Saturn Retrograde - Phaethon Direct

Seen above: Saturn's north polar hexagon, dwarf moon Mimas

(246 miles/396 km across) and part of Saturn's A ring

(photo credit: NASA, JPL, Caltech, Mar 2013)

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With less than a week before nature displays her spectacular nature through gracing our planet with a total solar eclipse at 29 Pisces, the soul-searching nature of the eclipse is well upon us. We may not even notice it ... but something is ‘moving’ us from somewhere we have been to somewhere we need to be - particularly on a very personal and esoteric level.

How deeply or intrinsically your life - or more perhaps your feelings about life (and your life amidst all) is impacted ... ultimately ... by this eclipse has everything to do with your personal natal chart, of course. But we do know those who will ultimately find these weeks past and ahead together forming some greater life ‘turning point’ will like as not have a planet, node, dwarf planet, axis or cusp point in aspect to the eclipse’s position (29 Pisces), which would be true if they fall within the following range(s):

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SOLAR ECLIPSE @ 29 PISCES

-degrees affected using standard (Ptolemaic) aspects- 

-Conjunction (5 degrees of orb): 24-29 Pisces, 0-4 Aries

-Squares (5 degrees degrees of orb): 24-29 Sagittarius, 0-4 Capricorn ... (and) ... 24-29 Gemini, 0-4 Cancer

-Opposition (5 degrees of orb): 24-29 Virgo, 0-4 Libra

-Trines (5 degrees of orb): 24-29 Cancer, 0-4 Leo ... (and) ...  24-29 Scorpio, 0-4 Sagittarius

-Sextiles (3 degrees of orb): 26-29 Capricorn, 0-2 Aquarius ... and ... 26-29 Taurus, 0-2 Gemini

-Semi-sextiles (1/1.5 degrees of orb): 28 Aries-0 Taurus, 28 Aquarius-0 Pisces

-Inconjuncts (1/1.5 degrees of orb): 28 Leo-0 Virgo, 28 Libra- 0 Scorpio

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In fact, in looking at that list, the degree that Saturn is going station-retrograde in (4 Sagittarius) is being eclipsed-by-trine.

Totally eclipsed-by-trine - which takes us right to that lore which speaks about what eclipses are on the metaphysical level, as that effect is - and is going to be felt by us for some time yet to come. When a solar eclipse ‘hits’ a point in your natal chart, lore tells us there will be an ‘evolution’ of sorts pertaining to that symbol, the house it resides in and the metaphysical meaning of the planet ruling the cusp of that house - and that said evolution will continue for a full three years (36 months), with some sort of ‘twist’ or ‘shift’ occurring about six months before the process ends.

Saturn Retrograde (glyph chart)

March 14, 2015 - 15:03 (3:03 pm) UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Saturn Retrograde (text chart)

March 14, 2015 - 15:03 (3:03 pm) UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Things - even people - tend to ‘disappear’ during, or through processes associated with eclipses. And while some of those ‘disappearances’ may occur as part of the ‘evolution’ just talked about, if there is going to be a sense of loss associated with a solar eclipse if happens more often than not at the eclipse comes into force.

That would be now ... or more to the point, partly now and also partly having to do with things which have deteriorated or shown themselves to be ‘breaking down’ (beginning to crumble or end) over the past two months (i.e., during the pre-eclipse ‘break down’ period).

Mind you, there is virtually no connection between the actual point of the eclipse and whatever has been acting on or in your life to change things. What is happening now (or at the time of any solar eclipse) has very little to do with where we will go or what we ought to be doing. Instead, what the eclipse will tend to act on is what we shouldn’t be doing ... or maybe how we shouldn’t be going about doing things.

In other words, the eclipse - which is strongest in your life when it aspects YOUR chart - is not ‘about’ what someone does to you, or whether you lose your job, buy a house, have a child, fall ill or get happily married for the rest of your ever-after life.

Solar eclipses are not about that - they’re about how that which is “going away,” be it that job, your former lifestyle, life as a single person - or even your health - it’s about something which your previous “status quo” was keeping you from doing.

Or being.

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The point in your chart which is being struck - or in this case, the global transiting Saturn which is being ‘hit’ by eclipse at 4 Sagittarius - represents something which has outlived its purpose. We are used to it and most of us will tend to assume that it is integrally connected to ‘how life is supposed to be’ because we have learned to live with whatever it is.

Life, however, has other plans - bigger plans. And our wanting to keep things as they have been doesn’t fit - hence the eclipse.

Yet as things are being ‘taken away’ through the process of an eclipse, something else is being revealed. Maybe we see it because we’ve been started out of complacency by being tossed out of our comfort zone, but whether or not that’s the reason, the metaphysics of the eclipse say that when something in ‘everyday life’ (the Moon) moves in front of (takes priority over) our (Sun) conception of life as we know it - when all then “falls dark,” we will see revealed that which we aren’t using in everyday life - the Sun’s corona.

The Solar Eclipse of July 11, 2010 as photographed in French Polynesia

(photo credit: Denys, 2010)

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And that’s the point of the eclipse. Coronas represent things which under normal conditions we don't notice, see or consider ... which just like the corona, could be very special. Even close to magical. That special quality is what we are 'left' with when something in our life gets 'eclipsed' and taken away. And since what’s being eclipsed here is Saturn (the keywords for which include time, responsibility, limits, slow growth, earned rewards, accomplishment, loss, determination, fear, structure, consequence and that kind of leadership which in positive mode leads by example and which in negative mode leads by edict, rejection, punishment and “might makes right” choices or acts of retribution) ... while something very Saturn-like is being 'taken away,' what we are left with is even more valuable.

And why is it more valuable?

Because it's unique to us. 

Saturn is currently moving through Sagittarius - the sign of education, legal debate, exploration (not necessarily discovery), travel, expanding horizons, religion (as opposed to spirituality, which is Piscean) and any/all means by which information is disseminated, be it false or true, be it kind or unkind, be it warranted, useful ... or simply something someone is putting out there because they’ve stubbed their ego’s toe.

In Sagittarius, Saturn represents that which are seeking to help us find a path to some accomplishment or goal and all the lessons, critiques, modifications and re-thinks we will experience by feeling called upon to examine all which we come across in the process of seeking that path (or more progress along that path). Judgment - and the spirit in which judgments are made are primary challenges here with a lot of ‘cutting off’ of opportunities and rejecting information which in time proves correct being the danger ... and ultimately that which will dampen, limit or end up causing someone not to succeed and achieve their (Saturn) goals and aims.

Moreover, that judgment and judgments may be a problem now is being underscored. By what? By the fact that Saturday the 14th (the date Saturn goes retrograde) is also the first day of ‘rock comet’ Phaethon - currently in retrograde - going on station to go direct come Monday, March 16th.

So that means Saturn’s station occurs ... and that as Saturn goes into retrograde ... or as part of that process, Phaethon is going direct.

Phaethon by Hendrick Gottzius (Netherlands 1558-1617)

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So what does Phaethon represent?

That answer is probably best told as a thumbnail of the myth. Phaethon is a teenager - a teenager as convinced of his own ability and near-immortality as any teenager is when, through a bargain with Apollo, he ends up with the right to ask the god for something mortals normally can’t have or ever get.

And what does Phaethon ask for? Proving for all time how important having a spiffy ride is to teens, Phaethon asks to drive the Chariot of the Sun.

And Apollo, being the god of (among other things) honesty, can’t go back on his word.

What this speaks to is the power of immaturity - or its Doppelganger, a lack of willingness to act mature) and the ‘I WANT IT!!!’ cravings which arise in such a vacuum of self-discipline from time to time, testing even our inner Apollo - that inner sense of ‘the truth of the situation’ which knows when we shouldn’t do something, but which in a Phaethon situation can’t override the (Phaethon/too-youthful) inability to conceive of lessons and consequences life has not yet taught.

In Phaethon’s case, the results were utterly disastrous. When the chariot’s four horses realized an inexperienced hand was holding their reins, they began running wild - which would astrologically now be in the process of happening, which may have already happened, or which is being seen to now be on the verge of breaking out. Taking the bit in their teeth, the horses galloped off-course, soaring so high and close to the Sun itself that Phaethon’s hair and clothing caught on fire, causing him to fall to the far-below sea - and his death.

Pride goeth before the fall, indeed - that is one of things we confront through ‘Phaethon Periods,’ one of which begins as Saturn goes retrograde. Will we experience such urges, first person? Or will we see someone else acting as their own Phaethon, getting carried away with some vision they have of (or for) their Self? (And if so, what kind of bearing does their hard-headed insistence on some fantasy they have about that Self have on us?)

And ‘fantasy’ is a correct term here as Phaethon is going retrograde in Pisces - a sign which is always about experiencing our own feelings about things (or people). Even more than that, Phaethon is going direct in an emotionally confrontational degree - 17 Pisces - which in guaranteeing some sort of emotional upwelling aims to get us to look at our feelings in real time, basing what to do once we get that far not on what we’d like to do, but rather on  on broadly accepted (the most broadly, whenever possible) ‘rules’ (or) ‘standards.’

And that gets us back to Saturn (symbol of rules and standards on a social, societal and personal achievement level) rather nicely.

Or not so nicely, depending.

One other note on 17 Pisces (as long as we’re here)... 17 Pisces is a degree one astrologer specifically refers to as one which bars or bans dependence during the early/early adult years, lest that lead to being overwhelmed or (conversely), ‘going under’ - whether that means going under emotionally, financially, spiritually, physically (or any other way).

And that would fit the ‘loss’ or ‘limiting’ concept which goes with Saturn, wherever Saturn may be.

In this case in particular however, Saturn is at 4 Sagittarius. And 4 Sagittarius - even without Phaethon or 17 Pisces - is known for those qualities we would associate with those who are noble enough to ‘rise above the fray’ and who are human (or humanitarian) enough to fight to protect their very Self - at which point, the gloves (and more) comes off.

Together, these two symbols seem to speak to a prickly sort of very determined feistiness which is unfortunately prone to ‘falling’ (or losing out to) their own weaknesses - particularly those of the emotion-driven kind.

Except the Saturn side of this is getting eclipsed. Not (officially) until March 20th, to be sure. Still ...

Plus there are a few aspects we should think about. Saturn - which is conjunct asteroid Child (repeating that theme of ‘immature’ or ‘immaturity’)

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(Okay, more than a few.)

Juno - which goes direct just a day before Saturn goes retrograde - trining from Leo speaks to maintaining a point of view, and when we add in the particular of this being 3 Leo, we think in terms of great potential if not all that much accomplishment (at least yet) - which again speaks to something/someone which is ‘not ready’ in some sense. Or perhaps (since trines speak to ‘ongoing circumstances) something which is still not ready.

And with Saturn being eclipsed by trine, does this speak to an end to something which never quite came to be?

While trining Saturn, Juno will also be inconjunct to Mercury - suggesting a change of heart (read: mind) which is either ‘inspired’ or accepted despite other preferences.

With that Mercury in its own Pisces-Sagittarius square to Saturn, for those who aren’t in love with loud fights and emotional squabbling, good news - Mercury/Saturn squares can be testy, but aren’t often all that loud. If anything, they tend towards silent - which in this case, considering both of these images as resident in your life summons up making compromises with yourself in the name of getting things done.

Or maintaining something you don’t want to deal with in some ‘status quo’ which you can attend to later ... (read: which buys you some emotional time).

And yet ... Mercury is itself (widely) conjunct Neptune. And Neptune is in square to Saturn, a combination which speaks to the kind of internal need to make decisions about things we wish we knew as fact (but which no one can know as fact) which makes most of us terribly squeamish, particularly just before we make that decision or choice. (Which could be a perfectly fine choice, as far as that goes.)

Neptune square Saturn is no fun in individual charts and isn’t much more fun by transit. So that this edition of same (the transit, I mean) began when Saturn entered Sagittarius in late December, 2014...

-link to post-

Saturn in Sagittarius

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... and which will end - for a while - come April 17th (UT/+0) only to rear its nebulous icky-squickiness again as of mid-October, 2015 (lasting through the end of January, 2016), all in the wake of Saturn being eclipsed in the here and now.

Something is changing - something essential about each one of us. Those whose natal charts have the usual array of points (planets, dwarf planets, nodes, cusp points) in aspect to Saturn as it goes into retrograde will feel this station more acutely, but we’ll all feel it to one or another extent.

And what would those degrees be?

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SATURN RETROGRADE @ 4 SAGITTARIUS

-degrees affected using standard (Ptolemaic) aspects- 

- Conjunction (5 degrees of orb): 29 Scorpio-9 Sagittarius

- Squares (5 degrees degrees of orb): 29 Aquarius-9 Pisces ... (and) ... 29 Leo-9 Virgo

- Opposition (5 degrees of orb): 29 Taurus-9 Gemini

- Trines (5 degrees of orb): 29 Pisces-9 Aries ... (and) ... 29 Cancer-9 Leo

- Sextiles (3 degrees of orb): 1 Aquarius-7 Aquarius ... (and) ... 1 Libra-7 Libra

- Semi-sextiles (1/1.5 degrees of orb): 3 to 5 degrees of Capricorn or Scorpio

- Inconjuncts (1/1.5 degrees of orb): 3 to 5 degrees of Taurus or Cancer 
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Everyone will experience this station to some extent. But those whose charts are affected by Saturn’s station being in orb of aspect to a natal position will feel it more directly, if in terms of the natal position being aspected. (Suggestion: see where such a point falls in your current solar return, too.)

And if you’re someone whose natal chart is aspected by Saturn’s station and the 29 Pisces solar eclipse, you’re already in the midst of a nebulous if emotional experience which may shift a bit as Saturn goes into retrograde, but which is going to continue for some time yet.

With that, back to Saturn’s station diagram, in which we haven’t yet touched on how the Pisces Neptune which is widely conjunct Mercury and square Saturn is also in opposition to Black Moon Lilith, an opposition which though past exact (the opposition perfected back on January 19th) is still in orb, lending a curious quality of something ill-defined and plainly not concrete but which ultimately will not be denied pitted against something which is highly defined and very definite - but wholly unwarranted and in the greatest sense, simply wrong.

Plus there is other thing to note about Phaethon’s station-direct moment on the 16th.

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That’s right - as Phaethon goes direct, the Pluto-Uranus square is coming to exact again. That will add even more ‘oomph’ (energy behind effort) to the determination (or determinations) being made during this period. Yet since this version of the Pluto-Uranus square comes to us (courtesy of the lunar nodes) as a t-square, that puts the emphasis on the Capricorn collective: Pluto, Vega, Byblis and Bali - the taking of (Bali) pleasure in that which (Byblis) we know is not just underhanded, but to be utterly disrespected or despised through (Pluto) ‘transformative means’ intended to (or bent on) ‘de-structuring’ some form of (Vega) appeal.

The problem here is pictured as a desire to get to what one loves for its own sake (South Node/Eros). And as part of that (or maybe as apart from that) there’s also a push on to gain sufficient leverage through compromise (or dismantling) of charismatic sources/effects or functional structures (probably long-standing structures) with an eye to being able to do what one wants, as one wants, when one wants, without having to answer to anyone else - about anything.

To this, Saturn either brings support - or, through going into retrograde in a position to receive the solar eclipse by trine speaks to the idea that things are being more or less ‘carefully brought’ into a position where, like dominoes, all will fall into place and through that, be eliminated from consideration.

Saturn is always a symbol of growth. As the planet farthest from Earth which is still visible with our naked eyes, it represents the extent of our grasp - that we can ‘see’ and thus ‘get a hold of’ in a first-person sense. Every year when Saturn reaches its station-retrograde point we are being told that we will be working through and consolidating or building on that which we have already done or already set in motion for a while.

And then Saturn will go direct again, and outward growth begins anew. This time around its virtually assured that part of our ‘retrograde work’ will include dealing with a lot of things we don’t want to think or feel about ourselves ... which could be a ‘group’ statement - and which is assuredly going to turn out to be individually true, up and down the scale.

People who don’t like their astrological Saturn often speak of it as something being done ‘to’ them - but it’s not. Saturn is about being the person we should be but often aren’t because we don’t want to take the time something needs ... because we don’t want to be bothered to do things the right way or because we just don’t like being told what to do. Saturn represents the social fundamentals which underlie society itself and those who lead our societies and nations. Saturn represents all we work for throughout our lives and those ‘marks’ we make on our world. Saturn represents ‘earning’ in every personal sense while teaching us (indeed, by warning us) that our being ends at our skin and that while that makes us a singular human being, it also means we’re all alone in our existing in this world.

And such is life.
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Notice to readers: an incorrect sign noted in eclipse inconjunct degrees

has been corrected. Apologies if this caused any confusion.

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Mercury in Pisces / Juno Direct

Harbour City Ocean Terminal, Hong Kong

(photo credit: OTnig17, June 2009)

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With asteroid Lilith having just gone retrograde and the Sun still in Pisces, to have Mercury entering Pisces could seem a bit ... redundant. After all, Lilith refers to not wanting to know (or see, or hear, or ...) and Mercury in Pisces, while very sensitive and often representative of artistic (or just arty) instincts can also speak to lack of clarity driven by a softened mental underbelly.

Of course Mercury in Pisces can also be about understanding our own feelings and why we feel as we do about things. Pisces is a sign all about emotions, be they the thing which prompts us to feel and thus teaches us through what we learn about through ‘feeling it’ ... or that which prompts us to run away from something or someone - or even our feelings, despite the fact that we know the choice is to face those feelings or pay the price for not having done so.

People talk about the ‘deliciousness’ of emotional threats under Scorpio, Scorpio being a sign about interactive emotional tussles and struggles, be they in the bedroom, the boardroom, with the bank or on the battlefield. With Scorpio, that drive to get what you want from something or some situation spurs us on and gets us to tolerate risk ... sometimes to our own detriment, yes. But we tolerate it anyway.

But with Pisces, no one talks about any deliciousness, as Pisces (and 12th house matters in your personal chart) are where we have no one to look to but our Self - and in the emotional realm, that means being left to deal with our own emotions, which whether those emotions are elation or grief isn’t our favorite human way to live. It is educational and informative? Do we learn a lot about ourselves? Absolutely. But do we enjoy learning it?

That probably depends on how you feel about having been put in a position to learn those lessons - which is merely another way of saying the lesson itself is about feeling.

As a symbol, Mercury is about sorting, finding, assembling, organizing, deciding, interpreting, understanding, communicating the designing. We think of these ‘Mercury processes’ as defining, as clarifying, as all those things which assist us in the comprehending of life and the operating of our life in this daily lifestyle world. So to have this mercurial energy put into a Pisces realm means putting Mercury’s mental orientation (mental faculties being the means through which Mercury functions are initiated) into an emotional mode which isn’t as crispy clear as it would be if it wasn’t as emotional. Or which excels through the expressing of emotionality, whether in a conversation or in the forming of, or creating of something expressive of emotions and emotionality.

Mercury in Pisces can mean a focus on things which are emotional, which promote or provoke our feelings - or on the whole subject of emotions, plus and minus, as a whole. And because that emotionality (or the subject of emotions) tends to cause other things to stop until those emotions are either enjoyed, worked through or tended to, Mercury is said to be less ‘efficient’ in Pisces than at other times. It’s not that Mercury in Pisces can’t be artistic and wonderful - it’s just that those moments tend to sidetrack us from what we otherwise might want to be doing, which as a whole speaks to our tendency as human beings to prioritize accomplishment over feelings, and perhaps our human need to do just that, lest we not accomplish or take care of what needs to get done.

Part of Pisces’ formidable reputation in fact has to do with just this: the fact that we know ... how as humans we understand on some instinctual level that though we are, from birth to death, emotional beings under every circumstance.

Without those emotions (or properly functional emotions) life is nothing but the stuff of nightmares.

And yet, those feelings can so easily overwhelm us.

We know this is the nature of mortality, this helplessness which at moments leads us into and then leaves us at the mercy of our most unbridled nature. So we fall ‘helplessly’ into love and we spiral haplessly into despair.

And when that happens - when anything Piscean overwhelms us, we have to have faith that we’ll come through it all intact. We think our way through these times by having faith - which in essence is our mental Mercury model operating in an egoless modality.

Pisces demands a lack of ego. That which we tackle under Pisces benefits us only when we employ it in a manner which initially benefits many, or which is ‘in tune with’ accepted and established human experience. Any planet in Pisces (or your natal 12th house) is going to function this way and ‘pick up on’ this sort of notion - which means that whenever Mercury transits Pisces, the whole of our world shifts, or is made to shift (though things which arise at that time) into a mode where we either recognize the importance of broad-based, feeling thinking and proceed on that basis, or when we face situations which in ‘raising the stakes’ get us to stop thinking in such temporal and ego-driven (“how I prefer to think of it”) sorts of terms.

Mercury will enter Pisces on March 13th at 3:53 in the morning (UT/+0) - one day before Saturn, astrology’s symbol of time, responsibility, facts, achievement, commitment and consequences goes into retrograde at 4 Sagittarius. This being Mercury entering Pisces in metaphysical square to Saturn’s position, some sort of ‘conflict’ is being cited (in general, if not in specific) - which may turn out very productively ,as this is a combination known for ‘holding the line’ and discipline. With the Mercury side of this in feeling Pisces, there may be an ‘emotional penalty’ for something, making this a time which could be filled with regret, but which holds equal promise (providing there’s sufficient Saturn reality in the mix) and which may also become one where apologies get made as someone comes to realize something is wrong, missing - or maybe just not working out the way they thought it would.

With both of these emblems being in mutable signs (signs which learn as they go) this is a good time for discussions, especially discussions which are by their nature ‘touchy’ and which will benefit from a ‘laying out the facts’ providing there is no condemnation or finger-pointing as part of the process. High rhetoric and dramatic statements can be made providing they’re merely an expression of how we feel (or how we don’t like feeling) but accusations and ‘blame-laying’ should be avoided in any situation where we really want to make headway or accomplish anything, as poking (Pisces) feelings under this sort of influence will result in defensive stonewalling (some of it quite fierce) more often than we’d like it to - which would be a Mercury in Pisces tender-versus-tenderized ego issue, don’t you know...!

The height (or greatest intensity) of this Mercury-Saturn square happens as Mercury conjuncts Saturn on Sunday, March 15th. And as Mercury won’t be out of Saturn’s range (the five degree orb of aspect)  to Saturn until Thursday, March 19th, considering Saturn’s March 14th station (which formally extends through the 16th and for some will be felt beyond that) these middle weeks of March are likely to be ‘a moment’ to be sure - with many of us carrying ideas into or forward from this time as the means or motivation through which we will operate pretty much for the balance of the month.

(Or at least until Mercury moves on into Aries as of March 31st, that is.)

And it’s also probably worth noting - for the record, if nothing else - that as Mercury and Saturn come into full and exact square, that will mean Mercury is at 4 Pisces ... the position of fixed and royal star Fomalhaut.

Fixed star Fomalhaut amidst its cloud of interstellar dust

(photo credit: NASA-JPL)

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Astrology’s ‘fixed stars’ (named ‘fixed’ by ancients to differentiate them from the ‘wandering stars’ we now call planets) function greatly as ‘backdrops’ against which other things happen (or seem important or unimportant, depending) or are perceived in life. There is an obvious exception to this ‘rule,’ and that’s about the fixed stars which may be conjunct your natal planets - those tend to be, become or manifest as part-and-parcel of how that planetary symbol functions.

But in this instance? If Mercury just wandered into Pisces (which it does on a yearly basis) and conjuncted Fomalhaut, we would be talking about the ‘purity’ or integrity of our thinking, our ideas and whatever we’re telling others - and ourselves (don’t forget that part!). But here we have Mercury transiting Pisces on a “mundane” or global basis ... (and yes, whoever decided on ‘mundane’ as an astrological term pertaining to daily life was either seriously into understatement or not thinking about Pisces at the time). On the universal level, Mercury conjunct Fomalhaut is all about how our thoughts, our plans and our positions measure up with those of society, history, and general humanity. So wherever we’re out of sync with any of those ‘measures’ we will experience negatives or negativity - and wherever we’re in sync, we’ll feel hopeful and like we’re headed in the right direction.

Or at least a better direction.

And if we aren’t in sync, well ... we may not like having to change our mind or change how we’re acting or who we’re associating with or what our aims or attitudes are, but perhaps we see we should. That’s where Fomalhaut comes in. Fomalhaut is that hidden ‘quirk’ in our brain, in our soul, in our times which guarantees that which isn’t whole, that which is corrupted or corruptive, that which isn’t true or good ... Fomalhaut comes into our life as that which we do unconsciously, or in how we aren’t received by others or by our world which causes us to see or experience that downfall, that comeuppance, that failure or feeling of loss which is really about having not done the right thing, trading honest opportunity for some fantasy which wasn’t ever going to pan out, maybe not because it couldn’t be ... but in the end because despite all that we have done, even we knew that it wouldn’t be.

Or even perhaps shouldn’t be.

Then there’s a little plot-thickening additive guaranteed to make this all a little more interesting (and for some, considering Mercury’s position in Pisces, somewhat more dramatic) called Juno direct. And while this isn’t necessarily the guarantee that we’ll all be in for an astrological soap opera, that Juno is going direct at 3 Leo puts its station in trine to that of Saturn and inconjunct to Mercury does inject some inconvenience into the mix.

Some of that we will experience as that ‘touchiness’ mentioned above: Juno operates as a ‘managing’ force and once Mercury gets into early Pisces degrees just the shifting into ‘emotional mode’ is going to catch a few off us off-guard. Or for you something may happen which causes you to throw up your hands and say ‘why me?’ ... or ‘why now?’ ... or ‘could something just not go right today?’

(Yes, we all have those seriously annoying moments, days and times in life - and some of them are probably associated with Mercury/Saturn squares, since combinations of our great ideas with life’s realities doesn’t always end up in glee.)

To be more exact here, during the period when Mercury is between 1 and 5 Pisces it will be in an inconjunct to Juno, pointing to making things work and (of course, as part of that) encountering that which doesn’t work ... even that which because of what we say or do in the moment gets worse or better as we encounter the ‘adjusting’ energy of the inconjunct. That period of time begins late on March 13th and ends during the latter part of March 15th (in the UT/+0 zone), embracing the whole of the 14th when Saturn goes retrograde - another sign of ‘pulling in’ or ‘putting the brakes on’ something, whether that’s about truly pulling back or ending (i.e., stopping, limiting) your willingness or ability to not do something.

Despite that, this isn’t necessarily an end to anything. In going direct at 3 Leo Juno warns us not to go too far, but warns with equal ... maybe even greater fervor that it is our ability to connect to others and the being accepted by them for who we are and what we have to give and gift life - and our Self - with the ability to do which ultimately spells success ... that in our individual life, and that of the society or world around us. All sides of all conversations will be tested now - as much for their willingness to listen and hear as anything else. Saturn being in the equations of both objects which are “making their move” on this date speaks to the fact that nothing is ‘over and done’ unless we prevent it from evolving - in real time or in our minds as necessary. There will no doubt be some attempts to narrow discussions and block out anything “inconvenient” (read: emotionally inconvenient) during these weeks, and some such efforts may be successful - at least in the short run.

Yet where we find Saturn ... whenever we find Saturn in an astrological ‘equation’ we also know that growth is not in the moment, but over time - and how when we see Saturn as part something which does get narrowed beyond full usefulness there is some sort of (ego driven) fear which will ultimately be set aside or grown through.

It just takes time ... which with Mercury transiting Pisces may not be our favorite piece of news, but which we will like as not deal with and manage - if for no other reason than with a solar eclipse closing in and Juno’s turn to direct at 3 Leo we are closing in a better glimpse of a truer image of Self.

And that image is probably not entirely consistent with where we are in life right now ... which as Mercury moves through Pisces we will probably find worth thinking about because for whatever reason we find ourselves at a place where we know we will feel better simply for the doing so.
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Mars in Aries, Venus in Aries, Neptune into Shadow

Venus and Mars by Botticelli (c.1483)

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No sooner do we dive into our second month of Aquarian mental sparking (and barking) which embodies our best and worst mortal and oh-so lunar  instincts than the Sun enters Pisces.

That was yesterday ... February 18th.

And by now, barely twenty-four hours later, it’s already old hat because now we’re not entering the Piscean solar mode, we’re in it. Okay, we tell ourselves. I can make it through ... whatever lies ahead.

We hear our voice telling our Self some form of that. And yet the truth really is ....well, if we didn’t need to hear those words, we wouldn’t be muttering them, either verbally or mentally.

And no, we don’t know what’s ahead - which is one of those special Piscean quirks. Under Sun in Pisces, we either live in the moment and deal with each thing as it comes for what it is ... or we drive our Self (and often enough, others) batty by fighting some inevitability we’ve conjured from some inner fear.

Of Self, that is - specifically of what we might have to experience ... or to put the Piscean twist on it, to feel ourselves experiencing.

Fear of how others feel about you ... or what they could do to you, that’s Scorpio (and you know how we all feel about Scorpio, right?). But fear of what you could do to you - principally through your mind and emotions?

That’s Pisces. People talk about Pisces as a ‘trash can’ ... but if it is, it’s our trash can - it’s where everything we’d like to throw out (but can’t) gets put.

But since it’s out of sight, since we’re refusing to deal with it ... that doesn’t mean that it isn’t true. Or it doesn’t exist. We just don’t like admitting it - which is (in Piscean terms) why it literally haunt us.

The reality here is that ‘it’ isn’t haunting us - we’re haunting us. We’re haunted by those things in and about our Self we dread to know, deal with or embody.

But life is life, so occasionally we have to - and that would be part and parcel of the Sun’s passage through Pisces, a passage which this year is going to be barely a day old when Neptune, the ‘outcome’ ruler of Pisces which determines whether we’ve won, lost or deluded ourselves ... when Neptune enters the shadow of its 2015 retrograde cycle.

Mind you, we haven’t yet reached the end of the 2014 cycle. That doesn’t happen until March 6th (UT/+0), which means we’re still wrapping up a Neptune sub-cycle which began  when Neptune went retrograde last June (2014) ... and which some people will identify better as having begun on April 24, 2013.

Not that we’re any of us in any position to have real perspective on that yet. That’s one of the things about Neptune: while it times out periods of overall clarity, it’s not a fabulous influence when it comes to hard judgments in the moment - unless what you’re deciding is to not care ... in which case, you may care later.

Or not at all.

The practical and positive side of Neptune’s several weeks of overlapping cycles (which ends March 6th) is likely to be an ability to correlate and relate for reasons you can’t quite define. The impractical and negative side of Neptune’s several weeks of overlapping cycles (which ends March 6th) is that we may ignore something which seems obvious to others, but not us. It may be important. Even very important. Then again, it may matter not at all.

Now you know why Neptune is associated with romance. It’s genuine ... if often genuinely naïve and richly innocent. And more to our point here, Neptune is that ‘force of nature’ (read: our nature) which teaches us how unwise it is to romance our Self.

In other words, knowing our Self requires being honest with ourselves about who that Self is, and said quotient - without exception - includes some good and some bad, all of which we have to know, own and work with (or against, or in spite of) if we want to be truly fulfilled.

And here the reason why is simple: life wants us to be whole. For us to think that some point of our nature has no reason for being part of our nature is to question Nature itself - an idea which as curiosity is just fine, but when embodied as a matter of judging or judgment runs counter to Neptunian principle.

Neptune stands as a symbol about the fact that life is always ready and well equipped to prove (to us) that we neither know everything ... nor are we even up to having a full list of things we should be wanting to know about.

Existence is simply bigger than we are. And periodically, we humans forget that.

Neptune’s crossing into 2015 Cycle territory isn’t anything you’re likely to feel, sense or point to as part of your day. It’s something we’re all likely to slowly pick up on (if we bother to, that is) in the week or months to come as our orientations change, as things which were important yesterday fade into our mental woodwork.

However, there is another influence to talk about here - and that would be Kalypso. 

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Kalypso is going retrograde on Saturday, February 21st at 28 Libra, a degree known for the ability to inspire not just listening, but hear what people are trying to say (which is not always the same thing) with something of a built-in ability to discerning fairly well between real and faked needs.

In combination with Kalypso (an asteroid which confronts us with the idea that real love is not about ‘getting’ or being loved but rather about caring about those you love in terms of what they need, whether that makes you comfortable or happy (or not), this points to a period of days (February 19th through the 23rd) when it occurs to you - as it will to others - what projection and judgment really are.

And how terrible (even guilty) we can feel when we see or come to realize that we haven’t been listening.

Or at least we haven’t heard - some of which may simply be about not having any reference or experience with something.

So maybe you’re coming to such a realization about someone or something you’ve been involved in as Neptune crosses into its 2015 shadow. You may feel bad ... and at the same time you may feel inspired because you finally understand what it is you need to know - whether about yourself, something you’ve said, done or felt, or some situation which you have “judged” to be a certain way when maybe everything isn’t quite so cut and dry.

All of these energies sweep into our life and life’s atmosphere as Planet Earth moves through Thursday, February 19th.

And then on Friday (February 20th), Mars and Venus finish their transit of Pisces and head into Aries ... which means Mars will be moving through 29 Pisces (the degree of the March 20th solar eclipse) on the 18th and 19th before reaching the border of Aries-land at twelve minutes after midnight on the 20th (UT/+0 time).

Why is that worth stopping to think about?

Thought (and bearing this Mars factoid in mind) will be useful as emotional things happen on the 18th and 19th as things of this moment fall into two very different metaphysical groups: that which we are owning as our own feeling amidst all ... and that which we respond to, like as not blindly.

'Les Parques' (the Fates) by Alfred Agache (c. 1885)

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Pisces being about the experience of Self, either version can lead us to the reality which is the metaphysical purpose here. But to be exact, that purpose is the exploration of Self, not doing or getting anything from anyone else. With Venus following Mars into Aries at 20:07 (8:07 p.m.) on that very same day, Venus’ presence in Pisces speaks to depth of feeling which is surely genuine even as Mars at 29 Pisces evokes, promotes and provokes our feelings through processes and situations which tend to make us feel more or less ‘accepted’ by some Whole ... some of which will surely stir reactions, responses and a few instances of swallowing-of-one’s-words (or gum) for any of a bevy of unscheduled reasons.

The perfecting of this Venus-Mars conjunction won’t occur until just over a day after Mars hits its symbolic home sign - which, considering this means Mars will be at 0 Aries (a degree Mars is well suited to) as Venus moves through 29 Pisces (which exalts the Venus side of this equation) ... it would seem that we are in for at a day (or so) of personal confrontations with who we really are - and how that may differ from who we think we are, or who we want (or think we deserve) to be.

As noted, the conjunction follows after both ingresses (at 5:15 a.m. on the 22nd, UT/+0) and won’t even occur at 0 Aries, a degree which though thoroughly willing to stand up for what it believes is often not yet fully informed, which can lead to all sorts of ‘iffy’ moments (hence some of the Mars actions we will see on the 20th and 21st). Instead it occurs at 1 Aries, a degree which tends to ‘push’ (or be pushy) simply because there is a recognition that more does need to be known or understood for whatever reason.

And why would we be wanting to know whatever it is we want to know? Given that asteroid Klotho (beginnings) will be at 1 Aries as Venus and Mars meet up by conjunction, it would seem we need to know something or have some information in hand before we start something or commit to some course of action or stance.

And with this ingress also in trine to Saturn and Juno we have a grand trine in process coming into this time which will have begun ‘setting up’ (‘coming into force’ being a more astrological way of putting it) exactly as Mars reached 29 Pisces, from which position Mars would be in an out-of-sign trine to Saturn at 4 Sagittarius.

Alone, Mars-Saturn connections often refer to strengths. Badly aspected, they can refer to a militant attitude which can be violent, but which can also be entirely contained, trained and disciplined through (Saturn) efforts, training or structures which prevent acts an actions being taken ‘out of turn.’
Also alone, Venus-Saturn contacts often refer to  stability and the ability to act or interact in such a manner as to advance one’s aim or goal, particularly in business.

However ... while Mars in Aries is ‘at home’ in its surroundings, Venus in Aries is not - which either suggests that ‘business’ (be it personal, financial or otherwise) may already be... or it may now become something of a problem.

Metaphysically, this is an issue all about Self - you know, that integral and singular Aries Self (or in some cases, the ‘thing’ you identify with). Yet because Venus is a symbol all about what we get back in response to that which we have put out there ... or which we have been to others, there’s every chance that during this ingress-to-conjunction (and beyond) point we aren’t going to be happy precisely because we aren’t ‘getting’ what we want to be ‘getting’ from others - be that the answer we want to hear or otherwise.

Some part of us knows that we’re not in the ‘free and clear’ when it comes to why things aren’t going perfectly at the moment ... but we aren’t going to be in the mood to get all moody and philosophical about such things now. Throughout Venus’ traipse through Aries (which ends March 17th just after Saturn goes into retrograde) we’re going to be asking a lot of ‘why couldn’t things just work - just this once!’ and no doubt muttering other more decorative if possibly less polite commentaries from time to time.

Sisyphus by von Stuck

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And yet, is it really that we aren’t getting what we want to get from others and life which is really at stake here?

In this grand trine, Juno - standing for the ability to ‘manage’ things - being conjunct Sisyphus will ask whether we can ... or can be bothered to avoid our own most perilous nature. Perilous to others? Yes, on occasion - as the story of Sisyphus makes clear, Sisyphus is one of those impulses which says ‘if I can ... why shouldn’t I?’

And the answer there is simple: because you shouldn’t. Not all of Sisyphus’ intelligence and cleverness could save him from a Self which was determined to think he didn’t have to follow eternal and incontrovertible rules - the most basic of which (in the original story) involves the killing of those who are a.) going about their independent business doing nothing to harm anyone, b.) those we are in a previously promised alliance with, and c.) those who we are taking care of or in charge of in some capacity.

In the story, Sisyphus is a person of advantage who uses his advantage to do harm to people. And when taken to task, Sisyphus doesn’t bother denying what he’s done - he just turns to trying to avoid paying the price for what he’s done, working his way up the Olympian god ladder as Sisyphus diligently works to evade and avoid inevitability.

It doesn’t work. For his pains, Sisyphus ends up not merely being assigned to a particularly futile end rolling a rock up a hill it will always roll back down. But perhaps because of Sisyphus' demonstrated love of drama, he's also given a prime position at the entrance to Tartarus (the Greek underworld) where with fellow sinner Tantalus, Sisyphus stands as eternal warning to all who would attempt to and take fate - that which should never be the decision of any human - into their own mortal hands.

Juno-Sisyphus will work both ways in this grand trine: it will represent the (Juno) ‘management’ of destructive (Sisyphus) impulses ... and the efforts and lengths some will go to so as to (Juno) ‘manage’ to do what they want because they (Sisyphus) feel entitled to.

And yes, because they can.

That Venus moves more quickly that Mars is evident if you just look at the length of time it takes each planet to go once around the Sun: Venus takes 224.7 days and Mars takes 687 days (1.88 years) - which is just over three times longer than the Venus cycle. So even though Venus reaches Aries after Mars does, from their conjunction point on the 22nd Venus will continue moving ahead until the orb of conjunction between Mars and Venus ends on March 6th-7th (the date depends on where you are) - which is a couple of days after Mars’ trine to Saturn ends on March 4th-5th.

Most people will experience this as feeling like they have more latitude of choice ... and a lessening of preoccupation(s) with desire-based notions. With Saturn slowing (in terms of zodiacal movement only) in anticipation of taking its station on March 14th we’re all reaching a point where we have to reorganize and catch up with ourselves, all of which is part and parcel of Saturn’s passage through Sagittarius, a transit which is sure to chop a few outmoded items off of each one of our ‘to do’ lists in life.

Some of us will change priorities in the weeks ahead as Mars’ transit of Aries (which doesn’t end until March 31st) continues emphasizing the realities of our day-to-day, life-on-Earth life.
Some will merely ask why others won’t be who we want them to be.

Who we are between these two paths is going to be defined by whether we are trying to base today on yesterday ... or whether we live our todays with an eye to building better tomorrows.

You know ... without killing anyone - including our most precious and preciously human Self.
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New Moon in Aquarius ... Sun in Pisces

According to NASA, 'a new moon occurs when the moon and sun are at the

same geocentric ecliptic longitude.' Astrologers refer to that as 'conjunct.'

(NASA-Goddard Space Center, June 2011)

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Like every other last degree of any sign, 29 Aquarius is imparted with a stressful sort of energy either about trying to get something done before some deadline, or before it can’t be done any more.

Then again, you may be all about getting past ‘this’ in order to get to that next thing ... person ... opportunity.

It’s all in the way we approach this moment of a New Moon, yet either way, what we have been doing - even if we continue doing it - is going to change. In real time and daily awareness terms this change is likely to be subtle. But it will change now as the cycle begun back on January 20th (UT/+0) at the 0 Aquarius New Moon moves out of last (lunar) month’s more physical/’doing’ first decanate sort of mode into a more reacting-to-that-which-is-going-on third decan sort of mode.

But still conceptual mind you, meaning this next month’s issues and emotional (lunar) concerns are going to center in the idea of the thing as it stands right now rather than the (earthy) physicality of it or the (elementally watery) emotional cost of it - or the (fire) vision of possibilities, good or otherwise.

The New Moon at 29 Aquarius (glyph chart)

February 18, 2015 - 23:47 (11:47 p.m., UT+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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The New Moon at 29 Aquarius (text chart)

February 18, 2015 - 23:47 (11: 47 p.m., UT+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Year 2015 is starting out with two air sign cycles, which either means we’re going through a time when we’re very much emotionally invested in ideas and concepts ... or when we should be.

It depends - and considering Aquarius’ reputation for being a sign which delivers things in a singular impassive manner which even when it isn’t directly critical can sometimes feel terribly denigrating, like as not we shouldn’t be looking for a particularly cuddly time.

And yet... the Sun is about to move into Pisces, that most universal of emotional periods. So what could this possibly be about?

For one, it may be about the fact that this New Moon has only two aspects, the first of which comes from  Mars being at 29 Pisces at this New Moon ... and the second of which comes from Saturn doing Saturn things at 4 Sagittarius.

29 Pisces to 29 Aquarius being only thirty degrees, this ‘critical’ (read: intense) degree Aquarian Moon comes inscribed with a note of feeling daunted. Or maybe frustrated.

Plus ... (and maybe more importantly) ... 29 Pisces is the degree of the Solar Eclipse our lovely Planet Earth is going to experience in just over a month now on March 20th.

Twenty-nine degrees of Pisces is just like 29 degrees of Aquarius in that it can either represent our trying to fix something or make it work as it should before some ‘deadline’ or point where for whatever reason it “won’t matter any more” ... or our trying to get through something or past something (think: ‘I’m just counting the days until...’) because you want to get to the next thing, which here is theoretically an Aries thing pointing to wanting to be able to do things the way you think they should be... or the way you think you should be being able to do them.

And all of this - being so very Piscean in nature means this is all about the reality of those desires and hopes of yours. Pisces is not exactly about the ‘thing’ we’re trying to do, you see ... its about all the emotional issues which could possibly come up while we’re doing that thing. Or because we do that thing.

Or even because we though we could ... or should do that thing.

And given that this is Pisces we are talking about, not only is the ‘thing’ something which we have some depth of feeling about ... but whatever happens to that thing or to our efforts ... that will also affect our emotional perspective and/or sense of calm in such a way that we begin to realize somewhere in our heart of hearts where we have been ... and probably still are (to some extent, and probably more than we know or want to admit to) in danger of allowing our Self to be led astray.

Not by others, mind you - but by that Self of ours which is either by being too malleable or too indeterminative (probably much to our dismay) gets us into some sort of jam with ourselves (read: not necessarily with others, but surely with our Self) because our own history leaves us vulnerable to marginalizing or negating that part of our Self which if correctly valued becomes the lynchpin which actually does make things work.

It’s just getting to that issue which we’re unlikely to like.

Meanwhile, this New Moon is also in a square to Saturn while Saturn is sitting at the apex of a t-square which the New Moon itself isn’t (by standard orb) a part of.

Plus Saturn’s sitting at 4 Sagittarius, a degree it arrived in on February 9th and which it will remain in through its date of station (March 14) until in retrograde Saturn reaches 3 Sagittarius on April 18th.

And yes, it will return to 4 Sagittarius (a degree known to go from quiet to savage in nothing flat if properly provoked) later this year, between October 31st and November 8th, to be exact.

The t-square which doesn't involve the New Moon appears to be bent on eliminating or 'dissolving' something (the goal being Neptune). But there's something in the way.

And that which is in the way evidently is waiting on something else ... which is a problem everyone is having, transferring the gumming of works all along some (Saturn) timeline time.

In terms of the New Moon configuration however, Saturn squaring the New Moon tells us to consider what we do in the weeks ahead carefully. Like all squares, ‘weighing’ each ‘side’ of every issue is important, though in the end the resolution of squares depends on not dealing with each thing separately but as part of a structural balance either in its own right or in terms of some balance which must be struck (most likely with your Self) about how to go about things.

For some, this process will be the proverbial piece of cake. For most of us, however ... things won’t be insipidly or blissfully easy. That we are given to know here because that which is ‘challenging’ the New Moon (Saturn) is also the foundational ruler of Aquarius, sign this New Moon is in.

Again, some of us have sufficient self-discipline or healthy enough work habits (you know, the stuff of Saturn structuring) to not go overboard in any (or every) direction. But not all of us are likely to be as seamlessly integrated. Fissures and fractures of every kind may well arise during this lunation ... or as a result of something done during this lunation.

Or maybe this lunation is about avoiding just that. Will we make some sort of concerted effort to embrace that which is universal and systemically functional, allowing for differences while honoring the whole?

Are we even willing to feel?

That quality or quotient of feeling - that may be greatly absent in some minds and some situations until the lunar cycle itself hits next month’s watery eclipse. Lore describes 29 Pisces alternately as a stoic and fearful, as a great spirit of deep wisdom and a cosmic nitwit fully capable of snatching defeat from those glistening jaws of victory.

Astrologically, Mars sitting at the degree of next month’s solar eclipse sets its clock to ticking.

Or ticking more loudly, perhaps we should say. That the New Moon occurs at 23:48 (11:48 p.m.) on the 18th and the Sun exits Aquarius only three minutes later speaks of being pushed to some edge within our Self even as we’re pushing ourselves to some edge where letting go and accepting our mortality becomes our only choice.

To some degree, the Sun's passage through Pisces is always lived behind the scenes. Problems occur when we're hiding from our Self - or from reality, to whatever extent ... with the problem being that so long as the Sun remains in Pisces its perfectly possible we may not notice. Or that we'll make some excuse, because under Pisces our first instinct is to try and make sure nothing is ever about us - that's the basic emotional position.

And yet it is about us. Entirely about us. This moment and this cycle, this isn’t about ‘them’ ... what they say, what they want, what they may come to think, feel or do.

It’s about us: the core, crux and most private parts of us. If you have something you don’t want to think about, this is the kind of cycle which can evoke it. If you know you’ve done something you don’t want to feel you were a part of, this cycle can get your heartstrings strung up tight.

We’re all going to go about our lives wearing our social(Aquarian lunar cycle) masks, day in, day out.

But inside we’re going to be wrestling with some melting dream of important personal measure.
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