Apr 2014
Make the Mountains Ring
19/Apr/14 11:00
“You can make the mountains ring,
or make the angels cry”
Jesse Collin Young, Get Together
“Whatever you did for the least of these brothers, that you did for me”
Jesus, Matthew 25
We are in the very midst of the peak of the Cardinal Grand Cross in the second half of April. If you’re not familiar with this energy, take a quick look at the monthly forecast or my YouTube video on the topic. Or, just take it that we have a storm of cosmic energy that is playing out in every possible way, in changes to the Earth itself, to our political landscape, social structures, and in our personal lives.
The Cardinal Cross peaks right around Easter Sunday, a day associated with a different kind of cross. This week, just before the lunar eclipse, we had a very powerful statement of the energy that prevails at this time, in an act of compassion and forgiveness.
Iran executes a lot of people. Only China beats them in terms of raw numbers (the United States was 4th on the list in 2012). Iran still has public executions, as well, and such is the grisly scene of our story - appropriate, after all, for Easter (or, more properly, Good Friday).
You can read the article here, but the short story is that a 19 year old man who was about to be hanged for murder was saved by the mother of his victim. As the story was reported in other news outlets, this happened as the condemned man’s mother looked on.
One of the most poignant parts of the crucifixion story is the perspective of Mary, Jesus’ mother, who is present. In this week’s story the woman in the role parallel to Mary got a very different outcome, thanks to the woman whose son was killed by her own son. It was an extraordinary act of compassion, in the midst of a contemporary country living with Roman-style cruelty.
Astrologically, the symbolism is quite strong. Tuesday’s lunar eclipse was on the Aries-Libra axis, tying it into the Cardinal Cross. And directly opposite the sun - as the moon approached - were two goddess asteroids, Vesta and Ceres. Vesta is known for purity of action. Ceres is a facet of the Great Mother, associated with the harvest. Ceres is the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Demeter, who saved her daughter Persephone from Hades’ realm in the underworld. Ceres, the asteroid, has been elevated to ‘planetoid’ status recently.
As we approach Easter Sunday and the peak of the Cardinal Cross, the astrological symbolism of Tuesday’s story is clear. We see the rise of the power of the feminine, the hope for a better world coming from a mother. In contrast to 2,000 years of war and hatred in the name of a crucifixion that did take place, a single act of compassion and courage prevented one from happening in the first place.
or make the angels cry”
Jesse Collin Young, Get Together
“Whatever you did for the least of these brothers, that you did for me”
Jesus, Matthew 25
We are in the very midst of the peak of the Cardinal Grand Cross in the second half of April. If you’re not familiar with this energy, take a quick look at the monthly forecast or my YouTube video on the topic. Or, just take it that we have a storm of cosmic energy that is playing out in every possible way, in changes to the Earth itself, to our political landscape, social structures, and in our personal lives.
The Cardinal Cross peaks right around Easter Sunday, a day associated with a different kind of cross. This week, just before the lunar eclipse, we had a very powerful statement of the energy that prevails at this time, in an act of compassion and forgiveness.
Iran executes a lot of people. Only China beats them in terms of raw numbers (the United States was 4th on the list in 2012). Iran still has public executions, as well, and such is the grisly scene of our story - appropriate, after all, for Easter (or, more properly, Good Friday).
You can read the article here, but the short story is that a 19 year old man who was about to be hanged for murder was saved by the mother of his victim. As the story was reported in other news outlets, this happened as the condemned man’s mother looked on.
One of the most poignant parts of the crucifixion story is the perspective of Mary, Jesus’ mother, who is present. In this week’s story the woman in the role parallel to Mary got a very different outcome, thanks to the woman whose son was killed by her own son. It was an extraordinary act of compassion, in the midst of a contemporary country living with Roman-style cruelty.
Astrologically, the symbolism is quite strong. Tuesday’s lunar eclipse was on the Aries-Libra axis, tying it into the Cardinal Cross. And directly opposite the sun - as the moon approached - were two goddess asteroids, Vesta and Ceres. Vesta is known for purity of action. Ceres is a facet of the Great Mother, associated with the harvest. Ceres is the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Demeter, who saved her daughter Persephone from Hades’ realm in the underworld. Ceres, the asteroid, has been elevated to ‘planetoid’ status recently.
As we approach Easter Sunday and the peak of the Cardinal Cross, the astrological symbolism of Tuesday’s story is clear. We see the rise of the power of the feminine, the hope for a better world coming from a mother. In contrast to 2,000 years of war and hatred in the name of a crucifixion that did take place, a single act of compassion and courage prevented one from happening in the first place.
Reflecting...
11/Apr/14 09:35
Relationships are an area where people often invest a great deal of their emotional currency, and where they are often reticent to withdraw their funds even when the investment is clearly not paying off. There are a lot of reasons for that, but for now, we only need to recognize that partnerships tend to be such a significant area in our lives that they can gain a kind of power over us. We say that we have relationships, but in many cases our relationships have us. Leaving a relationship or having a partner leave can be a traumatic event in a person’s life.
We meet many other souls as we move through life, and in one way or another they teach us about love and who we really are at a fundamental level. We connect deeply with some of these souls—as lovers but also as friends, family, and in other ways—and we find great joy in these connections.
Alas, we are on this plane to learn and evolve, not to bask in the joy of love. Or perhaps we are here to bask in the joy of love, but most of us have quite a bit of learning to do before we can really live that way. Despite our deep connections, despite the love we feel, our complex lives often don’t mesh with the transcendent soul connections.
From the preface to Separating Aspects: The Astrology of Breakups, Divorce, and Other Partings.
We meet many other souls as we move through life, and in one way or another they teach us about love and who we really are at a fundamental level. We connect deeply with some of these souls—as lovers but also as friends, family, and in other ways—and we find great joy in these connections.
Alas, we are on this plane to learn and evolve, not to bask in the joy of love. Or perhaps we are here to bask in the joy of love, but most of us have quite a bit of learning to do before we can really live that way. Despite our deep connections, despite the love we feel, our complex lives often don’t mesh with the transcendent soul connections.
From the preface to Separating Aspects: The Astrology of Breakups, Divorce, and Other Partings.
In Praise of Folly...
01/Apr/14 08:52
It's April Fool's Day, but a fool isn't necessarily a one given to tricks (that is a Mercurial version of the word), nor was it originally thought of as one who is a little dull mentally. Rather, a fool (and the related word folly) described one who was uninformed or misinformed, and so acted unwisely and probably a bit rashly.
It's a perfect image for the sun's meeting with Uranus in the early hours of April 2nd, which we'll be feeling all through the first.
As we begin to meet with April's charged cosmic energy, we are all in a sense fools, moving into the unknown with nothing but our assumptions and expectations (like the Tarot's fool with his absurd little sack of valuables), many of which may not survive this tumultuous time. Not knowing is a perfectly valid point of view to take, and those who think they do know may find that the celestial weather leaves them feeling a bit... foolish.
(Tarot images from The Secret Tarot, published by Lo Scarabeo, art by Marco Nizzoli)
It's a perfect image for the sun's meeting with Uranus in the early hours of April 2nd, which we'll be feeling all through the first.
As we begin to meet with April's charged cosmic energy, we are all in a sense fools, moving into the unknown with nothing but our assumptions and expectations (like the Tarot's fool with his absurd little sack of valuables), many of which may not survive this tumultuous time. Not knowing is a perfectly valid point of view to take, and those who think they do know may find that the celestial weather leaves them feeling a bit... foolish.
(Tarot images from The Secret Tarot, published by Lo Scarabeo, art by Marco Nizzoli)