Are you The Captain of Yourself?
As we begin September, we once again enter eclipse season. This is the time of year when the Sun, Moon and Earth all dance on the same plane and so align with each other. The partial lunar eclipse on August 18th just skimmed the Earth's shadow, but this solar eclipse is very close to the lunar nodes and so there will be an annular eclipse of the Sun, meaning there will be a ring of fire around the Moon. It will be visible mostly in the southern hemisphere, but as always, all of us will be affected by the disruption of energy flow from the Sun to Earth. This gives us another chance to re-align ourselves with new intentions and new energy.
The lunar nodes move through the signs every year and a half or so. The South Node shows us what we have to leave behind. With the South Node (SN) in Pisces, we have to leave behind our addictions, our feelings of victimization and martyrdom, our illusions and delusions. With the SN conjunct Neptune, it's time to release old wounds and old fantasies that no longer serve our collective evolution. It is both a personal and collective call for releasing the soul toxins that keep us stuck in a morass of 'could have beens' and 'should have dones', of guilt and shame. Pisces symbolizes Jung's Collective Unconscious, the brooding sea of our collective soul, which has been traumatized by millennia of war, domination and brutality. It is also the place of our redemption, allowing us to feel each other's pain and understand each other's needs.
The North Node (NN) is the place we have to develop, an energy that can heal the South Node's wounds and pain. The NN in Virgo calls us to develop a few things. First, it calls us to integrate our body, soul and spirit, becoming virginal or as my youngest, Virgo son once told me, “I am the captain of myself, mommy!” To be a virgin means to belong to yourself, to acknowledge and live out your own original being. Second, the Virgo NN calls us to service. That means that our gifts, our talents and our purpose here on Earth are meant to be shared with the world. While our SN addictions can make us selfish, our NN integrity can make us self-less, meaning we no longer have to live in the singular universe of 'I am' but can allow ourselves to gather in a universe of 'we are'. We are in this together. The Virgo NN takes the Pisces SN sufferings seriously. It's time to do something!
The Piscean pain and suffering we see in the world isn't just a matter of human suffering, but of Mother Earth's suffering, of the animal kingdom’s suffering. The Virgo call to service is alive and well in many places right now, as African refugees in Italy work to help earthquake victims, as firefighters battle raging wildfires in the American west and as our Native brothers and sisters work to protect Mother Earth's sacred waters and land in North Dakota. These spiritual warriors are taking a stand for Mother Earth, against the greed and insanity of the corporate machinery. We need to listen to our Native people, who still acknowledge their connection to Mother Earth. They know this is a time of choice, a time when we have to stand up for Mother Earth and each other. The keeper of the sacred White Buffalo Calf pipe calls on each of us to realize that we are on the brink of destroying Mother Earth's capacity to heal herself. The healing has to begin within each of us so that we can work together to heal the Earth for our children.
Ancient astrologers called Virgo a 'barren' sign, meaning nothing can grow. But this is so wrong! Virgo is the sign of the Virgin, a being who 'belongs to herself'. Virgin forests are full of Life, just as being virginal means we're full of potential. Virgo is the sign of the Mother goddess who gives life to the world, symbolized in many statues of Isis and Horus, Mary and Jesus. Virgo is the sign where we realize that potential in the world. This is the harvest of being Virginal. The alchemical vessel which transmutes unconsciousness into spiritual awareness, where we manifest the truth of our being.
Isis—ancient Goddess of the magic of the Word and so very dishonored by us calling those Islamic terrorists by Her name—brought knowledge and wisdom to humankind through her humility, perseverance and healing abilities. This is Virgo's true purpose. How can we all serve the greater good and help heal our world? Look at your chart to see where this Virgo New Moon solar eclipse occurs. It will give you a clue to where this new life wants to take hold.
Once again, please remember that we are still holding space for the powerful Uranus/Pluto square of 2012-15, which challenges us to find our unique role and do our part in transforming a deadly version of society that is poisoning the Earth, killing animals and people, and is only concerned with domination and power. This is the end of patriarchy—the rule of the Fathers and the white race—and it isn't going down easily. All myths about patriarchal fathers show us that they'd rather eat their own children than die themselves. This vision of life is so afraid of dying that it would rather kill off the world than die itself. And so, it is up to us to kill it by taking away its power.
Virgo Solar Eclipse 2016
The Virgo Solar Eclipse occurs on Thursday, September 1, 2016 at 2:03am PDT/ 5:03am EDT/ 9:03am GMT.
The Sabian symbol for the Sun and Moon at 10* Virgo is: Two heads looking out and beyond the shadows. This interesting image seems to indicate that if we use both our heads/brains we can see beyond the shadows and find a unity within ourselves. This represents our two brains—head and heart, right and left sides of the brain, our intuitive, feeling wisdom along with our rational, intellectual knowledge. The need to see beyond the shadows of our culture and our personal lives into the real issues that face us.
Besides the Sun and Moon, we have the North Node, Jupiter and Mercury retrograde in Virgo. So we know this is part of our collective destiny now to become a disciple—a learner, a discerner, an analyzer. Mercury turned retrograde on Tuesday, August 30th at 9:04am EDT/6:04am PDT until September 22nd. So Mercury will be in Virgo from July 30 to October 7, energizing our analytical mind and helping us discern what we need to do. The Sabian symbol for Mercury retrograde at 30* Virgo is: Totally intent upon completing an immediate task, a man is deaf to any allurement. This image shows us the total concentration needed to achieve a spiritual goal. So Mercury will be working for us these next few months. If you meditate, you will find what you seek.
With Virgo's traditional ruler, Mercury retrograde, joining Jupiter again in the evening sky (along with Venus), we get to see the beauty and power of the cosmos speaking to us of what we need to do now. Can we let go of a false sense of separation from Mother Earth, the cosmos and each other? Can we change our materialistic view of the world and instead engage in the wonder, beauty and mystery of the life we've been given? When our hearts overflow with wonder at the beauty all around us, how can we not acknowledge a deeper, more spiritual vision of life?
A New Moon is a time when the Sun and Moon join together; a solar eclipse is a special New Moon when we get to release old habits, emotions and beliefs so something new can be planted within our psyches. This solar eclipse becomes part of the ongoing Saturn in Sagittarius waning square to Neptune in Pisces, which challenges us to leave behind old beliefs, addictions and illusions of separation and find a way to incorporate the needs of the many with the needs of the individual. Mr. Spock knew it was only through that selfless sacrifice of our petty needs that we can be rebirthed into a larger vision of life.
With this New Moon's inclusion in the Saturn/Neptune square, we now have what's called a T-Square: the New Moon is opposite Neptune and square Saturn. This aspect creates more tension than the square, putting Saturn at the point of greatest tension. Saturn in Sagittarius, along with Mars, generates the energy we need to stand up for Truth—or if unconscious, the mistaken beliefs that drive us to act aggressively and with 'righteous anger'.
When the Sun squares Saturn, we are challenged to become our own authority, otherwise someone or something else will BE that authority over us. We can fall into doubt and insecurity about what we want and what we believe. It's a question of believing we are worthy of the life we want. When the Moon squares Saturn, we can fall into fear and denial, since the Moon is about our unconscious belief in ourselves and what's possible. Or Saturn can give structure to our dreams and hopes, and give us the focus we need to accomplish things.
When the Sun opposes Neptune we often have an unrealistic and confused sense of who we really are and what we want. Or we can be infused with Spirit and know that there is magic in the Unknown that supports us. When the Moon is opposite Neptune we receive information unconsciously that either supports our spiritual growth or increases our delusions. We are extra sensitive to everything and everyone around us, and might want to escape into fantasies. Or it can open up our imagination so we can visualize a bigger life and purpose.
This ongoing Saturn in Sagittarius square to Neptune in Pisces is approaching its third and final square on September 10th . The T-Square insures that we integrate the Truth of our beliefs into our everyday life. It helps us shed our fear-based beliefs that our society, our family, our religions and our educational system have controlled us with.
The Sabian symbol for Saturn at 11* Sagittarius is: In the left section of an archaic temple, a lamp burns in a container shaped like a human body. I'll bet that human shape is female. The left side is the feminine side and containers symbolize the feminine. Once again, we are urged to open to our intuitive, feminine light.
The Sabian symbol for Neptune at 11* Pisces is: Men travelling a narrow path, seeking illumination. The quest for enlightenment is often a masculine task, so for men and our rational, left brain. The enlightenment really comes from the flame in that feminine container. That's why the quest for the Holy Grail is a masculine task. It is the search for the feminine source of Life.
These two symbols find their resolution in the symbol for the Solar Eclipse degree. We have to balance head and heart, letting the heart lead the way. This will lead us to great spiritual awareness and the world to a more compassionate vision. We have to develop a more holistic vision of the world, which includes embracing the magical and mystical aspects of life.
Jupiter ends his journey through Virgo on September 9th, entering Libra at 7:18am EDT until October 10, 2017. He will bring his expansive, curious, spiritual energy to our relationships, engendering a truly fair and balanced awareness about how we relate to each other and the world.
Enjoy the energies of the Eclipse.
My mind was a mirror -- Ernest Hyde
My mind was a mirror:
It saw what it saw, it knew what it knew.
In youth my mind was just a mirror
In a rapidly flying car,
Which catches and loses bits of the landscape.
Then in time
Great scratches were made on the mirror,
Letting the outside world come in,
And letting my inner self look out.
For this is the birth of the soul in sorrow,
A birth with gains and losses.
The mind sees the world as a thing apart,
And the soul makes the world at one with itself.
A mirror scratched reflects no image —
And this is the silence of wisdom.
~ Ernest Hyde ~
(Spoon River Anthology)
