OVER/TURNING THE LAW, PART I
What is the law? Why does it exist?
The law, as we generally consider it is actually one subset of law. Usually we are talking about human law (as opposed to natural law), which was created by humans under the premise of organizing society and streamlining the process of meeting our basic needs. Over time, humans contributed to the evolution of their laws, which funnels the filling of those needs into centralized locations, ideally for equitable distribution, but practically, to create loci of power. The law limits some things in order to propel or ensure other things. In other words, human law is the systems which protect and preside over human cultural values, needs and desires.
Some initial notions to consider:
The law is both a function of human creation and a set of ideas but not a real physical structure. We can choose new laws. We can create new realities.
The law is designed in the image of a reality desired by those who make it.
The law is its own living entity. What does the law desire or need in order to be well? In the interest of the law:
The law functions well when it serves those who make it.
The law functions well when it is observed by those who make it.
The law functions well when it reflects the culture of the society it serves.
In the interest of the people, those who are not allowed to participate in making the law should not be required to observe it.
Those who choose not to participate when they have a choice, surrender to the consequences.
As the law is a structure which governs society at large, it should be and is generally, created by society.
Not all laws are written.
Not all laws are enforced.
All laws can be written and rewritten.
When the original intention behind the law is erased in the process of its evolution, then the law can and will cease to be observed, unless or until the intention of the law is explicitly redefined.
The evolution of the law is mostly slow and methodical.
On the law and astrological governance
Embedded within the law is culture. Cultural values and notions which we hope the law will usher well and with integrity. Culture is Jupiterian in nature. Jupiter is the king of the gods, the layer of the law. The wise in religion. The powerful. The fixer. The promise keeper. The essential nature of Jupiter is to grow and stabilize. Jupiter informs structural coherence. When the law oppresses the culture, Jupiter will know. Jupiter will grow and change the culture to infuse and overpower the law with something new.
Growth towards the better is a sign of active faith in something that doesn’t yet exist.
As I said before, Jupiter informs structural coherence. Coherence, however, is not balance. Jupiter lays the premise of the law but *is not* the law. Balance is Venus’s domain.
The law is a construct. Literally, it is a metaphysical structure for how we relate in society. Astrologically, the law is connected to Libra. By association, it is manufactured and governed in part, by Saturn who exalts in Libra, and Venus who domiciles there. Saturn is a god of structure and time.
Jupiter and Saturn conjoined in Aquarius on December 21st, 2020. This marked a larger collective beginning and ending in how we define, understand, create, interpret and enforce the law. They also conjoined then at the same degree where Pluto now currently sits.
This summer, along with Mars, Jupiter in Gemini squared Saturn in Pisces. In astrology, when two planets make a 90° angle after an initial conjunction, this is called an opening square. An opening square marks the first big moment of friction and challenge regarding the thing that was begun at the previous planetary conjunction or meet-up.
Jupiter and Saturn's opening square has been characterized in the United States by lots of public commentary and inquiry about democracy as a foundation of law, how it functions, if it's present, if it might disappear, how to hold onto it or get it back if it's already gone. This is the opening square. I digress...
Astrologically, the law is connected to Libra. The constellation Libra, is the youngest constellation in the Greek zodiac. Previously, Libra was considered part of Virgo or Scorpio. With Virgo, it was “the balance” of heaven. With Scorpio, “the claws”. It’s interesting that when you look at the constellation Libra’s history, it is wavering, shifting this way and that. And when I look at the constellation I also see these things: a balance, a chuppa, a bridge, a stool, a home, a boat; all of which are physical structures. They sway and cover, contain and reach, travel and change, just like the law.
In the Thema Munda (the birth chart of the world), Libra rests in the fourth whole sign house. In the chart itself, Libra is situated at the furthest point below the earth, opposite the highest point in the “heavens”. In Hellenistic Greece, Libra was called zygos or “the balance”. In ancient Mesopotamia, it was called Zib Ba An Na or “the balance of heaven”.
Thema Mundi, with Venus in Libra in the Fourth Whole Sign House, (graphic by Meredith Garstin)
Themis, the goddess associated with Libra, eventually became Lady Justice, who we know as a blindfolded woman holding the scales. I would not reduce her to such.
Earlier, Themis was a diviner, the original holder of the Oracle at Delphi. She sat upon a tripod chair, which bears a striking resemblance to the constellation, and divined. Themis was a god who sought and discovered messages from a larger universal law and translated them to earth.
Lady Justice, Bronx County Courthouse
Themis the Oracle of Delphi, Athenian Red Figure kylix c. 5th C B.C.
But first and foremost, Themis was a daughter of Gaia, and in some myths, was even considered to be Gaia herself. Putting Libra, “the balance” in the fourth house of the Thema Mundi sets the earth upon the scales, balancing carefully its place amidst the solar system.
But the symbol for Libra also looks like a Sun partially-set in the horizon line where edge of earth meets expanse of sky. In a way, we might say that Libra roots and reflects the ideas birthed within the heavens, onto the earth. So Libra, and its associated planets, give us much information on the ways we structure our world. And thus, we turn to Venus and Saturn.
The Law Abiders
The law is a collective promise. It is a social spell and a people’s pledge. It is a set of values codified into a system of instructions.
The law is of the nature of Venus and Saturn.
Venus is a planet of social contact and separation. Venus governs how we regard, request, receive, respect and relate to each other. Venus lubricates the joints of our bonds. Venus gathers us in groups. Venus decides who holds and shares, delights in and distributes social capital. Venus gives poise to pleasure and attends the laws of what attracts us.
Saturn, meanwhile, makes things structurally sound. Arranges for efficiency and longevity, so we can make the most of our time on this earth. Saturn grows systems meant to root those profound ideas that must become matter. Saturn makes things real. Saturn reinforces our dreams with containers that can hold us accountable to the visions they envelop. Saturn also draws the line and says “do not cross”, before the dream becomes a nightmare.
Together, Saturn and Venus create the law. Because the law is a system that governs our collective social contract.
A healthy expression of the law requires the participation of those whom it governs.
Otherwise it is doomed to be exclusive and domineering. Otherwise it is colonialism at work. Otherwise it is law that does not function well.
When I say participation I don’t just mean rule-following. I mean rule-making, rule changing and rule-interpreting. I mean rule-debating and rule-enforcing. I mean guideline drawing. I mean channel carving. I mean distribution smoothing. I mean irrigating delight, uplifting beauty and conveying care. Pause enchanting. Art protecting. Pleasure piping. Mutual aiding and feast cooking and plate passing.
It can be so easy to forget the Venusian pieces of the law when feeling crushed by Saturn’s weight.
But the law, under their purview, is two-fold. The law is essentially a social responsibility. Social being Venus. Responsibility being Saturn. Developing the capacity to respond to societal needs is the primary purpose of the law.
Saturn’s rules guide the way but Venus’s ideals pave it. Venus wants you to throw the party or at bare minimum, show up, even if fashionably late. Venus wouldn’t have you sit at home, wallowing in FOMO. No, Venus wants you to enjoy the sweetness of an active engaged existence. Venus appreciates connection, charms expression and rewards attendance. And Venus, however skillfully delicate, has a heavy hand in the law.
So for the law to function in a healthy way, we must show up. We must participate. Otherwise it’s all rules and no game.
In order to do this in a good way, we need to remember that the law does not begin with us. It begins with nature. It begins with earth. It begins with universal forces far beyond our comprehension. We can be humbled by all we do not know. We can expect to be wrong, or at least to not have all of it right. And we can continue to shape our tiny piece of it. We can remember we each travel on a breeze with a subtle force in the winds of fate. And we can welcome and learn from the force and direction of the other winds that brush against our breathing skin.
Healthy participation means we need changes in the “guard” of lawful positions, especially the ones that give the most power. So participation prevails, even at the highest level.
Under the design of our current system, voting bestows power, even if the vote is at risk. Regardless of the vote being rigged. Despite choices being the lesser of however many evils. The reality of this world is that we don’t always get what we would choose. Still better to have a choice than none at all.
Which brings me to another Saturnine theme: neglect. Saturn is a god of reality. Reality rewards responsibility and punishes neglect.
Things which are neglected are most effortlessly taken. When something is unattended, it is easily abused by another. Moreover, neglect is a subtle form of abuse in and of itself. When we neglect our participation, we abuse any law created in our name.
But when we are present and engaged, we feel the pulse of our power. The collective heart beats louder the more people who are involved. When enough of us participate, bandwidth for alternative paths becomes possible.
Legal Revolution
Oppressed groups around the world have recognized that if you want the protection of the law, you not only have to abide by it, but you have to take part in its creation. You have to be its diviner and maker. You have to be so enamored, so moved that you are invested in its success. You have to push the bounds of the law until the law wraps you up inside it, ensuring your rights, codified and persistent in its holding truths.
Rights movements in the United States have frequently come with voting movements. Oppression is a function of being pushed down by the bodies that govern.
The opposite of oppression is not freedom. It is sovereignty.
To be sovereign is to be supported by and in control of the rules and the rights which they allow.
I believe “collective sovereignty” is actually the goal of what we like to call “collective liberation”. Collective sovereignty is post-revolution. It is rule-making and abiding and over-turning. It is common power. Mutual world-building. Participatory autonomy. You cannot expect the world to change for your benefit and the benefit of the collective without acknowledging your place in it; without doing something to make it so.
Sovereign monarchs and the like have a ton of responsibility. They carry the survival of the people whom they govern on their shoulders. This is too much for one individual to hold. Monarchies depend on supporting the monarch to do a job that is pragmatically too big for any one person. All of the energy is funneled into supporting the monarch to, theoretically, design and enforce a system of distribution that works for all of the people. But in order to create that system, the one monarch is resourced to a point which inevitably sets them apart from the people and therefore inhibits the ruler’s ability to empathize with the problems they are literally poised *not* to be able to solve.
The price of monarchy is failure of the law.
Collective sovereignty is collective law-tending. The law in the United States has never supported collective sovereignty because it was not created by the collective. It was created, initially, by white, land-owning men. Not even all white men, just the ones who had land. This is an extremely small portion of the collective.
Black men didn’t get the right to vote until the establishment of the 15th Amendment in 1870 and even then, the amendment was written in a way that allowed states to hinder voting rights on account of race. It wasn’t until the civil rights movement about a hundred years later that Black men really had the right to vote. White women didn’t get the right to vote until the 19th amendment was certified in 1920. Black Women, Native Women, and Asian American Women didn’t get the right to vote until almost 50 years after that, with the 1965 passage of the Voting Rights Act. That said, voting rights for the majority of people in the United States is a relatively recent phenomenon and today we still see a tonof tools used by conservative white supremacist groups to create voter suppression.
Combine that with a set of laws initially established to benefit white land-owning dudes that has very slowly and very recently evolved to include other people, and you get a set of rules that is severely missing the mark on the word *collective*.
And yet, we have not, relatively, given enough time or participation with our newly earned and hard fought for rights, to usher the law to serve everyone. In fact, in recent decades, only about 60% of the eligible population actually votes in the presidential election. That number comes down to 40% in midterm elections, which have substantially larger impacts on our local life. All that to say, we do not know if voting works because we don’t actually do enough of it.
Why do we not excessively value this right that so many of our ancestral activists worked so hard to get?
Meanwhile, fascist regimes around the world are delaying, rigging and cancelling elections while large groups of America’s so-called “radical” leftists plan to “sit out” the vote in November because they don’t want to choose between the lesser of two evils.
Like it or not, even if you live in poverty in the United States, your vote has a bigger impact on the entire world than a vote in any other election worldwide.
The United States government continues to oppress people across the globe. Our corporations are allowed, bolstered even, to extract and exploit land, creatures and people in other countries, unless we actively choose governance which refuses this, or at least lessens our substantially negative impacts. We expect perfection or nothing while the only certain thing we have is change, and under that logic, perfection is a constantly moving target.
It is good to educate yourself in how the law works. At the local level, your choice of candidate lays a foundation for the larger government. Currently, any presidential candidate needs party power in the other branches of government in order to make changes. Even if we prefer the ideals of a candidate in a party that is not Democratic or Republican, the possibility of that candidate not only winning, but making the changes they campaign upon is virtually null.
Choosing from the president down is like trying to grow the top branch of a tree before it has any roots. If you want party power outside the two major parties, you have to start by scattering seeds in offices at the local level.
On a more urgent note, when we are choosing between two not ideal candidates, it is helpful to consider what is and is not on the ballot. If the candidates display similar orientations to a certain foreign policy, then that policy is *not* on the ballot. It’s not what we’re voting for. We are voting for the administrative positions in the presidential cabinet. We are voting for a Native-led Department of the Interior. For sexual and reproductive health and rights. For containment of interest rates for first-time home owners. For climate change initiatives, which impact not just U.S. Citizens, given that we are by far the largest trasher of our livable ecosystem while we dump the effects of this in other places where we do not have to look.
It is helpful also to remember, that once you have chosen your lesser of two evils, it is your responsibility to push that person to be less and less evil. Whether a candidate or an elect, that person has chosen a role in which they need to respond to the people. Your job, as part of the people, is to keep pushing them to respond to things you care about. That is literally the job of the people. For some reason, many like to think our effort stops at the vote; we do nothing and our electives do everything. Meanwhile, a true democratic government is based on participatory ideals.
Despite the effects of our historic disenfranchisement, the world we want to see will still arise from our calloused hands and bold hearts. It will be made with grit and with grace. It will be shaped by whatever we water upon it. Hopelessness and giving up will leave it limp and gaunt. Abandonment would leave it dark and cold. But attention and presence will give it life. Courage will give it spirit and love will soften its harder edges. Responsibility to our thread in the tapestry of things will render our experience more beautiful.
It is easy, with Saturnian things, to believe they are fixed in place. That we cannot change them. We can and do change them. The law, just like the trees, is slow to grow and shift. But it is still a living breathing thing. It is important to recognize that there is a spirit, often many spirits, which inhabit even our tools. The law is a tool and a spirit unto itself. The spirit of the law both Saturnian and Venusian. It is conditioning, guiding, and binding. Its spirit is gathering and shaping and influencing. The spirit of the law is slow-acting, most of the time. Sometimes the spirit of the law is tyrannical. But it is also deep listening and will be moved by keen reflections and a strong and well-defended stance, especially if the perspective evidently pulls on the heartstrings which weave together the people whom it governs.
If you resonate with this piece and you want to talk about how elements therein connect to your personal natal chart, you can book a reading with me. My books for September will open to this newsletter list on Friday August 30th.