Venus in Virgo / Hidalgo Direct

The Harvesters by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

(dated 1565, Metropolitan Museum of Art,  courtesy of Google Art Project)
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There’s something about Venus in Virgo falling just after Venus in Leo which sometimes seems like a grand cosmic joke. After all, there we are getting into rhythm (with ourselves) while putting on some sort of ‘game face’ with which we dazzle others.

Yes, even when we’re bad, grumpy and entirely ticked off, under Venus in Leo it’s at least a good performance - and in time, as Venus sails through Leo’s degrees we get to where we can see how it all works (whatever ‘it’ is).

Good or bad, at least we ‘grok’ it, to borrow from Heinlein’s ‘Stranger in a Strange Land.’ (Sometimes you just have to use the word that works, regardless of its official language status or lack thereof.)

And then Venus moves into Virgo - a sign transiting Venus’s normally beneficial and responsive energies often fail to produce even a teaspoon of joy in. Still, it’s not like that’s any surprise - or at least it shouldn’t be as Venus is about 'the reward.' The response... and yes, hopefully the applause (with a side of ‘oooh’ and ‘aaah’).

And Virgo? Virgo is about the effort. The work. The responsibility.

So when we put the two together we get Virgo starring in the role as a zodiacal ‘do it right’ authority against Venus’ aim to win, celebrate and relax, enjoy and receive accolades at leisure - which is something of a problem as leisure is something of a dirty word where Virgo is concerned. As gracious and lovely as transiting Venus in Pisces can be (Venus being exalted in Pisces), that’s pretty much the level of discomfort, annoyance and sense of unwanted obligation Venus in Virgo may be able to rise to over the next several weeks once Venus enters Virgo on September 5th at 5:08 in the evening UT/+0 time.

Then we add in the fact that this particular Venus-Virgo ingress is happening not just in the wake of Ixion and Pholus going direct (see previous post) but also just as asteroid Hidalgo enters its two-day allowance to go on station - and then direct - come Sunday the 7th.

That station will be at 26 Sagittarius, a degree which because it is between 20 and 29 of the sign is never only a personal thing. Yes, you may have all sorts of feelings and opinions on any given subject. (In fact, being that this is Sagittarius we’re talking about, that could actually be plural feelings and plural subjects.) But whatever you’re focused on or involved in, you’re not alone in the doing, thinking, feeling, focusing, opinion-rendering or trying to figure out how to fix something which has gone wrong or which has gotten out of hand (both these last being common Sagittarian trials even without Ixion and Pholus' station effects).

As for the specifics of the degree, 26 Sagittarius is known for providing (and needing) a good deal of flexibility. This is a degree which shifts and changes and presents different ‘faces’ or factor in just about every situation and case. Sometimes such malleability is useful - as in the case of an actor or a dancer exercising their craft (26 Sagittarius is known for skill of movement, though not necessarily grace). But then... despite the fact that this degree can sometimes manifest as with warmth, friendship and outstanding loyalty, Sagittarius can also come off with a shiftless and untrustworthy edge which makes others think every new move, idea or opinion is some attempt to manipulate others (or some situation) for personal gain or aggrandizement.

And just to make it more exciting, all of these plus and minus factors may be being true and on display at the very same time.

With Hidalgo going direct at this degree the emphasis is on the manner, mannerisms or the manners (as in politeness) with which we do something. So people may change what they’re doing during these days and going forward. Or we many, any of us, realize that while our goal may be perfectly respectable, how we’re going about it (or even how we’re acting as we’re going about it) is creating problems for our Self, others...or even for that aim we seem to be so bent on.

Another thought to consider is that up until October 2010, 26 Sagittarius had been the degree of the Milky Way’s Galactic Center for many a plural decade. So anyone born before October 2010 has this point (depending on where and how it is positioned in that chart) as an active position and thus a ‘place’ where they need to ‘give’ to the world (this being a ‘beyond global’ point, this isn’t to ‘others’ but to our world/planet) in order to pass some personal “gateway,” said gateway being indicated in any given chart by the position, sign and aspects to that big red planet known as Jupiter.

Remembering that as Venus enters Virgo it will conjunct royal fixed star Regulus, this is a time to be careful about assertions and assertiveness as Regulus promises (eventual or long-term) success only where one’s actions are not affected by the spirit or intent of revenge - which in this case may be a challenging consideration as Orcus (things which have been decided or which can no longer be changed) will be positioned at 5 Virgo as Venus enters Virgo’s earthy, concrete world of the nitty-gritty, the fact of the matter and getting our hands dirty either in the cause or because we weren’t so very ethical (or careful...maybe even thorough) about some cause.

Moreover, sitting right behind Venus (at 29 emphatic degrees of Leo) is asteroid Germania - an object which refers to strength of determination and the will to ‘continue the fight’ which here is shown as being left behind as the need for real results (Venus) ends imagining what could be in favor of dealing with what is... and what is going to become of things if necessities - no matter how much we do or don’t like them - aren’t tackled, dealt with and taken care of properly and in detail... hopefully without getting bogged down in details along the way.

Virgo is about getting it right and making things work in a healthy and productive way. Venus meanwhile, is all about results and ‘the result’ - that which we pull or hold close, and which by its yea and nay, by its functionality or lack of same tells us whether we’re heading in the right direction or whether we’re just embedded in some ‘old way of doing things’ which we like or which feels comfortable to us, but which in reality is no longer useful to our present or foreseeable future.

Venus will be in Virgo until September 29th (UT/+0 time) offering us an opportunity to become more grounded, more realistic and more productive in who we are as people...and in what it means to be human. During the weeks ahead we’re likely to feel vulnerable, but that doesn’t mean we need to (or should) lower our standards or exclude anything (or anyone) others who don’t feel, act or live like us.

Virgo’s keywords... health, work, service... are all about responsibility: that we have to our Self (mind and body), that we have to be a contributor and not just a ‘taker’ in this world, and to all which we acknowledge about being human when we determine what needs to be done while simultaneously requiring of ourselves that we remember how ‘life’ is not just our life, but one we share with every being, plant and creature on this planet.

Even with Planet Earth itself.
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Ixion and Pholus Station-Direct

Centaur an den Kaskaden in Kassel

(photo credit: Fingalo Christian Bickel, May 2008)

Plutino Ixion and centaur Pholus both have somewhat problematic reputations. They’re not quite the zombies of our character set, but they do seem to tempt us to act contrary to our own best interests.

How they do that is individual - which is to say described by where these points are in your personal chart and where they are going to be going direct, which is at 19 and 20 Sagittarius.

Being that I’m still having some physical difficulties, I’m not going to do a marathon fandango on the lore and astro-theory behind these points.

But never fear - we have links:

- link to -

Ixion: Our Conflict of Self

- link to -

Pholus: A Little Nasty

Either way, both Ixion and Pholus are about what we don’t want to do, though they act on that desire in very different ways. Ixion acts out (is assertive or pro-active, to use the common terms) and Pholus tends to retreat, single out, ignore or isolate.

As defined by what these points are astronomically, they will also tend to describe different sorts of influences we would meet up with (either in our own heart, mind or soul or through some external prompting). Like better-known Chiron, Pholus is a centaur - one of a number of astronomical objects which act sort of like ‘short range’ comets which unlike “official” comets don’t cycle around the Sun - our emblem of consciousness, existence and will to live.

Because Pholus doesn’t orbit around the Sun, it doesn’t represent any ‘core’ aspect of our personality. It can’t directly affect our life, will or consciousness - except in the sense that in cycling back and forth from just beyond (outside) Neptune’s orbit to just inside Saturn’s, Pholus does indeed cross over Saturn’s orbit, an event which symbolically represents Pholus as a force which can ‘penetrate’ our outer barrier (Saturn).

Pholus is about that which can get to us, or the experience of dealing with ourselves once something has gotten to us. What Pholus doesn’t seem to be is outwardly motivated.

That’s Ixion. Ixion is that ability to do the same thing over (and over) again thinking you will succeed this time. Ixion tempts us to ignore life’s realities in favor of something we believe we are - and in particular, that we are entitled to do, be or have.

And in that, we would be wrong. But that’s the point - where we see Ixion we tend to do think we can ‘get away’ with something (whether in conjunction with others or our Self).

It doesn't work. That’s the Ixion nature: to pursue some path (generally one which is open to us because of some natural talent or simply because of who we are or know how to do) in a singularly self-serving manner until our lack of respect for others and life in general becomes our Self-undoing. Ixion is a Plutino: an object whose orbit around our Sun is governed by a little invisible (to us) force called magnetic resonance - Neptune’s magnetic resonance.

And since Neptune notoriously symbolizes all the many ways we idealize, imagine and so often delude ourselves (lest we have to deal with all that messy ‘being a mortal human being’ stuff), that would be why Ixion always has to do with somewhere in our life where we tend to delude ourselves.

So Ixion tends to ‘act’ and Pholus tends to ‘withdraw,’ which makes things curious when you consider that these two points are stationing at 19 (Ixion) and 20 (Pholus) Sagittarius.

Part one: they’re in conjunction.

Part two: this is the ‘bookend’ to their having gone into retrograde in tandem.

- link to -

Pholus-Ixion Station-Retrograde

(March 2014)

Part three: there is a general traditional notion that degrees vary by nature depending on whether they’re numerically even or odd. Even degrees are ‘receptive-responsive’ and odd degrees are ‘proactive-assertive.’ So that proactive Ixion is going direct at proactive 19 Sagittarius and reactive Pholus is going direct at a responsive degree like 20 Sagittarius tell us that we should expect anything Sagittarian to move towards more polarized or ‘purist’ forms of expression bent on classic Sagittarian aims like expansion, exploration, getting the word (or anything else) “out there” and dealing with objections, blockades or errors in judgment or operational imperatives.

And let’s just say Sagittarius isn’t exactly known for being all that cooperative when it comes to having people or things not cooperate. Famously associated with the legal system, Sagittarius is all about the debate rather than the punishment, punishments legal and otherwise fall under Capricorn (with the exception of guilt, shame and other such emotional torments, all of which fall under water signs).

Moreover, to have Ixion at 19 degrees and Pholus at 20 degrees is something of an indication that a ‘connection’ [the conjunction] is currently in play which links Sagittarius’ ‘fervent zone’ (its second ten degrees) with Sagittarius as a basic signature of things going on in the world.

That Pholus is ahead of Ixion may well say that some of us (those who have Pholus more prominently placed in their natal charts, one would guess) will, upon confronting whatever is going on will retreat, want to retreat... or at least function from a separate and singular perspective. What that gives us may take any number of forms: some of us just have things to do, some people will choose (for any of a number of reasons) to stay uninvolved or at a distance which allows them to be less partial, and some of us will simply ignore, deny or insist on being hard-headed in wanting to believe what we want to believe, never mind anyone else (or the facts, in some cases).

With Ixion just behind Pholus and still in an emotionally charged degree there is a deal of energy driving our needs and convictions, which against Pholus’ instinct to separate and go one’s own way is likely to manifest as various types of confusion and conflict within and without our Self and in that ‘zone’ we have defined as our sphere of operation.

Which one of these influences is strongest and therefore represents which side of this push-pull being individual will make everything a bit more messy, of course. Plus there are certainly those who will feel more of these effects going into the September 3rd (Ixion) and 4th (Pholus) station as opposed to coming out of it.

We give stations a two-days-before, two-days-after ‘allowance’ period (making the full extent of this station from September 1st through 6th), and if you follow this sort of stuff (yes, astrologers collect people stats as opposed to sports stats) what you’ll learn is that events (real time or mental, it doesn’t matter) which occur prior to the actual moment of stationing tend to refer to things which have yet to play out where things which occur after the station tend to reflect a ‘wrapping up’ of matters which have already happened. With this particular station occurring just as Mars and Saturn are parting their Scorpio conjunction things are intense and require the kind of focus which refuses to go off half-cocked, which is to say before what AND why everyone is doing and feeling as they are - before all of that is at least noted, if not well understood.

But let’s be realistic here... Ixion and Pholus are not the kind of life factors any of us like coping with. Sure, we’re all about what ‘the Other’ is doing or saying which we don’t like or maybe want to brush aside... but we’re not as good with ourselves. Their flaws and the problems with situations...? That we see. That, we’re willing to see.

But flaws in our Self? Both of these points refer to personality paths which are Self unaware - and both come from a position which speaks to where or how we tend not to take responsibility for Self, particularly as that pertains to being one human among many, all of whom are equally human.

As for the degrees involved, 19 Sagittarius is known equally for an aversion to ‘mainstream’ standards or ways of doing things... difficulties and trials which specifically test inner emotional (water sign) stamina... in a symbolic offset to the inner emotional tests, an affinity for natural water and waterways. This degree is associated with causes. Yet though having a ‘cause’ (or focus) is a plus, failing to deal with negatives, evils and any lack of inclusive thinking (which with Ixion tend to be ours by definition) is a recipe for bitter... even poisonous pain.

Not theirs, ours.

Though this is only a moment in time and the passage of a few days, what happens now can be important. Ixion has an oddly ‘fated’ quality reflective of this influence as one which brings some very ugly traits to the surface... and whether we like it or not, we’re all human and we all have some spots dappling the landscape of our thinking and personality which in the grander scheme of things are just ugly.

From Pompeii's Casa dei Vettii, a detail from a scene depicting Ixion's punishment which

features Mercury holding the famous caduceus.

(public domain)

With Pholus, personal ethics and morality count. With Ixion, social and societal contracts count. So with Mercury just crossing Virgo's massive black hole M87 (see previous post) just as Ixion takes its station turn, we are almost being invited to see things differently... to see others and our attitude towards those others in an entirely alternative light.

What we do after that... or in lieu of that, should we are so enamored of our own personal vision of things that we’re not even willing to entertain someone else’s truth as truth... that’s up to us. And because that's up to us, that means the karma which comes from what we do or not do leaves us with no one to blame (or cheer) apart from our Self.

But then, that would be the theme here: taking responsibility for what we do, who we are, how we think and feel - and what we allow ourselves to do or be because of that.

Or maybe in spite of that.

Speaking of karma, Pluto (the outcome ruler of Scorpio, sign of karma) is going direct in just a couple of weeks.

So this would seem to be a signpost.

Will we read it? And beyond that, will we heed it - or will some Ixion-Pholus impulse get the better of us?
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Mercury in Libra

A field of ripening barley in Palouse, USA

(photo credit: Victor Szalvay, June 2006)

There’s a strong human tendency to make things simply personal...or not personal...according to personal preference.

Surely you’ve noticed?

Yes, any number of us will make the good ‘ours’ and simply reject whatever we don’t like, disowning it lock, stock and responsibility - even when we’re plainly in the mix. So strong is this habit that even when we think about metaphysics, again we tend to divide our charts: the Aries “I Am” of life we stand for and take hold of.

But when it gets to Libra, so often we opt for blanket ‘thou’s, projecting and separating ourselves from things in our own chart.

In other words, in our own life - and we’re not talking about the live being lived in your town, city or state, we’re talking about every moment of that life which has us breathing or holding our breath.

It’s our chart. Libra is in every chart and is a precept in every life. So why do we project? We want a good life, surely. But how can we live a good life if we’re not willing to admit that the life we’re living (inclusive of who we attract, how others feel about us and how our work or efforts are received) how to live that  good life while abdicating the power we hold in our hands (and minds) to empower said life?

There’s a difference between not knowing and not liking, after all. Both can be equally valid in a well-balanced Libra-like world, which is why the difference between Libra’s positives and negatives can both be typified by one simple metaphysical statement: what we put out comes back to us.  

Sometimes we don’t recognize it...and sometimes we don’t want to recognize it.

Pointing at ‘them’ is relatively easy. Dealing with our Self, particularly when that Self is in the middle of wanting (yearning, longing, etc.) to feel better about the life that Self is living...that’s hard. 

Sometimes it’s purely annoying.

And still, after all the projecting is done, there we still are with whatever problems, refusals to see (think, hear, etc.) we came in with...which is a whole other issue. After all, those among us who don’t want to deal with their issues are surely not going to be a cheerfully jazzed to know that they not only still have to deal with things, but that their ‘problem child’ is looking at them from the mirror.

No one likes that. (But it is terribly Libra.) Yes, Libra is about everything we encounter in life because it’s our life. Such things inform us. They test us to see if we really know what we think we know. The Libra Principle becomes active in our life, so that we will learn what works...and what doesn’t work...which isn’t ‘about’ them, but rather about our experience of them or something in our wide-ranging world...or their experience of us or what we do.

By those reactions and responses we learn more about our Self - what parts of it work or don’t work and why.

Dealing with all those ideas, from the ‘what’ to the ‘what happens’ (complete to everything between), that’s Libran too.

It’s to think about. And lucky for us, Mercury (symbol of thought, communication and mentality) is about to enter Libra.

So once Mercury enters Libra on September 2nd at 5:39 in the morning (UT/+0) time, feel free to think up, folks. Think hardy, think thoroughly, give things some thought or think nothing of it - whatever be your personal choice.

You know, a personal choice you’ll make which will then affect others who will let you know if your idea works in their Libra framework and thus in their equally individual Self-driven world? As Mercury enters Libra we are symbolically being told that our communications, our thinking, our experience and estimation of today and tomorrow (and all they may contain) will be moving from a personal orientation to a more worldly one....how what we do, what we are doing will become more visible to others and more apt to be commented on or responded to.

We are also coming to a moment when our thoughts may well change as Mercury moves through Libra’s earliest degrees, that being the position of giant black hole M87. Being that Mercury moves very quickly (its ‘fleet-footed’ orbit around the Sun takes a mere 87.9 days) this contact will be felt rather immediately, raising alternate views (and viewpoint) from September 2nd through 6th, when Mercury exits M87’s orb of influence.

Some of us will be inspired by thoughts and events which occur during these days. Some of us will recognize how we may have been too short-sighted about something - or how we didn’t know, see or listen to something which may at first blink not have been our taste...but which is in reality seriously important to our aims short term and long.

That Mercury is coming into Libra aspect-free and  on its own speaks to a free-wheeling quality in thought and conversation which though perhaps not overly obvious is there to enjoy...and to employ. However, please be advised: the farther into September we get, the less options we’re likely to have as things seem to acquire a life and momentum of their own. Still, many will be likely to be ‘in their head’ or ‘lost in thought’ or simply preoccupied (mildly or otherwise) for at least some part of this transit. For them, Libra’s interactive quality will reflect in consideration of how to exist with others, among others, in this world or at some other level which has to do with ‘getting along’ in life, though Mercury in Libra by itself isn’t the kind of indicator we would think of as defining times good, bad or indifferent.

What this transit says is that our thoughts will be about others. Or situations others are connected to, or that we (or they) may need to discuss with someone - and because Mercury will be going retrograde come October 4th (September 14th being the date Mercury crosses into its retrograde shadow) the latter part of September is likely to be filled with our feeling pressured and frustrated as we try to get something done with life (and people in that life) resisting, not getting things done as they focus on how annoyed they are with others or whatever is getting in their way or being otherwise entirely unsatisfying.

(Yes, its that projection thing again. We’re not happy, so it or they must be to blame, right?)

(No, not right - but as an example of human nature in function, often accurate.)

More to the point, as Mercury moves into the shadow of its upcoming retrograde Jupiter is just reaching 13 Leo, setting up a sextile. And since Mercury retrogrades (inclusive of their pre-and-post retrograde shadow periods) are periods which will have us catching up with ourselves and sorting things out (or tending to re/organizing of various mental or mentally-governed [Mercury] factors)...to have Mercury sextiling Jupiter as we trip the light-footed fantastic into Mercury’s pre-retrograde zone?

Well...that would seem to be a positive sort of note.

Mind you, just as sextiles offer opportunities, sextiles require work. And after we accept that much, then we add the concept that retrogrades require going through whatever it is we need to go through to get us into position with our Self to take life on come retrograde’s end, when (oh, incidentally...) things - or at least our perspective or thinking about things - takes a turn.

In Libra, this is all going to be about, in conjunction with, and concerning things we experience at the level of interaction - which is to say, they affect our thoughts about who we are (and aren’t) and what we’re doing or why we’re doing it and how that affects our place in the world, just as it’s affecting everyone else in the world at the very same time.

We will all be thinking. And given the Libra effect, we may be more focused on the Other than our Self, but why we would do that would be part of the Mercury in Libra process. Why we care, why we don’t care, why we pay any mind or don’t mind ignoring others if or when they don’t suit what we want to think about our Self...that would be part of the Libran process.

And wherever Libra falls in our natal chart, that tells us what we will experience through that Libra process and how we will pursue our Libran experiences...all wrapped in Mercurial questions, answers, ideas and choices, many of which will prove either harder to make or harder to have work once Venus (ruler of Libra) moves into Virgo on September 5th (UT/+0 time).

Once Mercury enters its shadow (which it will do as Mars enters Sagittarius, heralding new efforts, new actions and new discoveries of every type as a result of actions taken) it will be just over a week until Pluto goes direct. During that time, will something trigger a change in our [Mercury] thinking - and if so, will that guide or control us?

One more thing to toss in the mental stock pot here: Mercury enters Libra on September 2nd, Ixion goes direct on September 3rd, Pholus goes direct on September 4th and Venus ends this cavalcade of shifting on September 5th with its own move from Leo into Virgo.

Yes, Ixion and Pholus went into retrograde together last March...and now they're going direct together in early September.

Is this a hint?

- link to -

Ixion and Pholus Station-Retrograde

From the Mercurial perspective, this would seem to be a recipe for situations which bring out some of our less caring aspects - and end up disliking the results.

Maybe in knowing that we can resist the lesser aspects of this passage? We can use this time to think about others and how to share our space, our ideas, our needs, desires and aims. We can use this time to improve our ability to relate to others and thus our relationships with others...and maybe more importantly (at least to us), their relationship to us.

But will we?
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