January is named for Janus, the two-faced Roman God, looking both into the past and into the future. He is the god of beginnings, transitions, gates, doorways, endings and time. Our President certainly evoked Janus in his Inaugural address Monday by looking backwards to the Constitution's tenet "that all of us are created equal" and with his historical references to the progress we have made on social issues; and by looking forward to the work that still has to be done so that that phrase has meaning for gays, blacks, women, immigrants and all Americans, regardless of economic status. Civil rights in our founders time merely meant white land owning males. In the 21st Century it has to mean more. Why is this?
The dawning of the Age of Aquarius-some say it lasts 325, others 1,000 years. We are undoubtedly in it now as evidenced by the Presidents's speech and his redefinition of the words in the Constitution to include ALL the people. The dawning (few can agree as to the dates) might have begun around the time of the last Neptune and Pluto conjunction in the late summer and Fall of 1891 and Spring of 1892. These planetary cycles conjunctions occur once every 490 years and initiate huge political, social, cultural shifts.
If you take the meaning of the planets individually, Neptune is our faith in the Divine, the unseen, the unfathomable, the boundless, the longing for an idealistic world and Pluto is power shifts that slowly but irrevocably undermine the old way of doing things, we get a sense in this time period that human consciousness must be morphing into a more permeable state. With this might come an understanding that our supposed classifications, our arbitrary distinctions of gender, religion, creed, faith, color of skin, social class, ethnicity, geographic boundary, sense of separateness, individualism and narcissism do not actually exist.
In redefining for the 21st Century what "all of us are created equal" ideally means President Obama is paying heed to his innate Aquarian ideals, having that sign rising on the eastern horizon in his birth chart and which sign the Moon, representing the people, is in in the US birth chart. Those of us who have Aquarius in our natal chart-be it on the ascendant, as did Washington, Adams and Monroe and President Obama does,or whose Sun is there, Lincoln and FDR, (Jefferson had Sun connected to Uranus-a similiar dynamic) are humanitarians.
Aquarius is an air sign so connected with truth, knowledge,and communication to groups of people. The water carrier is a man, the only human zodiacal sign, spilling water out of the bucket to reach as many people as possible. Altruistic, with a strong sense of First Principles, they investigate, coordinate, synthesize, plan and reform. They can be unconventional, inventive, intellectual, detached and individualistic, but are there to support groups. There are some Aquarians who look backwards to Capricorn and therefore are more conservative, while others who look more forward to the next sign of the zodiac, Pisces, where understanding and sympathy reign. January, Janus' month, includes the beginning of Aquarius which began last Saturday the 19th at 4:52 PM EST.
Our Constitution dictates that the Presidential Inauguration always occurs on January 20th at noon, therefore always with the Sun in Aquarius. This year there were 2 oath takings as the 20th fell on a Sunday. This is interesting for cycles scientists or astrologers as we have 2 charts to look at to foretell what Obama's 2nd term will encounter when. Actually we can only guess at how the symbolism might play out, but we have a good suspicion of when. The Sunday chart is alot more heated than Monday's chart for the inception of the new term, as the Moon has left Taurus and its contact to a very prominent Mars and moved into Gemini which is about to meet Jupiter in Gemini and was very close to Obama's Moon during his Inaugural Address (which happens once a month).
The President was on his game on Monday with his speech defining not so much the specifics, but the forwarding looking philosophy behind his second term. As David Brooks said in his op-ed piece in the NYT yesterday, Tuesday the 22nd, President Obama made a case for a "pragmatic" and"patriotic progressivism". Patriotic progressivism sounds to me very much like our January god Janus, looking backwards and forwards at the same time. Go Aquarius- you humanitarian where the rights and dignity of all are respected equally.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Monday, January 7, 2013
Happy New Year II
I am sure I wasn't the only one, when writing the date on a check this week (if you still use them as I do), who made note of the turning of another year. I also found myself wishing everyone a "Happy New Year". But what is it that we are celebrating? Unlike the Mayans who ended their calendar on December 21, 2012 at that winter solstice, based on the Sun's apparent path through a particular spot in our galaxy, we are noting the passage of time in a calender system that has no basis in any actual astronomical event.
Should we care whether our celebrations are connected to our revolutions around the Sun or not? Do we lose something when we have mandated turning points in time that have no connection to what is happening in the sky? The ancients celebrated at this time of the year because they wanted to make sure the Sun would end its solstice (standing still) and rise back up higher in the sky. Epiphany, which we celebrated yesterday, reminds us that the Magi found the Christ child following a star in the sky. Easter is always celebrated on the first Sunday after the Full Moon after the Vernal Equinox. Some of our celebrations are connected with actual astronomical events and some are not. It seems our January 1st "new years" are more psychological than anything else. If you had a "bad" 2012 then you are glad it is over, if you had a "good" one then you do not want it to end.
In any event, this time of the year makes all of us aware of the passage of time. In throwing out our old calender and starting a new one we naturally think of time as linear-one day, one week, one month, one year following upon the last. Many of us got caught up in the Mayan "end of time" hype because we are used to this linear concept of time. One span of time ends and we suddenly experience fear of the unknown because a calender ends.
But there is another way to understand time-connecting it with where we are in space. The orbiting of the planets around the Sun and the rotation of the earth on its axis makes time cyclical. Ultimately time has to be coordinated with earthly and apparent Sun movements (as the Mayans knew). Even today, with the GPS system, scientists correct our clocks based on the earth's rotation. Historically time and space have always been connected. Einstein in his relativity theories has mathematically proved this to be so. The concept of time depends on the spatial reference frame of the observer. That is why in astrology we speak of the Sun making a revolution-because that is what we are seeing from our viewpoint.
If you begin to tune yourself into these more subtle nuances of our concepts of time, that time is circular, you will begin to understand that you have a "new year" at times other than January 1st. Astrologers or cycles scientists understand this connection between time and space when we draw up charts for a moment in time in a specific location. A new beginning occurs when any of the orbiting planets around the Sun "returns" to the place it was when you were born. This means you have had one complete revolution-be it a day, month (Moon), approximate year (Mercury, Venus), 2 1/2 years( Mars), 12 years (Jupiter), 29 1/2 (Saturn) and so forth, depending upon how long it takes the planet to orbit the Sun. These are the planetary cycles beginning at a moment in time and where the planet is in space following through and ending at another point in time when that planet returns to the same place in space. Each one is a "new year" for you.
New beginnings are all over the news. Each new beginning is associated with a moment in time, when that new beginning is based on the Sun's apparent revolution or earth's rotation on its axis. No moment of time repeats itself exactly. The Constitution has mandated the day and time a new Congress opens each year, but each time it convenes the only planet that is approximately in the same place is the Sun, as the Sun returns to the same place in space (apparently) each year on the same day (approximately).
The 113th Congress convened last Thursday at 12:01 PM. Astrologers, or cycles scientists, make a note of the time and draw up the moment of convocation for this new Congress in DC, which will be in effect until it ends on January 3rd, 2015. Everything that is going to happen in this Congress's life span is contained in the enfoldment from the moment of its inception. As long as we are here on earth we are under the spell of the Earth's rotations on its axis and in its orbit around the Sun. Space and time are coordinated. What happened in the 112th Congress will be different than what is going to happen in the 113th because it was initiated at a different time and the planets were in a different place. What happens in Obama's 2nd term can be seen in the chart for the moment his oath of office is take on the 20th at noon. His first term will end and a new one will begin.
January is named for the Roman god Janus. He is the two-faced god looking backwards and forwards at the same time, from the present moment. As Einstein developed in his relativity theories-time is dependent on where one is in space. When an astrologer or cycles scientist sets up a chart using the time and place the action is taking place whether it be a baby's birth, a marriage ceremony, a new job, a new Congress, signing a paper that initiates a new endeavor, laying of a foundation stone for a building or an Inaugural oath, this chart represents the space and time continuum-the revolution of the Earth around the Sun and the rotation of the Earth on its axis.
We are a part of something greater outside ourselves that we have no control over. Whether you begin to understand and feel this unique relationship we have to the cosmos through a 12-Step program, a yoga, pranayama or meditation practice, through a religious ecstatic experience or are given a spontaneous grace hardly matters. What does matter is that we recognize and feel viscerally, the truth that our friend Marcus Aurelius spoke in the First Century-we are all made of the same stuff and connected with all that is was and ever will be.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Focusing on writing this blog has been difficult of late. Alot has been going through my mind, as I am sure can be said for most of us. The tragedy of the Newtown massacre on top of the still very real repercussions of Sandy, the Scorpio Eclipse season in November, the ending of the Mayan Long Count calender on December 21st, the Solstice, Christmas and Hanukkah, added to the surprises and turnings in our personal lives leaves little time for inner peace and reflection.
At first I wanted to write about the movie "Lincoln" and why that movie is premiering now (actually November 9th). It was in the news again having garnered 7 Golden Globe nominations last week. It is a fact, not readily understood by those not acquainted with astrological cycles, that one's birth chart does not die with one's passing out of earth's plane. Deceased persons, no matter what the age, when they become newsworthy again will have active planetary cycles hitting their natal placements and so get recaught in the public eye.
Both the publication of Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, from which the movie is taken from in part, November 6th, 2005, and the release of the current film, November 9th, 2012 show strong connections to Lincoln's natal chart. That is to say that the current planetary cycles, (planets orbiting around the Sun-placements that never repeat exactly alike, as no moment in time is like any other), in the sky at both times, (and all other times in the past when his life came into the public eye), are contacting Lincoln's natal chart in an area that guarantees prominence even after death. Why do some people become famous only after death? Why did Goodwin study Lincoln for 10 years? My guess is that her chart connects strongly with his; or her chart moved into connecting with Lincoln's during the years of her research.
In turning towards our current tragedy I turn to : "Guns Are America's Other Original Sin" an interview with Frank Rich from New York magazine. Of course our first original sin is slavery, the source and scourge of Lincoln's life's work to bear. Rich's point is that our obsession with guns (45% of all Americans have them in the house) is not something that can be legislated away in one Congressional session. Just as the fight to abolish slavery took decades, so will this project. But that is not to say that we cannot begin the process now. Both climate change and our culture of violence were not spoken about during the last presidential campaign by either party says Rich. "That's inexcusable, but we do have to fear that he (Obama) is taking his own life into his hands by venturing into this hot political area." It certainly seems from the tone of Sunday's address to Newtown and all of us Americans that the President is taking this seriously.
The one thing that Rich is probably not aware of is the significance of this happening so close to all the above astronomical and cultural events. Friday December 21st at 6:12 AM is the end of the 5,125 years of the Mayan Long Count. There are no extent predictions for the Long Count (there are for the Short Count). The current Maya elders are very forthright about the inability of any "New Agers" to predict anything about what will happen at the end of this calendar cycle and the beginning of the next. They do say that this might be a time when humanity can/will/ must overcome the "dark" and identify with and move more quickly toward the 'light", understanding that there is no calendar mechanics that can make this happen. It is up to each one of us to make the journey.
At first I wanted to write about the movie "Lincoln" and why that movie is premiering now (actually November 9th). It was in the news again having garnered 7 Golden Globe nominations last week. It is a fact, not readily understood by those not acquainted with astrological cycles, that one's birth chart does not die with one's passing out of earth's plane. Deceased persons, no matter what the age, when they become newsworthy again will have active planetary cycles hitting their natal placements and so get recaught in the public eye.
Both the publication of Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, from which the movie is taken from in part, November 6th, 2005, and the release of the current film, November 9th, 2012 show strong connections to Lincoln's natal chart. That is to say that the current planetary cycles, (planets orbiting around the Sun-placements that never repeat exactly alike, as no moment in time is like any other), in the sky at both times, (and all other times in the past when his life came into the public eye), are contacting Lincoln's natal chart in an area that guarantees prominence even after death. Why do some people become famous only after death? Why did Goodwin study Lincoln for 10 years? My guess is that her chart connects strongly with his; or her chart moved into connecting with Lincoln's during the years of her research.
In turning towards our current tragedy I turn to : "Guns Are America's Other Original Sin" an interview with Frank Rich from New York magazine. Of course our first original sin is slavery, the source and scourge of Lincoln's life's work to bear. Rich's point is that our obsession with guns (45% of all Americans have them in the house) is not something that can be legislated away in one Congressional session. Just as the fight to abolish slavery took decades, so will this project. But that is not to say that we cannot begin the process now. Both climate change and our culture of violence were not spoken about during the last presidential campaign by either party says Rich. "That's inexcusable, but we do have to fear that he (Obama) is taking his own life into his hands by venturing into this hot political area." It certainly seems from the tone of Sunday's address to Newtown and all of us Americans that the President is taking this seriously.
The one thing that Rich is probably not aware of is the significance of this happening so close to all the above astronomical and cultural events. Friday December 21st at 6:12 AM is the end of the 5,125 years of the Mayan Long Count. There are no extent predictions for the Long Count (there are for the Short Count). The current Maya elders are very forthright about the inability of any "New Agers" to predict anything about what will happen at the end of this calendar cycle and the beginning of the next. They do say that this might be a time when humanity can/will/ must overcome the "dark" and identify with and move more quickly toward the 'light", understanding that there is no calendar mechanics that can make this happen. It is up to each one of us to make the journey.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Scorpio Eclipse Season
As the Sun has just finished its passage through Scorpio it is appropriate to reflect back on what this month has been about. The visual transformations that the Sun's passage in Scorpio brings are seasonal. This time of year the Sun appears lower in the sky, light and heat lessen, the leaves turn and the animal, plant, tree and flower life around us begin to hibernate. There is consolidation happening below the ground as the earth takes in energy even from the solar system, to replenish itself so that there will be a renewal next Spring. This is the regular process of death and rebirth that all life forms process through.
This is Scorpio in its essence, something dies so that something else can be born again. "Deaths" in the natural world become "crises" in our personal lives which can manifest on many levels, physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual or psychological. In each event there is a separation from what was previously there. Between the end of something and the beginning of the new, the crisis occurs and a decision has to be made.
Each of us "dies" daily when we fall asleep (even that demands a decision). A crisis in our lives, especially when it happens suddenly is accompanied by a "little death". Crisis comes from the Greek meaning to separate or decide. In medicine "crisis" is used to signify the turning point in an illness when there will either be recovery or death. Scorpio is the sign that rules over the "deaths" and "crises" of our lives. We are having an unusual amount of Scorpio energy around us since Saturn moved into Scorpio on October 5th.
Saturn only passes through Scorpio every 30 years; last time being December 1982 to May 1983 and then late August 1983-mid November 1985. Those of us who can remember what happened then, can predict what area of life will experience some kind of crisis ( financial, health, emotional, psychological etc.); or the death of an old way of life or a transformation so that life is never the same again, that will occur this time. We all have Scorpio someplace in our charts, ruling some department of life, even if we are not Sun Scorpios or Moon Scorpios or Ascending sign Scorpios, or who were born with Saturn in Scorpio. Those people who do are the ones who will be most deeply affected during the next 2 1/2 years.
More energy in the same area creates more developmental pressure. Adding to Saturn's passage through Scorpio, we had a Solar Eclipse on the 13th of November at the New Moon at 22 degrees of Scorpio. No other astrological/astronomical event changes our lives more completely than Solar or Lunar Eclipses if they are affecting our charts. (The next Full Moon on the 28th is a Lunar Eclipse.)
The last time there were eclipses in Scorpio were 1993, 94 and 95. The last time we had an eclipse in this same spot in Scorpio was November 1993. A solar eclipse is like a light switch, something turns on or something turns off. New Moons are new beginnings that are in effect a month until the next New Moon. Eclipses effect us years into the future. Anything begun now will take time to unwind and fulfill. Being in the same sign as Saturn, the gods are pounding the same note in our lives. Saturn was not in Scorpio in those previous years when the eclipses were in Scorpio.
This eclipse is interesting for another reason. Bernadette Brady in her book The Eagle and The Lark explores the meaning of each eclipse based on the beginning moment of the series which it is a part. The current eclipse brings with it the joy that comes from a commitment. Some new undertaking or responsibility we take on with this eclipse brings a sense of joy with it. We can use this Solar Eclipse New Moon to identify who, where and what we will commit to, knowing that this commitment will transform our lives. It would be in keeping with the sign Scorpio that this commitment arises out of the dark, out of nowhere obvious.
There is still more Scorpio activity this month. The planet Mercury entered Scorpio the same day as Saturn, October 5th. Mercury has and will again pass over the degree of the eclipse igniting it. Other planets passing over trigger the eclipse even if the passage occurs up to 3 months previously. (Mars passed over the eclipse degree back on September 27th-so your commitment could have been ignited back then too.) Mercury first hit the degree of the eclipse October 22nd and will move back to forward motion on the afternoon of the 26th and pass over 22 Scorpio December 5th. With each pass of each planet over the eclipse degree there will be some news, message, purchase, communication, mental activity or travel connected with what you are committing to.
Still further, Venus moved into Scorpio the evening of the 21st (and the Sun moved into Sagittarius). Our desires, values and what we are attracted to are now more keenly felt. Our "darker emotions" can arise. Love is less platonic and diplomatic and more assertive and passionate.
Scorpio time of year is the middle of the Fall, when we are really experiencing the depth of its message. It is not transitioning into or out of the season but firmly in. Scorpio, like Taurus, Leo and Aquarius, each in the middle of their respective seasons, have a stubbornness and resistance to change quality to them. The fixed signs all have a streak of dig your heels in and "I will not budge". That characteristic is fine if you are building the pyramids (Age of Taurus) but not helpful when cultural changes are necessary and flexibility is needed. The transformations that occur in Scorpio often have dramatic quality about them as there has been a determination to keep things the way they are. We might have had hints of some changes that were needed in our lives but were good at not taking action on them, until a crisis happens and we have no choice.
I wrote this blog because I was struck by how many people's lives have been temporarily or permanently altered this past month here on the East Coast from Hurricane Sandy and the second storm. Adding to that are all the people across the country who have finished their activities around the Presidential election. Crises and transformations of this magnitude are what Scorpio is all about.
Is there a purpose? What are we supposed to think when our home and all our earthly possessions have floated away? What new decisions and commitments have to be made as a result? Will we succumb to the unbearable burden or pull ourselves together and build a new life? This is all Scorpio stuff. Crises are events that force us to look at things differently, to make a decision. We are forced to be present to the moment, and to grasp our reality (Saturn ) in a new way, the past is gone, the future not clear. Our new in Scorpio fashion commitment can be to that- to be fully present to what is arising right in front of us and to each and everyone we meet-especially those who are in dire need- and thus to feel the joy associated with the giving.
This is Scorpio in its essence, something dies so that something else can be born again. "Deaths" in the natural world become "crises" in our personal lives which can manifest on many levels, physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual or psychological. In each event there is a separation from what was previously there. Between the end of something and the beginning of the new, the crisis occurs and a decision has to be made.
Each of us "dies" daily when we fall asleep (even that demands a decision). A crisis in our lives, especially when it happens suddenly is accompanied by a "little death". Crisis comes from the Greek meaning to separate or decide. In medicine "crisis" is used to signify the turning point in an illness when there will either be recovery or death. Scorpio is the sign that rules over the "deaths" and "crises" of our lives. We are having an unusual amount of Scorpio energy around us since Saturn moved into Scorpio on October 5th.
Saturn only passes through Scorpio every 30 years; last time being December 1982 to May 1983 and then late August 1983-mid November 1985. Those of us who can remember what happened then, can predict what area of life will experience some kind of crisis ( financial, health, emotional, psychological etc.); or the death of an old way of life or a transformation so that life is never the same again, that will occur this time. We all have Scorpio someplace in our charts, ruling some department of life, even if we are not Sun Scorpios or Moon Scorpios or Ascending sign Scorpios, or who were born with Saturn in Scorpio. Those people who do are the ones who will be most deeply affected during the next 2 1/2 years.
More energy in the same area creates more developmental pressure. Adding to Saturn's passage through Scorpio, we had a Solar Eclipse on the 13th of November at the New Moon at 22 degrees of Scorpio. No other astrological/astronomical event changes our lives more completely than Solar or Lunar Eclipses if they are affecting our charts. (The next Full Moon on the 28th is a Lunar Eclipse.)
The last time there were eclipses in Scorpio were 1993, 94 and 95. The last time we had an eclipse in this same spot in Scorpio was November 1993. A solar eclipse is like a light switch, something turns on or something turns off. New Moons are new beginnings that are in effect a month until the next New Moon. Eclipses effect us years into the future. Anything begun now will take time to unwind and fulfill. Being in the same sign as Saturn, the gods are pounding the same note in our lives. Saturn was not in Scorpio in those previous years when the eclipses were in Scorpio.
This eclipse is interesting for another reason. Bernadette Brady in her book The Eagle and The Lark explores the meaning of each eclipse based on the beginning moment of the series which it is a part. The current eclipse brings with it the joy that comes from a commitment. Some new undertaking or responsibility we take on with this eclipse brings a sense of joy with it. We can use this Solar Eclipse New Moon to identify who, where and what we will commit to, knowing that this commitment will transform our lives. It would be in keeping with the sign Scorpio that this commitment arises out of the dark, out of nowhere obvious.
There is still more Scorpio activity this month. The planet Mercury entered Scorpio the same day as Saturn, October 5th. Mercury has and will again pass over the degree of the eclipse igniting it. Other planets passing over trigger the eclipse even if the passage occurs up to 3 months previously. (Mars passed over the eclipse degree back on September 27th-so your commitment could have been ignited back then too.) Mercury first hit the degree of the eclipse October 22nd and will move back to forward motion on the afternoon of the 26th and pass over 22 Scorpio December 5th. With each pass of each planet over the eclipse degree there will be some news, message, purchase, communication, mental activity or travel connected with what you are committing to.
Still further, Venus moved into Scorpio the evening of the 21st (and the Sun moved into Sagittarius). Our desires, values and what we are attracted to are now more keenly felt. Our "darker emotions" can arise. Love is less platonic and diplomatic and more assertive and passionate.
Scorpio time of year is the middle of the Fall, when we are really experiencing the depth of its message. It is not transitioning into or out of the season but firmly in. Scorpio, like Taurus, Leo and Aquarius, each in the middle of their respective seasons, have a stubbornness and resistance to change quality to them. The fixed signs all have a streak of dig your heels in and "I will not budge". That characteristic is fine if you are building the pyramids (Age of Taurus) but not helpful when cultural changes are necessary and flexibility is needed. The transformations that occur in Scorpio often have dramatic quality about them as there has been a determination to keep things the way they are. We might have had hints of some changes that were needed in our lives but were good at not taking action on them, until a crisis happens and we have no choice.
I wrote this blog because I was struck by how many people's lives have been temporarily or permanently altered this past month here on the East Coast from Hurricane Sandy and the second storm. Adding to that are all the people across the country who have finished their activities around the Presidential election. Crises and transformations of this magnitude are what Scorpio is all about.
Is there a purpose? What are we supposed to think when our home and all our earthly possessions have floated away? What new decisions and commitments have to be made as a result? Will we succumb to the unbearable burden or pull ourselves together and build a new life? This is all Scorpio stuff. Crises are events that force us to look at things differently, to make a decision. We are forced to be present to the moment, and to grasp our reality (Saturn ) in a new way, the past is gone, the future not clear. Our new in Scorpio fashion commitment can be to that- to be fully present to what is arising right in front of us and to each and everyone we meet-especially those who are in dire need- and thus to feel the joy associated with the giving.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Another View After the Storm
For me writing these blogs can be a little upsetting as things are never as perfect as I'd like them to be. I can always think about something else I should have said or explained differently. And then there's the fact that I think of something I'd like to say and I procrastinate long enough that another idea comes in my head and then I lose the excitement with the initial observation.
Adding to that is the chaos that happens when an event like post-tropical cyclone Sandy occurs at my back door. I am sure that it has not been lost on any one of you that the tri-state area of the USA has been spared any consequences of climate change until now. (I bow to those who have experienced the pain and suffering caused by the droughts, fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis and floods that the rest of the country and world have experienced.) Even Hurricane Irene last year did not have such an impact as Sandy. Sea levels are gradually rising and will likely do so at a faster rate now and into the future. This Sandy is a game changer and is causing a "massive reordering of priorities."
In reading the NY Times last weekend I was struck with how much of the paper was focusing on the ideas for infrastructure changes in and around NYC to protect the City "before next time". New mossy wetlands strapped like a beard across lower Manhattan's chin would help to mitigate storm surge; oyster beds in the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, not only to clean the waters but to protect the shoreline, and a huge storm-surge barrier across the Arthur Kill channel between Staten Island and NJ are some of the ideas proposed.
Some scientists have been working behind the scenes. According to the Times, there was a conference in March 2009 at NYU's Polytechnic Institute called "Against the Deluge: Storm Surge Barriers to Protect NYC". There was one journalist and one paying exhibitor. In the reporters words: "It had the sad air of what was then an entirely lost cause". But no longer...
From an astrological perspective we must go back to Pluto and Uranus. Those two planets symbolically represent innovative changes (Uranus) in our lives that affect lots of people (Pluto); transformational experiences which suddenly (Uranus) affect us so that our perspective shifts, we think of new solutions and take different actions. Events that cause sudden changes in perspective are the "new normal" now. There has been something brewing below the surface for a long time (Pluto) and then a sudden event (Uranus) occurs that ignites the unstable condition. This can happen in our personal lives obviously as well.
We can go back two years, December 17th to the desperate fruit peddlar, Mohamed Bouazizi, in Tunisia who lite himself on fire because he could no longer stand the injustice of the system. The act of one man spread to Egypt, the whole Middle East and eventually across the globe, starting the Occupy Movement, because the time is right. These events are outer manifestations of the geometric pattern Uranus and Pluto are making. NYC's birth chart is strongly affected by these two planets. But you do not need an astrologer to tell you that. You can look at the news (if you have power) and see it. We are in these shifting times through March 2015. And they can make one quite nervous.
Adding to that we have planet Mercury apparently turning retrograde. Actually we are passing by Mercury in our orbit around the Sun. (Just as when you are in a faster train and a slower one passes next to you it appears that that train is moving backwards). The key is our perspective!!! Earth never goes retrograde.
Mercury rules communication and travel, writing, speaking, moving from place to place, contracting, negotiating, buying and selling, our thoughts, what we fill our head with and what we speak. During this time as Mercury is changing its orientation to the Sun, or going into the underworld to get new information from a mythological perspective, we can expect to feel stuck, that things have come to a standstill. We get caught in a mouse-in-the merry-go round internal dialogue which gets no where. Watch for it. Also be careful with what you sign and agree to. It might come back to haunt you.
This Mercury retrograde periods, as all others, affect some more than others depending on whether the position it is when it starts (6:04 PM tonight) apparently moving backwards, hits your natal chart significantly or not. There are easier Mercury retrograde times and harder more confusing ones. This is a confusing one. Mercury hates going at slow speed so that is why there are more problems.
There are good things to do now too. Everything with the words" re" at the start are recommended. It is not a bad time and not a time to be feared. It is a time to get caught up, to catch your breathe, to re think things. Everyone's life out here has slowed down at this Mercury station, power outages and now a gas shortage. The longer "shadow period" of this time began the 19th of October. If you need a change in perspective you will know it as NYC knows it.
This is the first time this has happened on Election Day. Mercury was making a station but turning direct, that is leaving the backward time on Election Day in 2000. It did take 3 weeks or so to get the results of that election. Mercury was also in the middle of its retrograde period in the election of 1960 with Kennedy and Nixon which was very close and we did not have the results right away.
Most astrologers are saying that this Mercury retrograde could affect the election today by not having a clear winner after the polls close. But one can also say that Sandy and all the chaos it has caused, with the threat of another coastal Northeaster tomorrow, has already manifested the predicted chaos, confusion, stalling and delaying inherent with the combination of Election Day and a Mercury station retrograde day. But it has never happened before so we have nothing to go by. So much of life is like that these days.
In any event Saturday the 17th brings Mercury and the Sun together and the hardest part of this period is over. The new information that we needed that was hidden from view has surfaced.
Stay tuned for next time when we talk about the Scorpio Solar Eclipse New Moon on the 13th.....
Adding to that is the chaos that happens when an event like post-tropical cyclone Sandy occurs at my back door. I am sure that it has not been lost on any one of you that the tri-state area of the USA has been spared any consequences of climate change until now. (I bow to those who have experienced the pain and suffering caused by the droughts, fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis and floods that the rest of the country and world have experienced.) Even Hurricane Irene last year did not have such an impact as Sandy. Sea levels are gradually rising and will likely do so at a faster rate now and into the future. This Sandy is a game changer and is causing a "massive reordering of priorities."
In reading the NY Times last weekend I was struck with how much of the paper was focusing on the ideas for infrastructure changes in and around NYC to protect the City "before next time". New mossy wetlands strapped like a beard across lower Manhattan's chin would help to mitigate storm surge; oyster beds in the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, not only to clean the waters but to protect the shoreline, and a huge storm-surge barrier across the Arthur Kill channel between Staten Island and NJ are some of the ideas proposed.
Some scientists have been working behind the scenes. According to the Times, there was a conference in March 2009 at NYU's Polytechnic Institute called "Against the Deluge: Storm Surge Barriers to Protect NYC". There was one journalist and one paying exhibitor. In the reporters words: "It had the sad air of what was then an entirely lost cause". But no longer...
From an astrological perspective we must go back to Pluto and Uranus. Those two planets symbolically represent innovative changes (Uranus) in our lives that affect lots of people (Pluto); transformational experiences which suddenly (Uranus) affect us so that our perspective shifts, we think of new solutions and take different actions. Events that cause sudden changes in perspective are the "new normal" now. There has been something brewing below the surface for a long time (Pluto) and then a sudden event (Uranus) occurs that ignites the unstable condition. This can happen in our personal lives obviously as well.
We can go back two years, December 17th to the desperate fruit peddlar, Mohamed Bouazizi, in Tunisia who lite himself on fire because he could no longer stand the injustice of the system. The act of one man spread to Egypt, the whole Middle East and eventually across the globe, starting the Occupy Movement, because the time is right. These events are outer manifestations of the geometric pattern Uranus and Pluto are making. NYC's birth chart is strongly affected by these two planets. But you do not need an astrologer to tell you that. You can look at the news (if you have power) and see it. We are in these shifting times through March 2015. And they can make one quite nervous.
Adding to that we have planet Mercury apparently turning retrograde. Actually we are passing by Mercury in our orbit around the Sun. (Just as when you are in a faster train and a slower one passes next to you it appears that that train is moving backwards). The key is our perspective!!! Earth never goes retrograde.
Mercury rules communication and travel, writing, speaking, moving from place to place, contracting, negotiating, buying and selling, our thoughts, what we fill our head with and what we speak. During this time as Mercury is changing its orientation to the Sun, or going into the underworld to get new information from a mythological perspective, we can expect to feel stuck, that things have come to a standstill. We get caught in a mouse-in-the merry-go round internal dialogue which gets no where. Watch for it. Also be careful with what you sign and agree to. It might come back to haunt you.
This Mercury retrograde periods, as all others, affect some more than others depending on whether the position it is when it starts (6:04 PM tonight) apparently moving backwards, hits your natal chart significantly or not. There are easier Mercury retrograde times and harder more confusing ones. This is a confusing one. Mercury hates going at slow speed so that is why there are more problems.
There are good things to do now too. Everything with the words" re" at the start are recommended. It is not a bad time and not a time to be feared. It is a time to get caught up, to catch your breathe, to re think things. Everyone's life out here has slowed down at this Mercury station, power outages and now a gas shortage. The longer "shadow period" of this time began the 19th of October. If you need a change in perspective you will know it as NYC knows it.
This is the first time this has happened on Election Day. Mercury was making a station but turning direct, that is leaving the backward time on Election Day in 2000. It did take 3 weeks or so to get the results of that election. Mercury was also in the middle of its retrograde period in the election of 1960 with Kennedy and Nixon which was very close and we did not have the results right away.
Most astrologers are saying that this Mercury retrograde could affect the election today by not having a clear winner after the polls close. But one can also say that Sandy and all the chaos it has caused, with the threat of another coastal Northeaster tomorrow, has already manifested the predicted chaos, confusion, stalling and delaying inherent with the combination of Election Day and a Mercury station retrograde day. But it has never happened before so we have nothing to go by. So much of life is like that these days.
In any event Saturday the 17th brings Mercury and the Sun together and the hardest part of this period is over. The new information that we needed that was hidden from view has surfaced.
Stay tuned for next time when we talk about the Scorpio Solar Eclipse New Moon on the 13th.....
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
View After the Storm
Life looks differently today than it did last Friday when I was sitting in the audience at Lincoln Center listening to the NY Philharmonic and Mahler's First Symphony. I was struck then by the awesome level of mastery that that composer and those musicians had achieved in order to play that complicated music with so much emotion that it brought me to my feet with tears in my eyes. Listening to their level of achievement, gained through hard effort and discipline over a long period of time, is where Saturn comes in.
Taking the time and patience to become a master at something is under planet Saturn's dominion. The area of our expertise depends on what sign our Saturn is in at birth. This hard sought expertise is pointed out to us in the beginning of our lives by a complete sense of anxiety, insecurity, fear, dread and procrastination about those very same things that in the second part of our lives we gain proficiency in, as Saturn rules time. Whatever it is we are afraid of doing is most probably the doorway that we must walk through, if we are to feel towards the end of our lives, that we lived a successful life.
Saturn, in its orbit around the Sun, moved in front of zodiacal sign Scorpio October 5th. The planet will be there for 2 1/2 years. All those born the first 5 months of 1983 and September 1983 through November 1985 are having a return of Saturn to its natal place as it takes Saturn around 29 1/2 years to orbit around the Sun. Those persons born in the previous cycle with Saturn in Scorpio have birthdays between October 1953 through January 1956 and May 1956 through mid October 1956 when the planet went into Sagittarius. There will be a repetition of events now in the next 2 1/2 years for all those persons born in the above mentioned time zones. (There will also be rebounding affects at the cross quarters, those born 7, 14 and 21 years inside this larger 29 1/2 year cycle-another topic for another time.)
The next 2 1/2 years is the time period to get crystal clear about our expertise which will: be discovered for the first time, will experience growing pains in, will have to make a deeper commitment to, will have to overcome our fear of, and end our procrastination with in order to feel a sense of achievement. Why? Because when one person makes the effort through hard work and is noticed by another it stirs that one to do the same. Achieving inner satisfaction with a sense of self worth is very satisfying, which then allows you to give back to others from a place of wholeness and completion.
So what will those with Saturn in Scorpio become proficient in? Because astrological symbolism is as complex as human nature is, the mastery will/can be on many different levels: emotional self control, or lack of it, emotional independence or dependence; crisis management; penetrating investigation; transformational experiences, whether in the mind, body, or spirit; business acumen and management; money matters, especially monies that come from everyplace else other that what we have earned, that is inheritances, insurance, investments, wills, monies that we have together with a spouse; affairs of the dead, as in psychics and mediums; mysticism and the occult; detective work on any level whether it be a researcher, scientist, inspector or doctor. Scorpio loves secrets and getting to the bottom of things. Once set on a path they have an amazing level of endurance and forbearance, overcoming obstacles that would foil others.
I am also thinking about NYC at this time as having Libra rising, Scorpio is on the cusp of the 2nd house of money, possessions, tangible objects owned, resources. (5 boroughs incorporated January 1, 1898 12:01 AM.) The city in experiencing this level of devastation is having a Scorpionic experience and will over the course of these next years become masters at moving from total destruction and annihilation to resurgence and renewal. Money will have to be spent on infrastructure and with Saturn in the house of money it feels like there is none to do it. But with Pluto moving across their Capricorn Sun at the same time there is no limit to the possibilities.
Taking the time and patience to become a master at something is under planet Saturn's dominion. The area of our expertise depends on what sign our Saturn is in at birth. This hard sought expertise is pointed out to us in the beginning of our lives by a complete sense of anxiety, insecurity, fear, dread and procrastination about those very same things that in the second part of our lives we gain proficiency in, as Saturn rules time. Whatever it is we are afraid of doing is most probably the doorway that we must walk through, if we are to feel towards the end of our lives, that we lived a successful life.
Saturn, in its orbit around the Sun, moved in front of zodiacal sign Scorpio October 5th. The planet will be there for 2 1/2 years. All those born the first 5 months of 1983 and September 1983 through November 1985 are having a return of Saturn to its natal place as it takes Saturn around 29 1/2 years to orbit around the Sun. Those persons born in the previous cycle with Saturn in Scorpio have birthdays between October 1953 through January 1956 and May 1956 through mid October 1956 when the planet went into Sagittarius. There will be a repetition of events now in the next 2 1/2 years for all those persons born in the above mentioned time zones. (There will also be rebounding affects at the cross quarters, those born 7, 14 and 21 years inside this larger 29 1/2 year cycle-another topic for another time.)
The next 2 1/2 years is the time period to get crystal clear about our expertise which will: be discovered for the first time, will experience growing pains in, will have to make a deeper commitment to, will have to overcome our fear of, and end our procrastination with in order to feel a sense of achievement. Why? Because when one person makes the effort through hard work and is noticed by another it stirs that one to do the same. Achieving inner satisfaction with a sense of self worth is very satisfying, which then allows you to give back to others from a place of wholeness and completion.
So what will those with Saturn in Scorpio become proficient in? Because astrological symbolism is as complex as human nature is, the mastery will/can be on many different levels: emotional self control, or lack of it, emotional independence or dependence; crisis management; penetrating investigation; transformational experiences, whether in the mind, body, or spirit; business acumen and management; money matters, especially monies that come from everyplace else other that what we have earned, that is inheritances, insurance, investments, wills, monies that we have together with a spouse; affairs of the dead, as in psychics and mediums; mysticism and the occult; detective work on any level whether it be a researcher, scientist, inspector or doctor. Scorpio loves secrets and getting to the bottom of things. Once set on a path they have an amazing level of endurance and forbearance, overcoming obstacles that would foil others.
I am also thinking about NYC at this time as having Libra rising, Scorpio is on the cusp of the 2nd house of money, possessions, tangible objects owned, resources. (5 boroughs incorporated January 1, 1898 12:01 AM.) The city in experiencing this level of devastation is having a Scorpionic experience and will over the course of these next years become masters at moving from total destruction and annihilation to resurgence and renewal. Money will have to be spent on infrastructure and with Saturn in the house of money it feels like there is none to do it. But with Pluto moving across their Capricorn Sun at the same time there is no limit to the possibilities.
Monday, October 15, 2012
As Promised Saturn in Scorpio
A promise given while Saturn is in Scorpio must be kept or there will be retribution to pay. Saturn symbolizes our commitments, responsibilities, duties, necessities, burdens, right and wrong, boundaries, the law, the workings of fate, our capacity for discipline and duty, consequences of past action, and what we manifest. Scorpio the fixed water sign (think deep intense emotion) coincides with Autumn and the Fall-when the natural world around us dies. Do things really die or do they just transform? Leaves turn from green to yellow, red and gold and fall off the tree, get ground down into the soil to feed the tree silently from underneath so that there can be a renewal in the Spring. Life is a continuing process of birth and death, waking and sleeping, no thing or no one of us escapes.
Scorpio rules serpents and scorpions, all that crawls along the ground and hides in dark places. A scorpion is the only animal that can kill itself with its own tail. Our common human creation story has the serpent tempting Eve with an apple and the subsequent "fall" of humankind. Yet the eagle is also the totem for Scorpio-the eagle that flies so high and has such keen vision but is also capable of taking its prey quickly and fatally. Scorpios are represented by the two extremes of the scorpion and the eagle. They often do battle with different sides of themselves as their ruler is Mars, who wants passionate movement and action, and in Scorpio, control and power.
No preparation can be more helpful for the next 2 1/2 years than a re-reading of J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. The book is about a journey and when Saturn enters a sign a new journey starts for each of us; we have to walk through a threshold when Saturn enters a new sign. The trilogy begins at Bilbo and Frodo's shared birthday party September 22nd, as the Sun moves into Libra the sign of relationships and companionship. As the Hobbits meet the rest of their traveling companions in the first book, one of the themes is what it means to be part of an inclusive fellowship, with its compromises. A common goal binds them together. This is all very Libran.
But with the death of Boromir, the fellowship breaks up and 4 separate factions trudge on, each meeting intense trials and dangers, facing their greatest fears, having to endure beyond what can seem to be humanely (or Hobbitly) possible to achieve the goal of destroying the ring. No character is the same at the end of the story as they were in the beginning, or where they came in. This most certainly was their and is our Scorpio time, when intense focused effort, whether for good or ill, is in our control. We, like the fellowship, must draw on the hidden depths of reserve energy to endure and press on-never giving up no matter where it takes us. It is the passionate commitment to a goal that counts, with countless life and death struggles along the way.
As Scorpio rules the mysteries of life, death, sex, goods of the dead, taxes, inheritances, wills, monies owed, debt, loans, business monies, insurances, the procreative act, passions, things hidden either in our minds or bodies, spiritual and psychological release, jealousy, revenge, undercover work and Saturn becomes a "reality check", we will see the effects of what we have done (or not done) in all the above affairs. Saturn demands accountability and in Scorpio this is not a superficial glance, but a deeply probing intense look at any area of your life that perhaps you wanted to keep a secret. Scorpio loves secrets and if you are hiding something that needs to be brought out to the light, the next 2 1/2 years will bring it to the surface. Or if you are controlling someone or something that does not belong to you the consequences of that fixation will be manifest. It is in the letting go of the obsession that the redemption is found.
Because Scorpio has the most range of any sign (remember the serpent and the eagle) they have the capacity to dwell in a dark, depressing solitary place for a time but when the pain expiates, they can recover, come above ground, heal the wound by exposing it and soar above the earth gaining a wider perspective. There is embodied in Scorpio the need to journey down into the underworld, to uncover a buried burden or secret that is waiting to get exposed to the light, purified, transformed and released. This could bring an intense relationship into your life if it is passing into your 7th house, or a thorough cleaning out of the basement or project to uncover your family genealogy if it is going into your 4th house of the home and family. We all have Scorpio governing some area of our life. The thorough house cleaning will be true for you in the area of your life where you have Scorpio on the cusp.
The last time Saturn was in Scorpio was December 1982-May 1983, then again August 1983 until mid November 1985. The time we are in now corresponds to December 1982 and August/ September 1983, just at the beginning of the transit. Looking back on that time and reflecting what your outer world looked like, will give you a hint of where Saturn will be focusing this time. If something significant started for you in your life, then you know that Scorpio is on an angle in your chart and Saturn crossing an angle means home affairs, partnership concerns, career endings or beginnings, or to a new round of personal growth is in store for you the next few years (and sometimes all 4 areas at the same time).
Planets cycle around the Sun; every 29 1/2 years Saturn makes a complete cycle. If there were lessons from 1982-85 that we did not completely catch, personal growth that we did not complete we now get another chance to finish. Living until 90 gives us only 3 times Saturn will be in Scorpio in our lives. Saturn rules old age, time and the harvest. Saturn is hard on youth because often we do not take ourselves seriously,or act responsibly. For a successful life, as we age, we grow into accepting who we are; Saturn brings a sense of security.
Hopefully the gains you have made as Saturn was in Libra, the sign previously, can be solidified into personal financial gains now, maybe starting a new business, or at least a reckoning that allows the truth of your financial situation to come to light. These past few years Saturn was in Venus sign, we learned what we did and did not like in relationships, we learned balance and fairness, what we loved to do, we beautified our lives. Now that Saturn is in Mars' sign our actions will be the focus. Is our work truly and deeply meaningful to us? What do we really desire? Can we let go of any obstacles that are getting in the way of the realization of our dream? Can we cut out of our life that which has finished its useful life?
Fearlessly acknowledging the facts is what Saturn wants. He ruled the "Golden Age"in Greek mythology when all was right with the world. Peace, prosperity, harmony and stability prevailed. No one worked and all was provided by the abundance of the earth. No sickness, suffering or aging occurred. Everybody was responsible and acted in accord with the common good, not their own selfish interests. We could do with a bit more of that these days.
Scorpio rules serpents and scorpions, all that crawls along the ground and hides in dark places. A scorpion is the only animal that can kill itself with its own tail. Our common human creation story has the serpent tempting Eve with an apple and the subsequent "fall" of humankind. Yet the eagle is also the totem for Scorpio-the eagle that flies so high and has such keen vision but is also capable of taking its prey quickly and fatally. Scorpios are represented by the two extremes of the scorpion and the eagle. They often do battle with different sides of themselves as their ruler is Mars, who wants passionate movement and action, and in Scorpio, control and power.
No preparation can be more helpful for the next 2 1/2 years than a re-reading of J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. The book is about a journey and when Saturn enters a sign a new journey starts for each of us; we have to walk through a threshold when Saturn enters a new sign. The trilogy begins at Bilbo and Frodo's shared birthday party September 22nd, as the Sun moves into Libra the sign of relationships and companionship. As the Hobbits meet the rest of their traveling companions in the first book, one of the themes is what it means to be part of an inclusive fellowship, with its compromises. A common goal binds them together. This is all very Libran.
But with the death of Boromir, the fellowship breaks up and 4 separate factions trudge on, each meeting intense trials and dangers, facing their greatest fears, having to endure beyond what can seem to be humanely (or Hobbitly) possible to achieve the goal of destroying the ring. No character is the same at the end of the story as they were in the beginning, or where they came in. This most certainly was their and is our Scorpio time, when intense focused effort, whether for good or ill, is in our control. We, like the fellowship, must draw on the hidden depths of reserve energy to endure and press on-never giving up no matter where it takes us. It is the passionate commitment to a goal that counts, with countless life and death struggles along the way.
As Scorpio rules the mysteries of life, death, sex, goods of the dead, taxes, inheritances, wills, monies owed, debt, loans, business monies, insurances, the procreative act, passions, things hidden either in our minds or bodies, spiritual and psychological release, jealousy, revenge, undercover work and Saturn becomes a "reality check", we will see the effects of what we have done (or not done) in all the above affairs. Saturn demands accountability and in Scorpio this is not a superficial glance, but a deeply probing intense look at any area of your life that perhaps you wanted to keep a secret. Scorpio loves secrets and if you are hiding something that needs to be brought out to the light, the next 2 1/2 years will bring it to the surface. Or if you are controlling someone or something that does not belong to you the consequences of that fixation will be manifest. It is in the letting go of the obsession that the redemption is found.
Because Scorpio has the most range of any sign (remember the serpent and the eagle) they have the capacity to dwell in a dark, depressing solitary place for a time but when the pain expiates, they can recover, come above ground, heal the wound by exposing it and soar above the earth gaining a wider perspective. There is embodied in Scorpio the need to journey down into the underworld, to uncover a buried burden or secret that is waiting to get exposed to the light, purified, transformed and released. This could bring an intense relationship into your life if it is passing into your 7th house, or a thorough cleaning out of the basement or project to uncover your family genealogy if it is going into your 4th house of the home and family. We all have Scorpio governing some area of our life. The thorough house cleaning will be true for you in the area of your life where you have Scorpio on the cusp.
The last time Saturn was in Scorpio was December 1982-May 1983, then again August 1983 until mid November 1985. The time we are in now corresponds to December 1982 and August/ September 1983, just at the beginning of the transit. Looking back on that time and reflecting what your outer world looked like, will give you a hint of where Saturn will be focusing this time. If something significant started for you in your life, then you know that Scorpio is on an angle in your chart and Saturn crossing an angle means home affairs, partnership concerns, career endings or beginnings, or to a new round of personal growth is in store for you the next few years (and sometimes all 4 areas at the same time).
Planets cycle around the Sun; every 29 1/2 years Saturn makes a complete cycle. If there were lessons from 1982-85 that we did not completely catch, personal growth that we did not complete we now get another chance to finish. Living until 90 gives us only 3 times Saturn will be in Scorpio in our lives. Saturn rules old age, time and the harvest. Saturn is hard on youth because often we do not take ourselves seriously,or act responsibly. For a successful life, as we age, we grow into accepting who we are; Saturn brings a sense of security.
Hopefully the gains you have made as Saturn was in Libra, the sign previously, can be solidified into personal financial gains now, maybe starting a new business, or at least a reckoning that allows the truth of your financial situation to come to light. These past few years Saturn was in Venus sign, we learned what we did and did not like in relationships, we learned balance and fairness, what we loved to do, we beautified our lives. Now that Saturn is in Mars' sign our actions will be the focus. Is our work truly and deeply meaningful to us? What do we really desire? Can we let go of any obstacles that are getting in the way of the realization of our dream? Can we cut out of our life that which has finished its useful life?
Fearlessly acknowledging the facts is what Saturn wants. He ruled the "Golden Age"in Greek mythology when all was right with the world. Peace, prosperity, harmony and stability prevailed. No one worked and all was provided by the abundance of the earth. No sickness, suffering or aging occurred. Everybody was responsible and acted in accord with the common good, not their own selfish interests. We could do with a bit more of that these days.
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