The dimensions of clarity

By Len Wallick

Today the Sun wraps up its eventful tenure in Capricorn with some auspicious aspects. There’s a square to the asteroid Siva in late Libra. Siva is named after the Hindu god Shiva, literally “the Auspicious One”, one of the three primary aspects of the divine. Brahma is the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the transformer, or as Oppenheimer referred to him, the destroyer. Reminds one of cardinal, fixed and mutable qualities, respectively.

In addition Sol forms a quincunx (150 degree) aspect with the the centaur planets Elatus in late Leo and Cyllarus in late Gemini. Elatus was the one killed by the arrow loosed by Hercules, that went on to wound Chiron. Cyllarus was the handsome Romeo of the centaurs. Fatally wounded by a spear, his centaur wife (Hylonome) took her own life on the same spear rather than go on without him.

Taken together, these hard aspects of tension and aversion seem to indicate that the Sun is ready to get clear of destruction, tragedy and suffering as it ingresses Aquarius either very late tonight or early tomorrow, depending on where you are. Given that this transit is from a cardinal to a fixed sign, however, the implied intent may not be in phase with the ambient energy. The resolution of same may very well be a theme for the coming month.

Mercury is in the seventh degree of Capricorn. Its moving up to speed in forward motion and getting clear of it’s near-conjunction with Pluto. Moving for a third time over the same Capricorn topography, it’s also in the process of getting clear in other ways. First, what Eric referred to in his December 14th blog – “…the image of Mercury… in Capricorn: living tradition”. Second, as it reaches the point of retrograde station and the North lunar node early next month near the cross quarter, getting clear on where we (collectively and as individuals) are going.

Speaking of the cross quarter, there will be a coincidental repeat performance that will function to make the astrology leap off the page in at least four dimensions. But first, a bit of back-tracking to keep the tour together.

The zodiac we have been using for the last couple millennium is oriented towards the relationship between the Sun and three important demarcations of latitude on our globe. On the first day of Aries, the Sun is directly above the equator, day and night are equal all over the Earth and it’s the first day of spring for the northern hemisphere, the first day of autumn for the southern. Equal, equator, equinox, get it? On the first day of Summer for the northern hemisphere (winter down under), the Sun is directly above the Tropic of Cancer and it’s the first day of the cardinal sign of the same name. Then it’s back to equal, equator, equinox as spring and fall trade hemispheres. Finally, on the first day of winter up north (summer down south) the Sun is directly above the Tropic of Capricorn.

Thus the zodiac is divided into quarters, following the seasons and consistent with geography. Since we all experience it in one way or another, it is a way of accounting for the cardinal point phenomena that Eric refers to by saying “the personal is political”.

Halfway in between the beginning of one season and the next are cross-quarters. Referred to in the pagan tradition as Imbolc (February 2-7, now Groundhog Day), Beltane (the first week or so of May, now May Day), Lammas (the first week August, not yet co-opted by Hallmark) and Samhain (end of October – Halloween!). They all happen to occur in the middle of the fixed signs, Aquarius, Taurus, Leo and Scorpio. One other interesting thing is the correspondence between the cross quarters and the house arrangement on the Thema Mundi (or, “chart of the world” recently blogged on by Eric and originally elucidated in this space on March 16, 2007). From this you can get what Eric means when he writes that the middle degree of fixed signs resonate with the cardinal points.

Now, back to the repeat performance. The first of a series of Saturn-Pluto squares (90 degrees of separation) took place very near Samhain. The mid-point of Scorpio and halfway between the first day of Libra and Autumn and the first day of Winter and Capricorn.

Now, with Saturn in retrograde these two apparent slow movers are approaching the second occurrence of the square aspect just about the time of Imbolc. This does not happen every day. There is meaning to be derived here.

Let’s take it one dimensional level at a time. A zodiac printed on a sheet of paper is two dimensional, it has width and length (or, if you will, x and y axis). In that format we can see that Pluto and Saturn are about 90 degrees apart. If we use transparencies instead of paper and superimpose the last time they were exactly square over the next time, we will see that the Sun’s position has moved about 90 degrees between the two events. Square upon square, upon square – sounds like a Republican orgy.

Now, in three dimensions, we are here, standing on this ball. If we could see Pluto and point at it side-on, Saturn would be either directly in front or in back of us. In the meantime our ball-perch has gone a quarter of the way around the Sun. So the aspect has widened abit but kept at nearly 90 degrees while our ball has moved 90 degrees.

Now, one more step. Since the first time Saturn squared Pluto, time has passed. The first time the Sun was directly above the mid-point between the Tropic of Capricorn and the equator, heading south. The next time, the Sun will be directly above the same point of the globe, on its way back north. Use your imagination for a second. See the diagram on the paper. See the two diagrams superimposed. See yourself on the ball, going round the Sun. Finally see yourself on the ball both at Halloween and on Groundhog Day. Did it come up out of the paper for you? Did you get a sense of the holographic thing that Eric was referring to in his blog earlier this month? Well, keep trying for a while and see what happens, we have a couple weeks yet.

So, just how does a mind boggling exercise serve the purpose of getting clear? For one thing, like Mercury, Saturn and Pluto are going somewhere they have been before, exacting a square aspect in the first degrees of their respective cardinal signs. Like the Sun, they are carrying their combined energy into a new temporal context. Hence, we will have access to a binocular effect of experiencing the same two planets in the same aspect from two different angles in time. One in the now and one we can reflect on while being in the now. Be a surveyor, take your observations, combine them and work towards getting clear of the murky past.

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