Chiron Direct at 9 Pisces

The Education of Achilles by Eugène Ferdinand Victor Delacroix (1800's)

How should we want to react to that which is all about what we feel least equipped to cope with?

…And never mind that, how will we react to that which is all about what we feel least certain about?

Such are the quandaries presented by any moment one could conceive of as ‘Chirotic’ – or having to do with concept embodied by Chiron the centaur, healer and fallen student. It’s a tough role to think of filling on any level…and yet we each have a Chiron, and for these past months Chiron has been in retrograde, emerging (or maybe burrowing) from/through our lives as a series of burning, aching challenges….the many moments in which you know you must do without knowing how to do. Or when you must do while knowing you must do the needed thing – which isn’t the wanted thing – and the trials we each go through when we’re tested by our ability to bear our own disappointment.

It’s the realization that life is what life is…and it’s neither all bad nor all good – but it certainly isn’t what we imagined it to be, and life always, always seems to have some way of tripping us up with exactly that we would have wished to never have to deal with.

Or do.

Moreover, when it comes to the ‘need’ versus ‘want’ thing – who really can say which is which? Is that judgment just for now, or will we believe something entirely differently tomorrow?

Not one of us will now be sure. And that’s part of the Chirotic Effect as well.

Still, not knowing what ‘good’ in one’s life really is without going through the actual (and possibly breath-taking experience) of it is very Pisces. So while Chiron always represents that we cannot understand the full truth of without living it, Pisces asks us to think all things good until proven otherwise WITHOUT getting too Pollyanna, too rose colored glasses, too blissed, too determined never to feel the chill of our own soul reacting to the innate loneliness of individuality.

And as in the end the mythic centaur dies through acting in a haste which caused him to throw away all the discipline which would have told him how to deal with his own impulses…so at Chirotic times we are forced to learn through some ‘death’ of an idea, an effort, a hope – whatever – through such things are we brought to learn about why there is truth in simple truths.

You know…like we are who we are. When Apollo, god of enlightenment, honesty, music and medicine (i.e., many modes of healing) chooses Chiron as his student, Apollo surely saw the centaur’s ability to be blind to the very insight (enlightenment) which could save him. Thus in the relationship of Apollo and Chiron we have pictured the difference between the completely open and brilliant truth of it all – including us…including those Chirotic adventures we call our life.

We know we have the ability to be enlightened. Within us each and all is a knowing…a sense of the greater Whole we are inextricably part of and in alternating cycles (as Chiron the asteroid) moves on its curious path through our solar system, we either work to bring that energetic – that ‘knowing’ into reality or at least into OUR reality….or we live in a questing, searching mode – the reaching for being more.

Why this would be really only makes sense when we remember that Chiron’s orbit does one very peculiar thing which is perhaps easiest seen in this JPL database diagram:

 image courtesy of JPL's Small Body Database Browser

Basically, Chiron is ‘bridges’ the gap between Saturn and Uranus – which in theoretical terms is sort of like saying between ‘the known and that which takes fate-luck-timing-whatever-you-want-to-call-it.’ Uranus is not any unknown, remember…it’s that thing, that ‘push’ that revelation which fractures our continuity just enough to keep us growing. It’s that energetic which lies between what we can’t predict and that we rejoice in discovering.

So…what? Well, if we believe that What Is (all Existence) is, at some level, an endless series of macro-to-micro (or micro-to-macro) parallels of instance and manifestation as that singular thing called Time unfolds…then we look at the JPL image and see that the orbit – the “wheel” or “process” Chiron describes starts just shy of Uranus and ends just inside the orbit of Saturn.

Saturn

time, reality, achievement, loss, responsibility, dedication, structure, support, severance, social/societal respect, durability, earning, effort, consequences, limit, slow growth

Uranus

breakthroughs-break downs-breakage-breaks with tradition/standard/structure, discovery, rebellion, anarchy, insight, brilliance, escape-escapist-escapism, energy, freedom, integration, individuality, unity, alienation, innovation

Chiron ‘bridges’ this gap between the Uranian world of theory and Saturnine solidity. And if we remember that the veils of that which metaphysics refers to as ‘unknowable’ (Neptune) is the next planet after Uranus, then it makes sense that Uranus represents our ability to ‘break,’ ‘break down’ or ‘particle-ize’ all those things astrology typifies as ”Saturn solidity” – especially as we get ever more speculative and willing to take on the ‘unknown’ (to us) in our thinking or experiencing of life. 

Or…seen in the other direction, Uranus’ connection to Aquarian/11th house ‘unity’ (at any level) is a counter-balance: the taking of the unknown, the amorphous, the ‘broken down’ or ‘broken apart’ and seeing in that the Uranian ‘brilliance’ which leads to unity and the unleashing of extraordinary power.

OUR power.

And that’s the thing to understand about Chiron. Chiron represents a power in our lives which we are capable of tapping into, utilizing – even embodying and standing for as a whole. But to get there, we have to go through challenging times with our Self – and at the moment, that challenge to bridge the reality and the speculation or faith or hope or longing or desire to be protected by…all that is being focused through 9 Pisces.

And 9 Pisces is not the least daunting of all degrees – which should tell us that during these days ahead (call it November 17th through November 21) in particular we should not be surprised to feel unusually tested as we try and think about what to make of ourselves…our life…and whether it’s possible to be who we really are.

Or even…well, should we just leave well enough alone? Is it worth all that hassle? Do we really need to be that person we know we are, deep inside?

That would seem to be at least one tine of the Chirotic fork we poke…or are poked with.

And yet…with that comes a sense of resolution and replenishment as we recognize that our challenges are ours for a reason. In being ours, surely they are fit and shaped by our Existence as part of Time Manifest, right?

So our challenges are ours for a reason. It isn’t willy nilly. It isn’t chance.

  From the world of..."We Know She Must Have a Crib Sheet"...

this is a screen shot (and a fuzzy one at that - why, I do not know) of part of a pretty extensive Excel file

I've created showing planets, comets, dwarf planets, asteroids (and anything else out there) in a

line-by-line order according to orbital distance from the Sun. That means that every object/planet/asteroid

gets two lines...its innermost point (the perihelion) and the outermost point of orbit (the aphelion).

By having such a spread sheet, we are able to see 'what orbits with what' and assemble an

entirely separate (and evocative) perspective on how "mythic" images are interwoven on an astronomical

level...which should, one would think reflect in the microcosmic manifestations of All we each call

our Life. Above is a small segment of said worksheet detailing the section including Saturn and

Uranus. (Saturn's inner orbital 'band' is off-screen at the top). That Chiron's 'orbital band width'

(the breadth of its energetic is inter-threaded with where Pholus 'comes to us' (the good and bad

of self concern), at Saturn's outer reach (how the good or bad of self concern affects our accomplishments

and what we are able to get ourselves to accomplish in life, be that in a personal or worldly sense)

plus the inner orbital points of Nessus (poisonous issues revisited), Pelion (huge undertakings), Typhon

(primal instinct/drives) and Uranus (change) would seem to say that Chiron's stations are times when we

wrestle with our ability and/or willingness to get past  self-limitation...provided

we aren't so blinded by "survival fears' that we are unable to even know how we limit ourselves.  

  

Looking up the Sabian Symbol, it would seem to echo this thought: AN AVIATOR PURSUES HIS JOURNEY, FLYING THROUGH GROUND-OBSCURING CLOUDS. And given Astrologer Marc Edmund Jones’ added keynote…‘man’s ability to develop powers and skills which by transcending natural limitations allow him to operate in mental-spiritual realm’…the sheer harmony and parallel of this idea with Chiron’s function would seem to say many of us – in particular those whose charts would directly answer to 9 Pisces – will now encounter opportunities.

Or at least the notion that the creating of an opportunity (or success) is possible.

And yet…probably all will not come to fruition just yet, even if you make your most sterling effort.

Why not?

Answer: Uranus and Saturn – as stated above. Chiron energetics…at some level…connect some of the functionalities of Uranus and Saturn, as attributes and in cyclic timing.

Chiron will go direct on November 19th at 12:06 in the afternoon (UT/+0). Uranus will be going direct on December 17th.

Uranus is (by far!) the bigger object here. And astrologically we would say any planet denotes basic traits or individual personal attributes where objects like Chiron represent ‘factors,’ efforts or choices made along the way.

As for where that ‘along the way’ is headed at the moment, again thinking in terms of the JPL diagram (above) Chiron is currently on its outbound path – which is to say, it’s moving towards Uranus. And that implies that we are in the process of taking things apart so that they can then change.

Perhaps radically.

Not that all that changing will happen quickly. Chiron doesn’t reach its aphelion – the point farthest from the Sun, which is also Chiron’s closest approach to Uranus – until the year 2021. Until then, we get to achieve our greater…and perhaps greatest understandings of and enlightenments about our own ‘Apollo’ traits by ‘taking things apart’ and clarifying our understanding of them.

Given that Uranus' orbit ranges from being 20.083 AU from the Sun (at its farthest) to

18.375 AU from the Sun at its closest...which means that Chiron's 18.846 AU aphelion

(Chiron's farthest point from the Sun) falls right in the 'thick' of Uranus' orbit.

(image courtesy of JPL's Small Body Databank Browser)

  

Surely once we reach our Uranian stage, those of us who have done our Chirotic work will find ourselves reforged and reformulated as our more 'potentiated' Self.

But until we get there, we take our cues from that which surrounds us for the ‘phase’ or stage of the process we’re in at the moment. Considering this station takes place with Neptune having just gone direct and just after a Full Moon in Taurus, one would suspect our sense of satisfaction is being throught through. Considering that as Chiron goes direct Venus enters the shadow of its upcoming retrograde, one would also expect many of us to be thinking along the lines of ‘less risk, more focus on what’s important’…even though we may not yet know what that really means.

And then there’s the ambient throb of life. The last few degrees in Scorpio are all about how power gets used – and why one would use it.

Which really points to the crux of the entire matter: the idea that there’s something we need to deal with, and that’s about who we are.

Or if we’re even capable of being who we really are.

Or for that matter, willing to be our honest Self.
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Mars in Leo - Hidalgo and Arachne Direct

Frontispiece from 'An Argosy of Fables' (c 1921, P Bransom, illustrator)

In the wake of Sedna’s station as the Grand Sextile moves towards formulation, Mars enters Leo.

The date? August 28th, with Mars entering Leo at 2:06 in the morning, UT/+0 time.

As this happens, Hidalgo will also be stationing and going direct – as is its fellow space traveler, Arachne.

A symbol of ‘manners,’ mannerisms, Hidalgo refers to the manner in which we do something and the manner in which we should do something (protocols). The degree of Hidalgo’s station being 16 Sagittarius, we are all likely to be influenced by whatever it is which evokes our love of pleasure. Curious however is the fact that 16 Sagittarius is also associated with eruptions of the skin, infections and problems breathing – all of which may be thought of as being connected to (or a manifestation of) inner discomforts. Considering how this station coincides with Mars energizing the strong Leo desire to exercise our wants, desires and aims, the combination may point to anything from a simple irritation with whatever may be interrupting us to a feeling of being totally overwhelmed (drowned) by the totality of life.

That Hidalgo is going direct with Pandora just behind and Pholus plus Ixion just ahead does seem to indicate that we know there’s choppy water – or at least a lot of effort – which needs investing at some level if we’re to make things work the way we want them to, or see them move in the direction which will assist us in reaching our goals.

You know, the Sagittarian mantra.

There's also the fact that Hidalgo is a centaur - not a main belt asteroid. Cycling from just beyond the orbit of Saturn past Jupiter into the depths of the asteroid belt, Hidalgo speaks to all those things which originate beyond our (Saturn) grasp which in confronting and learning about them, we learn to manage - though we'll never quite control them.

And let's face it, control is a major human issue. So with Hidalgo in Sagittarius (a sign all about learning what works, which of our ideas need refining before they can work and what we need to learn along the way to our personal goals), much is likely to be churning through our days, our minds, our emotional psyches.

Currently just crossing into the metaphysical realm of our 'Reality' (as symbolized by Saturn), nothing about Hidalgo's effects are likely to be - or feel all that 'ordinary.' That we know from Hidalgo's inclination - which is to say, our inclination about "Hidalgo Factors."

Given the high inclination (how Hidalgo doesn't travel on the same plane as most of our planetary solar system) Hidalgo is either something we feel is 'imposed' on us or something which comes from 'off the beaten path' which we need to incorporate with our methodology (i.e., our 'life protocol'). It can be either - or both.

Plus, let us not forget the metaphysical concept of centaurs as a class. The mythic centaur is a beast which joins the upper half of a man to the powerful body of a horse. These two pieces are joined at the horse's heart and the human genitals, a combination which plainly asks us whether we will...or even can 'rise above' our pure animal instinct to a place where we can insist that we use our greatest (animal) strength to serve the greater thoughtful purposes life would ask of us - both for life's sake, and for our sake, too.

With Mars ingressing Leo trailed by Tantalus and fronted by Scheherazade and Sphinx suggests that there’s a ways to go before we can become that living legend in our own eyes. But we do truly and sincerely want our (Leo) vision to be – or become our truth.

The fact that the Moon is in early Gemini as this pair of events takes place is also interesting, as Moon in Gemini always indicates some degree of personal investment on the mental plane. Given that the Grand Sextile will be in effect rather fleetingly (but importantly) very early on August 29 (UT/+0) this means the effects of the Grand Sextile, though positioned in earth and water, will formulate mentally…and inspire us to see a more powerful, more (Sedna) authentic road which may yet be followed through our life.

Into which comes the Hidalgo-Arachne issue of whether we are too caught up in some manner of being or some external protocol to heed either the warning or invitation offered us by life…events…karma…fate….time.

Even for those who will follow the invisible light of faith, achieving those ends will take planning, effort and surrendering to our vulnerabilities to get there – a concept which Mars in Leo may or may not be in sync with, depending on your natal Mars and where Leo falls in your chart. In the most general sense, what we could expect here is a pretty clear split between those who will tend to scoff and those willing to recognize truths which require that they put their ‘big boy’ (or girl) pants on and get to work.

The Grand Sextile is a call for us to internalize the idea that life is not the idea of living, but the event, the experiencing of it, the taking the heartfelt risk if you know deep down in the noodles of your soul that you really need to change, know or embrace something new.

Maybe even somebody new – who knows!

Because the Moon represents our ‘everyday life,’ the fact that it will be in Gemini as Mars moves into Leo denotes a general sense of ‘knowing what I’m doing’ – into which comes the enormous funneling of energy governed by the linking of then and now, heaven and earth, conscious and subconscious, actions and fate. Given the accompanying elements attending the Mars/Leo ingress, we are all likely to be focused (at some level) on something we feel is ‘inadequate’ in ourselves…or maybe just in life. And we’ll be doing our best to cope, putting a shiny (Scheherazade) face on things despite our (Sphinx) quandaries and the fervent (Tantalus) wish that we didn’t have to deal with any of it.

Oh shades of Sedna’s station…! The echoes of our expectations will so ring loudly through the cosmos.

And more importantly, through our consciousness. But are they ours? Are those ideas really what we think and feel about ourselves? Or do they come from some ‘when’ which is not now?

What is really important?

Hidalgo’s station will begin on August 26, come to full focus on the 28th (as it goes direct) and continue through the 30th. As with all stations, its to our advantage to pay attention to any event or moment which embraces or evidences the ‘meaningful motion’ – or lack of same…the being paused by focus…which occurs.

Remember it. Pin it to your mental bulletin board for further reflection.

Another concepts with regards to stations in general which bears remembering now: events which occur during the ‘station window’ but prior to the station generally refer not to things ‘changing directions’ in your life, in your regard, in your opinion, but will also evidence as time goes on.

Like the windows pictured here, astrological influences come in a myriad of shapes

and sizes and can bring a refreshing breath of air, chilling cold or blistering conditions to our lives.

Every time there's an astrological station, transit or eclipse,

we each face the choice of whether we will open the window and risk a moment

of shock for the chance that our souls will be fanned by the balm of warmth and

caring - or not. Far too many of us, I suspect, have our windows locked

with the latches painted over.  

(Image credit: Windows by Tourre)

In other words, the event prior to station exactness is about something which hasn’t yet happened – at least not in concrete fullness. Against this, the thing which happens or occurs to you after the moment of the station but within the ‘station window’ are by and large a ‘playing out’ of events or situations which have already occurred.

These effects are subtle, but very and entirely real. Either way, the effect is traceable: for those of you who are astrologers or into astrology (yes, I know you’re out there and I’m complimented by your taking time to read this blog)…grab your natal chart (preferably a detailed version of same) and start by looking at the symbols or aspects being struck at the time of your “current event.” Then look back or forward through planetary movements to see when some other body will hit these points. The larger the event, the more significant the transit.

With that recipe duly dictated, on to Arachne. Among the thousands of main belt asteroid (representing things we encounter along the way to mastery and achievement), Arachne is going direct at 12 Sagittarius at 9:50 p.m. on August 2th (timed for the UT/+0 zone). The degree 12 Sagittarius is a highly energetic degree which rife with passion of all types – sexual and otherwise. Such energy may be used directly (in a straightforward manner), used as an ‘infusion’ in the healing of others or even converted into insight or far-seeing visions...good or bad.

An 'Arachnecized' soul from Dante's Purgatorio (Canto 12)

as envisioned by master illustrator Gustave Dore (1832-1883)

 
Since we are talking about Arachne, it is to be expected that (depending on where 16 Sagittarius falls in your natal and current solar chart) you may be, or get ‘caught up’ in one or another form of this energy and find it difficult to make a shift in the way your moment-to-moment life requires.

In going direct on the 28th, Arachne also has a station allowance which begins on August 26th and which then extends through August 30st.

And since both stations extend beyond the moment of the Grand Sextile, look for a change of situational dynamics and personal outlook as the spiritual linkage ends.

I know full well we each have our own orientation to how life works and what’s worth taking our time to witness. People go out to watch eclipses, to watch alignments.

Personally, my deepest respect goes to the Grand Sextile, the image of the Hermetic statement ‘as above, so below.’

But maybe that’s just because of how my life is shaped.

We each need to follow our uniquely personal path. We are not ‘like’ one another – we’re not meant to be ‘like’ anyone else. Our friends, associates, lovers and dearly loved ones are not those who always agree with us, they are those whom we can love for their humanity. For their willingness to share. We love them for being there…we love them for giving us space enough in which to operate on our own, as our own person.

Mars in Leo is at its heart about the inspiration to be more tomorrow than we are on any given day. To have that drive, to see someone else struggling with their mortality and their potential is inspiring. We all have lives filled with details and histories which seem to warp us so tantalizingly (in the Tantalus manner), which wrap and bind us in Arachne-like silken threads.

Mars in Leo is one of those forces which allows us to see beyond the simplistic. All things happen for a reason is not just a slogan.

It’s a reality. And for the next seven-plus weeks while Mars continues its transit of Leo, we have an opportunity to see through life’s veneers to the level where we are each capable of informing ourselves on a hugely powerful level about why that which may have been so difficult, painful or seemingly detrimental is the gift which allows us to elevate ourselves from a level of life where we live for mundane pleasure to a place where we are able to be fused and fueled by those truly great motivations which allow us to become the gift to ourselves and everyone else in life.

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For more information on the Grand Sextile of August 29th,
please refer to the previous post on Sedna’s station

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Chiron’s Station: Check Point Critical

 Shivering Girl with a Blue Ring by Jozself Rippi-Ronai (1916, pastel on paper)

I got into an email conversation about Chiron just the other day. Here’s an excerpt…

Chiron (at it’s basic process level) is about mastering our own instincts, good, ill, selfish and altruistic. And the thing to remember is that the centaur’s body joins the human genitalia to the horses heart. (At least until they got Disney-zied in “Fantasia”.) So here’s the question: will we rise above our ‘animal instincts’ which so ‘beat’ within us as a force of life? Or not?

The optimal with Chiron is to understand how to combine our animal (instinctive) skill and strength with our mind in harnessing ourselves and our life and our abilities to the service of some truth. That we know from Chiron having been the student of Apollo (enlightenment – the light which comes from the Sun/life). Apollo was the god of truth, enlightenment, music, art and medicine. Of these, he taught Chiron – his first protégé - only medicine. That says something about Chiron (and all centaurs – mythic and in the chart) too. Apollo, in making this choice, prioritized the healing of our divisions...the reality and the projection, which brings us to the saying ‘healer, heal thyself.’

Chiron failed this test. When push came to shove he gave in to his animalistic instincts and was killed. The lesson for us is that when we know better, we should do better and hold ourselves to that.

This wonderful sculpture of Chiron instructing Achilles by Rinaldo Rinaldi (c 1817 housed in Venice, Italy) shows the original centaur construct - the human body being merged with that of the horse's power at the horse's heart and the human's genitals. (How much more poignant than that does it get?)

The 'centaurs' out there in our solar system (and thus in astrology) are all variations on comets. Comets like Comet Halley and Thatcher take anywhere between 75 and 415 years to go once through their cycles. But the centaurs all originate from a place which is far closer in towards the Sun - and even more interesting than that (at least to this brain) is the fact that centaur orbits aren't precisely governed by the Sun - they're governed by planets. So when we talk about centaurs, in metaphysical terms we need to think not in terms of 'life' as a whole ('life' is symbolized by our Sun), but rather in terms of the planets the centaur metaphorically 'connects' as a cyclic facet which is specifically representative of the combination of planets which affect (govern) that centaur's orbit.

At the outermost point in its orbit, Chiron plays something close to solar sytemic footsie with Uranus. So we know that Chiron 'brings' to us - or represents - some change, need for change, some sort of breakthrough...or the urge to cut and run. With Uranus, many of the changes and discoveries timed out by transits are sudden and startling, whether they're devastating or delightful.

But unlike comets like Halley (which come all the way into the inner solar system) Chiron only comes 'in' to around 8 AU - which when you consider that Mars' outermost orbital point is at around 1.6 astronomical units (AUs) isn't all that close. In point of fact, Chiron only comes to a point just inside the orbit of Saturn - meaning it doesn't come in as far as Jupiter.

So are we surprised that Chiron is known as something we need to do (Saturn = effort) without really 'knowing' (Jupiter) how to do it until we do it?

Chiron forces us to go just beyond the very edge of what we conceive of (Jupiter) knowing. And in doing so, it teaches us what we are capable of (Saturn) achieving - which for many a person is a huge discovery.

And yes, maybe a relief. When we realize we can get through and achieve without having 'known' how to do it going in, we feel strangely (Uranus) liberated and freed in some way which isn't connected to all the 'should's and long term planning.

In other words, we have willed ourselves to undertake and (Saturn) master the task presented without guide rails, hand book or training.

That is utterly Saturn-Uranus. And the willing ourselves part is entirely in keeping with the mythic centaurs, who all had a problem with keeping themselves under control. Thus in parallel, the challenge with any centaur, be it Chiron, Pholus, Asbolus, Nessus, Typhon or whichever, involves using the energy knowingly for a good purpose.

The enemy of a centaur was their impulsiveness, occasional disastrous carelessness and their tendency to be completely driven by overblown emotional urges.

Could that possibly be (ahem!) true of us too? 

(I'm thinking yes. Alas, but yes.)

  This diagram is just a little misleading in that it appears that Chiron's outer orbital reach

 goes beyond Uranus, where in reality, while Chiron does come fully inside Saturn's closest

approach to the Sun, Chiron's outermost reach (it's 'aphelion point') is within the inner-and-outer

(perihelion and aphelion) orbital range of Uranus.

So what does this mean for us as Chiron goes retrograde at 13 Pisces come 9:17 in the morning on June 16th? Pisces being the sign all about our internal ability (read: willingness) to adapt to realities – as opposed to the ‘what we’d like to be true’ parts of life, Chiron’s turn to retrograde suggests that we’ll be experiencing less external prodding which provokes our Piscean debates and more reasons to be a bit more challenged by why we adapt… or why we don’t adapt… and what it is in us (or our belief system) which keeps us from accepting life’s realities simply for what they are.

So many folks have such a hard time dealing with life. Those having a hard time rail about not knowing how to fix things while those for whom things are pretty good don’t want to ‘see’ anything which would cause them to feel much that they’ve tried to protect themselves (or their families) against.

Who are we really afraid of? Probably our Self - and all our Self needs to feel and understand and accept in order to grow into a fuller, most human if universal form. 

Neptune’s years-long passage through Pisces is going to erode whatever defenses we try to put up. And that – in time – is probably going to force us...singularly and by family, by community, by profession, by nation...to recognize how much more we all have in common with others (even those we think are ‘not like us’) than not.

Thinking through how our solar system is organized (as every smaller concentric orbital rings) there is both the idea that our life – the Sun at the center of our ‘life system’ – grows outward. And as we do that, forces from beyond our personal life reach (as represented by Saturn, that being the last planet we can see with our unaided eyes)…those forces shape the world around us – that which we have to work with, and the challenges that we face.

So here we are. Mercury is heading towards a station on June 26th in Cancer, which elevates our emotional sensitivity, to some degree our reactivity, and the need to think plans through as we begin to construct more of the life we want to have. We know that the days leading up to any Mercury station tend to feel a bit rushed. Some things end naturally. Some things move on to a ‘next phase’ which will take some time to work out. Plus there’s a marked tendency to feel frustrated with whatever isn’t coming to fruition as quickly as we’d like. Or as we might have anticipatedon some pre-established schedule.

In honor of Cancer (today's Mercury and a soon-to-be tomorrow's Jupiter ingress) here's a

grand sort of photo of the Crab Nebula as taken by the Chandra Telescope in x-ray, radio and infrared

(photo credit: NASA, JPL Chandra, February 2006)

MakeMake has just moved into direct motion, so not only do we have some feeling that we need to ‘make things happen’ but life is bringing new things to the surface - in life and in our consciousness. And while all this is happening, expansive and ‘expansionary’ Jupiter is moving through the last degrees of Gemini. As this post goes up on the 15th, Chiron is already on station as Jupiter enters 27 Gemini – the degree which in opposition to the Galactic Center stirs up a lot of issues having to do with our relationship to the world around us. The “GC” (as the Galactic Center is known generally among astrologers) is a point which represents where we ‘contribute to the process.’ Sagittarius being about ‘how well things work’ (“application of information” and “viability of choices” seem two apt ways to put it) Jupiter at the opposition point can either represent the sinkhole or the jackpot, whether that’s mental, financial or experiential.

Before another week passes, Jupiter will have reached 29 Gemini. And that’s not just a really quick transit for such a massive planet (in our solar system Jupiter is second only to the Sun in size) but we can expect that to represent quick moving events, and things which ‘blow up’ quickly. Literally or figuratively, whether exciting or dismaying, this doesn’t seem to portend a settled time.

Chiron going retrograde on June 16th with Jupiter sitting in opposition to the GC in the zodiac’s chief sign of mentality may well manifest as a moment of critique – hence my calling this post “Check Point Critical.” Whether we’re doing due diligence as a matter of course or being ‘given notice’ of some problem or gap in our plans, it would be natural to take things either too seriously or not seriously enough.

Oppositions always represent balance points. And to have Chiron’s station occurring as Jupiter and the Galactic Center ask us to ‘balance’ what we’re doing, what we’re aiming at, how we’re going about living our life and all such suggests that many of us will find that we’ve either failed to ‘rise above’ our more base or basic instincts (or instinctual allegiance to something we’ve been taught) or that we’ve been all mind and not enough heart.

But while we’re doing that, it may be useful to think through what we know about 13 Pisces. The Sabian for this degree is ‘a lady wrapped in a large stole of fox fur’ which astrologer Dane Rudhyar has a very interesting interpretation of. Rudhyar points out that the symbol is about fox fur, and that foxes have long been regarded as clever and cunning creatures. To ‘wrap’ ourselves, he says, in a ‘fox fur’ is to try to garb ourselves or adopt a mask which is – again – animalistic and thus instinctive, and here used to protect the lady’s ‘soft’ flesh.

An orbital diagram of Chiron as of June 15, 2013

(courtesy of JPL) 

So given that this is Chiron we’re talking about, is this a restatement of the Jupiter opposition to the Galactic Center ‘framed’ so as to point out that the issue is really our willingness to feel vulnerable without some Gemini, Sagittarian or Piscean ‘mask’?

All three of these signs are mutable, which is to say they represent a process of learning which is incremental – an idea which in itself can be seen as an ‘echo’ (of sorts) of the native Piscean strength, that of eternal adaptability, in the form of a vulnerability?

This brings us to what may be the ultimate Piscean quandary. If there’s one thing people aren’t good at, it’s not knowing. By and large we’d rather believe a lie than not know – or to have some basic concept of how life works be proven invalid.

Yet ultimately, the Piscean lesson is to accept. This is not about accepting what we are ‘handed,’ it’s about accepting that we are who we are supposed to be, give or take our willingness to balance mind against heart, instinct against intellect and to create light through metaphorical fusion, not metaphysical fission as the difference between self-destruction and becoming a vessel of light.
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Pholus: A Little Nasty

 Looking towards the entrance of

Chile's Milodon cave

(photo credit Remi Jouan, April 2006)

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Every once in a while a client presents me with a list of personal points they’re working with which includes something I haven't used much.

This happened to me just recently. But then when I got an email on the same point not but four or five days later, it was like getting a universal hint.

So I decided to write about Pholus. And once I began paying attention to Pholus, the reasons it's a good conversation to have became abundantly clear.

We're living through a very Pholus time.

So let's start with the myth. The Pholus of Greek mythology is a centaur, and centaurs are a combination of man and animal which specifically connect the human genitalia to the horse’s heart.

Is this about how people can act like animals when it comes to sex - or when our 'animalistic' passions get triggered (whether by love or anything else)?

Is this about how being human either allows us to 'rise above' our more 'animalistic' state or the need to do so?

Is this about how strong instinct really is? Is this about how easy it is for instinct and animalistic strength to be so strong as to ‘run away’ with us, overriding our ability to think...or maybe running us ragged so we can’t get ‘thoughtful control’ of the situation?

Is this about the concerted effort we need to make to combine human intelligence and raw ‘animal’ strength or native courage in facing some situation?

Probably all of the above.

That there's a bit of a problem here in the sense that there's often a failure to think enough (let's just call it that) comes from the fact that centaurs - as a race - descend from Ixion's defiling of Zeus' (aka Jupiter's) hospitality.

If you haven't read the whole story, here's the LINK to the astroPPM article on Ixion. This particular Ixion transgression however, happens as Zeus/Jupiter is offering Ixion forgiveness for past transgressions. As part of this 'purification' process, Ixion is invited to Olympus...he approaches the realm of divinity and immortality...only to fall prey to lust for Zeus' wife, Hera.

This occurring in a time when hospitality and the honoring of one's host was held higher than high, for Ixion to covet Zeus' wife is bad enough. It's ungrateful, it's disrespectful, it's not what a person does to another person and its certainly not what a person is supposed to do to the Olympian head honcho.

Being no immortal fool, Zeus (Jupiter) summons up a cloud and shapes that to emulate Hera.

The cloud's is named Nephele. And when Ixion does the dirty with the cloud, from that union comes Centaurus, the first of the centaurs.

Thus we know that the astrological centaurs represent places in our chart (or situations in society) where succumbing to emotional provocation...or when our emotions get provoked...that's when we tend to get a little cloudy (Nephele) on what mastery (Jupiter) of ourselves and the situation really is.

And thus do we trip ourselves up or run away from the point (or the opportunity to make real progress) or end up undermining ourselves.

As for Pholus as an individual centaur, he's one of only two centaurs generally spoken of as peaceful and thoughtful. At least generally thoughtful.

That merely tells us that the astrological Pholus is a point which tests our ability to be thoughtful. 

The other 'thoughtful centaur' being Chiron, we have something to learn from. Chiron is, after all, a point which has become rather commonly known in  astrology.

The story of Chiron is about a centaur who studies healing with that little ol’ god of Greek enlightenment (and truth), Apollo. Thus in the chart, Chiron represents some area of life which we need to become 'enlightened' about in order to ‘heal’ some vulnerability in our life.

Yet since Chiron is a centaur, there's a bit of a big challenged involved. It's not that Chiron doesn't learn a lot from Apollo - he does. But because of his centaur passions, while he's good at applying this knowledge to others, he has has trouble applying it (specifically) to himself.

This suggests that anywhere where we lack perspective is where we are likely to fall into that centaur habit of indulging what feels good instead of sticking to the problem, thinking it through and learning how something really works (ending/'healing' the problem once and for all). 

That wherever we see Chiron in the chart is an area where we're practically an 'expert' in knowing how others could fix their problems but not so good at facing same in our own life? That's classic.

And how do we fix Chiron problems? But insisting of ourselves that we learn through doing. Chiron placements are all about the hapless helplessness we feel, the feeling at some lack until we solve (heal) our Chiron problem.

And if we don't heal it? Then our weakness in that area  remains, and about the time we roll into our Chiron return at 50.74 years of age we recognize that nobody is going to fix such glitches for us.

Pholus has a longer orbital period than Chiron - a fact which has some interesting implications we'll get to in a bit. Meanwhile, the myth of Pholus is an interesting one, and one which should probably be considered in light of the Pholus discovery chart.
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 When discovered on January 9, 1992

Pholus was at 0 Leo - and not really

all that far from (though not conjunct

to) the centaur 'big brother' Chiron

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Put simply, Pholus was at 0 Leo when discovered. And any point at zero of degrees of any sign is about starting out - or starting to learn - or discovering. In this case, both because the Pholus most important to us is our Pholus and because centaurs seem to be excellent in projection (or when operated with perspective)...once we bring all of this to Leo, Pholus would seem to acquire a 'how do I do that?' quality.

Leo is, after all, all about the things we create, our ability to create (or be creative) and our mastering of the idea that creativity isn't just about personal enjoyment, but  about how to apply what we can learn to the furthering of our creation.

In other words, having the child is exciting and fun. Being a great parent and raising that child as a person with a perspective on and awareness of the world around us? That's a whole lot harder.

The same applies to athletics. Or being an artist. Or anything else which requires taking a risk. Risk-taking requires some understanding of what could happen.

Adding in the Sabian Symbol for 0 Leo here (BLOOD RUSHES TO A MAN’S HEAD AS HIS VITAL ENERGIES ARE MOBILIZED UNDER THE SPUR OF AMBITION) we get a very pointed comment that in being discovered at 0 Leo Pholus is about learning to mobilize our ambitions and all that we may encounter through that mobilization - good and bad.

And this would seem to apply to the Pholus story rather directly, as in said story Pholus is buddies with Hercules. (You know, he of the long list of labors?)

So Hercules comes to visit Pholus (in his cave) while on his way to dealing with an unruly Erymanthian Boar.

(I’m guessing he didn’t need to learn to spell 'Erymanthian' first.)

Being the thoughtful centaur in the herd, Pholus had been entrusted with a cask of very strong wine which belonged to all the centaurs. (Telling us that Pholus has something to do with our ability to be trustworthy.) And while hanging around the cave, Hercules notices the wine and asks to have some.

This wine was not only property of all the centaurs but evidently only to be drunk on ceremonial occasions. And that Pholus gives in and share the wine without asking his fellow centaurs, without having it be some sort of holiday - that tells us that Pholus is a point which can represent 'squandering' of resources and a problem with sworn responsibilities to others.

As I sit here thinking I know a few people who should have their Pholus framed (and how that's another matter) it also occurs to me that Pholus may be where we use our ability to be irresponsible or (in essence) disrespectful of others to get rid of them. Certainly in the fracas which arises when the other centaurs smell the wine and get galloping angry that Pholus has broken his word comes the concept that Pholus is not a 'solitary' point.

Evidently when you 'do' a Pholus thing, others are likely to notice. Yet when all the dust settles, Pholus is still there in his cave. He's unscathed, Hercules has gone off to get his boar and the rest of the centaurs are off doing what centaurs do.

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 Herakles (Hercules) and the Erymanthian Boar

 as rendered on an Etruscan amphora from around

 525 BCE (Louve Museum)

(photo Bibi Saint-Pol, June 2007

 

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Pholus is now either 'alone' or has been 'left alone' - as in 'having some peace and quiet' - depending on how you think of it. In real time/real life, which of these two is most likely to occur is probably best told by delineating the natal position of Pholus by house, sign and aspect to natal planets.

But most importantly, this is the point at which Pholus picks up one of the poisoned arrows left behind during the fray. And big giant centaur that he is, Pholus is sitting in his (probably rather dim) cave and perhaps because he's a bit drunk. Or maybe he's simply not paying attention (you know, that lack of follow-through attentiveness thing again).

in any case, he's not of clear mind and focus as he sits wondering about how such a small thing can be so very deadly when he - yes - cuts himself.

This note makes the Pholus story sound a bit like Sleeping Beauty. Except that Pholus actually dies. And that tells us that where Pholus is concerned, some facet of life, maybe a relationship, maybe a hope, many some delusion...some part of us dies.

And it dies as the consequences become plain.

That's a pretty fair warning to us all about how wrong we can be...indeed how harmful it can be to not take things seriously or to justify something thinking ‘it will never get me.’

How often do we end up 'killing' our efforts - and some part of our innocence - because we do such things?

Probably way too often.

Can Pholus represent corporeal death? Maybe. But plainly by itself, Pholus isn't any indicator of death.  However, just for interest's sake, I looked up the Pholus of a handful of well-known criminals. In such charts, Pholus seems connected to not that they commit their crimes but how and where they seem to commit them.

For example, here's Ted Bundy's chart:

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Ted Bundy

November 24, 1946 - Burlington, VT - 10:35pm
(Placidus houses, main points only)

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...And here's a close-up detail of where Pholus falls in Ted Bundy's chart.
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 Ted Bundy - Natal Chart (detail)

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What we see is Pholus not in conjunction with, but near enough to other points as to give us a sense, a coloration of the person and their acts. This fits with the idea that natal asteroids represent 'facets' or 'factors' in a person's life and personality, and that transiting asteroids represent things we meet up with in life.

Here we have Pholus positioned between Icarus (impulsiveness) and Hidalgo (manners, protocols) with all three points in Capricorn and the 6th house.

First of all, Capricorn on the 6th house carries a strong essence pointing to the effort to become something. So it's not surprising to review Bundy's life and find that though he got into law school, he wasn't able to hack it. And when that happened, apparently that 'bent' his thinking with regards to those who were able to master such courses of study.

Bundy's own inability to master law school 'killed' his hope and that one 'little thing' made his regard of those who could master such studies poisonous.

It killed his regard for morality, in other words - and morality is very strongly a 6th house precept which, with Capricorn being the signature, would indicate the 'rules in this world.'

Considering that the 6th house is also the house of health care and civil servants, it's also not surprising that Bundy impersonated a police officer in the course of stalking his victims and that many of those victims were nurses.

Another killer: Jeffrey Dahmer.

(I have a point here...stick with me.)

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 Jeffrey Dahmer

May 21 1960  - 4:34 p.m. CDT - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

(Placidus houses, main points only)

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With the needed detail...

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 Jeffrey Dahmer - natal chart detail

 

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Here we have Pholus positioned between Hidalgo and Damocles - and yes, I note that in both charts Ceres (in blue, here at 26 Aquarius) isn't that far away.

Ceres is always about the ability to plan. One shudders to think what that means in these cases.

More to the point I'm trying to make here however, if Damocles is that concept that something can look easy when someone else does it (and prove to be a whole lot harder when you do it), there's a seriously disturbing and rather obvious quality to Hidalgo (means and method), Pholus and Damocles as that pertains to Dahmer's claim that he wasn't trying to kill his victims - he only wanted to turn them into zombies so they couldn't/wouldn't leave him.

The startling quality of the bizarreness here is highly Aquarian, as is (unfortunately!) Dahmer's ability to (Ceres) plan out how to experiment on his victims at least far enough to have all the tools on hand.

It's truly to shudder at.

The most useful thing to note here however, is that this Aquarian Pholus (et al) is in Dahmer's natal 4th house. And with the 4th being the center of 'house and home,' that echoes the story of Pholus sitting in his cave.

Personally I wonder if in years to come Pholus will become associate with the 10/4 axis and thus Capricorn and Cancer, wherever they fall in the chart.

Yet since the astrological door always (always!) swings both ways, Pholus can't simply be a negative or some sort of 'demise.' While it may be our tendency to undermine ourselves and ruin our chances to have what we want, there should also be any number of ways to embrace the Pholus question and use it to the positive.

And evidently there is. Dr. Phil McGraw has an 11th house Pholus/Industria in late Capricorn.

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 Dr Phil McGraw

September 1, 1950 - 7:15 p.m. CST - Vinta, OK

(B rating - Placidus wheel)

Dr. Phil McGraw - natal chart detail

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There's no question that Dr. Phil has had a good career and helped people by making his (Capricorn) career all about working (Industria) at getting others to do the (Industria) work to heal their own (Pholus) wounds.

Pictured in the 11th house of income, society and the mass market, so long as Dr. Phil has stuck to the 11th house concept that it's about fitting into and being useful as a member of the group he's done well. There are many, however, who feel that Dr. Phil went off the rails in that 'jumping the shark' 'reading his own press' sort of manner.

This would be instead of working at ...being worked upon by the alternative Capricorn concept: social status and achievement.

So even those of us who have a well placed Pholus have to keep focused. There's always that 'centaur' quality of intellect against animal instinct with Pholus, to which we add the need to honor and uphold agreements with others and with-or-within our realm of Self as to who we are, who others are, and that both sides of that equation deserve equal respect, especially when 'strong influence' (Hercules) attempt to sway us.

So lest we forget, just when you think the 'worst of it' is over, while it may be over...it may not be over. We are evidently perfectly capable of doing deadly damage to our Self at the 'cave' (mental) level even once the storm has passed.

And maybe especially once the storm has passed?

With an orbit 91.385 years in length, Pholus' cycle is rather wildly erratic. Doing the math, we could divide 91.385 by twelve (signs in the zodiac) and come up with 7.615 (years) and think that this is more or less the amount of time Pholus spends in any given sign.

And we would be wrong if we thought that!

To show you what I mean, here's a chart of Pholus’ last round through the zodiac (in reverse order). This chart starts and ends with Sagittarius simply because that’s the sign Pholus is at the moment - and in case you're wondering, the only way I could get this chart to size up to where you could read it here on the blog was by breaking it into pieces.

(Don't ask. It was a painful little formatting escapade...)

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One thing this chart makes apparent is that the 'shape' and timing of Pholus' passage through our chart is highly individual.

Let's take (for instance) the question of Pholus opposition Pholus. If you just divide 91.385 (years) in half - that being theoretically the 'half way' point - you'd get 45.69 years. And by definition, an astrological opposition is six signs from the starting point.

But for someone born in (say,) May 1980, it only takes about twenty-five years for Pholus to move six signs where for someone born back in 1929 (at the start of the Great Depression) with Pholus in Capricorn, it would have taken around sixty-eight years for Pholus to reach the oppositional area in Cancer.

How wonky, right?

And it isn't even all that regular within generations - generations seeming to be marked by Pluto. If you're an early Baby Boomers (born between 1939 and 1942), you would have arrived at your Pholus opposition around age fifty-six. But for late Baby Boomers (referring to those born in the late 1950s) the opposition would have been reached when you were thirty-eight.

(And I remember my Pholus opposition so well. I caved to the opinions of others and trust me, it wasn't pretty!)

With this particular (Baby Boomer) example there's one other thing also worth noting: the difference in birth years (being close to 20 years) is the difference in the age at which the Pholus opposition is experienced. In other words, both ends of the Baby Boomer generation ended up experiencing their Pholus oppositions at about the same time...even though they were distinctly different ages at that time.

But that doesn't hold true for everybody. The Pluto in Taurus generation begins in 1984 and ends in 1996. Those born at the beginning of this generation are born with Pholus in Taurus. They will have encountered their Pholus oppositions around age 21-23 (or so) - call it somewhere around five years ago.

Those born in 1996 however, will be born with Pholus in Capricorn. They'll be in their 70s before they encounter the Pholus opposition.

Will such a difference in life experience cause a rift inside a given generation? It could. Most likely this will be felt most acutely where friends or partner pairings have one person at either end of the generation and there's a big gap in awareness of what nastiness life can hold.

Otherwise, the opposition of Pholus to its natal position (in your chart) would mean...what? Like all such things, it would have variations - and certainly a Pholus of someone born with Pholus in (say) Aries is going to differ from someone born with Pholus in some other sign. The area of life which tends to 'cave in' or cause a 'cave in' in our lives will be denoted by the house and sign Pholus is in natally...and any planets in aspect. (Also to look at the planet ruling the sign on the cusp of the natal Pholus house.)

But in general, transiting Pholus is likely to be about what causes our plans to go awry by dynamic:  oppositions tend to be confrontations or confrontational, squares are not taking something into account, trines speak to ongoing situations which we tend to take more or less for granted. And this, at some strange level suggests a trine by Pholus may be easier to fall 'prey' to than the square or opposition, both of the latter being energetics which tend to get our attention.

Except, of course, that Pholus may indicate exactly that - the cost of NOT paying attention!    

But back to Pholus in the signs...the fact that Pholus does have such differences in terms of how long it remains resident in various signs brings us to a rather intriguing question. What is that question? Namely  what it means (metaphysically) to have an object which like Pholus spends a relatively small amount of time in the first eight signs (Aries through Scorpio) then a whole lot of time in Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces (heavy on the Capricorn, please)?

Ordinarily I would simply say that in theory, those areas of the zodiac an asteroid (or planet) lingers longest in (vis-a-vis orbital time) are representative of areas where we have more to learn or experience in terms of that asteroid or planet. 

With Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces emphasized here, we know a couple of things. These are the last four signs of the zodiac. They thus represent consequences and outcomes. They're also each and every one the most 'worldly' sign in each of the zodiacal elements (Sagittarius/fire, Capricorn/earth, Aquarius/air and Pisces/water). On one hand this assures us we can meet up with Pholus effects anywhere in life (oh, yippee - NOT!). It also tends to say that our Pholus temptations to slip up, to make decisions which compromise that which isn't ours...that Pholus tempts us to bend rules, come up with excuses and self-justification for just about any reason at all: emotional (water), financial (earth), in order to win the debate (fire) or simply because we like our idea best (air).

And maybe even more to the point, we are probably more likely to trip over our Pholus where others (or the world) is concerned than merely with/within our Self. There seems to be a strain of wanting to be liked, to be popular, to be accepted, to not be seen as un-wantable or 'not up to snuff' which seem part of our overall Pholus lesson(s).

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 Centaurs and Centauresses Exercising by Shooting

with the Bow by Eugene Fromentin (1820-1876)

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Maybe all will best come into focus as we think about how Pholus is currently traversing Sagittarius.

It is at least, what we probably care about most at the moment!

Sagittarius is a sign all about 'finding what works'...which is where (frankly) a lot of us mess up on understanding how to steer our Sagittarian boat. Sag isn't "right" per se, it's about what will work in practice and learning what that is, and why that is. Thus we have the difference between the codification, ritual and doctrine of religion (Sagittarius) and faith or spirituality (Pisces). Or legal theory and legal debate (Sagittarius) and legal consequences (Capricorn). Sag is about education because in Sagittarius we learn what works and maybe learn better. Some will learn to YELL REALLY LOUD to daunt people and some will learn they're just idiotically dead-on wrong!

Right away, having Pholus in Sagittarius sounds like a dicey time. After all, if Pholus is that place where we tend to do ourselves (deadly) wrong out of giving in to public (peer, family, religious, political, image, media, educational, etc.) pressure, in Sagittarius that tendency is going to really be a problem!

Considering that, then let's think...both the Great Stock Market Crash (of 1929) and that worldwide depression and the latest stock market crumble and the resulting recession(s) have occurred with Pholus in Sagittarius. At once the phrase 'good money after bad' comes to mind. Then again, there's also the idea that the periods preceding both money crunches were...well, call it a bit giddy, perhaps? Ideas which might have sounded morally (or at least moralistically) sound like the U.S. "experiment" with Prohibition (1920-1933) happened under Pholus in Sagittarius, and far from improving things, Prohibition became a major cash source for underground crime.

So maybe that Pholus 'giving in to pressure' thing may work both ways? In other words, while it may say we give in where we know we shouldn't, maybe Pholus also represents where we 'kill ourselves' (or our chances or relationships or whatnot) because we refuse to accept some simple human truths?

If you think about it, there does seem to be a lot of that going around. In fact, since Pholus entered Sagittarius this time around (back in 2005) there has seemed to be a lot of people at various points in our world spectrum who seem to be living in some la-la land of theories which truly can't work in practice.

That may well be the hallmark of Pholus in Sagittarius. There are certainly enough folks saying 'this is killing us' without being heard - and that 'us' part comes from the idea that Pholus will work not just in individual charts, but of those of rulers, politicians and nations.

Gosh, oh golly gee...ouch!

Another observation from looking at the date chart is that there seem to be more wars the longer Pholus stays in a sign. By this I don't mean that there are 'x' number of wars in any given swath of years - that would be a big 'duh!'. No, what I'm saying is that the longer Pholus stays in the sign the more conflicts seem to get bestirred - as if the energetic is cumulative.

In terms of movement, Pholus rocks back and forth in its progress through the zodiac. It’s pattern is pretty much 'four degrees forward, three degrees back'…which leads to some degrees getting more worked over than others, as in the following two diagrams.

Pattern #1…

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And Pattern #2…

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In practice, Pattern #2 seems to be the one which gets seen more often...and it's all about degrees and minutes. 

But when we consider the ‘prickly’ and ‘toxic’ effects of Pholus? Yes, this can make for some ugly times.

Another item - the Pholus orbit:

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Pholus - orbital diagram

(credit: JPL database)

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The image above is (if you look at the little date in the lower right hand corner) an image summoned up for June 5, 2012.

Why June 5th?

June 5th is because Pholus made its closest approach to Earth during the period of June 2-5, 2012.

So right away there's reason to heave at least one big sigh or relief - there's hope that the 'lack of realism' spate we've all seen of late will be letting up soon.

Not soon enough, maybe, but soon!

Also...remember that Lunar Eclipse on June 4th at 14 Sagittarius? Pholus was at 17 Sagittarius on that date (proving to me the impossibility of discussing everything possible about any celestial event)...so Pholus was on the "Moon's side" of the Sun-opposition-Moon lunar eclipse.

I have heard more than several stories from people about how that lunar eclipse revealed to them things which have been ruining ("killing") their life. Or their ability to be productive. Or their relationships. And in almost every case, the 'revelation' came as realizing how they had been 'pressured' or 'injured' (had their hopes "killed") at some time in their past so as to create an aversion to facing something....and that aversion was what was causing their current problems - the current 'killing of their peace,' as it were.

That Ixion (repetition of one's errors) and Nemesis ("I told you so!" or "I told you to...") are sitting with Pholus at this time gives us a pretty little picture (or rather, an un-pretty little picture) of this whole tendency to cave to pressures early on in life which don't play out so well.

And that may - in the end - be another factor linked to Pholus, if one referenced a bit obliquely through the Chiron 'brother' factor. What I mean here is that Pholus may be a point which points to family conditioning. Or maybe it's just 'conditioning' which in Sagittarius gets tested through all sorts of standard Sagittarian 'works/doesn't work' means.

Speaking of Chiron, here's another diagram:

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 (Note: nothing here is drawn to scale)

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What the above shows is how Pholus - at it's farthest from the Sun (aka its aphelion point) is just beyond Neptune. And when it's closest to the Sun (at its perihelion, Pholus is just inside the orbit of Saturn (represented by the green line).

Meanwhile, ‘brother’ centaur Chiron’s orbit is more contained. It starts just beyond Uranus and orbits just inside of Saturn.

The inner orbital (perihelion) points are as follows: Chiron at 8.511 AU and Pholus at 8.73 AU. ('AU' stands for astronomical units, one AU being the mean distance between the Sun and the Earth.)

The net, in other words, is that Chiron comes just inside the orbit of Pholus, which on the metaphysical level is an interesting sort of psychological note which would tend to say that what we are 'enlightened' by (Chiron) we continue to use/capitalize on until we learn that it's to our (Pholus) detriment.

That's a concept which applies very much across the board in life, don't you think?

Yet beyond the theoretical, there may be some very real astrological lessons to be learned here. (And how Pholus is that?) IF a natal chart - be it the chart of a person, product, company, nation, law, pet, marriage...whatever...IF that chart features Pholus in any way, then Pholus is a critical player.

Beyond that: IF the natal Pholus is transited (or hit by something like an eclipse) when other major transits are in process, then the situation would seem to be ripe for Pholus 'conditions' or 'conditioning' to be "installed," operated or revealed.

We live a complicated life.

But let's be real here. Over the months (now years) of blogging together (I type, you read) the solar system has sorted itself out along the lines of rather standard astrological theory. In other words, all objects 'out to Saturn' are those we consciously "operate." Beyond Saturn, that Saturn-to-Neptune zone seems to be all about things which exist in our world which we know 'about' but which we may not personally be in charge of - hence the term 'transpersonal' for this zone.

Neptune? Neptune is always the question here...is it part of the transpersonal zone? Is it a fence electrified by forces beyond which, in belonging to the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud regions represent forces which can 'come to us' or evoke in us things we didn't think possible or "couldn't imagine experiencing" until we experience them?

Identifying Neptune, I leave to another day. Neptune is whatever you make it and never what you make it and that's the Neptune theorem.

We have enough (Pholus) problems, so let's not complicate things. But the Pholus-Chiron difference does become clearer in light of the above. Chiron links the personal and transpersonal; it operates within the realm of that we know and know about, even if we don't want to have to do anything about it. Pholus comes from that realm of all we can't really imagine (in reality) until it happens to us - in reality.

The whole 'toxicity' side of the Pholus story would seem to link it to health (and thus, perhaps the Virgo/Pisces or 6th house/12th house axis in a chart). But that 'health' seems to be...according to the orbits...mostly about what we 'know' (or mental processes, perhaps) except when/if the 'thing unimaginable' brings toxicity and poisonous circumstances to us, thereby teaching us some giant life lesson. Moreover, given the Pholus myth we know that Pholus (and therefore Pholean experiences) will...or are 'supposed' to evoke or be about some level of pain in our life, in the moment or in times past - or in how times past have affected our present.

A couple of last Pholus factoids, vague though their  implications may be...

First, Pholus has not come within one astronomical unit of any planet since 764 BCE. It will also not approach any planet until 5290 CE – so that’s no current concern.

However, Pholus did come to its perihelion point not all that long ago - in 1991.

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 Pholus reached it's perihelion (closest approach to the Sun)

point during the period September 11, 1991 through October 10, 1991

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And what degree was Pholus at when at its perihelion? If you remember the initial data for Pholus' discovery as I ask that question you get a gold star. Because yes, Pholus was at 0 Leo at its perihelion point.

That it was officially 'discovered' in early 1992 and was at that point still (or again) at 0 Leo is a matter of that 'Pholus pattern' thing. And yes, it makes total sense that a centaur like Pholus would get discovered when at its perihelion point.

But astrologically? This emphasis on 0 Leo shouldn't be ignored. 0 Leo is about our 'beginnings' in the sense of personal autonomy, identity and the willingness to take on the good, bad and responsibility which goes with that autonomy, giving us the classic sort of dichotomy between the immature, the self-indulgent and the brats who want privilege without responsibility or consequence...and those willing to accept the effort, responsibility and risk of failure which goes with owning our truest and most potent creative potentials.

That Pholus has repercussions in how others receive or regard us is noted in another note about this perihelion point: at the time, Pholus was at 0 Leo and throughout this almost month-long period, Saturn was at 0 Aquarius.

Even more poignant is the astrological image of the Full Moon for that perihelion period, which includes a Grand Cross.
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 Full Moon of September 23, 1991 (10:40 p.m. UT/+0)

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Put simply, Saturn being in Aquarius and conjunct Kalypso says that our success depends on considering the opinions, needs and rights of others. That the 'cross-bars' of this Full Moon are 0 Aries and 0 Libra is a clarified picture of how we feel about ourselves and the success with which we present ourselves to others.

It's a Grand Cross. And thus a challenge we all face, and which we all will face.

That said, Pholus is going to be playing footsie for Ixion for quite some time, so issues which at their heart pertain to 'committing the same mistake over and over again' are going to be with us, and part of our personal lives for some time to come. The years 2013 and 2014 have Ixion and Pholus conjunct. This is either a great time to rid yourself of personal and/or psychic baggage or a time when you may embody the famous Rhett Butler ‘frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn’ attitude in all the most unpleasant and unsubtle ways.

Come 2015, Pholus will begin to move ahead of Ixion.

Then as 2019 rolls around, Pholus moves into Capricorn as Ixion moves over the Galactic Center.

On one hand, this doesn’t sound like peaches and cream. On the other, since the Galactic Center speaks to the necessity to make a contribution in this world and the perils we run when we think first and last of ourselves (or 'our group') this may spell the height of ills and the 'coming to light' of a necessity to change our ways.

Then again, maybe not. Pholus spends a good long time in Capricorn and as noted, Pholus lingering in a sign seems to spell times when we most want to influence that other sucker into the ground if they don't agree with us.

It's probably worth remembering that Capricorn is also the sign of regulation, laws, governments and the business of commerce, too.

Yet maybe awareness will count for something. If so, maybe the fact that you're learning about Pholus and how these cycles work will help you do better where your own life is concerned.

Plus you never know - if enough people come to understand the concept, maybe enough of us will figure out that the pressure without which triggers the pressure within is about our tendency to feel pressured, and deal with matters from that perspective.

A better perspective, we might say?

 

Orbital mechanics being quirky things, Ixion will continue trailing Pholus for a while. But Ixion will catch up. And that it does with both points in Capricorn is fair warning to us now in an era where we are experiencing the Pluto shift from Pluto's residence in the receptive/reactive signs to its evolutionary transit through worldly-if-personal proactive signs.

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Once Pholus gets in front of Ixion (as of 2015), with all this still flowing through the Sagittarian lens we are likely to see the cost but have a harder time seeing our own fine hand in the cause. Passive or participant, this combination of Pholus and Ixion is big on wanting to see things our own way.

Then 2019 rolls around. Pholus hits the Capricorn ingress ‘reality’ quotient as Ixion passes over the Galactic Center (the Galactic Center being the black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy).

Let me put it this way: in the realm of theoretical celestial one-upmanship, while Ixion is 'closer' to us (i.e., more "native" to our sense of individual life and wanting what we want), there's no question but when the fight is billed as Galactic Center (Black Hole) versus Ixion, Ixion loses.

One assumes that those most 'Ixion-ish' (who do what they want or what will benefit them without regard for morals, morays, laws or ethics) will find someone lighting a fire under their tails about then.

We don't know who (or what) will be striking this match. But since the mythic Ixion ends up tied to a rotating, flaming wheel for all eternity for having ignored the opportunity to learn better...these stories do seem intertwined.

And intertwined in our time. So we'll all do well to remember that where there's a difference between what we want to be true and what works in the greater reality, our wants don't win, no matter how many times we try to make them win.

Ixion continues tagging along behind Pholus until 2035, when they will again be perfectly conjunct - this time at 22 Capricorn, a degree pictured as A SOLDIER RECEIVING TWO AWARDS FOR BRAVERY IN COMBAT in Sabian terms.

Last time Pholus was in Capricorn we had WWII. And while you may think 'enough said!' the real lesson is more about duality here and the fact that this degree belongs to Capricorn's 3rd decanate.

It's thus about commerce, peace, and the courage to go beyond the conviction that 'if I don't control this it won't be okay.' Pluto will be in Aquarius by this time, so the emotional stakes are huge.

But those stakes are entirely about our ability to accept that we are all part of a greater puzzle, not owner of the puzzle.

Ixion and Pholus don’t part company (by orb) until the year 2043. One assumes by then we will have figured out that a lack of care or regard for self and/or others isn’t good.

Science is moving faster than astrologers can. So there's certainly more to learn about Pholus. (About everything!) But hey...we're making a start, right?

Better to attempt to understand, than to not think things through - or to be in denial. That would seem to be a good part of the Pholus lesson and now within our grasp.

Now if we can just hold on...

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