Around the World in 71 Days and 14 Hours
February 11, 2004 (with chart)
http://cainer.com/ericfrancis/feb11.html
Dear Intrepid Readers:
While in other news the world is quietly going mad, Ellen
MacArthur, a 28-year-old amateur sailor born in
Last week I mentioned that there was an awesome lineup
developing in Aquarius. When Ellen reached the finish line, that alignment was
at its peak: we were in the last 24 hours of the lunar cycle, just before the
Aquarius New Moon, impressive enough by itself. There were also two close
conjunctions in Aquarius, Moon conjunct Venus (the closest and next immediate
event) and Mercury conjunct Neptune.
"For the current days," I wrote, "the emphasis
is on Venus, which just arrived in Aquarius. This is a different kind of
feminine energy than we're used to. Her emphasis is on the intellect rather
than on the emotions; she is a master of science, but able to maintain a state
of equality with her peers; her idea of love is a lot more free and liberated
than what we're generally accustomed to in our society, and she can be an
important teacher." In another article somewhere, I mentioned Venus in
Aquarius as the female avatar, a description I read in the 'Mountain
Astrologer' magazine a few years ago.
All together, I could not think of better words to describe
Ellen MacArthur except Hot Damn.
Among the most impressive Aquarian themes of Ellen's journey
were the team of people -- Team Ellen -- who are actually her tribe and family
of choice. In a truly Aquarian way, they connected to her via technology,
communicating with her and even monitoring her sleep patterns via satellite.
And around the world, the family of supporters and admirers who kept track of
her astonishing journey spread the network wider. She received more than 60,000
emails during her journey, which were automatically posted to her site and
which she could download while aboard her ship.
Imagine how important this kind of human contact is while
you're floating around
Let's take a look at the chart for her arrival home Monday
night.
With charts for truly extraordinary events, we often learn
more from the chart than we can say about it; at other times, striking
symbolism emerges that is so apropos of the moment we are handed something like
proof of astrology's ability to see the quality of a moment as easily as a
camera records the image of a tree in daylight.
It's always nice to say hello to the ascendant first. Libra
is rising. We have, for sure, witnessed a feat of balance, initiative and
energy -- as well protection and luck, represented by Jupiter about to rise
over the horizon. Very nice. A little planet has risen a few minutes before our
chart is cast -- Pallas Athene. She is the ultimate diplomat, warrior,
strategist and protector. So there is quite a bit of protection suggested in
this chart. One would need protection, to sail 27,000 miles through all kinds
of weather all alone. And it certainly required strategy.
The main focus of energy is from the 4th to the 5th houses;
notice the cluster that includes Chiron (little green key, in Capricorn, lowest
planet), followed by the Moon, Venus, Mercury,
I am particularly fond of the Mercury-Neptune conjunction --
you could read that as 'news from the sea'. If you're trying to figure out the
meaning of Mercury, you can always substitute the words 'message from' or 'news
about' and see how that works. At the same time, all the Aquarius references
vibrate with technology. This woman was not sailing around in a barrel; it was
a glorious example of scientific artistry. Mercury, Neptune and Aquarius make a
nice image of her sleek little sailing ship and its nervous system quickly
skating along the surface of the water.
The closest -- that is, the very next -- planetary aspect in
the chart is the Moon conjunct Venus. Here, we have a picture of the leading
actor, Ellen MacArthur. This is obvious intuitively, but when we suss out the
technicalities, the image works out nicely. Usually, the ruler of the ascendant
of the chart is the planet that symbolizes the question, the main event and in
this case, the person who is the subject of the chart. Because the ascendant is
Libra, that would be Venus in Aquarius.
Venus is about to be conjoined by the Moon. Notice that
Cancer, the sign ruled by the Moon, is on the 10th house cusp, at the very top
of the chart. The 10th is the house of achievement, reputation, status, and
standing in the world. Saturn in Cancer standing there, high on top of the
chart, is certainly an image of achievement on the high seas. The Moon, ruler
of both the 10th and of Saturn, becomes the representative of that house, and
we see that in the moment of arriving back home, it's like she's being blessed
by the Moon, the lord of the 10th.
The fact that the rulers of both the ascendant and the 10th
-- widely considered the most intense, important houses (also described as
angular houses) -- are in a conjunction speaks to how solid of an achievement
this really is.
Cancer, the Moon and Aquarius have something in common:
being representatives of 'the people'. They are all populist factors, and
certainly plenty of that energy is around. But there's an interesting feature
in this chart, which is that Saturn and the Moon occupy one another's signs. In
traditional astrology, Saturn rules Aquarius, and the Moon rules Cancer. These
planets are placed in one another's signs -- a somewhat rare condition called
mutual reception.
Opinions are all over the map on whether mutual reception is
helpful or not, and if we're using this chart as a test, in fact, she lived
through the trip, she broke the record, and when it was over, she got to dance
around on her ship with a big bottle of champagne spraying all over the place
and millions of friends and admirers sharing her achievement. Do we have
anything to complain about? It could have worked out a lot worse -- and in
truth, no better. So this is one example where we have to assume the mutual
reception was helpful.
Mutual reception is handy when you have a planet that's in a
sign which does not usually go along with that planet. For example, Saturn in
Cancer is not considered particularly strong in some instances (it is very
strong in others).
However, when we apply the mutual reception, Saturn goes to
the sign of its rulership, Aquarius. Also note, as the highest planet in the
chart, it's granted what is called 'accidental dignity' which in this case is
no joke.
If we follow the astrological rule 'mutual reception by
degree' -- that is, the planets switch signs, and keep their original degree --
we wind up with a very solid Sun-Saturn conjunction in Aquarius.
Now, what does this chart tell us that we could not find out
on BBC? I must take an intuitive leap. I think that this is a far greater
achievement than is being recognized, and that the repercussions will go
further, even though we may never see them. In the bizarre world of news (where
we typically hear about these things), the priorities of life are twisted
beyond recognition. So the full impact of achievements is not recognized,
because it has few opportunities to be recognized.
I propose that we're going to be hearing more from Ellen
MacArthur, and not just about sailing. I see her as some kind of honorary
international diplomat, a true woman of the world, whose ideas may become quite
valuable to the rest of us.
Certainly, we can consider what she has to say now.
The world is not a particularly easy place for anyone, but
most girls grow into women in the shadow of how allegedly great the great men
are. When a young woman does something this astonishing, this outrageous, this
'impossible' -- the message that goes out to the girls and the women of the
world is not just beautiful, it is indispensable. Trust me, I took plenty of
inspiration from Ellen's achievement, but I think it counts a lot more for
young girls who are growing up in a world where all they see (particularly in
the media) are negative messages. Ellen went a long way to show us something
else.
"I hope that through what I am doing at the moment,
through be determined about the goal, can show people that things can be
possible, it doesn't always go your way but it can be possible," she said
at her news conference Tuesday.
"That's something that I've always believed, so any way
I can take that forward let's hope that that's a positive thing."
 |
|||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |