Niobe Direct

 
Niobe in Neustrelitz by Ruchhoff-Plau (2007)

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With Juno still at 3 Leo and Nemesis at 4 Leo (and both in direct motion) asteroid Niobe will go direct at 2:59 (UT/+0) in the morning on Saturday, March 28th.

The degree? 6 Leo, which right out of the gate points to things which are personal and which have to do either with who we are being or what we are doing ... which could be a very good thing -  and then again, could be a bit of a pain in the very (very) low back.

And that pain in the back part isn’t exactly what anyone is likely to need at the end of a week which has seen Nemesis, Ixion, Pholus and Sisyphus tripping switches through their stations fantastic.

The central issue with Niobe is pride, and the biggest problems we tend to see in connection with Niobe (either in transit or by natal placement) have to do with being overly proud. But Niobe is not merely about those who strut around proclaiming how magnificent they are. This is an energetic which can be seen in what we are proud of. Or how we go about showing or displaying our pride.

Niobe - particularly if there’s a badly placed natal Niobe involved (or one which is under stress by aspect) - Niobe can be an indication of not being proud enough of what one does. Or not knowing how to take a proper amount of pride in what we do.

It can even indicate no even having any pride in one’s Self, which may sound like a matter of self-worth and confidence - which it is sometimes. But in combination with other things in the chart, Niobe could also indicate the kind of lack of pride in Self which happens because you’ve been beaten down too far. Or where someone is so beleaguered or ill that they’re beyond the ability to focus on those simple things which denote the common level of pride-as-care we all normally exhibit in keeping ourselves reasonably clean and healthy and in doing things as we should (i.e., in accordance with personal responsibilities as well as society’s rules and standards).

The myth of Niobe is fairly straightforward: a queen in her own right, Niobe brags about how her mortal children were more numerous, beautiful and talented than the children of the gods ... specifically Apollo (enlightenment) and Artemis (feeling reflection).

And in return, the gods - specifically Leto (also known as Latona), the mother of Artemis and Apollo - punishes Niobe for her ‘immortal arrogance’ by sending those very children (Apollo and Artemis) to shoot down Niobe’s children so as to demonstrate the difference between mortal and immortal abilities and attributes and teach Niobe some sense of limits and place.

Niobe recognizes her mistake, but it’s too late. Her children are dead ... and in mythic terms, it was her pride which killed them. So although most Niobe’s effects fall far short of physical deadliness, evidently we humans do have some sort of habit of ‘killing’ things we create through sheer pride about having making it or making it happen. Sometimes we brag too early on - before we realize we aren’t actually up to some task. Sometimes we take our eyes off what we’re doing to talk about it, and in that moment when we’re not looking, everything just runs off a cliff.

In either case (as in most cases where Niobe is active) it’s the assumption or presumption of success or glory which gets us in trouble. Maybe someone hears us bragging and beats us to the punch. Or maybe we are so desiring to ‘look good’ that we claim we’ve had some part in something we haven’t really done.

And that’s the key to Niobe pride: it isn’t about ‘the thing’ (or person, in the case of one’s children) - it isn’t about being proud of what someone else has done for their sake or their growth or their success. It’s about us - our ego wanting acclaim so that it feels validated.

In other words, the pride of Niobe is not about something we feel successful and secure about - it’s an instinctual voicing or embodying of our desire not to feel ‘less than’ or less viable.

 

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Under astrologically normal circumstances, we would expect any Niobe station to bring out such feelings - most of all so we can feel our insecurities, recognize them for what they are and alleviate them (or put them aside) so they don’t become a point upon which we fall, defeating ourselves by ‘killing’ all chance for success or personal victory. But this isn’t a ‘normal’ moment. There was a total solar eclipse just a few days ago, which means we are all - each and every one of us - still being exposed to whatever will get us past our desire to not feel or not cope with our feelings about something. And most of those ‘something’s (at least our feelings about them) are quotients we would just really rather nobody knew about. Yes, we really wish there was someone we could talk about such things with ... but when we’re in our Niobe mode, we tend to not feel very comfortable talking about such things.

It would ...probably hurt our pride to do so, and whenever Niobe is in astrological ‘play’ we have to assume we may be more quick to react or take offense than we otherwise might be - which may be part and parcel of ‘other things’ (read: eclipse things) which are going on ... and then again, may be something new and totally not connected to all the many things in motion (some of which, due to the eclipse, may either not be in motion at the moment or not going in the direction we’d like them to go).

And lest we miss the message (or feel not tested enough) then there’s the energetic of 6 Leo, a degree which itself is all about pride - specifically, how that energy is manifested or directed. As with the myth of Niobe, part of the 6 Leo question is whether we have done sufficient self-reflection as to be accepting of who we are (and aren’t) so we don’t act boastful, arrogant, dismissive or denigrating of others. One writer even speaks of 6 Leo as having a tendency to manifest with the kind of impulsiveness coupled with  insecurity which almost surely leads to self-defeat.

All of this may just occur in the moment. It may also be part of the pressure we feel ‘within’ which causes us to ‘flee’ matters connected to the eclipse itself (and the weaknesses it seeks to help us uncover, detoxify and in time, convert to neutrality or strength) into some nexus of contemplation (or some self-involving matter) which echoes situations, feelings, distractions or ways in we dealt with things some two-and-a-half years ago when a solar eclipse at 21 Scorpio triggered a long string of evolving circumstances which itself took a turn soon after November 13, 2012.

 

-link to post-

The 21 Scorpio Solar Eclipse:

(Part 2) Fate Beckons

 

-link to post-

The 21 Scorpio Solar Eclipse:

(Part 2) Scorpio’s Eclipsing Provocations

 

So that’s where things are as Niobe goes on station - plus the flavor of the aura of thematic strains playing about many a choice made ... and (one suspects) a number of choices which get made which in the end are wholly devoted to avoiding something out of pride ... or perhaps more evocatively conjugated, out of pride in one’s emotional stance, whatever that may be or not be with however many people are in your individual life.

But then we stop to ‘give a think’ back on that subject of Juno and Nemesis at 3 and 4 Leo (respectively) as Niobe comes to its station. Nemesis in the ‘lead’ recalls prior information, either received or given ... though probably not fully heeded (or perhaps delivered with a proper amount of something connective or having to do with accessibility in the mix). Against that, Juno/Nemesis as a ‘unit’ (of sorts - and only temporary) speaks to leaving something behind.

And that leaving? It was inevitable, as much as we might not have wanted it to be true ... or as much as we might not have wanted to admit to our Self that in the end we have to be who we really are.

The reality of that life, that is.

But lest you think this is the end of this tale, it isn’t. As a celestial object at this point in its orbit, Juno is moving through zodiacal degrees faster than Nemesis is. (Part one: such things can vary, due to orbits not being perfectly round. Part two: not much faster, but faster.) What this comes out to be in astrological/calendrical terms is a month or so where Juno catches up and passes Nemesis (the conjunction runs from April 6-16) ... after which Juno catches up to Niobe on April 26th.

That conjunction occurs at 9 Leo, with the Moon at 23 and Jupiter at 3 Leo (and no longer in retrograde - that’s over on April 8th, UT/+0) on April 25, 2015.

It also happens with the the Nodes having backed their lunar selves back into 9 Libra (and Aries) at a moment when Neptune is wending its indistinct way through 9 Pisces.

That equals a Yod.

 

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Technically, we can all expect this Yod’s effects to become apparent as of April 14th - and prior to that, we’ll all just have the joy of North Node inconjunct Neptune, otherwise known as a fantasy head-scratching quandary entitled “what should I do here?”

Seldom do I think of a Yod as a lovely thing, nor do most people (just ask anyone with a natal Yod - they can get to feeling a bit vice-like at times). And the reason for this is that the ‘fated’ quality of the Yod, that which is either ‘I can’t do anything but this’ (i.e., a lack of physical options) or ‘I don’t want to do this but I know I have to’ (lack of emotional options)... the sum of which pushes us off the ‘spot’ we’re standing at (also known as “stuck on”), in some way forcing us to adapt a position which is workable considering all circumstances, seeing as circumstances dictate that something must be done.

This is accomplished through adapting to (or adopting, if you must merely act the part) an ‘airy’ sort of dispassionate, friendly-to-all-for-the-sake-of-discussion (ideally Libran) sort of point of view, becoming the facilitator to the solution even if it’s a solution you don’t like now but which will ultimately earn you the ‘currency’ (respect, money, alliances, whatever...) which will stand you in better stead down the line.

(Please note: I said better stead, not necessarily excellent stead.)

Yods force us to adjust our approach to being who we are - which in this case (with Neptune representing the ‘point’ we want to ‘stand’ on) says something about indefinites and something about (9 Pisces) some sort of attraction to that which is just difficult enough to present us with situations to which there are no ‘right’ (totally right) answers ... and how, in not making a choice we are - far from avoiding those results we are claiming to be concerned about - how we are/have been really looking for a way to not face how we might feel if things went sour.

And perhaps even more to the point, all which we would anticipate ourselves feeling while not knowing how things were going to turn out.

Meanwhile, while all this is going on on our very real and mortal human plane, and while all such considerations do indeed have real and tangible Real World considerations ... on the metaphysical plane the issue really is how we are facing some internal and infernal personal puzzle.

This being a Yod, we will want to remain in that Neptunian intangible limbo, probably dancing some dance (most of all with our Self) - on some deep and deeply personal level. But the solution to our problem (whether we know it, like it or not) is said to be at the opposition point to that ‘base’ of the Yod’s “Y” - the Neptune of it all (at the moment).

And that point is 9 Virgo, a degree known for its ability to cause us to ‘check in’ with how ‘long term pragmatic’ something is in terms of the whole of our life or some very long duration against what gain or success it might offer in the short run.

In other words, where the Neptune/Pisces side of this polarity is an emotional reality check, the Virgo (solution) side of this Yod’s equation points to something realistic, tangible and useful - with this dynamic being part of why we need to adjust our  Niobe attitude or emphasis as our feelings about either the issue or our feelings about it take a (Yod) turn. Furthermore, as part of this process ... or as a result of it ... there is an ‘adjusting’ of how something is represented, a trait which lore tells us is particularly likely to be needed where drama or ‘showiness’ has stood in for ability or willingness to tackle a challenge.

And because the Nodes are involved, we know we are not alone in whatever is going on. Either we are part of a group (of any size), or what we are involved in affects others.

Also, since it’s the North Node which is involved in the Yod, that means the South Node is not just at 9 highly dynamic and self-motivated/motivated towards Self degrees of Aries, but it’s also in a semi-sextile with Neptune.

So nobody wants to do what they need to do at the moment. You don’t as you experience this moment, the other guy doesn’t as they experience this moment ...

And lest you think ‘I’ll wait this out,’ - which in the case of some transiting Yods would be just fine - with this, you may or may not be defeating your own purpose to play the endurance-cum-avoidance card as the North Node in this figure is conjunct and therefore described by fixed star Diadem: ‘a wonderful and idea which is so powerful to embody, to teach and to learn from,’ which in 9 Libra tends to have us thinking we know how things work when in the long run, by some means we are destined to create whatever goad will then become a lesson which in a classic Virgo (tangible) manner is likely to come with some sort of ‘price tag.’

And in some way ... perhaps large, perhaps small ... all of this starts as Niobe goes direct.

Call it a pebble falling into a well of self-acknowledgement.
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Saturn Retrograde - Phaethon Direct

Seen above: Saturn's north polar hexagon, dwarf moon Mimas

(246 miles/396 km across) and part of Saturn's A ring

(photo credit: NASA, JPL, Caltech, Mar 2013)

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With less than a week before nature displays her spectacular nature through gracing our planet with a total solar eclipse at 29 Pisces, the soul-searching nature of the eclipse is well upon us. We may not even notice it ... but something is ‘moving’ us from somewhere we have been to somewhere we need to be - particularly on a very personal and esoteric level.

How deeply or intrinsically your life - or more perhaps your feelings about life (and your life amidst all) is impacted ... ultimately ... by this eclipse has everything to do with your personal natal chart, of course. But we do know those who will ultimately find these weeks past and ahead together forming some greater life ‘turning point’ will like as not have a planet, node, dwarf planet, axis or cusp point in aspect to the eclipse’s position (29 Pisces), which would be true if they fall within the following range(s):

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SOLAR ECLIPSE @ 29 PISCES

-degrees affected using standard (Ptolemaic) aspects- 

-Conjunction (5 degrees of orb): 24-29 Pisces, 0-4 Aries

-Squares (5 degrees degrees of orb): 24-29 Sagittarius, 0-4 Capricorn ... (and) ... 24-29 Gemini, 0-4 Cancer

-Opposition (5 degrees of orb): 24-29 Virgo, 0-4 Libra

-Trines (5 degrees of orb): 24-29 Cancer, 0-4 Leo ... (and) ...  24-29 Scorpio, 0-4 Sagittarius

-Sextiles (3 degrees of orb): 26-29 Capricorn, 0-2 Aquarius ... and ... 26-29 Taurus, 0-2 Gemini

-Semi-sextiles (1/1.5 degrees of orb): 28 Aries-0 Taurus, 28 Aquarius-0 Pisces

-Inconjuncts (1/1.5 degrees of orb): 28 Leo-0 Virgo, 28 Libra- 0 Scorpio

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In fact, in looking at that list, the degree that Saturn is going station-retrograde in (4 Sagittarius) is being eclipsed-by-trine.

Totally eclipsed-by-trine - which takes us right to that lore which speaks about what eclipses are on the metaphysical level, as that effect is - and is going to be felt by us for some time yet to come. When a solar eclipse ‘hits’ a point in your natal chart, lore tells us there will be an ‘evolution’ of sorts pertaining to that symbol, the house it resides in and the metaphysical meaning of the planet ruling the cusp of that house - and that said evolution will continue for a full three years (36 months), with some sort of ‘twist’ or ‘shift’ occurring about six months before the process ends.

Saturn Retrograde (glyph chart)

March 14, 2015 - 15:03 (3:03 pm) UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Saturn Retrograde (text chart)

March 14, 2015 - 15:03 (3:03 pm) UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Things - even people - tend to ‘disappear’ during, or through processes associated with eclipses. And while some of those ‘disappearances’ may occur as part of the ‘evolution’ just talked about, if there is going to be a sense of loss associated with a solar eclipse if happens more often than not at the eclipse comes into force.

That would be now ... or more to the point, partly now and also partly having to do with things which have deteriorated or shown themselves to be ‘breaking down’ (beginning to crumble or end) over the past two months (i.e., during the pre-eclipse ‘break down’ period).

Mind you, there is virtually no connection between the actual point of the eclipse and whatever has been acting on or in your life to change things. What is happening now (or at the time of any solar eclipse) has very little to do with where we will go or what we ought to be doing. Instead, what the eclipse will tend to act on is what we shouldn’t be doing ... or maybe how we shouldn’t be going about doing things.

In other words, the eclipse - which is strongest in your life when it aspects YOUR chart - is not ‘about’ what someone does to you, or whether you lose your job, buy a house, have a child, fall ill or get happily married for the rest of your ever-after life.

Solar eclipses are not about that - they’re about how that which is “going away,” be it that job, your former lifestyle, life as a single person - or even your health - it’s about something which your previous “status quo” was keeping you from doing.

Or being.

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The point in your chart which is being struck - or in this case, the global transiting Saturn which is being ‘hit’ by eclipse at 4 Sagittarius - represents something which has outlived its purpose. We are used to it and most of us will tend to assume that it is integrally connected to ‘how life is supposed to be’ because we have learned to live with whatever it is.

Life, however, has other plans - bigger plans. And our wanting to keep things as they have been doesn’t fit - hence the eclipse.

Yet as things are being ‘taken away’ through the process of an eclipse, something else is being revealed. Maybe we see it because we’ve been started out of complacency by being tossed out of our comfort zone, but whether or not that’s the reason, the metaphysics of the eclipse say that when something in ‘everyday life’ (the Moon) moves in front of (takes priority over) our (Sun) conception of life as we know it - when all then “falls dark,” we will see revealed that which we aren’t using in everyday life - the Sun’s corona.

The Solar Eclipse of July 11, 2010 as photographed in French Polynesia

(photo credit: Denys, 2010)

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And that’s the point of the eclipse. Coronas represent things which under normal conditions we don't notice, see or consider ... which just like the corona, could be very special. Even close to magical. That special quality is what we are 'left' with when something in our life gets 'eclipsed' and taken away. And since what’s being eclipsed here is Saturn (the keywords for which include time, responsibility, limits, slow growth, earned rewards, accomplishment, loss, determination, fear, structure, consequence and that kind of leadership which in positive mode leads by example and which in negative mode leads by edict, rejection, punishment and “might makes right” choices or acts of retribution) ... while something very Saturn-like is being 'taken away,' what we are left with is even more valuable.

And why is it more valuable?

Because it's unique to us. 

Saturn is currently moving through Sagittarius - the sign of education, legal debate, exploration (not necessarily discovery), travel, expanding horizons, religion (as opposed to spirituality, which is Piscean) and any/all means by which information is disseminated, be it false or true, be it kind or unkind, be it warranted, useful ... or simply something someone is putting out there because they’ve stubbed their ego’s toe.

In Sagittarius, Saturn represents that which are seeking to help us find a path to some accomplishment or goal and all the lessons, critiques, modifications and re-thinks we will experience by feeling called upon to examine all which we come across in the process of seeking that path (or more progress along that path). Judgment - and the spirit in which judgments are made are primary challenges here with a lot of ‘cutting off’ of opportunities and rejecting information which in time proves correct being the danger ... and ultimately that which will dampen, limit or end up causing someone not to succeed and achieve their (Saturn) goals and aims.

Moreover, that judgment and judgments may be a problem now is being underscored. By what? By the fact that Saturday the 14th (the date Saturn goes retrograde) is also the first day of ‘rock comet’ Phaethon - currently in retrograde - going on station to go direct come Monday, March 16th.

So that means Saturn’s station occurs ... and that as Saturn goes into retrograde ... or as part of that process, Phaethon is going direct.

Phaethon by Hendrick Gottzius (Netherlands 1558-1617)

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So what does Phaethon represent?

That answer is probably best told as a thumbnail of the myth. Phaethon is a teenager - a teenager as convinced of his own ability and near-immortality as any teenager is when, through a bargain with Apollo, he ends up with the right to ask the god for something mortals normally can’t have or ever get.

And what does Phaethon ask for? Proving for all time how important having a spiffy ride is to teens, Phaethon asks to drive the Chariot of the Sun.

And Apollo, being the god of (among other things) honesty, can’t go back on his word.

What this speaks to is the power of immaturity - or its Doppelganger, a lack of willingness to act mature) and the ‘I WANT IT!!!’ cravings which arise in such a vacuum of self-discipline from time to time, testing even our inner Apollo - that inner sense of ‘the truth of the situation’ which knows when we shouldn’t do something, but which in a Phaethon situation can’t override the (Phaethon/too-youthful) inability to conceive of lessons and consequences life has not yet taught.

In Phaethon’s case, the results were utterly disastrous. When the chariot’s four horses realized an inexperienced hand was holding their reins, they began running wild - which would astrologically now be in the process of happening, which may have already happened, or which is being seen to now be on the verge of breaking out. Taking the bit in their teeth, the horses galloped off-course, soaring so high and close to the Sun itself that Phaethon’s hair and clothing caught on fire, causing him to fall to the far-below sea - and his death.

Pride goeth before the fall, indeed - that is one of things we confront through ‘Phaethon Periods,’ one of which begins as Saturn goes retrograde. Will we experience such urges, first person? Or will we see someone else acting as their own Phaethon, getting carried away with some vision they have of (or for) their Self? (And if so, what kind of bearing does their hard-headed insistence on some fantasy they have about that Self have on us?)

And ‘fantasy’ is a correct term here as Phaethon is going retrograde in Pisces - a sign which is always about experiencing our own feelings about things (or people). Even more than that, Phaethon is going direct in an emotionally confrontational degree - 17 Pisces - which in guaranteeing some sort of emotional upwelling aims to get us to look at our feelings in real time, basing what to do once we get that far not on what we’d like to do, but rather on  on broadly accepted (the most broadly, whenever possible) ‘rules’ (or) ‘standards.’

And that gets us back to Saturn (symbol of rules and standards on a social, societal and personal achievement level) rather nicely.

Or not so nicely, depending.

One other note on 17 Pisces (as long as we’re here)... 17 Pisces is a degree one astrologer specifically refers to as one which bars or bans dependence during the early/early adult years, lest that lead to being overwhelmed or (conversely), ‘going under’ - whether that means going under emotionally, financially, spiritually, physically (or any other way).

And that would fit the ‘loss’ or ‘limiting’ concept which goes with Saturn, wherever Saturn may be.

In this case in particular however, Saturn is at 4 Sagittarius. And 4 Sagittarius - even without Phaethon or 17 Pisces - is known for those qualities we would associate with those who are noble enough to ‘rise above the fray’ and who are human (or humanitarian) enough to fight to protect their very Self - at which point, the gloves (and more) comes off.

Together, these two symbols seem to speak to a prickly sort of very determined feistiness which is unfortunately prone to ‘falling’ (or losing out to) their own weaknesses - particularly those of the emotion-driven kind.

Except the Saturn side of this is getting eclipsed. Not (officially) until March 20th, to be sure. Still ...

Plus there are a few aspects we should think about. Saturn - which is conjunct asteroid Child (repeating that theme of ‘immature’ or ‘immaturity’)

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(Okay, more than a few.)

Juno - which goes direct just a day before Saturn goes retrograde - trining from Leo speaks to maintaining a point of view, and when we add in the particular of this being 3 Leo, we think in terms of great potential if not all that much accomplishment (at least yet) - which again speaks to something/someone which is ‘not ready’ in some sense. Or perhaps (since trines speak to ‘ongoing circumstances) something which is still not ready.

And with Saturn being eclipsed by trine, does this speak to an end to something which never quite came to be?

While trining Saturn, Juno will also be inconjunct to Mercury - suggesting a change of heart (read: mind) which is either ‘inspired’ or accepted despite other preferences.

With that Mercury in its own Pisces-Sagittarius square to Saturn, for those who aren’t in love with loud fights and emotional squabbling, good news - Mercury/Saturn squares can be testy, but aren’t often all that loud. If anything, they tend towards silent - which in this case, considering both of these images as resident in your life summons up making compromises with yourself in the name of getting things done.

Or maintaining something you don’t want to deal with in some ‘status quo’ which you can attend to later ... (read: which buys you some emotional time).

And yet ... Mercury is itself (widely) conjunct Neptune. And Neptune is in square to Saturn, a combination which speaks to the kind of internal need to make decisions about things we wish we knew as fact (but which no one can know as fact) which makes most of us terribly squeamish, particularly just before we make that decision or choice. (Which could be a perfectly fine choice, as far as that goes.)

Neptune square Saturn is no fun in individual charts and isn’t much more fun by transit. So that this edition of same (the transit, I mean) began when Saturn entered Sagittarius in late December, 2014...

-link to post-

Saturn in Sagittarius

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... and which will end - for a while - come April 17th (UT/+0) only to rear its nebulous icky-squickiness again as of mid-October, 2015 (lasting through the end of January, 2016), all in the wake of Saturn being eclipsed in the here and now.

Something is changing - something essential about each one of us. Those whose natal charts have the usual array of points (planets, dwarf planets, nodes, cusp points) in aspect to Saturn as it goes into retrograde will feel this station more acutely, but we’ll all feel it to one or another extent.

And what would those degrees be?

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SATURN RETROGRADE @ 4 SAGITTARIUS

-degrees affected using standard (Ptolemaic) aspects- 

- Conjunction (5 degrees of orb): 29 Scorpio-9 Sagittarius

- Squares (5 degrees degrees of orb): 29 Aquarius-9 Pisces ... (and) ... 29 Leo-9 Virgo

- Opposition (5 degrees of orb): 29 Taurus-9 Gemini

- Trines (5 degrees of orb): 29 Pisces-9 Aries ... (and) ... 29 Cancer-9 Leo

- Sextiles (3 degrees of orb): 1 Aquarius-7 Aquarius ... (and) ... 1 Libra-7 Libra

- Semi-sextiles (1/1.5 degrees of orb): 3 to 5 degrees of Capricorn or Scorpio

- Inconjuncts (1/1.5 degrees of orb): 3 to 5 degrees of Taurus or Cancer 
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Everyone will experience this station to some extent. But those whose charts are affected by Saturn’s station being in orb of aspect to a natal position will feel it more directly, if in terms of the natal position being aspected. (Suggestion: see where such a point falls in your current solar return, too.)

And if you’re someone whose natal chart is aspected by Saturn’s station and the 29 Pisces solar eclipse, you’re already in the midst of a nebulous if emotional experience which may shift a bit as Saturn goes into retrograde, but which is going to continue for some time yet.

With that, back to Saturn’s station diagram, in which we haven’t yet touched on how the Pisces Neptune which is widely conjunct Mercury and square Saturn is also in opposition to Black Moon Lilith, an opposition which though past exact (the opposition perfected back on January 19th) is still in orb, lending a curious quality of something ill-defined and plainly not concrete but which ultimately will not be denied pitted against something which is highly defined and very definite - but wholly unwarranted and in the greatest sense, simply wrong.

Plus there is other thing to note about Phaethon’s station-direct moment on the 16th.

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That’s right - as Phaethon goes direct, the Pluto-Uranus square is coming to exact again. That will add even more ‘oomph’ (energy behind effort) to the determination (or determinations) being made during this period. Yet since this version of the Pluto-Uranus square comes to us (courtesy of the lunar nodes) as a t-square, that puts the emphasis on the Capricorn collective: Pluto, Vega, Byblis and Bali - the taking of (Bali) pleasure in that which (Byblis) we know is not just underhanded, but to be utterly disrespected or despised through (Pluto) ‘transformative means’ intended to (or bent on) ‘de-structuring’ some form of (Vega) appeal.

The problem here is pictured as a desire to get to what one loves for its own sake (South Node/Eros). And as part of that (or maybe as apart from that) there’s also a push on to gain sufficient leverage through compromise (or dismantling) of charismatic sources/effects or functional structures (probably long-standing structures) with an eye to being able to do what one wants, as one wants, when one wants, without having to answer to anyone else - about anything.

To this, Saturn either brings support - or, through going into retrograde in a position to receive the solar eclipse by trine speaks to the idea that things are being more or less ‘carefully brought’ into a position where, like dominoes, all will fall into place and through that, be eliminated from consideration.

Saturn is always a symbol of growth. As the planet farthest from Earth which is still visible with our naked eyes, it represents the extent of our grasp - that we can ‘see’ and thus ‘get a hold of’ in a first-person sense. Every year when Saturn reaches its station-retrograde point we are being told that we will be working through and consolidating or building on that which we have already done or already set in motion for a while.

And then Saturn will go direct again, and outward growth begins anew. This time around its virtually assured that part of our ‘retrograde work’ will include dealing with a lot of things we don’t want to think or feel about ourselves ... which could be a ‘group’ statement - and which is assuredly going to turn out to be individually true, up and down the scale.

People who don’t like their astrological Saturn often speak of it as something being done ‘to’ them - but it’s not. Saturn is about being the person we should be but often aren’t because we don’t want to take the time something needs ... because we don’t want to be bothered to do things the right way or because we just don’t like being told what to do. Saturn represents the social fundamentals which underlie society itself and those who lead our societies and nations. Saturn represents all we work for throughout our lives and those ‘marks’ we make on our world. Saturn represents ‘earning’ in every personal sense while teaching us (indeed, by warning us) that our being ends at our skin and that while that makes us a singular human being, it also means we’re all alone in our existing in this world.

And such is life.
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Notice to readers: an incorrect sign noted in eclipse inconjunct degrees

has been corrected. Apologies if this caused any confusion.

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Venus in Gemini / Jupiter Square Nodes

Venus by Simon Vouet (1590-1649, oil on canvas)

As opposed to Taurus, a sign all about the useful against the ill of our values, sense of personal (individual) security and all motivations which arise from such notions, Gemini is our individual experience of mentality, replete with whatever will teach us to use, tolerate, moderate, organize or prioritize in the interest of achieving our goals. Taurus - being a ‘yin’ sign by nature tends to manifest as our holding onto what we have and the desire to grab hold of whatever we think we need which is entirely different than Gemini, a yang (pro-active, generally curious) sign all about our human mentality at work - which of course begins with our thinking, but since thinking is what gets us to do anything...that’s the Gemini way: get the thought or idea...develop it...then try it out.

That’s the Gemini/Sagittarius polarity. Gemini is where we get the idea and work it through and plan things out...Sagittarius is where we learn what works, what doesn’t work, why things work or don’t work and from that - both information on how to improve our tact, effort or thrust along with information on the world around us.

All signs have polarities. Going around the wheel of the zodiac they alternate: Aries is yang, Taurus is yin, Gemini is yang...(etc.) - and that holds no matter where the sign falls in your chart, despite the fact that horoscope hemispheres have their ‘yin/yang’ quality as well.

(To those of you who are students of astrology, yes - I know this can give you a headache when you first encounter it, but trust me - bear these simple facts in mind when you’re delineating charts and you’ll bless your lucky asteroid.)(Providing you have one, that is.)

So then we get to Venus, the energetic which signifies the turning of cause into effect. Venus will be entering Gemini on June 23rd at 12:35 p.m. (UT/+0) and remain in Gemini until the early afternoon hours (UT/+0) of July 18th.

Just as a notion, Venus in Gemini speaks to all we go through in order to achieve our best results - which yes, sometimes includes thinking through our failures, failings and all those simple mistakes which we might say under the heading ‘no harm, no foul.’

Often a sign of connecting (or recognizing, or thinking through) how and why cause becomes effect, Venus in Gemini is often associated with financial transactions as well as discussion economic, relational or of the relationship type...and by this last (‘relationship type’) we would mean either the relationship of some cause to some effect in your life, or the value(s) expressed in or felt about relationships you may be involved in - or may want to be involved in.

Or maybe not. (There is always that option, surely...)

Priorities will seem to matter more during this passage - even to the point that it may become a subject of Gemini-like conversation, debate, confrontation or decision.

Is “it” (substitute your subject for the word “it” as needed)...Is “it” worth my time? The effort? Is it worth whatever might need to be (re)organized, changed, sacrificed, implemented or built...is “it” worth it?  Should I prioritize this...or that?

Do I even care which - and if I do, what makes one thing [Venus] worth more in my [Gemini] mind or thinking?

Because we know this particular Venus/Gemini ingress is occurring under Mercury retrograde, a fact which may manifest as wanting to hold back on saying something or making a choice or making some change until the information you for some reason need until Mercury goes direct (on July 1st) - or at least until we reach June 29th, that being when the two-days-prior/two-days-after ‘station allowance’ for Mercury’s station will begin.

Moreover, it would be typical of this not-unfriendly-if-not-excessively- (personally) -outgoing Mercury/Venus combination to say that  until July 1st most of our considering and thinking through things...in the truest sense will be personal (which is not precisely an invitation to talk to yourself, but that might work, too.) (It might even be profitable.)

Yet let’s be real: no one lives in any vacuum. So we should expect that with Mercury still in retrograde, until July 1st life will be filled with all those quirks and interruptions which prevent us from operating on our ‘schedule.’

And that could be frustrating even where we ultimately learn that those interruptions or corrections or recalculations...or that reformulating of our plan was part of a greater process which works not just in this next while, but as something of a new ‘tool’ in our tool bag - something which we will use time and again as time goes by.

Unfortunately, none of us can know in advance if that annoying, awful situation will prompt us...or of something someone says will trigger some sort of internal, brilliant epiphany.

You don’t know, it just could happen - not that acting in haste would seem advised, as hasty, as eager, as loudly as some may demand that decisions get made and plans get pushed into motion.

All that means listening versus not listening, the valuing of our own thoughts against those of others is the first place we’ll start - a concept pictured rather adeptly by Venus being conjunct Sisyphus, Phaethon and Juno upon entering Gemini. Juno is about ‘management’ - hence the organizational and priorities theme, though Juno is also about ‘tending the hearth,’ ‘guarding the home’ and since this is Juno in Gemini, minding and managing what we say so that it [Venus] functions properly.

As for Juno itself, as Venus enters Gemini Juno stands in a square to Neptune indicating some matters which are at the ‘highly optimistic’ or ‘holding to the ideal’ end of the spectrum while at the other stands the experience of haplessness, insecurity and possible (perhaps probable?) confusion. The more positive outlook here comes through allowing ourselves to be sensitive first to our Self and whatever internal questioning we’re going through (this being under Mercury retrograde) with that notion of ‘being sensitive’ being slowly but surely extended to others as/once Mercury goes direct.

One other note on this Neptune square: because Neptune will be in opposition to Pallas [logical perspective/perspectives based on dispassionate thought], Atropos [endings] and Apollo [truth, enlightenment] as Venus enters Gemini with Gemini’s ruler (Mercury) still symbolically representing ‘inward insight’ because of the retrograde...in each of our lives something has gone wrong, gotten off track or out of hand or even escaped us.

And yes, about now we know exactly what happened - not that we can change it.

Will we [Neptune in Pisces] accept some loss, some mistake, some end with inner grace - and if we don’t, why won’t we do that? What in us (or in our history or ego structure) causes us to react as we do? 

Once Mercury goes direct, the pace of conversation and the present-tense value of what’s being said will surely pick up. But more on the ‘short-run’ side of things, where is another configuration...Jupiter squaring the Lunar Nodes...which is going to be coming into focus all week, coming to exactitude on Friday, June 27th (UT/+0).

The great basic keyword for Jupiter being ‘expansion’ (be it of our experiences, feelings,  knowledge, waistline, debt or anything else), when ‘squared’ against [Lunar Nodes] all the ‘intersecting’ we do with others and our world comes up for questioning. How far is too far? Why shouldn’t I do what I want to do if I can do what I want to do?

Strengths and weaknesses are likely to be shown up as the days go along, with the fact that this Jupiter/Node relationship (all puns intended) will culminate at the moment of the June New Moon (at 5 Cancer). Because this square is occurring at 25 degrees of cardinal signs (Jupiter is in Cancer and the Nodes are in Libra/Aries) we can also expect a lot of energy will be being expended ‘out there’ and by others.

And yes, by our Self. Instinct will tend to lead us towards a focus on Self, personal preferences and basic (traditional) orientations with regards to land, agriculture, family, real estate and any of a plethora of matters surrounding culture/nationality past, present and future.

(No, I don’t know how many are in a plethora, but it’s more than a handful, that’s for sure.)

As for that Self Focus concept, because Jupiter is sitting at the apex of the t-square (at the ‘t,’ if you will) that’s not likely to work. Why not?

Simply put, that answer would be because t-squares aren’t “solved” by putting anything in purely personal terms. T-squares ask us to see the bigger picture. They ask us to go beyond our cause or that thing so desired by our ego to where the idea itself is universal.

Where we don’t do that, or where something we have already participated in has fallen short of that ‘greater group’ nodal standard, problems - or at least unwanted details - now arise.

Considering that this happens at the moment of a New Moon, one would suspect this week will be filled with various sorts of ‘pushes’ (and pushiness) arising from the desire to get things done.

And some things will get done.

Other things will merely serve to show us where things have been undone...or where we are undone....or where we have yet not done that which will open a path into the future.

Any time the Nodes are involved in any configuration we should expect the unexpected. After all, the Nodes represent where we ‘intersect’ people and the world around us, which means input sources are virtually unlimited. So when we combine that with ‘expansive’ Jupiter....?

For happy and sad, for productive or destructive, this Jupiter-square-Nodes connection speaks to a lot of energy. Positive use requires directed focus - which may be a challenge particularly in any group [Nodal] situation/interaction seeing as much which goes on now has roots in the days around/after June 8th as the Nodes and Jupiter came into orb of each other.

And of course June 8th is just after Mercury went retrograde on June 7th - which would seem to make lovely metaphysical sense as Jupiter perfects its Nodal square at the beginning of our ‘next month’ New Moon cycle which leads directly to Mercury’s station and our ‘emerging’ from our mental time-cocoon of retrograde reflection.

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A short personal note...

Thank you all for bearing with me. These last several months have been hugely stressful in ways I can’t yet even begin to describe and I am grateful for your supportive comments, your emails and donations.

They are all appreciated more than you know. Things are still no-kidding difficult: physical limitations and financial problems are what they are until they heal - and as we all sadly know, dealing with the loss of anyone (never mind multiple people) takes time.

And that flood? Well, suffice it to say I have a whole new reaction to waking up in the middle of the night wanting a drink of water, all of which starts with the fact that said water shouldn't be on the floor.It also shouldn't be coming out from under a wall or be brick-colored.

And drinking water definitely shouldn't twitch.

Frankly, my life has been dizzying since last October - and of late it's been honestly half-past panic attack. So I’m really touched by your support.

And yes, I care about you and your life as well. But then, you know that...I keep coming back to write, which is my other way of saying 'thanks so very, very much.'

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Retrograde Stations: Mercury and Neptune

...From inside the reef on Grand Cayman Island

(photo credit: Ray Bodden, March 2009)

Four people close to those in my life have passed away since just before April’s eclipse. The last of them I found out about only some short time ago by logging onto Facebook - and that’s really not the way to find out someone has died. And even stranger (and somehow terribly ironic)...is how that one last person was someone I wrote about in an eBook put out just a couple of months ago.

It took me over fifty years to bring myself to tell the tale...and within a couple of months life itself echoed the closing out of that cycle with the finality of his death.

There’s a lot which is going on which feels cosmic, karmic and inevitable - a combination which rouses our desire to control through revealing how all control is in essence, essentially futile...and yet how the gap between futility and peace is less about what goes on than our ability to accept it.

The fight is ours...or not ours, as are the emotional vacillations and insecurities.

This is our primal and primary Neptunian lesson: we are only in control of anything once we surrender to whatever feelings come with accepting we don’t (and can’t) control everything.

We’re not superheroes, we’re humans. And with Neptune going retrograde on June 9th at 7:52 in the evening (UT/+0) after several long weeks of being positioned at 7 Pisces, we can expect the whole of this week and in particular the period of June 5th through June 11th to call upon our ability to deal with our feelings about control (and what we can’t control) with some degree of focus...if not precisely intensity.

Why so long a period? That, you’ll understand in a minute. But first, why not ‘intensity’?

Well...in the astro-sense, ‘intense’ is more of a Scorpio-Mars-Pluto word - a term which implies that singularly Scorpio sort of feeling connected to some situation, desire or focus which tests our ability to manage, maintain and find our way forward...all of which has to be applied to Self first and then to the situation to be productive and positive.

(A fact Pluto in Scorpio/Gen Y people are coming to comprehend thoroughly and viscerally.)

In any case, as opposed to ‘intensity,’ with Neptune there is ‘disconnection.’ Like the sign (Pisces) Neptune is so strongly associated with (and which it is currently transiting through), Neptune isolates anything and everything having to do with personal ego - and in the process forces us to face extraordinary possibilities as possibilities so that ‘in light of that (Pisces) enlightenment’ we can (Neptune) let go of our ego-investment or ego-driven priorities in favor of perhaps more humble, but humanly and humanely productive (in other words, integrally moral) overall choices.  

So with that said...a couple of nights ago I got up in the middle of the night (‘tis human to get thirsty) and because I got up I discovered a flood which had, in its own watery, seeping manner snuck into my personal space - which is not what I suspect anyone wants to deal with at 4 o’clock in the morning.
It was a soggy, soggy dawn.

But as I worked through the aftermath, it came to me how as I had gone to sleep I was thinking about a phrase used to describe Neptune - in particular, certain forms of Neptune connecting with Mercury.

The phrase was ‘flooded feelings.’

How quaint, right? And yes, how metaphysical. Making those connections is the hallmark of Pisces and Neptune, both of which are known as promoters and provokers of human instinct.

What that means is that since 2012 we’ve all been dealing with a continuing series of events (reflected by solar eclipses) along the Taurus-Scorpio axis bringing out all the many ways we balance our own (Taurus) interests and security against that of (Scorpio) others... into which now comes/has come a healthy dose of questioning/self-questioning which in being Neptunian (and therefore Piscean in nature) has caused insecurity where, and with regards to anything and everything which ‘touches on’ that Neptune/Pisces issue of not wanting to be scared by how we feel about something we now have to confront.

It isn’t the ‘thing’ which is the issue, though many (if not most) of us will have our moments of utter conviction that the threat is real and that our feelings are justified.

Well...maybe they are. That’s the astro-news of the moment. But we just can’t know.

No...that’s not you haven’t done enough to know, and it’s not you don’t care so you don’t know...that’s we can’t, don’t, won’t and (for those who are more metaphysical or spiritual) we aren’t supposed to know yet.

Oh...and did I mention Mercury’s going on station? That’s right - Mercury will be going retrograde at the end of this week. The date is June 7th, and the time will be 11:58 a.m. (UT/+0).

THAT’s the reason for the extended period of sensitivity.

With Mercury a symbol of all which goes into and gets processed by our mind (or doesn’t get processed, depending) plus all we are, and need to be mindful of - and Neptune a signal for the blurring of ego lines (and thus our feelings of discretion) all sorts of things are likely to get said now.

And revealed now.

How we react to what we hear depends on how ‘married’ we are (mentally or emotionally) to our ‘image’ - the ‘picture’ we imagine of how things are going to turn out. Again, the issue is not the ‘thing’ or the process - it’s the emotional investment we have in our “solution,” our goal and our aim, some part of which is likely to get challenged during the days ahead by some reality or fact we hadn’t counted on.

Reactions can (and will) range from disappointment to outrage, with the greater intensities of negative emotionality virtually surely a projection of inner hurt, disappointment or denial of some essential sort of reality - most commonly that which has us believing that ideal we hold so dearly in our soul can ever be real.

Pisces...the 12th house of the horoscope (and therefore Neptune)...was once aptly described to this astrologer as ‘the distance by which we will fail our own expectations.’

And the problem there would evidently be the ‘expectation’ part. When we ‘expect,’ we vest our ego.  When we ‘allow for what might happen,’ we are accepting reality as a whole.

That is - and will be a theme heard and well felt in the days which lie ahead.

Even more ironically, it is likely that those who believe these ideas the least will experience them most deeply.

(Life is just like that, you know.)

As for the degrees of station, Neptune is going retrograde at 7 Pisces - a first decan degree indicative of energies which are felt personally, physically or focused through our choices of action or pursuit. The Sabian image here - “A GIRL BLOWING A BUGLE” is a call - and by being expressed through Neptune the cause is truly human, something which we all would feel and understand regardless of our place in life, time or national society.

Pisces is akin to the Jungian collective - it’s the most human part of our mortality. The ‘girl’ here being metaphysical, this is an expression of response, willingness to respond or experiences/resources already gained which are brought to and applied to a given question.

With Neptune going retrograde, we’re questioning our Self...or that Self is questioning the validity, integrity, morality, wisdom and/or consequences of ‘plowing’ ahead without sufficient reflection.

That reflection would generally be defined (at least as a first stage) by the 21-day Mercury retrograde period beginning on June 7th.

But there is a bit of a quirk here - namely that Neptune-Mercury contacts are known for a quality most often typified as 'deception.'

Mind you, this doesn’t have to be a negative - and it doesn't have to refer to lying. As the momentary daydream distracts us from some form of tedium, as a motivational idea we keep in our head isn't 'real' but still spurs us on to greater effort...the movie which entertains us - that movie just isn't ‘reality' even when it's non-fiction as those events aren't taking place right there in that moment.

All such things are entirely typical examples of Neptune-Mercury connections which though not ‘real’ (in any everyday operational sense) are still real enough to our feelings.

You know...those messy Neptunian, Piscean, emotional experiences we all go through in our own personal and really 'unreal' way.

Such things can challenge...and reward. Sometimes in the very same (and ultimately positive) moment.

To all of this, Mercury’s going retrograde at 3 Cancer speaks to some ‘turn of thought’ - something which is as likely to arise spontaneously from within as to be generated from without. Again defined as a personal degree which applies most frequently to physicality or actions, 3 Cancer refers to basic emotional needs, loyalties, feelings, habits and wherever those reactions or tendencies to be reactive come from - our Cancerian association with, feelings about or allegiance to childhood, family, home, national identity, customs and traditions and all which that becomes in our day-to-day life.

Given that Cancer trends towards the historical and old (the ingrained, traditional, the comfortably understood) there is some very good chance that some long-held notions or beliefs (in particular about who we are in our own minds) are likely to become active at this time. And with transformational Pluto in a multi-year conjunction with charismatic star Vega, at least some of our ‘star notions’...things which have held us in their charismatic sway as well as  qualities in us which reveal/denote our personal relationship with charisma or our inherent power of charisma are in for a bit of a flex. Seeing as Mercury is so mentally-oriented, it would not be unlikely to have a ‘new thought’ come into being now, just as the Sabian image for 3 Cancer (‘A CAT ARGUING WITH A MOUSE’) may indicate the need to consider, reconsider or accept some (unexpected) consideration as part of the process or probable whole...and all the rationalizing we’re likely to go through with ourselves (and others, yes) either as part of the process OR in some effort to thwart the underlying (Neptune/Pisces) need to face why we don’t want to ‘go there.'
 

The 'Ring of Fire' produced by the May 2012 Annular solar eclipse at 0 Gemini

(photo credit: Massaru Kamikura)

 
Plus there is one other a little notice which comes with Mercury as it enters its ‘station allowance’ period on June 5th.

What would that be?

That’s just how, as Mercury goes into ‘station mode’ on June 5th, how that would be the date when Venus reaches 8 Taurus.

You remember 8 Taurus, right? The degree of the April 29th (2014) solar eclipse?

- link to -

April's 8 Taurus Solar Eclipse

(Pt. 3) Stars and Patterns

Venus being a symbol all about turning cause into effect, with Venus well-placed in a sign of personal expression we should expect some ‘push’ for concrete conclusions as well as concrete demonstrations of various types, especially where the kind of limitations and fears so clearly set off by the eclipse haven’t yet been ‘owned’ by each or all (as necessary). Venus will be in a sextile to Neptune at this June 5th point, indicating a good time for conversation, an excellent time for exploring topics of mutual interest (and possible mutual benefit) without any definite point in mind. This sort of influence favors friendship, business discussions and it can be helpful where misunderstandings have produced difficulties with best results arising where everyone puts their agenda aside (and checks their ego at the door).

However...not many astrologers would suggest you commit yourself to anything serious during this June 5-11 Mercury-Neptune station. There may be great hope, and this may be a time when great movements are seeded or arise through discussion - particularly those which express, air and explore vulnerabilities, ‘mysterious’ reactivity and various forms of misgiving.

Mercury retrograde has long been thought of as a time when we think things over, do our ‘homework’ (research) on whatever subject and when we attend to that which we can do as opposed to focusing on something which...inevitably...fails to proceed, conclude or come to pass until Mercury’s retrograde concludes, an event which will happen this time come July 1st, 2014 at 12:51 in the afternoon, UT/+0 time.

Whether we have or haven’t thought about, through, or in terms of something inclusive of where our feelings, choices and/or convictions on the subject come from - that’s where Mercury retrograde delays or denies forward progress, calling on us to look beyond the obvious....and perhaps it’s just the fact that no matter who we are in this world...from the highly placed and mightiest among us to those of the truly wayward sort, we’re all likely to find some slice, some sliver, some ‘gap’ which merits thought.

There are no ‘rights’ or ‘wrongs’ in any of these equations - only that we bring to our discussions, be they with others - or with that person we think we know so well, our one and only Self.

Maybe we do know what we want...but maybe we don't really know yet. Maybe we need to give ourselves time to be who we are - never mind anyone else.

Either way and whether we're thinking in terms present, past or future we now feel ourselves responding...not to others, but to our own emotionality. With that in mind...and with a little bit of luck, from there we will be able to discern and more fully recognize the difference between success and possible failure in purely human terms...along with how two totally different things can bridge a gap without producing a diminution of, or compromise of valuable, viable connections providing we walk our most accepting mortal path.
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