Archive for Daniel’s Articles – Page 5

In Fond Memory of Toni Wolff and C.G. Jung; and Robert Bly, in Memoriam

By Daniel Giamario

The news of the death of the mythopoetic giant, Robert Bly, on November 21st, aged 94, came to me after I had already decided to share about a fabulous and important book that I have recently read.  Synchronicity can be quite an astonishing thing.  The book is “Toni Wolff & C.G. Jung: A Collaboration”, by Nan Savage Healy (2018).  It is truly amazing how these themes weave together, for me, as well as the inspirations for important features of the Shamanic Astrology Paradigm ™.

Robert Bly, a gifted poet, author, anti-war activist, counter-culture figure and transcendentalist, has come to be best known for his book “Iron John”. Bly was credited for inspiring a nascent men’s consciousness movement, which generated both praise and criticism and somewhat diminished his earlier work.  I had the great good fortune of attending many of his workshops, particularly when he collaborated with Tai-Chi master Al Huang.  What is considerably less known is that Bly was an early advocate for expanding the perception of women’s archetypes, particularly the dark chthonic feminine.  Poems such as “The Teeth Mother Naked at Last” and his essay “I Came Out of the Mother Naked” were highly influential to me and to others who were reformulating mainstream astrology in a more feminine direction, considerably less patriarchal in flavor.  But the greatest gift of all that I received from Robert Bly, and from others in those halcyon days of cultural renaissance, was his efforts to bring to the world’s attention an essay by Toni Wolff: “Structural Forms of the Feminine Psyche”.  This had such a profound impact on me that it has remained the foundational bedrock of my understanding of the full spectrum of the archetypes of the feminine (and similarly influencing my view of masculine archetypes).

So who was Toni Wolff? 

This brings me to the book I have just finished reading.  Finally, here is a book that delves comprehensively into the story of the woman, whom Jung referred to as his “second wife”.  She was the medial psychopomp for his many descents into the underworld in the 1910’s and 1920’s, and the mainly un-credited collaborator to his famous “Red Book”.  She was Jung’s main collaborator in his theories regarding anima and animus, psychological types, archetypes and analytical psychology.  She faded into the background and has been largely written out (including by later “Jungians”) and not much talked about, until now.  Few of her essays have yet to be translated into English.  The book is amazing, bringing essential background to concepts that have been uniquely incorporated in the Shamanic Astrology Paradigm ™. I also have often tried, for many years, to bring to the attention of our students and teachers the great importance of Toni Wolff (and obviously Jung).

Most importantly she saw the foundational structure of the feminine archetypes as a fourfold structure on two axes. The Vertical axis was the personal one with the “hetaera” at the top, and the “maternal” at the bottom.  The horizontal impersonal axis had the “medial” woman on one side, and the “amazon” woman on the other side.  This understanding was highly influential to me, and in a foundational way, allowed me to expand this to 12 authentic expressions, a full spectrum, of the archetypes of the feminine.  This approach is far more useful than the more widely known use of the three-fold triple-goddess: Maiden, Mother, Crone. Two of our online courses expand on this in rich detail – CLICK HERE to learn more.

I want to especially honor the contribution and brilliance of Robert Bly, who died at his 8th Jupiter return!  I am going to include here the charts of Bly, Toni Wolff, and C.G.Jung, all three such remarkable and important contributors to our school and paradigm.  I strongly suggest seeking out Nan Healy’s book should these subjects be of interest.  I believe the subject matter to be rather important in these times.

 

An Important Eclipse Season and the Saturn/Uranus Square Accelerates

Ramblings, Reflections and Ruminations — November New Moon

By Daniel Giamario

 

The Eclipse Season

Every year has two eclipse seasons, about six months apart.  The second season of 2021 has a partial lunar eclipse and a total solar eclipse.  I have always been fascinated by eclipses, even, at times, referring to myself as an “eclipse junkie.”  I have been fortunate to see two total solar eclipses, four annular solar eclipses, and have lost count of how many total lunar eclipses.  I have always been fascinated by the ancient Sumerian view that your “age” was based on how many eclipse seasons you have experienced rather than solar years (therefore twice the number of solar years).  Let’s examine this eclipse season from November 19th through December 4th and the two eclipses.

Friday, November 19th at 12:57AM PST at 27Taurus14:  Partial Lunar Eclipse.  Although technically a partial, actually it’s really close to a total, it’s 97.4% total!  It will be visible over North America and most of the Pacific Ocean regions.  The whole show takes nearly six hours!  This is a North Node eclipse and presages the, soon to be, entrance of the transiting North Node into Taurus on January 18, 2022.  Although all eclipses counsel to always be aware of the “shadow,” personally and collectively, North Node eclipses contain more of a sense of looking ahead and moving forward. And, lunar eclipses are “Super Full Moons” as our school uses the term.  This eclipse also features Mars and Mercury in Scorpio together with the Sun, and will also presage the rise of Mars in Scorpio from out of the Underworld on November 22nd at the 15Scorpio, the cross-quarter degree.

 

Saturday, December 3rd at 11:43PM PST at 12Sagittarius22:  Total Solar Eclipse.  This eclipse occurs far South mainly over Antarctica and is a shorter one; one minute and 55 seconds of totality.  This eclipse is with the South Node, placing a greater emphasis on the personal and collective past of global humanity.  In the paradigm of the school this is a “Super New Moon” and a time for planting seeds of intention for at least the next six months.  However, I think that this eclipse is presaging something far more important.  During 2021 I have spent a lot of time researching the United States chart in light of the “Fourth Turning.”  I have also detailed the four eclipse paths that crisscross the US from 2012-2024.  See my previous articles on this HERE.  The New Moon/Eclipse degree is 12Sagittarius 22, almost exactly the degree of the US Ascendant of 13Sagittarius10, as rectified by Dane Rudhyar.  I really get the sense that this South Node Super New Moon Solar Eclipse is putting a really bright cosmic spotlight on the Pluto return, the Chiron return, and the Neptune opposition to Neptune on the United States Chart.  This will totally involve the upcoming eclipses over the US in 2023 and 2024, which also directly connect to the US chart.  I think that this solar eclipse places lots of emphasis on the shadow and light of the Sagittarius Mystery School, certainly for the United States, but also for the entire world.  The light of Sagittarius is the quest for meaning and purpose, a love of truth, and well-founded optimism for the future.  The shadow is various forms of fundamentalism and the desire to impose a “belief” in a truth on everyone else.  The deeper essence of Sagittarius, in my view, is the courage to not be attached to “a truth,” as it’s actually a moving target.  I am reminded of a favorite William Blake poem.

“He who binds to himself a joy, does the winged Life destroy;

He who kisses the joy as it flies, lives in Eternity’s sunrise.”

I greatly appreciate the Sabian symbols of my first astrological mentor, Dane Rudhyar.  What he writes about 13degrees of Sagittarius is quite amazing in light of what I have written here.  Here it is:

PHASE 253 (SAGITTARIUS 13°): A WIDOW’S PAST BROUGHT TO LIGHT.

KEYNOTE: The karma of past actions as it affects opportunities presented by a new cycle.

What the “widow’s past” is remains obscure but the point is that even as a past cycle is closed — a phase of married life ends — the karma of whatever deeds or misdeeds this cycle witnessed will almost inevitably intrude into the new life period. Also, once a cycle of activity is concluded, much that was unclear or unconsciously motivated in the events it witnessed can now more easily come to the clear consciousness of the mind. It is possible to joyously herald the dawn from high above the actual stresses of existence (the preceding symbol), but the new day may be found loaded and darkened by the unfinished business of many a yesterday.

This is the third stage of the fifty-first five-fold sequence. Mankind is “the widow,” because our soon-to-be-concluded Piscean Age has buried most of the ideals it once revered and proclaimed. Yet the New Age will have to deal with many oppressive ghosts. This is a symbol of RETRIBUTION

The Saturn/Uranus Waning Square Accelerates.

There is so much to unpack during this lunation.  The most important global aspect of 2021 is the triple (waning) square of Saturn to Uranus.  So far there have been two exact squares: February 17th at 7Aquarius13/7Taurus13, and June 14th at 13Aquarius07/13Taurus07.  The third one happens December 24th at 11Aquarius05/11Taurus05.  There is very nearly an exact fourth square in September-October of 2022!  This is a truly significant transit.  It is a process that began with the Saturn/Uranus conjunction of February 1988.  The previous conjunction was in 1942.

I perceive these days surrounding, and following, the Scorpio New Moon, to be a pivotal turning point in the universal intent of this global planetary process.  Here is why:

This past Saturday, October 30th, the Sun squared Saturn at 2:53AM PDT at 7Scorpio12/7Aquarius12.  Notice how close these degrees are to the February square (almost exact!).  Also on Saturday, October 30th, Mars, while still in the Underworld, entered into Scorpio.

The Scorpio New Moon happens at 2:15PM Wednesday November 4th, at 12Scorpio40.  Certainly this New Moon signifies a turning point.  (We will have additional posts about this New Moon).  Amazingly, a few hours later, the Sun reaches its yearly opposition with Uranus at 4:58PM PDT at 12Scorpio48/12Taurus48.  Again, notice the degrees, and especially if you have anything important on your natal chart near these degrees in the signs of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio or Aquarius.

Almost as footnotes, we can also add to the great cosmic drama of the clash of planets the following:  Mercury enters Scorpio on Friday, November 5th.  And, then on November 10th Mercury and Mars are conjunct, whilst Mars still in the Underworld at 7Scorpio22.  In addition the exact Samhain cross quarter is on November 6th (15 Scorpio), the degree that Mars rises from the Underworld on November 22nd.  Mars, now so very much a part of the Saturn square Uranus situation, will square Saturn on November 10th at about 7Scorpio40, and then will be in opposition to Uranus on November 17th at 12Scorpio15.  Think of it as a long-lasting T-Square with Mars activating the already dynamic Saturn square to Uranus.

I see this as a full speed ahead to the intended result of the Saturn-Uranus triple square, just after the December Solstice.  Every time that there is the Aries synodic overtone of Mars, he will rise from the Underworld in Scorpio (most recently 1910, 1942, 1989 and now).  This happens November 22nd at the cross-quarter degree of 15Scorpio.  A really great pressure has been building up and will certainly continue.  Maybe you can see, why I do, that this is a great turning point.

My speculation involves the fate and/or destiny of the United States, and indeed, all of global humanity.  So much of what is happening is not as it seems in the mainstream.  I will not pretend to know what “Great Mystery” or Gaia, herself, has in mind at this time.  Much depends on the Aries god, for both Men and Women.  Will there be the capacity to surrender, change the game of 12,800 years, and to actually grieve, and see a new and different way forward?  With so much emphasis growing from the Scorpio Mystery School now, much also depends on the willingness to own and then integrate the shadow and the “mistakes” of global humanity’s recent history.  I can also see this as a decision, on a personal and collective level, to either choose to fulfill human 1.0, that represents our water based organic destiny, or to align with human 2.0, an artificial intelligence, silicon based, hunger for an unearned immortality.  I know well where I stand on this, but also totally advocate that every individual can have the freedom to choose their own course and to not impose their views on others.  We stand always for personal sovereignty and honoring all places on the wheel.  And always, to surrender to what Great Mystery is orchestrating.  We can only play our part, as best we can.  We must be awake, and remember what is at stake.  Hopefully, this is helpful, to be aware of the cosmic players that are instructing us.

Ramblings, Ruminations and Reflections – Libra New Moon, Mars in the Underworld, and Other Matters – Oct New Moon 2021

From Daniel Giamario

October 10th is my 73rd birthday.  This is now my 52nd year since discovering astrology in 1969, after reading Dane Rudhyar’s book “The Astrology of Personality”.  This is also my 9th Venus return, as well as another Mercury return.  Being born with Mercury Retrograde means any Mercury synodic return will be Mercury retrograde at my birthday.  Here are a several things that have captured my attention for this week, and upcoming lunation.

THE LIBRA NEW MOON on Wednesday October 6th at 4:05AM PDT at 13Libra25

Mars is in the Underworld, behind the Sun until November 22nd.  I was not born with Mars in the Underworld, (though I do have Mars in Scorpio, the sign where Mars exits the Underworld on November 22nd), but the events around this New Moon are quite astounding for the world and the United States.  The following astrological events are unfolding:

October 1st:  Mars in Libra opposes Chiron in Aries

October 3rd:  Sun in Libra opposes Chiron in Aries

October 5th:  Moon in Libra opposes Chiron in Aries

October 6th:  Exact New Moon at 4:05PM PDT at 13Libra25

October 6th:  Moon in Libra conjunct Mars in Libra (5:04AM PDT) which is not visible.

October 6th:  Pluto SD at 11:29AM PDT at 24Capricorn18   — A three day Plutonian initiatory intensity magnified by the long square with Eris, now at 24Aries20.

October 7th:   Sun conjuncts Mars at 9:01PM PDT at 15Libra05 in the Celestial Underworld.

October 9th:  Sun conjuncts Mercury retrograde in the Interior Underworld at 9:18AM PDT at 16Libra35

October 9th:  Mercury and Mars conjunct in the Underworld at 16Libra16 at 3:48PM PDT,   Mercury is in-between the Earth and Sun, and Mars on the other side of the Sun; neither are visible.

October 10th:  Saturn SD at 7:17PM PDT at 6Aquarius52   — A three day Saturnian initiatory intensity (see below).  This also ends the nine month Saturn conjunction with the US South Node.

October 17th:  Jupiter SD at 10:30PM PDT at 22Aquarius19

October 18th:  Mercury SD at 8:17AM PDT at 10Libra07 is close to the New Moon degree and also opposes the US Saturn.

This all is quite an amazing, rare, and deeply intense initiatory time-frame, with personal and collective implications.  The gathering of Mars, Sun, Moon, and Mercury all together in the Underworld at the same time, with Chiron involved (as well as Eris at 24Aries22 opposing Mercury, whilst maintaining her long square to Pluto).

Implications for the United States

With Saturn direct on October 10th, , this will complete the 9 month initiatory time-frame of Saturn conjunct its South Node at 6Aquarius35, which began February 3, 2021.  I have written about this as an opportunity for the United States to face facts about its past and take responsibility for the betrayal of the original Aquarian ideals.  The Chironic and Plutonian aspects are foreshadowing the US Pluto and Chiron returns of 2022 and 2023.  Meanwhile, The Neptune transit to its second only opposition to the US Neptune continues, with its square to the US Mars in Gemini.  Certainly the confusion, numerous deceptions, and increased bifurcations can be expected.  Mercury also being retrograde now adds to this.  The United States, incidentally, also has Mercury retrograde natally.

The Mars in the Underworld factor

Our hopes are that a war scenario will not break out to distract attention.  The current Mars synodic overtone is the sign of Aries, and is in the Underworld phase from August 23-November 22nd.  The previous times that happened were Summer/Fall of 1910, Summer/Fall of 1942, and Summer/Fall of 1989.  A deeper look at this rhyming pattern is useful and revelatory.  It’s always roughly the same season with the Aries overtone.

  1. September, 24, 1909:  This Mars Aries Overtone began at the Sun/Mars opposition at 1Aries.

The Underworld phase was from August 13th- November 11th, 1910.  The exact Sun/Mars conjunction was at about 3Libra on September 27th.  Mars rose from the Underworld at 3Scorpio on about November 11th, 1910.  This time-frame included the set-up for WWI and the secret collusion of the robber barons to present themselves as saviors of the failing US economy and soon create the Federal Reserve and the income tax.

  1. October 11, 1941:  This Mars Overtone Aries began at the Sun/Mars opposition at 17Aries.  The Underworld phase was from August 22nd-November 20th, 1942.  The exact Sun/Mars conjunction was October 5th at about 12 Libra.  Mars rose from the Underworld at about 12Scorpio on November 20th, 1942.  This was obviously the intensity of WWII, and during the underworld phase was the Battle of Stalingrad with millions of deaths, as well as the first use of the word “holocaust”, as the death camps were first revealed.
  2. September 28, 1988:  This Mars Overtone Aries began at the Sun/Mars opposition at 6Aries.  The Underworld phase was from August 16th-November 15th, 1989.  The exact Sun/Mars conjunction was October 4th at about 10Libra.  Mars rose from the Underworld at about 7Scorpio on November 15th, 1989.  This time-frame included when the Berlin Wall came down beginning the breakup of the Soviet Union; also the massive Savings and Loans economic scandal in the United States.
  3. October 13, 2020:  The current Mars Overtone Aries began at the Sun/Mars opposition at 21Aries.  The Underworld phase, currently happening, is from August 23-November 22nd, 2021.  The exact Sun/Mars conjunction is October 7th at 15Libra05.  Mars will rise from the Underworld at 15Scorpio48 on November 22nd, 2021.

Please be aware of this pattern, as much can be learned from it.  I, at some point, also want to research the times when Mars and Mercury retrograde, are in the Underworld at the same time.  This is happening now from September 27th-October 18th.  So much negative-tinged emphasis (too much in my opinion) is given to Mercury retrograde, but coupled with a much rarer Mars in the Underworld, as well what I have commented upon in the previous article on the “Neptune Effect” with the US chart, suggests to be a truly significant time-frame for the United States.  And it’s always good to learn from history.  So far, not so much seems to have been learned.  In addition, so much about these 2021 cycles are but mere foreshadows of what is to come in 2022-2024.

It’s interesting to note that the chart of the United States has Mercury retrograde at 24Cancer11.  This week, with transiting Neptune exactly squaring the United States Mars in Gemini, and now coupled with Mercury retrograde, one can only imagine the increased confusion, delusion and expanded bifurcation already occurring.  Try trying to “figure it out”, if you dare.  All is not as it seems.

Individually, the very same inquiries apply.  It’s hard to imagine when the Three Worlds Approach has not been more important.  As Mercury is transforming into its Libran overtone, with the Libra New Moon, may the best qualities of Libran diplomacy and peace-making be put to use, whilst not being naïve about it.  In some ways, Libra, at this time, with Mars and Mercury in the Underworld, can very much imply: “No more Mister Nice Guy”.  But remember to also be compassionate and aware of all points of view.

I have recently been reading a book written by Kary Mullis, winner of the Nobel Prize for inventing the PCR test.  It’s called “Dancing Naked in The Mind Field”.  The PCR test is being fraudulently used for creating “cases”.  Mullis, who died just before the pandemic scenario was launched, warned that the test should not be used as a diagnostic tool.  I mention this because he also was Mercury Retrograde (in Sagittarius).  And amazingly he also had Mars (in Sagittarius) in the Underworld on his natal chart!  He loved astrology, and I will quote here a passage from his book:  “I was born at 17:58 Greenwich Mean Time on December 28, 1944 in Lenoir, North Carolina.  You can find out more about me from that than you can from reading this book”.  (page 153).  I highly recommend this book, written in 1998, which explains current unfolding events with an uncanny prescience.  Mullis died in 2019.

I still plan a Part 4 to the extensive US chart research soon, to look at progressions, the Jupiter conjunction with Neptune in 2022, and the Lunar Standstill season of 2024-2025.

You can find out more about the Mercury and Mars cycles here:

March Equinox 2021 Seminars

September 2021 Equinox Seminars

2021 Daniel’s Investigation of the US Chart Series

2021 Daniel’s Investigation of the US Chart Series

Ramblings, Reflections, and Ruminations From Daniel Giamario

“WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THE CHART OF THE UNITED STATES?” PART ONE

This month, I have chosen to focus on the United States Horoscope from this year, 2021, through 2025. Back in 2017 when I helped create the SAMS summit: “Preparing for 2020”, the majority of the attention was on the greater global cycles. It was really obvious that something extraordinary would happen in 2020. During those presentations, as well as in a variety of seminars, vlogcasts, and Facebook posts, in the last few years, I have weighed in on certain important features of the US chart. This article will attempt to give a more comprehensive account of what’s next. As best as I can, I will use the “Three Worlds Approach”. While there are a variety of different charts used by other astrologers for the United States, I continue to value the Dane Rudhyar rectification of the July 4, 1776 as the most useful and valuable when using the Shamanic Astrology Paradigm ™.

2021: Three Major Cycles

  1. TRANSITING SATURN CONJUNCT US SOUTH NODE at 6Aquarius35: from Feb.3, 2021–Oct.11, 2021.

This transit can only occur once every 29.5 years and as all Saturn transits, lasts about 9 months. Like all Saturn initiations, it’s a teaching of how to grow, change and evolve via limitations and boundaries. I like to think of it like a referendum on the past history and responsibilities of the US. The lineage of the US is the Gemini job in the Aquarius tribe. This is strongly related to the original intent/dream of the founders: freedom, egalitarianism, a belief in intellect and rationality, and sovereignty and autonomy (not to be confused with democracy). The inquiry revolves around the Aquarian shadow issues I have been writing and speaking about for 4 years now. Is it Saturn controlling Aquarius, in a top down way, or is it prompting a look at authentic Aquarius and the original ideals?

  1. TRANSITING LUNAR NODES CONJUNCT the US DSC/ASC Axis of 13Sagittarius10/13Gemini10: Dec.26, 2020—June 26, 2021.

This transit can only occur once every 19 years (or 9 and a half years if alignment is North node with ASC). The transit time-frame is generally about 6 months, 3 months on either side of the March 26 exact point. I have found this transit to be one of the most beneficial transits possible on individual charts. It aligns universal intent with individual intent. With clients, I sometimes say that it’s when the “future” self reaches back to get our attention. In this case, with the US, the “future” point is the North Node aligned with the US DSC at 13Gemini10. This is the US looking for friends, allies and collaborators. I have always felt that the strong Gemini element in the US chart (including Mars and Uranus) is part of its shadow. The US is infamous for using and often selling out its friends and partners. But here there could be a chance to change the road it’s on. Let’s hope for an awakening here.

  1. TRANSITING JUPITER CONJUNCT THE US MOON at 27Aquarius12 from April 16, 2021—December 12,2021.

This transit occurs about every 12 years. This cycle of initiation specifically applies to the US Moon, and highlights the entire lineage storyline as seen with the Saturn conjunction to the South Node referenced above. Generally, the intent of a Jupiterian initiation is to expand and activate its target. Expanding an Aquarian Moon can at its best create a soul retrieval of the original intent for the US in having an Aquarian Moon in the first place. This could include a greater ability to see an objective and expanded view of our history, and to honestly address whether the ideals of the “Enlightenment” have been met. The downside of this can be cognitive dissonance, willful ignorance, light polarization, and what can be called “toxic positivity”. There is much that can be seen as hopeful about having the nodal alignment be immediately followed by this Jupiter activation.

2022-2023: Two Major Cycles

  1. TRANSITING SATURN CONJUNCT US MOON at 27Aquarius12 from June 4th, 2022—February 12, 2023.

This transit occurs about every 30 years. This initiation, specifically applies to the US Moon, and the lineage storyline of the US, as referenced above with the Saturn conjunction to the South Node. Saturn teaches us how to grow, change, and evolve via limitations and boundaries. I feel that it’s yet another testing ground as to whether the US has “right use” of its Aquarius Moon (and the entire Gemini job in the Aquarius tribe storyline). At its worst, this is yet another possible example of a “top down” attempt by Saturn to control the ideals of Aquarius. This is connected to the “shadow” of Aquarius, including the totalitarianism of collectivism, highjacking of the egalitarian freedom ideals, for the “greater good”, and the belief in trans-humanism, artificial Intelligence, and democracy becoming the rule of the majority. These tendencies are very different from the ideals of “The Enlightenment” that inspired the founding fathers and revolutionaries that created the United States. At its best, paired with the earlier Saturn transit of the South Node, facts and truth could become important again, and objective reality could inspire a change in course that can remember the original ideals of freedom, liberty, and individuality. How the US responds to this Saturn transit will go a long way towards determining how these next two cycles will be experienced.

  1. UNITED STATES PLUTO RETURN at 27Capricorn32 from January 22, 2022–October 11, 2023

In most eyes, including mine, this is the Big One. A Pluto return can only occur every 248 years. At best, in certain generations, a person can conceivably experience a Pluto opposition, but never a return. But a country can, and that is about to happen with the United States. Natally, Pluto is opposing Mercury retrograde in Cancer and squaring Chiron. Also of note is that the US has the Sun, Jupiter and Venus all in Cancer, in the 8th house.

In the Shamanic Astrology Paradigm ™, Plutonian (and Chironic) initiations are seen as “underworld” or lower world initiations. Pluto’s job is to compost what is dead, decayed and spent. All that needs composting will be composted. And out of that will emerge new growth, new life, a re-birth, or even a renaissance. When applied globally, and not only to the United States, these final few years of Pluto in Capricorn can easily symbolize the death throes of patriarchy, hierarchical controls, and rotten bureaucratic systems. Out of this can come a new and re-animated version of the “circle of grandmothers” and Council of Elders that are dedicated to honoring the remaining wisdom of the past, all the way back to our matrilineal gatherer/hunter roots, as well as conceiving the necessary new ways for caring about the many generations to come. This must involve composting the notion, of the Kali Yuga, that humans have dominion over the earth and its plants and animals. This is leading to the 6th Mass Extinction. Instead what can be possible is a reanimation of a shamanic and animistic awareness that humans are part of the web of life. Without that, humans are alien to their own planet.

2024-2025

  1. UNITED STATES CHIRON RETURN at 20Aries08 from April 2024-February 2025

Chiron returns happen about every 50 years, making this the 5th Chiron return for the United States. As indicated above, the Chiron placement on the US chart is connected to Pluto, as well as the Cancerian placements of the Sun and Mercury. Chiron returns seem to have two primary functions: 1) For indicating where a specific wounding or fracture point is located, and 2) to serve as a teacher to help digest the wound and transform it into an elixir, a medicine. The sense I get is that this highlights one of the three main challenges of the US chart. In this case, it’s the shadow side of Cancer itself, meaning provincialism, clannishness, and a disinterest in other cultures, other than its own. This manifests as the blindness of the belief in American exceptionalism, in utter disregard of the objective evidence. This also includes a sentimental Cancerian attachment to notions of our past that actually never existed. And I cannot fail to mention a failure to acknowledge the imperialistic actions, disguised as being humanitarian and exporting democracy. Here is also a connection to the Saturn transits through Aquarius, that revealed another of the shadow elements of the US chart, as explained above. This Chiron return adds on to the implications of the Pluto return. It’s hard to not see this as a deep reckoning and referendum on the original intent and promise of the American project.

SUMMARY

When taking into account the larger global story, including the bottoming out of Kali Yuga, the end and beginning of a 25,920 year precessional cycle, the possible end and beginning of 12 precessional cycles, the great mutation of Jupiter/Saturn and the Fourth Turning of the US, Europe, and even China, it’s quite hard to ignore that something truly extraordinary is taking place. (SEE GLOBAL UPDATE). Whilst this may seem ‘negative’ to some, rather it’s truly a Three Worlds Approach:

  1. Upper World: The Universe is unfolding as it should. All is well. Gaia and Great Mystery are orchestrating all this and it is impossible to completely know the intent. If we can see and experience all that is happening from a healthy expression of objective awareness, high witness, and cosmic overview, it can be possible to hold a non evaluative and non judgmental stance. This includes knowing who we really are as sovereign and autonomous sparks of divinity, Atman within the Brahman. Toxic positivity and light polarization is not useful, and only polarizes the darkness.
  2. Middle World: This requires a courageous ability to be willing to look directly into the reality of the world situation; the amazing possibilities of transforming the world, as well as the reality of the evil that can exist in Kali Yuga, and at any great “Turning of the Ages”. It has never been more important to find your place on the wheel, know your archetype, and to show up with your contribution. Be willing to question what it really means to be “human” and that maybe trans-humanism and human 2.0 is not actually what we want. Very possibly it’s “devolution” and not a version of linear “progress”.
  3. Lower World: I believe that it is important to include the possibility that the 6th mass extinction is natural and inevitable. Composting, and the reality that Autumn and Winter, naturally follow Spring and Summer. Surrender, and the expectable chaos, is completely natural. Here we find the linkage with the Upper World approach. It is critical that we connect with the essence of who we really are, far beyond our knowledge, resumes and peak experiences. And that our frail ego identities are transitory and not of any actual truth or substance. And yet, we have a part to play.

Lastly, the role of a Shamanic Astrologer is to communicate with Great Mystery, to try our best to connect with universal intent, and to play our part in the reciprocal relationship between Great Mystery and an awakened and co-creative human. We inform the “Mystery” as much as it communicates with us. For me, my prayer is that the expectable “suffering” will be as minimal as possible, while also knowing that we are not ultimately controlling the outcome, or the prime reason for any of it.

In PART TWO, I will explore the remarkable additional meanings potentially inherent in the synodic cycles of Venus, Mars, and Mercury; as well as a closer look at the implications of the “Fourth Turning” for the United States, Europe and China.

For further background see the 2020 seminars, the December Solstice 2020 seminars, and my vlogcasts about the Age of Aquarius and the Jupiter/Saturn “great mutation”


WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THE CHART OF THE UNITED STATES– PART TWO”

For this Part Two, I plan to cover three topics. First will be a look at how the upcoming Eclipse season impacts the US chart. Then an investigation of the amazing and utterly unique situation with how the eclipses of 2017, 2023, and 2024, cross over the United States, which we can call the “Triple Cross”. This part will include the stunning zodiacal connections. The last section will place the United States into the larger context of its unique saeculum, and the Fourth Turning, which the US is in the final few years of.

THE US CHART and the UPCOMING ECLIPSE SEASON Section One

There are two eclipse seasons each year, separated by about 6 months. The first one in 2021 is from May 26th-June 10th, featuring a total lunar eclipse and an annular solar eclipse. The second 2021 eclipse season is November 19th-December 4th, featuring a partial lunar eclipse and a total solar eclipse of nearly 2 minutes length. At least 3 of these eclipses appear to have strong connections with the US chart and can indeed foreshadow or presage the Pluto and Chiron returns written about in the Part One article, as well as having great relevance to the other 2021 aspects to the US chart.

The May 26th Lunar Eclipse: Although not visible in the US, the South Node at 10Sagittarius43 is nearly conjunct the US ASC. The Sun at 5Gemini25 is very close to the US Uranus, and the Full Moon at 5Sagittarius25 is also near the US ASC. The nodal axis is in alignment with the US DSC/ASC axis, which always signifies past and future destiny, a linkage between fate and original intent. Meanwhile during this first 2021 eclipse season Saturn continues its transit to the US South Node, and Jupiter continues its transit to the US Moon.

The June 10th Annular Solar eclipse will sweep through Canada and just briefly touch the edge of Northern Michigan. Annular solar eclipses are underrated. The syzygy is as exact as a total solar eclipse; only the Moon is just slightly too small to cover the whole of the Sun, creating a unique ring of fire effect. At 19Gemini47, this super new moon will also align really close to the US ASC/DSC axis of 13Sag10/13Gemini10, as well as a pretty close conjunction with the US Mars. Transiting Mars has just recently passed over the US Mars, and also the US Jupiter, Venus, Sun and Mercury.

The December 4th Total Solar eclipse, though not visible in the US, is also quite fascinating relative to the US chart. Happening at 12Sagittarius22, it’s within one degree of the US ASC at 13Sag10. The North Node is 1Gemini44, marking this as a North Node forward looking super new moon, as was the June 10th eclipse. As Pluto is closing in on natal Pluto, with the final Saturn square Uranus about to happen later in the month, and Jupiter making its final pass over the US Moon; I think events surrounding this second eclipse season of 2021, centering on the Dec.4th eclipse, will establish in a major way, which way things turn for the USA, as we now dive deeper with the 2023 and 2024 eclipses.

THE 2023 and 2024 ECLIPSE TRIPLE CROSS Section Two

The eclipse seasons of 2021, and the Jupiter and Saturn initiatory cycles to the US chart are mere forerunners of what is to come. Part One detailed the Pluto and Chiron returns. Now we will look at one of the most remarkable coming phenomena that I have ever encountered. Three different solar eclipses, two total and one annular, in the short space of seven years, will create three crosses over the continental US.

We all remember the marvelous total solar eclipse back on August 21, 2017. A number of us in SAMS gathered in Oregon to witness it. This eclipse, beginning at 5:48AM at sunrise just west of Portland in the Pacific Ocean, then traversed the entirety of the continental US from Oregon, through the heart of America, exiting over South Carolina into the Atlantic. Although lasting but 2minutes and 40 seconds of totality, it was witnessed by many millions across the US, and was quite the sensation. Chart-wise, this eclipse took place at 28Leo50, a North Node eclipse, with the nodal axis at 24Leo13/24Aquarius13. This was closely in opposition to the US Moon, with the South Node also close. We can also notice how connected this is to Donald Trump’s ASC of 29Leo and his Mars at 26Leo. Those connections in greater detail have been covered elsewhere.

THE FIRST CROSS

On October 14, 2023, an annular solar eclipse, at about 6:10AM, will arise in a similar area of the Pacific Ocean west of Oregon, then travelling through Oregon over Eugene, then over parts of Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Texas, then through the Yucatan, parts of Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Columbia, and finally the Brazilian Amazon, and exiting over the Atlantic Ocean. Some significant locations in annularity include Kayenta, Window Rock, Roswell and Los Alamos.

The two eclipse tracks cross just off the Oregon coast. This area has a major fault-line that has generated massive tsunami’s that inundated the Northern West coast only several hundred years ago. This Solar Eclipse occurs at 21Libra08, with over 4 minutes of annularity. This is a South Node eclipse, with the nodes at 24Aries52/24Libra52, really close to the US Chiron. The Eclipse degree is pretty close to the US Saturn. At the time of the eclipse, Chiron is 17Aries31. But most importantly, at the time of the eclipse, Pluto, at 27Capricorn53, is squaring the nodes and near EXACT conjunct the US Pluto, the US having been in its Pluto Return from January22, 2022. (This uses the orb for a person, whilst many of us feel that the Pluto return of the US, as a country, actually could be seen to begin in 2021 and continue into 2024).

THE SECOND CROSS

Back in 2017, it was pretty well known that the path of the eclipse would intersect with the path of another total eclipse of even greater duration (4 minutes and 28 seconds) that would also traverse a large portion of the continental US. On April 8th, 2024, at about 6:41AM, in the Pacific Ocean, the path of totality crosses Mexico over places like Mazatlan and Durango, and then through Texas, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Maine, and Northeast Canada, exiting into the North Atlantic from Nova Scotia. Many large cities will fall under the umbra. Quite likely, even more people will witness this eclipse.

The second cross happens over Carbondale, Illinois and the whole general area of the New Madrid Earthquake fault. Many things have been, and will be written about this. This fault-line, near the Mississippi River, was the location of the largest earthquake in US history in 1812.

This eclipse happens at 19Aries24, with the nodal axis at 15Aries37/15Libra37, and is a North Node Eclipse. It’s nearly opposite the degree of the 2023 eclipse. But what is incredible, is that the eclipse is exactly conjunct Chiron at 19Aries24. The US has Chiron at 20Aries08, and in the throes of its fifth Chiron Return. It’s hard to make this kind of stuff up. (See the two Sabian symbols for 20 Aries below) The transiting South Node is also conjunct the US Saturn. Meanwhile, Pluto has, by now, entered into Aquarius.

THE THIRD CROSS

Considerably less well known, is a third cross. The path of the 2024 eclipse will cross the path of the 2023 eclipse in Texas, directly over San Angelo. San Antonio very nearly gets to be in the cross. As this is written in May of 2021, consider the significance of Texas in light of the primary global narrative unfolding now. If you consider the included diagram of the three crosses, notice the shape and any possible meaning there. There are many clues. It will certainly be interesting to see how this all unfolds.

“THE FOURTH TURNING” Section Three

To develop a larger context for understanding the possible meaning and intent of all this, I now turn to a rather important source of information for me; a book written in 1997 called “The Fourth Turning” (by William Strauss and Neil Howe). In addition to providing a new context for the Timeline material in the Shamanic Astrology Paradigm ™, it also provides an amazingly useful view of United States history. There is no astrology in the book, but it’s remarkably useful nonetheless. Sometime ago I reviewed this book in the newsletter.

In summary, the authors use the ancient Etruscan concept of the saeculum, a time period of about 90 years, a concept that originated from when they noticed that at any given time, the oldest respected elder was about 90 years old. They then also noticed that within that same 90 years, four generations would come and go.

This has a marvelously useful application to US history (and apparently all of Europe and even China, but not Russia). For example, a fourth turning has occurred about every 90 years or so, at a really major turning point in US and European history. The American Revolution was at a Fourth Turning from 1773-1794. The US Civil War was a Fourth Turning 1860-1865. And the next Fourth Turning was the Great Depression and WW2 circa 1929-1946. The current Fourth Turning began with 9/11/2001 and is speculated to end around 2025. Totally fascinating that this corresponds to the US Pluto and Chiron returns. The triple cross eclipses over America should certainly get our attention, if we are willing to look at history. Each Fourth Turning for the US has resulted in a total shift into a different national paradigm. But none have been with these additional factors. What can we expect?

Will it be the death of the American experiment? Will it be another revolution, and the breakup of the US as we have known it? Will it be something like post WW2 with the Cancerian development of the largest middle class ever? Will it be the sellout of the Black population after the Civil War? Or will the dominant energy of Saturn and then Pluto in Aquarius implement the technocratic, trans-humanist, top-down, Homo Sapiens 2.0, Great Re-set agenda of the New World Order? Or instead, maybe a Great Awakening, with the restoration of Primal Earth/Gaia, and a commitment to personal autonomy and sovereignty, with the greater emphasis on our humanity and connection to Spirit, Divinity, and with the capacity to co-create with Great Mystery. I vote for that one!

Just as in 2017, SAMS produced a summit called “Preparing for 2020”; in the same vein, I write these articles to prepare us for 2022-2025. It’s way better to be aware of all this, and learn from history. Awareness of all possibilities can help enable our ability to use the “Three World’s Approach” and to be better able to apprehend what role each of us, individually, is to play, as we align with our life purpose and take our place on the mandala of life.

 

SABIAN SYMBOLS FOR 20ARIES

From Rudhyar:

PHASE 20 (ARIES 20°): A YOUNG GIRL FEEDING BIRDS IN WINTER.

KEYNOTE: Overcoming crises through compassion.

Nature’s seasonal rhythms imply an oscillation between living and dying. Through creative imagination man can “fly over” the cycle, and discover means not only to escape from the fatality of seasonal decay or deprivation, but to assist other living entities to survive through crises. Migrating birds fly south (cf. symbol of Aries 12°), but by establishing a partnership with other creatures unable to escape wintry deprivation or death, man can maintain the life of the spirit (symbolized by birds) steady through all crises if, like a “young girl,” he is widely open to the promptings of love and sympathy.

At this fifth stage of the symbolic sequence we witness human activity motivated by sympathy overcoming the seasonal phase of impotency. Life potency in nature spirits reaches a higher level in the human being. The theme is THE TRANSMUTATION OF LIFE INTO LOVE.

From Lonsdale:

ARIES 20: An empty courtyard.

Nothing is left. Reality is scattered. Self-obliterated. The familiar rendered irrelevant. Apocalyptic changes, personal and collective, take over. No being, only action. You become a projectile of intent, literally identify with what you can do now. A barren wasteland of an inner world. A thrust outside. Stark and surreal. You feel compelled to dare, pushed over the edge, no going back–destiny as frenzy. And in this wild, volatile mix, creative forces are released that would never come out any other way. Yielding to the role of the purging and cleansing agent of changes, you are unable to wriggle out of anything ever again. 


An Investigation Of The Astrological Chart Of The United States: 2021-2025
Part 3 of 4 by Daniel Giamario

THE NEPTUNE AND GEMINI FACTORS

Introduction and an embarrassing admission

I have been working extensively on the chart of the United States for maybe six months now, in monthly “ramblings” newsletter posts, a number of FaceBook posts, as well as seminars and vlogcasts. I have covered the quadruple eclipse pathways, the Chiron return, the Pluto return, as well as important Jupiter, Saturn and Lunar Node transits. I have even been mentioning the US natal Neptune square to Mars. But through email exchanges with Greg Knell, who has become a marvelous researcher in related areas of inquiry, out of nowhere, I realized that I had totally not seen that the United States is in its Neptune opposition! I just had not noticed! Very humbling indeed! This part three will hopefully remedy this situation. I will weave this currently happening second Neptune opposition to the natal US Neptune into the larger scenario that I have been developing. And I think you will agree that it’s as important as any of the other factors so far presented.

The Neptune Factor

I believe that the natal square of Neptune to the US Mars is one of the most important elements of the US chart. Neptune is 22Virgo25 in the 10th house, and Mars is 21Gemini22 in the 7th. Using the windows of initiation that we use with the Shamanic Astrology Paradigm ™ applied to a natal chart, here is a complete accounting of cycles of 2021-2022 related to this US natal square. The window of initiation lasts from March 3, 2021—December 4, 2022. Read More

The Shamanic Astrology Paradigm™ is not predictive!

By Daniel Giamario

“It’s Tough to Make Predictions, Especially about the Future” – Yogi Berra, baseball playing philosopher

“Prediction is Very Difficult, Especially about the Future” – Niels Bohr, Danish Physicist

The assumption is often made that astrology is a predictive science.  Many still cling to that notion. But it had seemed in the late 1960’s, and early 1970’s, that the era of predictive astrology was over. In these times now, within the time-frame of a great Turning of the Ages, prediction is a dubious and often perilous enterprise. 

It often seems that simply making a prediction, and placing attention on something, be-it positive, or negative, could even be seen as a strategy to insure that it does not happen!  This may well be related to a principle of quantum mechanics, where the consciousness of the observer connects mysteriously to the outcome. The Shamanic Astrology Mystery School™   has never been about prediction. Let me explain.  

I first became aware of astrology through the books of Dane Rudhyar (1969 through 1973), and was part of a movement that, at that time, was known as Humanistic Astrology. Later, Rudhyar changed the name of his approach to “Transpersonal Astrology”.  I had the great fortune of having Dane and his wife Leyla Rael as early mentors.  It was the era of an astrological renaissance, with many, many young people taking a keen interest in astrology. This was actually a part of the overall cultural revolution that gripped the world in the late 1960s.  

Interestingly, the excitement and interest that astrology held for us had little connection with a predictive or deterministic kind of astrology. Rudhyar, and the others who inspired us in those days (including Zipporah Dobyns, Stephen Arroyo, Tony Joseph, Richard Idemon, and many others) favored an approach blending mythology, psychology, and spirituality. Before I even began using the expression “Shamanic Astrology” (starting in the early 1990s), I had always steered clear of predictive astrology.  

Highly influenced by Rudhyar, I have always felt that astrology is about “intent” (see note below) with the capacity of the astrologer and the client to tune into, as best they can, the intent and purpose of a natal chart or any astrological timing. The chart, or any particular timing, is a set of potentials, likened also to a set of instructions, that can either be carried out, or not. 

As Jung so beautifully stated: “Free will is doing  gladly, and freely, that which one must do.”  It’s the responsibility of the astrologer to illumine the highest set of possibilities and the full potential of the client.  This will then assist in discerning the purpose and meaning of their lives, the higher purpose of a person, not the egoic desires of the client (or the needs of the astrologer to be right). 

By focusing on intent, it stands the predictive approach on its head.  Instead of looking for a fixed future outcome, by tuning into intent it’s easier to align with lines of probability that most likely will produce the intended outcome.  I suggest that we look at the extraordinary global configurations and my recent explorations of the US chart from that perspective.

Two other experiences have galvanized my non-predictive approach.  The first was my involvement with the Ridhwan School, also known as the Diamond Heart Approach.  The One Reality that we are all part of is in motion and it evolves according to certain natural laws. 

An expression of this is known as “The Holy Plan.” People who love astrology generally love getting close with this holy plan, and then end up believing that they have it all figured out. But the “problem” is that the astrologer is part of the evolving One Reality, and can never be separate and objective to it. Therefore it’s not really possible to know for certain what the holy plan is intending. That’s why it’s also known as Great Mystery

In concert with these insights, I have also been quite impressed by the work of English astrologer Geoffrey Cornelius, the author of The Moment of Astrology. One point he makes is that there is no such thing as “objective time.”  Without the existence of objective time, prediction as normally understood is simply not possible.  Astrology is actually just an infinite number of divinations. And as many of us are experiencing, there are seemingly an infinite number of possible timelines, even if not really infinite, then certainly a rapidly expanding number of lines of probability. 

These two sets of insights remove prediction, as it has been known, entirely off the table. There is no way of knowing completely, ahead of time, what is going to happen.  Each birth chart, or each specific astrological timing, when seen as a divination, in and of itself, can be seen to have an intention, with its own meaning and purpose, which the astrologer can then form a relationship with, in concert with the client. From this, an awareness can develop concerning the intent, meaning, and purpose of the chart, or any specific timing or cycle.

Shamanic Astrology is completely in harmony with this view.  As astrologers, and as lovers of astrology, of course, we love our closeness to the holy plan. We would not be in this field if we did not feel the intimacy derived from this closeness.  However, the greater this closeness and this intimacy, the greater a humbleness and humility will grow, because it’s not possible to really know what Great Mystery has in mind. We can only get close. And that is a thrill indeed. 

Much has changed since that halcyon late 1960s and early 1970s. Much to my shock and disappointment, a good deal of mainstream astrology has regressed in my view.  So much astrology has gone back into Medieval, Hellenistic, and often deterministic Vedic systems, not to speak of “Sun Sign Astrology”. Dane Rudhyar would be rolling over in his grave! 

Many of the gains from the astrological renaissance of the 1960s and 1970s have been seemingly lost, stranded on the shores of determinism and prediction.  I suspect it’s time for another Renaissance. Certainly there are other astrologers who are part of this Re-Renaissance. To name a few, there are: Mark Jones, Gemini Brett, Dale O’Brien and Eric Francis.  The Shamanic Astrology Mystery School will always stand firmly on its Rudhyarian, humanistic, divinatory and non-predictive foundation.

Note: Regarding the word “intent”. It stems from Old French and Late Latin: Intentus; meaning a “stretching out” and a “leaning toward”. It is actional, and includes concepts like goal, an end, aim and purpose.