Celestial Edge Play

 

                                                                                             

Let me start out by saying to those who saw the term Edge Play and went 'OMG!'...this blog post is NOT sexual. And if that brings on a sigh of disappointment, sorry - this isn't an x-rated blog.

But I am borrowing a term from one of civilizations more-than several x-rated arenas. The term is 'Edge Play' and I am borrowing it from world of BDSM (Bondage, Kink, S&M - whatever you want to call it). 

What Edge Play means in a generalized sense is pushing the limits. So personal relationships and sexuality aside, Edge Play is applicable as a concept wherever and whenever any of us push the edge of what we know is right, legal, safe, sane and agreed-on-as-allowable is.

If you've been following celestial news for a while you know that transiting Saturn began opposing Uranus back at the end of 2008. Given that Saturn was in Virgo and Uranus was still in Pisces at the time, there was a whole social/societal, cleaning up what's going on. It was a vibe which in articles I likened to Batman cleaning up Gotham city, replete with the fascination so many of us have for that 'darkness within' thing, whether real or imagined.

Or maybe rather 'real and imagined' since we all have a dark side. There's something each one of us doesn't want to admit, touch or deal with. Your dark side may have to do with what you don't want to do. Then again, it may be about all you don't want to acknowledge isn't good in what you do. Or think. Or feel. Or refuse to feel.

Since this was an opposition (and still is one) the 'facing off' "oppositional" conflict here made for a lot of projection. A lot of 'it's them, not me' stuff.

As Saturn first hit 0 Libra back in late October of 2009, that stepped the game up. Libra being about who we are to others and thus who we attract and who we end up being in relationship with, opinions of others started changing. And yet the reality of this is it wasn't really them - it was our relationship to ourselves which was changing.

And it wasn't a graceful change - that we know from Saturn doing this entrance into Libra in a hard-on square to Pluto in early Capricorn: a combination all about who we are in the world and what structural standards in 'our world' (personal or societal), need to change.

But then again...there was this ongoing opposition in progress, so a lot of this was projected. And inverted, meaning what we thought had to change when it came to structural standards in our societal world may have been about us. What we thought needed changing in personal structural standards - that may have been all about our lack of understanding of how the world works, and hence who we need to be in the world.

And yes, this is one of those instances when our normal 'why isn't it about me?' IS about us - each one of us. And yet we're so not likely to like it! Welcome to the wonderful world of oppositions.

The point is that as Saturn moved into Libra, for a while there Uranus was still in Pisces, setting up a real dichotomy of action-versus-conception. The realities of proportion and responsibility went over the stress line. Many of us went into areas where we were ill-equipped to deal with our own internal emotional/moral/ethical balance for any of a zillion reasons.

I won't complicate this with planetary pictures and degree patterns and whatnot (though I could...) because the real point is that as Uranus hit Aries in late may and Jupiter followed into Aries in early June we 'exposed ourselves.' Most of all to ourselves, but probably to others, too. Aries being about physicality and the Self, suddenly all we are/were came into focus. It crystallized. It came into full focal force in whatever we were doing or up to at the time.

And there was still that giant opposition going on. Because of retrogrades, June and early July had Saturn in Virgo, emphasizing the 'health' of the thing, the activity, the attitude - or maybe you yourself. But as Saturn hit Libra again in late July, the emphasis became again all about relationships: how you were presenting yourself to other, the degree of responsibility you were putting into your choices of relationship and how you treat your relationship with others and the general oppositional tra-la having to do with how others (and society) feels about who you're being.

Why mention this now and what's with the edge play?

The reason to mention it now is because with Jupiter having joined Uranus in Aries, that really pushed us to our edge. And for some, over the edge. This is also when where we had already gone over the edge would have in begun to surface. Once Uranus retrograded back into Pisces, the chinks in our psychic (emotional) armor start showing. Or begin to heal. Or get exacerbated.

It all depends.

What this gets around to is the concept of how we grow. We absolutely need to try new things as we go along and there is always more in our own characters to explore, test and experience. But some of it isn't okay. Unfortunately, in order to realize that, generally we have to dredge up the 'not okay-ness' before it can be recognized and rejected or healed or dealt with or whatever has to be done with it.

There's a lot of 'stuff' (we'll just say) hitting the proverbial fan during these days, weeks and months, so don't think this is about just one thing in life. Or for that matter, just one person. It's all of you and all of the rest of us going through this taking ourselves beyond the line of tolerance.

This week - tomorrow (August 16) actually - Jupiter strikes the exact opposition to Saturn. This is a new high in lows and a new low in highs, depending on how you want to look at it. We are standing at an edge...with ourselves. This is a moment when a lot of us are going to get a better grasp on who we have been being. And even why we've been being that person. And what we've learned by being that person.

But do we want to keep on being that person? Maybe, maybe not. It's not all that cut and dried, nor that self assured (accent on the word 'self' there).

Because Jupiter is currently retrograde, the resolution of the moment is internal. It's something we realize or recognize (maybe finally!) about ourselves. For some, big shifts stemming from this realization, particularly with regards to shifts and changes made back in January 2010 will take a next step as of early-mid September. There's a reflexive, reflective quality which will come in then which in a lot of lives is going to get people staring at themselves in the mirror saying 'I did that?'

Answer: apparently you did. And let's not kid ourselves or be soft-soapy about this: there's going to be a lot of doubling around and undoings going forward from there, some of which will be trying on levels emotional, financial and self-confrontational.

This cycle doesn't actually end until March 28, 2011, with a jolt of a bump coming in January 2011 - around the 4th. And in the end, this is all about growing. Good or bad, painful or fun, periodically we have to approach our own edge in order to grow.

With Vesta hanging out currently in Saturn, some of us need to be more of help and some of us just plain need help. That this Vesta/Saturn thing is happening just as both move across and emerge from super-massive black hole M87 tells us that we have just seen our alternate reality or just realized we've been living in one. It isn't all going to be pretty, but it is all going to be incredibly  human. And for those of us willing to accept human imperfection with due humility, in the end that is likely to be good enough.

But in the meantime, we are likely to be still a lot edgy. We've gotten used to flirting with the edge of our perceptions and norms and some of us have grown to like it. Which is okay, providing you know what that means and that there really are some edges we dare not cross over, lest we take a great fall as ultimately the risk we take are those designed to test our own respect for our humanity - which includes our regards for others.

Saturn in Libra: the responsibility to self/others.

Uranus in Aries: a change of life.
Uranus in Pisces: fluctuating emotions.

Jupiter in Aries: learning about Self.

News Flash: Uranus retrogrades into Pisces

 

 Uranus and its rings - source: NASA

As of August 14 at 3:32am (GMT), Uranus will retrograde across the 'international zodiac line' back into Pisces. It will be in Pisces until March 2011. 

During this time, expect heightened emotions-emotionalism, a surprising tendency to become emotional about things and a general 'fluctuation' of emotions which makes settling on one thing (or person) difficult. Those who hate it when life is 'dull' may well enjoy this non-permanence; those who tend to want a basic 'status quo' are likely to be unsettled. 


Because our 'thoughts about feelings' are in flux, emotional commitments can be problematic. Morals too can be affected. The idea is to be malleable, but not unhinged from sense of Self or the required and respectful regard for others. 

BP's Top Kill Attempt

BP announced that it's 'Top Kill' attempt began at 13:00 CDT today.

The chart for this event show fixed star Thuban and asteroid Echo at 7 Virgo, right behind the 8 Virgo Ascendant. Thuban's lore is all about difficult processes which have to be worked through. Echo is about 'echoing' what you've been told. 

The combination of these signals in Virgo's proactive first decanate (degrees 0 through 9) tells us that BP is doing (Ascendant) what they have been told will work (Thuban/Echo).

The foundation of this chart is represented as being 7 Sagittarius - another first decan point (therefore about "doing")...and a degree with an interesting lore as pertains to this attempt. Known as a degree which is 'quite' and 'materialistic' and capable of turning enemies into friends, perhaps the most important note about this degree is that it wants to be 'undisturbed' or 'left alone.'

Given that Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter, we look to Jupiter in this chart - conjunct Uranus/Scheat (a combination which speaks either to nastiness or innovation) and asteroids Byblis (that 'long known') and Klotho (beginnings) the image seems to be that this is a lesson. BP will learn better about what it does - and like as not (given that Jupiter is in the 7th position of "the audience") the world is going to reconsider the true 'cost' of using oil. 


Is this really - astrologically - about oil? Yes. Oil as a substance is astrologically Piscean - the drilling part? That's Scorpio.

So here we have Uranus, Jupiter (et al) all in Pisces: the matter is clearly about the oil itself and oil as subject. Yet since all Piscean outcomes are Neptunian, we need to look at the Neptune in this chart.

And where is Neptune? Conjunct Athena and (calculated) Lilith (that we didn't want to look at) in the 6th house of employees. It's a cinch we don't know everything that's going on - nor are we ever likely to know all or exactly what actually took place. Or whether BP (Transocean, Halliburton, etc.) are going to find out who did what, or if they discipline anyone even if they do find out. 

At least not at this point. 

There is a whole section of astrological theory which is horary and rather 'progression-oriented' which astrologers routinely use for 'time-telling' when it comes to doing certain kinds of predictions. Using this chart, with the Moon at 20 Scorpio and Uranus (the "last" aspect to be made by said Moon) ... the trine between Moon and Uranus which is eventually to be struck says this is not so simple a problem as everyone is thinking, but it can be solved. At some point in the process signified by the number seven (hours? days? weeks? months? years?) there will be a turn in the process. One tick later (at "eight" after commencement of this process at 1pm CDT) information will surface. Then we'll get to the solution...and maybe a few more actual facts.

A note more on this sort of progressive/horary theory: all such 'time slots' often apply. So while it may be only hours (or maybe days or...) until we know whether this 'top kill' method works to seal the blowout, we can also expect to see repercussions (ecological, financial, legal, etc.) echoing off this event chart in terms of what it says about timing.

Last item for the moment...the Scorpio Moon of this chart is in the 3rd house of communications in a degree which is "public" by nature. But Scorpio as a sign is very controlling. Do we think we're getting the whole story? With this Moon ruling the South Node (the "easy way out") in the publicity/marketplace 11th house and conjunct charismatic dog-star Sirius, BP could probably do itself some long-term good by being totally open about everything going on. 

But will it?  

With Icarus (flights of fancy/reckless actions) conjunct Fomalhaut (dreams and intuitions) just under the 'here's what we're telling you' 7th house cusp with the rather domineering symbol of Hera (the overseeing wife) sitting atop said cusp, it's a pretty good bet we're not getting the whole story. 

Will update this blog saga as soon as something else happens...more soon!