 Malvin Artley has been a practising astrologer for more than 10 years. He is an
accredited member of the American Federation of Astrologers.
Malvin is the author of Bodies of Fire: An Exploration of the Lesser Chakra System. He has authored numerous articles and was a member of the faculty of the University of the Seven Rays, a non-profit organization dedicated to the teaching of the Trans-Himalayan tradition as expressed through the books of Alice Bailey, Helena Blavatsky and others.
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 are the human subtle energy system and all
the chakras, or energy centres, physics and technology, astronomy and all
aspects of Chinese occultism. He has done extensive work with Chinese
astrology and the cycles they use and seeks to synthesize the great
Western and Oriental systems on such matters.
Malvin lives in Adelaide, South Australia. He also works in the engineering trades and sends out periodic emails about astrological happenings and developments. Click here to subscribe to Malvin's periodic letters.
|
|
Sagittarius' Moon [part two]:
Sagittarius Solar Festival
Subtle Meanings of the Full Moon in Gemini 2005
Malvin Artley concludes here his exploration of the esoteric meanings of the Full Moon in Gemini for 2005. He observes that the Sagittarian Festival is a time for renewal and that the tests of this period, when aspects are grim, is one of timing and presentation. Big things are coming for those who are willing to expand their thinking and change their minds. This is always the promise of Sagittarius. The rewards in life are awarded to those who dare and strive to achieve.
It is of interest to note that the solar period of Sagittarius is one of the most heavily-traveled times of the year. Sagittarians are renowned for their exploits and love of travel. With the Thanksgiving holiday in the US and the start of the Christmas shopping season in the West, people are on the move. For many folks, the goal that is sensed for the immediate future is what they will be buying other people for Christmas. Well, I guess we could say that the search for that elusive Christmas gift is a noble goal that takes us outside of ourselves for a brief time every year and which does evidence a Sagittarian ideal – that of struggling along the way for the benefit of others. Those crowds in the malls can be a formidable obstacle to overcome. Still, it is our ability to love and to give along the way that counts, not what we get for ourselves in the process.
Inner Sense of Renewal
What we are given every year during the Sagittarian period is an inner sense of renewal and a reorientation toward some higher objective. Sagittarius is the sign most associated with philosophy, after all. In our struggles throughout life we learn to be philosophical about things. It gives us a mechanism for explaining what would otherwise seem a strange sort of dance through reality. Sagittarians know all-too-well that without a good goal there is no reason to live. It would be better to plant oneself in front of the television and become a couch potato, languishing in the Avitchi of reruns of Green Acres and late-night info-mercials, for example, than to live with no direction or purpose. Whether the goal is material or ethereal, it is rare to find a Sagittarian that is not 'out there' trying to achieve something. You have to hand it to them. At least the Sagittarian will get up and make a concerted effort to better situations, or themselves. So, we have come through a difficult patch this year. What will our next steps be? Where will the coming months lead us? That is always the burning internal question on everyone's mind during the lead-up to the Christmas holidays, is it not?
I may seem a little cynical with the preceding remarks, but I do it to purpose and with my tongue firmly in cheek. I do so, too, because we need to take stock of things now and see what in our lives has value, what it is we need for the times ahead and, more importantly, what we need to leave behind. 2005 has not been an easy year. It has been full of calamities and upheaval. More importantly, it has been a particularly difficult year psychically for many folks. I will talk more about that with the New Year letters, Western and Chinese. This has been a year that has particularly seen the fallout from the Saturn/Chiron opposition that was with us for some months, and which brought so much poignancy with it. That same aspect will be back with us in the first half of 2006. I say all this because the coming full moon will be harder still than the Scorpio full moon and will bring many more major separations and 'psychic explosions' with it, all in the lead-up to 2006. Oddly, 2006 will not be as difficult on the inner planes as was 2005, and we have seen some moderating influences grace us with some relief from what would otherwise have been a most distressing year for the human family.
Planetary Dynamics
With that, let us have a look at the dynamics for the full-moon figure of December 2005. This full moon will take place at 3:16 AM AEDT on the 16th of December (4:16 PM GMT on the 15th). As I said before, this will be a particularly difficult full moon. The reason for that lies in a triangle formed by the Mars/Saturn square mentioned previously which is also sesquisquare on both ends to Pluto. This triangle is bisected by the axis of the full moon, with Pluto conjoined by the Sun and the Moon in semisquare to both Mars and Saturn. Saturn is retrograde on top of that, meaning that the normally structuring energies of Saturn do not work as well in the outer world. This is a full moon that will see many endings and things falling into disarray. By analogy, we could say that the pressure cooker has been going full bore while Mars was retrograde, and all of a sudden the lid has blown off. Tempers are flaring and there have been strange fires. Pluto is seeing to it that the frustrating energy of the base square is released, but it usually does so through cathartic means.
The symbol for the solar degree says a lot about the primary energy of the figure, and it reads thus:
A bluebird perched on the gate of a cottage. — 24 Sagittarius
This is supposed to be a very joyful degree. The way it feels at the moment, however, someone has shot 'the Bluebird of Happiness'. There seems to be little Christmas cheer this year. Yet, the melee that we feel going on around and inside us is illusory, the product of years of conditioning that is coming unglued, the safety of our defense mechanisms coming undone. That is exactly what the triangle just-described is doing for us. Nothing feels sacred or safe any more. Life feels ominous to many and ill-defined, especially if we watch too much television. There is an old song by an Aussie band – Skyhooks – called “Horror Movie” in which they sing about the TV news every night. “Horror movie right there on my TV........Horror movie, it's the 6:30 news.” That is the steady evening fare with which we feed our psyches every day. However, where all this is leading us to is a very good place, indeed. Remembering that one of the key notes for Sagittarius is freedom, what greater freedom can there be than to be rid of the heavy burden of psychic detritus that has weighed us down for years?
The issues about which we are being made aware are symbolized for us in the symbol for the lunar degree, which reads thus:
Children skating over a frozen village pond. — 24 Gemini
Dane Rhudyar interprets this symbol to mean 'triumph over entropy'. “Issues”, as we understand the term in the New Age vernacular, refer to static modes of thinking – psychic tapes that play over and over in our mind and desires, and which keep us stuck and programmed into what are often negative and restricting patterns of thought. Most people would throw in the fact that we might all be skating on thin ice with this one. Our defense mechanisms (which is what an 'issue' actually is) are most often a veneer, the façade that we present to others instead of the real, inner person. What this actually points to, however, is our need and ability to be able to glide over our difficulties and to find the joy in what is otherwise a frozen situation – a psychic impasse. In the symbol the children are actually skating. They have not fallen into the freezing water below. They are, in fact, enjoying themselves in the beauty of the winter scenery, and they are employing a mode of transport not ordinarily used over water. The implication here is to use the imagination to somehow get beyond the perceived iciness in which we find ourselves – if indeed we are in such a state – and to move with more grace in situations than we would ordinarily call upon. Then, maybe, we may actually find that the Bluebird of Happiness was only momentarily absent.
Are We Having Fun Yet...?
In addition, we find two t-squares, one with Saturn at the apex (Mars and Jupiter forming the defining opposition) and the other with Jupiter at the apex (Saturn and Neptune forming the opposition). As if this weren't enough, there is what is called a 'hard rectangle' formed by the Sun, Moon (in opposition), Mars and Jupiter (also in opposition). And... these three configurations are all interlinked. Again, I ask you: Are we having fun yet?
The Saturn-apex t-square is a frustrating one, with Saturn constantly throwing a wet blanket over the otherwise over-exuberant and overly optimistic expression of the Mars/Jupiter opposition. It feels as though there is never any let-up and there is constantly some thorn among the roses we encounter in life, however sweet. The Jupiter apex t-square is a bit of an odd-bod, as we say here. The Saturn/Neptune opposition has been with us for some time, as you know, and it is pointing to a reorganization of our belief structures, which has been steadily going on for most of 2005. Jupiter at the apex accelerates it all, but it is not a helpful dynamic. It causes people to act on things out of timing and takes away the vision that would normally come from a Jupiter/Neptune square. In effect, issues get clouded with such a t-square. The hard rectangle points to conditions that will force a greater application toward the resolution of difficulties than would otherwise be the case, especially since Mars and Jupiter are involved. On the other hand, it could really aggravate things and cause people to act inappropriately, giving further credence to the warning for the Year of the Rooster Crowing at Noon: Act only in right timing and with good presentation. 2005 could very well go out with a roar. On the whole, this is a very tense figure.
There is only one planetary trine in the chart, the other two trines being to the Moon's Nodes. That trine is between Jupiter and Uranus, giving great breadth, scope and humanitarian appeal to all efforts. It adds to any creative power, with which this chart is greatly endowed. If this chart is rightly used, the potential for creative work is enormous. In fact, that is the most positive expression of this figure. In the outer world, though, this chart will give rise to conflicts of all sorts, as well as calamities. When the dust has settled and the issues have been seen in the cold light of truth and reason, happiness will eventually reign, and it will be due in large part to the energies that have been brought forward by this and the previous full moons. The Gardeners of our Spirit are working overtime these days, and there is a great mound of weeds that is being pulled out all over. Take heart, because the year to come will be easier in many ways, and that happiness will have its roots in the very turmoil we are seeing now.
There were over 20,000 riders in the procession that day, which is not a bad effort. It was like a long, roaring serpent of tinsel, machines and people stretched all the way from the sea to the hills, disappearing in the midday sun. And people loved it! It was particularly poignant for me, though, because it brought back a memory and underscored the tone of the recent weeks. Last year in the Sagittarius letter I wrote of going to see my Aunt Mary at Thanksgiving holidays every year when I was a kid. You see, she was a bikie in her youth, and that is how she and my uncle met. It is still difficult for me to imagine a tiny, five-foot-tall woman riding a full-sized motorcycle in her 20s by herself, but she did. And, she was also a Saggie. She passed over on Thanksgiving Day this year, and it was also her 83rd birthday. She lived a good life, gave a lot to her community and was loved by a lot of people. She was also fiercely independent and ruled the roost while my uncle was alive, and in a time when that sort of behavior was unheard of. In the end, she was an exemplary Sagittarian – high-minded, full of good humor and a lot of accumulated wisdom, always giving, always a touch rebellious – and always difficult to keep up with.
As I watched the last bikers disappear over the hills, I thought of her and how much she would have loved to be a part of the proceedings. Thanksgivings will never be the same for me, and it felt like the end of an era. She achieved many of her goals this life, and now a new journey stretches out before her. She is free now, as well, and I can only imagine the joy she must be feeling now that she is no longer encumbered by her frail little body.
Many of us are finding ourselves on new journeys now. Some people who have been with us for many years are leaving, others stick around, but situations simply cannot remain the same. Many eras for people are ending, but that is a good thing as life unfolds. It is pointless to live in nostalgia. There are big things coming for those who are willing to expand their thinking and change their minds. This is always the promise of Sagittarius. The rewards in life are awarded to those who dare and strive to achieve. In the coming years let us all set our goals high and live as though there is no other purpose than to attain them. Maybe then, at the end of our sojourn here, we can then look back on our lives and say to ourselves, “Yes, I lived and loved a good life. There is good purpose to all the struggle we go through!”
I reckon there are motorbikes in heaven. Have a safe and joyous holiday season.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Malvin.
13 Dec 2005
In Memoriam:
Mary Artley Bowen
1922-2005
Here Endeth the Lesson...
Read part one of The Sagittarius Solar Festival
 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.
|
|
| Forum | Postcards | Glossary | Links | Site Map
