By Esther Frances
We have the infamous cardinal square still with us, this time exaggerated by the transiting Venus at 17 Cancer and the transiting Moon that travels from 11 Libra at dawn til 17 Libra at 6pm PDT. These two more rapidly moving bodies square Uranus at 17 Aries and Pluto at 12 Capricorn retrograde.
To translate: We are at another turning point. We see Venus in Cancer, symbolizing love of Mother, child and family, challenged by Pluto in Capricorn, the symbol of death and rebirth in the sign of the Father, hierarchy, and established organization.
In healthy indigenous society this would look like the men being protectors of the women and children. In our contemporary world it is often the abuse of power, by those with the most of it, running amuck and threatening the safety and sanctity of women, children, the family and Mother Earth Herself.
How the planets play out is always a matter of the development of consciousness. As physical DNA is determined by the environment surrounding it, the astrological cosmic DNA is dependent on the level of the awareness of the person or event with the coding.
The question of identity is up for consideration. Do we see ourselves as sacred, as a human species, as members of a country, as a gender, a species, an Earthian/Gaian, or the Universe? The larger identities are inclusive. If we identity only with country, family, ethnic group, religion or gender are identity is exclusive. We see struggles occurring all over the planet involving primary identification with parts of the whole rather than wholes who are playing a part.
If we were to shift to a viewpoint that sees all Life as sacred, all bodies as sacred, and all humans as sacred, we would see many problems shift and resolve themselves, moving us from conflict to cooperation.
The “this is me and this isn’t” based on nationalism, ethnic background or theology creates separation and a vying for survival and dominance. Children and women are more vulnerable when power is defined as the power to destroy, harm or dominate rather that the power of wisdom, care and compassion.
Uranus retrograde in Aries and The Moon in Libra are in opposite position from each other, also at 17 degrees, creating the awareness of the need for new solutions and justice to replace the chaos and inequality that are prevailing in so many places and situations.
Each of these pairs “square each other” making the cardinal cross that begs for action to resolve the tension. In the August 1st chart there is a clear avenue to ease this configuration and it is centered on the planet Venus, at 17 Cancer, as it makes a harmonic trine with Saturn at 17 Scorpio and Chiron at 17 Pisces retrograde. This grand trine in water is calling out for compassion, empathy, transformation, and healing. It indicates that this is the path to stability.
The words of masters such as the Divine Mothers Ammaji and Sri Karunamayi, H.H. the Dalai Lama, Jesus, Buddha, Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr. and countless other mothers, children, nurses, teachers, peace advocates, and providers of pure, unadulterated food proclaim that care and kindness for all is the only way triumph over suffering. We escape from madness and insanity when we are able to see beyond our differences. Our potential to recognize that all Life is interdependent can be our saving grace.
We can leave behind the limited identities that cause the illusion of the other and embrace our fundamental unity. As Mahatma Ghandi so accurately stated it, “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.” Kindness and the Golden Rule implore us not to inflict more of what we experience as terrible on those whose actions we experience as terrible.
Venus in Cancer also points to the prominence of the Moon in this equation. The need for balance, justice, and equality are underscored because the Moon is in Libra. We have what we call a “mutual reception” since the planet associated with Cancer, the Moon is in the sign of Libra and the planet assigned “rulership” of Libra, Venus, is in the sign of Cancer. It is as if one has an ocean side home and the other a mountain retreat and they invite each other to each other’s abodes. There is an openness and mutuality that also speaks to the primacy of each one’s perspective. Both Venus and the Moon, together, provide the way out of the tension that is created by the need for a new direction to shift us into a new season of being and behavior. The keys for resolution are Venus and the Moon with their primary archetypes that are women and love, beauty, art, fertility, family, feeling, nurturing, children, and the unconscious.
On a personal level, whatever tensions you are experiencing are not to be resolved by more of the same conflicts, but rather by bringing in the cleansing power of water to allow feelings, caring and compassion to trump the need to be right or defend patterns that no longer serve your greater well being. Water is in the headlines: in Detroit, in areas of drought, in the response to fires out of control, and in the recognition that without water there is no life as we know it.
Water is a great shape-shifter, intelligent and capable of taking many forms from the most subtle to the most dramatic. Water that can slip through your hand can become as hard as a rock in its incarnation as ice.
Why do we regard the female elements of water and earth as inferior to the male fire and air? What needs to happen to bring a healthy, dynamic balance to Life here on Earth?
In our world we see attacks with missiles that are weapons of fire. Guns are fired, people are fired, forests are burned down, bombs that burn and destroy are regarded as essential. People who make any kind of fire arms make money from making instruments whose purpose is to kill. Defense has become offensive and the vocations specializing in destruction or rebuilding after destruction make a fortune.
The medical industry attacks disease with chemicals that destroy and burn without asking why they appear or if they have a message to deliver. The collective response to an unwanted situation is to wage war against it to destroy whatever is considered to be undesirable, be it a people or a disease. Our planet is becoming fast-food fried and Mother Earth’s fever is responding to distress!
Family farms, food makers and preparers, whether farming or cooking, (Cancer/ Taurus/ Virgo) are not respected for the contribution they make. Our least paid people are those that nurture bodies and souls, build, craft, take care of children or educate in a practical manner. Respect and regard for mothers, children or any profession that has as its aim care, is not given the pay or regard that the professions that manage or control communication and thought. (air) Gardeners, nannies, teachers, growers, pickers, carpenters, and those that do physical work or heal by touch are not acknowledged for the value they supply!
If we were to give these vocations and the people who practice them the respect they deserve we would have far more equality, a more viable economy and a saner more peaceful world.
Back to some other important astrological aspects. We have a 9 Leo Sun, a 2 Leo Mercury and a 3 Leo Jupiter squaring Mars at 4 Scorpio and making a quincunx, (150 aspect) with Neptune/Chiron in Pisces and Pluto in Capricorn. This gives the Leo energy a prominence in the chart. The Leo trio at its best is about children, creativity, play, sports and following our bliss and what we love. Its fixed fire can signify leadership, outstanding actors, sports heros, and performance artists in all categories. We could say its cosmic archetype is celebration. Wherever this exists in your chart, it gives opportunity to expand and increase these qualities.
As a star the Sun teaches us a lot about love. It shines its lifeforce everywhere, blessing everything and everyone in its radiance. The Sun never skips over anyone! The Sun is also a star and as such Leo loves its galactic group and dances to and for the whole.
Less evolved Leos can display leadership as dictatorial, elitism and abuse of authority. The Sun corresponds to the heart and the spine in the body. In an astrological chart it shows us what we need to keep centered on. It can be the King that serves the people or the despot that lets its drive for power override concern for the commonweath.
Image Credit: Wikipedia
Leo, in its early August position, puts the spotlight on how Leo, the archetype, is being expressed. Is it expressing as a transformative energy, bringing healing and integration through its joy or is it a cause for death, repression, power over and sacrifice? It is the degree of awareness, awakening and heart that determine how this energy comes into the world.
We can take the role of feeling ourselves to be impotent in the wake of the world events or we can commit with ever more resolve to “be the change we are waiting for.” We can connect the dots, dare to examine what we are told is true, and allow our hearts to be suns of unconditional love.
The Leo contingent can be an invitation to find your voice, speak from your heart, and take a stand for all that you love. Dare to expand your capacity to bring love into the world. Dare to be joyful, to follow your bliss as a joyful Bodhivattva, in service to the whole, to Life and knowing that you will not help anyone by sinking into the quicksand of despair, indifference and defeat. Dare to let Great Spirit shine through your heart and be the love and compassion that is needed in this world by affirming enough conflict and suffering. Our souls yearn for new possibilities and peace.
As the lyrics to my song “Now Is The Time” say:
Rise up, rejoice and see
Why we are here on this Earth right now
How we are here on this Earth right now
Take forth your power & joy
Share with each and every one
A new vision &
Dance in the Sun of waking awareness, Sun of joy (2x’s)Now is the time to manifest (3 times)
Our dreams of peace
Our dreams of Love
Our dreams of joy Now Now Now!© Esther Frances 9/13/1993 (song)
© Esther Frances 7/28/2014 (blog)
