Ironies Piled Upon Ironies ~ 13 March 2008


On the heels of the last GT’s emphasis regarding slaying sacred cows, political commentator Howard Fineman, described recent political goings on as “ironies piled on ironies.” The comment perfectly assessed the recent Mars opposition to the irony-exposing Solar Apex and endorsed a concept cherished by Eris - Irony is the lever that one pulls to upset the apple cart. Ah, speaking of Eris, two new articles now appear on my website. The links stand out on my home page, marked in Aries Red and bear the link names “Don’t Snub Eris” and “Does Size Matter?” “Don’t Snub Eris” examines the dwarf planet in the horoscopes of persons and events from the last time Eris passed through Aries (the 1400's) until now. “Does Size Matter” is a mildly technical dissertation on how considering the mass and diameter to be the criteria for determining planetary status constitutes a short-sighted and biased view of the physical nature of the bodies in the solar system that ends up slighting Eris and the other dwarf planets. By now we should all be aware how testy and conniving Eris becomes when shunned. Let us keep that in mind that soon the Moon, Sun, Mercury and Venus stop by for a bite of an Erisian apple during their conjunction to the petite, yet potent planet. Her messages should become notable and personal. That’s two or three GTs away.


Two astrological ironies appear in the not so distant future. On May 5th, Jupiter squares its perihelion degree, 14 Aries 43 heliocentrically, from Capricorn, which does have a status-minded, get more from life attitude. This orbital angular alignment adds to the “do as I say, not as I do” hypocritical lifestyle that Jupiter enjoyed in his day, and those of stature and power seem to emulate these days. While most folks do not play this out in such extremes, an interesting question arises: What does a person do if entrenched and embedded belief systems fail to agree with one’s changing nature and/or a new infusion of consciousness? Traditional thinking demands a reversion to tried and true beliefs, no matter what. Not to bash any one theological doctrine, but if one read my heliocentric work and went to tell a member of Catholic hierarchy about it, that person could be accused of heresy and excommunicated. The same could be said for one who believes that matter is made up of atoms. There is a point at which sensibility, physical evidence, instinct and awareness merge providing a rising wave of consciousness in which one shifts beliefs. For those who have been watching the political scene in the U. S. with overattentive Jupiterian fervor, this is not waffling or flip-flopping; this is evolution. With this Jupiter dynamic, we’re leading into such a cycle. I wonder if the point of irony is to show the collective failure of belief systems and to encourage individuals to adopt a mode of consciousness that suits their ever improving nature and ever increasing spirit guided perspicacity?


Come June 9th, Venus, now behind the Sun, forms a very precise alignment of her form with those of the Earth and Sun. This alignment is known as a superior conjunction, this one with occultation status. Similar recent events occurred in the month of June in the years 2000, 1992, 1984 and 1976, or in eight year intervals. The next such event results in eight years from this June 2016. Venus also displays an eight-year interval between its transits of the Sun, or when it appears to move across the solar disk. This last happened in June 2004 and next in June 2012. The eight year transit intervals are part of a larger four-part cycle that runs 8, 105.5, 8 and 121.5 years.


It is interesting to note that the Venus intervals occur in years in which the United States holds presidential elections. This year, of course, we have a woman contending for nomination and two days before the occultation, the last U. S. primary election - held in Puerto Rico - occurs. Honestly, I do not know how this portends for Hillary Clinton. Venus is behind the Sun. Would she lose visibility? As a contrasting view, in 1984 less than a month after a similar pattern, Walter Mondale selected Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate. That was the first time in this country’s history a woman had made it into the Presidential race.


With Venus, though, that’s hardly the point. What Venus would like to see is sincere invocation of her issues. In the previous eight year cycle of Venus crossing the solar disk, occurring in the late 1880's, women’s suffrage surfaced as an issue to be rectified in New Zealand and the U. S. It evidently made more sense down under and came about more quickly. Also quick to rise in that pattern was work safety in sweat shop environments and to a lesser degree, wage considerations. Venus theoretically appreciates strong social values and economic well being for all, as long she’s sitting pretty. Perhaps this summer the issues in the U. S. truly revert to pure Venus issues. What are the odds with Venus slipping behind the Sun that social reform dominates and corporate greed and profiteering take a second seat?


For those who don’t give two hoots of Pallas' owl eyes about the political scene, this Venusian alignment surfaces personal issues even more relevant since the appearance of Eris. The orbital elements of Eris - node in Libra and perihelion in Taurus - share linkage with Venus by association of her traditional rulership over those signs. Mythologically she disrupted the lives of those fancying themselves with indulgent vanity. Symbolically Eris shatters the mirrors in which one looks to determine their “fairness.” Venus tucking behind the Sun addresses matters of appearance and visibility. For a time, fifty days, she’ll not be evident. How do things really look when taken out of the display window? What a perfect time to reassess one’s value system (which rides Jupiter’s May wave of philosophic reform), create a healthy personal economic agenda and restore a set of values that links life on Earth with one’s highest spiritual aspirations. There’s a theory cycling about that if one does that regularly, Eris may cut you some slack in the discord department.


By this time in the summer if all goes well, we’ll have another dwarf planet sporting a name that we’ll all enjoy integrating. That body 136472 (2005 FY9) bears Aries and Gemini orbital characteristics. Regardless if the glacially slow International Astronomical Union rallies this summer when they have no Venus to view, you can get a head start. Make no bones about it. Be clear in communication of your consciousness and core beliefs. Later, regardless of transits, you’ll have all the consistency you need having smoothed out the wrinkles in advance. Why iron (iron-y, the reverse of why iron) the wrinkles? Because Venus likes it smooth.