Coherent Fields

On Mercury's station and the Venus/Jupiter conjunction in Cancer

“hearthmathmachines”

“There are two directions in modern thinking: moving up to erudition or moving down to the indigenous.”

-James HIllman

In the year 1925—just a few years before the previous 4th Turning—Carl Jung took a trip to America and was persuaded to hop into a Chevrolet K-series with the eccentric linguist James Angelo and John D. Rockefeller’s grandson, Fowler McCormick, for a drive through the desert to Taos, NM. The purpose of the trip was to give Jung a chance to meet Antonio Mirabal (also known as Ochwiay Biano or Mountain Lake; a Taos Pueblo elder). The encounter was one of the most transformational experiences in Jung’s life. He writes about the experience in Memories, Dreams, and Reflections:

“I had the extraordinary sensation that I was talking to an Egyptian priest of the fifteenth century before Christ. ”

Part of what shook Jung out of his head and into his heart was an observation Mirabal had about the white man. His critique went something like this:

“Mirabal talked openly about how he felt about white culture, starting with his perception of the features of the white man: thin lips, sharp noses, and cruel dispositions, giving them the appearance of birds of prey. White people were restless, Mirabal said, as they were searching for what they couldn’t find. “We do not understand them. We think they are mad” he told Jung, adding that “whites believed they thought with their heads,” when everyone at the Pueblo knew thinking comes from the heart.”

An arrow shot straight into the heart of all of us. We THINK we have an idea of what’s going on—of what the planets are saying to us—but do we really know? I would argue that we can only get close to true gnosis by checking our heads at the door and opening our hearts to the mystery of what is actually happening. As we’ve heard before: the longest journey is from the head to the heart; this is where we find meaning in the coherent fields unseen, yet felt without question.

I share this tale on the eve of Mercury stationing direct (Leo) and the lovely Venus/Jupiter conjunction (Cancer) not too far behind. This story of Jung was unknown to me until recently (in fact, I learned of it on the Mercury cazimi), and it has had quite the impact on me. Jung was a man who clearly took the path of erudition. We look up to him for this. His work is unparalleled, yet to have just one day with a “real human” changed his thinking (and heart) for a lifetime. I’m no Jungian, but I have a deep admiration for Jung. This story only deepens it. It’s a story to help us keep our minds and hearts open, and to develop a healthy suspicion of heady academics, experts in any field, and to keep alive a curiosity about what those from other cultures have to teach us about being human.

When Mercury stations direct, there is a certain clarity that accompanies the change of direction. It always happens in the morning sky, and it’s always amongst the sprouts of new ideas within the fresh synodic cycle. The hope is that we have been claimed by a Big Idea—a concept that is meant to guide us from sky to sky, around the sun, steadily rewiring our thinking. Did you catch it? Again, it happened in Leo, so where did it fall in your chart? What aspects did it make? Has it brought any clarity yet into that area of your life? Has it opened your heart (Leo)?

And then we have the Venus/Jupiter conjunction on the 12th of August. This yearly encounter happens in the morning sky as well. When the two ‘beneficis’ gather, it’s usually a sweet spot moment, but not all growth is good growth. Too much thinking, too much socializing, too much drama, too much of anything falls within their field. It can easily bring us out of coherence. Careful when thinking about this too much as well. There is grace to the transit, just like when it happened in January of 1925 for Jung, yet it can also force us to expand into uncomfortable terrain we may not want to explore. Usually, we must say yes. It’s a ‘yes’ transit.

The heart is more than a pump; it’s also a sensory organ. Its electromagnetic field is far greater than that of the brain. It picks up information much faster—and much more accurately—than the brain does. This is an invitation to not just think about, but to apply to your relationship to the world—and those beyond. Astrology only makes sense from this angle. The logical mind will never get it. And so we feel our way through it, avoiding the daggers of critique along the way. There is a lot to learn from abandoning the upward slope of erudition and instead descending into the realm of the Soul. All people of the land understand this. Hopefully, we will too….someday.

Enjoy the auspicious start to the week with these lovely transits. Spot them before the sunrise if you can.

~adam

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