Tears of Pisces

Last week I mentioned that I stumbled upon Mary Plumb’s “Cry, baby, cry” blog from 2010 and wanted to share it with you today. Its message about Chiron can be felt deeply this week with Sun opposite Neptune in Pisces. So, come wail with us and embrace the catharsis of crying. Submerge into your senses and ask what the waters of your soul are seeking in this moment.

-Rae Sapp 

Cry, baby, Cry:

I’m writing more personally today, with apologies in advance to those who prefer a more objective approach.

April 20 was Chiron’s entry into Pisces, the day of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion. Chiron is the shamanic journey, the wisest teacher, and the traveler out of ordinary time. Pisces’s greatest strength is to open the doors of perception, and, if conditions are lined up, can bring a glimpse of interconnectedness.

Last week I was listening to early news reports about the oil spill: the scramble to figure out what was happening and the impending economic catastrophe that it would bring. After the technical and business commentators, an environmentalist spoke of the water, the complexity of the sea life, and the fragile coastline. When he mentioned the sea turtles, I started sobbing. I know nothing about sea turtles, but somehow their plight and vulnerability opened me up to a grievous sorrow for the whole sea life.

There is often some distress at the heart of Pisces, especially with Chiron newly into the sign, and I felt a crack open into an experience of a deep sorrow. I pulled myself together and got on with things after awhile, eased that I had had a deep cry. As a Pisces Sun, I am finding that it is the willingness to allow myself to feel that seems to keep me upright and moving in some semblance of “forward” these days — on most days, that is.

To consider another recent change in the heavens: Ceres moved into Capricorn on March 19, and it squared the Sun at 0º Aries at the spring equinox on March 20. A square demands attention and the equinox chart sets the stage for the year. Although building for months, the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland quickened dramatically on March 20, just as Ceres ingressed into Capricorn. Pluto, the powerful lord of the underworld, has been committed to the sign of moving earth since November 2008.

Pluto rules hidden things and the journey into darkness to see what is there. Ceres is the goddess of grain and all that flowers on the Earth. She is known as the goddess of agriculture and is connected to the environment. And now, as she travels with Pluto, we are witnessing acute devastation to the environment. Ceres moved slowly to 4º Capricorn, where she stationed on April 28, and stays within a degree of Pluto until early June, when she retrogrades back into Sagittarius until conjoining Pluto again in October.

I’m remembering Demeter/Ceres’ grief and devastation at the loss of her beloved daughter, Persephone. She is the deep mothering principle and sustainer of life, while Pluto’s fate is that of destroyer (and creator). These two together suggest a grievous loss, the deep pain of attachments and separations.

I called an old friend today who was born with Ceres conjunct Pluto in the natal chart to talk with her about this. She said she has felt deep sorrow recently about not being with her eldest daughter and her new, first grandchild. She then spoke about feeling the Earth (she has the natal Sun, Venus, and Mercury in Taurus) and her grief at the extreme pollution. She’s lived in Hawaii for much of her life and talked to me about seeing lava as the blood of the Earth and her sense that Gaia herself is grieving.

Later, on the day of my Chiron in Pisces/sea turtle meltdown, I went for a walk by the creek and sat for a while by the water pummeling over the astonishingly green mossy rocks (Oregon is beautiful!). The vibrancy of bubbling water reminded me of the cardinal signs starting to come on strongly with the imminent great leap of Jupiter and Uranus into Aries.

Meanwhile, the oil erupting from the Deepwater Horizon spill continues at 25,000 barrels a day with no containment in sight. I spoke tonight with another old friend who has engineering in his background and Chiron conjunct the Ascendant in the natal chart. This gentleman told me that there are creative technologies waiting to be tested and utilized to help contain the oil spill. Here’s to Jupiter and Uranus bringing revolutionary technologies into the world, right when needed!

In the park that day, walking back from my time at the rocks, I overheard two young men saying goodbye to one another. There was a closeness in the air and one fellow said to the other with great certainty in his voice, “Don’t worry; something good will come of this.”

I took that as a mantra for those moments when the sad and grievous seem pervasive.

I feel that grief also allows for more joy, more real presence and awareness of the whole picture, and may be a needed part of the feminine re-balancing that many are experiencing and writing about.

P.S. Anyone out there feeling the need to stimulate a good cry and propitiate Chiron in Pisces, here’s a suggestion: Cats

-Mary Plumb