Urania's Well: Astrology for Changing Times


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Creatively Disillusioned: The Chart of the Autumn Equinox

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

b2ap3_thumbnail_moon.jpgWe have an interesting confluence of energies coming up this week. First, Pluto goes direct at 8:37 pm on the 22nd (all times EDT). Then, less than two hours later, the Sun enters Libra, giving us Pluto stationing direct in the Libra Ingress chart on a Dark Moon. Just over a day later, there is a New Moon, still on the sensitive Aries Point at 1 degree of Libra. (The Aries Point is zero degrees of any cardinal sign. Anything within a degree and a half or two degrees of that point is given strength and emphasis, and gets things moving)

The cardinal ingress charts — in other words, the charts of the solstices and equinoxes — are usually predictive for the next three months. (Occasionally, they will be in effect for longer — the influence is more like a tide than a line drawn in the sand.) A New Moon chart that is not an eclipse is predictive for the month ahead, and Pluto going stationary direct is…well, you know how hitting just the right note can set up a vibration that shatters glass? Listen as Pluto’s hum changes key and increases in volume now that he and Uranus are once again heading towards each other. They meet in their next exact square December 15th.

Remember, the keys to this square are freedom and transformation. We will all be needing strength to hold fast to our core values while we allow change to happen. Will something shatter in your life? That is much more likely if you are resisting your own transformation, refusing to walk through a door to freedom, or stubbornly denying the need for change. Alternatively, you can use these forces like a tuning fork to bring your life into greater alignment with your soul’s purpose. Let’s look at what these two important charts have to tell us about the month ahead and the rest of the year. Find the Libra Ingress chart here, and the Virgo New Moon chart here. The charts are cast for Washington, DC, and so are predictive for the entire USA.

One of the first things we notice about the Ingress chart is that all the personal and social planets, through and including Saturn, are clustered within 120 degrees of each other in the northwest (lower right) quadrant of the chart. Excepting Jupiter, they are all within the fourth, fifth and sixth houses, spotlighting some of the social structures of our society — our homes and land, the environment, schools and the entertainment industry, art, social services, public health and the military.

Mercury, in Libra, rules the Ascendant in this chart. It’s in and rules the fifth house of children, entertainment and gambling (including the stock markets), and is in mutual reception with Venus in Virgo. Its lack of significant aspects to other planets make it a wildcard in this chart, and Mercury tends to be a bit of a wildcard anyway. So we may find ourselves in information overload, and, particularly during the upcoming Mercury Rx, uncertain of what information we can trust, especially from the government, with deceptive Neptune in the tenth.

These aspects suggest that on a personal level, we become very aware of the detrimental effects of gossip in our lives, and do what we can to eliminate it. Also  be ready for reality checks in relationships — which includes being very clear about what we will and will not allow in our personal interactions. Discernment and selective judgement applied with empathy, in full awareness of the rights of others will help us set healthy boundaries.

The condition of the sixth house — ruled by and containing Mars, also containing Saturn in the sign of Mars and Pluto — does not make me happy. I hear the dogs of war howling, and with Mars so tightly square Neptune, I am also concerned about issues of public health, particularly infectious disease. What the Mars-Neptune square suggests for us as individuals is that we watch out for the kind of happy-go-lucky fantasy that allows us to shrug off responsibility and simply take what we want, because, hey, it’s all good, right? That’s lazy thinking. What’s needed now is responsibility, action taken in service of greater principles, in full awareness of our connection with each other, and of spiritual realities. Speaking of realities, be sure to stay grounded and aware of what’s real and what’s not. Deception and illusion are rife and disillusionment is right behind them.

As I was writing this post, I began reading a book that consists of the transcripts of a series of lectures given by two prominent astrologers, Steven Forrest and Jeffrey Wolf Green (the book’s called “Measuring the Night” — recommended!) and I want to share a quote from it with you. Green is speaking about Neptune and the pain of disillusionment when he says:

“We experience disillusionment because we have projected so much meaning onto something that we considered absolutely Neptune-true, and in order to evolve we have to be disillusioned and align with the polarity—Virgo—called actual reality experienced through the crisis of disillusionment.”
Jeffrey Wolf Green

With the Moon and Venus conjunct in Virgo in this chart, we have plenty of opportunity to experience creative disillusionment, and understand the difference between projecting meaning as opposed to understanding meaning within the shared awareness of the reality of Time and Space. There’s nothing wrong with fantasy and illusion in their place — they are messengers of the creative force, insights into a future we may want to build. But we live within the T&S realm, and it’s important to be clear about the difference between inspiration and our shared reality.

Virgo’s healer archetype is likely to be prominent during this time, and the healing that is requested is not only of people, but of the land and the environment. What is needed to begin the healing process of the Earth now is a widespread change of attitude toward the Earth and the web of life upon it, and an awareness of the inescapable and profound dangers of nuclear power. As individuals, there is only so much most of us can do — our physical agency is limited, unlike, say, someone who is influential in the decisions made by a large government or corporation. But as magicians and meditators, we can influence the zeitgeist, we can amplify and project our own awareness of the Earth and its needs outward. That's how, in the same way that plucking one string on a guitar will cause the others to vibrate with it, we can help shatter some illusions, help others wake up to the shared reality of pollution, climate change and resource depletion.

The Sun is often weak in a Libra Ingress chart, simply because Sun is in its fall in Libra, the sign of diplomacy and negotiation with others. But in this chart, Sun is strengthened by its presence in the house of its natural rulership, and its rulership of the IC. It is illuminating issues of the environment, children, real estate and agriculture. The Sun also rules heads of government — in our case, the president. It makes no major aspects (the conjunction with Venus is very wide, and across the sign line), but it does tightly quindecile Uranus. This leads me to believe that the president may either be taken by surprise, or act in a sudden, unusual and/or surprising way — possibly all three— during this quarter. Saturn, ruling the eighth (holding Pluto) and ninth, and co-ruling the tenth with Uranus, tightly squares the Midheaven, suggests that the business of government is going to be even more treacherous and difficult than usual, requiring (but perhaps not receiving) wise and strong leadership. Careful diplomacy will illuminate a path through the swamp.

A Grand Trine in Fire, involving a close trine between Jupiter and Uranus, both in wide trine to Mars, gives a whole lot of my-way-or-the-highway attitude, but also tremendous inspiration and invention. I have high hopes of some major breakthroughs of scientific understanding and invention during this time — the key will be putting them into practice in the world.

So, I have gone on for quite a while about the Libra Ingress chart and said nothing about the New Moon a day later. It’s an Aries Point New Moon, which always gives it a bit of extra oomph, but not as much ooomph as the two eclipses upcoming in October. I’m going to go ahead and post this now, then I may post something about the New Moon in a day or two. Or — you (yes, you) can take a look at the New Moon chart I linked to above, and share your thoughts about it here in the comments. If you’re a student of astrology, you’ll learn a lot by articulating your thoughts on a chart on paper or pixels and discussing them with others. Go ahead. Do it!  :-)

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Diotima Mantineia began studying astrology in 1968, taking classes from Zoltan Mason in New York City. For the next 22 years, she practiced astrology only for herself and her friends, continuing her studies while watching an increasingly humanistic, psychologically oriented, modern astrology blossom through the work of leading astrologers such as Noel Tyl, Liz Greene, Rob Hand, Marion March, Stephen Arroyo and Howard Sasportas. In 1986, Diotima began her study of Wicca and started reading Tarot, discovering that she is a gifted intuitive. In 1991, she began practicing both astrology and Tarot professionally. She majored in plant and soil science both in college and grad school, and grows much of her own food and "materia magica" on her land in the mountains of western North Carolina. Diotima’s personal spiritual path is rooted in the Western mystery traditions, the principles of Yoga, and a profound connection with the natural world. Wicca gives structure to her spiritual journey, and she utilizes shamanic practices for healing and to live in harmony with Nature. Over 15 years of studying Chinese martial arts has given her a deep appreciation of Taoist thought which has strongly influenced her magical and personal philosophy. You can find her at www.uraniaswell.com

Comments

  • Arwen Lynch
    Arwen Lynch Sunday, 21 September 2014

    Thank you for this, Diotima. Something I will be coming back to for certain.

  • Diotima
    Diotima Sunday, 21 September 2014

    You are very welcome, Arwen. Glad you found it helpful.

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