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Dear Friend and Reader:
The Sun is in position to oppose the triple conjunction of Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune. Though the first exact opposition (Sun to Jupiter) does not occur until Friday, the Sun (currently standing at 19+ Leo) is now well within range of an opposition to the stellium (a cluster of planets or points not including the Sun or Moon), which is spread between 22+ Aquarius and 25+ Aquarius. All three points are currently retrograde. The Sun is currently advancing at 57 arc minutes per day, just shy of a degree — about as slowly as it goes, with the Earth and Sun currently near maximum distance. The opposition will happen in sequence Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
For those trying to work this out as astronomy, remember that it’s the Earth that’s moving, not the Sun; we are tracking the Sun’s apparent position from the viewpoint of theВ Earth. What we have is the Earth suspended between the Sun and these three planets. It’s a lot like a Full Moon, only it’s not the Sun and Moon that are involved but rather the Sun and Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune.
Chiron, a massive comet, is an entirely different kind of critter than Jupiter or Neptune. Jupiter is in the ‘gas giant’ category and Neptune is in the ‘ice giant’ category. It is a lot, a lot, of water. Jupiter is the largest known object in our solar system, at about 1,300 times the size of Earth and more than double (2.5 times) the mass of all the other planets in the solar system combined (this does not include the Sun). It has 63 known moons. Jupiter is so large that its orbit causes the Sun to oscillate. In other words, its gravity pulls the Sun in a measurable wobble. Neptune for its part is 17 times the mass of the Earth.
So the Earth is sitting between the Sun and a massive amount of gravity coming from Jupiter and Neptune; and Chiron, something microscopic by comparison, but which can focus awareness and precipitate events like nothing else I’ve ever seen. Chiron and many other ‘minor’ points inform those who are looking that size/mass does not mean everything. However, it does mean something, and we have plenty of it working on us now.
The planets in their courses are offering us a reminder to be aware of a sense of exaggeration. Sun-Jupiter comes with the sense of large forces at work in our lives; this is a feeling or an idea, which might take many forms or pass relatively eventlessly. Yet feelings are events, and can precipitate events, so we need to be as careful and as conscious as possible as these days progress and we move through the exact alignment. Neptune tells us to check and re-check whether we are perceiving things honestly. There is a dreamy quality, and it can be difficult to pin down one’s personal truth with Neptune in an opposition. With Neptune you really have to give it time — but there can be a subtle sense of revelation that is pretty amazing to feel.
There is a touch of irony here in that the world is calling on us to possess emotional balance and a measure of control above all else, but the current pace of life gives us few opportunities to do anything of the kind. This is told in the astrology and it’s told many other ways.
Working in the background of the current, more obvious dynamic are many other alignments that are well within the historical range to be having an effect, and those are what we are more likely to be feeling but not giving a name to. For example, we still have several additional alignments of Saturn and Uranus to experience. The next is in about one month, on Sept. 15 (recall that the first of the series was on the day Barack Obama was elected president). Saturn is also about to leave Virgo and square Pluto, for the first of a sequence of Saturn-Pluto alignments.
This is a lot, I know. It seems like a never-ending sequence of events, which in fact astrology is; but the intensity of all of this combined verges on ridiculous, and we are only warming up to the exact alignments that focus on June through December 2012 and then go on from there.
I originally began this diary by saying, I feel like I need to get my awareness to a level beyond the astrology, an idea which is good advice any day; we need to be taking our real instructions from core self, which is unlikely to be fazed by any of the turbulence, changes or developments indicated in the astrology. I would propose, however, that it’s always a good idea to be aware of one’s environment, and astrology definitely counts for that. To me this kind of psychic weather calls for leadership: many of you have been preparing for these events over many years. It’s time to step out and take your role, thus allowing those who have been holding your place to move onto other points of focus that they are ready for.
I’ve just checked over the asteroids and noticed that in the midst of all of this is one called Terpsichore, the muse of dance. I would take this one symbolically and literally. So let the music play…
PS, Anatoly, our webweaver in the Ukraine, reminds me that today is the peak of the Persieds meteors. We are passing through the tail of comet Swift-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1862 and last visited in 1992. For those interested in size of thee bodies, the nucleus of Swift-Tuttle is just shy of 10 km across and the current estimate of Chiron is 117 km across. For comparison, Los Angeles is about 71 km by 47 km.
Eric – thank you for bringing the integrity of your erudition to the table once again. How many times have you done that lately? If we are going to do it for ourselves, that’s one quality we will need to emulate.
Half – thank you for the the complement but this is NOT about me and my capabilities. It is about us and our capabilities. Taking a cue from Melanie Rinehart, let’s start with Saturn. As the immovable object of the established order is finally becoming aware of the irrestible force of transformation and metamorphsis coming to bear (and resisting it in vain), how are the subjects of the established order (we, us) going to respond? Are we going to be driven to our knees by our own shadow material (and thus make ourselves vulnerable to and used by the established order, dragging us all down with it)? Or are we going to find in our shadow material a common ground, realising that “my” pain and injury and resentment and fear are not “mine” but ours? Are we then going to be able to step beyond loathing ourselves and, hence, humanity for being so afflicted instead leveraging the realization of being one with as a medicine instead of a poison? We start with the distilled wisdom of the ancients (Thema Mundi) and move out to the edge of it (Saturn), we overcome the stubborn crystalization of civilization one injury at a time, we realize we are not alone in doing this and we expand outward in a grounded manner until we get over “me” and embrace “we” finding balance, equity, and new strength. It’s not about me. There’s too much at stake. It’s about us. One step at a time.
In search of Compassion and Service,
Len Wallick
the mythology is only part of the discussion, and it’s critical to work for it from a structuralist standpoint more than a narrative one. Otherwise you get caught in a story rather than having a metaphor or tool to work with.
Eris is a good example of this. what exactly is this metaphor of discord? if you start with Aries you get war and you also get the personality/identity chaos we live with. more people are affected by personality chaos than actual war. if you’re an astrologer working with a client, you’re unlikely to be in a war zone; except for the client’s mind and feelings.
With Nessus we have something that completes a cycle. It’s important not to be mythologically literal on several passes through a delineation. it is true that sometimes it’s literal, but it’s always more than that.
Pholus has a long story but then you can boil it down to small cause, big effect. certain metaphors come from the myth, however: three generations; alcohol issues; how we respond in the company of famous people. others are from the structure of the story: fast transitions.
Two of the best delineators, phil sedgwick and juan revilla (who I recommend with caution, since he is dark in his interpretations, and the ones you use need to be verified carefully against your experience) don’t need any myth at all; they use the orbital elements in the first instance (revilla ignores the myth, as far as I know).
Also I think that before you go into the other centaurs you need to have a good working feeling for chiron rather than theoretical knowledge. that can only come from direct experience, and experience with clients. I have noticed a disturbing lack of discussion about Chirion on the centaur groups, which I attributed to a refusal to work with the issues at hand…and in my view the conversations were not grounded in anything meaningful and frankly I thought it was pretty embarrassing. there was also a lack of client experience. so you have to be really careful and know your working method well.
working with TO THE EDGE AND BEYOND: SATURN, CHIRON AND THE CENTAURS (by Melanie Reinhart, available from astroamerica,com), you get a good idea how to delineate using the myth, the orbit, and other factors. it’s a lot of fun. (note, she starts with Saturn, for grounding).
I go over much of this in my recent NCGR seminar on integrating minor planets, audio in this blog below.
The minor planets, particularly the centaurs and the tnos, deal primarily with shadow material and that defies this whole good/bad thing. we just have to deal with them and what they stand for
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Now Len, there IS a way you can heed Eric here yet preserve the focus of your idea. Re-work the dualism with a concept of holism and then, here is a key, shape the mythology differently. There are many you could draw upon. I currently have one eye gazing toward Norse mythology, although not with astrology in view. Now, Greek conceptuality has a history of infamy on the dualism question so..
..you might try a mythology from North American Indian spirituality or a syncretistic mix of conducive themes from that and aboriginal and celtic worldviews – the merit of each being their greater kinship to the land/earth. It really is up to you how you wish to dramatise your story. Good stories are open-ended, in so far as the spectator can more readily become a participant.
This is well within your capabilities, sir.
Eric,
Thank you once again for bringing some clarifying integrity into the discussion. So, benific / mallefic is out, for minor planets – no dual doin’. i agree, it was lame. Some things have come up recently that got me thinking. You expressed that astrology as a field needs to get its act together (starting from the Thema Mundi, as i understand it). i agree. You also expressed the desire that members of the Planet Waves community work towards doing it for ourselves rather than being told how to think. i agree. After the success of your BofB presentation at the APA, you carpe diem’ed. i agree. There is some sort of movement in all that. I can feel it, i just can’t see it.
Look how spontaneously the method and vocabulary of texting developed. People who love astrology gather here. There’s potential. i can feel it, i just can’t see it.
i dunno, could be too many Mickey Rooney / Judy Garland movies in my youth.
Goin’ to bed.
-Len Wallick
The minor planets, particularly the centaurs and the tnos, deal primarily with shadow material and that defies this whole good/bad thing. we just have to deal with them and what they stand for
This is my first post to the blog, so I hope what I offer is relevant:
Sari,
Your description of transition called to mind giving birth to my daughter. I had the most incredible support network: a doula who held a heating pad on my back for hours to ease my back labor, and my husband who stood for hours and slow-danced with me through the night because I was uncomfortable in any other position. I felt that my daughter was playing on this team, too, working with me from the inside to make her way out. The only time I did not know if I could go on was when I felt the urge to push, but couldn’t because I was not fully dilated. It was the going against my body after all those hours of going with it that was difficult. I made it through with the support of my team who gave me belief in myself when I thought I didn’t have any left. Maybe we are being asked to hold on to create a space for others to offer support. I knew I needed support to give birth to my daughter, so I sought it out. I wish I was as comfortable asking for help giving birth to all my other “babies.”
bkoehler,
You got the drift. We gotta start somewhere. Anybody else out there want to weigh in on the benefic / malefic idea for minor planets? Speak now or forever hold your reese’s pieces. We got a lot to do here, mop the floors, clean behind the fridge and that drawer below the stove – have you seen it?
Next – we find a way to combine the reorganization of astrology with raising money for Planet Waves. How about American Astrological Idols with a call-in vote, fifty cents on the charge card? Chelsea would love that.
Ok, it was a thought. Back to work (scratch, scratch).
-Len Wallick
Hey Len,
It’s a fine idea, and when in a dualism world, do dualism er, stuff. How do you mean that. . .like Mars and Saturn are malific and Venus, Jupiter are benefic. . or the good side of Jupiter is lucky and the bad side is know-it-all. Some of that is already out there. I know Ceres was a sweetheart when I first got to know her. Then I started hearing about her bitchy side.
As far as Pallas’ musy side, I was thinking of her “daddy’s girl” quality, but I have no reason to doubt her Spock-like quality. . just haven’t encountered it . Much of what I know about the asteroids, centaurs, etc. I learned right here from Eric. In fact, that is the way I got to “feel” them on a personal level. Watching the transits (of the minors) as well as spending time with my chart and others(charts) too you begin to sense how they affect your (and others) thinking and behaving. This goddess in my chart is conjunct my fathers solar Sun. When I was a kid I hung on his every word and followed him through his profession when possible. Even the darkroom; are you old enough to remember those? A magical place where a blank piece of paper can become somebody’s face or a sky or a basketball court where you were just an hour ago!
I certainly enjoy your insights and comments and curiosity Len, and no doubt will be talking with you soon on one of the thousands of topics there are to talk about these days!!
bkoehler,
Thank you for the rich perspective on the President’s chart. Assuming you have the math right, i would agree with your theory.
Interesting that Sari referred to Pallas Athene as “spock-like” and you called her “a musy kind of lady”. Eric is right, once we get past Saturn, there is much work to do among astrologers. Perhaps this forum (thanks Eric!) can be one of places where that work can begin. Sisters and brothers doing it for ourselves.
Speaking of the minor planets (and as a minor step in that direction) , what do you think of extending the benefic / malefic classifications to them? Too simple minded? A good idea? A bad idea? Too dualistic?
Pleased to serve,
Len Wallick
I’m with you all. Been fighting demons right left center and behind. Coming up like they can’t come up fast enough but they are coming up attached to recognizable baggage and so once and for all defined and purged. Painful but Awesome process.
I especially appreciate the sentiment/s re: preparing space for others to prepare space for others to prepare space for others…
Hi Len. . thanks for your comments. One of the delights of astrology are the many variations of a symbol that, combined with other symbols, can create a picture, much like a puzzle, except that the picture can vary depending on your choice of interpretation. Rather than a vision, I think of it as a theory (or in this case, wishful thinking!) of possibility. Still, ain’t it grand when those planets and aspects show up. . .just in the nick of time? Would be worth the agony of the battle to achieve a healthcare program that would cover most, if not all of us U.S. citizens at affordable prices. I would love for this subject to become irrelevant because nobody needed to worry about it anymore!
As for a muse, or two, I marvel at our new presidents ability to quell the storms associated with his (revolutionary and therefore scary) plans to solve the country’s problems. You see, he has this yod or finger of God formation and it includes a musy kind of lady, Pallas Athena. She is in his chart on the cusp of his 2nd house at 25+ Pisces. She sextiles the old man Saturn in the 12 house at 25+ Capricorn. Between the 2 of them our government seems, so far, to benefit from the strategy, and the behind the scenes negotiating, with sufficient corporate/institutional structure and yet replete with with 12th house, Pisces compassion.
These two engage his Uranus in his 7th house at 25+ Leo as a creation of his relationship with the “people”. Quincunxes can be irritating, don’t you know, but when they produce a pearl, it is considered beautiful. The president mentions his daughters often when speaking to the country, I wonder if they are his muse(s), and perhaps his wife too, and probably his grandmother. Maybe several more even, but they no doubt often inspire him through his Pallas Athena, invisioning a strategy for winning these battles that keep cropping up. That’s my theory anyway.
I have to say, yesterday was a great day of connecting in cyberspace for me. I appreciate having this place to connect other people who also feel the larger energies affecting life on earth.
Eric says “It’s time to step out and take your role, thus allowing those who have been holding your place to move onto other points of focus that they are ready for.”
I find myself resonating with this. And this from Sari “core comes from heart coeur, but also corvid – the raven, the most intelligent bird”. Raven as a totem signifies magic as well. I’ll reach for the magic in my heart spirit today.
Re: Sari’s comment “usually after an eclipse something passes, a change occurs, but i’ve carried on feeling like the next step is just beyond the curtain, but feels like a universe away.” It seems like Len was trying to get at this yesterday, with the upcoming mercury retrograde. The sense that something more is on the horizon. Shanna connected to this by describing the illuminating effect of 3 lights on stage – removing shadows. Could it be that shadow material will be up for illumination? There’s a great book by Robert A. Johnson called ‘Owning Your Own Shadow’. And here’s a great article by Deepak Chopra regarding the right wing and shadow material:
http://www.alternet.org/media/130912
This connects nicely to Bk’s remarks about political uproar.
Lastly, I read this post awhile back, and remembered it today. It is a channeling of energy called ‘the Hathors’ and they predict an increase in chaotic events. It invites me to be very diligent about maintaining emotional balance, and staying connected to core self, with some helpful instruction:
http://tomkenyon.com/chaotic-nodes
Thank you, bkoehler, for your detailed and insightful analysis (the golden apple allusion was spot on from where i’m sitting). i can only hope that you are correct when you surmise that Pluto, Chiron and Jupiter turning direct would coincide with “a better way”. There’s got to be a better way, somehow. Connecting with a Muse, now that’s a good idea. Having been in contemplation of Pluto’s impending turn forward myself, i really hope your vision prevails.
-Len Wallick
oooooeigh. . . if the Sun trines Eris rx (tomorrow?) then Friday opposes Jupiter rx, Saturday opposes Chiron rx, and Sunday opposes Neptune rx, and then Mercury conjuncts Saturn on Monday and the following week crosses the border (1st of 3) into Libra and squares Pluto.. . . . And where is Terpsichore now?
If applying this astrology to the U.S. Healthcare brouhaha, it could be another golden apple toss as Sun conjuncts Obama’s Uranus (+ NN) and the big (Jupiter), gassy (Neptune), in-your-face (Chiron) crowds making an uproar at the institutional-type townhall meetings (Saturn in Virgo) will find something new to squabble about.
And then when Pluto goes direct next month as Mercury retros back across the border (2nd of 3), squaring him AGAIN (2nd of 3), and then in October when Jupiter and Chiron go direct….might not the gassy crowds find a better way to use their spare time? Dancing maybe?
Sari – your comment:
“usually after an eclipse something passes, a change occurs, but i’ve carried on feeling like the next step is just beyond the curtain, but feels like a universe away.”
is exactly how I have been feeling. I’ve been wondering if this is going on for others as well. Thank you for expressing it!
comment via email:
hi eric,
well done on your talk at the conference. its really inspiring to cross the divide between disciplines and find common ground.
usually after an eclipse something passes, a change occurs, but i’ve carried on feeling like the next step is just beyond the curtain, but feels like a universe away. i sense there’s a singularity point of clarity, where the wise words meet the stumbling, self-pitying doubter, and we meet our core. core comes from heart coeur, but also corvid – the raven, the most intelligent bird, who guides off the ark onto the shore. The dove represents hope, but the raven adds a bit of logic – the cerebral cortex.
in birth there’s a moment called the transition phase, right before you start pushing, where your controlling mind has to give way to the body’s urges. its the time when most women give up, say this is too hard, or feel like they’re going to die. it feels like you lose yourself, forget what you’re doing, like you’re snapped out of your psyche. but you’re not losing your mind, you’re losing your control. and the only way to survive is to be rational, to remember who you are and how far you’ve come, like a mantra.
once you start pushing, although painful, is very exciting and adrenalined and very bodily, you have a purpose and know what’s required.
right now we’re in the transition phase, where still it could seem like we’re deluded self-obsessed control-freaks, instead of spiritual beings trying to clear as much baggage before the critical moment, when we have to start supporting the people who really didn’t see it coming. all our fears are manifesting at once in a funnel of chaos, mars saturn adding some constructive processing.
all my talk last week about the female control dramas and i’m one big control drama. self-doubt, self-pity, forgetting all the good bits. crying. my method has been to try and name those different characters as they come up, and give them archetypes. the cruel seductive one is cleopatra, the broken-hearted awen, the tough and spock-like pallas athene, the bedraggled cinderella. i’m working on seven linked with the chakras.
thats what i forget when i’m panicking, thinking that its always like this, and i think women do have to work harder to develop their conscious structures, so immersed are we in biological patterns. thats not to say we’re not geniuses, just that we find it easier to forget that we are.
lots of love eric
sari