SHEGOAT Solar Eclipse

South Node Solar Eclipse at 21*01’ Leo

11th Shape: SHEGOAT

8° 34' 17'' Leo – 21° 25' 43'' Leo

The 11th Shape tends to relate to collaborations or even conspiracies to channel resources toward something with great potential, and indeed, at the time of this South Node Eclipse event Mars has returned to Cancer, a planet of action and critical response in a sign about feeding, nesting and nurturing. The story which being referenced in the Greco-Egyptian Greek Magical Papyri list of 28 shapes at the entry SHEGOAT is likely that of the nymph Amalthea arranging for a goat to nurse the infant Zeus being hidden in a cave so his Titan father Kronos could not devour him. A whole cast of accomplices contributed, including the Korybantes, or shamanic warriors cult members who stationed themselves outside clashing their weapons against their shields, trance dancing and carrying on to drown out the cries of the baby god of storms, leader of the Olympians. This is a key moment in the struggle to overturn the archaic, chaotic, chthonic forces and allow for Earth to be stable enough for humans to inhabit it.

Of the 11th Lunar Mansion the Picatrix mentions both receiving good and increasing wealth. The Indian Rigvedic association of the 11th Nakshatra is Bhaga, got of prosperity, and a chieftain who distributes goods. The Spirit of the Grimorium Verum attributed to this position by Jake Stratton Kent is Claunech, who’s abilities bring to the operator riches, treasures, merchandise, wares, and general wealth wisdom. The synchretized Exu of Brazilian Quimbanda is da Pedra Negra, ‘of the Black Stone’, who is associated with black market activity as well as the wealth extraction of mining gems. The act of mining reminds of Zeus’ cave hide-out and the conspiracy to smuggle the shegoat nurse to the infant god is essentially a black market act. The Chinese Xiu mentions “desolate place haunted by ghosts in wilderness”, and “retribution of unsettled chi of ancestors, affected by events you did not directly cause, stay home, strengthen family ties, protect children” which sounds bullseye in archetypal expression to the Zeus-Kronos-Amalthea affair. Not only does the Picatrix call for receiving of good things and the favor of kings but suggests a talisman to make “people fear and respect you”. This is not just a lotto jackpot, its heavy, its a power play. The Xiu assigns a “magistrate tallying, sentencing criminals” and the Picatrix also elects for the release of captives. This is getting kicked down some wealth but also being well connected with people who can make things happen, probably from places you don’t really want to step foot in and would be better to not ask too many questions about. “Where did you get this stuff from?”, “Oh it just fell off the back of a truck, that’s all”

The Picatrix describes in the image of this mansion a “man riding a lion holding a lance in his right hand, and the lion’s ear in his left”. Well, the actual word that get’s translated as ‘shegoat’ from the ancient Greek is ‘chimera’, which we know is a composite-beast with a lion as its chassis. Comparing the sigil for Claunech with chimera statues from antiquity finds a similar silhouette, which continues in resemblance to renaissance-onward paintings of the Amalthea myth gang doing their thing; the little throng of inter-species conspirators paralleling the mix-mash of animals to form the Chimera. It takes all kinds. And, being the Shape in the sequence of 28 which follows HORSE, which carries the connotation of bringing in foreigners and foreign elements as well as being an intermediary who can summon a variety of personae, it only makes sense that SHEGOAT represents the possible benefits of “knowing a guy” especially when things get dire. It’s all who you know.

The astrology in general lends itself to double and triple emphasizing these attributes, as abundance potentiating Jupiter is copresent the lunation yet opposite sketch-master Pluto in a sign of networks and syndicates. The Sun is eclipsed in it’s rulership, literally getting swallowed by shadow in the height of its kingship. Mars, our tactical planet ruled by the subjectively sensitive Moon in feeding-and-nursing-to-fulfillment Cancer at the time of the eclipse is applying to square Neptune, the planet of mythologizing, deception, illusion and trances. Mercury who has newly joined the party in normally bright, celebratory and self-sovereign Leo is sextile Uranus, shaking it up and experimenting with all polarities, paradoxes, exchanges and cross-pollinations in trickster trigger happy and riddle rife Gemini. It all sounds about as straight-forward as hiding a divine baby in a cave so its demonic father doesn’t eat it and arranging for a goat to give it suck while a cult of weapon wielding demi-gods drum up a diversion. If we were placing bets, I’d wager some of whatever news stories afoot right now are psy-ops, inside and outside of the macrocosm, trickling down to our personal lives. Remember desperate times call for desperate measures. If the baby doesn’t get the milk the world is not a place we can even safely pitch a tent in never mind roll out a civilization.

And, eclipses are turbulent times. The North Node prints new reality into the story where the South Node deletes old reality to make room for what’s incoming. The former does so by making us hungry to bite into that enticing world fruit of manifestation and the latter makes us sick of an over abundance of a particular sauce and lose our appetite for whatever circumstance it relates to, realizing we’ve had more than enough. This being a South Node Solar eclipse, we want to pay particular attention to what we’re feeling “sick of” and before we throw the baby out with the toilet water, review if we are able to carry on our existence without nervous system turbulence in the absence of that thing we’re compelled to chuck. It’s a cue to which direction we should be striving both towards and away from to carry out our daimonic purpose, but likely at a rate which is over-accelerated. Sometimes, as astrologers, we see there is simply nothing to be done about it, things are just going to go in fast forward so hold on to your hats, yee haw. At other times we get to make some choices and apply some agency in the matter, and help release the skins being shed at a more reasonable clip. This time is probably a mix of both, as so many outer planets are involved things might just “happen to you”, arriving from the external into your realm, and since there’s so much autonomous action, self-sovereignty and extreme decision making in the astrological plot, it’ll feel like your choice even if it isn’t. With Pluto pushing his ominous, precipice crossing into the future with a whole lot of pressure, is there really any chance we can simply choose to just stay safely in the past? Probably not, we have to make a move on the board no matter what.

So there’s flare ups, cornerings, guilty by not commenting, volatile substances ready to ignite from an errand spark, hot air, ego inversions, obligations to hit it and quit it, crazy ideas, anxiety inducing rushes (sometimes for no reason) overlaid with never-ending waits, last minute escalations/de-escalations, and in the midst of this environs Mars returns to Cancer to spend the next weeks finishing up the saga surrounding safety, nesting, resources, rest, comfort and fulfillment spanning back to his retrograde business there from the end of 2024 through beginning of 2025, followed by a year of Jupiter in Cancer, followed by Mercury retrograde in Cancer, followed by Mars’ current direct march through the Moon’s sensitive nursery to square both Neptune and Saturn in Aries which he rules (both Mars and Saturn in their falls) and at the moment of this eclipse get tangled up in the Moon blocking the light of the Sun shining to the earth.

What archaic, chaotic, oppressive Kronos are you so sick of hiding your precious divinity from? Over the past two years what have you learned about what you need to feel quenched in life vs starved or under-resourced? What cabals have just gone stale and have ceased to stream milk to their intended recipients and instead just waste precious resources all over the dank cave you’ve been hiding out in for way too long? Have you noticed that the teat you’ve been suckling actually belongs to a goat, and your inter-species alliances have ceased to make sense and aligning with a proper species mate might catalyze a more authentic existence? Are there holes in your plot, blindspots which could be cleared away to allow for your scheme to raise a more dynamic and spiritualizing existence to actualize if it weren’t for all the clutter clogging your heart?

Maybe you have been ingesting so much inappropriate stuff and substance for your particular composition of organism which does the opposite of settling your system and instead has you ruminating and fretting perpetually in a fog, and if you regurgitate and purge this content (food, experience, media, whatever) you might realize you can arrive at a calm lucidity you didn’t even realize was your actual baseline. Some elements of this tale should be episodically evident from late fall 2024 until the current moment. This eclipse gives cues and catalysts to proceed in loosening oneself from that which meddles the whole transfer of flow to the correct evolutionary place. You don’t have to act immediately; unless you do, and only you will know. Strike when the iron is hot and do not strike when it is not. Be calm, alert and ready. Lower the temperature on the mania so you don’t burn out or miss your cue in the noise and drama.