Rumi

Last night as I was moseying through the remainders section of my local bookstore I noticed a biography about the Mystic Persian Poet Rumi. On the back cover were some of his quotes. One read: "I am Wind, You are Fire." I thought, damn, you must be a Libra. That's the ultimate Libra to Aries statement that I've ever read. Air to Fire.

I'd like to say that people born under this Sun Sign are the most transparent in the World. I'd like to say that you always know what you're dealing with with a Libra because when they're in their happy form they really do see it all ways. Because Rumi knows that he's Air and because Thich Nhat Hahn knows he comes from "Central Vietnam" not Southern or Northern. But, man, the Astro Wheel knows how to throw a real wrench in the old tool bag through the Succession of Signage. Scorpio comes after Libra and if you're ever watched that progression in a Sun Sign you know that the Opacity really fogs up the works pretty fast. You can wonder about what's right and fair for only so long before you start to realize that motives show the way humans really work. Anyway, with Venus Rx pulling U'ys opposite his Sun and possibly squaring his Moon (and doing the same in my chart pretty much) I guess I am drawn to talking about him. I don't know his poetry very well. And for some reason my surfer chick drawl is coming out extra strong on this one. I wonder if he'd mind. Probably not, Uranus was on his SN and squaring his Mars in Scorpio. Sick and twisted wouldn't have phased him.

Anyway, if the general birthdate given for him is more than fiction it turns out Rumi might really have been a Libra Sun. He might also have been a Capricorn Moon, my sign, which is just a gas and a half for all the creepy new agers who insist that Capricorn Moons are incapable of spirituality. Anyways, Rumi was born at the middle of Libra and just as the North Node was changing signs from Pisces to Aquarius, that's probably as fortuitous for spawning Great Ancient Mystic Poet as it gets. Mercury in Libra opposing Neptune compounds that a hundred, thousand, million times.

According to the bio on Astrotheme, a book was given to Rumi when he was 18 (Nodal Return) which was about the "entanglement of the soul in the material world." There you bring in the Cap Moon, I suppose, although I know that all the signs are concerned about this problem.

Rumi
b. Sept. 30, 1207 Wakhsh, what is now Afghanistan

Sun 14 Libra; Moon 15 Capricorn (noon), NN 30 Aquarius

I wonder if Rumi was a Whirling Dervish, he had a Grand Trine (out of sign) of Mars in Scorpio to Jupiter and Neptune (Jupiter in Cancer to Neptune in Aries). Seems like a signature for dancing, spinning, and mystical enlightenment if I've ever seen one.

I found an interesting pair of stories from Rumi's biography which really highlight the unexpected nature of how things could be expected to work in the life of someone with Aquarius NN in conjunction/square aspect to Mars and Uranus. This assumes that the birth date I'm using is the correct one.

Rumi met his teacher Dervish Shams-e Tabrizi on Nov. 15, 1244. According to my SolarFire ephemeris the Sun would have been at 1 Sagittarius which is great for meeting a teacher. T.Neptune was passing over Rumi's natal Saturn/Chiron conjunction in Gemini. That's also great for meeting teachers but is a time gaining great compassion and spiritual understanding. One would be very open to looking for help at that point because one is probably more open to "not knowing" with this aspect than for many of the others. Enhancing this conjunction were progressed Venus in conjunction with p.Mars which were in opposition in the sign of Sagittarius, sine of higher education, philosophy, religion, broader understandings. Oppositions often can indicate relations with others.

At this time, Rumi's progressed Sun was at 21 Scorpio. This means that it was 5 degrees away from conjunction with natal Mars 26 Scorpio, which is natally the apex of a t-square to Uranus-Nodal Axis. Transiting Pluto was passing out of a square with n.Jupiter (ruler of Sagittarius, high learning, religion) and into a square with n. Pluto which is a bit foreboding and deeper/occult understandings.

Rumi studied with the teacher until Dec. 5, 1248 when the Dervish went to answer the door and is said to have just disappeared. Sudden events are considered Uranian and having Mars activated certainly helps. It happens that Rumi was going through his Mars Return in Scorpio so his natal t-square was heavily activated. Not sure what rules Doors and Thresholds but I might suspect that Mercury is partly responsible and Mercury on this day was in conjunction with the double whammy Mars. The teacher is thought to have been murdered with certainly shows the Scorpio/Mars influence. The square to the Aquarius NN / Uranus-SN natal aspect brings in the unexpected element. I think we end up grieving more from Uranian experiences than from any other just because they are so difficult to reconcile with how life ought to have happened.

At any rate, Rumi is said to have gone into a period of deep grief as one would expect, especially since he was within 2 degrees of having his Pluto square from transiting Scorpio. He was also within about 4 degrees of his Uranus opposition which also activates the t-square from another angle. Interesting that Rumi was born while Uranus and Pluto were in Leo. We've got a few of those floating around who were born in the last half of 1955.

Once his progressed Sun and Pluto moved into Sagittarius he started a 12 year (Jupiter returns worth) of writing poetry.

His words, which I really need to be reminded of right now:

Love’s nationality is separate from all other religions,

The lover’s religion and nationality is the Beloved (God).
The lover’s cause is separate from all other causes
Love is the astrolabe of God’s mysteries.