Mercury, Uranus, the Aquarian Sun/New Moon ...plus Eclipse Effects Begin

(background): Fireworks of Star Formation inside

NGC 4214 as photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope

(photo credit: NASA-JPL)

.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

(This is the post which due to computer problems doesn't have the diagrams and charts as you're used to. If you'd like to help so I can continue writing to you, there's a donation button in the blog sidebar labeled 'Food Money' and a longer explanation posted at the top of the sidebar. Thanks.)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

From time to time we all turn to our favorite form of media news and year that the Sun has thrown some particularly massive wave of energy out into its solar system. (You know, where we of Earth live?)

Well, over the first part of next week (that which starts with Monday, January 19th), we of that Earth are going to encounter a rather substantial ‘wave’ (or gathering) of astrological effects, which like the solar ejection can be highly illuminating ... or blindingly bright and therefore highly problematic.

But we humans weather lots of things - we’ll weather this too. Furthermore, considering how both a New Moon and the onset of (solar) Eclipse Effects are part of this incoming coagulation, there are certainly productive things there for the doing ... we just have to choose to do them. (Isn’t that always the case?)

So here’s a day-by-day list of what’s about to grace our world - and just to be clear, dates and times are given in the UT/+0 zone:

January 20th
- Uranus conjunct the lunar South Node
- Sun in Aquarius
- New Moon at 1 Aquarius
- Eclipse Effects begin

January 21st
- Mercury retrograde at 17 Aquarius
- Germania retrograde at 1 Libra
- Uranus conjunct the lunar South Node

And now for a few details ...

JANUARY 20, 2015

In honor of the Greek Uranus (Ouranos) being the sky god,

a photo of sunset over the Vercors Mountains as seen from Grenoble, France.

(photo credit - copyright,Guillaume Piolle   CC-BY-3.0)

URANUS SOUTH NODE

Uranus-South Node effects have been with us for weeks (yea verily, even months) now. And though I seem to be sure I typed ‘19th’ somewhere in some post (I’ve looked and can’t find it) the actual is that the conjunction occurs at a few yawns after midnight on the 20th, UT/+0 time (if you find the other, post a comment and let me know, would you?).

But whatever there, over these past weeks you may have noticed yourself being a bit more on edge. Or annoyed, hassled or startled by things which ordinarily wouldn’t get your attention. That would be Uranus-South Node, the territory of upsets, surprises, psychic rattling, personal provocation and unplanned excitement.

Any nodal indication always being something about how we ‘relate’ to things or people, the South Node is what comes easily and thus Uranus conjunct the South Node can be seen as any form of Uranian energetic which either makes it easy to relate to something or others - or which changes our relationship to what something is, or who someone is. In occurring in an emotional degree of Aries we know that why we do something or why we react to something is about emotions - those which are touched in us which cause us to react ... or those being expressed by someone else which causes us to react.

Always remember: astrology is all about energy doors which swing both ways. They’re always about the positive or the negative, just as they’re always about how we may embody an energetic and act (or not act) on it - or how somebody or something in our world may embody that energetic and act as to embody the energetic and evoke its effects in us.

The degree of this conjunction being 12 Aries, there is going to be a personal aspect, as all things Aries are personal at some level, even when it’s simply what the Aries “I AM” is doing to help (or as some part in a greater process) so that someone else can go about their business. Notable with this degree is also a somewhat a protective sense of identity with things - and being that the energetic is Uranus the reason or rationalities about why we identify with or care about something isn’t precisely of our doing - it’s more about “how things are,” whether that refers to the times in which we’re living, the traditions with which we are raised or some simple if perhaps esoteric thought - something like ‘the sun rises in the east’ - which is both factual and sufficiently inexplicable as to remind us that we are not in charge of this ... or any universe.

With Uranus at 12 Aries, there is a new ‘vision’ or ‘breaking through’ which is accomplished through others and sometimes with (or among) others as we will come to understand more about what our protective Aries “I Am” feelings mean - and what they don’t mean. Known for occasionally ‘explosive’ effects, Uranian energy needs a conduit, and outlet and something to power or empower - think of Uranian energy as something akin to electricity and you’ll come close to the Uranian mix. As outcome ruler of Aquarius, Uranus releases energy in either a useful or destructive manner depending on two things: how much we know (or understand about something) and how connected we are. It’s energetics also point to questions of isolation and various forms of ‘walling off’ which limit both human potential and the potential to be equally human.

How this manifests - and how it has come to be as part of an ever-growing rattling of our sense of ‘how things work’ which in personal terms probably began somewhere around the beginning of last August (2014) ... that is individual (check where Uranus and the Nodes are, both natally and in transit). But that the times (and thus things in our world) would seem to have been metaphysically ‘conspiring’ to bring us all to where we are in this moment...

Well, maybe what needs exploding is something about us. Could it be that what’s being exploded is some myth that we are either fated to be who we are and where we are at this time ... or that we are - that we ever are - acting out of any individuality which isn’t a personal myth?

You will surely ask your questions ... this is merely one of mine. (I have a truckload, trust me.) And as we all ask, both as something we will factor into that wanting to know and as that which we do know (or think we know) which motivates us to act, be or do things in any particular manner - that’s the Sun in Aquarius part (with a healthy side order of Aquarian New Moon).

The Moon over San Diego, California

(photo credit: Rufustelestrat, 2005)

.

SUN IN AQUARIUS
The ideal of Aquarius is the concept that as an (Uranian) individual we each fit into, have a place and a function as part of and are valuable and intrinsic to humanity simply because - despite our differences and perception of flaws (our own flaws or those of others) - we are human and that qualifies us right there as part of ‘humanity.’

On the other hand, Aquarius also speaks to the various responsibilities we have to work at being a person capable of doing (fulfilling) our individual part in that Aquarian thing we call a ‘society.’

Both Aquarius and the sign which precedes it (Capricorn) are zodiacal 4th quadrant signs.

They’re also both the third in their respective zodiacal elemental trios (there being three signs in each of the four zodiacal elements). So this is not concept ‘as I think of it for my own purposes’ - which is what we find with Gemini. Nor is it any idea as to who to be and how to interact with others as an interactive means by which to gain or lose others or some participation in this world as well as a primary method by which we come to understand who we are (and aren’t) and what we might have to understand about life or about others in order to succeed - all of which would be Libra’s venue (which P.S., applies across the board to members of Gen X - the Pluto in Libra generation).  

But no - this is not the thought or idea on how to interact, this is the Aquarian theory of how to live and what it means to have a ‘successful’ life - which in the Aquarius realm of individuality of concept (in which all should be individual so that it can all play a unique role in this world and place in time whether or not some find being different, that which is different or dealing with differences challenging.

(The P.S. here is “welcome to the Aquarian Age.”) 

When the Sun moves into Aquarius, our conceptualization of life (our perspective on things) moves out of the Capricorn reality of the moment and more into an Aquarian considering of what is going on.

Oh yes - Aquarius is also a fixed sign, which accounts for the ability for things not to happen or to go nowhere fast under Aquarius, and for this very fact to drive a few folks nuts to the point they bolt.

Yes, I said that. And well I might, as Aquarius is quirky - that goes along with being unique and different ... which doesn’t exactly go along with either the fixed sign ‘let’s discuss this, why change things which have worked until now?’ or the fact that we’ve just spent a month under Sun in Capricorn which has had its fair share of structural realities.

Aquarius bases all in the known and therefore of the past, that being the hall mark of Saturn as Aquarius’ foundational rulership and the underlying Aquarian rule that we must earn what we get through Aquarian means which, because all things techy and digital are Aquarian means we can also end up getting what we earn in that ever-so consequential sense which is so very Saturn.

Of course that’s not the only difference between the astrological Saturn and astrology’s Uranus - another big difference between them is their association with, and perspective on the values of time. The established, time-tested and respected is very Saturn; the new, the singular, the thing of the moment is Uranian. Put them together and you’ll get friction - or rebellion (Aquarius is famous for rebels, rebellions and elitism of many flavors and kinds) - all of which has nothing to do with Aquarian purpose and under Aquarius (a global and impersonal sign) which sets the universal standards, whether that’s how much power it takes to power a light bulb or what the decent and human way to treat another human being really is.

Aquarius knows about difference. But in the end, only the universal works, which is why during caste and class has no place in the Aquarian Age - a notion which extends to every other bias of every kind ... again, without Aquarian-barred exception.

The Aquarian purpose is to invent, discover and keeping up with our times. Some take this literally to the society/social side by going through life ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ while others become all about improving circumstances and a ‘world’ of opportunities from which all can benefit - both of which representing ways to earn respect and a place for our Self in this world ... the success of which effort having everything to do (astrologically) with the house Aquarius is on in a natal chart plus the placement and nature of Saturn and Uranus (as Aquarius’ two rulers) and the houses they are posited in. 

So with that as the generic as the Sun enters Aquarius at 9:44 a.m. on January 20th, there are also the aspects to that Sun entering Aquarius which we should take in as a concept and part of the setting we’re setting off into. For one, as we enter Aquarius there are some costs to be incurred, accounted for, or put into perspective. Our initial reaction to said costs (represented by the Moon and Virgo still in Capricorn, ‘trailing’ the Aquarian Sun) finds us ill-equipped and perhaps  too overburdened or “confined” by things we think of as inescapable realities (whether they are or not) .

So what are we going to do? Over the next solar month we’re likely to deal with the legacy of a few decisive decisions and attempts to move out of (or away from) some outmoded base. And how well or how not well we deal with that has much to do with how well or ill-equipped we are when it comes to getting a clarified view on ourselves ... and our Self, for good and for ill.

It’s an individual thing, one might say.

Whatever your individual situation, after the Sun shifts into Aquarius, theoretically there will be a couple of hours of shifting into conceptual gear, and then a 0 Aquarius New Moon formulates at 1:15 in the afternoon, providing another starting line - that which will basically track a personal ‘inside my life’ month between   or emotion-provoking we will follow .

NEW MOON at 0 AQUARIUS
Though a New Moon and the Sun ingressing a new sign are very different things, they do represent a very particular metaphysical pairing as the Sun represents consciousness and the very act of being alive where the Moon represents our many ways of responding or reacting to what life is or may become. So every month’s New Moon is, in a very real sense, the date on which everything we are going to feel ourselves experiencing during that month and its cycle (all the lunar phases) describes our doing just that. And in this case of this particular month, as the New Moon is at zero degrees we know that this lunar month (which ends late on February 18th, UT/+0 time with the Sun and Moon at 29 Aquarius) is going to manifest with a full spectrum of Aquarian opportunities, discussions, frustrations and aims, one which comes equipped with the opportunity to be included and inclusive as well as a chance of being exclusive or excluded as questions about groups, collections, collectives, systems, societies and electronics will emerge as the motivation for (as well as the subject of) dispassionate inspection and/or fervent evaluations.

As to the degree 0 Aquarius, it has a reputation for swift choices and actions, though they’re not always to the point. The idea, the ideal, the belief in humanity comes as part and parcel of this first degree of Aquarius - but that can get (or become) neutralized either by need or the type of insecurity which comes from needing to prove something to our Self, never mind anyone else. 0 Aquarius is a degree which generally indicates a need for an education, though this may not be a books-and-classroom type of education but rather the sort of mentoring or training which provides guidance and/or structure without being overly restrictive or judgmental.

So in whatever way, we will all be looking to learn something this month ... and we will learn something, whether we’re looking to or not. A few will cling to that they know simply because they know (and are comfortable with) it, but most of us are likely to learn something about non-conformist attitudes this month, including at least some thread or notion which pertains to how much of a gamble, necessity or gift any given willingness (or talent) to ‘buck the system’ really is.

All this is what it is in itself. Beyond that, it’s also the beginning of a longer process - that of introducing us to eclipse effects which will be with us into and through this coming March as Mercury and asteroid Germania go retrograde.

 From NASA's Solar Dynamic's Observatory (SDO) the Moon

is caught moving in front of the Sun

(photo credit: NASA, October 7, 2010)

.

ECLIPSE EFFECTS BEGIN 
As eclipse effects begin to take hold, Uranus is still conjuncting the South Node, suggesting that part of the function of events of the moment pertains to some sort of ‘habit’ or ‘status quo’ we have been living with (or which we have lived with) which for whatever reason now turns out to be something (or someone) we can’t - or shouldn’t - ‘relate’ to, or be in relationship with.

Again - that being what it is in its own right, for Uranus to be conjuncting the South Node in this very moment also makes it part of eclipse effects starting up ... which suggests we need some sort of change or shake up to either learn from, or as a first ‘step’ of some sort towards the ultimate message we will experience through (and throughout) this eclipse.

The solar eclipse in question is a total eclipse at 29 Pisces which is going to occur on March 20th at 9:37 a.m. (UT/+0 time) - which means (oh, by the way) that we went from a Scorpio/Taurus eclipse sequence to a North-Node-in-Virgo/South-Node-in-Pisces eclipse sequence, omitting the Libra/Aries eclipse sequence entirely.

Apart from the fact that a lot of Libra and Aries people are now applauding and cheering rather madly (you’re welcome) (just don’t get too comfortable; as of 2023 there’s a whole North-Node-in-Aries/South-Node-in-Libra sequence to deal with) ... after thinking long and hard about what this may be signaling, it would seem that neither our basic concept of what life is or what relationships are about is going to change.

So humans as humans will survive to be human. (I know - aren’t you glad?) But beyond that, we are going to now start dealing with the many and various ways we each and all avoid emotions and/or emotional situations (or confrontations) right down to what it means not to take (or have taken) responsibility for our emotionalism, the lack thereof or what we done or not done because of our feelings, or because we wouldn’t allow ourselves to feel.

Pisces requires that we are real. So wherever we aren’t being real (including all the reasons why we aren’t being real-or-realistic), that’s what any Pisces solar eclipse worth its corona is going to pull out of us.

In fact, 29 Pisces is particularly noted for its requirements. And well it might: among other things, 29 Pisces is the last degree of the last sign in the zodiac - so what goes undone now, truly goes undone.

But that may not be clear yet. And even if it is, there is some sort of months-long growth process we all will be confronting soon enough.

No, we don’t want to do it.

We will anyway.

JANUARY 21, 2015

A mosaic image of Mercury composed of 18 photographs taken by Mariner 10

(photo credit: NASA, March 1974)

.

MERCURY and GERMANIA RETROGRADE 
Since no sooner do eclipse effects begin but Mercury goes retrograde (at 3:55 in the afternoon at 17 Aquarius), there are surely come of us who are asserting ourselves at least enough to take on our own challenges ... though it’s to be expected that a lot of people will simply be taking care of daily necessities without outwardly working on reinventing the(ir) world. (At least their place in it.)

A fuller discussion of Mercury surely is deserved here, but since that was the subject of the previous post (the one right before this one) I’ll just refer you there.

But I will add one note to what I’ve already written, namely that asteroid Germania will be going retrograde at 1 Libra in tandem with Mercury’s turn.To the degree involved here, when you look at astrological writings, they suggest the degree 1 Libra refers to something which needs to be understood, as that that thing is ... that's unlikely to change much, and when we don't understand it - not only do we undermine our own ability to get what we want in any given situation, but we are (essentially) doing so by projecting our opinions (and the associated assumption that others or life in general is going to agree with us) onto that which we evidently haven't fully considered to begin with.

Germania tends to indicate a place where something or some quality is applied or utilized with strength and determination. For it to be turning to retrograde in this degree suggests 'pulling back' on the application side of things ... or to realize that we are 'overdoing it' in some way, or why we are doing something - which may or may not include a recognition as to why 'they' (or some situation) aren't-or-isn't responding to our declaration (insistence) in the manner we had been thinking they would (read: in the manner we wanted them to).

And that would be because retrograde cycles are about what we need to learn about ourselves ...not others.

Still, since 1 Libra is also a degree affected rather hugely by super massive black hole M87 ... and since astrologically, black holes are all about alternatives (in this case an ‘alternative’ [Libra] relationship or way to [Libra] ‘relate’) or coming to recognize another perspective or way to approach something ... the net of all would seem to be a re-examining (the station-retrograde effect) of some position of strength, a strongly held or 'backed' position, some some strong relationship and/or need to relate (or not relate) to someone, something or ...since Mercury is going retrograde in Aquarius ... some group,concept, thrust or other Aquarian issue of power, fitting in, being ostracized from (or by), and all the many questions of separatism and/or unity which are currently in play or which will arise at this time across the societal spectrum, calling our attention to ways of [Mercury) thinking about or [Germania] dealing with social, societal (economic, political, humanistic, marketplace) doings.

All of these are likely to be related to whatever we need to deal with under Mercury retrograde ... or to what we will be doing under Mercury retrograde because something else is (for the present) not (yet) really going anywhere. As for whether this more immediate-feeling Mercury (Germania) cycle contributes to the two-months of 'breaking down' our resistance (perhaps to some personal status quo or thinking) which we would associate with eclipse effects - that will tend to be a little more individual, having to do first with whether the eclipse's 29 Pisces position affects your natal chart and secondarily with whether Mercury's station aspects your natal chart.

What degrees would those be?

For the eclipse, degrees between 24 and 29 of any sign are affected, as are degrees between 0 and 4 of any sign and the signs which stand to have the most obvious difficulties being:

The Conjunction:

24 through 29 degrees of Pisces

plus 0 through 4 degrees of Aries.

The Opposition:

24 through 29 degrees of Virgo

plus 0 through 4 degrees of Libra.

The Squares:

24 through 29 degrees of Sagittarius (or) Gemini

plus 0 through 4 degrees of Capricorn (or) Cancer.

And for Mercury, look for the following:

The Conjunction:

12 through 22 Aquarius

The Opposition:

12 through 22 Leo

The Squares:

12 through 22 Scorpio (or) Taurus

Conjunctions are when things happen ... or when we have no choice but to deal with something on some level. Oppositions differ from conjunctions in that they're more of a confrontation with something - the question being how we're going to deal with it (which sounds a bit like the echo of Germania stationing at 1 Libra, doesn't it?) ... and squares test our ability to balance different things against each other with the challenge being how to consider, support or utilize all things to best effect according to what they are - a set of qualities which are not necessarily going to be to our pleasure.

As the Uranus-South Node effects, those can be expected to linger on into and through Thursday, January 22nd, which means they let up just about when Mercury’s retrograde (which will remain with us until February 11th) is in full swing, pulling back - or causing us to pull back on on that which now needs working through.

And the eclipse? Eclipse effects will continue to evolve through March 20th - the date of the eclipse. Even after that we'll be feeling its effects.

Yet first comes Mercury retrograde. Evidently we have some things (and thinking) to do - and some of it concerns things we're not comfortable with or which don't fit our personal 'agenda.' But here’s the choice: we can do what we don’t want to do (and through that, learn what we don’t want to have to know) ... or we can fall victim to our fears, our ignorance or the arrogance of thinking that we 'know it all' and that our word goes, losing out on some opportunity we're being given now to learn - and from that to figure out what to do with (not about, with) all things which surely lie ahead.
.
.
.

Mercury Retrograde at 17 Aquarius

Trees... sky

(photo credit: US Department of Agriculture, February 2005)

.

A week from when this post hits the internet (January 21st) Mercury will go retrograde at 15:44 (3:55) in the afternoon.

So why bring it up now?

That would be because what we humans do depends on how and how well we think - that being the heart and soul of the astrological Mercury. So since as any celestial object heads into its station (either to direct or retrograde) things tend to get congested, challenging and otherwise somewhat like slogging through a lake filled with peanut butter (perish the thought...), to have such that gumming up our mental works seems something it might be helpful to have a ‘head’s up’ on in advance.

Ergo, this post.

Besides, next week is going to be one of ‘those’ weeks in astrology - call it either many things coming together or much ado (and to do) about much which needs doing ... and if you're someone with a birthday around the 20th or 21st, this coming year is going to be full of new things and new opportunities ... but with them are going to come some personal challenges, with all of this pertaining to long-range (rather than immediate) life changes.

Mercury Rx (glyph chart)

Jan 21, 2015 - 15:55 (3:55 p.m. ) UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

.

Mercury Rx (glyph chart)

Jan 21, 2015 - 15:55 (3:55 p.m.) UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

.

As for Mercury, once in retrograde, Mercury will continue counting down through the degrees, crossing back over ten  Aquarius on January 30th - a signal that the fervency likely to color many a thought, idea or precept until then will change over into more of a background now-you-see-it, now-you’re-clueless mode likely to be relegate to the background of our conscious thoughts even though it’s underlying everything we’re likely to be focused on.

The basic arc described by this retrograde (by its stations) is Aquarian - which means it is likely to have two energetic thrusts, one of which seeks to stabilize while the other seeks to change (representing Aquarius’ two rulers, Saturn and Uranus). When or where meshed together, these two energetics represent the chance that life will change (and/or) our efforts to be part of, or to resist it that change. And when or where Aquarian energies are not used in sync, they tend to represent the many  pluses and minuses of multiples and multitasking, which for some is easily artful ... and which for others is like living through some particularly unpredictable assault on one’s mental sense and collective sensibilities.

As to the specific degrees involved here, Mercury will go retrograde at 17 Aquarius and go direct at 1 Aquarius as of the 11th of February (both UT/+0 time), describing an arc of personal reconciliation to or understanding of circumstances which, if allowed to get the best of us, can manifest in difficulties or illnesses with the lesson being all about why, where and how we interact with others. The process involved here - like all Mercury retrograde cycles - will tend to manifest in a period where not much gets done ‘outwardly’ because things are being done (and need to get done) first, and those things may not be as ‘visible’ ... either to you or others.

Given that the sign involved here is Aquarius, neither the issues or whatever it is which ends up occupying our time is likely to be strictly personal - and with the station-direct point being 1 Aquarius there’s every chance that the whole of this time is ‘about’ someone or something which hasn’t been ...

a.) paid proper attention to ...

(or)

b.) ... which haven’t yet been even been noticed for what it actually is - or is worth.

You may be waiting for others to notice you or something you’ve done. Then again, others may be waiting on you - or you may not have yet noticed that the thing which is going to prove valuable moving forward.

It’s to think about.

With Mercury going direct only one degree ahead of the Moon, there’s a note of fervency, concern and high focus to this station. As well, with Mercury (and the Moon) within the 5 degree orb-of-trine to the North Node but NOT within the 3 degree orb-of-sextile to the South Node, there’s a clear differentiation between what we want to do and what we should do, with the Mercury/Moon-to-North Node trine indicating something ongoing which cannot be turned ‘off’ or ‘on’ through any act of individual will - which isn’t just about us, it’s about everyone.

In other words, we can’t ‘fix’ whatever is going on in a split second - and neither can anyone else. Will that play into why we feel we must or must not do something?
. 

.

It could ...with Pluto is sitting at 13 Capricorn t-squaring the nodes, dualistic (and maybe dueling) interests which range from 'resistance' to inordinate efforts to make something happen ... bring something into being ... or the eliminating of something something altogether seems inordinately important. And it may well be. But if or where the question is how to do-or-be all those important things, the very strength or intensity of our focus may get in our way.  Those who understand where their interests are in the global (meaning either 'world' or 'universal') interest - those people may now come to the forefront.

But will they succeed? Providing they are not working solely in their own regard (be that an individual person or an individual collective) great strides can be achieved. Yet those strides are unlikely to be immediate: Mercury retrograde is Mercury retrograde and all the standard advice about don't be impatient ... check your work twice ... don't sign onto anything permanent ... do your research ... thinks things over ... be prepared for messages to get garbled, lost or delayed ... all such regular Mercury warnings are all in play, as they always are under Mercury retrograde.

But even beyond that, with Pluto at the t-square here, that which is being negotiated now is unlikely to be achieved without some measure, feeling and reality of sacrifice even if in the end what gets achieved is something more wholesome, more satisfying, more productive ... and just better.

With Mercury (and the Moon) in opposition to Jupiter still retrograding back through Leo there’s likely to be a sense that something has gone ‘over the line’ or ‘too far.’ And with Jupiter retrograde posited as the ‘goal’ of a Venus-Sedna-Jupiter t-square, the freeing of our Self from whatever it is which is most challenging in the moment (be that one or a thousand things) is going to require that we finish learning that we need to, and how to let go of perspectives and expectations we were raised with and which were formed early about who people are (and aren’t!) as well as what we are entitled to ‘expect’ life to be, or how we thought things were going to “work” for us.

The strength, the power, the efficacy that we seek is there. But it’s not out there ... it’s inside some kind of ‘thought shell’ which has hardened around our way of thinking - most of all about what we ‘need’ in order to be or feel valid as a person or validated as part of our world.

And now we get to think our way to ‘breaking through’ that barrier which (oddly enough) we probably played a large part in erecting long ago when in our heads the ‘how it works’ ideas got set down in concrete.

We’ve outlived some of that. We need to change. And this week - the week leading up to Mercury’s station on the 21st (UT/+0) is all about coming to focus on what ... and why ... certain things need to change.
.
.
.

A 5 Cancer New Moon...and Mercury Direct

With all the (well deserved) attention astrology pays to “major” (outer) planets...which is a whole conversation in itself, as the farther from the Sun (life, metaphysical consciousness) you get, the more vast and often stunning or inexorable effects on that consciousness or life is.

Call the onset of these effects being...say, beyond Saturn, Saturn being the planet farthest from Earth which is visible with our own naked eye and therefore astrologically associated with the extent of our grasp or the greatest of our goals and achievements reached through diligence, long-term effort and all that we associate with slow, sometimes terribly challenging growth.

All of which is about what we do...or try. It’s beyond all that (beyond Saturn, that is) where the precepts of astrological evolution really reside.

Which means (you don’t have to like this, but it well may be considered true), one might thus say that evolution in the greatest sense starts where and only when our ability or sense that we can control things - or even get a grip on them - as humans simply ends.

And where said control probably never existed.

But oh...how we all gawk, gasp and gnash our desirous teeth wanting that control.

So maybe because of that...and maybe in spite of that, as much as we all tend to regard stations of Neptune, Pluto, Eris, Sedna and TNOs like Typhon Deucalion et al with something akin to instinctual alarm, there is a level at which we all know that our life is really made up of our everyday deeds, decisions and doings. And all of that is symbolized by planets inside our system’s main asteroid belt.

You know...Sun, Mercury, Venus, Moon, Mars.

And yes, the Moon is a satellite of Earth, I know. It’s referred to as a planet because astrology dates all the way back to yon very much olden times (think: 4,500-3,000 BCE) when all people could do is stare at the night sky and by doing so establish the difference between ‘wandering stars’ (objects which move in the short/observable term like the planets and our Moon) and those many, many stars which appeared to be ‘fixed’ against the night sky.

(Yes, those ‘fixed’ stars - the astrological fixed stars.)

Of those ‘inner’ and more personal points (we’re back to Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars and Venus), two never go retrograde - the Sun and Moon. But the other three do go retrograde, a fact we’ve all gotten a bit punched-drunken on this year, to be sure.

But this year’s ultra-pressure cooker aside, on an everyday basis there is nothing people into astrology like hearing more than Mercury retrograde is finally over...and when it comes to ‘getting past’ life’s awkward moments and lingering dragnets on our psyche, the monthly New Moon event has always seemed to function as a wiping down of the board and a resetting of all to approximate/current moment zero.

And here...just ahead...we get both. This month’s New Moon will be in Cancer (at 5 Cancer) and occur on June 27th at 8:10 in the morning, UT/+0 time, after which we count to three (days), then Mercury goes direct on July 1st at 12:51 p.m., also UT/+0.

Do these events overlap? Technically no, since we generally give planetary stations a two-days-prior/two-days-after ‘station allowance,’ which would only take us back to June 28th...although if you have a chart with four or five planets in Gemini (or Virgo) that may well (depending on your individual chart) indicate a heightened sensitivity to stations involving Mercury, since it rules (read: tends to excite, promote, provoke or challenge) the attributes of both Gemini and Virgo.

As the Moon comes to its New phase however, that would also be when Jupiter squaring the Nodes comes to perfection, bringing notions associated with 25 Cancer (Jupiter’s position) and those of 25 Aries and 25 Libra (the respective positions of the South and North lunar nodes).

Sappho by Theodore Chassériau (1849, oil on panel)

It’s also when asteroid Sappho goes retrograde at 17 Aquarius in opposition to Black Moon Lilith (calculated Lilith) and in an (8th-derivation) inconjunct to Pallas which suggests threads, notions and developments within this next New Moon cycle which ask of us to think things through and to use logic no matter how loud the ‘roar’ gets, no matter how tough the pressure becomes... with the understanding that 17 Aquarius is a degree which causes difficulties when ignored, whether we’re ignoring something within our own Self or life or whether we’re being ignored by others. There is a need for communication which given this degree’s tendency to ‘go off’ or act in an arrogant, obnoxious or out-of-order manner when denied can create near-cyclic difficulties where the acting out engenders restraints which then result in more eruptions.

Another note here: this is a degree known for physical manifestations, some of which cripple what are otherwise worthy or worthwhile talents, abilities or potentials.

Against these notes we have the Sabian Symbol for this degree: A man’s secret motives are being publicly unmasked - an image astrologer Marc Edmund Jones typified as ‘the difficulty for the modern individual to keep secret his private past or his deeper motives’...(a comment Jones made back in the 1970s and which would seem to apply ever more as time flows by).

For some of us, that Sappho is going retrograde will carry this point’s ‘universal and/or universalist’ within, helping them recognize the greater or ‘universal’ level of some question - and that in turn will help unite their thinking or serve as a means by which they will enter into connection and conversations with others. For some, Sappho’s often nostalgic and ‘poetic’ nature may rise to the fore, softening former ‘hard lines,’ helping foster greater willingness of some kind.

Into all of this come the degree of the June New Moon: 5 Cancer. Known for difficulties stemming from a ‘meanness’ of character which often surfaces in greed and/or miserly attitudes (or refusing to care or extend some feeling benefit) 5 Cancer is known to focus on a refusal to accept or work with/deal with various forms of human weakness - which is at some level a weakness in and of itself. There is a strong sense of ‘having to do what must be done’ which goes along with this degree as well, which since it’s poised in Cancer’s first ten degrees (degrees 0-9) refers to what we do or - again - our certainly very human individual physicality. The Sabian symbol here being ‘Game birds feathering their nests’ can reinforce the ‘borders’ and ‘boundaries’ placed between those being cared for/about and those who are remaining unrecognized at some vital, human level. Referred to as a degree which philosopher-astrologer Dane Rudhyar keynotes as ‘rationalization,’ this would appear to be Cancer at it’s a basic and instinctual level some might typify as individual (or close-held) survival and which some will internalize and transmute into ‘the survival of the group which insures my opportunities for future growth.

As for the chart...

New Moon at 5 Cancer (glyph chart)

(Aries Wheel - Location Not Specific)

New Moon at 5 Cancer (text chart)

(Aries Wheel - Location Not Specific)

The degrees of this chart fall into two rather separate ‘circuits’ - one being in the first decanate of various signs (degrees 0 through 9)...and one being in the third decanate of various signs (degrees 20 through 29). Moreover, taking just the the first decan points for the moment, these are also all in signs which occupy the left or pro-active (learning, experimental) side of the natural zodiac wheel.

What does that say? That tells us that this next month is about what we do or are doing, about what we are willing to try, learn about, say your peace on -or realize the reality of. Or to put it another way, this isn’t a month about building in the sanctity and security of our nests - whether through deed or presence, contribution of thought or concerted willingness to just be there for others...this month speaks to our all being part of this life and this world.

And how those two ideas differ.

Beyond the balancing of all that as a wash of color across the wide screen of life’s backdrop, then we add in a few configurations...

Remember Neptune sitting at 7 Pisces? It’s still there, so if you missed the first chat on same, since this now-you-get-it, now-you-don’t coming from that twitchy place inside where we all want so much to feel what we want and so don’t want to feel anything which will unsettle our secret (and secreted) sense of vulnerability...there’s still time.

- Link to -

Mercury in Taurus/Neptune at 7 Pisces

In any case...Neptune trine a New Moon which is itself conjunct Niobe speaks to pride as a self-delusional detriment - and one which has every possibility of refusing to feel and surrender to some reality now only to pay a far larger price down the line, all of which like as not has to do with some issue with emotional cost to ‘pride of standing.’

With Neptune squaring Phaethon, there’s a headstrong ‘I can do this and get away with it’ quality to many a choice now...but if you remember Phaethon’s story, that may not turn out well. After all, Phaethon was the world-be-heroic teen who insisted to Apollo that he was strong (mature) enough to control the horses which drew the chariot of the Sun across the sky...which most of us (providing you’re not still in the ‘it can’t get me’ stage of life) know is a recipe for trouble.

And when you add fuzziness of emotional standing (with Self most of all) to the need/desire to get out there and prove you can do something simply because you think you ought to be able to (never mind those pesky realities)...we shouldn’t be surprised if Phaethon in Gemini’s tendency towards hasty thinking, shooting off of one’s mouth (aka the tendency to make declarations) and other ‘immature’ ways of working through challenges drive some of this month’s questions and quandaries.

As for Venus in Gemini squaring that Pisces Neptune, this is a combination which promotes friendliness of expression - if not always genuine friendliness. This isn’t likely to be much of a problem unless we are either promising or choosing to believe something out of our personal and basic desire not to have to ‘go through experiencing’ some other choice.

In other words, it isn’t about what ‘they’ do - it’s about why we’re doing what we’re doing. If we’re doing it to evade or avoid something in us we’re likely to unconsciously create ripples in our own pond through others.

This really does give us control, though most of us are (despite what we all like to think) not all that big on controlling ourselves. Others? Yes, indeed. But control our Self? That’s a harder, if more respect-worthy thing.

To finish up here, Juno-Sisyphus is a particularly quirky combination as Juno speaks to self-discipline or the management/conservatorship of one’s resources, possessions, talents...or since this is Gemini, our minds, mentalities, choices and chosen ways of getting things done. Against this we have Sisyphus, an indicator of the ability to do what you want with a warning that if you go that direction, no matter what you think...it just isn’t going to turn out well.

Sisyphus always speaks to something we know we have the capacity to do but shouldn’t...which in combination with headstrong Phaethon is purely an argument with Self. Will we adhere to the standards of treatment, specifically those which deal with how we treat other people (a Sisyphus issue) or simply amuse, assuage or enrich ourselves at the expense of others?

Circuit number two in this New Moon horoscope concerns a series of three semi-sextiles which connect the first four signs of the zodiac (Aries, Taurus, Gemini and Cancer) in a jostling energetic speaking to how easy it is to merely be disrupted or disruptive [Eris/South Node] based on some ‘image’ we have implanted in our brain about how life ‘should be’ but isn’t.

All of that filters (uncomfortably...maybe even annoyingly) through our [Mercury] mental faculties, with all of this coming together as something we [Jupiter in Cancer] need to [25 Cancer] establish or take on, whether in our personal life or in the world around us.

Plus let’s not forget, we do have the Jupiter-Node t-square just now coming into high focus.

Balancing the need to be who we are in our own mind and in this world (so much has to do with proving something to ourselves, have you noticed?) the North Node being in trine to Mercury (which should be marked as retrograde, sorry)...this is the ‘should do’ of the North Node (which automatically comes with a side order of ‘do I have to?’) in trine to Mercury as Mercury nears but is not yet at it’s degree of station.

That will be 24 Gemini, not 25 Gemini.

Meanwhile, there’s a ‘squaring’ of our own need to grow in our own ability to comprehend and handle things with others - all of which plays into personal and public success through our [Eris] ability to deal with things we never imagined in a thousand-million years.

Will we react? Or will we, despite hesitations, misgivings, other things we’d rather be doing and a clutter of misunderstandings old and new which seem to be haunting our waking dreams...in spite of all that, will we persevere?

25 Libra is a degree which acknowledges difficulties and yet which retains a clear, indefinable yet eternal sense of hope. This is not the hope of any miraculous salvation but rather that which holds out that what we earn, we shall in time be rewarded with.

Are we impatient? Are we just tired and looking for a break?

Maybe one...maybe all. We are all just human, you know. Disappointments, trials, defeats, exhaustion and losses...they do happen. Sometimes they’re outside of us and tangible, sometimes they’re to some cherished notion we’ve been toting around despite life’s evidence to the contrary.

As for Mercury...

Le Traité d'Angoulême by Peter Paul Rubens

...Mercury will be going direct on July 1st at 24 (not 25) Gemini, a degree for which the Sabian symbol reads as follows: ‘A gardener trimming large palm trees,’ an image which can be well thought of not only through Marc Edmund Jones’ concept of ‘bringing under control nature’s power of expansion’ but through the more naturalistic idea of the palm tree itself, the palm being a fairly ubiquitous species (something we all know or have in ‘common’) which uses its own dead leaves to shield itself and its fruit (‘the fruit of its labors’) from the intensity of exposure to dry (unemotional) heat (friction, change, conflict).

Mind you, as Mercury goes direct we’re not out of the weeds just yet...

...that which is on our plates and on our minds, they have a bit of time to get worked through - until mid-July when Mercury exits its shadow (which is just prior to Mars exiting its shadow and Saturn going direct).

As Mercury goes through and emerges from its station, attitudes, opinions, conversations open up. Information we have been waiting for finally arrives. People finally look at their phone messages and that which has been back-ordered seemingly forever comes back into stock. So yes, we begin to move forward as Mercury goes direct - but we’re still tying up, settling out and dealing with that which we’ve been focused on for weeks... maybe even months now. Known for its own qualities of generosity and willingness to share (as opposed to those signaled by the Venus/Neptune square, which may amount to too much friendliness or putting those who deserve little but ‘look good’) 24 Gemini benefits us all by being an energetic which encourages open minds and a willingness to listen, hear and discuss - though to be honest, not all such discussions are in earnest. There is some ‘showiness’ which goes along with this degree, so to have Gemini’s ruler (Mercury) going station-direct at 24 Gemini speaks of this entire June 29th through July 3rd period as a good one for parties and hijinks, if also one when we may quite literally hear about grandstanding or someone ‘taking the stage’ so as to have their say.

But the bottom line here for most of us is just this: as Mercury goes direct again, at very long last we are at the end of the seemingly endless slog which began last December when Venus went retrograde. The whole of the time since then has been marked (some would say marred) by one or another of the personal planets being in retrograde...or about to go retrograde.

That’s over. We have a few weeks or sorting out the mental paperwork to do yet while Mercury and Mars both work back and out of their retrograde shadows, but there is cause for optimism in knowing we have now experienced facets of our beings we would never have dreamed of walking ourselves through - and that having done that, we are now better prepared to face our future...directly.
.
.
.

Nessus: The General Problem and the Problematic Specifics

  The Abduction of Deianeira by Centaur Nessus

by Jean Francois Lagrenee (1755)

Nessus is about to go on station. The date of that station is October 28th - the same as when Mars moves into Sagittarius. Thus, given the 2-day leeway we give to stations (before and after), that means Nessus station effects begin today....and continue through October 30th.

And about that combination of Mars, Sagittarius and Nessus? To anyone who knows Nessus, that should sound a big gong. Or at least be a hint that things could get...um...challenging.

For those who don't know Nessus, though I'd like to say 'lucky you' the truth is that every point is in every chart. So there's a Nessus quality operative somewhere in your life. It may be active, it may be passive. You may be the recipient of sad Nessus effects or the one delving them out. Or even sometimes both.

There is a long form of the story here, which if you'd like to read, I invite you to: here's the link.

In short however, the Nessus issue boils down to  'poisonous jealousy' (and maybe 'boils down' may be the wrong term to use - ouch!)

Before we go on, a couple of interesting notes on Nessus, which was discovered by David Rabinowitz (in conjunction with Spacewatch) at the observatory on Kitt Peak on April 26, 1993.

In an interesting break with tradition, as the subject of what to name this new object was being considered, three astrologers (Zane Stein, Dieter Koch and Robert Von Heeren) weighed in on the subject. Having studied 1993 HA2 (as Nessus was called until formally named)... they had all considered this new asteroid's workings in various charts. And after doing so, all three wrote (independently) to the international body which names celestial objects. All three astrologers suggested calling this new object Nessus...which among other things, suggests the myth really counts. 

Currently in Aquarius (sign of society, social systems, income and acceptance) Nessus' 'poisonous lust' and craven jealousy has been showing up for quite some time in the greed of some in society without regard for those being hurt and standards of behavior being tossed aside along the way. Nessus entered Aquarius back in November of 2005 after a rather quick 6-year romp-and-ravage of Things Capricorn which began back in 1999.

'Quick' here, by the by, refers to a mean average; with an orbital period of 122.4 years, the mean average time we would expect from Nessus in a sign would be 10.2 years. This means Nessus has a highly elliptical (egg-shaped as opposed to circular) orbit.

As you can see from the above, we're sort of in the 'short end' of the Nessus process right now - it's effects are swift and intense. But is longer and more languid any better? That's a good question - one we will all get to try on for size once Nessus enters Pisces in 2014.

And that Nessus is going to be in Pisces for close to twenty years - that also should give us a clue. Pisces being a sign all about feeling and dealing with our own feelings, that a trouble-maker marker like Nessus is going to be there for so long suggests we all have a lot of emotional growing up to do.

As always, maybe there's something to be learned from the last go-round in such circumstances...which in this case would be the late 1800's, a time which saw a rise in hypnotherapy as well as the advent of pharmaceutical painkillers - a boon as well as a threat. Society went through the Victorian Era, the boon, benefit and indiscriminate abuse of power associated with colonization was in full swing - and questions concerning slavery, the rights of women, child labor and such were just coming to the fore.

Oh yes...Nessus in Pisces is something we all can so look forward to!

Meanwhile however, Nessus is still in late Aquarius, giving us the experience of ourselves - our own better and lesser qualities - as mirrored in greater society and our attitudes towards same. Depending on where Nessus is in your chart natally and now by transit (and the rulers thereof) that will say a lot about the nature of 'Nessus  situations' which teach us about these qualities in our life.

During the past several months, Nessus has been in retrograde. And while retrograde, it's likely we've all been in a reflective mode. Are our priorities in correct order? Why do we - and others - behave as we/they do? We've dealt with our selfishness and wrestled with longings and lusts close up.

But now Nessus is going direct. As it does, some will strike or strike out, depending on situations and how people handle their own internalized sense of poisonous entitlement. That this is happening in a degree noted for its Uranian qualities suggests where energies and people have been 'repressed' or 'repressive' there will now be a 'breaking through' which may not be pleasant. Lore suggests illness possible but...interestingly... stresses that interaction and communication (not hostility) is the answer. This in itself is a big support of a lot of theories put forth by holistic medicine and  psychology both.

Yet let's face it - there are those who would rather not deal with any idea or system of thought which suggests that any 'cure' can simply be about them. Why not? Because that implies there was something wrong with what they were doing to begin with - and that's a whole giant difficulty in the land of the astrological Nessus.

Like I said...you may want to read the whole story.

Between now and October 30th (when station effects subside) hidden desires may surface in yourself or others around you. That this station occurs as Mars moves into Sagittarius suggests some of this is about shifts in ongoing issues - particularly those which are either about containment or which have for whatever reason gotten into a situational stalemate.

Whatever goes on remember - Nessus feels like it's about someone else, but it never is. Nessus is about us and how well we are able to recognize, work with, take responsibility for and deal with our own urges, lusts and oh-so mortal desires!