The Earth revolves, the Earth’s in revolution.
The Earth evolves, the Earth’s in evolution.
Each year, I am entranced as I watch the return of white pelicans to the oxbow bends of the Snake River. This year, perhaps because of the frigidity of spring or for more mysterious reasons, their tribe has huddled together for days on end, encircled, elegant heads turned inward, toward their dreaming circle. Hunkered down, staying warm, they’ve kept their distance from the humans. What is occurring inside Pelican mind? Are they huddled in a raft of reverie or dreaming a new hope out of concern for their survival, and ours? Our oldest birds, they are the Wise Ones. I attempt to eavesdrop on their thoughts.
It’s May. Out of your winter dreaming comes the first springing forth of this year’s creative flowering which is starting to take shape in this physical dimension. We are exiting a two-year cycle of the restrictive energies of Saturn and enter the more joyous, abundant field of Jupiter’s alignment with revolutionary, disruptive Uranus. This momentum of May clears the way for the vibrant, shocking, revolutionary energies arriving the first of June.
In classical astrology some planets are considered malefic, and others are defined as benefic. I steer clear of this terminology and think more in terms of the mindset of biology where there are catabolic forces of breakdown (catabolism=destructive metabolism) which bring about death and release, and anabolic forces (anabolism=constructive metabolism) which catalyze new growth and possibilities. Catabolism releases what is no longer necessary, already dying, and anabolism reconfigures the remnants into exciting, renewed forms of Life.
I think of the forces of Saturn as catabolic in nature. Saturn is not bad, but it does push us to do more with less. A Saturn transits can just as easily manifest as a long-worked for promotion, or being fired from a job you wished you could’ve left. Will you make the choice, or will it be made for you? Saturn manifests as endurance in some people and paralysis in others. With a Saturn transit, you might finally commit to the responsibility of a family, or leave a relationship that no longer held any joy. You might complete that manuscript tucked away for too many years, or dramatically burn it and commit to an entirely new form of expression for your creativity. You see, no planet is inherently mal (French for bad). Saturn is simply the energetic of conscious or unconscious decision-making.
I think of Jupiter as mostly an anabolic planet. Like the exuberant coach or parent giving positive affirmation, Jupiter transits and historical periods usher in expansion on every level. Although Jupiter can herald a death of someone dear, you might experience that kind of death as a positive completion for your beloved. And of course, one can have too much of a good thing, so the down side of Jupiter is often greed, a blind cheeriness blocking pain, or creditors a’calling.
The wild forces of change articulated by Uranus (revolution) and Pluto (transformation) have also been major players in the planetary drama as well. Busting open the confined forms of too much stability and safety (Saturn’s domain), much has been discarded, cleansed and painfully shed in personal and collective arenas. I often think in color: intense, dark shades come to mind…. this has been a period of red, black and a whole lot of blues.
One thing this past two-year cycle has taught me is a brave resiliency to not choose a mindset of fear. I have learned to practice the positive use of imagination. It often felt like I was lifting weights in my mind (Saturn loves lifting weights and leanness) , getting stronger and stronger at steering clear of unhelpful, mind detours…the worry cobwebs swept away because it became obvious worry serves no purpose. An endurance and clarity of focus (another gift of Saturn) has emerged in me, as if I were building an internal structure of consciousness that will be nimble enough to withstand a hurricane’s winds or the disruption of oil, all with a tad of humor. Saturn is also renowned for dry wit. Paradoxically, Saturnalia (“an occasion for wild revelry”) is a celebration that breaks all of society’s rules. Sounds like a more joyful form of catabolism to me.
So that’s were we’ve been.
The Earth revolves, the Earth’s in revolution.
The Earth evolves, the Earth’s in evolution.
On June 5 2010, Jupiter will once again align with Uranus, a cycle that comes around approximately every 12-13 years. Yet already this energy is building like the unseen wave of a tsunami forming in the ocean’s depths, soon to be seen as it breaks ground….an appropriate image as these planets are in the sign of oceanic consciousness, Pisces. This will indeed be groundbreaking… this is always the astrological moment of the BIG revolutions. What begins in early June, will flower in September, and complete in January 2011…perfectly in syncwith our election cycle…interesting eh?
This is one of my favorite astrological pairings, perhaps because I was born under this planetary signature. At birth, it signed me up for an optimism that has kept me alive, reasonably well, and happy for all my life. No matter how bad things seem, this Jupiter/Uranus always bubbles up in me, and in society, creating innovative strategies, original inventions borne out of darkness, doubt, tight corners. Jupiter is the planetary ruler, both queen and king, of faith, hope, renewal, vision, joy.
I am so happy to report this good news.
And……. everything is about to change.
In my last post, I wrote this:
From every walk of life, two kinds of humans will emerge:
those who choose mob mentality
and
those who choose to become teachers, leaders,
innovators of culture.
Everyone gets to choose.
Jupiter/Uranus cycles are about grassroots revolutions. What has been undone by Saturn can be reformed by the unending creativity that lies at the core of EVERY human being, and
EVERY creature, for that matter. Uranus will nudge us to unite in our diversity. Many people will choose to step out of their boxes and open to new partnerships with former imagined enemies.
“Hybrid vigor”, a term I just heard today in reference to the newly-formed coalition government of Britain, is the perfect description for what is coming. The third part, or third party that is emerging is the party of the individual thinker, living outside the boxes of their beliefs. In choosing hybrid vigor, you will create your own version of living a life free of entrenched polarities. Hybrid vigor will keep you younger, fresher. Give it a try.
This energetic field wears the lime green/yellow color of originality: chartreuse.
Earth is advocating for a healthier humanity. Green is the new green…. what might that mean? Everything is subject to the cycles of the natural world because everything is part of the natural world, from the rise and fall of empires, to the ebb and flow of the financial markets, to the light and dark places our humanity has gone.
And there’s one more larger planetary cycle at play here. In May 2000, Saturn and Jupiter aligned in a new 20-year conjunction that defines society’s new choice (yes, values are always changing despite a desire for some to stop that natural cycle) through 2020. As both of these planets symbolize the evolution of our societies, their transits can identify the overarching timing and themes of this particular cycle (more on that next time). We now approach the halfway point in this cycle, a crucial turning point, the pivot we have all been hearing about, dreaming about, and now, are about to create.
In sublime honoring of the forces of catabolism and anabolism, I leave you with excerpts from a favorite poem of mine from “This Compost” by Walt Whitman, a reminder of how we might choose to become better stewards of our divine Earthly home:
“Behold this compost! Behold it well!
Perhaps every mite has once form’d part of a sick person—
Yet behold!
The grass of spring covers the prairies.
—-What chemistry! That the winds are really not infectious
That all is clean forever and forever,
That the cool drink from the well tastes so good,
That the blackberries are so flavorous and juicy….
Now I am terrified at the Earth, it is that calm and patient,
It grows such sweet things out of such corruptions…
It gives such divine materials to men, and accepts such
leavings from them at last.”
A FEW DATES TO WATCH:
May 11 2010** Mercury goes forward from its retrograde in
April. Hopefully, you will finally hear back from those job interviews of early spring, business and real estate transactions will find completion, communications or miscommunications will be resolved. A computer glitch
might mysteriously right itself…hold out for miracles!
May 13 2010** New Moon in late sidereal Aries aligned with the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction of May 2000. This initiates actions that benefit the greater good as individuals commit more sincerely to supporting and living the truth of our own joy. This next revolution is a revolution of joy.
May 22 2010**Saturn/Jupiter first exact opposition, passing the baton from the Saturn to Jupiter.
May 30 2010** Saturn moves out its retrograde from Jan 13
to direct motion, marking the true completion of the release that proceeds the coming rebirth of June.
May 31 2010** Neptune, celestial Guide of art, spirituality and imagination shifts into its 5 month retrograde. Because Neptune is currently traveling the celestial road with Chiron the Shaman/Healer (from 2009 till 2011), we are continuing to be “spiritually upgraded” via magical awakenings, healing dreams, strange blackouts, all intent on awakening our humanity to greater compassion for those different from us. This upgrade is preparing us in unseen but deeply experienced ways for what is to come in 2012.
Perhaps as this retrograde takes hold, some of the more intense symptoms of this transit will give us a rest, a much needed rest, even a dreamless restorative sleep.
Sweet dreams,
Lyn Dalebout
