Rabbit Warrior Vincent of Beauvais, Speculum historiale, France ca. 1294-1297Boulogne-sur. rabbit warrior
Otherwise known as the April Fools transmission with Radicals that stay crunchy in milk. I like to also state my qualifier, if there is something you read in another sign that is not your own that resonates with you than by all means please run with it. The wonderful thing about Astrology and all archetypes is how poly-valent they are, and that all humans everywhere contain a varying frequency of them, if you contain all symbols than all of their meanings apply, please mix and match at your pleasure, because that is what makes myth making so polyglamorous.
(WARNING: To avoid a TLDR, scroll to your sign and read from there)
The amazing and very talented artist Yuhon Chan made the zodiac sign images you see accompanying each sign, please support this artist by buying her prints!!!
Greetings Space Cadets!
It’s April and we have just come through the balancing point of Equinox and have arrived at the height of the Vernal Phase for the Northern Hemisphere and of course for my lovely cosmonauts in the antipodean realms the autumnal arc (shout out for the wet season, woot!), I am sure the Glasshouse Mountains are lovely in the rain (I am also hoping I actually have readers in Australia).
In the spirit of a new season and one carrying the spunky and anarchistic bent of the Ram (Aries) I have decided to borrow an idea from a book that began my own path down the rabbit hole, Shaving the Inside of Your Skull, by Mel Ash. In this treatise a series of razors are given in each chapter that represent an even deeper level of thought that allows one to relinquish certain taken for granted assumptions in the cold glaring light of fact and reality. Along these lines I am presenting each sign with its own customized razor that aptly fits the profile of the undeveloped qualities in each sign. Additionally, I have also chosen a political lexicon that also fits quite nicely with the qualities of each sign (because the personal is political and I have never disguised this blog as apolitical). So without my usual wordiness let’s get to it shall we?
Aries: April 19th-May 13th : Global Autonomous Zone
Your Razor: Precision
Your Politics: Deconstructing Crypto-Fascism
Aries has been blamed for being impulsive, headstrong, and belligerent. Also for dissipating their prodigious energies into an all out brute attack, on all fronts. It is an unkind characterization and unfair, the enthusiasm stems from a deeply noble instinct that of the cause for liberty and autonomy. There is a youthfulness here that is inspiring and a potent symbol of renewal. That Beltane, a fertility holiday, falls under its date range is hardly surprising, and a meaningful coincidence. There is a kernel of truth to this stereotype and it is that sometimes Aries is susceptible to being imprecise, so this is your razor, the edge you are pushing. Which is to say, develop a laser-like focus on only a few areas where you have the most leverage. Doing this you can concentrate your energy so it doesn’t dissipate, and has the most impact.
Along these lines your razor as it applies to the world is to refine your best tactics for tackling the most salient of existential problems. At the moment that is a backsliding into authoritarianism brought to you by crypto-fascism. An insidious brand of a very old political game that has its origins with Machiavelli. There are two pillars to this twisted logic. One is the overtly fascistic platform that Donald Trump is running on, and the one that most neo-Nazi groups are predicated on. The other one is far more dubious and harder to spot. It is what is known as proto-fascism or crypto-fascism. It uses a sophisticated intellectual veneer to legitimize its deeply discriminatory premise by co-opting the language of the political left, creating statements that are seemingly apolitical but on closer inspection are deeply political. to appeal to those who would be largely off put by the more boisterous and overt versions. It has become a poly-valent philosophy with dangerous consequences as any historical analysis will bear out. So Aries I am compelling you to headlong, smash with precision any philosophy that seeks dominance over others by invoking the “nature” fallacy (don’t believe go here, here, and here, you be the judge). I want you to do it with the same enthusiasm as a power-bottom would at a sex party entirely attended by tops. Like you hit the motherlode every single day, live the book “Days of War, Nights of Love”. Do it precisely, focus where you have the most influence, leave the rest a blur. The world needs vociferous firebrands, social justice warriors, anarchists, and radicals and others who are actively shaking up the status-quo, because if something doesn’t change, then it’s endgame for humanity. Aries being the fierce warriors that they are will never allow that to happen, and they’ll go down fighting for the greater cause.
Flashpoint Days: April 4th (Mars enters Ophiuchus), April 6th (Mercury enters Aries), April 19th (Sun enters Aries) & April 27th (Sun in Aries quincunx Mars in Ophiuchus).
Taurus: May 14th-June 19th: Post-Scarcity Era
Your Razor: Chaos
Your Politics: Establishing a New Economics
Taurus is known for being a placid and serene sign (provided that they haven’t been sufficiently pissed off in which case the fury released is built into a federal case and it is a scorched earth policy). While this makes them agreeable individuals it also means they are mildly upset by changes in their environment and prefer stability over variability, as such the bulls razor is learning to wield the creativity inherent in chaos. Chaos or the more random and unpredictable catalysts are a feature of all natural systems often acting as selective pressures that drive systems into a new phase state or arena of functionality. In light of this I am asking Taurus to contemplate the role of Chaos in your lives as well as how you might use it to make necessary changes to bring the world system into a new equilibrium.
Taurus is the symbol correlated to the world of finance, so what better area of the political arena to focus on. The current economic arrangement may have been a necessary step in the evolution of our species but what was designed to serve is now becoming a detriment as we move into the apocalyptic phase of too-late Capitalism. It is creating an untenable situation in which once democratic governments are transitioning into oligarchies, and wealth is being concentrated into too few hands, creating market instabilities which threaten to wipe out national economies, the recession in 2008 was a direct result of this process.
Taurus you are being honored with establishing the foundations a new economic era one that will bring far more stability to many more people, and address the gross maldistribution of wealth we are currently seeing in the world. A great area to begin with is establishing the viability of a post-scarcity economics. This will be based on an assessment of available resources on the planet and the most beneficial uses for those resources with an eye on sustainable use and conservation ethics that will ensure that these resources are not used up before they can recharge naturally. This will mean that products will no longer be made with obsolescence in mind, but instead will be made for durability and customizability. Components will be made in modular forms so that products can be updated with new editions and upgrades without having to dispose of the entire product unit. This will eliminate the inefficiency and waste in the current economic system and will also eliminate cyclical consumption which is driving many of the ecological crises that humanity is facing currently.
To further this agenda the most salient issue that Taurus can contribute to is advocating for the Universal (Unconditional) Basic Income. In essence it is a guaranteed living income to every citizen of a nation regardless of income that covers the basic expenses of living, one caveat is it has to be enough that an individual can be economically viable. This is an adaptation to inevitable technological unemployment as well as a needed step in moving towards a post-scarcity era and weening the world away from a monetary system which continues to entrench deleterious class distinctions and hampers social mobility. This philosophy represents the apotheosis of Taurus which is a symbol of fecundity and abundance and Taurus loves to share the good life with everyone.
Flashpoint Days: April 16th (Venus in Pisces quincunx Jupiter in Leo), April 12th (Venus in Pisces trine Mars in Ophiuchus), April 18th (Venus in Pisces trine Saturn in Ophiuchus), April 19th (Venus in Pisces square Pluto in Sagittarius) & April 22nd (Venus in Pisces conjunct Uranus in Pisces).
Gemini: June 20th-July 20th : Internet Age Conspiracy
Your Razor: Stillness
Your Politics: Addressing Government Spying
Gemini is the hummingbird of the zodiac flitting between events, people and happenings. The supreme challenge for a Gemini is to sit still for longer than five minutes. This is not a criticism of Gemini it is the variable nature of the sign that makes these folks so charming and exciting to be with, that said the constant motion can actually stress the Gemini out and so they benefit the most from meditative stillness to really have a moment to conceive of the myriad of perceptions that cross their mind in a day. It is also the development of a laser-like focus that will better assist them in addressing their symbolic political issue, that of electronic transparency in the age of the internet.
The air signs generally represent technology in its various manifestations, Gemini being the first cypher in the air triplicity has the honor of communications including the Internet falling under its symbol set. Along these lines Gemini is given the honor of creating transparency in the electronic age.
The Internet has done much to liberate humanity in various ways and has also facilitated Democracy and open government in various ways to become a globalized phenomenon. More insidiously it has also empowered governments and corporations to intrude into the personal lives of its citizens and consumers in unprecedented ways. Everything from corporations collecting data on us to government agencies like the NSA spying on us, to say the least of governments engaging in in foreign actions that violate Human Rights laws such as the Geneva Convention. In light of these titanic organizations it would seem the people would easily be steamrolled and in need of advocates and thankfully they have emerged.
Julian Assange (Born July 3rd) is one such whistle-blower , he is responsible for establishing WikiLeaks a website devoted for making public documents that provide evidence of nefarious activities of various governments and corporations. It was turned into a household name in 2010 when Chelsea Manning, a soldier in the US Army released sensitive diplomatic cables that referenced nefarious activities that the U.S. military was engaged I including actions in Guantanamo Bay and Iraq. Another such provocateur is Edward Snowden (born June 21st), a CIA contractor who in June of 2013 leaked government cables which established that the National Security Agency was effectively spying on American citizens by collecting their private telephone records. The fact that both are Gemini’s is auspicious and appropriate.
While the average Gemini is unlikely to attain the notoriety of those big actors, they can certainly borrow from the playbook, as well as emulating the hacktivist group Anonymous in keeping governments transparent. And stopping abuses of power facilitated by communications technologies. There are grassroots efforts which seek to protect privacy that enterprising Gemini’s can be part of. It can also be a s simple as encrypting the files on your computer so you can’t be spied on. In any case the Twins are there to pound the alarm (ala Nicki Minaj) when egregious mis-uses of novel technology occur.
Flashpoint Days: April 10th (Mercury in Aries quincunx Mars in Ophiuchus), April 14th (Mercury in Aries trine Jupiter in Leo), April 15th (Mercury in Aries quincunx Saturn in Ophiuchus), April 17th (Mercury in Aries trine Jupiter in Leo) & April 22nd (Full Moon in Virgo).
Cancer: July 21st-August 9th: Indigenous Legacies
Your razor: Xenophilia
Your Politics: Defending Indigenous People
Cancer is the repository of genetic legacies, tribal wisdom and ancestral memory, and it makes sense as its symbol is mothering, and speaks to the idea of Pachamama an indigenous conception of the Earth Mother, among the Inca. There are variants of this concept in many ancient indigenous populations, Gaia among the Greeks, the Venus of Willendorf of Stone Age peoples of Europe, Hathor of the Egyptians, & Tuuwaqatsi among the Hopi of the Southwestern United States. Ultimately all of these can be said to be held in the embrace of the Cancer archetype, and this archetype is ancient and found in every culture in one form or another. There is a very logical reason for this as we are quite literally the children of this planet. We are the result of ancient forces converging along with the protean molecule DNA gestating in the rocky substrate of our planetary mother, to emerge eventually as consciousness and animate life.
Along these lines Cancer, because we are living in a more globalized world where we are in contact with a myriad of cultures, the skill to build is xenophilia or a love of the foreign and unknown. One of Cancers limitations is that it can be largely ethnocentric and ultimately insular in its conceptions, this emerges innocently from its protective and nurturing stance. That said it lends itself to extension into the political issue central to Cancer and that is the defense of Indigenous people.
The dark side of 500 years of colonialism and globalization is that due to a rapacious economy the rights and claims of indigenous peoples the world over are being eroded. A few of the more egregious examples of this are the displacements experienced by the San of the Kalahari Desert region, The plight of the Australian Native peoples (including the Torries Strait Islanders) The Kayapo of Brazil and an example closer to home, the murder of 1,017 aboriginal women and girls in Canada since 1980. In light of this onslaught and the historical and ancestral forces at work it falls to Cancer that holds the memories to continue the work of dis-entrenching the ancestors from these darker places and bringing to light the plight of these people and engaging a project of cultural preservation and autonomy in light of powerful elites seeking to erase these cultures forever for the sake of profit. Cancer is recasting the history of the world’s peoples and is engaged in honoring the living memory of these peoples.
Flashpoint Days: April 4th (Sun in Pisces quincunx Jupiter in Leo), April 5th (Sun in Pisces trine Saturn in Ophiuchus), April 7th (New Moon in Pisces), April 9th (Sun conjunct Uranus in Pisces), April 12th (Venus in Pisces trine Mars in Ophiuchus), April 16th (Venus in Pisces quincunx Jupiter in Leo), April 18th (Venus in Pisces trine Saturn in Ophiuchus), April 19th (Sun in Pisces square Pluto in Sagittarius) & April 22nd (Venus conjunct Uranus in Pisces, and Full Moon in Virgo).
Leo: August 10th-September 15th: Delete the Elite
“People are afraid to share power, they are afraid that will lose it if they share it with others, they are afraid to share power, that is what it is all about.” –Jane Elliot
Your Razor: Humility
Your Politics: Deconstructing the Global Oligarchy
Leo is a royal sign. Its ancient origins emerged out of the symbols relating to royalty, crowns, and the majesty of the alleged king of the jungle, the Lion. It’s a storied history and yet Monarchy has often been a parasite feeding off of humanity and creating systems of egregious injustice, case in point the French Revolution was a direct result of this. This long history of revolt has done little to tarnish the image of royalty and it seems that it continues to take on forms cleverly disguised, take celebrity for example, or political dynasties, and even corporate elites. In light of this your razor is humility, but not the kind that puts you inferior to anyone but on equal footing with everyone and one in which natural leadership skills come to the fore but instead of garnering command from on high you are leading by example in the trenches with your equals the body politic, the everyman and everywoman (and all the other genders too!).
Which serves as an excellent entrée into the political arena that Leo will excel at, in this case deconstructing the global oligarchy that has began to amass enough influence that they are pulling the levers of the world and guiding once autonomous governments into policies that favor moneyed elites, and steamroll over the people that these governments are designed to represent. Nowhere else has this become more obvious than in the U.S. A study that was the result of a collaboration between Northwestern and Princeton Universities demonstrated the U.S. could no longer be considered a democracy but has in fact backslid into a type of authoritarianism that is better suited to an oligarchy to such an extent that the government no longer considers the needs of its people but predominantly caters to the interests of financial elites. Leo your task is to find a way to throw a wrench in the gears and interrupt that machine. Whether it is as simple as posting the information on a blog or getting out there into the streets and marching, you alone are equipped to do it with flair and a drama that will leave a lasting impact as though it were a performance of Shakespeare, the one about Lady McBeth trying to wash the blood off her hands (out damn spot!). The lions of the zodiac are natural born performers and a little guerilla political theatre is certainly within their purview.
Flashpoint Days: April 4th (Sun in Pisces quincunx Jupiter in Leo), April 5th (Sun in Pisces trine Saturn in Ophiuchus), April 6th (Sun in Pisces square Pluto in Sagittarius), April 9th (Sun conjunct Uranus in Pisces), April 14th (Mercury in Aries trine Jupiter in Leo), April 16th (Venus in Pisces quincunx Jupiter in Leo) & April 27th (Sun in Aries quincunx Mars in Ophiuchus).
Virgo: September 16th-October 30th: Expect Resistance
Your Razor: Resistance
Your Politics: Climate Change
Virgo is common, and there is a good reason why, namely it is the one constellation on the starry wheel that occupies the greatest range of the solar ecliptic, averaging 45 days of the year. Due to this there are more Virgos in the human population then any other of the signs as more birthdays will fall under its auspices. It is also the one sign with a work ethic that builds galaxies and like a drone never stops no matter what you put in its path. Virgo is the worker of the zodiac, and always wants to serve in some way. The virgin is learning however that there is a universe of different between service and servitude. There is a thin red line between the artisan and the serf, and it is along these lines that the razor of Virgo develops, it is the concept of resistance. It is the one tool left when it is down to the eleventh hour, the one instinct left when all the freedoms of civil society have been stripped away by illegitimate power.
Resistance is the power of the peasant revolt (think the French Revolution), the Luddite shoe in the gear, The Boston Tea Party, the various wars for independence, The Proletariat, Workers Rights Strikes, the Civil Rights Era, Queer Nation, The Stonewall Riot, Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, Anti-Capitalism, Zeitgeist, Post-Modern Anarchy and Anonymous. It is the flowering of various movements of resistance, that speak truth to power and resist the machinations of hegemonic structures that no longer serve the interests of the rank and file. It is what happens when the laborer is awakened and realizes there are no gods in heaven and no masters on earth enslaving them, that their slavery was an idea reinforced by political violence and spurious contrived leadership in a vast game of make believe.
Oddly for it being the signs razor it emerges organically from the very symbolic foundations of the Virgin itself. For a virgin in the original sense of the term meant one who had never been married, which is to say one who had never been owned. That is Virgo in essence, the one who is self-possessed, and whose service to others emerges from a deep instinct of wholeness and internal integrity. Virgo is like the Star Goddess who sits alone on the throne of Outer Space, complete unto hirself and gazes in the black mirror of the infinite darkness and seeing hir own reflection falls into ecstasy and out of this union of the self and the projected other is the Universe, the cosmos born, in the great expansion of space-time.
From this base of internal consistency the Virgo declares I will be a slave no more! I will be the monarch of my own flesh. This conception also dovetails seamlessly into the issue most pressing to the Virgo symbol catalog that of Climate Change and the integrity of Terran life support systems. It is the most pressing of all of Humanity’s existential threats and because it has an effect on everyone alive and yet to be born on Earth, and an issue that will be pressing for centuries to come it is no surprise Virgo makes it stand here.
The world is facing innumerable unprecedented changes that could threaten the basis of civilization if these issues are not addressed. It seems that the elites running the world have no interest in addressing this salient problem as they are dragging their heels on implementing the seemingly radical solutions it will take to truly avoid catastrophic and irreversible change that will have profound implications for the world’s peoples. It is in light of this apathetic response that resistance becomes so very important, for if carbon emissions are not drastically slashed and the implementation of a carbon-neutral economy is not implemented to avoid a climate change scenario of higher than 2oC, the consequences for life and humanity could be very dire indeed. That in the words of Naomi Klein, science itself is showing us we must revolt against the forces that would seal the fate of humanity towards a mass extinction event. Virgo is the one cypher that stands as the last refuge, as the eleventh hour victory when the blowtorch is at our cheek. Virgo is the one that knows what is stake and what needs to be done and knows it is the greatest service to be of service to life itself.
Flashpoint days: April 6th (Mercury enters Aries), April 10th (mercury in Aries quincunx Mars in Ophiuchus), April 12th (Mercury in Aries sextile Neptune in Aquarius), April 14th (Mercury in Aries trine Jupiter in Leo), April 15th (Mercury in Aries quincunx Saturn in Ophiuchus), April 17th (Mercury in Aries trine Pluto in Sagittarius) & April 22nd (Full Moon in Virgo).
Libra: October 3st- November 22nd: Constellation of Civility
“When it comes to leadership, Libras are new, improved Scorpios, with a thin veneer of genteel manners to cover up Scorpio’s erectile tissue.” –Eric Seligson, The Siderealist
Your Razor: Conviction
Your Politics: Justice in its myriad forms
Libra is constantly trying to achieve equilibrium in a dynamic process that mirrors all natural systems. It is seeking to balance both sides of a primal equation, the one which started in the primordial expansion of space-time at the beginning of our Universe. Libra is known for being indecisive (balancing the options to find the middle path is a time consuming process) dispassionate and impartial (Justice is blind), it is these qualities that lend themselves to fairness, civility and justice the hallmarks of Libra. However there is another side to the Libra archetype which is rarely explored best personified by the goddess Nemesis. She is the god of revenge and namely she avenges those who have been wronged by society’s structural injustices. This is the side of Libra that is not blind, and represents the sword of justice that comes down swiftly to punish wrong doing in the name of fairness. This is also the source of Libra’s razor, conviction. To wield the sword of justice requires conviction and the self-possessed conception that you are fighting for truth and fairness in a world where there things called the downtown bullshit machine.
Furthermore, many of the injustices in the world require a tenacity and conviction to continue deconstructing the fossilized institutions that perpetuate oppression. This of course lends itself to Libra’s primary political objective establishing justice and civility for all. There are many kinds of justice to fight for, racial, economic, gender, environmental, social, sexual, financial and even climate justice (in light of the significant impact that climate change has on the social contract) and each of them is inextricably linked to the others, think intersectionality. Libra is guided by the conviction that no one is free until all are free. There are many movements afoot that are seeking to establish justice as the default position of our society. None more salient at this time than Black Lives Matter. In light of continued racially motivated institutional violence this vibrant movement has emerged to challenge these systems of oppression by the distinct understanding that these actions need to be called out and seen for what they are. INJUSTICE! Libra fights for justice not from impartiality but from an impassioned understanding of basic fairness, because it realizes that black lives matter, brown lives matter, trans-gendered lives matter, queer lives matter, in the context of a society that behaves as though they don’t.
Libra: Flashpoint Days: April 16th (Venus in Pisces quincunx Jupiter in Leo), April 12th (Venus in Pisces trine Mars in Ophiuchus), April 18th (Venus in Pisces trine Saturn in Ophiuchus), April 19th (Venus in Pisces square Pluto in Sagittarius) & April 22nd (Venus in Pisces conjunct Uranus in Pisces, Full Moon in Virgo).
Scorpio: November 23rd-November 29th: Goddess of Ataraxia
Your Razor: Equanimity
Your Politics: Energy and Other Shared Resources
Scorpio is known for its vagaries and extremes and a great deal less for its ability to keep a cool head and not succumbing to its intense feelings. Whereas some people think their way through problems, Scorpio feels their way through, intensely and deeply. Scorpio also understands the contingent nature of reality and how all destinies are inextricably linked to all other destinies, which is to say self-interest concerns more than the skin-encapsulated ego. Scorpio is the one who understands collective power, and that true power is never concentrated but is diffused, in summary it is power with and never power over. Perhaps it is why shared resources fall under the purview of Scorpio and this includes everything from sex and joint bank accounts to the resources and wealth of an entire society. A balanced and cool headed approach is needed to properly manage resources as big as petroleum, atomic energy, and the like as this is the source of Scorpio’s razor the need to achieve a state of equanimity even in the presence of potentially annihilating forces.
This also becomes the impetus for Scorpio’s politics which is energy and other shared resources. In a word the two biggest issues in our society that are posing converging crises is our addiction to fossil fuels which is the main driver of Climate Change (along these lines De-carbonization of the World Economy is tops on Scorpio’s agenda), and a banking and financial infrastructure which is a cleverly disguised plutocracy stealing the wealth of the nation and concentrating into the hands of a few who then set national policy and entrench the current status-quo, an arrangement which is driving humanity to potential extinction. Scorpio is uniquely attuned to these issues and has the intelligence and intensity read tenacity to endure everything it takes to implement a course correction. What is needed however is a diplomatic approach and the ability to stay calm under the immense pressures of changing an entire cultural infrastructure. This is the challenging aspect for Scorpio, a sign which would much rather organize the mob that brings the pitchforks for the door demanding the bastards be strung up and thrown from 33 stories up, while a list of transgressions is read off. This of course will not serve to change culture significantly as it is like a Hydra until you kill the root of it a new set of heads grows in its place perpetuating the same pattern. Instead a steady approach is needed where we keep our cool, express the collective outrage but maintain an even keel in the process.
Flashpoint Days: April 4th (Mars enters Ophiuchus), April 6th (Sun in Pisces square Pluto in Sagittarius), April 10th (Mercury in Aries quincunx Mars in Ophiuchus), April 12th (Venus in Pisces trine Mars in Ophiuchus), April 17th, (Mercury in Aries trine Pluto in Sagittarius), April 19th, (Venus in Pisces square Pluto in Sagittarius) & April 27th, (Sun in Aries quincunx Mars in Ophiuchus).
Ophiuchus: November 30th– December 17th: Sexism is a Social Disease
“About 10,000 years ago, males and females were acting equitably and were treating one another as equals, and then males took over the power, because they have physical power and physical strength.”-Jane Elliot
Your Razor: Fearlessness
Your politics: Feminism and the fight for gender equality
Ophiuchus naturally hides when enveloped by a society that is openly hostile to her, the masking is due to a fear of being annihilated. It makes sense when you consider that the sign carries the ancestral memory of the rise of the Patriarchy which involved the violent centuries long oppression of women and the feminine energy. She is like Lilith who was expelled from Eden for her disobedience to Adam and exiled to give birth to thousands of demon children while she lives at the edge of the world in the wastelands. Having been on the outside for so long, to have been hunted and vilified creates the impetus for Ophiuchus’ razor that of fearlessness. Ophiuchus no longer needs to hide as our culture is at last embracing the return of the feminine energy and a set of dynamic social movements has emerged and established themselves as permanent historical forces reshaping the cultural dialogue.
This also lends itself to the Ophiuchan political task which is the ascendancy of feminism as a viable movement to challenge a colonial Patriarchy which continues to oppress those who are female or gender binary transgressors. In particular the areas that require the most focus of the contagious energies of the snake-bearer are reproductive rights (yes, we are still having the exhausting debate about abortion, there are those who still see women as state property instead of autonomous agents), the empowerment of women and girls and the rights of transgendered persons. Ophiuchus has an especially strong affinity for gender transgression as often many in cultures past who demonstrated shamanistic capacity were often seen to cross-dress to signify their ability to be between the worlds and the idea that two identities lived in a single body. In our society transgendered folks represent the modern day expression of this energy, and an understanding that there are no rigid gender categories but a fluid spectrum of possibilities. It is along these lines that the snake-bearer takes its charge on these salient issues.
Flashpoint Days: April 4th (Mars enters Ophiuchus), April 5th (Sun in Pisces trine Saturn in Ophiuchus), April 10th (Mercury in Aries quincunx Mars in Ophiuchus), April 12th (Venus in Pisces trine Mars in Ophiuchus), April 15th (Mercury in Aries quincunx Saturn in Ophiuchus), April 18th (Venus in Pisces trine Mars in Ophiuchus) & April27th (Sun is Aries quincunx Mars in Ophiuchus).
Sagittarius: December 18th-January 18th: Love me like an Atom Bomb
Your Razor: Gravitas
Your Politics: Anti-Colonialism and a Globalization that respects cultural diversity
Sagittarius has the unfortunate distinction of being seen as flighty and insubstantial, this stems from the fact that the archer is clown and likes to goof off, and what is not to love about that, exactly? Nothing is further from the truth, the archer is a font of wisdom, lived experience and lofty ideals. From this uncharitable perspective comes the Archers razor Gravitas. I am stoking the fire and reminding all Sadges that if you got it, flaunt it. Bring out the side of you that is wise, lofty and sagely, don’t hide that experience, but infuse it into your life. It will prove especially useful in the politics to which this sign is most resonant, taking on the colonial elements of Globalization.
Globalization is not an evil system of oppression, its implementation however has fueled oppressions in foreign lands and diverse cultures. Its historical antecedents are the age of colonialism beginning 500 years ago with the Enlightenment (the enlightenment was not responsible for colonialism the religious framework that preceded it was). It is this system of “Divine” Providence which fueled the genocide of Native People’s, the Atlantic Slave Trade and finally the more insidious aspects of globalization. In particular at question is the U.S. and western nations continuing interference in foreign policy matters that are designed to entrench western nation’s hegemony in other countries. This is largely the result of oligarchies setting the foreign policy agenda to secure their power and not the will of the American people (who would much rather we don’t invest in illegitimate foreign wars designed to secure access to stolen resources we could simply negotiate for diplomatically and be willing to pay the true cost for, i.e. Petroleum). The Sagittarian task then is to promote a globalism that also respects the rights and autonomy of distinct cultures and what’s more not support policy that displaces them and sets up political arrangements that lead to unrest and instability and drive refugee crises and civil wars. Globalism is a boon to our species it eliminates poverty, allows for the diffusion of new ideas, and makes us enlarge our sphere of concern but it takes on dark dimensions when a culture of domination attempts to harness it to maintain status hierarchies that are damaging to people and planet. The Archer with the gravitas of its higher ideals is uniquely placed to address this imbalance.
Flashpoint Days: April 4th (Sun in Pisces quincunx Jupiter in Leo), April 6th (Sun in Pisces square Pluto in Sagittarius), April 14th (Mercury in Aries trine Jupiter in Leo), April 16th (Venus in Pisces quincunx Jupiter in Leo) & April 19th (Venus in Pisces square Pluto in Sagittarius).
Capricorn: January 19th-February 15th: Whistleblower Status Protection
Your Razor: Playfulness
Your Politics: Corruption
Capricorn is known for being forthright and intensely serious, to the point of being as serious as a heart attack. It is mostly motivated by their fiercely ambitious natures and their desire to getting down to brass tacks. It is also the source of their razor the need for playfulness. There is a certain lightening up that comes with life otherwise despair can creep in and stunt the imagination rendering life a hopeless veil of tears. This is Capricorn’s default position, that said Capricorn is associated to both Lucifer (angel of the morning star) and Pan (Satan and the Blue God of witchcraft), all of which speak to a lusty playfulness under the crisp exterior. If the goat headed god of lust is said to point his horns at the heavens to demonstrate that matter contains the scared spirit of creation (hence the inverted pentagram), then his lusty playfulness emerges from here, in essence Capricorn is desire realized and made into flesh. Capricorn can fearlessly engage with the world and this is good because its political arena requires a level of engagement where angels fear to tread.
Capricorn is rooting out corruption, whether it is whistle-blowing a corporation for unethical and illegal practices or campaigning for election reform to remove corruption form the political process. It is all about insisting on transparency and honesty. The difference instead of it being serious business I want Capricorn to play with it. To recognize existence is a kind of game and once you learn the rules you can bend them for the sake of justice, for the sake of a greater good. Capricorn represents social institutions and all of ours currently need changing, many of them are broken. It is Capricorn that carries the responsibility for calling this out, what’s more is it can be done in playful way think political street theatre! Perhaps you wanted a more practical horoscope but I’m telling you given this juncture of history this is the most practical thing to do, act up!
Flashpoint Days: April 5th (Sun in Pisces trine Saturn in Ophiuchus), April 15th (Mercury in Aries quincunx Saturn in Ophiuchus) & April 18th & (Venus in Pisces trine Saturn in Ophiuchus).
Aquarius: February 16th-March 10th: Outlaws, Seditioners, and Radicals
Your Razor: Power
Your Politics: Oppression
Aquarius, the repository of all things humanitarian, revolutionary, and innovative. Preferring collective power over individual power, always an individualist for certain but uniquely unwilling to acquire power for personal ends but always for the liberation of the masses. Water-Bearers this is the crux of your razor, Power. Aquarians distinctly are uncomfortable with personal power because it implies autocratic corruption and is the groundswell of tyrants, fascists, and oppressive monarchies of past aeons. The power I speak of is not that kind of hierarchical power held over the heads of the powerless like a sword of Damocles but instead a kind of power that can be shared with the selfless abundance of Nature. This is the power to provide, the power to share and to be a conduit of valuable essence. Aquarius has true power, the capacity to act, the ability to provide for what is needed, and the foundation for liberty. The power to provide is most definitely needed in your political arena the concerns of the oppressed.
Aquarius is a champion of oppressed peoples and devotes themselves to the cause of liberation from all forms of oppression. Along these lines the power to act to secure liberty for self and others is of utmost importance here and it is the arena in which the water bearer excels. Humanity is at a juncture in its history where reality is pushing us to rebel not only for the sake of our liberation but for life on the planet itself. Addressing systems of oppression whether they be of other people or of nature itself (our economic system is a form of environmental oppression as it will not acknowledge that there are limits built into natural systems). There are no shortage of oppressions to choose from, one that particularly resonates is refugee issues. This is a salient issue in that it is all about power and privilege, and addressing xenophobia. Further, it is about the power of western nations to humanely provide asylum to those who are the result of its foreign machinations, the policies that drive migration in the first place. Aquarius, don’t fear personal power, you have the foresight to use it to liberate and inspire. Case in point on the responsible uses of power is the cutting edge activism of the Canadian based organization No One is Illegal. This is a group committed of what it means to be a citizen of the planet and what’s more it seeks to deconstruct the illegitimate power that has led to a regressive immigration policy. Aquarius, this is your working model right here.
Flashpoint Days: April 9th (Sun conjunct Uranus in Pisces), April 12th (Mercury in Aries sextile Neptune in Aquarius) & April 22nd (Venus conjunct Uranus in Pisces).
Pisces: March 11th-April 18th: The Virus of Life
Your Razor: Contagion
Your Politics: Sea-Level Rise
Pisces, you are the darlings of the zodiac, no one can hate a Pisces (mild annoyance is the extent of it and no further). You are the closest thing in this world to perfect, don’t ever change that. Okay, so even you don’t agree with that, even though it’s true. In any case I had to struggle to come up with your razor because you are the universal repository of everything. You have accomplished the entire round and as such you get to play with everything! The one thing that you have left to cultivate is also your razor. Contagion, of all the skills in your coterie this is the one least used. Pisces is a highly imaginative sign and along these lines they understand the power of a cultural meme and its ability to guide collective behavior through a kind of critical mass. The fishes also understand that if you mutate a meme and it reaches the right amount of people it can change the entire trajectory that a culture is on. The thing about memes is they work through contagion and as such Pisces you are tasked with learning how to take a meme and make it both highly contagious and highly infectious to massively change the organism known as society. (In essence you are hijacking the skillset of a virus, and using it to change the social DNA, which is by definition what a virus does to a hosts’ DNA). Your medium for this is art and any other vehicle that moves people at the level of deeply felt sentiments.
This dovetails organically with your political praxis which is addressing the urgency of rapid sea-level rise (Pisces is a water sign), and its attendant issue Climate Change (The Virgo-Pisces axis, perhaps you like how I managed to slip that one in). What we now know is that sea level rise according to more contemporary models is occurring much more rapidly than originally thought. A failure to act to curb carbon emissions could mean that the world’s coastal cities will be abandoned by 2100 if we do not act now, and keep climate change to below 2 degrees Celsius. The last time Earth saw this kind of sea-level rise was a climate event known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. It occurred 55.5 million years ago and was characterized by an average global temperature of 5 degrees Celsius, it lead to mass extinctions, the emergence of primate mammals and other ecological devastation (including a mass extinction of marine fauna). In a word if we allow this to happen sea level rise will occur so quickly that civilization will not be able to adapt. Your task my wonderful fish friends is to make this message into a meme and then spread it far and wide in a highly infectious contagion which will garner a collective critical mass to change the entire vector of our culture so we begin to aggressively address this selective pressure and rapidly change our way of life to better reflect reality. No pressure, you got this Pisces!
Flashpoint Days: April 4th (Sun in Pisces quincunx Jupiter in Leo), April 5th (Sun in Pisces trine Saturn in Ophiuchus), April 6th (Sun in Pisces square Pluto in Sagittarius), April 9th (Sun conjunct Uranus in Pisces), April 12th (Venus in Pisces trine Mars in Ophiuchus), April 16th (Venus in Pisces quincunx Jupiter in Leo), April 18th (Venus in Pisces trine Saturn in Ophiuchus), April 19th (Venus in Pisces square Pluto in Sagittarius) & April 22nd (Venus conjunct Uranus in Pisces).
Space Cadets, I do believe that about sums it all up for April. I can’t promise we will change the culture in a month (obviously) but at least now we have some direction, and some perceptual tools to at least ready ourselves for the profound changes ahead! Keep your eyes on the sky!
Join me and HiC Luttmers Sunday April 10th, 2016 at 10:30 am for the Firefly Willows r(E)volution with HIC which will feature this blog in radio broadcast!: