Waking Up!

Following on the heels of an intense total solar eclipse that once again cut a swathe across the United States, Jupiter and Uranus come together to boost us into a new reality. Civilization begins a new cycle of growth and transformation, but it is especially significant for the United States because our Chiron Return occurs one hour later, making this archetype a central theme for our nation!

Before we dive into this rich event, however, I want to share the moments of eclipse day that were highlights for me. I didn’t witness the Moon covering the Sun in person, but I saw the moment of totality 8 times on the NASA feed. Each time it was slightly different, with Bailey’s Beads appearing at different locations, and the diamond ring varying in size and brilliance. Nice symbol of  multiple points of view. We all don’t see things the same way.

Bailey’s Beads are the small, reddish bubbles that appear around the perimeter as sunlight passes through the craters and valleys of the Moon. The Diamond Ring is the final flash of light the moment before totality. They were spectacular on TV but those of us who weren’t in the path of totality didn’t get to experience the effect of the air cooling down, light refracting in peculiar ways, the 360 degree sunset causing animals to bed down for the night. Most of all, we missed out on the collective gasp of thousands of viewers as the light went out.

Solar eclipses are harbingers of new beginnings. A reporter interviewed a Native American asking, “What is the significance of a solar eclipse?” He replied, “It’s a death and rebirth.” He went on to speak of the renewal of Spirit and the change to come.

A second inspiring message came from one of the astronauts in the Artemis crew that will launch to the Moon on August 29th. His name is Reid Wiseman, the commander of the mission. A reporter asked him what the highlight of the eclipse was for him. I paraphrase his response, “Knowing that millions of people are sharing this moment, gazing up toward the light and experiencing awe.” Oh yes! Tears sprang to my eyes. I had expected statistics and I got poetry.

Next he was asked, “Why is it important to have a space program?” Again he blew me away. “Because America needs to dream again.”

Amen! We need to dream a brilliant future, to fall in love with the unknown and the promise of its wonders. We need to wake up from our current nightmare. I open with this because it sets the stage for the great conjunction of 2024, and because it is my dream: Peace on Earth, a gentle society of inspired, respectful, creative and loving people, exploring the possibilities of renewing our planet, armed with wonder. It may seem “pie in the sky” to many, but if ever there was a time for a BIG dream, it is now.

Jupiter embraces Uranus

On Saturday, April 20th, Jupiter catches up to the exact degree and minute of Uranus, 22 degrees of Taurus, at 7:27 pm PDT. Immediately we think of the body, Mother Earth, security, comfort and pleasure. How can we slow down, enough, get grounded, allow ourselves to luxuriate in the pleasure of our senses and of nature around us? This simple act of slowing down allows us to get back in touch with our wholeness. Taurus is ruled by Venus. The Feminine energy relishes the moment, taking time to enjoy life. And the conjunction falls in our 6th House, suggesting that our habits, our work, our health and daily life are all ready for a Renaissance.

This may seem counterintuitive when two powerful planets collide. We will be energized, bombarded with new ideas, desires, curiosity. We will feel dissatisfied with the status quo and want change. This moment is a launch pad. It is also everyone’s opportunity to become more creative. We need to take the Taurus approach. Opportunities will appear. Rather than jump at them, we can reflect on the ramifications of this choice. How does the body feel about this decision? Is it happy? Or fearful? Is it tensing up or relaxing? How is the stomach, or the throat? Our bodies are connected to the quantum field where past, present and future cohabitate. The body recognizes a bad choice and flashes a signal.

When two planets conjunct, they reinforce each other’s influence. Two powerful archetypes join forces to create a third thing – a super archetype that bathes us in its energy and empowers us to see with new eyes. This is especially true of Jupiter and Uranus. So let’s look at these two archetypes.

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, named after the Roman God of Olympus, the god of gods. I’m going to quote a description of Jupiter, written by Richard Tarnas in Cosmos and Psyche, because he captures the essence:

         “Jupiter has been associated with the principle of expansion and magnitude, providence and plenitude, liberality, elevation and ascendancy, and with the tendency to experience growth and progress, success, honor, good fortune abundance, aggrandizement, prodigality, excess and inflation.”

He goes on to say that Jupiter is associated with the “aspirations of culture, especially high culture: high principle, higher learning, breadth of knowledge, liberal education, cultured erudition, and a wide and encompassing vision.”.

Jupiter also inspires hope, faith and generosity. You will note, however, that Tarnas mentions aggrandizement, prodigality, excess and inflation. When we add excess to the unpredictable and quirky Uranus archetype, we get big surprises.

Uranus is the first planet beyond our sight, therefore part of its meaning is that it’s out of reach. It beckons us toward the future through exploration of the unknown. There are isolated moments, when conditions are perfect, that we can see Uranus with the naked eye; but, Uranus, as the higher octave of Mercury, is a trickster with a great disappearing act. The planet itself is the only one in our solar system to rotate on its side, a clue to its vagary.

We feel its influence in unexpected moments of either insight or a clash with reality. Uranus was discovered in 1781. America had won its freedom from England, establishing a new pattern in the zeitgeist – self-rule, or democracy. Revolutions broke out all over the planet – an epidemic of freedom infected human consciousness. The synchronicity of these events with the discovery of a new planet, was a paradigm-shifting moment. We had evolved, expanded our consciousness beyond our senses. We were in the thrall of Uranus, luring us forward with its mystery, awakening new questions, triggering a lust for the unknown.

Look at the explosion of scientific discovery that followed, an “Age of Enlightenment” that led to the ascendancy of Science, amazing new technology, space exploration, miracle cures in medicine. Uranus seems to inspire curiosity and has become associated with innovation which transforms society.

Richard Tarnas suggests that Uranus is misnamed; “Prometheus” is more appropriate, the Greek demi-god who saved humanity with the gift of fire. For that, like all saviors, he was severely punished, chained to a rock with an eagle devouring his liver daily. It would reconstitute overnight, only to suffer the same fate for all eternity. By the way, the liver is associated with anger – the kind that eats away at us, that festers and pollutes our souls.

Fire, of course, has multidimensional meaning: not just heat and light, but the spark of consciousness, or the sacred flame deep in our hearts, or the flash of insight that spurs us into action. Prometheus was the mythical Awakener of humanity. Prometheus was finally replaced by Chiron who chose to relinquish his immortality and free himself from suffering.

Chiron and Uranus are allied astronomically as well. Chiron orbits between Saturn and Uranus, forming a psychic bridge between our manifested world and the unseen reality that informs it. It is through healing and releasing our psychic wounds that we liberate ourselves and gain entrance into the deeper mysteries of the cosmos. We leave our limitations behind and soar.

When we add the abundance of Jupiter to the multidimensional themes of the Uranus Archetype, we have the perfect recipe for awakening. Perhaps that’s what the “Second Coming” is all about, or the “Rapture.” Maybe our consciousness intuited this moment in time, and the closer we get to it, the more intense the energy, the desire for change, the need to throw off any and all chains, to rise up and claim our divine origin as well as our power to create the reality we want.

I had planned to trace a brief history of these conjunctions, which take place every 14 years. The last one was in 2010. Funny how that seems so far away. Uranus messes with time, scrambling Saturn’s clockwork.  But, you can get the history elsewhere. Richard Tarnas devotes several chapters to this conjunction in Cosmos and Psyche. Suffice it to say that throughout history, this conjunction has spurred innovation, sparked creativity, inspired artistic expression, social awareness and reform. We have a cultural Renaissance ahead, if we choose it. We can expect technology to knock our socks off. Beyond x-rays into multidimensional visioning, perhaps time travel or teleportation, all the stuff of Science Fiction which fertilizes our minds with possibility.

We must realize, however, that Uranus is about extremes. Jupiter will catapult extremists to radical behavior. There’s an increased potential for violence, war, terrorism, insurrection, lawlessness and fanatical mob frenzy. Uranus affects our nervous systems. We’ve been building toward this climax of energy since 2020 when Saturn joined Pluto and we got sucked into the Underworld. That same year Jupiter crossed over our natal Pluto, trine the Jupiter/Uranus conjunction degree. The Wheel of Fate began rolling toward this moment, triggering a collective anxiety about the future, as our Union gets stretched to its limits, our planet displays its distress and our future dims into darkness.

On the other hand, this conjunction can provide just the impetus we need to begin climbing out of the pit of despair. Change is inevitable. The direction we head is up to us and the choices we make. But take heart, there are multiple positive messages from heavens accompanying this moment and creating a context for success.

Love and Peace

“A white Homing Pigeon flies straight over stormy waters.”

That’s the Sabian Symbol for the conjunction. It reminds us of the Dove. We not only get the symbology of “returning home,” but our longing for Peace. The symbol points the way. We can rise above the stormy waters of chaos.

Rudhyar adds to this symbol, “Freedom of understanding; strength based on the possession of a real mission. Transcendent activity. Self-extrication.”

Freedom, strength and purpose – great gifts. We all know what we still need to extract ourselves from – habits, beliefs, conditioning, grudges, the pain of former wounds and the self-pity it engenders. We can be done with all of that inner suffering!!!

Then there’s the promise of a mission – like the Artemis mission. It’s a goddess mission, on the hunt, being led by a Wise man. We have so many goddess missions to choose from – helping our planet heal and restore its splendor; creating a kinder society; transforming our healthcare; rebuilding and renewing the joy of education; coming into harmony with nature and the cosmos; knitting our Union back together. These are all worthy missions and there will be joy in accomplishing them together.

USA Chiron Return

The Chiron return happens one hour after the conjunction and carries many of the same themes. You women over 50 know what I’m talking about. Our lives drastically shift around this time as Chiron completes its round trip through our charts. We aren’t willing to put up with all the shit any more, and we learn to say “no.” We are liberated from a reproductive cycle and all that energy is ready for change. Once we make it through the fire that is detoxing the past and stoking the furnace within, we feel a new zest for life. At least that’s the potential. We step into our sovereignty. No longer part of humanity’s assembly line, we are free to pursue our own passions.

Imagine what it could be like for our country, our world, to step into sovereignty and claim our power to create what we want, free of fear, free of the past!

We’d need to start by growing up and healing our collective adolescent attitudes. Ironically Uranus can work against us because it carries that rebel trait and reinforces the desire for independence, individuality, and unlimited rights. The adolescent is trying to save himself. The spiritual adult wants to save humanity. The adolescent feels like a victim, avoiding responsibility and not giving a thought for consequences. Adolescents blame others for their misfortunes. The very first step toward Spiritual Adulthood is claiming sovereignty over one’s life. That means taking responsibility for everything, even for collective consciousness.

Chiron brings us this opportunity to heal the pains of adolescence and surrender to the inevitable force of evolution. It’s time for humanity to grow up and take our place in the galactic community.

Our natal Chiron is in the 4th House of our chart, at the beginning of the 3rd decan of the sign – 20 degrees of Aries – where the energy has matured. Ruled by Mars, Aries carries an exuberant energy that encourages us to leap into life with a new zest. 4th House points to our early home conditioning. This really is the crisis in our country and the cause of increasing separation – our conditioned beliefs about who we are and how the world works.

If you recall, on the Solar Eclipse chart, Chiron was conjunct both the Sun and Moon – the message loud and clear – this eclipse is about healing our nation. It carries a strong influence for at least six months, some say a year, others mention that each eclipse is unique and has a cycle of its own – a Saros Cycle, which lasts 18-19 years. Eclipses are born at the poles, wrap around the Earth over centuries, and die out at the opposite pole.

The Solar Eclipse on April 8th is part of Saros Series 139 which began in 1501 at the North Pole and concludes in 2763. We’re past the halfway point and have 1262 years to figure it out. That’s a long time to heal, but why wait?

Bernadette Brady, the Saros Cycle authority, writes about the significance of this cycle, “Inventiveness and flashes of genius are the hallmark of this Saros Series. The individual will have intuitive leaps, insights, good ideas, visions or vivid dreams.” Sounds like awakening to me.

Venus

As Chiron returns to its natal position, Venus is only 35 minutes behind. That’s a close conjunction and a clear indicator that our Chiron Return is all about Love – and beauty, truth, gentle kindness, peace and harmony. We need to heal the deep wounds to the Feminine energy for our country to grow strong again and become Whole.

I won’t get on my soapbox now, but I’m re-listening to The Feminine Mystique as research for my book. In Martian fashion it gets my blood boiling. In Venus fashion, it makes me sad that women are still discounted, diminished and abused, still not included as equals in our nation’s constitution. Oops – the soapbox.

Our natal Venus is also highlighted by a long-term trine from Haumea. Still at 1 degree of Scorpio, perfecting on January 11, 2025. Haumea is fomenting a rebirth of feminine values and qualities. Our natal Venus is conjunct natal Jupiter in Cancer. We are a big-hearted nation by nature. Haumea will regenerate these values, strengthen the climate of love. It’s a perfect time to release the heartbreaks of the past.

Saturn and Sedna

Transiting Saturn is conjunct our natal Sedna at the moment when Jupiter and Uranus kick off a new cycle. This casts a spotlight  on our spiritual destiny as a nation. We have natal Saturn in the 10th House conjunct the asteroid goddess Juno in Libra, the sign of balance, harmony and loving relationships. At the moment the transiting South Node is only a degree away from conjunction with our natal Saturn. Furthermore, it is quincunx our natal Sedna. This is a challenging aspect that asks us to reflect, assess the viability of our current course and make adjustments.

Saturn reveals our limitations, instructing us through a lifetime of hard knocks until we wake up and take responsibility for ourselves and our impact on the world. There’s a lot to unpack here, maybe in future posts, but when we remember that Sedna is our journey to an evolved awareness of our Oneness and divine origin, and that her myth tells us to let go and surrender to our transformation, we see that Saturn is an ally keeping us on the path to enlightenment.

When we further consider the symbolism of natal Saturn in the sign of peace and love, aligning with Juno the goddess of commitment, our path ahead is laid out. As the South Node approaches conjunction, the unfinished business of our past, the collective karma of our nation, will be glaringly evident.

Over the last few years we have seen humanity’s shadow blocking out the light. Along the way, our worst instincts have been condoned. We have fallen for the propaganda of separation as hate speech proliferates. The Jupiter/Uranus conjunction will undoubtedly intensify the shadow, just as it will increase the light. That’s how duality works. But our choices will be clearly laid out.

Mercury and the North Node

Mercury is still retrograde but will turn direct a couple of days after the Full Moon at 5 Scorpio in our 11th House. During its retrograde Mercury will cross over the North Node three times, asking us to consider, and reconsider, and consider once more what lies ahead. The paths are so distinct now. We are no longer groping through fog. We have already evolved through our travails even if we aren’t yet aware of it. We have resilience. We have developed inner strength. And we can see.

The Moon

The Moon at the moment of the Jupiter and Uranus alignment has just entered Libra. She’s fostering a climate of peace, truth, beauty, balance and harmony. We are in a waxing phase. The light is increasing and we’re headed for a Full Moon in Scorpio on April 23rd. I don’t know if I’ll get a post out for this event, but here are a couple of juicy tidbits.

The Sun is conjunct the Part of Fortune in our 5th House of creativity, playfulness, childlike wonder. Sun is also conjunct our natal Salacia who wants to bring us true love. To me, she’s the goddess of delight. The Moon is conjunct Haumea, goddess of rebirth and regeneration, in our 11th House of community. The 11th House is the domain of Uranus and Aquarius. The Full Moon energies support the re-union of our people. As we form community, connect with others, rejoin the human race of which we have been so afraid, we can start to knit humanity back together.

Remember this is the start of a 14-year cycle. Don’t expect it all to happen on Saturday. But we can tune into the energies. Take time during the day to close our eyes and feel into the potential of the moment. Set some goals perhaps, or simply surrender to the splendor and allow ourselves to be swept along in the current.

This can be a gentle passage for us if we stay awake, present and open to what the moment brings. We’re fully equipped. All that’s left is to surrender to Love.