Today could be a good day to get some practice at that peace, love and understanding idea, which always seems so excellent in the five minute intervals between one irritation and the next. Eris, teacher of peace, was sent to try us. Her myth illustrates how even the most apparently sophisticated goddesses among us (Venus, Pallas and Juno) would really rather kick off something like World War III than ever let their egos take a knock — given the choice. And that’s the choice Eris gives us.

Today, the dwarf planet named for her gets squared by Venus, one of said goddesses. Eris’s orbit goes way out beyond Pluto, and in Aries particularly I think she can represent the last throes of ego that trip us up and make us stupid just when we think we’ve come so very far. She reminds me of that Ram Dass quote, which was something like, “If you think you’re so enlightened, try spending a week with your parents.”

Today also, Mars squares Hylonome from Virgo. I think Hylonome (in unprocessed form) can represent deep-seated emotional reflex actions that can happen so automatically and unconsciously that they don’t feel controllable, and are felt very physically (article here). This aspect from Mars in Virgo could be perceived as some kind of critical (very probably self-critical) attack, which, importantly, we have the option not to waste our energy reacting to. With Hylonome, I think it can be helpful to do something healthy and physical, since she seems to feel everything in her body, almost as if it doesn’t go via the brain. I think Hylonome in her higher form can be a brilliant combination of sensitivity and genius, in which case she easily has the capacity to figure out what’s going on and why, and to find some compassion for the source of the perceived attack and more importantly for herself and her feelings.

Mercury’s planning an eventful couple of weeks as he exits shadow phase (12:32:44 UT today) and hits the ground running. From our point of view on Earth he’s accelerating out of the retrograde phase now, and will roughly double his speed from one degree to two degrees per day over the next two weeks leading up to the Full Moon.

He’s currently at 21+ Gemini trining Chiron on the North Node in Aquarius (exact yesterday), and trining nearby Neptune (exact Sunday). He’s also square Uranus in Pisces (exact tomorrow), and sextile Eris (exact this afternoon) who is very slow even for her, and is about to station.

Next week he proceeds to oppose the Galactic Center, then Pluto, then squares the Aries Point as he enters Cancer on Thursday, ready to sextile Mars/Saturn the following week while also aspecting the Asbolus-Huya opposition as Huya stations, and then trining Psyche. Just after the Full Moon on July 18th he makes his conjunction with Ceres in Cancer, exactly opposing Jupiter.

It’s like commentating on a horse race.

It’s also how the mind (Mercury) is mostly experienced, racing us from the past (retrograde) to the future and back again, lest we notice the present. I’m convinced this is why Mercury rules Virgo (service); it’s often said that the mind is a good servant and a terrible master.

Details of Mercury’s aspects:

Thursday 03 July 2008
10:58:31 UT - Mercury (20 ge 22′48″) trine Chiron (20 aq 22′48″ Rx)

Friday 04 July 2008
12:32:44 UT - Mercury shadow phase ends (21 ge 32′21″)
17:36:39 UT - Mercury (21 ge 46′41″) sextile Eris (21 ar 46′41″)

Saturday 05 July 2008
11:07:02 UT - Mercury (22 ge 37′40″) square Uranus (22 pi 37′40″ Rx)

Sunday 06 July 2008
10:46:06 UT - Mercury (23 ge 50′1″) trine Neptune (23 aq 50′1″ Rx)

Tuesday 08 July 2008
19:16:48 UT - Mercury (26 ge 58′45″) opposite Galactic Center (26 sa 58′45″)
20:07:56 UT - Mercury (27 ge 1′46″) conjunct Cyllarus (27 ge 1′46″)

Thursday 10 July 2008
09:50:19 UT - Mercury (29 ge 20′2″) opposite Pluto (29 sa 20′2″ Rx)
20:16:51 UT - Mercury enters Cancer (direct)

Monday 14 July 2008
08:35:57 UT - Mercury (5 cn 48′3″) sextile Saturn (5 vi 48′3″)
22:35:57 UT - Mercury (6 cn 49′59″) trine Huya (6 sc 49′59″ Rx)

Tuesday 15 July 2008
16:15:26 UT - Mercury (8 cn 9′41″) sextile Asbolus (8 ta 9′41″)
21:11:03 UT - Mercury (8 cn 32′13″) sextile Mars (8 vi 32′13″)

Wednesday 16 July 2008
18:51:35 UT - Huya stations direct (6 sc 49′56″)

Thursday 17 July 2008
19:58:27 UT - Mercury (12 cn 12′25″) trine Psyche (12 sc 12′25″)

Friday 18 July 2008
00:54:17 UT - Eris stations retrograde (21 ar 47′36″)
07:59:05 UT - FULL MOON - Sun (26 cn 4′1″) opposite Moon (26 cp 4′1″)

Saturday 19 July 2008
19:53:52 UT - Mercury (16 cn 8′12″) opposite Jupiter (16 cp 8′12″ Rx)

Sunday 20 July 2008
02:06:16 UT - Mercury (16 cn 39′23″) conjunct Ceres (16 cn 39′23″)

The New Moon is exact overnight at 11° Cancer 32′14″ at 2:18:35 UT on July 3rd (minor planet chart here).

This Moon is conjunct Ceres (2 degrees away), exactly trine Psyche in Scorpio, and exactly opposite asteroid 23, Thalia, in Capricorn.

There seems to be a cyclical theme; Moon in Cancer emphasises this, and Ceres, at her most basic level a fertility goddess, is also about natural cycles, in her case the seasons. In mythology Ceres’ cycles are intimately involved with Pluto, ruler of Scorpio, where we find Psyche exactly trining this lunation. Psyche had to journey to the underworld in her search for Eros, and Ceres was one who refused to help her. This setup has a deep, sensitive, easily hurt feeling to it.

I’ve seen Psyche in a few charts seeming to literally represent the study of the subject of psychology, and it is the root of that word, and Scorpio can also represent this. So I guess now’s a good time to embark on your psychology degree. But Psyche in the chart can also be a real emotional ache. The myth at one level is about trust — blind trust. Psyche’s troubles began when she “looked on the face of god,” wanting to know him, which caused her to loose him. This could be related to the idea of no-mind; the way direct, inexpressible experience can be perfectly beautiful until the mind comes in with its very helpful overlay of interpretations, questions, doubts etc. It’s common for people to experience a moment of blissful enlightenment, where their mind and ego disappear and all is one, and then immediately lose it as the mind comes back in. They then spend the rest of their lives trying to get that moment back. Good sex or the right drugs can yield the same experience. These are some of the things I think Psyche’s myth is about. The unfulfilled longing that you can’t seem to let go of has its roots in spiritual longing, but often manifests as longing for a particular person or thing forever. And of course we’ve all lived in bliss at some point and lost it, maybe in utero. The trine suggests there may be supportive New Moon energy for making some progress with this. Longing for external things is really longing to connect with the deeper Self, where we are all the same anyway, there’s really nothing “out there” that can actually make us happy for long.

And for some very necessary lightening up, we have Thalia, Greek muse of comedy, opposing the lunation from Capricorn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcLVIkpE8iM

The most famous Centaur story, the centauromachy, describes the Battle of the Lapiths and the Centaurs, which is often taken to symbolise an inner conflict between “civilised” (Lapith) and “wild” (Centaur) urges, but really is more subtle than that.

The Lapiths were cousins of the Centaurs, as both were descended from Ixion. The Lapiths were human, and were a race of master horsemen from Thessaly credited with inventing the bit mouthpiece. The Centaurs were half human, half horse. Both of them are heavily involved with horses (the wild side) in different ways, and in this time and place with no cars, the ultimate in speed, power and penis-extension would be a horse.

The most obvious difference between the two is that the Lapiths can get off their horses. You could say that they project the wild side of their nature outside themselves and then attempt to control and manipulate it, whereas the Centaurs’ only option is integration. Integration is a rarer and more difficult solution, but it’s the holistic approach that represents true mastery (e.g., Chiron). Centaurs who can’t do that yet, continue to struggle within themselves and this manifests externally as a tendency to fight.

The Centaurs started the battle with the Lapiths by getting drunk and raping the bride. This seems like a clear picture in myth of the human fear of what might happen if the controlling mind (in this case dulled by alcohol) doesn’t keep the instincts (the horse end) reined in at all times.

But Centaurs who are truly in touch with their instincts don’t behave like that; a wild horse’s natural instinct is always to flee from trouble, not to start a fight. This is an example of our fear of this side of our nature, which doesn’t match the reality. The Centaurs’ aggression is caused by the confusion in their human heads, not by the horse end of the equation. A horse symbolises wild and free, not drunken violence, which is more of a human trait. You could say a Centaur’s what you get when you cross a horse with a dangerous animal.

If you attach the average human mind to all that horsepower, you get huge potential for great things and also for errors. The integration process takes time. The Lapiths’ combination of denial and control is more outwardly successful in the shorter term, which is why they’re usually considered to be the civilised ones, but really we know this method doesn’t exactly work either (it certainly didn’t for Ixion). They both have their problems.

The centaur planet Crantor is named after a well-liked young Lapith accidentally killed in the battle, and Ixion is a TNO. Elatus, another centaur planet, was a Centaur, but there was also a Lapith of the same name.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hCozcy4DsKg