jupiter Archives - ROXANNA BIKADOROFF

January 7, 2026January 8, 2026

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.

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.

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

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December 6, 2025December 15, 2025

The Unbearable Lightness of Being Sagittarius

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

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)!

July 6, 2025July 6, 2025

Uranus into Gemini – part 2 – Urania

Uranus enters Gemini tomorrow! This will be our prelude, until it stations retrograde Sept 6/25 – Feb 4/26, during which, it will re-enter Taurus. When an outer planet retrogrades back into a sign it is leaving, it’s a bit like a Janus-face review, since so much can happen over the period of years it takes to make a sign transit. In Uranus’ case, 7-8 years, which is significant. Ringed Uranus – as mentioned in the previous article, Uranus in Gemini – Trickster from another Dimension – rotates on its ‘side’ (from our perspective), like a wheel. In Tarot de Marseille the 21 triumphs (major arcana) are divided into 3 x 7 = 21. Or 7 x 3, which I like to think of as the waltz step of the heavenly Muses.

Franchises Gaffurius (friend of Leonardo), Practica Musicae frontspiece, 1496

Speaking of Heavenly Muses…I would now like to introduce the good fairy of this transit, Urania, muse of Astronomy and Astrology. Venus is in Gemini right now (my own Venus sign) and is prodding me to write on something a little more inspirational for the occasion than bitcoin and freaks. I apologize if anyone was left uninspired previously. Hopefully this will make up for it.

In the woodcut above, created long before the discovery of Uranus, we see Apollo conducting the ‘music of the spheres’ (Pythagoras’ idea). At the bottom, Thalia, Muse of Comedy and Idyllic Poetry relates to Earth. Ha ha. At the top is Urania, relating to the starry realm. Astrologer Christopher Renstrom points out that while Jupiter was the sky god, it was more the day-to-day sky, not the starry night sky. Jupiter was a fertility god – he made rain and threw thunderbolts, affecting human life directly, thus myths of his decent to dabble in disguise with humans/human ladies abound. But Ouranos, the greater sky god and father of creation (Gaia/Earth being Mother), was not depicted in human form. Mostly we know him from the myth of his castration by titan son, Kronos-Saturn, whereby his testicles are thrown into the sea and Venus, in all her glory, is born out of the foam.

Urania’s Mirror, (London 1825), a boxed set of 32 cards [click image for more detail]

So…Urania is the feminine aspect of Uranus; the suffix ‘us’ being masculine, ‘ia’ being feminine. The planet Uranus has come to represent ‘the heavenly realm of the stars’, but since Uranus will be entering the sign of the twins, while conjoined with Venus herself, perhaps we need to incorporate and equalize the genders for this planet. There has certainly in modern years been a marriage of inspiration (muse) and technology. We’ve wanted to understand the universe, travel beyond the Jupiterian sky and Saturnian limitations, and so we have continually re-invented the means to do so. Once upon a time, to be an astrologer, you would have had to be versed in astronomy, but now technology provides us with the calculations without ever having to look up. We need to look up, now. Waaaaay up. The muse of the starry heavens invites astrologers and others to look beyond the traditional planets. But not simply as an escape.

By-passing Jupiter’s eagle. John Singer Sargent, Chiron and Achilles, 1921

The opposite sign to Gemini is Sagittarius, ruled by Jupiter. The centaur was thought to represent Chiron, who is not a true centaur, but a ‘monster’ hybrid of horse and human parents (Saturn in the form of a horse raped his mother). Sagittarius, the eternal optimist, is ever aiming beyond that which binds us to the earth, and the heaviness of bodies controlled by unbridled passions and physical pain. I call it the ‘unbearable lightness of being Sagittarius.’ Uranus in Sagittarius’ polarity sign will encourage us to take it higher. With our faith in what is possible, may we evolve.

Sirius Star, channeled painting, 2013 (darkened version)

There is a currently a lot going on down here that makes it feel like we are devolving into bog creatures, or that we have entered the Hell realm. Indeed, as mentioned, some of the possible implications of Uranus in Gemini are frightening – technology running amok, US involved in a major war (its president a walking example of Uranus Gemini unhinged), bit coin hunger trashing the environment – BUT, these are fear and greed driven desires and precisely why we need to try harder than ever to envision a brighter future, even if that ultimately means becoming a real star some day (a privilege once reserved for pharaohs).
It’s worth noting that Uranus was also in Gemini during the height of the Renaissance. Arts and exploration flourished as skies and minds opened.

Da Vinci’s iconic Vitruvian Man, created in 1490, while Uranus in Gemini.

Uranus-Urania is not just about the sky ‘out there’ but the higher mind, that of the eternal spirit. There is always a period of darkness before the light. There is always a dark night of the soul (Pluto in Aquarius related), this is where inner light must gestate. The universe is a very dark place, but it is full of beaming stars, our distant ancestors. Listen to the music of the spheres! ~rb

February 14, 2025December 27, 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.

All written content and Tantric Typhon image are copyright ©Roxanna Bikadoroff and may not be reposted/reused without permission. Please share via link only. If you wish to share a short excerpt, please make sure to include a credit and link. Thanks.

January 12, 2025January 13, 2025

Waxing Gibbous Moon

Cancer Moon, getting ready to eclipse Mars, Jan 13-14!

Here’s one from yesterday eve of Luna with red veil, Jupiter in tow.

December 2, 2023December 30, 2025

The Hermit – Shedding a Little Light on the Situation

[Originally posted April 17, 2023, now re-posted with some Mercury retrograde addendums and edits. Enjoy!]

In 15th century Renaissance Tarot decks, this allegorical figure was called ‘Time’ and his device was an hour glass. Later, with a few exceptions, it was replaced by a lamp, changing the meaning somewhat. Instead of being a Saturnine symbol of old age reminding us of the passing of our mortal existence, he became more of a monk-sage, holding up a guiding light for seekers. But as we shall see, the two are not so different.

In this well-known Visconti-Sforza card, Father Time holds the hourglass and wears the deep blue of Lapis, i.e, wisdom/the philosopher’s stone (Lapis simply means ‘stone’). This he will wear into future Tarot decks, it is his trademark. On his head, a dome-shaped turban with rings. Until the 18th century, Saturn was known as the outermost planet, whose orbit encircled those of all the other planets’. It was the last stop. The average person was fortunate to experience one or even two Saturn returns in a lifetime. (The super-power of survival, however, is a common gift to those born under his rulership).

His colours are probably indicative of ‘the work’. Inside its holder, the hourglass is black and white (I inquired – it is not tarnished silver, but black paint). Likely this means the white inside it is salt. The tria prima of philosophical alchemy are as follows:
– SALT representing the body, which is material (in hourglass, also his white gloves, socks, hair)
– SULPHUR representing the soul, which is fiery (hat colours, also his lining or undergarment, boots)
– MERCURY representing the spirit, which is watery (blue cloak)
The green grass is symbolic of renewal/rebirth, nature, and is perhaps also an alchemical reference, which the Hanged Man card of this deck picks up on.
The planets are the ‘above’ to alchemy’s ‘below’, the metals, but spiritual (or philosophical) alchemy is about the transmutation of the soul.

Saturn, from Lazzarelli’s De Gentilium Deorum Imaginibus, ca 1470

The ‘So-Called Mantegna’ prints, an Italian Renaissance relation, though not actual cards, were a little more esoteric. Above is a page from a book by Ludovico Lazzarelli, which beautifully replicates the prints, in colour, with fancy borders. While still nothing typically Hermit-like about him, other than his shabby cloak, Saturn is doing the most allegorical thing possible to show the passing of time – eating his offspring, in order that he might reign eternal and avoid succession. (This was actually what kept patriarchs awake at night, in olden days). The serpent or dragon biting its tail is one of the oldest alchemical symbols, representing mercury and the work itself; ‘my end is my beginning’.

Seated in a line, as if to complete a (second) scythe shape, are four of his children, a fifth one is about to be devoured. The sixth, Zeus-Jupiter has been hidden away by his mother, Rhea, and will later return to succeed his Titan Father, beginning a new era of Olympian rule and providing an endless supply of mythology for generations to come. That cherub on the right holding a golden ‘O’ (mirror or empty picture frame) for ‘Olympus’ might be him, preparing his new place in the line. The babe at its father’s lips must be Vesta, who was born/eaten first (and coughed up last). In fact, at one time, first-borns were given to the Gods, in sacrifice, that was their honour. Again, the theme of age, elders, death. Note the mysterious (funerary?) urns which match the four, seated babes – Juno, Pluto, Neptune and Ceres. Missing is Vesta’s urn…are we to presume that Saturn himself is the container for her? Attached to the two brothers’ urns is a wreath, signifying completion, while new growth emerges from the sisters’ taller urns.

Rare Vesta in human form, from the lararium of a bakery in Pompeii, 1st c. (Vesta was patron Goddess of bakers). Note she also appears to be holding a coiled serpent. The ass was sacred to her.

In Ancient Rome, Vesta (Greek Hestia) was Goddess of the hearth, eternal flame of the city. Vestal Virgins enjoyed much privilege…as long as they kept their vow of chastity and never let the eternal flame go out. Punishment for either was severe, usually being sealed up or buried alive. Extreme Saturn. The fate of Rome itself depended, it was believed, on that fire being kept alive. Similarly, and prior to this, in each Roman home, women had to ensure their home hearths didn’t go out, lest the ancestors and living family should suffer calamity.

Europa, Ripa 1603 and TdM style Hermite, 18th c (?)

Lamp-lifting Hermits: Old one from Lyon, Dodal Tarot de Marseille mid-17th c, Grumppenberg ca 1807-1816 (note the copulating snakes suggesting Tiresias).

Am likely not alone in seeing the Hermit’s lamp as being temple-shaped. It was indeed Vesta’s temples that were circular and domed, to replicate the dome of the sky over the earth. Just as Vesta’s flame represented eternal life, the little light in the Hermit’s temple-shaped lantern must also be symbolic of the eternal existence of spirit. 9 is indicative of (human) gestation…a most mysterious alchemical process. Interestingly, Vesta, with Janus, was also connected to liminality, in particular the marriage threshold. Typically the Hermit is looking back to illuminate the past, the dweller on the threshold of transformation.

Returning to the Visconti-Sforza card, we find that the leap from being an allegory of Time to the christianized (?), hermetic Hermit of TdM is really just a small step. His hourglass is encased in a tri-sectioned (Hermes-Mercury), lantern/temple-shaped holder, and the black outline of the hourglass is shaped very much like two, entwined snakes. The TdM card simplifies it into a tri-sectioned lantern and calls him l’Ermite or l’Hermite, as an added clue (both old and new French were used, depending on when/where the cards were printed, meaning doesn’t change). Time is not simply about counting hours, but is essential to the great work that is our development of spiritual wisdom over the course of a lifetime. This ultimately (hopefully) prepares us for our transition from bodily form to spirit. The blue cloak takes up most of the V-S figure, while the white areas of salt and body are comparatively small.

By now I hope you can see the connection between Saturn, representative of constricted time, lead and bodily age, and Vesta, embodiment of the vital, ever transformative life force energy – that which is eternal, whether you interpret it as Earth-fire, the Sun (by which her sacred fire was lit for the Olympic Games) or Holy Spirit. The Hermit holds up this little, temple light not as literal Vesta, but to evoke what her temple and fire signifies. Number 9 will in fact re-emerge or be reborn, in the Sun card, number 19, after a process of being ‘tortured’ (alchemically speaking) through the next 9 cards. In astrology, too, the 9th sign, following the trials of Scorpio, is Sagittarius (aka the Sage) – mutable, transforming flame of the fire triplicity. Keep this light burning within you at all times, never let it be snuffed out. If it is, well, fortunately Vesta is also the sacred, phallic fire stick (brother Jupiter to the rescue!), with which she rekindles herself. This was inserted into a hollow piece of wood and “rotated in a phallic manner” to light her flame, ahem.

Time/Hermit, Bologna Leonne 1776 and Horologion (time keeping) Tower, Athens

Segue and full circle… I had mentioned device exceptions. This Time/Hermit figure above has both a (phallic?) column – probably a sundial, ironically – and wings on his back. It is usually interpreted as the fleeting of time but another way to see it is buoyant spirit (wings) readying to leave the heaviness of this mortal coil or simply not being affected by it. Perhaps the same sort of idea as the Tower card, a release from bondage or prison. Sometimes the elderly do begin to look angelic. Or maybe it’s just the signature of our old friend, Hermes-Mercury, the winged wonder. [Addendum: I intend to do a whole separate post about this.]

The Sanskrit word for temple (I recently learned), mandir, is a combination of mana, meaning ‘inner self’ and dir, meaning ‘a place’, ie, a ‘place where the inner self lives’. I can think of no better description for The Hermit.
Tarot images are cryptic, it’s not ‘this = that’, but rather, ‘this resembles that, I wonder if there might be a reason…’

Saturn and Vesta sitting in a forest, The Allegro & Il Penseroso of Milton, 1848 [BM]

November 12, 2023April 10, 2024

Secrets of the Emperor’s Chicken

There is a curious detail in the Marseille Emperor’s throne, which always reminded me of a goofy-looking bird, a bit like the Roadrunner cartoon. Merely an accident of design…or is it? Jodo refers only to the eye-like, circular shape, as symbolic of ‘alchemical gold.’ He and Camoin also insist there was an egg (under eagle’s tail) in the Conver card, which they ‘restored,’ a topic of much debate in Tarot circles.

detail in 3 versions of the Conver Emperor

Details in Tarot imagery are known to get muddled or omitted, so it’s necessary to look at as many variations as possible, to try and put a picture together. Often it’s nothing, sometimes it’s something. In this case, it was the latter.

In the two versions below, you’d be forgiven for thinking the bird head on the back of the Emperor’s throne was just another eagle, being the imperial bird (and in the first card, it appears to be), except for a couple of other clues; in the 2nd card, the arm of the throne is clearly ‘feathered’ like a rooster’s tail. Also there is the fact that the brim of the Emperor’s helmet-crown is almost without exception consistent in its red colouring.

We could also make the connection to the alchemical basilisk, which symbolized the destructive fire preceding the transmutation of metals, as well as having the ability to kill with a glance, like Medusa (hence situated behind the Emperor, his shadow nature or hidden super-power). And, of course, the presence of Mercurius, the transmuter.

Now, the next question is, why? Why, when chickens are a medieval symbol of cowardice and avarice, and when the rooster in particular belongs to Mercury or Mars, would anyone associate the noble Emperor with poultry? Isn’t the Emperor an avatar of Jupiter??

Actually, Emperors and Gallus gallus go a long way back. No ancient Roman Emperor was without an assembly of sacred fowl. You see, in olden days, chickens were not bred for frying, but for fighting and alectryomancy, a form of augury. Chickens were used to predict the outcome of battles and, yup, who the next Emperor would be. We can see the military aspect of our Tarot Emperor, though he be seated in repose.

Etruscan buccher 630-20 BC and German Rooster helmet c 1530 (MET Museum, NY)

Alright, so what does the regal rooster have to do with de Zeus, if anything?
This is where it gets a bit esoteric, because TdM imagery is never this = that. We can find associations in the Emperor card to Jupiter (imperial eagle on his shield, sometimes a thunderbolt in his sceptre, bearded), Mars and Mercury (rooster, as mentioned), as well as the Sun (rooster, medieval 4th sphere, wears a radiate crown over his helmet), but what about Pluto? Pluto/Hades was, after all, an aspect of the Jupiterian triplicity, one of the ‘bros’.

While the other, major Greco-Roman gods were always busy doing – Mars at battle or cavorting with Venus, Mercury flying all over the place, Jupiter running Olympus between mythic, erm, conquests – it seems Pluto’s one, big event was the ‘abduction’ of his young bride, Persephone/Proserpine. After that, the god of subterranean riches pretty much just sits there on his Underworld throne or lies in repose at banquets for the newly-dead, right?

engraving by Wenzel Holler (detail) 1600, Francesco Berti Bologna Emperor 17th c

This is likely due to the abduction myth being a relatively late injection; Persephone had long presided in the underworld as part of a Goddess triplicity (with Demeter and Hekate), before the patriarchal gods usurped:

“There is an archaic role for Persephone as the dread queen of the Underworld, whose very name it was forbidden to speak. In the Odyssey, commonly dated circa 800 to 600 BCE, when Odysseus goes to the Underworld, he refers to her as the Iron Queen. Her central myth, for all its emotional familiarity, was also the tacit context of the secret initiatory mystery rites of regeneration at Eleusis, which promised immortality to their awe-struck participants—an immortality in her world beneath the soil, feasting with the heroes who dined beneath her dread gaze.”

Note the ‘dread gaze’ reference, again.

Persephone and Hades/Pluto Enthroned, 500-450 BC, Greek (Cleveland Museum of Art)

As it turns out, Hades/Pluto and Dionysus may have been one and the same (or syncretized). In this beautiful relief, we see that the cock and hen are familiars of Persephone and her consort, representing Springtime regeneration (and eggs!), when she emerges from the Earth to make it fecund, again. The ear of grain/wheat is another of her attributes (indeed she was the grain itself), and we see that the TdM Emperor wears a necklace (circle) of golden grain, just like Pluto/Dionysus wears on his head.

Going back to the subject of my previous post, every 4th card is also the 1st card of the next cycle of 3, the Empress being the first 3. Like Persephone, she embodies the cyclic, creative triplicity. The Emperor, in 4th place, represents the ‘death’ of the first cycle as well as the beginning of the next. Similarly, Winter is the 4th season, when the forces of life go underground.

The aging Emperor is typically shown in profile, facing the Empress/past and with his back to the next cards/future (if they were laid out in numerical order). He will not go further in his current form, but holding his sceptre erect, looks to his lady for renewal, while she, in turn, holds her sceptre to her womb.

Addendum: Hermes-Mercury’s travels famously included being a psychopomp, being the only god who had licence to travel back and forth between realms. So don’t worry, this is not to discount the rooster/chicken as possible presence of Mercury, significator of transition, alchemical, numerical or otherwise. Rather it is to draw attention to the Plutonian nature of the Emperor. Hermes-Mercury is present in every Major Arcana card of the TdM (more on that some other post). Interestingly, modern ‘evolutionary’ astrology sees planetary Pluto as having to do with both death and transformation. ~rb

July 27, 2023December 17, 2023

Jupiter’s Daughter – Sinead O’Connor

Like all her fans, I was crushed to learn of Sinéad O’Connor’s (Shuhada’ Sadaqat’s) death. I’m not going to get too into analyzing her personal struggles…suffice it to say we of the Pisces Saturn opposite Pluto-Uranus generation are working through lifetimes of (usually religious) guilt and/or persecution, which can involve putting oneself back in a similar situation. Sinéad often walked through fire of her own making, but likely she’d been burned (or burned others) at the stake in the distant past. Sadly, she didn’t make her second Saturn return.

Ripping up the pope on SNL “Fight the Real Enemy”

Squares are challenging, especially T-squares, and her Sagi Venus was in this configuration with the Pluto-Uranus/Saturn-Chiron opposition, her Xena warrior Venus believing unequivocally that without the freedom to love who and how we want, there can be no healing. As well, Pallas Athena, Jupiter’s favourite warrior daughter in rebel Aries. But her Black Moon Lilith, sometimes a self-saboteur in youth was also in Pisces, sign of the martyr, conjunct Saturn, and the two of them opposite Mars in Libra. Not easy to keep a balance (Libra) with the ironman Mars sitting on one of your scales, while luminaries Venus and Sun have their hands full trying to mediate the forces of Pluto/Uranus and Saturn/Chiron. Saturn in this placement can feel like one’s been abandoned by god and/or one’s own father, which is what happened. All of them under Jupiter’s watch (see explanation below).

Sinead O’Connor natal chart with asteroids Dec 8 1966

Read her book, ‘Rememberings’ if you want to know about her personal life. Here’s a great Guardian interview from 2021, upon its release.

With Chiron tightly conjunct her Saturn, the urge to break and heal the long cycle of pain would be even stronger, but as we know, Chiron’s own wounds never quite heal even as he healed others. Sinéad gave music her all, and all her music. “We’re only given as much as the heart can endure” sang Capricorn Patti Smith, but Sagittarius is known to bite off more than they can chew. Sagittarius is clichéd as being a lucky, optimistic, freedom-loving zealot. And that would be true. However there is also what I’ve always referred to as ‘the unbearable lightness of being Sagittarius.’ It’s kind of like an unbearable heaviness, except light. (Sagis will understand).

Michelangelo’s sculpture of a young slave – spirit trying to release from body.

I had actually just been listening to Sinéad’s Irish Ballads the night before the sad news broke, that crystal-perfect voice, remembering how she’d said that these songs were ‘ghosts.’ Spirit possession, be it via songs, demons or Holy Spirit or can be a very stressful practice, definitely not for the faint of heart. Sometimes they won’t leave.

Jupiter, like Sagittarius, is given this benign definition of ‘greater benefic’ or ‘fortunate’ or signifying ‘excess’. And these would be true. But Jupiter’s influence, being of the spirit, is perhaps not fully fathomed until a person has passed and their own, ‘larger than life’ spirit becomes one with everything. That’s kind of the whole point of Jupiter’s religiosity (although many astrologers now attribute this ‘seeking oneness’ quality and Pisces rulership to Neptune, I see the outer planets as a slow release over a long period of time, affecting whole generations, so am not quite ready to replace the traditional rulerships with them). Similarly, when a loved one dies you recognize and perhaps feel it in a breeze or passing bird…a Jupiterian serendipity. This planetary god makes spirit known.

Jupiter in the end shows where a person died a ‘good death’ (though not necessarily without physical pain), ‘with honours’ or simply how the pull to spirit realm was at that moment overriding the material. Think of how we are drawn into sleep each night, the realm of dreams – Pisces being Jupiter’s other traditional sign. Likely she died in her sleep.

Sinéad’s Sagittarius Sun (ruler of Leo) was in mutual reception with her Leo Jupiter (ruler of Sagittarius). Her Libra Moon and Taurus North Node were also ultimately under the influence of Jupiter, since her Venus (ruler of Taurus and Libra) was in the sign of Sagittarius. It’s called the ‘chain of command’ in a chart. At the same time, her natal Venus was being trined by transiting retrograde Venus. Retrograde Venus is where we get the myth of Ishtar going into to the underworld – ie, the period of invisibility in the Sun’s rays, before re-emerging the other side – where, en route, she had to remove a veil at each of seven gates (heavenly spheres).

I’m dancing the Seven Veils
Want you to pick up my scarf
See how the black moon fades
Soon I can give you my heart

~ first lines of Sinead O’Connor’s first big hit, ‘Mandinka’

Natal chart with transits on day of departure

When the news of her death broke, Jupiter was conjunct her North Node (future/material) and Sun was on her Jupiter. As well, the Moon was transiting her South Node (past/spiritual) node. The Lunar Nodes are an axis and work together, not separately. Whatever was going on, it seems her God-father came to take her home, with honours for her musical contribution and valiant battle with lifetimes old cause of so much abuse and suffering. Yes, she had a martyr complex at times (her Neptune conjunct south node in the 12th house was a significator of that in this life and the past), but that was also deeply imprinted in the psyche via catholicism. Life throws us enough suffering without the added notion that somehow we ‘deserved’ it and are being punished by the almighty for simply being ourselves, but that is the general idea of ‘original sin’ and it’s made a real mess of things.

Lamp with Ishtar’s underworld twin Ereshkigal, Syria

As well, we see transiting Mercury, flanked by Lilith and Venus, squaring her natal 12th house Mercury, representing her son Shane. Like his mum, he had been institutionalized (12th house), and sadly, although on ‘suicide watch’ he had ended his own life (age 17) last year. She expressed in her last tweet how she was basically walking dead without him, that he was the ‘lamp of her soul’ and that they ‘shared a soul’. Transiting Mercury is the psychopomp, conjunct retrograde (underworld) Venus and Black Moon Lilith (the void/anti-Moon). So much there offering her the door. “Alright, my daughter, you’ve had more than enough.”

It is not personal, human foibles (sorry, media) that ultimately defines how a great artist will be remembered, but their legacy. Jupiter also sired the nine Heavenly Muses, when he slept with the Titan Mnemosyne (‘of Memory’).
I think Sinéad, Jupiter’s daughter, whom Christy Moore once referred to as ‘one of our [Ireland’s] sons,’ and a catholic priest asked she sign his copy of her book ‘because she is a prophet’, was blessed by at least several of them. ~rb

February 2, 2023April 5, 2024

Lonely at the Top – Sun or planets in the 10th House

‘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.”

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.

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.

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.

All written content herein is ©Roxanna Bikadoroff and may not be used or reprinted anywhere without permission from me. But if you want to share it via link, that’s fine.

January 1, 2023April 10, 2024

2023 – Of Gods, Solar Heroes and Magic

Happy New Year!

Jupiter is back in Aries, until May 16. This masculine, fiery combo embodies the mythology of the solar hero (Aries) on a mission from God (Jupiter) or the ‘superhero’. The Sun’s exaltation is in Aries and the Sun is also the ‘son’.

Weapon-wielding, demi-god sons who saved humanity by wiping the floor with fabulous creatures were abundant in the ancient world (or at least abundantly immortalized), as they are, today – but one in particular stands out from all the others, for he wears the solar lion’s skin and performs twelve labours, just as the Sun and Jupiter themselves stay a day and a year, consecutively, in each zodiacal house. Sing along if you are old enough…

“Hercules, hero of song and story!
Hercules, winner of ancient glory!
Fighting for the right, fighting with his might;
With the strength of ten, ordinary men!
Hercules, people are safe when near him!
Hercules, only the evil fear him!
Softness in his eyes, iron in his thighs;
Virtue in his heart, fire in every part of
The Mighty Hercules!”

I was dismayed to learn that the ‘real’ Hercules never had a magic ring, ripped abs and a quiff, or a centaur sidekick who’s favourite expression was “Suffering Psyche!” But my childhood TV cartoon got one thing right, ‘Herc’ was the modern, macho superhero prototype:

“Heracles – or Hercules as he has been more popularly known ever since the Roman times – was the greatest of all Greek heroes, “one who surpassed all men of whom memory from the beginning of time has brought down an account.” A half-god of superhuman strength and violent passions, Heracles was the epitome of bravery and masculinity in the ancient world and the most notable champion of the Olympian order, which he staunchly protected from various chthonic monsters and earthly villains. Even though his short temper and lack of composure did cause both him and quite a few innocent mortals undeserved trouble, the magnitude of his labors was of such an order that it earned him the prize of immortality… Heracles is undoubtedly one of the most iconic figures in all of Greek mythology.” [source]

Drunk Heracles “urinating” (in fact trying to get it up, for erroneous intent).

In the myth, Goddess Queen/evil stepmother Hera, angry that Zeus had sired him with another, who had the gall to name him ‘glory of Hera’, hated her step son and had marked him since birth. She sent two poisonous snakes (of course) to kill him in his cradle, but he strangled them with his bare, chubby little superbaby hands. Years later, grudge firm as ever, Hera served Heracles a potion to drive him temporarily insane and murder his own family. When the drugs wore off and he realized what he had done, remorseful Heracles sought spiritual advice from Apollo, who divined the gruelling tasks for his atonement. (Note that Apollo was a Sun god, who killed and usurped the Python). “In my defence, I was drunk and drugged!”

Delphic oracle with her tripod, Hellenist bell krater detail (British Museum)

The myth of Herc’s 10 labours was likely extended to 12 – which became the official number – because the day and the solar year were also divided into 12 sections (Roman year had formerly been 10 months, also), each through which the Sun himself was ‘guided’ by a lady of the hora, as he traversed the sky in his chariot. Every man of importance in the ancient world, political or religious, was depicted wearing a halo of the Sun’s rays – essentially what a golden crown is, made with the Sun’s metal. Alexander the Great, who self-identified with various mythic/solar heroes, including Heracles, was frequently depicted as Helios. Our image of the haloed Buddha (‘enlightened one’) also comes courtesy of the imported, Greco-Roman Sun God. Of course it wasn’t only reserved for men, they just tended to have a bit more power and a bit less humility.
[Side note: Though I’m not of the ‘there are really 13 signs!’ camp, it’s interesting that, in order to make things solar and mathematically ‘even’, the 13th constellation touching the ecliptic, associated with the serpent (and 13 being lunar) had to be left out. We now know our Sun is itself serpentine in nature, it ‘sheds’ its skin via coronial mass ejections (CMEs).]

Gilt roundel with Alexander as Helios, 4th c BC

“All the seven planets have
opened their gates.” – Goethe

Whilst reading up on Heracles and the horae, I took a rabbit hole into horary astrology. Turns out that on the first day of the first month of 2023, the first hour belongs to the Sun, as does the day (Sunday), meaning the entire year is going to be under solar influence. The Sun card comes up (19 reduces to 1), as does the Chariot, being that it’s a universal 7 year ( 2+0+2+3). The actual picture of the solar demi-god in his vehicle!

The 7th house cusp of the zodiac, opposite to the natal horizon or ascendant, is where the Sun-self begins its descent and marks the beginning of knowing thyself through others (Libra), which is a different kind of awakening.

Vieville Tarot Sun and Charioteer, looking rather Alexander-ish

Unlike Heracles, the Charioteer, previously initiated as a Lover (6, which some do see as ‘Hercules at the crossroads’, choosing between Vice and Virtue), is now tasked with keeping the solar and lunar sides of his own nature in Balance (8).

The fiery energy of Jupiter/Aries is boundless, until Saturn enters Pisces, March 7 and tempers the flame. Saturn specializes in labours and (karmic) atonement, and it’s entering the 12th sign, traditionally ruled by Jupiter. At best, Saturn/Pisces directs Jupiterian inspiration, so as to give form to visions and dreams, testing their weight and our faith, every step of the way. Are we just being given our tasks or is this the final push? Maybe both? (I have Saturn and Jupiter returns coming up this year, will let you know…).

There are 7 cycles of 3 (plus the Fool) in the Major Arcana, so each 4th card is also a new 1. So the Chariot, as the first card of the third triad, is also a 1 placement. All ‘1‘ placement cards have to do with the theme of change/transition/death/rebirth: 1–Magician, 4-Emperor, 7-Chariot, 10-Wheel, 13-Unnamed, 16-Tower, 19-Sun.

Being the number of traditional planets/planetary spheres, 7 has long held sacred significance as a microcosm, by which the weeks and solar years are divided.

Amulets found in Turkish excavation, dated from 7th-4th c BC

Horary astrology is also tied in with magic (using the energy of the planet at the appropriate time and/or creating talismans for positive outcome or amulets for protection). Before Solstice, I made some planet-themed bracelets. I hadn’t checked the planet hours at their creation, but when the Mars one proved conductive, I wondered whether I’d made it during a Mars hour or on a Tuesday. It remains to be seen whether Sun-ruled hours/days this year will have extra potency, but I intend to find out! In astrology, the Sun is generally seen as a bringer of happiness, unless terribly aspected. Similarly, we feel hope when the Sun shines, except during a drought or heat dome.

“Symbols are to the mind what tools are to the hand–
an extended application of its powers.” – Dion Fortune

To me, the Chariot card is emblematic of Tarot itself and of magic; forces within and without in accordance, the meeting of above and below, the completion of the first 7 steps.

painted icon of seated blue sphinx on gold background — Blue Saharan Sphinx wood icon by Roxanna Bikadoroff

Sphinxes, such as those who ‘pull’ the triumphal Chariot in some decks, were guardians of mysteries and the dead. As human-lion anthropomorphs, they are also symbolic of Aquarius/Leo (or, previously, Leo/Aquarius). We might view the pelt-clad Heracles as an initiate, a man not yet integrated with the solar lion in the spiritual sense. (He did actually become an initiate of the mysteries, but only in order to capture Cerberus). He is still an accursed bête, wearing the old skin but not yet the golden crown of the solar lion (the Nemean lion he flayed represents the constellation of Leo).

Of the Aquarius Age, astrologer Alan Oken, in the 1970s wrote,

“In spite of the utopian visions which this writer shared with millions of his peers in the 1960s, the Age of Aquarius will not be dominated by a suddenly transcended, spiritually oriented, love-sharing world population. Mankind has yet to work out the natural animal aggression which is so much a part of his nature…”

He goes on to say that (as we are seeing) the Aquarian Age will be dominated by ideological conflicts and, because of the energies available and potential for evolutionary advancement, self-awareness is a priority for people of the Aquarian Age if we are to properly channel these energies – physical and metaphysical – for the benefit of all.

Heracles, in burning agony, throws himself on the fire

In the end, after a kind of alchemical trial by pyre, brought about by a toxic balm his second wife inadvertently procured from a centaur (Sagittarius, the centaur sign ruled by Jupiter, is the transforming fire of the zodiacal triplicity), Hera and Zeus both agreed he’d suffered enough, and Herc was placed in the sky, as the constellation formerly identified with Gilgamesh. “Victory is here, raise a mighty cheer!”

Final thoughts…

As we ‘permanently’ enter the rational, masculine, high-tech age of the Titans (fixed air Aquarius, that is), with Pluto making its first ingress into this sign March 23, it’s important to keep sight of our higher Aquarius/Leo nature. The Sun is just one star in the heavens, but it represents the creative here and now, the full potential and expression (Leo) of our present lifetime. Meanwhile, Aquarius, sign of the starry heavens (hence astrology/astronomy), can open our minds to the distant past and future. Imagination is our personal conjuring tool. Through our art, wonder and creativity we are connected to the cosmos and the gods of our higher consciousness. In sync with these, there is no need for domination or force.

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