A Solar 0 Sagittarius New Moon Ingress

The image above is a collage of multiple images, all of which are photos of Messier 8,

otherwise known as the Lagoon Nebula, which is located in the constellation of Sagittarius

(photo credit: Hubble Space Telescope, ESA, NASA, May 2011)
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So the Sun is changing signs (into Sagittarius) as a fairly typical (whatever that means) New Moon happens... and this is something we can all be pleased. Why, you ask? Well, because solar eclipses are a very specialized form of a New Moon, but they're still a New Moon - which means this is the next New Moon - the one after the eclipse.

And that marks the end of what has been a emotionally trying month filled with Scorpio lessons both on the necessity for conviction and the need to balance that against integrity... which, given Neptune's station chez Fomalhaut in the wake of said solar eclipse, suggested lacks of clarity and the need to look in one's own mirror.

But now some of that will change, if only in simple keeping with the Sun moving from the hot-and-cold fixations of Scorpio into the ‘let’s get something done’ (or going) of Sagittarius.

Mind you, Sagittarius has its quirks as well. It’s well known as a time of doing - and for some, overdoing. Or going overboard (hopefully not literally!). On the positive side Sagittarius expands. It pushes the boundaries (at least in theory) which is very much in keeping with Jupiter, ruler of Sagittarius and - in mythic form - the ruler of Mount Olympus, peak of all knowing and knowledge.

Iris and Jupiter by Michel Corneille the Younger (1701) set against multiple images of

Messier 8 - the Lagoon Nebula - as photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope

(photo credit: ESA, NASA, May 2011)
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Naturally located near the top of the horoscope wheel Sagittarius displays qualities of being ‘high’ enough up (or far enough along) in some process that perspectives are created. And tested - which is much in keeping with Sagittarius as the sign before Capricorn, Capricorn being the sign of achieving and achievements.

So under Sagittarius, we push, we press, we make waves...and whatever planet appears in Sagittarius (in transit or in your natal chart) describes how you will tend to press or push - and you’ll do it in terms or through the auspices of whatever house that Sagittarian planet resides in...or in the case of the transiting Sun, is transiting through.

As for Sagittarian tests, then tend to take us back to basic notions and choices past, present and postulated - all of which are the things of Sagittarius’ polarity sign, Gemini. Representing the thought, the idea we had to do ‘X’ (or XYZ, if you’re feeling plural, consecutive or excessively alphabetical) Gemini is all about what we learn and how what we learn sets us on a path. Under Gemini, we aim. We plan. And then (theoretically under Cancer, the next step in the zodiacal process), we begin to build towards our goal - that goal being Cancer’s opposition sign, Capricorn, land of success, achievement and worldly status.

So why is it that under Sagittarius...just as we’re pressing for the finish, the goal, the prize, that success...why is it that we end up stumbling over all the things which could hold us from our goal?

One could postulate that life wants us to be perfect when we get there.

Or one could figure that it’s as we near our goal that we become ‘visible’ to others and exposed to the world in a way we hadn’t been at all, drawing to us all the objections, critiques, suggestions and clamor which could (just possibly) keep us from our goal.

That’s the Sagittarius thing - and as I say this, if you have any planets in Sagittarius, I bet you’re saying to yourself ‘Oh...so that’s why....’, followed by a ‘so what do I do about it?’

For one, get conscious. Two, don’t fight - planets in Sagittarius (and objects in your natal 9th house) are things we are going to encounter as we try to achieve things. They may be just some detail you forget until the last minute, they may be something you couldn’t learn about your project until you put yourself or your effort ‘out there’ - that being the heart and soul of Sagittarius.

It’s not a secretive sign. Scorpio is secretive... or at least it can be, though once you get past keeping surprise parties and holiday presents under wraps, most other Scorpio secrets tend to reflect some sort of fear, which in typical Scorpio style tend to be projected on others.

Mostly in secret, of course - and sometimes at a level that it’s virtually ‘secret’ from the person doing the projecting.

The shift from Scorpio to Sagittarius began a few days ago as Venus entered Sagittarius. But this is very different. The Venusian effect - whatever it may be - is something we sense with any of our senses... we feel ourselves sensing it. So when Venus - an emblem of ‘creating results’ at every level (good, bad and otherwise) entered Sagittarius our sense of where we are in our own eyes in terms of where we want to go came to the surface.

But now life itself will seem to change gears. This change doesn’t have to be dramatic - although it can be, as Sagittarius has a reputation for the dramatic, the prolific, the supposition and taking of many a stand.

Sometimes we’re the audience among many under Sagittarius... and sometimes we’re having our say. 

Whatever happens, the good news is that we learn from it.

The worst of bad news?

That we may get ourselves in trouble. Not damagingly so, but some (Gemini) idea we started out now may need a little tweaking... a bit of retuning.

Or maybe we’ll just have to change our approach or tone.

Both images above are charts for the November New Moon, an event which in being only

some three hours after the Sun's Sagittarius ingress makes posting two charts in Aries

format (Aries charts being non-located and therefore lacking place-specific information) rather redundant.

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As a mutable sign, Sagittarius supports changes and shifts of attitude, position, clarity and understanding -all of which it does through interacting with others or information (hence the Sagittarian association with the law, education, the media and any form of travel). So from the time the Sun enters Sagittarius on November 22nd at 9:39 in the morning (UT/+0 time) until it reaches 0 Capricorn (the Capricorn Solstice) on December 21st at 23:04 (11:04 p.m.) UT/+0 time, life and our lives will all by turns be challenged, tempted and daunted by things - some of which we haven’t the glimmer of a concept of as yet.

Then there’s the fact that the Sun is arriving in Sagittarius with in square to Neptune in Pisces with Neptune still positioned at 4 Pisces (conjunct royal/fixed star Fomalhaut) - the degree Neptune only just went direct at (on November 16th, UT/+0).

Squares of every kind (or between any pair of objects or signs) are a form of internal challenge which asks that we take different ‘ingredients’ (external) or attributes (internal) in working with what we’re given, making of that something worthy despite all. In bringing together fire (Sagittarius) and water (Pisces) the metaphysical weather speaks of a chance for fog... and alternately, the emotional bath which - if and to the degree we are able to surrender ourselves to it - cleanses one’s spirit.

How that happens...? That’s about where 0 Sagittarius falls in each of our charts - and thus, given that Sagittarius is all about learning, changing, growing and course corrections we make or which are made for us to respond to.

What we do with that is up to us. But surely as we go about being we will reveal - most of all to ourselves - what our relationship is to what we are and (perhaps even more importantly at the moment) what we aren’t.

Moreover, since Black Moon Lilith is at 29 Leo in this picture, this is actually the New Moon being at the apex of a t-square, that most toe-stubbing of astrological figures which has us missing our mark time and time (and time) again until we recognize and begin to operate on the basis of a perspective which embraces the bigger - even biggest of big pictures, that being one which is absolutely and certainly not just about us...and here we would mean the individual or finite 'us.'

Black Moon Lilith always ups the ante. If you're thinking family going into this process, think town. If you're thinking town, think city. Or nation. Black Moon Lilith always feels personal. But it generally isn't...so think more generally - even generically.

Set against a background of multiple Messier 8 images (credit: ESA, NASA),

'Mercury, Herse and Aglauros' by Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre (1763)

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Where life shows us that we need to ‘re-think’ (or to put it in Aquarian Age terms, ‘reinvent’) ourselves or some portion of what/how we’re doing or being as we are, that will be what we will in the long run lose or benefit by - which is true for whenever the Sun transits through Sagittarius. But this year we have a very specially little quality going on... call it an astrological hat trick.

Technically, said hat trick goes like this... in astrological terms, Jupiter is about to go retrograde on the very same day that Saturn moves into (and through) 28 Scorpio 17, that being the degree and minute at which Saturn will station at come August 2015.

And that ties what happens now to what will happen down the line. We may not know how...though it would be natural for us to think we do know - humans do wax ever hopeful about such things! But to the Saturn point, being that Saturn is still in Scorpio, that suggests there are emotional lessons still in play.

Very much in play - and to be more specific, in long-term play.

(Mark your calendars.)

As for Jupiter's station, Jupiter begins its retrograde on December 8th (UT/+0) and the degree Jupiter will be stationing at is 22 Leo 37.

Leo is ruled by the Sun... and the Sun, at that moment will be passing through Jupiter’s first sign of rulership (Sagittarius), creating a self-feeding energetic known in astrology as ‘mutual reception.'

Mutual receptions can be wonderful. And this one is poised to do great things - providing that greatness manifests positively. Being that this is the Sun, Jupiter, Sagittarius and Leo we’re talking about, there are chances for brilliance and chances for arrogance or blindness which are virtually breathtaking in scale.

Either way, the mutual reception is a sign of heightened effect, most of all because we will become involved (or drawn in) by whatever this mutual reception symbolizes.

As for the 'breathtaking' part, the taking of that breath is compounded astrologically by the idea that Neptune (still conjunct Fomalhaut) is transiting Pisces - the sign Neptune rules and the sign Jupiter defines the testing ground for.

Think of it this way: if Sagittarius is about learning, Jupiter is the process of learning - or knowledge in the sense that we act and make choices based on what we know.

In Sagittarius, Jupiter is the energetic of the mind - thought... understanding... imagination... communications of lasting, wide-spread or expansive kinds.

And in Pisces? In Jupiter represents understanding emotions (and emotionality)...starting with our own. How well, and how conscious we are of our emotions is the Jovian relationship to Pisces, a relationship which is then ‘rewarded’ (given an outcome) under the astrological auspices of Neptune.

And that Neptunian auspice - as we have been discussing (if you missed the Neptune direct post, look there) - is currently conjunct royal and fixed star Fomalhaut, the symbol of success which is granted only and where our efforts, aims and methods are neither corrupted or corrosive.

Plus of course, they can’t be all about us - that’s the Neptune part, the ‘get your ego out of the way: think globally.’ Pisces is in some ways that ultimate emotional recognition all humans have which amounts to one thing: survival. And while Pisces will certainly allow us to waver on the brink of that void which is all about how we feel about our own mortality, Pisces is also all about the feeling of... and how we feel about the fact that we are but on of billions of humans which are but one life form on a planet which has and which will inevitably host billions upon billions of other life forms...

...and all this exists on a planet which is but one planet among countless objects in a solar system which itself is powered by but one star in a galaxy which is but one galaxy among the uncounted galactic objects in the known universe.

Yes, Pisces is about humility...often in the moments we least suspect and, if anyone were to ask us, in the forms we most don't want (which is how Neptune deactivates our ego).

And that points to various vulnerabilities - the 'ills' of Neptune, be they manifestations of emotional vulnerability or any other kind of ill, be it of the spirit, mind, epidemic or allergy aisle type... as well as all those ills which stretch, defile, ignore or which otherwise - purposefully or not - distort facts and truths or the Sagittarian need to express, be heard or otherwise search for whatever answers we need (starting with those about ourselves).

So it’s Jupiter which ties the Sagittarian esoteric and mental qualities to the Piscean feeling and out-of-body/being sense, and Jupiter will be moving into the degree of its upcoming station (22 Leo) on the date this post publishes, November 19th (that date and the ‘today’ part being give-or-take a time zone or two, depending on where you are).

And what is 22 Leo about? This is neither a personal degree nor a degree which has free rein to operate without some serious consideration of what is being gotten into - and with whom. Wanting to 'help' too much is also of concern now... and by 'now' we should think in terms of a period defined as being between the date this post publishes (November 19th) until December 27th, with this 'helping' concept being not just the common type of assistance (whatever form that takes) but also the need to push something along faster than it seems to be going at the moment.

Don't 'help' a process which is taking time because that's the time it takes for things to happen properly. That kind of help isn't helpful at the moment.  

To think of it all a slightly different way, Jupiter in Pisces form is rather akin to ‘water behind a dam’ where Jupiter in Leo is more like ‘planning a big debut.’

So...are you preparing to do something? Are you needing to get to something but something else has been getting in your way? Are you setting about something now which you are going to be working to build (like some authors we know, she says knowingly...)?

If so (she said, feeling a bit like a Madison Avenue ad text-as-voice-over person), this is your kind of energy providing you don’t go overboard (that being a classic Jupiter-type pitfall).

Particularly at this time of year, the best phrase to use might be ‘budget yourself,’ however that applies.

But back to whatever that is which is not yet ‘released’ or ‘made public’ (that Sagittarian thing) at some level...as the Sun (equaling the metaphysical ‘life force’) enters Sagittarius, that quality gets released. Things which have been entirely held back through the full extent of the Sun’s passage through Scorpio may take a bit of time to shake the kinks out - look for things to loosen up there once Mercury moves into Sagittarius on November 28th (UT/+0)... at which point not enough may swiftly become too much.

It’s always something, right? That’s why famous astrologers like the late Marion March say ‘there are no perfect charts,’ a sentiment which echoes old sayings like ‘there’s no time like the present’ and ‘the longest journey begins with a single step.’ But whatever inertia (ennui, etc.) which we have felt - or felt for others or our willingness (or need) to further our efforts - that will now begin... somewhat slowly at first... to melt away.

It has to. Fire melts things - and most of all in Sagittarius, it melts that resistance to ‘giving voice,’ whatever that may entail. In testing our own abilities to ‘say our peace’ and to ‘get the word out’ in our efforts to disseminate those thoughts and ideas we’re so convinced of.

That this particular ingress and the New Moon which follows about three hours later (12:33 in the afternoon UT/+0 is the moment of the New Moon) are both positioned conjunct asteroids Pax and Bali may speak to that which we are happy to do, simple intrinsic pleasures or a quality in life (or displayed by something or someone in life) which inspires us... or gets us to think or possibly voice our opinions.

Oh yes...those opinions. Particularly as/after Mercury moves into Sagittarius on the 28th, plan on plenty of them! Good, bad, questionable... to have Mercury and the Sun both in Sagittarius from the November 28th to December 17th (UT/+0) speaks to a multiplicity of many things.

The Arts of Industry as Applied to Peace (detail) by Frederic Leighton (1870-1872)

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And let’s also remember that the Sun’s ingress into Sagittarius, in occurring before the New Moon means the Moon is in late Scorpio...And you thought life was busy up until now? It’s enough to blow a mental circuit or two.

Asteroid Pax (from the Latin for ‘peace’) has some obvious meanings - to be at peace with something, to want peace with someone or in our world, and all those things apply. But beyond that, the astrological Pax also speaks to the nature of a process. So for instance, Pax well placed and aspected in a chart can speak to the smoothness or uninterrupted of a process - an assembly line, for instance. Or flow of goods, money, even people from one place to another. Pax can even apply to the grace of a dancer or things like ‘writer’s block’ (which I’ve never suffered from - surely you’ve noticed that by now, right?)... or your schedules running smoothly.

This is for many, a busy time of year. Work goes on (some work must go on regardless) and from now until...well, Orthodox Christmas in January, the calendar is a domino fall of festivals - and with Pax also arriving in Sagittarius as of the date this piece posts (November 19th) it is likely there will be hesitation (or lack of attention to something) which simply, maybe even naturally changes once the Sun enters Sagittarius on November 22nd.

As for Bali, Bali carries the traditional idea of ‘paradise’ which in more general terms refers to that which we are happy with or about - another good indicator that as the Sun enters Sagittarius with Bali also in zodiacal perspective, we can make everyone happy IF that’s what we intend to do.

And since Sagittarius is a public sign, it is the distance between that ‘everyone’ and the more self-directed ‘me’ thing which defines the amount and nature of the energy we are leaving out there to be adopted by others and (once added to their own energy) foisted upon us either directly or otherwise through life or worldly conditions.

Two last notions about this solar ingress/New Moon combination: it’s occurring as asteroid Fama goes retrograde at 28 Capricorn, a degree which is known for qualities of reliability which others value but which on the inside (to us) are more of a burden or annoyance. As for Fama itself, this is an asteroid I’ve seen virtually nothing written on - it came across my radar while I was searching for objects to represent famines... which it doesn’t do.

What it does appear to represent is the means by which something is accomplished. So the means one is working on, that quotient or some factor associated with it is now ‘coming back to us’ (the station-retrograde action).

That’s a ‘factor’ I’m sure we’ll enjoy.

(Maybe. Or maybe not.)

The other thing to note is that Chiron, that well-known you-can-only-learn-some-things-by-doing-them quotient is on station as the Sun (and Moon) enter Sagittarius.

Which is the next post.
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Dateblog: November 2014

November 2014

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For those who were thinking that once past the solar eclipse we were out of Scorpio’s alternately frosty and incendiary waters, not so fast!

As is clearly visible in the above (looking at all the red) it’s pretty obvious much of November will be all about what we (Scorpio) want, why we (Scorpio) want it and why it’s (Scorpio) so incredibly important to us to make our point and if humanly possible, have our way.

But again, the real issue with Scorpio is not about whether ‘they’ cooperate or agree with us. It’s not about whether we achieve our aim-de-jour.

It’s about why such things are so important to us - and that doesn’t mean ‘because that’s what I was taught’ (or what we believe in, etc.) but an emotional (water sign) reference to where we stand with our Self with regards to the whole concept of security - that being what Scorpio ultimately seeks to teach, and where necessary, test.

And lest we miss the point, this doesn’t refer to what our security “depends” on in day-to-day life, either; as important as food, shelter, health and other such basics are, they are the Taurus - not the Scorpio side of this equation. So it’s not the money or food or housing structure which we’re talking about, but the emotional sense of importance - that critical emotional concern which ‘defines’ security beyond its mere physicality which is the heart and soul of Scorpio.

For the first half of the month this basic Scorpio concern will underlie much of what happens, with feelings and issues being ‘highlighted’ around the time of the Taurus Full Moon on November 6th. Providing we can get past our own business we are likely to be treated by interesting ‘displays’ being put on by others - and while some will merely focus on what is getting (or that has been) done, others will learn far more by thinking through to why those people would be needing to do whatever they’re doing. The important information of the moment will come from this secondary and more emotional source... but it will also be hard to utilize what gets learned without recognizing that whatever we do will produce unilateral results.

And that means we can’t win or ‘defeat’ anyone in this moment. We can HELP everyone, but the ‘singling’ out which creates some pluses and some minuses isn’t likely to hold water during this particular Full Moon period.

Against this, Pluto and Mars are in Capricorn - a sign which is naturally in sextile to Scorpio, indicating the 'thought'...or an opportunity to either advance one’s own cause or to create or advance cooperative efforts. Starting the month out at 4 Capricorn (which is neither here nor there, I’m just giving you a point of reference), Mars will enter the 5-degree orb of conjunction to Pluto on November 4th (UT/+0), give or take the time zone you’re in. The actual conjunction takes place over the days of November 10th and 11th, which given time zones may lapse back to the 9th and forward to the 12th, and we should expect a good deal of ‘movement’ on many a matter or situation at this time as 'hard' aspects between Pluto and Mars (the square, conjunction or opposition) represents the sort of intersecting of motivation and understanding which promotes feeling responses - which then we do or don't manage. Pluto/Mars combinations, whatever shape they take speak to ‘developments’ which test our ability to understand how what is being done 'to' us is at some level a product of choices (our choices) past and present.

The dates from November 4th to/through November 17th (again, depending on your time zone) will reveal most of the “business” of this month - and that can be positive in full measure with the degree to which we are willing to require of ourselves that we own our own feelings (as above) and neither project nor base decisions on that emotionality... and which can be negative when we let ourselves do what we want just because we’re ‘feeling that way.’

Meanwhile life will tempt us to do our worst - or to fail ourselves in the fullest of eventualities simply because we did give in to the emotions of the moment.

With Pluto not moving from 11 to 12 Capricorn until November 26th, most of November will carry an undercurrent about connectivity/connections (or opportunities to connect) which we avoid - which as November draws to a close will turn into a desire to charm, to intrigue, to interact, with the motivation for same being the basic question. The positive of 12 Capricorn being a wit, care and precision which when applied in equal measure crafts genius, and the negative of this degree is the cruelty (sometimes to the point of criminality) and narcissistic tendencies which produce fantastic and frantic lies, all of which are visible to those being lied to, if equally and determinedly denied by the liar.

The ‘shape of things’ begins to change around November 14th as Neptune goes on station and the Leonid meteor shower beings on the 15th. The Leonids don’t last that long - this year they will only be seen between November 15th and 20th, that being all about how the orbit of the comet (Tempel-Tuttle) intersects that of Earth in such a manner as to ‘compact’ the effect - which metaphysically we can think of as many ideas or new ‘sparks’ of information appearing in the darkness of our mental-mortal skies.

But that all this happens just as Neptune goes direct on November 16th? And that this is just about the time when Venus, as the first of the personal planets to shift into Sagittarius changes many a consideration.

About this time, things will begin to change. With Neptune on station they are not predictable - not that that’s any help. Instinct will have us wanting to do things, but if our instinct is based even a little on anything corrupt (including our sense of vulnerability or fear) we’re likely to get a bit of a lesson.

And that would be because this particular station-direct moment is being brought to us by not just Neptune and not just Pisces, the sign Neptune is transiting - but also fixed and royal star Fomalhaut.

- link to post -

The Royal Stars of Persia (Pt. 4): Fomalhaut

For some, the reality of their vulnerability is their need to be invulnerable - or at least to feel they are. For others, walls between Self and the reasons why we feel some given way will melt away.

As the Sun and Mercury join Venus in Sagittarius, the intensity of this past month will further ease. With that however, many will experience a period of disappointment - a sort of ‘why can’t things be the way I want them to be?’ malaise. With Mercury moving into Sagittarius on November 28th, a few things may get out of hand - which among other things could be good or not good for retailers as this date coincides with the ‘official’ start of the holiday shopping season. Known for blowing things out of proportion and a tendency towards much talk and fewer practical/pragmatic solutions, Mercury in Sagittarius speak to rising levels of stress, rhetoric and activity where and IF we don’t think in concrete terms.

It also says that concrete terms are not what we’re likely to be thinking in - particularly as November ends with transiting Mercury (in interactive Sagittarius) square transiting Neptune (in global/universal Pisces). Neptune-Mercury contacts being known for confusing or deceptive situations, in being posed between Pisces and Sagittarius this would seem to be a search for truth - or an avoidance of facts, depending.

Does this mean there will be a little over-indulging as November comes to a close? Probably. Does it mean we either won't be sure of what we want to do or that we will be wanting to do some 'fun' thing instead of the 'right' thing? Quite possibly. So long as we keep a sense of proportion about us such a transiting square will generally pass with little hassle other than the occasional set of lost keys.

And then we move on, as November becomes December - and the truth, especially that which informs us as to why we have done or been as we have, asserts itself.

At which point, we will reflect.
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December’s New Moon: Illuminating Our Self

A clay oil lamp used in India's diwali festival

(photo credit Arne Huckelheim, November 2010)

Life as a Mobius Strip…yes, and that’s apparently what we’re in for. The whole of the incoming lunation which starts on December 3rd at twenty-two minutes after midnight (UT/+0 ) seems somewhat akin to an astrological Mobius Strip.

A Mobius Strip - technically, a one-sided

piece of paper.

 

I remember distinctly what my reaction was when someone told me there was such a thing as a one-sided piece of paper: I looked at them as though they were crazy.

Assuring me they were not, this person then demonstrated how if you took a strip of paper and taped its ends together after installing one twist in the paper strip… how if you then lay that twisted loop of paper down on a table and apply a pen to it, how by drawing the paper beneath the pen… how slowly but surely you’d get back to where you started – and how in that process you had drawn on both ‘sides’ of the paper, theoretically proving it to be one-sided.

And don’t we all do a little bit of that one-sidedness, even while we’re veering hither and yon through life?

Any Sagittarian lunation is going to force us to do two things: learn or learn better (that would be the Sagittarius part) and feel about it – that being the Moon-ish stuff.

Or we could even feel what we think about having to learn something. Or think about our feelings. Or think about how the whole feeling thing applies in the grander scheme of life.

Sagittarius is ‘big’ like that, being one of the last four signs of the zodiac. When Sagittarius turns up on the energetic menu, no matter who we are or how we live we’re moved into a mode where “it” (whatever we deal with) is not precisely about us. That Sagittarius is a fire sign means our ability to envision is called upon…but whether your vision is about what could happen to you or how you could make something work or what glorious new opportunity might come of something you really don’t want to tackle…?

That’s up to you.

One very good thing about fire sign energy – especially where the Moon is concerned – is that the fiery ‘imagining’ and/or ‘not real, just in theory’ quality syncs rather nicely with our intellectual mode of thinking… which may just be entirely useful now as we’re all plowing through whatever complications are normal in your life as a side dish served up with the holidays.

Let’s face it – the holidays are complicated. Even if you’re someone who doesn’t celebrate worth a figgy pudding, you still have to cope with all the people who are celebrating and doing the whole festive thing.

Plus…(dare I say?)…Venus is about to go retrograde, a fact which is likely to summon up that splendidly flagrant human tendency to celebrate before all goes to pot. Call it the binge before the fast - or more likely, the splurge before the budget.

As a matter of fact, just as this New Moon occurs (December 3rd) Venus begins slowing down. (It probably should be taken as a hint.) Wherever Capricorn (the sign Venus is in) falls in your chart, that is the department which is going to come in for some sort of stress during Venus six weeks of retrograde.

Into which comes this Sagittarius lunation. Sagittarius being the sign immediately before Capricorn, we have an uncomfortable semi-sextile which thematically combines ‘hurry up’ and ‘do more’ (Sagittarius) with Capricorn-ian deadlines, obligations, limits and responsibilities to self and others.

As for the degree of this New Moon, that’s 10 Sagittarius - and this is where the magic begins to happen, as despite all that stuff which may sound trying, challenging, even wearisome, 10 Sagittarius is a degree which speaks of the promise and opportunity… even the fateful occurring of moments which teach how our polarities within are the polarities we create in life and between our Self and others.

The trick is to remember that we’re attracting them so that we can understand our own capacities.

In other words, don’t blame them – bless them, particularly when they point out you’re better than you’re letting yourself be.

That’s what that cry of conflict in your soul is all about – and that’s what this Sagittarian lunation will bend in upon itself to show you, though you’re highly likely to be surprised by how things work.

As I say, this starts with 10 Sagittarius – the position of the New Moon. With Antares just behind at 9 Sagittarius, the idea of success hinging on ‘not being obsessed’ is in the mix throughout the month, but what that means is purely individual. With Jupiter (ruler of Sagittarius) pictured in exact conjunction with Black Moon Lilith the choice would seem to be between something about our Self that we wanted to ‘leave behind’…or something about our Self that we refuse to own which, what with energy being sneaky like that, someone else is owning (or has owned) for us of late.

I admit…there’s a whiff of that recent eclipse thing in the air. It’s symbolically suggested by Mercury still being in Scorpio (26 Scorpio) in the chart of the New Moon.

Mercury’s been in Scorpio since September 29th. Do we all have that much unpacking of our emotional psyche to think about?

Evidently yes.

Link to the 2013 MERCURY IN SCORPIO post

On the other hand, does the Scorpio tendency to make us feel so much about something mean it’s not real?

Link to (2013) SUN IN SCORPIO post

 

Maybe it is real. If so…what does that mean? What does it say about us as people that we can or cannot deal with our Selves and each other as people? How is it that we are so drawn to those who will inevitably test us at the most rip-prone spot in our Being?

And is ripping all bad? Or does it afford us room to grow?

Representing relationships, how well we relate and the process of self-experience we connect with through the process of relating (or refusing to relate), the Lunar Nodes are also still at 7 Scorpio/Taurus in this New Moon chart.

7 Scorpio is the degree the nodes slid into back on October 2nd - as life laid on five or six weeks of pretty intense experiencing in keeping with the Scorpio solar eclipse.

(Oh joy, oh rapture, right?)

And now we’re on the other side of that. With this New Moon, the last New Moon (the solar eclipse) begins to ‘gel.’ Think of it as a cut or thorn prick which finally knits over enough to stop bleeding.

No, things aren’t yet healed. But the universal process which promotes healing has been summoned, and in most cases as been started.

The Sabian Symbol for 10 Sagittarius reading as follows: IN THE LEFT SECTION OF AN ARCHAIC TEMPLE, A LAMP BURNS IN A CONTAINER SHAPED LIKE A HUMAN BODY. Since the New Moon is in fiery Sagittarius (a sign we can typify as ‘expansion of what you know’) and the lunation “arc” goes from that ‘envisioning/realizing’ New Moon in Sagittarius to a Full Moon in airy, option-sorting Gemini knowing that the next New Moon (January’s) will be in earthy Capricorn, land of achievement, social status, all things governmental and generally life consequential… what would seem to be implied here is a pretty straight on process: you get the idea, you think through the parameters and then you choose to act or not act.

And according to the symbol, all of this has to do with ‘a light’ which has, which is being or which has been “left” in the ‘left’ section of an archaic temple. And the lamp…? The ‘light’ may either be ‘shaped like a human being’ because it is a person, or it may be an ideal or idealized person – the ideal furnished by some person.

Considering how ‘light’ often represents information, education or some sort of ‘message’ or mentoring being given to us (or possibly left with us), the whole aura of Sagittarian ‘learning further’ may be our proceeding on with learning and pushing our boundaries or trying to cope based on something we believe we need to understand.

And that left section in an archaic temple – that’s particularly intriguing. Why? Because ‘left’ – especially when you’re talking about the human body in metaphysical terms – is a reference to the future. And yet (she says blithely), the symbol very specifically refers to an archaic temple – in other words, something we did hold high at one point, but which we have walked away from or given up on.

….Which may (now that I’m thinking about it) work very well with astrologer Marc Edmund Jones’ original commentary on the Sabian Symbol as dictated to him by the psychic: ‘The value of the “return to the body” advocated by modern thinkers in order to balance the stress on intellectuality and objective consciousness’ (to which astrologer/philosopher Dane Rudhyar adds ‘relying on organismic responses’).

Und zo…….Remember that Mobius Strip thing? What the above is saying we are now moving into our (left) future (where we will also find we have ‘left’ today’s present behind) we will reconnect in some way, at some level with something which we have allegedly left behind.
Maybe we have, maybe we haven’t.

Could we be headed back towards it? Maybe, but if so, according to the structure of this lunation chart, you’ll know that’s the right thing to do.

Give or take, you know. Before we get to the aspecting and all the planetary do-si-do’s, it seems prudent to add one more note about the Venus retrograde. In occurring on the 21st of December (in the UT/+0 time zone) this Venus station/retrograde falls immediately after this month’s Full Moon, a Full Moon which occurs on the morning of December 17th (UT/+0 time).

The suggestion here is that after the Full Moon, there’s something of a ‘retreat’ (if you will) from outside influences. Certainly there will still be commerce, but it would be natural, given these markers to see the general frenzy and crush as something we’re participating in begin to ‘take a turn’ after the 17th – and seeing that the Solstice and Venus’ turn to retrograde happens on December 21st, it wouldn’t seem unnatural for us to take that moment to do something we would find meaningful and which would move us at some level.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Just to pause a moment here, do you feel like perhaps it’s taking me a very long time (even for

me) to get to the point?

Ah, but grasshopper….that IS the point!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  

The way this New Moon chart is organized, it’s a bit like a Rube Goldberg machine. You know…you get to this through that and you end up getting somewhere you hadn’t suspecting you had started out to arrive at?

We start with the New Moon and 10 Sagittarius, and in looking at the lunation’s chart note that it’s the apex of a t-square.

This t-square is being presented in early degrees of mutable (learning as you go) signs with Sagittarius, a sign about seeing how the thing works in reality and the changes, additions or refinements you need to make in order to maximize effect. That means that at least from here until the Full Moon (on the 17th) will be spent trying to get a fullest perspective on our efforts – replete with all the usual Sagittarian caveats.

The ‘object’ of this t-square is imaged as Chiron at 9 Pisces with Chiron being that thing we can’t imagine doing (or knowing how to do) and 9 Pisces lending the aura of all which is felt when you face the Great Undertaking.

You know…the one you know you need to undertake in your heart of hearts but which just seems full of SUCH grief?

Yes, that undertaking.

And it’s that undertaking that the New Moon is sitting astride of, telling us that whatever you think is at stake…you’re probably thinking too narrowly about the subject. Yes, there may be some really good reason why you (9 Pisces) need to do something, and doing that something requires your substantial (10 Sagittarius) abilities – those things you are really good at.

You’re probably thinking that you need to do ‘XYZ’ because you will achieve ABC…and yet, this image says there’s more to be gained (part one) and that you can indeed achieve your aims (and gains) if you will only approach the problem from not a personal, but a more universal basis.

In other words, life may feel like its all about you or all about one particularly prioritized project when its far more likely that what you are doing involves a far greater set of influences than you are currently thinking of.
So that’s Unknown Factor #1.

And on top of that goes Vesta at 7 Libra.

 
Vesta concerns the protecting of the self and those with whom you abide through the honoring of everyone’s needs and the keeping of one’s promises. In Libra, relationships, negotiations, conversations or the process of ‘relating,’ ‘conferring’ or ‘selling’ are possible…and where they are possible, availing yourself of same will benefit you.

However….

 
…with Uranus at 8 Aries (in opposition to Libra) there’s been or needs to be some flexibility brought to the fore, lest promises and priorities go awry and things come shuttering apart in a show of broken self-conception. In facing off against Vesta, even if Uranus wasn’t retrograde it would be suggesting some self-questioning as to whether there’s somewhere you need to change, flex, join the group – something!

But wait! That’s not all either.

(Yes, I know…I’m beginning to sound like an infomercial.)

 
There’s a little issue called “Pluto at 10 Capricorn” which enters into this mix now. And that Pluto, representing some sort of ‘structural power’ or ‘power structures’ in your life or in your heart is getting in the way. Are you being too rigid. Are you too unstructured? Maybe both?

This is a bit of a oddity as a t-square (yes, it’s another t-square) in that the object is the Uranus in retrograde.
What does that tell us? That tells us that in order to achieve your desired or needed internal changes (or the ability to be flexible) things, your very concept of power – what is yours, what isn’t yours – needs to shift.  

And when it comes to that, then we’re back at the entrance to the maze we’ve just gone through, courtesy of a Grand Trin between Pluto, Pallas and the South Node in Taurus.

Put simply, this incoming lunation thus becomes more about coming to understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing it…

…Which is rather the definition of illumination.
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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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A Cancer Full Moon Reflection

 

 Rodin's Orpheus and Eurydice

(Metropolitan Museum of Art, photo Ad Meskens, July 2009)

This month’s Full Moon takes place at 7 Cancer on December 28th and 10:22 in the morning, UT/+0 time.

But that’s hardly the only astrological item on the calendar. Within hours of the Full Moon, asteroid Hel goes direct at 3 Taurus. And Achilles goes retrograde at 11 Virgo. And dwarf planet MakeMake goes retrograde in late Virgo (29 Virgo, to be exact).

With all of this happening as the Sun has just moved into Capricorn, it’s a ‘first high water mark’ after the seasonal “changing of the guards” (as it were). Capricorn being a cardinal sign, this is an action-oriented period, whether we’re doing the actions, on the receiving end of the actions, or merely witnessing the actions.

With all the ‘standard’ planets in early numbers as this Full Moon occurs with the exception of Venus and Mercury (the Nodes too, but they’re not planets) there’s a natural focus on the Self which comes on this Full Moon, but whether that’s truly about you (the who you are or how you’re going about living your life)…or whether that has you comparing yourself to someone else or to where you want to be? That’s individual.

However…all those stations plus the New Moon are rather interesting, particularly when we consider their placements against Sun in Capricorn, Mercury and Venus in Sagittarius and Mars in Aquarius.

What I mean by this is probably most easily seen in a picture…

With the exception of the Moon (which often acts sort of like an astrological “trigger”) all the other “personal planets” (Sun, Mercury, Venus and Mars) are grouped rather close together. All four are in public signs, with Venus, our ‘what I put out determines what I get back’ and Mercury (the idea, communications and mentality planet) in interactively expansive/idea-testing Sagittarius. Against this we have the Sun (consciousness) and Mars (assertion) in two signs which are more global and less localized.

What do I mean by that? What I mean is that while the talking and the thinking and the everyday transacting of life is personal, the aims and the parameters are global, structural and/or systemic. So whatever we’re doing, there is the immediate level of dealing, coping and transacting…and there’s a more universal level of the aims, the goals, the “rules of the game” and the many ‘world factors’ we have to take into account.

(Oh yes…and that may be your world…or it could be the world…or both, depends on you and your chart!)

The minuses of this ‘personal grouping’ lineup are likely to turn up as irritating moments when others don’t agree or don’t appear to be cooperating with your aims. Or where you try something then find out it won’t work in the long run. But the plus is that you’re going to feel united in your own mind about what direction you’re going in (or want to go in) at the moment.

Into all this comes the Full Moon. Like any Full Moon, this one will mark a ‘high tide’ moment in some way which feels personal. Or which means something to you personally. This Full Moon having reached its fullness from a start at 21 Sagittarius, this is something akin to the (Sagittarius) effort ‘coming home’ to us. Or maybe sinking in, as we discussed back in this month’s New Moon blog.

LINK to blog post on the December New Moon

But what’s happened to bring us to whatever point we are at now at the Full Moon doesn’t fully describe the energy to be expected in the lives of those most affected by this Full Moon. Taking place in Cancer, the first of the zodiac’s watery emotional signs, right away we know the feelings evoked are basic. Maybe even primal. The degree – 7 Cancer – that the Full Moon takes place at is specifically known for manifesting in various ways, too. Emotional issues are the obvious and physical or rash actions or reactions fall right in line here. Results stemming from rash choices or unstable/ill-founded methods, methodologies or assertions also fit in here.

But then, so does unmitigated joy. And feelings of relief, gratitude and peace.

So which is it going to be? That would all depends on what you’ve been doing prior to this time, of course – Full Moons represent the culminating of one phase of a process before you move on to a next. If you think of them as a check point, that’s not far off. It’s at the Full Moon that we realize what’s right and what’s wrong…or, to put it in Monopoly-Speak - where we can collect $250 and continue on our way and where we do not pas ‘Go’ and do not collect that $250.

(Going to jail is an option, but not mandated!)

So ask yourself this…Achilles going retrograde at 1 Virgo speaks to how well you do something and whether you’ve been doing whatever it is that you do well and with a sense of time, place, responsibility and morality. Those who haven’t will have the harder time and tougher day – that’s part one of the ‘it’s that simple’ formula.

Part two would be asteroid Hel going on station and turning to direct motion. Representing ‘the hard time’ we may give ourselves or get from others, Hel is turning from the ‘getting in our own way’ phase to the ‘being put on notice’ by others. Those phrases (getting in our own way and being put on notice) should be taken literally only with a grain of salt; asteroid Hel tends to be all about how life gets made harder for us, and since we each have a little asteroid Hel in our charts, that is where we tend to ‘trip ourselves up’ or ‘ignore at our own peril’ and such. For the past several months Hel has been retrograde, indicating a time of either making our own lives harder or when we learn how and why we tend to do just that.

 A Blue Moon

(photo credit: Craig Deakin, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK,  September 2012)

As Hel goes direct, those who have done their “homework” will get tested by circumstances and survive not by ‘give it to them’ or ‘giving in to them’ but by understanding who they are and why they do what they do.

The more I watch this asteroid…the more I tend to think it has everything to do with getting us to be better people and live up to our better standards. You know, those ‘better angels’ of our spirit.

Which makes the name of the asteroid rather ironic, yes. But it does seem to work!

The last symbol we need to check in on here is dwarf planet MakeMake. Named for a Rapa Nui (Easter Island) deity, MakeMake represents a ‘creator’ or ‘creative’ energetic generally referring to bringing something into being. With MakeMake going retrograde at a critical degree (29 Virgo) this signals intensity, and perhaps…or maybe hopefully?…a degree of self-reflection.

Which works with any Full Moon. Considering that the Full Moon is the physical manifestation of our inner and most mortal or spiritual selves (the Moon) reflecting the Sun without any of daily life (the Earth) “getting in the way” what we have and haven’t been doing and how well or properly we have been doing it – even how morally our choice has been or our efforts have been…those now come to a moment of reflection.

Considering where the personal planets are, our aims may be meeting with resistance. Or maybe we need to adjust our expectations or methodologies. Some of us will now realize that the course they’ve been on isn’t taking them where they want to go.

How this happens – whether you ‘see’ it for yourself or life somehow thrusts some hard-nosed reaction in your face – whatever that is, the good news is that this is just a Full Moon. The upsurge, the ‘high tide’ of emotion will soon enough ebb.

So you can …maybe…grit your teeth and ignore the whole thing.

But if you do, who are you kidding? The good news is indeed that life goes on. The bad news is that if you ignore some problem, life goes on and catches you even harder when things come around again.

Cancer being the zodiac cycle’s ‘foundational’ emotional energetic, this is where we plant our flag and found our plans. Many of us will now strap on those shoes and set a new path, knowing it’s (MakeMake) time to get done those things which really need to get done – and done properly.

For such people, this is likely to be a time of challenge and pride-in-self. They’ll sleep soundly knowing they’re taking on their own dragon hunt and that they know how to slay the problem and ultimately win their own respect and with that, open the door to finer days yet to come.  
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