Price of Discovery

...On the themes of this Mercury in Sagittarius cycle

Henry navigates without leaving land by me, not DALL-E

“It is doubtless the effect of the eternal laws of motion that ruins must fall upon the earth. Everything is as it should be:

-Voltaire

On the morning of November 1st of 1755, a 9 magnitude earthquake a hundred miles off the southwest coast of Portugal shook the world. First, the buildings came down. Then Lisbon caught fire due to the millions of candles lit that morning for the All Saints Day celebrations. And then came the 20ft tsunami. The destruction was a hellscape. 20% of the population perished. Strangely, Mercury was also in its pre-shadow for its upcoming retrograde in the sign of Sagittarius—precisely where we are now.

I’m currently in the Algarve. On a recent trip to Sagres (the southwest tip of Europe where much of the shipbuilding for the Age of Discovery took place) I came to learn more about this tragedy. It also happened to be the day of the cazmi for our current Merc (mercury cycle). When I pulled up the chart for that fated morning, it immediately got me thinking about our time vs. then in the context of the height of the Portuguese empire and all their seafaring conquests.

study that ascendant; Jupiter, the ruler of the moment, was also Rx in Gemini, just like now

Now, I am not predicting another horrific event like this to take place during this retrograde. However, it was quite strange that the day after I made this little discovery, there was indeed a tsunami warning for northern California, which thankfully got called off (wyrd!?). What I am trying to do here is two things: 1. point at the strange way Mercury works with information; 2. explore what the debate was then and also is now about Divine influence vs. Reason.

In the wake of the Lisbon earthquake, there were many who felt it was God punishing them for their greed and fallen ways, which had reached a fever pitch at that point in Portuguese society. For over 200 years, they had been extracting resources and people from places like Brazil, India, and Africa to enrich their country, a pattern that wasn’t isolated to them, they were just the best at it up to that point. Interesting to note that Pluto was also about to move into Aquarius then. Only 20 years later, the US declared its independence from the crown and began its ascent in this current Pluto cycle.

In our own lives, I think we all wrestle with philosophical questions of God’s retribution or Nature’s reasons, Fate vs. Free Will, and the Universe working out its mysteries or random chance. When we are in Sag season with a new Merc burning with these questions, we are forced to wrestle with these gods. As students of astrology, it’s important we not only study the charts but also accept all our circumstances. All was set into motion the moment we took our first breaths. It’s best to accept our lot and do our best to find meaning in it.

Having survived the most intense political season in memory, we all now must adjust to the new terrain. No matter what we believe, it’s important to accept the circumstances and do our best to navigate these seas with as much strength and faith as we can conjure. In the same way, the survivors of the Lisbon earthquake had to or those devastated by the recent hurricanes, fires, or wars happening the whole world over. Our world is a beautiful place, but it’s also vicious. Part of our mission here is to find that flame to illuminate the darkness as we move through it, not to burn things to the ground—whether it be our health, our relationships, or anything that deserves to stand. We use that fire to inspire others, light their fires, and hopefully assist in guiding some along the way.

I’ve come to understand throughout the years that the “Enlightenment” was terribly misnamed. Science and all the Reason that has been wired into our worldview has done lots of good for our species, but it has also damaged our relationship to the unseen, the unmeasurable, and what many of us know to be the truest parts of our human experience. The Lisbon earthquake and the Mercury retrograde in Sag that followed were one of the massive pivots in the way we think about the world. There have been entire books written about this. What will this one bring? For both the world out there and in here.

…lots to be discovered

=adam

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