2014 Insights

Although we are adrift on a vast ocean of information, speculation and prediction we should never forget that we are all apprenticed to the Unknown. We have insights into the future but we don’t have guarantees, nor would we want them for that would be a world in which we would have no choices.

We should also remember that the conditions we find ourselves in, be they personal or collective, were not created by one person. ‘It takes a village’ applies to just about everything we experience, from the healthy raising of children to the systematic means of oppressing them. The way I like to think about this is that had my father not met my mother the world would be a very different place, for me anyway as well as quite a few others.

So we can all relax. and do our best to deal with what is given.

There are and will be many perspectives astrological and otherwise on 2014. Astrology predictions and insights all stem from the same source. There is a distinct and fascinating grouping of planets in the pattern of a cardinal cross in 2014. What makes it cardinal is that it will occur in what we call the cardinal signs which are the first sign of every season (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn). These astrological signs are about action whereas crosses are about the limits of incarnation. The up side of a cardinal cross is that it is time to DO something. The down side is about just what, how and who will be doing the doing!

The December/January issue of The Mountain Astrologer (TMA) has some interesting articles on this subject.

The core strength of the cardinal cross is found in the square between Uranus and Pluto which began to be exact in June 2012 and won’t be done until 2015. What makes 2014 so interesting is that Mars, Jupiter and even Venus get involved. Here is a brief rundown of each planet’s contribution:

Uranus in Aries wants freedom but can create chaos.

Pluto in Capricorn wants conservation but can create festering because it fears change which leads to transformation of the power structure. For some this is good news for others it spells doom. (Conservation can suggest sustainability as well as entrenchment of outworn systems.)

Jupiter in Cancer wants everyone to be fed and housed but is expansive so there is an excess of homeless,  hungry people: especially people displaced by war and climate change.

Mars in Libra wants a fight. But it does not want to start it. This could be good because it creates a kind of tough diplomacy but it’s really not a great place for Mars and indicates a passive/aggressive kind of engagement between folks.

Venus retrograde in Capricorn wants each and every one of us to evaluate how we are managing our resources. How much of what we manage has real value for us and how much is simply about being carried along the river of our current culture.

Both Mars and Venus have retrograde periods in cardinal signs and over a distance of 3 months will square each other. This is a fascinating combo. [I lectured on this at SOTA.  (an astrological conference in Niagara Falls; October 2013) If you would like to purchase a copy let me know.]

Mars and Venus are the planets of desire. They live on either side of the earth which is Us. They are passionate but passion is not something that is resolvable. Such a square even over a few month’s time is challenging because of all the other the rest of the picture.

Even the Nodes are slipping back into Libra and Aries which indicates eclipses in those signs.

If seems as though we are waiting for the shoe to drop. I suspect it already has but we can’t quite feel it when all our needs are being met.

We need more than ever to grasp the inevitability of change. And to be willing to make changes in our own lives where they are required. Whatever is in store for us this year turning toward it willingly allows us to be aware and although we may suffer we need not be oppressed by the weight of our conditions.  We have the option (maybe our only option) to be alive and present to the world as it is.  Our culture encourages us to be in denial; to believe that we deserve what happens to us – bad and good. Actually it’s more subtle than that.

The cardinal cross is active until late in July. After that Mars and Jupiter will leave Libra and Cancer. Venus is most active in January and early February. The most intense month for the whole thing is April. What we are looking at really is a crises in leadership which is pronounced and demanding globally as well as individually from the end of December to the third week of July, 2014. After that I should write another set of insights!

Possibly the essence of this crises is that leading from a stance of domination does not work anymore. It is not enough for someone, even a government, to say ‘Do it because I say so.’ The crises isn’t calling for a new leader but rather a new kind of leadership. This is as true for how we navigate our own lives as for how the world works (or doesn’t).

Stay tuned for a sun sign run down of how this cardinal cross works. If you are interested in the hot spots when the cardinal cross is most activated look for any aspects involving Mars, Uranus, Jupiter and Pluto in my Insights for the Month.

Below you will find some thoughts on the nature of astrology and the insights offered here:

Astrology offers a system of correspondences – as above, so below – not cause and effect.  Using the heavens to navigate our lives is even more amazing than cause and effect because it doesn’t create our reality but/and it is simply a perfect reflection of it.  And somehow the heavens seem to reflect our life experience with startling accuracy.  I assume this has something to do with how we perceive this dance. As some of you have heard me say before astrology is like a mirror (or a map, or the instruction manual …) It doesn’t make you ugly or beautiful; it just reflects what is there.

The heavens don’t create us, they just reflect us back to ourselves. Perhaps they are created with us and therefore they are us. If the eyes are the windows of the soul then the stars and planets might just be the eyes of Consciousness Itself.

Astrology is not a system through which we can outwit our fate. The sad truth is that our fate is that which already happened. It is our past. Fate is our parents, their strengths and weaknesses, our genetic heritage, our economic circumstances in childhood that have shaped the way we perceive and live in the world.

Collectively we can see our fate in the world situation.  We have crises on all fronts most of which arises out of patterns that are old and unconscious:  Poverty, pestilence, war, ecological disaster to name a few. But these situations are our fate because — like it or not — they are ours to deal with.  Not because there is an inevitable outcome.

Possibly life is a series of ‘transits’ as astrology suggests. And we are meant to live into the ever-changing, transiting world with our eyes and hearts opened which I will grant is a lot to ask. The future is not a sure thing — unless we stay ignorant of our fate, our past. History tends to repeat itself if there is no awareness.

If we use astrology intelligently we are inclined to use this information from the natural world to navigate rather than anticipate – to become aware of where we are now rather than trying to outwit our destiny in the future.