On July 7, 2025, the planet Uranus will enter Gemini for approximately 7 years. Since Gemini is an air sign, this will be a noticeably different Uranian energy than has been expressed in Taurus. Although Uranus, the ‘higher octave’ of Mercury is said to be the planet of change, rebellion, discovery and so on, in Taurus, this was often felt more as rumbling urges and irritation. (We did see a significant amount of volcanic activity and earthquakes). Think of how mutable earth sign Virgo experiences ruler Mercury’s flighty, buzzing frequency in her earth body as stress. Now imagine Mercury on steroids (Uranus) stuck in in fixed earth (Taurus). So it’s going to be quite a release for Uranus in the Mercury-ruled, intellect-driven, mutable air sign of Gemini.
Traditionally, Saturn – who, like Mercury is a god of alchemy – rules the signs of Capricorn and Aquarius*, and sits in opposition to Cancer (Moon/Silver) and Leo (Sun/gold). The most dense and toxic on one side, the most pure and luminous on the other.
In medieval medical manuscripts, Capricorn was sometimes depicted as a unicorn. The unicorn’s horn was thought to purify any body of water it touched. Powdered, it was a supposed cure-all. Vikings would sell narwhal horns to Europeans, who valued them more than gold for their mythical properties.
A spiralling, calcified growth emerging from the third eye – what a very Saturnine embodiment of awareness, spiritual awakening …. or upgrade/refinement of the caduceus. Commerce and fast talking Vikings.
“We caught the beast called the Unicorn That knows and loves a maiden best And falls asleep upon her breast: We took from underneath it’s horn The splendid male carbuncle stone Sparkling against the white skull bone.”
The unicorn is a beloved mythical beast, but it’s also a monster, in the literal sense. And Uranus can, with its touch, create monsters – bombs, deformities, disasters, etc. Astrologers have been pointing out that the US, with its Uranus and Mars in Gemini, was involved in major wars (WW2 and Civil) during the last two Uranus returns. (Mind you, when has it not been at war, directly or by proxy?). ’47’ has Uranus in Gemini conjunct his Sun and North Node, conjunct the US’s Mars. When the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Uranus and Mars in Gemini were conjunct the midheaven (MC).
Uranus can be the ‘terror of the scientific sun’ but it can also be freaks, weirdoes, and, in Gemini, a very odd twin. Alice Cooper has Uranus in Gemini sextile Pluto/Saturn and opposite Jupiter/Moon (47 also Uranus opp Moon). He was able to profit from his goth, nightmarish ‘other self’, but like Jekyll and Hyde, he said it began to destroy him, requiring drugs and booze to keep the stage persona alive.
In a radio interview, Alice Cooper told of how, at the premier performance of “Welcome To My Nightmare”, he was greeted backstage by Groucho Marx, who shook his hand and congratulated him for bringing back Vaudeville. “He got it. He knew what we were up to,” said Cooper.
Mercury and Gemini have a special relationship with theatre and acting (taking on personas/fakery/camp, etc). So with higher-tech Uranus here, the whole issue of AI in the film industry will likely be amped up. Aquarius and Gemini have to do with ‘friends’ and already we see there’s a whole new trend of inventing chatbot AI friends and other relationships. But we could be talking something more along the lines of alternate/mirror universe, with Gemini being doubles. Or a hidden universe that is like a ‘vanishing twin‘ to ours.
Twin flames? Aurora consurgens, St. Gallen 15th century
Uranus in Gemini will make a trine to Pluto in Aquarius and sextile to Neptune and Saturn in Aries. So two air and two fire planets all in cahoots. This is a completely new, volatile, un-formed energy which these planets will now be giving form to or being formed by (or de-formed by, as the case may be). Major ‘upping of frequencies’ going on. Some will find it difficult to handle the new air/fire vibration, and we are already seeing evidence of this, with things like plane crashes (Pluto in Aquarius, but also a metaphor for how our brains are having to cope with increased ‘air traffic’), and this disturbing new trend of cars being driven into crowds of people. Yes, the transit hadn’t officially started, but the apprehension felt at the last critical degrees of the previous sign is enough. There will be adaption, eventually.
Another already visible manifestation of Pluto in Aquarius and Uranus in Gemini is of course crypt-o currency. Pluto is god of the dead and of riches beneath the earth. The amount of minerals/mining required for bitcoin is monstrous and it is why 47 is so keen to have Greenland and Canada. 47’s pimply-faced bazillionare crypto-bromancing dinner (yes, the Banana Duct Tape kid was there) was a prelude. His Gemini stellium slid right into the crypto like well-fitting shoes. Leo is polarity of Aquarius, though, so I don’t imagine gold will lose its value, no matter how many kitschy objets were made from melted down Fort Knox bull-lion. [Look to Ancient Egypt, in the Age of Taurus, as an example of how strongly the polarity sign comes into play (Scorpio). Now we’re at the beginning of the Aquarian Age, which squares Taurus-Scorpio, the two signs governing ‘resources.’]
The Uranus/Gemini combination is very intellect-driven and can even be ‘out-of-body’. In fact, we can expect angels and aliens, ‘friends’ from other realms. There is already much more opening of awareness and communication to the spirit realm, judging by all the YouTube videos. Mediums abound. Gemini, when not grounded (and Uranus is anything but grounded, rotating on its side like a wheel), can also attract unwelcome entities.
So look to where Gemini is in your own chart, this area is going to become lit up and Uranus will demand you up the frequency, upgrade the equipment, open your mind, think different, sky’s the limit. ~rb
Mortal and immortal Gemini twins.
*Personally I’m not completely convinced we should be handing off Uranus, Neptune and Pluto [‘the alchemists’] to individual signs, since they have such long transits and powerful, generational effects. Astrological Uranus is by definition less like the sky god and more like Prometheus, who stole fire and gave it to humans, causing Jupiter to chain him to a rock with an eagle pecking out his (continually regrown) liver every day. Stealing fire to give to humans sounds like something Aries would do! So I do acknowledge the ‘modern’ rulership, but am still informed by the ‘traditional’. (There’s my Uranus/Saturn opposition talking, heh).
The Devil is a conceptual chameleon that has evolved alongside us every step of the way, and on which the literature is exhaustive. This article focuses on the ‘classic’ Tarot de Marseille Devil (above), an image which alone contains enough riddles for a whole book; What’s that he standing on? Is that water in the background? Why does he take that pose? What is on his head? Why is he wearing a blue wetsuit? It turns out these are not simple questions to answer and the mystery is sure to remain after this honourable attempt to scratch the surface of his enigma. Tarot de Marseille (TdM) is unique, in that the images are not always what they seem, yet clues are often hiding in plain sight. All is speculative. Resistance is futile. So, ready to dive in?
[Please click on any images to zoom and for more info.]
Holkham Bible 14th c, Histoire de Merlin, 15th c, Cary Devil, 16th c
The last image in the row above is a fragment of the earliest (supposedly) TdM type Tarot we know of, the Cary Sheet, ca 1500s. Although the Cary is thought to be a prototype for the classic format, its Devil does not provide us with one. Rather, this ‘puppy-face’ demon is spearing souls to collect in his basket. Krampus comes to mind, but he wasn’t really incorporated into the christian tradition until much later. He may have older, pagan roots, but his back-pack for souls is based on medieval Devil imagery, not the other way around.
The first, true TdM type Devils we have examples of (Noblet and Dodal, below), are from quite a bit later, so it’s not clear whether they are the actual prototypes. Nevertheless, it’s what we’ve got. One can’t help but notice a resemblance to the Minoan double axe/butterfly goddess, with those wings. Or maybe Psyche, again eluding to ‘soul.’ Perhaps the Cary Devil’s basket was a cocoon for his next incarnation, and that of his larval captives.
Mycenaean butterfly goddess 1500 bc and Psyche from a relief 2 bcEarly TdM Devils, Jean Noblet (1650) and Jean Dodal (1701)
In the early Middle Ages, when the Devil we know was just getting his mojo on, he was depicted as a somewhat comical character – lusty, bestial, mischievous – but not yet overtly sinister. Sometimes he’s the butt, getting clobbered by the Virgin Mary. Often he mimics or tempts holy men. Similarly, in TdM he stands in a power pose, lolling, as if mimicking a deity or preacher. A relationship between the TdM Pope (5) and Devil (15) is suggested by the number they share (5), that of the bodily senses.
The image below, though 15th c, is a good example of Devil as a kind of pope’s ‘Fool’. We can still see remnants of Pan, even though he now has acquired demonic characteristics courtesy of various feminine entities; bird talons (harpies, lilitu), belly face (Baubo and/or the ‘belly-speaking’ Pythia of Delphi). Additionally, the number 15 was sacred to Ishtar, and represents the height of Lunar power (‘full’ phase), while 5 belongs to Venus (same planetary goddess).
Donkey-eared anti-pope, Master of Girart de Roussillon-ca. 1455
A closer look at the TdM Devil’s ‘antlers’ shows they do not grow from his own skull, but are stuck through/attached to the red brim, which might be the hide of some animal. Perhaps the skin of his former (Cary) self or yet another accoutrement borrowed from a pagan goddess?
Juno Sospita (‘the saviour’), Etruscan, ca 500-480 bc
Dante is accredited with ascribing Satan’s ‘bat-like’ wings, emphasizing his dragon lineage. In the Middle Ages, thanks in part to the widespread popularity of Arthurian legends, apocalyptic visions, St. George and alchemical symbolism, dragons + every other kind of monster were at large in the collective imagination. And to the western, christian mind, dragon = Devil. (Hence Dracula, ‘son of Dracul’, the Dragon). Bacchus was often depicted riding one, as a symbol of drunkenness. But ‘dragon’ comes to us from the Greek word ‘drakos’, meaning ‘eye’ or ‘I see’, pertaining to an ever-watchful guardian of some treasure or mystery.
Dante’s triadic, alchemy-faced Lucifero 1450-75, and Medieval Dragon consumptionDrunken Bacchus 14th c, François Toucarty 2 of Cups 17th c, Bacchic eyes 520-500 BC
Meanwhile, the importation of demon imagery from the Middle East is also influential, and the christian Devil, as mentioned, adopts various features from them. The TdM Devil’s stance is apparent in the two examples below, especially with Pazuzu. (It’s not known whether Tarot artists ever saw these pieces, though, and for the record, the Burney Relief wasn’t discovered until the 20th century, so that’s off the list).
Clay tablet with Ereshkigal /Ishtar c 300 bc, bronze Pazuzu Demon c 800-600 bc
Witch hunts were what really made the Devil into a force for creating suspicion and fear. As persecutors projected their own darkness and depravity onto their scapegoats, the Devil’s terrible character grew into itself. The ‘Nature’ personification (below, right), created during the time of the 16th century witch trials is clearly based on head witch, Artemis Ephesus and bears a resemblance to our TdM Devil. At opposite ends, the men of science and religion, who would divide the spoils, agreed on one thing; that nature and her beasties didn’t possess anything even close to a human ‘soul’.
And that’s because they were idiots.
Personification of the Deadly Sins (15th c) and ‘Nature’ (16th c)
END OF PART ONE
PART TWO: LORD OF GHOSTS
So far, we’ve addressed possible, historical influences for the TdM Devil’s look; the pose, mimicry, belly face, bat/moth wings and bird talons as well as his resemblance to pagan deities and Mesopotamian demons. Though not common in TdM, Tarot Devils may also sport serpents from their groin and head, similar to Gorgons or Furies. I include this fave, TdM exception (below, left) holding a delightful bouquet of pit vipers; it’s the thought that counts.
Now, let us venture deeper into the blue…
Blue Devils: Jacques Rochelais (1782), Besancon (1784), Giuseppe Mitelli (ca 1665)
Ok, I know what some of you are thinking: The Devil is not always BLUE! True, but he is blue enough of the time to warrant an investigation. Barring that colour was on sale, let’s look at some other, plausible reasons.
Giotto’s blue Satan, from The Last Judgement (detail), 1306
Giotto’s choice of colour is thought to have been based on the Etruscan ‘blue demons’ such as those in the ‘Tomb of the Blue Demons‘ (discovered in 1985, however) or the Greek Eurynomos:
Eurynomos was a flesh-devouring daimon (spirit) of the underworld who stripped the flesh from the rotting corpses of the dead. He was depicted as a man with black-blue skin seated on a vulture’s skin. Eurynomos was associated with carrion-feeders such as vultures and meat-flies. His name means “Wide-Ruling” from the Greek words eury- and nomos.
Etruscan daimon (looking rather ‘eastern’) from the Tomb of the Blue Demons, Italy
So naturally, blue palor is associated with the dead, who have ‘turned blue.’ Giotto’s Satan has simply replaced pagan Hades/Pluto. Platonists (TdM is reputed to have neo-platonic leanings) believed the physical body was as a corpse in which the soul (psyche) was imprisoned. With this philosophy in mind, the blue Devil and his willing, sacrificial victims represent attachment to the corporeal.
Two customers approach a statuary, one wishing to place the sculptor’s work [a statue of young Hermes or a Herm] in the tomb of his son, one proposing to use it for private worship. Deciding to sleep on the matter, the sculptor is visited by Hermes in a dream and is told that he has in his hands the decision to make him either a dead man or a divinity. The 2nd century physician and philosopher, Galen gave the light-hearted fable a more serious turn by applying the story to human potentiality:
“You have a choice between honouring your soul by making it like the gods and treating it contemptuously by making it like the brute beasts.”
Herm of Hermes-Mercury as dedicated portrait, ca 150-170
In other words, when we only live within the realm of the bodily senses and appetites, the soul ‘dies’. Losing our senses in any of the Devil’s vices – including magic and the occult – might run us adrift and rudderless. The water (another symbol of soul) behind the Devil is still or frozen. His podium also kind of resembles a ship’s capstan, but without the levers in place with which to haul the anchor up (or down).
capstans
Another way to turn blue, or even die, is to be in frigid water too long. The TdM Devil is usually only blue from the neck down, excluding arms and head. His cup-like hat and blue ‘antlers’ seem to echo the fishes in the Two of Cups, once bonded in sacred union, now turned away from each other. (In black magic, everything is reversed). The shape of his tripartite, blue body also suggests something fishy or amphibious, like conjoined lamprey (from Latin lampetra, ‘stone licker’) or frog legs/ears. Something is being drawn out of the murky unconscious or indeed from the two, willing minions, heads previously filled with Pope’s pape.
Cup hat and fish shapes, two of cups fish and fishy wet suit
Amphibiously speaking (ribbit ribbit), the toad is a symbol of alchemy par excellence. It is a ‘living crucible.’
Sweet are the uses of adversity, Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, Wears yet a precious jewel in his head; And this our life, exempt from public haunt, Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in everything. I would not change it.
– Shakespeare, ‘As You Like it’
‘Lord of the Flies’
Of course Lucifer also once had a precious, emerald stone in his forehead, aka the philosopher’s stone, aka the Grail. The TdM Devils’ crossed eyes direct us to where a third one should be, but at the same time are disquieting and repel us. Do they, and his grotesque, ever-watchful, nipple eyes serve to distract from what he’s standing on and guardian of? And don’t the minions’ ropes create a perfect crucible shape? A basket’s no good for cooking souls in, this is better.
They have compared the “prima materia” to everything, to male and female, to the hermaphroditic monster, to heaven and earth, to body and spirit, chaos, microcosm, and the confused mass; it contains in itself all colors and potentially all metals; there is nothing more wonderful in the world, for it begets itself, conceives itself, and gives birth to itself.
Conver Diable and Roman crucible for metal, found in England.
The distillation stage is when all of the impurities are removed, and there is nothing left but the essence. In Chemistry, distillation involves boiling and condensation to separate components and is commonly used in desalination. A liquid is boiled until it evaporates, and as the steam condenses, the essence is liberated from the matter. It marks the point at which our essence becomes spiritualized. In others words, in spiritual alchemy, distillation is a metaphor for the actualization of one’s spirit.
Although TdM is never quite this=that, it’s worth noting distillation is the 6th stage (1+5). It seems Temperance (14) has turned Temptress and now these Dionysians are hitting the hard stuff. Because, in seeking to separate the quintessence (purest and most concentrated form or ‘spirit’ of a substance) from the dross, alchemists also created…gin! The root of ‘alcohol’ (Arabic) is ‘kohl‘, pertaining to powdered antimony, which, in alchemy, symbolizes ‘the wild spirit of man and nature.’ At this delicate stage, there are various ‘pure spirits’ that might be drawn out.
Alchemical Distillery, 1512
Here we must briefly retrograde back to Dante. His Lucifer was not shackled in flames, but perma-frozen in ice. Dante and Virgil climb up the shaggy legs, ‘until gravity is reversed and they fall through the earth into the southern hemisphere’. The omphalos has become the omicron phallus (omicron being the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet). It’s been pointed out that the Tarot Devil’s genitals are situated at the centre of the image. In keeping with this subject explored by Renaissance artists, if you draw an ‘X’ from corner to corner, the lines cross right at the ‘Centrum Mundi.’
Lucifer in Ice, Centrum Mundi, 9th ring of Hell
The gravitational reversal described sounds a lot like distillation, and what with Lucifer hermetically sealed and his 3 faces of black, red and white…
Alchemy, like witchcraft, was considered a form of ‘black magic’ and Dante even punishes alchemists – deemed ‘falsifiers’ – with leprosy. Unfortunately, ‘puffers’ (fraudsters who took peoples’ money, promising to turn lead into gold) were lumped in with true, spiritual alchemists and the sullied reputation persists to this day. Perhaps the TdM Devil stands upon the gold as both a temptation and warning to spiritual materialists who’d use Tarot for such nefarious purposes.
A ‘puffer’ from the Ship of Fools, Sebastian Brant, 1494
END OF PART TWO
Typhon, Willem Goeree, 1700
PART THREE: MYTHICAL CHAMELEON
Believe it or not, the above, most impressive depiction of Typhon and its resemblance to the TdM Devil is what ‘spawned’ this whole inquiry. In Greek myth, Typhon was the monstrous, serpentine Titan son of Gaia (Earth). When he fought against Zeus (one of many male gods who wrangle with serpent beings) for rule of the cosmos and lost, Zeus threw him down into Tartarus and plugged the hole with a mountain (Mt. Etna), so he couldn’t escape. The similarity to Satan cast down into Hell and shackled in chains or ice is obvious. Volatile Typhon rattling his chains and blowing his top caused earthquakes, volcanos, tornados (typhoons), plagues (typhoid) and other natural disasters:
In size and strength he surpassed all the offspring of Earth. As far as the thighs he was of human shape and of such prodigious bulk that he out-topped all the mountains, and his head often brushed the stars. One of his hands reached out to the west and the other to the east, and from them projected a hundred dragons’ heads. From the thighs downward he had huge coils of vipers, which when drawn out, reached to his very head and emitted a loud hissing. His body was all winged: unkempt hair streamed on the wind from his head and cheeks; and fire flashed from his eyes.
And furthermore… Typhon was a “poison-spitting viper whose “every hair belched viper-poison.” He “spat out showers of poison from his throat; the mountain torrents were swollen, as the monster showered fountains from the viperish bristles of his high head” and “the water-snakes of the monster’s viperish feet crawl into the caverns underground, spitting poison!” He also hasmany other animal heads, including leopards, lions, bulls, boars, bears, cattle, wolves, and dogs, which combine to make ‘the cries of all wild beasts together’ and a “babel of screaming sounds.”
Typhonic Devil waiting at the edge of the earth
Typhon makes medieval dragons look like newts. Again, it’s interesting to note the parallel between Hades, which later became Hell proper, and the watery abyss. Typhon’s spitting similarity to Satan did not escape medieval christian philosophers, either. They recognized him as one and the same. [The title phrase, ‘between the Devil and the deep blue sea’ means having to chose the lesser of two evils, the way Odysseus had to chose ‘between Scylla (a man-eating sea siren), and Charybdis (a deadly whirlpool)’, ie, ‘a rock and a hard place’.]
Hungry sea monsters surrounding a ship.
Typhon was conflated with Set, Egyptian god of chaos, storms and all strange and terrifying natural events from eclipses to earthquakes. Like Typhon and the Devil, Set is an elemental beast of many guises, very ancient (pre-dynastic) and attributed with major, occult powers. Sometimes he takes a recognizable form – hippo, pig, fish or crocodile – but mostly he’s the magical and alluring ‘Set animal’, with rectangular ears, downward curved snout and a stiff, straight tail. His face reminds me a bit of a duck-billed dinosaur and one theory is that he was based on an extinct creature, which is why we don’t recognize it.
Set
Typhon was said to have chased the Greek gods into Egypt, where they transformed themselves into animals. Among them, Pan jumped into the Nile, and became the half-goat/half-fish, otherwise known as Capricorn. On one hand, a neat way to explain their conflation, but on the other, it made Typhon the very agent of the gods’ transmutation, including his own. To hermetic thinkers of the 16th century, Typhon-Set seems to have been understood as a kind of extreme Mercurius.
Typhon as Scorpio, Athanasius Kircher, 1652-54
In his ‘Egyptian Zodiac’, Taurean Athanasius Kircher depicts Typhon-Set as the ‘hieroglyphic’ Scorpio, which makes sense, at least intuitively, as it’s the (sometimes serpent) sign of death and regeneration – both Osiris and Dionysus are dismembered by Set and Titans, consecutively, and are reborn with the dedicated magic of goddesses Isis and Athena. Kircher was not an alchemist by any means, but he was a master of syncretization and made an honest attempt to crack Egyptian code, long before the Dendera Zodiac and Rosetta Stone had been discovered.
On another level, ‘true’ alchemist, Michael Maier‘s allegorical Typhon-Set (below), just like the TdM Devil, is an androgyne with enlarged breasts. He/she holds the tools of dismemberment and transformation. Osiris-Dionysus is all cut up and Isis brings a cauldron/crucible and presumably her magic.
Puppy-faced, Ziphius-bellied Typhon-Set from Michael Maier’s Mythoalchemy (detail)
Three centuries before Dr. Jung, Maier (1568-1622) told of “chymical secrets behind the myths.” He said, therefore, that they should not be taken as merely historical, but as allegory or hieroglyph, “concealing some deeper meaning, philosophical or moral, which must be withheld from those persons too ignorant or too impious to use it aright” and “the truest interpretation is that it all concerns the Philosophical Medicine.” He called Typhon-Set “the burning spirit” and indeed, “the alchemical vessel itself.” Ta-da!
I did not die, and I was not alive; think for yourself, if you have any wit, what I became, deprived of life and death.
– Inferno, 34.25-7
The mosaic below depicts a scene from the Last Judgement, wherein the goats (on Christ’s left) are being separated from the sheep (on his right). The blue angel is believed to be the earliest known depiction of Satan. ~rb
All blue/bold bits herein are quotations.
Eurynomos quote from Theoi.com Distillation and Inferno quote from thecollector.com All other quotes from Wikipedia (some edited for length) Quotation pages and any other pages of interest are linked within the article. More information on images/sources can be found in their descriptions by clicking on them.
Concept for Disney’s Snow White by Gustaf Tenggren – alchemy much?
With chthonic ‘dwarf planet’ Pluto at 29 Capricorn and opposite Black Moon Lilith at 29 Cancer, I was reminded of the ‘alchemist mining the earth’. In fact , this theme, I *believe* was central to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. ‘Hair black as ebony, skin as white as snow, lips red as blood’ happen to be the three ‘distinct’ phases of the Magnum Opus; nigredo, albedo, rubedo (sometimes there was a 4th, citrinitas, between the albedo and rubedo). These were also enumerated to seven stages, corresponding with the seven planetary spheres…or dwarfs. Not to mention that glass ‘coffin’.
Here is the clip I was rereading from my files, and apologies, I don’t remember where I originally clipped it from, but it is a quote (must be old, as it uses ‘man’, maybe from Jung?):
“The alchemist mining the earth. Mining or going inside the earth is the first step in the alchemical process. The earth is the body or oneself. Going inside the earth is equal to going into your inner self. Thus we are invited to descend into the earth, into the underworld, or the unconscious. The earth is the symbol of physical man. Man needs to become conscious of his inner world, who he is, what he is doing, what his motives are, and so on. Once attention is directed inwards, a whole new world opens: the underworld of Hades, the dark realm of shadows and monsters.“
And this is from another source, regarding the black phase or ‘nigredo’:
“Here, we are being asked to let go of all within us and outside of us that is false, inauthentic, and not in full alignment with the truth of who we are. This is a truth as it exists on a soul level, far beyond the ego and its limited ideas or illusions about who we “should” be.”
Is it possible that we’re now collectively getting ready to ‘birth’ out of the ‘nigredo’ stage? We began descent into fermentation blackness when Pluto entered Capricorn (feminine earth sign) back in 2008. About a year and a half prior, Pluto had been “demoted” to ‘dwarf planet’ by a handful of young astronomers who thought they were clever by disempowering the planet-god. Clearly, Pluto was in fact operating through them from that unconscious, Hadean realm over which he presides. [Side note: I bet Pluto will take its former status back once it is securely in Aquarius.] As it is, too, with Black Moon Lilith, who loves the freedom of darkness and invisibility of night. In Cancer, the sign of the Moon and mother, she represents the ‘uterine’ blackness itself, the void people desperately try to to a-void but that must be traversed. Our fear of death likely has much to do with our memories of that messy and shocking business of rebirth.
When Ishtar descended into the underworld, she had to leave a veil or some such trapping at each of the seven gates she went through (i.e, stages/planetary spheres). Even then, she had the hubris to want to sit on her sister Ereshkigal’s throne, and for this, she was hung up on a meat hook until she learned her lesson. We can also think of the Hanged Man in Tarot, Odin, and the Freemasons’ weird hanging upside down ritual, meant to instill that same sense of emptying out the false self so as to receive true knowledge that is the ultimate unification of self with world knowledge. The mystery ‘cults’ of Ancient Greece and Rome likely had similar purpose (though originally based on fertility/seasons).
These types of healing and initiation rituals are as old as we are, and are related to vision quests. I am sure paleolithic humans/shamans weren’t so much concerned with ‘self and non-self’ but nevertheless, soul-loss or theft was considered a cause of sickness and their work involved traversing into other realms, perhaps through a pitch black, uterine cave passage, to set things right or be instructed by other beings, ancestors, animal spirits, etc. We exist in more than just this one, as we know simply from dreaming.
Dali Tarot Hanged Man
What happens much of the time is, people start going through this ‘inward’ process unconsciously and are either unaware or resistant. All one knows is the depression, self-loathing or other emotional unpleasantness that arises. This is a calling from deep in the soul, but thinking that it is abnormal and needs to be ‘cured’, one fights it, is taken over by substances used to quell it, or fears losing control, which is akin to death. Because how can one function in this world, with all its glaring eyes, while descending into another? But there is no choice. If we ignore this call, Pluto will then bring about an outer event that will force us inward. That is what has been happening, collectively. The three outer planets are ‘the three alchemists’; Uranus shocks, burns and blows up, Neptune dissolves and dissipates, and Pluto pressure-cooks us into change that is permanent. Their transits are long, affecting entire generations.
Artists, poets and musicians of each generation are modern shaman-alchemists of sorts, who traverse the deepest chasms to bring back healing for the rest of society (you’re welcome). But it’s not exclusive, by any means.
Pluto will be leaving earth and entering air starting March 23 (with two retrogrades back to Cap), followed by Uranus leaving earth and entering air and Neptune leaving water and entering fire, both in 2025. Use the next couple of years, with Saturn in Pisces and the alchemists still submerged or partly submerged, to do your spelunking. If you are hearing the soul’s call, don’t be afraid to descend, to enter the labyrinth (you can leave a golden thread to guide you back out). Perhaps you are already in one of the stages or nearing completion, as many of my Saturn Pisces brethren must be.
Point is, you are full of hidden mysteries and treasures to be mined!
‘Most Young Kings Get Their Heads Cut Off’ Jean-Michel Basquiat
Do you have a tenth house Sun placement? How about other planets?
How does this express itself for you?
If a person has a goal and is determined to achieve it, a 10th house placement can work well for them…but if they don’t, they may feel they haven’t achieved enough or have, consciously or not, set standards for themselves they can’t possibly live up to. They may imagine a harder landing, should they fail or fall from grace. This is, after all, the house allotted to Capricorn and its Saturn rulership, traditionally the house of the ‘father,’ and in olden times, ‘the king’. [Some see it in reverse, that it’s the house of the ‘mother’ and the 4th (Moon/Cancer) is the father, although I haven’t personally found this to work as well. Let’s call it even and say this is the polarity of the parents, either of which can be dominant in our psyche.]
The cusp of the 10th, the midheaven, is where we find ourselves looking down from the top of the mountain peak at what we’ve experienced up to this point (often at mid-life) and either saying, ‘wow, I’ve been through a lot, learned a lot, made a lot of money or become a better/more mature person as a result’, or, ‘I’ve done all this stuff, had all these different careers that haven’t amounted to anything and life ain’t getting any shorter,’ depending on whether the cup is seen as half full or half empty. Even the term ‘a-mounted to’ is very Capricorn mountain goat language!
Visconti-Sforza Tarot Wheel of Fortune/Rota Fortunae
But the tenth house has another secret. In Tarot, 10 is the Wheel of Fortune, which is based on the zodiac wheel. We see one character going up, another sitting pretty at the midheaven, another going down, and another at the bottom, at all the angles. A metaphor for life’s ups and downs, successes and failures, but also of time cycles and of the houses themselves, which are angular, succedent, or cadent. In the Tarot card above, the figures are saying, “I reign, I reigned, my reign is finished, I shall reign.”
Roue de Fortune, Tarot de Marseille
The angular houses are strongest, cadent (fallen away from the angular placement) are weakest, and succedent (next in line to the angular position) enjoy the hope of success/succession. [This is perhaps easiest to comprehend when using the equal house system, which evenly divides the wheel into 12 pie slices, one for each sign, beginning with one’s rising sign/degree, but personally I don’t use equal house.]
Technically speaking, the house moves into the position of the house that was formerly in that position, not the sign or planets, i.e., transiting Mars will be in Gemini at a certain degree all day, but in a different house every hour. The houses, though paired with particular signs/planets and spoken of as a conglomerate, are actually separate entities.
Angular, succedent and cadent houses
The 11th house of ‘hopes, dreams, wishes, groups’ (allotted to Aquarius/Saturn and Uranus) is where we can perhaps look for help with our 10th house issues. You will notice the succedent houses are all ‘fixed’ sign placements. Thus they have a certain steadfastness, while the angular (cardinal), though strongest in terms of influence, have that built in ‘fear of falling’, just like anyone in a position of power might. Caution: some viziers make better allies than others.
And although cadent (mutable) houses tend to be shoved aside, as if nothing much happens herein, there can be a certain freedom from expectation in these houses that may also be utilized (true, Virgo seems the exception, but will often find freedom in under-the-radar, detailed tasks such as organizing files). The 0 in 10 is, after all, associated with the Fool, who creates his path as he goes along, unattached to outcome. He was the only medieval court member who could openly roast the king, thus reminding the monarch we all fall down, and 10th house achievers that the journey is really what it’s all about, ‘on arrive jamais‘. Sagittarius is allotted to 9th house as jester, highest card in the deck, with none of the responsibilities of a king, yet somehow lucky enough to have Jupiter as its ruler. Hmm. Faith? Caution: Some fools may be a tad nihilistic and reckless.
Charles VI Tarot Fool
Further proof of this ‘power of three’ lies in the fact that every grand trine is composed of an angular, succedent and cadent house of the same element. Being ‘all for one and one for all’, grand trine energy can flow so easily and fast as to not even notice it’s happening.
So if your Sun or other lofty 10th house planets are feeling alone at the top or afraid of falling, look to either side of them, at your 11th (succedent/fixed) house vizier and 9th (cadent/mutable) house fool for a different perspective from planets therein or friends/people with their sun in these signs, who can ‘act as’ planets. Keep in mind that the 10th house planet/sign is still the one ultimately in charge and can make things happen, it just needs support, sometimes – is it being supported or sabotaged? This goes for all the angular houses, but especially the 10th.
Gemini is cadent to Cancer, Aquarius succedent to Capricorn, two angular signs.
It’s a Full Moon in Virgo, trining Uranus in Taurus. The Moon holds memories and Uranus can bring up very distant ones, from past lifetimes, but also future or parallel lives, since Uranus is not bound by Saturn timelines. Taurus is romantic, loves ancestry and Virgo loves to record and categorize. So let’s gaze into the crystal, Full Moon ball for clues to each sign’s lunar history…
Moon in Aries
Winged Athena holding a Helmet
Moon of mythic heroes and epic, battle sagas.
Yours is an ancient soul lineage of indigenous warriors or Amazons, thus combat is in your blood and likely your mother’s.
Patrick Henry’s immortal slogan, “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” was first uttered on March 23, 1775, Aries season.
In Valhalla (Old Norse: Valhöll – “hall of the slain”), the Moon is always in Aries. Valkyries are your guardian angels.
You are nurtured by taking initiative, protecting life and being honored for your deeds.
Moon in Taurus
Crescent Moon, crescent horns of an Egyptian Bull
The Hathor Moon of milk and honey, that which the sacred cow jumped over. When people say ‘as old as the Moon’ they are talking about the Taurus Moon.
When the sensual, hoofed beauties of the first lunar calendars were painted in caves, to when the first Goddess temples were built, to the Golden Age of Egypt, you were there, worshiping and being worshiped. But your one, constant temple is nature itself.
You are nurtured by gentle breezes carrying the scent of Spring green, good food and sound sleeps.
Moon in Gemini
Medieval kinkiness
The Bardic Moon, the inconstant Moon of Romeo and Juliet and Courtly Love. By listening intently to the chattering of birds, you developed language, and later, writing, in order to describe the complexities of human emotion.
Like Cyrano, your words were often commissioned by enamored knights, to whom you generously offered delivery service. Your (in)famous dexterity was honed picking chastity belt locks by candlelight.
You are nurtured by your other half and by imagining things into being.
Moon in Cancer
Porcelain Crab
The Moon of the Great Mother Ocean, conductor of tidal movements and the cycles of rebirth.
Also the keeper of memories, hence Mnemosyne, mother of the 9 Muses.
Yours is a matriarchal cult that precedes temples, when Lucy walked the shores of Africa, nursing Monkey Jesus. You’ve never forgotten a single one of your infinite children (or loves) and hug them all to your breast, when full.
You are nurtured when cooking soul food for your tribe and by being in sync with the colour of your moods.
Moon in Leo
Roman Cybele
The Dramatic Moon, Cybele’s Moon.
In the Mountain Lion Mother’s temple, you took part in orgiastic rituals, as her half-wild attendants beat drums and danced, while ecstatic devotees offered their self-severed testicles.
You have never forgotten such scenes of devotion, and, while you don’t expect blood offerings these days, you’d still appreciate the occasional drum roll, upon entering a room, thank you very much.
You are nurtured by the self-confidence you feel when giving and receiving creative encouragement.
Moon in Virgo
Our Lady of Guadalupe
The Isis or Holy Mother Moon, Moon of witches, healers and midwives.
In the distant past, some of you were responsible for keeping records, including the cycles, names and many uses of plants, others, for libations and purification rituals. Later, in the age of ‘enlightenment’, the first group went on to study medicine, while the others chose a life of the cloth, continuing to serve the Holy Mother, under a different guise.
You still like pure food and being on both first and Latin name terms with the plants in your garden, where you are nurtured and grounded by making improvements…so your cats say.
The Manna Moon, and Moon of Temperance.
Your lineage introduced the concept of ‘fairness’ as well as the legalities around trade, marriage and other civilities, based on what was later understood as karma, or, in olde Egypt, the Weighing of Hearts.
Ever since your Greek days, you have been dividing the Gods and Goddesses of your psyche, assigning to each a chord or rhythm and trying different combinations, listening carefully for harmony and discord. You are nurtured by finding the harmonic ones, in all areas of life.
Moon in Scorpio
Hekate, by William Blake
Hekate’s Moon, Moon of sorcery and shamanic healing.
The casting and removal of hexes is in your soul lineage.
In your own illness, you flew to the land of the dead and back, thus were selected to preside over this transition – be it by returning there, entranced, to retrieve lost souls, preparing the dead, or guiding the deceased towards rebirth.
The elite of your tribe wrote the manuals (The Tibetan and Egyptian Books, for example), while those on the ground practiced midwifery or donned the anonymous, black hood. Residual, last words of the condemned still echo, occasionally, so these days you try to focus on the rebirth part.
Nocturnal animals are your familiars and deep, healing love, your nurturing tonic.
Moon in Sagittarius
Centaur Reading, by Odilon Redon
The Artemis-Diana Moon, former gypsy, nomad, traveler, with lifetimes of stories to draw from.
You are a semi-retired Sindbad who continues armchair time-traveling to communicate with yourself, in long ago and far away places.
Like Chiron, you are nurtured by nature, freedom and independence, as well as learning and seeking. “Don’t fence me in” is your motto, yet you ultimately seek that place to call home.
You forgive but you don’t forget, because why would you leave out any part your life’s novel ?
[My own lineage, Moon of my mother, both maternal grandparents, aunt and some of my cousins on her side, as well as my paternal grandfather and aunt!]
The Druid Moon or Pan Moon, the old, wise one, behind the scenes power mover, shaker, money maker, who knows the inner workings of the outer world and how to keep persona and personal separate.
Like your Stonehenge ancestors, you rarely, if ever, divulge your secrets, and distrust all sycophants or anyone offering a free lunch, for that matter.
Somewhere in your past, you were the scapegoat, and that fear still haunts your memory.
You are nurtured by the finer things in life and may have a dark or gallows sense of humour.
Moon in Aquarius
[artist?]The cosmic crystal (frozen fire) Moon, holding all the resonance codes of creation.
In your telepathic lineage, communication is equal between all lifeforms. You may be/have been one of the extra-terrestrials advancing our technology in preparation for the Aquarian Age.
You have emotions, it’s just that you find them too heavy for communicating through time and space and one can’t bend spoons with them. Also, because electricity travels faster and is more deadly in water, you are wary of electrocuting others should your emotions get the better of you.
You are nurtured by freeing minds.
The Mystic Moon, where imposed, grid time and other boundaries seem like drag nets.
Long ago, when the water dried up and left you in the middle of a desert, you began walking (or dancing) the mystical path, in bare feet and have never stopped.
Nurtured by that which glimmers, you understand we are living in an illusion, but most people don’t know how to and you can’t bear to watch them suffer. You are frequently late, since your clock is melting and crawling with ants, but the love you give more than makes up for it.
Man’s heart, away from Nature becomes cold. ~ Standing Bear
Uranus entered Taurus on May 15, 2018, for a 7 year stint. With Taurus being the sign of our planet, Uranus being the ruler of the Aquarian Age and the creation myth of Ouranos (sky) and Gaia (earth) being symbolically reenacted, the stage is set for a highly significant transit.
There are many possible interpretations, but I see the combination of fixed earth and Mercury’s higher octave as nothing less than ‘the Great Work’ of our collective alchemy, wherein we are able to rediscover (and perhaps quantify) the living spirit in matter.
Francisco de Holanda, ‘De aetatibus mundi’ (c. 1545)
The Mythology and the Mechanics
In astrology, Uranus is said to have a ‘Promethean’ quality. This was especially true during it’s Aries transit, when we saw individual, young hero-rebels at the forefront, stealing fire and giving it to mankind (think Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden). By the time Uranus had come to the late degrees of Aries, it was not just one or two brave truth tellers, sticking their necks out, but large numbers of ‘underdogs’ marching in the streets – a virtual children’s crusade against the gun lobby and a #metoo movement against sexual harassment. True to “I Am” Aries, these were initiatory expressions of anger, the demand to be seen and heard. Mercurius in his volatile, firey form.
Erté, Fire
Often, in myth and legend, a Hero must obtain or is given a ring, key, password or other such symbolic, magically imbued accessory, with which to unlock secrets or treasures, hidden within the Earth or some forbidden place (ie, the feminine). The individual must be pure of heart, of course. Only a ‘true sovereign’ like Arthur could obtain the sword Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake. Only the compassionate, simple brother who shares his loaf with a stranger will win the princess. Musical keys also unlock certain mysteries, in that they open different channels to our emotions and memories. Uranus’ symbol, like Chiron’s, resembles a key.
Because Aquarius’ natural ruler is Saturn, who’s metal is lead, and it’s polar opposite, Leo’s ruler is the Sun, whose metal is gold, we can see how the addition of the ‘key’ of Uranus – the higher octave of Mercury (who indeed heralded the transition into Taurus, by conjunction) – is essential to the alchemical process of turning lead to gold. In the realm of fairy tales, frogs are transformed into princes, pumpkins into coaches, and so on – all metaphors for the transmutation of the self. In evolutionary astrology, Uranus is also said to represent long term memory, that of past lives. Remember sitting on a lily pad, catching flies ?
The Frog Prince illustrated by P.J. Lynch
So, collectively, we could see it as the first ‘task’ (1st house/Aries) now being complete, and the next one (2nd house/Taurus) beginning. Uranus is future-oriented, unattached and changing, while Taurus is ancient, material and constant. Our mission now is to unlock something hidden (Scorpio) and sacred in us that is our birthright, but that we will have to be pure-hearted enough to do. Uranus is mental intellect, so in our collective myth, the hero must now be initiated into heart (Leo) wisdom, via Venus/Eros (Taurus). The 0 degree of each fixed sign is being activated or awoken by Uranus as it unlocks the gate to Taurus, waking the Phoenix (Scorpio) from it’s ashes.
The Lover: Spock’s initiation into heart wisdom.
True, not everyone will have successfully completed the 1st task, and the ‘children’s crusade’ continues with Chiron’s move into Aries (tragically, there have been two more high school shootings, as I edit this). But only a certain percentage of the population need obtain the fire or key required for the evolution of the collective consciousness, ’tis said.
We’ve seen many brilliant, scientific and technological breakthroughs at the onset of the Aquarian Age, as well as the dangers, like the risk of becoming too clinical and detached, toxic pollutants and the capability for total annihilation. At the same time, many are becoming highly sensitized to the suffering of others, of animals especially, as we realize we are not separate from anything else in the universe, that spirit isn’t just something personal, but lives in and connects all things.
Fiat Firmamentum, by Francisco de Holanda, from’ De Aetatibus Mundi Imagines’, circa 1545
Fun Fact: Uranus, ruler of the Aquarian Age, is also the planet of astrology. Viewed from space, everything on Earth would appear to be happening simultaneously, which is kind of how we view the snapshot of a moment in time, drawn as a chart.
Aquarius can be a telepathic sign, and with the key of Uranus, we are being presented with a golden opportunity to communicate telepathically with all lifeforms, via spirit, once again. As mentioned, Uranus rules long-term memory, which includes traumatic resonance. Our collective, Uranus in Taurus trauma must have something to do with our separation from nature, both within and without.
The field has eyes, the wood has ears; I will look, be silent and listen. ~ Heironymus Bosch
Buddhist meditation instruction illustration, Rubin Museum
Buddha was also said to have been a Taurus. He ‘unlocked’ the mysteries of the nature of mind by simply sitting under a Banyen tree and observing his. He saw that all suffering comes from attachment to that which is impermanent. One of the key teachings of Uranus in Taurus is freedom from attachment – to old ways, traditions, things…anything that is overdue for renewal. Freedom in any way necessary. Un-attachment to outcome and transient forms is not the same thing as emotional detachment, which kills compassion and creates sociopaths.
So, how does a Uranus transit differ from a Pluto transit ? Uranus feels more like a rumbling or irritation that one can’t ignore, shackles that must be thrown off. There is an urgent, awakened quality to it. It may bring sudden clarity or quantum leaps. The Pluto transit is more like a death (albeit with the promise of rebirth), as the transformation goes on at a deep, subconscious level. It can manifest in outward projections, like scary situations/people and obsessions. Both planets are powerful, impersonal, and can be destructive if we try to cling to the old. Best to come quietly.
Where did we come from, what are we, where are we going ? ~ Paul Gauguin
Taurus is one of the – if not the – oldest constellations in the zodiac. This is thought to be a depiction of it at Lascaux.
Aquarius has an affinity for archeology as well as astronomy and astrology, because in the ‘Age of Man’, what does it actually mean to be human ? The more we discover about the past and the future, we begin to realize that we are the so-called ‘missing link’, not only do we embody the living potential of spirit, but we are the living potential. We were given the blueprints, in the form of teachings we didn’t fully understand at the time (another magic key), and our consciousness has since been evolving, but we are not yet there. The sense that it’s all our own responsibility is existentially terrifying to us, so we amass information as fast as we can, providing our rational minds with some sense of security. But this only provides partial understanding, because information, being windy-Mercurial, is ever changing.
How do we know what way is the right one ? How does the hero know which path to choose ? What is constant and real, not bullshit ? Taurus is accused of fixity, but the lesson of this sign, and for those born under it, is to instinctively understand the transmutation of elements (Scorpio), at a base level and know that in nature, nothing remains the same – though it is constant. Perhaps Taurean melancholy comes from gut feeling this impermanence, just like Scorpio power comes from knowing nature’s consistency (Taurus).
Hildegarde Von Bingen, The Egg of the Universe
Out of this World
When Venus (Taurus) and Uranus come together, it can create the environment for creative genius. Of course there have to be other contributing factors in the chart for any of these manifestations to occur, but the number of mystics, occultists, astrologers, philosophical thinkers or spiritual and social scientists with Uranus in Taurus is staggering. Among them are Hildegard of Bingen, Marcilio Ficino (humanist philosopher who translated Plato’s works), Nicola Tesla, Mademoiselle Lenormand, Sigmund Freud, Max Planck (founder of quantum theory), Fritjof Capra, Stephen Hawking and Valentina Tereshkova (first woman in space).
Perhaps the greatest musical genius of all time, Ludwig Van Beethoven
The musical list is a blog post in itself, but Beethoven, JS Bach, Handel, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Nico, Charlie Watts, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Tina Turner, Roy Orbison, Brian Epstein (Beatles discoverer and mgr) and Phil Spector are just a small handful. The list seems disproportionately male, which is partly due to the nature of the biz, but also because the men seek their lost muse or ‘anima’. Think of Bob Dylan’s ‘Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands’, Velvet Underground’s ‘Venus in Furs’ or pick any Leonard Cohen song – they are not really about an individual woman, but rather a hymn to the Goddess, in some form or other. (Many of the 60s bunch are also Neptune/Virgo natives = Music + Goddess).
“It don’t matter how you worship, as long as you’re down on your knees,” sang poet-prophet Cohen, adhering to ancient tradition.
Western women with Uranus in the feminine house of Venus, discovered and owned their body politic, en masse for the first time. This generation gave us ‘ground-breaking’ feminist writers like Germaine Greer, Erica Jong and Margaret Atwood, actor-activists like Vanessa Redgrave and Glenda Jackson and the screen Goddesses had a formidable, self-possessed sexuality – Sophia Loren, Tura Satana, Anita Pallenberg, Ann-Margret, Raquel Welch, Brigitte Bardot, Karen Black, Elke Somer, Diana Rigg, just off the top.
Tura Satana and Diana Rigg
The polarity of Taurus/Venus and Scorpio/Mars/Pluto is intense, can be obsessive, perverted or sexually deviant, if unbalanced and there do seem to be a lot of sexual-serial killers born with Uranus Taurus. It has to do with not just sexual but also creative repression, which rejects the Goddess and kills the soul. On the other hand, writers with Uranus Taurus like Dante Alighieri and Joseph Conrad stared into the mouth of Hell and revealed to us what damnation was like for tortured souls. Vincent van Gogh was the quintessential, tortured artist and misunderstood genius. True to Uranus, his artistic vision would be appreciated in the future, not in his own time. True to Venus, his paintings – bursting with the living, volatile spirit – are now some of the most valued and sought-after on Earth. Were the MOMA to sell ‘Starry Night’ it would cost about a billion dollars. So keep in mind that what whatever we create now will be long-lasting and may not come to fruition within our own lifetime.
Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh
The previous Uranus/Taurus transit also overlapped Pluto/Leo, so many came into the world with their personal, creative expression fully-honed. We aren’t likely to see the same plethora of ‘super-stars’ with Pluto in Capricorn, but it will be in Aquarius, near the end of the Uranus-Taurus transit, which will again bring the Leo polarity into play. Uranus-Taurus is ushering in the first ‘official’ Pluto-Aquarius cycle of the Aquarian Age !
A note about Capricorn…
Capricorn rules class systems, money/power structures and other orders of society. But we often forget that Capricorn is not just a Scrooge-y, social climbing mountain goat. It’s also a fantastical mer-goat, as well as Unicorn, which it was depicted as, once, in old, medical astrology texts. The pure, white, “calcified” unicorn horn was thought to be a cure for anything, since the Unicorn is incorruptible and equated with the Christ or the incorruptible part of ourselves. Pluto in Capricorn is helping us get there, by any means necessary.
15th and 14th c zodiacs with Capricorn as Unicorn
The magical, Mercurial (or Uranian) unicorn horn is essential for transformation. And doesn’t Scrooge himself undergo a transformation after a series of dreams (aka visions), at Winter solstice? Capricorn rules the skeletal system and teeth, and it’s ruler, Saturn, old age and death – the bleached bones being all that remains long after the spirit and the flesh have left. Saturn is also the traditional ruler of Aquarius.
“We caught the beast called the Unicorn That knows and loves a maiden best And falls asleep upon her breast: We took from underneath it’s horn The splendid male carbuncle stone Sparkling against the white skull bone.”
It’s no wonder Unicorns seem to be popping up everywhere, lately. The horn also symbolizes the opening of the third eye, it’s vision transcending the mundane. (Indeed, many Capis are visionaries). It’s important not to lose our sense of wonder, as we try to rationalize what we can’t control or foresee. Uranus is all about tricksterism and expecting the unexpected.
David Bowie: Capricorn Unicorn, Mercurial poster child
Meanwhile, in the lower realms…
Environmentally, Uranus is a hot, explosive, planet of surprises and it’s moving into fixed earth. We are already seeing increased volcanic activity, but things are likely just getting warmed up. Environmental changes (and possible, other natural catastrophes) under this transit will be a factor in the coming economic changes. We will again be reminded, in no uncertain terms, that we must get back in tune with nature, as our imposed, false grid is no longer secure or sustainable. Remember, Uranus is Mercury on steroids, and Mercury can be ‘an infernal fire, the spirit of truth hidden in the earth’, sulphur.
Some astrologers have noted cyclic returns and conjunctions to the last time(s) Kilauea blew, and are predicting another big one, based on this. Volcanic explosions of the big, sudden kind can affect earth’s atmosphere and weather for years. They can actually cool the planet, but also darken it, as the ash blocks the sun. Or, if the particulates are large, the opposite effect happens, wherein there is an acceleration of global warming. They say that active volcanoes have actually prevented us from getting as warm as predicted. (Considering the latest policy of the US admin under Trump, it might be best for the planet if Pele blows her top). Interestingly, Hawaii is the highest place (above bottom sea level) on earth – literally where the earth meets the sky. Expect comets and other phenomena.
Athanasius Kircher, The Interior of the Earth, 1665
In 1815, the Indonesian volcano Tambora propelled more ash and volcanic gases into the atmosphere than any other eruption in history and resulted in significant atmospheric cooling on a global scale, much like Krakatau a few decades later. New England and Europe were particularly hard hit, with snowfalls as late as August and massive crop failures. The cold, wet, and unpleasant climatic effects of the eruption led 1816 to be known as “the year without a summer,” and inspired Lord Byron to write:
“The bright Sun was extinguishd, and the stars Did wander darkling in the eternal space Rayless and pathless, and the icy earth Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air; Morn came and went and came, And brought no day”
–Lord Byron, “Darkness”
There is a story that Byron invited some of his friends to his home in Switzerland that summer to relax by the shores of Lake Geneva. The lack of sun and warm summer weather led the group to hold a competition writing ghost stories to keep themselves entertained. One of the guests, Mary Shelley, wrote the famous novel Frankenstein for this contest, revealing that in addition to major climatic effects, volcanic eruptions can have some unexpectedly far-reaching results. (from Scientific American)
Shelly’s book was first published in 1818 – exactly 200 years ago this year, and was originally titled Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus. It has been called the ‘birth of science fiction’. (Frankenstein was the doctor’s name, the monster was not referred to by name). Here we have an example of the Leo-Aquarius polarity in action, a classic work of artistic genius, about the madness of a scientist playing God and mucking about with the natural order without taking spirit into account. Sound familiar ? Though some insist it was written by her husband, one look at Mary Shelley’s chart shows otherwise, but I won’t digress here (perhaps another article). In any case, a good book to re-read, about now. There will be more goth days to come…
Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s monster
Speaking of man-made monsters, there will be a temptation to invest in Uranium mining during this transit. While we bitch about bitumen in Canada, uranium mining here is a much more lucrative and shady business. It is used solely for nuclear energy and its bi-product, depleted uranium, for weapons. Depleted uranium has a half life of 4.5 billion years, and once it enters the body (via inhalation of dust, ingestion, through soil, etc), it mutates the chromosomes and causes all manner of cancers and birth defects, literally creating monsters. (The higher octave of Mercury poisoning). Since Iraq has an old affinity with Taurus and surviving babies exposed to depleted uranium during the Gulf war are now teenagers (Chiron in Aries matter), we might see them coming up in the news. If so, I hope you all have strong stomachs. Google ‘Iraq depleted uranium’, if you don’t believe me, but you have been warned.
The possibility of nukes of some kind going off in Mesopotamia (Iran is a Taurus affiliated land – could be a matter of underground testing), the ‘cradle of civilization’, is also very real, and the Capricorn Pluto power players are invested up to their goat horns in the arms trade. Guess they didn’t read Dante.
The famed poet, Dante Alighieri
Findings of plastic, and other toxins in milk (human and animal) are sure to increase, and if we don’t find a natural way to transform plastic and start putting to use the existing ones, we may literally start turning into Barbie and Ken, as our DNA changes to absorb the new information. Well, maybe we have become too attached to all the beautiful forms of the present ‘maya’ (illusion) we are in. Taurus finds the destruction of the garden very hard to take, but there is nothing here that didn’t always exist in our cozy, alembic vessel. What does the spirit in plastic have to teach us ?
The wave of discoveries regarding how information is recorded in and changes our DNA is going to get tidal. Minds will be blown. The fact that our destiny is in our own hands will become ever more apparent, some will see this as a precious thing, others will go power-mad.
‘Henry’ – Get up, get on up/like a ‘Sex Machine’ [photo Wired Magazine]In Conclusion
Uranus in Taurus, in Greek myth, is the union of Titan Gods Ouranus (sky God) and Gaia (earth Goddess), but take your pick of Sky + Earth creation myths. Since we are all children of this union, the duality of spirit and matter exists within each of us, but man and woman are not true opposites. Rather we are of one ‘gender’, with various levels of the same hormones. We all start out, in utero, as a Mercurial, ‘feminine’ androgyne. (Men have nipples, and the penis is just a little clitoris that grew). The battle of the sexes becomes ridiculous when you understand the biology. But biology alone is alchemy minus the philosopher’s stone; a study of material building blocks, of product, which does not take it’s inherent, living spirit into account. Dr. Frankenstein stuff. Maybe the fact we are drowning in ‘product’ is a testament to this.
‘Pink Optimism’ [photo Roxanna Bikadoroff]In alchemy (the ‘below’ in ‘as above, so below’), Mercury is ‘the working force in the Great Work’, ‘the spirit of truth hidden in earth.’ S/he is the volatility and fluidity in every form, embodying every duality. In astrology (the ‘above’), Uranus is the higher octave of Mercury. In the Aquarian Age, the Mercurial becomes Uranian, the inherent spirit in matter goes up an octave in frequency. This acceleration can make fixed Taurus/matter extremely volatile, which is why we are seeing more volcanic activity. Taurus is about manifestation, show me the goods.
I doubt we will all awaken to the inherent, transmuting power of our Mercurial/Uranian spirit-nature en masse (unless aliens land and set off millions of visionary gas bombs – it could happen), but I do believe it has something to do with secret we are supposed to unlock, and that we are going to see some very interesting meta-physical developments, over the next 7 years, which will bear exotic fruits for years to come.
Philosophical Mercury, c 1400
When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter the Kingdom.
William Lilly (infamous 17th c astrologer and occultist)
Fomalhaut (19th c French astrologer, Sun exact conjunct Uranus)
Thomas Burgoyne (American occultist, mystic, astrologer, clairvoyant)
Mademoiselle Lenormand (sybil of Napoleon’s court)
Noel Tyl (famous contemporary astrologer)
Anne Toth (Canadian astrologer) Hildegarde of Bingen (abbess, doctor, composer, artist, mystic)
Marsilio Ficino (humanist philosopher, astrologer, reviver of Neoplatonism and translator of Plato’s works)
Charles Fourier (French utopian socialist/philosopher, credited with originating the word ‘Féminisme’)
Thomas Moore (spiritual writer and Jungian therapist)
Emile Durkheim (helped establish sociology as an accepted science)
Emanuel Swedenborg (inventor, scientist, mystic)
Nicola Tesla
George Eastman (founder of Eastman Kodak company, invented roll film)
André-Marie Ampere (one of the discoverers of electro-magnetism)
Daniel Gabriel Farenheit (self explanatory)
Charles Kowal (discovered Chiron)
Catherine Kraft (French volcanologist who died with her husband in pyroclastic flow on Mt. Unzen)
Sigmund Freud (father of modern psychoanalysis)
Kenneth Ring (co-founder of Intl Association for Near-death Studies)
Max Planck (founder of quantum theory) Fritjof Capra (The Tao of Physics, quantum physicist and ecologist)
Stephen Hawking
Valentina Tereshkova (first woman in space)
Pluto (aka ‘Total Recall’) moved into Capricorn in early 2009. Since then, we have seen the collapse of the banking system and economic structure, extreme purse tightening, lessons on survival by bark-eating and the beginning of the end for long-standing, dictatorial regimes – all Capricorn’s jurisdiction. Petroleum, too, is associated with Capricorn/Pluto, in that it comes from old bones/fossils buried deep in the Earth…makes me wonder whether long-hidden relics or riches will be uncovered while the underworld God sits on the mountaintop.
Pluto will don the goatskin until 2023. The ruling class, feeling insecure, will likely become ever more secretive, hiding their money under the mattress and stocking up on that which will retain value (ho ho). You and I will just have to get used to living like our great-grandparents and the majority of the world’s population, with gratitude for what we have and knowledge of what’s truly valuable.
When Pluto was ‘demoted’ to Dwarf Planet (by just a handful of astronomers) back in 2006, I thought this was actually quite fitting, considering what dwarves represent as mythic archetypes. In fairy tales, they are often the chthonic guardians of riches beneath the Earth. (In Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, they are miners). Sometimes they will live under bridges – thresholds of transformation – demanding near-impossible tasks or tests of any would-be hero who seeks passage. They have the magical power to bestow blessings on the worthy or curses on those who don’t take them seriously.
Pluto is the underworld God of Wealth and chthonic riches, who demands near-impossible tests for our transformation. He has been called the ‘dweller on the threshold’. So the term ‘dwarf planet’ actually expresses Pluto’s concentrated mojo quite well, thank you. And not seeing the planet on astronomical charts anymore just makes it more hidden and mysterious. Astrologers will not be DISsing (pardon pun) Pluto anytime soon.
