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| Inside view of the pantheon in Rome, Italy with the typical light beam glaring from the occulus in its rooftop; via Wikimedia Commons. |
Full Moon @ 16 Pisces 19'
September 8, 2014
6:38 PM Pacific
3:38 PM Eastern
This month’s lunar cycle culminates in the sign of Pisces—the symbolic end of the tropical zodiac. There is always a sense of nebulous dissipation with Pisces, as the world of form meets a point of transcendence, an apotheosis.
The summation of biological and ideological evolution must,
at some point, dissolve—at least from our point of reference; though the
dissipation is merely an illusion. We know that energy can neither be created
nor destroyed, that it can only change form.
The next stage of the journey is hidden from us; it has
expanded beyond our perceptual reach; but that does not mean its presence
evades more subtle faculties. Thus there are things just outside our visual
perspective that not only exist, but that have tremendous power over us.
Symbols are potent and dynamic forces that can shape entire
cultures. They can spur humanity into an emotional and psychic
hysteria—creating movements which have the longevity to endure several
thousands of years.
It’s funny, comical really, how the current western paradigm
downplays the significance of anything that doesn’t fit into a Newtonian framework of reality. The world of the “supernatural” is often disparaged
as a silly, childlike belief--something akin to fantasy and make-believe.
Discarnate entities, aliens, or UFOs are likened to
mythologies—which to the vast majority of modern peoples are merely stories
relegated to a form of entertainment. Yet, the past reveals something truly
incredible (and equally frightening) about the power of myths, symbols and
archetypes.
Christianity, Nazism, Scientology and many facets of new age
fundamentalism are powerful movements which have little scientific or rational
basis; yet, it’s obvious their addictive power to lure the masses into activities
that seem to defy all logical sensibilities.
The holocaust is a grim example of how a symbol can warp and
contort basic human instincts. In the wake of such atrocities, we’re left to
wonder whether such things are truly human….or the byproduct of something else.
For me, that something else is hard to describe, for it
resides in a realm we cannot fully comprehend in a human body. Try explaining
Einstein’s theory of Relativity and all its flaws to a cockroach and you get
what I mean. Yet, when we take a step
back, and really look at things from a much vaster vantage point, it becomes
obvious that human evolution is guided by profoundly intelligent agents.
Who or what they are can only be speculation. The more
asleep and unconscious we are as a society, the more prone we are to truly
disturbing behaviors and compulsions. The path of entropy is the path of least
resistance.
As Carl Jung once said, “There is no coming to consciousness
without pain.” Most of us would rather avoid the pain. Most of us would rather
stay asleep and feel good and comfortable most of the time. That’s all fine and
well, and probably best for most people.
But truth and beauty arise only from unbearable struggle.
Take a look at the natural world. Really notice the most beautiful flora and
fauna that surround you. They are masters of evolution; they have painstakingly
chiseled away, rising from the abysmal void to take on a form all their own.
I’m running into a tangent here, I know. Bear with me. The
point I’m trying to make stems from a centaur object that is obscured by the
brightness of this Full Moon. Chiron has confounded astrologers ever
since its discovery in 1977.
No one seems to quite agree on its meaning. We know Chiron
as the “wounded healer”. Yes, mythically, that’s what he was. Chiron was a
centaur—half man and half beast; he was also quite astute in the healing arts
and was immortal. Therefore, Chiron was likened to a god.
Yet, as the story goes, Chiron was not immune to pain and
suffering. Like everything else in the universe (or everything confined to the
illusion of separation from oneness), Chiron was vulnerable. In a nutshell,
Chiron was struck, accidently, by an arrow shot by one of his inebriated students,
Heracles.
You see, a bunch of centaurs had a bit of wine. In their drunkenness
(which we could say symbolizes a state of unconsciousness), an arrow had struck
Chiron, who was not participating in the raucous. In a way, Chiron was a
helpless victim.
The arrow contained a poison from the Hydra. Since he could
not die, Chiron was left to endure unbearable pain for eternity. To relieve his
suffering, Chiron chose to die. He took the place of Prometheus, who was bound
to a rock and tortured by an eagle that relentlessly pecked at his liver for
bringing fire to humanity.
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| "The Centaur of Tymfi". Centaur skeleton prepared and articulated by Skulls Unlimited International as a work for hire commissioned by Bill Willers. |
Chiron transcended his physical vehicle and became a
constellation in the sky--what we now know as the archer, or Sagittarius (but not to be confused with the tropical sign of Sagittarius used in western astrology). Chiron reached an apotheosis and moved beyond the
world of form and structure to become a symbol, which still haunts humanity to
this day.
What’s the moral of the story? I suppose, like any myth, it
all depends on how you look at it. What does Chiron mean? I have the same
answer: it’s a matter of the perception you choose to view it. One
thing I think we can all agree on is that Chiron represents a wound—something
deep that festers within us.
But that wound really reveals something about humanity. It
reveals the struggle to find reconciliation between our innate, primal (or lower) tendencies and the painstaking struggle to evolve beyond them. The irony is that
we can’t escape what we are; we can only strive for something more.
Pisces symbolizes that “something more” we all fight to
achieve. We probably shouldn’t give up, but we should equally not beat
ourselves up for not being perfect, and then, at some point, we see the
futility of it all.
Sometimes that realization leads to nihilism. At other times
it brings about an acceptance of our inevitable human fate and imperfection. In
the end, all forms reach a state of dissipation—from either transcendence or
annihilation (which is actually a form of recycling).
In Buddhism, the objective is to reach a point of joyful
participation in the sorrows of the world. We need not escape reality, but
rather awaken and return and become a part of it, yet not attached to the
illusion it truly is (to detach ourselves from eternal suffering).
As this Full Moon culminates in the sky, conjoined Chiron,
we are faced with the opportunity to awaken from some deep sleep that has come
upon us—individually and collectively. That bright and luminous Moon irradiates
the placid and mysterious Piscean sea.
Two weeks ago, the New Moon in Virgo redirected our
awareness back to a path more suitable for our evolution. That was accentuated
by Saturn’s conjunction with Mars. With the now fading cavalcade in Leo, that
lunation brought in some rain clouds that may have put a damper on some things—that
is, if we refused to focus ourselves intentionally.
Saturn is easing the pressure with this Full Moon. Mars is
moving on into Sagittarius and progressing slowly out of orb of that conjunction.
If we choose to awaken, to clear the fog that has blinded us from certain
truths, Saturn’s trine to the Moon and Chiron helps to bring what was once
intangible into some concreteness.
In other words, we can make some real progress here, but
that only comes about in a Piscean sort of way: through a meditative
observation of reality the way that it actually is. That means allowing the light to clear away all wishful thinking. With Chiron, the wound has the
potential to become an asset of some kind, if we choose to accept what is
inherently inevitable about us.
As human beings, we’re vulnerable. That much is true. No
amount of scientific progress will ever negate that truth. Our woundedness is a
part of the deal, no one escapes it; but our woundedness can teach us truly
valuable things--like humility, compassion and the attainment of awe.
In the end, all wounds stem from the original wound: our
perception is limited; what we see is merely a shadow, an after image of
something we couldn't possibly perceive in its entirety. In a nutshell, we are
caught up in an illusion—the world of Maya.
It can take a soul thousands of lifetimes before it realizes
that. Why is this significant now? Well, because it seems that we are on an
interesting course—collectively speaking. It’s a lunation like this that can
quench our spiritual and perceptual thirst.
I’ll leave it up to you to decide what that would look like.
As you go about your daily affairs, look deeper into the events and sequences
of your life. See beyond the appearances to what they actually symbolize. Yes,
the universe speaks through symbols.