Don’t Get Carried Away

By Len Wallick

In yesterday’s blog we reviewed two of the four broad themes in the current sky. The first being an impending shift in the continuing series of hard aspects between Saturn, Uranus and Pluto on or about the first degrees of Libra, Capricorn and Aries.

The door is closing on the the first phase, dominated by Saturn. In late July, the Ringed One will return to Libra. There it will exact the last of five oppositions to Uranus. About a month later the last of three square aspects to Pluto. Then it will move on to the green pastures of Libra. The door is opening on the second phase. Uranus and Pluto will meet each others match in a long series of cardinal point squares that will exact seven times over several years. We are now in the dark hallway in between.

The second thing we noted yesterday was the overlooked and shouted-down beneficence of Jupiter in Pisces. With Chiron the the first degree and Uranus in the last, Jupiter is at home in-between with something for us all. Something to work on. Something to have faith in. Something we need to keep us going.

Today we move on to the next two features that distinguish the current sky. The first is the Taurus Sun in a long functional square (90 degrees of separation) with Mars in Leo, exacting today. The second is Chiron in the first degree of Pisces aspecting an unusual number of minor planets likewise at the so-called critical degree.

To reiterate, the square aspect connotes a synchronous internal tension, requiring first awareness then appropriate action to resolve. The astrological qualities associated with Sun (self-expression, conscious ego, life force, etc) and Mars (confidence, assertiveness, ardent energy, etc) would seem to be complementary and almost interchangeable. It would seem counter-intuitive for these qualities to be at odds. Maybe that’s the point. A touch too much. Lots of action to be sure, but with the necessary self awareness displaced by self involvement. Hot without the fuzzy and proud of it.

Even given a very conservative orb of five degrees applying and another five separating, this aspect is with us for two weeks. Given that today is the point of exactitude, it may seem logical to break it down further. To examine the concurrent supporting aspects for each participant. Perhaps there we will find a source of balance and self-examination to bring harmony and a resolving note. No such luck, dude.

The Sun, for example is in sextile to the asteroids Atlantis and Niobe, nearly conjunct near mid-Cancer. This has the word hubris (and its consequences) written allllll over it. No help there. A trine to the North lunar node says “don’t look back”. No help there. An opposition to Huya and Pallas (conjunct in Scorpio) makes a cool head problematic and puts any source of moral authority in question.

Not much better with Mars. Take the trine with Great Attractor and Pholus, conjunct in Sagittarius. About five years ago Eric Francis wrote “Pholus is like Chiron on meth”. Combine that with the biggest, most mysterious thing in the known universe. Something that both magnifies and polarizes on a scale beyond comprehension. Moderation is not in the cards. Another trine between Mars and the conjunction of Industria and Arachne in Aries (of all places) and, well, we are already caught in that oily web, aren’t we?

Socrates said a self-examined life is not worth living. Well, go tell that to this bad boy square-cum-transit between Sun and Mars because the rest of us are looking for a way to avoid combustion even as we ostensibly sleep.

But wait. Out of the West! It’s the loooooone Chiron, not so alone after all.

We have heard and read about the anarectic (last) degree (or two) of signs lately. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto have all been sitting there. Saturn is retrograding through that territory. With the recent transit of Chiron into Pisces, however, it is high time to explore the conversant counterpart, the first, or critical, degree.

Like changing your brand, the first degree is a fresh, new taste. Like switching your poisons, the old familiar surge is replaced with a new rush. It’srefreshing but we are also unaccustomed to it. It’s a senstive time-space. With Chiron opposing Orcus in Virgo, the exact question is how quickly we can get our sea-legs. An open and aware mind would seem to be the precise answer.

Two other centaur planets are in the critical degrees. Chiron’s trine with Cyllarus in the first degree of Cancer would seem to offer comfort and refreshment if we can keep the shadow material from shutting us down emotionally. Conjunct with Cyllarus, an asteroid named Terpsichore (after the ancient muse of dance) offers us a way to keep things loose – twist and shout a bit as it were.

Chiron sextile to Crantor, retrograding back into the first degree of Capricorn can contribute to avoiding the role of victim while in opposition to the Cylarrus and Terpischore. Availing instead of the potential to experience safe cathartic release and compassionate acceptance.

Thus in Chiron again do we find potential of relief. But this is not a given, it is an opportunity. The challenge is not so much to restrain ourselves as to get over ourselves. Such a volatile, voluminous, flow of extroversion out of all of us at once is a tricky thing to handle. We each have to hold off a bit, no matter how invested we become in our efforts. There are other sides to consider even if they may be pushy too. Pushing back is not the answer. The resolution lies in new territory. It involves awareness. It requires balance. It calls on us to overcome our fears and see the potential. It asks us to let go of that which is ending. It is an invitation to dance with a new beginning, making it up as we go.

It is better to dance than be carried away.

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