Mars ingresses into his cardinal and diurnal domicile of Aries on 28 June 2020. He will finally leave Aries during the current cycle on January 6, 2021. This means that Mars will be impossible to ignore as we approach the Winter Solstice and the Grand Conjunction. Mars is the Lord and scorching emissary of the chart.

Mars is less agitated in his nocturnal domicile, as the night is said to cool his burning rage. In Aries, there is no holding back. The Islamic representations of Mars almost always portray him carrying a severed head with apparent glee. Mars in Aries is like a rambunctious and aggressive adolescent one a good day and far worst on a bad one. However, there is mercifully no guile in this placement,. This is unlike Mars in Scorpio. He is direct and sure of the rightness of his cause, entirely unconcerned what others may think of that.

Let’s look at the larger picture as Mars ingresses into Aries.

As I have had many occasions to mention, we are in the middle of a highly volatile mix. Jupiter is consorting with Saturn and both are retrograde. I have written also on the eclipses preceding this event with “Ancestral voices prophesying war” The moment is of the Hour of Moon, the Day of Saturn and the Almuten is Venus, in Mercurial Gemini and disposited by Mercury in Cancer, retrograde and in the Exaltation of Jupiter.

We might think of Jupiter and Saturn as the big brothers of Mars; and in this case, they will tend to cool his heels with saturnine gravitas for the time being. This relationship is made all the more intriguing by the fact that Capricorn is the Exaltation of Mars, the sign in which Jupiter lingers in his Fall.

“Pandora.” Completed by John William Waterhouse in 1896

Of course, when a malefic favours another malefic we don’t expect all sweetness and light. 2020 is a year full of pretty much all the things listed in Pandora’s box, a tale first was written down by Hesiod in his Theogony and Works and Days in the 7th century BC. These didactic poems relate how the gods came to create Pandora and how the gift Zeus gave her ultimately ends the Golden Age of humankind.

Specifically, when she opens the box, all manner of strife and torment is leashed upon the world. In the words of K. Kris Hirst, ” Pandora is a trick gift, a punishment for the good of Promethean fire, she is, in fact, Zeus’s price of fire.” But metaphorically, all that plagues humanity, including plagues themselves, swarms of locust in numbers hitherto unseen and destroying subsistence crops over an area never before seen,  combine to give the impression of an apocalypse.

Cities are replete with arsons and looters, tearing down and defacing monuments, including those with strong religious significance. It is as if W.B. Yeats; “Second Coming” is being enacted before our very eyes; and we want to know where we will all be when the wheels fall off the chariot.

The story of Pandora is the story of the fall from an ideal world or state of being, strikingly similar to the story of the biblical fall. This is a productive way to understand the nature and purpose of the malefics.  They are the price we pay whilst we inhabit this sub-lunary sphere. The ladder to the empyrean is fraught with all manner of difficulties and Saturn guards the Gates of Paradise.

With this in mind, even the most difficult times are not without meaning and that can make even the worst times bearable, but hardly pleasant. Angst and fear are permeating the collective and those states of being are decidedly Saturnine qualities, made all the more dramatic and painful by Mars.

Mars is going to really stir things up, for good or for bad. The opposition to the Venusian Moon in Libra is unfortunate and Mars squared the Cancerian Sun and Mercury, also retrograde as mentioned, is cause for alarm.

Considering the larger picture, including the approaching Grand Conjunction and the powerful eclipses involved, cooler heads may not be in ready supply. But the alternative is chaos and war. This is a pivotal time for humanity to cultivate a consciousness higher than the one that brought us fast food, deforestation and propagandistic networks.

More than anything, this is a struggle for truth in an ocean of deceit.  Much like Manjushri, we cut through the roots of illusion that keep us enslaved to a world even more alienating, kept passive by the shadows on the wall of the Plato’s Cave.

The spectre is Saturn as Falsifer. For now, Mars works with Saturn to a great extent, but Mars can make a great servant when not busy being a terrible master. Yet in spite of all that faces us, indeed because of it, we must find a way to put all that plagues us back into the box. Pandora’s power was rooted in her ability to deceive – to appear to be what she was not, much as the sweet voice of the serpent in Genesis made the forbidden fruit appear to be a wonderful gift

This is a time of enormous opportunities and one which we cannot ignore. The threats we face are existential, even to the Earth herself.  Gaia is in torment and we hear and see her clearly as if awakening from an enchanted sleep.

I rarely discuss the charts of living celebrities, politicians or anyone in the public eye. I’m with John Frawley in this respect. whom I applaud for making his case for decorum and common decency. I esteem it important to bring attention to an extraordinary woman running for the office of the President of the United States. This short article will be restricted to Ms Gabbard’s qualities as they relate to her unique abilities in the political sphere.

She has attacked some core elements of what America should mean globally. By urging an end to regime changes around the world, a calling home of troops from Afghanistan and a massive reallocation of military funding to be used for universal medicare, schools and infrastructure. She is bound to make enemies, but she has the chart of one of the greatest warriors I’ve ever seen.

Not surprisingly. she has been a soldier for 15years and served in Iraq, including in the medical corp where she saw the cost of war up close, She knows the cost of war and can speak with more authority on the subject than any of her fellow Democrats seeking the Presidency in 2020. Moreover, at the age of 27, she served in the Hawaiian House of Representatives from 2002 – 2004 politics since the age of twenty-one, Presently, she serves as the first Samoan American and the first Hindu member of the United States Congress.  The list continues. She has an unusual grasp of Foreign Affairs. In brief, any opponent has to know what they are up against. She has a common touch and charisma, but it’s plain that her own Party is doing what it can to suppress her.

She was born a year after the Great Conjunction of 1981, which could make her the first post-GenX. President. The previous generation only produced one.

We don’t have time for the chart. Often, in a case like this, an astrologer might use a mid-day chart, but I have chosen instead what I believe is the most plausible. Quite simply, other times would render the house placements meaningless. However, I make no claims for the exact – to the minute – chart.

The first thing that anyone is likely to notice in this chart is the concentration in the Ninth House. This house is the place of spirituality, religion, higher mind. including justice and legal matters.  Mars is in his domicile, the Sun in Haze, in his Exaltation and House of Joy, and Mercury is also in Hayz. This is also the house of the Part of Spirit, the SAN. Mercury and Venus. The Sun is the AlmutenMagha Nakshatra and Mars is the final dispositor.

The Ascendant and Moon in Leo, in the nakshatra Magha, are in trine with these placements,  associated with Regulus. ‘Magha’ means great, grand, and benevolent and it imparts to its natives, high and respectable positions.  It is understood as the symbol of authoritative status and high social respect. It is well-suited to leadership positions

Magha Nakshatra

.The Moon in Leo is not always a blessing at all. In fact, it is peregrine. But the sign is also Feral. The most usual critique of the Moon in this position is that the native has an emotional need to be recognized or praised. The situation here, with the powerful Rahu in Leo driving the first house, the leadership qualities are enhanced.

At this time, Gabbard is in her Lunar Firdaria. but will be transitioning to the Saturn Period on 29 December 2019. One looks to the planets and luminaries in the natal chart to determine how a planetary period is likely to unfold. Here, we see Saturn in his Exaltation, but Rx. Nevertheless, Saturn has the greatest overall dignity. Still, I think things will become more challenging in 2020. But I doubt that Ms Gabbard has ever seen a challenge she didn’t like. I wish her all the very best

A Shamanistic Ceremony in Siberia

I recently had the pleasure of corresponding with a young person who wanted to learn Traditional Astrology in concert with Shamanism. Throughout most of its history, astrologers have also been concerned with medicine, magic, philosophy and often music. The Shamanic path is one way to discern other states of being, or indeed to determine the nature of spirits, including the spirits of nature. This article is intended as an introduction to the subject of Shamanism in relation to the celestial arts.

Shamanism is certainly an ancient practice. Some scholars claim it comes down to us from the Palaeolithic period. It is and was widely spread and took on differing forms with some element remaining fairly constant. There is a Shamanic tradition in Japan, Siberia, Oceania, Meso-America, Indonesia, the Celtic World and dozens of other locations in as many traditions. Shamanism is not something static. While some things remain, others are replaced. It has to be relevant to the individual and the society or else we would be doing something like playing dress up, merely imitating something we barely understand, if at all. I’m not a fan of structured courses that cost money and result in letter after your name. To me, that is to completely miss the point. Shamanism is not an academic study and neither can it be learned by simply taking courses. In order for the power to be there, it must be authentic. It is an act of art.

Chogyam Trungpa coined the phrase “cutting through spiritual materialism.” The trappings of ancient Shamanism are best discarded until we find out just how our own Shamanism will be imagined and manifest. This works from the inside out. Some will argue against using ancient Shamanic costumes, accoutrements, and ritual because it constitutes cultural appropriation. Even if you disagree with this, the problem remains that we would be mimicking something without a real understanding of what is taking place.  Subtle moves or details of sound may have more meaning than we realise.

While some things remain, others are replaced. For example, the shamanic hand drum may be made of stretched goat skin, reindeer hide or elk, but is virtually the same in dozens of cultures around the world. Singing, chanting, and dancing in one form or another are universal. Beyond these essential elements, there is rich diversity. In no small part, this is due to the time, the larger cultural context and the reaction and relationship to the land. We would expect there to be vastly different aesthetics from the Tundra to the jungles of Costa Rica.

For good or bad, we are no longer primitives. Our languages have become complex, our feet rarely touch the Earth, we are no longer homogeneous societies, and the food we eat may come from halfway around the world. The drone of our cities is incessant. There are now people who cannot identify a single constellation. Some can’t even see the stars through the smog. We can, however, be authentic and find creative ways to celebrate that. We all have a responsibility to shield and nurture nature in all its forms.

Shaman;s Staff (Mongolian?)

Music can be made by anyone. There was a survey done in school years ago. When children in the first grade were asked whether they could dance and sing, close to 100 % raised their hands. Three years later, only one or two children raised their hands. The fact is that everyone can dance and everyone can sing. You are likely to need practice in both and may find there are some limitations, such as singing range. You have heard the exhortation “dance like nobody is watching” You need to learn how to move energy, and your body is the obvious place to start.

Drums, flutes, and bells can be played. There is no wrong way to a play hand drum, but remember it speaks of the heart and should be beaten gently and most of all with reverence. The colours and the scents we choose are all part of creating a sacred space. What you intend to do in that sacred place will determine which senses are invoked and in what way. If you are using incense for a solar-based ritual, frankincense and sandalwood are a good choice. Candles and bonfires can be used to great effect.

Many shamans prefer to use local botanicals, such as sage for cleaning and sweetgrass to fill a vacuum. Personally, the planets and phases of the Moon are always a consideration. Remember that rituals can include planting crops with intent. There is no such thing as a sacred drum until the player makes it so. Above all things is the power of intention. Here is where a keen consciousness is of the utmost necessity. These generally require time to cultivate and preferably in good company.

This is an example of the artwork of the descendants the Aztec, the Huichol. Peyote is a focal point for their ceremonies, and their colorful beadwork reflects a sacred and symbiotic relationship with the natural world. The question as to whether the Shaman requires the use of drugs, particularly hallucinogens, is a much-debated topic. Most contemporary Shamanic practitioners, including myself, do not believe they are a crucial element in ritual.

Shamanism is not something unchangeable, any more than Traditional Astrology is a burned-out cinder that has to be mimicked. The tradition lives and breathes in those who venerate her. While some things remain, others are replaced. It has to be relevant to the individual and the society or else we would be doing something like playing dress up, merely imitating something we barely understand, if at all.

There is a disconcerting trend in the contemporary Western world to pretend that Shamanism is hereditary and can be taught in a fairly short period of time for the right price. First of all, anyone can claim to a hereditary Shaman. After all, it was passed down orally. Secondly, the idea that you can learn to be a shaman as one might learn to be a racing car driver or a carpenter is false.

The Shaman learns how to access the Spirit World while knowing it is inseparable from any and all dimensions of existence.  One must be authentic, and any difficulties of may be worked through by affirmations, inner and outer, to believe your connection to the spirit world is real.

The path of the Shaman is not for everyone. However, for those who feel a strong affinity to this path. I have a few simple suggestions. Find someone you trust and feel comfortable with – someone who is wise.

Learn to quiet your mind. Spend time in nature, studying the movement of the clouds, the sound of the water, the way the trees nurture each other, the way a bird uses its wings and seek the silence and power of the stag. See how even stones are not entirely solid. Everything has more space than matter.

Symbols hold power for millennia. Perhaps the oldest symbol is the circle with a spot in the centre. It illustrates the infinity of Spirit, and the dot represents the potential for creation. Even one symbol like this can be used with great efficacy. Solar symbols such as the swastika are ancient, albeit tainted for many people by their association with Nazism. The spiral is also ubiquitous and is seen throughout nature and in galaxies themselves. There are many symbols made up of countless versions of the cross of matter.  The Lunar symbol is also a rich source of meaning.

Make devotional music that is authentically your – music that speaks from the soul. It can begin with a simple ringing of a bell, the tapping of wood against trees, find a drum that resonates with you. Listen to the difference in sound from hand drumming to using a stick bound with leather at the tip. The beat that comes naturally may then be accompanied by movement or dance.

More than anything else, know that everything is interconnected and that thoughts are things.  We tend to think that Shamanism is completely alien to Philosophy, but the great Neo-Platonic philosopher Plotinus wrote, ” Stars are like letters that are inscribed at every moment in the sky. In the whole world, it is full of signs. All events are coordinated. All things depend on all the others. As it has been said: everything breathes together.”

Shamanism is a means of liberation, and the dance should be both sacred and pleasurable.

Below is a video from a Polish group known as  Laboratorium Piesni. They’ve taken a traditional form of singing and made it contemporary. The focal points for this group are the land and tradition.  The complete work with colours, drums, and dance has the ability to transport the participants and audience.