Chiron matters, or why the painkillers don't work

And so it was that Ninth, on a tender spring night, sat musing on his natal Chiron in Aries.

The one mashed up against his birth Venus, also in Aries, the two of them trapped in the depths of the Eighth House. Opposite Libra Pluto in the Second.

Ninth reflected that the ache from his wound-that-did-not-heal had led to some surprising results, thus far.

Especially given the endless efforts since childhood to soothe it.

There had been a certain amount of wisdom gleaned from the study of various philosophies or cosmological systems, with which to address similar pains of others.

There had been a measure of cultivation of resilience and patience with regards woundings to identity, selfhood and intimacy.

There had been lessons learned from less-than-joyous encounters with significant others - an understanding of personal boundaries and an eventual acknowledgment of needful self-love, self-acceptance.

There had been a growing awareness that aggression and ego-driven competition would never be enough to dull the pain.

But mostly there had been the mounting realisation that this injury was not one whose scab would simply drop off when the time was right, leaving behind only the barest cicatrice.

No, it was a hurt that was there to stay, the better to prompt the native to learn to heal others; it was, in fact, never meant to be salved or relieved or made better.

And that simply had to suffice.




The image above was taken from this site.

Could Chile quake have caused the New Age 'Pole Shift'?

Found this posted on Yahoo News just now:

Chile Earthquake May Have Shortened Days on Earth

The massive 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile may have changed the entire Earth's rotation and shortened the length of days on our planet, a NASA scientist said Monday.

The quake, the seventh strongest earthquake in recorded history, hit Chile Saturday and should have shortened the length of an Earth day by 1.26 milliseconds, according to research scientist Richard Gross at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

"Perhaps more impressive is how much the quake shifted Earth's axis," NASA officials said in a Monday update.

The computer model used by Gross and his colleagues to determine the effects of the Chile earthquake effect also found that it should have moved Earth's figure axis by about 3 inches (8 cm or 27 milliarcseconds).

The Earth's figure axis is not the same as its north-south axis, which it spins around once every day at a speed of about 1,000 mph (1,604 kph).

The figure axis is the axis around which the Earth's mass is balanced. It is offset from the Earth's north-south axis by about 33 feet (10 meters).

Could this be read as the long-awaited 'pole shift' that some parts of the New Age community have been anticipating? Pre-cursor to what the doomsayers believe is 2012's Armageddon?

Personally, I think not. But you can read the rest of the post here.

And if you want more detail on the topic to put your minds at rest, go here.



The image above was taken from this site.

The world is not enough, or more on natal Pluto in the Second

Watch out naysayers... I'm coming... I'm on my way... And I will not be stopped...

No adversary, obstacle or negative thinking will stand in my way.

I'm inexorable, I'm relentless and I move with the invincible, merciless confidence of fate.

Ahem.

I know it's a full moon today, but if you don't mind (and even if you do) this eve I'd rather talk about Pluto.

Specifically my natal Pluto in the second house of earned income, values and self-worth, whose energy just seems to be growing exponentially as Saturn in Libra grows ever closer to conjoining it, and I approach the dreaded Pluto square.

Not to mention the ongoing pressure-cooker of the transiting Saturn-Pluto square as well.

Hence, here be my new credo - because I've really slipped into Saturn-Pluto mode. Which means ruthless. And focused. And inclined to get-to-the-point:

I am through with making dribs and drabs of money.

I am through with the belief that I have no value in the world.

I am through with what the New Age community likes to call 'poverty consciousness'.

To quote the title of the 1999 James Bond film: the world is not enough. No, it sure ain't. That's how hungry to succeed I've become.

My birth Pluto has had it with being financially insecure. And when I say 'had it', I mean that literally. It's been humiliated, it's been frustrated, it's been suppressed and it... has... had... it.

So.

One of the goals I've set myself in 2010, with its powerful manifesting energies and the defiant roar of the Chinese zodiac's archetypal Tiger is to find a way to make money that:

is totally transparent and legal

plays to my strengths in innovation, creativity and ease in communication

allows me flexibility of environment and time

powerfully leverages the effort expended to create a decent income

Even though I come from a conservative, reticent-to-take risks country, in which there seems to be no honest avenue of employment open to a jack-of-all-trades oddball like me...

Even though the break-up with my ex triggered a huge crisis in self-esteem and more anguished searching to finally find a way to stand on my own two feet and prosper...

And even though it seems like my life has been a protracted comedy of errors and ill-advised adventures into industries and modes of living that have no 'clout' or 'status' in the eyes of my peers...

...I have always believed that eventually, somehow, I would find a way to make money on my own terms.

And I am convinced that, even as the world continues to struggle to shake off the effects of the global economic downturn, abundance belongs to all, because we live in an abundant universe that longs to lavish us with prosperity.

And I guess when you have natal Pluto in the second (and the moon in Capricorn), there is no other choice but to harness the relentless drive to succeed.

Succeed, as in: tap the abundance that is everyone's birth-right without harming or burdening anyone else.

Succeed, as in: create wealth that allows for dignity and quality of life.

Succeed, as in: actualise the gifts you were born with, to acquire freedom with security.

When I was younger, I was never bothered by the thought that my money-making prospects were slim to none, given the artistically-inclined, try-it-and-see path I had chosen. Money, itself, meant even less.

But the birth chart, the universe's elegant timepiece, ticking away till the natal energies are activated at the right moment, had always pointed to a lifetime in which, eventually, there would come a great hunger to amass wealth.

So with my natal Pluto opposing natal Venus in the eighth, with both squaring natal Saturn in the 11th, it was always, ultimately, going to lead up to making a crucial choice:

Was I going to be poor or was I going to be rich?

I choose to be rich. And I vow that as the doors of abundance open to me, I will do all in my power to help others - especially those traditionally consigned to 'struggle' - artists, healers, freelancers - to self-actualise in the same way.

Right now, I'm researching a business possibility that looks very viable, even though I'd have to use up most of my savings to kick-start it. Will I take the plunge? More and more, I feel in my heart that I probably will.

Rest assured, you will be the first to know if it turns out to be a successful venture. Downturn or not, if I can turn my finances around, I'm definitely going to give you the information to be able to do it for yourselves, too.

Meanwhile, as the Virgo full moon (which falls in my first house) opposes the Sun-Jupe conjunction in Pisces in my seventh - meticulous drive facing off with the creative potential of high-minded, idealistic partnership - I leave you with two posts on this lunation.

The first from the blog of Elsa Panizzon; the second from the blog of Lynn Hayes. Enjoy.

Sixth house in Aquarius, or hurry up and wait

I'm not sure which of you out there are still reading. I keep disappearing, so I don't blame anyone if you think I'm the most erratic blogger on the planet :)

As I mentioned to Funkstar, who was kind enough to enquire after me (and nominate me for a Kreativ Blogger Award) given my absence - my life has been taken over by various mundane, yet time-consuming efforts to make changes.

Namely, hunting for and eventually investing in a second-hand car, dealing with the various mechanical and legal requirements arising from that transaction, dealing with a malfunctioning computer (my lifeline!), while preparing to move into a new apartment with a friend from work.

This is actually pretty stressful for me, I must say, though that is profoundly embarrassing to admit. Fact is, familiarity, ritual and routine are very important for me (Virgo rising, tenanted sixth), yet our culture sneers at such preferences in men.

We're all supposed to be adventurous he-men, swinging virile-ly like Tarzan from one tree-top to the next, always in control, always mastering any crisis, always hungry for new conquests or territory on which to leave our mark.

Well, that's not exactly me.

However, my real point (hence the title of this post) is that I have a naturally erratic rhythm, even though I endeavour to over-compensate by being overly organised.

I'm built to be constantly in motion and doing things, but that doesn't mean I'll do needful things in the order they're meant to be done, or even have consistent access to my 'doing'-ness.

I often need the adrenaline rush of last minute stringency to kick me into action. I'm so envious of the patient, step-by-step ability to plod and accomplish of, say, Taureans!

Of course, this causes my meticulous Virgo ascendant no end of frustration.

But even my Cappie Moon can only go so far in remedying the situation... I may have the calculating ambition of the sign (read about my dark side here), but this Moon is in the last degree of the Sea Goat, and practically in Aquarius, the air sign famous for its abrupt shifts, reversals and mysterious inertia.

Which brings me to my sixth house in Aquarius.

I have Mars and Mercury in that house, both in Aquarius, and Mars actually conjoins my Moon, both squared by Uranus, the modern ruler of Aquarius.

Western astrologers usually look to the sixth house to discover the state of a client's health (or lack thereof), his/her work colleagues, pets and generally the people they meet when going about their day - florists, grocers, tobacconists, dentists, cobblers and so forth.

But ultimately, this house is about how we 'operate' on the day-to-day level. Or, as Dana Gerhardt puts it, in her excellent series on the astrological houses over at Astrodienst:

"The 6th refers to daily time and how we spend it."

Most of the time, I am 'humming' with energy, which I expend either via the internet, furiously working out (when I can afford the gym) or zipping along sidewalks from task to task.There's a reason I walk a lot, despite having access to wheels!

Aquarius Mercury in the sixth needs constant connection with and to collective data - hence my enormous need to be online, and the several books, manuals, audio classes or podcasts I'll be reading or listening to at any given time.

Aquarius Mars in the sixth needs to get anything boring or mundane over in a flash. Preferably by taking a radical approach and/or missing out 'logical' steps in the process.

Put these two planets together and the actual timing of any of my actions is unpredictable, erratic. This is only amplified by that Mars-Uranus square.

I love to plan and construct ideal schedules or timetables in my mind, from the breakdown of a day, a week, a month all the way to my broader lifespan. But the timing is almost completely out of my control. And consistency isn't, to my chagrin, one of my fortes.

The tension of my 'holding back' until the adrenaline builds to the appropriate level, is enormous. Meanwhile, I'm constantly antsy, often anxious. I'm the guy who taps his foot inadvertently or needs to be twirling pens in his fingers while thinking.

Moving, moving, moving... but not always in motion. What I'm essentially doing is furiously treading water until the adrenaline kicks in and I can really 'swim' or commit to a direction.

Hence the stop-start nature of this blog :)

Interestingly enough, Gerhardt also mentions that Dane Rudhyar looked to the sixth house to see how we resolve crises. In which, case, the universe has me singled out for leaping into the saddle only when my pants are on fire.

Aquarius, like all air signs, likes to keep its options open and is loath to choose one thing over another. As a fixed sign, it also has its own inertia to overcome.

But boy, when it gets going, like a lightning flash it goes. And of course, inertia works the other way, too... once started, it just can't stop!





The image above was taken from this site.