Mars, Varuna: Justice, not vengeance

Good morning Wednesday — I am getting to bed a little later than planned, and I don’t have a draft of this letter done for Weds — so I’ll catch you back here between 10 am and 11 am with a new edition. Faithfully,В  — e.f.c.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Welcome or welcome back to Planet Waves. Today one aspect stands out from the list — Mars conjunct Varuna. Discovered in 2000, Varuna was the first planet beyond Pluto to be given a name. It was also given minor planet number 20,000, a place of distinction.

Eric Francis

For those who are wondering, every planet I mention in this column orbits our own Sun. Individual planets orbiting other stars do not factor into any current version of astrology, though some astrologers pay attention to the positions of stars where planets (called exoplanets, because they are outside our solar system) have been discovered. So to answer any lingering questions out there — all these dozens of worlds you see listed below orbit our Sun: some closer, some further, some (like Eris) extremely far away.

But they are part of our solar system.

I will skip over all the mythological background about Varuna except to say that he was considered one of the great gods of the ancient world, truly deserving of the name. He was concerned mainly with justice and the enforcement of contracts. In my personal view, he has a way of equalizing the playing field of life.Varuna is also conjunct the Sun in the chart of Islam. There is actually a chart. If you’re curious about this, check out what Juan Revilla down in Costa Rica has to say about it. So we have two sides of Varuna suggested here: justice and the enforcement of human agreements, and a shadow version of this which is extrapolated into violence, an overblown sense of “right and wrong,” and moreover people taking up the act of judgment as if they were personally the gods.

What we call judgment so often involves revenge, which is an attack and has nothing to do with God.

Revenge is to being God what crack is to enlightenment. You might feel like it for five minutes but it wears off fast.

In addition to being supremely ridiculous for individual people to think they are in an actual position of casting judgment over others, it is (as A Course in Miracles duly notes) impossible. The best thing we can do is assess the situation and have an opinion.

To adjudge with the might and power of the divine? No, this is a worldly game, not cosmic law.

With Mars conjunct Varuna, we get to step into this sphere of consciousness and make some choices. As people, the best we can do is hold ourselves to our agreements, get out of them as best we can when they’re not working so well, and do our best to pay attention.

Eric Francis

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Tuesday 15 April 2008
Sisyphus
(21+ Libra Rx) opposite Eris (21+ Aries)
Atlantis
(20+ Libra Rx) quincunx Uranus (20+ Pisces)
Vesta
(28+ Pisces) quincunx Orcus (28+ Leo Rx)
Pandora
(20+ Scorpio Rx) square Chiron (20+ Aquarius)
Mercury
(24+ Aries) sesquiquadrate Pholus (9+ Sagittarius Rx)
Mars
(17+ Cancer) conjunct Varuna (17+ Cancer)
Eros
(10+ Taurus) semisquare Hades (25+ Gemini)
Sun
(25+ Aries) sextile Hades (25+ Gemini)
Ceres
(6+ Gemini) sesquiquadrate Jupiter (21+ Capricorn)
Pandora
(20+ Scorpio Rx) opposite Sedna (20+ Taurus)
Mercury
(25+ Aries) conjunct Amor (25+ Aries)
Venus
(11+ Aries) septile Chiron (20+ Aquarius)
Sun
(26+ Aries) quintile Nessus (14+ Aquarius)
Apollo
(18+ Cancer) quincunx Quaoar (18+ Sagittarius Rx)
Mercury
(25+ Aries) sextile Hades (25+ Gemini)
Sisyphus
(20+ Libra Rx) quincunx Uranus (20+ Pisces)

Today’s oracle…

…takes us back to Oct. 01, 2001’s Cancer monthly horoscope. Sept. 11 2001 would be right around the time I had to submit this to my editors at Chronogram, and I am assuming I was running a little late; so this was written right in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 false flag attacks on New York and Washington, DC. Here ya go…

In The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot, the author describes people’s experiences of real-life holograms, such as images of steam locomotives running through modern-day parks as they stand there and watch. These are time overlays in which the past, still extant in another dimension, intersects with our physical, mundane world. Such is your life right now, though the metaphor of a locomotive doesn’t take us all the way. It’s more like a whole cosmos of your hidden world has taken up residence in your home. You can still get to your couch and dish closet without falling through the universe, but you are relating to two worlds at once. In one of those realities, your own past and all you don’t know about it are very much a factor. It may be an interesting show you get to see, some things may be a bit unpleasant, and you will surely have a chance to make decisions about those things. Anyway, I suggest you keep in your pocket the helpful words of A Course in Miracles: “The past is gone. It cannot touch me.”

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