July 31st ~ August 7th
“Jason and the Centaur” by William Russell Flint
Be always calm, my child. Keep yourself quiet and in restraint, reserve your energies, doing those little things that lie in your way, each one as well as you can, saving your strength, so that when God does call you to do something good and great you will not have wasted your forces and strength with useless strivings, but will be ready to do the work quickly and well - go slowly, my child, and keep ready. ~ Clara Barton
Last week in the midst of the Cradle, and leading up to the Full Moon Aquarius, Saturn made its retrograde station. The accompanying symptoms of a stationing Saturn can feel like lethargy, pessimism, or like you are crawling to the finish line. The retrograde station of Saturn can sometimes bring relief, such as you would see with the completion of a long project… finally. The retrograde station can also bring feelings of oppression, such as in “this cannot go on like this.” And its not unusual to feel like you have to take two steps back before you can proceed. Or just stop. This shift in plans or objectives takes a bit to adjust to.
This was all the more so because as Mercury made its direct station on July 23rd it made a square to stationing Saturn. Normally this would be something of a yellow light telling us to proceed with caution. But the lethargy of Saturn took over as we adjusted to these shifts. And we were doing so in the midst of one of the most interesting planetary pictures to be had in our lifetimes.
However, approximately 12 days after the retrograde station of Saturn it always makes a trine to the Sun (as it will on August 6th). This is a time of adjustment, as well as acceptance for whatever the retrograde phase of Saturn is bringing us. It can also bring resolve. Simultaneously on Thursday, Mercury at 26º of Cancer emerges entirely out of the shadow of its retrograde phase. We are finally being asked to proceed with business as usual. To commit with resolve to what we are now facing. However the light is still a cautionary Yellow. Regaining our footing, we are being given an objective view of the proceedings. Just know that when trying to reestablish some sort of status quo it could still be riddled with a bit of frustration. It’s requiring a bit of patience, faith and commitment.
It is time to ask ourselves:
What practical tools or information are you being given that will help you to overcome your current obstacles or challenges?
What reality are you now needing to face, and can no longer ignore?
What dreams or illusions have you outgrown, which are no longer supporting the person you are now?
Where have you been stuck? Or lacked the confidence to move on to the next step?
The Cradle of July was a call to find safety and security even in the face of what might feel like incredible challenges. It would not be unusual to be downloaded with a ton of new information, but without the capacity (Mercury retrograde) to process it all. Realize that we probably won’t fully realize the full potential and ramifications of this complex planetary picture. Also know that it is not finished.
Uranus, Neptune and Pluto will be traveling at approximately the same speed for months to come. And each time a planet comes in to conjunct or oppose any of these denizens of the transcendent realms, we will be revisited by this wonderful opportunity to grow beyond our previous expectations. It is a process.
In a futile attempt to erase our past, we deprive the community of our healing gift. If we conceal our wounds out of fear and shame, our inner darkness can neither be illuminated nor become a light for others. ~ Brennan Manning (The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging)
On Monday, August 3rd, the centaur Chiron stations for its retrograde phase at 0º Taurus 52’. When planets station, as Saturn recently did, and now the centaur will, they feel stronger. They make their presence known. Named for the centaur of mythology, Chiron is often referred to as the wounded healer. In the ancient myth, Chiron was accidentally wounded by a poisonous arrow. However, because Chiron was the son of the titan Chronos, he was immortal, and did not die.
Chiron searched the world over in order to heal his wound, and yet never found the remedy. What he did find was acceptance and understanding. Including the understanding of the human experience for what it is, which at best is imperfect. Chiron would continue to live with the pain of his festering wound, until the day that he finally renounced his immortality in favor of Prometheus, the one who foresees the future. In this way he finally found liberation.
The Chironic 5-month retrograde phase is a time of year in which we are asked to pay attention to our own healing journey. Memories surface, old wounds reopen, and we come face to face with what needs healing, forgiving, releasing and forgetting. The retrograde phase of Chiron compels us to look within, to the very root of what ails us, to the inception and cause. This is when we are most able to do a lot of this inner work. Know that it is not easy.
In some ways this is more complex because as Chiron stations for its retrograde phase it was in the process of making its first approach of a square aspect to the dark Lord Pluto. Pluto lives in the far reaches of the Kuiper Belt which surrounds our Solar System. Centaurs also originate from this same realm. Even smaller than Pluto, centaurs are similar in size and appearance to asteroids, but are more like comets in their makeup. Hence the name Centaur, a combination of both. But, with both Pluto and Chiron originating from the Kuiper Belt, and forming this square to one another over the next several years, we are compelled to face some deep karmic truths.
Together they will rake things up from the past, relive old traumas, and force us to confront our own fears, doubts and insecurities. But they will also show us the necessity of doing so. For it is nothing less than clearing out the dungeons of our minds, confronting the dragons in their caves, and casting out the demons. Doing this important work during the retrograde phase of Chiron can be incredibly liberating and rewarding in the end. But it is not for the faint of heart.
Thankfully as Chiron retraces its steps it will return to the last degrees of Aries in September reminding us of that which motivated us to embark on this journey in the first place. Chiron in Aries will bring us the much needed courage and incentive that is needed to do the good work that we are going to be confronted with over the next several years. This too is part of the plan.
The recent Cradle (Basket) and the Full Moon in Aquarius were bringing us the confidence to shine a light on, and confront even the darkest corners of our lives. And transform them! And Chiron along with the outer planets will bring us the tools and the support to do this.
Sam: But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding on to, Sam?
Sam: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien (The two Towers)
For this week’s horoscopes, click below: