Friday, July 13, 2007

Horizons

New Moon in Cancer and the setting sun.
The culmination of the beautiful summer sunsets is here. The consistency and rhythm of these natural events are great comfort in an uncertain world. No matter how many times I experience sunsets, they always stop me in my tracks. The mesmerization is forever present. Few things in my life are as continually fulfilling after that many repeats. A perfect cookie will even lose it's glamour after several eatings.
I've yet to find any written or spoken words that can adequately describe the colors of the setting sun. It shines yellow-white and predictable throughout the day and then meets the night in a splendorous drama of color and dance. What have we done right to get this continuing unconditional pleasure?
I got to thinking about the sunset and horizons. The meeting of earth and sky represents the future, the journey ahead, or at least the imaginary place we want to go. It's interesting that this place would be so beautiful, deep, and rich. So elegant.
Then why are people afraid of the future?

I believe I'll watch the twilight and think about it.
Photo: Jeff Goldberg

29 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

But for the glittering city lights, that could almost be a Maxfield Parrish painting. Beautiful.

13/7/07 6:35 PM  
Blogger jm said...

Joe, I love your appreciation of the visuals, not to mention your active participation. And your library of knowledge..:-)

The eye's appetite.

13/7/07 7:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

JM and tseka, thank you both so much for your kind words of wisdom and support. You will never really know how much it truly helps.

My grandmother quietly passed on earlier this evening. I wasn't there at the time, but I was told she went very peacefully. Certainly as best as we could have hoped that she would. I know she is in a better place now, "free at last!" as she would say, but I still miss her already and I can't believe that she is gone. Talk about a Saturn Return.

14/7/07 12:04 AM  
Blogger jm said...

Neo. Neo, Neo, Neo.
Thank you so much for including me in this experience. They are so brave to face it. So are we. Death is something.

And astrology. I've told you that my father died on the exact opposition to my Saturn by Uranus. It's mind-boggling, these orchestrations, and those of us who are lucky enough to know astrology get to feel it with this added dimension.

I feel connected to you. Something has been in me in the last 24 hours I couldn't understand. Tonight it seemed to pass. Just now, in fact. I came down and logged on, and here was your news. I can't help but feel it's time for a step ahead for me as well, on the heels of my Saturn return. Again, thank you.

I feel very good about your grandmother. No wonder you were sick sensing this coming. It's wonderful that she died so easily. A graceful woman, and she seemed to love you particularly, which says a lot.

The suddenness of the loss is incomprehensible. There're there, and then poof.
The sorrow of missing them never goes away, and why should it?

I believe they go at exactly the right time in order to give the living confidence. They know just when we can carry on without them. They leave legacies that are beyond what we realize. they leave renewed life behind.

The fact that she left you exactly on your Saturn return says everything about your talent, abilities, lovability, and what's important. You were esteemed by her. You will do well. You might be surprised.

There is a lot ahead and I'm sending my understanding to you and your family as you work together on this great journey.
I'm glad you're there.
I'm very interested in your perceptions of the process that will be unfolding, so please come and elaborate. Especially as regards your Saturn In Leo. You seemed to have studied it.

I love you, man. You helped me through a hard time way back then.

14/7/07 2:54 AM  
Blogger jm said...

Another thing to behold is how she left you just on the new Moon in Cancer. Big vote. She really liked you. Something about your dad too.

14/7/07 3:01 AM  
Blogger NEO said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

14/7/07 3:40 AM  
Blogger NEO said...

(Sorry JM, about the deleted comment. I just had some paragraph spacing issues.)

I think I remember you telling me/us about your father, jm. It's really something, isn't it? The Moon was just a few minutes over my Ascendant when she passed. I don't remember exactly when my sister told me the news. It's all a blur right now, but something was definitely in the air.

First there was the surprise. You know, you always think you are prepared for it. But nothing can really prepare you. Then sadness. I thought about it all and cried for awhile. Then I thought to myself, you know, she's out of pain and really in a better place. I'm sure that I could even hear her whisper in my ear that she was perfectly ok. And then I kinda smiled.

You and I... we do seem to have a connection. You've been right on about so much in my life. I didn't even think about the sickness I had on Sunday in the way you described it. It does make sense.

I believe they go at exactly the right time in order to give the living confidence. They know just when we can carry on without them. They leave legacies that are beyond what we realize. they leave renewed life behind.

The fact that she left you exactly on your Saturn return says everything about your talent, abilities, love nature, and path ahead in your life. She had great confidence in you. You will do well. You might be surprised.


Wow... that's so beautiful and really something! It makes so much sense. Her passing does seem very timely, from my perspective at least. I've was just trying to find parallels in the charts of my relatives, but nothing quite as exact. Maybe the true realizations will come for them later? Not of course to say that they are grieving any less, but many of them... my mother included have some of what we might call the more "challenging" Saturn aspects coming up in August, relatively close together. It's probably not a coincidence. Saturn will be squaring my Mother's late Scorpio Moon, and will shortly after be conjunct her sister and brothers suns, all in late Leo/early Virgo.

Another great thing is that she left you just on the new moon in Cancer. Big vote there. She really liked you.

I'm speechless, JM. I just don't know what to say.

I love you, man. You helped me through a hard time way back then.

I'm glad I could, and I know you've said that before, though I don't even remember what I did. Was it something that I said? Words of encouragement? Whatever it was, I'm sure I was just passing along the kindness I learned from my grandmother.

14/7/07 3:49 AM  
Blogger NEO said...

Her passing really touched them both. Both my parents in particular who were there when it happened. My mom wanted to hold all of her emotion back but couldn't, and my Dad couldn't help but feel it as well. I guess that's where I get mine from. Mom doesn't like showing her emotions much, being the Lunar Scorpio that she is, but I told her that it's nothing to be ashamed of. Grandma would certainly understand.

14/7/07 3:52 AM  
Blogger jm said...

I've was just trying to find parallels in the charts of my relatives, but nothing quite as exact.

There's the clue. You were special to her. Saturn will make you feel like you owe it to her to do your best. Live up to the pride of your Mars-Saturn in Leo that she recognized.
Death is a revealing moment and people react differently. Afterwards, too, as some truths about them emerge. Keep your notebook handy.

14/7/07 4:04 AM  
Blogger jm said...

I'm glad I could, and I know you've said that before, though I don't even remember what I did. Was it something that I said? Words of encouragement?

I'll put it this way, neo. You liked me and admired me when I was not at my best behavior. Now that's an achievement. Either you saw beyond it, or you just enjoyed talking with me that much.
The lazy, pleasurable, undistracted conversations we had late at night were wonderful. Rational, well written, civil, gentle,informative, easy to follow, easy to respond to, not quarrelsome, and yes, kind. I like these things. You were a comfort to me. When all the hysteria went to bed for the night.

And you did sort of defend me subtlely a time or two. Very suave. A belated thanks for all of it..:-)

14/7/07 4:13 AM  
Blogger jm said...

I just had some paragraph spacing issues.

Ha ha ha! I have those and much more.

One thing I'm so struck by is the knowledge in the death experiences. Everybody partakes to a different degree, but it's vast.

I think the transits at the time of death are important clues to our next steps if not the rest of our lives. These people know us, whether they know it or not.

So I think this is a way for them to communicate directives, the real ones we need, not the ones they tried to push while they were alive. I read the transits closely. It's another birth in a way. This one important transference of information.
When my man died, for example, the Moon was conjunct Saturn in Aries. No doubt about that one. No sirreee. Then my mother followed with another Moon in Aries. I'd have to be pretty thick not to get it.

It's really stunning.

14/7/07 4:26 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Neo, my sympathy as well. What interesting astrological timing in re: the Moon.

My grandmother died in April of 1993, I believe, and it was a quiet transition after a few years of illness. I remember missing her terribly all that year, but on the next Samhain Eve, a.k.a. Halloween, I had a very vivid dream. The finer details are blurred by the passage of time, but I was in a countryside with rolling hills and grasses, and it seemed to be twilight or evening, but there were no stars and no Sun or Moon. There were wild horses grazing or capering about. And I remember my grandmother standing in front of me, smiling and looking radiant and youthful, yet different in a subtle way. She told me, "I don't want you to cry for me anymore." I know she said more but I don't remember the rest. Then I woke up, smiling.

The date was significant, of course. I like to think I was granted a visit to the Summerland on the night when the boundaries between worlds is thinner.

Oddly enough, of my grandfather, who passed away just a year before, I have not sensed the smallest presence nor had the slightest dream. Strange. Sometimes I wonder if he just moved right on to his next life and didn't have "time" to linger.

14/7/07 4:57 AM  
Blogger jm said...

Another thing to note here is the Cancer-Aquarius connection I was talking about on the previous post and this new moon. Here we are sharing real family experiences and feelings with the collective on this electronic medium in realtime, shedding a different light on things and adding all this learning. Comforting one another for no reasons other than want within the distance of Aquarius. Including others, stretching the perimeters of the tribe. Who knows what will result? It's all so new. It's absolutely amazing to me. New dimensions, new frontiers.

I think the churches used to do this job (sharing with the community), so this could be a sign of the changes introduced by Pluto through Sagittarius.

14/7/07 5:18 AM  
Blogger jm said...

She told me, "I don't want you to cry for me anymore." I know she said more but I don't remember the rest.

That is so amazing joe. So amazing. Interesting how you singled the statement out.
I need another lifetime for all of this.

14/7/07 5:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

heh, I know just what you mean. She came to visit one more time, when I returned to where she had lived and died. We spent the night nearby, my SO and I, and it had been an emotionally draining day b/c the home she and my grandfather built was to be demolished to make way for some mega-mansion. So I was upset and restless, obviously. That night, she came by, just fleetingly, altho I never saw her with my physical eyes. My SO says he sensed something in the room, and in the morning, we put it together that she had been by. Since then, nothing further, so I suspect she's moved on because I got the closure I needed.

And you're right about churches and their former role. Now we're wiser, older and need the structure of the churches less and less, as Pluto in Cap is starting to show. Look how most other religions have shrugged off Pope Benedict and his ridiculous retro assertions that all other faiths are invalid. "Oh those Catholics..." is what I'm hearing from others. Tolerant amusement, for the most part.

14/7/07 6:00 AM  
Blogger Tseka said...

Oh my friends what beautiful hearts you all have.

Neo, i adore you, i do not have jm's knowledge of astrology but i have always been drawn to you in just the same ways she describes; the intelligence the civility the genuine good heart. In you i find the hope i'm looking for to bring the future i desire.

I have a thing about the wisdom of the grandmothers, those of us who know it, remember. They guide us to portal we pass through for attaining our own wisdom.

Joe!
oh i'm awash.

14/7/07 6:32 AM  
Blogger Diane L said...

My grandmother quietly passed on earlier this evening. I wasn't there at the time, but I was told she went very peacefully. Certainly as best as we could have hoped that she would. I know she is in a better place now, "free at last!" as she would say, but I still miss her already and I can't believe that she is gone. Talk about a Saturn Return.

My heart goes out to you, Neo. Some transitions are just not easy - no matter how prepared we think we are. My mom died in March of this year when transiting Uranus in my 4th was inconjunct to my Moon. I'm also in the final waning phase of my second Saturn Return - and looking forward to Saturn's move into Virgo!

I will say that my mom's passing has been very freeing in some fundamental way. My relationship with my father is blossoming and that's a joy! Plus the energy that went to her is now free to move outward to many others. There is no limit to the well of love (Saturn in Leo conjunct Pluto)

14/7/07 8:18 AM  
Blogger Diane L said...

And I remember my grandmother standing in front of me, smiling and looking radiant and youthful, yet different in a subtle way. She told me, "I don't want you to cry for me anymore." I know she said more but I don't remember the rest. Then I woke up, smiling.


Joe, you are a treasure!! No two ways about it. This is a wonderful story and thank you so much for sharing it with us.

Donna Cunningham talks about Pluto ruled sorts as being natural mediums . . . I don't know quite what to make of that but it seems to fit with your story! :-)

14/7/07 8:21 AM  
Blogger jm said...

I have a thing about the wisdom of the grandmothers

This is what makes me wonder about the patriarchical world rulership idea. I've never believed it as you know. Money doesn't equal real power. Simple experiences like this reveal more ancient power hierarchies in reality. There is something undeniable about the strength of a grandmother in a family. Lasting influence is power. Molding of character is power. Memory is power.

I will say that my mom's passing has been very freeing in some fundamental way

One of the great parts of the experience, which is why I look at the transits as their gifts, and the time they go as right.

Saturns in Leo often have an exceptional love of someone in the family who taught them about it.

In you i find the hope i'm looking for to bring the future i desire.

This is power.

14/7/07 1:37 PM  
Blogger jm said...

Saturn in Virgo will be a chance to process and assimilate all the dramatic events we were busy just experiencing in Leo. Time to break it down for usage. Saturn will be the mission leader for Pluto in Capricorn so a lot of organization is ahead.

14/7/07 1:50 PM  
Blogger jm said...

She told me, "I don't want you to cry for me anymore." I know she said more but I don't remember the rest. Then I woke up, smiling.

I think all the dead remain in spirit and every one of us is a medium to receive the messages that the living relationships interfered with. Some more than others are conduits to ourselves. We, ourselves, are the creators of these experiences, given form through memory and imagination. All Cancer things. So dying is essential to living in many many ways.

The end of crying is the south node in Cancer and this is what struck me. I wonder about this relationship in terms of joe's Capricorn adult achievement just ahead. It's no mistake that this came up at this Cancer time, and Mercury just direct.

Astrology is by far the best way to know the psyche, and the psyche maps our lives. Nothing comes anywhere close.

14/7/07 2:00 PM  
Blogger jm said...

There were wild horses grazing or capering about.

The more I think about it, the more I think horses must symbolize carriers to the future. The centaur of Sagittarius is the bridge evolutionarily. I've said many times how significant I feel this Pluto transit was.

We always associate horses and their riders with going off into the sunset, the horizon where our futures await. The Western United States figures in and every day I'm reading in the paper more amazing developments here in the west that might lead us on to new horizons, a lot of it around energy sources and usage.

Exactly timed deaths, astrologically, remind me of this turning wheel beyond ordinary perception. The one I've always counted on for my optimism.

14/7/07 2:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's interesting about the horses, jm, because I always puzzled about that one. No other animal came to my attention during that brief dream, and she was never a horse rider that I know of. I assumed it was related to the legend of the Summerland, or the Land of Youth, or Elysian Fields, or what have you.

14/7/07 5:23 PM  
Blogger jm said...

It's significant because you remember it joe. I think the symbolism is entirely subjective.
It's interesting how we think about these things for a lifetime. Sometimes the puzzle solution comes later.

Could you give me synopses on the Legend of the Summerland and the Land of Youth? I don't know these, and I love horses.

14/7/07 7:10 PM  
Blogger meristem said...

Volume isn't necessary or even preferred:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFNGtYYvMAw

y'all may have already seen this but it makes my heart swell every time




(btw: i have been thoroughly engaged in all the conversations, ups and downs, grace and wisdom and human beauty going on around here lately and it has been inspiring and touching and mind-bending. I feel like a self-appointed court jester just now with the need to pop in and jingle some bells, not totally unrelated. everything that needs to be said is being said and i concur so i am silent. except for the pointy shoes, checkers, stripes and bells.....)

best to you all!

14/7/07 9:32 PM  
Blogger NEO said...

There's the clue. You were special to her. Saturn will make you feel like you owe it to her to do your best. Live up to the pride of your Mars-Saturn in Leo that she recognized.


I do definitely feel this. Mom brought up some things later in the evening after Grandma passed. She had told Grandma earlier (weeks or months?) about my plans and Grandma really approved of them. She said I should go and that I would do very well. I suspect she probably knew all along that I wasn't going all that far from home (a mere couple of hours now), but that it would work out all the same as if I had and perhaps better still.

I'll put it this way, neo. You liked me and admired me when I was not at my best behavior. Now that's an achievement. Either you saw beyond it, or you just enjoyed talking with me that much.

Hmm... I guess I never really gave it much thought, jm. I never saw anything negative in you, and I still don't. Only the positive! You were (and of course still and always are) one of the most upbeat and optimistic individuals whom I have had the pleasure of meeting. That alone I think set you apart in my book and attracted me to you. ;-) I couldn't help but enjoy talking with you. You were a positive influence upon me at a time when I was looking for more of them in my life.

It's been quite a journey for me since a big spiritual awakening/turning point I experienced back in 1999. The events of the past few days for me have really reframed that, and so much else.

The lazy, pleasurable, undistracted conversations we had late at night were wonderful. Rational, well written, civil, gentle,informative, easy to follow, easy to respond to, not quarrelsome, and yes, kind. I like these things. You were a comfort to me. When all the hysteria went to bed for the night.

Very very much so. It's definitely a mutual feeling.

And you did sort of defend me subtlely a time or two. Very suave. A belated thanks for all of it..:-)

I don't even remember that. ;-) But I'm sure I'd do it again without even thinking about it.

One thing I'm so struck by is the knowledge in the death experiences. Everybody partakes to a different degree, but it's vast.

I think the transits at the time of death are important clues to our next steps if not the rest of our lives. These people know us, whether they know it or not.


Grandma definitely did in life and now in death. Her words and guidance have given me a certain clarity just now that I didn't have before. And the strength to press forward in that clarity.

So I think this is a way for them to communicate directives, the real ones we need, not the ones they tried to push while they were alive. I read the transits closely. It's another birth in a way. This one important transference of information.
When my man died, for example, the Moon was conjunct Saturn in Aries. No doubt about that one. No sirreee. Then my mother followed with another Moon in Aries. I'd have to be pretty thick not to get it.

It's really stunning.


Truly, it is!

Joe, thank you, and thank you for sharing your amazing experience as well. On a similar level I can definitely relate to it.

Neo, i adore you, i do not have jm's knowledge of astrology but i have always been drawn to you in just the same ways she describes; the intelligence the civility the genuine good heart. In you i find the hope i'm looking for to bring the future i desire.

Thank you, tseka! Okay, now I think I'm blushing! I try. You know, somedays its much easier to be and show it than others. This was one of the rough days. I actually went back to work on my weekend job, something Grandma would want me to do even though I didn't have to. But my emotions are still a little raw. I had to withdraw from a more usual level of interactivity until towards the end of the day. I guess I just needed a little more time to reflect.

I have a thing about the wisdom of the grandmothers, those of us who know it, remember. They guide us to portal we pass through for attaining our own wisdom.

Very, very true! I couldn't agree with you more.

neith, thank you also for your kind words, experience and insight. All of it helps, and helps wonderfully. Thank you.

15/7/07 2:35 AM  
Blogger jm said...

Mersistem, you're a sprite. An angel.

Neo, You are something.

15/7/07 4:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The tales of the Summerland, called in Irish Tir na n-Óg (cheer na nogue) or "Land of the Young" is similar to the Greek myth of Elysium, or the idea of Paradise.

I'm not crazy about how often Wikipedia has become a way for some to revise history, but
this summary
will suffice for this topic. :o)

15/7/07 10:02 AM  
Blogger kj said...

Hey, late to the wake, but leaving fresh tea for anyone wandering by.

17/7/07 5:49 AM  

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