New Mind Monday

By Len Wallick

Today, Mercury leaves Scorpio behind and moves into Sagittarius. This happens less than two weeks after Mars’ ingress to the same, mutable fire sign, following a weekend of one astrological thing after another.

Speaking of which, it might be appropriate to stop for a moment and review the last few days.

Last Friday before dawn, the Moon crossed into Scorpio and briefly conjoined Venus so precisely it imposed directly in the line of sight between Venus and the Earth (an occultation). After dark, Luna went on to conjoin with the Sun, a New Moon in Scorpio taking place just before the well-worn degree of mid-point of that sign. In between the Moon’s Scorpio ingress and solar congress, Chiron stationed direct in Aquarius for the last time and Keith Olbermann got fired. In doing so, he cleverly executed a gambit that revealed pernicious hypocrisies common to his both his mega-corporate employer and our political system.

On Saturday, Neptune stationed direct in Aquarius for the penultimate time. Emulating the 2010 example of Chiron, it will finally screw up the courage to dip a toe into Pisces next April, returning to Aquarius in August of 2011 for the remainder of the year. Neptune will wait until 2012 before accepting a long tenure in Pisces.

Yesterday, the powers that be in the United States directed us to “fall back” to standard time just hours before Venus re-appeared on the eastern horizon — the morning star. After dark, retrograde Venus returned to Libra, moving from detriment to rulership in an instant. The lesser benefic will return to Scorpio as December begins after stationing direct in Libra ten days from now. Between the rise and return of Venus, Uranus formed a square aspect to a little thing called the center of our galaxy – a performance to be repeated right after New Year’s Day, 2011.

That was quite a weekend of reversal, return, foreshadowing and table-turning. If you are feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything that seems to be coming at you today, consider yourself to be in the flow.

To top it all off, Mercury changes signs, following and soon to pass Mars and Pallas as all three proceed through the spiritual gauntlet of Sagittarius. So, what’s in it for you — besides yet another in a long succession of one thing after another, that is. Well, the first thing is to gain some perspective by taking time to step back and break it down to basics.

Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter. It is also opposed to Gemini, where Mercury rules. Under the ancient rules of astrology, that would mean that Mercury is “in detriment”, impaired or weakened in its expression while in Sagittarius. But as Eric has reminded us again as recently last Friday’s subscriber edition, astrology is evolving.

Human understanding of the cosmos and the human mind is not the same. Like it or not, astrology is taking that into account. On the objective front, recent quantum advances in our ability to observe and measure are taking the science of physics to the threshold of yet another new paradigm. These developments are paralleled by the acceptance and incorporation of at least some minor planets, most notably Chiron, by even the stodgiest and most traditional of astrologers. Indeed, the International Astronomical Union forced the issue in 2006 by re-classifying the status of Pluto. Now, astrologers are faced with the choice of either returning to the 19th century or catching up to the present.

That choice involves being responsible for what we know and that in turn, segues us from physics to the human mind. Psychology is the other reason for the evolution of astrology. The empirical study of human behavior was not in the toolbox of ancient astrologers. It may even be the case that the physiology of the human brain has undergone significant changes since astrology has developed. But there is no question that psychology is now as legitimate a science as physics is.

The United States Supreme Court’s unanimous 1954 decision on Brown Vs. Board of Education of Topeka was landmark acceptance that psychological damage was just as admissible a form of legal evidence as physical or economic damage. In addition, the Nobel Prize committee has repeatedly recognized the role of psychology in awarding its prize for the field of economic sciences, most explicitly in 2002 when the winners were cited “for having integrated insights from psychological research into economic science”. Most telling, the enterprises of advertising and politics have shown how they can push our buttons and manipulate our behavior even to the point of dependably getting us to act against our own interests.

So what does all this psychological mumbo-jumbo have to do with Mercury’s ingress to Sagittarius? Everything, dear friends, everything. In the course of a century, it is physics that has become the mumbo-jumbo and psychology that has become the science. Starting with Einstein putting the theory before the observation and measurement (“imagination is more important than knowledge”) and up to the present day when the emerging paradigm, string theory, is literally accepted on faith because experimental and observational proofs have not only not been conducted, they have not even been designed. All this while you and I have been manipulated with increasing precision and accuracy.

In astrology, Mercury is all about the mind. The spiritual inclinations of Sagittarius have been enhanced by that sign becoming the place where we are now aware of the Galactic Center and Great Attractor. Today is an opportunity to take a new look at Mercury in Sagittarius. Mercury is not as uncomfortable and impaired in that sign. Instead, see it as a revelation that we almost lost sight of our very existence. It is important to bring our individual psychological and spiritual development up to date before completely losing individual self-awareness and self-control.

The next Mercury retrograde will bridge the signs of Capricorn and Sagittarius. We have about two weeks before the echo (or “shadow”) phase of that period will begin. Will we allow an outdated, worn out astrological paradigm to prevail, marginalizing an opportunity to advance ourselves out of the past? Will we allow our ephemeral anxieties to occupy the front of our minds, making us vulnerable and robbing us of our personalities?

Will we squander what should be two precipitating events, allowing their spark to be drowned in the rising waters of ignorance and want? The choices that we as individuals make over the next two weeks (especially, but not limited to, those of us who are citizens of the United States) will tell us where we are at.

For now, think of Mercury in Sagittarius with a new mind. Not as a detriment, or  impaired in its expression. Rather, experiment with the idea that the cookbook astrology we have been given no longer suits our circumstances. Consider the possibility that we can take responsibility for our own choices, our own lives and actually participate in the re-creation of astrology as an example of how we can re-create our own kind. Of course, that will require you to step off the treadmill for a moment and think. If you can do that, you will have made a good start.

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