posted March 15, 2010 12:45 PM         

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The Ides of March

Posted: 15 Mar 2010 03:12 AM PDT

Eric Francis has an additional commentary on today’s Pisces New Moon.

By Len Wallick

“The fault..is not in our stars but in ourselves, that we are underlings.”
– Shakespeare

On this day in 44 BC, Julius Caesar met his end at the hands of his fellow patrician thugs in the Roman Senate. Thus was a perfectly good day’s reputation forever ruined. Perhaps only second to a Friday the 13th, the Ides of March has carried connotations of dread. It does not help that today is also a Monday when many of us in the United States had to get out of bed an hour earlier because of daylight savings time. A determination not to be underlings to fear, time or negative interpretations of astrology however, will allow us to see and to take advantage of the full promise of this moment unlike any other.

For today you see, is the New Moon at 25+ degrees Pisces at approximately 21:01 UTC (5:01 pm EDT). This is a longitudinal conjunction between the Moon and Sun. If were also a latitudinal conjunction (with the Moon in the lunar node) it would also be a solar eclipse; that is not for a few months. Because the Moon’s orbit around the Earth is not in the same plane as the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, most Sun-Moon conjunctions are not eclipses.

Conjunctions are interesting because every school of astrology seems to be in agreement as regards to the interpretation. They represent a new beginning, a seminal moment, a germination. As such, hope is implied for all except those who would seek to freeze the status quo or hold on to the past.

Every New Moon is different because the context in which it takes place is unique. In 2009, for example, the Pisces New Moon took place earlier in the sign on February 24th and was accompanied by very different planetary positions than are present today.

One of those differences is that the luminaries are not alone in this Pisces conjunction. At 26+ Pisces are Mercury and Uranus. That’s four bodies with less than two degrees separation, a quad conjunction. Sound familiar? Four weeks ago to the day, the Aquarius New Moon was also a four-way conjunction, except the other two players for that event were Neptune and Chiron. As a matter of fact, the “new” conjunctions and “full” oppositions of the Sun and Moon have had a lot of company lately, eventually involving all the major planets except for that square dancing duo of Pluto and Saturn. Coincidence? No such thing. When the luminaries potentiate the peaks of their monthly cycles with the concurrent conjunction or opposition to planetary bodies, there is a synchronicity to be interpreted. For now, however, let us focus on today’s rich aspects, leaving a pattern view for another time. After all, nothing says “now” like a new Moon, right?

In addition to the conjunction with Mercury and Uranus, today’s Pisces New Moon is square the Galactic center in Sagittarius, opposing the dwarf planet Makemake in Virgo, trine the the centaur planet Echelus in Scorpio, and square the asteroid Nemesis in Gemini. And those are just the major aspects. Let’s take `em apart and put `em back together, shall we?

The conjunction of Mercury and Uranus in Pisces would imply exciting, creative, new ideas. A square to the Galactic Center would seem to indicate that the time has not yet come for those ideas to find acceptance. This does not mean waiting. This means action. Conscious contemplation followed by action. A lot of this action will be internal.

Editing, tinkering, re-formatting all with an eye towards presentation. Part of this will be the use of an open mind. To what extent does our inspiration contain prejudice and imply judgment? How can we release attachment to the final form and put ourselves in the place of another? It could be that the final result is an inner reconstruction as opposed to an outer expression. Have patience and work the angles as they come along. By the time Mercury enters Gemini and sextiles Uranus on the Aries point this coming June, you will be glad you stuck with your idea.

In the quad conjunction’s opposition to Makemake in Virgo (which is itself also squaring the Galactic Center) there is the opportunity to integrate the past as a way of gaining insight on the present. The Pisces-Virgo axis is where the last two oppositions between Saturn and Uranus have taken place. In the mid-1960’s Saturn was in Pisces and Uranus was in Virgo. In November 2008 and February 2009 they traded places. Makemake in a chart seems to pose a question of how things got to be the way they are. Think about the mid-1960’s and hold them up to a mirror, what do you see? Could it be the last quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009? How do they look a year down the road?

The Sun/Moon/Mercury/Uranus trine to the centaur Echelus may serve as an example of how to look in that mirror. Philip Sedgwick characterizes Echelus as being about the balanced use of the left and right hemispheres of our brain. Big picture vs. detail. Abstract vs. linear thinking. What do you do that incorporates both types of reasoning? How can you bring those practices to bear on the exciting new ideas emerging in such a way as to integrate long term perspectives?

Finally to bring us full circle, the four-way conjunction’s square to the asteroid Nemesis in Gemini, which itself is opposing the Galactic Center. Most directly this connects to the story of Julius Caesar but there may be a less obvious implication. Go back to the blog of February 25, 2010. At that time the Sun was square to the asteroid Hybris, also known as hubris. Nemesis is the result of hubris.

Julius Caesar was a capable leader but he was also arrogant and insufferably willful. It was his way or the highway. The Roman Senate was intended to be a safe place where the diverse and sometimes conflicting interests of the ruling patricians could be mediated (as in a square) and integrated (as in an opposition) so that the empire could avoid dysfunction and hence perpetuate itself to the gain of all the rich dudes.

When Caesar attempted to make all the gain and glory his own, that was hubris. It made the rest of the rich and privileged feel like underlings which was not agreeable. When the members of the senate chose to murder him in the chamber of their meeting, they committed their own hubris. No longer was that chamber a safe place. Hence the dysfunction and fall of the empire was made inevitable.

The promise or peril in today’s aspects is to emulate or avoid the mistake of those ancient statesmen gone wrong. Be open to inspiration but let it be subject to contemplation. Be willing to look at the past from both the past and the present. Be capable of allowing a balanced perspective to flow by giving as much weight to the big picture as you would to essential details. Admit your mistakes and forget the transgressions of others made and observed. If enough of us can do this it just might catch on that astrology is not destiny, it is opportunity.

posted March 15, 2010 12:49 PM         

Pisces New Moon
Two posts below, I described the Pisces New Moon (and provided a little picture of the chart). The day has arrived, of a spectacular four-way conjunction between the Moon, the Sun, Mercury and Uranus in Pisces. This combines the idea power of Mercury and Uranus with the creative, soul force of Pisces and the momentum of a solar-lunar event. The New Moon is exact at 5:01 pm EDT, 2:01 PDT and 21:01 UTC.

As Len pointed out in the Planet Waves blog, this glorious New Moon is square the Galactic Center. In other words, today’s event happens in late Pisces and the GC is in late Sagittarius. Whatever you might say about this, contact with the core of our galaxy adds a level of depth and significance to this event, which will stretch our capacities and is suggesting we notice that there is more to life than running a maze. We think there’s more and we say there’s more — but how often do we live like there’s more?

We are arriving at the end of a seven-year spell of Uranus in Pisces. This means events featuring Uranus in Pisces are numbered, and the number is low. As of today (if my quick calculations are correct), there are just 281 days left of Uranus in Pisces. The transition of Uranus into Aries begins in the spring, when Uranus makes a brief visit; then it comes back to Pisces for a spell before moving onto Aries for good, or at least for seven years.

So I suggest you appreciate these highly imaginative, easygoing Uranus in Pisces events while they last. The Uranus in Aries phase is going to be a bit more stunning in its impact. Pisces is a sign that acts slowly. Aries is a sign that acts quickly.

Whether in Pisces or not, any event with Uranus so prominent is going to come with some surprises. Surprises mean change, in little bits or big bits. People — you know, everyone but you — don’t like change. You love the stuff; everyone else freaks out when the least little thing is different; when the hot dog guy moves his cart 10 feet, you see that look of panic on people’s faces.

The slightest reorganization of your favorite website and one’s frontal lobe spazzes out. Try to get some more people health care and the entire nation goes into a tailspin. It doesn’t seem to matter whether a change is minute or massive. And we are the same spiritual warriors who are here to pull the world through the vortex of 2012 and get us through our technological adolescence and climate change and all of that?

You see, this really is the issue. We live in a time of constant change (stupid as many of the changes may be) and the necessity for real change (doing everything more efficiently, for example) and…nobody is that interested in change. We need information, and many, many people are resistant to learning. I recognize that because we live in a time of nonstop movement, most of which is driven by marketing culture — the imagery and product definition have to change every 10 minutes or the consumer economy seems to stop — and as a result we never seem to be met by anything familiar.

Today is a good day to decide if you want to get dragged kicking and screaming into the future, or go with a sense of adventure. It’s a time to ask whether your old ideas about life have got you as far as you need to go, or whether you need some new ones to light your way ahead. Yes, the future contains many unknowns; many uncertainties and many opportunities to apply creativity and growth and a new perspective. But one thing is certain: we are on the move.