Subterranean Homesick Aquarian
With apologies to Thom Yorke.
The Water Bearer:
Bringing life to the people.
I did it my way.
Battle scarred from the Germ vs Terrain Covid Dissident Civil Wars, I am not about to get sucked into another cauldron of false-dichotomising internal division. Thus: one of the main goals of Wholesome Astrology is to harmonise Tropical/Solar and Sidereal/Lunar into a single and simple working model (or, if you like: change their spatial relationship from a Square to a Trine).
It is, it seems to me, pretty straightforward: Tropical gives us the initial “Collective” manifestation of that Archetype, with the subsequent Sidereal transits providing the “Personal” opportunity for deeper integration. We can apply this model for every planet, whether it be every few days with the Moon, or even for the generational Outer Planet Transits (assuming our society survives to find out what Pluto in Sidereal Aquarius looks like).
As an intermediate example: yesterday was our second New Moon of year 2024 of the Gregorian Calendar (aligning nicely with the start of the Chinese Year of the Dragon). Sidereally, the Conjunction between the Sun and Moon occurred in the Constellation of Capricorn.
In this sense, the New Moon offers a final opportunity to integrate the Cardinal-Earth, Saturn-Uranus-hybrid energies of the previous New Moon: in Sidereal Sagittarius but celebrated by the Collective around the Capricorn Archetype.
Moon in Capricorn. Strength: Trustworthy and responsible; unparalleled work ethic; drawn to service; the friend who is there when most needed. Shadow: Strict and joy-sapping; guilt- ridden; mental/emotional breakdown from over-commitment.
With the Sun now having moved almost 30 degrees around the Zodiac, this New Moonth takes a distinctly Aquarian flavour: Mercury joins the Solar and Lunar Luminaries in the Solar Water Bearer, as does — more significantly — Pluto.
Moon in Aquarius. Strength: Independent and self-sufficient; a burden on no-one; liberating the oppressed; re-imagining the emotional landscape. Shadow: inauthentic uniqueness; breaker of deals and agreements; friend-zoning potential romantic partners; chronic isolation.
All bar one of these planets will soon be exiting the second-to-last section of the Tropical Zodiac, joining first Saturn and then Neptune in those Dreamy yet Deceptive Waters (please leave any Piscean drum cover suggestions in the comments).
Sidereally, however, that is where the deeper Aquarian weirdness kicks in. Saturn is currently plonked right in the middle of the constellation of the Water Bearer (see above), where it will receive each of the 5 Personal Planets over the next few weeks.
This cluster of Aquarian stars is known in Vedic Astrology as the Nakshatra of Shatabhisthak (try trying to say that 3 times in a row after a few).
Shatabhisthak (The Isolation): The Underdog — Contact, Combination, Counter-Culture.
I understand and appreciate the Nakshatras as an offer of deeper and spicier “Lunar” Archetypal counterpoints to the 12 Solar Signs.
The Aquarian Archetype is all about contrasts; it seeks to provide that which is necessarily in Opposition (Saturn) to that which is mainstream and accepted, as an invitation for Liberation and Freedom (Uranus). It works with Innovation (Air) and Discipline (Fixed) to Initiate change towards a more moral and authentic world. This is essentially our final contribution as part of the collective, before we fully embrace Piscean retreat and detachment (and aloofness).
Whereas the Solar Aquarius does this in a more “daytime” manner while working within the collective — most obviously through Humanitarian endeavors that seek to counter the prevailing forces of societal decay — Shatabhisthak is more concerned with embodying the alternative: Counterculture, the Underworld, the Underdog. In this sense, it is a very “inviting” Nakshatra — alien yet enticing — and why one translation from the Vedic texts has it symbolised as the “100 Lovers”.
More importantly, this love of contrast (and contact) makes the Lunar Aquarius highly creative and innovative. Take, for example, this quantitative analysis of the charts of over 1000 famous artists, which found Shatabhisthak to be clearly the most common Moon placement. Most notable is the domination of the Renaissance Era by Shatabhisthak Moon natives: including the formidable duo of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who essentially employed Art as a Civilising, even Scientific force.
As a cultural artefact, Coldplay might not quite rank alongside David and the Mona Lisa — nonetheless it feels relevant to note that Chris Martin (aka Gwyneth Paltrow’s Consciously Uncoupled Ex) has his Sun in Shatabhisthak, aligned exactly on the point of the Descendant (he was, in other words, born exactly at Sunset).
He was, also in fact, my introduction to the phenomenon of the “Celestial Descendants”: Hopeless Romantic Sap creative types with key planets on the cusp of the Houses of Service and Relationships.
In our official Wholesome Astrology Pluto-in-Aquarius meets Neptune-in-Pisces Preview, I found Chris Martin’s hidden Lunar Aquarian side in the song “Spies”, from their first album Parachutes — which managed to perfectly capture the background weirdness and slippery paranoia of this Archetypal combination.
In reality, “Spies” was an almost flawlessly-executed Radiohead rip off, and so this time we must go straight to the source. Regrettably, Thom Yorke does not have placements in Solar or Lunar Aquarius: he does, however, have his Moon exactly Conjunct Saturn (and Jupiter Conjunct Pluto), which explains a great deal.
Moon-Saturn Challenges: Strict Emotional Lessons; Bleak Feelings; Fluctuating Disappointment; Acute Caution and Isolation.
Plus, in a fun little Brit-Rock inversion, Thommo was actually born with his Sun on his Ascendant: at Sunrise. Shouldn’t that make him smile a bit more?
Ultimately, though, it proves that our capacity to resonate with and channel a Celestial Archetype is independent of its prominence in our Birth Chart.
OK Computer, the 1999 Album by the Indie-Emo-Guitar-Brit-Rockers, was widely understood as a Pop Culture Breakthrough: a vividly Plutonic creative manifestation of the gradually swelling anxiety of a society on the brink of profound and irreversible surrender to Artificial Intelligence.
In fact, in hindsight, it is quite obviously a Divinely-channeled premonition of an imminent Pluto-in-Aquarius dystopia: as was its even-more anxious and digitised follow-up, Kid A.
Now, ideally, I would have leaned fully in and learned Paranoid Android, which is so on-the-nose Pluto-in-Aquarius that I wouldn’t be surprised if Thom Yorke had some relation to Nicola Tesla and was himself — just like the Orange Moonchild (allegedly) — a Time Traveller.
More achievable, we have its sequential counterpoint on the album: Subterranean Homesick Alien. Again, we see Thom as being conspiratorially on-the-nose: seamlessly tying the ET timeline into the Underground Vibes of the Lunar Aquarius.
Subterranean Homesick Alien captures the challenge for the Harmonised Aquarian in trying to work within a world that they feel alienated from, and the need for retreat and release afterwards.
This Duality of Aquarius is fully embodied in the next Nakshatra, which serves Sidereally as the Transition from the Water Bearer to the Fish: Purva Bhadrapada. Purva B. is essentially the Aquarius Archetype, throwing the match to start the fire as it exits the room (full disclaimer: I am P. B. Rising).
Purva Bhadrapada (The Duality): The Destroyer — Fire, Ceremony, Transformation
Ruled by Ajaikabat: the Divine, Fiery Serpent — bringing Lighting, Electricity, Energy, Destruction. Linked closely to the power of Transformation, discarding the old and ushering in the new. Evolving and Elevating perceptions of Wealth and Pleasure; Reconciling the clash between the Spiritual and Material; Embodying Conflict and Duality.
It is generally considered the most polarising and divisive Nakshatra: best symbolised as the Man with Two Faces. Famous examples include Billie Eilish, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Aliester Crowley et al.
Probably my favourite Pop Culture Astrology Fact is that virtually the entire cast of Breaking Bad — perhaps the greatest Pop Culture ode to embodying conflict and duality — were P. B. natives: including the two stars, Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, as well as the Creator Vince Gilligan. The show is essentially a creative manifestation of the extreme of the Purva Bhadrapada Archetype.
Anyway: if you made it this far, i’m guessing you might have a bit of Lunar Aquarius in you as well, and you just might appreciate my Purva Bhadrapada reinterpretation of a Radiohead classic.
Find out about Wholesome Astrology Readings:
One of my friends and original actors of my seminal play in Chicago was the first bad guy in Breaking Bad. I wonder if he is also a B.P. 🤠
It’s the day of the Superbowl, Isaac. Hoping for an Amelia Earhart resurrection, personally. But I’ll settle for a Tay Tay lizard.