Most people have heard of Mercury retrograde, but little is known about how to make best use of these misunderstood recurring periods. Since we have another of these retrogrades approaching in the near future, I thought I'd offer you some insights now so that you can get yourself positioned to take advantage of the coming retrograde period. Of course I'll also do my usual 3-part series in the next two weeks on what it means in general, what it means for each sign specifically, and how it relates to past Mercury retrograde themes.
To me and many others, this is one of the more sacred moments of the year. It is Autumn, with its falling leaves, shorter days, and diminished vitality due to less Solar energy for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. This period, known by many names, is a time to honor the dead. The original intent of this sacred time had nothing to do with giving the candy industry a boost between Columbus Day and Thanksgiving. I've always felt these last two were very peculiar "holidays," since the former celebrates the beginning of enslavement and disease of the original inhabitants of this continent, the latter a distorted excess complete with Aggie football.
We inherited Halloween, All Saints Day, and all Soul's Day (mostly forgotten) from our ancestors, but their true meaning has been ignored by our market-driven culture. The true meaning of this time is found in the celebration of El Dia de los Muertos, or "Day of the Dead." It's not really a day, but a period where we can celebrate and honor those who have passed away, our loved ones across space and time.
Sure they would. Just because you're a holy man or woman doesn't mean the timing to things becomes irrelevant. Each of the above holy beings had a birth time, and therefore changes in their lives that were measurable and predictable. The timing on Buddha's enlightenment, for example, was tied to Saturn and the cycle of Full Moons. That makes sense, since he became a teacher about how to overcome suffering, no small thing. Suffering in all forms is intimately associated with Saturn, the planet symbolizing the fears, limitations, and delusions of form and perception we must learn to deal with in order to come to our spiritual maturity here on Earth.
As you know from previous posts, due to the on-going Neptune septile Pluto we have been in the midst of what I have termed "The Grand Irrationality." This is producing greater irrationality and weirdness on a global level than at any time since it last happened during the '30s with the rise of Fascism and other authoritarian models. Jupiter's station at 9 Virgo in May 2004 established 3 points of the Great Septile pattern, and created some hot zones in our charts wherever these points fall. Roughly, they involve 7-11 Virgo, 29 Libra-3 Scorpio, 19-23 Sagittarius, 11-15 Aquarius, 3-7 Aries, 25-29 Taurus, and 15-19 Cancer. Since then the pattern has advanced about 2 to 5 degrees even though the original spans were heavily activated these past 5 months. Wherever they occur in our charts we have made crucial choices that set our lives and future into dynamic motion. We have had to learn a greater maturity, how to set clear boundaries, and take responsibility to choose what we will be limited by, or not. This is due to the Saturnian nature of the Septile series, derived from the division of the circle of 360 degrees by 7, yielding non-rational values. The Septile, Biseptile, and Triseptile all have their unique function in the span of aspects, and definitely indicate major turning points, or life changing relationships and activities.
In Astrology and Love - Karmic Dances that Free the Soul, we explored how our inner nature conditions the outer forms of love that we dance with, and how the planets in our birth charts show where we can take command of our ability to attract someone who could be our ideal mate, or even our "Soul mate." Through the Law of Magnetic Attraction, we are drawn to, and draw people to us, who resemble the pictures in our subconsciousness of what we believe we want and need for fulfillment. Whether they seem to look like what we think we want or not, our subconscious mind holds different images of "the beloved" and we spend our time and energy searching for people who resemble those pictures. That's why someone "feels right," or doesn't. Your ability to attract your perfect mate, or ideal partner, starts with getting clear about what could be true for you. This means examining your wants, needs, desires, and values, since all of these are involved in who you attract, and why.
Astrology and love have been linked since the beginning of time. Astrology shows us what we love and need, what we are attracted to and why, as well as when we might find our true love. Astrology is the most useful tool I've found to help us grow into our greater Self, and as we grow we find our possibilities of who we might love and who might love us changing, growing, and become more the perfect image of our heart's desire.
This week in many ways anticipates what we will be experiencing on a collective level for some time to come. Neptune goes stationary direct Wednesday on the Angel point of 15 Aquarius preparing to retrace its retrograde path since mid-May 2005. We've all repositioned ourselves spiritually these past few months, and will now understand why we've had to learn to flow in a new direction in our lives, even if we weren't sure where the flow was taking us. We'll certainly see our place in the larger scheme of things much clearer over the next few months. The outer invisible planets going stationary direct or retrograde definitely indicate major sea changes in the outer world of global and national affairs, so expect to see radical new developments this week that will change many lives forever.
There are a few books that can change our lives forever. The Magic of Space is one of those rare treasures. It is rare, precious, and beautiful, but unfortunately long out of print. Attributed to "a Tibetan Dakini," it offers profound insights into a greater, more universal wisdom about the nature of our reality and how we may best live our lives as Eternal Beings having human experiences. I have enjoyed sharing its wisdom for decades to help my friends and students achieve healthy personality integration and discover the power and applications of their Higher Self. Any time a work does these things at the same time it's a very good thing. Because it has been out of print for awhile, I try to offer you pieces of its wisdom from time to time so we all can profit from this timeless spiritual work.
Our current Prez, George Bush, was born with a Sun in Cancer and Moon in Libra. This combination is insecure and always seeking a better picture of their world, but not very sure about how to do it. The lights in these signs makes him an interesting combination of introvert and extrovert, and his vitality is not very constant. With the square of his Sun and Moon, he often approaches life with the feeliing that to attain one thing he desires he must give up another thing equally desired, and his past and future don't mesh very well in the present.
Since we have two Solar Eclipses each year and they usually affect us for years after they occur, it may be good to explore what they actually mean and how their influence works. This article expands on some things I've offered before about these recurring important stellar events, both regarding the myth and the reality. Historically, an eclipse, whether Solar or Lunar, is one of the most dreaded events in all of astrology.
Today’s Lunar Eclipse Full Moon falls at 25 Libra-Aries, and portends a few months where we will say goodbye to old superficial relationships, ideas, habits, and responses as a result of “seeing through” the forms and realizing something about the larger process of endings and beginnings, deaths and births. The Sun is the illumination factor; at 25 Libra, we will see deeper elements of wisdom emerge from the area in our charts where Libra is dominant once our rebellious mind understands the necessity of parts of our life ending to make space for what will emerge afterwards. The Moon at 25 Aries is the degree of “a double promise reveals its inner and outer meaning,” and puts us all in a “probationary” period where we will have to reshape our conception of what might fulfill us. In essence, we must be ready, willing, and able to shape our “translucent mind” in forms revealing potential spiritual fulfillment, and learn to imagine what might be, rather than cling to what has been.
The Saturn return always occurs between the age of 27 and 29, seemingly lasts a lot longer, and is one of the most feared and misunderstood points in personal evolution. It is usually a difficult time with a lot of stress and pressure, where things come to an end, hard realizations are faced, and the weight of the world is felt, very acutely. However, it is also a time of many opportunities to make important choices and decisions, moving out of unconscious patterns and obsolete conceptions of our purpose into more deliberate and thoughtful expressions of our unfulfilled self.
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