Archive for June, 2013

Full Moon in Capricorn — June 23, 2013, 11:32 UT

Friday, June 28th, 2013

Summer Solstice – June 21, 2013, 05:04 UT

Full Moon in Capricorn — June 23, 2013, 11:32 UT

“And I’ll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I’ll know my name as it’s called again”

– Mumford & Sons, The Cave

There has been a lot of activity lately at the borderline of Gemini and Cancer. Centaur planet Thereus in the last degree of Gemini has been coloring the events of the week.

Thereus has an orbital period of 35 years, and the orbit lies near Saturn. Centaur Thereus in Greek mythology was a hunter, who captured bears and carried them home, alive and struggling.

The Sun crossed Thereus on June 20, and entered Cancer the next day, on June 21, which was the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, the Summer Solstice. The Solstice was followed by a super Full Moon in Capricorn on June 23. It was the closest and largest Full Moon of the year. A Full Moon is always an opposition of the Sun and the Moon, and this time the alignment took place in the early degrees of Cancer and Capricorn, square the Aries Point. A couple of hours after the exact Full Moon alignment, Jupiter conjoined Thereus in the last degree of Gemini, in conjunction with the Cancer Sun. Thus Thereus was first lit by the Sun and then magnified by Jupiter’s touch.

The Sabian symbol for the Full Moon degree 3 Capricorn is The human soul receptive to growth and understanding. Dane Rudhyar writes about this degree: “What is implied in the position of this symbol seems to be the strong drive in every human consciousness or will toward new experiences, whether they are constructive or destructive. Man may grow and gain understanding and wisdom through both types.”

Like all Centaurs, Thereus has potential for healing and transformation. The Centaurs are related to the shadow, the dark and deep stuff in our psyche. There is no light without the shadow. The healing process is available for us, if only we have the courage to encounter any of our dark issues. It is a continuing process, in which we change and grow. Thereus speaks about this unfolding process. He used to carry snarling bears into his home cave. He didn’t do it only once or twice, it was a habit of his.

On June 26 Jupiter ingressed Cancer, the sign which represents the home. Tomorrow, on June 29, Centaur Thereus follows the Sun and Jupiter to Cancer. In February 2014, due the retrogradation, Thereus briefly revisits Gemini, and in March 2014 enters Cancer again for the second and last time on this round, staying there until July 2017.

New Moon in Gemini — June 8, 2013, 15:56 UT

Thursday, June 13th, 2013

Saturday’s New Moon, the conjunction of the Sun and the Moon took place in Gemini. Jupiter and Mars are in Gemini, too. Mars (focused action) is in tight conjunction with two asteroids, which represent female warrior energy, Pallas and Lilith. Pallas Athene was the goddess of wisdom, a respected counselor of the gods, who was known for her strategic and political ability. Lilith represents the independent female spirit.

One of the interesting aspects of the chart is the conjunction of 1992 QB1 and Bienor in the first degree of Taurus. 1992 QB1 was discovered in the first degree of Aries, and it has taken twenty years for it to travel through the sign, so the first time we get the chance to consciously experience this distant body in another sign than Aries. We are truly on a brink of a new era.

1992 QB1 was the first trans-Neptunian object discovered after Pluto. Think about it, just twenty years ago Pluto was the only known body in our solar system beyond Neptune. There was nothing but an empty space out there. The world was a different place then. The discovery of 1992 QB1 proved the existence of the Kuiper belt, which had only been hypothesized. Currently there are more than twelve hundred known Kuiper belt objects, and hundreds of thousands are believed to exist.

1992 QB1 was discovered in the first degree of Aries, at the Aries Point, one of the four cardinal points (the first degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn). This is a point which connects the individual with the collective, where the personal meets the larger world. Aries, the first sign of the zodiac, represents initiative action, the beginnings. The next sign, Taurus, provides the platform, the soil for the seeds.

1992 QB1 ingressed Taurus on May 18, 2013, so at the time of the Sagittarius lunar eclipse of last month, it already occupied the first degree of the sign. In the autumn it is going to retrograde back to Aries, and in March, 2014, to change signs to Taurus for good, on this round. The orbital period is nearly 300 years.

Centaur planet Bienor entered Taurus a couple of days ago. Bienor grazes the orbit of Uranus and its orbital period is about 67 years. The exact conjunction of Bienor and 1992 QB1 happens on June 20, just before the Summer Solstice. The last time these two bodies met, was a hundred years ago in Sagittarius.

Bienor’s name means a strong one. Here you can find some astrological examples of Bienor: http://sphinx.planetwaves.net/blog/?p=1120 I sense something similar in the meaning of 1992 QB1 and Bienor. Considering the difference in the orbits of these two bodies, I would say that Bienor gives the push to challenge oneself and conquer a new territory (either figuratively or concretely), and 1992 QB1 is the bridge beyond the edge, leading to the unknown.

Recently the news has reported that Amina Tyler and three other Femen activists have been put on trial and are facing long imprisonment in Tunisia. Femen is a feminist protest group founded by Anna Hutsol in 2008 in Ukraine, and famous for its topless protests. Femen – “the new Amazons” – is fighting for women’s rights, not only in Ukraine, but also internationally. The activists say that their bare breasts are their political weapons.

Femen was founded on April 10, 2008, in Kiev, Ukraine. At the time, 1992 QB1 was in a rare conjunction with Eris, which is named after the Greek goddess of strife and discord. Eris is also an indicator of female warrior energy in the chart. Probably you remember that before the official naming, the body was nicknamed as Xena after the warrior princess of a television series. The founding chart’s Sun was forming a tight triple-conjunction with those two slowly moving bodies. Uranus (rebellion), Chiron (awareness) and Jupiter (expansion), all were in a tight aspect to the triple-conjunction. Mars in Cancer squared Mercury and Pallas Athene in Aries (active vocal warrior women). Venus was in conjunction with Bienor. Pluto in early Capricorn squared the Aries Point. In the chart set for noon, the Moon is in Gemini near the current New Moon degree.

The astrological factors which represent breasts (generally in astrology) are the Moon, Venus and the sign of Cancer. The Moon and Cancer refer to milk and breast feeding. Venus has the sexual aspect, but the Femen activists usually are young, pretty women, which makes Venus worth noticing in this connection.

Anna Hutsol’s transits at the time she founded Femen, are meaningful. The triple-conjunction of the Sun, QB1 and Eris was opposite her Libra Sun. The transiting Jupiter in Capricorn squared her Sun. The transiting Uranus in Pisces was conjunct Anna’s natal QB1, Pluto in early Capricorn conjuncted her natal Bienor. The transiting Mercury and Pallas in mid-Aries were conjunct her natal Eris. Her Eris was also squared by the transiting Mars in Cancer. The transiting Venus-Bienor conjunction in early Aries was conjunct her mean Black Moon Lilith and squared her natal Bienor.

The Black Moon Lilith is a calculated point, the mean lunar apogee, not to be mixed up with asteroid Lilith. To learn more about mean Black Moon Lilith, please read astrologer Len Wallick’s article Out Of Sight — Gemini New Moon

According to astrologer Demetra George, the Black Moon Lilith “forces us to look at ourselves with utter, naked honesty and makes us demand the truth of things – from our families, partners, groups and government.” She also writes: “She is a warrior goddess of revolution who creates troubling disruption as she moves us to protest against those who have a vested interest in keeping us submissive and subservient.”

Initially Femen gained attention by demonstrating in erotic clothing. However, on August 24, 2009, at the demonstration on Ukrainian independence day, one of the key members, Oksana Shachko went topless. This approach rapidly became Femen’s trademark.

Oksana Shachko is an Aquarius. In her natal chart, the ruler of her Sun, Uranus, is at the Galactic Center conjunct her Venus in Sagittarius. She has an exact Mars-Eris conjunction at her North lunar node in Aries. Mars is the ruler of Aries. Eris is named after the Greek goddess of discord, sister of Ares / Mars. Oksana’s Mars-Eris conjunction is in exact square to her Bienor in Capricorn. Her Jupiter in Pisces is in conjunction with her natal QB1 and trine to her Pallas in Scorpio.

Oksana’s transits at the time she went topless are striking. The transiting Uranus in Pisces was conjunct her Jupiter and squared her natal Venus-Uranus conjunction. In 2009 the much speculated triple-conjunction of Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune in Aquarius was conjunct her natal Mercury, squared her Pallas, and sextiled her Venus and Uranus.

During the next decades, while traveling through Taurus, 1992 QB1 hopefully helps us to acknowledge the suppressed parts of ourselves and guides us into better self-awareness.

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I would like to thank Chad Townsend for his contribution to this blog.