Illusions of Reality

As we close 2022 we are looking for the way forward. Many things have changed in the last two years and while we can feel and see different ways forward, it can feel like a waiting game to see which one is going to work out. Mars, the planet of action and the things that motivate us, is retrograde in Gemini making us think we are never going to get there. There is a feeling of being stuck and wanting to move forward but unsure which path to take. Jupiter, the planet of paths and journeys, at 29 degrees of Pisces from December 4th until December 20th is making us feel lulled into this confusing reality. The last degree of any sign is always more potent but the last degree of Pisces is also the last degree of the zodiac so there is a feeling of endings and new beginnings. Or has it all just been a dream? Pisces like all of the signs of the zodiac have both positive and negative ways of working. The positive of Pisces is our connection to the divine. Where it is placed in your natal chart gives you an idea of where your own spark of magic or connection to the universe comes from. Pisces can also be filled with illusions that we believe to be reality and those illusions keep us separated from our connection to the universe.

Is it really real?…Astrology Insights by Wendy K.

The allegory of the cave in Plato’s Republic illustrates this idea of illusion. In his story, a few people are taken in childhood and placed in a cave and chained so they cannot move. Their heads are also chained so that they cannot turn around and look behind themselves. Behind them is a fire, which casts shadows onto the wall in front of them. All daylong there are people behind them walking past with cut outs of creatures and objects and their shadow is cast on the wall in front of them. The people have always been in this cave, so they don’t have experience in the world to help them understand what it is they are seeing. Because of this, they make up stories of what they are seeing and to them it becomes truth. If one of the people is freed from their chains and allowed to look behind them to see what these objects actually are, he would still believe the shadows to be the true objects. If the freed person were then led out of the cave and into the world, he would begin to understand that the stories and the truth they lived by in the cave were just illusions. If he returned to the cave to tell the other prisoners, they would not believe him and think that he had damaged his eyes because he went into the light.

At the time Plato was writing the Republic in 514 AD, the North Node and Uranus met up in Taurus and we have that aspect again today. The North Node represents where we are going on this journey or our destiny. Uranus represents change, often fast and shocking change like a lightening strike. Taurus is a fixed earth sign, so it likes routine and stability. Having this conjunction in Taurus makes the changes feel unwelcome even if it is for our own good. Taurus would rather stay in the cave and believe the stories it has made up about the shadows but Uranus and the North Node have other plans for us.

Jupiter’s move into Aries on December 20th gives us a little fire to illuminate our journey. On December 21st the Sun will move into Capricorn marking the winter solstice and squaring Jupiter. Our Sol/Soul will be at odds with our journey like the people in the cave. We have reached the darkest day of the year for the northern hemisphere and now we begin the ascent to the light. Over the next few months what stories will you tell yourself about the shadows you see cast on the wall? We have many changes coming in March next year just in time for the equinox. In the meantime, remember that the shadows we see may not be there in the light.

Wendy Kenneally