New Moon in Aquarius ... Sun in Pisces

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

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

(NASA-Goddard Space Center, June 2011)

.

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

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

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

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

The New Moon at 29 Aquarius (glyph chart)

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

.

The New Moon at 29 Aquarius (text chart)

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

.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Are we even willing to feel?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In our Facies: Upton Sinclair

Upton Sinclair in 1906

(photo originally published by the New York World Telegram

and Sun Newspaper Photo - courtesy of the Library of Congress collection)

If you don’t know who Upton Sinclair is, I’m not sure if I’m sorry…or if I think you’re lucky. I met up with his name in middle school, and have been flinching ever since.

The man Upton Sinclair was born on February 20, 1878 – which makes his birthday the same day as that when Pluto will go station/direct here in 2013.

Here’s his chart:

Upton Sinclair

born September 20 1878 - 9:00 a.m. (+5-06-27) - Baltimore MD

With the South Node in Leo, this would be an opinionated man. In fact, with that South Node conjunct the Midheaven in Leo, and with Leo’s rulership by the Sun pointing us to a Sun conjunct Mars in the 11th house, having his say in a big way was Upton’s forte.

Which indeed it was. Author, political activist and general rabble rouser of his time, Upton Sinclair had a way of getting under people’s skin. He was roundly hated by many (including a couple of Presidents of the United States) for his inability to stay quiet whenever he found something going on he thought was terribly wrong.

And seeing how back in Upton’s day, Facies was at 6 Capricorn – that puts Facies, a snarky little nebula if there ever was one – conjunct his 3rd house cusp.

Upton Sinclair - natal chart detail

 

And since the 3rd house is always the house of mentality and communication, and since Facies is known to torment us as much as we torment others because we feel so tormented, we can bet that Upton Sinclair felt tormented by what he saw going on in his world – and hence why he tormented others.

A friend of mine refers to this as ‘sharing’…which only goes to show that sharing is not always about sharing the good stuff. When we feel tormented or upset or hurt or maltreated, we share our displeasure. We share our anger. We share our negativity.

In the metaphysical sense, we’re stirring the pot. At the very least we’re trying to let someone else know that their right to swing their arms ends about the time they punch us in the nose (or some other place which is equally if not more painful).

Sinclair was a man who wanted to get things done. Sun conjunct Mars in the 3rd ten degrees of Virgo said he saw things being (Virgo) done wrong and the placement in the 11th house says this was on a societal level.

The opposition to Saturn at 29 Pisces just helped things along. Yes, he felt it ‘critical’ to do something about it. Any time we see anything at 29 degrees of any sign there’s an emphasis, a focus, a ‘need’ to attend to whatever that symbolism speaks to. In Upton’s case, there were three modifiers – besides the opposition, I mean. His Saturn (an indication of career and business) was conjunct Agamemnon, indicating a stubborn tenacity…conjunct fixed star Scheat, a quotient which is always all about what we or others don’t want to look at or accept as the truth…and our not-so-good, good friend Sedna, the emblem of ‘take your blinders off, and stop thinking in those rose petal terms. If you keep on like you’re doing, in the end the person you’re going to hurt worse is going to be yourself or someone you love.’

-link to-

The Sedna Conflict

There are lots of other things we could say about Upton Sinclair as a man who wanted to get the word out. Certainly his Moon at 7 Cancer in the 9th house was all about how society functions and letting his feelings be known. Conjunct Vesta, he was all about the cost of what we do…and what we don’t do.

Chiron at 7 Taurus sitting atop the Descendant and conjunct Neptune and Ceres would basically describe Upton Sinclair as someone who didn’t have any ‘plan’ about how he was going to take others on, he just knew when he had to say something…and when we flip this around, he was pretty much saying ‘you may not have thought about having a plan about dealing with what’s wrong about what’s going on, but you probably should get one.’

Like I say, he was a real sharing kind of guy.

So why did knowing who Upton Sinclair queeze me out back when I was in middle school? That’s because my class was required to read one of his many (many) books – a rather notorious book called “The Jungle.”

"The Jungle" - 1st edition cover

 

I thought it a pretty horrifying book. Why? Well, “The Jungle” is all about big business of its day and is focused on the meat slaughtering business. And maybe it’s because I read this book as an early-mid teen, or maybe it’s because I went through a deal of violence as a child…but were author Jack London (“Call of the Wild,” “Valley of the Moon,” “White Fang,” etc.) thought “The Jungle” was about the corruption of people in power sort of on that ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’ sort of level and the evils of what he referred to as ‘wage slavery,’ I thought of “The Jungle” as a litany of mankind’s inhumanity not just to man, but to the creatures of this earth.

To me, “The Jungle” was all about just how callous and uncaring we can be as people. It was about how easy it is to wrap ourselves in the righteous garb of institutional processes and ‘that’s just the way we do it’ without regard to the fact that real lives – and life – is at stake.

“The Jungle” was released on February 26, 1906. Here’s the chart:

Publication chart for "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair

Release date: February 26, 1906 

28 degrees of Gemini rising puts Betelgeuse (then at 27 Gemini) right behind the Ascendant. The book is thus all about that Betelgeuse thing of doing what comes easily.

And plainly, writing about societal ills came pretty easily to Sinclair. I’ve recently begun studying asteroid Lucifer, and after a first round of examination, the point seems not to be about “Satan” per se, but how ‘bedeviled’ we can be, or how ‘devilish’ we can be with regards to others…and in a greater sense how ‘the devil is in the details.’

With Upton Sinclair, the devil was plainly in the details and with his Lucifer conjunct Betelgeuse in his ‘let’s discuss this’ Gemini 8th house of power and how we negotiate, clearly Upton Sinclair saw his ability to write a way to force people’s hands.

Which he did. When “The Jungle” came out, many – including President Roosevelt – called Sinclair a crackpot. But after reading it, Roosevelt moderated his stance, saying that the book had a lot of valid points.

Apparently so. After publication of “The Jungle” a lot of ‘sanitizing efforts’ went towards the meat packing business from top to bottom. Corruption in the business also got taken on – and spread to other businesses.

Looking at the book publication chart, it’s Midheaven (it’s “public point,” if you will) is at 4 Pisces – which at the time was the position of Hidalgo (protocols or the manner in which something is done) and Eurydike – the emblem of understanding the cost. With the Sun plus dispassionate Pallas united at 7 Pisces it’s not surprising that “The Jungle” would be something which dispassionately…some might say even coolly…discussed something so vital, so venial, so…whether you’re talking about how people or animals were treated…so very emotionally disturbing.

Today Fomalhaut, the royal fixed star which warns us that success comes only when our ‘dreams’ (aims) are not corrupted – whether by means dark or rose colored – Fomalhaut is sitting at 4 Pisces. 

And Neptune is conjuncting it.

- link to -

The Royal Stars of Persia (Part Four): Fomalhaut

A lot of us are dealing with dreams which are coming to nothing and our desire to ignore or not feel feelings which are difficult to manage.
But we need to.

Meanwhile, Pluto is going direct as this post hits the blog, and it’s doing so at 8 Capricorn, conjunct the Uranus end of the book’s Uranus-Neptune and conjunct Sinclair’s 3rd house cusp, setting off his Facies/Moon opposition.

We are all of us facing various forms of wanting to ignore and wanting to simply ‘go along to get along’ and feeling like victims while ‘sharing’ our hurts. Escapism is bigger than ever and so is the wholesale abuse of power. “Wage slavery” as Jack London termed it, is back in vogue and again crushing the life out of countless lives, thus undermining the riches of all for the purpose of a few who think their domination can last.

Life simply doesn’t work that way. When that which ‘nourishes’ us – be it food or income or the ‘milk of human kindness’ is tainted, so our world becomes tainted too.

That was Upton Sinclair’s ultimate message in much of what he wrote.

Metaphysically, the timing of his birthday would seem to suggest we need to ‘clean up our act.’ We need to care less about the end product and more about the process. The idea of Pluto going station-direct atop Facies is shown ably by this combination of charts. But in our lives…in our individual lives, it has more to do with where early Capricorn is in your natal chart by house – and whether anything is pictured there. It has to do with where your Pluto is located natally, and the distance from there to early Capricorn.

*****************************

For those born under Pluto in Cancer (roughly 1914 – 1938), this is an opposition. It’s time to let go of the old and face what is yet left to do. Take it easy…fighting won’t help and by now you have the wisdom to know better.

For Baby Boomers born under Pluto in Leo (roughly 1939 – 1958), this is an inconjunct. It’s time to do what you need to do in order to become the person you know you should be…not the person its necessarily easy to be. Try to share judiciously, but don’t shut up. Where wrong is wrong, you need to make it right, whether that’s in your own life or in the greater world around you.

For Yuppies born under Pluto in Virgo (roughly 1958 – 1972) this station activates trine energy. Quality, not quantity is the byword. The focus should not be on what you can’t have, but what you can be. Look within.

For Gen X’ers born under Pluto in Libra (roughly 1972 – 1983), this energetic is a square. To see life as ‘us and them’ is to undermine your own interests. Being the bigger better version of yourself – the person you would be in awe of if you met you – requires big-time effort but is worth it.

For the Gen Y / Pluto in Scorpio generation (roughly 1983 – 1995) this energetic is a sextile. You have the opportunity now to see the flaws in your thinking. Change those and you will free yourself of much grief down the line. You’re likely to feel ‘no, this way is the right way’ and where that’s integrative, fine. But where it’s about power and personal gain…not so much.

For the Millennials – the Pluto in Sagittarius tribe (roughly 1995 through early 2008) you’re in for some trying times as this station represents the sort of semi-sextile energetic which gets you to see a really useful (and bigger) perspective by delivering a series of hard knocks. Don’t be offended, consider what you have to gain by expanding your vision and you’ll be fine. Well…more or less fine, and yes, it will take a while. But you can get there!

The little tykes among us – the Pluto in Capricorn group – are fighting battles with themselves at the moment, battles which have to do with learning how to be secure in themselves as individuals. This is all about a balance of being secured without being hovered over: parents beware!

********************************

One of the strangest-seeming facts about astrology is the fact that our charts live on after we die. Just as JRR Tolkien's chart reflected the release of Peter Jackson's 'Lord of the Rings' films (I didn't check 'The Hobbit') and just as things have happened since the passing of first my father and then my mother which reflects on their charts, so this Pluto turn atop Facies echoes Upton Sinclair's chart - and the 'natal chart' for the release of his book "The Jungle."

The cycle is coming around again. But then, they always do.
 
Whoever you are, and however you think of your life or the lives of those who have gone before us, hopefully you recognize the patterns in your own life. Hopefully you are able to see your life as a part of the greater world and the cycles of the greater world as operative in your own life.

Not to mention those cycles which are individual and important to our lives as individuals. Humans, like the society they live in are as driven as manifestations of a point in the vastness of time and space which is every bit as evolutionary the cycle of the dinosaurs, creatures which started as little amphibian things and evolved to become astonishing behemoths.

We just don't have a gazillion-million years to get our cycles straight in. But then, it's likely that dinosaurs weren't great thinkers. And no...(yes, I'm laughing)...some of us humans aren't such great thinkers either.

But we have the option to think, and that's what really counts.

It's our choice. 

Wherever you are on your journey, here’s to living a life as filled with conviction as that of Upton Sinclair.

And here’s to remembering some of the lessons he worked so hard and spent his life trying to make us aware of, lest we go through life blinded by the sheer desire to not see.
.
.
.

By the Light of a Ceres Full Moon

The Full Moon as photographed by Augusto De Luca in 1980

Maybe you remember the old song ‘…by the light of the silvery moon…’ and suspect that I was humming that as I came to write this blog?

If so, you would be right!

And though I’m not positively certain why such things pop into our minds at any given time, given that this month’s Full Moon (which will occur on June 23rd at a cheery 11:33 a.m. UT/+0 time) is in Capricorn, having something I heard as a child turn up for humming use seems rather apt.

After all, Capricorn always has a sense of the classic, the historical and all which has lasted through the triumphs and trials of time – which goes with its association with Saturn, the astrological time-and-taskmaster which leads to achievement. In this case, the ‘achievement’ has in part been the installing of a song in my head which evidently has lasted plural decades. But probably more to the point, the fact that the song (and the Doris Day movie which honored same) have proved memorable denote a form of ‘quality’ which is endemically Capricorn-Saturn, and thus entirely in keeping with this June Full Moon at 2 Capricorn.

During my 'growing up years' I was very involved with music, where one of the things I liked most was old-fashioned sheet music with all the wonderful illustrations. So since it came up today, I went hunting for 'By the Light of the Silvery Moon' and came up with this - which I thought you'd enjoy seeing.

(original publication date, 1909)

And yet…there is something of an odd juxtaposition here. While Capricorn itself is known as structural sign which encourages (even requires) that we build and engineer an external life which will support and protect our internal life (the image of the polarity sign, Cancer), 2 Capricorn is pretty early in the sign. That points us towards the idea that early degrees in any sign (those in the 0-9 first decanate region) are known for being where the sign manifests through actions and physicality. So considering this is Capricorn we’re talking about, this may be a time when all things Capricorn are in progress in that singularly cardinal manner Nike has forever embraced with the corporate slogan: ‘just do it.’

The head and torso of a statue of the Goddess Nike, she who stands for victory
of human spirit, which is part of the RMS Titanic Engineers' Memorial
in Southampton (photo credit: Marekes, May 2011)

Or maybe you’re gearing up to go out there and ‘just do it.’ Or you’re listening to others who are out there just wailing on whatever they’re involved in as they try to make things happen.

Whether you’re cake baking or sports attending or governmenting or building for your future, you’re doing what you’re doing and then we arrive at this interesting juncture otherwise known as the Full Moon at 2 Capricorn.

The image is this: the Moon – our emblem of feelings and intuition and money and habits and cultural inculcations (and thus the ‘directives’ by which we tend to live) is at 2 Capricorn, a degree known as being a bit tentative. The question is ‘what will work?’ or ‘will this work?’ or ‘am I on the right track?’ or ‘is this going to get me where I want to go?’ or any such reflection. Implied also is how our life is OUR life and how that may mimic or ‘fit’ with society or, then again, it may not.

And if or where it doesn’t, is that bad? Certainly there are some areas of life (regulations, laws, etc.) where we really do need to adhere to the ‘rules.’ And there are abilities which are basic tools in life – learning to read, write, do money-math, cook well enough to feed yourself, all that stuff. But beyond that is the where is fitting in good, and where is being your own person the way to create that ‘special’ niche which is true to you and which is the sign of human leadership?

Another side of 2 Capricorn is a sort of ‘timeliness,’ especially that which asks that we keep up with the times which may now reverberate as having to ‘update’ in some way, shape or form.

Because we don’t see a bouquet of modifiers associated with the Sun or Moon in this moment, we might think this Full Moon is straight-forward or ‘simplistic.’

But is life ever simple? How would it be so interesting if all was simplistic!

So be assured, there are at least a couple of astro-aspect notes worth taking into account!

And thus we get at it, starting with one of my handy-dandy diagrams...

Oh wait...! Before we get to that, we should note that the date of this Full Moon (the 23rd of June) is also the date that the Nodes move onto the cross-quarter degrees in Scorpio and Taurus.

Didn't catch that post? No problem - here's the link:

- link to post - 

The Lunar Nodes at Cross Quarters

Bearing that in mind, the Moon (our feelings of the moment) is in a sign which (as mentioned), is ruled by Saturn. And Saturn is at 4 Scorpio and still retrograde, though 4 Scorpio IS the degree Saturn is going to go direct at come but a couple of weeks from now. So that adds something of an undercurrent. Even a double undercurrent, considering the Nodal signal that our relationship with others and the world is in the mix.

Some of us will now experience moments of self-doubt. And it's probably a good time to check those p’s and q’s to see that all is in line...or when you may find out you forgot to dot some ‘i’ or cross some ‘t’.

(How alphabetical of me, right?)

Since this is a Full Moon we’re talking about here, if the Moon is at 2 Capricorn, that means the Sun is at 2 Cancer. So LIFE (the Sun) is in a place where we know we need to build for the future, but we also have sincere feelings of wanting to cover our vulnerabilities (and any body part you associate with that!).

2 Cancer is a bit of an odd duck degree in that it represents that quality of recognizing everyone’s needs while still wanting to vote only for your own preferences. There’s something of an emotional ‘false front’ which tends to be presented here, suggesting that justifications are easier to be put out there than actual reasons, rationales or personal motivations. And maybe that’s good and proper, maybe that’s selfish or manipulative…it just depends on who is doing what - and why.

So in this natural opposition between the Sun and Moon, it would be natural to question: why are we doing what we’re doing? Why are others saying what they’re saying about what we’re doing? Are they speaking fact and truth – or are they just trying to ‘sell’ some sort of agenda?

To make this all a bit more exotic, we add in four more factors, the first of which is that the Black Moon (societal form of) Lilith is sitting right beside the Sun at 1 Cancer, registering a bit of a ‘threat’ that what you’re doing (or what you want or need to do) may cause some social or relationship waves. And that may be the real crux of what this Full Moon is – life asking you whether you’re willing to do what you need to do to move ahead in your own life or as a person even though that might rock some sort of status quo. For all we know, that might be the ‘status quo’ of what you had thought coming into this time which now simply changes. But yes, it could mean you’re rocking some boat at home or at your office or in your ‘group.’

So why are you doing what you’re doing? Is it willful or is it necessary? Is it leadership or selfishness? Are you willing to move ahead (“modernize”) where someone else isn’t, or are you in some mode where you’re rejecting some evidence of how the world works simply because it doesn’t fit your mold or suit your fancy?
The next thing to think about is the fact that with this Full Moon we get a healthy heaping helping of Jupiter at 29 (critical) degrees of Gemini.

Every time I type ‘critical’ degrees, a little voice in my head says ‘someone is going to go overboard with that word “critical”’ So lest that be the case, let’s remember that critical in the astrological sense only means ‘to the max’ in terms of that sign. If you think of the degrees of any sign as being from 0 to 29, then zero is where the sign begins its ‘work’ (or process) and 29 is where its process culminates or where life pushes really hard to get us to dealing with the matter(s) connected to that sign.

In this case, the sign is Gemini: thought, mentality, communication, mental health, priorities and all those life details and operations which keep the ‘whole’ of life on track and functioning on a day-to-day basis. Gemini is known as the sign of ‘choice’ because we make a choice to deal with things…or to not deal with things. (And for those who think they don’t have to make choices, think again: making no choice IS making a choice – it’s a choice to exert no influence into the process, which is sort of a ‘choice to be helpless’ and let others run your life.)

Jupiter at 29 Gemini is a time of making choices and when choices (or non-choices) become very important for whatever reason. So, in combination with the Full Moon, we may now have plenty of good reasons to pause as something we have ignored may turn up to haunt us. Or maybe something we’ve done thinking we could get away with it…or maybe that ‘this was the way’ to handle something turns out wrong.

Then again, this may be where everything begins paying off. This may be a ‘critical juncture’ where Jupiter as the emblem of ‘expansion’ and learning brings you to where you ‘see the light’ whether at the end of the tunnel or otherwise. It may be where some long period of (Saturn) effort begins paying off.

It all depends on what you’ve been doing with your life of late. And even for the past year or so (which I say because it takes Jupiter just about a year to pass through any given sign).

Factor Three: Mercury is about to go retrograde. And since it’s SOP (standard operating procedure) for life to feel all pressured and flurry-ful just as we close in on Mercury’s station/retrograde point, that heaped atop Jupiter being at 29 ‘critical’ degrees of Gemini (a sign that Mercury rules) says decisions and conversations and having thought through situations and choices is probably of mucho importance just now.

As always, that we refuse to deal with in life gets thrust upon us. If we need to learn something and we don’t want to go there, life will ‘send’ someone to provoke and evoke that dynamic in us – or in our lives. And let’s remember…

…since Gemini is the sign which leads us to the foundational (Nadir or IC) point in the horoscope and the zodiac, that which we are (Aries), that which we seek in order to feel good about ourselves and our lives (Taurus) and that which we do or don’t do, learn or don’t learn (Gemini) is now coming to…well, not a heady turn – that sounds more like the top of the horoscope wheel.

But maybe you’d go for it’s a ‘nitty gritty’ time?

Jupiter tends to overblow and overdo and underestimate the repercussions of things while in Gemini. That goes to the good and goes to the not-so-good.

But once Jupiter crosses over into Cancer, then we have Jupiter in a sign of grace. Or at least grace for many. Those who aren’t moving ahead and aren’t planning and building for the future often experience Cancer as being ‘overwhelmed’ by Cancerian issues. I know one person with Cancer – which is normally the sign of home and family – on their 12th house, a house which asks that we face our fears in this realm. This person is totally overwhelmed by family demands and swamped by the ‘expectations’ that have been heaped upon them about the lifestyle they ‘should’ live and the kind of house they ‘should’ own and all that.

If you’re in position to finish something up and move ahead into a newer more “authentically you” stage of life, this Jupiter at 29 Gemini Full Moon with Mercury about go to into retrograde will like as not be an exciting time of seeing yourself moving towards wonderful new opportunities and a broadening of your vistas. Against that, if or where you’re just knee-jerking yourself along through life (did I put that politely enough?) this will be a nerve-wracking time of personal challenges.

And let’s not forget: it could be both. In one area of life all could be just spiffy and splendiferous while in another everything could be sinking into the floor.

The last and final note here (and here we thought this was just a simple Full Moon, right?) is that Ceres – the symbol of planning how to get from seed to the riches of harvest – is about to enter Leo.

Leo is a sign of visions, of creativity, of taking risks – not all of which always pay off. The Leo Principle includes the idea of competition, and let’s face it – we don’t always win. But that which we love with a Leo fervor, we love with all our heart. It’s what we do or what we’ve created, and whether others love it or not, that which is Leo to us is something we love.

Of course, sometimes we love something just too much. (I know…shocking, isn’t it?) Or sometimes we just get a vision of how things should be or could be and life just doesn’t measure up. This is the big Leo challenge: to understand motivation as motivation and ‘what could be’ as that we’re shooting for, not what reality necessarily is.

So as Ceres enters Leo on June 23rd (as this Full Moon lights our skies) we do need to see what can be, and motivation which leads to planning is decidedly a good thing.

Just let’s not think the road is always smooth. That it isn’t, that sometimes ‘stuff’ happens (as they say…ahem!) and we have to think on the fly or bite our tongue and go with the ‘oops – I didn’t think about that!) also comes with this mix.

If this is a moment when your dreams come true, God bless you! And if this is a moment when you see your way through some sticky life thicket to solutions which may yet be and become, good luck!

 The Moon

(photo credit: Simon Wedege Petersen, April 2009 - color altered for post use)

Like any Full Moon, this one is something of a check point and very much a step in the process. As the Moon reflects the light of the Sun, so we look skyward and reflect on this moment…this life…our hopes for tomorrow...

...and then we move on into a new phase, just as the Moon does.
.
.
.

Mercury enters its Shadow

The image of Mercury used here is from a photo taken

by NASA's Mariner spacecraft.

  
It’s an interesting testimony to how human life functions…ask any astrologer and they’ll tell you that they get more questions about Mercury retrogrades than anything else.

And those questions tend to come in two varieties…the ‘when is it going to start?’ question which comes with an expression of concern, and the ‘when is it going to end?’ inquiry which more often than not is liberally coated in frustration or angst.

But it does make sense. After all, Mercury is the symbol of our mentality, and humans are think-a-lot critters. Even when we’re not thinking about what we should be thinking about, we’re thinking!

Retrograde shadows have applications when we talk about any planet or asteroid, which here we have to reference in purely technical terms as the Sun and Moon, though known as ‘planets’ in the astrological sense, never go retrograde.

Still, never in all my years of studying astrology have I ever had anyone ask me when the Uranus shadow is going to begin. Or when Neptune is going to exit it’s shadow. Having looked at such things (I’m such a curious creature!) I’d vote for discussions of Neptune as being perhaps the most interesting. And yes, perhaps perplexing.

But then, that would be Neptunian, wouldn’t it?

The idea of a retrograde shadow is that it describes an arc or ‘umbrella’ under which certain events happen, are on your mind, on your plate to be taken care of, or when you’re trying like the dickens to get them done, but for whatever reason they get held up. Maybe you don’t have all the information. Or maybe you’re having to wait on someone else before you move on.

This shadow-retrograde-direct-shadow process has become famous, almost infamous with people – so much so that people seem to think Mercury’s retrogrades are the do-all, end-all of astrological functionality. But that’s not exactly true. That you might think it’s true is more or less all about how you think…and THAT’s Mercury.

So don’t blame the retrograde, okay? In fact, don’t blame anyone – just think it over. That, Mercury retrograde periods (complete with shadows) are very good for. Asking questions, considering choices, doing research, preparing something which you will move forward with as Mercury either goes direct or exits its shadow (either may be appropriate)…the process and seeing to the ‘propriety and efficient effectiveness’ of what you’re doing or taking time to read (or think through) life’s ‘fine print’ is the Mercurial thing – not whether you do or don’t do.

Now with that said, there are certain things lore tells us are not advisable to do under Mercury retrograde: signing contracts, tendering or responding to marriage proposals (a different sort of ‘contract’), buying cars, phones, computers, sneakers – anything to do with the transporting or communicating of you or your ideas is a ‘Mercury thing.’

The 'date diagram' for this round of Mercury retrograde.

HOWEVER….the real issue is whether what you’re doing is the ‘end of the line’ – or whether you are dead set on the choice du jour being the end of the line as you make some sort of Mercury choice. It was pointed out to me long ago by a qualified astrological type that there are those who buy houses for the purpose of flipping them under Mercury retrograde. And that’s a perfect example of a contract which - providing you read it, do the numbers and leave proper contingencies and all such (you know, the common sense stuff) – may be perfectly okay to sign under Mercury retrograde.

Why? Because the purpose of the contract is not to create permanence.

I’ll give you another example: a Certain Member of My Family (who shall go unnamed here) has a knack for taking jobs under Mercury retrograde. But the job they take, which is to say that particular position, never lasts. Either there’s a mutual parting of the ways at the end of the standard probationary period in this person’s profession OR they get offered a different and better position once they’re inside the organization and Ye Olde Honchos can see their true native aptitudes for themselves.

Another Mercury fallacy: nothing can be ‘in the works under Mercury retrograde or it’ll be done wrong.’ Not true. Let’s say you’re a hot rod enthusiast and you want your car totally tricked out and given a paint job to make Michelangelo jealous. PROVIDING the designs and the bids and all that has been comfortably (that’s the key word here) gone through with no rush involved prior to the beginning of retrograde, your waiting while the paint-and-body wizards do their thing under Mercury retrograde would be totally apt.

Processing per se, is fine under Mercury retrograde provided that no one has ‘rushed’ to get things under way.

And that’s the issue with the shadow. Especially as the date of retrograde (June 26th) approaches, people are likely to feel rushed. That’s when you don’t want to push things. And yes, you are likely to feel pressure – everybody does prior to Mercury’s station/retrograde point, and that too is about your mentality. LIFE is not suddenly becoming more pressured…life is asking you how well you deal with mental pressure.

Think of it as a ‘leak test’ for your brain. If there is a leak, the added pressure of Mercury nearing its retrograde station will cause a blow-out.

Mercury is all about making sure we keep ourselves and our lives in order. So things which you want to do can get jumbled up with things you need to do or which you should do (but maybe don’t want to) and that’s where Mercury retrograde brings in the snafus, bollixes and breakdowns which everybody knows is about their not having done what they should have done in the order it needed doing.

Hey, blame it on the planet, you say?

More precisely, such issues would be blamed on the orbital relationship between Earth and Mercury, as it’s the relative difference in speeds and orbital positions around the Sun which causes Mercury retrograde (or any other retrograde) to begin with.

But noooooooo…! We don’t want to DO that, do we? If we did that, we’d be taking responsibility for the fact that Mercury retrograde is all about OUR relationship to the world and to our mental willingness to cope with the various vacillating vagrancies of life…which is all about our mentality.

Like I said as I started this chat…Mercury retrograde is not about what happens in life – it’s about how we mentally cope with what happens.

Or don’t cope, depending.

This particular retrograde is part of a giant long epic (and Mercurial) transit of Cancer. Beginning on May 31st, Mercury is going to be in Cancer until August – a goodly long time for us to deal with all our most personal and native issues.

Or not – again, depending. But since Cancer is all about the many ways our native experience of our own emotionality functions, we are likely to experience and be confronted with many a situation which tangles our habits, challenges our priorities and points out the cracks in our mental foundation.

Or which points the way. It does sort of all depend on how you use this time. And as always, as we of the astrological ilk say, you can use the time…or have the time use you.

 Another way to visualize the process....

One other thing to bear in mind here, and that’s the idea that Jupiter will be entering Cancer on the day that Mercury goes retrograde. Call it a recipe for flipping life’s pancakes or the brewing of change – call it anything you like. But in this thought process, the one about the shadow leading into Mercury’s retrograde, the primal importance of Jupiter reaching Cancer on June 26th (as Mercury goes retrograde) is that Jupiter will be mushing it’s giant red self through twenty-nine critical degrees of Gemini during those very days which are likely to feel pressured anyway.

That amps the issue ten-fold, at least!

Gemini being Mercury’s primary mental (as opposed to functionality) sign of rulership, we’re likely to experience some ‘overblown’ Jupiterian decisions or thoughts our outbursts or choices during this time. Some of us – to be sure – will achieve great things now based on having come to a time of achievement or culmination naturally through prior or previous diligent step-by-step effort.

But let’s be real: this is a recipe for haste, so think before you speak and look (both ways) before you leap, walk, or take anything for granted!

This may be a really interesting time for many of us. Mercury-Jupiter can be a great force for learning, even if not all the lessons are exactly what we might want to be learning at the moment. Jupiter’s association with the media, with justice, with ‘things foreign’ (to us, anyway) fit well with Mercurial dynamics. And with Mercury in Cancer and Jupiter leaving Gemini for Cancer, topics like where or how we live, national populations, family and culture and our native regard for land and life all come up as nominations for personal – and group experiences.

Whatever happens, evidently we need to learn it now so that we can have a bigger, more knowledgeable tomorrow…which I guess amounts to ready, set, know! 
.
.
.

Mercury-Mars: A Sequence of Criticals

 A copper engraving of Mercury dating from 1597

Mercury retrogrades back into Scorpio on November 14th at 7:43 in the morning (UT/+0) – which is pretty much as this post hits the digital airwaves.

And because this is Mercury moving back out of Sagittarius into Scorpio, this is Mercury moving from zero Sagittarius – a point where we begin to learn through experience – back into 29 Scorpio, that degree which incites and promotes a ‘critical’ emotionality.

Mind you, that may be critical emotions (as in criticizing someone or being critical of yourself) or those emotions which reflect your feelings about something in life… some process, some effort, some situation… reaching a critical point.

For some, this will be a ‘point of no return.’ For others, this will be the moment of validation, vindication or triumph.

But let’s remember…this IS Mercury in retrograde. So no matter what happens now, it isn’t the last word on any subject. There is more to do, more which you can do, more to think through.

Either way, November 14th is marked as a day impacted by thought: the necessity for thought, the provoking thought, the need to think things through, the confrontation with feelings you need to think over but can’t – or don’t want to.

And it’s an interesting idea that no sooner will Mercury back down into 28 Scorpio (lessening the mental aspects of all) than Mars enters 29 Sagittarius in preparation for its Capricorn ingress on Saturday the 17th (or Friday the 16th, depending on where you are). Mars will move into 29 Sagittarius on Thursday, November 15th.

The Greek Gods - Mars by Wenzel Hollar (1607-1677)

Any way you cut it, shake it or otherwise combine it, that means this Wednesday/Thursday period of November 14th and 15th are days to be reckoned with. Those who (Sagittarius) consciously take (Mars) action to align (Scorpio) themselves with the tides or cooperate, negotiate or otherwise fully recognize mainstream thought will do better than those who buck all standards and ‘go it alone.’

This is just a heads up, as it were. With the Sun in Scorpio, much has to do with what your needs are at the moment and why aren’t getting there…or aren’t being received in the manner which you would have anticipated.

It’s easy to get angry or frustrated now. Try not to. Energy which fights the battle of personal conviction or ego is likely here to lose out. Those who work towards earning the respect and support of allies in important places stand to win the war.

Hopefully that’s just a figure of speech. If it isn’t, keep your Self safe.

Life goes on – be part of it! Let's make this a moment when we push through our own inhibitions and do what needs doing so that we can get to that next important thing in the condition we need to be in when we get there!
.
.
.

Dateblog: October 2012

I have this continuing conviction that there must be a decently easy way to give you a broad-stroke idea of what the astrological month ahead is sort of, kind of, generally about.

So in line with this ingrained bit of mental stubbornness, I zeroed in on October 2012 and gave Powerpoint a try.

(This is after Excel failed quasi-miserably.)

And here's the result. (You'll have to let me know how you like it - but I think it's downright half decent!) 

October 2012

Yes, I know...this is only the Sun through Saturn. So maybe you're wondering what happened to the other planets? Well, they're still there (out in the solar system I mean)...but if I had squished them into the above, you wouldn't have been able to read any of it.

Compromises must be made.

So we'll just talk (type) the other three best known astro-objects though. Uranus and Neptune remain in retrograde all month. Uranus is in Aries and Neptune is in Pisces. Meanwhile, back at the ranch in Capricorn, Pluto continues riding after Facies, determined to run that nebula down.

(Yes, Pluto is a cowboy in this scenario.)

This idea of only drawing a chart as far as Saturn is rather quaint in a sense...after all, Saturn is as far as we can see from here on Earth using our own wee naked eyes.

 A wonderful panoramic photo (covering about 230 degrees) of ESA's

Very Large Telescope (the VLT) taken by ESO Photo Ambassador

 Gerhard Hudeophl with Moon and Jupiter (June 2011). A lot of our night

 skies are 'polluted' by the lights of the cities we live in, which is one of the

 things which makes an installation like the VLA so wonderful. Built at high

 altitudes here and there around our globe, such installations literally extend

 the scope of what we can see...in essence, taking us back hundreds of years

 to a time when people could walk outside and see far more of the night sky

 than we can today.

As we start into October, three planets (Sun, Mercury and Saturn) are in Libra. As soon as I say that I’ll add that it’s also worth noting the fact that Saturn is just about to change signs. That means it’s in Libra's most "urgent" degree (29 Libra) as the month begins. Libra being about trying to get 'results' by using our ability to interact, connect or relate (or get others to relate to you), this is a signal all about things reaching 'fever pitch.'

This alludes to breakthroughs - literal or figurative. They may be part and parcel of what you’re doing...then again, this may be the moment when you begin to do something which turns out to be your ‘breakthrough.’

Or maybe you’ll just come to recognize why Attitude-or-Method ‘A’ works...and why Attitude-or-Method ‘B’ doesn’t work so very well.

With Jupiter in Gemini, we also are given to understand that things - particular thoughts and words – may be evocative, provocative or missing a few spoonfuls of understanding (as we’ve seen - to the max! - during September). With Jupiter moving into its station on October 2nd and going retrograde on the 4th (with the station extending on through October 6th) we know from that combination of strong Jupiter and Saturn influences that things are about to change. They need to change. This isn’t a peaceful moment, but this is a moment where things of import may well get done. Saturn and Jupiter have long been tied to the rise and fall of nations, rulers, religions and marriages. So any time we see both Saturn and Jupiter making any sort of ‘change’ within a close span of time, we know something is afoot.

Or can be.

As Jupiter enters its station and goes retrograde, some will face the music, some will realize they should have been practicing harder...and some will recognize they have definite musical ability. With so much Libra 'flavor' in the mix, the issue of how we connect with others and who we connect with is telling. Are you connecting (or connected) to the right folks? There will be a lot of ‘blaming’ going on and much ‘excuse making,’ but the truth is that people who haven’t toed the line know they haven’t toed the line, no matter what they say.

Meanwhile, with Mars moving through the end of its Scorpio transit, much intensity hangs in the air. There’s much lingering desire to try to get what we want out of situations and frustration where that just isn’t happening. But let's remember: Scorpio is about the ability to lead through finding solutions which work for everybody. Where nobody can get 100% of what they want, compromise should be equal on all sides, and where it isn't, those trying to 'hog' the lion's share are going to look craven, stubborn, selfish and in general, not very likable.

Venus moving into Virgo just as Jupiter hits its station tells us that workable solutions can be found, but that they aren’t likely to be all that super-comfortable. With Mars just at the tail end of Scorpio some of us will flinch as we realize how we got ourselves into our current situation. That’s not to despair about – it’s to learn from.

And don’t worry...there’s plenty of Scorpio around to practice-makes-perfect with!

Speaking of which, come October 5th, both Mercury and Saturn move into Scorpio. Things get serious – and seriously real. For some, this will be a moment of getting much done. For others, this changes their opinions of things...and people...in a very lasting sort of way. For those who are launching or building something new in life, once Mars enters Sagittarius on the 7th the tone lightens and everything moves into a ‘let’s try a new tact’ sort of mode. But still...things are altogether real, and those who don’t do well with reality (you know them – the ‘rose colored glasses’ crowd?) – they’re likely to be fluttering and bubbling.

This is the essence of all between October 7 through October 21 - with a few notes. The first handful of same would refer to the fact that we’re likely to see some inexplicable choices, statements and behaviors around the 10th (as asteroid Lilith goes direct) added to which will be the need to deal with odd combinations of inspiration and uncertainty about what ‘lies ahead’ as Saturn perfects a trine to Neptune on October 11th with all of this falling between the approximate October 10-15 (or 16) dappling of sparks and qualms prompted by the Orionid meteor shower....amidst which occurs a New Moon in Libra. Occurring on the 15th, this New Moon opens a (lunar) month-long period which favor things like communications, making connections, issuing apologies, presentations of work or ideas, meeting new people and getting advice, instruction or information on how to proceed.

 A stained glass rendition of Scorpio's emblem found in the

Gothic-style Cathedral of Lausanne (Switzerland) built between

the years of 1170 CE and 1240 CE.

  

EXCEPT FOR....the South Node (the easy and comfortable way to do things) will conjuncts Algol at the New Moon. So while one part of the world is trying to make things better, another part of the world is going to be perfectly content to sit there acting smugly satisfied.

The second half of October is greatly colored (astrologically) by two events.

The first involves asteroid Vesta (everything you ever wanted to know about making and keeping promises) going retrograde on October 22nd just before the Libra Ingress (otherwise known as the Sun entering Libra). That means that as Vesta does this turnaround, the Sun (life) is at a point which is (or feels) very critical. Or critique-laden.
.

 Vesta as photographed by NASA (March 2011)

.
If you know the old expression ‘be careful of what you ask for, you just might get it..’ the days between October 20th and 25th are going to be loaded with incidents and encounters which tweak this into ‘be careful of making promises – and the promises you have made.’ For some this is about what it takes to keep those promises, for others what arises now is the understanding that maybe you need to NOT make those promises...and for still others, the cost of promises made and broken begins to hit home.

The Sun entering Scorpio on the 22nd modifies the ongoing sense of ‘hard reality’ to some extent as well. Accepting responsibility for what we have or haven't done is hard to do but necessary as those who won't (or haven't) accepted what life's realities are and what those realities dictate as needs (responsibilities) are likely to make life harder for themselves.

And the rest of us too, yes.

If you were thinking you can get away with being an island, that isn't likely to work.

 Silhouette Island in the Seychelles by Hansueli Krapf (June 2006)

Yes, it's picturesque as all get-out, but it's just not likely to work!

But granted...for many, a Scorpio Saturn/Mercury meetup will elicit the temptation to just go your own way and not deal with anyone. Saturn can always represent isolation, and in conjunction with Mercury that isolation can be mental (as in my way or the highway) or it can be isolating the problem to misunderstandings or the need to establish common ground and/or mutually satisfactory agreements. Some people will always manifest Saturn/Mercury combinations as the tendency to go it alone or (in Scorpio) ignore the needs, desires or even the rights of others. And some will simply throw up walls, staging resistance in the name of the very sort of righteous refusal which at some level tells you they're afraid to listen to anyone else.

Scorpio - like all fixed signs - asks us to risk. Unlike Leo, which risks mostly for attention or popularity...and unlike Aquarius, which is forced to risk in order to remain viable...Scorpio asks that we risk that which is to any person most dear: our feelings of security and self worth, often by going through a revolution of outlook which leads to an evolutionary renovation of our life.

With Jupiter going into (and being) in a Gemini retrograde, the optimal is to think through what we're doing and to think over what we've done. Our choices have led us to where we are and we may need to make different choices in order to improve life going forward. Those willing to make the changes now will be ahead of the eclipse curve going into November. Given that the upcoming solar eclipse is in a third decanate position (a degree between 20 and 29 of a given sign) we know that we will either change - or be changed - going forward.

Working towards change gives us control.

Working against having to make changes is very Scorpio-fixed-sign-like, but that only guarantees that life will foist changes upon you.

So which will you choose? We'll have to see. 

The last October noodle involves Venus entering Libra on the 28th and Mercury entering Sagittarius on the 29th in conjunction with a Full Moon at 6 Taurus – a whole little nest of questions about haste making waste and what we owe others, what they owe us and whether our relationships are functionally equal (read: worth our time and efforts). Combined with everything else, this would seem to make the whole last half of October about whether we want to make any general course corrections with regards to how we're steering our lives. Making changes may well be not just apt but needed particularly in the sense that next month (November) is a month of eclipses. That makes October prime 'shudder territory' where life tries to point out what needs revamping, whether or not we take the hint.

(And yes, all that shuddering does fit the monthly theme if you're celebrating Halloween!)

 A lit Jack-o'-lantern glows menacingly into the night....

(photo credit huk flicker, October 2009)

And that's it for the October overview. As usual, a couple of days prior to all these events (and a few others which though interesting, didn't make it into the headlines) blogs going into nuances pro and con including tips and tricks for making the best of each dynamic will be posted here at the blog.

So until then...a happy, healthy October to you and yours!

.

 .