April 2, 2010: YOD patterns for desperate situations

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Whew! I just got my socks knocked off by reading Julie Demboski's God's To-Do List column now posted for April 2, 2010.

You see, chart-studying and blogging time in the last 2 weeks has been brief around here, yet I had wanted to delve more deeply into the current (yet waning) transiting YOD pattern (Finger of God: 2 or more planets sextile at the base and inconjunct or pointing to an apex planets/s; in this case the apex planet is Saturn, now re-crossing US natal MC in the Sibly chart - MC 00Lib53; Saturn is the planet of government, law, and business...this 'personalizes' the YOD for the US and makes it angular - able to manifest in the outer world, 10th cusp.)

As you know, YODs indicate a special task or purpose, a crisis, and/or a critical situation where square pegs must fit into round holes. They may have a 'genius' flavor to them as well for they facilitate the 'thinking outside the box' that can make the unwieldy peg fit.

Astrologer Erin Sullivan was the first person to alert me to the meaning and importance of YODs when she told of her realization that they symbolize the silver book marker of the Torah - a 'finger' showing where the next reading should be taken up. Thus the pattern's sacred and karmic flavor.

Often a harbinger of unfinished 'family myths' (for descendants to 'take up' in their lifetimes and complete, another good reason to know about one's natal chart!), and possibly pointing to health threats in a chart, we might expect mundane charts to show a desperate situation or two where YODs exist. Perhaps its 'special task or purpose' is more emphasized in national charts - and we definitely have a plethora of desperate situations to wrestle with.

Now you may be tempted to think, how bad can this YOD be when the base is a lovely sextile between Mercury and Neptune? Well, besides the general descriptions of Mercury/Neptune as 'deceit in communications' or 'messages/thoughts that inspire', etc, we may look to Michael Munkasey for political and business implications of Mercury/Neptune...

Leaders who can communicate their visions of growth and progress; a legislature that controls the excesses and dreams of its leaders; an enterprise that debates about its future; weak or artificial plans that must be rethought or redesigned; a leader who mesmerizes people with delusions of progress or growth (yowch! the president resembles that remark but so do other politicians - jc); an inability to bring reality into planning and productivity.

And what does Noel Tyl say about the midpoint picture formed by the apex-Saturn YOD which is now, thankfully, passing?

Mercury/Neptune = Saturn: a gloomy reaction to real or imagined circumstances; looking at the downside of things which may or may not be valid.

Now when you read Julie's column for April 2 you'll notice her mention of today's Moon reaching 00Sag. And when Luna enters Sagittarius, she will form for a while today the base of a YOD with Saturn and pointing to an apex Mercury 00Tau+ - two interlaced YODs to thicken the plot!

The combo of Moon/Saturn = an exercise of power by the common people; institutions that oversee and coordinate commerce, agriculture, or business conditions; statistics on production efficiency; an inability of an enterprise to grasp the intentions or needs of the people; lack of output or production from manufacturing and agricultural sectors of the economy; practical vs theoretical economics.

(As always with mdpt pics, any, all, or none may apply.)

And the picture:

Moon/Saturn = Mercury: promotion of ideas on how to offer better financial or material protections; education that teaches practical business approaches or routines; prudence; maturity; a sense of duty. (Ebertin; Tyl; Munkasey.)

Well, I just finished keeping half an ear on what President Obama was saying in North Carolina (C-SPAN Live) and the above pictures and YODs came to mind. But as far as your personal life goes, please check out Julie's article for her clear insights and suggestions because with Julie, I promise you won't be disappointed!


Image: Mask of the Cosmos, a visonary drawing by Jude Cowell.

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Mask of the Cosmos~Art & Astrology's mask

Mask of the Cosmos is my small art attempt at a drawing meant to represent the Ascendant which is the rising sign and degree, or the WHAT? Point of any horoscope.

Everything that is has a beginning, and so the Ascendant may describe the beginning of an event, a nation, a day, or an individual and tells us how the world is seen and how the world sees the entity the chart describes. It is a major point in Astrology which, along with Sun and Moon, are primary factors to consider.

And the Ascendant degree's Sabian Symbol fills out the picture as well.

As you know, with Astrology a horoscope may be drawn for any place or time on earth. A good example of the impersonal use of this concept is a sunrise chart (aka a solar chart) which tells the flavor or quality that will unfold through the rest of the day in that locality.

On my Political Astrology blog, Stars Over Washington, I have often used this method for 'taking the temperature' of certain days on Capitol Hill or for the White House, and find this technique especially useful in mundane work when one doesn't know the exact timing of an event's occurrence but wishes to see how things will 'get on' for a particular day.

The chart-ruler (planet ruling the sign of the Ascendant) may then be checked for applying aspects, if any, and clues garnered. No applying aspects most often means, 'no action' (although aspects to other charts' planets or points may have something to say about things, if applicable.)

Seeing planets as 'actors' helps, too - Sun is 'the leader', Moon is 'the public' or 'the people', Mars represents males between the ages of 25 and appr 35, Mercury = young people; of course, Mars is also military personnel, police officers, firefighters, etc, and Mercury is anyone associated with communications such as reporters, speech-writers and speakers, etc.

Yet the planets retain all their other astrological correspondances simultaneously (Mercury for trade, commerce, agreements, Mars for quarrels and fires, etc) for Astrology describes a complex world occurring on many levels all at once - inner, outer, and in between the cracks.

With the sunrise/solar chart set for a particular location we may view what the universe in any area of the globe is impersonally offering at that time. As Above, So Below, and 'the end is in the beginning' as Astrology teaches.

And thus on a personal level, a baby is born into earth's flux at a particular place and time in his/her uniqueness as a genetic flowering of generations...unless, of course, another woman was on top of or underneath our mothers having a baby at precisely the same moment! But even twin births can't do that for one child must precede the other.

And so each one of us is a unique individual with a natal or birth chart all our own, and the rising Ascendant in our charts tells us much about the masks we wear as we accept the mission for which we are born, and immediately after birth begin to learn how to 'speak through the mask' of the Ascendant.

In addition, planetary aspects in natal charts help to 'fix' us in space while the qualities of the chart's aspects give a frame of reference that aids in understanding our unique potential - especially if we study our charts or have them explained to us.

The Ascendant shows our meaningful contact with the environment so that we may express ourselves fully in our lives (if we choose to accept our missions!) through the doorway of our Ascendant...the 'door' we entered by!
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