Venus in Cancer/Saturn Direct/Mars out of Shadow/Uranus Retrograde/Eris Retrograde

As photographed by the Spitzer Space Telescope, the Baby Boom Galaxy shows off its ability to 'birth' an average of 4,000 new stars ever year - a number which is one hundred times the number of stars produced by our Milky Way Galaxy.

(photo credit: Spitzer Space Telescope, NASA-JPL-Caltech, Oct 2008)

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First of all, let’s have a hearty ‘hallelujah’ for the fact that as of July 20th, Mars will exit the shadow of the retrograde which, though it began formally on March 1st (2014), really reaches back to Christmas Day 2013 - the date on which Mars entered it’s retrograde shadow to begin with.

(And yes...I’m sure a couple of people - especially now, as we’re leaving the Mars/retrograde shadow - will be saying ‘ohhhhhh....’ as the light finally dawns.)

No problem. That’s just how the machinery of time, energy and coalescence works. Using astrology is a constant process of saying ‘oh, I get it now...’ until there comes one fine (or more likely, stormy) day when you’re having a perfectly rotten time and you read something about an astrological event or transit and you’re just so fed up that you say (to yourself, most likely) ‘Okay...! Since I have no better idea of what to do, I’ll just rely on this for a minute.’

And that - for many of us - is when we find that time and space really work the way they work...and that astrology is really nothing more or less than the ability to read a truly exotic clock. The fact that the clock exists is still subject to all the beliefs and non-beliefs we humans love to love and loathe - a battle in which astrology basically operates much on the same basis as gravity.

In other words, you’re welcome to ignore either, but you do so at some rather predicable risk.

So as of July 20th, Mars exits the shadow of its recent Libra retrograde by reaching 27 Libra, indicating some sort of ‘letting to’ or ‘letting something lie for the moment’ as we all move on to the balance of a week spent coping with various worldly tasks, necessities and interactions.

At the end of that time (read: July 26th) Mars will finally exit Libra and move on into Scorpio, changing the energetic dynamic from what we might refer to as a ‘theoretical dynamic’ (being motivated, driven, triggered or spurred on by ideas, ideals and theories) into Scorpio’s deeply emotional waters.

But let’s not get lost in that - astrologically there are plenty of notices to get through before that, the first of which is the fact that the hot and rocky world known as Planet Venus will be exiting Gemini and entering Cancer on Friday July 18th at 2:07 in the afternoon (UT/+0 time)...a point in time which in being barely a couple of days after Jupiter enters Leo (the subject of the previous post) combines something of a ‘ramping up’ and ‘smoothing down’ effect which may indicate odd moments of confusion or even a sprinkling of those inevitable human moments when we’re confronted with two things, both of which we may want to do but which are incompatible with each other (for whatever reason).

As a general influence however, Venus in Cancer tends to enhance our awareness of whatever is native or natively comforting to us, though we may do well to remember that with Pluto in Capricorn, Venus’ entrance to Cancer does open the door to obsessive moments and preoccupations, especially as Venus comes into orb of opposition Pluto (July 23rd) ...through the opposition (July 27th) to the exit of orb on July 31st.

Any opposition of Venus to Pluto is fertile soil for attractions of that very particular type which have us craving emotional rewards from someone else. The conjunctions and squares between these two planets are known for this as well, but since oppositions are naturally about ‘the other,’ it’s not improper to think of the whole of Venus’s July 18 - August 12 transit of Cancer as a time when natural polarities between people...be they positive or negative...will tend to be heightened. Furthermore, with Pluto having just entered 11 Capricorn, a degree Pluto will be positioned at (give or take a few days surrounding it’s late September station) until November 25th. Described by the Sabian symbol ‘A FIRE WORSHIPPER MEDITATES ON THE ULTIMATE REALITIES OF EXISTENCE’ this period will be rife with what astrologer Marc Edmund Jones describes as ‘the subjective quest for ultimates beyond the interplay of life and death processes.’

Some will become obsessed by such questions - or the fact they think they know the answer to such questions - during this Pluto period. Others will, in truly Pluto/transformational form, realize that while they may know ONE answer to what may be THEIR question (or the question they think the most important and deserving of the highest priority)...how there really are a lot of questions, a lot of answers which might possibly work and how none of us have a monopoly on what’s ‘right.’

It may be right for us. Does that make it right for everyone - or are we just overly dug in with thinking that way?  

The positives of Venus in Cancer is that it promotes an appreciation for the close company and companionship of those we know best, complete with the understandable tendency to want to spend time enjoying comfortable surroundings (whether with others or just as a measure of relaxing solitude).

The negatives of Venus in Cancer are the tendency to do just that at the expense of responsibilities, some inclination to indulge your desire for personal comfort (or the comfort of those closest to you) in some way which seems irresponsible, imprudent or simply impractical to others. Mind you...it may or may not be impractical, imprudent or irresponsible. But in this instance (which is to say, with Pluto in Capricorn) it may seem that way to others.

And where Pluto is concerned, sometimes it’s that loud, loud chorus which wins out. HOWEVER...since this is Pluto, there is always that odd piece of lore about how those who win through ‘sheer force’ (physical, financial, emotional, verbal, etc.) to consider, since where Pluto is concerned anything which is done purely to satisfy our own emotional cravings is said to incur negative karma. Pluto is all about passions as obsessions - our obsessions - which is to say those emotions (of ours) which have been driven to the ‘passion’ stage by something.

What is it? Why are we reacting to it?

As first of the zodiac’s three water signs, Cancer is emblematic of Earth’s oceanic surf zones, replete with tide pools of nurturance and rhythmic tidal shifts which in watery Cancer are most often identified with moods and moodiness. With all water signs having some relationship to finance and things ‘of worth’ to us, Cancer represents that most basic of human needs - shelter - and all which that represents, be that the land, what is built on the land, plus all which grows and lives on this Earth of ours, whether it does so naturally or not.

In entering Cancer with the Sun and Mercury already in the sign, it is to be expected that the days between July 18th and the 22nd (when the Sun moves on into Leo) will be evocative. Many a sentiment is likely to arising among those arguing from purely feeling points of view. With Eris going retrograde one day after Venus enters Cancer and Saturn going direct two days after that same ingress, transactions are on the table and stability is being sought in the face of [Eris] challenges to our ability to do that which though entirely possible, isn’t quite what we want to do.

- link to -

Eris Discordant: Mastering Our Own Weakest Moments

Eris energies can be very disruptive - but don’t have to be. Having only been discovered back in 2003, dwarf planet Eris is a relatively new astrological object, meaning there will undoubtedly be many a nuance spotted as time goes along. What has been observed thus far is how Eris tends to represent that which arises unexpectedly as a.) something we hadn’t thought of/experienced before...or, b.) the struggle against some weakness, injustice or vulnerability. Either way, it would seem that Eris effects are more positive, less disruptive (psychologically or emotionally) and far easier to manage when/where the aim is not purely personal...and when we are actively working to change a systemic or societal situation - all of which probably seems axiomatic at the moment, as the July 2014 Eris station is happening with Eris at 23 Aries in conjunction with Pandora (hope amidst the storm), Industria (effort) and the lunar South Node (the easy thing for us...or for everyone to do).

Evidently things aren’t calm...and aren’t meant to be calm at the moment. The center of this particular piece of turbulence being at 23 Aries, clarity of judgment isn’t likely to be anyone’s strong point for a few days even while there’s an inordinate need for understanding.

This tug-of-war...a push-pull which is likely to build towards intensity as Eris goes retrograde on the 19th, won’t even reach its maximum until July 23rd, by which time Saturn will have gone direct and Uranus will have gone retrograde, indicating changes [Uranus] we are either going to make or find being thrust upon us (or arising from within, unbidden).

Lest we miss the [Saturn] point, such changes are important, structural and a matter of responsibility both in when and how they get made. Some such changes undoubtedly need to be made now and some will get made now, whichever side of the Eris ‘me/them’ question we are coming from.

And just to make the point, no, you don’t have to like all the changes - you don’t have to like doing them, nor do you have to like what needs to be done. In fact, there’s a pretty sound astrological Eris argument which could be made for tackling those very issues we don’t like now simply because Eris is in the astro-mix..not to mention the fact that with Saturn going station-direct at 16 Scorpio and Uranus going retrograde at 16 Aries, what we have here is a genuine opportunity to break ourselves of the habit of thinking in purely first person terms.

Okay...so most people won’t do that. But they could.

This very perfect inconjunct between Uranus and Saturn speaks to the Aries “I” and the Scorpio “We” with the tension being one of ‘adjustment’ which would seem to be about bedrock realities as opposed to emotional realities. One we like to think would make life worth living. The other simply allows us the opportunity to keep living, period.

Which do you think is more important? Whichever way you vote here, the first test is our Uranus-in-Aries ability (and yes, willingness) to change in accordance with 16 Aries’ theme of ‘natural’ connection to that which is around us, emphasizing all things natural and ‘about nature,’ be that our human nature, the environment as nature, or any other way which is pertinent. Known as particularly problematic when contained, blocked Uranian energies such as those likely to be timed by this station tend to manifest as frustrations, anger and alienation. Since the reference is ‘nature,’ Uranus at this degree may well signal issues having to do with natural sources of power such as lightening - or the effects of same, be they physical or metaphorical. It could even indicate the effects of something natural (or naturally incurred effects) on some socially significant ‘system’ of operation.

As for Saturn, Saturn’s turn to direct motion signals a shift from internal to external efforts and experiences involving all that we need to do as well as all we might want to accomplish. With this station occurring at 16 Scorpio, there is much to be learned from both the ‘pro’ and the ‘con’ of various situations and probably no entirely clear path forward. Being that 16 Scorpio is known as often for hospitality, generosity and humanitarian connections as for secrets, unannounced or confidential meetings, messages and investigations, back room negotiations, underground groups and mysterious societies, alliances or sources of power, Saturn’s turn to direct would seem to indicate the substantiating of something, learning something is real (or not real) becoming a member of a group or leaving some group for reasons personal or professional - and that achieving our goals depends on our ability to rely on that which we have abiding faith in, deep within our soul.

That these two major planets - Saturn and Uranus - are going on station within two days of each other is an obvious metaphysical reference to things which matter. Saturn is the last planet visible to the naked human eye from here on Earth, and Uranus is the next planet out and first of the ‘transpersonal’ objects. So Uranus represents how all that which is not ‘within our grasp’ can change us. Or how we can change ourselves and our world by being or becoming able to ‘go beyond the self.’

(Think of it as riding a cosmic bicycle with no hands.)

More to our experiential point perhaps (and as an extenuation of a post written a few days ago) Saturn and Uranus are co-rulers of Aquarius...which in the abstract sense would be a reference to the ongoing ‘solidifying’ of an incoming Age (that of Aquarius), and which on a here-and-now basis would be an overall reference to things economic, societal, systemic and how we all think of our place in the world, inclusive of how we feel about how the world tends to treat us.

Between Saturn’s turn to direct on the 20th and Uranus July 22nd turn to retrograde which speaks to a period (beginning now) of approximately five months during which we will be challenged to change as individuals. We are in a period when some things which have outlived their purpose in the form they were originally conceived will get updated, modernized or, in some cases simply replaced as part of the normal evolution of life and time. Unfortunately there are some people (and some issues) which people are more than reluctant to revolve about.

Therein lies the rub...the challenge...the inevitability which must be faced. The Aquarian Age requires that we understand that which came before now so that we can build on that which remains viable, creating of the old something ever more viable for being applicable to today, tomorrow and the conceivable beyond.

Between the 20th (when Saturn goes direct and Mars exits its retrograde shadow) and the 22nd (when Uranus goes retrograde and the Sun enters Leo, which is part and parcel of the next post)...between those two pillars one other thing occurs: Apollo (illumination) goes retrograde at 17 Virgo, a degree known for operating on a mental level with a marked tendency to bend all things, all ends, all outlays and all aims towards that which the Self likes...or thinks they like...regardless of the fact that the very control being exerted (or which the native or situation seeks to exert) is exactly that which will end up being a detriment. In essence, the choice here seems to be between being supportive and being insistent - cons are likely, but are we only conning our Self?

Apollo going retrograde at this degree at the midpoint in time between Saturn and Uranus’ stations suggests some degree of insight which applies to the inconjunct aspect between the two planets which so definitely points to some adjustment needing to be made.

Will we want to make it? Probably not.

Will we make the [Saturn] effort to [Uranus] change anyway?

That’s up to each one of us.
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