Saturday, 30 January 2010

Nodes of Neptune

Awake ! for Morning in the bowl of Night
Has cast the Stone that put the Stars to flight..

-from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

Hello, Friend - an early morning missive at the Full Moon, this, the 30th of January 2010, and the birthday of the writer, Og the Blog.(...yes, I will make good use of the bus pass...). This particular Full Moon falls along the Nodes of the Planet NEPTUNE. ( the Nodes of the Planets, as with the Nodes of the Moon, are the 2 points in the Zodiac where the orbit of the Planet intersects the Ecliptic, which is the apparent path of the Sun, as viewed from Earth).
The Sun now is in Neptune's South Node, 10 Degrees Aquarius. The Moon, now at Full, and conjunct a Retrograde Mars in Leo is in Neptune's North Node at 10 Degrees Leo. This rare alignment, last seen on 30 Jan 1972, emphasises Neptune's role and significance in our lives. Look for a "downloading" of Ageless Wisdom and ongoing realisation that we are all "in the same boat", interdependent, with mutual obligations one to another, representing the Planetary Mind (south node Aquarius); yet also Individuals, with a right to stand in our own strength, unfurling our creative powers and capacity for loving warmth -little Suns ! (north node Leo.).

Neptune itself, in 2009/10 has returned, for the very first time since we "discovered" it on 24 September 1846, to 25 degrees Aquarius, its Degree of discovery. Neptune "coming home", in fact. It was discovered in close conjunction to Saturn, the ringed Planet, which represents the limitation and density of the Physical, the limitations and parameters of our experience of incarnation, and, indeed, the process of Time itself ("Old Father Time", complete with scythe).
This especial and obvious link with Saturn suggests that Neptune's "mission" is to SPIRITUALISE THE PHYSICAL; representing our capacity, through aspiration, prayer, meditation; through art, music, the contemplation of grace, beauty and the realities of many levels of existence interpenetrating and "beyond" our own; to uplift and infuse our world, our circumstances with a knowledge of the Divine. There we have the positive side of Neptune, as a higher Octave of Venus, together intoning the line :- "...Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty, and here on Earth this is all ye need to know."

Matters connected with Neptune - SOME have origins traceable to the late 1840's, the time of Neptune's emergence into our awareness as a Planet:- Communism, Socialism, Spiritualism, Photography,Poetry, Anaesthetics,Impressionism. The Hippie culture, "Flower-Power", the mind-expanding practices of the 1960's; Meditation. "World Music" - sponsored by, amongst others, George Harrison, the only Beatle to have Neptune in synthesising, harmony-seeking Libra (the other 3 have Neptune in Virgo).
Also- fraud, deception, (and self-deception), gases, drugs, disguises, disorganisation. The Sea and Marine Life generally. Dolphins, Whales ! ( also Jupiter). Disappearancies, mysteries, myths, magic and legend - think Arthur, Round Table, Grail, Merlin, Celtic mist and mystery. Cornish seas and bottomless lakes. St. Ives. Lennon's "Imagine". Martin Luther King:- "I have a Dream...". Hold on while I go for a cup of tea....(nice Neptunian interlude...). Thanks !

Incidentally, and here is a typical episode of Neptunian mystery and obfuscation ;- Galileo, in the winter of 1612/13 actually viewed and noted the position of Neptune, without, apparently, realising it was a Planet. He probably thought it was either a Fixed Star, or, as it was in close conjunction with Jupiter (in Sign Virgo), a Moon of Jupiter.Neptune waited another 234 years to make itself known - to Johann Galle, at the Berlin Observatory, guided by calculations of John Couch Adams and Urbain Leverrier.

The Annual journey around the Sun brings us shortly to the feast of Candlemas, on 2 Feb. Otherwise known as Imbolc, or Oimelc;- old English for "Ewe's Milk " - the Lambing season, and an assurance that newborn infants, too, could benefit from the milk of the ewe if needs be. Also the time of Bride or Brigit, and the WHITENESS of snow, snowdrops, milk, the Candle, and great white clouds which often drape the February sky. One candle can kindle many another - let our Lights shine forth !

You may have heard of the passing of Hamish Miller, in Cornwall, on 25 January. One shining light that sparked hope in the hearts of not a few. God Bless, Hamish.


Strength and Joy to you in this New Year !

All the Very Best: - OG. (aka David Matthews.)








Wednesday, 20 January 2010

Achievable Aquarian Aspirations

Dear Friend- as the rigours of Winter gradually recede - and quite a test it has been, the Sun now, from our Earthly perspective, eases across the border from Capricorn to Aquarius.
Indeed, at this time of year we might marvel at the occasional unexpected appearance of the Sun, strong to cheer and inspire, a reminder of the great unfailing Heart, or Hearth, of which it is the symbol and representative.
There are early stirrings of new life emerging from the dark womb of winter - the green shoots in hedgerows and gardens: the Primrose which, biding its time, beneath a carapace of ice, now stands as a messenger of Hope, soon to be joined by a million others.
Similarly, with ourselves - perhaps you and I have waited for some great clarion call to signify the change of the Ages, the Word delivered, the declaration of Prophets. Maybe. But such great events arrive quietly at first, sneaking up on you like First Light, appearing unobtrusively like tender leaves on the Willow. This IS such a time in the life of Humanity, there have been times before, and there will be times to come, but NOW it is us, the friends together, who are the People We Have Been Waiting For.
To quote a phrase -"If not us, then Who ? If not now, then When ?"
Yes, folks , it's all happening, and we are asked, it seems, to envision the possibility that we are given/have asked for the opportunity to "ground" a NEW PARADIGM for living on this ancient Earth in this, the physical "department" where the work is done. ( No Worries - one day at a time will do...).

Whatever apparent chaos and despair is around on a global scale, make no mistake, there is a new World being born in the midst of it. It is most helpful to hold in the imagination, with heartfelt anticipation, a vision of a world where gross inequalites cannot exist and people live at peace with one another and with the Natural World, in fuller communication with the greater Cosmos . Idealistic ? Of Course! but "Without a Vision, the People perish..."

The Beatles, in 1967 with "All You Need Is Love" caught the message and expressed it for millions. One might look back to that period and smile at the apparent naivety- yet, the Flower-Power Era may have left a few seeds, evolutionarily mutated, yet to grow, insistently, up through the concreted driveways and shopping malls of the 21st Century.

Then -"Give Peace a Chance"- John Lennon - who, by this means, has given Peace a Chant.

Astro-News. Jupiter, now in Pisces, encourages Faith, stimulates charitable impulses ( all contributions gratefully received here! ); inclines to Pilgrimage - when did you last visit Glastonbury,Iona, Lindisfarne ?, and calls us to distant shores.Music, incense,chanting monks and Hebridean skies salted with spiralling screaming sea-birds, perhaps. And a new pair of walking boots ?

May I tell you about a Half-Day Seminar to be held in Totnes on Sun 28th Feb., 2.30 - 5.30. £25.00. tel. 01803 867145
:- on the subject of JUPITER in all its/his facets both orthodox and esoteric, mythological and astronomical, on this Full Moon Day, which will include a meditative/silent period toward the end of the session.We will include:- the forthcoming Jupiter/Uranus Conjunctions; and Jupiter in 2012.


I hope that the above is acceptable to you, friend, as we salute one another at what may be, here and now, the threshhold of an Age of Light .


Sincerely; Og the Blog (aka David Matthews).



Sunday, 10 January 2010

Cautionary Capricornian Commentaries

Mercury, in Capricorn, and Mars, in Leo, are both now Retrograde - that is, from our viewpoint on Earth, both appear to be moving "backwards" - an effect caused by the complex "dance" of the Planets as they orbit our Star, the Sun. (Sunlight is also, of course, Starlight, and vice versa.)
With both the above Retrograde, we might experience delays, hold-ups, "hassles" and a degree of frustration concerning:- A. Travel, communication, and trade (Mercury) : B. Machinery of all kinds, Initiatives - thwarted, delayed; the "Masculine" side of life - of necessity may focus more on the Inner , or be turned towards more selfless expressions of strength on behalf of others.
Well! The present Cold time does provide opportunity to experience and express all of the above, as we have seen ,over the last few weeks.
Traditionally, during such periods, one should exercise patience, not embark upon major new ventures, buy new vehicles or machinery, not embark upon new sexual relationships, or sign important documents or contracts.
BUT, in reality, such things are sometimes inevitable, because of pressure of circumstances, and one simply has to go ahead regardless of the old astrological nostrums.In which case:- "Go ahead in Faith, young man!".

Weather. Cold, yes? I am fascinated by the correlations between Weather/Climate and Astrological Cycles, and am compiling a hefty file on the subject, learning as I go along. Here is some data from the "Anorak" department-( in more than one sense, bearing in mind the cold North Wind.)For example, Mercury, when Retrograde in Scorpio, seems to be associated with storms, gales, and the power of the Sea. Great Cold, such as many of us are experiencing now, seems linked to a specific area of the Zodiac, around 21 Degrees of Cardinal Signs, especially 21 Capricorn, and 21 Libra, which is the degree of Exaltation of Saturn -where Saturn is most strengthened and effective. I won't belabour you with the details, yet these degrees (as now with Sun, Venus and North Node in tight conjunction at, believe it or not, 11.11 a.m. U.T. on Mon. 11 Jan. in 21 Capricorn..) feature time and again where severe cold and heavy snow are experienced.

From Keats- "The Eve of St. Agnes" ( the Feast of which is 21 January,at the early degrees of Aquarius, generally the coldest period of the entire year, as late July/early Leo, at the opposite
end of the Zodiac brings the hottest days in our Northern Hemisphere.)

St. Agnes' Eve - Ah, bitter chill it was,

The Owl, for all his feathers was a'cold.

The Hare limped trembling through the frozen grass

And silent was the flock in woolly fold.

He strikes some deep, "shamanic" level here, which engenders a strong, visceral response.

Even in deep Winter, the Sun shows his/her(depending on your tradition!) benign face- a few minutes bathing in the rays alleviates many ills and takes one "out of time", to a place where one can, for a while lose the "burden of Self". What relief !

Try Rolf Harris' "Sun Arise" - as an effective modern-day Invocation of the sense and spirit of the Sun. Nothing like the throaty sonorous, growling , earthy"Didge" to loosen a few knots in the psyche and attune you to your locality on this Earth.

Mercury turns Direct (begins to move forward again, slowly at first) on 15 Jan. the day of a Solar Eclipse (visible South India-Burma-China area.) New stirrings despite winter torpor.

Mars turns Direct, still in Leo, on 10 March - of which more later.

Thank you once again for your kind attention. As Ever -OG (aka David Matthews.)




Saturday, 2 January 2010

Og's Christmas Cracker

Dear Friend - As we pass through the portals of another New Year, 2010, I, like you, am contemplating the 12 months that lie ahead, observing the messages and synchronicities that add a little spice to the Christmas left-overs. Using the analogy of ship-board life - it seems that "we" are set forth upon a journey together, a journey that WE HAVE TO MAKE. Navigators sail "by the Stars", trusting the hand of Providence, envisioning the welcome at journey's end, whether the context is Drake's circumnavigation of the World, Star Ship Enterprise with Captain Kirk, Spock, "Beam me up" Scotty, "Bones", etc., or, "Round the Horne" with Kenneth Williams..!?

There will be questioning, doubts, and "issues", within our complex selves, and between us, as we have not yet achieved Perfection, though one might expect bold rather than bland ;- rough edges on distinctive "specimens"(you and I), that achieve a polish as they are tumbled together along the way. The motivation for the journey? Well, the "place" we are heading for is an evolutionary leap ahead of the "place" we have been for the last few thousand years. And we are turning homeward vastly enriched by our extended "posting"on "Spaceship Earth". (We are already "there", but we are not able, yet, to see this.)



Another analogy, to explain why we have been so often guests on this blue-white marble/marvel which careers through space at 19 miles per second:- here, and here only, can be found priceless "PEARLS" of great beauty. We don our diving suit ( the physical body), and descend into the murky depths. Creatures, known and unknown , some with bright Lures to tempt our interest, some vast and essentially benign, call to us or loom up in the darkened deep. By the light on our brow we discern the pearl-bearing shells, and, for a while lose ourselves in pursuit of these. Remembering, then , the "crew" above, (our guides, friends and companions in Spirit), we tug upon the guide rope, and, in response, are drawn back to the surface to survey and assess the treasures we have secured, then to enjoy a healthy span of Shore Leave:- rest, review, contemplation of our "dive", perhaps to plan another immersion once we are ready and the tides are right, for us.



Random things, found in Christmas Crackers, that might amuse:-



Alexander the Great to Diogenes, the "minimalist" Cynic Philosopher (sitting in his Barrel.) -" Is there anything I can do for you - I have a fair bit of clout around the place these days ?". Diogenes to Alexander:- "As a matter of fact, dear boy, you could stand aside, you are in the way of the Sun".



From John Hurt, Actor;- " I am only alive out of curiousity. I am very curious about where we are all marching".



Drake's Drum - from the well known poem ( try not to see this as being old-hat, chauvinistic, nationalistic nonsense, but as an invocation of what we might call the Spirit of Albion - enounced, perhaps, in the style of Sir George Trevelyan -who knew a thing or two about the power of the Spoken Word) :-



"Take my Drum to England

and hang it by the Shore.

Strike it when your powder's running low.

And if the Dons sight Devon

I'll quit the Port of Heaven

And drum them up the Channel

As we drummed them long ago".



Shiveringly good stuff.



When will Time end? 2012- or not ? Time will tell.... However, David Tennant the latest "Dr. Who" (a Time Lord), came to the end of his Time, on BBC T.V. on 1 January. Interestingly, our dining room clock stopped just after this climactic televisual event- as well as light bulbs and fuses popping off with unusual abandon over the last few days. What can it all mean ?? If this continues much longer I will be communicating before long from the 5th dimension, having indeed transcended Time.



As to the "Production" which is Life on Earth, and a phrase which has always intrigued me, since boyhood, from Shakespeare :- "All the World's a Stage, and all the men and women merely Players..." Quite so, though we tend to over-identify with the roles we have chosen and take it all too seriously at times. Do we, then, having completed our part in this great Production, get out of costume and back to our "true" selves on the other side of that great Stage Door?.



The Coming Buddha - "Maitreya"- the word is plural (I am told) meaning "FRIENDS" - that's you and I, all of us together, folks. How Aquarian is that?



Peter Deunov, Bulgarian sage, in his last communication before dying to this world, let it be known that he "saw" that we, in our Solar System, had been travelling, as he put it, through a vast area of the universe that had been contaminated with the debris, physical and Astral/Psychic, of a Galaxy long since destroyed, but that, quite soon, we would be emerging into a much clearer and "healthier" region, whereupon conditions would be much improved, as we become able to live as we were intended - in a new Golden Age, or similar. Good. V. similar to other prophecies and Insights concerning the next stage for Homo (showing glimmerings of) Sapiens.

Some would say that the next "label" could be "Homo Translucens". Look forward to it.





Forthcoming;- next session of Totnes Astrology Group (for those that need it/can get here!)

is on FRIDAY 15 JANUARY, 2010, 7.30 - 9.15 p.m. £10.00 . Subject:- there are several items to cover - The SOLAR ECLIPSE, 15 Jan ; JUPITER -now moving from Aquarius to Pisces; the SATURN-PLUTO square - How has it been, so far?



And;- at LUPTON HOUSE, Brixham Road, Churston Ferrers (between Paignton and Brixham here in South Devon) on Sunday 21 March (at the Spring Equinox);-



"THE JOURNEY" - an Itinerary for the Age of Aquarius, 1-5 P.M. £30.00.



Tel. 01803 867145 for info/details/to say hello. Totnes Astrology Group meets at 6, Plymouth Road, Totnes. My E-Mail : dave@starlynx.plus.com.



MANY THANKS for your kind attention. I wish you Joy in 2010 .



from OG . (aka David Matthews).