Don't Worry, Bee Happy

By David Tavalin

Saturn strides into Virgo, the sign of the worker bee, on Labor Day weekend 2007 - which shows that the universe has a darn good sense of humor. With that in mind, we might as well remember that little chestnut from 1988 (actually it was a phrase from the guru Meher Baba so maybe he did have something deeper in mind). Ironically worry and bees are both ruled by Virgo, and while we are indeed worrying about the worldwide disappearance of bees as Saturn enters, hopefully that won’t bee the case when it finally leaves in July 2010. We’ll have bigger issues during the 2010’s to deal with (i.e. the volatile Saturn-Uranus-Pluto cardinal T-square on the world axis) so now’s a good time to get your ducks in a row.

The Scene

During the past three summers of Leo Strum und Drang, we saw our leaders shown to be mostly warped little men, intent on gratifying their own overdeveloped egos, courtesy of the disillusioning Saturn-Neptune opposition. The leaders of almost all of Europe (UK, France, Germany and Italy), Japan, Russia, Mexico, Cuba and Israel have been or will be soon voted out or forced to step down through lack of popular support or other issues. Here we see Saturn ending the cult (Pluto) of personality (Leo) that defined political life for the past generation, especially the past decade. Except for a notable few still left but in trouble (Mugabe and Kim Jong II) and our own autocratic executive branch (our royalty) led by Voldemort (Cheney) and the Death Eaters (the rest of the Bush administration), to use a Harry Potter metaphor, our leaders are dying and ineffective.

Real heroes emerged as those with the courage (a Leo word) of their convictions like Cindy Sheehan, the whistleblowers in the government and military, brave journalists, Patrick Fitzgerald, the Navy lawyer for the Hamdan case. They risked their careers, freedom and even lives (Anna Politkovskaya) exposing the sins of autocratic leaders. Look at the brave ordinary people of Nepal who overthrew their despotic and ineffective King (and signs of protest are finally hitting Burma). Thankfully J.K. Rowling, Helen Mirren, and Martha Stewart all exhibited the wonderful qualities of Leo that entitles them to royal status.

Here in Neptune in Aquarius America, in sharp contrast, the adventures of the royal court at the end of the gilded age (Lindsay, Paris and Britney) have now become trite (celebrity cocaine problem – shocker!). The party literally has been ending in New York with only one decent nightclub left, and even Ibiza in Spain recently had a curtailed party season with the authorities harassing and closing clubs. Well, at least maybe bling, bottle service and mohawks will go out of style and more modest crewcuts and work wear will return – hopefully made by workers who get a living wage.

So we transition this fall, with not only Saturn moving into Virgo, but a whole parade of planets including the Sun and Mercury kicked off with a powerful solar eclipse on 9/11 given added strength by a mutable grand cross. This is also bookended by a rare Venus Retrograde in Virgo and Leo and back into Virgo again. A quick scan of Saturn’s ingress into new signs since the beginning of the 20th century shows only one more powerful Saturn ingress, which was the 1962 Aquarian stellium also kicked off by an eclipse. We are at least familiar with the Virgo-Pisces energy since the eclipses have been falling along that axis since March 2006 through Feb 2008.

The Venus Retrograde shows the true meaning of this transition, which is to strip away any pretenses that Leo is prone to. If Leo is the king then the true king learns how to serve humbly like Virgo. Whatever you have learned to value (Venus) with your heart (Leo) during Saturn-in-Leo, will be made pure by elimination, workmanship and dedication. A diamond does not have value until the quiet experts in Amsterdam polish it until it is a gem. Venus and Saturn are also very connected since Saturn is exalted in Libra, a sign ruled by Venus. Any relationships will come out much stronger through this tough period – there is no “I” (Leo) in team (Libra).

You now have two years to polish the diamond so it shines for when Saturn enters Libra and goes above the horizon on the natural chart with Aries on the ascendant. Whatever was started has roots in 1996 when Saturn entered Aries. Also on the natural wheel, earth manifests (a Saturn word) what is born of fire. We also have Jupiter and Pluto moving into Capricorn so a huge amount of earth energy will be coming in along with Saturn.

The Players

Personally, I adore and am continually amazed by Virgos, whose incisive minds belie a wonderful wit and intelligence and a dedication to work. They also have a goodness and compassion in their hearts that is rare and wonderful (this though can become a downfall). Virgos born from 1962-1969 have a little extra twist with Uranus and/or Pluto conjoining their Suns making them mini Aquarians or Scorpios.

Even naturally Virgo is a very complex sign, and many astrologers associate the rulership of Chiron and the asteroids to Virgo. Eleanor Bach and Demetra George both assign rulership of the asteroids – at least Ceres and Vesta. Ceres has the agricultural associations in common (though her death-rebirth issues are related to Scorpio).

Vesta is appropriate as well with the constant work of tending to the sacred fire of the hearth. Certainly there is much more than can be explained by solely Mercury as the ruler of the sign, especially compared to Gemini which has a different Mercurial quality, which is impish until it matures. Virgo is an earth sign tied to nature and very process-oriented. There is usually some affinity with health issues as well being the natural ruler of the 6th house.

Virgos come with a deep innate wisdom. There is a sad beauty related to this sign as well, somehow knowing about the cycle of life. In numerology it is related to the number 9, which is a karmic number signifying the end of the cycle. Mercury was the only god allowed to travel down to the realm of Hades unscathed, and thus Virgo being the night ruler of Mercury in traditional astrology does make sense.

The Tarot card ascribed to Virgo is The Hermit which signifies a practical wisdom born of worldly experience. Think of Gandalf, Dumbledore, Obi-wan Kenobi/Yoda and Mother Teresa as modern archetypes of this. In Hajo Banzhaf’s Tarot and the Journey of the Hero, the end of the journey is indeed The Hermit, then the final three redemptive cards of The Sun, Judgment and The World. You come to rest in yourself and then shine in the light of service for others once you have reached your own mountaintop. Notice the landscape of the card is similar to the Fool – both on a cliff’s edge – but the Fool looks out onto the unknown while the Hermit looks out onto the known. There is a connection to the young hero (the fool) in all these stories: Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins, Luke Skywalker and Princess Diana respectively.

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