A Gemini Sun, a Taurus New Moon and Mercury Station-Retrograde

A balloon festival in Chateaux d'Oex, Switzerland

(photo credit: Jynus January 2006)

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Fixed star Algol has a bit of an evil reputation ... one which is associated with how, why and what gets us to respond, whether to others, or something we really don’t like in or about our Self, what we're experiencing, and sometimes in terms of what we need to do, be, accept or recognize our part in (or responsibility for) - maybe as part of some greater relationship with others, but maybe just as part of dealing with our own reactions to our various life challenges.

To put it politely, Algol promotes growling - and this reputation hasn’t been enhanced/made any nicer by its long-term residence at 26 Taurus as 26 Taurus is a degree known for wanting things to be ‘nice’ (which in Taurus reads ‘the way I want them to be’) ... and just as often with little or no regard or though for anyone else or their preferences.

 New Moon at 26 Taurus with Mercury direct and on Station (glyph chart)

May 18, 2015 - 4:14 a.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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 New Moon at 26 Taurus with Mercury direct and on Station (text chart)

May 18, 2015 - 4:14 a.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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That would be part of the problem, of course ... with the other part being how wherever Algol is positioned (in the sky or in our chart) that would be an 'area of life' where things (or we are) “designed” to get poked, prodded, prompted, provoked and otherwise rousted from, by or through that devotion to our own perspective from time to time.

After all, how would Algol's presence at 26 Taurus play out if everything was going the way we thought it should?

Another thing about Algol worth mentioning: though Algol is indeed positioned at the aforementioned 26 Taurus, Algol is NOT part of the constellation Taurus.

Instead, it’s part of constellation Perseus. And any time we talk about Perseus, slayer of Medusa, we know there’s some sort of theme in play about being tested against our fears and all we fear most, whether that’s in/about our Self, or otherwise...

-link to post-

Medusa: Through Our Mental Mirror, Darkly

...all of which applies not just to the idea of a New Moon at 26 Taurus (and conjunct Algol) at 4:14 a.m. on Monday, May 18th (UT/+-0), but also to the idea that anything about Perseus refers to times which are going to confront us with some sort of question about our ability ... and (equally) our willingness to get past something we consider ‘fearful’ - whether what matters to us matters to the next person or not.

And that's not all (not by a country mile, as they say ...). That same day ... Monday, May 18th ... is also the date when the North Node arrives at 8 Libra.

-link to post-

To the Degree: 8 Libra

Astrologically, New Moons start cycles - either cycles of activity or cycles of experience, effort, realization or anything which will prompt emotional growth or growth as some sort of ‘maturing’ process which itself may last a month but the values of which (or the values we come to have because of our experiences) last far, far longer.

So just on the surface here, with this New Moon occurring in a responsive, responding, internally testing (and often testy) degree just as the North Node (the ‘do this’ side of the lunar node pair) arrives at 8 Libra ... that would tend to say there is a lot of this next lunar month which is going to be all about how much we’ve really learned in life and how realistic we’re willing to be about things - as opposed to what we want or like thinking, having to say or admit, do or grapple with believing. 

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Most of us just don’t want to do what we need to do, and with the North Node at 8 Libra, some of us don’t even know how we can do what we need to do - which rather gets back to what side of the Algol line we’re standing. Are we on the side which has been threatened by something in life? Or are we on the side which has been doing the threatening, whether purposeful or otherwise?

Much which exists as a consequence of what we have done (or chosen not to do) will now show up through where our lack of being responsible - ultimately for our Self - has been laid aside or rejected in favor of comfort or short term pleasures. These things - which now reflect through circumstances around us (relationships, situations, confrontations, influences) - they all speak of the Libra connection between who we are and how that affects others.

No human is an island, to nudge the old saying. With the North Node at 8 Libra from May 18th through June 2nd, it’s more than likely that at least a few of the things or issues which we have ignored or put off too long - those things will rise again, maybe in life, or maybe in the inner recesses of our eternally tender conscience.

Evidently we need to feel a little ouch, a little disquietude, a little discomfort. Evidently that’s what life thinks we need to get us past our personal inertia. With Mars having moved into Gemini last week (on Tuesday the 12th), much is in motion and much wants to get done.

Was that our wanting to be “too busy” to deal with the things which are going to pop up now and in the days ahead? Was that life moving to throw so much into our days and onto our mental tables that we would have to stop and make sure we were doing what we needed to do - which would be so very Mars in Gemini both from a ‘doing’ perspective and from the Gemini ‘thinking it through and refining my plans’ way?

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Plus all of this is happening with Mercury already on station. With Mercury due to go retrograde on Tuesday the 19th (at 1:50 in the morning), it’s station fully embraces the New Moon and the Moon’s North Node moving into a position where it will set off either a slew of learning through the experience of loss, or through the application of understanding what loss is - and what that means not only to us, but to others, maybe even those we have chosen to ignore.

So this would seem to be a turning point of some sort, although not one which will produce its ‘outcomes’ promptly. Mercury won’t be going direct again until June 11th.

Mercury Station-Retrograde (glyph chart)

May 19, 2015 - 1:49 a.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)
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 Mercury Station-Retrograde (text chart)

May 19, 2015 - 1:49 a.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Mercury Station-Direct (glyph chart)

June 11, 2015 - 22 33 (10 33 pm, UT +0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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 Mercury Station-Direct (text chart)

June 11, 2015 - 22 33 (10 33 pm, UT +0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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And with that Mercury station-direct moment overlapping Neptune’s station-retrograde (Neptune goes retrograde on June 12th), some things will still be confused at that point while other things will be in the middle of being ‘dissolved’ or revealed as incorrect (false, untrue, non-viable, unworkable, etc.) at that time... and going forward through June.

But so you know, there are just as many positives to Mercury + Neptune as negatives - it’s all in how you use it. The basic idea being that Mercury represents thought, speech or comprehension and Neptune’s actions melt things away while making them diffuse and fuzzy (or foggy and mysterious ... even magical or mystical) along the way, this combination supports the suspension of disbelief (believing) just as often as it leads to a lifting of a veil which reveals a reality which isn’t what we thought it was.

So while Mercury (plus) Neptune can equal deceit and self-delusion (lying to ourselves), it can also represent anything which is all about ‘letting go’ of some hard or fast shell. Or some illusion about something or someone which really needs to go. This Mercury/Neptune period for some will no doubt be and become a time of joy, of pleasure of all those things we look back on as that memory we so treasure. It can represent a time when we indulge in some ‘suspending of reality’ which is entirely harmless, such as when we read a book or watch a movie, ‘forgetting’ the “real world” outside as we indulge in the story or excitement in the tale.  

As for the planetary ‘layout’ of Mercury’s station, it’s both interesting for what it is, and interesting in what it isn’t - as diagrammed here:

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The above pictures the astrological ‘planetary picture’ known as a kite. This being a day after the New Moon, the Moon (which moves more-or-less a half-degree per hour) has already left Taurus for Gemini. In fact, as Mercury goes direct the Moon is in conjunction with royal star Aldebaran, lending either the specter of hope or need to priorities, actions, statements and choices made in conjunction with this station - and by implication, with all which would be connected to how we deal with and what we do with this entire period ... and all which comes from its influence(s), whether in terms of what happens in the world, what we do because of what happens around us, or who we are to be in this world, part of this world, and a member of the great family of mankind which - whether we like it or not - is charged with the care of our planet and everything about our world, including ourselves, each other and everything other part of Creation.

After all, didn’t we all get taught that what we don’t make we should be responsible for - and certainly not going around breaking?

As for that idea - breaking, breakage or however else it wants to be conjugated, while we tend to think of that as bad, it doesn’t have to be. A ‘breakthrough’ breaks the barrier presented with equal destruction as that which merely damages, it’s just one we like and one we don’t like.

But that very idea - the what we like versus what we don’t like - that is, in part, the very lynchpin being operated on now. So what is good and what is bad - and will we know right now?

Maybe. Then again, maybe not. About the only ‘clue’ we have is that end-of-Mercury’s-retrograde fact that there is a Neptunian moment of ‘letting go’ of (or losing) something which is going to happen or take shape as we move towards and into the middle of June.

As usual, it depends on where we are starting - a position we would find and outline by using your natal, solar and current lunar charts. But barring that (and the particulars of nuance which come with your personal and individual data), one thing we can say: the emotional underpinnings of this month are still going to have a Taurean flavor, whatever else they become. And because of that, considering the New Moon and its Algol-ian ‘ill flavor,’ we are all and every each one of us more than usually prone to being (or at least acting) in ways others will react to (because remember, they’re busy reacting to things in their own Algol-North Node/8 Libra-tinged ways  in ... well, maybe not the most positive of manners. And if we’re not conscious of who we are and why anyone and everyone is doing what they’re doing (including our first person Self), we’re going to respond to their responses with something which will just make everything worse - all because we all tend to have so much trouble with understanding how anyone could like what we don’t like, be it a way of life or a flavor of ice cream.

You know, that Taurus/Scorpio polarity thing.

-link to post-

Sun in Taurus

So let’s think ... are we going to like this process?

Probably not. Between the North Node (which represents that we don’t want to HAVE to do) being at 8 Libra (not the zodiac’s happiest transit point) in a moment when Algol’s snark-snap-bite is being evoked not just for a day but as a background ‘theme’ which lasts the entire lunar month (read: until the Gemini New Moon of June 16) ... it doesn’t exactly sound like a summer peaches-and-cream sort of delight.

Still, that doesn’t mean good can’t come out of these days - or the month which flows from them. It’s just that it’s not going to be easy (for us) to get there ... or rather, it’s not going to be easy for us to want to do the thing which will get us there.

And is that about the difficulty of the moment - or about simply who we are?

Answer: yes.

In other words, your guess is as good as mine here, as that information would come from your personal chart. So alas, only time will tell. And when time does ‘tell,’ (time speaks to many things) those who are listening will have the opportunity for a kind of personal insight which stands us very well in the long run for freeing us from unworkable preconceived notions. 

As for that planetary picture (ye olde kite) Mercury is in a grand trine with Ceres/Chaldea and the North Node, the idea of guarding old ways and general ‘guardianship’ (responsibility of some type) is presented as an ‘ongoing’ issue. But when you come right down to it ... as we start zeroing in or focusing in on things, what we are likely to find is the “full kite” effect - that being a kite which doesn’t include Mercury, but which is valid using the Moon and royal star Aldebaran, the star which guarantees success only where we have not compromised (never mind violated) some integral standard of integrity.

This suggests the possibility of somewhat divergent impulses. One one hand, the Mercury station grand trine speaks to ongoing ideas, standing agreements and existent ways of doing things. On the other hand, there is a need (read: requirement) that we maintain our integrity (particularly our emotional integrity) in our efforts - represented by the kite’s two sextiles, to deal either with our own propensity either for outbursts of aggression or the experience of violence resulting from any other viable, acceptable or applicable skill ... or the finding of something which can harness the ‘untapped’ energies currently manifesting in-or-as something undesirable. Both are ‘sides’ of 8 Aries, a degree which in this moment is conjunct Medea (obsessive, often self-destructive energy) and which even after Medea moves away is going to influence life matters for the next while (until June 2nd).

Lore speaks of this degree as being one which is ultimately bent on getting us to clarify who we are - which would be very consistent with Aries’ typically first person “I/me” energy. The problem lies with getting us there - which given how 8 Aries is being activated by the South Node suggests the way forward is at least in part about working to understand what that North Node at 8 Libra ‘loss’ factor is.

After all, with Diadem involved, there is something of incredible value to be learned - or simply gained. But it’s going to take time. Considering how the ruler of Libra (in which the North Node and Diadem sit) is Venus and how as of May 17th (the date Mercury’s station begins) Venus will be in opposition to Pluto-Vega-Kassandra in Capricorn there are unbelievable (Kassandra) potentials and much fervency and passion being felt on the part of some.

This Venus opposition to Pluto (inclusive of oppositional orb) lasts from the 17th through late on May 27th (in the UT/+0 zone). And while they’re feeling that, others are experiencing a few days of passionate disbelief - or perhaps the disbelief, even the rejection of a level of some passion, should they be an observer.

One other perhaps miscellaneous Mercury note: when Mercury goes direct on June 11th, it will be doing so at 4 Gemini, the degree in exact opposition (polarity) to 4 Sagittarius - which is the degree Saturn went retrograde at back on March 14th.

-link to post-

Saturn Retrograde - Phaethon Direct

Did some sort of (Phaethon) haste ... or determination concreted hastily ‘back then’ lead to where we are now, making the whole of the impending Mercury retrograde somehow about working out where we were and how far we have (or haven’t) gotten since March 14th?

Maybe that’s why we’re going to make a change about something? Or now change something about whatever we were working with or on back then?

It could be. Then again, we could just be doing something more normal and mundane with our Mercury retrograde - like cleaning out the garage or doing our filing (mental, digital or otherwise). Mercury retrograde represents a chance to ‘catch up,’ either with our Self or others, which is why we often hear from people we haven’t heard from in a while under Mercury retrograde, and why Mercury retrograde is also a time to stop and ‘fill in the gaps,’ whether that means doing research, making plans or working on something you need in order to move ahead once Mercury does go direct.

Apart from all that however, is a whole other way to see the kite. Kites often represent a new way to ‘see’ or approach things - and if you think of that  as grabbing the ‘kite string’ which would theoretically be tied to the tail of a real kite, that suggests that there are options and opportunities which require or depend on our willingness (or ability) to go through some sort of North Node, 8 Libra, Diadem sort of experience - maybe in our own mind (we are talking about air sign Libra here, so this could all be a mental escapade) ... or maybe with regards to a relationship, or our ability or inability to relate to some external thing, person, organization or situation.

As Mercury goes retrograde, two other celestial objects are also on station, too. One (Damocles) is going retrograde at 25 Aquarius, a degree which complicates the Damocles nature, that nature being all about the very human habit we all have to critique, criticize and think we could do a better job with something UNTIL we’re the one in the hot seat - at which point we suddenly recognize how what we were being so glib about critiquing is a whole lot harder and far more complicated than we had thought.

And maybe that means we should think a little more before speaking? Or that we should learn a little more about what we’re taking a position on (or talking about) before taking that position? This goes to both the stationing degrees of Mercury and Damocles in that 13 Gemini (Mercury’s position) is all about abilities which though substantial are frustrated by mechanisms/people which are defined (astrologically) as being quite possibly ‘less qualified’ on the specific subject but more ‘acceptable’ and ‘easily grasped’ or accessed. 13 Gemini asks that we bridge some gap, and that gap starts within our Self. To be truly and fully successful, we need to understand within our Self (the retrograde pointing to this being an inner comprehension being sought).

And yet, will we want to? Where we have already done this sort of thing, is that what is now coming to the surface for us to explore and learn from?

In adding in Damocles 25 Aquarius, we begin to see something more of the dynamics here as 25 Aquarius is a social/non-personal third-decanate degree in the airy sign of Aquarius, a sign which is social, systemic and which turns brittle, fracturing wherever and whenever we attempt to bend the universal Aquarian whole into some shape which suits our individual (Leo) ego-defined preferences.

This polarity - the Leo/Aquarian polarity - is about using our ego to develop our Self so that we find a place in society, with the finding part of that process being the Aquarian part. So when we speak of Damocles going retrograde in the latter part of Aquarius, we are speaking of a difficulty we are finding with or in society as we are trying to go about our business or find our personal place/space in this world ... or we are realizing that something about the world’s issues (and our conviction that we can ‘fix that’) is ... well, a bit more difficult and complicated than we thought it was.

And all the experiences which will get us into this space? That’s what we will be experiencing as both Damocles and Mercury go into retrograde on Tuesday, May 19th (UT/+0) ... just as the motion of dwarf planet Orcus turns to direct.

Roman god Orcus represents all that can no longer be changed, and in going retrograde at 5 Virgo, Orcus speaks to several things, all of which are going to operate under the auspices of royal star Regulus, the star which tells us that what we do (our choices, actions, priorities, methods) is only successful when our actions (thoughts, choices, positions, etc.) are in no way connected with any desire for revenge.

At 5 Virgo, Orcus’ current ‘finality’ concerns all which has been done and all the many people and other forms of life which have been operating out of a sense of doing what was required or asked of them.

Something is done ... or something has come to be done. Those who have done the ‘doing’ are either ‘done’ themselves, or they are done ‘doing’ or they are ‘done’ with whatever has been formerly regarded as a serviceable duty. And now all of that is coloring the need to bridge some gap in terms of whatever cannot be changed (or perhaps carried on with or continued in its current form/format) even as Damocles goes into retrograde at 25 Aquarius, a degree which in adding a very distinct and sometimes violently determined energetic speaks to some gnawing at the bit, a bit of biting the hand which feeds us and a whole variety of merry variations on feeling torn about something on the inside while needing to keep moving on the outside.

And yes, those two impulses could be about the very same thing. They don’t have to be about the same thing ... but they could be, in which case the frustration being felt by others would be understandably felt by us, speaking of Algol.

Then again, we could be at a loss. Or thinking about what we may stand to lose ... or need to lose, which with Damocles in Aquarius and the North Node in Libra like as not refers to some (Libra) relationship we have - whether to others, our ability to relate to others, or something having to do with how we feel about our (Damocles) chances of making something work, either in our own mind or in some more interactive or public situation.

And again - all of this is happening under a lunation (lunar month) influence which will tend to make it difficult for us to even want to see things from any other perspective apart from our own, even if that’s where our answer is.

All of this is what it is and takes place within forty-eight hours (between May 18th and 19th). Then we get a day of dealing with Mercury just having gone retrograde at a moment when the Sun is at 29 this-could-be-sticky degrees of Taurus, that being what the Sun has to do before it then enters Gemini at 8:46 in the morning on May 21st (UT/+0).

Sun in Gemini (glyph chart)

May 21, 2015 - 9:44 a.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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 Sun in Gemini (text chart)

May 21, 2015 - 9 44 am (UT +0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Sun in Gemini is much like Sun in Taurus in the sense that it’s about the ‘me’ of life. It’s basic and like all three of the first quadrant zodiac signs (those signs being Aries, Taurus, Gemini), it’s about learning to be the person we are (part one), and in time, learning how to be that person to our benefit.

(Yes, we all have things to learn about being who we are - at least metaphysically!)

So as fire sign/first sign Aries is about learning how to ‘be’ and operate our body (eat, sleep, walk, smile, pee, etc.) so that we can in time have a good (Libra) effect on others (or at least the effect we want to have on them) ... and just as second zodiac sign Taurus is where we learn to recognize that now that we exist we have to take care of our Self (leading to all of those Taurus ‘desires’ which tend to manifest as ‘gathering to our Self’ everything we need while working out how to control enough life factors that we feel secure) ... Gemini, as the first of the zodiac air signs is all our experience of ideas - initially as input from others and then as the process of thinking for our Self. Gemini experiences - and all of the many ‘Gemini options’ are about learning how to think, how to think about those things, and about learning to choose from our options those which will work for us. Gemini is about learning to learn and learning what learning how assembling ideas creates knowledge and how putting plural ideas to work in the form of a ‘plan’ can teaches us ever more interesting things - such as how to succeed with others and in the world.

That part of the puzzle (as with all signs) is expressed by Gemini’s polarity sign - in this case,  Sagittarius, a sign which to the Gemini process represents not only another “source” of ideas and options (all of which will test whether we have learned to discipline our thinking and stay on course, on subject, on schedule and on top of things) but reactions to what we say, reactions to what we do and responses from all the way around the mulberry bush with regards to our plans, our goals, our efforts and whatever else we “put out there.”

So with the Sun in Gemini, we live in our heads more than usual. We’ll talk about things in ‘idea form’ more than usual. We’ll discuss what we think of things, we’ll debate the merit of things, we’ll want to see and think through options ... and we’re likely to be both more frustrated - and frustrating - when it comes time to make a decisions (“There are just too many options - I can’t decide!!!”). With the Sun entering Gemini in opposition to Saturn (at 1 Sagittarius), there are things which matter to us and no doubt at least a few things we need to attend to. And as  Mercury in retrograde as the Sun is starting into its annual game of Gemini hopscotch, we’re likely to be ‘stuck’ on something or about something in some way. This doesn’t have to be a problem, but it could be, especially where we (Gemini can sound disoriented when it isn’t, sound organized when it isn’t and otherwise change tack or tactics with the speed of the wind)

Around the end of the month (on the morning of May 30th in the UT/+0 zone) the Sun - in direct motion - meets up with Mercury, still in retrograde, at 8 Gemini, turning the Mercury/Moon kite formation we’ve already discussed into one with the Sun instead of the Moon and Mercury now folded (origami style, no doubt) into the kite. The ‘tail’ of any astrological kite image always being the thing we are supposed to ‘take hold of’ and use for ‘steering’ purposes, this again points us back towards all those things we should be doing or accepting as part of (North Node) life (even if we don’t want to) and either the application or learning about things through difficulties and (most often) loss, whether or not that really ‘costs’ us. The grand trine between North Node, Sun/Mercury and Ceres being an airy one, much of this operates on the mental level, which given Mercury retrograde and its well-earned reputation for making things difficult and requiring us to work through difficulties ... or to wait for them to clear up ... that could help as we hold firm to things we believe in.

Then again, it may make things harder if what we’re holding onto isn’t true or doesn’t work - whether it has before now or not.

About the time Mercury goes direct and Neptune turns to retrograde is when the Sun catches up with Mars at 21 Gemini, a degree which is known for a dissipating or scattering effect, which with perspective-oriented Pallas in opposition may indicate feeling scattered, having disconnected or ‘scattered’ things on your mind or plate to get done. The Mars side of things may speak to a (Mars) impulse or effort to ‘scatter’ or perhaps split something into parts or pieces ... is this because of some (Pallas) perspective we have come to have as Mercury goes direct and Neptune turns to retrograde? Is it because we get some sort of (Sagittarian) feedback or input from someone or some source which gives us some enlightening or possibly important form of Pallas ‘perspective’ on what we’re doing?

With Sun in Gemini what we learn about our Self always (at least over time) puts us in a better position to be productive - however we define that term. There's a nonce of a negative which goes with this ... namely how we’re not likely to be in the mood to be told things, so if you happen to be someone who's been told that you come off 'tougher' than you mean to ... or if you're just natively of an authoritarian bent (or too assertive) ... especially after Mars and the Sun come into orb of conjunction around May 29th (and escalating on from there)... you may want to make an effort over these next weeks (until the Sun moves into Cancer) to soften your tone, lest it set off ill feelings or cause someone to think you’re saying something you don’t mean to be saying at all.

And just to give you a preview, after Mars in Gemini comes Mars in Cancer, an entire month plus (read: six weeks) filled with touches of moodiness. (In other words, plan on dealing with the need to modulate energies and responses through the beginning of August).

The irony of the ‘flip side’ to all this is how we are (for the greatest part) open to conversations and dialogues. And if, or to the extent that we can keep some “Pallas perspective” on what we’re doing without needing to get poked (gently and/or otherwise) by others, we’re likely to find that a light touch and willingness to free ourselves up to hear things we may have been resisting talking about just a short time ago. And give or take the fact no Mercury retrograde ever runs in a straight line (and how by the end of Mercury retrograde the Sun and Mars running in Gemini sync (a fact which from there is going to go on for a while) energies are going to be running high.

Some will use this freewheeling, ultra-airy energy (think: 'free as the wind...') to work through complicated problems. Some will experience this energy as an easy-running period which for whatever reason feels as effortless as the flight of birds riding the passing breeze.

With Mercury traversing Gemini for the whole of the time the Sun is illuminating each of Gemini's degrees, each of them a chance to see a different facet of life through our mind's eye. The restlessness of Gemini energy can have us chasing paperwork or dreaming up fabulous plans at the same times that we're having to look for our car keys because we've gotten distracted (but you know ... who cares?) and when waiting for so-and-so to get back to us with that VERY important information even while attending to ninety-two other things can be terribly irritating - or just the excuse we've been looking for. It’s the sort of combination which can have us thinking we’ve heard what people are saying when we’re really only hearing what we want to hear not out of malice, but because we want so much to bounce ideas around with someone. Like the zodiac’s other three mutable signs (Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces) Gemini speaks to situations and processes best served by being flexible enough to change a few things along the way even while continuing to aim for a previously determined goal. With Gemini being Mercury’s ‘home’ sign, having the Sun in Gemini through June 21st (when it moves on into Cancer) may be a time when there’s too much in our heads and seemingly too much noise to concentrate.

But it’s all meant to get us closer to knowing who we are. Gemini provides options so that we learn how to think and how to put together a life which ‘works’ for us. In doing so, first we ‘set’ our eyes on some far (Sagittarian) horizon ... which may or may not be what we think it is, which may or may not be desirable if and when we get there.

All of which teaches us what our mental priorities are ... and sometimes what they should be instead. When that happens, we react to what we’re learning about our Self, we deal with the million thoughts and questions about what this new information ‘means’ to everything else we know of and work it in among all our other affairs ... or not.

And that’s the Gemini influence, one which this year (at least for a time) will surely be affected in some way by all we associate with the North Node at 8 Libra. With regards to Sun in Gemini, the ‘loss’ implied by 8 Libra may refer to thoughts like ‘last time I tried that and it didn’t work - I’m going to try something else.’ Or maybe someone you are working with isn’t there, meaning you’re going to have to work by yourself and therefore do that Gemini ‘thinking thing’ by yourself since you’ve ‘lost’ the opportunity (at least for the moment?) to do things as you’re used to doing them.

And how does that apply to the myth behind Gemini? Well, to condense the myth from a gallon of text down to a verbal  teaspoon, the story behind Gemini centers largely on this constellation's two hallmark stars: Castor and Pollux.

Constellation Gemini

(image generated using Stellarium software)

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In the story, Castor and Pollux are twin brothers. And when one of the brothers (Castor) tries to win his point using brute strength, he gets utterly struck town - only to be saved by his brother Pollux, a quick thinking (not to mention well-spoken) type who so impresses head honcho Olympian god Zeus (aka astrology's Jupiter) that Zeus agrees to save Castor by turning both brothers into stars, where each would be able to shine in their own right.

The thing to remember about this myth is that we are both Castor AND Pollux: we often try to lead with our ‘strong’ points and strengths, only resorting to more intellectual (read: air sign oriented) solutions once the fact we are going to pay some price (in other words, absorb some loss) has become evident.

All of which makes thinking through this conglomeration of symbols - and all which flows from them - all the more serious, all the more worth thinking through (that would be very Gemini, after all) and exquisitely woven with possibilities.

So ... what are we willing to try?
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Blogpost (May 12-19): The Scorpio New Moon (+ Mars and Other Stations)

 

A photograph of the April 15, 2014 Lunar Eclipse taken in Minneapolis, Minnesota

(photo credit: Tomruen2)

As May 12th comes upon us, life [Sun] shifts us out from behind a variable set of lenses colored by contradictions which want resolving plus a smattering of just those sorts of cravings which make us feel everything or anything we have or are isn’t as good as what someone else has (or is).

Fortunately, it’s only been a day of that - a 20 Taurus sort of day which had us wanting to do whatever our way when for good or ill what we want, especially in the long run was more likely to come from an honest estimation of personal needs.

From solidity of self comes the ability to tolerate differences in others. Without that security, Taurus becomes the land of endless wanting - of whatever your “medium of choice” is, be it money, power or any of the other illustrious polarizing (Scorpio) forces which are apparently part of life not so much so that we can test or control others but so that we can learn about what works for us and...separately...for others so that we can forge a path forward which works to equally support the need/drives/aims of all.
 
With every year comes a 20 Taurus sort of day. And once we complete that task, life rolls on...time pushes forward...and we get to the next thing, the process of enacting yesterday’s realizations.

It’s something of a theme this week, that process thing. No matter who we are we’re in the middle of something, and the Sun’s moving into Taurus’ ‘third third’ (degrees 20-29) is where our more (and most) personal view(s) encounter the minds, the lives, the push back, applause, critique and support of both a few...and at other times many others.

There will be a literal highlighting of sorts which will occur around/at the time of this month’s Scorpio Full Moon. The date will be May 14th and the UT/+0 time 7:17 p.m. as this Moon takes its mark at 23 Scorpio.

And if that degree sounds familiar, it should. 23 Scorpio is the degree Saturn went stationary-retrograde at back on March 3rd.

Which yes, would be one day after Mars went retrograde at 27 Libra....which was one day after Mercury went direct at 18 Aquarius.

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Mercury, Mars, Saturn on Station

And we’re all still dealing with that. Whatever was afoot then was what we like as not stubbed our mental toes on, with the whole of the Mars retrograde and solar eclipse process slowly moving us towards a ‘bottom line’ we are just about to reach with our Self, and which all around us we hear people wanting to reach (often just so they can be ‘done’ with something).

Over this time...through whatever has happened to us over the past few months...our trajectory has changed. Why we do what we do (the way we do it) has become clearer to us - and the flaws with that, personal or social - have also become clear.

We all have been changed. A little or a lot...that’s individual. But as this Full Moon comes to be...during the time leading into or out of it (some people tend to do one, some the other - that’s natural) we’re likely to feel ourselves recognizing just how we’ve changed.

And what that means with regards to our personal  potential, alone or as part of some greater group or concern.

Maybe even as part of many groups or concerns, some of which don’t overlap so well. Energies stirred at 23 Scorpio wash through life either with a ‘scattering’ or ‘wasting’ effect or a revealing of that which has been scattered or wasted which here is ‘highlighted’ symbolically by a Full Moon - a ‘high tide’ of feelings summoned from deep within whether we really want to feel them or not.

But it’s just a phase. The Moon moves in phases...this is just another phase, and after this one will come countless others. When we make a Scorpio-Moon connection, we tend to feel the impact...of how we feel in the moment we register our feelings most of all.

It’s a lovely thing indeed...although it can get us stuck. The Moon in Scorpio fights for control; its habit and instinct are to use external sources to  stabilize anything we feel [Moon] is keeping us from ‘getting on’ with whatever it is we want to do next...and to find/use/employ whatever we [Moon] feel will support our positions.

At it’s best, Moon in Scorpio supports difficult emotional constructs and the constructing of whatever will support, detoxify, rebuild and/or regulate any force. Sometimes that means investing. Sometimes that means pruning. Sometimes that means detoxifying. Sometimes that means not doing anything and sometimes it means ripping the old construct down to whatever level lays it bare.

Scorpio is the sign of the Phoenix. We are transformed by our ability to trust our Self, whether or not others agree - whether or not we like (or trust) them. That all ‘Scorpio tests’ are internal and yet enacted through others or external circumstances will lead most of us to experience at least a moment or two (or three) of insecurity...maybe confusion or even that helpless, hapless feeling we all dislike. The Sun-Phaethon-Dionysus (in Taurus) side of things describes demands and determinations being balanced against a future and a potential we should want...and which we actually have the ability to go after if our overall priorities are in line.

If not, others will let us know. They may not even be subtle about it.

One other thing about this day or so in time...with the Moon (at 23 Scorpio) conjunct Mnemosyne (creativity) and Huya, there is something we can give - something which we have learned at hard cost long before now [Huya] through the sorts of events and experiences which try the human soul.

However we connect to that...whatever we have learned from that...it is the offering of that which becomes our “Huya Rainmaker.”

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Huya, Rainmaker: Direct at 20 Scorpio

Remember: this is your Huya we’re talking about, which in Scorpio has to do with what you have to offer others out of your own life which will ‘make it rain’ for everyone...and thus bring fulfillment to us. 

 Asteroid Eros as photographed by NASA

 

Eros station-retrograde at 19 Capricorn

As astrological Eros the ‘object’ as been covered about as well as I'm ever going to cover it in a different post, let’s start there...
 

- link to -

Eros and Psyche: Falling in

Love With Our Minds

...after which what you need to know is that asteroid Eros is going retrograde at 19 Capricorn on May 11th.

Yes, that is the same day as the Full Moon. But let’s remember, stations (be they station-retrograde or station-direct) all get 'allowances.' I'm currently using a two-day allowance, but if you may find three days works better for you, feel free.

Representing ‘passions’ of all kinds, Eros energies tend to arise as described by the sign element in your natal chart. In other words, if your natal Eros is in an air sign (Gemini, Libra or Aquarius) you are stirred by ideas and your ‘passions’ function greatly on an idea-driven level and it doesn’t matter what the subject matter is, it’s the idea of the thing which ‘gets’ you (or gets to you).

With natal Eros in water (Cancer, Scorpio or Pisces), the drive and driver is emotional. With natal Eros in fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) the ‘vision’ is the thing.

And when we find Eros in an earth sign - as it is now, transiting Capricorn, it’s the reality which we’re passionate about, and life’s realities which stir our passions, however they’re individually shaped. With Capricorn pointing us to the worldly and public sections of life as well as all things/concerns ‘structural’ (and the price or penalty we pay for a lack of Eros focus) certain types of ‘standings’ (or our regard for same) take a ‘turn’ now... or don’t, depending on our individual relationship to the kind of passionate assertiveness of the interactive type this Scorpio Full Moon favors working with.

Our ability to negotiate, team up with, support or serve as a coalescing (Scorpio) force is in the (Full Moon) spotlight.

Known as least mildly pro-active (and more than a little bit determined, 19 Capricorn is a degree which presses for its goals with an unusual degree of creativity. And though advances can be made, the fullness of what one wants to accomplish probably can’t be done overnight.

Yes, patience is required. That may be the test here, as Scorpio Moons (Full or otherwise) tend to ‘freeze’ or ‘hold off’ where Eros energies tend to erupt as ‘pushing’ for what we want or need.
 
Balance and an understanding of who or what we are dealing with in its own terms (not pre-defined by us) is necessary for what is done now to endure as a supportive measure which does what we want it to correctly.

If nothing else, the Sabian symbol for 28 Virgo ('A SEEKER AFTER OCCULT KNOWLEDGE

IS READING AN ANCIENT SCROLL WHICH ILLUMINATES HIS MIND,') reminds us how in

great part the decision (and effort) to continue seeking and the remaining open to new ideas

(not the allegiance to what we already know) which provides opportunities for growth. 

Srimad Guru Adi Shankaracharya by Raja Ravi Varma (1904, Oleograph)

Byblis direct at 28 Virgo

There’s an unpleasant quality to Byblis, one which can probably be typified either as the defense of the indefensible or the attempt to defend one’s Self against that ‘awful’ thing we don’t want to think about or contend with.

But that’s the point - the metaphysics of asteroid Byblis is about us. It’s about what we will or won’t consider or face having to deal with, whether that ‘dealing’ is self-contained or whether such things ask us to take on matters beyond our Self or even our understanding.

The point is that with Byblis, there always seems to be something involved which is ‘wrong’ - or at least something which seems or feels wrong. And with Byblis’ station taking place in Virgo, the ‘lens’ through which this ‘wrong’ is being seen (or through which it is manifesting) will be the means, method or reasoning/rationales for doing/not doing things...or the means, methods or rationales being employed in the doing of things.

That Byblis is making its turn to direct at 28 Virgo (one of Virgo’s last ten degrees) also tells us that whatever the Byblis note is, it will be ‘group’ and not personal. So it’s something we can react to... or which in embodying a reaction to something we’ve already done brings out the Byblis effect (theirs about us or us about something ‘out there’).

This isn’t the sky falling. Like most main belt  asteroid energetics, Byblis represents something we ‘run into’ and thus are affected by, which may color what we do, how we think or some choice we make because of or maybe in spite of everything and anything disquietingly ‘Byblis-like.’

At the same time, seeing as Byblis went retrograde back in early February in tandem with Mercury there is some chance that an assertion made back then may fall through now. If so, it will fall through on the basis of improper choices (which of several options was taken)...  or how a choice, commitment, resistance or position has failed to take all of the details and/or universal needs (or universal commonalties) properly into account.

In other words, where we may have thought over-much of our Self (in the ‘self important sense) or even just more of our opinion in some situation which really needed to be more balanced in the ‘my’ versus ‘their’ department...such issues may arise - or even re-arise now.

Again, this doesn’t have to be any sort of costly  interruption or reprocessing of anything. For many of us these Byblis moments are just those ‘do you have to bring THAT up again?’ sort of influences.

And since we’re here...the answer to the above is ‘yes, they do have to bring that up again,’ if only because their Byblis says they have to bring ‘that’ up again for their own Byblis reasons.

How would we know who would react and who wouldn’t react to such an influence? Granting that energetics tend to have a low-level effect no matter who we are, the person who reacts now will have 28 Virgo as a sensitive point in their natal chart or a natal Byblis which is somehow emphasized, however that happens.

Also, one other item worth noting...

Astrologer Marc Edmund Jones (the original astrologer to work with Sabian symbols)

typified the image for 0 Libra - 'IN A COLLECTION OF PERFECT SPECIMENS OF MANY

BIOLOGICAL FORMS, A BUTTERFLY DISPLAYES THE BEAUTY OF ITS WINGS, ITS BODY

IMPALED BY A FINE DART' - as 'the immortal archetypal reality that a perfect and dedicated

life reveals,' validating in yet another form those many age-old sayings which warn how 

with every great honor comes some sort of responsibility and feeling of being 'pinned' to

that 'perfect beauty' we represent, stand for, have achieved or have created.

A Chinese cloisonne and enamel box (photo credit: Vassil, June 2007)
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Haumea direct at 0 Libra

Haumea is a dwarf planet, not an asteroid, meaning it’s greater size and mass translates rather literally into the metaphorical world of metaphysics, telling us it’s effect will have ‘weight’...or perhaps ‘gravity’ in our psyche, if not our life.

And maybe our life too - but first the psyche, as that is the principle realm (hierarchy of thought) around which western (tropical) astrology is organized. There are other forms of astrology which tend in that direction, but in western astrology, fate is what you are handed: what you do with it is free will and that’s what we see in your chart...which is why what happens (astrologically) isn’t about ‘them’ it’s about you and your responses, reactions and learning curve.

And why does that apply here? That applies because Haumea is a goddess of tricky manifestations, whether we’re talking about Haumea as an entity capable of ‘giving birth’ through various portions of her being (which metaphysically would suggest our ability to ‘give birth’ to ideas or efforts when various facets of our lives are triggered)...or Haumea the ultimately self-destructive shape-shifter as a representation of how we choose, do or say this or that to placate or ‘get by’ or ‘get along’ in any of the many manners which ultimately come home to us in some form of self-undoing.

In going direct at 0 Libra, Haumea drives us to understand truths even while (or because) we’re being driven crazy - or just driving ourselves crazy over something we need to deal with before moving on. There’s a ‘spin’ on complications here which suggests easy things being made more complicated (perhaps more complicated than they need to be) even as complicated issues are being simplified - and yes, maybe over-simplified. Whichever effect is encountered, the subject... interestingly... does seem to be something important, particularly in its ultimate potential with problems of the moment being linked to an undermining of momentum through improperly applied efforts.

Either the right method is not known, the right skills are not present or skills are needed but not present, all of which is complicated by questioning which in the end will tend towards lack of capacity - a quality which isn’t going to be felt as any more cuddly or cozy by any of us seeing as Venus is still in Aries (a fact which links because the Venusian drive for reward rules the Libra principle of relating).

You do remember Venus in Aries, right?
 

- link to -

Venus in Aries

Haumea and Byblis both go direct on May 18th, which means their stations (conservatively) begin on the 16th (Friday) and extend through March 20th, the actual end of Mars retrograde.

And that station (Mars’ station) begins on the 18th, the date Haumea and Byblis go direct.

Wait...let me try to make this a little easier by offering what schools the world over have no doubt taught us all to regard as a ‘visual aid.’

I’m sure to some, this all sounds rather dire - and it could be for those brining their minds in some proverbial pickle while waiting on someone or on something to happen. But the element involved here - air -  tells us that however Haumea and Mars manifest amidst all other things is of theoretical concern.

In other words, they’re arising in our mind, and whether it’s an evolving idea or some new notion about how life works or who you are in this life...with the Sun in Taurus’ latter degrees, we’re all being subjected to some level of interfaced wants and ‘security needs.’ Or maybe for you that’s the interfacing of wants and whatever allows you to feel secure (starting in your mind, evidently).

Or maybe it's just all in our mind. Sorting through that question is part of what happens now...and evidently it needs to happen as part of Mars reaching the end of its long Libra retrograde. How much of what we do in life is governed by what we think others like or dislike? How much is our life modeled or molded by ideas which may 'hold their shape' for us but which in the end are undercutting or compromising our greater ends? 

By the by...just to define here, ‘security’ in this sense is the Taurean (and/or 2nd house) version of security, which is to say that we find in our Self, making this reference ‘that which makes us feel secure as a person in life and/or in any given moment of our life.’
 
For the record here, the obvious is also true - namely that the reason why Scorpio as the polarity to Taurus is so often associated with death, birth, war and various kinds of tests of control are because where and when Scorpio functions that way it does so as a projection onto others of that we feel disquieted by ourselves.
 
Some factor which arises from this quadrant of our thinking plays a role at least in how we will tend to consider things now... and with Mars continuing to ‘sit’ at 9 Libra (conjunct fixed star Diadem), whether we’re in position to be comfortable with some sort of separateness of perspective or struggling through dealing with feelings, tales and issues having to do with separations or a ‘separating of ideas,’ isolation and/or its elitist cousin isolationism will be pushing us each and all to see the beauty, full potential and possible nasty (to our thinking) ideas to be faced amidst all.

Traces of liquid passage as recorded in planet Mars' surface

(NASA, GSFC, December 2006)

Damocles, Mars-Diadem

and Orcus on Station

 

Speaking of Mars (you knew we were going to get around to this, right?), the strangely unsecured feeling so many people are feeling, reacting to, and whether productive or not - that continues...as does the [Mercury in Gemini] pace of things in general. We often think of Mercury in Gemini as a somewhat ‘hectic’ time - and that factor may well be missing this time around, what with the overhanging Diadem/Mars retrograde effect. The net is likely to be a deal of coming to terms with Self first and then others, yet with Mars and Venus both in ‘fervent’ degrees we will need to conquer our own trepidations going in and be willing to work through a process of consideration and reconsidering (most of all with our Self) if by week’s end we are to arrive at suitable (or at least employable) combinations of [Venus in Aries] aspiration, [Mercury in Gemini] facts, choices or options and what may only be a dawning of the greater [Mars/Diadem] understanding of why (in the biggest-of-big-picture metaphysical sense) you have gone through so much of what you have gone through over these past days, weeks and months.

This period has its own function, absolutely. But it is also part of an intense and challenging period filled with personal tests which dates back to December, 2013 - just before Christmas.

Speaking of intensity...since Mars is going direct in square to Pluto (conjunct Vega) in Capricorn, apart from and yet as part of all else we go through now we are experiencing a long-term [Pluto] transformation of allure and that which fascinates us, draws and or commands us.

The longest range personal and societal shifts began a couple of years ago and won't become evident in the general sense for several years hence. However the short term effects of Mars-square-Pluto (which this would be with Pluto in Capricorn and Mars in Libra) could be explosive IF both symbols were not in retrograde.

In other words, froth if you must, but the transformational energetic is personal and wholeheartedly internal, causing us to 'work over' issues in our own way and at our own individual pace starting somewhere around May 14th.

This is not a transit to quail at unless you have done something dishonest, wrong or wholly manipulative (i.e., without regard for consequences or who gets harmed). If that is the case, as always Pluto/Mars contacts are likely to time out matters which 'expose' your secrets and 'occulted' (hidden) matters...and something like Mars squaring Pluto through a station is certainly that kind of event.

For everyone else the latter part of this coming week is likely to feel 'constrained' or 'compacted'...or perhaps weighty but complicated in that messy if not in-obvious manner which persuades us we can get where we need to go if we will but tackle the job and get on with things.  

In this light, some of us will solve short-term problems first as greater perceptions filter down upon us...some of us will have one of those light-bulb ‘epiphany’ moments then use that to develop new strategies which apply to the here and now of today, tomorrow and next week.

Then there’s the rest of us - a vast swath of humanity which is seeing so much so fast that it will take a bit to sort out, shake out and otherwise prove out.

Which is okay too...and entirely astrologically sensible. Even before Mars enters its two-day ‘station allowance’ on May 17th, asteroids Damocles and Sabine go on station on May 16th, serving as metaphysical clockwork chimes striking new notes of recognition...

In light of Damocles going on station at 24 Aquarius ('A BUTTERFLY WITH THE RIGHT
WING MORE PERFECTLY FORMED' ) we are reminded to stay in balance with ourselves

...and just how much doing that much requires of us.

A plate of Charaxes Aristogiton from Adalbert Seitz (ed.) 'Macrolepidoplera of the World'

(published before 1930, author unknown)

...yes, we see what needs doing...it’s just that it’s [Damocles] a whole lot harder to carry through on, especially given the growing understanding that reactions may arise during the process. As the weekend of the 17th-18th comes upon us time [Damocles in Capricorn] is ever more an essential ingredient going forward...but there are distinct real-time, present tense needs too. 

And one or two of those are likely to feel a bit like volunteering to sit on a tack the ‘point’ of which is driving home our own mortality, our vulnerability to being human as both the reason we care about others (and need to be cared about) and why we need to individuate.

It’s back to that Libra thing - the knowing who we are in the presence of others and knowing how we act to, with and about them is the cause of the effect they hand back. It’s all about negotiation, most of which happens first and last with and within our Self.
 
You know, the [Orcus] consequences which come from being who we are and aren't...or who we have come to think we don't want to be or need to become in spite of all. Through others, through all we have been through and been thwarted in, so we come to realize what is possible, reasonable and - in the end - maybe not so desirable in spite of all.

 Asteroid Sabine going station/retrograde at 16 Capricorn, a degree imaged by the image
'A REPRESSED WOMAN FINDS A PSYCHOLOGICAL RELEASE IN NUDISM' representing

whatever unexpressed or denied experiences we meet up with (in our own life or that of
others) which causes us to see, become free with or 'put on display for all to see' either
that which represents our inner (Capricorn) structures or external (Capricorn) goals,
drives or aims. 

Inu (Nu debout) by Jean Metzinger (oil on carton, 52 x 35 cm., 1911) 

 
Maybe it's not our path or role in life. Maybe the thing at hand (or in mind) isn't ours to do even comment on. Why this should be - and why we will, in reconsidering our current focus arrive at considering the 'where we are now' in light of all we have done...that both holds us back [Sabine] and in getting us to [Sabine] take hold of that which is immediately available to us gets us to consider what our life should be as well as the [Damocles] difficulties we're bound to encounter whether we adjust or stay our course.

In other words...in light of all that, what is really worth doing [Mars] and/or investing our [Mars] energies in? At some level we know our choice cannot be just about what we want, nor can it be entirely about what one (or many) parties are lobbying for.

It's about any and all of us - and what we mean...at least on a theoretical level...amidst all that.

Considering we're all going through this together (which is a thought worthy of contemplation right there...) patience and thoughtfulness will count now more than usual - and though we dare not leave ourselves out of the mix (yes, a little 'be nice to me' time is in order) we also dare not neglect others, with and without regard for who they are.

Libra is about equality - a theoretical equality which on a metaphysical level must allow for differences simply because together we all balance each other out.

(And isn't that a metaphysical noodle worth thinking about?) 

The better we understand why all this is, the more likely we are to ask ourselves that we actually hear others instead of just listening (in general, read as 'tolerating') them. And once we do that, we're likely to not just hear what they're truly saying (as opposed to what we might have been thinking we wanted to hear)...from which we will begin to really understand why others choose as they choose.

Such perspectives...or our unwillingness to contemplate same...are what we carry into and through the Mars/Diadem station, wherever that may yet lead.

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