Steering Change ~ 19 August 2008


Virgo energy is alive and well. On the verge of the Sun’s ingress into Virgo to augment last week’s efforts of Mercury, Venus, Mars (now in Libra), Saturn and Makemake, consider some of the events of the week that impeccably define Virgo energy.

* Highway crashes in the U. S. are at their lowest rate in a decade.

* The DVD shipping system at Netflix went amok, log jamming shipments to a virtual halt. Thanks, Netflix. Nine months from now we’ll see a birth rate spike now on our already people-saturated planet.

* It has been scientifically determined that an octopus has six arms and two legs, much to the delight of Lord Shiva.

* The winner of the Bulwer-Lytton Writing Contest was announced. To win, a horrible first line for a novel must be crafted, inspired by Bulwer-Lytton’s famous 1830 novel, Paul Clifford, beginning with, “It was a dark and stormy night.”

* Major League Baseball announced that around September 1st with the Sun a third of the way around the base pads of Virgo, they will implement instant replay in the interest of getting questionable umpiring calls right.

* And on August 14th the Great Planet Debate took place at John Hopkins University, ending in what appears to be a draw. Dang it. I was wishing for Ceres, Pluto, Charon, Eris, Makemake, Sedna and EL61 to be included in the officially sanctioned planet phylum. The interesting part is, the current IAU description is so mired with fact conditions - proverbial needles in a haystack - that it can be argued none of the planets are really planets or that there are so many planets we won’t know what to do! Most astronomers agree the IAU botched the definition and contend the definition, if not changed, will be widely ignored.

Thanks for all that, but I’m still trying to sort my life out over here and deal with a rising cost of living, politicians with testosterone poisoning so extreme they can’t leave the sabers alone and stressed out people everywhere I go. True that. Also true is that we experience a subtle planetary steering mechanism this week. Perhaps the solution would be to work to steer change. Can that be done? Isn’t fate sealed?

 

This year Jupiter squares Eris four times; three by geocentric measure (April 9, May 31 and 11/23) and once by heliocentric measure, coming up this week on the 22nd. Jupiter, while benefic remains prone to exaggeration and embellishment and Eris is a bit discordant. What can we do?


The important point of the Jupiter-Eris relationship appears in the story that reports how well the two worked together to reverse a wrong, according to Jupiter. To accomplish a virtually impossible feat and make the fix stick they had to set the Universe on its ear for only one day. Maybe we can do that, too! Maybe this week as the subtler heliocentric pattern applies, we can create situations, instigate events and lock in a consciousness that changes everything around to better conditions for ourselves and ultimately a win for everyone in our lives, too.


So says the Eris-Jupiter pattern, create a prevent strategy, free of expectation. If one fears the Typhon-Saturn likely to conjure a heap of tropical storms lining up soon, then refresh the storm preparation kit and review what criterion determines stay or go. That done, if no storms arrive, you’re good. If storms arise, you’ll be fine with your choices. In either case one does not expect or negatively anticipate the worst. Barack Obama recently did something similar. Two days after the exact aspect, the Democratic Party’s Credentials Committee meets on the eve of the convention. To offset controversy and lingering complaints, Senator Obama requested that full votes be restored for delegates of Florida and Michigan. Could the delegates of these states make a disruptive stink? Yep. Should the credentials committee approve his request, he avoids a potential uprising that would alter his momentum. Good thinking and it’s a win all around - everyone gets included and represented.


The urge/need to head things off at the pass rises to great heights. Take care of nagging, previously ignored details is the best one can do. Still, this pattern involves grand, big-thinking Jupiter and the as disruptive as she needs to be and maybe a few ounces more, Eris. Subtle shifts that have not diverted difficulty in the past cannot be expected to work now. The best fit? Offer up brilliant, potentially radical alternatives not yet considered. Imagine the revolutionary tone of conversation experienced by the first person who proposed working at home to an employer hell bent on clock punching. Now, telecommuting saves money, energy and is the completely sensible thing to do. Someone had to put the consciousness of work and labor on its ear. While disruptive and uncomfortable at first, this upset ended up being a win-win all around.


From Uranus out, all the planets - except for Pluto - play in relative aspect proximity with one another. The “for the good of all” Uranus in the waters of Pisces wants new inspiration to create new methods that flow better. Maybe even a new design for dams is on the planetary drawing board. The conceptual and hopefully creatively brilliant Neptune in altruistic Aquarius looks for solutions that transcend small applications and work everywhere - universally, if you will. Eris in Aries reminds us that self interest just might be the source of ideas that have widespread impact. Sedna in Taurus notes the need for restoring primal values: food, shelter, safety prior to a successful effort in spiritual aspiration. She reminds us that it’s hard to meditate while cold, hot, hungry, sleepless or ducking bullets. Makemake adds the need for cross-cultural integration and the sense that we’re all on this planet together. All these planets are in an interesting matrix that suggests to get to win-win, one must factor considerations of the self in the mix and perhaps first.


Last weekend in a forum between U.S. Presidential candidates while performing on a religiously oriented platform, the selflessness of causes larger than oneself were promoted with gusto and the hope that one might appear more righteous than the other. While nice to proclaim such a lofty aspiration, the scent in the air indicated multiple motives, at least one of them self oriented. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s likely everyone wants to steer their own ship in life. Self reference is a primary human agenda and an undeniable motive. Issues of exclusion, rejection, being discounted or having one’s motives challenged trip self referenced warning systems. Can a person in times like these stand unique and solitary as required in one’s ingenuity as still be included? Can one’s personal aspirations become win-win for all and can one’s discordance reset a grander picture? Absolutely.


Assess in advance and avert circumstances that the psyche forecasts might create undesirable results. Come up with alternative plans that fall way outside the realm of normal consideration (this also receives present nurturing from Pluto’s proximity to the Galactic Center). True to Eris in Aries be the first kid on the block to implement a Jupiter in Capricorn rock solid idea that sets the world on its ear. Remember, there’s a whole heap of planetary support for brilliant insight applied. Per the Jupiter-Eris myth, the Universe only needs one day of perspective creating reversal. Someone’s got to do it.


Back to the elegant simplicity of Virgo: Since we’re addressing the heliocentric pattern of Eris-Jupiter, it’s more a matter of consciousness than mundane action. Notice what fits and what does not; what makes sense and what does not. Work up an agenda, a platform, a consciousness that if applied not only avoids undesirable options, but leads to creating a successful and agreeable life philosophy that rallies others to your cause. Then, instead of “stop the world you want to get off,” reverse the heavens and confidently steer your changes.