Author: Amelia Shea

“I am drivin’
85- in
the kind of mornin’
lasts all afternoon –
Just stuck inside the gloom.

4 more exits to
my apartment
But I am tempted
to keep the car in drive
And leave it all behind.” John Mayer

“Socrates had it wrong; it is not the unexamined but finally the uncommitted life that is not worth living.” William Sloane Coffin

The planet Saturn is associated with gloom and in the old texts an adverse  condition created by Saturn was often diagnosed as melancholia – a precursor to what can be commonly referred to as  depression in contemporary times.

John Mayer, the singer and songwriter, has also written a song  about gravity – another Saturnian force. Saturn governs “the rules of the road” and is what holds our feet to the fire as far as commitments, duties and obligations are concerned. A stressful relationship to Saturn in a natal chart can indicate a person who can get sometimes overwhelmed by the burden of commitments and needs to periodically review the nature of these obligations and evaluate whether the level of commitment is still appropriate or whether some form of adjustment is needed.

John Mayer has a strong Saturn in his chart as well the Moon conjunct Neptune. Moon/Neptune aspects are often seen in the charts of visionaries, mystics and artists. It has a very ethereal nature to it and often seeks to be away and escape from the more mundane, burdensome aspects of everyday life. It can be  prone to addiction if creative and spiritual gifts are not honored and an appropriate outlet provided for them.

In a natal chart a connection between Saturn and Neptune can represent the kind of friction so often present in the lives of artists – as they struggle to put a vision of some kind into form.

We are in a sense entering a new era with Saturn now in Capricorn. It bodes well to take another look at your commitments and whether you provide enough space in that context for your personal life to thrive. Sometimes is can be just a matter of tweaking.

There is a lot of opportunity for accomplishment with Saturn in Capricorn for the next two and a half years or so and there is a very powerful alignment of planets in the chart for the Solstice – making this a very good time for bringing clarity to this area.

One of the Sabian symbols for this placement is,”The human soul, in its eagerness for new experiences, seeks embodiment.”

Sabian symbol from Lynda Hill

 

“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast….
Before I built a wall I’d ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.” Robert Frost 

There is a lot of activity in the starry heavens now as Saturn moves  into the sign of Capricorn Thursday, the day of the Winter Solstice  and Mercury stations direct on Friday.

Saturn moving into Capricorn is a threshold time when it bodes well to pause and reflect. With any initiatives or endeavors that may not have evolved the way you had hoped, it bodes well to review what the plan was – from the intention forward – and look for blind spots or inherent weaknesses.  This process will allow for better planning and implementation going forward.

And speaking of the implementation of well thought out plans  – that is Saturn in Capricorn’s  turf.

With the Mercury station and Saturn moving out of Sagittarius, is an excellent time to consider how your thinking might be improved or expanded.

It is also a good time to review the boundaries you set in your life. Liz Greene the noted Jungian astrologer and therapist, recently published a book about Saturn entitled, Barriers and Boundaries, which resonates with Robert Frost’s line about walling in and walling out. It’s wise to be implementing savvy boundaries for each setting to avoid becoming overly vulnerable or overly guarded.  It helps avoid undue disillusionment or discouragement over the long term.

The Saturn return in an individual’s chart – which occurs roughly every 29 years –  involves taking back power from authority figures. With Saturn’s involvement the less you do this, the more authority figures will take a role in your life. Taking back authority has to do with the implementation of your personal vision as well. This process usually- at least initially –  requires strong personal boundaries for protection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“To change something build a new model that makes the old model obsolete.” Buckminster Fuller

“Saturn lays the tracks for the reality train to follow.” Caroline W. Casey

Uranus, the planet of innovation and of fututristic thinking is strong in the sky this week as the Sun and Venus move up to a harmonious trine with it. Many shamanic traditions hold the belief that there is a stream of information which can come to us from the future. This conflicts with the more widespread belief in our time that information comes from the past.

Uranus has a trickster energy to it and the long held maxim in astrology for Uranus transits  is “expect the unexpected.” With the Sun and Venus involved there is an opportunity to approach life, love, pleasure and abundance from a new  or unexpected perspective. It is wise to be open to any intuitions that come your way in this realm.

Saturn will ingress into the sign of Capricorn – a sign Saturn is very much in sync with – on Dec 19. This will be helpful in terms of creating a very solid foundation for any new initiatives and for proceeding pragmatically with  plans. Do make time your ally.

We are coming up to the time of the Winter Solstice on Dec 21. This marks a powerful time of the year. Maud Gonne, the inspiration for many of William Butler Yeats love poems,  was born at the exact moment of the Winter Solstice, December 21, 1866.  Being born at this auspicious time was  regarded in astrological circles as akin to a “birth time of the gods.” The Irish people believed she was the woman  foretold in Irish history – the “Queen of the Fairies” who would come and preach the revolt and encourage the Irish people to rise up against the British. When she appeared publicly people would kiss the hem of her gown. She was active in saving the lives and homes of many of the Irish people.

One of the Sabian symbols for the Saturn’s ingress into Capricorn is, “A  indigenous chief claims recognition from the assembled tribe.” And one of the symbols for Uranus now is, “The music of the spheres.”

Sabian symbols from Lynda Hill

“Last night as I lay sleeping
I dreampt – marvellous error-
That I had a beehive in my heart
And the golden bees
Were making white combs
And velvet honey
From my old failures.” Antonio Machado

“There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.” Leonard Cohen

Chiron, the asteroid of the Wounded Healer,  stationed direct this week and is now transiting through the late degrees of Pisces. Chiron in mythology brought the knowledge of homeopathic healing to the gods and goddesses and it is often strongly positioned in the charts of healers.

Chiron is associated with fragmentation and an evolutionary process of wounding and healing that can lead towards reclaiming wholeness.  The ancient Peruvian shamanic traditions teach  that when people experience trauma, part of the soul fragments off. The shamans have a ritual for soul retrieval in which they call  back the broken piece- creating increased inner wholeness and harmony.

David Whyte, the author of “The Heart Aroused, Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America” has written about the process of wounding and healing, and has cautioned about becoming overly guarded , rigid or defensive due to painful experiences and instead to work to use them as a tool for increased understanding,  personal  growth and evolution.

Wherever Chiron is placed in an individual’s chart will indicate in which area of life this journey will take place. For instance in the first house it will have to do with identity or the sense of self, in the seventh house it will have to do with relationships, in the eleventh house, personal goals and the community that supports them.

With the Chiron station it bodes well to heed any information that may or may have surfaced recently about this journey in your life and how you would like to evolve it. Also with the Mercury station occuring so close to Saturn and the Galactic Center do heed any info related to how to broaden your horizons. Do honor any aspirations you may have in that area. Saturn  will move into Capricorn mid month and this will provide excellent timing for building pragmatic plans for future initiatives.

The glyph or symbol for Chiron – interestingly enough- is a key. People born with Chiron in Pisces often have a yearning for a type of interconnectedness that they can feel but have trouble finding in the outer world. Pisces is the sign of spirituality, creativity and the imagination.

Chiron stationed at 24 degrees of Pisces and one of the Sabian symbols for that degree is, “The purging of the priesthood.”

“New ways of thinking about familiar things can release new energies and make all manner of things possible.” Charles Handy

“Most humans are not couch potatoes or whiners. We are doers and creators. In fact humans need to “make a dent.” Francis Moore Lappe

It’s a busy time here on planet earth and Mercury retrograde periods provide an excellent time to pause, rethink and reflect with an eye towards renewal.

Over the past week on two different occasions,  people have said to me (in a friendly way) “It’s not important to think about that now.” The retrograde period in Sagittarius provides a good time to look at the way we think about things. With the fast pace of events sometimes more important things are pushed into the background.

The tendency towards fragmentation is high now with the increased pace of communications. In the early computers one of the important instructions for maintenance was to periodically “defrag the computer.” A graphic would come up of a circle with some colored pieces inside but a lot of colored fragments on the ground outside it. When you hit the defrag button all the colored pieces outside would go inside  the circle in a perfect pattern. Like restoring a sense of inner wholeness. Or peace of mind.

The Dalai Lama has written that,”We must  always be thinking about what we are thinking.”

Mercury will station retrograde on December 3 at 29 degrees of Sagittarius and continue its retrograde motion until the direct station on Dec 23 at 13 Sagittarius.

“Have patience and the mulberry leaf will become silk.” Spanish Proverb

This is a busy week in the starry heavens as Mercury slows down to its retrograde station on Sunday December 3 – the day of the Full moon at 11 Gemini.

Mars is transiting opposite Uranus now and this can contribute to a time when tempers are short and irritability is about. Mars, the planet of the warrior god is in the sign of peace, Libra.

It’s best to avoid rushing and do exercise more caution when driving as impulsive actions are more likely under this influence. Also do double check all important info is backed up.

Mercury will station retrograde at 29 degrees of Sagittarius conjunct Saturn One of the Sabian symbols for this time is, ” A splendidly built bridge, a heritage 0f unknown ages, still spans the beautiful and wildly primitive stream.”

Sabian symbol from Lynda Hill.

 

“To go into the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is travelled by dark feet and dark wings.” Wendell Berry

“Though my soul may set in darkness,
It will rise in perfect light.
I have loved the stars too fondly
To be fearful of the night,
Fearful of the night.” Epitaph of Galileo

The Sun recently entered the sign of Sagittarius – the sign ruled by Jupiter which is associated with long journeys – both of the body and of the mind. It is the sign associated with  travel and  higher learning as well as philosophical  systems and personal belief systems.

The Sun’s entry into Sagittarius indicates that we are approaching the Winter Solstice or the “darkest evening of the year” as Robert Frost referred to it. It is common in our time to associate light deprivation with the tendency towards depression and often there is a rush to cure or medicate it.  But depression, like the darkness, has its own purpose and can very often be part of a cycle – the darkest hour before the dawn- before a sense of renewal or rebirth emerges.  Depression or melancholia as they used to call it,  creates  the capacity for increased depth and a more profound understanding of life and its painful nature.

There is something about depression, though,  that can keep perceptions frozen in time which results in living in the past.

David Tresemer the author of the anthroposophical book,  Counseling as if Soul and Spirit Matter, has written, ” It is very important to realize that time is not something that is only flowing from the past into the present and into the future. There is a stream of time that flows from the future into the present. When we are really awake and aware of this stream coming from the future into the present we can then, with our own awareness, see the past differently. It is important to review and redefine the events of the past. How we attach meaning or do not attach meaning to our memories and experiences makes a lot of difference as to how we feel in the present and go forward in life.”

Pluto and Uranus – the duo reflecting the revolutionary times in which we are living, are moving closer to each other once again. This aspect has a long term evolutionary aspect to it and speaks of personal, collective and planetary change.  The Aquarian Age we are now entering  offers the opportunity to create a more compassionate, harmonious and just world through the visionary use of the mind – a mind unhindered by perceptions of the past which are, “set in stone.”

“I looked up when Icarus came down –
But who would notice ?
People are always crashing.” Dashka Slater

“You say he flew too far?
He flew just far enough. He flew precisely
to the point of wisdom.” Dashka Slater

The Moon waxes new  Saturday Nov 18 at 26 degrees of Scorpio. One of the symbols of  the sign of Scorpio is the Phoenix with its legendary ability to “rise from the ashes.”

Alot of the problems we face now in our time have to do with not properly acknowledging  and working with the natural life/death/rebirth cycles that accompany us throughout our lifetimes. This process often involves an ending of some kind and then a time of walking through the darkness of not knowing. When this part of the cycle ends we emerge – like Persephone – with a renewed vision and new aspirations.

Sometimes our aspirations  can be too high – like those of Icarus who flew too close to the sun with his wings of wax and crashed to the ground.  Times like these are an opportunity to understand things from a deeper level and eventually move on with a renewed but wiser sense of our process.

The New Moon in Scorpio provides good timing for moving on like the Phoenix – with renewed vision, courage and increased wisdom.

One of the Sabian symbols of this time is,”Native Americans making camp in new territory.”

Sabian symbol from Lynda Hill

“We tense up where Saturn is in our charts and would remain frozen there if it wasn’t for the transits, which repeatedly knock on the door, suggesting that we face our fears and engage with this great god of time and limitation… Saturn transits give us an opportunity to go back and engage with thresholds we were not able to cross before. To lay old ghosts.” Clare Martin

“Let us be glad for the work that must be done.” Joanna Macy

Saturn is the planet of duty and obligation. It governs our responsibility to ourselves, our personal evolution, our responsibility to others and to the world at large. Saturn will enter the sign of Capricorn on Dec 20  and transit through this sign through 2020. Saturn in Capricorn is about mastery and power. It is wise to keep the idea of service to others and to the world during this time and to keep joy in the doing.

“And the caravan is on its way
I can hear the merry gypsies play,
Gypsy Robin, Sweet Emma Rose
Tell me everything I need to know.” Van Morrison

I was reading an astrology forecast this morning from Eric Linter. He is an astrologer who I knew awhile back when he lived in a rustic stone cabin on a remote, beautiful hillside near a pristine granite quarry. In winter we would skate on the quarry and on hot summer days we would dive off the cliffs and swim there.

As Christmas approached one year and my little daughter was hoping for a dollhouse, Eric built a beautiful one for us. It was three stories high with cedar shingles on the roof, a star carved on the front door and a shiny brass doorknob.

There was always something  kind of magical and mysterious to me  about Eric and his friends that shared the cabin with him. They were a bit nomadic and seemed to be free and in touch with things that were important – a life away from the more burdensome aspects of  contemporary American society.  They each played an instrument and lived close to the earth. There was a woman with two small daughters –  one who had long red hair like her mother.  One day the daughter came home from school and was upset because a classmate had been mean to her. Her mother smiled and said,  “People like that need love.”

In his recent forecast Eric was writing about the Moon conjunct the North Node. In a birth chart this aspect is associated with destiny and life mission and indicates that there will be a lot of twists and turns in getting where one needs to go in this lifetime. Eric’s suggestion about it was,”Live from your joyful essence.” Perhaps the ability to look at life this way is one of the reasons why Eric and his friends seemed so mysterious and wise to me.