Another Neptunian Moon

The following news release was sent out by J.D. Harrington at NASA Headquarters in Washington on July 15th:
 

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RELEASE: 13-215

NASA'S HUBBLE FINDS NEW NEPTUNE MOON

WASHINGTON — NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a new moon orbiting the distant blue-green planet Neptune, the 14th known to be circling the giant planet.

The moon, designated S/2004 N 1, is estimated to be no more than 12 miles across, making it the smallest known moon in the Neptunian system. It is so small and dim that it is roughly 100 million times fainter than the faintest star that can be seen with the naked eye. It even escaped detection by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, which flew past Neptune in 1989 and surveyed the planet's system of moons and rings.

Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., found the moon July 1, while studying the faint arcs, or segments of rings, around Neptune. "The moons and arcs orbit very quickly, so we had to devise a way to follow their motion in order to bring out the details of the system," he said. "It's the same reason a sports photographer tracks a running athlete — the athlete stays in focus, but the background blurs."

The method involved tracking the movement of a white dot that appears over and over again in more than 150 archival Neptune photographs taken by Hubble from 2004 to 2009.

On a whim, Showalter looked far beyond the ring segments and noticed the white dot about 65,400 miles from Neptune, located between the orbits of the Neptunian moons Larissa and Proteus. The dot is S/2004 N 1. Showalter plotted a circular orbit for the moon, which completes one revolution around Neptune every 23 hours.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a cooperative project between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Md., conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc., in Washington.

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First of all, I'd like to pause here for a moment to reflect (all puns intended) on the fabulousness of the Hubble Space Telescope.

The Horsehead Galaxy as photographed in infrared by the Hubble Space Telescope

(photo credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team)  

I love what Hubble does - which you probably know by now. If Hubble was a guy, I'd absolutely marry him and happily pick up his digital socks for the rest of all eternity.

More to the point however (I know, get on with it already!) the two dates mentioned in this release are astrologically interesting. Obviously the fact that this news was released to us (the general public) on July 15th puts it at the opening of Uranus' station window.

That would be a station-retrograde window, suggesting that there is information 'yet to come' - and not just on Neptune's newest-found moon, though that will no doubt be part of the more worldly part of this process.

This moon was spotted ("found") on July 1st as SETI  astronomer Mark Showalter was investigating 'the arc of Neptune's rings,' suggesting a 'halo' effect and how we surround (ring) ourselves...and our Neptunian beliefs or ideals or disappointments or feelings of abject loss...with 'orbiting energies' or small bits of manifestation or thought through which we view greater life (the rest of space) and through which we are seen.

In thinking this through, I of course went back to Saturn - the most famously ringed of all planets. There is an unparalleled beauty in Saturn which seems strangely foreign to its list of associated astrological concepts (responsibility, time, structure, dedication, achievement, ability, effort, rules, tangible consequences and rewards)...foreign UNTIL, that is, until we recognize that Saturn does represent the cause-effect of earning.

That we work for will be given to us. That we don't earn we will neither fully understand the value of...or often end up having.

Saturn's hallmark human trait is "achievement" - that which we think of as success, however that manifests in your life. And here too there is an 'inner' and 'outer' perspective. What you consider your success may not be what other people think of as your successes.

And the difference between those two goals - however you see it - is generally the difference between hard core factual survival and everyday tangible life (Saturn) and that which we yearn to have or feel ourselves having as a life force powering our will to exist, to do more, to be a deeper, better person.

Which gets us back to Neptune. Or rather, the relationship and differences between Neptune and Saturn as astrological symbols - and why they are what they are.

Saturn is the outermost planet we can see with our 'unaided' eyes. It thus defines the farthest 'reach' in terms of human, corporeal, 'finite world' grasp. So we shouldn't wonder that Saturn is the ruler of Capricorn, the sign of achievement and what we can achieve in corporeal, real-world terms.

And yes, there is Saturn as the primary (ground-laying) ruler of Aquarius, with Uranus as the Aquarian outcome ruler. Aquarius is an air sign - it deals in theory. Thus what we can grasp in reality becomes the basis for what we think we can do in this world.

Together, these forces become our achievements (Capricorn and all things 10th house) and what we will garner (Aquarius and all things 11th house) from whatever we 'earn' a 'mastery of,' whether that's income or a sense of having a place in this world or society, acceptance by others and (maybe most importantly) a sense of having safely accomplished our premier human mission: finding a way to achieve some measure of freedom within ourselves. 

 
That 'freedom' is defined by each one of us in our own, entirely very special and individual way.

Beyond Saturn in planetary terms lies the realm of Uranus and Neptune: that which is known and relatively understood, but not governed by us. Uranus and Neptune symbolize the energy we can feel but not control, the vibrations of intuition and imagination, those sparks which are genius and that abject fear which drives us to madness.

As Uranus represents science, so we search.

But in the moment that we discover something, that enticing things we 'know but don't know' begins leaving the realm of the un-grasped as we 'try to get hold of it.'

That is the influx of energetics coming past Uranus and reaching the solidity of Saturn.

Moving beyond Uranus we have the wondrous world of Neptune, a planet so incredibly mysterious it defines the realm of imagination. For those of us bound up in our carbon-water Earth world, the idea that Neptune's inner mantle is composed of something which under planetary pressure (the 'pressure of existing') sheds diamonds which slowly accumulate at the planet's core is an idea so evocative it speaks reams to our inner sense of possibility.

And Neptune is magnetic. That it's moon Triton is the only known object which rotates its planet in retrograde motion (meaning Neptune rotates in one direction and Triton orbits in the other) suggests the electrical qualities of a generator. And indeed, the whole planet seems to 'generate' not only the physical magnetics to control a huge swath of space (in which orbit the Plutinos, all of which have fluctuating and variable allures which carry highly Neptunian characteristics) but the energetic which in following in...maybe enveloping, maybe mixing with, maybe pushing all other energies towards our solar systemic center (the core of our lives)...that suggests that everything about Neptune - including the discovery of another moon - is a heightening of the oh-so human ability to lose ourselves in ourselves, to hide behind our own veils of illusion or fear, to refuse to see our mammoth potential and 'diamond core' and to perceive that which may be true but which we are...at least as yet...afraid to depend on.

Neptune's Moon Triton as photographed by Voyager

(photo credit NASA-JPL, August 1998)

Is it real, or is it Memorex?

Should I trust them? Do I trust myself?

Once Jupiter entered Cancer on June 26th we got a marked onset of emotional effects as signaled by three major planets being in the water element. Between June 23rd and July 6th, the lunar nodes (the Moon being our 'localized' or 'personal' sense of emotionality and feelings, inclusive of what or who prompts them) were at cross quarters.

Here are the links for those two stage-setting dynamics:

- link to -

A Grand Water Trine in Planetary Major

- link to -

The Lunar Nodes at Cross Quarters

 
As for the finding of Neptune's moon, we don't have much information on S/2004 N 1 as yet. The fact that scientists are doing little more than giving it a charmingly banal number is the metaphysical equivalent of saying 'oh yes - THAT' as we take note of something we know we want to know more about...even though we also know (suspect?) that it may alter our feelings on much else.

So has life been between July 1st and July 15th. Through social/societal doings, our relationships and our relationship to relationships or how well we do-or-don't relate (the Lunar Nodes at Cross Quarters thing) and all the feelings and emotional experiences we've been having (the major planet grand trine in water) coming to know more about our ideals... our illusions... and as we reflect on our relationship to all the boundless possibilities which lie beyond our Neptunian longings,  illusions, yearnings, ideals and fears.

More information yet to come...from NASA with regards to this moon, from life - as pertains to that which we're just now discovering and reacting to - and from that which is our human spirit, which so sweetly if desperately wants to be securely known and loved both by ourselves and others both for what we are and what we aren't in the fullness of time and the totality of Reality.
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Shades of Nodal Menkar

An aerial view of the San Andreas Fault as crosses the Carrizo Plain in Central California

(photo credit: USGS, July 2006)

It was a couple of days before Jupiter moved into Cancer back on June 26th that things started popping. Since I knew Mercury was about to go on station in the latter part of Cancer I wasn’t surprised to start feeling like I was being buckshot with  emotional shrapnel.

It was a day or so before our current triad of major planets (Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune) slid into water trine formation that feeling blood began to flow. Like many, I wear a social mask. Unlike many, mine is a defense against extremes of emotional vulnerability which though in the end have been the strength which has gotten me through a havoc-strewn life, still I’m not very fond of being open about my soft underbelly.

Hardly anyone is. I’ve long made a joke of a pet slogan – when in doubt, cry – but for all that I’ve always told myself that other people didn’t want to see my fears or lingering pain, the truth of the matter is that and more.

It’s scary being human.

During the period July 9th through July 20th, the Moon’s South Node is going to be at 14 Taurus – the current position of fixed star Menkar. I wrote about Menkar not long, so I won’t go into a lot of details. But when it comes right down to it, Menkar is one of those cosmic devices which is all about the efforts we make to avoid those dark corners of our Self.

The degree 14 Taurus has a reputation for many things…some of which connect us to others and some of which are about whatever tendency we may have to ‘go it alone’ or retreat and hide from the world.

From our life is more like it.

There are moments of solitude we all experience. There’s nothing wrong with that. The question comes when we withdraw, when our need to pull away is driven by avoidance.

Any and all such tendencies – to connect or withdraw, or maybe to connect as a form of withdrawing (from ourselves)…all that comes into focus as the South Node rolls over Menkar’s position at 14 Taurus. Considering how the Nodes (North or South) refer to relationships or our relationship to the world (or relationships as connected to our worldly pursuits), we’re all in for some measure of this effect no matter where we go.

And the reason to bring it up is…what? WHY do we need to know about this in the middle of a grand water trine made by our most worldly planets (Saturn and Jupiter) with everything made more hugely nebulous by Neptune’s magnetic presence?

That would be because in theory, this is also a moment when others should also be most receptive. That all of our emotions (and emotional barriers) are being stretched a bit like so much human cosmic taffy should make it easier to connect.

If we will, that is.

Of course we may also hear a lot of things we’d rather not know. South Node – Menkar – 14 Taurus as a combination is likely to bring out some truly strange stuff.

Or is that the North Node at 14 Scorpio?

Oh, these continuums…they so have us by the tail and nose.

Usually when we look at pairs of opposing degrees we can see something like a dimensional reflection. That may be true here, though considering 14 Scorpio is known for skill where 14 Taurus is very un-earthy (even unearthly) in its own mystical, far-seeing way…perhaps so. Not particularly known as one of those ‘fiery’ Scorpio degrees, the fact that the North Node (the “should do’) side of the nodal axis is in a Scorpio degree which more than others takes up the causes of others says we should get with others and we should form alliances.

Yet 14 Scorpio also has a bit of a reputation for indiscretion. So we should be careful what we say for this next little while. While communication can solve many problems, there should be established limits.

This rules out sky writing and watch those internet posts, one would guess (she said while writing an internet post).

(Never mind. I’m the astrologer – I’m just doing my job!)

Other other part of the North Node at 14 Scorpio which seems important as the South Node conjuncts fixed star Menkar: people are more complicated than we know.

The bottom line here thus suggests that we shouldn’t jump to any grand, assumptive presumptions. When in doubt…especially for the next couple of weeks…ask questions. Or ask yourself what that means or why someone would have said that.

We are all in a position to learn a lot about other human beings. In doing so we may learn a lot about others…and why we’re okay, just the way we are.

We’re in the midst of a seriously feeling time. We’ve just begun to evolve. This astrologer can’t say she thinks it’s all going to be peachy-pleasant, but our greatest gains are not achieved through ease or simplistic fun.

Growth takes energy and effort.

That’s why we call them ‘growing pains.’

So in spite of the ouches, it’s time for all of us to try to remember to stand tall, particularly (and maybe most of all) when we're feeling most vulnerable and truly small.

Real strength isn't about what you can do to someone, it's about the ability to endure the trials which go along with being human - most important of which have to do with the courage to be and know yourself honestly.
 

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For more information on our current dynamics:

- The Lunar Nodes at Cross-Quarters
- Menkar: Soul, Searching
- A Water Grand Trine in Planetary Major
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Saturn and Medea Direct

Medea by Klara Ziegler

The mythology…and the metaphysics of Saturn come to us in many a shape and form, one of the most vital of which – and at some level perhaps the scariest – is that of Saturn as the emblem of time. The idea that time itself is infinite and that ‘our time’ is both that we must cope with as our reality and the very reality that the time we have to be part of and active in ‘our time’ is limited can be very disquieting.

There’s another aspect of Saturn’s metaphysical meanings which is equally challenging, namely of Saturn as our ‘limits.’ We’re used to think of Saturn as the ‘extent of our grasp’ and thus, in keeping with its astrological rulership of earthy Capricorn, the emblem of our achievements. We’re even used to thinking of Saturn in its more airy form, where in Aquarius Saturn serves to symbolize how our ‘mastery’ (achieving an understanding of) things helps us find our place in this world, for good or ill.

I often think about Saturn as the walls we build to keep others out or to protect our Self. That seems to be part of Saturn’s functionally ‘exalted’ association with connective and relational Libra, which in practice seems as evident with a chart where Saturn is in Libra as one in which Saturn is in the chart’s 7th house.

And maybe that’s a clue to exaltations. Exaltations, which have to do with the house a planet falls in, seem as important as planets in signs, though they sure don’t get as much attention!

I've included the 'modern' planets (Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) in this list of 

'traditional' rulerships because it would seem all three planets have been so

widely accepted as rulers of their respected signs. Once Pluto was "downgraded"

to dwarf planet it seemed logical that all the other dwarf planets (Huya, Eris,

Sedna and Haumea, among others) should also be assigned to signs of

rulership and detriment, but that hasn't happened yet.

 

As is evident from the above, the list of traditional Exaltations and signs of Fall

don't include any of the 'modern' planets (Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) nor any

of the important asteroids, dwarf planets or asteroids. This doesn't mean that

astrologers don't think of them as functional (I certainly think of such things) but

the world's astrological community hasn't decided to mix any of these 'new-fangled'

ideas in with those which have come down to us - principally from ancient Greece  

Beyond this is another side of Saturn – Saturn as the idea and the reality of that individuality which on one hand makes us each so unique and valuable…and which on the other side means that we’re separate. We’re not ‘part’ of anything or anyone else at that vital and vulnerable level which incites all those feelings of loneliness. Or that nobody really understands us. Or – maybe – that as much as we want to and as long as we may know someone, we really never know who they are.

Not totally.

Being that Saturn is passing through Scorpio, every ounce and measure of all those things are in play now as Saturn goes on station to go direct. The moment of ‘turnabout’ comes on July 8th at 5:13 in the morning (UT/+0 time) and that gives us a rough ‘station allowance’ window which begins on July 6th and which extends through July 10th…but which may quite possibly be ‘felt’ a bit before or a bit after those dates – especially once you factor in your particular time zone.

The degree that Saturn is doing its turn in is 4 Scorpio, a degree which by definition is personal – and perhaps even physical. How we get along with others, what it takes to get along with them and whether we are ‘aligned’ with the right people is all up for testing, and since lore for this degree stresses whether we understand the ‘art’ involved in doing whatever it is we’re doing, we can all expect a note or brush with our own best abilities and our own sense-memory with regards to weakness.

Remembering that Saturn went retrograde back in February at 11 Scorpio (a deeply emotional degree which touches on our ability to balance that which is ‘native’ to us and that we want to build or achieve in the present) this can be a time when a lot of things come to the surface. And since most of us are ‘working’ on several things at once in our busy, daily lives, this may be a good time to get some perspective on where and what you’re on track with, and what is still some sort of personal stumbling block. Events now will tend to show up where we’ve been thinking too narrowly, and where we’ve managed to create difficulties for ourselves by various forms of zealous (and emotionally driven) perspectives which at their core have far more to do with our not wanting to have some idea or concept ‘invalidated’ by its not being right for everyone, or not being accepted by everyone than anything else.

Father Time as depicted in the Library of Congress' Rotunda Clock (detail)

(Sculptor, John Flanagan, 1896)

As happens with Scorpio, the tendency will be to deny. Or to lash out. Or to project onto others the inability to accept or think more broadly or ‘take criticism’ when the real issue may well be our own narrow perspective or inability to see things in any other way than that which suits our fancy and makes us feel good.

And thus, we feel even more lonely. And we want validation. For many of us this station will have us going back to what we ‘know we do right’ which may indeed be about something we are good at.

But then, again, maybe it’s something (or some perspective) we simply love too much, a note which comes from the idea that asteroid Medea is also going direct  - in Scorpio – on the same day as Saturn (July 8th).

Before we move on here, it’s also worth noting that July 8th is a moment for two other things. The first is a New Moon in Cancer. The second is that July 8th is the last day of the Lunar Nodes being at the Scorpio-Taurus cross-quarter points.

- link to -

The Lunar Nodes at Cross Quarters

Let’s just put it like this…this is a moment when a lot of things are likely to be ‘coming home’ to us. Both the achievements and the missed opportunities and emotionally-driven mistakes are going to be felt, be known, get muddled over.

Medea is going direct at 16 Scorpio, a second decanate degree which should clue us in to the depth and perhaps the intensity of feelings which go into the issue(s) of the moment. 16 Scorpio being a degree with two very different sort of emotional qualities, our ability to reconcile (and maybe own) our part in any imbalances we see in others, in a situation or in the world is likely to be at the heart of things. And as usual with Scorpio (not to mention Medea), it’s a whole lot easier to say ‘they’re wrong’ than to be honest about that person in the mirror. (Or in our heart.)

So…what’s the challenge here? At it’s base, 16 Scorpio seems to be a test about ideas we believe in and those we are aligned with. It’s about things and people we feel an established loyalty or  easy commonalty with and whether, when someone different or foreign…someone who may not agree with us, or maybe someone who presents an idea at odds with our beliefs – how we treat them and their ideas. The issue comes down to kindness versus inhumanity, and sometimes that’s about us and sometimes that’s about the situation or other person. But in all instances, the question becomes whether we can teach others and ourselves how to be and live in this world without blowing things out of proportion or inciting difficulties because we have – in essence – blown our own position or alliances out of proportion in the situation at hand.

Perspective, in other words, is our friend now. The very dispassionate sort of willingness and ability to be ‘separate’ and uniquely ourselves without alliances (the Saturn part) is being underscored by Medea’s station-direct.

The drama of Medea many of us know from stories – principally the play by the Greek, Euripides. Medea falls in love with the hero Jason – he of Golden Fleece fame – and Medea’s love consumes her. After she bears Jason two children, he leaves her to marry Creusa (sometimes known as Glauce). Creusa is the daughter of a king, and by marrying her, Jason will seal an alliance which will further his very real and very worldly (Saturnine) ambitions.

Jason holding the golden fleece

(photo credit: Bertel Thorvalds)

Apparently he forgot about Medea – just as we may now forget (or realize we have forgotten) there that every situation and every relationship has many sides and many factors. Medea is a sorceress in her own right. She used her powers to protect Jason as he went about his heroic doings. Without Medea, it’s arguable that Jason would have never gotten to that golden fleece, the prize which entitled him to his bride.

Life is indeed very much more complicated than we often think of it as.

The news that Jason is going to marry Creusa drives Medea mad. And whether that surfaces now as anger or insanity (which sometimes look and sound alike) the idea that Medea goes to Creusa with a ‘poisonous gift’ – a dress which burns Creusa to death when she tries it on – is a totem parallel for some of the factors which go into the Saturn ‘life realities’ we are considering at this time.

Medea’s power is said to come from (or reflect) the energies of Hecate, an ancient goddess tied to the ideas of that which is unseen and those powers which ‘lie beyond life.’

Hecate by Johfra Bosschart (1973)

  

Is that death? Maybe, but not necessarily. And with Medea currently transiting Scorpio, the factors now being tapped into are far more likely to be about how life taps into our inner sense of security through situations in which we think we should (or where we want to) hold power and the ability to exercise control.

Hecate is not ‘evil’…she merely represents that beyond our understanding. Or at least our current understanding, which may be the key to this entire event. That it happens during an ongoing major planet water (read: emotional) grand trine says a lot about the strength and depth and prevalence of our feelings and about how what we are reacting to is in itself about emotionality.

But that doesn’t define right or wrong. Indeed, there may be no ‘right’ and no ‘wrong’ here, merely whether we are willing or able to employ some degree of ‘artfulness’ when dealing from an established personal ‘reality’ (Saturn going direct at 4 Scorpio) which may or may not itself be in (Medea direct at 16 Scorpio) in balance.

It’s easy to blame others. It’s not so easy to see why we – or those we love or are loyal to – incite those others to act as they do. Saying something is ‘wrong’ or ‘evil’ doesn’t fix it – only understanding it and considering why such things happen does. Denial only begets denial, as lack of understanding begets lack of acceptance.

Which is which is now playing out. The more we learn, the better off we will be – and the better we stand to become in the fullness of Saturnine time.
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The Lunar Nodes at Cross Quarters

This header image is based on a photo of Main Street in Old City Dubrovnik

by Alex Proimos of Sydney, Australia (July 2011)

Pretzels. That’s what first came to mind when I started thinking about the nodes moving backwards through fifteen degrees of Scorpio and Taurus. After all, the normal astro-celestial movement is forward and the idea of the zodiac’s cross-quarter points is of the infamously famous ‘move on’ sort.

(Or if you want to be more benign and Zen about it, ‘walk on’.)

Occurring at 15 degrees of each of the zodiac’s fixed signs (or on a more esoteric level, at the half-way mark in houses 2, 5, 8 and 11), the cross-quarter points are where gathering information and learning about something shifts into ‘doing it’ gear.

Or at least ‘trying it’ gear.

And yes…if you have some planet, node or axis positioned at 15 degrees of any of the fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius), this may explain why – in terms of whatever that symbol is – you’re always struggling with the ‘do I know enough?’ or ‘do I HAVE to?’ or 'are they going to like/approve of me (or what I do)?' issues.

Or maybe you’re just hesitant (read: reluctant) when it comes to getting started, with once you’re in gear being a whole other thing.

Taurus and Scorpio being signs which are natively 1st quadrant and 3rd quadrant in the zodiacal sense, the stakes here are pitting the ‘learning how’ and ‘learning about how my life works’ first quadrant process against the 3rd quadrant ‘what works?’ with others, or in terms of who (or what sort of company or organization) you should be dealing with.

Basically, the first-against-third quadrants are more ‘who am I and how do I operate’ where the second-against-forth quadrants are more about what we do and whether the world likes what we do: one-three is directly personal and two-four is a bit ‘offshore,’ if you will.

That doesn’t mean we won’t get offended if someone sneers at us, obviously, but there’s a difference between someone saying ‘you baked a lousy cake’ (or you hired a lousy employee) and ‘you’re a lousy so-and-so.’

Of course there are some cross-collateralizations here, I will freely admit. Maybe you’ve noticed this and maybe you haven’t, but people who are born under 2nd or 4th quadrant signs (Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces) seem to have a bit of a harder time separating themselves from what they do. And when you add in not just Sun but also Moon, then take where each falls in the natal chart it all gets a bit complicated and everybody has sensitive spots.

But then, we are humans. And humans, it seems, were born to get real and realer as time goes along by having their soft spots poked, prodded and otherwise stimulated.

(No, don’t go there. Google/Blogger has rules, don’t you know!)

Into all this comes the Nodes of the Moon. Defined as that place where the Moon’s path around Earth intersects Earth’s path around the Sun, the nodes are the ‘intersection’ of our very personal world (the Moon) with the greater life around us (the Sun). And thus they are about how and where we interact with the world and with other people.

So now we have the North Node (the “should do” end of the nodal axis) entering 15 Scorpio as the South Node (the “what I like to do”) side of the equation is entering 15 Taurus, an event which starts on June 23rd (this Sunday, UT/+0 time) and continues on into July 8th.

June 23rd happens to be the date of a Full Moon, so we know this Nodal shift begins in a celestial 'spotlight.' It's also just days shy of Mercury going retrograde, so things, and the thought processes of various folks are going to be set on 'high' - and with Jupiter at 29 Gemini about to move into Cancer, things are likely to be pretty intense, to say the least!

Ergo...depending on how well we each do with adjusting our outlook, this will probably be a time to enjoy...or for struggling through.

And why would that be? Well just to begin with, there is that ‘fixed sign’ thing. Being that the Taurus Challenge is all about how secure we are with ourselves, anything that tends to make us feel invalidated or ‘less than perfect’ in our own eyes rouses the bullish snort and much pawing of tender ground. And since the Scorpio Challenge is all about how well we are able to negotiate with others in a give-and-take sort of manner so that we can all join forces and depend on each other as we move ahead and towards our goals, with the South Node in the “don’t invalidate me, bro!” Taurus end and the North Node in the Scorpio “we should get along, which optimally means you should agree with me” end of things, the past year and something (or so) has felt like something of a cosmic set-up which brings the worst out in everyone.

Why this is so difficult for us is all about the fact the Nodes are a continuum. It’s a lot easier (not to mention more convenient) to think of them as separate things, but they’re not. So when we do what we want or like to do (embracing the South Node of it all), if – or to the degree that we ignore or don’t pay any attention to the necessity of the situation (the North Node getting along with others) we fall afoul of our own ‘but I want to see it MY way!’ sort of thing.

There are of course, places and times in life when it’s simply ducky to say ‘we agree to disagree.’ And hopefully we’ve done that rather than resorting to launching WWIII (or IV…or V…or XXVII) because someone doesn’t agree with us.

But that doesn’t always happen. I had a raucously bad week(plus) this past April when an astrologer I know just couldn’t accept that I wasn’t into their particular area of expertise and wasn’t buying into their rationale(s). No matter how many times I said ‘I’m sure there are many on your wavelength, I’m just not on the list - but I wish you entirely well with your studies…’ this person snarled, snorted, barked and snapped.

Evidently they hadn’t taken their daily does of Node Tonic. For some reason it was very important to this person that I should validate their thoughts and choices, and they aren’t the only one I know of going through this cycle. I’ve seen all sorts of people either wanting validation or getting all snarky because their choices didn’t get someone’s endorsement.

But wait…isn’t the idea to be secure in our own choices? If we are, when we are, where we are secure others thinking differently becomes interesting instead of threatening.

So if we go to war because someone is different, is that about them – or us? War is a Scorpio reaction which at it’s most basic metaphysical level says ‘my sense of safety requires that I exert force in order to restore control at a level I think of as safe.’

Question: does that define what is safe? Or does that define one’s sense of vulnerability?

That would seem to be the general lesson of the Nodes passing through Scorpio (North) and Taurus (South): learning to work with others without feeling you need to control others (or dictate terms of control to them) in order to feel secure or ‘good’ about yourself. And as with all things astrological, if we don’t do the work…or to the degree that we aren’t willing to challenge ourselves, life will bring on the situations and interactions which will promote or provoke those tests and testy situations.

It’s not about ‘them,’ it’s about us – but the human thing is (sure as shootin’, so to speak) that we’ll blame others first.

And this is where Nodal motion makes this whole idea really all the more interesting. Usually, objects moving through the zodiac go from zero to twenty-nine degrees of any given sign. With the Nodes, it’s from twenty-nine back down through the sign TO zero. So where we’re used to the ‘personal and private’ giving way to the ‘emotionally challenging and interactive’ to the worldly ‘public’ sort of process, what the Nodes represent is a different sort of life process which starts “out there” and which through the emotional process “brings things home to us.”

And that's what made me think of pretzels. It was the quirk of the twist, the way life is engineered to move us forward as part of the process of making things more elemental which got me.

(And yes, I like pretzels. Also yes, I think life is crispy and often salty!)

Since the Nodes are calculated points, they don’t have “mass” (like planets and asteroids do). So this idea, this ‘function’ is more esoteric, more nebulous in nature than other things. I always say that if the symbol has mass, we can “retrain” ourselves and eventually form a positive habit. That doesn’t seem to be true where calculated points like Ascendants, Descendants, Midheavens, ICs, the Part of Fortune (any of the Arabic Parts, really), Black Moon Lilith and the Nodes are concerned.

All such ‘calculations’ are just what the word implies: they are ideas and concepts which we calculate the effect of and which we are right or wrong about by turns…which leads (hopefully!) to learning through both our mistakes and triumphs.

In moving over 15 Scorpio and Taurus, the Nodes are moving out of the ‘operational’ part of the 3rd and 1st quadrants into their 'provocatively personal' realms. That will ‘bring home’ results of what we have or haven’t learned through what was promoted or provoked in the world around us.

And again…this is something of an esoteric experience, for all it may have a real-time manifestation such as the getting or losing of a job, the forming or loss of relationships, business successes or disasters, and so on. All around us we’re seeing folks dealing with what their opinion of ‘right’ is against what the world’s opinion of ‘right’ is and the repercussions of same.

During the days ahead…the actual processing of the two opposing cross-quarter degrees by the Nodes, we can expect a linking of very different ideas. The North Node in 15 Scorpio speaks to guilt and where some people should feel guilty but don’t. It’s sort of a psychosocial checkpoint all about the need to deal with reality, not just what we want life (or others) to be. Meanwhile, the South Node at 15 Taurus can point to a moment of realization and recognition, when we ‘listen’ to our Self and others and realize that there is an actual growth opportunity, a process we can take advantage of.

Those who make changes now will relax and open up. They’ll be able to say ‘I understand’ and begin to remember that others may have a different point of view and that that’s not a disaster.

Far from it – they may actually have something valuable to say.

Those who make the shift will become more ‘operative’ and less about ‘digging in and holding their ground’ going forward. Those who don’t make the shift will continue attacking, sniping, being defensive and otherwise stirring up contentious confrontations where nothing of the sort needs to exist. They’ll look childish – even desperate – to some folks, and eventually (as the Nodes reach the end of their current Scorpio/Taurus traverse), they’ll peter out and be left either empty-handed or without much more to say.

Or folks who want to listen to them say it.

But that’s yet to come - next year when the Nodes cross into Libra-and-Aries. Our 'now,' is a next few weeks of the Nodes lingering at cross-quarters. And that's a time which is likely to be enlightening, even inspiring on one hand…and maybe filled with regrets and ‘why does it have to be this way?’ (or ‘why do they have to act that way?’) in the dim, even darker momentsr.

Providing we remember that the difficulties or challenges which we feel are ours – not theirs - and how their difficulties and challenges are theirs, not ours, all goes well. Or reasonably well, give or take the fact that life isn't perfect. The perfection (the theoretical 'perfectly human' part) comes in when we realize that our Nodal education - in the end - is about learning where ou responsibility ends and ‘their’ responsibility for who they are (and what ‘they’ earn or get saddled with) begins.

Is it easy? No. But it is important, especially if we want our lives to be-and-become more and more intrinsically ours and less-and-less something we feel 'mucked' with by others. So in that light...after we chew through all the reluctance will dawn the understanding that we are here to support each other, not live symbiotic live or a life in contentious alienation or isolation. We are indeed stronger together, but that relies on the unique abilities of each person to be brought to the fore.

If I love you, then I love you for being you. I don’t expect you to be me. I don’t expect you to think like I think and I don’t expect you’ll agree with all my pleasures, my treasures or my preferences. Nor do I expect myself to adore all your pleasures, your treasures or your preferences.

But if I love you…or even like you…or like the idea of getting along with you…or even just living with you on the same planet, then I have to accept that those variations and our differences have merit – an intrinsic merit and one through which I learn a measure of acceptance, the value of discordant experience and ultimately, tolerance.
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