nature's zodiac

It’s an interesting time both above and below.  Three slow moving planets are in their natural signs: Jupiter in Sagittarius, Neptune in Pisces and Saturn in Capricorn.

Jupiter is Sagittarius hails in a new thirst for meaning.

Neptune in Pisces gleams a hint at divinity here on earth in the day to day.

And Saturn in Capricorn says “If it isn’t useful, what good is it?”.

All of these planets in their homegrown signs-  the mythic actors speaking “on the nose” (no subtext).  The grand plot with metaphors that children can grasp.

Uranus is the Great Awakener.  When it touches a sign, the revelation that comes about may be an: “Oh…OH… yes of course” type of thing.  You view something from a fresh angle, and all at once it becomes something NEW.

Uranus is the planet that deals with the concept of Existence.  Philosophers have been exploring this concept for ages.  The mid 50s brought about Existentialism, a philosophy entirely devoted to what it means to exist.

Life and Existence seem to be the same thing at first glance- but they certainly are not.  For instance how could T.S. Eliot’s phrase “Where is the Life we have lost in living?” make sense?  And it does seem to make a whole lot of sense.

Enter a new literary voice in my life: Colin Wilson, a man who deems himself an Existentialist, yet with a much more cheery outlook than most of his contemporaries.  In fact he calls his Existentialism a “New Existentialism”, one that acknowledges a need for objective meaning in life.  Meaning to fuel our Will, and find purpose.

Here is a fantastic interview with Wilson from the 80s television show, “Thinking Allowed with Jeffrey Mishlove”.

Uranus speaks to existence and Taurus speaks to values.  Both of these concepts are very worthy of contemplation (or meditation if that is your preferred way!)

What is the value of your existence?

Hard to pinpoint as you sit here and read this I bet.

But what if the situation were a bit more.. terrifying?

And it is likely that, once the bear decided you weren’t worth the trouble and receded into the distance, your world may appear brighter.  More beautiful.  More dear.

Wilson says that crisis (like the bear) has a way of lowering one’s “indifference threshold”, and thereby revealing all of the beauty and meaning that surrounds us.

This meaning is vital to our well-being as it fuels our will (no small thing!).

And now what about the reverse: what is the existence of value?

What are the values that exist in the world around you?

So these are some values that exist in the world, but here is the question: do they accurately reflect your values?

In some ways maybe they do.  But odds are if you have been reading this astrology post all the way up until this point there are other values that might not be so reflected here.

Again let’s look to the current sky (and simultaneously within ourselves):

With that, enjoy your cup of Uranian java and nurture the instinct to WAKE UP to new VALUES!

Happy Astro Pondering.