16 Oct Divine Majesty of Her Love ~ October 17th-23rd, 2016

“That pleasure which is at once the most pure, the most elevating, and the most intense, is derived…from the contemplation of the Beautiful. In the contemplation of Beauty we alone find it possible to attain that pleasurable elevation, or excitement of the soul, which we recognize as the Poetic Sentiment. . .”

– Edgar Allan Poe

This is the final week of Libra season. As the Sun moves nearer to Scorpio and the Moon’s light wanes, the emotional timbre will begin to shift into liminality: like shadows growing taller in the gloaming. In the middle of the week, Mars will conjunct Pluto in Capricorn, adding a ravenous and ruthless twist upon the frayed edges of your most powerful desires.

Your ability to handle this wild energy without succumbing to  rage or fear will be an excellent test of your emotional strength. Set the intention to use this aspect between Mars and Pluto for the purpose of self-mastery: control of one’s emotions and the ability to maintain inner calm under pressure.

The remaining six days of the Sun’s passage through Libra will enable you to observe these growing shadows with the cool eye of an appraiser, offering repose before the coming of the darkness. When Venus moves into Sagittarius on Tuesday, her darker shades of emotionality will be transformed into pentecostal enthusiasm for beauty: a quest for beauty’s spiritual essence!

Jupiter in Libra will open your consciousness to higher perspectives, offering complementary colors to balance any erratic emotions or debilitating compulsions.

Venus’ exuberance in Sagittarius will offer you the light that you need to gracefully weather this week’s more edgy supernal influences, of which there are many. And since Jupiter (ruler of Sagittarius) and Venus (ruler of Libra) will be in mutual reception, the most elegant marriage of beauty and sensation will act as your guide.

For truly magnificent instructions on how to immerse yourself in the sensation of beauty, I suggest reading a little Edgar Allan Poe. Since it is not Scorpio season yet, it is not time to delve into The Raven or the Tell-Tale Heart.

No, instead during the final days of Libra when intellectual breezes are still stirring up heat, it is an excellent time to read some of Poe’s philosophy on the art of Poetry in an essay that he wrote just before his death in 1849 called, The Poetic Principle.

Read and feel the glory of human genius pouring forth to offer everyone a fragrant gift of flowering joy.

In The Poetic Principle, Poe defines the Poetic Principle as that which elevates the soul to the level of divine eros, not to be confused with fleeting passions of the heart or the desires of the mind.  

“…For, in regard to Passion, alas! its tendency is to degrade, rather than to elevate the Soul. Love, on the contrary–Love–the true, the divine Eros–the Uranian, as distinguished from the Dionæan Venus–is unquestionably the purest and truest of all poetical themes.”

At the end of the essay, Poe offers a transcendent description of where true poetry comes from. “The Poet”, Poe says,

“…recognises the ambrosia which nourishes his soul, in the bright orbs that shine in Heaven. . .in the twinkling of half-hidden brooks–in the gleaming of silver rivers–in the repose of sequestered lakes–in the star-mirroring depths of lonely wells.”

This week, let your soul be elevated, not for the first time and certainly not for the last time, by the words of a dead poet.

Monday/Tuesday: The Harp of Æolus

“He perceives it in the songs of birds–in the harp of Æolus--in the sighing of the night-wind–in the repining voice of the forest–in the surf that complains to the shore–in the fresh breath of the woods–in the scent of the violet–in the voluptuous perfume of the hyacinth. . .”

After the volatile Full Moon in Aries created some tremors in your expectations, the beginning of the week softens the tension brought on by so many alarms and surprises. The waning Moon will be traveling through the stable and sensual sign of Taurus, making Monday a perfect day to take grounding meditation seriously.

It is also advisable to take a keen interest in the most effective means that you have available for bodily care, including healthful food, massage, and/or salt baths. As the Moon wanes over the next two weeks, you will be more supported to release pent up emotions and ease the tension of accumulated stress.

Meanwhile, Venus will travel into Sagittarius on Tuesday, clearing your vision with the flames of burning enthusiasm. Yes, you will have to face the fear that arises in response to the world. As you gaze upon the discontent and chaos, you will be forced to acknowledge that “this is really happening.”

But, Venus and Jupiter in mutual reception will offer you another realm of existence to explore, one which is transposed over all the mundane misery. See the world through a poet’s eyes, where the hideous chaos fades into the background and the foreground becomes illuminated by beauty. You can find Beauty everywhere, no matter what is happening and you may regard it as a revelation, not a fantasy.

Wednesday/Thursday: At Eventide, Over Dim Oceans

“. . .in the suggestive odor that comes to him, at eventide, from far-distant, undiscovered islands, over dim oceans, illimitable and unexplored. . .”

The middle of the week will bring you to some unexplored territories. As Mars conjuncts Pluto in Capricorn on Wednesday, you may find an as yet unacknowledged hunger for power and influence in your current sphere. Mars conjuncts Pluto every two years so it is an auspicious moment to address where you find yourself in the scheme of things. Like a moth to a flame, you will feel drawn to pursue your most instinctual and primal desires.

Mars and Pluto in Capricorn might inspire a “by any means necessary!” attitude towards accomplishing that goal. Thus, if you lack the virtues of patience and self-control, the wildness unleashed by Mars and Pluto could put you at risk for maniacal behavior. Edgar Allen Poe astutely addresses the Plutonian instincts in human beings.

“An immortal instinct, deep within the spirit of man, is thus, plainly, a sense of the Beautiful. ..We have still a thirst unquenchable…It is at once a consequence and an indication of his perennial existence. It is the desire of the moth for the star. It is no mere appreciation of the Beauty before us–but a wild effort to reach the Beauty above…”

On Thursday, Mercury in Libra will oppose Uranus in Aries, igniting some ingenious ideas that may be frustratingly difficult to grasp and organize.

When Mercury makes an aspect to Uranus, the mind moves at electric speed. Mercury and Uranus increase the potential for massive amounts of ideas to flow through at the same time that this aspect increases the chance for making errors and experiencing a lack of focus.

Edgar Allen Poe beautifully describes the struggle of the mind grappling with its desire to know the numinous beauty of the divine: a perfect understanding of Mercury and Uranus.

‘‘Inspired by an ecstatic prescience of the glories beyond the grave, we struggle, by multiform combinations among the things and thoughts of Time, to attain a portion of that Loveliness whose very elements, perhaps, appertain to eternity alone.”

If you let this day flow like stream of consciousness prose, then there will be some great insights and a most beneficent element of surprise!

Friday/Saturday/Sunday: Divine Majesty of Her Love

“He feels it in the beauty of woman–in the grace of her step–in the lustre of her eye–in the melody of her voice–in her soft laughter–in her sigh . . .but above all–ah, far above all–he kneels to it–he worships it in the faith, in the purity, in the strength, in the altogether divine majesty–of her love.”

Finally, on Saturday the Sun will leave the poised balance of Libra and plunge into the dark waters of Scorpio, where mysteries wait to be penetrated. With the Sun in Scorpio, the pulse of your own heartbeat becomes an alluring call to go deeply inward to discover the universe within.

There are sliding doors and there are secret doors.

In Scorpio season, your strongest guidance will come through intensified emotions, leading to a sense of increased pain and increased pleasure. The delight and fear you have surrounding the two portals of life, sex and death, will loom large, haunting you with desire and melancholy.

Edgar Allen Poe was a master of writing about the deathly aspects Scorpionic realm through his horror and detective stories. But the pinnacle of the Scorpionic pulse can be found in his assertion that the most exultant poetry is that which elevates the soul. This describes the alchemical nature of Scorpio, one that takes raw emotions of all kinds and transmutes them into golden perfection!

Poets are devotees of the Muse and all poetry is an invocation of the Muse. Thus, poets incline themselves to see manifestations of Beauty in the world as the signatures of the Muse: as the divine majesty of her love.

Thus, I suggest you use this weekend to discern the subtle footprints of the Muse, which can be found trailing across the horizons of any place that you may find yourself. If you know how to see, even in these dark times you will be filled with her light and rapture.