What You Get

By Len Wallick

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless”
– Mother Theresa

Now that we have moved past the Full Moon it would seem appropriate to catch up and organize our thoughts. There has been a lot of astrology since the middle of last week. The next few days will witness a lot more. Our task is to build on what yesterday’s blog started. The underlying theme is once again the concept of relationship.

Yesterday, we went back to the basics of the ongoing cardinal T-square. Then we moved to the fundamentals of the Sun-Moon opposition that we call a Full Moon. We recalled how the Full Moon at the end of June was also a lunar eclipse. We demonstrated how that lunar eclipse transformed the cardinal T-square into a cardinal grand cross for a short period of time.

We referred to the orientation of the Sun and Moon during the lunar eclipse as being in relationship to the cardinal T-square, a relationship that one could see by drawing a simple diagram on paper.

We then carried the theme of relationship forward to yesterday’s Full Moon in Aquarius. An event characterized by unusual uncertainty, demonstrated by the fact that some calendars placed it on Sunday, some on Monday. We postulated a first principal of resolving uncertainty, especially in relationship: knowing and being aware of where you are at and how you feel about it.

Today we build on that by further connecting the current astrology with the concept of relationship. We will do that by proceeding from the concept and practice of self awareness to the concept and practice of exchange.

Before the exchanges, however, let’s review the changes that have taken place recently. A week ago today retrograde Chiron re-entered Aquarius after a preliminary foray into Pisces. That piscean sojourn was an eventful one that began on the same day the Sun moved into Taurus. It was also the day the Deepwater Horizon blew up, starting an unprecedented ecological disaster. Chiron returns to Aquarius with a different focus. Back to that in a moment.

A day or so after Chiron returned to Aquarius (where it will remain until next February) Saturn made its second and final direct ingress to Libra. The first time was on Oct. 30 of last year. It was by the first of three square aspects (90 degrees of separation on the circle) to Pluto which was then in the first degree of Capricorn. The focus of that square was the organization of systems, or rather, the re-organization.

This last weekend Jupiter stationed retrograde in early Aries. Jupiter made its first ingress to Aries just last month. That was quickly followed by a conjunction with Uranus that will not repeat in Aries for a thousand years.

Speaking of Uranus, it’s in retrograde on its way back for one last visit to Pisces. Yesterday it exacted its last of five oppositions to Saturn. Since both Saturn and Uranus move so slowly, their opposition will remain functional for a long time. Finally, also yesterday, retrograde Jupiter exacted a fire trine (120 degrees of separation on the circle) to the Sun, newly in Leo.

Chiron in Aquarius. Saturn in Libra. Jupiter in retrograde. Uranus is closing out its series of oppositions with Saturn. Sun is in Leo trine retrograde Jupiter in Aries. Feel caught up? All organized? Let’s move on to today’s aspects and build on the relationship theme.

Before the end of today, Mercury will continue the recent trend of planets changing signs by moving from Leo into Virgo. Before it does so, however, it will form a opposition to Chiron which, remember, is in Aquarius now. Anyone who doubts whether that could be powerful, think back to April 20. That’s three oppositions in less than three days. The Sun and Moon. Saturn and Uranus. Now Mercury and Chiron. What could that be telling us?

In astrology an opposition is two planets directly across each other on the big circle of the zodiac. No matter which direction you go around the circle from one to the other, they are 180 degrees apart. The line between splits the circle in half.

The image pretty much corresponds with the experience in real life. Think of oppositions you have had. More importantly, think of the current ones. There is tension involved. The resolution of that tension will come from an exchange of some sort. There are many types of exchange, but when there is an opposition it comes down to two. The tension will either be resolved by a constructive exchange or a destructive one.

Those of us old enough to have been through it know. Resolving the tension of an opposition by destructive exchange is the very definition of pain. It is a scenario of loss. Think of war. Think of a nasty divorce. Think of a lawsuit. Both sides waste a lot of resources. Both sides experience prolonged stress. Both sides end up with less than they had before. Both sides suffer diminished integrity, damaged reputations, impaired health.

How could this happen? Who could wish for this? Believe it or not, it is a matter of intent. Intent, of course, is a matter of choice. That choice, believe it or not, begins with what we choose for ourselves. Does anyone truly think that we could intend to damage another without being damaged as a direct consequence of that choice? Apparently, that is indeed what human beings often think — just look around.

So what is the key to a constructive exchange? Go back to yesterday’s blog. It starts within. It starts with your relationship to yourself, just as with the Full Moon. Knowing where you are will tell you what time the Full Moon is taking place. So it would follow that knowing where you are with regard to your intent for yourself will tell you what you have to exchange with another.

If we offer judgment, hostility and damage to one in opposition it’s because that is what we want to receive. And we certainly will. If we, on the other hand, have a peaceful relationship with ourselves, intend to be well and choose what makes us happy, then that is what we will have to offer in exchange. It should then come as no surprise that we receive it. That’s what makes a constructive exchange happen.

Now, this is of course easier said than done. It goes against our deepest conditioning. It requires us to release some closely-held attachments. Your itinerant correspondent struggles with it every day and fails most of the time with no excuse of ignorance. Visualize my cringe here.

That’s where today’s brief opposition between Mercury and Chiron comes in. First, it is brief. Just like those moments of choice when we express the unconscious intent and receive the consequences in exchange. If just today we could be conscious during an exchange that would be Mercury talking. If that consciousness expressed itself as compassion instead of judgment that would be Chiron responding. If we could make just one consciously constructive exchange happen we could get a feel for it. Then, just like last month’s lunar eclipse briefly transformed a cardinal t-square into a grand cardinal cross as if to show us how it’s done, we can carry this forward.

From a peaceful and constructive relationship with self to a peaceful and constructive exchange in opposition, it’s a matter of intent. Which comes down to choice. Reflect what we want for ourselves. That’s the focus for today.

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