The Most Important Thing 2

Yay!  Kristin Metcalfe has directed us to https://serennu.com/astrology/ephemeris.php as a place to get lists of asteroids and dwarf planets sorted by Degree, so we can find Heavenly Bodies that we don’t normally use, which will fill out an Almost-Big-Configuration!  Hooray!  Thanks a million, Kristin!  For example, our 7 May 2020 Full Moon 19 Virgo Vacancy in the Potential-Grand-Sextile, is occupied by an asteroid (Asclepius) named after the Greek God of Healing.  Goddess knows we can use that!

Meanwhile, let’s take the most intense Challenge (T-Square) in today’s 10 May (9:09 pm PDT) Priorities astroevent (Station of Saturn in 2 Aquarius – Yay Again!  I discovered how to use this color without having to post-process the whole post), and see what happens if we consider it an Almost-Complete-Configuration.

I’ll start with our traditional interpretation process, where the planet at the focus of the Challenge (in this case asteroid Sappho [Self-Love] at 30 Virgo) is Worried by a False Dichotomy (Opposition or Duality, False because the Universe isn’t Dual; here the Nodal Axis [our Life Path], with a Big Party on the South Node – dwarf planets Ixion, Pholus, and Quaoar [Climate Change and how our Unique Genius will handle it]).  The Challenge is basically then, How are we going to Love Ourselves Unconditionally when we know that our Culture and most of our Species is on a Suicidal trajectory and people just Glaze Over when we point out that the Sky is Falling? 

But of course we have to Take Responsibility for our own Unique Genius, “Save Ourself,” let our Tribe find us, and Let Go of the folks that the Sky will Fall upon.  They have their own Free Will, whether they Recognize it or not.  They who Fart in Church sit in their own Pew.  We can have Empathy and Compassion for them, but do we really want to Follow them to their Self-Genocide.  You can Martyr yourself in front of their bulldozers if you want, but that’ll just Bloody things up.

I know, we Fear that they will Destroy our Planet and leave us without a decent Home, but the Planet we Live on is a Mirror for our own Inner Peace or Lack thereof.  The notion that our Planet is Only Physical, and therefore unable to Manifest Differently to each Observer, is a 3D Trance that we need to be willing to shed.  Life is an Interaction between the Consciousness Constellated around our Identity (ie, “Me”) and the Rest of the Universe (from our Viewpoint, “the Unconscious”).  In Energy terms, it’s a complex Diffraction Pattern (Hologram) Created when these two complex Energy Waves cross one another.

So then, can we find a planet that Opposes the symbol for Self-Love and Completes the Grand Cross, which would then be Balanced?  Yes we can.  It’s the symbol for The Lord of the Wind (Trans-Neptunian Object Manwë, aka 385446, aka 2003QW [Tolkien’s Lord of Wind, Air, and Birds] at 29 Pisces).  Wind is Uranian, the Higher Manifestation of Mentality.

In its Discovery chart (25 August 2003 in Chile), 150km-wide Manwë is Conjoined by a Retrograde Mars [Action Behind the Scenes] and Opposed by asteroid Arachne [Grandmother Spider, who Weaves the Web of Life that we Live in] and Worried (T-Squared) by dwarf planet Chaos [Unlimited Potential] on one side and Ixion-Quaoar [Survival of our Unique Genius] on the other, making a Grand Cross.  Which is to say that the Actions of our Unique Genius (Ixion) will Open Doors that will never again be Closed (Chaos) – if we Allow our Genius out of its Cage.

The Mars-Manwë T-Square in the Manwë Discovery chart is also Self-Resolving (a Diamond Star) that will Resolve the Issues that it Opens.  The Path which the Resolution follows will Lead through (the feet of the Manwë Finger of the Goddess, namely) Rebirth (dwarf planet Haumea) and Trust (asteroid Eurydike).  That is, we need to be Willing to Abandon Ourself (Eurydike) to the Dark Unknown in the Rabbit Hole of Ego Death (Haumea) in order to Coax our Genius out of Their Closet.

So to give this symbol for the Lord of the Wind (Manwë) a one-breath phrase or keyword to use should we encounter it again, we might use Stepping Off into the Unknown, also a reminder that this Lord Lives on a Mountaintop.

So then, How are we going to Love Ourselves Unconditionally when we know that our Culture and most of our Species is on a Suicidal trajectory and people just Glaze Over when we point out that the Sky is Falling?  We’re going to Trust that our Hidden, probably Forbidden, Unique Genius will plot an Effective Course for us, if we Give ourselves Permission to Break the Rules that imprison Her, or Him, or Them.

Thus Emboldened, let’s Risk going a step further.  There’s one planet five Signs away (a Quincunx) from the Focus of the Challenge (the Sappho T-Square).  If there was a second planet also five Signs away in the other direction (making a Finger of the Goddess), we’d have a Self-Resolving Challenge (a Diamond Star)!  Why not make it Easy on ourself?

Well, turns out there is a planet there, an asteroid.  The symbol for the Goddess of the Soul Completes this Major Configuration (asteroid Psyche at 1 Taurus).  We’ve met this lady before, though it’s been a while.

So now, Where will we Look to see How Unconditional Love Heals our Culture and our Species from its Suicidal trajectory so we don’t have to Run Around shouting that the Sky is Falling?  We’re going to Trust that as the Goddess of the Soul (asteroid Psyche) Merges with Our Own Soul as it Descends into Matter (Uranus in Taurus), our Forbidden Unique Genius (Ixion) will Break Free from its Hiding and Find its True Effortless Role in Creating a Safe Place for Us and Others on Earth.

This Merger (Uranus Initiating / Conjunct Psyche) occurs on 26 May at 3pm PDT (in 9 Taurus, “A fully decorated Christmas Tree“) and Begins a New 5-year Cycle where we may Learn to Celebrate Ego Death as a Rainbow of Light Penetrating the Darkness of our Unfulfilled Desires.  Each time we Lovingly Embrace an Ego Death we get closer to EnLightenment.

This is more Indirect than I prefer to go, but it verifies that the process works.  Next time I will probably go directly to Filling a Vacancy in a Self-Resolving Challenge rather than Filling a Grand Cross Vacancy, if there’s already one five-Sign connection.

Over the course of writing these blogs we’ve tried to make a Big Deal out of our Reaction to Confusion, hoping to Learn and Teach us to Embrace Confusion Directly as an Emotion, without trying to Fix it or Change it or Trying to Figure It Out.  When we succeed in Eliminating Confusion we Eliminate personal Growth, and it we have a Goal of EnLightenment or Ascension or any other form of Growth, we Sabotage ourself.

And separately, over the course of writing these blogs we’ve tried to make a Big Deal out of how we deal with Curiosity.  Many or most of us have been trained to Believe that Curiosity should Inspire us toward Knowledge, that Curiosity automatically seeks Understanding, that it’s a Question seeking an Answer.  We’ve tried to Shift that to Curiosity in the Infantile sense of Wonder or Awe.  More “Wow, isn’t that Amazing!” than “I need to Figure Out how that works.”  More “I Wonder at that!” than “I Wonder How That Works.”

Curiosity is the primary keyword assigned to the five-Sign Angle (Quincunx), in both Ego astrology and Growth astrology.  But in Growth astrology we want you to replace the Question Mark that follows Curiosity in Ego astrology, with a period.  With PIAVA, if we don’t Change the Subject after our Prayer, Thinking rapidly removes the Opportunity for Change by reinstating our old Limiting Belief System, fencing out what we’ve PIAVAed.  It’s Thinking that considers Curiosity to be a Question and does the dirtywork of reinstating our old Limiting Belief System and blocking what we could have Learned.

The other Major Angles connect Signs that are Related…

• Three-Sign Angles (Squares) connect planets in the same Quality – Creative (Cardinal), Stabilizing (Fixed), Changing (Mutable).
• Four-Sign Angles (Trines) connect planets in the same Element – Spirit (Fire), Matter (Earth), Emotion (Water), Mind (Air).
• Two-Sign Angles (Sextiles) connect planets in the same Polarity – Dynamic (Masculine) or Magnetic (Feminine).

But Five-Sign Angles (Quincunxes) Connect planets in Different Elements and Different Qualities.  Categories and Judgments are useful, but they are also Arbitrary, and Inhibit us from Recognizing the Unity and Infinite Variety of Reality.  They are products of Thought and its need to reduce everything to Duality.

The Five-Sign Quincunx Angle offers us Opportunities to Look at the World a little Differently, subtly slipping out of our Habit of Naming and Constraining and Limiting everything we Encounter.  When we Ask a Biomancer to Teach us how to Listen to Plants, the first thing they tell us is to Let Go of any Names we’ve associated with the Plant.  Try it – unless you’re having Senior Moments (which have their advantages), that’s not easy to do.  But when we consider Curiosity to be a Question seeking an Answer, we blithely Discard that Opportunity to Learn and Grow in Consciousness.

Is your Life absolutely Perfect the way it is?  Then don’t Change your Habits of dealing with Confusion and Curiosity as Invitations to Research.  Otherwise, PIAVA to Disrupt them, post-haste.

The current Priority astroevent (Saturn Station at 2 Aquarius) happens close to a Sign Cusp.  We usually use three Degrees of Sensitivity (“Orb” in astrologuese).  That means that we may have Major Angles between planets in Different Qualities or Elements.  For instance,

• The Self-Love symbol (Sappho) at the End of the Ego-Death Sign (30 Virgo)

makes a Major Angle (Trine) to

• The Top-Priority symbol (Stationary Saturn) Early in the Group Relationships Sign (2 Aquarius).

There’s less than three Degrees Difference between them, but they Connect Changing Matter (Mutable Earth) to Stabilized Thought (Fixed Air) – Different Qualities and Different Elements.  Another Opportunity to see the World through Different Eyes and Potentially Crack Open our Ossified Perspective on “Reality.”

Since Four-Sign Angles (Trines) are considered Benefic precisely because they Connect Signs in the same Element, there’s even a legitimate Question whether Cuspal Trines are Trines at all.  All six Angles that the Self-Love symbol (Sappho) makes include Cross-Cuspal Angles.

Here, by the way, is the chart for the Saturn Station – a Flying Squirrel with one ear missing…

It’s a bit crude, but you’ll have to bear with me.  It’s been more than 50 years since my Cartography degree – I looked for my tools but couldn’t find them, so I had to draw it by hand.  My Canon printer turned ink-cartridge up, and thanks to the Spumonivirus the same brand wasn’t available, so I had to buy an HP printer.  Of course it wouldn’t talk to the ancient HP laptop that makes my charts.  So we’ll have to make do for a while.

Vacancies

A reader Wonders…

“I just realized I am not well versed in the ‘vacant spot’ and how to read it; for example, 19 Virgo (near my Natal Jup) – Is the vacant point an important piece to incorporate Natal planet positions to understand creating the pattern within the transits?  Or is the vacant spot more an indication of what is to be understood from the pattern configuration?  If you have any references from your posts that I could study further?  Or maybe a quick explanation will do the trick.”

Yes, when you’re at https://astrobuss.wordpress.com/, there’s a long column of keywords (“categories”) to the right of the text.  If you’re looking at a specific post, it doesn’t show up.  I try to add a keyword to a post only when the post explains the term, but I’m not totally consistent about categorizing all posts.  I notice that there are two cubbyholes for “Vacancy,” one under “Planets etc.” and one under “Astrologuese.”  They should be combined, as there’s no difference in how they’re used – but it would take me about an hour to combine them, so I won’t bother.

But let’s go ahead with a quick explanation, as we never know what we’re going to find from the keyword list – I “improve” my astrology constantly, so I’ll just tell you how I use Vacancies now…

Configurations in a chart are combinations of planetary angles that, usually, fill the Zodiac (usually that means they add to 360 Degrees).  For instance, the Grand Sextille comprises six planets each two Signs or 60 Degrees apart, 6 x 60 = 360.  The Grand Sextile (and the Grand Anything) is considered to be much more Powerful than six Sextiles randomly placed around a chart or less well organized.

I consider it an Almost-Grand Sextile when five of the six Positions are occupied, because if we supply the missing Energy in the sixth Position, then we Complete the Grand Sextile and Enjoy the Benefits  (kinda like Bingo or the Lotteries, of a Full Hand in Poker).  It’s similar with other Almost-Grand Configurations – Quintile, Septile, etc. Occasionally, when it seems appropriate, I’ll consider a Configuration with two Vacancies to be Almost-Grand.  Like the four adjoining Septiles we had at the 25 April 2020 Pluto Station, where just for the heck of it we looked to see if there were Stars at the missing three Positions (still in my queue, Bob!).

Notice that an Almost-Grand Cross is a T-Square – the primary Benefit of any Grand Configuration is that it’s Balanced, including the Grand Cross.  It combines four T-Squares, but it’s In Balance, so it’s not considered as Troublesome as the T-Square.  The primary Challenge of the T-Square then is to Create Balance from it.  We don’t usually consider the Vacancy of a T-Square, but it wouldn’t hurt to do so.

We were looking at a 19-Virgo Vacancy in the Almost-Grand Sextile in the 7 May Full Moon chart.  I don’t have a way to check to see if a Vacancy may be occupied by asteroids (or even dwarf planets) that I don’t usually use – I wish I did, as it would help a lot.  If anyone has a way to do this, let me know.  So if none of the “planets” (meaning planets, asteroids, dwarfs, Lights, Nodes, etc) I use are there, I look for Stars nearby.  That’s an iffy proposition, as there aren’t that many Stars that are cataloged for use by astrologers.  However, if there’s a Biggie there, like Arcturus or Regulus or Sirius, that’s Huge.

Whether there’s a Star near the Vacancy or not, if you have a natal planet there, you automatically Complete the Configuration, without even trying.  So for you it’s a full Grand Sextile, because you Embody the Energies of your natal chart.  If you have natal planets near any of the other planets in the Configuration, that’s worth noting as well, because that natal planet will be Lit Up more than usual.  As Huminals (Huper Animals), we’re like Viruses, with those little Spikes all over, corresponding to the planets in our natal chart, each of which is an Antenna for broadcasting and picking up (and maybe getting Stuck on) Energies from outside of ourself.

So that Almost-Grand Sextile in the Full Moon chart comprised…

• Klotho – Beginning New Timelines
• Sun-Mercury – Awareness of our Essence
• Neptune – Our Relationship to Energies Larger than Our Own
• Hylonome-Veritas – Insights into our Codependence
• Moon – our Instincts

If we add a Jupiter to that in the Vacancy, which would apply only to you, we Expand everything.  A Grand Sextile itself is about fabulous Grace or Good Luck in combining the Energies in each Sextile, which in turn is about Projects where we take the First Step and the Universe takes over after that.  So for the next several weeks (Full Moon charts impact the following 2-4 weeks) we might be finding excellent progress around Expanding New Projects that involve Trusting our own Instincts more, and Listening More to (and/or PIAVAing the Assistance of) our Guides, instead of Playing to or Soliciting the Opinions of Others.

Now, for most of the rest of us, without a planet in or near 19 Virgo, we have to Consciously add the Energy of the Vacancy in order to take advantage of the Enhanced Grace of the Grand Sextile.  For a guess about what that might mean we’d read the Sabian Symbol for that Degree, 19 Virgo: “A Swimming Race.”  To me that means Efficiency at processing our Emotions.  So for the rest of us for the next several weeks we might find great progress with New Projects that involve Trusting our own Instincts more, Listening More to our Guides and Soliciting their Assistance more, and Trusting our own Emotions (as Opposed to our Thoughts About them of course), instead of Trying to Please Others.

For all of us, the Programming we received from our Mothers is likely to be particularly Lit Up, since the Saturn Station occurs on Mother’s Day.  And we can’t ignore the fact that the Moon goes Out of Bounds on Mothers Day, so it’s all going to be a lot more Emotional than it would be usually – though telling Mom to Butt Out of our Choices will probably always be a Chancy Conversation.  But its a Grand Sextile, suggesting very Positive Outcomes from any Project that we Initiate, so it may be the best time ever to Begin our Self-Liberation.

Or, you can take an Easier path, especially if your Mum is Difficult (or Deceased), and use your Mirrors instead.  Either way our Relationship with our Dear Mother is Changing, so we want to Make the Best of the Opportunity in whatever way Feels best to us – that is, by Trusting our Emotions.  If our Emotions are Conflicted, as they’re likely to be, what an Opportunity to Stay Present with our Confusion and Avoid trying to Fix it.

If your Mother is the type to Demand Commitment, what an Opportunity to Stand your Ground (Veritas-Hylonome) – “Mom, I hear that you’re Asking for a firm Commitment, but I’m not Ready to do that, so we’ll have to leave the whole Issue Dangling till I am Ready, and I don’t know when that will be.”  Then, while the odds of Success are Great (Grand Sextile), you get to Practice Not Trying to Fix or Manipulate your Mother’s Emotions!

You might think this all sounds Daunting, but it’s a Critical and Natural part of Claiming Your Power, and as we’ve said, there may never be a Better Time.  Trying to stuff your Mother’s Heavy Emotions into your Carrion Bag for the Ascension Flight won’t work.  They’ll bump you off the Flight for overweight.

Wants, Mission, Compromise 6

The Neptune Station (18 June 4:30 pm PDT) chart is less complicated – and less straightforward – than the others…

The first thing we have to notice is the Grand Trine and Kites (Fabulous Blessings – blue lines), because all three of our Big Three charts this extended weekend have included this feature, even though they’re in different Degrees…

• Saturday’s Makemake Station (Manifestation) chart featured two Grand Trines, both Kites, one in Earth and one in Fire!
  • The Kite on the Fire Grand Trine focused on Makemake itself, lending Spiritual Cred to what we’re Manifesting
  • The Kite on the Earth Grand Trine focused on OR10 in Pisces, reinforcing the notion that we have to Clear our Held Emotions in order to find enough Authenticity to Manifest What We Really Want

• Sunday’s Eris-Juno Initiation (the Coming into Consciousness of What Was Previously Denied) held a Fire Grand Trine and Double Kite (ie, Almost-Grand-Sextile), with the foci of the Kites on Rebirth Haumea and Unlimited Potential Chaos

• Today’s Neptune Station chart’s Grand Trine is in Water, again with a Double Kite, focused on Self-Confidence Chariklo and a Conjunction which we’ll discuss more, that should Shift our approach to Ego Death

That omits Air, or Mentality, which on some levels is appropriate, as one of Western Culture’s most serious Self-Sabotage is overfocus on Mentality.  On the other hand, three of the Kites focus on planets in Air Signs.

And veteran readers will already be wondering where the Vacancy is, in today’s Neptune-Station chart Almost-Grand-Sextile. 

A Sextile occurs when two planets are two Signs apart, and it signifies Grace, but “the Native” (that’s what astrologers call the person whose natal chart we’re discussing – in this case since we’re speaking of what’s going on the Sky just now, all of us are “the Native”) has to take the first step to get the Grace flowing.  Co-Creativity, in other words.

A Grand Sextile consists of six planets equally spaced around the Zodiacal Loop, all two Signs apart; it symbolizes Great Symbiotic Grace – but again, us Natives have to Initiate the Projects that we want to Fly.  An Almost-Grand-Sextile is five of these six, leaving a “Vacancy” in the Grand-Sextile. 

As with any Vacancy, it’s up to us to supply the Missing Energy to complete the Configuration and enable the Energy to Flow.  For an Almost-Grand-Sextile, we have two assignments – supply the Initiatory Energy for each of the five Sextiles, and also supply the Missing Energy that will complete the Grand Sextile and remove impediments to Flow.

The Vacancy here is 17 Virgo, “A Volcanic Eruption” – Intense!  Not how we’re used to thinking about Neptune, but then Tsunamis are Neptunian too.  In other words, the Neptune chart is advising that we Don’t Hold Anything Back, even if (or especially if) we have to Express it more violently than we would prefer.

That’s a pretty strong hint that we should talk about the “Shift in our approach to Ego Death” that we mentioned earlier.  This is a Conjunction between asteroids Nemesis (Ego Death) and Lachesis (Conscious Manipulation of Timelines) – Conscious Manipulation of our Timelines around Ego Death in other words. We may be accelerating some, delaying others, and/or Changing the ground rules of the whole ball game.

This Opposes another Conjunction, between Jupiter (Expansion) and asteroid Hopi (Respect for All Things), suggesting that we may be removing Judgment, including Self-Judgment, from our processing of Ego Death.  That would compliment the Conjunction between Sappho (Self-Love) and Uranus (Soul) in the Makemake-Station chart.  That chart is still in effect, as we have to remember to see the weekend’s three events as one, since they’re so close in Linear Time.

So, if an Explosion Destroys Your Ego, Go with it, to see where it leads.  You’ll be Delighted, though wear your shoes and take a broom, as there may be some broken glass to cross first.

Lots left to look at, including the Nemesis-Lachesis Cycle, the Hopi-Jupiter Cycle, and the Sappho-Uranus Cycle, to see what they’re about and what sort of Changes they have in store for us.  We’ll save all that for later today.