“Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.”
— Martin Luther King Jr., from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC on Aug. 28, 1963
Life is fragile. Yet life persists against all odds. More than that, life consistently prevails no matter how harsh the conditions. It’s not because living things are hard as diamonds. Counter-intuitive though it may seem, life is so resilient precisely because it is so vulnerable.
As a rule, the more complex the life form, the more vulnerable it is. Even so, survivability is enhanced in proportion to complexity. It is a paradox of which you are an example.
You have no warm coat of fur to protect you from the elements. Neither can you hibernate when conditions are harsh and food is scarce.
Even so, people have proven adept at finding food, clothing and shelter in nearly all of Earth’s environments. Part of that proficiency is a direct result of how our physical and mental complexity confers an enhanced capacity for cooperation.
Beyond forming and extending on community, however, is an even greater and even more human talent. It is a skill natural to our kind. It’s a faculty that originates and evinces in the individual. It is a common aptitude that is more fragile than even your body. It’s the ability to spontaneously generate, nurture and share the unique form of aspiration often called a dream.
This is an even harder world for dreams and dreamers than it is for life and living things. That which is without substance has little value for those concerned only with subsistence. Furthermore, it is difficult for dreamers to find community when (as is often the case) they are mocked as childish, or disparaged as delusional.
It is much easier to rail against what is than to entertain what is not. So it is that many dreams die. It’s easier that way, even if it is very painful. Yet it is not always necessary for dreams to perish.
You can often choose the dream and persist. There are even times when you can prevail because of, rather than in spite of, such a choice. If there is anything to astrology, you are now entering just such a sustained period. It has to do with where Jupiter and Chiron are and what they are doing.
Jupiter, which among other things represents optimism, is in grounded Virgo until next September. It is a placement that implies a period when it is implicitly more practical to be optimistic than is usually the case, provided you choose to sustain belief rather than buy into disillusionment.
Chiron, for its part, is on the other side of the zodiac from Virgo, in dreamy Pisces. That placement by itself indicates an era when vulnerability can be advantageous, provided you can sustain faith through pain.
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Today, shortly before 5 pm EST (21:56:57 UTC), the separation from Jupiter to Chiron reaches precisely 180 degrees, forming an aspect called an opposition. That aspect will repeat two more times next year.
In between and following those three oppositions, Jupiter and Chiron will remain close enough to 180 degrees of separation for the aspect to be considered functional and continuous through at least next August.
Among other things, what oppositions represent for astrologers is a potential (or dream, if you will) for synthesis into a whole. Two things about this specific opposition from Jupiter to Chiron appear to enhance the probability of that potential being filled and dreams coming true.
First is the relationship between the respective objects and the signs they occupy. Jupiter is the classical ruler of Pisces. Chiron’s place in astrology, as Eric has often pointed out, has a lot in common with the intrinsic nature of Virgo as a sign that represents service and wholeness (among other things). Hence, this particular opposition of Jupiter to Chiron portrays an informal yet plausible case of what astrologers call mutual reception. It’s a phenomenon that brings the two objects to resemble each other in practice, enhancing the possibility of synthesis.
The other thing about this opposition is how it evokes an era when dreams were conferred with an unprecedented degree of legitimacy, largely as result of a famous speech by the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.
In that speech, Dr. King articulated a fragile yet powerful dream. It was a dream that the principles upon which his nation was founded could finally be made real. But it was also a dream that had not yet come to pass, because of oppositions that had yet to be resolved.
As an indispensable part of the effort to realize the principles of equality and justice, Dr. King advocated non-violence. He persisted with that advocacy even through suffering violence because he had faith that those who sustained the dream could be vindicated and at long last redeemed. Because he chose that dream even over the survival of his vulnerable body, his legacy survives to this day, and you are among his many beneficiaries.
That famous speech was delivered during Chiron’s immediately previous tenure in Pisces more than half a century ago. Now Chiron has returned, and Jupiter is entering a long opposition from Virgo to emphasize the possibility that your dreams today and the legacy of dreams long deferred — but still sustained — might yet become one and come true through you.
But that can only happen if you choose the dream over the easier alternatives Dr. King counseled us to eschew. By doing so you will be acting to sustain even more than community and cooperation. You will also serve as one with what is perhaps the most important of all human legacies: the ability to dream and the will to make dreams real.
Offered In Service
My dream is fully embracing my natal 12th house Chiron, and last night’s dream in which I am IN the town as it fell helps me realize that dream … maybe? … I got the phrase “collective unconscious” as the only clue and I sense that I may indeed have picked up on the extreme trauma that lives on in our group-think (my chiron is in Aquarius). I immediately thought about how this is the answer to my prayers, alerting me to such dire need … and then I realized the mental terror I dreamt of is my own.
Sorry, Len. I’m not sure this is a proper response to your beautiful piece; I just had to find space within to take it in.
M2
TOWER, not town, as in the WTC.
Len your writing today is truly inspired. It lends optimism to my outlook. Thanks.
I’m so inspired Len, thank you. Especially appreciate the mutual reception reminder as it is powerful and focused. From the chart when Chiron and Jupiter were exactly conjunct (and Neptune was 16 arc minutes ahead of them) there was a very interesting yod between Sun at 2+ Gemini sextile the South Node at 1+ Leo, both quincunx Pluto at 2+ Capricorn retrograde.
Transiting Pallas will be at 2+ Capricorn this Saturday, and likely activate the Chiron-Jupiter dynamic. Something about consciously (Sun) releasing (south node) some method of operation (or habit) that hinders growth, perhaps via a shift (Yod) in power or financing (Pluto).
The North Node in that chart (May 23, 2009, 10:15 AM, Washington DC) opposite the South Node in the Yod, was trine the Sun in Gemini and the NN was in the same degree where transiting Ceres is right now., 1+ Aquarius. Food for thought.
be
Dear Len..This really came on the right day. Thank you.
Yeah I have a dream. I hit a low point this morning tho, in keeping said, “dream alive”. I keep the faith, I always do. But one can get tired from the continual perseverance in an environment that’s still changing in it’s values to / with the meaning of how it is to survive (that is in the outer world). We have to go beyond this, endeavor in openness, yet without substance and proof. ..Now that is a true vision, and endeavor of worth to have!
As you say, I think sharing in community is key to not only offer you support and receive at these times, but also where the strength of the dream can be carried and generated from. This is something I am working on as I have had to be so strong on my own all these years. Letting go, and dissolving walls to others may let more light in, and also at the same time heal. Maybe Neptune in Pisces (currently in opposition to Natal Uranus) at only 10 away is helping with this process for all.
Also at 17+ we have trans Juno semi-sextile in Libra, and Uranus in Aries in Fire seems far away. But might these two help out in the current Jupiter – Chiron opposition aspect as well? Personally Natal Pallas sextile at 18+ Scop, I am counting on. Not to forget, Trans Pallas is just getting going in action and power, is now just begininng to make tracks in Capricorn.
Thank you for this encouraging reminder, while the dream is in the process of rebirth and reforming:
” (It’s) the ability to spontaneously generate, nurture, and share the unique form of aspiration often called a dream.” Chiron hitting Natal Vesta 17+ Pisces degree. Now this is a quality innate in me, one thing I can always count on manifest.. Enthusiasm of, and for something I believe in … of this I am assured!
I saw that aspect forming this morning as I outed myself as an astrologer in my wide circle of friends instead of hiding that part of me when I’m with those whose sense of the sacred is dissected into postmodern irony. An interesting part of today’s pattern also includes an opposition between Juno and Uranus also at 17 degrees making a quincunx/semisextile X. When I did my post on seeking astrology clients for the first time in many years the first response I got was basically the prefab opinion of science held since the 17th century concluded with “don’t be a charlatan. Just be a bard.” Heh. Well in my response I thanked him for giving me practice in dealing with those accusations and he ‘liked’ my response without comment. I s’pose that mutual reception effect plus Juno in Libra’s influence helped me to stay respectful even when my first instinct was to feel wounded (Uranus is on my Chiron now and will sit there for the next few months as he stations direct) and defensive but thankfully my internet at home was glitchy and I got to wait until later to form a less defensive and more respectful reply.
As for dreams I don’t feel like my dreams were chosen by me so much as I was chosen by them. I don’t remember dreams very often these days but then I have a backlog of dream stories that I’m still working out. Pulling together all my threads into one coherent being is something of a challenge for me with the South Node in Gemini but the way I handled the accusations of one of my friends re astrology shows I”m getting somewhere. Just be a bard he said…well being a bard and not just a musician means having a deep well of lore available and well tuned that includes the stories of the stars and planets. A musician is merely a technician. A bard is a whole-mind kind of thing.
“A musician is merely a technician. A bard is a whole-mind kind of thing.”
Indeed, Wandering Yeti. I love that you are seeing that distinction, and that you could see past the wounded reaction to practice such a steady response to your critic.
Nice to see you back here!
wandering yeti, glad you came here to tell us your story. You seem to be a perfect example of what Len tells us about dreamers being mocked, etc. We are living in a time when our dreams and beliefs are challenged to the point we must sometimes give up associations, even family and friends, in order to maintain that which fulfills us.
Not that that hasn’t always been true, but now there appears to be reason and purpose for it, and it has to do with the evolution of humanity. Not all evolve at the same time. If you love astrology, as I know Len does, then you will find your niche. Having trans. Uranus conjunct your natal Chiron at 17+ Aries at the same time trans. Jupiter is quincunx your natal Chiron, and trans. Chiron semi-sextile your natal Chiron as well, is the Universe pushing you forward through the process.
Here’s another juicy nugget from the Jupiter-Chiron conjunction chart; Venus was at 17+ Aries, and she was sextile Nessus at 17+ Aquarius (and Psyche at 17+ Aquarius). Today’s transiting Jupiter at 17+ Virgo added to that sextile in the Jupiter-Chiron (and Neptune) cycle start turns it into a Yod. Adding in transiting Chiron in Pisces to that Yod makes it a Boomerang. What goes around. . . . . . .
And guess who is at 18+ Pisces in the Jupiter-conjunct-Chiron chart of 2009; JUNO! She’s been waiting for this half-way point of the cycle – the opposition between transiting Chiron and Jupiter – and she’s not alone. Orpheus (beautiful music) was also at 18+ Pisces at that time. I know; too much information. But think about it for a while and you will see that it means you are part of that which began in 2009, almost 6 1/2 years ago. By the time trans. Saturn reaches your North Node in Sagittarius you will find solid footing. Be a bard, indeed!
(try not to take this to literally…..)
http://astrologyclub.org/pisces-myth/
be
Thank you Len. Dreamy Pisces that I am as it is, I have to watch curbing my dreams! Thankfully, my Aries Moon often steps in and ignores all urgings by others who beseech me to often ignore my dreams, way too unachievable in their constricted & conforming minds—I never stop dreaming, sometimes I take significant detours, but never stop dreaming, after all, if you can dream it, you can reach for it! Isn’t that what vision is all about? Seeing what you want things to be and ask why not?
Perhaps that’s why this song by the band Supertramp was running through my head as I was reading your prose: Dreamer, your nothing but a dreamer…If I could see something
You can see anything you want boy
If I could be someone-
You can be anyone, celebrate boy.
If I could do something-
Well you can do something,
If I could do anything-
Well can you do something out of this world?
Check it out Supertramp fans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urMjGAimtRc
Dream On!
BTW, as I have mentioned a few times here, I am not even a novice astrologer but I find myself picking some things up from be
Of course, also from PW staff! Anyway, I don’t know if the fact that I have my moon at 18+ (thanks Amanda P. for teaching me that last week) Aries and Venus at Aries 14+, and Chiron at 1+ Pisces. I also have my North Node at 6+Virgo and Pluto at 7+Virgo. Unsure if any of this is significant with the current aspects but thought I’d throw it out there. And finally, I would bet that by revealing this much any savvy astrologer would likely determine my age!
Yes, thank you for this truly inspiring article, dear Len. There certainly is something quite magical in the air at the moment. In my English lesson with my Somali students yesterday evening, I looked at an article with them on ‘busyness’ – and I took the opportunity to talk about the benefits of mindfulness and meditation to them . which I’ve wanted to do for a long time now, to help them cope with their stressful lives. I compared it with their Muslim practice of stopping for prayer throughout the day – and they could really relate to it. Towards the end of the lesson all the lights suddenly went out, and we were plunged in darkness1 Felt very fitting.