Message for Weekend of August 13-14, with Comments on Current Epoch

Weekend of August 13-14, with Comments on Current Epoch

~Taking up the Mantle?~

I’m writing for both new readers and experienced ones. The latter know about the Hermetic Epochs. For the new ones, I’ll just say, they were discovered by me in the 1970s and are based on the regular cycles of the planet Mercury, three Bright or Fast Epochs per year and three Dark or Slow Epochs. Most astrologers do not know about them, but they have become the bedrock of my long-term predictive (and retrodictive) procedures. For now:

Bright Epoch began June 20 —> August 19 . . .

Dark or Slow Epoch begins August 20 (next Saturday) —> October 16 (with the Mercury Retrograde period, within the Dark Epoch, from September 10 until October 2) . . .

A new Bright or Fast Epoch will begin October 17 until December 12

As has been reported, these two-month periods seem brilliantly illuminated by charts set up for the midpoint of each, which is the moment Mercury conjoins the sun while either direct (Bright Epoch) or retrograde (Dark Epoch). Let’s look at some of the clues in the chart for the current period ending in a week (June 20 through August 19). The three sets of symbols I use for the degrees of the zodiac in the daily sonnet, based on the exact current locations of several planets, work equally well in these Epoch charts (though they do not work as well in various monthly charts I have experimented with).

It’s much easier to see what everything means toward the end of an Epoch, because one has already experienced most of it. The retrospective view of our lives is one of the greatest benefits of astrology, probably more valuable than the attempted prospective view, because it helps us see dramatically what we are experiencing while we are experiencing it and can adjust our attitudes toward it helpfully.

In the current epoch (to end in a week), the sun and Mercury (always together in these charts) are at 24 Cancer (listed in the symbol books as Cancer 25 because each sign begins with 0 rather than 1.) Let’s take two of the three symbols for this degree and ponder them.

Borelli-Sepharial: “A horseman armed, moving across a desert towards some woody hills.” I love this symbol. Every time it comes up I savor that image. It feels like me. I am alone, a “horseman” because I love horses and animals, “armed” because I always feel people don’t understand me, “moving across a desert” because life is barren without trusted friends, “toward some woody hills” because that sounds like a perfect place to relax and recover and get a fresh lease on life. I love “wooded hills,” that is, trees and rolling country (such as the Irish Hills of Michigan). One can recover there, apart from human boorishness, into the solace of our Mother Nature.

How have you experienced this symbol since June 20? Are you getting along without someone or something you previously relied on? Are you turning toward what is more truly in your interest, such as G*d and Nature in their pristine loveliness and restorative graciousness? What is the “desert” you are abandoning? Who or what is your “horse,” and what your “armor”? What are the “wooded hills” to which you resort for solace and a happy fresh orientation? Are you truly alone, self-reliant? If not, who or what is your visible or invisible companion?

The Sabian symbol for the same degree: “A dark shadow or mantle thrown suddenly over the right shoulder.” The keyword is Destiny. At the worst, this could be megalomania or “outright presumption.” More happily it is “some dramatic manifestation of genius vital to the general welfare.” You have a gift or talent which grants you privileges. When it “throws a mantle suddenly over your right shoulder” you come into your power. Maybe as the “lone horseman” you have rested up enough to be ready for a more public demonstration of your capacities. Still, they are “dark” or not fully perceived or even recognized by people. Some kind of self-expression in the social complex is a release of your inner potentials. If this is your destiny, it does not matter who recognizes or bows to you, or if no one does.

{Weekend of August 13-14, and the Bright Hermetic Epoch lasting another week} ~Taking Up the Mantle?~

Daily Data: Saturday: Moon in Pisces

Sunday: moon in Pisces goes void-of-course / at 8:12a PT | 11:12a ET | 3:12p UT until it enters > Aries at 1:44p PT | 4:44p ET | 8:44p UT

Cosmic Piper