September 12th, 2013

Some of life’s greatest challenges merely encompass the heaving of your dead carcass out of bed in the morning. Whether we’re lost in a dream, reluctant to face daily objectives, or amassed in fluff n’ stuff, an embedded lack of enthusiasm will spiral our thoughts into a dampening black hole that most likely doesn’t open a much cooler dimension where souls flit around our bodies as shape-shifting familiars or giant angelic mechs save the universe from a psychedelic apocalypse. Le sigh.

For the unmotivated, Mars squares the lunar nodes on the first quarter square of our mutable moon cycle. The square comes from Leo, asking destiny advocates to be creatively expressive, proud, and enigmatic when revitalizing commitments in one’s life.

Many of the same themes touched upon on the new moon are present—Saturn and Pluto still aspect the nodes—thus we see a continuation and maturation of the parchment question: will you read your own instruction manual and take fullest advantage of your destiny? You should be on the second or third draft right about now.

Video games used to come packed with maps, journals, texts, figurines, and more to entice an avid exploration of the story. Nowadays, most are whittled down to unpackaged digital downloading, and nagging onscreen tutorials replace instruction manuals—childish handholding. I know you’re a gift from the Goddess, but you don’t need to tell me what an Amber Relic is every time I pick up an Amber Relic.

The focus we give our own lives tend to similarly vary. Our culture seeks to streamline and perfect the “quest of living” in a way that can be packaged, compartmentalized, and easily accessible to, you know, those of us who aren’t saving countless worlds each year. Don’t know how to proceed? Turn on the television or browse the internet, and you’ll find loads of advertising telling you exactly what to buy when you need it—if they’re doing their job, then that time is often now.

The alternative would be, of course, to simply ask yourself. You know, figure it out. Somehow, we’ve shifted away from individual treatment of needs—from the self for the self by the self—to the robotic polishing of destines en mass.

We fear to accept that our selves alone have the power to answer, activate, and fulfill our needs. There is no prescription, religion, other, belief system, or reality that is justifiably sound enough to encompass every living thing, except perhaps this sentence.

You have the option to lie in bed and let everything happen, just as you have the option to wait a few months until The End drops dead from old age. Fine, if you want to play your game on easy (or not at all). But, we all know that the coolest summon is only attained after hours of chocobo breeding.

When the baby chooses, out of its own will, not to take steps—let’s face it, the ground is much more relaxing—then we have a potential issue. Get up.

Saturn in Scorpio, conjunct with the north node, is also squaring Mars, putting the two powerful planets at odds. Yesterday, Vladimir Putin wrote an op-ed piece for the New York Times concerning the US President’s pending attack on Syria. Obama (a Leo) receives harsh criticism from Putin (Scorpio rising) on what would be an extremely unfavorable approach to foreign affairs.

Collectively, we are learning the art of making choices, therein weighed by the judgement of metaphorical gods. Saturn has no patience for subliminal warfare in the vulnerable sign of secret governments. This could well play out to the favor of the public, considering how quickly we gather to expose treachery, Putin’s unprecedented outreach notwithstanding.

Unfortunately, the road to understanding ourselves as a nation is riddled with trauma—it seems to be the only way we learn. At least we’re getting cake.