Here is a 30-second explanation of the Great Attractor by Prof. Jeremiah Ostriker of Princeton University, who describes how all of the galaxies near our own are being pulled in the same direction — by something. Remember that galaxies are large; our island in space is fairly modest in size, containing 200 billion to 300 billion stars. Many bigger ones are coming along for the ride, in the direction of the Great Attractor.
Today is Tuesday, December 6, 2011. We live extremely complex lives at this phase of history. We’ve all noticed how little time we have for ourselves, for the people we love, for the things we love. So when there is an astrological aspect that describes how we can get unnecessary things out of the way and go in the direction of what matters the most, it’s a good idea to listen. Right now we are experiencing just such an event.
Today the Sun, on its way to the lunar eclipse at the end of the week, is in a conjunction with a deep space point called Great Attractor. You may still be trying to figure out Mars, and you’ve never seen a little book called How To Lose Weight with the Great Attractor in the supermarket because there is no such thing. But it’s always there, at the midpoint of Sagittarius — wrapping space, time and a million galaxies around it like a kid stretches a rubber band around her finger.
Currently, right in the same degree is something called the North Node — Rahu, the mighty head of the dragon, which is one point that draws us toward our true dharma or life path. This alignment of the Sun, the Great Attractor and the North Node is happening today and it will not happen again for 18 years — and it’s happening right now, in this moment. If there is something you’ve wanted to do for the last 18 years (or more, or less), today is the day to get it going.
The Great Attractor is a massive object in deep space that is pulling everything in our galaxy’s vicinity toward it as it simultaneously moves away from us. It is the largest thing known to science. We can’t actually see it, because it’s obscured by the dust along the galactic plane. But we can see its effects and read the various types of waves (infrared, gamma, etc.), which is how any images are created (such as the one above).
It takes special astrologers to pick up on what this thing is about; we are friends with one of them — Philip Sedgwick. He has noted that the Great Attractor “doesn’t appear to be punching a hole into another dimension, but rather, it allows us to see around things. It allows you to see around the bend. It clears the way. It’s almost as if you’re moving around behind something.” Or as Eric wrote in a piece on the Great Attractor from 2001, “In other words, its massive gravitational force bends space-time so profoundly that we can get a view around the back of the universe,” which is another way of saying a view of our own lives, so often concealed in various blind spots.
Sedgwick describes Great Attractor as “the ultimate Sagittarian statement of leave me alone, don’t crowd my space, coming into the most extreme.” People with this point aspected strongly in their natal chart often find their effect on others is a confounding mix of attraction and alienation. So what does this polarizing point mean for us in this configuration – conjunct the Sun and North Node?
For one, the Sun represents our sense of self, so we know this event involves our self-perception – a theme already figuring prominently in Saturday’s eclipse. The North Node has to do with our sense of dharma: our reason for being here now or our soul’s calling, which you can think of as what you’re pulled to do — or in the words of the teacher Varaj, acting as if to hold the world together. When we add in this deep-space object that retreats from us even as it pulls us along, the triple conjunction suggests a strong sense of direction; a sense that many different individual directions align with a collective, inclusive pull or vision.
In order to walk in that direction, however, the way must be clear, and that is exactly what the Great Attractor is giving us the strength and determination to do.
So too are the current eclipses: We have a series of opportunities to clear psychic debris (or ‘bullshit’, if you prefer) out of the way. Every set of eclipses involves the Sun and Moon aligning with the South and North nodes: Karma must be released before we gain the freedom to move forward with our awareness and actions. An eclipse is the intersection of several planes of space and the cycles of the Sun and the Moon. It is like a big interchange, but when you choose an exit as you drive through this one, you may end up moving in more directions than just forward; deeper, broader and higher are all possible.
Eclipses are routine; eclipses near the Great Attractor are extremely rare. This is a calling to make space for ourselves and re-prioritize our lives in radical ways. This kind of opening – and its attendant choices and changes – can feel threatening if we’re clinging to dysfunctional patterns of relating and reacting that have served us in some way in the past, however falsely. That’s the beauty of the Great Attractor: It’s also about seeing around the curve of our limitations and taking that space to do what we want.
As the Moon enters Taurus today at 9:34 am EST, it conjoins retrograde Jupiter and illuminates a sextile with Chiron in Pisces. Any old family baggage surfacing with the eclipses is asking us to recognize it for what it is and release it. These patterns of thoughts, choices and actions reflect the messages underlying how we value ourselves. It can be surprising to realize this: that our poor choices do not simply reflect not ‘getting it right’, but rather show us how we really feel about ourselves. The Great Attractor offers a view around our limitations; Jupiter (stationing direct) sextile Chiron reminds us that first we need to look deep within to see where the limitations on how we value ourselves have been set. If we do so in the coming days, we may see a little further around the bend and heal a little deeper.
Curious about the Great Attractor? Listen to this 30-second audio, or read this article. Here is a fairly recent subscriber edition of Planet Waves on the Great Attractor that covers the topic as well.
Looking for insights on how this week’s astrology affects your personal Sun and rising signs? Try out Planet Waves Light, our streamlined horoscope service. For deeper cultural context and astrological investigation, the premium Planet Waves subscription includes the same horoscopes, plus extensively-researched articles on Fridays.
jann/zero – LOL! So glad you posted that! Just realized that part of my hang-up is that I don’t want to CHOOSE! I want to do it “all”! And all-ways have! heh-heh! and mostly have tried everything I’ve ever wanted to “do”…..now it’s about new choices and focus — which with the help of a miracle Still Translates to doing it “all”! Whee, I say — “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” Whee!
During “Spy Week” ask: What would you do if you knew you could not fail?
JannKinz
Amanda, Eric, and others here: this conversation is really pertinent to me too. I have still to figure out what all the aspects between the ages of 38-42 are all about. I only agree that there are some very creative aspects and some sexual aspects of myself that have not reached the potential I am visualizing. When Pluto entered Cap, it was like a nuclear bomb under the earth. As the blast phase came rumbling through, my life crumbled around me in every aspect. Then, like you Amanda, I’m coming out of Sat conj my Pluto first then Uranus. I just “finished” my Pluto square too. Coming up is my Uranus opp in a few years, just after my eclipses. Okay, blah blah. What I’m trying to say is that (and you would be a good teacher to me on this!) life is a process of evolving. And as you and Eric write so often, if we are aware, we can move more effectively. If we look at and try to take care of the various components of our psyche, the aspects above seem to propel us (I think I’m quoting Eric’s top 5 audio now). If we let them fade, then we can find a lot of discomfort mentally.
Like previous comments, the key is to move without pressure. I need to learn that a lush forest doesn’t happen overnight after a destructive fire. If we truly create the space, our unconscious bursts forth with new growth.
Thank you all for all your amazing wisdom!
HS
carrie — still another 20 degrees or so before uranus-uranus is really in play, i think. but saturn is conj my uranus.
It is weird. A few weeks ago I felt this strong drive to DO something; some unnameable thing.
Now I am so burnt out from school that all I want to do is revert back to the “being a mom” thing for a while until I regain my stride. It is what comforts me. I am already transitioning into that but I can hardly wait until I can actually settle into it fully for a while.
I know I will get back to that “other” thing…if I ever really know for sure what it is. I thought it had something to do with doing workshops for small groups of college students to impart what I know about life because so many of them tell me I should do this (after just talking casually to them).
My college-attending daughters tell me their friends all want to know things and these friends ask me stuff all the time; stuff about religion, life, relationships, sexuality, the economy, politics, history…so many questions! I try to answer these as much as possible and every time I do, they bring MORE friends of friends to ask me stuff. These “kids” tell me no one else will talk about this stuff with them. It is weird. I feel like a pied-piper of information.
Amanda,
You are not nearing that Uranus opposition (midlife) at around ages 38-42 are you? If so, that can be really tough. If you are, I can help a bit…I went through it and my astrologer told me what to expect and how to cope. feel free to FB message me or e-mail me if you are going through that.
Amanda… “no pressure” upon what you would do if you could do anything… that are not your bread&butter activities (aka the j.o.b.)
I was working 2 jobs as a waitress when Mike and I had that talk. Two weeks later I stomped into the offices of a newspaper and got myself a job as a cultural affairs writer (and soon, editor). In a town with 20% unemployment. Because I could *see* what I actually wanted to do. What wanted me to do it. There was a feeling of pull *and* push.
I know the lassitude zone. Sometimes we just want bonbons and cheap novels. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad person, just a unfocused. I always go with the Zorba solution to those tendencies: Eat the goddamn bonbons. Eat ’em till you’re full. Loll around and sleep – read cheap novels, stare out the window till you’re done.
*Then* do your week. If you can’t afford it, find a someone who’ll put up with this cause you’re gorgeous, explain to them the basic trade-off and do your experiment.
Hmm… there are a number of intentional communities that will allow you to contribute subsistence levels of energy/attention, then let you have the other 21 hours a day unmolested. Might do your bonbon/novel blowout there. You’d still have to sweep a floor for a couple of hours, but no biggie. %^}
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thanks, mysti – though i’m well past 30 now. 😉
“A dear friend sat me down and said: “Spy on yourself … do whatever you like for a week, with no pressure to perform. Notice what you are *actually* doing, what you gravitate to – and do more of that.”
you know, i think the thing that makes me nervous about this method is how easy it is for me to do not much of anything, even the things i enjoy. it reminds me a lot of some depression from a few years back. and i seem to go in cycles, in terms of what i’m gravitating toward the most.
or maybe that’s an excuse…?
oh, and “no pressure to perform” — does that count while working? or are just talking about so-called “off hours?”
Thank you, Madame Koehler, for the stellar pattern description, and reminder that 1/4 of the sky *has* been empty for the last few months. The info had a certain confirmational shimmy to it. Brava.
Linda/aword – yes, I second Be’s view that the Asian dinner dream seems connected to this Eclipse mandate “Throw out yer dead…” I have been picking up on for the last few days. And thank you for extending the insight that it takes a certain amount of *hunger* to appreciate the beauty that is coming.
Amanda – when I was 30 I hit that same conundrum. A dear friend sat me down and said: “Spy on yourself … do whatever you like for a week, with no pressure to perform. Notice what you are *actually* doing, what you gravitate to – and do more of that. That’s your metier.”
At that time I was caught in the crossfire between writing, directing theatre and creating a system of sruti (Indian) annotation for the cello. One thing emerged after the week. I am still doing it.
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Well, after I wrote my comment, I had to take my oldest daughter to the ER because she had extreme stomach pain. We were there four and a half hours. Turned out it wasn’t serious; she probably has either an ulcer or a virus and over the day it looks more like a virus. While we were in the ER, we had such a great conversation together. She is an amazing and wonderful person and I watch her speak and I am in awe and wonder.
Though caring for her today took up most of my day, I felt good doing what I love; being her mother and being there for her and the other three kids I have.
I had to bake and frost cupcakes for my husband’s class birthday party for the kids (he consolidates all the students who have birthdays on one day a month) and now I am tired but happy.
I am glad for my daughter’s well being; she is feeling a lot better after sleeping for several hours this afternoon. This turn to wellness makes me feel very happy at the end of the day.
Instead of worrying about what that one thing is that I have been wanting to do for 18 years, I did what I have loved doing these past 19 years; being a mom and doing all those domestic things I really enjoy.
As I read this article, I’m amazed at the way it speaks so strongly to me, more than a lot of previous eclipses have. This is a special moment for me personally. I have a chance to really change things inwardly. It’s one thing to be ripped up from stagnation and to process a new space that that entails. With time, the heart loosens and pain is unlocked. But then there is the time when we truly have a clean slate to work from. To see clearly what needs to be reworked, brought back, nourished and encouraged from a place of softness and peace. To understand one’s gifts and talents in a new and productive way that has new life and potential. And to finally feel empowered to be so beautifully honest in the world, this is the release of karma and the deep peaceful breath that this moment is offering.
HS
Hey Eric!
Venus has accidental dignity in my chart – despite Jupiter rising. Mars & Venus are in the 1st. Mars ( Venus, too ) sq Pluto/Ur (MC). This aspect in astrology “Mars sq Plu” is not well favored. If I find a quote? I will endeavor to email it to you. If the GA acts as a halo of protection, & it does feel that way to me.. I am just glad it conjucts natal Mars in Sadge.
Thx Kelly
Amanda, if it helps at all; I have spent much of my past decade (that 9 year range) feeling like a “deer in the headlights” – frozen in time and space, unable to move, not sure why I can’t.
Focus, decision and organization take the pressure off – even though it can still often feel as though I’m peddling my bike and someone is holding the back tire in one place.
I agree with Eric; make a plan and follow it. Then make a plan and follow it. Then – well, you get it. Be willing to shift, and keep peddling.
;D
Mystes – YES!!!!! In fact, all the clutter still ’round about is making me very ill. That phenomon has been building for awhile. I’ve moved things around the apartment to make room for my daughter to come home for Winter Break – the energy swirling around is certainly saying “get rid of this clutter once and for all” in many ways of it’s speaking.
EMPTY, EMPTY, EMPTY! It is indeed time to have Room to greet the New.
WoW! 18 years ago I had just given birth to my son. And come January – 18 years ago was the Northridge earthquake (lived on epicenter) which rocked our lives in so many ways.
I have to say, THAT was a clearing of a sort too. 🙂
xo
Be, Glad to share — and speaking of Ceres, transiting Venus is conjunct natal Mars today and opposite natal Ceres.
And of course, Ceres is currently transiting Pisces, blessing my intercepted 8th house Sun with her presence there.
It looks like Ceres will be at 19 Pisces on the 10th when she will be two degrees beyond her opposition with my Part of Fortune at 17 Virgo – which is currently being transited by Psyche, Apollo and Mars trailing behind.
So a bit of Mars/Ceres action with a dusting of Psyche, yes?
Ah, your thoughts and the astro help bring life to that idea of yin/yang.
Thank you.
mystes! Empty, Empty, Everything Empty. . thank you for this.
You know we have had a planetary pattern now ever since Mars went into Virgo, except when the Moon was traveling in mid-Taurus through Virgo, called a Locomotive, which is based on an empty trine in a chart. All the charts for weeks now have been this type, one of 6 types that Marc Edmund Jones describes in his book The Guide To Horoscope Interpretation. Briefly, the planet on the side of the empty trine moving clock-wise (opposite the way the signs go) is the ‘engine’ (in this case Mars) and leads the ‘train’ of planets going through to the planet on the other sign of the empty trine (in this case Jupiter). Mars has been the engine of countless charts recently, and Jupiter has been the caboose.
The pattern has nothing to do with the actual planets however, it only describes the nature of the entity of the chart, which is a powerful drive to penetrate the empty area with the full force of a locomotive driven train. How very revealing that it is Mars in Virgo signifying the penetration. How unusual to have a period so long with the 3 signs of Gemini, Cancer and Leo empty of major planets and now we are only days away from having a full moon eclipse in Gemini. This is something I will want to ponder, but I trust your sense of the eclipse message. Now how to hold the empty and the full within a heartsbreath from each other is something I will have to master.
Len, I wasn’t being sweet but I wasn’t clear either. What I needed you to explain to me was the importance of having an opposition planet to the focal point of a yod. As far as I can tell, there is nobody that’s able to integrate what the meaning of the SGC is within our human capacity to understand the universe and our place in it. Not even Phil Sedgwick. You are being too modest again. However, this may be a stunning opportunity to begin to do just that. Because you have such a good sense of connectivity and timing I am hoping you will be inspired by this eclipse to dig up something interesting.
aword, your dream’s eastern (Chinese) theme ties into what mystes was saying about being empty and making room, as you were in the dream but your family wasn’t. I’m thinking it was a message about balancing the yin to yang, or east to west philosopy of life and spirituality. Transiting Ceres will be square the Moon and the Sun at the time of the eclipse from Pisces, a very yin sign. She represents food for the body and the soul and taught the mysteries of death and rebirth. She’s now trying to make a point that stuff has to be released in order to have room for the new ‘nourishment’, something quite different from the usual (traditional) nourishment we are accustomed to in this country. Quite prophetic your dream, thanks for sharing.
be
Len, I would not call your service, “poor”.
Far from it 😉
Dream this AM:
My family of origin and famiy friends of the era of childhood were gathered for a dinner, thanksgiving in nature at a house. the adults and children were all consuming much food except for myself – I was distracted by some thing else and not so hungry to fill myself greedily. There was a family also visiting who were clearly Asian, Chinese I believe. This was not their home either, but we were all gathered here. The Asian mother was preparing a special dish, one we were not supposed to see until it was served in a special way at the appointed time. But the others had not prepared for this main course and had filled themselves on the food already served. And so there I was, at waking point, the only person hungry to taste the delicious special food as she served it with pride.
(I have no Asian ancestry nor have I another way to place the distinctly Asian features of this family.)
I awoke shortly after this with body shaking off anxiety and Selfness searching like a beacon for Love and Light. I think that I’ve stepped up the process of clearing out old emotional baggage, to be sure. Moments of guilt that have hung with me are revealing themselves in such a way as to enable list making and therefore better able to work with them. Situations where before now I could not/did not recall my actual participation – only what I had been punished for. What an enightening, freeing time to be sure.
To be sure.
Thank you All, this is all very powerful.
xo
well, regardless of this dream –
be:
You are so very sweet to imply that i could offer some useful service on the Uranus-Super Galactic Center (or SGC or ZS) opposition. The SGC has been in my thoughts for quite a while because of the cardinal T-square aspects of the last few years. Saturn was repeatedly conjunct, Pluto was repeatedly squared and now Uranus is opposed (again). Even with all that ruminating, i have not been able to go beyond Mr. Sedgwick’s wonderful piece to offer anything that distinguishes the SGC from, say the Great Attractor or the growing plethora of other mega-gravity objects (other than its position, that is). It is something i have not even begun to integrate. This is probably an indication of additional work i need to do on myself along the lines that Mr. Sedgwick suggested. Perhaps simply “outing” myself as someone possessed of vast ignorance will be useful to others somehow. In the meantime, i ask the readers of Planet Waves to forgive me this failing and see fit to accept what poor service i do have to offer.
Hmm… 18 years ago I was in an Masters program I loved, and was planning to get pregnant again before I turned 40. Had to surrender the one for the other, but totally worth it.
But it was also the period of my first encounters with a female Buddha, and boy, that has been a ride! Yes, there’s a new cycle emerging with Her.
My sense of this Eclipse message is the ‘sweep the floor, sweep the walls, sweep the ceiliing, sweep the chimney, sweep the air itself.’ An Empty Empty Everything Empty! energy to make room for what’s coming through. But the trick is to hold Empty and Full within a heartsbreath of each other.
It won’t be anything we’ve ever seen before. That’s the other trick. Cognizing without “re”cognizing. Hold the frame (of what you think you ‘want’ to do) but the picture that appears may be a little different.
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Have you guys seen this?! They’re accusing The Muppets of being communists! Must be that Great Attractor at work:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fox-business-network-calls-muppets-269706
Go easy on yourself Amanda dear – I’m realizing more and more that the biggest problem is that we always give ourselves such a hard time about everything (as Shanti said) – that the more gentle and loving we are with ourselves (hard to do, I know), the more things fall into place, or rise to the surface – and if things are a mess and frustrating, it’s easier to stay with that too. Was thinking of Eric’s amazing Cancer audio where he says that chaos precedes illumination(or something like that…).
The GA does seem the way to beam our antennae, what with the Sun and north node and all, but it ain’t the only thing pulling on us. Unconsciously making demands on our attention and time is the Super Galactic Center (ZS) in early degrees of Libra. This would include M-87 on Serennu’s list and is the focal point of a yod made up of Chiron at 0 Pisces and Jupiter at 1 Taurus in the engine room. Phil Sedgwick calls it the “cosmic vacuum cleaner” and here’s what else he has to say about it.
http://www.philipsedgwick.com/Galactic/ZS.htm
Let’s hope Len gets here soon to tell us just how transiting Uranus at 0 Aries and opposite the SGC affects us all. Might be it’s just a more universal pull from Libra than where our Sun and north node are right now, but not to fear, it is all part of the pattern to ‘increase’ our ‘consciousness’ (Jupiter-Chiron) as the Great Attractor forms a quintile to the SGC; a harmonic aspect that blends the 4 basic elements into ether meaning it transcends physical limitations. We hardly even notice it!
be
shanti — i like your style. 🙂
carrie — hang in there!
i decided to send two emails and make a phone call or two in a couple areas. one area is related to something that has been close my sense of self forever it seems. this particular leg of it has been a desire for at least a decade or more, so i’ve decided that’s close enough to 18. the other area of focus is, i think, more foundational and current — but i think is a clear step toward address the whole matrix i’m grappling with right now.
i tend not to think of making a phone call or sending an email for info as “doing something,” but i guess that really is the first step in anything most times, rather than simply launching into an activity.
The “too many things” feeling is exactly what I am finally ready to clear out of the way. All goals are accomplished by doing one thing wholeheartedly, and the the sense of overwhelm has been my biggest obstacle. I am seizing this moment to surrender the “too many things” and do absolutely nothing: meditate, gently.
“oh fuck — there are WAY too many things i’ve wanted to do for the last 18 years. not sure i can pick just one, & not sure my boss would be too thrilled if i took the day off to get them all started….
anyone else tend to feel this sort of thing like paralyzing pressure?”
::::waving hand in the air::::: Me! Pick me! I have NO idea of only one thing I have been wanting to do for the last 18 years…..those were the years from my twins’ first birthday until now? ::::shaking head:::: I have lots of things I wish I could do but few I could actually put into motion just yet because of the constraints/responsibilities of class assignments, kids, home, money, family…you get the idea.
Paralyzing pressure is the EXACT thing I am feeling. Thanks, Amanda for voicing what I am experiencing right now.
AFTER Dec. 16th I will be free to pursue some of them but not until then. That’s the day I FINALLY graduate with my bachelor’s degree. It feels like that day is taking FOREVER to get here. I feel time dragging like never before. Yet I feel that pressure too.
Not to mention the awful choice between having ore money (that staying in school would bring) and having less money but far more time for my son and family (which is the choice I have made but fear we all will pay for financially). I have made the right choice…my heart feels that but my bank account feels it is a bad choice.
::::sigh:::: I know it is the right choice because it means I am trusting the universe to support us and that is exactly what Beth Underwood, (my astrology teacher back when) said my chart said I have the most difficulty doing but must learn to do. It is SO uncomfortable for this Virgo rising, Cappy moon in me to do.
I experience it often, with writing. I have a number of really amazing projects I want to do that working on Planet Waves from the moment my eyes are open does not exactly facilitate.
My game plan is to know what they are, gradually set up the conditions to have them happen, and do the very very very best work I can do here every day.
When in doubt, pick one thing. There are many opportunities to leverage change. it’s almost always a process but that journey of a thousand miles actually starts with a single step.
“If there is something you’ve wanted to do for the last 18 years (or more, or less), today is the day to get it going.”
oh fuck — there are WAY too many things i’ve wanted to do for the last 18 years. not sure i can pick just one, & not sure my boss would be too thrilled if i took the day off to get them all started….
anyone else tend to feel this sort of thing like paralyzing pressure?
*sigh*
may the GA be with everyone, indeed, huffy!
Phil Sedgwick has some things to day about driving in his article on the Great Attractor:
http://www.philipsedgwick.com/Galactic/GreatAttractor.htm
Also, note the discovery of two supermassive black holes — considered the largest ever — this article was published Monday morning:
http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/05/two-black-holes-most-massive-ever-found-astronomers-say/?hpt=hp_c2
“The Great Attractor is a massive object in deep space that is pulling everything in our galaxy’s vicinity toward it as it simultaneously moves away from us. ”
this makes me picture how a car gets carried in the air pocket of a tractor trailer going down the road if you pull up close enough to it. 😉
What text says ‘acts of violence’? Valens? What millenium? I suggest you get the book you’re talking about and quote it.
We need to see the whole configuration. What houses does Mars rule (where are Aries, Scorpio and Capricorn)? What aspects does Mars make? It’s necessary to look at the whole chart, and how it organizes around any one planet you’re assessing.
A rising planet gets extra dignity; it’s called accidental dignity. That works better in some signs than it does in others.
Got a Mars ascendant – sq – Plu/Ur combo. Text book astrology say “acts of violence ” But.. Mars conjucts GA
Much prefer your interpretation! Thx you
Have little time to comment, am on my way to work – but before I rush off,I want to say a big THANK YOU. A big hug to all you PWers and to my fellow PW readers. May the Great Attractor be with you, and good luck! xxx