Taurus 1st Quarter Moon at 19°46′
—February 8
The ancient Greek word for fate is ‘moira’, which means literally “a portion”…
Food writer Margaret Visser comments upon this, that a portion, then, would refer to “a piece of meat from the ritually sacrificed animal… this serving expressed the recipient’s honour, assembled among guests, and their estimation of him: it amounted symbolically to what we still call his ‘lot’ or his ‘portion’ in life, his ‘slice of the pie’… moira, as portion of a whole, could also be a piece of land, or a section of the universe…”
Continued, Visser writes, “when the three eldest brothers, the greatest of the Olympian gods, drew lots for the three main divisions of the world, Zeus received the heavens, Poseidon the sea, and Hades the Underworld (Earth was herself a goddess, or, belonging to Gaia, was a portion already ‘served’)—a shared sacrificial meal was a dais or ‘division’, from the verb “to cut up”; it is meat which informs the metaphor—the distribution of meat, at a civilized meal or dais, was supposed always to be ‘equal’—this meant either that everyone received the same amount (an egalitarian arrangement), or that everyone’s part was equal to what he deserved (which is hierarchical or meritocratic)—both points of view might be expressed in the same meal… by the exclusive allocation of the ‘innards’ to a privileged group, as opposed to the equal sharing of the ‘meat’…”
Further, “the slight to one’s honour which could be suffered through getting a portion of meat beneath one’s due can be represented by the rage of Heracles when, after the completion of his Labours, he was invited to dinner but served a ‘lower’ helping of meat than those given to the three sons of his tormentor, Eurystheus—he slew them all.
Fate, or moira, then, is closely linked to the idea of drawing lots… essentially, you’re born into a particular lot in life—and then there’s the lot you’re able to redraw for yourself now.
Astrologer Dane Rudhyar transcribed, for the degree through which today’s first quarter moon occurs, that “any emergence of life potentialities from the depth of the vast Unconscious is answered by the spiritual activity of superconscious forces in a cosmic mind of antiphony… the individual who has taken a new step in their evolution should look for the signature of divine powers confirming this progress—it may reveal the meaning of what is to come next…”
Obviously, today’s energies will likely be wasted but for the very few who qualify—the portion of your meat, so to speak, that is the chewiest might show the potential to evolve into that which more preciously resembles the innards of privilege in some respect…
A Taurean moon prefers routine, consistency, and mostly—the cozy predictability of familiarity… but the overpowering Aquarian vibrations need to provoke these preferences, and upset these enough to invite change—necessary change.
How do you handle change?—do you embrace change or avoid change?
Imagine a cow being transferred to a new pasture… a new portion of land with a new lot of bovine luxuries—the luxury of being transferred to ‘milk cow’ status rather than ‘beef steak cow’… I don’t know how ranching works, bear with me here—you get where I’m going with this.
Or imagine having the opportunity to dine in a five star restaurant, and ordering… how would you navigate this adventure?—particularly when ordering something you’ll have absolutely no idea toward what it will look like, or smell like, taste like, or even how to pronounce whatever it is…
Your life, your ‘slice of pie’, is truly what you make of it… unlike the lot of a cow; though the stars divined your first breath and consequential fated nativity—your fated free will has endless opportunities to evolve or devolve everyday, and today is one of those days you are honored with the choice of your choosing.
If you feel you need to make a change, stake a claim toward a different lot, or claim a larger slice of pie… today is the day.
But please understand—these energies aren’t simply about making a decision, (or, God help you, making a wish!) but rather—these energies are rigidly about the making of a decision to then, in mighty turn, commit to the decision…
This is your word, essentially. Your honor.
You’ve got to actually commit to a change, a change that will likely cramp your style or preferences a bit, and then do the work to make it happen… to shift your fate.
❝Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.❞
——Ralph Waldo Emerson
🖋️ by Jamie James ©2022; 📷 unknown
Visser, M. “The Rituals of Dinner: the Origins, Evolution, Eccentricities, and Meaning of Take Manners.” Penguin Group; ©1991. Rudhyar, D. “An Astrological Mandala.” Vintage Books; ©1973.