Virginia Bell Part II (Took Hours to Write)

Okay, so as promised, I'm going to post the information I learned about the Using the Planetary Cycles to Tell the Story of You Life lecture by astrologer Virginia Bell. See the previous post for the context.

Anyway, at the Lunar Progressed Cycle, ages 26-27:

At this stage, people often feel like a change is coming in their lives. There is usually not anything tangible that manifests during the Lunar Cycle, but the feeling does anticipate the major initiation into adulthood that occurs at the Saturn Cycle. The end of the Lunar Progressed Cycle overlaps with the beginning of the Saturn Cycle. The change that the Saturn Cycle brings us is felt first as a stirring in the heart during this time.


During the Saturn Cycle, ages 27-28:

What was felt at the heart level during the Lunar Cycle finally becomes manifest, but it takes hard work to bring it out. Saturn is about sobering up and "getting real" with ourselves and our lives. It is the "do something" planet. At the Saturn Return, it is time to get serious about our lives, our careers, our family lives, etc. It is time to stop "rehearsing" (perhaps by going from profession to profession, or doing other things that reflect the impulsivity and changeability of the 20's) and actually get into the race! This is the first true initiation into adulthood. At this stage, we take on a commitment and put in the hard work to allow it to come to fruition. We bring forth the work that we are called to do at the Saturn Return. Saturn is also a "no nonsense" planet, so some of its lessons may feel kind of brutal; if we don't put in the necessary work at this stage, we really feel it. This stage is also marked by compromise: if we decide we really want to have a family, we may out aside a career we were pursuing to do so, as an example. In summary, at the Saturn Return, we take on a big project that symbolizes an initiation into adulthood, work alot to make it happen. We grow alot in the process.

Well-Known Figures and their Saturn Returns:

• At his Saturn Return, Carl Jung starting working with Sigmund Freud.
• Georgia O'Keefe met Alfred Stieglitz at her Saturn Return.

And then there's the 27 Club: the pop culture name for the rock and blues musicians who died mysteriously right before their Saturn Returns, at age 27. The list includes Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Kurt Cobain. They were in their Lunar Cycle, when we get in touch with our feelings.It doesn't seem like a good idea to be "drugged up" at this sensitive stage of life. Perhaps these artists were going through a lot of intense emotions characteristic of the Lunar Progressed Cycle before their deaths.

We tend to think we have it all figured out after spending some time in the Saturn Cycle, but a few years later comes...


The Midlife "Crisis"/Opportunity, ages 35-45:

Note: The Midlife happens earlier for some people.

In Part I of Midlife (beginning around ages 35-36), Pluto makes a square to its native position in the birth chart. We are faced with an internal or external crisis. We often will ask ourselves, "is this it?" about our lives. This question triggers the intense internal journey that we delve into at this stage. Or else a death, sickness, or divorce (external crisis) may force us to go inside. Pluto is the planet of the unconscious, and it rules the parts of us that have been buried or repressed. Pluto makes the unconscious conscious. We look at ourselves in a deeper way during the Midlife. At the Pluto square, we are compelled to "find the corpse and bury it." We begin to deeply confront old wounds. Part I of the Midlife is all about shadow work. We face what scare us the most and become wiser in it.

Part I of the Midlife is about breaking down. It is a disciplined journey into the dark, and we are "bloody but unbowed."

• At his Pluto square, Carl Jung wrote The Red Book. He went deeply into his depression and kept artistic records of his experiences.

Part I is preliminary to a deeper discovery of the self.

During Part II of the Midlife (usually beginning around ages 40-42), we are faced with a Uranus opposition. Uranus rules "the long shot." Midlife peaks at this stage and we come to expect the unexpected. Anything that we put on the back burner at the Saturn Return screams at us for attention. At this stage, we should take a risk! If we are doing right by this cycle, it looks completely wrong to the rest of the world. We may break with something (or else experience a breakdown or breakthrough). We often "change our brand" at the Uranus opposition, and do something that we haven't been "known" for doing.

• Women often get pregnant at the Uranus opposition.
• Carl Jung created the archetypes at this stage.
• Brad Pitt left Jennifer Aniston and began a new life marked by humanitarian work.
• Bill Wilson became sober and founded Alcoholics Anonymous.
• Gustav Holst created The Planets, his most famous orchestral suite.
• Gloria Steinem created Ms. Magazine.
• Jean Bolen wrote Goddesses in Everywoman.
• Oprah changed her talk show "brand" and created a show that had more meaning.

In Part III, around age 43, we experience the Neptune square. There is a longing for more meaning and spirituality in our lives.

In Part IV, we experience the Saturn opposition, beginning around ages 43-44. We see the decisions that we have made at the Saturn Return. it is good to take some time to just observe our lives.

To sum up the Midlife "Crisis"/Opportunity in quotes:

• "Pray for a big risk and take it."
• "What is not brought to consciousness, comes to us as fate." -Carl Jung

Finally, the "tumultuous-ness" of the Midlife passes and we experience the Chiron Return around ages 50-51:

In mythology, Chiron was a great teacher but was very wounded. He was born a centaur- half man, half horse, and is known as "The Wounded Healer." People with strong Chiron in their charts usually make great teachers.

At the Chiron Return, we make come back to and peace with the wounds we confronted at Midlife, truly accepting them as parts of ourselves. This is the most powerful time for handling "unfinished business." The Chiron Return is about radical self love and radical self forgiveness. It takes us back to what hasn't been healed, and we make peace with ourselves.

• Traditional Chinese Medicine asserts that around ages 48-52, our chi starts to diminish. We need to shift our routines. Perhaps more sleep is needed, or a change in diet. This stage is about maintaining health.
• In her book The Wisdom of Menopause, Christiane Northrup, M.D. describes her own Chiron Return and her experience with menopause.

At the Chiron Return, a new life is beginning, and we make peace with the old life. We come to terms with parts of ourselves that are unhealed. Lots of people bloom at the Chiron Return, as something initially frozen begins to bloom. There is a teacher who comes to us at the Chiron Return.

• At 50, Julia Child wrote a book and starred in a TV show.
• Hillary Clinton began campaigning for New York state senator.
• Michael Jackson died.
• "Forty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age." -Victor Hugo
• "After 50, most of the bullshit is gone."

Around ages 58-59, we experience our 2nd Saturn Return:

While the 1st Saturn Return is about "me, me, me" and "how I'm going to make it in the world," the 2nd is about what we want to give. What type of legacy do we want to leave? What kind of elder do we want to be? We are beginning to enter the realm of the elder, though not everyone comes to embody the elder archetype. When the lessons are not properly learned, we are instead the archetype of the "old fool."As elders, people seek our advice. As "old fools," we give unsolicited advice.

At the 2nd Saturn Return:

• Al Gore won an Oscar.
• Jane Fonda wrote a book.
• Frank McCourt wrote Angela's Ashes.

People can bloom at the 2nd Saturn Return. Here is an article by Malcolm Gladwell about Late Bloomers.

Around ages 60-61, we experience our Grand Sextile:

All planets are lined up in a certain formation. We feel as if the wind is beneath our wings.

At age 62, we experience the Closing Uranus Square:

Uranus makes the final square to itself. We can go for some risk here. Decisions made here will determine the type of old people we will be at our Uranus Conjunction.

At age 84, we experience the Uranus Conjunction:

If we've been living consciously, we experience full individuation or self awareness.

The Neptune Opposition also happens at the same time. We get in touch with our deeper nature and show greater tenderness. This is the culmination of a life, and it is marked by retrospection.

We might do a ritual or create an altar to Saturn to celebrate this period.

Through the passage of time, we come into our full selves and into radical self love and self acceptance. "We all have our own timing and we all bloom at our own time." -Virginia Bell

More Links: Chiron Return Saturn Return Neptune Opposition