By Judith Gayle | Political Waves
The essential purpose of astrology…is not so much to tell us what we will meet on our road, as it is to suggest how to meet it – and the basic reason for the meeting.
— Dane Rudhyar
The Uranus/Pluto conjunction* of the 1960s was, indeed, a decade of social transformation. At the time, I was too new at living to understand it as anything but the exuberance of youth. 1960 was my first year in high school, while New Year’s Eve of 1969 found me too close to delivering my second child to go out celebrating. When I think back on all that I experienced in that decade — both personal and political — I wonder how so much could possibly be packed into a day, let alone a tumultuous stretch of social growth that gave us a renaissance of love and sexual freedom, pock-marked with violence, assassination and eventual disillusionment.
All the experiential messages sent to that younger self insisted that unrest and turmoil was how life looked, exciting and unpredictable, exhilarating and dangerous. My romance with the early peace movement in San Francisco was ignited by the resurgence of folk music, preferred by Beatniks and writ large in Berkeley’s coffee houses; a Petrie dish for what came to be known as “the counterculture.”
The agitation and activism on the Berkeley campus was orchestrated to televised news of Dr. King’s marches, dogs snarling and snapping, blood running in southern streets. Peace and justice became a phrase; not separate words, one not possible without the other. Civil disobedience became the prerequisite to changing the static absolutes of a government unwilling to flex; it still is.
By the Summer of Love, I was looking for answers to life’s larger questions. Suddenly in touch with my own mortality after my first baby was born, the gang-style murder of an ex-boyfriend in the Haight Ashbury sent me off on a quest for spiritual answers, heavy on Eastern thought. In those days, information was scarce. The most accessible astrological instruction was through the Rosicrucians, who offered a course by mail.
I can’t tell you how grateful we should all be for the technology that allows us to retrieve a chart in seconds; erecting a chart by hand, back in the day, was excruciating. And while I’m forever grateful for their patience, the Rosicrucians taught traditional astrology, heavy on the scary stuff. Even the words were fatalistic, like “malefic” and “detriment,” which we occasionally still hear today. Warnings did not seem adequate to the kind of inevitabilities one would face in the karmic cycles. All of this was so dire that many people avoided psychics and astrologers because they “didn’t want to know.”
Thank God/dess for the rise of astrological humanism, practitioners of which — along with those of other occult topics — found publishers in the ’70s. People like Stephen Arroyo and Liz Greene, dozens of other frontrunners who followed the cosmic urge to ‘grow’ astrological thought, gave us early “get out of jail free” cards by defusing negative understanding of planetary influence and introducing psychology into interpretation. And we can’t discuss progressive movement in astrological understanding, of course, without gratitude to the Grand Poobah of Transpersonal Astrology, Dane Rudhyar, or his colleague, Marc Edmond Jones. In those early years our attention shifted from the frightening and dire, to awareness of potential and self-development.
Now, in this new era, astrological practice with a small ‘a’ still examines and defines self; astrological practice with a capital ‘A’ examines and defines the larger cycles of growth and maturity essential to the collective. Forming a synthesis between these two pools of information largely defines the future of astrology, in my opinion; defines the future of the whole of us, spiritualized and self-reflective, poised on discovering the ability to create healthy, dharma relationships, governments and systems.
While none of this is news to Planet Waves readers, it’s important to acknowledge and appreciate that Eric Francis is one of those frontrunners — visionaries, if you will — on the frontier of new astrological thought. His work with the Centaurs, for instance, has opened up a whole new understanding of nuanced energy for his readers, fleshing out the factors impacting our world and ourselves. While giants in astrology wrote the old testament of the stars, only a handful, like Eric, are writing the new.
Eric’s ability to make the political personal, and vice versa, is part of the alchemy he brings to this moment, creating an easy link between the individual and the collective. And it is, after all, the collective that will usher in the reformation we’re anticipating, the Hundredth Monkey effect that makes evolution seem sudden, as we’re seeing now in the acceptance of gay marriage, the growing cry for declassification of marijuana and the pending breakthrough in immigration reform.
Pluto in aspect to Uranus creates initial shock, followed by transformation. What grows green and strong as these two giant energies face off is awareness. If you look around you will see it, feel it, taste it. We must invest in the sure knowledge that progress is inevitable. The cycles predict it, history assures it, and just because growth is not easy there is no reason to avoid it.
Another frontrunner from long ago, Isabelle Hickey, tells us that we do most of our growing during difficulty, that in an individual chart, squares “represent the lessons we have failed to learn,” but she also reminds us that if we are to grow into our spiritual stature we must realize that we have the strength to overcome obstacles.
Hickey was/is one of my personal favorites because she emphasized that one of those obstacles that needs to be overcome is the personality quirks we wrongly identify as self. Of an individual chart, she tells us the following, but within the statement is the capacity to correct any challenge to our common problems, our political challenges and social obstructions:
Never let a difficult chart frighten you. The blueprint shows the personality pattern, but not the Spirit or High Self behind it. That Self has the Power, the Love and the Intelligence and it will help us if we invite it to do so.
Uranus and Pluto are in square now, a repeat of the chaotic and compelling ’60s but not nearly so romantic or hopeful. Where we were looking up into the sky then, we’re looking down at our feet now. Where we were waiting for a man on the moon — our options open and our altruism still intact — now we’re watching stinking rivers of oil run down our streets to threaten our water supply.
The Planet Waves team gave us a fine overview of the oil spill in Arkansas in Friday’s edition, and I’d like to flesh that out a bit. The full impact of spilled tar sands remains an unknown for many environmentalists, but we are quickly discovering what a horror it is. The crude spilled in the Arkansas suburbs is a type of diluted bitumen — called dilbit — that is heavier and more toxic than most. Alberta dilbit is thinned with corrosive solvent because the thick, heavy crude won’t flow in the pipelines without it. The solvent includes naphtha and benzene, both carcinogenic, which explains the toxic fumes that required homeowners to evacuate. Think about that just in terms of wildlife — it will take more than dozens of bottles of Dawn detergent to revive animals caught in this crud.
The Arkansas incident is the second spill of Canadian tar sands oil in a week. On March 27, a mile-long Canadian Pacific train hauling Canadian crude derailed in Minnesota, spilling as much as 30,000 gallons. A spill in Michigan in 2010 still has scientists and regulators challenged to remove the submerged oil from the Kalamazoo River; so far, it has cost the offending pipeline operator $820 million, with more to come.
You can watch an ExxonMobil spokesman lie about the toxicity of tar sands in this YouTube. We’ve heard that before, haven’t we, when BP repeatedly lied to our face about the damage in the Gulf? We simply aren’t that gullible any more, but are we ready to do something about it?
Many of us are concerned that Obama seems to be leaning toward approving the last leg of the XL pipeline. Truth is, there are enough pipelines and carriers already in place to do this horrific job, so approving this last portion is essentially moot. I suspect that impacts the way Obama considers this issue. No matter his personal preferences, his pragmatism — long the bane of progressives — comes down on what’s do-able as opposed to what isn’t. He does not consider the public engaged enough to make this do-able.
Let’s change his mind, and make as loud a noise as we can to awaken the two-thirds of this nation who don’t understand the dangers at hand. The ridiculous draft environmental review of the pipeline recently released by the State Department supposes minimal environmental impact from the project. At minimum, we have the ability to make sure that review includes both facts and a sense of public outrage. Whether that impacts the politics of this project or not, we have to stand up for what we believe. State will accept comments until April 22, to be included in the final report.
CREDO has a petition in place, asking you to commit to civil disobedience. Will you sign it? The Audubon Society is sponsoring remarks to the State Department; gather your thoughts, be respectful. Write your congresspersons, write the president. Write a letter to the editor reminding them of what happened in the Gulf. Join a march or start one. Stand up and be counted!
In the ’60s, we changed the course of the war; we opened the Deep South to integration. No matter how difficult, how dangerous, progress was made, but we didn’t finish the job. The opposition of Pluto and Uranus planted seeds for this moment. We are in constant growth, readying again to challenge oppressive authority and refine our commitment to a healed planet. Perhaps it is ever thus, an internal struggle to come up from the depths, lift ourselves into a better iteration of self.
For me, Neale Donald Walsch has captured this moment when he reminds us that, “You have come here to become the grandest version of the greatest vision ever you held about Who You Are.” That is astrology at its best, evolvement at its core and — dare I say — why we came. If stopping the XL’s completion is merely symbolic, then so it is. But it’s ours to do, if enough of us care. In the ’60s, we let disillusionment take us, but this is a new day. It’s time to finish the job of peace and justice.
* correction: the original post misidentified this as an opposition.
In 1901, McKinley’s assassination brought us Teddy Roosevelt, trust-busting conservationist and “Square Deal” populist. The Gilded Age threw a spotlight on deep poverty and problems of immigration, labor and wage issues, corporate and (local) government corruption, all the things we’re dealing with now. Those problems are as current today as they were in the 60s.
Each of those earlier transits rattled the dark underbelly of social neglect and bias, prompting reform. The cycles are dependable and we get a little farther, a little better, each time. I hope we can get a bigger bite on it, this time around!
Syncronistically, Moyers highlighted the economic injustice of the 60s via MLK’s evolving activism in the civil rights movement. It was pointed out by historians that the issues, then, within the black population — inadequate wages, standard of living, educational opportunity — have now become the issues of the 99%. Some great stuff in there, applicable to the moment, if you have time to watch/listen.
And here’s a story from the heart, in a difficult week. The accident happened on Wednesday, as the pup’s lead got caught in the tread of the truck my son was driving, dragging Spank under the wheels. We spent the afternoon at the vet and, although the Spankster hadn’t attempted to walk or sit up, X-rays showed no broken bones, just soft tissue trauma, so the Doc sent him home with a warning that I needed to watch for additional symptoms of bladder collapse or spinal injury.
I was up and down with him during the night. About 3 AM, in twilight sleep, I called in the healers, St Francis-style, to help. I woke with a start, feeling the room crowded with entities, light pouring from their hands into mine. I centered the energy over the little guy, bathing him in (what felt like) electricity and almost immediately, he sat up. Since, he’s been steadily improving.
Thanks for the commentary this week, dearhearts. Spanky thanks you for the good wishes, as well — here’s his picture, if you’re interested. He hobbled after a bunny in the yard today, he’s coming along; doc sez 7 to 10 days he’ll be good as new. Me, prob’ly take a little longer! Ha!
Doc says he’s one lucky pup — a blessed one, for sure. God/dess is Good and miracles are everywhere. Look for them!
Wishing little Spanky a speedy recovery Jude. I would have called in sick, but you’re a better woman than me! Lots of love and healing to the both of you.
wandering yeti, thanks for calling attention to the previous opposition between Uranus and Pluto. When I checked the ephemeris I found that not only were these two in opposition in 1901-02, there was also a new cycle starting between Jupiter and Saturn and it involved the US Sibly chart by taking place at 14 Capricorn, forming a T-square with the U.S. Sun in Cancer and Saturn in Libra. Uranus in Sagittarius would cross over the U.S. (Sibly) ascendant (12+ Sagittarius) during the course of this transit with Pluto in Gemini.
Sagittarius, being a symbol for religion, would relate to the ‘protest’ant part of the work ethic here in the USA (Uranus on asc.), but both planets in mutable signs would suggest a period of transition, just as the 60’s conjunction in Virgo did, thus carrying the the left-over “seeds” of that earlier opposition. The 60’s Virgo conjunction being a sign of “work” would also echo the turn of the century message.
The Jupiter Saturn conjunction (markers of society’s cycle of evolution) in Capricorn took place in the 1st and 2nd houses of the Sibly chart, so identity and self-worth would be the theme for the following 20 years for Americans. The transiting nodes were in Scorpio (NN) and Taurus (SN) just as they are today, making us aware that this is an on-going repetitive process of release (SN) and growth (NN).
Finally, during this earlier period (1901-02) there were a couple of other transits that share something with this century’s Uranus-Pluto aspect. Neptune was leaving Gemini for the sign of Cancer then, just as he left Aquarius for Pisces during the peak period of the Cardinal T-square during recent times. This could imply that empathy (water) is critical for a successful transition of belief systems, mores and law. Chiron too was leaving Sagittarius for Capricorn during the early 1900’s, just as he recently left Aquarius for Pisces. This helped me understand Chiron’s role more clearly, as an adjunct to a process already taking place which was to make it more conscious to human beings , as in “tortured, jailed and murdered”. This put Neptune and Chiron in opposition during the early 1900’s, whereas in the 2000’s they are working together in a new cycle begun when they were both in Aquarius (near the U.S. Moon, symbol of the People).
Chiron in Capricorn would denote emphasis on the new Jupiter-Saturn cycle that began in the same sign that year (1901). It would symbolize a period of pain and healing as laws, as well as attitudes, toward the working class (where Neptune in Cancer was) by the business and ruling class (Capricorn) would begin the process of finding better balance, fairness and decency between employer and employee.
The beat goes on and again, thank you wandering yeti for your Jupiter-in-Gemini added perspective.
be
Well, the 1902 opposition of Uranus and Pluto preceding the conjunction you meant to mention in the 60’s still had some seeds. The labor struggles in the United States have been going on as long as the country has existed. Before what happened in the 60’s could even be possible many people had to be tortured, jailed, and murdered just so working class folk could have days off or work days limited to 8 hours. The Protestant Work Ethic was, and still is in many ways, so pervasive in the early days of the American Empire that most people felt nagging guilt for experiencing any pleasure at all. The PWE sees pleasure as the enemy of work. A good Christian worker is supposed to put off enjoying anything until after death. What happened in the 60’s wasn’t a beginning so much as a new chapter in a constant struggle between the ruling classes of Empire and everyone else going all the way back to the rise of domination cultures.
My heart goes out to you Judith. Dealing with a sick or injured animals is very stressful on all fronts. I am happy to hear Spanky is on the mend.
I must say that one person’s troll is, perhaps, another person’s teacher. We have lots to learn from everyone, especially now.
Oh rats! Bless you, be, for catching that and sorry, Hazel1, for the confusion. I’ve made the correction so that those who don’t read the comments won’t be confounded. I plead no contest, having been largely un-sane this past week, and somewhat surprised I made it through the write yesterday. I woke up wondering if I actually had, so hug/kiss, be dear, for being so forgiving in informing me I hadn’t.
My little mini-Doxy, Spanky, got run over mid-week and — miracle of miracles — will make it through but it’s been a couple of days of (insufferably long) trips back and forth to the vet, sleepless nights, pills and tears and worry about spinal cord injury, not to mention concern about a depleted piggy bank. To say I’m muddled is an understatement. I’m just beginning to throw off the adrenalin.The incident itself got me thinking about all that “shit happens” energy out there.
AND — as you mention, be — human error can be forgiven, had BETTER be since that’s the condition of our human condition. If we were all perfect, we wouldn’t be here. I get miffed at the snotty one’s, out there in cyberspace, for being such trolls to one another; I’ve just about stopped participating at Huffington for that reason (and I can’t watch FOX News unless I think of it as a poorly written sophomore class-project from Hell.) But I always remind myself that I was the snotty one Once Upon A Time and — as you also mentioned — the school of hard knocks eventually tutored me on poor manners and fallibility.
There are consistently more spills than we’re made aware of, ABC123. A piece about rescued beavers caught my eye this week. It was a story about a Chevron pipeline spill last week in Utah, 27,000 gallons of crude diesel oil and the third leak in the past three years. I hadn’t heard about those either. The press seems to avoid these stories, if they can. You can read the article here:
http://www.care2.com/causes/beavers-suffer-severe-burns-after-helping-to-stop-oil-spill.html
I had to laugh when you said Dane took repeated reading, be — like Edgar Cayce material and A Course in Miracles, the eyes often cross! But he really peels back the layers and gets to cause/effect, which satisfies my Sag heart. I think of Astrological Mandala as a Rudhyar ‘cheat sheet’ — Dane done in snippits!
Thank you Judith. I am a friend and supporter of Bill McKibben and was involved in his first protest at the White House in August of 2011 when over 1,000 people were arrested. Times and people are very different from the 1960’s and it takes a great deal more effort to inspire people to get off the couch and away from their television sets. Len warns me that I cannot turn to “polemic pugnaciousness” ness however, there is a place for it. Rather than state the obvious, I provide a link to a video I and many others received from James Gilliland, the founder of Eceti Ranch in southern Washington state. It is a compilation of events from March 2013. A lot can happen in 30 days:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2IWttdeoYU
Incredibly, for various reasons, this is the first I’ve heard of the oil spill in Minnesota. Yet, it seems I’ve been pretty tuned in to the news the last few weeks. I am glad to hear of it now and will help spread the word.
I was born in ’63 and I have Uranus and Pluto conjunct in my chart, not in opposition. When in the ’60’s were they in opposition?
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
1. It was Eric’s writing that drew me to study and learn about Chiron, and to love the centaurs, then the asteroids, but most of all, mythology. In school I tired easily just trying to pronounce the names of those gods and I did not relate to their exploits. It’s all in the telling and he tells it extraordinarily well.
2. I connected with the 60’s in fantasy only, my reality was hard-core status quo. I broke the rules, sure, and I paid the prices demanded of a 2nd class female human being from a middle-class family rather than be exiled. I’d never heard of Lilith or Eris. Now I am grateful for that 1st hand education (it was called the school of hard knocks, remember Jude?) and for Eric and his breakthrough style of teaching astrology. He was/is real in real time.
3. Liz and Stephen were real but abstract (to me) and Dane was divine but took repeated readings to comprehend. They paved the road to where we are today in astrology and their approach is still relevant today. They formed me and prepared me for NOW and I will be eternally grateful to them for that.
4. Isabelle. Squares “represent the lessons we have failed to learn” and we might add failed to make conscious. The 60s were my fantasy but the 2000’s are my reality. Now many of the young people but certainly not all, are romanced by Obama’s dream but it will only be real to them when they “grow up” and that’s why we have oil sludge in the streets and job shortages and a raging Mother Nature. When the young become conscious, whatever it takes, they will carry us up to that 100th monkey leap-of-consciousness, and those that never ‘get it’ will fall by the wayside. God loves them all and so do I.
5. Judith Gayle, PlanetWaves staff and commenters. . you allow space for imperfection, even failure in the process of becoming conscious and whole. This is not what they were teaching in the 50’s and 60’s, or in many places, even now. The President compliments a professional woman on being attractive and it is news for days because of it’s wrongness. My personal lapses of memory make me look over my shoulder to see if the dementia squad is coming for me. The mistakes I make in comments here are only normal human slip-ups and no reason to jump off the bridge. So let me just say for those who come after me to read this wonderful piece by Jude, that the 60’s were the time of the Pluto-Uranus conjunction, not the opposition. That will come when we are much older – around 2046 and 47 and a lot of water will have passed under the bridge by then. But you probably already knew that.
If time and space allowed, I could list a dozon reason why I love thee. But it doesn’t.
be