astrology Archives - ROXANNA BIKADOROFF

February 22, 2025May 10, 2025

Divine Measure – Traversing the Star Card of Ancient Tarot

In Greek mythology, while transformation into a rock is usually a barren fate, a pattern emerges in which the heroines who were transformed into islands are lovers of the gods; just as islands, like cities, were usually personified as minor goddesses or heroes. [Wikipedia]

This is precisely what happened to Asteria, Titan Goddess of falling stars, oneiromancy (divination by dreams) and astrology (by stars), and mother of Hecate. She transforms herself into the Island of Delos, where her sister Leto at last gave birth to the lunar Artemis and solar Apollo, after an exhaustive search for refuge. The usual suspects were to blame; Zeus for making Leto pregnant, then pursuing Asteria, and jealous Hera’s subsequent curse, that Leto not be able to find solid ground on which to give birth, forbidding all places on earth to accept her. Hera also kidnapped the goddess of childbirth to ensure that Leto’s labour would be ultra painful. Asteria (‘star’) defied Hera’s orders, but as she had not succumb to Zeus’ advances, Hera, though angry, did not punish her.

Artemis was an easy delivery, but Apollo took 9 days and nights to come out (luckily, Artemis was able to assist). There are a few variations on the myth, as is typical. Delos means ‘to manifest or reveal’. It had been a floating island, ’emerged’ for Leto by helpful Zeus (the least he could do since he can’t seem to keep his Tower in his robe). Either it was uninhabited or it was and the people didn’t want her giving birth there, so Leto gifted the island with 4 anchors to keep it stable, which pleased them. Are these ‘anchors’ the 4 Royal Stars (Aldebaran, Regulus, Antares, Fomalhaut)?

“Hail. O heaven-built isle [Delos], most lovely scion of the children of bright-haired Leto, O daughter of the sea, thou unmoved marvel of the spacious earth, by mortal men called Delos, but by the blessed gods of Olympos (Olympus) known as the far-seen star (astra) of the dark-blue earth . . . For aforetime, that isle was tossed on the waves by all manner of whirling winds; but, when Leto, the daughter of Koios (Coeus), in the frenzy of her imminent pangs of travail, set foot on her, then it was that four lofty pillars rose from the roots of earth, and on their capitals held up the rock with their adamantine bases. There it was that she gave birth to, and beheld, her blessed offspring.” ~ Pindar, Processional Song on Delos (Greek lyric ca 5th B.C.) [Theoi.com]

Both Delos and Delphi, site of Apollo’s famous oracle and omphalos (navel), share the root word ‘del’ with ‘delphini,’ which means dolphin in Greek. Dolphins are sacred to Apollo, Dionysus and Poseidon. The Cary sheet hints at location with a fish-tail shape in the shoreline. Dolphins were considered by mariners to be a very good omen indeed, guiding and protective. They are also known to protect whales giving birth. So saviour-like are dolphins, that in the 14th century, French heirs began calling themselves ‘dauphin.’ It is beyond shameful and utterly reprehensible how modern humans have abused these sacred beings (the marine mammals, not the French kings).

Louise of Savoy instructing her son, Dauphin Francis I, ca 1505

Apollo wore his golden hair long and his sacred number is 7, associated with the traditional planets, stringed lyre and the Pleaides (starry rain-makers).
The cards do not give us absolutes, but evoke in a mnemonic, riddling fashion, so don’t be too confused by the lack of breasts on the Cary water-bearer.

After her transformation into Delos, several stars, deeply moved by her tale, aligned themselves in her honor. This formation, known as an asterism, served as a protective shield and a tribute to the goddess. For sailors navigating the vast seas and stargazers looking up in wonder, this celestial pattern became a symbol of Asteria’s indomitable spirit. [Olympioi.com]

It’s obvious that the birthing waters have broken, which explains why the card is somewhat incorrectly interpreted as illustrating the zodiac sign of Aquarius. Aquarius signifies a similar idea (and the constellation once included the Southern Fish, with Royal Star Fomalhaut in its mouth) – albeit in the dead of Winter we are talking more about inward, spiritual rebirth, ultimately necessary for a more evolved, physical return (Saturn).
The androgynous figure pours one jug onto the earth and one into the water, as she will do in the classic Tarot de Marseille card. We get the sense of purification by libation – libation of feminine fluids – as well as the cyclical nature of water, aka life, connecting with her arms in a continuum. In alchemy the liquid purification of spirit is considered Lunar and feminine, inner.

Now it’s also possible that her two pitchers contain waters of Mnemosyne and Lethe – some Orphic lamellae (gold tablets) instruct the deceased to only drink from Mnemosyne’s streams, not Lethe’s, in order to avoid another, terrestrial birth or an eternity in gloomy Hades:

“You will find a spring on the left of the halls of Hades, and beside it a white cypress growing. Do not even go near this spring. And you will find another, from the Lake of Memory, flowing forth with cold water. In front of it are guards. You must say, ‘I am the child of Ge and starry Ouranos; this you yourselves also know. I am dry with thirst and am perishing. Come, give me at once cold water flowing forth from the Lake of Memory.’ And they themselves will give you to drink from the divine spring, and then thereafter you will reign with the other heroes.” ~ from Petelia, 4-3 BC

Other sources seem to indicate we’re to drink a bit of each. Hmm.

Chosson TdM, 1736, feat. one of many misspellings

The little black bird, which could represent the soul or ‘Ba bird‘, in the background is also a mytho-alchemical clue, for the crow in alchemy is symbolic of Saturn and the blackening (the first stage of the work, now fading in the distance, but not entirely forgotten).
In another, Apollo myth, he sends his originally white bird to keep watch (spy) on his lover, Coronis (‘crow’). Unfortunately for everyone involved, the bird reports she’s been cheating with a mortal. Seething, Apollo scorches the messenger for his efforts, then shoots his woman down. Naturally, he regrets it, tries to revive her, but it’s too late, because Greek tragedy. In the opener image kylix detail, we see the blackened crow or raven as Apollo’s bird of prophecy. Are bird and lover one and the same? Only the shadow knows.

Apollo kills Coronis, 1590 engraving by Hendrick Goltzius

During the alchemical opus, there is something called the ‘impregnation stage’ wherein:

The star rises to the surface and thus connects both the upper spiritual part of the vessel and the lower substance. The bird flies upwards, the soul of the process also seeks union with the spirit. The Impregnation is the turning point of this phase, and indeed it marks the point in the whole process where we are no longer dealing with mere material substances, but the seed of the spiritualization of substance has here been sown, and from now on we will see, through the many following stages, just how this seed grows, metamorphoses, and develops. ~ Adam McLean, The Alchemy Website

The blackening of Apollo’s bird and the rising of the 7-pointed star

It’s been pointed out that in the Cary, there is an emphasis on 4 stars surrounding the main one, creating a starry quintessence, but problematic is the 5th ‘extra’ star in the figure’s right shoulder. In keeping with with the theme, however, this evokes the constellation of Orion, aka Osiris, with red star Betelgeuse placed thusly. Osiris was the god of death and regeneration par excellence, whose reappearance signified the annual rising of the Nile and the land becoming fertile again with birthing waters. (Hapi, who was male but had breasts, was the god of the actual flooding of the Nile, that became Aquarius).
Interestingly, one of the reasons Pythagoreans were superstitious about the number 17 was that Osiris was killed on the 17th day of the month of Athyr.

Eridanus, the cosmic River of Night, has a bright, fixed star at either end; in the north, Rigel, situated in the foot of Orion/Osiris, and in the south, Achernar, the ‘end of the river.’ The god-king has one foot in the water at the serpentine river’s mouth, as if being born out of it. (Article with more on this here).

If we count the number of little plants sprouting from the earth in the Cary card, they equal the number of small stars. As above, so below. Inner quintessence = outer/cosmic. This unification can only happen after the Tower – the structures we build around our minds from the outer, ego, etc – has been transformed. The star not only depicts ‘outer space’ but ‘inner space.’

Marriage stela of Tjanetiset feat. red and white Nut, ca. 825–712 BC (MET)

The ancient Egyptians saw earth as the mirror of the heavens. The sky goddess Nut is depicted, like Hapi of the Nile, holding two jugs that flow with the waters of creation/fertility.

Nut was the goddess of the sky and all heavenly bodies, a symbol of protecting the dead when they enter the afterlife. According to the Egyptians, during the day, the Egyptian decans would make their way across her body. Then, at dusk, they would be swallowed, pass through her belly during the night, and be reborn at dawn. She was often painted on the inside lid of the sarcophagus, protecting the deceased. The vaults of tombs were often painted dark blue with many stars as a representation of Nut. [Wikipedia]

Rosenwald sheet 15th c (National Gallery of Art)

In astrology the ‘big three’ of a natal (birth) chart are our Sun, Moon and Ascendant. The Sun indicates the time of year we’re born, energizing the present lifetime and our natural, outward expression of what we aspire to be this time around. The Moon shows time of the month (phase, day) and is indicative of the past and of our inner or nighttime realms – memory, dreams, soul lineage – what we bring with us, unconsciously. The Ascendant completes the picture with our precise moment of arrival/first breath. There is something very fated and acutely personal about this moment.

To the ancients, it was not so much the moment itself or even the rising sign, necessarily, but the star heralding or accompanying the Sun, as it rose on the day of birth (they didn’t have clocks) that was of prime importance. Stars on any angle or conjunct a luminary or planet are also significant, coming into play at different times during the course of a life. We could muse that this first star on the horizon is our navigational star, guiding us back to the ‘berth’.

Compass rose, France 1543 and sounding lead (for measuring depths), Marseille, 1st c

The TdM Star card is also interpreted as Venus, since she is symbolized with 8 points, but of course she can also have 5 (evening and morning star symbols). In the Tarocchi of ‘Mantegna’ print below, we find Venus in her river toilette (note the anagram, there), with her entourage of Eros and the Graces, looking suspiciously like the Star card figure. Meanwhile, in the unique, Leber-Rouen card, a witchy ‘Stella Maris’ looks like the wild twin of Botticelli’s serene goddess. (Might the cross/ankh around her neck have been an add-on?).

‘Mantegna’ Venus and Leber-Roen Venusian, mid 15th c

Lodovico Lazzarelli, in his De Gentilium Deorum Imaginibus (trans. William O’Neal) described the first one:

Nude Venus swims forth from the midst of the natal wave of the sea, and the fair one holds a sea-shell in her right hand. For she divests lovers from extraordinary cares and affairs. Nude Venus calls nude bodies to herself Indeed the sea shell engages itself in sexual union within its own body. Passionate love is ship-wrecked by a sea of troubles.

The victor stands with his quiver of arrows, and he is swift on his wings. The nude boy Cupid stands with eyes covered. At one time he hurls down golden arrowheads from his bow and at another time lead ones, and each strikes the hearts of men with a different wound. The lead-tipped arrows drive love away but the golden-tipped bring it about. As hatred is strong so also love is dear. The nude boy loves the defenseless. Love with eyes covered does not know at whom he aims. He drags his prisoners through hard places. And those ignorant of every road wander off through lonely places The boy calls young men to his camp. Love marks out their unstable souls for his swift wings. He causes wounds hastened along by his quivers.

The Idalian nymphs, the fair and pleasing crowd of three, stand together with their bodies unclothed. They hold their arms together bound by interchanging bonds as often interchanging Love ties the bonds. The first holds the light of her countenance and her eyes toward us. The rest of her group sees us in her gentle eyes. First, Pasithea enraptures us in her gentle fires. Aglaia revives those taken in with her flattery. Euphrosyne entangles them in fetters and strong chains, and she does not permit her captives to go back. Then, Venus, pitying those mangled in such sorrows encourages them with her sweet enticements and flattery. Poets have treated these many things from the star of Venus which lovingly presides over the triple place of heaven. This constellation stands in the highest part of heaven with a triple name. Of course, it has always been said to be Venus.

Sounds a bit like alchemy-speak, no? Lead and gold-tipped arrows? I’m still pondering the arrangement of her four doves. Anyone?

In the Leber-Rouen card, our Stella Maris is of course Venus-Fortuna, for she holds in one hand a large arrow-cum-spindle, its quiver wound (with hair?). In the other, she grasps a lock of her windswept tresses. It bears a similarity to Lazzarelli’s description – she lures or navigates ships through shifting weather in the same, fated manner as Cupid sends forth his arrows.

Dame Fortune wielding a large arrow, French, 1403

Sailors were a superstitious lot. They believed women, being ‘wetter’ (ie, more lunar) than men had a special power over the sea. Medical writers like Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History (77 AD) declared, “For, in the first place, hailstorms, they say, whirlwinds, and lightening even, will be scared away by a woman uncovering her body while her monthly courses are upon her. The same, too, with all kinds of tempestuous weather; and out at sea, a storm may be lulled by a woman uncovering her body.”
Hence ancient goddesses, Isis in particular, but also the Stella Maris (‘Star of the Sea’, which could be Venus or any navigational star) became protector of ships at sea, and female figureheads were often bare-breasted.

Now, obviously I’ve focused only on the more cryptic Star cards, as mystery is what I find interesting, but there are just a few more worth an honourable mention, before wrapping up this essay. Their imagery, at first, may not seem to relate to our running theme, but let’s take a closer look…

Tarot of Paris early 1600s, Jacques Vieville 1650, ‘Mantegna Tarocchi’ Geometria 1460s

The third image is not a Star card but depicts one of the Liberal Arts inspiring these learned men: Geometry (‘to measure the earth’). Of all the Liberal Arts personified in the ‘Mantegna’, she is the only one floating in the sky above.
In the first card, the man sits at a drafting or reading table with books on it and holds the compass to his head, in thought. It’s hard to say whether he’s aware of the Star or whether it’s symbolic only, but divine, mathematical inspiration is being transmitted. I like to think of him as either an astrologer or an explorer creating maps.

In the second card, the central Star and four little stars form a ‘quintessential’ arrangement. An astronomer/astrologer or mason (or alchemist) sits in contemplation or meditation before a cathedral-like building that has a clock or rose window in its bell tower. The division of the cosmos has now become a precision science, thanks to the sacred gadget. He appears to be measuring the heavens, but as in the Paris card, the compass almost seems to be a conduit and, held this way, it resembles the numeral V (5). The ground has a checkered pattern typical of masonry tiles and alchemists’ labs, but also resembling meridian lines of the earthly plain. Vieville or whoever created the the images for this deck was likely of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood. It’s just barely possible find a rose hidden under that red circle behind the figure’s head.

Like the Cary, in Vieville we find a 5th small star, this time in the clock/window face, connecting the above and the below. The Vieville Star card with its theme of enlightenment is in contrast to his Moon card, wherein an old woman sits spinning yard (and fate) under a tree, in the realm of night.

The compass (actually called a divider) was specifically created in order to measure the heavens (hence time), while the much older square was used for earthly structures. These were the two essential tools of the stone masons and still form the well-known, Freemason logo. Because it allowed for the concept of eternity/divinity (the monad) to be perfectly drawn, the compass became a symbol of man’s spirituality and higher nature.

“It is said that the compasses’ two points represent spirit and matter, life and form; from these all the complexities of the fleeting, ever-changing mantle of the one-life are produced within the circle, self-imposed by the Being who has decreed the bounds of His Universe or His System.” ~ Harold Bayley, The Lost Language of Symbolism

Thus in these two variations, another aspect of the Star is emphasized: human intellect (Mercury/Aquarius) or indeed wisdom as the vehicle for uniting Heaven and Earth.

God/Christ the Geometer creating the world soul, 13th c

The sacred tool bears a notable resemblance to a stork or crane, birds associated with birth/immortality (like crow and raven, they are interchangeable, symbolically). We all know the greeting card baby delivery propaganda, but it was once the belief in Ancient Greece that they actually stole infants, like Harpies. [Fun fact: vultures evolved from storks.] Hera’s wrath again – this time at some haughty Pygmy queen who’d just given birth to a son:

The other Pygmies brought many gifts for the newborn infant, but Hera, enraged that Gerana would not worship her, elongated her neck and turned her into a crane. Wishing to keep close to her child, Gerana as a crane would fly from roof to roof, but the people armed themselves and chased her away, and thus arose the rivalry between the Pygmies and cranes. [Wikipedia]

Nevertheless, the nesting of cranes/storks on one’s rooftop is generally considered auspicious. People sometimes placed old cartwheels on the roof, to help initiate nesting. (Interesting we have named the mechanical monsters of construction after them, due to the resemblance).
Indeed, if we zoom in on the ‘Mantegna’ Geometria print, we find one of these very birds hunting in the river below….and it has caught a snake!

Master of the e-series, Ferrara, 1460s (MET)

From compass to compass, star to star, this concludes our sojourn of the 17th Triumph. Thank you for reading. To explore more articles on the Tarot de Marseille, simply type ‘TdM’ into the search, or scroll the Home page, where I list recent articles. ~rb

Related, excellent talk, if you wish to go deeper:
How the Alchemists Meditated by alchemist Dennis William Hauck

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February 14, 2025February 18, 2025

Typhon Awakes!

In case you’ve been too preoccupied with the whiplashing American news…

Formidable seismic activity began occurring on Feb 5 in Greece’s most popular tourist destination, Thira (aka Santorini) and people are being evacuated from the heavenly island in droves. Some old timers are choosing to stay, being fatalistic…perhaps they will take care of the animals left behind. All those cats! Authorities are saying there is ‘no need to worry’ about volcano eruptions. Hmm….I wonder.

Of course, seismic activity in the Greek Islands and the surrounding seas is attributed to the Titan God, Typhon, who, after a long and bloody battle, Zeus managed to seal up under Mt. Etna, a still very active volcano on the east coast of Sicily (Prototype for St. Michael and Satan). Still rattling his chains and fuming, Typhon is responsible for typhoons, tsunamis, quakes, volcanos, plagues and other such disasters. But in the mytho-alchemical sense, Typhon is like Mercury on steroids, similar to Uranus being called the ‘higher octave’ of Mercury and having the effect of creating sea changes. For example, when the Greek gods fled Typhon into Egypt, where they donned animal heads/masks for disguise, the great Pan jumped into the sea, transforming via crisis into our Capricorn sea-goat.
Part 3 of this post about the TdM Devil goes into this Typhon material.

Detail in map of the Underworld, showing Typhon under the volcano.

As it turns out, there is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) named after him, as there is for everything – a binary system (it has a Moon) – currently at 28 Scorpio. Athanasius Kircher had once associated Typhon to this sign. At the moment of the first quake, TNO Typhon was/is opposing Uranus and Moon conjunct at 23 Taurus (earth).

I have long ‘intuited’ 23 as being Uranian in nature due to the discordant vibration of this prime number that reduces to 5. Today this is actually a commonly accepted idea. Lately, with Uranus having just stationed direct at 23 degrees of Taurus (typically a sign that thrives on harmony), you must admit, there has been quite a lot of discord! We can’t but acknowledge the POTUS’ wrecking ball nature, with his North Node closely flanked by Sun and Uranus – his most elevated planet – in Gemini. (Both Muck and his outspoken 4 yr old Mini-Me also have Sun-Uranus conjunctions). The number between 45 and 47 is 46, which, divided by 2 is…23.

Barry Blitt’s ‘Anything but That’ …at 23rd St??

This isn’t to say 23/Uranian discordant energy is necessarily always bad, but it is often shocking – you don’t see it coming – and has the effect of breaking up the harmonic order it refuses to fit into.

Returning to the main theme, Typhon, I also learned that astral Typhon was discovered Feb 5, 2002 – exactly 23 years to the day of this earthquake! (Yes, tremors started earlier, but it’s not an official quake unless it registers 5. on the Richter scale). Very mysterious, especially with Typhon’s distinctly serpentine attributes and it being a lunar EARTH SNAKE year.

Stamp featuring Zeus and Typhon duking it out

But is there a deeper meaning to all this, not just some wow-conspiracy-theory-sounding-coincidence? We have to remember that the Underworld, to the Greeks, was not yet the Hell of Christianity, although it did have a section like this for bad people and monsters, called Tartarus. Rather, Hades was an inverted, somewhat depressing mirror version of the above world of the living. Pluto is simply dark Zeus (also Dionysus, but let’s keep it simple).
Uranus, named after the sky itself, gets and sends its energy from the beyond the Saturnian sphere, ‘out of the blue’, often taking the form of inspiration (Urania) or strokes of genius. It’s fiery/airy. If Uranus is the higher octave of Mercury, then its ‘messages’ are going to come faster and more intensely. Typhon, similarly, rears up from deep below, sending shocks in the form of earth or water events, rocking our physical foundations.

Giulio Bonasone (Italian 1531-76), Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto dividing the universe. MET

When Jupiter and his two ‘brothers’ (actually all aspects of the one triplicity) cast lots and divided the realms, Neptune didn’t just get the sea, but the whole ‘middle realm’ where the other two worlds meet. We currently have the North Node conjunct Neptune in Pisces, trine Typhon/Scorpio, sextile Uranus/Taurus. Meanwhile, Pluto, Lord of Hades is in Uranus’ fixed air sign of Aquarius. We look to global events for clues to how and where the planetary aspects are manifesting. Greece is where our western ‘civilization’ began, The surrounding seas and islands are literally the realm of the old gods. Seems to me that some very shape-shifting, powerful chthonic and cosmic forces are at work or perhaps even doing battle, their combined effect being felt acutely by us middle-realm dwellers. Perhaps the frequency of 23 provides a conduit. ~rb

In the next instalment I will further explore 23 and Uranus in the charts of various air disasters.

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July 15, 2024July 15, 2024

Mars and Uranus and Algol, Oh My! – All 12 Houses, with B-Movies

Algol card from Le Tarot Astrologique, George Muchery

“A series of shocks – sneakers fall apart”
~ David Bowie/Up the Hill Backwards

We’ve heard the buzz, we’ve witnessed heads rolling on the collective stage. So what does it all mean, Algol ‘conjunct’ Mars and Uranus?

Ra’s al-Ghul, the ‘Demon’s head’ was not always associated with Gorgon and her blinking eye (the Hebrews knew it as the ‘Devil’s head’ but also the vampiric Lilith), but whatever, same evil connotations. The word comes from al-kuhl – meaning kohl, specifically referring to powders produced by alchemical sublimation. So already we find Algol linked to alchemy (and thereby chemistry), if only by name. Also, might ‘turning to stone’ have a double meaning?

Algol’s declination is way outside the ecliptic – it is not within the zodiacal constellation belt – so we can’t truly say it is ‘conjunct’ Mars and Uranus. But it does align latitudinally with 26 degrees of Taurus. A distant, fixed star like Algol becomes most potent at the time and place where it is a) rising, culminating or setting b) doing so with a planet or in aspect, or c) doing so with/aspecting another fixed star, which is calculated differently than with planetary aspects.

Trump’s transit chart at the time of his near-Kennedy moment showed Mars and Uranus (and thereby Algol, by latitude) all right on his midheaven (top point/angle of the chart), which is very significant. However, for the time and location, Algol was in fact below the horizon, having already set and not yet risen. So this might explain why the bullet only clipped his ear, the star’s power wasn’t at its peak. (Am hoping the Teflon Don will now fall on his knees, a changed man, due to Jupiter’s grace, but won’t hold my breath). I have always thought Trump looks like he’s begging to be put out of his misery. As it turns out, the shooter himself had natal Mars conjunct Uranus which landed on Trump’s natal descendant, and opposed Trump’s Mars/ascendant. (Descendant can signify shadow projection). Tragic, in every aspect.

Uranus has been in Taurus a while now, urging change in a sign that hates being urged to change. It’s been a slow burn, especially for Taurus, earth signs and anyone with significant aspects to it. Uranus is electric, original, can be irrational, weird or totally scientific and detached. It is also futuristic. Just about every kind of horror B-movie monster created in a lab by a mad scientist or met in outer space is under Uranus’ jurisdiction, but so are downloads of inspiration and information from outer to inner space (strokes of genius or ‘daemon’). These I like to attribute to Urania, its feminine side, muse of Astronomy, Astrology and all things cosmic.

Mars is a firebrand, firecracker, firearm. He’s our ammunition, our physical energy and will power, our will to live. He’s now oriented. Whether hero saving the day or toxic masculinity personified, he works alone. In Taurus, he is somewhat restricted to working underground, it’s a sign he can’t be his spontaneous, bravado self in. So again, in terms of the shooting, the sniper acted alone, probably fancied himself a hero, and secretly plotted the whole thing out, over time (he didn’t just wake up with the idea that morning).

The two planets together, in exact conjunction today, are explosive. Avoid confrontation for the next several days, please. Ask yourself is it worth ‘losing my head’ over? Because with Algol in the mix, it could happen, one way or another. Headaches are another possibility. Algol mojo is the most powerful of any fixed star. We now know it is not a binary system (two stars) but actually a trinary one (three stars). There were three Gorgon sisters, and they had three sisters called the Graeae, who were born old with grey hair. They shared one eye and one tooth between them, passing it around (Perseus stole these as ransom until they told him where to find Medusa). Coincidence?

We want to make this alignment work for us, but to do this, our own Mars must be a noble hero, not a blow-hard with a big ego. Perseus, Medusa’s assassin, can be seen as either. Solar heroes tend to be not very bright, but very brave and willing. They have a particular bias toward anything that slithers – serpents, dragons, sea monsters – which symbolize the untameable, irrational, lunar (dark) forces of the creative feminine, but also monsters we create from shadow.

[I’ve written about Medusa and her relationship with Athena pre-Perseus, so search her name herein if you are curious, but this article concerns the classical, Perseus myth, forever preserved in constellation lore. The Perseus/Medusa myth goes back to around 500 BC, and gorgon/gorgoneions probably before that, but Andromeda’s rescue was added much later.]

Perseus, our Mars/Taurus hero, didn’t just wake up one morning and decide to go kill Medusa, Athena put him up to it. Athena represents the rational, cooler expression of Uranus in this scenario. Medusa (flip side of the same coin) represents the B-movie monster created by an out-of-control experiment (Athena ‘turning her into a gorgon’ in the first place). Asteroid Pallas Athena is currently opposite Mars, in his home sign of Scorpio, getting a ‘removed’ perspective.

In our own lives, depending on which house of our chart this conjunction occurs in (find 26 Taurus in your chart), here lies something which has ‘come to a head’ – a head that has become a monster that petrifies everything (ie, can no longer move/grow). Your inner Athena has taken an objective view of the situation and has decided something drastic must be done. Hopefully you are conscious of this, because then you can be in charge of deciding what form your Perseus will take. Unconsciously, outer events seemingly come out of nowhere (Uranus) and take you by (sort of) surprise. Stay safe!

[Note, if you don’t know your birth time, then let first house = Aries, second house = Taurus, and so on. Not as precise, but still bears similarity.]

* * * * * * * * * * *

First house of self (or Aries):
You are done to death with the way you look/feel or how others see/don’t see you. Who are you really, today, now, and how can you let your freak fly or let go of being a freak? Don’t hold back! This is transformation time and you can be a trend-setter. A new hairstyle might suffice, but wait a few days, avoid sharp objects about the head today. Wear your fanciest helmet. Taurus is Venus’ sign, after all.

Second house of personal resources/values (or Taurus):
What has been accumulating so much that it has taken on a life of its own and has begun calling the shots? The mould in your fridge? The property you own? It’s time for a cull, to make room for new growth, seek fresh resources. Pegasus and Chysaor were born out of Medusa’s severed neck, and with the use of her severed head, Perseus was able to save the Venusian Andromeda from Cetus. Beauty and love can be radical.

Third house of communication (or Gemini):
Be honest, where does your speech, way of speaking, novel, or life story need editing? It’s possible you need to call in outer help, get a second opinion from someone with a more objective view (or you might be that person for someone else). At least get some distance for a while, stop trying. (Practice Wu Wei). You might just get a brainstorm. There is vast space in the moment. But do stay alert on the road, watch out for those Martian red sports cars.

Fourth house of home/mother parent (or Cancer):
Looks like that reno or repair can’t wait any longer. There may be upheaval, uprooting, cutting of an umbilical chord, or weaning of the infant, whether literally or metaphorically. Comfort zones become (even more) uncomfortable. Something rocks the cradle or the foundations. Practice compassionate un-attachment, letting go. Mothers of those with the 4th house transit might have similar issues now.

Fifth house of creativity/children (or Leo):
For creativity, this is a great boost. You could conceive some original new ideas now. Algol with Uranus can bring strokes of genius. Be open to new daemons, but also note that future-directed Uranus-Taurus genius is not always appreciated in one’s own lifetime. Pro-creatively, this could mean one of those un-planned events, so take extra precautions if not your plan. Existing kids might have head bumps or headaches. No trampoline today, ok?

Sixth house of work/health (or Virgo):
Are your work habits making you sick? You need to change them now and taking more time for self-care and exercise, if this is the case, to prevent a chronic condition from developing. I’m sorry but this can’t be put off any longer. If you are already doing this, fantastic. This conjunction can bring a boost of will to change or a boost of energy. You might also decide to change your work/job.

Seventh house of partners (or Libra):
Can we talk about contracts, shadow projection and who is bearing the other’s what? If you are in an abusive situation (be it with a spouse, business partner or otherwise), and are trying to leave, consciously use the Perseus-Medusa myth to take back the power you gave to the other person, which is also your anger. Athena gets her mojo by wearing Medusa’s head on her breastplate. Reclaim, do not fear.

Eighth house of shared resources/death (or Scorpio):
One of the psychic houses, where what is hidden from sight could take the form of an ‘outer’ surprise. Here is where Medusa might have the upper hand. Also, vials of the blood spurting from her two, severed neck veins – right/healing and left/toxic – were given to Asclepius the healer, on whom Ophiuchus is based. His constellation straddles Scorpio and Sagittarius. It’s where we get the word ‘medicine,’ Use it wisely.

Ninth house of higher mind (or Sagittarius):
Here, this conjunction can be a mind-opener. If your moral standing is in order, Algol aloft should be fine. But if you’ve been pontificating ‘do as I say not as I do’, look out. She doesn’t like falsifiers and will turn you into a relic. Traveling or just reading this Summer should ideally take you as far away as possible, not to escape, but to be a-ston-ished, from ‘attonaire’, a Latin word meaning, ‘as if being struck by lightening.’ (ie, ‘turned to stone’).

Tenth house of career/father parent (or Capricorn):
I could save time by just putting a picture of the Tower card here. What the card actually depicts is a release from a prison tower, by divine intervention. It also has sexual connotations – le petit mort describes the ego death that happens with orgasm. Has your career, persona or reputation become a prison? It’s said the subject draws the lightening to itself. Did Medusa just want out of her misery? Or was Pegasus kicking in his stall?

Eleventh house of friends/groups (or Aquarius):
Are you living for others to the point where you’ve lost yourself? Are you sick of the company you’ve been keeping, not wanting to be in a club that would have you as a member? You might want to speak your mind – just be sure that your intent is for the betterment of everyone, or that you are ok with burning a bridge. Otherwise, it’s you they’ll eat. Stay on the high road, don’t take things personally.

Twelfth house of subconscious/unselfing (or Pisces):
You shouldn’t have trouble with the ‘letting go’ aspects of this conjunction, unless you are attached to things for sentimental reasons, but the acceleration might take you for a spin, if you’ve been just ‘going with the flow’ of changes up until now. This is the house of ‘self-undoing,’ so chopping off your own head is not out of the question. But is it that of the Gorgon or of the Hydra – the monster whose heads keep regrowing – that you sever? ~rb

If you want to know more about your own, fixed star placements and what they mean, here’s a good blog.

And here is a very good book which I invite everyone to buy and read:
KARMA: What it Is, What it Isn’t, Why it Matters by Traleg Kyabgon

Thanks for reading! All written content ©copyright Roxanna Bikadoroff and may not be reused anywhere without permission. Please share LINK only.

June 1, 2024June 3, 2024

Another Side of Mars in Aries – Who Knew?

Today is my Mars return at 24 Aries. I’d been expecting the usual – namely, irritation (I did have an eczema outbreak, but that was immediately after listening to five minutes I’ll never get back of DT’s vitriol, last night) and a sudden surge of willpower to get things done. Check! But I hadn’t expected feeling ‘lighter’, even goofily so.

Aries is of course one of the signs ruled by red planet (the other being Scorpio, traditionally), God of War/Death, so Mars is well-placed here, where he can express himself absolutely. Mars in Aries is direct, to the point, impatient, quick to rile and often fearless, sometimes stupidly so, head-butting in first. But what about when he begins to mellow with age?

Mars is a lone wolf, shunned by the other Greco-Roman gods (together with his sister, Eris/’discord’, currently conjunct at 25 Aries), except Venus, who finds him a turn-on, and Pluto, always glad to expand the underworld population. No stranger to pain, tragedy and suffering, Mars has waded through blood and acquired many a battle scar, thus is also a knowledgeable healer. Military men had to know how to stop the bleeding, remove an arrow, cauterize an amputation, prevent infection, use herbs, and possibly recite prayers for the dying. Bodies belong to Mars, and they are impermanent.

Fool/Comedy and Death/Tragedy, flip sides, Grimaud Tarot de Marseille

But Aries also happens to be the sign of the Fool – the wise Fool or ‘wise child.’ April Fool’s Day is in Aries season, after all, and this is the first sign of the zodiac, the infant. Aries never seem to grow up, yet they see with a clarity (clear vision = clairvoyance) that can be unsettling. Like all fire signs, they like attention and rarely hold a grudge. Perhaps Aries the warrior secretly knows laughter (+good bedside manner) is the best medicine, that humour, like Venus’ love, disarms, and the lone wolf sits beside the Fool on the hill to watch the Sun go down and howl at the Moon.

Ancestor of the big, bad wolf (photo ©RBikadoroff)

So this other side of Mars in Aries becomes apparent. Take a look at the opening image of the Sola Busca Fool/MATO card. I tend to avoid this deck precisely because it is so gory and feels heavily Martian/Saturnian. But how interesting that he has a crow (death) on his shoulder and walks through a barren wasteland, much like a battlefield. He wears red (Mars/blood) and plays a bagpipe, an instrument of war even before the Romans brought it to the British Isles. Hmm.

Sketch of a Roman phallic tintinnabulum, 1746

Mars is currently in the third/last decan of Aries. Depending on which decan system you use, the third is either ruled by Jupiter (most common), Venus or Gemini. Based on how it feels (trine my Sagi Moon), I have to go with the jovial one. A planet in late degrees exhibits an accumulative effect, similar to life experience, or lifetimes of experience. Perhaps this is the real meaning of the dog (or cat) who bites our Fool from behind, a past of aggression he is walking away from, un-attachment to old anger, pain and fear, as he heads into the great beyond. ~rb

You might also enjoy this recent post about the Fool.

Sola Busca and Soprafino card images are from Tarotwheel.net, highly recommended site for Tarot history.

January 6, 2023December 17, 2023

Full Moon in Cancer, Lilith, Menopause

Menopause is the new “hot topic”, according to the CBC news.
I’m guessing my Pluto in Virgo peeps “opened the floodgates” (media’s words, not mine) of taboo removal, because if there’s one thing Pluto/Virgo understands, it’s the deep, psychological changes that are going on, together with the physical, as we enter opposite virginity, amirite, ladies? So, as we’ve now ‘crossed over’, let us X-gens pass down what we have learned to the next gens.

Menses and month both come from the same root (men also means moon, and there was even a cute, little moon-god named Men, see below). The Moon is our oldest time keeper, as we find depicted on the walls of Lascaux (this is a recent article about it, here I thought it was common knowledge) and elsewhere, because her cycles coincide with those of the female sex.
In the modern age of electricity, humans became out of sync with these natural cycles and the moods that go with them.

Roman Anatolian ‘Men’ who presided over the lunar months.

When a woman (or a man, for that matter) is not in touch with her lunar nature, or feels ashamed of it, the unexpressed Moon self is diverted to shadow, where it becomes an initiate of the Black Moon, Lilith – you know, like those secret tiki god bohemian black magic clubs that respectable members of society used to have in their basements. Her creative power, like that of Pluto, can turn destructive, self-sabotaging, in an attempt to kill off the false self. When this finally occurs with age, we stop giving a damn what others think, and Lilith becomes a staunch ally and a force to be reckoned with. (She’ll be leaving Cancer and entering Leo in a couple of days, so, ya).

Fun fact: ‘Hysteria’ and ‘hysterics’ were once thought to be caused by the uterus moving around through the body at night. (I think mine was actually doing this during perimenopause).

Grandmother Moon has been keeping time and observing all us babies since we were just amoebas on Earth’s watery womb, so if she could talk (and she does), oh the bedtime stories she could tell. This is especially true under the Cancer full Moon, currently opposite retrograde Mercury. The past is bound to resurface in some shape or form. So how does this relate to menopause?

Venus of Laussel with her calends, Upper Paleolithic

The word itself means a ceasing (pause) of menses. Remember, the menstrual cycle is directly associated with time cycles, both inner and outer. Perimenopause can be even more difficult than menopause or post-menopause (note the lunar triad within the triad, there), because everything is getting de-programmed and re-adjusted to a new phase, a new kind of time…hormones surge and drop in ways that make Cancerian mood-swings seem like a toy see-saw. This reverse puberty onset can be downright terrifying (I personally experienced losing half my blood and requiring a transfusion). Maiden and mother phases grow smaller in the distance, as we cross the threshold into Hecate’s cold, lunar landscape. Here, the unconscious knows no solar age…in the soul, everything is fluid.

As beginner crones (root same as crow and crown), we must now become inwardly re-attuned with the Moon, as we feel the ravages of time on our bodies, and face the fact that the physical is temporal. We fear the body loss, because rational, scientific thinking tells us it is primarily our physical self that defines us (see previous Solar Heroes post), that it is the body that ‘has a soul’. But in fact, it is the eternal soul that has a body, or rather, bodies. Grandmother Moon is firm on this. She presides over the inner world like Sun does the outer. At night, we traverse her realm….but, how many of us at this stage find our sleeping patterns are all over the place? Might it mean that our inner Moon is now wide awake and roaming out of bounds? Or just that darned, roaming uterus?

Will leave you with those thoughts, for now.
Stay tuned for more meno memos!

moon face with lolling tongue blue and white — Moon-faced Gorgoneion, protectress of mysteries by RB

All written content ©Roxanna Bikadoroff 2023. Do not repost/republish my work in part or whole without first getting my permission.
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December 17, 2022October 26, 2023

Mars Retrogradation of Irritation

In ye olde times, astronomers noted that the sky/stars moved one direction, while the planets moved against this backdrop, in the opposite direction. (They were called ‘wanderers’). Thus, symbolically, planets came to represent individual will/drives.
So when they go into apparent, backward motion – aka retrograde – they are in effect being forced back into the collective flow of the universe. Something to keep in mind during Mars’ retrograde (since Oct 30/22, until Jan 12/23 + shadow period for another 2 months) as this planet epitomizes personal will/drive.

If you are born with any planets retrograde (most people are), you may find those planets are not as co-operative when ‘forced’ to conform, yet they do hold a special wisdom that seems to operate at a more natural pace than direct planets.

Mercury is the “god of retrogradation”, back and forth three times a year, for about three weeks+, and Pluto spends about half the year in reverse. Venus makes a star with her precise retrogrades…i.e, most of the planets are on a schedule. But Mars’ cycle, like the planet-god, can be a bit rough and unpredictable. And because Mars thrives on being adversarial, he’s especially effective when direct, i.e., going solo, against the grain, doing his own, ego independent thing and doing it fast.
In retrograde, not only is he being asked to slow down and march to a beat not emanating from his own drum, but…ever see a scorpion get ready to strike? Or a ram get ready to butt? They back up first – a sign you should get out of the way unless you are up for a battle to the death or at least a bad headache.

I think of Mercurial trickster Bugs Bunny as embodying the flow, the Wu Wei, while his continually confounded adversaries – Yosemite Sam (in particular), Marvin Martian or Elmer Fudd – as embodiments of frustrated Mars. Single-minded, angry child-men just can’t stop seeking his medicine.* (Is that why he says,”Nyeh, what’s up, Doc?”)
Backfiring is such a great, Mars retrograde word.

In Gemini (Mercury’s sign), we may feel Mars’ frustration in all areas of communication. It can feel like Mercury Rx on steroids, when things go awry. Personal will and drive aren’t able to function as we’d like and patience must be exercised. If you have a strong, natal Mars, it can be especially frustrating, like driving with the breaks on or getting red lights at every intersection.

However, Mars requires this training in order to be a good samurai, in any area of life, it is actually good for his focusing ability. (Sagittarius Mars understands this, those with this placement will often be into Martial arts or some kind of channeled discipline for their inner warrior).
Who could forget this scene from Kurosawa’s epic film, The Seven Samurai? (Both Kurosawa and Mifune were Aries, btw). Which swordsman has mastered Mars retrograde?

*Astrologer Caroline Casey said that ‘the oppressor seeks the medicine of those they oppress’, am not sure whether she was quoting another.

All written content ©Roxanna Bikadoroff and may not be used or reproduced without permission and a credit and link to this post.
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May 19, 2021January 8, 2023

Jupiter in Pisces pt 2 – Trust in Mystery

Another important theme of Jupiter in Pisces is keeping faith as we navigate waters that are not always perfectly clear. Jupiter has everything to do with faith, but we should also remember that he is the greater prophet as well as a triad (with his other expressions being ‘brothers,’ Neptune and Pluto). Zeus-Jupiter’s psychopomp/messenger son Hermes-Mercury is really just a chip off the old block. Indeed, Jupiter is often overlooked as having anything to do with death in a chart, but will often indicate whether a person had a ‘good’ death, in the spiritual sense.

Again, this quote:

For the supreme maker first creates things, then seizes upon them and thirdly perfects them…
…Thus they first flow from that perennial fountain as they are born, then they flow back to it as they seek to revert to their origin, and finally they are perfected after they have returned to their beginning. This was divined by Orpheus when he called Jupiter the beginning, the middle and the end of the universe…

~ from Pagan Mysteries in the Renaissance, by Edgar Wind

As if to reiterate, the Cerberus, who guards the gates of Hades, has three dog heads, said to represent past, present and future (from an excellent blog, linked below):

One head of the dog represents the past, one the present, and the third is the future. Cerberus characterizes all of the negative aspects of each of these time frames. He aims to freeze forward movement and lock us into negative, repetitive patterns. Obsessing about the past, overwhelm in the present, and fear of the future are his methods.

We all have a three-headed dog in the dark regions of our psyche. If we are to live the life we envision, and not the one we fear, we must overcome Cerberus. The past, present and future can be sources of comfort, inspiration and encouragement. Or, they can be a nightmare. The choice is ours to make.

~ Patrick O’Neill, Extraordinary Conversations

It’s worth mentioning that Scylla, the legendary sea-monster of Greek mythology (ie, yet another demonized Goddess) that haunted the rocks of a narrow straight, opposite the whirlpool Charybdis, also had dog extensions growing from her flanks. This is likely the origin of the expression, ‘caught between a rock and a hard place.’ When we can see no way through a situation and must ultimately turn to faith, have patience and wait for an answer to our request from the universe for help or guidance.

Sunk waist-deep in the cave’s recesses, she still darts out her head from that frightening hollow, and there, groping greedily round the rock, she fishes for dolphins (delphines) and for sharks (kynes) and whatever beast (ketos) more huge than these she can seize upon from all the thousands that have their pasture from loud-moaning Amphitrite. No seaman ever, in any vessel, has boasted of sailing that way unharmed, for with every single head of hers she snatches and carries off a man from the dark-prowed ship. You will see that the other cliff lies lower, no more than an arrow’s flight away. On this there grows a great leafy fig-tree; under it, awesome Kharybdis (Charybdis) sucks the dark water down . . . No, keep closer to Skylla’s cliff, and row past that as quickly as may be; far better to lose six men and keep your ship than to lose your men one and all.’
So she spoke, and I answered her: ‘Yes, goddess, but tell me truly–could I somehow escape this dire Kharybdis and yet make a stand against the other when she sought to make my men her prey?’
So I spoke, and at once the queenly goddess answered : ‘Self-willed man , is your mind then set on further perils, fresh feats of war? Will you not bow to the deathless gods themselves?

~ Scylla and the Voyage of Odysseus, Theoi.com

People often come for readings because of fear and want to believe they have some control over the future by finding out what it might be. This is not really possible – at least not without a grasp on the past and more importantly, the present. For like Jupiter and his brothers, or the heads of Cerberus, the three are all one being. And would it actually even help to see into the future? This is also why Jupiter, ruler of Sagittarius, is the god of speculation and gambling.

Yesterday, on my low tide beach walk, I came upon a small, dead fish. I noticed the water was very murky. Perhaps it had lost it’s way or its gills became clogged. More likely it was a bait fish that didn’t get eaten. Each day, the tides bring in something different; reams of ivy cuttings, a dead sea lion, limes, agates, plant bulbs, bits of china and glass, fossil wood, a yacht, rose petals, star fish, bones…manifestations of the cluttered 12th house. From whence did these things come? How did they end up here? And where do they go when they disappear again? Life on earth came from this body of salt water and it’s all still a great mystery to us. This is why Jupiter, traditional ruler of Pisces is the god of religion and spiritual matters.

At this moment, the Moon is at 0 Virgo, directly opposite Jupiter. Virgo is one of Mercury’s houses, and has a tendency toward sorting practical details and analyzing. Mercury is in Gemini, his other house, and is ‘slowing down’ in preparation for retrograde, beginning on the 29th. Though we will try, we will be unable to see what’s ahead during this time and must now let Jupiter faith and trust in the greater mystery to guide us. Pay attention to dreams, serendipity and omens (such as finding a dead fish).

Remember that symbolic phenomena doesn’t necessary ‘mean’ anything other than what it IS in its mysterious power. Our Virgo/Mercurial analyzer wants to know what it literally means, so we heed the warnings of priests, superstitions and dream analysis books, not to mention astrologers, rather than just trusting what we felt and that we can’t ultimately know the reason.
(However, an astrologer, like the meteorologist, can tell you what conditions will be like, so that you can better prepare).

As an example, once, when I was not well and had very little ‘qi’, a friend was driving me to a doctor’s appointment, when a crow, scuffling with another crow, hit the window on my side, like a bolt. It gave me a great shock, as you can imagine. The next day, another bird hit my studio window, which rarely happens, especially not right after another such incident! I could have groped in the dark for meaning and seen this as a ‘bad omen’ (certainly not good for the birds), but instead took it for what it was…life energy literally being hurled at me in physical form. I thanked the bird messengers for their vehicular sacrifice.
Similarly, when things happen or don’t happen due to timing, which is so often the case during Mercury Rx, we get upset and ‘blame the messenger’, when maybe it was a blessing in disguise.

Perhaps you’ve heard this fable?

There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.
“Maybe,” the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed.
“Maybe,” replied the old man.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. “Maybe,” answered the farmer.

The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. “Maybe,” said the farmer.

All written content except where quoted in bold is copyright ©Roxanna Bikadoroff and may not be reproduced without my permission, plus credit and link to the site. You may share the article via link.
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(I don’t like having to repeat this every time, but unfortunately it’s necessary).

January 30, 2021October 20, 2023

Queen of the Night – An Orientalist Fantasy in Sequins

This post is about the inspiration and research behind the first in a series of three tapestries, which has it’s own art page, here. I have Black Moon Lilith and Moon on the ascendant, at the same degree, so astrologically speaking, she’s always ‘in my face’, a topic of much speculation, creativity and learning.

sequinned tapestry of Queen of the Night, in black, white and silver — LILIMOTH

Initially, I’d wanted to create something that commented on the US invasion of Iraq. But beyond the political, the psychological motivation behind it seemed to be a continuation of an orientalist, biblical fantasy, mythologized on the silent screen by stars like Rudolf Valentino and Theda Bara. Muse of William Fox (Fox Studios), Theda’s stage name was an anagram for ‘Arab Death’ and the legend was that she had been born under the Sphinx. In reality she was a Jew from Cincinnati, Theodosia Burr Goodman…but maybe her first name carried some karmic, Byzantine resonance. My grandparents adored her, and so do I.

Vamps: Philip Burne-Jones, Theda Bara and the Burney Relief (British Museum)

Fun fact: a direct lineage can be traced from Dracula to Fox News. Bram Stoker’s novel was published in 1897, same year as Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. Kipling wrote two famous poems that year; Recessional (‘lest we forget’ – a warning about hubris, not a requiem) and The Vampire, based on his cousin Philip Burn-Jones’ painting of a lady Vampire. The latter became the script for the 1915 silent film ‘A Fool There Was – a Psychological Drama‘ starring Theda Bara as the Vamp, and the rest is history. Hollywood’s reigning succubus made Fox a fortune, and although the studio changed hands a few times over the decades, the news network still bears his name.

I had spent a number of years as an orientalist, myself, belly dancing in San Francisco, where, while American troops pillaged Bagdhad’s treasures, show biz promoters at home were busy recreating and selling Arab culture in their own name, just like in the good old days. It was disturbing to learn that some of the players and financiers behind the invasion believed that the actual Garden of Eden was located around Baghdad somewhere and needed reclaiming. Oil was only part of the story, Saddam was busy rebuilding Babylon on perceived christian turf at a prophetically critical time (imperialist rulers had long ago pillaged the originals, so he was recreating them) – oh no he didn’t. Patriarchs fighting over ownership of the Goddess’ terrain, what else is new?

Further, looking to nature for older, mythical memories, the Death’s Head Hawk Moth struck a chord. Acherontia atropos is the most popular of the three species, due to her pronounced skull marking and subsequent appearances in literature and film (such as the Silence of the Lambs). She lives primarily in the Middle East:

The species names atropos, lachesis and styx are all from Greek myth and related to death. The first refers to the member of the three Moirai who cuts the threads of life of all beings; the second to the Moira who allots the correct amount of life to a being; and the last refers to the river of the dead. In addition the genus name Acherontia is derived from Acheron, a river of Greek myth that was said to be a branch of the river Styx. [Wikipedia]

Turns out this little Moira of the night shares attributes with our lady Screech Owl (Lilith), such as, well, screeching (or rather, squeaking):

“However, let the cause of the noise be what it may, the effect is to produce the most superstitious feelings among the uneducated, by whom it is always regarded with feelings of awe and terror.”
~ Edward Newman, mid 19th century entomologist [ibid]

Have a listen to the cutest ‘I am the night’ ever, here.

Like Lilitu, who were thought to steal babes from their cradles, Acherontia steals honey from beehives by mimicking their scent. Her larva feast on nightshades, the accumulative affect of toxic alkaloids making them poisonous – perhaps formulating the distinct skull marking on the adult moth.

Medium being the message, I put away my paper and charcoal, and took out my unused, belly dance costuming supplies. Religious icons require materials that reflect light, be it glass, gold, movie screen or – why not? – sequins. Then I remembered having been blown away by a show of sequinned, Haitian Vodou Drapo (flags) in Montreal, some years prior, and that sealed it.

Lilimoth was completed in 2008. The second piece, Medusun, in 2009. The third piece, Anathemia, in 2022. This is a 3 part blogpost, so do read the other 2 to learn more!

All written content herein (except quotations), images of Lilimoth tapestry and Theda sketch are ©Roxanna Bikadoroff and may not be reproduced anywhere without my permission. You may share the post via link.

January 11, 2021May 24, 2024

Election Vivisection Redux

And when he came to the place where the wild things are
they roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth
and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws
till Max said “BE STILL!”
and tamed them with a magic trick
of staring into their yellow eyes without blinking once
and they were frightened and called him the most wild thing of all
and made him king of all wild things
“And now,” cried Max, “let the wild rumpus start!”

~ from ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ by Maurice Sendak

Below are excerpts from two articles from my old blog archives. I was not going to include them – or any political posts – in this new site, but under the circumstances, it’s kind of interesting now, to see the writing on the wall. The summation for me was Patti Smith singing ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ at the Nobels, after the dictator won the election in 2016. The sinking feeling we’d all had foreshadowed so much that has befallen us since, but the song is hopeful at the end.
(Photos of the subject have been removed, as well as his full name, because we’ve seen quite enough).

Monday, March 14, 2016 – Triumph of the Donald

Why do I get the feeling, when I witness DT, that he is a man in great pain, begging to be put out of his misery ?

Geminis often make great actors, because of their channeling abilities, as long as they can consciously take the persona off at the end of the day. Gemini Marilyn Monroe was an example of one who could not. Having ‘no there, there’ can be scary, feel empty.
One of the more serious conditions a non-conscious or un-grounded Gemini can suffer from is demon or spirit possession, because, being mutable air they are often not quite in their bodies, and being Mercurial, even the less shadowy twins can sometimes attract invisible friends, conjuring unawares. Demons eat negativity and when they find a host, they encourage more and more of it in them, to feast on, as was the case with Gemini Rob Ford, former mayor of Toronto.

Similarly, DT is getting more bloated and insane and less in control of his words and actions. He is not on crack, though I am not sure about pharmaceuticals. At the same time, because of the path he’s taken, he has no choice but to see it through, high stakes, winner take all. Speculative Sagittarius Moon opposite his Gemini Sun. DT has Uranus (higher octave of Mercury) conjunct Sun and opposite Moon. Uranus here bestows an obstinate self-centeredness, extreme unpredictability and the courage of one’s own convictions, no matter how crazy. Monotony is anathema, therefore the pot must always be stirred. With Moon opp Uranus, the soul is never at rest and the person cannot be happy living in the present. The need for intensity eventually can wear them out. I think he is worn out, but his demons are keeping him hopped up and he likes the mojo. And Mercury square Neptune can be delusional.

America loves Uranus, because it’s the planet of Aquarius, society at large, freedom, revolution, the rebel without a cause, wild at heart, as well as science and technology, discovery. But it’s unpredictability has a dark side, too – energetic forces that we don’t know how to control, nukes, big pharma, genetic engineering, and internet disinformation that flows like spilled water. Any planets close to the Sun want their place in the Sun, they’re ‘hot’, so I think his Uranus (insert Uranus joke here) is what people notice first and foremost…certainly that ‘shock’ of hair. His followers feel oppressed by ‘political correctness’ and see him as their liberator.

It’s funny, because mythological Uranus was no liberator. And we now know Uranus, like Saturn, has rings, so even though it marches to a different drummer, it is not entirely unconstrained by limitations. In any case, DT’s North Node lies right smack between his Sun and Uranus, so there’s a destiny to fulfill, for better or worse, and it’s tied in with his aggressive, lonely, Leo Mars ego in the 12th house of karmic debt and self-undoing. The 12th house is where one seeks to dissolve ‘me’ and devote to higher ideals, to transcend ego and free oneself from residue of past deeds. Pluto is also in Leo, there (if his birth time is correct), at 10 degrees. The Pluto-Leo generation have issues and past guilt around things like privilege and wealth, lording it over others. It’s the rock star/super star Baby Boomer bunch. Many of them worked through their karma on stage, through performance. Well, America has had an actor for president before…

Giansar is the fixed star conjunct DT’s Pluto, in the tail of Draco. It indicates having many friends and an analytical mind, but also the name means ‘the punished enemy’ as well as ‘the poison place’, because it is similar in nature to the south node (Dragon’s tail). He may very well be re-living a past life of being a punished dictator. Royal star Regulus, Heart of the Lion aka ‘Little King’, is right smack on his ascendant, conjunct Mars by a few degrees, meaning he sees himself – and others may see him – as a ruthless king. Well, he certainly does live like royalty.
The fixed stars around his Sun have to do with high position, quick mind, quick temper, luck, brief fame, scandal, quarrels, weapons of war, point of attack and the Death card in Tarot. (I think of stars as being indicative of the past, because their light has come from there, reaching us in the present and lighting particular points of the chart).

Mussolini was Leo Sun w Gemini Pluto, in mutual reception to DT’s Gemini Sun and Leo Pluto.

Thursday, October 27, 2016
Election Vivisection

Watching parts of the last presidential debate made me physically nauseous for about three days. Both candidates are frightening, but I think DT is actually, literally toxic, a product of all the psychological hazardous waste in the US, having taken on a life form.

It’s hard to say who was doing exactly what last time around, but 1938 keeps coming up again and again. The players have changed, but the cycle has come back to the same spot. Fun fact – H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds was first broadcast Oct 30, 1938, causing widespread panic, because Orson Welles made it sound so realistic. The first large scale example, perhaps, of how collective fear could be manipulated by media. (Aptly, it was a Mercury Theatre production). We are seeing that every day now, but nobody is coming on air after the fact to tell us that it’s not real !

I’m not the only one who thinks there will be a plot twist to this election. Some think there will be an assassination or attempt on either candidate, most predict some kind of voting fraud or mishap. I think it will come after the election, whether it be assassination, health-related or some criminal allegation. Not sure, just know that the actual election is not going to be the end of this madness, just a point of release.

Looking to 1938 again, there were a few very false starts, like when Hitler was named TIME Magazine’s Man of the Year. That’s right, Hitler, Man of the Year. Meanwhile, concentration camps were opening up in Germany, the passports of Jews were being confiscated and their businesses being looted, the Holocaust had begun. The Munich Agreement saw Germany, Italy, France and Britain agree to the annexation of the Sudetenland/Czechoslovakia by Germany, without any say from the Czechs, thinking this would avert war. Neville Chamberlain arrived home, waving the signed papers, proclaiming, “Peace in our time !” Yeah, that didn’t happen. Instead, Mussolini began demanding France cede various ‘colonies’ to Italy, the Middle east was also being carved up, and the atomic age officially started when nuclear fission, using Uranium was first discovered that year.
Seeing any parallels yet ? Now we have refugee camps, passports being confiscated, new dictators, Ukraine, Syria, use of depleted uranium, the threat of nukes and world war for real, rearing it’s ugly head… Not making predictions, just noting that unfinished business has returned to collect and the tension is thick as black, Russian rye.

Comparing their charts, Putin trumps DT, and his crafty, Gemini Moon must give a sense of security or recognition to DT’s ‘no there there’ Sun. I’d have to agree that Trump makes a very excellent, Putinesque puppet. It’s a mutual, buddy-buddy relationship, sure, except that one of the buddies is not playing with a full deck, the other is a major, world player. A narcissist like DT with Mars and Pluto in the 12th is attracted to power like a fly to excrement and is therefore malleable. At the same time, he has a lot of power residue, left over from the past, and is an excellent manipulator himself, but he does not use it responsibly, he throws it about, inciting people to be their worst and attracting entities. The man is akin to a walking ear worm of your most hated song.

Well, less than 3 weeks to go…

Btw, Nov 9 in 1938 was ‘Kristallnacht’, the ‘night of broken glass’, in Germany, when Nazi activists and sympathizers spent the night on a rampage, burning and looting Jewish businesses and synagogues. We can likely expect some violence around this election – if he loses, there will be anger, rioting by those believing the results fixed… if he wins, there will be idiots who see it as permission to go on a racist rampage.

And now, back to the present…

Attack on US Congress, Jan 6, 2021 – either that upholstery goes or we do.

This just in…
A friend posted to FB this morning. Old footage of a Nazi rally at Madison Square Gardens, 1939, pieced together and cleaned up by director Marshall Curry. It seems hard to believe (although I’d heard of this event, before), but then, considering Hitler was TIME’s Man of the Year, just the year before, and the world had not yet seen the concentration camps, maybe not so hard. Please watch this 6 minutes of horror.

April 30, 2020February 11, 2024

Wakey Wakey!

Descartes denied that animals had reason or intelligence. He argued that animals did not lack sensations or perceptions, but these could be explained mechanistically. Whereas humans had a soul, or mind, and were able to feel pain and anxiety, animals by virtue of not having a soul could not feel pain or anxiety. If animals showed signs of distress then this was to protect the body from damage, but the innate state needed for them to suffer was absent. Although Descartes’ views were not universally accepted they became prominent in Europe and North America, allowing humans to treat animals with impunity. The view that animals were quite separate from humanity and merely machines allowed for the maltreatment of animals, and was sanctioned in law and societal norms. [Wikipedia]

Such cold, clinical mindset (which ignores the fact that we are animals and we feel) still pervades today, because progress depends on it, not because there is any truth to it.

Uranus was discovered in the 18th c, and along with the many scientific breakthroughs and discoveries, the shadow side was this overly-clinical, detached way of relating to other living ‘things’. Nature was no longer sacred, only the human soul was. Everything else was formula, which could be measured, dissected, categorized. Astrology was kicked of of astronomy, alchemy out of chemistry, and myth would become synonymous with ‘lie’. Doctors took over from midwives, magic became a sideshow act, as did people with physical deformities.
It’s no wonder there was a huge, spiritualist movement at the end of the 19th century. Perhaps this was indicative of another side of Uranus coming into play – the free thinker, telepath, prophet or astrologer who seeks to unify everything and who can ‘see the world in a grain of sand.’ The fin-de-ciecle of the 19th c also gave us Frankenstein and Dracula, metaphors for mad science/creation envy and inherent, human cannibalism (according to Guillermo del Toro).

Watch this excellent lecture series from UCLA on Science, Magic and Religion

The overwhelmingly positive response to the Queen’s simple and predictable address today, as Black Moon Lilith conjuncts the Sun, shows that many people are starved for the slightest bit of the sacred in their lives. Popular religion is often too abstracted, no longer bearing any resemblance to the natural cycles and phenomena it was originally inspired by.

I’m reminded of when Diana died in a car crash. People were weeping in part for the princess, but more deeply, I think, for the Goddess. Lilith’s destructiveness stems from the lunar Goddess’ rejection and the stripping of her ‘corona’ – the severing of her head/mental power source. This is more obvious in the myth of Medusa, whose head writhes with primordial serpent wisdom.

Looking at this corona virus (even the name) as a symbolic phenomenon, it is a symptom of our dislocation from the sacred, within and without. The lungs are where grief manifests, around the heart (Aquarius/Leo). Viruses are now thought to play role in our evolution, in changing our DNA. So this is also part of our birthing process.
Restoration of the sacred is something we can all take part in. We simply need to listen, become humble in the presence of nature, life, death and learn to live with reverence again – easy! – we are all indigenous to planet earth and this infinite universe.
The number 20 illustrates an ear and open orifice. Yes it is the Judgement calling card, but it is also through the ear (sound, vibration, frequency) that the holy spirit – the shape-making essence – is conceived.

Medical Definition of conception 1a : the process of becoming pregnant involving fertilization or implantation or both. b : embryo, fetus. 2a : the capacity, function, or process of forming or understanding ideas or abstractions or their symbols. b : a general idea. [Merriam Webster]