IN 213 YEARS

IN 213 YEARS

Sun conjunct Galactic Center

12/18/2012 @ 27° 01' 52 Sagittarius
12/21/2225 29° 59' Sagittarius
12/21/2226 00° 00' Capricorn -- the location of the Galactic Center

It is cute and a reminder of our smallness in the scheme of things. In order to have a photograph of our Milky Way Galaxy though, you would need a vantage point from outside of the galaxy, and a good ways away in order to fit the whole thing in the viewfinder. So this picture is a gotcha from whoever started it. It is actually a photo of the Andromeda Galaxy.

The Milky Way Galaxy is organized into spiral arms of giant stars that illuminate interstellar gas and dust. Our Sun is in a finger called the Orion Spur. Some of the brightest stars and most famous celestial objects of this constellation (Betelgeuse, Rigel, the stars of Orion's Belt, the Orion Nebula) are neighbors of sorts to our sun, located within the Orion Arm. When we look at it, we're looking into our own local spiral arm. This is not a photograph, it is a portrait. To photograph our galaxy, you'd have to be outside of it, and that's a long, long way.
For more visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/galaxy-location.html
http://earthsky.org/space/does-our-sun-reside-in-a-spiral-arm-of-the-milky-way-galaxy

Hello fans of Astrology in Astrophysics. Doing some cleanup on one of my computers I came upon these calculations that I'd made for the 2012 whoop-de-do. Then as now I prefer to stick to the astrology that I know, and not suddenly jump on a Mayan track and pretend that I know something about Mayan astrology. Not necessarily part of the Mayan thing was the notion, that at the time of the Winter Solstice, also known as the Winter Equinox, that the solstice Sun, viewed from Earth, would be exactly on the Galactic Center in that alignment looking toward the Sun from the Earth (GC then, behind the Sun). Imagine the center of our galaxy (we call the Milky Way, aka Via Lactea) at the moment of the Equinox, that our Sun would transit or eclipse that precise center point.

I came upon this by accident and thought to use it here because it depicts the baloney of the so-called alignment of the 2012 Winter Solstice Sun with the Galactic Center. I was gratified to find the word BULLSHIT in the caption with it. Yes folks, it will be 210 years until the event. Then, the marker "C" will have the year 2225 beneath it.

In this photo (probably composit since it is such a huge chunk of space) we look toward the Galactic Center from Earth. It's a rather unpreposing part of the Galaxy. When we zoom in, and we have now, but I'll leave those photos for another time, we find a bright globe. That globe is made of light being sucked into the Black Hole there. I continue to be gratified and amazed at what space exploration has given us in such a short span of time. I know that this will spread out over the page, but I just can't bring myself to smallerize it.

I pointed out that would not occur until the year 2225 and 2226.  I may have said something along the lines of the carnival barker's "Close, but no cigar." Which I suppose was the prize for whacking the base lever with a big sledge hammer to send a weight up to ring the bell at the top, "Close, but no cigar." In fact, at the solstice in 2012, the Sun was just a teeny bit less than three entire degrees away from the center.

Here's another view with other galaxies, stars, and objects identified. The letters are abbreviations for astronomical catalogues-published lists of known stars, nebulae, supernova remnants, galaxies, and other objects in space.

The New General Catalogue (NGC) was originally published in 1888 by the Royal Astronomical Society and lists 7,840 objects.

The Index Catalogue (IC) lists an additional 5,286 galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters discovered between 1888 and 1907.

Names with the letter M are Messier objects, named after Charles Messier, a French astronomer. In the 1760s and 70s, he hunted comets and made a list of the 103 objects he found that looked like, but were not comets. All Messier objects can be seen with binoculars or small telescopes under clear, dark skies.
From:
http://www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/evolving-universe/science/kidcat.htm

These are undeniably exciting times, before and after 2012, but there are real astrological events that fit our reality quite well. We'll have to wait until 2225 for whatever is implied by the solstice Sun exactly conjunct the Galactic Center.

Aloha!


© Copyright 2015 Tim Rubald

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

What about Mercury retrograde in a birth chart?

What about Mercury retrograde in a birth chart?

Also as an abbreviated post in Facebook Soul Centered Psychological Astrology

February 25, 2014

My friend, it may be that Mercury on the near Earth side of its orbit is good for inner work; case in point, my article, written a few days ago. One of the reasons I thought there is rich value for counselors is my suggestions as to how to make positive use of the times Mercury is retrograde. Like you, experience has been my teacher and has disabused me of the doom and gloom of the things that are supposed to go wrong while Mercury slides between the Earth and Sun. “Retrograde planets in a birth map were anciently said to be weak or debilitated. . . That it continues to retrograde for a period after birth might detract from its capacity to incite progress . . . “, writes Nicholas Devore. With attention, we see that the business that causes chaos is often in our heads. 

          While it looks as though the tree falling on the car was just an unfortunate accident, we really don't know. Maybe the driver was in a rush and parked in an unfamiliar place. Maybe it was just coincidence. Maybe Mercury was direct in motion when it happened. If such Cosmic Authorities as Astrologers go off on the problems of Mercury Rx, aren't those who pay attention to such authorities on the lookout for "Mercury Rx distress"? I have a friend who regularly writes about news items during those Rx periods, but I find an equal amount of similar stories when Mercury is swinging around the far side of the Sun, in the same direction as the Sun. People aren't blaming the hard drive crash on little Mercury when Mercury is direct.

          In your case, "in the old days" (hopefully), Mercury Rx in a nativity had the astrologer looking for mental challenges like deafness, or what used to be called retardation, or at least a speech impediment, or being held back in school. While any of those things might occur for a Mercury Rx native, wider examination will often show brilliance. The actress Hedy Lamarr, while she's fading in the dust of time now, was once viewed as one of the most beautiful women in the world. Her Sun in smoldering Scorpio, had been crossed by Rx Mercury (5° 11’ past the Sun, about to go direct a week later, to chase after the Sun once again). To enhance her mystery and beauty, she had the Moon just over Neptune in Leo, but that's off-topic. She had plenty in her life that fit with the depths of Mercury Rx, but to point out that that factor has little effect on mental brilliance, her career might have taken a different direction.

          She spent much of her time in a workroom with drafting table and equipment. "It was Hedy's idea for a secret communications system - specifically one that could guide a torpedo using a technology called "frequency hopping" - so that signal couldn't be intercepted." [It was 1940, and German U-boats were wreaking havoc in the Atlantic torpedoing ships, very often with women and children aboard trying to flee the Nazis - something Hedy knew a little about, being born to Jewish parents and having fled Austria on a ship she knew was carrying Louis B. Mayer.] Her idea got a patent. "Today, frequency hopping is used with the wireless phones that we have in our homes, GPS, most military communication systems - it's very widely used,” said Richard Rhodes in his biography, "Hedy's Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World." So much for Rx Mercury twisting the mind into something not so useful. Of course, those delineations were from olden times when astrologers were looking for mental aberrances in Mercury Rx natives.

Note: Mercury is retrograde as I write this, so any errors are his fault. There are several articles here on Mercury's retrogrades. Under the title of the blog, Astrology STARTALK from Tim Rubald, is a search box. Just type in Mercury to pull them up.

 Copyright © Tim Rubald 2014

How to cope when Mercury’s retrograde

How to cope when Mercury’s retrograde

Question for the astrologer:

Just droppin by to talk 'bout freakin Mercury w/ my favorite astrologer! Mercury is usually my favorite planet but not when it's retro. Man, Mercury retro has one heckuva timin, Tim! I take (re-take!) the Bar next week and it would be while Mercury is retro, huh? Arrrrgghh! In practicin some multiple choice questions & essays I'm noticin the words are jumbled up and I'm misreadin some of the questions... I find myself havin to PUMP THE BRAKES on my Speedy Mars mentality and T-A-K-E M-Y S-W-E-E-T T-I-M-E. very frustratin to say the least... but as they used to say in GI Joe cartoons, I am forewarned and bein forewarned is bein forewarmed (I'm gonna leave that typo as an example of my point! That shoulda read forearmed! LOL!!!) Anyway, just wanted to gripe 'bout Mercury retro. Grrrr. Lookin forward to its goin direct! LOL!

Tim Rubald:::  Hi Mariama, it looks like you really get it. Mercury's retrograde path brings it nearest our planet. Mercury functions don't have to be chaotic if you "pump the brakes," and take your sweet time. The reason words are jumbled and things seem confused is that the brain stuff is spinning too fast. [Please! Metaphorically.]

          That is completely controllable. Pause, breathe, space out for a minute, and stop thinking, or just notice thoughts as they come, and don't hold on to them. Let them go. There is nothing to worry about, nothing to fear. Mercury is giving a lesson that multitasking is not your friend. Take one step at a time (good for walking on icy sidewalks too). Now, what is in front of you, is what you are about. Take care of that. If it is studying, just study. If it is eating, just eat. If it is lovemaking, just give all attention to that. In your head already is what you need to know to pass the Bar. Take it one step at a time. You might pause to envision the steps you take (the bigger picture) that include the question. Pause if the answer doesn't jump out, and connect the question to the larger process. Make your best guess and move on to the next question. Come back to it if you have time to review. Mercury's help is wasted if dissipated. You don't want to dilute it. For best results take it full strength. Take your sweet time. It is sweet. It is precious. This moment will never be again.

          A lot of misinformation about retrogrades is passed down from astrology teachers and by books. The goofs become clearer the more you work with watching and "listening," letting the planets speak. Mercury retrograde seems to be an area where some of what's passed down is correct, but a lot of it is misleading. Don't think of Mercury going the "wrong" way. Think of an amplified Mercury function as the planet moves Earth-side of our Sun.

PS Since Mercury's been after me to get back to sharing; since your question is applicable to plenty of other folks. I'm going to put this question and my answer on my blog.

***************

          This is especially good advice as Mercury makes the closest to Earth part of its orbit. That's the time when the mind is so active that one forgets what one's doing right in the middle of doing. Pause. Be patient and things fall back into order. Do not multitask. That's a recipe for disaster.

Mercury orbits (as does Earth) counter-clockwise around the Sun. The retrograde happens in the part of the orbit that brings the planet nearer to Earth. As it goes around the far side of the Sun from Earth, it appears in "forward" or direct motion.

          The reason astrologers connect Mercury retrograde with computer, equipment, and transportation problems, is pretty much always due to the human factor. Those problems may spike a bit while Mercury is retrograde, but I doubt it. Notice all the similar problems that occur when Mercury is direct in motion, as it swings around the far side of the Sun. I expect that greater attention is at work, which is exactly what Mercury retrograde is really about, a stimulation of mental activity. We are more aware of SNAFUs when Mercury is retrograde, because we are more aware. We experience Murphy’s Law at work, because we are expecting it to work. That doesn’t mean that some astrologers are completely wrong, they are just right, for the wrong reasons.

          For more on Murphy’s Law’s many applications see:  http://www.murphys-laws.com/  Among Murphy’s Laws listed there are:  Murphy's Laws - If anything can go wrong, it will; Love Laws  - All the good ones are taken; Real Estate Laws - At least one check will be "lost in the mail" every month; War Laws - Friendly fire - isn't; Sewing Laws - The scissors cut easiest past the buttonhole; Murphy Volunteer Fire Department Laws - If it's stupid but it works, it ain't stupid; Nurses Laws - Doctors only ask your name when the patient isn't doing well; Cars Laws - An oil leak will develop; EMT Laws - All bleeding stops... eventually; Mothers Laws - Mother's way is best. If you don't believe it, ask her; Political Laws - No matter who gets elected, Government always gets in; Music Laws - At least one mobile phone will ring during a rehearsal or concert; and a favorite, Martial Arts Laws - You are not Bruce Lee.

          So remember, the best way to neutralize the Murphy’s Law effect of retrograde Mercury, is to take it easy. If the glass shatters on the floor just as you’re headed out the door, don’t blame Mercury retrograde. Pause, take a breath and admit to yourself it wasn’t because of an earthquake, but because of where you put the glass (or something beside it), or the cat making a point (I didn’t say you may leave). Most mistakes, most accidents, are human in origin, not cosmically perpetrated by the zippiest little planet in our solar system.

Note: Mercury is retrograde as I write this, so any errors are his fault. There are several articles here on Mercury's retrogrades. Under the title of the blog, Astrology STARTALK from Tim Rubald, is a search box. Just type in Mercury to pull them up.

 Copyright © Tim Rubald 2014

Mercury ends the retrograde, November 10, 2013

The importance of thought about emotion continues through this Scorpio period. Scorpio is the most sensitive of Signs. That may surprise the uninitiated who've only encountered a cold shell. That shell, and that stinger, is in order to protect the soft places, and to prevent the Scorpio from dissolving into a puddle. If Scorpio lets you in, don't mess up, it's worth being careful.

On Sunday, November 10, 2013, 21:12 GMT, 4:12 PM EST, at 2° 29' SCORPIO, MERCURY appears to stop his/her apparent backward movement, as s/he rounds the (round) corner of the orbit that will take her from the nearest Earth to the farthest on the circle around the Sun. That trip really gets underway on November 18, when Mercury reaches greatest distance (19.5°) west of the Sun, called "Greatest Elongation." S/he'll continue on as a Morning Star until the orbit takes her into the brilliance of the Sun that s/he'll be right behind on December 28 (called Superior Conjunction).

Courtesy of Birth Chart Painting ~ Aysem Aksoy https://www.facebook.com/BirthChartPaintig

What's of interest to me is less an apparent (but not actual) change of direction, but that the station puts a focus on a particular place in the Zodiac where it occurs. This one at 2° 29' Scorpio forms an harmonious aspect with Neptune, suggesting that relief from inner stress, and perhaps the machinations of others, comes from "stopping" occasionally to tune into that peace, that is ongoing and ever-present, when we are able to take a minute, to appreciate the magic of life.

A bit of astro-babble for the fans of that, is that this station occurs on The Fiery Way, Via Combusta, a fiery star section between mid-Libra and mid-Scorpio. So, if Mercury is a key factor (significator) in the chart, who or what is signified is weakened.

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You’ll find much more right here. Simply put “Mercury retrograde” into the search box, the box right under Astrology STARTALK from Tim Rubald.

Copyright © 2013 Tim Rubald

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

STARTALK Beltane 2019

The Sun at 15° 00’ Taurus marks the cross-quarter day.

There is a distinction between the calendar accident of May Day, May 1, and Beltane,  a seasonally dated holy day. It occurs this year at the Spring/Summer midpoint at 8:43 AM UT/GMT May 5, 9:43 AM BST, 4:43 AM EDT, 3:43 AM CDT, 2:43 MDT, 1:43 AM PDT, all May 5; and May 4 in Hawai’i at10:43 PM HST.

Back in the day, all the hearth fires would be extinguished on Beltane eve. A new fire would be lighted made of four sacred woods. The fire would be started with oak wood, by friction. The Druid would then hand torches lighted in the sacred fire that were carried back down the hill (the fire would be lighted at the highest place) to restart the village hearth fires. A happy party would carry on all night at the sacred fire. The Druid would make sure this happened when it was supposed to, at the true cross-quarter. He'd scoff at a calendar determined date. "What is this calendar that is so inaccurate that a day must be added every four years? What? Do you think that Beltane is Thanksgiving or something?"

This time in the year has been celebrated for thousands of years with holidays, holy days, and festivals. I can remember in my toddler-hood walking around the Maypole holding a ribbon and not having a clue about what was going on, but enjoying the color and chaos.  May Day in this country became associated with workers rights and labor unions until, in the Fifties armies, tanks, and rockets, with red stars, came this way on TV, and in Life and Look magazines to show the Soviet “hijacking” of May Day.  May Day festivities fell off in the U.S.A. lest we be affiliated with the godless communists.

Doc Rowe writes in his MayDay: The Coming of Spring:  “Today, Mayday for many is associated with Anti-capitalist demonstrations; however, Mayday originated as a pagan festive holy day celebrating the first spring planting. The Celts and Saxons celebrated May 1st as Beltane, which means the day of fire (Bel was the Celtic god of the sun). [No, May 1st is a result of the calendar change; the true Beltane date is astronomically based. The 1st has become the popular date; it is not true to the season cycle roots of tradition.]

“Celebrations began on the eve of Mayday with feasts marking the end of winter and the return of the sun. These celebrations continued in Britain until the 1700's when they were outlawed by the church.”

For the ancient Gaelic holiday, Beltane, the astronomical day is usually May 5. On the night of May 4, the sacred fire of four holy woods is put together to be lit with a friction fire started with oak. The bonfire is assembled at the highest point in the area, and all hearth fires are extinguished. All fires are snuffed out. The people assemble and the Druid (priest) lights the fire. From the sacred fire torches are lit and the new fire is carried back to the homes. In some areas fires might be lighted and livestock walked between the fires to purify them that they bear healthy young. Then, there’s a bit of carrying on, dancing, partying and ... well, see the end of the quotation from the grumpy puritan, Philip Stubbes, that follows.

To Philip Stubbes in his Anatomie of Abuses (1583), holidays such as Beltane licensed immoral behavior. His is a puritan’s nightmare of revelry and debauchery.

“Against May, Whitsunday or other time, all the young men and maids, old men and wives run gadding overnight to the woods, groves, hills and mountains, where they spend all the night in pleasant pastimes, and in the morning they return, bringing with them birch and branches of trees, to deck their assemblies withal, and no marvel, for there is a great Lord present amongst them, as superintendent and Lord over their pastimes and sports, namely Satan prince of hell. But the chiefest jewel they bring from thence is their Maypole, which they bring home with great veneration, as thus: They have twenty of forty yoke of Oxen, every Ox having a sweet nosegay of flowers placed on the tip of his horns, and these

Oxen draw home this Maypole (this stinking Idol rather) which is covered all over with flowers, and herbs bound ’round about with strings from the top to the bottom, and sometime painted with variable colours, with two or three hundred men, women, and children following it with great devotion. And thus being reared up, with handkerchiefs and flags hovering on the top, they straw the ground ’round about, bind green boughs about it, set up summer halls, bowers and arbors hard by it. And then fall they to dance about it like as the heathen people did at the dedication of the Idols, whereof this is a perfect pattern, or rather the thing itself. I have heard it credibly reported . . . that of forty, threescore, or a hundred maids going to the wood overnight, there have scarcely the third part of them returned home again undefiled.”

 

A more friendly appreciation of the ancient rite was offered by the great Rudyard Kipling. This from his poem, A Tree Song.

Oh, do not tell the Priest our plight,
  Or he would call it a sin;
But--we have been out in the woods all night,
  A-conjuring Summer in!
And we bring you news by word of mouth-
  Good news for cattle and corn--
Now is the Sun come up from the South,
  With Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!

Today the Sun is in the center or the Fixed Earth Sign, Taurus.  In his book, The Pulse of Life, Dane Rudhyar writes:  “‘Production’ is a key-word with Taurus.  Everything which Taurus touches should be productive if it is at all to be considered as significant.  But production depends upon the control of the basic energies of human or earthly nature.  . . . Taurus insists on making energy productive. . . . Productive energy—energy which is controlled and formed—is power.  Thus Taurus is a power-Sign of the Zodiac. It is one of the four great moments of the year-cycle when life operates definitely and creatively in terms of power and purpose. [Taurus is one of the] gates through which power and purpose are released and experienced.”

Enjoy our path to Summer, friends. Remember, Tim is available for personal appointments. Just drop an email to STARTALKER@aol.com. Mahalo.

WHEEL OF THE YEAR

Copyright © 2006-2013 Tim Rubald. All rights reserved.