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asteroids, astrology, Capricorn Cancer axis, culture, Earth healing, planetary aspects, Politics, Root Medicine of the Stars

The Mirror and The Stars

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Embedded high up in immense cliffs a beautiful convex mirror is held within the rock matrix. Appearing as an artifact from another world, its pitted surface belies the magic it holds within. Covered in the dust of ages, unrecognisable but for the circular shape of its rim, it is a living archetype. Concretised and held fast, it conceals memories,  stories and knowledge, fossilised yet reaching far back in time….and yet, its lensing face pointing towards the stars, it holds the promise of a greater vision brought to earth.

Far below, on the shores of a deep and winding river a vast cavern echoes with ancient voices.  Each word a luminous spark ascending from a hidden fire, their rhythmic chant rises through the old forests lining the deep valley to become myriad stars wheeling high above the towering cliffs.

Between these realms a great tree connects heaven and earth. Older than all the forests, its roots reaching into the deepest subterranian realms, its branches touching unseen worlds between the stars, it is wise in its silent presence, intelligent beyond all earthly knowing.

The Power Of Persuasion

Deep in the heart of Saturn’s realm the July full Moon illuminates a world of extremes. At 28° Capricorn it speaks of ‘high station’, a place of elevation where the bedrock of law and power oversee the stability of the material realm. Its role is to balance the ineluctable interior forces of the imaginal world, here illuminated and activated through the Sun’s position at 28° Cancer, against the exteriorising power of the intellect, the reasoning and formalising potential of Nous. It is a balance between the felt and the abstracted.

In Capricorn this is the degree of the ‘Statesperson’, the lawful arbiter upon whose speech the nation’s well-being rests, through which it is negotiated. In Plato’s ‘Statesman’ this wordweaving is the handwork of Athene, upon whose paradigm he posits the craft of ‘politics’. It augers the power of words to arbitrate the anomalous, to find a place within the ‘sanctified whole’ for what James Hillman, in referencing the dilema of Orestes, translates as the ‘resident alien'(1). Orestes is a victim of necessity, caught between the worlds having transgressed sacred boundaries at the command of higher powers. He is torn between archai. The paradox is manifest in Ananke.

A symbolic representation of Necessity’s fundamental archetypal power, Plato described Ananke as ‘narrowing’, both of circumstance and scope, like ‘walking through a ravine which is impassable, rugged and overgrown, and impedes motion’. As an archetypal power Ananke carries something of Saturn’s signature, but it also embodies the irrepressible forces constellated at the emotional centre of the psyche. If released, which they must be for integration to be achieved, these fierce forces can manifest as anomalous outbursts, and their latency is made clear through their etymological links with angst and anxiety.

And yet, in its very narrowness, if redeemed of its alien otherness, Ananke intimates a ‘close bond’, a fundamental kinship, and natural and moral ties between persons. The balance sought through this Moon’s process of ‘negotiation towards integration’ seeks not to obliterate the anomalous identity and its latent power but to ‘normalise’ it, by finding a place for it within the ‘divine order’. The quality of this Moon, for all its paradoxical stresses, carries potential for reconciliation and healing. The key lies in the power of words.

In the ‘Oresteia of Aeschylus’ (2) it is indeed Athena who arbitrates the fate of Orestes, and she does so through the power of Peitho, Persuasion. This is the core active element working through this full Moon, but, it also carries magical overtones, through association with incantation and ‘spell-work’ that are equally persuasive.  These are of a more  hidden nature than Athene’s applied framework of reason and rhetoric. In fact rhetoric can be as magically persuasive as the esoteric power of words suggest, but, at root their power is here sourced in Ananke, rather than Nous.

At the Sun’s degree in Cancer we find both interwoven.

The Inner Radiance

The Moon’s influence finds its counter balance and resolution in the Cancer Sun, a point of contrast carrying the emotive language of a deeply innate source. At 28° Cancer the protective shell of the dwelling place has taken on the symbolism of ‘the cave of the ancestors’, the womblike opening in the earth, where we find our greater family itself embedded within the matrix of the fertile valley of Life. Its inhabitants, existing ourside of time and Saturn’s realm, subsume the full Moon’s high position. Arising from common roots within the matrix of life, the achievements of high culture are enriched by the deeper meaning they can deliver. Reconciling the tension between these polarity points is an act of healing, which Athene achieves through persuasive influence and inclusivity. But, her presence here originates with the Sun, the force behind original identity, through the asteroid Athene. One degree from the solar disc at full Moon, Athene is also found conjunct the TNO (Trans-Neptunian Object) Varuna.

In Varuna we find the pervasive presence of the divine that is ‘behind everything’. Varuna, representing the fundamental spiritual power beyond perception, was one of the pre-Vedic creation deities and the first ‘named’ TNO to be discovered beyond Pluto’s orbit (3). In fact Varuna, like Athene, is also associated with the application of law, to those who do not keep their word. But, unlike Athene’s application through human law, Varuna’s are natural laws, an expression of the incomprehensible cosmic order, as opposed to the order of society. In essense, Varuna is akin to the background radiation that infuses all in the material world, out of sight, but here, and distinctly not ‘out of mind’.

The corollaries of Athene, Pallas and Minerva, also hold the balance of the earth and water signs at full Moon – Pallas is at 5° Pisces and Minerva opposes at 3° Virgo. The triumvirate goddess is coherent by element, Minerva and the Moon in earth, Pallas, Athene and the Sun in water. The triplicated water element holds sway – a reflection of the healing potential needing to be brought to the people, represented by the Moon, a restorative to the soul.

The third decan of Capricorn in which we find the full Moon is sub-ruled by Venus, now quincunxing Pallas and Neptune from early Leo. Along with Mercury, Venus also trines Saturn in Sagittarius and the message is clear. The feminine energy now emphasises the need to integrate Athene’s qualities of holding and receptivity into the greater whole.

This is a Moon that encourages the healing power of Capricorn to prevail, its higher order concieved through feeling connections rather than applying the fruits of ambition. The metaphysical nature of language can overcome the physical attributes of the Moon’s degree. In doing so the people are called upon to remind the statespeople of their essential role, not as aggressively defensive representatives of nationalistic indentity, but, as people whose words and rhetoric embody the most noble and reconciliatory responsibilities of their high office – the resolution of the apparently irreconcilable, the disfunctional seperation between the power of the State and the voice of the People.

In Plato’s conception of the State the balance between Nous and Ananke is vital, and Athene’s role in maintaining it paramount, but, there is a deeper and more cosmological meaning at work here as Plato also considered creation to arise not out of the elements, but out of the interweaving (an Athenian word) of Nous and Ananke. It is in Athene’s power of rhetoric to carry ‘change’ to its next level that her creative side is revealed. She brokers the deal by incorporating necessity, giving it a rightful place. In our pathological world this is tantamount to taking back antagonistic elements of our shadow from projection, of integrating its presence and subsuming its forces into a higher, that is to say more holistic, order of consciousness.

As political as we might expect a Capricorn Moon to be, in its deeply founded instincts, impersonal yet natural, Ananke embodies ‘driving necessities’, and their prevelance cannot be denied amongst the body politic. Ananke is fundamental ‘being’ whose powers cannot be subsumed in themselves, but, which can be given their appropriate place, honoured and recognised, without compromise to either their integrity or the integrity of the whole.

This pathological quality is also a political necessity that infuses this full Moon with a need to recognise the driving forces behind our current circumstances, as well as the wounds they may inflict through eruption, both indicated by sextiles from the Moon to Mars in Scorpio, and Chiron in Pisces. Along with the Sun, this kite configuration can fly aloft and achieve great heights, but it is in the Sun’s anchoring position that its healing capacity is most fully illuminated. Without the root, the thread of generative power rising from within its womb like cavern, the past and the future become dangerously cut adrift from reality – and, without the ancestral thread, the people lose identity.

In this full Moon is a poigniant reflection of the current political upheavals through which we are seeing diplomacy being heavily orchestrated by the tension between both globalised political realignments and restructuring, much of which remains hidden and out of the hands of the people, and terrorist outbreaks of violence which release powerful irrational forces within the populace and the force of necessity within the body politic.

The cracked and tarnished mirror must be retrieved, moistened and worked upon to restore its soul reflecting potential, and the highest offices of power restored with a transparency and integrity that is capable of reflecting the soul of the collective. As it is, the mirror, as the People, occupies the moral and ethical vantage point, but, it is encrusted with centuries if not millenia of calcified political and social wounds, held fast and obscured.

It is a vantage point from which the Moon reflects the dangers of a world in which even the highest levels of consciousness are prone to wrong use, where its aspirations have become entrapped in false ideologies and hubristic illusion. If over-indulgent of its own level of importance, its position’s highest value can become clouded by irrelevance, forgotten amidst a jaded sense of self justifying meaning. Cut lose from the necessities of the mundane and secular through misuse of force and power, as much as from the People themselves, it posits its own truth in the face of the apparent opposite. This is the degree of Capricorn where leadership can manifest its own shadow, perhaps as clear an indication of the flavour of the times as we can expect.

However, the complimentary gift of this degree is its capacity for taking the Saturnian qualities of focus and realisation to the next level, and for those who can aspire towards and work with that potential, as well as for the dreamer who would set the mirror of their own soul free from the binding constraints of worldly power and necessity, a more transcendant role is also offered here.

The Divine Gift

Etymologically Athene is connected with both ‘attainment’ and ‘holding’. In maritime lore hers is the place at the top of the mast, the ‘Tau’, where the lookout is stationed. At the base of the mast is the holding box, the ‘Kau’, which corresponds to the centre of balance for the vessel. The dynamic between the two is itself extreme, the one pitching with every wave, exaggerating the energy of the swelling ocean, the other pivotal and steady, keeping the vessel bouyant, balanced around a common centre. Her role is to weave together, to foster the crafting of life through navigating a sure course, in all events, reconciling its vicarious nature between these polarities.

She can be seen as the Mother figure of the State, even though in her mythology she remained childless and in ‘virgin’ state herself. She is the fierce protector, fully armoured and ready for combat, but, in her capacity for finding healing words and containment she brings the feminine and the masculine into balance. She represents the middle way, the center ground which is capable of embracing the ‘abnormal’ through inclusivity based upon steadfast intelligence.

Like Saturn her emphasis on discipline is dispassionate, however, her persuasive reasoning can bring both energy and direction, and inspire while formulating goals of a higher order. In this full Moon she offers the means for releasing the light of reason, as a vehicle for life affirming forces to become re-integrated into the world, at a time when the mirror is defiled and its reflection cracked.

These are primal innate forces that can neither be named or objectified, but, which give rise to all that has become incarnate. Their highest expression transcends boundaries, as symbolised in the Tree of Life, but, just as the lunar disc is dependant upon the solar disc’s radiance for its glory at full Moon, the people are dependant upon the endless stream of ancestral voices singing us into being. As Hillman says, “in the mouth of Athene speech becomes a curative hymn, a word which etymologically means ‘spun’ or ‘woven words'”(4). There is great power for the good to be found in this, an enchantment. The ancestors voices give us our root identity and their light lives on in Nature, both on Earth and amongst the stars. In retrieving the mirror of the soul from its bondage in the material, our work at its restoration and re-enchantment will bring their reflection back to Earth and illuminate our souls.

(1) & (4) Facing The Gods ~ James Hillman, Spring Publications 1980

(2) The Oresteia of Aeschylus ~ trans. G. Thompson, Cambridge University Press, 1938

(3) Varuna was discovered in the year 2,000; not the first minor planet to be observed beyond Pluto’s orbit, it was the first to be given a name. It has been designated the number 20000.

Asteroid Athene’s number is 881; Pallas is 2; Minerva is 93

The imagery at the head of this article came from a dream many years ago which arrived under a Capricorn full Moon and was fleshed out, its inner significance to this time confirmed, through meditations on the degrees for the Sun and Moon sourced in the Sabian symbols and the divinatory meaning given to these degrees through the Chandra symbols.

astrology, culture, Earth healing, planetary aspects, planetary nodes, retrograde planets, Root Medicine of the Stars, Transition of the Ages

Creating The Path Is The Path ~ Mars Stations Direct

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In the early hours of June 30th Mars stations at 23°03′ of Scorpio and, from our Earth perspective, begins a new two year cycle of direct motion.  Mars direct offers us a springboard for informed action that is in alignment with our deepest desires. However, to gain the optimum benefits of this impulse it is well advised to first align with Mars slowdown, to realign ourselves with our own internal drives before putting new plans into action. As Mars slows down to standstill after ten weeks of being retrograde, it is now time to take a moment to reflect on the most important lessons we can draw from the last two months or more.

If you have felt as though, in some important areas of your life, you have been driving with the handbrake on, from the end of June into early July you can expect a sense of emergence and greater freedom to come into play – allow some time to let your wings to unfurl and feel their power before taking off for the wild blue yonder.

If you have been able to bide your time or have treated this time as an opportunity to have fun with the retrograde period, doing handbrake turns and making circles in the road, this is now a time to stop burning rubber senselessly and take a more serious view towards your own agenda – draw breath and for the next couple of weeks show yourself just how adept you can be at taking the potential of your own life seriously.

The gist is that Mars retrograde  is a time to either slow down and go with the flow or to let off steam, both being preparation for a coming time of focus and concerted effort. Either way, in Scorpio Mars ultimately gives us a deeper sense of our own power and its place in the world, and, with this apparent change of impetus a change of perspectives comes into play. The third quarter of 2016 will undoubtedly challenge us to face up to how we are using our energy in pursuit of our most deeply held desires.

Reassessing our deepest passions at a personal level inevitably brings us face to face with limitations to using our personal power that we have experienced in the past. The expansion of imagination and (self) knowledge that we can bring to bear on this process will directly affect the world view we have, especially when Mars enters Sagittarius again just after Lughnasadh, at the beginning of August. This will be a good time to embark upon new fields of learning, to broaden our skills base and thinking.

Collectively, in the face of current circumstances, this shift in perspective meets a longer term necessity; we know  we must become more worldly wise, especially as we now enter a time in which the will of the people will be increasingly tested against the will of the power brokers in this world. Where these clash, where we experience dissonance between our own agendas and those that have we have been co-opted into, ‘a new level of understanding’ is the optimum prerequisite – it signals a time of ‘consciousness raising’ and any action that lacks this fundamental requirement runs the risk of repeating our mistakes, as well as of instigating confrontation and violent reprisal. Conversely, with the higher goal firmly in our grasp we stand a good chance of seeing the ‘groundswell’, the resurgent ‘will of the people’ that was seeded at the Spring eclipses bearing first fruits.

The cultural and global impact of this effect will bring fresh challenges to the status quo, and a refueled sense of purpose is a prerequisite for making our actions count, in the face of any resistance to systemic change it may catalyse. I am anticipating a third quarter of dynamic attempts at restructuring the relationship between personal and institutionalised power, and we need to be ready and well informed!

Mars will be carrying the Scorpio imprint of unwavering focus and determination forward in its new cycle so, where there are clashes of agendas, we can expect hightened friction to colour the mundane world as we shift between the Ages. However, the planetary matrix indicates that we will see this dynamic upping a gear sooner rather than later. Towards the end of August the red planet will return to 9° of Sagittarius, the degree in which its retrograde period began – the preparation we can undertake now and ensuing the sense of direction we have chosen will meet its first real test.

swordwoman

On August 24th Mars will meet with Saturn on the fixed star Antares, squaring the lunar nodes, a strong indication that the prevailing focus will be on how the wilful use of aggression is shaping our world, and what its antidote is. At its ‘higher octave’ Antares martial focus belongs to the individual who champions the underdog, the ‘David’ like figure who stands up to ‘Goliaths’ of this world and fights for liberation. People power starts with each of us and activism will be more effective if it is ‘knowingly applied’, organised, keeping the bigger picture firmly in mind, rather than simply as a collectively realised personal reaction to events. A skilfull use of our personal power and knowledge is favoured over crude use of force that follows the herd.

The challenge is to use the will to higher ends, to temper our tempers, to use the fiery life force at large constructively, and to keep the focus on significant and beneficial long term change rather than short term victories. There is a philosophical flavour to the view that will emerge, bringing the more traumatic consequences of ‘short-termism’ into sharp focus.

As Mars moves beyond Saturn a moment of hiatus may crystalise following events that, for example, cause us to severely question and make a concerted effort to bring an end to the misuse of  our vital energy and its co-option in the pursuit of conflict and war. This will coincide with Mars transit of Uranus south node, a crucial point already activated by Saturn’s station retrograde three months ago.

Saturn’s retrograde will itself come to an end shortly before the meeting with Mars when the Moon transits the ringed planet on August 12th, so the lessons of Saturn’s own retrograde period must also be taken into account before hand, as a part of our preparation. These reach back to March 24th 2016 when, just hours after the full Moon/lunar eclipse, Saturn slowed to a standstill within 30′ of arc of the south node of Uranus in Sagittarius.

Embedded within the 36 year cycle between Neptune and Saturn this astrological event underlined the question of who we are and why we are here, the meaning of our mortality and relationship with death within life. With these two planets currently in a tight square and the lunar nodes closing to square Saturn over the coming months the third quarter of 2016 has a philosophical quality about it that underpins the ongoing global transformation already underway.

Uranus seven squares with Pluto have undermined the power structures of ‘the Establishment’ and we are now dealing with the effects of this, the turbulence in their wake. Saturn’s presence also carries the Sagittarian signature forward, putting everything that has stood for maintenance of the status quo into a ‘global context’ of reconfiguration at ground level.

The challenge is to avoid falling back into old patterns and materialise a break with the past that commits to working for a better future. Collectively, this could be a magical and inspiring time, if our personal will is able to operate beyond habitual constraints and we have the imaginative ability to re-envision the human imprint upon our home planet. Every individual’s contribution counts.

In Saturn’s square with Neptune the anthropocentrism of the human presence on planet Earth is questioned in its relationship to the ecocentric spirit and aspirations of our times. This relationship is bringing increasing tension into the world as we question our own collective purpose in the light of environmental disturbances and their relationship to our use of power and technology within the current cultural and spiritual paradigms. This is an aspect that brings the imaginative and spiritual realms of consciousness into question through the lens of pragmatic worldly analysis. When we get into this frame of mind, the constellation of Piscean archetypes and the dynamics of imagination can ground in new forms within the Sagittarian field, but not before exposing both our spiritual deficit and our hubristic tendencies. Uranus can also indicate where the trauma arising from these tendencies continue to affect us, where we need to raise our consciousness to a new level.

Saturn and Neptune’s rhythm is deeply instructive. In the human realm the 36th year marks the first waxing square after the first Saturn return, a moment of maturation that tests the validity of the gains we have made in the process of coming home to the reality of our selves. It is the equivalent of three Jupiter cycles, an expansion of our personal power that requires a new level of maturity, and presages the need to consolidate our gains towards meaningful ends, a process which is tested at mid-life. As we enter the very beginning of the current period of recapitulation and preparation, as Mars slows down and turns direct, we now find Jupiter and the Moon’s north node conjunct in Virgo. They are exactly on Uranus and Pluto’s meeting point at the beginning of their current cycle during the mid sixties.

These times carry some potent connections across time and question our capacity to embrace the wider view through time towards the future. Uranus in Aries is quincunx Mars as he stations direct in Scorpio – and Mars rulership of both signs reflects a time to claim our own sovereignty. Mars also trines retrograde Chiron in Pisces – self compassion is the key to healing our spiritual wounds, the sign that we are ready to reclaim and strengthen the link with the wisdom of our ‘higher self’.

‘Rebellious youth’ must, inevitably, become ‘responsible adult’ and humanity, having acted for too long like a kid in a Ferrari, must realise that the red light that is flashing in the periphary of our vision is not simply the cops giving chase, the past catching up with us, but, also the sign that our tank is approaching empty and we may be running on air. The ‘fly-boys’ and hedonists of the world are about to get their comeuppance! But, we don’t want to be taken down with them…..

longship

Make good use of the coming weeks to get with your own inner beat, develop the meaningful art of understanding your own rhythms, and re-orientate your life towards worthy causes that your own passions align with naturally. With a sense of liberation and willingness to navigate through unknown territory the world takes on a dynamic vitality that reflects Mars impulse to get up and live; as the July new Moon approaches we can prepare for fresh fields, an expansion of our personal and collective scope, and carry the momentum forward with a deepened sense of responsibility.

No matter how small you may feel in the face of our current global challenges Mars message is to be confident in yourself. There is great power in this. Take this time personally, make it your own, but, remember, everything you do has a meaning and a purpose that reaches well beyond the known – this is the age of transition and, in it, creating the path ‘is’ the path.

astrology, culture, Earth healing, human rights, lunations, planetary aspects, Politics, Root Medicine of the Stars, Sagittarius Gemini axis

The Next Level

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Miu Anthony Kwok - uraeus and apophis

The June lunation opens with a powerful pair of oppositions forming a mutable grand cross. This GC involves Sun, Moon and Venus conjunct at 14° of Gemini opposite Saturn rx, squaring off to Jupiter opposite Neptune. Beyond this, the new Moon matrix is complex and will evolve in complexity as the lunation progresses, but, the mutable grand cross sets the primary template out of which the majority of subsequent actions build. First, a run down on the contributing aspects in the NM template.

The Map

While the onging T square between Neptune, Saturn and Jupiter (+ the north node of the Moon) hold the potential grand cross energy in earth, fire and water throughout the lunation, the incoming conjunction between the Sun and Venus in Gemini  slowly brings the GC into orb over the week before new Moon. We will already have seen some of the dynamics of this lunation kicking in.

Alongside this a long running grand trine in the earth signs is brought to its conclusion as Mercury returns to the degree of his solar transit in Taurus at new Moon. As the grounding quality of the grand trine fades its more evolutionary aspect continues through Jupiter and Pluto. Its underlying energy is now being released at the surface.

With a Sun, Moon, Venus and Saturn alignment at new Moon we should be on EQ alert; its been ticking over with quakes in the 4-7 range of late as relatively low impact solar wind streams in from coronal holes in the Sun, but, vulcanism is on the increase. This has correlated with the grand earth trine over the last six weeks, but we are moving into more atmospheric realms with this lunation. Solar driven perturbations in the weather on Earth is being exacerbated by geoengineering on a daily basis and radars increasingly pick up strong EM pulses manipulating weather formations.

Two other planetary aspects of significance accompany the NM template; a growing trine between Mars, now retrograde in Scorpio, and Chiron who, along with Neptune, will turn retrograde in Pisces before the lunation ends. As an independent aspect this stirring up of fixed and mutable water signs will find its mark when the trine perfects and Uranus triggers Mars station direct through a developing quincux near to the July new Moon. This looks like a building of energy around the issues of war crimes, the sacrifice of lives in the name of death and its ideologies. Regardless the issues this does not bode well for HRC as Mars heads towards her south node in Scorpio – Mars will station right on top of her SN and if the dark underbelly of the establishment goes on the attack as a defence, there will be casualties! Dirt will continue to be dug, shit will hit the fan, but, that drama is far from being confined to the ‘Fools on the Hill’….

The other aspect punching its weight throughout this time is a configuration that astrologers call a ‘Pythagorean Triangle’ ~ this brings together a trine, a square and a quincunx. At new Moon the first PT is formed by Pluto and Jupiter in cahoots, forming an antagonistic connection with the Sun, Moon and Venus conjunction. The internal dynamic of this configuration pits a harmonious energetic against two more dissonant dynamics and we will see it repeat several times, involving different planets, throughout the month and into the next lunation. Much is being questioned across the matrix with this edgy configuration, and there is a ‘good cop/bad cop’ quality about the interrogation, but, I’ll have much more to say about it after the full Moon/Solstice post when we have had time to observe its effects – but, right now we need to focus on the mutable grand cross as this gives us the lay of the land ahead.

loscil

The Territory

The field of action this post will look into is primarily that most directly affecting ‘world events’. The spotlight is in Gemini and the groundswell is getting a boost from this grand cross….

As a ‘structure’ a grand cross exposes the relationship between two perpendicular axes and the dynamics between their polarity points. Its internal orthogenic dynamic manifests a need to evolve through direct and honest understanding; while the geometry of the grand cross suggests rigidity needing to be overcome, the present one’s mutable quality drives intergral relationships seeking active ways of breaking down rigidity that aren’t fixed on outcomes. This is a key quality for the coming period – negotiations predominate over outcomes.

The four ‘squares’ this mutable GC manifests are, simply put, problematic aspects that pit lies against truths, and our thinking against our beliefs. This culture questioning, ideology testing and reality forming theme is initating an open ended process. However, the Pythagorean triangle gives this lunation an extra degree of dissonance and coercive provocation and the grand cross suggests some of the strategies that will serve us in meeting this.

A key word here is ‘diplomacy‘, which needs to be consciously used, but in the current climate diplomacy can be both a ‘mediating influence’ and an ‘arena’ in which conflicts of interest are exposed. Diplomatic immunity not withstanding. The squares acting in unison globalise problem posing questions, pushing communications and action around ‘big issues’ towards finding meaningful outcomes, and lets be sure about this, those outcomes, if arrived at, will themselves raise further questions. The potential for any realistic and valuable progress to be made is balanced by the likelihood that the process will, in the long run, also involve some serious button pushing. ‘Think before you speak’ is the number one house rule!

Allegiances will be reconfigured and attempts made to firm them up, but, their longevity may belie the short term functions on which they are, in reality, likely to be founded. This is a tactical Moon which may bring significant changes to long term strategies – the TTIP is likely to continue to fuel reconfigurations in international relations, for example.

With Venus in Gemini involved from the start, money markets and the value we place on intellectual property will be in the spotlight. There could be copyright issues involved which highlight the core value of ‘the commons’, which while it is an internet issue as well as an intellectual one, is at the heart of the eco-debate concerning Earth Rights. Online surveillance and the value of privacy versus the need for transparency is a hot coal being tossed around, but, the climate debate is going to be fragmenting further as new evidence emerges that alters the framework of understanding that underpins its thesis.

We have already seen ‘globalist banking’ meeting behind closed doors to form new partnerships – why might that be happening and why has it not been in the MSM? The simple answer is that this year has already been marked out for a major financial breakdown; all part of the ‘plan’ you understand, but, be prepared and strengthen your own finances and resources in anticipation of whats coming. Seriously! ‘What have you got to lose’ is the pertinent question…..

This ‘problem solving malarky’ is fine, if your work is based on problem solving, but, it is the corporate lawyers and law makers who will be laughing all the way to the bank if the public good is not seen to be served by their litigations and outcomes. We all need to be our own ‘private eye’ right now. Judgemental as we may be in witnessing such shenanigans, and rightly so, humans tend to seek the security of stability as an outcome but in the weeks surrounding this lunation a level of security, and certainty, may need to be sacrificed in favour of ethical and moral pressures that reflect the needs of the ‘vulnerable’, the ‘small person’ and ‘the many’, rather than ‘the priviliged few’.

This could be a lunation that assists in the correction of injustices in favour of both the People and the individual, against the grain of institutionalised law and ethics, of which the current shambles of the UN’s Human Rights Commission is an example, but it will take a unified collective effort with a loud voice to really see justice done. The mutable grand cross may shake them up at the conference room table, but, will the repurposing of their directives lead to anything different? The heat is turning up as, while the lies and hypocrisy are exposed, the voice of ‘truth’ is growing louder.

It often feels like the real problem that prevents us from collectively getting anywhere is that too many of us have our ill informed heads in the sand, most of the time, while too many of the power brokers have their egotistical heads ‘where the sun don’t shine’, all the time. At least we can see the former changing now and I think the June lunation could see this change find a boost in momentum. Its time to wise up and work with change rather than resist it. There are political repercussions to adopting this attitude. But, changing the pattern in politics requires a more radical restructuring and re-prioritisation of existing political agendas.

The Geminian field is the spring board and is asking for a re-balancing of left brain and right, and we can see from the state of the world how crucial this is. And, it won’t end with this lunation.

The mutable quality of the grand cross amplifies the need to let go of attachment to outcomes and get with the process. More-so, as the gist here is that this grand cross will stir up action that will unbalance the status quo, and the June lunation will be carrying a great deal of power for radical change at the roots of the power base, in the hands of the people – put those two thoughts together!

The answer will almost certainly not be what we expect either as Uranus is unaspected at the start and for most of this lunation. His qualities suffuse the field with an obscure tendency towards unexpected initiatives and interventions – nevertheless, plans could be scuppered, best intentions could be diverted, and we will be kept on our toes. The upside of this is definitely going to come out of ‘right brain activation’ ~ it is this that will take us to the next level! This does not mean getting woo woo and illogical….we need to re-balance the hemispheres. Ideologies based upon polarities and competition will be where the greatest stresses are felt.

Its tempting to dig in deeper and run a more thorough commentary on current issues in which we will see these dynamics at work but we all know who and what the current hot potatoes are; what may be more useful here is to step back and keep focus on the generic qualities of the lunation. However, there is one very important quality of the new Moon that must be highlighted before going further – the conjunction of Venus with the Moon in Gemini is pointing towards women’s voices coming to the fore, way-showing in conjunction with the Sun and, in opposition to Saturn rx in Sagittarius this suggests that long held patriarchal values are most likely to be in the cross-hairs. Women aiming for power positions who work through predominant masculine values will be most under attack – HRC comes to mind again.

The quincunx between the NM stellium and Pluto rx in Capricorn, close to his own south node, tell us that this initiative will be looking to correct the injustices caused to women through misogynist agendas that have suppressed women and their power. That is a major epochal wound, but, Venus will be involved in the next new Moon template as well; this is no flash in the pan. We are healing over five thousand years of historical trauma against ‘the Feminine’ and Earth is getting behind her daughters; the energy of rebellion and revolt is rising and these issues will be one of the primary targets for reform until justice is done and the balance restored.

UMUSUNA

Composting Beliefs & Digging The ‘Dirt’

“Culture is something that can die and we should understand that culture is dynamic”  ~ Bihela Sekere, knowledge keeper of the San People of Botswana

The mutable T square formed by Neptune, Saturn and Jupiter forms the ongoing anchor for the GC energies and has already been working up a head of steam throughout the May lunation. Its a cultural melting pot and we are in it!

The Neptunian influence in this equation is strong as Neptune is currently domecile, being the modern ruler of Pisces. Jupiter is the traditional ruler of Pisces and being opposite in Virgo is in detriment – does that tell us something? This polarity was activated by the Spring eclipses and will be activated again by two more in September. It pits horizontal and vertical manifestations of power against each other, egalitarian organic networks working to break down ingrained heirarchical ideologies, and asks each to find its opposite qualities in the other. There is a mandate for political activism in this, but, it is a circular argument that has been going on for millenia – now, as the Piscean age hits the ‘dimmer’ switch the tussle to keep things illuminated becomes more intense. Saturn at the apex of the T square is the adjudicator in this struggle.

Saturn draws a line under the ‘crap’ & ‘scrap’ that both sides are producing and poses the question of ‘what do we do with it?’ We need some Geminian humour to alleviate the tension, just so long as we are not drawing cartoons that take the piss out of religions. But, seriously, the deal here is that the inherited beliefs we hold are not necessarily ours and that is something that this reality is now reflecting back to us. It is time to take stock of the hidden controls, to reset the security settings on our spiritual and philosophical browsers, and reassert the right to own our own Truths and Beliefs.

The PTB are hell bent on convincing us of what to believe and the need to ‘love them, use them or lose them’, while in reality they couldn’t give a toss. Its the corporate end of profitability they are interested in and we ain’t invited to the party. Sadly, this approach has come out of religious control mechanisms dating back to at least the council of Nicea. Meanwhile, the Israeli Antiquities Authority and teams of their archeologists are trying to save papyrus scrolls buried in the Judean desert from rampant grave robbing……

Saturn also requires us to clearly differentiate between beliefs and ideals that can be realistically grounded in reality and those that exist because our understanding is incomplete. The Dead Sea Scrolls are a case in point. In Sagittarius, Saturnian law tests the faith we have in what we know, but, he will balance this out by assisting in developing the strength and integrity we need to stand in our own truth. The Essense spirit lives on……

All this can lead to empowered individuals who have formulated a clear understanding of the value and internal structures of their beliefs. It can also lead to overzealous rigid fundamentalism. We can find ‘leaders’ amongst both, including new age opportunists, inspirational and motivational speakers, human and environmental rights figure-heads, spiritual entrepenuers, gurus, evangelists, cult leaders and religious  militants, not to mention politicians and globalists. In Saturn’s square with Neptune and Jupiter the ideological basis of fundamentalism is examined, broken down and digested, its place in the world assessed according to what and how it feeds us, how this benefits us, or deceives and hurts us.

This is a Moon in which ‘adherents to faiths’, ‘believers’ and ‘idealists’ have to face up to exposure and close examination of their principles, the validity of their way of seeing the world. This may not be confined to faiths but can also come about through secular un-neighborliness, ill concieved cultural incompatibilty, which can lead to conflict and power struggles which highlight and exaggerate their differences further. We do need to rise above all that. The furor surrounding immigration is a melting pot in which the antagonistic antipathy between blinkered nationalism and idealistic liberalism is rearing its ugly head, for example – but I’m not going to mention Brexit…..damn!

Under such scrutiny beliefs and ideologies either become re-constituted, re-envisioned according to the primary principles upon which they are based or, exposed in the light of experience, become the root of isolation and and a breeding ground for scapegoats. Did you catch Chomsky’s hint of the latter should the UK pull out of the EU, btw? Either way, the reality of the change that isn’t being addressed by these political pantomimes is going to be an emergent issue through this lunation.

The trend here is to compost beliefs, ideas and policies that don’t grow corn and prepare the ground by turning over the barren soil of redundant understanding. Clearly, it is time to stop ‘believing’, to let life teach us and step on the gas with manifesting reality outside the box of the old and outmoded regimes. The time is ripe to step up to the next level.

Communicating With ‘The Other Side’

This new Moon also highlights problems pertinent to our spiritual and mental health, and that is very pertinent to the Mercury influence that was opened up by its solar transit. What are our internal blind spots, where are the blockages that prevent us from raising our resonance, and what are they telling us. What is getting in the way of us making changes that we know need to happen? How much of what we hold to doesn’t actually belong to us anyway, in fact, this is probably the best question we can ask of ourselves here. The struggle is not simply global, or archetypal, it is also personal. These major aspects help this process. However, that mutable question ‘what comes next’ may well affect our answers more than our questions. They are staring us in the face; take a higher view and share what you can see.

astrology, divination, Earth healing, I Ching, lunations, planetary aspects, retrograde planets, Root Medicine of the Stars, Sagittarius Gemini axis

Conflict Resolution

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The May full Moon is conjunct Mars, retrograde in Sagittarius. This is a Moon that draws attention to qualities of mind, their power in shaping reality and the conditioning influences they bring to life. The will is turned inward, the search for meaning is amplified, the need to get under the skin of our most burning issues is emphasised. This can stir up emotional stress and requires a presence of mind that is able to penetrate beyond appearances without losing its lucidity.

The nature of conflict, its inner purpose and causes, is under the spotlight of the Gemini Sun as the May lunation reaches its height.  How we claim a positive application of the inflamed Moon’s energies is an open question and rests upon our own inner state of lucidity. The lunar impulse will give way to a more positive dynamic if, in its midst, mindful equilibrium is sought and its energy focused in diligent awareness. Its usefulness can overcome its potential volatility.

Knowledge is the ‘weapon of choice’ here but the aim is to use it to a higher purpose, one that avoids misuse of its power, that rests upon a respectful understanding of its purpose.

Interpretations of that purpose can be as individual as the person making them, and it is advisable to reflect upon your own use of the power available to you, as well as the areas of conflict it highlights in your own life. But, collectively there is something to be gained from looking into the nature of Mars own journey at this time.

Mars journey through the Sagittarian fields took a turn on April 17th when he reached the star Antares in the heart of the Scorpion’s constellation and stationed retrograde. At that time Mercury in Taurus was in exact trine with Pluto in Capricorn and the waxing Moon was passing through mid Virgo, joining with Jupiter and the north node. The grand earth trine they formed has contributed a sense of immanence and build up, a pulsing of the earth field that deepens the sense of expectancy. Its image is of thunder within the earth. In the full Moon we see this image developed, activating its potential energy within and releasing it amongst the people.

The qualities of the star Antares, whose name can be read as ‘against Aries’, have a distinctly martial nature, bring a deeper meaning to Mars station – a will to pull back from the brink of war, is an obvious interpretation. But, this star is also one of the four guardians of the heavens, associated with the ‘Watcher of the West’, an epithet suggesting the need to be vigilant of the path the ‘red road’ is leading us on, towards the ancestral realms, beyond the borders of life.

Amphitrite

At full Moon on the 21st of May Mars meets with the Moon in the second degree of tropical Sagittarius. They appear in the skies as two bright travellers passing through the great library of Nature amongst the stars. They will reflect the solar life force at work in nature through the intelligence and awareness of the Geminian field as the Sun opposes them across the zodiac. The energy of the intelligent design at work in nature, reflected in the purposefulness and psychosomatic unity they signify, lends to Mars meeting with the Moon a deepening desire to recalibrate our personal power in line with our soul. The need to gain a deeper understanding of who we are and why we have come here.

In a sense, in retracing his steps Mars shows a willingness to dig deeper into the substrates of accumulated knowledge held within the Sagittarian bedrock of its first degrees. The pathway he is following leads to the underworld and, beyond the Scorpio cusp, breaks through to the subterranean ocean that lies beneath. Pluto and Mars combine their powers in this realm.

This a place of primaeval intensity, its instinctive drives an expression of an archetypal desire for life that underpins the incarnate world. The life forms that inhabit the oceanic underworld of Scorpio correspond to essential manifestations of the life force, to the fundamental dynamics and beings of the unconscious – the codes of natural law are given shape here and their primal coding of the intelligent design within nature reveal its raw building blocks; Scorpio is also associated with DNA.

The journey Mars has undertaken and his lunar rendevous suggests their meeting across from the Sun is intended to draw attention to where our own journey is taking us in relation to those codes of Life. Their highest expression is present ‘in potentia’, an unimaginally vast store-house of ancestral knowledge lies behind its patterning, but, science has failed to understand that the message is not in the code itself; decoding its pattern does not give us access to its highest purpose. It requires the quality of virtue to access its meaning.

The I Ching says ‘virtue is what is commanded by the divine, and is the root of human life‘ ~ natural law and intelligent design, if respected and honoured, bring our actions into a harmonious relationship with the divine. When the honouring is lacking and the virtue missing, it is like making empty prayers and false offerings, seeking to aquire without giving.

When science plays god we can see this dynamic at work; knowledge is aquired without giving respect to and honouring the root of life. Genetic modification is the obvious mirror of this. Our attention is drawn to the dangerous naivety of such inherent ignorance, its aggressive nature exposed while the ancestral codes for living are subverted; warring against and competing with nature manifests Mars negative impulse, reflecting the more pernicious devolutionary characteristics our times. We are fighting for our survival as a result.

Turning back from such foolishness is the option Mars will deliver at full Moon, lending energy and purpose to the search for deeper meaning as a path of resolution; it is of necessity the only viable option, but, the Sun illuminates our minds with spiritual awareness, sublimating the aggressive ‘competition’ traditionally associated with the evolutionary struggle for survival to a higher order of awareness and understanding.

The Moon in Sagittarius sees the people actively embodying culture and Mars represents the energy of competition in its most aggressive form within the dominant culture of our times, but, in its original form com-petition meant co-petitioning, and was enshrined in the act of petitioning ‘the gods’ together. This was the prayer offered by the warrior asking for their martial skills to be infused with the divine blessing, made sacred. The sacred warrior commited themselves to Life by offering their own in service to the divine and the community. It is their ‘purpose’ that is offered, for the welbeing and preservation of life. This makes a virtue of action that honours the roots of life.

There is a feeling of release associated with this image, of personal mastery becoming the instrument of a higher purpose – it expresses the surrender of will to the partnership between this life and the worlds beyond. It also expresses an artistry, a creative edge and dynamic that the warrior has attained in their own life; the warrior, as has been said, must first learn to dance before they wield the sword….the sacred dance of life and the aquisition of virtue are intimately bound to each other.

These reflections on the full Moon give us a feeling for its sacred dimensions. They remind us of the qualities of soul intrinsic to the path we are on, of following the impulse seeded through the Spring eclipses, and the degree of commitment necessary to seeing it through. Inner work, like our work in the world, needs to be done for the long haul, sustained. The energetic recalibration we are put in mind of at this full Moon needs us to bring out the usefulness of anger…..to learn how to transform it, become fluent in its language, enough to use it as a high octane catalyst for positive change and to develop our artfulness in using it; as revolutions build it is as conspicuous in its expression as it is in its absence.

The partner in competition has been made our own shadow, an adversary in this journey that has been externalised for too long, the blessings of the challenge forgotten, desacralised and making of life a journey in adversity. The secular use of power is exposed here, its faults themselves becoming our adversary, as much within as without. The mandate is clear, we must first make peace with ourselves and life and apply the lessons and understanding we receive in the process to the world around us. There are ways and means available to us……to find them we must first dedicate ourselves to conflict resolution.

We will almost certainly find ourselves working hard to contain the energies of this full Moon. If you feel your buttons being pushed don’t let your anger get the better of you and don’t dwell on it. Mars igniting the lunar passions indicates a need to regulate the inner fires, whatever the outer events that accompany its heat. Our thoughts affect our emotions and visa versa – let them pass. Better, bring a mindful quality to applying this powerful creative energy to more evolved purposes.

In closing there is an opportunity here for bringing out the joyful side of this full Moon.

the horse panel at Chauvet copy

The inner meaning of this full Moon is the expression of Joy. In sublimating its energies joy becomes its natural expression. Being fired up with joy is its emotional expression, but, the presence and celebration of virtue are necessary for this to be realised. In the words of the I Ching, if practiced  and honoured ‘such virtue is a joy to cultivate’. The potential for such cultivation is inherent within the ancestral codes of life, but, it requires an honouring of Life and an appreciation of its deeper meaning to be realised. The long journey our species has undertaken carries this potential at every step of the way, even in the midst of adversity.

In following this evolutionary impulse our forebears went through extraordinary pains to bring the fires of their own inner light into manifestation. Survival in times and amongst events that were also harrowingly difficult did not prevent them from developing technologies that embodied its potential. The orthodox histories exclude this fact. Traces of the level of technology they reached are difficult for us to find, not least of all because it was at heart a spiritual technology. Their understanding of the non-physical is perhaps the least understood of human gifts that are available to us when we subscribe to the orthodox view, not least of all as the dominant use of science has gravitated so heavily around its fixation on the physical in our times.

As Tesla is attributed with saying, “The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.” We can develop a spiritual technology here with the aid of the unseen. While many are already engaged in this work, the momentum building now and the network growing, this full Moon can bring meaningful power to all inner workings and help us in celebrating its insights. If you run a circle or have a community that works within the architecture of spiritual energy consider coming together to celebrate the circle itself. Make of this Moon’s energies a joyful offering.

This is the penultimate full Moon before solstice, which also falls on a full Moon, and solar energies are vitalising the Earth to receive gifts of spiritual power into the deep earth realms.

The Sabian symbol for the Moon’s degree on 21st May confirms this – “the mobilization of unconscious energies under the pressure of super-personal motives.” There is an echo here of Mercury’s solar transit and the Sabian symbols that have been activated recently ~ above and below, the inner and outer worlds, are working in unison, and we are their bridge.

The symbol speaks of ‘the wind rushing over the ocean stirring the waters into white capped waves’ – it advises ‘stabilisation through rhythmic intensity’ as its most creative expression. Another Tesla quote comes to mind, “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.”

If you only get to drum with one full Moon this year, make it this one!

But, be mindful of the rhythm at its heart….ultimately, it leads us into the sanctity of our own, a place where the subtle power of original nature is enshrined.

Original nature reflects its own innocence. Work with the energies of this full Moon to engender that subtle quality. After full Moon the energy subsides and crystalises as the Moon connects with Saturn and we come back to the apex of the T square that Saturn is forming with Jupiter and Neptune in anticipation of the new Moon. Grounding after an ecstatic dance with the cosmos, this is the ‘after the ecstacy, the laundry‘ moment. Closing down the ceremony, cleaning the sacred space that has housed it, the mood is quietly practical and calls for rest. An emergent sense of belonging will help counterbalance the slump in energy we may be feeling. We have a lot to process and should seek gentler interactions with others, be kind to them and to ourselves.

First, make peace with yourself….then vibrate the roots of life into action….

“Walk carefully, well loved one
walk mindfully, well loved one
walk fearlessly, well loved one.
Return with us, return to us
be always coming home“

Images, from the top :
Sacred Anger ~ Rob Purday
Amphitrite ~ Susan Seddon-Boulet
Chauvet Cave ~ 35K bpe

Quotations from the I Ching are from the Thomas Cleary translation, ‘The Taoist I Ching’, Shambala Publications, 1986

The poem is by Ursula Le Guin, from
“Initiation Poem Of The Finders Lodge“