Our Responsibility
Stepping Into the Future

The Lunar Month of Nov 12, 2004 - Dec 11, 2004

by Nick Anthony Fiorenza

Astronomical Myth is a "picture language," imagery that articulates the qualities of cosmic intelligence expressing throughout the greater heavens and through our lives. We are not separate from the greater heavens, from the stars and planets around us, or from our beloved Earth, but are intimate parts of this dynamic, continually unfolding heavenly symphony. This entirety is our cosmic consciousness, the totality of our being. To explore the greater heavens and the heavenly cycles is to explore that which we are--our embracing consciousness and our spiritual evolution.

The stars would not be in the heavens if we were meant to walk in darkness.

Although in the sidereal sign of Libra, this month's lunar theme begins with our New Moon lying just inside the Chelae (claws) of the Scorpion, under the neck and head of the serpent, and over the stars of the Centaur--just past Zubeneschamali, the northern claw of the Scorpion. This star and its counterpart, Zubenelgenubi, in modern illustrations are shown as the scales or balance of Libra. In antiquity however, these stars were the claws of the Scorpion--an image revealing a far greater understanding about our incarnational purpose on Earth. Exploring the embracing mythical picture of this part of the heavens (extending through Virgo-Libra-Scorpio) provides the context behind this month's lunar theme.

Although the constellation of Virgo begins at the Leo / Virgo cusp, it extends well into the first half of the sidereal sign of Libra. The Virgin lies supine with her head at the beginning of Virgo, which lies under the Halo of the Virgin marked by our Super Galactic Centre--the spiritual center in which our galaxy nests). The Virgin's base chakra or sacrum (Spica, Alpha Virgo) marks the cusp of Virgo / Libra, while the Virgin's legs extend well into Libra, with her feet marking the center (150) of sidereal Libra. The constellation of Virgo embraces about 46 degrees of the zodiak--the longest of the zodiakal constellations.

The two primary stars of Libra, (Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali), in modern illustrations, form the balance or scales of Libra. They respectively lie at 200 and 240 sidereal Libra. Actually, these two stars are the "Chelae of the Scorpion." The chelae extend from the other direction, from Dschuba, Delta Scorpio, head of the Scorpion, which lies at about eight degrees in the sidereal sign of Scorpio.

The image here is of the Virgin giving birth into the Chelae of the Scorpion, an image that articulates the reincarnational birthing of the soul into a process of soul growth gained through the balance of human experience while in the forces of duality. This mythical articulation was destroyed in recent (Chaldaean / Roman) times: The Scorpion's Chelae and the Virgin's legs were severed from our stellar mythos, and so too its profound significance. This why our modern image of Libra is considered to be the scales of justice--implying the need to experience both sides (a balance) of human experience to gain ones self mastery as an incarnating soul. It does not imply the guilt trip-laden idea of paying for misdeeds deemed by a mediating and governing church-state that pretends to stand between a person and God--a ploy used by the church-state puppet-masters to control and manipulate the masses. Here, in the reincarnational clutches of the Scorpion, the incarnating soul learns self-responsibility and self-mastery, to claim the true freedom the scales of justice stand for.

Alignments with Zubenelgenubi, the south claw, indicate a karmic responsibility, that is a responsibility to address or complete any entrapping situations created in a previous incarnation--unfinished business. Alignments with Zubeneschamali, the north claw (our New Moon Star) indicate a dharmic responsibility, that is, the need to express the wisdom gained from soul's incarnational sojourn in its previous entrapments. This is about going forward from any past entrapments by balancing our previous incarnational experience in a new way, to step forward from the past into our future destiny.

Standing upon the Scorpion is Ophiuchus holding the serpent whose neck and head points toward the Northern Crown, which lies above the feet of the Virgin and the Chelae of the Scorpion. Ophiuchus is knowledge holder over the raw creative forces governing life and death--one who has attained ascension from the lower-order forces that perpetuate our scenarios of (re-incarnational) entrapment. Ophiuchus is exemplar of one who has brought the interplay of these forces to a greater spiritual fulfillment. The head and neck of the Serpent is of claiming our freedom from the reincarnational clutches, from the karmic-dharmic path of soul growth, the process of claiming our experiential wisdom. The Northern Crown embodies the fullness of this ideal attainment.

South of the "feet of the Virgin" and the "Chelae of the Scorpion" is the Centaur who stands on the galactic equator over the Southern Cross. The Centaur is protector of the Southern Cross and benevolent teacher of its principles. The four stars of the Southern Cross (Cruces) embody the original cardinal virtues seemly lost to most of humanity. This is the cardinality (pure intent) of the soul--embodied by the Kappa Crucis Cluster, the Jewel Box. The Southern Cross embodies the pure intent of the soul before the aberrations, confusions, and attitudes incurred by the soul throughout its entire re-incarnational process.

The Centaur teaches the right use of will, the right way to live to attain self-mastery and evolutionary freedom. The Centaur teaches that it is essential to seek the original cardinality of the soul and live it. This is to claim that cardinality as our foundation as prerequisite to reach beyond the entrapments we find our selves in, the entrapments of duality-based experience--to claim the Northern Crown, our evolutionary freedom and fulfillment.

Here lies our New Moon theme of Nov 12, 2004, which is about claiming our self-mastery over the apparently entrapping scenarios in duality in which we find our selves, and stepping into the future--the way to change the past.

Our primary New Moon stars are Unukalhai, marking the neck of the Serpent, and Alpha Lupus and the northern claw of the Scorpion, Zubeneschamali.

The Centaur is depicted as grasping Lupus the beast in his right fist, and with conscious deliberation placing the beast upon Ara, the sacrificial Altar of the Centaur to be consumed in the Centaur's pyre. This is the relinquishment or offering of the lower-self personality desires to be burned upon the altar. This is required to claim the profound level of self-mastery implied and embodied by that which is above the ecliptic--Unukalhai, the neck of the Serpent whose head reaches for the Northern Crown. The meaning of the word "sacrifice" as used here is important to understand. To sacrifice means to give up something of a lower nature for a higher office--not self-sacrifice. So our southern Alpha Lupus aligned with our northern Alpha Serpens indicates this process of the "sacrifice" of the lower self pursuits (even the human form or mold) for the attainment of one's higher self mastery and subsequent ascended mastery in the world--the power and wisdom embodied by the Serpent.

Alpha Lupus can also indicate an attachment to a lower order expression and a required need to relinquish that attachment for a higher order expression to emerge or manifest.

The sacrifice of Lupus is not a light matter, merely a blind act executed on whim, but a seriously sober and conscious act that will change one forever. To accomplish such a profound life-changing step, one must have cultivated the inner preparedness for such an initiation. An undaunted inner conviction of purpose must be clearly established in consciousness to be willing to sacrifice what is a powerful, and most often time, a primal and automatic behavioral way of life, that which at one time may even have been held quite dear.

The Centaurian training is not merely an intellectual understanding of these principles but an experiential journey moment-by-moment that leads one to true inner wisdom and knowledge on an energetic level, resulting in an inner realization that makes right action crystal clear. The preparatory training elucidated by the Centaur must underlie and support the sacrifice of Lupus' standing undaunted in the conviction of soul's greater purpose in attaining mastery in its Earthian sojourn. It is only this that makes possible the required inner strength and the translation of that inner strength to the potent act of outer reserve to make active the transmutational energies of Unukalhai, the kundalini serpent within self, so it may rise to the Northern Crown of true enlightenment. The power of the Serpent can not be prematurely coerced on the mental plane, which is a mere a head-trip, without the experiential-based wisdom to back it--the accumulation of true personal power. Hence the need to surrender the past, a lesser position or aspect of self, embodied by Lupus, and to claim the personal power and experiential wisdom represented by the neck and head of the Serpent, is required in order to step into our dharmic responsibility, our future, which is embodied by Zubeneschamali, the northern claw. This is the essence of our Nov 4, 2004 New Moon lunar theme.

The hours before the Crescent Moon provides a time when we relinquish patterns of the past that would limit our creative ability to expand on the theme now unfolding. The crescent moon is the time when the sprouting seedling sloughs off its protective coat of the past, and emerges in its new expression. As the Crescent Moon unfolds, the growing phase of the lunar cycle begins and we start to amalgamate our personal creativity with the original lunar theme.

Our Crescent Moon occurs on Nov 15 in the midst of sidereal Sagittarius and conjoins Alpha Scutum. Scutum is "The Galactic Shield of the Holy Cross" and lies just north of the Zen Archer along the galactic equator and north of the Galactic Equatorial Node (GEN), the Gate if God. The Galactic Shield is emblazoned with the symbol of the Holy Cross (the cross within the circle). Scutum is "Defender of the Holy Cross"--of the greater evolutionary Truth of the soul--and fulfillment of the evolutionary precessional cycle of the soul--what the Zen Archer undauntingly lives, stands and unquestionably is willing to die for--the evolutionary fulfillment of the soul. To learn more about the Cycle of the Holy Cross and the precessionally driven Evolutionary Cycle of the Soul please visit the Holy Cross web page.

The 24-hour period just before the Gibbous Moon is a
time of perseverance, of pushing through in the lunar
cycle. The Gibbous Moon is when the pressure releases
and we enter the magnetic pollinating phase of the
lunar cycle, which begins a social and communicative
time. Our Gibbous Moon occurs on Nov 22 in late
sidereal Pisces and conjoins the Second Node of the
Dragon and an irregular shaped galaxy in Cetus, the
technobureaucratic monster of collective human
consciousness.

Nodus Secundus of Draco and the irregular galaxy IC
1613 of Cetus conjoin the theme of Alpheratz, the head
of the entrapped princess. Here we are asked to become
attentive to the fact that our intent of purpose can
be diverted and dispersed by psycho-emotional forces
that congest us when toxic physical conditions exist,
or when we are naive to such forces. Our
psycho-emotional fog can then perpetuate confused life
scenarios, antiquated involvements, or entrapments
that are no longer in our highest interest.

Mercury begins its retrograde on the Disseminating
Moon of Nov 30 in early sidereal Sag. Our
Disseminating Moon resides in late sidereal
Gemini--conjoined Pollux of Gemini.

The Gemini Twins are marked by the two principal
stars: Pollux, the immortal extraterrestrial one, and
Castor the mortal terrestrial one, the
extraterrestrial incarnate. These two stars mark the
last few degrees of sidereal Gemini. The Twins stand
upon the galactic equator at a 600 angle to the
ecliptic plane, with the "Feet of the Twins" lying in
earlier Gemini, upon the "galactic node" of the Holy
Cross--the "Gate of Man." Thus, Gemini is a galactic
constellation, one common to our solar plane
(ecliptic), and so with sol / soul purpose expressing
in the daily activity of humankind.

The Twins are ambassadors. The role of the Twins is
one of linking and uniting the mission of the soul
(galactic plane) into and through our incarnate daily
affairs and mode of participating in the world. The
Twins work hand-in-hand for the betterment and
evolutionary fulfillment of humankind. And of course,
Gemini is of communication, commerce, and activity.
Our Disseminating Moon begins a communicative period
of redefining logistics in our lives.

Our Last Quarter Moon of Oct 4/5, stimulating our
inner need to initiate change, occurs in late sidereal
Leo conjoining the hind of the Lion--a rather windy
place where breezes blow that could be either
diversionary, fuel a fire, or inspire artistic
creativity that caries us aloft into a new realm.

Immediately following Last Quarter, at the time to
initiate change in the lunar cycle, Venus and Mars
conjoin in sidereal Libra at Zubenelgenubi, the
southern claw of the Scorpion. As presented earlier,
alignments with Zubenelgenubi indicate a
responsibility to address or complete any entrapping
situations created from a previous time. Here we have
a responsibility between the masculine and feminine,
between the matriarch and patriarch, to establish
completion in harmony and balance, as well as
inspiration to creatively act from the heart, art, and
beauty.

Retrograde Mercury conjoins Pluto on Dec 7, just
before the Balsamic Moon of Dec 8. The Balsamic Moon
marks the time in lunar cycle when we coalesce the
experience of the lunar cycle into its seed essence,
which will then sprout through the theme of the
following lunar cycle. It is when we turn our
attention from this lunar cycle in anticipation of the
next to come. The hours before the Balsamic Moon is
our time of coalescence while those after mark the
time when we turn from looking back over the past
cycle and look toward the future cycle to come.

Mercury completes its previous 116-day synodic cycle
and begins its next on Dec 10 as the Sun, Earth, and
Mercury align. We will move fully into the next
Earth-Mercury synodic theme in the following lunar
cycle, when Mercury returns direct.

A synodic cycle between two planets begins when those
planets conjoin, looking from the Sun's perspective.
The star alignments for the Earth and the planet
(looking from the sun) reveal the nature of the
synodic cycle's theme. That theme will unfold until
the same planetary alignment occurs again, marking the
completion of one synodic cycle and the beginning of
the next. The synodic theme can be thought of as an
underling theme existing between the two planets over
the course time. To learn more about planetary synodic
cycles please see Synodic Cycles & Planetary
Retrogrades.

The previous Mercury synodic theme was presented in
the Aug 16, 2004 Lunar Planner. This synodic theme,
which runs from Dec 10, 2004 through March 29, 2005,
is set by the stars of late sidereal
Taurus--specifically, Rigel of Orion.

Rigel is of enterprising entrepreneurialship. Orions
in general are known for their architectural capacity.
Prominent alignments with Rigel (and conjoining
Bellatrix) bring the capacity to embody, direct and
execute large, extravagant and grandiose projects;
bringing good through commerce and business affairs.
Kursa, conjoining Rigel, is of new beginnings, new
journeys, new involvements, and new legs of our lives.
Although it may be time to go forth anew, into a new
phases of our lives, we must be aware of the tenacious
perseverance required when staring new life journeys,
to move from the wars and trials of the past (latter
Taurus) to the freedom of the future (early Gemini).

Our next New Moon occurs on December 11/12 in late
sidereal Scorpio, in the constellation of
Ophiuchus--the thirteenth ecliptical constellation.
More to come then.

To learn how one lunar phase shifts and changes into
the next, and to learn how to live in attunement to
the lunar cycles, in the experiential empowerment
doing so offers, please download the Lunar Planner
Introduction and each monthly Lunar Calendar, and use
them daily (PDF file links below)--its all a gift.

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We need not live in endless struggle, overwhelmed by the surface turbulence of our growth and awakening process. We can establish an inner peace instead, with life becoming a graceful dance when we attune ourselves to the natural spiral of growth that is guiding our lives. Living in attunement to the natural Lunar Cycles is an effective and empowering way to do this. Living in attunement to the natural astronomical cycles of life is living in faith and trust in the Divine Creative Intelligence expressing throughout our lives.

The Lunar Planner is an experiential tool teaching us how to live in attunement to the natural lunar cycles. Astronomical Sidereal Astrology and Star Lore reveal each lunar month's theme, and the planetary themes unfolding throughout the year. Each lunar month's theme weaves a continuing story line of the patterns of growth unfolding in our lives.

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Copyright 2004 Nick Anthony Fiorenza, All Rights Reserved