Celestial Chatter Jan 31 trough Feb 6

Once a month the Sun and Moon dance together and we refer to this as a new Moon. The newness refers to the beginning of any cycle and in this case it is the lunar initiation for the next journey around the zodiac. More often than not these new Moons occur in the next sign each month, but every once in a while the 31 day month can include two lunar new Moons, one at the beginning of the month and the other at the end. We are not in that kind of cycle currently. As a matter of fact the new Moon on Monday the 31^st will happen near the potent cross quarter point of 15° Aquarius. These cross quarters are the half way points between the seasonal beginnings of Spring – Aries 0°, Summer – 0° Cancer, Fall – 0° Libra and Winter – 0° Capricorn. These are the beginnings of all the Cardinal signs with the cross quarter points being in the center (around 15°) of all the fixed signs of the zodiac. Back before the clocked life cycle took over these cross quarter times were celebrated as the half way point in a season.

Imbolc symbolizes the halfway point between the winter solstice (Yule) and the spring equinox (Ostara). The word “imbolc” means “in the belly of the Mother,” because the seeds of spring are beginning to stir in the belly of Mother Earth. The term “oimelc” means ewe’s milk.

Beltane is a Pagan holiday, and one of the eight Sabbats. It falls about halfway between the spring equinox (Ostara) and the coming summer solstice, Litha. The holiday celebrates spring at its peak, and the coming summer. Beltane also sometimes goes by the name May Day.

Wiccans use the names “Lughnasadh” or “Lammas” for the first of their autumn harvest festivals. It is one of the eight yearly “Sabbats” of their Wheel of the Year, following Midsummer and preceding Mabon.

Samhain (pronounced ‘sow’inn’) is a very important date in the Pagan calendar for it marks the Feast of the Dead. Many Pagans also celebrate it as the old Celtic New Year (although some mark this at Imbolc). It is also celebrated by non-Pagans who call this festival Halloween.

As with every new Moon we are tasked, should we care to participate, in setting intentions to focus the upcoming lunar cycle on. Since this one begins in Aquarius the potential for innovation and the inclusion, at some level, of other aspects of the human family are on the table. We are nearing the end of the current Mercury retrograde cycle so, are there any inventions that you have come up with during this time of deeper pondering? Here is the Sabian symbol interpretation from Dane Rudhyar’s “An Astrological Mandala” to meditate upon for this upcoming new Moon to possibly assist in determining what to include in your intentions:

(AQUARIUS 13°): A BAROMETER.

KEYNOTE: The ability to discover basic natural facts that allow us to plan in advance for action.

Here we are no longer dealing with ascent or descent, but with natural laws which involve causal relationships and the passage of one natural condition into another. The barometer registers air pressure, and a change of pressure today gives some indication of what the weather will be tomorrow. In a sense this is the

modern scientific equivalent of archaic prognostication through omens. Likewise, animals grow a more or less thick fur in early autumn according to whether the winter will be more or less severe. Planning for the near future is a possibility because the potential (or seed) of the future is already operating at the core of the present.

This third symbol of the sixty-third sequence tells us that it is most important to seek, by whatever means and at whatever level of consciousness knowledge of causal progression. In the broadest sense this implies an awareness of cyclic processes, and this includes astrology. The Keyword is ANTICIPATION

As we venture into February the next planetary aspect to arouse our attention will be Mars forming a sextile with Jupiter on Thursday the 3^rd. Mars is still traveling out-of-bounds (oob) so even though it is moving through Capricorn don’t expect usual Martian factors to proceed as expected. I would not be surprised to see a lingering Sagittarian flavor in the way that Mars sparks things into action. The Capricorn ruler, Saturn, sits at the Imbolc degree in Aquarius. Might there be vestiges of mid-winter percolation under the surface to potentially have some plants prematurely send shoots up through the soil sent on an adventure of new life? Capricorn’s aim to establish some form of control being stirred by this oob Martian impulse to excel beyond borders of limitation could prove uncomfortable to the establishment.

I might include some Saturn lore into this mix. Saturn is the traditional ruler of Capricorn and Aquarius. In Aquarius where it currently is doing its 2.5 year stroll we need to recognize that while it represents a container within which things can transpire, this air sign is the water bearer and will be pouring substance down into this container until it either flows over the rim or Saturn decides to become larger to encompass this more that is available. The Mars aspect with Jupiter, ruler of both Sagittarius, where Mars recently arrived from, and Pisces where Jupiter currently is traveling are involved in this conversation egging Saturn to expand so-called limitations.

Let’s throw another twist into this cauldron of substance. Mercury will be stationing to go direct on this same Thursday still within in the energetic range of Pluto that it has danced across in retrograde over the past week and will consume the next week in close proximity to this lord of the underworld. Our thoughts are being invited to contemplate what is meant by terminal parameters often utilized as control functions for humanity. You won’t hear this offered by Pluto whose main function is always to awaken us to the potential of vibrantly being alive, but are we so easily led astray in our haste to get ahead in this earth walk journey we are on? And to what end, or is there really and end factor in play? Mercurial mullings currently stir this deep cauldron of our versions of reality.

Turn the page and we find ourselves being entertained on Friday the 4^th as the Sun comes into direct contact with Saturn. More Imbolc? Does the Sun’s draw attempt to pull at the buried seeds awaiting spring? Can the Saturn cauldron contain this solar influx of Aquarian energy? Two factors could be pondered here. The substance within Saturn’s cauldron is going to be heated beyond levels where normal containment can withstand. At the same time there is a transmutation of the energy substance available that seeks to evolve beyond any field of containment. The Sun as king or ruler directly stands between Saturn and the Earth. Might there be an infusion of regal energy directing Saturn to aim its control function to be more inclusive? While at one level I was tempted to say more humanitarian but a strong voice compels me to not be so callous as to leave out the rest of the natural world as vitally significant to our human endeavors even if mostly unconscious?

Celestial Chatter Jan 24 through 30

Though the season of Aquarius is upon us, there is an overriding Capricorn signature to this coming week. Last evening as we finally opened up the chart for the moment, about 15 to 20 minutes into our gathering, one of the participants said, “look the Sun is at 0° 0’ of Aquarius. My response was that it likely had been there for a while. I rotated the chart backwards a minute at a time to discover that only 2 minutes earlier the Sun was at 29° 59’ of Capricorn. We welcomed this shift in solar energy.

During a most entertaining sleep/dream cycle last night anticipating what was going to be the inspiration for this next week’s Celestial Chatter the orderly shifting of the planetary dance became rather amazing to behold and other characters joined the festivities that I could swear were strait out of multiple Dr. Seuss-lands and we were way beyond the realm of Z. As I observed the interplay at one point it appeared we were on on the surface of a large pool table and the conversations transpiring were a challenge to keep up with. While this seemed to go on for many hours the couple times I opened my eyes I could see that only two hours had transpired. I watched as Mars, still traveling out-of-bounds (oob) and carrying the signature of vision quests it was on, but not alone, crossed the invisible line into Capricorn to welcome Monday. One year ago on this day I became a grandfather for the first time. I cannot begin to do justice to the myriad directions and players on this table top as they infused energy to and within one another.

Tuesday arrives and the Moon forms the waning square with the Sun from Scorpio. The culminating square in any cycle can represent moments when our version of reality meets a crisis in consciousness as to wether we have chosen correctly our path forward in any cycle. Here is the Sabian symbol interpretation from Dane Rudhyar’s “An Astrological Mandala” to meditate upon related to this waning lunar cycle:

(SCORPIO 6°): THE GOLD RUSH TEARS MEN AWAY FROM THEIR NATIVE SOIL.

KEYNOTE: The passionate search for new values which, at any level, promise a more abundant life.

The greatness of man is that he can always be greater; likewise, at a national level, man’s “greed” can more easily be aroused by whatever promises more wealth, more power, and ever greater achievements at all levels, spiritual as well as material. Beyond this arousal of greed is the deep-seated desire to play a more important or spectacular role in one’s society or community. Greed is the perverse intensification of the social sense, just as lust is the perverse intensification of the longing for love. Always at this Scorpio level the yearning is for an ever more intense and all absorbing union with a person or a community, a yearning which motivates a search for more effectual means to achieve as total a feeling experience as is possible.

This is the first stage of the forty-fourth sequence of symbolic phases in the cycle of existence. It dramatizes the capacity in man to tear himself away from the known and the familiar, gambling everything on a vision or dream. A Keyword could be AVIDITY

When Wednesday arrives this week Mercury traveling in reverse will enter Capricorn from the other end. This Capricorn sandwich seemed to trigger an amazing array of muse interface during the dream cycle last evening that ascended well beyond the surface. At one point I could hear a flute beckon my ears and it seemed to be calling from a long time ago in a distant land. There was a boom, boom, boom as next the sound of a distant rhythmic beat seemed to reverberate the very foundations of planet earth. Then the muses chimed in informing me of Indra’s web of energy surrounding all of life and I heard musical notes begging for ears to sense, reverberating along the fibers of this great web. It was one year ago to this date that I had a heart attack.

Friday arrives and Venus begins its station from retrograde to direct motion in Capricorn. The Moon now traveling oob will cross paths with Venus on Saturday. I have to admit that the dream visions and senses at this point traversed time and space to become aware of the scent of an orchid being fanned by the wings of a hummingbird thousands of years ago reaching across this great distance to assail in exquisite form thoughts of a distant connection to life set in motion as if it was the current moment. I could next feel a connection to a section of water vapor as it lifted from the great sea two centuries ago cross my lips from the glass of water I held before me. The taste spawned a journey where I became this watering process. 73 years ago today (Friday) I inhaled the first breath of my current incarnation.

Here is the Sabian interpretation for the Venusian signature as it comes to stillness:

(CAPRICORN 12°): AN ILLUSTRATED LECTURE ON NATURAL SCIENCE REVEALS LITTLE-KNOWN ASPECTS OF LIFE.

KEYNOTE: The ability to explore unfamiliar realms and discover the laws underlying the complex processes of nature.

The aristocratic garden of the preceding phase has become the laboratory and lecture hall of a modern college. The emphasis here is on the acquisition of extensive knowledge, the satisfaction of intellectual curiosity. Nevertheless, there is also an aristocracy of science: this is the modern type. Its use of acquired knowledge can pose as many problems as the use of hereditary aristocratic wealth. But it is man’s essential function to become fully conscious of all life forms and processes on this earth. Mankind is the conscious mind of the planet.

At this second stage the intellectual search for empirical knowledge contrasts with the display attendant to the wealth and culture of an elite. Civilization is founded on an overextended capitalization on knowledge and use of technology. It features EXPLORATION preeminently at all levels.

Saturday finds Mercury retrograding back across Pluto. I have mentioned this Sabian degree symbol before so suffice this short version of just the vision sparked by it: (CAPRICORN 27°): PILGRIMS CLIMBING THE STEEP STEPS LEADING TO A MOUNTAIN SHRINE. Mercury is about the message among other things and in this symbol there may seem to not be much overt conversation transpiring but the energy underway is thick enough to have pieces cut off and served as contemplation for the journey.

Also on Saturday the Sun forms a sextile with Chiron in Aries. There is a communion of vibrational energy at work that is harmonious in the sextile aspect. Chiron is the healer, mentor, and consort for those seeking assistance and tutoring. In Aries there is a drive present to accomplish something. Receiving assistance from an innovative solar push to be more inclusive with whomever requires these energies we could perceive a dynamic rush of healing capacities. One year ago today I came home from hospital with two stents added to my being.

We draw the week to a close on Sunday as the Sun forms a square with the optional ruler of Aquarius, which would be Uranus in Taurus. I have utilized this degree several times over the last while but here is the Sabian short version: (AQUARIUS 11°): DURING A SILENT HOUR, A MAN RECEIVES A NEW INSPIRATION WHICH MAY CHANGE HIS LIFE.

AND

(TAURUS 11°): A WOMAN WATERING FLOWERS IN HER GARDEN.

While most squares represent tension and challenges to any aspect being considered this may not be so obvious here. It actually may spark some sudden insight of inspiration to both the innovative front as well as to the capacity to engage effectively with mother earth. During the overnight visions I was informed to draw a divination card from the Mystical Shaman Oracle deck for this week’s meditation to ponder. The card drawn is “The Earthkeeper” and seems fittingly appropriate. The image appears to me to be of a goddess overseeing not just the earth but many planets simultaneously. The writeup essence is “Just as you’re involved in co-creating your world, you are also responsible for its well-being. The Earthkeepers are dedicated to the stewardship of the Earth and all life. They choose to hold the sacred dream of a planet where all beings live in peace and where the rivers and the air are clean. Remember that everything you do has an impact for seven generations.”

Celestial Chatter 1-17 through 23 – Aquarius Rises

All Abo-o-a-r-r-d. This soul train is bound for ____________. Where is your soul attempting to get to? I would like to paint a picture for you to observe the alignment of the planets in their trajectory around the zodiac as if it were a train with each sign being one of the cars. While present in any sign with other passengers there are things related to the particular sign that are up for discussion. As well, when passengers move from one car to the next they carry an imprint of energy from the previous sign/car to be blended in some fashion within the next matrix. After all it is the same train and is headed in one direction on the track. Why is everyone attempting to get to the engine, and will they make it before the cars are shifted around and who will the engineer be by then?

Mercury, traveling forward or backwards is still tasked with thinking and curiosity and developing a story to live into. There is a natural reflection cycle spun while he/she, Hermes investigates options that often require clarification if one rushed through an experience previously that could use more delving into. Settling on finality related to these moments of ponder may require patience so as not to burn bridges you may need to cross in the future. Our passenger, Mercury, will be wandering toward the back of the car of Aquarius and should prepare to re-acquaint with Capricorn, but not until the 24^th. So each of us will gain some insight from our brief sojourn in Aquarius to carry back into the Capricorn car and this will depend on our particular soul journey. One of the beauties of Aquarius is that the openness for input from divergent perspectives is placed on the table for consideration in order for appropriate measures to be initiated that can be as inclusive as possible. These are some of the factors included in what Mercury is mulling over while it back-peddles through Aquarius.

The Moon skids in from out-of-bounds where it has been for the past 3 days on Monday to bestow it’s maximum brightness that night as full. It is near the end of its 2.5 days in Cancer so should be fully feeling its oats. If one were to ponder what kinds of energy signatures are on the table for this full Moon pay attention to your connection to home, family and the ancestors. As it highlights the Capricorn/Cancer axis might there be matters of placement in the collective level of administrative rulership that are percolating to the surface?

Monday as well finds that the retrograding Uranus in Taurus has finally determined to once again begin to start heading forward in his train car. There has been a long cycle of messages being transferred back and forth with Saturn in Aquarius between these two so-called rulers of Aquarius. While they are not scheduled to perfect this square aspect again in the current cycle they are still within hailing distance of potentially energetic exchanges. Uranus has been retrograde since mid August last year in the second decanate (10 degrees) of Taurus that has some Virgoan overlay of energy. It is likely that we could have been awakened to value structures in rather abrupt fashion that have a bearing on the resources of planet earth. That second decanate overlay might trigger visions of most or more appropriate resource utilization. As we head forward again these same matters are still up for reflection, but hopefully with a more upbeat perspective.

Turn the page as the train moves incrementally forward and we have some things shifting into the previous cars and that is the lunar nodes as they shift from Gemini/Sagittarius to Taurus/Scorpio. Let us go all the way to the caboose and see what is transpiring. This has been a Sagittarius unit for a spell and perhaps we might consider maintaining that factor except for that south node seeming to jump off the train’s hind quarters. This takes place on Tuesday the 18^th. It takes a long 1.6 years for the nodes to traverse any particular car zone in their reverse trajectory. One reason I might still consider the caboose to hang onto the Sagittarius flavor is that the lunar nodes are not actual physical objects but are energetic points established by the crossing orbits of the Earth, Sun and Moon. It would be an error to discount their impact in our lives as they represent what has often been referred to as a destiny line with that south node flavor carrying experiences, or their memories, we have already been through but often linger as a foothold in our lives. The Sagittarius caboose is akin to a library section filled with tomes that offer opportunity for us to expand what we know, with new material constantly landing on the shelves to discover. As the south node slides into the next experience of Scorpio the potential new caboose is a section in the library that is filled with mystery and intrigue. We are being called to wonder about intimate encounters where what was shared with others was infused at some level by resource combinations not easily divided. Another reason to carry some Sagittarius flavor for the south node shift is that it has just come from there and still needs to integrate the change in venue. The trick with any south node factor is to recognize it as a zone of resource that is available to draw upon but not to wallow or linger within as this would be a distraction to our soul objectives.

Leaving the south node to contemplate a next step, we re-enter the Sagittarius car where Mars has been energizing our quest to explore even more. We glance around and expect if there were book shelves here they would be full of adventures and exploration. I would not be surprised to see some Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer and even some Joseph Campbell names vying for my attention. On January 10^th Mars slipped over the line and went out-of-bounds (oob) and will be there for about a month. Mars is not known for lounging around waiting for things to unfold. It has a drive factor that is impulsive and rarely looks back to see where it has been. Traveling oob, inspiration to expand, beyond the confines of a train car as part of a whole unit, might seek to lift the car upwards on a trajectory to other worlds. Needless to say the Sagittarius car is a very active place to hang out now. The oob beat of a different drummer beckons a quest beyond the confines of normalcy.

Let us wander into the next car forward and we enter the realm of Capricorn. While there is definitely a sense that we are coming back down to earth from our Sagittarius sojourn, we have several occupants milling about. But first a glance around to become familiar with our surrounds. In the immediate foreground we can see some desks with shelves behind containing books and pamphlets leaning toward techniques of developing leadership and organizing government and business ventures, etc. A little bit further down the car and we find a more organic process unfolding where concern is shared in best methods of inclusion. There is more of an air of wise elder-hood here. We meet Venus coming towards us on its retrograde path and a wave of partnership energy flows around us as we sense concern for resource utilization in the mix. As we near the front end of the car there is an energy uptick as Pluto is querying the value of certain implements of process and thought for how best to get organized. The Sun is shining brightly into this saying “its time to turn the compost”, as it appears ready to move forward to the next car.

Wednesday arrives and the Sun does indeed enter the Aquarian car. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL THOSE AQUARIAN PARTS IN OUR LARGER FAMILY. Let’s look around and see what this car looks like. We can perceive some sort of scientific laboratory with a group weighing the results of their investigations. There is another group a bit further on in heated discussion that seems to be about how best to involve more participants. At the far front end there is a fire circle with all kinds of beings present seeming to invoke a presence to arrive. As we enter the car we can see Mercury coming towards us on its retrograde path. We query it mission and discover there are details that must be refined if the message is to be perceived by many more than currently are able.

The end of the week arrives and Sunday finds Mercury and the Sun conjoined. The fire like energy of the solar orb strikes a chord in our thought processes. This Casimi moment, Mercury in the heart of the Sun, transfers a rush of potential substance for Hermes to have at its avail for accomplishing some serious releasing of unnecessary thought avenues distracting from its mission. It might prove helpful to meditate on the Sabian symbol interpretation from Dane Rudhyar’s “An Astrological Mandala” for this degree of the zodiac:

(AQUARIUS 4°): A HINDU YOGI DEMONSTRATES HIS HEALING POWERS.

KEYNOTE: The disciplined use of spiritual energies in restoring the natural harmony disturbed by man’s non harmonic attempts to transcend nature through mind.

Civilization implies a process of transcending compulsive and rigid biological drives while making use, in a refined and mentalized way, of what it cannot control. The goal of a true civilization, Western civilization being to a large extent a caricature of it, is the development of a humanity composed of self motivated and responsible individuals freely associating according to harmonic patterns in order to produce a vast spiritual chord of consciousness fully actualizing the potentialities inherent in the archetype, MAN/WOMAN. The process of individualization and civilization is full of dangers, and for a very long time it is obsessed by karmic shadows, the results of individual and collective deviations and perversions. Such results most often lead to disease. It is the spiritual duty of individuals who have been able to tap the vast reservoir of spiritual forces pervading our planet to use these energies for healing their less fortunate comrades.

This fourth stage symbol refers to a technique which not only can be used for the healing of physical illnesses but for the “making whole” of whatever has lost its natural root integration and has not yet reached the holistic state of perfect harmony and identification with the “divine” whole. Self-discipline, purity of motive, compassion, faith in the divine order are required, and the FOCUSING OF SPIRITUAL ENERGY.

Nothing like a minor consideration to kick out the blocks in our path. As long as we are on our journey forward on this train we should wander into the Pisces car ahead. As we enter into this zone there is a definite shift of energy substance that transpires. It is almost as if the car is floating in a sea of wave substances you can feel and see undulating throughout this space. You notice some folks, or is that beings?, in meditation while others seem to be seeking to escape the confines of physical existence or at least ruffle feathers by disruptive lifestyles. There, directly in our path is Jupiter throbbing in an inclusive invitation to let go of worldly concerns and climb aboard a vehicle that can show you how to plumb the depths of this oceanic zone. And the thought tickles your senses and you hear, “Don’t hold back”. After navigating around this enormous presence you come to Neptune further up the car surrounded by very comfortable seats beckoning you to sit a spell and allow the waves of truth to wash over and clean or clear every aspect of you.

This post, as I suspected, has extended to great length and we will leave the train investigation for another time. After all, it not about the destination, it is about the journey.

Dang, even as I was typing that the muses whispered loudly that I should not leave out the lunar north node shift into Taurus. The north node on the destiny line path, in some ways, can represent goals the journey of the soul is on. In some fashion this may represent the engineer of the current train configuration. It has just left the Gemini station where our quest for information seemed inspired at every turn with a curiosity stream as wide as the cosmos itself. Somewhere in that matrix we may have awakened to soul inspiration to refine our particular calling. Now as the north node shifts back into Taurus we should ask ourselves if the calling we have chosen will allow for our souls to continue in harmony with the energy of the natural world. Relax, this may be a key factor to embrace – relaxation. Depending on how tuned into mother nature you are sets in motion opportunities to investigate expanding soul options. Remember, it is not the destination, but the journey. To add some spice to this adventure, peering down the rest of the engine we can see we are not alone. Slowly approaching us is the assistant engineer in the guise of Uranus. Perhaps there are track alterations ahead to pay attention to. As it is Uranus, it is best to be on our toes so as not to miss these opportunities that may show up abruptly.

Well, that is enough for this week to ponder. See you all at the next station.

‘Say not, ”I have found the truth,” but rather, “I have found a truth.” Say not, “I have found the path of the soul.” Say rather, “I have met the soul walking upon my path.” For the soul walks upon all paths. The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed. The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.’

Kahlil Gibran, “The Prophet”