• Master Astrologer, Poet, Author, Artist, and Teacher

150 150 John Sandbach

May 2007

Pluto is in the 29th degree of Sagittarius all month. The Omega Symbol for this is “A house full of strange disorienting angles and perspectives.” This is certainly the house that humanity has built for itself. We are all becoming more and more aware now of all the mind distortions we have used to build our world. The earth is full of craziness. The beautiful part is, we’re coming out of denial, we’re seeing it more and more for what it is, which is the prelude to overcoming it.
Neptune is in the 22nd degree of Aquarius from May 1 to May 14, the Omega Symbol being “A master healer is gradually restructuring someone’s body.” In a subtle (Neptune) way there are profound adjustments going on in all of us, adjustments that will create greater harmony, that will allow the divine energy to flow more fully, and which will overcome the “strange and disorienting angles which are the result of our karma. The Chandra symbol for this degree is “A woman making lace” and as I just typed this I heard an angel say “straightening out the tangles to create a beautiful pattern.” So Neptune now is in the process of undoing chaos. The Name of God corresponding to the 22nd degree of Aquarius is “Fear of God.” This principle is highly misunderstood. It doesn’t mean being paranoid of God’s wrath, it means keeping your mind in the now rather than allowing it to wander in the past and future realms the ego uses to support itself, and which separate us from God.
On May 14th Neptune goes into the 23rd degree of Aquarius and is there until June 5th. The Omega symbol is “In a catacomb a room decorated with hundreds of skulls and bones.” So this is a time of heavy revisiting of the past. I’m sensing that all these people whose bones are now in this catacomb all knew each other so there is a sense of connectedness, a sense of group, so we might say this symbol is about the roots in the past of our connectedness to each other, a kind of enduring fellowship we are all realizing more fully and tapping into for strength.
The eclipse of March 19th whose effect we are currently under was in the 20th degree of Pisces, the Omega symbol being “a book of healing mantras.” What I get here is that the symbol isn’t “people chanting healing mantras,” it’s much more passive than that: the mantras are just sitting there in the book. This symbol says that we have all we need to heal, but we have to open the book, select the mantra, and say it out loud, we have to manifest the wisdom we already have. The challenge now is to put what you know into practice. Around May 12-13th Mars crosses the eclipse point, forcing the question “well, are you going to get on with the process of evolution, or are you going to just sit there on the fence?” This is a wonderful window of opportunity we can use to recommit ourselves to our work toward enlightenment.
Chiron all month is in the 16th degree of Aquarius. The Omega symbol of this degree is “Cliffs hundreds of feet high that stretch for many miles along a shoreline.” In my notes on the symbols I wrote that this signifies the process of elevating oneself above negative emotions without denying feelings. Just as the cliffs rise above the water, when we find ourselves experiencing a negative feeling it is important to inject the positive into it. This prevents us from being inundated or swept away by the negativity. The Name of God which goes with this degree is Mem-Chet-Yud, which signifies casting yourself in a favorable light. If we want others to see the best and highest in us, we need to look for it in them.
From May 1st to 21st Saturn is in the 19th degree of Leo whose Omega symbol is “A painting is cleaned, revealing colors of otherworldly beauty.” We’re needing to take off the outer layers so we can get down to what was originally there. Remove the residue of smoke and dust that has built up from petty conflicts and astral pollution.
From May 21st to June 5th Saturn is in the 20th degree of Leo, the Omega symbol being “an herb which, if over-consumed causes one to die of laughter.” The Chandra symbol for this degree is “A black pearl hidden in an oyster.” This degree deals with issues of humor: humor, for instance, as a potential poison. Too much of a good thing can be deadly. On the other hand, many people are afraid of humor. Laughter comes from the heart, and this degree is asking us to get more in touch with the lightness of our heart, but in a gradual way, and to the extent we can tolerate. I’m thinking right now of that senator or whoever he was who was joking about “bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran.” This is a case of someone using humor to help make their own murderous and evil intentions more palatable to other people.
There is so much going on now in the world that is so ridiculous that if we were to laugh at it all we might die laughing. Saturn in this degree is encouraging us to lighten the burden of our hearts by seeing how unimportant all these things are and to take the medicine of laughter in the doses that best enhance our process of healing.
The New Moon is on May 16th in the 26th degree of Taurus whose Omega symbol is “All over the city words on scraps of paper flowing through the sewers,” so this lunar cycle is about ridding ourselves of useless information, clearing away oceans of meaningless mental blabber so we can see what is really important. The 26 frequency is ready for adventure, and provokes fresh stages of awareness. It can be a liberating breath that reaches beyond fragmentation (words on scraps of paper) to totality – an antidote to chaos.
For now I bid you goodbye, and hope that your journey through May is joyous and rewarding. John.

Back to top