Sagittarius Full Moon

June 3, 2023 / grayastrology / Leave a comment

Sagittarius Full Moon

Sagittarius is the ferocious speed of the arrow, the ruthlessness of pinpointing the target. The Moon flowering into fullness amplifies the quickness and fiery visions of Sagittarius, distributing revelations and bringing matters to a head in ways that starkly illuminate issues. The enflamed heat of the Full Moon in Sagittarius will activate pursuit of affinities, kindling the flames of inspiration to go after attractions and desires while separating from old associations that no longer hold the same interest. Although the sign of the Archer excels at striking targeted goals, the Full Moon in Sagittarius will be engaged with the nebulous influence of Saturn and Neptune occupying the mystical sign of Pisces.

The Sagittarius Full Moon on 3 June will be in between a confrontation with Saturn and Neptune in Pisces, as the Moon will be flowing away from a square aspect with Saturn into a square aspect with Neptune. The centripetal contraction of Saturn within the imaginal water of Pisces occupied by Neptune possesses a potent dissolving influence upon old forms of security and stability. We are only at the very beginning of coming to terms with how Saturn and Neptune’s alignment in 2025 and 2026 will reshape our world, and so the Sagittarius Full Moon will reflect the ways in which we can feel how Saturn and Neptune are already transfiguring our perception of reality and possibility. Within the downward spiral of Saturn and Neptune’s internal stirring, new forms of inspiration and creativity will begin coagulating and emerging at the same time we feel disoriented from the washing away of old ideals and dreams. If the Full Moon activates a sense of disillusionment, be curious about the ways in which you are being guided into a deeper understanding of your circumstances.

Unfortunately, those lacking self-analysis and interest in self-exploration can become easily provoked into self-righteous behavior under the influence of the Sagittarius lunation clashing with Neptune and Saturn. The inciting of hubris and assertive arrogance will be further accentuated due to the Full Moon emanating from a flowing trine aspect with Mars in Leo. However, the Sagittarius Moon is also applying to an integrative sextile aspect with Chiron in Aries that can be helpful in coming to terms with the ways in which old wounds of identity and relationship are intersecting with present circumstances. It will be helpful to engage in practices that facilitate grounding and mindfulness in order to clarify the ways in which you sense a shapeshifting of goals and creative direction occurring. With the Sagittarius Moon separating from both of the traditional malefic planets while applying toward Chiron and Neptune, there will be an opportunity to gain new perspectives upon issues that have been contributing to personal difficulty.

The Full Moon is in the fiery home of Jupiter while Jupiter is occupying the fixed, earthy sign of Taurus. Although Jupiter is not forming a major aspect with the Full Moon, Jupiter is forming a conjunction with the North Node of the Moon. Combined with the Moon’s aspects with Saturn, Mars, and Neptune, the aversion between Jupiter with the lunation could signify a blind spot in relation to present ambitions. Yet the fertile potency of the union between the star of Zeus and the lunar orbit will inspire making major forward momentum with plans. Jupiter in Taurus prefers slow and steady growth that leads to enduring forms of support, and so it will be advisable to contemplate present desires and goals thoroughly, taking your time to reflect upon underlying motivations and coming to terms with the essential core of your values and their alignment with your present trajectory.

Though it will be important to avoid leaping too quickly ahead, the speedy star of Hermes will be inciting drives for accelerated innovation due to forming a conjunction with Uranus in Taurus. The conjunction between Mercury and Uranus on 4 June at 20º24’ Taurus is more important than normal due to the fact that Mercury stationed retrograde in range of a conjunction with Uranus in Taurus on 21 April 2023. Now that Mercury has completed its retrograde phase and is quickly moving forward as a Morning Star into a conjunction with Uranus, we may experience significant revelations regarding whatever work we have been crafting since April. Moreover, we not only passed through a Mercury retrograde phase that lasted from 21 April to 14 May, we also passed through an intensifying eclipse season involving a Solar Eclipse in Aries on 19 April and a Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio on 5 May. The combination of Mercury retrograde with eclipses served as an immense catalyst for change, and while we may have had to undergo a period of volatility that made it difficult to integrate the full scope of change being felt on internal levels, the Full Moon in Sagittarius will spotlight the ways in which Mercury and Uranus are now making us fully aware of the most important direction to follow forward.

Simultaneously, Venus in Cancer will be reaching her greatest height as an Evening Star while also passing through a flowing trine with Neptune in Pisces. Venus resplendent in her maximum elongation and immersed in a watery flow with Neptune will evoke sensual pleasures and revelry in dreamy landscapes of imagination. Underneath the full illumination of the Moon, escape from the stress of daily toil may be found through intimate exchanges, exploration of fantasy, and ecstatic expression of creativity. Take delight in the watery pleasures of Venus, for once she enters the fiery sign of Leo on 5 June she will encounter the underworld inferno of Pluto.

Around the same time that Venus will be enthroned at her greatest height following sunset, she will also enter the queenly sign of Leo on 5 June. Due to Venus stationing retrograde on 23 July at the end of Leo, the star of Aphrodite will remain in Leo from 5 June until 8 October. As we begin to adjust to the extended journey of Venus in Leo, she will come closer and closer to Earth in her orbit while also becoming brighter in light, amplifying desires and creative impulses in the month ahead. We have a long road of Venus in Leo opening up, one that will shake things up in order to rebalance the harmony of relational and creative elements in our life. Due to Venus immediately forming an opposition with Pluto in Aquarius on 5 June and then traversing tension with the lunar nodes at the northern bending on 8 June, from celestial heights will Venus survey the wide expanse of Eros. Soak in the whole scope of desire, noticing the depths of both the light and dark side of dreams. The creative passions of Venus in Leo will begin pulling us toward the upcoming season of chthonic transformation that the star of Aphrodite will be guiding us through.

The entrance of Venus into Leo also brings Venus into the same zodiacal territory as Mars. Venus and Mars will cohabitate in Leo from 5 June through 10 July, but due to Venus slowing down in speed they will never form a conjunction. With Venus stirring things up with Mars in the month ahead, be aware that dramatic issues may be brought to light that will take time to fully work out. Though the phase of Venus retrograde is typically the most volatile, the period leading into her stationing at the end of July may coincide with internal or external conflicts that need to be addressed before Venus takes her plunge into the underworld. Venus and Mars in Leo may also put us into deeper contact with our essential Eros and the exciting new creative direction we wish to pursue.

Sagittarius 2 Decan

The Sagittarius Full Moon will illuminate the second decan of Sagittarius associated with the Nine of Wands card illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. In the image a bandaged and alert figure stands with his chosen staff planted firmly in the ground, with eight other wands of varying size rooted behind him. The resilient strength and courage to persist in the face of opposition found in the image resonates with the meaning of the second face of Sagittarius. It is significant that the figure has been wounded at the top of his head, as Sagittarius unifies fiery spirit with the will of the body. T. Susan Chang in 36 Secrets associated the Nine of Wands with “peak power in the realm of ambitions and drives,” and “the kind of strength you need to meet challenging situations- which inevitably arise despite your firmest convictions that they won’t.” Since the Moon is ruler of the second decan of Sagittarius, the Full Moon will experience illumination within her own face.

Austin Coppock in his book on the decans 36 Faces ascribed the image of “The Bridle” to the second face of Sagittarius, stating that the battles and conflicts pictured in the Nine of Wands card “are necessary to inflame the will and provide the heat necessary for the fusion of the mind and body.” Coppock praised the capacity of the second face of Sagittarius “to keep the body and mind in line with intention, despite contrary forces,” as its rulership by the Moon and Mars brings the ferocious resiliency needed to protect what we most value in the face of opposition with all of the odds stacked against us. Yet Coppock cautioned that while the second face of Sagittarius “represents a formula for strength in the face of opposition,” we must discern when circumstances “do not demand, nor reward such a response” but instead require yielding to develop a different strategy.

The dichotomy of fighting to protect a vision, whether it is securing a boon through victory or bewailing the loss of defeat, is found in ancient textual images of the second decan of Sagittarius. In the Birhat Jakarta a golden woman of grace picks up gems from the ocean, while in The Beginning of Wisdom by Ibn Ezra as well as the Yavanajataka there is a chest of golden ornaments and jewels set before a beautiful woman. These images are in contrast to images in other texts signifying sadness and fear, such as a “lamenting woman” in Three Books of Occult Philosophy. These images of mourning and unearthed treasure are also curiously resonant with the figure of Kore who was ascribed to the second face of Sagittarius by the Hellenistic text the 36 Airs. Austin Coppock linked Kore’s presence here with her form as Persephone Praxidike, mistress of the furies and the forces of Nemesis that create the adversarial force necessary to bring forth our most heroic qualities.

Safron Rossi in The Kore Goddess: A Mythology & Psychology associated the archetypal Kore with “psychological integrity” and “what it means to be grounded in one’s essential nature as an individual.” To Rossi, the sacred qualities that the Kore personifies include “unto-oneself, sovereignty, vitality” and “authenticity,” viewing “one-in-herself as central to the archetypal stream of the Kore.” She further referenced classicist Guilia Sissa that the Greek meanings of kore and parthenos included “a treasure that one guards (phylassein), a value that must be respected (terein).” Rossi identified “innocence” as being intrinsic to the Kore’s shadow that can lead to becoming “untouchable, impenetrable, self-enclosed.” Associating the Kore with Persephone, Rossi noted that “when we can embrace a more complex perspective that is not primarily concerned with maintaining psychological innocence, Persephone’s myth shows us how Kore consciousness is forged by underworld initiation.” Indeed, Rossi stated that “Persephone-Kore is the divinity within the painful loss of innocence for it is she who shows how there would be no growing down into authenticity without the forays into the underworld.” These archetypal revelations concerning Persephone-Kore will be important to keep in mind as Venus heads toward her retrograde phase that will begin toward the end of July.

May the silvery fullness of moonlight unveil the presence of lovely-tressed Persephone Praxidike, the pure bloom who nourishes life and guides souls through the trials that bring forth destiny.

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References

Chang, T. Susan. (2021). 36 Secrets: A Decanic Journey through the Minor Arcana of the Tarot. Anima Mundi Press.

Coppock, Austin. (2014). 36 Faces: the history, astrology, and magic of the decans. Three Hands Press.

Rossi, Safron. (2021). The Kore Goddess: A Mythology & Psychology. Winter Press.

Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius

December 4, 2021 / grayastrology / Leave a comment

Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius

The Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius on December 4, 2021 is total, resulting in the blackness of night completely overcoming the light of the Sun. In Hesiod’s Theogony, the earliest known mythical cosmogony in ancient Greece, it is Chaos who gives birth to Gaia along with Erebus (primordial deity of Darkness) and Night who mate and give birth to Day and Aether. As there are many other creation stories in which Day/Light is born from Night/Darkness, the phenomenon of eclipses cloaking the radiance of solar light in darkness both visually and psychologically returns us to a sense of the chaotic abyss, chasm, and fertile void which opens wide to bring forth creation. Similarly, the diverse cultures that have imagined mythic tales of chaotic dragons attempting to devour heroes also corresponds with past astrological traditions equating the lunar nodes with chaotic dragons and serpents which devour the light of the sun during solar eclipses.

The Total Sagittarius Solar Eclipse will be at 12º22’ Sagittarius aligned on the side of the South Node of the Moon in Sagittarius, known as the tail end of the imaginal astrological dragon. Similar to how the South Node can be a place of sacrificial fires of purification in traditional Indian astrology, Dane Rudhyar described the South Node as a place of sacrifice as in “making sacred” rather than egoic sacrifice in which we expect something in return. Amidst whatever liminal transitions you have been experiencing, intentionally making the changes sacred will bring you into better flow with the eclipse, such as releasing fixations and being willing to enter the mysterious unknown. Rather than focus on expansive new growth, themes such as releasing, purifying, emptying, and letting go will be favored. The way forward requires returning to patterns of the past that need to be laid to rest in putrefaction that will eventually give rise to new desires. The dissolution of old forms that leads to the arising of new forms in times of eclipses is symbolized well by the ancient ouroboros image of a dragon devouring its own tail. As Brian Clark beautifully described in Soul, Symbol, and Imagination:

“The ouroboros is a cross-cultural symbol which uses the fabled image of the dragon-serpent swallowing its own tail to embody the recurrent nature of the cosmos; on one hand it represents the alpha, the beginning or the head, and the omega, the ending or the tail, yet both are the same point. In astrology we know this point as the conjunction, the beginning of a new cycle marked by the end of the old. This eternal cycle suggests that creation emerges out of destruction, or that life is renewed through death. As the dragon-serpent devours its own tail, its life carries on in a renewed form. Death and rebirth, creation and destruction, beginning and ending, heads and tales mark the eternal return, the never-ending cycle of regeneration.”
Brian Clark

The Sagittarius Solar Eclipse is the final eclipse to occur in the signs of Gemini and Sagittarius, and so serves as the final chapter of the eclipse stories that have been coinciding with eclipses in Gemini and Sagittarius. The first eclipse in the series was a Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius on 5 June 2020, followed by a Lunar Eclipse in Gemini on 30 November 2020, a Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius on 14 December 2020, a Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius on 26 May 2021, and a Solar Eclipse in Gemini on 10 June 2021. As these eclipses have flowed back and forth between whatever places the signs of Gemini and Sagittarius occupy in your natal chart, you can trace narrative themes that have developed in correspondence involving the ways both Gemini and Sagittarius are involved in your nativity. Yet since there has been more of an emphasis on eclipses in the sign of Sagittarius, it is fitting that the sequence ends with a Total Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius.

Sagittarius is the fiery home of Jupiter, zodiacal terrain which kindles inner embers into flames of expansive vision and intuitive knowing that can be fervently expressed in outward action. As a fire sign which excels in distinguishing and separating matters to aim with precision at a targeted goal, the Sun in Sagittarius being eclipsed suggests that righteous knowing will become cloaked by a dark tapestry of unknowing and questioning the course of direction forward. As we are in a collective period of great upheaval with numerous societal systems on the brink of collapse and in need of radical reformation, the shadow side of Sagittarius that can become ruthless with dogma and moralizing preaching needs emptying and release. On the other side near the North Node of the Moon in Gemini, the close presence of Ceres retrograde calls for deep listening to our grief and the grief shared by others we encounter through dialogue and witnessing.

Robert Fludd from Utriusque Cosmi (1617)

Mercury in Sagittarius and Neptune in Pisces are especially important influences on the eclipse. Mercury is only three degrees away from the solar eclipse, having recently been reanimated in the heart of the Sagittarius Sun on November 28. The close proximity of Mercury to the eclipse will make significations of Mercury readily apparent in events connected with the eclipse. In contrast, Neptune stationed direct a few days before the eclipse on December 1, and so is saturating the astrological landscape with its imaginal influence. While the Sagittarius Moon is applying to a square aspect with Neptune it will complete later on the same day as the eclipse, Mercury is also applying to a square aspect with Neptune that it will complete on December 7. While the impact of Neptune can often feel like an imperceptible underlying influence, its stationing and catalyzing aspects with the eclipse and Mercury will make it much more viscerally felt than normal. It will be worthwhile to explore the meaning of any images that grab your attention through dreams or in your waking life. The contact between Mercury and the eclipse with Neptune may bring inspirational images, ideas, and messages into your awareness that unveil aspects of inner psyche and ineffable qualities of soul patterns that will reward attention and contemplation.

Having recently been regenerated by the Sun, Mercury is moving fast through its invisible phase, actively in process of gestating the forms of new ideas that will be injected by the otherworldly influences of the eclipse and Neptune. Mercury in Sagittarius excels at taking visionary leaps of thought and synthesizing information with sharp intuition, but its propensity for blazing speed of thought can lead us to excitedly rush forward before throughly analyzing dynamics. Moreover, the square between Mercury in Sagittarius with Neptune can also manifest as dogmatic crusaders or excessively idealistic evangelists wishing to convert others to whatever perspective, philosophy, or belief they have become impassioned by. Making a conscious effort to ground and slow down to allow for thought processes to deepen can help in opening to the imaginative influences of Mercury with Neptune while also creating space to separate the illusory from the authentic.

Jupiter in Aquarius rules the eclipse, with Mars in Scorpio applying toward a square aspect with Jupiter he will complete on December 8. While Jupiter is positively in a whole sign sextile aspect with the eclipse, the overbearing influence of Mars upon Jupiter can create a more volatile atmosphere in which anger and anxiety can be more readily triggered. As a result, it will be helpful to find a balance between resting and relaxing to calm nerves as well as making an effort to be physically or creatively active to move and release energy rather than having it become bottled up and at risk of imploding. Positively, the friction between Mars and Jupiter can be invigorating and fuel dynamic action and courageous efforts to fight through obstacles as well as bravely bring protection to those who are vulnerable.

Jupiter is sharing the same sign of Aquarius with Saturn for a few more weeks, as he will enter his expansive ocean home of Pisces on December 28. Fortunately, this means that Jupiter will be present in the same sign as Saturn during the time period in which the final exact square aspect between Saturn in Aquarius and Uranus in Taurus will be building in intensity until it becomes completed on December 24. Richard Tarnas in Cosmos and Psyche described periods of Saturn and Uranus as involving “the exacerbation of tensions between authority and rebellion, order and freedom, structure and change” as well as “repressive revolution,” “erratically unpredictable authority,” “sudden collapse of structures,” and “grim awakenings.” While these themes elucidated by Tarnas have fit perfectly with events that have erupted during the past year of Saturn and Uranus clashing, in our personal lives we will be able to have more agency to create the changes we wish to experience than within the much larger societal events that careen out of our control. During the final weeks of Jupiter sharing the sign of Aquarius with Saturn, see how you can continue to embrace whatever radical changes you have been inspired to embody and enact, finding ways to make space for shifting perceptions so you can more resolutely release the forms and patterns of the past that need to be let go of.

*The Dancing Faun* (1919) by André Kertész

Within the darkness of the solar eclipse, Venus in Capricorn will be glowing very bright as an Evening Star in twilight. Although Venus will be shining brightly in the night, she is also slowing down in speed as she approaches her retrograde stationing on December 19. Moreover, Venus is applying closely to a conjunction with Pluto in Capricorn that she will complete on December 11, the first of three conjunctions that Venus will form with Pluto over the course of her upcoming retrograde phase (the next two will be on December 25, 2021 and March 3, 2022). Gary Caton and other astrologers have compared the present phase of Venus that lasts until she stations retrograde and disappears into her invisible phase with the nigredo of alchemy, a period in which we experience loss and putrefaction of matters that will create space for us to receive the seeds of new desires and visions to come into relationship with. The close proximity between Venus with Pluto in the month following the eclipse will amplify the intensity of old relational patterns needing to rise into awareness so we may shed the dead skin of past patterns that no longer align with our present relational needs. It will not be an easy or quick process, but the deep regenerative potency of Pluto can help purge past toxicity as we make more intimate contact with the relational needs and desires that are authentically aligned with our emerging presence.

While Mars in Scorpio is making an activating and disruptive aspect with Jupiter, it is simultaneously forming a harmonious sextile aspect with Pluto in Capricorn that will become exact on December 6. However, although Venus is only about a degree away from an exact sextile aspect with Mars in Scorpio during the eclipse, due to Venus stationing she will not complete the sextile aspect before she stations retrograde and moves away from Mars in the opposite direction. The influence of Mars in Scorpio upon Venus and Pluto in Capricorn will further volatilize and deepen the transformative process already underway for Venus, making it a potent time for deep listening and sharing within intimate relationships. While much can be uncovered within relational dialogue that facilitates penetration into the core dynamics and patterns at play, it will also be important to make time and space for solitary contemplation and becoming more grounded and rooted in one’s sovereign sense of self outside of relationship.

The Sagittarius Solar Eclipse is part of the saros 152 eclipse family that originated with a partial solar eclipse in the southern hemisphere on July 26, 1805; all of the eclipses in this family occur on the south or descending node of the Moon. Interestingly, at the time of the origin eclipse in 1805 there was a conjunction between Jupiter and Neptune in Scorpio, reflecting the Jupiter Neptune conjunction in Pisces in 2022, and there was also a conjunction forming between Saturn and Uranus in Libra, reflecting the building tension of the square aspect between Saturn and Uranus occurring during the present eclipse.

Thus the saros family of the Sagittarius Solar Eclipse has a strong connection to both the Jupiter Neptune and Saturn Uranus cycles that will be the key astrological themes of the year ahead. The last three solar eclipses in this series have been total: 23 November 2003, 12 November 1985, and 2 November 1967. Regarding the eclipse’s metonic cycle, the last time there was a total solar eclipse at twelve degrees of Sagittarius near the South Node of the Moon was on December 4, 2002 and so the same aspects of your natal chart would have been activated by that eclipse as the present one.

Sagittarius 2 Decan

The second decan of Sagittarius where the Sun will be eclipsed is associated with the Nine of Wands card illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. In the image a bandaged and alert figure stands with his chosen staff planted firmly in the ground, with eight other wands of varying size rooted behind him. There is a resilient strength and courage to persist in the face of opposition found here that resonates with the meaning of the second face of Sagittarius. It is significant that the figure has been wounded at the top of his head, as Sagittarius unifies fiery spirit with the will of the body. Since the Moon is ruler of the second face of Sagittarius, the fact that the Moon is eclipsing the Sun while in her own face makes the meaning of this decan especially activated.

The dichotomy of fighting to protect a vision, whether it is securing a boon through victory or bewailing the loss of defeat, is found in ancient textual images of the second decan of Sagittarius. In the Birhat Jakarta a golden woman of grace picks up gems from the ocean, while in The Beginning of Wisdom by Ibn Ezra as well as the Yavanajataka there is a chest of golden ornaments and jewels set before a beautiful woman. These images are in contrast to images in other tomes signifying sadness and fear, such as a “lamenting woman” in Three Books of Occult Philosophy. These images of mourning and unearthed treasure are also curiously resonant with the figure of Kore who was ascribed to the second face of Sagittarius by the Hellenistic text the 36 Airs. Austin Coppock linked Kore’s presence here with her form as Persephone Praxidike, mistress of the furies and the forces of nemesis that create the adversarial force necessary to bring forth our most heroic qualities.

Safron Rossi in her recent book The Kore Goddess: A Mythology & Psychology associated the archetypal Kore with “psychological integrity” and “what it means to be grounded in one’s essential nature as an individual.” To Rossi, the sacred qualities that the Kore personifies include “unto-oneself, sovereignty, vitality” and “authenticity,” viewing “one-in-herself as central to the archetypal stream of the Kore.” She further referenced classicist Guilia Sissa that the Greek meanings of kore and parthenos included “a treasure that one guards (phylassein), a value that must be respected (terein).” With an eclipse in a decan associated with Kore, Rossi’s identification of the Kore’s shadow as involving “innocence” and becoming “untouchable, impenetrable, self-enclosed,” is further vital to consider.

In relation to the association of the Kore with Persephone, Rossi noted that “when we can embrace a more complex perspective that is not primarily concerned with maintaining psychological innocence, Persephone’s myth shows us how Kore consciousness is forged by underworld initiation.” Indeed, Rossi stated that “Persephone-Kore is the divinity within the painful loss of innocence for it is she who shows how there would be no growing down into authenticity without the forays into the underworld.” These archetypal revelations concerning Persephone-Kore will be important to keep in mind as Venus stations retrograde while conjoining Pluto within the forthcoming lunar cycle. They also connect with the synchronicity that during the time of the Sagittarius Solar Eclipse the Persephone asteroid will be retrograde at 6º16’ Gemini nearby Ceres retrograde at 3º26’ Gemini and the true north node of the Moon at 1º44’ Gemini.

In some versions of Persephone’s story, her playmates by her side before her abduction by Hades were none other than the Sirens, daughters of the muse of melody and tragedy, Melpomene. Just like Persephone ultimately brings her divine beauty into a sovereign role as Queen of the Underworld, so do the Sirens bring their beautiful voices into a psychopomp role of helping to maintain harmony between the underworld and the upper world through music. Safron Rossi in The Kore Goddess mused “that Kore consciousness can experience the Siren’s songs as north stars, calling us to move beyond our limited perspective and gain further knowledge of ourselves and the world.” In the aftermath of the eclipse, may you hear the music and songs of soulfulness that help you cope with whatever grieving and wounding needs tending, and call you to embark upon a journey beyond past confinement with fiery vision and aplomb, like a piercing arrow shot forth from the sacred bow of Sagittarius.

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References

Clark, Brian. (2019). Soul, Symbol, and Imagination. Astro*Synthesis.

Coppock, Austin. (2014). 36 Faces: the history, astrology, and magic of the decans. Three Hands Press.

Rossi, Safron. (2021). The Kore Goddess: A Mythology & Psychology. Winter Press.

Rudhyar, Dane. (1971). The Planetary and Lunar Nodes. CSA Press.

Tarnas, Richard. (2007). Cosmos and Psyche. Plume.

Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius

June 5, 2020June 5, 2020 / grayastrology / 6 Comments

Love Letter III (1973) by Charles White

Take up the blood from the grass, sun.
Take it up.
These people do not thirst for it.
Take up the insect children that play in
the grass, sun.
Take them away.
These people are sick of them.
Take down the long slender reeds, sun.
Cut them down.
These people cannot make flutes any longer.
Now sun, come closer to the earth!
Even closer than that.
Closer. Now, sun.
Take away the shape from the metal, sun.
They are like stone, these people.
Now make them lava.

— Henry Dumas, Kef 12

Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius

Eclipses bring shadows. Shadows that cloak and conceal light. Shadows that disrupt your carefully arranged plans and destabilize your certainty. Eclipses bring the timeless into time, the primordial into the present. Some say it’s a dragon that consumes the Moon. A dragon whose tail weaves around you like a snake and pulls you into inner depths. Some want to slay the dragon, while those over there want to ride it. Its silvery scales reflect back all of your dogma with the glare of your ideals and self-righteousness.

The Sagittarius Lunar Eclipse on June 5, 2020 is the first of a series of eclipses that will occur in the signs of Gemini and Sagittarius until December 2021. With the North Node of the Moon in Gemini, the Gemini side of your natal chart will be receiving a surge of increased curiosity and desire to ask questions and gather information. The influence from Gemini disrupts and divides in order to form new connections that weave together a greater diversity of perspectives. With the South Node of the Moon in Sagittarius, the Sagittarius side of your natal chart will be called to release the ways in which society or your surrounding culture has conditioned you into beliefs that are no longer aligned with your experience, as Saturn, Jupiter, and Pluto dredge up the accumulated toxicity of civilizations impacted by colonizing empires.

A confrontation is necessary with the inner source of your perceptions, the place your perspective projects from and distorts your relationships with others. Discernment is needed regarding which beliefs need to be sacrificed and let go due the way they have become interwoven into structural systems of societal oppression that cause harm through institutional “-isms” like racism and sexism. This inner work is vital due to the likelihood that the many people unwilling to do this inner work will only have their dogmatic and self-righteous beliefs reinforced and amplified in reaction to the web of events unleashed by the eclipses in the next couple of months.

Eclipses can feel like a tidal force taking you into the unknown, ready or not. Eclipses involve the ouroboros imagery of a dragon consuming its own tail, mirroring the dissolution of nature that leads to the arising of new forms. In alchemical work the arts of separation and union tied to this imagery reflects the ability to purify material attachments. Eclipses open a period of great change during which we can more readily release fixation on the elements of our life in need of letting go, while a burgeoning promise of new forms coming together can be felt. In the United States of America, the protests and riots that have erupted over the murder of George Floyd have made it clear that the Gemini-Sagittarius dragon beginning to take form will be demanding a confrontation with the racism that has been embedded within the societal structures of the USA since the dawn of its creation and which has been part of the militarization of its police forces.

During a lunar eclipse the Sun casts a shadow of our Earth upon the face of the Moon, turning it blood red during a total lunar eclipse. However, the Gemini Sun is too far from the lunar nodes to redden the face of the Sagittarius Moon and will instead project a diffuse shadow. Although it’s not a total eclipse, the Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius is extremely potent due to the Moon applying closely to an intensifying square aspect with Mars and the eclipse forming only a couple of days after Venus retrograde has been reanimated by the Sun. The death of the previous phase of Venus and the revitalization of values reseeded by the recent union of Venus with the Sun will be projecting the shadow through the solar rays, calling each of us to search within our inner shadows to be accountable for whatever ways we have been complicit in sustaining the systemic forms of oppression that have been erupting and demanding attention in correlation with the paradigm shattering astrology of 2020.

As the shadow projected from the Gemini Sun will obscure and inhibit the light reflected by the Sagittarius Moon, there is a traditional association of the populace being more impacted than those in positions of rulership or government leadership. We will be experiencing three eclipses in a row, with the Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius on June 5 and the Lunar Eclipse in Capricorn on July 4 being much weaker in impact than the Solar Eclipse in Cancer on June 21 that will be extremely close to the North Node of the Moon, resulting in the visual effect of a glowing ring encircling a completely blackened Sun. Thus while we will enter and leave the eclipse season of June and July with eclipses more directly impacting the people, the most intense and disruptive eclipse in the middle is focused more intensely on those in positions of leadership and high office. We will all be impacted on deep levels by the Solar Eclipse on June 21 that will occur on the Solstice, and this means that its coming intensity will be increasingly felt during the waning half of the current lunar cycle.

In contrast to a solar eclipse in which the Sun is overwhelmed by the shadow of the Moon, symbolically the meaning of a Lunar Eclipse is rooted in the phenomenon of our Sun casting the shadow of our Earth onto the face of our Moon. Linking the Moon to what we carry from the past within our body and mind, the past transmutes in the shadowy face of the Moon to allow for new emergence and presence. Dane Rudhyar in The Astrology of Transformation wrote that at a lunar eclipse “the traditional perspective born of past experiences of adjusting to life and society is blotted out by an eagerness to meet experience in a new, original manner.” Rudhyar’s emphasis on new choices and vision is amplified by the Sun being on the side of the North Node of the Moon in Gemini. Yet it’s also important to bring discernment toward the tendency of the North Node of the Moon to amplify ambitions, especially as we get closer to the North Node Solar Eclipse on June 21. The Sagittarius Moon heading toward a union with the South Node of the Moon can bring balance by letting go of the material attachments that need to be released.

Back of the Neck (1983) by Jean-Michel Basquiat

The Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius is applying closely to a catalyzing square aspect with Mars, bringing a lot of volatility, destructiveness, and super charged passions into the impact of the lunation. Mars is also being initiated into a key phase of its synodic cycle with the Sun as it forms a waxing first quarter square with the Sun. As Mars enters the second quarter of its cycle it will become increasingly heated, maturing in power as it approaches its retrograde phase in Aries that will begin in September. Mars is one of the key players in the astrological drama of 2020, not only due to the hard aspects it has been and will be continuing to make with Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto, but also due to it forming a series of three first quarter square aspects with Venus during the year. Now that we have passed through the second square aspect between Mars and Venus this year, the societal issues of strife that need repair, the levels of protection that need to be implemented, have become much more obvious.

In the week following the Sagittarius Lunar Eclipse, Mars will be getting closer and closer to its conjunction with Neptune it will complete on June 13 at 20º56′ Pisces, around the same time that Venus retrograde will be returning to visibility in pre-dawn skies in its Morning Star phase. As the present Venus retrograde began with a square aspect between Neptune and Venus, there has been a great dissolution of Neptune looming over and flooding events. Many blame Neptune as being a source of poisonous illusions, but perhaps it is Neptune that exposes one’s own inner poisons and the ways one has become consumed by linear concepts of time and perspectives disconnected from relationship with the interconnected web of meaning underlying reality. Neptune is capable of flooding structural systems with a wave that will persist and dissolve attempts to hold it back through control. The present movement of Mars toward Neptune is likely to result in a persistent push within the populace to protest systems of oppression with inspired determination.

Mars in Pisces is also heading toward a square with the lunar nodes at the southern bending, a place in which its fiery desire will be kindled by the full potency of our unconscious. Vitally, Mars is presently at the southern bending of the nodes of Uranus, as the Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius is aligned with the planetary nodes of Uranus. While the Gemini Sun is conjoining the North Node of Uranus, the eclipsed Sagittarius Moon is conjoining the South Node of Uranus. This means that both the eclipse as well as Mars are activating the archetypal sweep of Uranus at an incredibly deep level. This brings a full activation of Uranus into the Lunar Eclipse that carries the legacy of previous movements for emancipation and liberation across time into the present. With regard to the United States of America, it is further compelling that the Sibley chart often used as its national nativity has an ascendant close to the South Node of Uranus and a descendant close to the North Node of Uranus.

Moreover, the nodes of Venus are also activated in addition to the nodes of Uranus, as the recent inferior conjunction of Venus on June 3 was conjoining the geocentric North Node of Venus, and the Lunar Eclipse is also in alignment with the heliocentric nodes of Venus. This further means that not only was Mars recently forming an exact square with Venus, it also is forming an exact square to the heliocentric nodes of Venus. Again, this points to the extraordinary confluence of century old issues of oppression becoming activated and how the police murder of George Floyd just as Venus was descending into darkness has been able to demand more attention than ever be brought to the longstanding oppression of black people by law enforcement in the USA. The complex astrology of the nodes of both Venus and Uranus being catalyzed by the Lunar Eclipse reveals the extraordinary potential of the moment for a deep confrontation with one’s inner values and to what degree we are embodying and living in full integrity with our authentic values.

Mercury is the ruler of the North Node and the Sun in Gemini and is out of bounds in Cancer. Mercury is also at maximum elongation as an Evening Star, meaning that it is slowing down to reach the same speed as the Sun in preparation for stationing retrograde on June 17. Gary Caton in his book Hermetica Triptycha revealed that Mercury reaches maximum elongation around the same degree where it will eventually experience it’s union with the Sun when retrograde (in this case it’s 9-10º Cancer on June 4 and June 30) and that this sometimes happens in close proximity with a fixed star. For this cycle of Mercury, its maximum elongation is occurring close to Alhena in the heel of the immortal twin Pollux in the Gemini constellation. Bernadette Brady described Alhena as the “Proudly Marching One,” the “heel of an immortal or sacred one who touches the earth with great pride” and “is associated with the following of a cause, a belief for which one will march”

Jesse (1983) by Jean-Michel Basquiat

The Lunar Eclipse is ruled by Jupiter in Capricorn as it approaches its second conjunction with Pluto that will form on June 30. Jupiter aligning with Pluto in its fall of Capricorn has been exposing numerous issues of injustice and oppression within society, but as Jupiter carries significations of justice it is especially relevant for the entire system of justice and law enforcement within the USA to be on trial during the Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius. The passage of Jupiter passing through its fall of Capricorn under the wing of Pluto will not be easy, but the societal atrocities and injustices it will continue to expose will be necessary in order to have any hope of addressing and repairing them through reformation. Things must fall apart before they can come back together, and so as structural systems continue to become destabilized and destroyed it will be vital to maintain ones inner sense of integrity, accountability, authority, and responsibility in order to help guide us through to the other side.

Jupiter and Pluto form conjunctions roughly every twelve and a half years, including in previous years of immense volatility in society such as in 1968 and 1931. The present union of Jupiter and Pluto has been similar disruptive as 1968 and 1931 due to it also being part of larger outer planetary alignments. While in 2020 we have Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto all beginning a new cycle together, in 1968 we experienced Jupiter, Uranus, and Pluto ending and beginning new cycles together. Furthermore, the 1931 conjunction between Jupiter and Pluto was in opposition with Saturn in Capricorn while Uranus in Aries was forming square aspects with both Saturn as well as the Jupiter Pluto conjunction.

The worst side of Jupiter Pluto conjunctions can be seen in the rise of totalitarian groups following the economic instability surrounding the 1931 conjunction. In Planetary Cycles: Mundane Astrology, André Barbault demonstrated how the roots of the totalitarian surge in 1931 can be found in nationalist groups that began rising in power following the Jupiter and Pluto conjunction in 1918 and the economic crises of that period. This is the compulsive side of Jupiter and Pluto that involves obsessive desire for power sourced from shadowy fear that we need to be on guard against as we enter a time period of not only great economic instability but also amplified conflict over racism and the militarization of law enforcement.

The asteroid Pallas Athena is co-present with Jupiter and Pluto during all three of their conjunctions in 2020, and has recently slipped through the border between Capricorn and Aquarius to rejoin Jupiter and Pluto in retrograde movement through Capricorn. Pallas Athena brings a complicated mythology with her, an upholder of law and order in civilization whose mythic origins link her further back to the divine goddesses of Cunning Wisdom and Justice whose power goes far beyond attempts of control by ruling empires. Above all, Pallas Athena brings the gifts of strategy and the kind of prophetic vision that can anticipate troubles and formulate effective strategies in response. As Pallas Athena moves retrograde through Capricorn with Jupiter and Pluto, as issues of injustice and inequity continue to be exposed, it will be up to each one of us to formulate effective strategies of response to protect those who are vulnerable and to be accountable in devising cunning ways of bringing about a fundamental reordering of societal structures.

9 of Wands by Pamela Colman Smith

Sagittarius 2 Decan

The Moon will be partially eclipsed in the second decan of Sagittarius associated with the Nine of Wands card illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. In the image a bandaged and alert figure stands with his chosen staff planted firmly in the ground, with eight other wands of varying size rooted behind him. There is a resilient strength and courage to persist in the face of opposition found here that resonates with the meaning of the second face of Sagittarius. It is significant that the figure has been wounded at the top of his head, as Sagittarius unifies fiery spirit with the will of the body. Since the Moon and Mars rule the second face of Sagittarius, the fact that the eclipsed Moon in its own face is forming a square with Mars makes the meaning of this decan especially activated.

The dichotomy of fighting to protect a vision, whether it is securing a boon through victory or bewailing the loss of defeat, is found in ancient textual images of the second decan of Sagittarius. In the Birhat Jakarta a golden woman of grace picks up gems from the ocean, while in The Beginning of Wisdom by Ibn Ezra as well as the Yavanajataka there is a chest of golden ornaments and jewels set before a beautiful woman. These images are in contrast to images in other tomes signifying sadness and fear, such as a “lamenting woman” in Three Books of Occult Philosophy. These images of mourning and unearthed treasure are also curiously resonant with the figure of Kore (aka Persephone) who was ascribed to the second face of Sagittarius by the Hellenistic text the 36 Airs. Austin Coppock linked Kore’s presence here with her form as Persephone Praxidike, mistress of the furies and the forces of nemesis that create the adversarial force necessary to bring forth our most heroic qualities.

Kore, daughter of the sky god and earth goddess, queen of the underworld, is interesting to consider in relation to the Lunar Eclipse coinciding with the nadir of the present Venus retrograde in Gemini with Venus passing through the underworld. Within the next couple of weeks, Venus retrograde will re-emerge from her present underworld passage into visibility again as she continues to slowly move backwards in retrograde motion. When Kore ascends to the upper world she retains connection with her presence in the underworld where she is a mediatrix of soul. While Kore conducts work and connects in relationship above ground, she remembers her role underground guiding souls.

At the present time of the Lunar Eclipse, however, we are only beginning to emerge from the deepest levels of purgation brought by Venus retrograde. Allow the inner burning of her inner fire to melt down your fixed notions of certainty so you can align with want wants to emerge from you in the new cycle of Venus to come. As we deepen into the chaotic flux of eclipse season, be willing to listen to what the wider community needs from you and the gifts you possess that need to be developed to support, protect, and inspire others.

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References

Barbault, André. (2014). Planetary Cycles: Mundane Astrology. The Astrological Association.

Brady, Bernadette. (2008). Star and Planet Combinations. The Wessex Astrologer.

Caton, Gary. (2017). Hermetica Triptycha: The Mercury Elemental Year. Rubedo Press.

Coppock, Austin. (2014). 36 Faces: the history, astrology, and magic of the decans. Three Hands Press.

Gray Crawford

ASTROLOGY

Second face of Sagittarius

Sagittarius Full Moon