Category Archives: retrograde planets

activism, Ancestral Medicine, culture, Politics, retrograde planets, Root Medicine of the Stars

20-20 part 3

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53067843_2290267451024197_5855279836045508608_o

The highest need of re-emergence, when it is time, is to do so within a landscape of realisations which by virtue of their own true nature demand to be grounded in life. This is not a landscape that is pre-packaged and predetermined for us to be accepted without question, or which bears no respect for life. This can no longer happen – that particular genie is well and truly out of the bottle. These are realisations born of our own inner experiences, the ability we have to be self reflective and aware of our own innate conscious reality. They confirm and are confirmed by the world.

It is possible to become enamoured of that inner world, to fall under its glamour too. The way in which our own truths are accepted within the world, the degree of respect they generate, and the degree to which they appear anomalous in the world but are able to find an integral place within it are all part of the intrinsic composting process which gives rise to healthy cultures and societies. We all participate in this.

Some, however will resist, buck against the process, against some of its products and creations, and get well and truly locked into their prevailing mind-set, becoming deeply entrenched in beliefs that they subsequently become convinced they can’t live without. These may well be the foot-soldiers of any NWO that might attempt to establish itself. All the options which they might consider their sacred cows have already been patented.

This is the root of a pernicious bifurcation, is very real, and very tangible. It is also a recipe not only for cognitive dissonance but for chronic polarisation, which is a dis-ease itself and, the degree to which such polarity is allowed to manifest outwardly is very much a part of the current battle. Our own inner explorations are an essential part of maintaining immunity to this disease.

It is an ongoing battle in these times.

You can see it in the most mundane sense in the war thats been raging on political fronts, in conflicts between PC police, censorship and freedom of speech, for example. Social media is one of its major battle fronts, but, at a much more sinister level, it is our minds and bodies which are really on the front line. Being sucked into the virtual vortex is a real danger.

There is undoubtedly a spiritual as well as a mental war going on here and eclipses on the new Gemini Sagittarius nodal axis will bring its tensions, points of conflict and disparity to the fore as we try to extricate ourselves from the worst aspects of the past and navigate towards the future. This too is a part of the clarification process that is underway, and even though it appears to be anathema to a raising of consciousness or inner upgrading, it is a necessarily truthful part of the process.

 

Many people are aware of the need to change the narrative, to find a new story so to speak. It is an impulse that been with us a long time.

The first wave of this phenomenon in the current era has been building quietly now for more than half a century, ever since the Uranus Pluto conjunction in Virgo its underlying effect has been undeniably present.

The second wave began to come in during the eighties, notably through Neptunian and Uranian influences and technologies activating Sagittarius and Capricorn, essentially grounding non-physical realities within our midst.

The third wave is now coming in to land, fuelled by the entire planetary matrix. We are on the cusp of something both anomalous to the present paradigm and deeply relevant to us as humans, and in the process are activating our electrical nature and energy bodies.

This is a part of the vision, the strange attractor pulling us forwards. It is a far cry from fear of a pandemic, which is being used to do little more than suppress and dumb us down, and attempts to blind us to our own greatness. We should pay heed. The north node’s new emphasis on intelligent perception, meaningful cohesion, connection and communication is where this must first be translated into ‘a story that has legs’.

In opening up the imagistic inner realms, the nodal axis emphasises the undervalued immaterial aspects of ourselves which themselves carry a high degree of immunity to the various forms of pandemic infection that afflict contemporary life. The artistic spirit knows this, and we are all imbued with imagination – just as the ancestors who inspired Jean-Michel Geneste’s words in Chauvet cave were. We are them, and they us.

The dreamers and those who are able to truly ground their connection with the ‘dreamtime’ will be seen to be a new and vital source of power, and empowerment. This is the power that holds the line with all who have come before and will come after us. Our creativity is the sap that flows through this lineage, these roots and feeds the branches through to their tips and the fruit that grows from them. Its a vision that knows its own freedom, carries its own seeds – its time is with us, and we can sense it growing in strength.

The inner qualities highlighted here are a reflection of our personal ability to direct our own energy through consciousness.

It is certain that we will emerge from these times different as a people. They present us with is a golden opportunity, to change our relationship with the past, and to reorient ourselves towards the future. Both past and future change when we do so, and this is the gift of working with the nodal axis.

In Gemini and Sagittarius consciousness and awareness become truly creative powers. They are ours to use in restoring good relations with life and, more importantly, in finally letting the voice of our souls sing. We are gifted with the most remarkable place in which to do so.

Be of good heart, and keep your eyes on the goal.

Blessed Be!

Link to part 1

Link to part 2

Saturn stations retrograde 11th May, 1°57′ Aquarius
Mercury enters Gemini 12th May
Mars enters Pisces May 13th
Venus stations retrograde 13th May, 21°50′ Gemini
Jupiter stations retrograde 15th May,  27°14′ Capricorn

Penumbral lunar eclipse June 5th, 15°34′ Sagittarius
Total solar eclipse June 21st, 0°21′ Cancer
Penumbral lunar eclipse July 5th, 13°38′ Capricorn
Penumbral lunar eclipse November 30th, 8°38′ Gemini
Total solar eclipse December, 23°08′ Sagittarius

Ancestral Medicine, astrology, Gemini Sagittarius Axis, Politics, retrograde planets, Root Medicine of the Stars

20-20 part 2

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Leopard woman's cave

The new nodal phase, through Gemini/Sagittarius, will last until the end of 2021, by which time Jupiter will have become domiciled in Pisces, and Mars will have travelled through 80% of the zodiac, all the way round to Sagittarius.

But then there’s Saturn again, the double domicile planet through these times, which means Saturnian qualities are informing the process of change to a very high degree,  and don’t we know it.

By mid 2021 Saturn will have become embedded in the radical if not dangerous looking square with Uranus, between fixed Air and fixed Earth, that is also bubbling up now.

This is a zeitgeist affair, another battle of wills, but fought at a collective level, and it tends to rest more on how technology and material resources are controlled and used, as well as their relationship to each other, which can be both aggressively conditioning and progressive, liberating. This could be a time for advanced technology to emerge from the wings – to what end, we might ask. What damage will have been amassed, during Venus retrograde in particular, that is beyond repair and how will this justify radical action, especially economic action?

However this plays out, it should be obvious in the here and now, Saturn is key in all this.

Saturn is strong having been domicile for the last two and a half years in Capricorn and continuing domicile in Aquarius until 2023. We are all required to work with the Saturn effect, to learn from it and develop our selves in the process, and that begins with its retrograde on May 11th 2020.

While for the remainder of the year Saturn covers old ground, backtracking into Capricorn, it is obvious that we are not out of the woods yet, by any means.

In terms of our current situation, if Saturn in Aquarius has been synonymous with ‘social distancing’ and ‘lockdown’, a change in the quality and focus being brought to those conditions is yet available and is in fact much more ‘in our own hands’ than we might believe.

When Saturn stations retrograde it intensifies, like all the planets, but Saturn is already pretty intense and that can turn situations – whether ‘for the better or not’ is exactly what Saturn challenges us to decide.

Things are seeking to get ‘real’ here, very real, to be more fully ‘in their own truth’, so to speak, and this applies especially to how and what we perceive. The constrictive conditions we have been experiencing and the apparent necessity they arise from all now come under much harder scrutiny. But, it is in our compass to find meaning in our own liberation under these restrictions.

Many have turned to the virtual world to increase the dialogue around these issues – now we are encouraged to bring the inner dialogue to the fore as a part of this external networking. This is visible but the nodal emphasis asks for a diagnostic assessment of the health of this dialogue – does it rest on lived experience, and what hinders it? It is certainly being challenged, directed, censored and manipulated. The awareness we bring to this is crucial.

The prevalent war on information and communication, its online battle ground, especially in terms of social media, weapons of censorship and manipulation of intel, will see intensification and, potentially, will manifest through harder restrictions being imposed on the one hand and transformative development simultaneously taking place within its wider domains on the other.

In a way, “lockdown” has yet to deliver its full ‘potential’.

Breakaway platforms are developing for information sharing, insights into the technology of censorship, its controlling bodies and entities, and how to circumvent them are increasing rapidly. A consequence of this, which is absolutely key, is a tangible elevation of awareness and conscious participation in sharing what this awareness reveals.

This may be the unsung tech revolution we had not fully anticipated. Not so much an evolution of the hardware, but of the users mentality and consciousness as an inventive resource in its own right, and as an instrument of cohesion.

It also enables deeper understanding to be developed collectively and collaboratively. And even though there is resistance to this evolutionary impulse, through censorship and propagandisation, through falsification and manipulation of data, the momentum of this impulse is gathering.

Superfluities fall away, illusions begin to either congeal and dry up or evaporate under such scrutiny and our task in the immediate future, for Saturn is ever the task master, is to apply ourselves to this role, to apply it to our selves, to our own lives, as well as the world and events in which we find ourselves.

While it is a process available to all, not all will treat of it in the same way.

Even when we are truly willing to engage with the zeitgeist, many are still pulled into partiality and a need to ‘identify’ in the process. If we can resist partiality however, our inner faculties undergo a purification which, if taken to the higher level, increases the range of perception we are capable of. This is not simply objective thinking and perception, if such is truly possible, it is grounded observation. Grounding into reality in this way can be powerful.

But, we are still playing with fire. This too is a preamble on the themes belonging to the new nodal axis and the celestial matrix through this year. The technologies of the power base have been shifting the front line quite deliberately into the mental and spiritual realms for some time.

 

We should be mindful now of the time frame here; in truth, even if we do not see a radical shift out of the current circumstances before year’s end, the work we do in the meantime will be of the highest value and meaning when we come to cross the threshold of solstice and enter 2021.

Essentially, we have seven months to ensure that we are not going to back peddle ourselves into a culdesac and subsequently start building a future that no-one wants, no one with a natural born soul that is.

Neither is this going to involve a return, of any kind, to the ‘norm’. It can’t be.

2020 is a truly threshold year. It involves exposure of dysfunctional elements in our current paradigm and offers the opportunity to not only set about correcting them, but to transcend the limitations that stopped us from doing so, limitations that have attempted to cripple our innate and true human genius for so long. In a very real sense I think this is also what Jean-Michel Geneste is speaking to.

Thats a huge prospect, but a very real one, and I think we all sense it. It also has very real consequences ‘on the ground’.

The south node in Sagittarius speaks to this as well.

Even if the old structures that hold the dominant paradigm together are recommissioned, major flaws inherent to the old paradigm have already been irrevocably exposed and it will take an unusual degree of force to retain the old paradigmatic narrative beyond this time.

We can clearly see some of the elements that would apply that force now being manoeuvred into place. Even if many of them are using Covid19 as a Trojan Horse, which, despite all other truths pertaining to it, it undoubtedly is, it is far from inevitable that those elements and forces will prevail, and that is really what this shift is all about.

We should also watch out for Mars retrograde in Aries through the last four months of the year and how this dynamic plays into and feeds this transition – there could be tremendous build up of energy through this time and its release will need clear heads to make sure it is used wisely when it comes.

This will also bring this paradigmatic tussle to a boil as Mars squares Saturn throughout its own retrograde period, domicile in Aries.

Jupiter’s retrograde will also feed the fire, bringing the focus back into power base Capricorn. When Saturn retrogrades back into Capricorn and rejoins with Pluto and Jupiter, the unfinished business of the first half of this year is going to boil up and present itself for deeper analysis. It will almost certainly try to reassert itself materially as well. The rhetoric could get very hot, and the restrictions with it.

I would expect a second wave of the virus, in some form or another, at this time. We should be mindful of the correlates surrounding the viral outbreak, the secondary issues and opportunistic interventions which unfold under its umbrella of justification. October through November looks to be the most intense period in this respect with retrograde Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto, once more in close conjunction, all turning direct again.

To give it a time stamp, the Mars Saturn square will be kicking in from the end of July  2020 and sustains, by sign, through until spring 2012. This is useful to know, but, the square will ultimately play out through the fixed signs of Taurus (Mars) and Aquarius (Saturn) and with Uranus in the mix in Taurus it is difficult to predict what outcomes it may represent at that time.

It does represent a battle of wills, between the individual and the State, between individualism and societal control, the ‘small person’ with fire in their belly and the institutionalised forces of containment. But we’ll return to that aspect in more detail as it grows in strength and review developments in the process. At this stage we can only speculate; the landscape is shifting and nothing is truly clear cut.

While coming out of what is effectively the semi-coma of ‘lockdown’ is inevitable and happening, in some shape or form, there in fact is ‘the rub’.

It is a question of who determines the shape and form that re-emergence takes. The coming months are very focused in this respect and the Mars Saturn square is a battle of wills which suggest that as year end approaches it is not only elections and ‘political’ power that will inform what comes after.

Link to part 3

Link to part 1

Saturn stations retrograde 11th May, 1°57′ Aquarius
Mercury enters Gemini 12th May
Mars enters Pisces May 13th
Venus stations retrograde 13th May, 21°50′ Gemini
Jupiter stations retrograde 15th May,  27°14′ Capricorn

Penumbral lunar eclipse June 5th, 15°34′ Sagittarius
Total solar eclipse June 21st, 0°21′ Cancer
Penumbral lunar eclipse July 5th, 13°38′ Capricorn
Penumbral lunar eclipse November 30th, 8°38′ Gemini
Total solar eclipse December, 23°08′ Sagittarius

Ancestral Medicine, astrology, Planetary Mind, retrograde planets, Root Medicine of the Stars, The Lunar Nodes

20-20

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monrise

“…..we have been blessed with an unexpected gift as a result of our constrained confinement. 

It is a time for the emergence of a new spiritual quality, which is a more interior time. This inner time, which is specific to our species, invites sharing and otherness among all. Imagination and poetry find their place in the luxury of this “regained time.”

“The seat of the soul is where the inner world and the outer world meet,” writes Novalis. In this crisis of the outer world questioning so many parameters, including some of the most profound ones affecting our human condition and the awareness we have of ourselves, shall we regain a soul?”

Jean-Michel Geneste – March 2020,

who wrote the above in response to Chauvet Cave, the 35 thousand year old paintings which the ancestors left there and the inspiration these bring to our times.

…

I came across this quote shortly after finishing the penultimate draft of this post. It echoes themes which found their way into the writing, even though I had not set off to write about them – this was in fact supposed to be a brief report on the current lunations; it turned into something else, out of necessity as, working with the full Scorpio Moon, I was pulled ever more deeply into the inner realms of our current situation, much of which points directly towards what Jean-Michel Geneste speaks of so eloquently. As a result, the article before you has now been separated into three parts, each of a more digestible size, of which this is the first. It attempts to translate something of this shift, this re-emergence, sourced in the celestial and imaginative realms, in terms of the present context. In spirit with its core theme, it begins with a deceptively immaterial yet imminently potent recent astrological event…..


A shift in signs of the Moon’s nodal axis on May 5th now sees the north node transiting Gemini, the south node now in Sagittarius. This subtle change in the zodiacal region in which the Moon’s orbit crosses the Sun’s apparent path in the sky may not be headline news, certainly in these times, but it is far from insignificant.

Eclipses in June, July and December 2020 which represent turning points, points of resolve and the actions that follow, will not only be qualitatively different under this nodal pull, but what works for us in the coming months will rest on our being truly cognisant of what ‘needs’ to happen and commit to acting on this intel, a direct reflection of the nodal axis’ new focus.

This represents a development in thinking rather than emotion based decision making.  We have had a year and a half of exploring the relationship between expressions of worldly power and the emotional body’s integrity. Now, analysis and perception become especially important. But, so does our relationship with the immaterial worlds.

When working with the nodes we bring immaterial senses into play, senses that inform the soul, facilitate communication between the seen and unseen aspects of life. The relationship between power and emotion seen through the lens of cardinal earth and water highlights the strengths and weaknesses of these senses within these realms.

Now, we are drawn into the mutable elements of fire and air to explore more deeply the ways in which our soul translates experience and communicates between the dense and subtle realms via the lens of Gemini and Sagittarius.

Understanding and our relationship to information and knowledge via the agency of awareness,  intelligent sentience and resonance have a greater bearing on how we experience the world with this axial shift.

This in turn informs our overview, and our philosophical outlook shifts in accordance. We can live life differently according to these communications and understandings, this awareness.

This shift is characteristic of the emergent realm of enhanced coherence, and in this realm the world is illuminated as a conscious living entity. This is the world we come back to when we find our own inner light illuminating and integrated with consciousness. It is all one light, in fact.

It can be deeply divine to experience, but, it can also be humble and practical.

When eclipses in the signs of Gemini and Sagittarius occur, they bring opportunities for clarifying our minds and changing the way we think about things, for putting clear thinking into action and for bringing meaningful actions to bear where they are most needed.

We can utilise eclipses as opportunities to discard the redundant and propagate our potential; in the midst of current circumstances this offers some hope, but, ‘the buck stops here’ and self-responsibility is also being very strongly highlighted in these times, as will become apparent.

 

The first of those coming eclipses will be a penumbral lunar eclipse in Sagittarius on June 5th which opens the doorway to the next 2 years of eclipse cycles on the Gemini/Sagittarius axis.

This initial eclipse is by nature quite peripheral but it carries the sting of being a full Moon exactly square Mars in Pisces. And Mars in Pisces talks to one of the underlying themes of these times, namely the spiritual damage caused by intellectual and philosophical warfare and its tangible consequences. The emphasis here is on regulating the energies of mental and spiritual health, which falls in line with the nodal shift very clearly. Being mindful of burnout and emotional exhaustion is highlighted. Not getting caught up in the undertow of emotional tidal waves, or being infected by a pandemic of repurposed facts, information and beliefs.

This is a conflict that very much undermines peoples ability to know ‘truth’, and the erosion of cohesion with and connection to ‘source‘, factors which affect us both collectively and individually.

The second and third, a total solar eclipse on June 21st and the following penumbral eclipse on July 5th, by sign are both  still activating the Capricorn Cancer axis, and they will be the last to do so for a decade, so working with them centres on cleaning up essential business and detritus from the last ten years, and especially the last six months. That in itself is a major undertaking.

False philosophies must be identified. The mechanisms of generating consensus and manipulating thought and understanding made more deeply aware to us. This is a massively important process for our future.

Importantly for now though, working with these midyear eclipses will enable the Gemini/Sagittarius blueprint to be more clearly utilised and built upon, especially when we get to the end of the year when we’ll see another penumbral lunar eclipse, this time  in Gemini, and a following total solar eclipse in Sagittarius.

The immediate planetary matrix, however, sheds more light on this revision and ‘clean up’ operation and points the way to what’s coming later in the year.

In the second half of the current lunation three planets turn retrograde and, pulling the gravity of the full Moon further into the personal sphere, initiate this process by turning it inward and intensifying it.

If consciously worked with Saturn stationing retrograde on the 11th May, Venus stationing retrograde on the 13th, and Jupiter stationing retrograde on the May 15th, will not only encourage the internal changes necessary to take full advantage of the Gemini/Sagittarius axis via the nodes and eclipses towards the end of the year, but will lay the ground for the new Saturn Jupiter cycle which is initiated on the December solstice in the first degree of Aquarius, a truly momentous watershed.

Venus retrograde in Gemini stimulates the mental sphere and potentiates the nodal theme further, especially as Venus transits Uranus north node around the 13th degree of Gemini in the process. I would suggest contemplating your own values through the retrograde period in terms of how they inform the way you perceive the world, the higher values you apply to it. This is not simply about your opinions, beliefs and actions; these are reflexive in themselves – this is more about becoming aware of the processes which produce those reflexes, what informs them. It is also about evolving this inner faculty for perception and awareness in the process.

Venus can apply to many material values in this context, but, look to the more subtle inner forms that her energy highlights. These are the forms of intelligence that take on natural form, the mind of Nature. Get into natural places and listen, let Her speak to you.

Become aware of your relationship to beauty in the world, what it means, where you find its highest vibration, how that feels. Become aware of what threatens these manifestations of the ‘beautiful’. Is what you perceive to be beautiful carrying meaning that is inviolable? Notice what is at work within yourself as you experience these enquiries, an aesthetic appreciation of the world. How does the receptive nature of perception inform your inner world?

This latter aspect is important in balancing out the aggressive and assertive forms of perception and understanding which are so virulently at work in the world at this time. There is restorative value in this – it encourages emergence of the voice of the soul.

We’ll come to Saturn and Jupiter, especially Saturn, in part 2, but, as the year progresses all the remaining planets also enter retrograde periods, and this will aid us in bringing our inner world fully into conscious activation.

Link to part 2

Saturn stations retrograde 11th May, 1°57′ Aquarius
Mercury enters Gemini 12th May
Mars enters Pisces May 13th
Venus stations retrograde 13th May, 21°50′ Gemini
Jupiter stations retrograde 15th May,  27°14′ Capricorn

Penumbral lunar eclipse June 5th, 15°34′ Sagittarius
Total solar eclipse June 21st, 0°21′ Cancer
Penumbral lunar eclipse July 5th, 13°38′ Capricorn
Penumbral lunar eclipse November 30th, 8°38′ Gemini
Total solar eclipse December, 23°08′ Sagittarius

Aries Libra axis, astrology, Disclosure, eclipse, EMVs, lunations, planetary change, Planetary Mind, Politics, retrograde planets, Root Medicine of the Stars

Mysterious Travellers

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Just four months ago our outlook on the world appeared very different. Few could have foreseen the full consequences of the choices that were being made around that time or the speed with which the global change we are experiencing  would be catalysed to a new level of intensity – I am of course referring (at least in part) to the significant impact of the USA’s presidential election. But, the arena within which this change is now unfolding is more than simply ‘political’ – behind the regime change driven legislative and geopolitical restructuring that we are now seeing a planetary process has been unfolding that reflects  our terran experiences quite clearly.

Jupiter and Uranus are now fully within the mid-phase of their current synodic cycle and, if the ‘effects’ they reflect on the ground are undeniable, the transformation at work within them is equally startling. Here we will map out some of the ways in which these two transformative aspects of what is actually a singular process relate to and inform each other.

Enough time has now elapsed since entering the midpoint (November 2016 to November 2017) of the current Ju/Ur cycle for us to begin assessing how Uranus and Jupiter’s opposition is working out. In this article we will see how, in our immediate time, this ties into the current lunar cycle. In the process we’ll also unpack some of the key points of the midpoint period as a whole and look into correlations between this and the Moon’s phases.

Confused? Well, it is a revealing journey that we have embarked upon that will, hopefully, help us to make some sense of this chaotic time!

Back in October I published an article here that began exploring the current synodic cycle between Uranus and Jupiter and its significance for us now. It revealed some of the key signatures of this cycle, as seen through the lens of their initiatic conjunction (2010-11), particularly in relation to pivotal events carrying global implications around that time.

We found connections with events like the Deepwater oil rig disaster and the Fukushima nuclear disaster. One of the characteristics of these are events is their profound environmental impact, and we found further echoes in the historical record of oil spills that have brought much environmental damage to our oceans and land. We also found connections to the history of landmark nuclear events – all of the events highlighted were shown to have clear astrological signatures that tend to repeat themselves as these incidents arise.

Power generation and the widespread traumatic impact of the energy industries, especially when they fail is very much at the heart of these events, as might befit the combined signatures of Jupiter and Uranus. The nuclear story is equally impactful in its ‘military’ applications, as well as its ‘domestic’.  Both radically change our outlook on the world.

Both mythologically and integral to our experience of the world, Jupiter and Uranus together have the ability to wield power that transforms us intrinsically, but, as we reach the height of their cycle the opposition between them is turning the dissemination of this power more fully inwards. At their first opposition both planets were direct, but Jupiter is now retrograde as we approach their second opposition, and at their final opposition it is Uranus that will be in-volving, in retrograde.

We have entered a period of augmented ‘inner adjustment‘. Whether we engage with the process or not depends on our outlook and personal capacity to see the bigger picture – however, and this is a big ‘how-ever’, the more we do engage with this process the easier excercising this capacity will become.

At an individual level the moral of this part of the story is to trust in our selves and our inner guidance in dealing with the world – augmenting and facilitating this, this is a time to take up the inward momentum to observe our personal bias and use this process to shed our personal blinkers.

Within this, over the coming year we will also see another aspect of the Jupiter Uranus dynamic begin to accelerate and expand, in ways that will radically alter how the world looks – the impact of revealed truths, and their ability to both generate reaction and disclose deception, both of which are intimately related to each other, will begin to transmute our ‘reality’.

To begin now, lets pull focus and come more fully into the present.

On February 6th (2017) Jupiter stationed at 24° Libra beginning a four month period of retrograde motion that will change to direct when it slows down in the skies again to station at 14° Libra on June 10th. There is a connection here between these degrees and the lunar phases. Taking a look at 24° Libra through the eyes of the Sabians and their symbology gives us some insight.

The Sabians tell us that 24° Libra is associated with “the ability to develop, for inner strengthening, new modes of response to basic life situations….” and what makes this particularly interesting is that Jupiter entered 24°s of Libra precisely at new Moon on January 28th, the beginning of the current lunation. There is a cross fertilisation suggested here that the Sabians further elucidate :

“A special development of an aspect of the spiritual life is shown…..some power has been added to the normal spiritual life of the individual person (within) the instinctual field of the consciousness….A new strength is shown, perhaps as yet unrealized.”

What we will see beyond this initial seeding is the “unrealised” gathering energy – we will feel this as a latent ‘knowing’, an increasing feeling that we need to be paying real attention to our instincts and intuition. The Sabians go on to say  :

“A fourth stage symbol usually refers to some kind of technique or technical achievement. What is implied here is that the contact with the revivifying Life-force can result in the appearance of a new faculty, the use of which may not as yet be consciously evaluated. Indeed it is the establishment of such a contact which constitutes a technique for ORIGINAL MUTATION.”

“A BUTTERFLY WITH A THIRD WING ON ITS LEFT SIDE“ is the Sabian symbol for this degree.

‘Original mutation’ is an interesting term…..the reality of this symbol is being seen here as a non-physical change of state, but, the image itself reminds us of the mutations caused by radioactive isotopes. There is an intimation of genetic engineering about it as well.

For us, the fall-out of this process of incursive energetic insemination, of the primary mental realms in particular, is initiating an inward expansion of connective awareness and energising consciousness. Imagine the primary impulse that causes the single cell to divide and multiply within itself at work. Go a step further and we are in the realms of ‘Life making’.

With the Sabians, who gave symbolic form to each of the 360 degrees, this is translated in our time into an anomalous ‘third thing’, the wing being symbolic of flight (higher dimensions/spheres of consciousness) and the butterfly being symbolic of both transformation and the intrinsic nature of the imaginal.

There is a deeper and more hidden layer to this as well that is worth noting here : the meaning of each degree, which the Sabians codified, has ancient roots in the 360 senses which describe the original  range of human senses, each referring to its own divine origin. Referred to in ancient Egypt as the Neters, the divinities involved are spiritual entities that reside, within the Earth sphere, within nature, ours as well as the planet’s. Are we being opened up to this fuller range of senses…..if so, the breakdown of the ‘status quo’ and the ‘establishment’ is deeply entangled within this process.

If we return to the bigger picture of the present Jupiter Uranus cycle and look back to the end of its first quarter we will find some clues as to where within this cycle the breakdown first began to show.

The first square became directly active between June 2013 and May 2014 and the following are some of the key events that occured through that period.

Edward Snowden exposed the covert mass surveillance programme being run by the NSA and other intel agencies.
Egypt saw a military coup which removed its president.
India launched a rocket carrying its Mars orbital observer.
The Ukraine regime change was instigated.
Iran agreed to limit its nuclear development programme.
China soft-landed its Yutu rover on the Moon.
Flight 370 disappeared.
Russia was suspended from the G8.
The UN and Russia came into dispute over Crimea.
The USA enforced sanctions on Russia.
The militant organisation known (amongst other things) as ISIS emerged in Syria.
Flight 17 crashed in the Ukraine, under accusations of it having been shot down by a ‘Russian’ missile.

Disclosure and changes in perception, as well as regimes and boundaries, are intrinsic to these events. If there are trends visible here they continue to play out. Within the geopolitical arena in particular, they became exacerbated as the US elections and the current Ju/Ur opposition were simultaneously coming into effect.

The environmental arena has also become intensified. This period also saw the rise of mass marine die-offs within the Pacific, especially on the eastern seaboard. The isotopes that are Fukushima’s fingerprint are now being acknowledged to be present in the marine life found there. The truth about Fukushima is presently becoming harder and harder to deny, six years after the event.

Hurricanes and Typhoons also ravaged the eastern Pacific and eastern Atlantic. Globally, the occurance of ‘extreme weather’ has increased. While sunspot activity is now at a minimum it has been shown very convincingly that such solar minimums accompany lowering temperature on Earth and, if the climate change meme of human driven causes insists upon the opposite, it has also been shown that global distribution of temperature increases is matched by redistribution of seasonal cold. Selective data use to push official agendas not withstanding, it is rarely mentioned that in some parts of the globe the glaciers are growing and new ones being formed.

Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are more related to coronal holes than sunspots, and quakes above 7.0 during this period were observed to be above the long term average, the largest occuring in Russia and Chile, many of 5.0 and more focused around the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’. The atmospheric influence of vulcanism is a more powerful driver than any effects of CO², in fact it is now acknowledged that CO² follows temperature rises and currently remains far below high levels know prior to the industrial revolution. Geo-engineered weather manipulation, however, is deeply instrumental in climate change.

Our thirst for material comfort is no less impactful of our environment and little needs to be said further on this – it is self evident. But, the oil industry is the source of widespread pollution in many ways, oil derivatives such as plastics chief amongst them. Oil spills from pipelines are a hot topic now and are increasingly being reported (although you’ll often have to look beyond the MSM to find reliable coverage).

Notable for its visibility in this respect, the stand-off between indigenous/environmental ‘protectors’ and federal agency backed oil ‘enforcers’ at Standing Rock has intensified alongside the current Ju/Ur opposition. Standing Rock has now entered a critical stage as a direct result of the US election and its symbolic significance has amplified as the situation on the ground has escalated in intensity. We can expect the ennvironmental, political and sovereignty issues involved here to become more intensified, but on a wider scale. They will continue to do so as the fossil fuel industry fights to maintain its centralised role in power generation…..the technology that makes this role redundant is ‘bringing the edges to the centre’.

Coping with this prolonged intensity will take its toll and it is here that the Sabian’s mention of “inner strengthening“ finds its purpose. We cannot know what will transpire over the next four months, but, we know that we will need our strength. A brief look at Jupiter’s station degree in June helps clarify the likely effects and our best strategy for dealing with them.

 

14° Libra carries this Sabian symbol :
“IN THE HEAT OF THE NOON HOUR A (HU)MAN TAKES A SIESTA.

KEYNOTE: The need for recuperation within the social pattern of everyday activity.”

The emphasis here is on the emotional/cultural level and the fact that we cannot maintain the same level of activity indefinitely. As the Sabians go on to say, “….this fourth stage symbol can be seen as emphasizing the need for techniques of RELAXATION, and the need to allow the functions of body and psyche to “digest,” free from external pressures, the complex experiences of social living and particularly of business.”

Jupiters stationing direct occurs simultaneously with the June full Moon, shortly before solstice. Culmination and balance is emphasised. We should anticipate the risks and make efforts to avoid ‘burn out’. Intense processes in the mental realms can have a deep impact upon our feelings and emotional body and impact directly our ability to continue functioning as we have been. We need to release our own inner tension, the better to be able to think ahead.

In the face of outward shocks to the system the key here is to remember that an internal process is at work, one that is aiding us in developing our ‘seeing’ capacity and, through this, understanding more clearly what is happening around us. The millenia of ‘control’ are now culminating. The blinkers are falling away. But, that is not all that is falling away…..the millenia of censorship of our innate senses, our complete natural range of intra-action within the world, is also coming to and end. Here is our unified process.

The next direct opposition we will see between Uranus and Jupiter is exact on March 2nd, just four days after the February new Moon (Feb 26th) in Pisces. This will be a time to be especially vigilant of our thoughts and impulses, the more so as Mars is moving through conjunction with Uranus during the week before and after new Moon. To add spice to the recipe, this will also be a strong solar eclipse, a real turning point and reset.

With such heat applying to the new lunation the confrontational aspect of the Ju/Ur opposition could be what creates the turning point. With Uranus involved and Mars powering up the unexpected, it is fairly safe to say that some form of disclosure or acts that will ‘blow the lid’ will be ‘in the air’. Make sure your mind is not blown into a state of cognitive dissonance along with them!

Whatever happens, Uranus and Mars direct intervention will push the boundaries within the mundane world and force the issue….we should use our increasing accuity to maintain inner balance during this time. Hightened discernment will be ‘de riguer’. But, that is precisely where our inner process can be most pragmatically put to use, in developing an inner strength of ‘knowing’.

With the February new Moon close on both the Moon’s south node and Neptune in Pisces the spiritual aspect of this lunation is also emphasised. A great need for compassion, especially self compassion alongside compassion in action, is likely to be matched by challenging events, so inner strength rests upon our inner balance. We can each use our most favoured methods for maintaining inner health to foster this, as a way of grounding.

Mars will also figure in the third opposition between Jupiter and Uranus in the latter half of September and Venus is also in Aries tracking Mars at the February new Moon. While Mars is domicile and excercising great power, Venus is in detriment in Aries. Here it is the fragility of isolated values that are emphasised….we each need to ask an important question now – ‘what do I value and love most in life’? However, their unity finds its mark more fully in September and the answer to this question may also become more pragmatic as a result.

Uranus and Jupiter’s third opposition is in the late degrees of Aries and Libra respectively. An accompanying opposition at that time is between Mars+Venus in Virgo and Neptune in Pisces. Venus is in fall in Virgo. I am seeing financial dissolution in this, perhaps appearing to be driven by hyper-inflation, the seeds of which may well be sown around the February new Moon. We could see a hidden agenda behind this, as well as an underlying necessity – looking beneath the surface will provide the answers.

The third Ju/Ur opposition is also exact at first quarter Moon after the equinox and will see all the outer planets beyond Saturn retrograde at that time. The ‘powers that be’ may well be in retreat, but, the impulse to shape our future will be firmly in our own hands with Saturn Uranus and the north node trining each other in the fire signs. We will need to ask then, as now, a second important question – ‘what are my responsibilities‘?

Venus and Mars in Virgo at that time will pull us down to earth and both astrological impulses and world events will help us answer these questions. But, there is an equally important third question that we must ask of ourselves at this current ‘entry point’ in time. ‘What are my Gifts’?

We can sum up here by focusing on this question as it is now presenting itself.

The full Moon that is coming into phase as I write is a also penumbral eclipse. This dimming of the lunar disc is at the edge of the Earth’s shadow, but, the full Moon is accompanied by a green comet in a fly by 7.5 million miles from Earth. Comets are the ‘mysterious travellers’ of our solar system, augeries of the unknown.

We are seeing disclosure all around us and what has been marginalised and hidden is coming into full view. We have arrived at the boundaries that demark the balance between illusion and truth. As we cross this threshold the weirdness of it all is ramping up; who would deny it. Expect more over the coming year and beyond.

The unknown faculties of perception and thinking that are being activated are in fact innate within us, even if we are relatively unconscious of them. This is their novelty, the Uranian gift, which Jupiter is helping spread. Beyond what we already know of ourselves lies much more, amongst which are gifts that have long been deliberately overshadowed and suppressed. But, the agencies of that suppression are collapsing under the same impulse now. We are witnessing the impact of truth upon the delusion that they have created, and that delusion is dispelling.

The long spiritual and mental war that has been waged upon us as natural beings is coming to an end and the physical wars will be unsustainable if we embrace this process fully. As Jupiter and Uranus might be urging us to realise, the more who do so, the stronger will be the transformation. Jupiter’s energy spreads from a centre, an effect that is now potentiating our awareness while spreading consciousness. Uranus breaks through the boundaries within our selves.

The three important questions above help us to redefine ourselves, in the context of our own lives – it will help us now if we consider that the anomalous ‘third’ thing symbolised here suggests a redefinition of our selves. The process we are in, for all the mundane turmoil that attends it, aids and abets this redefinition, but, it is taking us on a journey into long forgotten terrain in which our answers will also change, based upon different values and perceptions to the ones we have become ‘accustomed to’. 

The reality of this planet is not as we have been told. But, it is being revealed. The planets and the living energetic matrix they and we inhabit are wise in this. Uranus itself holds many clues, being anomalous amongst the ‘known’ planets, its axis of rotation perpendicular to those of the other planets. Why this is so, and why the planets are in their current orbital positions will become more widely known to us, founded in disclosed reality, beyond the redundant musings of the orthodox scientific priesthood.

When Voyager II left the heliosphere and our solar system, its internal language was altered, 0 flipped to 1 in its communication systems. According to the scientists working with the probe, this could not have happened by itself. If it was hacked, it was not by any terran source, they say. While such revelations are often cloaked in untruths and can lead us astray, it is the eyes of experience that will rule here. The Indian Mars orbiter and the Chinese lunar rover are not alone exploring our solar system. Whether they are instrumental in accelerating ‘disclosure’ remains to be seen, but, this too is a pathway of  discovery that could, amongst other things, reveal the truth behind ‘Apollo’. It is my understanding that the Moon is no stranger to the human footprint, but, it was not the technology we have been shown that took us there.

As many medicine people and carriers of indigenous traditions tell us, we have our origins beyond this Earth, and we always have belonged to a wider community both seen and unseen. Many eyes are upon us, beyond our known mundane world, watching our progress; we are being gifted with a chance to return to our senses and become mysterious travellers in our own right. Think of it as initiation that opens this wider community to us, while revealing our true identity. 

Footnote

This article and ‘Jupiter & Uranus – In Deep Waters’ are part of a continuing series that will be exploring the midpoint of the current synodic cycle between these two planets. The next article will be published around the second week of March, shortly after the second exact opposition between Jupiter and Uranus. At that time we will be collating some of the evidence that has been found so far in the midpoint period alongside that for the key points of the waxing half of their cycle. A deeper analysis will begin to emerge then so that, by the time of their third and final opposition, we will be able to anticipate the denoument of this part of Jupiter and Uranus cycle and look forward with a clearer understanding of their synodic cycle and its significance as a way shower in our times. Thanks for tuning in….!

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, 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“

astrology, eclipse, EMVs, Mercury, planetary change, retrograde planets

Alchemical Times

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2012.10.16 EMV at Sun

As Mercury transits the Sun in the 20th degree of Taurus on May 9th Jupiter stations direct and we feel a renewed sense of purpose as the light bulbs start to flash in our minds – the transit is a cazimi, exact. There’s a download of rarified spiritual energy coming through this transit that is opening the aperture for inspiration on the earth plane. This is an ideal opportunity to energise and entrain your own inner resonances with the download of life force coming in.

Our eyes alone will not perceive it (without the suitable technology) but the Sabian symbols provide a valuable insight to what this wave is carrying as Mercury crosses the Sun’s disc. It is worth quoting in full:

“PHASE 50 (TAURUS 20°): WISPS OF WING-LIKE CLOUDS STREAMING ACROSS THE SKY.

KEYNOTE: The awareness of spiritual forces at work.

Any emergence of life potentialities from the depth of the vast Unconscious is answered by the spiritual activity of superconscious forces in a cosmic kind of antiphony. The individual who has taken a new step in their evolution should look for the “Signature” of divine Powers confirming their progress. It may reveal the meaning of what is to come next. The “wing-like clouds” may also symbolize the presence of celestial beings (devas, angels) blessing and subtly revealing the direction to take, the direction of “the wind” of destiny.

This is the fifth stage of the tenth five-fold sequence. It concludes a process, having experienced which the individual should find themselves more securely established in their own original nature, receiving the BLESSINGS of super-natural forces.”

These days it is hard not to see chemtrails in those wisps of winglike clouds, a sight confirmed as I look out of the window – they were at it with avengence from first light this morning. The dust is falling, somewhere, everywhere.

The chemical particulation of the atmosphere is a dangerous alchemy in its own right, especially when heavy metals, dna and nano-organisms are part of the cocktail of toxicity being dumped daily over our heads. If the winds of change are blowing now those wisps are obscuring the view as they spread a blanket of dull alloyed cloud over the Sun. This is what we are up against, messing with nature and a misuse of power that will not speak its own name but is all too ready to tell us it is all for our own sake, to reduce ‘global warming’ for example, for which ‘we’ btw are held responsible. ‘We’ are not so easily taken in.

However, the download from Mercury in this transit is as rare as the occurance of its transit itself. There are only thirteen per century, on average, and they are known to signal significant events that have a lasting effect, so the effects of this one will stay with us for some time. The next is in 2019. We can capitalise on this.

Mercury is retrograde and is turning our gaze inwards – we are talking about the inner worlds here as the winged planet crosses between Earth and Sun.

The transit opens a channel of transmission, an aperture through which the energy of spirit can enter. This delivers its ‘blessing’, connecting with and received within our ‘unconscious’. In a world where split consciousness rules, this download has more of the unifying nature about it – it could reveal to (and re-mind) us that there are, in nature, no boundaries in consciousness. The cosmological ocean of conscious energy that our planet swims in is also the source of the Sun’s own life giving radiance and Earth is an expression of the design held within that consciousness when it is given the right conditions in which to incarnate and flourish. These conditions arise out of a very dignified and advanced application of natural law (see footnote) and Nature manifests natural law as a creative expression of the intelligent design that is present throughout our universe.

We can see this everywhere, it too is right outside our front door, as well as in our selves, but, we cannot see the transit – we can however sense its effects intuitively. It is synchronistic by nature so look out for those signs.

Being ‘established in their own original nature’ also suggests aligning our earthbound vehicle with spiritual essence and Mercury’s role as messenger between the worlds makes him the soul vehicle. Here is an inner alchemy in which the soul mediates. This also echoes the more esoteric meaning of the impulse carried by the March solar eclipse. The aperture that this process opens allows in the Sun’s life giving fire, its ‘pneuma‘.

In alchemical processes regulating the fire is an essential skill that requires knowledge and experience. In feeding the inner fire with the breath of spirit, regulating the fire ensures that the essense is not spoiled; the more intelligence, awareness and knowledge we bring to it the deeper this process goes and the purer the elixir it produces.

The elixir spoken of in alchemy is the result of a long process. One who has the experience to regulate this process can reap its rewards and securely establish their original nature, but, it requires commitment. It also requires an aspiration to perfect, but,  inner alchemy is also the alchemy of the soul that is following an innate path of desire. In doing so it must, like its more ‘material’ counterpart, ‘burn off the crap’, eliminate its impurities and return gross matter to its essential nature. There is no doubt that this is equally applicable to our current material ‘science’ and its misguided use, but, there are other forms of science that involve spirit.

There is perhaps inherent within the blessings delivered by this transit an infusion of inspiration that will spur us on to develop a spiritual technology, a new alchemy that will serve a higher function. Such is not unknown to us, and although the dominant paradigm attempts to steer us away from remembering this, remember it we will!

However, there are no coincidences. The Sun and Mercury trine Pluto, the great alchemist, and the Moon’s north node, the goal of our soul’s journey, as the transit perfects and form a grand trine in the earth signs. The geometry of the triangle has long been associated with fire and bringing the spiritual fire to earth is built into the matrix. The trinity of spirit, soul and body are a part of the design.

The effects of this transit will last and our individual experiences of it will be unique for each of us. But, Mercury will return to this degree just as the current lunation closes so we will find a resonant echo of its qualities at work in the background up to that time and revisit it then. Mercury also activated the current grand earth trine (involving Jupiter) at its onset and closes it at its conclusion, so Mercury embeds a spotlight on earthing by being present with our essense through inner awareness throughout this lunation. This can be a creative time that bears unexpected and valuable fruit.

Blessings be with you!

The image shows a massive EMV next to the Sun. Electro-magnetic vehicles farm and manage the Sun’s energy and are responsible for creating and regulating conditions needed for solar systems and planets to bear and maintain life. They are an important part of our extended community and soul life and embody a high degree of spiritual technology. They were first acknowledged by science in present times by the ex-NASA scientist Norman Bergrun who found them amongst the rings of Saturn – his book The Ringmakers Of Saturn is still available and is an essential read with many good illustrations throughout. For more information about EMVs visit James Horak’s blog as well as find photos and videos about them posted at Touchstone Radio. Have fun!

astrology, Earth healing, eclipse, lunations, planetary change, planetary nodes, Politics, retrograde planets, Root Medicine of the Stars

The Fertile Darkness

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wild hive

…..luminous darkness, birthplace of light…..

The fifth lunation of 2016 opens with the Moon and Sun joined at 17 degrees of tropical Taurus. From the earthbound point of view five planets are in retrograde motion as this Moon cycle gets underway, all of which fertilise the New Moon, intensifying the seed energies of the lunation.

The inner power of this seed point is emphasised by the Sabian symbol for 17 Taurus which talks of the ‘Seeker’ turning ‘Warrior’, raising the energy of internal illumination as the weapon of choice in the ‘eternal battle’. The battle that would see truth prevail. The historical limitations and conditioning of material existance are no longer accepted as given, as the bottom line, the necessity for individual evolution and self determination taking precedence over conformity to roles and agendas that do not belong to us as individuals.

Taurus pulls focus to the individual’s struggle for survival, to the question of what matters most, and, having begun to witness the groundswell of energy emergent at a grass-roots level since the spring eclipses, this lunation  furthers the internal strengthening of individual resolve to repurpose life in accord with our own natural values, the impulse  that was seeded at the March solar eclipse. The darkness of the eclipse is coming alive. It is about aligning ourselves and re-establishing life in accordance with Natural law, as opposed to Human law. This is an image brought to the point of utter necessity by what we are witnessing in the world and emphasised beyond question by the Sun and Moon’s trine to retrograde Pluto in Capricorn. Wholesale destruction of nature through authoritarian rule stops with our personal choices and the transformative power they enshrine.

The lunation’s seed point is amped up by Venus and retrograde Mercury also in Taurus, both now closing on the Sun, and the Earth signs are further linked through this stellium’s trine to retrograde Jupiter and the Moon’s north node  in Virgo. The Earth signs ask us to bear witness, in support of a future that can be lived according to realities with which we can each resonate. These are core values, realities that are meaningful in answer to what we are witnessing and can be sustained to the benefit of those who come after us. This is the bottom line impulse powering the grass-roots groundswell.

Venus sextile to Neptune in Pisces pushes the issue of discerning what is real in relation to those core values and through quincunx to retrograde Mars in Sagittarius makes it clear – this is, as the Sabians describe it, a time in which ‘swords’ are at odds with ‘torches’ in the struggle for survival. If we are to be torch bearers we must pay heed to how rx Mercury is working within us. Mercury’s retrograde raises the need for inner clarity and clear connections to become the cutting edge here. We must, we know, be on guard against fantasy and deception, especially our own, emphasising the importance of inner illumination as a metaphor for light thrown upon our own thinking. But, this is also about ‘thinking on our feet‘.

As the old Irish saying has it a warrior must first learn how to dance before wielding the sword. Neptune’s mutability can provide us with both the imagination required to refigure our path and at the same time distract us from grounding ourselves in the ‘now’. A fluidity of action, perception and balance in motion serves to keep us centred in our power. It is an old art taught for the benefit of both the individual warrior and the community and cause they serve. The old guard is now being unbalanced and caught on its heals, fighting a dirty war in the face of rising awareness of their stratagems. It is becoming clearer that the ‘old’ is being dressed up as the ‘new’, ‘vision’ being appropriated and propagandised as ‘truth’. Nowhere is this more apparent then in environmental and ecological issues, particularly where vested interests are exposed. However, in the emergent climate the efforts of those who continue to disseminate the deception can no longer escape attention, and not only is the historical veil of lies and hypocrisy wearing very thin but the ‘people’, seeing through the orthodox version of reality we have been and are being sold, are gaining in awareness of what lies beneath. If the momentum is with the ‘People’, we know we must also dance with the Earth and her rhythms.

The lunation carries this momentum forward with a release of energy as Jupiter stations direct during first quarter and begins moving towards the Moon’s north node again. They will converge at solstice on the full Moon of the next lunation, just before Uranus ignites Mars into action, but, in the meantime we have a deeper matter to consider.

In her novel ‘Children Of Men’ the author P D James cast a distopian vision of the future in which human fertility has ceased, a not too far distant time that sees ultra controlling authority at war with rebelious factions amidst a world in lock-down. As speculative fiction it carries disturbing tendencies very much present in our own world to an all too plausible point of realisation. She is not alone in envisioning such a future. Margaret Atwood’s novel ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ envisions authoritarian rule over fertility under militant theocratic control as a consequence of terrorist driven revolution. In both cases the issue of self determination is raised to become the front line in the battle between natural law and human law.  Human fertility is its central metaphor. Womankind is made both victim and redeemer. With Venus in the sign of her rulership there can be no fakery in this respect.

Many might not want to contemplate such visions of the future, but, they serve us with due warning – there is too much that is recognisable in the world not to take heed of it. This too is a reflection of the illuminating power that is central to this lunation, made all the more poigniant through Taurus association with fertility and survival. To remain grounded in livable realities that give us the balance of a positive vision of the future the threats to that future must be acknowledged and actions be taken that ensure we do not allow such threats to become realised. This is not a time for navel gazing and idealistic dreaming.

This factor will become more pressing and present as this and the following lunations unfold, unless our individual choices carry the clarity of perception and adaptability called for now – while the ‘new age’ may be the prerogative of the dreamers amongst us, the danger is that in following the dream alone we may also discover that the road to hell really is paved with good intentions. The future must also be defended and the offensive against it, as these two novels might strongly suggest, is already under way.

A core underlying element that reflects this through this lunation and beyond is indicated by Saturn’s presence in Sagittarius, quincunx the new Moon. Retrograde Saturn is testing the reality of our beliefs against experience. In squaring Neptune we may become disillusioned at what we find, become dispirited and equally determined to hang on to our cherished dreams. The mutable fire of Sagittarius illuminates from within, transforms through worldly experience and encourages us to grow in the process. The message here is to allow the truth in. Saturn, while burning off false beliefs can also be the ally who provides the essential reality factor that fuels wiser and more realistic choices.

The worldly view of evolutionary forces that are at work within our times can be revealed in this. Saturn’s stationing retrograde on Uranus south node activates memories stored in our bones, ancestral memories inherited from times in which natural law has been at the centre of both traumatic and revolutionary events in our extended history. These are memories that have been over-written in the orthodox version, versioned to suit controlling agendas. In accessing them we reclaim our past and with it our rightful path.

Sagittarius is also the sign of the seeker, the wise fool who follows the spirit of their passion out into the world. With Mars in close proximity this factor is being fueled up, in-volved with passionate soul searching – a passion that can lead to the most fundamental heart of truth, embedded within the fertile darkness. The torch bearer leads the way.

Each of the five retrograde planets reveal different aspects of the seed energy at work within the inner workings of this lunation. They invite us to engage on a personal level with our…….

……individual evolution and self determination taking precedence over conformity to roles and agendas that do not belong to us as individuals,

concerning ourselves with what matters most,

our own natural values 

the better to embody personal choices and the transformative power they enshrine.

They ask us to bear witness

to core values, realities that are meaningful,

inner clarity and clear connections

providing light thrown upon our own thinking.

Thinking on our feet,

 a warrior must first learn how to dance before wielding the sword,

embodying perception and balance in motion –

an old art taught for the benefit of both the individual warrior and the community and cause they serve.

Here the issue of self determination is raised to become the front line in the battle between natural law and human law.

The future must also be defended by such a warrior,

testing the reality of our beliefs against experience,

prepared to allow the truth in,

the essential reality factor that fuels wiser and more realistic choices.

In doing so  we access memories stored in our bones, ancestral memories

 and reclaim our past and with it our rightful path,

the most fundamental heart of truth, embedded within the fertile darkness.

The torch bearer leads the way……..