Post by Sowelu on Jun 14, 2006 16:14:43 GMT -5
Grand Square Dancing
By Eric Francis
[/b][/size][/center]By Eric Francis
THERE ARE more squares in the sky right now than at the big hoedown. Squares are 90-degree astrological aspects that depending on who you ask, are associated with challenges, with character building, or are a colossal pain in the ass. The three are not mutually exclusive
There is a slow-moving fixed T-square in effect; that is, Saturn in Leo, Jupiter in Scorpio and both Chiron and Neptune in Aquarius holding three points of the grand square (also called a grand cross) long term, waiting for anything to come along and complete the fourth corner of the square and put the Earth in the crosshairs.
This is intimately involved with several major long-term astrological processes. You can think of astrology in terms of the placements of slow moving planets within certain signs defining the theme of an era, or you can think of it in terms of aspects or shapes the planets make together, which add a level of action to the story. Aspects are the turning points. Here are the big ones we're living through at the moment, explained by aspect.
1. Jupiter square Saturn. This is the first square since the Taurus conjunction in 2000, the Year of the Metal Dragon. Any aspect between Jupiter and Saturn, the two largest known planets, is significant. Dr. Marc Edmund Jones described the square as the sense of a "last chance," but as this aspect is in the first quarter (waxing) phase, I would say it represents a very large opportunity. The square represents a turning point of what began at the conjunction.
2. Saturn opposite Neptune. This is the first opposition since the momentous triple conjunction of Saturn, Uranus and Neptune in Capricorn in 1989, which was one of those watershed years: the year of the Berlin Wall coming down, and the official fall of the Iron Curtain, as well as Tiananmen Square and other world-changing events. The Saturn-Neptune opposition, which began last summer and extends through 2007, is the full expression of what began at the conjunction.
3. Chiron opposite Saturn. We are now at the end of a long process of Saturn and Chiron opposing one another a total of seven times, which has been going on since 2003. In other words, Saturn and Chiron are now moving at about the same speed and have been in aspect a long time. The opposition began across Cancer and Capricorn and then moved onto Leo-Aquarius axis as both planets changed signs.
All these planets opposite and square one another, and generally in aspect to one another, multiplies the effect.up to a lot of Saturn, as the one thing all three processes have in common. And all in saturnian square or opposition aspects (4th harmonic, in 90-degree increments).
The setup covers Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius (though there are important minor planets in Taurus, such as newly-discovered Sedna, which is square Neptune. When fast moving planets move through the mix of the slow ones, and make even more squares and oppositions. Four times a month, the Moon comes through the configuration, and did at the moment of the summer solstice. Then, numerous times a day, the aspect structure becomes angular -- that is, parts rise, culminate and set, and it's picked up by the ascendant or midheaven, and is emphasized yet again (and again).
Of the three major aspects in effect, the Saturn-Neptune opposition is the most world changing. Though the first exact opposition is not until late August, Neptune has a very wide orb of influence, and we can see its direct influence back to last summer, when Hurricane Katrina occurred.
The opposition, combined with the "when the levee breaks" property of Saturn in Leo, made water disasters eminently predictable. And as covered in the summer of 2005, Varuna (discovered 2000), the lord of waters and the great equalizer, was making interesting patterns with the Sun and Moon, plus the USA chart and Bush's chart, and this fills in part of that story too.
Speaking of water, we must consider Neptune in Aquarius represents the kind of mass delusion that we live with -- from television dictating reality, to moods dictated by the pharmaceutical industry, on down. Neptune's opposition to Saturn represents a confrontation between the delusion and the solid reality of Saturn. But the thing about water, that is, Neptune, is that it always finds a way. Water always gets through; nothing is really waterproof, in the long run.
Still, Saturn is strong and there is likely to be an increasing level of ideological (i.e., Neptune in Aquarius) chaos as the exact opposition forms, as belief systems fail, and as what is true vs. what we don't want to be true will become increasingly apparent. There are plenty of people today who simply cannot handle what is so, and if you watch television with any sensitivity, it's abundantly clear that there is a vast agenda co-mingled with what are, really now, an astonishing number of drug and beer commercials. The message "shut down" is everywhere, including that being delivered by the overwhelming intensity of events and how they are presented.
There is another factor in this equation, and it may account for some of the early action of Saturn-Neptune, and the intensity of the aspect. That's the fact that Uranus is in Pisces at the same time Neptune is in Aquarius. These two planets rule one another's sign placements. That is, Neptune is the modern ruler of Pisces, and Uranus is the modern ruler of Aquarius. The two are now occupying one another's signs.
This is called "mutual reception." It would seem that this ancient rule works with modern planets, given the intractable quality of belief and perception that we seem to live with in our era. There are many ways to interpret a mutual reception; it can be helpful, offering an unseen option; or it can represent a hostage situation between the two planets.
This pair of planets and the corresponding pair of signs present a challenge to most people because they are somewhat above the wavelength of normal consciousness. The higher vibrations of Aquarius and Pisces are for the most part unavailable to usual perception. Where we might have the gentle mysticism and compassion of Pisces, we tend to have addiction, mass hypnosis and deception; where we might have the egalitarian spirit and community consciousness of Aquarius, we have a kind of lock-step mentality, worship of technology and a violent media haze. Together, these two factors can serve to keep a lot of people in a trance, and feeling that "if feels good for me than it's okay."
But we may ask what is the incentive to wake up and face the challenges of the world. Most people are completely convinced they don't make a difference at all; most are completely unaware of any phenomenon such as power in numbers or the ability for people to change their beliefs and influence the world around us. Awakening to what I will reluctantly describe as reality is usually met with pain, not the reward of awareness. Humans, particularly Americans, strive to avoid pain at any cost.
What gives? Hmm. Well, I have given up on the belief that "bad things" wake people up. Many of us have asked for a long time "what will wake people up?" and the proposed answer is often, "a huge disaster, maybe that will do it." However, we now have used the world as a Huge Disaster Testing Lab, to very little avail.
Yet it's also clear that all combined, the challenging, often-difficult events of current history are pushing people to think and consider things they, or we, may never have. Even if it's so ugly we have to look away, eventually your neck gets sore from turning.
www.planetwaves.net/contents/grand_square.html
