3 Modes of Water

The final astrological grouping according to ‘Triplicities’ is Water. These zodiac sign groupings are according to the classical philosophical elements of Fire, Earth, Air and Water [check out early posts]. Let us look us now look at the quality of WATER when combined with each of the 3 modes or ways of doing things in the Cardinal, the Fixed and the Mutable people.

 

Primal Egyptian god of water – Nut

[Lucy Lamy, ‘Egyptian Mysteries’]

The water element brings life to all things and makes up the bulk of a living organisms. Water is our greatest solvent and is used for cleansing and as a neutral medium in which the bodily chemistry can take place. Water is fluid and takes the shape of its container, as do the emotions, which find their symbolism in this medium.

The water element strong in a chart makes these people prudent, shrinking and fearful but they also have foresight, developed psychic sensitivities and strong self-protective capabilities. Water people being intuitive and sensitive in feeling and perception respond readily to the rhythms of life so aptly portrayed in art, poetry, music, dance and even in sport and sailing.

 

[From Budge, ‘The Egyptian Zodiac’]

CANCER: This is water mixed with the cardinal or active state. Water is on the move in the tumbling streams and fast moving rivers – lots of energy just like the emotional force of Cancerian people. The rain can fall softly in nurturing droplets that allow the spring flowers to bloom or it can fall in uncontrollable torrents wiping everything out. So too the emotions and caring of the Cancer person – they are the best nurturing care- givers being both sensitive and wanting to help in practical ways. However, be wary of those over powering emotional outbursts or the clinging and hard-shelled crab who lives in the gentle ebb and flow of the moonlit tidal movements at the edge of the sea.

 

[From Budge, ‘The Egyptian Zodiac’]

SCORPIO: Now the water element is mixed with the fixed state of matter. Imagine the hard, cold, frozen snow of the polar caps. Imagine the beautiful, majestic ice-flows let loose into the sea to move along in slow dignified and haughty grace twinkling with shades of blue-green and purple. Likewise do you find the Scorpio personality, alone, isolated and aloof. Think of the power and force of the glacier, moving ever forward in its slow determination, allowing nothing to block its path as it grinds ever onwards. So too will the Scorpio person move towards its goals and ambitions. But don’t be fooled, even the ice-flows and glaciers can be melted eventually with the right set of circumstances, then you can drink their life giving waters.

 

[From Budge, ‘The Egyptian Zodiac’]

PISCES:  Down at the bottom of the deep dark sea you will find the magic environment of the Piscean with its strange and wonderful world. In the fastness of the incredible oceans are a myriad of life forms all swimming with the rhythms of its watery medium, curling and arching and darting swiftly about. This is water mixed with the mutable quality – always on the move, changing, full of mystery and wonder, hard to pin down just like our Piscean personalities. Strange people of this world and yet not of this world, sometimes like fish out of water you can see them gasping for the air of far away ideas and impossible dreams. Be careful that you have a life raft, for you may well need it when the sea boils and rages with uncontrollable drive and mountainous waves trying to get somewhere and yet nowhere, causing the greatest havoc to the land-lubbers.

3 modes of AIR

ONCE again we return to the ‘Triplicities’ [check out early posts] or zodiac sign groupings according to the classical philosophical elements of Fire, Earth, Air and Water. Let us look again at the qualities of AIR when combined with each of the 3 modes or ways of doing things in the Cardinal, the Fixed and the Mutable people.

Primal Egyptian god of air – Shu

[Lucy Lamy, ‘Egyptian Mysteries’]

The air gives us the ‘Breath of Life’ and the quality of this medium and element is associated with breathing and with brain function. Air people need to circulate amongst their friends like the air amongst the trees whispering and sharing the latest gossip, ideas and news. The air quality of life blows in gentle refreshing breezes to shift away the dust, or it rages like a tornado to clean away the debris. With the breath we send out words that reflect the inner hidden thought; or with unspoken thought we move our bodies to express the inexpressible either in dance or athletics. Thus it is seen that the air quality is necessary to bind and share all we have with each other, after we have gulped down its life giving energy.

[From Budge, ‘The Egyptian Zodiac’]

GEMINI is the first air sign of the zodiac. It has a duality or polarity, which may be the twin states of body and soul, or soul and spirit. Sometimes Gemini people are aware of this duality and it either causes them to be constantly vacillating between two states or conditions, a bit like Libra, or they are found using their intelligence and questing for knowledge and information in order to learn how to find a middle state that utilises both conditions. In the mundane world this quality is reflected in the ‘middle man’ or agent, the mediator, the bringer of news and gossip. The versatility of the mutable quality, the planetary rulership of Mercury and the flowing nature of air makes the Gemini person the most communicative of the three air signs and sometimes never still.

[From Budge, ‘The Egyptian Zodiac’]

LIBRA is the air sign that combines with the quality of cardinality, thus it moves in a more direct line than Gemini natives, either focusing on inter-relationships of the human sort or the inter-relationships between intellectual factors or material objects. By so doing these people demonstrate their great need to achieve a balance between all seeming polarities and disparities as befits a combination of the circulatory quality of air. The rulership of Venus, planet of harmony, proportion ensures their constant searching for balance and beauty, whether in fashion or mathematics. You will catch these people making active effort [cardinal] to make things appealing to others and to find meaning in human relationships and they need to be part of such a world.

[From Budge, ‘The Egyptian Zodiac’]

AQUARIUS combines the movable air quality with the fixed state of being. Aquarian people know that they need to circulate and interrelate with other humans but do not always find this easy due to their fixed mode of action, and sometimes they get stuck for words and feelings too. However, those Aquarians that are expressing themselves well belong to groups that share either their ‘way-out’ thinking or their love of shared activity such as in sporting or working teams. Air wants to be friendly and when combined with the static nature of the fixed mode, this friendship can be relied on to stay around for a long time, even if sometimes at a little distance. By the same virtue the Aquarian can be most aggravatingly stubborn, almost like a Taurean! Under Saturnian rulership, some Aquarians are locked into the past. Under Uranian rulership, some Aquarians live in the future; most are a combination.

Uranus Pluto Alchemy

Well, we have had the Full Moon on Uranus and it does seem as if mother earth is convulsing, and humanity responds by convulsing itself.

The 2 pillars of society are breaking down – the church and the university and in between the third pillar of social structure is disintegrating – this has been going on for some time [since the conjunction of Uranus and Pluto in the alchemical sign of Virgo in the mid 1960s] in a slow and perhaps imperceptible grind, but is now becoming distinctly apparent under the first square of the cycle, in a way that is tangible and has to be faced. All living is being undermined, apart from the obvious technical revolution, in a very subtle and indefinable way.

 Alchemy

The breakdown and paradigm shift is occurring in the church, from the point of view of not being the sole controlling and directing force of our moral codes and therefore behaviour, anymore. The breakdown and paradigm shift is occurring in the university from the point of view of not being the sole controlling and directing force of our education and political notions, anymore. As a result, the breakdown and paradigm shift is occurring at a fundamental level in family and social and health structures, even to affecting what we define as gender. Indeed who are we?

Life is now lived more and more in technical ‘bites’ small quick pieces of information in a virtual world of the Internet, were there are no rules and no guidelines.

There seems to be constant displacement of masses of people due to great earth movements of fire, water and earth; and due to human tension expressed in disagreements, shootings, riots and war.

All institutions are breaking down, even life is breaking down, in spite of all the new discoveries. How do we survive and adapt? I wonder if our parents and grandparents felt the same – is this just another reoccurring cycle or is there truly a new world on the horizon? A massive evolutionary leap rather than a turn on the spiral?

I guess the two world wars of the previous century must have felt like this.

Zen Wisdom

He who smiles

Rather

than rages

Is always

The Stronger

 Chickpea by Rumi

A chickpea leaps almost over the rim of the pot

where it’s being boiled.

Why are you doing this to me?

The cook knocks him down with the ladle.

Don’t you try to jump out.

You think I’m torturing you.

I’m giving you flavor,

so you can mix with spices and rice

and be the lovely vitality of a human being.

Remember when you drank rain in the garden.

That was for this.

Grace first. Sexual pleasure,

then a boiling new life begins,

and the Friend has something good to eat.

Eventually the chickpea

will say to the cook,

Boil me some more.

Hit me with the skimming spoon.

I can’t do this by myself.

I’m like an elephant that dreams of gardens

back in Hindustan and doesn’t pay attention

to his driver. You’re my cook, my driver,

my way into existence. I love your cooking.

The cook says

I was once like you,

fresh from the ground. Then I boiled in time,

and boiled in the body, two fierce boilings.

My animal soul grew powerful.

I controlled it with practices,

and boiled some more, and boiled

once beyond that

and became your teacher.

There is no Rose without a Thorn

A Gathering in Virgo/Libra

The planet Saturn trundles around the circle of the zodiac in 28 to 30 years. During the course of his travels he marks out lessons and accomplishments at the personal, social and worldly levels of being.

Saturn - Father Time

Over the past year Saturn has been with the stars Spica and Arcturus. These two stars have a location in the Tropical Zodiac of 23-24º Libra, which corresponds to and marks the ear of wheat in the hand of the Virgin or the constellation Virgo. At present Saturn is joined by Mars and the waxing Moon.

 

An evening gathering of Saturn, Mars, waxing Moon and Spica.

Compliments ‘Skywalker’

Virgo rising the next day. Compliments ‘Skywalker’.

Once upon a time the Tropical Zodiac signs were in alignment with the constellation of the same name. But now these signs have parted company and are out of sync due to the astronomical phenomena known as ‘Precession of the Equinoxes’.

The constellation Virgo has some interesting mythology attached to it and which through sympathy can be related to the Tropical Zodiac sign of Virgo.

The ancient Egyptian goddess Isis is one of Virgo's many prototypes, as is Belitus, wife of the Assyrian god Bel. The constellation is also known as the maiden representing Persephone, daughter of Demeter (Roman Proserpina and Ceres) the corn goddess.

Demeter Corn Goddess

In mythology, Persephone is another name for Hecate, the crone aspect of the triple Moon goddess. Both are connected with the dark world of mystery. Similarly, Demeter was Queen of the underworld before masculization as Pluto, and she was worshipped in the Orphic mysteries as Goddess of the Blessed Dead.

The sky Virgin or corn goddess carries the palm branch in her right hand and the Spica or spike/ear of wheat is in her left hand, thus marked by the star of the same name. Often the palm branch in imagery is replaced with the Caduceus of Mercury. The maiden of Virgo is also associated with the Biblical Ruth, the Moabitess who is gleaning the fields of Boaz and thus also associated with wheat and the gathering in of the harvest.

In Greek mythology, Erigone, the ‘Early Born’, hung herself in grief at the death of her father Icarius and was transported to the skies as Virgo. She was accompanied by Icarius her father and their faithful hound Maera. 

The myth goes that Dionysis, god of wine, entered Greek Attica where he was greeted by King Icarius and to whom he presented a vine-stock.  Icarius imprudently gave his shepherds wine to drink. As they became intoxicated, they thought that they where being poisoned and slew King Icarius.  Icarius' daughter Erigone, on finding her father's body and with the help of her hound, hung herself in despair.  Dionysus set Icarius, Erigone and their dog Maera in the sky as the Wagoner or the constellation Boötes holding the star Arcturus, as Virgo the Virgin holding the star Spica and as the Lesser Dog Star, Procyon.

Sky map of Virgo, Boötes and Canis Minor. [L. George]

An alternate depiction of the Virgin is Isis clasping in her arms Horus the infant Southern sun-god. In the middle ages this Egyptian imagery is over-laid by that of Western Christianity and Virgo becomes the Virgin Mary with child Jesus.

Isis nurturing Horus [Murray]

Virgo is a feminine sign, so we must guess that its relevance for the boys is in their needing to learn to contact their softer feminine inner selves in order to bring about a balance to their masculine nature. Perhaps in the same way that girls of the masculine sign Aries are learning to balance their femininity with the development of masculine qualities. It is all about achieving a balance in the world, a balance of the two great Cosmic polarities so that we can live in better harmony with ourselves and Mother Nature.

References:

ALLEN,R.H.      ‘Star Names’

GEORGE, L.      ‘A-Z Astrology’.

LAROUSSE       ‘Encyclopedia of Mythology’.

MURRAY, M.   'The Splendour that was Egypt'

SKYWALKER app.

3 modes of EARTH

After a bit of time out, let us return to the zodiac signs from the perspective of their elements and qualities. The 3 Fire signs were worked on in a previous blog now we move on to the 3 Earth signs.

The ‘Triplicities’ or sign groupings are according to one of the classical elements of Fire, Earth, Air and Water. Let us look again at the qualities of Earth when combined with each of the 3 modes of Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable.

At the beginning of the world, Shu god of Space separated Sky Nut from the Earth Geb.

L. Lamy, ‘Egyptian Mysteries’

The Egyptian god of earth is Geb, seen here reclining beneath the sky goddess Nut.

The earth gives the physical form and function of life. It is the arena within which the spiritual path is pursued through being efficient and productive. Earth people utilise the material world in a way that it will aid and assist humanities spiritual growth and development, for the spirit and the material are but two sides of the same coin. Thus earth people strive to give to society and the world something that can be put to use in a visible and tangible way.

[From Budge, ‘The Egyptian Zodiac’]

TAURUS is the first of the earth signs and is of the fixed quality. Thus these Earth people are the most practical and down to earth of all the earth signs, which means they can be quite stubborn about what they want to achieve and quite resistant to objection, as they mould earth materials into useful things for their own purposes, and this includes money. However, you will see a completely different aspect of the Taurean nature when his/her softer side is appealed to through love, the sight of what is beautiful or a sumptuous meal, for they are ruled by the planet of harmony, Venus. From this it can be concluded that our little [or big] bulls are much easier to convince when led gently by the nose and soft words rather than forced down a path with a big stick or rigidity equal to their own. Everything for the Taurean should be practical but erring on the side of pleasant harmony and beauty.

[From Budge, ‘The Egyptian Zodiac’]

VIRGO is the second earth sign and it has the quality of mutability. Here we find that the practical qualities of earth become more flexible yet still hold to the need to see  meaningful and useful results for all their hard labour. Virgo can therefore comfortably deal with the necessity of irritating detail that is required to produce a concrete result in this world. Such detail is seen in number crunching, careful looking after and in the work of the craftsman that needs concentrated persistence. These are practical, useful and earthbound pursuits that help us to get through our daily routine and move life forward, to nurture the seed potential into a blooming flower. The Virgo person being ruled by Mercury also needs to feel that they are applying their intellect to the constant adaptation of material things and solving practical problems. They need to feel useful.

[From Budge, ‘The Egyptian Zodiac’]

CAPRICORN is the third earth sign and it has the cardinal quality. Of the three earth signs this makes Capricorn probably the most industrious and driven to achieve through action. The cardinal signs always need to be active and seen to be so, always going somewhere and usually with the determination to put their stamp on society. This is earth with an ambition, the sign wants to take all the material affairs of man, from buildings to politics and make them work for the good of all. They like to see life structured and ordered so that all people can work towards a useful end goal. In some ways you can find a hint of Aquarius here, the other sign ruled by Saturn before Uranus came along and caused havoc. Saturn has the reputation of a hard task master, but that is only when we strive to shirk our practical and realistic responsibilities and duties.

URANUS & PLUTO

Everyone is talking about the clash of the Titans in the sky above us. These Titans are the fiery, disruptive planet Uranus in the fiery, energetic sign of Aries and the deeply mysterious and powerful planet Pluto in the stern and authoritarian sign of Capricorn.

These two planets are in a harsh angle of 90 degrees to each other. Uranus has recently entered the sign of Aries and Pluto is in Capricorn signifying or correlating with a conflict between strong desire for individual rights and personal freedom with the powerful strength of institutions and government bodies who want to stay in control. And indeed we are seeing much of this around the globe from the western economic collapse to the constant localised wars in the Middle-East.

Astrologically, the present global situation of stress and tension is linked to the social revolution of the 1960s. That was a time when the two great Titans, Uranus and Pluto were together in the sign of Virgo, the sign of work and service and health matters. It was a time when the old fashioned work ethic was ditched along with many other personal and social concepts that had held sway over living arrangements and people’s lives. It was the era of open rebellion at street level, of hippy power and drug culture and the first mummers of the coming technical revolution that was to affect every level of everyday living. There was also to come an upsurge of ‘alternative’ ways of looking at how we maintained our health, both physical and spiritual. Now we are experiencing the time when we need to take stock of that intervening almost 50 years and make any necessary adjustments at the social, political and individual level of response and reaction.

At a more spiritual level the tension of the current times indicate a need to blend our new awakening or new level of consciousness or new way of looking at ourselves, and the universe. The desire should be to improve ourselves and help others to do the same. It should be a time of sudden explosion of riches that are available to all, if we successfully negotiate this present time, otherwise it can be an explosion of a different sort.

What we are looking at in the bigger picture is the cyclic relationship of planet Pluto with the planet Uranus. The current cycle started between 1965 and 1966 when the faster moving Uranus occupied the same position in the skies as the slower moving planet Pluto, and which correlated with a radical and highly disruptive breakdown of previous social and individual values. The whole cycle of these two planets takes between 113 and 140 years, depending on the variable speeds of the planets. Four phases throughout such a cycle, when certain angular relationships are reached approximately every 30 odd years, are indications of a time for reassessing what these planetary energies meant for life on earth at the commencement of the cycle. This current readjustment phase rules over the years 2011 to 2015. The next such phase will occur towards the end of 2045.

So at various times of stress through 2011 to 2015 we are being called upon to curb our impatience of self-centred focus that allows no truck with order and convention, and attempt to blend our individual wants and needs with political will and the growth of organizations that are trying to bring about regeneration of our bad state of health and service. Possibly this won’t be an easy task and the results are more likely to see forceful destruction of what exists so that something new and improved can arise out of the ashes. One way or another there has to be a major restructuring of our efforts to respond on masse to the movements and energies activated in the mid 1960s. As we struggle along, the aim needs to be of keeping an open mind and being awake to any opportunity to make new discoveries and harness inspirations. More important changes are sure to come, and continue, and we need to adjust with grace.

3 modes of FIRE

 To return to the ‘Triplicities’ or sign groupings according to element, let us look again at the qualities of Fire when combined with each of the 3 modes of Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable.

Primal God of Fire – TEFNUT

 [From Lamy, ‘Egyptian Mysteries’]

ARIES is the first fire sign of the zodiac and it is a cardinal sign, so it is going very fast – full on active fire and once let loose there is no stopping it Think of the Ram in full flight ramming at the fence that is blocking its path, think of the racing car flat out around the track, think of the barrister in peak form fighting with the mind for the right to be heard and win. This is the first outpouring of primal energy that kick starts the creative process and symbolised by the Ram.

[From Budge, ‘The Egyptian Zodiac’]

LEO is the second fire sign of the zodiac and it is a fixed sign. We are not going so fast now. There is still all the enthusiasm and dynamism of fire but it is more settled, more focused, more willing to stay put in one place, like a good fire in the hearth. Enthusiasm anchored to the spot makes a good leader, whether leading others tramping through the jungle on an expedition, or sitting in the directors chair giving out decisions, or commanding a little troop of workers, edging them on to do their best. The proud Lion/Lioness caring for the family is a good symbol.

[From Budge, ‘The Egyptian Zodiac’]

SAGITTARIUS is the third fire sign of the zodiac and it is a mutable sign. Well fire combined with a searching for direction can be a bit of a problem if it gets out of control and wanders all over the place. When given focus, direction or knowing where it is going that same wonderful adaptable fiery enthusiasm can get an awful lot done. Mutable fire will adapt to what is needed in a moment and this is why it needs to know its own mind. Like Aries it will fight its way for that all important freedom, like Leo it will command attention for achievement, but like itself it will follow its dreams which can take it far and wide. Think of the explorer into space, think of the horseman galloping to freedom or spinning down the highway on a motorbike. The freedom of the Archer’s arrow is a good symbol.

[From Budge, ‘The Egyptian Zodiac’]

“There is nothing new except what has been forgotten”. A good read is ‘The Dawn of Magic’, by Lois Pauwels and Jacques Bergier.