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The
Long Way Around
An
Epic Tale of Time
©
Gregory Clare
In
order to tell this story, I need first to secure you to the safety
of your armchair. Swift in motion (or emotions) you may be too quick
to judge my thoughts.
The
many metaphors used throughout time to describe the archetype of the
Moon are predominantly matriarchal. The feminine principle is
celebrated, as it should be; I am not in disagreement with this. The
sacredness of the Goddess and Her dignity is to be greatly cherished.
However, my tale begins with the masculine philosophy of Hellenistic
Theology from sometime around 600BC. Here, in this model of 'Three'
as revealed by the sagesthroughout time is the Theology that
encompasses the profected world. (Thema Mundi)
The
outermost sphere of this world is representative of Starry Night;
(The Stars Shine Bright) the movement of this starry bliss is
backwards toward the Monad where hence we have come. The next sphere
in this world is seen as housing the planets uncorrupted and made in
the image of God, perfect in the divine concept, as not touchable by
Man.
The
final sphere is the descent to the Earthly plane. Before we explore
this last sphere, let us touch on the Aristotle model where all seven
visual planets are seen to have their own surrounding spheres. These
concentric spheres are where the souls start their descent to
incarnate following what is described as the Chaldean Order (the
order according to velocity and rate of movement).This order is
Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury and finally the Moon. The
Hermetic principle abounds with the Sun sitting in the centre shining
forth as the life giving light and heat.
This
centre is the Heart of Man, the Seat of Reason, linked to the ninth
house. The ninth house is the house of God and this is where the Sun
finds its Joy. The Chaldean ruler Jupiter presides over this house
and rulership follows the Chaldean order of the planets that begins
with Saturn as ruler of the first house. See fig 1.below.
The
ninth house corresponds with the Law (Reason), the active masculine
principle where Man made in the image of God gains philosophical
knowledge. Diametrical opposing it is the third house where our
reactive principles are played out. The third house is the Joy of the
Moon, the reflective light. Presiding ruler of the house is Mars, our
reactive desires. The Moon has no light of its own, reliant on the
Sun for its light hence an empty, barren mirror and can be described
as a collector or repository, always collecting and reflecting back,
changeable to the wants, and needs of all. This collection of
memories can also be reflective in as much as the habits we acquire
and the desires we need to fill.
This
final sphere of the Moon is where we are delivered upon the Earth
and corresponds to our first years of life. We are thereafter a
product of the descent carrying the influence of the planetary
spheres, materialised into a world in which we are called upon to
return to whence we have come. This journey of time is cyclic, as to
return to the source from which we have descended, we will ascend
through the reverse order beginning with the Moon and finishing with
Saturn. Therefore, the Moon is the point of final descent and first
ascent. A meeting place where all that is above is pure and all that
is below is corruptible.
So
the journey begins!
The
imperatives of the Moon cannot be understated. It is the key to the
gateway we seek. (The Alchemical or Elixir of life) Let us diverge
for a moment and travel to the beginning of time here on Earth. The
Sun is the giver of life, rising to shine its rays of light, which
extend and penetrate our solar system to provide Solar energy to all
that it touches. The Sun is stable, traversing the sky daily with a
constant motion when seen from the Earth. The path it traces across
our sky known as the Ecliptic is the corridor for the seven visual
planets that orbit around it.
This
journey of the Earth around the Sun takes 365.25 days to complete.
Of all the celestial bodies Earth is the only one to sustain life,
all the others being too hot or too cold for life to flourish. This
sustenance of life is only possible with the aid of the Moon.
The
Moon was at one time very much closer to the Earth than it is now;
some ten to twenty times closer. Over aeons of time, the Moon is
slowly receding from the Earth and today is moving away at a rate of
four centimetres per year. The Moon is the Earth's brake, exerting
gravitational force upon the Earth maintaining its constant rotation.
In
the primordial stages of the Earth's evolution, this rotation was
much slower and the tides controlled by the Moon were extreme, as
opposed to what we see now. The tides were hundreds of meters higher
and lower covering the lands and then, in effect, dragging the
essence of the Earth (dirt and minerals) back into the wild ocean
soup. This action provided the moment for life to emerge.
The
Moon in effect is responsible for the fermenting of life here on
Earth through its ability to blend the collection of its repository.
This mixing and fermenting which is swift in motion begins at the New
Moon phase. The orbit of the Moon around the Earth takes 27.321 days
- referred to as a sidereal month. (Measurement against the Starry
background)
However,
owing to its constant movement, the Sun, during this time has moved
27 degrees (1° per mean day) further eastward along the ecliptic
as seen from Earth. Thus in order for the Moon to meet the Sun and
complete its phase (New Moon-to-New Moon, 29.5 days) it needs to move
another 27.321 degrees or 2.321 days.
This
cycle known as the Synodic month is the moment when the Sun and Moon
come together and meet at the junction of this ecliptic road, the Sun
gives life to the Moon - the seeding. At this seeding, the Moon
partakes in the mixing of all bodies that traverse the ecliptic road,
not just the seeding from the Sun. This is a unique moment for both
the individual and the collective and as such is measured for its
quality, quantity and location. The Moon is also chiefly responsible
for our weather through this mixing of etheric substance and hence
the propagating begins and in doing so, is being distributed
throughout the world specific to the location identified with
reference to any synchronicity that may exist.
This
understanding of the sympathetic blending allows us to predict the
nature of events. The Lunar phases of the Moon (waxing - New Moon,
Crescent, First quarter, Gibbous; waning - Full Moon, Disseminating,
Last Quarter, Balsamic which includes the dark Moon) also give us a
uniqueness of timing.
This
knowledge is nowhere more evident than in the migratory patterns of
marine and plant life. As a commercial fisherman for 30 years, I have
witnessed these events first hand. My mother was a propagator of
plants and I passed onto her the benefits of this experience. Marine
life comes under the influence of the Sun/Moon cycle, as does all
life. Fish and crustacean travels to the rhythms of the lunar cycle
phases.
Fish
migrate from the estuaries and rivers to the sea with the advent of
the New Moon. For example, during the course of a year we have twelve
New Moons, one in each of the twelve signs. The Sun makes its ingress
or entry once a month into one of the twelve signs and into one of
the cardinal signs every three months. So let us take the Sun's
passage into Aries, as it is the most fertile time when life begins,
being Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and Autumn in the Southern
Hemisphere. It is worth mentioning that it makes no difference to the
migratory patterns of fish which equatorial season it is, only to
which species choose which season for its migration. Therefore, in
our example of a New Moon in Aries, six to seven days later depending
on the degree in which the new Moon falls, the First Quarter will
fall in the sign of Cancer.
It is during the Crescent Phase, the day before the First Quarter
that the schools of fish are most plentiful, subject to the element
that is blending with the Moon.
Cancer
is a fertile water sign, so the result would be more fish and this
is so with all the water signs. The results will vary according to
the sign element. For example, the barren signs, Gemini, Leo and
Virgo will, for the most part, yield less fish.
One
other important consideration is to assess any other planets that
may occupy the sign the Moon is in. As mentioned earlier the Moon
blends and mixes all with which it associates. This is true also with
the aspects made from the Moon.
Crustaceans
vary their patterns according to the species. Prawns (Shrimp) travel
from the estuaries to the ocean on the Full Moon and the days
following. They will travel generally up until the Last Quarter with
the 5th and 6th days after the Full Moon being the most plentiful. An
example of this is show by the State Fisheries here in New South
Wales, Australia, who conduct what is known as a Pocket Net ballot.
The
Pocket Net ballot works like this: Fisherpeople who are eligible to
enter submit a form and are allotted a number, and on the day of the
Full Moon a ballot is held and the first number drawn has the first
pick of the area they wish to fish. There are many sites throughout
the estuaries and it is the knowledge of the fisherperson that is at
play. S/he must assess the conditions which is done mainly from
personal experience or experience that has been handed down.
Therefore, any additional information a fisherperson can access would
be of great use as there are times when a great deal of money can be
made from a correct decision.
Let
me give you an example of how having all things going well can work.
As in all applications of astrology, having good transits to the
natal chart helps. On 15th October 1989 at 06:32 AEST, Yamba, NSW,
Australia, there was a full Moon. Subsequently on that day there was
a prawn ballot conducted. The ballot took place in a town named
Maclean, very near Yamba at 10:00am AEST.
I
had the good fortune of my number coming out of the barrel first,
which in turn gave me the opportunity to make the first selection
from the sites available. Drawing on my previous experience, I
selected the site. The Full Moon was in the sign of Aries (see chart
1) and so I proceeded to set up my site in all readiness for what I
had calculated to be a great run (the term used to describe the
action of the prawns migrating). A typical night followed the tides,
so on the first night the time spent prawning would be one hour and
this would increase with the rate of the Moon rising each night
following. We would check the codend (the collecting end of the net
in which the prawns are deposited) every 15 minutes. Therefore, by
the fourth night we would be fishing from Sunset for four hours and
lifting the codend several times.
On
the following nights, 16th and 17th October, the Moon was in the
sign of Taurus and we had mild success. This is a fertile sign,
however, as mentioned earlier, the good days are the 5th and 6th days
following the Full Moon so to even have some results was encouraging.
Things seemed to go badly for the next two nights and my mate began
to get edgy to say the least. The Moon was in Gemini and he came to
work with all the gossip (Gemini) and proceeded to lecture me because
others were telling him that I had made the wrong decision. These
were the nights of the 18th and 19th. But I stuck to the line,
"You just wait and see!" A typical Gemini Moon dialog. On
the night of the 19th at 21:00hrs the Moon changed signs to Cancer
and the last two lifts of the codend produced an extremely good catch
of 200lbs each. The following night of 20th October from Sunset until
midnight, it was raining prawns. We had lifts of 300lbs to a maximum
lift of 600lbs.
The
Moon was not only in Cancer but also conjunct Jupiter. Jupiter is
exalted in this sign and its exaltation degree is 15 degrees. Jupiter
was at 10 degrees of Cancer, so by Sunset, the Moon had already made
the conjunction and at exactly 21:42, the Moon arrived at 14 degrees
of Cancer, the start of Jupiter's exaltation degree. The Moon,
carrying its collection of Jupiter's beneficial qualities, exalted
the moment and it produced 600lbs of prawns in one lift. By the
night's end (midnight) we had reached the limits of our carrying
capacity and had amassed some 2,000lbs of prawns.
The
next night, 21st October, we again had great success. Although not
quite as good as the night before, we still amassed some 1,500lbs.
The following morning 22nd October at 09:29 AEST, we were at the
Co-operative weighing in our catch the size of which we had not
mentioned to anyone. The transiting Moon was 3 degrees Leo, partile
conjunct my natal Uranus in the 11th house of gains. Neptune was on
the Ascendant of the transit chart conjunct Saturn and the MC of the
transit chart was conjunct my natal Ascendant, opposing my natal
Mars. Transiting Sun was conjunct my natal Neptune which was trine my
natal Gemini MC (see chart). The following evenings proved to be
barren and for the next four nights, we had very little success. The
Moon had moved into the barren signs of Leo followed by Virgo and we
had come to the end of our success, but had managed to make a
considerable amount of profit from the big hauls from the previous
nights so were able to rest on these.
The
morning of our catch's weigh-in the transiting Moon was in Leo; we
were covered in praise for our efforts, although because of our
success I had managed to attract a few secret enemies. When looking
at my natal chart you will see that transiting Jupiter was in my
natal 10th house making a trine aspect to my natal Lot of Fortune
which greatly aided my success. These events lead me to investigate
Astrology more deeply and I have continued to note the moment of the
Stars every since. Throughout the rest of my fishing career, I
closely watched the movement of the planets, particularly the Moon.
The
association of the Moon with marine life is fascinating. Many other
events throughout my career occurred with the same synchronicity. The
Moon played a pivotal role in my pursuit of Astrology and the
experience I gained working with marine life has aided me ever since.
The event chart of 15th October 1989 is a wonderful example of
synchronicity in my life. The MC of the chart is conjunct my natal
Uranus and the event chart 11th house cusp of 29 degrees Leo, (house
of gains) is conjunct the Royal Star Regulus. The event chart second
house cusp ruled by Jupiter is trine my natal Sun with transiting
Jupiter conjunct the 9th house. Was I destined to write this article?
Finally
a word on Jupiter. Jupiter in traditional Astrology is associated
with rain (water) and plenty of it, so its beneficial qualities are
nowhere more apparent then when it is transiting the life giving sign
of the Crab. Take Jupiter and place it with the Moon in Cancer and
you have an abundance of life.
I
would have liked to include more about the migration patterns of
marine life but space does not allow it. I hope I have given you, the
reader, a reminder of the important value of Moon on all our
individual journeys through life as we all have our own stories to tell.
(c)
Gregory
Clare
Website:
www.gregoryglare.com
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