Thursday, March 31, 2011

Last in the Series: Lucky 13 Aries New Moon Amidst a Huge Aries Stellium and a Mars-Uranus Conjunction

Mars heads over an oh-so symbolic area today and tomorrow, passing through the last degree of the zodiac (29 Pisces) before entering the first degree (0 Aries) at 11:51 p.m. Central April 1 and moving into conjunction with Uranus.

Mars shifts into its domicile, the sign it rules, just in time for the April 3 Aries New Moon. At that time, six planets will be in Aries, and they all get a super-charged boost forward from Mars in its own sign of unadulterated masculine will and outer expression. Things really start to move now for good or ill.

This area is a zodiac hot spot, to put it mildly. Recall that the earthquake and tsunami were triggered in Japan as Uranus transited the final minutes of 29 Pisces with the nuclear crisis unfolding as it ingressed Aries. This is prime "new paradigm emerging from old" energetic symbolism, and it is being used by those ramming (Aries) their particular global agenda through.

The "surprise" bombing of Libya was scheduled for the March 20, 2011 equinox as the Sun conjuncted Uranus newly in Aries - just as the invasion of Iraq was scheduled for this date after the Uranus ingress of Pisces exactly eight years prior (March 20, 2003). Uranus relates to the unpredictable - except when its energy and transits are being utilized to set off pre-planned global events.

(Fun facts: Libya has the largest known oil reserves in Africa. BP announced its plan to start drilling off Libya's coast in July of 2010, a matter of months after the Gulf disaster began. Archaeologists say BP's drilling has a strong possibility of destroying ancient lost city sites buried beneath the ocean off Libya's coast, as well as ancient city sites on land along the coast should there be an oil spill. This indicates, again, that the broader objectives involve more than just drilling for oil. The underwater sites, like the Gulf of Mexico, have potential "Atlantean" connections, which have also been tied to the Aryan race.)

This Mars-Uranus conjunction has some pretty potent recent history infused into it. The conjunction is exact April 3 just after the New Moon in Aries as we crack into new territory coming out of the entire series of 13th degree New Moons. Amidst a huge Aries stellium of the Sun, Moon, Mercury Rx, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus, this is viciously potent.

The Mars-Uranus conjunction brings the planet of war, aggression, will, drive and new directions together at the zodiac birth point with a planet associated with uranium and sudden, shocking events and upheaval. Unexpected nuclear attacks brought through the sea (29 Pisces). Unfortunately, we've entered a new cycle of illegal, imperialist warfare on this planet - one cyclically and symbolically linked to past attacks against humanity. Ancient wars create symbolic blueprints for current wars.

Please be careful over the next two weeks as we head to the Mars in Aries square to just-stationed-retrograde Pluto in Capricorn, exact April 11 at 3:41 p.m.

Mars is acted upon by both Uranus and Pluto between now and then, and this is unstable, aggressive energy often coming out of nowhere. When things get tense, choose the path of least competition/aggression in yourself. Watch for and avoid unexpected anger and aggressive moves from others, especially in men who are full-to-the-brim with the masculine/yang/testosterone-fuelled and are waiting for some event to boil their frustrations over. People are being pushed past their breaking points.

Accidents due to anger, recklessness or lack of due attention are probable under these astro conditions. Be socially responsible (Saturn in Libra) and diffuse what you can. Balance the social scales where you can. But when things get too hot, step out of the line of fire. Breathe. Disengage. When Pluto is involved, we have to be careful not to be pulled into the sticky, magnetic dramas that play on our trigger points. These are broad, collective energies and themes steamrolling forward with agendas of their own with a whole lot of energy driving into new frontiers.

There is definite differentiation and factioning going on on raw, fundamental levels as we shift into a strong Arien/Aquarian overlay - on personal, societal and global fronts. All is not well in the ranks as splintering agendas jockey for position and control. Old social contracts and alliances go up in Arien flames.

By the time Mars squares Pluto April 11, we should have more news about the possible release of plutonium (Pluto), the deadliest known substance on the planet and very difficult to detect, from Japanese reactors as well as the possible release of mixed oxide fuel (MOX), a combination of uranium and plutonium, from Fukushima reactor 3.

This Aries New Moon/Mars-Uranus conjunction is a symbol for the emergence into radically new personal territory, especially for women. If we've worked this series of New and Full Moons right, some exhausting and enmeshing tail-end Piscean era dynamics have been completed. Long-standing charges have been put to rest and we are emotionally borne into something new.

The emergence at this New Moon involves moving out of past social and emotional conditioning - "being nice" instead of being real, being socially popular instead of being true to who we really are - and drawing on a newly accessible emotional fire, strength and courage. To be successful moving forward, women, especially, will be taking charge of and taking responsibility for their own self-direction and masculine energy rather than sitting by and letting men do it for them. (That's turned out just great, hasn't it?) There is a special emphasis with all this Aries on anger impulses and using them as an impetus to action.

With the Sagittarius North Node disposited by Jupiter in Aries until June, our Aries muscles and instincts play a big role in the broader guiding philosophical force opening vast new arenas in our lives. These themes become huge May 1-15 as the Aries stellium trines the Sagittarius North Node. Be true to yourself come what may now in order to benefit fully from the movement indicated by those trines then.

The Moon crosses the same 29 Pisces/0 Aries hot spot early Saturday morning as it grows dark. The New Moon is exact at 13 degrees Aries April 3 at 9:32 a.m. It is the last in the series of six "thirteenth witch" New Moons at 13 degrees of the signs amidst a series of five anaretic degree Full Moons. I relate these New Moons to the emergence of hidden and denied feminine realities and influence, especially the denied realities of the thirteenth witch - the one who busts it wide open.

The first 13th degree New Moon was in Scorpio during the Venus in Scorpio retrograde, just after All Hallow's Eve. This infused the lunar series with the thirteenth witch vibe - from which we begin to emerge now. We complete the dynamics fully at the June 2012 Venus Transit in Gemini when that Venus retrograde discharges the themes of the fall 2010 Venus in Scorpio retro.

The idea of the thirteenth witch involves some witch's coven lore:

"From what I understand, covens could usually be sustained and kept cloaked and protected from the torch-wielding townsfolk up until the 12th member. But once the 13th member was added, there was a shift. The energy was unable to be contained at that point. Things dug a little too deep and triggered a little too much and became unmanageable. The bad blood would start to run, jealousy would rise, there would be political in-fighting and jockeying for power and position, dirty allegiances and back-stabbing. Basically, the coven members would start to get into some serious brass tacks - all the dormant poison would rise to the surface. It was as if a tipping point were reached with the 13th witch, and something would happen to bust up the coven, generally bringing it under fire from the mainstream society. Often, it was an angry member who had been screwed over and felt slighted who would rat the coven out.

Energetic violations and abuses that had long simmered beneath the surface were busted wide open and aired, brought to task, by the addition of the thirteenth witch."

The series of 13th degree New Moons has created openings for the inclusion and integration of hidden feminine realities that have long influenced our lives and the unfolding of events on the world stage. Keeping these things hidden and unaddressed has caused disruption, disturbance and devastation, and nothing can truly heal or change until they are brought into the fold. As always, these energies are wide open for co-opting and for being used to further the same-old, same-old. Tend them carefully in your own lives and selves.

We've had six months of potent lunar activity - don't let the supposed SuperMoon in Virgo at lunar perigee take all the credit. With the thirteenth witch themes, I would be looking much more strongly toward the influence of Black Moon Lilith at lunar apogee!

As I wrote about recently, the 2009 Venus retrograde in Aries themes are potent now and for the next six weeks as Jupiter and the personal planets in Aries oppose Saturn in Libra. A big theme during that retrograde was relationships that could no longer contain who we really were spontaneously combusting - even long-term ones. This New Moon happens conjunct Jupiter in Aries and opposite Saturn in Libra. If relationships and relationship dynamics didn't fully move into new territory at that time, expect things to pick up where they left off.

With the influence of the North Node in Sagittarius disposited by Jupiter in Aries opposite Saturn in Libra, people are figuring out what they really believe in relation to other people. This is going to mean they exit stage left from certain relationships, possibly in dramatic fashion, in a lot of cases. No harm, no foul in most cases. There isn't much arguing with this energy, and this has a freeing, energizing effect over the long run.

At the same time, new directions mean no longer taking the old directions, and that is starting to hit home emotionally in a big way as people say goodbye to a lot of what they identified themselves with previously, including relationships.

These themes continue as we head into another summer of big tensions, disturbances and necessary new leadership and directions with a full Cardinal Grand Cross configuration as well as a triple eclipse season. More on that later...

Anaretic Degree Full Moons

October 22, 2010 - 29 Aries
November 21, 2010 - 29 Taurus
December 21, 2010 - 29 Gemini (total lunar eclipse)
January 19, 2011 - 29 Cancer
February 18, 2011 - 29 Leo

Thirteenth Degree New Moons

November 5, 2010 - 13 Scorpio
December 5, 2010 - 13 Sagittarius
January 4, 2011 - 13 Capricorn (partial solar eclipse)
February 4, 2011 - 13 Aquarius
March 4, 2011 - 13 Pisces
April 3, 2011 - 13 Aries

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Classic Case of the Mondays

The Sun in Aries squares stationing Pluto in Capricorn this Monday, March 28 at 7:13 a.m. Central, and this is quite an aspect to wake into on a Monday morning. We shoot out of bed and into a day full of potent progress as well as multiple frustrations and irritations. Small events trigger big reactions because we are just so FED UP with the way things are.

The Sun-Pluto square occurs in addition to the exact Jupiter-Saturn opposition (4:55 p.m.), so we can expect social tension all day with a tendency to the incendiary. There will be surprising levels of feistiness rising to the surface very quickly and with little provocation over the next few days with triggered personality hotspots. Stay clear of the Plutonic detritus being kicked up by everyone going his/her own way, and keep your cool as you move through it.

Luckily, the Moon will be in Aquarius, so emotional detachment and a broader view of what's going on (thanks, astrology) can pull us up and out of the fires.

Today, we have a Venus-Neptune conjunction on the anaretic (29th) degree of Aquarius (8:39 p.m.) before Venus slides into Pisces during the wee hours tomorrow. This is another layer of the Pisces-to-Aquarius shift, and anyone attuned to that is getting tuned, if you know what I mean. There is a new vibe unfolding rapidly under Uranus in Aries, and here the feminine finds just the right note to move forward with - not too Piscean and not too Aquarian.

Mercury goes retrograde at 24 Aries March 30 until April 22.

Pluto goes retro at 7 Capricorn April 9 until September 15.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Jupiter in Aries Opposite Saturn in Libra, the Benefits of Being True to Ourselves and Maturing The Nasty Libra Tricks

The Jupiter - Saturn opposition coming up next Monday, March 28 happens at 14 degrees Aries/Libra, triggering the energetic themes and events brought up by the 2009 Venus retro period. Venus stationed retrograde March 5, 2009 at 15 degrees Aries.

All the personal planets in Aries will trigger this hot spot opposition point, conjuncting Jupiter and opposing Saturn in Libra over the next six weeks.

Mercury, currently in its retrograde shadow and just past this point, will go back and forth over this area. The first pass was March 17. Mercury goes retrograde March 30 and passes this point for a second time (retrograde) April 14/15. It goes direct April 23, and the final pass direct is April 29/30.

Look at what was going on in your life at the time of the Venus retrograde in Aries (February through May 2009) - especially in relationships - to see how much progress you have made since then and what might need a little more (or less) exertion on your part.

One of the themes of that retrograde was watching for the trap of the false karass - with astrology being one of them. This is a really interesting aspect to watch, as I see these themes coming on strongly in the astrology world. Astrology blogs, astrologers and astrology audiences are differentiating rapidly. Stronger astrological identities are being forged, and the distinctions of politics, perspective, beliefs and motivation are becoming more important.

I like this because, with a prominent Pluto in Libra, these themes are with me all the time.

The only way we can be one, big happy astro family is if we're honest about the fact that we aren't.

The previous Venus retrograde in Aries set the stage for the current Jupiter transit in Aries (entering Taurus June 4), and here we see one of the cardinal rules of astrology - working successfully with a transit as it unfolds sets the groundwork for future success with transits involving similar themes/signs, which repeat in cycles or waves until we get it down. Astrologers don't advise you to work diligently and responsibly with what's going on in your life just to step on your buzz. It's a proactive strategy for longer-term success. If we shirk our duties with transit themes, we have to work doubly or triply hard playing catch-up later.

The 2009 Venus retrograde in Aries had to do with forging an honest and authentic balance between ourselves, our identities, our personal goals and motivations and our ways of being in relationship with other people. To reap the benefits of the current Jupiter in Aries transit, we had to beef up our Aries muscles (authenticity, self-exertion, self-direction, will, independent action, identity) within relationship during that Venus retrograde - differentiating from other people when necessary, being true to ourselves even when it was uncomfortable socially, and learning to follow our anger impulses as a directional force and impetus to action.

Jupiter has a reputation for being nothing but good - inspirational expansion, horizons broadening in beneficial ways, faith and knowledge increasing. But Jupiter, as the largest planet in our solar system, makes everything it touches bigger, including our weak spots and especially areas we have been perpetually glossing over or shirking.

Jupiter allows us to fly by the seat of our pants to a certain extent based on an excess of ancestral knowledge, hard-won wisdom and inherent gifts. We have padding in the bank of a jovial largess variety - but only up to a point. Past that point, Jupiter can create a sort of too-much-too-fast over-expansion, over-confidence in our abilities and a subsequent falling on our face. Jupiter can trigger lackadaisical tendencies, skimming by on the bluster of our gifts or beneficial traits, that can catch up to us when in tense aspect to the other planets - as it is now with Saturn. There are limits to its luck and buoyancy - much as Jupiter dislikes this fact.

It's going to be very interesting with all the Aries energy coming into play opposite Saturn in Libra retrograde. We're going to be seeing new facets of identity in the people with whom we are in relationship, and it's going to be shocking (Uranus). Who people really are and what they really think, believe and feel beyond the Libran facade is emerging in a big, colourful way. Our identities (Aries) want to expand (Jupiter), and with Saturn retrograde in Libra, we are restructuring our relationships and our sharing of social responsibility and authority to give them room to breathe.

It's not always popular to be true to ourselves, but for those who have done it come hell or high water, this Jupiter transit brings big movement and expansion.

On the other hand, people who have relied on Libra tricks - maintaining a false social veneer, playing to the crowd, hiding or compromising their expanding identities to maintain a relationship, social prowess or popularity - are going to have a tougher time. Co-dependency issues will rear their heads - the problems associated with subverting our will and identity in favour of another, constantly deferring to the opinions and beliefs of others, and lacking the courage to stand on our own two feet. People who have been basing a big part of their identity on another person will be strongly encouraged to stop.

Knowing who you are, what you know and what you believe on a deep level and staying true to that in relationship is key for the remainder of the Jupiter in Aries transit. There will be instances until June 4 when we have to stand up for ourselves along these lines, and this takes courage.

These themes become huge between May 1 and 15 when we experience a stellium of planets in Aries - Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter - trining the Sagittarius North Node. Uranus will be in early Aries, shocking us with insights about who we are, who the people around us are, and what that means for our future directions.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

The Sun Conjunct Uranus at the Zodiac Birth Point Marking Astrological New Year and the "Odyssey Dawns"

Right on schedule.

The Sun is passing through the final degree of Pisces and enters Aries this evening at 6:21 p.m. Central marking Spring Equinox in the northern hemisphere and the astrological New Year.

This is not your average Spring Equinox or Astro New Year, either. The Sun is conjunct Uranus at zero Aries - the birth point for the entire zodiac. Uranus takes 84 years to make its way through the zodiac and spends an average of seven years in each of the signs. A Sun-Uranus conjunction exactly at zero degrees Aries has rare initiating potency, and we're experiencing it.

As I mentioned in a previous article, Uranus entering Aries means the astrological era-shifting mutual reception between Uranus in Pisces and Neptune in Aquarius has drawn to a close. The most intensely interwoven crossover period between Piscean and Aquarian eras is over, and we now tip the scales into a stronger Aquarian overlay.

The Odyssey Dawns, indeed.

The people of Libya are now being "kept safe" from yet another villainous bad guy as Cancer Sun nation U.S. of A. rains missiles down upon them in a military operation named Operation Odyssey Dawn. Yesterday, 120 Tomahawk missiles were fired at Libya by United States, British and French military. Italy and Spain are allowing the use of their air force bases for the launching of the attacks. This marks the largest military attack against an Arab country since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, which gained public support through bogus claims that Sadaam Hussein held weapons of mass destruction after the bombing of the World Trade Centers in New York City September 11, 2001.

The invasion of Iraq happened exactly eight years ago (March 20, 2003) just after Uranus ingressed Pisces (March 10, 2003). Still don't think astrology is being used in these war agendas?

The invasion of Iraq during Baby Bush's regime has left more than two million Iraquis dead along with thousands of U.S. soldiers. Five million Iraqui refugees are currently subsisting in absolutely dire circumstances. Five million children - thirty five percent of the country's children - have been orphaned, and parts of the country have been left irradiated through depleted uranium munitions. One of the worst humanitarian crises currently existing on this planet is the legacy of the 2003 equinox invasion. Operation Iraqi Freedom (ha) was renamed Operation New Dawn by the United States on September 1, 2010, reflecting the shift into burgeoning Aquarian Age language. We see this continue with the naming of the military operation against Libya - Odyssey Dawn.

Exactly eight years later, Uranus is freshly into position in the sign ruled by war planet Mars (March 11 ingress - coinciding with the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan) and moves into a series of seven squares (tense, clashing aspect) to Pluto in Capricorn over the next four years, in energetic effect for eight. What happens now, at this birth point, sets the tone for the next eight years with 2012-2015 involving the strongest activity, and you'd better believe the strategists behind the advance of a new era of global fascism are aware of this. The immediate plans working toward the longer-term goals were set last cardinal t-square infused summer, and they unfold now like clockwork.

Jupiter in Aries squaring Pluto in Capricorn in January coincided with massive protests from people in the Middle East (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan) who are unemployed, hungry and increasingly pushed up against a wall by government policies. It was a massive call for change.

And according to plan, the Global Governors have ridden the energy of the people's revolt up to the crest and taken their places atop the corrupt hierarchies with a newly shuffled cast of characters.

Now in Libya, another "rogue nation" (coincidentally with the largest known oil reserves in Africa) is brought under control and into lock-step with the global agenda through U.S.-led military might. Canada is right there alongside as trusty sidekick, offering up its military - it no longer operates even under the guise of a sovereign nation.

The influence of the last degrees of Pisces indicate this is still motivated by the Piscean/oil era themes - capturing control of both physical and spiritual energy reserves. But there's more going on here than meets the eye. Our insight increases after the Sun crosses Uranus tomorrow morning (7:24 a.m. Central). The Moon enters Scorpio at 2:17 p.m. tomorrow, so dig deeply into your emotional intuition as the agenda and propaganda unfold...

Background:

Jupiter in Aries Square Pluto in Capricorn: Uprisings Are Expected. The Global Governors Are Waiting. Freedom is a Complex Dance...Part Two.

Jupiter in Aries Square Pluto in Capricorn: Uprisings Are Expected. The Global Governors Are Waiting. Freedom is a Complex Dance.

Uranus in Aries Ushers in an Era of Unnatural Disaster

The Precession of the Equinoxes, Shifting Astrological Eras and '2012'

Thursday, March 17, 2011

SuperMoon, Eh?

Oh, goodness.

The Full Moon coming up tomorrow night (exact at 1:10 p.m. Central on March 19) is pretty hyped at this point, being touted as a "SuperMoon" heralding massive global events.

This Full Moon is in Virgo, though, and really, Virgo Moon isn't down with all the buzz. In fact, Virgo generally goes out of its way to avoid buzz. It finds buzz annoying and generally unwarranted, taking attention away from more pressing matters. Virgo is a sign that does what it does without much fanfare, and for the most part, aside from receiving some genuine appreciation, this suits it just fine. Virgo is just not a sign that does hype. In fact, going on about something like this SuperMoon would probably lead a Virgoan type to give "the look." You know the look. It often involves looking disapprovingly over a pair of glasses.

Since Virgo is all about keeping it practical, let's break it down a little and get to some details to put our feet back on the ground with this one.

The thing that is supposedly extra super duper special about this Full Moon is that it happens at a point of unusually close perigee. Perigee is the closest point a planet gets to Earth in its orbit - in this case, the Moon. This is not a huge deal in and of itself. The Moon goes through a point of perigee (closest point to Earth) and a point of apogee (furthest point from Earth) in its orbit around this planet every month, and these points often happen very close to the New and Full Moons.

Even the fact that it's very close - the closest its been to Earth in 19 years - is not all that big news astrologically.

We're also just coming out of a series of five Full Moons at the 29th (anaretic) degree of the signs they were in, which is the last degree and is considered very potent, distilling the complex lessons of the previous 29 degrees of the sign. So in order to analyze this Full Moon's importance, you would really have to get into the whole series we've just been through and the big culmination points we've completed.

Nothing astrologically happens in a bubble as an isolated event, including this Full Moon. It all has broader context, and this Full Moon at perigee is certainly not sparking anything that isn't already well underway.

We do have a stronger feminine, emotional influence than usual, which is fitting considering the circumstances we're dealing with personally and globally.

I'm not sure why certain things get so much play in astrology circles while other things I consider important and wish more astrologers were writing about fly under the radar. There always seems to be a catchy name associated, too, that everyone likes to repeat, creating even more hype. This actually does astrology a disservice, in my opinion, and Virgo definitely doesn't like disservice.

This Spring Equinox, marking astrological New Year, is obviously something special with the Sun conjunct Uranus at the zero degree of Aries, and the aspects surrounding it have extra potency, but I think the SuperMoon stuff is a bit of a stretch.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Uranus in Aries Ushers in an Era of Unnatural Disaster

It's all so mish mashed and difficult to get a handle on while the Sun is in Pisces. With Mars in Pisces now too, it's as if we're moving under water, through one of those nightmares that pins you down under the weight of its sickly tentacles. Slowly, groggily. But as the Sun moves closer to its ingress of Aries (March 20 at 6:21 p.m. Central) and a conjunction to Uranus March 21, we will be jarred out of the Piscean nightmare grip and woken suddenly into something even more unimaginable.

Uranus is in Aries square Pluto in Capricorn. We are living through this.

As the Sun and then Mars (April 1) enter Aries, the fire burns the misty Piscean fog away and we will start to become fully aware of the shocking, horrifying, stunning magnitude of what is unfolding in Japan.

You think the Gulf of Mexico is bad? That was so last era. This is the Aquarian Age, baby. This one's going to push your survival skills and your levels of detachment to points so extreme you didn't know they even existed.

Like clockwork, it is. The earthquake and tsunami were triggered just as Uranus slid out of the final degree of Pisces, bringing yet more upheaval (Uranus) of the sea (Pisces). The meltdowns currently underway in six nuclear reactors coincide with Uranus (uranium) entering Aries March 11, moving into full square formation with Pluto (plutonium) in Capricorn and bringing us into the themes of the period that included the beginning of the Great Depression and the ramp-up to World War II.

The last time Uranus was in Aries it squared Pluto, then in Cancer, five times between 1932 and 1934, following the discovery of Pluto in our solar system in 1930. That discovery is associated with human beings gaining the ability to annihilate themselves and all life on this planet through atomic weaponry. World War II, of course, culminated in the United States dropping two atomic bombs on Japan - Little Boy on Hiroshima August 6, 1945 and Fat Man on Nagasaki August 9, 1945. Fat Man was made with plutonium (Pluto) and Little Boy uranium (Uranus).

Now, with the sick symbolic events we've all come to know and love, we have a variation on the theme - the worst nuclear disaster Japan has seen since the dropping of the bombs. A seismic weapon-created 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that have killed tens of thousands of people, causing hundreds of aftershocks, most of them significant earthquakes in and of themselves, with multiple nuclear reactors now spewing radiation into the atmosphere. Messing with the very fabric of matter.

As Uranus moves back into war planet-ruled Aries, there is little doubt in my mind that the unnatural disasters set off in Japan are an act of war. I'm a little different from your average cat, though, in that I don't believe there has been a time in recent history that humanity has not been under siege by the forces behind this horror. Things have always been this bad. Those who are up close and personal with Pluto or Scorpio can't deny it. Knowing it is actually our liberation. 

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

The Precession of the Equinoxes, Shifting Astrological Eras and '2012'

I'd like to make it clear (as clear as possible with five planets in Pisces, which might be not very) that when I write about the Piscean and Aquarian eras, I'm talking about the precession of the equinoxes - the shift in placement of the Sun at March equinox from the sidereal (physical) constellation of Pisces into the sidereal constellation of Aquarius. 

This physical shift in the Sun's placement relates to the end of the astrological Piscean era and the beginning of the Aquarian - a time frame we are currently living through. (Recall that the position of the bodies in the sidereal zodiac/physical constellations shift over time. They don't in the tropical zodiac.) 

Uranus re-entering Aries March 11 marks the official end of the eight-year Uranus in Pisces - Neptune in Aquarius mutual reception. We've been experiencing this mutual reception since Uranus entered Pisces March 10, 2003, and it neatly winds up almost exactly eight years later on March 11, 2011. 

I read this mutual reception as the most strongly interwoven crossover period between astrological eras, and it now draws to a close. The ingress of Uranus into the first sign of the zodiac (Aries) combined with the conclusion of the mutual reception makes this an important birth point as far as new cycles go - picking up on the seeds planted in the summer of 2010 with the cardinal t-squares. 

We now start to experience a separation and shift into a stronger Aquarian overlay, tipping the scales out of astrological tail-end Pisces. 

All this relates to a very basic astrological idea - that when the planets shift signs, we shift into the different energetic themes, overlays and events that correspond with that sign. 

When the outer planets shift signs, it's broad, social/collective/global change that also affects us personally. Macro and micro are inter-related. 

Within the span of three years (2008-2011), we will have experienced all the outer planets changing signs. Pluto ingressed Capricorn January 25, 2008, Uranus ingressed Aries (initially) May 27, 2010, and Neptune ingresses Pisces April 4, 2011. We also have Chiron newly in Pisces. Big, multi-layered shifts. 

We'll be adopting and experiencing more Aquarian characteristics and themes in this new terrain, but there will still be a very strong Piscean flavour with Neptune in its domicile Pisces for 15 years and Chiron in Pisces for eight. 

Neptune moves from Aquarius into Pisces April 4, 2011, retrograding into Aquarius and re-entering Pisces for good February 3, 2012. 

There's no way to determine the exact date of the precession of the March equinox from sidereal Pisces to Aquarius. From the most commonly used astrological calculations of 2,160 years for each era, we have another 150 years of Pisces to go. 

Again, we don't just sweep all the mess and unlearned Piscean lessons under the rug and move into Aquarius, as many seem to be preaching. There is also the idea these days that we are completing an entire cycle of precessions through the whole twelve-sign zodiac, which is just under 26,000 years. I haven't been able to completely prove this to myself as of yet, and it isn't my area of research, so I can't say one way or the other. What I do believe is that you can take almost any cross-section, analyze it and come up with similar findings: we're living through big times, big shifts and lots of changes, and you can see this from the micro-est micro to the macro-est macro. 

What makes sense to me is the idea that the end of one astrological era and beginning of another is multi-layered. This has especially been the case during the Uranus-Neptune mutual reception, and this is why so many have been pouring the coal to it over the past eight years. We have been intensely challenged to complete and master certain aspects of the Piscean era, holding and applying that wisdom and understanding, while simultaneously anchoring and taking steps into the beginning of the Aquarian. These challenges continue. 

We're in both eras simultaneously in a lot of ways, working to make the best transition we can. It's been bizarre, demanding, bumpy as hell and touch-and-go at times. These are some of the themes I navigate on this blog. I do believe we're in a time period of important tipping points and directional openings on this planet between the two astrological overlays. I think our personal choices and directions matter greatly and have vast ripple effects at this time. This is why I think it's so important to ensure that we're directing ourselves according to our own deep, personal knowledge and beliefs rather than being caught up unaware in movements that do not have the best interests of humanity at heart. 

The end of the Mayan calendar or '2012' is not the same as the precession of the equinoxes, although there are people who correlate the two. 

Using astrology certainly does not mean you accept the ideology that is being promoted around the date of December 21, 2012. I'm also not referring to the New Age version of the Age of Aquarius with the tie-in to One World Government, One World Religion, global unity consciousness, "all paths leading to God" (ha), the fifth dimension, or creating a new reality for the true believers. 

I'm not talking your standard Fourth Reich New Age World Order, a global messiah, or a generation of messiah children who have come to save us by enlightening us and raising our vibrations and whatnot. (Keep your mitts off my vibration, please.) 

I'm not talking about traveling up the enlightenment paradigm ladder to achieve the consciousness of the Ascended Masters, guided by our Higher Selves, a couple gurus in India and a bookshelf full of New Age 101 lit. 

I'm talking in basic astrological terms. 

The North Node is in Sagittarius now disposited by Jupiter in Aries. Getting clear on our personal beliefs (and maybe more importantly, on what we don't believe), speaking up about it when necessary and directing ourselves accordingly are the keys to our successful progress here. This is how we head off and disempower the nightmare dystopia attempting to close in. 

As most people who read this blog are already aware, the "Universal Truths" of the New Age are not my truth. The words and advisements coming from their gurus and followers do not hold water with me. I hold no superiour, spiritual or otherwise, and this is the Aquarian era I would like to see for a free, healthy, unharassed and unfucked with humanity. 

I won't be shy about it. I believe the New Age movement and its doctrine are the spiritual arm of fascism. I believe that the Third Reich was connected to New Age doctrine just as I believe the Fourth Reich Global Governors and those handing out their orders are currently. I think it's part of a plan I do not wish to see become a reality on this planet. And I think a lot of people are passing this stuff along without a full awareness of what it is, where it comes from and what it's ultimate goals are. This is why I'm such a hard ass when it comes to deconstructing the New Age movement and exposing its roots. I don't see it as harmless, feel-good stuff. I see it as a spiritual control mechanism parasitizing people and keeping them from their true personal spiritual potency - a potency we desperately need more of on this planet. People deserve better. 

A couple posts I wrote on the subject in June when Uranus first dipped into Aries:  

Jupiter Conjunct Uranus in Aries: the Fourth Reich is Still Vicious and the New Agers are Still Dumbasses. More Change Required.  

Uranus in Aries and the Spiritual Supernova Point: Busting Out of the Structures that Will No Longer Contain Us  

Unfortunately, astrology has come to be understood as synonymous with New Age ideology in the minds of many people, which includes the 2012 furor. A lot of people are actually embarrassed to admit they are interested in astrology due to the associations with New Age. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Astrology is not New Age. Astrology is not a belief system. It's a symbolic language describing cycles and themes that we can use as a navigational tool. That's not all it is, but that's it in a nutshell. If it works for you, use it. If it doesn't, don't. I really don't mind. But please know that astrology is alive and well outside the confines of the New Age. 

Because so much astrology is insidiously merged with New Age doctrine, posts like this are necessary for differentiation. It's a continual effort. New Age doctrine is in the ethers in a lot of ways, forced to the saturation point, and with certain subjects, it tries to worm its way in. I watch my wording and try to change anything that might have a New Age tone or energy. I do my best, but this stuff is like sticky etheric honey laced with arsenic, oozing into every available opening. You just think you've rooted it out, and another tentacle finds its way in. 

It's very conflicting as I see, in this new city in which I'm living, how present and how organized New Age is. Again. Just like in the last city I lived in. It's everywhere, really. It's impossible, at this point, not to come into contact with it. So I just do my own thing. It's a very fine line to walk, though, and it's not a comfortable one.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Mercury Conjunct Uranus at the Edge of the Zodiac

Mercury is currently in its fall in Pisces, meaning the planet of quick communication, transit and movement doesn't do so well thinking, speaking and interacting through the watery, swampy, swirly Pisces filter.

Mercury is coming up on a somewhat blinding conjunction to Uranus at 29 Pisces - the very last degree of the zodiac - at 10:05 a.m. March 9, just an hour-and-a-half before it moves into Aries. Don't expect people to be all that with it early this week, especially in public service professions. Communication is painful while so much is being communicated to us from the unseen realms.

Uranus is astrological minutes away from tipping into Aries, bringing us into a whole new ballgame March 11, so this meeting with Mercury at the edge of the zodiac is sizzling electric with meaning. Our personal mind is coming into contact with almost more streaming insight on the whole thing that we can bear, so be very gentle. Communicating at our usual speed is a recipe for headaches, stiff necks, and strained eyes, so close the floodgates for the next couple days. No overloading the circuits. Lots of incommunicado time, if possible. Turn off the phone and internet, flip the lights off, and get into the bath...

Another planet moving out of this wet paper bag we are too exhausted to fight our way out of (tail-end Pisces) is a good thing, and Mercury does just that when it enters Aries March 9. Uranus follows suit March 11, the Sun does March 20, and Mars does April 1.

This heavy, swampy, soggy final Uranus in Pisces winter is coming to a close over the next three weeks, one layer at a time.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Lucky 13 New Moon in Pisces

The Moon is dark in Pisces at the moment, and at fin-de-Pisces, this sign is home to many a deep, dark, watery grave. Spelunking around in them as we have been during this Balsamic Moon is not the most fun thing I can think of.

There are six bodies in Pisces right now - Chiron, Mars, the Moon, the Sun, Mercury and Uranus - and folks, plain and simple, that's just too much Pisces. The dark moon in this sign has had a nasty emotional undertow, easily sucking us under and into the abyss if we have not been careful.

Luckily, the first light cracks this afternoon at 2:46 p.m. Central as we experience the fifth in a series of six thirteenth degree New Moons. The denied feminine realities of the thirteenth witch come bobbing up to the surface. These ones relate to the hidden spiritual realities, especially of suppressed feminine knowledge and power, bound, gagged and imprisoned within the masculine-dominated spiritual hierarchies, belief structure traditions and lineages.

We're busting out.

The North Node has slid just inside Sagittarius territory to the 29th degree as we begin carving out our soul-directed tracks according to what WE really believe and know.

This isn't your standard, classist ivory tower religion and philosophy. That's not real Sagittarius, anyway. This is real higher education, based in the experience and knowledge that rings through our every cell, collected through the totality of rich, human experience on this planet. This is our candle in the window, the faith that sustains and guides us through the worst storms. Where we are now.

As the North Node shifted from Capricorn to Sagittarius March 3 for an 18-month stay, the heavenly body key to our successful navigation, called the dispositor, shifted from Saturn (constriction, restriction, challenges, delays, maturation, tests) to Jupiter (expansion, inspiration, broadening horizons, quest for freedom, grace).

Until June 4 when it enters Taurus, our Sagittarian path forward is coloured deeply by Jupiter's transit of Aries (self, will, action), just coming out of its final square to Pluto in Capricorn.

This isn't your standard following of a laid-out belief system. This is raw, this is primal, this is based in deep-down survival - of the soul, of the identity, of the physical self - in the face of forces that actively seek to snuff them out.

This is leaving the controlled and controlling hierarchical belief structures on their asses and going our own way.

"Always, there will be an impetus on reframing and transforming belief systems, making them relevant for the current moment and situation, shaking valuable kernels of truth out of the dogmatic, masculine-heavy belief structure hierarchies that exist almost across the board at this point in human history."

This theme increases greatly in strength this spring as the bodies shift from Pisces to Aries, and we swing into a massive trine of the Sagittarius North Node during the first two weeks of May when Mars conjunct Jupiter in Aries and then Mercury conjunct Venus in Aries trine the Sadge North Node and light the fire in a big way for everyone.

Mercury moves from Pisces to Aries March 9 before turning retrograde March 29 until April 22. Then we have our main event - Uranus re-entering Aries March 11. The Sun enters Aries March 20 for a Spring Equinox (in the Northern Hemisphere) that has the Sun, Mercury, Jupiter and Uranus in the sign of the ram.

But Mars entering Aries and its domicile April 1 really gets the show on the road.

Know yourself, trust what you know implicitly and put it into action - those are the marching orders for Spring 2011.