Eris Discordant: Mastering Our Own Weakest Moments

 Hubble captures us a glipse of distant dwarf planet
Eris (center) and Eris' moon Dysnomia (left)

(photo credit: NASA, JPL, Caltech)

 

Discovered January 5, 2005, dwarf planet Eris is just one of thousands of KBOs (Kuiper Belt Objects), all of which are collectively also known as TNOs - Trans Neptunian Objects - for the simple reason that the Kuiper Belt lies beyond Neptune.

Of all such objects, Pluto is probably the best known - though it certainly isn't the biggest.

Which is....(as one might  say in fairy tales)...the largest of them all?

Why, Eris, of course. Dwarf planet Eris. The reason Pluto seems so familiar (and certainly more familiar to us than Eris) is simply about time: Pluto was discovered in 1930 and Eris was only discovered in 2005 by the team of Craig Trujillo, David Rabinowitz and Michael Brown of Caltech.

We've had a lot more time to get used to Pluto - not to mention the fact that when Pluto was originally discovered it was given 'full planetary status,' an honor which got everyone's attention.

Like Pluto, Eris is an object which in orbiting beyond Neptune, astrologically refers to something we don't deal with or encounter all that often. But that's pretty much where the metaphysical likeness ends. For one, Pluto's orbit crosses inside that of Neptune every now and again, marking Pluto as part of our ongoing life - something we may not control but which we at least have a decent concept of. We may not love everything Plutonic as such events and periods are generally potently transformative and emotional.

But at least Pluto's effects tend to feel 'normal' in the sense that they're part of human life whether we like them or not...which isn't true when it comes to dwarf planet Eris.

Known as Discordia to the Romans, Eris symbolizes energy which exists seemingly simply to disrupt ongoing patterns, thereby getting us to see things we never before suspected. Yes, Uranus symbolizes change in all it's newness and discovery modes. But Uranian 'breakthroughs' and the 'breaking out' of the old patterns Uranus is associated with are something we comprehend.

We don't control it, but we comprehend the driving forces behind Uranian outbursts and disruptions.

Not so with Eris. Eris is literally beyond all that, apart from that and emblematic of all which strikes us, seizing us in some compelling notion which is foreign to our daily life.

Or at least it feels that way. Arising from the unknown and the deep, dark, unbidden sectors of our psyche, Eris Effects test our ability to deal with the unknown. Or the  uncontrolled facets of our world. Or the untamed and  unpredictable parts of our psyche.

That which Eris tends to trigger or provoke in us doesn't tend to be so very gentle. And yet...if E=mc2 is true, everything is contiguous - and that would mean that the metaphysics of unbeknownst to us, the universe is unfolding as it should includes that which isn't gentle, which may be shocking, astonishing, alarming or even truly despicable is really meant to be there.

Meaning, it all could have a positive use.

Yet let's be real here...the Greeks didn't think of Eris as all that pleasant. Discordia isn't comfortable and sometimes living through a period when Discord (Eris) seems to rule our life can be incredibly awful...which is probably why the most well-known of all the Eris tales is of the 'you're damned if you do and damned if you don't' sort.

It starts with a wedding - a joining which is reality is between people and which metaphysically is between influences. Or ideas. Or efforts. Or needs. 

But someone forgetting to invite Eris to this wedding - which in human terms is rather like our trying to take a next step in life or create something new without making any changes.

That doesn't tend to work. In fact, it often backfires. As for the unforgivably lax entity in the story was...that, we don't know - though we could hope it was at least one of the immortals instead of some poor human schlub who could (in classic Greek style) simply get turned into a self-poisoning toad with a fondness for toadies by the irate Discordia.

Of course...having any error committed by an immortal could be a sign of worse. Greeks never thought of their gods as infallible in the monotheistic sense - their gods had all the same foibles and petty problems as humans, (which may be more realistic than what came after, especially if one wants to say mankind was created in the image of mankind's Maker). That the idea of divinity equals infallibility has grown more emphatic over the past several thousand years makes astrological sense as we've been in the Age of Pisces - with the two fish of Pisces being headed in opposite directions being the image of all sorts of dichotomies: rich versus poor, male versus female, the divine versus the mortal.

And now we're moving into the Aquarian Age, an age which acknowledges none of that.

As for who left Eris off the guest list, considering that eternity is a really long time to suffer Olympian grudges, maybe we should hope the offense was committed by a human who could simply die and forget - which according to the Greeks is what we do.

Back at the wedding, despite the lack of invitation, Eris shows up - which yes, is properly Discordant and a sign that we can't exclude Discord. Discord (Eris) will become evident wherever Discord (Eris) sees fit - as will the facts or issues which the astrological Eris raises.

They come without warning. They're nothing we were anticipating. Here we were having this nice little marriage of thoughts or feelings in our cozy little world...and then a note of (Eris) Discord shows up.

And lest we miss this subtext: nothing tempts Discord like a lack of options.
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 Thetis and Zeus by A. Loshenko

As for the marriage the wedding is all about, that was between Peleus (a mortal) and Thetis, an immortal water goddess mostly known as the mother of Achilles, he of  shining helm and deadly skills. So yes, this story of Eris is the mythic version (or at least one of them) about how mankind arrived at the ten-year Trojan War, war being about as discordant as it gets.

Not to mention one literally seeded by a questionable marriage. Though well known as a hero, groom Peleus was known for anger, jealousy and a taste for committing murder.

So why was Thetis marrying him?

As the daughter of a primordial sea god, Thetis' presence here says much about the 'marriages' between that which is born of 'deep' (primordial) emotions (many of which we aren't even generally aren't aware of) and our very mortal nature.

Into all this comes Eris, who shows up not quite empty handed. And what does Eris bring as a token of her discordant regard with respect to this occasion?

An apple.

Specifically, one labeled "for the fairest."

 The simple apple...throughout history, accused of being an endless
source of trouble even though it's also been proven to be a healthy

source of fiber and much nutritious goodness. That contradiction

is very similar to the energies of Eris as Eris tends to manifest through
trying circumstances which ultimately lead us to unsuspected truths
about life - and about the life we're leading.

(photo by Abhijit Tembhekar) 

However...Eris doesn't give the apple to the bride. And here we can give Thetis some credit, as evidently she knew not to pull the bridezilla thing and insist on being the fairest just because it was her wedding.

Maybe she had a premonition of Cinderella problems yet to come?

Maybe. But perhaps Thetis just knew Eris (Olympians do get around) and figured any apple being handed out by Discordia had to be the proverbial bad apple.

The parallel here to the Adam and Eve story being obvious, it's probably sensible to consider that the biblical image of an apple was as the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, lending to this story the aura of what it costs when we choose to learn too much about things one perhaps just better off not knowing.

Or is that the cost of refusing to know? With Eris, as with all astrological points, the sword can cut both ways. A knife can kill, yes. But in the hands of a surgeon, a knife can cure.

It's all about how you use something - and that's what knowledge is for.

So Eris walks right past bride Thetis (who probably took a moment to thank her Olympian stars) and in her finest and most mythic Greek mythic fashion declared the open question:

Who is the fairest? Who should get Discord's apple?

Standing before Eris was a trio of goddesses, each of which might deserve this truly fruitful gift. The first was Venus (Aphrodite)...and if 'the fairest' was a reference to the treasure which is physical existence, physical beauty, physicality and all things tangible (the astrological earth signs), then the apple should go to Venus.

But maybe the 'fairest' - the most beautiful thing we can ever have in life is the nurturance and guidance of our parents and family, the emotional security which grows in us the ability to build a quality life? That being the drive of astrological water signs, if that's the thing to be most valued then the apple should go to the second goddess present: Juno (Hera), consort of Zeus/Jupiter and goddess of all which humanely provides protection for our needs most human.

Or maybe 'fairest' was a reference to a balanced mind and the ability to be fair? Reflective of astrology's air sign principle, if this is the quality to be treasured and prioritized, then Eris' apple should be given to Athena, goddess of dispassionate wisdom, impartial justice and clear-seeing logic.

But is this just a matter of essence - that which we refer to in astrology as 'elemental'? Maybe we should think of this choice as one between quadruplicities - the zodiac broken down in three stages representing the orientation of our efforts?

The first four signs (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer) are all about the Self. Is life about what our Venus potential and what the Self we are is, does and has?

Or is life about who whether or not we are able to embrace who we are in the many Leo-Virgo-Libra-Scorpio interactions which embody the Juno/Hera 'give and take' principle required in building a life which is functional and supportive?

Or maybe our life isn't 'about' our individuality, but how what our individual self can contribute to the whole? If so, then 'the fairest' perspective of all would like as not be that of the last zodiac four signs (Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces), all of which require us to work from the greater global (Pallas Athena) perspective?

And more to the point, who did Eris give her apple to?

Answer: none of the above.

Instead of put her apple in the hands of a goddess, Eris instead places her token of Discord in the hand of a human being - the mythic way of saying that to be human involves dealing with D/discord.

Oh yes...and because she puts the apple in 'human hands' that's both a reference to what is within our 'grasp' and all things Gemini - our mentality, our thinking, what we say (or don't say)...the daily doings, our choices and so on.

So now the apple of Discord is in human hands.  What could go wrong?

Plenty. After all, the human Eris places her "fairest fruit" into the hands of is none other than Paris of Troy, younger sibling to Hector and a prince with a bit of an inferiority problem (okay, more than a bit).

 Paris by Anthonis van Dyck (c.1628)

Through this choice we see how Eris (and discord) functions not through our defined strengths but through whatever we are confused about and wherever we are under-developed in life.

And if you know the rest of Paris' story - how his choices brought down everything he thought he had believed in, that tells the rest of the story. Eris is discordant in that its energetics forces us to release old notions and ways of doing things in favor of essential preservation of what it means to be human. It's manifestations either send us scrambling for information or put us in a position to proceed on Neptunian faith.

Maybe more importantly, we can either be the object of discord or the one who embodies Eris. Wherever we find Eris in the natal chart we know there is both a sense of weakness, a huge potential for learning and with that, the challenge to deal with others through...and in terms of what we learn.

In other words, we can be Discordia and through that create a new status quo by disrupting that which is too narrow or self-serving...or we can live a life discordant and be periodically displaced as a means by which we learn.

It's a choice. Our choice.
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Astrologically there are a few other useful things to know about this particular Plutino, starting with the concept that dwarf planet Eris' 557 year orbit interfaces with two cycles in particular: that of Earth's lunar nodes and (on a close-to-exact basis) our Moon's anomalistic month -  that being the length of time it takes for Earth's moon to move from one month's closest approach to Earth (its perigee) to the next.

And why would we care about such things?

As pertains to the lunar nodes, the nodes represent 'intersections' and the process of intersecting. As nodal functions become active, our lives invariably manifest as matters having to do with how we interface with or approach others (and society) on a personal or business basis.

That intersecting changes our status quo. We may think it useful or not useful - that's not the question. Where the nodes are considered, there's a far distant Eris echo which changes relationships and how or why we relate to any person, place or thing.

Eris doesn't have to be catastrophic. When transited in our personal chart yes, changes tend to take a bit more effort or adjustment. But otherwise, at some level Eris represents all that which is unexpected, and to the extent that we react, Eris thus becomes a tool by which we experience our very weakest moments, whatever they may mean.  

This same thought applies to the anomalistic lunar month with one major difference: the perigee point - a point which has a different name in astrology.

Astrologers call it Black Moon Lilith. There are two forms of Lilith: Lilith the asteroid and Lilith the 'Black Moon.' Considering the Moon is our 'feeling light' and symbol of spiritual or personal enlightenment, the Black Moon is all we feel rejected by and everything about us which is rejected - especially by our Self.

That 'rejection' is the issue. Either form of Lilith tends to manifest in some sort of denial, so the variable harmonic which numerically fluxes in and out of focus with Eris can represent our desire to 'break away' from Self or our reality. Or it could represent discordant sorts of insights which lead us to discover that which we have denied...or maybe that moment when we 'discover' we're no longer willing/able to accept denial from people we know or society as a whole.

Eris is the disruptive part of change. Where Mars symbolizes volition, motivation or the act of initiation and Uranus represents the force which powers through limitations, Eris is the snap - the moment of disruption when it 'hits' us that what was is no longer true, and our world, our life, our consciousness is altered, and how we deal with that is written in our charts.

And yes, our hearts as well.
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 Le Jugement de Paris (The Judgment of Paris)
by Carel van Savoyen

Currently transiting the third decanate of Aries (i.e., the last ten degrees of the sign, degrees 20-29) Eris is activating everything and about our interactions with the greater society and our need to understand who we are as an individual so we can do just that with a modicum (one hopes) of grace. Along the way we will be exposed to - and like as not appear to others as disruptive, elitist, an outsider, entirely exalted and utterly destitute...all at the same time.

This is a period of willfulness, one when we can either contribute or be selfish. It's a time when the world will critique or deny us totally in one minute then shower us with riches in a next. Whatever promotes our understanding of who we are and aren't individually and collectively, that's where the energy goes.

And this is where we're going to be until the year 2045.

Wherever Eris is in your chart marks an arena of great individual latitude which in affecting you will affect others and thus we are connected - even if through disconnection - to each other either symbiotically or as allies. Through those chart precepts we work to integrate our Self with our society, world and compatriots both in terms of what we share...and despite society's fractured factions.

The choice to do all that is ours...until it isn't ours, that is.

Eris has been gaining something of a reputation as a 'malefic' - a negative astrological influence. But that's not all Eris seems to be. Discordia is opportunity cloaked in challenge, a process which shows us what isn't true while revealing possibilities beyond our ego's eye.

We just haven't gotten there...yet.

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Originally published May 2009 by Daykeeper Journal. Revised and updated January 2014 (B.Hart) - all rights reserved.

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Eris Direct: Awareness, Prompted

One of NASA's illustration of Eris (UB313) with the Sun in the distance

(credit: NASA, JPL/Caltech image source-Mike Brown)

Considering Eris’ alternate name (Discordia), it’s sometimes hard to think of the dwarf planet Eris experience of being ‘shaken into conscious’ as a positive. But there are those ‘discordant’ times of improvement, such as when we go through the mess and hassle of moving. Or when we take on a new job, complete with new co-workers, new tasks and that dreaded ‘am I going to screw this up?’ feeling which no matter how good we are at what we do does occur to all of us when we haven’t yet settled in.

There are ‘unsettling’ realizations which ultimately lead to great improvements in our life.

Then again, there are those times when life simply is discordant. Yet isn’t life – in some way – always trying to prove to us that we aren’t omnipotent, that we humans (and our precious egos) aren’t ‘in charge’?

Sometimes…apparently…we need reminding. That’s the Eris vibe. Whether it’s from without or within, whether the issue is what we need to do or be, Eris is always that thing we hadn’t thought of…and we will ultimately pay a price for. That price may be something we’re perfectly okay with the idea of paying because…well, if we want the house, we have to pay the mortgage.

Complications begin to arise as we realize that Eris is currently transiting through Aries, fiery sign of Self, motivation, tests of courage and of the physical body along with all we do or don’t do – and how we ‘see’ ourselves in anything. At an innate level, Aries energies are all about that we can use, embody or be motivated by – separately or together.

Aries is associated with the military (in the sense that soldiers embody the use of “motivational” force). In that sense, Eris in Aries is particularly ‘not gentle’ – a fact which would seem to fit uncomfortably well with it’s passage through Aries dating back to 1924, considering how mankind has harped throughout the 1900s about peace while pouring time and effort into building weaponry.

The question here is not political – it’s human. WHY do we have (or create) crises? We think of this in ‘fighting’ terms, of course…but if you think about that ‘fighting’ thing in metaphysical terms, the ‘fight’ is the reaction. You know, as part of a ‘fight or flight’ scenario. Even when campaigns (be they prompted by vengeance, politics, jealousy or anything else) are long planned, they still go back to the same place: our feelings of ‘less-ness.’

Those are feelings we don’t like feeling, because when we feel them, we feel ‘shook up.’

One last note here about dates before I move on: if you look at that chart and say ‘but WWI happened when Eris was in Pisces and WWI was allegedly one of the most horrific events of all time,’ I agree. But when World War I occurred, Eris was at 29 Pisces – the ‘culmination’ degree of the entire zodiac, a degree which with Eris (utter discord) present would be pretty good at events which would foist upon mankind all the follies of not wanting to be human or humane, most of all to ourselves.

That Eris did cross into Aries back in 1924 tell us that an entire celestial cycle finished then.

Which means that we are indeed in a new cycle of human development. And at the (Eris in Aries) moment, that development is aimed at who we are: our physicality, what we do with our lives or during our days. Through these venues, Eris becomes the timer, the flag-waver of all that we tend to say ‘why did this have to happen.’ From the startling to the disquieting to the shocking to the chaotic, our clocks – life’s clocks and life events will now be turning away from feeling a more or less ‘strictly’ internal sense of balance-and-rebalance as we mold, shift, shape and learn from life.

And what is it turning towards? Towards a whole series of events and months during which we will molds, shift, flex, respond/react to, be startled (even shaken up by) events occurring on the outside.

It’s straightforward astrology stuff….when the celestial object goes retrograde (which remember, is only ‘a matter of perspective’ from here on Terra Earth) its defined ‘effects’ are experienced internally. When the planet or object goes direct, the ‘interaction point’ is external.

With me?

The station – which in this case is occurring on January 9th at 10:26 in the morning UT/+0 time – is occurring at 21 Aries and as with all stations, can represent a ‘turning point’ in your life (or life in general as you see/experience it around you). Effects will tend to center around January 9th (if you’re going to feel anything marked) with events during the two ‘station allowance’ days prior generally speaking to things yet to happen or play out and those occurring during the similar period after January 9th indicating phases coming to an end and ‘conclusions’ being drawn, owned, realized, admitted to…(etc.)

With all that said, this station is occurring at 21 degrees of Aries, and 21 degrees of Aries is an ‘open invitation’ of sorts – which with Eris present may seem not all that fun a door to go through. Should you? Shouldn’t you? While not everybody is going to go into this time and considering how Eris will go retrograde again in July (when, by the by, it does so with one day of Uranus's station) this station at some level sets the stage for what we will either take on, grow through dealing with or find revealed in our own makeup between now and July.

We are all facing ‘newness’ of some type. For you it may be something you are doing. Or something you don’t know how to get done (and it’s just driving you crazy!). Whatever the focus, the Eris/21 Aries combination is likely to manifest in self-questioning which periodically gives way to devil-may-care bravado which in turn either prompts determination and advances or retreats, be they wise or cowardly.

And let’s remember: all this is happening with Sun in Capricorn and Venus in Capricorn and retrograde. So we’re concerned about our basic ‘standing’ in the world – however you see that. Plus, given that Eris is about to go direct but Venus isn’t, we would suspect  that some ‘thing’ we don’t control (Eris) is in motion even though we’re not sure we know what we think of it.

Not entirely. And it’s the ‘why’ here - the why we don’t know which is where most of us will miss the image. We will think this period is about others. Or the world.

It isn’t. It’s about each and every one of us. It’s about who we are as a person. It’s about how well we do or don’t take care of ourselves and whether we have any conscious, any cognizance that the world in which we live – that world out there that we think isn’t always so good – is a world of our making.

No, life isn’t about ‘them.’ It’s about us…which brings me to a whole other side of this Eris concept – the Sleeping Beauty aspect.

Like most of the ‘standard’ myths and fairy tales of childhood, if looked at closely enough Sleeping Beauty isn’t quite what you thought it was. The story’s origin is German. Originally published in 1697 by Charles Perrault as ‘Histoires ou Contes du Temps Passé’ the story – particularly as it has come to us (as ‘Sleeping Beauty’) speaks to the unconscious. Or that which we are unconscious to (or of) until we are ‘awoken’ to it – which is the underlying theme with Eris.

That 'not them, us’ is awakening us to who and what we are so that we can be that person more consciously.

You know…Eris in Aries, sign of awareness and consciousness.

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One of two poems by Tennyson about Sleeping Beauty, this one is from
'The Early Poems of Alfred, Lord Tennyson' (1901)

An illustration by W.E.F Britten from 'The Early Poems of Alfred, Lord Tennyson' 

Year after year unto her feet,
She lying on her couch alone,
Across the purpled coverlet,
The maiden's jet-black hair has grown,
On either side her tranced form
Forth streaming from a braid of pearl:
The slumbrous light is rich and warm,
And moves not on the rounded curl.

The silk star-broider'd coverlid
Unto her limbs itself doth mould
Languidly ever; and, amid
Her full black ringlets downward roll'd,
Glows forth each softly-shadow'd arm,
With bracelets of the diamond bright:
Her constant beauty doth inform
Stillness with love, and day with light.

She sleeps: her breathings are not heard
In palace chambers far apart.
The fragrant tresses are not stirr'd
That lie upon her charmed heart.
She sleeps: on either hand upswells
The gold-fringed pillow lightly prest:
She sleeps, nor dreams, but ever dwells
A perfect form in perfect rest.

                                               - Sir Alfred Lord Tennyson

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Apart from being fairly certain Disney either didn’t get Tennyson’s memo about Beauty not being a blonde or didn't care that to meet our unconscious or the unknown is to proverbially 'meet the darkness,' the other half of this Eris-Beauty comparison is one long made. It comes from how both stories ‘turn’ on forces which come from 'beyond that which we know in everyday life' - the fairy in the fairy tale against Eris as Roman goddess. In both cases, these 'forces' lay on a curse because they didn’t get an invitation to the party. (They were 'excluded,' in other words.)

The fairy gets all ticked off because she didn’t get invited to Beauty’s christening.

And Eris?

Well…far be it for any of us to cite and critique the behavior of a Roman goddess known for all things which go ‘bump’ in the night of our lives, but Eris turning up at the of Peleus and Thetis with a golden apple which she hands to none less than Paris – you know, the guy who steals Helen and causes the whole Trojan War?

Yes, that Paris.

That’s just mythic nastiness - as well as meddling on a truly mythic level. And it's even more so when you stop to look at the story and realize that Eris is prompted to go to this wedding by Jupiter (aka Zeus, should you be feeling all Greek about it), lord king Olympian and astrological emblem of all that we know or learn about our consciousness and life.

To look at Jupiter in the Olympian pantheon, he isn’t quite fate, so this is not instinct or habit we're talking about. No, Jupiter directs fate...which to us is the idea that what we know - whether we know it or not - becomes our fate so that we can consciously own it in or as part of our life.

Thus since the astrological Jupiter images wisdom… (knowing, learning, teaching, understanding, comprehending, et al ) …or even being determinedly unknowing (which would be the Jupiter/rejection position or energy used to not expand one's basis of existence...in light of all such, this ‘Eris energetic’ is that which stirs something which is going to come out anyway.

The next act in this complicated little Eris drama has Eris not getting invited to the wedding. But she shows up anyway with a golden apple which no, she doesn’t give to the bride (or groom) but to Paris, that very mortal known (to the gods) as starry-eyed and very, very passion-driven. 

Zeus …(pardon me, Jupiter)… evidently has this whole Trojan War thing in mind to being with, a fact which makes the ‘Jupiterian wisdom’ of setting Eris up to get insulted and all which follows, starting with Paris choosing love (Aphrodite/Venus) over personal-internal stability and security (Juno/Hera) and dispassionately clarified understanding (Athena).

And yes - Venus delivers. In typical what we put out comes back to us fashion, that Paris (mortal flaw that he is) has in the moment of being handed a 'golden opportunity' forgotten everyone but himself comes out to be a war where nobody thinks anything of anybody's life.

Of course the primary moral of this story is: always invite the local touchy goddess to your wedding, whether you like her or not. But more to the astrological point, everything about this is about our life. So the ‘not inviting Eris’ is our having shut some part of ourselves out...which at 21 Aries begs the following question: what do we need to be open to?

There is a very positive side to this symbol which is highly external – the fighting for some cause. Yes, this goes back to Eris in Aries having played host to so many wars during this past century. But more importantly, it says to us that we can stand for something. It may be a cause as in some social cause. Or it may be our willingness to stand up for some facet of Self we really believe in.

 Generated by JPL's databanks (thanks, JPL) the above is an interesting image as

it shows Eris in Aries (at 21 Aries) with Uranus - which is currently at 8 Aries - just

sort of 'behind' Eris' position, if you're looking at this as an orbit around the Sun.

Given that and something like Saturn (on the diagram's "near" side) being in Scorpio,

you can begin seeing how it is the orbital movement of planets around our Sun and

the astrological conception of 'wrapping' our solar system in a zodiac which is a

cipher for nothing more or less than the positioning of moving objects in space -

objects which in moving create 'ripples' of energy, as do we.

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This idea of ‘fighting for the cause’ – for something which is literally “beyond” the boundaries of your ‘Self’ reflects not just Eris position as a dwarf planet orbiting beyond Neptune, last ‘true’ planet in our solar system. Beyond Neptune… in the Kuiper Belt and Oort cloud… that’s the realm of all we cannot know simply because we don’t know it until we know it.

The Kuiper Belt: our land of things to come. This isn’t about ‘capacity’ – our ability to understand. This is about our ability to predict or be omnipotent.

Like you, I know a few people who would like to think they’re omnipotent (they’re not). But when you get right down to it, the issue is control.

And where Eris is concerned, we have to be willing to at least experience not being in control. Or the idea that we don’t control everything. We will experience it through what we hear on the news, someone who knows new, or even some event which occurs in real time or in our mind as we're walking down some street.

We'll just...hear it...we'll know because there it will be, and there we will be in the midst of experiencing it - and experiencing how we experience our life. Our existence.

The very process of our existing.

Eris is known as ‘Discordia’ mostly because humans like control. We like control because control feels like a defense against vulnerability. It feels safe – and sometimes safe is just safe and sometimes ‘safe’ is the space in which we improve. Or are productive.

But then Eris comes along. When an Eris moment hits you, that ‘which was’ a moment ago is forever changed. What was awoken? Why would it be awoken now? Were we in some beautiful dream – or is that what we have a chance to now see, experience and be motivated by?
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Update: Two Comets, Not One (ISON and Encke)

A screen shot of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's November 25, 2013 home page posting on comets ISON and Encke

(image courtesy of JPL-Caltech-NASA)

Just when you think you’re up to date, NASA drops out of the black of space with new news. And this time, there’s even film.

No, not some film made by aliens (although that sounds like fun!). And no, not film of some well meaning science type delivering facts (or phaques, if you’re feeling ultra-liberal in the spelling department).

So what's on said film?

Answer: another comet.

That’s right…ISON has company, which is a rather nice thought. After all, comets spend so much of their time whizzing through the empty vastness of space…and here on Planet Earth, it’s the beginning of the holidays. So who among us would deny a wandering comet a little company?

For those of you who have just fallen off your chair (or couch) laughing, I’ll wait a moment. And for those who are thinking perhaps a butterfly net big enough for an astrologer is needed here, hold up.

I really do have a point. It’s quick, it’s simple – and for those who think they never get to see astrology and science in synchronous parallel, it’s really rather grand.

So if you’re interested, start with the link I’m about to give you. It links to JPL…and when you watch the seriously short (seconds long) film clip the link will lead you to, watch for two things: comets moving left to right and the ‘breath’ of the solar wind moving right to left.

Link to: JPL-CALTECH-NASA

I can’t tell you all that much about Encke. The name of the comet comes from Johann Franz Encke, the fellow who calculated its orbit back in 1819 – which argues for good math skills, but not much else.

(For the record, I’m a math geek, so that’s not really a criticism. Far from it, actually.)

What I can tell you about with regards to Comet Encke however, is that this is not one of the long-period comets like Halley, which every 75.3 years comes to visit us from on beyond Neptune in the Kuiper Belt. Halley, Swift-Tuttle (source of the Persied Meteor shower) and Thatcher (source of the Lyrid Meteor shower) all come to us from a realm which metaphysically is about that we don’t know – that which has never occurred to us.

Not so with Encke. Encke doesn’t take 75 years to come around like Halley, and it certainly doesn’t disappear for 415 years between visits like Thatcher.

No, Encke is a whole other kind of comet critter, one which originates inside of Jupiter.

That’s right…Encke is a comet which originates in the asteroid belt. And if we remember that the asteroid belt represents all those many things which we have to ‘meet up with’ and learn about or deal with on our way from motivation or initiation (Mars) to what we might call the Jupiter ‘mastery’ point (or at least the dawning of having a clue as to what you’re doing and how to get it done), then Encke – an object with a perihelion (inner orbital) point smack dab in the crux of Mercury’s orbit – Encke would seem to represent some sort of information or those challenges which seem to come to us on a ‘cyclic’ basis as we are trying to do something, achieve some goal or figure out how to get something done.

The link to Mercury makes this very much about what we do/how we do what we do…and/or how we think and/or communicate. (Or not, of course. Do – not do. Communicate – not communicate. There always is the possibility of the polarity.)

However…as we think of this, then we add in that Encke reached its perihelion just days ago – on November 21st. So we’ve just had the Encke cycle of ‘bringing to us’ reach it’s ‘reaching us’ point.

But what does that mean?

Two more things to add in here. One is (of course) the fact that ISON is also involved in this period of time we’re all living through. And we’re all trying to sort through what (Sun in Sagittarius) needs doing and what we (Sun in Sagittarius) need to keep on dealing with…despite however we feel about it, here in the wake of this powerful, emotional time we’ve just been through.

But if you saw that film JPL posted, then you also know that the solar wind – the breath of the Sun, as one might very poetically call it – is flowing towards both comets. Back in 2007 (two 3.3 year Encke cycles ago) this same thing happened and literally ‘broke off’ Encke’s tail.

Does this tell us just how powerful our intent and essential being really is? Do we benefit or rob ourselves of the opportunity to be something we’ve never dreamed of by insisting on our own perspective – the ‘brilliance’ of our thinking and the strength of our will?

The scientists are poised with all their equipment, but we don’t know what will happen yet. This all seems to paint something of a metaphysical picture with Encke representing our personal challenges and aims while the Sun represents our consciousness and ability to focus on or deal with life/our life.

And somehow all of this is bound in with something totally strange, totally foreign which comes closes to us on November 28th - Thanksgiving Day in the United States.

Does this mean we will see that which we thought we would never see? Does it mean that something will have finally come close enough or clear enough that we understand it?

We seem to be being posed with a lot of questions right now. But that’s apt enough – certainly one of Sagittarius’ greatest functions in our life is to keep us green and growing, whether that means confronting us with questions, trying our patience or insecurities or giving us opportunities we can’t resist but hardly know how to wrap our minds around.

That’s most likely the point.  Life never tries to thwart us or puzzle us to no end, merely to stimulate us into learning that which will ultimately allow us to grow, utilize our potential and thrive. That 'thriving' may not look or sound like we think it should...

But then, whose universe is it?
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ISON: Beyond Us

Comet ISON Oct 08 2013

(photo credit: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon Sky Center- University of Arizona, October 2013)

Of all the things in this solar system wearing odd names, the one I’d like to know as the ‘who thought THAT name was a good idea’ winner in my book is the Oort cloud.

I’m sorry…but hearing people discuss the Oort cloud inevitably conjures up images of seals line up ‘oort-oort-oort-ing’ as they slap their flippers together.

Just sayin’…

But the word has come up of late – specifically with reference to a comet with the interesting name of ISON (yes, all capitals). Otherwise known to the astronomy logs as C/2012 S1, having come from the distant reaches of our solar system (call it a quarter to Sedna territory) ISON is at this very moment diving towards the Sun – although ‘diving’ is probably not quite the word as I’ve never heard of any reports about jackknifes with double twists coming out of NASA.

In any case, what we are describing is an object (ISON) which has come from “all the way out there” to “all the way in here” – and when we say ‘in here’ we rather mean it. At it’s closest, ISON is predicted to come within 0.0124 AU (1,860,000 Km or 1,150,000 miles) from the Sun.

And when you’re talking about the Sun, that’s close. To give us some idea of how close we’re talking here, Mercury – the planet which lives beyond the realm of sunblock – only gets to within 0.307 AU from the Sun. (As a reminder, one AU is the distance from the Sun to Terra Earth.).

So we’re talking close. Toasty close.

Speaking of our solar system philosophically and metaphorically, to those who believe in the micro-macro reflection of All, this means a lot. It might not refer to any earth shattering event (we certainly hope not – especially literally!), but it’s important all the same. After all, the farther you go ‘out there,’ in theory what you are referring to is the “bigger picture” or the “broader brush stroke” or the “background issue.” That’s the ‘out there.’ When we speak of fixed stars in astrology, they always have a ‘coloration’ more than an ‘action,’ they’re more of a ‘quality’ or esoteric challenge to us which we will tackle however we tackle it rather than the finite description of some object or objective of the moment.
‘Out there’ is the situation, the background against which all else we are doing gets set. Such qualities may be static (as in being a representation of our orientation or ‘where we’re coming from’)… or they may be pro-generative, which is to say, such ‘out there’ quotients – be they fixed stars or anything else ‘out there’ may describe that which motivates or challenges us. 
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Over the millennia, astrology has collected a reasonable body of lore on the so-called “fixed” stars. Oort cloud occupants are a newer research topic seeing as we’re just discovering such objects. But we do know a couple of them. Dwarf planet Eris (discord) is thought to orbit at the edge of the Oort cloud. So that dwarf planet Sedna (representing our being challenged to mature/deal with issues of maturity in our own right) definitely orbits in the Oort cloud…what does it mean that Eris orbits at the edge of this place?

Everything beyond Planet Neptune is by astrological definition, that we cannot know – not for sure. We can imagine, we can dream. We can intuit, we can hope. We can have faith, we can act on faith, we can continue trying because we have faith there’s a reason to keep on trying even when with every moment our doubts and self-questioning grows louder.

(Yes, there’s a reason why Neptune is the #1 problematic marker in astrology. Nobody loves their Neptune…and nobody loves to hate their Neptune!)

The point is…beyond Neptune lies the Kuiper Belt: realm of all which we cannot know for sure. And at some point (around the Eris orbital range) the Kuiper Belt becomes the Oort cloud – the place from which comes all the long-period comets (like Halley) as well as all the centaurs (like Chiron) come from.

So we think in terms of how astrology suggests comets (in general) bring news or ‘information from afar’ and we know this is part of what ISON is about. Then we check the records (JPL, NASA and such) and we note that unlike Halley and Chiron, scientists list ISON as ‘non-periodic.’

Metaphysically, we would think ‘non-periodic’ refers to a one-time issue, idea or event. But then again, it may refer to a one-time chance, a once-and-for-all transformation of your life or attitudes – a lot of things.

Scientists aren’t all positive ISON is going to make it through it’s close encounter with the Sun.

Some things come to us and then just…fade away. Or to look at this metaphor from the position of our life as the Sun, some things come at us and we just burn them to a crisp before they can get to us.

But is that bad? Or is that good?

Another thought on the Oort cloud: as the ‘outer layer’ of our solar system, it is the Oort cloud which first receives the 'tidal’ energetics of the Milky Way – and it is this small but recordable galactic push-pull which is thought to be vital in releasing new comets from the Oort cloud. You know…so they can head on into the solar system and wander through our metaphysical neighborhood. And though it’s not like Earth is just down the block or anything, it is interesting to think of this particular comet – which was only discovered on September 21, 2012 – being part of the reflective and reflexive process of existence which has now got a whole bunch of people sort of breathlessly watching this comet.

Will it survive its encounter with the Sun?

We do have a few notes on ISON, which are as follows…after a photo sessions with the Deep Impact spacecraft in January/February 2013 (Deep Impact is on its way to study Comet Tempel), Hubble in April/May 2013 and the Spitzer Space Telescope in June (this is a comet with a good PR firm, no question)…on October 1st, ISON got very (very) close to planet Mars.

Comet ISON moving through the signs

And since we know that Mars was at 21 Leo on October 1st, we know where ISON was. SO...using the standard astrological 5-degree conjunction orb, things which manifested in your world or life between September 23rd and October 9th or so (give or take a time zone) will have paved or poked your Mars/ISON quotient in terms of being an action or activation point at which something which you didn't know about began to manifest. That Mars is involved suggests something which involves action or passion or drive or aims. That an ‘unknown’ like ISON was involved may mean you didn’t understand ‘what was coming at you.’

We each would have reacted in terms of a.) where our natal Mars is charts and…b.) wherever 21 Leo falls in our birth charts. The nature of this combination when looked at through Mars’ position suggests unknown encounters and tests of perception which we may or may not prove apt at. Because lore on this degree says matters come out best if/where/when we are able to apply a sort of ‘insightful sensitivity’ to the situation, ‘the thing which happens’ and ‘what it means that it happened’ may…or may not be connected.

That’s probably part of what we need(ed) to think through. You know, as part of the thing ‘coming at us.’

 Comet ISON in parallel (conjunction by degree) with Mars

(diagram courtesy of JPL Small Body Database Browser)

As of November 17-18, ISON was seen passing fixed star Spica, putting it at 24 Libra, a degree which focuses on how we deal with the subject of relationships at a purely personal level which has everything to do with our ability to care as much for ourselves as others and as much for others as ourselves. That Spica and Arcturus are both currently at 24 Libra doubles up on asking us ‘how brilliantly’ we’re handling our affairs, particularly when it comes to the question of responsibility – to/for ourselves or for others.

And just to make things lively? Just as ISON shows up, so does Rhadamanthus – a symbol of transcendent justice. Wherever we see Rhadamanthus, rising to the higher (less me-oriented) sense of justice is either required…or being questioned. (And no, that’s not a swell choice.)

 Comet ISON at it's perihelion point (closest approach) with the Sun

(diagram courtesy of JPL Small Body Database Browser)

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On November 22nd, ISON dropped below Mercury, which would put it in mid-Scorpio territory. So as of November 22nd, this ‘thing coming towards us’ (which remember, is part of us/our lives we are not aware of or not wanting to think about) becomes mental and emotional. It may form a blockade, it may just represent something which sticks in your mind, it may signal the surfacing (the ‘beginning to see’) something or some situation with far greater clarity – a sort of ‘in your face’ clarity.

It’s about this time that SOHO (the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) will pick ISON up and track it on towards it’s appointed rendezvous with its perihelion – it’s closest approach to the Sun, and thus to our life.

The SOHO spacecraft

(image credit: NASA, December 2011)

This event which will happen on November 28, 2013 (Thanksgiving Day), after which ISON will grow brighter.

That’s right…metaphysically, we can expect that whatever this confluence of ISON/Sun represents in your life to become something brighter or of ‘greater magnitude’ after the technical perihelion. AFTER the comet begins to turn away again from the Sun.

From our mind.

From our life.

As an astrologer, I can’t say I think ISON is the do-all, be-all of transit passages. But in looking at the dates provided, comet passages are just as real and just as valid a part of the universal tapestry as anything else. So…if you look back to July and you follow life events forward, are you now in a position to see and live your personal opportunities, new, old, expected, renegade and otherwise?
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A Virgo Full Moon: The Cost of Consciousness

A Full Moon over Old Square in Ljubljana, Slovena

(photo credit: Vid Gajsek, 2012, public domain)

This month's Full Moon will occur on February 25th at 8:27 in the evening (UT/+0) at 7 Virgo.

The idea of the Full Moon is a funny one in that there are so many directions you can go with it as a metaphysical symbol. Some astrologers (and nature or natural spiritualists) think of the Full Moon entirely as an emblem of ‘peak moments’ or ‘fulfillment.’ Others speak of the Moon in a more astronomically-interpretive way, with their Full Moon concept being that of ‘highest reflection’ or ‘greatest emotional or instinctive’ illumination. And I must say…I tend to be among this second group.

But if we think of the Full Moon in the ‘glass half empty or half full?’ mode, since lunar cycles are cycles, there are unquestionably those among us who go from New Moon to New Moon, and those of us who think of life as being only a matter of Full Moon to Full Moon.

In other words, how we react to the “everyday” cycles generally timed out by the Moon is greatly a matter of who we are. Or…is that really about who we choose to be?

There’s a lot of ‘sloganism’ (my term) about this ‘attitude makes reality’ thing and what we hear most often is ‘hold a positive attitude – that will make things happen for the better.’ But is that really true? If it was, wouldn’t we all be sassy-happy by now?

The Virgo Full Moon is about practicality being pitted against emotionality…Virgo Moon, Pisces Sun. And this goes (to my thinking) what the Full Moon is really about stretching us beyond what we already know. The ‘knowing’ part is enlightenment (illumination) and the ‘stretching’ comes from the astro-idea that any opposition asks us to hold two diametrically oppositional ideas in our minds, hearts or lives at once.

In other words, Full Moons are about life (the Sun) being in one sign (in this case, the ‘life is going to get you to feel whether you want to or not’ Pisces life-phase) and the Moon ‘lighting up’ or ‘illuminating’ those things, those factors, those opportunities or challenges we haven’t thought of. Or experienced yet. Or taken into consideration.

Pisces-Virgo is about doing the thing which will work for me in the long run (Virgo) which HAS the greatest affect (and effect) BECAUSE it touches others and thus garners their approval, support and respect. THAT is what leads to my emotional satisfaction, because whether I like it or not, I’m not living on this planet by myself and the more people understand, accept and are with my right to do what makes me happy, the easier my life is going to be.

I’ll put it another way: if Virgo is the effort, the work, the efficiency and effectiveness of our physical life and life or lifestyle (how we go about living), Pisces as the indicator of ‘end of life circumstances’ (retirement/old age pensions, hospitals, emotional acceptance) is the indicator of how well all that works out. When I say that Pisces represents all those things which involve people being scared of feeling their feelings, Pisces is about anything – including late-in-life finances – which refer to anywhere where they might feel helpless. Or where they might be at the mercy of others.

“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers,” wrote Tennessee Williams in A Streetcar Named Desire. That line very much embodies the Pisces concept. And every time we have a full Moon in Virgo, we are presented with something of a ‘checkpoint’ on how well we’re doing not only in our effort to balance depending on kindness (ours and that of others) but not depending on them too.

Tennessee Williams in 1953 arriving at the service for Dylan Thomas

(photo courtesy of the US Library of Congress, Prints and Photography Division;

source - New York World-Telegram and Sun, Walter Albertin, photographer)

Which yes, may be a gesture of kindness of a whole other kind – not burdening others.

On a whole other tact, Full Moons often represent a climax or a fulfillment (or failure) of something we’ve been working on. But as they say in the world of parenting teens, it’s a phase. What happens now isn’t the ‘end of all things.’ It’s a phase. If this was the moment when your Significant Dating Other (a whole other meaning for SDO beyond Scattered Disc Objects) “pops the question,” that may mean the ‘undecided’ portion of the courtship phase is over. But the real work of a marriage? That hasn’t even yet begun.

(Come to think of it…having someone ask you to marry them is sort of SDO and Kuiper Belt, isn’t it? All Kuiper Belt objects, SDOs and otherwise, are about getting us to experience things in life we couldn’t otherwise experience. I’m thinking marriage is among them!)

So Full Moons can be the manifesting of a goal. Or maybe even the letting go of a goal. Or maybe it’s just shifting gears.

On to other, pickier facts.

This is the last in a the series of three Full Moons at 7 degrees of respective signs. However – we’re still pursuing a series of 5 New Moons at 21 degrees of successive signs.

 
That the Full Moons have been in 1st decanate degrees (degrees between 0 and 9 of any given sign) tells us that these past several months have led us (New to Full phase) to issues which are personal level. They may be about the nature of our life. Or our physicality or health. Even our actions, whether that means taking action or the results or consequences of some action.

But others are involved. That much we know because these lunar cycles have originated in New Moons which are all at 21 degrees of respective signs, 21 being a 3rd decan degree (between 20 and 29 of some sign) indicating something we don’t control or that others have a right…even a need to have input on.

This…by the by…is one of the great and easy and interesting things to look at in the charts of people you know. The 1st decanate of any sign is always about the person or something personal. The 2nd decanate is always emotional (yes, even when the Sun or Moon is in an air sign!). The 3rd decan is always about a level of life which involves your having to interact with others or work with others, connect to others or accept/work with input from others.

And here’s the kicker: this isn’t just about YOU in the sense of what YOU want to do or your personality or personal nature - this is also about your life lessons. So life, in its infinitely dispassionate if ever-so-personal way is going to teach you what you need to learn whether you want to learn it or not.

Example: I have a friend with both Sun and Moon in the 2nd decanate. The one thing this person hates is having to deal with emotions and emotionality.

Guess what - that’s because learning to deal with emotions and about their own emotions is a core part of this person's purpose, path and life lessons. (Hint: one of the lights being in a decan gives us a direction. To have both Sun and Moon in a single decanate speaks to directions, lessons, and the general 'shape' of one's purpose.) The sooner this person gets on with dealing with their own feelings and those of others, the happier (2nd decan, right?) they’re going to be.

But just try telling them that.

Example #2: I have a Sun and Moon which are both in the 1st decanate. My life is all about figuring out what to do and not to do. It's about life as it exists, life as it manifests, and it's about my life in particular (including my physicality) and the world around me.

Another part of this? Much to my eternal irritation (and water sign upsetted-ness) I never get help with doing anything until I prove I either figure out how to do it or don’t need help any more.

Go figure.

So looking purely at decans, the months from November (actually last August, but who’s counting) through April 2013 will have been and continue to be – at some level – about recognizing what the world values and is willing to do or not do (or put up with or not put up with) and how we act accordingly. Or how the world responds to how we have acted.

But within this longer cycle there have been mini-phase-cycles. November through March have all been New Moons at 21 degrees of respective signs. And at some level, 21 degrees is always about starting something in the world, doing something a new way in order to create greater effectiveness, or dealing with a ‘new’ tide of sentiment or opinion which is going to effect what we do.

Against this we have had another mini-cycle (yes, we’re in the realm of the many interlocking cycles of time the Mayans called ‘wheels within wheels’) composed of Full Moons at 7 degrees of respective signs.

Seven is the number of ‘the other’ not as that which ‘fits’ with us (which would be 2, the opposition or duality) but which is the corresponding energetic. You know: for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. The tide comes in, the tide goes out. We breathe in, we breathe out. Seven is a corresponding otherness.

And just to be clear here, it’s not karma. Karma belongs to the greater concepts associated generally with the number 8. Karma’s slogan is more do unto others as you would have done unto you…implying that what you do for Person A may come back to you (maybe totally unexpectedly) through Person Q.

Seven is more logical against eight being emotional. Seven says if I do something nasty to you, you’re likely not to like me for it. Eight says if I do something nasty to you, my life is going to become difficult, possibly for reasons totally unconnected to you.

Numbers tell us a lot. Just remember, they need to be  put into context - like everything else!

Okay…with all this now duly said and discussed, 7 Virgo has a reputation for a shyness or a reticence which can be gotten past but which can become overly polarized by 7 Pisces, a degree known for confusion – up to and including levels of mental confusion we would associate with mental illness.

The question at it’s most basic this is: will we connect to the greater message or feeling implied here? Don’t think that you can avoid anything but holding back. The act of doing so may be your 7 Pisces factor, not “theirs.”

Being that 7 Virgo is the current position of Thuban, we should also consider that everything implied by this Virgo/Pisces moment of ‘illumination’ may just possibly be the fixed star “backdrop” against which our own drama is playing out.

Thuban is one of those stars we don’t hear a lot about, but which is active in astrological history. Between about 3,900 BCE and 1,700 BCE, Thuban was actually our pole star (instead of Polaris, which has the job at the moment). Known astronomically as Alpha Draco, Thuban is the ‘head’ or ‘alpha’ star in the rather large constellation of Draco, which today we think of as ‘the dragon’ but which way back when was associated with the infamous snake of Adam and Eve fame.

Constellation Draco as envisioned in a long-ago manuscipt

And that is an interesting cross-reference, seeing as dragons are a positive in Oriental culture and we all know how western culture has villainized snakes. (I’m surprised they haven’t organized as a union and conducted a mass slithering in protest.)

Just to clarify here: Thuban is not in the ‘head’ of the constellation – it’s in the tail. (A whole different tale, yes.) But probably more to the astrological point, this is a constellation which by any measurement is a large one. It also appears in the sky as to seem 'wrapped around' our planet's north pole in a rather 'protective' posture. So it isn't surprising that Thuban seems to be about ‘something precious’ and sometimes the protecting of that ‘something precious.’ In fact, modern archaeologists and metaphysical types both note with interest that in Giza, Egypt, the Great Pyramid (that of Khufu) seems to have been built with one of its internal 'sighting tunnels' aimed at Thuban's position of the day. 

 A New York Times archive photo of the Giza pyramids taken from a

nearby oasis in 1917 (Brown and Dawson)

And that the head of a snake is tucked in the middle of the coil where the muscular tail is left out as the first thing an attacker (or unwary soul) would deal with...that says something about Thuban too.

One other item about Draco should be touched on: because it is a 'polar north' constellation, it isn't visible from all global latitudes. This raises a question you hear of now and again in astrology: whether something which isn't visible in the sky when and where you were born is a viable influence.

My vote here is 'yes.' Why? Because there are plenty of unconscious or 'unseen' attributes in our world and in our lives. Not everything is obvious or evident. Nor - probably - should it be, for reasons both good and bad.

That said, on with the show. The modifiers on the Moon’s side of this Full Moon are Achilles (strength, daring, deft ability), Eurydike (enduring the cost) and Orcus (consequences). So…are we too shy to do what needs doing until the costs become too much to bear? Or is this about doing something about something which we know we need to protect ourselves (and maybe others) from, never mind the cost?

Of course…seldom is life a simple choice between difficult options. Or even a difficult choice between no-brainer, simple options.

Yes folks, this Full Moon comes equipped with a handy-dandy t-square just ready to pickle your puzzles!

Anyone for sour puzzles? Or half-dill puzzling?

This t-square is an interesting one, too. Having finally moved its big red self off 6 Gemini (headaches, anyone?) to 7 Gemini, a degree noted for the following polarity: good luck versus taking the easy way out. Which let’s be real – is very much akin to and therefore part of the whole Aldebaran ‘integrity’ theme.

So here are the ‘rules’ in play here: t-squares work in zodiacal order, passing ‘through’ the “t.” So this one starts in emotional Pisces but has to jump the Jupiter-Aldebaran (thought of integrity) hurdle in order to get to the point where Virgo effectiveness and deft solutions can be put into place. And that the ‘t’ in a t-square is ALWAYS about ego, there’s likely to be a lot of decrying and self-righteous chest pounding about now.

That means…if you are dealing with someone who is indulging in a bunch of huffery-puffery ‘I have a right to my own opinions!’ you may as well let them puff. Your job at the moment is to get past thinking this is ‘all about you’ to the ‘doing something about providing a good basis for proceeding’ on the general level. The puffers are going to be out there, absolutely. And if you can recognize that they’re not coming from a position of strength but really coming from fears of impotence and rejection, you’ll be that much farther ahead.

Appealing to others in terms of integrity is one good idea of the moment. Certainly phrasing things in dispassionate terms and working to get egos out of the discussion while the problem or challenge gets examined for what it is – that’s a great idea to keep in mind.

But remember: ultimately, this Full Moon – like everything else astrological – has a generalized meaning and a meaning which is particular to each person’s chart, life and outlook. This Full Moon in your world is part of the machinery of time-space which is moving you through the process of learning all you need to learn while teaching others things which may be entirely different.

And maybe that’s the point. As we learn to accept our ‘stuff’ as OUR stuff, maybe we can learn who others are without projecting on them all the time. Maybe we can be more supportive…or at least understanding of what their challenges are.

At that point, maybe the Full Moon of the moment will become a ‘Fulfilling Moon.’ And isn’t that what we all want?
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