In 1936 a not-yet-famous Tennessee William sat in the audience of Ibsens’ play “Ghosts.” But he didn’t sit for long. The play soon moved him so much that it moved him straight out of his seat and he had to pace up and down in the back aisle.
This Thursday the 11th, we have a New Moon in Aquarius, the sign of the Water Bearer, the sign of us, of human beings, with full potential to feel things and allow ourselves to be moved.
You can practically see movement in Aquarius’ glyph of two wavy lines.
Einstein said, “Nothing happens until something moves. When something vibrates, the electrons of the entire universe resonate with it. Everything is connected.”
Most of the planets in the sky are currently buzzing in Aquarius. Uranus, the planet associated with Aquarius is in the self-sustaining sign of Taurus, along with Mars, resonating like a Tibetan singing bowl over the rest of the buzz.
Taurus, often associated with money, is also the notion of taking stock in something. Just think what would have not happened if Tennessee Williams put no stock in the emotion that propelled him off his seat.
What has been moving you lately? Anything worthy of taking stock in? Anything worthy of cultivating?
The movement you feel might be strong enough to propel you off your seat, but it also might be more subtle. A special shift, and all of a sudden some chemicals inside stir. Maybe you feel a quickening of energy. Maybe the other side of the universe feels it too!
The movement of Aquarius’ wavy lines hint at the magic of feedback loops, always at work in the present moment.
Alfred North Whitehead said “What we perceive as the present is the vivid fringe of memory tinged with anticipation.”
That sure adds a dose of dynamism to the moment! The fringe of memory and the tinge of anticipation, fringe and tinge! Vibrating sounds, vibration abounds!
These feedback loops show the logic of an optimistic attitude (i.e don’t let that fringe sabotage the tinge and vice versa!) Such a correspondence also shows the grand potential of letting art, love, or anything else move us.
The planet of future moves forward today in Taurus, the sign of value, after having been retrograde since mid August.
Uranus has been called the Great Awakener. These awakenings are born from a kind of shaking, a moving, a turbulence, or perhaps a strange moment of wonder that renders us back to a freshness as a beginner.
The past year has shook the entire globe up into a collective new reality. The question is, from such a change, what is the future of value itself?
Is there a future where wellbeing is deemed more valuable than money? What would such a future look like? John Lennon painted such a future, from his imagination outward. When he said he was not the only dreamer, he understood full well the joy of the beginner. Embracing what is fresh, and yet to be.
Uranus is the planet of future because it is the essence of yet to be. In Taurus we tie in an element of goodness. Taurus is the kinds of response we prefer to hold on to, to constitute ourselves, to be secure and strong. Be it food, thought, relations, environment, tradition, habit, what have you. Taurus uses whatever it can to continue to constitute itself and make itself strong.
The future lives in every moment, as we are free to shake off the imposing qualities of the immediate past (as philosopher Alfred North Whitehead talks about) and create something new with a “bid for freedom”. In this way, we step into the realm of yet to be instead of sinking into the swamp of that’s just the way it is.
As the future gains its forward stride, cultivate moments of well-being, that inform you from the inside the true meaning of value. Lightning visions of intuition may find you in such moments, illuminating this question even more, then gone in a flash, yet hopefully rediscovered through… pondering!
As always, happy astro pondering!
Uranus won’t retrograde again until August 2022, and will be in Taurus until April 2026.
It’s an interesting time both above and below. Three slow moving planets are in their natural signs: Jupiter in Sagittarius, Neptune in Pisces and Saturn in Capricorn.
Jupiter is Sagittarius hails in a new thirst for meaning.
Give me more meaning! I need fuel to move forward!!
Neptune in Pisces gleams a hint at divinity here on earth in the day to day.
The All in the Many, the divine in the day to day.
And Saturn in Capricorn says “If it isn’t useful, what good is it?”.
Let’s get pragmatic, yo!
All of these planets in their homegrown signs- the mythic actors speaking “on the nose” (no subtext). The grand plot with metaphors that children can grasp.
Uranus is the Great Awakener. When it touches a sign, the revelation that comes about may be an: “Oh…OH… yes of course” type of thing. You view something from a fresh angle, and all at once it becomes something NEW.
For the next 7 years, the awakening has everything to do with Taurus- our VALUES.
Basic assumptions come into question with Uranus.
Uranus is the planet that deals with the concept of Existence. Philosophers have been exploring this concept for ages. The mid 50s brought about Existentialism, a philosophy entirely devoted to what it means to exist.
Life and Existence seem to be the same thing at first glance- but they certainly are not. For instance how could T.S. Eliot’s phrase “Where is the Life we have lost in living?” make sense? And it does seem to make a whole lot of sense.
Enter a new literary voice in my life: Colin Wilson, a man who deems himself an Existentialist, yet with a much more cheery outlook than most of his contemporaries. In fact he calls his Existentialism a “New Existentialism”, one that acknowledges a need for objective meaning in life. Meaning to fuel our Will, and find purpose.
Colin Wilson became famous overnight when his first book, “The Outsider” was published in 1956. He went on to write over 150 books, all the while contemplating and crafting an incredible life philosophy that celebrates optimism.
The Outsider is a non-fiction book exploring a character who isn’t sucked into the values of the world around him, such as creature comforts and career status. Therefore he is an Outsider. “He sees too much and too deep”. He explores the writings of famous Outsiders such as Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, Hemingway and many others. He sees the Outsider as a kind of “evolutionary throw-forward”. Very Uranian.
Here is a fantastic interview with Wilson from the 80s television show, “Thinking Allowed with Jeffrey Mishlove”.
Uranus speaks to existence and Taurus speaks to values. Both of these concepts are very worthy of contemplation (or meditation if that is your preferred way!)
What is the value of your existence?
Hard to pinpoint as you sit here and read this I bet.
But what if the situation were a bit more.. terrifying?
You might feel the value of your existence pounding in your throat.
And it is likely that, once the bear decided you weren’t worth the trouble and receded into the distance, your world may appear brighter. More beautiful. More dear.
LIFE!!!!! The WORLD!!!!
Wilson says that crisis (like the bear) has a way of lowering one’s “indifference threshold”, and thereby revealing all of the beauty and meaning that surrounds us.
This meaning is vital to our well-being as it fuels our will (no small thing!).
And now what about the reverse: what is the existence of value?
What are the values that exist in the world around you?
Voila The Joneses!
And the rat race.
And the latest iphone.
So these are some values that exist in the world, but here is the question: do they accurately reflect your values?
In some ways maybe they do. But odds are if you have been reading this astrology post all the way up until this point there are other values that might not be so reflected here.
Again let’s look to the current sky (and simultaneously within ourselves):
Jupiter in Sagittarius: the value of MEANING as suggested here by Michelangelo’s The David. (Meaning=food for the will!)
Neptune in Pisces: the value of magical BEAUTY as displayed by Van Gogh’s Starry Night.
Saturn in Capricorn: finding these values in the here and now of REALITY.
With that, enjoy your cup of Uranian java and nurture the instinct to WAKE UP to new VALUES!
Mars has been traveling through Aquarius through much of the summer. It began in May, retrograded back into Capricorn for most of August, and now it’s back. Back in the sign of the Water Bearer. Making more waves.
Cowabunga! Uranus, the totem planet of Aquarius and wave-making made it’s big transition into Taurus back in May as well. Taurus is the sign of the Bull, and relates to how we feel secure in our bodies and our livelihood. The stirred up waves are likely linked to these types of issues in our human lives right now.
Mars at it’s root is potent energy. Energy that needs to be born, so it can become something. It doesn’t just stir things up because it’s some kind of joker, it has destiny, hopes, purpose! The problem is we are often blind to what the energy is after, and acting out it’s commands on a subconscious level.
I know what I’m.. doing?
Mars at it’s very core is the power of the will. The dictionary defines the word, will as the faculty by which a person decides on and initiates action. Right away the complexity of the will is apparent. What is the faculty we use to decide something and initiate action? Sometimes it’s logic, more often it’s driven by emotion, namely subconscious ones.
The will, is the spark of the complex matter of mind and emotion. It’s like a newborn subatomic comet seeking it’s destiny somewhere. Energy arises, we are motivated by it, decisions are made and actions taken. Mars was the start of it, the eager little spark.
In Aquarius, the spark is under the influence of the far-out realm of what it means to even exist. The Waters that the Water Bearer bears are complex streams of consciousness, intermingling, stretching over boundaries of time and space. Aquarius, like no other sign, centers around the somewhat abstract concept of existence.
Existence, what IS it?
Is existence a phenomenon of material, mental or emotional substance? What lies outside of existence? More existence? Is there an outside? How small or big can it stretch? How long has existence been around? Is there anything that doesn’t exist if we include the mental reality of things? What is our relationship to our own existence on a daily, meaningful level?
Welcome to the far side. Aquarian town. Matters that involve life’s abstractions which are so often mysteriously tied to the very root of humanity.
Cue The Doors Song..
When concepts of existence get stirred up (Mars influence), we may not be the slightest bit aware of it consciously, but a type of existential angst is likely to set in. The next thing we know is we are agitated (Mars) by this abstract feeling that life, and our existence is without meaning. The “what is it all about? What is it all for?” type of angst. We may feel like a hamster in a wheel, going round and round the motions of meaningless work and routine, with all sense of solar purpose lost, all sense of Solar Essence obscured.
What am I???
The key to making Mars transiting Aquarius your friend and not your foe is to acknowledge your relationship with your daily existence in relation to your Solar Essence. For example, if at your solar core (look to your Sun sign and it’s aspects), you are a true people person who gets a lot out of conversations and social interactions, yet your day to day existence is working the night shift alone stocking groceries, and then home to sleep all day with no contact with other people, this transit might seek to bust up your reality. It has to! Your daily existence is totally off balance with your Solar Essence! Something’s got to give, even if it means you simply make sure to hang out with friends once every few days, brighten that inner Sun back up. Often it’s the minor adjustments made that really take root and help grow your life back into better balance.
Leo, the sign opposite Aquarius is ruled by the Sun. This reflects the dual axis of Solar Essence balancing with Existence.
Also under the rulership of Aquarius is the future. Equally abstract and intrinsically tied to our deepest human nature is the concept of the future. We can never know it, but we know of it.
The future, like existence, is abstract!
We can choose to think we have no say in our own future, or we can choose to commit to the future that we want. Even though such a commitment could never guarantee it’s reality, it can still position us to live in the now, as a person becoming, as a person always being born, in direction that we have chosen.
This is true freedom! Free-will if you will. The will loves freedom, and the trick is to understand that freedom is not divorced from responsibility. You are responsible for the commitment towards your future, and towards your commitment on who you are and who you are becoming.
Ouranos (Uranus) was the original sky-god, associated with the primal creative urge. Here is is son, Saturn (god of time) castrating him, and putting a stop to wild and unbounded creation. Ouranos is the the wave of creation, Saturn is the law of time. So, yes! Waves are older than time!
What is your own personal definition of freedom?
Uranus is the planet that confronts this question. Sometimes it makes big waves to get us back to a comfortable vibration that truly resonates with our own sense of freedom.
Join me by the oceanside in this episode. We ponder the BIG WAVE of Uranus, and it’s place in the psyche.
PODCAST scroll down to find the episode: “Uranus, the primordial wave within”
The other day I had the pleasure of experiencing an infrared sauna. Infrared saunas are different from other saunas as the heat that they give off is “the same as the heat of the sun” and it warms you up more gently and brings out toxins more effectively. I was very curious in the fact that it was the same as Sun heat. You mean SUN heat? Spark of life heat? How great is this thing going to make me feel?
Short answer: VERY GREAT!!
Not only did it make me feel great it had this other little strange side effect while I was sitting in it. I instinctively really wanted to bring my hands together- as if in prayer, but not to pray- just to hold them flat against each other. That felt really right weirdly. I didn’t think much of it at the time. But later that night I had a dream about staring at a giant fossil from high up on a roof and seeing infrared energy in the fossil. I woke up and googled “ancient infrared” and found that infrared energy is the stuff used in Qi Gong. That energy that is transferred through the hands, the Qi, is infrared energy.
This is the heat generated from the hand of a Qi Gong master. Infrared heat, just like the sauna!
So let’s bring in the man who discovered infrared light, Sir William Herschel. This is a very interesting man. He also discovered the planet Uranus in 1781. Uranus is considered the planet of the “common man” and Herschel himself was considered to be a relatively common man as he was an amateur astrologer who built his own telescopes and spent even more time composing music. He discovered infrared light nearly twenty years later when he conducted a simple experiment.
Herschel first took a prism, separating the light into the 7 different colors of the spectrum (established by Newton).
Then he put thermometers in each color and measured their individual heats. He found that red emitted the most amount of heat and it went down steadily with each following color. But as you can see from this picture that wasn’t where he stopped. He decided to put another thermometer in the space next to the red where there was “no” light. That proved to emit the most heat. Thus, the discovery of infrared radiation.
So here is this eccentric (Uranus) man who has made two discoveries that are not entirely dissimilar symbolically. Uranus is associated with Aquarius and what is the symbol of Aquarius?
That’s right- those wavy lines.
Light waves resemble that same symbol, and so do the wavy lines of sound for that matter. The infrared waves are there too- just beyond the red, longer and invisible to the naked eye (for some of us!)
Certain animals see more of the spectrum. Bees for example can see ultra-violet colors. These colors are displayed very noticeably in the flower’s buds to show the bee what pollen is where.
What we see vs. what the bee sees.
Aquarius is the sign that is opposite Leo which rules the Sun. Oppositions are said to be like two heads of the same coin. Here we have one portrayal of that with Leo (the Sun) and Aquarius (the Sun’s vibrations, or the waves of light). As we enter into the Age go Aquarius we are certainly experiencing more and more use of invisible energy waves (wifi, cell phones, etc). Some say that all of these airwaves are confusing the bees by interfering with their navigations system. I find bees to be a very Leo/Aquarian symbol. For one they worship their Queen and make golden honey (LE-O!) and for two they work in colonies and make buzzing sounds (the electric-associated and group oriented Aquarius).
As we enter the Age of Aquarius- the bee: a true symbol of our times today?
So the color beyond red is where infrared energy begins.. Let’s take a quick look at the rainbow.
The color red finds itself at the top of the rainbow.
All of a sudden I have Dorothy Gale in my head, singing “Somewhere OVER the rainbow.” Could she be referring to this invisible energy in some way? I would be tempted to leave this thread alone if it where not for some VERY strong Aquarian associations with her character.
Dorothy is clearly the most “human” element of this quaternity. In the zodiac all Air signs are representative of the human. What is Dorothy’s last name?
That’s right, it’s GALE. As in “strong wind”. In the zodiac it is Aquarius (ruled by Uranus) that represents such a strong wind. The “winds of change”- that is Uranian territory.
What about the other guys? Can we find a place for them of Dorothy is Aquarius? Let’s see…
A no brainer. Looks like Leo. And now we have the first arm of the fixed cross. Dorothy as Aquarius and Cowardly Lion as Leo.
Scarecrow is very similar to Scorpio, starting with the name themselves. He is set on fire and destroyed only to come back to life- very Scorpionic, as in phoenix from the ashes (another Scorpio symbol). Besides he looks halloweenish which is totally Scorpio. Great- so now all we need is Taurus to complete the Fixed Cross!
Tinman… Ok, so it starts with “T’ like Taurus, but here is another association. As long ago as 2870 B.C., at the dawn of the Bronze Age, tin mining was a well developed industry in the Central TAURUS mountains of Turkey.
And the final clue that Dorothy is related to Aquarius (and thus Uranus)…….
She’s the WATER BEARER!!!! (Aquarius) She throws water on the witch to make her melt!
All of these symbolic connections of the Wizard of Oz to the Fixed Cross is the work of my twin sister. She went on such a stretch of these associations one day. Well done Johnnie! It may seem that I am going on a wild Wizard of Oz tangent, but I am going to try and tie up all of these themes. As we find ourselves in the Age of Aquarius, I think we could use some tips from this Aquarian heroine, Dorothy Gale.
Our Western society tends to see fulfillment as something to be accomplished “out there”, “beyond the rainbow”.
The fact that there is a Wicked Witch of the WEST supports this skeptical take on Western perspective.
Dorothy needs all the help she can get from her animal instincts, a.k.a Toto to follow her heart (yellow brick road as we talked about in the last post) and get home (to her true sense of self).
The dangerous side of Aquarius is de-personalization. With so much technology it becomes easier to forget that we are human beings beholden to wondrous moments that can easily be missed.
I love my cell phone, but when I see giant crowds of people ALL looking down into their hands I have to admit I get a little spooked.
Invisible vibrations are around us and inside us. Let’s not forget the message of the East, to seek fulfillment also on an INNER level, like Dorothy ends up doing in the end when she says “I don’t have to look any further than my own back yard”. Let’s not forget the powerful energy that comes from within and how that connects to a staggering potential for connectivity.
When we experience touch our bodies produce the stress-lowering hormone of oxytocin. This hormone basically strengthens all that makes us human, such as feelings of love and belonging.
We are entering the Age of Aquarius and It’s an exciting time to tune in. Both on the outer and the inner level. It is an exciting time to reach out as well as reach in.
Fade out with the helicopter spin sound effect of Brian Wilson…..
For anyone in the area looking for an infrared sauna session, I recommend Avellino Organic Esthetics Day Spa in New City, NY.
Today I indulged upon at least 8 straight episodes of Leonard Nimoy’s “In Search Of”. To anyone who hasn’t seen this yet, I highly recommend it. Very interesting subject matter with constant fun visuals and best of all, the man, the ultimate anchor to hold on to during these mysterious quests for meaning, Leonard Nimoy. His narration is profound, his data precise, his style impeccable, and beneath it all is some warm and cuddly thing that is totally elusive.
There are more than 130 episodes of this brilliant show on youtube.
This impression that I gained from these episodes are not unlike the impressions that endear us to the legendary Spock. In fact, it’s often hard to separate this man from his infamous t.v. character on Star Trek. When Nimoy wrote a memoir entitled “I Am Not Spock” fans reacted in such a disturbed manner that he responded with the sequel “I Am Spock” to ease their pain.
On to his chart!
Well– there is a problem with the chart. The astro data bases, and a quote from his own mother in a magazine have him born at 8:30 am making him a GEMINI rising– and that gives him a Gemini Moon. BUT– In the episode of “In Search Of” that covers Astrology, in the first few minutes he says “I am an Aries with Scorpio rising”…. This would put him born in the evening with most likely a CANCER Moon….
Is this Nimoy’s chart? Gemini rising with a Gemini Moon?
Or is he, like he says, a Scorpio Rising with a Cancer Moon??
Frustrating… well, at least we can look at some of the energies we KNOW are there..
Nimoy is MOST associated with MIND stuff. Spock is MIND. What is the energy of Nimoy’s Mercury? It is INTENSIFIED by it’s conjunction with Uranus. These planets are in fiery and assertive Aries along with his Sun (his life energy). Aries is the pioneer of the zodiac, “boldly going where no man has gone before!” Uranus is a lighting bolt. His mind is lighting bolted into something more intense. Uranus also brings in a sense of being DIFFERENT… of being… ALIEN?
Intensely (Uranus) smart (Mercury) and brave (Aries).. Mr. Spock.
This Uranus/Mercury is also conjunct the North Node which brings in a theme of fulfilling his destiny. Evolutionary Astrology views the nodes as a point of necessary tension: the South Node being the habit that by default you slip into, perhaps causing some life problems, and the North Node being the excellent idea to embrace and move beyond those old played out problems. In psychological astrology the nodes often point to the mother. I couldn’t find out too much about Nimoy’s mother in my research but I DID find a pretty interesting quote that tied his parents to these Uranian (alien) themes…
“My folks came to the U.S. as immigrants, aliens, and became citizens. I was born in Boston, a citizen, went to Hollywood and became an alien.”
His parents became citizens and he became an alien.
On Star Trek, Spock related to his peers in a non-emotional way. Isn’t it apt for Nimoy to have his Venus in the emotionally detached sign of Aquarius, seamlessly pulling off such Spock quotes as “If I seem insensitive to what you’re going through Captain, understand- it’s the way I am”…
A humorous depiction of the emotionless alien
But no amount of character development can fool the viewers that Spock has a soft spot somewhere, and is ultimately more emotional than his lineage permits. It’s that elusive warm and cuddly quality of his!! Where’s the water…?
Nimoy has Jupiter, Pluto and Mars (and maybe his Moon!) all in watery Cancer. The cuddliest of all the Water signs. Cancer also brings in a strong tie to the past and a tendency towards nostalgia. It’s interesting to note that the infamous “live long and prosper” hand salute was initiated by Nimoy in recalling a childhood memory. He was in church during a ceremony where everyone was told to shut their eyes. He broke the rules and peeked, seeing the ministers holding their hands up in that WAY, is it stood for a hebrew letter that tied into the word for God. He brought that memory impression (Cancer) way into the future (Uranian themes!!) and the rest is history!
The future’s past!!! Live Long And Prosper!!
Thank you, Leonard Nimoy, for shining so bright during your stay here on planet Earth. LLAP!!!!!
James Dean, the epitome of cool. Let’s have a look at some key components that carve out this coolness, shall we? #1. You never know what he’s going to do. Dean has Uranus tightly conjunct his Ascendant, fusing his identity (Ascendant) with a rebellious and contrarian spirit (Uranus). He’s just DIFFERENT (Uranus again) than the other actors of his time- or anytime! Watching him brings about an awareness of a wild unpredictability (Uranus). I remember seeing a scene from “East of Eden” (my favorite of his 3 movies) where James Dean and the other actor are in a locker room discussing the lucrative prospective of growing beans. The one actor is very focused on what he is saying, meanwhile Dean is kind of hopping all around the locker room, climbing up on benches and down again and at times zeroing in close on the other actor’s personal space. At one of these invasively close moments the other actor exclaims (in a very natural reactive way) “don’t get so close I’ll get all hot again!”. I would put good money down saying that that line is NOT in the script. I could be wrong but I doubt it. The point being that Dean doesn’t care. He doesn’t care if he is making the other actor uncomfortable, or jeopardizing the script, or coming across a little looney. He is being natural to his own whims, like a child, without being irritating (maybe a little bit to that actor).
Dean does things his own way
#2. He knows his influences. Before Dean was famous he was writing letters upon letters to Marlon Brando. He was enchanted by Brando in every way. Brando rode a motorcycle so Dean rode a motorcycle. Brando dressed in jeans and white T-shirts so Dean dressed in jeans and white T-shirts. Brando played the bongos so Dean played the bongos. The emulating got to be so much that Brando wrote HIM a letter saying “You have to be YOU, not ME”. But Dean knew that what Brando was doing was starting a new wave in human culture (Brando is a double Aries, a pioneer). James Dean has an Aquarius Sun in the eleventh, which is the house naturally associated with Aquarius. Aquarius seeks to identify itself by challenging the status quo, and seeking other like-minded people. The eleventh is the field of life where those like-minded relationships take place. It’s interesting to wonder if there would have been a James Dean had there been no Brando.
Hailing in the new wave of cool, Brando and Dean.
#3. He shows his vulnerable side. As stated in a previous post “The Crying Game: Water planets and the comfortability in expressing emotion” James Dean has his Moon in deep and mysterious feeling-oriented Scorpio. When he cries, the audience FEELS it. It’s REAL. The beginning of “Rebel Without A Cause” features Dean falling down drunk on the street next to a wind-up toy monkey. As the credits roll, he plays around with the monkey and it quickly becomes a deep emotional connection between the two of them. The monkey amuses him with it’s wind-up talents and then Dean tucks him in with a ratty newspaper “blanket” and a party ribbon trash thing for a pillow. He makes sure the monkey is comfortable and then he snuggles up as close to it as he can get. The sweetness comes across SO genuine! It’s the first 5 seconds of the movie and he’s already won our hearts!! And yes, he improvised the whole bit, as the cast and crew stared on with admiration.
Opening moments of “Rebel Without a Cause”
#4. He shows a strong sense of personal authority. Astrologer Caroline Casey, author of “Making the Gods Work for You” (get it get!!) talks about how the word “cool” is derived from the Yoruba word which originally meant “responsible”. “Cool-headed” meant that that person took care of what he should. Like Babe Ruth with his leaf of cabbage under his ball cap. Keeping cool-headed so he can hit the home runs. This is Saturn talk. Saturn is authority, which starts with inner authority. Self composure, steadiness, a sureness in what you say and do. James Dean has a very powerful Saturn in the 10th house of career (the house naturally associated with Saturn). It is in Capricorn (the SIGN naturally associated with Saturn) and it is opposed (bringing in a full awareness of) the powers of Pluto. Anything Pluto touches in empowered, or it is wounded UNTIL it is empowered.
Sureness. Self-composer. In tune with his own rhythm.
Happy Birthday, James Dean. A true rebel with a deep and mysterious heart, forever cool.
Toroidal Zodiac 