posted September 18, 2009 07:27 AM         

Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The second fiddle. I can get plenty of first violinists, but to find someone who can play the second fiddle with enthusiasm - that’s a problem. And if we have no second fiddle, we have no harmony. Leonard Bernstein

A man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness. Chinese proverb

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. Harry S. Truman

Freedom - to walk free and own no superior. Walt Whitman

Have you felt the tension and the pressure? Many are saying they have felt pushed and rather drained from their responsibilities and the energy has been pretty full on. There's so much to say about this new Moon that it's a bit hard to know where to start...

The Saturn Uranus opposition last year was smack on November 4, the day of the US elections when Barack Obama won. The opposition then was surely about the titanic struggle between the old and the new, the tried and untried and in many people's minds, the good and the bad. Indeed, for many, it felt like the possibility of a new beginning; many felt euphoria and release as Obama won the election and the old guard fell quickly into obscurity. Of course, the old guard is trying to scramble their way back - almost using 'castration techniques' (if you're interested, Google and read the myth of Saturn castrating Uranus) in an effort to destabilize and undermine the new President, to discredit, defame and generally teabag and deflate. Naturally, as happens, things haven't magically become better and a lot of people have been, and still are, feeling a sense of disillusionment. The birth of the new can be painful and it takes time. Of course, the castration of Uranus lead to the birth of Aphrodite (Venus) and it seems to me that a good, considered dose of Venus is the way to soften the edges of this opposition.

This new Moon is a doozy - exactly conjunct Saturn and opposing Uranus = it is a new Moon largely defined by and constrained by the current Saturn Uranus opposition. The new Moon occurs on September 19 in Australia and September 18 in the United States. The Sabian Symbol is Virgo 26: A Boy With a Censer Serves Near the Priest at the Altar. The 'Boy' doesn’t have the experience or social position of the 'Priest', but that shouldn't put him off his duties or what needs to be done. His position and responsibilities are still important. In a Catholic church service, wine is drunk as a symbol of the blood of Christ. Wafers are placed on the tongues of the believers as the representation of the body of Christ. How the 'Boy' reacts to the ritual or ceremony will depend on his upbringing, beliefs or temperament. He could be rapt with fascination at what is being played out or he could be indifferent, bored and really preferring to go home. It is unclear whether the 'Boy' wants to eventually take the position of the older 'Priest', or colleague, or not. He may grow up to do other things, but right now he's got his position or duty to fulfill. This may be less than he's actually able to do or is truly "qualified" to do.

This Symbol brings up feelings of being second best, playing second fiddle; feeling like one has no authority. Of course, one can be 'The Priest' - you don't have to be 'The Boy With the Censer', however it is very likely that issues of having a position will come up. Are you fulfilling your duties, your karma, your desires, so completely that you will be able to take your position as the authority in your life? Are you living your life with people that talk down to you, abuse you, don't give you credit, don't listen, don't care and are only there to fulfill their own feelings of aggrandizement and glory? It could be time to stake your claim to those things that will reward you.

I would be remiss if I didn't bring up the Symbol of Virgo 27 as the new Moon falls right on 25Virgo59 = the very last minute of Virgo 26. The Sabian Symbol for Virgo 27 is Aristocratic Elderly Ladies Drinking Afternoon Tea in a Wealthy Home. This definitely has the spirit of feeling 'at home', feeling amongst your peers, taking time out, being able to relax, handing responsibilities on to others. So, this is a fine mix of having to do and finding time to just relax and catch up with others. The pic to the left is my interpretation of this degree (love it!).

The Saturn Uranus opposition is asking for big changes, big let goes and for us to take charge of a sense of personal authority that can (and will) move us into new life, new possibilities, new realities. We must accept the rewards that personal authority can bring, of course, and we may have to stand up and be firm about it. This is made more manifest by Pluto's placement at Capricorn 1: An Indian Chief Claims Power and Recognition From the Assembled Tribe. This clearly speaks about claiming power and recognition from those around you. Still, we often find that others are doing this at our expense. How to rectify this? Check out the parameters of your own influence, your own sphere and stick to those with a sense of authority, grace and strength. Your 'Assembled Tribe' can be the disparate parts of yourself that can contain differing messages; your career self may feel very much in charge while your relationship self is floundering (or vice versa). You may be quite strong when it comes to issues to do with your family and those close to you, but like a fish out of water in social situations (or vice versa). This placement of Pluto asks that we line up the various parts of our personalities and get them to work in concert. This is an empowering placement for Pluto, but we sometimes have to face what we fear before the rewards come flooding in.

Mercury is retrograding back into Virgo now. The Sabian Symbol for Mercury on this new Moon is Virgo 30: Having an Urgent Task to Complete, A Man Doesn't Look to Any Distractions. We all feel 'distracted' from time to time, this is quite normal. Distracted is an interesting word; going off the tracks, going off the rails, not being on target. We need one pointedness of application with Mercury here, staying true to yourself and remaining on the path or on the job. Mercury asks that we don't look to things that derail us. There's a reward here as well - Mercury will very soon head back to Virgo 29: A Man Is Gaining Secret Knowledge From an Ancient Scroll He Is Reading. This is a wonderful degree, particularly for Mercury to be going over. During the coming week, Mercury will retrograde over the degrees that Saturn is currently highlighting: Virgo 25: A Flag at Half-Mast in Front of a Public Building and Virgo 26: A Boy With a Censer Serves Near the Priest at the Altar. It's certainly time to be letting go - big time! Along with letting go is the acceptance of personal authority.

posted September 18, 2009 09:13 AM         

Channeler:
Barbara Hand Clow

It is the New Moon in Virgo, the perfect time to tune into whether you are in the now; that is, in total physical embodiment within all your consciousness bodies-physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. The 2009 "dance in the sky" seems to have been arranged to emphasize this human need all during Day Six of the Galactic Underworld (November 13, 2008, to November 8, 2009), which I have described in The Mayan Code: Time Acceleration and Awakening the World Mind.

This New Moon emphasizes embodiment, with Saturn in 25 Virgo exactly conjunct the New Moon and with Mercury in Virgo four degrees away. This stellium shouts, "Get yourself together now in light of the building chaos." The chaos siren pierced the air on September 15, when Uranus in Pisces exactly opposed Saturn in Virgo for the third time. Most people can see that basic societal systems-such health care and car manufacturing-are transforming during Day Six, which is the fruition phase of the Galactic Underworld. We didn't even need "Cash for Clunkers" to get the point. This New Moon calls each one of us to find new ways to be more grounded and conscious amidst so much movement and change. Coming right after Pluto going direct on September 11, and with Saturn opposing Uranus on September 15, this New Moon will inspire many people to demand better leadership and guidance from the people in power. New leaders will seem to spring up from nowhere while others will suddenly fall away. A new idea of what we expect from the outer world, the collective, is forming because so many people in power have betrayed-and are continuing to betray-the public trust.

The 2009 Fall Equinox occurs on September 22, only four days after this New Moon in Virgo, when we will all experience a profound harmonic balancing, whether we are conscious of it or not. You can more fully participate in this bi-annual harmonic if you first determine your personal grounding during this Virgo New Moon-and Chiron is the key this year. When I researched Chiron back in 1987, I concluded that this newly sighted body orbiting between Saturn and Uranus (also inside Jupiter's orbit for a while) rules the astrological sign Virgo and the sixth house. [See Chiron: Rainbow Bridge between the Inner and Outer Planets.] Since that time, I have seen nothing to make me think otherwise, so I will take a moment to review the controversy over Chiron's rulership.

Virgo placements in a natal chart describe tendencies to be compulsive and to have things be a certain way, the Saturn side of Virgo. Virgo placements also highlight our tendencies to reform and transform things, the Uranus side of Virgo. People with strong Virgo placements are constantly torn between compulsive desires and idealistic fantasies, so they strive for perfection. During its 50-year orbit, Chiron travels out to Uranus and back close into Saturn, and for a while the healing centaur even passes through Saturn's orbit to draw in Jupiter's mastery powers. Literally, Chiron bridges our personal desires described by the inner planets to our transpersonal powers described by the outer planets. Those of you who know people with many planets in Virgo or in the sixth house, especially the Sun, have often been puzzled by their limitless energy to clean and order their lives (the shadow can create extreme messiness). Yet, mysteriously, they also seem to be very spiritual and ethereal as if they dance to another tune in 3D time. Actually, Virgos exist in a constant struggle to perfect everything so that they can flip into the now-multi-dimensional merging in bliss-which is downloaded into their consciousness through the patterns of the outer planets. This is why Chiron rules Virgo, not Mercury, which instead perfectly rules nervous and multifaceted Gemini responding constantly to the nearby Sun.

While I'm noting my own research for a moment, I'd also like to point out that 3000 years ago, Chiron was the master astrologer of Greece, the astrologer's astrologer. Because most modern astrologers have not identified and/or utilized the correct rulership of Chiron, they are not in touch with their own master teacher! This is why many facets of modern astrology are getting mired in too much complexity and detail. Modern astrology needs to walk across the rainbow bridge to access transpersonal knowledge and multi-dimensional powers.

Considering the New Moon chart using Virgo's correct rulership, we can see that with Saturn and Mercury in Virgo surrounding the New Moon, the time has come for enhanced embodiment, which starts with honoring our physicality as the home for subtle forces, the outer planet qualities. Actually, this chirotic process has been ongoing during the Galactic Underworld since 1999. Now, this New Moon opens deep healing chambers for anyone who can trust, not fear. The Triple Conjunction-Jupiter, Chiron, and Neptune in Aquarius-has tested many of us for months; it has triggered deep healings and radical boundary reorientations. Most of us have changed greatly since May of this year. Now, this New Moon in Virgo with Saturn and Mercury offers us the chance to embody outer planet consciousness, just in time to take the critical evolutionary leap during Day Six of the Galactic Underworld, the fruition phase of the Eighth Underworld.

So, what is the real agenda of Day Six? We are the pinnacle of Earth's species because we were chosen to care for this planet, yet most people have barely learned how to feed their own dog! We have been discovering the story of our own evolution mostly during the last 250 years, and since 1999, we have been finding our place in the whole universe. This is causing many to remember that we were born to be the Keepers of Earth. Our awakening is an impressive sight to the Pleiadians, who already went through this passage and reentered the universe 100,000 years ago. We are all children of the universe, and each person who becomes fully embodied in Earth becomes a portal to higher forces during the end of the Mayan Calendar. Higher forces flowing through each person can instantaneously override the evil forces that have quarantined Earth in the universe. Piece by piece, the mind-boggling damage to our planet can be undone, and this New Moon is a beginning.

The stellium-Saturn, New Moon, and Mercury in Virgo-announces that being in the now is the purpose of this New Moon. Mercury is retrograde, so this awareness may not be very mental, but because of Saturn right with the New Moon, you can feel this vibratory expansion. You may feel a subtle peacefulness that seems to come from another dimension, a subtle AHA! that puts you are in touch with the shimmering world, the golden world of childhood. You could also be nearly overwhelmed by the download of a long list of all the things you must change right away. If that happens, please write them all down! Take a few minutes to agree to change the things on your list-and then make a paper airplane out of it and fly it into the street.

The truth is, you are perfect and wonderful just the way you are. But Uranus retrograde exactly opposite the stellium is nervously pushing everybody to change everything-and this pressure was intense just a few days before the New Moon during the exact Saturn/Uranus opposition. Well, changing things is not really what this New Moon is about; it is about registering the new field potential in our planet deeply within our consciousness bodies. The outer reality is shifting and changing so rapidly that you must register these new frequencies by feeling them in total trust-that is, by the instincts of your own species.

As you know from my earlier 2009 readings, the Triple Conjunction is the big pusher this year, and during the New Moon, it quincunxes the stellium in Virgo. Thus, tension between Neptune's spirituality and Chiron's healing is the energy that is pushing us to exist in the now. You are blocked from accessing the now if your core inner wounding (Chiron) is layered in pain, and then you can't expand your boundaries to access many dimensions (Neptune). For example, if Mars or Pluto were pushing the Mercury/New Moon/Saturn in Virgo by means of a quincunx, then this New Moon would be all about solving practical problems; you would have a long list to work on! But, the Triple Conjunction pushing the stellium says that cellular shifting will occur if we will just stop a moment, enter the now, and then allow ourselves to melt into bliss. Mars and Pluto can motivate you deeply in practical ways, but they can't release you into the all-that-is.

The next question then is, where is the push in this chart? It is good old newly direct Pluto, which squares the Virgo stellium. Pluto turned direct in early Capricorn on September 11, when the outer collective patterns began to dominate our world again. Radical transformations of the Planetary and National Underworld structures heated up again after being somewhat dormant since April. Just like fall 2008 and winter 2009, the destruction of the old ways of life is going so fast that resistance doesn't work; we all have to surrender the things that no longer serve us. But, the point of this New Moon is to recognize your own inner strength and power amidst this chaos, to affirm your great progress in personal healing and spirituality.

Venus and Mars are unusually intriguing. Venus in 28 Leo opposes the Triple conjunction and trines Pluto in Capricorn. This suggests that feminine receptivity and open hearts will support our personal growth, which will be deepened by Plutonian clarity. Mars in 15 Cancer quincunxes Jupiter in 18 Aquarius, so Mars in watery and supportive Cancer is pushing Jupiter in Aquarius to expand our ideals, to stretch our minds into areas that once seemed impossible to reach. Goddess forces tend to be very strong when Mars is in Cancer, so I wonder if the US will be able to remain in Afghanistan much longer, since civilian deaths are rising, troop exhaustion is growing, and the US is losing. Mars tends to be very honest in Cancer because it is hard to deny true feelings. The 1776 USA foundation chart has four planets in Cancer-Venus/Jupiter, Sun/Mercury-so we may be experiencing a temporary rise in American aggression right now that will just collapse when Mars goes into Leo in mid-October, especially since a financial reckoning is coming soon.

Regarding the Triple Conjunction, it has separated quite a bit, yet Venus is the closet in opposition to Neptune. This suggests that spiritual work will strengthen feminine support, so perhaps the women's movement in Afghanistan will soon be more respected. The New Moon stellium is close to Neptune in 22 Virgo in the 1776 USA chart. The USA Neptune squares Mars in Gemini, and many astrologers including myself believe that this Neptune/Mars square causes the US to recklessly invade foreign countries, lose the fight, and run back home. This lunar month may be the time when the US finally gives up on the war in Afghanistan.

Overall, I would say this is a very pointed and tense New Moon. It would be wise to stop what you are doing and reflect and meditate for a while during this New Moon; otherwise, the potential of Chiron ruling the lunar stellium will easily be missed. Chiron is a small body on a very elliptical orbit, and like homeopathy, its influence is quick and subtle. Meanwhile, this New Moon is the new orderly field coming in just before the Fall Equinox. So, if you are ungrounded during this New Moon, it will be difficult to imprint the harmony of the Fall Equinox. The fall transits, as well as the completion of Day Six in early November, all suggest we are getting close to another phase of financial loss and chaos. If you can remember how you felt when everything was crashing last year, perhaps you would rather not feel like that again? Well, you can make wise choices when you are grounded and centered, so I would suggest you take the message in the Virgo New Moon to heart: Get fully into your body! Then you won't forget to tune in for the Fall Equinox reading in just a few days. Gerry and I will be teaching in Stockholm, Sweden, during the New Moon, right on the midline of the World Tree (Calleman), so think of us as you move into the glorious now!