…

Later today, The Moon will stand directly between Mercury and Jupiter in the first decan of Leo. This will be her last meeting before tomorrow’s solar eclipse. Throughout this month we have examined the process of individuation as calculation and improvisation and now, as she prepares to complete her cycle I would like to suggest yet another metaphor - that of GAMBLING.

In the first decan of Leo, Saturn is honored by face. The minor arcana card connected with this decan is the Five of Wands:

This card indicates conflict but more in terms of a “battle of wills”. In addition to its association with Will, wands, being the Fire suit, are also concerned with seeing and being seen and with leadership. There is a clear connection between all of these ideas and the Sign of Leo as well as with The Sun.

As this decan honors Saturn by face, only one contestant, one will and vision will prevail. When this card comes up in readings, I often advise the querant that although the conflict could be with other people, it is just as often a conflict of wills withing the self. In either case, no coherent forward movement can be made before some unity can be brought to the situation. Saturn seeks unity and oneness in the world.

Luna’s rendezvous with Mercury and Jupiter in this decan suggests, at least in this instance, that this unity and oneness, the victory of will, will not be bought about by force or conning, but rather, by LUCK.

As I have done before during this cycle, I would like to draw your attention to the numerology of the Major Arcana:

The “oneness” of the above cards discloses something of the relationship between magic and gambling. There is a close connection between these two operations that can be seen even in the tools used for each. Cards, straws, dice, tops and wheels have long been associated with games of chance as well as magic and divination. When we cast a spell or place a bet we are petitioning fate to bring about a state of affairs different from the one in which we are situated. The Magician spins the Wheel of Fortune in order to bring about a NEW DAY.

But he or she does not always succeed. This is what makes both gambling and magic different from science. While the latter makes an appeal to causality, the former makes its appeal to FATE. Perhaps we might reimagine those wands wielded in the Five of Wands as “lots”. The one who draws the long straw gets their wish.

But how is this decided?

Tomorrow the Moon will eclipse The Sun. Normally she merely reflects but on this fateful day she will assert her greatest power, that of occlusion. To speak to this power, I once again call attention to more Tarot Numerology.

The High Priestess is understood to represent The Moon in Tarot. The Moon is the mistress of what does (or does not) become embodied in the material world. The Priestess lifts the veil or does not to allow the light of the spirit world to enter this world or not. The Magician can call things into being, but it is The High Priestess who decides whether or not this call will be answered.

The High Priestess is #2 in the Magor Arcana with derived numbers #11 (Justice) and Judgement (#19). We should recall that continuity and memory, both bodily and culturally, belong to The Moon. She will permit only what accords with what has been to pass through her veil. What does not so accord will be cut off by the sharp sword of Justice. Judgement is the enactment of Justice. In the image of Judgement, all that has been, will arise from the underworld (Pluto’s realm). What accords with Luna’s justice will be allowed to “live again” while what does not will remain beyond the veil.

Tomorrow Luna will hide The Sun himself. On the 28th of August, she will disappear from the night sky in her own eclipse, just a few days after her next conjunction with Pluto (her own trip to the underworld) leaving us in total darkness for a time. We will not see a lunar cycle free of eclipses until the one that begins with the New Moon of August 10th in Virgo. We will all be different by then, in small and perhaps large ways. The next uneclipsed Full Moon will be in the Sign of Libra which, as we saw, corresponds with the card of Justice. By then we will know wow the bet we make today concerning who we are will play out.

But before this we must pass through eclipse season. The solar eclipse will take place on the cusp between the second and third decan of Leo. The second decan brings the victory of self and the alignment of will, both within in and without. This victory is portrayed in the Six of Wands card.\

But this is not the end. As with all things, the conclusion of one action prepares the ground for the next. If this most intense lunar cycle of 2026 has brought unity, within you and between those who surround you, I celebrate this victory. But as the next decan and its corresponding card reminds us:

What has been attained must then be MAINTAINED.

…

Afterwords

By the second week of September, I will have been writing this blog for four years. So much has happened in that time.

Susan and I decided earlier this year, after nearly 8 years in our hide away in the mountains, to return to the city. This is a tale I would like to tell in some detail and hopefully will at some point. The period between September 2018 and March 2026 corresponded with a Uranus transit of my first house as well as my second Saturn Return. I have been trying to process this period for the past six months, have been writing about it as a way of thinking about it but I’m not quite ready so share all that just yet. Please stay tuned.

When I started this blog in 2022, I was reading cards exclusively for family, friends and a few neighbors. Since then, I have earned a certificate in astrology and have begun offering both Tarot and Astrology services at a number of shops here in town and on-line. I have also had the privilege of teaching Tarot which I hope to do more of. To that end, I am working on a handbook for new readers which I hope to have finished within the next six months or so.

I have expanded my readership here from 20 or so close friends to just over 150 regular subscribers here on Sub Stack and have had the pleasure of interacting with many of you. It is gratifying to know that there are others who share my strange obsessions and who are keen to write about them too.

I have decided to take a bit of a sabbatical from posting long form essays. As I mentioned, I am working on a Tarot hand book which I would like to give more of my attention to. In addition, I have been gathering more people who are interested in my astrological services. These include the preparation of somewhat lengthy birth chart analyses making further demands on my writing time and energy.

So, I may be scarce here for a while.

As always, thank you for your attention and support.

See you soon.

Frank

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OTHER THINGS

This has been an incredibly information rich Lunar cycle which I have been compelled to take in smaller increments than has been my habit since starting this experiment. As a result, I have been giving some thought to how I would like to approach these “Lessons from Luna” essays going forward. I have a few large-scale projects that have been calling to me that might require me to rethink where I put my literary, efforts. We’ll see how all that plays out. In the meantime, as always, I treasure your attention, knowing that at least some of you find these writings of value greatly motivates me in writing them. Art is a social activityu and, although we would all like to believe we would do what we do even if no one was paying attention, there is reason to believe that we might just keep things in our head if it weren’t for those who care enough to follow our work. Thank you and may the fates smile on you all. Much love.

…

August 5^th

The Moon reaches last quarter phase in the Venus ruled sign of Taurus at 14° 40’. Being an Earth sign, the Venusian impulse to bring people together is expressed as generosity. In addition to money and the things that it can buy, we might also think of the “resources” of time, energy and attention. Like more tangible resources, these are also limited and dependent in one way or another on material support. As embodied beings, our selfhood depends on how, and with whom, we share our resources and who we depend on for them.

The Moon is honored by face in the second decan of Taurus which corresponds to the Six of Pentacles. The Moon produces no light of her own but “borrows” light from The Sun. Like her, each of us owes our “light” to others. This light must eventually be returned. How we are perceived and remembered by others, and what they are willing to “reflect” back to us, will have much to do with how gracefully we return it.

The benefactor does not dispense alms equally. The figure on the left receives three Pentacles while the figure to the right receives only two. His scale does not measure what is given but rather what is needed. This demonstrates that his generosity is not based on favoritism or prejudice of his own, but rather, on an ability to put himself in the place of the other, to feel their pain and need as if it were his own. Compassion (suffering together) arises from a deep awareness of the need and loss that is the necessary lot of all people and to respond to these as if they were our own because in truth, they are. No matter how much wealth we ostensibly “command” and no matter how ruthlessly we may pursue this wealth, from the cosmic perspective, we are all beggars. No one brings themselves into nor sustains themselves in existence. Our birth and continued life is entirely dependent upon those who lived to bring us here and those who died to keep us here. The benefactor knows this. His true wealth is not the Pentacles he possesses, but the bone-deep knowledge that he has merely been entrusted with them for so long as he continues to walk the earth.

He also keeps one Pentacle for himself. To reflect, (give back some of what we have received) we must endure, to do so we must recognize and honor our own needs and be sure that they are met. But to endure without reflection, to give nothing back of the spirit light which is shed upon us in the form of all good things, from the food we eat and air we breathe, to the love and even the challenge we receive from the world around us, is to become a “black hole” into which all things are lost.

August 7

Luna meets Uranus at 5° 12’ Gemini, the most intellectually detached and critical of all the signs. Twins are the same but different, as such, they represent thought in its purest form. Thought cuts the world into categories (this is why The Sword symbolizes the discerning mind). By dividing the world into parts and measuring them one against the other, we create coordinate systems by which we navigate the world. Moral philosophy and systems of ethics depend as much on this process as mathematics, cartography and logic. By applying these grids of relationship to social reality, rights and responsibilities, duties and obligations can be determined, creating the foundation for laudatory and censorious treatment of the self and others. Uranus is at the start of a seven-year mission to disrupt all binaries that rest in intellectual discernment, including our ethical coordinate systems.

This decan honors Jupiter by face. Jupiter loves big ideas, philosophy and religion, received truths and dogmas that organize and give meaning to the world. But Gemini, even without the disruptive influence of Uranus, is a place of questions rather than answers. How much of ourselves should we hold within in order not to take up “too much space”. How much space should we leave to others. These questions arise from the nature of material reality itself and how we participate in it.

Resources, from gold and topsoil to energy and attention, to space and time themselves, are always, from the standpoint of individual things, finite. This finitude is the fulcrum upon which all morality and ethics rests and is an especially urgent question for the human. Other creatures, no matter how ravenous and fierce, cannot (so far as we can tell), alter the basic conditions on which their lives depend. By contrast, humanity, with our ability to imagine conditions radically different that those that prevail at any given moment, and, more importantly, bring these conditions about, have the capacity to augment their environment to their advantage. But this augmentation is always in favor of the individual, a specific group or even a species AT THE EXPENSE of others (thus the Leo/Aquarius tension on which this entire lunar cycle turns). This capacity to not only seek out sustenance, but to alter the conditions upon which this sustenance depends, provides the impetus for all systems of morality. Lions, mighty as they are, lack the great power of imagination informed action that builds the human world with its triumphs and terrors and so need no moral philosophy and instruction.

This decan corresponds to The Eight of Swords. Like the woman pictured on the card, we are the victims of paralysis by analysis. Our problem is not a paucity of data. We know that in the material world, everything with which we fill our cup could have gone to another. We want to believe that there should be enough for everyone, and there is, but only when we take only our share. But what IS this share, who decides. Someone like us? There is a passage in the Chaung Tzu, one of the primary texts of Taoism which reads:

“Suppose you and I have had an argument. If you have beaten me … , then are you necessarily right … ? If I have beaten you … , then am I necessarily right … ? … If you and I don’t know … then other people are bound to be even more in the dark. … Shall we get someone who agrees with you … ? … someone who agrees with me? … someone who disagrees with both of us? … someone who agrees with both of us? … neither you nor I nor anyone else can decide for each other. Shall we wait for still another person? … waiting for one shifting voice [to pass judgment on] another is the same as waiting for none of them. Harmonize them all with the Heavenly Equality, leave them to their endless changes, and so live out your years.”

Gemini is the place of the 10,000 ft view, where all positions stand out with equal clarity, none being privileged. This IS indeed the standpoint of immortal Gods – the “heavenly equality” that Chaung Tzu recommends. But for those who dwell in the material world, with loves and hates, agendas and desired outcomes, to take this view is to be neutralized. But we will not escape this quandary through gathering enough information to determine who “deserves” to be center stage. We will need to find another approach. This is provided by Uranus.

Uranus has the reputation of a “revolutionary”, but perhaps this attributes more forethought to him than is warranted. Uranus is a planet of instantaneous and disruptive change. His arrival brings radical discontinuity, leaveing nothing of the previous state intact. This is not the action of one who views the current state of things, considers which aspects call for change, outlining and executing a plan action. He is rather a wildfire, a lightning strike. The catastrophic change he brings is neither aimed at a desired future nor designed as a corrective to the past although it might bring these things as an unintended consequence.

In Tarot, Uranus is The Fool. The Fool has no intention. He is not thinking about where he has come from or where he is bound. He embodies the virtue of “leaving things to their endless changes” that Chaung Tzu spoke of. This natural, spontaneous way does not arise from “trying to be natural”. Nor from simply not caring what others think and do. It is something at once deeper and simpler. The innocence of The Fool arises from following what he loves.

The little dog that accompanies him has an intuitive awareness of the peril that faces his friend. He paws and yips to get The Fool’s attention. We can imagine The Fool turning to see what his little friend is on about, the dog running away from the precipice, The Fool following him, perhaps never even realizing the danger he was in.

This tells us something about the way we might comport ourselves with others. Rather than trying to figure out what is “fair”, we should follow what and whom we love. It is the love that overflows our heart toward the beloved that is our surest guide. It is not about how much we should give or take from our companions, what is and is not acceptable. If the goal this lunar cycle is to learn what it means to be our authentic self, we will meet this goal not by way of some moral philosophy that “draws a line” for us, insuring that we will not step on the feet of others, nor they on ours. It is the natural, spontaneously arising affection between people that brings out our best and theirs.

Yet there are no guarantees here. Nothing that will insure that we will be remembered well, not so or at all. Not even that we have chosen the right people and things to love. One of the abiding mysteries of Gemini and its decans is a tension between an increasingly desperate attempt to gain enough information, enough clarity, to decide what it “makes sense” to love and the “fall” that love truly is.

Gemini is The Lovers Card. As Rumi tells us:

“The Way of Love is not a subtle argument, the door there is devastation”.

At the dawn of this cycle, we saw that the transition from Gemini to Cancer, is the place where the light of the God’s must “fall” from the 10,000’ view of Gemini, where everything is clear but and nothing is at stake, to the embodied commitment of Cancer. There is nothing intellectual about this fall. There is no “reason” for love nor reasoning it away.

The Lovers card is understood by many Tarot Readers, including myself, as indicating the hill we are willing to die on, for better or worse. It isn’t reasonable or even safe, and nothing tells us whether we have chosen well. The only “choice” here is to turn toward the beloved or to remain rooted to the spot to avoid the terror and tumult of the fall. But even if we choose the latter, we will still be captive to love in our paralysis before it. For although we might not move under its command, we won’t be able to go anywhere else for long. All path will lead back to the abys sooner or later.

August 9

As if to place a finer point on the foregoing, Luna meets Mars at 28° 35’ Gemini. In this decan, Gemini honors The Sun by face, but primarily as The Setting Sun.

The Ten of Swords shows us, in no uncertain terms, where all thinking, all ACTION, inevitably leads. Consistent with the mysterious nature of the “gateway of the Gods”, we see that the light sinks into the darkness IN ORDER TO BECOME INCARNATE. It is the dedication of love, the pouring out of spirit into the world of matter. It is sacrifice.

Throughout this lunar cycle, the most powerful of the year, we have been confronted with a question: how do we become who we truly are, but always in the background there has been the deeper question of WHY WE SHOULD. It isn’t for our own fulfillment, although we might well find that too, it is, and has always been, about the impression, the addition we will make to the greater story of life in the material world. Large or small, grand or obscure, each of us contributes to the song of the world.

Mars is the Tower. This is the devastation of which Rumi sang, but it is not death. We will survive the disruption of love. The disruption of the narrative that we have been handed about ourselves yes, but also, OUR OWN narrative. Love will make us what we are “meant to be”. Surrender, not to others, but to fate, the way the Gods have placed us here. Amor Fati.

Luna’s meeting with Mars foreshadows how this month will end. On August 12^th this lunar cycle will end in a solar eclipse at 20° 2’ Leo. There will be lessons to learn before we get there. I mention here only to emphasize how impactful this cycle will be, not only reshaping identity, but also, our ideas about the forces that shape it.

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OTHER PLACES TO FIND ME

It what follows I share insights about Luna’s transit through the Sign of Ares and her meetings with Neptune and Saturn. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. As always, I deeply value your attention.

…

August 3

Luna meets Retrograde Neptune at 3° 13’ Ares. Neptune does not tell the truth, but this doesn’t make him a liar. Neptune tells a story, invites us to see ourselves in it and, most importantly, to BELIEVE it.

Keeping with the theme of the month, the story in question is that of the “authentic self”. This alleged entity is one that has haunted religion, philosophy and psychology for as long as there have been selves. What is this entity; a reincarnating monad, a mere karmic pattern, a “social construction”, a trick of the brain? It is easy enough to find advocates for any of these positions and many more. But whatever the self is, it is an idea that we have significant investment in and, as such, one of Neptune’s favorite stories, one that always involves “others”. This is so even and especially when both self and other are thought of as an illusion. Illusion is the name of Neptune’s game.

But illusion isn’t necessarily deception. Without imagination, there would be no art nor craft, there would be no magic. The ability to imagine something that is not present and believe in it enough to make the effort to make it so is at the root of everything human, our greatest achievements and follies are born from Neptune’s power of imagination. Moreover, there is no escaping this power. Even our most mundane perceptions are presentments of imagination. The pixels you are ignoring now as persistence of vision weaves them into shapes of words and those abstractions call forth within you, things that are not there. The color and solidity of things, the way things taste and smell and sound. All of these are as much a product of our organs of sensation and mentation as anything “out there”.

As we saw at the Full Moon, self and other and all that is between them are mutually arising fantoms. We simply cannot think of ourselves apart from others. Given this, sorting out what is “truly us” from what others have “made us” lends itself to the greatest illusion of all, the solitary ego doomed to either submission, domination or alienation. Neptune asks us if there might be a better way to think of self and other. Not necessarily TRUER, Neptune knows nothing of truth (though loves tempting us to imagine that we do). What is needed is a vision of wholeness that can sustain both self and other as mutually arising and interdependent nodes in a “field” of selfhood. This field could be productively conceived as something like an electromagnetic field, but it might be better to think of it as a “domain”. Like the “fields” of medicine, art or law, a space that we enter and embody as “practitioners”. Selfhood as a PRACTICE, not something we ARE but rather, something we DO and, like any other field of practice, something that necessarily involves other practitioners.

Like any retrograde planet, Neptune reconsiders the last few steps he has taken. For us, this means reviewing how our ideas of self and other were constructed. Who and what have we thought ourselves to be? Where did we get this idea? To what extent have we consented to and participated in its construction. To recognize selfhood as a creative, cooperative and largely improvisational project that we have always been involved in, even if only passively, may remind us that we could become ACTIVE in its creation, again, not as being, but as doing.

The first decan of Ares, where Luna’s meeting with Neptune takes place, corresponds with the Two of Wands. The world is in our hands and at our feet. We must see this world as something other than ourselves, something to meet with, to dance with, and sometimes to duel with. The Wand is a tool of will and direction. To go anywhere, meet anyone, we must first GO. In the material world this means choosing a direction. Who we will become depends on what and who we meet along the way. But to become anybody, we must set a course and go.

Later the same day, Luna meets Retrograde Saturn in the Second decan of Ares. This decan corresponds to the Three of Wands.

The Sun has honor by face here. Like The Sun, we move in one direction only, each day completed will not return. As if to put a fine point on it, retrograde Saturn says: “look behind you, you will never pass that way again”. Saturn places restrictions on us all. One of these is the one-way path that each of us must take through time.

Whatever we become will be founded on what we have been. There is no “redo”, no “secondary virginity”. Those who have overcome great obstacles to stand firm in who they are, have those obstacles to thank for helping them to become that person.

In Luna’s meeting with Saturn, we understand how the latter creates the conditions through which the self emerges. By defining personal limitations that we must strive to overcome or resolve to accept, Saturn builds character. By creating boundaries between the self and others that we must maintain, relax and defend, she provides a semiporous membrane across which exchanges can occur between people. This give and take is as essential to the continuity of the self as eating and breathing, tending to and sharing. Management of flows across this Saturnian boundary is what the practice of selfhood consists of in.

Before moving on to the next notable Lunar transit, it might be worth revisiting Luna and Saturn’s corresponding Tarot Cards.

Saturn’s card, The World, reveals a living boundary (the wreath of greenery) between the dance of material form “within’ the boundary and the eternal, unchanging world of the fixed stars beyond. The porosity of this boundary allows the “outer world” of the Gods to transmit their influence into the inner world of moving, living (and perishing) flesh. It ALSO permits impulses from the inner world to migrate to the eternal Gods and stars in the form of prayers and petitions, wishes on a star.

The High Priestess is The Moon. The Moon reflects but a fraction of the light that arrives from the sun. This is the share of the eternal light that she chooses to allow it (or out) by lifting and lowering of the veil. It is this lifting and lowering that facilitates the only partial materialization of the entirety of the eternal light of the spirit realm. The pulsing modulations of in and out, embodiment and disembodiment that taps out the rhythm to which The World dances.

So it is this lifting and lowering of the veil that we must understand and attend to if the self is to become the fruit of practice rather than a “wild” fruit which we might or might not like the flavor of. This is an idea we will return to later in this cycle.

…

And now the buttons:

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THE REST OF WHAT I DO

As I set about creating the second half of this month’s meditation on Luna’s journey through the stars, I was overwhelmed by the depth and power of the Full Moon we are experiencing as I write these words. It is for that reason that I offer a full essay on just this lunation. I will return soon with thoughts on the later transits in advance of August’s New Moon and Solar Eclipse in Leo. Until then, I hope you find this entry interesting and, as usual, I deeply appreciate the gift of your attention and consideration. Much Love to you all:

…

Another factor making this is an especially impactful lunar cycle is the way in which the Full Moon lights up the Leo/Aquarius axis. Although we witness a Full Moon in Aquarius every Summer while The Sun is in Leo, this year, the close alignment of The Sun with Jupiter and The Moon with Pluto brings special poignance to the individual/collective dynamics represented by this zodiacal axis. For this reason, it is worth spending a little more time with this Full Moon before traveling along Luna’s remaining itinerary for the month

Leo is the sign of the Individual. The Sun rules here where he celebrates the unique, never-to-be repeated miracle of the individual. He is not wrong. Each of us stands at the convergence of countless, specific circumstances: our parents, ancestors, when and where we were born, how our people live and die. From the specificity of our genetics to the stars that attended our nativity, each of us is a miracle of probability.

On the other hand, we are defined as much by who and what we ARE NOT as by everything we ARE. This is where Aquarius comes in. Ruled by Saturn, Aquarius says “Yes, you ARE unique, each and every one of you is as unique as any other”. How does THAT make you feel? Aquarius forces us to recognize the uniqueness of “others” and begs the question: if ALL of us are special, are ANY of us? Aquarius is known, among other things, as the sign of the collective. This collective is composed of INDIVIDUALS who are all unique. But, as we all know, some of us are more unique than others. Which is to say, some are more like US, which of course, means that the others are more like THEM. Us and them. This polarity is seldom invoked in the spirit of camaraderie.

If this were the only problem, it would be enough to keep us all busy forever. But there is another, one that bares on the theme of individuation, and connects it to the larger question of how we live together (or do not). How to be authentic within the collective with which we identify. How different do we or others have to be from US before we (or they), start to resemble THEM? How much must we avoid “standing out” in order to “fit in”.

At the New Moon, we found ourselves between the scenes represented in the Three and Four of Cups. The Three of Cups is communal. People joyfully sharing a common language (the second decan of Cancer, where the Three of Cups lay, honors Mercury by face. Mercury is about the language that allows us to understand one another, binding us into groups). By contrast, the young man in the Four of Cups is alone and far from joyful. He sees, but does not partake of the Three cups before him, yet refuses to acknowledge the forth being handed directly to him from the spirit world. This is a play in two acts about belonging and alienation. The young man in the Four of Cups is troubled by being alone but unable to assume the identity represented by the cup proffered from nowhere. Not for nothing, the third decan of Cancer and therefore the Four of Cups honors The Moon by face. The Moon is connected to embodiment, reflection and memory. In this context, she shows us the riddle of identity, how might we reflect those around us enough to find recognition without being eclipsed by this reflection. From this beginning blooms the Full Moon we experience today with its troubled opposition between individual and group.

We find The Sun conjunct Jupiter at 6° Leo. Together these planets combine the visible identity with the underlaying law of its’ nature. Jupiter represents the “big ideas” that provide the underlaying meaning and coherence to each thing (and to all things). The Sun represents our “mission” in life and how this will be seen and reflected in the world around us.

Speaking of reflections, we see Luna at 6° 30’ Aquarius in a near conjunction with Retrograde Pluto at 4° 13’. The Moon is at the height of her reflective power but in close contact with what is hidden but perhaps more powerful for its obscurity. We see tension between surface and depth. The mass of The Moon which reflects The Sun’s light lay invisible beneath its surface. Yet this mass is what the reflector actually IS. Without the depth there would simply be no surface. Like the mirror whose quicksilver is paradoxically invisible and the source of its reflective power, so other people’s depth remains permanently hidden and yet, it is from this hidden depth that our reflection shines.

In Tarot, Jupiter is The Wheel of Fortune. How does the planet of law become embodied by what for all appearances is the avatar of randomness. How is the law of our nature, and that of all things, embodied in a game of chance? In this symbol, the obscure and seemingly random machinery of fate is, in truth, the rational and radiant law of existence.

As a “law giver”, Jupiter acts within the confines of the material world. In the descending order of the seven classical planets, Jupiter is below Saturn. Saturn forms the boundary between the mutable world of matter and the eternal realm of the stars and Gods. Jupiter rules over everything within this boundary, knowing its shape more intimately than any other planet. This is the reason for his “kingship”. Jupiter’s role is the seemingly impossible task of bringing to pass, within the mortal realm of time and space, all the potential resident in the immortal realm of the Gods. He does this by allowing each thing a specific space and time to unfold within the boundaries set by Saturn. A time to every purpose under heaven. To be done fairly, Jupiter “Spins the Wheel of Fortune”.

Each of us was born at a particular moment in time. The stars that attended our birth lay in a specific arrangement (revealed in the birth chart). This never-to-be-repeated configuration is the place where The Wheel of Fortune comes to rest for and AS us.

We see, in The Sun, the expression of this truth. The child who rides the white horse, beneath The Sun with banner flying is the expression of the unique and new nature of each day, each thing, each person. Numerologically, The Wheel of Fortune and The Sun are connected in that both of their numbers, within the major arcana, reduce to the number one (The Wheel of Fortune #10; 1+0=1, The Sun #19; 1+9=10, 1+0=1). Each turn of The Wheel brings a new and unique life into existence. As both Alister Crowley and Sly Stone observed, “everybody, every man and woman, is a star”.

But everybody is ALSO a Moon. We are all mirrors for others. More than that, much of what we ARE is the result of how we reflect (or do not), those around us. Like Indra’s net of jewels, in which each gem carries the reflection of every other and the reflection that all of these others carry of every other, ad in fin item, we are a network of substantial reflections who’s depth remain obscure from one another and (mostly) to ourselves.

In Tarot, The Moon is The High Priestess. Like Saturn, she is a liminal figure, standing between the realms of spirit and matter. But unlike Saturn who maintains (or tries to maintain) an unbreachable boundary between the two realms, The High Priestess may lift and lower the veil between the worlds at will, allowing what and who she will to enter here.

Here we see another of Luna’s powers, that of “embodying” that which would otherwise be but fleeting light. While the Sun is spirit, The Moon is Matter. Only what she carries and reflects may enter the world of actual things. She is, so to speak, the substance of this world. So much so that many indigenous cultures think of her as “Grandmother” (Mother of Mothers).

The High Priestess is number Two in the major arcana of the Tarot. Numerologically, she is connected with the other majors who’s numbers reduce to Two (specifically #11 Justice; 1+1=2 and #20 Judgement; 2+0=2). It happens that the latter, Judgment, corresponds with Pluto with whom Luna is conjunct at this Full Moon.

In Judgement we see the dead called out of their graves. What is hidden becomes visible, its potency revealed. It also happens that Pluto is in retrograde. As I suggested in the first part of this essay, this Full Moon exposes what is in the the depths. But rather than a sudden eruption, there is a controlled and just “uncovering” of what lay beneath the reflective surface of our inter-reflecting identities. This lunation presents us with a rare opportunity to look under the hood of the whole process by which we raise one another from obscurity, for better or worse.

Of course, no one likes judgment. But everyone judges. Our reactions to others are the verdict that we pass upon them. But these reactions are more than reflections of the other, they are what the other “brings out’ in us and we in them. Our reactions to others are the “dead” that they call from our depth, memory and trauma, hope and fear, the genes and the stars that form us. These respond to the voice of others, like the dead rising at the call of Gabriel’s trumpet, awaiting judgment. But when others see these dead awakening, they respond with praise or condemnation, raising our resurrected selves to the heaven they (and we) call love, or hell that is another word for hatred. And we mirror the same process in kind, their voice is our trumpet of the judgement day, our dead arise to stand before it.

And so we are The Moon to other’s Sun and Sun to their Moon. Each of us is filled with ghosts and when we meet, these dead arise and dance in the infinity mirror between us. Some are invited in as if they were our own. Our inner Priestess Moon raises the veil allowing their dead to be reborn as radiant children of their Sun, to shine in our inner sky. Other times she lowers the veil, denying entrance, and lets their dead dwell within the outer darkness between us. These are the “demons” we ascribe to those we judge unworthy of taking their place in our starry firmament.

Should all of this seem too abstract or poetic, think of synastry. The way our stars compliment (or do not) those of others. We see this same compatibility, or lack thereof, in histocompatibility and the other mysterious forces that make others attractive or not. It is in the constellated forms of ideology that drive us into silos, and all the infinite ways that we mesh with others in the machinery of the material realm.

If you were hoping for a cheat code, a way around the separation and estrangement between us, a way that we can be as one, I have no method. The law that makes us one is the one that makes us different. Each of us will have to find our own way to address this. Some will evangelize for their particular view. Others will try to bring about oneness through reason or force or force disguised as reason. Others will retreat into their tribe and try to keep the savages at bay. And everyone will have their reasons. In the transits that Luna will make in the next two weeks, we will see some of the ways in which these processes will play out. But remember, this month ends in an eclipse of The Sun. In the spirit of that knowledge, let us remember the lyrics that close Pink Floyd’s legendary “Dark Side of the Moon” album:

All that is now

And all that is gone

And all that’s to come

And everything under The Sun is in tune.

But The Sun is eclipsed by The Moon.

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OTHER WAYS TO INTERACT WITH ME

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On Tuesday July 21,2026, The Moon reached her first quarter stage in the third decan of Libra. This decan corresponds with the Four of Swords. The theme of this lunar cycle has much to do with individuation. Individuation is, at bottom, telling our own story about who we are rather than repeating the one handed down to us by our family and culture, teachers and preachers, and even our own inner voice of doubt and uncertainty.

The process of individuation is usually framed as an almost exclusively existential project of self-improvement meant to maximize our satisfaction in life. This is not the approach I take to the topic. For me, individuation is primarily a social project aimed at bringing one’s unique gifts and talents to the fore and placing them at the service of the larger world, including the world we will leave to our descendants and the even larger “spirit world” of gods, ancestors, land spirits and all manner of other discarnate entities that might take some interest in our doings and leavings.

Nor do I imagine that every human has a destiny that will place them in the starry firmament of famous or infamous names remembered for the world shaping and epochal impact they have had on collective history. Many of us will be remembered well (or not so) by only a handful of others who themselves will remain largely obscure to history. But, to quote Peter Kropotkin:

Men passionately desire to live after death, but they often pass away without noticing the fact that the memory of a really good person always lives. It is impressed upon the next generation and is transmitted again to the children. Is that not an immortality worth striving for?

Living in a media saturated and celebrity obsessed culture leads many to believe that being a fully realized (if there is such a thing) person means making some grand contribution to the world. Some of us are so blessed, but many who are, carry the burden of living us to the expectations and repelling the opprobrium of others. Paradoxically, many of these people become once more defined by the stories that others tell about them. Many even come to harm, and worse, harming others by trying to BE a person who they have outgrown or never really were. Being a “good” person doesn’t necessarily involve being a “great” one. Often these two are even in conflict.

On the other hand, there are many who toil in obscurity who never receive the recognition that they “deserve” for their creative achievements or their simple kindness. Some in this position become bitter or disillusioned by their obscurity and never live up to their potential or abandon it at a critical moment. In both of these cases, individuation is seen, by the would be individual and those around them as a “performance” for which recognition, great or small, is the reward. While it is true that, as social creatures, mental well being depends to a great extent on the esteem that others hold us in, it is also true that we are most likely to receive recognition by simply bringing forth what is in us. Even here, many will disapprove and seek to undermine us. Sometimes even humble and sincere kindness is met with suspicion and scorn.

It is worthy of note that the term individuation was made popular by Carl Jung. He did not present the concept to the world as a shallow trope of “self-help”. Rather, he saw it as a life-long process fraught with peril – it is a TRIAL. This is why Jung and his disciples frame so much of the process in terms of archetypal and mythological motifs. If it was simply a matter of deciding what we want to be when we grow up, we wouldn’t even think about it. Individuation is a “long birth”. Like any birth, it involves difficult and dangerous labor.

The process of individuation then is neither something we do for ourselves alone, nor something we do to receive a “just reward”. Ultimately, it is a spiritual process with deep ethical dimensions that bares more on the long term collective than on any individual. As the health of the body depends on the health of its billions of individual cells doing their jobs, largely in obscurity. Our individuation is ultimately a thing done for the good of the health of the world.

Returning to this lunar cycle and what Luna teaches us about individuation I want to take a bit of a deep dive into the Four of Swords. There is a lot packed into this image. To begin with, the death posture of the main figure foreshadows the end of the suit – the ominous Ten of Swords. Swords bare on the mental world, of knowledge, discernment and lucid clarity about the facts of life. The most fundamental of these facts is death.

That the card takes place in a church suggests a “holy purpose” which underlay mental activity. The fact that the scene anticipates death ties the end of life to this holy purpose. The appearance of the swords in the card add to its’ gravitas. We see three swords hung upon the wall. These recall the three seen in the previous card who’s message is that decisive action always comes at the cost of heartbreak. To KNOW, is to know limitation (the Three of Swords is, in fact, a card associated with Saturn with his brutal honesty and stern council). As to the “dead man” pictured in the four of swords, it is not clear whether we are looking at an actual corpse or the likeness of a man which is part of the coffin upon which he lay. This is, I believe, no accident. It tells us a grim truth: at the end of life, we will be reduced to a mere object. As if to make the point more forcefully, the fourth sword pictured is one carved into the side of the coffin as an ornament. The sharp weapon of thought is, like the man himself, laid to rest as mere dead matter.

In the stained-glass window above the resting figure, we see a standing figure bestowing a blessing on another who kneels before them. The name of this blessing is PEACE. We know this from the Latin “PAX” which appears in the golden halo around the head of the one who bestows the blessing. It might seem strange that this is the blessing pronounced in a card of the Sword suit. To understand why, we should understand something about the words peace and its apparent opposite, war.

Although we think of war exclusively as armed conflict, the roots of the word extend back to a Proto-Germanic term “werru” meaning mixture, or to bring into confusion. As an image of mental clarity, the sword cuts apart and separates the mixed up confusion of the world into discrete, manageable units (the word “analyze” is rooted in the idea of loosening and breaking up). But such analysis is always an act of violence. Thought, and particularly the analytical, categorizing thought that makes sense of the world is often viewed with suspicion by those who take a more holistic approach to life. But without the sharp tool of discernment it would be impossible to distinguish truth from falsehood, useful from useless and, most importantly, self from other.

For many of us who grew up in the long afterglow of the 1960s, oneness is a kind of sacred eschaton, a final state in which all conflict and opposition is resolved into a state of unending peace. Yet even the hope of oneness has its dark side. Monoculture in all its forms, from factory farming to cultural homogenization, is the shadow side of oneness. The Sword of thought, not merely the instrumental “reason” associated with the so called “enlightenment” but the entire process of recreating the world within the mind of the individual, is predicated on the isolation of individual and distinct entities, including other people, who are NOT ME. For me to regard you with kindness and respect, you have to be something APART from and not reducible to me. The gap is necessary for the spark.

As for “peace” (PAX), it is a word who’s primary meaning is to tie together. It is cognate with the concept of a “pact”, an agreement we make with one another. Such agreements usually define rights and duties, privileges and responsibilities. None of these would be possible were we not endowed with the discerning “sword” of thought which allows us to imagine such things.

So The Sword, far from being a mere device of violent separation is also the necessary condition for all forms of sociality, not merely domination and subjugation but also respect for the physical, psychological and spiritual sovereignty of others and even for love. Likewise, war, which The Sword is the emblem, is not merely conflict between people and nations, it is a trial in which the sword is used as a means of “sorting things out”.

All of this is not a call to “rehabilitate” The Sword, to domesticate it or, Gods forbid, cast it as an instrument of “righteousness”. It is rather something like a “necessary evil” like eating or self-defense. Our “reasonable need” to eat and be left unmolested should not be expected to convince our enemy or the hapless organism upon our dinner plate. We need the sword, it is as much a part of us as our teeth and claws. We must respect it without “embracing” it (you’ll cut yourself). To quote another of the Taoist masters:

“Weapons are ominous tools. They are abhorred by all creatures. … They are not the noble ruler’s tools. He only uses them when he can’t avoid it. Peace and quiet are preferred. Victory should not be praised. Those who praise victory relish manslaughter. … -Lao Tzu

It will be noted that Master Lao does not CONDEMN tools. In the foregoing passage he give tacit ascent to the idea that such “abhorrent tools” sometimes cannot be avoided. But he emphasizes their unmitigated opposition to life. This is finally the message of the Four of Swords, bestowed as a blessing from on high.

In the matter of individuation this understanding is indispensable. All too often we see that claims of being “authentic” are often justifications for shitty, sometimes antisocial behavior. The narcissist, sociopath or just immature moral simpleton, may indeed be presenting his or her “authentic self”, but such people might expect to be met with the sword. As it is said in scripture “live by the sword, die by the sword” (Matt: 16:52). The necessity of living WITH the sword but not BY it has as much to do with using the sharp edge of reason to limit OUR OWN activity so as not meet with the sharp and pointed judgement of our neighbors as with defend our boundaries. Even more, it functions as a warning against turning this weapon against others lest we find ourselves on the wrong end of that weapon.

The great challenge presented by the Four of Swords vis a vis individuation is to discern a clear path to bring forth all that we have to offer the world without excessive imposition on others who are, after all, engaged in the same war. To isolate AND to integrate.

The third decan of Libra, where we find the Four of Swords, honors Jupiter by face. Jupiter is a card of high minded philosophical, moral and spiritual ideals. He is associated with teachers, judges and gurus. He is an avatar of universal harmony and order. Harmony involves an aesthetically pleasing arrangement of sounds. As a sign, Libra is ruled by Venus and represented in Tarot by the Justice card. What all of this tells us is that Justice is a beautiful harmony of individuals. Not oneness, but relatedness.

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As usual, I am honored and blessed by the gift of your time and attention as readers. I am aware of the excess of high-quality content here on Sub Stack and the fact that you use any of your bandwidth on my writing pleases me beyond what I can say. Thank you and now, on with the show.

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Allowing an orb of 2° gives us perhaps the most impactful New Moon of the Year. Luna asks us a probing question; “of the infinite things we might be, which one WILL we be. The choice is ours but how will we make that choice. The meetings between Luna and the other planets that take place over the course of the next months provide lessons about what and how we might reflect the great light of spirit.

We begin with a survey of special conditions that give Luna an excess of power and authority:

Double Rulership

The New Moon occurs at 9:44 am. UTC on July 14^th at 21° 59’ Cancer. Cancer is the only sign where Luna has rulership. She also has dignity by face in the final 10° of the sign where her meeting with The Sun takes place. There is no other place in the zodiac where Luna enjoys more essential dignity.

Out of Bounds

Additionally, she is out of bounds at 24° 48’ north declination. When any planet is out of bounds, it enjoys a degree of freedom from the restrictions that its position in the zodiac imposes. When out of bounds north, the planet exercises its influence outwardly. Whatever changes her influence brings about this month, they will be both highly visible and unusually strong.

Zodiacal Position in the “Gateway of the Gods”

This is the first New Moon after the Summer Solstice. At the solstice, The Sun passes from Gemini, where he rises to his greatest height, to Cancer where he begins his slow descent into the depths. Gemini is the most intellectually detached place in the zodiac. From this great height, all things are illumined, every possibility seems equally plausible and attractive. It is the time of greatest liberty of movement and freedom of choice. This is why Gemini has a reputation for indecision, vacillation and “fickleness”.

Cancer is the Cardinal Water Sign. Water starts its downward movement as floating vapor that condenses into raindrops that must fall. The water gathers into streams of ever greater depth and power, cutting streambeds in which it is confined. Eventually this water comes to rest in ponds and lakes and great seas. This journey of the Sun from the abstraction of Gemini to the constrained but nourishing atmosphere of Cancer bespeaks a turning - from open and expansive wandering to domestic shelter. freedom to commitment. This turning inspired Hellenistic Astrologers to designate the sign of Cancer as “The Gateway of the Gods”. This is where the immortal light of the spirit world seeks material form and where cancer gets its reputation for the nurturing of young and tender things.

Spirit must aquire weight and form to influence the world of matter. Immortal spirits must have a “vehicle”, to carry them through this world of mortality and limitation if they are to be known by those who dwell here. In Tarot, this vehicle is The Chariot which corresponds to the sign of Cancer in which this New Moon takes place.

But this embodiment, this confinement comes at a cost. Devotion to a spiritual path, commitment to a practice or craft, the establishment of a home and family all come at the cost of forsaking other paths that might have been taken. This is where we find ourselves in this season.

The Decanic Cusp

And Mercury Rx Cazimi

As usual, the theme of this month is derived from the decan in which the New Moon lay. This month Luna finds herself in a triple conjunction with The Sun and Retrograde Mercury. At approximately the halfway point of each retrograde, Mercury is conjunct The Sun. This is known as a cazimi. Astrologers recognize such meetings as especially empowering the planets involved. Because Mercury will be conjunct the New Moon, his signature is woven into the lessons of this lunar cycle.

With The Sun, Moon and Mercury meeting at the cusp between the second and third decan, the archetypal meanings of both decans will color the narrative arc of this lunar cycle. Looking at the Tarot cards that correspond to decans two and three of Cancer gives us important insight into all that Luna wishes to teach us this month.

Mercury will continue to retrograde back into the second decan in which he has dignity by face. In the Three of Cups, which corresponds with this decan of Cancer, we see a celebration among friends.

Mercury’s gift to this decan is in providing a common language by which a group of people can understand one another and, through this understanding, form joyful bonds.

But since retrogrades always involve a reevaluation of whatever the planet in question “does” in that part of the chart, Mercury wants us to think about the groups we belong to and if these groups serve us, or we them. This is a somewhat melancholy thing to contemplate which can be seen in the third decan of Cancer in which Luna begins her monthly round of the zodiac.

This decan corresponds to the Four of Cups. The young man pictured seems either uninterested in, or blind to the cup being miraculously offered as if from the spirit realm. This has something to do with the three cups that sit before him. Perhaps he has overindulged (maybe at that party back in decan two) and can’t bare the thought of another cup. Or perhaps he is sad that the party is over and clinging to what he knows is over and done with.

Together, Mercury and Luna ask us to consider whether the people who once brought us joy and a sense of belonging still do so? Are we clinging to the past out of nostalgia or mere habit? Are we refusing the future out of bitterness and disappointment? Through her meetings this month, Luna will offer opportunities to examine these questions from different angles and perspectives and, hopefully, help us find our way either into new social situations or back to those that have nourished us in the past.

Think of this month as if you were just reincarnated. How has your past life shaped the person you are now? Is this the person you wish to remain. With this powerful Cancer New Moon, reexperience the passage through the gateway of the gods – your entrance into the material world from the world of spirit. You have this life and you can be someone, some specific person. Who is he or she.

July 14

Later in the same day, Luna meets Jupiter at 3° 14’ Leo. The first decan of Leo is about fighting for individuation. Conflicts of will, with those around us and within ourselves, must be bought into alignment if we hope to move forward with energy and focus. Leo asks us to stand in our identity and to shine forth.

Jupiter is a ruler, judge and teacher. He demands that we learn which principles are truly our own and to cast away anyone or anything that might undermine the internal unity that makes us the person we are. It is this person alone who will bring our life to completion, both in particulars and in the overarching context that makes of these a coherent whole.

At the same time, individuation takes place within a social context – a name means nothing if there is no one who might call it. Does our current social context reflect the person we know ourselves to be back to us or do we surround ourselves with people who “deadname” us, reinforce outworn notions of who we are or once wished to be?

July 17

Luna meets Venus at 8° 14’ Virgo.

There is an expression among writers “kill your darlings”. It refers to particularly beautiful and poignant passages of which the author is proud, but which detract or distract from the meaning or elegance of the composition. In life, and especially in youth, there are people, places and things that made a strong impression and to which we return to again and again. But like the beautifully rhymed and worded couplet that does not serve the poem, we can identify with past experiences that we have outgrown.

The first decan of Virgo is about disciplined practice to produce something beautiful and functional. In this decan, Venus must learn to kill her darlings. The discarded drafts and deleted scenes, the failed attempts at building an identity were valuable and perhaps even pleasurable, but if they do not represent the person you are now, and the one you want to be, you will need to let them go. This is hard for Venus in Virgo where she is “fallen”, where what she does best makes everything worse. Like Venus, we might have to work against our inclinations, keeping only those parts of ourselves that serve and discarding those that do not. Beauty requires pain, love requires sacrifice. This discipline is hard but it promises to increase beauty and deepen love in the long run.

July 21^st

The Moon reaches first quarter phase at 28° 12’ Libra. As Luna starts to hold more light than darkness, Libra encourages us to weigh what we have been against what we would become, and to cut away whatever keeps us from becoming what we would. This is why the sign of Libra corresponds with Justice in Tarot.

We all have but one life, we must make of it what we can within the time allotted to us. There isn’t room for everything that we might be, so we must choose what brings us peace. Peace is the blessing bestowed in the Four of Swords which corresponds to this decan of Libra.

Swords are our knowing. What we know (or should) is that there is no way to outsmart death (check the 10 of Swords for proof). The third decan of Libra, where the moon grows pregnant with the light of the possible, asks us to ask whether peace is possible and what this peace means. After all, the Sword, even when laid down in peace, is mind. If Justice is to be served, it askes us to recognize that it is peace, within and without, that allows us finally to reflect our portion of the infinite potential that the Moon reflects.

July 29^th

The Moon reaches full at 6° 30’ Aquarius within 2° of a conjunction with Pluto. Aquarius is the sign of the collective, those we belong to and those we do not. Pluto is the planet of all that exercises powerful influence from hidden places – the treasures buried beneath the Earth that make people crazy with “gold fever”, the secret shame and longing that lay behind the face we show the world that simply make us crazy. Because Pluto is retrograde, instead of those hidden forces bursting through in disruptive fury, we are invited to descend into those hidden places – instead of cowering from the volcanic eruption, we must become spelunkers, exploring those hidden parts of ourselves. Remember the theme of this cycle: why do we stubbornly cling to old sources of pleasure and fulfillment while ignoring and refuse new ones. This question might guide us a sense of what we should be looking for down there in the dark.

The Full Moon lay opposite The Sun and reflects whatever he sends her way. Here The Sun is in Leo, sign of his rulership. This emphasizes the tension between the individual (Leo) and the collective (Aquarius). In light of this month’s theme, the question we should be asking ourselves is, how has our sense of belonging (or not) in the past influenced our present attitude? Some of us may feel that we “peaked” at some earlier time. Maybe we were a central, highly visible and respected presence: a big man on campus or the life of the party. Perhaps we feel anonymous and unimportant now and cannot see or do not want a role that might bring us status in our current social context. On the other hand, perhaps we may have never felt we “fit in”. The isolation of being a “nobody” at some earlier phase of life might make us reluctant to reach out for something that might elevate our status in the present. In either case, clinging to who we were in the past will make it difficult to know where we belong now.

Pluto invites us to explore how we bring ourselves up from the shadows and into the light for others to see or why we do not. The Full Moon brings her illumination to this quest. Each of us reflects and is reflected in our surroundings. How we have showed up in the world in the past, whether we were accepted or rejected, whether we were more influential on our environment or it on us, all of us have moved on. We must be careful that the way we moved through the world during earlier seasons of life does not cause us to think that this is the only way we can. At this Full Moon, take the time and use the extra light to reimagine what else you might have to offer to life and it to you.

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Remember to look for part two of this essay in approximately two weeks. Thanks again for reading. And now, the buttons.

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June New Moon

This cycle begins with Luna “out of bounds”. An out of bounds Moon occurs when the north (or south) declination exceeds 23° 28’ which is the farthest The Sun ever gets from the celestial equator. When The Moon is out of bounds, it is especially powerful in its influence. When out of bounds in the North, as this one is, her increased powers are directed outward. Whatever this cycle brings us, we will want to express the influence into the world around us rather than internalize this influence. Positively, we may find creative outlets for our emotions, negatively, this influence might take the form of resentment and blame.

The New Moon occurs in the 3^rd decan of Gemini (24° 3’) on June 15 at 2:55 a.m. GMT. This is the last New Moon before the Summer Solstice and, as we will see, this gives it, and the month to follow, a good deal of its weight and meaning. The decan corresponds to the Ten of Swords.

This alone would create a notable signature for this lunar cycle but there is an even more powerful signature to take account of here which I would like to direct your attention to.

From the standpoint of tropical astrology, the third decan of Gemini marks the final 10° before the Summer Solstice (northern hemisphere). Hellenistic astrologers know the Summer Solstice and the sign of Cancer that follows it as “the gate of the gods”. It has this title because it is the point when the daylight hours, that have been increasing since the winter solstice, begin to wane. Symbolically, this is where the light of the spirit world begins to descend into the material world. Archetypes must find embodiment if they are to act upon the world of matter. Indeed, one reason that this final decan before the Summer Solstice is associated with the Ten of Swords is that this card indicates the “end of thought”, both in the sense of termination and teleologically. It is both the point where thought must yield to action and the reason for thinking to begin with. Gemini as a whole is held in Tarot by The Lovers card which represents, for better or worse, the hill we are willing to die on. The fallen one in the Ten of Swords is that death. We stop thinking about it and decide.

Gemini is a sign of analysis without agenda. Here, Hermes/Mercury is free to do what he does best and likes most – turn an idea to see it from all possible angles. One of the reasons for the Gemini personality’s reputation for indecision and even fickleness is this tendency to want to know everything there is to know about every possible permutation. This is fine if you are an immortal being like Hermes with all eternity to split hairs and weave yarns. But here, in our world, we are eventually forced to pick a street. This is the meaning of the transition from ever curious and non-committal Gemini to Nurturing and highly committed Cancer.

Luna invites us, as she makes her monthly round this time, to consider what is over and done with and how we wish to move on from here. She does not ask for a “clean break”. Clean breaks are abstractions best left in Gemini. All new situations are informed by what went before them, the rock bottom from which we begin a slow ascent gives recovery its meaning and direction, the height from which we fall is what generates the velocity of the fall and the force of the impact when we land. Luna knows this, she is the barer of memory and the soul of embodiment. It is not in her nature to forget nor leave behind. What she does, and asks us to do this month, is to stop spinning our wheels and let the rubber meet the road. But remember, the idea is to gain traction, not to burn rubber.

Baring in mind her out of bounds status, we should be extra careful of “throwing the baby out with the bath water”. While it is time to leave indecision behind and make commitments, we should not disregard or disrespect the people and things, even the negative influences that brought us to this time. Rather we should thank them for the lessons they have taught us and move on without rancor.

June 16

Luna conjunct Mercury at 20° 10’ Cancer.

Luna meets Mercury at the cusp between the 2^nd and 3^rd decan of Cancer. Mercury rules the 2^nd and especially likes it there. Corresponding to the Three of Cups this decan is a party. Now the party is over, and Luna will be a bit of a buzz kill. She has “double rulership” in the final 10° of Cancer ruling the decan by face and the sign. If the 2^nd decan is a party, the 3^rd is the hangover. Luna will be there to remind Mercury of everything he said and did. He will not want to remember but, being Mercury, will need to have a good think about things despite the headache. This is an especially good time to break bad habits.

We are aided by the nearness of Jupiter. At 27° 11’, he is close enough to be considered conjunct both Luna and Mercury. Jupiter is exalted in Cancer, having a free hand to do what he does best, teach. Skeptical Mercury is the natural opposite of pedantic Jupiter. But in Cancer, the latter’s tendency toward dogmatism is tempered by his genuine desire to help and nurture. If we are humble and open to good council, we will find it easier to make healthy change in our lives. Beginning a new practice will be as important as braking outworn habits. This would be a good time to find a trainer, support group, therapist or some other teacher.

June 17

Luna conjunct Venus at 5° 6’ Leo

No longer out of bounds Luna meets Venus in the first decan of Leo. This is a decan of struggle. A battle of wills might be taking place with others or within us. Who or what will take center stage? Will Venus be more inclined to bring contending forces into harmony or want to “show off”. Having no essential dignity nor debility in Leo, it is hard to say with certainty. However, we can look to her status as evening (as opposed to morning) star. When Venus is Visible after Sunset, as she is here, she is “softer”, more interested in being agreeable to others. But a lot of how we receive her influence will depend on what house she is transiting in our natal chart.

This Luna/Venus conjunction receives a trine from Neptune in the first decan of Ares. Neptune is dreaming of conquest and must make a choice between two strategies. Venus, as evening star, is in a more reflective mood. This mood is encouraged by Luna who is reflective by nature, especially in her waxing phase. Venus might decide, as the old saying goes, that she can catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Pleasant as this may seem, the theme of the month is leaving behind the old and committing to the new. Making ourselves agreeable to influences, outer or inner, is only as good as the influences in question. If we are more inclined to make ourselves agreeable to people, places and things associated with what we wish to leave behind, there is danger of backsliding. If, on the other hand, we would like to attract new people, places and things that will strengthen our commitment to new ways, we can call upon this Venus/Luna conjunction to amplify the call of “here I am”.

June 21

First Quarter Moon at 0° 31’ Libra

Luna enters her period of greater light than darkness as the degree of The Summer Solstice. This is the point of no return. As the Sun enters the first decan of cancer which corresponds with the Two of Cups, the ultimate card of commitment, Luna enters the first decan of Libra which corresponds with The Two of Swords, the ultimate card of decision. From now until The Full Moon on the 29^th, Luna will grow ever more pregnant with the light of this month’s cycle. Whatever decision we make (or do not) about what needs to be left in the past will become embodied in our future. Time to banish!

June 29

Full Moon at 8° 14’ Capricorn

As Luna culminates, we find her again out of bounds. This time in the South. At the beginning of this cycle, we were inclined to tell the world who and what we were done with. Now, Luna shines inwardly as if to ask: “are you sure”? We might have taken the first steps in parting from some negative influence. But saying goodbye, even to negative things, can often be painful. As The Moon begins to fill with light, we may take a moment to celebrate the new light with which we seek to fill our old darkness.

July 2^nd

Moon conjunct Pluto (Rx) at 4° 51’ Aquarius

Pluto is the planet of power struggles between what is “on the surface” and what is deeply buried. The phantoms or obsessions, compulsions and deeply buried trauma are likely to try to regain their foot hold as Luna begins to wane. The good news is that Pluto is retrograde and more inclined to reflect upon and explore what is buried than to give those things a “boost”. Further, this meeting takes place in the sign of Aquarius, sign of the collective. Do not attempt to fight your demons alone! Instead, seek a community of people who experience similar struggles and work together to expose and banish demons.

July 6^th Luna conjunct Neptune (S/Rx) 4° 25’ Ares

Neptune, planet of immersive dreams and visions stations retrograde just in time for his meeting with Luna who is nearly at her last quarter phase. It has been a long month with many ups and downs. If you have made it this far and managed to be faithful to your efforts at reform, allow Neptune to use his power to create in you a powerful vision of what you have left behind and what returning to that place might mean. Neptune can be a planet of delusion and is not always a friend to those who seek a realistic view of their situation. Here, however, he might be able to create a vivid nightmare about what returning to our old ways would cost. Do not shrink from this nightmare, even if it is exaggerated. Sometimes a vivid dream can have a paradoxically sobering effect.

July 7

Luna conjunct Saturn 14° 26’ Ares

As Luna begins the downhill slide into darkness, which is her last quarter phase she encounters Saturn. Saturn is the planet of sobriety, maturity, hard work, the long haul and, it must be said, mortality. The message here is simple and direct. You still have a long way to go. There will be seasons of darkness and light to come. You will have to weather them with determination knowing that reaching the goals you have set for yourself will not come in a day or a year but will be a constant renewal of commitment. Further, failure to continue with the struggle could mean the difference between life and death.

July 11

Luna 6° 30’ Gemini

Luna is conjunct both Uranus at just past 4° and Mars just past 6°. This is a powerful conjunction with the planet of will and aggression and that of revolutionary change. The challenge here will be zeal without overconfidence. We are nearly finished with a long month of hard work to reform old habits and create new ones. We are also back in Gemini where we started. We will need to maintain our momentum without imagining that we have “WON”. The Moon is once again out of bounds in the north. Resist the urge to announce success prematurely. Remember what Saturn had to say just a few days ago? This still applies.

July 14

Luna conjunct Mercury (Rx cazimi)

With less than an hour from beginning her new cycle at 21° Cancer, she encounters Mercury who is, himself, barely coming off his retrograde encounter with The Sun. When Mercury is in retrograde cazimi he is closest to the Earth. Think of him as having a message from the Gods. What is this message for you?

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While every other planet takes a year or longer – some much longer – to circumambulate the entire zodiac, The Moon makes the round monthly. This allows her to “check in” with every other planet at least twelve times a year. Because she rules over habits and memories, she weaves their larger movements into our everyday lives.

The sign and degree of each New Moon establishes a new “theme” each month. I will use the Tarot cards associated with each decan to help establish this theme as a framework for interpreting her contact with each planet as she makes her way through the zodiac from one new moon to the next.

This is something of an “experiment”. If it sounds interesting to you, lets see what Luna has for us this month and in the months to come.

As always, thank you for reading.

May New Moon

May 16

New Moon 25° 58’ Taurus.

May New Moon

May 16

New Moon 25° 58’ Taurus. This is the second New Moon after the Vernal Equinox.

The third decan of Taurus belongs to Saturn and corresponds to the Seven of Pentacles. As such, this New Moon councils care and patience in the cultivation of material resources. Saturn rewards a persistence that neither grows impatient with gradual progress nor allows itself to be lulled into complacency and sleep through boredom. Taurus is ruled by Venus who values beauty, comfort and stability. But these virtues can only be purchased through patience and strength which The Bull possesses in abundance.

Each New Moon occurs against a backdrop of larger cycles. This lunation is the first after the April 26^th ingress of Uranus into Gemini where it begins a seven-year residency. Uranus, planet of revolutionary and disruptive change will, by and by, radically reorient our thinking in nearly every area of life. While this lunar cycle is “about” making our world comfortable, beautiful and secure, the influence of Uranus’s ingress into Gemini invites us to examine how we think about comfort, beauty and security. How we think about these things determines what we choose to cultivate and how.

May 17

The Moon forms a conjunction with Uranus @ 1° of Gemini. She receives testimony via “minor trine” with Neptune in Ares and Pluto in Aquarius. The trine from Pluto, which signifies all that is “buried” to Uranus which brings disruptive change, suggests a revolutionary approach to the acquisition of material resources. This could indicate a different means of acquiring these resources or a reconsideration of the role they play in our idea of “the good life”. That Pluto provides it’s testimony from Aquarius, sign of collective identity and effort, suggests that we might expect increased interest in work culture and collective bargaining. On a personal level, we might look at our relationship with material things and reevaluate our values and needs, especially to the extent that these have been shaped by collective opinions about what we should want or need. Are our attitudes about comfort and security our own or those inherited from our family or culture. To what extent do these attitudes reflect our lived experience of comfort and security?

The “apex” of the minor trine is held by Neptune in Ares. This could inspire passionate, and even aggressive calls for labor and environmental reform on one hand, or futuristic dreams of a society in which labor becomes increasingly superfluous and the “environment” that shapes our spirit most becomes increasingly a “media” rather that a “natural” one. We might think about how artificial intelligence and robotics will change the nature of work and, in turn, our expectations about the relationship between labor and material well being. Neptune likes to dream and, in the first decan of Ares, he likes to think in terms of campaigning. This minor trine between all the outer planets will be with us for many years to come but this lunation should give some idea what might be at stake with regard to material well-being and our attitude towards it.

May 18

The Moon enters Cancer, sign of her rulership where she forms a conjunction with Venus @ 0°. Venus will want to express love in the form of material support. A sextile from Mars in Taurus and trine from Neptune in Ares forms a short-lived minor trine. Mars in Taurus, Venus’s domicile, might bring about some “mama bear” feelings. Neptune in Ares (Mars’s domicile) could make us feel aggressive or strategic in our quest for material security. We are well advised to reign in any acquisitive impulses because Mars at the apex of this minor trine could lead us to over-estimate how dire our situation might be. A warrior will always prioritize preparedness over pleasure, The Sword over The Cup. But are we at war here. Must we be? With The Moon in her rulership and Venus’s dignified face in the first 10° of Cancer, the “wish of Cypris” might yet prevail.

May 20

The Moon conjuncts Jupiter @ 21° Cancer. Jupiter has recently completed a retrograde in the sign of its’ exaltation. As a planet of magnanimity and sovereignty, we might allow him to sober our sense of what is “really” necessary for our well being. This will be a good time to consider the extent to which we seek or offer “The Pentacle” where what is needed is “The Cup”. Sometimes the hardest thing to give another is our time and attention, yet these two are our most precious resources because once “spent” they are forever irretrievable. By the same token, if these most precious gifts are received from others, we should understand their incalculable value and receive them in a spirit of gratitude.

The third decan of cancer belongs to the moon. Her conjunction with Jupiter is, therefore, doubly blessed with Luna being both in her rulership and “face”. Her waxing light might be a spur to Jupiter to kindle in each of us a sense that we might, after all, find the “band width” to address all that we must build and cultivate. This is a moment for working smarter rather than harder – the power of brain over brawn. Remember this when Luna meets wit Pluto later this month.

May 23

1^st quarter Moon conjunct South Node at 4° Virgo. The South Node looks backward at accustomed habits. At this first quarter Moon we might try an exercise in feeling our abundance. This decan of Virgo belongs to The Sun and corresponds with the Eight of Pentacles, a card associated with practice. On one hand, we might consider how a more disciplined approach to our work, not for the sake of immediate gain, but rather in the interest of improvement, might bring about more emotional satisfaction in the short run while leading to greater material abundance over time. When we are bored or frustrated with our work, we sometimes sooth ourselves with over-eating, “retail therapy” and other forms of material indulgence. This makes us poorer and more lethargic, increasing frustration and impatience leading to a vicious circle.

On the other hand, we might come to the conclusion that we have been working so hard to earn our “daily bread” that we have forgotten the simple pleasure of enjoying what we have earned. A lot of this will depend on the house in your chart in which this meeting takes place but, being in the early degrees of Virgo we can tap into the precision of this Mercury ruled sign to find the proper balance between necessity and fulfillment.

May 31

Full Moon @ 10° Sagittarius trines Neptune in Ares. Sagittarius is a sign of idealism. The culmination of this lunar cycle askes us to consider how our attitude toward material comfort and security aligns with our highest ideals. This “cusp” between the first and second decan of Sagittarius falls between the decan belonging to Mercury and that belonging to The Moon. This is a shift from the abstraction which comes naturally to Mercury to the embodied, repetitive praxis that belongs to The Moon. We should take some time here to consider how our past attitudes about what constitutes comfort and security align with (or do not) our sense of what a safe and comfortable life “should” look like. There may be a “categorical imperative” that must be met here – what would it look like if everyone pursued, and succeeded in pursuing their material needs and wants in the ways we do? Would this be just and sustainable?

As to the trine to Neptune in Ares, The Moon is in the position of giving testimony to, rather than receiving it from Neptune. Neptune likes to dream, but dreams are always made of images we have already seen. The Moon, through this cycle has learned much about the nature of material need. Perhaps she might influence Neptune to dream A more integrated and realistic dream about needs and what it might take to fulfill them.

June 4

Moon conjunct Pluto @ 5° Aquarius. We find ourselves at the other extreme of the minor trine that we first saw on May 17. This time, rather than being on the receiving end of the “testimony” from Pluto and Neptune, The Moon is assisting Pluto in GIVING testimony. We should ask ourselves what we have learned about our attitude toward material well-being. If we have learned new things: decided that we should redouble our efforts in this regard or that we might have overestimated our need leading to overwork and overwhelm, we should use this knowledge to judge past attitudes (Pluto is the Judgment card in Tarot) and begin making efforts to reconceptualize that relationship, carrying forth those patterns that still serve while allowing those that no longer do to pass away.

June 8

Last quarter Moon @ 17° Pisces, draws Mars @ 15° Taurus and Mercury @ 10° Cancer into a short lived minor trine. This is a good time to hear the Piscean message of “all things as one” in a call to see the needs of one as the needs of all. Mars is debilitated in Taurus but, because this decan speaks to the need to serve all things according to their need (see the Six of Pentacles), Mars can draw upon his warrior nature to face the need of all sentient beings with a warrior’s zeal to dispatch with honor his duty to provide what is needed in the moment. Mercury, just entering his own decan of Cancer, will see a beloved community and its need for both material abundance and joy as a sign that everything must serve this end.

June 9

Moon conjunct Neptune @ 4° Ares. We should allow Luna to whisper into the ear of dreaming Neptune that, in seeing to the needs of all, the needs of each are best served. It will be difficult for Neptune to hear this council in the din of Ares. But The Moon is equal to the task in that, given her crucial role in the embodiment of all material things. She has a certain authority that dreamy Neptune can not avoid.

June 10

Moon conjunct Saturn @ 12° Ares. Square Mercury @ 12° Cancer. This is another sobering moment. Mercury has been partying and flirting in his own decan of Cancer for a few days now and might be a little lost in the sauce. There is a certain affinity between The Moon and Saturn in that they both excel in giving form to what might otherwise be too nebulous and over exuberant. Here, their combined influence will remind Mercury (perhaps a bit rudely) that there is work to be done and that there will be a lot of clean up after the feast. If we have found that our accustomed attitudes toward work have been too rigid and have vowed to work only for what we know, at a soul level, truly serves this is all to the good. At the same time, most of us have something to do that we know to be worthy of the Saturnian discipline and endurance with which we began this months round. That work still awaits us.

June 12

The exalted Moon Conjunct Mars @ 12° Taurus will remind him that “tough love” is still love. Generous and fair-mindedness in giving support to others (or even to ourselves) is as important as motivation and discipline.

June 13

The balsamic Moon meetss Uranus for the second time @ 2° Gemini. This is a good time to allow all that we have learned and, hopefully, embodied this month to inform Uranus about how to reexamine and reform our thoughts about work in the material world. Uranus loves to overturn the whole chess board, especially in Gemini. But the gentling and steadying influence of The Moon might temper and direct some of Uranus’s vigor into something truly constructive as well as revolutionary.

June 14

Cycle ends with the New Moon at 24° Gemini.

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Chart for July 7,2026 showing the “minor grand trine” between Pluto, Neptune and Uranus.

This is, perhaps, one of the most impactful configurations of outer planets that most of us will see in our lifetime. The “minor grand trine” (which I will refer to as “the hanger” because of its resemblance to a coat hanger) between Pluto in Aquarius, Neptune in Ares and Uranus in Gemini will dominate the zodiac for several years to come and will likely be remembered by astrologers as a period of epochal change. Because of the nature of the planets, all “generational”, it might be impossible to predict what the world will look like after these aspects begin to break up toward the end of the 2020s. We might, however, speculate about how the natures of these planets and their sign and decanic placement could influence the direction these changes might take.

A LITTLE DIGRESSION INTO ASPECT THEORY

The last time the outer planets formed this shape was in the 1940s. I want to look at the differences and similarities between their arrangement then and now. But before doing so, I think it might be helpful to look at the meaning of the aspects these planets form and how they work. As some of you probably know, sextiles and trines are thought of as soft or easy aspects (as opposed to squares and oppositions which are hard or difficult). Sextiles are said to be of the nature of Venus, while trines are of the nature of Jupiter. Both of these are benefic, which is why the sextile and trine are viewed positively.

Because the sextile is Venusian in nature, it “sheds a good light” on thing. But because Venus is the lesser benefic, she creates favorable circumstances more or less “by accident”. We might think of the good influence of the sextile as being like that of a beautiful day for a wedding. The weather hasn’t conspired with the wedding planner to create the perfect nuptial celebration; it just happens to help. The trine, being of the nature of Jupiter, the greater benefic, is more like a wealthy relative cutting a fat check to pay for the flowers and catering. But if these influences coincide, what a day it will be.

But there is a catch here. The influence that planets exercise upon one another via these aspects still coincide with the nature of the planets involved. Mars, for example, might spice up the wedding night via sextile due to his passionate nature, the wine and the moon and the flush of new love making the nuptial couple Horney AF. But, should he exercise a direct influence via Trine, bringing the full weight of his power into the bridal suit, the couple might get into a fight because Mars cherishes conflict and the stress of a day of drinking, eating (too much or not enough) being in close contact with extended family (and possibly family drama), is fertile soil for conflict.

Another important factor in interpreting aspects is the relation of superior and inferior through them. To understand this relationship, imagine standing in a circle of 12 people. Between you and the person directly across from you there will be five people to your right and five to your left. You are in a superior placement to the five to your right and inferior to the five to your left while the person directly across from you is neither superior nor inferior because you are in opposition and therefore equal. The terms superior and inferior do not designate worth but rather influence. The planet in the superior position exercises more influence on the inferiorly placed planet than the latter does on the former. However, this influence is never absolute because the planet that receives the influence can only act in a manner consistent with its’ nature and therefore never becomes a “proxy” for the planet in the superior position.

Of course, many factors determine the influence of an aspect. What I wanted to do here is paint a portrait in broad strokes of how the aspects can create influences consistent with their nature, and yet, not necessarily ones we might like even when they are “positive”. It will be helpful to bare this in mind as we examine the historical and present hanger.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The last occurrence of the hanger between outer planets occurred between 1943 and 1947. Then, as now, Uranus was in Gemini but with Pluto in Leo and Neptune in Libra. In the 1940s, Uranus in Gemini formed a superior sextile to Pluto, and a superior trine to Neptune. This is an important difference in that, during the 1940s, Pluto and Neptune were receiving testimony from Uranus in Gemini and reacting to it. Dreamy Neptune, in Justice concerned Libra, was being driven via Trine from revolutionary Uranus in information and technology obsessed Gemini with these dreams being “colored” by Pluto with his mass death, plutonium and inclination to settle old scores being embodied by charismatic central actors, in Look-At-Me Leo. The 1940s was filled with tumult and danger. But there was also a kind of optimism about a future built through technology and social engineering. This period gave birth to both the atomic bomb and the United Nations. The techno-optimism of our current thought leaders notwithstanding, the same shape made by the same three planets in a different order and in different signs does not augury the same kind of outcome in our own time.

TODAY

In our time, Uranus in Gemini is in an inferior aspect to both Neptune in Ares and Pluto in Aquarius. Rather than driving the hanger, it is being driven by it. Pluto, therefore, exercises more of an influence on both Neptune and Uranus.

Pluto in Aquarius will try to bring to the surface old grievances and unfulfilled aspirations buried in the collective. Depending on our ideological inclinations, this will make some anxious to realize the freedoms promised since the last hanger in the 1940s while others will feel a need to regain power and privilege they believe to have been stolen from them since that time. The thing to remember about Aquarius and its collective nature is that it represents whatever collective the individual feels a part of and those they feel or wish to be apart from. The stars do not share our individual or collective agendas, they only allow for or militate against the expression of these. Pluto in Aquarius will demand redress of collective grievance but does not guarantee who’s collective grievance will be redressed and who’s driven back into the depths.

Pluto will make its’ demands of Uranus in Gemini via superior trine. You will remember that the trine brings direct and powerful assistance and encouragement from the planet in superior aspect to that in inferior. Practically speaking this means that collective grievance, regardless of which collective or what their grievance, will attempt to leverage the revolutionary and disruptive technological drive of Uranus in Gemini who, rather than leading the movement, will try to respond to all the demands made upon it without partiality (Gemini is impartial to a fault).

Meanwhile, Pluto will also be creating fair weather for whatever Neptune dreams in Ares. Like Uranus, Neptune will try to accommodate the grievances of the collective of collectives embedded in Aquarius and excavated by Pluto. Many of us will feel the martial energy of combative and strategic Ares and embody this as immersive dreams about the victory of “our side”.

All of this points, at least to my unverified personal gnosis, to a situation that, unlike the directed and focused outcome of the 1940s hanger, leaves us an itchy and energetic, techno assisted forward momentum with no clear direction.

WHO WILL THRIVE

The short answer is, anyone who can navigate a time of uncertainty about who will “win” or even who should. Uranus in Gemini is less about decisive outcomes than about questioning the entire narrative about good guys, bad guys and what victory even looks like. The 1940s, at least in retrospect, came with certain assurances about these questions and their answers.

Uranus in Gemini will try to disassemble the social and political coordinate systems that everyone, from all points on the political and cultural spectrum, have used to determine who to align with and who to oppose. Uranus might, however, be as inclined to pick up an axe as a scalpel to accomplish his task. This is particularly concerning because of what he will receive via sextile from Neptune.

For most of this period, Neptune will be exercising his influence from the first decan of Ares. Ares is interested in bold, martial action. The first decan is especially concerned with strategy (see the Two of Wands Tarot card which corresponds to this decan).

Because Uranus in Gemini receives much more influence from Pluto and Neptune than he is able to exercise upon them, he might be willing to lend his power to the group most able to act collectively, aggressively and strategically. That might or might not be “our” group. Uranus will not necessarily be swayed by the “rightness” of the cause that we (or “others”) represent because, being in Gemini, sees our causes as abstract data rather than embodied care.

IN THE END

Embodied care, concern that is not based on rationalization but rather on a visceral desire to protect and nurture something undeniably real. This will not come until Uranus makes his ingress into Cancer in May of 2033. A lot can and will happen between now and then and, so far, we have almost no sense of how any of it will play out. But knowing that Uranus will, in 7 years, lend his power to a radical reorganization not of how we THINK but rather, how we CARE, we might have some sense of how we will navigate this moment.

The hanger that will be with us until the late 2020s might inspire a good deal of paranoia and a lot of clever scheming to meet threats, real or imagined. But what will endure is what we most deeply care for. Uranus in Gemini will not be able to help us decide what is most beloved, but it will give us permission to let go of any certainties we might already have about what is best and most beautiful. Some of us might occupy entrenched positions based more on (all too often well founded) fear and resentment. But the more entrenched we become, the more calculating and strategic. Such protectiveness, while often reasonable, is not fertile ground for genuine love and care. We would do well here to remember that Uranus is represented in Tarot by The Fool.

The Fool is without guile, has no plans or agendas. We may judge him harshly. We might think of him naïve with his head in the clouds, unaware of the seriousness of life. We might see anyone who doesn’t see the dangers that we see as such a fool. He doesn’t even seem to realize that he is about to walk off that cliff. … But his little dog does.

When this card comes up in readings, I always imagine the little dog yipping and pawing at The Fool’s leg. I imagine The Fool turning to see what his companion is on about. I imagine the dog taking off at a run from the cliff and The Fool following, never even realizing that he was at the brink of death.

The Fool turns to follow the dog because he LOVES him. What saves him is not his judgment or cunning, but the purity of love that impels him to follow the beloved. This is what saves The Fool and might just save us.

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As always, thank you for reading and I hope you are getting a lot of joy and good reflection from this season of Scorpio and Samhain.

…

This is the fourth appearance of Venus as decan ruler. In the Four of Wands (Ares 3) we saw her as shelter and the hope for things to come. Then in the first decan of Cancer she appeared as the bond which yolks us in all we commit to heart and soul. Next, at Virgo 2, she appears as rich and virginal beauty, the potential, if not promise of a rich and fertile future.

But like all things, Venus has a darker side. Here we see her as lust, acquisitiveness and the oblivion of intoxicated rapture. This is the Venus of the brothel, the casino and perhaps the shopping mall. Seven cups appear in a luminous cloud before the shadowed figure. Each of these cups promise some rich pleasure, but each contains a “catch”. Moving from right to left along the bottom row we see a cup with what appears to be a dragon. This is the temptation of raw power to overwhelm what ever might oppose us. Next we see the loral wreath of victory and renown. Pay special attention to the play of light upon the cup’s surface – a skull appears. Victory and renown will not save us from the grip of death that comes to every mortal. Next a cup of jewels reminds us of the lure of wealth and luxury. But we can’t eat gems and even a king will pawn his crown for bread if he is hungry. Next, we see a tower, the promise of a commanding view, perspective and the security of a high place. But a tower can be a prison as well as a refuge and, as the ruler of the sign reminds us, towers always crumble to ashes. The top row offers more “elevated” joys. The cup with the snake is the knowledge of medicines and poisons and the ability to move like a serpent between worlds. This is the lure of magic. Another cup contains a beautiful head but from its color we cannot tell whether what we are seeing is a ghost or a stone. Beauty can only survive the ravages of time through petrification or fleshless ideal, neither of these lives. Finally we see a figure clothed in glowing robes. Perhaps he is a sage or holy man. This is the lore of the world beyond the senses and material existence. But notice that this figure is faceless, his back turned toward us. Must we lose connection with the world to gain spiritual perfection?

This card is often interpreted as being overwhelmed by choices. But we should notice that while the cups glow in their psychedelic cloud, the one who beholds them stands in darkness. His indecision does not arise from the conflicting temptations of all these cups, it rather arises from the lack of “inner light”. The one who must choose knows nothing but unfocussed desire. Any of these cups “might” fulfill him but each has its limitation. Perhaps he doesn’t see the down side of each. Or if he does, perhaps this only keeps him jumping from one “cup” to another like a person who moves from one lover or vice to another hoping to one day find one that will satisfy him utterly and without any hangover of regret.

But this is not the way the cups that the world offers function. Every medicine is poison in excess and all sweet things turn sour. None of these cups will fill him without cost. What we learn from this card is that love, even the “purest” love, extracts a price that must be paid.

The six of cups was a return to innocence, a time before we understood that love demands a sacrifice. In the eight of cups we will see that it is not the cup that satisfies, but the living water that fills it. Each of us must find this water on our own. Each of us might find a different spring. But the lesson of the cups was taught to us by Venus way back at decan one of Cancer, the place where spirit becomes embodied by commitment to a path. ANY of these seven cups might quench the thirst of the man who stands in darkness. But none will do so without sacrifice. He must know what he wants if he is to be fulfilled. Until then, he will never be but drunk from excess and indecision. This is not the fault of Venus or the cups she holds out to us. It is the fault of one who has not learned the first principle of philosophy – know thyself.

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I want to share with you how I behold one specific aspect of magic – the enchantment of material objects. My sense of how this “works” will doubtless be at odds with some readers. Be assured that I have no interest in convincing anyone of anything contrary to their beliefs. Nor will I feel any offence in the knowledge that some may read what follows as nonsense or worse. If you have been following my musings for a while, you will already know the place I assign to knowledge and to belief. What follows arises from unverified personal gnosis.

…

I’ll start with an account of a fairly common practice among witches, creating “MOON WATER”. The practitioner gathers a container of water, often from some specific source, places it outdoors over night at some specific point in the lunar cycle. This may be accompanied by prayers and offerings to specific entities, it may be timed to coincide with the appearance of specific signs or other planets. This water is then brought indoors before sun rise and stored in a place where it will not be touched by daylight. The water can then be utilized in spell work such as baths or potions. This can be a powerful addition to any magikal working and I encourage the reader to experiment with it. It works.

But “HOW” does it work. Perhaps The Moon imparts some as-yet unknown energy to the water. But I don’t think so. Imagine an experiment. Two identical samples of water, drawn from the same source and placed in equal amounts in identical containers. One of these samples is our “control sample”. We leave this one aside and pay no further mind to it. With the other we make Moon Water. I feel very confident that if we took both samples to the most sophisticated laboratory in the world there would be found absolutely no material difference between the two samples. Although I have heard highly articulate and knowledgeable people speak of the water being “charged” in some way, I am aware of no definitive, scientifically verifiable and repeatable experiments that show this charge. It is entirely possible that we lack subtle enough instruments to detect this charge. It is equally possible that many scientists, committed as they are to an entirely materialist view of the cosmos, might be invested in denying or “explaining away” any such definitive findings. But I also believe that such considerations are irrelevant to the question of whether Moon Water, or any similar magikal material has any “REAL” power. There may be other ways that a thing can be real.

Turning to another example we might consider a certain black Fender Stratocaster electric guitar. This particular guitar was owned and played by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. Anyone familiar with the work of Pink Floyd will probably have seen this guitar in pictures and video of the band in performance. They might know that the iconic guitar solos on the legendary “Dark Side of the Moon” album were played on that guitar. Recently, this instrument was sold at auction for $3,975,000. Although I do not know how much Gilmour paid for the Strat, it could not have been more than a small fraction of that sum.

Why would a fairly common product of industrial production such as an electric guitar gain so much value simply because it was played by a respected musician in a particular historical context? It is because “THAT” guitar has a “STORY”. What grants that guitar that value is the same thing that makes your grandmothers cast iron skillet, or your father’s fishing pole precious. So called “precious metals” are assigned value based largely on their scarcity. How much scarcer is a story. There may be many black Stratocasters in the world, many iron skillets or bamboo fishing rods. But the fact of having been held, used and loved by a particular person in a particular context makes even the most common item one of a kind.

The one incontrovertible difference between the jar of water that spent the night in Moonlight and the one that spent the night on my kitchen table is that one is not the other. The same could be said of the difference between the water in a baptismal font and the water in the toilet bowl in the church restroom, one was blessed by the priest, the other was not. There need be no more difference than this to make the holy water holy. Again, it is the story that makes the difference.

One might ask, if it is not some energic, vibrational or quantum field alteration in the water then what CAUSES the effect the water has on the spell. Such a question demonstrates the extent to which materialism has infiltrated the world of spiritual practice. Causality, as we normally think of it, is a feature of material reality, it pertains to space/time, matter/energy. Spiritual potency has to do with what theologians call “first cause”.

In my essay entitled The Real World I wrote:

A triangle is a figure with three angles that, when added together, equal 180° irrespective of how long the sides of the figure are. There needn’t be any material object which displays these characteristics, but if such an object exists, (three sided tables, three cornered hats, the gable of a peaked roof, etc.) we say that it is “triangular” in FORM. Three sided tables and three-cornered hats are physical objects that participate in the nature of the triangle, but the triangle neither arises from, nor is dependent upon these (or any other objects) to exist. The triangle is a METAPHYSICAL entity to which there might, or might not, be corresponding material objects. When we see the gable end of a peaked roof we do not usually say, “well yes, that LOOKS LIKE a triangle but I want to see THE REAL triangle”.

We see from this example how an abstract, non-material entity can be the cause of an entire class of material entities, in this case, all triangular objects. This metaphysical entity founds the very possibility for every triangular object that has or can ever exist. It is my contention that there are many such entities in the universe.

One of the arguments against astrology is that the stars and planets are so far from us here on Earth that their gravitational influence could have no meaningful impact on events here. There are various ways to refute this argument. One might point to the gravitational influence of The Moon on the Tides and the well known but still anecdotal reports of busy police officers and emergency room nurses on nights of the full moon. But this argument doesn’t show exactly HOW The Moon’s influence on water CAUSES bizarre or violent behavior among humans. One might point out that there are other forces beside gravity, the Schumann resonances of planets for example. While Schumann resonance is a well-documented phenomenon, without an unbroken causal chain between the resonance and what ever phenomenon one might want to attribute to it, it is difficult to use it as a basis for the efficacy of astrology. One might make similar arguments for and against the efficacy of other forms of divination as well as crystal healing, homeopathic medicine and all manner of other practices. The weakness of such arguments, for and against such practices is that they are rooted in the assumption that there must be some MATERIAL causal connection between the stars and our moods and behaviors (energy is still material).

But what if the influence of the stars, crystals, etc. is “causal” in the way that the laws of geometry “cause” things to have the shapes they do. Many, if not most astrologers do not believe that Venus (the planet) is identical with Venus (The Goddess). For such astrologers, the planets are more like the “calling cards” of the Gods for which they are named. The Goddess of beauty and love is linked through magical correspondence not only with the second planet from The Sun but also with copper, The Empress card in Tarot, the color green, emeralds, roses, Fridays and any number of other things. These things do not “receive” their Venusian potency from the planet Venus, rather, they, as well as the planet receive their power from Venus HERSELF. Gods and Goddesses, like numbers and even concepts such as before and after, larger and smaller, do not reside in, nor arise from the material world, they are, rather, the way in which the SPIRIT world provide it with its FORM. The spirit world literally INFORMS the material.

Returning to Gilmour’s Strat or your grandmother’s skillet, what makes these things what they are, not just AN electric guitar, A skillet, but rather THIS guitar, THIS skillet. It might seem a long way from stories of the mighty deeds of ancient Gods to legendary musical performances to smiley face pancakes in Grandmom’s kitchen but the thing they share, the thing that makes them uniquely what they are, are stories.

When we invite Venus to enchant a charm, we call upon the very LOGOS, the true name of the Goddess. The crafting of the charm, the materials and arrangement of these, have the same relationship to Venus herself as the shape of the table we wish to make perfectly square (or whatever shape) has to the perfect geometric forms which is instantiated in it. This is why the compass and square are sacred to Free Masonry. They, like all magical tools help us bring the immaterial presence of eternal forms into the material world. The posture of The Magician, one hand holding a wand aloft to Heaven, the other pointed downward to the Earth, invokes the “spirit” of the elements into their representative tools on the table before him. As above, so below.

When Gilmour played the legendary solos on DSOTM, he used that black Fender Stratocaster to bring something eternal into the world of matter. When your Grandmom made you pancakes, she was doing something only quantitatively different (perhaps her magic was even more powerful than Gilmour’s in the long run). When the builders of the Hagia Sophia built that magnificent structure they were inviting something of the eternal perfection of the spirit world into solid stone.

Hagia Sophia of Church of Holy Wisdom

https://idsb.tmgrup.com.tr/ly/uploads/images/2021/04/18/thumbs/800x531/108963.jpg?v=1618853481

My Grandfather was a sign painter employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad. I remember a dusty metal cabinet filled with old and well used stencils. Sometimes when I draw sigils with protractor, straight edge and French curves or even with my CAD program, I invite my Grandfather to be present as I work. I talk to him, describe the tools and their use. I think he would have been interested in these things even though he had no interest (that I am aware of) in matters “occult”. What I wouldn’t give now to have even a few of his old stencils, maybe his initials G.S. I understand why someone might pay millions of dollars for a well-played old Strat. I think a lot about what I will leave to my decedents when I leave this place. I hope that they will hold my books and tools and remember fondly some story about me. I hope that such stories will have a salutary influence on the shape of their lives. This hope informs the experiences I share with them now. When my grandchildren reach the age of 10 years old, I purchase a stone arrow head made of some stone that seems to correspond with something of their personality. Each year, I add two stone beads to this necklace that correspond to some virtue I hope they might cultivate through that year. This is one way I try to anchor my spirit into the world of matter the way those old stencils, even in my imagination, shape my story now. This is what family heirlooms are all about, they are talismatic.

In the “disclaimer” at the start of this essay I mentioned unverified personal gnosis. Gnosis is a big word in magical discourse. More than simply “knowledge”, the word designates a particular WAY of knowing. Like the word “dig” in mid-20^th century hipster parlance, which meant not only to like or appreciate something but that this thing speaks to something essential about one’s personality - to the SOUL - the achievement of gnosis, in a spell invoking Venus, for example, we not only “know” an number of things about her that allow us to form a charm, we “feel” her presence. If you have ever written a love letter you understand the difference between explaining how one might write one and the experience of “spilling your heart out on the page”. Love itself is a form of gnosis. My son, a chef, talks a lot about the attempt to express the soul of a dish. One essential ingredient in a pumpkin pie is every thanksgiving dinner you have ever been to. Chicken soup, when made in this spirit, is a witch’s brew.

Many religious traditions conceive of the world as having begun with a word, “In the beginning was the word”. Both Jewish and Hindu traditions hold that the language of their scriptures is the language in which the cosmos was “written”. In our time there are many who hold, with varying degrees of sincerity, that our world is a computer simulation. Although I doubt this, it is interesting to consider the relationship between the hardware of a computer and the code that directs its operations. This code no more arises from the machine it operates than the geometry of squares arises from tables. The word that imprints the will of the magus into the world, ABRACADABRA, (I create as I speak), also acknowledges the informing potency of immaterial patterns upon the material world. Recently I learned that here in Appalachia, there is a longstanding custom of leaving the home of a deceased relative exactly as they left it. To leave the chimneys of homes that have burned or otherwise succumbed to time as “gravestones” of the house. Gravestones themselves are acknowledgements that the bones beneath the ground on which they sit were once animated by a spirit which made them precious to those left behind. The world begins and ends with story, is shaped and formed by word and deed, the power of eternal spirit upon our lips and moving through our hands.

In the opening lines of the Whole Earth Catalogue, Stewart Brand wrote “We are as gods, we might as well get good at it”. This acknowledges the tremendous power of humans to shape the world for better or worse by what we say and also what we choose not to. The world we leave behind, individually and collectively, will tell our story. Will we leave this sphere a crystal ball for prophecy? A story with a future?

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Today I repost an essay I posted on here a few years ago. At that time, I had a lot fewer subscribers than I do now so, unless you are the type that works your way through the archive it is likely that you missed this one.

I have chosen to repost it now because it is the spooky season of the year and there isn’t much more spooky than The Devil. Also, I have had a few conversations of late, both on Substack and IRL about “dark spirits” so I thought it was about time. Finally, I think it is among the best pieces I have posted here.

As usual, I am profoundly grateful for your time and attention. Thank you and blessed Samhain for those who observe.

Peace.

…..

DOWN WITH THE DEVIL

The 15^th Trump of The Tarot has been given the names “Lord of the Gates of Matter” and “child of the forces of Time”. These designations are key to understanding the true scope and limitation of The Devil’s power. This power is not something that The Devil exercises over us. Rather it is a power inherent in the material world as such.

The Devil Card is associated with the Zodiacal sign of Capricorn. This is the Cardinal Earth sign and has to do with the foundations of material existence. The sign is ruled by Saturn, planet of structure, discipline, labors, limitations, boundaries and time. Saturn is represented in Tarot by The World Card. Saturn represents all of the difficult but necessary virtues necessary in the making of the material world and everything that happens in this world. It is also the source of all the world’s vices. However we might feel about The Devil, we must recon with him if we wish to accomplish anything here in the Material Plane, even when our goal is to forsake this plane for one “higher”.

In Pamela Smith’s image we see a hybrid beast with the posture and baring of a man. Upon his goat like forehead he bares the inverse pentagram. The pentagram illustrates the relationship between the Material Plane and the Spirit world. When upright, we see the material world (the lower four points of the star correspond to the classical elements) reaching up to the realm of spirit. Spirit presides over nature. When the pentagram is inverted, as it is here, we see the world of matter above spirit. Spirit is trapped in nature. It is for this reason that many occultists associate the inverse pentagram with evil and the Devil.

He is seated on a black cube symbolizing the world of matter, heavy, dark and seemingly impervious to time and change. We see a male and female figure bound to this cube by heavy chains. The horns and tails they bare symbolize the animal nature of human kind driven by lust and fear, ignorant of spiritual reality. The chains are only loosely looped around the necks of the captives. They could be easily removed. The captives are so much in thrall to desirable and fearful things within the material plain that they seem not to know, or care, that they have the power to release themselves.

One of the most widely accepted interpretations of this card is that it describes a person or persons who find themselves in a bad situation which they either can not, or will not, see their way out of. Perhaps there is something in the situation that they want or feel they need (toxic relationship but hot sex, bad job but good pay, bad drugs but good times). Or perhaps they imagine something bad will happen to them if they leave (I will be lonely, I will be poor, I will loose all my friends). For these reasons, The Devil is often associated with addictions, obsessions, compulsions, etc. By this interpretation we are tasked with recognizing that what appears to be a threat from without, truly arises from within. Since we are the source of our own bondage, it is only we who might free ourselves. All of this is true but there is more to it than that.

It is important to note that The Devil isn’t looking at his captives. He looks at us as if to say “I’m not holding these people against their will. Look at those chains. They can leave any time they want”. The devil is being “tricky” here but not dishonest. If the captives would but imagine a possibility beyond their chains they might leave. Perhaps they fear what The Devil might do if they made a break. They know he isn’t looking at them but he might if they tried to escape. They might imagine all manner of tortures. The Devil you know is better than the one you do not.

But what if The Devil’s only power was his ability to frighten and tempt us. The power of our own imagination often paralyses us with visions of pleasure or pain. Often these visions have little or no relation to what is actually happening. A mere specter in our mind is all that is needed to keep us in Hell.

One thing that The Devil is best known for is the making of deals. Perhaps he looks down upon his captives in not quite mock pity and asks if they would like to make one:

Devil “Why do you not throw off your chains?”

Captives “Can we?”

Devil “Of course you can”

The captives inspect their chains, perhaps for the first time. One of them starts to lift the loop than, ceased by an unaccountable fear, drops the heavy chain back to their shoulders.

Captives “we are afraid of what will happen if we leave”?

Devil “What do you imagine will happen?”

The captives proceed to regale their host with all the things they fear that they might loose, and more, all the nightmare visions of creatures even worse than him. The Devil moves the torch he holds a little closer to the man’s tail and asks:

Devil “Could it really be worse than here? How do you know it isn’t better. How about this, you both have told me of your hopes and fears. If you would view me as a teacher and maybe even a friend, I will show you how you might have more of what you like and less of what you don’t, more good, less evil. Take those chains off and I will teach you”.

And teach us he has. All of the material progress we have made rests on our ability to isolate individual things and processes as sources of good or evil (as judged by us). Isolation of specific details is a Saturnian quality (remember, Saturn rules the sign of Capricorn which belongs to The Devil).We have learned how to extract wealth, pleasure and security of every kind through our sciences. Yet we have consistently run into the same basic problem - abundance in one place means want in another, security for one group of people is bought at the price of uncertainty for others, the pleasures of a few are purchased by the pain of the many.

Occasionally we might run back to the teacher and complain that something we like always seems to come with something we don’t, why do riches seem to breed poverty, abundance leave the environment denuded. The Devil’s answer is always the same:

Devil. “I thought you wanted lots of things”.

Us. ‘Yes but we didn’t realize that people would be harmed and nature itself turned into a midden. It seems that we are always surrounded by trash and angry people who seem to resent us. It makes us frightened”.

Devil. “Look, the deal was that you tell me what you want and do not want and I will tell you how to how to have it. If you don’t like trash and resentment you could take less, share more, treat the trees and seas like they had the same feeling and needs as you.

Us. “Would that mean we would have less abundance, security and pleasure?”

Devil. “Who do you mean by ‘we’”?

The perceptive reader might perceive that The Devil is withholding a key piece of information, namely, the necessary connection between abundance and want, pleasure and pain, even life and death. But does he conceal it? Does he even need to? Is not the connection between cost and benefit obvious, if not intuitively than experientally? We understand perfectly that for someone to eat, someone else must die, for someone to prosper, someone else must not. Isn’t this obvious even from our physics? When I was a church goer the pastor used to tell the story of a man who asks God why he allows terrible things to happen. God asks the man what sort of things. The man recites a list of human tragedy: hatred, war, poverty, and so on. God thinks about it for a moment and asks the man “Why do you?”

The Lord of the Gates of Matter and Child of the forces of Time is a “nature spirit” (some say he is Pan). Nature is not immoral, it is amoral. Like it or not, morality requires a value judgment. Nature makes no such judgments, it allows that which is strong enough to thrive to do so, it allows those who are not to die. This is all there is to nature. When we are confronted with the Devil Card, we are confronted by nature itself, our nature. We do not have to accept that nature is strictly “red in tooth and claw”, but it is that sometimes – for the protection of its’ kind and its progeny – the tooth and claw are as much instruments of love as the mother’s breast. To deny this is to deny reality. This is the reality the Devil confronts us with. When he appears we are obliged to answer his question: “Who do you mean by ‘we’”? He will not judge us. That isn’t his job (that would be the Judgment Card).

Saturn will help us understand what is actually at stake here and what we can not escape. Saturn creates and maintains boundaries: between self and other, us and them – between what matters to us and what does not. If we live, move, and wish to act in the material plane, not matter how lofty our objectives, we must recon with these boundary issues. These are the boundaries that The Devil calls our attention to when he asks us “who do you mean by we?”

There is always someone or something which must be left out when we try to “build a better world”. There is no exception to this rule. Look within our self. Is there anyone or any thing which you would exclude from we? Saturn is the planet of Isolation but also protection, belonging but also exile. It is his (or perhaps her) power which we borrow when we answer The Devils question. In the world of matter this is the question we must answer so that our values and our people might thrive.

The material world is the reflecting of the spiritual. Whatever is bound here is bound there, whatever loosed here is loosed there. The horror that the Devil calls forth in us, in our Tarot Spread, or in our life, is the horror of knowing that it is we who bind and we who loose. So to ask the Devil’s question one final time, who do we mean by we?

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This is yet another entry in which I share a section from my book on Tarot and the Wheel of the Year. I hope you all find it interesting. I am honored to be in the presence of so many excellent writers here on Substack. I know I barely have time to read all that is worth reading. I imagine it is the same for you. It is in that spirit that I thank you for the precious gift of your time and attention.

…

In the Wate-Smith Tarot, Libra is the Justice card. Justice goes beyond the regulation of human affairs under law, natural or divine. Both Plato and Aristotle saw justice as a kind of “fitness” of things to their ends. Ideas like proper measure, timeliness and accuracy in calculation and narrative are all aspects of justice.

Libra begins with the Autumn equinox. Both Vernal and Autumnal equinoxes are characterized by a balance of darkness and light. Both remind us that a well-ordered life requires both work and rest, action and reflection. But while The Vernal equinox inspires us to actualize latent potentials, in ourselves and our environment, The Autumnal reminds us that not all things brought to fruition can be carried into times to come. With her scale and sword, Justice trims all that is excessive to form a harmonious and sustainable whole.

As a time of growth and abundance gives way to one of want and decay we must enjoy enough to sustain and gladden us through the long night of the year while setting aside enough to sow in spring. We must evaluate tools and techniques to see which have performed as expected and which have proved less than optimal. In Tarot, The Sword stands for dispassionate analysis. Decisions about what can be consumed and what conserved, what tools and procedures have served and which might be abandoned, must be made without passion (wands), sentiment (Cups) or even profitability (Pentacles). Only the Sword of reason can bring the balance that will grant us the perspective we need.

As we proceed through the decans, with their associated cards and rulers, we shall see what justice demands of us. But first we should take a moment to recognize Venus who rules the sign. Libra is the masculine domicile of Venus, the feminine being Taurus. In the latter, we see Venus/The Empress, in her role as nurturer and sustainer of the material world. Here we see a different side of the Goddess of beauty and love, one less intuitively consonant with these virtues but no less essential to them.

Thomas Aquinas claimed that beauty, in art or anything else, is the copresence of three virtues: INTEGRITAS (wholeness), CONSONENTIA (proportionality) and CLARITAS (radiance). Wholeness requires that everything necessary should be present, proportionality ensures that these parts are harmonious - no part overwhelms another, but all serve the whole. When these virtues are present, they awaken understanding and appreciation. This is radiance.

As Goddess of beauty, Venus, employs these virtues to draw things into ever larger wholes. All parts of a system (whole), be it a painting, a musical ensemble, a family, community, nation or ecosystem, must work toward wholeness. All parts must be kept within limits. When we see a beautiful painting, hear a well-rehearsed orchestra, meet a happy and prosperous family, live under good government and enjoy abundant and fertile natural surroundings, the feeling of satisfaction we get is the radiant communication of beauty. But beauty sometimes requires that people and things be checked in their inclinations and drives. A healthy eco-system will have a certain amount of predation, and while no one wants to be eaten, everyone must eat if the system is to thrive. Likewise, in communities of people, whether a family, a business or a country, compromise and negotiation of privilege and duty must prevail or concerted action, which is the guiding purpose of all fellowship, will become impossible. All of this reminds us that beauty also requires a degree of severity.

As does love. We might say that Venus uses beauty as a template for love. All that has been said of beauty might also apply to love. Love often requires sacrifice and self-discipline in order to promote feelings of safety and belonging within relationships. It is no accident that when we are moved by a beautiful landscape, a beautiful painting or a beautiful soul we declare our love for it. Beauty and love go together. Both require Justice in the broader sense in which we find it in the card that represents the Sign of Libra which is the sign of social harmony and good will.

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While most of us turn to these for guidance in specific circumstances, few of us see that they are fountains of wisdom from which we can drink even, and especially when we ARE NOT in immediate need of guidance or rescue from unforeseen, unpleasant or ambiguous circumstances. We can study the Tarot, for example, the way we might read scriptures or sutras, for the GENERAL wisdom they can provide. By approaching these systems in this way, we might even find less need to consult them in times of confusion and trouble because we find ourselves in such times less often.

It is in this spirit that I call your attention first to the Five of Swords then to the Five of Wands to learn what it might tell us about our current historical moment. Generally, I avoid commentary on “current events”, especially when these are divisive. I try to stay in my lane. I am a diviner and philosopher of sorts. I like to think that things I write about are applicable to anyone at any time and in any situation. I try to concentrate less on what we think and do and more on how things are thought and done. We all have our own feelings and thoughts about the world in which we live and although these may differ greatly, I am convinced that there are deep structures in reality in which all of our thoughts and feelings, no matter how divergent, are rooted. For example, everyone loves something or someone. The fact that you may love what and whom I hate doesn’t change the fundamental nature of the love both of us feel for our beloved - Venus loves in us all. It is easy to forget this when what our feelings of love and hatred, for example, are directed to diametrically different objects - “SURELY my enemy doesn’t REALLY love that for which I feel contempt”. If there is anything like wisdom in the world, I am convinced that it consists mainly in understanding that the FEELING my enemy calls by the name of love, hatred, loyalty, etc. is the same feeling that I call by these same names.

The passage that follows is from the book I am working on with the tentative title Tarot and the Wheel of the Year. It concerns the first decan of Aquarius

…

The first decan of Aquarius is ruled by Venus (The Empress). Here, she represents the love for humanity. Having just come from Capricorn, with its solitary struggle against crude self-interest, we turn our attention to others. We may feel a bodhisattva like desire to save others from the struggles and potential traps we (feel) we have escaped. The architects of all the great religious and political systems the world has known with the attempt to save humanity from the pitfalls of their purely animal nature. By invoking law, either divine or natural, they have sought to teach the world a principle which, like a guiding star, would lead all people as one. But all too often this has been accomplished by The Sword.

The Five of Swords is a picture of victory. The central figure holds one sword, presumably his own, in his right hand, two more in his left, presumably of previously vanquished opponents. On the ground we see yet two more thrown down by the two figures retreating toward the distant waters. That the latter have simply thrown down their weapons, seemingly without a fight suggests the overwhelming power of the central figure.

Remembering that swords have to do with the mind and ideas, we might think of the central figure as having won through the superiority of law or religion. This would explain the apparent lack of blood shed in the picture. But the fact that the retreating figures have their back to the victor rather than being seated at his feet suggests that they may not have accepted the “gospel” that the victor has brought. Perhaps they will seek new lands across the sea. Perhaps these waters are the depths of the unconscious, where even the victor may send his unconquered doubts.

In any case, the victor stands alone in a baren landscape while the vanquished face uncertain peril. And there is a darker warning. The vanquished are not dead. Whether they are defeated people or merely the silenced uncertainty of the victor, these refugees will find a place to hide and nurse their bitterness in exile. The stories vanquished people tell their children might one day grow into rebellion.

This card is associated with pyrrhic victory, won at a cost so dear that it is as good as a defeat. It is worth dwelling on the Venusian (and NOT martial) aspect of this card. Sometimes our love for a thing, a person, a cause, is so great that we are willing to alienate and possibly destroy to have it. What is so troubling about these campaigns is that how often they are fully rationalized. We might seek the submission of the world to our will even by claiming that it is, after all, not OURS but the will of God or the inevitable direction of history. We must always remember that the mind is the servant of the heart and not the other way around. What we see here is a mind that has fully convinced itself of the rightness of its aim. Nothing is easier then to convince ourselves that the world in which WE would like to live is the one in which others SHOULD want to live. The end of this operation is to drag others into our world (or expel them from it) “for their own good”, authoritarianism in the name of love. Nothing in Aquarius suggests that there is a better way than this, but everything here beseeches us to seek one just the same.

…

The final line of the foregoing passage bares closer scrutiny. Aquarius is about IDEAS aimed at making the world a BETTER place. Such ideas are never in short supply. But Aquarius is also in opposition to Leo.

One of the deeper truths in astrology concerns the opposition. When we look at the zodiac, we see that signs that lay directly across the wheel from one another (opposed), are also conceptually opposed. One way of understanding this is that one sign in an opposition expresses the shadow, or unacknowledged aspect of the other. In the case of Leo and Aquarius we see that ideas about the “common good” are always articulated by a specific individual or group of individuals (a charismatic leader, powerful political party or religious sect, for example). Such individuals or groups which stand apart from the collective but claim to know what is best for it are the Leonid aspect that lay hidden in the Aquarian ideal. What represents itself as a force for the good of all is, in fact, a shadow of narrow self-interest. To understand this shadow, we can look at the decan (and card) which lay directly opposite from Aquarius One.

…

The first decan of Leo wears the face of Saturn. We see five men in a stick fight. Each tries to assert dominance over the others but for each it is four against one. How is this a picture of the waning days of summer?

Leo is the Fixed Fire Sign. When fire burns brightest it is also consuming the maximum of fuel. When tempers flare and battles rage, when beasts compete for mates, plants vie for space and light, each individual knows that a win for others translates to loss for themselves. This is, in fact, how fire is fought with fire. In the Five of Wands each man tries to subdue the others to gain their share of resources. This is the chaos of a jungle where everything attempts to eat everything else.

But this battle of all against all is not restricted to what we call “nature”. Every kind of “culture war” reveals this struggle. Political parties, religious groups, even advertisers compete for attention, adherence and support. To win as many hearts and minds as possible is the goal of any “movement”. Even those movements focused on peace and harmony (as they see it) must compete for the most valuable resource, that of ascent. But why must this be a battle, why can’t we all just get along, live and let live? It is because of the limitations placed upon us by material reality, limitations mandated by Saturn.

Although ideas and ideals have their origin in the world of pure form, the purely METAPHYSICAL world beyond the boundaries set by Saturn, their embodiment here below requires more than abstract form. To become SUBSTANTIAL, actual substance is required. Substance is what literally “stands beneath” our hopes and fears. To entertain a thought requires the BURNING (fire) of calories. Ideas and ideals must be nourished with actual food, fire (wands) requires fuel to live. As autumn approaches, all of nature feels the need to gather food and fuel for winter. This is what the fight is all about.

…

While Aquarius is about ideas, Leo is about actual substance. While the Air of Aquarius feeds the Fire of Leo (ideal fueling competition between people and institutions by rationalizing them), the Fire of Leo stirs up more wind. Like a great conflagration, these two forces increase one another until all the fuel is burned and nothing can live to entertain further thought.

Both Leo and Aquarius are the fixed signs of their element. Fixed signs are the most stable version of their elemental group. This suggests a certain intractability between the tendencies of Aquarius and Leo. These tendencies are experienced on the human level as the battle of the individual against the collective.

While this tension has its creative as well as its destructive side (we are, after all, still here having the same fight we always have), we should recognize that there are moments when this tension threatens to consume the entire forest. Sometimes this cannot be helped. Great fires are part of the forest ecology after all. But if we are to maintain our hope and our humanity, we are well served to see this tension in terms of a comprehensive whole. As long as the stars shine above this tension will always return. This knowledge might easily lead to a sense of hopelessness and futility. At the same time, since the tension will NEVER be resolved, neither side will ever enjoy a decisive victory. So, if you are on the “losing” side, you can be assured that your side will one day be ascendant and if you are on the winning side, know that your victory can never be more than a day in the grand scheme of things.

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As the summer wears down and we prepare to cross the threshold into the “thin” season, I return with the first blog specific essay I have written in a while. I have included a number of photographs that have admittedly only tangential connection with the subject at hand but, in many ways, tangents are important to what follows.

As always, thank you for reading.

This time, I want to start with a story told to me by an old friend about an experience he had during a Quaker Meeting. A central part of Quaker worship is long periods of “expectant silence”, in which one listens for the spirit within. During this meeting, my friend looked out the window where he saw a tree in full autumn colors. He spoke of his surprise at the early onset of autumn, how the equinox was mere weeks away, how it was a little later than he thought. From these thoughts came more abstract ideas about the passage of time and seasons. I made some remark about how, at our age, it is good to be reminded of these things.

Upon leaving the meeting, however, he saw that this tree was still in its’ summer green. Another member of the congregation explained that when the sun reflects off the windows of the meeting hall, it sometimes makes the trees look redder than they are. I asked him if finding out that the tree looked as it did because of a “trick of the light” made his impressions less poignant. He said no but added that it was important to keep one foot in the rational world lest we become delusional. I want to examine this fear of delusion.

…

When astrologers look at the planet Mars, they do not think they are seeing the God of War himself. Instead, the planet acts as a “calling card”. This is how most magical correspondences work. Venus isn’t “made of copper” but this metal can represent her in workings that involve the Goddess.

People outside of the magical and divinatory arts often mistakenly believe that we “worship the stars” or even statues. Some of this misconception can be traced to a deep-seated taboo against “idolatry” embedded in cultures influenced by Abrahamic faiths. There are statues of Hekate, Hermes, Bodai and even The Virgin Mary in my cabin. The difference between these likenesses and the Gods they represent are as clear to me as the difference between my wife and the picture of her that I carry in my wallet. I feel certain that even the most ardent devotee of any deity can discern this difference

Another taboo, at least as powerful as the religious prohibition against “graven images” is the rationalist bias against attributing causal agency to entities with no demonstrable connection with the phenomena they are thought to influence. For example, the belief that stars and planets exert influence on our personality and behavior. But the rationalist who thinks we (magical practitioners) imagine that the planet Venus “causes” us to fall in love make the same mistake as the religionist who imagines that we worship statues. This is not how most practitioners conceptualize this relationship. For us, the relationship between the stars, our Tarot Cards and Runes, wands, cups, athames, etc. is more poetic than causal.

…

The Heliacal Rise of Sirius (The Dog Star) which happens in late summer, has been observed for millennia. 4,000 years ago, The Egyptians saw this event as heralding the inundation of The Nile, an event on which the fertility of the entire Nile River Valley, and, in turn, the abundance of the vast kingdom depended. There is no evidence that they believed this brightest star in the sky CAUSED the flood. Although they attributed this gift to the generosity of their Gods, they viewed the first appearance of Sirius as an OMEN or SIGN. There is a point in late July when I find a few spent leaves from the Tulip Poplar trees on the lawn in front of our cabin. It is usually around this same time that we begin to see more and larger clouds appearing in the sky. This is usually a reliable indicator that we will experience a violent thunderstorm sometime within the next few weeks and the first cooler nights that herald the coming of autumn shortly after. These things are SIGNS of autumn, but they do not cause it to come. I am certain that the ancients saw the same kind of connection between heliacal rise of Sirius and the flooding of the Nile.

A few years back, I wrote an essay entitled Allowing Magic, in which I wrote about The lore associated with The Dog Star, including some “personal lure” which makes it special to me:

“… part of my early morning routine is to say prayers. One of the recipients of these prayers is the Goddess Hekate. After offering this prayer I usually spend some time casually conversing with her about my practice and the things that weigh on my heart and mind. On the day I first sighted Sirius I was celebrating the return of the Big Dog with her and thinking about some of the lore associated with him. Now in the mountains, hearing the barking of dogs in the early morning is nothing unusual. None the less, per tradition, if I am conversing with Hekate and happen to hear a dog barking, I take it as a sign that she is near. With my head full of stars and stories and the presence of my beloved “Auntie Kate” (as I affectionately address Hekate when she feels especially close) it occurred to me that the Great Dog might just as well be hers.”

A few days ago I saw Sirius for the first time this year. Like in the passage above, I was in the middle of morning prayers to Hekate. I was sharing with her the difficulty I was having in expressing the point which I am trying to express here. When I saw Sirius, I remembered the passage above and how the lore of The Dog Star became entangled in my own personal gnosis and lure. Hekate “reminded” me about the relationship between the Dog Star and the coming autumn and how this relationship is EXACTLY the sort of correspondence that I am trying to describe – a “coincidence” yes, but one that carries meaning and significance.

Stories about discarnate beings (Gods, ancestors, land spirits, etc.) become relationships as they inform the way we think and live. We learn to look for their signs in the normal flow of events. We call these encounters synchronicities, omens, portents, or “mere” coincidence when we wish to dismiss them. They ARE coincidences in that they “coincide” with a thought or feeling that lends them subjective significance. But why should we call them “mere” simply because the significance we attribute to them is subjective?

A lot of the answer depends on how we think about the role and nature of causality in such incidents. In my friend’s encounter with the tree, a trick of the light coincided with a series of meaningful insights and impressions. This “trick” occurred within a context, the expectant silence, the significance of seasons and cycles which are a big part of my friend’s spirituality. The appearance of the tree in that anomalous light formed a kind of nucleus around which a series of significant thoughts and insights formed. This is similar to what happens when we pull Tarot cards. The images give shape and direction to nebulous thoughts, a narrative order which we call “insight”. The cards don’t CAUSE these insights but become occasions for their occurrence. Likewise, my friends insights about time, change, endings and their connection to spirit were REAL even if the colors in the tree were not.

…

In his book S.S.O.T.B.M.E (Sex Secrets of the Black Magicians Exposed), Ramsay Dukes writes the following:

“The process of pattern recognition requires us to lay aside the critical analytical faculty, but it does not require us to reject it outright. Once a pattern has been recognised you can always choose to analyse it, but there is little point in looking so closely that you no longer see the pattern. … The sword or dagger is a magical symbol of the logic of Science — it contrasts with the cup as a magical symbol of the feeling of Magic. The former is about banishment and falsification, the latter about acceptance and confirmation.”

Whether what my friend saw through the window, in the company of his spiritual community and the holy spirit that they conjured by their mutual expectancy was REALLY as it appeared or not, the insights: the stately order of nature, the way our individual lives are both informed by and expressive of this order were no less meaningful. All art, painting, theatre, music, film, etc. invite us into what the Artist and Magician Austin Spare called an “as if” way of thinking. Of this mode of thought Dukes writes.

“What the chaos magician is putting into practice is Austin Spare’s principle of acting “as if”. … the correct approach to a Magical theory or model is not to seek to disprove it as one would with a Scientific theory, but to see if you can convince yourself that it is true by acting as if it was true. If this results in the theory ‘working’, then you rejoice in it as a practical tool.”

When we read a novel, watch a film or, I will add, participate in a religious service, we needn’t try to PROVE that what we are experiencing corresponds to the way things ARE. In fact, this is a great way to “kill the mood”. In such moments we are not seeking to understand what things ARE, but rather what, if anything, they MEAN. When we tell someone we love them “with all our heart”, we do not qualify this declaration by assuring them that our kidneys are also involved. The other knows what we mean. Likewise, if you enter a sacred space, whether a Quaker Meeting House or a Pagan Ritual Circle, an immersive rock concert or a Tolkien novel, you aren’t on a fact-finding mission. You approach these experiences with “The Cup” to collect and savor the feelings and impressions. You can always, if you need to, banish these feelings and impressions with The Sword if you feel the need to do so.

…

The skeptics among us will point out that this “Cup” might contain an intoxicating brew that will lead to a loss of reason, bad judgements and even worse behavior. While it is hard to deny the connection between imaginative engagement with the world and delusional thinking (the meaning of The Cup is, after all, bound up with the idea of ecstasy, whether carnal or spiritual), it is also worth asking why we do not approach The Sword with at least as much caution.

Have we not carved up the world, socially, ecologically, economically, and politically in the name of such sober minded notions as maximized profit and scientific management of resources, both natural and human? How is the deforestation of the Amazon, the removal of mountain tops in order to more efficiently gain access to the minerals beneath, the flooding of entire valleys and displacement of people from their ancestral lands to provide hydroelectric power here in Appalachia, the displacement of the entire population of the Bikini Islands to test atomic weapons any more destructive than the overindulgence that The Cup represents? And if we look closely, how much more “sober” is it? The wielding of these “Swords” has not proceeded with some surgical procedure. It has been ordered and orchestrated by men drunk on the lust for power and profit – or to put it in a more magical language – lust of RESULTS.

I have no interest here in “debunking” reason as its’ champions seem to wish to do to magical thought. My point in the foregoing paragraph was to demonstrate that any tool, The Sword or The Cup (The Wand [power] and The Pentacle [money] for that matter) can be misused and abused, especially when people are unaware of or unwilling to acknowledge the metaphysical power of these “tools of the Magus”.

…

If you have been reading my writing for any length of time you will have noticed that I make little distinction between the “magical” and the “mundane” in thought, speech or deed. Magic is not only our birthright, it is as “natural” to us as our opposable thumbs or our frontal lobes. We can do good, bad or even incompetent magic but we are always doing it. So, to return to where I started, when we experience anomalous phenomena, whether a cool breeze when you think of your deceased grandmother, a dream that seems to explain something you have been struggling with, or a “trick of the light” that leads to some insight, instead of demanding proof that you should take it seriously, try playing with the experience. And remember, if you find it disturbing, there is always The Sword of Reason which is also a tool of magic.

Finally, as an animist I recognize that the world is as full of voices as a crowded restaurant. If you become aware of this and feel overwhelmed by all of these voices remember that not all of them are addressing you. Like talking to a friend or even a stranger at a loud party, you have to learn to discern the voice of the person to whom you are speaking from the background noise.

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It has been a busy summer filled with opportunities for creative and fruitful engagement with the world. I have found new venues to practice my divinatory arts and new inspiration in old writing projects. These things have commanded a lot of attention and left me little time to concentrate on writing specifically intended for this blog. I do have some ideas that I hope to get to as the darker season progresses. For the time being, however, I want to share another excerpt from the manuscripts I am working on. This is another from my “Tarot and the Wheel of the Year” project. I hope you find it interesting.

As always, thanks for reading, it is an honor to be gifted with your precious time and attention and I am profoundly grateful.

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Eight of Disks

If Ares is the “first sign” of the Zodiac, Virgo One is the third decan which The Sun rules by face. In Ares Two (Three of Wands), The Sun urges us on in our journey. We follow The Sun, traveling the face of the world to see everything. In Gemini Three (10 of Swords) The Sun, in its setting, reminds us that time and change will always outlive our plans and designs. Here, at Virgo One, The Sun returns to remind us that tangible things are built day by day, through commitment and repetition.

We see a craftsman at work creating pentacles. By the pentacles that hang above his work bench we see that he has been practicing his craft for some time. We see the care and precision he applies to his work. This is a picture of mastery through repetition. Inspiration may set us on a lifelong path. But this path is taken one step at a time. Daily devotion and practice sharpen our intention and strengthen our will.

The suit of Disks is about give and take within the material world. Disks are “coins”. Like seeds, fruits, eggs, - disks are a condensate of value that accumulates over time. Each of us has unique gifts and talents that we bring into the “marketplace” of the material plane. The more time, attention, and energy we apply to these “pentacles”, the greater their value and power.

The shadow expression of this card is one who practices but never performs. Eventually we must bring our produce to market to see what price they might command. In this world, the value of what we have cultivated is set by what others are willing to “pay” for our goods. No matter how independent we might be, we all must earn our way in the world. We do this by bringing something unique to the world, something that only we can bring. This is the key to success in the world of matter which the suit of pentacles depicts.

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