Second and Third Shoes Fall
Greetings fellow friends and fans of the Flow! Please note that The Flow is now published every two weeks. The next edition will be posted May 26th.
These next couple of weeks are rather eventful, so we have some significant events to cover. Stay with me, it’s important.
At the beginning of the period, on May 9-10th, we have an Annular Eclipse of the Sun. This eclipse is the Second Shoe Falling as it is the second in the series of three eclipses that began with the Lunar Eclipse of April 25th, and will end with the Lunar Eclipse on May 24-25th. As Solar Eclipses go, this one’s rather weak. In fact, this whole trio of eclipses is rather weak, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t cause localized chaos and mayhem when the energies align and one finds oneself standing in the cross-hairs of a Sun or Moon intent on creating trouble.
The Third Shoe Falls with the Third Uranus-Pluto square occurring on May 20th. The combination of this aspect and its position sandwiched between the two eclipses is liable to give many world leaders a migraine. How much we suffer because their heads hurt depends on how well they handle their own. And so far, their track record ain’t so hot.
We also have Mars in Taurus until 3:39am on May 31st when it moves into the more breezy Gemini.
Of the three events, most of us are more likely to experience the effects of Mars in Taurus than either the eclipse or the square, so I thought I’d discuss its effects a bit more deeply by sign. We’ll get to the eclipses at the end of the post.
As long-term Followers of the Flow know, I don’t do regular Sun-Sign type descriptions. Not because I have anything against them, but because there are more effective ways of determining how an astrological energy is going to affect you individually. To that end, I have developed The Flowcator, to help you locate the sign you most closely align with astrologically at this time. Click on this link, find your sign, and then return to this page.
Aries: Now is the time for you to make your plans real. If you have designs out there, this is the time to move them off the drawing board and into the real world. Talk to people, get out there, and make it happen. This is also a good time for you to review your financial situation and make any adjustments you think might be beneficial. You have a lot of room to maneuver, and should have a lot of astrological winds at your back. Now’s the time, make it happen.
Taurus: Mars is in your sign, so you may be feeling like you have enough energy to power your home by sheer will power. You may also be feeling a bit restless, impatient, anxious and itchy. If you have been feeling any of these things (except maybe itchy, calamine lotion is best for that) Mars was invading your awareness the whole time it was in Aries trying to create plans to help you conform your world to better allow you to express the real you. They are gifts. Don’t waste them.
Gemini: Read Taurus above, because you’re next on Mars’ hit list. Except this is YOUR time to be receiving ideas, notions, and inclinations about changes that can be made to help you attain some of your cherished goals. Some of these invasive thoughts may cause you to re-evaluate some long-held beliefs about your past. Letting yourself travel down these paths and accepting some alternate views may help you solve some long-standing problems. Don’t be a wimp, let Mars be your guide to a better life.
Cancer: Mars in Taurus gives you an easier time than most. Instead of making you do 50 psychological pushups and run around your brain a hundred times, Mars is giving you the opportunity to hang out with friends, loved ones, and enjoy yourself. Mars here puts the accent on your associations and relationships with others, and how you can all fit in together harmoniously. Plan a party, go to a movie, have some fun and try to have a good time. Sometimes it can be hard for you folks to let yourself go, but with Mars at the helm, you should be in good hands.
Leo: “Ten-hut! Yeah, YOU! Chin up, shoulders back, and stomach in!” Mars in Taurus is all about your career. This is make-or-break time, bubbie, and it’s no time for slacking off. It isn’t so much that your career is on the line, though for some of you that may be true, but that now is your time to shine if you are willing to put in the work. Opportunity abounds for you to break out of some fairly restrictive situations, if you’re willing do what is necessary to get ahead. Some of that may not be much fun. Making amends, compromising, sacrificing and being forgiving can be tough work. But if you ARE willing to go that far, Mars can help you slay some dragons. If you’re up for the St. George bit, time to suit up that armor and get busy.
Virgo: There’s a little of what is said about Aries and Leo that’s true for you folks as well. It is both a time to put your plans into action, and for you to get ahead if you are willing to do the psychological drudgework to help you climb to the top of the hill. The twist here is that for you, it is a question of making sense of the events in your life, and understanding what they mean. If you can make that connection, you can see both how the past created the present, and how the present will create the future. Once that’s evident, all you need to do is just tweak the present to create the future you desire. It may mean digging into the weeds of your psychic makeup and fine tune existing trends in your life, but you’re a Virgo, and Virgos are experts at that!
Libra: It’s time for you caterpillars to head into your cocoons. You’ve been putting up with some pretty bland shit lately, and it’s time for the winds of change to blow your way. What do I mean by bland shit? It’s the putting up with situations that are far less than ideal, but not really bad, either. You convince yourself that other people should be envious of what you feel you “put up with” but all that does is put a band-aid on your pride. It doesn’t really solve the situation. You deserve better. Transformation is coming. Let it happen.
Scorpio: Is your relationship life a bit bonkers lately? Are you fed up being nice to people who treat you like dog poop? Are you tired picking up the broken pieces of other people’s lives? Tired of playing the same roles in other people’s dramas? Mars in Taurus can help you find the answers, or maybe (being Scorpios and all) you ALREADY know the answers. But Mars can help you put them into practice. Yes, it may mean donning battle gear and getting a little bloody. But it may also just be time to take that protector off your stinger and draw a bit of blood yourself. When is enough, enough? Only you can decide, but how much you want to live YOUR life and not the life others have scripted for you is at stake.
Sagittarius: To use this time to your best advantage, now is the time for you to be fixing things. Bring the car in to be serviced. See the doctor. Go to the dentist. Get those checkups, refill your prescriptions. Clean the house, walk the dog, sing Beethoven’s Ode to Joy to your plants. Essentially, you have the opportunity to put your self, your house, your relationships, or your career in order and prepare them for the next chapter in your life. Drudgery, perhaps. But a bit of drudgery now will pay off later when it’s your turn (see Cancer above or Capricorn below) to play.
Capricorn: You folks DESERVE a vacation. If you can’t take one now, plan for one. You need to give yourself some time for rest and relaxation. You (as you usually do) have held up your part of the bargain well, and have made some changes, done the work, and handled your responsibilities well. You can’t keep this level of diligence and fortitude up without some R & R for your body, mind, and spirit. I know it’s hard for you to let go, but it’s either take a break or get broken. If you absolutely must be busy at something, now is a good time to attend to creative projects. If there’s something that you’ve been working on on the side, this is an excellent time to devote some time to it.
Aquarius: Repeat after me: “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home…” Aquarians need to focus on their home over the next few weeks. Whether it’s fixing up the physical domicile or attending to your psychic foundation, you need to make them your first priority. June could well be too late to take care of some things that need attending to now. What you are really doing is laying the groundwork for future progress and enjoyment, now is not the time to traipse after stars, but mend your floor boards.
Pisces: During this time you folks are likely to be very mentally active. There are plans to be made, issues to be decided, and discussions to be had with others. You need to activate your social network and get as much information as you can about some important areas of your life. Sometimes it has worked out very beneficially for you to rely on your own inner instincts. This is not one of those times. This is a time of reaching out, branching out, and sharing thoughts and ideas with others. You don’t know what you don’t know, until you do; and then the world changes. Let it.
Back to the eclipses…
I mentioned above that I thought this series of eclipses was “weak.” I made that assessment because the first eclipse is a partial eclipse of the Moon, the last eclipse is another partial eclipse of the Moon, and this Solar eclipse is not only Annular (the kind in which the Sun still appears like a ring, see below for a diagram and image) but the Saros Series of which it is a part, is a series of primarily Annular eclipses. The series doesn’t become total until almost the very end and then it poops out. What a wimp.
What’s a “Saros Series”? A series of eclipses that are all formed by the same alignment of Sun, Earth, and Moon. It’s a lot more complicated than that, but any more complication would ruin the narrative. If you’re interested, visit the NASA site using the link on the right.
Interestingly, however, the series (Saros 138) began about the same time as our April 25th series (Saros 112) reached its peak, around the year 1490. A time in which the world was going through profound changes, including the colonization of the Western Hemisphere and height of Christian conformity in the guise of the Inquisition.
Our own discovery of new worlds? A Saros 138 eclipse occurred on April 7, 1959. On April 2, 1959 the first 7 American astronauts were chosen from a field of 110. I wish I had the time to research these things!
And is religious conformity mirrored in our own polarized politics? Are not today’s heretics those politicians who dare to break with the conformity of a party’s ideology?
Like the events of the 1490’s, few of the events of these eclipses reach individual mortal lives. The scale of time during which these events unfold is literally astronomical. The entire Saros 138 cycle stretches out from 1490 to 2716, a total of 1,226 years. A mere blink in the lifespan of the Sun or Moon, but a hundred eternities to us. Yet, for those who are in the know, and are aware of the flow of the winds of the universe, we can place ourselves in harmony with them and make the most of the opportunities they present.
But the point I want you to keep foremost in your mind is something you won’t find on any other astrology site. Profound changes happen, ultimately, from subtle events. Follow the subtle, and you’ll find the sublime. Watch the trends that start during this time, and you’ll gain invaluable clues about what it is to come.
That leads me to think that for those who are unaware of these energies, it is likely during this period that loyalties might be tested, that some people might try to put ideology ahead of the good of all, and that those who “speak their mind” might wish to think twice before engaging their vocal chords or typing fingers. None of which is likely to come to much good.
However, for those of us who are aware, we are on the lookout for novel opportunities. That discoveries that we hear about may have prospects that could evolve into rewarding endeavors. We would be more willing to embrace those who we might have considered the opposition. And might be a bit more cautious in our choice of words before speaking.
One last interesting tidbit about this coming eclipse; the place on Earth in which the eclipse will be at its greatest strength is very close not only to the equator, but the international dateline, at 2ºN 175º E, close to the island of Bonriki in Kiribati (formerly known as the Gilbert Islands).
That alone could be an indication that we could very well also be in for a time in which some cherished orthodoxies (such as the economic policy of “austerity”) may come tumbling down around the heads of some politicians. We could be in for a substantially altered political world after these eclipses play out at the end of this month, and thus prove to be not “weak” at all!
And finally, for this edition, we have the third of seven squares between Uranus and Pluto that occur between June 24, 2012 and March 16/17, 2015. A much more human time-scale!
I have written a great deal about this previously, and will write much more about it in the future. For those just joining us, this series of squares is calling into question the social, cultural, and economic transformations of the ‘60s. This square is why there is talk about cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. It is also the reason why economic topics such as union representation and collective bargaining, and sexual behavior topics such as abortion and equality for both women and the LGBT community are such a hot-button issues.
From what I can tell, those issues that have organizations behind them pushing their agenda seem to be succeeding, whereas those that do not are floundering. Is there time to create organizations to pump new life into unions and the pro-choice abortion position? Only time will tell, but at the moment, the prospects are not promising.
One final note: Venus, the planet of love and relationships goes into Gemini the sign of communication on May 9th at 8:03am. I’m hopeful that after Venus enters Gemini, people might once again know how to speak with one another. An extremely annoying habit I’ve noticed lately is that some people are either so eager to speak they can’t wait to get out their words, or they’re afraid they’ll forget what they have to say by the time the other person is finished. Here’s hoping the goddess can wave her magic wand and restore if not oratory, at least common courtesy to the land!
Speaking of the goddess, she finally begins to appear after briefly after sunset for the perceptive among us. She will gradually rise each day to obtain her full regal glory this October.
Wishing you all a wonderful fortnight!
