Santa Cruz Good Times

The planet of communication (Mercury) and the planet of structure and discipline (Saturn) entered Scorpio, sign of Discipleship and the Nine Tests, last Friday. They slipped out of Libra (did we choose the path of the past or the unknown future we must create?) and quietly entered the dark discipleship waters of Scorpio. Saturn remains in Scorpio for 2=plus years (until 2015). 

Thursday, St. Francis of Assisi feast day, Jupiter (the planet at the heart of the Aquarian Age) turns stationary retrograde (16.23 degrees Gemini). Jupiter signifies good fortune, faith, abundance, expansion, luck, optimism, speculation and seeing life philosophically. 

We are in Libra now, the sign of creating Right Relations with our world and all we encounter. Libra is also the sign of balance. We oscillate between two opposing points until a balance is achieved. In Libra, we make a serious, spiritual life choice. Do we return to previous realities or move forward into the new, eventually into Scorpio, sign of the Nine Tests, of death, regeneration, warriorship, discipleship and triumph? During Libra’s interlude we assess the two paths ahead. We understand Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken”: Two roads diverged in a yellow wood. And sorry I could not travel both. And be one traveler. Long I stood. And looked down one as far as I could, To where it bent in the undergrowth. Then took the other, just as fair. And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear. 

As Archangel Michael, the great protector, assumes protection of the Earth, the Sun enters Libra (autumn equinox) and autumn in northern latitudes begins. We are in the midst of the dark half of the year, leading to winter solstice. Libra is the sign of Right Relationships created through intentions for goodwill, the equation that leads to peace. On Friday, inaugurating Libra and the autumn season, the International Day of Peace (IDP), with a Sag Moon (justice, fairness, honesty, integrity), is celebrated. 

We have a busy and complex week. Friday, at the UN, the first General Assembly Forum on the Culture of Peace is convened. See Peace building tools and events—cultureofpeace.org/news/417-cpiforumatun. Saturday is the Virgo new moon (24 degrees). On the United States’ Neptune, it calls the United States to its spiritual task—to stand within and lead humanity toward that Light. 

In every astrology chart (individual, country, nation, event, etc.) there are two symbols (mathematical points signifying the relationship between the Sun, Moon and Earth) that look like headphones. These are the lunar or Moon’s North and South nodes or in Vedic astrology, the Dragon’s Head (Rahu) and Tail (Ketu).  The North node signifies the present/future dharma and the South node past abilities, people we knew and responsibilities that need gathering, tending and completing.

During Friday’s full moon, Virgo’s (9 degrees) solar festival, Burning May is in full swing in the Nevada desert. In the sky the nodes of the moon (North and South Nodes) change signs. The north node (our present/future dharma) shifts into Scorpio, and the South node (past which needs tending, completing, the Dweller on the Threshold) enters Taurus. For 18 months we move into a state of reorientation, learning to stabilize ourselves through that reorientation.