by Art Gianfermo, who is actively engaged in AstroJournalism
"This time the rains will continue:
running the drenched spectrum from light showers to thunder showers
big drops/sheets of water...Until Mother is satiated, satisfied and sanctified." from Water Falls in Great Volume written in 1994 by Arthur R. Gianfermo
Waters of the Mother Goddess Flow
When the waters break
and are carried away" per Alice Bailey from page 323 of Esoteric Astrology. She goes on to say: Mother gives birth to
the Son and that individual spirit stands free. I would ask you to ponder on this point.. Cancer is the gateway to form;
birth and rebirth as spirit becomes and takes on the body of the third dimensional world. Cancer represents the mother who
offers sustenance like Gaia has done for her earthly children. Just as our mothers provide nurturing via breast feeding, the
other symbol of Cancer, the domicile, provides sanctuary. Nurturing or nourishing is a form of love that can be ascribed to
as Yin or more feminine form of energy. Shakti, the divine feminine energy, or the sacred force, is the Hindu
personification which relates to the Mother Goddess and will be prominent this month.
Water has always been connected with the feminine and the watery triplicity of Cancer-Scorpio-Pisces.
Cancer, cardinal and ruled by the Moon, is the generator of power-rivers, streams, waterfall, and rain. The long transit of
Mars in Cancer, from last November to May 9th, brought mega floods and downpours across the world, even after the ingress
into Leo. Cancer as a sign is also linked to the primordial instincts of fear and survival. Cancer demonstrates a quality of
‘instinctive intelligence’ an innate ability as a ‘resource manager’ – whether it is a mother providing food and shelter for
her child, a businessman or statesman. As Jupiter began its transit thru the opposite sign penurious Capricorn last
December, our nation's stored resources have been revealed as lacking. In an article published on 6-26-08: What's in the cupboard ' food or fuel?
" In 1982, the U.S. government owned enough wheat, corn, butter, cheese and nonfat dry milk to feed the
country for months. Today, those items are gone from the government's inventory." As Uranus, in Neptune ruled Pisces,
stationed retrograde (June 26) the price of crude oil continued to escalate. We are seeing many disruptions, strikes and
shut downs due to the price of fuel. Uranus moves backwards toward an exact opposition with Saturn on Nov. 4th. The
question arises "Which is more important to you and your family 'food or petroleum?" Unfortunately for America, the US
Government (Saturn) petroleum has trumped food, big time... The government has about 700 million barrels of oil in the SPR
(Strategic Petroleum Reserve), but its food cupboard is bare. A full tank of gas and an empty cupboard are the result of
this governmental policy and legislation.
Solstice Marked a Powerful Transformation
Staring at red tinged sun, in cloudy sky shrouded by smoke from over 800 separate fires here in Northern California, I
remember the weekend of the Solstice. By June 22nd lightening from thunderstorms had ignited these conflagrations. Also by
the time the Solstice (6-20-08) occurred with the ingress of the Sun joining Venus and Ceres in Cancer’s early degrees, the
US heartland was immersed in floods.
Ceres ingress into Cancer on June 11th marked the day a tornado ripped through a boy scout ranch in Iowa and the torrential
rains inundated the Midwest.
Bridges and levees were giving way and dissolving everywhere. This also included ideas and ancient attitudes toward wars.
Things just didn't seem the same as the government tried to keep things together. Mars, masculine god of War, was the focal
point of a Yod with Jupiter-Uranus as the base. The patriarchy was in trouble! Mars and Neptune were opposed exactly on June
21st. The divine mother or Magna Mater had arrived and she was pissed! Fires raged on the West Coast, tornadoes swept thru
Southern Wisconsin, more flooding awaited Missouri, Illinois as the levees were overwhelmed by Mississippi River.
In Iowa
the river over-topped its banks at 500-year flood levels, forcing the evacuation of over thousands of homes.
On the day of the Solstice, the energy of Pluto was strong. Pluto ruler of Scorpio, representing the
transformative powers and the "collective unconscious" had slipped back in Sagittarius on June 13th and was closely opposed
to Sun/Venus. It appears that Mother Earth doesn't want continued expansive rampages of aggression to continue, especially
with Saturn in Virgo (esoteric ruler of the Moon) sextile Sun/Venus/Ceres adding more accountability.
Legend of Kwan Yin the Gentle Mother
One of the other distinct personalities of the Great Mother archetype is the gentle understanding Mother like Kwan Yin the
merciful. Kwan Yin means “She who hears the cries of sentient beings.” Kwan Yin, as also known as "Guanyin", had
vowed to never rest until she had freed all sentient beings from samsara (cycle of reincarnation or rebirth in Hinduism,
Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and other related religions.) Other forms of this healing goddess include, Tibetan Tara, African
Yemaya and the South-American Virgén de Guadalupe. All of these incarnations offer unconditional love and assistance in this
world: blessings of children, health, and long life, including rescuing people from drowning, lightning, and poverty. This
energy to be a protector of women will materialize most strikingly in July. During the new and full moons both Venus and Mars
(Virgo) will be in feminine oriented signs.
New Moon July 2nd and Kwan Yin's return
If there ever was a time when we needed the spirit of Kwan Yin upon this planet it is the Cancer lunation on July 2nd. The
New Moon in Cancer this year claim's spiritual marks of destiny per the chart set for Washington, DC @ 10:19 PM. The asteroid
Nemesis is conjunct the N Node near Chiron and opposed S Node (Karma) representing the spirit of divine retribution against
those who succumb to hubris. Bellatrix, the fixed star of the constellation Orion, is the Heliacal rising star speaks of
success born of struggle when we have to face our demons. Regulus and Mars are together rising in paran, linked to violence
and destructiveness where one can gain great success, but if they stoop to revenge, face a swift fall from grace. Nemesis
may target some like the Neo-cons, who have bankrupted us with an illegal war that exhibits this form of overwhelming pride,
self-confidence and arrogance. GWB one of the world's most Cancers has his solar return on July 6th (so does the Dali Lama
born a few years earlier). Bush has transiting Mercury conjunct his N Node-Uranian conjunction, while transiting Uranus SQs
them. This conflict not only deals with the 11th house issues - like community associations and special interest groups -
but the legislature, Congress and the Senate.
Cancer New Moon Continued...
Aquarius is rising @ 12 degrees is Quincunx the Sun-Moon in Cancer indicating that some big time adjustments are coming.
Uranus, modern ruler of Aquarius in the 2nd house of the economy, includes supply and demand. The manner in which food and
other resources are produced is applying to a SQ with Mercury in the 4th. We should expect some bad news in the area of real
estate and agriculture. Already the amount of foreclosures is creating a glut of houses on the market. In a report by the
Case-Shiller home price index on June 24th: Home prices across 20 major U.S. cities have dropped a record 15.3% in the
past year and are now back to where they were in the summer of 2004. The N Node, Chiron and Neptune are all together
posited in the first house representing the image of the nation and outer persona of its people. This represents a people
thirsting for progressive, future oriented change that won't stomp on their history of freedoms. The Sabian Symbol for 12
degrees Cancer Sun-Moon: "A Chinese woman nursing a baby with a message." Per Dr. Marc Edmund Jones (Sabian Symbols
page 250) tells of a message to humanity filled with empathy and intuition. Alice Bailey, astrologer and writer of Esoteric
Astrology had Mercury in this degree and did offer spiritual insights for the future. Vesta, the asteroid that rules
devotion and commitment to service, along with sexuality, enters Taurus right before this lunation. In Taurus, Vesta brings a
persistent focused effort which can bind together social groups. Kwan Yin, who was concentrated in her devotion, will be of
tremendous help. Whether our challenges involve tragic events dealing with violent weather, earthquakes or other
situations of overt aggression (7th) she will offer solace. Notice that this Mars has recently moved into Virgo for a
dangerous meeting with Saturn exact on July 10th. Again worries of another a war with Iran are surfacing, perhaps via a
militant incursion by Israel.
Is Demeter on Strike Again?
When we arrive at the Full Moon on July 18th we may find that things are progressively worse economically with Sun-Moon
across the 2nd and 8th axis. This Full Moon at 26 degrees Capricorn will presage a dangerous cardinal T-square formation
between Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto coming in August 2010. The last time this rare cardinal TSQ happened was in 1930-1931
during the great depression. During this July 18th lunation, both Mars-Saturn (ruler of Moon) are sitting on the DC chart's
IC and Ceres is almost exactly opposed Jupiter.
With Ceres (Demeter) the Goddess of Agriculture and Grain in Cancer we find that nurturance on all levels is on everybody's
mind, especially the most basic survival level: Food. Just like the time in legend when Persephone was kidnapped by
Hades-Pluto, our earth seems to be on strike as floods, hail and tornadoes have hammered America's breadbasket, while at the
same time fires are choking the west coast. Many of us will feel like the crab who retracts its head back into the safe,
protected shell till the rest of the world cooperates.
Kali Ma is Angry On the Full Moon
The Sabian Symbol for 27 Cancer on the Full Moon is "A storm in a canyon" (per Dr. Mark Edmond Jones, page 266) which deals with intensification of the untamed forces of nature.
The Mother Goddess like the Moon has dual forms. Beside the gentle aspects there are the terrible ones
known as Kali, Medusa, or the Sea Serpent, Typhon, dispatched by Zeus. The July 2nd New Moon has a Jupiter opposition to
Sun-Moon-Venus all in the sign of the mother. Jupiter's opposition to the Sun has already forced legal, moralistic decisions
via the Supreme Court laws, but next month a new level of judgment will occur. Kali has many faces in India and even if many
of them are projections the notion of her terrible fierce fury is well known. As tectonic plates shift and extreme, even
shocking, weather mirrors the mutability of Mercury-Gemini SQ Uranus-Pisces exact on July 5th. Besides the upcoming
Mars-Saturn conjunction in Virgo, there is a difficult square from Juno to Mars. Juno in Sagittarius in US Sibley first
house in stressful aspect to Mars will deal with difficulties in cooperation with foreign powers along with other problems
involving domination and subjugation in partnerships. From July 24th till the end of the month explosive, fiery
confrontations could occur.
Neptune: esoteric ruler of Cancer Offers New Commitments to a Spiritual Path
When we examine the chart set for DC (Full Moon July 18th), Neptune ruler of the Midheaven Pisces is SQ
Vesta. This aspect puts a heavy emphasis on the need to concentrate so that our focus on a new form of consciousness is not
diffused…Mass consciousness and instinctual awareness are ruled by Cancer per Alice Bailey (page 312 of Esoteric Astrology).
Thus Cancer relates to the ‘commonality’ of the Moon rulership as well as the 'sea of consciousness' over which Neptune
rules. Cancer is considered the "exaltation sign" of Neptune--the dynamic, cardinal quality of the sign amplifies the
sensitive mutability of Pisces. Neptune in this sign expresses with more force than it does in its dignity. Neptune now in
the collective sign of Aquarius or group thought and intuitive awareness has been pushing the evolutionary envelope with the
need to conquer fears with faith.
The Moon is the ruler of the fourth ray of Harmony through Conflict (the ray of Humanity) and describes the
emotional roller-coaster that some Cancerians experience. Neptune as soul ruler of Cancer is the ‘ocean of emotion’ on the
one hand, or that great sea of consciousness into which the conscious seeker can intelligently tap. As we move toward the
end of the month the Leo Sun ingress along with Mercury and Venus have begun a new fixed transit. As Mars-Saturn after their
July 10th conjunction, the sign of the courageous lion giving us the perfect antidote to fear. This will be a time when
speaking one's mind no matter how much our voice trembles can create positive change.
