Friday, March 30, 2012

Kill your Darlings



This weekend is a standoff.  Our emotions will mirror the dance of the planets, as well as the push and pull.

 The Cardinal signs are going to be busy this weekend, much as they have been for the past few years. The Cardinal signs are Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn. Cardinal signs are associated with the powerful rush of a windstorm, hurricane and landslide; its kinetic energy in its purest form. It may not be consistent, but whoa is it strong. But it’s different now. Saturn in Libra will be squared off against the moon in cancer. This will have an effect, but not as much as what else will be going on, simply because Saturn is retrograde, and has less power. Never the less, the Moon in Cancer will pull out with her red claws emotional tidbits for us to examine, and try to explain to Saturn how this is the story of hurt. Saturn in Libra won’t really be interested in any of this, but wants to concentrate on balancing the world, on creating fairness and making sure we are being as subservient in our relationships as possible. The Moon snaps at Saturn with her claws, tries to make Saturn pay attention, but scuttles back; she frankly doesn’t have the power to make Saturn hear or understand.

But Pluto hears the Moon, loud and clear from across the astrological wheel. Pluto is in Capricorn, which is opposite the Moon in Cancer. Pluto, rubbing his chin and twirling his maniacal mustache, sees some soft flesh to plunder. The soft underbelly of the past is a tasty treat for power hungry Pluto. Pluto wants to know what makes us hurt, and what kind of deal we will broker to just.make.the.pain.stop.

But the kind of deals Pluto offers are often dangerous, and he often asks for more than we are willing to give. Instead of a balm, he wants to dig out the infection.  Pluto is obsessed with power and glory, but he is also focused on death and rebirth: what needs to die to be reborn?

While the Moon and Saturn are bickering, and Pluto is plotting to get over on this, Uranus and the Sun join forces in Aries in a Square against Pluto.  These two heavenly bodies don’t care about the three way tango, nope, not at all. They just want to go go go! They want to dance, sing and get instant gratification; it was a long slow winter and now they want their time.

But Pluto is the planet in power here. Pluto is the authority figure here and isn’t going to let Uranus and the Sun goes forward without brokering a deal. No deal, we will all be ready to say. Pluto shakes his head. You probably should, he says. Nu-uh we reply. We want to be free! We want to do all this on our terms!

Pluto sees an opportunity here; he know we are all either weakened or strengthened by this emotional dance,  struck by a strong sense of ethics and need to make everything ‘nice’. Pluto knows he can get what he wants here; either domination or a resurrection.

“So”, he says the Sun and Uranus. “You want freedom? You want your own way? What are you willing to kill? What do you need to get rid of to get that foot off your throat?” Moon in Cancer is waving at Pluto and the Sun/Uranus combo, wanting attention and needing to talk about the past. But those others in the square, eyes locked, do not want to talk. They want action. “Hmmm?” Pluto asks “what will it be?”

Here is where it gets tricky; either we answer fast and makes moves to do so in order to gain our freedom, or we wait and let Pluto make that choice for us. Be aware that Pluto, left to his own devises, never aims for the target that you think he’s going for.

Choose wisely my friends.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Submerge and Emerge

Most of us have been overwhelmed with the feeling of drowning. Even if some we escaped that feeling, I imagine most of us are waterlogged at best.  The Sun has moved into the fire sign Aries today, a scant 2 days after we step into spring. Today we have begun the process of emerging from the watery spell that the Sun in Pisces, and the Neptune transit in Pisces has held us under.

 Mercury, the planet of communications and travel has been retrograde in Pisces as well, where we hear things in a vague echo and communication from the outside world is hazy at best. Very often we make up what we hear, just to make some sense of what is going on around us. The powerhouse planet of aggression and war, Mars has been in deep hiding, Retrograde in service oriented Virgo. I would think comparing Mars to a POW would be an apt description; being forced to serve and be still when all we really want to do is escape.

It has been a strange place for many of us. While we may have been in a fugue state, we have also been more intimate with ourselves than before. In this space, we are forced to confront the things we dare not speak. We have been trapped in our subconscious. We can’t hide from it, no matter what we do. It is in this place that we see what we hide from, and realize how our hidden fears and feelings are like stones in our pockets while we struggle to stay afloat. If we focus on our hopes and dreams, we will find that we can bob along happily in this place.

 Now please understand, this is not all bad.  This time of being under water and of feeling slow and as if every single thing we do is a major undertaking presents us with two options: A, we can drown, go under and let ourselves get lost. Or B. treat this time as the process of being in the enriching waters of being encased in a womb, quietly floating and waiting for the moment to be born.  If we have chosen option B, we are invigorated from our time in the spiritual world’s version of a spa retreat.

If you haven’t felt the magnificent push of being reborn or woken up in some significant way, then I believe that you will very soon.  The Sun in Aries demands action, truth and of being present in the moment. We will be compelled to discuss what we discovered in our time in Pisces. We will be compelled to discuss the things that we are afraid of, and of what shames us and makes us hide. We will have the deepest need to discuss our most fervent hopes and dreams.

However, we won’t feel the full effects until after the second week in April where Mars and Mercury are both direct.  Mid April on will be a wild ride indeed…but that’s for another entry.

Swim well my friends…