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Symbolic Totems and Your Chart (Read 621 times)

MoiraeMemberSymbolic Totems and Your Chart« on: 22.04.2011 at 17:55 [UT+1] »Bring on your poems, pictures, stories -- all meditations on your personal "mythologies", and how they relate
to the heart of your chart. This could be a learning adventure for all of us !
In a long Plutonian process of sorting the essentials from the dross, it's evident to me that what I treasuremost are certain symbols of my life's mythology. This has nothing to do with sentimental nostalgia. It has
most to do with totemic symbols of my soul. The carpets, old cassettes, floors and roof can dash in the wind,
for all I care, and just might -- transits providing!

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Gender:So, I've been examining these lately and while doing so, the focus is bringing the power of the symbols home
to me, where I discover their validity to my life via my natal chart. There are many symbols to consider, but I'll
focus on this one which is a current totem in my life:
The Blackthorn Tree.

This is a significant tree in Celtic mythology, representing good luck if its boundaries are respected. It
represents the desire of the soul to prosper, (white blooms in late winter, blue-sloe fruit in late fall) underprotection. Read: Thorns for self-defense. In Irish folklore, the fairies live protected in these trees. It is also
the tree that Irish shillelaghs (walking canes) are carved from. Strong and resilient. The blackthorn tree marks
boundaries of defense from the past so the spirit can proceed forward without enemies.
This is my Saturn. It is also my Irish father's symbolic/totemic bequethment to me. He carved a cane fromthis tree in my yard when I was young, to march in the Irish Catholic parades. It is revealing to me that what I
value most, as Pluto transits back again to Natal Saturn, are symbols that evolve from him.
The thorns of this tree cannot be bent or broken. They are a totem of protection and resilience for me. The
blackthorn tree is my spine, my structure.
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Re: Symbolic Totems and Your Chart« Reply #1 - on: 22.04.2011 at 18:19 [UT+1] »Quote from Moirae on 22.04.2011 at 17:55 [UT+1]:

This is my Saturn. It is also my Irish father's symbolic/totemic bequethment to me. He carved a cane from this tree in my yard when I
was young, to march in the Irish Catholic parades. It is revealing to me that what I value most, as Pluto transits back again to Natal
Saturn, are symbols that evolve from him.
The thorns of this tree cannot be bent or broken. They are a totem of protection and resilience for me. The blackthorn tree is my spine,
my structure.

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Awww bless you Moirae and God bless your father too. What a lovely thing for him to do.
I've never heard of "totemic symbols" before. I need to go and think about this one but i'll be backWhat a fab and interesting thread. It's really go my mind thinking now.

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beyond the stars
Ex Member

Re: Symbolic Totems and Your Chart« Reply #2 - on: 22.04.2011 at 18:42 [UT+1] »my tree totem is holly, and my animal totem is the sea otter, although I do tend to also feel a definite kinshipwith the hawk.
The holly is prickly and protective, and survives, and the sea otter has the wisdom ofcarefree play. These two sum me up perfectly.
This strange but interesting d/h/i combination.
http://www.whats-your-sign.com/celtic-meaning-holly.html
Moira, I did quite a lot of research on Druid and Celtic lore for my blog... this is one of the entries on thissubject:
http://beyondthestarsastrology.wordpress.com/2010/11/05/the-wisdom-of-trees/

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Stephen Baxter

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Re: Symbolic Totems and Your Chart« Reply #3 - on: 22.04.2011 at 18:59 [UT+1] »At age 30 I was meditating on the porch of my neighbors. Their home was surround by thick overgrowth
including a tall bamboo stand and magnolia trees. The thick and huge glossy leaves made a terrible racket as ajuvenile bald eagle landed on a limb nine feet from the ground and twenty feet from me. Few impressions weremore dramatic.
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MoiraeMember

Re: Symbolic Totems and Your Chart« Reply #4 - on: 22.04.2011 at 19:37 [UT+1] »Beautiful, Alison. You know I love your work. Thank you for sharing your site link here.
So, the holly (prickly) shrub of protection combines to the seal (is your Neptune in the 12th?), combined to thehawk which is your Scorpio (rising) ? Are our charts truly this similar ? No matter, then how do we combine
these symbols of ourselves together into a harmonic unity ?

Angel,

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Gender:"totemic symbols" is not an astrological category. You can't look it up here, dear! It's how myths or symbols
or totems grab your mind to your spirit on a consistent basis. When I first started thinking about this thread, I
was thinking about the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene. I have to think through those "symbols" of my soul a
bit more. But I still felt compelled to start the thread. So, I've started off with a recent pre-occupation with"my tree".
Merely consider "what" or "who" is a symbol in your life, and why that's relevant to you and your chart.
When I was a child, Helen Keller was my hero and so was her teacher, Anne Sullivan. My father brought me abiography of Helen's life which I was reading under the blackthorn tree, on the weekend that Helen died. I
think it was 1969. This is a totem in my life. Helen and I share a birth-date. She is a totem of mine. Helentaught me the value of "speaking".
This sort of synchronistic thing, with the symbols of our souls.
Moira

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Moirae

Member

Re: Symbolic Totems and Your Chart« Reply #5 - on: 22.04.2011 at 22:52 [UT+1] »Here's a short link for Eagles.
http://www.linsdomain.com/totems/pages/eagle.htm
Quote:
This totem will show you opportunities and how to ride the winds to your benefit.
Eagle people can live in the realm of the spirit
yet still remain connected and balanced within the realm of the Earth.

Posts: 2570
Gender:Those of us who relate to the high flying birds, probably possess a folder of them, and a wall-full in the case of
my living room. Phoenix rising here. Birds are very significant to me.
Is it a Saggitarian or Scorpion quality that invests/fulfills/invites the Eagle energy ? Or a blend of both ?
A hawk slammed into my open kitchen door the other week. Mouse in its mouth. Blood on my door. She
veered off, and I wished her well on her trip. I was taught to be frightened by something like this ... but I
merely sent her off with prayers.
Birds are the soul. Which bird am I, depends on the condition of my soul.
Pluto transiting prefers dark birds of prayer and remorse.
I will not roast one of these for Easter dinner. I eat enough crow on a daily basis!

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MoiraeMember

Re: Symbolic Totems and Your Chart« Reply #6 - on: 23.04.2011 at 00:10 [UT+1] »Juan,This poetic expression of your solar being is so different from mine. You are a director, and I am a receptor. My
sun is a collander, a strainer and combiner, a receiver. My Sun shines from a smoky and fragrant stew on theback burner, with or without an audience, but always with doors wide open for company, which usually andhappily arrives!
Thanks for joining this room with your poem devoted. These lines are significant to me:
Quote:
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Gender:And yet in me the silent mystery‘I am not’ forever burns and I bow down,
A silent witness to what in me, forever learns,
forever burns, forever turns.

Certainly I'm an egotist and I do know I am "a million jewels blazing in my solar sight" (what a Venusian line!),and why shouldn't any of us feel privileged to be so enlightened by our essential being? And now "how Brown
Cow" do we capture those jewels that escape us in the "I am not" sector of our psyches?
Is this not what life's evolution is about ?
Your Jewels evolving through Aries and Taurus mandate that you discover the mystery and define it and utilize
its meaning.
Maybe a small crystalline hammer might do the trick ? A short, sharp jolt and smatter applied to theamphitheater of pain, in order to turn it into molten, workable matter ? I experiment with these methods on aregular basis.
Fly, and make no apologies when you do.
Phoenix Rising, Moira
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Mikey

Member

Re: Symbolic Totems and Your Chart« Reply #7 - on: 23.04.2011 at 00:12 [UT+1] »An owl.
Balsamic Bj mGOI in 9th"The owl is the bird of magic and darkness, of prophecy and wisdom."
http://morningstar.netfirms.com/owltotem.html"...It's ability to navigate through the darkest night and bring back nourishment for itself and others is the
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Gender:foundation of this essence..."What better totem for the dark moon in the darkest phase?
messages too. Including a warning.

I've had close encounters with owls, leaving me

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MoiraeMember

Re: Symbolic Totems and Your Chart« Reply #8 - on: 23.04.2011 at 01:01 [UT+1] »Cor,
Thanks for both of these poems. Thanks for the rhythms. It is so wonderful to read out loud, in poetic rhythm.
(Okay, smacking my Saturnian self back into my chair).
I understand some french, and can speak all of this gift you've sent, but am missing some interpretations. The
first is also not familiar to me, but a great description of the power of "water" as an element in our lives. Your
Pisces.
You are a lover, meanwhile. Something about Zeus and Hera conjunct that would make more sense to you ?
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Gender:Oppositions offer a nice perspective of relationship in the distance, and in balance ! But maybe that's just me
living through my oppositions!

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Ethereal Mountain

Member

Re: Symbolic Totems and Your Chart« Reply #9 - on: 23.04.2011 at 04:07 [UT+1] »my totem is a very gnarled, twisted Banksia Serrata tree. I was very attached to one like that in my backyard
when I was small. It had shallow soil on top of sandstone, and had grown up a bit, then along parallel to theground for a while then up again. It was easy for a child to get up and sit there for a great length of time. It
had the most amazing mthick, textured bark. I used to go and sit in it and hug it talk to it. I felt nurtured by it.
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Gender:I remember one time when I was very small, I told it that it was my parents. Long after I had left home, it diedand rotted away. I was helping my father plant some bushes in the yard to improve it, and I told him I wanted
to plant a new banksia near where the old one was. So we bought one when we bought some other plants. I
started digging in the general area where I thought it had been - and guess what? I dug straight into a massiveroot ball...

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PlutotrineMars
Member

Re: Symbolic Totems and Your Chart« Reply #10 - on: 23.04.2011 at 04:44 [UT+1] »What a great thread, Moraie. Very astrological and philosophical. It got me thinking. It is nice hearing
stories of other people, like beyond the stars- finding that connection with all living things makes you feel,
well, alive. And finding your identity in a symbolic way is one of the clues to truly understanding yourself.

Posts: 1948
Gender:

Off the top of my head, all I know is that I have always liked rocks(G is a chart ruler). And I love trees andbirds. I watched an episode of Nature; they videotaped an eagle flying for the first time and it brought tears tomy eyes. I found myself identifying with that.
When I think of times where I feel I got to know myself, I often think of when I first started walking by myself.
I'm a triple cardinal (sun, Moon, ASC) so this makes sense.

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PlutotrineMars

Member

Re: Symbolic Totems and Your Chart« Reply #11 - on: 23.04.2011 at 04:46 [UT+1] »How sad, Ethereal

Posts: 1948
Gender:Back to top

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windsearcher
Member

Re: Symbolic Totems and Your Chart« Reply #12 - on: 23.04.2011 at 05:27 [UT+1] »I have a leading planet in my chart. Jupiter, just above the ascendant, had just risen when I was born. It leads
the planets of my chart ... up from the hidden side and into the sky. I see so many things as a journey. The"journey" is my metaphor of choice.

Posts: 444
Gender:Jupiter rises
And calls me to look Eastward,
Onto the journey

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Moirae

Member

Re: Symbolic Totems and Your Chart« Reply #13 - on: 23.04.2011 at 15:13 [UT+1] »Thanks Everyone for helping Mercury Direct in this thread -- Hallelujah, on this Easter Weekend!
A beautiful "congregation" of souls singing and soaring here.
Juan, you chose a most apt poem to describe my 9th house d Mercury. Thank you.
Sassafrass ... welcome to my own Cardinal Cross ! Do you count steps in your mind as you're walking ? I was
stunned, when young to discover that I knew there were fourteen steps upstairs to the bedrooms, 12 down tothe basement, and later in college, was at 2,000-something walking across campus. I call it my Saturn in j
metronome !
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Gender:Sewit, third, 100th ... I've shared a letter with Linda of Pluto/Cap, as there was a request for her topic onanother thread yesterday. It was rough to pull it out of the archives. It is not dusty or molding. It is living andbreathing: words on those Plutonian pages, speaking and listening like the magic books in Harry Potter. Linda's
with her Father, who is passing now. I'm sure she'll appreciate a flotilla of our thoughts sent her way thisweekend. She is the "totemic" figure in my forum experience, and taught me the amazing way that we canconnect with each other in this community.
Ethereal, I've found a Banksia tree to place in this room ... to remind us all of the comfort of being small intall trees.
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MoiraeMember

Re: Symbolic Totems and Your Chart« Reply #14 - on: 23.04.2011 at 15:39 [UT+1] »Angel, I revise what I wrote yesterday about totems, symbols and astrology:

Quote:"totemic symbols" is not an astrological category. You can't look it up here, dear!

The link Beyond the Stars sent to What's Your Sign.com is darned useful !
site has some good information as well.
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Gender:Mikey's link to the Morningstar~~~

I don't mean to confine the thread to the simpler definition of "totem", which describes plants or animals
significant to us. I 'm thinking of it as more of a symbol of our personal mythologies -- so please don't feel
confined to conjure up associations to plants or animals, when it's something else or many other things thatstir your soul !
Enjoy thinking through your chart, and how its symbols relate to your life's totems, myths or archetypes. And
don't forget to include this association as we think together.

Moira

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MoiraeMember

Re: Symbolic Totems and Your Chart« Reply #15 - on: 24.04.2011 at 01:19 [UT+1] »Drsendero,
Are you this poem's author ? I feel I've read this before, and certainly know the metaphor of "shoes". It's a
9th house Leonine stellium to dress appropriately for the day's drama, each one large by small, perhaps ... but
a performance, none-the-less.
The third verse ... the "strappy" shoes upon the shelf dedicated to life's escapades with challenge andsometimes failure, feel very Mercurial to me ... as though there are wings floating at the ankles.
These, I would name my action/adventure Tevas !!!

Sometimes we trip and fall; sometimes we trip and fly.

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Drsendero
Member

Re: Symbolic Totems and Your Chart« Reply #16 - on: 24.04.2011 at 01:47 [UT+1] »Yep Morae, I wrote it this evening specifically for this thread. I figured that my shoes were the best metaphor
for my life as a wanderer, hiker, explorer of both the physical and the philosophical along the various paths(senderos) I find myself on. I must admit that a part of the inspiration is looking at those trusty shoes by the

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front door and anticipating the first real hike tomorrow (although it can't be too long yet) since getting a
broken leg after being hit by a car last fall. Life starts again!!
I enjoy your interpretation of my Tevas - yes, I wear them fleetingly but they certainly help me fly along thelakes in my canoe!
Drsendero

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Ethereal Mountain

Member

Re: Symbolic Totems and Your Chart« Reply #17 - on: 24.04.2011 at 03:03 [UT+1] »I think of the banksia serrata as a thumbnail of my chart. The A in j is tough and a bit prickly, with thatthick, textured convoluted bark representing all that rich 12th house experience and N pain, survived. But theconnection with the original tree was very 12th house-ian, and then earthy too.
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Gender:It's funny you summarise so well, as being small in a tall tree - there was also a rubber tree nearby, which later
I loved to climb all the way to the massive top - no matter how small the branches were they still supported mein their rubbery flexibility and strength. I used to also love climbing a large weeping willow tree, and evenswinging off its flexible branches. I built a little house high up in it, and also nailed a piece of wood in a fork
that was just perfect to swing and bounce on. The branch drooped down and swung back up with my weight.
Eventually the inevitable happened and it snapped. I didn't have any shoes on and landed on my feet, as per
usual, but in dogshit...LOL! Even at the time I had to see the humour in it. As a child I was happiest up a tree,
great for getting away from everyone, and meditating. (an introverted i?). I grew too big for the little
banksia, but I still loved it.

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PhoebeEx Member

Re: Symbolic Totems and Your Chart« Reply #18 - on: 24.04.2011 at 03:15 [UT+1] »A Kachina, or more correctly in the Hopi language "Katsina", is an intricately carved doll, ideally, from a single
piece of root from the cottonwood tree, then painted or decorated as a representation of a particular spirit orlife force.
The Hopi word for cottonwood is "paako" which means water wood and is attributed to the roots ability to seek
and find abundant water.
My personal totem is "Tawa (Sun) Maiden Kachina" a beautiful carving by Hopi artist Thomas Fredericks and it
symbolizes my Leo Sun/Scorpio Moon.

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PhoebeEx Member

Re: Symbolic Totems and Your Chart« Reply #19 - on: 25.04.2011 at 05:49 [UT+1] »Hey Moirae,
I'm trying to upload a picture but having difficulty - posted in the feedback section to work it out.
Hope all had a meaningful Easter.
[Moderator: non-astrological contributions were removed from this thread. It breaks the limits of astrological discussion. This is not a place for publishing all
kinds of material only superficially or subjectively related to astrology.
Aside of that, many contributions on this thread violated copyright.
The thread is closed.]

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