don't knock your corners off going through the door you square

In astrology we speak of different geometrical relationships between planets, from the perspective of the Earth. Today, I'm sharing some thoughts about the square aspect (when 2 planets are 90 degrees apart from each other from the starting point of Earth) because we experience 2 important squares each month - the waxing square between Luna & Sol (first quarter moon) and the waning square between them (third quarter). Next week (Dec 6), we pass through the waxing square of last week's new moon in Sagittarius.

Squares can be read as an impediment to growth.

Moon-Sun conjunction (new moon) was squared by Neptune (around 5 days ago) – whatever seed is planted does not take root because it is too dispersed, too porous, too distracted.

Or, the square might generate enough tension to shift the growth of Moon-Sun in a significant and creative manner: the seed takes root in a supraconscious layer of our experience; an awareness (fire/light) of one’s tendency to escape generates enough heat to drive all resources united toward the cherished goal; the seed is bizarre, glamorous, inspired, ethereal, and delicate.

Maybe the vision needs to be broader, deeper, less bounded, more magickal, more considerate of an expanded sense of existence and compassion.

Neptune is the veil masking raving deities, the lapping waters under a lush velvet sky obscuring the slippery monsters beneath.

The new moon was also imprinted with Saturn, as the Moon, Sun, and Saturn (plus Mercury and Juno) were all in Sagittarius at the time and when planets are together in a sign, they are combined and then expressed.

So while the square placement generates tension and challenge in the style of ‘make it or break it’, conjunctions within a sign appear to simply occur... according to the nature of the planets involved.

With Saturn’s influence on last week’s new moon, all seeds taking root are infused with Saturnian qualities – maturity, commitment, the coalescing of the past – for good

• dedicating self to a new project, goal, relationship, health initiative
• making plans that reach into the future based on clear understanding of one’s strengths and circumstances
• sober judgment in difficult circumstances

or for worse

• bitter seeds
• dead seeds
• fear and inaction
• overcompensation
• creation based on past circumstances that no longer support you
• isolation

As we approach the first quarter 'make it or break it' square of rooting your seeds from last week's new moon (exact early on Dec 6 in Saskatoon, SK), you might consider how these interacting dynamics of Saturn & Neptune, tension & dispersal, growth & dissolution are playing out in your life.

Why Hallowe'en Demands a Dance

Summer's bright tight light is long gone. Your skin is pale, dry...becoming more so with each passing, condensing day. Days that shrivel and shrink. The colder weather sets your face in a pattern of determined yet tired lines, seducing you into a shielded enjoyment of the Sun's rays from a safe, cozy seat in your home.

With the beginning of autumn came the promise of renewed focus and productivity. Shrugging off summer's carefree frivolity, you made your lists, stocked your cupboards, and replaced your strappy sandals with durable boots.

But autumn is winding and its peak is truthfully a valley. Descending, descending. Plans and goals of autumn are now empty, grey, stark. Void. The hard work of the harvest has passed and the life that remains is just...hard.

Or maybe it's you that is hard. 

Crusty layers of fatigue, insecurity, and fear now clothe your once-bright summer body, with each shield comes another dull dimension of protection. Layer upon layer, we shield ourselves. We protect ourselves.

Curiously, as the peak and valley of autumn steadily descends upon us, the barrier between worlds thins. Fading and disintegrating. The presence of beings, entities, and the dead presses into us in steady and subtle waves.

So we pile on another layer of safety, rounding our backs to carry another burden and furrowing our brows to deal with another disappointment. In this hardened state, we deem ourselves safe. The noise of the waves of the dead can be insulated, right? Closed bodies and clothed auras protect us from the steady pressing of their voices.

Safer to drown in the known layers of drudgery and responsibility than to disrobe? Getting naked in this rising sea of chitter chatter opens our gaze to the pulse of the beyond.

So, we lurch onward, twisted and pulled through the bowels of the year trying to remain hard and protected in our layers as the nutritious juices of our play and plans from seasons past is sucked from our beings.

Whatever we believed ourselves to be dies, decays, and feeds what truly remains. Our eyes dart, nervously, upon the dancing gossamer veil. We silently beg to be disrobed but wrenching fear twists and corrupts the body.

Make me naked again, let me feel the truth of this time of year.

Remind me of how close we all are to one another, to death.

The veil thins and our fear offers a false barricade, but there is no reprieve, no escape from the tunnels of digestion and decay.

Instead, dance through the layers and vigorously shake off the sticky grip of safety's lies.

Embrace the dead and the gone. Feel your tender nudity as you slip under and become squeezed and starved through the tunnels of autumn.

Hallowe'en, a time of contact between dead and alive, a sober reminder of just how close we are to death and decay, a reunion with those who gave us our blood, our motion, our life.

Dance off the layers and be naked. Dance off the dull layers and be translucent. Dance with the others and remember your thirst, your hunger for the blood that enlivens you.

 
***Art by Laurel Bustamante***