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Dear Chronogram Reader:
Tomorrow (Friday), we’ll experience the last of the three exact contacts in the Uranus-Eris conjunction in Aries. Uranus-Eris is the overarching event that we can look to as representative of much of the surprise, chaos (political chaos and identity chaos) and upheaval we’re currently experiencing in our digital age. So what does it mean to have the third and final exact conjunction between these two unpredictable planets?
On one level, it’s yet another reminder to expect the unexpected. That has been the theme of the last year-plus, and it’s clear we’ll need to stay on our toes as this astrology ripples out and its repercussions take new shape.
So one mission, should you choose to accept it, is to keep striving to adapt to what the world throws at you, without getting jaded, exhausting yourself or going numb. Because once you give in to total cynicism, burn out or simply tune out entirely, you also lose touch with the passion and awareness necessary to create something new and vital with your life. Some days, “new and vital” might simply the ability to get up in the morning and do what must be done. Other days, “new and vital” could very well be something that refreshes your commitment to serving the highest good of humanity, or something that brings joy and inspiration to others.
Along with Uranus-Eris, tomorrow the Pisces Sun makes a square to Saturn and the Galactic Core (GC) in Sagittarius (just like Mercury did last week). The Sun equates to ‘conscious awareness’, which is a close cousin to the ‘intellect’ that Mercury represents. So I suspect that the Sun-Saturn-GC configuration plays a similar role in this week’s astrology.
That role is to remind you to get your facts straight in the face of all that’s happening around you—especially as you encounter it via online environments. Or perhaps more accurately, get your focus straight. Understand where your awareness gets drawn to; notice how you situate yourself (and your ego) in relation to the world around you. Own your perceptions, biases, blind spots and projections as best you can—and be open to how new information might necessitate a shift in any of those factors.
The presence of the Galactic Core emphasizes the message—both the message of the Sun-Saturn square, and the message of the Uranus-Eris conjunction. It would seem there are universal truths available, despite the distractions. Or maybe the universal truth coming through is about the distractions themselves? Could it be that we’re living in this plane of existence specifically to experience the ‘distraction’ of being human, and to learn from it?
Perhaps. After all, consider for a moment the Sabian symbol for the degree where Uranus and Eris make their last exact meeting: 23 Aries. The Sabian symbols are a system of channeled images that correspond to each of the 360 degrees of the zodiac, the most famous of which were interpreted by Dane Rudhyar. The symbol for 23 Aries is, “A pregnant woman in light summer dress.” Its keynote is “Fecundity.”
Without getting into Rudhyar’s full explanation of this degree’s symbol, just think about the word “fecundity.” It suggests that this moment is rich and fertile for creating new life; that this new life is coming from an integration of masculine and feminine, but that it’s the archetypal feminine energy that is carrying this potential into the open. The Jan. 21 Women’s March seems to be just one indicator of a growing vitality and recognition of ‘the Divine Feminine’ in our everyday presence; recognition of the power it has to shape public discourse, and to shape new ways of engaging with each other that subvert the age-old ‘power-over’ model we’re so accustomed to.
Does this mean the masculine goes away or is weakened? Far from it. Maybe it just means that in shifting power dynamics and dialogue closer to an equilibrium, masculine and feminine can be integrated in a way that allows polarity to engender harmony and synthesis, rather than simply setting us up for conflict when we meet the ‘other’.
Consider, for a moment, that Venus is currently in Mars’ home sign of Aries; and Mars is in Venus’ home sign of Taurus. These personal planets that represent the feminine principle and the masculine principle, respectively, are currently expressing in their opposite mode. It’s a picture of synthesis, though it has its challenges.
Venus (which is retrograde) conjoins Mercury in Aries Saturday. Will the result be like a typical Mercury- Venus conjunction (refined and artistic mind, optimistic, charming)? Or will it be more like a typical Mercury-Mars conjunction (aggressive, mechanically inclined, courageous), since Mars rules Aries?
I suspect it may be a blend of both. Whether it’s the best of both or the worst of both depends highly on your personal circumstances, values, temper, attitude and worldview. But I like to think that that the recent experience of a friend of mine offers an ideal model of how it can work.
This friend had an in-person appointment with an aide at the office of one of our U.S. senators. She was nervous, and she’s angry about a great deal that is happening politically on the national stage. So she spent a full week thinking about what to say and how. And my friend asked herself to step into what Patsy Rodenburg, a voice coach and theater director, calls The Second Circle: “a place where real communication can happen, an open, unguarded, vulnerable yet strong and grounded place,” and promised herself she would not step into the Senator’s office as an adversary.
<< https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub27yeXKUTY
Rather than going in with both guns blazing and a list of grievances, she decided to connect with the aide on a personal level first—and to tell personal stories that related directly to four specific areas of concern. She asked how much time she had, and found out that the aide needed to check in with her school-age daughter in about half an hour.
And then my friend talked. The aide listened and took notes. The aide remarked that, “none of us ever expected we would be where we are.”
My friend says she expects some people will think that she went too easy on the aide. But, the aide invited her back to discuss more issues. More importantly, my friend made a connection: “human to human, woman to woman, mom to mom,” as she described it.
This woman harnessed her receptivity to her courage. She integrated her determination to make a difference with her determination to be open. She took initiative, yet she also allowed the unknown to unfold in ways far more beautiful—and probably far more effective—than if she’d let her fear get channeled into aggression.
My friend created a space both within her and with this other person where something new could be birthed, even if just for those moments when she was in the office. I suspect, however, that space did not close up when she left—at least, not within her. What will you birth with the gift of your full presence?
This article appears in March 2017.
