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Sunday, May 25, 2014

Blogpost (May 26 - June 1): Mercury, Venus and a Gemini New Moon


(photo credit) The solar eclipse of August 1, 2008 as photographed from
Helsinki, Finland by Jonas Holmstrom

When the subject Mercury retrograde came up in the last post (on the Sun entering Gemini), I’m sure more than a few people inhaled with more than the standard amount of input. 

(They gasped, in other words.)

How could I possibly be celebrating the end of Mars retrograde and discussing the seemingly unending pressures we’ve been through since....well, since last December (when Venus went retrograde)? How could anyone possibly be suggesting that it was any sort of ‘good thing’ to experience yet another period of retrograde - in particular one where the planet in question (Mercury) is so obviously (not to mention notoriously) associated with the sign (Gemini) the Sun is moving through now, and for the next several weeks?

Really? Is this a positive?

Astrologically, yes - provided we are willing to (theoretically) deal with not only what we’re thinking (or what’s going on in our heads) but why we’re thinking it.

Plus there is that other fact: as irritating as Mercury retrograde can be, such transit periods (Mercury retrograde lasts 21 days, give or take a planetary nonce) are defined as a time when we catch up with ourselves or some factor or facet of life. We of Planet Earth get three-to-four Mercury retrogrades a year... year in and year out..and while they are associated with a slowing in the rate or pace of things, we obviously weather them quite well.

However...there are some caveats which come with any Mercury retrograde - especially with the Sun in Gemini, the more ‘basic’ and ‘personal’ of Mercury’s two signs of rulership and the one which has entirely to do with us and how we think...what we think, why we choose to think one thing and not another - and all that goes into being informed, conducting the everyday activity (business) of life through which we learn so much... choosing the ‘what,’ figuring out the ‘how’ - all in light of understanding the ‘why’ is the nuts and bolts of Gemini.

The net of all this is that life is continuing to ‘bend’ our thoughts inward. Whatever Gemini is and whatever Mercury (in ruling Gemini) retrograde brings, we will like as not utilize the natural Gemini duality to deal with whatever needs dealing with on an external basis, yes. But at the same time we will be having some sort of internal ‘conversation’ (or period of intermittent reflection) which is less about the immediate details of life and more about life itself - and what we think about life, and our own place in that life replete with why we are who we are and what we think of that.

Yes, the eclipse is still with us. That’s the handwriting on the proverbial mental wall - the important part of which to note is that it’s OUR wall. It’s in OUR head.

What we are perplexed, convexed or convoluted by at this time is at least as much about what we see than our own thinking, seeing as its our reaction we will experience, think through and respond to. Our times and the energetics thereof are evidently ‘supposed’ to be milky...or maybe in part ‘veiled’ at the moment - that much we were put on astro-notice about back in late April when just in advance of the solar eclipse the relative positions and speeds of Earth and Neptune brought on a case of energetic fogginess as big blue Neptune took up what may seem like virtual residence at 7 Pisces.

Planet Neptune (photo credit NASA, JPL)


Setting aside the idea that people who have Mercury retrograde in their natal charts seem to mind our yearly retrogrades far less than those with Mercury direct in their natal chart (much to their added chagrin, no doubt) Mercury retrograde is about ‘slowing down in order to catch up,’ which seems perfectly reasonable (on an astrological level) after Mars’ lengthy retrograde in Libra has brought so many of us either to where we need to experience what or why who we are “doesn’t work” (particularly in the greater spectrum of our ‘outside’ life)...or to the point where we are willing to consider where or why whatever our approach is to ‘being’ in this world - replete with whatever it is we do - why that is, or isn’t working, is or isn’t being received well or is/isn’t earning us the ‘reward’ we were hoping for.

 With Mars having now gone direct, we can see the issue(s) and we sense the ‘scope’ of what’s ‘out there.’ Possibilities abound - but which ones are important, and what precisely does ‘important’ mean to our personal evaluation of [Gemini] priority?

 As to this week in particular, the odd bombardment of ‘global/globalized’ input we’ve been going through is likely to settle out a bit as the Eta Aquarid meteor shower ends on May 28th, prior to which we will all be hearing much about...and astrologically, experiencing effects associated with a ‘new’ meteor shower Earth has apparently been moving/moved through.

Putting aside the idea that no comet we’re likely to see is actually ‘new’ (only ‘new to us’) the ‘appearance’ of a new-to-us meteor shower does raise the specter of this as a time when new ideas or ways of handling things in light of what we learn is apt.

 However...just in observation...considering where the comet involved here (209P/LINEAR) hails from, we have some reason to be thoughtful.

 And from whence does it come, you ask?

 Answer: just north of Cassiopeia and therefore Schedir, one of the two stars eclipsed by the April 29th solar eclipse at 8 Taurus.
 Constellations Camelopardalis (the source of the 'new' meteor shower) and below at
right, Cassiopeia - home of fixed star Schedir (alt. spelling: Shedir). Our current pole
star Polaris can be seen in the upper right hand corner.
(image generated by Stellarium)
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That suggests that there is yet more which will yet surface which somehow connects back to whatever level the April solar eclipse is working on in each of our lives.
- links to posts on April's Solar Eclipse at 8 Taurus -




 As far as this astrologer knows (which isn’t very far on some days, granted) 209P/LINEAR has not yet been studied extensively by astrologers. But from what we do know - it’s proximity to Cassiopeia and how said proximity puts the alleged radiant point (read: source) of this comet more to the north...between constellation Cassiopeia and Earth’s current fabled “guiding light” (pole star) Polaris...that suggests LINEAR and any meteor shower associated with it may bring out a need or propensity for cooler/logical thinking/communications, and how that pertains to our own ability or choice to focus on our own capacity for [Polaris] temporal leadership - which is to say the ability to be self-determinative (at any level) in our own life and/or affairs.

 (Evidently I have nothing to say on the subject...you can tell.)

 In any case, LINEAR effects will have been at their peak over May 24-25 and the Eta Aquarids (along with their ability to ‘spark’ social or societal matters) will end as on May 28th at 6:41 in the evening (UT/+0) time a New Moon occurs at 7 Gemini, a degree which speaks to avoidance of various mental types necessary or optional, initiating a round of experiences and contemplations on the many ways mentality operates - or maybe doesn’t operate so well, whether that’s for reasons physical or preferential regardless of right or wrong...with most everything coming back to one rather bothersome question: can we be “bothered”?

However you take it, that would seem to be a major question for much we will undertake...or decide against this coming (lunar) month - and in a rather personal way, what with Mercury going retrograde.

 With the Sun and Mercury already in Gemini and Mars (as you may well remember) that’s four major markers in air: much discussion, much postulating and posturing, much theorizing, conversing, reading, reading up on and reading into things. Manipulation of facts, general confusion and misconnections or misstatements are likely to abound, and while some are likely to be innocent enough (or even funny) June will see a lot of people using emphasis to sound like passion (which its not) which may be of no importance, but can be air sign ‘noise’ being used for its own purpose.

 Sometimes people just need to make noise because they need to. It’s a peculiar form of personal expression, one might say - but at some level, isn’t all expression particular. Or shouldn’t it be?

 Once we arrive at the 29th, two things happen: Mercury moves into Cancer, evidencing as a bit of calm...or perhaps pensiveness -  and Venus moves into Taurus, a positive which in enhancing our feeling comfortable in our own skin helps us get along with others and achieve our chosen aims. Whatever is in the works at this time may conclude in short order (in which case Mercury retrograde will be a preparing to move on to a ‘next step’)...or our aims may take a good amount of time to work to or through in reflection of Mercury’s impending turn to retrograde on June 7th with the station/direct not due to occur until July 1st.

 In theory, this can speak to calmer waters and a greater sense of personal peace for many of us, though there will be many who will spend June  struggling (pondering?) about things which have been ‘eclipsed’ but which they can’t seem to let go of.

 Why do they seem so important? What is it about us that such things appeal to and where does that come from in our life?

 As Mercury moves into Cancer as of 9:13 in the morning (UT/+0) on May 29th, we will in begin moving past our discussions of why something matters (and feeling aggrieved that others don’t see things as we do into a week which softens our theoretical focus through feelings or feeling situations which force us to consider what we do...or don’t understand about what means what to us and our world and how to get on track (or back on track) with the right people either so that we have someone to relate to (talk to, work on our problems with) or so that we lower the level of mental icon-ization - the tendency to think in abstract and leave out the people/reality part - which has been at the center of our recent [Mars retrograde in Libra] polarizations.

 Gemini is always about seeking to learn about the Self, whether we do so politely, aggressively, on our own or as part of (or in coordination with) some group, cause, collective, organization, or methodology. And so long as the Sun remains in Gemini, we will remain conscious of our [Gemini] search for understanding and better comprehension, seeking better options in the moment with which to move forward, whether or not they lead to our 'goal.' To those who think all things happen for a reason and that knowledge is power in that comprehension helps us make better choices (the polarization, success and ultimate lesson/s of which are astrologically delineated by Sagittarian application)...then we will be tolerant of all and whomever promotes whatever testing or testiness we encounter. There are those who will refuse to choose... or who will choose to simply take some time to think, explore and contemplate - all of which may well be apropos, remembering that we are approaching the Mercury station/retrograde point and how traditionally the best solution during this time involves not 'pushing' to get something done while not avoiding, delaying or otherwise postponing that which naturally comes to a head or falls into place during these days. Whoever we are and whatever we are doing, we will all face a few moments of decision, determination and  self-determination - which may involve some earth-shaking big decision or may just be about how to deal with daily chores.

That Venus is moving into Taurus signals not just a comfort in our own skin but the desire to be comfortable in that skin or in life as a whole...which after several weeks of [Venus in Aries] ill-feeling, 'bad fit' moments is totally understandable. Whatever has had us waxing evocative about things (or others) is not just what it is 'in its own right' but also how life gets us to notice where we aren't yet [Venus] comfortably productive [Taurus] in being/not being...or how we are (or have) invested in our self-worth department.

About now, a few questions are coming to light. They're what they are to be sure...and yet with Mars still sitting at 9 Libra until June 1st, we are still - and just now - reaching the point where inner and outer life factors are coming into balance. For you that may involve who you are. For others it may involve what they do. Some of what occurs will clearly exhibit the classic Libra ability to 'relate' or tie 'cause' to 'effect,' offering insights and overarching understandings. Some situations will call upon us to look at what we're doing and how that creates, or can create (influence, affect) what we're learning about from others through what they do or how life 'becomes' what it is that we are then left to live through, with and sometimes for - or even in spite of.

From the first century, the 'Ceres of Mérida'
(photo credit Oscar Marin Repoller, December 2010)

New Moons are always about a new 'round' of activity and this one, in being in Gemini speaks to some new thought, understanding or determination. Ideas speak loudly, yet provide no guarantees - only opportunities to increase our knowledge, better our perspective, and from that move forward.

The impending Mercury retrograde tells us nothing will be 'concluded' quickly. But then, apparently we need to take some time. In moving past (Thursday) May 29th towards the weekend a triad of objects (Ceres, Achilles and Nessus) going on station suggests a willingness to consider new [Ceres] plans...and probably how there will be a need to do just that. Skill [Achilles] is implied here, as is a rather 'sideways' notification that there is some sort of [Pisces] acceptance (perhaps resignation) that we need to do or face 'this' again [Nessus].

And as soon as we get that far, something else will need attending to - which no, we probably won't like. Of the many things Mercury in Cancer can represent (affectionate conversations, a trip through memory lane, a review of traditions, a relaxing into that comfortably private zone of thought where free of input and removed from temporal judgement we free ourselves to roam an inner mindscape...) it can also represent verbal haste and the sort of fractious energies which often manifest as touchiness, impatience, nagging and sniping. With the Cancer-Capricorn polarity always referencing who we are and where we come from in life (culture, land/home, nationality, family, personal history, etc.) though we may feel like we're frustrated with others, it's far more likely that we are 'venting' or projecting our own inner confusion or impatience with those many, many things in life which aren't precisely 'ours' to deal with...

...and yet which are ours to deal with (responsibly) just because we exist in this world.

Ceres going direct in Libra and in advance of Mercury's retrograde asks us to check our plans. It suggests we may need a new plan - or at least some [Achilles] sharpening of our point, some cutting away of unneeded or less-than-necessary frills with regards to the old one.

Do we know how to do that yet? Some of us do, some of us don't - which given the combination of Ceres (an influence which plans in order to protect and provide for supportive conditions down the line) and Mars' last day at 9 Libra at the end of our week asks us how willing we are to tolerate working through current events and/or much which we may not like, want or see as optimal...but which we (and others) understand as the path to a final outcome which in the end will probably be worth it.

Or at least that's the (Gemini) theory.
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Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Blogpost May 20-25: Sun in Gemini / Mercury into Shadow


A NASA 'jigsaw puzzle' of the Sun worked
by yours truly for today's blog.
(image credit: NASA)
 
When it comes to putting a jigsaw puzzle together, there are all sorts of ways of approaching the problem. Some people separate all the colors. Others work with just edge pieces and work to ‘frame in’ the rest of the puzzle.

This difference in approach is just like Gemini - as is the fact that wherever we meet up with the zodiac sign Gemini we encounter the ability...and often the need or requirement...to consider more than one thing.

And ‘considering’ is the word to be thinking in terms of here as Gemini is the first of the air signs, and thus all about the process of learning how to think about things...starting with thinking - a construct which leads to the inimitable Gemini habit of getting the idea then thinking about the idea (and exploring what that means as a concept) before moving on to the next thing.

All air signs work in the airy realm of thoughts, plans and choices, which makes Sun in Gemini a month of learning about how to think about things and  experiencing any manner of process, relationship, challenge or option which will get us to consider where we’re going, why we’re going ‘there’ and what that means. At one end of the behavior spectrum here is the studious, intrigued and challenging - and at the other is the careless, carefree or not caring to make the choice to care.

Often represented by fixed stars Castor and Pollux (the famous ‘Gemini twins’) the myth of Gemini has to do with taking two things - often disparate things - and figuring out (1.) how they can live in the same space...or (2.) whether one should be discarded for the other...or possibly (3.) how to find a ‘middle road’ which will either “split the difference,” avoid polarities or fit both ideas into some greater construct.


Known astrologically as a sign which operates in  a ‘mutable’ (changing, learning as it goes) sort of activity mode, the weeks ahead of Sun Gemini will find us following developments and developing new ideas to follow. All four mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) display this ‘tacking from one point to the next’ or ‘connecting the dots’ sort of activity mode, with Gemini as the airy, conceptual, verbal, thought-or-concept-driven theoretical version of mutable energy being/manifesting as the ‘origin of the idea’ (our mental faculties) as sincerely as it describes our process of thought, learning, priority, organization and choice.

Either end of any Gemini spectrum can be equally productive or unproductive - which brings us back to the jigsaw puzzle as the one place all people, things and situations Gemini seem to trip over is in needing to remember that if the object is to assemble the puzzle, though we may have fun with all our sorting, separating and ‘getting into’ any given ‘piece’ of our ‘puzzle,’ in the end the puzzle needs to get assembled.

It’s sort of like the zodiacal glyph for Gemini...


Gemini is not about ideas or situations in isolation any more than our thoughts exist as something apart from life. It’s all bound together. So we can hold to either polarity or choose a path between - with the much of our particular or personal basket of ‘habits’ coming (in human growth terms, whether we consider this using psychology or astrology) from ages five to seven-and-half, a period during which as children we learn we really exist because at some level we realize we have our own thoughts.

That process involves a natural ‘shedding’ of our early childlike ‘magical’ world ‘as’ or ‘because’ we begin to recognize reality as reality: from the duality we arrive at how we choose to think...

...which yes, in the case of some is how they either don’t ‘choose’ to think through but still adopt (the Gemini duality as a ‘multiple’ and thus one-among-others), or the ‘idea’ of what one must live with (one polarity) which one accepts while having their ‘other’ life - which may be as simple as ‘yes, I have to go to work/school but the REAL me is the person I am at home,’ or any other ‘divide’ between the voluntary versus ‘requirement’ side of life.

Whatever is going on, under Sun in Gemini it brings learning - and how we receive that learning reflects our relationship to learning (which in more astrological terms would be the relationship defined by our natal third house (the sign on the cusp, the ruler of that sign’s condition and any planets posited within the 3rd house)...as well as wherever Gemini falls in the horoscope. The third house is always ‘Gemini-like’ in that it refers to mental-and-mentality sorts of processes where Gemini the sign refers to what we do with or because of our mentality.

So we’re in for a conscious and think-ful sort of month. During Sun in Gemini we should expect or at least not be surprised to have things bring new ideas to light, replete with all the reflecting (or investigating) we might feel compelled to do on such ideas. Yes, the duality of Gemini is likely to promote many a moment of ‘if it wasn’t for Them, I wouldn’t have to take my time doing this’ but the interest which sparks our mental attention isn’t theirs, but ours.

So is our feeling we need to become informed really ‘their fault’? It is if we think our thoughts should drive the whole of this world...but considering our individual incarnation as but one person in a well-populated Existence, while it is easy (and sometimes a Gemini ‘rut’ easily tumbled into) to cling to a known instead of considering an alternative or different perspective, method or ‘ordering’ (arrangement) of goals, ideas, priorities...(etcetera)....whenever we do simply ‘hold’ to one mental position we are automatically defining what there is remains for us to learn.

Why we aren’t learning - or at least open to learning in theory...that’s a whole other very Gemini question. Most often we think it’s because ‘they don’t know.’

More often, we’re afraid to know. There is no compunction under Gemini to do anything other than know, so why we can not or choose not to know isn’t about ‘them’ or what ‘their dictates.’ It’s about the expanse, expansiveness or lack of same within our own Gemini and mercurial realm.

Speaking of which, have you heard that Mercury (ruler of Gemini) is soon to go retrograde?

I’m sorry...I know, it’s a bit much. Or at least it seems like a bit much until you consider the following - a page scanned out of my personal copy of The American Ephemeris for the 21st Century (2001-2050) at Noon:



published by: ACS PUBLICATIONS, San Diego, CA
Note: all times calculated for UT/+0 /(Fair use reproduction only)

Generated though the above may look at first simply like a sea of numbers, those numbers reflect the general ‘tenor’ or tone of things throughout the month of June, starting back with the simplest of all things - astrological decanate theory. You’ve heard it here at the blog so very often: the first ten degrees...degrees 0-9 of any sign (key word: any) manifest through actions and physicality. The second ten degrees (10-19) of any sign manifest as the sign’s connection or embodiment of emotionality (which with air signs is generally expressed by the ‘tone’ of any communication, however it happens). The third ten degrees (degrees 20-29) of any sign manifest either as our experience of/exposure to group/social doings or our response to same....

(...which theoretically would take us back to doing something and the personal experience of life, which is a first decanate matter.)

All of astrology - like all of life - is about cycles, and Gemini is where (among other things) we think about how cycles (plans?) have turned out - and what we’ve learned - or about what new experiences are out there to sample. In the end, what we should focus on (or do) next?

We sometimes try to do it all (hence the Gemini reputation for multi-tasking) but that doesn’t always work. And when we apply all this to the ephemeris page above, what we see is that (reading horizontally) the most ‘social-public-experiential’ part of the month is between May 14th and 20th - or if you stretch it, the 24th, with the most ‘intense’ or focused attentions surfacing from May 7th through the 14th/15th (if that)...plus how all of this is happening under Mercury retrograde.


Mercury rules Gemini, which means ALL of this activity is not about ‘out there’ matters or ‘the world’ or ‘life as a whole’ but rather about our thoughts. Our perspectives. Our ability or willingness to understand ourselves or perhaps be open to conversations with others.

Again, it’s not them, it’s the ‘idea’ which counts under Gemini. Mercury retrograde or not, the Sun passing through Gemini is going to call attention to our mentality, mentality as a whole and the idea of ideas... amalgamated, how they come to be, separately, as something people totally hold to or couldn’t care less about - it’s all up for contemplation.

Some won’t want to and will need to think about things. Some of us won’t need to think so much about things but may end up thinking about why that would be.

It’s just a think-ish sort of time, which is as it should be in theoretical (air sign) terms as Gemini is all about remaining ever curious while also sufficiently self-aware to know our perspective from that of others.

The Mercury retrograde as a specific is a conversation for another day yet to come. But the fact that as Mercury goes on station on June 3rd as Venus rolls over 8 Taurus (the degree of the April solar eclipse) suggests a number of realizations, results, costs, rewards and responses which still coming out of the recent eclipse.




Also...with regards to my comments on the Mars Direct post of May 17, if you will look down the Mars column you will see the pace at which Mars is moving through degrees slowing picking up.

Mars generally spends just over 2.5 days in a sign. By June’s end the Mars/Earth perspective will be such that we’ll be close to back to that rate and life will feel commensurately ‘available.’

The culmination of that ‘tale’ happens under Sun in Cancer, which is getting a bit ahead of ourselves here - which is like as not what we may want to do. This “slow” Mars against Mercury (ruler of Gemini) in retrograde with the Sun in Gemini may spell frustration and is highly likely to see some plans and efforts moving forward at a speed worthy of land speed records, musical glissandos and Doppler effects.

 It is also likely to leave a bunch of people gaping with that gape representing the ‘mismatch’ of [Mercury] thinking/thought energy and [Mars] output/s, courage, need or aim.

Through what we learn or come to think (and therefore choose) because of what we experience or come to understand we will choose - and for reasons we can’t know going in, some of us will end up being sent back to our (Gemini) mental drawing board somewhere along the way.

Sometimes we need to understand why things don’t work or won’t work any more as well. Learning something new (or learning anew) is mainline Gemini - as is living with that which seemingly remains in conflict...as is compartmentalized thinking.

This year the Sun enters Gemini on May 21st at three o’clock in the morning UT/+0 zone. With Mercury already transiting Gemini and Mars still in Libra, that’s a lot of airy energy which will work wherever we are working through or ‘because of’ an idea. So if you have a list of errands and chores the list is likely to be the thing which is bothering you (“I have to get to that to-do list...”) and if there are multiple steps to some process you’ll be figuring out what has to be done when - and loving or hating that process for your own personal air sign reasons.

In nature, turbulent air is wind. In conversation, turbulent air can be debate, argument or confusion - and speaking of confusion, it’s worth remembering that Neptune will go retrograde on June 9th marking the days of June 6th/7th (depending on where you are) to or through June 11th/12th a time which can be inspirational, enjoyable, confusing, deceptive, restful or filled with boredom, insecurity or exhaustion.

The separating factor between the pluses and minuses of this time are all about ego - and thus whether we can trust, be trusted, or even trust our Self. That Neptune’s station occurs as Mercury’s station is just closing out (with Mercury and Neptune in trine) can be beautiful and romantic and everything you dream of - just don’t count on what happens now as a permanent state and be aware of any desire to cede or surrender personal boundaries without knowing the facts at hand.

Those facts may take time to gather. In the interim, the old rule about ‘risking only what you can afford to lose’ applies. Otherwise, in the famous words of astrologer Robert Hand with regards to all things Neptune, allow yourself not to know.

Yes, you want to glue something down, know something for sure or finalize something. And things may happen which are positive and pleasant, without question. But something is as yet unknown. Unsolved. Maybe even unsuspected...but yet to happen - typically at or after Mercury’s station/direct point (July 1st in this case).

But don’t think that means you should halt everything. Not at all. Though known for misplaced and garbled messages, slow mail, delays in communication, rancid traffic and all those things we do when our brain isn’t quite in sync with our ‘autopilot’ function, Mercury retrograde is very good for getting caught up (speaking of lists) and setting up or creating a mental ‘plan’ which you will then follow once Mercury goes direct.

Meanwhile, life goes on. So as Mercury enters the shadow of its upcoming retrograde (the span of degrees it will retrograde back over) on May 23rd (UT/+0) we may want to take stock of what’s in progress and what isn’t yet fully looked into, decided on, scheduled or otherwise ‘in motion.’ Given that the Sun in Gemini is always an active time even when we choose to ignore all the hustle, bustle and noise, whatever is on the table in our life in terms of that which has been/become prioritized in our thinking, that’s what is probably best allowed to come to its natural conclusion without all the pushing, shouting and mental base-jumping (to conclusions and otherwise).

Moreover, the very (Gemini) idea that Mercury enters its retrograde shadow only a couple of days after the Sun enters Gemini...?

To those who believe (or at least who are willing to explore in true and truly Gemini spirit), in the highly-spiritual (if not precisely religious) metaphysical maxim ‘unbeknownst to us, the universe is unfolding as it should’ the are no ‘coincidences,’ merely opportunities to learn from. With Mars lingering on in Libra we still have an opportunity to learn a great deal about ourselves through others, and though Mercury/Sun conjunctions such as that we will experience on June 15th/26th tend to be a little myopic and lacking in perspective (read: often a lot myopic and lacking in perspective) this is also a very good time to gain perspective on who we really are in the world, our world - and who we can be going forward.
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Sunday, May 18, 2014

Mars Direct (Blogpost: May 19-20)



The atmosphere of Mars as photographed by the Viking Orbiter
(photo credit: NASA 1976)

Congratulations!

No, seriously - congratulations to you (and the rest of us) for making it through a sincerely pretzel-ing series of celestial psycho-pressure points. In arriving at the Mars station (and Mars direct), apart from anything else, for those who have become even a bit more conscious of who we are in light of who we aren’t, bravo. For those who have confronted what it means to be who you are in the moment as well as in the light of your history, our history or history itself... for anyone who willing to see any set of differences merely for what they are, my congratulations.
 
Why? Because this set of months (and retrogrades past) has not been easy on anyone. Our tolerance has run thin at times, especially where things have challenged our ability... or (more likely)... our willingness to factor in anything other than our own convictions, especially as that pertains to who we are.
 
In being driven into the depths of our Self, there we learned more about who we are. People seldom take time for such things nowadays...which may be why life has to do ever more drastic things to get us to stop and think, consider things on a feeling basis or simply breathe, depending we tend to run shortest on.
 
Does that metaphysically mean that our times are more turbulent because it takes more to get us to periodically stop being connected and resume being our Self?
Maybe. It’s a thought - beyond which I tender hearty applause to all of us for merely having weathered the past five months of convolutions - not that we’re quite done yet however, as in the process of May 19th coming upon us our Big Picture [Damocles] challenges still loom large, and though we would like to [Mars] ‘get on with it,’ we also know somewhere deep down inside that haste could make waste...and yes, how we have already done a bit of that, the [Orcus] results of which - good, bad and indifferent - have become apparent.
 
Waste, I mean. Physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially...somehow we all can remember something. And if we can’t remember, surely about now something (read: Orcus going direct in Virgo) will remind us.
 
Though there may be cost, the real ‘cost’ indicated by Orcus is the lack of opportunity to ‘go back and do it over’ knowing better from the start. And yes, there may be some regret, frustration or internal chiding of the ‘why didn’t I realize that?’ or some such which, considering Orcus and Mars are both going direct within twenty-four hours of each other suggests that something pragmatic having to do with having or making something work [Virgo] must be considered ‘dead’ [Orcus], meaning something else must be taken on or considered as a fact or tact or way of seeing things... just may mean this Mars/Orcus station is about really bringing us to some point where we’re willing to listen or communicate or negotiate something which is tough for us for reasons which are probably entirely personal.
 
For no other reason than because we’re sick and tired of things not going well, we’re becoming a whole lot more about actually getting things done. There’s an aura of [Orcus] consequence brewing which is challenging our misalignments of ego - most of all with/within our Self or soul - to resurface in some sort of humanely pragmatic form. We know that what is happening shouldn’t be happening - and if you’re more than personally observant you’ll probably notice how rather magically each one of us is being confronted with just that little thing which creates just enough vulnerability to bring about relating.
 
Oh yes...we have all been thinking it was about ‘them.’ The holdup or the problem? Ah yes, that was ‘them.’ No matter who we are, some ‘they’ (or that) was doing, not done or not doing something, leaving us with an odd taste in mind about sitting and waiting for some unknown shoe which may just drop. (Or not drop.) And while waiting with unconvinced anticipation we've been doing a lot of figuring...pondering...thinking about things near and far. Some such contemplations have been earnest while others were merely out of interest.

And some...? Some where just our needing some measure of distraction.
 
Yet were we really waiting? And if so, who were we waiting for, and why? What was that based on - or in, given our particular situation? We may know why we’ve been wait...we may even know what we were (hopefully) waiting for. We may even have been dedicated to the proposition of “waiting our turn.”

And then...wonder of wonders...just as we forget about the waiting, something pertaining to matters, shipments, products and concerns which under Mars retrograde (or coming into Mars retrograde) got stalled, backlogged, diverted, ignored, delayed or which went just plain ‘missing’ ...now, just as we reconcile ourselves to the reality of our imperfect world and all the imperfect people and things in that world, just as despite all we form some sort of recognition about the balance of pluses and minuses in our past, present and/or future...

...about then, something begins to shift. Under any circumstance (retrograde or direct, in other words) Mars in Libra has an odd ability to show us up to others so that through those others we learn about our Self (and beyond that, what works and doesn't work as motivated by our inner Self).

And that quality, that is what has brought us to our crossroads, a place where for the duration of the (May 18-22) station during which in a subtle if very real way we will achieve some sort of an understanding which in part lies beyond what others just say or think and beyond mere appearances. In essence we aren't learning about them at all right now, but about who we are in relationship to them (or some situation)...and why that dynamic (the Mars power of the Libra interaction) is what determines much of our success or rejection with others and in much of what we do in daily life.

These realizations may be exotic or they may be simple. Over the next few weeks they will remain with us and begin coloring our choices and abilities to converse, transact, interact and make whatever course corrections are or will be needed in the coming weeks and months - during which .

In other words, it isn’t about them... it’s about us - and yes, that’s what any astrologer would have been telling you all along. It’s what astrologers always say and because the nature of anything in retrograde tends to be inward, the basic facility to connect to and process that very information will be interrupted.

Question: So why don’t astrologers just hush up for the duration and wait for people to emerge from their cocoons to discuss things?

Answer: Because those who learn to recognize the difference between energies in retrograde and energies in direct motion will in time not be subject (or at least be less subject) to those facets of their persona, psyche, personality or inbuilt/knee-jerk reactivity/reactions which may well be less productive natures as time goes along. The difference between productive and problematic retrograde periods is pretty much just about this: the ability to recognize the problem and sort through it either in private, behind the scenes or personally (internally) before proceeding so that everything as a whole functions more effectively.

In theory, those who learn the process of retrograde cycles are still subject to the same ‘slow down’ periods but instead of being or becoming wholly stymied they learn to...(a.) understand the incoming cycle while (b.) watching for slowing forward progress which is the cue to - in keeping with symbol, sign and placement in your personal natal and solar chart - then becomes (c.) a period of less ‘outward’ or at least ‘final/finalized’ activity through which greater understanding and capacity is gained.

All of this could be summed up in the immortal words ‘to everything there is a season, turn, turn, turn...’ but then you wouldn’t think I was giving you your due as the not-so-local local astrologer even if the expression is sincerely true.That we have such a well-known phrase on such a subject, that we think such thoughts, all that - metaphysically - is because we are all connected, all contiguous, all part of each and every other person's life from our electrons to our understandings and on up the line as people.

Which would be why we take our time with each other: because we're people. You may be a very 'big' person and I may be little. Poor or rich, smart or clueless, responsible or otherwise, humans are all - in the end - just people.

 It's our very best and worst quality all in one.

Amidst the gardens of Italy's Villa Hadrian (Hadrian's Villa) stands
this statue of god Mars (also known as Ares)

Mars is going direct at 1:32 in the morning (UT/+0) on May 20th. With much still undefined there is an odd combination of feeling stymied, a bit emotionally ‘mired’ (whatever that means in your life)... and yet a little restless, all of which amounts to one of those days-nights-experiences of not knowing quite what to do which leads to dealing mostly with whatever is right in front of us.

There’s nothing wrong with that as long as we are remembering to be aware, though that may lead to some degree of mental overload or [Neptune at 7 Pisces] utter confusion. Try as we may and protest as we might (trust me, some will - loudly) these qualities are unlikely to shift until just over twenty-four more hours passes and the Sun enters Gemini on May 21st at 3:00 p.m. (UT/+0 time).
 
And a note to the born yellers, debaters and confronters in the crowd: Venus is still in Aries. So though the boldly courageous which we are willing to embody may go well, when it comes to anything which smacks even vaguely of ego...well, let's just put it this way: do you really want to be known for what you are likely to be seen as/as doing? Care may be advisable in the short run particularly where we are using any form of “capital,” be that a physical resource or financial capital - even the ‘personal capital’ an established reputation or track record gives us. It isn’t that the action (or transaction) itself is necessarily problematic (it may or may not be, but that’s a different issue), it’s why we are doing or not doing something which can be out-of-kilter with our more “normal” feelings. Under Venus in Aries, even without Mars being in retrograde or on station people tend to think in more ‘first person’ terms than usual - which is a bit torturous to think about particularly as that concerns others, seeing how each party will be considering the other based on this somewhat canted perspective.
 
(See the problem?)

Some of us will be put on notice now for actions or choices already taken. Or when others may find out what you’ve been doing, whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Whatever it takes to get us to see who we are (and aren’t) and what that means in the greater scope (generally greater than we have been thinking), that’s what happens now.
 
These effects DO NOT have to be violent, disruptive or even vaguely obvious. Mars stations often enough simply mark either a flinch-worthy or ‘light bulb’ moment - that thing which inspires and motivates us as we move on. With this Mars station being in Libra we are - and have been mirrors for one another, and for ourselves most particularly over these past months, exacerbating our own concerns in the process.

Metaphysically, our trials have not been about ‘them’: they’ve been about something in them which attracts us. We have been seeking some sort of lesson about ourselves and have (seemingly by magic) attracted anything or anyone we could learn that lesson from... or at least get keyed into learning that lesson by.
 
The tale which led us to or through our experiences began last December on a Venusian ‘how to get the rewards I want out of life’ note... moved through the organizational and mental Mercury (debate) phase throughout February - after which we were all unceremonially sealed into the turbulent confines of our own best stealing-or-steely psycho-emotional embrace.
 
No, it isn’t about them - it’s about us. As if to underscore this (at least astrologically), as I was perusing my ephemeris wondering when the next dose of Mars retrograde challenge (I would use a different word but I’m trying to be optimistic here...) when that sluice gate will burst open.

Answer: April 2016, and next time around Venus retrograde will be miles away in time, seeing as Venus’ closest retrograde escapade will run from late July 2015 through early September of 2015.

But that’s not really what I was looking at which so pertains to present-tense time. What I was checking on was the concept that each successive Mars retrograde falls in the following sign - which would mean the next retrograde would be happening in Scorpio, one of Mars’ two ruling signs.

You remember Scorpio right - from last year’s November eclipse, never mind the relationship we all have to any sort of [Scorpio] subject which asks us to risk our self-worth, sense of (emotional) security, life or personal or public reputation/image?

As much as we all think we adore Scorpio there’s not one of us who doesn’t fear it, and as I say that I’ll bet every Scorpio Sun, Moon and most of the Scorpio Ascendants are murmuring under their confidential breath in agreement...as are (now that I think about it,) all the Taurus Ascendants, since having a Taurus Ascendant means you automatically have a Scorpio Descendant.

And yes, I say that as someone who not only has a Scorpio Moon but who knows a bunch of people with Taurus Ascendants, all of whom may have thought they were going to get off without my mentioning the obvious. 

(No such luck, sorry.)
 
So when it comes to our next Mars retrograde (which I’m evidently done thinking about, never mind slogging through) it starts in Sagittarius and ends in Scorpio...specifically at 23 Scorpio.
 
Does that ring any bells?
 
It should...or if you’re into remembering degrees, it should, as 23 Scorpio is the degree that Saturn as at when it went retrograde on March 2nd, a day after Mars went retrograde this past March.
 
As a concept, that at least subtly links events or developments (the formulating of a goal, the starting of a relationship or something akin to that) which began back around the beginning of March and which have developed through or throughout this Mars retrograde to things which will play out or have a next ‘phase’ start-or-finish point near or just after the end of June, 2016.
 
Speaking of ‘end of June’s, it’s also worth noting that in keeping with the fact Mars will take over a full month to resume its “average” rate of moving through one degree every two days or so, meaning we should think of June as a ‘start’ or a ‘ramping up’ month which in also reflecting Mercury’s going into and being in Gemini retrograde is still highly functional if in a distinctly behind-the-scenes (and/or) ‘in process/not finalized’ mode.

  
Mars entered the shadow of its retrograde back in December, 2013 - just a few days before Venus went retrograde. And though Mars will go direct on May 20, 2014 it doesn’t emerge from the shadow of this wholly Libra retrograde until July 20th.

That means we still have time to build and rebuild - not just in the physical sense, but based in part on all we’ve learned to let go of and what that means we may do...and with a deal of conscious effort, yet become and be with and among others. 
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Sunday, May 11, 2014

Blogpost (May 12-19): The Scorpio New Moon (+ Mars and Other Stations)

 
A photograph of the April 15, 2014 Lunar Eclipse taken in Minneapolis, Minnesota
(photo credit: Tomruen2)

As May 12th comes upon us, life [Sun] shifts us out from behind a variable set of lenses colored by contradictions which want resolving plus a smattering of just those sorts of cravings which make us feel everything or anything we have or are isn’t as good as what someone else has (or is).

Fortunately, it’s only been a day of that - a 20 Taurus sort of day which had us wanting to do whatever our way when for good or ill what we want, especially in the long run was more likely to come from an honest estimation of personal needs.

From solidity of self comes the ability to tolerate differences in others. Without that security, Taurus becomes the land of endless wanting - of whatever your “medium of choice” is, be it money, power or any of the other illustrious polarizing (Scorpio) forces which are apparently part of life not so much so that we can test or control others but so that we can learn about what works for us and...separately...for others so that we can forge a path forward which works to equally support the need/drives/aims of all.
 
With every year comes a 20 Taurus sort of day. And once we complete that task, life rolls on...time pushes forward...and we get to the next thing, the process of enacting yesterday’s realizations.

It’s something of a theme this week, that process thing. No matter who we are we’re in the middle of something, and the Sun’s moving into Taurus’ ‘third third’ (degrees 20-29) is where our more (and most) personal view(s) encounter the minds, the lives, the push back, applause, critique and support of both a few...and at other times many others.

There will be a literal highlighting of sorts which will occur around/at the time of this month’s Scorpio Full Moon. The date will be May 14th and the UT/+0 time 7:17 p.m. as this Moon takes its mark at 23 Scorpio.

And if that degree sounds familiar, it should. 23 Scorpio is the degree Saturn went stationary-retrograde at back on March 3rd.

Which yes, would be one day after Mars went retrograde at 27 Libra....which was one day after Mercury went direct at 18 Aquarius.


And we’re all still dealing with that. Whatever was afoot then was what we like as not stubbed our mental toes on, with the whole of the Mars retrograde and solar eclipse process slowly moving us towards a ‘bottom line’ we are just about to reach with our Self, and which all around us we hear people wanting to reach (often just so they can be ‘done’ with something).

Over this time...through whatever has happened to us over the past few months...our trajectory has changed. Why we do what we do (the way we do it) has become clearer to us - and the flaws with that, personal or social - have also become clear.

We all have been changed. A little or a lot...that’s individual. But as this Full Moon comes to be...during the time leading into or out of it (some people tend to do one, some the other - that’s natural) we’re likely to feel ourselves recognizing just how we’ve changed.

And what that means with regards to our personal  potential, alone or as part of some greater group or concern.

Maybe even as part of many groups or concerns, some of which don’t overlap so well. Energies stirred at 23 Scorpio wash through life either with a ‘scattering’ or ‘wasting’ effect or a revealing of that which has been scattered or wasted which here is ‘highlighted’ symbolically by a Full Moon - a ‘high tide’ of feelings summoned from deep within whether we really want to feel them or not.

But it’s just a phase. The Moon moves in phases...this is just another phase, and after this one will come countless others. When we make a Scorpio-Moon connection, we tend to feel the impact...of how we feel in the moment we register our feelings most of all.

It’s a lovely thing indeed...although it can get us stuck. The Moon in Scorpio fights for control; its habit and instinct are to use external sources to  stabilize anything we feel [Moon] is keeping us from ‘getting on’ with whatever it is we want to do next...and to find/use/employ whatever we [Moon] feel will support our positions.

At it’s best, Moon in Scorpio supports difficult emotional constructs and the constructing of whatever will support, detoxify, rebuild and/or regulate any force. Sometimes that means investing. Sometimes that means pruning. Sometimes that means detoxifying. Sometimes that means not doing anything and sometimes it means ripping the old construct down to whatever level lays it bare.

Scorpio is the sign of the Phoenix. We are transformed by our ability to trust our Self, whether or not others agree - whether or not we like (or trust) them. That all ‘Scorpio tests’ are internal and yet enacted through others or external circumstances will lead most of us to experience at least a moment or two (or three) of insecurity...maybe confusion or even that helpless, hapless feeling we all dislike. The Sun-Phaethon-Dionysus (in Taurus) side of things describes demands and determinations being balanced against a future and a potential we should want...and which we actually have the ability to go after if our overall priorities are in line.

If not, others will let us know. They may not even be subtle about it.

One other thing about this day or so in time...with the Moon (at 23 Scorpio) conjunct Mnemosyne (creativity) and Huya, there is something we can give - something which we have learned at hard cost long before now [Huya] through the sorts of events and experiences which try the human soul.

However we connect to that...whatever we have learned from that...it is the offering of that which becomes our “Huya Rainmaker.”


Remember: this is your Huya we’re talking about, which in Scorpio has to do with what you have to offer others out of your own life which will ‘make it rain’ for everyone...and thus bring fulfillment to us. 

 Asteroid Eros as photographed by NASA
 
Eros station-retrograde at 19 Capricorn

As astrological Eros the ‘object’ as been covered about as well as I'm ever going to cover it in a different post, let’s start there...
 

...after which what you need to know is that asteroid Eros is going retrograde at 19 Capricorn on May 11th.

Yes, that is the same day as the Full Moon. But let’s remember, stations (be they station-retrograde or station-direct) all get 'allowances.' I'm currently using a two-day allowance, but if you may find three days works better for you, feel free.

Representing ‘passions’ of all kinds, Eros energies tend to arise as described by the sign element in your natal chart. In other words, if your natal Eros is in an air sign (Gemini, Libra or Aquarius) you are stirred by ideas and your ‘passions’ function greatly on an idea-driven level and it doesn’t matter what the subject matter is, it’s the idea of the thing which ‘gets’ you (or gets to you).

With natal Eros in water (Cancer, Scorpio or Pisces), the drive and driver is emotional. With natal Eros in fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) the ‘vision’ is the thing.

And when we find Eros in an earth sign - as it is now, transiting Capricorn, it’s the reality which we’re passionate about, and life’s realities which stir our passions, however they’re individually shaped. With Capricorn pointing us to the worldly and public sections of life as well as all things/concerns ‘structural’ (and the price or penalty we pay for a lack of Eros focus) certain types of ‘standings’ (or our regard for same) take a ‘turn’ now... or don’t, depending on our individual relationship to the kind of passionate assertiveness of the interactive type this Scorpio Full Moon favors working with.

Our ability to negotiate, team up with, support or serve as a coalescing (Scorpio) force is in the (Full Moon) spotlight.

Known as least mildly pro-active (and more than a little bit determined, 19 Capricorn is a degree which presses for its goals with an unusual degree of creativity. And though advances can be made, the fullness of what one wants to accomplish probably can’t be done overnight.

Yes, patience is required. That may be the test here, as Scorpio Moons (Full or otherwise) tend to ‘freeze’ or ‘hold off’ where Eros energies tend to erupt as ‘pushing’ for what we want or need.
 
Balance and an understanding of who or what we are dealing with in its own terms (not pre-defined by us) is necessary for what is done now to endure as a supportive measure which does what we want it to correctly.

If nothing else, the Sabian symbol for 28 Virgo ('A SEEKER AFTER OCCULT KNOWLEDGE
IS READING AN ANCIENT SCROLL WHICH ILLUMINATES HIS MIND,') reminds us how in
great part the decision (and effort) to continue seeking and the remaining open to new ideas
(not the allegiance to what we already know) which provides opportunities for growth. 
Srimad Guru Adi Shankaracharya by Raja Ravi Varma (1904, Oleograph)

Byblis direct at 28 Virgo

There’s an unpleasant quality to Byblis, one which can probably be typified either as the defense of the indefensible or the attempt to defend one’s Self against that ‘awful’ thing we don’t want to think about or contend with.

But that’s the point - the metaphysics of asteroid Byblis is about us. It’s about what we will or won’t consider or face having to deal with, whether that ‘dealing’ is self-contained or whether such things ask us to take on matters beyond our Self or even our understanding.

The point is that with Byblis, there always seems to be something involved which is ‘wrong’ - or at least something which seems or feels wrong. And with Byblis’ station taking place in Virgo, the ‘lens’ through which this ‘wrong’ is being seen (or through which it is manifesting) will be the means, method or reasoning/rationales for doing/not doing things...or the means, methods or rationales being employed in the doing of things.

That Byblis is making its turn to direct at 28 Virgo (one of Virgo’s last ten degrees) also tells us that whatever the Byblis note is, it will be ‘group’ and not personal. So it’s something we can react to... or which in embodying a reaction to something we’ve already done brings out the Byblis effect (theirs about us or us about something ‘out there’).

This isn’t the sky falling. Like most main belt  asteroid energetics, Byblis represents something we ‘run into’ and thus are affected by, which may color what we do, how we think or some choice we make because of or maybe in spite of everything and anything disquietingly ‘Byblis-like.’

At the same time, seeing as Byblis went retrograde back in early February in tandem with Mercury there is some chance that an assertion made back then may fall through now. If so, it will fall through on the basis of improper choices (which of several options was taken)...  or how a choice, commitment, resistance or position has failed to take all of the details and/or universal needs (or universal commonalties) properly into account.

In other words, where we may have thought over-much of our Self (in the ‘self important sense) or even just more of our opinion in some situation which really needed to be more balanced in the ‘my’ versus ‘their’ department...such issues may arise - or even re-arise now.

Again, this doesn’t have to be any sort of costly  interruption or reprocessing of anything. For many of us these Byblis moments are just those ‘do you have to bring THAT up again?’ sort of influences.

And since we’re here...the answer to the above is ‘yes, they do have to bring that up again,’ if only because their Byblis says they have to bring ‘that’ up again for their own Byblis reasons.

How would we know who would react and who wouldn’t react to such an influence? Granting that energetics tend to have a low-level effect no matter who we are, the person who reacts now will have 28 Virgo as a sensitive point in their natal chart or a natal Byblis which is somehow emphasized, however that happens.

Also, one other item worth noting...

Astrologer Marc Edmund Jones (the original astrologer to work with Sabian symbols)
typified the image for 0 Libra - 'IN A COLLECTION OF PERFECT SPECIMENS OF MANY
BIOLOGICAL FORMS, A BUTTERFLY DISPLAYES THE BEAUTY OF ITS WINGS, ITS BODY
IMPALED BY A FINE DART' - as 'the immortal archetypal reality that a perfect and dedicated
life reveals,' validating in yet another form those many age-old sayings which warn how 
with every great honor comes some sort of responsibility and feeling of being 'pinned' to
that 'perfect beauty' we represent, stand for, have achieved or have created.
A Chinese cloisonne and enamel box (photo credit: Vassil, June 2007)
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Haumea direct at 0 Libra

Haumea is a dwarf planet, not an asteroid, meaning it’s greater size and mass translates rather literally into the metaphorical world of metaphysics, telling us it’s effect will have ‘weight’...or perhaps ‘gravity’ in our psyche, if not our life.

And maybe our life too - but first the psyche, as that is the principle realm (hierarchy of thought) around which western (tropical) astrology is organized. There are other forms of astrology which tend in that direction, but in western astrology, fate is what you are handed: what you do with it is free will and that’s what we see in your chart...which is why what happens (astrologically) isn’t about ‘them’ it’s about you and your responses, reactions and learning curve.

And why does that apply here? That applies because Haumea is a goddess of tricky manifestations, whether we’re talking about Haumea as an entity capable of ‘giving birth’ through various portions of her being (which metaphysically would suggest our ability to ‘give birth’ to ideas or efforts when various facets of our lives are triggered)...or Haumea the ultimately self-destructive shape-shifter as a representation of how we choose, do or say this or that to placate or ‘get by’ or ‘get along’ in any of the many manners which ultimately come home to us in some form of self-undoing.

In going direct at 0 Libra, Haumea drives us to understand truths even while (or because) we’re being driven crazy - or just driving ourselves crazy over something we need to deal with before moving on. There’s a ‘spin’ on complications here which suggests easy things being made more complicated (perhaps more complicated than they need to be) even as complicated issues are being simplified - and yes, maybe over-simplified. Whichever effect is encountered, the subject... interestingly... does seem to be something important, particularly in its ultimate potential with problems of the moment being linked to an undermining of momentum through improperly applied efforts.

Either the right method is not known, the right skills are not present or skills are needed but not present, all of which is complicated by questioning which in the end will tend towards lack of capacity - a quality which isn’t going to be felt as any more cuddly or cozy by any of us seeing as Venus is still in Aries (a fact which links because the Venusian drive for reward rules the Libra principle of relating).

You do remember Venus in Aries, right?
 

Haumea and Byblis both go direct on May 18th, which means their stations (conservatively) begin on the 16th (Friday) and extend through March 20th, the actual end of Mars retrograde.

And that station (Mars’ station) begins on the 18th, the date Haumea and Byblis go direct.

Wait...let me try to make this a little easier by offering what schools the world over have no doubt taught us all to regard as a ‘visual aid.’


I’m sure to some, this all sounds rather dire - and it could be for those brining their minds in some proverbial pickle while waiting on someone or on something to happen. But the element involved here - air -  tells us that however Haumea and Mars manifest amidst all other things is of theoretical concern.

In other words, they’re arising in our mind, and whether it’s an evolving idea or some new notion about how life works or who you are in this life...with the Sun in Taurus’ latter degrees, we’re all being subjected to some level of interfaced wants and ‘security needs.’ Or maybe for you that’s the interfacing of wants and whatever allows you to feel secure (starting in your mind, evidently).

Or maybe it's just all in our mind. Sorting through that question is part of what happens now...and evidently it needs to happen as part of Mars reaching the end of its long Libra retrograde. How much of what we do in life is governed by what we think others like or dislike? How much is our life modeled or molded by ideas which may 'hold their shape' for us but which in the end are undercutting or compromising our greater ends? 

By the by...just to define here, ‘security’ in this sense is the Taurean (and/or 2nd house) version of security, which is to say that we find in our Self, making this reference ‘that which makes us feel secure as a person in life and/or in any given moment of our life.’
 
For the record here, the obvious is also true - namely that the reason why Scorpio as the polarity to Taurus is so often associated with death, birth, war and various kinds of tests of control are because where and when Scorpio functions that way it does so as a projection onto others of that we feel disquieted by ourselves.
 
Some factor which arises from this quadrant of our thinking plays a role at least in how we will tend to consider things now... and with Mars continuing to ‘sit’ at 9 Libra (conjunct fixed star Diadem), whether we’re in position to be comfortable with some sort of separateness of perspective or struggling through dealing with feelings, tales and issues having to do with separations or a ‘separating of ideas,’ isolation and/or its elitist cousin isolationism will be pushing us each and all to see the beauty, full potential and possible nasty (to our thinking) ideas to be faced amidst all.


Traces of liquid passage as recorded in planet Mars' surface
(NASA, GSFC, December 2006)

Damocles, Mars-Diadem
and Orcus on Station
 
Speaking of Mars (you knew we were going to get around to this, right?), the strangely unsecured feeling so many people are feeling, reacting to, and whether productive or not - that continues...as does the [Mercury in Gemini] pace of things in general. We often think of Mercury in Gemini as a somewhat ‘hectic’ time - and that factor may well be missing this time around, what with the overhanging Diadem/Mars retrograde effect. The net is likely to be a deal of coming to terms with Self first and then others, yet with Mars and Venus both in ‘fervent’ degrees we will need to conquer our own trepidations going in and be willing to work through a process of consideration and reconsidering (most of all with our Self) if by week’s end we are to arrive at suitable (or at least employable) combinations of [Venus in Aries] aspiration, [Mercury in Gemini] facts, choices or options and what may only be a dawning of the greater [Mars/Diadem] understanding of why (in the biggest-of-big-picture metaphysical sense) you have gone through so much of what you have gone through over these past days, weeks and months.

This period has its own function, absolutely. But it is also part of an intense and challenging period filled with personal tests which dates back to December, 2013 - just before Christmas.

Speaking of intensity...since Mars is going direct in square to Pluto (conjunct Vega) in Capricorn, apart from and yet as part of all else we go through now we are experiencing a long-term [Pluto] transformation of allure and that which fascinates us, draws and or commands us.

The longest range personal and societal shifts began a couple of years ago and won't become evident in the general sense for several years hence. However the short term effects of Mars-square-Pluto (which this would be with Pluto in Capricorn and Mars in Libra) could be explosive IF both symbols were not in retrograde.

In other words, froth if you must, but the transformational energetic is personal and wholeheartedly internal, causing us to 'work over' issues in our own way and at our own individual pace starting somewhere around May 14th.

This is not a transit to quail at unless you have done something dishonest, wrong or wholly manipulative (i.e., without regard for consequences or who gets harmed). If that is the case, as always Pluto/Mars contacts are likely to time out matters which 'expose' your secrets and 'occulted' (hidden) matters...and something like Mars squaring Pluto through a station is certainly that kind of event.

For everyone else the latter part of this coming week is likely to feel 'constrained' or 'compacted'...or perhaps weighty but complicated in that messy if not in-obvious manner which persuades us we can get where we need to go if we will but tackle the job and get on with things.  

In this light, some of us will solve short-term problems first as greater perceptions filter down upon us...some of us will have one of those light-bulb ‘epiphany’ moments then use that to develop new strategies which apply to the here and now of today, tomorrow and next week.

Then there’s the rest of us - a vast swath of humanity which is seeing so much so fast that it will take a bit to sort out, shake out and otherwise prove out.

Which is okay too...and entirely astrologically sensible. Even before Mars enters its two-day ‘station allowance’ on May 17th, asteroids Damocles and Sabine go on station on May 16th, serving as metaphysical clockwork chimes striking new notes of recognition...

In light of Damocles going on station at 24 Aquarius ('A BUTTERFLY WITH THE RIGHT
WING MORE PERFECTLY FORMED' ) we are reminded to stay in balance with ourselves
...and just how much doing that much requires of us.
A plate of Charaxes Aristogiton from Adalbert Seitz (ed.) 'Macrolepidoplera of the World'
(published before 1930, author unknown)

...yes, we see what needs doing...it’s just that it’s [Damocles] a whole lot harder to carry through on, especially given the growing understanding that reactions may arise during the process. As the weekend of the 17th-18th comes upon us time [Damocles in Capricorn] is ever more an essential ingredient going forward...but there are distinct real-time, present tense needs too. 

And one or two of those are likely to feel a bit like volunteering to sit on a tack the ‘point’ of which is driving home our own mortality, our vulnerability to being human as both the reason we care about others (and need to be cared about) and why we need to individuate.

It’s back to that Libra thing - the knowing who we are in the presence of others and knowing how we act to, with and about them is the cause of the effect they hand back. It’s all about negotiation, most of which happens first and last with and within our Self.
 
You know, the [Orcus] consequences which come from being who we are and aren't...or who we have come to think we don't want to be or need to become in spite of all. Through others, through all we have been through and been thwarted in, so we come to realize what is possible, reasonable and - in the end - maybe not so desirable in spite of all.

 Asteroid Sabine going station/retrograde at 16 Capricorn, a degree imaged by the image
'A REPRESSED WOMAN FINDS A PSYCHOLOGICAL RELEASE IN NUDISM' representing
whatever unexpressed or denied experiences we meet up with (in our own life or that of
others) which causes us to see, become free with or 'put on display for all to see' either
that which represents our inner (Capricorn) structures or external (Capricorn) goals,
drives or aims. 
Inu (Nu debout) by Jean Metzinger (oil on carton, 52 x 35 cm., 1911) 
 
Maybe it's not our path or role in life. Maybe the thing at hand (or in mind) isn't ours to do even comment on. Why this should be - and why we will, in reconsidering our current focus arrive at considering the 'where we are now' in light of all we have done...that both holds us back [Sabine] and in getting us to [Sabine] take hold of that which is immediately available to us gets us to consider what our life should be as well as the [Damocles] difficulties we're bound to encounter whether we adjust or stay our course.

In other words...in light of all that, what is really worth doing [Mars] and/or investing our [Mars] energies in? At some level we know our choice cannot be just about what we want, nor can it be entirely about what one (or many) parties are lobbying for.

It's about any and all of us - and what we mean...at least on a theoretical level...amidst all that.

Considering we're all going through this together (which is a thought worthy of contemplation right there...) patience and thoughtfulness will count now more than usual - and though we dare not leave ourselves out of the mix (yes, a little 'be nice to me' time is in order) we also dare not neglect others, with and without regard for who they are.

Libra is about equality - a theoretical equality which on a metaphysical level must allow for differences simply because together we all balance each other out.

(And isn't that a metaphysical noodle worth thinking about?) 

The better we understand why all this is, the more likely we are to ask ourselves that we actually hear others instead of just listening (in general, read as 'tolerating') them. And once we do that, we're likely to not just hear what they're truly saying (as opposed to what we might have been thinking we wanted to hear)...from which we will begin to really understand why others choose as they choose.

Such perspectives...or our unwillingness to contemplate same...are what we carry into and through the Mars/Diadem station, wherever that may yet lead.

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