Pluto Direct / Sun in Libra

Libra

by Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis (1907)

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In case you haven’t heard, Pluto is about to go direct at 10 Capricorn. The date will be September 23rd, the time will be barely past midnight (UT/+0) and all of this precedes the Sun’s Libra equinox by barely two hours (the Sun enters Libra at 2:30 in the morning, UT/+0 time).

And if we think about just that much, one obvious metaphysical metaphor seem rather clear: our Sun-in-Libra ‘life relationships’ and/or ‘relationship to life’ (be that passive or action-oriented) are taking a [Pluto] transformative [station] turn through which, or in the wake of which we will face things which are possibly very new to us...or which we will have to face ‘anew’...or which we will deal with directly (or need to deal with directly) from a perspective which takes more than just ourselves (or our Self) into account.

In entering Libra, the Sun is moving into the zodiac’s public zone - the six signs (Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces) which are less about learning about our Self and more about learning what that self can, should or needs to do in life, their world or the world. Being that the worldly signs are in polarity to the zodiac’s personal (‘about me’) signs (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo) there’s always some ‘bleed’ from one hemisphere to the other just as it’s natural for us all to have moments of thinking about some public or  worldly situation in terms of a focus on our Self (i.e., ‘what does this mean to me?’).

But that’s natally. All our natal traits are what they are and we will slide back and forth along our own polarity lines as we will, depending on how they’re laid out. Transits however, work a little differently. The Sun in Libra or Venus transiting Virgo (as it is at the moment)...transiting planets hold their nature more purely, more innately on an ‘in the moment’ conceptual level than natal planets do. So though your natal Libra Sun or your natal Virgo Venus may regularly reflect polarities in your day-to-day life, the transiting Libra Sun indicates a four-week period where we either are balanced, we bring things into balance or where through some typically Libran force, procedure or operation we are brought into balance by some response (or lack thereof) from others, that being a reflection of what we’ve ‘put out there’ for them to react to.

All of which sounds very timely, yes.

Then there’s the Pluto side of this equation. In going direct at 10 Capricorn, Pluto is still conjunct ‘fixed star’ (nebula) Facies - a point of multi-pronged difficulties and challenges - while also conjunct Vega, a star which in being situated at 14 Capricorn since 1907 has long stood for the sort of grace in speech or personal presentation which most of us recognize as ‘charisma’ or the ability to be charismatic.

And what it the single knee-jerk keyword for Pluto? That’s right: transformation.

So whatever Pluto encounters, it changes. Whatever the status quo, Pluto comes along and turns the tables, changes the direction, transforms the circumstance. We therefore shouldn’t be surprised that as Pluto has come into a five-degree orb of conjunction with Vega (which started back in late December 2012) many a thought, quality, effort and/or person we had thought was so wonderful, so cool, so worth our faith, loyalty and support - how at this point we feel disappointed. Or rejected. Or even repulsed.

It’s at moments (and periods) like this when we find out who human beings are - at least currently. But currently is what we have to deal with, yes.

Pluto’s station effects will of course, have started up prior to the Sun’s entering Libra. Using either a two or three-day station ‘allowance’ we would expect the entire roster of Plutonic qualities... from the toxic to the purifying, from the life-giving to the death-dealing, from the hands-off guiding with wisdom notion to the ‘don’t even think outside the box’ control orientations to begin evidencing in earnest at least by the 21st, if not a day even earlier that that.

The ‘rule’ with stations goes as follows: the closer to the actual time of station, the stronger the effect will be with events occurring prior to the time of station pointing to things which are yet to happen and things after the station referring to matters which have already occurred.

And with Pluto, that could be saying a lot. Pluto effects are not known for being polite or gentle, though they can be, with the difference being whether we are (or have been) in control of our Self and whatever our underlying fears and insecurities may be. As desire is at some level a ‘fear’ of going without, as rejection is a fear of feeling invalidated by others who in life’s grand scheme of things may or may not mean anything to anything (apart from our ego), so Pluto manifests in some area of our life as a form of ‘proof’ as to how stable we are or aren’t - most of all with our Self.

Metaphysically speaking, the markers are pretty simple here: stability brings about the acceptance of life as having moments of joy as well as moments of grief, areas of light which are not just offset by realms of sorrow but which are complimented and enhanced by our breadth of experience.

The sort of stability Pluto asks us to have is not external, but internal. From that flows all else as we are each one of us causal effects in a cause/effect world.

As the Sun comes into Libra this quality of ‘being able to produce, hone or change our own results’ becomes very direct...and at the same time, very theoretical in a way which can become argumentative and dogmatic. Though those who tend to wear rose colored glasses don’t like it much, Libra is not just about the pretty - it’s about how to use our power to generate reactions, whatever they may be, to learn how to be our Self more effectively. This is why Libra isn’t necessarily about ‘lovers’ but about pairs matched by interest whether that interest ‘matches up’ through similarity or opposition (this being why the Libra keyword list includes ‘partners’ as well as ‘open enemies’).

However...that ‘lovers’ thing? That being the emotional side of pairing (peacefully or otherwise), that is Scorpionic by nature. And Pluto is the outcome ruler of Scorpio, so to have Pluto going direct as the Sun is entering (and activating) all those Libra precepts does suggest this station period as one when romantic lovers may either come together or erupt, depending on underlying (Taurus/security) issues.

And yes other relationships will be affected too. Things may be just fine, or they may become very ‘un-lover-ly’ over this period or in the wake of it because of something which arises (or happens)now. We are moving through a very complicated (Facies/Pluto) time which in great measure is breaking us down, which is in perfect keeping with the 0 Scorpio solar eclipse set to happen next month (on October 23rd, UT/+0). In fact, we could quite sensibly say that this station - with all its ‘Facies’ complications and its realistic if unpleasant flecks of something we [Vega] thought good which has suddenly been revealed as something other.

(Maybe something very ‘other.’) 

Despite all our reactions...(which are likely to be many, varied, and often sufficiently intense to make us uncomfortable with the fervency of our own feelings)...none of this is precisely about breaking us down so we can be defeated - but rather so we can see ourselves as a person with preferences and vulnerabilities which amount to as many pluses and minuses as anyone else has (with our auto-comparing being part of all which comes courtesy of Sun in Libra.)

As for 10 Capricorn, that’s sort of the wild card in this equation. After all, it’s Pluto’s turn to direct at 10 Capricorn which is linking (and therefore mixing) its own ‘did you get carried away with your Self-driven issues (you know, all that Taurus security stuff)?’

Then we add in the Sabian for this degree (‘A large group of pheasant on a private estate’), a quality Dane Rudhyar typified simply as ‘aristocracy,’ echoing Marc Edmund Jones who spoke of this image as ‘the refinement and propagation of aristocratic values by means of which man participates in the evolution of life towards ever more perfect forms of existence.’

Either way, there is an essence of wanting things to be a certain way expressed in this symbol which ties in rather seamlessly with the rather standard Taurus/Scorpio conflict we tend to run into in life (in which situation/s Pluto would be a primary outcome symbol), though it’s probably also worth noting that in the strictly Capricorn/achievement/goal sense strives to achieve without any note on what happens if you actually get there.

This being Pluto’s station, though ordinarily any idea that what you thought was so wonderful might not be so wonderful in reality (as opposed to in your mind) ...though that might sound far fetched, it isn’t. After all, Pluto’s orbit is influenced by Neptune, which symbolically is the ‘tricky’ quality, that ‘turning of the tables’ quality we find when we traipse mindlessly into Pluto’s realm. So there’s that to consider - along with the fact that being that this is Pluto we’re talking about. And since Pluto is named for the god of death, hidden things and all forms of temptingly ‘buried’ treasure...and because the astrological Pluto is all that to the hilt and even more...

...let’s just say that there are several things one doesn’t want to do in any Pluto situation (never mind a Pluto station). The first would be to act out of spite. Then there’s ignoring potential problems and dangers - which doesn’t mean you have to focus on them either, being as obsession (or to put it more nicely, over-focusing) in and will forever be our premier Pluto problem.

Pluto ‘asks’ that we think things through and choose based on a balanced, calm and even-handed basis. Though what everyone may want may be different, the attention and intention counts with Pluto (as it does with Scorpio) - for everyone to get an equal amount of what they want (be the commodities different) satisfies Pluto’s need for willingness to change (i.e., our position, our mind, our stance, etc.)... as well as satisfying Neptune’s requirement for lack of ego.

Beyond that, with Pluto there are always layers - most of all the fact that Pluto applies to both that which happens in the present and whatever may be a result of choices/actions/situations of the past.

And it’s all smothered in a plethora of current things primal, testing and often enough testy brought to us courtesy of October’s incoming 0 Scorpio solar eclipse..an eclipse the mere position of which (0 Scorpio) says everything we could possibly need to know (and not like hearing) about how what is being ‘broken down’ now as we’re moving into the eclipse is Libran.

In other words, they’re about who we are seen as, what we do and why we do it (and how others feel about it) as well as why or how others respond to us - good or bad, whether at home, at work, as you’re walking down the street humming or anything else. And since both Pluto and the Black Moon always reference some ‘connection’ or something which connects us to someone or something else, this ‘I/thou’ (you/me, cause/effect, action/reaction) Libra quality is likely to be magnified.

And that would be both in the world around us and within. Pluto in direct motion speaks to moments, events and situations which arise unbidden despite our efforts to control ‘them’ (or some thought that we’re ‘in control’ of our own life) causes us to ‘face’ the fact there is no ‘single solution’ to anything over time because time shifts...and thus things change...and so our solutions (even our coping mechanisms or basic preferences) not only could change, but should [Pluto] ‘transform.’

And it’s often a moment like a station when such transformations - be they physical, emotional, spiritual, mental or otherwise - occur.

If Pluto (in particular) is in some sort of tight aspect to your natal chart things will happen now... in fact, they’re probably already in the works. (You know about it even if you don’t want to think or talk about it.) That our resistance to change (particularly Capricorn/structural change) is understandable is all well and good, but some things now must change and will change - our only choice would seem to be where we want to end up with... in the long run... with ourselves.

Make that our Self, which is the final ‘trickiness’ Pluto, whatever else it brings. While there’s little doubt that where Pluto is concerned, passion and desire though common are likely to be exactly what drives us - that’s also what can...and often will... lead us astray in the moment or on some whole. Why that would be goes back to Pluto as a symbol - or more specifically, to the description of god Pluto (also known as Hades) as that which ultimately changes our life by representing death.

And that’s what Pluto does. As Pluto ‘transforms,’ something fades, something dies away or becomes no longer apropos or useful. But to the Plutonic point, where Pluto focuses is something which for whatever reason is...and remains intriguing. Because it holds some allure (conscious or instinctive) for us, letting go is hard. Yet if we continue to pursue our course unabated, then we meet up with the other side of the astrological Pluto - that of ‘waste’ or ‘wasted effort’...an ultimate ‘killing off’ of time and energy which may succeed in the short run but beyond that inevitably falls apart as soon as our obsessive Plutonic drives are no more.

And eventually they do come to be ‘no more’ in every case - after all, we’re still mortal and we die.

But in the meantime, Pluto transits can be wholly constructive. They can be a positive, particularly as ‘read’ through looking at where your Pluto is natally and where Pluto is at the moment - which at the moment of station is 10 Capricorn.

Just remember: Pluto is about transformation. Wherever Pluto sits in our chart, that’s the area or ‘department’ of life where we will (probably rather obsessively) pursue what we think of as our ‘destiny.’

And yet... if you really think about Pluto, considering the astrological machinery, that would say that said ‘destiny’ is nothing more or less than an engine driven by our desire not to deal with our vulnerabilities.

...Which may be a good thing, considering. After all, our greatest personal gains are made through confrontations with vulnerabilities, not strengths.

It just takes something we can’t control to take us there...which is where the astrology of Pluto comes in.
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Dateblog: February 2014

Whenever we look at the month ahead, probably the easiest way to think of it is as being built atop that most basic feeling we have about ‘how life is doing’…or the ‘flavor’ of everything going on overall. That’s the quality astrology assigns (in broadest terms) to the elements and modalities (the ‘mode’ of action or activity) which the Sun changing signs in the mid-late part of every months switches up for us in an endlessly predictable cycle.

In that cycle, February’s ‘Sun menu’ always starts on an airy (Aquarius) note with a watery Pisces experience to follow. But then we start adding in the variables – variables which for February 2014 are probably ‘framed’ (circumscribed?) by Mercury going station/retrograde on February 6^th (UT/+0) only to re-emerge from retrograde on the 28^th.

Also…beginning with an early birthday shout out to my Ex (we’re friends, not to worry…), as always, if your birthday falls within 2 days (even 3) either way from a planetary station, figure your whole ‘birthday’ (solar return) year is going to be colored by issues having to do with that planet.

Or dwarf planet.

Or node.

(And yes, Ex-of-Mine, I will expect your email on this subject in due time. No rush.)

The general astrological point here is that with most of February embraced by a water-into-air Mercury retrograde, there is an overhanging (or imbedded, depending) sense of needing to understand things at both a feeling and thoughtful level. You may not want to think of things that way, but life is likely to present you with matters and dynamics which cause you to consider things in this manner anyway.

And maybe more importantly, that which happens now will get you to think about yourself as a player in your own grand drama in those water-into-air emotionally thoughtful terms.

While that is going on, Venus (now blessedly in forward motion) transiting Capricorn against Mars’ somewhat subdued energetic in Libra suggests a negotiating of accomplishment through interactions with others in worldly settings.

Iris and Jupiter by Michel Corneille the Younger (1701)

With Jupiter retrograde in Cancer for the whole of the month, instincts lean now towards building for the future and repairing the past, though with Saturn in Scorpio there are challenges – most of which come from our tendency to see things from our own perspective without taking into account what that perspective (and the fact we’re so focused on it) looks to others.

In other words…would you be attracted by someone you could tell was only thinking about what they were going to get out of something?

It’s that sort of time…and for the record, this is just the beginning of it. With this year’s first set of eclipses occur on the 15^th (lunar eclipse) and 29^th (solar eclipse) of April, the two-month eclipse ‘breaking down’ phase would start on February 29^th if we were going to be having a February 29^th this year (which we’re not) – and that should be news enough. Remember how last September, no sooner had we crossed that two-month mark than feelings and emotionally charged issues started testing us to see what we were made of?

That two month steamroller-fest led into last November (2013)’s famously self-confrontational Scorpio solar eclipse. And now…in spite of whatever date February ends on, it’s last week will be inducting us all into this April’s Taurus solar eclipse ‘breaking down’ period.

As a matter of fact, now that I’m thinking about it, how our calendar is shaped (with February being this pre-shrunk month society likes to monkey with)…isn’t it interesting that the eclipse pattern would fall the exact day after February ends? That, combined with a Mercury retrograde period – they always seem to get us all more thinking about personal stuff – it’s sort of…insular.

And this insular sort of vibe is leading us into a Taurus ‘breaking down’ period?

Oh my.

Plus there’s one more fact you might want to know, one which isn’t apparent on the diagram. That last week of Pisces you’re looking at? What you can’t tell is that it’s all leading up to Mars AND Saturn going retrograde as the Opening Act to March.

That’s right…Mars goes retrograde on March 1^st and Saturn goes retrograde on March 2^nd. So again…if February were ‘shaped’ like any other month in our calendar (i.e., with 30 or 31 days), we’d be seeing these events on the path ahead.

Instead they’re out there…but somehow just beyond the horizon.

Are you beginning to understand what I mean about this is likely to be an odd month? It could be good - there’s nothing about it which necessarily says this all can’t be a metaphorical and metaphysical image of a month when you’re so busy getting things done that you never look up. Or when there’s so much which is just fine that the rest can just be let go of for a moment.

And maybe that’s all true. Maybe that is what’s going on in your life.

In that, maybe the question then becomes the Mars in Libra/Jupiter in Cancer question: does it behoove you to be so focused on your own stuff? Is it the balance of regard…the me/them, the I/thou, the ‘what I have to offer’ and ‘what the customer wants’ which ultimately leads to success, or is it just being out for Self?

That Mars is in Libra, that in advance of its March 1^st station/retrograde Mars will be slowing its general one-degree-every-two-days (more or less) to one-degree-every-seven-days just as life (the Sun) moves from the idea of the thing (Aquarius) into the confrontation with the (Pisces) emotional reality of the thing…the feeling what having all those emotions feels like…

Okay, so maybe it’s not that insular a time – even though there will be those who will try to hide their feelings.

Diana the Huntress, one of our metaphysical images of the Moon

in active mode, by Guillaume Seignac (oil on canvas, private collection)

Or hide from their feelings. For some, surely this will be true...alas. (And it so never works.)

All of this is what will initiate the being led towards the nexus of the Taurus solar eclipse? An eclipse all about the validity (or invalidity) of our values - you know, the ‘what we’re basing our life choices on’ stuff.

Ah, joy. (Maybe joy?)

One more note here – this February includes no New Moon. Considering how last month hosted two New Moons, that’s not shocking. Again, part of this has to do with the fact that our calendar month (February) is a bit unusual.

Then again, what does the whole of this say about us? If you want you can certainly take this to include how we run (“calendar”) our world and life. But even without that, the implication would seem to be there that all is not yet what it will become. Knowing that Mars is slowing down to go retrograde may mean we stop to take stock this month – of our Self or our life.

Or our career, spending habits, relationships, attitudes, social circles, priorities – whatever.

One way or another, we’ll all get to the self-examination soon enough…which sort of means that at some level February is about all that which will get us there. Take us there...Get us to look at that.

Considering how life seldom misses and opportunity to flex its muscles, that a goodly portion of the citizenry will be beginning to stumble into reflective mode (or causes to stop and reflect) also means that those who tend to prey on, depend on or enjoy the exploitation of others will also be active.

But not to worry…they’ll be given cause to reflect too.

And maybe that’s the bottom line: life is bigger than any of us. Life is the process of making something of ourselves so that we can participate and excel among others and thus improve the world which gives us the reason, ability and space to make something of ourselves.
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Orcus Direct: Consequence, or Consequential?

La Puerta (the Doorway) by Mauricio Garcia Vega

The mythic Orcus isn’t on what I’d think of as the modern mythic top 10 list. But Orcus does represent an interesting mythically described trait, that of facing a reality which can no longer be changed.

The god Orcus supposedly met us when we crossed over from life into death, serving as an ‘escort’ for us between that point and the moment of judgment.

There have been moments when I’ve thought of  Orcus as a Roman god doorman. You know…you arrive at the appointed ‘address of death’ and Orcus greets whisks open the door to the post-life court building: Good day…not for you, perhaps?

But just when my mythic mind gets that far (yes, I have a whole pantheon of ideas in my head) I revert to thinking of Orcus astronomically. After all, Orcus is a Plutino. And that’s sort of the fuzz on the clarity of ‘what’s done is done.’ If Orcus’ orbit wasn’t controlled by Neptune, we would think of this object as generating an energetic which is entirely cut-and-dried. In other words, simple results. Cause…effect. For any action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

But since Orcus’ orbit is astronomically controlled by Neptune, there would seem to be a point of consideration. In other words, there may be cause, but what should the effect really be? Plainly with Orcus there is a level at what’s done is done. What’s been said has been said. Water has done gone over that dam. The milk has been spilt. Feelings have been hurt, trust has been betrayed.

Thus the question seems to become ‘what now?’ coupled to either ‘did I do the right thing?’ or ‘how should I respond?’ (substitute ‘react,’ ‘proceed’ or whatever other verb applies, as necessary).

Someone may yell at you and hurt your feelings. That’s a fact. But should you yell back? Should you yell louder? Should you try to understand where they’re coming from? Should you try to reason with them? Should you ignore them? Should you walk away and give them room to yell themselves hoarse without having to get a headache? Should you call the authorities? Should you buy earplugs, a muzzle? Or maybe a squirt gun you could load with hot pepper juice to squirt in their mouth the next time they dare open it?

(Yes, I’m creative. Thanks for noticing.)

Orcus will go direct at 3 Virgo on May 17th. Given the idea of giving all stations a two-day ‘allowance’ before and after the actual station, that means its station begins on May 15th and ends on May 19th.

May 15th is the date that Mercury enters Gemini. And May 20th (the day after Orcus’ station ends) is the day when the Sun will leave Taurus and move into Gemini. Gemini plus Gemini equals…much information. Lots to do. Many choices.

But with the Sun entering Gemini as transiting Uranus (in Aries) squares transiting Pluto (in Capricorn), that adds a little ‘blast powder’ to the mix. We will hope it’s only mental. But Pluto-Uranus is not a relaxed pairing under any conditions. And since squares indicate stress creating problems unless all attributes are in balance, it’s likely that Sun-Mercury here represents information which with the dual-Gemini qualifier means there’s a whole  heaping helping of input. Or things to deal with.

Let us also remember that this is all taking place only days after a Solar Eclipse in Taurus. In an emotional degree of Taurus, telling us that whatever happens it may affect your feelings and your Taurean sense of safety, stability, satisfaction, security and comfort…or this may well represent a time when your world is affected (or at least influenced or impacted) by someone else’s sense of Taurean satisfaction, stability, comfort and all the rest.

And you could be the happy one. Or they could be the happy one. And the other person just may think that the other person is feeling happy at “their expense.”

If you have something going on in your life which you know (absolutely and for positive sure) is the sort of thing which is solar eclipsian to the max, Orcus’ turn to direct motion is like as not an extension of whatever that shift, process, evolution, loss, revolution, restructuring or plain old everyday challenge truly is. 

OR….considering this is Orcus and Orcus does refer to something which is ‘done and cannot be changed,’ this may be a time when you’re committed to “Thing A” but which is now complicated by “Thing B” coming along. Seeing as Taurus represents resources and one of the easiest (and most general) forms of “resources” to cite is money, you may have committed the bulk of your cash or cash flow to “Thing A” (which cannot now be changed, in true Orcus style) only to be challenged by “Thing B” suddenly demanding some kind of financial investment.

This is just one way to look at what may be going on. Whatever happens, considering the ‘order’ of celestial events in this moment (solar eclipse, Mercury’s Gemini ingress, Orcus going direct and the Sun’s Gemini ingress in tandem with Uranus square Pluto)…there is some level at which this period has an overhanging aura about how we make (Gemini) choices and learning to accept that no choice is perfect. And that every choice is its own risk, no matter how well we plan. That could pertain to choices you’re making at this point to move you on from some choice you made in the past which hasn’t played out. Or which maybe worked for a while, but is no longer functional. Then again, you may be entirely on track with your life in general and be shifting gears with the solar eclipse and moving right along only to get walloped by something you didn’t expect.

To repeat: since Gemini is an air sign, the likelihood is that this centers in airy matters: thoughts, ideas, communications, something committed through verbal speech or the written word or even figures. (Yes, accounting is a Gemini thing since it is really about accounting for things chosen.) Yes, we have earthy, tangible signals coming from the eclipse in Taurus. And yes, Pluto in Capricorn is the signature of real live life structures which are evolving even as we speak.

But all that brings us back towards day-to-day functionality. And when you get to that sort of thing, then you’re talking daily operations (Gemini, ruled by Mercury) and getting things done so your life gets on track and your cause is advanced through your efforts (Virgo, ruled by Mercury).

If you missed the blog-chat about Mercury entering Gemini, you’ll find it right where this post ends. That’s the thinking-doing part of the equation. But the how you do it and the fact that how you do something affects your reward (present tense and eventual)? That’s another version of Orcus in Virgo.

Which brings us – specifically – to 3 Virgo.

3 Virgo is a degree which generally indicates the need to know your stuff and to have ‘invested’ in learning how to do what you do over a decently long period of time. So one form of problems which arise here have to do with trying to ‘get by’ without expertise or without having earned your chops in some way. And Orcus making a turn here is likely to create a focus on where you may have a lack of understanding or expertise or…let’s face it…where you may have been slacking off or trying to scoot by without making all the proper, long-form efforts.

But there is also a bit of the ‘angel on your shoulder’ quality which comes with this degree. It seems to reflect the ‘universality’ idea in the Sabian symbol for 3 Virgo, a symbol which reads: Black and white children pay together happily. While mistakes are mistakes, there is an aura of being allowed to work through differences which goes with this degree.

So even if Orcus greets you at the door with a you know you’re in trouble, right? The reality of the situation may be that the next sentence is you’ll make it through. It’s going to take a lot of work and you may not like the process, but you will get where you need to go…eventually.

And yes, that may be very eventually. But those who do the work, those who don’t ignore the need to think things through and not project so much as accept that this is a season, a year, a time of much hard growth which is challenging even on a good day…?

So…when confronted, will we win?

That would seem to – in part – depend on whether we are willing to confront and own up to our demons.

That’s the other side of Orcus – the fact that we often try to walk away from and ‘be done’ with something which is going to end up haunting us because it’s in us, not in a given situation. That it's often hard to remember...or at least hard to want to deal with...? That would be the hallmark of the Neptune Effect, which is back to the idea of Orcus as a Plutino.

And not to put too fine a point on it, this is all made a little more poignant (read: trying or emotionally touchy, be it our emotions being touched or not) by the fact that Orcus is going direct in opposition to Neptune.

Plus Neptune (as we all probably recall) is conjunct fixed star Deneb, and royal star Fomalhaut.

 - Link to post -

Neptune, Fomalhaut, Deneb: Dissolving Walls   

That comes from the Neptune Effect. Let’s remember that with any Plutino, we tend to ‘envision’ what we want – or what we want to think is true. And what’s that funny Neptune rule? The thing you think true, isn’t. The thing you think least likely to be true? That’s what will ultimately prove true.

The “ugly” side of Orcus is that it speaks to something ‘about’ us (or our thinking, which seems apt with all the Gemini going around) which we don’t want to accept. Or which we don’t want to face.

And there is a level at which we would have to think that Orcus going direct – the symbolic motion of that which we’ve been harboring…and maybe trying to ignore in our selves…being given cosmic ‘liberty’ to now operate in our world, in the world, and thus come back to confront us.

We can win through. All is not ‘lost’…thought it might feel beyond us.

That ‘judgment’ we get led to by Orcus? Astrologically that’s us – our judgment. Is it flawed or faulty? Are we willing to ‘judge’ ourselves as wanting and work on our weaknesses?

Such are evidently the questions of the moment.
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Niobe’s Moment, Photographica’s Image, and a bit on the changing of the Ages

 The children of Niobe being slain by Apollo

and Diana by Pierre-Charles Jombert

Niobe goes retrograde at 10:18 (UT/+0) on March 14th at 9 Scorpio, a degree known to test and elicit basic emotional weakness.

If pride goeth before the fall as the myth of Niobe tells us, what we are being confronted with is more than mere pride in self, but rather a moment in which we are brought to question why we are proud and what pride means. 

There’s no question that when we do something well we earn certain rewards. We work, we get a paycheck. We clean the bathroom, we have a nice place in which to take our next shower. We tend to call this ‘pride’ but these sorts of feelings would seem to have more in common with ‘satisfaction’ than pride.

It’s one thing to be pleased that you’ve lived up to your word. That you’ve done what you set out to do. It’s another to strut or primp, to require that others acknowledge or compliment you beyond the simple transaction of work-for-pay already mentioned.

The kind of pride which Niobe represents in the pride which is boastful, the pride which in needing to say ‘I’m better than anybody’ is really a reflection of insecurity and self-worth issues. After all, if you’re truly happy with yourself, who needs to brag?

In going retrograde at 9 Scorpio, this would be a time when we question why we value things as we do. What needs are really driving us? Certainly coming on the heels of Uranus entering Aries, this would be a time to be discovering things about ourselves.

In fact, that’s the up side of Uranus/Aries! Those who will not change, who will not deal with who they are honestly, who simply act out of entitlement will find life turning the tables on them. It may not be instant, but it will happen. Uranus in Aries is the essence of change or be changed…and the Aries side says while self consciousness (vanity), self proclamation (ego) and entitlement (insecurity turned inside out) is easy, so is courage. So is discovering better ways and the truth of our capacity, our ability, our intelligence.

Bottom line, if you’re going to toot your own horn now – you’d better either be a virtuoso tooter or willing to admit you’re working on it!

But getting back to Niobe…given this turn to retrograde at 9 Scorpio this would be a classic time to have a moment of embarrassment. Or when you may look up and have one of those twinges of would’a, should’a, could’a….but (oy!) didn’t!

Do you need to beat yourself up? No. Do you need to admit whatever ‘it’ is? At least to yourself – absolutely!

And to others…? Well, maybe that too. With TNO Deucalion just ahead (at 10 Scorpio) and Kleopatra just behind at 8 Scorpio while you may be able to avoid the ‘moral cost’ (Deucalion) you may do yourself a huge giant cotton candy favor by being knowingly gracious in approaching others (or whoever) being openly ‘knowing’ (Kleopatra) of the whole of the situation…your side, their side, what has gone down, what maybe should have happened…

 A statue of Cleopatra (the astrological Kleopatra)

housed at the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum

photo credit: E. Michael Smith (2007)

Let us not forget here that all this happens as we are still under the station influence of Hidalgo, which went retrograde on the 12th at 4:23 in the afternoon (UT/+0). That station extending at least until 4:23 in the afternoon on the 14th, the whole idea of nobility and nobless oblige is certainly underscored…as would also be the temptation to be proud. Or to become aware of the cost of pride, be recognize someone else setting themselves up to pay a heavy price because of their pride…there are so many ways to conjugate this idea!

But the point is we have overlapping influences. And while both are about objects going into retrograde, telling us we should reconsider how we come to be in the spots we are in life feeling the way we feel…the truth is, such stations often call out the best and worst in every one of us. And yes, that’s why we might see or recognize these less-than-lovable qualities in someone else – because it’s so pronounced at this time.

Seeing such things in ourselves? Well, that’s probably not as easy. Nobody likes to see themselves in anything but a sterling, rose-scented light. It horrifies many to realize it, but not one of the great monsters of human history has gotten up in the morning thinking about how to be a more terrible person.

If you’ve listened to the news of late - you may be listening to politics, sports, human interest, entertainment…and the process of life is at this moment shaking things up, separating the ‘wheat from the chaff’ as it were. There are literally thousands of stories of the banal-looking person next door who turns out to be a truly terrible – or wonderful person.

This wanting to think well of everyone is a very Piscean Age image. The two fish headed in different directions tied by the (singular) golden cord which is the sign of Pisces among other things describes an age where things tended to be good or bad, pro or con, dominant or submissive – a plus or minus, positive or negative.

In reality, a lot of things are sometimes one thing and sometimes another. If you’re a seven year old and you’re sitting at home studying history at the kitchen table, that’s good. If you’re a seven year old and you’re on a rollercoaster at Disneyland studying history, you’re probably a bit odd (not to mention nauseated. Or maybe that’s just me…).

Some would say this one/other thing duality which is Pisces is because the sign has two rulers: Jupiter and Neptune. So would Aquarius be any different?

Answer: yes. Aquarius is very different when compared to Pisces – just as Pisces is very different when compared to Aquarius. Even if we look at the pictographs or glyphs commonly used for each sign they describe two very different scenarios.

In Pisces, we have two fish going in opposite directions.

In Aquarius – ruled first by Saturn and then by Uranus – we have layers of water.

 

It’s really a great analogy for what the sign is about; Aquarius asks that we build towards success and earn acceptance not just in this world, but in our own life. You know, the idea of being able to ‘live with yourself’ and all that.

We’re all being tested in that regard. If we have been fine with ourselves, wrenches are probably being tossed in our real or mental works, challenging either our personal status quo (who we are) or life in the world around us, challenging us to grow or adapt.

And the point? (Yes, there is one.) The point is that Aquarius is not about good or bad or even ‘shades of gray’ so much as it’s about reality and realism. The reality is that a bee sting can really ouch and a scorpion sting might be able to kill you. But the reality of that toxin is that it holds medical promise. Someday your life could be saved by a medication derived from scorpion venom.

Is it good? Is it bad? Or is it all in how you use it? That’s one bit thing Aquarius – as an Age – asks us to consider.

But at the moment? Hey, things are primal! That they are, that things are hitting us where we live (as the saying goes) is indicated by Typhon (basic instincts) retrograding into Virgo, the sign which asks can it work? will it work? how to do it so that everything works out well? 

That question may be physical or about our physicality (health). It may be about schedules, jobs, getting food into the house – all those basic how can I make life work? sort of questions. It can be what you should do for others or what you need to do with (or for) others in order to ‘earn’ a place ‘in line’ when it comes time to divvy up opportunities in days, weeks or months yet to come.

The myth of Typhon being about a primal Titan (corresponding to mountains, oceans, rainfall) and that Typhon retrogrades back into Virgo on March 14th at 3:05pm (UT/+0) after having rolled over giant Black Hole M87 tells us we are confronting basic considerations as a result of our concept of ‘what’s going on’ having changed.

And considering Typhon is a TNO, this suggests there’s an actual ‘event’ triggering your thinking.

Plus, all of this is happening not just as Niobe is going retrograde but as we come into the two-day ‘station allowance’ before Photographica goes direct. And that’s an interesting combination. After all, for those who are suffering from a terminal case of pride what often gets them biggest and mostest? Their image.

And Photographica is the astrological concept of ‘image.’ It can be literal – “what do I look like?” It can be our reputation. It can be taking on something new (which might be nicely Uranian/Aries) in order to create a new image for yourself.

Or could it be others trying to make you think they are what they're not? That may now be quite as likely.

 

'Ascending and Descending' by MC Escher

It would be suspected that we’d hear a lot of proposals during this time, whether true or untrue. People will be looking ahead, painting ‘images’ of what could be. These next few days would be a time for social networking and social networks to be in the limelight or getting your attention, all of which is fine, so long as no one ‘banks’ on anything which might be merely an image….or vote against something again, without knowing the reality. It may be tempting to bet on a dream, and if you’re willing to work for or towards that dream, that’s a whole functional consideration.

But to merely say ‘oh, that sounds nice’ is probably not all that useful. What we want to be true and what is true or workable may well be two different things.

And that’s the real point de jour – don’t buy the packaging, buy the content. Better yet, rent first, then buy. And yes, read all the fine print!

More to come...

Kassandra, Uranus, Hidalgo, Niobe: Believing in Potentials

Uranus enters Aries March 12, 2011 at  00:53am UT/+0

With Bali now in retrograde, we know we need to rely on ourselves as our premier generator of all which produces achievement and satisfaction.

With Nemesis now having retrograded back into Virgo, we see what needs doing. Or what has gone wrong.

And now...? Well yes, Uranus is just about to enter Aries. The ticking of the clock seems louder than usual.

But before that happens, Kassandra moves into Aquarius. This asks us whether we really believe in this world. In our life. In our values. In others and ourselves.

Do we trust anyone? Do we think people will do the right thing given the chance? Is this altruism - or chance? Do promises matter? What is integrity - really?

Named for Cassandra, Apollo’s ill-fated priestess of Delphi, asteroid Kassandra is a main-belt asteroid. And because Kassandra is one of the thousands of main-belt asteroids, we know Kassandra represents one of the thousands of things we meet up with in life.

And how when we meet up with such things, we have to deal with them.

In the case of Kassandra, the question is belief. What, who and why do or don't we believe? This may be a question of 'faith' but then again, it may be about trust. About being trustworthy - are you to be believed? Is something 'too good to be true?' Has someone been duplicitous?

Do we believe in ourselves and what we're doing in and with our own life? Do we believe in this world? Our potential? Do we believe that the lives and values of others matter as much as our life and our values mean to us?

Bali having gone retrograde most likely will manifest for most people as a realization that life doesn't get handed to us. That fantasies aren't real and that reality is sometimes disappointing not because it's bad, but simply because it's not a living fantasy.

Since ‘paradise’ (Bali) isn't going to be provided to us by others, do we believe we are capable of creating a happy life for ourselves?

Kassandra enters Aquarius on March 12 at 36 minutes after midnight, +0/UT. Aquarius is a sign of society, freedom, anarchy, systemic functionality, energy, the marketplace, individuality, human collectives and income (among other things). Aquarius is also an air sign – it deals with the idea of the thing, not the reality.

This air sign quality is sometimes a blessing – it allows us to theorize. Then again, sometimes it undermines us by discouraging us with the ‘idea of what it will take’ to do something when the reality is not all that complicated.

Aquarius has two rulers. The basis of Aquarian accomplishment is rooted in Saturn: the effort, the thought, the dedication we are willing to apply to a project. Saturn asks that we take the required time and do each thing correctly. Saturn says make it work well. When we do, the we get the Uranian benefits, the results, the profits, the freedom of something which makes our life easier.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Saturn is retrograde at the moment. On one hand, that says we can take matters into hand…as a matter of fact, our job IS to take things into our own hands!

At the same time, this is also a celestial way of saying any free rides are absolutely over. Saturn in retrograde is always about the need to work on ourselves or to re-examine our priorities, our attention to and attitudes towards responsibilities.

 Saturn's rings - photo credit: NASA/JPL

Most of all, Saturn is about whether we’re being realistic. This doesn’t mean we have to like our reality…or the facts currently on our plate(s). No, we don’t like it – but we do have to deal with it, and the more realistic we are with ourselves about what life is and requires of us, the better off we’ll be…in the Aquarian individual or collective sense!

Of course this is just the appetizer. The real entrée being served up today is Uranus entering Aries, an event which happens not twenty minutes after Kassandra enters Aquarius – at 00:53am (UT/+0), to be exact.

Uranus being the kind of energy which pushes us towards the ‘new,’ this can either become a motivation or explosion. It can represent our suddenly taking hold and making more out of what is and what can be, or our rebelling against everything around us.

We look around us and we see old structures crumbling. Old ways of being being taken apart. Old ways of thinking no longer being upheld, honored or even acknowledged. For some, this means all the rules get thrown out the window. Given that Aries is the sign of “I Am” some will say they are the rule – that what they say goes. Some will go the nihilistic route and claim nothing means anything and whatever you want you’re entitled to take because in the end nothing means anything.

Frankly, that nihilistic concept seems rather easy to defeat. I've had it proposed, but the 'life is meaningless' idea seems the easiest of all to take apart! After all, if you believe nothing matters, aren't you investing belief and meaning in that very idea?

Acceptance of differences I can rent, lease or buy. The 'life is meaningless' Nietzsche sort of thought? That strikes me as an excuse to not try or getting involved.

But maybe that's just me. (sigh....)

Getting back to the subject however, let’s be real here – there are those who with or without having brought along their own soap boxes will claim they get to make their own rules here in this moment and over the next eight years or so while Uranus jolly-trots through Aries. That idea is in itself the Aquarius idea of freedom without any of the Saturn foundation-laying and taking on of responsibility. That’s freedom from responsibility and the honoring only of the individual in a world where we don’t live alone.

Such people will happen as we move forward – count on it. Some will be startlingly outrageous. We will be hearing now from people who seem to be out of touch with the mainstream and sometimes that will pique our interest and drive innovation in society, methodologies and human existence. This is the ‘thinking outside the box’ we all so admire.

Yet with those who color usefully outside the lines will sure-as-shooting be those who are just plainly off base. The nature of this time is to reveal those who are off base, and as difficult as this may seem, the lessons which go with realizing strangers hide in plain sight is really about learning more about what humanity is and what we’re capable of being, tolerating and creating.

Some of these ideas are very long term; Uranus will be in Aries for years now. But with Neptune at 29 Aquarius for the next few weeks (not to mention a few other astrological events which will be happening between now and then) we can expect to be surprised and daunted and enlightened as much as dismayed.

For the past eight years while Uranus has been in Pisces, we were being asked to become more adept with dealing with our emotions. Now we find out why.

Hours pass…tick, tock, tick, tock. Then at 10:18am (UT/+0) we enter Niobe’s station zone, an indication that the pride which goeth before the fall here begins to take its toll. With Niobe going retrograde in Scorpio, the platform upon which some will now meet up with their self-destruction will be defined by choice. Have we invested ourselves in others, in situations, in joint ventures wisely? Have we acted with intelligence and integrity, knowing our limits and what’s ‘too good to be true’? Have we overstepped our bounds? Have we been too greedy, too proud and too selfish?

Some will take a fall now. Others will see how people go wrong and learn plenty from that.

It’s a time for learning…and for learning better. And considering that this is Niobe entering it’s two-day pre-station allowance, what we are likely to hear first are the realizations. The recognitions. And more than a few defiant announcements which claim the higher ground, which in essence say I know better. I don’t have to listen to you! I don’t have to listen to anyone! I know!

Niobe et Enfants (Niobe and her Children)

Charles Gabriel Lemonnier (1770)

And those people will be wrong. Some will attempt to prove how right they are now and be taught lessons in short order. Others will take a stand and have their pillars knocked out from under them.

And yet...and yet...and yet...

At its best, this combination of Niobe’s station and Uranus’ Aries ingress would be a realization – a recognition that we have been in a dark of our own making, that there are changes which need to be made in our lives (or in the whole of life or our world) which we need to stop hiding from, or denying. In saying that, it pays to recognize that there are all sorts of ways we can hide from ourselves.

Or more to the point perhaps, all sorts of ways that we can hide…or may have been hiding from our own feelings. From our mistakes. From our vulnerabilities. From the reality that some dream we really, really, really wanted to be true is…in the end, just a dream.

Niobe going into retrograde in some lives will represent a moment when they drop the mask or the act or the pretense. For them, Uranus’ entrance into the innocent potency of Aries – the new life – will be reinvention of self.

And so long as they are able to own up to who they are, what they’ve done, what they haven’t done, with this day being when Hidalgo actually goes retrograde in Sagittarius…others will be more inclined to forgive them their humanity. That doesn’t mean they won’t have to make up for whatever they’ve done, but there is a special sort of quality which goes with this mélange, this collective confluence which suggests that honesty will beget begrudged agreement to at least talk about it.

In other words, it’s as good moment to lower intemperate temperatures of debates as it is to turn up the wattage when it comes to illumination in and about your own life.

And that’s just the point. We not only all make mistakes, but we need to make mistakes. That’s how we learn what works and what doesn’t work – and that’s part of the Sagittarian process. Sagittarius isn’t just about proclaiming ‘the truth’ but in finding it.

Uranus as discovery, Aries as new life plus Hidalgo as nobility of being with the reflective questioning of Kassandra.

Maybe Niobe’s approaching station/retrograde is all about accepting with a certain grace (Hidalgo) that sometimes we need to question (Kassandra) what we are or have thought and through that, become a new person. It doesn’t mean we won’t stub our toe, and it doesn’t mean we won’t cry or feel helpless or feel wonderment at how anyone lives through this life.

Or all that life can perhaps be…and become. That’s a really Uranus/Aries ingress sort of idea.

Pass it on!