 |
| Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia Commons |
Two days following the solar eclipse, how are you holding up? Typically, eclipses bring a moment of epiphany. And here we are, on the very day known as Epiphany, which marks the end of the Christmas season. As the story goes, this is the day that the three Magi arrived at the stable in Bethlehem in order to see the Christ child.
An epiphany is a divine revelation, a cosmic eye-opener. It’s the gift of sudden and acute insight that helps us infuse our lives with new awareness. As visionary Shoshana Zuboff astutely remarked, “Awareness requires a rupture with the world we take for granted; then old categories of experience are called into question and revised.” This recent eclipse in Capricorn is rather like a rupture bringing new awareness…an epiphany.
Today’s planetary aspects promote such enlightenment. We’re still coasting on the creative and spiritually nourishing energy of Jupiter conjunct Uranus in mystic Pisces, the Fish, and symbol of the Christian era. But we’re gradually passing out of the Piscean age of Christianity and into a new age, referred to as the Age of Aquarius. Today’s Epiphany poignantly describes the Aquarian gifts that you may benefit from.
The Moon, Chiron and Neptune are lined up in humanitarian Aquarius. Allow me to entertain the idea that these are our three kings or magi in 2011. Aquarius is, after all, the sign that rules astrology, so it’s a perfect fit for our astrologically-wise Magi. (Ahem, just to be clear: the Magi – the three kings or three wise men – were astrologers. Back in biblical times that’s what astrologers were called: magi. If you feel like calling me Magus or Madge for short, I’m down with that. But I digress…)
The fact that the Cosmos kindly arranged to have three celestial bodies lined up like three magi in the sign that rules astrology, on the very anniversary of the day when three kings brought gifts to a newly born symbol of hope and redemption…well I appreciate the symmetry.
The Moon (emotions, instinctive responses) is detached in Aquarius, offering you a moment to step outside yourself and witness your responses. The gift here is a chance to see whether you are responding or reacting. A response has a more measured approach (represented today by Moon’s flowing trine with Saturn in Libra). Today’s Aquarius Moon represents the gold of the biblical magi’s gift, for the Moon reflects the Sun’s golden rays. That gold is our symbolic connection to Source, to the Sun (or the Son, if you prefer).
Further along the Aquarian trail sit Chiron and Neptune. They are in a conjunction, and making a square with Venus in her final degrees of Scorpio. Now this aspect can blow things out of proportion, but it also brings about the required rupture that pierces any illusions (Neptune) you’re carrying, especially with respect to lovers or money (Venus). Though the square aspect may distort your pain (Chiron), Saturn is trining Neptune and Chiron (within a ten-degree orb), easing the way from victim-mentality towards self-responsibility. This will be a huge theme in the unfolding year.
Neptune’s energy is like the mist: hard to see through, which means you have to rely as much on faith or intuition than anything else to navigate. Put Neptune in Aquarius’s air element and you get even more mist or smoke. There’s something about seeing smoke linger in the air that conjures up Spirit in a loosely tangible form. Much like frankincense or any type of incense. It’s a visual and aromatic reminder that Spirit is always present. When the Spirit is made visible, that’s a gift from Neptune, for it is Neptune’s energy that connects us to the realm of god consciousness.
Myrrh is the remaining gift, and it is offered up by Chiron. Myrrh is a healing balm – an apt description of our wounded healer, Chiron. Christ was a healer as well. And, like Chiron who is seen as the bridge between Saturn and the trans-personal outer planets, Christ is the bridge (or the Way) between Earth and Heaven. In Aquarius, a mental and abstract sign, Heaven is a state of Mind.
Both Chiron and Christ made a sacred sacrifice for the betterment of humanity. And, just as Chiron in Aquarius is a maverick, in his time Jesus Christ would have been seen as a revolutionary. I find it puzzling that, as we move out of the age of Christ, we’re actually getting closer to the values he espoused. At least, that’s my hope. I think it has to do with ridding ourselves of some of the entrapments of dogma that have plagued the Christian religion, and getting to the essence of what the Man taught.
As I ponder these cosmic synchronicities (which aptly describes what astrology is all about, after all) I feel as though I am being invited into Mystery. It’s a gift…a revelation from our three modern-day Magi on this Epiphany in 2011. May clarity, healing and Spirit be with you today and the days that follow.
Michelle Piller, Starstruck Astrology