Aquarius
I write this from my front porch, listening to Bull Creek as it tumbles down from the Grapevine Ridge and makes its way into the Big Ivey. Trout rise to a mid January fly hatch and the wind blows in warm crazy fits and gusts strong enough to blow your hat off into the ditch. Warm January days are not terribly rare here in the Blue Ridge, but they are uncommon enough to raise a sense of joy and poetry. The ridges rip the wind up into pieces and each successive gust breaks lovingly, violently as a big wave might break on the rocky shore. Trees bend and you lean into this passionate weather while huge grey dragons scud overhead promising rain this afternoon, snow tonight. The sweet smell of rolled hay and unharvested pumpkins left to turn sweet mush in the fields comes in through the nose and drums out straight down through the feet into the good wet earth. Hot damn, I’m glad to be alive.
The Big Picture
Winters can be tough. It is in these coldest times of the year when the positive traits of Aquarius shine the brightest. The pure self-expression which began in Aries becomes partner oriented in Libra. Aquarius represents the next expansion, social concerns. Helping your neighbor jump-start his car on a bitterly cold morning, or seeing that the elderly woman next door is staying warm and well provisioned are common expressions of humanitarian Aquarius.
February 2nd is my favorite holy day of the year. It’s astrologically significant because this day marks the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. For those of us who have seen many hard mountain winters while living simply without relying on fossil fuels or the established corporate power grids this day marks the middle-point of our cold winter weather. If your woodpile is less than half gone now you’ll surely make it to spring.
For pre-industrial agrarian cultures in the northern hemisphere this day was celebrated by various forms of augury or divination using animals. The divination usually involved haruspexion which describes the examination of animal behavior and in particular the entrails of the sacrificial livestock to predict the duration and severity of winter weather.
We continue this ancient tradition in a more humane form today by watching the ground hogs scurrying in and one of their holes. February 2nd is known by many different names in different languages, most of which are not pronounced as they are written using the English alphabet. I’m happy to call it Ground Hog’s day. Halfway through winter, we look forward to the flowing of the force that through the green fuse drives the flower and the budding branch.
The New Moon turns on February 2nd at 14 degrees of Aquarius at 9:31 EST. All New Moons are a time for new beginnings. New concepts of an innovative sort are favored by this air element lunation. Mars and Saturn are strongly connected, suggesting a good time to initiate detailed work toward specific goals where we can expect incremental increase as we discipline ourselves to focus on the practical issues at hand. In one old traditional Celtic system this lunation is called the “Moon of Diamond Ice.” Family disputes over property may cloud the air due to the position of Pluto. The challenge will be to rise above our ego based desires and work out that which is in the interest of the greater good. Some lunations cover a lot of ground during their cycle; not so with this one. Things will move forward slowly, perhaps with some delays, and some focused attention to little details will be the best strategy.
Mercury is moving a bit slower than usual now. The Quicksilvered Messenger Walks out of earthy Capricorn and enters Aquarius on the 3rd.Mercury relates not only to the rational mind, but also to business affairs. In Capricorn, Mercury is pragmatic and often conservative. On Aquarius, there is more of a tendency to innovate. Frequently we may find serendipity by following our hunches. The feeling of synchronicity in little strokes of luck will indicate we are going about things in a productive way. Mercury stays in Aquarius until the 21st, when the cusp of Pisces is encountered and feelings become mixed with our mental content, causing some confusion if we are attached to a purely thought oriented way of making decisions.
Venus, Our Lady of Romance and Harmony, is also moving a bit slower than usual. Venus dances into Capricorn on delicate feet on the 4th day of the month. When dealing with Venus the basic idea is; where she goes there also goes love, affection, and sometimes money. Folks with planets in Capricorn should beware of Cupid’s often fickle arrows mixed in with the twists and turns of ordinary fortune.
On February 17th, the Sun conjuncts Neptune. Neptune tends to foil our attempts to promote our own agenda. There are times to help others with no expectation of any great rewards for ourselves. This three day period is such a time.
The Sun enters Pisces on the18th this month. Pisces is a very flexible water sign with a wide variety of influences depending on our level of personal integrity. Creativity is melded with strong emotional issues. The higher sensory perceptions are sharpened as we feel our way somewhat foggily through life’s encounters. Some may feel the need to escape ordinary life, resulting in spiritual retreat or perhaps alcohol or drugs. More on Pisces next month.
This month’s Full Moon occurs with the Moon in the last degree of Leo as the Sun occupies the complementary degree of Aquarius. The time will be 3:36 am EST on February 18th. Full Moons tend to be a point of culmination. Some issues which began in the first week of the month may come to a head now. Some things may be resolved or successfully completed while other engagements will show definite promise as we see forward motion towards our final goals. Decisions will be made involving just how much we are willing to sacrifice to those with whom we are engaged in social intercourse. There may be some confusion as to just where we stand on some important issues, but we will see things more clearly as a few days pass. This is not a good time to sign legal documents or to commit to important investments, whether of money or personal energy. Wait a week or so and the real situation will become clear.
The most significant alignment this month is the square between Jupiter and Pluto on the 25th. Occurring once about every fifteen years or so, we have here a challenge to balance two disparate forces within the personal psyche and in the world at large. This alignment usually changes lives and leaves footprints in the sands of history. There is no specific duration to this alignment. Events seem to begin happening about a week before the day of the exact 90-degree square between the planets. The effects of the changes coincidental with this period can last a lifetime.
On a personal level, Jupiter represents the expansive quality of the psyche, often manifesting through religion and law as we seek to build a decent and comfortable society wherein personal meaning supports the common good. The religious factor is usually represented by established religious structures and beliefs. Jupiter seeks to provide us with a reason to get up in the morning to find prosperity and wholesome goodness in our lives as we integrate into the existing societal structures.
On a social level, Jupiter is the soup kitchen at the Presbyterian rectory or the Mosque that hands out jugs of clean water in a city where the basic infrastructure has yet to be rebuilt. There is a sense of security in congregation with organized religion and law. Jupiter doesn’t seek mystical enlightenment so much as a meaning within the collective.
Enter Pluto, God of the Underworld. Pluto is unfathomable. Pluto is the primitive instinct of the collective conscious and the desire of the Emersonian Oversoul. This outermost planet cares not for the ego, rather is concerned with the tremendous power of transformation, even when this transformation must be preceded by decay, collapse, or painful disaster. Evolution is the name of the game, and if some things must pass away in order for a new phase to manifest, so be it. Pluto ignores society’s conventions and its process is inexorable. Pluto confirms the balance of power in our world. The white light of the New Age ascensionist, or of the Christ, or Buddha, Allah, or Krishna shall never surpass the rip of the razor edged claw of the Great Horned Owl in the black dark of the witching hour as it painfully tears at the liver of the squealing hare. Half of the time on our planet we live in darkness. If we do not dance with our own demons and embrace our own personal hell we shall not evolve in a balanced fashion.
The problem is that we associate white and light with “good” and black or darkness with “bad.” People with light skin and blue eyes are seen as “desirable and civilized.” Folks with black skin are seen as primitive and dangerous as we project our own repressed sexual desires and our negative thoughts of violence onto them. The philosophy of Taoism sort of has the right idea. Darkness and light are forever balanced. Concepts of “good” or “evil” are human delusions, usually based on whatever our personal ego desires at the moment of judgment. This is the gift forced upon us by Plutonian energy.
On a broader level, Pluto rules wealth and power, especially all wealth which comes from underground. Think diamonds, gold, silver and emeralds. Think of OIL and all fossil fuels, the greatest providers of wealth and power in the world today. Plutonian power is not meant to be connected with the personal ego. This is the great error of the industrial revolution and of the times in which we live.
The “square” aspect in astrology indicates the respective qualities have come to a place of imbalance. Action is necessary to correct this.
As these qualities represented by Jupiter and Pluto collide in the personal psyche, there is often a strong compulsion to transform oneself and the world as well. This usually is a genuinely good intention but may in some cases be misguided. Pluto is not meant to be attached to our personal desires. There is an imperative to include as many others as possible in our concerns for positive change. Otherwise, we may think we have all the answers as to how to make the world a better place for everyone. Here the energy may be perverted by its connection to our ego drives into many unsound variations as we try to change others “for their own good.” The dark epitome of this phenomenon can result in such a thing as Hitler’s desire to cleanse the earth of “genetically inferior” people so as to create a race of Uber Menchen.
As always, this alignment will have a strong effect on some of us while others will barely feel it. This is due to the nature of the planets in your birth chart.
In the terms of Transpersonal Psychology a regression of the ego in the service of self individuation is necessary. Evolution is not a constant equation. There are ups and downs in everyone’s life. The ego as self is dissolved to make way for a new, more complex personhood. In some instances the egoic self will crash to the dynamic ground of being. There is an ontological encounter with the symbolic Great Mother, activating the primal Oedipus complex. The subconscious matrix may be experienced in several different symbolic forms, ranging from the Medusa, who turns the heart to stone, to the Aphrodite (Eros) symbol, to the Athena aspect. The term Great Mother represents the dynamic ground of pre-egoic self awareness. In successful encounters wisdom is gained along with a basic awareness of our connection with the earth as our environment. The result is a heightened concern for preservation of natural resources and a new sense of meaning in life.
Great strides in the area of personal growth are possible if we maintain a connection to our “creaturehood” and give up the striving for some perfect or finished state of enlightenment (whatever that is). We must let some of our beliefs die away.
Don’t resist negative emotions, as this represses them. Follow your negative or angry thoughts to their conclusion and you will confront deeply held beliefs that limit your capacity for living a joyful, vigorous life. Forget trying to be good. Get into a funk; embrace depression; be angry, and learn the reasons for these feelings in yourself. Don’t follow anyone’s idea of sainthood or righteousness. Just be who you are and love yourself.
Forget perfection. We are always changing. To say that the process of change is perfect is just a talking head logic trick. Allow yourself to be broken down so you may put yourself back together in a new way. Pluto works through the process of decay and destruction followed by transformation. If you strongly embrace this process, a “Dark Night of the Soul” may be encountered. Be patient. The Sun also rises, and darkness can be part of your strength.
Without the process of regression of the ego in the service of transcendence, a compulsive desire may drive you to try to change the world to suit your personal picture of perfection. This will be resisted by external forces and may lead to dramatic power plays or ruthless opposition. The above description may manifest on a geo-political level as well as on a personal level in the coming months.
Globally, religious and cultural mores may resist the pressing needs of imperialist expansion and control of natural resources. Keep an eye on the Middle East where the on going complicated chess game over control of oil reserves driven by corporate greed meets with local resistance. The people call this a struggle for national, religious and cultural survival. The powers from foreign lands call it insurgency and insurrection.
If government officials use their free will to employ the positive possibilities indicated in the Pluto/Jupiter alignment, there is hope for peace negotiations. This will demand tolerance and the regression of greed in the service of world peace. This process is analogous to the need to allow egoic regression in the service of transcendence. Much good can come during this period if we apply the old cliché of giving peace a chance. It eases the heart to hold to hope.
Key words for Aquarius are friendly, original, intuitive, broadminded and helpful.
New Moon is on February 2nd at 9:30 PM EST @ 13 degrees of Aquarius
Full Moon is on February 18th at 3:35 AM EST @ 29 degrees of Leo
