A Water Grand Trine in Planetary Major

Image based on a photo of water impacting a water-surface

(photo credit: Marion Felippe, January 2008)

In our last episode (welcome to my celestial soap opera) the highly attractive Venus slid her hot planetary self into Leo. And yes, Venus is hot – but not that kind of hot! On the average, it’s something like 462 degrees Celsius on Venus’ surface.

(Talk about a Sun burn!)

But Venus fluffing into Leo ‘mane event’ sort of mode wasn’t the only astral event which was of note on June 26th. No sir, not at all! June 26th was also the date when Jupiter moved into Cancer.

You might say that as Venus began to roar, Jupiter got crabby. But we won’t go there. Instead we will turn to a fact of FAR greater astrological importance: namely, that in moving into Cancer, Jupiter was not only creating a triumvirate of major planets in water signs, but – because Saturn is at 4 Scorpio and Neptune is at 5 Pisces – Jupiter also came into that 5-degree standard orb which would energize a rather grand Grand Trine in the element of water.

And this is of importance WHY, you ask?

Well, this is of importance to all those on Earth who have feelings. Or even feelings about feelings, as water is the zodiacal sign of all things feeling…and all those things we feel the most about (family, sex, money, death, birth, war, home, homeland and so on).

So to have major planets in each of the zodiac’s water signs? That’s a big to-do. To have them in aspect to each other?

That’s a big giant deal.

And on top of that, two of the three planets in question here have ‘essential dignities’ in the signs they are transiting. What’s an ‘essential dignity’? That’s astrological shorthand for saying the effects seen during that planet’s transit of the given sign is stronger than one might expect.

Think of it as turning up the volume and you won’t be far from wrong.

So we have Saturn in Scorpio, representing our efforts to grow our ‘structural effectiveness’ and the various pro and con things which happen there (representing how stable we really are with ourselves and how adept we are with the whole realm and range of forming supportive alliances with others).

‘In the Shadow of Saturn’, one of spacecraft Cassini’s most startling and beautiful images shows planet

Saturn aligned between Cassini and the Sun, the light of which is diffused by Saturn’s

multitude of rings

(photo credit: NASA-JPL-Caltech)

Saturn has no particular dignity in Scorpio, it’s just a fabulous opportunity to move ahead in life or a long series of headaches, depending on how you handle things. (Or don’t, depending.)

Then we have Jupiter in Cancer. Why Jupiter is dignified in Cancer has never really crystallized in my brain. (My alleged brain, that is.) But Jupiter is dignified in Cancer, meaning that for the next year or so there is a whole shopping cart’s worth of subjects which could go well…or simply get out of hand, depending on a.) how well we deal with and from our native emotional nature and, b.) whether we’re on a right track with our life as a whole. Cancer being the sign of ‘populations’ (national, familial and otherwise), this is a positively propitious period if you want to do something to get your name on the map.

Of course if you look around and listen to the news, it’s pretty obvious that renown isn’t always a positive thing. There are those who get known for their very worst attributes, and there are those for whom public exposure becomes a personal hindrance. Even a disaster.

Jupiter’s tendency to ‘enlarge’ everything is highly likely to result in a spate of hearing people who dreamed big and made it big…and people who got carried away in a very bad direction. There are those who will now move up in the world, and those who will find themselves swallowed up as by the ground itself. 

Planet Jupiter as photographed by spacecraft Voyager
(photo credit: NASA-JPL)

While I’m thinking about it…though I’m not fully proficient in astrological meteorology, it doesn’t take an astro-genius to guess that a grand trine in water might very well herald some pretty large events of the Very Wet Kind. Think weather, tides, rivers, ice floes, water bourn illness, boats, underwater drilling, all things fishy and otherwise oceanic – the works.

But don’t just stop there. Water signs do ‘point’ to things which directly have to do with water, yes. But they also point to everything which provokes or evokes emotion. So people will be more emotional. And there will be things to be emotional about, whether that emotion is love, lust, greed, anger, sorrow, glee, awe or anything else.

Let’s also not forget that because a grand trine of any sort represents an ‘ongoing pattern’ which is very hard to break out of, this could refer to a continuing drought. Or continuing cruelty. Or an unremitting illness.

Or – yes – continued success. On the personal level it really all depends on how water signs operate in your chart…and to some degree, the ‘condition’ of your Moon – some portion of which can probably be told by your feelings…and your relationship to feelings in general. So maybe you’re someone who avoids feelings altogether. Or you shy away from anything negative. Maybe you’re known as insensitive. Or you’ve buried something shame, some guilt, some ‘inner knowing’ that you’re not doing what you should be doing under your mental rug.

(You know…it’s amazing what lurks under mental rugs – not to mention the emotional gunk we try to flush down the psychic drain!)

This photo of Saturn’s south pole reveals a really intriguing hexagonal  cloud formation.  Whatever the planetary mechanics may be which produce this, it does remind me of the classic concept of work and responsibility which are part of the ‘sixth phase’ in the metaphysics of astrological thinking.
(photo credit: NASA – JPL)

The dynamic of grand trines being ongoing and pretty much inescapable, the up-versus-down of what goes on now because LIFE is providing such ‘consistent’ support, provocation, opportunity or lack of same (depending on where we are with ourselves) is the underlying crux of a metaphysical process which starts ‘in orb’ state on June 26th, and which never ‘perfects,’ except at whatever level we accept life’s imperfections as perfectly normal.

And that may be part of the ‘learning process’ which comes with this period: feelings aren’t perfect, life is messy, we’re always going to be dealing with something.

But is that bad? Probably not, as lack of satisfaction is one of the primary motivators of change, action and acceptance of life as reality – not some ideal we’d like to think life is.

Maybe the point is about how once we accept the glitches, challenges and problems, then we start working to improve things where and how we can without feeling diminished or having to deny, ignore or indulge in false fronts?

Maybe. Meanwhile, here's a list of days and dates which apply to this water-trine-in-motion.

In many ways, this is emotional time is embraced - or if if you prefer, bracketed - by Mercury's retrograde passage. It all starts with Jupiter entering Cancer at Mercury station-retrograde. And that's sort of akin to a metaphysical pointer causing us - by whatever means - to focus on inner feelings. Maybe it's just what we feel. But then again, maybe it's about why we feel a given way. Or...given that Mercury is going retrograde late in Cancer (while Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune are all in early degrees) – maybe that's a tip-off about how we need to be conscious of what others say, think or do.

Or don't say, think or do.

Or how or why we don't agree with them...or how, why and where they don't agree with us.

Of course this would also make sense thought of as some life factor or incident which ‘enlarges’ (Jupiter) on something in our (Mercurial) mind. And maybe that causes us to focus on new goals. Maybe we're sick and tired of something. Maybe we've reached our breaking point.

Or maybe we've just had some sort of break through. Or we're breaking out of some shell - even one we may have loved and cherished for however long.

While I'm thinking about it, if you have points in early degrees of any water sign, they're going to get 'swept up' in this grand trine formulation. For instance, my Moon is at 7 Scorpio. So as soon as Jupiter reaches 2 Cancer, that draws my Moon into a grand trine effect.

Seeing as my personal Sun is at 4 Pisces (meaning there's a native water trine in my natal chart) I'm used to trine effects. And you may be too. But a grand trine "deepens" the effect, making it something which is virtually 'inescapable' for a while. 

In essence, whatever begins formulating will represent some form of reaching for a ‘new step in the process’ as Saturn reaches its station in early July at a Cancer New Moon. Or, seeing as this is Saturn we're talking about, something coming to be. Or something ending. The idea of Saturn as 'a structure' can be something we build our life on (or within) or something we wall something out with.

And since Cancer is a sign the Moon rules, this incoming Saturn station is going to be a time when feelings come to be more clarified - which isn't to say those feelings will be all good. They could be, of course - combinations of Saturn emphasis and lunar 'punctuation' are well known for delivering rewards or results. Or getting us to move on something we've been dithering on!

On the other hand, Saturn-Moon combinations sometimes have to do with fears. Even rejection. Yet strangely, even as they inhibit one thing, a New Moon-in-Cancer combining with Saturn-in-Scorpio may signal our turning away from the old in favor of doing it the way we know (deep down inside) we should be doing it.

Yes, we may just grow up. At least a little now!

Then there's Saturn and Jupiter. Jupiter and Saturn having long been known as that combination which builds nations and brings down kings, Jupiter reaching its trine-point to Saturn on July 13th brings up where life is ‘going together,’ where things are ‘stuck’ or where they’re coming apart. Given the degrees involved, many of us will be facing ‘fateful confrontations’ which, though set off by circumstances, are really about our own willingness to take life on as an individual or on some individual basis. Like as not this is what we will all be dealing with as Neptune backs into 4 Pisces on July 15th (UT/+0 time), bringing this major planet grand trine to ‘perfected’ focus over the 15th, 16th and 17th…during which time Uranus just happens to be going retrograde.

Planet Neptune, as photographed by NASA

(As if such things happen coincidentally?)

Breakthroughs versus breakage versus being ‘broken down’ by is the Uranian note, one which as a contributor (so to speak) of the ongoing water trine suggests a shift, a realization, a recognition of our own part in the creating of our own dramas. That we think others don’t see about themselves, maybe we don’t see in ourselves. The cost of not expanding our (Uranus in Aries) scope of consideration may be exactly why we don’t get consideration (or considered) by others.

We can’t do what we say to others ‘don’t do’ and think the karma of that choice isn’t squarely on us.

And that, my friends, is one of the things this watery grand trine seems to scream over all: what we work to create defines what we earn...but how we go about doing it becomes our karma.

Even from a couple of weeks in advance of Uranus’ station (in other words, now) it would seem pretty darn likely that life will be enveloping us in circumstances which we don’t quite control, but which we also ignore to our own detriment - particularly in that oh-so karmic way. We can't shut out the uncomfortable, nor is what we want always what works best in the long run. Life will out. Life will always out! Life will find a way to prove to us that we don’t control experience, experiences control us. The integrity we live with, we need to live with because life – as Existence – is integrity in the sense that the All, the Everything is the integrity we call Existence. Our opting out of this or that for our own emotional comfort doesn’t disrupt life – it only stunts us.

And what is stunting? Isn’t it another way of saying ‘short-changing’?

It’s all so very interesting. Noodles to noodle over, maybe we should say. And noodle we will, whether that’s ramen, linguini or otherwise, in our mind, in our life, and yes – maybe even in our tummies.

When Jupiter moves to 5 Scorpio on the 18th, that marks the grand trine's intensity beginning to loosen. But let's not kid ourselves - it's not over yet! 

Not hardly. With Uranus going retrograde on the 17th and Mercury going direct on July 20th a day after Eris goes retrograde is a whole new ticket to adventure.

And let's be real here....when you put Uranus, Mercury and Eris together, 'adventure' is the nice word for it! So much energy is now coming to a head and for whatever reason the Aquarian Full Moon on July 22nd strikes me (even without analysis of its details) as a 'trigger point.' Will that mean something is touched off in real life...or in our psyches or feelings?

And still this water grand trine continues on. Considering the Uranus-Mercury-Eris relationship through all their stations we are going to be...or be put into position to respond to something. But what is that going to be? Will it be something delightful that we've set up and which like some fairy tale is now coming true? Or is it some emotion-laden cost for ‘unspent’ capital held too close for our ultimate purpose?

Whatever happens, it's going to be a noisy time. Emotionally noisy, if nothing else.

Jupiter's Rings (in False Color) as photographed by Voyager 2
(photo credit: NASA-JPL)

But as this grand trine ends come August 10th (a few days after Mercury exits its retrograde shadow) maybe we will have come to realize the difference between recognizing the need to take responsibility for our own feelings (whether they be heartwarming or challenging)…or not.

By that time, Venus will be in Virgo, a clue which suggests that where we came into this time imagining we knew what was good, maybe ‘good’ isn’t about the fun and pretty stuff. Do we use emotionality as an escape? Or is it a symptom which at some level simply expresses our desire to have everything be as we imagine it as a defense against fear of the unknown?

That leads me to one of my pet questions: isn’t ‘the unknown’ another name for what we have yet to learn and be enriched by?

What’s so scary about that? Isn’t learning more and becoming more ‘emotionally solvent’ in our own souls how we come to feel better about life itself?
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Venus in Leo

'Summer' by Alfons Mucha

(1896, oil on panel)

When I think of Venus in Leo, my mind goes to moments of warmth and caring…days filled with laughter’s carefree sparkle…that singular satisfaction which comes of making something fun or great out of nothing special.

Then I think of that other side…those strains of Venus in Leo which manifest as arrogance, selfishness, lack of accountability and an inability to tolerate any opinions apart from your own.

Then I think about why this would be, and I realize it’s because Venus functions like a hinge.

A hinge

(photo credit: Sindala, October 2007)

What we bring to the situation, the level of quality we put into what we make of our abilities, these are where those Venus potentials born of its rulership in Taurus and Libra find their way into manifestation.

And depending on what we put out there…that pretty much dictates what we’ll get back. Venus is the hinge where cause becomes the reward we call effect.

I guess that means that if Venus Aphrodite sat down at a table with Newton, they’d have a lot in common. When Newton wrote his third law of motion – that idea which comes down to us as ‘for every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction’ he was giving a scientific explanation to the Venusian process we understand through our ability to create and maintain relationships – or not. We recognize our own quality (or lack thereof) through our ability to be respected for who we are.

Or not.

The Taurus Venus craves satisfaction. And like its native 2nd house it describes how we seek that through some form of validation. That we have to take our resources, whatever they may be, and put them to work and develop them into what they can be, that is the foundational work we do on our way to presenting ourselves and being received and valued and applauded by friends and strangers alike.

Or not.

And it’s that process of development which is so Leo. Leo envisions what can be made of things. Leo sees the possibilities. Leo drives to see how things work, and to come up with ways to express our inner desires, beliefs, discoveries, ideas which display our courage and willingness to be unique and individual.

Or...not!

Considering that this particular Venus / Leo ingress occurs with Venus conjunct asteroid Charybdis, there’s a ‘continuing’ factor in play.  This could pertain to something already in progress. Then again, it could point to some status quo or ‘repetition’ of response - you know, that same old issue bopping us in the nose yet again?

But there are two other items adding to the intrigue of the moment. The first is the idea that as Venus reaches 0 Leo, a degree which asks for clear thinking but which tends to incite some tendency to posture or bluster even if that seldom works, Ceres is right there at 2 Leo.

Ceres, as you probably know, is a harvest goddess. But Ceres isn’t just about ‘reaping the wealth.’ Far from it! Ceres is all about the process which leads to being able to reap of fruit of one’s labors. Or (since this is Leo) the fruit of one’s creative efforts and willingness to step outside of your own mental comfort zone.

All signs have their weaknesses. And with Leo, there seems to be a bit of a tendency to forget that if you’re going to be grand and glorious, YOU don’t define that!

Huh, you say? What the fern do I mean?

Let’s think of Leo as a creative energetic.  The polarity is Leo-Aquarius, which brings up that Leo love of being in the spotlight for what they do so well and the fact that Leo seldom shies away from competition. Being the sign of the creative urge (whether that means creating a relationship, a family, a product, social stir or plain old ruckus!) Leo is still a 2nd quadrant, natively below-the-prime-horizontal zodiac sign.

That means the crux of Leo competition is about whether you are doing all you can do. Or whether you are doing something as well as you can. This is Leo’s principle competitive quality; as the second of the zodiac’s fixed signs Leo ‘fixes’ to develop our native Taurean attributes, talents and resources so that they are ready to be put out into the world.

Wherever you see Leo in the chart, that’s where you will meet up with your finest – and darkest – Leo hours. That is where you will be tested – and test yourself on the subject of whether you are ready for your public debut.

The most common problem Leo has is remembering that we do not ‘define’ the interest or approval of others. This gets back to the idea that whatever you’re into investing in, it’s always good to know your audience. You can’t force people to love what you’re doing…but you can – by taking careful stock of who others are and what they’re interested in – learn how to appeal to them. Or what factors in what you’re doing are likely to appeal to them. Or work for them. Or even shock them.

So Ceres at 2 Leo is a sign that this is a moment to reconnoiter and think things through. Two Leo is a degree which asks that we do the right and righteously developed thing in the right setting. Sometimes the outlandish will work, but sometimes it doesn’t. So while you may get attention by belting out some giant aria in the center of a busy intersection, that also might just get you arrested.

Like they say – it’s all timing and location, location, location, right? (And ‘who you know,’ yes…which suggests alienating people is not the way to build your brand!)

After entering Leo on June 27th at 5:04 in the afternoon UT/+0 time, Venus will go on to conjunct Ceres late on June 30th (which will already be July 1st for those in Middle East longitudes or points east of there). And since 3 Leo is a degree which endows the ability to see life without preconceived notions, those who come into this time set in concrete may, within a few days, have an epiphany of some sort.

Which sounds sort of nice, don’t you think? That it happens as Venus conjuncts Ceres suggests that just as June turns into July there’s an opportunity to have an ‘aha!’ moment and see a way to do things which is going to get us more of what we want is decidedly nice.

Of course Mercury is still in retrograde. So this may not be the moment to act. Investigate? Yes. Ask questions? Sure! Think things through from a new perspective? Absolutely!

The other thing going on during this period is Saturn loitering around at 4 Scorpio in anticipation of a station-direct moment soon to come. That suggests that at some level or in some way the ‘stakes’ for us are up there. There is, in fact, a major planet (Saturn-Jupiter-Neptune) grand trine in water which becomes a grand trine in water on the date that this post goes up by virtue of June 26th being the (UT/+0 time zone) date that Jupiter enters Cancer, thus ‘filling in’ the grand trine by coming within standard (5 degree) orb of Neptune at 5 Pisces.

I’m sure we’ve all felt it ‘coming on’…which for some has been a subtle feeling of impatience, for others a sense that something isn’t quite right, or that important factors aren’t being paid attention to.

That grand trine being a subject I’d want to think through in its own right (read: you’ll see that blog post in a couple of days), since from our Earthly position Saturn appears to be ‘sitting there’ immobile and unmoving, from the astrological (geocentric) perspective this moment…these next few days or the next week or so is a time to take stock. Venus with Ceres says we should think through our plans and our positions and our (Mercury retrograde in Cancer) priorities so we have in mind what we’re aiming at – and why.

Saturn goes direct on July 8th and Venus is in Leo until July 22nd. The grand trine will be in force for the whole of the time Venus is passing through Leo. Some of us will experience this as an interrupting of what we want to do in favor of what we need to do, and that will like as not be signaled by events between June 26 (the date of Jupiter entering Cancer and Venus entering Leo) and Saturn’s station.

Some of us are going to recognize that there’s a greater pattern at work – a shift from what we thought life was going to be in the late 1990s and early 2000s. All that began to change between 2008 (the shattering of economic stability and all those rosy expectations) and 2011 when Uranus hit Aries, Neptune entered Pisces and a tsunami hit Japan and – beyond that – the consciousness and conscience of our world.

People are still saying ‘why can’t things be the way they were?’ to which the answer is ‘they simply aren’t.’ Humans are funny that way…we yell and scream that we want change but then change comes along and our first instinct is to cling to the old and known, tatty and unworkable though it may be.

Come July 6th, there’s another process which looks like it’s worth a thought or two…Venus will be reaching 10 Leo and thus coming into orb of square aspect to the Lunar Nodes, which are still sitting at 15 degrees of Scorpio (North Node) and Taurus (South Node) representing the cross-quarter thing.

- link to post -

The Lunar Nodes at Cross Quarters

 
Considering that as Venus reaches 10 Leo (a degree known for relationship tests and karma-laden dynamics) on July 6th Venus will also be in a passionate if uncomfortable inconjunct-of-the-6th-harmonic-kind with Pluto, this seems like a moment when more than a few of us are going to feel that not-so-fickle finger of fate pointing in our direction. And with Pluto conjunct Industria (industriousness) at the moment, the question would seem to be whether we have been working at something, whether we have been working against our better interests, whether our efforts are (Pluto) destroying our Capricorn structures (purposefully or otherwise), or whether we are about to pay the price for having ignored life's Capricornian 'rules of the road.'

You know, standards and such.

A few of us will now leap into action, trying to avoid that fate which fickleness has set them up to experience.

Will they succeed? Oh well...y'know, this is one of those questions which no astrologer likes to answer. It’s not just that you’re going to throw tomatoes at me (I guess those would be digital tomatoes, if still rotten)…but nobody likes saying ‘probably not’ when the answer equals pain or loss or humiliation, defeat or shame-inducing rejection.

I used to be a lot more glib about such pronouncements. But whether it's age or experiencing a few really hard falls myself (there's nothing like going through a few major health crises when it comes to learning about humility!)...as have gone along I've become less and less gleeful, smug or satisfied when seeing anyone fall.

Even those who ripely, even richly deserve it.

So here’s the deal…IF you have been working towards getting past those knee-jerk, pacification positions which are easy to take because they feather your bed and otherwise take less than buckets and barrels of nose-to-grindstone effort, those efforts which are continuing to evolve (grand trine = ongoing energy systems) will probably work okay. Even fine.

But those efforts (or positions, or alliances, or habits or whatever else) which you have been resisting changing, even if you know they’re not productive in the ultimate and worldly sense? Those are likely to now become a headache or burden.

And no, you won’t be able to fix things instantaneously. That’s the other side of grand trines. They preserve the ‘thing in progress’ like some oil tanker you’re trying to get stopped. Yelling ‘whoa, Nellie!’ doesn’t help – it’s a long slow process.

Which (interestingly enough! brings us back to Sir Issac Newton.

Mister 'Laws of Motion' himself, Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727) is here pictured

in a portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller (1689, oil on canvas)

Sir Issac’s first law of motion is the one we know as ‘an object in motion tends to stay in motion’…and between that and his third law (the one about actions begetting opposite and equal reactions) sort of encompasses the whole of this Leo Venus period of transit.

I’m thinking that if Venus Aphrodite and Newton sat down at a table (to enjoy some figs nicely poised on fig leaves, no doubt) they would have reached an agreement on the Venusian form of astro-attraction.

Basically, in the end what we put out there attracts a response based not just on what we intend others to see, but the qualities we bring to the table in putting it out there.

What you see yourself as giving is not always what you get back in other words, if only because we tend to see only what we want to see – and that may not be what others see at all.
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Jupiter enters Cancer at a Mercury Station

 In honor of the vast increase in Cancerian energy we're all going to be experiencing, a

fun picture of a little crab on a rock taken by Pavel in January 2009

As the Lunar Nodes continue hovering at the Scorpio and Taurus’ cross-quarter points and Ceres rolling forward into Leo, we are all going to face new questions and new reasons to be more creative and personally expansive. With the Moon having just passed through Capricorn Fullness we are in a moment where by putting ourselves and our thoughts or efforts ‘out there’ helps us see what is – and what maybe can be…

…and then, as Mercury goes on station, Jupiter moves into Cancer. The date of this dual event is Wednesday, June 26th – except for those in the Americas and eastern Pacific region, where Jupiter slides into Cancer late on the 25th.

The specifics (so we can get the persnickety data stuff out of the way) are as follows: Jupiter enters Cancer at 1:41 in the morning (UT/+0 time) on the 26th, and Mercury goes retrograde in Cancer at 23 Cancer on the 26th at 1:09 in the afternoon (again, UT/+0 time).

Not to put too fine a point on it, with Venus and the Sun already in Cancer, that’s a LOT of Cancer energy floating around. So think family, home, real estate, childhood (the result of yours and that of anyone else as a formative ‘shaping’ energetic), culture, habits, traditions, national populations and immigration, agriculture, building, buildings…and any kind of plan you have for moving forward or growing your world, your life, your ‘base’ or ‘basis’ of operation(s).

So what’s with Jupiter in Cancer?

Jupiter in Cancer is expansive – that’s the Jupiter thing – and it tends to be expansive in the areas cited above. It also exacerbates (increases) feelings about all those issues, and because Cancer is ruled by the Moon, anything concerning money connected thereto.

Cancer is the first of the zodiacal water signs, all of which are connected to wealth. The 4th house of a chart generally indicates our home or ‘home base’ but wherever we see Cancer, we get a sense of our relationship to real estate, the cost of housing and our experience of our family’s general attitude towards wealth.

Jupiter's big red spot as photographed by NASA-JPL. It's amazing to think this

'spot' is actually a Jovian 'weather system' where the cloud tops are moving at hundreds of miles an hour...!

(photo credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech)

Of course, a lot about how this manifests in your life depends on where in your chart your individual Moon is - and of course, what sign that Moon is in. What this becomes is a combination of those two factors - the house with Cancer on its cusp will indicate where you tend to build your 'foundation of emotional reactions.' You know, the what you react to and why you react to it as you do. Meanwhile, the position of the Moon is where those foundations act out - and providing your Moon is not in Cancer, that Moon position will tend to describe how you will react.

A couple of examples, both of which are helpfully donated to this cause by friends of mine who may or may not care that I'm thinking of their charts. (Yes, this is the blessing and penalty of knowing an astrologer. Occasionally you learn something, but there's also a strange feeling associated with having your metaphysical structure being being discussed with countless others...even anonymously!)

In our first example, Cancer is on the 12th house. Cancer on the 12th house is an indicator of deep, deep emotions, some of which can be downright scary. They can be scary to you...and they may just be scary to others who find out what you really feel about things and about them. Traditions may be hugely (read: overly) important to you...or then again, you may not be even remotely tolerant of anyone talking to you about traditions for reasons you just don't want to get into.

Not even with yourself.

If the Moon ruling this Cancer 12th house is (say,) in Aquarius and the 6th house, you will tend to act out all your feelings - the strong and the being-scared-of-them through qualities denoted by the keywords 'health, work, service.' That means you may have real issues with responsibility. Or maybe you'll take care of everyone but be really bad at taking care of yourself. Or maybe you only care about yourself and nobody else. Feeling your own feelings may be so powerful a thing (12th house placements are always powerful) that you can't bear to feel much...but then, given Aquarius' talent for seeing the bigger picture, maybe this is exactly what allows you to do great deeds and deal with difficulties which would scare the willies out of others.

Or let's say Cancer is on your 8th house. That makes your experiences with all forms of interactive negotiations (be they business, financial or of the Intimate Kind) a place where in risking your 8th house inner sense of "stability" (read: self respect, feeling of self worth) that your 12th house Scorpio Moon causes you to withdraw from others...and (oh by the way) choose people who will provide you with reasons to withdraw (except for the occasional fling, to be sure.)    


Wherever we see Cancer and wherever we see the Moon, these areas of our chart are going to be enlarged on throughout this next year of Jupiter in Cancer. Therefore, no matter what your Cancer ‘thing’ is, you can experience the negatives or expand on the positives. And this generally will happen by 'closing out' some old way of thinking.

In moving into Cancer, Jupiter is moving out of Gemini. And given that the flow of the signs around the wheel of the horoscope (above) is counter-clockwise, this means that this shift from Gemini to Cancer has Jupiter 'changing sides.' 

Of the horoscope wheel, yes. And in terms of personal and worldly dynamics. The left side of the zodiac (Capricorn through Gemini) is proactive. The right side is responsive, but not just in the sense of 'responding to input,' though it tends to be a bit of that too. No, in this  sense the idea of 'response' has to do with 'responding to the known' or acting or choosing in terms of that which we have already experienced.

The signature sign of this 'building of experiences' is Cancer. For you that may be building on experiences or building things which allow you to experience this or that...whichever way you go with it, we and our world are now exiting some six years of doing-in-order-to-make-happen (from which we learn). For the next six years, we will tend to build on what we have done.

Or yes, on what we have set ourselves up for. There are lots and lots of ways these things come to light!

Those of us who are hesitant will meet up with situations which evoke (or provoke) our Cancerian feelings and Moon issues. Those of us wiling to step out and learn or let go of what plainly isn't us or doesn't work for us will feel a renewal of our vital sense of life.

With Jupiter we know the stakes are big. And that the possible rewards are big. And how what we see as possible often exceeds our ability to stomach the 'whole' of the process. So during this next year of Jupiter passing through Cancer, we should expect a lot of big talk. But will action back up those claims?

That remains to be seen.

Real estate and ‘lifestyles’ will probably come back into focus on many a level and for many a reason, good and gnarly.

All of that aside, the next day or so (between now and the 25th/26th, depending on location) is going to be uber intense. Jupiter pushing through the last gasps and breaths of Gemini makes us think the stakes are raised.

Are they? Maybe. But since it’s common for the days leading into Mercury’s station to feel pressured, when we add in Jupiter’s climactic energetic in thought-and-choice oriented Gemini, a few folks are likely to go plumb out of their minds now.

And let’s remember…those societal-and-relationship lunar nodes being at the Scorpio/Taurus cross-quarter points also point to some pressure-filled moments.
Or is that a ‘pressure release’ moment?

- link to -

The Lunar Nodes at Cross-Quarters

With Pluto in the oppositional sign of Pluto, life is changing. The world is changing. The times are changing. Evolution and revolution are grinding, churning, turning outlived concepts on their heads.

And some people, yes. There are those who are getting their ‘come-uppance’ now and those who are getting traction on getting ahead. It sort of depends on where you are coming into this time. After all, the Pluto keywords are create, deny, destroy…and that generally applies to whatever the ‘status quo’ of your life is.

Considering the way Pluto tends to symbolize where starry-eyed, ‘me starring in my own mental movie’ visions tend to meet up with reality, with Pluto in retrograde into September and Jupiter’s impending romp through Cancer moving into position to oppose Pluto from mid-July until early September, we are all being set up for one of those Great Seasons of Change.

Into which comes Mercury. And yes, I know – I got all wound up with the Jupiter in Cancer thing. But it is interesting that in one single run Jupiter is going to hit zero and go all the way to 20 Cancer before turning bringing all back into retrograde (consolidation of gains or losses) mode come early November.

Oh yes…and that would be happening just a few days beyond the November 3rd solar eclipse. So, remember how I said a while ago that Saturn going retrograde at 11 Scorpio in February drew a “dotted line” in the metaphysical sand the other end of which was November’s 11 Scorpio Solar Eclipse?

In that process, Jupiter’s entering Cancer is something like starting a snowball rolling. For good or bumpy, whether you’re in for a heck of a ride or getting snow-rollered over, this would be celestial gravity beginning to gather its karmic momentum.

Surely you understand my being so intrigued?

Another thing about Jupiter in Cancer: this is a combination known for 'endings,' which in an odd sense goes with Cancer as a sign of culture, family, experience of childhood and hearth, home and nationality as our 'roots' in the sense that they are what we build on.

And thus life leads us into a new phase which reflects Cancer at the bottom of the 'natural' zodiac wheel as a time when we finish up one phase of life and begin to build anew. For some, this will herald a period which includes hitting a new 'bottom' which yes, may be painful - but which may also represent an emotional reality we need to know in order to build a life or life structure which will be stable and stand the tests of time (time being the Saturn province greatly signified by Capricorn, the opposition sign to Cancer).

 Jupiter being eclipsed by three of its moons

(photo credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech)

That this ingress is marked by Mercury's station suggests that the whole of this Jupiter-in-Cancer passage is aimed at, or which will evolve as a growing 'mental' awareness. Or a consciousness of what mentality is and means. And maybe how some 'old' way of thinking or 'seeing' life needs to be surrendered as your present 'actual' in favor of recognizing and utilizing a more 'present' form of mental emotionality so that your life can become more in sync with everything (and everyone) with whom you interact, allowing you to build that 'better world.'  

As for the specifics of Mercury's station, 23 Cancer – the degree Mercury is going on station at – is known as a point where either our strengths or weaknesses (speaking of celestial gravity) come to the fore. There is an equal danger of overstepping your own bounds, abilities or the limits of propriety as there is an opportunity to make good on your talents.

As Jupiter enters 0 Cancer, Black Moon Lilith is sitting there a 1 Cancer: another sign that we may ignore society (or social responsibilities) or get caught in being too caught up in our own cause. With Pluto being smack dab between Industria and the ‘it’s complicated’ nebula we know as Facies, the likely focus for all has to do with what you have – or haven’t done well enough. The likely meaning here is that those who have bailed on making an effort will now begin paying some price, while those who have tackled some complex project will begin seeing results – or at least what it will take to get the job well and done.

Of course, since this is Pluto in Capricorn we’re talking about, there will be a few who in having avoided doing their work properly (or doing any work at all) will now realize there’s an avalanche heading their way.

 An avalanche in progress (lower center) on Nuptse in the Himalayas

(photo credit: Iwe Gille, April 2005)

Create, deny, destroy…those Pluto bywords are Pluto bywords for a reason, y’know.

Meanwhile, Mercury is going retrograde exactly conjunct Pollux. And since Pollux is the ‘thoughtful’ Gemini emblem which signifies giving (or giving in) so that the ‘important things’ are preserved, this is just another indication that this is a time of fateful choices…past or present.

But let’s not think all will be easy. Queen of all things unexpected and stunningly provocative, Eris at 22 Aries is in square to Mercury’s station. And with Eris conjunct Pelion (the ‘mountain’ we have yet to climb) things are not easy.

In fact, with fixed stars Arcturus and Spica (the brilliance of leadership) at 24 Libra, there’s something of an implied t-square here…

…one with Mercury’s station point at it’s ‘t’. Since this t-square isn’t formed by full-fledged planets (Eris is a dwarf planet) it may be a bit more subtle than some – unless 23 Cancer coincides with something in your natal chart, that is. But the general ‘object’ here is working past where you are (the Cancer point) to a place where you can be effective in your life. Where your brilliance and stand-out qualities really show.

That would be the Spica (brilliance) and Arcturus (leadership) point of this station. With Eris at it’s starting place it may be easy to be daunted by what it’s going to take to get where you want to go – that being the Pelion part.

Of course the good thing is that once Mercury stations and goes retrograde, we all get a couple of weeks to work behind the scenes and figure out which options will work best.

Considering all…the Nodes being at cross-quarters and Jupiter plus Mercury…? To me that sounds like at least a couple of weeks (and maybe more) of getting a better grasp on things as we recognize what is really (South Node in Taurus) worth going for.

Getting there will require doing a few things we aren’t sure we know how to do yet - that's the North Node in Scorpio part of our challenge. But with Jupiter moving into the sign Mercury's station has us focused on (at least internally) all bodes well providing we’re willing to open our eyes, our mind and our hearts to not just who we are...but who we can become through asking ourselves to take on building a bigger and better world which then can become our life's basis for operation.
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By the Light of a Ceres Full Moon

The Full Moon as photographed by Augusto De Luca in 1980

Maybe you remember the old song ‘…by the light of the silvery moon…’ and suspect that I was humming that as I came to write this blog?

If so, you would be right!

And though I’m not positively certain why such things pop into our minds at any given time, given that this month’s Full Moon (which will occur on June 23rd at a cheery 11:33 a.m. UT/+0 time) is in Capricorn, having something I heard as a child turn up for humming use seems rather apt.

After all, Capricorn always has a sense of the classic, the historical and all which has lasted through the triumphs and trials of time – which goes with its association with Saturn, the astrological time-and-taskmaster which leads to achievement. In this case, the ‘achievement’ has in part been the installing of a song in my head which evidently has lasted plural decades. But probably more to the point, the fact that the song (and the Doris Day movie which honored same) have proved memorable denote a form of ‘quality’ which is endemically Capricorn-Saturn, and thus entirely in keeping with this June Full Moon at 2 Capricorn.

During my 'growing up years' I was very involved with music, where one of the things I liked most was old-fashioned sheet music with all the wonderful illustrations. So since it came up today, I went hunting for 'By the Light of the Silvery Moon' and came up with this - which I thought you'd enjoy seeing.

(original publication date, 1909)

And yet…there is something of an odd juxtaposition here. While Capricorn itself is known as structural sign which encourages (even requires) that we build and engineer an external life which will support and protect our internal life (the image of the polarity sign, Cancer), 2 Capricorn is pretty early in the sign. That points us towards the idea that early degrees in any sign (those in the 0-9 first decanate region) are known for being where the sign manifests through actions and physicality. So considering this is Capricorn we’re talking about, this may be a time when all things Capricorn are in progress in that singularly cardinal manner Nike has forever embraced with the corporate slogan: ‘just do it.’

The head and torso of a statue of the Goddess Nike, she who stands for victory
of human spirit, which is part of the RMS Titanic Engineers' Memorial
in Southampton (photo credit: Marekes, May 2011)

Or maybe you’re gearing up to go out there and ‘just do it.’ Or you’re listening to others who are out there just wailing on whatever they’re involved in as they try to make things happen.

Whether you’re cake baking or sports attending or governmenting or building for your future, you’re doing what you’re doing and then we arrive at this interesting juncture otherwise known as the Full Moon at 2 Capricorn.

The image is this: the Moon – our emblem of feelings and intuition and money and habits and cultural inculcations (and thus the ‘directives’ by which we tend to live) is at 2 Capricorn, a degree known as being a bit tentative. The question is ‘what will work?’ or ‘will this work?’ or ‘am I on the right track?’ or ‘is this going to get me where I want to go?’ or any such reflection. Implied also is how our life is OUR life and how that may mimic or ‘fit’ with society or, then again, it may not.

And if or where it doesn’t, is that bad? Certainly there are some areas of life (regulations, laws, etc.) where we really do need to adhere to the ‘rules.’ And there are abilities which are basic tools in life – learning to read, write, do money-math, cook well enough to feed yourself, all that stuff. But beyond that is the where is fitting in good, and where is being your own person the way to create that ‘special’ niche which is true to you and which is the sign of human leadership?

Another side of 2 Capricorn is a sort of ‘timeliness,’ especially that which asks that we keep up with the times which may now reverberate as having to ‘update’ in some way, shape or form.

Because we don’t see a bouquet of modifiers associated with the Sun or Moon in this moment, we might think this Full Moon is straight-forward or ‘simplistic.’

But is life ever simple? How would it be so interesting if all was simplistic!

So be assured, there are at least a couple of astro-aspect notes worth taking into account!

And thus we get at it, starting with one of my handy-dandy diagrams...

Oh wait...! Before we get to that, we should note that the date of this Full Moon (the 23rd of June) is also the date that the Nodes move onto the cross-quarter degrees in Scorpio and Taurus.

Didn't catch that post? No problem - here's the link:

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The Lunar Nodes at Cross Quarters

Bearing that in mind, the Moon (our feelings of the moment) is in a sign which (as mentioned), is ruled by Saturn. And Saturn is at 4 Scorpio and still retrograde, though 4 Scorpio IS the degree Saturn is going to go direct at come but a couple of weeks from now. So that adds something of an undercurrent. Even a double undercurrent, considering the Nodal signal that our relationship with others and the world is in the mix.

Some of us will now experience moments of self-doubt. And it's probably a good time to check those p’s and q’s to see that all is in line...or when you may find out you forgot to dot some ‘i’ or cross some ‘t’.

(How alphabetical of me, right?)

Since this is a Full Moon we’re talking about here, if the Moon is at 2 Capricorn, that means the Sun is at 2 Cancer. So LIFE (the Sun) is in a place where we know we need to build for the future, but we also have sincere feelings of wanting to cover our vulnerabilities (and any body part you associate with that!).

2 Cancer is a bit of an odd duck degree in that it represents that quality of recognizing everyone’s needs while still wanting to vote only for your own preferences. There’s something of an emotional ‘false front’ which tends to be presented here, suggesting that justifications are easier to be put out there than actual reasons, rationales or personal motivations. And maybe that’s good and proper, maybe that’s selfish or manipulative…it just depends on who is doing what - and why.

So in this natural opposition between the Sun and Moon, it would be natural to question: why are we doing what we’re doing? Why are others saying what they’re saying about what we’re doing? Are they speaking fact and truth – or are they just trying to ‘sell’ some sort of agenda?

To make this all a bit more exotic, we add in four more factors, the first of which is that the Black Moon (societal form of) Lilith is sitting right beside the Sun at 1 Cancer, registering a bit of a ‘threat’ that what you’re doing (or what you want or need to do) may cause some social or relationship waves. And that may be the real crux of what this Full Moon is – life asking you whether you’re willing to do what you need to do to move ahead in your own life or as a person even though that might rock some sort of status quo. For all we know, that might be the ‘status quo’ of what you had thought coming into this time which now simply changes. But yes, it could mean you’re rocking some boat at home or at your office or in your ‘group.’

So why are you doing what you’re doing? Is it willful or is it necessary? Is it leadership or selfishness? Are you willing to move ahead (“modernize”) where someone else isn’t, or are you in some mode where you’re rejecting some evidence of how the world works simply because it doesn’t fit your mold or suit your fancy?
The next thing to think about is the fact that with this Full Moon we get a healthy heaping helping of Jupiter at 29 (critical) degrees of Gemini.

Every time I type ‘critical’ degrees, a little voice in my head says ‘someone is going to go overboard with that word “critical”’ So lest that be the case, let’s remember that critical in the astrological sense only means ‘to the max’ in terms of that sign. If you think of the degrees of any sign as being from 0 to 29, then zero is where the sign begins its ‘work’ (or process) and 29 is where its process culminates or where life pushes really hard to get us to dealing with the matter(s) connected to that sign.

In this case, the sign is Gemini: thought, mentality, communication, mental health, priorities and all those life details and operations which keep the ‘whole’ of life on track and functioning on a day-to-day basis. Gemini is known as the sign of ‘choice’ because we make a choice to deal with things…or to not deal with things. (And for those who think they don’t have to make choices, think again: making no choice IS making a choice – it’s a choice to exert no influence into the process, which is sort of a ‘choice to be helpless’ and let others run your life.)

Jupiter at 29 Gemini is a time of making choices and when choices (or non-choices) become very important for whatever reason. So, in combination with the Full Moon, we may now have plenty of good reasons to pause as something we have ignored may turn up to haunt us. Or maybe something we’ve done thinking we could get away with it…or maybe that ‘this was the way’ to handle something turns out wrong.

Then again, this may be where everything begins paying off. This may be a ‘critical juncture’ where Jupiter as the emblem of ‘expansion’ and learning brings you to where you ‘see the light’ whether at the end of the tunnel or otherwise. It may be where some long period of (Saturn) effort begins paying off.

It all depends on what you’ve been doing with your life of late. And even for the past year or so (which I say because it takes Jupiter just about a year to pass through any given sign).

Factor Three: Mercury is about to go retrograde. And since it’s SOP (standard operating procedure) for life to feel all pressured and flurry-ful just as we close in on Mercury’s station/retrograde point, that heaped atop Jupiter being at 29 ‘critical’ degrees of Gemini (a sign that Mercury rules) says decisions and conversations and having thought through situations and choices is probably of mucho importance just now.

As always, that we refuse to deal with in life gets thrust upon us. If we need to learn something and we don’t want to go there, life will ‘send’ someone to provoke and evoke that dynamic in us – or in our lives. And let’s remember…

…since Gemini is the sign which leads us to the foundational (Nadir or IC) point in the horoscope and the zodiac, that which we are (Aries), that which we seek in order to feel good about ourselves and our lives (Taurus) and that which we do or don’t do, learn or don’t learn (Gemini) is now coming to…well, not a heady turn – that sounds more like the top of the horoscope wheel.

But maybe you’d go for it’s a ‘nitty gritty’ time?

Jupiter tends to overblow and overdo and underestimate the repercussions of things while in Gemini. That goes to the good and goes to the not-so-good.

But once Jupiter crosses over into Cancer, then we have Jupiter in a sign of grace. Or at least grace for many. Those who aren’t moving ahead and aren’t planning and building for the future often experience Cancer as being ‘overwhelmed’ by Cancerian issues. I know one person with Cancer – which is normally the sign of home and family – on their 12th house, a house which asks that we face our fears in this realm. This person is totally overwhelmed by family demands and swamped by the ‘expectations’ that have been heaped upon them about the lifestyle they ‘should’ live and the kind of house they ‘should’ own and all that.

If you’re in position to finish something up and move ahead into a newer more “authentically you” stage of life, this Jupiter at 29 Gemini Full Moon with Mercury about go to into retrograde will like as not be an exciting time of seeing yourself moving towards wonderful new opportunities and a broadening of your vistas. Against that, if or where you’re just knee-jerking yourself along through life (did I put that politely enough?) this will be a nerve-wracking time of personal challenges.

And let’s not forget: it could be both. In one area of life all could be just spiffy and splendiferous while in another everything could be sinking into the floor.

The last and final note here (and here we thought this was just a simple Full Moon, right?) is that Ceres – the symbol of planning how to get from seed to the riches of harvest – is about to enter Leo.

Leo is a sign of visions, of creativity, of taking risks – not all of which always pay off. The Leo Principle includes the idea of competition, and let’s face it – we don’t always win. But that which we love with a Leo fervor, we love with all our heart. It’s what we do or what we’ve created, and whether others love it or not, that which is Leo to us is something we love.

Of course, sometimes we love something just too much. (I know…shocking, isn’t it?) Or sometimes we just get a vision of how things should be or could be and life just doesn’t measure up. This is the big Leo challenge: to understand motivation as motivation and ‘what could be’ as that we’re shooting for, not what reality necessarily is.

So as Ceres enters Leo on June 23rd (as this Full Moon lights our skies) we do need to see what can be, and motivation which leads to planning is decidedly a good thing.

Just let’s not think the road is always smooth. That it isn’t, that sometimes ‘stuff’ happens (as they say…ahem!) and we have to think on the fly or bite our tongue and go with the ‘oops – I didn’t think about that!) also comes with this mix.

If this is a moment when your dreams come true, God bless you! And if this is a moment when you see your way through some sticky life thicket to solutions which may yet be and become, good luck!

 The Moon

(photo credit: Simon Wedege Petersen, April 2009 - color altered for post use)

Like any Full Moon, this one is something of a check point and very much a step in the process. As the Moon reflects the light of the Sun, so we look skyward and reflect on this moment…this life…our hopes for tomorrow...

...and then we move on into a new phase, just as the Moon does.
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