This summer's (2009) eclipse season has engaged the Cancer-Capricorn axis. This is like putting super-thermite on the explosive issues of home security, jobs (and lack of them), homes (or the lack of them)...basically the Earth's natural resources and wealth... and the question, "Who does it belong to?" It comes as Pluto is also just beginning to shake things up in Capricorn. Pluto, the dark and sometimes terrifying planet of transformation, shows us the real meaning of change; in Capricorn, the dynamo planet promising a total breakdown and revitalization of institutions.
Since our institutions (business, education, government) are built on the foundations of patriarchy, they are targeted for demolition. There's a built-in imbalance that has become too restrictive for who we've already become and are becoming. It's the institutions, the system whose days are numbered; we just have to know how to stay clear of the falling debris! As businesses and other institutions buckle under and are shuttered, there goes the safety net. We have to quickly adapt as best we can.
Our relationship to those institutions will be where we personally make adjustments. Capricorn represents our relationship to "the state," and its role in making us feel secure or not. Is government now an authoritarian apparatus set up to control? Or is it a mirror of the human family, wanting its best for each member of that family. How can we create institutions that reflect the ideals of justice, sustainability, creativity.....and integrity. What we see now is only the beginning....Pluto's cycle is long, and it's just begun the destruction part of the death/rebirth cycle.
In the mythologist Joseph Campbell's work on the hero's journey, he describes a stage of "leaving the known." With corruption of business, banking, government and in some cases, education, what we've known regarding institutions has hit a dead end. The system in place is destroying the environment, as well. It's not easy to leave the familiar, but out of the rubble of the current collapse, something better can be built.
The Return of the Sacred Feminine:Both Cancer and Capricorn are associated with Tiamat, the ancient Babylonian first mother to the pantheon of gods and goddesses. She was the primordial ocean, with powers of both creation and destruction. Myths about Cancer lead us to the unfathomable mystery of the sea, as the origins of all life.
In his book The Ultimate Astrologer, Nick Campion writes, "Originally Tiamat was the caring, nurturing mother, but as future generations of deities were born, they began to resent her and she became a monster who was eventually killed by her grandson, Marduk, the new chief God." He asks how Tiamat, who gave birth to all, became a destroyer? Writes Campion, "There is a saying that we kill that which we love most. The lesson is that, instead, we should always honor that which gives us life."
Geraldine Thorston, author of God Herself: The Feminine Roots of Astrology writes of Tiamat as the Goddess of the Sea, depicted in Babylonian myths as a mermaid, fish or dolphin. She looks at widespread associations of Capricorn as a dolphin in Chinese astrology. In the West, Capricorn is after all, the Sea-Goat, a symbol of being able to climb high and dive deep. Thorston writes, "When patriarchy triumphed, She was conquered in myth by Marduk, formerly Her son, and chained to a cliff to prevent Her from creating havoc for the new order."
The fierce side of the Feminine acts to protect life and the life cycle. It runs counter to the hubris that the ends justifies the means, whatever the "collateral damage." If you're paying attention, you'll see signs that "established power" -- whoever they are -- is desperate to stay in control. Pluto in Capricorn brings our attention to shadow power, and promises a full reveal of who is really behind the curtain. For example, if there's an agenda is to make money off drugs and weapons, there is a human cost. The more drugs and weapons they create, the more illness and wars have to be put in motion for them! What wreaks havoc for the "new order" (Capricorn) is when people rise up with protective fury (Cancer).
Man-made institutions.The core issue is whether institutions protect and nurture life, or are following a destructive agenda. The pressure emerging out of these eclipses, is the rushing up of the very human, vulnerable reality we're living. The chaos happens when that primal emotion can no longer be contained by external forces. Or when the burden of conscience is too great to keep taking part in the destruction. The rise of the feminine is the surging power of memory, the desire to protect life, the need for soulful contact, and to live with emotional honesty.
The first step to being liberated from 'the Man' and a dying system is to loosen its grip on your mind. As John Lennon sang in "Revolution," You tell me it's the institution....well, you know...you better free your mind instead." The trio in Aquarius (Neptune-Jupiter-Chiron) this summer aids us in seeing beyond fixed structures and experimenting with the new.
Cancer is the personal space, the home, the family and private history. Capricorn involves the public stage, and the power to concretize our visions. This eclipse season opens the floodgates, busts the dams that have contained (repressed) our emotional truth. We bring that personal reality into the public sphere, so that it has equal consideration in how our institutions operate. We re-humanize the public sphere, when the feminine is restored to its rightful place.
