By Len Wallick
Today, Venus is separating from yesterday’s superior conjunction. Mercury is slowing down (about 1/3 of its speed of just a week ago) on its way to the forward station. The other “personal planet”, Mars, reaches one of the most crucial points of its long retrograde – an opposition to the centaur planet, Nessus.
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The zodiac you recall, is a circle. Circles are 360 degrees circumference. When a planet or event is on one side of the zodiac directly opposite from another, they are 180 degrees apart. That is an opposition. Often taken as negative and nearly always associated with a challenge, an opposition differs from a square in that it has more to do with the external (ie: relationships) than the internal. The barbell-like polarity (with us here in the middle) implies the concept of a bind. Binds can be resolved most efficiently if the pickle in the middle negotiates with each end separately. Today, we get the opportunity to be that lucky pickle.
The first step is to heed Eric’s admonition from last Saturday morning. In that installment of the Cosmic Confidential Diary he discloses that one motivation of writing astrology is to encourage people to participate with the world because that is in our common interest. To which this correspondent might add his own point – participation entitles negotiation. Fair negotiation, conducted in good faith can result in balance. Balance, in turn, can make that intimidating opposition into a barbell that can be lifted to a higher level, making the pickle in the middle stronger.
Mars and Nessus involves some heavy lifting. Mars in Leo (as has been said here before) involves volatile and conditioned issues of pride. If we were to actually stop, detach and think, some of the things we are proud of might not look so good. Opposing Aquarius (often referred to here as symbolizing “the collective”) we find the attachments of pride challenged by the values of the tribe. The idea is to get a hold of our-self and negotiate with the pride issues on one side. Then, move to the other side and negotiate boundaries between me and we. The alternative is to have the two sides in conflict, pressing in on each other, leaving our pickle as more of a pancake. Which looks better to you?.
Adding complexity to the Aquarius side of the opposition is the now separating stellium of planets that has been part of our astrology for so long. Often referred to as Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune, there has also been in the shadows a fourth energy, that of the Centaur planet Nessus.
Please bear with as we do a quick review of the mythology. Ixion was king of an ancient tribe called the Lapiths. In short, he was bad news. To test his integrity, Zeus (Jupiter) had a cloud nymph assume the form of Hera (Juno). Ixion fell for it and got it on with what he thought was the queen of the pantheon. As punishment, Zeus arranged for the resulting child to be a centaur, Nessus. Lapiths and centaurs were anathema to each other. In other words, Nessus was the ultimate unwanted child, a living punishment for his father. That’s baggage for you. Imagine being Nessus.
Nessus, in turn, attempted to make off with the spouse of Heracles, Deianeria. Human gentlemen will ask you out for coffee. A centaur’s style assumed that there was a chase to cut to. Heracles, in a fit of possessive, self-righteous jealousy, shot him with a poison arrow. Before he died, Nessus convinced Deianera to take some of his tainted blood as a potion to keep Heracles faithful. Heracles went on a business trip. Deianeria put of Nessus’ precious bodily fluids on a cloak. Heracles put the cloak on and died from the poison. Baggage upon baggage upon baggage. And you thought reality television was a trip.
According to the most prominent authorities that have written for Planet Waves (Eric, Philip Sedgwick and Kirsti Melto among them), centaur planets have to do with shadow material, the baggage of past traumas that can pull us down or lift us up depending on how we handle it. The sort of shadow material associated with the centaur planet Nessus has a common theme – abuse and taking personal responsibility for halting its perpetuation. For an excellent reference check out the June 29, 2009 Planet Waves blog by that gentleman-about-earth, Mr. Cam Hassard.
So, to pull it all together, we got each of us with our baggage. Some of that baggage involves abuse. Eric has averred that we all have been abused one way or another. It would seem, from experience, that he’s right. Some of that abuse (perhaps the crucial part) took place when we were children. Because we were not individuated at that point we may well have taken that abuse on and identified with it, become PROUD of it. And because we are proud of it we don’t want to let it go. Instead, we pass it on as an unhappy legacy.
Even more sadly, the collective is invested in this process and encourages it because that eases the collective conscience without having to take individual responsibility. Mars in Leo opposing Nessus in Aquarius is a chance for each of us, individually, to get hold of ourselves and negotiate with our pride in order to release attachment to the abuse we received. Then, the collective, accumulated negotiation will not tolerate or encourage such behavior, no matter the degree of entitlement, no matter the cultural or religious grounds. Hear that Abraham? Hear that Mr. Polanski? Hear that me? We can forgive. We can move beyond forgiveness to genuine compassion. It’s time, however, to be accountable in our actions. It’s time for the baggage to stop right here in Peoria, to be passed on no more.
That’s a tall order. Can we do it during the course of this aspect? Probably not. But if each of us can work inside and negotiate outside, we can clean up our own act in how we interact with others (especially those possessed of less power). If we can demand that our common institutions and processes reflect our own cleaned up act (a positive and hopeful possibility of Pluto in Capricorn), we can make a start towards a future when boys and girls receive only love to pass on to the next generation. Now, that’s a myth we can buy into without getting ripped off.
Offered In Service
Dear Len,
Firstly, a personal comment: I love your lyric essay writing style in sharing your knowledge of our stars. I am always entertained, and more informed for having engaged the time to read what you have written. Eric made an excellent choice in sharing you with all of us.
Recently, I had the good fortune of studying at University despite the late date of my own life to pursue such studies. Some of the classes I pursued with great interest and vigor were of course, the Classics-and world histories.
One of the most salient things I observed were the cycles of dark and light “ages” of consciousness, punctuated always by massive violence and often genocide(s) of peoples and cultures in every known social order of persons to have ever existed.
I dare to say that even though our scenery has changed in many parts of the world, our theaters and dramas still stand. Your writing today, especially these lines-
“So, to pull it all together, we got each of us with our baggage. Some of that baggage involves abuse. Eric has averred that we all have been abused one way or another. It would seem, from experience, that he’s right. Some of that abuse (perhaps the crucial part) took place when we were children. Because we were not individuated at that point we may well have taken that abuse on and identified with it, become PROUD of it. And because we are proud of it we don’t want to let it go. Instead, we pass it on as an unhappy legacy.”
-made me consider of course, my own micro issues/baggage; but, more importantly perhaps the baggage of victimization both individually and collectively.
It is likely when we consider the victim-perpetrator model of human experience that each of us is by turns either the victim or the victimizer of ourselves or others, it is this third role of transcending the vic/perp model that seems to be a little muddier for us to imagine, a little more challenging to consistently embrace.
I hope perhaps these centaurs and planets, these pickles we see in our mirrors have the resilience and vision necessary for imagining and cultivating a new drama for the family of humanity transcending ‘letting go’ so that we can do it together, ‘for good.’
offered humbly,
oe a.k.a. sophie
Think I’ll have that drink now too. ahhh! Thanks Len.
BK that chart is too close for comfort!
But ginblossom, what if you were part of the problem unknowingly, and the other party gets his ass kicked by a 3rd party? Sometimes you are setting someone else up and don’t even know it, and it seems you are part of the 12th house unspeakable, perhaps helping someone, perhaps helping them with the learning situation. I can think of a dozen in my own life, but one stands out. My sister in law’s nephew was put in foster care where he was raped by a big old man daily for several years. It appears that he needs to forgive and forget, but how? In recent news we’ve read of various women trapped for years for sex.
Human trafficking is one of the biggest crimes of the century, but there isn’t a lot about it in the news. DHS is supposed to be starting an advertising campaign with billboards to wake people up to this monster so we will know when to suspect it and how to report it.
Every act of violence against most young children is sexual in nature, in my opinion.
Fe,
Using Port-au-Prince latitude 18n32 and longitude 72w20 and the 12 Noon time on January 1, 1804, I got a chart with this information:
Asc.18 Capricorn 12 (Mercury 17 Capricorn 51)
MC 29 Libra 41
Sun 9 Cap 57
Moon 1 Virgo 52
Neptune 25 Scorpio 5 (square transiting Neptune 24 Aquarius 56)
Chiron 4 Cap 38
Mars 3 Cap 23
Saturn 3 Libra 27
So a Saturn return while trans Pluto is square it and conj natal Mars and Chiron, plus the Neptune square Neptune.
Hopefully, tomorrow somebody will have a legitimate chart, but I’m whipped and off to the showers for now!
be
Fe,
Haven’t found one yet, but using Wikipedia’s time line for Haiti, it would appear that the “birthdate” is 1/1/1804. This would give Haiti a Mars at 3 Capricorn 20, which of course is where Pluto is, and Saturn at 4 Libra + and about to go retrograde is square. Will keep trying to find a chart.
be
be:
Do you have the chart info on this?
Haiti has just suffered a massive earthquake – 7.0 scale.
Oh, I’ve seen this show! Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to another episode of the Victim and the Perp. Who is the Victim? Who is the Perp? Obviously gotta be that bitch Deianera, gave herself away to some centaur and then killed *Hercules*, our hero! Whore and murderess, that’s the Perp right there, stage left and sobbing her heart out.
The answer really depends on what Season you’ve rented. And how fond you are of the idea of Original Sin. My favorite part about that story is that the woman isn’t to blame for all the flaws and failings of humanity right away. You at least get to know her first.
Myself, I try real hard not to imbibe. The issue with opposition is synthesis, but that’s just to get your bearings. The only way to win is to transcend the story, transcend your story, check right on out. Yeah, like what if you just didn’t play? Rose above into all that bright empty space above the Wheel that does not move at all and said, eh, not for me thanks?
If you have to, take that sucker punch, turn the other cheek, and wait. It hurts, I know. You look like a failure, and you’re disappointing the audience. But if you don’t hit back the fight is over. Nobody hits nobody, no more.
It’s not really a sacrifice. If you could take one, single, juicy, attitude-adjusting, pavement-cracking, knock into the middle of next week to stop the whole war forever, would you do it?
I got to ask myself another pretty interesting question today. It was: how much of my life is due to some weird competition I appear to be in with people who are dead?
My mother and her sister had a relationship like two wildcats in a suitcase. She wasn’t competitive with her sister, she always told me. She said it was the other way around.
Thanks Len. It is a lot to think about.
Hugs,
Len:
Your astrological analogies are music.
Thank you, Len.
Reading your posts these last few days has helped me, and brought moments of beauty and humor.