The Autumn Equinox and the sanitization of the feminine

Yesterday I began preparing my power-point presentation for the Autumn Equinox celebration at the Fertile Ground Studio Amsterdam. An integral part of this is the drawing up of the horoscope for the equinox itself – set of course for Amsterdam. The midheaven for Amsterdam at the time of the Autumn Equinox is at 26 degrees 20 minutes Taurus, which makes Venus the ruler. Apart from that the midheaven is also conjunct one of the  malefic fixed stars Algol, also known as the gorgon’s head: “the Gorgon’s head, a ghastly sight, deformed and dreadful and a sight of woe” this is how Homer described Algol in the Iliad. With Venus currently passing through Scorpio – the sign of its detriment – this horoscope began to tell me something about the  dark, destructive, jealous, even vengeful side of women, which is the apothesis of what the female energy is often thought to be, i.e. loving, caring, nurturing, giving, birthing, self sacrificing, but tinged of course by centuries of surrender and victimhood.

However there is another way to look at the Algol/Scorpio energy. It can also be seen as an expression of an often diassociated form of female power. This is the power of a Livia who is said to have murdered Augustus by daubing poison on plums while they still hung on the trees. The power of a Victorian wife, who slowly disposes of her husband by adding arsenic to his dinner so that she can get her hands on his money.  This is perhaps also the sort of energy that tempts women to subject themselves to the surgeon’s knife in order to maintain their good looks, or starve themselves to death in order to excercise some form of power of their lives.

The sanitization of the feminine is a riskly business, for that which is not allowed to express itself directly, will find other ways to surface. In the 19th and early 20th century, hysteria was the female sickness, certainly among middle class women. Nowadays, the plague is “burn-out”, which seems to affect more women than men. There is just something not right in the way the feminine is portrayed, exploited and addressed, and this leads women to directly or more often indirectly to revolt.

So, I think that this year’s Autumn Equinox celebration should  be about the primeval feminine, about Lilith instead of Eve, about Kali the Dark Mother instead of Mary, about Lust instead of the Empress. About getting into touch with the dark half and getting to know it, even learning to let it out to play. There is a powerful feminine energy emerging in the city this autumn…..

The horoscope for the Autumn Equinox: 23 sept 2010, 05.09 Amsterdam

Over Liz Hathway

Liz Hathway is a British born astrologer currently based in Amsterdam. Liz studied astrology at the Kosmos in Amsterdam, at the Faculty of Astrological Studies in London and with well known horary astrology John Frawley. Liz also holds an MA (with distinction) in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology, from the University of Wales, in Lampeter, and was short-listed for the 2016 Alumni Association MA CAA Dissertation Prize.
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  1. Pingback: Thank you to Elizabeth « Galitta

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