Tuesday 23 July 2019: Reviewing the Month of the Crab

Tuesday 23 July 2019

Review of the Month of the Crab! 

We are now in the Month of the Lion, which began Monday evening at 7:52p PT | 10:52p ET | 2:52a(Tu) UT. Before we launch into a discussion of that, it is important to review the month just ending, that of the Crab. The following is a selection from what I posted in the final days of June when that month was new. I hope it will be valuable in reviewing what it all meant for you.

The big challenge this month is the sun's opposition with Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn. Welcome to reality. It's not that we can never rest, but that we do have our work carved out for us, and as we face it and accomplish it we feel better. Cancer and Capricorn are two of the most persistent signs of the zodiac. They bridge from the past to the future very consciously and without giving up. The past is important to them not because they sink back into it but because it provides a basis and fulcrum for everything desirable in the present and future. We can do this linking function, this continuity project, this month especially well because Mercury is slowing down and goes retrograde July 7 through 31. At its best this promotes wise looking into our past and feeling it in the present as helpful rather than restrictive. It suggests and supports gradual development of fresh potentials rather than scotching them. 

Another major aspect this month is Mercury's square with Uranus, and also Mars's square with the same planet for M and M are together. This is an "antsy" aspect, not content with things as they are but striving for something new or experimental. To attain that one has to be one's own unique self, Uranus, and that is a contrast with the traditionalism of Cancer-Capricorn. So we may find ourselves wanting to do something original, which others don't grasp (the squares with Uranus) yet within a traditional context of reliable teachings or cultural normalities we believe in which support us even in our experimental adventures. I think you will be able to sense what that means for you.

Saturn

It's a tough month, with Saturn opposite the sun. Its sextile with Neptune softens things a bit, showing that if we adopt a spiritual attitude (Neptune) we will soften the impact of hard reality (Saturn) on our lives. 

I have found the hard aspects of the sun with Saturn (the square, opposition and conjunction) to correlate with hard emotions--feelings of rejection, of disappointment in others and oneself. Often one doesn't know if someone else or oneself is to blame. Probably both! People are seeing that they do not measure up to ideals. If Saturn, in the guise of events, people, and self-criticism, did not point that out, he would not be doing his duty. It's a thankless task, but we need those warnings and challenges.

Neptune says, "But there is grace! There can be forgiveness, if it is sought and given with full consciousness of one's need for humility in the face of the difficulties of human life. Saturn says that life is a proving ground, but I say that it is also a chance for God to prove that he (she) is a God of love and kindness. 'Repentance,' turning around, is enough to gain that grace---the serious attempt to live more wisely."  Psalm 62:  "Trust always in God, my people, pour out your hearts before him; God is our shelter."

Maybe you are at a place, this month, where you see the value of some helpful supervision of issues of fairness you are involved in. Or maybe you just contemplate others' issues of fairness and try to aid them in some way or at least give moral support. 

Luna, our moon, is opposed to Neptune and squared to Jupiter (in the monthly chart). This suggests religious difficulties, or spiritual wonderings, or a realization that philosophy is complicated, G*d is complex, and answers are tentative. It can be disagreement over religious, spiritual and philosophic topics. 

Mars

Mars in the monthly chart is conjoined to Mercury and both square Uranus. Those are its only aspects. It is in Leo. This is an "antsy" aspect--impatient, in a hurry, demanding, and sometimes selfish to the point of cruelty. We need to avoid that, of course. Leo at its worst is arrogant (Mussolini for example) and Mars square Uranus is even violent at its worst. You may sense that people around you are impatient and demanding, or if introspective may see that in yourself.

The Sabian symbol is "A man formally dressed and a deer with its horns folded." It indicates morale based on self-respect plus the ability to gain esteem. No doubt this is what the 20 Democratic presidential candidates want for themselves during the two debate nights this week. You may find that when you are up against things your spine straightens. You get your back up and sense implicit strength and self-respect, enabling you to "fight" or keep on keeping on, bringing out your unique capacities (Uranus) no matter what obstacles there 

seem to be. 

Mercury

The only aspects of Mercury are its conjunction with Mars and square with Uranus. This is not easy but is challenging. It brims over with energy but that energy needs to be corralled, channeled, directed carefully if it is not to go astray and cause friction. It is impatient and wants to prove itself---"I am the best!"  Especially because these two planets are in Leo. 

Leo is a fire sign, and squares to Uranus can be incendiary, so we have the news that "Hell is coming" to Europe from Spain to far northern regions, a heat wave said to be the worst in a decade, with temperatures of 104 Fahrenheit. https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/25/world/europe-weather-heat-wave-preparation-grm-intl/index.html   Even Mars conjoined to Mercury, in and of itself, can be incendiary, especially when in a fire sign, but they are both square Uranus the incendiary planet! Now these charts are for the whole planet so of course they show what could happen anywhere. At present this heat wave is affecting Europe (not Seattle where I live; I turned up the thermostat this morning). But it could affect other areas before the end of this Cancer month. I certainly hope it will not be forest fires in the Western U. S. again, as last year.

In addition, we are in a Dark or Slow or Confusing Hermetic Epoch and weather tends to be more difficult at those times. Also, we have cyber-warfare, maybe everywhere (what a strange human race). It is known to be going on in a big way between Iran and the U. S.  U. S. officials will say, "Well, Iran is doing it so we have to also." Iran will say, "Well, the U. S. is doing it so we have to also." You go figure. Is this what destroyed Atlantis? It was said to be evil magic. Cyber-warfare is evil magic. It is signified this month by Mercury conjunct Mars (mental warfare) and both square Uranus (Uranus rules technology to a big degree), so we may see a greater public awareness of it. Hackers and cyber criminals, whether private or governmental, are having a "field day" whatever that means to them. What an evil, ugly, homicidal-suicidal obsession.

The symbol for Mercury in the Cancer chart (until July 23) is "A forge beneath the surface of the earth. Men are working in an almost nude state, owing to the heat. It is something like the engine room of a large steamer." The "Inferno" hitting Europe this week! https://www.express.co.uk/news/weather/1145106/Europe-heatwave-warning-Saharan-heat-Italy-France-Switzerland-Spain-weather

Also, it could signify the tankers or other vehicles in the Persian Gulf, etc. Now I don't want to be totally negative about this, but the planets are pointing out problems to be solved. Could we just "cool it"? 

Charubel says in reference to the symbol, "Someone may have to leave his native land under very gloomy circumstances." He advises that we "live quietly" and "get into some settled and uniform mode of living." Good advice in the month of Cancer, when the sun is trine Neptune in Pisces---that nice trine in water signs could be the "settled mode of living" which grants peace, calm and avoidance of excessive turmoil.

The Sabian symbol is "Rock formations at the edge of a precipice." Here is what we need: The rocks prevent us from falling over the edge. What are the "rock formations" or protective influences which are helping you avoid disaster? You need to be aware of them, heed them, and stop when you are too close to "the edge." 

Jupiter

Jupiter's quincunx with the sun in Cancer suggests worries over or changes in travel plans, especially because he is retrograde and we are in a Dark Hermetic Epoch for the whole month. That does not mean travel is "bad" necessarily but can mean that it is subject to frequent delays. If one is traveling for pleasure or business this month, one ought to be patient with those changes and decide to be master of one's own mind and feelings whether or not one can master the plane, train, bus, or car one is using as vehicle. They may seem to have minds of their own. Whether the costs of travel are worth it is your decision but you may be uncertain about it one way or the other. 

The major aspect of Jupiter is a square with Neptune, both of them retrograde. This is mystical, dreamy, and introspective. At worst it could be daydreaming in a way which interferes with what one needs to do. Better, it could be sweet internal reflection upon the good things in one's life, past or present. Best of all it might be ecstatic contemplation upon G*d and one's relation with Him or Her, mixed with appreciation of all the people one has known and knows now. Jupiter in his own sign, and Neptune in his, make this square a special opportunity for religio-mystical-spiritual understanding, contemplation, and realization. Contradictions are seen, acknowledged, and lifted to the level of paradox beyond crippling duality, into a  realm where contraries embrace rather than fight, better each other rather than batter each other.

Venus

In the monthly chart, Venus (the most popular planet, one might say) is in a quadri-nonagen aspect with Jupiter, similar to the trine. This could be gracefulness in demeanor, pleasure in the arts or literature, felicity of expression.

Venus's sextile with Uranus gives more of the same, plus a witty, humorous, fascinating quality. People feel they can express who they are. However, we should not forget the squares of Mercury and Mars with Uranus, discussed in the Messages of Mars and Mercury posted earlier this week, which show that anger can erupt. There could be a contest between anger (felt as righteous) and humor; serious offense or offendedness versus lighthearted satire. We need to cultivate our ability to laugh, perhaps. It is easy to make a joke about someone else and expect laughter, not so easy to appreciate a joke about oneself. 

There is a liking for music. There can be popularity, and adventures in love. There can be eccentricity, though one man's definition of that be not the same as another's. At best, we will be relatively comfortable with one another's peculiarities, or positively appreciate them. This might not extend to questions of principle, which come under the Leo-Taurus squares of Mars and Mercury to Uranus. "I like you but disagree radically" might be an attempted reconciliation of these two. 

There could be anticipation of gain through travel (the nonagen with Jupiter) or through writing or publication, though combined with that skepticism about the value of travel discussed in the Jupiter message. It's probable that travel would be more fluid, natural and satisfying next month (Leo, July 23 through August 22) or the month after that.

Sol

In our month of Cancer 2019 (June 21 through July 22) the sun is opposite Saturn by less than three degrees. There have not been major publicly celebrated tragedies at this point, and I hope there won't be. I would call it a serious time, however. The Dark Hermetic Epoch means, slow down; be deliberate and patient. 

CEO Carter, pioneer astrologer:  "The inharmonious aspects [between the sun and Saturn] are not always entirely evil, though they certainly have a bad name and are sometimes spoken of as if they denied the native almost everything desirable. The opposition seems not altogether bad  . . . It is not incompatible with considerable worldly success, if other aspects favor, though such success will be won only by sheer hard work and may be retained with difficulty." This is a clue to us to "keep on keeping on."

More from Mr. Carter: "The difficulty is always, at heart, one of expression. Either proper expression is denied or delayed until it is almost too late to serve its purpose, or else the native tries to 'force the issue' and blunders disastrously. Sometimes the issue is shirked and there is shyness or timidity, which may be hidden behind blatant boastfulness." (Sound like anyone you know?) Well then, what do we do: Force the issue, and blunder; or wait timidly until it's too late? Obviously there must be a middle way. I think if we calm the anxiety and the fear of being rejected or misunderstood, and tune in to another major aspect of Sol this month, his trine with Neptune, we will do well. That trine gives us sympathy, implicit kindness, an attempt to get in tune with others and the universe somehow. If we do that we will know how to express ourselves about difficult or somber sun-Saturn problems facing us and others. Not all will agree, with the sun quincunx Jupiter, but if they become resigned to that disagreement and press on, workable answers will be found, even if it feels like "muddling through." Never mind the muddle if you get through it! 

Isabel Hickey, another fine astrologer, tells us about the sun opposite Pluto---also going on this month because Saturn is with Pluto---"There is strong resentment against authority of any kind. . . . Ego flare-up or self-will can bring difficulties mentally, emotionally and physically. . . . Deviousness and dishonesty bring quick retribution. . . . Everything hidden will be brought to light."  Well, Robert Mueller is to testify for Congressional committees on July 17, and Donald Trump's enemies hope something new and actionable will be revealed. I myself doubt it and feel the Democrats are beating a dead horse at this point. The Dark or Slow epoch--and by the 17th Mercury will be retrograde, the center of that Epoch---is famous for investigations that go nowhere, for the circling of thought in endless divagations and rich details which prove poor the longer they are investigated. This is not always so, but I would advise that rather than putting your energy into other people's sins you just put your own away from you and do something which your soul finds really absorbing. This is a soulful time and the soul ought to lead.

Uranus

As I write, Gay Pride events are happening around the country. Uranus in the chart for this month has heavy aspects, and he is generally considered the "gay" or LGBTQ planet. Whatever is eccentric, "queer" in any sense, or unusual and experimental is his domain. He upsets convention. Squares to him from Mars and Mercury bring out controversy---I had it with a Facebook friend who found me offensive and insensitive about gay rights, as I found him offensive and insensitive about the rights of other-than-gay individuals who feel forced into a box because of knee-jerk "gay" objections to things which are really harmless, and on and on. (I do not want to revive that dispute.) However, Uranus also has sextiles from the sun and Venus, so the Pride events in Seattle where I am were quite festive and friendly yesterday, and I hope today as well. Joe Biden visited Seattle to give a speech to gay supporters or possible-supporters and although the press, as usual, liked to emphasize something he said which might have been interpreted as offensive, he was applauded heavily at the end.

We do not have to submit to torment as a divine decree this month, but may take [a painful symbol] as a warning to prevent it insofar as we can. The "torture" or torment can be purely mental, or a torment of being misunderstood, or feeling misunderstood, or disagreeing with someone you love, and so on. 

At a spiritual or a merely human level, we will find both pleasant times (the shady park) and tormenting ones leading us toward something greater than these dualities of pleasure and pain, namely, what Jesus represents, the spiritual nature of humanity (no matter how invisible). 

This gives us the internal freedom (Uranus) which conquers external bondage or restriction.

Neptune

The symbol for Neptune this month, according to Signor Borelli, is "Two daggers crossed." I think of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden in the second Democratic debate; also of the candidate (don't remember his name) who asked Pete Buttigieg why he didn't fire his police chief, whereupon according to one journalist Mayor Pete returned to him a "fixed death stare." (Buttigieg has planets in Scorpio.) Trump is crossing daggers with the rulers of Iran, and on and on. Not that all this is unusual but it has a Neptune flavor because Neptune often has to do with injustices to minorities, which is what the Harris-Biden and Buttigieg-? dagger-crossing was about. Neptune can show oppression, and recovery from it through rescue operations. We are disagreeing with one another on how to help those who are oppressed. Therefore there is contention, and some feel wounded by others whose intentions may be pure but misunderstood. 

A Neptune-square-Jupiter problem is going on now and shall be for months to come, through October. It requires us to rethink or re-calibrate our conceptions of our religious or spiritual beliefs. ("A conception of a belief" may sound peculiar yet might be exactly right in this case.) It gets confusing. People with this aspect in their birth-charts often leave their parents' religion or the religion most popular around them and so have "religious difficulties." Or, at another level, they try to combine all kinds of differing beliefs into one stew and find the mixture if not toxic at least unpalatable, or need to keep changing the recipe, and on and on. And so, then, what "Master" is instructing what "pupil"? You may consider who your "Master" is or whom you respect as a guide to the mysteries of living. The keyword is Elucidation and that seems endless. You may also, knowingly or unknowingly, play the role of "master" for someone glad to learn from you.

Put the "crossed daggers" with the "master" and you have "My guru is better than yours!" or you have a tournament of masters trying to outdo one another, whether in fact or in one's consciousness. It can be disconcerting, but if you realize what it means and feel you know who is the "real master" it can be very strengthening, for Neptune is trine Sol, the Self, and so aids Self-realization and internal strength. It's a matter of the circumference (Neptune, everything "other") orienting the center (Sol). 

Neptune is often showing us that surrendering ourselves to something greater than ourselves is what can in fact reconstitute ourselves. We give up the lesser for the greater. The sun and Neptune in a trine guarantee that The Kingdom of Heaven (Neptune's higher plane) will protect and foster us if we rise to its level in consciousness. That is: "I (Sol) am also Thou (Neptune). My center is steadied and completed by Thy circumference." 

Pluto

Pluto conjunct Saturn, both opposite the sun (this month), is uneasiness about power. Resentment of power. Wariness of power and those who seem to have it. But the more you read about all of those people, presidents, Ayatollahs, government officials, the more you wonder if they are just stick figures who try to do things but really do little or nothing, are puppets moved around by invisible forces. 

Donald Trump is a perfect example of them. No one seems to know what he is doing or why. The comments about him from left, right, center, seem essentially guesswork. His famous "instincts" can go anywhere. And I notice that all the comments about his decisions--that they are disastrous--do not seem to pan out. The China tariffs will destroy the economy, farmers, somebody--but I do not see headlines proclaiming that farmers are dead or dying, the farms drying up, or any such disaster. The stock market keeps thriving. This to my mind is the mystery of Pluto in Capricorn, sign of government, conjunct Saturn, planet of limitation, both opposite the sun, the true invisible Ruler. Saturn and Pluto do not trump Sol! We have to remember that. If the Saturn-Pluto Trump does not know what he is doing, Sol does know and invisibly, mysteriously by his rays conquers the limitation and seeming chaos of the Saturn-Pluto conjunction in Capricorn. Saturn is not evil but appears to be. Sol is always good.

When Saturn and Pluto are in a house of friendship, as now, opposite Pluto in the house of youth, one cannot easily fathom the nature or problems of young people.

People see Donald Trump as evil when really it is the strange, real or seeming, cruelty of Saturn conjunct Venus in Cancer in his birth-chart which they see. It is gruff, and can be bluff. Because Venus is females and Cancer a female sign, it comes out as seeming misogyny. Yet many women approve of, tolerate, or even adore Donald Trump. I will not call this masochism. I believe rather that they bow to him because of his Leo rising, which is the sun's sign and is very popular with women. Obama and Clinton are sun-sign Leos and however much you may wish to distinguish them from Trump, all three have the popularity of Leo, the king of beasts. "Rulership by divine right" or monarchy is inbred in the Leo personality. It stimulates intense loyalty in many, aversion in others. Even when Trump says things annoyingly offensive, people feel "his bark is worse than his bite" and forgive him, partly because he does it with a laugh or a smile. "The sun-laugh" is the way Leo Sri Aurobindo characterized it. "We're all in this big funny secret together," says the Lion, and his followers smile. 

The impersonality and impartiality of astrology are what we need in order to understand someone as complex and multi-faceted as Donald Trump. The Trumpophobes and Trump-haters ought to calm down and look at him in the light of his horoscope. He has to be what he is, to a large degree, and whether that is admired or despised is a human judgment. 

Thus endeth my Harry's Bar essay. (Written before I was served!)

Pluto being the farthest-out planet, and the sun the center of the system, we can contemplate that fact to get at some of the meaning of Pluto. He has been called the planet of the underworld, of crime, of dirty secrets, of plutocracy. (Need I mention Jeffrey Epstein?) All these things hide from the light! At a higher level he seems to be "transcendent," as Marc Edmund Jones calls him. He is Obsession, but that can be a sordid or a magnificent obsession. He challenges the sun to reach him (this month), and the sun always does! So he ultimately has to "come clean." 

Well, that is what I wrote about the month just ended. I hope it might help you review it and its meaning in your life. More about the coming Month of the Lion tomorrow. 

Cosmic Piper

Tuesday 23 July 2019

Moon in Aries
|Karmically serious or sobering third| of this week is with us until Wednesday afternoon