Urania's Well: Astrology for Changing Times


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Don't Fear the Reaper: Scorpio's New Moon Eclipse

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

b2ap3_thumbnail_Death.pngAll our times have come
Here but now they're gone
Seasons don't fear the reaper
Nor do the wind, the sun or the rain...we can be like they are

Donald Roeser “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper”

The New Moon of October is an eclipse, which means its effects will reverberate for much longer than the standard New Moon — this chart overlooks the next six months to a year. It’s a demanding chart, but with some hope, some ease, and a challenge to take our spiritual awareness up a notch or two. The emphasis is on the sign of Scorpio, so we are looking at a lot of intensity of feeling, intensity of connection with others, confronting taboos, and a need to deeply understand and accept the realities of death and cyclical change. Venus is in a huddle with the Moon and Sun, putting an emphasis on personal relationships. When the chart is cast for Washington, DC, (find the chart here) it is predictive for the entire United States, and these three planets, along with Saturn, fall in the seventh house. This suggests to me that we will probably be seeing a whole lot of “othering” going on, quite a bit of active conflict — and hopefully some cooperation — in the public sphere, and the creation and/or dissolution of some powerful alliances.

Scorpio has an abundance of curiosity and the courage needed to investigate the nature of reality — this is one reason it rules the occult and magic. You’ll want to draw on both those qualities as you are faced with the need to transform — and perhaps release — many of the relationships in your life. Personal relationships will be a major focus of change in the upcoming months, and the house where this eclipse falls in your chart will tell of the areas of life where you’ll be challenged to relate fearlessly with depth, radical honesty, and personal power.

You may also find yourself dealing with situations that feature jealousy, vengefulness, and obsession — either within yourself or projected on to you by others. This is a clear call to change. Think carefully about the way you would want to handle those situations before they come up, so you don’t blow up a relationship you value in a moment of anger. If you’re thinking of extricating yourself from a relationship, this is a good time for it. And if you do it with all the grace, integrity, and compassion you can muster, you’ll be able to look back without regret. Don’t fear the Reaper.

Astro Details

I’ll review some of the astrological details for students, then go back to writing in English in the next paragraph. Students of astrology should pay particular note to the following (and remember when I mention houses I am looking at the chart cast for Washington DC). The Uranus-Pluto square is close, and forms a T-square with Mercury Rx, ruling the third and sixth houses, in Libra. Pluto co-rules the eighth (with Mars) and is on the Midheaven. Mars also rules the Ascendant, and disposits the four planets (five if you count Ceres, which I tend to do these days) in Scorpio, as well as Uranus in Aries, and forms a cooperative sextile with the Sun-Moon-Venus cluster. Mars is in Sagittarius, in the ninth house, and ruler Jupiter is in Leo square Saturn in Scorpio. Despite being in her detriment, Venus is strengthened in and ruling her own house conjunct the New Moon and oppose the Ascendant.

How to Handle It

There are going to be a lot of people clamoring to have their voices heard on the national stage in the upcoming months — so many that it will be hard to keep our attention from splattering everywhere.  We'll be hearing from a number of different quarters in our personal lives as well — I strongly suggest starting or re-starting a meditation practice, if only to help keep the signal-to-noise ratio in your head at a reasonable level. You should also be ready to release anything that comes up in your life that no longer serves you. Courage — the courage to face change and the death of old ways — will almost certainly be needed. The holiday season is likely to be a bit wild.

Another quality emphasized by this chart is a need for a strong set of values and a clear underlying philosophy you can use to chart a course through the confusion. But a self-focused Ayn Rand-ish ideology isn’t going to get you anywhere — law, religion, and philosophy cannot stand separate from empathy, compassion, and caring in a healthy society (not that ours *is* healthy, but hey, let’s give it a shot). Not only are we being asked to dive deeply into our hearts, but we will be challenged to put our philosophies into action, to do our best to make a difference in the world. Don’t be one of the clamoring voices demanding that someone solve problems for you. As Gandhi suggested, be the change you want to see in the world.

Out in the World…

On the national stage, foreign relations will be emphasized, and big egos will cause big problems, quite possibly by divulging information others would like to keep secret, or by reacting badly to revealed information. Attempts at power grabs are almost inevitable. Hidden information from the past is likely to jump up and bite us — or “them” — in the ass.

Ongoing nervousness-shading-into-panic over public health does not look to be going away soon, for whatever reason(s), and restrictions of one kind or another on travel are not unlikely (those restrictions may be due to politics or weather, not health). What I said about infectious disease in my last post still holds. Keep your sense of humor well-honed, because I suspect we may see some real Keystone Kops moments in the arenas of civil and military service. Unfortunately, there is the potential from some damaging fallout due to incompetence.

And Up in the Sky

There is a very interesting astrological shift happening on Saturday, the 25th, when there is a superior conjunction of Venus to the Sun, and Mercury goes direct on the same day. I was planning on writing about this separately, but it looks like I won’t have time before it happens, so I offer you this excellent article by Steven Forrest on the Venus pentagram and its superior and inferior conjunctions. Note that you might look for some real breakthroughs in relationships and self-awareness in the day or two surrounding this cosmic shift in the patterns. Watch carefully for the kind of events that trigger breakthroughs, and do your best to handle them consciously.

Are you wondering how this eclipse will affect you personally? The first step to understanding your personal astrology is a natal chart interpretation, a thoughtful and considered look at the energetic pattern that was established for you at the moment of birth, what that pattern says about your soul’s purpose in this lifetime, and how you can work with it to improve your life. Contact me here to set up a time for a quick talk, so I can answer any questions you have about the interpretive process.

Until next time!

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Diotima Mantineia began studying astrology in 1968, taking classes from Zoltan Mason in New York City. For the next 22 years, she practiced astrology only for herself and her friends, continuing her studies while watching an increasingly humanistic, psychologically oriented, modern astrology blossom through the work of leading astrologers such as Noel Tyl, Liz Greene, Rob Hand, Marion March, Stephen Arroyo and Howard Sasportas. In 1986, Diotima began her study of Wicca and started reading Tarot, discovering that she is a gifted intuitive. In 1991, she began practicing both astrology and Tarot professionally. She majored in plant and soil science both in college and grad school, and grows much of her own food and "materia magica" on her land in the mountains of western North Carolina. Diotima’s personal spiritual path is rooted in the Western mystery traditions, the principles of Yoga, and a profound connection with the natural world. Wicca gives structure to her spiritual journey, and she utilizes shamanic practices for healing and to live in harmony with Nature. Over 15 years of studying Chinese martial arts has given her a deep appreciation of Taoist thought which has strongly influenced her magical and personal philosophy. You can find her at www.uraniaswell.com

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