Tag: capricorn

The Sun in the Crucible

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It’s for no small reason that gold remains one of the most desirable of our mother Earth’s treasures. Whether as an enriching adornment, a measure of economic power, or as a critical component within any number of the gadgets and technologies that facilitate modern life, this noble elemental metal has been the stuff of lust and legend since time immemorial. Indeed, it was forged deep in the heart of an ancestral star, and so its radiance reminds us that we are but star-dust, and to star-dust we will return.

The issue with gold, however, is that it rarely (if ever) comes out of the earth in usable form. While part of its desirability comes from its malleability, gold is so malleable that it often absorbs the influences and detritus of the minerals surrounding it in its earthen cradle. It flakes and flows down streams to be found by desperate panners, who sift through the muck to find the evidence of richer veins upstream. It is, if left untreated, little more than a chunk of dirty metal.

That’s where the exultant work of the refiner’s fire comes in. We often think of fire as something that can only destroy, that can only erase, that can only consume, but we often don’t consider the ways in which fire can be used to rarefy and purify metals and alloys to states where they can be used in ways only dreamed of by the sleeping metals in their earthen womb.

The raw mineral finds its way to the crucible; the refiner’s fire melts the gold and its purest factors run together, settling at the bottom, closest to the heat source. Meanwhile the undesired matter, which limits the radiance and utility of the gold, floats to the top to be removed and burned off by the unyielding heat.

The celestial gold in our charts, the energy which causes the engines of our souls to turn over, is signified by the Sun, the heavenly king. Whichever part of our natal chart the Sun presides over through rulership (that is, wherever Leo is in our charts), we find our life’s purpose oriented to the pursuit of that house’s priorities; likewise, wherever the Sun stands in our chart by house signifies the resources we have to make that desire a reality. When we uncover that rich vein of purpose for the first time we gain insight into the economics of our soul; we learn where we must invest our energies in order to reap the reward of satisfaction and a purposeful life.

But simply knowing the vein of gold is there does not, by itself, make that wisdom accessible to us. Just as gold must be refined to return to the state it was created to be, so must our natal Suns be assayed by fire and heat and pressure to become truly radiant. There are any number of ways in which this might happen—for me, it occurred in a special way at my Saturn return, for the Dark Lady is in a partile square with my natal Sun. But for all of us, as the Sun makes his yearly course through the zodiac, once a year he will encounter the unseen crucible and secret fire signified by Pluto, the bringer of change.

Pluto, one of whose glyphs represents a crucible, is most potent among the planets for his ability to generate the level of unseen heat required to purify the heaviest of elements. If the symbolic fires which Mars kindles are bright red and radiant, Pluto’s fire is even hotter—so hot that it is invisible to the human eye, its radiation more akin to gamma ray bursts than the fires of war.

The power of Pluto is a power that exists on the level of the edge of the cosmos; just as intensely hot and stupendously powerful quasars form the outer limit of the observable universe, so the astrological Pluto’s stupendous intensity forms the outer limit of our Solar System. No one passes him unchanged, even if that change is not visible to the naked eye at first.

So as the Sun conjoins Pluto on this January morning (for those in the United States), expect the subtler matter of your natal Sun to be melted into a purer form and the baser materials to be vaporized. This is the second act in the Sun’s three-stage purification happening over the first part of the month, too; the first was the solar eclipse last weekend, wherein the Sun’s pretenses were shed, and we experienced the shedding of the comfortable lies that we tell ourselves to contain our brightness.

The second is this conjunction to Pluto, which will render the Sun more malleable than ever and prepare it to be shaped into tools, adornments, and currencies beyond our wildest imagination.

The third will be the Sun’s meeting with the Dragon’s Tail, whose abyssal vortex will humble and rectify the Sun and give it the gift of perspective. This three-fold purification precedes the Sun’s journey into Aquarius, where he will work out the gifts of his re-creation through hard labors, accomplishing Saturn’s priorities with the new Solar tools he has been given (more on that next week).

On the other side of this gauntlet, the Sun will have been refined in the invisible fire, its dross burned away, and the newly-forged ingot quenched in the vortex, that he may offer his radiance in all righteousness and free of the comfortable lies that he tells himself to assuage his fears and the noxious cloud of public opinion that his radiance attracts. Fear not for the Sun’s passage through Saturn’s home of Aquarius, for he shall pass through as a prophet.

Leo Rising

The Sun’s journey of purification is impacting your self-concept, your health, and your appearance, employing hard work and discipline to effect their purposes. Accept the crucible’s lessons with all humility and you shall shine all the brighter for it.

Virgo Rising

The Moon, the Refiner, and the Dragon’s Tail have set their sights on the limiting beliefs that you hold for yourself, using your very creations as a means of transfiguration. Welcome the new work which you will unexpectedly render.

Libra Rising

The refining process for you regards the company you keep and your fidelity thereto. Things hidden will be revealed as a result of this process and new foundations will be laid for you to create peace anew among those who hold your trust, and whose trust you hold.

Scorpio Rising

Ready yourself to embrace the clarity of vision for your profession that the crucible will create for you and be willing to endure the sometimes-painful process of disregarding what other people have to say about your growth.

Sagittarius Rising

Though you are blessed with uncanny radiance for the better part of this year and may not feel like you have anything to worry about, remember that this radiance will come to an end—a little preparation goes a long way. You can’t serve God and Mammon, but you can make Mammon serve God. The refiner will show you how.

Capricorn Rising

Be ready to die to the old ways of containing yourself that you may put on the life that having clarity of purpose bring. And you’ll want to make sure that your credit cards aren’t crushing you, either.

Aquarius Rising

The boon of partnership is allowing you to explore unforeseen depths from your castle of isolation, and as the shackles of respectability come off, you will be able to join your voice to those of prophets and sages past in unexpected and supremely powerful ways.

Pisces Rising

Duty to your friends is demonstrating how much the people in your company rely upon you in concrete ways, so don’t neglect these earthly connections even as you strive after transcendence and success for the remainder of this year.

Aries Rising

Though your creations are being put through the ringer right now, there’s little need to despair, as that very work will be able to set a table in the wilderness for all those wild souls who gather around you once the refiner is through with it.

Taurus Rising

The old is passing away, and behold, the new is bursting onto the scene, drawing your attention to parts and pathways unknown and readying to bring a renewed sense of vision to the work to which your soul has set its hand.

Gemini Rising

Though you pride yourself on your golden tongue, remember all that’s been said of gold here. When the words fail to come, it is at that precise moment that the refiner’s heat has struck you. Do not fail to learn the lesson of speechlessness.

Cancer Rising

Those in partnership with you have much to say about the resources you so jealously guard, and while it may feel now that you are losing control, remember that holding gifts with open palms (or open pincers in your case) allows you to accept the lavish abundance that has yet to come to you.

The Twelfth Night Eclipse

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It’s enough to reflect on the fact that the Epiphany story, as it’s told in the Xian tradition, involves astrologers being given the gift of seeing things as they really are.

In the story, God is revealed to them, not in the halls of power and privilege but rather among the destitute and the working poor in a town that we would describe today as “flyover country.” Likewise, just as the divine is revealed for who the divine really is, Herod is likewise revealed for who he really is: a vindictive tyrant and a puppet of empire, not really king material at all.

Still with me? Okay. This eclipse in Capricorn, which falls on Twelfth Night and therefore the eve of the Epiphany, is so delicious because it speaks to the shedding of all pretense. We speak today of having “epiphanies” when we come to a realization about something that had been hidden to us—things hidden to us either because of ignorance (simply not knowing the truth) or because of arrogance (our refusal to see things the way they are presenting themselves).

Dr. Maya Angelou said, “when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” And so this eclipse, critical juncture though it may be, might engender an epiphany for you in whichever house it falls in your chart, as, in a moment of revelatory crisis, someone shows you who they actually are. When that happens, believe them. If you are a Magus searching for the divine and the divine shows you that all divinity has sided with the poor, believe them. If a tyrant shows you that he is a tyrant, believe him. If a partner shows you that they are truly committed, believe them. If an enemy shows you that they are truly a friend, believe them. If a friend shows you that they are truly an enemy, believe them! It can go both ways, you know.

The epiphanies which this eclipse will bear as a strange gift to you will be related in particular to matters of material security and the containers we build for ourselves to establish that security, whether those containers are patterns and practices, career trajectories, or relationships. You can tell what that will be simply by looking closely at the house in which this eclipse falls.

As the night approaches, set the intention for yourself to believe what this eclipse will reveal to you. As pretense is shed, you may discover that the containers you have constructed for your survival are not necessarily contributing to your thriving, and it may be time to move on to new structures.

An example from therapy: sometimes our coping skills and defensive behaviors work really well for helping us survive traumatic experiences, but as we grow and heal, they no longer serve us, and so we can bless and dismiss them as they are shown no longer to be helpful.

The same might be true with people, honestly. No need to cancel anyone. In another story from the New Testament, an old man named Simeon, upon meeting the infant Jesus at the temple, was recorded as saying, “Let me depart in peace, for I’ve seen what I needed to see.” This revelation to him was the culmination of a long-awaited promise, and upon its fulfillment, he was ready to depart. This eclipse might ask you to let some structures, behaviors, and people (associated with the house in which it falls in your natal chart) depart in peace, for their role in your story has drawn to a close at this time, and their promise has been fulfilled to this point. The shedding of all pretense will show you.

On this night, pretense will be shed, and Ketu will give us the gift of being able to see something clearly. Do not let it pass by unregarded or unexamined, or you may be in for a rude awakening from Rahu in six months’ time.

One more point: when the Magi departed from Bethlehem, they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod but rather to go back to their own country by another road. Perhaps the angel will suggest to you that you need to proceed by a different path instead of retreading old ground, back into the arms of the pretense that has kept you in its grip to this point. This is the gift of having had an epiphany: it often comes with the desire & ability to proceed in new ways, now that you can see clearly. Return by way of another road.

On Saturn in Capricorn

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We’re almost there—Saturn finally enters Capricorn in a few days after about 2.5 years hanging out in Sagittarius. The sagacious Saturn comes home to roost in the sign of the Letter of the Law, the sign of commandments and structure and strict judgment, the sign of Wisdom, the sign in which Caesar Augustus was born. Saturn, who is the greater malefic, is perfectly comfortable here and has everything he needs, unlike to cause problems unless provoked—say by Mars opposing him from Cancer or squaring him from Aries (which we won’t get for a while).

Saturn in Capricorn, though never fully “benevolent,” desires the best for the matters under his care and sets boundaries for his cattle, fences in his crops, and gives his workers schedules to assist them in fulfilling their responsibilities to the best of their abilities. Saturn in Capricorn—especially for those born around late 1988 to 1991 or so—demands that we assume fully the responsibilities that are ours to assume and set boundaries, learning how to say “no” in a way that encourages growth and not needless suffering.

Saturn in Sagittarius has been creating gaps and divisions between ideas and nations and journeys, making those far-flung reaches of our world even more distant. Yet he asks us as he comes home to Capricorn: “how shall ye bridge these gaps that I have made? Entropy belongs to life indeed, but it must be held in balance by connection, construction, and order, lest the world fall apart.”

It’s always so easy to say “no” to the other in order to say “yes” to ourselves, but in ways that are destructive and diminishing to people whose lives we have the opportunity to impact for the greater. We relinquish our opportunities to be agents of healing for the sake of getting our own desires fulfilled and our attachments assuaged. Remember too that Saturn rules Aquarius, the Social Worker of the zodiac.

Depending on the houses which Saturn rules in your chart, this may mean saying “no” to a promotion that won’t ultimately move you in the direction you want to go, or “no” to a parent who continues to try to parent you. It may mean saying “no” to things that bring you a lot of joy, not because those things are “wrong” in and of themselves but because those matters cause you to be so inwardly-focused that you cannot see your fellow human in need. That human is you, too, Saturn reminds you. The best way to honor this season is to learn how to construct healthy structures and disciplines for yourself—and for many, though the idea of asceticism might make us queasy, the benefits of saying “no” can make us appreciate the blessings in life all the more.

Where do you need to say “no” in order to free up the resources that building bridges within your own heart and world will require? Where are you over-invested and over-exerted in your life? What tethers you to the glimmering delights of the world such that you can no longer see the light of God in the people you meet from day to day? What benefits might come if you allow yourself to be freed by Wisdom that rightly and sweetly orders all things?

Consider the spiritual progress made by those who have said “no” to the things that we find ourselves attached to and instead have built systems of discipline in which they can explore their own Interior Castles—and consider what opportunities await you as you respond to Saturn’s invitation to do this work.

Saturn in Capricorn does not demand that we become monastics, but he does demand that our lives be ordered toward life and abundance for both ourselves and our neighbors—Saturn is, after all, a farmer, and without fences, furrows, schedules, tilling, hauling, composting, and patience, nobody gets to eat.

The prayers for Advent include this Saturnine invocation to the ordering energies of God, and may it be a blessing for you as you make ready for the Sun’s own ingress into Capricorn during this season of light: “O Wisdom, who proceedeth from the mouth of the Most High, stretching from one end of the world to the other, rightly and sweetly ordering all things: come to teach us the way of prudence.”

Peace and all good, friends.