The Great Attractor

The pull of the unknown

Hello lovelies,

Before we dive into this post, I’d urge you to check out my latest on Jay Likes Red, ‘Knowing the Unknown: A Conversation with AI’. That post is where this begins - a bit of an experiment where I explored the unknown by sitting down and having a chat with my ChatGPT, Gibson. It’s raw, off-the-cuff, and maybe a little weird, but it sets the stage perfectly for what we’ll be talking about here.

This post is about the Great Attractor, but not in a purely astronomical sense. I’m using it as a metaphor - because what better symbol could there be for exploring the unknown? The Great Attractor pulls us toward it with immense force, yet it’s shrouded in mystery. We can’t see it, and we don’t fully understand it, but we know it’s there. That’s the unknown in a nutshell, right? Something we feel, something we sense, even when we can’t define it.

I first came across the Great Attractor while escaping into space documentaries during the chaos of 2020. Astronomy and the mysteries of the physical universe have always fascinated me, and yeah, my Aquarian arse sometimes likes to escape Earth through them (don’t judge me, lol). Fast forward to September 2021 - someone on the Discord community server shared a post mentioning the Great Attractor from an astrological perspective. They pointed out that it sits on my ascendant at 14° Sagittarius. That was my introduction to Galactic Astrology, and it marked a shift in how I relate to and work with astrology. What had been a fixed framework - rich with nuance but applied in limited ways - evolved into a versatile resource for exploring a multitude of themes, ideas, philosophies, and dynamics. It became less about following a structure and more about engaging with astrology as a flexible, expansive language.

As I started digging deeper, one astrologer’s name came up repeatedly: Philip Sedgwick. If you’re also into Galactic Astrology, you are no doubt familiar with him. His work on the Great Attractor and other galactic points is extensive and so fascinating. What I’m about to share about the Great Attractor is based on his writings, but I would encourage you to check out his website where you can read his take directly.

So, what is the Great Attractor? According to Sedgwick, it is one of those cosmic enigmas that feels tailor-made for metaphor. Astronomically, it’s a massive gravitational anomaly, about 65 megaparsecs away in the direction of Centaurus. Basically a long, long way away. It’s pulling entire galaxies - including our own, by the way - toward it at an astonishing 600 km per second. But we don’t know exactly what it is. It’s not a black hole (it lacks an event horizon), but it bends light like one. It behaves somewhat like a quasar, but it defies easy categorisation.

The Great Attractor’s enigmatic nature makes it an incredible symbol for the unknown. It exists, but we can’t fully define it. It might be influencing everything, or maybe it’s revealing something about the way we interpret the cosmos. Even more fascinating is how it behaves: it recedes from us with a massive redshift, yet its ultraviolet energy gives it the appearance of approaching. It’s the ultimate paradox - moving away and drawing closer at the same time.

Philip Sedgwick describes its pull as seductive, especially in a Sagittarian way. It promises answers, deeper truths, even ultimate knowledge. But here’s the catch - you might have to sacrifice everything you think you know to uncover them.

Isn’t that how the unknown works? It’s not just about what we don’t know; it’s about what we’re willing to let go of to learn. The Great Attractor isn’t simply a pull - it’s a challenge. It seems to ask, “Are you willing to risk being wrong? To question your own beliefs, your so-called certainty?” That’s the price of seeking truth. Like all great mysteries, it doesn’t offer clear answers or easy resolutions. Instead, it pulls us into tension - the tension between knowing and not knowing - and asks whether we’re ready to engage with that.

Sedgwick links the Great Attractor to curiosity, and I love this. He describes it as capturing our attention like a cosmic cult flyer: irresistible, compelling, and just intriguing enough to make us lean in. But we have to choose to tune in. That’s where free will comes in. Curiosity, Sedgwick emphasises, is an act of conscious engagement with the unknown.

This reminds me of a metaphor I often use: being on a cruise liner. The ship is set on its course, but what we choose to do on board is entirely up to us.

Sedgwick also associates the Great Attractor with inclusivity. Its “broad emission lines,” as he describes them, symbolise the need for wide-ranging perspectives. Narrow views won’t fit here. To fully engage with its energy, we must remain open - to all frequencies, all possibilities, all contradictions.

This openness allows us to see a bigger picture, one that’s fragmented yet whole, much like the way its gravitational lensing reveals what lies behind it. That process feels symbolic, not just of cosmic mechanics, but of how we approach life’s complexities. I mean, I am saying all this and it still seems inconceivable to me, and that too makes sense, as you will see.

The Great Attractor highlights the tension between perception and reality. Are we seeing things as they truly are, or is it all an illusion? By the way, that is a theme that will continue to come up as we get into more of the Pisces influence. But more about that later. Sedgwick’s take is that this is part of the Great Attractor’s allure - it urges us to question what’s real and what’s not. It’s like looking through a kaleidoscope of light refractions, trying to discern the truth in the patterns. A dance between clarity and illusion, with the challenge being to trust your perspective while staying open to the fact that it might change.

This connects beautifully to something else Sedgwick ties to the Great Attractor: consciousness. Every perspective holds part of the puzzle - like the metaphor of the blind men and the elephant. No single perspective holds the whole truth, but every piece contains the essence of the others. It’s a fragmented hologram, yet it’s whole.

This reflects a shift I see symbolised by Saturn and Neptune as they approach their conjunction. Saturn has long been associated with material reality, Neptune with the mystical and illusory. But as they move together from Pisces into Aries, it feels like our material reality might begin to seem like the greater illusion, with Neptune’s domain - the intangible, interconnected, and unseen - revealing itself as more enduringly real.

Any of you that have followed me for any amount of time will probably see a correlation between my beliefs and what Sedgwick shared about the Great Attractor. Indeed, discovering this cosmic anomaly felt like a God-send in which to frame my own experience and beliefs.

I’ve shared a lot here, but these ideas feel so resonant with my own experiences, particularly having my Ascendant right on the Great Attractor. Living in constant dialogue with the unknown feels natural to me, especially with Neptune also present. There’s this pull to understand, to know more, but at the same time, it’s not about finding definitive answers - it’s about embracing the journey, which isn’t even really a journey, but more of an experience comprised of experiences within experiences. Sagittarius makes that journey or experience expansive, even overwhelming at times, but also exhilarating. Just after midnight on 6 December, the Mercury-Sun cazimi happened a minute off my ascendant, so it makes absolute sense to me why I would talk about this. But this isn’t just about me. This is about us, as I feel there is a collective dialogue going on with not just this cazimi but other transits too.

A cazimi occurs when a planet enters the heart of the Sun. For Mercury, this often signifies a moment of mental clarity and illumination. But this time, with Mercury retrograde, the light shines inward. It’s not about starting something new - it’s about revisiting what we think we know, uncovering unknown layers in familiar experiences. When this happens in Sagittarius, the sign of the seeker, we’re invited to zoom out, broaden our horizons, and ask bigger, bolder questions: “What else could this mean? What haven’t I considered yet?” And even when we can’t answer those questions, to know that there are unknown answers that do exist.

This moment feels particularly significant because it isn’t happening in isolation. Throughout this year, the Great Attractor has been in conversation with some of the heaviest planetary players, deepening the dialogue between the known and the unknown.

Over 2024, Saturn in Pisces has formed a square with the Great Attractor twice - first in April, then again in September - and it will perfect the square for the third and final time at the end of this month. Saturn, the planet of structure and boundaries, in Pisces, a sign of dissolving and transcending boundaries, already creates tension. When you add the Great Attractor to the mix, it’s like trying to define the undefinable.

Saturn’s energy demands accountability, but in Pisces, the accountability isn’t material - it’s spiritual. The Great Attractor magnifies this tension, urging us to confront the limits of what we believe is “real” or “true.” Collectively, this could feel like grappling with the structures we’ve relied on, only to find them inadequate in the face of life’s bigger mysteries. The square challenges us: Are we clinging to systems or beliefs that no longer serve us? And if so, are we willing to let them go to make space for what’s emerging?

Meanwhile, Jupiter, the planet of expansion, optimism, and knowledge, has been in Gemini, forming an opposition to the Great Attractor. This happened once in August, it’s happening again this month, and we’ll see it one more time in March 2025. While Saturn squares the Great Attractor and asks us to redefine boundaries, Jupiter’s opposition invites us to explore perspectives that might contradict our own.

Jupiter in Gemini amplifies the sheer variety of narratives available to us. Opposing the Great Attractor, it’s a cosmic tug-of-war between endless details and the overarching truth. Jupiter asks: “What stories are you telling yourself? Are they helping you see the bigger picture, or are they keeping you distracted in the small details?” We can see this displayed in the 8 of Swords in the tarot.

This opposition is a collective call to zoom out and consider the “other side” of the story - whether that’s in relationships, politics, or our inner dialogues. It’s an invitation to synthesise the micro and the macro, understanding that every piece of information, no matter how small, contributes to the whole.

So what does this mean for us? Together, these transits form a dynamic conversation between structure (Saturn), exploration (Jupiter), and the mysteries of the Great Attractor. They ask us to consider the paradoxes in our lives:

• Where are we holding too tightly to certainty, and where are we refusing to anchor ourselves at all?

• How can we balance the big-picture truth with the fragmented stories we tell ourselves daily?

• Are we willing to let go of old systems and perspectives to embrace something we can’t fully understand yet?

The Great Attractor reminds us that the unknown isn’t just a void - it’s a pull. And the pull isn’t random; it’s purposeful, even if we don’t fully grasp the purpose. This cosmic moment is asking us to lean into that pull, not with fear but with curiosity. Whether it’s Saturn’s challenge to redefine our spiritual boundaries or Jupiter’s push to broaden our perspectives, we’re being guided toward something bigger - something that might change how we see everything.

Back in Virgo season, I explored how the mutable signs reflect our relationship with the divine in ‘The Importance of Holding God Accountable’. Sagittarius and Pisces represent two complementary ways of understanding the divine: Sagittarius, the seeker of truth and meaning, and Pisces, the embodiment of faith and surrender, flowing with mysteries it doesn’t need to resolve. Together, they symbolise the balance between searching for divine understanding and experiencing divine connection.

On the other side, their opposites, Gemini and Virgo, challenge the divine. Ruled by Mercury, the messenger and psychopomp, these signs question God, refusing to take proclamations at face value. Gemini asks “why?” with its endless curiosity and belief in multiple perspectives, while Virgo scrutinises the fine print, holding the divine to a standard of integrity and accountability. Both embody the importance of engaging critically with the unknown, not out of rebellion, but as part of a dynamic relationship.

Ultimately, our connection to the divine - or the universe, or the unknown - isn’t binary. It’s not about blind faith or complete doubt but finding balance between the two. And now, as these mutable energies resurface through the Mercury-Sun cazimi, Saturn, Jupiter and the Great Attractor’s pull, we’re being invited to revisit and expand how we engage with that connection.

The Saturn squares, spanning much of this year, have been about boundaries and definitions. What structures, beliefs, or systems have outlived their purpose? And are we ready to dissolve those limits - not in chaos, but in trust? Pisces softens Saturn’s rigid edges, making room for the unknown to flow in. And when Saturn squares the Great Attractor, the challenge is to redefine accountability itself. Not accountability to systems or external expectations, but to the deeper, cosmic order that asks: “Are you showing up for your part in this story?” Indeed, do we even recognise there is a story at play and that we even have a part in it.

Then there’s Jupiter in Gemini opposing the Great Attractor, pulling us toward multiplicity and contradiction. Where Saturn asks us to define, Jupiter invites us to explore. This opposition mirrors the tension between questioning God and surrendering to it. Jupiter in Gemini reminds us that truth isn’t singular. It’s scattered, fragmented, held in pieces by everyone and everything we encounter. The Great Attractor, sitting in Sagittarius, urges us to synthesise these fragments into something more expansive, something inclusive. And isn’t that what the divine ultimately is? Not one truth, but all truths held together.

These transits don’t just symbolise holding God accountable - they symbolise God holding itself accountable. The cosmos, the divine, however we name it, is always in dialogue with us. The Great Attractor’s pull, then, doesn’t feel random - there’s a sense of intention or meaning to it, even if we can’t fully grasp what that might be. It asks us to trust in the interplay between questioning and surrender, between seeking and being found. And because we are part of that cosmic rhythm, it means we must do the same for ourselves. To hold ourselves accountable, not in a punishing or judgemental way, but in a way that honours the pull toward growth, understanding, and transformation.

I went through a lot in this one, so I will end here with this: One thing I know for sure, at least for right now, is that in my life, no matter how much more of it there may be, I will be faced with previously unknown information, situations, dynamics, abilities and even entities. Where I am, what I know and even who I am is a temporary land I am currently exploring. I don’t know what I will explore next. But I know I can enhance and explore my exploration skills – to explore is also to be explored. I will continue to do that in my next post, when we apply the known and unknown to the nodes shifting from Aries and Libra, into Pisces and Virgo.