Psyche’s Libra New Moon

.
If we haven’t gotten the message about our attitude towards others and who we are to others, this month’s Libra New Moon underscores that yet again. And yes... the easy thing is always to point at others or to criticize them, but taken to the metaphysical level that thought (or method of coping) doesn’t really hold water. Why not? Well, that goes back a seriously basic metaphysical treatise, namely that ‘like attracts like.’

And when we focus on that as it applies to relationships, that ‘equating’ of people is the ‘I/thou’ thing, a ‘relating’ or ‘relationship to’ quotient we know as the Aries/Libra polarity. Metaphysically this polarity pair is all about that term ‘like,’ whether it’s about ‘liking’ or being ‘alike’...or not liking and not having anything in common. Libra is an air sign - a sign about the idea, the theory, the concept, the plan, the agreement, the negotiation, the notion of the process - and all that is right about it and all which is wrong about it...all which will lead to success and what leads to failure.

On the other hand, what Libra isn’t is emotionally based. This is a sign which even when it expresses and acts on deeply held convictions and feelings bases its decisions on the intellectual consideration, whether that’s bad or good. (Even both.) In personal terms, the ‘open enemies’ part of Libra is our own confronting of the idea that someone indeed hates us. Or that they might hate us. So we confront the problem. Or them.

Or we get someone to advise us. One of the other things about Libra is that it acts as the ‘gauge’ which defines (for us) how ‘close’ we want to be to something or someone - and part of how we judge them or their suitability to be in our life. (Usually our personal life.) And when it comes to those Libra-type counselors, teachers, advisors, advocates, doctors as so on, the success of that association is based on the equality in the association. It’s not that we’re ‘alike’ or that we’re ‘meant to know each other’ (if we know each other at all, metaphysically we’re “supposed” to know each other).

But the closer that relationships are...which is to say the more Libra “us” any relationship is, the less “I/me” Aries it can be and remain in balance unless the person (or situation) is as uninvolved as you are. In an optimal counseling/advisory relationship, both parties are focused on learning from the other and returning value for perceived worth or worth received (or perceived). That’s Libra - the equal cause/effect of relationship or conversation, the heart and soul of ‘for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction’ which is so intrinsically and essentially Libran.

And inevitable. Libra says it takes two to tango even if we have to provide both of the sides ourselves, which is what some people are going to be at this time, whether on the up side or through a bout with personal/internal conflict. Plus either way, considering how this month’s Libra New Moon is going to occur on September 24th (at 6:15 a.m., UT/+0 time)...and with that being one day after Pluto going direct... this is not your run-of-the-mill New Moon. Any time Pluto and the Moon team up that either equals focus...or a lack of focus, a breaking of concentration or some sort of recognition as to what something (past, present or future) is worth coming under the kind of scrutiny which generally indicates we want... or know we need a change.

The thing about combinations of Pluto and Moon effects is that they tend to act like we’re dumping gas on a very personal and deeply imbedded fire. For some, this will spell motivation while for others this indicates some form of obsession...and all of this is going to be filtered through a zodiacal lens known as 1 Libra.

And that makes the whole thing just a little more intense and possibly enlightening... or just possibly bizarre. Why that would be stems from two things, one being the idea that 1 Libra is very ‘self-oriented,’ a quality which in a sign like Libra, which is about relating, can easily manifest as off-putting behavior - most pointedly that which concerns ‘deciding the truth’ of some matter and not budging from that point in a manner which puts others off simply because the display of conviction is not just sturdily stable but stubborn - even arrogant. This tendency to defend, even with finesse and skill often ends badly because despite its independent qualities 1 Libra needs to learn important lessons on how to create alliances and how to go about participating in the kind of ‘team building’ efforts or activities which are so native to Libra.

Being so known for its independent qualities ’ degree in an interactive realm which speaks to ‘being separate’ or possibly ‘separated’ from something or someone...or even some sense that you know what’s happening.

Yet there’s another side to that as well - the fact that 1 Libra is the position of a super-massive black hole known as M87.

The metaphysics of black holes (which is obviously pretty new stuff) goes with this phenomena's ability to apparently work outside our physical norm. Time, light...black holes mess with such precepts just as the astrological black hole lends a quality of ‘alternative’ or ‘non-traditional’ to life’s mix. When black holes get activated we see a different side of things - which could be merely be about everything going on in the (or our) world. However it happens, it happens,

By definition, any New Moon is about a ‘start,’ a ‘beginning’ or maybe just a shift of phase where one thing gets done and another thing begins. And just as with anything else, this can be the start of something good...or challenging, depending. Considering how this is a transit which occurs in tandem with Pluto’s station (if a day after Pluto goes direct) maybe you’re someone who has come into this time with everything going wrong in your life, relationships or in what you’re doing (or have been doing) Or maybe there’s a mass of things hanging over you, none of which you control - which is a typical Pluto problem, that out of control or not in charge of things feeling.

And now that changes. Or becomes manageable.

Or even unnecessary.

Of course since this is Pluto we’re talking about, maybe you have more control than you think. Or maybe that fearful feeling you have that something you can’t quite name, define or deal with is wrong, wrong, wrong... maybe that’s just an echo of something past. Or your allowing yourself to get stirred up/manipulated by someone/something to the point where you feel things are more wrong than they actually are.

L'Enlèvement de Psyché by Oscar Pereira de Silva (1914)

.
All this brings us to the other astrological event of the day - the fact that asteroid Psyche is going direct at 8 Aquarius on the same date as the Libra New Moon. Asteroid Psyche being the subject of another post, I'll give you that link...

- link to post -

Eros and Psyche:

Falling In Love With Our Mind

...then simply say for the record (in case you're in a rush) that Psyche requires of us that we deal with our Self on a factually open (non-emotional) basis, which when combined with the Libra New Moon suggests situations, notions and events which bring us to understand where we stand with that Self in terms of others.

Then there's the 8 Aquarius note - a quality which adds a bit of tension within and without. On the inside, we’re all struggling with things we don’t seem to be able to get past... while on the outside much is going on. Known for notes of brilliance even if the thing(s) we each seem stuck on/personally focused on seem foolish or inconsequential to others (that being the 'outside' part) - this becomes a portion of exactly that quality which makes everything so hard... which is to say it’s either our isolation in the notion (or opinion) or our insistence on individuality (or an individual course/decision) which amounts to isolation in the fact of a combination of object (Psyche) and sign (Aquarius) which intimates very strongly that though we need to know our position, that’s our Saturn-as-first-ruler-of-Aquarius “work” which allows us to 2.) be an equal among others, this being the Aquarian way.

Aquarius asks us to be an individual and as that individual to be part of a greater process, system or whole. People stumble over this Aquarian concept all the time, so here are a few examples. In a personal mode, take a scientist. In order for a scientist to make a discovery, first they have to learn the basics of science. Generally that’s not the ‘sexy’ part of the process, which goes very much with Saturn as Aquarius’ first ruler and Saturn as the symbol of time invested, dedicated effort, long term commitment, responsibility (to self, others and our world society). But it’s only after the basics are learned that a scientists can make that Uranian ‘leap’ to discovery.

On a more global scale, we see this Aquarian concept all the time in business and the world. Just as nations have individual states, departments, cantons or provinces (etc.) and despite the fact that each of these states or provinces has its own identity, work and responsibilities, so they all belong to the nation, collectively making it something which is the product of its makeup. Or think in terms of corporations, many of which have departments or divisions - each of which has their job, their function, their place in the process and their need to produce the “global” which in this case is the corporation’s product. A car assembly line is very Aquarian: each station does its work and together they build something which is generally more than the simple sum of its parts - not only does the car support the ‘whole’ (the corporation and its workers, vendors, etc.) but the product itself adds to the effective life of those who buy it.

With this in mind, there’s one thing more about 8 Aquarius which seems ripe for this moment: since 8 Aquarius often causes us to see where we’ve seen something as a ‘fact’ where said ‘fact’ isn’t true, in combination with Pluto and the New Moon this may be a whole change of outlook on something - or others coming to some very different outlook about you.

It all depends - mostly on who we are in our [Psyche] mind (and whether we're honest with our Self), how well that matches with reality (you know, the Pluto touch) with all of this oriented towards, or generated by some Libra 'Other'... sense of Other... or presentation of Self or personal deed as the Other to some other person.

All of which starts with the Libra New Moon as the start to a cycle which in changing the status quo leads us to attain a better understanding and perception of our inner, most personal (lunar) Self.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

.
.
.

Black Moon Lilith at 22 Leo

(image) Maser M 31 at the core of the Andromeda Galaxy as photographed in X-ray by the Chandra Space Observatory

(photo credit: NASA, January 2000)

.

Here’s my thesis for the day: orbits aren’t round. In science, that’s just a fact - orbits tend to be egg-shaped complete with one end of the orbit being pointier than the other. (Which may, with all due respect for chickens and eggs just beg the question ‘which came first, the orbiting object or the orbit it is orbiting along?’ or some such akin to that.)

So we have these egg-ish orbital tracks. And most of them are pretty constant. But some - such as the orbit of our Luna Moon around Planet Earth - do their own little orbital dance, one which in the mind’s eye (provided you’re not feeling blind-sided) might well remind you of that child’s toy known as a Spirograph.

The tracings of a Spirograph

The Moon’s orbit being the Moon’s to moon over, what seems notable to mention at this particular point in time is the fact that the ‘short’ or ‘near’ end of that "rotating" or transiting Spirograph figure is what is known in astrology is known as Black Moon Lilith, a calculated point which like the Ascendant and other axis points (the MC, IC and Descendant) is often difficult to manage simply because this isn't a planet. Or an asteroid. Or a comet, star or dwarf planet. They all have mass. But a calculated point has no mass - and when you watch things astrological for long enough it becomes rather apparent that the metaphysics of 'mass' is related to any form of a very common expression: I'm trying to get hold of it.

Metaphysically, that's about mass. Any attribute denoted or described by an object with mass appears to be something we can develop 'habits' with (or about) - and thus we can change those habits. No one's saying such changes are easy, just that they're possible...with the real idea here being that Black Moon Lilith, in being an astrological symbol of zero mass is very hard to 'get hold of' or otherwise remain constantly and consistently aware of...which in one sense leads to a very consistent kind of perspective on the Black Moon as in the world of energetics it functions something like a ‘shadow effect’ in all of our lives, shifting through the zodiac raising this and daunting us with that, always originating from some area of thought or feeling, ethic, perception, value or awareness which we have ‘pushed away’ or abandoned outright.

As for the reference to Lilith, that would be something which ‘embodies’ something we have - individually or as a culture (or race, perhaps) turned our back on, rejected, or denied in manner which may or may not be obvious to us...or others.

Just to make this all a little more interesting, there are also two forms of Lilith: the calculated point (Black Moon Lilith) and a main belt asteroid (Lilith). And yes, there's a post on that too, if you'd like to read the long form:

- link to -

The Two Liliths 

The effects of Black Moon Lilith are not always entirely noticeable in our busy moment-by-moment days, but we do feel them. They're there even if they're that itch you can't quite scratch, that certainty you can’t quite define and that uncertainty which, try as you may, you can’t quite resolve...at least not to the degree of relaxed satisfaction.

As for why Black Moon Lilith seems worth taking time to think through in this moment, that would be because Black Moon Lilith moves into 22 Leo on September 17th (UT/+0)...and 22 Leo just happens to be the degree Jupiter (the desire to get ahead, achieve, expand one’s understanding/ability) will go station/direct in come this December.

Technically... (read: in the short run)... the Black Moon will only be in 22 Leo until early on September 26th (UT/+0). But it still seems worth our while to be on the ‘lookout’ for social and/or societal clues as to where you’re going to be (most of all with your Self) or be facing come mid-late December 2014 - and in this regard, the Black Moon is a metaphysical signpost we are all being given (even if what we do with it is our business).

To understand how this will function in your life, obviously the first place you need to look is at your personal chart, complete with sign, degree, aspects and all the usual contemplation. Then, where does 22 Leo fall in your natal chart?

As for 22 Leo as a degree, it’s a sensitive one - which you may read as ‘emotionally sensitive’ or ‘psychically sensitive’ or any other kind of sensitive as seems applicable, given the rest of your nature (and chart). There is a need to be of use and help in the world, plus a need to learn how to value and be valued properly - which is to say, not too much and not too little. This degree carries with it a quality of anxiety which is often made worse by attempts to ‘cope’ with the problem rather than deal with the reaction to it (the anxiety) which in the long run is really the problem - and as I say that (typing to you as I look up the Sabian Symbol)... well evidently that anxiety could be deserved - at least at some level.

Sabian 23 Leo (Zodiacal 22 Leo):

In a circus, the bareback rider displays her dangerous skill.

Keynote:

 The audacity and perseverance required to control and play with the powerful energies of the vital realm in human existence.

Astrologer Marc Edmund Jones wrote of this degree as one which in being both vital and creative is the driving engine behind spectacular human feats. In commenting on this degree Astrologer Dane Rudhyar typifies it as that which turns ego into imagination and inventiveness, providing us with the insight as to our own potential for dramatic native virtuosity.

And yet this showmanship cannot be ego-aware. The moment it turns into a means to receive those accolades or those longed for rewards and/or advantages, that’s when the shadow of the Black Moon becomes the gaping vulnerability which though perhaps not apparent to others, nonetheless swallows us unimpeded.

Nor is the Black Moon going to be lighting its 22 Leo September-to-December ‘shadow torch’ on its own.

As the Black Moon begins activating needs imbedded beyond conscious perception on September 17th, so too will Europa (getting carried away) and Hestia (structural protection/protection of life structures) move on station to turn retrograde as of September 19th. And since both of these influences originate in Taurus and any turn to retrograde means the symbolic energy is turned ‘inward,’ the whole of this September 17 through 21 station will like as not test our ability to balance control against lack of productive participation, maintaining (or supporting) our personal sense of [Taurus] ‘having things secured’ as part of the process. Mind you, with Hestia (a guardian figure of home, hearth, family and state) in this mix there may be something we need to ‘guard against’ or take proper care of here, whether that thing would be doing our homework, nursing a drippy cold or remaining aware of some job effort, social obligation or merely our erratic temper.

There’s also the idea that the degree Europa is going retrograde in (19 Taurus) is one which tends to get bogged down or which ‘chases around in circles,’ which may well lead to much action and many words while also acting as a ‘symptom’ of the underlying (subconscious, rejected, misunderstood) Black Moon matters. Plus with Hestia on station and conjunct Europa in a degree (14 Taurus) known for beating a full retreat as well as doing much (too much) out of an abundance of instinctive (perhaps spiritual) beliefs there are likely to be more than a few ‘turnabouts’ during this time.

In point of fact, the whole of this week seems to be one long series of patchwork overlays. Europa and Hestia going retrograde on the 17th is not only its own event but also serves to mark a beginning the Cubewano (and possible dwarf planet candidate) station-retrograde moment for TNO Chaos.

Unlike Neptune-influenced Plutinos like Pluto, Ixion and Huya which test our ability to keep our dreams either separate or strongly rooted in fact, Chaos is a [Cubewano] symbol of something which exists apart from all other influences.

And what is that ‘something’? That something is all about possibility. Endless possibilities. Originally a symbol of that sort of fertility which promises there are more ideas yet to be had, and that the Sun will yet come up again tomorrow, the energy of Chaos is generally the proverbial ‘light bulb moment’ which starts some inspirational process. And here? Well, in going direct at 19 Gemini, Chaos presents us with a variety of [Gemini] choices - none of which are likely to utterly delight us... at least not in the short run. The Sabian symbol for this degree (‘A modern cafeteria displays an abundance of food, products of various regions’) being plainly multi-regional, multi-cultural or even international, the image being presented is about nourishment (food) of various kinds, some of which is foreign to us - an idea which fits very well with the endless source which is TNO Chaos.

And then we add in asteroid Apollo, which in overlapping Chaos’ station goes direct at 1 Leo a day after Chaos goes retrograde (on the 22nd, to be exact). Representing truth (the light of truth) and general enlightenment of every informative and curative kind, asteroid Apollo’s station at 1 Leo shines a light on vulnerabilities not as a negative but as something which gives us a chance to relate to others - and maybe more importantly, relate to our Self.

Our oh-so mortal Self.

For reasons mentioned before (read: because of a newly installed back injury) I will mention all this then let you think it all through...pausing only for one moment more to point out how all of this is happening during the run-up to Pluto going station-direct on September 23rd in tandem with the Sun moving into Libra, a fact which gives everything about this Black Moon-Europa-Hestia-Chaos-Apollo sequence something of a hint of ‘cosmic prelude’ preceding the bringing of all into [Libra] balance for good, for bad, for all it can possibly be worth.

So yes, everything about such moments are valid in the moment that they become: individual global transits will evidence their effects in and across all our days in all their symbolic if sometimes subtle manifestation.

And while all that is happening, time and our Black Moon Lilith timings will also be weaving all of this and more together seamlessly, bringing us to a place where no matter who has denied what we are ready to face another round of Plutonic transformations and the chance (or risk) of being transformed as we pursue our relationship to life and our place among others on this planet we call our world.
.
.
.

In our Facies: Upton Sinclair

Upton Sinclair in 1906

(photo originally published by the New York World Telegram

and Sun Newspaper Photo - courtesy of the Library of Congress collection)

If you don’t know who Upton Sinclair is, I’m not sure if I’m sorry…or if I think you’re lucky. I met up with his name in middle school, and have been flinching ever since.

The man Upton Sinclair was born on February 20, 1878 – which makes his birthday the same day as that when Pluto will go station/direct here in 2013.

Here’s his chart:

Upton Sinclair

born September 20 1878 - 9:00 a.m. (+5-06-27) - Baltimore MD

With the South Node in Leo, this would be an opinionated man. In fact, with that South Node conjunct the Midheaven in Leo, and with Leo’s rulership by the Sun pointing us to a Sun conjunct Mars in the 11th house, having his say in a big way was Upton’s forte.

Which indeed it was. Author, political activist and general rabble rouser of his time, Upton Sinclair had a way of getting under people’s skin. He was roundly hated by many (including a couple of Presidents of the United States) for his inability to stay quiet whenever he found something going on he thought was terribly wrong.

And seeing how back in Upton’s day, Facies was at 6 Capricorn – that puts Facies, a snarky little nebula if there ever was one – conjunct his 3rd house cusp.

Upton Sinclair - natal chart detail

 

And since the 3rd house is always the house of mentality and communication, and since Facies is known to torment us as much as we torment others because we feel so tormented, we can bet that Upton Sinclair felt tormented by what he saw going on in his world – and hence why he tormented others.

A friend of mine refers to this as ‘sharing’…which only goes to show that sharing is not always about sharing the good stuff. When we feel tormented or upset or hurt or maltreated, we share our displeasure. We share our anger. We share our negativity.

In the metaphysical sense, we’re stirring the pot. At the very least we’re trying to let someone else know that their right to swing their arms ends about the time they punch us in the nose (or some other place which is equally if not more painful).

Sinclair was a man who wanted to get things done. Sun conjunct Mars in the 3rd ten degrees of Virgo said he saw things being (Virgo) done wrong and the placement in the 11th house says this was on a societal level.

The opposition to Saturn at 29 Pisces just helped things along. Yes, he felt it ‘critical’ to do something about it. Any time we see anything at 29 degrees of any sign there’s an emphasis, a focus, a ‘need’ to attend to whatever that symbolism speaks to. In Upton’s case, there were three modifiers – besides the opposition, I mean. His Saturn (an indication of career and business) was conjunct Agamemnon, indicating a stubborn tenacity…conjunct fixed star Scheat, a quotient which is always all about what we or others don’t want to look at or accept as the truth…and our not-so-good, good friend Sedna, the emblem of ‘take your blinders off, and stop thinking in those rose petal terms. If you keep on like you’re doing, in the end the person you’re going to hurt worse is going to be yourself or someone you love.’

-link to-

The Sedna Conflict

There are lots of other things we could say about Upton Sinclair as a man who wanted to get the word out. Certainly his Moon at 7 Cancer in the 9th house was all about how society functions and letting his feelings be known. Conjunct Vesta, he was all about the cost of what we do…and what we don’t do.

Chiron at 7 Taurus sitting atop the Descendant and conjunct Neptune and Ceres would basically describe Upton Sinclair as someone who didn’t have any ‘plan’ about how he was going to take others on, he just knew when he had to say something…and when we flip this around, he was pretty much saying ‘you may not have thought about having a plan about dealing with what’s wrong about what’s going on, but you probably should get one.’

Like I say, he was a real sharing kind of guy.

So why did knowing who Upton Sinclair queeze me out back when I was in middle school? That’s because my class was required to read one of his many (many) books – a rather notorious book called “The Jungle.”

"The Jungle" - 1st edition cover

 

I thought it a pretty horrifying book. Why? Well, “The Jungle” is all about big business of its day and is focused on the meat slaughtering business. And maybe it’s because I read this book as an early-mid teen, or maybe it’s because I went through a deal of violence as a child…but were author Jack London (“Call of the Wild,” “Valley of the Moon,” “White Fang,” etc.) thought “The Jungle” was about the corruption of people in power sort of on that ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’ sort of level and the evils of what he referred to as ‘wage slavery,’ I thought of “The Jungle” as a litany of mankind’s inhumanity not just to man, but to the creatures of this earth.

To me, “The Jungle” was all about just how callous and uncaring we can be as people. It was about how easy it is to wrap ourselves in the righteous garb of institutional processes and ‘that’s just the way we do it’ without regard to the fact that real lives – and life – is at stake.

“The Jungle” was released on February 26, 1906. Here’s the chart:

Publication chart for "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair

Release date: February 26, 1906 

28 degrees of Gemini rising puts Betelgeuse (then at 27 Gemini) right behind the Ascendant. The book is thus all about that Betelgeuse thing of doing what comes easily.

And plainly, writing about societal ills came pretty easily to Sinclair. I’ve recently begun studying asteroid Lucifer, and after a first round of examination, the point seems not to be about “Satan” per se, but how ‘bedeviled’ we can be, or how ‘devilish’ we can be with regards to others…and in a greater sense how ‘the devil is in the details.’

With Upton Sinclair, the devil was plainly in the details and with his Lucifer conjunct Betelgeuse in his ‘let’s discuss this’ Gemini 8th house of power and how we negotiate, clearly Upton Sinclair saw his ability to write a way to force people’s hands.

Which he did. When “The Jungle” came out, many – including President Roosevelt – called Sinclair a crackpot. But after reading it, Roosevelt moderated his stance, saying that the book had a lot of valid points.

Apparently so. After publication of “The Jungle” a lot of ‘sanitizing efforts’ went towards the meat packing business from top to bottom. Corruption in the business also got taken on – and spread to other businesses.

Looking at the book publication chart, it’s Midheaven (it’s “public point,” if you will) is at 4 Pisces – which at the time was the position of Hidalgo (protocols or the manner in which something is done) and Eurydike – the emblem of understanding the cost. With the Sun plus dispassionate Pallas united at 7 Pisces it’s not surprising that “The Jungle” would be something which dispassionately…some might say even coolly…discussed something so vital, so venial, so…whether you’re talking about how people or animals were treated…so very emotionally disturbing.

Today Fomalhaut, the royal fixed star which warns us that success comes only when our ‘dreams’ (aims) are not corrupted – whether by means dark or rose colored – Fomalhaut is sitting at 4 Pisces. 

And Neptune is conjuncting it.

- link to -

The Royal Stars of Persia (Part Four): Fomalhaut

A lot of us are dealing with dreams which are coming to nothing and our desire to ignore or not feel feelings which are difficult to manage.
But we need to.

Meanwhile, Pluto is going direct as this post hits the blog, and it’s doing so at 8 Capricorn, conjunct the Uranus end of the book’s Uranus-Neptune and conjunct Sinclair’s 3rd house cusp, setting off his Facies/Moon opposition.

We are all of us facing various forms of wanting to ignore and wanting to simply ‘go along to get along’ and feeling like victims while ‘sharing’ our hurts. Escapism is bigger than ever and so is the wholesale abuse of power. “Wage slavery” as Jack London termed it, is back in vogue and again crushing the life out of countless lives, thus undermining the riches of all for the purpose of a few who think their domination can last.

Life simply doesn’t work that way. When that which ‘nourishes’ us – be it food or income or the ‘milk of human kindness’ is tainted, so our world becomes tainted too.

That was Upton Sinclair’s ultimate message in much of what he wrote.

Metaphysically, the timing of his birthday would seem to suggest we need to ‘clean up our act.’ We need to care less about the end product and more about the process. The idea of Pluto going station-direct atop Facies is shown ably by this combination of charts. But in our lives…in our individual lives, it has more to do with where early Capricorn is in your natal chart by house – and whether anything is pictured there. It has to do with where your Pluto is located natally, and the distance from there to early Capricorn.

*****************************

For those born under Pluto in Cancer (roughly 1914 – 1938), this is an opposition. It’s time to let go of the old and face what is yet left to do. Take it easy…fighting won’t help and by now you have the wisdom to know better.

For Baby Boomers born under Pluto in Leo (roughly 1939 – 1958), this is an inconjunct. It’s time to do what you need to do in order to become the person you know you should be…not the person its necessarily easy to be. Try to share judiciously, but don’t shut up. Where wrong is wrong, you need to make it right, whether that’s in your own life or in the greater world around you.

For Yuppies born under Pluto in Virgo (roughly 1958 – 1972) this station activates trine energy. Quality, not quantity is the byword. The focus should not be on what you can’t have, but what you can be. Look within.

For Gen X’ers born under Pluto in Libra (roughly 1972 – 1983), this energetic is a square. To see life as ‘us and them’ is to undermine your own interests. Being the bigger better version of yourself – the person you would be in awe of if you met you – requires big-time effort but is worth it.

For the Gen Y / Pluto in Scorpio generation (roughly 1983 – 1995) this energetic is a sextile. You have the opportunity now to see the flaws in your thinking. Change those and you will free yourself of much grief down the line. You’re likely to feel ‘no, this way is the right way’ and where that’s integrative, fine. But where it’s about power and personal gain…not so much.

For the Millennials – the Pluto in Sagittarius tribe (roughly 1995 through early 2008) you’re in for some trying times as this station represents the sort of semi-sextile energetic which gets you to see a really useful (and bigger) perspective by delivering a series of hard knocks. Don’t be offended, consider what you have to gain by expanding your vision and you’ll be fine. Well…more or less fine, and yes, it will take a while. But you can get there!

The little tykes among us – the Pluto in Capricorn group – are fighting battles with themselves at the moment, battles which have to do with learning how to be secure in themselves as individuals. This is all about a balance of being secured without being hovered over: parents beware!

********************************

One of the strangest-seeming facts about astrology is the fact that our charts live on after we die. Just as JRR Tolkien's chart reflected the release of Peter Jackson's 'Lord of the Rings' films (I didn't check 'The Hobbit') and just as things have happened since the passing of first my father and then my mother which reflects on their charts, so this Pluto turn atop Facies echoes Upton Sinclair's chart - and the 'natal chart' for the release of his book "The Jungle."

The cycle is coming around again. But then, they always do.
 
Whoever you are, and however you think of your life or the lives of those who have gone before us, hopefully you recognize the patterns in your own life. Hopefully you are able to see your life as a part of the greater world and the cycles of the greater world as operative in your own life.

Not to mention those cycles which are individual and important to our lives as individuals. Humans, like the society they live in are as driven as manifestations of a point in the vastness of time and space which is every bit as evolutionary the cycle of the dinosaurs, creatures which started as little amphibian things and evolved to become astonishing behemoths.

We just don't have a gazillion-million years to get our cycles straight in. But then, it's likely that dinosaurs weren't great thinkers. And no...(yes, I'm laughing)...some of us humans aren't such great thinkers either.

But we have the option to think, and that's what really counts.

It's our choice. 

Wherever you are on your journey, here’s to living a life as filled with conviction as that of Upton Sinclair.

And here’s to remembering some of the lessons he worked so hard and spent his life trying to make us aware of, lest we go through life blinded by the sheer desire to not see.
.
.
.

Pluto Station-Retrogrades in Capricorn

Image based on a photo of cocktail straws taken by Dave Gough (September 2006)

Amidst threats of violence and a rash of difficulties and damaging deeds, Pluto goes retrograde on April 12, 2013 at 7:33 in the evening UT/+0 time at 11 degrees of Capricorn, a sign astrologically ruled by Saturn.

That means the 'station window' (or 'allowance') begins on April 10th and extends through to April 14th, which does not mean that acts which are undertaken or committed to prior to this time don't apply. What the station and its two day 'allowance' to either time represents is the heart of a period which changes our perception (in this case, in a Plutonic manner) depending on what else is going on.

That said, in this case, Saturn went retrograde back in February at 11 degrees of Scorpio – in a perfect sextile to the station Pluto is taking now.

And since Capricorn is ruled by Saturn and Pluto is the ‘outcome’ ruler of Scorpio, in astrological terms this is something of a self-feeding loop.

 Since ancient times the Ouroboros - the snake (dragon, fish, etc.) swallowing itself

has been a symbol of a process which is either difficult to escape or which

is entirely self-supporting.

(From the Codex Parisinus, a late medieval Byzantine Greek
alchemical manuscript - c. 1478)

Okay…so maybe in our lives this isn’t so literal. (Or as literal.) But for some of us...maybe it is.

Saturn in Scorpio is all about building our lives and what it takes to get where we want to go.

Link to post: Saturn in Scorpio

Scorpio is an emotional sign which tests us through others and through the situations we encounter in life. Sagittarius is a fire sign which tests the viability of our ideas and the implementation thereof. And Capricorn is a sign about real world, real time, real life ‘commerce’ (be that business or otherwise) and how well or how badly we structure our lives…or how well or badly we have already structured our lives.

So the ‘outcomes’ we are experiencing now, or the challenges which are really ‘getting to us’ now are a combination of this back-and-forth sign rulership between Pluto and Saturn. (Which by the by has an astrological name – it’s called “mutual reception.”)

And the thing to remember is that all signs being polarities, this calls in some bigger questions – those posed by nationality, family, culture and upbringing (Cancer as the polarity to Capricorn) and our feelings of risk or security or threat to that security which are emblematic of Taurus as the oppositional sign to Scorpio.

Some of us are likely to come into this time – the Pluto station or the period surrounding it – trying to figure out how we can please everyone.

And yes, sometimes it’s too bad that people aren’t flex-straws.

 A contortionist playing 'Man-in-a-box'

(photo credit: Keith Allison, December 2006)

Evidently we don’t stop trying. And some of us (evidently) succeed at getting pretty good at it, whether it’s at being a human flexi-straw or finding our way through the thicket of human hopes, disagreements, conflicts and realities.

11 Capricorn is symbolized by this image:  

An illustrated lecture on natural science reveals little-known facts of life.

With Pluto taking its station and going retrograde in this degree, the effort we have put into things (Saturn in Scorpio) is now either bearing fruit or bringing to light ‘little-known facts’ which we need to consider. A lot depends on what kind of energy you have been putting out there, obviously. Some people have been resisting making changes, some people have been resisting knowing the truth, some people have been resisting taking responsibility for what they’ve done or their life or relationships or success, failure – what have you.

Saturn is the symbol of all we either put into something to build and grow and create lasting life structures, or Saturn is some sort of wall or limit you set up in your life, or which life confronts you with.

Of course there are many limitations and challenges to which we say ‘I just have to live with it’ or ‘that’s the way it is’ when that’s not really the truth.

And here we get into the big and karmic world of what we can do versus what we want to do – which is exactly the sort of concept Pluto generally brings to light.

And it brings them to light because Pluto represents not merely our psychic shadow (that which we don't want to admit to or see in ourselves) but that which brings out evidence of that shadow.

Hence so much violence and the taking of stances by those in our personal world as well as on the world stage who don't feel entirely good about who they are. Jealousy, grasps at power and control and a wholesale thrust to have what we want no matter how it affects others are very Scorpio-Pluto concepts. Add in Saturn and you have a 'making it real' factor which is particularly apt where something hard and sometimes tangible but always consequential is put forth as the means or the "weapon" of choice.  

But there is a whole other side to this Pluto-Saturn mutual reception. For those who have been working towards some goal ("earning" being the key idea here) this is a time when a rational approach and clarity of method yields results. So this can be an entirely positive time...it mostly just depends on whether you are working productively, honestly and openly with or within your Self. Those who have worked for something which is viable and ‘a positive’ in life will find a path forward being revealed. And though the forward path may not be easy, at least you’ll know it’s there for the doing...the taking on as a task and personal responsibility to yourself.

Conversely, those who have erected too many walls, or who have allowed their lives to get 'walled in,' life will now present challenges which seem exceptionally trying in a very primal, personal sense. Some will find themselves having to do with out - or face having to do without something "easy" in order to get to something less 'glossy' but more valuable on some intangible, intrinsic level.

Those who have based their values on things which don’t work for their true life Purpose? They will also find things more difficult. But why should Purpose enter into this? That would be because Pluto going retrograde at 11 Capricorn puts Pluto very much in opposition to fixed star Alhena at 9 Cancer, and Alhena is a premier emblem of Purpose among the fixed stars.

But we have even more to go with than that: in going retrograde at 11 Capricorn, Pluto is also going retrograde in opposition to dog star Sirius at 14 Cancer. So, considering that Sirius is all about personal brilliance and the ‘bright star’ we each can be in life as an individual, in ‘parsing the astrological opposition,’ Pluto’s station is asking us whether we are using our brilliance purposefully, or whether we are really serving the brilliance of Our Purpose, and that Purpose which can be supported by our brilliance properly.

Or even at all.

Considered to be a ‘true to theme’ degree of its sign 11 Capricorn has a bit of a Scorpionic quality in that it poses the opportunity and – on occasion – tests of confidentiality or secrecy. Another form of this ‘secret’ energy with this degree has to do with things we know which we utilize in our efforts to build our life, such as the experience we get on a job or the training we have invested in (“built into ourselves”) so that we can hold a particular job or be involved with a given career.

Pluto in any earth sign is going to ‘test the results’ in real time. All the hopes and dreams and theories of how things “should” work or how we might “want” them to work mean nothing in the earthy Pluto world where all that matters are results. And this goes to Pluto as a signature of transformative energies which, if we don’t keep them in perspective can become obsessions. Or obsessive drives which obliterate everything else.

And yes, that may even include our actual Purpose, which just may be shown up to you now through some little but brilliant fact.

Pluto committed to its transit of Capricorn in December of 2008. It will be in this most worldly sign of earthly personal and societal outcomes until 2024. Being that Capricorn is the third sign from Pluto’s ‘home’ sign (Scorpio), it is through all things Capricorn that Pluto gives ‘voice’ to all the ups and downs of Scorpio-like qualities.

 One from a famous series of photographs known as 'The Blue Marble' which

the Apollo 17 astronauts took while on their way to the Moon

(photo credit: NASA)

So these are the years of high persuasion and verbal manipulation. These years will show up the strengths of the human spirit and the terrible things which can happen to the human mind – and what those minds get put to. Considering that war is a ‘Scorpio thing’ it’s neither surprising that what war does to minds (PTSD and otherwise) and what kind of a mind launches a war is coming out now, nor should we expect this to be an easy ‘fix.’

Being that government is a Capricorn function and Cancer is the sign of 'the people' or a native population, the problems of government around the world are merely manifestations of this time. Whether citizens are trying to get rid of a government, whether governing bodies are taking away the rights of their citizens, this is Pluto working as a transformative and testing factor in the structural sign of Capricorn. Whether the question is states rights versus federal rights, democratic votes being overridden (or voters voting to override the will of those in power), whether it's a head of state refusing to give up the reins of power or a 'functional head of religious state' such as Pope Benedict choosing to step down when nobody's done that for many centuries...this is all part of Pluto passing through Capricorn and in doing so, testing what works and what doesn't work and the relationship between sheer power and negotiated agreement (the Saturn-Pluto cross-rulership quality) really means.

And how it does work, and where it doesn't work, and how the notoriously Scorpio ‘I want it my way’ quality can muck up the works.

Abuse being Scorpio and based on fear of loss with Capricorn being about having not just the authority and ability to punish but the responsibility to act for the greater and long-term "Cancerian" good is going to be a problem. So we will be hearing about tyrants real and fabricated. We will suspect those who accuse and we will oftentimes not want to believe the worst of someone we are in some way predisposed to like or feel loyal to.

And yet, they may be in the wrong. Or at least guilty of being as wrong as the "other side" is.

These years will test our own ability to recognize that might doesn't make right and how against that, sometimes there simply isn't no 'right or wrong' - there's only circumstances. And that’s just the problem. Pluto in any earth sign will tend to say look for results. But if there aren’t any, you have to ask why. Is it for lack of trying? Or as in this case, is there some other force (which at this moment would be represented by Saturn in Scorpio) which is blocking or “limiting” all possibilities for success because they can’t face being wrong or having their values be proven not so (Taurus as oppositional sign to Scorpio) valuable – or even viable?

The last time Pluto transited Capricorn - some two hundred and forty years ago - we were still squarely in the Age of Pisces. In the Piscean Age, Capricorn ruled the 11th house - the house of society.

A wheel representing the Age of Pisces with the border color-coded

to Capricorn's position on the 11th house

And so we come into this time with a lot of built up social 'inheritance,' if you will. The Piscean Age pictures two distinct groups - like the two fish of Pisces.

But the Age of Aquarius knows no gender, no bias, no class or caste or inequality.

At least that's it's purpose.

Aquarius is the most theoretical of air signs, the concept of the World as One which obviously sounds good but which quickly runs into human bias and the habitual human tendency to lust after weal, power, control, social status and all those trappings which prove to us that we're 'worth it' - which is precisely what the Scorpio-Taurus axis shows up: our vulnerabilities, insecurities and (in particular) those issues of self respect and self worth which people try to solve with "becoming worth" a lot of money or doing whatever they think they need to do to garner "respect" from others. 

This is all about the new paradigm: Scorpio at the top of the wheel of the Aquarian Age...

An Aquarian Age wheel with the border color coded to match Scorpio

on the 10th and highest house of the Age

...and Taurus at the bottom.

An Aquarian Age wheel with the border color coded to match Taurus

on the 4th house of the Age 

  
As Pluto moved through its home sign of Scorpio in the 1980s it set the trend of fervency (which some would call desperation) off. Yes, even if the attention is sometimes simple lip service or air-headed adulation, even if it's placation, manipulative praise or infamy, there's a lot of people who have already headed in this direction.

And there's more to come. The sign at the bottom of the wheel of any Age is the thing we come into that Age having very little of. In the Age of Pisces that was education - Gemini was at the bottom of the wheel.

Now it's Taurus.

Those who know their history know that education was not at the top of anyone's list 2,100 years ago as something everybody should have. That's a key to understanding where we are - and how likely we are to keep on with the whole 'substitute for self worth' epidemic for some time yet to come.

The truly successful among us - in the human sense of successful (i.e., success equaling satisfaction and contentment with one's life) will develop themselves and then build towards achievement, earning respect along the way. Those who do it the other way around may succeed on the outside, but feel hollow on the inside.

And yes, we've already seen and hear plenty of those stories. They're sad. From the outside you can see the person struggling to have that very thing they won't stop to accept: their own self respect. 

As for Capricorn, in the Age of Aquarius, Capricorn moves to the 12th house of the wheel.

The Aquarian Age with the border of the diagram color coded

to match Capricorn being on the 12th house of the wheel of the Age  

And if you know anything about the 12th house, it's a house which is all about our ability to deal with reality and all about everything we will do to avoid dealing with realities - with all of that involving (and prompting) the many ups and downs which embody the universal emotional experience of being human.

All that is now flowing through Capricorn. So with Capricorn being the sign of commerce and every kind of ‘worldly regulated social standing’ it’s no wonder that we’re hearing so much about the gay marriage and the right of women to be CEOs, priests or anything else of worldly standing.

Once Pluto moved into Capricorn, even reality TV moved on. Reality TV started under Pluto in Sagittarius (which is Pluto in the opposition sign to Gemini). Sagittarius being about how well our choices and ideas work we had shows like ‘Survivor’ and ‘Big Brother,’ ‘American Idol’ and ‘The Amazing Race.’

And while those may have lived on, as Pluto moved into Capricorn (the reality of how we deal with the world and build our lives) reality shows began exploring the Capricorn-Cancer realm of life, lifestyle and traditions or culture, giving us people creating a career (creating a Capricorn structure) rather literally out of their family, heritage or efforts to make their way in this world (Cancer).

We are each doing some form of all of this in our lives. We have shifted out of ‘playing at’ certain things (Pluto in Sagittarius) in favor of doing things ‘for real’ – the hallmark of Pluto in Capricorn. Things seem more real and at once more depressing and more possible with Pluto in Capricorn.

And now Pluto is going retrograde. This means the energy of ‘change’ is now moving from in the world (to which we respond) into us. So for the next several months (Pluto goes retrograde in September) will be a time for a lot of internal shifts, changes and transformations. They won’t all be easy. Plutonic energy isn’t known as anything easy and with the mutual reception in Saturn there are some hard choices and difficult challenges to be dealt with by each and every living last one of us.

But we can do what we need to do. It may mean giving up the easy or the comfy or even the popular. But if you are heading towards manifesting your true Purpose with authentic brilliance, you’re likely to come out on top.

As the old expression goes, slow and steady wins the race. With Saturn and Pluto both currently in retrograde taking the time to do things right and thoroughly is what will – in time – give you the rock to stand on.

And isn’t that what we all want – a rock which doesn’t roll out from under us at the critical moment?
That would be Pluto’s aim in Capricorn. Some of us are going to have to break out of a hard chrysalis shell before we can pump blood into our wings and take flight like a butterfly.

A Monarch Butterfly enjoying a flowery moment in a Birmingham (UK) garden

(Tony Hisgett, September 2011)

But what’s our choice? Do we really want to live and die inside a cocoon? Being ‘cocooned,’ whether in silken threads or not have a difficult reputation in the world of lore and metaphysics. It’s like being crippled, and who would choose to cripple themselves on purpose?

One other thing to stick in our Pluto bonnet here before we slip off into the experiencing our personal world of station/retrograde. That one thing is about the Solar Eclipse which will happen this November. It’s going to be at 11 Scorpio – the degree of Saturn’s February station and in sextile to Pluto’s current station position. (And yes, Saturn will be close enough to the eclipse to be involved.)

This is one of those celestial ‘messages on a wall.’ The message reads: change or be changed.

Those who make the needed changes now, or who are working towards them are likely to emerge from this fall’s eclipse with more clarity and better opportunities than those who refuse, reject or claim they ‘can’t’ change. And while I understand (better than most, trust me!) that when I say ‘emerge from an eclipse’ I’m not talking about an ‘over the weekend’ sort of thing, the implied reality – in its totality - is just as important.

Maybe even more important.
.
.
.