Dionysus – god of wine
This,”
says Emma Gao as she races through the sun-scorched countryside of north-west
China in a dusty Nissan Livina, “is la Route des Chateaux.” “There are almost
40 different entrepreneurs – maybe more. Every day it is changing,” the Chinese
winemaker explains, slaloming between French, English and Mandarin as she tours
her 70-hectare (170-acre) vineyard at the heart of a region government officials
are calling China’s Bordeaux. Gao, a 40-year-old who trained at Bordeaux
University’s oenology institute, was one of the first vintners to set up shop
in this arid corner of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, more than 600 miles
west of Beijing. Armed with a 300,000 yuan (£32,000) loan from her parents, she
founded Silver Heights, her award-winning boutique winery, almost a decade ago. June 14, 2016 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/14/china-bordeaux-wine-region-desert-ningxia-vineyards-gold-rush
Astrology is the study of human complexity, of the multiple
paradoxes interwoven into the fabric of our being. One of the great
contributions of astrology is its ability to wed symbolism to the various
dichotomies of the individual and collective psyche. Of all the contradictory
and clashing symbols of astrology, the pairing of Saturn and Neptune suggest
life’s greatest paradoxes [1]. From late 2015 to late 2016, the planets Neptune and Saturn form a square aspect three times. This
particular alignment is the most important alignment of the current period. A
chart for the second, June 18, Saturn-Neptune square drawn for Yinchuan,
capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region is shown here. Notice that the
square occupies the angles and is, therefore, significant for the place.
All planetary aspects are about integration. Saturn rules dry, parched places like deserts [2]. Ken
Johnson and Ariel Gutman, in their book Mythic
Astrology, make a strong case that the astrological Neptune’s secondary
archetype is Dionysus, god of wine and ecstasy. A high expression of
integrating Neptune and Saturn could be to use rigor and discipline (Saturn) to
achieve a dream or realize an ideal (Neptune). Emma Gao has done just that and succeeded in planting vineyards (Neptune)
in the desert (Saturn)! Further on the Ascendant of the chart is the asteroid Bacchus (Dionysus) - god of wine!!
Since the news comes at the First Quarter Moon, its chart
adds further detail. At Ningxia, the meridian makes semi-square aspect to both
the luminaries. The Moon [22vi] is conjunct the star Alkes [24vi]. Alpha (α)
Crater, Alkes, is a 4th magnitude orange star in the base of the Cup.
Manilius described Crater as
'gratus Iaccho Crater' (Iaccho is Roman Bacchus who is identified with Greek
Dionysus), "so using the mystic, poetical name often applied to
Bacchus" (Allen, Star Names).
"He [those influenced by the
Crater in astrology] will join your vines, Bacchus [translator's note;
'grapevines for the production of wine'], in wedlock to your elms; or he will
arrange them on props, so that the fronds resemble the figures in a dance or,
allowing your vine to rely on its own strength, he will lead it to spread out
its branches as arms, and entrusting you to yourself will forever protect you
from the bridal bed, seeing how you were cut from your mother (Semele, daughter
of Cadmus)".
[Manilius, Astronomica, 1st
century AD, book 5, p.318-321].
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