shiloh wrote:To many 2012 means nothing special, it’s just another year, but to those of us who choose to live a life tuned to the symbolic through cosmology or astrology it does seem more significant. There is no denying that a great shift of the human spirit has begun and the world around us will be significantly changed because of it.As many take on the call to change their lives, to finally act on all those things that they have been wanting to do, it seems the energy of the Uranus Pluto square gains momentum all around us. The OWS movement, the uprisings in the Arab world and now Russia, the shaky global economy and the threatened capitalist system all seem to reflect the potent Uranus Pluto archetype, but also seem very much tuned into the shift of Regulus into the sign of Virgo opposite Neptune. The focus on greed , money and power now shifts to efficiency, resourcefulness and an underlying need to protect the planet. Everyone is being called to take up the task to sift the wheat from the chaff and contribute to building a healthier planet, somehow.Astrologers consult ingress charts to glean the flavour of the year or months ahead, so for a look at the first 3 months of 2012 we look at the Capricorn Ingress chart for December 22 UTC, 2011(See Agent37′s article on the Capricorn Ingress). As with every ingress of the Sun to a cardinal point, for the past few years since Pluto’s ingress into Capricorn in 2008 , Pluto while hovering in these early degrees of Capricorn has squared, opposed or been conjunct the Sun at these quarterly turning points. As Uranus reached the cardinal point of zero Aries in mid 2010 and now in 2011, we have seen and felt its influence strongly. It’s as if everyone suddenly woke up and things have been radically changing ever since. As 2011 has shown, the mould has been broken, many uprisings, radical world shaping events have been moving us toward inevitable global shifts. 2012 start with Uranus at Zero Aries Point. Quetzatcoatl- Teotihuacan Museum Mexico
For the Solstice chart all planets are moving direct except for Jupiter, which will station to move direct on 26th December. For 3 weeks following all planets will be moving direct. On the 1/1/2012 Mercury moves out of its shadow phase at 19 Sagittarius (from its last retrograde), an indicator or a window of opportunity perhaps to move forward and get on with it. What a great start for all those New Years resolutions. Mars in Virgo will break the momentum when it will turn retrograde on 23rd January, coinciding with Chinese New Year, a New Moon in Aquarius and the entrance of the Year of the Dragon. Depiction of Venus brightest when in a phase 36 degrees away from the Sun. Museum of Archeology – Mexico City
The Year of the Dragon and 2012 coincide also with what is known as the “Return of Quetzalcoatl”, (1)a Mesoamerican supreme deity, a feathered serpent, who represents the union of spirit and matter. Quetzalcoatl was known to live around 400BCE in Teotihuacán. He left this world, because of its corruption and demise and also because he saw himself as a key figure in this corruption. Quetzalcoatl, said he would return when the world had changed for the better. This Mesoamerican High Priest was highly revered and was said to represent Venus as a morning Star. His twin brother Xolotl represented the evening star. Like many cultures around the world, to the Mesoamericans Venus’s movements were closely followed, her rising out of the Suns’ beams as a morning star formed the beginning of her cycle and the Mayan Tzolkin, based on a 9 month calendar of 20 days x 13 months 260 days. Venus, and her glyph, the Circle of Spirit on top of the Cross of Matter, are strongly attuned to the same meaning of Quetzalcoatl, blending Spirit and Matter and the twins represent Gemini. Venus will make her transit across the Sun in June 2012 in the sign of Gemini.The fall of seven Macaw is a Mayan myth, stemming from the Popol Vuh which tells the story of the fall of Seven Macaw, a corrupt and greedy ruler who has ruled the last age of Man and is avenged by the twin sons of One Hunaphu a Sun God. One Hunaphu is then replaced on his throne as the rightful ruler of the next coming age. This myth resonates powerfully with the rebirth of the solstice Sun on the solstice date 21-12 12 – and has been extensively written about and researched over the last few decades. These are all metaphors representing a Rebirth of human consciousness. This shift also strongly coincides with Regulus, star of Kings moving to Virgo around 2012. (2)History became Legend, Legend became Myth.(2) Our connection to universal myths and archetypes continues to guide our journey forward.As most of the people in the world don’t follow Astrology, Ingress charts or celebrate the natural Wheel of the Year, most do however stay attuned to the beginning of a year. We follow a Gregorian calendar if we like it or not, so our New Year starts on 1/1/2012. I have chosen a chart for the 1/1/12 00:00 am at Caroline Atoll – Kiribati , the first land mass to get the first daylight on the planet after the clock turns 00:00 at the international date line.Significantly the Moon and Uranus are both at zero Aries, new beginnings of a collective kind. The Moon relates to the people, what we sense and how we feel. It seems we are all restless, unsure, yet spirited and ready for change. Moon Uranus aspects shake us up, taking away any certainty that we may have and any concepts of feeling safe and secure. Instead we are being asked to feel safe in our insecurities. What? Yes Moon and Uranus are extreme opposites. In the end Moon / Uranus aspects are liberating, freeing and enlightening as we shake away past habits and what we have been depending on. We have outgrown many attachments, it is time to detach from the past and jump boldly into the future. With both Moon and Uranus in the sign of Aries, new beginnings await the warrior in all of us.Next the Sun, our shining light and guide, is conjunct Pluto, although the exact conjunction was two days before, this Pluto Sun conjunction on the first day of the year has been getting closer and stronger over the past few years. With the Sun at 9 degrees Capricorn and Pluto at 7degrees at the start of 2012, this will now intensify with Pluto at 9 degrees and the Sun also at 9 on 1/1/13 and still aligned on this day into 2014 and 2015. This conjunction is a potent indicator of the great shift in human consciousness, on a day when the past is left behind and we all move to symbolic fresh new starts. With Regulus opposite Neptune and the 7 looming Pluto Uranus exact squares yet to come , 2012 seems like the beginning and a gateway to much more.
On a mundane level the Pluto/Sun combination has a direct impact on the many countries around the world who have their Sun around 9-10 Degrees of Capricorn. This includes Syria, the UK, Australia and others. The Sun also relates to heads of state, presidents and leaders and as we can see many Heads have been losing power and control and will continue to do so.
The year also begins with an ongoing Saturn Neptune trine, both at 28 degrees, Saturn in Libra and Neptune in Aquarius, great co-ordinates for a promise of collective peace and justice. Unfortunately they don’t stand alone. As the opposition between the two a few years ago, 2006- 2007 in Leo and Aquarius, heightened a sense in all of us that our collective dreams had become material, the world had become driven by profits and greed as prices and consumerism skyrocketed. We get a sense that now we are moving forward with that, where spirit and spirituality are considered a must in our survival , there is a great need to spiritualize a very material world and in the words of Charles Harvey – “materialise the spiritual”.
When Neptune moves to Pisces on Feb 4
th, Saturn turns retrograde in Libra only 2 days later at 29:30 degrees of Libra. It’s almost as though Saturn reneges in joining Neptune in the waters , just yet. Let Neptune sort out his domain first, thank the Goddess really, it may be all too much if it happened at once. Saturn will ingress into Scorpio on Oct 6
th 2012 and then both will be in the most passionately tuned signs and in water. This is an intense and highly passionate combination, where passions override sensibility and rationality. An almost “anything goes” attitude takes hold. Neptune has not entered water since its move through Scorpio in 1960’s and early 70’s. Think about the wild nature and uninhibited spirit that arose during this era, the music, the clothes, the drugs. Now Neptune, a boundless planet moves to an endless sign, Pisces, together they conjure up images of extremes, wildness, anything goes, giving much hope to changing many attitudes, breaking barriers as it goes, but also giving rise to many destructive “who cares”, sacrificial attitudes and a possible spiralling into an abyss. Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac and Neptune our furthest planet- together we are creating and germinating the seeds of the future. Let us nurture those seeds and regenerate the spirit of our collective human experience with peace, love, compassion and wisdom.
During 2012 Mercury begins its retrograde cycles starting in Fire signs and ending in water signs. In March it begins a retrograde in Aries and moves back to Pisces. Then the next retrograde period begins in Leo and retrogrades back into Cancer, then Sagittarius and back to Scorpio. From fire, moving forward, we get caught up back in the water, held up by the past. Indicators of perhaps a frustrating year with one step forward and two steps back. Not a sign of moving or leaping easily ahead. The transition to a new world as Uranus Moon in new year chart suggest, the ongoing Pluto Sun alignments or the ongoing Uranus Pluto squares portend, is a long process and definitely not completed in just 2012.
The first of these Mercury retrogrades starting on 14 March happens at the same time as a grand earth trine alignment between a retro Mars in Virgo, Pluto in Capricorn and Venus conjunct Jupiter in Taurus all at 9 degrees of Earth signs. A sure sign of the shifts we are expecting taking hold . Jupiter and Venus together make a pretty picture in the evening sky, with Venus close to her maximum elongation east of the Sun at 46 degrees. After this max elongation Venus begins to move back closer to the Sun where she is most vulnerable and out of sorts, but this time she will be making her very rare occultation across the Sun.
Quite a magical combination returns with Jupiter in Taurus and Neptune in Pisces in February 2012. Taurus and Pisces are both Venusian signs by rulership and exaltation. These two planets first aspect each other by sextile when Neptune enters Pisces in early February, a quintile forms in late March, and the connection ends with a square in mid- June. This combination does not happen often, last time Neptune was in Pisces and Jupiter was in Taurus was 1857-58. Neptune and Jupiter travel well together, both attuned to expansive energy and in feminine signs bring with them a sense of reality merging with dreams and ideals coming together in a divine understanding. Let’s take this opportunity to channel some divinely inspired yet real outcomes.
Venus plays a central role in 2012 so consider the moving into 2012 as a time to revaluate our connection of spirit to matter. As the glyph of Venus reminds us to contemplate what drives our material needs, our consciousness and how is it earthed? 2012 represents the end of the world as we know it, a dawn of a new awareness and a growing enthusiasm to return the world to be driven by the right Values. Our conscious evolution doesn’t happen by itself, or without us, with the right Values directing our way- forward 2012 is shaping up to be an important time in redirecting our common future. Let’s make the most of it.
The possibilities are endless, let’s keep not only the vision but the intentions strong.All the best to you all for a Great NEW YEAR!
FOR further reading See my articles in:
TMA The Mountain Astrologer – Dec/Jan 2012 issue – now in digital version –
http://mountainastrologer.com/tma/<p> [/center][/b]