Archive for October, 2012

Full Moon in Taurus — October 29, 2012, 19:49 UT

Monday, October 29th, 2012

The Moon is full at 6+ degrees of Taurus. The Full Moon – any Full Moon – occurs when the luminaries are opposing each other. The Sun in the opposite sign Scorpio is now approaching the mid degrees of the sign. The door to the Otherworld is opening for the souls of the dead to visit our world.

In recent years Finns have embraced Halloween festivities, but originally we celebrated the pagan Kekri. It is also gratifying that the celebrations of our own ancient harvest and New Year’s festival have been revived. In the old days the date of the Kekri feast was not fixed, but slightly varying yearly depending when the work of the year was done. Now the feast is usually held on the first Saturday of November.

In the old agricultural society Kekri was the most important festival of the year. It marked the end of the harvest and the turn of the year. Bonfires were lit. Kekri was symbolically burnt. What was Kekri? He has remained a bit of a mystery. There was a Karelian god, a cattle protector, named Kekri. More likely the feast got its name after a ghost, a spook, or an elf.

Kekri was a communal celebration including abundant eating and drinking. People were looking for omens, and the spirits of the dead were said to wander in this world. The dead relatives were acknowledged as living members of the family, with whom the abundance of the harvest was shared. The spirits were invited to bathe in the sauna, too.

After Christianization Kekri became linked with the Christian holidays dedicated to saints and the dead. In contemporary Finland we light candles and visit the graves of deceased relatives. Some of the habits of Kekri blended in with the modern Christmas celebrations.

The old year was ending and a new one about to begin around Kekri time. The beginning of a new phase is always significant. The Sabian symbol for the degree of this month’s Full Moon is Taurus 7, A woman of Samaria at the ancestral well. Dane Rudhyar’s keynote is “The meeting of the traditional past and of the creative spirit pointing to the future.”

Happy Halloween! Happy Kekri!

New Moon in Libra — October 15, 2012, 12:03 UT

Tuesday, October 16th, 2012

The sign of Libra, ruled by Venus, relates to harmonious atmosphere and justice, and as the seventh sign of the zodiac, to relationships and projection.

Ronald C. Davison wrote in Astrology: “The glyph of Libra represents the setting sun, showing that the essence of being is projected into the world of the ’not-self’.” He continues: “The symbol of the Scales further emphasizes that the main function of the sign is to establish equilibrium and to maintain a balance between the conflicting forces of good and evil.”

The New Moon in Libra is in close conjunction with Rhadamanthus, a trans-Neptunian minor planet named after an earnest figure in Greek mythology, a wise king, who after his death became one of the three judges of the dead. I have placed in the chart also two main belt asteroids, Themis and Justitia, representing the goddess of divine justice.

Themis was a female Titan, the second wife and chief adviser of Zeus. She was goddess of justice of the Greeks. Even Hera is said to address her as “Lady Themis.” According to Ovid, it was Themis rather than Zeus who told Deucalion to throw the bones of “his mother” over his shoulder to repopulate the earth after the deluge. In the New Moon chart asteroid Themis is in exact conjunction with Jupiter in Gemini. Lady Themis has joined Zeus – perhaps giving him advice on matters related to social relations of humans.

A Roman equivalent of one aspect of Themis, as the personification of the divine rightness of law, was Justitia, Lady Justice. The blindfolded figures with scales and a sword outside courthouses depict Justitia. In the chart asteroid Justitia is in Virgo with loving Venus.

Rhadamanthus in mythology is a colorless and rigid character. He was the son of Zeus and Europa. He was a wise and admired king who had a great sense of justice. Because of his inflexible integrity he became the judge of the dead. He has also been described as a punisher of the damned in the Underworld. In spite of his integrity, not a very pleasant figure, I think.

Opposite the New Moon, Eris, the goddess of discord, challenges the law and order of Rhadamanthus. Things seldom are just black and white. We humans make mistakes, we may tell a white lie every now and then, or do even something worse. Luckily we usually learn from our mistakes, we get an opportunity to evolve, or make amends.

The Libra New Moon prompts us not to be too judgmental towards ourselves or our fellow beings.

Full Moon in Aries — September 30, 2012, 03:19 UT

Monday, October 1st, 2012

With Len Wallick

The Full Moon in Aries early this morning (European time) formed a powerful aspect configuration with Uranus, Pluto and centaur-like minor planet Typhon, when the luminaries aligned with Uranus-Typhon opposition.

Typhon is a binary scattered disc object discovered in 2002. When the companion, Echidna, was found in 2006, the scientists announced the discovery of the first binary Centaur.

In Greek mythology Typhon is a monster who was the source of destructive storm winds and volcanic eruptions. Typhon lived beneath Mount Etna in Sicily. He was a son of Gaia and Tartaros. Typhon was so huge that his head was said to brush the stars. He hurled red-hot rocks at the sky and storms of fire boiled from his mouth. Imagine, how the red fire and rocks shoot hundreds of meters high against the dark night sky! That is what happens when the pressure in the heart of a volcano increases until the crust gives in, and hot lava bursts out.

Echidna was Typhon’s grim wife. She has been described as “a nymph who dies not nor grows old all her days.” According to the myth, Typhon and Echidna attacked Zeus, who beat them back and punished Typhon by trapping him under Mount Etna. Echidna and her children were allowed to live as a challenge to future heroes.

Scattered disc object Typhon is one of the minor planets that we can associate with weather phenomenon and nature turmoil. At the moment Uranus is in a long on-going opposition aspect to Typhon. The latest opposition took place two weeks ago, the day before the New Moon. In conjunction with Typhon was asteroid Guatemala. At the same time thousands of people were evacuated in Guatemala after the Fuego volcano near Guatemala City started to erupt and spew ash and lava. “It sounded like a pressure cooker that wouldn’t stop,” described one of the locals.

In 1974 the United States suffered a devastating super outbreak of tornados. From April 3 to April 4, 1974, there were 148 tornadoes confirmed in 13 US states. This most violent tornado outbreak ever recorded began in Morris, Illinois. In the astrological chart Jupiter, Pluto and Typhon form a yod pattern. The Sun is in exact conjunction with Eris and forms a strict square to asteroid Morris.

Hurricanes form out in the Atlantic and rarely reach Europe. Warming of sea surface temperatures due to emissions of greenhouse gases, is causing a change. In 2005 tropical storm Vince became the first tropical cyclone on record to make landfall on the Iberian peninsula. Vince first developed into a hurricane, but gradually lost strength before hitting land near Faro, the southernmost city in Portugal. The storm brought heavy rain and winds to southern Portugal and Spain. In the astrological chart of the landfall, Typhon is rising in the 12th house. Asteroid Faro is in conjunction with Huya, a plutino named after the rain god of the Wayúu Indians of Venezuela.

The name of the mythical monster Typhon is considered to be a possible etymology for the word typhoon. Many tropical storms hit the Philippines every year, but Durian in 2006 was a supertyphoon, and the fourth destructive typhoon in four months, which hit the country. In the landfall chart of Durian, the Sun, Chaos and Typhon form a precise t-square to the degree, and the transiting Typhon is sitting right over Mars of the Philippines.

The extreme weather and record-setting temperatures of recent years are evidence for more than just physical global warming. We are part of the Earth. Current trends regarding the crust, oceans and atmosphere of our planet correspond to the inner experience of individuals and humanity as a whole right now. There is no separation.

The actual typhoons of the world correspond to the symbolic Typhon beneath the human psyche, growing more fierce with time, demanding attention and action to alleviate ever more severe and widespread damage. The aspect configuration of the Aries Full Moon implies that each of us have a personal responsibility to ourselves and the rest of the world. We are the heroes that were to come.

As modern heroes, we are not here to slay monsters. Rather, it falls to us to recover from our fall towards monstrosity through our own efforts. By recognizing and accepting that Typhon and Echidna live within each and all of us, we can embrace and integrate their potential, and create a greater, more sustainable harmony within and without.