Friday, September 10, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Chiron and Scar Tissue
I thought this response to a fellow astrologer friend worthy of sharing.
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From a conversation with a friend:
When I did EMDR, my therapist could lower the intensity of what I felt when thinking of certain things from the past, but she couldn't get me down to a zero level of feeling. When she asked me why I thought this was, I responded that some things ideally shouldn't happen to anyone. Maybe I am just far too idealistic for reality.
I think that forgiveness is a huge part of healing, but forgiveness doesn't make the wound go away. Though I do still consider it something one does for self, not the other, as it does make our personal emotional load lighter.
Still, to use the example of rape that you used in the thread, even if the rapist is forgiven by the victim, does it erase the experience of it for that victim? If a child forgives a rejecting parent, does it fill the gap?
hence, "misshapen"
maybe Chiron is like our scar tissue
The skin is linked to the lungs and large intestine... Saturn.
wounds to it, things that cross that boundary tend to leave scar tissue. Abstraction might say that I can find a point of healing that is as if the wound never happened. Reality might say that there will be a scar.
(wow... imo you were meant to send this because I've never made that connection before, thank you!)
*Chiron also crosses the boundary where, in regard to the planets, we meet the collective (the others), Uranus... maybe hinting to how we can't help but also play a role in the scar tissue of others, both the wounding and healing?
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Saturn Enters Libra July 21, 2010
Saturn is the favorite guest in Libra, one of Venus's two houses (other being Taurus). Libra proverbially rolls the red carpet out for Saturn, so he might expect to get his way while here... especially prior to retrograding. But, Libra loves having him here where the scales are kept that need recalibrating now and then. A bit of appreciation for maintenance may have rubbed off being so close to Virgo.
Some "bumps" will be thanks to Mars joining the party. He tends to get a bit cranky when he has to visit Venus's houses, especially Libra... it's sort of like telling Tim the Toolman Taylor that he only has girl stuff to use for a while... or as if all of a sudden, G-I Joe (not a doll) turns into Ken (a doll after all) to go w/ Barbie... "Huh?"
What I think will be interesting to see play out, is how as soon as he enters Libra, Mars is confronted w/ Saturn in a square off w/ Pluto. This could be a time when seeds are planted that will bloom into power struggles.
Pluto is in Saturn's house, but it is also where the red carpet is rolled out to exalt Mars... still, Saturn isn't particularly fond of Mars. This is more like the relationship between politicians and the military. Saturn is happy to use Mars to do his bidding and give him all the tools he needs to do it (which is why Mars is so happy there), but it isn't like he is willing to get dirty and bloody with Mars. He much prefers his air-conditioned office.
With out a doubt this will make for an interesting dynamic of dignity, possibly even indignation, in play with this alone.
As if that isn't enough, meanwhile....
Over at Mars's house Aries, directly opposite across the street from Libra, there happen to be a couple visitors.
On one hand there is Jupiter... sigh... expanding gas has such a good reputation, bigger is better, right? I'd say we better hope he doesn't touch something nasty since he'll make that bigger too.
Uranus is there too, shaking the house to its roots. He may be making a quick trip back to Jupiter's house, Pisces, but it is probably to get the music and liquor for the rock/rage party he's throwing when he gets back. Uranus will be agitated when returning having noticed Pluto squaring him for being in Aries. So don't be surprised if he's considering blasting the speakers on high volume... and of course Jupiter isn't about to disagree.
Needless to say, a couple of demanding guests for a Mars to host over at his house while joining Saturn in Venus's house.!
But, he's obligated to join Saturn there in Libra.
There's a job to be done.
It's time to make the choice to either shit or get off the pot, and then finally just do it.... the time is quickly coming to recalibrate those darn scales.
Some "bumps" will be thanks to Mars joining the party. He tends to get a bit cranky when he has to visit Venus's houses, especially Libra... it's sort of like telling Tim the Toolman Taylor that he only has girl stuff to use for a while... or as if all of a sudden, G-I Joe (not a doll) turns into Ken (a doll after all) to go w/ Barbie... "Huh?"
What I think will be interesting to see play out, is how as soon as he enters Libra, Mars is confronted w/ Saturn in a square off w/ Pluto. This could be a time when seeds are planted that will bloom into power struggles.
Pluto is in Saturn's house, but it is also where the red carpet is rolled out to exalt Mars... still, Saturn isn't particularly fond of Mars. This is more like the relationship between politicians and the military. Saturn is happy to use Mars to do his bidding and give him all the tools he needs to do it (which is why Mars is so happy there), but it isn't like he is willing to get dirty and bloody with Mars. He much prefers his air-conditioned office.
With out a doubt this will make for an interesting dynamic of dignity, possibly even indignation, in play with this alone.
As if that isn't enough, meanwhile....
Over at Mars's house Aries, directly opposite across the street from Libra, there happen to be a couple visitors.
On one hand there is Jupiter... sigh... expanding gas has such a good reputation, bigger is better, right? I'd say we better hope he doesn't touch something nasty since he'll make that bigger too.
Uranus is there too, shaking the house to its roots. He may be making a quick trip back to Jupiter's house, Pisces, but it is probably to get the music and liquor for the rock/rage party he's throwing when he gets back. Uranus will be agitated when returning having noticed Pluto squaring him for being in Aries. So don't be surprised if he's considering blasting the speakers on high volume... and of course Jupiter isn't about to disagree.
Needless to say, a couple of demanding guests for a Mars to host over at his house while joining Saturn in Venus's house.!
But, he's obligated to join Saturn there in Libra.
There's a job to be done.
It's time to make the choice to either shit or get off the pot, and then finally just do it.... the time is quickly coming to recalibrate those darn scales.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
SN/Ketu most elevated = Invisibility
Two weeks ago I went to the dentist. I checked in and took a seat as directed.
I waited twenty minutes, watching others arrive after me, and get seen before me.
As per the sign on the wall, I went back to the window after 20 minutes.
They apologized for over-looking me, and told me that they would be right with me.
20 minutes later, I went back to the window again, to find another woman sitting there.
She looked at me and said, "Arriving a bit late, aren't you?"
A few minutes later, I was told that the dentist wouldn't be able to fit me in for another hour and a half. *sigh*
I'm trying again tomorrow morning.
T. Moon will be in Leo... I'm hopeful!
I waited twenty minutes, watching others arrive after me, and get seen before me.
As per the sign on the wall, I went back to the window after 20 minutes.
They apologized for over-looking me, and told me that they would be right with me.
20 minutes later, I went back to the window again, to find another woman sitting there.
She looked at me and said, "Arriving a bit late, aren't you?"
A few minutes later, I was told that the dentist wouldn't be able to fit me in for another hour and a half. *sigh*
I'm trying again tomorrow morning.
T. Moon will be in Leo... I'm hopeful!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
A Hermetic Look at the Role of the Outer Planets
"It is true and most certain that: That which Above reflects that which is Below. Know this to understand the secret of what is infinitely large, infinitely small and in between, and the Nature, Form, Structure and Function of all things."
"Know then the Greatest Secret of the Universe: As Above,So Below - As Within, So Without."
~ Hermes Trismegistus
(the Emerald Tablet)
A line has been drawn in the sand and sides are being taken, as over the past couple of years the astrological debates have intensified on the subject of planetary rulership. It has become a battle between the modern view vs. the classic view. While most western astrologers learned astrology based on what we know as the "modern rulership" system, which gives the outer planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto rulership over the signs Aquarius, Pisces and Scorpio respectively, there is an ever increasing number of astrologers who insist that these outer planets do not qualify for the label of "ruler" of any sign.
Upon physical sighting of each of these new "outer planets," astrologers were able to track the transits. The fact that there were effects which were profound was undeniable to them, just as they are to us now. Affinities were noted and astrologers in the "new world" were quick to conceptually adopt the idea of a new rulership structure between the planets. Psychology was in vogue, and so the astrological approach was also more psychological than in the past.
Is it possible that these modern astrologers were like archeologists attempting to piece together a dinosaur with a few bones and no directions? Could they have been a bit hasty in creating this structure in a manner that did not take into account the full extent of what "rulership" entails in the classic system? Did they even take Hermetic Law into consideration in thinking that the signs might need new rulers?
It is a concern to some astrologers that due to the intuitive bend of many within our field, we have had a tendency to accept intuition, or channeled information, without much verification or any sort of testing. They argue that this form of information gathering is subject to too much misinterpretation and inaccuracy. Meanwhile, Hermetic Law has always been available to us as a litmus test for our ideas, theories and channeled information. We need to look to the examples that we see in the natural world around us, on both the macro and micro levels, and the repeating patterns that we find there, for the models on which to prove and explain our theories.
In order to use this approach to look at the subject of the inner planets versus the outer planets as rulers, we must first understand how the classic system views the rulership of the inner planets. This should help us validate what we have created with the system of modern rulership, or it should show us where this idea fails, and hopefully why.
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The Classic Rulership System
We know that the dynamics between the visible planets are the basis for ancient approaches to astrology, as they were established well before the advent of telescopes. The luminaries are the king and queen because they are most prominent in the sky, and even of equal size when the Moon is full, with the remaining planets representing different roles, or functions within their kingdom.
The diagram representing this starts with a circle chart showing the twelve houses representing the twelve signs. We then draw an axis line on the Cancer/Leo and Capricorn/Aquarius cusps, at which point we are ready to fill in the diagram of classic rulerships.
* We start with the Sun which rules Leo, and the Moon which rules Cancer. Even though the Moon travels the heavens orbiting along with Earth, it sits in the sky in relationship with the Sun from the perspective of Earth's surface. These are the luminaries rather than planets. They get special placement in the Thema Mundi, each ruling just one house right next door to one another.
Since the Moon reflects the Sun's light, her position her position reflects back, right next to the Sun.
* Gemini and Virgo sit on either side of Cancer and Leo, and their ruler, Mercury is the first planet to orbit the Sun.
* Next come Taurus and Libra which are ruled by the next orbiting planet, Venus.
* Not counting Earth, the next planet to orbit the Sun is Mars, and it rules the signs in the next houses as we fill in the circle, Aries and Scorpio.
* Pisces and Sagittarius are ruled by the next planet whose orbit is visible to us, Jupiter.
* And Aquarius and Capricorn get the planet with the furthest visible planet, Saturn.
There is a simple perfection to this system.
If we replace Scorpio's Mars with Pluto, and Aquarius's Saturn with Uranus, and Pisces' Jupiter with Neptune, then right away, we lose the bi-lateral symmetry in the system. We also leave Venus and Mercury doing "double duty" compared to Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. For some astrologers, this is a concern, and for others it is not. If we consider the system to be evolving, then we would have to consider if there are alternative rulers for one of the two signs still being ruled by both Mercury and Venus. There are those who believe that asteroids fill these roles. The most convincing to me based on natures alone, has been the idea that Ceres would rule Taurus, and Chiron would rule Virgo. Pluto's recent re-classification certainly opens the door for these other bodies to be considered, especially considering that some of their orbits are more closely involved with the orbits of the inner planets.
Yet, to just insert these new rulerships without a full understanding of what rulership even entails is hasty. It does not lead us to understanding "the secret of what is infinitely large, infinitely small and in between, and the Nature, Form, Structure and Function of all things." We may have a slight sense of the Nature, and think we know know the rest. But, I don't believe that we understand, or take into account the complete Function of the inners, so it seems it would be impossible for us to be getting a complete picture of the Function of these new bodies.
I maintain that there are likely to be reasons that the outer planets perform their respective functions best in the signs that we think that they might rule, which is different from the full function of "rulership", which by it's very wording implies a kingdom.
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"That Which is Above"
Everything exists within relationship to other things. To gain perspective on the planets themselves, it is important to look at how they exist relative to one another. The most basic way to do this, is to look at the relationships in the sizes of their respective orbits. The numbers that I am using are from NASA, and based on the Distance from the Sun in kilometers from the Semimajor axis of orbit.
The distance of each planet from the Sun:
Mercury - 57,909,175
Venus - 108,208,930
Earth - 149,597,890
Mars - 227,936,640
Jupiter - 778,412,020
Saturn - 1,426,725,400
Uranus - 2,870,972,200
Neptune - 4,498,252,900
Pluto - 5,906,380,000
So, the relative distances of the planets from one another are:
Sun to Mercury - 57,909,175
Mercury to Venus - 50,209,755
Venus to Earth - 41,389,160
Earth to Mars - 68,338,750
Though there are differences between the increases between these planets, they are on a similar scale with one another.
The total is only roughly one third the distance to next planet, Jupiter.
A new scale is established with Jupiter, which is also mirrored by Saturn.
Mars to Jupiter - 628,813,130
Jupiter to Saturn - 648,313,380
Interestingly, if we add the orbital increases of Jupiter and Saturn, it is close to the relative scale for the increases in the next group.
Saturn to Uranus - 1,444,246,800
Uranus to Neptune - 1,627,280,700
Neptune to Pluto - 1,408,127,100
I believe that the scales of these orbital increases serve as a worthy starting point for consideration, and meditation.
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"That Which is Below"
In deciding what I look at when I consider the idea of "below", it is not as immediately obvious as with regard to "above." Below, could reference looking within Gaia/Earth. Yet, it is not Mother Earth's natal chart that we examine most when we study astrology. Rather we tend to study the differentiation of earthly expression, usually humans or their cultures and creations. For this reason, I choose a sub-cellular approach for "below." I would tend to view the psychological world as "within," and how this psychological manifests, as "without." Ultimately these are just labels specifying polarization, similar to yin and yang, and are by nature easily interchanged.
I think that it is particularly important to look at this sub-cellular view considering that cells comprise the tissues of the very bodies of those things that we study with astrology. It is also timely since it has not been all that long that we have even had this view to consider. We have only been discovering the components of cells for a little over a century; for example Golgi apparatus - 1898, Ribosomes - 1974 and Mitochondrion in the mid 50's. I should also note that there are simple cells that are not as complex as plant, or human/animal cells, so for our purposes, I will focus on eukaryotic cells of humans and animals.
Inside each cell is a core called the nucleus. The nucleus is comprised of a nucleolus (Sun and Mercury), and a space surrounding it which contains the DNA, a.k.a. chromosomes (Venus, Earth, and Mars), of the cell. Consider the design of the double helix chromosome, and how it visually depicts the center point, or joining point of Mars (initiating yang side) and Venus (receptive yin side) being responsible for the manifestation of life.
Beyond the nucleus is the remainder of the cell, which contains a variety of sub-cellular components, all contained by a cell membrane which regulates what gets in and out of the cell through what is called a Sodium - Potassium pump.
In Vedic medical astrology it is Mercury that rules all coverings. My western approach background made me perceive Saturn as ruling boundaries, which are simply coverings seen from the other side. It took much meditation for me to realize that if Saturn's versions of boundaries render what it would be otherwise "covering" unable to "communicate" or function with the environment around it, in turn leaving what ever it would be setting boundaries for non-functional. Mercury's covering is required for the interaction within the environment.
To quote Ernst Wilhelm, "Saturn is air, and thus cannot create boundaries" "It takes the communication of Mercury to defend one's boundaries, and if you notice, people with a weak Saturn tend to cross other's boundaries.
The Sun rules the minerals that comprise our structure, our skeletons, including potassium and sodium. The sodium - potassium pump is considered an active transport system because it moves potassium into the cell which already contains a higher concentration of potassium than outside of the cell, and then returns sodium back outside of the cell which is already also higher in its concentration of sodium.
Imo, this could be viewed as the King's messenger carrying the King's messages to the edge of the kingdom, and discerning what is allowed in and what isn't.
Based on our sub-groupings of the planets orbits, I would designate the area with to be that of Jupiter and Saturn. This would necessitate that Uranus, Neptune and Pluto would have to be represented within the Sodium dominant environment outside the boundary of the cell membrane. This is the view from which we can finally see that the cell exists within tissue comprised of many similar cells; or to put it in more familiar terms, is part of a collective. This supports when astrologers refer to these planets as collective planets. As they move more slowly in the sky, they do seem to influence the collective, cultural trends. It shows these planets to be separate from the individual.
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"Here and Now"
"Before enlightenment, man chops wood and carries water; after enlightenment, man chops wood and carries water."
~ Ancient saying
No matter how much enlightenment we may gain, our lives are here and now, and are to be lived in our bodies.
Our bodies are referred to in many spiritual texts as our soul's temples. When we apply classic rulership to these bodies, everything fits in a manner that can be explained. If we insert a rulership chart in the circular portion of DaVinci's Vestuvian Man the visual fit continues, only validating the Hermetic and Universal law of repeating patterns.
From Wikipedia: "Da Vinci based his drawing on some hints at correlations of ideal human proportions with geometry in Book III of the treatise De Architectura by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius, thus its name. Other artists had attempted to realize the conception, with less success. Vitruvius described as the principal source of proportion among the orders of architecture the proportion of the human figure.
This image exemplifies the blend of art and science during the Renaissance and provides the perfect example of da Vinci's keen interest in proportion. In addition, this picture represents a cornerstone of Da Vinci's attempts to relate man to nature. Encyclopaedia Britannica online states, "Leonardo envisaged the great picture chart of the human body he had produced through his anatomical drawings and Vitruvian Man as a cosmografia del minor mondo (cosmography of the microcosm). He believed the workings of the human body to be an analogy for the workings of the universe." It is also believed by some that Leonardo symbolized the material existence by the square and spiritual existence by the circle. Thus he attempted to depict the correlation between these two aspects of human existence."
The new image created by the combination of these two cosmological images becomes a meditative diagram which continues to show and verify this system as our own knowledge of it deepens.
Aries (Sun's sign of exaltation) - head
Taurus (Moon's sign of exaltation) - face and neck
Gemini - arms
Cancer - chest/breast
Leo - abdomen/area from below sternum to the last four thoracic vertebrae, inclusive
Virgo - hips/top of hip bone to insertion of femur
Libra - pelvic triangle
Scorpio - - external sexual organs and anus
Sagittarius - buttocks
Capricorn - thighs
Aquarius - shins
Pisces - feet
Sun - bone/skeletal and immune systems
Moon - blood/circulatory, respiratory and urinary systems
Mercury - skin/intugmentary system and sense organs
Venus - semen/digestive system
Mars - nerves/nervous system
Jupiter - adipose (fat)/endocrine and reproductive systems
Saturn - sinew/muscular systems
All systems except those ruled by the Sun and Moon require the input of both the receptive and active (yin and yang) signs that each respective planet rules, for concrete manifestation.
How is it even possible to fit the outers in as rulers when it comes to the yin/yang dual rulership is needed for our bodies to manifest?
What parts of the body does Uranus take over rulership from Saturn?
What parts would Neptune take from Jupiter? and what parts would Pluto take from Mars?
The Moon orbits the Earth, thus from a cosmic view they could be seen as connected. Yet from our perspective standing on Earth, by appearing to be equal size to the Sun, the Moon's appears as or reflects her position as the Sun's more cyclical partner.
On either side of the head sits the Sun and the Moon, the king and queen, establishing a right and left side; our yang/active and yin/receptive sides. This establishes the bi-lateral symmetry expressed in their kingdom/our bodies, and the natural world around us. This trait of symmetry has even been linked to our perceptions of beauty when applied to the face. Studies have shown that "symmetry is an important concept in biology, being related to mate selection strategies, health, and survival of species."
Mars rules the nervous system, the brain being the largest part. It is Mars' sign of Aries in which the Sun is exalted, that rules the head. The Sun rules the skeletal system giving form to the kingdom of the body, and protecting such important treasures as the brain.
The Moon rules the circulatory systems, the ever moving tides within the body that carries nourishment to every cell. As much as we need food and water to sustain our lives, our dependence on the oxygen we breathe is supreme.
Gemini, ruled by Mercury, rules the arms, which are the primary tool of Virgo's master craftsmen, also ruled by Mercury.
The body parts ruled by Venus and Mars are the face + head (signs on the Moon's side) and the pelvic triangle + external sex organs and anus (signs on the Sun's side). These areas of the body encompass the upper and lower points that the nervous system is of such importance to the maintenance of life that it gets protection from the Sun's system (boney structures: the skull and spine). These two body areas also mark the beginning and end points for the Venus rulled digestive system.
Jupiter rules the buttocks and feet, and Saturn the thighs and calves. As a massage therapist, I find it most interesting that these literally are the muscle groups that are responsible for our walking and our interaction with the environment around us.
These inner planets continue to work in regards to ruling the systems within our bodies as we go into the layers of interaction with a Grace that can only be confirming of God's existence, at which I will borrow a term from esteemed astrologer Robert Blaschke and say "in this author's opinion".
As much as the outer planets seemed to work when I maintained a predominantly psychological approach, I have to admit that they just don't seem to work once I started to apply astrology to the body and a medical approach. They may rule aspects of our growing knowledge about ourselves, and our bodies; like Pluto triggering our ability to gain sub-cellular vision with high powered microscopes. But, they do not "rule" anything within the natural confines of the individual.
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"What About the Outers?"
If we view the outer planets as collective planets, then they would assist the individual to grow past their own individual egos, to come to terms with, and define the fact that they are a mere cell within a huge collective. These planets would represent a collective process of humanity slowly moving from a "I, me, mine, clan" perspective toward a more collective oriented "we, us, ours, world citizen" mindset. This in keeping with the cellular view which would put these planets in the area outside of the individualt cell, and thus outside the individual body. Instead, they would be linked to experiences rooting our perception of our placement within the collective.
I have heard some astrologers discuss the idea of the outers being higher vibrations of some of the inners. This may be, yet there seems to be differing opinions as to exactly which ones. I have heard Uranus associated with Mercury or the Sun, Neptune with Venus or the Moon, and with there seems to be agreement with Pluto it being Mars.
Vedic astrologer Ernst Wilhelm offers a mathematical perspective of numerical interactions, which supports Uranus's function to be that of a mathematically higher vibration of the Sun, Neptune the Moon, and validating Pluto with Mars.
Within this perspective, Wilhelm starts with a grid showing the Vedic numerical associations of the luminaries, planets and nodes, as well as any other numerical associations that go with that number which provide meditative understanding to the relationships between the planets that the resulting numbers represent. He then continues to build on this grid using the pattern established with the first 9 sections.
The numbers listed as "addition" are arrived at by adding all of the numbers up to that number. The number reached through this method represents what this number "can also embody" to quote Ernst Wilhelm.
For example, the Moon is 2, but through addition (1 + 2) it has a connection to 3.
Mars is 3, but through addition (1 + 2 + 3) it has a connection to 6.
Not all numbers have a square root, but those that do are listed. According to Wilhelm, this reveals the number's foundation. For example, the Sun is its own foundation, the square root of one is one. Mercury's (4) foundation is 2, the Moon. And, the square root, or foundation of Ketu's 9 is 3, or Mars.
The third numerical relationship is squaring the number itself, and according to Wilhelm this represents the number's result. Examples would include, Jupiter - 5 5 x 5 = 25
And, since we are looking for the single digit number that this represents, we need to reduce it as such:
2 + 5 = 7 So the result of Jupiter is Saturn.
Mercury - 4 4 x 4 = 16 1 + 6 = 7 The result of Mercury is also Saturn.
Saturn - 7 7x7 = 49 4 + 9 = 13 1 + 3 = 4 The result of Saturn is Mercury.
When we get to the numbers past 9, there is an additional number to add into consideration. Since the number that is representing the planet itself is a double digit number, this number can be expressed by adding the digits together. Thus, Uranus - 10 links to 1 + 0 = 1
Neptune - 11 links to 1 + 1 = 2
and Pluto - 12 links to 1 + 2 = 3
It seems that the outers operate on, interact with, and deeply affect all individuals according to house placement, but do not directly rule anything within the individual. In fact, it is their role to push the individual to perspectives beyond the egocentric, beyond just themselves, or their personal group. This is mirrored in how these planets are experienced. When the outers are involved, and the individual is operating from a purely egocentric position, we get the most negative manifestations of these planetary energies.
Yet the question remains, what would be the reasons that we perceive the outers to work best in the signs that we do?
With a quick glance, it appears that we perceive Uranus and Neptune to operate best on the Moon's more reflective side, while Pluto on the yang or more outwardly oriented side. This should be considered as we delve into each planet separately.
If we consider Uranus to be the higher vibration of the Sun, then we would expect it to operate most efficiently when directly aspecting the Sun. When we consider people who we associate with Uranian energy, they tend to push past boundaries of convention into new territory. By nature this is perceived as oppositional toward the status quo. The king ego was satisfied with the status quo belief that his kingdom was the center of the Universe, and it is rather humbling to be forced to gain the perspective that his is just one of a multitude of similar kingdoms. And, this humbling experience can precipitate great shifts in internal perspective. In Vedic astrology, Saturn is considered the son of the Sun. He maintains his father's structure that is his legacy. Uranus makes the boundaries of the king's legacy to his son clear. It separates the individual within the collective, and if brought to a complete three dimensional interpretation, the aspect of the opposition allows this to manifest 'face to face.'
Like the Moon, but unlike Venus, Neptune is associated with illusions. Right away, this points to it resonating to the Moon more closely than Venus. Like the Moon, it is receptive and desirous, it bringing yearnings. But, these yearnings never nurture the individual they way they expect. Neptunian desires don't ever quite work for the ego, since like the other outers, Neptune seems more intent on breaking down the ego.
If Uranus and Neptune have not completely annihilated the ego, Pluto is ready to finish the job.
Pluto has an atomic intensity that is undeniable, despite it's tiny physical packaging. Anyone who has experienced a hard Pluto transit, especially angular has been profoundly changed from who they were prior to that transit. Themes like the leveling of existing structures, transformation, throwing the baby out with the bath water, obsession and power are difficult to associate with any of the inners other than Mars or the nodes to such an extreme. Whether the experiences of Pluto come to us consciously through our own actions or the actions of others, there is always an active aspect to the learning of these lessons. Actual events manifest that cause how we view the world around us to change. It profoundly disrupts the things that we think that we know about the world around us, usually forcing us into changing some of our actions, and ways of interacting with that environment at the same time.
The only way that the outer planets could directly rule over the individual and its body, would be in the manner of a forever absentee landlord. The classic rulers never left their posts, so the rulership status of the outers doesn't have the potential to be more than co-rulership. Still, even this status is not supported by the need for bi-lateral expression linked to the creation of our bodies. Maybe it is time we seriously consider other political labels such as "ambassadors" or "emissaries", which might prove more descriptive and less confusing or conflicting.
Sources:
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/charchart.cfm
Primary Source: Cox, Arthur, ed., Allen's Astrophysical Quantities, 4th ed., 2000, Springer-New York
Secondary Source: JPL Solar System Dynamics
Last Updated: 05.19.08
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitruvian_Man
(on physical symmetry)
http://cogprints.org/4349/
Ernst Wilhelm:
http://www.vedic-astrology.net/
http://www.vedic-astrology.net/Courses/Astrological-Anatomy-Course.asp
http://www.vedic-astrology.net/Courses/Outer-Planets-Course.asp
And What About Chiron?
If I consider the planets and the luminaries to be personal planets, and the outers to be collective planets, where and how does Chiron fit in? And, what would its function then be?
Chiron's orbit is in an interesting location. It weaves between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus, between the individual and the collective. Mythologically, the duality of Chiron's worlds can be seen right in his own body, being half human and half horse, a centaur. His spirit also reflects this in his humane and intellectual refinements, especially when compared to the other centaurs. And finally, his story shows his traversing different worlds; most profoundly in his willingly taking his student Prometheus's place in hell, and then being put in the sky as reward for his sacrifice.
13
4
addition - 4
square - 6
This also leads me to believe that we might better understand the functions of the asteroids as we collectively also better understand the workings of the sub-cellular components such as the mitochondrion, the ribosomes, and the golgi apparatus.
"Know then the Greatest Secret of the Universe: As Above,So Below - As Within, So Without."
~ Hermes Trismegistus
(the Emerald Tablet)
A line has been drawn in the sand and sides are being taken, as over the past couple of years the astrological debates have intensified on the subject of planetary rulership. It has become a battle between the modern view vs. the classic view. While most western astrologers learned astrology based on what we know as the "modern rulership" system, which gives the outer planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto rulership over the signs Aquarius, Pisces and Scorpio respectively, there is an ever increasing number of astrologers who insist that these outer planets do not qualify for the label of "ruler" of any sign.
Upon physical sighting of each of these new "outer planets," astrologers were able to track the transits. The fact that there were effects which were profound was undeniable to them, just as they are to us now. Affinities were noted and astrologers in the "new world" were quick to conceptually adopt the idea of a new rulership structure between the planets. Psychology was in vogue, and so the astrological approach was also more psychological than in the past.
Is it possible that these modern astrologers were like archeologists attempting to piece together a dinosaur with a few bones and no directions? Could they have been a bit hasty in creating this structure in a manner that did not take into account the full extent of what "rulership" entails in the classic system? Did they even take Hermetic Law into consideration in thinking that the signs might need new rulers?
It is a concern to some astrologers that due to the intuitive bend of many within our field, we have had a tendency to accept intuition, or channeled information, without much verification or any sort of testing. They argue that this form of information gathering is subject to too much misinterpretation and inaccuracy. Meanwhile, Hermetic Law has always been available to us as a litmus test for our ideas, theories and channeled information. We need to look to the examples that we see in the natural world around us, on both the macro and micro levels, and the repeating patterns that we find there, for the models on which to prove and explain our theories.
In order to use this approach to look at the subject of the inner planets versus the outer planets as rulers, we must first understand how the classic system views the rulership of the inner planets. This should help us validate what we have created with the system of modern rulership, or it should show us where this idea fails, and hopefully why.
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The Classic Rulership System
We know that the dynamics between the visible planets are the basis for ancient approaches to astrology, as they were established well before the advent of telescopes. The luminaries are the king and queen because they are most prominent in the sky, and even of equal size when the Moon is full, with the remaining planets representing different roles, or functions within their kingdom.
The diagram representing this starts with a circle chart showing the twelve houses representing the twelve signs. We then draw an axis line on the Cancer/Leo and Capricorn/Aquarius cusps, at which point we are ready to fill in the diagram of classic rulerships.
* We start with the Sun which rules Leo, and the Moon which rules Cancer. Even though the Moon travels the heavens orbiting along with Earth, it sits in the sky in relationship with the Sun from the perspective of Earth's surface. These are the luminaries rather than planets. They get special placement in the Thema Mundi, each ruling just one house right next door to one another.
Since the Moon reflects the Sun's light, her position her position reflects back, right next to the Sun.
* Gemini and Virgo sit on either side of Cancer and Leo, and their ruler, Mercury is the first planet to orbit the Sun.
* Next come Taurus and Libra which are ruled by the next orbiting planet, Venus.
* Not counting Earth, the next planet to orbit the Sun is Mars, and it rules the signs in the next houses as we fill in the circle, Aries and Scorpio.
* Pisces and Sagittarius are ruled by the next planet whose orbit is visible to us, Jupiter.
* And Aquarius and Capricorn get the planet with the furthest visible planet, Saturn.
There is a simple perfection to this system.
If we replace Scorpio's Mars with Pluto, and Aquarius's Saturn with Uranus, and Pisces' Jupiter with Neptune, then right away, we lose the bi-lateral symmetry in the system. We also leave Venus and Mercury doing "double duty" compared to Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. For some astrologers, this is a concern, and for others it is not. If we consider the system to be evolving, then we would have to consider if there are alternative rulers for one of the two signs still being ruled by both Mercury and Venus. There are those who believe that asteroids fill these roles. The most convincing to me based on natures alone, has been the idea that Ceres would rule Taurus, and Chiron would rule Virgo. Pluto's recent re-classification certainly opens the door for these other bodies to be considered, especially considering that some of their orbits are more closely involved with the orbits of the inner planets.
Yet, to just insert these new rulerships without a full understanding of what rulership even entails is hasty. It does not lead us to understanding "the secret of what is infinitely large, infinitely small and in between, and the Nature, Form, Structure and Function of all things." We may have a slight sense of the Nature, and think we know know the rest. But, I don't believe that we understand, or take into account the complete Function of the inners, so it seems it would be impossible for us to be getting a complete picture of the Function of these new bodies.
I maintain that there are likely to be reasons that the outer planets perform their respective functions best in the signs that we think that they might rule, which is different from the full function of "rulership", which by it's very wording implies a kingdom.
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"That Which is Above"
Everything exists within relationship to other things. To gain perspective on the planets themselves, it is important to look at how they exist relative to one another. The most basic way to do this, is to look at the relationships in the sizes of their respective orbits. The numbers that I am using are from NASA, and based on the Distance from the Sun in kilometers from the Semimajor axis of orbit.
The distance of each planet from the Sun:
Mercury - 57,909,175
Venus - 108,208,930
Earth - 149,597,890
Mars - 227,936,640
Jupiter - 778,412,020
Saturn - 1,426,725,400
Uranus - 2,870,972,200
Neptune - 4,498,252,900
Pluto - 5,906,380,000
So, the relative distances of the planets from one another are:
Sun to Mercury - 57,909,175
Mercury to Venus - 50,209,755
Venus to Earth - 41,389,160
Earth to Mars - 68,338,750
Though there are differences between the increases between these planets, they are on a similar scale with one another.
The total is only roughly one third the distance to next planet, Jupiter.
A new scale is established with Jupiter, which is also mirrored by Saturn.
Mars to Jupiter - 628,813,130
Jupiter to Saturn - 648,313,380
Interestingly, if we add the orbital increases of Jupiter and Saturn, it is close to the relative scale for the increases in the next group.
Saturn to Uranus - 1,444,246,800
Uranus to Neptune - 1,627,280,700
Neptune to Pluto - 1,408,127,100
I believe that the scales of these orbital increases serve as a worthy starting point for consideration, and meditation.
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"That Which is Below"
In deciding what I look at when I consider the idea of "below", it is not as immediately obvious as with regard to "above." Below, could reference looking within Gaia/Earth. Yet, it is not Mother Earth's natal chart that we examine most when we study astrology. Rather we tend to study the differentiation of earthly expression, usually humans or their cultures and creations. For this reason, I choose a sub-cellular approach for "below." I would tend to view the psychological world as "within," and how this psychological manifests, as "without." Ultimately these are just labels specifying polarization, similar to yin and yang, and are by nature easily interchanged.
I think that it is particularly important to look at this sub-cellular view considering that cells comprise the tissues of the very bodies of those things that we study with astrology. It is also timely since it has not been all that long that we have even had this view to consider. We have only been discovering the components of cells for a little over a century; for example Golgi apparatus - 1898, Ribosomes - 1974 and Mitochondrion in the mid 50's. I should also note that there are simple cells that are not as complex as plant, or human/animal cells, so for our purposes, I will focus on eukaryotic cells of humans and animals.
Inside each cell is a core called the nucleus. The nucleus is comprised of a nucleolus (Sun and Mercury), and a space surrounding it which contains the DNA, a.k.a. chromosomes (Venus, Earth, and Mars), of the cell. Consider the design of the double helix chromosome, and how it visually depicts the center point, or joining point of Mars (initiating yang side) and Venus (receptive yin side) being responsible for the manifestation of life.
Beyond the nucleus is the remainder of the cell, which contains a variety of sub-cellular components, all contained by a cell membrane which regulates what gets in and out of the cell through what is called a Sodium - Potassium pump.
In Vedic medical astrology it is Mercury that rules all coverings. My western approach background made me perceive Saturn as ruling boundaries, which are simply coverings seen from the other side. It took much meditation for me to realize that if Saturn's versions of boundaries render what it would be otherwise "covering" unable to "communicate" or function with the environment around it, in turn leaving what ever it would be setting boundaries for non-functional. Mercury's covering is required for the interaction within the environment.
To quote Ernst Wilhelm, "Saturn is air, and thus cannot create boundaries" "It takes the communication of Mercury to defend one's boundaries, and if you notice, people with a weak Saturn tend to cross other's boundaries.
The Sun rules the minerals that comprise our structure, our skeletons, including potassium and sodium. The sodium - potassium pump is considered an active transport system because it moves potassium into the cell which already contains a higher concentration of potassium than outside of the cell, and then returns sodium back outside of the cell which is already also higher in its concentration of sodium.
Imo, this could be viewed as the King's messenger carrying the King's messages to the edge of the kingdom, and discerning what is allowed in and what isn't.
Based on our sub-groupings of the planets orbits, I would designate the area with to be that of Jupiter and Saturn. This would necessitate that Uranus, Neptune and Pluto would have to be represented within the Sodium dominant environment outside the boundary of the cell membrane. This is the view from which we can finally see that the cell exists within tissue comprised of many similar cells; or to put it in more familiar terms, is part of a collective. This supports when astrologers refer to these planets as collective planets. As they move more slowly in the sky, they do seem to influence the collective, cultural trends. It shows these planets to be separate from the individual.
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"Here and Now"
"Before enlightenment, man chops wood and carries water; after enlightenment, man chops wood and carries water."
~ Ancient saying
No matter how much enlightenment we may gain, our lives are here and now, and are to be lived in our bodies.
Our bodies are referred to in many spiritual texts as our soul's temples. When we apply classic rulership to these bodies, everything fits in a manner that can be explained. If we insert a rulership chart in the circular portion of DaVinci's Vestuvian Man the visual fit continues, only validating the Hermetic and Universal law of repeating patterns.
From Wikipedia: "Da Vinci based his drawing on some hints at correlations of ideal human proportions with geometry in Book III of the treatise De Architectura by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius, thus its name. Other artists had attempted to realize the conception, with less success. Vitruvius described as the principal source of proportion among the orders of architecture the proportion of the human figure.
This image exemplifies the blend of art and science during the Renaissance and provides the perfect example of da Vinci's keen interest in proportion. In addition, this picture represents a cornerstone of Da Vinci's attempts to relate man to nature. Encyclopaedia Britannica online states, "Leonardo envisaged the great picture chart of the human body he had produced through his anatomical drawings and Vitruvian Man as a cosmografia del minor mondo (cosmography of the microcosm). He believed the workings of the human body to be an analogy for the workings of the universe." It is also believed by some that Leonardo symbolized the material existence by the square and spiritual existence by the circle. Thus he attempted to depict the correlation between these two aspects of human existence."
The new image created by the combination of these two cosmological images becomes a meditative diagram which continues to show and verify this system as our own knowledge of it deepens.
Aries (Sun's sign of exaltation) - head
Taurus (Moon's sign of exaltation) - face and neck
Gemini - arms
Cancer - chest/breast
Leo - abdomen/area from below sternum to the last four thoracic vertebrae, inclusive
Virgo - hips/top of hip bone to insertion of femur
Libra - pelvic triangle
Scorpio - - external sexual organs and anus
Sagittarius - buttocks
Capricorn - thighs
Aquarius - shins
Pisces - feet
Sun - bone/skeletal and immune systems
Moon - blood/circulatory, respiratory and urinary systems
Mercury - skin/intugmentary system and sense organs
Venus - semen/digestive system
Mars - nerves/nervous system
Jupiter - adipose (fat)/endocrine and reproductive systems
Saturn - sinew/muscular systems
All systems except those ruled by the Sun and Moon require the input of both the receptive and active (yin and yang) signs that each respective planet rules, for concrete manifestation.
How is it even possible to fit the outers in as rulers when it comes to the yin/yang dual rulership is needed for our bodies to manifest?
What parts of the body does Uranus take over rulership from Saturn?
What parts would Neptune take from Jupiter? and what parts would Pluto take from Mars?
The Moon orbits the Earth, thus from a cosmic view they could be seen as connected. Yet from our perspective standing on Earth, by appearing to be equal size to the Sun, the Moon's appears as or reflects her position as the Sun's more cyclical partner.
On either side of the head sits the Sun and the Moon, the king and queen, establishing a right and left side; our yang/active and yin/receptive sides. This establishes the bi-lateral symmetry expressed in their kingdom/our bodies, and the natural world around us. This trait of symmetry has even been linked to our perceptions of beauty when applied to the face. Studies have shown that "symmetry is an important concept in biology, being related to mate selection strategies, health, and survival of species."
Mars rules the nervous system, the brain being the largest part. It is Mars' sign of Aries in which the Sun is exalted, that rules the head. The Sun rules the skeletal system giving form to the kingdom of the body, and protecting such important treasures as the brain.
The Moon rules the circulatory systems, the ever moving tides within the body that carries nourishment to every cell. As much as we need food and water to sustain our lives, our dependence on the oxygen we breathe is supreme.
Gemini, ruled by Mercury, rules the arms, which are the primary tool of Virgo's master craftsmen, also ruled by Mercury.
The body parts ruled by Venus and Mars are the face + head (signs on the Moon's side) and the pelvic triangle + external sex organs and anus (signs on the Sun's side). These areas of the body encompass the upper and lower points that the nervous system is of such importance to the maintenance of life that it gets protection from the Sun's system (boney structures: the skull and spine). These two body areas also mark the beginning and end points for the Venus rulled digestive system.
Jupiter rules the buttocks and feet, and Saturn the thighs and calves. As a massage therapist, I find it most interesting that these literally are the muscle groups that are responsible for our walking and our interaction with the environment around us.
These inner planets continue to work in regards to ruling the systems within our bodies as we go into the layers of interaction with a Grace that can only be confirming of God's existence, at which I will borrow a term from esteemed astrologer Robert Blaschke and say "in this author's opinion".
As much as the outer planets seemed to work when I maintained a predominantly psychological approach, I have to admit that they just don't seem to work once I started to apply astrology to the body and a medical approach. They may rule aspects of our growing knowledge about ourselves, and our bodies; like Pluto triggering our ability to gain sub-cellular vision with high powered microscopes. But, they do not "rule" anything within the natural confines of the individual.
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"What About the Outers?"
If we view the outer planets as collective planets, then they would assist the individual to grow past their own individual egos, to come to terms with, and define the fact that they are a mere cell within a huge collective. These planets would represent a collective process of humanity slowly moving from a "I, me, mine, clan" perspective toward a more collective oriented "we, us, ours, world citizen" mindset. This in keeping with the cellular view which would put these planets in the area outside of the individualt cell, and thus outside the individual body. Instead, they would be linked to experiences rooting our perception of our placement within the collective.
I have heard some astrologers discuss the idea of the outers being higher vibrations of some of the inners. This may be, yet there seems to be differing opinions as to exactly which ones. I have heard Uranus associated with Mercury or the Sun, Neptune with Venus or the Moon, and with there seems to be agreement with Pluto it being Mars.
Vedic astrologer Ernst Wilhelm offers a mathematical perspective of numerical interactions, which supports Uranus's function to be that of a mathematically higher vibration of the Sun, Neptune the Moon, and validating Pluto with Mars.
Within this perspective, Wilhelm starts with a grid showing the Vedic numerical associations of the luminaries, planets and nodes, as well as any other numerical associations that go with that number which provide meditative understanding to the relationships between the planets that the resulting numbers represent. He then continues to build on this grid using the pattern established with the first 9 sections.
The numbers listed as "addition" are arrived at by adding all of the numbers up to that number. The number reached through this method represents what this number "can also embody" to quote Ernst Wilhelm.
For example, the Moon is 2, but through addition (1 + 2) it has a connection to 3.
Mars is 3, but through addition (1 + 2 + 3) it has a connection to 6.
Not all numbers have a square root, but those that do are listed. According to Wilhelm, this reveals the number's foundation. For example, the Sun is its own foundation, the square root of one is one. Mercury's (4) foundation is 2, the Moon. And, the square root, or foundation of Ketu's 9 is 3, or Mars.
The third numerical relationship is squaring the number itself, and according to Wilhelm this represents the number's result. Examples would include, Jupiter - 5 5 x 5 = 25
And, since we are looking for the single digit number that this represents, we need to reduce it as such:
2 + 5 = 7 So the result of Jupiter is Saturn.
Mercury - 4 4 x 4 = 16 1 + 6 = 7 The result of Mercury is also Saturn.
Saturn - 7 7x7 = 49 4 + 9 = 13 1 + 3 = 4 The result of Saturn is Mercury.
When we get to the numbers past 9, there is an additional number to add into consideration. Since the number that is representing the planet itself is a double digit number, this number can be expressed by adding the digits together. Thus, Uranus - 10 links to 1 + 0 = 1
Neptune - 11 links to 1 + 1 = 2
and Pluto - 12 links to 1 + 2 = 3
It seems that the outers operate on, interact with, and deeply affect all individuals according to house placement, but do not directly rule anything within the individual. In fact, it is their role to push the individual to perspectives beyond the egocentric, beyond just themselves, or their personal group. This is mirrored in how these planets are experienced. When the outers are involved, and the individual is operating from a purely egocentric position, we get the most negative manifestations of these planetary energies.
Yet the question remains, what would be the reasons that we perceive the outers to work best in the signs that we do?
With a quick glance, it appears that we perceive Uranus and Neptune to operate best on the Moon's more reflective side, while Pluto on the yang or more outwardly oriented side. This should be considered as we delve into each planet separately.
If we consider Uranus to be the higher vibration of the Sun, then we would expect it to operate most efficiently when directly aspecting the Sun. When we consider people who we associate with Uranian energy, they tend to push past boundaries of convention into new territory. By nature this is perceived as oppositional toward the status quo. The king ego was satisfied with the status quo belief that his kingdom was the center of the Universe, and it is rather humbling to be forced to gain the perspective that his is just one of a multitude of similar kingdoms. And, this humbling experience can precipitate great shifts in internal perspective. In Vedic astrology, Saturn is considered the son of the Sun. He maintains his father's structure that is his legacy. Uranus makes the boundaries of the king's legacy to his son clear. It separates the individual within the collective, and if brought to a complete three dimensional interpretation, the aspect of the opposition allows this to manifest 'face to face.'
Like the Moon, but unlike Venus, Neptune is associated with illusions. Right away, this points to it resonating to the Moon more closely than Venus. Like the Moon, it is receptive and desirous, it bringing yearnings. But, these yearnings never nurture the individual they way they expect. Neptunian desires don't ever quite work for the ego, since like the other outers, Neptune seems more intent on breaking down the ego.
If Uranus and Neptune have not completely annihilated the ego, Pluto is ready to finish the job.
Pluto has an atomic intensity that is undeniable, despite it's tiny physical packaging. Anyone who has experienced a hard Pluto transit, especially angular has been profoundly changed from who they were prior to that transit. Themes like the leveling of existing structures, transformation, throwing the baby out with the bath water, obsession and power are difficult to associate with any of the inners other than Mars or the nodes to such an extreme. Whether the experiences of Pluto come to us consciously through our own actions or the actions of others, there is always an active aspect to the learning of these lessons. Actual events manifest that cause how we view the world around us to change. It profoundly disrupts the things that we think that we know about the world around us, usually forcing us into changing some of our actions, and ways of interacting with that environment at the same time.
The only way that the outer planets could directly rule over the individual and its body, would be in the manner of a forever absentee landlord. The classic rulers never left their posts, so the rulership status of the outers doesn't have the potential to be more than co-rulership. Still, even this status is not supported by the need for bi-lateral expression linked to the creation of our bodies. Maybe it is time we seriously consider other political labels such as "ambassadors" or "emissaries", which might prove more descriptive and less confusing or conflicting.
Sources:
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/charchart.cfm
Primary Source: Cox, Arthur, ed., Allen's Astrophysical Quantities, 4th ed., 2000, Springer-New York
Secondary Source: JPL Solar System Dynamics
Last Updated: 05.19.08
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitruvian_Man
(on physical symmetry)
http://cogprints.org/4349/
Ernst Wilhelm:
http://www.vedic-astrology.net/
http://www.vedic-astrology.net/Courses/Astrological-Anatomy-Course.asp
http://www.vedic-astrology.net/Courses/Outer-Planets-Course.asp
And What About Chiron?
If I consider the planets and the luminaries to be personal planets, and the outers to be collective planets, where and how does Chiron fit in? And, what would its function then be?
Chiron's orbit is in an interesting location. It weaves between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus, between the individual and the collective. Mythologically, the duality of Chiron's worlds can be seen right in his own body, being half human and half horse, a centaur. His spirit also reflects this in his humane and intellectual refinements, especially when compared to the other centaurs. And finally, his story shows his traversing different worlds; most profoundly in his willingly taking his student Prometheus's place in hell, and then being put in the sky as reward for his sacrifice.
13
4
addition - 4
square - 6
This also leads me to believe that we might better understand the functions of the asteroids as we collectively also better understand the workings of the sub-cellular components such as the mitochondrion, the ribosomes, and the golgi apparatus.
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