{"id":50306,"date":"2011-12-08T00:01:28","date_gmt":"2011-12-08T05:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=50306"},"modified":"2011-12-07T23:00:54","modified_gmt":"2011-12-08T04:00:54","slug":"sun-conjunct-pholus-bringing-light-to-the-shadows-carefully","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/astro-daily\/sun-conjunct-pholus-bringing-light-to-the-shadows-carefully\/","title":{"rendered":"Sun conjunct Pholus: Bringing light to the shadows, carefully"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Amanda Painter.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today is Thursday, December 8, 2011<\/a><\/strong>. What is that thing within you that keeps blindly pushing for expression? Have you put your finger on it yet? It\u2019s okay if you\u2019re not sure \u2013 don\u2019t put unnecessary pressure on yourself \u2013 but be aware the next couple days may see it pushing for your attention a little harder. Tomorrow, just over 24 hours before Saturday\u2019s total lunar eclipse, the Sun will form a conjunction with Pholus one degree from where it will oppose the Moon.<\/p>\n

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Pholus is one of the centaur planets, a class of objects that often bring to the surface old wounds, familial issues and cycles that need our attention and healing. Chiron is the best known of these bodies. Pholus, for its part, often has to do with alcohol, small causes setting far-reaching effects in motion, and the releasing of ancestral processes. Planet Waves has explored these themes in recent installments (here is one from Nov. 14<\/a>) as various points have aspected Pholus.<\/p>\n

This week, our attention turned toward the idea of clearing away space as the Sun conjoined the Great Attractor<\/a> on its way to Saturday\u2019s eclipse, in order to make space for any transformations we need to initiate. Eclipses present us with a shift in continuity that can give us the extra boost we need for a growth spurt; yesterday Mars made an opposition<\/a> that offered some leverage between our beliefs and actions to continue the process. Now, on the cusp of the Gemini Full Moon eclipse, there\u2019s an opportunity to access the more useful facets of what Pholus brings to the table \u2013 as well as to acknowledge any shadow material that may sabotage us if we don\u2019t work with it consciously. For that is another of Pholus\u2019 (indeed, all of the centaurs\u2019) hallmarks: whatever we ignore can become very destructive, as Juan Revilla has noted.<\/p>\n

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Dieter Koch and Robert Von Heeren<\/a> have this to say about Pholus: <\/p>\n

Pholus stands for parts of our nature from which we are still cut off and with which we try to get into contact. The parts in question may be those which cannot be soundly unfolded, or on the other hand a domain where the person intently strives for and with time even reaches great progresses.<\/p>\n

Pholic impulses are blind in a sense. They press on being realized even if they do not ‘know’ what could be their appropriate place in the actual order of life. On the contrary, they are in conflict with the established conditions.<\/p>\n

Pholus seems to launch us again and again into unexpected frontier situations, where we feel demanded too much and eventually exceed the bounds of our possibilities. In these periods of transition from a suddenly lost security (Saturn) we find ourselves helplessly exposed to and confronted with the new haziness (Neptune). In this situation we run great risk of calamitous mis-reactions (self-sabotage, accidents; cf. Pholus\u2019 death in the myth). On the other hand, this ‘wobbly’ state may give rise to a positive new beginning that leads into a richer and intenser [sic] life. In both cases there is a tendency, that the subconciousness [sic] determines the ‘course’.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some of this may be a little unnerving; \u201ccalamitous mis-reaction,\u201d for example, and \u201cself-sabotage and accidents\u201d are not encouraging things to read. But then, neither is a sign on the grocery store floor that says \u201cslippery \u2013 use caution.\u201d That is the point, though: to use caution, not to avoid the grocery store. So with the Sun conjunct Pholus, we can expect the full nature of this centaur to make itself known. And now that we are aware, we can use some caution. We can listen, watch, step carefully and with clear direction. We all know it\u2019s dangerous to look in one direction while we walk in another, yet we do it all the time. These next couple days, be sure to set your gaze in the same direction you\u2019re traveling \u2013 both literally and metaphorically.<\/p>\n

Remember that you can change direction at any time, too, if where you\u2019re currently heading is not healthy. Pause, take a breath, choose your new direction or focus, and then step carefully. If you encounter a Pholic impulse within yourself that is \u201cin conflict with the established conditions,\u201d carefully consider both the impulse and those conditions, since a little goes a long way with Pholus. Perhaps the conditions can be altered to give that impulse a safe context for expression. Or perhaps the impulse can be followed inward to its root using some kind of therapy method, thereby transmuting it into healing and growth. <\/p>\n

The doorway to this eclipse is still wide open right now, though many of us have been wrestling with the material this astrology is presenting. Once the Moon moves into Gemini tonight at 9:52 pm EST, you may find Gemini\u2019s mental skills to be helpful in mapping your Sagittarian spiritual inquiry. If you\u2019re one of many who has felt frantic or \u2018stuck in your head\u2019 this week, allow yourself to use the Taurus Moon\u2019s energy earlier in the day to ground you back in your senses and this tangible, physical plane. Feel the earth beneath your feet, giving you some solidity as you look where you want to be and choose consciously how you want to step over this threshold.<\/p>\n

Looking for insights on how this week’s astrology affects your<\/strong> personal Sun and rising signs? Try out Planet Waves Light<\/strong><\/a>, our streamlined horoscope service. For deeper cultural context and astrological investigation, the premium Planet Waves subscription<\/strong><\/a> includes the same horoscopes, plus extensively-researched articles on Fridays.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is Thursday, December 8, 2011. What is that thing within you that keeps blindly pushing for expression? Have you put your finger on it yet? It\u2019s okay if you\u2019re not sure \u2013 don\u2019t put unnecessary pressure on yourself \u2013 but be aware the next couple days may see it pushing for your attention a … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7221,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[1734],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50306"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7221"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50306\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}