The Doorway in the Darkness….

From the Night, Eris arises

Fanning flames of discord and strife.

No Mercy she incties, spreading her wrath

Nightmares weep out in the wake of her path

Time is contorted, the future shimmers, tentatively,

Seductively it glimmers.

Gaia is pulsing, chimin, commanding our attention. 

The Earth is melting and flooding, and 

Burning her way to another dimension. - Ryan Evans

Eris, the Goddess of Chaos and Discord, currently sitting at 19 degrees Aries, is our featured Archetype this month. She has been squaring Pluto for the last several years and together they are chiseling out a new masterpiece using the stone of the old. Eris is the primordial Goddess of creation who bore five children through immaculate conception. Pluto, Uranus, Gaia, and the first two Ravens. This makes her the Grandmother to Cronus (Saturn) and the Great Grandmother to Zeus (Jupiter). Each generation was more obsessed with power than the last. And this perversion of their sacred mandate enraged her. It also resulted in her being disinherited by her lineage. Thus her mythological back story includes an insatiable desire to knock Zeus off his throne based on his misogynistic, patriarchal, oppression of women. In her most consequential act, the tale is as follows… after failing to receive an invite to Achilles’ wedding, she became enraged. She devised a scheme whereby she came alongside the outside wall that enclosed the wedding party, and tossed over a golden apple with the word, Kalisti (meaning “to the fairest”)  written on it.  In all their vanity, it caught the eye of Hera, (wife of Zeus), Athena, and Aphrodite, and they began to quarrel over it. Zeus came over to quell the commotion and the woman implored him to decide who the apple should belong to. He passed the task of awarding the golden apple to Paris, a mortal man. Each woman enticed Paris with a gift. Hera offered him kingship of all of Europe and Asia, Athena offered wisdom and strategic prowess in war. Aphrodite, understanding fully the appetites of man, offered Paris the most beautiful woman in the world: Helen of Troy.  That gift led to the fall of Troy. To this day you can find Eris anytime power threatens the vulnerable. Eris is out and about these days on the forefront of any revolution, stirring up polarized discord and feisty arguments about everything under the Sun. Although she didn’t say it, she would cosign the famous saying, “those who are silent in the face of injustice have chosen the side of the oppressor”. She is interested in steering her flock towards equity, love of Gaia, and love of self. As the sister of Mars she is a Goddess of Action. She is planning to take the reins from Zeus, the shadow of this archetype is bloated patriarchal entitlement, bathing in excess. She intends to create a world of beauty and balance through the work of aligning soul and personality. Her weapon, like Kali, is FIERCE LOVE. So while she may be on team chaos and discord, she is also on the team that rises an equitable society in its place by forcing us to face our own destruction. Will you join her?

New Moon Conjunct Pluto 23 degrees Capricorn Squares Eris in Aries.

         “Seeing into darkness is clarity. This seeing is called practicing eternity”- Lau Tzu.

The new moon this month combines energy with Pluto. Pluto is the sign of transformation through a death rebirth cycle. 

There is excessive polarity alive in the collective right now, the world literally feels split in two. There are families, friends, and lovers, who hold such vastly different beliefs, and inhabit such different realities, that relationships have literally broken down. Crisis, trauma, intensity, extremity, radical opinions, narrowmindedness, single focused causes of action, are all being balanced on the scales. I am reminded that in Ancient Greece, when the people used to think the world was flat, they believed that the entrance to the underworld could be found inside of caves and any place the earth opened to darkness. Because of their beliefs people often avoided visiting such places. Pluto is the King of the deep valley, of the expanse that opens to the darkest night. The King of the underworld. Driving up through the ground the exact circumstances we need for the evolution of our soul. 

These last few years we have been under the foreshadow of the USA’s Pluto Return. Which means Pluto is retracing the same area of sky that he was when the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776. And the same area of sky that he traversed with all of the events leading up to that historic day. It’s always so eerie for me to see Astrology at work in real time, as insurgents in the crowd at the Capitol signaled each other “this is 1776”.. Pluto is about to edit his first work. Causing a massive purge of all that is sick, all that is decaying, putrifying, and rotting. But he won’t do it the way it’s playing out on the screen. What we are seeing isn’t exactly how Pluto works. This is Pluto working in concert with Eris, and this year Saturn and Uranus will join the evolutionary board of directors. Expect the unexpected. Know that you aren’t in control. The best thing we can do right now is our own work. 

This week the polarity has become the most extreme of my lifetime. When polarities aren’t very extreme it’s easy for us to exist in the grey areas, making all things permissible, so we don’t engage in what they are trying to show us. When polarities are this pronounced they are asking us what type of healing we need to engage in, to address the imbalance. There is the allopathic model which seeks to bring things back into harmony, but often that can serve to avoid the discomfort of the symptoms, like a spiritual bypass. I assert that what we are seeing here is the universe applying a homeopathic version of cosmic healing. Where the duality is pushed to the absolute edge, the same way a homeopathic Dr may want to drive up a fever to push the infection out. The more extreme the polarity, the more clearly we can see the problem. The easier it becomes to target the collective illness with the light of truth. 

The therapeutic for this energy lies in doing shadow work in and with oneself. Once you get to the edge, and peer into Hades, take one step back. Look at what is motivating you? Motivating you further towards the edge?  Gauge your level of certainty? If you are certain, that’s an indication you are living in someone else’s narrative. We don’t know 100% of the time what the storyline is. Our 3-D reality is set up so that life is being revealed to us on a moment by moment basis. We are co-creators with the universe, which means things are changing all the time. How can we better attune ourselves to what we are being called to do in this moment? Cleansing, detoxifying, purging, peering into the darkness at the bottom of our souls. Most importantly the thing to do in this moment is to get still. To empty. To clear the screen. The only way to bring the light is to go into the darkness of oneself. What are you contributing? Noise, or stillness? Fear or love? Presence or chaos? Because this is the New Moon, it’s a beautiful time for ritual. Right in the middle of this chaos, do your ritual. Write your intentions, light your candles, do your meditation, engage. 

More on the Current Astrology….

And so I say, the times have found us my friends. As I sat watching the events of January 6th, feeling a very hostile Mars at the last degree of Aries, who, in moments, was to cross the threshold into Taurus. I knew what I was seeing was written in the stars. Do not be disheartened though, this is a huge opportunity if we use it properly. The intense upheaval can be seen as a gift that allows us to see with unmistakable clarity our collective shadow. He is here to help us diagnose, and purge what we cannot take into the next evolutionary octave. This was a hugely symbolic moment. The crisis, chaos, and cataclysm, are the outcome of choices that were made in the past. Symptoms are an attempt to heal. From the earth, to  human consciousness, to the way we relate to each other, we will rise from the ashes of this destruction, with a new skin. This is the finale of Pluto’s first full rotation around the USA’s natal chart and in 2023 we will be beginning a brand new cycle. We are in the birth canal. And this new moon/ conjunct Pluto, with a symphony of planetary movement, is a microcosm of the macrocosm in a profoundly perfect way.

The last degree of any sign (29) is called the anaretic degree. Often thought of as the culminating degree, where armed with all of the lessons and experiences we’ve just accumulated, we are forced to fight an end level boss in order to enter the next sign. It’s also called “the crisis point”. Mars in Taurus is less inclined to express his energy in explosive, intense, disruptive, and aggressive, ways. Taurus is an earth sign, Venus’ temple. She won’t abide someone coming into her space and causing pandemonium. So Mars has to change tactics here. He becomes much more methodical, secretive, and underground. He is scheming for power, like a predator who lies in wait. Instead of fighting with angry words, and outward displays of aggression, wanting to be acknowledged, in Taurus he's concerned with land, property, resources, and territory.

Moving through the month Mars quickly makes squares to Saturn, and Jupiter. Squares reveal the tension, obstacles, and challenges in Life, and provoke us to action. Mars squaring Saturn (on Jan 11)  feels like a pressure cooker, like all of our energy is hitting a wall. Mars and Saturn, Jupiter, and Uranus, are all in Fixed signs so this will feel even more amplified. Under this transit one can feel as though the universe is conspiring against us, like we consistently keep getting knocked down. If you begin to feel like you are boiling from inside, it is important that you find a healthy release for your energy. It isn’t just anger that can cause these feelings, there are a variety of feelings that can lead to overwhelm and frustration. This month your practices, unplugging, and self- care are more critical than ever.

Mars/Uranus then goes on to square Jupiter on January 17th. It’s an immovable object, meeting an unstoppable force. This is a signature of extremism. Mars triggers action, and fiery passion, in addition to being the Lord of War. Uranus is associated with lightning and earthquakes, expect the unexpected. Jupiter expands whatever it touches. As Zeus, Jupiter  is the architect of our world, and the philosopher of the zodiac. In the myths, Zeus would take on anyone who gets in the way of the more perfect world he is trying to create. He rules free will, without karma or consequence. When he was told his reign might be under threat by his children, Zeus ate them to maintain power and control.  While dreaming of a bright world, and taking creative, innovative steps to make life blossom is a beautiful thing. If there is any distortion in the dream then things can go south quickly, because the shadow side of Jupiter can have incredible hubris, entitlement, and even an authoritative bent.

On January 20th Mars moves into a tight conjunction with Uranus at 6 degrees Taurus. Uranus is the immediate resolution of irreconcilable opposites. He represents individuation, liberation, rebellion, and revolution. It is widely accepted in the Astrological community that the Archetype of Prometheus works better than the myth of our Sky God Uranus. Among other things, Prometheus took fire from the Gods and gave it to the people so that they could be free. It would be a mistake to translate what I am writing into validation for either of the current polarities alive within the collective. This is about taking what you personally have been given, whatever gifts and talents you have, and setting yourself free. If we are indeed to be the torchbearers of a New Earth, then we MUST first heal ourselves before we are fit to lead a revolution. In fact, I would use that as a litmus test for any leader you might throw your support behind. Has this person done the rigorous work of mastering themselves? If not, then go back to doing your own work. Become your own hero. Author your own story. Because the events of this month are going to have earth shaking effects. This energy is like a cosmic volcano erupting, a super turbulent ride into the new cycle. 

I will close with this passage from P.D. Ouspensky.

“The mast of a ship, a gallows, a cross at the cross-roads… may be made of the same kind of wood, but in reality they are different objects made of different material… They are nothing but the shadows of real things.. The shadows of a sailor, a hangman, and a saint may be completely identical… Nevertheless they are different men and different objects… A poet understands...the difference between a stone from a wall of a church and a stone from the wall of a prison… He hears the voice of the silence, understands the psychological difference of silence, realizes that silence may be different. “

This passage reminds us to take all things in context. That no two things are the same, and thus cannot be compared as such. Remember to zoom lens all the way out and take in your perspective from the highest possible vantage point. As we look at this grand experiment from that point, we can see that all separation is ultimately an illusion.