Category: Star Guidance

“It is easier to live through someone else than to complete yourself. The freedom to lead and plan your own life is frightening if you have never faced it before. It is frightening when a woman finally realizes that there is no answer to the question ‘who am I’ except the voice inside herself.”
― Betty Friedan

The April 19/20 solar eclipse is at the critical 29 degrees of Aries. Aries rules aggression, impatience, courage, and self-reliance. It rules war, conflict or military action. It also rules new enterprises, entrepreneurs, and pioneers. It’s a fire sign that rules fire, knives and machines. Emotionally, Aries can flare up with anger and be very direct.

The sign of Aries answers the question of “who am I” and at the last Anaretic degree of 29 Aries, “who am I” feels like life or death. Pluto square to the solar eclipse intensifies this feeling as it ushers in intense, explosive events that cause us to go to our automatic place of fight, flight or freeze. The sign, anorectic degree and solar eclipses all point to events out of our control. But, since this eclipse is in Aries, the likely response is a fight. At the core of the fight is a need to protect “who am I” and actions we take may reveal “who we are” in ways that we do not yet appreciate.

Pluto is only a degree into Aquarius and we are already seeing transformation happen. The energy of Pluto in Aquarius brings destruction and transformation in technology (computers, Artificial intelligence), media (including social media), groups (humanitarian and political) networks, and innovations.  As this energy squares the Aries solar eclipse, our sense of identity is challenged.

“He allowed himself to be swayed by his conviction that human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but that life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera

Many define who they are by what they do for a living. Pluto in Aquarius so far has stormed in with ChatGPT and GPT4. Many have tested out the AI’s capabilities, only to be shocked and shaken. Its capabilities dawn the realization that work is about to change, and we/you/I may not be needed. The question of “who am I” in the face of AI becomes urgent at this solar eclipse. In fact, AI is threatening to replace 1/3 or all workers. Enterprising types have taken on two full-time jobs, having AI do 80% of the work for them and collecting two pay cheques. But as employers wise up, this opportunity may be kiboshed. And what if you aren’t so enterprising? If you identify who you are with what you do, where does this leave you? The New Moon solar eclipse is also conjunct the asteroid Industria, the asteroid that represents work and career. In the face of AI, how do we make ourselves relevant and meaningful? Do we allow our work to continue to define us? And if so, how does it make us feel?

“You are not your job, you’re not how much money you have in the bank. You are not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You are not your fucking khakis. You are all singing, all dancing crap of the world.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club

Others define who they are by their worth. The new moon solar eclipse is conjunct Vesta and the North Node in Taurus. Vesta is the goddess of the home and hearth. She keeps the sacred flame and the flame of the hearth going. Her constant flame represents dedication and perseverance. In Taurus, this represents a need to keep a flame going in a way that maintains our wealth, stability and security. But Pluto in Aquarius has also brought in a banking crisis and behind it Centralized Digital Bank Currencies (CBDCs). Who are we/you/I when are wealth changes?

Some define who they are by their freedoms. Freedoms that were fought for and established in constitutions. Freedom and independence are areas ruled by Aries and with Mars, the ruler Aries is in Cancer, a sign that is protective, patriotic and sometimes tribal, who you/we/I are in terms of our rights and freedoms is also challenged. Two throwbacks emerged recently that harken back to the last Pluto in Aquarius. Similar to Marie Antoinette’s remark of “let them eat cake” to her starving French subjects during the last Pluto in Aquarius transit, French President Macron took off his Luxury watch as he told his country they would need to work two more years before they can take their pension in what can be called a 2023 “let them eat Macaroon’s” moment! During the last Pluto in Aquarius transit in the late 1700s, rights and freedoms were established in France. The French abolished the idea of being Subjects and established the French identity of Free citizens. This identity is again being challenged.

Similarly, the United States was in revolt during the late 1700s when a fight emerged over Tea! The colonist were frustrated with being taxed and not being represented. “No taxation without representation” became their slogan. In a reminiscent throwback, The company Anheuser-busch sparked a financial revolt losing 7 Billion dollars within 6 days on the Stock Market and millions more in sales after hiring a trans woman to market Bud Light. A cartoonist depicted it like the Boston Tea Party revolt leading to the American Revolution. Instead of throwing tea overboard, cases of Bud Light could be seen pitched off the ship. The beer conflict, the tea conflict is about recognizing or confirming identity. In 2023, without a doubt, the beer you drink is a reflection of your identity. A craft beer drinker is a different person than a draft bud light person! Who am I and who reflects, defends and protects my identity is another manifestation of this Solar Eclipse. It triggers a protective side of Aries with a need to defend our individual rights.

“I am a citizen of the world.”
― Sylvia Beach

Though challenges to “who am I” are sure to emerge, The New Moon Solar Eclipse in Aries is also conjunct Astraea. In Greek Mythology, Astraea ruled over a Golden Age. The golden age was a time of peace, prosperity and fairness. Astraea was said to have lived amongst humans until the Bronze Age when men became filled with war and greed. The story goes that she fled to the stars where she appears as Libra, holding the scales of justice. Perhaps Atraea’s appearance with the Solar Eclipse signals a time for us to consider who we are, how we can achieve personal freedom and self-reliance, and shape or reshape our identity without war or fighting. Astraea with the Solar Eclipse brings us hope of fairness and a return to a golden age. The Greeks believed another Golden age would come and at that time Astraea would return. Who do we need to be to make that happen? The Sabian symbol for this eclipse is “A duck pond and its brood’. Perhaps it’s not necessary to seize the oceans. Maybe we can be contained within our own pond and with our own brood. The dictum live and let live comes to mind during this Solar Eclipse.

The Solar Eclipse is a supercharged New Moon, so use it to set careful intentions of who you now want to be!

Book some time with me If you want to know how the eclipses will affect you personally, (there is also a Lunar Eclipse coming up in May).

Happy Solar Eclipse in Aries!

The Full Moon on April 5/6th is at 16 degrees of Libra, the sign of love, relationships, balance, and fairness. It is opposite Chiron, the wounded healer and Jupiter, the planet of optimism and deeply held beliefs such as religion.

Hang in there with me, I’m going to get a little technical, but it will help to understand a very important point about this full moon.

In astrology planets within 5 degrees of the Sun get burned by its rays and it’s called ‘combust’. If you look up into the sky when planets are that close to the Sun, they disappear behind it’s shine. Essentially, the Sun steals the show and weakens the planet, burning it with its brightness. So if a person has Mars close to the Sun in their chart, then that person may have some difficulty with taking action or following through. If Venus is close, the person born with this may be shy or insecure.

From 15 degrees of Libra to the end of Scorpio is said to be via combust, Latin for the burned path or the fiery way. This was due to a number of malefic fixed stars that were contained in this area. The Milky Way is a collection of 100 – 400 billion stars and in Babylonian times, the Milky was in Libra. Planets close to the Sun, which is a star, may suffer, but planets close to 100 -400 billion, may explain why the ancients did not like this section of the sky. The Milky Way with all its bright shining stars was the fiery path! Over the next couple of thousand years, the milky way progressed at a rate of 1 degree every 72 years through Libra, then Scorpio, (during Babylonian times Libra and Scorpio were one sign called the Claw) and is now in Sagittarius. This slow progression is due to the precession of the equinox. It burned a path through relationships, marriage and love ruled by Libra and then moved through Scorpio to burn through sex and intimacy.

Essentially it created a massive wound in the area of love, relationships, sex and intimacy. The collateral damage was a very tough time for women, a loss of the goddess archetype, and a split between sex and love. The Bible was written, emerging out of Babylonian times (have you discovered useful charts yet?) and pits Adam and Eve against each other, blaming Eve for their descent. Since then, not only did women endure a very deep wound, one that we have consciously and recently been working on healing in the rise of the feminine, but relationships experienced massive wounds as a result.

Margaret Starbird, whose book was the inspiration for the Divinci Code speaks about this wound in her books. We went from Gods and Goddess, inclusive of temples and cults that followed them, to a celibate God and a virginal Mother, losing intimacy, partnership and sex, or at least demoting it to the level of “evil” or “sin”.

As it is with many wounds, I’m not sure we realize that the time of wounding is over. The burned path has moved on. It’s now at the end of Sagittarius. It left that area and now thousands of years later it’s time to realize the fire is gone. That time of wounding is done. New growth has sprung up. We have done a lot of work to heal the feminine and now it’s time to heal our relationship wounds. Within personal relationships and within the collective relationship archetype!

The full moon will help us with this healing. It’s at 16 degrees of Libra, bringing up the burned path wound. Chiron also reminds us of the wound but gives us an opportunity to realize all of the healing we have done. We have worked on ourselves and now we can let another in – fully and authentically. Jupiter in Aries is there to help us feel the hope that exists and asks us to tap into our own religious truth. What has been missing from our relationship paradigm? What do we believe? How does it need to change? How can we acknowledge the healing and welcome new belief systems?

The Sabian symbol is “a retired sea captain”. In retirement, the sea captain can reflect on the storms they have sailed through and all they have overcome. They can sit back in peace and calm and reflect on their victories. In the same way, we can reflect on the storms we have endured in relationships and all that we have learned. Every one of the loves in our lives has brought us something to help us heal and grow. We can thank them and know that the struggle is done. We can forgive not just our past loves, but also the broken relationship archetype.

Happy Full Moon in Libra.