Category Archives: Guest Posts

Understanding Ophiuchus: Taming the Hydra

After the recent media fuss over Ophiuchus, I wrote a post providing some basic facts to clear up the misinformation that was circulating on the Internet. My thanks to Ruth for offering today’s post – the first part in a two-part article – in which she delves deeper into the mystery and meaning of Ophiuchus using the principles of Soul Astrology. ~Pat

Hercules and the Hydra, by Antonio Pollaiuolo, c. 1475. Uffizi Gallery, Florence.

Setting aside the debate about Zodiac signs, one thing we know for sure is that, for whatever reason, in 2011 Ophiuchus got global attention. That in itself is significant.

Ophiuchus is now firmly planted in our collective psyche, and maybe we need to hold that image for a reason. This could be a heads-up to look at something, another signpost on our spiritual journey, a synchronicity.

Before going any further, we need to be clear about the difference between constellations and Astrological signs.

Simply put, Ophiuchus is a constellation, not a sign. Constellations are clusters of stars. There are around 88 constellations visible in the night sky from Earth, and since the beginning of time humankind has given them mythological names Continue reading →

Julian Assange: The Man Behind WikiLeaks, Part II

Having established in Part I that this horoscope describes our man rather well, let’s see what was happening around the times of various WikiLeaks disclosures that rocked the planet.

To start with, WikiLeaks.org was registered on Oct. 4, 2006. This happened at a time when Jupiter and Saturn were forming a square aspect in the sky; the finance-political disaster that is currently holding the globe in its grip was already brewing and about to enter the next stage.

Transiting Jupiter had just crossed Assange’s Ascendant – for him, it was a time to expand and to “come out.” Meanwhile, transiting Saturn was traversing Assange’s tenth house, indicating a time to assume some kind of leadership and to take on great public responsibility. Unfortunately, Saturn in the tenth house can also indicate “falling from a great height.”

In December 2007, WikiLeaks published material pertaining to Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. prison colony that President Obama still hasn’t shut down (to read the analysis of that transit, as well as a more comprehensive timeline, click here). Then, on April 5, 2010, video footage from 2007 was published, showing innocent Iraqi civilians and two Reuter journalists being shot dead from a U.S. Apache helicopter. Photographic images belong to the realm of Neptune, which was forming an active connection to Assange’s Jupiter at the time. Meanwhile, transiting Mars was sitting on his Midheaven, so it’s no wonder Assange gave us images of a war crime.

In the heavens, there was still an opposition between Saturn and Uranus going on, affecting all of us in some way and indicating that the rift between the conservative powers that be (Saturn) and free-spirited, innovative forces of progress (Uranus) was getting wider. On the day of publication, this was highlighted by an explosive Moon/Pluto conjunction in karmic Capricorn. Where the public is concerned, Assange certainly seems to pick his moments.

This trend continued with the publication of the Afghan War Log Files on July 26, 2010. Saturn/Mars and Uranus/Jupiter were opposing each other on the potent equinox axis of 0° Libra/Aries, and all four of them were heated up by Pluto, the planet of extremes.

The real bombshell, however, came on November 28, 2010, with the release of 250,000 cables sent to and from U.S. embassies all over the world. Assange’s chart tells us that he had been sitting on this information for a length of time. Transits suggest that yet another bout of the compelling urge to share bad news with the world had taken place as far back as late September and early October, when Sun, Mercury and Saturn activated Assange’s genial but very uncomfortable and almost compulsively rebellious Sun/Uranus combination.

For once, though, Saturn’s influence may have made him consider the consequences. Going through various possible scenarios, he must have realized that he would create a lot of enmity against himself and his affiliates among a large group of very powerful people. During October, these three planets were moving through Assange’s twelfth house, indicating a time of reflection and of hatching new plans.

On the day of publication, Pluto was exactly conjunct the North Node in Capricorn, the sign of political and financial hierarchy and of karmic debt. The collective was hit by fate big time, and those exposed in the documents may have felt like Judgment Day had arrived.

[headline h=”5″]Sexual Misconduct Charges and Extradition Hearing[/headline]

Meanwhile, Assange was fighting on a different front. Since late August he had a charge of sexual misconduct hanging over his head in Sweden, where he had applied for residency in view of that country’s laws protecting whistleblowers. When he allegedly forced himself on two Swedish women, Venus and Mars were moving across his natal Uranus, indicating the possibility of sudden and short-lived affairs, as well as a compelling drive towards unusual sexual practices. The Sun was traversing his tenth house and opposing his natal Mars; riding on his prominent social status as main speaker at a conference on media and war, his ego was pumped up, and he likely felt unusually strong physical urges as well.

The Swedish authorities on August 21st dropped the charges after one day of investigation. But following a lawyer’s appeal, the case was re-opened on November 18, 2010, an international arrest warrant was issued on November 20th. On that day, the Sun, Assange’s “public status planet,” shed its light on his natal Jupiter, the planet of international affairs and ruler of Assange’s fifth house of romantic involvements.

In giving himself up on December 8, Assange may have succumbed to a fleeting depression, with the Moon opposed his natal Sun. He was released on bail but was put under house arrest. The extradition hearing has been set for February 7 and 8.

As of this writing, the exact time of the hearing hasn’t been published. But assuming that UK courts open at 9 a.m., Uranus, Jupiter and the Moon will be on the Ascendant, which would make the interference of protesters likely (view chart here). The judge, signified by stern Saturn trying to find the correct balance in Libra, will not be stirred by public opinion, as indicated by a Moon/Saturn opposition on the second day of the hearing. We also have a flowing trine aspect between Saturn in Libra and a conjunction of Sun and Mars in Aquarius. The judge will have no problem putting a halt to Assange’s work, blocking his assets, and keeping him under arrest.

No matter what the British judge decides on February 8, with Saturn traversing Assange’s twelfth house, he is shown as Assange’s “secret enemy.” Saturn also indicates that this case, and possibly house arrest and/or incarceration, could drag on until summer 2014.

Meanwhile, the current Jupiter/Saturn cycle of global finances will peak in the last of five oppositions at the end of May 2011. If he hasn’t done so before, I expect Assange to publish the secrets of international banking around that time, or else we might by then be experiencing the global consequences of his revelations.

Helene

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Helene Schnitzer is an astrologer living in Glastonbury, England. Her specialities include Traditional, Horary and Hellenistic Astrology, and Astro*Carto*Graphy. Click HERE to read her full bio.

The Lunar North Node and Your Spiritual Journey

Following Ruth’s previous article on Living Soul Astrology, I asked her what would happen if the North Node was conjunct the Ascendant. Her reply was the gift of this wonderful article. I learned a lot from it and hope you do, too. ~Pat

Stars on the Move, NASA

Stars on the Move. Image courtesy NASA/ESA.

In a recent post, I explained how your Lunar North Node is like a prescription for changing your past-life conditioning. Your Ascendant is your Soul Vibration, while your North Node indicates a possible pathway that supports your Soul’s development by breaking the patterns of past-life conditioning (your South Node). Your North Node is not your Soul’s essence, but rather a spiritual path of choice.

Remember the Moon doesn’t actually possess any “nodes!” Meaning they aren’t actually physical things. They are points in space, on the ecliptic, where the Moon intersects the path of the Sun. This tells me two things: first, they can be regarded as “trailmarkers” pointing to a well-worn path, and second, they intersect the path of the Sun, meaning they want our attention. They are a “heads up” for our spiritual journey, because they are showing us where we have recurring patterns that limit us at the personality level.

So what happens when the North Node and Ascendant are in the same sign?

In this case, there is increased potential for the individual concerned to transcend the personality vibration of the sign and shift into alignment, spiritual awakening and fusion of the Soul and personality. For this to happen, the individual still has to choose the path that is presented to them, shift their attention inwards, and be open to developing their senses and perceptual capacity. Again, just like a prescription, in this case it might have a faster effect, but only if you take all the medicine!

Once you choose a spiritual path or practice, as indicated by your North Node, this maximizes the potential for you to not only hear your Soul’s calling, but to transcend the personality attachments of the sign and give full expression to the Soul vibration of the sign. The North node in this position indicates that of all the possible spiritual paths and teachers available, one that invites the individual to develop these qualities would be most effective. However, our focus must always be one of going within, if we are to make spiritual progress.

For example, let’s say the North Node and Ascendant are both in Gemini. The personality ruler of Gemini is Mercury, but the Soul ruler is Venus*. Both planets are said to have a lower and higher vibration. Well, to be more accurate, it’s the same energy but is perceived differently, depending upon the individual’s level of consciousness and perception. Depending upon your own degree of spiritual progress, you would be more influenced by the personality ruler or the Soul ruler of that sign.

So through undertaking typical Gemini activities of writing, speaking, and communicating, the spiritually (inwardly) inclined individual could gradually experience a spiritual opening. There is the potential to experience a shift in their perception from the purely rational mind, with its lower Mercurial qualities of merely “passing along information,” to a place where they integrate their higher, intuitive mind and the higher purpose of Mercury: opening themselves more fully to intuition and creating a bridge to higher mind**. As a result they will develop an ability to perceive, receive and convey the higher Venusian vibrations of transpersonal, unconditional, Love and right relations.

Our spiritual journey is one of exploring our inner world, opening our heart and mind to higher possibilities and recognizing Divinity, within ourselves. The very word “esoteric” derives from the Greek root “eso,” which means “within” (as compared with exoteric Astrology, derived from the Greek root “exo,” which means “inclined outwards”).

Soul Astrology and Esoteric Astrology are the Astrology of our inner world, our spiritual journey. Given that our personality is a mask we wear to interact with the outside world, when we begin to move deeply inwards on our Soul Journey, it stands to reason that our Natal Chart takes on a deeper significance.

[quote cite=”Lama Thubten Yeshe”]I hope that you understand what the word “spiritual” really means. It means to search for, to investigate, the true nature of the mind. There’s nothing spiritual outside. My rosary isn’t spiritual; my robes aren’t spiritual. Spiritual means the mind, and spiritual people are those who seek its nature.[/quote]

In Esoteric Astrology,* it is said that, in terms of our spiritual development, each of us is either on the “Mutable Cross,” the “Fixed Cross” or the “Cardinal Cross.” The Mutable Cross means we are wholly personality-driven, with no experience of our Soul. The Fixed Cross means we are awakening, and although we are still largely personality-driven, we’re beginning to awaken and have some Soul Awareness. Those on the Cardinal Cross are fully awakened, in the fact that they have completed the process of Soul Integration; the fusion of Soul and personality is complete, and they are Soul-Centred Beings.

Few people on the planet are on the Cardinal Cross, and those that are, are highly enlightened spiritual teachers. However, many of us are beginning the journey from the Mutable Cross to the Fixed Cross as we go deeper into our spiritual journey and seek to experience for ourselves the truth of our Soul.

There is no way for an Astrologer to tell just by looking at a chart whether a Soul is on the Mutable, Fixed or Cardinal Cross. This can only be deduced by learning about the character of the person and through the use of intuition. For example we might deduce that someone like the Dalai Lama would be on the Cardinal Cross, because of his highly developed spiritual realizations, but in reality only he would know.

The purpose of our spiritual journey is to progress from the externally-focused Mutable Cross, with its emphasis solely on personality, to the internally-focused Cardinal Cross, in which we have full fusion of personality and Soul. It is a very gradual, inner journey, and the lunar North Node is acting as a pointer to steer us away from repeating habits that could keep us attached to personality and stuck on the Mutable Cross for longer than we need to be.

It is time to wake up and evolve. It is a challenge, and there are no guarantees. We can still get it wrong if we undertake North Node activity in a very externally-focused and personality driven way, with our attention “inclined outwards!” Your North Node is pointing the way to avoid repeating past habits, and this will be most effective if you also shift your focus and “incline inwards.” To benefit fully, you need to keep turning your attention inwards and familiarise yourself with your inner world.


Ruth

* Esoteric Astrology (1951) by Alice Bailey. Lucis Press, London. The work of The Tibetan (Master DK) as channeled through Alice Bailey.

**  In Esoteric Astrology, Mercury is said to play an important part in the development of the inner “antahkarana” or Rainbow Bridge, which (once fully developed) will connect us to our own higher consciousness or Higher Self.

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Ruth Hadikin, Soul Astrologer

Ruth Hadikin – Soul Astrologer

To get your personal Soul Sign/Life Purpose Report (FREE with a consultation), contact Ruth via her website. You can also request a FREE mp3 download, “The Energetics of Soul Astrology.”

Follow Ruth:

Living Soul Astrology, Part II: Your Personality Signs

In this fascinating article, Ruth explains how your Sun, Moon and Rising signs fit together and how the lunar North Node supports your Soul’s development. ~Pat

Stars on the Move, NASA

Stars on the Move. Image courtesy NASA/ESA.

In Part One, we looked at your Soul Sign and what that could tell you in terms of the current stage of your Soul’s Development. However, your Soul’s development is not something you usually have conscious awareness of in your everyday experience.

Your everyday experience is shaped, received and perceived through the filters of your personality. The simplest definition of “ego-personality” is when your mind is thinking about itself. It is how we experience ourselves and who we believe ourselves to be: our tendencies, pre-dispositions, habits, gifts, talents, urges, reactions, beliefs and opinions. It is our overall feeling of “there’s a ME in here” (usually swiftly followed up by an ongoing story of what that ME is all about!).

It is the sum of all our learned behaviour, from this and past lives, our self-image and our self-concept. It is both the mask we show to the world and the window through which we see and experience the world. All of this might feel very real to us now, yet it has all been picked up along the way and added to our underlying true nature.

Our Soul is our underlying true nature, our Divine “pure” essence (in the sense that it cannot be tainted by anything we have collected). To understand this, let’s use water as an example. It is, by nature, wet. We can add things to it: it can be cold water, hot water, coloured water, salty water, etc. However, nothing we add to it will ever change its essential wetness.

Similarly, our Soul is, by nature, goodness and love. Everything else we believe ourselves to be (our ego-personality) has been added to it and, although we experience it as ourselves, it is not our true Self. Our Soul vibration is our purest nature, and this is indicated by our Ascendant.

[headline h=”5″]The Personality Signs: Your Sun and Your Moon[/headline]

In Soul Astrology this collection of habits and reactions is symbolised by your Sun and Moon signs. They represent your habitual (learned) ways of thinking and acting. The Sun is that aspect of our personality which we are aware of, conscious of; it is in the light. The Moon is that which we are unaware of. It is in the dark, our shadow personality.

Our Moon Sign is at least of equal importance to our Sun Sign, if not more so. Because it is our shadow, it is more difficult for us to see, and therefore has a quality of sneaking up on us and sabotaging our efforts. When we have reacted to somebody unconsciously and then later regretted it, we have probably been overwhelmed by an emotional reaction that is in alignment with the qualities of our Moon Sign.

The learned behaviour of our Sun and Moon signs is so powerful that we identify with it. We feel as though it is “who we are.” Our spiritual path involves dis-identifying from these personality traits and reactions by changing our behaviour patterns and by recognizing that while we might have those tendencies and abilities, we are so much more than that. In the case of our Sun Sign, while it is never easy to challenge habits – especially ones reinforced by strong ego-identification – it is made somewhat easier by the fact that these qualities are “out in the open.” It makes it easy to see what we are working with.

The Moon Sign indicates our innate emotional state and who we become in relating with others. It is often others who recognise our Moon-Sign traits, before we do, because it is when others push our buttons that we get to see our shadow-nature. It is revealed to us in our reactions to them. We then have the opportunity to heal these patterns, which is why relationships are such good “Soul-training” grounds!

[headline h=”5″]The Moon’s Nodes[/headline]

I read an excellent article recently on the Moon’s nodes – however the author kept referring to me as a Virgo Soul, because I have a Virgo North Node. I am a Cancer Ascendant, so the reality is, I am a Cancer Soul, but with a Virgo option. Being more Virgo-like and developing Virgoan qualities will support my development as a Cancer Soul.

Your North Node is like a prescription for changing your past-life conditioning. Your Ascendant is your Soul Vibration, while your North Node indicates a possible pathway that supports your Soul’s development by breaking the patterns of past-life conditioning (your South Node). Your North Node is not your Soul’s essence, but rather a spiritual path of choice.

In describing and defining yourself I invite you to consider using your Ascendant first, so it sounds something like this: “I’m a Cancer Soul with a Gemini/Leo personality” (Cancer Ascendant, Gemini Sun, Leo Moon.) This description sums up our individual spiritual path: the challenge to release identification with our personality traits, and lead with our Soul qualities.

Living Soul Astrology means using our horoscope as a living tool to support our spiritual journey. By thoroughly understanding all the energies at play in our natal chart, understanding what stage of development our Soul is at, and the challenges that our personality signs create, our Astrological profile becomes a valuable tool that supports our process of integrating personality and Soul.

Once we are fully conscious of our Sun and Moon sign behaviours, and are no longer identified with them, our Soul begins to use the qualities of those signs, in the expression of its purpose in this lifetime.


Ruth

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Ruth Hadikin, Soul Astrologer

Ruth Hadikin – Soul Astrologer

To get your personal Soul Sign/Life Purpose Report (FREE with a consultation), contact Ruth via her website. You can also request a FREE mp3 download, “The Energetics of Soul Astrology.”

Follow Ruth: