One of the obvious and infuriating consequences of the governmental shutdown in the U.S. (basically an act of terrorism and sedition) is that it will hurt the poor most of all (both ‘working poor’ and those who depend fully on government assistance). When you’re already struggling financially, there is a fine line between ‘hitting a rough patch’ and ‘spinning out of control’.
One of the ways the sky is describing this is through today’s square between Ceres in Virgo and Pholus and Ixion in Sagittarius.
While the significance of Ceres the goddess goes far beyond her association with grain, agriculture, food and nourishment, those are some of the obvious associations at play in this situation. Also, the signature Ceres myth centers on her choice to stand up against he lord of the Underworld (Pluto) to negotiate for the return of her daughter.
Consider for a moment that Virgo is the sign of ‘service’ when you think about some of the services being diminished or indefinitely cut outright by the shutdown that have to do with food and protecting children:
— WIC (the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, a program ensuring that new and expectant mothers are able to access nutritious food)
— Head Start (one of the longest-running programs to address systemic poverty in the United States, it provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families)
— Welfare (or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, which administers the food stamp program — something some states are taking on themselves, at least till the end of the month)
— NIH (the National Institutes of Health funds clinical trials of new treatments for children with cancer — though that funding has been declining steadily in recent years)
If Congress can’t get their shit together before the deadline to raise the debt ceiling, the resulting economic tailspin goes from cruel to inhumane in terms of how it would hurt those already struggling.
That Ceres is square to Pholus and Ixion is a warning to all of us to put our energy, light and actions behind getting the situation resolved. Pholus is the centaur planet of ‘small cause, big effect’ — the experience of the runaway reaction. Ixion is a minor planet associated with the potential for anyone to be capable of committing unethical acts, and the squandering of second chances. In Sagittarius, both planets are speaking to the twisted religious dogma fueling the far political Right — collective spiritual shadow material if ever there was any. Something poised to run away with the entire country’s ability to function.
The square between Ceres and Pholus-Ixion is underscored by a simultaneous square between the asteroid Vesta in Virgo and the Great Attractor in Sagittarius (a deep-space point that is pulling us toward it as it races away).
Vesta-GA poses some questions: What happens when we chase after religious dogma or ‘spiritual’ ideals in the abstract? Do you feel like you’ll never reach the goal? Are you willing to devote yourself to hands-on, experiential, on-the-ground service that taps into your own creative fire and feeds it at the same time?
The potential represented by Pholus and Ixion may feel daunting or overwhelming, given the current political climate. I think that’s normal. But nothing is written in stone. Squares are about an inner push to do something. Each of us gets to decide which side of the square we push off against, and which side we channel our energy toward.
Thanks mimik, it is good to be reminded that our President has a Leo Sun. Often we associate the sign of Leo with the personal frailty of needing admiration and audience. I’m sure I’m not the only one who can slip into the habit of seeing the symbols (Sun, Moon, etc.) as separate entities when in fact, they must work together. As the Moon reflects the Sun at full moon, the Sun needs that reflection of how his energy is being interpreted and used. The Sun, ruler of Leo, needs his circling planets, asteroids, centaurs, etc. in order to give form (tangible or not) to his energy and return some acknowledgment; feedback. These planetary symbols are a combined whole, something I need to be reminded of occasionally.
Pres. Obama’s Leo Sun, especially, being almost opposite his ascendant, needs feedback. His natal Damocles in Aquarius sextiles the U.S. natal (Sibly) ascendant and that combination is probably like a weathervane for him. It is a constant and delicate reminder of how the winds shift, and gives him the ability to adjust and compensate his Leo solar feed to his “audience, the U.S. No wonder his hair is getting so gray!
be
I knew I’d read about Obama and Damocles before — and it was on Planet Waves!
from article by Eric October 24, 2008, right before the “second chance” election of Obama:
from Wikipedia:
The Sword of Damocles…the imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of power. More generally, it is used to denote the sense of foreboding engendered by the precarious situation, especially one in which the onset of tragedy is restrained only by a delicate trigger or chance. Moreover, it can be seen as a lesson in the importance of fully understanding another person’s situation or experience.
from Eric:
And so we have the central image in Barack Obama’s chart: the Sun precisely opposite Damocles in the 12th house. While I don’t think that fear constantly looms over him, I do think he’s perfectly aware that sword is dangling by a single thread directly above his head. And so are we.
This is clearly “the” Damocles moment, now. Eric also talked about the 6th House Leo Sun in Obama’s chart. it seems to me that signifies that his idea of his job as President is to heal the democratic process. But the democratic process has become nothing but talk of “cut” after “cut” after “cut” from the Sword of Damocles that defines this historical moment.
Amazing astrology.
whole article @ http://planetwaves.net/astrologynews/1568600106.html
Thank you, Amanda (and be) for bringing sobering perspective and grounding reality from the sky down to Earth. You are correct, Amanda, in your synopsis that a small number of people without a functional conscience are provoking a runaway reaction that can only lead to sorrow and loss for those who are already hanging by a thread. There is something each and all of us can do, and it begins with not forgetting what is being done now so that it can never be done again.
and thank you, be, for thinking! i really appreciate this extra bit of detail you’ve woven into the story.
O.J. Simpson had two trials; in the first he was found innocent, the second one guilty. Both times (13 years apart) the transiting Sun was conjunct O.J.’s natal Ixion. Not sure whether that is significant to today’s astrology, but it does make the story of Ixion memorable. Boots Hart writes about it here (near bottom). .
http://www.daykeeperjournal.com/aarch08/0811nov/boots2.shtml
So when you say that Ceres’ significance goes far beyond her association with grain, etc, it is especially true now because she is also sextile Jupiter in Cancer (aka Zeus who gave Ixion the 2nd chance) and they (Ceres and Jupiter) form a yod with Damocles in Aquarius, who is at the apex (point) where the combined energy is released.
As Damocles is the one being “irritated”, a dangerous thing in itself, and he sextiles Ixion and Pholus in Sagittarius, they combine their power and energy to put transiting Jupiter in Cancer at the apex point of a yod. It is Jupiter, after all is said and done who will move, I believe, those service programs regarding children and food (Jupiter is in Cancer and in lock step with Ceres) forward out of deadlock. In an odd way (if that happens), we have Ixion and Pholus to thank, as well as the threat of Damocles’ sword hanging by a thread. I look for that one “small cause” which will start the whole terrifying situation to begin unraveling.
The keepers of the threads (of life) are the Fates, Klotho (14 Sagittarius), Lachesis (10 Cancer) and Atropos (25 Leo). Right now the Moon just made a conjunction to Klotho who measures the new thread and is also conjunct the GA, yesterday Mars was conjunct Atropos who cuts the thread and ends the life, and today Saturn in Scorpio trines and Uranus in Aries squares Lachesis who twists the fated thread.
Might that mean that soon some small cause (thank you Pholus) might suck us all into the gravitational grip of the GA (thank you Vesta and Klotho) and provide that “inner push to do something” you speak of? If so, today could be the day! Thanks for making me think Amanda.
be