MakeMake, Medusa, Orpheus: Making the Best of Things

Marie Louise Island in the outer Seychelles

(photo by ACP)

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

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

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

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

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

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

- link to -

Medusa: Through Our

Mental Mirror, Darkly

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

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

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

And that’s where Scheat is.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tête de Méduse (Head of Medusa) by Puget

(photo credit Jospe, July 2011)

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

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

Orpheus and Eurydice by Michel Martin Drolling (1820)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What’s important is that it’s yours – and that it represents your abilities, probably inclusive of the costs involved.
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Solar Eclipse 2011 (Capricorn Edition)

 Close up of the Sun's corona during a Solar Eclipse

photo credit: Miloslav Cruckmiller (Brno University of 

Technology), Martin Dietzel, Peter Aniol, Voytech Rusin

When we talk about Solar Eclipses, there are a couple of objects to the game (so to speak…)

First is understanding what a Solar Eclipse is or isn’t about, astrologically speaking.

Second – and most complex – is the picture described by the Solar Eclipse horoscope (chart).

Third is the ‘basic harmonics’ set up by the eclipse occurring in sign ‘x’ against other signs (‘y’).

So…what is a Solar Eclipse? We’ve all seen one – or the photo of one: the disc of the Moon moves between the Sun (life, will) and our Earthly reality. In doing so, our feelings (the Moon) are “blotted out.” Indeed they hardly seem to matter considering the awe-inspiring specter of the Sun’s corona – the streaming ‘halo’ of the Sun which under normal circumstances isn’t even visible.

This last part…the under normal circumstances isn’t even visible…is one of the core parts of the Solar Eclipse symbolism. While all else we think of as the ‘normal light of our life’ falls ‘dark,’ and because that we think of as ‘normal’ is blotted out (in a very emotional/lunar way)…because of that, we ‘see’ some other part of life we wouldn’t have already seen.

When our chart is closely ‘hit’ (aspected) by a Solar Eclipse, the metaphysical ‘object’ is all about that corona – that thing we wouldn’t otherwise see, or maybe pay attention to. In essence, by removing that which we took for granted or our ‘normal’ state of being (our everyday operative parameters), by obliterating that, we’re forced to pay attention and fall back on those unnoticed…or maybe ignored factors.

Metaphysically, Solar Eclipses do not therefore ‘destroy’ our life, even if it’s very (very!) common to have a Solar Eclipse ‘take out’ something you have grown used to or learned to rely on. In light of that loss, you are ‘forced’ to go in another direction. But if the Sun is the image of your life, the corona is part of your life too. So this isn’t anything ‘new’ you have to be or do. It’s some special, even awe-inspiring part of you which you are being metaphorically called upon to take on, examine, confront, deal with…and through doing all that, come to be a more complete You.

However! (You knew there had to be a ‘but’ in here somewhere, right?) However….don’t count on that thing you get thrown into being the actual purpose of the eclipse. The six, or even eight weeks prior to an eclipse are well noted as being a period when things as you knew them begin to ‘break down.’ And by the time the eclipse rolls around you’re hock deep in something new. Whether voluntarily or by default, your life has changed.

But….you aren’t going to know the real ‘Purpose’ of the eclipse until almost three full years have elapsed. Yes, you’ll think you know the point of the event. But what ‘happens’ at the time of the eclipse isn’t the ultimate point.

What the point actually is…that’s unfortunately as unique as you and your chart are. But there are some things we can say from where the eclipse occurs and associated ‘statements’ made in the eclipse chart.

The Solar Eclipse which will occur at 9:04am (UT/+0) on January 4th occurs at 13 Capricorn. Capricorn is about making our way in the world. Being that Capricorn is an earth sign, this is about the tangible reality of our life.

Solar Eclipse of January 4, 2011 at 13 Capricorn

All degrees between 10 and 19 of any sign (degrees known as 'second decanate degrees’) are where that sign manifests emotionally. So matters of our ability to make our way, or the means by which we make our way in the world is a matter of ‘evoking emotion.’ That may mean that what you’re dealing with evokes emotion, or your situation or ability to carry on with life as you have known it evokes emotion, or that what you are doing evokes emotion in others.

We are not saying whether this is a positive or negative emotion. It could be either…or both. Known in the world of Sabian Symbols as a degree which is about and requires ‘historical perspective,’ 13 Capricorn also has a reputation for being about one’s willingness to take on challenges, cut cords when/where something doesn’t work and to function from a ‘hard-core’ sense of logic – all very Capricorn descriptors.

Considering this is where the eclipse is focused, the question thus becomes how well do you embody those precepts? If you are way off that mark, this eclipse will feel disquieting. If you are way off that mark AND this eclipse aspects your chart with any degree of aspect clarity (see below), then you have to figure your life is in for a big change in terms of what symbol in your chart gets aspected and the nature of the aspect (conjunction, opposition, sextile, etcetera).

Given that this eclipse is conjunct fixed star Vega and Eros, charm and talk aren’t cutting it any more. Vega symbolizes charisma – especially charismatic speech. Eros is attraction. To have them both eclipsed is going to make clay feet mortals out of many of us and the foolishness of many an act seem obvious.

This eclipse is also in opposition to fixed star Sirius – the Dog Star. A much beloved star and the brightest star in the whole of our sky apart from the Sun, Sirius has two nicknames which about says it all. By some known as ‘the Shining One’ and by some known as ‘the Scorcher,’ Sirius is all about how big consequences can result from very small actions and how sometimes we truly need to make sacrifices of a personal nature in favor of supporting our family, the group, the society or some greater ‘collective.’

 'Dog Star' Sirius - photo credit: NASA

And Sirius is not just sitting there looking pretty all by itself…no sirree! Positioned at 14 Cancer (a degree all about the need to focus on/develop particular abilities and not scatter ourselves) is Pandora at 10 Cancer.

Surely you remember Pandora, right? She of the box she wasn’t supposed to open but did? 

Astronomically, Pandora is a main belt asteroid. So astrologically it thus is a quality or moment(s) or thing(s) we encounter/have to consider in everyday life - as opposed to a ‘stable background factor,’ which is what fixed stars represent. Orbiting between Lust (fixation) and Kalypso (recognizing love as being about a caring regard for ‘the other’ not what you get from them), Pandora moments, choices, encounters arouse our curiosity. But that curiosity? It can open that whole ‘box of ills’ and get us into bunches of trouble.

In the myth, those ills are ‘ills of the world.’ But astrologically, the asteroid Pandora would be about us. OUR own curiosity or inability to ‘keep our hands off’ something we know we shouldn’t touch. It’s that thing we shouldn’t do which we just have such trouble resisting. But the core of the Pandora issue is not the temptation. It’s curiosity. It’s the whole issue of being 'bugged’ by wanting to know…as opposed to temptation, which is wanting to have. 

Where we see Pandora in the chart, we may want to know about others. Or others may want to know about us. This fits exactly with the concept of the opposition…which by astro-definition is the ‘being challenged by’ aspect. With Pandora in opposition to the eclipse, what you are so curious about may well have to be ‘balanced’ against some other part of life which is needing your attention now, eclipsed as it is.

Or…yes, your curiosity could be what gets you (or has gotten you) into a position to be eclipsed.

A few other notes on this event: With Venus still in Scorpio and exactly conjunct asteroid Lilith in the third decanate of Scorpio, it would be right on target for someone or something in/about life to be forcing you to consider something about yourself you really have never wanted to ‘own’ or deal with.

With Orpheus, Phaethon and Chiron all together at 27 Aquarius, there’s one part feeling helpless, one part headstrong know-it-all and one part of you where a really strong talent is balanced against a yearning and longing so strong you are likely to lose exactly what you want through the wanting of it.

What this last part tells us is that there must be a reliance on honor and preservation of standards – particularly personal standards…which goes rather well with the wiping out of the ability to simply charm one’s way through life and ignore what we haven’t wanted to deal with about ourselves, our life and maybe even our world.

That this is a partial and not total eclipse suggests that this is a setback which forces us into a ‘rebuilding’ period – hopefully one built on more genuine or appropriate standards.

There is one other item to take note of today - Jupiter conjuncting Uranus at 12:52pm (UT/+0), but a celestial moment after the eclipse itself. With this unification of metaphysical forces occurring in late Pisces, what this amounts to is a moment in which knowledge (Jupiter) meets up with change (Uranus). This could be revelation. It could be a change of circumstance. It could be news, a sudden event or even that 'Ahaaaa!' light bulb moment when you finally, finally understand something which may have been eluding you for a long, long time.

And just as a note for those who think that they can struggle through, slip by and not change anything? To that, maybe yes, maybe no – depending on your chart – as this July will bring another Solar Eclipse pretty much in opposition to this one.

So how does this eclipse affect other signs? And specifically what degrees of what signs will be affected? Here’s the list:

Between 8 and 18 Capricorn: Whatever you have been doing is no longer working for you, so you are moving into some new space, effort, focus in life. You may think that said focus is what your life is going to ‘be about.’ But that’s unlikely. Three years from now you are going to find yourself doing things and being someone which your current involvements are merely an emotional foil for.

It’s what you learn now about yourself – not what you’re doing – which is most important.

Between 8 and 18 Cancer: Challenges, particularly those posed by others and the world are forcing you to reconsider what is important to you. Though the situation(s) of the moment seem very important (and may well be very important!) it’s the experiencing of this time which is going to evolve into a new perspective you will actively begin utilizing three years from now.

Between 8 and 18 Aries (and/or) 8 and 18 Libra: The big question in the short run involves new points of view, attitudes and ideas/ideals which you need to at least deal with, if not incorporate into your life. That life is already headed in some given direction but now some ‘curve ball’ hits and knocks you off balance.

Recognizing that you don’t know it all is part one. Learning that it often is that thing which is so ‘odd’ or ‘unusual’ to you which can ultimately enhance and actually enrich your life? As the commercials say, that’s priceless!

Between 11 and 15 Gemini (and/or) 11 and 15 Leo: There’s a feeling of confinement which for some feels like getting ‘trapped’ and for others feels like options are being taken away in such a way which sets you up to feel like your very ego is being threatened. Three years from now you’ll realize that today’s trials were not only not that hard, but that they taught you some very, very useful tools which ultimately allow you to do some really great things relatively easily.

You don’t like not being in control? No kidding! But sometimes we’re just not – and sometimes, despite all, that turns out rather well!

Between 8 and 18 Taurus (and/or) 8 and 18 Virgo: On the Taurus side this is about having some forward path become problematic or totally blocked. On the Virgo side, this is about being able to do what you want to do (or doing things the way you want to do them).

Either way, you are being forced to ‘reinvest’ in your Self. Three years from now the more independent and mature Self you will become through what goes on now will make things easier and actually more satisfying.

Between 10 and 16 Pisces (and/or) 10 and 16 Scorpio: Any symbol which falls in these degrees describes an area of life which can now get changed providing you are willing to change your approach. On the Pisces side, ‘think public.’ On the Scorpio side, it’s more about expressing yourself and how you go about doing that.

Of all the eclipse aspects, this is the most gentle. You may even be tempted to pass up some really great opportunity (which would lead to regret down the line!). If you go for the gold, you’ll need to weather insecurities, but over time you’ll build that exact sort of confidence which becomes truly second nature.

Venus/Jupiter Direct, Polyhymnia Retrograde: Traction...Attraction...Understanding

The Morning - by Philipp Otto Runge (1808)

Today, planets Venus and Jupiter go direct. It's time for us to stop having to deal with learning (Jupiter) about our Venus needs (and neediness) on the inside and start with the doing and having of real time, real life experiences and experiential situations which will allow us to get somewhere, do, accomplish and enjoy ourselves.

Or at least, that's the plan, right?

Astrologers (and astrology) once referred to 'good' and 'bad' planets - the 'benefics' versus the 'malifics.' It was a bit of an old time silent movie, I gotta tell you...Venus was the good and beautiful maiden, Jupiter was the rich uncle, Saturn was the wicked bad guy (which probably made Saturn's rings the mustache said bad guy was always twirling) and Mars was sometimes the hero and sometimes the dastardly murderer.

There are still forms of astrology (notably Vedic, which comes from a more 'fated' point of view) which tend to see planets and planetary motions and statements as 'decrees.' But western astrology, which for reasons I loathe to explain is known as 'tropical astrology' (hand me the coconut, please?)...western astrology has gone all psychological.

Thus planets are associated with human attributes, and in the same way that we know the Moon pulls on the oceans causing tides, the whole of the solar system - indeed the cosmos - becomes a giant clockwork mechanism.

 Clockworks in the Deutsches-Uhren museum (detail)

photo credit: HNH (2008)

Planets don't "do" anything...but the influences they are simply by being what they are, those wavelengths of gravitational magnetism or whatnot...or merely the ripples of space distortion a planet sends out by moving through space (like a boat's wake)...those ripple through our solar system.

Astrology is just the watch on our arm. A wrist watch doesn't define time. It isn't 'time itself.' What it marks is a relative position in time which allows you and everyone else to be oriented and synced up. Knowing that the Moon does the same thing for the tides, over the past six thousand years or so attentive human beings have been amassing information on what planetary movements do.

That body of 'knowing' (Jupiter again) is made real (Venus) in astrology. And very helpfully, science is now catching up with us planet watchers. Slowly but surely, experiments and theorems not only prove out how the universe works, but that astrology is real and thus astrologers are not nitwits.

Okay, so some of us well may be nitwits - as people. But astrology, providing it's treated as a science and not a toy... that's  real. As real as that Moon and them ocean tides, astrology is the 'wrist watch' which tells us when cosmic clockwork strikes some hour as planetary, asteroidal, TNO, dwarf planet or any other kind of influence reaches us on earth.

I hope you find that moving, as Polyhymnia is going retrograde today. It's thus a very good day to allow yourself to be moved. And as Polyhymnia goes on being retrograde in the months to come, it pays to remember that to be moved, you have to allow yourself to feel.

Which yes, for some is scary. And for others, it's so carefree and evident that while it can be wonderful, it can also prove problematic. Even dangerous.

The moral: we feel the feeling. What we do about that... whether we embrace that, act on the spirit of being moved usefully or gracelessly, whether we deny difficult feelings and only go for the easy or candy floss - those are factors which contribute to how our life goes.

You know...in that old silent movie vein.

Poster for 1914's "The Perils of Pauline," 

quiet easily the most classic (or at least archetypal) of 

hero-villain-'damsel in distress' silent movie tales.

Getting back to that for a moment, Venus and Jupiter are not all good. That old term ('benefics') didn't take into account that security and satisfaction (Venus) doesn't make you a happy person. You can have it all (Jupiter) and still be miserable. Saturn requires effort and holding ourselves to an internally-defined standard, but Saturn is also the great symbol of what you earn you get. Saturn promises achievement if we will try, try again. Or just keep trying (dedication-wise).

As modern astrology acquires more points and the astrophysical science of our cosmos becomes more evident, more and more we are faced with the reality that its our willingness to be who we are and to deal first and foremost with ourselves which determines what we get out of life. And this is not about wealth versus poverty. It can't be - look around. There are a lot of very unhappy wealthy people and a lot of contented people who have very little.

Its about us. It's about our expectations. And this moment, this tri-party station, is in many senses all about expectations.

That said, we have a few other indicators. The first is where all these celestial objects are, and what is 'with them' and what is 'against them' (in opposition).

Venus being the most basic of attributes in this station recipe, we'll start with Venus - our cause/effect ability to make things happen and by that, feel secure (or otherwise) in life. Going retrograde at 9:17 in the evening (Universal Time/+0) Venus is positioned at 27 Libra with Atropos (endings). This is if nothing else a 'getting real' signal, so we can safely say this is a time when we either cut something out, or stop being unreal (the 'anti-Venus' concept, if you will) about who we are, who others are, the value of what we are/aren't doing and what we need to do in life in order to achieve our "Venus goals" of feeling satisfied and secure - at least with who we are and how we live.

Because Venus is going direct and Atropos is in direct motion at this moment, it's very likely that situations or (Libra) interactions deliver a message now about this 'reality' - or lack of same - in your life. You feel moved, to use the Polyhymnia term. And maybe that's the point! Maybe things you couldn't/wouldn't see or hear now become obvious. It's time to deal with (Venus) reality - and yes, realities - if we are to ever get where we want to go in being our own person, and in life as a whole.

A nice note comes from the 27 Libra quality, which here lends a note of 'intangible implacability'...which again suggests that we're getting real. Or that maybe someone is our life says something which cuts through all the mental foo-foo and really gets us where we live. Maybe something happens and we just have to accept it and move on from there.

It could be one...or all of these things and more.

Big red Jupiter, our Jovian (if not jovial) planetary aspect - the thrill of enlightenment, one might say...Jupiter goes direct at 4:53 pm (UT/+0). (Remember to adjust to to your local time zone!) Going direct at 23 Pisces, the most exact aspect to Jupiter in this moment is an opposition to Nemesis at 23 Virgo.

Nemesis being the 'standing up for the truth' (whether we like that truth or not) sets this opposition up to be a moment of discomfort. Not necessarily tragic, but probably not what we wanted to hear, see or think - most of all about ourselves. Nemesis being at 23 Virgo adds to this dilemma by describing a frustration between a resistance to realities or one's own nature. This may be about limitation(s), then again, it maybe part of that 'I've taken this position and by gum, I'm going to stick with it even though I know its' wrong, it's ridiculous, its even damaging.'

In other words, expect some ego to be in the mix today. And though you may well experience it in others, the most critical point of ego transition here is yours.

Remember: transits, like life events, on the metaphysical (as opposed to spiritual, which tends to be more "fate" oriented) level are not about doing things 'to you.' or even 'for you.' Much as we tend to experience or internalize them that way, if we believe the great central metaphysical statement that...

 

....then we have our tantrum or elation de jour, then we get on with recognizing that events are meant to evoke (Polyhymnia) in us whatever needs to be better understood and 'grown' (Jupiter) so that we can, in time, be secure, be satisfied and have the life we want (Venus).
Meanwhile, about the Polyhymnia evoking thing...yon muse of evocation (and one hopes happiness) herself is going retrograde at 0 Leo. Leo being the sign about what I do for my own enjoyment means we recognize now that some facet of our enjoyment or the really being happy with (or because of) said facet requires us to do some more inside work....that being indicated by the idea that Polyhymnia will go retrograde in 0 Leo but immediately retrograde back into Cancer...the land of family, habits which have grow out of childhood conditioning, basic needs (roof over head, food - that stuff) and how all such things tie together.

Mixing this Polyhymnia/0 Leo thing in with the Jupiter-Nemesis thing it would seem apparent that there is a temptation, yea verily a longing (do I hear a deep sigh?) to buy into that slogan, that excuse, that 'hey dude, it'll all be the same in a hundred years, why sweat it?' thing.

And no doubt some will do just that now - they will cast the idea of working towards lasting personal growth into the wind in favor of growing some personal pleasure (Leo)...probably one which is...fairly new to them (0 Leo).

We also know that at this time a lot of outside influences are in the mix. How do we know that? That we know by the fact that Jupiter and Venus are both in third decan degrees of respective signs.

Remember? First decan: zero to 9 - personal and proactive qualities. Second decan: 10 through 19 - emotional attributes. Third decan: degrees 20 through 29 of any given sign, this being where the sign manifests through external means. It may be feedback, it may be invitations, it may be goading, it may be people or external (3rd decan) situations which get us where we live - either physically, or on the inside.

So the Jupiter and Venus of it all are situational. Or responses from others (or corporate entities, etc.) But the effect is on us. And with Polyhymnia in what is technically known as an out-of-sign opposition to Circe (the sorceress who reduces people to an animalistic state)....and Orpheus (magical talents which can save us or cause us to sacrifice ourselves)....AND Scheat (public disapproval)?

Oy! There's a whole lot of input going on!

Our senses, never mind our internal Bank of Cravings is likely to be overflowing...or broken, busted and feeling desperately in need of contribution. It's a tug-of-war between ourselves and ourselves in projected form. What we see out there - whether it's a temptation or its our own press (reputation) that we're believing - it's a whole sort of reality/unreality test. It's "Damn Yankees" or "Bedazzled" or any of a hundred other stories, movies or sagas which rest on that Faustian idea that we have only to surrender our "soul" (our control of self) so as to have unlimited pleasures and knowledge.

 Rembrandt's dry-point etching/engraving of Faust (1652)

And it doesn't matter whether what your pleasures of the moment are to live in your own little peaceful world or if your pleasures are intellectual, spiritual or absolutely wanton. The point is that when we give up on working on ourselves, no matter what we gain after that, who really are we?

That's the Faustian problem...and thus why in every version of Faust's story the protagonist finally realizes that realism...with all its highs and lows, its ouches and pleasures...that ownership of self is the real human deal.

Being a successful person, no matter what we would like to think, is about accepting that life is not all sunshine. It's not all light. If it was, nothing would have shape. The richness of life is the shading of our experiences.

So while there's likely to be all sorts of worldly personal drama around at the moment, maybe it pays to bear in mind that just as shadows give depth and form and beauty to an image, so difficulties and the acceptance of pain, loss and reality not as a 'happy life' but as something which moves us to be better people or experience every day of our lives in all the grandeur, with all the sweetness and yes, with the bitterness of some finalities... maybe that's what really gives meaning and ultimately, a sense of accomplishment to our existing here, in this time on this planet.

Yes, maybe that's the reason for life, and to recognize that life is both amazing...and in reality, all too fleeting.

 An April dawn...our life springs eternal as long as

we are willing to grow and be renewed, and remade anew

in our own better interest by our own better knowing

of who we are...and our better regard for our nature

and that of the world in which we live.

Full Moon of September 23rd

Full Moon (2009) by Plismo
 

Note: occurring only a little over two hours after the Libra ingress, a Full Moon deserves its own blog post - it's a whole other astrological thing!

  

There's hardly anything which sounds any more of an astrological note about "beginnings" than 0 Aries, as 0 Aries is the first degree of the zodiac. And were this a New Moon instead of a Full Moon, we'd say 'drop everything, start again.'

But this isn't a New Moon - it's a Full Moon. So the symbolism isn't about 'starting.' It's about seeing things in full emotional or reflective light. 

Given that 0 Aries is the first degree of the first sign, it carries a whole aura of the newborn baby: the ego need plus the totally innocent perspective. So how do we reflect on that?

Well, maybe we need to reflect on how inviting that quality really is. Maybe we need to be a bit more like the newborn?

Then again, maybe we're acting too much like the newborn!

And again, this is a Full Moon we're talking about. Often things come to be 'highlighted' at the time of the Full Moon. So maybe in this moment things start anew, allowing us to see life as if we were starting all over again?

Maybe.

Given that we are talking about this Full Moon thing, there's also that the figure is the Moon on one side of the zodiac with the Sun on the other. So as the Moon is at 0 Aries, the Sun is sitting over yandrow at 0 Libra, recalling to the experienced the fact that super giant honking massive black hole M87 sits just inside the cusp of Libra...

 Hubble's view of jet ejection coming from Black Hole M87

...which is actually apt.

And how's that? Well, the first six signs of the zodiac (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo and Virgo) are all about our Self. They're about learning who we are. And how to operate in basic human terms. The second six signs of the zodiac (Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces) are about how we take that Self out into the world. About how we affect that world. How we interact with that world.

This is a very basic difference - think of someone you know whose birthday is in the "other" half of the zodiac. Doesn't one of you come from a worldly precept while the other is all about personal life? It's a simple but useful thing to remember. And when you're dealing with someone from that 'other half,' do yourself a favor and don't try to change them! They are who they are. Yes it's sometimes annoying, but that's who they are just as you are who you are!

Anyway...back to the Sun and Libra. Given that black hole represent an 'alternate reality,' to have one positioned at the entrance to Libra is very fitting; think of it as the cosmos helping us make the shift from the personal to the worldly. Starting with Libra, we need to remember not to think just in terms of ourselves but also about the effect we have on others. And how the style or  manner in which we present ourselves (or what we do) to others pretty much determines how they respond. And thus how loved we are, appreciated we are - and what opportunities tend to come our way.

So here we have the Sun 0 Libra: life bringing us to the point where we need to see alternatives. Or where we are able to see alternatives. And since the figure is a Full Moon, the whole issue is 'highlighted' and probably evoking an emotional response.

But the Sun is not alone. Oh no...things are hardly ever that simple - haven't you noticed?

In this case, with the Sun and black hole we have  asteroid Atropos. Atropos is one of the three Greek Fates. One spins the thread of life, one measures it out, and Atropos cuts it off at the appointed spot.

But don't get all scared - this isn't about 'life' as in your life. Though obviously people will pass from this Earth at this Full Moon, astrologically there would have to be a whole group of other indicators on someone's individual personal chart to predict death. (And no, astrologers generally don't predict death. There are formulas for it, yes, but those of us who sign professional Ethics Oaths actually promise not to ever, ever use them with clients!)

To the point here: what Atropos tends to say is that 'something is over.' And it could be anything - writing that report for school, cleaning out your closets, looking for a job (because you found one) - anything.

As for that term "fate"? Fate is what happens. Free Will is how we respond to what happens.

So to have Sun/Atropos at 0 Libra could be just the end of a private/Self period and the beginning of a public/worldly time. It could be your needing to stop (Atropos) thinking only in terms of yourself in some way because you're thinking more in terms of a group - your family, your company, whatever.

The Greek Fates by Alfred Agache (c. 1885)

This 'ending' theme also applies to the Full Moon as the end of the waxing Moon and the beginning of the waning Moon phases. So maybe you're beginning to 'let go' of something you've felt strongly about. Or which you've poured your heart and soul into.

Full Moons are also traditionally the end of a phase in a project which from there goes on into some other format. And considering that this one is at 0 Aries (with the Sun at 0 Libra), it may well be that if you've been working alone you now have to work with others. Or if you've been working with others, now maybe you have to go on by yourself.

Now...we've talked about Jupiter and Uranus a whole lot of late (planetary blog hogs, those two!). So we'll simply say yes, they're involved at the Moon end of this figure, and if you want to read more about Jupiter and Uranus, check the blog archives or use the word cloud to find blogs which chat on those subjects.

But if you read the ingress blog you also know that this Full Moon is also in a double t-square formation. And it's to remember that the Moon-Jupiter-Uranus end of this double t-square is the object of our aims.

What do we have to get past? Ourselves. Our desire to do it our way, to not have to change anything and to have things be comfortable. We want to be done for when Ceres conjunct the Galactic Center at 26 Sagittarius tells us that it is those who contribute and participate who are going to walk away the winners.

With Pluto conjunct the 'I play it my way and lose all' Orpheus in early Capricorn, the key would seem to be playing on our talents but not looking back. Where Orpheus is concerned, you look back, you lose.

Full Moon of September 23, 2010

And this would be the Full Moon which starts the entire season? Maybe the whole three months is to reflect on. 

Moon at 0 Aries is about a beginning. It's about the essence of humanity and our essential humanity. Maybe it means we should all stop acting like babies and allow ourselves to be innocent infants, ready to love being our least pretentious, most accepting selves?

Maybe so.

A last note. It being so very often helpful to see how astrological events work in 'real time,' we're lucky to have one plainly scheduled for this Full Moon event. With Aries being the sign of the physical being, it's apropos that in the United States, September 23rd is the date when a series of provisions signed into law as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 go into effect.

Since this law is all about 'shining a light' on 'physicality problems' and fixing problems people have had with getting health care so that they can take care of their physical bodies (and thus preserve life) it's totally Aries. With this law having been signed on March 23, 2010 with Sun and Uranus just having moved into Aries, that some of this law's core provisions now take effect is the  metaphysical fulfillment of the bill having been signed into law.

Does this mean the USA's health care debate or it's problems with providing health care to its citizens are over? No. But they are now entering a new phase which is based on these provisions now being in effect.

That's so very Full Moon. Something comes to a peak. A 'high point' in a given tide is reached.

But life continues on. Life, like a tide, is a cycle. This is the crest of a wave - one wave in an ocean of time.

Hokusai - Ocean Waves

Ceres Direct(ions)

 

 Dwarf planet Ceres orbits as part of the

asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter

Ceres is the only dwarf planet which orbits as a member of the asteroid belt. Considering that one of the things which makes a dwarf planet a dwarf planet is its spherical shape (who knew scientists were so fussy?), what this amounts to is that Ceres is large enough that it's mass has like as not helped it spin itself into that required, rather spherical shape.

Yes, even in space, greater mass creates roundness. Funny how universal some rules are. Or is it really strange? From a metaphysical point of view, actually not.

By Roman goddess tradition, Ceres is a goddess of agriculture, grains, fertility and relationships which are motherly, which many of us have come to think means Ceres is in some way female. It isn't. Ceres is the dynamic which motivates us to protect and provide for ourselves and others, which is obviously a purely human and not female trait.

 Roman statue thought to be of Ceres

When discovered on January 1, 1801, Ceres was in Taurus, giving us to understand that its metaphysical meaning is about use of resources and either things we need to do in order to ultimately be satisfied, things we find satisfying (to do or have) and the resources which we harness and/or use in the pursuit of personal security and satisfaction.

In conjunction with male/female assertively fixed stars Algol and Capulus at the time, we again get the male (or) female message here. But with that is the suggestion that Ceres is about asserting ourselves - it's about what we do which counts with Ceres. Considering how most people think of Ceres as goddess of the harvest, this puts a bit of a different spin on things. Ceres isn't just about the reward and celebration of harvesting, it's about all you have to do to get there.

 Discovery of Ceres

Conjunct Psyche (the mind) at the time of discovery, this also tells us what the tool and reward really is. We have to use our minds - and when we do, Ceres helps us gain security through knowing how to 'grow' our minds and through achieving mental satisfaction, aka peace of mind. (link to article on Pysche)

In trine to service-oriented Vesta at discovery, we know Ceres is not about just us, however. This is doubly emphasized by Ceres being discovered in perfect square to Saturn in Leo, which means the work is to create but that arrogance and personal pleasure cannot be the alpha and omega of the Ceres all.

Saturn in Leo has a couple of great ills: one is  arrogance, one is selfishness and third is being the 'know it all' (so don't bother me with facts) sort of thing. The perfect square here warns us that even when we think we're being a 'giver' that we must beware our lesser nature. And the cue here is probably all about what we most want. That wanting thing - at Ceres moments and in Ceres situations...that can just throw us under our own train.

Look at it this way: if you have everything you need but the storms of hell are swirling around you, how long can you hold out? You're still under threat. But if you create a better, more functional, more generous situation, group, society, world...then you have latitude.

As Ceres now goes direct on August 8, it's in an interesting oppositional situation...

Let's start by listing the players. On the Ceres side we have Ixion (ingratitude ultimately leading to undoing) in an emotional position of Sagittarius. Considering Sagittarius is always about expanding one's horizons and here positioned to be either the need to find what works or the finding out if something new you've embarked on works...? Well, that suggests that this station - a literal Ceres 'turning point' - would seem to be in part about where your emotions, emotional mindset or your understand of your own emotionality have gotten you, and whether that works or not.

With Charybdis ahead of Ceres, there's a lot of continuous effort ahead whether you continue on your current course or not. To this we add Ceres exactly conjunct Orpheus in a social/societal degree about how your emotional attitudes and choices play in public. 

And that sets an interesting stage, seeing as Ixion is plainly by degree behind Ceres and Orpheus is among other things a symbol which says 'don't look back!' lest all be lost.

In opposition to all this we have Agamemnon (strength of determination), fixed star Bellatrix (working through difficulties) and Pandora - the box of ills which only at its end reveals hope.

The synthesis here would seem to be all about what we've been up to - the Ixion as the only numerically  'lagging' symbol appears to be the cue, telling us that some of us have been too headstrong...some have not known our mind (or heeded common sense or our better angels)...some of us refuse to look back lest we have to own up to something...and some of us are/have been defeated by looking back when we shouldn't.

No matter which team you have been playing for, now - with the station comes a shift in dynamics.

But wait...there's more! We actually have a picture of the proverbial wrench tossed into your personal works: 

 

 
Also a dwarf planet, Sedna orbits waaaaaay out there beyond Neptune. Thus it is defined as something which is not only beyond our grasp, but metaphorically beyond our conscious grasp. Arachne and Sabine thus become the 'manifesting tools' through which our Sedna irresponsibility or immature, maybe even petulant insistence is likely to act out.

So whatever happens now, the 'entangling factors' and what's 'holding you back' or what you are holding onto - or perhaps something you have put into 'captive limbo' is the issue.


Why you did what, how others feel are now acting towards you...it's not all entirely a direct cause/effect. Some of it is karmic, which speaks to the part of astrology people often find difficult to get hold of. The immature or selfish things we do may come back to haunt us when we see someone else do a like thing. Our own unwillingness to confront our own conscience or deal with our feelings may get irritatingly aroused by someone who is doing something very much of the same ilk.

That's the point with Team Wrench Tosser - being collectively in an inconjunct to Ceres as it takes its station tells us that the issues, the prompting, the situational dynamic which nudges us to get hold of who we are an know our mind better....those things are coming from outside.

With all this said, because this is a global (aka 'mundane') transit, unless there's something in your natal chart being aspected by this station, you're more likely to notice these situations and feelings going on around you than in your own life.

But those who have anything within orb of 20 Sagittarius (which would be anywhere between 15 and 25 Sagittarius)? You're going to be going through this quandary big time.

For those with placements between 15 and 25 Gemini (the opposition), you're likely to be dealing with someone who has embodied the dynamics we've discussed. And that may be your problem you're taking them on about - or merely a problem in their own world you're watching them go through.

If you have a placement between 15 and 25 in either Pisces or Virgo, challenges and choices shaped by these issues are either on the table - or by refusing to fall into the person pot hole described, you keep yourself (and maybe others) from ever facing such an issue.

One other special nod to those who have placements between 18 and 22 Taurus. For you, the challenge is to 'let go' of the safe path and risk owning your own power for the good of all concerned.

Bottom line, whether your chart is aspected or not, this is a moment of 'attitude adjustments.' So...will you be adjusting yours?

And if not, isn't that exactly the issue described?