“Think always of the universe as one living creature, comprising one substance and one soul: how all is absorbed into this one consciousness; how a single impulse governs all its actions; how all things collaborate in all that happens; the very web and mesh of it all.”
“Constantly observe all that comes about through change and habituate yourself to the thought that the nature of the Whole loves nothing so much as to change one form of existence into another, similar but new. All that exists is in a sense the seed of its successor…..”
(Marcus Aurelius)
Today the Sun moves into the sign of Sagittarius – the zodiacal home of the philosopher, the teacher; of broad thinking, travel and adventure, freedom and our spiritual quest for wisdom, belief, truth and meaning. Left behind us now, thankfully, the God of the underworld’s season of Scorpio. Dark things can happen at Scorpio season. And did they ever! It feels as if the past month has been lived in a black cloud of overwhelming, amorphous and indescribable heartache as we have witnessed the mother of atrocities on our screens – the relentless genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza. Here, in my corner of the world, it’s true there have been some more pleasant moments: it is Spring here in the Southern Hemisphere, almost summer – season of new life, the beach and holidays. There is much to be grateful for. But this year new life energy has juxtaposed with the heaviness and enormous sadness of seeing what is happening in Palestine. Many have chosen not to witness. They claim their seeming indifference comes from a reluctance to enter, yet again, the fray of divisiveness. And then there are those who support the perpetrator of this staggering violence against innocent children women and men for all manner of convoluted reasons – coalescing around their ‘belief systems’. Be-LIE-fs have much to answer for. It seems we have ended up on this planet at this point in time in a state of such twisted rendering of the very meaning and value of life, human life, the life force itself, as to defy any understanding. The sacredness of life has been smashed into a thousand blood stained splinters – shattering our comprehension of its intrinsic, unspeakably holy worth. How do we possibly ‘make meaning’; how do we continue to believe in anything spiritual in the face of this?
Today there is a call for a ceasefire, albeit temporary, to the six week slaughter of the Palestinians in Gaza. There may be a reprieve from the daily parade of images that have reduced so many of us to helpless tears. A heartbreak break will be welcome. But of course, it will be temporary, as advertised………….
I pick up again after a four day break from when I started this (time seems to have lost its relevance)……. And today we learned that behind the scenes of hostage and prisoner exchange (Israelis are hostages, Palestinians, in vastly greater numbers, are prisoners), that the Israelis had killed 25 in the West Bank since the ‘ceasefire’ was called – a territory not controlled by Hamas. It is ‘home’ to 700,000 ‘settlers’ who have ‘settled’ on Palestinian land, forcibly moved in to Palestinian owned houses - expelling their owners in an ongoing, 75 year project of expulsion. How many have died in the past four or five days in Gaza I do not know. Israeli snipers clearly didn’t get the ceasefire memo. Gaza has not been completely destroyed, yet. There are still people alive, still people holding on, trying to hold on to the little they have. They will be starved and diseased, dying of thirst and most of them will be injured, amputated and forced to feel every nerve shattering pain in their broken bodies. The mental torture of the trauma and grief – many of them losing their entire families, and their homes of generations, is beyond expression in words. There is no pain relief for any of it. There is no relief. Our hopes of a few weeks ago, eroding by the day, that the world would STOP THIS – will continue on. We must not give up hope, we must not shut down our voices and demands on the powers that shouldn’t be – just because of this temporary pause in the heretofore unrelenting aerial bombing.
And yet – here we are in Sagittarius season. The temporary ceasefire, coming right on cue is a good sign – surely? You might be saying at this point – well, you’re the astrologer, you tell us. What can I say? Yes the energy does ‘lighten up’ when we hit Sagittarius – ruled by expansive and buoyant Jupiter as it is. If only that were enough. But as we know, the Sun sign is only one piece of the puzzle. Jupiter is the amplifier – as well as the benevolent one. At the New Moon on December 13 (may be the 12th where you are) the North Node of the Moon conjoins Eris – this ‘dwarf planet’ is symbolized in Greek mythology as the ‘personification of chaos, discord and strife.’ Being an extremely slow moving body, Eris is most meaningful when applied to the collective, societal level, rather than the personal. Akin to Pluto Eris points to the potential for great transformation coming from cataclysmic change, chaos and strife, with the energy arousing the animal instinct to compete and to fight, in order to survive. Conjoined to the north Node as it is supports the theme of a ‘collective destiny’. This is the direction we are all heading…..
At the same time Mars is aspecting Chiron, indicating the time is ripe for an energised push to heal our collective wounds. The sense here is Mars may act as a trigger, bringing the impulse to act as a response to the awakening of an old wound. The old wound has been prodded – to the point where the stored poisons from ancestral trauma, (from decades of injustice, murder, torture, imprisonment to the Palestinians) are about to burst out. Could it be that further chaos compliments of Eris and North Node -and the simultaneous trigger point of Mars-Chiron will awaken a sleeping giant who will enact powerful means to end injustice and finally heal deeply embedded wounds??? It is hard to imagine how giants could have been sleeping these past six weeks but there has been a distinct inertia on the part of many world governments regarding the genocide happening in Gaza. This upcoming New Moon could see that change. Note, Mercury is pausing to turn retrograde on the New Moon so we can anticipate a three week period of planning, perhaps, before we see action. Which brings us to the beginning of the New Year. Meanwhile, we know Sagittarius/Jupiter is the archetypal grouping most concerned with righting injustices……we may be encouraged then to permit ourselves some hope for the bloodshed to end. With Neptune featuring in this New Moon set up, by way of its square to the Moon from Pisces there is a vibration of Oneness and compassion entering in. Deception and chaos, also Neptune potentials, cannot be dismissed however. I hope the presence of Neptune will evoke the former, but we cannot ignore Poseidon’s power to churn the oceanic waters of oneness into a stormy and confused chaos. And by now you are probably confused yourself. Prophesizing makes fools of us all, as they say. The best we can do is describe the vibrations surfing their way towards us and take a stab at interpreting them. At this point in the construct we call time – anything could happen. But having said that there are firm indications for a new direction, and action taken to right injustice in the near future. The vibrations coming are not looking to be a day at the beach - one man’s justice is another’s injustice – (belief is a reality filter) and given where we are now, how could they possibly be?
2024 will be, in the Chinese astrology system, the year of the Wood Dragon. The Dragon is the sign of transformation, prosperity, strength and opportunities. The Wood element is the element of new beginnings, growth and new opportunities. This Wood Dragon year then favours change, innovation, bold moves and adventurous plans – hopefully leading to greater wealth and prosperity. Which all sounds positive and encouraging. Various writings on the wall seem to be suggesting we are going to be in for a wild ride next year…..with changes coming thick and fast. At this point, this is the only Kosmic Medicine appearing graspable – to ready ourselves, prepare, to embrace change. It is coming regardless and so the best use of our time now, in this pause, is to strengthen and crystalise our supportive values and philosophies, gathering our wisdom and our resolve, for the year ahead.
And may we continue to pray for peace.
Blessings.