Planet Waves is running a membership drive.
Read more in Solstice Fire and the Art of Service, by Eric Francis.
IT’S CERTAINLY BEEN an interesting week as the Sun and Mars crossed the Aries Point. This we are seeing in true Anti-Sixties style, though the news has mostly been reassuring. Today in particular, a struggle publicly begun at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, Manhattan in the incredible summer of 1969 came to a close.
Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the decision for the majority.
The Supreme Court, along party lines, ruled that it’s not allowable by the American constitution to discriminate against same sex couples who want to marry. Marry means shared lawful household, the right to adopt, hospital visitation, inheritance rights and a few pretty good tax breaks.
What began 46 years ago as a sexual liberation movement has arrived at its destination as a family values movement. As skeptical as I am about that, and about marriage, this is a true turning point for society.
If nothing else, the five justices who voted for this ruling had the guts to stand up to the American Taliban. Fundamentalist Christian leaders and organizations, so influential in American government and responsible for so many of its policies, oppose same-sex marriage vehemently. All of the homophobic mania we’re seeing is largely the product of intentional religious teaching. Yes, homophobia has been around for a while, but the Christian movement has, for two millennia, made antisex a centerpiece of its theory of existence, and this has come to a sharp point with the venom expressed toward anyone vaguely queer.
There are notable exceptions in the Unitarian Universalists, the Quakers and the United Church of Christ (among others). Admirably, Pope Francis has recently asked his flock to back off and get a new issue. But these are rare (and recent) exceptions.
So one thing we are seeing here is a renouncing of Christian values about sex, which are not friendly and defy intuition and common sense. Let’s face it: anyone who opposed same-sex marriage was missing something obvious. Like, super duper obvious. Anyone who still does, still is. Opponents have not gotten over their own homophobic gag reflex. In my mind, it’s that simple. (Homophobia is merely self-hatred, but that’s another discussion.)
Associate Justice Samuel Alito (who voted against marriage equality) was correct in asking, during oral arguments earlier this year: So if we allow same sex couples to marry, what’s to stop groups of four from wanting to marry? Most liberals and gay-rights supporters would scoff at that (it’s in the same league as those who question whether this will not open the way to marriage between humans and critters; well, if it did, I would marry my dog-friends).
The astrology associated with today’s ruling is stunning, to the point of funny.
Scene from the Stonewall riots of summer 1969, Greenwich Village, Manhattan. What’s all the fuss? Gay men, of course!
Apart from being on the anniversary of other landmark gay rights cases, and on Pride weekend (if I recall), there is a lot of information in the planets.
Mars and the Sun on the Aries Point (via the sign Cancer, in the style of family matters) means this ruling will reach far and wide. Personally, I think that homophobia is at the core of most violence in society, particularly against women. The Supreme Court cannot rule against an emotion or mental chaos, but it can point out that something is normal. That is the real meaning of this ruling: QUEER IS NORMAL.
It’s so normal they can now get married. By a judge. In Mississippi or Alabama or Illinois or Connecticut or Puerto Rico. By extension or inference this puts the world on notice: what you think is really weird may also be normal.
OK, back to astrology. This struggle has come to a head in parallel with the Uranus-Pluto square. Those are the years when hearts and minds just seemed to change, and just about everyone got it. More locally, we pulled out of the Mercury-Neptune fog thunderstorm and attained some clarity.
And of course, the Sun and Mars ingressed Cancer, a sign that rivals any other for its public influence, impact and messaging power. That’s because humans are emotional critters above all else. Further, we are tribal and furthermore, the chart of the world — the Thema Mundi — has Cancer in the ascendant.
The real gem of the gay marriage chart’s astrology is in its progressed charts. In fact this is the single most stunning progression I’ve ever seen, even surpassing the progressions of Orson Welles the night of the infamous War of the Worlds broadcast of 1938.
Another exciting moment from the Stonewall riots, which took place over several days in 1969 the night after gay men resisted a raid of their neighborhood bar.
Progressions are just like transits, only slowed down to a scale of one to 365. In other words, if you’re 46 years old, your progressed chart is that for your 46th day. Progressions mainly study the first 90ish days after your birth, applying that symbolically to years.
The chart in question is that for the Stonewall Incident, this time of year in 1969. Queer folk at their neighborhood bar finally had enough of the busts and the harassment, and decided it was time to take it to the streets with the cops. The police sustained casualties, so did a bunch of gay people, and a movement was born.
I’ve been watching that chart, linked below, during the course of the whole gay scene in the Supreme Court. Today I checked progressions to Stonewall. I am one of the weirdos who use progressions for charts of old news events.
Well, today, this very day, is the Leo New Moon in the Stonewall progressed horoscope. New Moon happens by progression once every three decades. It defines an era that lasts a few years. It would be humorous if the New Moon happened within a few years of this decision. The stunning thing is that it happened today, to 1/30th of a degree precision — it’s exact right around the time you’re reading this Friday into Saturday morning.
This is just ridiculous precision and it not only speaks to the monumental significance of this event, it also is a nudge to astrologers in the direction of progressions (no pun intended, another term for progressions is ‘directions’).
As seen by Time magazine, outside the Supreme Court on Friday morning. Photo: Mladen Antonov.
I do want to warn about a potential double ending. Women’s rights are on the block. Rights are flowing away from the direction of women (in particular, reproductive rights, which means ‘personal destiny’ rights). The Supremes have not shown they’re as friendly to women as they are to queers — the Hobby Lobby decision a case in point. There are lots of cases challenging Roe v. Wade floating around the federal courts right now.
Anthony Kennedy, the hero of the day for being the swing vote (he usually votes with the conservative bloc) has personally invited cases challenging reproductive rights (particularly those to end a pregnancy) to be brought before the court.
What we have learned from the queer movement is that it’s worth a long struggle to get what you need. Women have been through many long struggles since the 20th century (and obviously for millennia). You might want to keep the gains you’ve attained and that we indeed have pushed for on behalf of women.
You might ask yourself why this Constitutional amendment failed in the 1980s:
“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
—
Planet Waves is running a membership drive. Read about it in Solstice Fire and the Art of Service, by Eric Francis.
Late degree minor planets in the gay marriage ruling.
I would love to get some reader thoughts into the discussion here. For now I have a couple of afterthoughts that I’ll develop in my Full Moon piece Sunday evening as well as the forthcoming edition of FM. As mentioned, this week Mars and the Sun crossed the Aries Point, making a square from the first degree of Cancer. We saw a week of ‘political is personal’ events, which seemed to emerge right out of the fog of Mercury clearing its last square to Neptune.
These included the Supreme Court refusing to dump the federal exchange for the Affordable Care Act. By a vote to 6 to 3, the court literally fixed a typo that, via a lawsuit, threatened the financial structure of the law. In the past, this kind of thing (called an error in reconciliation) would have been corrected by a technical amendment, in an act of Congress. Instead, some right wing interest decided to exploit it and try to take down the law and with it, the health care system that more than 10 million people depend on.
Second, yesterday Pres. Obama delivered the eulogy for the Rev. Clementa Pickney in Charleston, then led the audience of 5,000 mourners in “Amazing Grace.” Pickney was one of nine African American people shot recently by a 20-year-old white man during a Bible study group.
This may seem like presidential showmanship. Actually it was an extraordinary gesture for a community that would be in agony except for its authentic Christian values. There is such a thing and that is what we saw in Charleston since this tragedy happened — most boldly, the families’ statements of forgiveness to the murderer of their friends and loved ones.
Obama did what he could do for this community, which was show up personally, speak from his heart, acknowledge what no other president except maybe Lincoln could have admitted. Further, we may yet see the disappearance of the Confederate battle flag as an adornment on official buildings in the south. About damned time.
This is worth watching twice, to catch the nuances:
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/mourners-pay-respects-charleston-victim-rev-clementa-pinckney
We have not seen the end of this astrology. Over the coming few days, Mercury ingresses Cancer (crossing the Aries Point) and the Full Moon takes place across early Cancer-Cap. This will precipitate more of this kind of event; there is indeed more to come.
True, it might be in Anti-Sixties style. The Affordable Care Act is actually a Heritage Foundation creation — not an Obama creation. Shooting nine black people is not the way we need to recognize basic civil rights. Sexual liberation and sex education need to go a lot further than encouraging everyone to get married. (As Bristol Palin has demonstrated, abstinence indoctrination does not work).
But this is all a heck of a lot better than 9/11.
That Time Magazine photo makes me feel old. I wonder how many folks in my circle know about the Stonewall incident. I didn’t know. I think I can see why you are “skeptical at best” about this starting as a sexual revolution, and since becoming a ‘family rights’ issue. Can you explain that a little further?
Right now we don’t have a place in society for any discussion of sexual liberation. Slut walking, Take Back the Night, anti-rape activism — none of that is about being and feeling. It’s political action, for which there is a place, but it’s not a substitute for anything — though it supplants real discussion of actual human feelings around healthy sexuality and healthy relating, by which I mean friendly.
The biggest liberation movement for the LGBTQIA scene has been marriage equality. This is an understandable point of arrival. Absolutely essential, in terms of 14th Amendment protection and declaring Queer normal. But it’s not sexual liberation. And marriage is highly suspect as a social institution; in my eyes, it does more to enslave people than anything else. I speak as an astrologer who has handled hundreds and hundreds of divorces and their often vicious aftermath. Not having that contract that nobody reads would have made things a lot easier.
I’ll develop this more, but someone quoted in the NY Times yesterday said it very well, in an understated way:
“It’s interesting to see marriage being the object of the gay rights movement now, because as a feminist, we’ve always had a critique of the institution of marriage. It’s never been a particularly generous or safe place for women, and indeed has been the source of many women’s oppression. So I find it kind of curious that marriage has become the vehicle for gay liberation.”
— Katherine Franke is a law professor at Columbia University and director of its Center for Gender and Sexuality Law.
Re Katherine Frankes comment. I felt feel the same way. Having a handful of gay friends, many it would seem would love to find/have found the ideal partner. But it hasn’t happened yet. Then I recall a 1990’s George Clooney “ER” episode of a female gay couple together for Many Years, her partner was about to die. (The woman dieing was rejected by her family for being gay? yet they held all the legal power). Her life long partner holding her hand on her death bed had none.
Michael Crichton the writer/creator is/was renowned for his accurate research.
Equal legal rights for couples truly committed (one hopes) is overdue.
From what I’ve read, the moon appears to be void at the time of the announcement. I’m flummoxed by the void moon – always wondering when it matters, when it doesn’t. What do you make of this, Eric?
Thank you, Shannon, mentioning this. I desperately seek input as well. This aspect seems to be glossed over again and again. Either astrologers ignore it completely or make a huge fuss over it to point of paranoia.
The textbook phrase as I have learned it with VOC is, “Nothing shall come of this.” That means NOTHING shall come of ANYTHING happening here.
So often I find that phrase viewed by followers of astrology as, “No big deal shall be made of what has happened; this will slip under the radar.”
That is not the same as “NOTHING shall come of this action”. So either the definition needs to be formally changed or I personally need enlightening on this topic that in itself seems to be trapped in a void.
I welcome enlightenment.
Star Wars opened with the Moon void of course. Plenty came of that. Nobody was expecting it, either. That scene with R2D2 falling over was the laughingstock of scifi conferences that year before the film opened. Moon VC can also mean “something unusual.” Additionally, the Moon is in a sign ruled by Venus; she will “performeth somewhat” in the words of Lilly.
Per Robert Hand, I thought the moon “performed somehow” in Sag, Taurus, Cancer, and Pisces. Now Venus, too? BUT…
…Your reply below “can the moon ever be void” I believe speaks to the issue more than anything. Your astrology practices, Eric, take into account the most current understanding of our solar system. VOC is based on the Biblical understanding still widely practiced today by most astrologers. As with the Bible, certainly it’s time to change the script based on new knowledge.
Thanks for the add’l input on this aside topic.
I noticed that right away. First of all, it’s there. It’s in the chart, and it’s the kind of thing that we need to help us illustrate astrology itself, esp for an unprecedented event.
You can read the late degree Moon as the end of a long story. It is in Libra — the end of a judicial journey. Libra, about relationships.
And void of course Moon also describes something that is merely pro-forma, a formality, in the end, not that significant — in this case because it was already decided. Everyone is a publicist nowadays and the justices on the court are certainly susceptible to the considerable public pressure (as in riots) that would have emerged.
Besides, these people have wrought plenty of evil the past 15 years, starting with Bush v Gore. They needed to do something to clean up their image. That’s some void of course Libra Moon for you.
Layers of complexity. So interesting. Thanks for explaining.
Please see the chart above, at the bottom of the article. Those are all the planets with higher degree values than the Moon yesterday morning. We might well ask if the Moon can ever be void of course, and even if it can be, what story do those additional aspects tell?
For one thing the Moon is applying in a conjunction to Apollon, a hypothetical that is all about group affinity. This has certainly brought a lot of people together.
Whew! So that’s Magdalena, Logos, Salacia, Chariklo and Makemake all on the Aries Point as well.
I see, and yes I think that’s a valid point. For example, I’m 33 years old, and just now getting to the point where I feel like I’m truly present when making love with my partner. Some of that can be contributed to a number of factors like maturity, chemistry, etcetera, but this sort of conscious connection needs to be taught as best it can, and valued in today’s society where sexual fantasy is more popular than sexual reality. That’s sexual liberation. My sexuality is no longer bound up in modern culture’s mainstream ideas of sexuality. So yes, if I were to embrace the institution of marriage, for which I also have many reservations, it would seem counter-intuitive to sexual liberation. Reason being, I did not have to get married to achieve union with my lover, and if I thought I had to, based on society’s ‘family values’, that’s not sexual liberation.
The phrase that keeps coming to mind for me, with developments like this, is “baby steps”. This decision is symbolic of where humanity is in terms of evolution, in a similar way to the election of Obama. That did not herald the final eradication of racism; it was rather a significant stepping-stone, and hopefully the beginning of the end.
Asteroids of significance in the Supreme Court chart include Tantalus (conj Mars/Aries Point); Sisyphus (conj Asc); Psyche (conj MC) and Hades, Minerva and Eros (conj Sun). Niobe is conj Juno. Every single one of those names, mythologically, has been involved in stories about human failings or hubris.
While typing that, I remembered to go looking for Ixion as well. It’s conjunct Pholus.
Go V.P. Joe Biden!
Whether “planned” or not, Biden pushed the gay marriage agenda forward with his “off hand” comments, thus creating the opening for President Obama to step through.
Who woulda thought…Joe Biden, a “thresh holder!” (tongue-in-cheek)
Seriously, Biden’s declaration for gay marriage forced the President’s hand and gave more urgency and visibility to the issue…
One planet to study in this chart is Quaoar.
Also, QB1 is lingering around the Chiron discovery degree. I will say this is a great development, now we must grab the momentum and not rest on any laurels and keep going.
When are we going to legalize plants and fungi? The next frontier of freedom and liberty.
I think its noteworthy that during Ur-Pl (2011 to present) we have seen the legalization of cannabis for recreational use in two states. That is more change than we may recognize; more progress. I think as far as cannabis is concerned it’s only a matter of time. Mushrooms are perhaps another issue, as the experience is closer to an induced dream and less understood by the public. I do think it’s worth pushing for, especially in quantities appropriate for personal use.
About progressions – OMG, I have been immersing myself in progressions for HOURS this past week, since taking the Retrogrades class last Saturday, and have been blown away by what they have revealed in my own life and my personal ‘guinea pigs’, my family. The timing of life events and what is revealed in the progressions are not coincidences! I had read about them, dabbled with them in my Solar Fire program, but it wasn’t until Eric’s teaching (with examples to explore!) that I really understood, grokked, their meaning. The natal charts are moving and those movements are where it’s at. Thank you for that class, and for this example of ‘progress’ in the Stonewall chart!
Exactly!
THE NATAL CHART IS MOVING!
it’s not a stuffed bird. it’s a live bird that sings and flies around.
Something Boots Hart (see link below) noted – that Mercury stationed direct (4+ Gemini) opposite the degree Saturn stationed retrograde (4+ Sagittarius) – seems to tie in with this period of legal decision making. The Spring Equinox followed Saturn’s station retrograde on 3/20 and at that time Venus (4+ Taurus) was quincunx (adjust) Saturn (the rule maker).
After Mercury stationed direct on June 11th, the Summer Solstice on June 21 put Venus (14+ Leo in a quincunx to Pluto (the transformer) at 14+ Capricorn. It would appear that Love (Venus) does indeed aim to conquer all. You noted that QB1 “was lingering around” the Chiron discovery degree and that this was a positive sign. Venus had just made a conjunction to the Chiron discovery degree at the time of the Solar Eclipse on March 20, only hours before the Spring Equinox.. . . and she was square Juno at 3+ Leo!
The Spring Equinox Sun (0+ Aries) was in a grand trine with Juno (3+ Leo) and Saturn (4+ Sagittarius). On the other hand, the Summer Solstice has a grand trine between revolutionary Uranus (20 Aries), the king of the gods (and symbol of broadening societies goals) Jupiter (19 Libra), and goddess of wisdom and justice Pallas (18 Sagittarius, the sign ruled by Jupiter). We have more than 2 1/2 months to see how that one plays out.
be
http://astroppm.blogspot.com/
(see post dated May 16, 2015)
Marriage equality is a civil rights issue, and the Supreme Court reached the only logical constitutional opinion. It could have gone the other way, anyway, and it’s a huge civil rights victory! Two people can stand up in front of any clergy and swear vows before god and man, and without that license from the State, they are not legally married. So marriage is a civil right, governed by the Civil Religion. The ERA and Roe v Wade and all the other reproductive rights cases are civil rights too. Thanks for holding that up, Eric.
Bottom line, there is not a public conversation about sex as an experience of pleasure and freedom in this country or the western world. It’s legal, civil, medical, or religious, and people are still scared as hell of sex and pleasure. It’s under the covers, brown paper wrapped, X rated, and not fit for ladies or children, or polite conversation.
Keep talking here.
Carla — then I think you’ll be pleased when you finally get to see the longer version of “Leonora.” Our short little play was so incredibly well-received — by 20-somethings and 70-somethings, women and men, theater people and “pedestrian” audience members — and I think it had to do with much more than great writing, casting, directing and acting. It’s because we very fearlessly addressed the idea that SEX CAN BE FUN AND PLEASURABLE — and that all of us, from younger “know it all” daughters to post-menopausal moms and the “bad guys” — need some healing around our sexuality to get to that place.
I’m hoping that with the civil rights issue of same-sex marriage taking this step, we can really begin to shift the conversation toward “sex as an experience of pleasure and freedom in this country or the western world.” The topic and the experience are still so very tightly wound up in moral and legal issues, but I’m hoping that with this milestone, the conversational field will open up even wider about sex — and also about relationship options beyond the officially sanctioned legal contract.
I did say I was going to take a break from posting here but Hotel Planet Waves is much like its namesake in California – you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.
Funny, indeed, this old chart of mine, be. As a very Uranian sort of Aquarian it may come as no surprise that my natal Uranus is at 4+ Gemini. As some readers will already know from previous correspondence, I was a catalyst in the formation of London’s Gay Liberation Front which, I suppose, can fairly be blamed for today’s shockingly good news for fans of same-sex marriage. There is even a photo of me in GLF’s first and only Ono-esque bag event in Hyde Park, London, wearing the G (for Geoffrey, of course!).
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/421386.No_Bath_But_Plenty_of_Bubbles
At the time in 1970, about the last thing on anyone’s mind was gay marriage. Equality certainly. Not being called queer, too, although Peter Tatchell and OutRage! subsequently took that on board and made the word our own rather than a derogatory term.
For reasons more to do with the coincidence of homosexual legalisation and the arrival of LSD (both 1967 in Britain), no sooner had I decided to come out than the rest of the gay community I was beginning to fraternise with decided it was time to turn on. As a result I was left floundering in a state of unfulfilled matrimony with no partner but a very groovy circle of friends, some of whom went on to help found the 1971 Glastonbury festival.
Times change, and now I hear that the Christian fundamentalists in Britain (yes, we have them here too) have declared that gay marriage is as far as gay liberation is going to be allowed to go. There are, of course, some bridges still to cross in that area – not all inheritance rights are in place, for instance – but by and large that’s it. You can now get married in the sight of God (or, more accurately perhaps from an astrological perspective, in quincunx to God) and no-one’s going to complain too loudly.
I’m sorry, but that’s not what I signed up to. Marriage for gay people is just as subject to physical abuse as marriage is for some women. Indeed, for some SM couples, it’s the perfect explanation for that shiner when your partner leashes you for exhibition at the local pub.
What I always wanted, and will always campaign for, was equality through education. Teaching kids that gay is no disgrace, just different, is what my life has been and always will be about. The fundies are fighting back alright. Nowhere is more homophobic in Britain than the classroom. Teachers are prevented from discussing the issue thanks to a hangover from mad Margaret Thatcher’s Section 28 legislation which was her payback for radical gays supporting the Miners’ strike (for more details see the movie ‘Pride’). It prevents teachers from discussing the subject for fear of “promoting” homosexuality. If you could promote a sexuality everyone would be a breeder, end of problem.
Why is it that society is so obsessed with sex? Essentially it’s just a mechanism for the continuation of the species. It can malfunction or misfire (can I even say that as a gay man?). What it shouldn’t be is the be-all and end-all of your incarnation here on planet Earth. Some people are straight, get over it.
Good news for happy couples everywhere, nevertheless.
More support for gay kids needed please.
Thank you.
“Why is it that society is so obsessed with sex? Essentially it’s just a mechanism for the continuation of the species. It can malfunction or misfire (can I even say that as a gay man?). What it shouldn’t be is the be-all and end-all of your incarnation here on planet Earth. ”
Definitely worth pondering. Thank you, Geoff!
Society is not obsessed by sex. It’s obsessed by antisex and sin. What we are seeing is precisely that, not the focus on healthy expression of, or focus on, creative sexuality. When we start to ask about what sex is, we come very close to the question of ‘what is the nature of existence?’ Until that question is asked in the context of sex, there’s no real discussion.
And in the absence of that discussion, we get scandal, violence, moral mania and many other social control devices.
As far as sex being a “mechanism for the continuation of the species,” that’s a religious argument. For example, it does not explain homosexuality, which seems to have existed for as long as humans have recorded history. The best argument against homosex is to say that sex is for reproduction — and this is the argument made by many religious types who are themselves often seriously bent out of shape by their own dogma of sin.
If you study primate behavior (particularly great apes), you see most of them do sex for pleasure, for social purposes and reproduction, with notable exceptions of those who only use sex to reproduce.
Sex serves many creative purposes. It’s an inherent human emotional and physical need, having nothing to do with reproduction, or perhaps better said, where reproduction is the occasional and incidental outcome, no less important, no less symbolic or meaningful, no less inherent in all loving and friendly sex being a creative impulse.
Well, this one’s for you Sir Geoff – what synchronicity! Looks like there was even a solar eclipse around your birthday, and lots of Gemini action. Thanks for sharing!
be
Cheers, be. What a long, strange trip it’s been.
I must have missed it – but it has been circled and oohed and ahhed over that the current Jupiter/Venus conjunction is conjunct the progressed Stonewall New Moon?? (Awesome work on that. Thank you!)
Amanda, sign me up for opening night! Maybe I’ll buy an ad in the program!
Geoff, I like your clarity and directness. My view rotates the wheel 180 degrees.
What if sex were in fact the “be-all and end-all of your incarnation here on planet Earth”? What if it were not just a mechanism for the continuation of the species? That new humans arrive through the pleasure of sex is a bonus.
Pingback: Cap Full Moon, the Grateful Dead and SCOTUS Rulings - Planet Waves FM