Mercury in Aries, Mars in Taurus

super-volcano Tierazon fractal

(image credit: Soler97 - public domain)

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Mercury and Mars are changing signs on the same day - March 31st. Any time we see a planet changing signs we pay attention, as those are the kinds of astrological notices which will be reflected in real time changes of attitude and emphasis.

And those changes of attitude and emphasis often result in shifts of perspective - and thus the choices which result from those perspectives, depending on which planet moves in what kind of sign.

That being the norm when only one planet changes signs, we would expect that two planets changing signs would increase variables, options and complications - especially as there’s no guarantee those planetary or sign essences get along!

In this case, there’s some good news on that score as both Mars and Mercury are personal planets. So at least we know that Mercury entering Aries at 1:45 a.m. (UT/+0) virtually in tandem with Mars entering Taurus at 16:28 (4:28 in the afternoon, UT/+0) is all about us - each one of us - and what we’re (Mercury) thinking, saying and (Mars) doing... or not thinking, saying and doing - astrological symbols can as easily manifest as symbolic spigots which are turned off as on, after all.

That Aries is ruled by Mars is also worth noting - this quality of Mercury being in Mars’ most personal ‘home sign’ speaks to a lot of (Mercury) mental (Mars) energy being stirred up, motivated,  invested in and applied towards things which either are very personal ... or which pertain to something which affects others/us very blatantly or personally.

The Mercury side of this pairing speaks to a clarity and decisiveness of mind, manner and speech. Mercury in Aries has a reputation for courage - and sometimes even a little testiness, whether called for or not. That Mercury arrives in Aries by passing over 29 Pisces - the degree of the March 20th eclipse-- also says there are qualities of ‘having been burned’ ... or something being in ashes ... or having lost something, whether that means your interest in something (or someone), your keys, your phone - or even something which for you, has functioned as a support, validation or personal comfort, this last being a sideways reference to Mars in Taurus.

As a sign, Taurus refers to our security and ability to feel comfortable with what we’re doing, who we’re being, with how life works and in a very real and almost overriding sense, whether we’re feeling comfortable with our day-to-day existence. Associated with the 2nd house of the chart, Taurus-the-sign generally applies to our likes and dislikes, our generosity (or lack thereof) and the sort of want or desire which (eventually) leads to Gemini investigations and plans on how to get what we want - which makes sense when we think of Aries, Taurus and Gemini as primary and basic signs about the necessities of life and our life-long process of learning more about how to apply our (Taurus) abilities as we (Gemini) figure out how to (Aries) get from where we are to where we want to go - either literally or figuratively - so we can (Aries) be seen as the person we want to be seen as and (Taurus) feel intrinsically comfortable about who we are, that being what ultimately allows us to own, assemble and act on our own (Gemini) thoughts and/or ideas.

How we go about any of this is of course obnoxiously personal - no two people are going to go about doing things exactly the same way, and despite the all-too common expectation that others should act like our clones, its not ‘their’ problem when our estimation of who they are (or aren’t) doesn’t pan out.

That’s about us.

And lest we forget, Mars has been transiting is home sign of Aries since mid-late February. Why is this important? Because Mars in Aries, besides having a habit of manifesting as an impulse to focus on what we’re doing also tends to do two other things. One: Mars in Aries tends to manifest as reasons why we need to focus on what we’re doing ... and two: for those who have a habit of going overboard here and there in life, the period denoted by Mars in Aries tends to be a time when we either do that ‘going overboard’ thing (which we then will have to deal with under Mars in Taurus - with there being a tendency to try and stonewall one’s way through) ... or Mars in Aries becomes a time when we find out that we have gone overboard in the past, which now leaves us to cope with consequences and repercussions ... most of all the internal ones ... during the time that Mars transits the sign of Taurus.

Sounds jolly, doesn’t it?

Compared with the Sun, everything seems small - particularly Mercury!

(photo credit NASA)

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Actually, there is nothing which says we can’t all have a perfectly nice time moving forward ... except for glitches of human nature, that is. There’s a lot of energy centered in first quadrant signs at the moment - so we are each and every one of us going to be taking things personally for a while yet, and in all likelihood, whatever is occupying our ‘top level’ mentality is going to have a distinct tinge of ‘how is this going to work for me?’ being included in the mix in light of other things we also deem important.

This issue of priorities and the associated need to juggle things so that priorities and deadlines can be met is seldom simple under this sort of combination, and since Mercury in Aries/Mars in Taurus can get us so entangled in our own thoughts and frustrations we may break out in a rash of surliness from time to time, though Mercury isn’t going to be in Aries all that long. Mercury will only be in Aries until April 14th, outlining the idea of a brief couple of weeks of up-and-down intensity decorated with bubbling events, a few gasps of delight - and the occasional eruption of irritation.

Even ire.

Where things don’t go well, some measure of not feeling ‘good enough’ or that we’ve done enough is likely to figure as Mars in Taurus represents the kind of motivation which gets us to do something new because we’re unhappy (or even disgusted) with things as they stand. That can of course, be serious. Then again, it could just be a matter of having something sink in - such as how that unkempt garden really isn’t going to neaten itself up, meaning if you want a nicer garden, you’re going to have to deal with your mess in a proactive manner.

This quality of inertia which gets pitted against motivation in various ways is to be expected with Mars in Taurus: Mars represents the drive to get things done and here is paired up with Taurus, a sign whose fixed modality is famous for not liking to be hurried.

Taurus always seeks to know the benefits and possible down sides before committing to, or initiating an act or action. And when we add the Mars ‘push’ to that, irritation of the ‘don’t push me!’ type is easily provoked. Mars in Taurus is often very good at getting things done very correctly: this is a combination which when not headed in the self-indulgent direction can manifest as a considerable power of observation and a focus on matters which is both nuanced and insightful, often focusing on what motivations really are.

Which makes sense, as Mars in Taurus tests our ability to risk anything, be it our feelings, our money, our time, our loyalty or anything else, testing it more or less specifically through our ability to operate in (or through) any milieu while remaining aware of our various personal need(s) or interests as an individual.

So if Mars in Taurus tests our ability to remain balanced, aware and positive on an internal basis (and as that may apply to what we do on an external basis)... what do we think Mercury in Aries is going to add?

Mercury being about thought, communication and that which ‘communicates’ anything (a thought, a piece of mail or a person) from one place to another ... in Aries, all that becomes very dynamic because Aries is very much a sign about being who we are and getting those things done which we need done in order to accomplish our personal aims.

Make that OUR aims.

Yes, Aries can be a little ‘it’s all about me’ oriented, which when added to Mars in Taurus could spell a couple of weeks of Mercury-in-Aries boisterousness, fervency, enthusiasm, immaturity, wanting to be heard - and of course, a bowlful of Mercury in Aries opinions - before Mercury moves on into Taurus as of April 14th (UT/+0).

Then again, Mercury in Aries plus Mars in Taurus can equal the sort of putting-your-head-down-and-plowing-through determination which leaves talking to others, preferring to say less and do more.

So much depends on who we are ... and if we have any real idea about who we are - and how that may vary from who we’re being during this time. For those who have taken on the facing of their own psyche and how they wall things (or people, or the fact others have feelings) out, though things may not yet be perfect or perfectly wonderful, there is the beginning of a sense that things can - and will be better provided we work for, and towards such ends.

And for those who haven’t learned anything - or who have spend the period of the eclipse swaddled in what they want to feel about people and things and the direction of life...? Well for them, the Aries Mercury/Taurus Mars period is likely to be a time in which they try things, but not much works all that well because there is a lack of true ‘connecting’ with the world and values of others.

Either way, Mercury will conjunct the position of fixed star Alpheratz (with Uranus sitting right there) on April 7th, a combination which is scattered, messy and a bit clumsy at one end of its spectrum and expressive of sudden changes which can be effected quite ‘gracefully’ or through a great deal of disruption with the difference between exactly those we see in the eclipse. In other words, are we owning our part in some greater picture, or are we merely projecting and pointing fingers out of some instinctive need to NOT consider our part in whatever ill, problem or challenge?

Mind you, whatever you are dealing with may or may not be perfect. It may even be part of the greater emotional pressures we would expect as a result of the eclipse because so many of us don’t want to face our own emotional issues (biases, gaps, manipulations, projections, etc.) About now, how we react becomes more real to us - we ‘see’ or ‘feel’ ourselves doing something, and that something may be just what we swore we weren’t doing.

Or maybe we’ll catch ourselves doing that thing we were all up in arms about someone else doing so recently.

It’s that kind of moment. Mercury in Aries not only gets us to expressing our thoughts (and feelings) but is a signal that we will be thinking about our Self - and not just what we need or want, but also about who we’re being and what we’re doing.

Why do we insist on not understanding our own feelings? Are we so insecure with who we have chosen to be - and if so, what does that say about us?

Depending on where you are (i.e., your time zone), Venus also will be moving from Taurus into Gemini on April 11th or 12th. And as Venus makes that move, Mars will be crossing over (and re-activating) the degree of last year’s 8 Taurus eclipse - the one which conjuncted fixed stars Hamal and Schedir.

- link to post - 

The 8 Taurus Solar Eclipse

(Part 2: Sun in Taurus/Eta Aquarids)

-link to post-

The 8 Taurus Solar Eclipse

(Part 3: Stars and Patterns)

That eclipse occurred on April 29, 2014. And during that time, Mars was in retrograde in Libra - which tells us that as Mars conjuncts these still-sensitive points, matters which refer to last year or which have grown out of situations which began or took a turn during last April or May will now be being called back into focus, raising a lot of lingering - or new - feelings and thoughts. Where last year we may have been in one ‘place’ about relationships and learning about relationships (speaking to Mars having been in a Libra retrograde) at that time, now we see our Self either more clearly or from a perspective which is sufficiently different as to give us new reasons to reassess.

Maybe nothing is over. Maybe everything is just beginning. But maybe it’s not. Maybe something which seemed entirely valid then (under Mars retrograde) no longer seems valid - or even possible now.

A few days after that (on the 14th), Mercury will move on into Taurus - and Mars will still be in Taurus, setting us up for a period of days (April 18th through the 27th) where Mercury and Mars are within orb of conjunction - with the exactitude of conjunction occurring on the 23rd/24th, depending on what time zone you live in.

Why mention this?

Looking southwest from the Mars Pathfinder landing site, two hills known

as the Twin Peaks are seen in the distance.

(photo credit NASA, JPL, September 1999)

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Answer: because Mercury plus Mars in Taurus, in an emotionally evocative degree of Taurus is the kind of energy we would expect would want - or require (need) an outlet.

But why we would so want an outlet ...? That’s the Taurus question. And the answer there is simple: we do not want to be wrong. About what, is individual. But if you listen to what goes on during these days, whether that’s listening to the voices in your head or listening to your family or listening to the world at large as it goes about its business ... what you’re likely to hear are two very different ‘voices.’

The first is all about itself and its own perspective - exclusively. The other is all about a global or holistic perspective and how the ‘whole’ empowers individuality.

Once May dawns, Mercury will be in Gemini and working through its approach to another retrograde station as Mars finishes up its transit of Taurus. There will be more discussion and a smattering of new ideas with a lot of push-and-pull about the wisdom of everything (and anything) as Mars passes over fixed stars Capulus (at 24 Taurus) and Algol (at 26 Taurus) between May 3rd and 7th (the dates being a bit variable depending on what time zone you live in). Algol in particular carries a ‘purposeful negative’ tendency which can be indicative of the ‘pain’ we go through in doing something difficult or accomplishing something important to us. And because this star tends to represent a certain level of emotional preoccupation (within our Self) it wouldn’t be all that surprising if something went awry either because of a simple disagreement or the sort of lack of precision in communicating things which so often happens when we’re preoccupied and “not in the mood” to stop and have a long discussion.

But that’s the long run. The next few weeks ahead are all about the Mercury in Aries us and all which (Mars in Taurus) matters to us. Why it matters and whether that works well with the rest of our current existence is what we will look to first - hopefully remembering as we do so that after today comes a tomorrow which also matters.

And not just to us ... or in the terms which we define.
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Pallas in Scorpio

In keeping with the Sabian Symbol for 0 Scorpio ('A Crowded Sightseeing Bus On a City Street'),

the photo above is of a sightseeing bus in 1909 Salt Lake City, Utah

(Commercial photo taken on assignment, published c. 1909, now in public domain)

That asteroid Pallas is entering Scorpio but a few days ahead of the solar eclipse at 0 Scorpio describes something simple in theory...and perhaps difficult to act on.

In short, what is wanted, perhaps needed - or which is simply becoming part of some consideration or some situation is a bit of perspective. Pallas represents our more cerebral side - including something of an independent quality which may  simply describe being alone in one’s thoughts, or something you do on your own.

Then again, Pallas can signify the moment when we gain perspective on our thoughts. Or when we finally stop to think things through, thereby gaining perspective on what’s happened and what needs to happen next.

And while all that is well and good, none of it - at least on the face of it - is all that Scorpio by nature. 

As part of the zodiac’s interactive (third) quadrant, Scorpio requires interactive involvement, whether with others or in the service of some cause, aim or effort - or even just because in order to comprehend we need to dig deeper or get more involved or more intimate with some subject.

When we find ourselves pitted against our concern for our reputation, that’s Scorpio, a sign which at its heart pits us against our own feelings about, and ability to risk. We approach Scorpio situations thinking about how to make it ‘work for us,’ and we focus on the thing, the other, the plan and what we ‘need’ to do.

But make no mistake - the issue isn’t ‘them’ or that goal, it’s how we’ll feel if we succeed... and how we’ll feel, most of all about our Self, if we don’t succeed, if we don’t win, if we lose all control of what’s going to happen. Every form of investment which comes with the risk of loss, be that an investment of time, money, hope or life is intrinsically Scorpio.

In short, Scorpio involves emotional intensity and focus while Pallas is all about taking a step back and establishing calm. Particularly mental calm.

It’s something of a dichotomy.

Or is it? If we were to stop and think about how or why we feel so strongly about something, whether positive or negative. Pro or con, Scorpio is all about strong feelings - and if we stop to think about them, that act of considering, providing we think with our head and not our heart (or some other body part), that would be rather distinctly Pallas.

Of course there are many ways for this to work. As Pallas comes into Scorpio as of October 19th at 1:09 in the afternoon UT/+0 time, you may change your mind about something. This doesn’t have to involve anything earth-shattering though it could, particularly because the solar eclipse about to happen.

And of course, the fact that in arriving at 0 Scorpio, Pallas is symbolically setting eclipse processes in motion, which may prove beneficial as the negatives associated with 0 Scorpio tend to be exacerbated by frustrations and misunderstandings along with situations which allow strength and/or resources to be purposefully used for private purposes or for any gain which is perpetrated through the auspices of unfair practice.

Will Pallas entering Scorpio mean an end to so much bad behavior? It may, and where it doesn’t end disagreements it well may signal the dawning of a will to be rational and figure things out or talk them through. That may take a bit of time to come to fruition (or alternately, for anything to come of such conversations) as Mercury is in retrograde until October 25th. But there would seem to be some sort of ‘reward’ coming down the pike...

...and it’s name is Saturn.

Why Saturn?

Simply because of this: as Pallas enters Scorpio, there is a Yod in the ingress chart.

 The transiting Yod of October 19th

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This Yod doesn’t involve Pallas directly, no. However, though with this figure centered on 24 degrees of Taurus, Sagittarius and Libra, since at the time of ingress the Sun will be at 25 degrees of Libra and therefore conjunct Pallas at 0 Scorpio, there is a connection, it's just there's a little distance there.

You know...the kind of distance which allows for perspective - in this case on 'the relationship,' which may be literal (as in two people in a relationship of any positive or negative type) or which may refer to the kind of perspective which allows us to see how two things relate without any personal involvement.

That would be very Pallas.

As to the Yod, this particular Yod will like as not occur with a lot of people trying to hold their position while cutting off (rejecting, eliminating, ignoring, etc.) others, specifically those whose knowledge (i.e., raw information, facts) feel threatening.

Presented in Taurus as a confluence of Sedna and fixed star Capulus at 24 Taurus, these threats do not have to be real. Or extreme. They can be, mind you, but they’re just as likely to involve something totally everyday, such as the parent who tells their child that it’s time to take a bath and go to bed in just the right way or at just the right moment to trigger that child’s budding instinct to be their own person - a situation which every parent has probably seen erupt into dire protests even when nothing truly dismal is seriously at stake.

Meanwhile, as with all Yods, the ‘solution point’ is in opposition to the ‘tail’ of the Yod, that ‘tail’ being what we all instinctively seem to grab hold of in trying to steer some Yod-like situation. So the answer is not Taurean - it’s not actually about security even though it may be described in seriously insecure security terms. Instead, the answer is posed at 24 Scorpio, a degree which though known for difficulties (even tragedies) and the appearance of negativity is actually highly directed and fully capable of respectable (and respected) tangible achievements which though presented on a time-table (and/or in an order) which may mystify others, proves viable and virtuous over time.

Saturn arrives at 24 Scorpio on November 2nd (UT/+0) and will remain at this degree through November 10th, stirring up all the standard Saturn themes of responsibility, limitations, achievements, age, stability, career, work and effort...which because Saturn will be opposing Sedna at that point spells either resistance and denial or the acceptance of truths which don’t ‘fit’ some image or notion we have come into this time believing in.

 Pallas enters Scorpio (glyph chart)

October 19, 2014 - 1:09 p.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (Not Location Specific)

 Pallas enters Scorpio (text chart)

October 19, 2014 - 1:09 p.m. (UT/+0) - Aries Wheel (Not Location Specific)

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Saturn-Sedna speaks to how ‘should’ be - not that there’s any ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ here, though there is a question of maturity and wisdom. And for this combination to come into any relationship which may represent challenges to what motivates us as Mercury re-enters Scorpio (activating the 0 Scorpio eclipse degree again) speaks most of all to where we stand with/within our Self.

Do we have perspective? Are we willing to see beyond some natural conviction or personal horizon?

Whether things are working well or off track is hardly the Pallas question as what Pallas in Scorpio asks us is:

a.) Whether we even know how to see our Self and the life around us without any passionate coloration,

...and...

b.) Whether we are willing to endure the internal trepidations which may come from our choosing to set various outlooks, orientations and biases aside as we decide to risk our ego standing with ourselves in exchange for an opportunity to gain some sort of greater or more honest understanding.

And at the moment - which is to say as Pallas enters Scorpio, that ‘understanding’ is (like as not) going to expose some factor or facet relating to how we are none of us as innocent as we’d like to think we seem.

Again, that’s not about what we are, mind you...it’s as we’d like to think we seem.
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Aquarian Lunar Energetics: Uranus, Jupiter and the Full Moon

 Blue Vapour Planet by Timeastor (July 2009)

When the Moon reaches its Full stage at 1:46 in the morning of August 21st it will be generating ‘fulfillment’ through the ‘angle on Earth’ we call 28 Aquarius. So that’s where we start.

And there’s plenty to start with, as 28 Aquarius is (like most Aquarian degrees) all about the abstract level of life – in this case our mentality and how it stands up to everyday, or even extraordinary pressures. The Sabian symbol here is being A BUTTERFLY EMERGING FROM A CHRYSALIS, most of us will think of the charm, the beauty, the delicacy of a butterfly’s fluttering about the garden of our mind.

Or at least our garden in how our mind sees it.

But the image isn’t about fluttering and pretty things, it’s about the struggle to transform and to emerge after an uncontrolled encounter with forces beyond understanding which have wrenched us out of our former sense, style and habit of being, from that constructing a new life we now confront and must contend with.

In point of fact, the life span of a butterfly has three phases: the growth phase of the caterpillar, the transformative chrysalis stage and the ‘completion’ stage – that of the butterfly – where the object is not to ‘look pretty’ but to do what needs doing in order to assure the continuance of life.

 A female Lesser Fiery Copperbutterfly (Zeynel Cebeci, June 2013) 

This three-part phase evolution is very much like zodiacal elements. With twelve signs and four elements, each element is represented by three signs which follow this exact same evolution.

Thus we come to Aquarius, the third of the airy signs most concerned with the ‘idea of the thing’ and between lore on this point and the Sabian symbol’s imagery, it’s clear that this Full phase of the Moon is likely to ‘shine a light’ on areas in our life where we have been ‘cocooned’ or where we have been undergoing transformations – even where we have ‘gone underground’ or ‘died to our Self’ (and former notions of what life was going to be like) because of circumstances or life challenges.

Lore refers to responsibility here, but not responsibility in the sense of what we need to do, what time we have to be at the job, when the kids need picking up…none of that stuff. This is about the responsibility we have to ourselves to become the person we know (knowing being an air sign term) we are capable of being – which according to this symbol is a trying, sometimes exhausting and perplexing process.

What this is about in your own life is probably told by the sign,position and aspects to your natal Moon being how any lunar cycle is it’s own quotient for sure but still a reference to our personal evolutionary efforts.

And lack of same, yes!

(Would that life was easy, right?)

Making this obvious – at least astrologically - is the fact that this Full Moon is the ‘starting point’ for a t-square.
 
(I know…you’re just OVERJOYED at the prospect of dealing with this amidst all else, right?)

 
Nessus / Moon in Aquarius represents a tough energetic. It’s willful, it’s insistent, it wants to have it’s way even if that means blowing ourselves out of the water, out of whack, out of the running…or proving to ourselves that we’re out of line, out of our minds – and in general, ‘not part of the group.’ That group can be anything – from society to your circle of friends to the network created by co-workers, a belief system, blowing your budget…pretty much anything.

Holding that aside for a second (while remembering that the ‘degree’ of the Full Moon IS the degree of the Moon and therefore all the struggle is about being and becoming who we should be in our own estimation…next we turn to Ye Olde T-Square Sticking Point.

That point is represented here as Sedna-Capulus welded together at 24 Taurus and Algol (the urge to get ahead...or even ‘a head’) right nearby.

Capulus carries the energetic of Medusa’s head – which in turn is all about deep seated fears involving holding ourselves in check as we face learning about something which we think is going to scare us.

Will it scare us? Maybe yes, maybe no. How many times have we all been put off by something the mere idea of which brings up the urge to cut and run? And how many times have we all been forced to deal with those issues, only to emerge saying to ourselves ‘that wasn’t so bad…!’

If you’ve been around astroPPM for any length of time you know I’m into the full story of Medusa. In the symbolism and myth of Medusa we find some of our very deepest battles against insecurity being acted out at a vital and visceral level which in the end says you have to face yourself. Whether it’s something you’ve done or something you’re scared of doing, being or recognizing as a reality in your life, the more we evade the issue the more it grows snaky tendrils capable of scaring us into immobility (i.e., stone).

The face of a Lupine Blue Butterfly by Ingrid Talar (August 2009)

But when it comes to the head of Medusa, to understand how to wield the power to ‘freeze it in its tracks’ against those who would be bullies or do wrong or even some other factor in your life which seems to be ‘over-lording’ you? That’s a good thing.

Combined with Sedna, Capulus becomes a combination of facing ourselves and letting go. I described it not long ago to a friend of mine as ‘peeling posters off the walls of the corridors of your mind’…meaning that through facing the scary job of facing and ridding ourselves of preconceived or "pre-installed" notions about what you want life to be...or what someone (or society) has 'said' you should want...that's what allows you to then get on with making life into something you like. Something which, whatever it may be or look like, fulfills your potential.

By itself, Sedna presents some tough and scary challenges. It’s a whole lot easier to do as you were taught to by your parents even when you can see your parents have totally screwed their lives up. Or when their ‘ways’ haven’t done anything but stunt them or create unhappiness. Sedna is the life precept which asks us to see the difference between an internalized expectation or image and reality - whatever 'reality' means to you in your life at this time.

Life isn't airbrushed. Life is raw, and it's through our willingness to confront its rawness - and our most raw issues that we learn who we really are and thus what is really worth the caterpillar-to-butterfly transformation...replete with the struggle to escape our outworn shells...in becoming that spirit which can soar.

Moon / Nessus says some of us are likely to cut our own feet out from under ourselves rather than deal with these truths. But truth is truth – it’s not cookie cutter, it doesn’t all look perfect, but truth is truth.

It is what it is.

Given that this is a t-square being presented in third decan degrees (degrees between 20 and 29 of whatever sign) we know that ‘all those folks’ are part of our present equation. So maybe we’re afraid of ‘what people are going to say’ if we do something… or then again, if we don’t do something (or be something we think they want us to be). This combination may even be about your wanting to help someone who is terrified by their own sense of inadequacy.

Whatever the issue is, it is. Truth is truth.

But don’t take it personally. That’s the essential lesson of t-squares – it’s not the ‘my thing,’ it’s the universality of the concept, the relating thing which counts. The ‘t’ in a t-square is a confrontation for us because we tend to think in me-versus-them (or my idea versus their idea, my ideal versus their ideal) terms. Yet whatever we find in a t-square has something to teach us about relating and our relationship to others, to the world, to the greater dynamics of any situation, profession, movement, aspiration… whatever it is which life is ‘highlighting’ as being central to your ‘at stake’ issue now. The focus may fall on the issue itself… or something which you consider a distraction or “side show.”

In life, hardly anything is truly dispensable. Everything has something to teach us, even if it’s about – for good or ridiculous - our sense of priorities.

Those of us who can see the bigger picture and overall dynamic will get past the Sedna-Capulus-Algol ‘self-blockaded’ feeling. And when we do, we’ll arrive in Sun-in-Leo-land, where a lineup of Sun-Byblis-Ceres-Pappos-and-Mercury speaks to the need… and willingness to communicate openly about our plans (Ceres), the where-we-are-today state of being we’re in (Pappos), our concerns for the state of our world inclusive of…or may not including anyone else… and the all important Sun-Byblis concept of being able to be who we want to be in spite of what others think, the willingness to discuss our vulnerabilities as well as our aspirations.

It’s a worthy goal we all have in mind…the only question is whether we can get past whatever old ‘programming’ and presumptions we may have to finding out what our truth and the truth really is.

So often we think we know about something and we haven’t a clue what it is in real time or how it really works. Just recently I had a moment to explain something I know about through experience which a friend mine had some pretty standard misconceptions about. The subject isn’t important here, merely that we had been having a great time interacting with each other except for how every once in a while I felt like a Hollywood film was being superimposed on my being.

Media…hype…rumors…gossip…even things we read which are written by reliable authors and authorities – none of those equal personal experience. 

Two Butterflies on a Flower in West Virginia (ForestWander, January 2009)

 
That’s why at various points in our life the ‘Sedna Factor’ comes along. All along the line, Sedna is that process which causes us to shed the old and become what we are now – in this time, in this day, at this age.

It isn’t easy, but we do it. And that Sedna is part of this Full Moon picture is interesting as Sedna will be taking its station in about a week from now.

Are you into movies? If so, think of this as a sort of ‘coming attractions’ sort of thing. Or maybe you want to think of this as a warm up for the main event which is yet (if soon) to come.

One more thing to be aware of here: barely hours after this Full Moon takes shape in our skies, Jupiter (in Cancer) squares Uranus in Aries.

This says great things can happen. Some of us will make strides – even breakthroughs now. With Jupiter conjunct Alhena-Lilith-Sirius-Eros-Tantalus, we may figure out that when we focus (Eros) on why we meet up with things good and bad (and what we can learn from them, that being the Alhena nuance) that instead of living a life which deprives us of the opportunity to have what we (Tantalus) want, it’s actually possible to get past our disbelief in Self (asteroid Lilith) and begin to grow more (Jupiter/Uranus) freely.

May each and every one of us find our way to that reflective inner light which now so wants to be seen. It’s there, if only we can get past struggling with who and what we've become after being transformed through these past weeks of chrysalis where we were not aware of what we were becoming.

Now we struggle to free ourselves not from daily encumbrances or the needs of those around us but the shroud of preconceived notions about who we are - which we are no longer.

Gaining perspective on ourselves will take time. Yet in this moment we have the opportunity to grapple with ourselves in the gaining of perspective on what we've become. Once we do that we will be able to spread our wings and take off for wherever destiny may lead us.

But first we have to finish getting away from that which we haven't yet freed ourselves of.
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Ceres Direct(ions)

 

 Dwarf planet Ceres orbits as part of the

asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter

Ceres is the only dwarf planet which orbits as a member of the asteroid belt. Considering that one of the things which makes a dwarf planet a dwarf planet is its spherical shape (who knew scientists were so fussy?), what this amounts to is that Ceres is large enough that it's mass has like as not helped it spin itself into that required, rather spherical shape.

Yes, even in space, greater mass creates roundness. Funny how universal some rules are. Or is it really strange? From a metaphysical point of view, actually not.

By Roman goddess tradition, Ceres is a goddess of agriculture, grains, fertility and relationships which are motherly, which many of us have come to think means Ceres is in some way female. It isn't. Ceres is the dynamic which motivates us to protect and provide for ourselves and others, which is obviously a purely human and not female trait.

 Roman statue thought to be of Ceres

When discovered on January 1, 1801, Ceres was in Taurus, giving us to understand that its metaphysical meaning is about use of resources and either things we need to do in order to ultimately be satisfied, things we find satisfying (to do or have) and the resources which we harness and/or use in the pursuit of personal security and satisfaction.

In conjunction with male/female assertively fixed stars Algol and Capulus at the time, we again get the male (or) female message here. But with that is the suggestion that Ceres is about asserting ourselves - it's about what we do which counts with Ceres. Considering how most people think of Ceres as goddess of the harvest, this puts a bit of a different spin on things. Ceres isn't just about the reward and celebration of harvesting, it's about all you have to do to get there.

 Discovery of Ceres

Conjunct Psyche (the mind) at the time of discovery, this also tells us what the tool and reward really is. We have to use our minds - and when we do, Ceres helps us gain security through knowing how to 'grow' our minds and through achieving mental satisfaction, aka peace of mind. (link to article on Pysche)

In trine to service-oriented Vesta at discovery, we know Ceres is not about just us, however. This is doubly emphasized by Ceres being discovered in perfect square to Saturn in Leo, which means the work is to create but that arrogance and personal pleasure cannot be the alpha and omega of the Ceres all.

Saturn in Leo has a couple of great ills: one is  arrogance, one is selfishness and third is being the 'know it all' (so don't bother me with facts) sort of thing. The perfect square here warns us that even when we think we're being a 'giver' that we must beware our lesser nature. And the cue here is probably all about what we most want. That wanting thing - at Ceres moments and in Ceres situations...that can just throw us under our own train.

Look at it this way: if you have everything you need but the storms of hell are swirling around you, how long can you hold out? You're still under threat. But if you create a better, more functional, more generous situation, group, society, world...then you have latitude.

As Ceres now goes direct on August 8, it's in an interesting oppositional situation...

Let's start by listing the players. On the Ceres side we have Ixion (ingratitude ultimately leading to undoing) in an emotional position of Sagittarius. Considering Sagittarius is always about expanding one's horizons and here positioned to be either the need to find what works or the finding out if something new you've embarked on works...? Well, that suggests that this station - a literal Ceres 'turning point' - would seem to be in part about where your emotions, emotional mindset or your understand of your own emotionality have gotten you, and whether that works or not.

With Charybdis ahead of Ceres, there's a lot of continuous effort ahead whether you continue on your current course or not. To this we add Ceres exactly conjunct Orpheus in a social/societal degree about how your emotional attitudes and choices play in public. 

And that sets an interesting stage, seeing as Ixion is plainly by degree behind Ceres and Orpheus is among other things a symbol which says 'don't look back!' lest all be lost.

In opposition to all this we have Agamemnon (strength of determination), fixed star Bellatrix (working through difficulties) and Pandora - the box of ills which only at its end reveals hope.

The synthesis here would seem to be all about what we've been up to - the Ixion as the only numerically  'lagging' symbol appears to be the cue, telling us that some of us have been too headstrong...some have not known our mind (or heeded common sense or our better angels)...some of us refuse to look back lest we have to own up to something...and some of us are/have been defeated by looking back when we shouldn't.

No matter which team you have been playing for, now - with the station comes a shift in dynamics.

But wait...there's more! We actually have a picture of the proverbial wrench tossed into your personal works: 

 

 
Also a dwarf planet, Sedna orbits waaaaaay out there beyond Neptune. Thus it is defined as something which is not only beyond our grasp, but metaphorically beyond our conscious grasp. Arachne and Sabine thus become the 'manifesting tools' through which our Sedna irresponsibility or immature, maybe even petulant insistence is likely to act out.

So whatever happens now, the 'entangling factors' and what's 'holding you back' or what you are holding onto - or perhaps something you have put into 'captive limbo' is the issue.


Why you did what, how others feel are now acting towards you...it's not all entirely a direct cause/effect. Some of it is karmic, which speaks to the part of astrology people often find difficult to get hold of. The immature or selfish things we do may come back to haunt us when we see someone else do a like thing. Our own unwillingness to confront our own conscience or deal with our feelings may get irritatingly aroused by someone who is doing something very much of the same ilk.

That's the point with Team Wrench Tosser - being collectively in an inconjunct to Ceres as it takes its station tells us that the issues, the prompting, the situational dynamic which nudges us to get hold of who we are an know our mind better....those things are coming from outside.

With all this said, because this is a global (aka 'mundane') transit, unless there's something in your natal chart being aspected by this station, you're more likely to notice these situations and feelings going on around you than in your own life.

But those who have anything within orb of 20 Sagittarius (which would be anywhere between 15 and 25 Sagittarius)? You're going to be going through this quandary big time.

For those with placements between 15 and 25 Gemini (the opposition), you're likely to be dealing with someone who has embodied the dynamics we've discussed. And that may be your problem you're taking them on about - or merely a problem in their own world you're watching them go through.

If you have a placement between 15 and 25 in either Pisces or Virgo, challenges and choices shaped by these issues are either on the table - or by refusing to fall into the person pot hole described, you keep yourself (and maybe others) from ever facing such an issue.

One other special nod to those who have placements between 18 and 22 Taurus. For you, the challenge is to 'let go' of the safe path and risk owning your own power for the good of all concerned.

Bottom line, whether your chart is aspected or not, this is a moment of 'attitude adjustments.' So...will you be adjusting yours?

And if not, isn't that exactly the issue described?
    

 

CHART USA (Pt. Three): Delineating America

CHART USA

When delineating a chart, one of the first things to do is to just look at it. Is the Sun is above or below the horizon?

Here the Sun is above the horizon, which means this is the chart of a country which thinks before it acts.

Or maybe not. Given that the 20 Aries Sun of this chart is positioned in an Aries-ruled house with a second decanate/emotional degree of Aries on the cusp, that directs us to look at Mars - ruler of Aries.

And where is that Mars? Mars is sitting way up high in the chart - in the 10th house of government, governance and worldly/world opinion. That's a very public place, and in this position Mars would represent the national ego, the national drive to achieve, attitude of goings on in the government, how others see the US government and how well the nation as a whole and its citizens act in '8th house situations.'

At this level and because Mars is always an symbol of how you feel about getting things done (or having to do things), this makes the whole Mars/Sun relationship one about power: what one can do. Or, what one can demand, require or get because you have the ability to demand, require or throw your weight and power around. 

At the very least this makes the US (and its government and its people and its style of governance) assertive. Not always right, but assertive. And when it's not being assertive, that Cancer Mars suggests conflict - often internal to the government and often made public. With Mars in an early degree of Cancer, the indication is that this conflict is often about what people do. Or what the government wants to do - the 'wanting' part coming from Cancer being a water/emotional sign.

To have the national Sun and the house that Sun is placed in ruled by an emotional Mars in a sign its not known for always being either polite or patient in, that produces selfishness and some pretty childish behavior. Think, I'm taking my toys and going home! or maybe the ever unpopular if I can't have things my way I am going to stop you no matter how right you are simply because i wanna go first! 

Remind anyone of America's congress? Considering Pluto went station/retrograde at the oppositional point to this national Mars this past spring, 2010 and 2011 is likely to be rife with this behavior. But with that will come moments of stunning lucidity when the US government (and its people) begin getting that a nation cannot be run like a high school clique. Given how such transits work, there are likely to be some outstandingly bad moments, but once Pluto gets past this transit things should shift. Probably dramatically.

But that still leaves the United States with a dynamic and nationally egocentric Sun in an interactive house being ruled by a touchy, water sign (emotional) Mars in the public sector. So there's an instinct to think on a national level. There's also an instinctive emotionality which can undermine or thrown off rational conversation. The nation should work things through by thinking of things using intellect and facts. But emotions seem to often (if not always) get in the way.

 White Sands, New Mexico                                                                                           

While we're discussing this government/public profile 10th house, the very highest planet there ('highest' meaning its closest to the top of the chart) is Uranus. Positioned here, Uranus displays the genius of the modern United States as a nation of innovators and innovation, a nation which may be seen as somewhat erratic, but which is proud of its ability to tolerate dissent. And with this Uranus in communication-oriented Gemini, this is absolutely the mark of a free speaking nation.

Yet...there's another side of this (isn't there always?). With Uranus in the last ten degrees (3rd decanate) of Gemini - the 3rd decan being where you 'do' before you know whether something works, that says America makes plenty of mistakes. And that the nation (along with its citizens, institutions and products) is/are prone to sticking it's own free-speech foot in its mouth.

No wonder Americans believe so much in nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? And why it earns so much scorn on the international scene. This Mars-Uranus in the 10th is sort of a national blessing-as-curse: when the country is doing well, other countries are going to knock it. When America and its native elements act badly, everybody else does the big 'See? I told you so!'

Yet whatever else it is, Mars and Uranus at the top of this chart certainly tell us that the US of A will never go stagnant. The nation which came out of the Civil War, is a nation which has learned that when something doesn't work, you actually do have to try something different. Doesn't mean it won't hurt making the shift. And that there may not have to be a bloody struggle (physical, emotional, financial or governmental) in the process. But sometimes a nation and its people or its government or  its institutions just have to do what they truly have to do. Or what they're told to do. Or are responsible for doing in a manner considered ethical, even when that's terribly - even horribly inconvenient.

Therefore, though the US may have to learn things very, very hard way (as it did with learning slavery - formerly thought okay - is simply not tolerable), the good news is that this is a nation well-equipped to come out of the other end of such battles actually more clear on what national beliefs really are. The US born of the Civil War will at times need to learn its 8th house interactive values lessons through dire, hard times - like through war's death and deprivations. Or through economic collapse. Or through a giant oil blowout which endangers its coastlines.

But that's the chart. That's the way the US tends to learn. The same Cancer Mars, Aries Sun, Gemini Uranus which manifests as governmental bickering, free speech, standing up for the oppressed, a dynamic engine of innovation and discovery is also a magnet for karma in the form of giant problems when America gets petty, smug, stubborn or dug into bad behaviors, old points of view or resistant to change. So it has been and so it will always be: the 8th house Aries Sun of this modern Chart USA is just that kind of Sun.

And yet this self same Sun also speaks of a nation and national ability to not just learn from lessons, but capitalize and move on from them into a potent new phase. The US pretty much needs difficulty as a motivation. It just can't manipulate difficulties for that purpose. The US of this chart is destined to always be a world leader when it's just a hair's breadth behind the curve. Blissful secure serenity, in other words, is not this nation's friend.
 

Grand Tetons Park, Wyoming

With that much said, a next simple thing to do with any chart is to just look at where planets fall.

Most of the planets in this chart fall on the right (receptive-reactive) side of the chart, as opposed to on the left, directly pro-active side. This describes the United States (and its people) as being responsive to things which happen in this world. So we know the US will always offer to help in situations of international disaster.

This also tells us that Mars-Uranus in the 10th is about the instinct and need to always be reasonably prepared and to learn how to actually respond to a crisis and not get into an internal governmental dither about response when disasters happen.

 Sunset off Kona, Hawaii

Another form of this would be as we saw when thinking of the national reputation: when and where the US cuts back or becomes lax with regards to keeping up standards, those are exactly the resources which are going to be called for. It's a karmic thing - as if fate itself requires that the US remained focused on the realities of life instead of falling back on petulant bickering and infighting.

Yet for those who would suggest this is a call for the exercise of military might, that's not indicated by the chart. The 8th house Sun speaks to the ability to call on might, but not necessarily use of same - leading us back to that intellect-versus-emotion conversation. When there's good reason to fight, the US can fight the noble and ethical fight. But the US cannot campaign based on emotionalism or for manipulative (or political) gain. It's simply against the thoughtfully altruistic rules laid out by this chart.

And which pretty much echo the precepts of the nation's founding fathers, yes.  

Counting only astrological planets, five out of ten (half, in other words) are in one particular quadrant - the  upper right hand quadrant. Known in the horoscopic world as a chart's 3rd quadrant, this is where receptive/responsive (the right hand side of the chart) meets worldly (the 'above the horizon' upper half of the chart)...which means it's all about things public and interactive if responsive to information, circumstances, input, etc. 

This tells us that the US and all things American function most positively when being part of or 'in' the world, as the expression goes. It's not a hermit country - and if you live in America and are the hermiting type, you're bound to know that society thinks of you distinctly as the minority.

Another way of seeing this is through that old expression 'no man is an island' - which reiterates yet again why the United States is such a participant in world doings. Anywhere where you see a lot of planets in a chart is where the 'weight' of the chart (individual, corporate or national) is going to focus. With the US, that's in things worldly and interaction - small wonder America has such a tradition of power productivity,  power mongering, manufacturing and consumerism - replete with all the sector institutions which go along with all that.

A rather famous New York City street corner...

As an offshoot of same, with Sun, Pluto, Mercury and Venus all in this quadrant we have the signature of a place where not only does opportunity (Sun-Pluto-Mercury) abound, but it's expected  (Pluto-Mercury-Venus) that people should create (Sun-Mercury-Pluto) and take advantage (Venus-Pluto) of those  opportunities.

And when we leave Venus out of it, given that the other three are in the 8th house? Then we get a picture of the US as that nation which cannot help but be 8th house obsessive about everybody else's life (Sun) and what they're doing, saying or buying (Mercury) and all the scandals, sex and money wielding (Pluto). This triad in the 8th house so describes the US as a place particularly prone to valuing others in terms of bank account...and 'other assets.' With such weight in the 8th, America is absolutely obsessed with all things sexual, all people who are good at being bad and of course the US is a world leader in any PR being good PR - even when the news is totally despicable.

It's a country fascinated with being fascinated. But hey, that's part of the American charm. See it, marvel over it, talk about it, be grateful it's not you then go back for another helping, please. (Got any with whipped cream, maybe?)

And yet...this really isn't America's finest attribute. In fact, it ultimately doesn't even work. With the South Node in this rather 'loaded' 8th house, all the  obsessions (not to mention governmental bickering) destroy some, distracts from the reality of things and ultimately undermines a lot of real success. This North Node says it's easy to mistake acquisition for success; there's a national indoctrination of quality over quantity. Measuring people by such yardsticks is easy and prevalent in US culture, but not always productive either for the nation. 

According to this chart, the real 'answer' is Saturn/North Node: to contribute to the society in a manner in benefiting/being available to everyone benefits you. And that 'you' is America first and foremost. The USA cannot therefore remain secure in its internal national assessment unless it opts for actual quality, not simply a 'grand stand' as pictured by Venus (values) + Algol/Capulus (force of will being used for good versus  selfish reasons), replete with - since this is all positioned in the 'let me just broadcast this' 9th house - all the rhetoric, spin, media manipulation and advertising blitzes.

Sounds sort of like the history of America's politics, doesn't it? And well it should: a nation reflects its chart!

Given that the 9th house is also the house of law, religion and education, this also very much points to the strength of belief in and issues with same in the United States.

US Supreme Court Building (western facade)

Yet let's not forget - law is different from justice (the punishment or exoneration part), religion is not spiritualism and education is neither putting your smarts to good use or the job market.

Commerce as a source of jobs is 10th house - as is public justice. Since all 10th house matters carry with them a whiff of Saturn as Saturn rules Capricorn, native sign of the 10th, we look to Saturn in this chart and find it is in the 2nd house of values, resources and self worth. Conjunct the North Node, the US plainly knows what it should do.

But because this national 2nd house is delineated by an emotional degree of Libra, there's a whole Libra story here about what others think or will put up with/respond to. And with that Libra cusp being ruled by the 9th house Venus we're back in the world of special interests, who can yell most loudly, get the word out most effectively or 'buy off' (whether with money or otherwise) the competition.

And yet, the solution is also well implied here too. The solution to what may appear to be a devolution-prone  Mobius strip is a nation and a people who are willing to know better and in doing so, become dedicated to holding themselves as people and their government - and the government as an entity in its own right - to higher, cooler, less emotional standards.

A Mobius Strip: a one-sided piece of paper

(directions: cut a strip of paper. twist one end over once, then attach

to the other end. Put a pen on one spot and gently pull the paper

along so the pen makes a line without ever being lifted from the paper.

When you get back to the point where you started, you will find that

the pen has drawn a line on "both sides" of the paper. Voila - a piece of 

paper which you have just proved has only one side.

Remember...this is a chart which defines a nation which functions best when thinking rules the emotions - not vice-versa. Same goes for its people and other entities.

All this, and to think...we haven't even gotten to the Ascendant of this Chart USA.

Yes well...there's always tomorrow's blog.

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