Nostos & The Still Star
…Something to track en route to the Solstice
It is possible that what many of us are feeling is what the Ancient Greeks called nostos. It pertains to the perilous journey home. Often correlated with Odysseus in his long and winding whale-road back home after fighting in the Trojan War. Aside from fatigue and the saturnine grief which weighs heavy after such an adventure, there are also distractions, like Sirens or Lotus Eaters (Eros and psyche; sexual pulls and drug-induced promises). When weary, we are susceptible to such temptations. When worn, we lose our best judgment. Nostos is the spore sample of nostalgia, and I would wager many would love to go back to pre-2020, to something more akin to a safer ‘home’ and have another go from there.
Joseph Campbell often talked about the Return being the hardest part of the journey. After the extraordinary, the ordinary may seem strange and lacking understanding of where we’ve been. Having a connection to anchors, or elements that don’t change is essential. One of the very best would be fire.
Vesta, Goddess of the Hearth and the Sacred Flame, keeps it all going, regardless of the chaos happening all around her. By keeping this flame dancing, those who sit by it are reminded of that center piece-the unchanging light animating us throughout all of our trials and tribulations. And as permanent as Vesta’s fire may seem, it is also transient. All she has to do is step away for the first time, and allow the fire to die. It’s a powerful mirror for all of us.
Recently, Vesta moved into Pisces. Squaring off with a couple of the narratives over in Gemini (Sun and Mercury, and soon Venus), there remains an important chapter of this conflict just before the Summer Solstice. As Mercury is leaving the post-shadow back in Gemini (5º) the square will exact. It’s a transit about focus. And as it builds up its case, we will likely encounter more distractions than we can reasonably manage.
It may seem like a minor aspect, one which doesn’t require much of our attention, yet it’s always wise to pay attention to Mercury’s conversations with other planets around its retrogrades. The reason is that his cycle is resetting and all the themes emergent will be carried with us for the remainder of the synodic period (roughly 120 days). Again, the messages I’m receiving here relate to focus.
It’s not hard to waste hours doomscrolling these days. It’s pretty simple to allow an entire day to float by without accomplishing much. In fact, I’d argue many of us have become experts at this privileged procrastination. But as the world tightens and money gets tighter, just as the impossible reaches our vicinity and we can’t believe it’s happening to us, we will be forced to find this center intimated by Vesta’s flame-or else we will struggle immensely. It is our mission to remain bright and warm and constant in the middle of any madness that comes our way.
All we have to do is find the two in our charts (Gemini/Pisces) and discover what our greatest distractions may be. This feeling of nostos will then, hopefully, evaporate. We will have discovered the inner meaning of, “Home is where the heart is.” We may then become radiant and content.
* Also, we are in the final week of the Mercury Rx. Lend your ear the best you can to an Idea that he is trying to plant in the garden of your mind. Once in the soil, tend to it often. And once we pass through the Sun standing still, something will have sprouted, and your renewed sense of focus with it.
Eudaimonia,
Adam
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