The Earth is the original holos, a complex system of interrelationships that adds up to more than the sum of the parts.
For those who appreciate the concept ‘holistic’, I have some astrology news for you — Chiron in Pisces. We think of holistic as something like going to a naturopathic doctor, though it has much wider implications. Here is a succinct Wikipedia definition. The concept of holistic (from holos, a Greek word meaning all, whole, entire, total) is the idea that the properties of a given system (physical, biological, chemical, social, economic, mental, linguistic, etc.) cannot be determined or explained by its component parts alone. Instead, the system as a whole determines in an important way how the parts behave. Or, looked at another way, every ‘part’ contains the whole or represents an accurate picture of the whole system.
As of Tuesday morning, April 20, Chiron is now in Pisces for the first time since the 1960s. It made its ingress within hours of the Sun entering Taurus. Still considered a new element by most astrologers, this small body was discovered orbiting our Sun in 1977. Chiron has a strange orbit; it spends just 18 months in a sign when close to the Sun (as it did in the mid-1990s) and seven to nine years in a sign when distant from the Sun (as it is doing now). This makes a sign-change a particularly special occasion at this point, and Chiron in Pisces arrives with a new feeling, shifted sense of reality and a new healing agenda.
The Aquarius-Pisces cusp, where Chiron is now (on the Pisces side, as of today), is a part of the zodiac that is about whole-systems consciousness. These are signs near the end of the story of the zodiac, and as a result they take on vast topics and have a long history. The mental/intellectual quality of Aquarius and the creative/intuitive attribute of Pisces together expand our awareness and help us see ourselves and our issues from a viewpoint that is distinct from what we think of as individual. Chiron’s presence here calls our attention to the necessity to see ourselves as part of something larger than ourselves, and subtler than the physical world.
At first these shifts may be difficult to discern, though they are likely to be a new form of a message you’ve been getting for a while. Chiron is, for many, a background presence. Consider that for the five years that Chiron was in Aquarius, we saw a gradual explosion of Internet use — but the change is subtle unless you consider it all at once. Most places it’s more than doubled the past few years, and the number of portable devices seems to be growing faster than anyone can keep track. Usage of Facebook has surpassed Google. That’s an image of Chiron in Aquarius: a vast web of interconnectivity.
Pisces addresses even larger systems, which don’t necessarily need as much technology to hold them up, and Chiron tends to enhance our experience of any sign that it’s transiting. Think of the Internet as a simplistic model of something that already exists: the subtle sphere of consciousness that is biopsychic — the web of life that connects everything and everyone. What if we tuned into our ability to connect with that level of awareness, as a natural experience?
In many respects, Chiron in Aquarius has been a study in form — the particular form that communication takes, such as what kind of device or networking system is used. Pisces is about the content; the creative dimension, which will be emphasized by Chiron’s presence here. Many people fear that they’re not creative; Chiron says it’s about consciously wanting the experience, and then directing one’s awareness there.
This creativity factor involves our relationship to what we think of as God or to our spiritual source. We tend to live as if separated from that source (something easily discerned by observing ourselves and others as we make decisions). Chiron is calling us to full awareness of either direct contact, or our sense that we lack contact. This way we can start taking steps to get what we need and healing issues that can only be resolved through a full-awareness approach.
On the way there, we’re likely to encounter the denial factor, which is the shadow side of Pisces. We know that we deny plenty just to get through the day, and much else besides because it’s inconvenient or threatens our concept of the world. Chiron in Pisces is likely to serve as a force that pulls back the veil and reveals the truth of many issues we would prefer not to look at. Most of them involve the interrelationships between the levels of society and ecology: how advertising pushes us toward ecological destruction; how abuse of mood stabilizers alters our involvement in politics or the economy; how many of us shape our self-image through video games, fashion ads and TV commercials, and aren’t even especially concerned about this. Yet are these really the exemplars we want to be using? And if not, what do we want to hold as an example?
Through July 20, we have a warm-up of Chiron in Pisces. Then Chiron will retrograde back into Aquarius, where it will stay until February 2011, when it returns to Pisces for the next eight years — to be our constant companion through whatever it is that we are calling 2012.
To find our more about Eric Francis and his work, visit: http://planetwaves.net/
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