Meditations Upon the Thema Mundi: Birth Chart of the World.

  As we meditate upon the Thema Mundi, the theoretical birth chart of the cosmos, we come across endless conceptual depths. Let us walk through how this chart plays out. 

If the ascendant of this plane of existence is in Cancer, with the Moon exactly conjunct it, the clear message is that our purpose here is to show our feelings, openly and blatantly on our faces as the ascendant is what we project out to others. Those with Moon on the ascendant cannot hide their emotions if they tried.

   The Thema Mundi accentuates in all ways Yin energy. Not only are the most Yin rulerships of each planet used, but the house layout then becomes prominently Yin as well, since all of the planets are below the horizon, hidden in the dark houses of the inner world, though evenly spaced between the projective rising houses and receptive setting houses. The message begins to come into focus. Our purpose here on Earth is to share our feelings and emotions openly within the communities we foster, and expend our energies in order to build those communities as powerfully as we can, with one caveat. Saturn is exactly conjunct the descendant of this chart. Be careful and cautious who you let into your world before you show your deepest feelings and desires. 

    The Moon will touch every planet in this chart long before any other pair will make a conjunction. Within two weeks, the Moon will move 180 degrees across the ecliptic to touch Saturn. This accentuates the Moon's role as translator of light. The Moon is the most receptive light in the sky. It touches everything every month, and carries that message back to Earth within its womb. Next in line, Mercury, will not have a chance to touch either Venus or the Sun within this chart before the Moon. Is Mercury even moving direct? 

   Both Mercury and Venus are well outside the bounds of their domain within this chart. Barring some form of radical shift in the orbits of the Earth, and/or Mercury and Venus between the beginning of our cosmos and the era we now inhabit, Mercury cannot be more than 28 degrees away from the Sun, and Venus cannot be more than 48 degrees away. Perhaps Phaeton's calamitous crash had some redefining effect upon the orbital resonance of our solar system, or perhaps we are simply living in the land of the imaginative Hyper-real.  Venus does rotate in the opposite direction to every other planet in the solar system, with a day about as long as its year, so one side slowly roasts into a toxic wasteland without the sweet reprieve of the night.  It certainly does make one wonder.  We can only assume that both Mercury and Venus are stationing retrograde in this chart. Surely they are not each beyond the realm of their reach and continuing to move forward. Regardless, both will not touch the Sun before the Moon meets Saturn. Let us then dive into the Moon's relationship to the rest of the chart.

   The Moon is Mother, and the divine nurturing feminine principle of our cosmos. Luna, being next door to Sol, cannot see him. The Moon is in the final stages of its waning phase in this chart. The Moon is in fact practically invisible, seen for only a brief moment as it rises on this imaginary day before the light of Sol dissolves it. Much as the divine feminine principle is pulling the heavy weight behind the scenes of life, beginning this day, and barely noticed, only for the few up early enough to see the preparatory rituals of morning. 

  The ascendant of this chart rises from the primordial waters of the ocean in Cancer. The Moon is occupying the first sign of the Waning Light in Summer.  In fact the entire Thema Mundi accentuates the waning of the light, implying the very beginning of physical reality is the first step towards death, and the dissolution of all things. A step away from the immortal oneness of light. The waxing of the Yin within the Thema Mundi, more importantly, accentuates the importance of attuning to the needs of the other. A dialing in to the care and protection of everyone for the benefit of the all. This is the message of the Moon upon the Ascendant of the birth chart of our universe. Saturn in Capricorn is the only planet within the waxing light domain of the Zodiac. A reminder that only with significant and concerted effort and planning can we accomplish anything of substance for our own internal desires.

   From here, while the Moon, the nurturing Mother, cannot see the King Sol, the Mother CAN see Mercury within a sextile.  Mercury is most likely paused and moving back towards Luna, as she speeds forards. She WILL meet Sol first, but as it is, Luna is in the waning Sextile to Hermes, and has much to say. Luna and Hermes together are the swiftest of the pack, and are both the most powerful communicators within the family. They both communicate the needs of one planet to the other, but in very different ways. This waning sextile implies that they see that much will need to be done to keep this collective together and cohesive, and the power is with Luna to nurture her child Hermes, and pass along the message which Mercury will perfect and dance back and forth with. 

   In conflict with Luna is Venus; the Mother, and the Maiden. Venus is ruling the IC in the chart, the home is run by the daughter in Libra. We can only assume she is stationary, right on the IC, and considering her options. The great complex of the Thema Mundi is this T-Square in Cardinal signs between The Moon, Venus, and Saturn. The message seems very clear to me. The Mother and Father at odds with the raising of the daughter. Saturn opposing the Moon implies a required restriction upon who we nurture, while Venus upon the IC in Libra, desires to nurture communion with all.

   The facts of this chart are that we are incarnated within a universe of supreme danger. Jupiter, who is exalted by Luna in Cancer, but cannot be seen by the Moon, cannot see the dangers around him. Both Mars and Saturn surround Jupiter, in signs which he cannot see. Jupiter exalts in the glory of creation, but in his exuberance, potentiates supreme danger for Venus, which he sextiles, as she desires her union with him, the glorious ever-abundant god-father incarnatewho can grant all her wishes, but will not meet as she is clearly in the process of moving retrograde. Meanwhile, Jupiter is in fact ruling in the sixth house of this chart. Jupiter's own exuberance is a danger to the rest of this chart. Only the Moon, in her divine wisdom, can save us from the ever present dangers of this reality. 

  The Dangers... Mars and Saturn can see each other. They are hyper-aware of what each other are doing within that sextile. Mars rules the fifth house of pleasures, and Saturn rules the seventh house of union. The dangers of indulgence, the depths of Scorpionic desire. Mars can see Mercury within the third house of communication, but cannot see Venus, the feminine, receptive sexual principle. This profound and core disconnect between the masculine and feminine, at the core of the birth chart of creation, even though the masculine sexual principle is in a feminine sign, and the feminine sexual principle is in a masculine sign. The restrictions of Saturn upon Venus in their square seem essential in not goading a blind Mars into inappropriate action.

   Meanwhile, the implied MC of this chart is in Aries, also ruled by Mars. To accomplish anything in this reality requires the bravado of aggressive outward facing action, but it is all pointless if the purpose of this chart; the ascendant, is not honored, which is that of protecting the people worthy of your energy. Mars cannot see Venus or Jupiter. The benefic potentials of existence are lost to the fiery youth. Only Mercury, in a trine to Saturn, can speak sense to the martial lord, who will hopefully use the waning sextile to Mars to communicate the possibilities of conscious, sensible union to the fiery impulse of Mars. Mercury and Saturn, in the practical Earth signs accentuated within this chart, can work harmoniously together, to see and speak of the long term reality of wise action able to create stable relationships worthy of the awful power of Mars. 

The Sun itself, in the second house of values and possessions, cannot see the needs of the Moon, or the wealth of practical information Mercury is speeding about with. The King, cloistered in his cave of riches, is in trine with Jupiter and resonates with the abundant optimism of his friend in the fiery sixth. Jupiter and The Sun are engrossed in the concept of ruling their subjects, Sol in the Gate of Hades, and Jove in the space of illness. The Sun here is at odds with Mars, the knight he would need to continue conquering the galaxy, and cannot see Saturn, the limits of his kingship and relation to others in the seventh house. Interestingly enough, Phaeton, were he to exist within the space between Mars and Jupiter, would inhabit the foot of Ophiuchus, which is so obnoxiously pointed out by people who can't see the full glory of the sky for what it is. The wounded planet, now a scattered mess of orbiting rocks, denoting the snake-handling healer of the skies... somewhere between the fifth and sixth house of illness. 

   It is worth noting that this is a night chart, again accentuating the Yin nature of the Thema Mundi, and calculating the Part of Fortune properly from the Sect Luminary puts it exactly conjunct the Sun.  How appropriate that the fortune we are born with on this Earth is the great giver of light and life.  The Part of Spirit then resides in the middle of Gemini in the twelfth house.  The Part of Spirit being the animating force we seek to activate our fortune with placed within the brightest sign of the Zodiac, approaching the Summer Solstice.  This need for independant communication, and danger of seclusion by delving too deeply into selfish personal ideas seems coded into the placement of the Lot of Spirit here.

   Danger abounds within this chart, which brings us back to the core message of the Thema Mundi. The Moon opposed Saturn. The Moon is the ascendant. It is the purpose. Saturn is the Descendant, it is the barrier towards the other. We need to take care of those in our circle, but we need to be cautious about who we let in. The core of our being desires communion with the other, Venus in Libra, but our desires for harmony can so often be blinded to the violence of those who have no such wish.   Earth is in one sense an endlessly abundant Oasis, but it is one fraught with dangers. Snakes hide in the pure clean waters. We require all our senses to be alert and awake before we dip our ladle into the river to drink. Secure your alliances to keep watch as you lean in to take a sip. This is a marvelous and endlessly glorious existence, but allowing ourselves to be blinded by the glory is a recipe for disaster. Hug your children and lock the doors.

   One final thought about Venus upon the IC, this angle being our deepest motivational point at the core of what we are and how we relate to our connection to life on Mother Earth herself.   Love and beauty should permeate the entire Thema Mundi, and thus our entire experience on this bizarre, tragic, and glorious plane of existence, for however long it lasts.