Pluto’s New Moon Vega Station

Fixed star Vega, photographed here by the Spitzer Space Telescope,

is twenty-five light years away from us in constellation Lyra

(photo credit: JPL, NASA)

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As this post hits the digital airwaves, dwarf planet Pluto is going on station. The actual station-retrograde moment occurs at 3:52 in the morning on Friday, April 17th (in the UT/+0 time zone), but given the nature of stations as indicators of things ‘taking a turn’ in life, it just isn’t unusual for things to happen just in advance - or just after - a station’s occurrence.

And the likelihood of something Plutonic happening to you...? That increases (or decreases) with how exactly Pluto aspects your natal chart.

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The closer the aspect, the stronger the effect.  And since we’re talking Pluto, the closer to the actual time and date of station, the more transformative the effect. With Pluto going from direct motion into retrograde, we’re going from just shy of seven months of adapting to externally into about five months of changing on the inside - or finding out how we’ve already changed, and what that means to us in some long(er) run.

With Pluto taking this ‘turn’ in perfect conjunction with fixed star Vega, part of what we’re going through involves a sorting through standards and ‘structures,’ be they physical, mental, moral, fiscal, occupational or otherwise - and what we’re finding there is that things are either changing ... or never were what we wanted to think they were to begin with.

And no, we can’t forget about it.

Nor are we particularly enthralled about it, even in the case of those (you know who you are...!) who are utterly determined to resist, that being one of the easiest things to read from the grand trine (in earth signs) which Pluto is in as it goes into retrograde.

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This‘resisting’ force is symbolized by Mars, though at 12 Taurus there is every chance that some of us will be beginning to tackle or work through things which have been resisted, but which for whatever reason are now beginning to be recognized as an area of life or attribute or situation in need of investment and attention, not something simply to be taken on its hard-shell face.

The other member of this triad being Black Moon Lilith at 15 Virgo, an odd combination which speaks either to a determined effort to deny any responsibility for dealing with particular facts/truths even if they will benefit your aim, goal or ‘cause’... or which speaks to some sort of determined effort which, in seeking to control how others act, think or prioritize, gets confronted by some sort of transformative energy which ends up changing the goal or the point of the effort itself.

Moreover, this particular Pluto station is also part of an ‘almost complete’ grand sextile.

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In not being complete, this figure won’t be important to many of us. However, IF you’re someone with a planet, dwarf planet, node, cusp or axis point positioned between 4 and 7 degrees of Libra in your natal chart, that point will complete this grand sextile (filling in the question mark above), telling us that what you’re doing and things which are now in progress are going to change your life - not just transform your direction or change your mind but change your life in fairly short order.

This doesn't have to be a big change - but it can be. It may be something only you recognize or even suspect. It may only matter to you. Or it may have not ever  crossed your mind until now. With this being a grand sextile in fire and air taking place as Pluto takes station in an earth signs, there is a bit of an abstract quality about something both fateful and very real ... which in time you will grow to recognize as a learning experience you were never in control of.

And even if you’re not on the grand sextile list, there are two other figures included with fire and air sign sprinkle, one of which is a Kite... 

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... and the other of which is a Magic Rectangle...

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...which unlike the possible grand sextile DO both apply to everyone - at least as ‘modifiers’ to whatever Pluto station matters we’re each experiencing.

Not that they work the same way, though. Kites speak of opportunities which we want to harness, or which need to be harnessed, lest something get off course or fail to live up to its nature. Kites ‘aim’ at a goal which is pictured by the object at the top of the kite - which in this case, is Ceres at 3 Aquarius, speaking to difficulties or people who are experiencing painful difficulties and our efforts to guard against such things, to fix whatever may be causing the difficulties, or even the determination to ‘guard’ or ‘protect’ some painful status quo from criticism or interference.

But with kites, we don’t ‘aim’ right for the goal - we ‘steer’ towards it, doing that steering from the position of the kite’s “tail” (here, Juno at 7 Leo),  which if you think of that point as where a kite’s string would attach makes total sense.

As for Juno at 7 Leo, that speaks to a (Juno) managing or management of some situation, aim or tendency through the intelligent construction (constructing) of that which is the most creative and ‘aimed at’ (this being the Aquarius part) not one’s personal aims, but those bigger or more overarching considerations which if improved will bring about the result or reward we are hoping for (and thus our personal rewards).

Pluto Station-Retrograde (glyph chart)

April 17, 2015 - 3:52 a.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Pluto station-retrograde (text chart)

April 17, 2015 - 3 52 (UT +0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Magic rectangles differ from kites in that kites are something we actively do (or are in the middle of doing) and magic rectangles refer most often to things which are, or which have been set up, created or which have come to be without all that much effort on our part, and which because they are just so ‘magical’ (and more or less magically effortless) in our lives we don’t tend to value as someone else - someone who doesn’t have our talent, our heritage or inheritance, how someone who doesn’t have our problems OR our privileges might see things.

And that being what it may, all goes well (or terribly) for us in this seemingly unending way until something ‘breaks the spell’ and the magic suddenly ends.

Once “broken” (which with a natal magic rectangle is timed through difficult transits to the points which make up the figure) magic rectangles are difficult to heal, solve or otherwise resurrect. It’s as if the ability remains, but because it wasn’t “worked for” in the “normal” sense, there seems to always be some sort of inability to put things back together.

In this case (a strictly transiting magic rectangle), the points are Ceres, Saturn, Juno and Venus, with Venus in opposition to Saturn and Ceres (as we just discussed in reference to the kite) in opposition from Leo to Aquarius. Saturn is still at 4 Sagittarius - the degree it was at when it went retrograde back on March 14th ...

-link to post-

Saturn Retrograde - Phaethon Direct

... and Venus is at 6 Gemini, a degree known for separating fact from fiction and facts from feelings, resulting in insights which though correct can prove very unpopular and a preference (or need to remain confined to) surface examinations, perhaps because this degree insists on equal emphases on ability and (emotional) motivation if success is to be achieved.

Venus/Saturn in opposition is considered one of the few oppositions which are fortunate (and even sometimes stabilizing) in business world and when it comes to dealing with money. This combination is also very good for making plans which require consideration of details and/or ‘costs,’ be they financial or to anything else - such as a schedule or some other plan which now needs to be changed.
Pluto’s station isn’t affecting any of these dynamics directly. But that they are occurring at the same time as Pluto’s station does suggest how, with regards to something in your life which you identify personally as having its reflection in either with the grand sextile, the kite or the magic rectangle (or maybe all three!) ... how that situation or effort is going through a transformative time.

Or how ‘other’ (Pluto) things around you in life and the world which are in the process of changing are causing (even forcing) you to alter your plans - maybe even fatefully so.

And that things may (read: will) change? Or that they’re changing? Or that many of us will be or become the person who enacts that change - or that we’ll begin changing in our own life?

With Pluto turning to retrograde on the 17th just a day after Earth has begun its annual Lyrid Meteor Shower (and a day before a New Moon at 28 Aries on the 18th) we are getting a double dose of finger pointing in the Vega direction. After all, not only is Pluto going retrograde in perfect conjunction with Vega, but this station is occurring one day after the Lyrid Meteor shower (which runs from April 16th through the 25th) begins.

Constellation Lyra is, after all, where Vega lives.

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And if that’s not enough, comet Thatcher (the comet which produces the Lyrids) has its radiant (apparent origination point) IN Lyra, a constellation which portrays the ‘musical instrument’ (and ‘harmonic tones,’ one could argue) used by god Apollo.

Which makes perfect sense when we think of Vega as the heart of this constellation and thus a symbol of all which softens our resistance and ‘attunes’ us to the qualities of Apollo’s enlightenment - that being so very close to what we call ‘charisma.’

So this issue of what pleases us, what we think ‘looks good’ or ‘sounds good,’ the qualities of charisma (that which enchants us) and/or our qualities of charisma (that with which we enchant others) ... all that is now up for grabs (one hopes not literally) with what others think of us as easily transformed as what we think of them (or ‘that,’ should our focus be a situation, goal or object rather than a person).

Does that mean everything will go wrong now?

Not necessarily. It all really depends on our relationship to Plutonic forces and desires - said desires so often being aimed at what we want others to do or be, when the real issue is how vulnerable we really feel. We’re all exceptionally good at fooling ourselves on this point - we tend to think Plutonic acts and choices are about our ‘strength’ instead of our fervent desire not to be seen as weak.

Or maybe worse yet, to have to live with our feelings of incapacity, weakness or vulnerability. That, we REALLY don’t like, especially at times when Pluto energies become active.

You know, like about now. So we can all expect to be going through some ‘stuff’ which we don’t like at all - and in response to what we think of as something someone else is “doing to us” (or to our efforts), we are likely to get all hot and Pluto-obsessive, which is not the way we “win” (or prevail) where Pluto is concerned.

Here’s the Pluto rule: no matter how demanding or upsetting the situation is, first, know your position. Then state it - ONCE - in its simplest and most honestly and complete terms.

Then BE QUIET. Go about your business. Let the fur fly. Let others stir up all the dust they want to stir up.

If you have understood the problem and truly proceeded on honest facts, and IF you have chosen your course of action (or priorities) based not on emotion but on an understanding of your fears as well as the needs of others (without giving in emotionally to either side) ... then, when the dust settles, you will win out.

I know - this sounds odd. Particularly odd as we associate Pluto with passion, obsession and overwhelming odds, feelings and outcomes. But that’s just the point: Pluto’s positives are outcomes which occur when we do things for the right reason, not because we desire a given outcome.

And when we don’t go that route?

That’s when Pluto becomes a symbol of an emotional world of pain ... a painfully emotional world and a world of emotionality driven by pain.

So what does all this mean in connection with a New Moon in Aries - specifically at 28 Aries?

Every New Moon is about something new, be it the phase of a continuing project, a new perspective on something or someone you know or a new plan, reason or action which leads to getting something done, whether externally or otherwise.

New Moon in Aries (glyph chart)

April 18, 2015 - 19:56 (7:56 pm) UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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New Moon in Aries (text chart)

April 18, 2015 - 19:56 (7:56 pm) UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Before we move on, a few notes from the ‘Oh, What a Difference a Day Makes’ file. Between the time Pluto goes on station and the New Moon, the Moon will have moved over twenty degrees, completely disrupting the grand sextile and kite formations seen at Pluto’s station.

The magic rectangle is still there. Pluto’s private grand trine is still there. But the opportunity (or perhaps the need) which might have allowed us to steer something - that’s over.

Being at 28 Aries, this New Moon will emphasize  personal issues in that we’re likely to take things personally - even overly so, as in the case of those who will see something happen in the world around them and give up or walk away. Aries is always a fairly temperamental sign this way, but its not always as prone to disappointment (and all which goes on inside of us when we’re feeling disappointed) as at the moment.

Some of this may be useful in how it may be a reflection of our realizing that something we’ve been doing is either ‘over’ or it’s not going to work (or can’t work) the way we thought it would - which for some equals defeat. But for others, maybe it just means we need to take a step back and think (or plan) through again. At least one astrologer has written about this degree as having something of a different response depending on our age as well, with younger people feeling more disappointments (or feeling their setbacks more acutely) than those who have lived long enough to think of life in less black-and-white terms.

But whoever we are, this New Moon’s degree - and thus the lunar month it is spearheading emphasizes support, help and the equal abilities of men and women to be receptive of others and generous in kind.

Evidently that matters at the moment. Not only that, it’s also part of everything we’re doing by way of sorting through the differences between what we thought was ‘worth it’ or valuable or inspirational or what we wanted ... and what things have turned out to be-and/or-become.

With Pluto going retrograde on the 17th, the two-day station allowance we give such events ends on Sunday the 19th. And since Sunday the 19th is the date that Pallas goes retrograde (at 0 Capricorn) and the second of April’s scheduled meteor showers (the Eta Aquarids) begins, in the wake of Pluto’s station ... and the New Moon ... it would appear we will be ‘sparked’ to some new (Pallas) or new level of perspective.

Pallas has been sitting at 0 Capricorn since it entered the sign just after Jupiter’s station on the 8th, promoting patience and the need for patience as much with our Self as others as we try - often ineffectively - to communicate forms of inner truth to others even as we protect our beliefs or abilities from unnecessary harm. Will Pallas’ going retrograde mean we will now gain some perspective on our Self as to why we get listened to and not listened to? Not necessarily, but maybe. What would seem to be likely apart from that would be our gaining some ‘transformative’ perspective through (or as) we simply live through these days - which in its own way will give us perspective on who we have been being ... who we can be ... and why one thing might work better for us than another. Given Pallas’ turn to retrograde as the Eta Aquarids start up (they start on April 19th and run until May 28th), we can expect some natural societal, society, social, systemic and networking energies - anything which to us defines the path to and experience of ‘success’ (however we define that) to be part of this mix. Given the Aries New Moon, there are aspects of this introduction of Big Picture Aquarian (Eta Aquarid) vibe which apply to health, lifestyle and overall functionality ... and then again, there are aspects of the current energetics which are very definitely more egocentric - and about whether our ego is getting in the way (our way).

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Plus, there is the fact that this part of the station - the ‘aftermath’ and evolutionary part which starts us into seeing what we need to leave behind and where we need to go in order to renew or reinvent our Self and efforts in times ahead ... all of that is taking place on the day when the Sun is at 29 “critical” degrees of Aries - a degree known as useful to those willing to make determined efforts (now and in the days, weeks and months to come) and which though not particularly elegant, is willing to grapple with the ugly as well as the beautiful, if only because the energy of 29 Aries seeks to build on that which is solid while eliminating the tendency to hesitate or otherwise waste time and energy on appearances which in the end are merely ‘advertising.’

In the end, we are what we do. That’s very 29 Aries - as is the inbuilt-desire and effort to work peacefully and to have everything work out for the best as the Sun moves on into Taurus, where who we are (and aren't) come back to haunt us not only through what we are (and have done through a month of Aries-centric self-motivated doings) - but through what we aren't, especially in our own soul.

Thus will we be ... and find ourselves transformed.
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Venus in Pisces

Vénus Astarté by Emile Jean Baptiste Philippe (1894)

Astrology has long spoken of the 'exultation' felt under that pearlescent mist of feeling which is so very Venus in Pisces. Whether or not we consider ourselves spiritual… attuned… or intuitive in that very special way which allows us to respond before we really ‘know’…all that is Venus in Pisces.

As is grief. And longing. To feel sorrow under Venus in Pisces is to sense the power of emotions as a maelstrom whether we succumb to it or not.

That is, as it happens, one of the greatest secrets of Pisces: to feel and to have sufficient presence of Self that we can feel our own reactions to our emotions…?

From that comes not the wisdom of knowledge but instead that of consideration - compassionate consideration. To win under the Piscean banner is to be willing to lose out on any untrue conviction, for Pisces embodies the precept of humility. To heal under Pisces means walking through the pain of our darkness and the depths of despair, for Pisces requires faith.

Faith in our Self…and how that Self is going about being who they are, maybe most of all.

Bringing all this to Venus, whatever latitude we give ourselves during the month following the Venus ingress of Pisces on April 6th at 8:32 in the evening (UT/+0 time)…that may play well or much to anyone’s displeasure depending on how fully any given person has accepted their place in what they’re doing. As part of this, everything which passes through our lives during this time will produce or show up some effect – and such effects come either from who we are being in the moment (a response or reaction), what we are currently doing (a reward or loss), or something which we’ve done in the past (a lesson learned or being learned now).

And in response to that…some of us will now be done, some of us will recognize the cost, the pain, the mistake – and some of us will receive broad based honors or some ‘outpouring’ which results from tapping into an innate ‘quality of nature’ which may be quite raw as it overtakes us, but which in the end is nothing more or less than our reality of this moment.

Some of us will understand the value of what they see. On the other hand, over the course of this month of Venus in Pisces we’re also likely to feel some shifting of our values and priorities – all of which reflects the process of our eclipsing who we have been coming into this time.

We know what we’re seeing. But do we only know what we’re seeing?

As a different way to look at the idea of the 'marketplace' mentioned in the Sabian symbol

for 0 Pisces, a 1939 photograph of activity on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

(photo credit Library of Congress, April 1939)

With Venus in Pisces, the reality can be anything. Moreover whatever appears first during this Venus passage is most often not the final nature or ultimate realization. So one must work with what happens, some of which will affect us more – at least in our own eyes – than what we felt going on around us.

That’s just the nature of this time. The things we do, whether required or optional, are all part of a process which in bringing us into periodic stress with our sense of Self inspires a ‘breaking away’ from something we have focused on…or maybe held onto for so very long.

The astrological origin here being Jupiter, our impetus comes from ‘beyond’ us.

Yet that which is empowered and emboldened begins within, as an awareness which, given where we are in time will become ever more of the eclipsing of some notion, some…valuation – which is where both the Sabian symbol for 0 Pisces and the magic rectangle set up at the ingress) seem to come into play.

The Sabian for 0 Pisces being ‘IN A CROWDED MARKETPLACE FARMERS AND MIDDLEMEN DISPLAY A GREAT VARIETY OF PRODUCTS’ this  Venus in Pisces passage pits us against the wanting (even longing) to ‘see’ things (at least in our own mind) the way we want them to be, or the way we like seeing them – against the need to deal with the reality that there are many choices, many voices to be heard (and either considered or dismissed, one by one)…and in general, an opportunity to ‘partake’ of much which commonly needed, bought into or desired by all of us for our own particular reasons.

The reference here being ‘products’ instead of ‘food’ (or nourishment), the normal Piscean feeling state which operates basically in terms of what we have in common with others is here “annotated” (if you will) to reference a more… Aquarian sort of reference, which isn’t unlikely as first and last degrees (0 and 29) of signs tend to display that they have just finished ‘learning’ about (the previous sign) or that they’re preparing to deal with (the sign ahead). With Venus being the ‘nature’ of the energetic implied, what we have or are which is different or unique is what creates the “Venusian” response “going into” this time (as the transit begins). Moreover, since the symbol references farmers and middleman (but not the ultimate consumers), we are being told that the ‘Venus process’ we move into and through during April is but a first step in the process.

Which when we think about how solar eclipses work…namely how events during the two months preceding the eclipse ‘breaks down’ some set of walls.

And of course the closer any point in your chart is to the eclipse (which in this case will be at 8 Taurus) describes the intensity of your process.

So the idea of Venus signaling the beginning of some process – whether that’s just thinking something through or actively doing it – fits. Moreover, we aren’t due for a shift in the ‘thrust’ of current dynamics until April 29th (the date of the eclipse for everyone east of the America’s Pacific coast).

Meanwhile, the tone for these weeks ahead is being set by a magic rectangle – an astrological figure which refers to a ‘golden’ sort of ‘everything working for me’…right up until the moment it doesn’t work for you – and maybe anyone else, in which case the situation isn’t working for you because its considered a negative by others.

Magic rectangles are often a sign of grace. But they are also astrological figures which if ‘broken’ (or violated) represents forces which seem daunting when we try to contemplate fixing things.

If we can fix things, that is.

This image is not the ‘standard’ sort of astrological figure (i.e., one made of planetary or dwarf planet placements) in that it’s composed mostly of fixed stars and the lunar nodes. But that too tells us something. Fixed stars tend to indicate ‘prevalent conditions’ (or standing/traditional methods, notions, emotional expectations or alliances) and the presence of the lunar nodes in this figure assures us that relationships and the question of relating is involved.

Venus/Nessus being an ‘enduring’ method, legacy, orientation, belief (etcetera), in Pisces we would expect reactions to ‘that again’ or something which “simply will not die,” abate or go away, all of which adds to Venus’ passing through that most broad-spectrum of all emotional signs, Pisces.

Do you need to make an emotional effect? This may be the time to make it.

Of course…given the incoming eclipse, you may be in for something or someone provoking you.

And yes, both may happen during this April 5 - May 3 Venusian transit of Pisces. They may even both happen repeatedly. And in connection.

Or completely separately. It just depends. Astrologically we would look to where natal Venus is – the aspects, the house, the sign…and whether it’s retrograde or direct in the natal chart.

Then again, we could just think back on the recent Venus retrograde, an event which began on December 21, 2013 and which ended on January 31, 2014 (both dates UT/+0). To some extent, what we were experiencing then comes back to us now – mostly at a ‘playing out’ level. The North (lunar) Node at 28 Libra refers to a direction we should go in society or a ‘direction’ which should be taken with the degree (28 Libra) referencing the successive generations of mankind and our sense of connection to others, groups or collectives in particular - whether that’s a reference to strength, weakness, a need to be stronger, more gentle…or even the need to let something go.

To this Mirach/South Node adds the idea of being perfectly happy with what you’re doing…or the way things are, with the trine to/from Regulus creating a note of “nobility of intent.” Regulus in particular having a reputation for taking on the coloration of (and) being stronger when aspected in someone’s natal chart, that of course applies on an individual natal basis. But because such precepts also apply on a global basis, that Venus is in opposition to Regulus means that there’s a stronger Venus-Regulus emphasis on the plus-and/or-minus of nobility…and what exactly constitutes being or acting noble. Considering Venus’ rulership of Taurus as the sign of the incoming eclipse, being faced off by someone else – or maybe just questioning our own reasons and rationales has some meaning in the (magic rectangle) moment as Venus goes direct…and may well also ‘contribute’ to the overall purging of values and (e)valuations associated with the eclipse.

And that – in turn – will like as not trigger not our sense of worth, but our reasons for being who we are..some of which may be needing some review (in particular for those whose charts will directly aspect the 8 Taurus solar eclipse). 

On the other hand, considering how Venus also rules Libra we may now be asking whether what someone is saying is consistent with what they do as in the old ‘talking the talk’ as opposed to ‘walking the walk’ sort of thing – which in our minds may have us wondering whether anyone believes us. This may well be most apparent in those in whose life the magic rectangle is ‘broken’ – where everything it refers to is non-functional (or close to that). Most transiting magic rectangles tend to manifest more positively, but in the end energetics are simply what they are. So the ‘picture’ which offers advantages or strengthens the positive to some by harnessing abilities, timing and karmic grace harnesses…or it brings something pretty or comfortable to an end.

And of course because life is never just one single thing, in one part of life all may go well now…while in another things are inexplicably unworkable or uncomfortable.

Venus’ transit of Pisces is always a sensitive time. Those who can spent time in contemplation, study or simple appreciation of those precious personal moments… those who can take it easy… those who take the time to take that walk through nature, or enjoy simple pleasures in good company…they will find that in spite of life’s pressures there are moments to be enjoyed, moments which will get us through those other things.

Under Venus in Pisces, all that which is human provides us with the means to find commonalty and acceptance from others. That would be the exalted Venus promise.

But first we have to find our own most human humility.

That's the Pisces way.
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