Dear Friend and Reader:
EACH YEAR in late [Northern Hemisphere] autumn, just before the winter holidays, the passage of time seems to be compressed. Socially, this involves the rush to complete year-end commitments and the pressures associated with holiday obligations. Seasonally, the days are brief and growing shorter, creating the sense of shrinking time and giving the illusion that it’s midnight when it’s really eight in the evening. For many, energy wanes with the amount of available sunlight.
But astronomically, there’s another fact to consider: the Sun is aligning with the core of the Milky Way, our home galaxy. We live in a cluster of a few hundred billion stars (nobody is sure exactly how many), and at the core is an enormous concentration of stellar energy, potent radio signals on many spectra (including a lot of infrared) and surges of gamma ray radiation.
When we face the Sun this time of year, this is what we are facing into; the Sun is like a condenser, resonating with the galaxy and redistributing its energy to us; and the overall effect is very intense. The feeling is like a cosmic storm from which there is no easy shelter. We just need to let the energy surge through us and around us, and be as open, expanded and conductive as possible.
Welcome to Sagittarius.
Sometimes envisioned as a hunter, an archer or a Centaur, Sagittarius is located near another constellation, Centaurus — this constellation representing Chiron, who was given a place in the heavens by Zeus, upon giving up his physical immortality. I don’t think it’s a mere coincidence that the two are near one another, as Chiron has many associations with galactic themes and itself seems to be an entity that (astrologically anyway) helps us assimilate the powerful surges of awareness that are in their essence galactic.
As you’re reading this article, keep in mind that it’s about one of the main energy sources behind Sagittarius and Chiron — whatever is at the core of the Milky Way, and its spiritual and psychological effects.
It may help to begin with a visual reference to the Galactic Core. Our Sun is part of a massive spiral of stars in space, which feature a bulge in the center. At the core of this bulge is something called a supermassive black hole. This black hole shares the same location as Sagittarius A, a complex radio source also located at the core of our galaxy. The two are “associated,” not necessarily one and the same. Nearly a century after Einstein theorized their existence, science only acknowledged the existence of the black hole on Sept. 5, 2001, in a discovery made by use of the orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Most of the time, we see images of other galaxies. But here is an amazing view from the edge of our own galaxy looking in toward the core. The reason you cannot see the spiral arms is because we’re located too close to the galactic plane. But this image, made from many smaller pictures, gives an excellent perspective on where we sit in relationship to the core.
But there is a hidden element: deep in the core is a mass more than 2 million times that of our own Sun, but contained in a small stretch of space, about 93 million miles. (This is so small, it’s not even noted in light years, but in miles. For reference, our Sun is 870,000 miles in diameter, about one tenth as wide as a black hole 2 million times heavier.) So the one thing we know is that whatever’s in there is very heavy; it is small, by astronomical standards; and it’s thus extremely compact and dense. It emits so much gravity that it seems to hold the whole galaxy together. The only candidate is a black hole.
The Sun orbits the core of the galaxy in about 227 to 240 million years, according to most estimates, called a cosmic year. Our Sun is located about 28,000 light years from the core, swirling along on one of the far edges, between two of the spiral arms; no wonder it’s so lonely out here.
In a horoscope chart, the core is located at close to 27 degrees of Sagittarius, which the Sun crosses from approximately Dec. 16 through 20 each year, just before the [Northern Hemisphere] winter solstice.
The ancient Mayans paid a lot of attention to the Galactic Core in their mythmaking, astronomy and astrology. (Ball games were also their highest religious rituals, giving sports events a Sagittarian spin.) Long-term timing factors involving the Earth-Sun alignment to this point are the main event behind the 2012 phenomenon, which is so close that we’re experiencing its effects today: mainly, as the rapid acceleration of the historical process, Earth changes, and for some, rapid shifts in consciousness. Indeed, in a very Chiron like way, we are facing a crisis of global consciousness. If we wake up, we save ourselves; if we don’t, it seems, we go down.
Both Eastern and Western astrologers have pretty much left galactic subject matter out of the discussion until recently, but it’s finally starting to come up. “The astrological effects of fixed stars were the only influences from outside the solar system considered in traditional astrology,” says the Astrology Encyclopedia by James R. Lewis. “More recently, astrological researchers have begun to explore the potential astrological significance of galactic as well as extragalactic phenomena — such as the galactic center, black holes, pulsars, quasars and so forth.”
One of the leading minds driving the discussion, or more often, bushwhacking and trailblazing it into existence, is an Arizona-based astrologer named Philip Sedgwick, whose work I’ve discussed in several prior columns.
Sedgwick proposes that those individuals with the Galactic Core prominent in their chart — conjunct an inner planet (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Ceres) or an angle (ascendant, descendant, MC/IC) — reveal a potential link “with whatever is behind all this.”
All this, as in the appearance of reality; we all know there is a deeper world, and the prominence of the GC creates or allows access to the feeling of its existence on a personal level.
According to Sedgwick, whose views have been summarized in the Astrology Encyclopedia, “When this transpersonal link is ignored, the individual can experience stress and confusion; when it is consciously appropriated, information can be grasped that the individual may seem to have no outward way of knowing.”
That sounds like intuitive knowledge; knowledge from the core. And at the core is a lot of this black hole stuff — dark matter. So, at the core of our island of light is dark matter, and when this is assessed for its psychological and spiritual dynamics (i.e., by astrologers, who study the effects of the cosmos on people and society), we find out that it’s essentially sub- or super-consciousness, which is the source of information accessed by artists and visionaries. But to others, this depth of awareness can be disturbing, and needs to be consciously directed somehow.
“What is in that Center?” asks Kelley Hunter, an astrologer who did her Ph.D. on the psychological and spiritual meaning of dark matter, and a specialist in the Black Moon Lilith (the lunar apogee).
“Science is the latest myth. We tend to think of science as fact. But in fact, it is the latest story or interpretation of what we are seeing through our technology and through abstract mathematical formulas. It’s the duty of astrology and astrologers to incorporate our intuitive knowing to envision possibilities that science won’t consider. They won’t consider the consciousness of cosmos, or the cosmos as conscious.”
Reality Check: 1647 Astrology Textbook
This all sounds very 9th house, does it not? The soul, the higher self, God, “whatever is behind all this,” and the spiritual implications of science or anything at all. And it points to the core of the vast island in space in which we live, a likely “physical source” for some kind of super-consciousness, or deep sub-consciousness.
Let’s go back a few hundred years, to Christian Astrology, the first astrology book ever written in English, by William Lilly.
The 9th house and the corresponding sign, Sagittarius, are described in his 1647 text, which is based on traditional astrology and Lilly’s own observations. “By this house, we give judgment of voyages or long journeys beyond the seas; of religious men, or clergy of any kind, whether bishops or inferior ministers; dreams, visions, foreign countries, of books, learning, church livings, or benefices, or advowsons [a political function in the church]; of the kindred of one’s wife.”
So the great distance, or the spiritual subject matter, or “men of god” theme of this house, goes back a long way, long before the rather odd spiritual entity of the Galactic Core was known about by our culture.
Of Sagittarius, he says, it represents: “A stable of great horses, or horses for the wars, or a house where usually great four-footed beasts are kept; it represents in the fields, hills, and the highest places of lands or grounds that rise a little above the rest; in houses or upper rooms, near the fire.”
The horse imagery comes from the Centaur, or the later image of an archer on his horse. The imagery of the higher place, the grounds that rise above the rest, is a beautiful intuitive take on the GC, as is the feeling of the upper room, close to the fire.
The point of the arrow of Sagittarius points right to the Galactic Core, which some consider to be our celestial origins.
“If you take one T out of matter, you get ‘mater’ which is mother in Latin,” Hunter says. “Hence, dark mater is dark mother. And a dark goddess appears in every culture, and recent DNA research has shown that we all come from a shared ancestress from the heart of Africa. So we all have a dark mother.”
The dark feminine appears, as well, as a spiritual archetype.
“The dark-faced goddesses, whether it be blue, black, or brown, they are the goddesses of mystery, like the black Madonna — who offer miracles and healings, and initiation, and go beyond the rational. In that way, they’re meta-physical and irrational, which is why they often have demonic reputations.”
But that which is depicted or perceived as dark is often a representative of sexuality. Many cultures have long attempted to “purify” women of their sexual feelings and deny their sexual experiences.
“What we think of the dark goddesses, personally or culturally, is what we can imagine is inside that black hole at the heart of a galaxy. What is the heart of the galaxy made of? Is it terror, or love? What is the ultimate truth? Let’s not only listen to scientists to tell us what that is.”
Some Possible Interpretations
I’ve cast the Galactic Core into nearly every chart I’ve read for quite a few years. The delineation for the point that I’ve come up with is, “That which we perceive as outside us but which is really within us.”
This is a fair proposition for how God/Goddess manifests in consciousness. I’ve had many sweeping insights about the GC working with clients — and often failed to write them down. Then, yesterday, I was reading an essay on Philip Sedgwick’s CD The Soul of the Sky, in which he advises people to write down their Galactic Center insights quickly.
This CD and much other information is available on his website. He is one of the undisputed pioneers in the field of deep space astrology. I’ve found Phil’s astrological teaching to be some of the most direct and effective in the field. Tapes of his classes and lectures are particularly excellent. The passages below are copyright by the author and may NOT be reproduced elsewhere.
In The Soul of the Sky, Sedgwick writes, “The Galactic Center’s infrared jolt to the energy field naturally induces the release of past memories that preclude an individual from making progress in life. Consciousness constipation passes. Often, when an emotional download of healing data completes, the body sometimes follows with its own symptoms of letting go. Ranging from shaking, chills and even the elimination system moving into high gear, verification for the inner evolution appears.
“New emotional experiences may now replace previously retained ones. The mental barriers to understanding a new idea, receiving insight or just plain old ‘getting it’ gracefully yield under this influence. How is this process stimulated? Several possibilities exist. Good, old-fashioned meditation does the trick. However, as with so many galactic points, the meditative process offers so much more when maintaining a grounded quality. Simply sitting upon the ground, tail bone connected with the Earth does the trick. Mediation, if not grounded, does not support the Galactic Center. In fact, disconnected spiritual exercises make access to galactic points more difficult to integrate — especially this one.
“The antidote to meditation comes through conscious channeling. Conscious channeling is exactly that: conscious. There’s no place to go, no spirit guide to meet, no specific state of consciousness to achieve. Naturally, you possess instant access to the download of Divine Insight located at this specific frequency and direction in space at any time, and in blasts taking only fractions of a second. You do not even need to go through the added effort of figuring when the Galactic Center is overhead — which is once a day. You simply need to clear your mental decks, set the agenda and then do the hardest part of any spiritual exercise: Listen. Often asking a question helps. Since the information freely rendered by the Galactic Center tends to be very progressive, emotionally confrontational and far out, perhaps a non-personal question serves the process better.”
The GC: Going from Insight to Action
Sedgwick writes: “The Galactic Center radiates brilliant insight to anyone connected with it. This insight craves implementation. This infrared information reveals how to let go of what is in the way to make a clear path for the next step. As soon as an idea is grasped and brought forward, the path of accessing new information refreshes. At all times, new and newer insights spew forth. This carries the tone of consciousness evolution. The collective aim refocuses and retargets with higher and clearer insights at each minute in timelessness. The more considered, the broader the band of consciousness acceptance, then the more assurance can be taken with the focus of life, personal or collective. All this, by the way, occurs a step at a time. One step leads to the next and so on. Extreme long range vision does not accompany these insights. You will not know how far the idea will go, how much it can change the world or your consciousness. This lack of viewing actually protects the ego from going overboard in a Sagittarian agenda — with either extreme overestimation or underestimation.
“For an individual with strong Galactic Center connections, several important ideas emerge around the information received. First, the information is free and available to anyone choosing the frequency, whether astrologically linked or not. Whoever uses it first gets the kudos, accolades and profits. Within the unlimited source of the Galactic Center, there exists a steady, unfailing, unending stream of ideas. Often in Hollywood scripts concepts get guarded with Pentagon-rivaling security efforts. Yet, again, everyone is writing the same script at the same time. A plethora of ideas exist. Therefore, territoriality, propriety and competition seem ridiculous to the wise ways of the Galactic Center. The energy applies to anyone willing to ‘listen’ to the energetic band. Enough good ideas exist for everyone choosing to listen.
“So the other person got his script about the subjugation of Inuit Indians in Alaska done first. Did they steal your script about the Indians scratching out a living making scrimshaw? No, but they got the deal. Write a different story. But write it, instead of complaining about your missed boat. Sue the other writer for stealing your idea? Not necessary if you have not documented your Galactic Center idea file. And if you have, there’s no point anyway. Your energy can be better directed in creative thrusts.”
Destroying Prejudice
“The Galactic Center seeks to destroy prejudice of all kinds. Boundaries around countries disappear when viewed from high-tech space platforms. Sexual attitudes seem moot when life creation originates in a test tube. Evolution bias eases when a primate’s blood provides a vital, life-saving serum. Physical excuses for not traveling somewhere release with new developments in transportation. A world wide web site destroys the complaint that one can never have global impact. Virtual reality dissipates the sense that one can never safely overcome the fear of heights.
“Ultimately, an understanding of consciousness offers itself to humanity as Pluto reaches to the Galactic Center. Yes, this has happened before. But this time we know about Pluto. And this time we’ve expanded our physical awareness to include the invisible energy spectrums.
“Tolerance exudes from the Galactic Center. This point knows there exists no single, correct answer. Overcoming bias must result. The strength of one’s prejudice, hatred and fear only indicates a dismal ‘You Are Here’, progress marker on the potential for human consciousness. Simply, sit and listen. Learn to receive the subtle essences of Heaven. Let the inspiration feed you the ways of making wisdom work within the everyday walking within the world. Of course, remember to clear the pier before offloading new goods from the freighter of previously foreign wisdom.
“The Galactic Center points out several critical initial factors for us all. First, agree to not see things the same way. Second, realize that all these points of view bear a common thread to the same source of inspiration. Third, redefine the fundamental human needs from all of this. People, in general, require the freedom to receive, perceive and believe in whatever way suits them. People insist upon the right of creating their own belief. With all of this commonality out of the way, the surges of the rich inspiration of the Galactic Center can once again be felt. According to the non-ending energy of the Galactic Center, progress is at hand. Progress is always at hand.”
Here are a few events from days when the Sun was conjunct the Galactic Core. Note the themes of tolerance, vast and sweeping changes, and a big fire.
December 18
# 1865 – Slavery is abolished in the United States, with the passing of the 13th Amendment.
# 1969 – Capital punishment is ended in the United Kingdom.
December 19
# 1946 – Ho Chi Minh attacks the French in Hanoi.
# 1974 – The Altair 8800, the first personal computer, goes on sale.
# 1998 – The U.S. House of Representatives passes articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton over the Lewinsky scandal.
# 2001 – A new world-record high barometric pressure of 1085.6 hPa (32.06 inHg) is set at Tosontsengel, Hövsgöl Aymag, Mongolia.
December 20
# 1999 – Vermont’s Supreme Court rules that homosexual couples are entitled to same benefits and protections as married heterosexual couples.
# 1984 – Summit Tunnel Fire
With love,
