13’s and Palindromes: Number Magic in this Week’s Skies
Pythagoras believed the number 13’s energy was transformational. For millennia, it’s been seen as sacred to the Cosmic Feminine.
Astrology is full of numbers and their magic. Every degree in the sky is numbered. The 360 degree wheel of the sky is divided into 12 signs, each with 30 degrees. When the wheel is divided, the squares, stars, and triangles that are created generate energy of a particular type, when they’re activated by the constantly moving celestial bodies.
There’s quite a bit of number magic at work in this most powerful of weeks. We can see it in the degrees of the sky in which the Cardinal Cross will form, in the patterns of the Red Moon in Libra eclipse (and the Taurus Solar Eclipse just two weeks away). It’s also in the calendar. It’s another of the ways the Cosmos is revealing herself and her purpose to us.
The Goddess of Lausell, carved into the wall of a cave in the Dordogne region of southwestern France during the Paleolithic era, is the earliest known example of the deification of the feminine principle. The crescent she is holding is marked with 13 notches.
Cardinal Cross in the Goddess’ Number
On April 16, the day after the Red Moon, the dynamic and volatile Grand Cross that has been forming in the four cardinal signs – Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn — becomes nearly exact. These are the most dynamic signs in the sky. Planets placed here in a birth chart or moving through by transit are change-makers.
The Cross will form at 13 degrees of these four signs — bringing together Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, and Pluto to stretch our consciousness, and our lives, wide to make room for the future that is waiting to be born. By Wednesday, Jupiter, Uranus, and Puto will be in 13 degrees of Cancer, Aries, and Capricorn, with Mars at 15 degrees of Libra. During the days when this Cross is exact – April 20-23 – all four will be in 13 degrees. Even without a pair of eclipses framing their action and a Uranus-Pluto square coming in the middle of it, an exact Cardinal Cross would be enough to make astrological headlines.
For the ancient Greek spiritual teacher, philosopher, and mathematician Pythagoras, 13 was the number of transformation. While is power has been associated with many traditions, it’s been recognized for millennia as sacred to the Divine Feminine (which is why it’s been regarded as unlucky in recent centuries).
The number 13 is highlighted in earliest example of the deification of the feminine principle — i.e., the recognition that there is something in the feminine energy that is part of the fabric of the Cosmos itself. In the caves near Lascaux, France, a 27,000-year-old carving known as the “Earth Mother of Laussel” depicts a female figure painted red (the color of the blood of life and rebirth — and of all total lunar eclipses, including tonight’s Red Moon in Libra). She holds a crescent-shaped horn bearing 13 notches, one for each lunation in a lunar year.
Along with the numbers 5 and 8, 13 is a key number in Venus’ cycle. 13 is associated with the Norse goddess Freya The 13th letter of the alphabet is “m,” which begins the words mother, mater, matter, mens, menses, menstruate, month, mama, mammary, and, in Latin, mare, or sea. Even today, the dark basaltic plains on the Moon that were formed by ancient volcanic eruptions are known as the lunar maria.
While the Cardinal Cross of 13 is in effect — until April 28, with its peak occurring between April 20 and 23 — we will have a rare opportunity to experience the transformative nature of the number 13. Over the coming weeks, outgrown energies and situations will end and new ones will be born.
As with all births, Life itself is in charge. This is a time for receiving. Ask for guidance – and to receive it. As astrologer Sarah Varcas says, the way to connect with this energy is through the heart. It is, as astrologer Tosha Silver puts it, a time to “make your life an offering” to Source — from your heart to the heart of the Cosmos.
Venus traces a five-petaled flower — or five-pointed star — in the sky every eight years, which is why all five-petaled flowers have long been sacred to her.
5, 13, and the Cycle of Venus
As noted above, during this Cardinal Cross of 13, the cosmic change agents Uranus and Pluto will be making the 5th of their world-changing squares. It’s more than interesting that the Cross of 13 forms immediately after a Total Lunar eclipse in Venus’ sign of Libra, isn’t it?
As I mentioned, 13 and 5 are, like 8, key numbers in Venus’ cycle. As observed from the Earth, for every 8 times that the Sun goes around our planet, Venus circles the Sun 13 times, tracing a lovely five-lobed pentagram (known both as the Flower of Life and the Pentagram of Venus) in the sky where Venus comes closest to Earth. You can see it for yourself here.
Palindromes are Everywhere: The Numbers in this Week’s Calendar
And we already know what the skies say, don’t we?