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| What is Within? Catherine Al-Meten |
This is where the planets, Sun, and Moon are transiting as I post this article, on Sunday, August 24, 2014.
Sun 1 Virgo 30'34"
Moon 22 Leo '29
Mercury 16 Virgo 22'
Venus 15 Leo16'
Mars 17 Scorpio 1'29"
Jupiter 8 Leo 38'26"
Saturn 17 Scorpio 37' 2"
Uranus 16 Aries 4'3"r
Neptune 6 Pisces 19' 4"r
Pluto 11 Capricorn 12'11"r
TrueNode 20 Libra 16'0"r
Chiron 16 Pisces 2'2"r
Waking this morning on the Northwest Coast of the U.S., news of a major earthquake in the San Francisco area woke me up. My family lives in San Francisco, and of course my immediate thoughts were of their safety. Fortunately, though there is major structural damage to some places, most people were sleeping at 3:20 A.M. when the quake hit, and there seem to be some injuries but no loss of life. Just as the Sun moves into the earth sign of Virgo, we are reminded that we are a dynamic planet, formed of continuous change, disruption, and movement. The Sun in Virgo does not cause the earthquake, rather astrology reminds us of the elemental forces at work in the world in which we live. This week begins with the Sun’s movement into Virgo (Saturday), joining Mercury and Regulus, leading us into the New Moon in Virgo at 2/18 degrees. This alignment in Virgo calls us not only to get down to work but also to pay close attention and focus our hearts, minds, and lives on that which is at the heart of who we are.
With the New Moon happening early on Monday, August 25, 2014, we may feel somewhat overwhelmed by all that is behind and ahead of us. Depending upon our age, we may feel the need to trim the sails, store up for the winter, or pare down our expectations so we can focus on what matters most. Rather than getting bogged down in regrets, or overwhelmed by what remains to be done, it is a good time to take inventory of what we have right here and now―resources, talents, blessings, experience, opportunities, support, not to mention love and friendship.
The New Moon in Virgo is in opposition to Neptune in Pisces, adding to the sense that we don’t quite know what’s going on, or feeling ourselves so full of ideas and plans we hardly know where to begin. Neptune in Pisces opposite the New Moon in Virgo gives us cornucopia of ideas, insight, intuition, imagination, dreams, and illusions. We may find ourselves lost in a dreamy kind of state, not feeling very grounded or soaking in the energy of what is going on around us or what is draining or filling us with energy.
Venus at 14 degrees of Leo forms a quincunx to Chiron, the Wounded Healer, in Pisces. This awakens us to areas of woundedness that need healing. So on top of being flooded with ideas, we are also feeling the areas that trigger our sense of weakness, helplessness, or insecurities. Rather than adding insult to injury by feeling ashamed or upset by this, allow yourself to feel what you feel, and see how it is acting as a teacher to help you get thought eh struggles, challenges, or pain that needs to be dealt with. We don’t deal with something of importance in our lives once, and than it’s over. Wherever there are areas that call us to grow, we keep learning how to deal with those areas in healthier ways, hopefully. Feeling as if we have failed, relapsed, or otherwise not ‘handled it’ is not helpful and is not even the point. We are not meant to be perfect; we are meant to keep trying and learning.
There is also a Mars-Saturn sextile to Mercury in Virgo, and this introduces us to the taking-it-slow dance approach to life. One little thing at a time, and pretty soon, the job is done. My Godmother, Dorothy called it ‘doing things in littles”, and she often coached me to do just that when I felt overwhelmed by too much to do. And what a privilege of our times. We have meaningful, purposeful lives, and yet we complain of having too much to do. Relax, take your time. Breathe! Actually, when you have too much to do, slow down. It may seem antithesis, but it works. Slow down, and do one thing. Then do one more thing. Then take a minute to simply focus on breathing. Then do one more things. Get out of your head, and stop talking yourself into stressful situations.
Listen to how others complain. Next time you’re in a grocery store, or coffess shop, on the bus, or some other place where people babble on about their lives, just listen. Either you’ll hear that their lives are far worse than yours, or that people complain about silly things. I often hear both. But the point is, how use these snippets of other peoples’ lives to compare to how you talk to yourself or about yourself. How much of what you tell yourself or others is negative or positive? How much is about a real problem or one you are creating? And if this doesn’t work, watch, read, or listen to the news, and you will find that your problems, as bad as they may be, are probably more manageable than many. And if we have a very tramatic and serious issue going on in our lives, complaining about it won’t really help. Use your energy to do something constructive. This lead me to the Virgo influences that are growing with this New Moon in Virgo. We are meant to take action and do what we can now.
The Sabian Symbol for this New Moon in Virgo is: Two Guardian Angels… You don’t have to be perfect or dance on the head of a pin. Leave that to the angels. Accept your flaws. Surrender to the knowledge that you don’t have to do it all today.” This is a time when a ritual to celebrate the blessings and intentions of the New Moon in Virgo, would be beneficial. Remind yourself of how you are surrounded, protected, guided, and guarded by angelic beings―-God’s thoughts connecting to us in Spirit.
The energy of Virgo makes us aware of the earth beneath our feet, the tasks at hand, and the resources available for us to build, create, form, shape, or destroy. How we use our time, energy, talents, and resources, now becomes a focal point, particularly in the area of life where Virgo rules your life/chart. On Monday morning, August 25, 2014, the New Moon at 2 degrees Virgo falls within 2.5 degrees of the star, Regulus (in the heart of Leo the Lion). This is the first time our Sun has transited this point since the Regulus entered Virgo (from Leo) in November of 2011. This signals a key turning point for the collective whole of humankind and our experience on this planet. This is connected to the the metaphysical return of the goddess, the rise of the Divine Feminine.
Regulus is known as one of the four Royal Stars of Persia. These four stars, Aldebaran, Regulus, Antares, and Formalhaut are the four brightest stars in the constellation and they appear to stand off by themselves in the sky. They are also among the 25 brightest stars we can see in the night sky. Ancient astronomers used these stars to chart the seasonal changes and equinoxes, to navigate ships, and for governing events in the world or signifying major changes. The Royal Stars were dominant in different constellations including Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Pisces. They are fixed stars, meaning that they appear to be located at the four fixed points of the Sun’s path. Regulus was considered the most influential of the four Royal Stars, and whenever an event occurred involving Regulus, grave and significant events, changes, or influences were amplified and intensified. (http://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/best-regulus-the-heart-of-the-lion)
The Four Guardians of Heaven or the Four Archangels, the Royal Stars represent the four spiritual paths from which all paths derive. Tashoheter/Aldebaran/the Archangel Michael represents the watcher of the East. The Archangel Michael, the Warrior Angel, stand up for the rights of all especially in times of danger, crisis, and challenge. Satevis/Antares represent the Archangel Oriel and is the keeper of the West. Hasotorang/Formalhaut represents the Archangel Gabriel and is the keeper of the South. Venant/Regulus represents the Archangel Raphael and is the keeper of the North. According to Ptolemy, "Of the stars in Leo, two in the head are like Saturn and partly like Mars. The three in the neck are like Saturn, and in some degree like Mercury. . . . Those in the loins . . . Saturn and Venus: those in the thighs resemble Venus, and, in some degree, Mercury." It is said that the stars in the neck, back and wing all bring trouble, disgrace and sickness affecting the part of the body ruled by the sign, especially if they happen to be in conjunction with the Moon.”
In ancient Egyptian times, the yearly calendar began when the Dog Star, Sirius rose, roughly at the end of July. The annual flooding of the Nile occurred as one of the three seasons in this mild climate: the flooding season when the Nile overflowed her banks, the growing season, and the harvest season. The flood occurred in mid-summer, and the new year began with the rising of the Constellation of Leo. The brightest star in the Constellation of Leo is Regulus, one of the Royal Stars, keeper of the North. Everyone alive today, with the exception of anyone born after Regulus’ entry into Virgo in November of 2011, was born with Regulus in Leo. Whatever house you find Leo in your chart/life, and your 5th house (5th house is Leo’s reign), signify the areas of your life that feel the greatest impact. Slowly, but surely, we are moving into a new age―an age lasting approximately 2,160 years. In 157 BCE, Regulus last transited from Cancer to Leo, helping usher in a new age that has shaped us as a civilization since.
The influence of Regulus in Virgo has us changing the way we create, shape, move, think, process, and respond to life’s challenges. Whereas we might have responded to world challenges with violence, competition, striking out and emotional outbursts under the influence of Leo, we now tend to turn our stress into worry, illness, or concern―in other words, we turn our stress in on ourselves. We suffer more personally, unless we can take the stress and use our intellect, hands, service, to work together to do something concrete to meet challenges. Someone said that worrying was like praying for all the bad things you want. Worrying is a harmful use of energy, and what Regulus calls us not to acknowledge within ourselves all the problems, challenges, weaknesses and shortcomings we cannot deal with, but to work to do something about that which we actually have some control or influence over, and to work together with others to make important changes and improvements in areas of life that need fixing, solving, addressing, or correcting. We do not need perfect human beings; we need to be human beings who are working to improve things and to use our gifts, resources, talents and challenges as building blocks to build a better life, for ourselves and for others.
The movement of Regulus, the Sun, and Mercury through Virgo, awaken within our heart of hearts, the needs, concerns, and issues that we feel the desire and indeed need to address. In talking with friends earlier in the week, I described the stirrings of energy around my heart chakra that seemed to be activating and signaling changes that need to be handled. Now in looking at the stirrings in light of all this movement in Virgo, I recognize the need to take care of the key elements in my life that pertain to where this activity is happening.
For me it is in the areas of my 10th house, life purpose/career and of my 5th house energy. Notice what house or area of your life you find Leo and what sign rules your 5th house. Watch how these two areas of your life are being affected by changes in energy, insight, and internal and external movement. The growing edge of this energy is to overcome the shadow aspects that now seem to appear out of nowhere―-obsessions, a tendency to sabotage (yourself or others), subterfuge/undermining of self or others, or imagining all the potential scenarios to block your good. Also there is a shadow tendency not to take as good a care of yourself as possible. Your health― physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being―is key to your making the most of the energy at this point in your journey. Get the rest you need, eat and drink according to your need, and get the exercise and enjoyment of life that is vital for maintaining health. Take time to meditate, pray, and contemplate. Enjoy the pleasure and company of family and friends, and take time to reflect and simply be present with your own company.
The transit of the Sun, Mercury, and Regulus through Virgo has a powerful up-side. We get more productive at this time, and change our work standards to enable us to achieve a higher quality of work as well as to maintain a stronger and more consistent emphasis on healthy channels of thought, word, deed, and heart-centered activities. We need to avoid toxins and toxicity at all costs, and we need to stop waging war. War is not the answer whether it is the war we wage within our selves (beating ourselves up for not being or doing or responding as we think we should) or the wars we wage with others (on the grand scale or on the local and interpersonal levels). The change begins within! Being responsible for what we do and how we do it, is the starting point of necessary, positive change.
With the influence of Regulus (the heart of Leo the Lion), we need to be aware of how we harm ourselves, allow stress and negativity to poison and wear ourselves down, and how we use stress as a means of avoiding making necessary changes. Whenever I hear people putting off making necessary major changes, it reminds me that the longer we stay in a toxic environment, the greater damage is done to our health. Also, the harder it is for us to get out of the comfort and familiarity of our pain, insecurities, and discomfort. Yes, some of us get so used to feeling badly that we cannot imagine we can ever feel differently. With the influence of the Sun, Regulus and Mercury in Virgo, we are going to get the message loud and clear, that when we stuff our pain, we pay the price in illness and increased levels of stress. As one author and astrologer Boots Hart puts it, Regulus in Virgo awakens us to “possibility of impersonal dismissing of others, right down to the level of life. Call it selfishness as an illness reflecting an inability to relinquish control.”
The big picture, for that is the best place to view this energy, is that we are living through a time that is not unlike the changing of any age or era. Change doesn’t happen on one day nor is it marked by one event. In the more epic ages like an astronomical age involving thousands of years, the change happens over decades and even hundreds of years. We are part of evolving changes of human behavior, attitudes, perceptions, and doing that calls for us to each awaken, grow, change, and create from where we are, perhaps having to change the way we view life or ways of doing and thinking in order to become more whole, aware, productive, purposeful, or relevant. Those of us who are older, may or may not understand, that time marches on. We can stay in old attitudes, behavior, beliefs, thinking or even dress; however, that does not guarantee that life won’t change in ways that make it harder and harder to behave as if ‘everything were as it was”. Really we sho try to live consciously, understand that life changes and we can either ignore the change and miss the boat, or we can acknowledge the changes that have occurred in our lives, and learn what that is leading us towards. To improve our human condition, and that of all humankind, we have to work together and to do what we can to let go of what has no place in our lives so that we can pick up the tools and use the resources that we have to build a life that works for the good of all. What does this look like in real terms? For some this might mean, letting go of an old role that is no longer useful. It might mean acknowledging that we need to take better care of our health if we are to be able to create art or maintain our friendships. It may mean that we need to root ourselves and stabilize our lives long enough to plant a garden and tend it. It may mean that we need to let go of attitudes that drive us deeper into depression or self-loathing, and spend more time recognizing and affirming what is working in our lives. Recognizing that the life we have is the one we have in part, created, we need to do what we can appreciate and enjoy what we have. In what ways are you wasting energy? How is your attitude helping block or drain your of energy to get something started, completed, or released?
I wish I had known what it meant when Regulus entered Virgo in 2011. At the time I was forced to make some changes, or suffer the consequences. I made the necessary changes, with no idea what it would mean and with some fear that I would not be able to manage. I gave up a long, successful career once and for all, in order to first, get healthy―pay attention to what my physical health was signaling, and then to devote myself full time to the life purpose call of Leo in the 10th house. The way my changes have happened is through the 11th house Virgo, of friendships and involvement with groups and institutions. This has not been an easy change for me, as I longed for time alone and needed to be with people who were willing to work with me and with whom I was willing to work with too. As an introvert, I had to release the need to operate out of my own singularly-focused, independent, driven nature, and work with and appreciate others more. As Regulus, the Sun, and Mercury have moved into this area of my life, lessons, challenges, opportunities, and blessings are flowing into my life. I listening to the clarion call of change within as it is carried to me by deepening awareness and challenges. We each are receiving this clarion call to change, to grow, to release, to heal, to create, to evolve, and to be more present in the doing. Whatever is at the heart of your core of being, is now being vibrated by a clarion call. Listen. Let it rise to the surface of your consciousness. Take good care of yourself, and avoid allowing stress, worry, and fear be part of your life. The heart and circulatory system is affected by stress, despair, fear, worry, and suppressed desires and memories. What needs to be healed is coming to the fore to be acknowledged, and it is vital to respond and take care with yourself now.
The heart of our moral and ethical codes and beliefs, too are important. What is it you say you believe, and how are you living accordingly? As the heart and circulatory system work to and are dependent upon the other to work, so too do our beliefs and actions align with one another. If we are living in disharmony, we are in a constant state of imbalance, discontent, and incongruence. We all know someone who complains about life incessantly, and wonder how that person can avoid seeing the beauty in and around them. When we are out of balance, not living with an awareness of who we are and a way of framing our lives with meaning, we lose traction, we lose our way, or we fail to see the trail we are walking. Truly, this is the question of our times―how do we live on the precipice of change? How do we feel at home in any way, if we are always in process?
Between November 2011 and December 2083, everyone on this planet will be living through the birth of a new age. Regulus will be at 0 degrees of Virgo. These first few years have also been during a crucial transit of the Great Transformer, Pluto’s journey through Capricorn. The very first peeps of this new age have been difficult, challenging, violent in many ways, and shocking. We have witnessed and been a part of it in the larger society; we have felt and suffered through it on a personal level―always a choice between the known and the unknown, the struggle within all of us, between what was and what will be. For our youngest members of society, born at this key moment in time, are the vanguards of the new age.
The rest of us will feel as if something is intruding our our needs or desires, or efforts to get things done. We may feel it more alive within us now, and may be having some very enlightening experiences (if we are willing to look at this within ourselves) that give us a key to how to handle the universal need we all have now, to be more tolerant and accepting of others and of ourselves. I know I’m having some eye and heart-opening experiences, seeing how I can do more to block my own good and fail to appreciate those I love than anyone else can or has done. When we are able to awaken to intuitive and direct communication we receive form others, we then have the opportunity to help heal, open doors, solve problems, find better solutions, and manage stress within our own lives and within the world we share and help create with others.
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