
What is your dangerous skill?
What is it that you need to reinstate in yourself to place yourself on your throne?
Today on the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (15th August), the cosmic line- up places a mighty divine feminine signature emblazoned across the top of the heavens.
While the full moon at 22 degrees Aquarius is opposing a Kingly Leo Sun, his consort is none other than the Goddess of love, sexuality, beauty and earthly pleasures, Venus. The feminine spirit embodied in union with the full power of an expressed and awakened solar consciousness can also be seen in the many depictions of the Great Mother goddess Cybele on her lion-drawn chariot, wildly banging her frame drum, triumphantly extolling the deep resonant sound of the sacred earth. Cybele is an earth goddess.
Dane Rudhyar’s sabian symbol for 23 Leo is uncannily appropriate for the opportunities available to make conscious intention towards expressing the divine feminine nature in the world, placing awakened feminine conscious firmly in the material world- bringing the Goddess out of the closet and reinstating her on her earthly throne.
PHASE 143 (LEO 23°): IN A CIRCUS THE BAREBACK RIDER DISPLAYS HER DANGEROUS SKILL.
KEYNOTE: The audacity and perseverance required to control and play with the powerful energies of the vital realm in human existence.
What is your dangerous skill? What is it that you need to reinstate in yourself to place yourself on your throne?
Mythology-
There are a cluster of asteroids on the extended outer asteroid belt known as ‘The Cybele asteroids’- they number approximately 2000, with seven main ones- Sylvia, Camilla, Hermione, Freia, Pretoria, and Steroeskopia. Four of these main Cybele asteroids are currently orbiting around the mid heaven of the full moon chart, alongside Venus 22 degrees Leo, and Juno 26 degrees Leo. The asteroid Hermione, a huge body discovered in 1872, is placed at 10 degrees Scorpio conjunct the ascendant at 12 degrees Scorpio.
In Greek mythology Hermione was the daughter of Menelaus of Sparta and Helen of Troy- the gist of her story is that there was a lot of confusion over the identity of her truly beloved and betrothed- was it Orestes who secured her hand before the Trojan war, or Achilles Neoptolemus who was promised Hermione as his bride during the conflict? After the war, unhappily married to Neoptolemeus, Hermione became paranoid and suspicious that Andromache, wife of Hector had placed a curse on her to prevent her from conceiving a child. Soon after, Hermione fled with her cousin Orestes as was originally planned and lived happily ever after.
With the great cosmic feminine line-up, the Assumption of the Virgin into heaven, Venus riding on the back of her alchemical Lion, and asteroid Hermione, one of the largest asteroids in the Cybele cluster rising, what is the symbolic essence of this power full moon gateway?
Here, I offer my intuitive perspective in the hope that it might speak to you on some level:
This archetype is a symbol of the feminine finding her true consort- not the consort out there projected in the world, but her inner masculine consort, her true animus. The story speaks of returning to the original plan…your personal Eden… before the war, before separation, before conflict and fragmentation. What was your original plan, what is the true face of your soul, and what do you need to in order to reinstate it? How do you find your inner beloved so that you can wed in holy sacred union and express your full lunar and solar power?
In the myth, Orestes is the cousin of Hermione, this speaks of the two of them being born from the same stock, not by flesh and blood but by energetic vibration and soul plan. He is her true love, but they lose each other in a bloody war in which there is much confusion and false promises. It is little wonder that Hermione grows unhappy and unsettled in a union with Neoptolemus, as she is not rightfully his and he has claimed her under a false pretext. This is the false animus and can be seen in the many ways women allow themselves to be controlled by an overly rigid patriarchal ideal. In such a contract she will never be able to express the fullness of her feminine soul. In turmoil and confusion, she suspects another woman of sabotaging her- the other woman is an unintegrated aspect of herself- the wife of the king. She herself is not the wife of her King and therefore pregnancy cannot happen in a diminished and unnatural context.
To conceive of and birth her true self she must first return to her true consort.
This reunion with the Self is expressed not only in the story of Hermione, but in many symbolic reflections of the ‘Gods’ today:
The Assumption of the Virgin (the whole unto herself feminine) into the kingdom of heaven (full awakened consciousness).
Venus, the fully embodied lover Goddess throned on her solar consort. Juno, daughter of Saturn and wife of Jupiter in close alliance, protectress of the sacred community and ensuring that the natural laws are adhered to.
The strong ‘Cybelene’ signature seen in the many Cybele asteroids, and particularly in the rising of Hermione in Scorpio.
Another point to note is that the Selene, the full moon, or White moon… the full lunar expression is currently sitting at 21 degrees of Capricorn exactly conjunct Pluto, lord of the underworld. Here she shines her full lunar illumination on the inner workings of the unconscious. What are the factors at play that hold you in positions of falsity? What is it that needs to be brought into conscious awareness so that it can be transformed and become an aid in facilitating your holy marriage?
In the Assumption of Mary, it is commonly held that it is Arch Angel Michael who aided Mary in her return to heaven. Call upon your inner warrior, not to slay your dragons but rather to get to know them, befriend them and then free the trapped energy to fuel your initiation.