We’re at the bitter end of the campaign season, and it’s easy to feel like turning on the news is a bit like opening Pandora’s box~so I want to see if this is a valid analogy to make, given what’s happening in the sky right now.
In classical Greek Mythology, Pandora is the first woman to be created, and her name means: She who receives gifts from all the gods.
But the reason Pandora is well known is because she had an insatiable curiosity, which caused to her release misfortune and disaster on humanity. Pandora was called into being by Zeus as punishment for Prometheus, because he gave fire to humanity, and for humanity, because they accepted the gift.
Zeus offered Pandora to Prometheus’ brother as his wife, and gave her as a wedding gift this box containing all these indescribable challenges, and she couldn’t resist opening it!
So here are the players in the sky: In the evening, we have the planets Venus and Saturn, with the crescent Moon sweeping by about 40 minutes after sunset this week. We’ll imagine Venus as Pandora, and Saturn as the task master who, as Father Time, is known to test humanity throughout the ages. When the Moon sweeps by them this week, that’s like the test for Pandora to not open the box!
The saving grace to this scene in the west is what’s happening in the east, an hour before sunrise. Over there we’ll see the planet Jupiter, which always represents the future, standing guard over the solitary star Spica, in the constellation Virgo. This combination of Jupiter and Spica is like a symbol of the one thing that did not escape from Pandora’s box, which is hope in an abundant future.
So if all the campaign news has you down, take a look into the sky for solace, because the challenges are setting in the west with the sun, and what’s rising up in the east is the hope and promise of an abundant future, no matter the outcome of our general elections.