Sun in Aquarius

 Sunrise, February 17, 2009

(photo credit: Harald Hoyer)

Aquarius is a worldly, public, collective, ‘Big Picture’ sign. Its successes come from embodying something which everyone appreciates (or can relate to), at least on a mental or theoretical level. So in order to accomplish our goals and get what we want out of life over the next four weeks we need to own, understand and utilize our individual potential(s) in such a way as to focus our individuality.

If we focus what we’re doing and how we’re doing it correctly, others will react as we are hoping they will – which means that at some level mistakes and failure are particularly informative now, as generally errors under Aquarius tend to be (or become) rather obvious.

And yet, they don’t all get fixed – the reason for which is because Aquarius is a fixed sign, the first sign of which is to move slowly or deliberately. We may know there’s a ‘jump’ or change to be made, but…

Some of us just don’t want to change. Some of us haven’t put enough work in yet to know what to change or how to change it. Then there are those among us who won’t be able to take critique or responsibility now. Aquarius embraces both extremes, with precision, strict attention and focus (even over-focus) at one end and the irrational and irresponsible at the other.

With this ingress happening under a Venus retrograde which falls in the sign before Aquarius, some will feel very sensitive about their reputation or how others regard them at least until Venus goes direct on January 31st. Some will pull back. Others will cut back on efforts because they aren’t getting the response they want. Or because they think narrowing their focus will increase success – or even their chance of success.

Like all fixed signs, Aquarius symbolizes needs, desires and whatever processes lead to our ‘securing’ or receiving something important. Function and functionality is important – as is the ability to get things done in a timely manner.

Aquarius draws events out – or dismisses them in an instant. The thought may linger even if the person or opportunity doesn’t.

On the other hand, this is also a sign which teaches us to reach. And reach out.

Hebe Asleep (1869)

by Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse

Those of us who think life is simply going to deliver what we want on command tend to have a very hard time with Aquarius. With the first part of Sun in Aquarius under Venus retrograde (from ingress to January 31st) our ability to value ourselves in this world with or without demonstrated approval- support is in for some testing.

Then things will begin to change. Mercury’s moving from Aquarius into Pisces as Venus is on station (January 29 - February 2) signals rising emotions, changes of heart and emotional turnarounds. With this happening as the Sun moves into Aquarius’ second ten degrees (10-19 Aquarius) surprises and shocks – even unforeseen emotional outbursts and trying situations may be in the making.

What is being signaled here is fervency, not empathy, so don’t think soft, think strident. Think rebellion. Think ‘determination to win.’ On all levels and whether for good or ill, these first few days of February support that which is meant to connect the genesis of something and its outcome, with an emphasis on our willingness and ability to think (and for some, act) not only in our own regard – not only for our own pleasure or purpose.

Under Sun in Aquarius, we want things to work. Most of us will see some purpose which serves our good and the greater good as well – or that’s what we think. This is a global sign all about systems, whether we’re talking about a water system, a social networking system, our systems of international travel, commerce, communication or economics or simply our ‘system’ for running our life. During Sun in Aquarian we are more aware of others and who they are…and thus we’re likely to learn a few things about ourselves.

Both the differences and similarities count now. We are drawn to those we feel comfortable and ‘similar’ to, but we may stand to learn more from those who are different. Sharing experiences can be alienating. Then again, they can be educational – or even stunning as we learn that someone we thought very much like us is a stranger…and how someone or something we thought alien is not so odd at all.

That everything we think of as accomplishment or success (personal or professional) depends on our willingness and ability to interface our individual world with the greater world around us (on whatever scale) comes into play here as Aquarius is famous for everything from frivolous gatherings to job interviews. Anything which connects – whether that’s a connecting of people or machinery or money or anything else – all those things are Aquarian. But with Mercury going retrograde on the 6th, particularly after Mercury retrogrades back out of Pisces into Aquarius we can expect all sorts of interruptions, delays, misunderstandings and troublesome moments – especially when it comes to anything electronic or digital.

 
With the Sun at the apex of a fixed sign Sun-Hebe-Altair t-square coming into Aquarius our conflicts are composed of whatever it is which prevents us from being able to live, explore and profit from our abilities. The trick, however, is fairly simple here: you can’t just think about yourself. Whether the issue is what you’ll get from anything or what you’re willing to give, understanding where others are coming from is essential. Memory and memories can function against us if we don’t let others in…and yet we will have no peace if we try to go it alone.

The object here is ease of relationship – with ourselves as much as with others…and with others as much as ourselves. But with Amor in the description of the goal and Kalypso at 4 Taurus (a degree which tends to be anti-marriage and possibly overly masculine) this is definitely not about physical intimacy and probably not even about an ongoing intimate relationship.

But there is some sort of ability or rhythm being described. Often associated with artists, musicians or any sort of person or act which acts to ‘harmonize’ or ‘blend’ separate streams of input or possibility, Mirach conjunct Amor at 0 Taurus seeks to establish something new – something which will stand out.

You know, for it’s Aquarian uniqueness.

Our uniqueness, that is.
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Mercury Retrograde: Small Planet, Big Effects

Asemic grafitti: an abstract calligraphy painting by Matox (Nuno de Matos)

(photo credit Matoxvisual, Oct 2010) 

Have you ever wondered why Mercury retrograde is such a big deal? It’s the first astrological item I ever heard being discussed by news anchors.

Anchor #1: The 405 Freeway is a mess….

Anchor #2: Well, it’s Mercury retrograde – what do you expect?

Is traffic really worse under Mercury retrograde? Or given the Mercury retrograde tendency to ‘hear’ our own thoughts…(hopefully to review them, not that such a thing always happens)…are we just more prone to wanting to project our opinions on how life should be on the world?

This isn’t such a far-fetched concept, if you look at the many charts of successful people which have  Mercury natally in retrograde. We’re used to thinking of Mercury retrograde as a time to go back over our ideas. When we should take time to ‘straighten things out,’ whether what’s being ‘straightened’ is the course of a relationship, our thoughts on something once we do a little reading on it…even our closet.

Writers often have Mercury natally retrograde. I don’t have a collection of programmer charts (not tagged as programmers, that is), but I’ll bet that programmers and all sorts of people in the kind of ‘design’ job which requires testing viability (like engineering) have Mercury in retrograde.  

Retrogrades are the energy of the planetary symbolism turned inward. In other words, we’re not interacting with someone else or some external entity on something, we’re dealing with ourselves.

So for those who want to go around talk to themselves, I can think of nothing better for you than Mercury retrograde.

For the rest of us? Well, it’s kind of ‘meh…’ You know...tolerable, but maybe a bit inconvenient? During Mercury retrograde, time seems to slow down. Things seem to take forever. But since time doesn’t actually slow down in the big sense, what causes that sense of would it hurry up, already?

That must be us. And that’s exactly what’s going on. If the Gemini concept of Mercury is the mental part and the ‘getting things in order’ part of Mercury is the Virgo part, we ‘hear’ ourselves wanting things to get into order. During Mercury retrograde, we will hear our thoughts…and goodness knows, we may even listen to ourselves!

And through that…sometimes there comes a revelation. A greater or deeper understanding of ourselves. Or how maybe someone out there isn’t just bizarre-o…maybe they’re reacting to something in us.

Lots of things change during Mercury retrograde. And though they may change out in the world (yes), the more important things are probably those which we change in our own head, self and lives.

The first of 2013’s three Mercury retrogrades (some years have four, this one only has three) begins on February 23rd, which happens to be your astrologers birthday. (Yes, I have big Mercurial doings planned for this year!) Mercury’s average retrograde being twenty-one days long, this one is going to be a touch longer than average, as it doesn’t end until March 17th (which will make this retrograde 23 days long).

Probably most important to all of us, this retrograde is wholly in Pisces, the sign of all things which provoke, evoke and try to get us to feel our feelings so that we can become aware of why we feel the way we do about things.

This is not some cosmic trick. Pisces is not about trying to emotionally yank the rug out from under you. Pisces is the sign which brings us back to our humanity at isn’t most humane (and sometimes inhumane) point: our emotionality.

People live in their emotions. We like to think we don’t, but we do. And it’s really only to the extent that we are comfortable with our emotions - and emotionally comfortable with our life (which is an entirely different thing) – that we are able to harness our abilities and create the life we really want.

You know, the one which would be emotionally satisfying.

People who can’t handle their emotions are constantly on the run. Constantly rejecting others for fear what they feel will create a need to (gasp!) feel something emotional. Or (heaven forbid) show compassion.

And yet, among the arcades of the great, those who have shown they can make the tough decisions in spite of being a caring person who touch us most deeply.

As human beings, we know we need to feel. We know we need to be okay with what we’re feeling and why we feel that way and why we do or don’t value things …and other people as we do.

One of the hardest things we ever face is trying to understand how someone who does something incredibly heinous can like bunnies. I know that the first time I found out that some of the Nazi architects of the ‘Final Solution’ had kids and dogs and liked gardening, I was left gasping in my agog-ness.

Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac. Like the other three 4th quadrant signs (Aquarius and Capricorn), it’s a sign about universality which only works in our individual lives if and to the extent that we understand the universal need or right or feeling. Those who fail the Pisces test often retreat from life. Or get abandoned by it. Pisces is the sign of the hermit and the guru, addiction and incarceration, solitude and loss, loneliness and nirvana.

Some of those things are great. Some are terrible. And every item on that list is the cause or effect, the provocation or manifestation of emotionalism gone right or gone wrong. And it’s really as simple as this: we love the guru for caring about us and taking the time to teach us. We pity the addict (whatever they may be addicted to) and loathe the criminal for not understanding the value, the need, the humanness which caring about others is.

That’s Pisces.

Mercury is going retrograde at 19 Pisces a degree which is all about the success or failure which comes of grappling with this need to be human and to live a life which is equally humane to yourself as to others. There are texts which speak of 19 Pisces as being specifically a degree which tests our materialistic limits. And to that end, we may now be seeing (or you may be experiencing) critiques or outcomes which have to do at some level with the balance in your life between ‘things,’ ‘money’ and human need…or the need to be human (depending).

With Mars just behind and asteroids Photographica and Amor just ahead, there would seem to be a bit of a ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ quality attached to this moment, but that probably depends on personal charts. But for sure, for sure – with this 19 Pisces station being in trine to the North Node at 20 Scorpio there is something about a ‘should’ in relationships which life is calling your attention to.

On the other hand…if the North Node is at 20 Scorpio, that means the South Node is at 20 Taurus. And if the North Node is a trine to Mercury’s station, the South node is a sextile.

 
And lookie there…Sedna’s sitting right there at 22 Taurus. How cute. How quaint! How ‘do I do what I want…or do I WANT to do the thing which will work long term?’

No, not cute at all. Mind pretzel-ing? Maybe. But cute? Probably not. After all, Saturn just went retrograde as the Sun entered Pisces, the tale of which was told in the last three posts. (Yes, life is apparently a celestial soap opera.) The (Sun in Pisces) emotional (Saturn) repercussions or consequences for what we’ve done right or wrong in our lives is still rattling our mental cages.

And caged or not, you can’t say ‘mentality’ in the astro-world without getting into the whole Mercurial soup.

With Mercury going retrograde on Saturday the 23rd at 9:42 in the morning UT/+0 (which will still be Friday night if you happen to be in Hawaii or some equivalent time zone) there is a going into/coming out of station effect to consider…and given our two days before, two days after rule that would take us back to Thursday the 21st (do your own time zone warps, please) and forward to February 25th.

And that Saturn thing? Saturn having gone retrograde late on Monday the 18th (UT/+0) would give it a ‘station window’ which extends to February 20th.

Are you getting where I’m going here? Let’s remember, we’re trying to fit giant celestial things into little man-made boxes. Days…hours…time zones…do we really think the universe gives a twinkie about those things?

What I’m getting at here is that the Saturn Station Effect may very easily overlap the Mercury station effect. Especially since Mercury’s ‘run up’ to its station tends to feel ‘pressured’ anyway (the human race being so very prone to acting like White Rabbits in Alice in Wonderland anyway)…the whole of this week would seem to be a-sloshingly awash in water sign doings.

Sun in Pisces. Saturn going station/retrograde in Scorpio. Mercury going station/retrograde in Pisces.

And on the other side of the Mercury station we’re headed into…just over yandrow there’s a Full Moon in Virgo.

So if you were thinking things were going to get less emotional once you get through the weekend, maybe not. They may change tone, yes. Virgo is, after all, an earth sign.

Some of us will no doubt hit the mental bricks this weekend and figure a few things out. Others among us will do their darndest to dart by problems like tiny fish avoiding predators in a tropical reef. A lot of the who-does-which about this having to do with your natal chart, it’s a pretty likely bet that whose who DO have major water sign placements (including you Cancer types…what, you thought you could sidle off and go eat a coconut?)…the water sign folks are going to be doing the breast stroke or dog paddle or simply hitting an undertow (sorry if that’s the case) before the weekend of the 23rd/24th moves through.

But then comes a week which, staring with that Full Moon moment, is likely to grab all those who hung ten when the surf came in.

(Yes, I’m doing a whole kowabunda recitation here.)

Let me just put it this way…by the end of this week, the Sun, Mercury, Mars and Neptune are all going to be in Pisces with Saturn coagulated in Scorpio. Next week will see Venus join the Pisces party, which means we will then have SIX planets in water and two in retrograde.

Which two? Saturn and Mercury. And by the beginning of March, Mercury will have retrograded back to the point where it’s trining Saturn not just by sign but by orb…then (on March 6-7) by degree.

This is serious stuff – literally. When linked astrologically, Saturn and Mercury equal “focusing on the idea” …or possibly the situation. With both in water signs, the first thing which jumps to mind is Matters Fiscal. For those of who are in business, this is prime time territory for discussions, negotiations and doing whatever it takes to get your business house (or life) in order, lest you get caught with your proverbial flippers down as Mars moves into Aries just before Mercury goes direct.

Remember: where Pisces is concerned, the most important thing is getting on an even and realistic keel with yourself. Your smooth sailing depends on your understanding not just why you’re doing what you’re doing with/in your life, but that you really agree with those ideas right down to your spiritual DNA.

Above all, don’t kid yourself. Don’t play games, don’t put on airs, don’t make excuses…this is the time to get honest with yourself. And yes, maybe others.

But first, think it through. That’s the Mercury Retrograde in Pisces thing to do!
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A 10 Aquarus Full Moon

A Full Moon rises over Nykoping Sweden

Earth’s northern hemisphere calls August summer. Earth’s southern hemisphere calls August winter. Either way, an August Full Moon is a ‘mid-season’ Moon which zodiacally emphasizes the Leo-Aquarius polarity.

And that means 'fixed,' in astro-terms.

That 'fixed' quality has - generally - two very different polarities. One involves gathering in information from which a decision then gets made and acted on, which fits rather nicely with Mercury being retrograde in Leo.

Well...except for that Mercury-Leo doubling up on the fixed factor thing.

And before we get all hung up on that, there is the other side of the 'fixed factor': that being procrastination. Or a refusing to deal with things. Or refusing to change.

In one direction, the 'fixed' modality says slow and steady wins the race. In the other, it's more about being a stick stuck in your own mire of muddiness.

So which are you? There's an 'overall' tendency and a 'dealing with the moment' quality here to be considered. On one hand, you may be someone with a lot of energy in fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius). On the other hand, you may just be at something of a crossroads in life, and you're trying to figure out which way to go.

With Amor – a non-sexual sort of ‘love’ (regard, focus) at 6 Aquarius and thus on the 'Moon side' of this Full Moon, we know this is a Full Moon moment which will have a tendency to 'highlights' both our creative natures and critiques. Either way this can be you supporting or criticizing yourself or someone else cheering you on or poking your thinnest skin with their very sharpest needle.

The figure here being Sun in Leo/Moon in Aquarius, there's likely to be a lot of projecting going on. So we should expect to hear folks explaining how someone else isn't doing it right when their own house or life (or head) is in a mess of shambles.

Or stuck in the sand, yes.

The Sun in Leo quality here can make us virtually blind to fact. Or caution. Or even just valid input.

At the same time it can also symbolize the vision, the power to see beyond this moment.

So what's a person to think?

Well, we do have some astro-hints thrown in here. There's Eos, the figure of the dawn. Eos being a creature of the sea, this is a 'dawning' of emotional recognition or possibility.

Then there's Sabine - the quality of being held captive by something or someone. Maybe just by our ego?

Then there's Mnemosyne. Mnemosyne is an interesting addition to this party as like everything else in this little grouping, it's positioned in Leo, the sign of native creations and creativity. On the qualitative level, Mnemosyne is about embodying creativity. So when we throw in the last modifier of the moment (Athena, representing intellectual intelligence and thinking things through) the question is again a reiteration of the baseline Sun-Moon Leo-Aquarius question: what are you doing with your life? 
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 Dawn on an island beach in British Columbia.

Life...nature...sometimes we can be awed by

being part of something so magnificent.

It says so much about what we are - and what

we can potentially become.

(photo credit: Brandon Godfrey, September 2009)

What this comes down to is that this Full Moon of Thursday August 2nd (at 3:27 a.m. UT/+0) at 10 Aquarius is about whether our life 'works' for us.

And not just for 'us' on the ego level...but 'us' at the 'life' leel.

You know...it's that 'are you frittering away precious time or opportunities?' and 'are you spending your time, energy and resources on things which are impractical...maybe even futile?'

The Moon side of this figure being in Aquarius automatically references matters social, societal and having to do with income. So if the social, societal or income part of your life is going well, this is a moment not to dent that and thus a time to either work towards capitalizing on momentum or letting things 'run' on said momentum while you have a bit of fun.

If things aren't so happy in the social, societal or income part of life, this is a time to be working on getting things on track - or back on track, depending.

However...! Life is sending us a wee notice that there is a bit of a trick to all at hand, or in mind, or in motion.

That concerns Neptune.

Neptune, you say?

Yes, Neptune. And why would that be? The 'why' there concerns Neptune's Nodes. Currently positioned at 11 Leo (Ascending/North) and 11 Aquarius (Descending/South), this Neptune quality is both a door to huge opportunities and a huge opportunity to be sinking more bad energy after good.

So how do you know which is which?

Simple: rely on facts. Hard proof, hard facts and real realities is the most likely indicator of which way to go here. So if you're working on a project, don't listen to rumor, do some from-the-source research. If you're thinking of getting involved in something, enjoy the hype and the 'selling you on how fabulous things could be' but make your choice based on realism.

And remember, that realism should have two sides to it, just like the Full Moon...there's the 'what I can do' Leo Sun side of things and 'how others are likely to respond to this idea' Aquarius Moon side of things.

Our tendency...granting that Leo is Leo...will be to want to go with 'our thing.' And this may be all well and good unless you're talking about anything income-oriented.

This is where we get back to that 'Mercury retrograde in Leo' thing. It's great for the imagining and dreaming up part of things, it's not so good with focusing on whether there's really a 'market' for what we're proposing (on the scale we want or need) or whether people will be receptive of our efforts.

It's tough. There's likely to be a goodly deal of emotional myopia (nearsightedness) going around now.

Try not to get caught up in it unless you're on vacation or celebrating an engagement or something of-the-moment fabulous like that.

As for the actual degree of this Full Moon (10 Aquarius) that too stresses the creative if Neptunian quality of the moment. As a degree, this one suggests that best bets involve keeping an open mind - even if that means hearing what you don't want to hear. This in itself rather suggests that the 'polarized' Sun-opposition-Moon quality of the Full Moon is likely to be very much on the table now. And when we add in the Neptunian Nodes, we can expect that simple things may look difficult (or like they will cause difficulties) and that those things which are in reality the least likely to succeed...well, those may come off sounding like sure-fire winner.

The solution would seem to be leaving ourselves open to inspiration while not gullible enough to believe what we want to believe because it feels good...or merely easy. 

The ability of simple things to suggest 'other images' to our mind

is natively to all of us and very much part of the Neptunian concept.

Here, two glasses are sitting on a black surface in a dark room

in front of a tiled LCD screen. It looks simple, and yet not so

simple...and in that, gives us the key to understanding

Neptune's metaphysics.

(photo credit Atoma Febuary 2007)

So where does that leave us? Probably with some  obvious pluses and minuses. Aquarius being a sign about success through acceptance of one's contribution, it's worth considering how well integrated you are with not just 'your' group, but the world around you. There's a lot of factionalizing going on - that's endemic and to be expected here at the start of the Aquarian Age.

But the point of Aquarius being universalism, that says that those who don't factionalize, who don't cater to the 'me and mine' and who look towards the broadest of societal connections, the looking past such things as race, age, social status, generational inclination, heritage, finances, technology, religion, gender, intelligence, personal interests...ALL that stuff - those who head for the most universal of appeals and the most universal of approaches are going to win.

Some will call this the 'lowest common denominator.' Some will look at this precept and realize that by holding to a standard of quality that 'universalism' becomes all-inclusiveness.

And when you deal with your life in this world, the more of the world which accepts who you are and what you contribute, the better off you are.

Notice: this is not about liking you per se...this is about accepting your contribution.

We all need a basis for existing in this world. The 'Aquarius process' is all about establishing how to fit in and how to create that basis for operation. There is an in-built tendency (which may come out at this time) to isolate or take a very 'I don't want to be part of that' stance. And that may be fine.

Then again, that may not be fine.

And that's another place where this Leo Mercury retrograde can come in handy - or be the means by which you cause your own headaches. Simply putting up a wall and saying 'I don't care about that' (or them) is a sure fire way for life to test you at some point down the line (and probably not all that far down the line!). In other words, taking the time to become informed, is the best way forward here.

Again...it's that 'know the facts' thing.

So this is a fine time to simply enjoy yourself, so long as you don’t overdo or do something foolish like try out high-wire walking for the first time with no safety net.

It’s also – rather curiously, perhaps – a great time to be casting lines into life's waters. Mercury retrograde - in any sign - is a good time for exploring. And with this Full Moon highlighting the Aquarius precept? It's a particularly apt time to float ideas...to go fishing for a nibble. Even a bite!

The one caution here would be this: don't can't make good on. In fact, this may be when you realize that your having skirted and evaded responsibilities is going to cost you!

Considering how this Full Moon is in Aquarius, and that Aquarius does always suggest a “them” or a 'group,’ August 2nd may become a day of obligations. Or when you realize you have obligations coming due.

Then again, all Full Moons also point to the end of a “phase” in some greater process. Maybe you’ve been building something? Maybe you'll realize what you had been thinking to do just won't work? Maybe you'll finish doing something which for whatever reason (read: Mercury retrograde), can't or shouldn't be acted on just yet?

As with every Full Moon, some of us will arrive at August 2nd, achieve ‘x’ goal and immediately move on to some ‘next step in the process.' Given Mercury retrograde, this is likely to happen without a whole lot of hullabaloo.

hen again, some of us will get to August 2nd and realize we've been kidding ourselves...and that we really do need to deal with the reality of some situation.
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  A crescent Moon rises over Kazakhstan

No matter where we are, we all share the same Moon

(photo credit: NASA - Bill Ingalls - 2009)

Whatever happens, so long as we remember that Leo tends to manifest as a 'how I'd like things to be' in our head...which may not match the reality of whatever we get presented with, we'll be fine.

And by the way - life hasn't 'disappointed' us. We have. And that's the major 'trick' with (and of) Leo. The Leo ability to envision the fun, the perfection, the 'how things could be' is supposed to be a motivation to try. That real life isn't that fantasy...that it's hot at the theme park or that our date isn't perfect...the measure of 'disappointment' we feel is exactly the difference between motivation and expectation.

And that 'ideal versus reality' is why - and where - there's a marked similarity between Leo (ruled by the Sun) and Pisces (ruled by Jupiter and Neptune).

The big difference? Leo operates in the realm of the idea or theory of the thing and ends up prompting our feelings. Pisces operates through our feelings and ends up teaching us a lesson - at least in theory.

That makes the linking of Neptune's Nodes, Sun and Mercury in Leo and the Aquarian Full Moon a highly poignant moment.

And yet...it is just a moment.

Full Moons image our monthly cycle of personal just as the solar calendar is our yearly cycle of overall life growth. The rolling overlap of the 13-month 'lunar year' against the 365.2422 day solar year and its various tests and stages are what get highlighted at the 'life level' by the 19-year (235 lunar month) Metonic eclipse cycle and at the more personal worldly-interactive level by the 18.6 lunar nodal cycle.

Oh...and did you know that the lunar nodes are about to change signs?

They are. That happens at the end of this month (August, 2012). And that means that - since the nodes cycle backwards through the zodiac (it's a planetary orbit thing) that at the moment the nodes are in the smallest of small degrees of Sagittarius (North) and Gemini (South) emphasizing what we think, what we need to learn - and the fact that we need to recognize the work involved to make things work. No matter what we want to do in life, we risk a few glitches, a few stubbed toes, a few 'oops!' moments.

The Sabian Symbol for the degree of this Full Moon is ‘DURING A SILENT HOUR, A MAN RECEIVES A NEW INSPIRATION WHICH MAY CHANGE HIS LIFE.’

  Inspiration comes in many forms...here, sunlight pours

into Antelope Canyon, Arizona

 (photo credit Lucas Loffler, August 2006)

 

Given this...and the position of the lunar nodes, things which have been building are coming down to some very 'basic' considerations.

Do you know which way to go?

There is very little which is hard-core predictable about  this moment. Things are in flux. Things are changing. We we need to not only recognize that, but recognize what that means to us.

So you may need to make a decision. Or you may need to do some tall thinking. Or some gathering together of the facts. We all need to be considering not just the 'our' side of things, but the 'how to connect to the world' side of things.

Then we need to understand that getting from decisions to fruition takes time. It's a process.

But we need to be part of that process if we're thinking that process is going to include us.

And from there, we all move on.
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Full Moon of August 2, 2012

(Aries Wheel, not location specific) 

House enters Taurus

Asteroid House was discovered on December 7th, 1988 by E.F. Helin, who apparently was hanging around Palomar Observatory at the time, doing what astronomers do – inspecting the wonders of the universe.

In this case, the segment of universe in question is solar systemic: House is a main belt asteroid (meaning it orbits between Mars and Jupiter) and as asteroids go, it’s a pretty mainline main belt asteroid, considering it’s 2.74 away from Ye Olde Sun at it’s farthest and 2.250 at its nigh-est from Old Man Sol and that means – the difference between these figures being in all consideration so minor – that it’s orbit is rounder than most, meaning House is pretty much at home where it is…right there in the middle of the gigundo pack of asteroids which liberally liters local space between Mars and Jupiter.

(I keep wanting to type You-piter, but that just seems too flippant…)

With an orbital period of 4.56 years, House pretty much keeps company with some of its asteroid neighbors such as clever Kleopatra and platonic and friend-oriented Amor. And hey, if you’re an asteroid out there wandering around you probably want a few friends, so Amor and Kleopatra aren’t that a bad choice for celestial neighbors.

However, looks (of orbits) can deceive. Granting that the data base this astrologer uses is only several hundred entries (out of thousands) long, at its farthest from our most yellow Sun (and therefore little blue marbled Earth, too) House keeps company with Kleopatra and Amor as closest neighbors. But beyond Kleopatra cycles Arachne (entanglement, patient stealth) and She Who Should Have Kept Her Mouth Closed – Echo.

Remember Echo? Oh, how dangerous it is to lie for the boss when the other boss is his wife and she doesn’t know that he’s going out on her!

But I digress. The point I’m trying to make here is that when we look at asteroid House’s perihelion point (it’s closest orbital point to us and the Sun) we find it’s running in a somewhat different crowd. Instead of friendship (Amor) and cleverness (Kleopatra) we find House’s orbit “closely” linked with Lust (fixation), Byblis (defense of the indefensible), Arachne (entanglement – as above) and Hel (use your own favorite description).

So “close up,” House seems to be fraught with issues where from “far away” it’s nice and respectable.

Gee…does that remind you of anything? Maybe all those many human constructs – be they families, marriages, communities, companies, religions – which have these nice white picket fences or glossy covers or spinky-spanky reputations…but look under the proverbial rug and what do you find?

All those human uglies.

But in celestial terms, let’s remember – though the inner solar system (and therefore, the ‘close in’ aspects of cycles, even if they don’t pass mars and technically enter the inner solar system…) though that inner system is where we may feel ‘at home,’ the metaphysical ‘growth’ of life is to be powered by life (the energy of the Sun) in moving out through and into the unknown.

Which may actually be some good news, seeing that when we look at House in that light we see where while yes, we can put on that false front of friendship and/or cleverness with others, we could also grow in that direction. We can master asteroid attributes – we just have to want to!

Another idea this dichotomy of positions would seem to suggest is how (and in a sense, why) we are so hard on ourselves. We see our ‘Hel’ish’ points. We get where we’re all Arachne/tangled up in our heads or histories. We know how we want to have things the way we want them to be even when we know that’s wrong, wrong, (Byblis) wrong.

(Though yes, Byblis covers a lot of ground here – as do all these points, actually!)

As the saying goes, sometimes we are just our own worst enemies. And even when we succeed, we come back to realizing there’s still more to do, things to grow, accomplishments we can tackle.

Yet…there is some comfort in coming home to that slouchy shoe which just feels good. Sure it’s ugly. But it’s comfy.

And what does that say? Maybe that we are capable of being at home in a life which is filled with entanglements and fixations and ridiculously wrong things being defended?

That would make us out to be some pretty resilient beings, no?

Given all this, what does it mean that House is entering Taurus on April 5th at 5:52pm (UT/+0)?

Well…like anything in any of the first three signs (the first zodiacal quarter), objects in Taurus define both the starting place and the object. The object would be to feel at home…to feel safe and secure. That’s pretty much a no-brainer. But that’s the Taurus end product, not it’s genesis. The Taurus genesis point is self worth and abilities: those things with which we create a life which generates security and satisfaction.

Especially with Neptune having just moved into Pisces, House’s transit of Taurus is likely to show up both where we feel okay and what we feel insecure about. It would actually seem ‘apropos’ to have reservations about a lot of things at the moment.

But let’s remember: life’s object (if I may be allowed to put it this way) is to get us to do things. And in order to get us to do things, life has to make us either uncomfortable or dissatisfied. Even distressed or insecure.

So you tell me – with all the upheaval and uncertainty going on, is this the best of times or the most bizarre of times?

And especially now with Neptune in Pisces asking us to embrace the integrity of acceptance, is House in Taurus perhaps really a call, a challenge and question about whether we feel ‘at home’ in our own skin - no matter what is going on?

The Libra New Moon

 The Moon as seen through Earth's atmosphere (source: NASA)

As October 7 brings the mysterious quality of the 'you see it but don't see it' New Moon to our skies, Venus is on station and many of us are indeed wondering 'what now?'...or 'are things going to get better - or worse?'

Like the New Moon - the unlit light in the sky, this  lurking sense of knowing what's real but also feeling 'in the dark' about things lingers, hanging in the air. It may  be all about truly not knowing. Then again, it may be all about knowing that you don't know what's going to happen - or that you don't know everything you want or feel you need to know about something important.

Or which you think is important...and yet...maybe it isn't as important as you think?

Oh, the unknowns! Its so very unsettling!

So what do we know. Well, for one we know that if you're someone whose natal chart has a point, node or cusp between 8 and 18 of Scorpio, Taurus, Aquarius, Leo, Pisces or Cancer, this New Moon like as not moves you into a 'new phase' with regards to the function(ality) of that point. 

And yet...given Venus about to go retrograde, though things are changing, you don't quite know what they're changing to. That part is yet unknown.

For you, things may see not entirely sweet. Even if they're good, there's a sense that the good may not last. Or that there's some important fact you haven't yet been told.

Just on the face of it, this New Moon occurring at 14 Libra (a 2nd decan 'emotional' degree) also says that this is a very 'feeling' time. You may hear emotions behind someone's words. Something may all of a sudden prompt a feeling reaction on your part. Given the semi-sextile between the New Moon and Venus' position on station, this isn't all comfortable, either.

And it isn't the final word. Things are in flux. They are 'taking a turn' but even that isn't the total bottom line.

Yet none of this needs to spell disaster. Far from it! For some, this will be a moment when you see how things work, when you recognize how to realign yourself or reorient, re-prioritize or reconfigure your efforts so that they become more effective and personally profitable. 

You may even figure out how to get yourself out of some sticky, ikky pickle!

Whatever happens, the thing to understand that with  Venus going retrograde 'easy' isn't the byword of the moment. Nor is 'instant gratification' likely to be on the mortal menu. Taking a bit of care now is apt, though we will all do well not to clog up the works - or to hesitate so long to make our decisions that we miss our chances or get caught in some messy situation! 

Remembering that Venus retrograde can manifest as feeling 'on our own' (even if there are plenty of people around) is also helpful as this New Moon may set up or initiate what you are going to have to work through personally during Venus retrograde. But again, this isn't necessarily "bad." It could be tedious or testing or even testy - Venus in Scorpio is notoriously stubborn and often an indication of frustration and emotional struggles.

Yet that doesn't mean all is lost. Those who work through this period holding to the facts and calm logic may well emerge from Venus retrograde literally enriched. Or at least emotionally enriched. 

As for this New Moon being  at 14 Libra, that adds a note of interactivity. Why? Because Libra is always at least about the 'I and thou,' whether there's one or a whole group on either (or both) sides of that equation. Libra can never simply be in your head. Or about your heart. Fair or unfair, balanced or unbalanced, Libra requires the give/take of interaction.

Libra is also an air sign, making Libra New Moon and the next 14 (and 29) days about the 'idea' of the thing. With Venus going retrograde in Scorpio, that would seem to emphasize the worth of the thing. The value and cost of it. The motives and motivations behind it. The honesty and experience being brought to the table. The integrity or lack of same which is being made evident.

Given this New Moon is at fourteen Libra, conversations are feeling - even emotional. Discussions, debates, even arguments are possible. Given Venus as ruler of Libra, how we handle emotionality (ours or that of others) is key to greater successes - and it's to remember that prompting someone's emotions or an emotional responses may be exactly what's required in order to get things to shift.

It all rather depends on where everyone is starting from. Those who are emotionally reticent may need to express more. People who are emotionally fervent may need to vent, then tone it down.

Whatever happens, people's feelings and perspectives need to be taken into account in order for some 'better' to come out of current doings.And that may not be easy. The Venus/New Moon semi-sextile may require some relinquishing of positions. It may prompt hard feelings. It may cause someone to 'dig in' until November, which is when Venus retrograde will end.

Masks of Comedy and Tragedy as depicted in a

2nd century CE mosaic which was part of the

Baths of Decius on Aventine Hill in Rome

With 14 Libra known as a degree which evidences a general ability to 'don the mask and play the part,' Venus in semi-sextile also asks 'who is behind that mask?' And if that means you stop to think something through or center yourself, that's apt. After all, New Moons have long been cherished as moments for re-centering and setting intentions.

This is exactly what actors often need to do; what separates the good performance from the Oscar winner is not just about knowing the character, but an actor's ability to know their own nature and thus what they have to draw on. And in part, each New Moon/lunation cycle gives us a new chance to know ourselves better and explore who we can be or become.

Here we are acting through Libra - the point where the "I" meets the "you" (or 'them'). And we're doing it as Venus, the idea of making things real in our lives is taking a turn in Scorpio, the sign which in being the polarity to Taurus tests our relationship to our self worth, talents and values - and our ability to risk those things through interactions with others in our world.

Change is likely and it isn't always going to be (or work) as we expect. The (Libra) balance is shifting anew. And (with Venus going retrograde) things are going to take time to resettle in some new configuration.

Speaking of which, this New Moon includes a planetary picture known as a "magic rectangle"....

October 7th's New Moon planetary picture

As pictured above, the objects at either end of the 'short' sides are connected by sextiles (opportunities). These are options, not requirements. 

The first sextile is between Sun/Moon and Ixion/Antares, suggesting you may not feel like 'doing' anything. Ixion is 'entitled ingratitude' and Antares promises success if obsessions are avoided. So should you do something? Should you wait on someone else? Should you require someone to raise the standard of their behavior? Should you write someone off - or could someone write you off now? Is this an apology getting made? One due? Getting ignored? Walking away from someone or something?

Specifics depend on where 14 Libra (the New Moon) and 15 Sag (Ixion and Antares) falls in your natal chart. Whatever it is, if this New Moon (or 13 Scorpio) aspect your natal chart with any specificity, this moment is going to 'mean' something to you. It may be "good riddance" or it may be "finally!" or it may be "WTF?" but it's something.

The other 'short' side being with integral strength of information/being informed (Rigel/Achilles/Aldebaran) and the vast potential (Chaos) which comes of that providing you care to avail yourself of an opportunity (the sextile) to begin something (Klotho)...with a little note that this 'something' is 'platonic' (Amor). 

In other words, this isn't the moment for new hot romance, but it might be the moment to make a great deal. Or work on a friendship. Or when you have an opportunity to learn something which could ultimately be valuable to you. 
 
The long sides of the magic rectangle are 'ongoing' situational trines with the whole of this picture being whether any of us are willing to own up to our mistakes and make changes. Are we? Are you?

The New Moon tells us this is the moment. Venus retrograde says whatever it is, its not exactly fun.

We might learn to like it, but in this moment...probably everybody's going to be a little resistant now to just about anything or everything.

And if it's just a little? Then maybe you should color yourself lucky!

One of the great Libra lessons is about broadening our perspective. And maybe that's the point. If we feel under pressure or frustrated, maybe this is the month, the time, the lunation when we realize that we really aren't all that terribly alone. Seeing as one of the big Libra precepts is the energetic we know generally as the law of cause-(equaling)-effect, maybe this Libra New Moon is all about learning to give to others and help them with what they need so that in turn, they'll help us with ours.

If that's true, then Venus retrograde becomes a lesson in realizing how selfish and self absorbed we've been. And though that may hurt to admit, once we admit it and let go, it's gone, leaving us to live a life enriched by the rich company we are privileged to keep and love calling our beloved own.

Arlen Specter: The Parties are Over

The End of a Spect(e)ral Era 

Born on February 12, 1930 in Wichita, Kansas, Senator Arlen Specter first assumed office on January 3, 1981 after a campaign marked astrologically by a solar eclipse at 18 Leo.

Lunar eclipses are emotional times which in highlighting something, present us with some reality. Solar eclipse on the other hand, ‘block out’ some part of reality in order to
reveal some special attribute (the image here being the corona – the halo of solar light we see cast around the Moon when it moves in front of the Sun.).

Neither of these events necessarily good or bad – at least in theory, they’re educational. But when a solar eclipse strikes our chart with any exactitude, it certainly does often perform a blitzkrieg on something we’re used to.

That’s the cosmic point – we get used to things, but life wants us to git growin’.

With this particular 1980 eclipse occurring in exact opposition Senator Specter’s natal Damocles (at 18 Aquarius) and in general opposition to Amor (love, at 19 Aquarius) and Icarus/Sun at 23 Aquarius, this was Specter turning his ego to greater things, as lore suggests we should all do. (And do we?) That aside, he also met up with several other important lessons.

The first would have been colored by Damocles – a symbol that teaches that with power comes responsibilities and exposure, some of which can feel threatening or dangerous, and some of which can actually be threatening. Or yes, even dangerous.

Do we think he was horrified? No. Au contraire…with Damocles so close to Amor in this chart, there’s every reason to suspect Senator Specter has a love of the tough campaign and the good political fight, ego bruises and all. His is a personality which accepts that risks exist and that life isn't supposed to be a platter of cupcakes.

The Icarus/Sun signature also tells us that his is a personality prone to going over the top – which may be a plus in political debates. But this is also a sign of someone capable of taking off on flights of fancy which sometimes come with huge price tags. Still…did he have any real choice? Specter’s Sun and Icarus are both 3rd decanate symbols (degrees 20 through 29) which in social/societal Aquarius tells us that Specter is someone who really can’t know how well something works until it’s put to a real time, real life test. And yes, he has been tested. He's also been testy - go figger.

But that sometimes things work, sometimes they don’t....? Icarus/Sun in late Aquarius marks Senator Specter as someone who would be philosophical about failures but determined to work things through. And while right is optimal, this is a man willing to go with what ultimately works. He gets the distance between ideals and reality. He doesn't always like it (and during this time he got a big heapin' dose of same!) but he gets it. And probably by the time this 3-year solar eclipse transit had run its course, Specter got the clue about how things were going to work. And not work. Or sort of work.

Moving on...as the Senator finished his ‘freshman year’ (evidently a rite of political passage)a lunar eclipse occurred at 19 Cancer conjunct a powerful configuration in his natal chart: Pluto in Cancer opposition Juno/Vega in Capricorn. Juno is a symbol of responsive power. Often seen potently positioned in the charts of matriarchs and those who defend family and home (or in this case, homeland), here united with charismatic Vega and opposition Pluto we have a configuration all about deep beliefs in self, in what one thinks is worth fighting for or against (despite what anyone else will say) and a strong opinion about what’s good for his country and people in general.

And in case we might think Arlen Specter hadn’t found his life’s calling, we have only to look to Jupiter, which at that moment was rolling up on and over 8 Scorpio – the degree of the eclipse prior to Specter’s birth (often a sign of things ‘fated’) .

Just after that lunar eclipse hit, a solar eclipse hit his chart too. Positioned at 4 Aquarius, it focused on Specter’s Aquarian (social/societal) ability to utilize wisdom (Athena), assertion (Mars), image (Photographica) and Atropos – the severing of an ‘old life.’ Say goodbye to Mister Nice Guy – to Senator Specter, getting the job done was always going to be more important than looking good or being liked.

Cut to January 26, 2009 - another solar eclipse (at 6 Aquarius)which set off this Mars-Athena-Photographica-Atropos thing yet again, leading to Senator Specter’s announcement on April 29 that he was changing parties – he was cutting himself loose (Atropos) from the Republicans to join with the Democrats. True to blatant form, as Jupiter was moving in to

roll over Sun/Icarus and natal Venus, he even announced that one of his reasons for making the change was that if he stayed with the Republicans he wouldn’t be able to win another election. Was that crassly crude or a display of honesty and independence seldom like people keep saying they want to see in their politicians?

But some cosmic (not to mention social) die had been cast. A year later, January 2010’s solar eclipse at 25 Capricorn struck the Senator’s Hera (partnering), Mercury (thoughts), calculated Lilith (that I don’t like to see about society) complex: whether or not the Senator wanted to see it (and he probably didn’t see it) the public had witnessed or sensed something they didn’t like.

Or maybe just something didn’t want to deal with…whether in him or in themselves, we’ll never know.

Whatever the case, the politician who had seemed so untouchable suddenly looked vulnerable to challenge. And defeat. The primary of May 18th which finds Senator Specter losing to challenger Sestak proves that.

Interestingly, this summer’s July solar eclipse will be at 19 Cancer, sort of bringing Senator Specter full circle. As if echoing the lunar eclipse which saw him really claiming his place at the heart of American politics, so this 19 Cancer solar eclipse will see the Senator letting go of the reins.But like the song says, he’ll be doing it his way, with personal dignity – as far as he’s concerned – entirely intact.

There are some in both parties who probably dislike Senator Specter intensely. For them, this is the political exorcism of a Specter.

For the rest of us though, it may just be a lesson in how people used to be. Or what we've gained and lost by requiring politicians to play a social image game we not only don’t respect them for playing…but which we probably dislike ourselves even more for falling prey to. Why? Because that would mean we’re the authors of our own disappointment - and how do we 'eclipse' that?