Spirit at the Crossings XIII (Part II)

The 2016 Autumnal Equinox
Johnny Mirehiel
(with a little help from my friends)
Part II – The Brighter Side

Image credit: soundcenterarts.com

Astrologers study the charts of the four “Crossings” to catch a glimpse of what the astrological portents for the seasons suggest.  I have chosen to locate Planet’s (birth) chart for this Autumnal Equinox at Greenwich, UK, since it is the location of the first moment of the World’s “clock” for any given event/day.   This is what that chart looks like, along with some observations on what the astro-lingua suggests about the mundane events and, most importantly, the Spiritual potentials suggested in this chart.  In Part I we will looked at the “hard” aspects, those which we might say are difficult to handle.  Here in Part II examines the “soft” aspects, those we might say are beneficial.

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(A note here on my use of the “Whole Signs” chart:  While there are perhaps dozens of House systems
that may be used to erect a chart, I have found that Whole Signs give me the clearest possible “character
delineation” of the person or event possible.  And it is, after all, the spiritual character of this moment
with which I am most concerned in this reading of the chart.)

General Notes on the Fall Equinox

My purpose in this exercise is to give you a rough outline of the basic Spiritual energies which speak to me in this chart.  Although that chart depicts but one moment, frozen in time, it’s energies may be seen as being available throughout the Fall.  In my estimation, there are ample

The word equinox means “equal night”: the length of the daytime being equal to that of the night.  This event only occurs twice a year, at the Vernal Equinox, marking the beginning of Spring, and the Autumnal Equinox, marking the ending of Summer. Astrologically, it is the day when the Sun enters the first degree of Libra.  It begins the time of the year when the night grows longer and the days shorter until the Winter Solstice in December.

The Autumnal Equinox also marks harvest celebrations in September.  It is the time of ripening and harvest.  It is also a day of sacrifice. The ancient English sacrifice of John Barleycorn, for example, is a symbolic one: it is the spirit of the vegetation that is “sacrificed” to harvest the food that would sustain the people through the winter months and into the next growing season. In Pagan and Wiccan traditions Mabon is a time of giving thanks for the things we have, whether it is abundant crops or other blessings.  

 On the Brighter Side

After looking at all those stressors in Part I, it’s nice to arrive here with a look at the more positive and spiritual effects revealed in the Equinox chart.  It’s an even dozen of the former countered by nine of the latter.  

Stationary Direct Mercury is in an exact (120°) Trine to Pluto.   This suggests that imagination and intuition run high for us in this season.  Being in the right place at the right time now could allow us to “get” the information we want, almost “magically.”  This transit encourages Spirituality and its promotion, allowing two-way communication on the more subtle, Spiritual levels.  (More about the two other Trines in the discussion about the Mystic Rectangle below.)

Now the Quintile aspects are 72° (Quintile) and 144° (Bi-Quintile) respectively.  These aspects are often thought of as “minor aspects,” and arrived at by dividing the circle into 5, and are best understood by looking to the symbology behind the number five.  Often thought of as “minor aspects,” they do, nevertheless, imply a powerful affinity for Spirituality, a strong mystical bent and attributes of creativity.  Our Equinox chart has four of them.  Let’s look at the two Bi-Quintiles.

That OOB Mars also Quintiles (72°) Uranus.  That’s a nice add as this aspectual relationship indicates an element of surprise and spontaneous free-spiritedness which allows us to be open to the unexpected, out of the ordinary Spiritual communication expressed above.

Venus is also in a tight Bi-Quintile (144°) relationship with Chiron.  That Quintile aspects between these two translates as the spiritual drive to create a transformative healing through the power of Love, especially with Venus in loving Libra and Chiron in Spiritual Pisces.  A very welcomed aspect in our Equinox Chart for us, both individually and collectively.

Speaking of Bi-Quintiles, there’s another one is the chart, as Mercury is Bi-Quintile to Uranus.  This is an interesting combination as Uranus is considered to be the higher octave planet of Mercury, Mercury dealing with mundane, every day communication while Uranus may be said to represent “the download port for or conversations with Spirit.”  The very nature of the Quintile series of aspects points to talents and the desire to build or make things.  This is not only an aspect of creativity, but also one of open-mindedness and even of Spiritual Communication, again reinforcing that two-way communication implied in the Mercury/Pluto trine.

The Quintile of aspects are often thought of as “minor aspects,” and are 72° and 144 degrees respectively. These aspects are arrived at by dividing the circle into 5, and are best understood by looking to the symbology behind the number five.

seOne might say that Quintiles and Bi-Quintiles are “kissin’ Cousins” that OOB Mars also Quintiles (72°) Uranus.  That’s a nice add as this aspectual relationship indicates an element of surprise and spontaneous free-spiritedness which allows us to be open to the unexpected, out of the ordinary Spiritual communication expressed above.

How about one more?  And this a big one, as it congenially combines the energies of two of the major players in astrology.  The Sun Quintiles Saturn, thus allowing us to bring forth order out of the chaos that seems so prevalent in the chart’s less than fortuitous Squares and Oppositions.  So there’s plenty in this Equinox chart to be optimistic about, but we’re not finished yet with the good news, and it’s really grand.

At the very top of the chart, you can see that the Sun is in a tight applying Conjunction to Jupiter.  Further, this Conjunction is strongly reinforced by the fact that they are tightly Parallel (07′) by Declination, meaning that they are together at the same degree of North Latitude.  This brings together a potent blend of confidence, optimism, generosity and sincere concern for others, along with an abundance of Spiritual energy.

An Out-Of-Sign T-Square

Somewhat hidden within the cluster of red lines, there is yet another T-Square in this Equinox chart.  The focal planet of this pattern, Mars, is at 26° Sag, Squaring both the Sun at 00° Libra and Chiron at 22° Pisces.  Before I explore this particular pattern, let me admit that many astrologers would not give this one any consideration.  In the first place, the Squares between Mars and the Sun and the Opposition between the Sun and Chiron are what is commonly know as “out of sign.”  When using the major aspects (conjunction, opposition, square, trine, and sextile), out of sign aspects always involve one planet at the very beginning of a sign and a second planet at the very end of one, such as the case here, with the Sun at the first degree of Libra and Chiron in last decan (10°) of Pisces.  The use of wider orbs is even considered, in some astrological circles, as being applicable when the wider orbs complete a specific planetary pattern such as we have with this T-Square..

If you allow out-of-sign aspects you find more importance in the number of degrees apart planets are than the signs they occupy, particularly if one uses the “moities”* of in calculating aspect orbs.  Ergo, I’m taking the wide orb to suffice for this planetary pattern.  The Sun, in this chart, is in the 10th House.  In a materially oriented mundane chart, the tenth is the house of the “President, national leader or Chief of State.”   But here we’re looking at the Spiritual context, so I would say that it represents the Sovereign.  I would go further even and say that, in this context, it represents the Sovereign  Self.  The Opposition of that Sovereign Self with the Parallel Chiron “Great Healer/Teacher” and in Spiritual, Mystical Pisces, Squared by Mars in Sagittarius, where he resides as “the Spiritual War” gives the chart a stamp of approval from the Spiritual perspective.

Even More Good News: A Mystic Rectangle

A Mystic Rectangle pattern, first spoken about in contemporary astrology by Michael Erliwine, develops when two sets of oppositions are sextile to each other. This aspect pattern must have the following connections: two Oppositions, two Sextiles and two Trines.  The balance and structure of this pattern is fairly impressive.  For the Spiritually minded among us, it tells us that in order to take advantage of it, we  must approach it with awareness and mindful endeavors. This is where we can use the traditional Spiritual practices of the Equinox Season to give thanks, to call upon Spirit to co-create with us that Ascended Life, Being and World that is our Birthright and to, in the words of the late Wayne Dyer, to “see what we believe.”

The Players

The “guys in this band” are the Moon, Venus, Mars and Uranus.  Together they actually make an ideal combo to allow us to see, feel, hear and love what we believe.   

The Moon is our emotions and our emotional needs.  In a chart of the Planet’s Equinox, it also represents the people.

Lynda Hill, our dear friend, Concordance Blog contributor, world renowned astrologer and Sabian Symbols expert, sends this Marc Edmund Jones/Elsie Wheeler inspired Sabian degree reading for the Sun:

A BUTTERFLY PRESERVED AND MADE PERFECT WITH A DART THROUGH IT

This Symbol, Lynda writes, “…implies something vital and beautiful being “Preserved” so the passing of time doesn’t age, decay or destroy it…[that] does bring some wonderful rewards with longevity and a sense of something eternally good attached to it.”

Now, combine, through that doubly powerful Conjunction of the Sun and Jupiter with the Sun the Sabian Symbol for Jupiter at 3 Libra.

THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY REVEALS EVERYTHING CHANGED

According to Lynda, “This Symbol pictures sudden, new beginnings happening in one’s life. Things can change so quickly that it’s hard to believe at first, but eventually it dawns on you that things are different in the light of a “New Day.”  Take heart, realize that the darkness is abating, gradually let go of what went before and embrace the new opportunities that beckon” (emphasis mine).

MANKIND’S VAST ENDURING EFFORT FOR KNOWLEDGE TRANSFERABLE FROM
GENERATION TO GENERATION

Lynda goes on to say:  This Symbol speaks of handing knowledge down through the ages so that the wisdom and teaching are not lost and people in successive generations may benefit from studying or knowing it…there is always more to wisdom than just knowing; it’s what’s done with knowledge that creates wisdom.  It is through knowledge and understanding that we can bridge the gap between ourselves and others and ensure that valuable lessons and insights are available to all.  

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 The rest of this is just notes which still have to be completed.

However, it IS the Spiritual implications with which we are concerned here.

Lynda Hill, our dear friend, world renowned astrologer and Sabian Symbols expert sends this Marc Edmund Jones/Elsie Wheeler inspired Sabian degree meaning:

MANKIND’S VAST ENDURING EFFORT FOR KNOWLEDGE TRANSFERABLE FROM
GENERATION TO GENERATION

Lynda goes on to say:  This Symbol speaks of handing knowledge down through the ages so that the wisdom and teaching are not lost and people in successive generations may benefit from studying or knowing it…there is always more to wisdom than just knowing; it’s what’s done with knowledge that creates wisdom.  It is through knowledge and understanding that we can bridge the gap between ourselves and others and ensure that valuable lessons and insights are available to all.  

Speaking of “bridging the gap,” in this chart the planet in the Mystic Rectangle that lies almost directly opposite to Venus is none other than our “Great Teacher” and wounded healer, Chiron at 23° of instinctive and protective Cancer, the sign of the mother.  The Sabian Symbol for this degree is

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Mars, that normally combative fellow, is in a harmonious relationship with Venus

These two decidedly feminine energies bring that essential element into play, along with the preponderance of feminine signs in the chart.  the Moon/Venus opposition to a positive resolution.

Eris moves incredibly slowly across the zodiac.  In its current path through the signs, for example, Eris entered Aries in 1923 and will not enter Taurus in 2048.  Therefore any interpretation of Eris in the signs is likely to be nonsensical.   However, her position in relation to the other planets in a chart can often be quite informative.  but its movement in terms of influence (on character, on events) is fast, sometimes “fast and furious.”  There is impatience with this symbol, a sense of being driven to do something.   What someone then does may or may not prove to be clever or useful, but at least Eris sees to it that something is happening.   Eris goads us forward, like it or not.

In a Partile (exact by degree) Conjunction to Uranus, which adds and element od sudden and “out of the blue quality to any situation, this pair portends a season in which something most unusual will happen
out of the Blue

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* Traditional astrology holds that the orb of a planet is the diameter of an imaginary sphere of light surrounding it. The radius of that sphere is the moiety. The sum of the moieties of any two planets gives the maximum distance that their bodies can be from exact aspect for the aspect to be effective. Used mainly in Horary, this is not to be confused with the “orb of aspect” used in Natal Astrology.

** While Mercury is finally turning direct this Equinox morning, be forewarned, it will be in its “post-Shadow Period,” which is every bit as disruptive as the full on Rx, until October 7th.  That adds another 2 weeks of Merc related foul ups.  During the Shadow period, those foul ups, especially considering that the whole of this Mercury retrograde period is in Virgo, which actually dated back to September 14th (to include its pre-Shadow also), it is especially a time to pay attention to the details!  Remember, “The devil is in the details.”

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