You make the rules / you say what’s fair / it’s lots of fun to have you there.
— ‘I am a Child’ by Neil Young
Today is Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012, the day of Saturn’s station retrograde in the morning, and the Leo Full Moon at 4:54 pm EST. This is the Sun and Moon in opposite signs, which we described yesterday. We also noted that Mercury is conjunct the Aquarius Sun, which brought up the question of ‘How do you think for yourself’? And an answer came through for today: you think for yourself by being curious.
This is the big difference between adult intelligence and child intelligence. Kids are naturally curious – until, often, their curiosity is killed by authority — in school, church, or by parents. Yet at the same time, kids need structure and healthy boundaries within which to stretch and test their curiosity while still feeling safe.
Right now, the child embodied by the Leo Moon may be opposed to the parental Sun in Aquarius (whose traditional ruler is Saturn, Mr. Authority and Boundaries himself), but it has a little help in keeping things balanced. Mercury making its conjunction to the Sun is basically a big reminder of the kid still inside you – a kid who is unabashedly, gleefully curious about the world.
After all, would you be reading an astrology blog if you’d lost all your curiosity? Of course not. So here is an invitation, just in case you sometimes get so curious about your navel that you forget about the world around you: everything from the dirt in your garden to the hottie in the next cubicle at work to the surreal workings (if it can be said to work) of political process are just waiting for you to begin investigating and discovering.
Discovery isn’t just fun, it’s empowering. And that is why some consider curiosity to be downright dangerous. Take, for example, that hottie in the next cubicle. If you’re in a capital-R relationship, more likely than not curiosity about him or her counts as ‘illegal’. After all, if you find out how funny/sensitive/smart that person is, you may get curious about even more — like how they kiss or what they’re like in bed — and then before you know it, things are changing in your life and, by extension, in your partner’s life.
Curiosity is only dangerous to those who cling to the status quo or keep secrets. But it’s not inherently dangerous of its own accord, as the old saying, Curiosity killed the cat, would have us believe. Even without the familiar rejoinder But satisfaction brought him back, it turns out this phrase was likely bastardized by some Victorian-era authority figure looking to rein in someone’s inquisitiveness for their own protection. The original 16th-century phrase was Care killed the cat – meaning ‘worry’ or ‘sorrow’.
Even without ‘the law of attraction’, it’s clear that worry is far less productive than curiosity. So our kitty Full Moon need not start counting out its lives just yet. Instead, you can shine its light – which is reflected from the Sun – into whatever corners you’d like to investigate. Saturn’s station retrograde, which occurs at 9:03 am EST today (and lasts until late June) offers one area you might want to get curious about: relationships.
Specifically, in light of the parent/child image of the simultaneous Full Moon, you might begin your inquiry into the presence of any parent-child dynamics in your life – particularly with people who are neither one of your parents nor your child (though the dynamic’s roots are in your family of origin). These are situations in which there is an inappropriate power imbalance, which leads to the playing out of dysfunctional family patterns in non-family relationships. Now that Saturn, the embodiment of authority, is turning retrograde, you can feel confident that you are bringing genuine authority to bear when you start taking apart your relationships (figuratively speaking) to see how they work – especially if they haven’t been working very well lately.
Relationships can get complicated, but really, the basic moving parts aren’t any more complex than a toaster: love, trust and respect. If you can let your childlike curiosity and wonder discover how those three create warmth and nourishment individually, chances are your inner Saturn will figure out how to put them back together so they can work in harmony to make something truly tasty. And if not, you can always call in a professional to assist. Now that is a truly adult thing to do – and it doesn’t require you to abandon your curiosity for one moment.
Looking for insights on how this week’s astrology affects your personal Sun and rising signs? Eric Francis interprets the signs every week, every month and every year. Weekly and monthly horoscopes are in Planet Waves and Planet Waves Light. Annual readings are in a special edition called Revolution. Revelation. Reality Check.
Thanks Amanda! I hope the energy of myself and the other is recycled into something better than the sum of its original parts. I mean it.
I’m loving these images of Chime kitty. They are starting to read as visual snippets from some kind of short story featuring Chime as the main character…!!
Also, I just got back from a night walk where I walked east in order to meditate on the amazing full moon – it’s worth getting outside to check it out if you have clear skies!
Mystes, I think money. I’ve been thinking money all day, not wickedly. The money chimes are ringing apparently, because I felt an urge to purchase unneeded items today from two small blogs I read. Then I received an emergency email from one of the women, stating the other blogger’s spouse had been unemployed for a year and they desparately needed assistance. Funny how all of this seems to work out. What is that saying? when bells chime an angel earns her wings? Always liked the thought of it.
This Scorpio with a Leo Moon is trying to stay focused and not succumb to feeling overwhelmed by daily tedium. I shall refrain from chasing my own tail.
I shall take a cue from Chime Rinpoche and either curiously look out and around or better yet, climb a tree.
That’s my way of saying thank you, Eric, for the wonderful pictures of a glorious cat. May I “adopt” Chime in my heart?
JannKinz
You make an excellent point here Daily Astrology; that sadly a child’s curiosity usually gets quashed somewhere along the way by authority figures, usually parents, but also teachers or other adults. That the child needs to know the parameters of his society is a given if he is to thrive and survive in it. Hopefully, like most kitties, they won’t bury that curiosity, but learn to explore discreetly.
In a “meant-to-be” kind of way, asteroid Child is conjunct Nessus, and quincunx Mars and squares newly forward-moving Sedna. Sedna was a maturing child who had little curiosity about the world out there, but the Universe must have seen that she would never grow up (and we must all grow up), if she wasn’t coaxed and/or tricked into it. As this full moon blooms today, we see Child joining Nessus for a lesson in trickery and coaxing, and who will be the parental figure to protect the child from too-much-curiosity this time?
Perhaps Sedna. After all, she knows a lot about the lack of parental protection. As she trines retrograde Mars in the disciplined sign of Virgo, there might be an intervention here in order to circumvent the youngster’s curiosity at this time under this particular influence. Sedna’s been in Taurus for a long time and knows about desires and how to fulfill them, so maybe this child at this time will only have his curiosity diverted rather than quashed. I’d like to think that Sedna would do that. Better to mold and define the vessel and make it unique than to force it into looking and functioning like all the other vessels with no distinction.
be
Mystes–so sorry to hear that it is a challenging day for you as the transmission receiver–chamomile capsules or tea with my other stuff for migraines =–=and ice packs– help me pass the time as it passes through me—xoxo
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HS- truly–you are NOT your father–no more than I am my mother–which my therapist repeated to me
they may be our roots–but we now choose the soil we grow in and the dna of the tree we are becoming
–and trees are The Givers of the earth mother to all—
Am loving your little leonine’s in the post pictures, including the subscriber edition photo, for this dramatically poised and demanding, in its cat-like way, full moon.
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HS, congrats on the clarity. And looky here: nice *is* sexy, dude. You better believe it.
Eric, good point.
Amanda, excellent summary!
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This Full Moon (in my 8th H) coming on the heels of Davis’s wake, has engifted me with a blazing, two-day-long headache. Eighth -you don’t say- House. Good times.
I am doing various various herbal treatments to settle the roaring, but in the last hour a cold, pressurized spot has appeared on the top of my head, telling me that this is *not* from a pathology.
Might be connected to Merc conj Sun, down there in the 2nd H, which feels like it is asking for a raise. What’s it gonna be? more money, love or art?
Dunno, but something’s coming through, and it isn’t waiting for permission.
Waterdragons. Man, gotta love ’em…
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Thank you for emphasizing the specificity of this Full Moon, this is a message to hold on to.
awesome! thanks for the heads up Amanda.
kudos, HS, on working through that material! incidentally, Maria’s article for Saturday looks at “creepy” — be sure to give it a read this weekend.
fascinating. I’ve been breaking apart, this past week, about how my negative father instilled this notion in me of being a “creep” by his own actions and influences. My insecurity in initiating intimate relationships made me project this idea that women saw me as creepy. I in turn over compensated by trying to be the “nice guy” and be overly considerate or sensitive. I battle this still today. Tough stuff to work through. And so I repeat, I’m a good guy and I don’t have to prove that to anyone. I am not my father. I am me.
huffy — glad to hear — thanks!
kelly — glad to hear “the creature” resigned. i hope all the stuck, negative energy surrounding the dynamic melts away and everyone can let go of any residue.
Oh Eric thank-you! Reading this makes my black scorpio heart light up like a x-mas tree. Dealing for years on end with a long standing power struggle at work: ended today. I have consciously remained alert, critically analysing my actions and working with everything you propose (read: instead of taking them down to the depths of despair). This creature resigned and what is important- their reason(s) don’t involve me.
Great! Thanks, Eric – will work consciously with that. xxx
One thing I try to mention around the Full Moon is that they are good at helping resolve deadlocks and stalemates. This one should be pretty effective at providing the brilliant idea that gets things moving, if it happens to be stuck.
Curiosity…love, trust and respect. Yes… Thank you for this inspired, wonderful blog – so packed with goodies. And the photo of Chime is heartbreakingly beautiful – like a spirit from another world. xxx