Friday, September 13, 2013

The Cycles and Circles of the Planets, Part 1




Astrology operates through a system of wheels upon wheels, cycles within cycles, spirals within spirals.  The outer planets symbolize collective forces, Saturn and Jupiter reflect how we adjust to those cultural cycles and the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars symbolize our 'personal' bias.  Let's explore how these planets are doing right now.
 
The outer planets—Uranus, Neptune and Pluto—describe the collective tone of the moment. The background upon which we create the future!  We are immersed in those energies culturally and globally.  Right now, those three planets are disrupting as well as energizing our collective paradigm.  

                                     Pluto and it's moons

Pluto symbolizes the archetypal energy of death and rebirth, of evolution, of raw, catalytic energy.  Things change when Pluto comes to visit.  Pluto in the sign of Capricorn (since early 2008) is dredging up the dead weight of our cultural institutions – the ineptitude of our Congress, the greed and power of Wall Street, the unsustainability of capitalism, the waste of war and the wrong-hearted repressive beliefs of our patriarchal religious institutions – to make room for new growth, a new culture and a new paradigm of community life.  And like any catalytic agent, Pluto is quickening the transformation.  It isn’t pretty, but it’s necessary.  As within so without.   As people’s belief in our cultural institutions crumbles, so too, our inner belief that Patriarchy Knows Best is also crumbling.  When Pluto gets through with Capricorn in 2024, my hope is that we will have evolved into a more responsible, self-aware world, where peace is our obvious choice, where good stewardship of our Mother Earth the bottom line, and where feminine wisdom is once again valued alongside masculine intellect.  

                                                Neptune

Neptune symbolizes the archetypal power of the Imagination: at once vivid and illusive.  Neptune energizes our spirit, opens us to the imagination and honors our compassion.  Depending on our self-awareness, Neptune can also disillusion us, get us lost in fantasy (like being in Faerie for a night and emerging 300 years later), and literally drive us crazy through merging us with everyone around us.  Neptune moved into its own sign of Pisces in 2011 and will stay there until 2025.  So our spiritual awareness and imagination is being taken back into the ocean of the collective unconscious where it will also be renewed.  My hope is that Hollywood starts telling the stories people need to hear, rather than the inept fantasies of young men from 18-36 (Hollywood’s target audience).   Never doubt that your psyche/soul is influenced by images, and that the increase in violence in our world isn’t influenced by the violence we see on our movie, TV and computer screens.  Take back your imagination!  Find stories and images that inspire you to be the best person—not a goody-goody best but the most real person—you can be.  Perhaps Percy Jackson, son of Posiden/Neptune, is the new hero archetype, the hero who also allows others to be heroes, the hero who knows we’re all in this mess together.  Look at the inventiveness with which they defeat the old powers of Chaos once again, as all good heroes and heras (female hero) do. 

                                          (tilted) Uranus

Uranus symbolizes the archetype of the new, the original, the revolutionary.  Uranian energy demands a breakthrough, a sudden twist, a surprise awakening to a larger understanding of life.  Uranus loves the archetypal energies of the Mind and the heavens, the eternal laws of the universe, which need renewal and expression.

Uranus in the sign of Aries offers us a new beginning, with chances to be courageous, to know how to deal with changing situations and to find a new identity.  We have to stop thinking of ourselves as less than expected, which is what patriarchy has done to all of us.  We need to discover our archetypal identity as teacher, healer, mother, father, bard, warrior, judge, artist etc.  We are so much more than we’ve been led to imagine.  

So, the collective planets are telling us that things have to change—our culture is no longer a viable option for continued life here on Earth.  The on-going Pluto square Uranus challenges us to find a new, bigger self-identity to meet the chaos of these changing times.  Neptune opens us to other dimensions of reality, helping us to cope with the big changes coming our way with imagination, compassion and spiritual awareness of our oneness.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

The Cosmic Story: 1st Aquarius/Leo Full Moon July 22, 2013, Mercury Goes Direct July 20th.

 
Mercury Direct
So how did your Mercury retrograde go? I know something happened to all of us, because I saw it happening all around me too.  What about you?  What did you run up against?  What flowed smoothly? What did you learn about yourself and your needs?  Mercury retrograde in Cancer can tumble us in crashing ocean waves or cradle us as it rocks us down the river.   


Mercury is the god of travelers, after all, and when it goes retrograde we tend to do our traveling within ourselves.  When Mercury travels backwards through the water signs, we discover our emotional needs and depths.  Did you find any emotional nurturance this watery retrograde period (June 26—July 20)?  Did friends come through for you?  Did your children show you their love?  Did your boss recognize your work? Did you create something?  Did you see a beautiful sunrise?  Did a wild creature cross your path?  Can you feel the love that others want to give you?  When we know we’re loved, we’re not afraid to ask for what we need.  I hope Mercury showed you exactly what you need to fulfill your life so you can start asking for it.

Mercury can also play the trickster on us.  If we’re not listening to our bodies, our hearts, our spirits—but only the mind—we might have encountered some difficulties during the past three weeks.  Did your unconscious decisions come home to roost?  Are you having a hard time standing up for your own needs?  Are you over-mothering and getting the backlash? Are you not getting the recognition you deserve?   Do you feel unsupported?  Are you fearful of a health crisis?  Any and all of these experiences are Mercury’s challenge to you.  Don’t forget, ‘As Within, So Without’.  Time to take care of yourself.  

Mercury in Cancer has us exploring our emotional body needs and can even help us ride those wild emotional currents instead of being swamped by them.  We all have a lot to deal with right now, fully engaged in the mid-point of the ongoing Uranus/Pluto game-changing square.  Since Saturn in Scorpio turned to direct motion on July 7th, our spiritual test (Neptune in Pisces—trining Saturn) is to stand in our truth and stop projecting our shadows out into the world and onto other beings (human or otherwise). If we don’t learn how to relate to ourselves, how can we relate to others? 
Mercury retrograde in Cancer gave us the opportunity to listen in to our real hopes and dreams—rather than to the false desires patriarchy has tried to shape us to.  Consuming is a Cancer task, but America, a Cancer country, has taken it to extremes.  Cancer’s real wisdom concerns when and what to consume for optimum Body, Mind & Spirit health.

The six planets moving through Cancer are energizing our personal and collective emotional body and opening our minds to listening to and understanding what our hearts believe, need and desire.  When we own up to our own rejected emotional needs, we can stand up for ourselves even when we stand up for others.  It’s a win-win situation when we understand the feminine voice of Wisdom, which comes to us through the language of the heart.
The Sabian symbol for Mercury turning direct at 14* Cancer is: An old man, alone, faces the darkness in the NorthEast.  This old man is in need of renewal—that’s why he faces the NorthEast.  Like each of us, he stands alone facing the darkness in the land; he stands there centered in his spirit and hopeful in his heart for rebirth.  He has to remain faithful to his heart wisdom.  This degree gives us the ability to channel emotional power.  This is the next step in our evolution. 
 
This Summer’s Water Grand Trine and potent Square



Just to recap:  Multiple planets have been moving through Cancer since June, each making up the third leg of a grand water trine along with Saturn in Scorpio and Neptune in Pisces.  Mercury, Venus, Moon, Sun in Cancer have already formed the third leg with Jupiter and Mars finishing up this week just before the Full Moon on Monday.  Each energy center has been blessed by the Great Mother of Life in this time of crisis and transformation.  (Mercury-5th, Venus-4th, Moon-6th, Sun-3rd, Jupiter-7th, Mars-2nd, Saturn-1st).   With a water trine, our boundaries are fluid, making us more psychic and open to each other.  This ongoing healing trine offers the gifts of healing, wisdom and greater consciousness.  Stay open so your dreams and feelings can guide you in reshaping your life.
This blessing calls us back to the loving arms of the Mother, to the Earthly Paradise, where all of us are loved.  If we would love our neighbors, first we must love ourselves.  And we learn that love from this Great Mother who nurtures us, shelters us, gives us life and takes us at death.  The healing energies of this grand trine are profound if we consciously work with them and healing none-the-less even if we don’t.   We just have to watch out that we don’t get dragged under by powerful emotions where we project onto others our own deficiencies because we refuse to accept Saturn in Scorpio’s demand to look at our own darkness.  
Neptune in Pisces can help us dream big dreams, opening our imaginations to Spirit’s messages.  Aligned with Saturn, we have a chance to actually manifest some of our dreams.  The planets moving through Cancer pick up these big change energies and incorporate them into our daily lives.  As each one of them become part of the water trine, Neptune and Saturn will bring both a vision and a discipline to our lunar feeling life, our solar sense of Self, our Venusian love nature, our Mercurial mind, our Jupiterian inspiration and curiosity, and late this month, to our Martian desires. 
At the same time, each of these planets will become part of the Uranus/Pluto square.  All of us are struggling at the crossroads where Pluto in Capricorn and Uranus in Aries are challenging each other and us with the energies of death and revolution, transformation and innovation, letting go of the old so the new can be born.   This is deep and exhausting work and everyone needs some lovin’ at times like these.  So while the universe is sending us challenges all month, remember it is also sending us the blessings of the waters.  The Water of Life heals us on the deepest levels, so let the healing happen while you deal with the challenges.  
As these planets move through Cancer and come into an opposition with Pluto and a square to Uranus, they receive the energy of change and transformation as well as send a message back about what our emotional and security needs really are.  In the midst of deep change, what are the important things to hold close?  Family, friends, creativity, children, nature, spirit, justice?  Cancer demands that we take into consideration the feminine, nurturing qualities of life that patriarchy has ignored.   Now is the time to recognize and incorporate these feminine qualities in your own life and in our collective life.
The Goddess has returned and She wants us to recognize that we are all loved.  But like any good mother, She wants us to also love each other.  

The Aquarius/Leo Full Moon
             
The Aquarius Full Moon occurs just a few hours after the Sun enters Leo on July 22, at 11:17am PDT/ 2:17pm EDT/ 6:17pm GMT.  This is the first of two full Moons in the sign of Aquarius—the second one on August 20th will be a Blue Moon—when there are two full Moons in an astrological month (not in a calendar month).  After the second Aquarius full Moon we’ll be back on the new Moon/ full Moon lunar cycle.  (Remember, now we have a full Moon in a sign before the new Moon.)


            Every year we cycle through all the signs of the zodiac along with the Sun.  As the Sun enters the sign of Leo, our attention turns to Leo’s truths: self-confidence, creativity, self-expression, personal power, generosity, playfulness and Individuation.  More than any other sign, Leo represents the urge that Carl Jung called Individuation—our soulful need to be unique individuals.  But unlike ego-individuality, individuation helps us also see that we are part of a larger group.   
   
            That larger group is represented by Aquarius.  Aquarius offers us the possibility of alliances with like-minded individuals working toward a common goal.   So while we work on our personal hopes, we also can be working on our shared dreams.  Now is a great time to search out like-minded individuals who are working on a common goal.  We are stronger for our unity.
            The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 1*Leo is: Blood rushes to a man’s head in anger. Anger is an intense emotion that mobilizes our vital energies to defend ourselves.  Will we give in and attack or will we process the emotion and understand just what it is that makes us so angry?  Is it righteous indignation?  Or a need to fight for personal rights?  Can we use our will to direct these energies properly?  Since the blood goes to the man’s head, perhaps we need to ‘use our heads’ and not get caught up in emotional drama?  Instead, we need to name the emotion and understand what it’s telling us and then act on it consciously. 
            The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 1* Aquarius is: A cubical white temple in the desert.   The desert strips you bare—it leaves you to face your essential self.  Since this is a temple in the desert, it is dedicated to the basic spiritual and natural laws of life.  Leaving religions behind us, we can seed a new spiritual vision that encompasses the realities of our times and can be a basis for a new civilization based on partnership between masculine and feminine rather than patriarchal domination over everyone else.  The old gods are dead—a new age calls us to spiritual and earthy freedom.
            Saturn in Scorpio squares this full Moon, showing us where we need to make some inner changes so we can all work together.   Saturn demands that we take responsibility for our lives, and with the square to the full Moon, it shows us where we are accountable for the mess in our lives. Full Moons bring us awareness through relationships. Saturn squaring the full Moon says, ‘if you want to become aware of how you fit into the group, pay attention to how you feel with others.’  But since Saturn is still part of the grand water trine—especially now that Jupiter and Mars are part of it—we will have the energy, enthusiasm and confidence to move ahead with our plans.  Keep sharing those plans with like-minded people because that’s how collective change happens.  It’s time to realize that ‘no man is an island’ and that if we really mean it that we want to change our world, then we have to find others to work with.  This full Moon and the 2nd Aquarius full Moon will help us connect.

            The last week of July will be intense as Mars in Cancer opposes Pluto in Capricorn and squares Uranus in Aries.  Watch some long-standing issues come to a head and beware of jumping to conclusions without getting all the information.  This volatile combination can give rise to power struggles.  Are they worth it?  When you become a vessel of power, which is the feminine way of handling power, there are no struggles.  Just an easy flow of handing power around the circle.   

                                                   Grand Sextile



A beautiful and rare grand sextile occurs on July 29, 2013.  The grand sextile is formed by two grand trines.  The first is our water trine we’ve been bathing in since June.  The second is an earth grand trine comprised of the Moon in Taurus, Venus in Virgo and Pluto in Capricorn.  This second grand trine speaks about the collective re-orientation toward the Divine Feminine.  Combined, the two trines position a planet every 60* around the circle in the feminine elements of water and earth.  Manifestation is powered by our emotional body and the more focused we are on our real needs which nourish life, the better able we are to manifest the situations which will help us get what we need.   Sextiles (60* aspects) are all about opportunity, and this beauty gives us another opportunity to change ourselves and our world.  Step into your new life!
 
Below is a list of the changing energies remaining this month.  Watch and see how you feel and act on these powerful days.

Dates for the Water Trine and the Uranus/Pluto T-squares:
July 13:  Mars enters Cancer
July 17:  Uranus stations retrograde.  Jupiter in Cancer trines Saturn and Neptune.
July 19:  Saturn trines Neptune
July 20:  Mercury stationary direct.  Mars in Cancer trines Saturn and Neptune.
July 22:  Mar conjuncts Jupiter in Cancer.  Venus enters Virgo.  Sun enters Leo.  Full Moon in                     Aquarius/Leo.
July 27:  Mars in Cancer opposite Pluto in Capricorn.
July 31:  Mars in Cancer squares Uranus in Aries.

As we head into the harvest-time of Lammas (August 1), remember to offer something of your harvest to the Divine Spirit of Life.  Offerings show our love and gratitude; save a child, a tree, a river, a man, a woman—in honor of the Light.
Blessed Be.
Cathy

Monday, June 24, 2013

The Dates for the Grand Water Trine and the Pluto/Uranus T-Squares with Cancer planets.

Dates for the Water Trine and the Uranus/Pluto T-squares:
June 7:    Venus in Cancer trines stationary retrograde Neptune in Pisces and Saturn in Scorpio.
June 9:    Cancer Moon trines Neptune and Saturn.
June 11:  Saturn trines Neptune.
June 20-21:  Summer Solstice & Mercury conjuncts Venus
June 25: Jupiter begins his year sojourn in Cancer.
June 26: Sun in Cancer trines Saturn and Neptune.  Mercury goes retrograde.
June 27: Venus goes into Leo.
July 1:    Sun in Cancer opposes Pluto in Capricorn.
July 3-4: Sun in Cancer squares Uranus in Aries.
July 7:    Cancer Moon trines Saturn and Neptune.  Saturn stations retrograde.
July 8:    Cancer New Moon
July 9:    Cancer Sun conjuncts Mercury retrograde.
July 13:  Mars enters Cancer
July 17:  Uranus stations retrograde.  Jupiter in Cancer trines Saturn and Neptune.
July 19:  Saturn trines Neptune
July 20:  Mercury stationary direct.  Mars in Cancer trines Saturn and Neptune.
July 22:  Mar conjuncts Jupiter in Cancer.  Venus enters Virgo.  Sun enters Leo.  Full Moon in                     Aquarius/Leo.
July 27:  Mars in Cancer opposite Pluto in Capricorn.
July 31:  Mars in Cancer squares Uranus in Aries.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Dates for all 7 Uranus/Pluto squares.

Here are the dates for the 7 Uranus/Pluto Squares.




             Date                   Uranus          Pluto

            Jun 24 2012                 08°Ar24' D        08°Cp24' R
            Sep 18 2012                06°Ar57' R        06°Cp57' D

            May 20 2013                11°Ar14' D        11°Cp14' R
            Nov 1 2013                  09°Ar26' R        09°Cp26' D

            Apr 21 2014                 13°Ar34' D        13°Cp34' R
            Dec 14 2014                12°Ar35' R        12°Cp35' D

            Mar 16 2015                15°Ar18' D        15°Cp18' D

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

The Cosmic Story: 3rd Uranus/Pluto Square -- May 20, 2013



The Cosmic Story: 3rd Uranus/Pluto Square—May 20, 2013




What was begun in the 60s now has to become a collective necessity in the 21st Century.  The revolutionary energy of Uranus and the evolutionary energy of Pluto have come to a crossroads.  We have to consciously participate in evolution this time around.   We are the ones who have chosen to be here at this crucial time in our world’s history—chosen to be here to make a choice that will determine the future of our world.  Will we choose love or hate, domination or partnership, greed or cooperation, fear or vision?  We have learned to see and know both the light and the darkness of our world, and now we all have to do something about it. 
Today we went over the limit of CO2 in our atmosphere that scientists believe we can’t recover from.  What is the world’s response?  What are we all going to do now?  We are one world, and we are all being ‘ruled’ by an unhealthy, out-of-balance paradigm of life.  Patriarchy upholds values that no longer serve life: individualism rather than self-aware individuation, domination rather than partnership, masculine power over feminine love and connection.  Isn’t it time to step away from that old story and find a story that fills our heart with courage and love and determination?  Isn’t it time to become the heroes and heroines of our own lives?  

Three is the number of process, and with this 3rd out of 7 squares between Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn, it is time to awaken and stretch our muscles.   This square can be a game changer.  The first 2 squares brought up the issues; now this 3rd square demands action.  Both Pluto and Uranus have moved into the second decan (10 degrees each) of both Aries and Capricorn.  The 2nd decan of Aries is overseen by Leo—the steady fire sign of individuation.  The 2nd decan of Capricorn is overseen by Taurus—the secure sign of building and manifestation.  The Cosmic Story offers us a chance to build our individual vision of life in the midst of cultural transformation. 
The Sabian symbol for Uranus at 12* Aries is: A triangle-shaped flight of wild geese.  This symbol urges us to believe in Cosmic Order.  There is a bigger story going on than our old collective story, and when we can see the image of that new story clearly, we can live it.  
The Sabian symbol for Pluto at 12* Capricorn is: An illustrated lecture on natural science reveals little-known aspects of life.  This is a call to explore all aspects of life, especially our right-brain, feminine consciousness, which can show us the natural laws of life.  
Together, these symbols challenge us to step outside-the-box and into our destiny—our life’s purpose.  Explore and believe.  Challenge and change.  Imagine and manifest.   (for an interesting talk on The Science Delusion by Rupert Sheldrake which was removed from the TED site, see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKHUaNAxsTg)



Uranus in Aries is the great Awakener.  This energy fertilizes our consciousness like lightning fertilizes the fields in Springtime.  I’ve been suggesting that we use this Uranus energy to find our archetypal ‘soul-identity’, rather than an unconscious Aries ‘ego-identity’.  Uranus awakens consciousness, so we think outside-the-box, understand our emotions and transform them into conscious feelings, access the imaginal realms where creation begins and listen in the silence after the thunder for Spirit to speak to us.
Are you a leader, an inventor, a healer, a bard?  Are you a mother, an artist, a teacher, a priestess?  Uranus urges us to see ourselves in larger, collective roles—not the roles patriarchy offers us, but rather the necessary and archetypal roles that all humans must fill to create a healthy, compassionate society.   
Pluto’s energy in Capricorn is behind all the dirty little secrets that are coming to light about our government and it’s collusion with our banks and corporations.   The American Supreme Court just ruled in favor of Monsanto holding our food system hostage with their GMO seeds.  The US Congress won’t pass a gun control law despite the slaughter of innocents.  The US government is spying on its own citizens in the name of security.  Corporate profits are at an all-time high—and so is poverty.   The old patriarchal center will not hold any longer—people all around the world have been educated and know that our freedom and our future is in jeopardy.  


Uranus gives us the energy to rise up what is new and necessary for life in those places Pluto tears down, that are decayed and rotten.   One way we can help the process is to step out of our patriarchal mindset—our 3D reality—and imagine and create our own vision of the future with our community.    If we spend time every day imagining what kind of life we want to share with others here on Earth, we can bring that new vision into our collective reality.  Of course, then we have to find ways to implement it.  That means we have to engage in our communities and help solve problems.  As we stand and face the evil in our world, and name it for what is it, we have a chance of changing the probable outcome of our reckless consumer reality.  
With Neptune in Pisces, we have a multitude of realities to choose from.   Instead of continuing to be caught up in the patriarchal game of power and money, we can choose to live in a more fruitful reality, one that places love at its center.  There are other ways to use our talents and help each other.  There are other forms of exchange.  This breakup of our culture is a necessary step toward our future.  So don’t despair!  Take action and join with like-minded people.  
The proper use of the Creative Imagination is so important right now.  We use imagination to keep our intentions for the future viable.  An image is an energy conductor.  So when you visualize the life you want to live--see it and feel it, don’t just think it.  We each have something to give to our world.  See it, believe it and live it.  That’s how change happens. 
When you see evil in the world and you get upset, find that tiny space of darkness within you and bring it into the light.  Each time we redeem the darkness within us, we bring more light to the world.  It’s time for us to embrace the dark and see our own shadows.  Once we accept these rejected parts of ourselves, we can find ways to use that shadow energy for the good of life, rather than the repression of life.   
Be clear about what you want—know what you value.  Then use your imagination coupled with your will to stand up for your values, not just in your personal life but also for our collective life. 
The Sun goes into Gemini an hour before these two planets come into exact square.  The Moon is in Libra.  Both our lights are in air signs, so look at how you think, how you categorize, how you communicate and how you relate.  Air symbolizes our mental knowing, so give your mind a spring cleaning so the cosmic laws of life structure our knowing.
Blessings in this time of cosmic transformation!      

Bright Blessings in these transformational times.
 Cathy