Sagittarius & Capricorn Festivals:
The End of Year 2007
Subtle Meanings of the Astrological Aspects at the end of 2007
Sagittarius Solar Festival | Sagittarius New Moon | Planetary Themes | Capricorn Solar Festival Malvin Artley, our regular esoteric commentator returns once more to examine the subtle meaning of the Lunations for Sagittarius and Capricorn, the astrological forces most active at the end of the year 2007. This is a time of massive transformation in the world and Malvin picks our way through the unfolding transformation. Happy Holidays, Everyone! I did my civic duty the other day and cast my vote in the Australian elections. It was a fateful day in many respects. Uranus had just turned direct after the 5 months in its retrograde period. I have to tell you, people were ready for change, as the election outcome indicated. The past five months have been a very frustrating time for many and a 12-year period is being brought to its conclusion in grand fashion. There will be resounding effects from last weekend in the months to come, both on the world stage and in many people's lives. I had just finished voting Saturday and was on my way to get some lunch, when the sound of bagpipes in the distance caught my ear. It is not a sound one hears every day, but it has a way of drawing one towards it. I followed the sound and finally found its source in one of the local watering spots. As it turns out, the music was coming from the Adelaide Irish Pipe Band – and a fine show it was, too! I stood there for the longest time and listened to them until my stomach got the better of me and I made my way to lunch. There is not much to compare with about 20 bagpipes all playing at the same time in a small room, along with the accompanying field drums and bass drums. It was not an organized event. They were all having an impromptu gathering after playing a show and were just having a good time, along with the requisite ales. They were playing requests and whatever took their fancy. There were a few solo numbers, a few forays into untried jigs, a bit of highland dancing and even a drum solo. I enjoyed the informality of it and the joy the music brought to the faces of everyone there. The music was mighty fine, as we say in the southern US, but that is not what really grabbed me about the event. What struck me was what happened after I had been there for a while. Between the wall of sound made by that many bagpipes, the crackling repartee of the field drums and the pulsing bass drums, one is quickly taken away from the world that had engaged the mind a few minutes before. A retinue of history began to file before my mind's eye. I began to see armies marching into battle, grand state celebrations, funerals and weddings, a lone young Scottish woman dancing (this one particularly struck me because of familial connections) – it was like I was remembering, yet it all seemed so much in the present. Art, and particularly music, can have that effect upon a person. Perhaps it is the strong Anglo/Celtic strain that runs through my bloodline. Perhaps it is simply the ability of music like that to rouse and inspire a person. Whatever the reason, I found myself entranced with it. I did not think about it until later, but at the moment I was listening to that band, Uranus had just turned direct. I had seen other things that morning, too that I could have taken as signs of things to come. I will have to see what comes of those, but at that time I knew that the election, at least, was going to have a strong twist to it – as it did – and that the full moon of Saturday and the ones to come over the next few months were and are going to bring sweeping changes with them. More on this latter observation in a bit. Before I get into the body of this letter, though, to all readers of Anglo/Celtic descent-or to those readers who have 'pipe music' in their heritage – next time you hear the pipes playing, take some time and see where it takes you. There is something about it that stirs the depths of one's psyche. This will be my final letter of the year to you. Thanksgiving has just passed and inaugurated the Christmas season. The US has just had its biggest shopping day of the year. The Macy's Day parade has come and gone and we are all beginning to enter into the period of spiritual retreat for the year (the Sagittarius/Capricorn interlude), not that Macy's and the spiritual interlude are related. There are several points that need to be covered in this letter. Firstly, a 12-year cycle has just ended and a new one about to commence. There are four significant retrograde periods that bear some examination and there are three full moon periods, especially, that are going to bring potent energies into lives of this planet. We will start with the 12-year cycle. Sagittarius Solar FestivalThe Sagittarius solar festival (full moon of 24th Nov.) was the culmination of the Month of the White [Metal] Pig, the final of the 12 lunar months of the Chinese year. Since this year is a Pig year as well, we have just had the culmination of the subjective energies for the year in the Sagittarius festival. The Pig, for those unfamiliar with Chinese and Tibetan astrology, is the final animal of the cycle of twelve, whether that cycle relates to days, years, etc. The Pig, therefore, is about finishing, endings and making way for beginnings. 'Double Pigs' are a big statement to the collective psyche – wrap things up and move on. That is exactly what happened regarding the Australian electorate and the Howard government.
The Chinese New Year of 2008 marks a period of new starts, being the Year of the Yellow [Earth] Rat (more on that when I do my Chinese letter in the New Year). John Howard took office for the first time in a Fire Rat year (1996). The 'Rat' is the commencement of the Chinese cycle. We know now that the electorate was ready for a change in 1996 as well. The tide has simply turned and the cycles have shown their imprint upon people. What the Rudd years (if they are to be years) will bring is anyone's guess. 2008 looks to be a year of unexpected outcomes. It is of particular interest to note that the Chinese New Year begins on 7 Feb 2008, with a partial solar eclipse and a small stellium conjunct the 15th degree of Aquarius, well-known in mundane astrological circles as a 'disaster degree', with Pluto on an Aries point (0° Capricorn 21) as well in semi-square to the stellium. Hmmm...... Again, we will look at that more with the Chinese New Year letter. The Sagittarius festival occurred during the strongest point of a Moon Wobble, with the Sun/Moon axis within a degree of being square to the Nodes. You have probably noticed that emotional energies have been running high over the past week or so. Uranus was at its direct station and it was the 'witching hour' in much of Australia at the time of the full moon. There was not a single easy aspect to the Sun or Moon in that figure. People who are regular meditators probably noticed, too, that there were many interferences over the preceding week as the Moon Wobble intensified and the outflow from the subconscious was more strongly activated. Anyone with planets or angles in the early degrees of mutable signs would have felt that full moon very strongly, and they will feel the next few as well due to Saturn's influence, all the way into mid-2008. All of those factors combined introduced a potent mix of energies for change and that will stay with us right through the first half of 2008. This should be seen as a positive time, however. Much has needed to change. The eclipse of 7 Feb 2008 is a North Node eclipse, bringing about new starts. For now, though, it is time to have a 'spring clean' for the psyche and prepare for the interlude of the spiritual year (December solstice and Capricorn full moon) in preparation for the high points of the year to come with the Aries, Taurus and Gemini festivals of 2008. Sagittarius New MoonThe next new moon takes place on the 10 Dec 2007 at 4:40 AM AEDT and inaugurates the Month of the Mountain [Water] Rat, hopefully bringing 'recovery from misfortune', as described in the dynamics for that figure. The admonition over that month is to take joy in volunteer work and to find contentment with small things. Overall, the underlying message for that lunar month is to give of one's self and to take time 'catch one's breath', as it were – an appropriate message for the Christmas season. The same dynamic is carried through into the following lunar month (the Month of the Ox By the Gate [Water]), commencing on Jan 8th. So, we have two lunar months indicating a 'period of recovery'. Further, the 'Ox' Month speaks of taking time to observe, listen and not give advice unless it is requested. On this theme of recovery, though, we may well ask, “Recovery from what?” I would simply ask, has the past year or two been easy for you? The clues for the answer to those questions lay in the conclusion of the twelve year cycle, the long-running interplay between Saturn and Chiron (which will continue off and on via declinations until mid-2009), the conclusion of certain sub-plots (karmic, of course) that have been playing out since the end of 2005 – and I have heard from many of you about those over the past two years – and the most recent direct and retrograde motions of certain planets, most notably Mars, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. It is this latter theme which we will examine now. Each planet will be taken in its turn. In part two of this article Malvin discusses the planetary themes at this time of transition.
 Now read part two of The Sagittarius & Capricorn Festivals at the end of 2007. |  Malvin Artley is an accredited member of the American Federation of Astrologers. His primary focus over the past 25 years has been on the sciences as they express occultism and with bridging work between the two. His special interests in those fields are the human subtle energy system and all the chakras, or energy centres, physics and technology, astronomy and all aspects of Chinese occultism.
He sends out periodic emails about astrological happenings and developments. These letters are sent out as a gift and a service. If you wish to be added to or deleted from the mailing list please let me know. If you feel inspired to pass them on please do so, but do so without alteration or charge. They are sent to people of many persuasions, not just astrologers. Blessings. Click here to subscribe to Malvin's periodic letters. |
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