While I’ve been somewhat obsessively focused on the Saturn at 28-29° Scorpio phenomenon (three months: mid-June through mid-September: search “Saturn in Scorpio,” on this site), were I to place this single position in even a limited context, I would mention that Saturn, while in Scorpio, has been squaring Leo, now at 27° of that sign. The symbols for constraint (Saturn) and expansion (Jupiter), have been at odds with one another, displaying a contrast between secrecy (Scorpio) and egocentric display (Leo)
Now let’s complexify that larger context (which you can notice at any scale: personal to global), to notice that the Saturn/Jupiter phenomenon joins with and is followed by all sorts of other interesting astro positionings, most of them bridging the edge of egocentric Leo and service-oriented Virgo.
Plus, notice: Leo is a masculine sign and Virgo, feminine.
Plus, Venus has just now stationed to go retrograde, forcing us to encounter our values, and, if necessary, through Virgo’s analysis and discernment, to transform them. I think the author is correct: humanity indeed stands at a crossroads. Great article, couched in passionate, precise, deeply feminine writing.
July – September 2015 — Postcards from the edge
July 27, 2015
by Agent 98 Lorna Bevan
“I found god in myself
and I loved her
I loved her fiercely”
— Nto Zake Shange
Something big this way comes. Behind the stunning astrology of late July, August and September, beyond the dance of the planets, the inner landscape is revealing immense vistas of the supra personal unified field through the window of the Wisdom Cusp of Leo/Virgo ,which is hyper sensitised this summer. Look at the time-line to understand the significance:
The Sphinx Cusp Threshold
- Transpluto-Isis at 1 Virgo
- Regulus at 1 Virgo
- Centaur Nessus at 1 Pisces
- July 12-July 27 The Jupiter/Saturn square at 29 Leo/Scorpio Master degree
- July 25 Venus starts her 40 day retrograde on the cusp
- August 8 Mercury crosses the cusp at the 8:8 Lion’s Gate
- August 12 Jupiter crosses the cusp into Virgo on August 12
- August 23 The Sun crosses the cusp
- October 8 Venus re-crosses the cusp Direct
- September 25 Mars crosses the cusp
Themes of the Sphinx Cusp:
Re-wilding the Dark Feminine
In recent times, both Transpluto and Regulus have changed sign from Leo to Virgo- Transpluto after 38 years and Regulus after 2400 years in Leo. The transition makes us think of the Egyptian Sphinx, which has the head of a goddess and body of a Lion. “When the nature of the world is revealed, then the mystery of the Sphinx will no longer exist.” Alice Bailey
Regulus is the archangel Raphael, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, ruling over 2400 years of patriarchal power. As the Royal Star transitioned into Virgo, the children of Fatima delivered a letter to the Pope which read that when the heart of the Lion enters the sign of the Virgin, the Sisterhood of Stars will rule. The Age of the Common Woman is beginning and amid the first stirrings of a new consciousness, three male icons of religion have made surprising pronouncements of late. At the end of his life, the great Indian mystic Aurobindo said, “If there is to be a future, it will wear the crown of feminine design”. Pope Francis announced he is not going to judge gay priests and furthermore stated that the church needs a “theology of women.” The Dalai Lama recently made an even more shocking statement: ”the world will be saved by Western women” and when asked if the next Dalai Lama could be female, he said, “If a female Dalai Lama is needed, one will appear.” .As astrologer Michael Lutin says”instead of Regulus bringing a fall from grace, it could be a falling into grace”.
Transpluto –Isis a.k.a Divine Mother, Parvati and Persephone is the transpersonal planet that is farthest out in our Solar Systemic evolutionary scheme. It is an energy that is so vast and all-encompassing that it is usually experienced only on the broadest and deepest of levels by those with a global sensibility. Transpluto is a hypothetical planet outside of the orbit of Pluto. Astronomers have been searching for an explanation of Pluto’s irregular orbit since Pluto was first discovered, and one of the most popular theories is that there is a 10th planet, one outside of the orbit of Pluto, whose gravitational pull distorts the orbit of Pluto. As it enters Virgo, an 77 year era of Divine Mother energy expressed through the heart, creativity, spontaneity of Leo ends and begins a long wave evolutionary process of Divine Mother energy expressed through the service, training, purification and humility of Virgo. Globally and personally, we are moving from the experience of being flooded with the love energy of Divine Mother to learning divine Discrimination, in how to accept and express that vast spiritual redemptive and renewing divine force.
The sign of Virgo –the only sign with a feminine archetype-refracts the Sirius 2nd Ray of Love/Wisdom. All the Rays function through the 2nd Ray, making it and Love/Wisdom the most vital to us. The name Virgo is a corruption of an Atlantean name that was applied to the Mother Principle. Lilith, the dark moon of astrology, was the name of the last Virgin Goddess of Atlantis. There are three other names for the Virgin that reveal more about the esoteric nature of this sign: Eve, Isis, and Mary. Eve is the symbol of the mental nature of humanity and represents the desire for knowledge. Isis has two forms: veiled and unveiled. Her domain is the realm of the emotions. The veil of Isis symbolises the illusions of the astral plane, while the unveiling of the Goddess reveals the perception of hidden truth.The ancient root of the name Mary is associated with water and Mary is the maternal matrix of form, originating in the sea.
During August and September, as Jupiter and Saturn square each other at the Master 29 degree of Leo and Scorpio ending a whole phase of collective attitudes and awareness, as the planets cross the Sphinx Cusp one by one, humanity is at a crossroads , about to enter a liminal threshold experience “Symbolically, crossroads represent moments in our lives where the unconscious crosses the consciousness, where the eternal crosses the transitory; in other words, times and places where a higher will demands the surrender of our egos. It is at the place of wounding that we find ourselves connected to each other in love, and it is here that we open to loving other people, loving the planet, loving the cosmos.” Jungian Analyst Marion Woodman
Crucifixion–Resurrection-Soul Retrieval
So this Venus retrograde- the descent from radiant Evening Star down into the underworld to emerge as the Morning Star between July 25 – August 27 is not going to be all hot pink roses, crystals, champagne and candles. How could it be when she begins her descent in Virgo imprinted with Transpluto’s transpersonal energies? How could it be when Venus is entering her Dark Goddess phase in the World Chart? This is no sugar and spice, goddess lite. Just ponder her many guises – love goddess, warrior princess, dark cupid, femme fatale, innocent virgin-and her many names-Ishtar Isis Lilith Aphrodite Inanna Kali dite Inana Kali. And you contain them all.You contain multitudes.
So when you conjure up Venus, don’t just picture romantic love and valentine’s cards, think of power, the power to love, hate, destroy and create. Think of dancing in the flames.
If you’re drawn to descend with Venus from the heavens to the underworld and back into the light in your own mythic journey, remember to work with ritual to call up your brand of magic, stories and the stars. Your personal myth. Then offer up all your Venus shadow stuff- addictions, relationship co-dependence, creative blocks, over eating, over compromising, settling for less than you’re worth and let them burn slowly until August 27 in her fires of alchemy.
Remember: your purpose is not to look pretty but to be real . Your purpose is not to have it all together but to build a mystery. Curate yourself as you really are, wear clothes that express you, surround yourself with colour, beauty, art and people who get you. Resurrect old passions that bring you alive. So when you think of Venus, don’t think of romance and valentine’s cards but of the primal female power to love, hate, create and destroy. If you’re drawn to descend with Venus and the dark feminine on your own mythic journey, remember to work with ritual to conjure up your own brand of magic, stories and the stars. Offer up all your Venus shadow stuff- addictions, relationship co-dependence and creative blocks, over compromising ,settling for less than you’re worth — and let it all burn away in the calcinatio of her fires. Imagine dancing in the flames of alchemy.
Reflections for the Sphinx Journey
Am I ready to fall down the rabbit hole? Ready to steal back my fire? Ready to step into the garments of my maverick Goddess to reclaim my individuality? Ready to accompany La Que Sabe -she who knows- to the river that lies beneath the river?
How can you own your own voice?
How can you embrace your dark side and its hidden gold?
How can you turn your art into heart?
How many ways will you come alive?
What am I most afraid to say about my life and what am I going to do about it?
How can I gain access to the gifts, capacities, stories of the Wild and Sacred Feminine within?
How many ways can I let my huntress, artist, shaman, priestess self out of her cage of conformity?
What is my emerging narrative and how can I bring to life the personal myth that wants to be born in me?
How can I pay attention to the images and intuitions which come to me directly from the archetypal field?
Make your mantram: My purpose is not to be pretty, my purpose is to be real .My purpose is not to have it all together but to build a mystery
“I wish grace and healing were more abracadabra kind of things. Also, that delicate silver bells would ring to announce grace’s arrival. But no, it’s clog and slog, on the floor, in the silence, in the dark.” Anne Lamott
