Generation X / Pluto in Libra

 Bacchante by Witold Pruszkowski

 (1855, oil on canvas, Lviv National Art Gallery 

Back in 1971 and 1972, Pluto’s yearly direct-retrograde-direct cha-cha moved it from Virgo into Libra. That means that anyone born between October 5, 1971 and April 16, 1972…

Or between July 30, 1972 and November 5, 1983…

Or between May 18, 1984 and August 27, 1984 are all members of the tribe known as Gen X.

Given that wherever we see Pluto positioned natally we see a huge emphasis pro or con (and sometimes both) in a person’s life, it’s not surprising that those born as Gen X (under Pluto in Libra) are all about the pluses and minuses of All Things Libra. Libra being the sign of 'where cause becomes effect,' Gen X is the generation which brought us ‘branding’ and which has given rise to that wholly ‘let’s talk’ concept commonly known as networking. Both branding and networking have to do with creating an identity which others will know/react to in some given way.

But are they real? Or are they profitable in/at the personal level That becomes the Pluto in Libra question.

Libra is an air sign which in belonging to the zodiac’s 3rd quadrant is all about interaction. ‘The theory of the thing’ and what we bring to the table …to discuss, to negotiate about, to get opinions on, to get reactions through...that’s all entirely Libra.

And yes, people think of Libra as a sign about ‘relationships.' But it may be better thought of as a sign about relating. The whole 3rd quadrant is interactive and its native signs (Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius) are all three signature ‘stages’ in relationships. Libra is the talking and the establishing a basis for communication, alliance, personal comfort (or enmity) with each other. It's the idea of the thing. But it's not until we get to Scorpio that what we generally think about relationships – the sex, the money stuff, the arguments - that may come on line with Libra, but it doesn't get felt or make an emotional impact until one reaches the Scorpio level.

Libra is not deep-in-your-gut emotional. It’s fervent, it’s opinionated, it’s all about having a perspective. Libra is about the appearance of, and presenting a 'product' or  point of view which includes presenting one's self as a product and that which stands for a point of view.

Thus, branding. And thus, since Libra is the idea and not the reality, the nebulous world of networking. Libra doesn't get to and indeed is not highly comfortable with the carnal heat (and possibility of frigid rejection) we associate with Scorpio.

As for Sagittarius (third sign and third stage in this quadrant all about interacting)…Sagittarius relates to relationships by being the land of ‘working on it,’ ‘working it through,’ 'seeing how/if it works' and figuring out whether you need to make course corrections or maybe even just go back to the drawing board.

So when it comes to Pluto in Libra, we're talking about Pluto – a planet which is all about the lure or allure of the thing and which is NOT theoretical in experience (because it’s about the actuality of the transformative experience) being focused through a sign which merely is about the idea.

Hence Gen X's challenges. Gen X people tend to be very devoted to the ideas they believe in and often the ideals they think are right. But then life intervenes with that little Pluto twist.

Did I say LITTLE? That’s so wrong. Just as Pluto natally placed in Libra can spell devotion to the idea, it can also describe the idea which you can’t let go of even when it brings you to your knees.

(And that would be ‘brings you to your knees’ not in a good way!)

Probably more than many other metaphysical symbols, the experience of Plutonic forces cause us to reflect. They're about being in control, not being in control and whether we want to be in control or whether anyone is in control. Pluto experiences tend to be ‘transformative’ in connection to Scorpionic outcomes (read: how well we tolerate risk and how well we choose who to build alliances with and how well we build them)...and in that, Pluto - whether by transit or in the nativity - ends up pointing very directly to the opposition polarity.

Why would this possibly be? That would be because it's our choices of what to get into or what to not get into (and how those choices are based so directly on who we are or aren't with/within our own psyche) which ends up generating our outcomes.

Since it's always easier to look at history, we'll try out the Pluto in Leo/Baby Boomer formula. People born under Pluto in Leo are sometimes called the “Me Generation" - a call name which has everything to do with the Leo focus on developing or using one's native abilities. But Baby Boomer people aren’t really fulfilled and can't succeed until what or who they are gets out there and tied into the big Aquarian world of society and finding one's functional niche - the 'where you are accepted' thing. This glitch with Pluto in Leo is just like the Pluto in Virgo Yuppie challenge in that it begins with the 'doing it in my own back yard' (or mud puddle) and which can't succeed until or unless it works for everybody else.

That's all about the polarity of second quadrant signs where one develops the ability on a local level but then...well, in the case of the Yuppies, all begins in the Pluto in Virgo world of concrete operation, functional methodologies and aims, gains and systemic imperatives and ends up teaching its natives that to succeed in your own right (or life) you have to care about others.

And that means you have to (Pisces as opposition to Virgo) accept them for who they are (part one) and then recognize that you're 'one of them' and that that's the basis of your ultimate power.

Pluto placements show where life will pretty much force us to grow. And what we will need to grow into are the mandates of the zodiac's polarity sign, which with Gen X (Pluto in Libra) points directly at Aries.

This is sort of where it gets interesting however… Pluto in the first six signs of the zodiac operates on the Self and takes that to the worldly or interactive polarity sign. But with Pluto in any of the public signs (Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius or Pisces) what we learn there becomes the force which shapes us.

For plus, for minus, for undecided, for iffy, Pluto in Libra thus describes a generation which experiences the world they live in, the society in which they transact their life as an operational force which molds their being. Their sense of capacity. Even their validity.

And what does that mean? 
 

We tend to think of Libra as the sign about the other. But it isn’t really that. You have Libra somewhere in your natal chart and wherever Libra falls that’s where whatever you do and whatever (whoever) you are CREATES the reaction you get from others.

A friend of mine told me the other day that he’d been talking to a psychologist who imparted a savvy piece of information he was very appreciative of. We never control others – we only control ourselves, the psychologist told him.

And that’s true. Unfortunately since psychology isn’t metaphysical, that statement is only half of the very important (and powerful) truth which Pluto in Libra embodies like nobody's business. So let's try this statement again with its metaphysical compliment (after all, for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction, and that applies to the metaphysics of human operations).

We never control others – we only control ourselves. Therefore to cause a shift in how the world (including others) responds to us, what we have to do is change who we are, what we do, how we do it and who we are doing it with, or for.

That’s the Libra premise…and that’s the secret of Gen X, although there is a bit more to it when you get down to the zodiacal (Libra/Aries) polarity. Where Gen X people recognize that the success or failure of any given effort or venture or conversation or relationship is about who they are being with the Other and whether that Other is indeed their Libra “equal.”

And that implies that you have to pay attention to the old saw 'what we put out comes back to us' as the key and the understanding that who we are is the key to who we will attract and how successful (or unsuccessful) we will be in that process of relating or relationship process. Commonly known in metaphysical circles as ‘like attracts like’ this one simple idea is Pluto in Libra in spades. So where Gen X people ‘do it right’ or addressing their true Libra equals or the right “audience,” they do splendidly providing they are bringing their valid and verifiable Self to the party. But when they just try and fit in, or where they insist on doing it their way instead of the right way…where they are not being true to their Aries concept of Self or where they refuse (Pluto being in Libra) to deal with that Self in all its glorious and vulnerable shades of dark and light, positive and negative, strong and weak - all that - things don’t work quite so well.

Okay…let’s be more exact here...where they ignore the Aries reality of Self, things suck. Pluto in Libra can be the tendency to get walked on and its natives get walked on exactly to the degree that they don't own their Self and thus attract others equally un-invested in their Self. In fact, given a choice, the Pluto in Libra person who has not chosen to own or invest or grapple with their Self will opt to keep company and ally (Libra = alliances) themselves with other people who are equally unrealized, equally lacking in internal alignment and equally likely to melt like chocolate bars under a hot sun rather than choose someone to grow with.

Of course, there are moments in the Pluto in Libra life when these uber-talented natives realize they need mentoring. Or when they recognize that their innate nature makes them someone who is virtually 'made' to play a supporting role to someone else - such as the soldier to their commanding general, the secretary to their boss, the whatever to whomever.

In that case, to the extent that the Pluto in Libra person owns their own identity, they will tend to attract others who own their identity in equal measure. This is an important concept because when Gen X people simply 'give in and give up' that ceding of personal power will only attract an Other who will use that power for them.

Or against them.

And that would be likely...why? That would be likely because Pluto IS the outcome ruler of Scorpio no matter where we see it placed (natally or by transit). And when Scorpio gets into its 'weakness' mode, that invites tyranny.  

Thus the whole swath of Pluto in Libra subjects - the branding to the networking to the wanting to be ‘part of my group’ thing is rife with Gen X challenges. It just  sometimes doesn’t work. And when it doesn't work, or when it's a manifestation of 'checking out' that's a sign of Gen X trouble.

Gen X is all about the development of the Self which is then 'tested' and 'perfected' against an Other. But the dynamic is always Libra/Aries - it's always about the Self. I know Gen X’ers who blatantly don’t do well fitting in, and yet they loathe the whole idea of standing out – a curious quality for a generation all about “names” and celebrity images and molding the image and being as beautiful as possible.

When Pluto moved into (and committed to its transit of) Capricorn back in late 2008, this put a whole lot of pressure on every Gen X’er around. Why? Because Pluto in Capricorn is the square to Pluto in Libra. Every Pluto placement gets to its 'square point' and we happen to (at the moment) be in Gen X's. And while all squares are about balancing and synthesizing our efforts (and/or keeping things in sync) in this case the earthy quality of Capricorn and the fact that Capricorn and Libra are both cardinal signs has made things squirrelly.

Earth plus air equals a challenge to understand the reality of life under any circumstance. And since we’re talking about two cardinal ‘just do it (and exult or take your lumps later)’ signs, this has resulted in many a misstep and shattered psyche. Of course we’ve seen a number of ‘stroke of luck’ cases and right-place-right-time sort of stories.

As Pluto came within orb of fixed star (nebula) Facies back in 2010, things got complicated. For Gen X, this has meant a lot of puzzle pieces…some of which seem to have a mind of their own. For some this meant just a lot of life factors needing juggling. For others, aims and goals became convoluted and difficult to sort through or keep on track.

Here in 2013, Pluto has come within orb of fixed star Vega, signature of charisma. Pluto will actually conjunct Vega starting in 2015, and at that point a lot of Gen X’ers are going to succeed – and some will recognize that what they have been so fervently aimed as is not worth chasing.

And let’s not forget Uranus and Neptune. Uranus ‘flirted’ with moving into Aries during May, June, July and early August of 2010. But it wasn’t until 2011 that Uranus and Neptune shifted signs: Uranus moved into Aries and Neptune entered Pisces. The ‘whole sign’ inconjunct from Neptune to Gen X’s Pluto in Libra plus Uranus opposition from Aries is the signature of many a shakeup which has (and will continue to happen) in the lives of Gen X’ers who are on the wrong track but refusing to change.

And let’s not forget…in transiting Aries, Uranus is saying to the whole of Gen X that they should not be ‘married’ to their perspective. Whatever they learn through others which changes or shapes their lives, it’s likely to produce unusual answers. Odd realizations. A need to find one’s way out of the box.

If there’s a solution for Uranian energy, it’s flexibility. And even that sometimes doesn’t work. In Uranus transiting Aries we have the opposition of Uranus to the natal Pluto of Gen X as a generation.

Maybe the times are changing…maybe they’re not. But in the short and long run Gen X people are going to learn a lot of lessons about individuation, about being an individual and what the balance really is (or should be) between the Self and Other.

The front end of this generation (those born closer to 1971-1972) are nearing 40. That means they’re moving into and through the classic ‘mid life crisis’ transits. At the other end of the tribe, the younger Gen X’ers are just coming out of their first Saturn returns.

One of the many nebula on the edge of Sagittarius as photographed by

WISE - the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer

(photo credit: NASA Caltech, April 2010)

Either way, as they flex, as they accept that some of the standards or ideas or images they have long held dear are not applicable or not possible or plain old not worth the effort, members of the Gen X tribe will be facing now just who they are to-with others, and not just who those others are, but who they are.

This is one of those occasions when I wish I had an astro-Hallmark sympathy card.'

Then again, I don’t have the address of every Gen X’er in the world. So I’ll just say it here: to all you wonderful Gen X folks - my very best wishes for good luck in understanding yourself through others. For the next few years what you do, how you do it, who you do it with and why you do anything is going to be in for an update. And that means people...situations...events...puzzles and quandaries will test your ability to understand the difference between who you really are and what you might think is really 'good' to be. 

By the end of this time, more of you in your generation  will be focused on who they can be instead of how it looks or trying to 'look the part' while working who they're with or whether anyone else cares.

In the end, you who are Gen X are supposed to learn your own worth through the worth of others. The temptation, the 'need' to be 'like' some image or 'pre-approved' notion will sometimes fit...and then again, sometimes it will merely lead you astray until something which seems strange to you wanders across your path, daring you to know who you really are.

The only real question - and the one which Pluto in Libra truly asks - is whether you will be willing to be and become yourself with joy equal to that you have shown in following the 'idea of the thing.' In some measure, in some way, some of your changes will be tough - mostly because you're going to have to dare to be different...which is to say, yourself - that unique person you are.

But if you just try letting go of the ‘what someone else says/thinks is good’ and go the route of living for your Self and who you really are, chances are, you'll like doing and being that...and you'll like yourself better for being the genuine You.

And magically...so will others.

There's a vast difference between the 'like' of pals or social networking and the gut level liking which grows out of respect for who you are. The great and accomplished of your generation are all people who have followed their essence. In being who they were, they have been able to reach out and be heard.

No, transformation isn't easy. Letting go of habits and looking at the truths of who we really are can be downright scary, especially when most of the people you know are busy ignoring the obvious truth of life - that we are who we are.

To be satisfied being who you are while living a Gen X life is to understand that satisfaction lies in purity of Self and finding those who truly correspond with your mind, your spirit and your splendid humor of soul.

The good news is this: once you go there, all becomes obvious...and much, much easier.
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A Shift of Solar Magnetism

This NASA-ESA-SOHO Observatory shows the Sun's magnetic flip already

in process, moving from the Sun's "north" pole down towards it's south pole.

(photo credit: NASA, ESA, SOHO, August 2013)

NASA put out a bulletin the other day on the fact that the Sun’s magnetic polarity is about to reverse.
Here’s a link to the full story in text…

Link to: NASA - Science News for August 5, 2013

…or for those who prefer the visual version, here’s a link to the YouTube version of same.

Link to: NASA Channel - the impending Sun Field Flip

(It's the exact same information, just formatted in one place as text and in the other as a voice-over with pictures.)

Before you get all worried about this, according to NASA and scientists who study such things, this reversal happens about every eleven years. Not that the Sun uses any Earth-made calendar, mind you.

But that general expanse of time – eleven years – is an interesting reference, seeing as Jupiter (the planet which had it been just a smidge bigger would have also been a star) takes 11.86 years to complete one orbit around our Sun.

 The above chart (generated by the Wilcox Solar Observatory) shows the

timing of the Sun's magnetism flips starting in 1976

The chart above is a bit deceptive in that it was evidently run starting with a January 1st date and ending with a December 31st date with each line along the bottom referring to a three year interval. So from this, it’s a little hard to get the exact dates of pole reversals…but in general, considering NASA is telling us that the next field reversal is due in three to four months (call that November-December on our watch), to date – just using the 11 year marker - these reversals would have been  during 1980, 1991, 2002 and 2013.

And just in case you’re wondering (and not inclined to read or watch any of the NASA material) the study of our Sun’s polarity only goes back to 1976 – which in astrological terms grounds this whole study in the Pluto in Libra / Gen X period…a fact I mention seeing as the next couple of posts scheduled here at the blog concern Plutonic generations.

Interesting also is the fact that at the time these solar studies started, Uranus was at the spot Saturn is now – which is in itself an interesting comment on the famous Mayan ‘wheels within wheels’ concept on how everything and every cycle and the workings of time and manifestation…how they’re all seamlessly interlocked.

Just as a preliminary conceptualization here, I looked back to the positions of Jupiter for the years of past flips. (And yes, I’m going to look for exact dates when I get a bit of time.) In 1980, Jupiter was in Virgo and by November moved into Libra. In 1991, Jupiter started out in Leo, and by the end of the Earthly calendar year moved on into Virgo. 2002 had Jupiter starting out in Cancer and ending up in Leo…and for those who get the ‘sign drift’ here, it isn’t surprising to know that 2013 started out with Jupiter in Gemini, a position which has now evolved into Jupiter in Cancer.

This is plainly another form of the ‘counter-spin’ portion of ‘spin/counter-spin’ motion which typifies the functioning of matter at the atomic (particularly electron) level, and personally I wouldn’t be surprised to hear (in time) that there is something about the Jupiter-Sun mass-gravity-magnetism which helps keep our solar system duly organized and functioning as it does.

I’ll also guess – from very far out in the field (granted) that whatever this effect is, it accounts for holding the mass of rubble (important rubble, but rubble nonetheless) which is the asteroid belt where it is. It may even account for why the asteroid belt even exists.

Astrologically, spin-counter spin is all about how the daily rotation of the Earth as an object in space…a space which remains relatively static with regards to motion (taken on a daily basis, give or take the Moon) causes the wheel of the horoscope to appear to rotate.

And as the Earth turns, effectively ‘pushing’ zodiac degrees in a clockwise motion around the horoscope wheel, that is why on any given day the Sun “rises” at the eastern horizon - the Ascendant. And it’s why that turning of the Earth causes planets (which are in motion around the Sun independent of Earth) to appear to over time move in a counter-clockwise motion through the chart.

Spin, counter-spin. Inhale, exhale. Tides flow, tides ebb.

Jupiter’s cycling through this chart seems to speak to yet another form of metaphysical ‘bringing things home’ to us, rather as the Lunar Nodes do. With the nodes being a function of Earth’s own satellite Moon around its planet, it’s not too hard to understand why the nodes tend to picture our ‘world’ – our relationships with others and our relationships with society. That the nodes also cycle backwards has always struck me as a commentary on how what we do to grow (spin) is at least in part ‘responded to’ by life either granting rewards, posing new challenges or bringing about those eventual moments of downfall we tend to call ‘karma.’ That’s the ‘counter-spin.’ We do, we get what we create by doing: cause-effect…what you put out comes back to you…and for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction.

There is no question but that there’s some form of spin-counterspin within each sign plus within each pair of signs – the polarity.

As for the current solar ‘flip,’ this would seem to be an emphasis on our coming either to ‘magnetic zero’ or into balance where we can make changes which have to do in particular with Jupiterian increased understandings of all things Cancer – whether that’s our inner psyche, our personal histories, our culture, our home life, our families…whatever your Cancerian issues are.

It’s another example of the notices we are getting from the solar system (and universe) around us that indeed life is changing. More specifically, our lives are changing and they’re changing – at least in part – by our recognizing who we are. And what our potentials are.

That this news comes out as Jupiter is coming to an exact opposition with Pluto’s position in Capricorn (with Pluto retrograde) speaks to a growth of internal understandings of things and about who we are, and the ‘responding shift’ in our comprehension of who we are able to be or become.

It doesn’t guarantee we’ll do anything about it, no. But the understanding is ‘coming upon us.’

NASA and the scientists at California’s Wilcox Solar Observatory (who are doing this work studying our Sun) say this solar ‘flip’ will occur in the next three to four months – towards the end of 2013. Considering what is happening between now and then, as an astrologer I would nominate a couple of ‘influx’ points as this awareness…or our need to become more aware…is going to come upon us.

Actually, one just started. It would be clocked by the ‘maturing’ of the 13 Capricorn Solar Eclipse which occurred back on January 4, 2011. If this eclipse hit your chart you probably remember it as events which disrupted your life and sense of ‘structure’ during November and December of 2010.

There will be a post on all of these ‘eclipse matters’ coming up at the first of next month, which would be the ‘official’ entering of the ‘breaking down’ period in advance of this November’s Solar Eclipse at 11 Scorpio. In the meantime, if you felt the energy start to fluctuate a couple of days ago (actually just one short day before NASA sent out this missive), this would be the start of a process which will have it’s first big peak at the eclipse (November 3rd) and another whenever it is that the Sun finally completes its process of magnetic reversal.

Yes, it’s already begun. And if you’re feeling like there are areas of your life – especially as that pertains to a new understanding of your mentality or how Gemini mentality works in Jupiter-Cancerian terms, you understand something about the enormity of the push life is giving not just you but ALL of us when it comes to growing past our old limitations, our old definitions and beyond our old boundaries, choices and sense of personal being.

There's a reason why the number '11' has always been known as a 'bridge number.' Astrologically associated with the duration of Jupiter's orbit, eleven is all about 'bridging' the gap between what we know now and what we will understand come tomorrow.

It's about our relationship between today and all those tomorrows, just as Saturn is always and eternally about what we've built, what we've already earned and the challenge to own the responsibility we have to be who we are. Known widely as Jupiter's 'partner' in the rise and fall of societies, the Jupiter-Saturn process is that of growth and restabilization, of letting go of what doesn't work so that we can grow and how (unfortunately) so many of us restrict ourselves - and thus our ability to grow - through fear, through grief, through a refusal to deal with things on the level of Saturn reality, preferring Jupiter's hugeness of scope as our panacea for dealing with that reality.  

After we enter the ‘eclipse zone’ on September 3rd will come Pluto’s September 20th station. The current Jupiter-Pluto opposition is difficult to handle; we’re all currently growing at a rate which is almost beyond our ability to handle…process…make good on.

Right now it’s internal. But once Pluto goes direct on September 20th, we can either use what we’re learning – putting our growth to work by investing in real time, real life, real ‘terms of engagement’ which grow our life, our structures, our goals, our worldly vision and the idea of who we are in this life (who others think of us as).

This is a test. On one end of the test is what we’re comfortable being…on the other is a testing maturation of our willingness to be more of who we really are, regardless of what that means.

It’s sort of like ‘coming out’ - to ourselves, yes.

November 3rd is the actual solar eclipse. And just for the record (since we're having this conversation), this eclipse is going to be colored by Saturn, which is currently in Scorpio. So as usual, we will encounter all the 'memorable shifts’ having to do with the eclipse process prior to the eclipse itself. And a lot of us are going to make huge and hard efforts while others of us are going to wall ourselves off. (You may have already noticed this in various combinations as people, companies and nations instinctively get into this eclipse-Saturn mode).

With this period being marked as it is, it’s probable that we can expect the between-now-and-November period to be one which beats the band. The temptation (as always) is to project. To think that someone else is in charge of what becomes of us or to try to ‘protect’ ourselves from those who are different who in actuality we have drawn into our world because we need to understand that sort of ‘difference’ in ourselves.

And yes, our ability to live differently and to think about things differently and maybe even to make a different difference.

Successful relationships – whether that’s between ourselves and others, ourselves and our world or our Self and our life or our jobs or our finances - it all has to do with owning our own ‘stuff’ and using that process, inclusive of all which it attracts to us, as a means for personal growth. The most powerful and long-lasting of relationships and experiences are always interactive, and that particular quality is being emphasized this year by the Cancer/Capricorn (Jupiter/Pluto) opposition.

Our Changing Sun (photo credit: NASA)

With that said, given the current Taurus/Scorpio solar eclipse series, life is also particularly trying. The Taurus-Scorpio polarity is always about needing to accept risks on an interactive level which force us to look at ourselves.

Again, it’s not about others…it’s about who others make us feel ourselves being. Or not being. The flip of the Sun’s magnetic axis would seem to indicate that we are in for a ‘flip’ in life (Sun) directions. And since this is the Sun we’re talking about, it’s hardly a matter of total choice. Since the Sun is obviously part of the solar eclipse image, we are being slowly but steadily ‘unmasked’ not so that we can hurt or have hard times, but so that we can let go of things which aren’t working for us so that we can hopefully grow into a new and sunnier and more potently powerful auric skin.
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Mercury in Leo

Center of the Trifide Nebula

(photo credit: Hubble Space Telescope - NASA, Martin Pugh, Robert Gendler, January 2013)

Sometimes life’s parade of astrological sign posts reminds me of a stack. One after another, points enter or take station or become entangled in complicated metaphysical energy ‘pictures’ which emphasize a given sign.

That reminds me of a stack. It’s as if more and more ‘weight’ is being place in that quadrant of life. Or being put on the need to consider certain factors in the process of everyday doings.

At the moment, Leo seems to be center stage (a fact every Leo reading this probably responds to with either a hearty “of course!” or “it’s about time!”). We just had a Leo New Moon, we’re in our yearly solar month of Leo, dwarf planet Huya just went direct in Leo, Ceres and Vesta are in Leo…

…it’s just a Leo moment – into which comes Mercury, which will be entering Leo on August 8th at 12:14 in the afternoon, UT/+0 time. 

Considering Juno (which is conjunct Vaticana) is in opposition to Ceres as Mercury leaps in to join the Leo party, it’s already established that what is planned - or the planning out of a process with an eye to what it’s going to take (“cost”) to protecting not just our interests but everyone’s interests is important to whatever success or goal we’re aiming at during the next two weeks or so while Mercury zips through this Sun-ruled fixed and ‘high light’ sign.

Note please – I said high light…not highlighting, as in ‘focusing on one thing so as to get a response.’ High light, which here is that Leo quality of being drenched in an overall brightness – perhaps to the point of glare… that’s part and parcel of the total Leo quality. My Leo clients (and friends) are constantly confused by how ‘strong’ their simplest act or statement seems to be taken as.

It just is. Every sign has a relationship to ‘light’ (or visibility, if you prefer) and Leo’s tends to be stark and bluntly visible – sometimes to the point of discomfort (even to the Leo person!)…all of which has application now as Mercury moves into Leo.

Mercury in Leo can be a thoroughly creative, expansive and enjoyable time. It’s a combination which lends itself well to discoveries – whether that has to do with who we are, what we are capable of, or who others think we are (and what about us they think is of worth). As with all things Leo, the gap between our ‘hopes and dreams’ for the situation and the reality of life’s outcomes are the biggest challenge and problem – a quality which is reflective of Leo being a fire sign.

The vision, the glory, the beauty of all we hope for and dream of in our ‘Leo state’…whether it’s our hopes for the future, our ‘vision’ of what something or someone or some relationship or job is going to become (or lead to)…all those are life’s cosmic way of getting us to TRY.

And that’s all about Leo’s quality – it’s modality – as a fixed sign. It’s almost as if life tries to ‘lure’ us or assuage us with those hopeful images of happiness so that we’ll take on the task.

But then comes the reality of it.

The distance between the reality and the dream is Leo’s big stumbling block. It’s also a lesson in how (and why) dreams should be our motivation, not our measure of success. There are plenty of things which don’t turn out the way we expected they would which are just fine – even pretty fabulous! - if we just stop referencing that storybook plan we have in our head. Or soul.

Or wherever else you’re keeping it.

(Yes, we have expectations for all THOSE things too!)

And we shouldn’t think that Leo is just about us. Have you ever been in a situation where you suspected or out-and-out ‘knew’ that someone just had these high hopes for you, this image of you as perfect – and you knew you weren’t perfect? Parents often have this one for their children. And long do many of us labor under those parental expectations. Maybe they think we’ll be successful (in terms they define as success). Or maybe they expect us to grow up, get married and have kids – and we’re just not the settling down to have kids kind of person.

Leo represents the ‘dating’ period in all things, from relationships to our relationship to who we are and what we may yet become. And who hasn’t had some date (or envisioned some date) where they thought their Prince-or-Princess Charming was going to be ‘all that’ only to find out they’re regular mortal people who just might come down with the stomach flu?

Or who – in spite of looking good – might turn out to be a case of emotional stomach flu you catch and which thereafter gives you a really hard time in the…uh…end?

Venus in Mirrors by Nevit Dilmen (1999), which in this situation (Mercury entering Leo)

we are taking to be the 'reflection' of ourselves which may or may not be what we 

 want it to be...or what it really is.

Leo visions are meant to get us over the ‘hump’ of diving in…but they’re not so perfect as a lifestyle. Reality is the lifestyle and continuing to work towards improving our life is the Leo way of doing things.

Motivate. Be motivated. Work with what you have to make your world – and thus your life - a little better. These are all part of the Leo spirit of optimization.

So as Mercury enters Leo on August 8th at 12:14 p.m. (UT/+0 time) it will begin ‘evidencing’ more new facets of the Leo New Moon cycle which begins on August 6th (as this post it’s the digital airwaves) and which in having a full phase in late Aquarius (on August 21st) stresses not just our ability to make our way in the world but our ability to develop what we are in real time and on an everyday basis so that our functionality…our being is ever more of a contribution to life, to others, to this world.

To get there, considering the ongoing and sigh-worthy grand trine in water, we’re going to have to ‘agree’ to feel our feelings about all those things we don’t really want to have to confront – most of all in ourselves.

Like, ouch. Like…do I HAVE to?

(Answer: yes, we ALL have to!)

If you’ve been attending this ongoing evocative epic known as the Water Grand Trine, you know it began in early degrees with Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune – all of which are full-fledged planets. That one fact tells us that this is not nuance we’re going through – this is a ‘real deal’ evolutionary moment which is one part things we can’t quite define and certainly don’t control (Neptune) and two parts things we not only can work on but should work on (Jupiter and Saturn), both of which have personal and worldly sides.

In other words, life is now not just about what you’re doing and doing it well (and having a ‘vision’ for where you’re going) but facing the reality that who you are surrounding yourself with (or not surrounding yourself with) has everything to do with your success…or failure…or ultimate viability in your own life. Some of us will comprehend this. And some of those people will actually do something about it, switching things up so that their world is aligned with where they are going and what they are capable of becoming (you know, that ‘visionary Self’ or ‘vision of Self’?) as opposed to what they’re used to. Or what’s easy, comfy and – yes – accepted/acceptable to others.

This last gets to a big Leo focus: though what we are should be acceptable (grandiose-ness under Leo anything tends to get us knocked on our keester) but who we are should be unique. One of Leo’s big lessons is that people will not just accept you, they’ll admire you and be attracted to you if you accept the brilliance of potentiality which you have in your life.

We all have some…it’s just that many of us are terribly shy about accessing and ‘owning’ it at a manifested, incarnated level.

As the grand trine has now become two grand trines (Saturn-Neptune-Black Moon Lilith and Jupiter/Pallas-Chiron-North Node/Deucalion) our emotional drama deepens…thickens…becomes more universal, multi-lateral and potentially potent. we are asked to not just understand but accept and think through (Jupiter/Pallas) how what we really need to be (Chiron) isn’t (North Node/Deucalion) easy or necessarily comfortable.

 Call it a 'twist' on where we started into this process back in June-July...or just call it twisted. Or how you feel like you or your life is being twisted. But it is what we need to be and what we need to do… whatever strange (Chirotic) road that may lead us along… that’s what we need to do even though we feel all those tugs of (Saturn in Scorpio) fear about what we might be (Saturn-Neptune in Scorpio-and-Pisces) risking… and how others (Black Moon Lilith) might not like it or approve.

We need to be who we are. Despite what things ‘look like’ we need to rise above our own (Deucalion) trepidation to doing the thing which is spectacularly and righteously honest.

We need to accept our (Neptune in Pisces) Self, replete with glitches, fears and how all of life doesn’t match that dream (or dreamy) Leo image.

Part of why we have issues with Leo is because Leo is at the heart of what we might call the ‘individuation’ process. Leo asks that we use the achievements of others to realize that it does take investment of time, effort and dedication to get anywhere worthwhile… and that there are no ‘guarantees of success’ in this life. ‘Looking’ like a success or ‘fitting into an image’ (physical, financial, emotional or otherwise) is highly tempting in the Leo realm, and it’s highly tempted to think – especially during this August 8-23 Mercury-in-Leo passage that the ‘shiny’ appearance a.) means someone is shiny through and through…and b.) has any connection to viability. Plenty of people go around this world putting up a front or adopting a ‘look’ or working to ‘be’ this or ‘join’ that with the fervent (and very Leo) hope that by wearing the mask they will become the real deal.

This would be a time when many will try to do that. Mercury in Leo prompts such actions. It also can unmask them – or at least the impracticality or lack of real quality which prompts us to hold onto such things.

So as much as Mercury in Leo can be a fun time, it can also be a time of sobering revelations.

It can even be a time when we realize how much more potent our life stands become if we stop trying to be – or run (or hide) from others – and own up to the fact that the images or expectations others may have projected on us for their own Leo reasons (or which we may have projected for ourselves for our OWN) Leo reasons simply aren’t rational.

Or factual.

And how that’s probably not just okay, but the door to greater accomplishment… and personal happiness.
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