By Len Wallick
The cardinal point action that began with the Vernal Equinox this last Saturday continues this morning when the Moon makes its way into the sign of Cancer. The sign of its rulership. From there it goes on to form a loose but functional grand cross in the cardinal signs. First opposing the Ceres (newly in Capricorn) and soon thereafter, Pluto. At very nearly the same time Luna forms a square to Saturn in Libra and the Sun in Aries. Hence the first degrees of the cardinal signs are plucked again as they have been in a steady rhythm for four days now. This serves to encourage our awareness of rapidly progressing public events that relate to our lives. There is no avoiding or denying that the political is now continuously personal, not just once and a while. A new era is taking shape day by day.
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The name Ceres is the Latin root for the English word cereal. Her astrological identity is hence linked to what is commonly referred to as the “staff of life” in western civilization, grain. She was called upon at a time of need. The Romans began to worship her as a deity over 2500 years ago when a drought threatened their nascent culture. She was revered by the plebeians. The poor but free citizens of the Roman Empire who made their meager living mostly as farmers. Her priests were women. Her cultural predecessor was the Greek deity Demeter, the mother of Persephone.
The myth of Persephone is an attempt to explain the procession of the seasons, a grand cycle of light and dark, warmth and cold that all of us are subject to regardless of where we live or how far separated we are from where our food comes from. Even if we do not all experience the same weather at the same time, the cycle of the seasons is one of the major things that connects all human beings as one with each other.
The ingress of Ceres into the sign of the established order is a signifying event. Large institutions would not exist without the small people who incur poverty to support them. Massive wealth could not be accumulated without the labor of poor people. The conjunction of Ceres with Pluto will take place soon, more or less concurrent with the outer planets converging on the cardinal points to form the cardinal t-square that will usher in the era, yet to be defined, that will be associated with the cultural and cosmic phenomenon that is 2012. This conjunction will serve notice that the transformations associated with Pluto in Capricorn will need to include the metamorphosis of large cultural entities to serve the very people who have been exploited for so long.
Besides the Sun and Moon, the other part of today’s grand cardinal cross is Saturn, which is meaningfully multi-tasking. Today the Ringed One is in a sextile (sixty degrees of separation) with Mars, direct in Leo since March 10th. The is a repeat of the same aspect that heralded this eventful month and the interpretation is analogous. Hold your horses a bit. There is a lot happening every day. Don’t be in such a rush to get what you set your desire on over the winter. There is time. Time for others. Time to adjust. Time to participate and negotiate. Know your limits and the boundaries of others. Forge relationships instead of alienation. See where your desires and needs can be achieved in harmony rather than reflexive and hurtful contention.
Finally to the two luminary participants in today’s cross in the cardinal signs. Remember that when the Moon squares the Sun it’s in quarter phase. That’s how it looks like that half a cookie you shared with your friend. In this case it’s the first quarter. We are halfway towards the Full Moon that will coincide with the end of March. The very same Full Moon that will define and set the date for the high holiday that, more than any other, defines Christianity. A holiday that will begin our month of choices in our year of decision, April of 2010.
Offered In Service
Carrie,
I too have wondered about the meanings of Ceres conjunct Pluto beyond what we have read recently. Before the bill had been voted on, but after the house had passed it on Sunday, I commented here on a thought I had. Because Ceres had despised Pluto for stealing her baby (abortion?) that maybe the conjunction had something to do with reproduction.
Now, because of the chart for the signing into law of the “healthcare” bill has Capricorn on the 7th house, and because Pluto is in that house and Ceres is so close to the cusp (she’s at 0+ and the cusp is 3+ or maybe 4+), this conjunction reveals another meaning that is about resurrection as you said, or transformation.
In earlier myths about Ceres she taught the people of Eleusis about the cycle of birth, death and renewal. These became known as the Eleusinian Mysteries and initiates into the worship of Ceres were led through rites that, according to Demetra George in her book “Asteroid Goddesses” :
“. . addressed humanity’s fears and concerns about death by allowing initiates to traverse the passage between death and rebirth during their earthly lives. The direct experience of the eternal continuity of life in its visible and invisible forms, symbolized by the secret of the seed, offered the participants A GUARANTEE OF LIFE WITHOUT FEAR OF DEATH, OF CONFIDENCE IN THE FACE OF DEATH.”
Perhaps this is an invisible benefit of the new healthcare reform law, this “guarantee of life without fear of death, of confidence in the face of death”, at least without fear of your family being destroyed because of dying.
I’m looking forward to seeing and learning of other ways Ceres will initiate change (for the better)in this law and in other ways as she approaches Pluto.
be
Ok, having read this article again (and after ingesting three cups of very good coffee) some thoughts have started forming around in my mind.
Sometimes, in looking at Ceres, people forget that she was a mother that so deeply felt the loss of her daughter to Pluto that she stopped the seasons. I know the myth was touched on in the article but Ceres was more than just the person that made grains grow, she was a mother archetype; protective and nurturing. Her bargain with Pluto to have her daughter, Persephone, back for six months out of the year is an amazing one because it also touches on the concept of resurrection. So to me, Ceres is also about the deep connections mothers have with their children or to put it a different way, the deep connections we all have with those things we create; including the beliefs we create about ourselves and about life.
Now think of that when looking at Ceres in Capricorn and think of how the healthcare bill was passed at this time. Does the position of Ceres in Cap mean that those that made this healthcare bill a reality will be deeply connected with it? Will they try to nurture and protect it like Ceres did Persephone? Will they fight to keep it or resurrect it if it gets repealed when Ceres is conjunct Pluto?
What does Ceres in Cap mean to each person on a personal level? What are we creating in our own lives right now that we will have a deep connection to? Or, conversely, what parts of us are we so deeply connected to (or entrenched in keeping) that we are holding ourselves back from expressing ourselves or creating?
That’s my two-cents for the day.
Well, here’s a first. The reading in the post I just left was for 11:55 PM, not AM. So the Sun was in the 3rd degree of Aries, not the 4th. Here is that symbol:
THE CAMEO PROFILE OF A MAN, SUGGESTING THE SHAPE OF HIS COUNTRY. The sustaining power of the Whole, as the individual identifies himself with Its life.
“Participation in a greater life” is how Dane Rudhyar characterizes this degree.
Think I like this one even better. (and the Moon is still close enough to conjunct the U.S. Sun, thank goodness!)
“An interplay of bipolar energies is needed to provide a sustained and dynamic ‘resonance’ to any superior and encompassing form of life. This may imply a temporary withdrawal from routie activity, i.e. a ‘secluded’ process. It is not, however a CLOSED process. The positive and negative polarities do not meet in a closed circuit, reconstituting a neutral state of potentiality. They operate in dynamic, open, unresolved togetherness in contact with the surrounding energies of nature.”
Dane Rudhyar on the Sabian Symbol for Aries 4 – TWO LOVERS STROLLING ON A SECLUDED WALK. This is where the Sun is today.
As the U.S. President signed the House Bill into law, he started the birth process to providing adequate, decent healthcare for Americans. The time was 11:55 AM Washington DC time. The Moon was conjunct the U.S. Sun, and still is!
Rejoice.
Ah Len – that quote Mysti chose was the one that grabbed me today. Particularly that first line.
I think I’ve been running in my sleep (just like my hound when he’s in the land of nod) with my hands and feet twitching, dreaming about how to catch everything, probably a little whelp now and then too I wouldn’t wonder. And with a generous, deep exhale, acknowledging there’s no rush, I know I can slow down. All in good time.
Thank you.
Fabulous article, Len…
“Don’t be in such a rush to get what you set your desire on over the winter. There is time. Time for others. Time to adjust. Time to participate and negotiate. Know your limits and the boundaries of others. Forge relationships instead of alienation. See where your desires and needs can be achieved in harmony rather than reflexive and hurtful contention.
I can’t begin to tell you how clearly the astrology has foreshadowed this in the last 48 hours. I can check off almost each one of those as having been accomplished or in process right now. The results are freeing up a LOT of energy that I didn’t even know was locked down.
Your reports throw little halogen beams on what is occurring naturally, and the increased consciousness of those events helps make them more potent. Many, many thanks to you, much love, and more wonder.
M
Len,
Wonderful article to wake up to. Thanks!
A holiday that will begin our month of choices in our year of decision, April of 2010.
A generational General Election is about to be called in the UK. (It must be held by 3 June as the Parliament legally ceases to exist at 12 midnight 10th May 2010. It is a widely held belief that the election will be called in the very future for voting to be held on May 6)
Lots of hard choices to be made by a lot of people – I have a feeling this election will define the UK for more than a generation. A great fear of mine is that *we* as a collective will get it wrong…
Interesting note seemingly related to Ceres… CNN reports that ACORN is shutting down its operations.