Spirit at the Crossings X

The 2016 Summer Solstice
(A Season to Up Our Game)
Johnny Mirehiel

The June solstice is the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere
and the Winter Solstice the Southern Hemisphere.

A Solstice happens when the Sun’s zenith is at its furthest point from the equator.  On the June Solstice, it reaches its northernmost point when the Earth’s North Pole tilts directly towards the sun, at about 23.4 degrees.  It’s also known as the “Northern Solstice” because it occurs when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere.

So much for the astronomical data.  This piece will address the mundane implications for the World that are suggested in the chart, cast for the exact moment, June 20, 2016 at 11:34:08 PM, BST, at Greenwich, UK, of the Sun’s entry into Cancer in my favored Whole Signs house system.

This chart analysis of the Summer’s crossing provides an astrological indication of what lies ahead, and how we may apply its energies to our Spiritual Quest.  So, let’s have a look at this Summer’s Solstice chart.

June 20, 2016
11:34:08 PM, BST, Greenwich, UK
Geocentric/Tropical/Whole Signs/True Nodes

The Planets in Aspect

Perhaps the first thing that you will notice is the plethora of RED lines.  Astrologically, they are known as Oppositions and Squares and, in a mundane reading such as this, they sort of signal “challenges ahead.”

A Grand Square (aka Grand Cross) is an intense and often stressful planetary structure needing a focus for its considerable energy (Squares) on specific purposes and constructive action, as well as perspective and balance in dealings with others (Oppositions).  In Water signs, this particular pattern connects the four points of the Grand Square:

Saturn at 11° Sagittarius aspecting Neptune at 12° Pisces (which was exact just this past Saturday),
Neptune Squaring Mercury at 12° Gemini
Mercury connecting to Jupiter at 15° Virgo and, rounding out the Square,
Jupiter Squares Saturn.  

Such a grand Square naturally yields two Oppositions, one between Saturn and Mercury, the other between Jupiter and Neptune.  Finally, one other Square finds the Sun/Venus Conjunction in Cancer, at 00° and 03° respectively (the chart’s only planetary conjunction btw), opposite the Moon at 5° Capricorn.  

We also find an “out of sign” Square between the Sun at 00° Cancer and Chiron at 25° Pisces which adds dollop of depression, a dash of Cynicism and a certain Sense of victimization or scapegoating to this picture. 

Then there’s this: the last degree of any sign is its most intense expression.  It’s a culmination of the sign’s qualities before the boundary to the next sign is crossed.  The Full Moon, at the 29th “anaretic” (critical) degrees of Gemini and Sagittarius, it is much like the closing of a chapter in a book and implies an anticipation of transition, of stepping into the unknown, and a sense of urgency to wrap things up (or a last chance to “get it right”) – before it’s too late.  Note too, that the Moon in Capricorn is in the sign of its “detriment” and in the 12th house, suggesting that its light is more or less shrouded.  In other words, ultimately the planet of our emotions in this chart is working against long odds.*      

And then the Solstice comes on board with the full fury of that Grand Square which, in Mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sag and Pisces), suggests an ability to see all sides in a situation, but often leads to indecisiveness and diffusion of energy, meaning that an adjustment in thinking habits is necessary for us all. On the brighter side, astrologer Jim Buss tells us that:

“Squares represent energy, and energy is Spirit.  To a slightly lesser extent, the same is
true of Oppositions… It’s an overgeneralization, but you could say that the more Squares
and Oppositions (and conjunctions) a chart has, the more Spirit has the entity being charted.”

What Lies Beneath

Stripping away those nasty looking Squares and Oppositions, there are several “positive” aspects to consider. Let’s take a look at the chart, shorn of the nasties:

The blue, green and golden lines you see above are considered, astrologically, as positive and supportive. Trines, designated in blue, represent accepting points of ease or harmony in which a natural flow exists between the planets thus connected.  We have two of them here, one between Jupiter (the planet of expansion and good fortune) and Pluto (all that is below the surface and, importantly for our purposes here, transmutation), the other joins Mars (our energy to act) and Chiron (our ability the heal and transform).

The three green lines indicate what astrologers call Sextiles, which denote talents, cooperation and the opportunity for cooperation between its planets.  Here we see Sextiles between the Moon (the feminine energy and the emotions) and Neptune (ruling Spirituality, inspiration, dreams, psychic receptivity, illusion, and confusion), between the Sun (our masculine energies, conscious mind and creative life force) and Uranus (erratic and bizarre behavior, originality and inventions) and finally, the generational sextile between Neptune and Pluto (as notated above).

Perhaps less well known are the non-Platonic aspects, the Quintiles and Bi-Quintiles.   These “minor aspects” are arrived at by dividing the 360° circle by 5, giving angular distances of 72 and 144 degrees respectively.  As astrologer Annie Hesse tells us:

“Quintiles and Bi-Quintiles point to talent, the desire to create order and to categorize, a fascination
with patterns and structures, perfectionist tendencies, and the desire to build or make things.
These aspects in the fifth harmonic have the characteristics of both the trine and opposition.
They point to awareness of conflicts or problems and finding solutions for them.”

There are seven of these benevolent aspect in our Solstice chart:

The Sun is Bi-Quintile to Mars at 23° Scorpio giving the moment extreme creativity when it comes to
…..  going after what one wants in life.
The Sun and Venus, at 00° and 03° Cancer respectively are both Quintile to mighty Jupiter at 15°
…..  Virgo, lending an air of progressive, creative and enterprising energies at the Solstice.
Venus is Quintile to Uranus at 23° Aries lending a carefree, adventurous and and daring attitude in
……  work or play.
Mercury is Bi-Quintile to the retrograde Pluto at 16° Capricorn giving resourceful cleverness when
…..   seeking solutions to any problem and overcoming obstacles.
Jupiter, Bi-Quintile to Uranus at 23° Aries, gives an appreciation of new, sometimes and even
…..   bizarre perspectives, and
Chiron at 25° Pisces is Quintile to Pluto suggests healing, grace and deep and lasting transformation.  

The Spiritual Path Before Us

It does feel as if the World seems poised for a significant overhaul this Summer, doesn’t it?  But its inhabitants do have choices.  We can run and duck for cover.  We can give up and let the “powers that be” do what they will to our beloved planet, to continue to mangle the ideals of Love, Compassion and Peace as they always seem to do, and trample our individual rights to Freedom, Liberty and Justice for all.  

Or we can accept the fact that we are, each one of us, individual sparks of Creator choosing to speak our own Spiritual Truth to power. Taken together, the Trines, Sextiles and Quintiles give the moment refreshing qualities which can be used to focus our own Spiritual energies.  We can accept and use those energies that are implied in the stressful Squares and Oppositions, with the deliberate intention to rise above the seeming vicissitudes of life and embrace the power of Spirit. 

I know which path I will continue to follow, in this and every other moment of Now.  Which wolf will you feed?**

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*  According to the Old Farmers Almanac, “A full Moon hasn’t landed smack on the solstice since 1948.”
** If you are not familiar with the Cherokee Indian legend, please see: http://www.virtuesforlife.com/two-wolves/