Mercury in Capricorn

'Young Hermes at Rest'

(bronze, Naples National Archaeological Museum, photo credit: Marie-Lan Nguyen, 2011)

Since the last post ended with contemplations of rainstorms and possible floor flooding, an update: the water didn't come in under the front wall, it came in under the door and somehow staged wetting down two of my windowsills (yes, on the indoors side), but it wasn't horrible. Furthermore I gather my wakefulness had plenty of company - a good number of Los Angelenos stayed up or were woken up by the downpour (replete with whistling winds) when it hit at about 1:30 in the morning.

The reason water came in under the door, I understand. That's because it rained so hard (LA got something close to two inches of rain in a couple of hours) that the roof gutter  overflowed. And wouldn't you know, it overflowed in just the right place to set up a cascade of splatter which hit my front door, dripping down - and from there under the door.

The windowsills I haven't quite fathomed yet, but I'm working on it. And though it is always something (as they say) this is the first invasion by water for me this year, which even as a Pisces person I think is a bit much.
 
Getting to the subject of this post (thanks for listening)... Mercury is reaching Capricorn ahead of the Sun this year, which isn’t an unpleasant thought. After all, while Mercury in Sagittarius can have things moving ahead at leaps and bounds Mercury in Sagittarius can also be a time that so much in motion that nothing gets done. Or a time when things already in progress seem like they’ll never, ever end.

Where Sagittarius runs hot, speedy and far, Capricorn coolly pays attention, considers repercussions and is never, ever in a hurry - which isn’t to say Capricorn symbols should be taken to be reticent. They aren’t - so when this comes to the mental, motion, communication realm which is All Things Mercury, we shouldn’t be surprised that Mercury in Capricorn is known for speaking its peace even if that disrupts the peace.

Capricorn stands for that which will last. It’s all about that which will endure, the effort to endure and the enduring of our own learning curve as that pertains to who we are intrinsically (identity), who we are in this world (career, social/legal standing) and how well we deal with who we are in that world, inclusive of whether we hold our Self to standards (reputation) - and what it takes to do that (responsibility).

Known for a ‘cool and collected’ quality, Mercury in Capricorn imbues most of us with a rational sort of awareness of why comprehension of themes and details is important to our aims. And thus we ‘go’ for what we want - we ask, we do, we try, we throw our hat in the ring, and for those who aren’t wearing a hat, we toss in whatever seems handy and apropos.

Who cares if someone objects? So long as our intention is well and truly understood, while someone else may object, it’s our self-esteeming that we’re mostly embodied and motivated by.

Given Mercury as a sign of communication, that Capricorn seldom hesitates and is a pragmatic and an ‘it is what it is’ sort of earth sign makes this an obvious boon for business and important of any kind - and while the Sun remains in Sagittarius (read: until the December 21st Solstice) while there may be disagreements on some points, so long as everyone remembers to nix the idea and not the person, given a bit of back and forth, agreements can be reached.

Once the Sun does enter Capricorn however, we can expect any of a number of tacks and tactics to liven up our day, our thoughts and considerations - and since some will be lobbed at us (as opposed to being something wholly ours to decide) we are likely to feel... and indeed to be challenged. 

Challenges - particularly those which test our endurance are part and parcel of Capricorn and going to be part of Mercury in Capricorn, testing not merely our endurance but the validity and viability (read: practicality, never mind any hype) of our reason(s) for holding our goal or opinion or belief or whatever else so very dearly.

And it’s likely that during this time a few things will change. Some changes will be initiated because of things we come to (Mercury) think and some will result from things which occur and which we react or respond to, whether or not that means we adapt to changing internal or external conditions or merely cope with them. Because of this - and in spite of this things can, and will get done: Mercury in Capricorn is another quite decent pairing for those with accomplishments needing to be accomplished. And since we know two other things (Uranus going direct on December 21st and Saturn moving from Scorpio into Sagittarius on the 23rd) are on the astrological calendar during Mercury’s trio of weeks in Capricorn, we have the markers which for some will manifest as accomplishment.

Or input. Or a shock - or perhaps a surprise. Capricorn does have a sincere strain of ‘earning’ to its makeup which suggests that those who have earned something are likely to get results there where those who haven’t earned won’t receive (or to the degree that we may not earned we may not receive).

This ‘earning’ or ‘having earned’ theory would even seem supported by the grand trine Mercury’s moving into Capricorn acts to trigger and make ‘real’ in that singular manner planets entering earth signs seem to have.

With Mercury exactly conjunct Eurydike there’s a question of ‘the cost’ in the mix, with that motivated and inexorably tied to some Regulus-Black Moon fact or earthly/earthy factor which is both about (Regulus) how little there is to be gained by doing things (Virgo) improperly... and about how there is nothing which can be (Regulus) properly done which doesn’t have a high (and probably unpredictable) quality of moral, ethical or emotional backlash (which by any other name would be known as ‘cost.).

At the same time that all that’s true, there’s also a nexus of conviction about the innate quality of goodness and the need to (Mirach/Hestia) protect same which has a tenacious, emotional hold on things... or on us... and that’s also a cost.

How to reconcile it all while attending to what time requires and the times demand while dealing with the business of how to make gains on whatever our goals and aims are...that requires some sort of compromise - from us, I mean.

We can like it or not like any of this. We can also be the person initiating whatever this grand trine refers to or a person on the receiving end.

Or we can just be experiencing something which embodies this experience for us, wholesale. Good or bad isn’t necessarily part of the equation... in fact Mercury in Capricorn has just that touch of a proverbial sort of ‘eat your vegetables, they’re good for you!’ maxim that issues are more likely to be about ‘like/no like’ or ‘want/not want’ than anything else.

Whatever will get us to think about what works in the long run or fullest of full terms - that’s where we can operatively go. But whether we’ll go there...? Or get there...?

That’s a whole other question. After Saturn changes signs (on the 23rd) there will be a ‘freeing up’ of some things, but getting any real feeling for same is going to take a bit of time, which given when this change of sign happens rather points to the end of the year and/or holiday season, whichever way you see it.

But prior to that there is Uranus’ station. Occurring on December 21st and at 12 Aries, this station occurs with Uranus' turn to direct in semi-square to Pluto (suggesting situational transformations as issues, facts and energies come to greater clarity) and Mercury in sextile to Neptune - which becomes the general rub.

What kind of rub? It's that Mercury/Neptune thing - an indication that something isn't entirely factual. This doesn’t have to be any big problem as 'non-factual' in metaphysical terms can simply mean "fiction."

As usual, such indicators end up being all in how we take them - or are overtaken by them. Beyond all that however, because this is (by date) associated with Uranus' station, any or all of what happens could also have everything to do with communications, changes in plans and/or high tech subjects seeing as Uranus is always a symbol of things systemic, electric, electrifying, digital and electronic. With Mercury in Capricorn there is some sort of reference or connection to the outside world (or what we are, want to be or need to be in that outside world) even if we spend the whole of this passage  experiencing whatever that means to us solely inside our own life - or even just inside our own head.

Two more items of particular note here. The first is how Mercury will conjunct Pluto (the finding, rediscovering or utilizing something which was lost, transformed or denied... or which will now be lost, transformed or denied) on December 24th. The degree being activated here being 12 Capricorn, there is a good deal of wit, cleverness and deftness of skill that if used wisely can lead to (or can now produce) something totally unanticipated - or at least unpredicted - of a powerful and potentially quite positive nature IF we are willing to admit to ourselves and ‘fill in the gap’ (or gaps) when it comes to that ‘thing’ which is missing in whatever equation we are working with which we would like to equal success and successful results.

The other thing to know about is that as we close in on New Years, Mercury will oppose fixed star Castor (first of the Gemini twins) on December 29th and then oppose Pollux (the second Gemini twin) on New Years Eve, AS Mars in Aquarius opposes Jupiter, now retrograde in Leo.

That brings up the subject of choice - and since Mercury rules Gemini - that which we choose or have chosen.

Plus there is that little fact that people do tend to do some very particular things on New Years Eve.

Whatever you face (or whatever is facing you), let’s just say this is not the time to do something hasty (or in haste) which might create some need to deal with a ‘cost’ regarding same which confronts you from some impersonally (or not personally) controlled perspective.

Other than that, what with this week ahead when the Sun in Sagittarius’ most worldly and newsworthy degrees will be signifying life stirring up that which will shift as we move through Uranus’ station on December 21st, we shouldn’t expect the days ahead to feel normal - or to have normal feelings about life in general.

The feelings we’re talking about are those which can feel personally destabilizing. Feelings of insecurity we didn’t even know we had may appear as if out of rather dim air.

Taken by NASA's Messenger spacecraft, this photo of Mercury is known as 'The Sunlit Side of Mercury'

(photo credit: NASA-JPL)

And on that level, that Mercury is moving into Capricorn on Wednesday, a day or two in advance of Uranus’ ‘official’ station and also probably as things (or we) start seeming or feeling disjointed about this or that... maybe that’s just life being kind to us by giving us an inner sense that we can prevail, that despite all the loose ends, seeming impossibilities and disgruntled times we can keep on being who we need to be.

Which is a gift indeed.
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Blogpost May 20-25: Sun in Gemini / Mercury into Shadow

A NASA 'jigsaw puzzle' of the Sun worked

by yours truly for today's blog.

(image credit: NASA)

 

When it comes to putting a jigsaw puzzle together, there are all sorts of ways of approaching the problem. Some people separate all the colors. Others work with just edge pieces and work to ‘frame in’ the rest of the puzzle.

This difference in approach is just like Gemini - as is the fact that wherever we meet up with the zodiac sign Gemini we encounter the ability...and often the need or requirement...to consider more than one thing.

And ‘considering’ is the word to be thinking in terms of here as Gemini is the first of the air signs, and thus all about the process of learning how to think about things...starting with thinking - a construct which leads to the inimitable Gemini habit of getting the idea then thinking about the idea (and exploring what that means as a concept) before moving on to the next thing.

All air signs work in the airy realm of thoughts, plans and choices, which makes Sun in Gemini a month of learning about how to think about things and  experiencing any manner of process, relationship, challenge or option which will get us to consider where we’re going, why we’re going ‘there’ and what that means. At one end of the behavior spectrum here is the studious, intrigued and challenging - and at the other is the careless, carefree or not caring to make the choice to care.

Often represented by fixed stars Castor and Pollux (the famous ‘Gemini twins’) the myth of Gemini has to do with taking two things - often disparate things - and figuring out (1.) how they can live in the same space...or (2.) whether one should be discarded for the other...or possibly (3.) how to find a ‘middle road’ which will either “split the difference,” avoid polarities or fit both ideas into some greater construct.

- link to post on the 2012 Gemini Eclipse,

and fixed stars Castor and Pollux -

Known astrologically as a sign which operates in  a ‘mutable’ (changing, learning as it goes) sort of activity mode, the weeks ahead of Sun Gemini will find us following developments and developing new ideas to follow. All four mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) display this ‘tacking from one point to the next’ or ‘connecting the dots’ sort of activity mode, with Gemini as the airy, conceptual, verbal, thought-or-concept-driven theoretical version of mutable energy being/manifesting as the ‘origin of the idea’ (our mental faculties) as sincerely as it describes our process of thought, learning, priority, organization and choice.

Either end of any Gemini spectrum can be equally productive or unproductive - which brings us back to the jigsaw puzzle as the one place all people, things and situations Gemini seem to trip over is in needing to remember that if the object is to assemble the puzzle, though we may have fun with all our sorting, separating and ‘getting into’ any given ‘piece’ of our ‘puzzle,’ in the end the puzzle needs to get assembled.

It’s sort of like the zodiacal glyph for Gemini...

Gemini is not about ideas or situations in isolation any more than our thoughts exist as something apart from life. It’s all bound together. So we can hold to either polarity or choose a path between - with the much of our particular or personal basket of ‘habits’ coming (in human growth terms, whether we consider this using psychology or astrology) from ages five to seven-and-half, a period during which as children we learn we really exist because at some level we realize we have our own thoughts.

That process involves a natural ‘shedding’ of our early childlike ‘magical’ world ‘as’ or ‘because’ we begin to recognize reality as reality: from the duality we arrive at how we choose to think...

...which yes, in the case of some is how they either don’t ‘choose’ to think through but still adopt (the Gemini duality as a ‘multiple’ and thus one-among-others), or the ‘idea’ of what one must live with (one polarity) which one accepts while having their ‘other’ life - which may be as simple as ‘yes, I have to go to work/school but the REAL me is the person I am at home,’ or any other ‘divide’ between the voluntary versus ‘requirement’ side of life.

Whatever is going on, under Sun in Gemini it brings learning - and how we receive that learning reflects our relationship to learning (which in more astrological terms would be the relationship defined by our natal third house (the sign on the cusp, the ruler of that sign’s condition and any planets posited within the 3rd house)...as well as wherever Gemini falls in the horoscope. The third house is always ‘Gemini-like’ in that it refers to mental-and-mentality sorts of processes where Gemini the sign refers to what we do with or because of our mentality.

So we’re in for a conscious and think-ful sort of month. During Sun in Gemini we should expect or at least not be surprised to have things bring new ideas to light, replete with all the reflecting (or investigating) we might feel compelled to do on such ideas. Yes, the duality of Gemini is likely to promote many a moment of ‘if it wasn’t for Them, I wouldn’t have to take my time doing this’ but the interest which sparks our mental attention isn’t theirs, but ours.

So is our feeling we need to become informed really ‘their fault’? It is if we think our thoughts should drive the whole of this world...but considering our individual incarnation as but one person in a well-populated Existence, while it is easy (and sometimes a Gemini ‘rut’ easily tumbled into) to cling to a known instead of considering an alternative or different perspective, method or ‘ordering’ (arrangement) of goals, ideas, priorities...(etcetera)....whenever we do simply ‘hold’ to one mental position we are automatically defining what there is remains for us to learn.

Why we aren’t learning - or at least open to learning in theory...that’s a whole other very Gemini question. Most often we think it’s because ‘they don’t know.’

More often, we’re afraid to know. There is no compunction under Gemini to do anything other than know, so why we can not or choose not to know isn’t about ‘them’ or what ‘their dictates.’ It’s about the expanse, expansiveness or lack of same within our own Gemini and mercurial realm.

Speaking of which, have you heard that Mercury (ruler of Gemini) is soon to go retrograde?

I’m sorry...I know, it’s a bit much. Or at least it seems like a bit much until you consider the following - a page scanned out of my personal copy of The American Ephemeris for the 21st Century (2001-2050) at Noon:

published by: ACS PUBLICATIONS, San Diego, CA

Note: all times calculated for UT/+0 /(Fair use reproduction only)

Generated though the above may look at first simply like a sea of numbers, those numbers reflect the general ‘tenor’ or tone of things throughout the month of June, starting back with the simplest of all things - astrological decanate theory. You’ve heard it here at the blog so very often: the first ten degrees...degrees 0-9 of any sign (key word: any) manifest through actions and physicality. The second ten degrees (10-19) of any sign manifest as the sign’s connection or embodiment of emotionality (which with air signs is generally expressed by the ‘tone’ of any communication, however it happens). The third ten degrees (degrees 20-29) of any sign manifest either as our experience of/exposure to group/social doings or our response to same....

(...which theoretically would take us back to doing something and the personal experience of life, which is a first decanate matter.)

All of astrology - like all of life - is about cycles, and Gemini is where (among other things) we think about how cycles (plans?) have turned out - and what we’ve learned - or about what new experiences are out there to sample. In the end, what we should focus on (or do) next?

We sometimes try to do it all (hence the Gemini reputation for multi-tasking) but that doesn’t always work. And when we apply all this to the ephemeris page above, what we see is that (reading horizontally) the most ‘social-public-experiential’ part of the month is between May 14th and 20th - or if you stretch it, the 24th, with the most ‘intense’ or focused attentions surfacing from May 7th through the 14th/15th (if that)...plus how all of this is happening under Mercury retrograde.

Mercury rules Gemini, which means ALL of this activity is not about ‘out there’ matters or ‘the world’ or ‘life as a whole’ but rather about our thoughts. Our perspectives. Our ability or willingness to understand ourselves or perhaps be open to conversations with others.

Again, it’s not them, it’s the ‘idea’ which counts under Gemini. Mercury retrograde or not, the Sun passing through Gemini is going to call attention to our mentality, mentality as a whole and the idea of ideas... amalgamated, how they come to be, separately, as something people totally hold to or couldn’t care less about - it’s all up for contemplation.

Some won’t want to and will need to think about things. Some of us won’t need to think so much about things but may end up thinking about why that would be.

It’s just a think-ish sort of time, which is as it should be in theoretical (air sign) terms as Gemini is all about remaining ever curious while also sufficiently self-aware to know our perspective from that of others.

The Mercury retrograde as a specific is a conversation for another day yet to come. But the fact that as Mercury goes on station on June 3rd as Venus rolls over 8 Taurus (the degree of the April solar eclipse) suggests a number of realizations, results, costs, rewards and responses which still coming out of the recent eclipse.

- link to -

APRIL'S 8 TAURUS SOLAR ECLIPSE

Pt. One - The Map and Basics

- link to - 

APRIL'S 8 TAURUS SOLAR ECLIPSE

Pt. Two - Sun in Taurus / Eta Aquarids

- link to -

APRIL'S 8 TAURUS SOLAR ECLIPSE

Pt. Three - Stars and Patterns

Also...with regards to my comments on the Mars Direct post of May 17, if you will look down the Mars column you will see the pace at which Mars is moving through degrees slowing picking up.

Mars generally spends just over 2.5 days in a sign. By June’s end the Mars/Earth perspective will be such that we’ll be close to back to that rate and life will feel commensurately ‘available.’

The culmination of that ‘tale’ happens under Sun in Cancer, which is getting a bit ahead of ourselves here - which is like as not what we may want to do. This “slow” Mars against Mercury (ruler of Gemini) in retrograde with the Sun in Gemini may spell frustration and is highly likely to see some plans and efforts moving forward at a speed worthy of land speed records, musical glissandos and Doppler effects.

It is also likely to leave a bunch of people gaping with that gape representing the ‘mismatch’ of [Mercury] thinking/thought energy and [Mars] output/s, courage, need or aim.

Through what we learn or come to think (and therefore choose) because of what we experience or come to understand we will choose - and for reasons we can’t know going in, some of us will end up being sent back to our (Gemini) mental drawing board somewhere along the way.

Sometimes we need to understand why things don’t work or won’t work any more as well. Learning something new (or learning anew) is mainline Gemini - as is living with that which seemingly remains in conflict...as is compartmentalized thinking.

This year the Sun enters Gemini on May 21st at three o’clock in the morning UT/+0 zone. With Mercury already transiting Gemini and Mars still in Libra, that’s a lot of airy energy which will work wherever we are working through or ‘because of’ an idea. So if you have a list of errands and chores the list is likely to be the thing which is bothering you (“I have to get to that to-do list...”) and if there are multiple steps to some process you’ll be figuring out what has to be done when - and loving or hating that process for your own personal air sign reasons.

In nature, turbulent air is wind. In conversation, turbulent air can be debate, argument or confusion - and speaking of confusion, it’s worth remembering that Neptune will go retrograde on June 9th marking the days of June 6th/7th (depending on where you are) to or through June 11th/12th a time which can be inspirational, enjoyable, confusing, deceptive, restful or filled with boredom, insecurity or exhaustion.

The separating factor between the pluses and minuses of this time are all about ego - and thus whether we can trust, be trusted, or even trust our Self. That Neptune’s station occurs as Mercury’s station is just closing out (with Mercury and Neptune in trine) can be beautiful and romantic and everything you dream of - just don’t count on what happens now as a permanent state and be aware of any desire to cede or surrender personal boundaries without knowing the facts at hand.

Those facts may take time to gather. In the interim, the old rule about ‘risking only what you can afford to lose’ applies. Otherwise, in the famous words of astrologer Robert Hand with regards to all things Neptune, allow yourself not to know.

Yes, you want to glue something down, know something for sure or finalize something. And things may happen which are positive and pleasant, without question. But something is as yet unknown. Unsolved. Maybe even unsuspected...but yet to happen - typically at or after Mercury’s station/direct point (July 1st in this case).

But don’t think that means you should halt everything. Not at all. Though known for misplaced and garbled messages, slow mail, delays in communication, rancid traffic and all those things we do when our brain isn’t quite in sync with our ‘autopilot’ function, Mercury retrograde is very good for getting caught up (speaking of lists) and setting up or creating a mental ‘plan’ which you will then follow once Mercury goes direct.

Meanwhile, life goes on. So as Mercury enters the shadow of its upcoming retrograde (the span of degrees it will retrograde back over) on May 23rd (UT/+0) we may want to take stock of what’s in progress and what isn’t yet fully looked into, decided on, scheduled or otherwise ‘in motion.’ Given that the Sun in Gemini is always an active time even when we choose to ignore all the hustle, bustle and noise, whatever is on the table in our life in terms of that which has been/become prioritized in our thinking, that’s what is probably best allowed to come to its natural conclusion without all the pushing, shouting and mental base-jumping (to conclusions and otherwise).

Moreover, the very (Gemini) idea that Mercury enters its retrograde shadow only a couple of days after the Sun enters Gemini...?

To those who believe (or at least who are willing to explore in true and truly Gemini spirit), in the highly-spiritual (if not precisely religious) metaphysical maxim ‘unbeknownst to us, the universe is unfolding as it should’ the are no ‘coincidences,’ merely opportunities to learn from. With Mars lingering on in Libra we still have an opportunity to learn a great deal about ourselves through others, and though Mercury/Sun conjunctions such as that we will experience on June 15th/26th tend to be a little myopic and lacking in perspective (read: often a lot myopic and lacking in perspective) this is also a very good time to gain perspective on who we really are in the world, our world - and who we can be going forward.
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Referencing a 25 Cancer Full Moon

Austria's Melk Benedictine Abbey Library

(photo credit: Arthos Wien, January 2013)

The Sabian Symbol for 25 Cancer reads as follows:

GUESTS ARE READING IN THE LIBRARY OF A LUXURIOUS HOME

Astrologer Marc Edmund Jones made a note on this degree which in the light of this month’s Full Moon seems particularly apt, seeing as any Full Moon is technically an astrological opposition, oppositions being formulations which cause us to face…or be faced by situations, challenges, realizations and - in this case - our feelings about things. Marc Jones referred to this degree as one embodying ‘the transference of social privilege to the level of intellectual enjoyment’ which here taps into both the Cancer 'home-residence-established base of operations' sense and Capricorn standing as the zodiacal sign most associated with social status and achievement.

One one level this image functions for each of us as a whole: we are each thinking through what we need to do, who we are, who others are, how we do or don’t connect to whomever – all those many things which have to do with our ongoing lives. What are we doing? Will our current plans get us where we want to go? On one side we want, need and crave freedom...on the other we want (and need) a measure of stability.

It's a quandary - one which leaves us quite sure of the confidence we have in our Self even as we are aware of (and perhaps bothered by) things we know we don't know - and indeed which we can't know, or manufacture a 'knowing of’ (or about) by ourselves.

And that quality…issue…notion…whatever we perceive as a gap between our capacity and what we consider optimal - or the disparity between expectations (always dangerous, those expectations) and results (or lack thereof)...all that is now in mind, affecting how we feel not about life - but about how we're living that life.

Occurring at 4:53 in the morning (UT/+0 time) on January 16th under Venus retrograde, we are in a time more likely to be touching than jubilant and more touchy than gratified. None of this really has anything to do with anyone else, but we’re likely to feel a bit distanced, regardless. The Venusian flip side here being not feeling appreciated for what you have done, this Full Moon could also set off spats and disagreements, most of which will merely be the venting of frustrations.

All of us are going to be trying to sort through something. For some of us, it’s how we will deal with whatever feelings come welling to the surface.

The image of the Full Moon as a ‘wave’ of emotionalism seems particularly reasonable with the Moon in Cancer as Cancer is the first of the water signs and thus associated with first encounters with every form of anything. Or places in life where we either avoid getting in “over our head” or where we weigh up what it will take to get past those waves to more easily negotiated ‘waters’ (water here being a metaphor for sense of position or safety).

Sign of amphibians and all things which live both in and out of the water, Cancerian situations tend to manifest in ebb-and-flow (give/take, go/come, send/receive, in/out, spend/earn, learn/teach) patterns which ‘start’ with our being on whatever we think of as ‘dry land’ from which we ‘venture’ into emotion-provoking waters.

And that might be fine except…well, Black Moon Lilith conjunct the Moon from 24 Cancer is telling us that our successes of the past are not ours to rest on - and that doesn’t feel so good. With fixed star Pollux (one of the Gemini twins) involved, the choice is ours – we can try or not try. Trying, however, involves substantial work…and that’s likely to be a rub, whether because we’re already overloaded, tired, busy or whatever else.

The Main Library at University College London (UCL) with artwork from the Flaxman collection

(photo credit: SomeDriftwood, 2010)

In essence, this is a reality test.

Do we want ‘it’ or not?

If we do, we will put in the time and effort to grow – either into the mold of today or past that into cutting edge, leadership or ground-breaker territory.

You know…the stuff of tomorrow?

It’s our choice. And granted, most of us are going to be pretty well stuck (aggrieved?) in present tense situations (which yes, may at present make us very tense) which appear to aggravate the problem.

But I have to…

Fine. You have to. That being true, all you have to do is decide whether you want to be doing this same ‘I have to’ tomorrow.

It’s simple. Dauntingly simple. That’s the overall bottom line drawn by the rather brilliantly obvious grand square included in this chart:

January 2014 - Full Moon Chart

January 16 - 4:52 a.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

 

The Capricorn Venus squaring Libra Mars bespeaks great urgency and desire – but then, Venus square Mars always does, and there are always glitches. Either the timing is off or it’s not time yet or someone (or something) isn’t available…it’s always something.

And yet, if we can harness our willingness to connect with others bringing our very best and most considered Self to the fore, much can be accomplished. Still, there’s likely to be some tension as indicated by Venus conjunct Klotho – the wanting (or needing) to get something done so that results can be reaped. Mars/Typhon favors the new and in particular that which reaches deep within the core of what it means to be human (think: basic, primal, primitive, survival).

But as soon as we say that…Venus is still retrograde. So it’s a thought – but not the final thought. We’re paused for a moment so that we can reference our notes and search our mental files for what we know…

A (pre-digital) card catalogue

(photo credit: Stuart Caie, September 2009)

 

….and what we need to reference in whatever we do next, accepting that this is a time for inward consideration – and reconsideration. This ‘elevation to the intellectual level’ referred to by the Sabian symbol reflects an Eris-Mars ‘separating’ of perspectives which may be literal (as in a disagreement) a separation – or dealing with how you’re being seen…and what that means about those who are reacting to you.

Who knows…through whatever happens you may realize something very different about yourself. Or you may discover that someone you thought was ‘this’ sort of person is very distinctly ‘that’ sort of person.

Given life’s current multi-lateral backdrop of mild dismissals (the manifestation of the floating Venus retrograde quotient) Eris appearing conjunct Tantalus says there’s a lot of resistance to the idea of changing how we do things – or that we need to do things. Against this we have  Vesta (the cost of the promise) opposing from Libra with Typhon and Haumea in attendance.

It’s easy to finger-point now. It’s also easy to feel  overwhelmed.

And yet, we’ll carry on. After all, what’s our choice?

The end of this lunation probably can’t come soon enough for most of us. For all that there are things to be done and never enough time in the day to put every task to rest, demands are constant, if not consistent. Once we the Full Moon crests however, things will begin falling more or less together, carrying us through several weeks of activity and interaction rather different than the reaping, responding and reflecting we’ve been in since New Years.

The work goes on – that is the nature of Capricorn. With the Sun at 25 degrees of Capricorn we know there are only a few more days until it reaches 29 and then moves on into Aquarius, broadening the ‘playing field’ as well as our understanding and reach. These last few days are highly useful for those concerned with social, marketplace or economic fundamentals though what is learned or gleaned now is probably yet a bit in the future.

January 2014 is one of those so-called ‘blue moon’ months: a month in which we have two New Moons. The first was on January 1st and the second will be on January 31st – the same day Venus goes direct. In many ways that ‘encapsulates’ the whole of the current lunation (the one which started on New Years) as being about whatever it is we are working or recognizing under Venus retrograde, some of which probably isn’t making us all that happy.

(Sorry, that just happen with Venus retrograde.)

However…! The more we do or learn now the better equipped we will be once we get past this January surf zone. There are wider waters beckoning. Not all of them will be smooth sailing, but to those who would hang back on dry Cancer land, a warning: those who never leave port never arrive at the desired destination.
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The Two Popes: Francis I and Benedict XVI

 

(Left) Pope Benedict XVI during a May 2007 visit to Sao Paulo, Brazil (photo credit: Fabio Pozzebom, Agencia Brasil) - (Right) Pope Francis in March 2013 (courtesy of the Presidency of the Nation of Argentina)

To start with, a thought which came to me after the papal election: when Pope Benedict XVI announced his decision to step down, Jupiter was conjunct Aldebaran in Gemini. To be precise here, Pope Benedict stepped down just before Jupiter hit Aldebaran (though granted, Jupiter was well within orb of said fixed star). But that Jupiter was in an exact conjunction with Aldebaran when, on March 13th, the College of Cardinals elected Pope Francis.

And that is – without metaphysical question - a celestial statement about Papal integrity, inclusive of the College of Cardinals (in the sense of their being a channel or conduit for greater universal function) voting for there to be greater integrity in the Catholic Church and in work/works done by the Catholic Church.

But beyond that of course, is the fact that Pope Benedict hasn’t died. And though he’s reportedly going into total seclusion to pursue religious studies, no one would be surprised if these two Popes arrange here and there to meet up for tea and pastries.

Two living popes. How very Gemini, don’t you think?

And if they do have tea now and again, who could blame them? Being Pope is a calling, yes. But it’s probably also a pretty tough job. So maybe the Vatican chefs can come up with a new pastry for such occasions. They could call them popeovers – as in I’m having the other Pope over for tea.

Jokes aside (no, I couldn’t resist) it’s far more than that. In the difference of their orientations, Benedict and Francis express Gemini’s two very famous stars, Castor and Pollux.

Maybe you remember their story.

For a post which tells the story of

Castor and Pollux, link HERE... 

It’s the mortal versus immortal part of this being referred to. Castor was mortal, Pollux immortal. Pope Benedict is very focused on spiritual (immortal) doctrine, while Pope Francis experiences spirituality by living a very ‘mortal among mortals’ human life. In spite of Vatican traditions, Pope Francis is already demonstrating that he really feels part of the human, mortal condition. And that he’s willing to touch and talk to and be touched by every kind of fellow human.

One really simple way to see this in the horoscopes of these two men is to look at them merely in abstract, in terms of emphasis. So here’s the chart of Pope Benedict…

Pope Benedict XVI (born: Joseph Alois Ratzinger)

April 16 1927 -  4:05 a.m. (CET/-1) - Marktl, Germany

…and here’s Pope Francis:

Pope Francis I (born:  Jorge Mario Bergoglio)

December 17, 1936 - 9:00 p.m. (ADT/+3) - Buenos Aires, Argentina

If you just look at the groupings of planets in their charts, you’ll see Pope Benedict has a whole group of planets in the first quadrant of the chart (houses one, two and three) – including his Sun. When we see these kinds of  chart ‘weightings’ we know this is where a lot of that person’s energy ‘lives.’ So Pope Benedict ‘feels’ himself being alive and living on this Earth.

His 'work’ – as in all charts – is generally typified by Saturn. And Pope Benedict’s Saturn is in Sagittarius, the sign of doctrine and religion (the ‘rules’ and ‘laws’ of religion) and in the 9th house. So it’s not shocking that he’s into doctrine. According to his horoscope, he needs to “elevate” (9th house) his understanding. And maybe that’s all about having such a clear concept of life and existence here in the material, Earthly realm.

Pope Francis on the other hand, has a large grouping of planets (again, including his Sun) in the 6th house, a house all about the work to be done as part of life. Where Pope Benedict’s Sun is in Aries (consciousness of Self) Pope Francis’ Sun is in Sagittarius – which as a comparison gives us another way to think about this ‘Gemini pairing’ of these two living popes. Maybe Pope Benedict focuses on the ideas of immortal doctrine because he has such a consciousness of being so very mortal. Maybe his drive is to educate his immortal (Pollux) self because his (Castor) mortal self is so evident to him. Against this, Pope Francis’ Sagittarius Sun in the 6th house enables him to see the Sagittarian possibilities for mankind, and how only through everyday honest labor which shirks not the untidy or ‘dirtied’ parts of life (6th house) can we hope to approach that ideal.

Gemini is in eternal opposition to Sagittarius: they complete each other with Gemini being the innately personal side of the question (my thoughts, my understanding, my choice) and Sagittarius always being about application and how well things work. And when they don't work, why that is and what we need to learn or do so that things are right. And though to be sure on the Gemini side Castor and Pollux represent many versions of the Gemini ‘search’ for (Sagittarius) how to make life work, when we speak of religion, then it becomes clear that this polarity is about the (Sagittarian) ‘teachings’ which have come down to us to (Gemini) learn…and just as vitally, a process in which we choose to learn (Gemini) to be people better able to function successfully (Sagittarius) in this world.

  Constellation Gemini, with fixed stars

Castor and Pollux as the 'head' of each twin

In this quest, the 6th house – the natural ‘t-square’ point we have to ‘get over’ or ‘get past’ in our life is represented by the 6th house. Naturally ‘colored’ by Virgoan ideas, the sign on the 6th house and where Virgo falls in our charts tell us how we will (or won’t)  go about making this effort.

In Pope Benedict’s chart, the 6th house is Leo – a fiery sign all about the ability to ‘see how things could be’ which often tests us through our willingness to deal with our native and very mortal disappointment when real life doesn’t life up to that ideal.

In Pope Benedict’s chart, Leo on the 6th is his seeing that he has work to do to become more of the ideal – that last part being greatly about the Sun being ruler of Leo. And since Pope Benedict’s Sun is intercepted in the first house of self or awareness of one’s self, that interception (with all  the rest of his Aries signatures, including Uranus) we know he feels he has work to do. That he has to change on the inside, as pictured by the intercepted Aries Sun and Uranus) so that he can become more of the (Leo 6th house) servant of the Divine and of better service in this world.

That Pope Benedict is a man more inclined to scripture than living in a small apartment and taking the bus to work is also pretty clear in this chart. Spirituality being Pisces in nature, his 14 Pisces rising conjunct Achernar is a heartfelt symbol of ‘continuous challenges or continuing to challenge one’s self’ which with Neptune, as outcome ruler of Pisces being in the 6th gives us a pretty ‘hands off’ quality in the work realm. Add to that how this Neptune is in Leo and we know that there is an esoteric quality to the work Benedict would do, and with this 24 Leo Neptune in a near-perfect trine to the Sun with Regulus positioned at 29 Leo and exactly conjunct Psyche (“the mind”) Pope Benedict sees the work of the human mind as a form of work in this world which indeed brings us closer to Spirit.

Of course there is an aspect of this Leo Neptune in the 6th (plus Regulus/Psyche) which isn’t so very pretty. One of the meanings of the 6th house is ‘employees.’ And when you’re the head of any organization (in this case, the Vatican) those are your employees. That same ‘hands off’ and see with the Leo Neptune would, whether it’s financial issues with regards to the operations of the Vatican or the world-wide rash of sex abuse among priests be something which Pope Benedict would have a problem with. And on this level, his Psyche/Regulus (particularly ruled by an intercepted Aries Sun in the 1st) gives us a clarity about his inability to punish others in the ‘but there for the Grace of God go I’ sense.

Survivors of abuse – whether perpetrated by priests or otherwise are not likely to feel as generous about the matter. But that which seemed to get echoed by various Church representatives and Cardinals, namely that forgiveness should be universal, would seem very much in keeping with Pope Benedict’s chart. And if we believe that great spiritual maxim that everything happens as it should and that unbeknownst to us the universe is unfolding as it should then such things have happened in Pope Benedict's life to test and educate him and that as difficult as it may seem, those who have been challenged and those who have perpetrated such atrocities have each been exposed to their own 'hellish purgatory' through which they too will ultimately learn.

Or not learn, yes.

In comparison, Pope Francis is a man very different from Pope Benedict. His challenges are shaped differently. With his chart laid out with such a strong 6th house ‘doing the work in this world’ structure, it’s also interesting to note how the signs Gemini and Sagittarius are laid across his 12th/6th house axis. With his Sun squarely between the North Node (“what I should do”) and the Galactic Center (‘that which we must give in order to receive or BE received in and by this world’…and theoretically, the next) Pope Francis is pictured as a man well able to feel the presence of Spirit in his everyday world.

In fact, that may well be where he feels it most. In the work (and works) he does, he feels himself testing his own ability to do that which is truly needed to make this world a better, more (6th house) healthy and functional world. How to do that, and how not to be overwhelmed by what it will take to even begin to do that is more the nature of Pope Francis' problem.

If you're someone who theorizes like Pope Benedict, it would be one thing - you think the problem through then lay out a plan. But if you're Pope Francis and your every instinct is to do the work...? How do you do it all? How do you chose what is most important? How do you get past the ache in your heart and your certainty of understanding that so much else needs and is crying out to be done?

Gemini on the 12th house, with Chiron conjunct Bellatrix (‘the difficult idea’) and the ease of the South Node pictures Francis as a man who finds it entirely possible to think (Gemini) about difficult things and life’s most difficult challenges (12th house), so many of which are painfully challenging. Chiron (‘our personal vulnerabilities’) being conjunct the North Node speak of Pope Francis as a man willing not to just own up to his own issues, but those of others.

Nebula IC-443, which is in Gemini, went supernova somewhere between

5,000 and 10,000 years ago, leaving us this rather spectacular image

(photo credit: NASA-JPL, Caltech, WISE team, December 2010)

On one hand this is a very ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ sort of configuration – and I’m sure Pope Francis often thinks is something close to these terms. And with the 12th house being the house not just of spirituality but of fantasies and secrets which originate in emotionality, Pope Francis is likely to think through the mortal-immortal (Castor-Pollux) problems of celibacy in the priesthood, women in the priesthood and the causes of sexual abuse particularly as that pertains to the Church not just as a body of teachings, but as a life choice.

It’s also worth noting that the Mercury which rules this 12th house is in Capricorn, the primal sign of Saturn’s rulership. This being a man whose Saturn is in Pisces and the 8th house, Pope Francis’ mission, his life’s work is all about being with people and understanding the greatness of Creation through the vastness of human life and variable experience.

Pope Francis will feel for us all, just as with his Saturn in opposition to his Virgo Neptune he hopes we will feel for him and the limits imposed on him by his mortality.

He honors that. His Neptune in the 2nd house conjunct Sisyphus tells us he sees vindictiveness as a flaw, even when on those occasions it rises in himself as a ‘killing of self’ through the frailty of mortality. This goes to Virgo as a sign which is often critical in the ‘criticism’ sense when its greater worth is self-regulation. Wherever we see Virgo, we see this temptation to do injury to our efforts (or even being) at some level through “pointing” criticism at others or trying to shifting our responsibility to someone for something we have or haven't done.

Virgo embodies critical thinking, yes. But the positive here isn't about anything which is injurious on the emotional level, which would be very much the negative side of Pisces, Virgo’s polarity sign. Virgo asks that we ‘critique the process’ and often our own work. That's where the critical energy is supposed to be aimed - not at ourselves as shame, not at others as blame. It's supposed to go into perfecting the process and making it more effective, efficient and clearly defined.

With Virgo – a Mercury ruled sign – on Pope Francis’ 3rd house of mentality and at a degree (27 Virgo) high enough to indicate he is in consistent interaction and always willing to hear others and the thoughts they may have on his thoughts, Pope Francis is not described in his horoscope as strict in the domineering sense.
But with a Pisces Saturn opposition Virgo Neptune, this is a man willing to draw the Saturn line for those who are being marginalized.

This is also the description of Pope Francis’ evident humility and his preference for “everyday” life. 

Wherever we see Neptune in a chart we see some sort of lack of ego or ego-involvement. In Pope Benedict’s chart, the most unfortunate part of this would be Neptune’s position in Leo and that showing up in the 6th house as not just the willful (Leo) acts of Vatican employees (the Curia, et al) but also priests as that has impacted the ‘health’ of various children, teens, and indeed, the ‘health’ of the Catholic Church.

With Pope Francis’ Neptune being in Virgo, we get a totally different notice. This combination has Neptune speaking to Virgoan work which nourishes his sense of satisfaction and at some level the human spirit through ‘selfless’ (Neptune) ‘works’ (Virgo).

The whole idea of work is further emphasized by Leo being on the cusp of Pope Francis’ 2nd house. Leo being a ‘visionary’ fire sign which is always challenged by that difference between the ideal and the reality, to have the ruler of the 2nd positioned in the 6th gives Pope Francis the spirit do his very best.

But to finish up with this Gemini concept, which is really what I wanted to talk about today, we need to go back to Mercury. Mercury rules Pope Francis’ 12th and 3rd houses: the house of spirituality and feelings which connect us to others and to the All…and the house of mentality.

This man doesn't just think, he thinks about feelings. He will also not be afraid to speak with feeling or talk about his feelings - or the emotional difficulties of others in this world. He’s a man who will think through problems in private and discuss what it takes to make difficult choices in public.

This is the first of at least two or three posts on Pope Francis and I’m pretty sure that over the next few months you’ll see a couple of other posts on the astrology of Catholicism in a more general sense.

My apologies for how long its taken to get this far - which is to say, to this next post on Pope Francis. As in many of your lives I’m sure, a lot has been going on in mine. (You, me, Pope Francis, Pope Benedict, the Church…everyone has a lot of changes going on!) These posts do want writing, but they also evoke in me a desire to think them through...which may be the metaphysical reflection of the man whose chart I'm writing about.

Yes, such things do apply. When we like people because they inspire us to feel one way or we 'feel their essence' as a particular pro or con, if we check, that's always their chart connecting to ours - the synastry or astro- cartography between horoscopes.

So while I can't say I'm "like" Pope Francis or of his caliber at all, he has a very complex chart which is taking a lot of thinking through and which will take a lot of blog space to talk about. Which ultimately is why I've decided to share these thoughts in several posts.

Besides, there are ongoing things which need thinking through, too.  Apart from general life and books and such which need attending to, we’re also moving into ‘eclipse season.’ So though I might want to write ‘papal posts’ (as we might call them) my commitment to others things has to take priority. 

As a friend of mine put it to me: a girl only has so many words a day she can write. He’s right. And that’s my mortality showing.

And at some level, so it is with all of us.

The interior of Notre Dame d'Amiens, Somme, Picardie, France

(photo credit: Tango7174, September 2008)

So to close here, I think it’s important that we recognize that Pope Francis’ Descendant is at 10 Capricorn and that his Mercury – the ruler of his “Castor-Pollux Factor” and those 12th and 3rd houses (not to mention that touchingly vital Neptune in the 2nd) is at 11 Capricorn.

11 Capricorn is the degree that Pluto is in right now…Yes, with the Descendant being (among other things) the ‘stage’ from which we speak to others in the world, Pluto conjuncting Pope Francis’ Mercury is the obvious signal of his becoming Pope and the ‘spokesperson’ – the world leader and speaker for the Catholic Church.

Being Pope is this man’s life Purpose. That we know not just from Pluto rising up over the Pope’s 10 Capricorn Descendant as he was elected, and not just by 11 Capricorn being the degree at which Pluto will go retrograde at in a couple of weeks (i.e., during April).

We also know this because Alhena, the Star of Purpose, which though at 8 Cancer is also part of the constellation Gemini, and thus always bound up with the Gemini idea of choice and making life choices.

In Pope Francis' chart, Alhena is in the entirely potent position of being just behind Pope Francis’ 10 Cancer Ascendant. And with Alhena are MakeMake and Huya, two dwarf planets (which should make them as powerful as Pluto, remember) which emphasize teaching from what you have learned the hard way (Huya) and creating or ‘raising up’ something new or ‘anew’ (MakeMake) out of fertile waters.

Going back to the Pope’s Mercury, his Mercury is at 11 Capricorn, a degree which is known for keeping secrets and power which is ‘held in secret’ and used for the good of others…or sometimes, the ‘not so good’ of others. Lore suggests that this is one of the Capricorn degrees which very much depends on the state and status of Saturn as ruler of Capricorn, which takes us back to the Pope’s Saturn-opposition-Neptune, which so far we’ve seen him operate (along with transiting Pluto conjuncting Mercury) for doing as he thinks right, despite long-standing Vatican traditions.

Long-standing is a statement of time - Saturn is time. And 'traditions,' though often Cancer in the ‘cultural heritage’ sense are more of a Capricorn thing when you talk about the ‘traditions’ of pomp and ceremony and all such thinks of that ilk. And the Catholic Church is nothing if not long on pomp and ceremony!

But standing with this Capricorn Mercury is a trio which may explain a bit more about the Pope’s thinking – or at least his internal ‘alignment.’ Those points are Pholus, Scheherazade and House, all of which are also at 11 Capricorn and therefore “fused” and part of Pope Francis’ Mercury mentality.

Pholus is that little thing which can kill us…or, conversely which can save us. House is the feeling of ‘being at home with’ and Scheherazade is ‘the story of a life’ (or lifetime, or many lives).

Considering that the Saturn which rules this Mercury is in Pisces and conjunct fixed star Achernar, this would seem to conjugate as there are so many places where we can go astray, and hurt or harm ourselves or our cause. And yet, there are just as many by which we can find our way back to that which is good, which we know in our hearts and souls is worthwhile and worthy of the ongoing effort to make something better of ourselves, so that we can do better in this world, and by doing that, create a world which not only inspires the best in all mankind, but which comes closer to living up to the potential and intention of our Creator.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Embroidered Easter Eggs by master folk artist Inna Forostyuk

of the Luhansky region in the Ukrane (Qypchak, 2009)

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