It’s time to talk about time.

The four cardinal signs of the zodiac — Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn — all of which are active during tonight’s Full Moon — have jurisdiction over the experience of time. As the place holders of the four seasons, the cardinal signs push time forward (in the spring and fall) and rearrange time (in the summer and winter) when time ‘stops,’ as the Sun changes its course during the solstice. Read more

You’ve no doubt heard about tomorrow’s Full Moon SuperMoon. What’s that about exactly?

Occasionally the Moon misses the Earth a little too much and decides to move a bit closer to us during her new or full phase. That’s what will happen tomorrow. Astronomers call this a lunar perigee. But a guy named Richard Nolle coined the term SuperMoon to describe the proximity. You can read his explanation here — a nice clarification because it dispels a lot of misinformation about the SuperMoon too.

Because of the curve of the Earth (and the crazy curve of your mind during a Full Moon), the SuperMoon appears gigantic once she’s slid above the magnifying effect of the horizon. She’s so humongous that you start to worry that your roof will be damaged as Luna glides across the night sky. That’s a metaphor, actually, to let you know that this Full Moon might take the top of your head off. Read more

  
 The sense of levity and joy that so many of us respond to, perhaps unwittingly, during the Christmas season, has a cosmic correlation with the return of the light, which the Winter Solstice celebrates in the Northern Hemisphere. Dane Rudhyar describes the Winter Solstice as a turning point, where the personalizing Day-Force overtakes the in-gathering effects of the Night-Force. He associates the increase of the Day-Force with the embodiment of the spiritual impetus: spirit that is actualized, grounded and set to work. Thus the traditional association of the Day-Force with the Christos, born as Jesus, at the Solstice. A birth that re-occurs, with the return of the light each year.

Rudhyar explains that each Solstice sets in motion a process that transforms “the scattered and disintegrated remains of the previous cycle into a new organic whole.” And after living through another year of Pluto’s dismantling process in Capricorn, Rudhyar’s words sound doubly refreshing to me. I’m ready to connect with the stirrings of a new organic whole. Aren’t you?

To study and appreciate this year’s Solstice, I asked one of my favorite astrologers, Heather Roan Robbins (right) to participate in a dialogue about this very unusual and rare Solstice event. I’ve read Heather’s weekly Starcodes reports for years now, and have appreciated her commentaries; Heather communicates to her readers from a place of wise understanding and offers down-to-earth, creative ways for us to align with the daily celestial motions. Heather and I connected via email to compare notes and impressions about this year’s dynamic Solstice chart.

Please, pour yourself some tea and join us:

Frederick:What caught my attention about this year’s Solstice — which is the chart that marks the commencement of the upcoming new year — is the Full Moon eclipse that occurs in tandem with the Sun’s entry into Capricorn, which initiates the Solstice. So we have the solar awakening on one hand, and a fruition of the lunar light on the other. A cosmic opening and closing if you will. Read more

To really experience autumn, in our bones, we wait until the Sun moves into Scorpio. This is when the promise of the Fall Equinox blooms: The dimming begins. The dappled daylight of September gives the impression that summer hasn’t quite given up the ghost. October, with the solar ingress into Scorpio, begins to reveal the twilight quietude. Light is fading. Dusk feels braced and melancholic; and we sense the passing of light as the cycle of life opens towards closure. Moving towards winter, for which Emily Dickinson wrote:

There’s a certain slant of light,
On winter afternoons,
That oppresses, like the weight
Of cathedral tunes.

The nimbus of light, from fall to winter, feels heavier. Opening towards closure. A little grief always accompanies a parting. So we prepare to put down what needs to be finished and then, perhaps, begin to settle, to hibernate on a dream. Read more

If you’ve wondered about the legitimacy of working with the Sabian symbols today’s Pisces Full Moon should quell any doubts. The images are kick-in-the-gut cogent. For 13 degrees Virgo, where the Sun resides, we have the image: “A powerful statesman overcomes a state of political hysteria.”

For the Moon’s degree in Pisces, the symbol depicts: “An ancient sword, used in many battles, is displayed in a museum.” Both of these emblems portend much, hold a dynamic promise (or debacle) — especially as Obama prepares what will be a last-ditch, make-or-break speech addressing both houses of Congress next week. And I’ll talk a bit more about this below. Read more

Eclipses. The cosmic gifts that keep on giving. And thrilling.

Why do eclipses fascinate?

Astrologically, the specificity and exactness of the eclipse mirrors a concentration of attention and awareness within the biosphere. That’s one reason. But more, eclipses disrupt our normal perception of the heavens. Our accustomed sky view shifts. During an eclipse, reality feels inside out. The Sun darkens or the Moon casts its own ruddy luminescence.

And the sky within? Imagine your will, your conscious self (Sun) aligned perfectly — or opposed exactly — to the rich contents of your unconscious (Moon.) Dreams concentrate and condense during eclipse periods — the dream’s narrative becomes emphatic, unforgettable. The opportunity to divine, to perceive intuitively, is heightened. So, now’s your chance.

The lunation today concludes the Leo Aquarius eclipse series that commenced in early 2008. So we’re at a culmination point, events of the last eighteen months moving towards resolution. The flood gates are about to open. Because this concluding eclipse series occurred in fixed signs (Leo and Aquarius), our sense of time, the movement of time felt sluggish and incremental — stuck in a rut. When the next eclipse series begins, within the Cancer Capricorn polarity, time takes on a more dynamic, volatile sense. Quicker paced, expansive, initiatory.

Wednesday’s lunar eclipse strokes the 14th degree of Aquarius. The Sabian symbol for this degree: A train entering a tunnel. Watch as everything crescendos — but then goes to black. This degree symbol seems paradoxical, given the conclusion of the Leo Aquarius series. A cosmic irony: We’re ready to move forward — but straight into a dark tunnel. Read more