Going With The FlowwolF

Isn’t that cool! I only noticed it last night just before I went to sleep…

That the word “flow” is the word “wolf” backwards or if you prefer, the word “wolf” is the word “flow” backwards.

Why did I notice it last night?

I’m not sure but when I’m tired my dyslexia tends to do its best work with scrambling letters, reading/writing backwards, spinning things around and losing all sense of human time… entering a timezone of its own where one minute can be several hours and several hours can be a minute.

Once I noticed the word “wolf”… it’s been popping up everywhere, calling out to me, howling: “Notice me more, follow my flow!”

Pleine Lune by Musashi Yoshitoshi

Which ties in nicely with the links and excerpts which I’m going to share in this post as part of my new series – Something Interesting (link takes you to my intro post about it but don’t go there now).

Let’s start where I started…

A few days ago I read this post -> Synastry – The Hidden Power of the Nadir by Midara

On one of my favourite astrology blogs, Elsa Elsa. It’s by a new member of the team whose perspective on astrology is very interesting.

I find synastry boring. I’ve tried being interested in it, but when I try to be interested in something I’m not interested in… you know how it goes = it doesn’t go.

What’s synastry?

It’s part of relationship astrology – basically you take your natal chart and the natal chart of your loved one, spouse, lover, friend, child, or your enemy, parent (yes, I put parent after enemy deliberately…), some famous person you’re obsessed with, anyone really… and then you overlay the charts to see how they merge and interact together, connections and disconnections, hard and soft spots. It can help to figure some things out about your relationship, the blending of you and them.

However I found Midara’s post on synastry very interesting.

Gosh, it suddenly went very dark outside and inside – it was bright sunshine a minute ago and now it’s about to pelt it down – which is the perfect lack of lighting for the Nadir…

Here are Midara’s words about the Nadir (aka IC = Imum Coeli):

“When beginners start learning synastry, there’s a tendency to jump straight in and focus on Venus and Mars, and maybe even the Descendant. Which makes sense, right? Of course you want to be attracted to your partner. You want to be pulled toward them, for them to turn your head every time. But for real, lasting love, you need more. You want your partner to feel like home.

For this, we need to look to the Moon and the nadir, or IC. The Moon represents our emotional core, what makes us feel satisfied and safe. And the IC, which opposes the Midheaven, is our most private point. It represents who we are in our most sacred recesses, those soft vulnerable places that are never exposed to the harsh light of day.

Putting those together, you have what makes up our concept of home. A place where you can be totally safe and feel free to be exactly who you are. A place where you are valued for what you already are, and a place that provides a respite from the world. And in love, that is a beautiful thing.”

excerpt from Synastry – The Hidden Power of the Nadir by Midara on Elsa Elsa

What caught my interest was – “And the IC, which opposes the Midheaven, is our most private point. It represents who we are in our most sacred recesses, those soft vulnerable places that are never exposed to the harsh light of day.“

And because it stirred interest, I decided to explore the Nadir (IC) in my natal chart (link to the most recent version I’ve uploaded onto my blog in Sept 2019).

The lowest point on my chart, my most private and sacred part is at 7 degrees in Sagittarius.

To explore it further I started with the Sabian Symbol (link takes you to Cafe Astrology’s page on the Sabian symbols) for that degree:

7-8 deg Sagittarius = Within The Depths Of The Earth New Elements Are Being Formed

Mmmm…

Then I went to Darkstar Astrology because Marina has written and shared her very interesting interpretations for each decan (10 degree segment) of each sign (each sign is made up of 3 decans).

And guess what the first word I noticed on the page for Sagittarius Decan 1 was…

“Sagittarius decan 1 is ruled by Mercury and Jupiter (Sagittarius triplicity). Sagittarius travels through the constellations of the Scorpion, the Wolf, the kneeling Man, the Serpent Bearer, the Compass and the Triangle from November 22 to December 2. Mercury representing this decan gives it its shadow side, since this god could travel between the underworld and the surface world.

As Hermes, Mercury is associated with the caduceus and medicine. Most of Sagittarius decan 1 is made up of Scorpio and Ophiuchus and even the other constellations that fill in the gaps here have a theme of medicine about them. The great attraction for foreign cultures that comes with Sagittarius serves these subjects well when looking for herbs (Or drugs..), cures and enlightenment from far and wide.

There is also a fascination with ancient cultures and their healing wisdom. Sagittarius loves wide-open spaces, fresh air and being close to nature. Shamanic cultures of the native Indians of North America and those that live in the rain forests of South America would hold an appeal for Sagittarius decan 1.

The wolf mentioned earlier has a close connection with native Indians too and was revered and respected as a medicine animal. “Wolf is the pathfinder, the forerunner of new ideas who returns to the clan to teach and share medicine.””

excerpt from Sagittarius Decan 1 – Shamans & “Privates” Investigators by Marina on Darkstar Astrology

After that I paused in my exploration to let the information I’d gathered swirl around and find its place in my mind…

Some things which enter my mind will stay and some will go…

My mind is sort of a sieve, a gold pan… I throw a bunch of earth in it, add water, and then shake it and swoosh it around and around, air enters the mix… and wait to see what sparks, sparkles, and stirs the fires within.

While on pause… I played a puzzle.

A word game.

I find playing puzzle games of all sorts helps the mind to figure things out and guess what I noticed… hint: it’s connected to the symbolic image of Sagittarius.

screenshot of the word game I played on Merriam Webster’s website

and no, “dustium” is not a word but it should be… ugh, look at all that dustium on the shelfium, I guess I should do some cleaningum but I feel lazium and besides the dustium will simply scatter then gather againium.

After the word game…

I found myself remembering an idea I had yesterday afternoon for an astrology post series, which involved choosing a placement in my natal chart, such as Venus in Pisces, and finding pieces of music to express my experience and personal interpretation of that placement and the aspects, connections, it forms.

The pieces of music would be ones which after hearing them had been absorbed into my inner soundtrack because they touched and stirred up something within.

Funnily enough my natal Venus squares my IC, as does the Moon, the Moon and Venus oppose each other and square Neptune which is loosely conjunct IC… combining the MC (Midheaven), the point opposite the IC, they all form what is known as a Grand Cross.

A Grand Cross is basically four placements which are grandly cross with each other… in opposition and squaring off, arguing, fighting, disagreeing, at odds.

Annalisa wrote a wonderfully in depth post about her personal experience of living with a Grand Cross in her natal chart for Elsa Elsa with which I resonate:

“I have a chart that causes astrologers to say “I’m sorry,” or as one reacted when my sister Elsa showed my chart to her, “How does she live with this?” I have plenty of aspects but what stands out to most astrologers is my Grand Cross in mutable signs. They wonder how I deal, what my life has been like and what sort of a train wreck I am! I’m not a train wreck and in fact I have a way of looking at life and at oppositions in particular that works for me and works for my chart! I’m happier than most people think and I’m very experienced in some tough things as people would expect. I’ve also been blessed where others are not so lucky and it’s all due to my Grand Cross and the action in my chart.

Opposition means balance. When one has a Grand Cross in their natal chart it means that a person is going to learn about balance and learn in a very deep way! When people of opposite signs learn to tolerate each other it is a high form of love and when a person learns to live with opposites in their chart at all times one learns to be open and have love for everyone and themselves as well.

…

The Grand Cross teaches us to allow for another’s ideas and thoughts. It shows us that other’s ideas and opinions may be valid for something we need to know in life. The Grand Cross in your natal chart teaches you that people are very important in your life and that you should honor them for who they are. Most of all the Grand Cross teaches one that life is large and open and we can all do just about whatever we want to do so long as we have thought it out, felt it out and most all, stay open! When there is a Grand Cross in the sky it is our opportunity to find our balance again and right our wrongs.

Most of all when we meet someone of the opposite sign of our own we would do well to remember that they may have something to teach us that will better our lives!”

excerpt from Living With A Grand Cross by Annalisa on Elsa Elsa

I’ve never really bothered with the Grand Cross in my chart, in fact I haven’t really acknowledged it until now… I have my reasons which are kind of weird – it felt like boasting somehow… instead I’ve explored the T-Square which is part of it, but even admitting to having that felt like I was boasting somehow… even though both offer a humbling experience.

That’s so weird… I may explore that more later… or not. I know it’s connected to my experience of narcissists, especially my covert narcissist mother. You’re not allowed to “boast” about your troubles and problems when in earshot of a narcissist, they view it as competition and their troubles and problems are always greater, more important, grander crosses to bear than yours… and if you make the mistake of “boasting” about yours, you’ll never hear the end of theirs.

Lately I have been looking into the MC more… so it makes sense to look into its opposite – the Imum Coeli (IC) = bottom of the sky.

Going with the flowwolf… is it a lone wolfflow?

I’m going to end this post here with the first song which popped into my mind, before intellect got involved and made a confusing mess, when I asked myself – Which piece of music expresses IC in Sagittarius for you?

The Riddle by Nik Kershaw

“Near a tree by a river
There’s a hole in the ground
Where an old man of Aran
Goes around and around
And his mind is a beacon
In the veil of the night
For a strange kind of fashion
There’s a wrong and a right
But he’ll never, never fight over you”

chorus of The Riddle by Nik Kershaw

As I end this post, the sky has gone even darker, lightning flashes, thunder, and it is now raining and pouring… somewhere there is an old man who is snoring.