22 Nov The Agony and the Ecstasy ~ November 23 – 29

“My soul can find no staircase to Heaven unless it be through Earth’s loveliness.”

– Michelangelo

This week is a time to meditate upon the agonies and ecstasies of life as being but a singular process of creation, one in which every pressure put upon you is like the hand of a sculptor carving out a beautiful form. Every strike of the chisel and all the roughness of sanding is for the same end: to find the divinity within crude matter. It is a good time to become more philosophical about human struggles, because as of Sunday, November 22nd, the Sun finally entered Sagittarius. This shift in zodiacal seasons changed the background scenery of the collective psyche from tempestuous Bardo (Scorpio) into a mythical quest for the Holy Grail. To increase the intensity of this drastic shift in purpose, the Moon will be full in Gemini on Wednesday the 25th, opposing Saturn in Sagittarius, lending a restless kinetic response to all confrontations with faith and ideology. Last but not least, November 26th (Thanksgiving Day in the United States) will also be the day of the exact square between Saturn in Sagittarius and Neptune in Pisces: a tense meeting between definition and dissolution.

The Young Slave by Michelangelo

The Saturn/Neptune square is difficult to reconcile through mundane experiences and familiar symbols without bringing up much pessimism and defeatism. According to astrology, this square represents a stand-off between reality and dreams, practicality and inspiration, usually resounding as something disquieting. The discord and disharmony of this square acts as a blaring trumpet, not so much musical as it is arresting, whose abrasive sound heralds the collapse of many ideologies which have prevented human consciousness from discovering its own transcendence. With neither rationality (Saturn) or renunciation (Neptune) to retreat into, the human spirit must find a new way to climb! Rather than evoking images of destruction, an extraordinary story to meditate upon for this Saturn/Neptune square is that of the astonishing accomplishments of the Renaissance genius Michelangelo! His relationship to sculpture (not to mention painting, architecture, and poetry) perfectly articulates the immensity of human will in such tension with pure imagination that an explosion of magnificence poured forth as a never-ending fountain of divine creation.

“All of his fluid strength, love, passion, desire had been poured into the nascent form . . .  giving of its inner heat and substance and fluid form, until at last the sculptor and the marble had totally coalesced, so deeply penetrating and infusing each other that they had become one, marble and man and organic unity, each fulfilling the other in the greatest act of art and love known to the human species.”

– Irving Stone, The Agony and the Ecstasy

Moses by Michelangelo

The Saturn/Neptune square asks that you learn how to be like both the block of marble and the sculptor, discovering beauty together in a transcendent union of divine consciousness. Find fluidity within stone, rendering your vision of softness with a pounding chisel. Or in other words, “Don’t dream it, Be it!”

This Week’s Tarot Reading

I.The Sun II. Two of Wands III. The Emperor

Monday/Tuesday: The Sun 

The Moon in Taurus on both Monday and Tuesday will offer a supportive emotional sense of security and well-being that is much needed in this time of spiritual growth. Make a visceral memory of whatever semblance of peace you feel inside now, for it can act as a north star in future moments of discomfort to guide you back to your center.

The Sun card tells us that even the faithless have faith that the Sun will rise again! If life has felt too dark and grim to bear, know that a prayer to the Sun can still be uttered with full sincerity and gratitude. Let its light kiss your face, warm your heart, and inspire you to grow. The beginning of the week is highlighted by the initiation into Sagittarius season, which brings a refreshing brightness and optimism to balance out fanaticism and frenzy. On Tuesday, Mercury will conjunct Saturn in Sagittarius, creating a serious tone in our thinking that may offer a chance to deepen a study of an essential theory or philosophy.

Wednesday/Thursday: Two of Wands

The Full Moon on Wednesday will be in Gemini, a sign symbolized traditionally by the twins, representing duality, binary code, and the input and output of information. A full moon always represents a culmination of some kind, highlighting whatever major cycles of energy are coming to completion. In this case with the Full Moon in Gemini opposed the Sun, Mercury and Saturn in Sagittarius, this may be a difficult time for teachers and students to have fruitful discussions, for there will be overstimulated minds clashing with dogmatic idealism. Whether this is something that is externally experienced through arguments or whether this is an internal debate, bear in mind that all this oppositional energy will activate a thrashing catharsis that has its birth in the intellect and its enactment in passionate will. These might be amazing conditions to conceive of an idea for a documentary film: something that seeks to inform and educate through the immersive experience of cinema! Whatever ideas you have that contain dual purpose and involve unique methods for disseminating information will begin to be researched and implemented now.

Day by Michelangelo from Lorenzo de’ Medici’s tomb

Thursday is Thanksgiving Day in the United States and is also the beginning of the exact Saturn/Neptune Square! This square is at 7 degrees in both Sagittarius and Pisces and it will remain exact at that degree until December 4th, 2015. The Two of Wands depicts a tension between two forces of will that can be interpreted as an argumentative battle or as an inspired action that demands collaboration. Thursday will contain the first signs of an awakening, which can arise from either happy or unhappy events. Though it is apparent that the motions of the planets have some influence over our lives, they can not be imbued with human intentions. The planets are indifferent. Therefore, with warning of a profoundly confusing and tumultuous transit like the Saturn/Neptune square, it might be good to remember what Paramahansa Yogananda learned from his guru about how to endure all astrological disturbances without fear of misfortune.

“The deeper the self-realization of a man, the more he influences the whole universe by his subtle spiritual vibrations, and the less he himself is affected by the phenomenal flux.”

Therefore, on Thursday do not cower from the internal and external signs that begin to express this square between Saturn and Neptune. Instead, remember that whatever the stars are doing energetically is meant to arouse the will to become free of limitations. To fear astrological transits is to be superstitiously bound to ideas of fate and fortune. Simple appreciation for your life and faith in your own creative abilities are the best way to respond to any conditions of the phenomenal flux.

Friday/Saturday/Sunday: The Emperor

By midday on Friday, the Moon will enter Cancer, where it will stay for the rest of the weekend, opening you up to a torrent of emotions that perhaps were not so apparent when the Moon was in Gemini. On Saturday, the Moon will directly oppose Pluto in Capricorn, which can certainly bring forth relationship problems, old grudges, and lots of issues with authority. The weekend offers a chance to return to a path that is led by wisdom and experience. This can be as simple as not driving home drunk or as esoteric as meditating upon the dualistic compulsion to know the good and evil in everything. Beginning to work hard upon perfecting an art form or a physical discipline will be highly favored, as the Emperor signifies that you must begin solidifying your talents into a more structured form for their power to continue to grow. Unlike the rulers of human history, the Emperor in the tarot does indeed have the divine right to rule, and his kingdom is his own mind. Consider this weekend as a time to earn the right to rule your own mind, because if you don’t rule it then somebody else surely will. Remember that you are the block of marble and the sculptor, slowly uncovering the angel inside.

Bacchus by Michelangelo