Eclipse Season
Today's New Moon brings with it a Solar Eclipse. Unfortunately, it's been raining all day in NYC so I did not get the opportunity to witness the Ring of Fire. If you did, please share photos and/or videos!
This eclipse officially initiates us into eclipse season. The next one will be a Lunar Eclipse on October 28th.
Generally, eclipses act as a vortex for our emotional life. Everything intensifies as we are forced to let go of what no longer serves us. This is a period to embrace the cycle of endings and beginnings.
Thank You Subscribers
I want to take this chance to say thank you. This is the fifth issue of The Deep Now, and we just hit 80 subscribers!
Writing this newsletter every other week has brought tremendous joy into my life. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading and supporting The Deep Now.
We have five more issues to go until the end of 2023. If you have enjoyed reading thus far, please invite others to subscribe.
I'd also love to hear from you: which aspects are you enjoying? what more would you like to see? how can I do better? Please don't hesitate to give me any kind of feedback.
As a thank you and as an eclipse season support, I'm offering natal chart readings at a discounted rate (US$100). After the next eclipse I will be increasing the price of my astrological offerings. So if you're feeling emotionally overwhelmed and/or you're just curious to learn more about your birth chart, you can book a session with me. If you're currently financially constrained but still wish to have a reading, just let me know and we can figure something out. Please directly respond back to this e-mail in order to schedule a reading.
Integrate This
In the previous issue I shared the story behind Integrate This––the planetarywear brand that Abeer and I recently launched. Today, I'd like to share the history behind our limited edition hoodie "Paradigm Crack".
Let's begin with this short video:
This piece of wearable art came into inception in March 2022. Lucien Dante Lazar, the artist behind Paradigm Crack used our HistoryEngine as inspiration to create a Saturn-Uranus aesthetic.
Here are a few examples of some artifacts that Lucien was inspired by from the HistoryEngine:
1. Russia-Ukraine conflict (at the time the war had just begun)
2. The development of neon light in 1910 by French engineer and inventor, Geroges Claude
3. Isamu Noguchi’s Sesshu (1958)
4. U.S. abandons the gold standard in 1971
5. Bill & Melinda Gates file for divorce in 2021
These are just a few Saturn-Uranus artifacts that were used to inspire Lucien's creation. Perhaps you have already noticed the aesthetic similarities or the unconscious patterns that tie all these artifacts together. If not, I'll give you a hint: Saturn symbolizes structure, while Uranus signifies freedom. 1., 4., and 5. show how the reign of structure (Saturn) can come to a surprising (Uranus) end. 2. and 3. show how practicality (Saturn) and innovation (Uranus) can be merged.
Aesthetically, Saturn-Uranus evokes the feeling of a crack. The crack indicates that what was solid and unchanging (Saturn) is being touched by an electric need for something new (Uranus). Light can come through a crack that otherwise would have been closed.
In order to showcase two major themes of Saturn-Uranus (structural collapses and paradigm shifts), we honed into two historical artifacts: the crash of Wall Street in 1929 and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
In the video, the first scene symbolizes the beginning of the Great Depression with the collapse of banks, and the second scene symbolizes the ending of the Soviet Union with a paradigm shift in geopolitics.
We chose these two events because 1) the Russia-Ukraine war had just begun, and it seemed deeply synchronistic that during a previous Saturn-Uranus cycle, the Soviet Union collapsed; and 2) we were anticipating a financial crisis as it is often the case that major Saturn-Uranus alignments trigger such events (2007-2012: housing market crash; 1998-2001: dot-come bubble burst; 1985-1990: Black Monday in 1987; 1635-1639: Tulip Mania collapse in 1637), so it seemed fitting to capture the feeling of the 1929 Wall Street collapse. Lo and behold, the entire crypto market collapsed a couple of months after we created this work.
We were also astounded to discover this cover of The Economist a year after "Paradigm Crack" came into inception:
Can you see the underlying aesthetic theme?
"Paradigm Crack" is both a participatory and a predictive piece of wearable art.
We are only selling 50 hoodies.
"Paradigm Crack" is your golden ticket into the new world––the Age of Enchantment.
Consider owning a piece of history today.
Archetypal News
Before we dive into this topic, I want to acknowledge the brutality and pain that so many innocent humans are undergoing right now. It is evident that both sides are suffering, and I pray that peace will be embraced sooner than later.
War is one of the most devastating aspects of the human condition. Yet, despite the consequences it seems to weave itself through our evolutionary story with relentless stickiness.
While my main area of focus is with outer planetary movements (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto), I will touch on an inner planet today. That planet is Mars. Mars is an interesting planet as it acts as a trigger. Its element is fire, and what it desires the most is action. So whatever Mars touches (no coincidence that its glyph is shaped like an arrow), it triggers.
Exactly one week ago, on the morning of October 7th, the militant group Hamas terrorized Israeli citizens with a surprise coordinated attack.
Astrologically, Mars and Pluto (circled in red) were in a hard alignment (90° angle in the sky just 1° apart) on that day. This is very intense energy.
I want to remind you that astrology has nothing to do with causation and everything to do with correlation. So keep in mind that the planets did not cause this terrorist attack. Plotinus said it best: “The stars are like letters that inscribe themselves at every moment in the sky. Everything in the world is full of signs. All events are coordinated. All things depend on each other. Everything breathes together.”
Mars is the archetypal warrior, while Pluto is the instinctual beast. When these two planets are in alignment, the archetype of the conqueror comes into being. In its most noble attribute, there is courage and passion to drive things forward. On the other hand, in its deepest shadow, Mars-Pluto can show up as murderous rage. Unfortunately, we all witnessed––and many continue to experience––the dark, dark shadow of this aspect.
To put this into further context, Mars-Pluto were in alignment when Russia invaded Ukraine (conjunction 0° angle):
And when Germany invaded Poland, crystalizing the start of World War II (opposition 180° angle):
Clearly, Mars-Pluto is the energy of waging war.
This energy has and always will be part of the human psyche. However, with astrological awareness, we can do our best to participate with the most life-affirming aspects of this combination: to exercise courage and passion (Mars) for evolutionary regeneration and healing (Pluto).
So now let's take a diachronic look at the Israeli-Palestinain conlict. In the previous issue I shared that we are now in the sunset of the Saturn-Uranus transit, and that this indicates a period of intensification. This is precisely what is occurring, especially as we thread through previous Saturn-Uranus cycles:
1917––Saturn opposite Uranus: The Balfour Declaration was issued by the British government, expressing support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine.
1947-1948––Saturn sextile Uranus: Israel declared its independence, sparking the First Arab-Israeli War and the displacement of Palestinian Arab populations.
1967––Saturn opposite Uranus: The Six-Day War occurred, during which Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights, significantly altering the geopolitical landscape in the Middle East.
1973––Saturn trine Uranus: the Yom Kippur War took place when Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack against Israel, leading to a significant conflict with regional and global implications.
1987––Saturn conjunct Uranus: the First Intifada, a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation began, marked by widespread protests, civil disobedience, and violent confrontations.
2000––Saturn square Uranus: the Second Intifada, characterized by increased violence and terrorism erupted as a violent Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation and policies, resulting in a period of intensified conflict in the region.
2007––Saturn opposite Uranus: Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip, leading to a political and territorial split between Gaza and the West Bank.
2023––Saturn square Uranus: Hamas launched a coordinated attack on Israel.
So what does this mean?
Well, it seems that the relationship between Israel and Palestine is a story that is deeply embedded in the Saturn-Uranus combination.
Saturn represents what is old, while Uranus represents what is new. So inherently, there is tension between the past and the future. In this case, it can be perceived in two ways: 1) the Land of Israel was inhabited by Jews prior to the birth of Islam––indicating a desire for Jews to return to the original tradition of the land; 2) Roman Emperor Hadrian exiled the Jews and renamed the province of Judea as Syria Palaestina in 135 CE, and since then has been the land of home for Palestinians––indicating a desire to conserve the more recent cultural history for that geography.
Should the old way or the new way have more power? It's a tough act of reconciliation as both Saturn and Uranus provide tremendous value. Like the divorce between Bill and Melinda, this conflict could end up in a major separation. However, the light of Saturn-Uranus is that of a bridge (literally and figuratively). For. exmaple, a figurative bridge was built between East and West Germany in 1989, and a literal bridge was built between the U.S. and Canada in 1940––both Saturn-Uranus periods.
So we shall see how this current Saturn-Uranus event will unfold...
Take care, and breathe deeply until the Lunar Eclipse.
In Mystery,
Somya