

And if the Lunar Nodes represent society as a whole (which they do!)…a sextile backwards (by sign, which is how the Nodes move) would take us from the North Node at 2 Pisces to progressed North Node at 2 Capricorn. And 2 Capricorn is right smack conjunct Edisona and right between the 3 Capricorn Juno and 1 Capricorn Sun ‘ruler’s image’ of this Kingdom chart.

Oh, a new thing would be a brewing now, yes.

Being that Neptune is as of posting at 28 Aquarius about to move thru intense Aquarius 29 into Pisces as of April 2011, we have an image of Neptune in opposition to the Kingdom’s Regulus/Deucalion. Deucalion again being about ‘finding the moral path’ the people are saying their ‘morality’ is about having it be moral for them to have opportunities in life, it here joins Regulus – the royal star which promises success if vengeance is avoided.

With this combination situated in the 6th house of civil service and (yes,) military, it’s a very bad astrological idea (never mind political or humanistic!) for for Gaddafi to allow any military (particularly his own!) to fire on his own people. That several Libyan fighter pilots flew to Malta and asked to defect when asked to fire on the Libyan people is the ‘up’ side of this opposition. Neptune is opposing from the 12th house – a very strong position for Neptune. Still in Aquarius, the people will feel for the people’s plight – this is not going to be one group of Libyans saying another is out of their mind for protesting.

Moreover, all of humanity is going to object.

 The ruins of an ancient Roman theater in today's city of Sabratha

photo credit: dumidog

But this isn’t going to be easy. When Neptune reaches Pisces, the first thing it will hit in this Kingdom chart is asteroid Lilith – the cost of what one has done. This may be Gaddafi’s end, it may be the cost of revolt being paid by a people, either in human or societal terms.

This is one of those charts we could talk about for hours – the Mercury in Sagittarius at the top of the chart gives us a government (a king of the land) prone to hard-headed pronouncements. With the Mercury ruled by Jupiter/Eris in Aries, there’s an aggrandizement of the rights of the monarch with the now-being-seen willingness to serve out discordant treatment of the people (injury to members of the populace). With House and Typhon conjunct this Jupiter-Eris, there’s a comfort (House as ‘being at home’) with primal acts (Typhon), which coming from a military man turned national leader surely suggests a willingness to resort to military tactics and killing.

Plus with that Jupiter/Eris in Aries, one would surely look at the Mars/Saturn/Ixion/Lust/Medea in the 7th house in Libra. This is a weakness to entitlement (Mars/Ixion), a strong-arming (Mars/Saturn), a focus on what you love (Lust/Medea) and a craving for what suits your will even if it in time brings your downfall (Saturn/Ixion/Lust/Medea).

And for those not yet convinced, there is a 5 Scorpio Moon in the 8th – a fusion of money and power in the house of life or death, control or agreement – another underscoring of the potential for selfishness or violence. Or for that matter, terrorism or the sponsoring of same in any way, shape or form. Yes, this could be a great position for a government which really works with a people who earn being worked with. But Moon in the 8th OR Moon in Scorpio tends to feel what it feels. Combined, that becomes more of a given.

The final coup de gras here? That this Moon is conjunct Hybris and Byblis….not a pretty triad! Hybris is an arrogance to think you can get away with something. But eventually, it does come back to haunt you. And Byblis is wanting to justify something which on the face of it, should not even be argued for. But there’s something about it (namely that you want so for it to be okay) which makes you try and justify your love for whatever your Byblis quotient is.

That Libya erupted after Saturn took its station and went retrograde atop Ixion, backing into Mars as the ignition point says a lot. It both ignites the pent up feelings of the people as portrayed in this chart and all the propensities for how the ruler of this Kingdom will act in return.

 A mosque in the city of Ghadames - a protected

UNESCO world heritage site

photo credit: Roberto D'Angelo

 

So where is Libya going? The June 2011 Solar Eclipse at 11 Gemini will be right between fixed star Aldebaran (integrity) at 9 Gemini and fixed star Rigel (the teacher – 16 Gemini) at the 16 Gemini IC/Nadir point of this chart.

Because this eclipse is conjunct the Nadir of the Kingdom chart it acts to sort of ‘blast’ the base out from under this chart – implying that there is either a ‘teaching of a lesson’ to the country or a ‘greater wisdom’ which undermines the foundation upon which this Kingdom chart has stood now for 60 years.

That number – 60 – is in astrological circles a fairly automatic reminder of Saturn, by the way. Given that Saturn takes 29.46 years to go once around the zodiac, that’s pretty darn close to 60 years when you double it. The Saturn of this Kingdom chart being at 14 Libra with Saturn in retrograde going from 17 Libra back to 10 Libra tells us that this time...these weeks...this is the Kingdom chart’s Saturn return. It's going on right now. It's in progress. And it won't be complete until August, 2011.

Put in prosaic terms, Saturn is a symbol which says what you earn, you shall reap. This Kingdom chart seems to have earned a bucket full of trouble!

But why would that be? After all, the first go ‘round of Saturn didn’t create that kind of trouble, right?

Well, right. But that first Saturn return didn’t happen in conjunction with a Solar Eclipse squaring Saturn.

This brings up something which is important to understand: in astrological terms, one big transit can indicate a problem or an advancement. But catastrophe or achieving something over-the-moon fabulous requires more than one indicator. Saturn returns are something like a “payout” …or when the bill comes due. Some people have really great Saturn returns!

But in a chart like this where we see Saturn (at 14 Libra) square the Part of Fortune and Uranus – this is Saturn sitting at the apex of a t-square. The challenge of a t-square is to get “past” the apex of the “t”, which generally represents something difficult in your own (ego) nature to put aside. If you can manage it, then you reach the ‘other side’ of the “t” and everything falls together.

In this instance, as Saturn came to its (second) return at/as the apex of the Kingdom t-square – this is when the Solar Eclipse hit the “destination” point – the Part of Fortune.

And what do Solar Eclipses do, class? That’s right – first they show up all the worst positives, then they ‘black out’ what quality.

We are now officially in the worst of the positives zone, and that Uranus is at the time of this uprising and Gaddafi’s threatening (ordering?) of a ‘bloodbath’ of government against its own people, Uranus is at 29 degrees of Pisces – the last degree of the zodiac. The uprising began with Uranus at 28 degrees – conjunct Athena (knowing, wisdom) and fixed star Scheat, a point famous for rejection of ideas. The people rejected the rule of the leader and the leader (Gaddafi) rejected the right of the people to reject him.

(Oh – and by the way…the full name of the Greek Goddess is Pallas Athena. Her name has been parted into an astronomical two-ism with one asteroid being named Athena (or Athene) and another rather important astrological asteroid being known as Pallas).

Unfortunately, the combination of these symbols in this national chart (as opposed to a personal chart) suggests this is not going to be a quick process Libya is going through. Not only will June’s Gemini Solar Eclipse hit the Nadir of this chart but July 2011’s Cancer Solar Eclipse will hit the 5th house cusp of the Kingdom chart, rousing the full expression of that Scorpio Moon/Hybris/Byblis in the 8th.

This is an awfully long post. As I started, my intention had been to continue on into a discussion of Gaddafi’s personal chart. Born June 7, 1942, Gaddafi has a Sun which at 15 Gemini falls right at the Rigel/Nadir of the Kingdom chart.

 Muammar al-Gaddafi

June 7, 1942, Sirt (aka Sirte or Surt), Libya

Aries Wheel (no time known) - no Moon shown

With that point about to be ‘eclipsed’ come June, that seems enough to say.

Besides, the future of Libya as a nation which is home to millions of people seems far more important than the fate of one man who seems to care not at all for the values of his people – or the world.