WHEEL OF THE YEAR

WHEEL OF THE YEAR
Tim Rubald
Maui Druid, et cetera

Winter Solstice, Turning of the Year
(and My Birthday on Winter's Eve)

For many, many years I've written an annual birthday poem. This year's version is in prose.

I was looking for a way to respond to the landslide of birthday wishes I got for the 20th. This is my attempt.

"The year is a wheel with eight spokes. Each circuit is comparable to the cycle of a human life. The Winter Solstice is the time before we were born, the great dark uterine void from which all is formed. The vast black ring around all possibility, its perimeter bulging with promise. Light is conceived in the cold dark at the time of the Winter Solstice. The smallest spark, the most tentative hint of a glow, is imagined in the dense ambience of its absence. The sun is a mere gleam in the eye of eternity. Light, no matter how tiny, equals life."

-- Donna Henes, Celestially Auspicious Occasions: Seasons, Cycles & Celebrations. New York: Berkley Publishing Group, 1966, p. 5. via:  https://alabe.com/AUG2.htm

December 21-22
Winter Solstice
Birth of the Year

In 2014
December 21: GMT 23:03:02, EST 6:03:02 PM, CST 5:03:02 PM, MST 4:03:02 PM, PST 3:03:02 PM, HST 1:03:02 PM.

Sol reaches his shortest period in the day sky while the night is the longest of the year. From the point of the Solstice onward there is an increase of light.

"...in very ancient times the most important yearly turning points were considered to be the summer and winter solstices. Later, in the 4th century A.D., the Emperor Julian opted for the Winter Solstice in particular, "when King Helios returns to us again, and leaving the region furthest south and rounding Capricorn as though it were a goal-post, advances from the south to the north to give us our share of blessings of the year."

--- Quoted by Charles Harvey in Michael Baigent, Nicholas Campion and Charles Harvey, Mundane Astrology, 2nd ed. London, Aquarian Press, 1992, p. 243.


In the 20th century, Charles Carter in England and Alfred Witte in Germany both echoed the Emperor Julian's sentiments and made a persuasive case for the Capricorn ingress [as the beginning or start of the year]. Quite reasonably, Witte saw the Capricorn ingress as the beginning of the solar cycle. In the Northern Hemisphere it's the time when the old Sun dies and a new one is born, and, as Chinese astrologers saw it, increasing yin switches over to increasing yang. Like the New Moon, which most astrologers acknowledge to be the beginning of the lunar cycle, the Winter Solstice marks the end of the waning half of the cycle and the beginning of a new waxing half.

Also, at least in Northern latitudes, Capricorn is probably the most emotionally laden of the four Cardinal ingresses -- the one that brings up primal fears of darkness, cold, hunger and the cessation of all life. Will the light return? Will the round of life continue? For peoples who routinely experienced cold, famine and nights lit only by firelight, seeing the waning of the Sun's strength finally reverse itself must have truly seemed like a rebirth and must have been an occasion for heart-felt rejoicing.

Today, around the time of the Winter Solstice we still compensate for the withdrawal of the Sun's light and heat by cozily nesting indoors, stoking the fire, festooning trees with lights, and warming ourselves with food, strong spirits and the company of others. To counter nature's threat of scarcity, we invoke a great-bellied saint clad in the color of fire, whose pack brims with human-made abundance. Our thoughts turn from fresh-picked food toward what is preserved and stored, from the vanished lushness of the natural world toward the human-created social order with its own ingenious methods for sustaining life and hope.

--- https://alabe.com/AUG2.htm

March 20-21 *
Spring Equinox
The Wheel Turns toward the Triumph of the Light
Daylight has increased and now occupies half of the day, equally matched to the length of night. Light is strengthening and establishing its place in the yearly cycle.

June 20-21
Summer Solstice
Triumph of the Light, of Sol. The daylight reaches the peak of its reach through time.  We celebrate the exuberance of the day.  At the same time we realize this is the beginning of the increase of darkness. From this point daytime will wane in comparison with night. The night gains but is remains secondary to the longer day.

September 22-23 *
Autumn Equinox
The Wheel Turns Toward Darkness. The energies of the Dark Gods and Goddesses begins to increase and gain attention. The balance described by the Taoist symbol of Yin and Yang reflects the Equinoxes but an imbalance begins at the point of Equinox as night begins to overtake daylight's duration. The processes of inward turning gain significance. Persephone returns to her throne with Hades in the Underworld.

December 21-22
Winter Solstice
While the realm of the night has reached its maximum, so the day begins ascending in duration. And so it goes.

* Days of Equinoxes and Solstices, Why do the equinoxes not always occur on the same days each year?

The Earth takes approximately 365.25 days to go around the Sun. This is the reason we have a leap year every 4 years, to add another day to our calendar so that there is not a gradual drift of date through the seasons. For the same reason the precise time of the equinoxes are not the same each year, and generally will occur about 6 hours later each year, with a jump of a day (backwards) on leap years.
http://www.rmg.co.uk/explore/astronomy-and-time/time-facts/equinoxes-and-solstices

From year to year, there is always some variability in the equinoxes and solstices because of the way Earth's changing tilt matches up with its orbit around the sun. The equinoxes and solstices do not always occur on the same days each year. This is due to the Earth taking approximately 365.25 days to revolve around the Sun. Since the days of the tropical year is not a whole number, the time of the equinoxes are generally about 6 hours (0.25 day) later each year. However, to prevent a drift of dates over a long period of time, we add a day to our calendar, thus we have a leap year every 4 years. Take the time of equinoxes for example. The time of both equinoxes varies within 2 days. The days occur about 6 hours later each year for 3 years before taking a jump backwards on the leap years.

--- http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/gem-projects/hm/0203-1-52-equi_sol.pdf
 

 As I grow older, and if not wiser, at least more knowledgeable, I understand more about the Wheel of the Year and the astrological implications of my birthday, and of all other birthdays the year long. The Sun is the core of being, the source of life on Earth and of the energetic (if not biological life) on the rest of the system that orbits Sol. The place of the Sun in the Tropical Zodiac is what determines your "Sign."

With this very, very basic astrology that verges perilously close to what I've called Signology, I grow ever more deeply into a ritual appreciation of life and living. I grow closer to the sacredness of life, my respect for the mystery deepens, my connection to the chimera of the ancient gods increases. These are not the gods and goddesses of traditional and ancient devotion, but symbols arisen from the rhythms of the heartbeat of the solar system, of what some traditions know as "the Word."

"There is that continual heartbeat of creation, the Sun. The Sun's communication with us has developed and will continue to develop over time. Our lives on earth are quite brief though and one earthly life will simply experience the Word as regularly as a heartbeat.

While the heartbeat may slowly alter over eons of time, Earth's relationship with the Center cycles rhythmically through the Centuries. That essential relationship of Earth to Sun establishes a core pattern that is the basis of Tropical Astrology. That is not to say that other orientations, other methods of astrology are inferior. In fact, I find Constellational Astrology (Sidereal and Jyotish for example) more intellectual, you might say more scientific (I wouldn't but some would).

The gift of increasing information by observation and experience seems to work in both directions for me. One direction is toward detail and technique and the other is toward a very Earth-oriented, you might say Pagan appreciation (I would say that, but only in the most basic ways beyond the approaches of specific groups or tribes like Wicca, Heathen, Thelema, or what have you).

My understanding of the Wheel of the Year or Season Cycle reaches to the roots of most beliefs and religions and even to modern physics. I find solid support for my understanding in several branches of physics, especially: quantum mechanics, special relativity, stellar, galactic and extragalactic astrophysics, cosmological, evolutionary, bio, cellular, particle, experimental, theoretical, atomic, molecular, mechanical, condensed matter, optical, mathematical, and gravitational wave astronomy (I may have left some out).

So what does this mean for me and for you? It provides a deeper understanding of astrology, which serves all of the work that I do for you. On the one hand, it is the simplest part of astrology as it provides the framework upon with Tropical Astrology hangs the circular measuring rule of the Zodiac. That begins and ends at the Spring Equinox, zero degrees of Aries.

Happy Birthday! Everyone! And a Merry Christmas to All. And Happy Hanukkah, Longest Night, Anastasia of Sirmium feast day, Las Posadas, Feast of Winter Veil, Festivus, Pancha Ganapati, Modraniht, Saturnalia, Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (this fits my view perfectly, "Day of the birth of the Unconquered Sun" - Zoroastrianism), Yule (of course), Soyal (21 December - Zuni and Hopi), HumanLight, Newtonmas, Boxing Day, Kwanzaa, Dongzhi, and my apologies if I've missed your favorite Solstice Celebration.

I must include this one from Wikipedia.  Yalda: 21 December - The turning point, Winter Solstice. As the longest night of the year and the beginning of the lengthening of days, Shabe Yalda or Shabe Chelle is an Iranian festival celebrating the victory of light and goodness over darkness and evil. Shabe yalda means 'birthday eve.' According to Persian mythology, Mithra was born at dawn on the 22nd of December to a virgin mother. He symbolizes light, truth, goodness, strength, and friendship. Herodotus reports that this was the most important holiday of the year for contemporary Persians. In modern times Persians celebrate Yalda by staying up late or all night, a practice known as Shab Chera meaning 'night gazing'. Fruits and nuts are eaten, especially pomegranates and watermelons, whose red color invokes the crimson hues of dawn and symbolize Mithra.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_multinational_festivals_and_holidays#December
 

I hope this gives a bit more understanding than you had of the Season Cycle. Now you can begin to fit in your own birthday to where you landed on the wheel. That message is extremely basic, yet goes to the very foundation of whom and why you are.

Happy trails,

Tim

Copyright © Tim Rubald 2014

Tim Rubald, C.A. NCGR-PAA, C.A.P. ISAR
startalker.tim@gmail.com

http://astrology-startalk.blogspot.com/

facebook.com/Tim.Rubalds.Astrology

tweeting @startalker

On Retrogrades ~ March 2014

On Retrogrades

(Boogah-Boogah)

March 2014

by Tim Rubald, C.A. NCGR-PAA, C.A.P. ISAR

Oh, no! Now MARS!

          A lot of astrologers, astrology writers, and speakers that I know of seem to love retrogrades because those provide a reason to pull out a box of clichés that help inject something different into their words about a particular planet. The idea is that a retrograde serves to take the wind out of the sails of the retrograde body, or to weaken, twist, or impede its message. We are in a period now when we can evaluate four planets’ retrogradation to see just how much the clichéd approach holds up.

          Mercury retrograde is famous for communications problems. My phone went on the fritz, and that’s interfered with my communications in very obvious ways. Demonstrably, some Mercury retrograde clichés are supported. But there’s a yang to that yin. In the same period, of my phone trouble, I’ve had some of the best and most inspired spurts of all sorts of communications that I’ve ever had; writing, consulting, speaking, and communicating with others in general. On the other hand, some of those “brilliant” bits have been completely misconstrued to the extent of me singing the classic, “Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”* to more than one person during the retrograde.

* Writers: Sol Marcus, Ray Charles, Gloria Caldwell, and Bennie Benjamin by whom it is copyright.

          Much of what writers and speakers say about retrogrades holds up; but often for the wrong reasons. Fifty years of observation have taught me that a retrograde planet is not weakened, and it is certainly not going the “wrong” direction.

          An astrologers’ group of which I am a life member, the Organization for Professional Astrology (www.opaastrology.com), poses a question to the membership each month. This time, fittingly, the question was about retrogradation.

          The retrogrades referred to are (USA dates):

Mercury Rx         February    6                 03° 20’        Pisces

Mercury D           February    28               18° 10’        Aquarius

Mars Rx               March         1                 27° 32’        Libra

Mars D                May            19               09° 02’        Libra

Jupiter Rx            November 6/7, 2013    20° 31’        Cancer

Jupiter D              March         6                 10° 26’        Cancer

Saturn Rx            March         2                 23° 19’        Scorpio

Saturn D              July            20               16° 39’        Scorpio

“Since we have an incredibly packed retrograde period, with 4 stations [the body or point appears to stand still as it moves from direct to retrograde motion or vice versa] this week (Mercury and Jupiter go direct, Saturn and Mars go retro), and ... [we] are in the midst of a back to back retro season, (Venus retro in January, Mercury retro in February, and Mars going retro in March), well the question BEGS to be about Retrogrades!” --- Maurice Fernandez, OPA Community Outreach Director

Question: What in your view is the most important thing to consider or apply with retrograde cycles?

          There is a long, even traditional, misunderstanding of retrograde motion in the astrology kingdom. I say kingdom for metaphorical emphasis, not by accident. I’d say that some of what still holds with many astrologers, and even in recent books, may be correct, but for the wrong reasons, and some of what’s offered is just wrong. After more than fifty years of observing (observation is the best astrology teacher), I’ve learned to try and not fit astrology into the molds given historically. It’s a dance, without the historical track we’d have nothing, and since much offers a framework for understanding, I don’t for a moment suggest that we toss everything out and start over. I respect and am deeply grateful to my predecessors.

          You can get an idea of my approach by reading some of the articles I’ve put on my blog, http://astrology-startalk.blogspot.com/ There’s a search box under the name of the blog. For relevant articles, put “Mercury retrograde” in the box, and search. I’ve focused primarily on Mercury in my writing there, but retrograde misunderstanding applies to all of the planets’ retrogrades. While we generally assume that the Sun and Moon don’t retrograde; due to the Sun’s wobble about the barycenter (the center mass of the solar system), it does; not that often though (seven times in the last 3400 years).  There is much to say about retrogrades. When someone comes up with a challenge to long-held beliefs as I do, resistance is human. There’s a sort of fear factor, like “Oh, am I wrong? Is my teacher or the highly respected astrologer who wrote this book wrong?”

DOCTOR WHO

Just kidding, Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance mathematician and astronomer who formulated a heliocentric model of the universe which placed the Sun, rather than the Earth, at the center.

          The change I am proposing is subtle. What happens when perspective is shifted just a little? Why a body sometimes appears to retrograde has been known as long as a heliocentric solar system has been accepted. There are no retrogrades around the Sun at the center. It is the geocentric view that creates the phenomenon. Somehow a shading of “bad, backwards,” remains in astrologers’ retrograde delineations, even though most of them know that the Sun is the center (almost) and that the planets always move in one direction around it. A slight shift of viewpoint and I hope that we lose the problematic emphasis on retrogrades and increase our understanding. Then astrologers can impart a better refinement of life processes in work with clients (for those who do the interpersonal thing).

Nothing really goes backwards. Thanks, Nicky!

The basics: 

1) The planet is nearest Earth when retrograde (or the Earth is nearer the planet, Tweedledum/Tweedledee). 

2) There are 3-5 “hits” of a particular longitude (the Signs are measures of longitude) that retrograde motion allows. That means that a point in your chart may be aspected or “hit” by a retrograde planet three to five times due to retrogradation.

          Let's see what happens when we bring those two factors to greater attention, and give a little less attention to a planet’s “negative qualities” due to its apparent backward motion

2003 but you get the idea. The ECLIPTIC is a great circle the plane of which passes through the center of the Sun as well as through the center of the Earth.  The Ecliptic also corresponds closely to the plane of the orbits of the other major planets around the Sun. The Sun is always smack in the middle of the Ecliptic. The Sun is behind us as we look toward Mars from this starship observation deck. Another way to say that is the Sun is opposite Mars, or, the Earth is between the Sun and Mars, or, the Earth and Mars are on the same side of the Sun. All of those are equivalent. This example works for all of the planets outside of Earth's orbit. For how it works for the planets inside Earth's orbit, Mercury and Venus, see the illustration in this article http://astrology-startalk.blogspot.com/2014/02/how-to-cope-when-mercurys-retrograde.html

Question: Do you have anything to share about the coming Mars Retrograde cycle in Libra?

          As suggested, a retrograde planet may be (to me it is will be) in greater focus. While my mentor (one of several I’ve been blessed with), Zip Dobyns, would say, “There’s no such thing as a bad planet.” When you are talking about Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, I think you may notice, at least, experience out of our comfort zones.

          From the “handed down realm” here’s this from Devore’s Encyclopedia: “This proximity of Mars to the Earth . . . considerably augments the strength of its reception ... signal strength ... Wilson ... attributes it to a wave of robberies, vicious murders and calamities.” I don’t throw these notions out, but look to appreciate them in the entire range of Martian expression, that of the traditional malefic, as well as from Zip’s notion of no bad planets. [I hope to write more about Mars Rx soon.]

 Question: Do you pay attention to planets beyond Mars’ (from Jupiter and on) retrograde cycle?

          All planetary motion interests me.

Question: The Nodes natural motion is retrograde; do you find any different significance to the Nodes going DIRECT?

          Our Moon nodes’ mean motion is retrograde; their “true” motion includes a kind of stuttering that includes stations and bits of direct motion. While I’ve opted for True placement in chart work, as far as transits go, I find the changes or “effects” if you will, of the True Lunar Nodes, unremarkable. I may be missing something, but I’ve found no reason to delve more deeply there. All of the planets have a nodal axis but I’m assuming the question is about the lunar nodes. Planetary and lunar nodes have much to contribute, but one can’t focus on everything.

* See Tables of Planetary Phenomena, Neil F. Michelsen, page 6.

Copyright © Tim Rubald 2014

Tim Rubald, C.A. NCGR-PAA, C.A.P. ISAR

http://astrology-startalk.blogspot.com/

facebook.com/Tim.Rubalds.Astrology

tweeting @startalker

Your Valentine ~ The Sun is the Heart

The Sun is the Heart

Tim Rubald

           

Here is a light look at how the Sun expresses vitality, warmth, and energy through each of the twelve Signs in terms of romance, love and desire.  The Sun is only one of several horoscope factors that contribute to how an individual will express these things.

The idea that Sun Signs (there are twelve, each approximately thirty days long in a year) may be useful for analysis and prediction comes out of an astrological understanding of the Sun.  In astrology and astronomy (the straight laced child of astrology) the Sun is the center of our solar system.  By means of a system of correspondences, astrology recognizes the Sun in the horoscope as representing a person’s center (in several senses of the word).  In terms of the body the Sun is representative of the heart, the life sustaining core of a person.

The division of the ecliptic into twelve Signs has the Sun expressing through each Sign as through a lens or filter.  The lens qualifies how the “heart energy” of the Sun expresses.  Other factors further color the expression of passion and romance.  The Sign’s influence on the Sun is only one of several important factors.

ARIES

The Aries heart is like the old Adidas “Just Do It” advertisement.  There is action and impatience.  Don’t make the Aries heart wait and don’t slow it down in order to fulfill some notion of what love is about.  Appreciate Aries for its fearless and courageous march.  Give it reason to march your way and it may just do it.

TAURUS

The Taurus heart is like the steady, heady pulse of springtime.  It is bursting with beauty, sensuality, and a lust for touch, taste and luxury.  Don’t rush the Taurus heart.  Its love of life epitomizes the word savor.  Sample with it what the Taurus heart relishes and you become part of what that heart desires.  Appreciate its appreciation of the sense world and become a part of its world.

GEMINI

The Gemini heart is curious.  It wants to explore, not so much with some specific goal in mind but just to find out.  It's a mental kind of heart that fancies variety and experiment.  It is sensitive to nuance and subtlety.  Appeal to its love of variety with unpredictable gestures:  cards, letters, clippings, magazines, books, e-mail, aps, and URLs for the Gemini heart to explore.

CANCER

The Cancer heart is a blend of sensitivity and power.  It has the nurturing and protective force of a mother bear.  Romance, sentimentality, and emotion touch this heart.  Mementos, things from the past to cherish and protect, invite the Cancer heart’s participation.  Praise (even flattery) feeds this heart.  Criticism damages it.  While the Gemini heart offers mental variety there’s never a dull emotional moment with the heart of Cancer.

LEO

The heart of the lion is loyal, generous, and idealistic.  It loves to offer its protection and loyalty in exchange for admiration.  It is the true peacock heart, extravagant, ostentatious, and lordly.  It is inspiring and lively essentially within its own world.  Make the Leo heart your world and it returns great faith in you. 

VIRGO

The shy, Virgo heart is dutiful, affectionate and faithful.  It appreciates (loves?) order and method.  The Virgo heart likes “the real thing,” what is practical, what is felt and touched, held and compared.  It is discriminating to the degree that its appreciation is honor in itself.  Rather than compromise the Virgo heart may become self-sufficient.  If you are in doubt as to what it requires, this passionate treasure of a heart gives directions.

LIBRA

 The Libra heart is a companion.  It lives for sympathy and understanding.  It is so idealistic that it is hard to satisfy this heart in love.  It is not a hard heart though; it is surprisingly mental, ever imagining the pleasantest of worlds.  Win this heart with beauty and avoid “reality therapy.”  Flattery is not wasted on the Libra heart.  It craves appreciation.  Avoid what are ugly and unpleasant and nurture this heart with any kind of beauty.

SCORPIO

Thanks to stereotyping clichés, the Scorpio heart supposedly responds only to sex.  Sex isn’t the whole picture though.  The Scorpio heart is a proud heart.  It can be as comfortable with what to many might be excess in physical love as it is with continence and self control.  The love of this heart can be deep and lasting.  It lives in a world of emotion, the depth of emotion from which all “active” emotions arise.  The Scorpio heart lives in extremes of emotion, not in any middle ground.  It is the real thing. Don’t play here unless you understand.

 

Ummm, New Mexico chile

SAGITTARIUS

The Sagittarius heart blossoms in nature, in the out of doors, in freedom.  Put it behind walls or in a cage and it will wither.  It is so friendly, and its actions are so human and attractive, that its flirtations might appear to be more than they are.  For this heart, flirtation is just an exercise of friendliness, of play.  This is the heart that aphorism seems written for, "If you love something, set it free.  If it comes back to you, it is yours."  The Sag heart feeds on the broadest possible range of experience, beyond any limits of thought or imagination.  Win this heart with playful kindness. 

CAPRICORN

The Capricorn heart is ambitious, has goals, and appreciates material advantage.  There is a sense of calculation with the Capricorn heart.  Once the “externals” are understood, the heart of the Sea Goat is as passionate and sexual as Scorpio; as sensual and physical as any Bull (Taurus) in a meadow at the bursting climax of Spring.  Care for this heart and it will take care of business, be dutiful, and take care of everything that needs managing.

AQUARIUS

The Aquarius heart is mental and humanitarian.  It is nothing if not fair.  It is not that it is uncomfortable with emotion; it is just that for Aquarius, emotion seems to happen in the mind where it becomes rational.  The Aquarius heart can seem scientific that way.  Its greatest gift is one of friendship.  Even though it can be oriented in a democratic way and have an intimate sense of the future, don’t expect wildness (craziness and unpredictability yes) as the Water Bearer’s heart may hold and apply rigid moral convictions.  It is the water of Spirit and focused ideal that is carried, not that of syrupy emotion.  Allow the Aquarius heart in by allowing it to be helpful; praise and compliment and it’s yours.

PISCES

For the sweetest of sloppy emotion take the Pisces heart.  It is more than simple charity, more than plain sympathy, more than hospitality, kindness and generosity.  Take this heart as far as you can imagine and it goes farther.  The Pisces heart is so intuitive, receptive, and mediumistic that you can break it before you do.  Walk gently with this heart please, however impractical, inefficient, swayed, and tempted by emotion it may be.  This heart swims in a sea of emotional excitement; dive in, only if you are a strong swimmer.

© 2000-2014 Tim Rubald

startalker@aol.com

Helping conscious people to understand their life cycles and to optimize their timing for success.

New Moon Sep 5 2013

Considering the intensity of the times (that isn't going away), the New Moon, September 5, at 11:36:08 GMT, 7:36 EDT, shows some areas of hope and promise (geeze, Sarah Palin ear worm strikes).

The stress that I've been writing about for a decade with our current deep, global, revolution, is the big not going away part. The shorter term challenge of the generations, or freedom vs. control is with us for this lunar period.

Productivity and optimism may show their furry little heads, and American values and a real sort of patriotism, not the lip-service, flag-waving, my country right or wrong, kind, but the real thing, the patriotism that acknowledges that we are all in this together. Rich or poor, black, brown, red, or white, straight or gay, even red haired, we are all Americans. We can get some work done about shoring our values up, about recognizing the better nature in one another.

Might I even suggest some progress regarding financial matters, the economy? Shifts are slow in that department but some profound changes are in the works. Oh, my, jingoistic Conservatives may not like the sound of it, but regulation that serves to curb the excesses and prosecute the crimes resulting from something like what Ross Perot called a giant sucking sound; dollars and jobs leaving America and American control.

Mars in the fiery Sun's Leo is having some stress with Big Daddy Saturn, who sometimes just might scowl a bit. In this case, there may be some attention to finance, business, and investment, at whatever level that affects you in life. Those words might have you thinking, "Not me," but those are astrological words, symbolic and metaphorical; as the song goes, "Isn't that the way; Everybody's got the dues in life to pay." It's also what I referred to as a clash between the generations. Would Clinton and Biden's kids be off to a new war? I don't think so. That sort of privilege is a facet of the clash.

This theme hits a bit of a crescendo when the Moon gets to Saturn (September 9). When she does, Mars is about exactly square (challenge for change, bringing creativity to fashion and to form new solutions for the future); it is a time when consciousness itself is part of the development most seek.

Here's the astro-babble of the layout: Saturn is in Mars' Sign, Scorpio, and Mars is raging in the heat of Leo. That's a big clash between Fire and Water; between Fire and Earth. Impulse vs. practicality. Action vs. planning.

September 9, Mars is perfectly balanced against Saturn, the strength and vitality of youth, versus the wisdom and power of age. This is a clash of the gods. Mars tries to force Saturn to dream a new structure into being. We think we understand practical limitations and we know that survival requires new approaches.

The Moon ties it all together on the morning of the 9th.  The Moon comes along at the same time that Mars aspects Saturn, and first joins Saturn, and eleven minutes later, forms an action angle with Mars (maybe the most powerful of ways that planets relate to one another).

The Moon reflects a different, and much more ephemeral, impulse than the Mars to Saturn aspect. The Mars to Saturn is about a profound, creative need to change orientation. It's like bulldozers working in the realm of consciousness to build a new world. It's deep and comes with a long-term view. The rapidly cycling Moon comes along for feeling attention to future-focus, and asks "Let's do this!" She's pushing for action from fiery Martian creativity. At the same time, she asks of Saturn that he father a new child (these are gods; they can make children in a minute if they want). A child needed for immediate deep work, shorter term, but seeding larger plans of two, and of thirty years. In 2040 or so, ideas and actions birthed now will manifest. Sue me if I'm wrong (but I'm not wrong).

In a short few days there can be a need to envision future use of consciousness, in both two and in thirty years. The periods are connected by the theme. Like the building of the Great Barrier Reef, it's a process, a heightened period of attention to a humanitarian construction in some way, shape, or form. There is an advantage to having the elders sit us down to talk. Fire and impatience are not enough. Actions, efforts, thoughts, emotions, love, and anger all influence the formation suggested in this simple arrangement; Fire and Water, Inspiration and Spirit, War and Peace. What shall we make of them? How will it be in thirty years? Time travel is a daily occurrence for astrologers who have the inclination. Those who remember history see the ripples; see the flow of the river without banks. Impulse, inspiration, wisdom, patience, raw energy, harnessed with no harness but love. Think of the pony tamed with kindness rather than the one roped and "broke." The overall process may be about sharing or hoarding resources. Do you see it play out now in workers asking for living wages, nations working to free themselves from oppressive rule, from ordinary farmers demanding access to their own seed? The specifics differ from person to person. The core issues remain the same.


Copyright © Tim Rubald 2013

The Sun is the Heart (Your Valentine)

The Sun is the Heart

Something for St. Valentine's Day 

by astrologer Tim Rubald

         

Here is a light look at how the Sun expresses vitality, warmth, and energy through each of the twelve Signs in terms of romance, love and desire.  The Sun is only one of several horoscope factors that contribute to how an individual will express these things.

The idea that Sun Signs (there are twelve, each approximately thirty days long in a year) may be useful for analysis and prediction comes out of an astrological understanding of the Sun.  In astrology and astronomy (the straight laced child of astrology) the Sun is the center of our solar system.  By means of a system of correspondences, astrology recognizes the Sun in the horoscope as representing a person’s center (in several senses of the word).  In terms of the body the Sun is representative of the heart, the life sustaining core of a person.

The division of the ecliptic into twelve Signs has the Sun expressing through each Sign as through a lens or filter.  The lens qualifies how the “heart energy” of the Sun expresses.  Other factors further color the expression of passion and romance.  The Sign’s influence on the Sun is only one of several important factors.

ARIES

The Aries heart is like the old Adidas “Just Do It” advertisement.  There is action and impatience.  Don’t make the Aries heart wait and don’t slow it down in order to fulfill some notion of what love is about.  Appreciate Aries for its fearless and courageous march.  Give it reason to march your way and it may just do it.

TAURUS

The Taurus heart is like the steady, heady pulse of springtime.  It is bursting with beauty, sensuality, and a lust for touch, taste and luxury.  Don’t rush the Taurus heart.  Its love of life epitomizes the word savor.  Sample with it what the Taurus heart relishes and you become part of what that heart desires.  Appreciate its appreciation of the sense world and become a part of its world.

GEMINI

The Gemini heart is curious.  It wants to explore, not so much with some specific goal in mind but just to find out.  It's a mental kind of heart that fancies variety and experiment.  It is sensitive to nuance and subtlety.  Appeal to its love of variety with unpredictable gestures:  cards, letters, clippings, magazines, books, e-mail, aps, and URLs for the Gemini heart to explore.

CANCER

The Cancer heart is a blend of sensitivity and power.  It has the nurturing and protective force of a mother bear.  Romance, sentimentality, and emotion touch this heart.  Mementos, things from the past to cherish and protect, invite the Cancer heart’s participation.  Praise (even flattery) feeds this heart.  Criticism damages it.  While the Gemini heart offers mental variety there’s never a dull emotional moment with the heart of Cancer.

LEO

The heart of the lion is loyal, generous, and idealistic.  It loves to offer its protection and loyalty in exchange for admiration.  It is the true peacock heart, extravagant, ostentatious, and lordly.  It is inspiring and lively essentially within its own world.  Make the Leo heart your world and it returns great faith in you. 

VIRGO

The shy, Virgo heart is dutiful, affectionate and faithful.  It appreciates (loves?) order and method.  The Virgo heart likes “the real thing,” what is practical, what is felt and touched, held and compared.  It is discriminating to the degree that its appreciation is honor in itself.  Rather than compromise the Virgo heart may become self-sufficient.  If you are in doubt as to what it requires, this passionate treasure of a heart gives directions.

LIBRA

 The Libra heart is a companion.  It lives for sympathy and understanding.  It is so idealistic that it is hard to satisfy this heart in love.  It is not a hard heart though; it is surprisingly mental, ever imagining the pleasantest of worlds.  Win this heart with beauty and avoid “reality therapy.”  Flattery is not wasted on the Libra heart.  It craves appreciation.  Avoid what are ugly and unpleasant and nurture this heart with any kind of beauty.

SCORPIO

Thanks to stereotyping clichés, the Scorpio heart supposedly responds only to sex.  Sex isn’t the whole picture though.  The Scorpio heart is a proud heart.  It can be as comfortable with what to many might be excess in physical love as it is with continence and self control.  The love of this heart can be deep and lasting.  It lives in a world of emotion, the depth of emotion from which all “active” emotions arise.  The Scorpio heart lives in extremes of emotion, not in any middle ground.  It is the real thing. Don’t play here unless you understand.

SAGITTARIUS

The Sagittarius heart blossoms in nature, in the out of doors, in freedom.  Put it behind walls or in a cage and it will wither.  It is so friendly, and its actions are so human and attractive, that its flirtations might appear to be more than they are.  For this heart, flirtation is just an exercise of friendliness, of play.  This is the heart that aphorism seems written for, "If you love something, set it free.  If it comes back to you, it is yours."  The Sag heart feeds on the broadest possible range of experience, beyond any limits of thought or imagination.  Win this heart with playful kindness. 

CAPRICORN

The Capricorn heart is ambitious, has goals, and appreciates material advantage.  There is a sense of calculation with the Capricorn heart.  Once the “externals” are understood, the heart of the Sea Goat is as passionate and sexual as Scorpio; as sensual and physical as any Bull (Taurus) in a meadow at the bursting climax of Spring.  Care for this heart and it will take care of business, be dutiful, and take care of everything that needs managing.

AQUARIUS

The Aquarius heart is mental, and humanitarian.  It is nothing if not fair.  It is not that it is uncomfortable with emotion; it is just that for Aquarius, emotion seems to happen in the mind where it becomes rational.  The Aquarius heart can seem scientific that way.  Its greatest gift is one of friendship.  Even though it can be oriented in a democratic way and have an intimate sense of the future, don’t expect wildness (craziness and unpredictability yes) as the Water Bearer’s heart may hold and apply rigid moral convictions.  It is the water of Spirit and focused ideal that is carried, not that of syrupy emotion.  Allow the Aquarius heart in by allowing it to be helpful; praise and compliment and it’s yours.

PISCES

For the sweetest of sloppy emotion take the Pisces heart.  It is more than simple charity, more than plain sympathy, more than hospitality, kindness and generosity.  Take this heart as far as you can imagine and it goes farther.  The Pisces heart is so intuitive, receptive, and mediumistic that you can break it before you do.  Walk gently with this heart please, however impractical, inefficient, swayed, and tempted by emotion it may be.  This heart swims in a sea of emotional excitement; dive in, only if you are a strong swimmer.

© 2000-2012 Tim Rubald

startalker@aol.com

Helping conscious people in transition or crisis to understand their life cycles and optimize their timing for success.