| Nightlight Astrology |
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 Mercury is the second fastest moving planet in the sky, next to the moon, and is best known as the planet of the "winged messenger." The most standard astrological interpretation of Mercury usually involves words and phrases like: the mental/analytic mind, messages and communication, and short journeys. To understand Mercury we need to go beyond these intellectual "mapping" terms and try to understand Mercury through an actual conversation or communion with the planet itself. 1 Comment  Reality is co-creative. The universe speaks to us through signs and invites us to participate. All we need to do is listen carefully and respond sensitively.  During eclipse seasons everyone starts asking the regular questions: "So what's going to happen?" or, "What do eclipses mean?" You might be used to hearing vague answers about transformation or karma. Eclipses are difficult to describe because for thousands of years they have been one of the most feared, worshiped, misunderstood, and auspicious phenomenon in the sky. This fact alone can sometimes warp and veil our most basic attempts to speak about eclipses coherently. Nonetheless, there are a few basic things we can say that will be helpful and clear: one, eclipses refer to the culmination points of long cycles, and two, eclipses refer to points of maximal opposition or union. Let's unpack each one of these observations, individually.  Since the recent solar eclipse fell in the sign of Taurus, and since we are currently receiving a stellium of planets in Taurus this month we will meditate on the earth bull's ruling planet, Venus. To understand Venus we can look at the many different world myths surrounding earth and love goddesses, but perhaps the most classic stories about the astrological Venus come from the Greek pantheon's Aphrodite. The word "Aphrodite" means "from the foam." Aphrodite was given her name because she was born when her father Uranus' genitals were cut off and cast into the foam of the sea. Aphrodite rose up from the foam and was considered the most beautiful and desirable goddess of all time. However, understanding the archetypal symbolism of Venus/Aphrodite is more complex than cliched words words like "beauty" and "love."  Justin Timberlake’s new album 20/20 is a fly you to the moon cosmic pop-gasm. So why do so many people feel ashamed to admit they like it? Timberlake’s birth chart offers us some important clues.  Someone on my RealitySandwich blog recently asked me the question "Is astrology a fact, or is it mere interpretation?" "What makes astrology different than palm reading or gazing into a crystal ball?" The short answer is "no, astrology is not a fact," and "nothing really; they are very similar practices."  In perhaps the most obvious sense we start with the Sun and the Moon because they are the brightest and most visibly rhythmic, life giving planets we live with here on earth. Can it be a mistake that these two discs appear to us as the exact same size, though their relative distances from earth are vastly different? Can it be a mistake that life needs light to live, and yet if we didn't have the moon the earth would spin too fast on its axis for life to flourish? Too much sunlight and life isn't sustainable; too little and it can't survive.  This month's planetary weather features 5 planets moving through the sign of Aries, and 6 planets if we're counting the New Moon! With all this Aries energy its a good time to stop and reflect on the planetary ruler of Aries: Mars.  In preparation for this article I cast the IChing, asking the question, "What teachings should I present from the lessons I've learned in the past three years of being a spiritual businessman?" I did this because I'm giving a talk tomorrow night at our yoga studio on the subject, and I couldn't begin to narrow down all the things I've learned. The results that came back from the reading immediately resonated with me, and so I've used them to organize this essay. The first hexagram was #9: Hsiao Ch'u or what Richard Wilhelm translates as "Gentle Restraint." The hexagram presents Wind over Heaven. Wilhelm describes the hexagram as follows:  As we begin a new year of astrological meditations we are switching from an examination of the twelve zodiac signs to the planets themselves. Each planet in the study of astrology is thought to embody or "rule" a particular sign, and in some cases two signs. | AuthorThe Nightlight blog is a collective space for Nightlight Students and Guest Writers/Teachers to post their latest astrological or metaphysical essays! ArchivesJune 2013 CategoriesAll |
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