Weekly Weather January 14, 2008
It is going to be kind of a quiet week. Focus on getting things out the door and out into the world. Do as much as you can possibly manage in the week or so ahead to clear the decks and get things started. When we get closer to the end of the month, we enter the spring eclipse season, Mercury stations to go retrograde, Mars stations to go direct and Pluto enters Capricorn for the first time since 1762. The planetary turbulence at the end of January and beginning of February will be fairly profound! So take advantage of the quiet, not so turbulent time to get a jump on things.
There is a lovely set of three conjunctions this week that harmonize and sing together. Conjunctions always begin things. Mercury in his exaltation in Aquarius joins with Vesta and Chiron. Vesta joins with Chiron. Mercury rules communications, words, thoughts, ideas, siblings and all matters of the market place as well as transportation. Vesta is the asteroid in charge of home and hearth as well as the tradition of keeping the flame burning. Vesta tends the fire, banking it carefully each night so the fire continues to burn and so the flames can rise up again each morning. Chiron is about our soul’s wound and how our woundedness actually helps us become who we are meant to be.
When I was meditating on the three of them joining to start something new in our heavens and thus below here in our world, it occurred to me that I had no idea how to bank a fire. We have central heating so not much fire tending or banking is necessary! How do we bank a fire? So, I looked it up on the internet: Throughout the age of hearth cooking, fires were banked down at night with a layer of ash and rekindled in the morning. In this way, the hearth fire was kept burning for months, and even years, at a time. Wait to bank the fire until the logs have burned down in the late evening and are mostly embers, and then cover them with a few inches of ash (about 7.5 cm). In the morning, dig into the mound of ashes to uncover the glowing embers. Add kindling, and blow the fire to life.
So while we may not have hearths, the symbolism is alive for us. We each will work with Vesta to tend our hearths and keep our flames alive. We are the keepers of our own flames. We are warm blooded creatures, kept at 96.8 degrees or there about by our marvelous bodies. So our body must know how to do this fire banking thing! Our body preserves our heat at a fairly standard body temperature to allow functions to take place.
If we add Mercury and Chiron to the mix ~ well that felt like the way we talk to ourselves about ourselves. It describes how we reinforce, or blow on, the fire of the wound with words. Have you ever steamed your face over a pot of boiling hot water with a towel over your head? When you blow at the water, the steam rises. You can get a fabulous sweat and clean out your pores with only a few solid exhales of breath on that hot water!
So let us combine the planets like the heavens are doing. We keep alive the flames or fires by banking and subsequently blowing on the embers to start them back up. Now if we are starting up good things, when we blow on them, great. It is like blowing on the hot water and raising a head of steam to clear out our pores. That is fabulous! However, if we are blowing on and starting up bad fires that hurt or burn us, well, that is not so good. And, now, is a fabulous time to STOP doing that kind of activity.
The conjunction of Mercury, Vesta and Chiron asks us or offers us an opportunity to try new ways of working with or blowing on our banked fires. We don’t have to keep those hearth fires burning for months or even years, IF WE DON’T WANT TO. We can let the fire go out. Now is a lovely time to put out that fire, if you would like to, as the conjunction promises an ending before the beginning.
OR WE can start to bank or tend our fires in a new way. One of the things I learned while investigating “banking a fire” was wood and coal burn differently ~ wood burns from the top down while coal burns from the bottom up. Who knew?
And, that brought up the whole issue of fuel for the banked fire! If you fuel your fire with positive fuel that burns in the direction you want your fire to go, AND you bank the fire properly, you can keep those hearth fires burning for months or even years.
But let’s be realistic here. Let’s say you start experimenting with different fuel types. Different fuel will get different outcomes as it burns differently. You might not (and probably won’t) get it completely right all the time or every time! And, as a result, your fire might go out. Experimenting with fire and fuels can do that.
The heavens are saying you need to change your fuel. Don’t you need to change it? You need to adjust the mix. You want a different outcome than the one you have right now. So change your fuel. And don’t worry about it. As long as you have matches in the house, you can always relight your fire in the morning if it goes out. And, in the meantime, you can continue to experiment with the techniques you are putting into place. Learn how to bank your fire. Learn how to blow on it. Learn how to reignite it. All part of the process of life.
So let’s take it to how we hurt ourselves ~ Chiron is in the mix! How about if we each recognize the way we talk to ourselves as a fuel of sorts. The way we talk to ourselves (or to others) is a fuel that either wounds or heals. It makes fires flare up, banks them or helps fires go out. Essentially, we blow on the embers of our being to cause the fires to flare up. Or we listen when other folks blow on our banked embers. What if we were to change the way we blew on our fires by changing our mix of fuel, words, air and our technique of banking the fires that keep us going.
I read a book over the holidays called, This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin. It got me thinking about the stimulus I provide to my brain via the noise, talk, words or music I expose it to. Since coming home, I’ve been experimenting with my auditory stimuli with interesting results. My resolve was to incorporate positive upbeat music, largely jazz or instrumental OR sappy sing along songs that make me happy. It has resulted in an enormous upswing in my productivity as well as my mood. So I am going to take advantage of the upcoming conjunction to make sure that I provide good fuel to my brain on a daily basis that helps it stay jazzy, swinging or singing. Next up, well probably time to get serious again with my piano. It always makes me happy too. Or maybe a different kind of fuel for me? It is time to experiment and see what works. And I have my matches in case the fires go out.
So what fuel do you want or need to change in your life? What fire needs to be banked? What fire needs some firm blowing on or fresh air? What mix of air and fuel is the right mix for you? Are you willing to experiment? Can you be bold in your experiments (you DO have a book of matches in case your fire goes out)? Not to worry if it goes out. Just light a few fires under the things you want to start to cook.
Monday, Mercury entered his shadow yesterday for his upcoming retrograde so expect to find out the story Mercury will have you working on redoing until March 9, 2008. Sun asks us to join with what we love or desire even as Mercury is in the mood to argue with traditional nurturing. It is a darned if you do and darned if you don’t kind of day. So just do what you want. What is fuel for you? Aries Moon can be a bit sharp, cold and detached as her ruler, Mars in Gemini is still retrograde, still out of bounds and answering to Mercury exalted in Aquarius but now in the shadow of his retrograde. Words hastily spoken today can come back to haunt you down the line.
Tuesday, Mars is in the mood to fight with the creative forces today as he has an aspect of adjusting to same old/ same old. Why does it have to be same
old/ same old? It doesn&lsqu
o;t have to be. You can change it. What is stopping you but you? Moon in Aries has the same cautions on his words as he did yesterday. Do something different rather than complaining about the way things are. Take action. Mercury is looking to partner with freedom and being exalted as he is in Aquarius, he knows it is a mindset. Yes, freedom is a mindset. Often times while in a reading, people will complain about some situation in their life. When I ask if they are willing to change to get it to change, they say no. They want it to magically change to be what they want it to be. Unfortunately, that is not how these things work. We have to be the change. As Mohandas (Mahatma) K. Gandhi said, “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” So change your fuel today. It is that easy.
Wednesday, Sun has an aspect of adjusting with Mars. It is a mind or Scorpio kind of adjusting. Adjust. Adjust. Adjust. Adjust! Regulate. Tinker. Modify. Alter. Fiddle with. Fine tune. Bend. Amend. Tweak. Tinker. Tweak Venus has a lovely creative aspect with Neptune saying that any Adjust. Adjust. Adjust! Regulate. Tinker. Modify. Alter. Fiddle with. Fine tune. Bend. Amend. Tweak. Tinker. Tweak you do will result in a lovely new experience. Mercury joins with Vesta and learns how to bank the fire using the new fuel. Practice makes perfect. Adjust. Adjust. Adjust! Regulate. Tinker. Modify. Alter. Fiddle with. Fine tune. Bend. Amend. Tweak. Tinker. Tweak. Moon in Taurus is a bit more flexible than usual as Venus in Sagittarius aspecting Neptune softens her up for change. Like water on soil, Moon’s fluid today.
Thursday Mercury joins with Chiron ~ there can be a flare up of harsh feelings today. While blowing on the hot water does make the steam rise, it can be a bit intense. Once the steam gets moving under the towel over your head, it has a back end kick to it. Can you come up with other words to say to yourself? If someone says something nasty to you today, understand it is Mercury joining with Chiron. Now is the time to speak up and say, No, Nyet. Stop. Nope. Not going to do it. It is a training thing. You have to train people, some times, on how to treat you. They get raised in their house. You were raised in your house. There is a common ground. Try and find it today. If not, gently but firmly correct the behavior. If you don’t correct it, they will think it is perfectly fine to do it over and over and over again to you. Don’t you want different fuel for that fire? Moon in Taurus is still sensitive from yesterday but can be a bit too sensitive with her square to Neptune. Watch for drugs, alcohol and emotions to be rather heightened today.
Friday is a busy day as well as a bit stressful as there are blind spots and adjusting aspects all over the place. Moon in Gemini squares Saturn in the middle of the day. Make sure to take yourself out of the office for lunch or a break if people are cranky. Adjust. Adjust. Adjust! Regulate. Tinker. Modify. Alter. Fiddle with. Fine tune. Bend. Amend. Tweak. Tinker. Tweak. Your fire may go out. Not to worry, you have matches and dry fuel. It is a process. Life is a process. Vesta and Chiron join. No negative self talk to yourself. How can you reframe the situation or revision it? Once you know you have a blind spot, you learn to look before you pull out. If you didn’t know wood burned from the top down and your fire went out, you learned a valuable lesson today. Wood burns top down. Coal burns bottom up. Now you know! Tomorrow is another opportunity to bank your fire. No negative talk to the other guy either ~ show them what you need. Teach them how to bank the fire. It is an acquired skill. Gentle corrections go far today. Watch for flare ups too.
Saturn’s day finds Venus opposite Mars in the evening. The world is not cooperating and folks are in the mood to fight over sex or money or silly things. Do the dishes. Silence. Watch. Observe. Adjust. Adjust. Adjust! Regulate. Tinker. Modify. Alter. Fiddle with. Fine tune. Bend. Amend. Tweak. Tinker. Tweak the strategy. Moon in Gemini is answering to the cold, detached yet exalted Mercury in Aquarius. While you are not wrong, today is probably not the best day to say anything about it. If you can, be quiet. You probably won’t be able to be silent. But I do suggest it. Sun at the last degree of Capricorn wants to criticise SO BADLY!! Be aware. Word can hurt. Words can fuel the fire. Can you bank it please?
Sunday, the Sun enters Aquarius. While Sun is still co-ruled by Saturn in Virgo, Sun feels like it has more freedom and power when it gets out of earthy Capricorn and starts to fly high in Aquarius. Plus Sun gets to side more with Uranus in Pisces. Remember to breath. Sun wants to fly but not so high that you can’t safely land. This is a day for overdoing so be conscious of that energy afloat in the world. Blow gently on your banked fire. Watch the embers flare. See the new fuel catch fire, alight and start to burn. See, you are getting the hang of it after all. It isn‘t that hard. Just a new technique. And you don’t need much breathe at all to get the fire to flare if you manage to bank it properly.
Copyright © 2008 Anne Ortelee
