The Sun enters Libra II, the realm of Kairos, at 7:56 pm EDT on 2 October 2021. Austin Coppock called this decan Two Links of Chain, symbolizing the idea of justice or harmonization as the binding together. In Libra I, the realm of the Erinyes, we saw the sword and blindfold as a tool of blind separation; here the links of chain symbolize the joining in unbreakable connection, as in marriages and in lasting oaths. The three of swords is the Tarot card associated with this decan, and its ruling planet is Saturn. Marsilio Ficino, the great Renaissance-era philosopher and translator of Florence, found Saturn to be the “highest, most exalted and stable of all the planets, who does not easily signify the common lot of the human race but rather individuals set apart from others, divine or foolish, blessed, or bowed down with extreme misery.” He went on to note that contemplation, the highest form of meditation in Plato, was under Saturn’s authority.

Ficino may well have been speaking about this decan, for the Egyptianized Greeks of Alexandria in the 1st century BC gave this decan to Kairos — “The Right Time” or “Timelesness”. (In fact, Kairos rules two decans, we’ll see them again in a few weeks.) Kairos, “the right time”, is the sort of time that Jesus operates on in the 1st century AD Gospels and letters of Paul and to the Hebrews — he gets up and goes to Jerusalem at the right time; he preaches at the right time; he gives himself up to the authorities at the right time; he selects his disciples at the right time; he is resurrected at the right time.

We’re all familiar, of course, with the concept of chronological time. It’s likely that you have several tools for tracking the passage of chronology. I myself have a calendar, a datebook, a watch, a smart phone with various alarm settings for days and hours and minutes. I also have astrological software and a paper ephemeris, and maybe you do too. It’s unclear to modern scholars if Cronus (the ancient Greek name for Saturn) and Chronos are the same deity, but Saturn is in many senses the lord of Time: most humans, if they live well, take care of themselves and are very lucky, get three cycles of Saturn: one at about 30 years of age, one at about 60, and one at about 90. But only a few remarkable individuals get four (120 years) and five (150 years) has been off the table for millennia (if sources like the Bible are to believed, where Methuselah’s 900 years seems palpably unlikely).

But Kairos, and kairotic time, is somewhat different. Yesterday I made bread. In basic form, bread-making involves flour, salt, yeast, and water. These four ingredients have been combined in various proportions for nine thousand years, more or less. Men and women have been making bread for so long, and in such diversity, that it’s very much a kairotic activity — a thing that is done “at the right time”, which is not precisely measurable by any calendar or watch. When it’s time to make bread, you make bread; when the dough is ready, it goes in the oven. A good many things happen in kairotic time, without the help of calendar or watch — the beekeeper considers the weather and the apparent health of the hive before they open it to remove honey and comb. The woodcarver and the painter each decide, in their own way, that the work is finished and ready for varnish. The knitter decides the scarf is long enough, and binds off the work. One way or another, the task is considered completed. So too with Jesus, according to the canonical accounts: he chose the right time for everything — and those actions resonated as expressions of the present moment, and harmonized with eternity.

That’s Kairos.

The dodecatemoria of Libra II share in this concept of timelessness and right action in the moment. These four 2° 30′ wide windows of time within the decan resonate with Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, and Taurus — the hidden knowledge (♒︎) seeing the whole picture (♓︎), attaining gnostic insight (♈︎), and bringing it into real-world expression (♉︎). It’s fascinating, too, to see Kairos ruling over both beginnings and endings here: drawing together the thread of knowing that it’s time for something to end and then ending it; and knowing that it’s time to begin anew, and beginning.

Planetary Positions

The Sun is below the horizon, making this a night chart. However, the Moon is also below the horizon, giving Venus (as the ruler of the Ascendant), and Uranus (present in the first house) both an unusual prominence in this chart. Venus is angular but in Scorpio where she is in exile, while Scorpio’s ruler is Mars in Libra where he is in detriment and cadent. When two planets occupy one another’s signs like this, they’re said to be in mutual reception, and each acts as though it were in the place of the other — which make Venus sovereign but out of alignment with the Ascendant, and combust from its closeness to the Sun; and makes Mars into a source of ongoing trouble and conflict with others.

This puts Uranus in the driver’s seat, much like an irresponsible teenager being handed a fifth of whiskey, a large box of condoms, and a set of car keys. Fortunately, the teen has been in trouble recently, and being retrograde, is in a somewhat more reflective mood than usual — it may not be as bad as we fear. The car may be dented, but is unlikely to be wrecked; the whiskey will be mostly gone but the worst of it will be a bad hangover; and at least the condoms will get used. The question of sexuality is likely to be the one that looms largest over the next ten days, though, and the interplay of the genders will occupy more headspace than usual. The interplay of Mars and Venus in mutual reception is also likely to cause some cat-and-mouse games of arguments over daily life and individual responsibility vis a vis the “relationship as a whole” where that relationship can be romantic, marital, business, or social. Watch out for people who want to strike up a too-close friendship, as well as people eager to argue with you about what real work-life balance should be.

The North Node-South Node axis runs between the second and eighth houses, creating a longstanding hunger for more cash and more resources, with a corresponding unwillingness to live up to the responsibilities that bring in those funds and material goods. The South Node is in Sagittarius’s first decan The Poisoned Arrow, which indicates a wariness around taking on too many tasks but also suggests that this reticence is poisoning relationships with colleagues and allies. The North Node in Gemini’s first decan Apple of Eden invites us to examine the underlying hunger for cash and material goods with a gnostic eye — do we really want and need what we’re seeking, is it really as good for us as we suppose?

The Lot of Fortune in Cancer’s first decan Mother and Child in the third house suggests that a familial relationship is both sustained and tested by financial questions: who gives the money? Who gets it? The Imum Coeli in the third decan Overflowing Cup suggests that there’s a benefit to considering maternal ancestors and family members on your mother’s side — what have you already received from them? What do you owe them?

A chain of dispositors, as it’s called, puts the moon in an awkward position: the chain is said to bring the issues of house and home signified by the fourth house, to the houses of the final ruling planet. In this case, the Moon has two final rulers: The Moon is in Leo, ruled by the Sun in fall in Libra, ruled by Venus in Scorpio, ruled by Mars in Libra ruled by Venus, ruled by Mars ruled by Venus ruled by Mars… Your intuition and gut feeling may often be at odds with what your higher soul tells you you should be doing. The issue of “THE RELATIONSHIP” vs “WHAT YOU DO FOR WORK” are likely to impinge on house and home life significantly over the next ten days. Issues will appear to be resolved… and then they won’t be. You’ll talk and argue it out, and then the problem will re-emerge like a game of whack-a-mole. The bright and shinies will draw you together; the question of bonds and responsibility to others will likely drive you apart. It should not be assumed that this is a permanent state affairs, though —don’t commit yourself to irreversible actions in the next ten days over this relatively temporary challenge. The Moon is in the Twelfth Mansion, a place of conflict and delay; but the thirteenth mansion is a place of joyful reconciliation and sensual reunion. Any conflict is likely to work itself out in due time — keep working at it!

Any time three or more planets are in the same sign, it’s considered a stellium, akin to a conference or meeting among planets. Our stelium in this chart is in the sixth house of work, servants, and the prevention of illness, where the Sun, Mars, and Mercury have gathered for a meetup. However, Mars is unusually silent in this meeting, and his contributions lean more toward strategic surrender or retreat rather than to his more usual “no quarter given or asked” opinions. The forging of alliances and establishment of clear lines of mutual obligation are on his agenda. This is partly the influence of being in detriment, partly from being so close to the Sun, and partly from being in mutual reception with Venus. Force is not on the table at this time. Meanwhile, Mercury is wielding all of their usual expertise on the medical front — retrograde in the third decan of Libra The Gyroscope, they’re spinning the story to anyone who will listen.

Venus is unfavorably placed in Scorpio, but in mutual reception with Mars and in the night sky, she’s more confident and capable than she would be otherwise. I often describe Venus in Scorpio as a woman in a red dress and heels in the men’s locker room — there’s no good reason for her to be there, and she has to cop an attitude to make it work. However, with Mars in mutual reception, it’s a bit like she has an immediate ally: a boyfriend or spouse who’s guarding the door, or invited her in to skip the line. As a result, she has less need to play a role or stare down any objectors, and she can concentrate on doing her business and upping her glamour. The result s that relationships that depend on intensity or secrecy or scandalousness have a greater chance to thrive in the present environment.

Pluto is just past the midheaven in the ninth house of learning, travel, and tourism. In Whole Sign Houses, when the Midheaven is in a different sign than the tenth, it imports the topics of the sign it’s in, to career and employment matters. Depending on your level of authority in your company, you may be asked to attend a workshop or seminar, or to travel for work, or to write a major piece for your employer’s website, or choose to seek higher education to improve your employment opportunities. A focus on ‘getting ahead’ or building your capacities to lead in your organization is critical for this work, though; don’t buy in to doing this just because your boss wants you to — identify every possible way you can that this feeds your long-term goals before you sign on.

The tenth house is home to two planets at the moment, Saturn and Jupiter, both retrograde and each in a different decan of Aquarius. Saturn is the stronger planet here, in The Mark of Exile and the overall ruler of Aquarius, casting limitations, obstacles, and decline on career goals and opportunities for advancement and recognition. Unless you’re already at the top of your game, expect that there will be delays in getting that raise or promotion; and that there may be trouble with paychecks or reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses. Jupiter’s presence in The Knot indicates that these problems will eventually be resolved, but only if you keep bringing it up and drawing attention to it; bureaucracy and sticklers for formalities will slow down any effort to resolve the problem, but it will get resolved. Just keep at it.

Neptune in the eleventh house in Pisces is retrograde, casting a shadow across the last decan The Cup of Blood. The dissolver of boundaries and caster of illusions is presently causing us to have an unclear and uncertain picture of a medical situation, and this is currently manifesting among your friends and associates. If you’re firmly in the unvaccinated camp, chances are that you’re having regular arguments with them about vaccination; if you’re firmly in the vaccinated camp, the decision of people to go unvaccinated seems heartily foolish. The fact that so much time has gone by without resolution seems ridiculous to parties on both sides — and it’s likely to continue until at least December 1 without resolution, when Neptune’s retrograde ends and the planet goes direct (it may even go until March 2022, when Neptune finally clears the shadow of the retrograde).

Overall, the story of the next ten days is one of upheaval — things being thrown into the air, without knowing quite when they’ll come down.

Horoscopes

Horoscopes of Decans II and III of any sign are available to my Patreon supporters.

Colophon

I have a Patreon account for those who want to support this column as it approaches the end of its second year (I began with Leo I in 2019 )We’re currently doing a decan walk through some Tarot, astrology, mythology, and magic. If you don’t want to become a regular patron, you can also buy me a Ko-fi in $3 increments, and any column I write after receiving a Ko-Fi donation will be open to the public.  You can also schedule an appointment with me using Accuity Scheduling, for a natal or solar return consultation.

I use iPhemeris for my charting software, and screenshot it to make charts. I want to thank the team that develops iPhemeris for the addition of Terms and Decans to their charts, appearing here for the first time! I use Hugh Tran‘s Physis typeface to craft logos for this blog, as well.

I use Christopher Warnock‘s The Mansions of the Moon as the basis of my Moon placement delineations, and Austin Coppock‘s 36 Faces as the basis of much of my planetary delineations. Neither gentleman endorses me. My own book, A Full Volume of Splendour and Starlight, is now available as PDF download from my Etsy website, as is my Almanac for 2021. I follow T.Susan Chang and the Reverend Erik Arneson for insight into Tarot. Any errors in these columns are my own.

If you’d like to schedule a consultation with me, you can find additional information on the Services and Classes page.

If you want to read some of my other astrologically-oriented poetry, “A Full Volume of Splendour and Starlight” contains these smaller collections: 

• To the Mansions of the Moon is a collection of hymns to the angels of the Mansions 
• For the Behenian Stars is a collection of hymns to the first/brightest sixteen stars. 
• The Sun’s Paces are hymns to the thirty-six Hellenistic-era deities and ascended souls of the Greco-Egyptian Decans-calendar. 
• Festae, hymns to some of the older Roman gods and spirits.