Lay Down Your Arms
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The dentist
Like a diligent dentist, Mercury is hard at work as this week begins. He makes a conjunction with poor beleaguered retrograde Venus in Scorpio (Oct. 15, 1:20 pm), on the Sabian Symbol A dentist is hard at work. Whenever I find myself sitting in a dentist’s chair, I’m fascinated by what’s going on in my mouth. And I can’t stop wondering whether my hygienist or dentist has Mars in Gemini or Virgo, signs ruled by Mercury, god of manual dexterity and love of detail.
Armed with his skills of perception and analysis, Mercury is carefully removing whatever is festering in us—especially in our relationships, feelings of self-respect, and financial health. This requires digging out and discarding whatever is untrue or unexamined, seeing clearly, and communicating honestly. Like a trip to the dentist, this deep cleaning might hurt a little at first. But think how much better it will feel when it’s all over and you’re pain-free, ready for a fresh beginning.
I am never five minutes into stripping the clutter from my life before I start running into the clutter that IS my life. —Robert Brault
The convent
The First Quarter Moon is where self-possession meets engagement. Generally, this is a time during each month for initiating action and getting involved with others. But this week’s First Quarter Moon in Capricorn (Oct. 16, 1:54 am) is conjoined Pluto; and its Sabian Symbol, A woman entering a convent, sounds a little more self-possessed and a little less engaged.
But let’s pretend you’ve just entered a convent. We like to imagine that a convent is perfectly tranquil, quiet, and harmonious. But you’re entering a cloistered living environment with a group of women who are strangers to you. At this First Quarter Moon the Sun is on the Sabian Symbol degree, A third wing on the left side of a butterfly, a reminder that in the end, humans are humans—and that where we dwell together, it’s unreasonable to expect perfection.
Lord, I know that you know what you’re doing but is having me wear white for the rest of my life a good idea? You know how clumsy I am. – Emily Brown, 20 Thoughts of a Nun-to-Be
Five mounds of sand
I’m sleeping, deeply, and dreaming. A Mercurial, mental sort of person I fight sleep and rarely remember my dreams, but this one is vivid. It’s akin to astral projection; I’ve met someone who is immediately familiar and feels like an important person for me to know. And next thing you know, the alarm wakens me with a start.
On the 18th, leading up to a couple of Mercury aspects the next day, it’s time to downshift into some restorative, unstructured time. Since entering deep-thinking Scorpio, Mercury has been gathering an enormous number of insights, impressions, and information. But that kind of intensity requires some kind of release, and Mercury’s trine to Neptune in Pisces (Oct. 19, 2:48 am) offers an opportunity to release the obsessions of the rational mind and relax into the arms of Morpheus. Mercury’s Sabian Symbol degree today is Children Playing Around Five Mounds of Sand. Listen to music, paint a picture, make a collage; sit quietly by the water and listen to its rhythms. Let thoughts percolate through the magic of unconsciousness, so that by the time Mercury meets Mars (Oct. 19 at 10:23 am) and the alarm goes off, you’ll be ready to act on something you’ve been thinking about since Mercury entered Scorpio on the 9th.
The dream is to play endlessly, past the time when you are called home for dinner, past the time of doing chores, past the time when your body betrays you past time itself. —John Thorn
Retiring the sword
The Gibbous Moon begins in Pisces (Oct. 20, 1:57 pm), on a degree whose Sabian Symbol appears to be about surrender: A sword, used in many battles, is now in a museum.
The Gibbous Moon is a reforming Moon. This is the phase of cultivation, of self-improvement, and occasionally (lord help us) the improvement of others. My mother was born at this phase, with the Moon in Virgo, and she encouraged the better angels of our natures. She held us to a high standard and always insisted we be just a little bit better than we thought we strictly needed to be. It’s an old habit with me, now, and a perennial battle; and because I live my life on the edge of that particular sword, I find it hard to fathom that there is an easier road.
But Pisces is a little softer, a little more forgiving than I am of myself. The battles that seemed so important to fight, back at the Virgo New Moon, are becoming faint memories; the swords of dharma are now at rest. There are times to be fierce, and by nature some of us are better suited to those times. But it’s important to know when to retire the sword in favor of a gentler approach. The road to transformation begins with self-acceptance. It doesn’t mean we stop trying to improve; it just means that we can begin by acknowledging what’s already good in us, and in others.
Remember, boy, that a kind act can sometimes be as powerful as a sword.” ― The Battle of the Labyrinth
© 2018 April Elliott Kent
