The 26 Virgo Full Moon

 An Arizona Moon by John Fowler

As Earth’s moon dictates the planet’s tides, so we all experience a monthly flow and ebb, the increase of which begins with elemental themes presented by the New Moon with some sort of ‘high tide,’ ‘turning point’ or point of which occurs around the time of the Full Moon.

That Full Moon will occur on March 16th (UT/+0 time) at 5:09 in the evening – and it will be positioned at 26 Virgo.

Right away we know several things: the results of what you have done or not done (said or not said, participated in or not participated in…etcetera) dates back to March 1st, the date of the New Moon. And that March 1st New Moon, besides being in the Piscean world of shared emotionality and common human feelings was also wedged in time between Mercury’s turn to direct in Aquarius and Mars’ turn to retrograde in Libra.

Things could get done, things did get done. In fact, since Saturn went retrograde a day after Mars did, there will be consequences, ramifications of, and/or a playing out of whatever was thought about, done, ignored, talked about, reacted to, begun, ended or  committed to at that time.

2014 March Full Moon chart (glyph chart)

 2014 March Full Moon chart (text chart)

Those Mars/Saturn ‘eventualities’ are hardly due yet. And no, none of us were entirely comfortable with what we were having to do, or what we were doing knowing that other people weren’t necessarily going to like it around the time of the last New Moon…even if what we were asserting was a personal emotional truth. Having eclipse effects set in on February 28th going into the New Moon (and Mars plus Saturn stations) assured us we would be given time to work through things…and that there would be plenty which needs working through on our way to changes we will make or meet up with as-and-after the April 29th solar eclipse.

The current lunar cycle having begun in one of the water signs (Pisces), the whole of this month is ‘underlaid’ or ‘centered’ in how we feel about things…and our feelings about life in general. With both the New and Full Moons in 2nd decanate degrees of their respective signs we also know feelings would run high – that this month would be filled with a sense of need, urgency and desire to have things ‘feel’ the way we want them to feel.

Unfortunately things haven’t been exactly to our liking (that being the current Mars/Libra retrograde effect)…its as if something isn’t quite in alignment. Life’s ‘machinery’ isn’t meshing. Nothing is happening in the way…or at the rate we thought it would.

And now, as the Moon comes to Full phase in Virgo, we either realize something more about what needs to be doing in order for things to proceed more smoothly…or we pass/fail to pass some sort of functional ‘check point/’ The implication here is about some sort of adjustment which needs making. That may be to our attitude, methodology, timing, tools or to the choice of or need for teammates, with central questions being about what will help or hinder performance and operational parameters.

Mind you, many of us will have gotten a great deal done over this past little while. We may even be feeling very accomplished even if with Mars in retrograde everything seems to take more effort than we think it should.

Regardless…something isn’t done yet, and some part of what that is and why things still aren’t fitting together may very well be reflective of whatever difficulties we (or others) have with reconciling pragmatic Virgo realities with more spiritual, esoteric…even mythical beliefs.

Imaged in the above by dwarf planet Sedna, the myths we believe in now are those we either use to inflict or defend from whatever it is we consider our most deadly challenge (Algol), be that from within or without.

The image of any Full Moon being the Sun in opposition to the Moon, our instincts are pragmatic and practical while our (solar) consciousness and the power of our being is focused either on our emotions…or how emotionality functions either when we are (or get) carried away or what incites emotionality to the point of ‘undoing that which you otherwise know.’ Whatever we hear, see or encounter now is as likely to provoke our reactions, and reactions are probably either due or duly necessary.

But there is a trick here…and that is really knowing what our feelings really are. Amidst all else, we are so dearly likely to be driven by echoes of our own issues that though we may try to make a practical choice that whatever choice we make is not towards what we think the goal is, but as a reaction to something implanted deep in our psyches a very long, long time ago.

That doesn’t make whatever we do or why we do it right or wrong. It just makes our motivations less explicable than usual – even to us.

Or maybe that’s the ‘other guy’s motivations…with Moon conjunct MakeMake in late Virgo why and exactly anyone is doing what they’re doing may very well seem immoral…and yet, on some perhaps very odd metaphysical level the weakness is actually with or within our Self.

It’s an injury. Our ability to connect to others in such a way as to build and advance our ultimate aspirations (Scorpio) is injured – that injury being indicated by fixed star Toliman. While we have learned much from the pain, it has also grown to be something which at some level (Mnemosyne) both pains and drives us, creating some sort of limit, some emotional Saturnine wall within which causes us to judge our priority meaningful and that of others less so.

In the diagram above Mercury is shown in isolation at 28 Aquarius, a combination which at its heart is about non-involvement. This is the reality and ugliness (or in some cases, our presumption of ugliness) which makes us not want to ‘touch’ or be touched – which in being separatist (or elitist or contrarian, etc.) violates the Aquarian notion of universality. It is fine in other words to not want to be involved so long as you treat others as an equal  entitled to the same rights and respect you are entitled to.

To list the technicals in brief here, Mercury is semi-sextile Europa and Scheat, suggesting we are at odds with what others might think. Mercury is also in square to Saturn, Mnemosyne and Toliman, representing the broadest of all challenges here – the recognition that whoever we are, we all instinctively fear the same things.

We’re all human. The trials of mortality and eternity expressed by 26 Virgo are all about being afraid of paying any price for being human.

Because of this…inevitably…we end up wanting to see others pay that price,  if only so that we know they paid…not us. And though that may sound harsh and it isn’t kind, this is a basic and instinctive need, one which 26 Virgo challenges by ‘freeze-framing’ some portion of our psyche into immobility, causing the rest of our Self to cast about looking for ways to validate that existence which suddenly feels so strangely and oddly incomplete. We will tend now to see emptiness in the searches of others not because their efforts are empty, but because our quest to fill our own insecurities (however buried and denied they may be) are pushing us to the point where we will tend to become less forgiving of the very mortality we feel so acutely in our Self – and thus  less forgiving of others.

Hardly known as the world’s most innately ‘forgiving’ sign, squares from Mercury in late Aquarius often trend towards public discordance and the sort of haste which makes for mistakes, particularly in the area of understanding and /or communication. It is far, far easier to criticize someone else now for what they aren’t than to realize that such a speculation can only be rooted in who we aren’t in our own eyes.

Moreover, we may just be wrong – about ‘them’ or what they’re doing, why they’re doing it or the basics of some situation we’re trying to act on or react to without having all the facts.

All of this is happening under Mars retrograde in Libra, so we will do well to remember that we are in the process of learning about ourselves through others. We think we’re considering them when we’re really considering what we think of them, and why we think that.

We’re doing it so that we can concentrate on ourselves – which would be why the Full Moon is in Virgo, the earthy sign of working towards our goals.

Not humanity’s goals, ours.

When our myths of accomplishment overcome the willingness to be human, others may well suffer first, but we will ultimately suffer last.

And longest.

Most of all in our own regard.
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Dateblog: December 2013

Last month’s diagram was very red. There was a lot of Scorpio energy in the works and that had us all involved in tests of our ability to negotiate emotional waters.

Or just negotiate, period – with ourselves, with others, with whatever life handed us. 

Looking at the personal planets (the first five columns from the left) December is pretty much about Sagittarius and Capricorn, though Mercury starts out in Scorpio (a sign that we’re still working through some emotional ‘value issues.’

There’s also Mars to think about: Mars starts the month in earthy Virgo – which against the Sagittarian Sun and Mercury in Scorpio is either high levels of motivation or fixation of focus…and maybe both.

And maybe positive…or maybe negative, depending.

The Sagittarian New Moon of December 3^rd looks to be a bit like a starting gun: positioned at 10 Sagittarius it carries with it the standard New Moon ‘initiation’ energetic and in being at 10 degrees of a fire sign indicates fervency. Or maybe enthusiasm or excitement.

However…being that Mercury moves into Sagittarius on the 5^th, the wise person will not leap off of any tall buildings without a parachute. Mercury is notorious for ‘overdoing’ when in Sagittarius and considering Venus’ lengthy transit of Capricorn the smart money is on not the thing which is necessarily practical in and of itself, but on taking a pragmatic course through these next few weeks in order to achieve the ends you want to achieve. Yes, there will be a bit of feeling out to do, and expectations now can be deadly. The smart money is on asking questions and doing some investigation before you make your bet on anything.

Orcus going retrograde on the 6^th (the day after Mercury enters Sagittarius) also tells us we will be dealing with some things of consequence – or the consequences of something which has already happened. That Mars will enter Libra a day after Orcus’ station (and still affected by it), with the Geminid Meteor Shower covering December 7-16 this is an excellent time for seeking advice. Or for mending broken bridges and relationships gone awry.

It’s also a good time for learning new things.

In comparison with November, December is downright quiet – but not to worry…we will have some fireworks during the December 15-19 period marking Uranus station-direct (at 8 Aries) on the 17^th on the same day as a Full Moon at 28 Gemini, conjunct Betelgeuse. If you have been working towards something, now fruition occurs. (No guarantee is issued here on whether you’ll like the results, however!) If you have been hoping to work something out or make some deal, this could be a breakthrough moment. It can also represent when you finally ‘get’ something and the light bulb goes on, illuminating your forward path and successes yet to come.

Uranus is all about ‘breaking through’ our barriers. They can be internal, they can be external. Especially with Uranus positioned in a first decanate degree (first decan = degrees 0 through 9 of any sign) something you do can make a difference…and heaven forbid you don’t do something you should, as that will bring the energy in upon you.

As we say in metaphysics….Use the energy wisely, lest it use you unwisely.

That Venus will go retrograde on the same day that the Sun hits its solstice point and enters Capricorn (that being December 21^st) makes the entire period of December 19^th through the 23^rd somewhat harried. Priorities and pragmatism now count for a lot – and they count even more once Mercury joins the Capricorn parade on December 24^th.

Venus retrograde is notoriously a pretty trying time. All the responses we want from others, all the approval we get…none of it quite hits the spot. That’s because this Venus retrograde – especially positioned as it is in Capricorn, is all about living up to our standards and learning how being to stand on our own and for our individuality garners respect. 

From that respect – in time – will come the results we deserve. But first we have to earn them. 

The last note for December is TNO Logos (logic or logistics; unadulterated facts) and dwarf planet MakeMake going retrograde on the same date – that being December 31^st (UT/+0), which may of course already be January 1^st in the eastern (Oriental, Australian, New Zealand, etc.) time zones.

MakeMake is about bringing things to be or into being, or things coming to be whether we work to create them or not. This is a relatively new point which will get better known as time goes along, but apparently MakeMake represents opportunities which if not taken can lead to isolation or isolated events (or opportunities) which arise without being necessarily connected to anything else in life. That Logos is going retrograde at 29 Virgo says that we need to be practical about what we do now (which has real applications on New Years Eve and New Years Day, to be sure!) while MakeMake making its turn to retrograde at 0 Libra speaks to encounters which – considering how close 0 Libra is to black hole M87 – may lead to seeing life from a totally new vantage point. 

Yes, even if that just means you turn the calendar page – for some of us, that means everything!
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MakeMake in Libra

Ancestor Figure (moai kavakava) from Easter Island (Rapa Nui)

(On exhibition at LACMA - the Los Angeles County Museum of Art)

Just in case you haven’t figured out how it works yet, I’ll let you in on the skinny as to the why and why not of astrological chit-chatter about various points. It pretty much goes like this: the things we have a lot of research and data on, we talk about. The rest of the stuff…not so much.

Discovered on March 31, 2005 by the Palomar team of Craig Trujillo, David Rabinowitz and Michael Brown (of Caltech fame), MakeMake is a dwarf planet, which should put it on an astrological par with Pluto. And that it’s not is in part because there’s only so many astrologers doing collecting data…and let’s face it, there hasn’t been much time to collect that data in since 2005.

Personally, I also think that MakeMake is its own kind of TNO (Trans Neptunian Object) is part of the reason too. After all, it’s not a Plutino…which is to say, MakeMake’s orbit isn’t in any ‘mag res’ (magnetic resonance) relationship with Neptune. Objects like Pluto are...which explains to us why the association we have with dreams, illusions, fantasies, ideals and entertainment which so Neptunian evidently benefit from that association in that big blue Neptune passes its qualities along.

And if we can see how Neptune vibrations - the stuff which blurs the line between real and unreal - gives the Plutinos governed by Neptune all that great-or-terrifying Neptunian PR, then its easier to understand why MakeMake - a dwarf planet which doesn't have that Neptune attachment also lacks the Neptunian allure.

I tend to think of MakeMake as the startup of dwarf planets. I have faith it’s going to make a hit with us yet…but it hasn’t happened yet.

So far all we know is that MakeMake is named for a god who was part of the Easter Island culture. This god was the god of creating (as opposed to  Creation) and thus seems associated with an almost Venus-like ‘bringing things to be’ quality – except that it’s a TNO.

Venus is a personal planet. It is thus our personal attribute and part of our daily life. MakeMake? Not so much. MakeMake is a ‘way out there’ sort of object. 

Everything beyond Neptune (in a realm technically known as the Kuiper Belt which at some unknown reach becomes the Oort Belt) is not only subject to strange spelling, but being strange to us. It simply is. The ability to surprise us (for good or bad) is a quality we associate with all TNO objects - from the Eris, Sedna and Pluto end of things to the Deucalion, Makemake and Huya class of things. Beyond what we (Neptune) can know lies the realm of that we cannot predict with any clarity.

And that just drives people crazy. So though there's a mysteriously intriguing quality to Plutino types like Ixion and Pluto, there are also a whole slew of hot diggity objects out there which don't seem to fascinate us, but which represent the timing mechanisms by which we will learn lessons nonetheless.

That's the list which includes MakeMake.

So! To use the Sherlock Holmes deduction method as applied to astrology, if MakeMake is about creating or the thing which has been created, and MakeMake also resides in the Realm of the TNO, then MakeMake is about creating something unexpected or which affects us in some unanticipated manner, or having to deal with something which come to be which we don't have experience with, and therefore probably don't know how to deal with.

To say nothing of all that water. Easter Island is a dot of land way out in the middle of an ocean. With water being the medium of emotionality, that may mean that MakeMake moments leave us feeling isolated or 'stranded' in an ocean of emotions. Or maybe we're just 'awash' with feelings we've never felt before.

Then again, maybe MakeMake something has to get made which we have no idea what it would be like or how it would function.

Currently on its way back towards us from the zone where Sedna comes closest and Eris and comet Swiff-Tuttle (which brings us the Persied meteor shower) are at their greatest distance from the Sun, MakeMake is also another of the objects with an inclination of orbit (orbital tilt) which is decidedly “off the level” – at least of our world and the inner and ‘orderly’ section of our solar system is. (Not that things are so orderly here on Earth obviously…) That’s another indicator that like Pluto, MakeMake represents things which happen in a sort of ‘off the beaten track’ sort of way…which in ‘regular’ terms would suggest it pertains to things which are out of our norm…

…AND which are unexpected (that being the TNO part of the whole affair).

So what has that got to do with your personal pile of peanut brittle? Just this: as of this Sunday, October 20th, MakeMake is moving into Libra. Considering it has an orbital length of over 300 years, that’s means we’re both in for a lot of MakeMake in Libra…and that we’re now leaving a bunch of years of MakeMake being in Virgo.

Just talking through my (imaginary) astrolabe here, but this sort of bodes all sorts of things for relationships and how we relate…and new kinds of relationships, plus bringing things into being (or revealing them) within relationships.

That this is happening just as the Orionid Meteor Shower (which started on the 16th while I was busy lunar eclipsing) is reaching its peak AND Mercury goes on station seems auspicious.

Many new ideas...many sparks of thought...many realizations coming to light - an some of those have their seeds, their origination in acts and moments dated long, long ago.

We tend to think of Libra as the person we relate to. But it’s more about the functionality of relating and relationships. Libra is as much about the relationship as the person we relate to and with MakeMake moving into Libra a new relationship may present itself…or you may bring a new phase of relationship into being.

If so, if that happens now, it will present you with something new and totally unexpected – which should get you thinking a bit before doing whatever you do with regards to relationships, as they’re likely to come with a few truly shocking surprises.

Could this be good? Or is it necessarily or bad? 

That depends on where MakeMake falls in your chart natally…and where 0 Libra falls in your chart along with which cusp wears the Libra emblem (or whether it’s intercepted).

Detail of Ancestor Figure (moai kavakava) from Easter Island (Rapa Nui)

(On exhibition at LACMA - the Los Angeles County Museum of Art)

The challenge here is to remember that whatever happens in relationships and the process of relating now is about something new…your ability to deal with the new, create the new, tolerate the unfamiliar, step outside prescribed ‘boxes’…all that stuff. Through that, you will come to know more about your Self.

Or at least you should. Going forward, because Venus is about to enter Capricorn – the sign it will go retrograde in come December – because Venus rules Venus we are all of us on a path towards building in a worldly sense, but growing in an otherworldly sense.

Since ‘tis the season…(Halloween, I mean)…I’ll go ahead and ask whether any of this scares you.

If it does, deal with it and take it on anyway. Apparently you need to, she said, picking up a haunch of raw meat so as to go out and feed the griffins…and remember – the worst spell to be caught in is the one you didn’t mean to bring into being. But once they're there, you have to deal with them - and all which they mean to your ability to relate to life and how you go about relating to that which you have either directly created, or which your being-ness has caused to come into existence because after all...it's meant to be part of your life.

Can you relate?

Do you relate?

Will you relate?

If you can't now...you will soon.
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MakeMake, Medusa, Orpheus: Making the Best of Things

Marie Louise Island in the outer Seychelles

(photo by ACP)

Once I was past the mandatory high school reading of Homer (the Iliad and Odyssey was something of a literary war for me) and Margaret Hamilton’s Mythology, Greek myths (and myths in general) didn’t mean much until I started reading psychology and family dynamics books in my somewhat late 20s.

About then it dawned on me that myths are not just fun stories, they’re about the nature of our world and human nature in particular.

So I started reading mythology again. Some people like international cuisine. I evidently get great nourishment from reading Myths From Around the World. Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Norse, Celtic, Indian, Japanese…I read it all. And seeing as this was about the time I got into working in the movie industry as a production accountant, I’m guessing it was a very good accompaniment to the main dish of money spending. After all, life on the road with anywhere between a hundred and three hundred (plus) crew members can be a fairly raw and woolly experience. But where better to see the in’s and out’s of human nature?

Far from being the glitzy thing so many think film work is, production is a bit like civil war – in a not-always-polite, if not strictly bloodthirsty civil sense.

Though yes, there are a few moments of awfulness. When you’re in the film industry or working locations you hear of them. Everybody grimaces and keeps working. (Yes, even if you were the target of the incident, you keep working.)

The myth which has probably impressed me the most through the years is that one which I think intersects our Moments Most Dire and those when we grapple with how we feel about life. That myth is the one of the gorgon Medusa - a myth which is entirely different than the story most of us know.

- link to -

Medusa: Through Our

Mental Mirror, Darkly

Don’t kid yourself: we all have a little bit of Medusa in our chart. In fact, exactly where you’re prone to resisting that idea is like as not connected to where your Medusa lives – in its own little cave of your personal psyche.

The thing to remember here is that Medusa is not about how we appear to others. Medusa is not about being afraid of what others know. It’s about what we’re afraid to know about ourselves.

As of June 12th, the stakes get raised in this ‘knowing about ourselves’ department by Medusa moving into Aries. Which means (to state the obvious) that on June 11th, Medusa will be crossing through that last and final degree of the rondo we call the zodiac, 29 Pisces.

And that’s where Scheat is.

If you’ve been around the astroPPM blog for a while, you probably know I tend to refer to Scheat as the fixed star we all love to hate. But that’s part and parcel of the “Scheat gig” as Scheat represents how (or where) we tend to reject others – or in having rejected them, tend to get rejected by them.

So when Medusa conjuncts Scheat, that suggests a lot of uneasiness (or out and out fear) with regards to what we might have missed out on. Or what others may not like about us, or what we believe.

As a degree, 29 Pisces has two distinct sides. (How Piscean, don’t you think?) The first is about intuitive or what we tend to call ‘psychic’ abilities. Those abilities come from our ability to be less ‘defined’ by our ego drives erecting ‘walls’ which define or separate” us from everything (and everyone) else. The aim of this ego-instinct is to know who the “I Am” of our life is, which is obviously at some level a good and necessary thing. But too much of that doesn’t allow us to be ‘one’ with the rest of Existence. The intuitive, the sensitive, the artist, the guru, the medium, the shaman - those who are live some portion of life without fully fortified ‘ego walls’ see – and are exposed to - what comes in from Beyond. And be that beyond the spiritual realm, the intuitive realm…or the compassion and empathy which allows us to feel for one another, that’s a whole plus-and-minus balance unto itself. Some are inspired by what they learn. Some are overwhelmed by it.

The other side of 29 Pisces is also about our ability to feel and sense or not, but this one has to do with our interactions with others. This is the area Scheat seems to be more active in, though there’s something to be said for Scheat’s having moved into 29 Pisces back in 1973 and the upsurge of interest in everything from parapsychology (ghosts and spirits) to holistic healing – the totality of energy of which we are all part – which began increasing around that time.

For the record, Scheat will be at 29 Pisces until 2044, so we’re only about half way through this ‘evolution,’ if that’s what you want to call it.

But to my point, Medusa passing over Scheat (otherwise known as conjuncting Scheat) is likely to create situations which excite or exacerbate everyone’s various insecurities and fears during the early part of this June, 2013 week.

Tête de Méduse (Head of Medusa) by Puget

(photo credit Jospe, July 2011)

And Medusa’s not alone. As Medusa reaches 29 Pisces, so does Orpheus, the guy everybody seems to think of as the ‘other half’ of Eurydike. Orpheus is an amazingly talented person. But he seems to suffer from that ‘with great power goes great responsibility’ issue which gets us all in various moments in our lives. In the care of Orpheus, he ends up losing the love of the person most dear to him – Eurydike – because he doesn’t have enough faith (faith being a Pisces thing) in the thing he has been told to do thusly…to not question a process which whether he likes it or not, he’s not in charge of.

Orpheus is used to being able to use charm and talent to get what he wants. And because he’s never learned any other way of handling life, in the end he loses that person, that love, that feeling of being loved which is most dear to him.

Orpheus and Eurydice by Michel Martin Drolling (1820)

And now Orpheus is conjuncting Scheat in Medusa’s company…ALL of which is happening as MakeMake goes direct at 27 Virgo.

Currently classed as a TNO (Trans Neptunian Object), MakeMake is being considered for dwarf planet status – which tells us that it’s not just a pebble out there in space. Should we take MakeMake as seriously as we all take Pluto? Maybe, maybe not, though certainly if it qualifies as a dwarf planet, that response will flip over resoundingly into “should.”

But will we? Probably not. And why would that be? That would be because MakeMake isn’t one of the more-than-several objects the orbits of which are controlled by Neptune. Known as ‘Plutinos,’ the list of such Neptune-controlled objects includes Ixion, Orcus, Huya, Pluto and a handful of objects which to date are only known by numerical assignments.

And this should tell us that it’s really that mysterious Neptune quality of ‘knowing/not knowing’ or being ‘controlled/out of control’ which creates the incredible, often blinding energetic we associate with Plutinos.

Put simply, that energy gets our carnal motors running. And MakeMake isn’t a Plutino. Classed in the TNO (subset) Cubewano category, like fellow Cubewano Deucalion (surviving life’s disasters and finding our way), MakeMake as the soul of creating, the ability to rise from the depths and to build something which becomes it’s own ‘island’ of reality and personal salvation and reliability in your life should be enthralling.

But it’s not. MakeMake just doesn’t stir that astro-emotional Neptunian fascination and thus all the hot-shot press.

An orbital diagram of MakeMake at June 15, 2013 as generated by JPL

As for 27 Virgo (the degree MakeMake is going direct at), this is a degree which stresses the most functional side of our mentalities.

So then we add in MakeMake. And when we add in MakeMake, it would appear that these mid-June days of MakeMake going station/direct are a test of our own resolve. Or our questioning of ourselves as to our motives and whether we’ve thought everything through before moving ‘building’ on what we’ve already done or accomplished. Given that stations get (at least) a 2-day allowance before and after, that means that this station begins on June 10th (maybe even June 9th, particularly given time zone considerations) and ends on June 14/15.

And since the ‘going into’ this moment is colored by Orpheus and Medusa passing over 29 Pisces and Scheat…and the ‘coming out’ of this station has Medusa and Orpheus both reaching 0 Aries, this is definitely about our Self.

So who do you need to be in order to be successful in your own life - or a success in this life? What do you need to do or how do you need to do it in order to be both aware of owning/using your own talents and truths and doing not just what is easy but hard for you to do regardless of what others think?

That this is happening as Mercury has just moved into the shadow of its upcoming retrograde says that these questions are probably not general. There is something ‘on the table’ which needs to be ‘built up’ so that you have something to ‘stand on’ that you yourself have created. It could be large, or this could be small.

What’s important is that it’s yours – and that it represents your abilities, probably inclusive of the costs involved.
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The Two Popes: Francis I and Benedict XVI

 

(Left) Pope Benedict XVI during a May 2007 visit to Sao Paulo, Brazil (photo credit: Fabio Pozzebom, Agencia Brasil) - (Right) Pope Francis in March 2013 (courtesy of the Presidency of the Nation of Argentina)

To start with, a thought which came to me after the papal election: when Pope Benedict XVI announced his decision to step down, Jupiter was conjunct Aldebaran in Gemini. To be precise here, Pope Benedict stepped down just before Jupiter hit Aldebaran (though granted, Jupiter was well within orb of said fixed star). But that Jupiter was in an exact conjunction with Aldebaran when, on March 13th, the College of Cardinals elected Pope Francis.

And that is – without metaphysical question - a celestial statement about Papal integrity, inclusive of the College of Cardinals (in the sense of their being a channel or conduit for greater universal function) voting for there to be greater integrity in the Catholic Church and in work/works done by the Catholic Church.

But beyond that of course, is the fact that Pope Benedict hasn’t died. And though he’s reportedly going into total seclusion to pursue religious studies, no one would be surprised if these two Popes arrange here and there to meet up for tea and pastries.

Two living popes. How very Gemini, don’t you think?

And if they do have tea now and again, who could blame them? Being Pope is a calling, yes. But it’s probably also a pretty tough job. So maybe the Vatican chefs can come up with a new pastry for such occasions. They could call them popeovers – as in I’m having the other Pope over for tea.

Jokes aside (no, I couldn’t resist) it’s far more than that. In the difference of their orientations, Benedict and Francis express Gemini’s two very famous stars, Castor and Pollux.

Maybe you remember their story.

For a post which tells the story of

Castor and Pollux, link HERE... 

It’s the mortal versus immortal part of this being referred to. Castor was mortal, Pollux immortal. Pope Benedict is very focused on spiritual (immortal) doctrine, while Pope Francis experiences spirituality by living a very ‘mortal among mortals’ human life. In spite of Vatican traditions, Pope Francis is already demonstrating that he really feels part of the human, mortal condition. And that he’s willing to touch and talk to and be touched by every kind of fellow human.

One really simple way to see this in the horoscopes of these two men is to look at them merely in abstract, in terms of emphasis. So here’s the chart of Pope Benedict…

Pope Benedict XVI (born: Joseph Alois Ratzinger)

April 16 1927 -  4:05 a.m. (CET/-1) - Marktl, Germany

…and here’s Pope Francis:

Pope Francis I (born:  Jorge Mario Bergoglio)

December 17, 1936 - 9:00 p.m. (ADT/+3) - Buenos Aires, Argentina

If you just look at the groupings of planets in their charts, you’ll see Pope Benedict has a whole group of planets in the first quadrant of the chart (houses one, two and three) – including his Sun. When we see these kinds of  chart ‘weightings’ we know this is where a lot of that person’s energy ‘lives.’ So Pope Benedict ‘feels’ himself being alive and living on this Earth.

His 'work’ – as in all charts – is generally typified by Saturn. And Pope Benedict’s Saturn is in Sagittarius, the sign of doctrine and religion (the ‘rules’ and ‘laws’ of religion) and in the 9th house. So it’s not shocking that he’s into doctrine. According to his horoscope, he needs to “elevate” (9th house) his understanding. And maybe that’s all about having such a clear concept of life and existence here in the material, Earthly realm.

Pope Francis on the other hand, has a large grouping of planets (again, including his Sun) in the 6th house, a house all about the work to be done as part of life. Where Pope Benedict’s Sun is in Aries (consciousness of Self) Pope Francis’ Sun is in Sagittarius – which as a comparison gives us another way to think about this ‘Gemini pairing’ of these two living popes. Maybe Pope Benedict focuses on the ideas of immortal doctrine because he has such a consciousness of being so very mortal. Maybe his drive is to educate his immortal (Pollux) self because his (Castor) mortal self is so evident to him. Against this, Pope Francis’ Sagittarius Sun in the 6th house enables him to see the Sagittarian possibilities for mankind, and how only through everyday honest labor which shirks not the untidy or ‘dirtied’ parts of life (6th house) can we hope to approach that ideal.

Gemini is in eternal opposition to Sagittarius: they complete each other with Gemini being the innately personal side of the question (my thoughts, my understanding, my choice) and Sagittarius always being about application and how well things work. And when they don't work, why that is and what we need to learn or do so that things are right. And though to be sure on the Gemini side Castor and Pollux represent many versions of the Gemini ‘search’ for (Sagittarius) how to make life work, when we speak of religion, then it becomes clear that this polarity is about the (Sagittarian) ‘teachings’ which have come down to us to (Gemini) learn…and just as vitally, a process in which we choose to learn (Gemini) to be people better able to function successfully (Sagittarius) in this world.

  Constellation Gemini, with fixed stars

Castor and Pollux as the 'head' of each twin

In this quest, the 6th house – the natural ‘t-square’ point we have to ‘get over’ or ‘get past’ in our life is represented by the 6th house. Naturally ‘colored’ by Virgoan ideas, the sign on the 6th house and where Virgo falls in our charts tell us how we will (or won’t)  go about making this effort.

In Pope Benedict’s chart, the 6th house is Leo – a fiery sign all about the ability to ‘see how things could be’ which often tests us through our willingness to deal with our native and very mortal disappointment when real life doesn’t life up to that ideal.

In Pope Benedict’s chart, Leo on the 6th is his seeing that he has work to do to become more of the ideal – that last part being greatly about the Sun being ruler of Leo. And since Pope Benedict’s Sun is intercepted in the first house of self or awareness of one’s self, that interception (with all  the rest of his Aries signatures, including Uranus) we know he feels he has work to do. That he has to change on the inside, as pictured by the intercepted Aries Sun and Uranus) so that he can become more of the (Leo 6th house) servant of the Divine and of better service in this world.

That Pope Benedict is a man more inclined to scripture than living in a small apartment and taking the bus to work is also pretty clear in this chart. Spirituality being Pisces in nature, his 14 Pisces rising conjunct Achernar is a heartfelt symbol of ‘continuous challenges or continuing to challenge one’s self’ which with Neptune, as outcome ruler of Pisces being in the 6th gives us a pretty ‘hands off’ quality in the work realm. Add to that how this Neptune is in Leo and we know that there is an esoteric quality to the work Benedict would do, and with this 24 Leo Neptune in a near-perfect trine to the Sun with Regulus positioned at 29 Leo and exactly conjunct Psyche (“the mind”) Pope Benedict sees the work of the human mind as a form of work in this world which indeed brings us closer to Spirit.

Of course there is an aspect of this Leo Neptune in the 6th (plus Regulus/Psyche) which isn’t so very pretty. One of the meanings of the 6th house is ‘employees.’ And when you’re the head of any organization (in this case, the Vatican) those are your employees. That same ‘hands off’ and see with the Leo Neptune would, whether it’s financial issues with regards to the operations of the Vatican or the world-wide rash of sex abuse among priests be something which Pope Benedict would have a problem with. And on this level, his Psyche/Regulus (particularly ruled by an intercepted Aries Sun in the 1st) gives us a clarity about his inability to punish others in the ‘but there for the Grace of God go I’ sense.

Survivors of abuse – whether perpetrated by priests or otherwise are not likely to feel as generous about the matter. But that which seemed to get echoed by various Church representatives and Cardinals, namely that forgiveness should be universal, would seem very much in keeping with Pope Benedict’s chart. And if we believe that great spiritual maxim that everything happens as it should and that unbeknownst to us the universe is unfolding as it should then such things have happened in Pope Benedict's life to test and educate him and that as difficult as it may seem, those who have been challenged and those who have perpetrated such atrocities have each been exposed to their own 'hellish purgatory' through which they too will ultimately learn.

Or not learn, yes.

In comparison, Pope Francis is a man very different from Pope Benedict. His challenges are shaped differently. With his chart laid out with such a strong 6th house ‘doing the work in this world’ structure, it’s also interesting to note how the signs Gemini and Sagittarius are laid across his 12th/6th house axis. With his Sun squarely between the North Node (“what I should do”) and the Galactic Center (‘that which we must give in order to receive or BE received in and by this world’…and theoretically, the next) Pope Francis is pictured as a man well able to feel the presence of Spirit in his everyday world.

In fact, that may well be where he feels it most. In the work (and works) he does, he feels himself testing his own ability to do that which is truly needed to make this world a better, more (6th house) healthy and functional world. How to do that, and how not to be overwhelmed by what it will take to even begin to do that is more the nature of Pope Francis' problem.

If you're someone who theorizes like Pope Benedict, it would be one thing - you think the problem through then lay out a plan. But if you're Pope Francis and your every instinct is to do the work...? How do you do it all? How do you chose what is most important? How do you get past the ache in your heart and your certainty of understanding that so much else needs and is crying out to be done?

Gemini on the 12th house, with Chiron conjunct Bellatrix (‘the difficult idea’) and the ease of the South Node pictures Francis as a man who finds it entirely possible to think (Gemini) about difficult things and life’s most difficult challenges (12th house), so many of which are painfully challenging. Chiron (‘our personal vulnerabilities’) being conjunct the North Node speak of Pope Francis as a man willing not to just own up to his own issues, but those of others.

Nebula IC-443, which is in Gemini, went supernova somewhere between

5,000 and 10,000 years ago, leaving us this rather spectacular image

(photo credit: NASA-JPL, Caltech, WISE team, December 2010)

On one hand this is a very ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ sort of configuration – and I’m sure Pope Francis often thinks is something close to these terms. And with the 12th house being the house not just of spirituality but of fantasies and secrets which originate in emotionality, Pope Francis is likely to think through the mortal-immortal (Castor-Pollux) problems of celibacy in the priesthood, women in the priesthood and the causes of sexual abuse particularly as that pertains to the Church not just as a body of teachings, but as a life choice.

It’s also worth noting that the Mercury which rules this 12th house is in Capricorn, the primal sign of Saturn’s rulership. This being a man whose Saturn is in Pisces and the 8th house, Pope Francis’ mission, his life’s work is all about being with people and understanding the greatness of Creation through the vastness of human life and variable experience.

Pope Francis will feel for us all, just as with his Saturn in opposition to his Virgo Neptune he hopes we will feel for him and the limits imposed on him by his mortality.

He honors that. His Neptune in the 2nd house conjunct Sisyphus tells us he sees vindictiveness as a flaw, even when on those occasions it rises in himself as a ‘killing of self’ through the frailty of mortality. This goes to Virgo as a sign which is often critical in the ‘criticism’ sense when its greater worth is self-regulation. Wherever we see Virgo, we see this temptation to do injury to our efforts (or even being) at some level through “pointing” criticism at others or trying to shifting our responsibility to someone for something we have or haven't done.

Virgo embodies critical thinking, yes. But the positive here isn't about anything which is injurious on the emotional level, which would be very much the negative side of Pisces, Virgo’s polarity sign. Virgo asks that we ‘critique the process’ and often our own work. That's where the critical energy is supposed to be aimed - not at ourselves as shame, not at others as blame. It's supposed to go into perfecting the process and making it more effective, efficient and clearly defined.

With Virgo – a Mercury ruled sign – on Pope Francis’ 3rd house of mentality and at a degree (27 Virgo) high enough to indicate he is in consistent interaction and always willing to hear others and the thoughts they may have on his thoughts, Pope Francis is not described in his horoscope as strict in the domineering sense.
But with a Pisces Saturn opposition Virgo Neptune, this is a man willing to draw the Saturn line for those who are being marginalized.

This is also the description of Pope Francis’ evident humility and his preference for “everyday” life. 

Wherever we see Neptune in a chart we see some sort of lack of ego or ego-involvement. In Pope Benedict’s chart, the most unfortunate part of this would be Neptune’s position in Leo and that showing up in the 6th house as not just the willful (Leo) acts of Vatican employees (the Curia, et al) but also priests as that has impacted the ‘health’ of various children, teens, and indeed, the ‘health’ of the Catholic Church.

With Pope Francis’ Neptune being in Virgo, we get a totally different notice. This combination has Neptune speaking to Virgoan work which nourishes his sense of satisfaction and at some level the human spirit through ‘selfless’ (Neptune) ‘works’ (Virgo).

The whole idea of work is further emphasized by Leo being on the cusp of Pope Francis’ 2nd house. Leo being a ‘visionary’ fire sign which is always challenged by that difference between the ideal and the reality, to have the ruler of the 2nd positioned in the 6th gives Pope Francis the spirit do his very best.

But to finish up with this Gemini concept, which is really what I wanted to talk about today, we need to go back to Mercury. Mercury rules Pope Francis’ 12th and 3rd houses: the house of spirituality and feelings which connect us to others and to the All…and the house of mentality.

This man doesn't just think, he thinks about feelings. He will also not be afraid to speak with feeling or talk about his feelings - or the emotional difficulties of others in this world. He’s a man who will think through problems in private and discuss what it takes to make difficult choices in public.

This is the first of at least two or three posts on Pope Francis and I’m pretty sure that over the next few months you’ll see a couple of other posts on the astrology of Catholicism in a more general sense.

My apologies for how long its taken to get this far - which is to say, to this next post on Pope Francis. As in many of your lives I’m sure, a lot has been going on in mine. (You, me, Pope Francis, Pope Benedict, the Church…everyone has a lot of changes going on!) These posts do want writing, but they also evoke in me a desire to think them through...which may be the metaphysical reflection of the man whose chart I'm writing about.

Yes, such things do apply. When we like people because they inspire us to feel one way or we 'feel their essence' as a particular pro or con, if we check, that's always their chart connecting to ours - the synastry or astro- cartography between horoscopes.

So while I can't say I'm "like" Pope Francis or of his caliber at all, he has a very complex chart which is taking a lot of thinking through and which will take a lot of blog space to talk about. Which ultimately is why I've decided to share these thoughts in several posts.

Besides, there are ongoing things which need thinking through, too.  Apart from general life and books and such which need attending to, we’re also moving into ‘eclipse season.’ So though I might want to write ‘papal posts’ (as we might call them) my commitment to others things has to take priority. 

As a friend of mine put it to me: a girl only has so many words a day she can write. He’s right. And that’s my mortality showing.

And at some level, so it is with all of us.

The interior of Notre Dame d'Amiens, Somme, Picardie, France

(photo credit: Tango7174, September 2008)

So to close here, I think it’s important that we recognize that Pope Francis’ Descendant is at 10 Capricorn and that his Mercury – the ruler of his “Castor-Pollux Factor” and those 12th and 3rd houses (not to mention that touchingly vital Neptune in the 2nd) is at 11 Capricorn.

11 Capricorn is the degree that Pluto is in right now…Yes, with the Descendant being (among other things) the ‘stage’ from which we speak to others in the world, Pluto conjuncting Pope Francis’ Mercury is the obvious signal of his becoming Pope and the ‘spokesperson’ – the world leader and speaker for the Catholic Church.

Being Pope is this man’s life Purpose. That we know not just from Pluto rising up over the Pope’s 10 Capricorn Descendant as he was elected, and not just by 11 Capricorn being the degree at which Pluto will go retrograde at in a couple of weeks (i.e., during April).

We also know this because Alhena, the Star of Purpose, which though at 8 Cancer is also part of the constellation Gemini, and thus always bound up with the Gemini idea of choice and making life choices.

In Pope Francis' chart, Alhena is in the entirely potent position of being just behind Pope Francis’ 10 Cancer Ascendant. And with Alhena are MakeMake and Huya, two dwarf planets (which should make them as powerful as Pluto, remember) which emphasize teaching from what you have learned the hard way (Huya) and creating or ‘raising up’ something new or ‘anew’ (MakeMake) out of fertile waters.

Going back to the Pope’s Mercury, his Mercury is at 11 Capricorn, a degree which is known for keeping secrets and power which is ‘held in secret’ and used for the good of others…or sometimes, the ‘not so good’ of others. Lore suggests that this is one of the Capricorn degrees which very much depends on the state and status of Saturn as ruler of Capricorn, which takes us back to the Pope’s Saturn-opposition-Neptune, which so far we’ve seen him operate (along with transiting Pluto conjuncting Mercury) for doing as he thinks right, despite long-standing Vatican traditions.

Long-standing is a statement of time - Saturn is time. And 'traditions,' though often Cancer in the ‘cultural heritage’ sense are more of a Capricorn thing when you talk about the ‘traditions’ of pomp and ceremony and all such thinks of that ilk. And the Catholic Church is nothing if not long on pomp and ceremony!

But standing with this Capricorn Mercury is a trio which may explain a bit more about the Pope’s thinking – or at least his internal ‘alignment.’ Those points are Pholus, Scheherazade and House, all of which are also at 11 Capricorn and therefore “fused” and part of Pope Francis’ Mercury mentality.

Pholus is that little thing which can kill us…or, conversely which can save us. House is the feeling of ‘being at home with’ and Scheherazade is ‘the story of a life’ (or lifetime, or many lives).

Considering that the Saturn which rules this Mercury is in Pisces and conjunct fixed star Achernar, this would seem to conjugate as there are so many places where we can go astray, and hurt or harm ourselves or our cause. And yet, there are just as many by which we can find our way back to that which is good, which we know in our hearts and souls is worthwhile and worthy of the ongoing effort to make something better of ourselves, so that we can do better in this world, and by doing that, create a world which not only inspires the best in all mankind, but which comes closer to living up to the potential and intention of our Creator.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Embroidered Easter Eggs by master folk artist Inna Forostyuk

of the Luhansky region in the Ukrane (Qypchak, 2009)

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MakeMake on Station: A Window Opens, And…

Pano Anakena Beach on Easter Island

photo credit: Rivi

In the wake of an eclipse and all else which is going on, dwarf planet MakeMake is now on station and about to go direct.

Like many ‘new’ points, not a huge amount of experiential research has be done on MakeMake as yet. But given that the myth behind this point is about MakeMake as creator god of Easter Island, it’s easy enough to understand that this point must be about something (the island) ‘coming to be’ where before there was only water.

And since metaphysical water equals emotion, MakeMake is a symbol of something which arises out of an ‘ocean’ of emotionality…or emotion’s first cousin, instinct.

Because this station is happening in the last decan of earth sign Virgo, the overall concept would be some external input, personal responsibility or necessity (this being the 3rd decan part) prompting Virgo scrutiny, effort, tweaking, perfecting either of something which exists…or something which needs to be brought into existence.

Being that this station happens so soon after the solar eclipse and in the lead-in period to another solar eclipse things are highly likely to be in flux.

But it’s a good time to dream, brainstorm, consider options and in general, to be inspired.

Just remember…this is about raising an island, not a continent!