Fire and Fury – The New Elements on the Block

Fire, Maerten de Vos, Raphaël Sadeler, 1583

Pluto is settled into in Aquarius, Neptune enters Aries Jan 26, Saturn follows on Feb 20 for the ultimate conjunction, Uranus enters Gemini April 26, and Jupiter enters Leo June 29. Mars conjuncts Uranus July 3rd and the Lunar Nodes move into Leo and Aquarius July 26. ALL the outer planets and the Nodes will be in masculine fire and air for the foreseeable future (Jupiter’s Leo transit being shortest – one year – but he’s larger than life in Leo).

The dual rulers of Aquarius (Saturn and Uranus) moving into fire and air both have influence over Pluto in this sign. Things are going to be (already are) getting very hot and dry this year, in the way of elements and temperaments. And, it’s the Lunar Year of the Fire Horse, beginning mid-Feb.

Horse-drawn fire engine

I couldn’t help seeing the horrific Crans-Montana tragedy on Jan 1 as a microcosmic foreshadowing of the fast, fiery, potentially explosive times ahead. The chart itself is very interesting, but maybe still too soon for posting about. (Not to be outdone, next day, the US invaded Venezuela in a flurry of fire from the sky).

Astrology can’t prevent such awful things, unless every place on earth was constantly being charted and properly interpreted (and warnings heeded),  but, taking extra precautions and safety measures under certain planetary influences can help lessen the probability. Now’s the time to do safety checks on smoke detectors, car, brakes, etc. 

Smoke on the water, fire in the sky?

Do pick your battles under these volatile influences, or it could be all battles. Occurrences, good or bad, can spread like wildfire and wind, affecting many. The bad news is that, during the next 7 years, the possibility of someone going  nuclear by war or by accident is increased. It’s also possible we’ll experience another pandemic (this according to astrologer Bernadette Brady, who looked at patterns going back to antiquity and predicts possible flu-type pandemic in mid 2028, when Saturn squares Pluto). And a widespread energy outage or grid wipe out only takes one, massive, solar flare – Jupiter in Leo opposite Pluto might be a candidate.

Pluto in Aquarius can literally be mass deaths, or, mass ‘death’ of a collective ideology that brings about the birth of another. When long held beliefs are suddenly revealed as untrue, the rug is pulled out from under. It can be freeing or terrifying.

Toxic masculinity has reached alarming levels. I worry about my country, sandwiched between two ‘superpowers’ run by criminally insane men. How will we keep afloat? We feel helpless. ‘What can we do?’ I asked Mother Earth. ‘Connect,’ was the reply – with her, with source, with all living things, who and what we love. Nothing grounds electrical currents like Earth. Plug in to her whenever necessary, and unplug from the word barrage, which is going to go into overdrive. Uranus is like Mercury on steroids.

Air, Maerten de Vos, Raphaël Sadeler, 1583

The good news is these are going to be very very creative times. Creativity requires releasing from restrictive thought patterns and letting the inspiration take you. New areas of our brains and minds will open and we will be re-writing the script, which is why we need to filter the information pollution. Aquarius can have a razor-sharp focus. There’s potential for another renaissance. The last one followed the ‘Black Death’, people – poets – looked around and realized it was not the end, but the end of one era and the beginning of another. Yes, we will continue to be bombarded with atrocious AI, which some will welcome, while others – poets – will ask, what it is we long for that makes us human?

You will find your own pace. Remember it’s all mind (air). Aries energy doesn’t want to mold into anything yet, it’s enjoying simply being born, saying yes to the flowers, trees, birds, other lambs. Play, allow creativity to unfold, there will be a time when the dust settles and things start taking new form.

Kneeling Bull holding a Vessel, Proto-Elamite, ca 3100 to 2900 B

We will eventually need to channel the currents and bring balance with a measure of earthy groundedness and moisture. I know, it has been a long slog with Saturn and Neptune in Pisces, and we are all craving release from the primordial mud, kicking in our stalls and keen to take some risks. Yes! Do it, just…don’t be stupid about it. No Phaethonesque hubris, svp.

Chiron entering Taurus June 19 will be the voice in the wilderness. Chiron, half man, half horse (not a true centaur, but the ‘freak’ of an unhappy union) shows where we are collectively wounded or have wounded others unknowingly. Chiron lived in and learned from nature, and he was also a great teacher. Taurus is fixed EARTH, dependable, constant, ruled by Venus:

“Roman theology presents Venus [originally pronouned we-nus] as the yielding, watery female principle, essential to the generation and balance of life. Her male counterparts in the Roman pantheon, Vulcan and Mars, are active and fiery. Venus absorbs and tempers the male essence, uniting the opposites of male and female in mutual affection. She is essentially assimilative and benign, and embraces several otherwise quite disparate functions. She can give military victory, sexual success, good fortune and prosperity. In one context, she is a goddess of prostitutes; in another, she turns the hearts of men and women from sexual vice to virtue. Varro’s theology identifies Venus with water as an aspect of the female principle. To generate life, the watery matrix of the womb requires the virile warmth of fire. To sustain life, water and fire must be balanced; excess of either one, or their mutual antagonism, is unproductive or destructive.” [wikipedia]

7th c (ca) Coptic tomb stela featuring ‘adapted’ Venus scallop and Isis ankh, symbols of everlasting life. [Munich Egyptian Museum  photo credit: Don Hitchcock/Don’s Maps]

Addendum:
After finishing this piece, I went to Youtube to watch my late night comedy. Instead, I learned that ICE agents had just shot this young poet/writer named Renée Good in the face. She was a US citizen and had committed no crime whatsoever. She leaves a 6 year old child behind. ~rb




All written content except quotations is ©Roxanna Bikadoroff. Do not reuse without my permission. Share via LINK only (pull quote is ok, with credit). 

If you enjoyed this article, please leave a comment! Comments are moderated. 

The Unbearable Lightness of Being Sagittarius

Jumping through the Hellmouth

The recent New Moon in Scorpio-Sagittarius (still in new phase as Sun entered Sagi) got me seeking a metaphor for the feeling of freedom I have every year when the Sun leaves Scorpio. Admittedly, my Sun is not in Sagittarius, but my Moon, Black Moon and Ascendant are, and with Sagi’s ruler Jupiter conjunct my Sun plus other signatures, it’s like having two birthdays. This year seems especially bouncy, albeit with a lot of wrapping up to do before Saturn enters Aries, next year.
In astrology, we read symbols. It is a language (‘astro-logos’), just like French or math or music. The nice thing about it is that the symbols, including numbers, are so simple and abstract, that much information can be unlocked with them. The symbol (or sigil) for Sagittarius is an arrow pointing diagonally upward, crossing a horizontal line. In the most simple sense, it stands for the horoscope sign of ‘the Archer’.

The moment Orion is transformed, House of Orion, Pompeii

At a deeper level, the horizontal line is the actual horizon, and the arrow,  formerly in the tail of the Scorpio symbol, is now taking off from beneath the earth and flying out into the cosmos. That kind of seems like a description of Aries, first sign of Spring and first fire sign, but the Aries symbol looks like both a helmet and a plant shoot (astrologer Rick Levine mentions that dandelion petals are actually shaped like tiny Aries symbols). The Ram isn’t butting forth into outer space, but those first waking rays of Sun on the cold earth must feel like gently charged thunderbolts from papa Zeus. Sagittarius, on the other hand, is not launching from the grave in a new body-armour, but escaping the  mortal coil altogether, like a ‘spirited’ horse. In older depictions, based on the first horsemen, the Archer points his arrow backward, as if being chased. Of the FIRE triplicity, Aries is ignition spark (cardinal), Leo is resplendent source (fixed), and Sagittarius is the transforming fire (mutable).

Amazon or Parthian ‘hero’ rider taking a parting shot [click for deets]
Now for the metaphor…
If you have ever watched those NDE (near-death experience) videos on Youtube, they encapsulate the relationship between Scorpio and Sagittarius. Scorpio is the death part, and indeed the physical aspect of the subject’s ‘re-birth’. But the experience that these individuals come back to tell us about – the visions/visions of light, the lessons and the need to spread the ‘good word’ to others – that’s pure Sagittarius. The ‘Hero Rider’ on his spirited horse riding out of Hades, flag-waving and free of fear. Of course, though the general theme may be similar, these spiritual experiences are completely unique to each. Similarly, no matter how much preaching Sagittarius does, and how extremely perceptive they are or how close to source, it is ultimately about their personal experience of the universal – much larger than life, due to ruler Jupiter’s influence. Sometimes they ride too far, but their zeal is always infectious, especially when put to words, art and music.
Happy Birthday, solar and ascending Sages! ~rb

Addendum: Recent tragic events have prompted the need for a companion ‘Unbearable Darkness’ post. Stay tuned.

‘Light of Poetry’, Carl Gutherz, Library of Congress (ceiling), Washington, US

*All written content copyright ©Roxanna Bikadoroff. Please share via LINK and short pull-quote only, with credit, thanks (no stealing).

Some ‘Are You Experienced?’ Sagittarians:

William Blake
Crazy Horse
Beethoven
Jean Sibelius
Edith Piaf
Maria Callas
Frank Sinatra
Jimi Hendrix
Keith Richards
Jim Morrison
Sinead O’Connor
Tina Turner
Little Richard
Taylor Swift
Britney Spears
Billie Eilish
Jon Stewart
Boris Karloff
Agnes Moorehead
Margaret Hamilton
Bruce Lee
Florence Griffith Joiner
Joe DiMaggio
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean Genet
C.S Lewis
Jane Austen
Mark Twain
Margaret Mead
Walt Disney
Erté
Charles M. Schultz
Madame Tussaud
Winston Churchill
Joseph Stalin
Nero
ICE Barbie
Billy the Kid

Breaking: Kilmar Abrego Garcia has just been freed (at least for now)!