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On December 30, 1999 Pluto and Chiron
meet in the sky at 11 degrees and 22 minutes of Sagittarius, within
less than two degrees of the fixed star Antares, the heart of the Scorpion.
Pluto and Antares hung out together most of 1999 and continue their
close relationship for most of 2000. Chiron passed this giant red star
in December, but retrogrades back to close proximity in July, August
and September of 2000. The year 2000 began with Pluto and Chiron within
eight minutes of their exact conjunction combining the alchemy of their
mysteries to the New Year Celebrations. This heralds a shamanic planetary
initiation providing us all with the opportunity to die and be reborn
into a new way of living and experiencing life.
The Celestial Timings Archives for 1999
has a lot of imagery connected with this star since Pluto has occupied
this area of the sky for over a year. One of my favorite images of Antares
is as the heart of the Dragon. According to Richard Allen Hinkley�s
book Star Names, Their Lore and
Meaning the Chinese linked Anatares with the Azure Dragon. Another
image confirmed both in Allen�s book and De Traci Regula�s book
The Mysteries of Isis. Says, �Among the stars named after Isis is
Antares, which was associated with Selkit, the scorpion goddess who
was sometimes depicted in the Isian headdress. Antares was associated
with Isis in the ceremonies conducted in conjunction with the great
pyramid complex at Giza, where she bore the special title of �Lady of
the Pyramids�.� When considering the great Pyramids are specially designed
initiation chambers that are oriented to access the mysteries of the
heavens and ground them on the Earth, we get a deeper sense of the total
transformational power of this rare alignment of Pluto, Chiron and Antares.
These are transformative energies, initiating Shamanic Death, Transformation,
and Rebirth. The potency of their combined alchemy works at a deep cellular,
atomic and sub-atomic level. Once the caterpillar becomes the butterfly,
the butterfly never returns to being a caterpillar. The transformation
is irreversible and complete.
As we explore Chiron and Pluto remember
they are linked in council with Antares and all the mysteries kept within
this beautiful heart star temple of alchemical transformation. One way
to view Chiron�s essence is as the Shaman Centaur. In his myth he is
a master healer and initiator into the mysteries. He practices and teaches
the healing arts, astrology, divination, and the ways of the spiritual
warrior. He is part Centaur and part Man, representing the animal and
the human in integrated, balanced form. Chiron is accidentally wounded
by a poisonous arrow that would be instant death to any mortal, but
he is immortal and cannot die. For all his healing mastery he is not
able to heal himself of this terrible wound. Chiron suffers greatly
until he is granted death from his physical form and transformed into
a constellation in the sky.
According to my research Centaurus is
the constellation most associated with Chiron, and Centaurus has had
other symbols linked with it from varying cultures. Interestingly, this
constellation lies below the constellation of the Scales, the Scorpion,
and Ophiucus, the serpent holder. All of these constellations are linked
with important healing alchemical imagery. Chiron and Pluto are currently
transiting near the heart of the Scorpion and the foot of Ophiucus,
zodiacally locating the Scorpion and Ophiucus above Centaurus. Lupus
the she-wolf (also seen by different cultures as either a Lioness, a
hare or a wild beast) is beside Chiron. According to Allen in Star Names
some artistic depictions of Chiron or Centaurus show him facing east
with the wolf near his left hand pointing to a circular altar and a
Thyrsus (a staff or wand with vines entwined around it) in his right
hand. The thyrsus or staff is reminiscent of the staff Moses used to
bring about the events that freed the Hebrews from Egypt. The thyrsus
of Centaurus feels like a powerful symbol of alchemy that facilitates
transformation.
For those who are in more Northern Latitudes
this constellation is either not visible or only partially visible.
In the book Star Names, Allen says that Centaurus in the latitude of
New York City shows only the stars found in the right shoulder, and
is visible in June about 12 degrees above the horizon. In the southern
latitudes around where I live in Tucson, Arizona Centaurus is fully
visible on summer nights with a low horizon. Centaurus spans 60 degrees
of the sky and has within it the star Alpha Centauri (a.k.a. Rigil Kentaurus,
Hadar and Tolliman). Some may remember how this star was made famous
by the Lost In Space TV series. Alpha Centauri or Rigil Kentaurus is
located in the foot of the Centaur. (Remember Pluto and Chiron are currently
transiting near the foot of Ophiucus. Notice the foot imagery.) This
star is the closest naked eye star to earth (only about 4.3 light years
away) and is the third brightest fixed star in the sky. It is believed
to have been important to the ancient Egyptians as indicated by Richard
Allen in Star Names. Allen says at least nine temples in northern Egypt
dating from 3800 to 2575 BC and several in southern Egypt from 3700
BC on, were aligned to capture the heliacal rise (rising just before
the Sun as a morning star) of Rigil Kentaurus at autumnal equinox. The
Egyptians may have called this star Serk-t. The Chinese called in Nan
Mun, the South Gate. It is also known as Hadar in Arabic, which means
ground.
I see Centaurus symbolizing the Sky Temple
of Chiron, where by virtue of his myth we know Chiron resides as a guardian
of the gateway to the celestial mysteries. Chiron inspires us with the
sense that there are realms of knowing beyond our human understanding
and that we can access and communicate with these realms when we choose
to die to the wounds that keep us earthbound. When we experience the
alchemy that transforms the wounds that have affected us so deeply,
we see how these wounds act as catalysts for our desire to die to what
does not serve our pure essence. Chiron chose death, rather than living
with a wound he could not cure. This addresses a fear that may be at
the root of our human dilemma, the fear that we will never be healed
or whole, but that we may be wounded forever. Indeed this fear may say
to us that we are not divine, but mere mortals doomed to suffer until
we physically die. After all Chiron was an immortal and even he was
at the affect of this fate. On another level Chiron reminds us to choose
how we deal with what fate hands to us. Through his conscious choice
to surrender to the transformational process of death, he is healed
and returned to wholeness. He is transformed into a glory greater than
we may fully comprehend. This death may not have to be a literal physical
death, but a conscious choice to surrender ourselves to the alchemy
of transformation and ascension similar to the caterpillar�s metamorphosis
into the butterfly or Chiron�s metamorphosis into the stars.
Like Chiron, Pluto calls for shamanic
death and rebirth. Pluto resides in the underworld. This is not hell,
this is not necessarily a dark and terrible place. This is the place
where we come face to face with our deepest fears, so in that sense
we may feel like we are in hell. This includes the fear that we may
never be healed or whole. It also includes the beliefs and perceptions
that prevent us from living our destiny authentically and powerfully.
Pluto calls for us to die to who we think we are, to alchemically transform
from our caterpillar consciousness into the radiant full glory of the
magical butterfly. Just as the snake sheds its skin, Pluto calls for
self-renewal and self-transformation penetrating to the core of our
misconceptions of who we believe ourselves to be. If we are already
living from our butterfly essence, then Pluto assists us in expressing
who we already are more fully by shedding whatever has already fulfilled
its purpose, creating the space for regeneration and a renewed connection
with our divine destiny.
Pluto is named for a masculine Greek God
a.k.a. Hades, whose name means �riches� according
to A Guide To the Gods by
Richard Carylon, �indicating the wealth of the earth in which Hades
has his domain.� His consort
is Peresphone and he is feared as the god of death, but also seen as
the �generous god of wealth.� His domain is thought of as being under
the earth, but in reality it may simply be anywhere we experience our
inner depths, the void, the place of transformation. These are the mysteries
of Pluto originally associated with the feminine mysteries of death,
regeneration and rebirth presided over by Scorpio and the dark goddesses,
Isis, Selkit, Erishikegal, Kali, Pele, Hecate, Cerridwen, and Peresphone
to name just a few. The planet Pluto rules the sign of Scorpio and has
a strong dark goddess, sorceress, enchantress energy. As Pluto and Chiron
join together they are providing us with access to the gateways of their
mysteries. These are the gateways to the great above, the celestial
realms, and the gateways to the below deep within our core essence.
Together, Chiron and Pluto create an alchemy that is balanced, whole
and complete.
One way to consciously participate with
this potent timing is to ask Antares, Chiron and Pluto what they are
bringing us individually and collectively. This is a powerful gateway
access point of alchemy designed to totally transform human consciousness
into a whole new dimension of experience. These gateway guardians are
asking us if we are ready to undertake this initiation and move beyond
anything we have experienced or imagined thus far. In essence, we are
being asked to consciously die to who we believe ourselves to be, to
shed our skins, to undertake the metamorphic journey of the caterpillar
as she mysteriously and magically becomes the butterfly. We can consciously
choose to participate with this initiation or not. However, as death
comes to those regardless of whether they are ready, this planetary
initiation is coming for us all. Those who are ready to participate
and those who are already participating will be in the flow of this
natural process. We may find ourselves at the gateway, too scared and
terrified to let go of our beliefs and perceptions, and too scared to
trust the process of transformation. That�s when we find ourselves face
to face with our deepest fears. This brings on events beyond our control
that facilitate the transformation by whatever means it takes. We may
find ourselves at the gateway feeling terrified and yet willing to embrace
the initiation. We may find ourselves at the gateway easily choosing
to jump into the unknown, trusting that whatever the result it is aligned
with our divine purpose. In all cases, the process is fated. The caterpillar
is programmed to undergo transformation into the butterfly. We choose
how to participate.
The time is now. The gateways are open.
We must pass by the guardians, Antares, Pluto and Chiron, and undergo
their initiations, choosing to let go of life as we know it, leaping
into the void, trusting that as we do we will be transformed and this
transformation is beyond our current ability to comprehend fully. Does
the caterpillar comprehend the glory of the butterfly? Does she even
know that is where her journey is taking her? Has she even imagined
anything beyond her known world of earth, plants and leaves that have
fed, nourished and sustained her? Does she know she is leaving this
world behind? Is she afraid to enter the unknown void of the cocoon?
Does she question her inner guidance to create this cauldron of transformation?
Does she even know what it is she is creating for herself? Once the
process is complete is she afraid to leave her cocoon? Or does she simply
trust and surrender to the unfolding process within herself? Once out
of the cocoon does she simply know it is time to spread her wings and
fly? Are we programmed like the caterpillar to undergo this transformational
process, or can we fight it, resist it and miss it altogether? Is it
our choice? If it is our choice, what will we choose? Are we already
fated to a certain experience? If so, then how we choose to accept that
fate may be the key to exercising our free will and experiencing our
own personal transformation? Conscious choice with the intent to surrender
may be a key ingredient to maximizing this timing. How that looks for
each person will vary, and will most likely be guided from deep inside
our own being. The images I have offered here are only a place to begin
working with these unfolding mysteries. New images, new symbols, new
stories, new myths are emerging through each of us as we consciously
dream the dream onward.
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