Geminid Meteor Shower 2012

A Leonid meteor streaks across the sky above Montauk at the eastern end of New York's Long Island

(photo credit: Tushar N Dadarwala, January 2012)

As if this week wasn’t already busy enough, we’re having a meteor shower!

I’m not sure anyone makes umbrellas for this sort of thing, but if they did, surely they’d be clear so that we could see meteors streaking across the sky, right?

The Geminids will be at their 2012 height on December 13 and 14th, and like all other meteor showers is metaphysically thought of as a time when ‘sparks’ (ideas, little “illuminations”) enlighten us…or maybe just amaze or entertain us.

(Which is which depends on who you are!)

One of the interesting things about the Geminid shower is that unlike most other meteor showers, it isn’t ‘caused’ by a comet. No, the Geminids owe their existence to an asteroid named Phaethon.

In case you don’t remember Phaethon, I tend to think of it as a second-cousin-once-removed from Icarus. Both represent haste of some kind, with Icarus more inclined towards not wanting to listen to the ‘how to’s which, as a result, leads to some sort of “downfall” where Phaethon is simply bull-headed.

But this isn’t just any sort of bull-headedness, this is teenaged bull-headedness. As the myth tells it, 
Phaethon gets into a wrangle with Apollo, said wrangle ending with Apollo having promise to grant Phaethon a wish. Personally, I sort of wonder how the Greek god of enlightenment (of all things!) could be so stupid as to promise some teen whatever he wants (parents, are you with me?) but that’s one of the truly wonderful things about Greek myth and why it so embodies human archetypes.

Greek gods are fallible. They make mistakes, they break their promises, they rather embody the idea that to be human is divine.

(go ahead, laugh…!)

In the story, Phaethon asks to drive Apollo’s sun chariot. Knowing how dangerous it would be to let Phaethon do this, Apollo explains and explains and explains and just like any teenager, Phaethon is has an ‘I don’t care what he says, I CAN do this!’ conviction stuck in his head. He insists, and Apollo, being god of honesty and truth, has to keep his promise.

The results are disastrous. And yes, deadly.

The Fall of Phaethon by Peter Paul Rubens

Given all this, it’s interesting that the Geminids show up every year during holiday time. Are they little warnings to be careful and not to overindulge? Or are they signs of some sort of 'deadly' sort of thing which is about to happen to us - maybe because we're too stubborn to heed good common sense?

A lot of which-is-which in your world will be astrologically read by where your natal Phaethon is – and where it is currently by transit. (In case you’re going to use one of the free services to look up where your Phaethon is, its astronomical number is 3200.)

As the Geminids streak our night skies this year, Phaethon is at 25 Aries – conjunct Eris. Also conjunct Kassandra, which we talked about in yesterday’s blog on Uranus.

And when you get to tomorrow’s post on the New Moon? Remember that Phaethon is part of the Eris ‘flavor’ to this month’s New Moon. As far as that goes, considering celestial ‘ranks’ Phaethon is merely an asteroids where Eris is a dwarf planet. So in that sense Eris takes precedence, indicating a ‘headstrong’ quality in how we create trouble or stand up against it.

But then again…Eris is ‘way out there’ beyond Neptune. Phaethon is a main-belt, Earth-crossing asteroid. In other words, Phaethon’s outer orbital point (its aphelion) is in the giant “belt” of asteroids which orbit between Mars and Jupiter. Then it cycles in, passing Mars, passing Earth, passing Venus and Mercury both before looping back and heading away from the Sun.

In other words, that ‘headstrong’ thing? That’s something which is ‘closer’ to us than the perspective Eris asks of us.

As an astronomical event, the Geminids are one of the best meteor showers to view, as it tends to be very ‘intense’ in terms of frequency (meteors per hour). I’m sure in reading this a few of us will laugh, thinking about how similar this too is to teen attitudes.

That the peak of the Geminids occurs at the time of a New Moon is very convenient for sky watchers. With no moonlight hazing things up, meteors will be easier to spot and more of them will be visible.

But astrologically? The New Moon is its own symbol. And that this New Moon is being underscored (colored? modified?) by Uranus goes direct is a sign of big doings. Major events. Changes. Even big possibilities.

Yet how that turns out depends on you. On how you take things and what you do with your life. This New Moon is an interesting one, so check out the blog and see what you think.

Just as a suggestion though…? Don’t ignore any Greek gods driving chariots. And since this is a New Moon and the Geminid will be more evident as we look up at the sky, that seems something of a celestial request that we see the signs and heed them.
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Uranus stationary/direct

 Uranus, its rings, and several of its moons

(photo credit: NASA, JPL, ESA)

Uranus symbolizes change. Anything which alters the status quo or your status quo is Uranian. Discoveries are Uranian. The effort to try and figure something out (anything from experimenting to puzzling to science) is Uranian.

The information which represents the changing of the status quo or which leads you to make a change, that’s Uranian too. As are the means by which changes are created. Information is Uranian (and Aquarian). Bombs are Uranian. And so is a paycheck, especially when it changes your life lifestyle.

The internet is Uranian because computers and anything computerized is a.) powered by electricity and b.) a source of new information, both of which are Uranian.

Revolutions and rebels are Uranian. Anarchy is Uranian. Getting arrested is free…but so is achieving freedom. Both are Uranian – as are elitism and universality.

It’s all about where you start with a status quo, and the energy which is symbolically Uranus can function mentally, physically or as the itchiness which drives you to action. Uranus is about change, the act of changing, the choice to change, the discovery which allows you to change or the circumstance which forces a change upon you.

Lightning, such as that we see striking the CN Tower in Toronto, is 'very Uranus' in astrological terms: not only is it electrical, but it's sudden and can change things in a moment - not to mention startle the tar out of you!

(photo credit: Raul Heinrich, July 2008)

Uranus will be at a station/direct moment on Thursday, December 13th at 12:04 p.m., UT/+0 time. And that it goes direct at 4 Aries is both interesting and a warning. 4 Aries is by definition a ‘me-and-what-I-do’ kind of degree. It’s reputation is one of huge energy and a sort of naïve idea of how to use that energy, which right away makes the whole of the Uranus station period sound sort of like a time either when self-indulgence leads to choices which are then later regretted…or when instinct or luck or whatever you want to call it leads us to a moment which changes everything for the good. Maybe even the very good!

Celestial stations are normally given a two-days-before, two-days- after “station allowance.” With Uranus, just because this is Uranus, we might have to push that another day or so. But let’s safely say that this station starts on the 11th and extends to the 15th, with a little room for fudgery. (That’s fudging said with a flip of the mental tongue!)

But there’s more here to meet the mind than just that! 4 Aries is the same degree that Uranus went retrograde at back in July 2011. That means we should draw a line from here back to then. What was going on in your life?

And if you want to get really cyclic-exotic about it, Pluto hit a station/direct point at 4 Capricorn (the square to 4 Aries) in September 2011 and Saturn hit a station/retrograde point at 4 Libra back in January 2010. Saturn being the ‘extent of what we can do’ (or control) this means that something was at that extreme or moving beyond our control back in early 2010 which tested us rather crunchingly in 2011 which is now coming up as a ‘changing circumstance’ or change of circumstance.

 Saturn (and a couple of its moons) are here photographed in false color by Voyager 2

(photo credit: NASA-JPL)

By going on station in Square to Capricorn’s Pluto/Facies, in trine to Mercury (in Sagittarius) in a semi-sextile to Chiron and Fomalhaut in Pisces, in opposition to Hera, Edisonia, Sappho and Diadem in Libra and in conjunction with Child and Echo in Aries…this Uranian moment would seem to be at least in part about our relationship to the sorts of questions about ‘perfection’ which ask whether we are too hard on ourselves (and why we have some to be that way) or whether we have not held ourselves (or what we choose to put up with) to decent standards. The Hera-Edisonia-Diadem Libra cluster here seems something like a mirror all about what we want to be, what others have taught us to be, what we want to be seen as, and whether we have any real idea of what we’re doing – most off all to ourselves. When combined with Uranus on station in Aries (with Child and Echo in attendance) we would seem to be in prime position to do something C/childish because we have been (Echo) told that’s ‘the way things are’ (or should be) which ‘breaks’ with something else.

Then again, since Child and Echo are but asteroids and Uranus is a big icy planet, maybe we’re making a break with what we’ve been told we should be (or look like, or whatever) because we instinctively (4 Aries) know that we need to be our own person.

Learning to disagree and how to have disagreements is one of life’s biggest lessons. Other people get to be who they are and have their opinions and positions, but that may not be who you are. Or what you believe in or want to be. That difference does not intrinsically define one person as ‘right’ and the other as ‘wrong.’ 

Can we live with that? In this moment, whatever is at stake or on the table is a (Pluto/Facies) complicated matter. And by (Uranian) definition, this would be a time when we would figure on seeing some (Uranus) explosive behavior.

But we can also expect some changes, too – most of all from ourselves, or in what we choose to do or be or put up with because we don’t see the status quo as one which is working for us. Or workable in the long run. Or anything we really want to (or can) build on.

Uranus in Aries asks that we make changes to things big and little in our lives so that we are not kept from being the people we should be…so that we’re not so bound by decisions, fears and unworkable obligations that we don’t get to doing the things in life we really know we want to do (hang everybody else’s opinions!).

As Uranus starts into its station period, Mercury is making its shift from Scorpio into Sagittarius. Since we covered that in the last post, thinking (the Mercury thing!) in those terms will point you to what’s first up for you in the Uranus district.

Unless, of course, you’re one of those avoidance people. If you’ve been avoiding some cucaracha which has been crawling around in your life, expect it to crawl out again now and do maybe a bit more than wiggle its antenna at you!

There are a few more things worth note about this Uranus station. One is that Uranus will ‘change directions’ (indicating a change in our perspective on things because of what occurs) on December 13th and December 13th is ALSO the date of a New Moon. So there’s a positive in the direction of ‘starting new things’ although as fast as you start something (fast being perhaps a problematic factor here…) you will run across things you hadn’t yet thought about.

Sometimes the only way to learn is by trying. Then again, going off half-cocked isn’t a great idea.

There’s also the fact that December 13th is the date when Kassandra (a symbol of disbelief OR not being believed) also goes direct in Aries…though Kassandra is doing its thing at 23 Aries and not 4 Aries. So this is the whole me/them thing brought into the area of disbelief. Do you not believe someone else could do something? Are you capable and willing to do something others aren’t going to believe you did or that you’re capable of (good or bad) or willing to do? Can you not believe people are going to react to your choices as they are about to?

This whole ‘surprise reaction’ is very much in keeping with Uranus’ reputation for change of circumstance. And in that sort of ‘harmony’ coming from the ‘Change Quadrant’ we can guess with some security that there will be some ‘I don’t believe it’ (or they don’t believe it) quality popping up during these days…or as a result of what you do (or at least decide to do) during this time.

The other interesting note to this ‘Uranus twist’ is that asteroid Circe, the emblem of being ‘enchanted and reduced to less than human’ (i.e., capable of thinking and acting for ourselves) is going retrograde as Uranus goes direct…as Kassandra goes direct…as we get a New Moon in Sagittarius and thus embark on a new ‘phase’ of some project in our life.

In going direct, Kassandra speaks to things coming ‘at us’ or that we will deal with in ‘external’ life. Meanwhile, Circe is going retrograde, a signal that we are either considering where and how we have ‘bought into’ something (on the inside) or where we are internalizing something which is going to keep us from having to think.

Circe sounds bad, and often does symbolize illusions and delusions – the having ‘bought into’ something. But it’s also a symbol of things which come to preoccupy us because we have been hurt by someone or shut out of some conversation by someone.

So this station can be liberating…or can be explosive. It could signal a renaissance in your thinking, activities or priorities. Or it could mark a time when you give up on yourself or some idea, effort or project.

The one thing to remember is that Uranus does not symbolize gentle, genteel energies. Discoveries are fun, but they can wipe out whole bodies of built-up habits and choice in but a moment. Changes in circumstance, and that which brings a change into being are often ‘unfeeling’ by nature. Those who are most prone to liking the soft, the romantic, the fluffy moments in life are least likely to like this week’s energy.

And that would be escapist, as far as Uranus is concerned. Astrologer Robert Hand’s metaphysical slogan ‘use the energy wisely, lest it use you unwisely’ seems very apt here.

It’s evidently time to make a change…or to be changed by the times or situations we live in or with.
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Venus enters Gemini: Valuing Our Ideas

 Venus in Mirrors by Nevit Dilmen (1999)

As 2:24pm (UT/+0) on June 9th arrives and Venus enters Gemini, some of the reasons for things being as they are become plain. (Or at least plainer.)

At the same time, many a new thought will occur. Options and the desire to have options seem far more…interesting. Satisfying. Necessary.

Traditionally, Venus in Gemini is period when life focuses on the opportunity (or need) to plan out how to get to our goals, picking and choosing from this and that in creating a construct which suits our aims, priorities and abilities. It’s a good time to figure things out and therefore a good time for asking questions so long as we are willing to consider and treat the information we get with respect. There’s just nothing more annoying now than someone who is simply asking questions for the sake of asking, someone who is plainly acting out or showing off, someone who has no real interest in learning anything.

For some, Venus in Gemini manifests as a lot of things to choose from and feeling like you ‘can’t make up your mind.’ But that in itself is a call from your mind for you to stop and think about what’s important.

Gemini always asks us what’s important. Gemini asks that we think. Thus, during this rough month or so of Venus’ transit through Gemini, we can expect life to prompt us with situations which in one way or another prompt us to consider and sort through things, finding out what’s really important and what’s not.

Now for some people, this is purely mundane. I have a cousin who’s in an eternal battle with her mail box. Mail piles up on her counter and to listen to her discuss what it takes to go through it and throw things away you would think she had the future of a small nation hanging in the balance.

Yes, her aim is to take good care of her family. But really…does one coupon (which you know you’ll get sent again in a couple of weeks) really matter? Before you answer yes – that fifty cents really does matter, let’s remember that year in, year out her family has to deal with her being aggravated about the mail. Now is that coupon worth it?

Venus in Gemini asks that we figure out what’s worth it not only in the thing itself but in terms of what that means as part of the whole of our life. 

And as part of how our life fits in with those around us. Priorities aren’t only about what we do with our lives…it’s thinking through the whole of the Gemini/Sagittarius polarity: is this ‘thing’ (whatever it may be) important in the bigger scheme of things? Is my dealing with this more important than what I might be doing otherwise? Is my mood affecting others and how well they are able to operate in their life? 

 Lady in Blue by Raile

With Jupiter sextiling Neptune (in retrograde) today, this is a really good time to just take a moment and see the ‘bigger picture’….your life as a whole…your life as it affects the life of others…your life as part of a far greater world.

Considering how asteroid Kassandra is just moving on station, you may not believe that what you do matters.

Then again, you may get news which you ‘just don’t believe’ which informs you very clearly that you do matter. Or that what you do counts for something. Or that what you do (or have done) has far bigger consequences than you might have guessed.

Added to all this, we shouldn’t forget that dwarf planet MakeMake is already on station. And that Saturn is bearing down on the moment (next week) when it too will go direct.

What are we to think of all this?

Probably a lot. To focus on the Venus end of the discussion, since the combination of Venus and airy Gemini tends to highlight many facets of any given subject we could simply get distracted with discussing the possibilities. And of course with Venus in Gemini there is some benefit to considering things from various perspectives.

The Saturn part? Well, considering that Saturn is in Libra (a Venus-ruled sign) and in a degree which as previously discussed (LINK to BLOG) has a ‘separating,’ ‘separate,’ ‘individualized’ or ‘isolated’ point of view, there is “the thing” by itself and then again, there is that question of integrating present concerns with greater pictures. Saturn nearing its station is a sure sign that we are aware of greater life considerations whether we’re concentrating on them at the moment or not.

And with Kassandra – she who speaks the truth but is never believed – going on station, there may be some tendency to ignore the truth.

Or to feel like you’re not being heard.

Either version of this ‘Kassandra vibe’ would seem to fit (unfortunately) well with Saturn’s position at 10 Libra. And with MakeMake on station set to go direct, there’s also likely to be some feeling that there’s a wanting something to be or become and it’s…it’s…it’s just not happening yet! 

(The important part is that ‘yet’ bit, right? Let’s not forget that!)

Oddly enough, Jupiter sextile Neptune (retrograde) is likely to be one of the biggest crayons in the box – at least over the next few days. Those who can use this combination for insight and a willingness to listen ore remain open to possibilities…it would seem quite possible to gain ground and create positive influences now.

 Vénus de nuit by Teledelard

But with Jupiter in Venus’ other home sign of Taurus…? This increases the ‘wanting everything to be okay’ thing. And yet…its more than likely that, given what we know of Saturn (limitations against effort and Neptune (internal doubt versus faith)…well, let’s just say that there’s every chance that simply because this isn’t necessarily a pot-of-gold moment – at the moment that’s enough to launch many of us on an up-and-down rollercoaster of resigned understanding against discouragement over this next couple of days.

And yet…with Venus entering Gemini it does seem sensible to ask ourselves where Mercury is. After all, Mercury rules Gemini, right?

Answer: at this moment Mercury is at 14 Gemini. So we know things are busy – at least mentally. In addition to that, Mercury is conjunct Edisona (the new idea) and Dionysus (sacred celebration).

And that suggests that one of the things we can do to make things work better is to think over how we can better treat ourselves - and others – with what we might call ‘reverence of the mindful’ type. This isn’t worship, this isn’t about kowtowing…this is about being aware of who we are and who others are and that in the end, we aren’t stereotypes, we aren’t jobs, we aren’t just about our age or our background or our current situation…

…we’re human. And that’s worth celebrating and working on and thinking over so as to make the most of.

We’re only here for a certain amount of time and we each have very special gifts and qualities. Don’t limit yourself – and don’t limit others! If we would all concentrate on figuring ourselves out more and being supportive of instead of dictating to others, we all might get on not just a bit better, but feel far more loved and between the two, live lives which whether or not they were more  successful, would seem more satisfying.

And wouldn’t that - rather by definition - be the definition of greater happiness?