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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The Lunar Nodes Change Signs

As if we all didn’t have enough to think about under Mercury retrograde, now the lunar nodes are changing signs.

But maybe that’s the point? Maybe what we need to do is to stop thinking in terms of how (Taurus-Scorpio) we feel or don’t feel and focus more on how who we are to others (North Node in Libra) affects who they are to, and with regards to us – and how that affects the opportunities we have to be that ‘me’ we all have in our heads, hearts and (yes,) other places.

The last time the nodes changed signs was back in August of 2012. Everyone and everything about life (how to operate in it, what people were wanting out of it, the sort of ‘vibe’ with which we all approached everything – including each other and Self) …it all moved from this sort of ‘could be’ mode into ‘we’ll talk about what it could be after I’m sure I want to risk what I value most…’ with the ‘what’ of that valuation being our values.

In other words, the transit of the lunar nodes through (North) Scorpio and (South) Taurus has been ‘about’ our security – but whatever makes each one of us secure has varied. (In other words, that’s the ‘it’s your natal chart, not mine’ stuff.) But the desire to stabilize that ‘security quotient’ in our lives? That’s been a constant. Depending on where this nodal transit caught you in other life processes and doings your problem could have been validation of your work but not financial. Or your life could have been all financial issues but you haven’t a qualm in the world about who you really are.

Part of the miserable-ness of the December-January Venus retrograde is all about our insistence on all things Taurus – from comfort to comfort(s) taken from how others receive or respond to you. The South Node (the easy thing to do) was in wee early degrees of Taurus, making the ‘playing field’ – whatever it was - very personal to us…if not to others.

And that very gap? That pointed out to us the ‘distance’ we still had to go with our Self in feeling secure with who we are, come what may. As one person put it to me: it’s not what others do, it’s surviving it which counts.

Survival is nice, no question. But how that works is going to change. Where under North Node in Scorpio the focus of our willingness has had to be on whatever area of life which evoked vulnerability in us…now that focus becomes the clarity of our understanding in whatever (Libra) area of our life connects us to others – through work, relationship, membership, allegiance, whatever.

That understanding is all about us…both in what we are drawn to (and drawn to learn about in life and in the function/non-functionality of our own life). It will come to us through ideas, conversations, text, inspirational demonstrations…whatever it is which causes us to understand who we are to a greater degree, that is what is likely to happen.

And what we will in our own way, cause to happen.

The ‘easy way’ out over the next couple of years is going to be all about Self. Focusing on what we look like or even our safety – those will become  barriers to connection and/or the tools by which unworkable status quo adaptations are broken down on a personal and social/societal basis.

Part of this is ability…part of it is willingness. 

Meanwhile, stability is a whole other issue. North Node in Libra holds a high standard for honesty, and that honesty has to start with a Self willing to equate what we can be (or can do) with what we should be (or should do) both in the sense of what is responsible to others and this world…and to our Self.

Those who willfully ignore their own (internalized) standards of integrity, honesty get in trouble during the next 1.5 years – and that trouble starts with their Aries physicality. Of all the zodiac polarities, nothing points to physicality in the blatant sort of way Aries-Libra so matters of eyes, blood, bone, kidney and skin deserve attention, will come to fore and at some odd level represent a positive/negative in terms of personal potential for growth.

The more we learn about our Self, in other words, the more we understand about others…and the more aware we are of their existence as something unique and equally valid to our own, the greater our ability to effectively connect and generate positive responses.

It’s all so terribly Libra. But then, wherever the North Node is, it always is to very North Node.
A quick definition for those unfamiliar with the term: the lunar nodes are where the path of the Moon around Earth intersects that of Earth around the Sun (the ecliptic).

Wherever we see the North Node in a chart, we may be assured that those are the tasks we have to tackle and learn about first and last in order to achieve our aims. Those are the things we have to embrace, accept, master and turn from pure weakness into strength of perspective before we reach our goals.

And the problem is…?

None of us like anything to do with our North Node work. So while the smart company will now focus more than ever on serving the customer’s needs, more than likely most will use what they know, use loud ads and in general, plead inability of whatever kind (regulation, cost, time, etc.) of excuse which will deflect the issue from errors made in looking first to corporate glory and only then at the market as a thing from which to get that glory from.

We may be assured financial issues will be ugly for the next couple of years, particularly as economic gaps become wider and ever more deadly.

The North Node enters 29 Libra on February 19, 2014 as the lunar South Node enters 29 Aries. From there, the nodes will do that curious ‘counting down’ action which so mirrors the level at which ‘how life operates’ is brought ‘home’ to us. That nodes do move backwards through the zodiac (which is why eclipses cycle backwards as well) will reflect over the next six months as an increase in opportunities and challenges which matter most OR which originate in our ‘external life zone’ which for you may pertain either to what you need from/in life…or through questions or situations which raise what is important about how others (and society) at all levels of life and operation.

The Nodes will leave Libra and Aries in November, 2015.

That they’re entering Libra/Aries in advance of our working through the balance of our Taurus/Scorpio solar eclipse processes suggests we have some ‘getting over ourselves’ to do if we want to get effective. And many seem in line to do just as we head towards the 8 Taurus eclipse this April and the 0 Scorpio which follows this October.

And of course, let’s not miss the handwriting on the generational wall here with North Node in Libra. There is no plainer clockwork announcement that Gen X is now stepping up to run life and our world than the North Node rolling into it’s sign.

This is where the rubber hits the road, Gen X – you’re on notice. You don’t like having to sell yourself out as a human being (some would call this ‘prostituting your Self’)…or in terms of your human potential. Moving forward you won’t have to, providing you stop selling out to your Self.

This isn’t about anyone else, Gen X. This is about the standards you hold yourself to. The world you try to run away from is simply the world you know you could build – if you wanted to.

That’s the thing with the North Node, whether you’re a Gen X’er, a Pluto in Scorpio type or any other astro-generation. None of us want to. It’s easier to go it alone than not. It’s easier to stick with what we know than to spread our wings and fly.

Fly anyway. If you’re not into flocking, try flocking. If you’re not into flying solo, fly solo. Balance yourself out in terms of who you are going in…and who you work to become before the Nodes leave Libra/Aries.

This is an opportunity: through others, through the experience of others via any 'thoughtful' means, through thoughts communicated, through thinking about why others have responded to us for good or not so good...thus do we learn. Yes, we can insist on being simply who we are and know (or like) being.

That's just not likely to get us where we want to go - or where we think we want to know.

And isn't it a shock when you work so hard, then arrive at the aim and find the glass slipper doesn't fit?

 Cycling backwards through the zodiac, the nodes (lunar nodes) enter Libra and Taurus at 29 degrees.

The nodes are in an eternal and natural opposition, representing our continuing trials, tests and growth

with regards to our ability to relate, be related to, and be in relationship, be that mental, physical,

monetary or of some other type. The above, a text-based chart in response to a Certain Person's

complaint (better?) shows the South Node - the 'easy way' forward to be all about what we know,

like, prefer, know how to do. In other words, our comfort zone.

The Sun's trine from 29 maximal degrees of Aquarius in an out-of-sign trine to the North Node tells us

we need to learn from the discomfort we experience what our own boundaries are - and should be.

 

We’re going to hear about a lot of death over this next few years. Why people can’t stand living and can’t tolerate others being alive is less about who they are and more about why the (nodal) society pays lip service to the individuals which are its cellular structure instead of doing human service.

And we wonder why people act coercive with us? We started this trend by undervaluing the Taurus-Scorpio strength and human nobility we were born to embody as a person. Have we learned better yet?

That’s probably what these next two ‘out-of-sign’ eclipses are going to touch on. And thus where they’re likely to hit us the hardest - the disparity between what we did and what we intended to do (and be), across the board.

Good and bad, the question now echoes: Did I really do that?

Tell you what…I’ll do my part and own my flaws if you’ll do and consider owning yours. I understand the only way to deal with others realistically is by really being me, which is the work of this next two-and-a-half years.

No, I’m not going to like the process. But I’ll do it anyway. 

If I was to say 'care to join me?' you might think it was personal. But it isn't - not in the Libra sense. We need us. We need to experience ourselves simply being us. We need to know we are capable of simply being good company along the road...and that's a deal of where to start as we now look to be that we need ourselves to succeed in being.
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