poets Archives - ROXANNA BIKADOROFF

Fire, Maerten de Vos, Raphaël Sadeler, 1583

Pluto is settled into in Aquarius, Neptune enters Aries Jan 26, Saturn follows on Feb 13 making the ultimate conjunction with Neptune on the 20th, 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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I was thinking how Sinéad reminded me of another scapegoated, outspoken Dubliner – Oscar Wilde, particularly his sad story, The Nightingale and the Rose. Because she is that Nightingale. I had to compare their charts (see bottom of page), the two geniuses actually have much synchronicity. To start with, they have the same lunar nodes, North in Taurus, South in Scorpio. Her Mercury and Neptune (words/art/music) are conjunct his South node, his Uranus (future/genius) is conjunct her North node. She has Saturn conjunct Chiron, the ‘wounded healer’ (2 deg) in Pisces (sign of martyrdom) and he has Jupiter conjunct Chiron (3 deg) in Capricorn (sign of the scapegoat). She has Venus and Sun conjunct by degree and sign in Sagittarius, he Sun and Venus conjunct by sign in Libra. She has Mars at 2 Libra, he has Mars at 3 Sagittarius (each other’s Sun/Venus signs – remember both their lunar nodes are ruled by Venus and Mars).

Addendum: I also just looked at the death chart of Oscar Wilde, and it’s pretty mind-boggling to note that transiting North node, Sun, Uranus, Jupiter and Chiron were ALL in SAGITTARIUS at the time. As well, Chiron was in a wide conjunction with Saturn (Sinéad has them conjunct), Mercury the psychopomp was in Scorpio (as is Sinéad’s).
I have to look into it more thoroughly, but I wonder whether this might be a case of reincarnation…there’s no way to be certain, of course. I know, there is nothing in physical resemblance whatsoever, and there needn’t be, but…she does kind of resemble his long suffering wife, Constance Lloyd. Constance, a journalist, was a political activist and feminist, who fought for and spoke out on women’s rights, education for girls, dress reform (for women to wear comfortable clothing) and the ‘Irish Question’ (of home rule). She also may have died from botched fibroid surgery (a result of undiagnosed MS, it’s thought). Considering they would have had a soul contract and he was a Libra (partnership sign), might there have been some cross-over here?
Wilde himself, after being sentenced to two years hard labour for his homosexuality, wrote about the abhorrent conditions for inmates, calling for change. Like Sinéad booed on stage, he was jeered and spat on by crowds during his transfer to Reading Gaol Prison.

Constance Lloyd, wife of Oscar Wilde, by Louis Desanges, 1882

At the same time, charts can be so clinical. Poetry and song gets to the heart of things, especially since we are talking about people who were devoted to it. This is where the soul reveals itself best, and evolutionary astrology is about the soul’s travels.

“If you want a red rose,” said the Tree, “you must build it out of music by moonlight, and stain it with your own heart’s-blood. You must sing to me with your breast against a thorn. All night long you must sing to me, and the thorn must pierce your heart, and your life-blood must flow into my veins, and become mine.”

“Death is a great price to pay for a red rose,” cried the Nightingale, “and Life is very dear to all. It is pleasant to sit in the green wood, and to watch the Sun in his chariot of gold, and the Moon in her chariot of pearl. Sweet is the scent of the hawthorn, and sweet are the bluebells that hide in the valley, and the heather that blows on the hill. Yet Love is better than Life, and what is the heart of a bird compared to the heart of a man?”

So she spread her brown wings for flight, and soared into the air. She swept over the garden like a shadow, and like a shadow she sailed through the grove.

The young Student was still lying on the grass, where she had left him, and the tears were not yet dry in his beautiful eyes.

“Be happy,” cried the Nightingale, “be happy; you shall have your red rose. I will build it out of music by moonlight, and stain it with my own heart’s-blood. All that I ask of you in return is that you will be a true lover, for Love is wiser than Philosophy, though she is wise, and mightier than Power, though he is mighty. Flame-coloured are his wings, and coloured like flame is his body. His lips are sweet as honey, and his breath is like frankincense.”

The Student looked up from the grass, and listened, but he could not understand what the Nightingale was saying to him, for he only knew the things that are written down in books.

But the Oak-tree understood, and felt sad, for he was very fond of the little Nightingale who had built her nest in his branches.

“Sing me one last song,” he whispered; “I shall feel very lonely when you are gone.”

So the Nightingale sang to the Oak-tree, and her voice was like water bubbling from a silver jar.

~ from The Nightingale and the Rose, by Oscar Wilde

The Singing Bird, yet another of her Irish ballads that makes my heart burst.

Thank you Sinéad, beautiful soul, for all your healing, celestial voice and utterly fantastic songs. And thank you Oscar Wilde for your brilliant writing that inspired so many other great artists.

Tag: poets

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