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| 'Turn Around', Morocco, Merzouga, Ergg Chebbi Sand Dunes by Chris Ford, CCL |
Finally, we are actually, properly in Aries! Everyone, one time, with me now... "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS". God I couldn't take one more minute of Pisces. Time to fix our gaze on what's ahead of us. This time though, that just so happens to be... a retrograde.
And not just any retrograde mind you- It's big daddy Saturn, and he is just the first. Let me tell you why that's awesome.
See normally Saturn rules things like ambition, success, the long hard road, work, achievement and pressure. He also is the one to place blockages and challenges in your path. He rules the future, forever out of reach. He is already weakened somewhat from being in Sagittarius, the sign of his son and rival, Jupiter. His challenges set are mental in this sign- Here you are your own worst enemy, you lose all confidence in yourself and your joie de vivre. It is an internal struggle, which comes as you are pushed to take on greater and greater external
Now when a planet retrogrades, their influence is inverted, or internalized. With everything else that Saturn is currently putting on us, this can be interpreted as a time when we are not forced to trudge through the merde of the present in a hope of a better, far-off future. No, now it is the time to breathe the present in deep and fully live in this moment. It is like the clouds lifting and rolling back, allowing you the space you so desperately need. And it fits just so well with Aries, it couldn't come at a better time.
Now of course its not just Saturn we have to contend with- He is a guest in Jupiter's home and therefore subject to his rules, and he is in Virgo. The devil is in the details. Each moment you have matters, and it is high time that you start treasuring them. Time is our most valuable commodity, but my god how we squander it. We binge-watch the latest series on netflix, avoid real connection and conversation with those we love, trudge away in jobs we loathe, and dont get enough (or in some cases, get far too much!) sleep. Our lives flicker away like a candle flame. One of the greatest temptations for us in this age is to look behind us, to become trapped in nostalgia and wearing the past as a security blanket. As we hurtle headlong into a future that terrifies us more and more, the temptation can be overwhelming- The past is a sure thing, unchanging and set in stone. That is a luxury we do not have in the endlessly shifting present. This is a trap- as we indulge more and more into nostalgia, more and more time slips through our hands. The only cure is to dive completely into the NOW. Listen to the hottest music, absorb the most cutting edge TED talks and current podcasts, the most in the now movies and shows, the most groundbreaking science and discoveries. This is your ward against losing your time to the past and the secret to your success in this transit.
Artemis:
SATURN RETROGRADE 2016
CARDS: 7 of Cups CROSSED BY King of Pentacles
Runes: Ehwaz and Dagaz
"When the disciple
knows Saturn as the God
who offers opportunity
and does not only
feel him to be Deity
who brings disaster,
then he is on the path
of discipleship in truth
and in deed
and not just
theoretically." - Alice A Bailey, Esoteric Astrology
Saturn, Lord of Karma, is going retrograde. This is the first of many retrogrades to come, guys. Pretty much all of the planets will be moving backwards soon, and it's going to feel like a spinning vortex. The sun entering Aries recently brought us back into the rulership of Martian war energy (as Mars is the ruler of the ram). And right in the beginning of all of this blood god, we have father time deciding to hit rewind. Saturn goes retrograde on March 25, which is 2 days after the full moon eclipse in Libra, and he is the first triggered event after the eclipses. Saturn moves backward from March 23 through August 13, dragging along a heavier than usual dose of karma.
The first 7 planets can be looked at as the first octave in the solar song, leaving Uranus to naturally be the blasting off into a new octave and new world entirely. The outer planets are far more concerned with all of us as a collective than they are with individual, micro issues. They are in charge of a different layer of our consciousness; the collective.
As an Aquarius, I have an intimate relationship with this old devil of a planet. You see, Aquarians have two dads, Saturn and Uranus, and they both teach very different lessons. One father has traditionally been called the great malefic (Mars is the lesser malefic). A malefic in astrology is a planet that is traditionally thought of as "miss-fortunate." Saturn represents restriction, the constructs of reality, and hard truths. Our other father, Uranus, has been called the God of Chaos and freedom. How the hell does Aquarius justify being ruled by such different energies? The realization comes when you merge dualities in the planet Saturn. In order to blast off into freedom, one must first learn their limitations. A kite cannot fly without restriction, and freedom is what you do with what you have. Aquarius is a very individualistic sign, but somehow also represents the collective. This is because one must maintain the paradoxical idea of individuality in the collective in order for it to even work. Without a hub, there is no wheel.
And the wheel of time turns, my friends, but now in the other direction. "So, what the fuck does this retrograde mean for us, Artemis?" Ok, ok, patience! This is something we will be learning a great deal the coming 4 and a half months.
Saturn sits right on the edge of this world. As the last of it's octave, it both defines what came before it and prepares us for a chaotic re-birthing. When Saturn goes retrograde, we turn inward and examine all of the decisions of our past. Unfinished business will emerge like crazy, and you have to take care of it now or you will not make it to the next cycle. Because the focus of mind will turn toward the past, so will the types of manifestations that happen in our life. When we focus on the patterns of the past, they emerge as new lessons in our present. What vibrational level have we been existing at? What options remain for us to choose from because of the choices we have made in the past?
Like a record, a planet spinning backward will show us the hidden message buried inside of the structure. What demonic chants have been inhabiting your subconscious? It's time to root them out and devour them.
Saturn is relentless and he is going to test us. Grab the weapons Aries has to offer, punks, because we are officially entering this battlefield.
7 of Cups represents all of the illusions set before us; all of the paths we BELIEVE we have available to us. Mesmerized by the glowing cups before him, the man in this card can't seem to choose between all of the options he is presented with. The secret to this card is that all of his choices are a part of the maya / illusion. Unfortunately for him (and thus you, sorry), this card being crossed by the King of Pentacles means we are going to have to have to choose the path mastery over our material realm. Represented by the heavy element of lead, Saturn is the master of the material world. He is all things solidifying. He is the ultimate meaning - the ultimate construct. The temptations before us are empty of true Saturnian meaning. Saturn is rewinding, slowing down time, and wrecking our lives to show us what we really need in order to reach our higher selves. If you fight back, he will only suffocate you further. You must act on the gnosis he brings.
The King of Pentacles is only the master of his environment because he KNOWS his environment. He knows how much yield he will need to feed his people. He knows how much material he needs to combine to construct his kingdom. He is the cerebral quality behind earth; the structure needed in order to gain mastery of the elements. Coupled with the rune Dagaz, he is telling us that this mastery wont come over night. Saturn is slow and steady, gradual like the coming of the dawn. If you don't have a steel will, you are going to get crushed under the heavy weight of this transit.
The rune Dagaz also describes the point of melding between polarities. Forget what you believe about the good and the bad. They merge, they play, they exist only because someone put up a wall of restriction. Saturn going retrograde now puts the responsibility in our hands. Where are you going to put up your new boundaries? Check your architectural plans, but keep in mind Saturn's karmic lesson. Wherever you decide to lay those boundaries, they will have immense repercussions in your future. Choose wisely. Be still and meditate. But also remember, in the end, Saturn is all about Capricornian action as well. You must choose to build something or you will be devoured. Once the retrograde ends and Saturn swoops back into forward drive, he will crush you if your plans are not well meditated.
The rune Dagaz, oddly enough, also looks like an hourglass - representing Father Time quite nicely. Tic toc, our time has finally come. It seems the countdown for Tower Year is finally beginning on the precipice of the equinox. There is so much balance symbolism coming at us right now; from the full moon Libra, eclipse, equinox, and now this Dagaz representation of the Saturnian retrograde.
On to the final piece of the puzzle; the rune Eihwaz. There is a fire inside all of us; a storm. Inside, we are empty, like a cup waiting to be filled. Outside our empty core is the restrictive form. As a storm progresses, the choice of it's landing becomes ever more clear and the breadth of it's form ever more sturdy. This is the evolution of our "self." We are born into this world with many more options than we have at our present. Sometimes the storm may change course. This retrograde represents one of those times. You have been removed from your ability to see all the layers of your reality for far too long. You are finally going to get some elation and clarity, and you are going to be able to pick which current you want to dive into. Eihwaz represents the moment when you lose the fear of death, the scythe carrier. And who else carries a scythe and represents death itself? Saturn. For now, we have a reprieve from Papa. How will you use the creative fire inside of you to smith your future?
Saturn rules Aquarius because Aquarius knows how to navigate the various currents of humanity. He knows that no current is the end all be all structure of the world, and there are many ways for people on two different pathways to communicate. There are many arrangements of form. As the representative of the circulatory system and connecting pathways, Aquarius understands the impulse of rivers to move toward larger bodies of water. Deep down, we are all born knowing our destiny. We are all compelled to it like gravity. It is confused and muddled by the illusion we are born into; false structures that will fall away in time. You can see the rot in the world around you. Shine your light, remove the unnecessary barriers you have set that restrict you from getting to where you need to go, and get on with it before some asshole builds a dam around you and keeps you from your destiny.
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