Every now and again, I like to play a little game that’s kind of like the astrological version of “Name That Tune” – with as minimal a series of clues as possible, I try to figure out somebody’s Sun sign or another dominant astrological signature in their chart.
Case in point: I recently attended a viewing of the new Star Wars movie, and while I though the rest of the main cast did a perfectly satisfactory job in their roles, the standout performer for me was Adam Driver as the evil Kylo Ren. Which is not all that surprising, as I am fairly Plutonic so like a good villain now and again and do tend to have a pretty good radar for spotting the energy of the Dark Side in others.
It wasn’t until I was waiting in line with another fellow moviegoer to exit the theater and chatting casually with her that I caught the actor’s name since I wasn’t familiar with his body of work, and it was also at this juncture she informed me offhand that he was a former Marine.
Hmmm…played an über villain AND was a Marine IRL, you say? I sense some Plutonic energy there…sounds like Scorpio to me, I thought. I pulled out my phone in order to either confirm or refute my initial suspicion when a cursory search of the intewebz revealed that Mr. Driver is indeed Plutonic; a Scorpio Sun ruled by an extra-powerful Pluto in Scorpio and with Pluto loosely conjunct career-making Saturn!
Yup, I can smell the Dark Side from about a mile away, apparently…I can Name That Sign in just two clues, LOL!
Laughingly, I thought to myself with THAT astrological signature, the dear boy will certainly have to watch out for the possibility of being typecast, as the “Plutonian as Villain” shtick would indeed tend to be a natural fit for him – looks like we have a professional villain on our hands, folks! But perhaps in his next big role, he’ll decide to take on more of an anti-hero role…who knows?
All that aside, I’m thinking the trait of being able to suss out others’ (astrological) energies like this could well be the work of a sharpened Venus/Pluto influence. Plutonic peeps are by nature investigative and energy-responsive anyway, but when I contemplate the quality of Venus added to this I can’t help but think that – on an inner level – we may be particularly able to sense energetic “sameness” in others….what say you?
Regardless of what may have happened during our day, our month, or even our year, I invite everyone reading to join me in starting off 2016 right by collectively shaking off any skanky vibes that may have been absorbed during the course of everyday living. It doesn’t matter what happened last week, yesterday, or this morning…it’s all history, baby! What is important at this very moment is setting and aligning with your intention for the future. What do you want the New Year to be? It doesn’t have to be defined by any static or negativity you may have encountered in the past – you can make it what you want it to be based on the vibe you choose to bring to the table.
So let’s greet the New Year with joy and with optimism. Light a candle, make a wish. Meditate, say some prayers. Burn some incense…smudge yourself and/or your space. Do whatever you need to do at this moment – no matter how small or how great the symbolic gesture – to feel prepared greet 2016 with fresh energy. Let it all go. It’s currently a Virgo Moon over Jupiter and the North Node, so think about ritual ways you might scrub your auric field of any dingy residue to help usher in that better tomorrow. Even literally, perhaps – I myself scheduled a physical and meta-physical housecleaning today, baseboards to ceiling. Not only did I dust, vacuum, mop, organize, etc. but immediately afterward I busted out my cedar smudge stick, lit my jai shri Hanuman incense, and sealed the deal with an energetic cleansing as well. I even laundered my bed linens in lavender-infused water, fanned the thin smoky plume of an artemesia smudge stick over my pillows, and placed a dream pillow handmade by a Mohegan Medicine Man on top of my usual one for peaceful sleep and enhanced dreaming. Tonight before I go to sleep, I plan on anointing my 3rd eye with some Bear Medicine dream oil a shaman friend made for me – it’s going to be AWESOME! 🙂 You don’t have to go to these kinds of lengths, of course – a simple shift in mindset or attitude alone will do wonders. So please join me in shaking it all off and welcoming in the New Year – blessings of peace, prosperity, health, and happiness to you & yours in 2016!
Something that strikes me regarding Saturn’s transit through Sagittarius is the concept of being built on faith – especially when we take into account this planet’s series of squares to a highly-spiritualized Neptune in Pisces. There is something tangible and yet intangible about this energetic pairing that does give the ability to manifest via belief…provided of course we apply the appropriate amounts of planning and elbow grease required to make it so. It can be tricky, though – Neptune’s involvement suggests there is also the possibility of doubt, confusion or a lack of clarity/focus, or even unrealistic visions that may cloud this process.
7 of Cups (upright and inverted) as depicted in the Robin Wood Tarot. This is the traditional “castles in the air” card (note the head in the clouds), with its inverted form being more akin to “wake up & smell the coffee”.
Could it be that we are hoping to build upon something nebulous and ephemeral; a proverbial “castle in the air”? Or might we instead be “Ye of little faith”, discouraged and discounting possibilities because we’ve hit an obstacle somewhere? Back in my December 2014 newsletter, I mentioned one thing Saturn in Sagittarius was sure to do was bring tests of faith one way or the other for the sake of strengthening us. Fortify or weaken, it is our choice…it is time to look at what beliefs we are building on and how they are/aren’t they serving us.
The key under this energy is to set positive but realistic goals – unrealistic, misapplied LOA-type dogma that encourages fantasizing about having that dream job/pile of cash/whathaveyou without actually doing any of the real-world legwork required to procure such lofty ambitions is not the way to go, because a dream without a plan is just a wish. Or, if you prefer: God helps those who help themselves. I feel this theme has particular resonance over the next year with Saturn running over The Great Attractor several times during the next two hits of the Saturn/Neptune square. So let’s not misapply/distort the LOA to mean that we shouldn’t be doing any work to make those dreams a reality, aye?
On the subject of Saturn’s laws and the misapplication of The Law Of Attraction, I should also mention that any ideological framework can be misapplied in a harmful manner even if it *seems* positive – especially while Saturn in Sagittarius & Neptune in Pisces square one another. I have seen this in action firsthand and know all too well exactly what can happen when one reads a few too many self-help books and loses proper context. For example, when we are faced with significant stressors somewhere in our lives, I don’t believe we should just try to wish them away or pretend they don’t exist. My concern with the LOA is that I’ve seen a (rigid) belief in its teachings do serious psychological harm when one bottles up feelings and thoughts they perceive to be “negative” out of concern that “like attracts like” and that talking about their fears, concerns, etc. will somehow only invite more negativity into their life.
When we stuff our very real, very natural feelings down inside like this, judge them as “bad”, and attach a degree of shame or stigma about expressing them, it is totally possible to wind up in a “when the levee breaks” scenario. The result I saw involved someone being hospitalized for what ultimately turned out to be a panic attack, though at the time the party it was happening to didn’t register it as such. The tightness in the chest and difficulty breathing seemed like a legit physical medical emergency given the lack of prior history regarding anxiety attacks, and it was initially suspected these symptoms might have been markers of a heart attack. Thankfully this wasn’t the case, but unfortunately this event did indeed present residual psychological challenges for the person involved, as they were subsequently unable to drive for a number of years afterward. Now tell me that’s healthy…! With Saturn in Sagittarius presently disposed of by Jupiter in Virgo, we do well to apply scrutiny to our belief systems to check to see if there might possibly be anything unhealthy going on. Yes, especially if the LOA is involved since Saturn is hovering around The Great Attractor.
There’s definitely something in the air…an electric sort of twinge that feels awfully familiar. What we are sensing are the energetic effects of Mars in Libra triggering Pluto & Uranus. Every single time Mars has agitated this duo over the last few years, it is a predictable shit storm (yes, that’s a technical term, LOL) – with Mars in Libra, this tends to dredge up its fair share of conflict in relationships, and from those heightened fight-or-flight responses being triggered, it can certainly generate adrenal fatigue as well. I’ve had 3 consults alone in the last 24 hours that were all dealing with the subject of some pretty major relationship upheaval of one stripe or another, so the planets don’t lie.
The resonant theme I keep seeing running throughout, though, is of people not wanting to be alone – how very Mars in Libra. If there’s one thing this placement is desirous of, it’s a companion, but sometimes we can’t fight ultimately going our separate ways – our individual evolutionary journey may in fact depend upon it. Uranus & Pluto are very powerful transpersonal forces, and any time Libra planets get drawn into a T-square with these two it can put a lot of pressure on unions…they either learn how to adapt and move forward, or get stuck in the tar pits of the status quo and wind up extinct. But Mars in Libra’s involvement tends to foretell the individual breaking away from/breaking out of the partnership…our identity as a couple may be inclined to fracture and break when under this kind of strain; especially with Black Moon Lilith nearby and Venus about to submerge into Scorpio, the sign of her detriment.
As I was mulling all of this over, this song suddenly made a very conspicuous appearance out of nowhere; perhaps as if to reinforce my thought process on the matter:
Lyrics:
“I am leaving
This is starting
To feel like
It’s right before my eyes
And I can taste it;
It’s my sweet beginning
And I can tell just what you want:
You don’t to be alone
You don’t want to be alone…”
The Universe never ceases to amuse me…! But it is a beginning, even if it’s an end – we must not lose courage! In my 2016 astro-overview (published in my December newsletter), I wrote of Jupiter going into Libra which is kind of A Big Deal for unions. As I said therein, sometimes to be better together, we must grow separately as individuals – if you want to reap the benefits of a better relationship when Jupiter enters this sign next year, better to clear the decks and be alone to do some hardcore self-development if you know what you have 1) isn’t what you want or 2) isn’t working and is legitimately beyond repair.
I know it can be scary. I know it takes bravery. It is a loss, and loss is never easy. But I will relate a personal anecdote here in saying that something I learned about myself some time ago is that I’d rather be alone than “settle for half a loaf”, as a very wise and kindly Grandmother figure once put it to me. I cried so hard when I heard those words…not because I knew it was over at that exact moment, but because it was so utterly validating to hear that someone completely understood what a massive struggle it had been, and – more importantly – assured me that I wasn’t meant to do this to myself. I also want to say that being alone is not a death sentence – it is an opportunity for us to develop a more intimate relationship with ourselves so that when love does find us again, we are able to have a fuller, more complete understanding of our love nature to have a better, happier partnership.
Life is looking an awful lot like this lately, is it not? I think we can pretty accurately sum up the square between Saturn in Sagittarius and Neptune in Pisces as being one big surreal “Chrono Trigger” moment; complete with alternate timelines and weird portals being stumbled upon in unlikely places. Time is anything but linear under this astrological influence; it loops, bends, and distorts. At any point, we – somewhat like Ebenezer Scrooge – may be visited by Ghosts of Times Past, Present, and/or Future…and not necessarily in that order.
We’ve just gotten our first taste of this square, but have about a year more of it to go…short term, this energy begins to ebb soon yet it will become continually pervasive once again from May through October 2016.
Saturn in Sagittarius square Neptune in Pisces is a tricky bit of business – in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, it seems some politicians are trying to put a stop (Saturn) to the immigration (Sagittarius) of Syrian refugees. That an entire population be judged based on the actions of a few extremists seems so many degrees of prejudicially wrong to me and utterly lacking (more Saturn) in compassion (Neptune). For the love of whatever Deity you prefer, people have just been displaced from their homes in a war-torn country…where is the humanity if we were all to simply turn our backs on them? What if the shoe were on the other foot and it was OUR country undergoing a civil war and WE needed safe haven in a foreign land?
This whole deal just smacks of xenophobia to me – excerpted from my December 2014 newsletter:
“…another Hi-Fi expression of [Saturn’s] passage through Sagittarius could involve better control and management of exaggerated fears; specifically of the things that fall under Sagittarius’ umbrella. This includes (but is not limited to) fear of flying; fear of horses; fears about religion (say of Hell, for example); fear of going away to college or back to college; agoraphobia, or conversely, claustrophobia; and fear of other cultures (xenophobia) or religions.”
The current square between Saturn in Sagittarius and Neptune in Pisces sure is bringing this theme to a head; it seems we are currently resonating with the Lo-Fi end of Saturn in Sagittarius’ energy by letting these exaggerated fears get the better of us – they are being used as an excuse; a cop-out. I’d like to think at some point, though, some sense (or compassion?) will eventually be knocked into us where we’ll get a grip to turn this around and start doing the Hi-Fi end of this placement. Learning to manage these irrationally distorted fears rather than letting them control us is key – our spiritual wellbeing depends on it.
From the same newsletter:
“…sometimes, without realizing it, our life experiences may form the framework of a (negative) bias or prejudice of some kind, and Saturn in Sadge can challenge these kinds of beliefs for the sake of putting a stop to them.
…the Hi-Fi side of this transit is well served by getting a handle on discrimination in all its forms; all the “-isms” of life like racism, sexism, classism, ageism, or whathaveyou. If we’re called on the carpet and held accountable for a bias of some kind during Saturn in Sadge, this is definitely the time to get it in check.”
Well I suppose we could consider this post a callout then, because I’m officially throwing down the “bullshit!” flag on this kind of discrimination. But….
“How did this happen? Who’s to blame? Well certainly there are those who are more responsible than others…and they will be held accountable. But again, truth be told: If you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it; I know you were afraid…who wouldn’t be? War, terror, disease….there were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you…” -V for Vendetta
I do understand the “why” that is driving people to want to close the borders, so don’t get me wrong because in pointing out this apparent shortfall in the compassion and tolerance departments, my intention isn’t at all to downplay the severity of the global events that have hit us right where we are most vulnerable: our sense of safety and certainty. I recognize that right now we are still hanging out in the residue of the tumultuous upheaval that was Uranus Square Pluto. In fact, though this aspect will not perfect again, Uranus & Pluto are indeed closing the gap toward one another as we speak – during the entire month of January 2016, they will be a mere degree away from re-forming an exact square even though it never fully completes. This is still more than enough to radiate energetic shockwaves, however; recent world events serving as astrological proof of this fact. The square between these two planets remains within +-4 degrees of being exact between now & the end of April, so for all intents and purposes this energy should be considered re-activated for the entire duration of this time period.
Getting back to Saturn in Sagittarius and this xenophobia business, I try my best to understand other points of view even when I don’t agree with them – sometimes this is challenging, but if nothing else I try to strive for balance in my perspective. For example, although you may see me decrying the flimsy notion this kind of prejudice will somehow keep us safe (and truth be told, I think in many cases this is actually a thinly-veiled way for people to validate/defend/substantiate/justify their bias), I will also tell you – on the other side of the coin – about what happened when I saw this news clip:
I found it a charming, heartbreakingly sweet and naïve notion that “flowers will protect us” – this is the other end of the Saturn/Neptune Square; the Neptune in Pisces utopian idealism. As beautiful and romantic an ideal as it is, though, it’s not very realistic. I understand that I am probably going to catch hell for saying that, but the astrology absolutely backs it up and I am prepared to stand behind my astrological perspective. See, Saturn squaring Neptune is *the* reality check that bursts the safe, protective little bubble of our ideology and forces us to look at the problems with our philosophy/beliefs/worldviews/etc. rather than deny them. So while this certainly applies to the politicians who think that closing the border to Syrian refugees will make us “safer” (and as the father in this video points out to his son, there are bad people *everywhere*), it equally applies to those who believe that mere “flowers will protect us”. As the child initially protests, “But flowers do nothing” – out of the mouths of babes. We need real-world solutions that deal with our CURRENT reality; not just those that would deal with a reality “as we’d wish it to be”. And the reality is: How do we protect ourselves from terrorism? Do we pull a Chancellor Sutler move à la V for Vendetta by being complicit in invasive mass surveillance? Do we let xenophobia get the better of us and close our borders? Saturn in Sagittarius square Neptune in Pisces unfortunately makes a great Propagandist, good at using illusions for political/ideological goals. This is on ALL sides, from the politicians to the terrorists to the everyman – anyone looking to present a perspective of reality that is, shall we say, cockeyed.
Just think – it’s not even time for the 2016 Election yet. And this square will remain in effect for the next year – can you see the potentially problematic implications this may have for people looking to select their political leadership under such astrological conditions? Three words: Land Of Confusion
I digress, however, from my original point – how do we protect ourselves from terrorism? I do not pretend to have all the answers, but I think we might come a step closer by trying to understand the variety of sociological factors at work that breed these hidden enemies. To this end, I want to make an important distinction in that I see ISIS as very much being a cult; Saturn in Sagittarius symbolizes ideological frameworks and Neptune in Pisces represents a distortion occurring – Neptune in Pisces is where we drink the proverbial Kool-Aid. It is my opinion that we are collectively being challenged to understand the basic structure that goes into making one vulnerable to this kind of ideological framework if we are to to put a stop to it. This is hard to do, though; mainly because it is so foreign to us. But I see the problem as originating from a mis-application of “spirituality”; a rigid and yet twisted interpretation of the supposed “word of god”. And we shouldn’t confuse that to mean we should look at any particular belief system as “the bad guy” here (there is a shit-ton of Islamophobia going around these days, is there not?) – false constructs can exist anywhere in any faith, organized or no. For an equal opportunity example, look at what happened with Christianity during The Crusades, or with those who claimed to be pro-life and yet bombed abortion clinics or murdered those who worked there. There is a definite twisting of morality and ethics occurring when the Ten Commandments dictate “Thou shalt not kill” and yet there are still those who selectively apply this precept. The existence of hypocrisy and double standards are not a phenomena exclusive to any particular faith.
This problem not unique to institutionalized religion, either – I have also seen these same problems occurring within the “spiritual” crowd; i.e. those whose concept of faith is more free-flowing and who don’t necessarily go to church/synagogue/mosque/whathaveyou or subscribe to any particular dogma. There is true Spirituality and then there is pseudo-spirituality – I learned to spot the difference between the two at an early age and see this issue as something that is truly non-denominational. So when I hear people spouting on about how the problem is supposedly “that” country, or “this” particular region of the world, or with “those people’s” religion, I shake my head. Because if anything, the problem lies with those who misuse “faith” as an excuse for escaping moral/spiritual accountability and their ability to hypnotize others into swallowing this homebrew soul cyanide.
It really is no different than brainwashing, and what we need to understand are the variety of factors that go into making someone vulnerable to wanting to merge with these kinds of cults so we can stop it there. In fact, my initial thoughts about “religion” being (mis)used as an excuse for a lack of spiritual accountability seemed further validated by a quick examination of some of the Fixed Stars involved with the Paris attacks – my attention was immediately drawn to Saturn near Acrab in the Scorpion’s head. According to Vivian Robson’s take on this pairing Saturn conjunct Acrab is “cautious, cunning, self-seeking, deceitful, progressive ideas, religious but hypocritical…”. As an interesting aside of further note, he also said that more generally Acrab itself causes “…extreme malevolence, mercilessness, fiendishness…”, while Elsbeth Ebertin – another authority on Fixed Stars – associated this star with “mass casualties”. Meanwhile, I noted the Moon’s North Node dangerously close to Alkaid; AKA “The Destroyer Of Nations”. 😯
But my point in explaining all of this is that I hope we will collectively challenge ourselves and work toward getting away from pointing fingers at those from different cultures, ethnicities, religions, etc. and using these events as, quite frankly, a bullshit excuse to support or defend bias. It is concerning to me, for example, that someone like Donald Trump actually has a shot at the presidential seat – what does his negative rhetoric (and the people supporting it) say about the United States? And I don’t mean to sound unsympathetic toward those who are scared, as I do understand we can’t forgo all sensible cautions either by expecting “the flowers [to] protect us” – indeed, it would be tragic if we were to indiscriminately dole out charity, aid, compassion to someone harboring a hidden, twisted ideological framework that could later be used to betray our kindness like the biblical Judas. Tragic because it is preventable provided we don’t rely on blind faith alone to support us. However, once again as the father in the first video above states “there are bad people everywhere”…even at home. Already – look at Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who had lived in the US for 11 years prior to the incident and who had even been put on a watchlist – looks like someone in the government was derelict in their duties there. So what do we do, then – deport everyone? We are a NATION of immigrants, for crying out loud – how would one even begin to determine who is “safe” and who is “a potential threat”? There has to be a balance; a way to help those who most need it without letting our guard totally down…..a way to manage and control irrational, exaggerated fears and a way to have checks and balances in place for the benefit of all so that our good faith and tender hearts also don’t inadvertently wind up causing our own undoing.
Almost a year ago in that same December 2014 newsletter, I said that Saturn in Sagittarius will bring us tests of faith – boy, is it ever. And I think if there were ever a time for all the religious leaders of the world to unite together as one singular voice and denounce anything, it would be now and it would be to speak out strongly against the paradigm of “justified” killing of any stripe so there will eventually be no more “killing in the name of”.
In part 1 of this series, I spoke of how Pluto in Capricorn represents the concept of something deteriorating over time. When a planet or personal point in our chart is touched by this placement, things don’t just fall apart on us “all of the sudden” – it’s gradual and slow; ostensibly because of the gravitas attached to this transformational process. When a termination occurs under Pluto in Capricorn, it’s not uncommon for it to be a drawn-out, prolonged sort of demise – the blessing in this is we have ample time during this transitional state to put our ducks in a row and prepare for the new reality or “new normal” that awaits us on The Other Side so it’s less of a shock to the system. A planned ending or extraction may indeed come into play; possibly one that runs on a delay while all the proper elements/steps are calculated, organized, and then systematically executed. For the transformation of Pluto in Capricorn isn’t likely to be quick or easy; it is hard, time-consuming work that is often fraught with obstacles, so we may need to take our time. If we are spiritually inclined, this may be an instance where petitioning Ganesha – the tusked pachyderm deity known as the Remover of Obstacles in the Hindu pantheon – may come in handy.
A statuette of Ganesha courtesy of the Walters Art Museum.
I should also speak to another important facet of Pluto-in-Capricorn endings, as they’re apt to be very matter-of-fact. Capricorn’s energy has the effect of minimizing the potential trauma attached to this ordeal so it’s more of an “Alright, let’s get on with it” kind of thing where we handle the situation an adult manner instead of kicking and screaming about it. Anything that dies on Pluto in Capricorn’s watch should be looked at as legitimately non-functional, and while a post-mortem autopsy as to the cause(s) may prove useful, the expiration may have been more or less anticipated for some time thus dialing down the drama-factor considerably. When we’ve seen it coming and/or know that normal life expectancy has more or less been reached in a situation, it can be considerably less upsetting/tragic. The Hi-Fi use of this energy handles endings maturely; seeing no practical good in making them any harder than they need to be and preferring instead to conserve energy for rebuilding.
On that note, picking up where I left off re: this placement’s capacity for “constructive destruction”, I think of it as a “controlled implosion” similar to the demolition of the old hotels and casinos along the Vegas Strip. Capricorn is the Architect and Master Builder, and if the metaphorical footings are rotten or a structure is obsolete in our lives, building code dictates that it’s going to have to come completely down if a new skeleton is to be erected in the footprints of What Once Stood Before. We cannot simply piecemeal things together – we have to scrap it and rebuild, but the RIGHT way! As I alluded to earlier, it is a systematic overhaul, and these kinds of things are never overnight.
When Pluto in Capricorn touches a planet or point in the nativity, sometimes instead we are able to salvage something that is still useful to us or that can be repurposed…this may simply be the “life lessons” we’ve distilled by experiencing this process of disintegration. But in cases where a full razing isn’t required, it is important to take our time reinforcing the weak areas that have been degrading in order to build them up from the inside out – consider this metaphor in a psychological context as well. I would say that in certain cases, the destruction of Pluto in Capricorn may indeed be preventable, but the problem is preventative maintenance is often let go with this placement so that whatever has fallen into disrepair eventually goes off the rails completely. A failure to hit the brakes before this point-of-no-return can absolutely prove fatal, so when we see fissures appearing in the walls the keynote is to stop and address them because they’re not just cosmetic and more than likely indicate a severe underlying issue.
Whether we start over on more solid underpinnings or are able to arrest the process of deterioration in its tracks with the aid of some heavy restructuring, it’s important that any demo work be done carefully and respectfully. Something *has* to come down when Pluto in Capricorn touches our chart, but by handling the teardown process responsibly and with honor, we set the right energetic precedent for the “rebuilding” part of the equation. In some respects the moment we stop resisting the letting go process the reconstruction can already be considered underway, because it’s all about eliminating stale, locked-up energy; especially that which has somehow become ingrained in the status quo. And holding space for this to unfold in due time is important, because a quality restoration matters.
I have already touched upon the “delusion-busting” potential of the approaching square between Saturn in Sagittarius and Neptune in Pisces in a previous post, but now it’s the “illusion-busting” part I want to focus on today as this certainly is a key and pervasive theme we’ll see playing out over the next year while the energy of this square is active. Soooooo on that note, remember how I said in my October newsletter that we would start seeing the effects of the approaching Saturn/Neptune square by the end of October even though this formation wouldn’t be exact until late November? Well almost right on cue, it appears we have been given Exhibit A: The recent news surrounding young social media maven Essena O’neill.
Essena is a 19 year old Australian girl who was, until very recently, a rising star of Instagram, Youtube, etc.. Just a few days ago she made headlines for abruptly decrying how “Social media is not real life” through exposing the illusory nature of her carefully crafted Instagram pics et al and then subsequently quitting social media. If you really want to get a clearer feel for this astro-energy, do an internet search of her name and read some of the news stories concerning this hoopla.
If you hadn’t heard of her up until now, don’t worry because neither had I. I am by no means a pop-culture junkie, but I do find it useful to attune myself to it on occasion purely for the purposes of more clearly illustrating the workings of key astrological energies. And when this story floated up to my consciousness, all I saw was the Saturn/Neptune square in action. The tearful video explaining the pressure that she felt to project herself a certain way, the selfie she took and re-captioned “THERE IS NOTHING REAL ABOUT THIS”….one key thing this square does is distort our perception of reality, and it appears Miss O’neill is tired of it all and wants to “keep it real” so to speak. The effects of this square are a lot like a record scratch; a sudden and full stop where the music suddenly cuts out. Or a buzzkill – pick your metaphor. The point is this square represents a time where we can and should expect the Great and Powerful Oz to be exposed as simply being “the man behind the curtain” – he isn’t really a wizard and certainly shouldn’t be anyone’s guru/messiah (more to come on that line of thought later)…it is only an illusion. Or perhaps more accurately: a projection based upon what we WANT to believe. But if and when it doesn’t serve our Highest Good to believe in a False Prophet, rest assured the energies of this square will help to provide us with a little reality check.
Now there is a flip to Essena’s story in that many are calling it a publicity stunt. The point is not whether it is or it isn’t; the point is there absolutely IS a kernel of Truth in her message regardless under the Saturn/Neptune Square.
Virgo – the sign of health and wellness – has been quite supercharged lately! Jupiter arrived in this sign for a year-long tour (see excerpt from my newsletter) back in August, but more recently the planet has also been joined by asteroid Hygiea, Mars, and even Venus! The long and short of it = our wellbeing is (and had been) a pretty big running theme as of late, and with Jupiter’s energy anchoring this whole collection of planets I think it important to take a macro, more holistic view of things rather than just focus on the typical Virgo nuts-and-bolts of diet, nutrition, and exercise alone. Things get a little more “woo-woo” anyway with these planets making oppositions to both Neptune and Chiron in Pisces, so our viewpoint on health matters benefits from looking at health in a more spiritual context as well. Pisces, as the polarity of Virgo, is a more restorative energy than its busy bee counterpart, and we bring our bodies into better balance by also incorporating complimentary practices for healing and wellness that are more reflective and still in nature. Solitude, meditation, yoga, cultivating a connection with The Divine, focusing on good quality sleep, and even reflexology (which deals with the feet; a Pisces keynote) are favored at this time.
On that note, I decided to make a reflexology appointment the other day. In conversing with my reflexologist, I found myself quite intrigued by how the feet serve as a map for the body’s various systems and internal organs, from the pituitary gland to the spine, liver, and even the lymphatic system. There are corresponding “points” in the feet for EVERYTHING, and her gentle touch served to both relax and to also stimulate all the internal mechanisms of my body that nutrition and exercise alone couldn’t reach.
The health of our feet can say so much – in Western society, we tend to get hung up on aesthetics rather than look at their appearance as possibly being a helpful diagnostic tool in assessing the potential for certain imbalances within the body. For example, if you have calluses, what points in the body do they correspond to on a reflexology chart? Your spine? Your parathyroid? Maybe it’s not just your shoes or your gait that are causing them…perhaps your body is trying to “protect” these areas with extra skin because the organs they correspond to in the body might be weak or injured for some reason? What about the dreaded cracked heels – do we possibly have some lower back issues and/or are we potentially deficient in Fatty Acids? If we REALLY want to get woo-woo with it, could those cracked heels actually be a sign of a Root Chakra issue? Perhaps some underlying security fears exist and may need to be addressed and there might be some asanas we could also do to help out on that front.
Now I’m obviously neither a doctor, nor a reflexologist, nor do I specialize in medical astrology. But I always find it interesting to examine the subject of health in a more holistic multi-dimensional sense, even if this includes using a more abstract point of view from time to time. So why not use the energy of this Virgo stellium to take a look at YOUR tootsies? Non-judgmentally reflect upon their condition and try to figure out if there’s something they might be trying to tell you about the state of your health?
Have you ever had the surreal experience of seeing somebody that you “used to know” from afar? Time and distance causing their familiarity to erode and making them virtually unrecognizable to you, almost as if they had been a complete stranger? And I don’t mean the physical appearance changing so much; rather that the path of your soul’s development and theirs seems to have diverged so widely for so long there is a profound disconnect where barely even a dim spark of recognition can be made. It’s as if you are worlds…or perhaps oceans…apart.
It is a strange thing indeed, like stepping into some sort of temporal vortex.
On that note, speaking of time warps – I am considering the phrase “Use Your Illusion” (referencing of course the Guns N’ Roses albums of the same name) an appropriate and totally relevant theme for the approaching Saturn/Neptune Square. Astro-geeks will appreciate knowing the first album was recorded as Neptune and Saturn were conjunct in Capricorn. Fast-forward 26 years and here we are with these two planets squaring one another from Pisces and Sagittarius, respectively – echoes of the past haunting the present…
or refute my initial suspicion when a cursory search of the intewebz revealed that Mr. Driver is indeed Plutonic; a Scorpio Sun ruled by an extra-powerful Pluto in Scorpio and with Pluto loosely conjunct career-making Saturn!
EmpoweredDestiny.com 