What Sixth Point?

What Sixth Point?
By Jim Fournier

A number of astrologers have responded to this pattern with a somewhat indignant, "Sixth point, I see no sixth point there!" or something to that effect. I do understand their point, (or absence of point) but I find the authoritative certainty and self-righteousness among some bizarre, if not comical. In general, it seems that the level of indignation in people is inversely proportional to their depth of insight.

I should first acknowledge, that if one were to grant the same status to all star patterns formed using the Ascendant, much less the Midheaven, one would have so many as to vastly dilute the importance of the phenomenon. So it is important to draw a distinction between those patterns which do involve planets at all six points and those that do not. And the great majority that involve the Ascendant must be given a considerably lessor status. However, the deeper part of this same line of thinking involves which planets form the points of any given star, and the exactitude of the orbs involved.

I would argue, and I believe most well respected astrologers would agree, that in matters of mass consciousness the outer most planets are most powerful. In fact, it might even be argued that the strength of the influence represented by a planet on the collective zeitgeist is proportional to the period of its orbit. At the very least, it is clear that the long term nodal periods in human history can be correlated with the conjunctions and oppositions of the outer most planets. The exact points at which matters come to a climax may often be narrowed further by the addition of Saturn or Jupiter, and the most violent and sudden events may also involve Mars. In addition it has also long been observed that the cycle of the New and Full Moon may often mark the time of greatest intensification of energy. Thus, it may be the Moon, in relation to the Sun, which ultimately marks an exact point in time once the outer planets, and even Mars, are all in a particularly powerful configuration. Anyone who has done much in-depth transit work for individuals understands this phenomenon, and many have pointed to it in mundane events as well.

It was with this frame work of understanding in mind, in November 1993, that I was examining January 1997. I was looking for the exact day that Jupiter would be at the midpoint of Uranus and Neptune. My understanding of Rick Tarnas' (as yet largely unpublished) work on the conjunctions of the outermost planets throughout history, as well as my own experience in transit analysis, led me to believe that the exact midpoint configuration of the three outer planets might represent the culmination of their mutual energies. In the long term this triple point might be more important than the various exact conjunctions of pairs of two planets. Thus, I was looking for the exact day on which Jupiter would cross the midpoint. The synchronicity that Jupiter would also be entering Aquarius, at virtually the same time, made it all the more interesting. I was also aware that Saturn and Pluto were each in sextile to the multiple conjunction and that such a favorable configuration of all five outermost planets had not been seen since the Renaissance.

So, this was not just any day. I knew that I was looking for this particular day because it already had the potential to be a nodal point in the long term span of time. I guess I was curious to see how tight the sextiles between the outer planets were. I don’t really know exactly why I looked at that day, or what I expected to find. But, when I did look, I was amazed! The sextiles were quite good, and what is more Mars was in trine to the multiple conjunction. But what was more, the Sun also joined the multiple onjunction, and the Moon was almost opposite them all. Thus, by advancing one day, it was the Full Moon on axis with the height of the triple conjunction of the three outer planets! Energetically, that would be more than enough for sophisticated astrologers, but what I realized about the pattern was that by setting the time of day correctly a geometrically perfect star pattern formed. This struck me as a miraculous synchronicity, and I have lived embeded in more synchronicity than almost anyone else I know for over ten years. What is more, for most of those years 23 has loomed large in my consciousness as the very symbol of synchronicity itself, and now this pattern shows up on January 23rd!

I should say that as much as I pay attention to synchronicities, and have had many of them, I do not adopt the attitude that they necessarily prove anything one way or another about their specific content. I take them more as a continuous affirmation and lesson in the divine connectedness of all things - in God, if you will. In fact, I have had so many synchronicities, or miracles, or whatever you want to call them, that it occurs to me that people may have gotten themselves into a lot of trouble with missinterpreting these things. If we take them as an affirmation, a sign, that we are RIGHT in our belief about this or that - a miracle as a message from God, we may become even more fixed and inflexible in our position and miss the real message: The Divine exists in all things, remember to surrender to it as much as possible. This is just a reminder to short circuit and confound your so well constructed rational logic. And yet, there is always, in every moment, a responsibility of free will, of free choice. So, for me the question became, as it always does, what can I do with this which would be most creative and beneficial? How am I, how are we, how might we be, meant to use this to the greatest benefit and advantage of humanity?

I sat with that question for a long time, for almost two years, until at last it became clear that if it was to be of any use at all I would have to get off my ass and do something with it. It had been clear from the moment I found it that its power lay in the fact that it was recognizable to non-astrologers, while at the same time I was convinced that it did represent an exceedingly nodal opportunity in time. I certainly don’t claim to be able to say whether it is more or less potent than Feb 14th, or any other date, over that several week period for that matter. That is not the point. The point is that people, average people, can see it and recognize meaning in it, and use it to agree to choose to come together at one moment in time near the beginning of an exceedingly powerful period of opportunity.

We will certainly do everything we can to make this website available to those who have insights about other dates during this period, and beyond. We hope and believe that the GaiaMind Project and the January 23rd event will serve as just the beginning of a three week period of intense collective psychic activity, (perhaps culminating in Feb 14th) which in the long term span of time will itself be seen as but the first tentative step in a long process of the awakening of global self reflexive consciousness.

I have strayed from the astrological point. Let me return to one or two final thoughts. In natal astrology the Ascendant is considered one of the most essential points. Even in electional astrology it is normally taken into account. I know from first hand experience that the influence of the transiting Ascendant may even be felt at times, but it is subtle and most of the time people are simply not looking for it. I know from spending time looking at the roots of astrology through Project Hindsight with Robert Hand and Robert Schmidt, that much of what we regard as "traditional" astrology was more or less made up, or at the very least reconstructed over the last several hundred years. In this century alone we have come to what seems to be a very good consensus as to the meaning of the three outer most planets, and we are now faced with not only Chiron, but a plethora of asteroids. Have we known these long enough to accurately delineate each of their natures? And what of the Tropical Zodiac? The siderealists would have us believe it is but a figment of our imaginations. This is to say nothing of the two dozen different systems of house cusps, each of which their adherents swear they may delineate transits to. And yet, all of these apparently contradictory details somehow seem to work? How is it possible? And, how is it possible for anyone to claim definitively that they know what is right, correct, or true, in the face of this morass?

The more one looks into Babylon and Egypt, as I have began to do in detail, the more it looks impossible to justify many of the details of modern astrology on that basis. The more I ponder it, the more it seems to me that the various planetary bodies do have archetypal energies inherently associated with them, but at the same time we are in some sense co-creating not just our symbolic attributions to astrology, but the very reality of it. We are in some sense collectively co-creating reality through our collective beliefs, and astrology is just one symptom of that process. Perhaps that is finally why I feel justified in pointing to a star pattern which is not strictly speaking kosher, but then what astrology is in this culture? And what could be more in the nature of Aquarius than to break the rules of even astrology itself, while at the same time thrusting astrology more openly into the mainstream popular consciousness? Perhaps this star pattern will simultaneously do both, as it simultaneously perfects in both New York, with 4 degrees 04’ Gemini rising, and in Jerusalem, with 4 degrees 04’ Gemini at the Midheaven, each at exactly 17:35 GMT.