Mythic Zodiac

November 2011 Forecast

 The Big News this month is the Arab Spring and the Occupy Wall Street protests. 

The official start of the Arab Spring was Saturday December 18, 2010 after a young street vendor in Tunisia set himself on fire the day before, and died of his injuries on January 4 2011. The Arab Spring is still ongoing today.  I see eclipses as triggers to these types of longer cycles. 

Back in December 2010, I wrote about the importance of the eclipse of Dec 21, 2010 at 29 Gemini.  As I wrote --This eclipse was powerful because it fell on the winter solstice, but also because Uranus and Jupiter was in a square configuration to this eclipse suggesting something completely out of the blue will come up. Also, this eclipse was in a trine to Neptune, which is a time when we will feel very idealistic. This eclipse took place during retrograde Mercury which represents young people. Because it is in the last degree of the sign, it resolves old issues. The end degree of a sign signifies a time of transition. This was a Dragon’s Tail Lunar eclipse.  This is a time of letting go of old emotional habit patterns and letting go of the people and institutions that you have become dependent on.

 The eclipse triggered the Pluto-Uranus square that most astrologers feel is the backdrop of the protests happening in the Middle East and now in our country. The Pluto-Uranus Square will be with us until 2018 or so. 

Jonathan Pearl (Find him on Facebook) sees the Occupy Wall Street activity in terms of the movement of the fixed star Regulus from Leo into Virgo.  Regulus entered Leo in 156 BC. Pealr says the precession of the stars through the sign is a 26,000 year cycle, but the date Solar Fire gives for Regulus into Virgo is 9/16/2011.  Occupy began on 9/17/201. Regulus in Leo has to do with power, kings, dictators, rulers and CEO’s. Moving out of Leo into Virgo means Leo style leadership, domination and rule by might ,is shifting into the sign of service, resourcefulness, technology, skill and duty, It seems that we are all called to a service of some kind for helping shape a better the world.  

Christina at Oxford astrology has collected the best of the astrology posts on Occupy Wall Street here. 

Mercury goes retrograde on the 24^th of November until December 13.  Neptune moves direct on the 9^th. 

Dates to Watch:

Nov 1 – Mercury Square Neptune at 28 Scorpio/Aquarius.  Not a good time to figure out who is lying to who in that squirrelly office you work in.  Everyone is in a fog and you can’t tell who did what to who. You are especially confused if you have any personal planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus or Mars) or the Ascendant at 28 Scorpio/Aquarius. 

Nov 2 – Venus enters Sagittarius until Nov 26. Venus wants to go outside of that solid, committed, smothering relationship you are in right now.  You may be tied at the hip, but it is time to untie.

             Mercury enters Sagittarius until Jan 9, 2012.  Everyone will be talking at the same time, telling stories, exaggerating and promising way more than they can deliver.  Don’t lend money to that cute slick guy you just mett who really wants to buy you a big diamond, but is short on cash. 

Nov 3 – Venus Trine Uranus. – Go to a museum and see beautiful paintings. Friendships unfold pleasantly. 

            Mercury Trine Uranus – You are vivacious and witty, the life of the party.  Also, good for mental work such as writing. 

Nov 7 – Mars Opposite Neptune at 38 Leo/Aquarius.  Put your energy into manifesting a desire. Don’t try to pull a fast one on anyone.  This is the aspect of the Scammer. 

Nov 9 – Neptune Moves Direct.  Neptune is on his way to entering Pisces on February 4, 2012. That is the sign Neptune rules.  Be quiet today and get in touch with what your intuition is telling you to manifest in the coming months. 

Nov 10 – Full Moon at 18 Taurus. This brings the culmination of things started at the New Moon of Oct 26. 

            Mars enters Virgo until July 3, 2012.  All of you Sun in Virgo and Ascendant in Virgo will get your motors running now.  You will wonder where all that energy is coming from.  You won’t be satisfied being a couch potato anymore.  Also, look to the house of your natal chart that contains Virgo, this area of your life will be mighty active during this period.  For the meaning of the houses, see Meaning of Houses 

Nov 16 – Mars Trine Jupiter at 3 degrees of Virgo/Taurus. Put this to good use. Progress is made, go on a trip. 

Nov 20 – Sun Square Neptune at 28-29 Scorpio/Aquarius.  You just feel like kicking back for awhile.  Those of you with personal planets at 28-29 Scorpio/Aquarius/Taurus are so laid back you look comatose. 

Nov 22 – Sun enters Sagittarius.  A good month to expand your life, get out of your rut and meet new people. 

Nov 23 – Sun Trine Uranus. A day for entertainment and fun.  Have a party. 

            Mars Trine Pluto at 5 Virgo/Capricorn.  I know good financial news is hard to come by now, but if you have personal planets or the ascendant at 5 Virgo, Capricorn or Taurus, you may be in for a good day money-wise.

Nov 24 – Thanksgiving Day 

            Mercury turns retrograde.  If you haven’t done so at this time, put off buying Christmas presents until after December 13.  A good time to revise your plans. 

Nov 25 Solar Eclipse at 2 Sagittarius. All of you with personal planets or the ascendant at 2 Sagittarius or Gemini will have a part of your life highlighted at this time.  This Eclipse is conjunct Uranus, so expect the unexpected.  I will write a separate report on this eclipse and the one in Dec this month. 

Nov 26 – Venus Enters Capricorn until Dec 20.  No more fun and games, this guy is serious.  You may talk to some friends at work and you will “do lunch” and discuss who has the biggest salary at work and who will get promoted. Pretty dull stuff. Don’t invite me. 

            Venus Square Uranus.  There is one wack job in your town and you found him.  How do you do that? And why?  You are especially prone to the nutters if you have personal planets at 1 degree of Aries or Capricorn. 

Nov 27 - Venus Trine Jupiter. A much better day to get into a relationship.  This one will be with a lawyer, professor or a foreigner.  Look for 2 degrees of Capricorn or Taurus in your birth chart. 

OUTER PLANET TRANSITS 

JUPITER is in Taurus this month and will stay in Taurus until June 2012. This month Jupiter is retrograde and is moving from 5 to 1 degrees of Taurus.  Now is a time to re-evaluate our belief systems especially if you have the ascendant, Sun or Moon between 5 and 1 degrees of Taurus or Scorpio. This is a time to plan your future in a no-nonsense practical way. 

SATURN is in Libra (structure, foundation, and responsibility) until Oct 2012. This month Saturn is moving from 22 to 26 degrees of Libra.  If you have the Ascendant or any personal planets at 22 or 26 degrees of Libra in your natal chart, you may be in store for some hard lessons around the issues ruled by the planet and the house the planet is in or rules. Libra rules relationships of all kinds and Saturn may ask you to take on more responsibility for how your relationships work. 

URANUS is in Aries and will stay in Aries until 2018.  This month Uranus is retrograde and will stay at 1 degree of Aries. Wanting freedom and a need to make radical changes will be felt by those with the Ascendant, Sun and personal planets at 1 degree of Aries.  I believe in “cooperating with the inevitable”.  If you have Uranus in a challenging aspect to your ascendant or personal planets, go on a long vacation, move, or make some major changes in your life.
 
NEPTUNE (creativity, sensitivity, escapism, dreams) is stationing direct this month and will stay at 28 degrees of Aquarius this month. Neptune will move into Pisces in February 2012 and will stay in Pisces until 2026.  A lack of focus, a sense of drifting or an inability to see a betrayal or disappointment until it's too late can be experienced by those of you with the Sun or Personal Planets at 28 degrees of Aquarius or late Aquarius ascendant types.  For the enlightened out there, Neptune can also bring artistic, musical, creative expression, increased dreams and spiritual insights. 

PLUTO is in Capricorn until 2023.  This month Pluto will move from 5 to 6 degrees of Capricorn. Everyone is feeling the urge to purge and to find his or her truth.  Profound changes will be felt especially by those with Sun, Ascendant or personal planets at 5 or 6 degrees of Capricorn or Cancer. 

Have a great month,

Janet Kane

OBAMA AS PARSIFAL

I read President Obama’s book, Dreams From My Father and especially noted the part about the Muslim half of his family--his half brother, his absent father and his half sister and I thought where have I seen this story before?  And then I heard the inauguration speech where he reached out to the Muslims and I suddenly realized, it was Parsifal in The Fisher King myth and that Obama may be embodying that archetype. 

 I remember Joseph Campbell writing that the defining myth for the west and for our time is the Fisher King myth which is a part of the larger story of the Quest for the Holy Grail. He wrote extensively on the subject and it became an important universal symbol for the psychologist Carl Jung and his wife.   The quest for the grail, which transformed the Middle Ages, was the discovery of the importance of the feminine, the quest for wholeness. This myth is the quest for the restoration of the spiritual life in western man.   Jung said that the grail myth was among the most important myths in western civilization. The Fisher King myth is deeply embedded in our collective unconscious and has endured in our literature and music from Wagner’s Parsifal to T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland to The DaVinci code. This story has also influenced film making from Excalibur to Monty Python’s Holy Grail and the films of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. The Grail is a potent image in our modern psyche and reaches back to pre-history. Let’s review the myth of Parsifal and see how it relates to President Obama’s story.  

The story of the grail as we know it today was part of a group of romances written between 1170 and 1190 by Chretien deTroyes. Historians say that so many of the issues we struggle with today began in the twelfth century. Later, the epic poem Parzival was written by Wolfram von Eschenbach in the middle ages, circa. 1200 to 1210. Von Eschenbach was interested in Islamic cultures and he imagined a world where Christians and Moslems would come together as brothers.  This is the major theme of his poem. This story became obscure until the Romantic period.  Blake and Shelley brought the story back into favor because they felt that puritanism and science had effectively annihilated both the feminine soul and the masculine spirit.  They found the imagery to describe this state in the Wasteland. 

I am giving a short version of the myth of the Holy Grail here and just concentrating on Parsifal and the Grail King, also known as the Fisher King, and leaving out the rest of the story which includes King Arthur and all the knights and their exploits.  The King who held the throne before Parsifal was named Amfortas which means infirmity or he who is without power. He would often boast and was led into reckless confrontations that were not necessary.  He had titled power but it was not legitimately won because he had only inherited and not rightly earned his high office.  The grail kingdom lead by Amfortas was a community built for protection from invasion and intrusion and was held together by loyalty. He had taken on power and authority that he was not able to handle, hence his kingdom withered under his neglect and his kingdom became a wasteland. 

Amfortas only found relief by fishing. That is why he became known as the Fisher King.  Water symbolizes the unconscious and his fishing could mean doing inner work such as working with dreams, meditation, active imagination, drawing, music or poetry.  

The myth says that the healing of the maimed king could only be accomplished by an uncorrupted youth who would merit the crown through his authentic life work and experience.  This is where Parsifal enters the scene. Parsifal’s father experienced exotic and exciting adventures while traveling to foreign lands.  He married a heathen queen, and then returned to the west to marry and father Parsifal.  He returns to the east and when he died he left two widows one of which had a son she named Parsifal. He was raised in a forest far from the court of Amorfas by his mother and grandfather who taught him never to ask questions.  He takes a journey to find his father and then comes to the court and sees the king is wounded and the land is a wasteland; it is spiritually bankrupt.  He is filled with compassion and wants to ask “What ails you, what is wrong with your kingdom?” and then he remembers that he was taught not to ask questions so he did not speak.  He didn’t act in a spontaneous noble way.  

            While he was dining with the Grail king, a procession enters the dining hall made up of a young man bearing a bleeding lance, a young woman carrying a shining grail made of precious materials and a maiden with a carving dish.  Everyone in the court is quiet and there is no explanation for this event.   He wants to ask about this procession and what it means but again he remains silent. Parsifal decides to leave and at that point the king gives him a beautiful sword that is designed to break at a critical moment. 

He continues his journey and meets a Moslem knight on the road and they joust.   Parsifal’s sword breaks, they reconcile and find out that they are brothers. He finds out that he has a half-sister and they talk about their father. Campbell said this represents two sons of the same god, Islam and Christianity reconciling.

He continues his journey and stops and stays with a hermit who tells him that he failed in his task by not asking the right question.  He says “you can never find the castle again; it is part of God’s plan”.   Parsifal says, “yes, I can do it.”  He had tenacity of purpose to change God’s law. 

It takes Parsifal five years to find the castle again and this time he asks the king, “What ails you?” The country is healed and he becomes the grail king and represents the highest spiritual values which are compassion and loyalty. Only by asking appropriate questions and addressing our conflicts do we transform and move from ego-bondage to identification with the creative self.  

The grail is a chalice or a cup and it is in the procession next to the lance.  Some say this represents male and female energies which need to be integrated before we can heal our world. This conforms to the idea of the Sacred Marriage in Jung’s work, the polarity of opposites and the necessary reconciling of these opposites in ourselves and in our society. 

The grail is a mystery; some say it was a low broad serving dish; some say it held the blood of Jesus though this is in doubt because it is believed that the Grail myth comes from the east, probably from Islamic countries or pre-Christian Celtic mythology. The fisher king is about a society that is spiritually, morally and intellectually barren by the war.  Traditionally the wasteland myth concerns the struggle, the quest to restore fertility. 

Curiously, when we look at President Obama’s birth chart we see an element in his chart that points to his major purpose in life which is to ask the right questions.  We see this by looking at the Sabian Symbols.  They consist of 360 word images corresponding to the 360 degrees of the zodiac (each zodiac sign comprising 30 degrees).  President Obama has 18 Leo on his descendant, or the 7^th house cusp that describes his relationship with other people.  If we look up the meaning of 18 Leo as a Sabian Symbol it is “Asking the right questions.”  In fact, I have the same degree on my 7^th house cusp and part of my work in astrology with my clients is to prompt them to ask the right question of the archetype in order to keep it in balance. 

 I read the following in Esquire Magazine's article on Joe Biden.  He is being quoted here: “The guy (Obama) is really disciplined.  He listens and then he asks the right question.” From  JOE by John H. Richardson__February, 2009 issue of Esquire Magazine. And I read this in the Washington Post "The reason we keep getting the wrong answers," Obama says, "is  that we keep asking the wrong questions. Ask not whether government is too big or too small but whether it works. Ask not whether the free market is a force for good or ill but whether its bounty is adequately shared. Ask not whether the next generation will be better off than the last but whether we can throw off the shackles of stale partisanship, worn-out dogmas and narrow self-interest to do what everyone knows we must”.   ___ from Obama and the Expansion of Possiblity by Steven Pearlstein, Jan 21, Washington Post. And finally, during the campaign, right before the election, Obama got his economic team on the phone and opened by saying, “Here are 4 questions I have for you.” 

Whether we know if or not, we are all playing out a myth or parts of different myths.  One of Jung’s major contributions was the idea of the collective unconscious. He saw the Collective Unconscious as a shared pool of symbolism which is often expressed in the form of religions, myths and legends.  The myths and legends consisted of stories based around a recognizable series of figures called archetypes.  The archetype figures are common to all cultures and describe a typical human experience.  These archetypes dwell in all of us and we can find ourselves playing out an archetype in a myth that is centuries old.  I think President Obama is here to play the role of Parsifal and restore the Wasteland.  In the film, Excalibur, Parsifal answers the question. Who does the Grail serve?  “The king and the land -- they are one.”

Sources:

Parsifal by Wolfram von Eschenbach

How to Read Literature like a Professor – Thomas C Foster

Myths to Live By – Joseph Campbell

The Fisher King & The Handless Maiden – Robert A Johnson

Parsifal:  The Quest of the Grail Knight by Katherine Paterson

The Holy Grail – Pokay Modern Scholar CD’s

Modern Poets – Rosenthal

The Golden Bough – J. G. Frazer

The Holy Grail – Giles Morgan

 

Janet Kane

© Janet Kane 2009

October 2011 Forecast

                               There is a new website for all astrological news written for a general audience.

 http://astrologynewsservice.com/ 

There are no planets changing direction this month, no Mercury retrograde and the only big aspect is a trine between Jupiter and Pluto.  This aspect can expand our horizons and make substantial gains. 

Dates to Watch: 

Oct 3 – Mars Square Jupiter 9 Leo/Taurus.  This is an excessive aspect. You are running around in circles, you want to accomplish a lot, but you can overshoot the mark and end up exhausted. Especially true if you have personal planets or the ascendant at 9 degrees of Taurus, Leo or Scorpio. 

Oct 6 – Mercury Conjunct Saturn at 19 degrees of Libra.  You are spreading doom and gloom today.  Just because you’re depressed doesn’t mean the rest of us want to share in your pity party.  Get a grip! 

Oct 7 – Venus Trine Neptune at 28 Libra/Aquarius.  This is the day to fall head over heels in love.  It’s a beautiful aspect.  It also rules the beautiful things in life.  You may want to play music and go to an art gallery. 

Oct 9 – Venus goes into Scorpio until Nov 2.  The planet of sweet innocent love moves into the raunchy sexy sign of Scorpio.  What will happen?  I can’t mention it here ‘cause your virus protector will block it. 

Oct 11 – Full Moon at 18 Aries.  This is the culmination of the New Moon we experienced on Sept 27.  What have you accomplished since then. 

Oct 12 – Mercury Trine Neptune.  Your mind is in la la land today.  But it is a good day to daydream and visualize what you want to bring into your life. 

Oct 13 – Mercury moves into Scorpio until Nov 2.   Now is the time to go to the library and take out as many mysteries as you can carry.  You want to figure things out and that is a better way to do it than to start prying into the motivations of your mother-in-law. 

            Sun Conjunct Saturn at 20 Libra.  A serious day full of responsibilities.  Just get the work done, this will be over soon. 

Oct 14 – Venus Opposite Jupiter at 7 Scorpio/Taurus – Someone may try to trick you out of cash today.  Outscam the scammers.  

Oct 17 – Mercury Opposite Jupiter at 7 Scorpio/Taurus – This is a day when we want to spout out all that we know.  We talk and talk, but everyone else is talking also so you can’t get a word in edgewise. 

Oct 21 – Sun Trine Neptune at Libra/Aquarius – A pleasant day for a trip to the ocean or take a cruise. 

Oct 23 Sun enters Scorpio until Nov 22.  Now we get into Halloween season. We experiences things dying in nature to be reborn in the season of Aries. 

Oct 26 – New Moon at 3 Scorpio.  This is the start of a new month where we can become moody, jealous, secretive and suspicious. But it is a good month to try to get your Kundalini to rise.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

            Venus Square Mars at 21 Scorpio/Leo.  Another sexy aspect.  I got to get my mind outta the gutter, but it’s not me, it’s all of these Venus aspects. 

Oct 28 – Mercury Square Mars at 23 Scorpio/Leo.  I know you are trying to be calm and Buddhist-like in your life, but today you will be screaming and ranting at the first person who cuts you off in traffic or anyone else who crosses you.

            Jupiter Trine Pluto at 5 degrees of Taurus/Capricorn.  This is a great aspect.  It is a very creative and foretells a lot of gains and progress.  This aspect is favourable for research and law. This is especially good for you lucky folks with the ascendant or personal planets at 5 degrees of Taurus and/or Capricorn.

            Sun opposite Jupiter at 5 Scorpio/Taurus.  A fun day, have a party, get together with friends, don’t drink too much. (I love playing the Saturn parent) 

Oct 31 – Venus Square Neptune at 28 Scorpio/Aquarius. You are confused about your love life, your finances and what you value and what you believe.  You need a Guru fast!

 OUTER PLANET TRANSITS 

JUPITER is in Taurus this month and will stay in Taurus until June 2012. This month Jupiter is retrograde and is moving from 9 to 5 degrees of Taurus.  Now is a time to re-evaluate our belief systems especially if you have the ascendant, Sun or Moon between 5 and 9 degrees of Taurus or Scorpio. This is a time to plan your future in a no-nonsense practical way. 

SATURN is in Libra (structure, foundation, and responsibility) until Oct 2012. This month Saturn is moving from 19 to 22 degrees of Libra.  If you have the Ascendant or any personal planets at 15 or 19 degrees of Libra in your natal chart, you may be in store for some hard lessons around the issues ruled by the planet and the house the planet is in or rules. Libra rules relationships of all kinds and Saturn may ask you to take on more responsibility for how your relationships work. 

URANUS is in Aries and will stay in Aries until 2018.  This month Uranus is retrograde and will move from 2 to 1 degrees of Aries. Wanting freedom and a need to make radical changes will be felt by those with the Ascendant, Sun and personal planets at 2 to 1  degree of Aries.  I believe in “cooperating with the inevitable”.  If you have Uranus in a challenging aspect to your ascendant or personal planets, go on a long vacation, move, or make some major changes in your life.
 
NEPTUNE (creativity, sensitivity, escapism, dreams) Moves from 29 to 28 degrees of Aquarius this month. Neptune is retrograde and will stay retrograde all month. Neptune will move into Pisces in February 2012 and will stay in Pisces until 2026.  A lack of focus, a sense of drifting or an inability to see a betrayal or disappointment until it's too late can be experienced by those of you with the Sun or Personal Planets at 28 or 29 degrees of Aquarius or late Aquarius ascendant types.  For the enlightened out there, Neptune can also bring artistic, musical, creative expression, increased dreams and spiritual insights. 

PLUTO is in Capricorn until 2023.  This month Pluto stays at 5 degrees of Capricorn. Everyone is feeling the urge to purge and to find his or her truth.  Profound changes will be felt especially by those with Sun, Ascendant or personal planets at 5 degrees of Capricorn or Cancer. 

Have a great month, 

Janet Kane