Starry Eyed by Spyrit
It’s not as if, at exactly 4:08 am Pacific time, the aliens will turn on the earthquake machines and broadcast the results as a planetary lucid dream.
Summer Solstice ‘99, 12:49 pm Pacific Daylight Time. You’ve heard the lyric “you have to get up to get down?” I’m hearing, ‘you have to get down to get up.” Some have been pushed down lately, shoved is more like it. The lingering sickness, death, relationship drama and general acceleration of chaos has continued throughout this entire spring. I’ve also witnessed people in crises acting with such strength and grace that it was intimidating. I found myself wondering, had I been on the receiving end of such circumstances, would I have responded with such poise and equanimity. From the global to the neighborhood stage, we see examples of graceful response to trauma. On the other hand, I was told by two different strangers that war is the natural state and peace the aberration. Dazed and confused by such assertions, I said ‘whaa . . .”
It has been a violent spring, and not just on the microbial levels. Oh, you say, but look at all the pretty flowers. Hmmm. From my vantage point here, as I write in the city of roses, I offer this observation, that for every spectacular bloom there are 19 thorns. This is an informal survey taken casually on my block, margin of error around + or – five thorns. We all love the rose and the scent can be appreciated from a distance, free of laceration. But to get the bloom, even the gloved hand with pro shears gets pricked. To hold the rose, it’s not “if” but “how many” bleeders we’ll receive before we get it into the vase.
All this ominous talk about the summer solstice season. . . Yet surely warm breezes, naked babies and ripening crops hold no thorns? Well, it might be a windy hot day, baby has a heat rash, and it’s your day for Sauvies Island and strawberry picking. Existentially, maybe the thorns are the blooms. Grace is found in the trial; smearing berries on the baby butt, fixing the unexpected flat, and home in time for a nap.
I don’t want to cast a shadow on your summer, but there is this guest coming on August 11th (4:08 am PDT, 18 degrees Leo). It’s a solar eclipse. Now I’m not running to Helen’s to rent a Chicken Little costume, but this is definitely some sky falling. This could be bigger than Y2K. It certainly has been noticed for longer, and the chart is far more interesting. It has a big title: “The Grand Cross Eclipse.” Charlton Heston should come out of retirement for the male lead on this one. It forms in the heart of the zodiac wheel (and not just because it’s in Leo, which rules the heart—it’s only accentuated by this placement). A useful image might be two strings held taught to make a cross. The planets, sun and moon are all located on the ends of the strings, pulling. Stay with me, here comes some astrocabulary. The eclipse (sun w/moon) pulls against Uranus on the other side. As if an eclipse needs help in the Revolution and Convention Shake-Up Departments! The other string has Saturn in Taurus pulling against Mars in Scorpio. In our game of Tug-o-Peace, what does this mean? Oh, like i know . . .
It’s not as if, at exactly 4:08 am Pacific time, the aliens will turn on the earthquake machines and broadcast the results as a planetary lucid dream. It’s not that simple. Eclipses take a few months to build and they leave lasting effects, especially each month as the moon moves past the point where the eclipse took place.(18 degrees Leo, did you get your lunar ephemeris yet?) The eclipse charges its sky area with resonance that can be rebroadcast, giving us a chance to harmonize.
Hey, it’s summer, time of joy regardless the circumstance. We’re all rising to the challenges, we have to be or we wouldn’t still be here. This is the time of year to build those resources of health in the body, and connection with the natural world. I am perpetually astonished by how far these can take us through the craziness. See you in the summer moon shadow!
Stephen is a writer, performer and student of astrology. He recently released his latest, a Book/CD project “Love Poems for the Millennium.” Feel free to contact him: .
