An Astrological Perspective
Astrologers are a strange bunch. We like to cast a chart even in the face of injury, calamity, and death... to see what can be seen. When I first experienced this was in hearing that a fellow astrologer and mentor had fallen down some stairs, seriously injuring her leg. Rather than crying out in pain over what had just occurred, she yelled to the top of the stairs where another fellow astrologer was standing “quick cast a chart”. It’s an innate behavior that falls into the Aquarian energetic (which is associated with astrology) field where one can become distant, aloof, or disconnected from the present.
If you haven’t read part one Hade’s Gauntlet this blog won’t make a lot of sense. Part one can be found here: https://www.theclevelandshaman.com/post/hade-s-gauntlet
This ability to disconnect was very helpful to me on January 8, 2024 at 8:48 am as I sat in an eerily silent house reading a series of haphazardly scribbled notes that the man I believed to be my father had written. When the stunning message these notes contained registered in my mind, I recorded the time and immediately cast an astrological chart to capture the moment (that chart appears below). This exercise I must admit was direly needed in the face of the identity shattering saga that ensued over the next forty-nine days.
My eyes were immediately drawn to the Sun and Moon in my birth chart (see blue arrows) which also happen to be positioned in my house of family, home, and ancestry. In astrology a lot of information can be derived about one’s parents by examining the sign, house, and aspects that apply to your own Sun and Moon. In the case of my chart (found in the center or radix of the chart below) my Moon is in Aquarius and notably conjunct Chiron, famously known as our wound. This would represent my mother. If we consider the more shadowy energies of Aquarius due to the nature of this revelation, it doesn’t take long to discover words that apply.
Aquarius is notoriously associated with doing one’s own thing. Being erratic, impersonal, and quite rebellious. Aquarian energy is also aloof, distant, inconsistent, and disruptive. This definitely describes my experiences with my mother. Lest anyone think my mother does not have positive characteristics, she does. But for purposes of this analysis, it is necessary to explore what attributes might tie into the outside of the box experience I have had in 2024.
The Sun in this same chart is in Pisces which is my Sun sign, but can also be delineated to represent my experiences with my father. Pisces is the 12th sign of the zodiac and its energy is associated with being mystical, artistic, a dreamer, idealistic, and imaginative. On the flipside Pisces can also be careless, escapist, and prone to delusion and deceit. These shadow side attributes definitely resonate with experiences I had with my father. I won’t rehash a lifetime of examples here but ironically; he wrote a book five years after he and my mother divorced entitled “Not For Real”. As the saying goes, sometimes “truth is stranger than fiction”.
Drawing your attention again to the chart above you will notice that I have placed a “red arrow” by the glyph for the planet Saturn. It is in the second ring of this chart we see the placement of the various planets were at the moment I discovered the above referenced narrative disrupting notes. This 2nd ring is also known as the transits.
Saturn transits are notoriously known as reality checks. Using the language associated with Saturn the experiences of this moment are jumping off this chart. Saturn is positioned almost perfectly at the midpoint between my natal Moon (Mom) and Sun (Dad). The connection being Saturn is associated with aged persons, in this case a 90-year-old mother and 93-year-old father. A midpoint is a point in astrology that reveals insights into relationships and other hidden things. So here we see Saturn acting as a karmic alarm with perhaps a dual purpose. First signaling the impending passing of my dad, and further revealing things that had been hidden.
Also, Saturn is a significator of one’s father. Pause a moment. Think of the symbolic picture being presented, my mom and dad as represented by the Sun and Moon were literally being split down the middle by Saturn which also represents a father. And taking this to another level is the fact that Saturn is in Pisces, an energy which deals in illusions, delusions, and deceit. One could clearly say that a strong pursuit of reality as well as the exploration of hidden things was the magic Saturn was working on the Piscean family deceit that was being uncovered.
It was as if Saturn was standing over my 4th house of home, family, roots, and genetic inheritance and pouring hydrochloric acid out of a beaker into it… dissolving secrets that were hidden in a vacant building that had a deceptive facade. The inertia of an opaque tale was being broken by a transcendent revelation.
I was born with Pluto in Virgo at 4 degrees and 51 minutes. This means that Pluto is in opposition to my Sun and Moon. For those less familiar with astrology lingo, an opposition represents 180 degrees of separation between two planetary bodies. This aspect is considered challenging as opposing agendas collide, as well as differences, and difficulties. I won’t interpret what this means in my natal chart but rather what it meant on January 3, 2024 at 8:48 am when Saturn by transit was opposing my natal Pluto from the 4th house and near the midpoint of my natal Sun and Moon.
Referencing the above chart again, I have placed a “gold arrow” from transiting Saturn to my natal Pluto. This is an opposition. In considering the interrelatedness of this fateful transit with the event unfurling it is easy to see the extremeness and severity these two energies trade in. Pluto deals in the currency of intense regenerative experiences. Matters lurking in the shadows, secrets carefully guarded, are suddenly abducted from the depraved abyss they have been dwelling in and are dragged out into the light. Coroner Pluto, in a twist to the usual signing of a death certificate, instead signs a certificate of rebirth… instructing the participant to let go of the debris and embrace the reincarnation.
When looked at from the opposing side, we have the deeply karmic influence of Saturn at work. Saturn is our tour guide in this life who wears a patch on his shirt labelled “TIME”. His role being one of catalyzing experiences that teach lessons, potentially resulting in wisdom when we permit it. The bruises we receive during the journey of life more often than not come from Saturn’s teachings that are ushering us onto the path called maturity. They are moments that can feel excessively heavy and despairing. Saturn’s best work is cloaked in lamentations, introspective moments, and even numbness. It is here the depth of our reservoirs of will and strength are put to the test.
In short, at the moment I read the series of revelatory notes scribbled down by my “Not for Real” father, the karmic time lord Saturn was unearthing a plethora of information. As a secondary significator for one’s father (and specifically the father of one born at night, which I was) Saturn was directly between my mom and dad at the moment I was reading these notes. Can we get any more literal than that? Additionally, my gut was already signaling that the man I had believed to be my dad was now standing on the precipice of death's door. A door both Saturn and Pluto have a direct role in supervising.
Further, what was being revealed was that the structure and foundation my life had been built on was about to be annihilated so that a purging could occur. One that would be transformative, penetrating, and renewing. It was all taking place in my 4th house of family, home, and roots. The most private place of a natal chart, the house where our emotional foundation dwells and our sense of belonging in life is formed. The Sun in our natal chart represents our identity, purpose, and conscious awareness. The Moon represents our emotional security, our home, and our memories. Clearly, a secondary impact of this moment was also the upending my identity as well as my emotional security. Cathartically however, my training in astrology and shamanism acted as an assistant in being able to recognize that Saturn/Pluto was just doing what needed to be done… nothing personal.
Somewhere in Port Orange, Florida that very morning, Father Time (Saturn) and the God of the Underworld (Pluto) were walking away, briefly pausing and raising their revolvers to blow away the smoke before high-fiving each other. Another clandestine mission of mercy carried out. It's tough work but someone has to do it.
There is so much more to be seen astrologically in the chart above. Other astrologers undoubtedly could add more and more to this analysis. Just to mention a few other significant transits… retrograde Uranus, the planet of sudden upsets, disruptions, and enlightenment is sitting on the relational axis of the chart. And its retrograde motion indicates a revisiting of something from the past. Not to mention I am at my final Uranus square Uranus, which is a period of life ripe with major changes that require a reorientation.
There is also the presence of transiting Pluto in my house of siblings and relatives, the third house. Positioned at the very karmic 29th degree of Capricorn. The 29th degree marks endings and beginnings. Ironically, within days of this discovery I also found a whole new set of relatives and siblings. Pluto facilitated the death of one thing and the birth of another.
Finally, the great dissolver Neptune was positioned almost exactly to the degree on my south node of the moon. This is actually stunningly powerful in my eyes. Neptune can work with us to take off the blinders, see through deceit, delusions, and fog. Neptune appeals to our higher-self inviting us to transcend something and melt into a greater spiritual awareness and state of oneness with all that is and ever has been. In this case the south node of the moon is our karmic past, baggage carried in with us from previous incarnations where we likely fell short in some way.
In conclusion, thank you for coming on this journey with me thus far in 2024. I am grateful as I stated in part one of Hades's Gauntlet to have possessed the tools that I do when this moment arrived. As an astrologer and shaman, I get to hear from and work with people having challenging experiences on a regular basis. It’s part of the plan. Like or not, it's how we grow and learn. I am even to the point now that if I could, I would send a gift card to Father Time and the God of the Underworld, in gratitude for the painful yet liberating news they collaborated together in delivering. Many blessings to us all as we journey ever on…
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