Jupiter's Friend, Saturn

We're going to stay with Jupiter a bit longer but we'll consider it in relation to our old friend Saturn.

From Chapter 7 of the free-to download book, Astrological Repair Manual:

"There is a set of forces within each of us:

Structure, Definition & Clarity
and
Expansion, Optimism & Extension

"Neither is more important, neither is better. Certainly, at different times of our lives, one or the other will become more prominent, but, if we want the best for ourselves, we’ll always keep both close by, even if one of them is standing more forward and taking the temporary lead. Jupiter (nothing for it but to use the common name and rely on your ability to stay above the worst of the common interpretations) is the function we all need to assure ourselves we can find greener pastures for our energies, the symbolic power to take a viewpoint that is high enough and broad enough to serve as the ruler of our hopes and aspirations. Without Jupiter, life would be sterile, and there would be no progress. It’s much more than just interesting to trace this function’s path through its 12 year-long phases.

"It begins with the potential you were given at birth to initiate your life’s expansions—the sign and house Jupiter occupied in your birth chart. [ If you haven’t yet looked back to The Instructions {in the free-to-download book} to find your chart factors, this might be a propitious time to begin. If you don’t want to yet, I’m sure your reasons are valid. ] Naturally, children in their first year of life have a maximum of desire to expand and seek all the opportunities possible. Even people who later ripen into the more austere members of humanity begin with some measure of exuberance and abandon. The second year of Jupiter’s transit brings some kind of contrast to the first since there’s a natural polarity to the flow of the signs and houses (more on this later). Year three sees the potential for a certain productivity along with the sheer delight at so many open fields of discovery. The fourth phase brings the first gearshift or rooting-in of our sense of opportunity—half-way to the middle of the cycle. Five gives us a chance to test the waters with some showing off and six brings a breather while we check our bearings just before the apex of the cycle. After six years of experiencing Jupiter’s power of seeking opportunity, we’ve almost completed one quarter of our first Saturn cycle. Our growing sense of structure is nearing its first attempt at nailing things down.

"It’s always interesting to look at what society has scheduled for us at various times in our lives and compare that with what our internal cosmos wants us to do. Reaching the ripe young age of six brings with it a deep desire to share with others our first full sense of what optimism means to us. Of course, most six-year-olds don’t think of it this way, but that doesn’t stop it from happening. We’re at our first peak of feeling our oats, and we need outlets to share that feeling without it getting stepped on. One good reason for needing that easing up on a six-year-old is that Saturn's first quarter cycle is at seven years old and there is a natural tendency to get a bit serious then. Compare Saturn's structuring and limiting challenges at seven with Jupiter's seventh phase and you can see one of the potentially toughest times in a young person's life. Jupiter's year seven should be a time of finding special others that can share our particular brand of positivity; eight, a time of deepening those ties; nine, an opportunity to take some first steps in social expansions; ten, the first reception of solid social rewards; eleven, the beginning of learning to network our abilities; and, twelve, a rebirth, with many gold stars on the wall! In the chapter that deals with the most expansive of the functions, I can be nothing but positive.

"That sketching-out of the first twelve years of growth and expansion may have sounded nearly idyllic and there are many other factors in a chart to consider to see the details of anyone's first 12 years. But I must speak the truth about what’s possible. If not now, when? If not me, who? Also, consider this: that 12-year cycle of expansion and opportunity continues, on higher and higher levels, throughout one's life... So... We all can tap into the positivity of the Jupiter cycle throughout our lives.

"Plus, there’s Chaos ahead and we can use all the upbeat attitude we can get our minds into!"

Promiscuous Gods

We left Saturn behind (in this trip ever deeper into the astrological solar system from the free-to-download book, Astrological Repair Manual) and we're arriving at Jupiter. I'll let the book speak for itself:

"Approaching Jupiter, largest planet in this system, 300 Earth’s-worth of gaseous colors swirling in riotous flow...

"Jupiter Optimus Maximus (the Best and Greatest) for the Romans; Zeus for the Greeks—god of sky and thunder.

"For everything that Saturn pulls in and tightens, Jupiter loosens and expands. Rather than focusing on a clearly defined territory of meaning, Jupiter magnifies things to their widest potential. Instead of limiting, he amplifies.

"Jupiter’s full cycle is very close to 12 years and its meanings have to do with opportunities and how we give them birth, fill them with optimism, and reap their
rewards.

"In mythology, this character represents what most of us think of when the word promiscuous is used—many sex partners. In fact, this “god” impregnated many mortal women. (It's interesting that the word promiscuous comes from Latin roots that mean to mix very well.) Jupiter was also the supreme ruler of all the other gods, sat on his throne on the highest peak of the world, and issued proclamations that none dared to question. I’ve been mentioning some of the mythos of the planets as we’ve been traveling, and I think you’ve noticed that I don’t adhere strictly to the myths' "official" interpretation. It’s not that I think the myths have little to offer; it’s that there’s more than any one particular myth-meaning in every planet. The planets and their symbolic meanings predate the urge that societies had for making myths. The planets' cyclic meanings run deeper and spread farther than all the myths ever told.

"Fact is, we have the whole solar system inside us, including all the changes this system has gone through in its history. Our unconscious minds resonate and vibrate with the energy of the cosmos. And, when I say that, I’m just repeating something that’s been said in every culture and religious tradition since stories started to be told.

"This is something that Saturn would caution against—dangers abounding for those who go too far, dream too high, probe to deep! Jupiter shrugs and says, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

"There have been many times in my astrological career that I’ve wanted to rename everything, even astrology itself. Names carry so much power to bend minds and too often blind us to the true identities circling around us. I believe there’s a place in all of us (part of that deeper, collective unconscious mind) that knows well the names of Jupiter and Saturn, knows their exploits and their reputations. This is the part of the unconscious that needs a good airing out in the light of day. And while the dirty laundry is flapping in the breeze, we can dive even more deeply into what preceded these notorious characters."

We'll do that in the next post...

Your thoughts and feelings?

Saturn and Cycles

More from the 6th chapter of my freely downloadable book, Astrological Repair Manual:

"So, now that Father Time is all spaced-out, I’ll reveal another major truth about astrology: no single symbol or function or planet or sign or house (we’ll meet signs and houses when we get closer to Earth) — none of these factors has any meaning all by itself. I can say Saturn means Structure, Limitation, Clarification, Organization, etc. but it gains its meaning from its cycle as it relates to other cycles. How could structure even be defined if there weren’t things that needed to be structured?

"One of the backbone sources for the meaning of any function in astrology is the length of its trip around the Sun. For Saturn, it turns out to be real close to 30 years with the half-cycle at 15 and quarter cycles around 7 years. When I was young it was common to hear: 'Ya can’t trust anybody over 30'. Oh, my! I wonder if those saying it were under thirty and probably not averse to a rather disorganized and freewheeling lifestyle?

"Right around thirty is when most of us have finally 'found ourselves'. We usually find it necessary to stake a claim for the pattern of self we’ve decided to be—lay out the pattern for others, organize our time in society to accommodate the clarity of self we now feel.

"And now I hear some people saying, 'Oh yeah? Thirty was hell!'. But do they realize that whatever difficult or negative period they were experiencing might have been there to clear the decks so they could claim a stronger place for themselves—make a clearer pattern of living?

"The half-cycle of Saturn is just as important for Identity Formation (Key Saturn phrase there). But, at fifteen, we’re putting out (for all to see) 'who we are' in terms of who we were born to and how they raised us. We’re also finding out what others think about that identity pattern and, possibly, trying to either hide it or flaunt it even more. The transition at thirty is qualitatively different. We’ve been through one whole cycle of identity formation and we’re trying to squeeze out whatever doesn’t really belong to the real self—condensing, confirming, clarifying, defining.

"Now, while we're circling this symbol of patterns and organization, would be a good time to lay out one of the most important structural concepts in astrology: the Squaring of the Circle. Every cycle, whether with one planet or two, has a beginning. It has a middle and an ending, too. Simple, eh? Yet many astrologers forget this view of life. They look at the position of a planet in a birth chart and freeze it there, trying to milk it for more meaning than it can give.

"We’re born with the planets at certain positions determined by our time and place of birth. The important thing to remember though is that the planets keep moving and so do we. Life and people evolve. These motions in astrology are called Transits and Progressions and are two topics that must be left for you to discover in the references recommended at the end of this book (and, in the revised and expanded edition of this book to which this blog dedicated). Way before you attempt learning about all the meaning possible with moving planets, you need a firm grounding in the field they move within—the circle or cycle. Each cycle has its moment of beginning when things are new and fresh—either exciting or scary. Each cycle also has its ending, which is the same moment as the beginning of a new cycle. But rather than thinking of this evolution of meaning as an old phonograph record, spinning endlessly, we should concentrate our positive minds and see each ending and rebirth happening on a new and higher level—a spiral of ever-ascending and fulfilling meanings.

"The first half of any cycle is all about taking the new materials we have to deal with and shaping them according to the vision we (hopefully) had at that magic moment of rebirth. If we aren’t facing our astrological cycles and our very lives in this way, we’re shortchanging ourselves!

"The exact middle of any cycle is the time when the vision of the beginning can flower and fruit—come to its highest personal consummation of expression.

"From the middle to the next rebirth is the time to share the fruits we’ve garnered with others—to make the function(s) valuable in others' lives.

"The two quarter phases—halfway from beginning to middle and halfway from middle to rebirth—are times we can use to firm up our directions, shift gears, if necessary, to get back on course, make sure our roots are firmly planted (personal or social), and gain strength for the push to the color and magic of the middle or the raking of leaves and the seed-tending of the time near rebirth. You're going to find that The Instructions and its system of interpretation [at the end of the free-to-download book] don't deal with these moving functions. Like I've said before, this book is all about giving you the right Perceptions so that any further studies you might engage in can be positive and profitable. If I'd never mentioned this important concept of the General Cycle, I would have been shirking my duty..."

We've finished the first consideration of concepts in the 6th chapter of the book. Once I've covered all 14 chapters, we'll go back and consider things in more detail. Hopefully, you'll be leaving your comments as we go along so I can consider where and how to reconsider these basics of astrology...

Father Time Is All Spaced-Out

We've left the Transpersonal realm of astrology and are orbiting Saturn. Since this blog was created to discuss the ideas in my free-to-download book, Astrological Repair Manual, I'll let portions of Chapter 6 speak for themselves:

"We’ve left the three transpersonals far behind but clearly not forgotten. As we approach Saturn we notice it’s quite a bit bigger than Neptune or Uranus, obviously composed mostly of gas, but with a bright, pastel yellow atmosphere.

"Hmmm... This character is the one who cut off his father’s penis...[ back in Chapter 4 ] This is the guy called Father Time and he carries that sharp scythe...

"This is also the planet that gets the worst press from traditional astrologers.

"So what’s wrong with this function? Nope, not gonna answer a question like that; I’m too hopelessly optimistic. I’ll answer this one instead: What’s right with this planetary function?

"First, the most right thing about Saturn is that is represents Structure. After having been through the realms of Regeneration [Pluto], Visions [Neptune], and Transformation [Uranus], it can feel pretty good to pull some structure around oneself—get things organized, clarify issues, make a few definitions. Of course, if we were going the other way [from Saturn, out], we’d be leaving this structure and looking forward to a transformation of possibly rigid definitions, checking to see if our clarifications are really clear enough, changing the priorities of our organizational plan.

"This ability to see any function from both 'directions' is a valuable talent to have if you’re thinking about using astrology. It isn’t enough to just stay free of limiting categories for any particular planetary function, it’s also important to see the function operating in many different roles.

"Language and our use of it become critical factors when we begin to apply astrological knowledge to our lives. For example, take my use of the phrase 'limiting categories' two sentences ago. Limitation is also one of Saturn’s functional purposes, but a healthy limitation of some field of endeavor is very different from imposing limiting categories on ourselves.

"Let me say this another way. Astrology has ten major functions, represented by the cycles of planetary bodies, that can be used to gain meaning about the various aspects of our character....Since all the functions can be used with all the other functions, you need to stay flexible in the way you view their meanings. You can’t go so far that a function changes its basic meaning just because it’s interacting with another one, but it's important to know that these meanings certainly can bend and sway. Kind of like that time you went to some social gathering and had to keep certain aspects of yourself from showing too strongly...

"This whole discussion of language, meanings, and the need to be clear about words is quite Saturnian, too. It’s like a relationship where Saturn is dancing with Uranus and Saturn is doing all the leading. If Uranus were to lead, there would be meanings changing into each other. Confusing? Try thinking back to last chapter’s discussion about the bad kid changing into a good citizen. It was the same person the whole time—their Saturnian structure didn’t change—but they went through some amazing Uranian transformations."

There will be more about Saturn in the next post...

I hope these ideas from the book spark discussion in the comments or , at least, some questions. Remember what my instructors used to say: "The only stupid questions are the ones you don't ask".

Transpersonal Awareness

Were up to Chapter 5 (for the first time since I'm sure we'll be jumping back to discuss previous chapters quite a bit) in my freely downloadable book, Astrological Repair Manual. This chapter is the book's first pause to consider what's gone before—Xena and her Horde of deeply unconscious astrological functions, Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus. We're headed toward Saturn but that journey demands a huge transition in consciousness. I'm including most of Chapter 5 in this post and do hope it spawns a discussion in the comments!

"Our world has been and is full of some very oppressive and negative people and institutions. Our world has also been evolving toward being, slowly and steadily, a freer and more creative place. If you doubt that last statement, I urge you to look further than you have and to take a small but important piece of advice: what may look bad on the surface or at the beginning can be the most powerful indication of something good. One example that may be close to home for some of you: A child at two years old is always getting into trouble. They’re almost totally unruly by ten and their teen years are full of crime and filth. Then, they hit their personal brick wall, they come up short on luck, and end up behind bars. True, many people like this stay bad and end their lives still in jail or dead in the street. For most of humanity’s existence this has been the general rule. 'Lately', though, there have been more and more examples of folks starting out headed down, coming to a radical turning point, and being given some help at that point that turns their lives around and permits them to grow to become exemplary citizens.

"Why is this happening more now than ever before? What could be happening that has such power to turn lives around?

"I feel it’s the steady growth in society of the awareness that we are not just passive cogs in the wheel or just a bunch of angry individuals. We are both individuals and social beings and we have a need to nurture both sides of our being.

"This is where a knowledge of the cycles of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, and their symbolic meanings, can be of immense aid in speeding the development of a safe and sane society. It's important to consider the lengthy durations of these cycles that apply to the slow yet steady transformation, elevation, and regeneration of our world.

"It’s only been a little over 300 years since Uranus was discovered and humanity had a conscious symbol for a method of getting at the ultimate truths with more to show for it than a collection of fables and myths. And, the conscious awareness of ways and means to raise the level of our dreams and visions (Neptune) and to find the proper ways to purge and regenerate society (Pluto) have been available for even shorter times. Let’s give ourselves a break and stop being pessimistic about the future. If you look closely enough at recent history and compare it with the eons of time humans have been struggling on this earth, you’ll come away totally amazed at the glorious potential we hold in common! I used the word 'Transpersonal' in the title of this chapter for very conscious reasons. '-Personal' because humanity’s growth ultimately depends on more and more individuals getting it right. 'Trans-' because it means to go beyond or through or across. If our personal awareness of life can go beyond the personal while not letting our individual views disappear; if we can see through the merely personal to what lies beyond and is so important for a full life; if we can get across the bridge of the personal and see that it leads to wonderful vistas of creativity and freedom; if each of us does these things, we will be bringing what many see as the dark forces of the unconscious into the bright light of day and using them, very consciously, to accelerate human evolution beyond the hatreds and terrors that are still too much with us. The Instructions [in my freely downloadable book] have suggestions for where to go to get your own birth chart as well as a method for beginning to interpret your chart factors. If you feel adventurous, go there now and find the house and sign for your Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Realize that this first step in using the knowledge from this Repair Manual is only that, a first step, even though it may be one of the most important first steps you’ve ever taken!

"As you ponder the meanings of these factors in your life, don’t forget to look at them as a three-step process of Transpersonal Awareness and also consider them as a sequence from Pluto to Uranus and also from Uranus to Pluto—the first direction is the one that brings large-scale social factors into your personal life and the other direction is you injecting yourself into the flux of society's largest concerns.

"If you do this exercise and end up totally confused, you can count on the fact that your unconscious mind is very happy with your ego. In fact, without you knowing it, your unconscious can arrange to give you dreams that help you understand, or 'mysteriously' lead you to find another individual that helps you understand. Or, you may be the type of person who just stands there and charges against the wall till it falls down and lets you build a bridge. Whatever happens, we still have a ways to go till we reach the Earth and find out what this astrology stuff is all about...

"I'll let you in on a secret here: what you’ve read so far and what you can gain from trying to interpret you own Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto is far and away more knowledge of True Astrology than many practicing astrologers have! Believe it..."

The Leap from Uranus to Saturn...

We've been considering Uranus recently and we'll soon be moving in toward Saturn on this trip to the center of our astrological solar system (just like the reader in my freely downloadable book, Astrological Repair Manual {which I'm currently working to revise and expand while using this blog to solicit your thoughts and feelings...}).

We've already considered, briefly, the realms just beyond Pluto, Pluto itself, Neptune, and Uranus. If you've just arrived here, I recommend going back through the last nine posts (this is a new and tender blog and the posts are bite-sized...) and seeing where we've already been...

It is significant that I'm taking a pause from posting about the book right after I related some of the material from the chapter about Uranus and just before we move on to Saturn. The reason is that we all are in the middle of a Saturn/Uranus opposition—the time when those planets are looking critically at each other (please understand that the "looking" is totally metaphorical...) and revealing "messages" from our unconscious minds to our very small ego-minds—messages that resonate with Change and Transformation that we can bring to the sometimes overly organized realm of day-to-day material considerations...

I've been spending time recently in a few astrological forums, AstrologyWeekly (which has sadly been experiencing server problems the last few days), Astro.com, and Skyscript and the discussions about the Saturn/Uranus opposition are becoming extremely interesting!!

I'll put the dates for the current Saturn/Uranus opposition and the previous Saturn/Uranus conjunction below but be aware, the conjunction was the beginning of a cycle of the transformation of organized processes and procedures and the current opposition is a time of reaping the fruit of the conjunction (even if you weren't even born yet when the conjunction happened. {this is a good place to remind my readers that I cherish comments in this blog from people that have no idea what I'm talking about...}).

We had the beginning of a Saturn/Uranus cycle on these dates:

12 Feb 1988 at 30 Sagittarius
26 Jun 1988 at 29 Sagittarius
18 Oct 1988 at 28 Sagittarius

We're in the middle of the culmination (opposition) of this cycle. Here are the dates:

4 Nov 2008 at 19 Pisces/Virgo
5 Feb 2009 at 21 Pisces/Virgo
15 Sep 2009 at 25 Pisces/Virgo
26 Apr 2010 at 29 Pisces/Virgo
26 Jul 2010 at 1 Libra/Aries

I hope I get a multitude of comments about this post...

Even if I don't, the next post will cover the chapter in the book about Saturn—one of the most misunderstood planets in astrology...

Go ahead, leave a comment. I dare you! Remember, the only stupid question is the one we don't ask...

The Shattering Truth...

In our continuing voyage into the solar system from far within our unconscious minds (just like the readers of my book, Astrological Repair Manual, a free download) we come to a point where we must face the Utter Truth...

What's your reaction when you know the truth you've glimpsed will bring major change to your life, change that may mean letting some treasured things be left behind?

I'll let part of chapter four in the book, about Uranus and its 84-year cycle, speak for me:

"When we look at the half and quarter cycles of this function, some very interesting meanings emerge. The half-cycle is 42 years—smack in the middle of middle age. The quarter-cycle first occurs at 21—an age at which many of us have an insatiable urge to irrevocably separate from parental dictates, even if we’ve already made a physical separation...

"But separation isn’t an absolutely necessary part of Uranus’ function. It does accompany many folks’ experience of this unconscious power but, if we’re prepared for
the action of transformation and are fully ready to face the truth of a situation, we can navigate the changes and keep our treasured possessions—mental, emotional or physical.

"If we contemplate one twelfth of a Uranus cycle, we see some of the reason for what people have called the '7-year-itch'.

"Since one of the purposes of Uranus’ cycle is facing and incorporating the rock-bottom, radical truth, I want to say a few words about 'Good & Bad', 'Positive & Negative', and 'Abstract & Concrete'.

"We’ve been dealing with some big abstract concepts so far: Regeneration [Pluto], Idealism [Neptune], Transformation [Uranus]; and, as we travel in closer to the Sun, we’ll be dealing with concepts that will feel a lot more concrete. Truth is, there’s an abstract and concrete side to most everything. The events we live through as we regenerate [Pluto], idealize [Neptune], and transform [Uranus] are quite concrete. Similarly, when we get to the functions that appear mostly concrete, we’ll still have the abstract psychological powers lurking behind them.

"As far as the polarities of 'Good/Bad' and 'Positive/Negative' are concerned, the truth of the matter is that the old maxims about focusing on the positive bringing good and focusing on the negative bringing bad are fascinatingly true. The catch is that you have to absolutely focus on the positive and, before you can do that, you have to absolutely know what the most positive view is.

"And, when it comes to astrology in general, it's very important to remain rigorously positive. Even if some of the books on astrology detail various negative qualities and, even if you find your expression of those factors as negative, you still need to focus on the positive. How else can you change negative to positive?

"Plus, there's a harmful practice that's too prevalent in astrology, where people use the negative interpretations of astrological factors to excuse their negative behavior—'Sure I do that. It's because I'm a (fill in the blank).'.

"One of Uranus’ functions is to bring us the shattering truth when we’ve been either purposefully or unknowingly clinging to half- or partial-truths. This can be painful or shocking but, when we get to the other side of any crisis, we can usually see the wisdom of the 'unnecessary' strife. And, even if we still can’t make sense of what’s happened, there are the functions of Neptune and Pluto out there (in here) to help us dissolve the clinging falsehoods and bring them to a state of regenerative wholeness.

"Yes, I’m a hopeless optimist! But my experience of life has included a great quantity of shock and pain and dissolution and, thank God, necessary regeneration. What I’m left with after all this inner work is the ineradicable conviction that life has many tests and trials, we all must face some of them, and we all have the sacred duty to maintain our faith and hopefulness that we will see the truth, we will find the dream, and we will experience rebirth into ever-higher understanding and meaningfulness.

"If not... there’s hell to pay!"

Please do respond in the comments! New to astrology? Great!! As my instructors used to say, "There's no stupid question except the one you don't ask..."

Melting with Neptune

Still slowly entering the solar system from interstellar journeys—just like the reader in my astrology book (Astrological Repair Manual), which is a free download.

We've visited the outer realms with Xena and the Hordes, stopped to let Pluto influence us, and are nearing Neptune's playground...

Neptune is not just illusion or delusion. These are just misuses of Neptune's cyclic power.

From the book:

"One of the more misunderstood aspects of Neptune’s meanings is the process of dissolving associated with its symbolic action—the dissolution or evaporation of the solid ground of past beliefs or dreams. It’s important to always remember that astrology deals with cycles and with cycles-within-cycles. A planet’s functional and symbolic meaning happens by giving birth to energies and forces appropriate to its cycle, building them to a full state, then letting them decay and die into a rebirth.

"And, within any given cycle there are sub-cycles of birth, growth, decay and rebirth. Neptune’s ability to dissolve the old (and this will be, hopefully, the last time I remind you that it’s not the actual physical planet doing these things but the psychological powers within us), this power of dissolution, prepares the way for Pluto’s regenerations. We’ll see this with each planet we come to—its function is necessary for the one further out (or, deeper within...). We can also look at the interrelationship of these life functions the other way around, the way we’re doing it in this book, from the deepest/farthest to the most conscious/nearest. This way, we see Pluto’s deaths and purgings as necessary for the dissolving actions of Neptune’s dreams and visions to take place.

"When we get to Uranus, we’ll have a triple of functions that most people on this Earth never bring to conscious awareness."

I really do want to learn from you! Please leave your thoughts and feelings in the comments...

More About Pluto...

I'm still moving forward, slowly, with this blog's posting since I want to let people catch up with where we're at. Right now, we're still in the second chapter of my astrology book (Astrological Repair Manual {it's a free download}), the book that I'm in the process of revising and expanding.

Hopefully, you'll just jump right in and respond to the first few posts (backing up can be fun in a blog) by adding Your thoughts and feelings to help an astrologer with 40 years experience learn something New!!

Here's part of what I wrote about Pluto in chapter two:

"...since we’re into space that's been paid attention to by humans since 1930, we can get down to some real work in the realm of astrological understanding. Understanding death, to be precise, and how it’s a river that wends its way through every part of our lives. There are many deaths in a life—many times when one phase of our existence gives way to another. Even orgasm as been called 'the little death' and sleep can be viewed as a nightly death of our conscious awareness. Pluto/Charon's orbital period is about 248 years and the symbolic significance of that length of time is perfect for gaining meaning about long-term social, political, and economic cycles. In fact, thinking back to what our society was like that long ago can be like looking back to a time that's certainly died, gone forever. Yet, there can be influences felt from those times, just like your parents' behavior on Earth has an influence long after they've left their physical bodies.

"In astrology, the period of 248 years is symbolic of completely new circumstances, a total regeneration of what's being considered, a thorough purging of the past. And, even though none of us can live that long, we can still gain meaning from the symbolism of this cycle. One reason we can use it personally is that the halves and quarters of cycles are very important in gaining meaning from a chart and, if we look at the quarter cycle here, we have 62 years—an amount of anyone's life that shows the qualities of death-of-the-past, or regeneration of basic life factors, or purging of one heck of a lot!"

Your Turn...
Add your thoughts and feelings in the comments...