Full Moon in Scorpio - May 5-6

With the Sun in Taurus representing what we cherish, and the Moon in Scorpio, what we must transform, we might view it as cherishing transformation rather than seeing it as an opposition.

If we make transformation something we seek rather than something we only do when necessary, then we can embrace this time of "dire beauty"* and constant change.

We have been living in a fool's paradise for decades. Any thinking person must realize that living on credit is
unsustainable. We were lulled into feeling we could have anything we wanted if our credit line was high enough. Anyone who came close to paying their credit cards off frequently noticed that just as they approached freedom from debt, they were given a higher limit, thus putting this or that luxury item within their reach. Many went for it, buying more, upgrading, and extending.

During the early 90's so many people re-financed their homes to remodel or add-on and now they are in debt.

I have seen people with dozens of credit cards. I have known people who have hundreds of thousands in credit card debt. Hello? Unless you plan to never pay them off and work it out so you die before it all starts to collapse (kind of like putting just the right amount of milk in your cereal so it all comes out exact at the end), you are in for years of misery. Rather than being free, you are in debt peonage. You have to keep working at that job you hate just to pay your bills. You can never retire.

Did Adam and Eve have bills? Did Moses have a mortgage? Did Jesus need the latest cell phone to get his message out? Was he tweeting day and night about what's on TV or new shoes? How did they manage?

In our modern culture we are praised for our credit score rather than our ability to live within our means. We are taught there is no limit; that we can have it all. But now, we are finding out otherwise.

To the extent that we bought into that system, we were similar to gambling addicts who believe that just because they won $10.00, they will continue to win and win bigger if they keep playing. They were lucky once and they might be lucky again, but the odds are against them.

We live on a planet with some renewable resources and with many that are non-renewable. The carrying capacity of Earth ... that is the maximum population density has been reached. We cannot stuff one more thing into that suitcase. There is no larger suitcase available. We must change our behavior.

We can do this kicking and screaming, or we can do it willingly and enthusiastically. Reframing is another word for attitude shift/paradigm shift. This means thinking and doing things in a different way and it may be unthinkable at first. We must learn to rely on inspiration (Uranus) and creative imagination (Neptune) to help us unveil these new ways of doing, thinking and being. The mind that thought up the problem is not what will find the solution. It comes from a different source.

Most people only change when they are forced to. They continue to do certain things despite the overwhelming evidence for its negative effects. I see women who are 10 years younger than me, who smoke a pack or two a day, whose faces look like dried prunes, wondering why I look so young for my age. Duh! I don't smoke. The proof stands before them and yet, they continue to smoke, cough, choke, smoke and smoke.

Whereas we may know what we don't want... what do we want? Aha!

That can sometimes be a difficult question to answer. Ask a starving child in India and the answer is easy: a meal for himself and his family. But since most of us reading this blog are beyond those basic survival needs, what do we want?

I have to admit I spend a lot to time thinking about this. If I create my own reality, I want to create something
meaningful and satisfying. This has compelled me to examine my beliefs, goals, and desires. What I have come to is this: I want to want what I have. I want to be satisfied with what is. I want to see and know that everything is already perfect.

So we come to cherish. The dictionary defines 'cherish' as:

1 a : to hold dear : feel or show affection for b : to keep or cultivate with care and affection : nurture

2: to entertain or harbor in the mind deeply and resolutely

The word is related to charity, care and cher (dear in French) and comes from Latin via French. It was first used in the 14th century.

These are all in the realm of Venus which rules both Taurus and Libra. With the Sun in Taurus facing the Moon in Scorpio, and in light of what I wrote above, we might consider learning to care for what we already have, repairing and restoring those things we purchased in the past and that with some TLC (tender loving care) might have some more life in them, or transforming them into something else.

I was thinking of quilts for example. In the past, people cut the good part out of their old clothes and patched them together to make warm blankets. They didn't go to a craft store and buy new swatches. They used what they had. Old thread-bare blankets were put between the layers of the quilt for added warmth. They didn't buy special batting in plastic bags to insert in the quilts. Quilts were made of all recycled materials and...often totally hand sewn. I still have one made by my paternal grandmother.

As for the second definition: most of us are quick to forget the past and everything associated with it. We want to live only in the present...or future. We look forward to what we are going to do this summer for example.

While dwelling on the past is inappropriate, I think we are deepened if we can cherish ie honor and value what has come before, realizing that the past is the basis for what exists now. It is our history.

At this point some of you may be saying, "She just contradicted herself. First she says act in new ways, out of the box etc., now she is advocating cherishing the past. What's up?" My response is that 1) the ability of hold two apparently contradictory views simultaneously is the mark of intelligence and this is where the synthesis occurs. Synthesis equals thesis plus anti-thesis. Synthesis is the 'third force' that comes from the reconciling of opposites. We must get beyond the apparent contradictions, the yes/no, the polarity to a third, yet unknown possibility that is lurking beyond the veil.

This powerful Full Moon in Scorpio is a portal to that place beyond the veil.

* an expression coined by Caroline Casey heard each week on KPFA. Go to her website for more.

In the Shadow of Retrograde

The Valentine's Day Special continues until the end of the month.
Since we are still in the 'shadow' period of Mercury retrograde, I have not yet sent my computer in for service. It still needs repair and is under warranty, but so much has been breaking down this retrograde period, I want to wait another week before I send it.

I have been working on my course for this summer and on my 2012 blog. I have gotten to point where my laptop is like a part of my body and am not looking forward to having it gone for two weeks like the last time.

I can definitely feel the acceleration that is part of the Shift. In some ways, I feel writing is redundant, that all that is required is thought.

I am getting very interested in the work of Nassim Haramein. I went to a presentation by one of his 'emissaries' in Sebastopol, CA and have not been the same since. My mind was blown and I am not interested in 'getting back to normal'. I feel a 'new normal' is emerging for me. I'm not sure what it is but I do know I need to be as fluid as possible.

Personally, transiting Pluto in the 5th house is opposing my natal Mercury in the 11th house and so it is totally appropriate that my mind is being transformed. I am both able to access memories better and having deeper understanding. I am able to vision then manifest at a higher rate than ever before.

Pluto and Ceres: Paradigm Shift

The Aug/Sept issue of the Mountain Astrologer has an excellent article on Ceres and Pluto by Shirley Soffer.

In August 2006, the International Astronomical Union made the official announcement that Ceres was upgraded from asteroid to dwarf planet, while Pluto was downgraded from planet to to dwarf planet. Soffer suggests we view them as a planetary pair in relation to each other.

While astrologers have certainly worked with Pluto and some with Ceres, Soffer suggests that by understanding the mythology behind them, it is easier to see how they are related.

Mythologically, Ceres and Pluto are opposing figures in the life of Persephone. Ceres, her mother, is a vegetation Goddess, which we recognize in the word 'cereal'. Her Greek name, Demeter, means 'Earth Mother'. She rules over everything that grows from the soil. Clearly, her domain is life and all that nurtures it, especially food.

On the other hand, Pluto rules the Underworld and is lord of all that is beneath the earth. Death and transformation are forces within his domain. Called the 'Lord of Hidden Wealth', his domain includes underground springs, fossil fuels, minerals, iron ore, silver, gold and diamonds.

Taken together, Ceres rules over all the riches on top of the Earth and Pluto the riches beneath the Earth. Both very important to human life. Our over-consumption of the underground riches however, threatens to poison everything above ground.

In a nutshell, the mythological story of Persephone, Ceres and Pluto, was that Persephone was out picking flowers (narcissus) and by doing so accidently opened a hole into the underworld. Pluto reached up and pulled her in. Ceres (Demeter) searched and searched for her daughter, then in mourning, forbid any plant to grow until she had her daughter back. Life on the earth whithered and died. She said she would not allow anything to grow until her daughter was returned to her.

Ceres appealed to Zeus, who soon realized that if all the humans died, there would be no one to worship him. The Law said that no one could come back from the Underworld. Eventually, a deal was struck so that Persephone would be released, but since she had eaten pomegranate seeds, she had to return to the underworld for part of the year.

In her article, Soffer writes about several themes in relation to Ceres and Pluto such as: 1) the depletion of resources both above and below ground and how this will impact the food supply; 2) processes of transformation - well-known for Pluto; for Ceres - the processing of food into energy: 3) the relationship between life and 'killing' - something must die to feed something else - even vegetarians 'kill' to eat; 4) the psychological relationship between mother and daughter - sexual coming of age of the daughter; and 5) the psychological themes of attachment, separation and loss. She explores these themes using charts of famous people whose lives have had strong Pluto/Ceres aspects and contacts.

The article was extremely informative and thought-provoking. Astrologers have written about the relationship between the discovery and/or the naming of a heavenly body and events on the ground. I began to wonder what could be the meaning of Pluto being 'demoted' and Ceres 'promoted'? Now they both have equal stature and are lower on the planetary hierarchy.

Could it have something to do with power and how it has been viewed since Pluto's discovery in 1930? I wrote in my other blog how there was a concerted effort to 'jump-start' the economy after the Depression. In addition, Roosevelt's many social programs assisted people in getting 'back on their feet'. Between the governmental programs and the success of advertising, as the econonmy began to recover, more people had access to things that had once been strictly available to the rich, such as cars. There was a huge shift from rural to urban lifestyles. Women had more rights and independence - having a career instead of or in addition to a family, which meant that the demand for 'labor-saving devices' became a priority for industry.

All of this meant more and more resources coming out of the ground and fewer farmers on the land. The family farms, lost during the Depression or ruined by the Dustbowl, were taken over by banks then large companies and eventually large-scale commercial agriculture was born and with it the increased use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Little did we know the effects of our success. World War II saw the development of even better ways to kill people, including the many chemical products created by the Nazis and our own atomic bomb. Now Pluto (plutonium) could kill us all.

So how does all this relate to Pluto and Ceres?

When the Lord of the Underworld (think of all the crime that occurred in the 30's and how the criminal lifestyle is referred to as the 'underworld') begins to reach up out of his domain and grab the 'innocent', it leads to death and chaos on the earth. We have been extracting and mining too many resources from under the earth and transforming them into poisonous substances so that we can have more power and control over Nature.

Because of our overuse and misuse of resources, we are now teetering on the brink due to global warming, pollution of Nature, extreme weather conditions, to name just a few. In the midst of this, Pluto is demoted. Pluto's seductive offers of power - like compacts made with the Devil, are no longer appearing desirable. People are wising up to the reality of the fact that they have been soiling their own nest for riches and fame. Mom Nature, mourning the loss of our innocence and purity, has begun to shut things down.

But wait, as Pluto was demoted so was Ceres promoted. Zeus has begun to intervene. Everyday you hear of another company, agency, country, or powerful individual getting on the band-wagon for change in the way we use resources. Corporations have begun to realize that without customers, they are out of business. The way to stay in business is to change. In the '60s we tried to burn it all down and return to the land. That didn't work. Rather, today's young people are finding ways to strike a compromise. Make Green profitable.

In her presentation at UAC, Misty Kuceris emphasized Ceres as a compromising force. Finding a way to get two disparate forces to work together. In the myth, Ceres compromised with Pluto by accepting that her daughter, now a woman, would stay in the underworld for part of the year and would return to the surface, as her daughter, part of the year. We are in the midst of the paradigm shift that has been written about and predicted for years. Seeds planted in the '60s are coming to fruition in the children born then who are finding and implementing solutions.

Perhaps the compromise will mean that in order to survive, we will need to learn to live with less. We will see that it is untenable that a few people should live in comfort while millions are suffering. We will seek and find different sources of power. we will find value in simpler things, closer to home, inside ourselves, rather than external to ourselves. We will realize that true power is in our ability to give and receive love and that the Beatles were right after all. Love is all there is.