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 50th
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 25th 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 50th 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 30th.
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 30th).
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)
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