Today is the Vernal Equinox: daylight shines equally on all parts of the Earth, it’s the first day of the Sun in Aries, the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere (autumn south of the equator), and the beginning of a new astrological cycle. We collectively flow out from the fertile, womb-like waters of Pisces and step into the fiery, alert ‘I am’ consciousness of Aries. In terms of the Sabian symbols we’ve been exploring, we are shifting from a state of envisioning our future-self to a state of emergence and presence – even if that presence is still tenuous.
The Sabian symbol for the first degree of Aries is, “A woman just risen from the sea. A seal is embracing her.” At first it sounds a bit like Venus herself, who emerged from waves of sea foam a fully formed goddess.
Yet Venus bears only some resemblance right now. That planet is halfway through Taurus, one of the two signs it rules (the other is Libra) – a homecoming of sorts.
The big Venus event of 2012 is in June: the Venus transit of the Sun. That is a rare and powerful event in a season of rare and powerful events – but we’re not there yet. The Venus of that moment is still taking shape.
So, too, is our consciousness as represented by the Sun today. Yes, it has arrived in the sign of ‘I am’, fully illuminating the personal/political space of the Aries Point just as the Occupy movement (and whatever other political and social movements emerge this spring) is re-establishing itself. The Sun is about to make a conjunction to Uranus in Aries — the perfect image of self-awareness.
But let’s look closer at the second half of that symbol: “A seal is embracing her.” The seal is waiting for her when she comes out of the water, like he or she was expecting her.
In one sense, the woman – humanity – is being met by a representative of the rest of creation. We could see this as a recognition of the unity of life on Earth. Yet Dane Rudhyar, author of An Astrological Mandala (one of the most dearly loved interpretations of the symbols), sees something else: a lot of potential at a possible tipping point.
He asserts that if the woman is emerging from the depths of unconsciousness, then the seal represents an extension of that unconsciousness. Though the seal has also emerged, it is only a biological emergence without the potential for awareness held by the woman. The woman is taking a first step and still holds more potential than actual, substantial presence – and is still susceptible to the pull of the past.
The sky at any given moment tends to show us the same message in many forms. Recent Daily Astrology posts have considered the ways our shadow material – parts of ourselves we have perhaps ignored and not yet integrated – are getting our attention. Each time this happens, we are offered a choice: push the new insights away and keep doing what we’re doing, or embrace them and find a way to use the new understanding to step in a healthier direction. The sky has been offering us repeated tipping points, and today includes another: Mars is square the lunar nodes, with Juno conjunct the North Node in Sagittarius.
Mars, now in the last month of its retrograde in Virgo, has been taking us deep, deep into the territory of our desire and the psychology around what we can heal there. It’s been a pretty amazing journey. Mars square the lunar nodes shows us that wherever we are along that path, we have a choice: to take what we are learning and commit to the (perhaps challenging) task of applying it toward an as-yet-unknown way of being; or to shrink from the challenge and stick with what is known. The comforts of the latter are familiar, but limiting; the unknown can be scary.
But there is some curious help in the configuration. We tend to think of Juno as Queen Bitch of Jealousy, but she is in Sagittarius right now. That makes her Queen of Heaven. She still represents relationships, but the expansiveness of Sagittarius gives her some breathing room – and with that extra space, she can afford to be generous. Juno has a broader perspective in Sagittarius, and it’s giving us the ability to see new ideas of what commitment and devotion can be about.
Visually, the Mars-nodes-Juno setup looks like a see-saw or set of scales. Whatever Mars retrograde in Virgo has been representing in your life equals the tipping point. Your work with that material, your sense of moving forward or sticking with the familiar, is what hangs in the balance. Just as the Sun’s arrival in Aries represents a presence still stronger in potential than in actuality (potential that, however, can be expressed if you want to), so too does retrograde Mars square the nodes represent potential.
Once Mars stations direct, we can begin to put its drive to outward use. The deciding factor in any conflict you may be working through is whether your impulses toward the past or the future are stronger. Consider what you have been envisioning with the help of Pisces, and see if you can use Juno to tip the scales toward a new future – one in which your sense of devotion gives you space to emerge fully from the sea.
The Aries ingress in central Texas started with sprinkles that quickly turned to strong thunderstorms including lots of rain, flooding, and a tornado near San Antonio.
It seems like the Neptune/Moon conjunction in Pisces amplified the watery and the mutability influences of the ingress here.
Today, the Aries point Sabian symbol brings to my mind the story in the film “The Secret of Roan Inish”. Especially the seal hugging the sea borne woman.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_of_Roan_Inish
Be, the corrected Sabian for Mars cracked me up considering natal Child’s placement conj Sisyphus and South Node. Too funny.
Well, I too think it’d be loads more fun breaking ground for new building than rolling rock uphill – especially with the great company of PWers.
Glad I took a moment to reread both PW post and Be’s notes today – really good day here as always. Thank you, Everyone.
Be:
Thanks for being so on top of this and for giving us the minute details of what we’ll need – this next journey should be a great one!
P.S. . . Aword, I think the Universe spoke to you and you tried to speak to me but I just missed my cue. be
Talk about ooops, I made a mistake earlier regarding the Sabian Symbol for Mars. In fact it is the Sabian Symbol for the north node and Juno, and still apropos; just not for Mars. Poor Mars’ symbol is a 5 year old child taking a 1st dance lesson and it points out the possibility of the dancer reaching mastery, but he/she/Mars is still under the guidance of a teacher. Well, I can live with that and I hope you can too. Just don’t know if it will work for Mars but hope he will still choose the north node. I apologize for my Rick Perry moment.
be
Oops, “igressed” should be “ingressed.” Typing too fast again.
Be, thanks. Ya – Child is yet another “planet” that is part of both natal and transiting aspects. The Personal is Political indeed! Thx for extending the thought. (I like the idea of the “child in each of us” having a voice. My take on it anyway.)
Be —
thanks for those additional details! as we’ve noted, the sky tends to send the same message in many forms, perhaps with slightly different nuances, at any given time. here’s to some subterranean alchemy instead of more rock-rolling! sounds good to me — hope i can stay open to it all.
🙂
Last night, as the sun igressed Aries, we were outside in the dark, under this huge expanse of night sky filled with stars, digging out one of the cars from the piles of snow. The van wouldn’t start (Merc Rx!) so we needed to get one of the smaller vehicles out form a huge pile of snow. I had a feeling ti wouldn’t start; so I asked Dave to go out and start the cars (his and the van) and sure enough, he came back saying the van wouldn’t start.
All five of us worked out there while my youngest kept his ears peeled for the oven timer (his sisters had just put in a pan of homemade brownies). In no time, Dave jumped the van, let it run a few seconds, killed the engine and started it without the jump. It was fine. Even so, we freed the other car and positioned it for use in the morning because school was to start up after an extended (snow day yesterday here in Flagstaff) Spring Break.
The sky was unbelievable, the snow pristine still, the job got done in no time with four sets of hands working and the fifth starting the van. What an amazing way to start the equinox; freeing something mobile that was stuck beneath frozen water. What an image, eh? And all under those wonderful stars.
This morning? The van started up fine and we didn’t need the freed car after all. The day dawned with bright blue skies and a white, snow covered ground. Flagstaff is so beautiful but on the first day of spring it still looks like winter. Too funny.
Hey aword,
Child is at 9 Pisces so opposite Mars now. You might have thought about Child because the Moon is/was just conjunct Child, and along with Chiron at 6 Pisces it is part of that decision-making process Mars is going through. Thanks for pointing out another of the many nuances to grapple with in making choices.
be
Thanks, Be! Fantastic, inspiring stuff, and so well explained.
There really is a lot of choice in this Equinox chart; stay or go as Huffy says, and as tough as that can be it sure beats no choice at all. I think of Mars trying to decide between the north or the south nodes, but with Juno conjunct the north and Sisyphus conjunct the south, I know which one I would choose. Who wants to keep on pushing that big rock up the hill again and again!
Juno conjunct the Point that beckons a Move Forward must please Jupiter her husband, who rules that sign, even though it suggests More Equality, and that in itself can brighten Juno’s day. But consider these other symbolic messages of the Equinox.
Mercury at 2 Aries 57 is joined by his “twin” Hermes at 2 Aries 54. I suspect that Hermes will “hold a place” as Mercury continues to move back to the Aries Zero point and the Sun moves forward to the Two degree point to meet the Moon. There will remain the essence of thought and duality here for the whole Equinox period of influence as well as the New Moon period, but it will also continue the Political Is Personal message longer than usual. This way or that way?
There is another conjunction in Aries that might require a choice, or at least a decision. Ceres at 21 Aries 48 is conjunct Eris at 21 Aries 47. The choice is do we work together or do we start a cycle of conflict? Well, that’s going to require some additional consciousness isn’t it? As you say Daily Astrology, the Sun today, fresh from the sea of unconsciousness, is about to conjunct Uranus and start a new moon cycle too. Seems an opportune time to try something new and different.
If Mars chooses the north node of new opportunity and Mercury keeps the political-is-personal thought process alive and well at 0 Aries, and if Ceres as Mother Earth can see the value of Maverick Eris’ ability to get attention, we could be breaking new ground in the process of evolution instead of rolling that daggone rock up the hill.
Aries is not just about “ME” but about new beginnings too. This day holds many new starts what with the Moon conjunct Neptune, and Sun conjunct Mercury and Uranus, and Jupiter conjunct Venus, there are all kinds of new cycles now, short and long. Mars will take his time I suppose, being retro, and will evaluate his options while in Virgo, but my money is on the north node choice. Here’s Mars’ Sabian Symbol. . “Within The Depths Of The Earth New Elements Are Being Formed. Rudhyar has a lot to say about this being about an alchemical process on man’s psyche, mostly unnoticed by the conscious ego until change brings a new level or awareness. Well, that sounds like More Consciousness to me and if the Universe is providing all this encouragement to go for it, do we really have a choice, hmm? Welcome to a new world of opportunity and enjoy your stay.
be
susyc – great dream!
I often ponder the original fable of the Little Mermaid and strive to change the “ending” in my imagination (and let that flow through me and out of me and into the universe consciousness) as I feel that story is so representative of the victims we* were made to be (when the story was contrived) and the victims we are not meant to me. Your dream is a wonderful visual for a different story. Thank you for sharing it.
*”we” = everyone; fe/male.
If I understand the nodes, Natal Child is conjunct transiting south node in Geminii (10th house) thusly square transiting Rx Mars in Virgo (2nd house) and opposing transiting NN/Juno conjunction in Sagg. (5th house).
(Natal Juno (11th house) is only a few degrees from Natal Child.)
Thank you PW for today’s highlights and teaching/learning experience. All the pieces fit; day by day the picture in my puzzle becomes more apparent.
So last night I dreamt a woman drowned with her lover in the ocean. I found her and some men pulled her out from under the debris where she was trapped as I crouched above her resting place. I thought she was dead. An older man, a medicine man or shaman, began pushing on her chest and she vomited up a bunch of water, coughing and returning to life. She is pale and looks weak but is alive. Later her lover turned up at my door. I told him that everyone had been looking for him and would be glad to know that he was alive too.
Oh, and happy birthday to Sepharial.
Thank you for a great theme, well illustrated by the chart. Thank you remining us that potential can be expressed while still in development, that learning can be applied while still learning – that is proverbially huge. By the way, a woman emerging from the water accompanied by a seal could also be Sedna (also in Taurus, conjunct Asbolus) which is a particularly fertile image right now.
Each day reading PW posts and comments, I tend to find what I call a “take-away” – a phrase, a sentence, and idea – that I can carry with me and ponder during the day. Sometimes a phrase, sentence or idea will leap off the page at me, providing one of those “ah-ha!” moments. Sometimes there are synchronicities that appear, either the PW words connect to something already sensed/seen, or to something encountered later.
Often that is the thread (synchronous or not) that grounds me when I need it, or lifts me spiritually when I need it.
Yesterday’s take-away was Huffy’s comment about opening up to other possibilities about which we as yet know nothing. That thread continues in today’s Daily post, and to continue to envision. So, “stay or go?” Oh, I so desire to be done with so much of the past that still fills my shoes with concrete. But, I can vision winged shoes ala Mercury to go on my way.
A “gift” from last week’s post about Sabian symbols (Pisces 29) was the take-away question “Can you appreciate yellow when you are feeling blue?” The synchronicity was from Cathy Pagano (at http://thebardsgrove.blogspot.com/2012/03) in her March 15, 2012 post has a glorious picture of a huge blue wave with a streak of reflected yellow sunlight stretching through it. Yellow and blue can be seen in the greening of the earth (albeit way too early) at this Spring Equinox in the north.
Thanks all for the sharing of experiences, insight and wisdom.
JannKinz
I am standing in a door casing with my nose to the frame, each eye seeing something different. One foot is on either side. My dominant half is supporting the future side. <3
And Happy Equinox to everyone!
“Should I stay or should I go?” Thank you for this wonderful wonderful blog, that makes it all so very clear. xxx