Astrology of Now: Welcome Savage, Rebel –– Stranger

Monday December 23rd 2013
Eurasian shaman, early 20th century from
a Russian ethnographic collection.

“Sometimes a wild god comes to the table.
He is awkward and does not know the ways
Of porcelain, of fork and mustard and silver.
His voice makes vinegar from wine.

“When the wild god arrives at the door,
You will probably fear him.
He reminds you of something dark
That you might have dreamt,
Or the secret you do not wish to be shared…”


from Sometimes A Wild God by Tom Hirons
read the rest of the poem here

Some strange guests will turn up for Christmas dinner this year. You may not be able to see them at first, but squint a little and look slantwise and there they are… blown in on a breath of winter, at your table giving you savage stares, shaking dirty, long hair, gnawing the turkey bones like dogs, exuding force, virility, cosmic muscle.

There is Death, there is War, there is Frankenstein, there is Bellatrix Lestrange — savages all four. They sit on the four sides of your table. Will you feed them cranberry sauce and brussels sprouts?

Ohhh dear…We call them , but they have had many at different times and different places.

We call them Pluto, Uranus, Mars and Lilith, but they have had many other names at different times and different places.

This coming Christmas week is powerful. There is a dangerous, volatile, fierce Grand Cross across the sky. On the day itself, Mars opposes Uranus, activating the Uranus-Pluto square that casts its shadow over this year and next. Jupiter still opposes Pluto and is close enough to Lilith to count as conjunct, so Jupiter expands Lilith power. Meanwhile, Lilith opposes Venus Rx, also in Capricorn.. Even the Sun and Moon are in a hostile square on Christmas Day, although too far away from the big boys to be part of the Grand Cross.

Then through the week, Mars translates the light from the god of rebellion and shock, to the god of the underworld, making an exact square to Pluto on New Year’s Eve. At the same time, the Sun and Moon gradually slide into the embrace of Pluto, so that by New Year’s Day, the New Moon conjuncts Pluto. 

Could be nuclear start to 2014.

There’s no getting away from Pluto or Uranus this Christmas. It’s no use pretending: this is not ho ho ho and jingle bells. But it is dynamic. This holiday season is full of energy: dark energy, yes, dangerous energy, yes, but also transformational, and with Mars involved, there will be action.

So should we all just hide under the covers for the duration? Well, that does seems reasonable response. But we could try another technique. We could invite the dark gods in. They’re coming anyway, so step aside, don’t fight it and see what happens. Please read the rest of the poem.

Uranus is the awakener. He is ignited by Mars on Christmas Day. Mars is a spark – maybe of anger, maybe of courage, maybe of lust for life. Mars, above all, shouts to us to live in our bodies, to be here now, to get physical, to act. Mars in Libra. Traditionally, this is Mars in a “bad” position, but, as my colleague Pippa has pointed out consider this: John Lennon, Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama all have the planet of the warrior in the sign of peace. A knight sits at the round table and makes plans for the grail quest.

Uranus is electric, dangerous. He is on or off — a sleeping giant, who wakes with a start. Frankenstein, Prometheus. Uranus has just started moving forwards again, so he has energy to expel. He is the higher octave of Mercury, the rational mind. He is rebellion, yes, and the flash of inspiration, but Uranus also (like the sign he rules, Aquaurius) has a dual nature. He is the radical conformist, the woman who chooses to wear the hijab.

Together, Mars and Uranus are sudden flare-ups, accidents, migraine headaches, explosions, but also brilliant ideas, cosmic orgasm, fresh starts.

Nataraja, dancing Shiva

And then there is Pluto, Lord of the Underworld, of destruction, disease, corruption, crime – all that is dark and dirty.

But deep in the earth is where seeds begin to grow. Pluto is the lord of death and transformation. This is Shiva, called the destroyer. Ash-covered Shiva meditates for millennia on Mount Kailash, still as stone. And then he dances. The rhythm he beats with his feet destroys a weary world, breaks down illusion — so that a new era can be created by Brahma. Shiva’s dancing feet create a path out of the wilderness of cynicism, away from attitudes that are used up, spent, finished. He destroys what no longer works. In India, the Nataraja, as the dancing Shiva is called, is a symbol of civilisation, because only after the destruction of an old world can we create a new one.

Most of the time, Shiva is on the mountain, but when he dances in the ring of fire, the world changes. Shiva’s partner in destruction is Kali, she of the red tongue and the belt of severed heads, the heads, some say, of other people’s children. She is death. She is time. She is mother. She is Lilith. This winter week she opposes civilised Venus, debilitated by retrograde, from Cancer, the sign of mother, balancing Pluto in Capricorn, the sign of the father.

These gods are untameable, inhuman, uncaring. These are not gentle souls at the dinner table but powerful energies. They connect us with the great, wide universe.

We need this wild energy to break things open. You need to smash a pomegranate (or cut it) to find the seeds. You need those seeds for nourishment, but also to plant the next orchard.

Still Life on a Marble Ledge
by Rachel Ruysch (Ceres 3° Libra)

Meanwhile, Ceres, the goddess of abundance, she who harvests the pomegranate, nurtures the children, squares from Libra, the sign of social grace. Ceres in Libra: a perfectly set dining table piled with good things to eat. Ceres is currently joined by her sister Vesta, the goddess of the hearth, who will be in Libra as long as Mars — until the summer that is — because of retrograde motion later in 2014. Vesta is the domestic goddess, the goddess we cherish most dearly in the dark of winter. For more on this and why Vesta can help us through Christmas week click here.

By New Year’s Eve, the opposition across Cancer and Capricorn (as well as mother/father. private/public, family/work) is fully loaded. Moon, Sun, Pluto, Mercury and Venus bunch together to oppose Jupiter and Lilith.
Jupiter in Cancer, the fourth arm of the Grand Cross. The emotional pitch is heightened. We are as sensitive as petals now. Jupiter in Cancer is also the nation state, the motherland write large, and our feelings about home and homeland, about family large and small.
These powerful energies are all bound to play out on a much bigger stage than your own turkey-laden table. But this week the personal is political.
Mars sends an exact square to Pluto from Libra, the sign of balancing on New Year’s Eve. This square may be tough, but it may also be how the opposing energies resolve – through militant diplomacy. Look to Uranus in Aries too, that is personal liberation, going your own way, starting afresh — for a way of resolving the conflict between Cancer and Capricorn.
The whole holiday week is dynamic, tremendously forceful and energetic. It could all go pretty pear-shaped but remember Shiva’s dance and the flame of the domestic goddess burning brightly in your parlour. You can’t keep these guests away from the dinner table, so you might as well put out lay some extra places, lay in more booze and firewood and see what happens.

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  1. Diane L says:

    Drat . . . I hate dealing w/the wild ones. LOL Better to acknowledge and pay homage than ignore or repress has been my experience. Great post!

  2. Jamma says:

    Oh dear … I’m staying home Christmas Day, just me and my familiars — er, cats .. My own Cap Lilith conjuncts my Ascendant from the 12th, so maybe that’s just as well. At least I won’t be showing up on your doorstep proffering a pretty apple … 😉 …
    Will it be “safe” for me to visit puny humans by the weekend?
    P.S. Whoa … just realized that the song that’s been running through my head since I woke up this morning is “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ ” … oh dear, indeed!

  3. Anonymous says:

    I enjoyed reading this one. It really kicked off DEC 21 with the Uranus energy huge. In 2 days our 2 vehicle batteries drained — broke down in the middle of morning rush hour traffic with one. I remained calm, amazingly.

    It reminds me of a cartoon commercial some years back — a support group for cartoon character side-kicks all sitting in a circle — the human counselor says roll it (repressed feelings etc) into a ball and release it where upon they all start fighting.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Thank you for this post!

  5. Gilly says:

    I have 7 planets and points in Capricorn – Saturn/POF at 11 degrees. This Christmas is going to be a laugh a minute. 😉

    The poem is fabulous. Thank you so much for posting it.

  6. Anonymous says:

    If it is going to be like this extraordinary poem this Christmas will be a very interesting one and aren’t we lucky to know a bit of astrology so we can be prepared ?

    Well done, Christina, and have a very Merry Christmas !

    mimi

  7. coyopa says:

    Thanks for sharing my word-offering on your page, Christina, and for your comment on the blog. All the best for Yuletide and 2013. Tom.

  8. Lachesis says:

    What a spectacular piece of writing. That post felt like downing a large neat sloe gin. I’m reeling.

    As for the poem, I always think that reading poetry is like mainlining the human condition. In this case it was like pouring something dark, viscous and stingy into a fresh cut. Absolutely magnificent and a big injection of courage. Thank you both so much.

  9. Anonymous says:

    This post was very useful for me. I can visualize my chart as a round dinner table. Natal Uranus in Libra conjunct the ascendant, natal Lilith conjunct the MC, and Pluto in Capricorn transiting through my fourth house. And my natal Mars in Libra, usually tucked away inconspicuously in the 2nd house, is having its turn in the spotlight now; I’ll try to turn the dial up on my diplomacy skills. Since the 25th is also my birthday, I am determined to enjoy myself, regardless of the planetary tensions. Merry Christmas, everyone!

    • Christina says:

      Yay. My Christmas turned out well too (very low key), but you know what, we on Boxing Day, we cleared out tons of rubbish from the end of the garden and had bonfire! That felt good.

    • Anonymous says:

      You know what? My Christmas/birthday turned out fine! I judiciously limited alcohol intake, and took a detached viewpoint of family dramas, reminding myself that larger forces were at work…and a few times I laughed where I might otherwise have cried. This is one of the many reasons why I love astrology: it can so beautifully show glimpses of the bigger picture. Best wishes!
      Mary

  10. I thought I was saved from it all having stayed at home, with family far away and only my partner and I. But believe me the shadows came from within….well it was time I faced my own shadows after months taking care of others…
    Thank you!

  11. Jamma says:

    The Wild Man showed up in unexpected revelations about my late brother. Catharsis for me and my niece, following a ferocious roar from the unseen guest, howling his last hurrah from the Great Beyond.