Archive for July, 2008

New Moon in Leo / Total Solar Eclipse — August 1, 2008, 10:13 UT

Wednesday, July 30th, 2008

By Kirsti Melto

Eclipses offer us a chance to have a break in continuity and establish new patterns. “The more consciously eclipses are handled, the less they are inclined to do damage and the more they are inclined to give us a push in the right direction,” Eric wrote in his blog earlier this week.

Choosing a new direction in life, or moving stuck energy, may not be easy: this is true when planets are gathered in fixed signs, or when the eclipse takes place on the South Node of the Moon, which tends to keep us tied to the past, or even when a Venus-Neptune opposition bedims reality. Luckily, this somewhat paradoxical eclipse chart also contains aspects that have the potential to bring us safely to a new space.

Leo, Aquarius, Taurus and Scorpio are the four fixed signs of the zodiac. The eclipse, which is a conjunction of the Sun and Moon, occurs in Leo conjunct Mercury. Also Venus is in Leo. In the opposite sign, Aquarius, are Neptune and Chiron. Two important asteroids, Vesta and Pallas Athene are in Taurus. So we are dealing with a lot of fixed energy, which tends to keep us stuck in the prevailing ideas and conditions; a change is not alluring. But the fixed signs can be persistent, and Mars-Uranus opposition strives for a reform.

Each eclipse is a member of a larger eclipse family, which is called the Saros Series. Each series spans over a thousand years, produces an eclipse every 18 years, and has certain characteristics, revealed by the aspects in its birth chart. You may be able to recognize some similarities between events that occurred 18 years ago and those unfolding now. This particular eclipse belongs to a Saros Series number 10 South. Bernadette Brady’s delineation encourages us in the attempt to let go of the past:

“This Saros Series concerns itself with breaking out of a very negative situation where no hope can be seen to a more positive space containing many options. A worry that may have been affecting a person will suddenly clear. The solution is shown by the Cosmos and needs to be taken up without too much delay.”

Traditionally, astrologers would appoint the Lord of the Eclipse, the planet that was most prominent in the chart, supposedly coloring the future events. This could be the planet closest to the eclipse degree, a planet at an angle, or the one that is most heavily aspected. By the rule, the Sun and Moon cannot be used. There are two things that emphasize Mercury as the Lord of the Eclipse: Mercury is in conjunction with the eclipse, and Mercury being occulted by the Moon just some hours after the solar eclipse.

Hermes, the Greek equivalent for Roman Mercury, an expert in transformations, was a swiftly moving deity, a messenger of gods who was able to travel through three worlds; just as the metal mercury — also known as quicksilver — can be seen in the three states of matter: solid, liquid and vapor.

In the eclipse chart, Mercury (as well as the Sun and Moon) is squaring Vesta in Taurus. In Scorpio, asteroid Hermes is opposite Vesta and square to Mercury. Hestia, meanwhile, is the Greek equivalent for Vesta.

Hermes and Hestia are two complementary archetypes. In ancient Greece, a warm hearth dedicated to Hestia was central to every home, and at the front door was a pillar in honor of Hermes. Hestia represents focus and integrity, and Hermes represents motion and changeability. Together this couple expresses tension, as do the aspects between them in the chart. But Hermes is also the archetype unifying the opposites, and he is also capable of enlarging our possibilities.

Centaur planet Asbolus is in conjunction with Vesta in Taurus. Eric has delineated Asbolus as: “Survival and the recognition of having survived. Deep contact with something organic and essential — the ability to endure and even thrive ‘despite it all’. Asbolus arrives with intense circumstances but also protection from victimhood, and protection even when it seems like none is there, such as in the story ‘Footsteps’.”

The Sabian Symbol for the eclipse degree is Leo 10 Early morning dew. “This is a symbol of the eternal refreshment which comes to the individual with every recurrent cycle of his experience, and of nature’s continual endorsement of his aims or benediction on his efforts. There are unexpected resources which man can find at hand when life otherwise may seem to have defeated him, and these are often revealed to him despite his lack of expectation. He reaps real fruits as he develops a genuine alertness to the unexpected, and denies all personal limitation. The keyword is rejuvenation. When positive, the degree is a special talent for finding the better in every situation where a worse may threaten disaster, and when negative, procrastination and total insensibility to the real powers of selfhood.”

References:

Bernadette Brady, The Eagle and the Lark, Samuel Weiser, 1999

Derek Appleby and Maurice McCann, Eclipses: the power points of astrology, The Aquarian Press, 1989

Nick Kollerstrom, The Metal-Planet Relationship, Borderland Sciences Research Foundation, 1993

Marja-Liisa Niemi-Mattila, Ajattomat arkkityypit, WSOY, 1998

Planet Wiki, Asbolus

Marc Edmund Jones, The Sabian Symbols in Astrology, Aurora Press, 1993

Full Moon in Capricorn — July 18, 2008, 07:59 UT

Wednesday, July 16th, 2008

By Kirsti Melto

Capricorn is usually not described as one of the easiest placements for the Moon, and a Full Moon here can be especially stressful. However, you can use the complex astrology of this moment for profound healing. It is not possible to go through the process of healing without experiencing some pain. We are all subject to pain at some point of our lives, and after the healing process we are freer to continue living.

There are two Yod patterns in the chart, and the energies involved in these aspect patterns imply that issues from the past may spurt out and ask for a discussion. These issues may have something to do with religious beliefs or convictions, possibly passed to you by your parents or grandparents. This can mean strife of some kind, or finding a balance between those beliefs and your mental reasoning, an adjustment between religion and logic.

In the Full Moon chart the Capricorn Moon has already passed Jupiter, but it is still in wide conjunction with it. In a separating aspect the energy is not so strong as it would be in an applying aspect, but the Luminaries (the Sun and Moon) are usually granted a wider orb than other planets. Also, the Moon and Jupiter are in a parallel conjunction, which intensifies the power of this conjunction.

If two bodies share the same degree of declination, that is, they are at the same distance from the celestial equator (either north or south of the celestial equator), they are said to be parallel. In Capricorn, Jupiter’s expansiveness is restricted, but in this case with the Moon it may still cause outbursts of feeling. Venus in Leo dramatizes these exaggerated reactions.

While the Mars-Saturn conjunction in Virgo has begun to separate, the Sun and Moon are each separately forming tight aspects to these planets; the Moon is sesquisquare Mars (an aspect of 135 degrees) and the Sun is novile to Saturn (an aspect of 40 degrees). Sue Tompkins mentions in Contemporary Astrologer’s Handbook about a Mars-Saturn combination: “this can be a contact of the bully and the bullied.”

In any Yod pattern there are two planets in sextile aspect to each other, and each of them is forming a quincunx (an aspect of 150 degrees) to a third planet. A quincunx is an annoying, stressful aspect which requires adjustment. This is not always so easy, and it requires a conscious effort to deal with the energies involved.

The first Yod involves Chiron in Aquarius, Varuna in Cancer and Logos in Virgo. Chiron, the healing planet, whose most important keyword is awareness, is the focal planet of this aspect structure, and the focal planet of any Yod is the place where you need to pay attention. Retrograding Chiron is forming a quincunx to the two other planets involved, Varuna and Logos, sextiling each other.

Eric Francis wrote in Small World Stories about Varuna:

“The energy of Varuna is that which is too large to comprehend, but which somehow touches us personally. Varuna contains some response to the question, ‘If God is so powerful why should s/he care about me’?”

“…One thing we can reasonably say about Varuna is that he exists on a very large scale and has the feeling of being so far beyond the human realm that he might as well be a deity-alien in a different dimension. But he’s not; we know his name, we can see him in our charts, and we can get a feeling for where we are bringing that quality of totally-beyond energy into manifestation in our lives.”

Philip Sedgwick’s delineation for Logos contains these keywords:

“Positive: clarity of personal priorities, belief in one’s own destiny, sense of personal urgency, commitment to self-nurturing and cause, sense of one’s connection to all that Is, logical, rational, use of natural order and law to describe and define life.”

The Sabian Symbol for the Chiron degree of this Full Moon is Aquarius 20, and it strongly supports the above mentioned aspects: A big white dove, a message bearer. Quoting M. E. Jones:

“This is a symbol of man’s recognition of a transcendental or superior wisdom from which he may always receive his inspiration and assurance, emphasized here by his inner faith and his self-strengthening through an ever-constructive attitude of mind. There are always secret signs of divine favor for a faithful heart, and they are no less real because the reason is able to dismiss them as a mere oversensitiveness to the prompting of a wholly naÔve insight. The keyword is conviction. When positive, the degree is a facility for ordering all personal desires in a cosmic framework and a gift for knowing when to act and what to do, and when negative, sanctimonious self-deception.”

The other Yod is formed by Mercury in Cancer, Nessus in Aquarius and Ixion in Sagittarius. Mercury is the apex planet, and because of Mercury’s rapid movement, this Yod is exact only briefly at the Capricorn Full Moon.

Mercury in Cancer is helpful in remembering and reflecting the past. We first need to be aware that something actually was wrong, before we can heal. The communication now can be sensitive, but emotional. Don’t let surfacing fears prevent you from having a conversation that needs to take place, because this is an excellent moment to achieve a release from possible karmic abuse patterns.

According to Eric, Nessus helps to identify and heal ancestral abuse patterns, which can be psychological, physical or sexual in nature. These can be collective issues, not just individual. Nessus may help to reveal something about the past hurts, but also how we are likely to hurt others.

Ixion is the planet that represents a dark power, that which we are all capable of — namely, anything. It can point to all forms of violence, physical or emotional, but also helps to heal the damage done.

At this Full Moon unsolved issues can be brought into light. Use the warmth of Venus in Leo and the sensitivity of the Cancer planets to assist you in this.

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Earlier this week the news reported: the International Astronomical Union has finally accepted Mike Brown’s proposal for the proper name for the Kuiper belt object 2005 FY9. 2005 FY9 is now Makemake. Makemake is the creator of humanity and the god of fertility in the mythology of the South Pacific island of Rapa Nui (Easter Island).

The Capricorn Full Moon is trine to Makemake in Virgo. Although I am not yet offering any delineation for Makemake, I want to mention also the other aspects of this newly named planet in this chart: Makemake is semisquare Venus, opposite Uranus, quincunx Neptune and conjunct Logos.

New Moon in Cancer — July 3, 2008, 02:19 UT

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

By Kirsti Melto

The Moon feels very, very comfortable in its own sign, the feminine water sign Cancer, surrounded by emotional and nurturing planets Ceres and Venus.

Cancer is the most feminine of all signs: it is the sign of the mother, the house, the home and the family. It is also the sign of the community and the homeland. Patriotism can be strong in Cancer. In this sign there is a need for roots and continuity, and an urge to belong to something. Cancer wants to remember the past. Strong roots and the feeling of being part of something offer a sense of security, which is essential for Cancer.

Protectiveness, nursing and nourishment are important in Cancer. This activity can be channeled not just towards close family members, but also friends, pets, plants and one’s environment.

Personal, emotional planets like the Moon, Venus and Ceres are at home and at their best in Cancer.

The Moon is the ruler of Cancer. The Moon represents our instincts and feelings. The Moon in Cancer is sensitive (sometimes over-sensitive), protective and mothering.

Ceres is the Earth Mother. It is the planet resembling the Moon and Cancer more than any other planet, but perhaps functioning a bit more on a practical level, because it has a strong association with agriculture, cereal plants and food. Summer is the season when the mother and daughter are united, and nature is celebrating and providing its abundance.

Also Venus in Cancer needs to nurture and be part of a family. It seeks security, just like the Moon does. It is loyal to family, friends and home country.

Venus in this New Moon chart is in the same degree with Varuna, one of the water deities, the energy that is too large to comprehend, but which somehow touches us personally. According to Eric Francis, Varuna seems to be “something that works on our own level and responds in a direct way to real human needs. I think of Varuna as a force that we invoke personally; we ask for the help of this seemingly invisible energy, and it responds.”

To me this resembles much support of the loving mother, which carries us through life. The conjunction of Venus and Varuna in receptive Cancer points also to the importance of reciprocation, to give and to receive.

The Sabian Symbols are a degree-by-degree symbolic reference system that helps illustrate and demonstrate the level of astrology that is symbolic. The Sabian Symbol for the degree of this New Moon is Cancer 12, A Chinese woman nursing a baby with a message. According to Dr. Marc Edmund Jones: “When positive, the degree is a gift for bringing the more Godlike resources or superior powers of self to a point of real community service, and when negative, completely unreasonable demands for recognition.”

Jupiter in Capricorn is opposing the stellium of the Cancer planets. (A stellium is an astrological term for a group of three or more planets in conjunction in one sign.) Jupiter expands everything it touches. Jupiter opposed by the Moon and Venus can mean protective and nurturing love, but also overflowing feelings and over-sensitivity. Exaggeration or excess can result, especially in an opposition aspect, which also has potential for extremism. Try to avoid this. We tend to project our own feelings to other people. Awareness is one of the important and helpful keywords of oppositions.

Jupiter in Capricorn can manifest also as responsibility, reliability and sense on duty, which assists the New Moon in Cancer very nicely.

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To the readers in the USA I want to wish you a pleasant Fourth of July!