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The Dance of Covid and the Planets

Shantamo · November 5, 2020 ·

My dear colleague Marga has mapped the development of Covid-19 with the planetary transits. In this guest blog she presents her conclusions.

These are astrological notes that I took during the months of lock-downs and unlockings, originally published in June as facebook posts, in reference to the main facts and tendencies of Covid-19 pandemic all over the world. I also inserted links of relevant information excerpted from the media. I am now editing and integrating information for people who are not so acquainted with the HD system and also adding more references to facts and events.

It all started when, while reading an article, I realized that the beginning of the outbreak in Italy happened during the so called Incarnation Cross of Contagion, last February 14th.

Incarnation Crosses in Human Design are fixed configurations of the Sun/Earth binomial on the HD Zodiac wheel during the solar year. They’re calculated at the actual position of the Sun on a given day and at 88° of Solar arc – roughly 3 months before. Considering the Zodiac wheel, the Earth is always organically opposite to the Sun. So we have basically points in space-time that make a specific configuration for each moment of the solar year. The Crosses always occur more or less at the same time in the year, lasting 2 hours to 4 days (according to a fixed structure), and they bring a special climate, imprinting life with their peculiar energies. Each Cross happens 1, 2 or 4 times in a year, in the different seasons, with shifting of the reciprocal positions of the Sun and the Earth and following a predetermined pattern ruled by the motion of the Sun.
Another important observation I made it’s that on February 13th, one day before the Contagion Cross, planet Saturn had entered Gate 60, Limitation (26°22′ Capricorn to 02°00′ Aquarius), after 30 years, and it seemed particularly relevant in a moment in time when all the world was basically locked, limited, restricted… And even if I am not an expert of transits, I decided to go deeper into planetary positions, to see if they could really explain, or describe, what was – and still is – going on.

Marga Eleonora Scroppo is a Human Design reader, Life Coach, musician, and former professional poker player. She currently lives in India.

Marga on the web

So here is the timeline more or less as I originally presented it, with some clarifying notes.

Phase 1: China

17 November 2019: first case tracked down in Wuhan

We all know that word about a new disease, that was killing people in China, spread all over the world around December 2019, but of course it is pretty obvious that it often takes a while before a new virus gets isolated and identified. I did some research and from an article on The Guardian I learnt that, “The first case of someone suffering from Covid-19 can be traced back to 17 November, according to media reports on unpublished Chinese government data. The report, in the South China Morning Post, said Chinese authorities had identified at least 266 people who contracted the virus last year and who came under medical surveillance, and the earliest case was 17 November – weeks before authorities announced the emergence of the new virus”. (excerpted from Https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/13/first-covid-19-case-happened-in-november-china-government-records-show-report )

Emblematically, on this very date, we entered the Incarnation Cross of Contagion (17/11 to 20/11).

As of course a virus does not come out of the blue, I have been wondering if the previous Cross of Contagion – 18/8-21/8 2019 – could have been relevant, even though it was really impossible for me to retrieve such information. But, while looking for something else, I came across this headline:

“Virus might have emerged in august”

Https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/virus-may-have-emerged-in-august/article31798472.ece

So, there it was! Another little piece in the planetary puzzle, even though hypothetical…

We have 4 crosses of Contagion every year: February, May, August and November. They probably beat the clock of seasonal flues in different geographical areas with no much fuss, but this time something went differently. Maybe the interplay of Neptune in Pisces (63 cusp 22) and Mars surfing from Virgo (47) to Sagittarius (5 cusp 26)? Or the transit of Mars in Leo (29) during the August 2019 Cross of Contagion (29-30; 8-14), followed a few weeks later by the opposition to Neptune? Neptune, according to traditional astrology, is connected to viral and bacterial infections. And Mars is connected to immunity. Some astrologers do say that Neptune/Mars relationship (opposition in September 2019, square in January 2020) has played a role into it.

Another interesting event: on the 20th of January we had the Fixed Cross of Restriction (a fixed cross happens only once in a year), in Gate 60.4 and, 2 days later, the Chinese government enforced the lock-down in Hubei region.

Phase 2: Italy and the rest of the world

14 February 2020: first Italian (and European) cluster and acknowledgement of possible community transmission in Codogno, Lombardia. The rest is history, we all know what happened. Literally something that will be remembered in history books…

And on the very same day we entered the Incarnation Cross of Contagion (14/2 to 17/2) again… The day before, 13/2, Saturn had entered Gate 60, the Limitation or Restriction, reinforcing the climate set up by the Cross of Restriction on the 20th of January. Around this time restrictions started to take place everywhere, culminating in lock-downs and travel bans all over the world a few weeks later. On the 12th of March WHO declared Covid-19 a worldwide pandemic.

The thing that really struck me about this planetary position is what the traditional I-Ching hexagrams narrative – on which HD Gates are based – has to say about it:

Line 1: don’t go out of your home, not even to the courtyard.
Line 2: don’t go out of the door of your home: danger!
Line 3: the one who cannot restraint himself will complain.
Line 4: restriction fulfilled.
Line 5: better to sweeten up the restriction.
Line 6: bitter restriction: perseverance will bring disgrace.

Saturn slowly moved through these lines, pacing the different phases and moods of the lock-down, and became retrograde on the 11^th of May. Then it lingered on the 6^th line, “bitter restriction: perseverance will bring disgrace” with all the problems and conflicts that everywhere people were facing, tired and exhausted of being quarantined. Jupiter had entered Gate 60 on the 20^th of April, complicating a situation that was already becoming very tense. While Saturn is at home in 60, because it has itself an energy of restriction and limitation, Jupiter is at total unease, because it wants to expand and freaks out in restraint. It also gives a sense of confidence and optimism, that in this case can translate in the idea that it’s ok to let go of any kind of restraint, including mask and social distancing, creating a false sense of being safe, especially since it also turned retrograde on 15^th of May, at the same time when we entered the next Cross of Contagion (15/5-18/5), starting a “phase 3” of openings and increasing infections in the states of India who had, up to that point, limited the spreading of the virus, and of exacerbation of the situation in the Americas and in Russia.

Phase 3: India, Brazil, US, Russia

Between the Cross of Contagion of May and the following one in August (17/8-20/08) the countries who were very affected in Phase 2 saw less infections and restrictions. While US, Brazil, Russia and India took the stage with massive rates of infections, with different problems to face and different attitude of the people towards the issue of restraint (self-quarantine, mask, SD etc.)

This phase saw a temporary relief of Gate 60 with Jupiter moving out on the 6^th of June, retrograding in 61, and Saturn slowly stationing and retrograding on the 6th line of the Gate, detached and distracted enough not to take anything seriously about Limitations… with Jupiter, Pluto and Uranus screaming from the Channel of Awareness (61-24), and Neptune in Pisces stirring the waters of Information/Misinformation from gate 22. It was indeed a tough battle…

Phase 4: The Second Wave

Soon after the Cross of Contagion in August, on the 24th of the same month, Saturn too regressed to 61, leaving a long moment of interregnum, till it turned direct again on the 29^th of September, indicating that the climate of Limitation would return by the time it entered 60 again on the 4^th of November, pacing through 60 again and aligning with the last Cross of Contagion of 2020 on 16/11-19/11 and bound to make its final exit from 60 on the 3^rd of January 2021. Also Jupiter is bound to return to 60 on 2^nd of December and complete its tour of the Gate on the 28^th of the same month.

So I guess we will not be really free of restrictions and limitation – and of the virus – until the beginning of the new year, but if the dance of Saturn and Jupiter in and out of 60 and around the Crosses of Contagion provides indeed a description of what has happened, we can say it is likely that we will be free of it by the beginning of the new year, with a wake to the Cross of Contagion of February 2021 (13/2-16-2). Neptune will be lingering in Pisces for a long time, but it has made peace with Mars during the June conjunction and the fact that the sextile will be during the Cross of Contagion on February 13th makes us hope for the best. The next square from Gemini will be in April 2021, but it will be a wading square, probably just the wake of Covid-19… I am not a champion at predictions, but it all makes sense to me and we will all see how it will actually play out very soon…

Till then, the call is to caution, patience and wisdom… other strong Saturn themes…
After that, Saturn will move to 41.1, the start codon Gate, marking a completely new phase. The last time this shift from 60 to 41 happened was December 1991 that saw the end of the USSR after a whole 30 years of Restrictions that affected the whole world and that became so symbolically evident in 1961 with the building of Berlin Wall with Jupiter in 60 (barbed wire phase), soon followed by Saturn (cement and concrete phase). And the story of human Limitation can surely be traced back, analyzing all the 29-30 years cycles of Saturn starting in 60 and ending in… 60. But that’s, maybe, for another article…

Marga Eleonora Scroppo

Disclaimer: these are just notes and not an exhaustive analysis of the whole Human Design astrological picture during this time. I hope that someone more expert than me will take on the task and fill in the blanks.

Body Oneness Meditation

Shantamo · October 31, 2020 ·

These days a lot of mental energy flies around, yet we also have the possibility to use our mind as a tool to bring awareness to where we direct it.

This little meditation explores how it feels to be aware of our own body from within. May it benefit you.

Body Oneness Meditation

Do the Transits favor one of the candidates?

Shantamo · October 20, 2020 ·

With the election campaigns in the US in full swing, I had a look at how the transiting planets affect the Human Design charts of each candidate. It’s a good video to watch if you like to know more how the passing planets influence a chart. It happens to all of us.

With the charts of Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

Who is Kamala Harris, what is her relationship with Joe Biden and how do they measure up to Donald Trump

Shantamo · August 18, 2020 ·

This article focuses on the upcoming presidential elections in the USA. I remember my first presentation at school was about the American electoral system, I must have been 11 years old at the time. If you have an interest in what happens in this country, which I feel still provides a blueprint for the world, and you like Human Design, then you’re in for a treat. Feel free to jump to the conclusion as well.

Since Joe Biden has chosen Kamala Harris as his running mate, it has become clear who are the players in the race for the White House in 2020.

I will use the perspective of Human Design to look at the following questions:

Who are the two Democratic candidates?
What kind of relationship do they have?
How do they differ from the incumbent, Donald Trump?

Kamala Harris in Human Design

Kamala Harris is born in the incarnation theme of the Laws, which makes her want to give new structures to values that she perceives as essential for society. With the changes that life brings, also the laws, which ideally aim to establish fairness in the way we deal with each other, need to be updated. With her Sun in gate 50, line 2, she brings determination to this endeavor. She can stand up for her values in the face of opposition, if that is needed.

Within herself, Kamala Harris may appreciate the transformative quality that belongs to this incarnation theme, although it comes with a touch of melancholy – everything keeps on changing! Her Saturn in gate 30 helps her to understand that embracing setbacks can enrich her life. Once she settles in her inner resolve, the resulting clarity can shine light on confusion that she meets in the world around her. Some people will understand that positions can and need to change over time – and Kamala Harris has an inborn ability to talk her way out of trouble – while others will see her as inconsistent. The latter view can be reinforced by a tendency in her personality to distract herself with viewpoints and people that may be stimulating, but do not nourish her immediate core values.

With her split definition and undefined Self, Ego, Emotions and Spleen centers she can lose track of her purpose and express ideas that are out of tune with it. This will weaken her impact. It is rooted in a childhood doubt whether intimate relationships can really work, which leads to a dent in her sense of self-worth. It is as if the bright shine of the full moon (Kamala Harris was born on a full moon, giving her something mysterious and magnetic) is then temporarily eclipsed. Pluto will create situations that strongly invite her to transform these outdated doubts and start again with a clean emotional slate. When she is in a state of trust, feeling emotionally supported by life (which can manifest through people around her) her words have the power to transform people.

Joe Biden

Joe Biden, meanwhile, has the incarnation theme of Transference. He wants to make a contribution that enables and inspires others to obtain the good things in life, predominantly on the material plane. To do that, he needs to feel financially secure himself first. When he stays clear about his own material interests people will see him as dignified. He could, however, create confusion when he loses sight of the boundaries in material matters because he wants to be nice to someone.

Mars in gate 44 makes him an excellent networker, the 6^th line there indicates there are periods he wishes to retreat from the world. With the unconscious moon in gate 61, line 1, he is intuitively attuned to the psychic dimension, something he may be experiencing in his religious life (Joe Biden is a practicing Catholic).

With six defined gates in an undefined Throat center he can express himself in many different ways, giving the other side the feeling that he speaks their language. It may also facilitate his famous predisposition for gaffes. There could be a deeper reason for those too: when he senses the current situation is unsatisfactory for him but does not want to acknowledge it, he can escape the realization by stirring up some external commotion.

The connection between his Sacral and his Self center lets him be in the right place at the right time. This happens as a result of an internal preparedness and a willingness for new, good things to happen. Fortune smiles on Joe Biden when he is aligned with his purpose. This alignment comes as a consequence of embracing his feelings, whatever they are, and then letting go of any expectations that underpin them. That is not always easy. You could say that Joe Biden’s good luck is well-earned.

Working together

For the cooperation between the two candidates we make a Human Design composite Chart. We can do this for any kind of relationship. Here we regard Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as business partners who commit to a common project. What becomes instantly clear when you look at the composite Chart is that the split definitions of each of them are now connected. On their own, they are both Generators with a mental projector part, meaning that their life energy and their thinking processes are not necessarily in unison. Now, all six central centers of the Human Design Chart, from the bottom to the top, are hooked up. This enables them to broadcast a coherent message, rooted in reality and inspired by a shared vision. With 10 of the 11 gates in the Throat center activated, they have many different ways to communicate, so that they can reach diverse audiences.

The way their Charts go together suggests friendship and mutual understanding, good for colleagues in a work environment. In a romantic setting, this composite would indicate each partner has chosen to do a lot of inner work to make the relationship viable.

In short, we can say that their strength lies in issuing a heart-felt appeal to the personal responsibility of each person in their audience. They will want to awaken a sense of higher values, that can direct people towards making the choices that are right for them.

Donald Trump

Trump is a formidable opponent, a highly intuitive man. He knows from experience that trusting his hunches can bring him success. He uses an emotionally tinged type of logic, and has an unconventional way to gather resources on the material plane. One of his main challenges is to bring consciousness to his needs and wants in the realm of intimacy. He can end up in a place of deep loneliness otherwise.

His Chart is a mixture of strong emotions, willpower and an ability to convince people in a way that goes under the radar of logic, with a kind of stealth argumentation style. Without sufficient self-awareness, this is an explosive concoction that in other times may have been associated with practicing black magic.

Conclusion

Trump’s Ego center and his Emotional center are defined, they are always active in his life. Even in the combined Chart of Biden and Harris both these centers remain undefined. It means that Trump can directly appeal to people’s guts in a way that they cannot. What they do have together is a defined Self center, which gives them what I would call a ‘moral compass’, an innate sense of values and direction. By walking their talk, while avoiding intellectual excursions, they can remind people that true values anchor us on our path and that each of us has a responsibility to find these values for ourselves and then implement them in our life.

This seems to me to be more in tune with the general quality of these times, as they show in the transiting planets. However, they will need to fend off Trump’s emotional and intuitive attacks without getting too much embroiled in them. From a look at their Charts, Kamala Harris has the wherewithal to counter Trump’s sub-rational aggressions, especially when she is supported by Joe Biden’s convivial sense of direction.

Biden and Pence — Joe Biden greets incoming vice-president Mike Pence, Nov 2016

In case you wonder why I do not mention Mike Pence, it is because I do not know his birth time. He most probably has a 6/2 personality profile. That gives him overview and a natural leverage over others. 6/2s can choose to remain in the background and exert leadership from there. I think he has more influence on Trump’s policies than we realize.

With these elections, two different worlds are meeting in what could be a pivotal moment for the United States, and possibly for the world. I, for one, look on with great interest.

The fixed personality Profile

Shantamo Kamstra · September 12, 2017 ·

Here we look at the Chart of a Fixed Personality Profile, a rare happening in the world of Human Design. Profiles describe the way we see ourselves and the world around us, which determines how we relate to the world.

There are twelve Personality Profiles. Most of them are primarily self-oriented, while for a minority the other comes first. Fixed Profile people are in the middle between these two.

While in Astrology the sun moves through twelve signs, in Human Design it goes through the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching, an ancient Chinese wisdom system. Each Hexagram represents an area of life; in a Human Design Chart you will find it as a Gate. These are the small numbers, from one to 64, in the squares and triangles in your Chart. You can see them in the Chart image below.

Example of the correspondence between Zodiac sign and Gates — Example of the correspondence between Zodiac signs and Gates. Sagittarius matches the Human Design Gates between 10 and 14.

Fixed Profiles are the first in a new Hexagram; in them the essence of that particular life experience shines through. I will not tire you here with the mathematical reason why they are so rare; however, I will say that their unique position gives their personality unique characteristics. To know these is good both for them and for the people sharing their life.

Punya Kaufeler, editor of the Oshonews website, was willing to let her Chart be an example. Here it is:

Human Design Chart of Punya Kaufeler — Punya Kaufeler’s Chart

The Fixed Profile is indicated by the superscript on the first line of the two columns: 4/1.
Punya’s incarnation theme is that of the Driver. She needs to find her own personal truth in life and, relying on that inner knowing, points the way to others. The knowing is purely individual, she cannot back it up with scientific data or other collective knowledge. Moreover, she is being driven as well: by a need to make some kind of change in the world.

So I see two hinge points in this Chart: the urge to find one’s own truth and then the challenge to share it. Being a Projector, finding the right environment to share her insights is essential. With a receptive audience, she can express her innate wisdom and receive the recognition that she as a Projector needs. The many activations in Punya’s Throat and the position of Mercury in the Channel of the Thinker give her various avenues of expression.

Her voice is one of leadership ‘I point the way; it is up to you if you want to follow’. It is not Punya’s job to make others follow her lead, in fact, that may well turn out to be a tiring business for her. It is helpful to stay in contact with the ‘small still voice’ of the Self, her Authority in Human Design, to make sure that her leadership remains in tune with her inner truth. When she gets out of touch with her Authority, some moodiness or dogmatism may color her voice. Punya has the Line of ‘the Artist Alone’, meaning it is helpful to retreat and feel herself part of the creative flow of the universe. It is possible that she receives guidance (which she will tend to conceal) and also that she creates some work of art in these times of retreat.

Fixed Profiles have both a strength and a fragility. Their strength is they are ‘hard-coded’ to their destiny, their Incarnation Theme. Deep inside they know what they are here for and how to do it. Also, they will share this determined knowing with a sweet heartfulness. In the face of strong opposition or misunderstanding they can be ‘broken’. They start doubting themselves and can retreat from the world, withholding their gifts.

Human Design is often a turning point for these people. It brings a new understanding of who they are and a recognition of their uniqueness. Of course, Human Design can be a turning point for everyone. Because all our designs are as unique as we are ourselves.