Celestial Notebook Overview August 2009

The solar eclipse of 22 July in the last degree of Cancer () will be making itself felt this entire month. Especially by the 6th when the lunar eclipse (a powerful Full Moon) at 13° 43’ Aquarius () highlights the transformation you’re experiencing.

Cancer reminds us that we are children and mothers, that we must receive as well as give. The issues that we are dealing with relates to mothering in a broader sense: what was nourishing at one point may be stifling now, what supported you to sprout may not foster your blossoming. Like a plant we grow towards the light and this month you need to reflect upon what you require and also what currently blocks your growth?

A lunar eclipse occurs at a Full Moon during which the Sun, Moon and the Earth lines up in such a way that the Moon moves into the shadow of the Earth. For a few hours we experience the Moon (intuitive right brain) directly without the Sun’s (more rational left brain) radiation. Portals that we never knew existed open and we can reset our conditioning so that it aligns with our true experience and perhaps see things in a different light.

With nurturing Cancer and interdependent Aquarius in the spotlight the core adjustments you’ll be considering will have to do with creating a space where you feel cherished and where you are able to care: a princess being nurtured by a worm, does not feel like a princess at all.....we need to find a place where we can equally give and receive.

The Cancer part of you who places strong value on people’s feelings helps humanise the detached Aquarius part of you; this introduces bona fide, lasting warmth into any relationship. Aquarius offers Cancer a much-needed wide-angled perspective on life which helps the crabby part of you to become less caught up in petty grievances and become a bit more objective. The skilful handling of this combination allows you to review your past to find out what is not working for you anymore, so that you can embrace a future less encumbered by burdensome emotional baggage.

The world has become a global village and we all have a genuine interest in helping people and improving community relationships. You’re creating a life in which you will know when you need quality time alone to refresh your soul before you go out into the world once again to help reform society in humane, enlightened ways. (Bil Tierney)

Nineteen years ago, on 6 August 1990, there was a Lunar Eclipse on the same degree. What was happening in your life then? Do the circumstances then point to emotional trauma that you now need to let go of? More recently in January 1999 there was a Lunar Eclipse at 11° 26’ Leo-Aquarius. What have you been working on during the past ten years? How could you become more conscious in the next ten years? To become more conscious is what we’ve come to do.

The opposition between Saturn (), The Preserver, in Virgo, and Uranus (), The Awakener, in Pisces has been ongoing since last October and their last exact opposition will only be in July 2010. For thousands of years Saturn demarcated the limits of our sky and then......Uranus was discovered – changing the way we view our firmament forever! Their energies are naturally at odds and now they are in opposition too; this happens every 40 years.

The dates that the opposition become exact are not necessarily D-days but the week before and after are often times when matters come to a head. It so happens that the first date they were in exact opposition was 4 November – the day of the presidential election in the USA. McCain and Obama were textbook examples of Saturn and Uranus – the old and the new. Uranus is the ruler of Aquarius and as we’re moving into the Age of Aquarius, it is not surprising that Obama became the first African prince to lead (the) US.

An opposition is the half-way mark in the cycle of two planets; the current Saturn/Uranus cycle began in 1988 when they were conjunct at 27° 49’ Sagittarius (close to where Pluto, Lord of the Underworld, is at present). Themes from this time will be recurring, asking for review and even closure: light is shed on our process since then. The period between July 1999 and May 2000 may also be highlighted as these two planets were then in a tense square.

On 15 September this opposition becomes exact at 24° Virgo-Pisces (-) so more about this in the Daily Guide for this month and the next month’s overview. Keep in mind though that it’s out with the old and in with the new!

Important this month is that on the22nd the Nodal axis moves from Aquarius-Leo (-) into Capricorn-Cancer (-). The transiting Lunar North Node represents the collective spiritual frontier where we are headed as a species; the South Node indicates an aspect in the collective character that could throw us off balance (probably because we know it so well!) should we not incorporate the reach of the North Node.

While the North Node was in Aquarius (from December 2007) we have been compelled to embrace revolutionary change – particularly social, political and technological developments. As the eleventh phase of twelve, we have been stretched to identify with a larger whole, the whole of humanity. And yet we have to accept that equality is not synonymous with uniformity – you are unique (Leo) and an important part of the Whole (Aquarius).

Capricorn’s glyph () represents the sea goat, with the V-shape symbolising its horns and the S-shape its fish tail. The sea goat illustrates human cultural achievement rising from the depths of the cosmic ocean. This glyph is also seen to represent the cornucopia, a symbol of food and abundance from ancient times. Also known as the Horn of Plenty, or harvest cone, the cornucopia is said to have the power to give whatever is desired to whoever possesses it: you can have what you want when it is in line with your karmic purpose.

Capricorn and its ruler, Saturn (), are also linked with time and gateways and the Law of Karma (‘as ye sow so shall ye reap’). The ancient Greeks believed that souls arrived through the gate of Cancer (the Cosmic Womb) and departed through the Gate of Death in Capricorn. They also had two distinct words for time: cairos meaning eternity or cyclic time and chronos, signifying linear time. Synchronicity occurs at the intersection between these dimensions of reality and appears as meaningful confirmation that we are aligned with the divine order.

Until March 2011 we are indeed being introduced to a new paradigm. For two thousand years the paradigm has been that time is money; we now move into an era that recognises that time is art. No more is it only about how productive we are, but also how present and caring we become.

You are the author, the director and producer of your life. Do you need a change in cast, scene or plot? ‘Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.’ Albert Einstein