ceres – Joan Porte

Visiting Ceres and Pluto – and the rise of the sacred feminine

It always cracks me up when scientists, for whom I have terrific respect, act in accordance with universal energy (something most cast aspersions on.) This is happening right now as the robot aptly named Dawn, approaches the dwarf planet, Ceres, and then continues on to Pluto, recently demoted from full planet to dwarf. Ceres, for years dubbed merely another asteroid in the belt near Jupiter, recently received the crown of planet. The debate is on whether to elevate her to full planet status.

What does this have to do with universal energy? Pluto in Roman mythology was Hades to the Greeks. Both gave him rulership over the underworld, the dark and mysterious other side to life. One of the great Greek myths involves Hades, Persephone, Ceres and the coming of winter. In the first iteration of the myth in, Hades (the Hidden One) abducts Persephone, also known as Kore (“the Maiden”). While held captive in the underworld, her mother, Ceres, the goddess of Agriculture, begins a worldwide search only to discover her fate at the hands of Hades. Ceres goes into the underworld and eventually rescues Persephone but while she is gone, nothing can grow and winter comes over the Earth. The only way she can recover her daughter is to promise Hades that she, Ceres, will return every winter to live with him in the underworld for several months. This was one of the earliest mythological explanations for the onset of winter.

As the years progressed and male hegemony of mythology and theology grew, Hades became less a bully and Persephone became a more willing consort to Hades, not the abducted maiden. The man became less of an evil element and the woman more wanton.

As the world begins to evolve toward sexual equality and we now see the rise of the Sacred Feminine in spiritual and religious circles, we see the imbalance in the mythology of the skies begin a process of rectification. Ceres, once just another asteroid, is now a dwarf planet perhaps on her way to full planet status. Pluto, once the great new planetary discovery of the last century, is now just a dwarf planet.

Dawn arrives in Ceres orbit in March she will find a cold, rocky, icy surface similar to the veneer of outer planets. However, there are some hopes that she may have liquid ocean. Will she give up her secrets or play coy? We do not know. Dawn will then head out to recently demoted Pluto to see how they match up in size, rotational activity and gravitational pull. That ought to be interesting because you know how men hate comparisons!

Face it Pluto, as Ceres rises in stature you are going to have to take equal or lessor footing. You can deny universal energy but not escape it.

Have A Watery Solstice.

The Summer Solstice is by nature a watery event because the Sun is moving in the Cardinal, water sign of Cancer. This year we have an abundance of other planets and asteroids in water signs. Mercury and Venus will be in an exact conjunction in 22 degrees Cancer at the Solstice. This is a great time for writing love sonnets and poems if you are so inclined – or just putting pen to paper or ink to paper if you are more artistic. The wordsmith-ability of Mercury combined with the artistry of Venus makes this a perfect time to communicate with words or art.

Other bodies in Cancer will be Vesta and Ceres. The first is the goddess of devotion and the later is the goddess of nurturing and they are both in the sign of mother. Once you put the sonnet down you can work on finding the cause that you can devote yourself too. What feeds your soul? What feeds your desire?
Hey why not combine all of these water signs and sit down and make a list of things that you need to do or want to do – that will nurture your spirit.

Cardinal signs are the doers, the leaders, the ones who get things done. The Sun energy and all of these other very powerful planets and asteroids should give you the energy to take on these projects. Where am I go – what do I want – what feeds me?

Neptune is, of course, still in Pisces, it’s natural ruler -and Saturn is in Scorpio — water, water everywhere. Once you make that list – use these two to put some structure – some design behind your spiritual, devotional practices.

The Solstice is a time for new beginnings! Enjoy

Retrogradessssssssssssssss

A friend whined to me a few weeks ago, “When is Mercury going to get out of retrograde?” It was about to leave I assured her. (However, it will zip back in November 23 – December 13.) Retrogrades are a time for whining. Everything seems to go backwards, cars don’t start, computers go on the fritz, and things just don’t get done. However, instead of whining we should remember that retrogrades are a time for going within and working on the internal stuff before pushing forward.

Right now we have an inordinate amount of number going retrograde. No wonder people feel like they are under water and so dejected.

Pluto is still in retrograde – until Sept 16 – but we talked about Pluto recently in another blog entry.

Right now most of the “girls” – the big asteroid are in retrograde. Juno, Vesta and Ceres are all retrograded. Juno is where our loyalty lies – so there might be relationship issues coming up. Vesta, where we feel we must dedicate to something, when in retrograde will make us feel like I can’t get excited about anything. Ceres is our mothering, nurturing nature – need I say more?

An asteroid that vibrates to male energy, Chiron, our sacred wound issue – a pain so deep we don’t want to deal with it is also retrograded. We are feeling pain but can’t get to the source, can’t confront it.

Had enough? Too bad. Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter are also all retrograded! Really people – I wish the pundits who rap about how the American people are feeling can take a look at this! Neptune, our connection to the spiritual, Uranus, our energetic change energy and Jupiter our expansion and hope guide are all going in reverse. Makes you sleepy just reading it.

Never fear – these guys never stand still for long. Jupiter is being quite dramatic and going straight again on December 25, Uranus December 10, Chiron November 10, Neptune November 9 and Ceres December 6. Vesta will only be retrograded a few more days and Juno will follow Chiron.

So see – it won’t last. Remember that retrograde is a time to go within and learn why we are feeling the way we are. Whining never gets us anywhere!

Happy Solstice! What does that mean anyway?

It is the Summer Solstice! Yippee! Ok so what does that mean exactly? It is defined in astronomy as the time when the Earth tips on its axis and the Northern part becomes closest to the Sun. For those of us in the Northern hemisphere it brings the onset of summer. It is also the longest day of the year when we have the most sunlight. Astrologically, it is the moment when the Sun tips into Cancer. As you can see in the chart below – the Sun, signified by the blue circle with the dot in the center is in zero degrees Cancer. This will happen at 7:30 AM Eastern on June 21, 2010.

The word solstice comes from the Latin – sol – Sun -and sistere – to stand still and it does look from our vantage point on the ecliptic that the Sun is standing still in the sky. (Yes, I know it always stands still but they didn’t know that when Latin was all the rage.) We know now that because of the way we are tilting it appears that the Sun is static. The science has changed but not the name. For about three days it seems that the Sun has nothing better to do than pour a heavy concentration of its light right on our little heads. Summer is a time of fire, when the sun is growing our crops and providing the food that will nourish our bodies throughout the rest of year.

Cancer, however, is a water sign and tells us that it is the time for home and the enjoyment of friends of family. Summer is the traditional time for family picnics and reunions enjoyed under the warming rays of the Sun – usually by the water. The United States, a country “born” under the sign of Cancer – July 4, 1776 instituted a day of outdoor family celebration right at this time of sun and water!

Later, as the Sun moves into fiery Leo, we will experience the full intensity of the Sun as we move into the “dog days” of summer and finally earthy Virgo takes over in time of the harvest.

What is the “best” way to celebrate the Summer Solstice? Any darn way you please. However, if can incorporate water and fire elements into the day you will be very satisfied I am sure.

This year, Juno, the goddess of loyalty and partnership, will be in conjunction with the Sun as will Mercury. However, this Sun-Juno combination, which is normally of time of committing to someone else, is opposite a Pluto-Ceres conjunction. Pluto is the great transformer – the slow and grinding changer. Ceres is mother Earth. (HMMM Pluto and Ceres are in conjunction in the 6th house of health and physicality and the Earth is erupting toxic oil into the Gulf. Think about that one for a bit.) Add to this mix that the Sun-Juno sisters are in the 12th house – the house of the great cosmic unconsciousness – the house of karma. Can you see what is happening?

A Pluto opposition is a demand to change. Pluto is opposing the Sun – our life force – and Juno – loyalty and commitment and it has karma thrown in. So we will see a time when people are questioning their commitments to others and if it is a karmic commitment – people who came together “like magic” in this lifetime there could be some debt paying to one another. Ceres and Juno in opposition cause “female problems,” i.e. mothers and daughters questioning their relationships. Children particularly from other marriages will be chafing under the rules of the “new mommy.”

So while we are playing on the beach this summer, look out for the sharks. No, not those sharks – the ones that will crop up from the dance of the stars over head!

Happy Solstice all!

The Rise of Ceres and the Feminine

Hi there – Happy March!

You know that I always look at the four “girls” – the asteroids, Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta. Well, now Ceres is a dwarf planet because of her size and gravitational pull. While this brings back bitter memories to me of the downgraded of Pluto from full planet to dwarf, I will put away my rage for a few minutes to praise Ceres.

Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt, which lies between Mars and Jupiter and appears to have some water frost activity on the surface. We won’t know much more about what is really going on until the unmanned Dawn Mission arrives there in 2015. Launched by NASA in 2007, the mission will also explore sister asteroid Vesta in 2011!

When the Greeks ruled the Western world, they prayed to Demeter, the Goddess who is the equivalent to Mother Nature. She made the trees and flowers bloom and the crops grow and when she went into the underworld to rescue her daughter, the blooming stopped and winter was born. In a deal to get her daughter released from the God of the Underworld, Pluto (boy they always picked on Pluto even then!) — she would return once a year thus bringing the winter every year. The Romans swiped the concept and renamed her Ceres.

More than two millennia later, the asteroid named after this archetypal mother energy is being elevated to planet just at the time the concept of the sacred feminine and the balancing of the male energy so dominate for so long. What a “coincidence.” The interesting part to me is that we are discovering a planet that deals with rather traditional female roles – that of nurturer and mother. That would seem to be incongruous with the rise of the power of the sacred feminine. However, think about how the power women have as creators, as those who keep life flowing, has been (and continues to be) undervalued. Indeed, it has been the fear men have for this ability they do not share, that has lead to the marginalization of the female for so long. You know the old joke that if men could give birth it would be done in the town square with cheerleaders- but because it is a female task, it has been consigned to scary dark rooms. Remember the days when a pregnant woman was not seen in public?

As the power between man and woman – yin and yang balance on a universal scale, woman must be mindful not to lose or themselves diminish that power which makes us so separate from the male. We don’t need to become men or lose what makes us uniquely female.