Mythic Prelude:

 Breakout!

The Alabaster Disaster and the Islamic Santa Claus Hat

  Warning. Be careful as you enter this time, as there may be attempted comedy in progress, even repeated attempts at Aquarian comedy in this space, like this one done by the author last month in Honolulu, Kailua and Waialua, Hawaii. It is vital that human beings learn to practice the power of comedy without wounding others.

  I just got back from Cairo, Egypt, and my suitcase set off an alarm for explosives at LAX airport. My bag was searched by the Transportation Security Administration. Boy, is America ever lucky they did it, because my bag was full of dangerous stuff.

  They found a bottle of liquid oxygen, and I said it was medicine to increase the oxygen in my blood. "Do you have a prescription for this?" the TSA person. "No, it's a natural remedy. I don't need a prescription for it. Would you like to see me put a few drops under my tongue?" She would not.

  The weird thing was what the inspectors missed. I had 24 bottles of flower remedies and essential oils that can promote healing and induce states of love, desire, joy, passion, serenity and bliss. Any one of these things is a distraction from the alertness we need to maintain at all times.

  Finally, when they searched my bag a little more, they found it: the thing that blew the needle right into the orange. The infernal machine, the Death Star, was -- a plastic bottle of water from the Nile river.

  It may seem impossible to you that a bottle of water could actually explode in fire. It's never happened -- but it could. Maybe those TSA sensors were on to something. After all, the water of the Nile is the living body of the lady Isis herself, the infinite source and stream of love and abundance, forgiveness and kindness, compassion and mercy. There is not telling what dislocation might ensue if these things get into a river near a major American city, even invade the water table of all North America.

  Momentous possibilities. For guidance through them, we look to the astral dynamics of the month. (Or skip the astrology rubrics and go to Breakout!)

This month Neptune in Aquarius and the Moon's Node in Taurus are in square (90° angle) to each other, necessitating a discussion between the mystic placement of Neptune in Aquarius and the earth bone of Taurus. If you wonder why anyone would counsel "Trust No One", this is a time when that paradigm could make sense to the most fear-held human beings.

2/3: Mars enters Taurus, ruled by Venus, where he is "in detriment" (until March 20). The idea here is that the male is temporarily whipped, held within the majesty of the goddess in her power. The reverse of this power position occurs, naturally, when Venus is in Aries, ruled by Mars (2/9 below), and is the self-hurting female who will not break free from a relationship that does not serve her. For now, the goddess has the lights and the cards, and runs the show. Note that this love and power surge occurs on the wonderful feast of Aetsubun on 2/3.

2/5 - 6: Full Moon in Leo opposite Sun in Aquarius, grand cross with Moon's Nodes in Taurus and Scorpio. The implications of this majestic alignment -- enriched by tension between the individual and the collective -- make this a volatile and very fluid window for the influencing of mass opinions in several places.

2/6 - 7: Mercury exits Capricorn and enters Aquarius, until 2/25. For the significance of Mercury's actions from January through March, see Mythic Prelude to January, 2004. The weekend of Feb. 14 - 15, when Mercury crosses over Neptune in Aquarius, is excellent for ceremonies and gatherings in celebration of spiritual friendship.

2/8: Venus enters the Mars-ruled sign of Aries, where she is "in detriment", until 3/5. The Stanley Kowalski and Stella placement. The goddess stays within the painful, loveless fight with her god over pleasure and experience, because she fears what she might meet or miss if she were alone.

2/19 - 20: New Moon conjunct Sun in Pisces, both planets conjunct Uranus, with all three quintile (72°, one-fifth of a circle) from the Moon's North Node (Dragon's Head) in Taurus, and Pluto in Sagittarius. The main idea here is that this New Moon is loaded with new creative possibilities, especially for the shared creativity of groups (Dragon's Head), provided that the ego rush of glamorous secrecy surrounding powerful new inventions and ideas does not lead again, as it usually does now, to ridiculous cloak-and-dagger scenarios (Pluto) and extremes of concealment, spying and general mistrust. Especially for those who think themselves most truthful, it will be hard to resist the temptation to get even with pigheaded authorities by being as suspicious and opaque as those who are asking the questions.

2/25: Mercury enters Pisces, where he is both "in detriment" and "in fall" (until 3/11 - 12). This situation, in which the noble and truthful energy of Thoth/Hermes/Mercury is temporarily blocked and impeded, and is tempted toward compromise and corruption, is one of the main reasons why Pisces month (2/19 - 3/20 is so dreary: the painful realization hits -- that glib communicators are easily corrupted with flattery, intimidated with empty threats and bribed with perks, and the main difference between reporters and prostitutes, really, is that whores do have a sense of ethics, a moral boundary between the soul and the things one will not do.

Breakout!

  This day bears and rewards special examination, for a momentous event we are about to look at. Astrology Detail Alert: skip to end of this paragraph if you like: On Feb. 25 Mars is conjunct the Moon's North Node (Dragon's Head) in Taurus, and both planets are trine (120° from) Jupiter in Virgo and square (90° from) Neptune in Aquarius. While all this is going on, the Sun is conjunct both Mercury and Uranus in Pisces, and all three are trine Saturn in Cancer, sextile (60°) the Moon and quintile (72° from) Pluto in Sagittarius, which in turn is trine to Venus in Aries. It is worth noting how much of this spectacular planetary design carries the energy of the breakout to freedom, as Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are all in signs where they are said to be "in detriment", their power blocked and weakened, and they long for release, and return to their full scope and capacities.

  It is thus crucial that the moment of Feb. 25 be seen for what it is: not some grand celestial pageant by Tiepolo, like the Harmonic Concordance last Nov. 8, but an alliance among the walking wounded and the unjustly confined, who are determined to get back to the health that is their right, the places where they belong and the freedom they want. In other words, the essence of this combination is revolutionary -- especially as Uranus is a major player -- in the literal sense that power is "turning back" from those who have seized it, but do not deserve it, to those who do deserve it, but have lost it. The word "revolution" is so charged, in so many minds, with so much passion and drama, that it is usually pictured in blood and fire, and other images of fear. This persistence of grim imagery and memory -- of Jacobins, Bolsheviks, Red Guards and other artists of other people's pain -- is in fact the main block to the Aquarian Revolution that is now inevitably underway. Those who cannot yet envision the Aquarian style of revolution -- in which collective inner change first happens instantly and quietly, then manifests outwardly later -- had best pray for relief from their tapes and pictures of grief, and soothe the violence in their minds, through the practice of love.

  One cue as to what type of "turning back" we can expect is that this time the tired and the poor, the dejected and disempowered, the people to whom Jesus ministered, are looking to form alliances and take action. And on Feb. 25, Mel Gibson's The Passion of Christ opens in theatres across North America. Veteran broadcaster Paul Harvey calls it, "a kind of art that is a rarity in life, the kind that makes heaven touch earth." It is reported in some circles to convey stereotypical anti-Semitic images. It will or will not hit America like a tsunami. The transformation that The Passion of Christ will amplify, and in some measure help to generate, will not be immediately seen or verbalized -- especially as three planets now struggle for air while in Pisces -- but it will be felt. And will be seen more clearly by the end of March.  

It remains true that dishonesty is invariably the product of fear (if anyone knows the source of this idea, please tell me), and love is invariably the antidote to lies, so let us love, calm fear and persevere until the Spring. Keep Holding That Frequency.

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