Lately, in the third round of the Alchemy class, we have been studying the nature of consciousness. Consciousness is a word we throw about all the time. Do we really understand what we mean when we refer to it? How does it differ, for example, from the entire notion of \u2018mind?\u2019 We can split hairs through eternity over what it means to be conscious. It implies awareness, certainly. But what else does it encompass? <\/p>\n
Mercury (no one doubts) refers to ordinary mind, the gathering and processing of information. The gathering of information begins with Gemini. Gemini connects with this, remembers that, hooks us up with what\u2019s around us. It is constantly throwing things in the basket, and consequently, the nature of that basket changes. It\u2019s up to Virgo, the second Mercury sign, to test and process the information, to make it relevant and useful. It\u2019s about knowledge, but also the process of turning information into knowledge. Mercury is about the way we put it all together. Mercury is the intellectual mind, the air element, our thought processes and personal information highways and alleyways. Mercury gets us from here to there.<\/p>\n
But we don\u2019t negotiate the world only through Mercury. If we did, we would be robotic, predictable. Our consciousness includes not only what we know, but what we sense, our own response to a universe that is active and alive. Often the Nodes are considered the seat of consciousness, as they indicate where the path of the Sun meets the path of the Moon. This is where past, present and future come together. This is the story of our growth.<\/p>\n
Our South Node, by sign and house, indicate the kind of sensibility by which we come into this world. Our reactions, our awareness, our mental habits when we are young are all described by the South Node. It\u2019s our own personal starting point. It\u2019s how we make contact with the world around us, and is very strongly related to the Moon in our charts. If you want to chart somebody\u2019s natural thoughts and reactions to their world, take a look at the South Node (by sign and house) and then take a look at the Moon and its closest aspects. I don\u2019t know about you, but when I combine my ninth house Gemini South Node with my Moon\/Uranus conjunction in Leo\/11th<\/sup>, it reveals things about me I probably should keep to myself. Well, maybe not so strong as that, but there is a kind of intimacy that is unveiled when one\u2019s consciousness is probed. It defines us deeply, so deeply that perhaps only a few should be let in there. When we were younger, my Pisces Moon brother would call me out for not caring about or not wanting to be in the family. Not so, says I, with Venus in Cancer, I appreciate you. But where was my awareness focused? Certainly not on home and domestic issues, which were barely a blip on my radar unless there was real crisis or someone needed help. My thoughts were elsewhere, my life was elsewhere.<\/p>\n Which is why it\u2019s so difficult to move from the South Node sensibility to the North Node. We\u2019re supposed to balance the Nodes, not abandon one end for the other, but even the small task of including another way of knowing\/processing\/reacting seems impossible. As I\u2019ve always said, change is difficult. Even something tiny like giving up coffee for tea is monumental. When we strive to move to the North Node, to include its wisdom, the Sun (and its house, and aspects) is our guide. The Sun both literally and figuratively provides light. We can see our way clear.<\/p>\n Conscious awareness takes us well beyond Mercury. Mercury describes the way we sort things out, but what are we sorting? Nothing less than the entirety of our life experience: our feelings, thoughts, impressions, instincts, and whatever we have gathered from our sensory awareness. Whatever we have received. The South Node provides us with the general color of those impressions\u2014whether we look at life through rose colored glasses, or through some more intense, indigo hue. Again, we are dealing with the Moon, which is the conductor of this particular orchestra of experience. In keeping with the musical metaphor, it\u2019s Mercury who creates the arrangements.<\/p>\n The combination of the Moon and Mercury together creates a kind of partnership of Mind. The Greeks were very eloquent about the Moon, having many different descriptions for her phases. Moon as more-than-mind. The alchemists of the Medieval and Renaissance world believed that the Moon and Mercury worked together. Moon\/Mercury was the vehicle of transcendence. The silvery, ever shifting Moon and the quicksilver, changeable nature of Mercury were reflective of one another\u2014like reflects and is united with like. The vehicle of change in the soul is the evolution\/change of consciousness. And this consciousness must be embodied\u2014which brings us back to the Moon again.<\/p>\n Just recently, astrologer David Perloff wrote a wonderful article in the Winter edition of the Geocosmic<\/em><\/strong> Journal <\/em><\/strong>(which you get with NCGR membership, a great publication. I encourage you all to read it, because it holds details of this technique that I can only skim here.) In it, he revises an analytic technique developed by Marc Edmond Jones called, \u201cMental Chemistry.\u201d Marc Edmond Jones is not a name you hear much anymore, which is a shame because he developed the modern Sabian Symbols, and the whole notion of chart shapes (bucket, locomotive, etc.) which we still use. He called himself a Humanistic astrologer and was one of the first to bring us forward into the modern age, away from the strict predictive astrology of our forebears. His work on aspects is also impressive.<\/p>\n The technique is not complicated and is concerned with two things: the speed of the Moon and Mercury\u2019s position relative to the Sun.<\/p>\n Mercury\u2019s position is easy to determine. If you put the Sun of the chart on the Ascendant, where is Mercury relative to crossing the Ascendant? Ahead, in the 12th<\/sup> house, or behind, in the first house? (Remembering that the planets cross the angles in a clockwise direction.) If Mercury has crossed the \u2018line\u2019 before the Sun, it is ahead. After the Sun, it is behind.<\/p>\n As Perloff points out, Jones\u2019 own keywords for each Mercury were: <\/p>\n Mercury Ahead of the Sun\u2014Eager<\/p>\n Mercury Behind\u2014Certain, Cautious<\/p>\n If Mercury is more than 14 degrees ahead or behind the Sun, Jones called it \u201cUntrammeled.\u201d In other words, free of restraint, free to act as it will.<\/p>\n The Moon has a wonky orbit. When it nears the Earth, it is speeded up by the gravitational pull. As it moves away, it slows down. You cannot determine the speed of the Moon by looking at the chart. Solar Fire users have it easy\u2014the speed is noted in the \u2018Travel\u2019 column when you hit the \u2018Reports\u2019 button. I\u2019ve found the easiest way by far, without Solar Fire, is to calculate the Moon\u2019s position for 24 hours prior to birth and subtract that from the Moon\u2019s degree position in the natal. The magic number is 13 degrees, 11 minutes. If greater than that, the Moon is fast. Slower, and the Moon is slower than the usual mean rate of travel.<\/p>\n We end up with four possible types:<\/p>\n Moon Fast, Mercury Ahead<\/p>\n Moon Slow, Mercury Ahead<\/p>\n Moon Fast, Mercury Behind<\/p>\n Moon Slow, Mercury Behind<\/p>\n Imagine, if the Moon is as perceptive\/receptive as we discussed, what it means to have this all speeded up or slowed down? What are you taking in, how are you taking it in? Are you thorough in your observations or are you slapdash and impressionistic? Do you pick up quickly? Now think of Mercury. Ahead of the Sun, Mercury is hungry and moves at the speed of light. Behind the Sun, there is a need to organize, make sense and consolidate.<\/p>\n I think the two that are in \u2018agreement\u2019 for lack of a better word, have it easier: Fast \/Ahead and Slow\/Behind. Fast \/Ahead, we get the speeded up, quicksilver wit. They might not be thorough or even dedicated, but they process and take in like lightning. They\u2019re all over the place but make sense of it somehow. They might not stick around, might change their minds often, might have their fingers in too many pies, but it\u2019s okay with them.<\/p>\n The Slow\/Behind people are thorough, and don\u2019t come to conclusions readily. They go into a question in depth before coming to a proper response. Often, this type shoots itself in the foot because they blame themselves that they are not as fast as the others, but the truth is that they take in more and are often more qualified because of what they\u2019ve retained. I have a number of students who are slow\/behind, and they may be quiet during classes but I have faith that they\u2019re \u2018getting it\u2019, even though they do question and review more. Of course, much has to do with planetary position as well. If you get a Slow\/Behind type who has a Moon sextile Mercury with Uranus thrown in, they will seem a lot faster than the usual type. However, the speed of processing information will be the same. (We have discovered that Out of Bounds planets also alter type, but that\u2019s an article for another day.)<\/p>\n The two types that are more difficult to spot are the Moon Fast\/Mercury Behind type and Moon\/Slow Mercury ahead. The Fast\/Behind type may talk and think like lightning, but when it comes to actually putting it all together they take their time. You may think that Robin Williams was a Fast\/Ahead type, but he actually was a Fast\/Behind. Too much information to process in a practical way, so it ends up all over the place. Fast\/Behind types can dazzle you with a wall of words which serves as a shield until they get their thoughts together and really kick into gear. If information overwhelms them, they may shut down from time to time, as if someone pulled the plug. They need time away to process the vast amount of input they receive.<\/p>\n The Slow\/Ahead types will not take in such a broad range at once, but they also are quick in processing what they do take in. They can give you chapter and verse on any subject that interests them. When questioned, they will take a moment and then charge in. Both Barack Obama and Michele Obama have this placement. (With these pairings, like is attracted to like.) I remember when Paul McCartney, a Slow\/Ahead type, was asked for a comment on John Lennon\u2019s death fresh after it happened. He was caught on the street and the only answer he could come up with was, \u201ca drag.\u201d That comment haunted him for years, yet was a typical reaction of a Slow\/Fast type who didn\u2019t have time to take in what was happening. Later he said, \u201cIt was like someone killed my brother. We were together since we were kids. What was I supposed to say?\u201d Take a look at Meryl Streep, also a Slow\/Ahead type, the next time she is interviewed. She answers deliberately, but while she is thinking, the eyes dance, they twinkle. Watch her work\u2014the eyes are always alive, showing the Mercury process. <\/p>\n I have found that this simple technique is as vital as knowing the phasal relationship of the Sun and the Moon if you are trying to experience a chart the way the person lives it. I now include the two techniques every time I open a chart. The purpose of astrology, and of life, is to evolve. The Mental Chemistry technique shows the means by which we evolve. I encourage you all to play around with it and come to your own conclusions.<\/p>\n The post Of Moon Mercury and beyond<\/a> appeared first on The Inner Wheel<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lately, in the third round of the Alchemy class, we have been studying the nature of consciousness. \u00a0Consciousness is a word we throw about all [\u2026]<\/p>\n The post Of Moon Mercury and beyond<\/a> appeared first on The Inner Wheel<\/a>.<\/p>\n