Friday, February 26, 2010

A foggy brain in London town

I am looking with both anticipation and suspicion at the Neptune-Chiron-Mercury lineup, exact tomorrow. While this can be a wonderful support for spiritual and creative endeavors -- especially if there is a healing angle involved -- it's not the most conducive energy for sitting down to get practical work accomplished.

So I'm looking forward to the astrology readings I have scheduled today, and not so much to the Excel spreadsheet work that will need to be done over the weekend. Go figure the timing on that one!

The multiple numbers have been on the increase again this past week, sometimes happening in such rapid fire that the mouth drops open in amazement. The mystical energies of the Neptune-Chiron influence and of the Jupiter-Sun alignment in Pisces have certainly intensified our experiences in la la land...

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Neptune and Chiron opposing natal Pluto: For the natal Pluto-in-late-Leo crowd

I received an e-mail this morning, requesting more information on the transiting Neptune/Chiron opposition to natal Pluto, which many of us born in the last half of the 1950s decade (those with natal Pluto between 24 and 29 degrees of Leo) are experiencing throughout 2010.

Neptune's general effect is to wash away what no longer is in tune with our spiritual core. It's often a gradual process, like the rising tide that slowly washes away a sand castle on the beach. During the initial phase of this Neptunian process, we may not have much clarity on what is occurring, as Neptune tends to keep us in the fog at first. This blurred vision is actually helpful, in that it helps us let go of our attachment to what was, in preparation for a new path to unfold.

Like all planets in the natal chart, Pluto can represent a variety of themes, some internal and some external. The primary meaning of Pluto that I lean toward has to do with the claiming of our personal mission during the lifetime -- a mission that, in its most positive manifestation, is both self-empowering and offers empowerment to others. Along the way, Pluto also describes our issues around power, how we feel about claiming it, how we use it, and what dysfunctional attitudes need to be transformed so that we can use our power in positive ways.

Pluto moves so slowly that it is called a "generational planet," describing the greater purpose of a large number of souls. Because of this, on an individual basis, its natal house location and the aspects it makes to the personal planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars) are considered most important when determining what it "means" for a specific individual.

In general, Pluto in Leo represents a generation who have come to the planet to transform the ways in which society uses the Leonine energy in negative ways. When at its best, Leo is creative, generous and spontaneous, and feels very much a sense of belonging with others. Think of the positive role model of the King of the Jungle who cares for all of his jungle family like a benevolent father, encouraging each to become the best and strongest they can be, each according to their own calling.

Now think of the negative side that is also possible -- a King who leads not by example, but by roaring and keeping his subjects in fear and subjugation. This is the lower-vibrational use of power that the Pluto-in-Leo generation has come to transform.

As Neptune and Chiron now oppose the natal Pluto in the charts of that generation, each of us is looking at the themes of personal mission, significance, and power in our lives. Have we found that fulfillment we've been seeking, that sense of personal destiny? Are we expressing ourselves honestly? Have we moved beyond the "leadership by intimidation" role model, either in ourselves or through accepting it in others?

These questions may be related to the literal career (for those with Pluto in the 10th house), but it may instead be related to partnerships (Pluto in the 7th) or spiritual/religious issues (Pluto in the 9th), or the themes of one of the other nine houses.

Since Chiron is also involved in the current landscape, those of us in the Pluto-in-Leo generation no doubt will be looking at our own woundedness about personal empowerment now. Are we comfortable claiming our sense of purpose? Have we given away our power and significance to others, or allowed role models from our own childhoods to send us in disempowering directions?

We can look to the location of Chiron in our natal charts for more clues. Since Chiron was in Aquarius for the last half of the 1950s decade, our discomfort with becoming leaders is probably related to a fear of being rejected or abandoned -- and no doubt we can recall events in our lives that drove that fear deeper.

The good news is that together, Neptune and Chiron are about dissolving the wound and the false ego, so that we can finally claim that position of wise leadership in our lives -- whether that be in an external, obvious way, or more internally.

And, we have all of 2010 to move through and beyond these issues. So, even though Neptune and Chiron are aligned this week -- and for many of us, exactly opposite our natal Pluto -- it may be helpful to remember that we are in a Neptunian process, not a Uranian event.

Friday, February 12, 2010

A cosmic New Moon

Our New Moon tomorrow night (6:53pm Pacific Time) is feeling more and more "cosmic," in keeping with the strong Aquarius/Pisces leanings in the lunation chart. Stepping outside late last night to take our girls (of the four-legged variety) out for their final excursion before bed, the air felt different somehow, as if there were a presence all around us. Almost the density of fog, but without the visual fog to go with the feeling-sense.

Uranus figures as a prominent presence at the time of this New Moon, not because of aspects to other planets, but because Uranus is the accepted "ruler" of Aquarius, where the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Chiron and Neptune are all located now. I just looked up the Sabian symbol for the current position of Uranus (at 25 degrees of Pisces), and here's what it says:

"A religious organization succeeds in overcoming the corrupting influence of perverted practices and materialized ideals: The power of the Soul to intervene in the personal life and to induce necessary catharses."

We have the potential now, with this New Moon, to take that next step in the process of becoming our Higher Selves -- or, if you prefer, the Multidimensional Beings we incarnated here to be. We are tapping more and more into the knowing of ourselves as expansive Source Energy, with the increased awareness that we do not need to seek outside the self for answers or for connection.

So, if "the power of the Soul" is now intervening to more directly guide us, it is not about handing away the reins of our lives to some deity or other deified entity -- it's about realizing even more clearly the larger entity that we are, acknowledging and experiencing the vastness that exists within us, and allowing that heightened awareness to change the limited perspectives we have held for much of our lives, and for many lifetimes.

There truly is "something big" afoot. Can you feel it?

Friday, February 5, 2010

A tale of two worlds

"One foot on the platform, the other foot on the train..."

That line came into my mind as I sat down to write this post -- and it is a sign of the times that while I believe it's from a Peter, Paul and Mary song, and I know I've sung it often in years past, I now cannot remember more than those words, or the tune, or the title.

The Saturn-Jupiter quincunx that is exact today is a representation of this feeling of living in two worlds at once. Exuberant Jupiter, newly arrived in Pisces, is full of himself proclaiming that we are ascending, or have ascended, or maybe will soon -- even while the clear definition of "ascension" still eludes most of us. Realistic Saturn, on the other hand, now retrograde in Libra, continues to draw our attention to the practicalities of the physical realm, making sure we do the rebalancing work needed. And yet, with the retrograde influence, we feel slightly detached from that very work, as if a part of us has stepped back into Observer mode.

A quincunx is an aspect of adjustment. The signs involved are not quite opposites, but they don't really see eye-to-eye, either. So our challenge is to find a way to exist within the paradox, without needing to alter either perception. It does take an ability to live in two worlds at once, with one foot on the platform of our reality as we've become accustomed to it.

And the other foot? We may not have a clear idea yet of what our train really looks like or where it's going -- but with the help of Jupiter in Pisces, we are gaining faith in the process.