The Cosmic Story: Part Two -- Solar Samhain, Taurus Total Lunar Eclipse and Hekate, Goddess of the Crossroads

 

The Cosmic Story: Part Two

Samhain, Taurus Total Lunar Eclipse and Hekate

The Taurus/Scorpio Total Lunar Eclipse 2022

We’ve had a few weeks of tremendous stress and change, starting with Jupiter retrograde heading back into Pisces for a check in on October 27^th – 28^th, Mars in Gemini going retrograde on October 30^th and All Hallow’s Eve/Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos/the Day of Dead on November 1^st – 2^nd. And don’t forget the Scorpio Power Gate of Samhain on November 7^th.

These weeks are bracketed by this season’s eclipses. Eclipses occur when the Sun, Moon and Earth are on the same plane in space. Then the Earth or the Moon can block the light of the Sun – the Earth for lunar eclipses and the Moon for solar eclipses. The solar eclipse on October 25^th highlighted a release of an old story, habits, behaviors and a planting of a new spirit of regeneration. (You do know the old story isn’t working anymore, don’t you?) We get this blessing because the Moon – our unconscious psyche – faces directly into the Sun, our consciousness. There is a sacred marriage between our unconscious and conscious sides. Our energies come into a different balance and open us to change. 

 

Tuesday's Taurus lunar eclipse indicates what we are directed to learn and incarnate, since it’s conjunct the lunar North Node in Taurus. The North Node indicates our collective destiny. A Full Moon is the full blossoming of what was planted at the proceeding New Moon. It is fully illuminated so we can see the result of our plantings. Did something grow or did it fail to prosper? 

 

With a lunar eclipse, that Full Moon blossoming is overshadowed with our Shadow! We get to see what is stopping us from that blossoming. Lunar eclipses can change us by showing us what we haven’t wanted to look at. Our earthy nature gets in the way of us manifesting that perfect blossoming. But once we name it and own it, we change things. Our shadows turn into the golden light of consciousness and open our awareness in unexpected way. Especially this lunar eclipse. Let’s look at it.

The Taurus Full Moon total lunar eclipse occurs on November 8, 2022 at 3:02am PST/ 6:02am EST/ 11:02am GMT. 

 

 

The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 17* Scorpio is: A woman, fecundated by her own spirit, is “Great with Child”. This beautiful image reminds me of the Woman of Revelation – A portent appeared in the heavens. A Woman, clothed with the Sun, standing on the Moon, crowned with Stars, in labor giving birth to the Savior. The Divine Feminine and women will save the world!

 

 

This image calls on the Divine Feminine within each of us to birth our original blessings and soul-purpose. This idea aligns with the Gene Key for this eclipse, for the Taurus Moon has the Second Gene Key, which is associated with the second trigram of the I Ching – the Receptive/the Feminine. The Second Gene Key is called, Returning to the One.

This Gene Key’s shadow is called dislocation. It is a feeling of not knowing where we are in time or space. It feels like now, doesn’t it? Since this is my birth Gene Key, I can say that it makes us feel like we’re isolated, that we don’t fit in, that we’re lost. But the reality is that we are never lost on a soul level, that we are part of Mother Earth’s biosphere. Our human consciousness feels like that because we’ve been separated from Nature by our patriarchal culture. But once we look at this shadow and embrace it, we find the gift, which is called orientation. When we re-orient our awareness of life toward spirit, we can live more harmoniously, with an increased electromagnetic field that attracts what we need to live a full life. The blessing of this Gene Key is Unity, being able to live in an awareness of our interconnection with all of life.

We do all this through our connection to the Divine Feminine within, to our soul’s song for us. Once we shake off our patriarchal paralysis, we can embrace our bountiful Being. What a gift that will be for all of humanity – and for all the rest of nature which has had to deal with our destructive ways for too long.

The Sabian symbol for the Moon and Uranus at 17* Taurus is: A symbolic battle between ‘swords’ and ‘torches’. This speaks to our cultural polarization, doesn’t it? The swords/guns of one side, the torch of freedom on the other. (See below for the symbolism of the torch and Hekate, the Goddess of this Samhain season.) It’s so much easier for the ‘old’ to go to war than to carry the light into the future. Everything going on in the world is a result of the negative energies of the patriarchal paradigm. Instead of allowing people our freedom, the dominators would rather kill us and the Earth than retire to their easy chairs and let go. Whether they use weapons or money, they refuse to create a better world – and the saddest part is we have the intelligence and the resources to do it. We just don’t have the will. Perhaps this eclipse will give it to us.

 

So, back to this intense Full Moon. All the energies of life (Taurus) and death (Scorpio) culminate on November 8^th, the U.S. Election Day, with a total Lunar Eclipse in Taurus/Scorpio – seen over the whole U.S. This is the first Election Day total lunar eclipse in American history, not set to happen again until November 8th 2394. What makes this Full Moon eclipse so extra powerful (Scorpio and Taurus are powerful in themselves) is that the Taurus Moon is aligned with Uranus and the North Node opposite the Scorpio Sun conjunct Mercury and Venus, with both sides of the Full Moon square Saturn in Aquarius.

The heavens are showing us that there’s LOTS of FIXED energy around – six planets and the lunar nodes in fixed signs. Which means stubborn, intractable, powerful, building energies will be in play. Look at all the red lines (stressful) in the chart for Washington D.C. But I want to believe that the needs of the future will win out, and the surprises that Uranus, which symbolizes freedom, rebellion, unexpected surprises, always promises might be that the US election will go against conventional wisdom. I want a surprise finish! If so, there will be crazy challenges. Whichever way things go, we’re in a for wild ride.

The Scorpio Sun joins Mercury a few hours after this eclipse, while Venus has already connected with the Sun on October 22^nd at 29* Libra just a few days before the Scorpio Solar Eclipse. So these three planets are in harmony, having connected with each other in the past few weeks. Venus is our feminine nature, which is being renewed as an Evening Star of Wisdom. We are not supposed to hold onto emotions (e-energy in motion): they move through us in 90 seconds if we allow them to. Venus goes willingly into the dark to embrace what has been neglected, degraded and unloved.

Mercury is the Mind, which can name what is happening and even guide us on our underworld journey. The Sun is our conscious awareness of what we have learned. These three planets in Scorpio can take us deep within ourselves to discover hidden riches as well as old emotional pain. The work here is transformation – letting go of stuck emotions so new energy is available to us. So we can become ‘great with child’, with our new life and story.

Taurus is the most grounded sign in the zodiac. It’s the sign of Mother Earth, the one who takes cosmic energy and creates life. Taurus Moons like stability, security and pleasure. And of course, the beauty and simplicity of Nature. In a worldly way, Taurus rules safety and security, money, possessions, beauty, love and values. With Uranus conjunct the Moon opening us to Earth’s creative evolutionary genius, our ground might be shaken but we won’t necessarily collapse if we stay true to ourselves. (But the stock market might.)

The most important gift of Taurus is our values – what do we value? Patriarchy values money, domination and power. The Divine Feminine values love, heart-centered wisdom, community, beauty and truth. What do you value? What we value will come back to us, so meditate on what you truly desire.

This lunar eclipse can create a strong energy pattern that can help us manifest what we set our hearts on. (I keep saying manifest because Taurus is the zodiacal sign of manifestation. It is the foundation of whatever we build. Taurus takes Aries original spark of spirit and shapes it into something. Gives it a form.)

Scorpio is where we rub up against each other, where our emotional barriers stop us from connecting because of past trauma. This eclipse can bring down those barriers. With Venus and Mercury acting together to assist our descent into our Shadow lives, we can be gentle with ourselves and name our wounds for what they are. Once named, they can be healed.

I believe the basic wound we all share is that we’ve been told we aren’t the beautiful, abundant, creative beings that we are. Our wound is that we hide our true Self behind barriers erected through mistrust and fear, expectation and desire until we don’t know who we are. We all have been wounded emotionally, physically and spiritually. Our hearts have been ravished of their hopes and dreams. Isn’t it time to reclaim them? If we do, perhaps we can create a new society that opens up our spirits instead of shutting them down.

That’s what we had to release during the Scorpio solar eclipse. Our false selves, our wounded selves. Did we plant a need for a new blueprint for connecting our ego-selves to our inner Self/Spirit? At this lunar eclipse, perhaps we’ll see the results. At the first quarter Moon in Aquarius (November 1), we’ll be tested in our resolve to write that new story. How is it going for you?

Total lunar eclipses are points of closure, completion and endings, which shine a light on what we’ve been unaware of. The result is permanent change. This is a long lunar eclipse, with totality lasting about an hour and a half, and about six hours in total. The longer the eclipse, the more time afterwards it takes to work things out. So the next six month should see the results of what is manifested.

The important thing to remember is to not get caught up in the drama – we are living in a chaotic moment that needs to happen if real change is to occur. So hang onto your hats and enjoy the winds of change and don’t get blown off course. Stay in your heart and love your people, be kind to others and make connections with like-minded people.

There is so much fixed energy in this chart. Fixed signs – Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius – want to hold on tight to the energies they’re working with because that’s their job! They want to concentrate the energy. With Saturn squaring this Full Moon eclipse and Uranus, last year’s struggle between the old vs the new, the past vs the future (Saturn/Uranus square) might get played out, especially here in the US.

In the larger world, we might expect earthquakes, with literal, financial and personal earthquakes. And in the US, I’m sure there will be fighting over the election results. Just BREATHE! Things need to breakdown so we can break on through the the other side.

These times will bring up great frustration, because there seems to be no outlet – Mars, the co-ruler of Scorpio, is retrograde and sort of lost in Gemini’s need to do a million things at once. Mars retrograde is also inconjunct Pluto in Capricorn, setting up a power struggle, and squaring Neptune retrograde, which can leave us mentally scattered, although it’s great for creativity and spirituality. As you can see, poor Mars will be confused, frustrated and uncertain how to act.

What is the thing that wants to be acted upon? What are you not doing and why? This is the thing that Mars going retrograde in Gemini (sign of learning, communication, perspective, travel and knowledge) will pose for us. What do we know and how do we want to perceive the world? Is it a matter of perspective? Of belief? Mars in Gemini is overloaded with ideas and perceptions. Mars turning retrograde will push that energy to stop moving so fast and really look at what is gong on NOW.

Jupiter is basically on the 0*Aries World Axis, but has moved back to 29* Pisces, the omega point, where it stays until it turns direct on November 23^rd. Jupiter aligns once more with Neptune in Pisces to remind us that we are the world, we are the children, we are ONE. Uses this time to imagine a better world (it’s getting easier to see since the patriarchal world is showing its worst side as it dies).

As you can see, these next weeks will be intense. And the dark is rising, since we’re in the season of Samhain until Winter Solstice. This dark time is a time for contemplation and inner seeking. Solar Samhain (when the Sun hits 15* Scorpio) is on November 7^th, so we are still in the energetic field of accepting Death as our advisor. Can we let go of fear and face the dark?

 

When we face the darkness which we associate with Death, can the Crone be our guide? Since it’s the season of Samhain and Halloween, and the witches are coming out to dance, I say we look to the Crone Goddess Hecate, the ancient guide to the human journey into darkness and death. And then back into rebirth.

Hecate, the Goddess of the Crossroads

 

It’s interesting that Christians called Hekate ‘the Queen of Witches’, a reminder of her power to free women from patriarchal rules and roles. As one young twitter user sang, a WITCH is a Woman In Total Control of Herself. All the patriarchal religions want to control women because we are powerful – we are the Mothers who give birth to life and men never lose their need for our comfort and support. Under patriarchy, a woman who was not controlled might not give men that love and comfort, so she had to be controlled.

Unfortunately, that’s just not the way it works. Freedom breeds love. Control breeds hate. In the Piscean Age, men condemned women (and some men) for being witches, not only because they feared magic, but also because they especially feared Women’s Magic.

How powerful must women be for such a long and consistent persecution?

 

So Hekate is the guide for those women who belong to themselves. Who are not afraid of their inner darkness, which is just unknowing. Women know this darkness with our bleeding. We know it with our giving birth. We know it in our body. Women live this cyclical nature, so we are not afraid to take Hekate for our guide.

Hekate is the great Goddess of the Crossroads, the initiator into the mysteries of death and rebirth. At her triple crossroads, magic happens – we can be blessed or cursed – but we will be challenged. What happens really depends on what’s in our heart. We curse ourselves when we let our fear of death stop us from making choices and changing. We step into our blessings when we trust our choices and step onto our path. But we have to choose. That’s the point of a triple crossroads. A choice is called for. Our world is at a crossroads. Will we pick freedom or fear?

 

One of my ‘big’ dreams while I was studying at the Jung Institute was about a triple crossroads and a dynamic change.

In the first part of the dream, I was facing a wounded lion. Then I was sitting on an old-fashioned buckboard wagon at a triple crossroads. I looked up and saw in the sky the waning Moon (the Crone/Hekate Moon) and a giant tidal wave about to descend on me. I closed my eyes and thought ‘this is it’. Then I opened my eyes and saw that the tidal wave was gone and there was a new crescent Moon shining in the sky what the old Moon had been. And then I was given a blessing.

This was the beginning of a big change in my life. Because I did make a free choice after this dream. I later discovered that Hekate, the Crone, often changed into Artemis, the Virgin.

Whether we think of her as a Goddess, an archetype or a cosmic law of life, Hekate is still vital to us today. Especially so, since She is well acquainted with death and rebirth. She saw Kore ravished away by Hades, the God of Death, and told her mother Demeter about what had happened. Hekate is the archetypal energy within us that sees our inner process and the possible outcomes (roads) we might consider taking. She understands our fears, our hopes and dreams and what we are striving for. She is our companion in the darkness, and lights the way with her torches – whether in the form of dreams, intuitive perceptions and most importantly, our heart’s desire. She is a great guide for the uncertainty of our times. While we don’t know what the future will bring, we don’t have to face it alone. We have Hekate to guide us safely through the dark.

Hekate was worshiped all over the ancient world and is still called upon by women and occultists as Goddess of Magic and Healing. She is an opener of the way, and the Goddess of Thresholds; hence her keys, opening the door to a new start while locking the door on the old story. She is a Goddess of in-between places, like dawn and dusk, places of transition and liminality. She carries two torches to light the way in and out of the dark. 

 (It’s interesting that the Statue of Liberty, holding a torch and wearing the 7-rayed crown of Hekate, lights our way to freedom – perhaps an echo of Hekate there?)

 

 

I’ve always thought of Hekate as a more ancient Goddess than the Olympians (she was a Titaness) because she was free to wander the three world – the heavens, earth and the sea, as well as the Underworld, where she ministers to Persephone, often known as another aspect of her triple nature. Hekate was free to wander the world, independent of the patriarchal need to marry off the ancient goddesses to their newer male gods. Although in different times and places, Hekate is associated with a god or children, she never loses her freedom.

Most importantly, Hekate gets her power over heaven, earth and sea from her mother, Asteria, the starry cosmos, who was associated with divination by dreams and astrology. Hekate’s association with dreams and prophecy comes from her mother Asteria as well as her association with snakes and oracles.

Just as you have to seek those in-between realms to open to prophecy, Hekate as the Goddess of Thresholds takes us into those other realms, using her keys to help us close one part of our life and open the door to another. As such, She is Goddess and guide to those transitioning from this world to the next in death.

She can help us get over the fear of Death, allowing us to go gently into that sacred transition. Our world could do worse than look to Her for guidance now, and at the hour of our death. 

 

courtesy of Katlyn Breene 

If we take her as our guide, Hekate stands with her two torches, her keys, and her protective dogs, ready to light the way, open the door and scent out the path we need to take to meet our Death – and awaken to our Re-birth.

In this time of great turmoil and transition, please go and vote. While neither side is perfect, it is up to we, the people, to initiate change. And while we might not trust the system completely, it is the only one we have at the moment. So vote for change and then make sure it happens.

Samhain Blessings,

Cathy

The Cosmic Story: Samhain, Eclipse Season and New Venus Star Point Part One

 

The Cosmic Story: Samhain, Eclipse Season

and New Venus Star Point

Part One

The Wheel of the Year: Samhain: Death Aspect of the Cycle of Life

As we enter the season of Samhain (October 31-- astrological Samhain at 15* Scorpio on November 7), we begin the six weeks of greatest darkness in the northern hemisphere before the rebirth of the Light at Winter Solstice. (I’m going to stick with the seasons in the North but I want to shout out to those of you down South to have a merry Beltane!)

We are entering the season of Death, with nature dying off and the light dimming. Westerners celebrate this season with celebrations of Halloween, The Day of the Dead, All Saints Day/All Souls Day. At Halloween, we begin to let go of our usual ‘ego-selves’ and take on imaginary ‘selves’ in an unconscious mirroring of the needs of the season – to let go of what is no longer viable – what is dead – and to begin to imagine the new life to come next year. Who will we dress up as?

Samhain is last gateway of the Wheel of the Year, the time to learn to become comfortable with darkness, to accept Death and change in our own lives. By accepting Death psychologically, we’ll begin to let go of our fear of DEATH. Otherwise, we will surely create even more death in the world. (Look at Putin – instead of letting go of what is no longer viable, he’s going all in on death and destruction. Scared, fearful, silly little man.)

We are a culture which fears Death. Most masculine cultures do. Made worse because Christianity made the afterlife a fearful thing of fire and damnation. Who is ‘saintly’ enough to make it to their heaven, especially if there’s only one chance to make it? Most people imagine going to purgatory or hell-- both places of fire and torment. Who came up with this religion? Who would worship a divine being that condemns most of us to one gruesome afterlife? And who condemned women as ‘evil’ ‘soulless’ and ‘the cause of death’. Sometimes I despair of the male religious imagination, which took the Goddess’ promise of continual death and rebirth and turned it into a nightmare of masculine linear thought of beginning, middle and the End. In refusing the gifts of feminine wisdom, these churchmen gifted us with FEAR of death instead of acceptance of life and death.

 

 

Elana Gibeault ~ Samhain

At Samhain, when the gates between life and death open and the souls of the departed sometimes return to comfort or confront us, we have the opportunity to face our loss and fears and let go of them. Life will have its way with us – but we get to make choices about how we meet it. We ourselves choose to make life a blessing or a curse. We don’t need to fear life. We just need to respect her and know how to meet her demands. Samhain demands a death.

This unconscious fear-based belief about death has given rise to a death culture – a history of warfare, death and destruction that is still being played out all over the world, but most symbolically in Ukraine. What will Putin accomplish with his war? More deaths. The threat of nuclear destruction? The end of all life? For what? His pride. His power. His legacy? This is the delusional state of the patriarchal mind, this unconscious fear of death, should not be running the world. For those of you old enough, Dr. Strangelove.

So how do we stop it? 

 

 

First, by realizing deep down in our souls that our world is DYING. On multiple fronts – the environment is in crisis, with around 90% of the animal species dying out, with our waters poisoned by chemicals and pharmaceuticals, our air poisoned with too much CO² as well as other hazardous chemicals, our food poisoned by hormones and chemicals which cause disease --- shall I go on? Then there’s the social, wealth, resources and gender inequality. And now – again – there is a renewed threat of NUCLEAR WAR.

The thing is, we can’t let these facts freeze us and leave us feeling powerless. There is a power in Mother Earth that can fill us and give us the power to accomplish what is needed. The issues facing us are our task, our purpose. It’s up to us to determine what kind of future this planet and our people will have. We are the grandmothers and grandfathers of the future. How will they remember us?

We can stop this craziness, and bring patriarchy down by not buying into it anymore. (I think women need to strike for 3 days all over the world – we’d stop the world, since we hold up more than our share of it.) At least we can look to something different to guide us. Let’s stop doing the same thing over and over again with the same results.

We need a guide. So let’s look to the ancient Mother Goddess for answers. 

 

Mother Earth

The problem of Death: The divine Feminine is tied to the Earth and her cycles, not some heavenly afterlife. Just as Spring brings new life, Summer growth and Autumn harvest, the last weeks of the year, when the darkness is greatest, bring us the lessons of Death. Which in turn, leads to Re-Birth at Winter Solstice. And the cyclical process begins anew. Mother Earth is a tidy mistress – we get recycled.

The truth is, Death is a needed and natural part of the life cycle. Without death, how can there be new Life? It is our souls which never die; they get recycled into new bodies and new experiences. It’s our individual egos that are afraid. (Pro-life people, you don’t seem to believe in souls, only bodies. A very one dimensional belief.) Patriarchy has tried to take control of this process and stop Death (keeping people alive past our expiration date for money), which is probably why the world is stuck in the Death aspect of the life cycle.

It’s especially important at this moment that we all learn to face Death without fear, because we’re also going through a big transformation of the world ages. The old world paradigm (patriarchy) is dying and a new world view is being birthed. But the old is ‘afraid’ to die and let the new vision come into being. As we can see, it’s not going down without its usually bullying response to its fear – a fight.

Because there is so much darkness and chaos in the world, the old is trying to maintain control all over the world, but the new energies of life are rising up. Young women in Iran and protesters in China and Russia are defying authority to demand their freedom. In the US, we are asked to reject a false narrative of lies and deception and conspiracy theories bankrolled by the wealthy to protect their power. Entertain this possibility: Perhaps they know about these conspiracies because they’re the ones doing the horrible things, hypocritically pointing the finger at others, just as perhaps Trump tried to cheat on the election and got outmaneuvered by voters. Could be.

Perhaps the lesson is to learn to make up our own minds about what we value. We stand on the brink of true freedom when we make our choices with our free will. It’s time to embrace our freedom, which includes everyone else’s freedom.

The way to begin this dying process for patriarchy is for each of us to let it die within ourselves. It doesn’t have to be a battle. Just a gentle farewell. A slow shedding of unnecessary waste. A turning away from being a consumer to being a citizen. Becoming a conscious co-creator of our world.

Ask yourself: How has capitalistic patriarchy colonized your beliefs, your values, your ideals and your needs? This season of Samhain is the time to shed your old skins so that your authentic light can shine through by Winter Solstice.

Part of the issue the world faces is the rapid development of technology in the last century, causing dramatic changes in our society. We are the forerunners of the Age of Aquarius, potentially a more technological and idealistic society. (think Star Trek! These stories always showed our future as one of equality, freedom, curiosity and unity, as opposed to Star Wars and others where most of the worlds are desert worlds full of junk, ruled over by despots.) It’s up to us to begin to understand what our technology is and what it can helpfully be used for. And what it shouldn’t be used for. It’s important to ween people off their constant use of technology and back into personal contacts and communication. We can find ways to use technology without destroying our humanity. We’ve gone overboard with our new toys, and now it’s time to re-balance.

We are entering unknown territory. Going where no one has gone before.

The Wise Crone and Death

We re-balance by re-connecting to the Divine Feminine energy of the cosmic laws of life and death. In ancient times, when the Mother Goddess was worshiped, people saw death as an intimate and important process of the life cycle. Just as the Divine Mother gives birth to us, she also takes life away when it is no longer sustainable. This is why women have been the caretakers of children and of the dying. The divine Feminine fosters caring, community and change, even in death.

 

 

This fear of death extends to our society’s disregard of older women, for the ancient Goddess often had 3 forms – the Maiden, the Mother/Lover, the Crone – the Creatrix, the Preserver and the Destroyer. The Crone was the aspect of the Goddess who understood and dealt with Death. So men feared her, and now fear death. Isn’t it interesting that it was the ancient gods that had to die to be reborn?

Men have to face their fear of death and surrender to the inevitable. That’s why a return of the Goddess and her natural laws can heal our fears. The Crone (which means crown), knows the wisdom of life and death. The Crone was the judge and lawmaker, since she understood what is necessary to promote life.

In facing death and facing fear, the Crone becomes the Maiden who creates the world again. It is all one cycle of life and death. And we are part of it, whether we know it or not. When we connect to the seasons and cycles, we make those times sacred and magic happens – the magic appropriate to the season’s needs.

Our modern culture loses a valuable resource when it devalues older women and our wisdom. All ancient cultures valued their elders, especially the grandmothers. It’s too bad that our ‘founding fathers’ left out the need for a council of grandmothers in our government, since they looked to the Iroquois’ Great Law of Peace for ideas on how to establish their experiment in freedom. The Native Council of Grandmothers decided if and when the tribes went to war and who could be chief. They were the Clan Mothers who held the people together. It would have been wiser to add this aspect of governance to our constitution instead of a Supreme Court that could be politicized by one group. The Grandmothers stood for all the people. Because they were the Mothers of the Tribe.

 

 

Grandmothers

We need our wise crones now more than ever. Christianity burned old women for their ‘evil eye’ – which was basically just a knowing look that saw how idiotic the men were acting. The male ego is often afraid of that disapproval. And so they suppressed the aspects of the divine Feminine that would call them on their s**t and only kept the loving and nurturing mother and spouse who they felt they could control.

So men’s fear of death and their fear of older women seem to go hand and hand. (of course there are men who are not like this, but in general, this has been the male attitude.) And yet the Wise Crone sets the moral standards of her clan and culture. The one who gave birth and gave nourishment, warmth, protection and survival skills to her children also created culture for those children. The Crone made moral and legal decisions for her people. The Church called these wise older women ‘witches’ and burned thousands of women over 5 centuries, wiping out the old pagan Goddess religions and its beliefs – that we belong to the Earth and its cycle of life and death, that sexuality and pleasure are sacred, that we are part of Nature, that women’s wisdom is more important than man’s knowledge.

With so many post-menopausal women alive today, we have a wealth of Crone wisdom to call on. Isn’t it time we did?

I’ve been re-reading a book from the late 80s The Crone: Woman of Age, Wisdom and Power, by Barbara G. Walker. It’s a powerful reminder of how the patriarchal religions have persecuted women’s religions and powers for thousands of years. And why it’s so important for women to reclaim our ancient purpose so we can bring a wise vision of life back to the world.

The second part of this Samhain newsletter will be out next week, where I’ll discuss the goddess Hekate and the upcoming total lunar eclipse in Taurus, conjunct Uranus – the planet of surprises – which occurs on the morning of the U.S. elections. Surprises are in store.

Venus Conjunct the Sun: New Venus-Star Cycle begins: October 22, 2022

Ever since we saw Venus cross the face of the Sun back in 2004 and 2012, astrologers have again been working with the Venus cycle, which makes a 5-pointed star in the heavens every 8 years as Venus moves from being a Morning Star to Evening Star and back to Morning Star.

 

 

When Venus moves retrograde between the Earth and the Sun, she begins her Morning Star phase, which last occurred on January 8, 2022 19* Capricorn. Now she travels behind the Sun in her underworld journey (furthest away from Earth) and will conjunct the Sun tomorrow, October 22 at 29*27’ Libra. This is the first time Venus starts a cycle in her own sign in about 150 years. The last degree of a sign indicates it’s time to work out the issues of the sign.

 

 

Venus makes this pattern over years

 

Venus is the great connector – she teaches us about what we love and value, be it beauty, truth, a relationship, art and life itself. In Libra, Venus loves balance and harmony, truth and fairness, equality and justice. Beginning this new phase in her celestial journeys, Venus can help us take a stand for those things we hold dear. She elevates the divine feminine qualities that are so sorely needed in our society now. Love, connection, care, community. Let’s hope she restores diplomacy to the world instead of war.

This Venus/Sun conjunction is challenging Pluto in Capricorn to listen to her ideas and ideals. With Eris opposing Venus and squaring Pluto, we have to trust our heart wisdom. The divine feminine speaks to us through our hearts, minds and most especially through our imaginations. Change your perspective, change the world.

 

 

The Sabian symbol for Venus/Sun at 30* Libra is: Three mounds of knowledge on a philosopher's head. Dane Rudhyar states that philosophers are people who understand life and its issues. I would substitute (3) wise women and knowledgeable men. Three is the number of process – of something working its way to completion. This symbol urges us to understand life’s needs and find the wisdom to know what we need to do.

The Gene Key for this Venus/Sun conjunction is interesting in that it repeats the message. Gene Key for 30* Libra is Number 50 – Cosmic Order.

The shadow for this Gene Key is Corruption. But not just corruption of ourselves, and our political and religious leaders, but a corruption of data. The knowledge we’ve been raised on no longer serves our consciousness. It has cut us off from our natural wisdom and we suffer for it, because the data inspires our fears. This is what the South Node solar eclipse is about. (See below)

The Gift of this Gene Key is Equilibrium. This equilibrium comes from our own inner peace and security (since we were raised on fear and insecurity), and the recognition that our group, our nation, our world can come into equilibrium if each of us do. Each of us has to take responsibility for the gift we can contribute to society, creating a greater whole.

The Blessing of the 50^th Gene Key is Harmony, which occurs when all elements in a system are in perfect and permanent resonance. We are creating this new society and vision now as we begin to reach a critical mass of change. If we ever accomplish this, we will become Conscious Earth.

If this is the potential that the new Venus Star Point will birth in the coming years, its energy will certainly help us create a better world for us all. So Mote It Be!

Saturn in Aquarius turns to direct motion seven hours after the Sun/Venus conjunction, slowing us down to really pay attention to what those values are for us and for the collective. We are at the last stage of the waning Saturn-Uranus square that began in 2021. We might see the outcome of this struggle between the Old vs the New with the upcoming Scorpio Solar Eclipse and Taurus Lunar Eclipse.

These two eclipses in Scorpio and Taurus confront us with the question of our Values – isn’t it time we really looked at ourselves and our lifestyle and recognized that it isn’t sustainable. Can we let go of the past and look to the future with curiosity and imagination? Isn’t it time to imagine a different way to live? A more balanced and simple way, with basic needs met and time for personal creative expression. Not life based on survival and fear, but enjoyment and commitment. Work that feeds the soul with purpose because it’s needed for life to prosper and grow.

The Sabian symbol for 19* Aquarius is: A forest fire quenched. Since we’re still in the tension of the Saturn/Uranus square between the old and the new, I would say this signifies the end of the craziness the old is trying to exert on the world. Let’s hope so!

Scorpio partial Solar Eclipse: October 25, 2022

The Scorpio New Moon solar eclipse occurs on Tuesday, October 25^th at 3:49 am PDT/ 6:49am EDT and 11:49 am GMT.

 

 

This New Moon is conjunct Venus, who has just started her journey as an Evening Star of Wisdom, although still hidden from Earth’s sight until December 3, 2022.

The Gene Key is the same as the one for the Sun/Venus conjunction, Key 50. The theme is repeated with the Sabian Symbol. Equilibrium and Harmony.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun, Moon and Venus at 3* Scorpio is: A house raising party in a small village enlists the neighbors’ cooperation.

I’ve always loved this image – because it does take a village not only to raise a child but to make a home and community. With COVID and our dependence on technology to ‘reach out’, we are losing our community feeling. We have to let go of our isolation and re-connect with where we live. This is an image of both Equilibrium and Harmony, the gift and blessing of the 50^th Key.

So what keeps us from doing that?

This intense partial solar eclipse on the New Moon in Scorpio is called a south node eclipse, meaning that like the south node’s shedding of old habits that are no longer viable, we need to shed our skins and let go of old trauma, lies, deceits and relationships that are toxic not only to us but to the world.

We humans have so much fear in us. It keeps us from cooperating. This eclipse says – why not drop the fear? What else can happen? We’re all in this together.

Scorpio doesn’t shy away from the taboos in our culture. Whether it’s sex, drugs and rock & roll, investments, taxes, and death, Scorpio deals with the things we usually don’t want to deal with, let alone look at. But this Autumn, we all have to face the music – it’s time to deal with our Shadows, both personally and collectively.

As we enter the dark of the year, it’s a perfect time to look at our shadows and see where we aren’t living aligned with our values. These Shadows are behavior patterns and ideas & beliefs that once protected us as children, but which no longer reflect or serve our needs. Once we face our wounds (which birth shadows), and name them, we can change things. The collective naming of our wounds has picked up speed over the past two years. Now it’s time to see if we can transform those shadows into the gold of awakened cultural consciousness.

Scorpio is the sign of emotional stagnation, a fixed water sign that holds onto emotional trauma. This thick dark soup is the result of experiences of death, terror and pain, causing us to feel mistrust, betrayal, resentment, fear, and hurt. These repressed emotions can give rise to power plays, deception and control issues.

This eclipse season heralds a time to take the lessons learned and put those emotions back into the Goddess’ cauldron of regeneration. They use up too much of our authentic energy and so no longer serve our life’s growth. This south node eclipse’s lesson is to let go of the past, learn its lessons, and let the natural dying process transform our consciousness.

Because the upcoming Taurus Full Moon total lunar eclipse is conjunct Uranus, the master of surprise and sudden change. More on the upcoming lunar eclipse in the second part of this newsletter. Be ready for much needed Surprises!

This solar eclipse is interesting, because a New Moon is a time of new beginnings, while this south node eclipse calls us to let go of something that needs to die. But since we can live in paradox, why not see that the new seed planted is for the old to leave without too much pain, while the new rejoices in the hope for the future.

The solar eclipse and Venus make an inconjunct to Jupiter retrograde at 0* Aries – the World Point. This marks a point of great world importance. An inconjunct is an energy of adjustment – like a scale trying to come into balance. What is needed is great delicacy in achieving that balance. Jupiter in Aries is daring and can often be reckless. Don’t let him be now! Our Scorpionic energies are concerned with inner decisions.

Mars in Gemini is slowing down to turn retrograde on October 30^th. Ruling both Aries and Scorpio, perhaps he will slow down and think (Gemini) things through, seeing multiple ways to proceed.

The Saturn/Uranus square is still activated. But now direct Saturn in Aquarius forms an air grand trine with Mercury in Libra and Mars in Gemini (slowing down to turn retrograde Saturday, October 30^th). This alignment could hopefully open up the ‘old’ (Saturn) to accepting new ideas (Mars/Mercury) without fear.

I think that’s enough for now! More next week in part Two of Samhain’s Cosmic Story.

Blessed Be!

Cathy

 

 

Fall Song

Another year gone, leaving everywhere
its rich spiced residues: vines, leaves,

the uneaten fruits crumbling damply
in the shadows, unmattering back

from the particular island
of this summer, this NOW, that now is nowhere

except underfoot, moldering
in that black subterranean castle

of unobservable mysteries - roots and sealed seeds
and the wanderings of water. This

I try to remember when time's measure
painfully chafes, for instance when autumn

flares out at the last, boisterous and like us longing
to stay - how everything lives, shifting

from one bright vision to another, forever
in these momentary pastures.

 

~ Mary Oliver ~

 

(American Primitive)