retrograde – Kongo Kosmo 7

10/28/2018

Venus and Saturn

In the midst of my (long and recursive) Saturn’s return and my Venus return, I write from a place of deep reflection. I mentioned that I would revisit some points that I’m learning as I go through my Saturn’s return, but Venus’ current retrograde (in Scorpio, so I’m also experiencing a Venus return) has brought up so many things, I feel like I can’t talk about Saturn without including Venus.

In Western astrology, a planet’s return to the place it was when we were born, is important to think about. Because all planets in our solar system revolve in cycles, the circulation of these cosmic bodies causes them to affect us more powerfully when it returns to the exact place it was during our birth. Planets are essentially the embodiment of the environmental atmosphere in which we were born in, and furthermore, we are the embodiment of all cosmic vibrations in the environment during our birth. We engage with our everyday environment in a very physical way, and likewise, the presence and essence of all planets affect us in a very physical way. I want to highlight the materiality of the heavenly bodies; so every material body in our cosmos has some kind of influence on us (we are after all planetary bodies). Just as the sun and moon affects our skin and emotions, a more holistic view of this cosmic effect would include other cosmic bodies and the importance of all astral alignment.

This Saturn return is teaching me the quiet density that Saturn embodies. It is a very physical representation of dense cycles, of the layers of stone, dirt, and soul. Saturn rules the bones, especially the large ones, these are here way after your death. Long lasting, materialistic, dense with time, Saturn embodies the wisdom of past and current life’s experiences, at its very essence. This is why Saturn’s present position in Capricorn is highlighting the need for restructuring the basic elements of life. At a deeper, long lasting, structural level, Saturn signifies the creation of a sturdier system that can hold us better, and longer, with more grounding clarity.

Image result for black venus art — Artwork by Margaret Burroughs, Black Venus, Made of Linoleum cut on imitation Japan paper

This Venus retrograde has taught me the value of money and worth. I see Venus as the giver of worth, and the systems of pleasure and pain we connect with worth. Whatever we give worth to, we value, we lust for, we monetize, we memorialize, we embody. Venus reflects the passion of what we make matter. But most importantly, it represents the urge and guided intention that we use to turn our immaterial (thought) desires into a material (present) reality. So, here is where Venus and Saturn are meeting in my view, they are both centering material. Saturn, in a long-lasting, cyclic way, and Venus in an intangible yet desire-into-matter way.

Right now, Saturn and Venus are in a sextile, about 60 degrees apart. This transit may make us super aware of worth, value, love, and the foundational relationship between these things. Venus retrograde gives us the opportunity to rethink and restructure patterns of communal connection and self-love, along with our value systems that shape those patterns. We should check the systems of love and worth that create our foundation, make it sturdy. While Venus is in retrograde and sextile with Saturn, all our companionships (with the other and with the self) must be tried. They must be fortified, questioned, reconfigured, or disposed of if needed. This re-examination and re-securing (and primarily questioning the systems/people/things that continuously show up in our lives) will give us a great awareness of the things we need to do in order for the soul to grow and for unproductive practices of valuing to end.

Thanks for reading!

ig: kongokosmo7

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04/15/201804/15/2018

Aries New Moon, Dark Matter, and Chiron

I’ve noticed the masses nowadays know something about Mercury in retrograde…. realizing that it is a “bad” time for communication and technology along with a host of other things that we blame retrogrades for. Today, April 15, 2018, the new moon is in 26 degrees Aries, Mercury has stationed direct, and we have received the spark of ignition from the divine patterns that craft our universe.

New Moon

The astrological climate has been in a chaotic state ever since the solar eclipse in February, and, as the heavenly bodies transition from the waters of Pisces to the new warmth of Aries, we have chances to restructure our spiritual response to issues in our lives and reposition our thoughts on future steps. With this new moon at 26 degrees Aries, it conjuncts Uranus, bringing the intuitive encouragement we need to move forward, to push up and out of the murky realms of indecision and undefinition. What resources have we learned from others, and how does that apply to our individual lives? This new moon energy is truly wisdom-centered, due to its position in the third decan of Aries which is ruled by Sagittarius. No matter what sign our suns are or how our birth chart looks, this new moon activates the initiator in us and questions how we will focus our passion/flames with intention and purpose. How do we let go of blaming and throwing weight around, so we can move without constraints in our processes of becoming our greatest selves and living our best lives? We acknowledge the pains of the past without becoming trapped in its complex webs. This new moon teaches us about the healing and direction found in working with fire.

Dark Matter?

Galaxy NGC1052-DF2. **Image Credit:** P. van Dokkum; R. Abraham; STScI, Space Telescope Science Institute.

A huge event occurred in astronomy toward the end of March 2018, and this event is highly significant in how we view and interact with the universe. A team of astronomers discovered a faint smudge of a galaxy called NGC1052-DF2 (or DF2, for short) that may have no dark matter at all; the group’s results show that DF2 has either a minuscule amount of dark matter or none at all. No one has never seen a galaxy like this before. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, has around 30 times more dark matter than ordinary matter. Ordinary matter is all of the “stuff” in the universe made of atoms—animals, plants, planets, stars, gas, dust, etc. Dark matter is much more evasive. No one knows exactly what it is, but there is strong evidence through testing that undetected matter of some kind exists, has mass, and interacts with ordinary matter through gravity, playing a vital role in holding galaxies like ours together. On the other hand, “DF2 doesn’t have a dense central region like most spiral galaxies, or a central black hole like most elliptical galaxies. There are ten bright clusters of stars in the galaxy, but they orbit the center of the galaxy much slower than expected.” This find literally challenges the way we think galaxies function.

Chiron

Astrologically, I think it’s significant that the discovery of DF2 occurred when the sun entered Aries, and as the asteroid Chiron prepares to leave Pisces and enter Aries. DF2 looks like “pinpoints of light” instead of an actual galaxy, and it may be older than the theorized big bang of our universe. In western astrology, dark matter is situated as very Piscean, as this final zodiac represents the immaterial spirit, the esoteric wound of creation, things that cannot be touched. Aries is the birthing of the sun, the facilitator of light as it benefits matter. DF2’s discovery during the Pisces-Aries shift could represent the paradigm shift brought upon us as we gather our energies to come out of unconscious darkness to a head-bright awareness of our own vitality (a vitality that includes success and pain).

Chiron, over the span of 2018, will exist in that very duality. As the wounded healer shifts from Pisces to Aries, only to retrograde back to Pisces, we learn what psychic damage should be brought from unconsciousness to consciousness. Chiron in Pisces allowed us to dig deep into spiritual mutilations that haven’t seen the light of day; Chiron in Aries will make room for us to use light and fire to examine more clearly what we have uncovered–how do we heal the ego, after the dark matter of our experiences has been made aware to our consciousness? How do we position and interact with our physical bodies now that we have learned more about our spiritual beings?

The way in which the cosmos flows and disrupts has a direct effect on our lives as planetary beings. I love setting written intentions on fire as a new moon ritual. As the flames transform matter, allow Chiron, Uranus and the moon’s vibrations to transmute dark matter into conscious grounding.

Thank you for your readership!

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References:

http://physicsbuzz.physicscentral.com/2018/03/a-galaxy-without-dark-matter.html

05/28/201705/28/2017

Chiron as Ascended Master

Healing is the death of parts of one’s being, resulting in the birthing and (re)sustaining of new ways of thinking and interacting with the self. The concept is sooo much to me. It hurts. Yet it’s necessary to being whole. Healing has always been this vague term to me, something inside that was forever distant and difficult to articulate. There is a certain darkness that comes along with the word, a heavy work, and reshaping of the grim parts of the soul. Although we know the shiny result of healing, the journey seems dimmed with grunge and deep examination that some people may try to avoid. This word has been the focus of many intuitive astrologers and spiritualists alike and is the very thing many people are looking for. Luckily, there are several heavenly bodies that help us understand healing and the thick layers of reluctance, agitation, and liberation that come along with it.

One of these heavenly bodies is Chiron.

Discovered in 1977 by Charles Kowal, Chiron appeared to be coming out of the mouth of the ram in a constellation of Aries, answering the cry of healing that humanity needed. In western astrology, we know Chiron to represent the deepest pain that has come with us to the planet (as intuitive astrologer Sonja Marie would say). Chiron shows us our inadequacies, our personal wounds, places we may overcompensate, and in some cases, even our karmic debt. This asteroid teaches us what healing is and how to heal ourselves and others. It shows us our wounds, fresh and old ones, and teaches us how to heal them. Chiron has walked the path before us and knows which way is for our greatness wholeness. The process of healing is layered and dense, and Chiron shifts our consciousness in a way that new connections are formed, resulting in the repairing of wounds. It is through awareness that Chiron instructs us on how to heal.

The Centaur asteroids (there are a few like Chiron) serve as energetic portals between planets. Chiron connects the energies of Uranus and Saturn, which makes sense mythologically because Chiron was born of the union between the Titan Cronus and the goddess-nymph Phylira of Mount Pelion (Fiorenza). Cronus disguised himself as a horse to avoid being seen by his wife Rhea during his lovemaking with Phylira, resulting in their offspring Chiron, who was half horse and half human. Phylira (goddess of beauty, perfume, healing and writing, pure honey, elixir of the gods, protein of the future) abandons Chiron in a cave on Mount Pelion where he studied with the sage Apollo and learned the art and sciences of music, harmonics, healing, and other related arts of self-mastery (Fiorenza).

Chiron was ABANDONED by his mama of all people (or of all goddesses…)! Chiron was left in the dark, so he truly understands the murkiness that wounds carry. Chiron was emotionally wounded only to know how to work the mechanism of healing and beauty. One story reveals that Chiron was struck by one of Hercules’ poisonous arrows. He could not die because he was immortal. Although he was a great healer, he still felt the pains of the poison and could not heal himself. Giving up his immortality, Zeus placed Chiron in the stars as a tribute to his legacy. Chiron holds the key to life and immortality, and he knows how wounds are carried and resolved.

Chiron will station retrograde at 28 degrees Pisces on June 30th. This retrograde will last until December 5, 2017 at 24 degrees Pisces. Chiron understands the energy of Pisces because it is at home here. What better salve is there than the psychic two fish of this zodiac sign? Pisces is all about the ethereal, the subconscious, hope, imagination, and spirit. Admittedly, many of our wounds lie in our subconsciousness, and Chiron in Pisces works at that very level. Chiron has been in Pisces for a minute, but this retrograde will be impactful as Chiron calls us to revisit any wounds that hinder our wholeness. Chiron teaches us how to be undivided, and the lesson must be learned before liberation is accessible.

Because of this, Chiron should not be bound to the wounded healer archetype but should be received and conceived as an ascended master, just as any other spiritual force who has come to this realm of reality to assist us. With its Saturn-Uranus nature, Chiron directs us to mastery, teaching us how to be whole and how to break free from the damaged cycles triggered by our wounds. Chiron as an ascended master is not wounded any longer; it is not the small centaur stuck in a dark cave, abandoned by a loved one. Chiron has ascended to a higher state of existence and sparks our consciousness to an elevated place of healing. This is where Chiron’s Sagittarian energy initiates a creative ambiance that dares us to explore and employ the universe to receive the healing we know we deserve. Chiron’s healing balms bring wounds right in our faces (Saturn) and instruct us of new and innovative paths to healing them (Uranus). This is the lesson of Chiron’s retrograde; reconsider Chiron’s “wounded healer” epithet and allow the ascension of consciousness to bring holistic healing. As the master surgeon (who has mastered the medical arts) with such concise detail, Chiron tells us the exact methods of healing.

On Chiron’s healing and ascension properties, astrologer Nick Anthony Fiorenza states, “Chiron makes way from the bounds and limitations of our past structures in consciousness and established modalities of living and helps us to realize and integrate new alternatives and paths in life, as it helps us to break trail into a new and refined neurological resonance.” The archer of old points to a new paradigm that leads us to our personal balm.

I pull a card from the Cosmos Tarot & Oracle Deck with every post, and this card came up:

The Ursa Minor card is an interesting connection with mythology because the card depicts Arcas, born from a forbidden union between Zeus and the nymph Callisto (similar to the hoohaaa love-making that produced Chiron). Hera turned Callisto into a big bear when she found out. Arcas, the son of Zeus and Callisto, was hunting one day and almost killed the bear that was his mother. But Zeus intervened and made them both constellations. This card represents a hidden nature that lies beneath the surface. It is a call to “look deeper” to avert close calls and crisis (doing healing work to amend crisis). And that very description is Chiron actualized. Chiron’s quick Uranus nature makes us aware of the deep wounds below the surface of what we usually emit. The card has fish shown beneath the bear-shaped boat- a Piscean connection to healing and shadow work. This card also speaks to a chance encounter with someone who will cause both of you to ascend to levels of healing and understanding. Despite the torn, wounded past, Chiron is creating a honey solution to fix the gaping pains that crises have wrought and shifting our consciousness to new ways of approaching healing and wholeness.

References

Sonja Marie. “Chiron..” wordlifeastrology.com
Nick Anthony Fiorenza, “The Astronomy and Astrology of the Centaurs Chiron, Pholus, Nessus, Asbolus & Chariklo” 2001-2017.
“Ascended Master Lord Chiron” cobalt.com.au