Evolution and Devolution

Talc Crystals, a Magnesium Mica.

By the way, I think it’s important that we realize that Consciousness is Universal.  The notion that it makes Hufolk special, or even different, is purely an Ego trip, and unfortunately for the Planet, a very widespread one among the Hufolk.  All Matter is infused with Spirit, and if you’ve never had a chat with a Rock, you should consider yourself badly in need of remedial education – as we all are, myself included.  Rocks have been around a long time and have a lot of Wisdom to share – though of course, All There Is Is Now.

I recommend any of these Stephen Harrod Buhner books…

• Plant Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm: Beyond the Doors of Perception into the Dreaming of Earth
  
• Secret Teachings Of Plants: The Intelligence of the Heart in the Direct Perception of Nature
• The Lost Language of Plants: The Ecological Importance of Plant Medicines for Life on Earth

They’re all powerful tutorials.  The Amazon description of the last-named volume includes…

“How plants communicate their healing qualities to humans and other animals. Western culture has obliterated most people’s capacity to perceive these messages, but this book also contains valuable information on how we can restore our faculties of perception.”

The point is that the Pentacles of Evolution/Ascension (Matter Ascending to Spirit) and Devolution (Spirit Descending into Matter) are Conceptualizations – properties of the Observer, not of the Observed.  Like all Dualities, it lives in the Mind, not in the World.  If we confuse the map with the territory, we’ll end up with muddy footprints all over our map.  Matter and Spirit, like you and I, are very fuzzy of boundary, in constant flux – up, down, across, underneath, within, throughout – and All One.

American Food

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Here’s a telling set of well-researched and well-combined facts about American food…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rixyrCNVVGA#t=13

which fits right in with Ty’s interviews.  If we get a few more 8×12 color glossies we might have a trend.

Gathering No Moss

A reader writes…

“Brilliant.  And I will take you up on your kind offer of calculation for the upright / inverted pentacle timing.  Location is South Australia.  I found your site when I noticed a pentagram in my natal chart and have found your perspectives to be eye-opening to say the least.  Would love to get more insight into my chart, but you don’t seem to advertise this service…(?)  Thank you so much for all you do.”

For South Australia, use a starting time of 1:27am ACST, when Sedna crosses the Midheaven.  You can use the same starting time through November 3.  So you’d have, rounding a bit, in Australian Central Standard Time…

•          Upright Pentacle                Inverted Pentacle
•     1-2am ACST                        3:30-4:30am
•    5:45-6:45am                             8-9am
•  10:30-11:30am                           1-2pm
•    3:30-4:30pm                      5:45-6:45pm
•          8-9pm                           10:30-11:30pm

If you want to be more exact, you can add 2:24 over and over again, starting with 1:27am.  Also, I’ve just rounded a bit then added a half hour before and a half hour after, to result in an hour roughly centered on each time when Magic is afoot.  Instead of a half hour, you can add ten minutes or an hour, or any other interval you want, up to 1:12.

And yes, I do readings; I’ll email you about that.  I also have a pentacle in my natal chart.

Another reader, writing from the US East Coast…

“Is there a name for that kind of chart? and is it on Astro.com?  Or can you point me to where I can pull such a chart?  Whenever you write about portals, I always do try be away from or off of work (funny, for a while there it was falling that way that I already was going to be off of work for some reason)  or just simply out of my office, even if I have to go sit in my car so I can relax and focus —- I would like to at least be aware for these peaks too!
Can you advise!!”

Yes, sorry to create frustration; you pretty much need to know how to compute a chart, or have the appropriate software.  But it’s pretty easy for me to look up, since I do have the software.

For Eastern Daylight Time, your start time is midnight, but that’s starting with an Inverse Pentagram.  So the exact Portals would be 12am, 4:48am, 9:36am, 2:24pm, and 7:12pm EDT every day (through November 3) for the Inverted Pentacles (Devolution), and 2:24am, 7:12am, noon, 4:48pm, and 9:36pm EDT for the Upright Pentacles (Ascension).  Give yourself a few minutes to a half hour on either side of those times.  The moments before the exact Portal will likely be stronger than the moments after, so if you want to maximize the impact with the least cost to your schedule, pick a few of the times that are convenient, and relax and focus for the 10-15 minutes prior.

If you have particular interest in one of the members of the pentagram (Sedna, Chiron, North Node, Juno, Mars), choose the time when that member is most prominent.  For instance, Chiron might be of interest, since it’s been acting out for you lately.  Or, you might want to choose a different planet each day.  The daily sequence is…

• 12am EDT North Node Down
• 2:24am Sedna Up
• 4:48am Mars Down
• 7:12am Juno Up
• 9:36am Chiron Down
• noon North Node Up
• 2:24pm Sedna Down
• 4:48pm Mars Up
• 7:12pm Juno Down
• 9:36pm Chiron Up

You might want to make a note that North Node Down is South Node Up, and North Node Up is South Node Down.  South Node isn’t part of the pentagram, so it won’t prevail, but it will have an impact.  Similarly, Sedna Up is Saturn Down and Sedna Down is Saturn Up.  Saturn’s not in the Star, but it will color our experience of Sedna.  I could give a keyword or two about what to look for at each Subportal, but it will be much better if you approach them without preconceptions or Expectations.

The planets are moving, but they don’t move so far between now and November 3 that the Subportals shift more than a few minutes.

If any of you have calculated the start time for your own time zone, you might consider posting it in a comment, so others in your time zone can take advantage of your work.

When we add the South Node and Saturn, we have seven tenths of a Grand Decile.  That’s subtle, but there is a hint of Abundance in it.

Especially if you have planets in the three Vacancies – Cancer 1, Virgo 13, Aquarius 5, give or take a degree or two.

Learning Opportunities – Portal 10.28-29

Couple of nice Solar selfies of that big Sunspot.  It is sending out Flairs; it’s just not sending out “Coronal Mass Ejections” or CMEs yet.  Flairs just mess up Earthly communications; CMEs are far heavier.  They are capable of knocking out the (electrical) Power Grid for months or even years, if a big one hits while the Grid is running.  Wouldn’t it be great if a huge one knocked out the Lizard Power Grid.  There are now several satellites that can detect when and where the Sun has belched a big one, and can warn Earth that it’s heading our way, early enough that the electrical Grid can be shut down, minimizing damage.

* * * * *

That gorgeous Grand Pentangle – our “Learning Opportunity” – that we discussed in Mercury Direct 10.25 and illustrated in Mercury Direct 10.25 II – Fantasy has been with us since October 21, peaks on October 28-29, and hangs about until November 3.

Using three degrees of Sensitivity.  We assigned the October 29 peak (12pm PDT) by looking for the exact Quintile between the two fastest planets, Mars and Juno.  The October 28 peak (6am PDT) is when the Moon crosses Mars.

If you know how to cast a chart for your location, here’s a neat trick.

In the picture, the five-pointed Star is pointing straight up – astrologically.  “Straight Up” astrologically is where the arrowhead is, near Mercury-North Node.  That arrowhead (the Midheaven) travels all the way ’round the Zodiac every 24 hours.  It moves counterclockwise.  Having five points or peaks, the Star will point Straight Up five times a day.  In between, though, a different peak will point Straight Down – opposite the arrowhead.

So the Star will point Straight Up every 4 hours and 48 minutes (one fifth of a day), and it will point Straight Down every 4 hours and 48 minutes.  It will take 2 hours and 24 minutes (one tenth of a day) to switch from Straight Up to Straight Down.

So just for the sake of example, let’s say it pointed Straight Up at 12:30pm.  Then it would point Straight Down at 12:30am, 5:18am, 10:06am, 2:54pm, and 7:42pm.  It would point Straight Up at at 2:54am, 7:42am, 12:30pm, 5:18pm, and 10:06pm.  (Check my math!)

A Pentacle pointing Straight Up represents Ascension or Evolution (Steiner), while an Inverse Pentacle pointing Straight Down symbolizes the Descent of Spirit into Matter, or Devolution.

So we could take our Ascending Hours – in the example, 2:24-3:24am, 7:12-8:12am, 12:00-1:00pm, 4:48-5:48pm, and 9:36-10:36pm – and devote them to matters of Ascension: such as…

• Becoming Conscious of what sabotages us
• PIAVAing a better understanding of our Mission
• PIAVAing a Healing for someone who has asked for our Prayers
• Taking steps to move toward our Deepest Desires
• Gently Letting Go of our Self-Judgments
• Inviting Forgiveness for someone

And we could take our Devolving Hours – in the example 12:00-1:00am, 4:48-5:48am, 9:36-10:36am, 2:24-3:24pm, and 7:12-8:12pm – and dedicate them to matters of Devolution:

• Manifesting what we Want,
• PIAVAing an end to addiction for ourself or another who has asked us to help
• PIAVAing an exciting end to a Soul-killing job or relationship
• Contemplating the Faeries who inhabit Flowers
• Exploring our Guilt and Shame
• Owning our Projections

Now, think about those distinctions, the differences between the items in the first list and the items in the second list.  Can you see an obvious distinction, or do they keep flipping back and forth?

Matter Ascending into Spirit and Spirit Descending into Matter are the same thing.  Like day and night, it’s a continuous Cycle, like a Pentacle rolling ’round the Heavens daily.  You can split them apart and make one the back of the hand and the other the palm is you want, but it’s still the same hand.  Duality is never more than an intellectual exercise.

Nevertheless, if you meditate at each of those Hours, you’ll find a distinct difference in their flavors.

The Inverse Pentacle has a reputation for Black Magic.  That’s an excellent topic for Meditation at one of the Descending Hours.  You might uncover some parts of yourself that still believe in Original Sin rather than Original Blessing.  You might realize that Morality is a Duality.  It could be a very productive Hour.

You’ll have to draw up the charts for your location, probably using some trial and error, rotating the charts till you find a time when one of the Star’s peaks points directly at the Midheaven – that is, when one of the planets in the Grand Quintile crosses the Midheaven.  The five planets are Mars, Juno, the North Node, Chiron, and Sedna.  Then you can add and subtract your 2:24’s to and from that starting time.

If you’re willing and have the time to take this seriously, but you don’t have the astrological capability to find the starting times at your location, drop me a comment with your location, and I’ll compute them for you.

Notice the coincidence with the “other” Portal 10.29, the Conjunction of Pandora and Eris, meaning…

It’s no coincidence that what we’re Learning is about material emerging from the Unconscious.  When discomfort confronts you, call time out, look inside, and inquire from whence the discomfort springs.  Don’t even worry about the triggering event in the outside World, this is about You and your Relationship to the Unconscious.  Yes, you have a Personal Unconscious, but the Unconscious is like the Earth, the same massive formation underlies us all, and it’s all connected.

Many people are locking in to their Cultural Unconscious and the Planetary Unconscious instead of their Personal Unconscious.  Take a step backwards.  If you’re merged with your Culture or your Planet, you aren’t Living from your own Heart or Soul, you’re Living from an Archetype, a superpersonal constellation in the Unconscious that has great Power.  Bring your Attention back to YourSelf.  If no other information emerges from the Unconscious here for you Personally, the information that you’re enslaved to an Archetype is a first step toward Freedom.

It’s a Journey to retrieve our Heart from an Archetype.  You feel dedicated to the Archetype, it stands in for your Mission.  But it’s not; it stands between you and your Mission, and the Archetype is complete unto itself.  If you want to improve the Planet you Live on, you need to embark on that Journey, because the Archetype is not going to Change.  Trying to Change the Culture from within the Archetype is not possible, because your Resistance to the Present Moment solidifies the Archetype furthur. 

The keyword here is selfish.  What’s the most selfish thing you can think of?  Whenever your Attention turns to how dissatisfied you are with the state of the World, ask yourself what would please you right now?  Whenever your Attention turns to how dissatisfied you are with the state of yourSelf, embrace yourself the way you are.  Doesn’t mean you need to indulge an addiction.  It means you need to sit with yourself long enough to be able to be completely Loving with yourself right where you are.

The planet Venus is heavily and mystically associated with the Pentangle, because over the course of eight years her five “inferior” Conjunctions with the Sun (when she’s on our side of the Sun) trace out a Pentagram on the Zodiac.

The various line segments in a Five-Pointed Star are all related to one another by Phi, the Golden Angle of Sacred Geometry; each segment in turn is 1.618 times the length of the segment that’s shorter than it.

Phi is a Fifth-Harmonic animal, defined as one divided by one half of the quantity [one plus the square root of five].  One half of the quantity [one plus the square root of five] is equal to approximately 1.618.  One divided by that number is 0.618.  The Phitile, 222-1/2, is 61.8% of the distance ’round the Zodiac.  It symbolizes Completion.  The Opposition is the Blossoming stage of a Cycle, and the Phitile is the Fruiting stage.  After that, we set Seed.

The Golden Angle is not arbitrary; it appears everywhere in biology.  The integration of Matter and Spirit – or rather, the realization that they are mirrors for one another, we are mirrors for one another – is a Fifth-Harmonic affair.  The Fifth Harmonic is about Learning and Teaching; the bottom line is that the ultimate relationship between Spirit and Matter is not something that can be understood through Duality – Learning this relationship is an infinite task.

The Phitile of the Solar Year occurs on November 5, at 13 of Scorpio, “An inventor performs a laboratory experiment” – constant Learning, constant Curiosity.

More Immune System

Good news!  All eleven parts of Ty Bollinger’s video series on The Quest for the Cures Continues, which ran daily for the last two weeks, are being aired all weekend, at…

http://www.thetruthaboutcancer.com/live/replay.php

While these videos are specifically about controlling Cancer without creating additional harm to the body, they’re excellent input for making your immune system resistant to all manner of invasion.  They’re good through “midnight Sunday night,” which I believe is 11pm PDT October 26.

A reader has sent along a link to this well-written article…

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/magazine/what-if-age-is-nothing-but-a-mind-set.html?_r=0

about someone who’s actually investigating the “placebo” effect, including its measured impact of physiology.

Portal 10.29 – Gestalt Astrology

The Earth isn’t really that close to the Sun, it’s just Photoshopped in to demonstrate how big those Sunspots (the darker areas) are.  Fortunately, they haven’t been aimed toward Earth when they’ve ejected Solar Flairs.  The Sun is 109 times larger in diameter than the Earth, meaning its circumference is 342 times that of Earth, and its volume over 9,000 times as great.  It’s a heavy dude – its mass is about 330,000 times the mass of the Earth.  And it’s not really grey.

* * * * *

A primary principle of the Gestalt process consists of translating negative Energies into positive Energies.  Re-interpreting Control as Protection would be one example.  If we appreciate someone’s effort to Protect us, our Feelings and Behavior and Reactions and Responses are very different than when we rebel against someone’s effort to Control us.  Yet they’re often the same Energy.

We could call what we do Gestalt Astrology – translating Energies usually seen as negative into the positive is one of our primary techniques.  Saturn, for instance, is often seen as Limitation.  What’s the positive function of Limitation?  Focus.  So we see Saturn as telling us to Focus on The Most Important Thing.  We feel Limitation when we’re attached to lower priorities.

Eris is often seen as Dischord, as her contribution of a Golden Apple inscribed “The Fairest of Them All” to a banquet of the Gods and Goddesses produced a very dischordant banquet, and ultimately led to the Trojan War.  Yet the Competitiveness among the Goddesses was there before the Golden Apple.  The Apple merely brought it into Consciousness (or at least, provided the opportunity for same – it’s not clear from the Mythology that anyone’s vanity actually became Conscious).  So we see Eris as the Revelation of what’s Unconscious.

We usually refer to that as the Revelation of Denial, but Denial is not a dirty word to us.  The Ego’s function is to keep us Alive and Safe, and the Ego is fairly easily overwhelmed, leaving us vulnerable to danger.  Denial is the natural process that allows us to Focus on what we perceive to be The Most Important Thing (our Egoic Stability) rather than on the Elephant in the room.  Most people use the word Denial as an accusation, when they’re insisting that The Most Important Thing to them become The Most Important Thing to us.

Pandora is usually seen as the vehicle by which Evil was released into the World of Hufolk.  But like Nassim, we have to ask “What came before that?”  The answer is Unconsciousness.  By bringing Evil into Consciousness, or at least providing the opportunity for same, we gain the opportunity to Choose not to indulge it.  So we can see Pandora as symbolizing Self-Awareness.

On October 29, Pandora backs across Eris.  Eris Initiated Pandora in mid-July, so this represents an “Exposition” phase of their dance together…

When two planets cross, we refer to it as the slower (message-giver or guru) planet Initiating the faster (messenger or neophyte) planet, and alternately as the faster planet Conjuncting or Conjoining the slower planet.  So this is Pandora Conjunct Eris.  It’s not Eris Initiating Pandora because…

When planets Conjoin, they often do so multiple times, as one or both of them turn Retrograde.  We only consider the first Conjunction to be the Initiation of a new Cycle.  The Sabian Symbol of the Initiation degree is a clue to the nature of the Cycle that the Initiation begins, or the period till the next Initiation.  Pandora being an asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter, the Pandora-Eris Cycle lasts a little over four years. 

For convenience, we use the shortcut term “planet” to refer to planets, asteroids, dwarf planets, Centaurs, TNOs, Lights (Sun and Moon), symbolic points (the Nodes, Lilith), and anything else that orbits the Sun or the Earth.

The Initiation is considered a “Can-Opener,” as new material is released from the Unconscious, and we’re called to adjust to it quickly, without much warning.  If there are multiple Conjunctions, then the subsequent Conjunctions are considered “Expositions,” when the same issue recurs, but recurs more slowly, giving us time to witness, identify, and differentiate it into Consciousness.  The final Conjunction is a “Confidence-Builder,” because the Demons attack again, but this time we know from experience how to handle them, and it’s effortless or nearly so.

These three stages, Can-Opener, Exposition, Confidence-Builder, apply to any multiple Angle between two planets.  For instance, the Uranus-Pluto Square recurs seven times between 2012 and 2015, giving us five Expositions, including the one we’re embarking upon now.

The Eris-Pandora Initiation occurred at 24 Aries, “Blown inward by the Wind, the curtains of an open window take the shape of a Cornucopia” – signifying that the Denial that’s revealed will lead us to Abundance.  Releasing any Mask saves us a bundle of Energy that we can use for more productive purposes, and also clarifies our perspective so we’re more likely to pursue and achieve our own goals.

Whatever Demons were released suddenly into your World in mid-July 2014, you’re now getting the opportunity to re-experience them in slow motion.  Back then they caught you off guard and created uninvited difficulty in your Life.  But it was just material being released from the Unconscious, being brought into the light of day so you could Choose whether or not to indulge it.  As it turns out, this material will prove to be very valuable to us, and we’re in the process of discovering how this will be.

The current Pandora-Eris Conjunction occurs at 23 Aries, “A pregnant woman in light summer dress,” suggesting that this Exposition will be Powerful.

The current Conjunction, with both planets Retrograde, occurs October 29.  It’s within three degrees of Sensitivity from October 15 till November 20.  Pandora turns Direct November 30, and the Confidence-Builder phase occurs on December 30, as Eris is Stationary.  They’re within three degrees of each other from December 9 till January 12.  The Confidence-Builder is also at 23 Aries.

Mercury Direct 10.25 II – Fantasy

Here’s a picture of that lovely Grand Quintile in the Mercury-Direct chart.

* * * * *

In Mercury Direct 10.25 we suggested…

“We can make it easier on ourselves by focusing on Expanding our Fantasy about how the Future could unfold. 

“Fantasy is seldom a profound way to Manifest, because Fantasy is only an illustration of our Unconscious Negative Beliefs, a picture of what we’ve never given ourselves permission to pursue.  Using our Fantasies to bring our Unconscious Negative Beliefs into Consciousness is a powerful technique, but not what we recommend right now. 

“In this particular Mercury-Stationary Portal, Potential for the Unimagined is rich, so we will gain by stretching our Imagination, thinking Big, and thinking Optimistically.”

A reader wonders…

“So are you suggesting it would help to go beyond our ‘usual’ fantasies and explore what previously we couldn’t even have imagined as part of our stock fantasies?  I think that’s what you are saying, eg. someone always wanted to be a pilot but now he should imagine levitating?  Being silly here, but you know what I mean.  Just not sure I get what you’re saying.”

If we have to Fantasize anything, it’s only because we haven’t given ourselves Permission to just Manifest it.  “It’s not about Permission, it’s about Impossibility!” you might say.  Say you Fantasize about a Soulmate that will complete your Life beautifully, but you don’t really Believe that such a person exists.  Impossibility is a synonym for Unconscious Despair – Anything is possible.  Of course some things are more Impossible than others, particularly the things you haven’t Manifested yet.

So it’s not about Impossibility, it’s about your not having given yourself Permission yet to Believe that the subject of your Fantasy is Possible.  You can approach this with a standard two-chair Gestalt process.  “You” sit here, “They” sit there, where “You” is the part of you that Desires what you can’t have, and “They” is the part of yourself that doesn’t Believe you could – or should – just go out and Manifest it. 

Start with how you feel about “They.”  Are “They” your ally because you wouldn’t dream of actually going out and doing “That”?  If so, you probably need to swap chairs, because “They” aren’t holding you back, “You” are.

Vesta is Trine to the Juno corner of the Grand Quintile, so this could be an opportunity for you to embrace Guilt or Shame, and work on bringing your notion of “right and wrong” more in line with who you really are.  That’s pretty important for dropping our Masks anyway.

So you have to shift your basic approach to the World.  “They” aren’t holding you back from what you Want, “They” are actually Protecting you from what you don’t Want.  Find or figure out what “They” Want, in positive terms.  Security?  Safety?  Consistency?  “Keeping you out of jail” is negative – the positive of that might be Freedom, or Respect.  You have to find out for yourself, you can’t let anyone else determine it for you.

Once you get to “Their” positive Want, “You” should be able to Want That as well.  Why would you not Want it, since it’s positive?  It probably has a different priority than what you Fantasize, but that’s likely to be only because you usually already give yourself Permission to have That.  If what “They” Want is not something you Want unequivocally as well, keep exploring till you find a way to honestly express what “They” need that feels fully supportable by “You.”

Now all the two of you need to do is Negotiate Win-Win.  How can the two of you support one another so you both get what you Want?  “You” need to work that out with “They.”

That’s the process for Using our Fantasies to bring our Unconscious Negative Beliefs into Consciousness.  I said I wasn’t recommending that right now, not because is isn’t a fabulous way to approach self-sabotage, but just because it’s not exactly what the Mercury Station chart is proposing.  If you’re up for that process, now is a fine time to do it; it’s just tangential to what the planets are suggesting.

Mercury is Stationary on the North Node.  Mercury stands for our intellectual Understanding.  Stationary means Strong.  And the North Node symbolizes our Mission in the Lifetime.

In order to circumvent the Ego and it’s tendency to screw things up (not that Ego isn’t important), the Soul gives us our Mission in code.  It feels like our Deepest Desires.  We’re Unconsciously driven toward our Deepest Desires, whereas we’d be more likely to shy away from our Mission.  I mean, what if we failed?

Our Deepest Desires are not necessarily identical to our Mission.  The former is more selfish, because that’s what the Ego understands.  But when we get close enough to reach for our Deepest Desires, what we find in its stead is our Mission.  Or rather, a deeper layer of the coding that distinguishes them.  There’s an excellent chance we’ve been fulfilling our Mission all along, without even realizing it.  If you feel separated from your Mission, give it the two-chair Gestalt treatment.  You’ll probably find yourself switching chairs right off.

It’s when we reject our Deepest Desires that we get in trouble with our Mission.  Why would we do that?  Karma.

Lifetimes are set up so that the tools we need for achieving our North-Node Mission, are hidden under the Held Emotions symbolized by the South Node.  To be fully Present with our Mission, we need to embrace our Held Emotions.  Held Emotions are those that would overwhelm us, that we’d “rather die” than feel again – quite simply because it’s an Ego Death to feel them!  It’s a tautology, really.

The Mercury Station offers us a temporary respite from this arm-wrestling between Ego and Soul. 

Namely, the Jupiter-Chaos Trine-Sextile Bridge across the Nodal axis.  The dwarf planet Chaos symbolizes the Unformed, the Quantum Vacuum, Potential.  Jupiter represents Expansion.

The respite lies through relaxing all Limitations on our Fantasies.  Allowing ourself to imagine having not just what’s Safe to Want, but to have All of what we Want.

Karma operates through Habituation.  Whatever Limitations we usually put on our Fantasies, are illustrations of our Habituation.  Normally, in order to exceed those Limitations we would need to Embrace our most-dangerous Emotions.  But this weekend the door is Open and we have Permission to imagine what it would be like to Live without both Limitation and Dangerous Emotion. 

Every time we indulge Freedom we add a brick to our Habituation to Freedom.  Building new Karma is far superior to Letting Go of old Karma, because if we only do the latter, we create a vacuum that can fill without our Conscious Permission.

An extra bonus: We’re also still under the influence of the Eclipse chart, in which Sun-Venus-Pallas Semi-Sextiled Makemake.  The Twelfth-Harmonic Semi-Sextile stands for Pattern-Breaking, aka the opportunity to form new Habits, aka Let Go of Karma.  Makemake is the Master of Manifestation.

Mercury Direct 10.25

Oh no!  Another Learning Opportunity!

The Big Deal about the Direct Station of Mercury at quarter past noon PDT October 25 is a full-fledged Grand Quintile.

A Grand Quintile is formed by five planets equally spaced around the Zodiac.  A Grand Quintile means that there’s a Quintile Yod (PAY ATTENTION to Learning This!) pointing at each of the five planets; it’s a very powerful Configuration.

I’m reminded of a car I saw on the ferry dock one day with a big dent in the door.  Pasted on the dent was a sign that said “Oh no, another Learning Opportunity!”  Unfortunately, that’s how we usually greet the Fifth Harmonic of Learning and Teaching.  Big Fifth-Harmonic Configurations aren’t about Learning that Cashews come from Laos.  We’re more likely to be Learning about what a fool we’ve made of ourself for the last twenty years by doing such-and-such, or how we’ve been sabotaging ourself by failing to do this-and-that. 

Those kinds of things are fabulous things to Learn, as they’ll allow us to turn our Lives in a better direction – but they Hurt when we first notice them.  So we need to be watchful for things that Hurt, especially Hurtful things that Other people say to us, and consider them carefully for any shred of validity.  We don’t want to stay in Denial.  We also need to be gentle with the Hurt; we can’t ignore that either.  But we want to look forward, imagining how much better our Life will become, rather than looking back and dwelling on the Shame of how dumb we’ve been.

Mercury itself turns Direct on the North Node, meaning that what we’ve been studying, knowingly or not, for the last three weeks

(while Mercury was Retrograde)

is our Mission in the Lifetime, aka our Deepest Desires.  It also means that the Station, and the several days thereafter

(while Mercury actually crosses the North Node – that Portal would be open widest at quarter after 4pm PDT on October 29)

should provide good insight into the nature of why we’re here on this Planet just now.

The other four corners of the Grand Quintile are Mars (Action), Chiron (Paradigm Change), Sedna (Self-Sabotage), and Juno (Personal Growth).

In particular, this Bigtime Learning Opportunity can Teach us, if we Open to it, where we sabotage ourself (Sedna), how to locate and shift our deepest Unconscious Negative Beliefs (Chiron) in order to raise our Conscious Awareness (Juno), how to Act to Change them (Mars) so we’re moving toward our Deepest Desires and most fulfilling Lifetime Mission (North Node), and how to remember these Changes so we don’t regress (Mercury).

Since the Stationary Mercury is Conjunct the North Node, it’s also by definition Opposite the South Node.  Jupiter and the dwarf planet Chaos form a Trine-Sextile Bridge across the Opposition.

Of course our Self-Sabotage is encased in our Held Emotions, which are protected by our Resistance to embracing the Feelings that will overwhelm us and make us Feel like, quite frankly, we’d rather die.  So we will need to pass through some Ego Death to take advantage of this very promising Big Learning Opportunity. 

A Trine-Sextile Bridge tells us how to avoid any Pain that the Opposition may imply.

While any embrace of those Feelings that we can muster will Change our Life profoundly, we can make it easier on ourselves by focusing on Expanding our Fantasy about how the Future could unfold. 

Fantasy is seldom a profound way to Manifest, because Fantasy is only an illustration of our Unconscious Negative Beliefs, a picture of what we’ve never given ourselves permission to pursue.  Using our Fantasies to bring our Unconscious Negative Beliefs into Consciousness is a powerful technique, but not what we recommend right now. 

In this particular Mercury-Stationary Portal, Potential for the Unimagined is rich, so we will gain by stretching our Imagination, thinking Big, and thinking Optimistically.

It wouldn’t hurt us a bit to PIAVA that we painlessly and effortlessly and lovingly and gently Learn how we sabotage ourself, how to locate and shift our deepest Unconscious Negative Beliefs in order to raise our Conscious Awareness, how to Act to Change them so we’re moving toward our Deepest Desires and most fulfilling Lifetime Mission, and how to remember these Changes so we don’t regress.

As you PIAVA this, watch for any Fear that arises, and follow it to see what it’s about.  Then add another clause to your PIAVA that addresses the Fear.  For instance, if you’re struck by the Fear that your Mom will freak out if you Change like this, you can add a phrase at the end like “all with my Mother’s full support.”  After all, we’re stretching our Imagination, thinking Big, and thinking Optimistically, right?

Partial Eclipse 10.23

Zircon, a Zirconium Silicate of ancient vintage, is a great aid for navigating transitions into the Unknown.

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Format Review

These left-justified bold italics are for everyone.

Indented normal type is for folks who know a bit of astrology.

Doubly-indented italics are for folks who are learning astrology.

The Eclipse

Through my traditional filter, the Partial Solar Eclipse at 3pm PDT October 23 is, compared to the average astroevent, fairly “simple.” 

My traditional filter pays attention to the Angles between planets, and the Configurations they make as the Angles connect to one another.

Of course, it’s all relative.  There are two Configurations tied to the Eclipse, and two additional Eclipse-related Angles.

At an Eclipse I emphasize opportunities for Enlightenment, because what is normally obvious and ignored rather suddenly becomes conspicuous in its absence, and the differentiation of something obvious and ignored exactly describes the process of Growth in Consciousness.

The Eclipse Stellium

The most important of the two Eclipse Configurations is a Stellium. 

A Stellium is several planets grouping together in the same Zodiacal location.

In a Stellium, several Energies that are normally distinct (ie, already differentiated in Consciousness) combine to form a new unfamiliar Energy.  That new unfamiliar Energy can be uncomfortable, because we are unlikely to recognize it.  That alone can trigger Anxiety, as our Control (healthy or not) over our Life may be threatened.  But it also may vaguely remind us of other Energies which we experience as unpleasant, either just because they’re nigglingly vague, or because they were once Traumatic to one degree or another.

We’re comfortable with an Energy because we have Experience with it, and our comfort is proportional to the quantity of our Experience.  For instance, Scorpio Energy is fairly well known to us – the Sun and inner planets spend a month there every year, and the Moon spends a couple of days there every month.  New Moon Energy less so – it occurs once a month, but it’s brief, and by nature Mysterious (it’s a Birth, like a Seed sprouting).  Eclipses less so yet, as they occur more rarely and are yet more Mysterious.  As we add additional planets in Stellium, the frequency of occurrence shrinks, and with it the quantity of our Experience.

In Scorpio, a New Moon means the Birth of some Hunger to Find Out Why or How.  A Scorpio Eclipse will bring a Hunger to Find Out Why or How newly into our Consciousness. 

For instance, we could have been driven all of our Life to Find Out Why it was so difficult in our youth to get Approval from a significant Other.  If that drive remains below the threshold of Consciousness, then it might manifest as a self-Abandoning need to Please Other.  This Eclipse might bring that drive up into Consciousness, allowing us to separate the Present Moment from our historical circumstances, and actually start to decide whether to Please or Resist, based on a realistic assessment of consequences rather than Compulsion.

Or perhaps our natural need for Approval and our difficulty getting it drove us away from Other in people form, and we developed the habit of seeking pleasure on our own, rather than Approval from Other people.  An addiction could have been born that way – not that Pleasing can’t be an addition on its own merits.  This Scorpio Eclipse might reveal to us the roots of that addiction, providing us with additional tools for Responding to the Present Moment, rather than Reacting to Held Emotions.  Simply recognizing that an addiction is present is a critical step – this Eclipse could so grace us.

This Eclipse occurs in the first degree of Scorpio.

The Cusp (beginning) of a Sign is one of its strongest points, representing as it does the “handoff” from the previous Sign.  Since each Sign is to some degree a Reaction to the previous Sign, the Cusp is a critical Change Point, where major elements of our Life or Persona may flip.  So…

Our newly hatched Hunger to Know may represent a major shift in who we see ourselves to be, and/or who Others see ourselves to be – a major shift in our Identity.  Others usually Resist changes in our Identity, so our Relationships could get rocky while everyone adjusts.  And as with any Ego Death, our old Identity must be Grieved, or it won’t Let Go of us.  Grief is necessary for Growth, and Grief has its own schedule.  Don’t try to push it away or rush it along.  Give it space and let it have its way with you.

The Sabian reading for one degree of Scorpio is “A crowded sightseeing bus on a city street.“

Each degree, like each Sign, has its own meaning, called its “Sabian Symbol.”

A sightseer is a spectator, detached from the business-as-usual on the city street that’s being voyeured.  Crowded together with other sightseers, but connected only by the shallow comraderie of people vacationing on the same bus.

The Need to Find Out that’s emerging into our Consciousness at this Eclipse may be about the Need to Know How to Fit In, How to create, join, and maintain Community.

The Stellium is formed because the Eclipse occurs closely Conjunct Venus, and Conjunct Pallas.  Venus is about our Values, Pallas about our Boundaries.

A Stellium blends the Energies to create a new Energy that may not be recognized.  So we may discover a previously unrecognized Hunger for Community, or a realization that what we thought was our Community is not Serving us in proportion to our Service to it.

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A Quintangle

A Quintangle is formed when a third planet occurs at the near Midpoint between two planets that are Biquintile from one another, or two Quintiles end-to-end.  It’s the inverse of a Quintile Yod.

The Eclipse Stellium is at the focus of a Quintangle, with Jupiter and Pluto forming the base.  A Quintangle indicates what we’re Learning.

It may become clear after the Eclipse that the course of Herstory has shifted significantly over the last few months.

It’s indirect, but we have to recognize that the Uranus-Pluto Square has come back within our usual three degrees of Sensitivity.

Finding our Tribe in the new Story will require that we let go of our Masks and let our True Self shine through, even though it may be disruptive to business-as-usual in our Life.

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A Semi-Sextile and a Trioctile

The Eclipse Stellium is closely Semi-Sextile to the dwarf planet Makemake.  The Twelfth-Harmonic Semi-Sextile is about Breaking Patterns, and Makemake is about Manifestation and Improvisation.

As we open to embracing Held Emotions, we’re likely to find Skills we didn’t know we had.

It’s also Trioctile to Chiron.  The Trioctile is about making positive adjustments, and Chiron about Empathizing with our own pain.

This will provide greater leverage to the Life Changes that the Eclipse initiates; we may be very surprised by the scope of the shift in our Life.

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Another Grand Trine

Pi hasn’t completely stopped coddling us.  Though Mars has moved on, until Pandora does the same on October 25, it remains in a Grand Trine with Lilith and Quaoar-Hylonome.  While it’s not Angularly related to the Eclipse itself, it is in the Eclipse chart.

The Eclipse, which focuses on making a Safe place for the Heart to express itself without censure, provides strong support for the Rise of the Feminine.

Portal 10.20-22 II – Venus, Sedna, Chiron

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The Kite

Surprise!  The Grand Trine isn’t a Grand Trine at all, it’s a Kite, as Sun-Venus Opposes Pandora.  It looks off-center in the picture above, but that’s just because the planets aren’t arranged proportionally in the chart.

When a Grand Trine becomes a Kite – when a fourth planet Opposes one of the three evenly-spaced planets, we need to interpret the Kite rather than the Grand Trine, because the emphasis is shifted to the planet at the head of the Kite, in this case Venus-Sun.

But that doesn’t make the Grand Trine go away.  It’s still there, so we need to take it into account, as background for the Kite.  In the current Portal, the Lilith T-Square (Portal 10.20-22 I) is much more dominant than the Venus Kite.  So we interpret that chart first, and interpret the Kite as background for the “squashed Toadstool.”

Venus happens to represent our Values, those of our Emotional Reactions that are consistent from opportunity to opportunity. 

Not to be confused with our Creed, which is taught to us by those who feel the need to mold us politically.  We discover our Values, by Paying Attention to what our consistent Emotional Reactions are – what we React to, and how we React. 

As we Grow in Consciousness, we discover that there are elements of Creed that are intimately ours, Sacred to us, as well – which may or may not be similar to the Creed we were taught.

The difference between our Values (Venus) and what’s Sacred to us (Vesta) is that we feel like we could die or kill for what’s Sacred to us, whereas we only get upset about our Values.  Of course we don’t need to actually die or kill, but we can conceive of the possibility.  Think about someone betraying you – maybe in a business deal, maybe in Relationship.  Do you feel like you’ll never trust them again, or do you feel like you can’t live on the same Planet as them? 

That’s the difference between Venus and Vesta.  If we never trust them again, they can still be an acquaintance.  If we can’t live on the same Planet as them, we need to avoid seeing or hearing them.  Most of us are conditioned not to kill, because it’s not nice, and because the punishment is severe.  So we have to separate ourself from them, pretend we’re on different Planets, in order to be able to stay in control our strong feelings.

And of course our Values arise in our Heart.  So the Kite tells the same story as the stubby Toadstool in Portal 10.20-22 I.

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The Sedna Yod

The picture above also features a narrow green Triangle.  That’s called a “Yod” or “Finger of God.”  It says, in big letters, PAY ATTENTION to the planet that’s being pointed at.  Which is Sedna.  Sedna was a big part of our short Toadstool as well.

Is a Finger of God stronger than a Kite?  No, but it does tell us how to interpret the Kite.

In this case, rather than Peace between the Feminine (Venus) and Masculine (Mars) that the Sextile between them would imply, we have to insert Sedna.  Peace between the Masculine and Feminine is the last thing Sedna would indicate.

So we’re looking at Following our Heart and respecting our Values.  Sedna is about the Masculine betraying the Feminine out of Fear for his own skin.  So the Challenge is greater than we would otherwise imagine, and the stakes are much higher. 

This part of the chart is relatively hidden – we might not notice it if we weren’t scouting for Quincunxes.  But we were already warned by the Saturn-Eris Quincunx that there may be hidden elements in the chart.

The bottom line is that there are places in our Lives where our Inner Male is in such Fear of our Inner Female, that He would like to suffocate Her.  Earlier we encountered inconvenience – the places where we had to be willing to be ungraceful in public in order to support our InGirl.  This is much more serious than inconvenience; this threatens to sabotage our Life utterly. 

These places in our Lives are hidden, they’re deep in the Unconscious.  So we’re being asked to look for very subtle clues.  During this Portal, do any conflicts arise between yourself and Others?  What are they about (besides your Ego getting upset)?  Explore them.  They will lead you to breakthrough Consciousness Growth.  What did you react to, that the Other said?  How would it change your self-concept if it were true?  I know, they do it too.  That’s why you “hired” them to be your Mirror.

You have no self-interest in getting them to stop doing what you don’t like, or start doing what you want them to do.  You can only stop or start doing it yourself.  Chances are, when you stop, they’ll stop, since you can’t ultimately tell what’s Real and what’s Expectation.  Their behavior looks like what you Expect.  That doesn’t mean it is what you think it is.  Their behavior is just an illustration for you, about the material that’s beginning to emerge into your Consciousness.  Open up to it.

It’s easier than you imagine.  What would you like them to do differently?  That’s what you want to start doing.  You don’t even have to discuss it with them.  Since you aren’t in the habit yet, you may want to PIAVA it.

I know, part of you says, That’s not Fair!  You’ll end up doing it for hours, and they won’t reciprocate.  That’s not the point.  You need to practice doing it, not even necessarily because you need to learn how to do it, but because practicing it will open up parts of you that are now undercover, parts of you that you’ll need for your next steps.  What they do is irrelevant.  You don’t need them to reciprocate.  You aren’t doing it to please them, you’re doing it to expand your Consciousness.  Practice doing it a lot more than you have been, but stop when you find yourself expecting anything in return.

“That’s not Fair!” is Pholus speaking.  Pholus is Trining Eris, meaning that…

The part of you that senses Unfairness will lead you to what’s wanting to emerge from the Unconscious.  Sit with that voice that says it’s Unfair, and Ask them how old they are, or Ask yourself how old you feel.  Then be Present with your Self at that age.  Empathize with what they’re feeling, with what you were feeling at that age. 

If that doesn’t ring bells, close your eyes and look down at your feet.  What are you wearing?  Sandals?  Army boots?  Bare feet?  What color are your feet?  What Era are you in, and what’s going on?  What’s your role in it?

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A Quintile Yod

We didn’t draw it in – it would be orange if we had, but there’s also a Quintile Yod in this Portal.

A Yod of Finger of God is a third planet at the far midpoint between two planets separated by a Sextile, the third planet being Quincunx to each of the first two.  A Quintile Yod is a third planet at the far midpoint between two planets separated by a Quintile, the third being Biquintile to each of the first two.  A Quintile Yod tells us what we’re Learning.

The Focus of the QYod (again, “Pay Attention!”) is Chiron.  The base is a Quintile between Juno and the North Node.  So we’re led to the same place that the Sedna Yod led us to – the Growing Edge of our Consciousness.  But now we have more information about it.

The impact is that Miracles await us when we “own” what we want to project on Other during this Portal.  Not just any Miracle, but Miracles that will steer us toward our Mission in the Lifetime, toward what we took this incarnation to accomplish.

This is the Waning Quintile between Juno and the North Node.  At the Waning Quintile we’re deep into the Void, where the current Cycle has bloomed and fruited, we’ve passed the Crisis of Identity at the Waning Square, where we were Challenged to Let Go of whatever part of the Cycle we’ve Identified with.  At this stage of a Cycle we need Curiosity and Detachment, in order to maximize our availability for the next Cycle.

The previous Juno-NN Cycle began in mid-September 2012 at 30 degrees of Scorpio. “Children in Halloween costumes indulge in various pranks.”  The essence of Samhain and the Day of the Dead is loosening the bolts that connect our Ego to our current Lifetime.  The Ancestors are here, and they are reminding us that our future role as Ancestors ourselves will be far more important than our petty Ego-based roles in whatever costumes we wear in our current Lifetime.  The Waning Quintile is when we review what we’ve learned from this Cycle.  Where is your Ego still attached to your costume?

The next Cycle starts next September at 2 of Libra, “The transmutation of the fruits of past experiences into the seed-realizations of the forever-creative Spirit” and those are the words of Elsie’s channel, not Rudhyar, as if she anticipated that Rudhyar would later interpret them.