The Cosmic Story: Gemini/Sagittarius Lunar Eclipse 2020

Learn to Think for Yourself

Be Suspicious of Convention

Take charge of your own thinking.

Rouse yourself from the daze of unexamined habit…

Conventional thinking – its means and ends – is essentially uncreative and uninteresting. Its job is to preserve the status quo for overly self-defended individuals and institutions.

Trust nothing and nobody but yourself.

Be ceaselessly watchful over your beliefs and impulses.

~Epictetus: The Art of Living~

We’re into eclipse season again. Eclipses occur when the planes of the Sun, Moon and Earth align and we can visually see how the three interact. With a lunar eclipse on a Full Moon, the Earth comes between the Sun and Moon and casts her shadow on the Moon. This lunar eclipse is a partial eclipse, so it will not cover the entire face of the Moon.

Lunar Eclipse

Astrology assigns meaning to the difference eclipses depending on the signs they occupy. With the lunar nodes in Gemini and Sagittarius, the cosmos shines its light on our thinking and our beliefs. After the past 4 years, we’ve been twisted back and forth between truth and lies. Fake news on both sides of the spectrum has put the ball solidly into our own court. We are the deciders. The cosmos pushes us to look at ourselves and our beliefs and decide who we are, what we believe and what we stand for.

Neptune squares these lunar nodes, and since it just turned to direct motion hours before the eclipse, it is a very potent part of what we’re learning. With Neptune changing to direct motion, Uranus is the only retrograde planet in our skies right now. An inner revolution is still at work on us. 

 

Neptune/NASA

Neptune is the planetary energy of dreams, imagination, myths and visions, a misty, illusionary energy that transports us to other dimensions and states of being. While it can inspire us to mystical visions and wonderful works of art, it can also delude us with addictions and fake news if we have no guiding vision of life. On this lower level of Neptune, we get foggy and uncertain about what we’re seeing and believing. It’s easy to be manipulated, especially if it touches off an old belief system. When we connect to Neptune’s higher vision, we’re put in touch with the spiritual basis of life. We connect consciously to the creative imagination, where all manifestation begins.

As Caroline Casey so artfully states, Neptune lays the tracks for Saturn’s reality train. Neptune can delude us into thinking that things are not as they seem.

           Neptune can also set us yearning for what our souls desire most, inspiring our vision. When Neptune is in its own sign of Pisces (Jung’s collective unconscious) it is our shared, collective yearnings that want to be incorporated into our personal reality. These yearning come up against old Sagittarian beliefs. Can we let go of those beliefs and open ourselves to new possibilities?

With Neptune in Pisces turning direct on November 28^th and squaring the lunar nodes, we’ve had time during its retrograde to look at some overblown fantasies that were believed to be the Truth. When in fact these fantasies/ conspiracy theories/illusions often arise from the tension between fear and hope.

The way to discern our truth is to ground ourselves in our own inner guidance system. With Neptune going direct now, it’s up to us to use our imaginations in more creative ways and think for ourselves. As Epictetus said, be wary of conventional, unconscious thinking.

 

Road to Emmaus~Robert Zund

The Sabian symbol for Neptune stationing direct at 19* Pisces is: Teacher and student commune in strength in a long walk. This is an image of that grounding we need. We often have spiritual teachers who shape our beliefs. If they are worthy mentors, they help us to discover our own path and seek our own truths.

Beliefs run deep within our psyches, impressed on us when we’re still children and have no sense that we can decide what to believe in or not. These unconscious beliefs shape our thoughts, our expectations and even our desires.

As we enter the darkest time of year in the northern hemisphere, we have the opportunity to clean out old beliefs and habits that no longer serve us. As we wait for Winter Solstice and the return of the Light, we can let those things die so we have room for something new to fill us.

And since this Winter Solstice is a big turning point in our collective destiny, it is especially important to spend time in self-examination. Because on December 21, 2020, the social planets Jupiter and Saturn will join together, as they do every 20 years, in the Air elements for the first time since 1220 CE (except for once in 1980 when they came together in Libra-- look at all the new relationship options that sprang from that!)

We are ending a 200 year Earth cycle between Jupiter and Saturn – the last happened in Taurus in 2000. As we end this cycle, we need to see what gifts and lessons they brought us both personally and collectively. What have we all learned in this last year of the Earth cycle when we’ve had to let go of our consumerism and our work as we face both death through the Covid virus and the death of our cultural institutions? How have we changed in these past 20 years?

These two planets that shape our social outlook have come together in Earth signs for the past 200 years (except 1980), focusing our collective attention on material wealth and purpose. Every 200 years or so, the elements of this conjunction change to shift our collective focus. Last time they came together in Air was roughly from 1220-1420 CE – the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance. It looks like we’re about to enter a new age of information exchange, intellectual curiosity and communication. Hopefully, a new Renaissance. 

Renaissance Art 

And since Jupiter and Saturn will conjunct (you can see this happening in the night sky) in the sign of Aquarius, we can perhaps say this is the beginning of the beginning of the Age of Aquarius. Especially since Pluto will be finishing up with transforming the sign of Capricorn in the next two years and will enter Aquarius in 2023-2024. That’s when our Aquarian energy gets re-birthed. 

The Sabian symbol for the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter at 1* Aquarius is: A cubical white temple in the desert. This is a symbol of the seed groups that have a new vision for civilization, a new reality and vision based on spiritual and natural law. This is a symbolic Yes to humanity as we rediscover our place in Earth’s biosphere and assume our role as Stewards of the Earth.

Gemini-Sagittarius partial Lunar Eclipse

This Full Moon lunar eclipse occurs on Monday November 30^th at 12:30 am Alaska time, 1:30 am PST/ 4:30am EST and 9:30am GMT.

 

 Gemini Lunar Eclipse 2020

With this eclipse in Sagittarius and Gemini, curiosity and seeking knowledge are up for us. What is worth believing in? What information fits our soul’s story? Each of us has a different story to live and a different part to play as we begin to re-imagine our world. But old ideas and beliefs won’t encompass this new story. The information we seek to inform us about what’s happening in the world will determine whether we escape the old, worn-out belief systems that shaped our world-view or we open up to new possibilities that might not seem possible yet.

Mercury in Scorpio rules the Gemini Moon and is sextiling both Jupiter, the ruler of Sagittarius, and Saturn in Capricorn. We can use Mercury’s deep insight into death and life to see what needs to change in society. Saturn and Jupiter are at the end of Capricorn, adding to the heaviness we might be feeling as they transit the last degrees of Capricorn. We might get caught up in the heaviness of the government’s power plays. Or we might find our own authority in the world.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 9* Sagittarius is: A mother is leading her children up a broad stairway. This is an image of the Morning Star of Wisdom, the Great Mother leading her children into the light. It is an image of an open and unobstructed path to higher consciousness, teaching us to trust our instinctive pursuit of love and the beautiful goals in life.

 

The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 9* Gemini is: Medieval archer, with pointed beard and feathered hat, takes aim with a bow. This image reminds me of Robin Hood when he goes to the archery contest where the Sheriff of Nottingham hopes to capture him. Robin is a trickster, one who can change the course of energy. Robin has to stay alert, use his keenly trained perceptions to win the contest and escape capture. When we aim an arrow, we send our minds over space and time to pin down something we want. This begs the question, What do we really desire? What are we taking aim at?

On both sides of this eclipse, we’re asked to become aware (full Moon) of those beliefs that keep us chained to the denial of our talents, self-worth and needs. Or, those shadow qualities that keep us unconscious of what we really desire. With this global lock down shutting off our usually sources of entertainment and distractions, we can take the time to look into our hearts and discover what we really want out of life. Do we really want more stuff that soon loses its importance, or do we want community and connectedness?

A regular Full Moon challenges us to develop awareness of the life issues the two complementary signs signify, to break free of any unconscious compulsions we have, and to objectively work with its energy. A lunar eclipse is a high-powered Full Moon that offers us a chance to see and finish off dealing with that particular issue. This lunar eclipse offers us the chance to let go of limiting beliefs and open up to new knowledge and ideas that can help us form new beliefs about our self and life. Beliefs that will shape our new story.

Any planets aspecting the eclipse will indicate how we can develop that awareness. As you can see from the chart, there is another opposition that also aspects the Full Moon and which forms a rectangle made up of butterfly wings. The two wings in blue indicate what we call inconjuncts, 150* aspects which are quirky and often hard to see. 

 

“The rectangular shape was used in temple chambers of initiation. These buildings were built to symbolize the process of transition from one stage of personal-spiritual unfoldment to the next — the fulfillment of a great goal. Seen in the vertical plane, a rectangle becomes a door, something to pass through, to enter a new realm. This figure joining two oppositions by semi-sextiles and inconjuncts indicates that the oppositions can be integrated through everyday work and all our personal relationships, geared toward better ways to serve other people’s needs.” (Dane Rudhyar)

 

So this eclipse offers us the idea of a great initiation into higher states of consciousness, through the integration of masculine knowledge and feminine wisdom.

The other opposition at this lunar eclipse is that between Uranus retrograde in Taurus and Venus in Scorpio. In the creation myth, Uranus is the Father of Aphrodite/Venus, who is birthed by his phallus/generative energy within the womb of Mother Ocean. It feels like this opposition pushes us to awaken our feminine power, grounded in both our physical and emotional bodies, allowing the original Uranian Mind of Nature to reconnect us to Mother Nature’s biosphere.

The two blue-winged inconjuncts are between Uranus_Rx and the Sagittarius Sun, and Venus and the Gemini Moon. Uranus inconjunct the Sun pushes us to open up to new beliefs concerning the spiritual dimensions of our physical world – acknowledging that the world and our bodies are not evil and corrupt, but as Matthew Fox states, our original blessings. The Earth and our bodies are divine creations and we have to honor them. Venus inconjunct the Moon pushes us to explore and learn about the things that call to us from our depths, to understand their power and purpose and to share them with the world.

Therefore, opening to new beliefs and acknowledging the purpose and power of our desires can aid us in shedding those intellectual shadows and unconscious beliefs that keep us locked in an old story of scarcity and unworthiness.

The next stage of our evolution is upon us. The new story for humanity is waiting for us to step into it as responsible and conscious co-creators of life. 

 

How this Eclipse season is affecting the United States chart

  US 4th of July Chart, 1776

 

This lunar eclipse falls across the ascendant/descendant of the 4^th of July US Sibly chart at 12* Sagittarius—Gemini. It could signify a shift in our national identity, which is already underway from the Trump presidency. Our allies will wonder who we are as we go forward into the next four years.

With the US having its Pluto return in the next two years, we are undergoing a transformation – hopefully a spiritual transformation rooted in returning to our core values. Since we’re in the energies of the American Revolution now, people will continue to take to the streets, especially with Mars and Eris in Aries squaring both Pluto in Capricorn and America’s Mercury in Cancer. If we can communicate with truth and honor about our basic needs, perhaps we can make it a peaceful revolution.

There’s another potent T-Square between transiting Neptune in Pisces opposite the US Neptune in Virgo square the US Mars in Gemini. We have to learn to discern what is truth and what are lies. If America’s original dream was to have a free and open society, transiting Neptune is asking us who and what we’ve left out of that equation. Mars in Gemini says we have the knowledge and know-how to ‘make it so’.

This eclipse occurs on the US Uranus at 9* Gemini, activating our native intelligence and brilliance. We can solve our problems if we put our collective Will behind it. If the media would put its focus and story-telling ability to work showcasing the possibilities before us rather than the issues that drag us down, we could awaken a collective spiritual awareness about the issues that face us and the world.

This is America’s time to transform itself into a truer, more democratic version of itself. It’s time to live out the ideals that shaped our mythology.

With Gratitude,

Cathy

Entrance  /  (After Rilke)

Whoever you are: step out of doors tonight,

Out of the

room that lets you feel secure.

Infinity is open to your sight.

Whoever

you are.

With eyes that have forgotten how to see

From viewing things

already too well-known,

Lift up into the dark a huge, black tree

And put

it in the heavens: tall, alone.

And you have made the world and all you

see.

It ripens like the words still in your mouth.

And when at last you

comprehend its truth,

Then close your eyes and gently set it free.

~ Dana Gioia ~

(Interrogations at Noon)

Grand Earth Trine Magic: Time to Manifest

Magic is in the air today.  Make sure you go breathe it in.  Then do a ritual to help you manifest your heart's desire, because there is a grand trine forming today and tonight in the earth signs of the zodiac.

That means manifestation.

A trine is a triangular aspect which contains the flow of energy in a positive, creative way.  It often reveals past life talents in a chart.  See what past life (or lost dreams) energies want to help you now.   Use this trine with confidence because it can help you magnetize favorable outcomes.  Don't forget that you're not in this alone. Trines are generous with their riches.  They want us to share.  Magnetize something that will benefit all of us.

The earth signs are Capricorn, Taurus and Virgo.  The planets are Pluto, Venus, Jupiter and Mars.  If your sun, moon or ascendent are in earth signs, you'll add a stronger energy to your ritual.  If any of these 4 planets are your ruling planet (meaning the ruler of your ascendent and if you want, the ruler of your sun sign), you'll probably have an easier time focusing the energies of this trine. 

So center your ritual or meditation around these images.

1.  Pluto is in the cardinal sign of Capricorn.  That means it drives the energies of this trine. Pluto is the energy of Death and Rebirth, of the passion that drives evolution, and the riches that come to us when we let the old die to make way for the new.  Pluto in Capricorn is slowly shredding the fabric of the patriarchy, leaving openings for new and better ideas about how we can live our lives here on this beautiful home of ours.  What aspect of this disintegration really speaks to you of the need for healing or rebirth?  Trust that feeling.  Follow your passion.

The Sabian Symbol for Pluto at 10* Capricorn is: On a sailboat, seamen are feeding an Albatross.  This symbolizes our interdependence with all of life.  Helping, nurturing and cooperation are important aspects of any society.  A sailboat uses the wind and the waves to travel over the waters, an apt symbol for working with your dreams - both your night dreams and your day dreams.  Seamen work with the energies of wind and water, hot and cold, above and below.  There is a belief that an albatross is the soul of a dead seaman, and so this would become a symbol of our need to feed our lost souls.

2.  The 2nd earth sign is Taurus.  This sign 'fixes' the energy of transformation from Capricorn, concentrating it because Taurus is where manifestation begins.  Both Jupiter, the planet of expansion, of luck, of travel and cosmic law and Venus, the planet of Love, beauty, sexuality and money are conjoining tonight in Taurus.  Go out and see it in the western sky after sunset.  Venus rules Taurus as the Empress in the Tarot decks, the Earth Mother and Queen of new Life.  Jupiter rules the Tarot card called The Wheel of Fortune, bringing in positive change.  Jupiter brings us more room to grow, to plant, to become in Taurus.

The Sabian Symbol for 10* Taurus is: A Red Cross nurse runs to aid a wounded man.  Here is another call for unity with all of life, our compassion and our need to be of service.  How will this new life you want to manifest be of service to the world?  Don't forget to make it be beautiful, feminine, nurturing and compassionate.  It's not all about the money.

3.  The 3rd earth sign is Virgo, a mutable or dispersing energy that wants us to 'get real' and down to the practical issues involved in manifestation.  Virgo pays attention to the details and makes sure everything is working well.  Mars is our desire nature, our action-oriented energy that can either carry anger and aggression or determination and willpower.  

The Sabian symbol for 10* Virgo is: A man with two heads looking out into the Beyond.  This is a great symbol for our ability to look both within and without, above and below.  It seems the basic paradox of life is that while we all appear to be separate, we're really all One Being.

Virgo is good at ritual, so when you set up this ritual, call in your Virgo/Mars energy to direct where you want this magical energy to go.  Then call in the four energies.  Let them work on your imagination and see them combine into a triangle of Light.  Set this triangle as a seal over whatever it is you want to manifest behind your 3rd eye.

Have a magical day!
Cathy

Re: Venus and Netune in Aquarius - A New Kind of Love

Most of us are familiar with Botticelli's painting, The Birth of Venus.  It depicts Aphrodite/Venus arriving onshore after her sea-birth from the foam surrounding the severed Phallus of Uranus, the god of the starry Heavens.  

This Greek myth speaks to the birth of love and beauty as well as the gift of our human sexuality.  It says that when the Spirit of the heavens came to Earth and mixed its potency with the collective unconscious of humanity - or with the Anima Mundi or World Soul - Love was born.  The myth says that Earth is cut off from Heaven, and yet Heaven's potency is still available to us.  Heaven's power is now lodged in Love's power.

This holy Love is Spirit Incarnate and manifests through all things beautiful, true, compassionate and peaceful (remember, the dove of peace belongs to Aphrodite).  No matter that the patriarchy has tried to use this goddess for its own pleasure and power, Aphrodite outwits them all.  Because Love cannot be ruled by another.  It is too independent, too truthful, too beautiful to ignore.

With Uranus, the Heavenly 'father' of Aphrodite/Venus now in the sign of Aries - of new beginnings and new identities - it is a happy synchronicity that the Sabian symbol for Uranus at 1* Aries is: A woman risen from the sea.  A seal is embracing her.  Seals symbolize a longing of the soul, and it is not just happenstance that this image of the soul's longing is speaking to us with Uranus' entry into the beginning of the zodiac.

We are longing to manifest Love in our lives.  We are longing for a new identity that manifests our love in the world. 

Neptune, the Greek god of the oceans, symbolizes the active (male) power of the collective unconscious - its movement and growth, its changeability and dangers.  This watery realm is the place of the Imagination and it is from this magical realm - the Creative Imagination - that Aphrodite comes to birth.

Venus joins Neptune in the sky Saturday evening, March 26th, before she dives into the watery realm of Pisces (ruled by Neptune)later that night.   

When these two planets join up in the sky, the Cosmic Story says, "Dive into your unconscious - into your imagination, your body, your feelings - and listen to what they are telling you.  Listen to where Love leads you.  Isn't it time to believe in what you love, instead of believing in a corporate story of materialistic needs that only feed the corporate coffers but never our souls?

Yes, when Venus and Neptune come together in the Cosmic Story, it makes for a nice romantic evening, or can open us to unconditional love and boundless compassion.  (On the dark side, it can lead to lies and self-deception.) 

However, there's so much more you can do with these energies.  Today and tomorrow are days to play with and in the Creative Imagination.  Sink down into your heart and soul and let your Spirit free!  Dance, drum, create art, sing, make love!  Do things that make you happy and then find out what you really, really LOVE!

When Aquarius is added to the picture, think mental telepathy, the future, the group mind.  Venus and Neptune in Aquarius give us an opportunity to use this power of the imagination to help us send out our intentions for what we love.  Tonight and tomorrow, leading up to the conjunction of these two planets,  are great times to send out love to those of your family and friends you don't see everyday.  It's a great time to meditate on those things that you love and want to manifest.  It's a great time to write poetry, read poetry, make love, be loving.  It's a great time to 'send your love into the future' as Sting sings it, and imagine a better future.  The more details you add the better!

So have a wonderful weekend and bring in the power of Springtime!

Venus and Jupiter goe Direct on Thursday the 18th

Two planets that have been in retrograde motion - seemingly moving backwards from Earth's point of view - are going to station (stop) tomorrow and resume forward motion.  

You don't have to understand the language, just visualize that the Earth had pulled ahead of both planets in their respective orbits and now they are going to move forward again.  Look at the night sky where Jupiter has been shining in the past months and watch its movement.  If you get up early enough, you'll now see Venus as a Morning Star.

Venus and Jupiter share many attributes for they are both benign energies, helpful and joyful, expansive and creative.  They give us hope for the future.

Venus went retrograde on October 8^th at 14* Scorpio, the degree of the Scorpio new Moon a few weeks ago, confirming the importance of the cosmic message to us:  Telephone linemen at work installing new connections.   Have we made those new connections?  I hope so.  If we take a stand on our beliefs and values, we communicate in ways that create peace within our own families, communities and nations.  We can do this with strength and love.  They are not mutually exclusive.   

The planet Venus just turned to direct motion, becoming a Morning Star in the process of descending to the Underworld of Scorpio.  Venus turned direct on November 18^th at 28* Libra:  A Man becoming aware of spiritual forces surrounding and assisting him.   At first I was going to change ‘man’ to ‘person’, but then I realized that the image being a man is the point.  First, sorry men:), but in general in my experience, men have a much harder time accepting the invisible, the spiritual, the intuitive than women do.  We’ve all been waiting for you to join us in our beliefs.  Welcome home!  Also, the man in the image symbolizes our action-oriented, outgoing side.  Venus wants us to see that when our actions are based on our values and beliefs, we are helped and sustained by spirit.

Jupiter has been retrograde since July 23^rd and it also goes direct on November 18^th.  When Jupiter is retrograde, we turn our search and curiosity within, questioning old beliefs and working to discover new aspects of ourselves. 

  Jupiter went retrograde at 4*Aries: Two Lovers strolling on a secluded walk.  This symbolizes the process of becoming conscious of our polarities and working to integrate them, so that we are whole human beings.  This is a dynamic inter-play of masculine and feminine energies.  Jupiter turns direct at 24* Pisces: On a small island surrounded by the vast expanse of the sea, people are seen living in close interaction.   Taken after the image of the couple, we can see that the goal of this Jupiter retrograde is to make sure that we integrate all of the energies within ourselves as well as taking our unique purpose and interacting with others of like mind.  In remembering we are all in this together, we also have to be unique individuals.

Take time this weekend to enjoy yourselves.  We all deserve it!