Moon in Sagittarius Facing Venus at the Very End of Gemini Today

Just a quick couple of maps today showing the Moon 2 weeks ago meeting with Venus in the Libra duad of Gemini ……and today on the far side of the zodiac from the planet of human gestation……Venus is in the last, or Taurus,  duad of Gemini.  Moon this morning (9:29am in Raleigh or 13:29 UT) is on the other side of the zodiac going from Libra duad of Sagittarius to Scorpio duad.  

While the Moon is straight up in the sky tonight for any point on Earth, that point is shooting over the top of the spherical mountain.  I've been too occupied with work and rest to post anything in a while.  Last night and this morning I spent some time listening to taintradio.   I got up a chart for the morning while taintradio was playing and noticed the Moon at the end of Sagittarius in fulfillment with Venus.

Mary Pat Enters the Astrodienst Forum

This past Monday I made my first post on the Astrodienst forum, a place where people can post questions or ask for help understanding their charts.  I actually made 3 posts.  One of the members that I responded to followed up with further questions and lots of thanks.  I am in astrology heaven.

Yesterday, after answering the second response from my new astrology buddy, I kept thinking how silly it was that I had waited so many years to ‘enter’ the forum.  I’ve been feeling for some time that the Our Sky group is not getting the kind of participation I had hoped for, and wishing I could just give up and spare my friends the badgering about real time.  Every time I am disappointed at the lack of interest I think of all the interests my friends have that are low on my list of things to pursue.  But the messenger in Aries will be heard whether the message is welcome or not.  (Mercury was in Aries when I was born, just beginning to set.  The position right before disappearing under the horizon is called the house of partnership, and is associated with friends, marriages and contracts.)

So I just floated on long delayed satisfaction all evening and worked on ways to help my forum partner with the language.  Later, after I had finished my response, and checked to make sure there were no errors, I went back to see if my two other posts had responses.  And one of them did.  The response was a criticism.  The other forum member actually said such and such (that I had written) is not your greatest asset, your greatest asset is this…

So I had my answer of why I had waited so long to enter the forum.  I wasn’t ready to be shot down, contradicted, or criticized.  It has bothered me for years that I rejected the astrology community and learned the language in almost complete isolation.  Though it is a language for meditation, it is not objective if it can’t be communicated with others.  I knew restricting my efforts to communicate with friends, as opposed to the wider community, was an insular approach.

Now, I am relieved that that period of protecting myself as an astrologer is over.  Thank you to all my friends who have been so patient with me and resisted the urge to shout, “Shut up Mary Pat you are boring as can be.  We are so tired of hearing about your pet project!”

The forum member’s remark did not bother me a bit.  I can furnish objective reasoning for the statement I made based on the grammar of the language.  I have developed a lot of skills writing the Our Sky blog and built up a lot of confidence thanks to the kindness and enthusiasm of my friends.  Thanks Y’all!

One last thing while I am on the subject of gratitude for wonderful friends.  (Venus is in Taurus right now and I am really digging it.)  I can tell at least two stories off the top of my head of incorrect statements I have made in the process of explaining charts to friends.  Both times I was showing a level of ignorance that really needed to be remedied.  This would be embarrassing if it happened to anyone else, but it is really hard to embarrass someone with Mercury in Aries, so here goes.

In one of the first charts I ever did I said Mercury, Venus and Mars were inside the orbit of Earth.  My friend caught the error immediately and gently questioned the statement.  I really thought I had the order of orbits correct!  One of these days I will mention the other piece of bad information that I would be trying to spread around if an informed friend had not set me back on track.  So, thanks not just for being patient but also for showing me when I’m crossing the lane and headed for a collision.  

See you all later, I'm off to the forum!

Cocho

To mark the 4^th anniversary of the essay Cocho: Dirty and Down Low I am sending out a request for comments or essays about this word ‘cocho.’  Of all the posts on my blog the essay about cocho gets the most hits.  I think that means there are a lot of people out there thinking about this word. 

I haven’t looked it up since I wrote the essay.  Maybe by now there is actually a good definition out there that makes sense.  I also have not recently asked my Mexican, especially Tierra Caliente friends about the word.  Please post anything you know about the word ‘cocho’ in the comments section below this essay.  If you have trouble leaving a comment you can send me an email at goscinnyanduderzo@gmail.com and we’ll get your essay posted.

We want to hear/read your favorite story about the word cocho!

Spring Orientation

The Sun is up in Aries.  I’ve been awake since 4am thinking about how we have been climbing from Cancer to Capricorn all night long.  At 4 we were 2/3 of our way to the top with Scorpio on the midheaven.  By the time the Spring Sun appeared on the horizon we were at the top of our daily climb.  That’s one of the many reasons Aries is called Aries and Capricorn called Capricorn.  The names reflect their nature in the daily cycle of Earth’s tilted revolution. 

I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get oriented while we still see the Sun in the beginning of Aries.  Capricorn, Aries, Cancer and Libra are the easiest positions in the cycle to picture in our minds.  This is why they are called the cardinal signs.  In addition to being easier to picture spatially they are each most representative of a different type of motion in the cycle.  The first degree of Aries on the midheaven (not when the sign is appearing on the horizon like this spring morning, but when it is above us, as it will be this afternoon) is the point where we are in absolute downward motion.  Capricorn on the midheaven is when we are turning down from our upward climb.  So on these spring mornings we are crossing the mountain top at sunrise and at midday we are halfway down.  In Spring time every one around the globe literally begins their day on top of the world.

Enceladus in Astrology

I don’t read much science fiction, but the little exposure I’ve had makes me feel sure there are many people thinking about this. 


Jen posted a link from NPR about Enceladus and asked about the moons of Saturn in astrology.  From a few quick searches I came up with nothing.  This might seem surprising considering that Astro.com provides locations for thousands of celestial objects, including asteroids and fixed stars.  But when we consider that from Earth’s perspective the moons of Saturn are always near Saturn, and astrology follows the cycles of heavenly objects as viewed from Earth, their effect on Saturn’s approximately 29 year cycle would not be considered separately.  In other words we see the moons of other planets kind of like horse flies-  the only ones we really care about are the suckers circling our own steed.  That's not a nice way to talk about our moon, but then maybe it shows a deeper appreciation for horse flies.

 

While the cycle of Earth’s moon is central to the study of other planetary cycles, especially Jupiter and Saturn, there appears to be no astrological treatment highlighting members of Saturn's family or the other planets that have close companions similar to our Moon.  The astronomical descriptions, complete with quantitative analysis are readily available, so it is not because of a lack of information. 

I am aware of astrology techniques that analyze charts calculated for time and space originating from the location of the Sun, but that only diminishes the relative motion of our moon to a subsumed cycle like the moons of our sibling planets.  Imagine yourself observing Earth’s motion from the Sun, and the Moon that we see in a different part of the sky every day becomes a little electron never straying from the proton of Earth.  Maybe there are folks out there somewhere doing charts from the point of view of various planets.  Viewing time from the point of view of Saturn would definitely give its moons central roles in defining the various cycles, just as ours takes a central role in human astrology. 

I don’t read much science fiction, but the little exposure I’ve had makes me feel sure there are many people thinking about this.  I’ve come across sites that convert cycles from the point of view of other planets to the cycles we experience on Earth, and if I remember correctly I read a story years ago that took place on the planet Uranus which included one or more of its moons in the plot.  I expect as we become more intimate with our solar system people will give more consideration to how time passes on various animals in this little Milky Way merry go round; but wherever humans migrate, according to the current story, we evolved on Earth, so it is Earth's cycles that have shaped us.

Janis Joplin

Janis’ Moon in Cancer was almost across from the Sun at the end of Capricorn.  Sun in last duad (twelfth) of Capricorn is an inspired organizer.  Ms. Joplin’s Moon in the 6^th house of that late Capricorn Sun was an apprentice to her organizing spirit (Sun is usually translated as spirit or ego).  Earth had passed through the closest point with Jupiter for the year by the time she was born, so the Sun was in a position of equality with the nurturing philosopher.  That meant the inspired organizer had an equal say with the exalted nurturing philosopher.  Exalted nurturing philosopher refers to Jupiter being exalted in Cancer.

Mars in Sagittarius was disposited by Jupiter.  Jupiter exalted in Cancer was in a position to receive praise, but that’s not the same as having power.  BUT, since Jupiter in Cancer is disposited by the Moon, and there was the Moon in Cancer coming to its monthly fate with Jupiter, the Moon (translated as soul) is the ruler of her chart.

Van posted the comment about Janis’ chart (Jan 18, 2015) during a period when Mercury and Venus are in a very similar position to the one they hold in her chart.  Mercury is exalted in Aquarius.  Mercury is usually translated as mind or intellect.  Location of Mercury is associated with style of processing perceptions.  Today Mercury is almost standing still, about to go retrograde, it is just ‘backing off’ from a meeting with kind Venus occurring in the sign Aquarius.  Janis was born a few days after Mercury turned retro.  These periods of Mercury slowing down in Aquarius are associated with clear minded focus, unclouded by emotion or past experiences.  That clear focus was still allied with the planet of kindness even though they were both in a sign of cool headed rationalism.

I hope someone will add observations about Ms. Joplin’s chart.  I have copied it to paper and it is going up on my wall of charts.

Here is a chart showing Mercury slowing down near Venus yesterday. 

 And a snippet from the ephemeris showing Mercury slowing down from day to day.

Thanks to Van for mentioning Janis' birthday!  Now I will have Janis Joplin’s chart on my wall near the ones for Keith Richards and Patti Smith!