Well maybe it is just the time of year, or maybe it’s the time of man.
— Joni Mitchell, “Woodstock”
Psst… Chiron is all but standing still. Overshadowed by eclipses, outshone by planets in the twilight, the definitive centaur is becalmed on the waters of Pisces, holding the same degree since May 4. In that spot it will remain until the last few days of July, representing the peace you may be missing, and the time out required to find it.
If you are like most people, peace is hard to come by. Even if you are not among the millions ducking bullets, you cannot duck the ramifications of rapidity in recent astrology.
The Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars are all moving through the zodiac about as fast as they ever do right now. Add to that three (rather than the usual two) eclipses in a row. Throw in the functional continuum of Uranus and Pluto in cardinal square, recently punctuated by yet another precise aspect, and it’s no wonder if your mind is racing, your pulse beating headlong in circles.
Yet, in every cyclonic phenomenon, there is an eye of kinetic contrast. Chiron has that that role at the moment, and there is reason, as well as timing, in how it comes to be that way. Yet, still waters run are known to run deep. Like peace itself, the path of centaur planets is neither shallow nor simple to pursue.
The path Chiron follows through the solar system is the defining template for all centaurs. Its 51-year circuit is highly elliptical compared to Mercury or Venus; more inclined to the plane of Earth’s annual course around the Sun than the lunar orbit; and symbolically it connects the paths of history by crossing between the orbits of outer planets (in Chiron’s case, Saturn and Uranus).
Because of its highly elliptical orbit, the rate of Chiron’s apparent motion will vary a great deal more than most objects from one sign to the next. Pisces and Aries are places where it appears to move quite slowly. So in a way, for Chiron to be all but stationary nearly 3 months on-end this year does correlate with our period in history, but that is not the only contributing factor.
Earth is on approach to pass between Chiron and the Sun. That means Chiron’s apparent motion is slowing to reverse on June 16, initiating a retrograde period that will last until November 19. That makes for an additional correspondence to the time of year, and indicates how our time now connects to a very different time not so long ago.
During the 1969 Woodstock festival commemorated by Joni Mitchell, Chiron (as yet not discovered) was similarly stationary at the beginning of an Aries retrograde. Just as now, it was a time of rapid change and ambient conflict. Uranus and Pluto were part of the scene, still functionally in a potent Virgo conjunction, and it was just days before the advent of an eclipse cycle. Then, just as now, peace was hard to come by until nearly half a million people took time out from their struggles to find it.
That does not necessarily mean you should go to a rock festival in the coming weeks. Astrology is not destiny, and history never repeats precisely as before.
What it does mean is that a time-out may soon be in order for you. Whether it be a few days of solitary meditation or participation with communal intent, it’s the time of year — and the time of your life — to practice making a little peace while you still remember how.
Offered In Service (and dedicated to the late, great Richie Havens)
Len is available for astrology readings. You can contact him at lenwallick [at] gmail [dot] com.
Thanks Len for this article on Chiron, its stationary phase is hovering between two worlds before landing to create a beautiful inner experience
Making a little peace, having a little fun.
Here is a clip that combines peace and fun. Some people underestimate animals. Given leisure, this little elephant knows just what to do.
{https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=111168559090525&set=vb.136336876521150&type=2&theater}
Lizzy: You are most welcome.
be: Thank you for the tie-in to the Sabians and last year’s Venus Transit. Once again, your proficiency instructs and your preeminence amazes.
Mia: Thank you for the look back to when, and for sharing your own experience blasting out the cheer of cheers.
Great article, Len.
I was 13 years old in 1969 and some of my older friends went to Woodstock. I wanted to go so badly but my parents refused to let me out of the house. As soon as the soundtrack came out I rushed out and bought it. Joni and Richie were favorites as well as Joan Baez singing “Sweet Sir Galahad,” and anything by CSN&Y. I had a serious thing for Neil Young.
One summer day, my bedroom windows were wide open and Country Joe Mc Donald was sing/screaming:
“Give me an F”
“F”
Give me a U”
“U”
Give me a C”
“C”
And you know the rest.
“What’s that spell?”
“Louder!”
“What’s that spell?”
Well, at the height of his refrain, my father drove up the driveway in his Cadillac convertible. He was a doctor and finished early that day. He came running upstairs because the entire neighborhood was listening to Country Joe. He was totally beside himself and could not understand what I saw in this music. I’m sure the photos on the news of young people covered with mud confused him even more.
“There’s something happening here
What it is ain’t exactly clear”
Those days seem so innocent now, in some ways. Certainly not the war.
My father was a great guy.
Mia
Bless you Len for providing this image of Chiron as a new version of the peace symbol. This standing-still business (Pluto is doing it too) is indeed a peaceful respite from the maddening pace of the world today. Maybe, like a lighthouse beacon, it provides a measure of comfort for those who have lost their compass, their guiding star. The Sabian symbol for that degree (a lady wrapped in fox fur) is seen by Dane Rudhyar as ” the need for PROTECTIVE SHIELDING”.
Yesterday at the time of the Oklahoma tornado, Venus in Gemini was square Chiron. Her degree’s Sabian symbol was of two men communicating telepathically, bridging physical space and social distinctions. Here Rudhyar refers to this symbol as a TECHNIQUE OF TRANSCENDENCE. It is Venus who briefly provided us a way to bridge the physical space and social distinctions brought on by fear and a desperate need for shielding. Now, at this moment, transiting Venus has moved on and has returned to the degree she made famous last year when she occulted (or “transited”) the Sun. That chart had Mars in Virgo square the Sun and Venus, and now we fully understand how that worked out.
The chart for Venus’ occultation of the Sun also had Moon occult Pluto. As Mercury runs his gamut between a conjunction to Venus (at the time of the lunar eclipse this Friday) to when he conjuncts Jupiter next Monday, the Moon will make her 4th occultation of Pluto in his stand-still degree. After that, her last 3 occultations in this series of 19 will each take place in differing degrees. It occurs to me now that the fast moving planets re-aspecting a stationary planet, Chiron (and/or Pluto) will carry that stationary vibe (protective shielding for Chiron) for many weeks as they square, oppose, trine and sextile them. No doubt that will provide some missing peace for us all.
Thank you Jude for providing the Peace Train memory!
be
Thank you Len!
P. Sophia: Thank you. Excellent questions. So happens Eric provided and excellent answer to most of your questions back in 2005:
Please read it at this link:
http://www.planetwaves.net/cainer/archive/003790.php
then let me know if i can serve you further.
Jude: Thank you for reminding us that we can still catch that train even if the song’s author changed his own itinerary.
Amanda: You are most welcome.
Also, currently Neptune is on this point, is transiting at 5 Pisces 14′ degrees.
Len: Was recently reading about the Vernal Point being at 5 degrees Pisces. Can you talk a little about that? The procession of equinoxes, axis galactic and Ecliptic and how they Cross is somewhat confusing to me. I noticed you mentioned were heading into a Chiron retrograde period. Can you tell us when exactly w will move into the 5 Pisces degree? Thank you as ever~
thanks, len — excellent timing, as always.
Now I’ve been crying lately
Thinking about the world as it is
Why must we go on hating
Why can’t we live in bliss
‘Cause out on the edge of darkness
There rides a peace train
Oh, peace train take this country
Come take me home again
Oh, peace train sounding louder
Glide on the peace train
Come on the peace train
Yes, peace train holy roller
Everyone jump upon the peace train
Come on, come on, come on Yes, come on the peace train
Yes, it’s a peace train
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T_bowzT8tw