Eight Degrees- Three Tactics of War
The energy shift of Mars stationing direct in Gemini has ripple effects in our respective Houses associated with Aries and Scorpio, as well.
Jupiter moved from Aries, the sign associated with being the first, and new beginnings, back into Pisces, the last sign of the Zodiac, and his domicile. Its as though a visit home during war times rekindled his sense of what he was fighting for. This journey of Jupiter brings to mind the conversation we have with our Self about what is worth going to battle; the mascot on our flags. He experienced another dance with the extreme ideal of Pisces during this past retrograde cycle. From the end of July to the end of November, Jupiter visited home and reviewed potential future paths, refining them by considering his morals and ethics.
I keep reflecting on Jupiter because I was one of these people wondering why I couldn’t feel him. Why was Jupiter’s gift not apparent? So that’s where I’m starting this journal entry. There’s been a delay on the feelings associated with Jupiter ingressing back into Aries after a retrograde into Pisces. The House within which Jupiter finds himself right now is owned by Mars, the planet of action (who just so happened to be retrograding back over his tracks).
Now that Mars retrograde has turned direct, it feels like we are also revealing Jupiter’s light, as well. The beacon of hope. Maybe its just the optimism of Jupiter alone that makes me write a sentence with such glee, but that’s the effect Jupiter has. Jupiter turned Retrograde at the end of July, and at 8° of Aries.
Jupiter Retrograde starting 8° Aries on July 28, 2022
A large hat with streamers flying, facing east James Burgess Sabian Symbols
Aries 8 (7°- 8°)
BALANCING PASSIONATE ENTHUSIASM WITH JUDICIOUS CAUTION
Spiritual guidance and protection
“Guarding our sensitivities”
Being open and sensitive to higher energies requires a wisdom that the immature person has not developed. Protection is required to limit psychic forces until sufficient development of consciousness has occurred; guidance is advised so that the source and implications of the ‘wisdom of the East’ may be assimilated fully.
Rudhyar:
A LARGE WOMAN’S HAT WITH STREAMERS BLOWN BY AN EAST WIND
Today I was guided to an Anthony Bourdain quote. He’s one of the only celebrities I truly mourned the loss. I felt a deep connection with him early in life. He was a rebellious traveler and everything I wanted to be. Even as a kid I knew and somehow that manifested in my life. It led me to Turkey for a week without walls, away from my family, exploring the ruins of the Ottoman Empire, chaperoned by a few teachers and a security guard. I lived a dream and it was like living an episode of “No Reservations”. I wanted to be a traveling reporter just like him and experience the world just like him, and I did. At such a young age, I did. So I’ve tasted the life I want to live, now how do I get back to it?
“As you move through this life and this world, you change things slightly; you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life — and travel — leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks — on your body or on your heart — are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt.” — Anthony Bourdain
That is Jupiter re-entering Pisces and reimagining the dream. At first, I didn’t know why. What is it about foreign land that turns me on? Its been my ideal for as long as I can remember. It was something I was infected by (the travel bug) at a very young age. That’s what I wanted to build my identity around.
The death of Anthony Bourdain did not feel like a betrayal to me. I did try to think from his perspective to attempt to figure out how he may have gotten there. Obviously, I don’t have all the details, all the thoughts that went into the ultimate decision he made. It felt to me like maybe it was the only way to say what he was trying to say. I can see why people don’t really talk about these things, though. It feels weird and detached to say what relating with that sentiment might feel like. This is the reason we embody the writer though, to take on their mind. Somehow the darkest places they visit are relevant to how they can create so much beauty in their being.
I think of those streamers as potential flags, to relate back to my analogy from before. Jupiter trying to figure out what is worth fighting for. I feel like I can have a different ending to that conversation that Anthony Bourdain might have had. I think at the part where it truly does become meaningless, I have been given a tether by a dear friend. It reminds me of the story my dad tells me about his diving buddy saving his life by recognizing he’d gone unsconscious. When you come so close to death, your big take away is “Now I know what is worth living for.”
Mars Direct 8° Gemini on January 12, 2023
An industrial strike
from James Burgess Sabian Symbols
Gemini 8 (7° — 8°)
REVOLT AGAINST INJUSTICE
Whenever the powerful and rich take advantage then rebelliousness is close at hand
“Assertive expression of self”
Tension arises between the haves and have-nots and is the primary cause of civil unrest. There is a warning here against allowing our material appetites to go too far and create the conditions for revolt. Typically anyone vaingloriously showing off their attainments, whether material, intellectual or whatever, will lose contact with gentle, modest people — and be diminished thereby and find themselves living their lives surrounded only by the ambitious and the envious.
Rudhyar:
AROUSED STRIKERS SURROUND A FACTORY
Interesting that the degree that Mars reaches before turning direct is associated with assertive expression of Self. Sounds pretty Martial/Martian. Thats just how divine messages come in. You know where to look and how the message works in with the information you have. Mars is pivoting at this degree; shifting from Retrograde Motion to Direct Motion.
This seems like a really good way to think about Mars stationing to turn direct. When there is a strike, some demands are usually listed out. Work comes to a halt, but there are negotiations that can be had. What’s really interesting is that Mercury is at 8° of Capricorn, which is where he will turn direct. Both planets turned direct at 8°, which is the same degree that Jupiter turned Retrograde at in Aries. (And the same degree that Mercury last began his Retrograde in Libra). If there is anything this cycle is screaming, its “8°!”
Mercury and Mars will be aspecting each other in what is called a quincunx. They are 150° away from one another. I’ve heard of this described as “an itch you can’t scratch”. Sometimes it can be described as a forced choice between two very different things.
Of Mercury and Mars, Robert Hand states
“The expression of anger or conflict. Fondness for argument or debate. Energetic and vigorous thinking. Verbal self-assertion. The determination to act upon one’s own ideas. Forceful Intellect.” — Robert Hand, Horoscope Symbols
Mercury Direct 8° of Capricorn on January 18, 2023
Birds in a house singing happily from James Burgess Sabian Symbols
Capricorn 8 (7° — 8°)
HAPPY ACCEPTANCE OF LIMITATIONS
The Earth plane is defined by its limitations and those who accept and enjoy coping with this fact are the happy ones
“Happy acceptance of limits”
The full enjoyment of a happy life is hardly available to people who feel frustrated and thwarted by the strong boundaries that limit personal freedom. It is accessed only by those who have come to terms with the scope of realistic possibility, and willingly accept the conditions of constraint that life on earth implies. Simply because we inhabit physical bodies in a limited plane of existence we must curb our passions and desires; when we do, only when we do, we will be able to know lasting joy.
Rudhyar:
IN A SUN-LIT HOME DOMESTICATED BIRDS SING JOYOUSLY
Mercury turning direct at this degree is hinting at the fact that through conflict we still find peace and harmony. That’s the ultimate goal. We can suffer in our own disapproval of a situation, and we can choose to involve others in our sour mood. Ultimately it is up to us to resolve the tension by becoming hyper-aware of the patterns, and sorting them as they arise. There is a more cynical way to flip this to say “ignorance is bliss”. If we pretend like the problem isn’t there then it goes away.
I’m open, I’m ready to receive all of this direct motion towards some progress.
Originally written in Collective Journaling at The Stoa
