Neptune transits Part 2

I want to share some more thoughts on the subject in a perhaps futile attempt to bring some clarity to Neptune's fog, although with Neptune everything must be taken with a grain of salt. Possibly, we are not in a position yet to fully grasp its' qualities. We can try, though.
One of the main themes, I think, during the Neptune transit is the blow the ego receives. I know most astrology books talk about how the self dissolves and all that, but it's not made perfectly clear just what that is in practical terms. In my experience, I feel it's like this: Before the Neptune transit, you pride yourself on something, something you conquered or achieved, some kind of accomplishment you feel particularly proud of and you feel especially confident in your abilities. That is not a bad thing per se, but what usually happens is that your ego gets inflated. You begin to feel special and therefore separate yourself from others busking in the glow of your superiority. Even if you don't say it out loud, what you are really thinking is "I did that, I, I, I!" For example, let's say that you give up smoking and you fell liberated, you boast about kicking the habit and reproach others for not having the strength to do likewise. Neptune comes along and you start smoking again. You realize just how weak you really are and you wallow in self-pity. However, after this period is over, you start to get a glimpse of a sort of metaphysical truth that actually it was not you who kicked the habit, but instead you managed to do so by the grace of God or the Gods or the Spirit or whatever. You temporarily aligned yourself with that power that connects us all and found the strength to overcome your weakness. However, this is something that all people can do, should they put their minds to it, and unfortunately this alignment is not permanent, unless you consciously devote yourself to the task of maintaining this bond. So, what you learn, and this is the unique gift of Neptune, is empathy. In the light of such self-knowledge, one can only be humble and refrain from judging other people whose weaknesses are just a reflection of one's own.
One other thing worth mentioning, and strongly Neptunian people can attest to this, is that it's impossible to take sides. Neptune, along with empathy, gives this chameleon-like ability to easily step into other people's shoes. The fog the textbooks mention is really THE ultimate objectivity. Everything seems unclear, because you realize that there isn't ONE truth. Lets' say that two of your friends quarrel and they both confide in you. With Neptune, you realize that they are both right and wrong at the same time. You may hate this ambivalence, because it's much easier to live in the security that the illusion of ONE truth provides, but you can't help it. You can try and explain to each one where they went wrong but they may not listen. What's more important however, is that you realize that what they did, you probably also do yourself. You start to wonder that if two perfectly nice people who generally mean well got in such a mess, then why not me? Neptune stops you from taking the easy way out believing that something like that will never happen to you and forces you to question your objectivity and re-evaluate your judgements and certainties. It dawns on you that knowing the complete truth about something or someone is practically impossible and you lose the smugness only absolute certainty can provide. And the gift of all this, is that you begin to truly connect to other people, because you realize how easy it is for all of us to make mistakes. You are no longer ignorant of your shortcomings and you share them with others, refusing to hide behind a facade of righteousness. As a result, people find it easy to open up to you, because they know that you are someone who understands.

Swine flu and the Jupiter/Neptune/Chiron conjunction - Saturn why hast thou forsaken us?

So, separateness is an illusion, after all. We may have suspected it, we may have believed in it, but it takes things like the swine flu epidemic for us to truly grasp the reality of our interconnectedness. Saturn has opened the door and invited in one of his signs his two arch enemies, Jupiter and Neptune. Their combined energies have managed to deal him a heavy blow. Despite our differences and our self-imposed boundaries, it turns out that we are all one. Neptune has won the battle.
Astrologers usually talk about Aquarius being the most humane of signs, a progressive and democratic one. Which is true, in this case at least. Viruses are extremely democratic and liberal and they make no distinctions. They don't care if you are a Palestinian or a Jew, a king or a slave, black or white. It's just what the 16-year-old boy said in the final film of The Matrix trilogy "The machines don't care how old I am. They are going to kill me just the same." Naturally, there is no need to panic with this flu, since most cases so far have been mild and there is no essential difference with the common flu. Still, it makes you think. What if it were a deadlier virus in its' place that could spread out with similar ease? Which means that life in the saturnian sense of the word is ultimately futile. No matter how hard you try to build your structures or how long it takes you to reach a certain level, it can all be taken away in the blink of an eye. Neptune calls us to detach ourselves from whatever we think defines us and focus on those things that can't be destroyed by a flu epidemic or a natural disaster. If we live our lives following Saturn's way, there is only one conclusion we can safely reach: That life is inherently unfair.
Which brings us to Chiron. Liz Greene says that the difference between Chiron and Saturn is that there is no apparent explanation for the chironic wound. Life wounds us in some way and we cannot blame anyone for it. You may have been orphaned, for example, at a very young age, but you can't blame your father for getting killed in the war. It's just how life is. This epidemic has all the characteristics of a chironic wound as you can't blame nature for the existence of viruses. So where does that lead us? To acceptance. To the realization that there are things in life completely beyond our control and we must learn to co-exist with them.
Jupiter, finally, brings a religious tone to all this. We must have faith that things will turn out exactly as they are supposed to. That evil is an essential part of life and perhaps equally divine. Because we must go on living no matter what and only Jupiter is capable of providing us with such strength. And who knows? One day we may find out what's really going on and if life has a purpose or not.

The Penn and Teller show - A need for astrological humility

The latest episode of the Penn and Teller show "Bullshit" was about astrology and of course we heard the usual stuff we've already heard a thousand times before. However, instead of criticizing those shows, isn't it about time we started questioning ourselves and the astrology we know? We go on and on about how astrology is not magic, but we are the ones we treat it as such. We feel compelled to answer every question the client asks us, we cling to every little thing he/she tells us and we rush into judgement. "Oh, that's Uranus on your MC "or "That's your Mars/Pluto speaking" and so on.
If astrology were that simple and if our astrological knowledge were that accurate, wouldn't we know ourselves by heart by now? How many of us can honestly claim this? Instead, we change our interpretations about our own chart all the time as we grow as individuals and astrologers. How many times have you rectified your chart using this and that technique, those of you at least who don't have an accurate birth time? Richard Idemon did it constantly. How many schools of thought are there and how many house systems exist, all claiming to be equally effective? Are secondary progressions better than solar arcs? Or perhaps primary directions? Are solar returns stand-alone charts or ar they to be read side by side with the natal chart? And what about the greatest division of all, the one between traditionalists and modernists?Isn't it logical to assume that if one system were 100% effective, it would overshadow all the others? Yet, theories abound and the truth of the matter is, the moment we become too sure of ourselves, astrology escapes us.
Which means that, in fact, we know nothing. Nada. Niente. Rien du tout. Pick your language. If inside the astrological symbols hides the wisdom of the cosmos, it is simply hubris to say that we know astrology. We only know what our experience, intelligence, studies and observation allow us to know at any given moment. One can only be humble realizing the vastness of astrology. No more absolute truths and absolute certainties. So the next time a Uranus transit on the Ascendant doesn't produce the results we expected, we must re-think our astrology and everything we know about transits. The next time an important progression passes by harmlessly, we must re-think progressions and all the relative theories. We must study different authors but we must not treat anything they say as gospel truth, no matter how sure of themselves they seem to be or how respected they are in the astrological community. We must use our own discretion and wit and at the same time look ourselves in the mirror from time to time and say: "I can be wrong".
Which means that we don't go on shows like that. Not only because we can't convince those who refuse to keep an open mind, but also because by appearing on such shows, what we are really saying is that our astrology is foolproof. That we know everything there is to know. That nothing can possibly go wrong. In short, that we are arrogant.

Contest horary - The Williams sisters

I didn't want to post this at first, because I'm not sure which house goes to whom, but then I thought it would be a nice exercise for me and for those of you who are interested in such things, regardless of the outcome of the match. First of all, this is the horary chart I erected for the two sisters.

My main problem is that I don't strongly favour one of the two when they play other players, but when they play against each other, I favour Venus. So, it's not that I like Venus that much, it's just that I "dislike" Serena. Is that enough? John Frawley states that even a minor preference is sufficient, but the real purpose of my "Who will win?" question is to see if horary works, so perhaps this question is not fit to judge. Bearing that in mind, let's interpret the chart, giving Venus the 1st house and Serena the 7th.
Let's look at the condition of the houses first. If we decide to use Pluto, then the 1st house is afflicted, but not particularly, since Pluto is in a different sign from the Ascendant. On the other hand, Lord 7 is in its' own house and, as a result, both essentially and accidentally dignified. One major testimony for Serena. The Sun is also there, peregrine, and even though in the face of Mercury (Serena), strongly prefers Venus by being in Jupiter's (Lord 1) exaltation and term. What's more, Mercury (Serena) is under the sun beams, moving closer to the Sun, but in a different sign from it. Does that weaken Serena? Not dramatically, I suspect. Mercury's antiscion however, is in a much worse state. In early Cancer, it is combust and opposite Pluto. Do we accept combustion for an antiscion? If so, Serena is weakened.
On the other hand, Jupiter (Venus) is in Aquarius, in a neutral house (2nd) and so not especially strong. I can't see any positive testimonies for Venus. She is not accidentally strong, very far from the North Node, conjunct Neptune and Chiron and square a debilitated Mars. The only favourable aspect Jupiter receives is from Venus (an omen?) well-dignified in Taurus, but in the cusp of the malefic 6th. Jupiter's antiscia fall on the early Taurus/Scorpio axis, not doing anything of importance.
What can we make of all this? It seems that there is not a clear answer. It all depends on the amount of importance we will assign to the weakening effects of the Sun to Mercury, its' antiscion and the 7th house. If it weren't for the Sun, then Serena would be a clear winner. Moreover, it seems that if Venus finally wins, it will be because Serena lost the match for some reason, since Venus doesn't seem strong enough to win the match by herself. So, let's try another technique, the chart for the event.




We first have to decide who the favourite is. Before the tournament, it was definitely Serena, because she is world No2 and has had better results than her sister lately. However, Wimbledon is where Venus excels and after her annihilation of world No1 Dinara Safina at the semi-finals, she seems stronger than ever. This must mean that Venus is the favourite, although I'm not sure what the bookies say, so you'd better check with them.
So, the favourite gets the 1st and the 10th house and the underdog the 7th and the 4th. Since the 10th house ruler is the Moon and we want to keep the Moon for the flow of events, the favourite gets only Lord 1 for significator. We are interested only if any of them are in an angular house and which one. None of them is. Then we check the Part of Fortune, but not its' bodily placement, but its' antiscion. Its' antiscion is in 11o 49' Libra, widely conjunct the Ascendant but not close enough. Maybe a very minor positive testimony for the favourite. Next, we check the Moon's aspects to the significators and Fortuna, allowing a 5-degree orb or so, bearing in mind that the Moon's final aspect within this orb wins. The Moon nakes no aspects to Venus (Lord 1) and Mars (Lord 7), but makes an applying aspect to Saturn, (Lord 4), therefore favouring the underdog, since it's also its' final aspect. However, we must not forget the aspects the Moon makes to Fortuna and its' antiscion. The Moon squares Fortuna but with a 7-degree orb, which is probably too much. However, it immediately sextiles its' antiscion in 11o 49' Libra, which is a major positive testimony for the favourite, since John Frawley says that aspects to Fortuna or its' antiscion are final and we can ignore the Moon's square to Saturn. The Nodes are in the 4th/7th house axis, but we cannot say that they either weaken or strengthen one of them, being in a different sign from that of the cusp. So, unless I've missed something important, the match should go the favourite. The problem is who that is. We will soon find out.

The Sun/Pluto aspects - Farah Fawcett and Michael Jackson

No, I'm not going to blame the tragic deaths of Farah Fawcett and Michael Jackson on Pluto. This aspect may have had something to do with it, but I'll focus on the meaning of the Sun/Pluto aspects, irrespective of whether the people who have them, manage to live long lives or not. Pluto may be highly regarded in modern astrological circles, but we need to go beyond fancy words like deep passion and transformation if we want to be honest with ourselves and with Pluto.
Because Pluto has a lot to do with fear, I think. Modern textbooks stress survival when it comes to Pluto, but survival is guaranteed only by living constantly in fear. When you have the Lights strongly aspecting Pluto or Pluto is angular in your chart, you have not yet left the jungle. You live in a state of constant alertness, waiting for the next predator. But humans, as a species, have consciously decided to abandon the jungle, which may have had its' negative consequences insofar as we lost our respect for instinctual life, but still, it was our choice and we made it. Which leads me to believe that Sun/Pluto aspects are much more difficult than Moon/Pluto ones. We may think that the Moon is sensitive and, of course, by it's exaltation in Taurus, is directly opposed to Scorpio and plutonian qualities, yet, as it represents the irrational mind is closer to Pluto than we think. In fact, it's because the Moon understands and values Pluto that it strives for a Taurus-like existence. It wants to protect itself against the part of life Pluto represents. But the Sun has nothing in common with Pluto. It doesn't understand it. The Sun is the rational mind and it's because of the Sun that we made the conscious choice to abandon the jungle. We don't believe any more in the survival of the fittest, but in the survival of all. So, when you have a Moon/Pluto aspect, jungle mentality comes natural to you, which, naturally, is extremely wearisome, but you don't question it. It's just who you are. On the other hand, with Sun/Pluto aspects, you are not genetically predisposed to jungle life, but life seems to constantly throw predators at you and you feel like someone who was born in the "civilized" parts of the world, but by a mysterious twist of fate, you are forced to live in the jungle.
So, it's quite understandable that Michael Jackson was obsessed and paranoid, surrounding himself with little kids, aiming at capturing an innocence that, alas, was not meant for him. And I'm sure Farah Fawcett's Aquarius Sun in the 8th house oposing Pluto had a hard time trying desperately to live in an idealised Aquarian world, but plutonian reality constantly undermined her efforts.
I'm not a psychologist and I don't have any easy solutions for dealing successfully with these aspects. However, I think that one major step towards a solution would be to accept the inevitable. I'm not talking about surrender. It's one thing fighting against the inevitable trying to change your reality and another riding along with it but at the same time fighting for a place in it.

Psychological astrology par excellence - Richard Idemon

When you start your astrological studies with modern astrology textbooks, you feel enchanted at first. Suddenly, all the mysteries of your life seem to become clear and you don't feel alone any more. There is a reason for what is happening to you and that reason is your astrological chart coupled with pretty words like karma, transformation and so on. But after you start to share your knowledge with friends or clients, you realize that you are repeating yourself. Every other chart has a Venus - Pluto or a Moon - Uranus aspect and you get bored with saying the same vague things over and over again. What's more, you realize that other people don't share your enthusiasm with this higher knowledge and can't relate to what you are saying. They want more concrete stuff and there's nothing wrong with that. As a result, you start questioning your astrological knowledge, especially if you are very earthy or have a prominent Saturn in your chart and either you go over to traditional astrology or try to find people who know what they are talking about and are capable of passing it on to you.
One of these people was Richard Idemon. He may not have written any books himself but thanks to Gina Ceaglio and Howard Sasportas, we have some of his seminars published in two books, The Magic Thread and Through the Looking Glass. These books are full of valuable pieces of information, especially Glass which is my favourite, and they are very interesting to read. I think what sets him and Liz Greene apart from other modern astrologers is that they are not so spiritually-oriented and they like to call a spade a spade. In fact, I don't think that they are astrologers per se, but psychologists who also use astrological jargon. Richard Idemon in particular, really gets you involved in what he is saying. You cannot help but admire Liz Greene for how effortlessly she seems to produce her words of wisdom, but with Richard Idemon you get the feeling that he is not pontificating, instead he is right here suffering along with you all the way. He is passionate, funny and he likes to tell stories from his personal and professional life. I highly recommend these two books, even if you are not into psychological astrology that much.
Richard Idemon was HIV-positive and committed suicide in 1987. He was very private about his chart when he was alive, but now that he is dead, his chart is included in the Astro-data bank for everyone to see. So here it is:



At the time of death (22/02/1987), he had a progressed Sun-Saturn conjunction in Aries, progressed Ascendant opposite the progressed Mars-Uranus conjunction in Taurus and transiting Pluto exactly - to the minute - opposite his natal Uranus in the 8th house.

Horary - Federer's win at Roland Garros

I cast this horary chart on Saturday morning, after the two players for the final the following day were determined, asking who will win, Federer or Soderling. I will use the John Frawley method for interpreting this chart.



1st step: Determine which house goes to whom. Since I strongly support Federer and desperately wanted him to finally win a Roland Garros title, Federer gets the 1st house and Soderling - his enemy - the 7th.

2nd step: Determine the condition of the houses, if there are any planets afflicting or strengthening them. Federer has neither. Soderling, however, has Pluto right on the cusp, which means that Pluto controls the house and not controlled by it. For me, this is a major testimony that Soderling is going to lose and he is going to lose BIG. But let's humour Frawley and refrain from using any outer planets, even though in this case I think even he couldn't have possibly ignored Pluto.

3rd step: Determine the condition of the house rulers. Federer gets the Moon and Soderling gets Saturn. What we are looking for here, since this is a contest chart, is accidental dignity and not essential dignity. The Moon is in the sign of its' fall, but that needn't concern us. What does concern us however, is that it's less than two degrees away from the 6th house cusp and therefore it is a 6th house planet. Not good. At least it has lots of light. Saturn on the other hand is accidentally dignified by being angular. Both planets are slow. Saturn receives a square from the Sun, which is not particularly harmful, considering that they are both in Mercury-ruled signs and the Sun likes Saturn by being in his triplicity. The Moon (Federer) squares Jupiter, but Jupiter is peregrine. Not much help there. Quite the contrary.

So, if we leave it at that and ignore Pluto, we must decide that Soderling is going to win the match. But we've forgotten antiscia. Is anything there worth mentioning? Yes! The Moon (Federer) is very closely conjunct the North Node by antiscion. This is extremely powerful and could decide a match by itself, according to Frawley. So, combined with Pluto on the 7th house cusp and the fact that it has a lot of light, it's more than likely that Federer is going to win the match, even though he is not in his very best condition. And so it proved. Federer won in straight sets and Soderling admitted that he was completely overpowered by him.

Federer makes history