A Host of Stations

 

 Image adapted from a Sierpinski square in public domain courtesy of Solkoll

With Athena (dispassionate wisdom) and Sabine (confines) just about to go retrograde, some of us are feeling....well, a wee bit cornered. Or confined. Some of us awill be actively denying things which might get in our way which in truth are something of a mental blockade simply because we're not dealing with them.

Yes, life will get to us, no matter what we do. The trick is getting ourselves to meet life on its terms...which is often multo hard to do!

Of course...there will be those who will interpret Athena and Sabine's turnaround as a recognition. Such people are likely to be coming to have a far better (Athena) understanding of what their (Sabine) limits really are.

It's all in how you use it, people!  At least that's what all the (Athena) lore left us over the ages suggests. Of course, my favorite way of thinking of it is in Robert Hand-speak: use the energy wisely, lest it use you unwisely.

Ah yes...the Rob of Hand. Nice guy, Rob.

So when will Athena and Sabine go retrograde? Athena’s station is this Wednesday, January 16th. And Sabine's is the day after (Thursday the 17th). But since there will be other astro-doings to discuss later this week, I wanted to prattle a bit about things asteroidal. (No, that's not dirty!)

And the first thing to discuss is Mnemosyne, mother of all muses (not to be confused with the muthah of all muses...I'm pretty sure she didn't live in the Hood). 

So let's start with the 'muse' part. Whatever they are in Greek myth, in astrological application, the muses tend to refer to comes out of our reflecting on things. You know…how we express ourselves and what we say, considering how we feel or maybe what we’ve learned.

Or haven’t learned, yes.

...a moment of pause while we all muse on this idea…

We can hope that Athena going direct will awaken our internal ‘think it through’ process. After all, Athena is the very vibe of cool, logical, dispassion. And considering the points which are going on station this Friday-into-Saturday…? Well! They’re emotional emotional enough that going into these next couple of days with a bit of thought and a breath of clarity sounds like a good idea!

As for the ‘when’ of all this, the station effects start now - January 16th. And they extends through January 20th….or the first few minutes of the 21st, if you want to be exact, seeing as Mnemosyne goes retrograde at about 9 minutes after midnight (UT/+0 time) on Saturday the 19th.

Depending on how the four objects involved aspect other things in your chart, you may be feeling a bit more evasive (or being avoided) and Haumea-ish and less Mnemosyne. Or maybe your life will be filled with a lot of Scheherazade ‘telling tales’ influences.

A fragment of a 17th century fresco depicting the round of the Zodiac

(photo credit: Kober, 2007)

Whatever our personal charts say, there will be a ‘vibe’ which is worldly and ‘mundane’ – which has got to be the most misunderstood astrological term around! In ‘regular’ speech, ‘mundane’ means ‘common’ or ‘general.’ And it’s this second meaning which leads to the astrological sense of ‘mundanity’….but really, something like Mars conjuncting Uranus or Pluto does NOT indicate a mundane event!

Far from it. Yet when you see the term, it means ‘world-wide.’ And on the world-wide ‘mundane’ level, that which is happening now – or being (Athena) thought about now, is about to evolve. And let’s remember, it’s going to do its evolving with the Sun in Capricorn with last Friday’s New Moon in Capricorn has given us all some sort of something which resembles a report card.

With Saturn the sole rules of Capricorn, that Saturn is transiting Scorpio tells us that how well we are intersecting others and that work around us will be generating what’s afoot. At it’s dig-down-deep base and bottom, this is about your personal values, so start there. What do you value? How well that is working for others in your world…and the world in general…will have built up some reservoir of support or respect where all is well, and will have built up some sort of ‘debt’ (be that financial, emotional or otherwise) with others or even with yourself.

So here we are trying to cope, make the best of things and inch-by-inch get things moving in the right direction…and then we get to this four-part station. The players are as follows: Scheherazade the story teller… Mnemosyne (reflections, and what we see, understand or do because of same)…Typhon, symbol of primal feelings…and shapeshifter Haumea, the goddess whose endless pretenses, pretending and ignoring of human standards lead to her eternal demise.

Taken all together, the basic question becomes what is driving us? Some of us will get in touch with those issues and act from them, and some of us will deal with a life which, in provoking our innermost feelings and needs, will show us what our (Capricorn) priorities really are.

So it’ll be easy to have these next days be a product of being driven by compulsions we don’t even consciously recognize. Or maybe you’ll get annoyed with yourself because you did ‘that’ again!

Oh, when will we learn!

But there are huge positives to be gained now. For those who are wiling to bite the proverbial bullet (no real bullet biting is advised!) this can be a time to turn a corner and turn over a new leaf. Things which have been out of line or gotten out of hand can now be stopped.

(with regards to this diagram, darker shades indicate retrograde,

lighter shades indicate direct motion)

With Scheherazade going direct, those who do take on making changes may face objections in the forms of reasons, rationales and excuses (in other words, ‘tales’) as to why things have been the way they are, or why they should stay that way. Or they may be telling themselves 'stories' as to why they need to do something. There's also the idea that Scheherazade’s station is in an exact trine to Mnemosyne’s. And that combination suggests that there are going to be some who do their best to ‘reason’ (wheedle, persuade, daunt, circumvent, avoid, stonewall, ignore…etc.) whatever gets brought up for discussion!

Who’s to say the new is any better than the old?

Good question!

With Libra being the host sign for Typhon and Haumea’s turn to retrograde, it’s also not impossible to hear some ‘if you do that, I’ll do this’ sort of stuff. And though this may be difficult to deal with, those who understand that those who feel most threatened are the one’s most likely to issue threats will understand how to cope. Sometimes compromise is needed, yes. But sometimes pointing out the fallacy of the (Typhon) feeling which is being triggered and driving the ‘digging in of the heels’ is a far better route.

At extremes, this can be a moment when ultimatums get issued. Are they real? Sometimes, yes.

With all of this happening with Jupiter having moved into the degree it will linger and go direct in come January 30th, many people will be feeling impatient either because they want to ‘move on’ or are fed up with ‘discussing’ and looking for additional options. This is part of the whole Capricorn New Moon cycle, which in part is about learning to stand on our own two feet and not worry as much about what others say as getting things right.

But at the moment? Well, let’s just say there may be a few matches getting lit under a few tender parts and a bit of resultant objections. With the Sun and Mercury coming into unison as they reach the end of Capricorn, maintaining perspective on your own reasons (and your ability to reason) is part and parcel of all which goes on now.

If you can remember that the instincts which drive you (Typhon and Haumea) are coming from an emotional place…and the reactions or input you’re getting may set off your reactions, you’re in a good place to learn a lot. You may even learn a lot about others.

And that would seem to be the point – learning who we all are. As this station is winding up, the Sun and Mercury will move into that universal sign of greater theory: Aquarius. We really are closing out the end of the Piscean Age and moving into the Aquarian Age, which is the astrological equivalent to the rolling over of the Mayan creation cycle.

(Yes, I know it’s not the exact equivalent, but these two Cycles of Different Sources do seem to have some sync-power!)

The reason to think about this comes from the idea that every time the astrological ages change, we see humankind in all sorts of turmoil. The Ages don’t have a ‘finite’ date for end-and-beginning like the Mayans had. (We can but wish they did!) Instead, astrological ages move from one to the next sort of like the colors in a rainbow meld one into the next. So yes, there is a point at which you’ve ‘totally in the yellow’ but you sort of have to get there in order to know you’re there.

 Pages from the famous Mayan Dresden Codex which has helped us

learn so much about Mayan astronomy, their understanding of numbers

and their truly astounding concepts about time.

Fortunately, we do have some signatures. That’s the clockwork of major planetary symbols (etc.) moving into Aquarius. Saturn (reality) will reach Aquarius in 2020. That’s our next big step…with Pluto changing many a parameter starting in 2024.

Prior to that, every time the Sun or Mars or another of the personal planets moves into Aquarius, we get a different perspective on life. We feel the need to change because change is in the air and on the way.

And that makes this set of stations leading into the 2013 Sun/Mercury Aquarian ingress our chance to gain some ground for – and with ourselves.
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Pluto Direct (With a Uranus Twist)

 NASA artist Pat Rawling's concept of Pluto as it might be seen from

its moon and partner, Charon (NASA, October 1992)

 

Pluto will go direct on Tuesday, September 18th at 5:06 in the morning (+0/UT). This station is being taken at 6 Capricorn, a degree the Sabian Symbols image as ‘A VEILED PROPHET SPEAKS, SEIZED BY THE POWER OF A GOD.’

Please note: that’s “A” god, not “THE” God. The idea here is about passion. About conviction. About motivation. And that all is not clear…or yet available (maybe to be presented?) in fullest form is denoted by the idea of a ‘veiled prophet.’

While we’re here, a few notes on the word ‘prophet.’ Modern parlance has come to think of the term as allied to prognostication….along the lines of the word ‘prophesize’ which means to see and speak accurately of a future yet to be experienced.

That’s not, however, what the word started out being. The Hebrew concept of ‘prophet’ (which is probably the earliest we have) merely denotes ‘one who speaks for another.’ If there’s a CEO who has laryngitis, for instance, the person who reads their speech for them and who helps interpret the whispers and gestures said CEO uses to try to answer questions – that “interpreter” is, in ancient Hebrew terms, ‘a prophet.’

Think of it…it could have been a job description.

Moving on to ancient Greece, the prophet (or prophetess) of Delphi for instance…s/he was charged with telling the truth as interpreted from ‘a god,’ which in the case of Delphi, was Apollo. Apollo being the god of truth and enlightenment, this fits particularly well with the rest of the Sabian Symbol, giving us to know that this degree – 6 Capricorn – is about recognizing the truth. Or maybe some ‘aha’ moment.

From the stories you hear about the Temple of Delphi, it isn't all

that apparent that Delphi s a tiny town clinging to the side

of a rather steep mountain. But it is. And the view is - as shown

above, often rather spectacular. Who said those Greek gods

didn't know the old 'location, location, location' maxim?

(photo credit: Antonio DeLorenzo and

Marina Ventayol, June 2007)

Well, maybe not a moment. With Pluto, truths tend to ‘dawn’ in our consciousness. Though with this current indicator being a retrograde-to-direct station, there may well be a ‘moment of truth’ when things shift or change.

As always, being that this is a station, we give it an ‘allowance.’ The two-to-three days prior and the two-to-three days after the station (yes, I’m beginning to expand these parameters a bit, simply because of observational effects)…these seem to be telling times in terms of the object taking station.

With Pluto, the effect is emotional or emotionally provocative – which would be why Pluto is associated with all the things which tend to provoke us most easily: rejection, money, sex, war, death, birth, taxes, surgery, investments…

And since through the thousands of years prior to Pluto’s discovery Mars-the-initiator was considered ruler of Scorpio, we understand why this pairing…Mars as first ruler, Pluto as outcome ruler…is so descriptive of Scorpio dynamics.

Put simply, Mars is about the choice to get involved in some interactive venue – the investment, the intimate relationship, the having of children, the agreeing to have surgery. And Pluto denotes the emotional effects – the emotionally ‘transformative’ process we experience as a result of having made that choice.

And that emotional part? That explains why when in areas of life Scorpionic we try so hard to ‘control’ the outcome.

Or deny our responsibility – that we knew any such thing. No, no…it couldn’t have been our fault!

Scorpio is the home of two very important sayings. The Mars part of Scorpio says ‘try, try, again’ and the Pluto part of Scorpio says ‘the burned hand teaches best.’ Yes – there are spectacular successes which are a result of Scorpio involvements, but most of us have a few burned fingers, to be sure!

Okay…so Pluto, this secondary/outcome ruler of Scorpio…is currently in Capricorn.

And what is Capricorn?

Capricorn is:

1. The sign of commerce

2. The sign of rules, laws,regulations and all the penalties/life setbacks we incur when we don’t color inside the social/societal (ethical, legal, regulatory, moral) boundaries. Or even inside the lines of our own personal standards…which yes, sometimes extends to family or cultural standards.

3. The sign of management and structural integrity. Neither building nor company nor country nor family nor life stands where there is a lack of firm foundation or responsible loadbearing cohesion.

4. The sign of where our world intersects the ‘big world’ whether through our efforts (career, marriage) or through how others regard us for whatever reason (social standing, reputation).

5. The sign of durability and all things tangible, factual and established, lasting and ongoing – particularly those things we ‘hang our hat on’ personally, nationally or otherwise in the support of or structuring of ongoing efforts.

So we combine the Pluto/Scorpio “things evocative” quality with the Capricorn structural-commerce-morals/regulations quantities and its no wonder we’re hearing the public and political fracas we’re hearing going on around the world. It’s no wonder that we’re passionately involved in trying to clarify our direction and the path to our goal. Or goals.

Or even some shelter from the storm.

That just all of this would denote an emotional or unstable or provocative time is rather well told by two things. And then we add in Uranus.

  A false color image of Uranus taken by Voyager 2

during the month of January 1986

(photo credit: NASA)

The reason to add Uranus in with our thinking in this moment is because September 19th (at 6:55 am, UT/+0) is when Pluto in Capricorn will perfect a square to Uranus in Aries.

In astrology, squares are pesky things. They tend to denote our focusing so hard on one thing that we don’t balance out our efforts. Long vilified (square aspects have long been thought of as things which twirl handlebar mustaches)…a square in our charts – and therefore in transit – is an opportunity to achieve through being challenged.

Just as in architecture, square angles are “building blocks.” So sigh all you want to about the loveliness of trines, but when it comes to getting what you want out of life, look to those moments when life hits you with the challenge.

Or when you realize you’ve insisted on plowing straight ahead when you should have taken a hard turn.

Or when all comes tumbling down because you haven’t built on a firm foundation.

Uranus committed to its transit of Aries back in March, 2011. You may remember this time as being when the Earth’s crust gave way near Japan, setting off a huge earthquake and accompanying tsunami.

Lives were changed – and not just in Japan. We all became more aware of what it meant to be alive, and what we can or cannot do to ‘master’ Mother Nature.

Uranus entering Aries signified that force. I know of nothing else which could have demonstrated this idea that we should be aware of life and the precious opportunities we have…and which maybe won’t have tomorrow…than Uranus in Aries.

Uranus in Aries says ‘make something of your life.’ Uranus in Aries urges us to not squander our lives on the silly stuff, but to make each moment matter. To consider the ramifications of what we do…and leave undone. To think about how today’s action in one place can upset someone’s plans tomorrow.

Or maybe damage our world…THE world…for many.

That’s just what Uranus in Aries is. And considering that Uranus moves about four degrees a year, Uranus is going to be transiting Aries for yet a while. Currently it’s still in the first ten degrees of Aries – the first decanate (“deca” meaning ‘ten’ in Latin). These ten degrees of any sign are where that sign manifests through our physical being and in our actions. So this is a time when we can disrupt our own lives through what we do…or what we don’t do. Or when, through our awareness, or lack thereof, or determination to ignore certain factors, when we can either put ourselves on a path to personal achievement or trip ourselves up.

Or to varying degrees, both.

Obviously Uranus is all about…well, distance. Wherever you are, Uranus is the urge which, consciously or unconsciously motivates (or provokes) you to try out that ‘other thing’ and thus…in experiencing the whole, be afforded greater choice. So if you’re a ‘part of the group’ person, Uranus is all that provokes or evokes the urge to separate from the group (or distinguish yourself) in whatever manner. And if you’re a ‘I go my own way’ person, Uranus cycles are that which make it necessary to experience and focus yourself about working with others and being part of ‘the process.'

Thus the reason why we experience Uranus as ‘change’ or instability is precisely because human beings are stability-loving creatures. We love the idea of change, but the experience of it? That's is quiver-inducing...especially when we're not in control of the situation.

And guess what planet is associated with control? That's right...Pluto.

As secondary (outcome) ruler of Aquarius, Uranus denotes where we succeed or fail in our world and in the world through our willingness, un-willingness, ability or ineptitude when it comes to connecting to others WITHOUT violating all those Capricorn concepts we just talked about.

Aquarius and Capricorn as constellations pictured on the

Mercator celestial globe which dates from 1551

(Harvard Map Collection)

And that is why Aquarius, sign of economics, is always a dicey issue to tinker with. Whether we’re talking about personal income, corporate income, gross national product (GNP) income or anything else, the ‘free flowing inclusiveness of opportunity’ which sounds optimal and which might well be optimal if it could be a ‘status quo’ is a lovely thought. But the Saturn-Uranus quotient which represents the ‘two sides’ of the Aquarian coin (and therefore, any set of economic considerations) inevitable runs into problems with all of the above.

But that doesn’t mean people don’t try, which accounts for a lot of societal Saturn-Uranus ‘change it versus don’t change it’ arguments.

And here’s the astrological deal…Aquarius is ruled first by Saturn and then by Uranus. Those who ‘leap’ to the Uranus part…the freedom, self-empowerment, the income…those who grab the Uranian brass ring without doing the Saturn work to prepare AND who don’t honor needs implied by the general Capricorn standards regarding structure inevitably find that ring to be too hot to handle.

So! Ask yourself…now, as we are coming into the height of this Pluto square Uranus and therefore finding ourselves in the midst of a stretch of time which mixes the impetus of necessity, the requirements on static/ongoing structures and unpredictability, instability and a general need to change…how’s that working in your life?

Since we paused for the Sabian Symbol with Pluto, it seems only fair to do the same for Uranus. Said symbol is as follows: ‘A MAN SUCCEEDS IN EXPRESSING HIMSELF SIMULTANEOUSLY IN TWO REALMS.’

The most obvious interpretation of this would be the connection or expression of our personal life and our business life. Or perhaps our individual life with that of some ‘group’ (social, societal, cultural, professional, personal, etc.) we belong to. Or even it’s a question of our expressing ourselves as an individual in conjunction with a relationship partner or our family.

Then we come to Uranus. Where we try to contain ourselves the most, where we are not free to express ourselves, that’s where Uranian energies tend to be most potent. Especially in Aries, Uranus wants us to break through the preconceptions and false fronts (societal masks and otherwise) which we all tend to adopt in order to get along better.

 You think Earth - or even Earth's Moon has it rough?

Above is a photo of Miranda, one of the moons of Uranus.

(photo credit: Keele Astrohysics Group/NASA)

Of course…you may be one of those rock solid rebels. You may be someone who doesn’t care two hoots about getting along with others. You speak your mind, you do your thing and to heck with everybody else. If you’re such a person, Uranus in Aries will remind you that you’re not alone on the planet – and that lesson may come hard, notably by making you feel very alone.

Like everything else in astrology, the question is where we are along the continuum. We all tend to get polarized. And we may be very social in one way and very individualistic in another.

At this time we’re all likely to be hitting a check point about what’s working and what’s not. With that will come an opportunity to capitalize on what does work and correct what doesn’t. Considering that Pluto is not just involved but highlighted at the moment, we can guess that there is a strong emotional quotient of whatever kind in the mix.

At a guess, I’ll go with a lot of ‘but why CAN’T I do it this way?’

Whether what’s at stake is some status quo we’ve been living with which isn’t working for us any more, some fallacy we’ve believed in which has been proven incorrect…whatever gathers you to the core of your own being now is what you need to face the construction – and perhaps the need for reconstruction – of.

Having said all that, there are a couple of other notes we should take into consideration here. The first is that Pluto is not done conjuncting Facies.

(Ah yes…I hear you moan…)

For those who are late to the Facies party, here’s a link to the original post on same (LINK). which not shockingly coincides with Pluto having gone retrograde last April.

And yes, there have been a smattering of posts touching on Facies since then, all of which can be found using the word cloud in the sidebar.

In short however, Facies is a globular cluster – a ‘messier’ known in astronomy as M22.

M22 - Facies by Hewholooks (June 2009)

As a mass of stars which looks from a distance to be one thing, Facies doesn’t have that fabulous a reputation. Known as a ‘fixed star’ (which it’s technically not), Facies’ multi-star composition denotes ‘many factors’ and thus often a situation or problem which ‘many things have gone into’ or which cannot be created, mastered, executed, changed, reorganized, built, improved …or whatever…very simply.

Beyond that, Facies is known to denote a difficult moment, a difficulty in life, a bad attitude, a bad debt, a bad outlook – something which is frustrating, maybe even nasty.

Facies is currently positioned at 8 Capricorn. The first thing that says it that Pluto isn’t going to finish it’s primary conjunction to Facies until mid-December (2012).

On the other hand, Facies/Pluto IS being set off now.

Since this seems to be a post full of Sabian Symbols, there’s no reason to stop at this point. Thus the symbol for 8 Capricorn (Facies’ position) is: ‘A Crystal Gazer.’

Astrological philosopher Dane Rudhyar considers this Sabian symbol to be all about inner awareness. To that I think it’s sensible (maybe even wise) to add the idea that those who gaze into crystals are looking for answers. There’s also a question of ‘how clear is that crystal?’…which reminds us that our ability to find answers is no better than the clarity of our vision.

 The Crystal Ball by John William Waterhouse (1902)

Also…as regards this square, let’s be fair here. This Pluto-Uranus square has been in the works for some time. This current feinting of galactic ways began back in May, 2010.

You remember May 2010. There was a giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico due to the Deepwater Horizon well blowout. The European Union was setting up its initial bailout of Greece. An Icelandic volcano erupted, throwing off Atlantic and European air traffic. A would-be bomb was found and deactivated in Times Square, NYC. There were floods and mudslides in Poland and Russia which killed a lot of people.

Oh yes...and Nicholas Copernicus - the fellow who figured out the Earth revolved around the Sun (not vice versa) was disinterred and reburied in Poland, which is just the astrologer's note.

All this happened as Uranus was cracking through the 29 Pisces/0 Aries barrier - a circuit/reset it would retreat from, returning to commit to Aries a year later in March 2011. The real point here is that Uranus was direct and Pluto was retrograde. We thus felt the 'quivering' inside. People felt under threat. Humans realized they weren't invincible.

This square did not perfect. Indeed by October 2010 Uranus and Pluto fell out of 5-degree aspect to each other and everyone fell back into old habits (good and bad habits, yes.).

The square didn't renew until April 2011 - in the wake of Japan's earthquake and tsunami disaster. As it did, once again we humans recognized that we're playing with fire (to some extent, literally) by thinking we know how to run our physical world.

The 2011 Pluto-Uranus aspect got tighter and tighter until July 2011. Then with Pluto already in retrograde, Uranus (the faster moving planet) went retrograde as well. Things have been unsettled ever since...with a wee 'respite' of sorts which began in December and extended into early March, 2012.

In the United States, that was the heart of primary season. What might have been 'vague misgiving' about life erupted in a cloud of political rhetoric with most everybody who isn't pontificating or pundit-ing more aware than ever that there's a gap between the conversation you hear from the top of the pile political, commercial and whichever-nation-national and the concerns regular people have about life.

The realities of life.

All of which asks what you have been doing during that time? Have you been pontificating or pundit-ing in some manner political, personal or otherwise?

That’s really the question. For those who have actively tried to change things, Pluto’s turn to direct (on the 18th) as this square finally hits its head on the 19th may bear fruit. That fruit may simply come to you in the form of (Aries/Uranian) perspective. Or it may involve some sort of very real and very tangible (Capricorn/Plutonic) change. For those who have taken on the really hard tasks in life or in their life, this square and Pluto station/direct will constitute real steps forward. The work isn’t done yet, no. We know many facets and challenges lie ahead, as symbolized by Facies. But if you’ve faced the facts and opted to innovate or renovate your LIFE…now you will see some sort of substantial shift.

And to that I say…take one huzzah from petty cash and call me in the morning.

In other words, celebrate yes – stop that nose-to-the-grindstone thing, no.

In physics they refer to the overcoming of inertia. Its one of the hardest things we ever do and yet life asks us to perform this (literally) ‘trying’ miracle time and time again. Astrologically, it is symbolism like Pluto square Uranus which indicates when unpredictable “change worthy” times around us challenge us to take advantage of the ‘opportunity to create opportunities for ourselves.’ Many of us would prefer making our changes when all is calm and placid, but that doesn’t seem to follow with astrological patterning.

So if things are hard, acknowledge it. If things are challenging, buy a big bottle of aspirin. Challenge yourself anyway.

One more symbolic noodle to add to the salad before we toss it around. This noodle is named Scheherazade (which yes, says it might be pita and not a noodle, but let’s just leave that aside – or as a side, depending…).

Asteroid Scheherazade is going retrograde at 16 Gemini – just shy of ‘teacher/learner’ fixed star Rigel – on the same day that Pluto goes direct. This is another version of our ‘not having learned’ quite yet, which goes with the concept that Pluto is going direct in conjunction with Facies, but it won’t finish its primary conjunction of Facies (M22) until December. It’s also akin to the Pluto-square-Uranus notion that things either are changing or they need to.

Plainly, we aren’t “there” yet.

But Scheherazade also carries it’s own message, and that message is about “storytelling.” The implication would be that with Scheherazade having been direct (and now going retrograde) that we’ve been being told a story. Or that we’re trying to get someone else to hear our story. Or that we’re trying to get them to believe some story we believe – whether about ourselves or…considering this is Gemini…some fact or some choice which may be true – and then again, maybe not.

 

 A scene from Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade

 by L. Bakst (prior to 1917-public domain in Russia)

There are a couple of interesting factoids here, the first of which is the obvious and synchronous part: Pluto is going direct as Scheherazade is going retrograde. That’s a ‘turn in the tale’ which, with Uranus squaring from Aries, is the very reason why this blog has a suffix: ‘with a Uranus twist.’

Where things have gotten twisted, this period may serve to untwist them. When things are humming along on an uncertain status quo, a wrench may fall into the works. For those who’ve been applying torque to life’s gears, trying to overcome some sort of inertial – especially if you’ve been want to reflect some sort of ‘tale’ out to others, this would be the time. With Mercury currently passing through Libra this is a time to connect and a time when others will react to whatever we are and do, good or bad. We will become more aware of who others are – and aren’t.

As this station comes into force prior to Pluto going direct on the 18th, it’s also worth remembering that this is the moment of the Virgo New Moon, which we just talked about (see the post prior to this one).

It’s time to ‘get it right.’ And for those who have been trying to get to the right or make it right or make that right thing function – this is your time to push through and find out both what’s on target and which challenges remain. Or if you prefer...what we are damaging by thinking we get to have things our own way - individually and every other way.

Will we be direct – or be directed? And if so, by what?

Those are big questions which in taking a turn now, will be with us for yet a goodly while.

Mercury Retrogrades in Leo

 Mercury, Herse and Aglauros

by Marie Pierre Jean-Baptiste (1763)

 

Mercury entered Leo back in late June – June 26th, to be exact. That same day, it entered the shadow of its upcoming retrograde – which would be this Sunday, July 15th (at 2:17 in the morning UT/+0 time, just in case you’re into clock watching.)

Oh…and that date of Mercury’s entrance into Leo? That just happened to be the day between the dates on which Saturn and Venus each went direct.

This all bodes well for those doing something of portent. This bodes as perhaps rather problematic for those trying to stand on ego or I-Me-Mine oriented positions. Leo fosters that, if for the most understandable of reasons: nobody wants to think something they like, really believe in or have labored long and hard on is ridiculous, broken, unacceptable or otherwise being rejected for whatever reason!

With Mercury going retrograde at 12 Leo – a degree guaranteed to carry a bit of waffling Leo ‘can’t I just be proud of myself?’ those with 12 degrees of any sign are likely to be going through a little Adventure In Self Questioning sort of moment. That’s neither good nor bad in and of itself, though with Kallisto (the ‘bear of a time’) also at 12 Leo, it’s likely that nobody’s getting a free ride at the moment.

At least not an emotional ‘free’ ride.

 

This doesn’t mean that anything is truly ‘wrong.’ It’s just that the kudos and ‘atta boy’ (or ‘atta girl’) you’d really like to be getting is in most cases, not going to be forthcoming.

At least yet.

There are those who will finish something now, or who have been working towards something which by hook or crook or fate of finality ends up locking, stocking and barreling out of the gate about now. For them, this is a red letter day – and if something happens now which is a ‘turn of circumstance’ of any note, you will do well to note that note and consider it noteworthy!

For those who are working on some project OR who are busy following a course of action they are determined not to be distracted from Edisona (the ‘bright idea’) sheds a little light on your topic from 15 Leo – one of the zodiac’s cross-quarter degrees. The most frequent result of input which shows its informational face now is that you’ll need to double back or make a few adjustments based on what you learn. HOWEVER…! There are some folks who will realize that they’ve been kidding themselves. Or that they’ve been led amazingly astray.

This is one of the interesting things about Edisona – and about tracking orbits of asteroids in general. (Yes, I have a giant chart on same with all sorts of orbital numbers and distances.) When you start logging these things, you start noticing the ‘near-and-far’ patterns.

What do I mean by that?

Simply this...when Edisona is at it’s farthest from the Sun (its aphelion point) it’s closest neighbors are Juno and Scheherazade. Juno represents the kind of discipline we need to exert inside our Self in order to keep ourselves on track. It’s the sort of energetic which keeps us from believing in just any-old-thing. It’s the concept that we should look before we leap, the need to know who we’re dealing with and the soundness of that old slogan you never gamble with anything you cannot afford to lose.

On the other side of Edisona is Scheherazade, ‘the telling of the tale.’ In most instances, Scheherazade is harmless. But sometimes Scheherazade is the tale which gets sold because someone feels the truth will not get them were they want to go.

Edisona – representing ‘illumination’ on the conscious or mental level – asks us to take both ideas into regard. And that requires thinking things through…which is an obvious Mercurial quotient.

At Edisona’s inner orbital position (it’s perihelion) it is flanked by the perihelion points of Byblis (defense of the indefensible) and Lilith (emotional denial)…neither of which sound like such a ‘bright idea’ but which often enough, people resort to anyway.

In considering this, we should probably wonder where all these points are at the moment – vis a vis their orbital cycles, I mean. Lucky for us, looking such things up is pretty much of a breeze using the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) data bank and orbital image generators, from which all the following images come, with the date set for July 15, 2012.

First up, an image of Edisona in orbit:

  Edisona in orbit at July 15, 2012

Next, a reference check on where Edisona’s outer-reach (aphelion) neighbors are.

  Juno in orbit at July 15, 2012

 Scheherazade in orbit at July 15, 2012

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Finally we come to the images for Byblis and Lilith, the positions of which may well tell us whether we may be kidding ourselves, lying to others or in complete denial about what the truth of some situation really is.

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 Byblis in orbit at July 15, 2012

 Lilith in orbit at July 15, 2012

Of course this could be the other way around, you know…with all of these points (with the interesting exception of Edisona) pretty much near or at their aphelion (as far away from the Sun as they get) this could be an image of our trying to ‘offload’ responsibility.

That’s the problem with being human…just about the time you’re sure it’s all about them (or their fault) the truth appears to become some form of a lesson for us to learn about ourselves – that lesson being the offset to that ‘I’m so sure it’s them’ opinion.

Remember: we all fit into each other like yin and yang. We know people, we are attracted to people and circumstances because there is some form of ‘mirror image’ or ‘mirroring.’

 Mirror image of Tewkesbury Abbey

(photo credit: Pauline Eccles, first published by

geograph.org (UK) in July, 2009)

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With the former (the mirror image) we get either our twin, the easy agreement which can be twice as right or twice as wrong…or we can get the polarity – I say light, you say darkness and together we learn about the cycles of a day.

As for ‘mirroring,’ there is the ‘strictly psychological’ form of mirroring which involves echoing what you’ve just heard someone say either because you want to make sure you understand, because you are afraid of having some other point of view or because you are echoing what was said in order to elicit further comment.

For those of you who are into the astrology of asteroids, you’re probably saying ‘okay, so what about Echo?’ Which is valid.

But no, Echo is not at either end of its orbit either (I checked). Although… considering that at the moment of Mercury’s station asteroid Echo is sitting with Pelion and Child suggests either:

1.) much ado about children

2.) difficulties we have with accessing our ‘inner child’ (sorry, but that trite sort of phrase just works here)

…or,

3.) an act of childish nature which we are in the process of doing or more likely, have already done.

 Though we would all like to think that the 'Echo' in our

life is about someone else, since the whole of the horoscope

represents our Self, the 'Echo' we do not want to 'hear' (or

acknowledge that we have heard) is more often than not,

something we 'know' but do not want to know - which makes

any moment which summons the concept of Echo along with

that of Lilith (emotionally-based denial) an important one.

Echo by Alexandre Cabanel (1887)

 

And why is it that we’re going through all this tra-la about Edisona? Positioned at 15 Leo, Edisona is at one of the zodiacal ‘cross-quarter’ points. In this case the quadrant involved is the 2nd, indicating that matters at hand have to do with moving from a learning and ‘taking in’ phase into a phase all about applying what we think we already know in the process of learning more. That Mercury is ‘reversing course’ at 12 Leo would be one very good indicator that we still have ‘work to do’ on whatever project is now at hand…even if that project is going on vacation!

(You have heard the expression work hard, play hard, right? That’s what I’m referring to!)

Mercury will be retrograde from July 15th into the semi-wee hours of August 8th, when it will go direct just before dawn, UT/+0 time. During these weeks, we will all be examining what it takes to achieve our aims. Some of us will be having to face the idea that our choices just don’t work – at least not in current form! Leo being a very ‘headstrong’ sign, this is not a time when anyone tends to take critique all that well, though it would be a grave mistake to believe that all Leo bravado is built on fact, success or even sensibility to functionality. As one half of the Leo-Aquarius polarity, Leo is a lesson in creating for an ultimate purpose…and with the success of that ‘purpose’ being ours to propose, but not ultimately to fully define.

Let’s use an example here, taking ‘celebrity’ (a Leo concept) as our example. Pausing only to point out that in astrology celebrity is not the same as fame (celebrity is about the person and fame is about society’s appreciation of their accomplishments, achievements or creations)…anything which we purposefully ‘create,’ be that a child, an image or a product – the eventual ‘judgment’ on any one of those and its success is ultimately up to others, including people we personally will never meet.

That’s Aquarius. Aquarius is the mass of society. It’s ‘people’ not individuals. Leo polarizes into Aquarius by understanding that you can’t please all of the people all of the time and yet, we are each and every one of us dependent – at some level – on how others regard us. 

Those who, as the saying goes, ‘read their own press’ get so self-involved that eventually others are repelled. And that makes sense: to become self-involved excludes others.

Given all of this, Aquarius becomes the sign of reward for whatever we are and whatever we do which finds its place in what we might call the ‘greater marketplace of mankind.’

And that’s what Mercury in Leo is all about.

On the very-much-plus side here is that Mercury is going into retrograde in a perfected sextile to Venus – an indication that these weeks ahead can be a highly productive time. That Mercury is conjunct Kallisto on the date of its station says that we have either had a ‘bear of a time’ (Kallisto) or that we are having one…and that we probably need a ‘time out’ to think things through.

Mercury retrograde is an excellent time to think things through. It’s also good for making plans, for straightening things out, for having private conversations, for asking questions and for checking out all the possibilities before you settle on one as your choice in how to proceed.

If something comes to a head during the two days prior to Mercury going into retrograde (July 13-15) the indication is that something lies ahead which will change things. That ‘other shoe’ hasn’t yet dropped.

If something of note or import happens in the two days after Mercury goes retrograde (July 15-17), this is a further comment on something which has already taken place. Think it over…maybe you need to amend some position, attitude, choice or priority?

Mercury being trine Pallas at 10 Aries (and thus conjunct the trio of Child, Echo and Pelion discussed earlier) is yet another vote for recognition that we don’t know everything. That’s a totally neutral statement which at the moment may prove useful.

Maybe you need to admit you don’t know everything? Maybe even anything?

Do you need to admit that to yourself? To someone else?

Indecision is highly likely at this point and the smart money is on thinking, talking and investigating. 

Declarations and any other form of ‘betting on results’ is highly risky at this moment and the more that has to do with something you either want, want, want …or which you think you “should” do (societal obligation) the greater your chance of making a challenging, if not problematic choice.

Don’t let your ego get the best of you!

Oh yes…all these considerations, especially those involving risk or speculation should be doubled where money is concerned. Leo is the sign of athletics, competition and the stock market (as distinct from investments in anything solid) and all such matter are…well….something of a horse race at the moment.

 Spacecraft Messenger giving us a close-up

view of planet Mercury ( photo credit: NASA 2009)

Among astrologers, Leo retrogrades are infamous for instability in financial dealings. Some – undoubtedly – will be fine, but the name of the game now is likely to be volatility. Were there an eclipse, we’d worry giant time. As things are though, there’s just enough instability (especially with Uranus having just gone retrograde) to suggest things aren’t settled or predictable.

Take it as another form of that ‘other shoe’ thing.

With Mercury due to retrograde all the way back to 1 Leo, those who are willing to review and revise are likely to do well moving forward. This applies equally to products and life plans, so don’t be stingy – give yourself some latitude.

Mercury retrograde is a well-known headache when it comes to getting answers from people, sorting out final terms and finding exactly the right way to get anything done.

On the other hand, it’s also exactly the right time to figure out how to put the question so that it will in time get answered…and to have some idea of what you will do no matter what that answer is.

It’s a very good time to get informed on the parameters of any deal pending or in process.

It’s a good time to think ahead and work out how to get from here to there, pretty much across the board.

And for those on vacation? For you, it’s a good time to think about how pleasant it is not to have to think about anything. After all, there will be all those things which need accomplishing once you get home.

So! Stay in touch – at least with yourself! You’ll thank you for it in the end, I’m sure.

Anon and au revoir!