Today is Thursday, December 8, 2011. What is that thing within you that keeps blindly pushing for expression? Have you put your finger on it yet? It’s okay if you’re not sure – don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourself – but be aware the next couple days may see it pushing for your attention a little harder. Tomorrow, just over 24 hours before Saturday’s total lunar eclipse, the Sun will form a conjunction with Pholus one degree from where it will oppose the Moon.
Pholus is one of the centaur planets, a class of objects that often bring to the surface old wounds, familial issues and cycles that need our attention and healing. Chiron is the best known of these bodies. Pholus, for its part, often has to do with alcohol, small causes setting far-reaching effects in motion, and the releasing of ancestral processes. Planet Waves has explored these themes in recent installments (here is one from Nov. 14) as various points have aspected Pholus.
This week, our attention turned toward the idea of clearing away space as the Sun conjoined the Great Attractor on its way to Saturday’s eclipse, in order to make space for any transformations we need to initiate. Eclipses present us with a shift in continuity that can give us the extra boost we need for a growth spurt; yesterday Mars made an opposition that offered some leverage between our beliefs and actions to continue the process. Now, on the cusp of the Gemini Full Moon eclipse, there’s an opportunity to access the more useful facets of what Pholus brings to the table – as well as to acknowledge any shadow material that may sabotage us if we don’t work with it consciously. For that is another of Pholus’ (indeed, all of the centaurs’) hallmarks: whatever we ignore can become very destructive, as Juan Revilla has noted.
Dieter Koch and Robert Von Heeren have this to say about Pholus:
Pholus stands for parts of our nature from which we are still cut off and with which we try to get into contact. The parts in question may be those which cannot be soundly unfolded, or on the other hand a domain where the person intently strives for and with time even reaches great progresses.
Pholic impulses are blind in a sense. They press on being realized even if they do not ‘know’ what could be their appropriate place in the actual order of life. On the contrary, they are in conflict with the established conditions.
Pholus seems to launch us again and again into unexpected frontier situations, where we feel demanded too much and eventually exceed the bounds of our possibilities. In these periods of transition from a suddenly lost security (Saturn) we find ourselves helplessly exposed to and confronted with the new haziness (Neptune). In this situation we run great risk of calamitous mis-reactions (self-sabotage, accidents; cf. Pholus’ death in the myth). On the other hand, this ‘wobbly’ state may give rise to a positive new beginning that leads into a richer and intenser [sic] life. In both cases there is a tendency, that the subconciousness [sic] determines the ‘course’.
Some of this may be a little unnerving; “calamitous mis-reaction,” for example, and “self-sabotage and accidents” are not encouraging things to read. But then, neither is a sign on the grocery store floor that says “slippery – use caution.” That is the point, though: to use caution, not to avoid the grocery store. So with the Sun conjunct Pholus, we can expect the full nature of this centaur to make itself known. And now that we are aware, we can use some caution. We can listen, watch, step carefully and with clear direction. We all know it’s dangerous to look in one direction while we walk in another, yet we do it all the time. These next couple days, be sure to set your gaze in the same direction you’re traveling – both literally and metaphorically.
Remember that you can change direction at any time, too, if where you’re currently heading is not healthy. Pause, take a breath, choose your new direction or focus, and then step carefully. If you encounter a Pholic impulse within yourself that is “in conflict with the established conditions,” carefully consider both the impulse and those conditions, since a little goes a long way with Pholus. Perhaps the conditions can be altered to give that impulse a safe context for expression. Or perhaps the impulse can be followed inward to its root using some kind of therapy method, thereby transmuting it into healing and growth.
The doorway to this eclipse is still wide open right now, though many of us have been wrestling with the material this astrology is presenting. Once the Moon moves into Gemini tonight at 9:52 pm EST, you may find Gemini’s mental skills to be helpful in mapping your Sagittarian spiritual inquiry. If you’re one of many who has felt frantic or ‘stuck in your head’ this week, allow yourself to use the Taurus Moon’s energy earlier in the day to ground you back in your senses and this tangible, physical plane. Feel the earth beneath your feet, giving you some solidity as you look where you want to be and choose consciously how you want to step over this threshold.
Looking for insights on how this week’s astrology affects your personal Sun and rising signs? Try out Planet Waves Light, our streamlined horoscope service. For deeper cultural context and astrological investigation, the premium Planet Waves subscription includes the same horoscopes, plus extensively-researched articles on Fridays.
aword,
Works for me; thanks for sharing!
be
be and mystes et al – from the other thread re: dream of special Chinese dinner and hunger — just reading Lynda Hill’s blog for the eclipse — will you look at this:
“Finding someone to share your thoughts, ideas and beliefs is shown by the Karmic Condition (the degree before) of this full Moon. It’s Gemini 18: Two Chinese Men Speaking Chinese In A Western Crowd. Do you have people in your life that speak your language? That understand your mindset? That want to converse with you so that you can learn from each other? Are you finding it hard to find people that you can share with on a heart, mind and soul level?”
I didn’t know I dreamed in Sabian Symbols. 🙂
— in sync we R.
xo
http://sabiansymbols.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/12/the-search-for-meaning-where-to-find-it-decembers-gemini-lunar-eclipse.html#more
…or even a phallic impulse such as the Palladium in the Temple of Vesta might encourage. Here too, a little goes a long way.
* oh dear, I should explain my self on the “going through” thing…..I don’t mean ‘go to sleep and not pay attention and somehow everything will be OK’.
I mean; focus intent, intentionally do not respond In Kind to abuses from the outside.
For example — I was stopped by BPD a few weeks ago for having a break-light out. I was on the way to mechanic at the time, ironically, to have a larger problem fixed. I am fully aware that the ONLY reason I was given a fix-it ticket ($42!!!) was because I was driving an old car…I am confident that the officers were surprised to find me properly registered and fully insured. It was absolutely an attack on the “poor” “victim” because it could have been a simple “did you know you had a light out?” not an expensive ticket. — had I been driving my Mercedes, I would have been given a warning. (Who can see their break lights? Thank you” for telling me, I’ll have that fixed right away” would have been appropriate….not stealing half a week of meals from my family’s mouths)***Now see there! I’m having trouble letting go and sliding easily through that darn Devil’s Snare. lol.
Oh how I WANT to be upset and confontation over the situation. (I’m that driver with no accidents, no tickets, etc……so – for one Break Light out?/??? kidding me, right???? again — lol!)
Yet I do believe that Resistance is not the answer. Nor is bending over and asking for more. It is — as Mystes said in another thread — about breathing; somewhere in the pause, the moment between.
Other intentions have been set, Patty, I agree that this is a dangerous reflection of where some could tread. I will set my intentions differently. Not as conflict; but as that slide to the other side.
Ok there’s the blather. Over and out.
xo
Be,
Well, my very own Juno is at 14 Geminii and I had already noted Chaos transiting her; Memoria there too – well, perhaps the memories will be useful!
So much going on now natal chart + transits wise I can’t see straight – thank god/dess for PW resource or I’d be in gobbledegook for sure.
Dreaming this morning, not so tasty as the Chinese Duck speciality dish of the other morning’s dream (maybe I was hungry heh-heh!) but awoke knowing that my personal answer to this “mess” we are in is like that of the Harry Potter team when thrown into a mess of Devil’s Snare. Not to panic. Not to fight it, but to allow myself to go through it to the other side.
So that’s it; and I’ll see all of PW on the other side for sure!
xo
pholic impulse: not to be confused with a folic (acid) impulse….
😛
be: Thanks for sharing your memory moment and the asteroid connection. Spot on.
Thank you for a really insightful blog that probably resonates with a lot of people right now. Identifying this notion of a Pholic impulse provides a useful tool for orientation. Your suggestions for handling it are a practical means for progressing with the concept in a responsible manner. Especially appreciated is your call for contemplation – just taking some time to think is a wonderful gift to ourselves.
wonderful read! Thank you!
Making headway on the cathartic welcoming of all that this eclipse has to offer. Finding insights here beyond compare and so welcome. Thanks to you all for assisting thru the necessary renumeration, and joyful anticipation.
I had a moment of clarity yesterday where I realized that in the big scheme of things, who they hell cares? I mean in a release-kind-of-sort-of-way, why-worry-so-much about this or that? Seeing the Pearl Harbor anniversary I thought that as history marches on, who will remember me, or anyone else for that matter, and why would it matter? I found this soothing and quite cathartic. Sure there are people that their contributions change the existence for the entire world in some way, but for the most part, we are individual cells in the fabric of humanity.
Then, later on, while editing a paper and not paying attention, I walked into a sliding glass door. Duh!
I can be narcissistic; I am a leo moon. I just do the best I can. I keep working “it” and letting it go when I can. In the process I may not be too pretty, but so what? If I can forgive, then love follows. Do other species on the planet feel “bad” for who they are? Nope.
Fear of socialist policies. Now there’s a shadow worth bringing some light to.
Prisonplanet posted some ominous information this week, regarding the opening of the FEMA camps. This follows the recent senate action that allows for the arrest and detention of any american citizen, no reason given. I call that ominous. My question to you and every American is, if the politics of the people arrested do not match your own, will you defend them? We have reached an ugly place in history where people who want to defend constitutional rights are seen as the enemy. This column regularly pushes for socialist policies. All I can say is, be careful what you wish for.
Good morning!
Speaking of “clearing away space”, I’m awake right now because the numbers on my clock at the moment were the same as my homeroom number in the 8th grade, which started me trying to recall the other homeroom numbers from jr. high school. Good grief, that led to me trying to recall my homeroom teachers names and then to my grade school teachers. . . . . . Anyway, back to clearing space, I couldn’t remember the name of my grade school for the 5th and 6th grades so I started to get a little panicky. Now this might have something to do with Pholus, you know some little thing leading to a big deal, or maybe it’s just that it’s the middle of the night for me and I couldn’t get back to sleep. So.. . …I was visiting serennu and noticed that Memoria, you know the asteroid Memoria? Well, she’s at 14+ Gemini now. That’s where the transiting south node is; the node where you are supposed to let things go, as in clearing space. It’s also where Chaos is.
But did I stop there? No, I had to check where my own natal Memoria was and would you believe, it is at 17+ Gemini. One degree from where the eclipsed Moon will be! So now I’m wondering who the heck has been dumping my memory files without my permission! Oh, and my 5th and 6th grade school was Jacob Elementary. heh heh
Now I’m hungry.
be