On our way to Mercury stationing retrograde Saturday, the Gemini Sun today exactly opposes the Great Attractor, a deep-space point located in the direction of mid-Sagittarius. Of the Great Attractor’s qualities, one of the most salient is its ability to polarize — whether it’s a discussion that gets polarized, or the emotions of others toward a person with this point prominent in their natal chart.
Yet at the same time, the Great Attractor can also “bless one with the ability not to be touched despite that polarization,” as Eric has put it, adding that “when the Great Attractor is present in the equation, events in one place can ripple out in ways that someone at the point of origin cannot see.”
So when the Sun lines up with the Great Attractor from the other side of planet Earth, we get an experiment in observing these phenomena.
One way to get to know lesser-used astrological points is to observe yourself and those in your environment when the Sun makes a strong aspect them. How is new information coming through to you today?
The Sun in Gemini has this great quality of bringing out the two (or many) sides of an issue and getting us talking and thinking about them quite actively. Though with its emphasis on outward expression, it’s not always easy under a strong Gemini influence to pause long enough to truly listen. Which is not to say that we don’t listen. It’s more that sometimes a Gemini mirror can stir an impulse to show more and say more to augment what we see.
Our collective consciousness, represented by the Sun and flavored by Gemini’s mirroring capacity, is currently in a direct encounter — perhaps even a confrontation — with this mysterious point far away in space. And the Great Attractor is pulling our entire galaxy (and more) toward it on some kind of spiritual quest with an edge to it.
At least, that’s kind of how it feels to me down here on Earth, as we continue trying to sort our way through some very difficult, emotionally freighted and polarizing subject matter this week.
You may be noticing you feel drawn to those conversations, pulled as if by a magnet even as you feel upset by what is said by others, or frustrated by your own reactions or feelings of voicelessness, or overwhelmed by how so many seem to be taking sides even as some others appear determined to present a third option and rise above the incessant back-and-forth.
Maybe you’re so involved in the dialogue between your own inner twins of light and shadow, the thought of externalizing that dialogue is less compelling to you than the thought of simply healing whatever the inner rift is about.
Yet the Great Attractor is there, staring you in the face from across the countless light years, fuelling its Sagittarius fire with all that Gemini air blowing back and forth. And yesterday we had just about the closest thing to an astrological vacuum as we’re likely to see, which many of us rushed to fill in some way.
That is, according to the list of aspects (called an aspectarian) at Serennu, not a single one of the major planets, asteroids, centaurs, Trans-Neptunian Objects or other bodies programmed in there were making any exact aspects to each other.
Which is not to say that nothing was making any aspects — there are more than one thousand identified objects in the Serennu ephemeris, and the Moon is always making aspects because it moves so quickly. But other than the Moon, none of the common points used by Planet Waves, plus many uncommon ones, were exactly aspecting each other.
It’s an incredibly rare event. In its own spirit of spaciousness, I’m going to leave its possible meaning up to you. In case you’re curious, the last listed aspect before Tuesday’s seeming void was asteroid Pallas in Virgo sextile centaur Thereus in Cancer; the first aspect afterwards was the Sun opposite centaur Orius in Sagittarius. (Note that the beginning and ending of that period is according to midnight Universal Time.)
In the midst of it all, Mercury is entering the ‘storm’ phase before it stations retrograde in Cancer June 7 at 7:56 am EDT. As Eric has been chronicling in the Daily Astrology posts, Mercury is in a water trine with centaur Nessus, and that emotional energy may be stirring up feelings you had thought were long buried or patterns you’d like to sort out and put a stop to. It’s an undercurrent to the Sun-Great Attractor polarity that could set you adrift just as easily as it could prompt you to take the rudder into your own hands.
In any case, feel what it’s to bring your speech and your awareness of your thoughts down to Mercury’s speed. That small, potent planet is about to churn things up as it changes its apparent direction, and you don’t want to be so distracted that you forget your keys, or assume a missed email is a commentary on your worth, or run a red light with disastrous consequences. There’s already enough to contend with, just getting through a regular day.
“Frustrated by your own reactions or feelings of voicelessness” “so involved in the inner dialogue between your own inner twins of light and shadow”.
Thank you for giving voice to what I was unable to express. I have been feeling conflicted, struggling to understand something that was eluding my consciousness, so much so that it made me physically dizzy.
Sweet Amanda – love your photo and piece. Thank you. “Maybe you’re so involved in the dialogue between your own inner twins of light and shadow, the thought of externalizing that dialogue is less compelling to you than the thought of simply healing whatever the inner rift is about.” Yes, plus frantic period at work plus heatwave, and above all my dear friend with leukemia is having a marrow transplant this morning. he’s been knocked out with powerful chemotherapy and drugs – and think some of the exhaustion I’m feeling is this.
sounds like my little friend Amanda, sadly he passed a couple of days ago. caught him right inside the back door, think there’s leftover pesticide from before i moved in, not much makes it in here. pictures i took of him were from my beltane fire he helped me tend. i set him peacefully on a leaf back in the garden as he slowly left. his eyes are now a lovely shade of indigo. blessed little beings. thanks for sharing!
Amanda, I’ve watched garden spiders make a edt of wool to lay their eggs in, and weave an impenetrable silk sac around. They winter outdoors and emerge in spring. Whatever kind these are, I’ll bet they were safe all winter on your car. Wonder if you’ll see them big on your porch in a month or so.
carla — i can’t imagine they wintered over behind my plate, given all the snow and salt and the 2-3 times i went through the car wash! plus, the tent of silk was not on my car just a day or two before i saw them and took the photo. i’m no expert on spider babies, but i’d be surprised if they really had been there all that time. i suspect those eggs were not laid till this spring sometime, but again, it’s not my area of expertise. and yes, spider silk is incredibly strong in proportion to its diameter.
in any case, i looked yesterday, and they were all gone, as was the webbing. i’m hoping that means they all ventured forth — *outside* of my car. i didn’t detect any signs of cannibalism over the couple days i saw them, but who knows!
and stormi — sounds like the kind of little jumping spider i had for a “buddy” a few years back just after christmas. i believe he’d hopped a ride in on my christmas tree. alas, there was not much for him to eat in here that time of year, and he didn’t last long. but his green eyes were amazing (even if he *hated* having his photo taken — i’m convinced the lens looked like a giant eye — though i posted one of him on the blog perched on my snake plant). i see that variety outdoors all the time — there’s something fun about them.
Heavens, Amanda, those babies must have wintered over behind your license plate. A testament to the insulating power of spider silk, the winter we just came through. I love spiders.
Thanks for the picture.
PS. They will get inside if you don’t wash them off. But first they’ll eat each other.
what cute little backsides they have. took some photos of a little black & gray furry one in my garden, had bright green eyes and markings on his backside of a cheeky little white smile. 😉
That is a cool photo.