Ventilate The Monument
January 14th
As Venus squared Uranus yesterday the Sun squares him today. The effect as well as the influence of Uranus is completely unpredictable: your house could blow up or you could suddenly have a good idea; that old fashioned cartoon lightbulb hovering over your skull could be a heavily armored drone or a hand from heaven offering amphetamines of realization. Venus felt the ontological strings attached to her raw material suddenly go live, tugging and creating great tension in the quaking wood grains and swirled signatures on steel; the enduring aesthetic of these items, their ongoing usefulness and long history in the hands of hunters, warriors and workmen, as well as the brass topped canes of fat cat corporate upper crust that manage the ebb and flow of so many exotic woods or precious gems with the wink of an eye that signals a click of a mouse that signals a cascade of earthly substance and the practical concerns of wallet watchers worldwide; within all this Venus strained against the leather interior of her luxury vehicle with priceless gin on her breath and designer perfume wafting from the body tucked away beneath linens, wools and silks; she nearly kicked through the Moonroof and emerged in fiery and wrathful aspect in a moment; an epiphany occurred, but one experienced in the senses; many of these materials were not hers; not truly herself or significations, but a superimposition of an exterior structure. She was a burning rose and a fountain of blood that ran as sap in the tendrils of belladonna; not an expensive suit and a status symbol.
For many of you this may not have been so overt, but the desire, for example, to be independent from your employer and express your artistic visions as a career may have occurred to you as Venus squares Uranus, and now that the Sun follows suit your intention and vision follows, you begin to identify with this independence, but it causes tensions in your life as you may not be yet free from the system that has its clutches on you, and to wriggle out you must play a long game, one Saturn signs off on, saying that you may be released from the conglomerates management if you complete x amount of tasks and pass through y amount of obstacles and detail the experiences of z ordeals. This sounds reasonable enough, but is not any relief to the immortal itching and burning you feel in your being and in those things you hold in your hand; the beauty of a carnelian or the sight of a hawk on high gliding overhead and turning to fall upon its prey. This tension is disruptive to the plan-all-along, but can be put to good use; friction causes motion and it is in the crucible that we are born. To borrow logic from the machine age, there is energy in the heat of that rubbing and shower of sparks.
With the Sun square Uranus it is the vision itself that shakes. The ring of management, everything you have created up to now and the upkeep it requires leaps and rumbles on the table before you, and the leveling and toppling that occurs changes the game; you are no longer playing Monopoly but a contact sport; your muscles engage as you throw yourself into the game, put your heart in it. Holdings are being lost and pieces are falling off the board; some of them were chips from your kitty while others were gates that barred your path. Take the opportunity to make a break, of course, but remember regular rules may again apply after the rumbling subsides. An experimental approach is best, especially as Aquarius season is soon to dawn.
As Capricorn’s third decan is about managing empires and wielding the power we’ve consolidated, Venus can become very attracted to not only dominance and authority but also the material objects attached to them, as this tends to be a preferred aesthetic in Capricorn periods, even if in this age these are spendy clothing brands that tout their low environmental impact or headcount of the trendiest breads of organic sheep, as much as the old guard of Armani and all access passes. With her sextile to Chiron there comes an opportunity to let this all go, to whatever degree you love power, control or conventional materialism, you may be able to take a deep breath on the 14th and remember that all things become one in the process of universal destruction and inevitable entropy. Attachment to power and even power objects (materialistic bonds to “real” materials or materials of strategic significance, such as status symbols) becomes willing in some way to work with the painful process of letting go and giving up, letting all become one in a healing process. For some the emphasis will be on the healing and on others the emphasis will be on the pain. (This is an optional or volitional aspect, there could be an opportunity to engage with this but for many it’ll be a flickering that quickly fades.)
January 15th
As the Sun is next up to sextile Chiron, management of the “empire” which you have built is able to consider healing ongoing wounds by letting things go and releasing control. These may be wounds of the identity related to material holds, such as allowing someone else to take care of a certain aspect of a business or project, for example, letting your partner worry about bookkeeping so you can concentrate on construction. This is as volitional and optional as the previous Venus-Chiron aspect, although the Sun being a particularly volitional planet, especially in Capricorn, this might be more likely to engage activity. The combination of attraction and identification to Chiron collaboration might have consolidating personal or imperial power (depending on how high profile your life is) and liquidating certain assets, or simply loosening your grip on what you own and what you control, may free up some space to heal some old wounds.
Jupiter finally completes the sextile with Pluto, an aspect that had been applying for a week already with some drama. The Coherence of intimate conflicts and relationships of intense and even mystical congress or exchanges of locked embattlement, mutual frictions submerged in alchemical salt baths where particles that shear off either party dissolve as one into the solution which circulates into the brain center and lubricates new thinking and perspective. The two great beasts that either copulate or combat or both accumulate greater understanding by doing so, and grow more nuanced, increase their skills on carnal level, become more instinctually aware of opportunities, discard moves that no longer serve for pain or pleasure and stumble upon styles they glean from each other. Aware of the gaping whole in the architecture of strategy, the lack of stability in the foundations of society, the unknown future non-applicable to previous precedents, the alien influences that secret manipulate the hierarchy and hold control over the power; those engaged in this grapple of desire, of seduction and severance, of cyclical offense and defense, whether with a partner or with themselves or with the world as their opponent or the laws of nature; in a world lacking role models or viable hand holds and littered with slippery slopes, most intentionally placed, we rely on our internal and intimate conflicts to temper and teach us; as there is currently no future before us except a seemingly looming apocalypse that is promoted by the monolithic system of society, it is our own personal battles that refine our focus, offer opportunities, provide pleasure, drive desire and lead us to growth and expansion. The world is dead but we are not, we are alive in the zombified corpse, mostly a mechanical horror that lurches the rancid meat around threateningly; we dodge their death and embrace our own; one that dies with honor and leads to the unfurling of flags long sullied or suppressed, and in this rebirth we seek mutually we find our wings cramped and atrophied but beginning to work once more, wether they be feathered or scaled, and it requires that we train each other through ongoing intensity of challenge as well as sensual engagement; there is a hole in the structure so we must fill it with our nightmares for now, at least they are our own and not the grist of the mill.
January 16th
Our Luminaries come together once more, darkening the night sky and allowing the stars to chatter and communicate freely with those that walk the Earth. A New Moon at 26 degrees 54 minutes Capricorn at 9:30 pm EST: By Decan we find the inception of a lunation cycle in the soil of emotional burdens of responsibility; strategical/practical/managerial needs prioritized over personal ones; our emotions transferred to power/stability concerns. Think of Daniel Day in There Will Be Blood or Pacino in the Godfather: Their emotions are fully applied to their empires and barely exist for food/family and fun, such things only trigger annoyance or regret or sheer indifference, where as development snares and interior politics could incept pounding hearts, gloating glee or raging wrath. This is a rough decan for the Moon, as is all Capricorn, which puts our celestial nurturer on rations not for health’s sake but for structural stratagem, and hands the Queen Of Comfort marching orders. Although, when we delinieate by by Lunar Mansion (The 24th) we receive a different picture: Since this is so late in Capricorn it reflects the sign ruler Saturn’s confirmation for hard work done and here we see finally getting fed, being paid after it has been earned, receiving at last what one needs, being finally nurtured, the increase of income, the funds to begin new construction, and being stable enough to found marriages and familial relationships. This is a time those holding power positions become more vulnerable to attacks and sorceries. —— So fitting both descriptions, Solar Decan and Lunar Mansions, this is a time empires may be toppled and the resources that shake out are distributed to those further down in the structure. The fact that Saturn is in rulership might skew this effect to the more conservative degree and be a mix of the two effects. You might be able to receive what you are owed but have to pay out to level your own debts. Those in high towers may have firmer fortresses than usual, but the rattling at the cage bottoms might still cause a few coins to be tossed. Likely, this is only going to work through sanctioned and official channels; Saturn might open his purse at the end of a court battle but not necessarily in response to a street rally. Not to say you should sue your boss, but think along established order and pick up payments where you’ve already earned them. Of course I mean this both literally and metaphorically, as that is somehow the way astrology works; you get the allegory as much as the reality; so in all that you need and require in the tail end of Capricorn (and much of Saturn’s three year tenure in his Earthen domicile) expect nourishment to come from your acknowledged efforts; following traditional steps may bring in rewards.
January 17th
Venus, slowly seperating from conjunction with the Sun, struggling to advance out from under his beams and shine as an expression in her own right, proceeds before him into Aquarius, where she is the ruler of the first decan by Chaldean (descending) order. Here she highlights the very odd and cerebral artistic qualities of this sign ruled by Saturn. Again, Saturn is in rulership so the freedom loving influence of Venus in Aquarius will be in respect to certain hard boundaries at this time, sharply defining what is “inside” and what is “outside” the norm, like a late 90’s record store sectionalization. A is “conventional” while B is “experimental”; think of free jazz milieux where if someone plays a steady beat in any way whatsoever they play with rigid restrictions. Especially as Venus is still combust, this will likely be a more psychological and introverted influence, quietly guiding our likes and dislikes, the temperature of our tastes. All outsider, experimental, strange, fringe, new, innovative and unorthodox ideas will light up with artistic potential, drive people out on limbs of exploration as they become attracted to such notions, creating interesting cultural/social dynamism. Aquarius is abstract and intellectual, and Venus here delights in daring new thoughts, in beauty that has been ignored or misunderstood, in brilliance yet recognized. This is both Arte Brut and the university press essay on the subject; it is art and high brow thought about art, and the turning ones back on intellectualism as an intellectual reaction; to decide intellectually that you will return to instinct and only paint with your feet, or that you will paint and show it to no one whatsoever and that is your act of art, which others critique and pick apart while you combat the press and lampoon it in underground chapbooks distributed at secret, subversive gallery spaces. This is idea art, renegade art, with or without the intention. And without the social grace and charm of Libra, cultural phenomenon tends to stick to it, even if it is the circulatory systems that feed only the subcultures. An interesting turn for Venus recently purified and realigned to intention and spiritual purpose; she straight away assesses the material plan and then gets experimental and looks for inspiration in the margins.
Of course Venus is more than art; so keep your senses set to look toward love and pleasure in the same venue; maybe date night reservations reap more romance made in the restaurant that serves rare raw insects and fungal cordials distilled in autonomous laboratory settings rather than your favorite pub.
January 18th
While Venus has begun exploring Saturn’s airy domicile Mercury drills deeper into earthy Capricorn, reaching its 2nd decan. Here his inherent resourcefulness and understanding of terrain and materials natural value, whether of strategic or market worth, turns more towards plotting, planning and organization on large scales along extended agenda lines. For those assembling something big Mercury is likely to be an invaluable resource for the week. Here our scheming minds may become focused enough to pull together monumental works, creating those things that last and endure and stand up to tests of time. This is not the moment for temporary fixes, so be prepared to either schedule long days, extended trajectories or recruitment of labor. Mercury could have you on the horn calling it all together, or in your studio for endless hours assembling the finishing touches from tall ladders. These might be practical works in epic proportions, like the having a 30 foot deep pond dug in your backyard or creating a state park worthy trail system on your five acres. Keep in mind this is Mercury here, playing with co-present Saturn and the Sun; meticulous and strategical construction, escalating premeditated strategy, the communication and detailed logic that sets up hierarchies and then scales them; but being Mercury, and loving both “many”, “others, and “opposites” you must be careful to not begin plotting too many plans at once, even if they seem at the time inter-related.
The time then comes for Mars to aspect Chiron, this time by trine. Desire urges at levels capable of deleterious transgression are in harmony with the process of letting go of everything and experiencing/letting go of life wounds. This may not be positive harmony. There may be a definite transgression recipe here. For some it is a classic binge and purge to get something seedy, sinister or salacious out of their system, like a licentious affair, but for others this could be letting go of all inhibitions and partaking in acts they sorely regret afterwards or even have destructive and perhaps legal repercussions. As this is a Trine, it is a harmonization that exists but often requires further tension to activate, yet this can simply be volitional intention; with Mars as the planet that screams Go! and Charge! an effect is more likely than another body in its place. It would be good to guard against such regretful behavior if you’re Mars is oversensitive, but for most of there exists some upcoming circuitry for some good old fashion debauch as a balm to heal all.
January 19th
At last a heavy Capricorn season comes to a close as the Sun enters Aquarius. The Sun is in detriment in Aquarius so little Solar quality of authenticity, honor, vitality, performance and virtue show through from personal perspectives; instead it is seen how central society, the culture of the masses or status quo in general are utterly absent of these qualities, incapable of them and must be subverted to reach these truths which are sought elsewhere, really anywhere adverse to the center or out on one perimeter or another. This is the identification with the outside, the frontiers of everything, where lost virtue and semblance of authenticity is sought in that beyond the norms or the already explored. The center loving Sun who loves to express warmly and be itself, or at least the characterization that best represents it, cannot express well or hardly at all here, and is forced to express intellectual otherness instead, and go searching empty places and undeveloped landscapes. This becomes then a time where our Spirits embark on solitary thinking, or at least brainstorming in small enclaves and annexes. We identify with alternatives and experiments and are willing to innovate with our identities even if an outcome is not clearly set. With Saturn in rulership in Capricorn and Aquarius being a Saturn ruled sign this might be more conservative than usual, as the corporate meeting where the CEO encourages everyone to think outside the box and look for innovations everywhere; he doesn’t mean for employees to begin making their own hours and start taking psychedelics. The parameters will be defined even though experimentation becomes necessary to stimulate a climb up out of a plateau. If the ladder rungs have ended then a flying machine must be invented. We must begin to find ways in which we can do what we do not yet have the ability to. This isn’t achieved always by looking at what we have already done. But with Aquarius season oncoming and Saturn in Capricorn it will probably be a blend of looking back and looking everywhere else.
The Sun will be in this mode for a month, but on the day he moves through the Capricornian gates into Aquarian territory Mercury sextiles Neptune. Sextiles are normally easy aspects, and usually interpreted as positive relationships, two planets willing to work with one another. In this case, most any contact Mercury has with Neptune causes him to function improperly. It causes words and meanings to mingle; fantasy style driving sounds dreamy yet too dangerous, as this is not really when you choose it or in the right context; the car being silly or hallucinatory won’t get you where you’re going and the meshing of messages doesn’t get your point across; so remembering to use the time for poetic purposes will provide some sanctuary. If this comes while amidst your masterwork creation, it might be time to think Gaudi and add visionary nuance and imaginative dimension; set some optical illusion in your architecture.
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Moon of Hyldemoer Herbal Notes for Liminal Light
January 14-19, 2018
These notes are suggestions for herbal allies to assist with the effects of the cosmic influences for the third week of January, 2018. As stated in earlier weeks, before imbibing any of the herbs recommended, research what is a recommended dosage, & ask yourself & research such questions as, Does this herb interfere with any medications I am taking?, Does this herb match with my constitution?, Do I really need to take this herb into my body?
Be wise: listen to your own body, intuition, guiding spirits & the plants themselves.
Imbibing the herbs recommended is of course only one way of meeting the herbs. There are multitudinous manners of developing relationships with our herbal allies including sitting with the fresh or dry herbs, or a picture/drawing of the herb, making an amulet to wear or have on your altar (adhering to planetary hours/days is important here), visioning or meditating with the plant, & taking an herbal body or foot bath (In this case remember your skin is the largest organ of your body). Use your imagination & listen to the plants, they have been on this planet much longer than we have & have much wisdom to offer.
January 14-19
With the more letting go, letting go, letting go, this week, accentuated with Chiron first sextiling Venus, then the Sun & onwards to trine Mars, I recommend to continue to work with the warrior herb(s) that you have chosen to guide you through this slow Saturnine Tower time(see last weeks herbal forecast). There is much not working right now on many levels, & so we need our warrior swords drawn, but also our Mercurial plans to be strategized for what is to come after the slashing away. With Saturn feeling at home for the next ~six years (first Capricorn & then Aquarius), we have plenty of time to do this, but Saturn demands constant, hard working steps, looking backwards while looking forwards, fitting for Janus’ month.
It’s time to add Rose, Hawthorn leaf, flower & berry, Milky Oats/Oatstaw & Lemon Balm to the Mercurial cup ofPeppermint, Red Clover, Fennel or Fenugreek tea, so that there is self-love & solace when releasing that which does not serve. & also once again calling upon mind clearing & alertness herbs like Sage (Salvia officinalis), Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba), & Rosemary(Rosmarinus officinalis).
With the Sun squaring Uranus, as well as first Venus & then the Sun entering into Aquarius this week, the fringe, the strange, the outsider, the experimental will be called upon & looked to for guidance. In permacultural practice, it is known that the edges, the transitions zones of anything from the natural world to great transition times in our own lives, have the most diversity, uniqueness & innovations. Hedgerows, or living fences, in Great Britain have been planted/allowed to grow for centuries between agricultural fields as they bring medicine, wind break, protection, & a home for predators, prey & pollinators, among other things. These hedges, edges, transition zones are a great place to find inspiration, medicine & strength at this time. Just ask your local Hedge Witch. Some traditional hedgerow plants are Hawthorn, Chicory, Yellow Dock, Staghorn Sumac, Elderberry, Wild Strawberries, Currants, Cherry, Mugwort, Goldenrod & Aster. Walk around the edges zones of where you live, bring a field guide & see who is growing there. What can you learn from their structure & form, how do they work with others around them, what do they look like in winter compared to summer, what kind of energy do they exude? These are great allies & mentors for this time.
January 16-19
From the New Moon in Capricorn to Venus processing into Aquarius, then Mercury & finally the Sun on the 19th, call upon a cup of Linden flower (Tilia ssp.) tea for mental focus while plotting action plans, Peppermint tea or flower essence for inspiration & Our Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris) tea or flower essence to transform any fear of change one has into excitement for what is to come. Chiron trining Mars on January 18, may lead to debauchery leading to healing. On this day, one may wish to make offerings of Mars ruled Tobacco, Dragon’s Blood, Chili Peppers, Basil or Nettle to Mars, or deities that correspond such like Ogun, Oya & Tyr. Drinking Mars ruled Damiana or Ginger tea may help guide this action-based healing.
This week being a great time for Mercurial elections, & since this dear swift planet has headed into Aquarius, call upon the Mercurial hedgerow plants such as Aspen, Bittersweet, Bracken, Clover, Elecampane, Flax, Margoram, Mint, Mulberry & Southernwood. Make an offering to Mercury of some of these allies, draw pictures of them, or sit with them if they are nearby &listen. Bring their murmurings to the strategic table with Mercury so that your larger scale plans will be put into motion.
Lastly, support the Sun in its detriment in Aquarius by burning dry Juniper branches (this way also your ancestors will be alerted to step forward & assist), making a solar cross from Rowan, Oak, Witch Hazel or Ash branches with golden yellow thread, or slicing open a Pineapple & reading the insides for messages & baking the golden goodness in your favorite dish. Ha, Ra.
References:
Cunningham, Scott. Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs Llewellyn Publications, 1997.
McIntyre, Anne. Flower Power Henry Holt, 1996.
Wood, Matthew. The Earthwise Herbal: A Complete Guide to Old World Medicinal Plants North Atlantic Books, 2008.
Moon of Hyldemoer, Suzanne Stone, Community Herbalist.
This information is not a substitute for a health care practitioner. Not to be reproduced without permission.